A Paramus councilman has filed a lawsuit claiming the towns mayor violated ethics rules when he broke a 3-3 borough council tie in favor of hiring his son as a police officer. Mayor Richard LaBarbiera voted Dec. 8, 2020, to approve by his deciding vote, a conditional offer to his son, Vincent LaBarbiera, states the lawsuit, filed Friday in Superior Court of Bergen County. Councilman Joseph Vartolone says in court papers the mayor broke local ethics laws by failing to recuse himself from the tie-breaking vote. The lawsuit names the mayor and the borough as defendants and seeks to rescind the sons offer of employment. Vincent LaBarbiera was one of 10 candidates the boroughs police committee had recommended for employment. But the council failed to pass the resolution to hire the younger LaBarbiera with a majority vote, according to the suit. Holding the office of mayor and being the father of a candidate who lived with him for a police officer position constituted a disqualifying conflict of interest, the lawsuit states. Superior Court records show at least four lawsuits have been filed over the hiring of police candidates, including two by the mayors son claiming Republicans have been blocking his hiring. Paramus officials and the mayors attorney did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for comment on the suit. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Neiman Marcus Group ("NMG" or the "Company") announces today investments in talent, merchandising, technology, and supply chain that will reshape the Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman customer experience. "Neiman Marcus Group is a customer and brand relationship business, powered by a strong digital ecosystem," said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO, Neiman Marcus Group. "Today we are announcing additional moves to accelerate our transformation reflecting our renewed financial flexibility and desire to invest in areas that are a source of unique competitive advantage and create shareholder value." To accelerate the growth of NMG's unique loyal luxury customer base, the company is investing in the enhancement of the customer journey by grouping technology, digital products, and advanced analytics under one leader and distorting capital to these areas. NMG announces that Bob Kupbens will join as Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Technology Officer, on Feb. 1 reporting to van Raemdonck. Kupbens brings a strong track record of elevating customer experiences at Apple, eBay, Delta and ADT where he held multiple senior roles overseeing eCommerce, digital products and technology. He will partner with David Goubert, President and Chief Customer Officer, Neiman Marcus, Darcy Penick, President, Bergdorf Goodman, and Lana Todorovich, President and Chief Merchandising Officer, Neiman Marcus, to develop new digital products and capabilities that enhance store, online, and omni-channel experiences at both brands. Kupbens will also accelerate the ramp up of NMG's advanced analytics capabilities, scale personalization of customer experience to a broader set of customers, and curate the personalized assortments. As NMG continues on its journey towards becoming the preeminent luxury customer platform, the company is creating a new General Manager, Brand Partnerships & Merchandising role in the Neiman Marcus brand, led by Paolo Riva and reporting to Todorovich. Riva has extensive brand and P&L experience in luxury senior global roles, last serving as CEO at Victoria Beckham and supporting senior global roles at Valentino, Diane von Furstenberg, Ferragamo, and Tory Burch. "We have incredibly strong relationships with our brand partners and are evolving our collaboration from being a distribution channel for them to an increased value creation opportunity," said Todorovich. "With Paolo's leadership, we will ensure Neiman Marcus further enhances the value we provide to brand partners through maximizing their access to our luxury customers, providing additional customer and assortment insights, and aligning on the renovation plans for six of our stores within the next 18 months." Finally, to support one of the larger multi-brand luxury online businesses and to fuel its growth, NMG is investing $85 million gross in supply chain innovation, specifically systems and fulfillment centers. NMG is implementing a new order management system, a new warehouse system, and investments in the company's Pinnacle Park distribution facility. These are multi-year improvements that begin immediately. "We are transforming NMG's core operating capability to support our growth as the luxury destination of choice for customers," said Willis Weirich, Executive Vice President, Group Operations & Chief Supply Chain Officer. "As the demand for luxury products continues to grow, so does our supply chain network and infrastructure. These investments ensure that NMG can quickly deliver the luxury products our customers want." These strategic investments further strengthen NMG's business and allow NMG to adopt new ways of working, invest in innovative technology and data analytics, and redeploy resources to enhance relationships with customer and brand partners to strengthen the company's digital ecosystem. About Neiman Marcus Group Neiman Marcus Group is a luxury, multibranded, omnichannel fashion retailer conducting integrated store and online operations under the Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus Last Call, and Horchow brand names. For more information, visit http://www.neimanmarcusgroup.com. Forward-Looking Statements Neiman Marcus Group has included statements in this press release that constitute "forwardlooking statements." As a general matter, forwardlooking statements are those focused on future or anticipated events or trends, expectations and beliefs including, among other things, the Company's expectations with respect to the actions described herein. Such statements are intended to be identified by using words such as "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "will," "project," "plan" and similar expressions in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Any forwardlooking statements are and will be based upon the Company's thencurrent expectations, estimates and assumptions regarding future events and are applicable only as of the dates of such statements. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forwardlooking statements. Such forwardlooking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those projected in this press release for numerous reasons, including factors outside the Company's control. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE Neiman Marcus Holding Company, Inc. OXFORD, Miss. (WTVA) - Oxford police arrested a suspect for an auto burglary that happened on Dec. 31, 2020. Dana Churchill, 44, is facing auto burglary charges for allegedly breaking into a vehicle at Baptist Memorial Hospital and stealing several Christmas gifts. Police arrested Churchill on Jan. 22 and returned the stolen items. A Lafayette County Justice Court judge set Churchills bond at $10,000. However, the Mississippi Department of Corrections placed a hold on her. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland schools will allow nonprofit DigitalC, which is working to increase internet access in underserved areas of the city, to install antennas on certain school buildings to boost coverage. The board of education voted unanimously to approve the measure on Tuesday evening. DigitalC and CMSD will enter into a 20-year agreement, with Digital C paying a $10 fee per building annually. The school district and DigitalC have partnered closely throughout the pandemic to provide access to the internet for students during remote learning. DigitalC is a low-cost internet option available in certain areas of Cleveland, and is free to CMSD families. The school district pays a discounted fee of $16 a month per household for the service. DigitalC has entered similar partnerships with the Cleveland Clinic and MetroHealth, placing antennas on hospital buildings to expand its offerings. Buildings listed in the Cleveland schools contract include: -- East Professional Center -- Wade Park -- Martin Luther King, Jr. High School -- Franklin D. Roosevelt -- Glenville High School -- Marion-Sterling -- Mary M. Bethune -- Sunbeam -- Harvey Rice -- Scranton School -- Luis Munoz Marin -- Buhrer Elementary Do you have a question you want answered about the vaccine rollout in the Bay Area? Email agraff@sfgate.com. The coronavirus vaccine rollout has been anything but smooth in California. The state started vaccinating seniors two weeks ago (which we covered at length here), a top health official said vaccinations for seniors wouldn't be completed until June on Thursday, then on Monday, President Joe Biden more bullishly said the pandemic vaccines would be widely available by spring, with the United States well on its way to ending the pandemic by summer. All the while, California completely shifted its pandemic priority line from essential workers to age groups, and a group of regular citizens was the first and only group to develop a database of information on where to get vaccinated in California. Hoping to cut through some of the confusion in the San Francisco Bay Area this week, we dug deeply into when counties will begin inoculating teachers and education workers. Here's what we've learned from our investigation into vaccinating teachers: - Counties are administering vaccines based on the states prioritization framework, which builds on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions recommendations. - In the state framework, teachers fall into what's called 1B Tier 1. Individuals 65 and older fall within this tier, and most counties are currently focused on inoculating this group while finishing Phase 1A, which includes health care workers. - While county health departments are responsible for carrying out the state's plans, they make the final decision about when different groups of people will get the vaccine. In other words, a county can ultimately decide to vaccinate teachers ahead of other groups. School districts don't have timelines We reached out to three of the largest school districts in the Bay Area San Francisco Unified School District, Oakland Unified School District and San Jose Unified School District for information on their vaccine plans. San Francisco and San Jose responded. San Francisco, with 9,580 educators, said a timeline is unknown and the district is following the state's population prioritization plan. "SFUSD is working closely with the SF Department of Public Health to identify priority district staff," the district said in a statement. "Once the vaccine is available for priority groups, SFUSD will work with SFDPH to notify all eligible staff and encourage staff vaccination. SFUSD will do everything possible to expedite staff receiving the vaccine as quickly as possible." SFUSD will alert families and staff on how to sign up to get a notification when they are eligible to get the vaccine. San Jose is in Santa Clara County, where the effort is focused on vaccinating seniors. "It is being done county by county," said Jennifer Maddox, the public information officer for San Jose Unified. "Some are moving faster. Half our nursing staff will be providing vaccines for the county and are going though the training. In the next few weeks, they will serve in that capacity instead of doing their normal jobs. We hope that will help accelerate the county to get into Tier 1B." Maddox said at this point, there's not enough vaccine available to launch a mass effort with teachers, but when supply is available, the district and county will be ready. "We have run clinics before with H1N1 vaccines for teachers and students," she said. "Were lucky, because were a large district and have licensed health care providers working for us. If its something that we think will speed up our effort, we will do it. Marin County, however, started vaccinating teachers We reached out to all nine Bay Area county health departments and found Marin County is the only county that has started an organized effort to vaccinate teachers. On Jan. 17, Marin Public Health held a special event in partnership with Kaiser Permanente and Marin Medical Reserve Corps and vaccinated 1,247 education staff, a mix of custodial, food service, transportation (bus drivers), special education teachers, and other para-professionals. "Marin County Office of Education divided staff into four groups based on risk, prioritizing those who have returned to campus, are on the frontlines, and are in frequent contact with kids and people (versus those working remotely)," Laine Hendricks, a public information officer for the county, wrote in an email. "This was the first group." In Marin County, many students have returned to school campuses, and Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told KTVU that nearly 82% of schools in the county are open for in-person classes. Hendricks added: "Keep in mind, education is just one group that was vaccinated this week as part of Phase 1B. We are also offering vaccines to child care workers and people age 75 and over as supply allows. So the efforts are parallel. We are not vaccinating all educators before we move to another group." Most counties don't have timelines Most of the other counties said they can't provide a specific timeline for vaccinating teachers, but some had information on how the effort will unfold when vaccine supply is ready. Here's a rundown county by county on rollout plans for teachers, as well as general information on vaccine efforts and news: Alameda Vaccine info: covid-19.acgov.org. Vaccine appointments: To receive a notification on when you're available for a vaccine, sign up at covid-19.acgov.org/vaccines. Total vaccines: 52,650 Pfizer and 50,100 Moderna received as of Jan. 25 (see latest numbers on the county's vaccine dashboard here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county continues to focus on vaccinating health care workers and seniors. When can teachers get vaccinated? In coming weeks, according to the website. The county didn't respond to questions about inoculating education workers. Vaccine news: County Public Health Officer Nicholas Moss said the jump to vaccinating seniors has been slow due to lack of supply and the large number of health care workers living in the county, according to CBS News. Contra Costa Vaccine plan: coronavirus.cchealth.org. Vaccine appointments: Find information here. Total vaccines administered: 78,920 first doses, 14,611 second dose as of Jan. 26 (see latest numbers on the county's vaccine dashboard here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county website indicates health care workers, employees and residents of long-term care facilities and people ages 65 and older are eligible for vaccinations. When can teachers get vaccinated? The county did not provide a timeline. Vaccine news: The county announced a new goal on Jan. 22 to deliver 1 million doses by July 4 in partnership with health care providers. "There is no higher priority in Contra Costa County than delivering COVID-19 vaccine to as many eligible residents as possible, as quickly as possible," said Diane Burgis, chair of the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, in a statement. "We believe this is a realistic goal, provided our supply of vaccine increases." Marin Vaccine info: coronavirus.marinhhs.org/vaccine. Vaccine appointments: Find appointment options here, but keep in mind appoints are extremely limited and restricted. Total vaccines administered: 20,612 first doses, 3,746 second doses on Jan. 26 (see the county's latest vaccine data here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county is focused on vaccinating health care workers and residents of residential care facilities for the elderly and Marin County residents age 75 and older, according to the county website. When can teachers get vaccinated? While the county held a one-day event to vaccinate education workers, the focus remains on health care workers and seniors. Napa Vaccine info: countyofnapa.org/3096/COVID-19-Vaccines. Vaccine appointments and notifications: You can fill out a form to be notified when you're eligible here. Total vaccines administered: 17,583 doses as of Jan. 26 (see the county's latest vaccine data here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? "We continue to prioritize those age 75-plus but will move concurrently across Phase 1B, Tier 1 by age 65-plus and sector as targets of opportunity and vaccine availability allow," the county said in a statement. The county website indicates health care works, employees and residents of long-term care facilities and people ages 65 and older are eligible for vaccinations. When can teachers get vaccinated? Napa County has set up a partnership with Safeway to vaccinate educators, but until vaccines are in greater supply, the program faces scarcity issues. "As large health care network providers access vaccines, we are hopeful it will lessen the impact on our clinics (for example, about a third of Napa County residents are insured by Kaiser)," Janet Upton, a spokesperson for the county, wrote in an email. "As for the county helping to vaccinate teachers, we continue to prioritize those age 75-plus but will move concurrently across Phase 1B, Tier 1 by age 65-plus and sector as targets of opportunity and vaccine availability allow (for example, a 67-year-old teacher)." Vaccine news: The St. Helena Hospital Foundation opened a vaccine clinic at Napa Valley College to reach vulnerable populations. Hundreds of farmworkers have received inoculations through the effort. Dr. Steven Herber gave an update on the clinic in a Facebook video. San Francisco Vaccine info: sf.gov/covid-19-vaccine-san-francisco. Vaccine appointments: To receive a notification on when you're available for a vaccine, sign up at sf.gov/get-notified-when-youre-eligible-covid-19-vaccine. Total vaccines administered: 48,938 have received at least the first dose; 10,345 have gotten the second as of Jan. 25 (see the county's latest vaccine data on the dashboard) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? "San Francisco is currently providing vaccination priority to populations in Phase 1a and those 65 years and over, as state guidance dictates," the county said. "The state is currently prioritizing health care workers and people 65 or older. This is critical because they are one of the highest risk populations in the city. In San Francisco, people 65 years of age or older represent only 15% of COVID cases, but 85% of San Franciscos COVID deaths. There are more than 210,000 people in San Francisco that are eligible for a vaccine in the first phase (dubbed 1a by the state, which focuses on healthcare workers) and people 65 and older. Each person must receive two doses, so therefore we need 420,000 doses to complete Phase 1a and people 65 and older. However, the entire City (DPH and providers) have received only a quarter of the doses needed to vaccinate these priority populations." When will teachers get vaccinated? "Until supply of vaccine increases and the state indicates that we should move to Phase1b, we will continue to vaccinate Phase 1a and those 65 years and older," the county said in a statement. "Teachers, like all San Franciscans, will be encouraged to reach out to their providers to schedule at a location that is convenient." Vaccine news: "We're moving forward on our second high-volume vaccination site at Moscone Center, which will be followed by our third high-volume site in the Bayview," SF Mayor London Breed wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "Moscone alone will have the capacity for at least 5,000 doses a day once we receive enough supply. The city of San Francisco and its health care providers announced a goal Wednesday to vaccinate all residents by the start of summer." San Mateo Vaccine info: smchealth.org/covid-19-vaccination Vaccine appointments: Find information on providers that are booking appointments for those who are eligible here. Total vaccines administered: 48,826 doses as of Jan. 25 (see the latest numbers here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? "San Mateo County Health is beginning to vaccinate priority 75-plus and 65-plus residents who receive medical care through our clinics and by supplying vaccine to our partners. We continue to vaccinate eligible Phase 1A health care workers and long-term care residents, as the supply of vaccines allows," the county said. When will teachers get vaccinated? "We are expecting further guidance from the State about Phase 1B and the eligible groups within the various tiers. When they are eligible, teachers who are members of health plans from Kaiser, Sutter, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Dignity Health, Stanford Health, and AHMC Health Care should look to those organizations for their vaccines," the county said in an email. "San Mateo County Health is currently working on additional pathways to the vaccine for teachers and others in the qualifying phase/tier when they become eligible." Vaccine news: Some 2,000 people received the COVID vaccine on Jan. 25 at a drive-through vaccination site at the San Mateo County Event Center, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post. The effort focused on people 65 and over with Dignity Health and health care workers. Santa Clara Vaccine info: sccfreevax.org Vaccine appointments: Find information on providers that are booking appointments for those who are eligible here. Total vaccines administered: 127,872 first doses; 31,900 second doses as of Jan. 26 (visit the county's vaccine dashboard here for the latest numbers) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county is still in phase 1A and focused on vaccinating health care workers and individuals age 75 and older, the county said in a statement. When can teachers get vaccinated? There is no timeline at this point. Vaccine news: A new high-volume vaccination location opened in Mountain View and "future phases, tiers and locations will be announced as additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine become available," the county said. Solano Vaccine info: solanocounty.com/covid19 Vaccine appointments: Find information on where individuals eligible to receive the vaccine can get inoculated here. Total vaccines administered: The county isn't sharing this information online. Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county is focused on vaccinating health care workers and individuals 75 and over, according to the county website. When can teachers get vaccinated? "We hope to be able to start vaccinating teachers early February," the county said. "Of course, this depends on receiving the vaccine supply in order to vaccinate educators and child care workers." Vaccine news: The Solano Public Health Department hosted a town hall Jan. 22 with an update on COVID-19 and the vaccine rollout. Watch it here. Sonoma Vaccine info: socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information Vaccine appointments: Find information on where individuals eligible to receive the vaccine can get inoculated here. Total vaccines administered: 32,683 doses as of Jan. 26 (find the latest numbers here) Who can get vaccinated in the county now? The county is focused on vaccinating health care workers and individuals 75 and over. When will teachers get vaccinated? "Teachers will be vaccinated in Phase 1B, which we hope to start in early February," the county said. "We have several options for teachers to get vaccinated. They can go to their primary care providers, they can go to health centers, and we are setting up dedicated vaccination clinics in partnership with the Sonoma County Office of Education, which has its own vaccine manager." Vaccine news: The county has partnered with Safeway to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to county health workers. Additionally, 11 pharmacies in Safeway stores throughout the county have received state approval to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, and in-home supportive services workers will be able to start receiving vaccinations at those locations starting next week. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Israels top military commander said Irans recent nuclear activity has prompted Israel to redraw its attack plans against the country, adding that military action needs to be on the table. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, warned Tuesday that Iran may be only weeks away from developing a nuclear bomb. Tehran, which since 2018 has repeatedly violated its obligations under the nuclear accord, announced in December that it had resumed 20% uranium enrichment at the underground Fordow facility. Earlier this month, Iran said it had begun developing uranium metal, a fuel used in nuclear reactors that can also be used to manufacture a nuclear warhead. Tensions between bitter foes Iran and Israel have run high since the suspected assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top Iranian nuclear scientist, in November. In retaliation, Irans parliament passed legislation mandating increased uranium enrichment and limiting UN inspector access if sanctions are not lifted by next month. In light of this fundamental analysis, I have instructed the Israel Defense Forces to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to those already in place, Kochavi said in an address to Tel Aviv Universitys Institute for National Security Studies. It will be up to the political leadership, of course, to decide on implementation, but these plans need to be on the table. The generals comments come as the new US administration works to rejoin the landmark nuclear agreement that former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018. If Iran returns to compliance under the deal, President Joe Biden has pledged to reenter the multilateral pact as a starting point for follow-on negotiations to tighten and lengthen Irans nuclear constraints and address Irans missile program. Israels leaders long opposed the deal, which they say has brought the region closer to nuclear war. Even a revised, strengthened agreement, Kochavi warned, "is bad operationally and it is bad strategically. Strategically, it would presumably lead to the regional nuclearization of the Middle East, he said. For that reason, anything resembling the current agreement is bad and must not be permitted. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his confirmation hearing last week that it was vitally important for the new administration to consult with Israel as well as Gulf allies ahead of revived diplomacy with Iran. Pune, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The UAE oil storage terminal market size is expected to reach USD 541.97 million by 2027 while exhibiting a CAGR of 2.6% between 2020 and 2027. This is attributable to the increasing oil trade activities and the growing chemical sector that is likely to propel the demand for the UAE oil storage terminal. This information is published by Fortune Business Insights in its latest report, titled, UAE Oil Storage Terminal Market Size, Share and COVID-19 Impact Analysis By Type (Strategic Reserve and Commercial Reserve), By Tank Type (Fixed Roof, Floating Roof, Bullet Tank, and Spherical Tank), By Product (Diesel, Petrol, Aviation Fuel, Crude Oil, Kerosene, and Others) and Regional Forecasts, 2020-2027. The report further observes that the market stood at USD 115.51 million in 2019 and is expected to gain momentum during the forecast period. Delayed Oil Gas Projects amid COVID-19 to Lead to Slow Growth The lockdown announced by the UAE government has led to the suspension of several industrial activities in the country. Several oil & gas projects have been either stopped or postponed leading to a negative impact on the market. For instance, in March 2020, UAEs Sharjah National Oil Company (SNOC) reported that the impact of the coronavirus is likely to delay the production of its Mahani gas exploration project by a couple of months. Such instances may lead to slow growth before the market catches up during the forecast period. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this Market. Please visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/uae-oil-storage-terminal-market-104593 An oil terminal is a type of facility that aids in the efficient storage of oil, petrochemical, and petroleum products. The growing demand for storage tanks in the UAE oil storage terminal category is experiencing significant demand due to the high demand for oil & gas products and several end-user industrial facilities. What does the Report Provide? The market for UAE oil storage terminal report provides an in-depth analysis of several factors such as the key drivers and restraints that will impact growth. Additionally, the report provides insights into the regional analysis that covers different regions, contributing to the growth of the market. It includes the competitive landscape that involves the leading companies and the adoption of strategies by them to announce partnerships, introduce new products, and collaborate that will further contribute to the growth of the market. Moreover, the research analyst has adopted several research methodologies to extract information about the current trends and industry developments that will drive the market growth between 2020 and 2027. Request a Sample Copy of Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/uae-oil-storage-terminal-market-104593 DRIVING FACTORS Increasing Oil & Gas Trade Activities to Augment Growth According to the data by the UAE Central Bank, the petroleum exports in the United Arab Emirates rose by over 13.9% to around USD 66.2 billion in 2019. A significant rise from the figures registered in 2017 that were USD 58.1 billion. The increasing oil & gas trade activities are expected to boost the demand for different fuel and storage tanks that will benefit the UAE oil storage terminal segment. The growing chemical industry is propelling the demand for storage tanks to aid in the distillation process across refineries that is expected to favor the UAE oil storage terminal market growth during the forecast period. SEGMENTATION Floating Roof Segment Held 36.6% Market Share in 2019 The floating roof segment, based on tank type, held a market share of 36.6% in 2019 and is expected to experience significant growth during the forecast period. This growth is attributable to the increasing preference for floating roof tanks in the UAE oil storage terminal services due to their capability to customize as per the customers' requirements. Ask for Customization: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/uae-oil-storage-terminal-market-104593 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE Major Players Focus on Facility Expansion to Strengthen Their Market Positions The UAE oil storage terminal market is consolidated by major players such as Horizon Terminals, Royal Vopak, and VTTI, among others. These companies are striving to maintain a stronghold by focusing on expanding their facilities to cater to the growing demand in the UAE oil storage terminal category. Moreover, the growing adoption of organic and inorganic growth strategies by other key players is expected to favor the market growth. Industry Development: October 2020 - Brooge Energy, a leading midstream UAE oil storage terminal and service provider, announced the pre-construction work for its Phase III oil storage terminals and refinery strategically situated outside the Strait of Hormuz, nearby to the Port of Fujairah. Moreover, the company reports that the work includes the Environmental Impact Assessment report and the commencement of the soil investigation. The storage facility is likely to be operational by late 2022 and will make Brooke Energy the largest UAE oil storage terminal service provider. List of the Companies Profiled in the Global Market for UAE Oil Storage Terminal: VTTI GPS Chemoil Brooge Energy Limited Royal Vopak GP Global Horizon Terminals Quick Buy- UAE Oil Storage Terminal Market: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/104593 Major Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends Key Developments: Mergers, Acquisitions, Partnership, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Regulatory Landscape Porters Five Forces Analysis Qualitative Analysis Impact of COVID-19 Impact of COVID-19 on the Oil & Gas Market Steps Taken by the Government to Overcome the Impact Key Developments in the Industry in Response to COVID-19 Potential Opportunities and Challenges due to COVID-19 Outbreak List of Oil Storage Terminal in UAE Facility Name Storage Capacity Location Operator Fujairah Oil Terminal Overview Historic Development/Milestone Competitive Advantages and Challenges Operation Function Overview Contract Structure Overview Major Clients in Fujairah Oil Terminal Major Trading Ports in UAE Risk Mitigation Process in case of Backwardation Other Potential Locations for Oil Storage in the Future TOC Continued! Speak To Our Analyst- https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/uae-oil-storage-terminal-market-104593 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Liquid Biofuels Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Product Type (Ethanol and Biodiesel), By Feedstock (Sugar Crops, Starch Crops, Vegetable Oils, Animal Fats, and Others), By Process (Fermentation, Transesterification, and Others), By Application (Transportation, Power Generation, and Heat), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027 Gas Insulated Switchgear Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Voltage (Up to 66 kV, 66 kV - 170 kV, 170 kV - 550 kV, and Above 550 kV), By Installation (Indoor and Outdoor), By End User (Utility, Industrial, Commercial, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026. 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Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Read Press Release https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/uae-oil-storage-terminal-market-10429 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov assumes that Russia could remove excess enriched uranium from Iran if the United States returns to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program. At the same time, he clarified that this issue is still quite abstract, since many aspects of the JCPOA are subject to U.S. sanctions. According to Ryabkov, it is necessary to make sure that there is a prospect of normalizing the situation, and then return to the topics of the implementation of agreements within the framework of the JCPOA. "I don't rule out anything," TASS cited him as saying. The deputy foreign minister noted that first of all it is necessary to discuss political issues, including the U.S. "sanctions, which should be lifted as illegitimate," and only then deal with the practical aspects of cooperation. The Deputy Minister also said that Russia's proposals to return to full implementation of the nuclear agreement are still being finalized. The nuclear deal was reached in July 2015 between a group of world powers: the P5+1 (the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China - plus Germany) and Iran. In May 2018, the United States pulled out of the deal and renewed sanctions against Iran. Several Vietnamese news organizations first reported that Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong had been nominated for an unusual third term Wednesday. Then they quickly changed the stories to say the party has introduced several special cases for re-election to leadership positions at the 13th Party Congress. Trong has already served two terms as secretary general, the top party position, since 2011. He is also the countrys president. At the age of 76, Trong is well over the age limit of 65 for re-election to the partys policy-making Politburo and Central Committee. Current party rules also limit its leader to just two consecutive terms. On Monday, more than 1,600 delegates began nine days of closed-door meetings at the ruling partys Congress. The Congress is held every five years. During this Congress, a new leadership team will be chosen. Last month, the names of candidates for leadership positions were declared top secret. The news organizations, including Tien Phong and VNExpress, said the information about Trong came from Hau A Lenh, a member of the partys Central Committee. He reportedly said, The General Secretary and President is one of the over-age nominees and a special case. The information was then changed to remove Trongs nomination. It was not clear if there were other nominations for the General Secretary position. The party has not made an official announcement. However, the Vietnamese website VN Express reported that another party official said last week that the Party Congress would consider changing the rules for a special case. International news organizations, including Reuters and Voice of America, could not reach Lenh. Two other party officials would not comment when asked about Trongs reported nomination. In Vietnams political system, power is supposedly shared among four positions: Secretary General of the Communist Party, President, Prime Minister and Chair of the National Assembly. Since coming to power in 2011, Trong has become Vietnams most powerful leader. He was the winner of a power struggle against a former prime minister at the last congress in 2016. He also became the third person to hold both positions of party chief and president in Vietnam history. Trongs campaign against corruption has seen many high-level officials sent to prison, including one politburo member. Im Susan Shand. Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English based on information from VOA and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story consecutive - adj. one event that immediately follows another We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. Dr. Stephen Greenhouse 2020 Grant Recipients, Stephanie and Dale, cradle their son, DJ, who was born in early 2021. Im so grateful for these Cade families who share the same pain and can empathize...and in some cases, we are able to share the wins as a result from these grants. Shady Grove Fertility (SGF), in partnership with the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation, is offering families seeking assistance to build their family the opportunity to apply for family-building grants of up to $10,000 each. Together, SGF and the Cade Foundation offer three grants: Cade Family Building Grant, sponsored by Cade Foundation Dr. Stephen Greenhouse Grant, sponsored by SGF Savannah Grant, sponsored by SGF SGFs grants are exclusively for patients seeking treatment at SGF. All SGF patients who apply for the two SGF grants will also be automatically entered into the Cade Foundation Family Building Grant pool at no charge. Interested applicants are reminded that the Spring 2021 grant application pool closes on February 1, 2021, with the Fall 2021 applications opening later this year. The grants have changed the lives of more than 100 families to date, including 2020 Dr. Stephen Greenhouse Grant recipient, Stephanie, who shares, Im so grateful for these Cade families who share the same pain and can empathize...and in some cases, we are able to share the wins as a result from these grants. Shady Grove Fertility Grant Information The Dr. Stephen Greenhouse Grant is specifically designated for SGF patients to honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Greenhouse, an SGF physician and practice leader who died in an accident in July of 2018. Dr. Greenhouse was a well-respected leader and role model and known for his endless and tireless devotion to his lifes work supporting his patients in overcoming infertility. Dr. Greenhouse was a strong supporter of the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation and attended many Cade Foundation events with his family over the years. In 2010, the Cade Foundation established the Savannah Grant, a family building grant that provides up to $10,000 for in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment at SGF. This grant is in honor of Savannah Caroline Pereira, a SGF baby who tragically died in March 2010. In total the Savannah Fund has raised more than $126,000 to celebrate Savannahs memory and to support families struggling with infertility. To date, the Savannah Grant has supported eight families. To qualify for the grants, applicants must be: diagnosed with infertility by a doctor, and be a legal permanent U.S. citizen. Only one registration is required per applicant regardless of whether the applicant is an individual or a couple. Applicants will be notified by email about funding decisions by June 1, 2021, followed by a formal celebration at the Cade Foundation Family Building Gala on November 20, 2021, in Baltimore. To apply for these grants, please submit an application for the Cade Foundation Family Building Grant. To make a contribution in support of these grants, please visit the Cade Foundation. To learn more about overcoming infertility, schedule a virtual physician consultation with an SGF physician by calling 1-888-761-1967 or visiting ShadyGroveFertility.com. About Shady Grove Fertility (SGF) SGF is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence with more than 85,000 babies born and 5,000+ 5-star patient reviews. With 37 locations throughout FL, GA, MD, NY, PA, VA, D.C., and Santiago, Chile, we offer patients virtual physician consults, deliver individualized care, accept most insurance plans, and make treatment affordable through innovative financial options, including 100% refund guarantees. More physicians refer their patients to SGF than any other center. Call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com. About Tinina Q. Cade Foundation The Tinina Q. Cade Foundation is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to serving the needs of families battling infertility through education, outreach, and grants that help couples pay for infertility treatment or domestic adoption. In the past decade, through events like the Race for the Family, Corks with Cade, and others, SGF and the Cade Foundation have raised more than $750,000 that is used to fund grants for fertility treatment and adoption for families with infertility and to build awareness about the 1 in 8 couples struggling with infertility. For more information about the Cade Foundation please visit http://www.cadefoundation.org. SOUTHAMPTON, Pa., Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Environmental Tectonics Corporation (OTC Pink: ETCC) (ETC or the Company) today reported its financial results for the thirteen week period ended August 28, 2020 (the 2021 second quarter) and the twenty-six week period ended August 28, 2020 (the 2021 first half). Robert L. Laurent, Jr., ETCs Chief Executive Officer and President stated, The challenges of fiscal 2020 continued into the 2021 first half as the COVID-19 global pandemic related lock downs continued, further delaying orders and our ability to deliver. We are beginning to see a positive change as we work our way through the second half of fiscal 2021. Fiscal 2021 Second Quarter Results of Operations Net (Loss) Income Attributable to ETC Net loss attributable to ETC was $1.7 million, or $0.12 diluted loss per share, in the 2021 second quarter, compared to net income attributable to ETC of $0.4 million during the 2020 second quarter, equating to $0.02 diluted earnings per share. The $2.1 million variance is due to the combined effect of a $2.6 million decrease in gross profit, offset, in part, by a $0.4 million decrease in operating expenses and a $0.1 million decrease in other expense, net. Net Sales Net sales in the 2021 second quarter were $4.4 million, a decrease of $7.6 million, or 63.8%, compared to 2020 second quarter net sales of $12.0 million. The decrease reflects lower International sales, especially within Aeromedical Training Solutions and ETSS, lower overall Sterilizers sales, and lower monoplace chambers sales as a result of the asset sale on November 27, 2019, offset, in part, by an increase in U.S. Government sales within Aeromedical Training Solutions in conjunction with the U.S. Air Forces final acceptance of the RAC Contract. Gross Profit Gross profit for the 2021 second quarter was $0.8 million compared to $3.4 million in the 2020 second quarter, a decrease of $2.6 million, or 77.5%. The decrease in gross profit was due to lower net sales not being able to support fixed overhead expenses. Lower net sales were generated due to the combination of a lower backlog entering fiscal 2021 compounded with the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, which greatly impacted the Companys ability to generate bookings, especially internationally. Gross profit margin as a percentage of net sales decreased to 17.8% for the 2021 second quarter compared to 28.7% for the 2020 second quarter. Operating Expenses Operating expenses, including sales and marketing, general and administrative, and research and development, for the 2021 second quarter were $2.3 million, a decrease of $0.4 million, or 14.4%, compared to $2.7 million for the 2020 second quarter. The decrease in operating expenses was due primarily to lower selling and marketing expenses, which included a decrease in commission expense based on a lower concentration of International sales related to ATS products, a reduction in headcount, and a decrease in travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Other Expense, Net Other expense, net for the 2021 second quarter was $5 thousand compared to $110 thousand for the 2020 second quarter, a decrease of $0.1 million due primarily to lower letter of credit fees and realized exchange gains on foreign currency. Fiscal 2021 First Half Results of Operations Net Loss Attributable to ETC Net loss attributable to ETC was $3.3 million, or $0.23 diluted loss per share, in the 2021 first half, compared to $0.1 million during the 2020 first half, equating to $0.02 diluted loss per share. The $3.2 million variance is due to the combined effect of a $4.6 million decrease in gross profit, offset, in part, by a $1.0 million decrease in operating expenses, a $0.3 million decrease in other expense, net, and a $0.1 million increase in loss attributable to non-controlling interest. Net Sales Net sales in the 2021 first half were $9.3 million, a decrease of $13.5 million, or 59.4%, compared to 2020 first half net sales of $22.8 million. The decrease reflects lower International sales, especially within Aeromedical Training Solutions and ETSS, lower Domestic sales, especially within Simulation, lower overall Sterilizers sales, and lower monoplace chambers sales as a result of the asset sale on November 27, 2019, offset, in part, by an increase in U.S. Government sales within Aeromedical Training Solutions in conjunction with the U.S. Air Forces final acceptance of the RAC Contract. Gross Profit Gross profit for the 2021 first half was $1.3 million compared to $5.9 million in the 2020 first half, a decrease of $4.6 million, or 78.2%. The decrease in gross profit was due to lower net sales not being able to support fixed overhead expenses. Lower net sales were generated due to the combination of a lower backlog entering fiscal 2021 compounded with the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, which not only impacted the Companys ability to generate bookings, especially internationally, but also forced the closure of our corporate headquarters and main production plant for about one-third of the 2021 first quarter in accordance with Pennsylvania state mandates. Gross profit margin as a percentage of net sales decreased to 14.0% for the 2021 first half compared to 26.0% for the 2020 first half. Operating Expenses Operating expenses, including sales and marketing, general and administrative, and research and development, for the 2021 first half were $4.3 million, a decrease of $1.0 million, or 18.5%, compared to $5.3 million for the 2020 first half. The decrease in operating expenses was due primarily to lower selling and marketing expenses, which included a decrease in commission expense based on a lower concentration of International sales related to ATS products, a reduction in headcount, and a decrease in travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Other (Income) Expense, Net Other income, net for the 2021 first half was $12 thousand compared to other expense, net of $260 thousand for the 2020 first half, a variance of $0.3 million due primarily to lower letter of credit fees and realized exchange gains on foreign currency. Cash Flows from Operating, Investing, and Financing Activities During the 2021 first half, due primarily from the net loss incurred, the increase in contract assets, and the decrease in accounts payable, offset, in part by the decrease in accounts receivable, the Company used $4.7 million of cash for operating activities compared to $9.1 million during the 2020 first half. Under Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, these accounts represent the timing differences of spending on production activities versus the billing and collecting of customer payments. Cash used for investing activities primarily relates to funds used for capital expenditures of equipment and software development. The Companys investing activities used $43 thousand during the 2021 first half compared to $0.2 million during the 2020 first half. The Companys financing activities provided $4.0 million of cash during the 2021 first half with proceeds from the Payroll Protection Program loan and borrowings under the Companys credit facility compared to $6.4 million during the 2020 first half exclusively from borrowings under the Companys credit facility. About ETC ETC was incorporated in 1969 in Pennsylvania. For over five decades, we have provided our customers with products, services, and support. Innovation, continuous technological improvement and enhancement, and product quality are core values that are critical to our success. We are a significant supplier and innovator in the following areas: (i) software driven products and services used to create and monitor the physiological effects of flight, including high performance jet tactical flight simulation, fixed and rotary wing upset prevention and recovery and spatial disorientation, and both suborbital and orbital commercial human spaceflight, collectively, Aircrew Training Systems (ATS); (ii) altitude (hypobaric) chambers; (iii) hyperbaric chambers for multiple persons (multiplace chambers); (iv) Advanced Disaster Management Simulators (ADMS); (v) steam and gas (ethylene oxide) sterilizers; (vi) environmental testing and simulation systems (ETSS); and (vii) hyperbaric (100% oxygen) chambers for one person (monoplace chambers). On November 27, 2019, the Company entered into an asset purchase agreement to sell substantially all of its rights, title, and interest in and to the assets related to monoplace chambers. We operate in two primary business segments, Aerospace Solutions (Aerospace) and Commercial/ Industrial Systems (CIS). Aerospace encompasses the design, manufacture, and sale of: (i) ATS products; (ii) altitude (hypobaric) chambers; (iii) hyperbaric chambers for multiple persons (multiplace chambers); and (iv) ADMS, as well as integrated logistics support (ILS) for customers who purchase these products or similar products manufactured by other parties. These products and services provide customers with an offering of comprehensive solutions for improved readiness and reduced operational costs. Sales of our Aerospace products are made principally to U.S. and foreign government agencies and to civil aviation organizations. CIS encompasses the design, manufacture, and sale of: (i) steam and gas (ethylene oxide) sterilizers; (ii) ETSS; and (iii) hyperbaric (100% oxygen) chambers for one person (monoplace chambers), as well as parts and service support for customers who purchase these products or similar products manufactured by other parties. Sales of our CIS products are made principally to the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries. ETC-PZL Aerospace Industries Sp. z o.o. (ETC-PZL), our 95%-owned subsidiary in Warsaw, Poland, is currently our only operating subsidiary. ETC-PZL manufactures certain simulators and provides software to support products manufactured domestically within our Aerospace segment. The majority of our net sales are generated from long-term contracts with U.S. and foreign government agencies (including foreign military sales (FMS) contracted through the U.S. Government) for the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of ATS products, including altitude (hypobaric) and multiplace chambers (Chambers), and the simulators manufactured and sold through ETC-PZL, collectively, Aeromedical Training Solutions. The Company also enters into long-term contracts with domestic customers for the sale of sterilizers and ETSS. Net sales of ADMS and monoplace chambers are generally much shorter term in nature and vary between domestic and international customers. We generally provide our products and services under fixed-price contracts. ETCs unique ability to offer complete systems, designed and produced to high technical standards, sets it apart from its competition. ETC is headquartered in Southampton, PA. For more information about ETC, visit http://www.etcusa.com/ . Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on managements expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances. Words and expressions reflecting something other than historical fact are intended to identify forward-looking statements, and these statements may include words such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, future, predict, potential, intend, or continue, and similar expressions. We base our forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events or future financial performance. Our forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about ETC and its subsidiaries that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results implied by these forward-looking statements. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. - Financial Tables Follow - Table A ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONICS CORPORATION SUMMARY TABLE OF RESULTS (in thousands, except per share information) Thirteen weeks ended Variance 28-Aug-20 30-Aug-19 $ % Net sales $ 4,354 $ 12,012 $ (7,658) -63.8 Cost of goods sold 3,580 8,565 (4,985) -58.2 Gross profit 774 3,447 (2,673) -77.5 Gross profit margin % 17.8% 28.7% -10.9% -38.0% Operating expenses 2,321 2,710 (389) -14.4 Operating (loss) income (1,547) 737 (2,284) Operating margin % -35.5% 6.1% -41.6% Interest expense, net 181 185 (4) -2.2 Other expense, net 5 110 (105) -95.5 (Loss) income before income taxes (1,733) 442 (2,175) Pre-tax margin % -39.8% 3.7% -43.5% Income tax provision 20 20 - 0.0 Net (loss) income (1,753) 422 (2,175) Loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interest 35 (19) 54 Net (loss) income attributable to ETC (1,718) 403 (2,121) Preferred Stock dividends (121) (121) - 0.0 (Loss) income attributable to common and participating shareholders $ (1,839) $ 282 $ (2,121) Per share information: Basic earnings (loss) per common and participating share: Distributed earnings per share: Common $ - $ - $ - Preferred $ 0.02 $ 0.02 $ - 0.0 Undistributed (loss) earnings per share: Common $ (0.12) $ 0.02 $ (0.14) Preferred $ (0.12) $ 0.02 $ (0.14) Diluted (loss) earnings per share $ (0.12) $ 0.02 $ (0.14) Total basic weighted average common and participating shares 15,569 15,569 Total diluted weighted average shares 15,569 15,571 Table B ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONICS CORPORATION SUMMARY TABLE OF RESULTS (in thousands, except per share information) Twenty-six weeks ended Twenty-seven weeks ended Variance 28-Aug-20 30-Aug-19 $ % Net sales $ 9,268 $ 22,828 $ (13,560) -59.4 Cost of goods sold 7,973 16,901 (8,928) -52.8 Gross profit 1,295 5,927 (4,632) -78.2 Gross profit margin % 14.0% 26.0% -12.0% -46.2% Operating expenses 4,314 5,296 (982) -18.5 Operating (loss) income (3,019) 631 (3,650) Operating margin % -32.6% 2.8% -35.4% Interest expense, net 337 363 (26) -7.2 Other (income) expense, net (12) 260 (272) (Loss) income before income taxes (3,344) 8 (3,352) Pre-tax margin % -36.1% 0.0% -36.1% Income tax provision 40 40 - 0.0 Net loss (3,384) (32) (3,352) 10475.0 Loss (income) attributable to non-controlling interest 37 (45) 82 Net loss attributable to ETC (3,347) (77) (3,270) 4246.8 Preferred Stock dividends (242) (251) 9 -3.6 Loss attributable to common and participating shareholders $ (3,589) $ (328) $ (3,261) 994.2 Per share information: Basic earnings (loss) per common and participating share: Distributed earnings per share: Common $ - $ - $ - Preferred $ 0.04 $ 0.04 $ - 0.0 Undistributed loss per share: Common $ (0.23) $ (0.02) $ (0.21) 1050.0 Preferred $ (0.23) $ (0.02) $ (0.21) 1050.0 Diluted loss per share $ (0.23) $ (0.02) $ (0.21) 1050.0 Total basic weighted average common and participating shares 15,569 15,569 Total diluted weighted average shares 15,569 15,571 Table C ENVIRONMENTAL TECTONICS CORPORATION OTHER SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (amounts in thousands) Thirteen weeks ended Twenty-six weeks ended Twenty-seven weeks ended 28-Aug-20 30-Aug-19 28-Aug-20 30-Aug-19 EBITDA * $ (1,254 ) $ 915 $ (2,402 ) $ 954 As of 28-Aug-20 28-Feb-20 Working capital $ (2,633 ) $ 17,979 Total shareholders equity $ 4,493 $ 8,023 * In addition to disclosing financial results that are determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP), we also disclose Earnings Before Income Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). The presentation of a non-U.S. GAAP financial measure such as EBITDA is intended to enhance the usefulness of financial information by providing a measure that management uses internally to evaluate our expenses and operating performance and factors into several of our financial covenant calculations. A reader may find this item important in evaluating our performance. Management compensates for the limitations of using non-U.S. GAAP financial measures by using them only to supplement our U.S. GAAP results to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting our business. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Set to be presented on February 1, the government shall announce the Budget 2021 with a view to put in place a system-based governance and address the woes of different sectors of the economy. Through its innovative reform stratagems, the Centre has always tried to ensure that India evolves incessantly and has always been responsive to the needs of the taxpayers. With Budget 2021 just around the corner, it is time again for the government to meet the high expectations of pandemic-struck India. The SEZ boom is part of a new wave of industrial policies and response to increasing competition for internationally mobile investment. Three out of every four countries have at least one SEZ. Countries like China, Republic of Korea, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States are successful economies in leveraging SEZs to achieve far-reaching economic transformation. Since SEZs are key contributors of foreign exchange and employment, steps are needed to ensure that SEZs continue to draw investment. For reviving exports and making India competitive, the government should extend the sunset clause under section 10AA of the Income Tax Act for another 5 years. Also Read: Budget 2021: Measures FM Nirmala Sitharaman should announce to spur pandemic-hit economy Further, a reduced corporate tax rate of 15% is applicable to all new manufacturing entities. Worldwide, countries do not have a separate tax regime for the manufacturing and services sector. With limited fiscal impact, it would provide huge stimulus to service sector companies if such newly incorporated organisations are also brought in the net of the reduced rate. The need to strengthen our healthcare infrastructure has been highlighted by the COVID-19 crisis. In order to finance government relief measures towards vaccination, distribution infrastructure, grants to affected states and to provide a stimulus to the infrastructure sector, the government might consider issuing "tax-free Corona bonds" to be subscribed by the public at large, with an attractive return. Certain benefits such as exemption of tax on interest on corona bonds up to some limits, say Rs 2.5 lakh, could be considered by the government to prompt sizeable subscription by public. Budget 2021 As compared to other competing economies, India's expenditure on Research and Development (R&D) is quite low. While countries like the US, China, Israel, and Korea spend between 2.1-4.2%, India spends merely 0.6 - 0.7% of GDP on R&D activities. In order to make India self-sufficient and an export powerhouse, it is quintessential to invest in R&D. Extending weighted deduction of 150% beyond financial year 2020-21 under section 35(2AB) could incentivise companies engaged in scientific research. With the consolidation of twenty-nine central labour laws into four labour codes, a new labour law regime is expected to be unravelled in the near future. Fixed-term employment will see an important change. Tenure-based benefits, like the permanent workforce, will also be accorded to the employees engaged for a specified duration. In order to inspire industries to embrace the new model, the deduction under section 80JJAA may be expanded to cover such payments. Also Read: Budget 2021: Balance between fiscal prudence and growth will be key Lately, "faceless appeals scheme" was introduced under which, an assessee's request for a personal hearing is only possible in certain, yet to be prescribed circumstances and is subject to the approval of the Chief Commissioner or Director General of Income-tax. This might prove to be a hindrance, particularly in complex cases of cross-border taxation or interpretation of tax treaties where personal interactivity becomes crucial to explain a position on an issue. It will be challenging for taxpayers to explain, and for tax officials to understand, the complex business transactions and legal positions so adopted, merely by way of written submissions made online. Consequently, there would be a surge in litigation. The government may consider incorporating a mediation process whereby international investors can mediate their complex tax disputes within the territory of India. External, neutral mediators may be a part of the "process" of analysing tax laws and all relevant facts in detail to reach a legally binding final settlement, within a definite timeline, amongst all parties to the mediation. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government was swift to recognise and provide relief to the tax-residency related conditions for stranded individuals for the year ended March 31, 2020. Relief, which may be in the form of exemption for stay for a part of the year, say up to July/September, for all stranded individuals, might also be pronounced in the awaited budget for fiscal year 2021-22. Similarly, in order to avoid litigation, necessary clarification shall also be necessary in case of foreign companies that carry an exposure of constituting PE owing to unwanted stay of its employees in India. Tax policies must adapt to changing times to provide buoyancy and enable companies to undertake business in a time-bound and efficient manner. While expectations are plenty, it remains to be seen what the government has in store for taxpayers. (The author is Chairman, Nangia Andersen India.) The new strains are already here and circulating. The highly contagious United Kingdom variant of the coronavirus has been found in New Jersey and more than 20 other states. The Brazilian strain has now been detected in Minnesota. And experts fear the South African mutation could soon arrive. The variants continue to concern health officials, who worry the quickly mutating virus may render the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines less efficacious. The new strains arriving is concerning, especially if they are more contagious and/or if the vaccines turned out to be less effective, said Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. Coronavirus sequencing remains limited across the nation, so its unclear how prevalent the new strains truly are in the U.S., experts say. The U.K. variant was found in New Jersey long after it was suspected of being here, following cases in New York, Pennsylvania and other nearby states. The Garden State now has eight cases, including one death, officials announced Wednesday. And Monday, health officials discovered the Brazilian strain in Minnesota. The White House is extending travel bans on Europe and Brazil and will add South Africa. But even if travel bans are effective, its unlikely they will completely stop the strains from spreading within the U.S., experts say. And homegrown strains have already emerged in California and Ohio. Do I feel that border restrictions are going to prevent [spread] 100%? ... Chances are no, said Dr. Reynold Panettieri, vice chancellor for translational medicine and science at Rutgers University. However, it does represent a step in the right direction to prevent large quantities of the virus to enter the United States. Its not going to be a complete stop-gap measure, but it may be beneficial. Mutations were expected. The questions weighing on experts minds are whether the new, highly contagious variants are deadlier and if they can render coronavirus vaccines less effective. The first U.S. case of the Brazilian strain (P.1) involved a Minnesota resident with recent travel history to Brazil, according to the states health department. The strain is not only more contagious, but also poses the risk for reinfection because of a set of mutations that may affect its ability to be recognized by antibodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.K. strain (B.1.1.7) is expected to become the dominant variant in the U.S. by March. It is considered more transmissible, and experts now fear it could possibly be more virulent. If the latest British data really are true that its more deadly thats another obviously problem, Cennimo said. And the South African strain (501Y.V2) which has similarities to the U.K. strain is raising fears that it could render the vaccines less effective. Researchers studying the Moderna vaccine recently found a six-fold drop in levels of neutralizing antibodies against the South Africa variant, although they remain above levels that are expected to be protective, the pharmaceutical company said. In response, Moderna is testing a possible new booster dose against the strain. The Moderna news was sobering, illustrating not only that the virus is adapting more quickly than previously thought, but also that it may mutate in ways that can help it evade vaccines still rolling out across New Jersey and the nation. Further studies are being conducted in laboratories to firmly answer these questions such as whether the new variants could impact vaccine efficacy. They are running scenarios on how a variant could change the spike protein and make it invisible to the human immune system, Panettieri said. Some early data shows that the South African variant under laboratory testing does impact the efficacy of the vaccine. But researchers wont know for sure until the strain spreads and real-world data can be examined. Thats an uncomfortable place to be, but thats the truth, Panettieri said. But recent evidence (is) the spike protein is mutating, and it is mutating in an area of the protein that could make the vaccine less effective. We dont have clear evidence of that yet. And thats why, at the end of the day, I can say we dont know. But we will know with time. Cennimo voiced a similar sentiment, saying only time will tell how the virus strains react among the vaccinated. Cennimo, like many other experts, says the new strains change little in terms of halting the spread of COVID-19: Social distancing and mask-wearing remain critical components. Those measures effectively slowed the spread of the original strains, and that remains true for any new variants that arise, he said. For right now, and for the foreseeable future, its the same plan. Its the same mitigation strategy, Cennimo said. But he is keeping an eye on the new strains and children. Education officials continue to discuss whether all schools should reopen, as kids havent been the effective spreaders of the virus that experts initially feared at the dawn of the pandemic. But the U.K. variant is mutating to better infect people under 20, allowing teens and kids to be more effective carriers of the virus, according to some studies. That leaves Cennimo wondering how that could impact reopening efforts. There was some evidence that the virus might have mutated to acquire the ability to better infect the lungs of children, though that has not been proven yet, Cennimo said. But, anecdotally, that would fit with: You have more infections in children. So if thats the case, then children wouldnt be necessarily as protected as they have been, and relatively safe from infection. So you would have to redo your risk calculations to determine if schools were OK. There could be a scenario in which schools reopen just as the virus has figured out a way to better infect kids. It would be a worst-case scenario, but not an impossible one. Cennimo stressed he is just speculating, but noted he continues to watch the new mutations and their impact on children. So are other experts. If theres something that really is manifestly different where it really becomes a game-changer, that is something we would have to react to, Cennimo said. But were not really seeing that yet. Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The countrys agricultural output contracted 3.8% in the last three months of 2020 from the same period the previous year as farms produced less livestock, fish and crops during the period, data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority on Wednesday showed. The last quarter figure brought agricultural output for the entire 2020 down 1.2% from the meager 0.3% growth recorded in 2019. The October to December drop reflected declines in the production of crops, livestock, poultry, and fisheries. This is worse than the 0.1% contraction logged during the same period in 2019. However, farm output is valued at 503.81 billion, higher by 5% than the previous years 404.96 billion. PSA data showed average farmgate prices per kilo went up this quarter compared to the same period a year ago. The latest plunge comes after positive growths from two prior consecutive quarters, with farm output growing 0.5% in the second quarter and 0.7% in the third quarter. Livestock, which contributed 15.4% in total agricultural output, was the worst hit among all productions, plunging 12.9% during the quarter. Carabao output fell 17.3%, followed by hogs, which slid 13.8%. Cattle and goat livestock also posted declines of 7.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Dairy production, however, expanded 12.7% during the quarter. In sum, livestock was valued at 85.27 billion for the period. Poultry came next in terms of output contraction, dropping 5.5% from October to December. Duck eggs and chicken eggs grew 4.4% and 0.4%, respectively, while duck output expanded 3.7%. However, these werent enough to offset the 7.9% drop in chicken output for the quarter. Poultry comprised 12.2% of farm production during the period, logging a total value of 69.01 billion. Fisheries, which churned out 14.5% of agricultural output, fell 4.7%. Fimbrated sardines posted the worst contraction at 35.9%, with production of blue crab, threadfin bream, tiger prawn, tilapia and yellowfin tuna also posting double-digit contractions. Production of other fisheries also fell 5.7%, the PSA noted. Still, Bali sardinella output grew 29.2% during the period along with cavalla, milkfish and bigeye tuna. All in all, these bring output value to 74.05 billion. Crops, the biggest contributor to total farm output at 57.9%, posted the smallest decline at 0.4%. Palay and corn production dropped 1.4% and 0.3%, respectively. Tomato output was also badly hit, logging a negative 7.6% growth. Ampalaya, egpplant, potato, and calamansi production recorded decreases as well along with other crops, PSA data showed. Tobacco and sugarcane, however, led the crops posting growths during the quarter, expanding 13.4% and 10%, respectively. Cacao, sweet potato, onion, coffee, cabbage, rubber, and abaca production also grew during the period, with output for the subsector reaching 275.48 billion. Back-to-back typhoons in October and November inflicted much damage to the agriculture industry, leaving billions of pesos in damages to crops. Before this, farmers had also been dealing with exceptionally low palay prices with the entry of cheap rice imports. The Agriculture Department has set a 2.5% growth target for the industry in 2021, banking on further integration of technology in agriculture to boost production and further improve delivery of service to beneficiaries along with connectivity. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he is pushing state lawmakers to protect individuals and companies that opened businesses during the pandemic against coronavirus-related lawsuits. While the governor did not provide specifics about what protections he wants businesses to have, he said his focus is on reducing lawsuits and creating more jobs. He told a table of business leaders on Jan. 26 in San Antonio that businesses have gone above and beyond to remain open during the pandemic. And yet those same businesses, they face the threat of potential lawsuits for the fact that they opened up, he said. Many workers in Texas, however, have already registered coronavirus complaints with the federal government: Texans have filed at least 917 coronavirus-related complaints against employers with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Without providing a reason, OSHA has closed 820 of those cases as of Jan. 10. U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, unsuccessfully pushed for federal legislation that would have included similar civil liability protections for businesses. But legislative provisions Cornyn authored were not included in Congress latest coronavirus relief package. We cant rely on Congress to do the job for us, said George Christian, senior counsel with Texas Civil Justice League, which advocates for business protections and tort reform. Even if something finally happens in Washington, this legislation is stronger and permanent, so that no Texan has to worry about a lawsuit unless they did something knowingly and with flagrant disregard for appropriate public health protocols. While Abbott has allowed businesses to stay open for in-person operations during the worst of the pandemic intensive care units are completely full in more than 50 hospitals across the state businesses, workers and consumers have long said they have been confused by the governors patchwork of coronavirus-related rules. He has implemented, reversed and tweaked several orders throughout the course of the pandemic that have simultaneously varied widely by county and region, depending on the pandemics grip on a particular area. In the spring, the state was among the countrys first to reopen in-person business in order to spur what Abbott and other state leaders hoped would be a strong economic recovery. But now, a year after the first known coronavirus case emerged in Texas, the states unemployment rate remains over 7% worse than the national unemployment rate and near Great Recession levels as the uneven and unequal economic recovery continues. The Texas Civil Justice League has drafted a one-page framework outlining some of what lawmakers may tackle. Christian said state Sen. Kelly Hancock will champion the legislative effort in the upper chamber. Hancock, a North Richmond Hills Republican, chairs the Senate Business and Commerce Committee. Christian said potential legislation is still being finalized. Neither the offices of Abbott nor Hancock responded to requests for comment. At the meeting with business leaders in San Antonio, Abbott also emphasized Texas need to improve statewide broadband internet access, which is currently under threat after a state fund that subsidizes rural network service is bleeding money and the state is cutting the amount of money it typically pays out to these service providers. Another thing that the pandemic has taught us is that broadband access is not a luxury, Abbott said. It is an essential tool for businesses, for education, as well as for accessing health care. We must use this session to ensure that every ZIP code in the state of Texas has access to broadband access. Abbott did not specify legislation to improve broadband access, but he said he generally wants Texas to cut red tape. Abbott has asked lawmakers to review every law he temporarily suspended during the pandemic, such as allowing the sale of alcohol to go. Carla Astudillo contributed to this story. Disclosure: Texas Civil Justice League has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Gov. Greg Abbott pushes Legislature to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits was first published at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/26/texas-greg-abbott-coronavirus-liability/ by The Texas Tribune. Topics Lawsuits Texas Darlene Reina had been considering running for city councilor in Chicopee but after the response to a current city councilor writing offensive statements regarding sexual assault on Facebook, she knew her plans had to be accelerated. Her campaign is not actually about him, in fact Reina doesnt even consider herself to be running against the current Ward 3 councilor Lucjan Galecki. Shes running for her ward, her neighbors and representation, she said. Its about making sure that theres representation on our city council, where actions like his wouldnt have happened to begin with or if they did, that there would have been a resounding censure or condemnation against those comments, Reina said. In December, Galecki placed the blame in cases of sexual assault on victims in a series of comments shared on Facebook. The comments first appeared in response to a Facebook post by Kaween Fernando, who ran against Galecki for the Ward 3 seat in 2019. The posts have since been removed after Galecki deleted them because none of you read it thoroughly, you skimmed thru it. If they knew it was likely that it would happen and they were warned to stay away from those areas but they went instead, its completely their fault, Galecki wrote in one comment. Chicopee City Councilor Lucjan Galecki wrote a series of Facebook comments on multiple Facebook posts about sexual assault on Tuesday. In response to one woman, he said, If you voluntarily put yourself in harms way, dont be surprised if something bad happens to you. At one point Galecki compares women getting sexually assaulted, especially in sketchy nightclubs, to going hiking in an area littered with hungry grizzly bears, asking, Would you be surprised if you were attacked? City leaders originally told MassLive that at the time they had little recourse in seeking his removal, as the city doesnt have a recall provision. Although Council President Shane Brooks did ask Galecki to resign and removed him from all subcommittees. Galecki has stated he has no plans to resign, and is likely running again in November. The comments sparked a protest earlier this month, with demonstrators calling for him to resign immediately. We want to have a community conversation since (Galecki) has really opened a lot of wounds and created a lot of hurt, organizer Jeannette Rivera said. If he is not willing to resign, what is he willing to do to heal this? City leaders are now looking at ways to change the city charter, including adding a recall provision. But Reina, 28, who is now working with Brooks to continue conversations around sexual assault, wanted to see more action from her city right away. These comments are made by a white man and then were expecting other white men to hold them accountable, she said. She said she had even emailed Galecki and Brooks in July about updating the city charter a request that was completely ignored, she said. If we have a code of ethics, but we cant uphold them, or we cant hold someone accountable to uphold them, then why do we have them, she said. The 13-member board has not had a female councilor since Lucille Ouimette stepped down in 2005. Beating an incumbent is hard work, Laura McCarthy, who served as councilor from 1996 to 1997, previously told The Republican. You are putting yourself out there and you have to have a personality that is more sociable and likable. She said she went door-to-door to talk to voters when she was running, a similar plan to Reina. Its going to involve good old fashioned door knocking, which hopefully in the summer will be a lot safer with social distancing and vaccines, Reina said. But just making my face known out there and hopefully reaching residents. Darlene Reina is running for Chicopee City Councilor but shes also supporting a "slate of candidates" including women and people of color. Reina is a University of Massachusetts graduate and information technology analyst at Greenfield Community College. Shes very passionate about voter registration and has worked on the campaign for Adam Gomez. Shes also lived in Chicopee for about four years, she said. But beyond representation as a woman, Reina is also Latina. I do a lot of like bilingual community outreach to reach a lot of the people in the community who come from a Spanish speaking household or Spanish as their first language, she said. Im really passionate about that. She said she believes theres something really powerful in being able to see yourself in local leadership. For example, Reina considers her moms English to be perfect. But she knows her mom can get intimidated talking to a native English speaker in a position of power. Twenty percent of our population is Latino, over 50% of our population is women, and we dont have any of that represented our city council, she said. But shes not putting all her eggs in one basket either. Shes actually encouraging others to run against her. Im planning on running but Im not going to be the only woman on ballot, she said. Its going to be a local coalition of residents who simply want to see more representation on the city council. Nomination papers for the November election will be available Feb. 1, City Clerk Keith Rattell said. Although not everyone has announced that theyre running, Reina is encouraging a number of others to join her. Im hoping that therell be a whole slate of people with different identities intersecting at different areas running for city council, so it doesnt all fall on one person to be everything for everyone, she said. Even if shes not elected in November, itll be about continuing to support others and engaging our young people, engaging our youth, engaging our residents who havent been represented, and organizing them, talking to them. Reina knows, city councilor or not, by just being part of the conversation, she can make a difference. People see that someone who looks like you is out there and engaging the community, others will want to join, Reina said. And being open and transparent to ideas I mean thats a powerful thing, is having others feel heard and I really want to make sure I bring that at all levels. If you are a victim of sexual assault or rape, help is available. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Christine Dacera died due to natural causes, according to a medico legal report submitted Wednesday during the preliminary investigation into her death. "The ruptured aortic aneurysm will remain the cause of death as shown in the autopsy findings," the report of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory dated January 11 said, It added that while aneurysm a defect in the arterial blood vessel wall is common among the elderly due to atherosclerosis, it could also happen in younger persons due to other reasons. In Dacera's case the report explained that increased blood pressure within her aorta "further weakened that defect, and eventually burst" it. This led to blood loss and symptoms including weakness and nausea, it said. "The loss of blood due to the ruptured aorta killed her within a few hours. The dilatation or aneurysm started (a) long time ago or maybe years, prior to her death. No alcohol or recreational drugs taken the night prior to her death will cause that kind of dilatation or defect on her aorta," it went on to say. Dacera's heart also weighed 500 grams, larger than the normal 300 grams, which the report said supported her apparently undiagnosed hypertension. Homicide has been ruled out as the cause of death. Atty. Jose Leda, the lawyer of the Dacera family said they have not read the documents submitted at Wednesday's preliminary hearing. "We always base our moves and actions sa documents na hawak namin. But it doesn't mean that the family and family counsel will not exhaust all possible legal remedies para ma-seek yung justice na hinahanap ng pamilya," he told reporters. [Translation: We always base our move and actions on the documents that we have. But it doesn't mean that the family and family counsel will not exhaust all possible legal remedies to seek justice for the family.] Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the toxicology report of the National Bureau of Investigation's forensic team is ready but would leave it to them to disclose their findings. Dacera was found unconscious in the bathtub of her hotel room in Makati City following a New Year's Eve revelry. She was brought to the Makati Medical Center where she was declared dead on arrival reportedly due to ruptured aortic aneurysm. TIMELINE: The Christine Dacera case CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report. A miracle baby who was born 15 weeks prematurely and weighed just 1lb 11oz has defied the odds to beat E. coli, sepsis and Covid-19. Archie Edwards left his parents Sheree Murray and Robert Edwards, both 21, fearing he was going to die after he was born without a heartbeat at Burnley General Hospital in Lancashire on December 1. Medics resuscitated the stillborn baby after 40 minutes of chest compressions before they placed him on a ventilator - which Mr Edwards said 'felt like an eternity'. The tiny fighter had yet another scare at just five weeks old when he suddenly caught E. coli, a bacterial infection, which led to sepsis. Further tests revealed the baby had also contracted Covid - and is thought to be one of the youngest babies to contract the virus in Britain at just 25 weeks gestation. Archie Edwards left his parents (pictured) Sheree Murray and Robert Edwards, both 21, fearing he was going to die after he was born without a heartbeat on December 1 His terrified parents said they feared they were going to lose their first child and were left 'hoping and praying' he would pull through. Ms Murray said that she had 'always dreamed' of having a baby and had feared the worst. But the brave child fought off both Covid and sepsis and is currently recovering at Burnley General Hospital's NICU unit. It is hoped he will return home in March. Medics resuscitated the stillborn baby after 40 minutes of chest compressions before they placed him on a ventilator - which Mr Edwards said 'felt like an eternity' The tiny fighter had yet another scare at just five weeks old when he suddenly caught E. coli, a bacterial infection, which led to sepsis Ms Murray, from Colne, Lancashire., said: 'In the beginning I was shocked more than anything as I had no complications during the pregnancy. 'But when we were told about his heartbeat and then the sepsis and covid it was all terrifying. 'I've always wanted to be a mum so I was absolutely over the moon when I found out I was pregnant - and we didn't want to lose him. 'But he's a fighter, and holding him for the first time felt completely surreal. He was very light, I had him on my chest, the only thing I felt was his head. 'It was the only thing that made it feel like it was real. I'm so happy with the progress he's made, I'm so proud of him.' Further tests revealed the baby had also contracted Covid - and is thought to be one of the youngest babies to contract the virus in Britain at just 25 weeks gestation Mr Edwards said they had no indication Archie would be premature as Ms Murray showed no symptoms and were 'totally shocked' when she suddenly began to feel crippling pain on Nov 30. He said she was in so much pain that he thought she was going to have a miscarriage. She was at her sister's home when her water broke and she was rushed to hospital - and just 55 minutes later Archie was born. The tot was born at 25 weeks at Burnley General Hospital weighing just over 1lb - and was covered in more blood than Robert had 'ever seen'. Mr Edwards said they had no indication Archie would be premature as Ms Murray showed no symptoms and were 'totally shocked' when she suddenly began to feel crippling pain But the baby has since recovered, and Robert described the moment he held his tiny hand for the first time as the 'greatest moment' in his life. Mr Edwards said: 'My head was completely blank. When I saw the blood I've never been so scared in my life and I was just hoping and praying. 'They couldn't find a heartbeat, I thought I'd lost my firstborn son. 'It was so scary. 'I just stood by Sheree's side and just telling her she was doing so well. 'They rushed him on to this table in the same room, he wasn't even two metres away from me. 'They turned this heater on and they took 40 minutes to resuscitate him. 'But It felt like an eternity. My son was just there, and I felt completely helpless because I couldn't do anything. The baby has since recovered, and Robert described the moment he held his tiny hand for the first time as the 'greatest moment' in his life 'It took them so long I wanted to do something for him. I was getting upset.. I just sat down next to Sheree and prayed. 'When they said he had a heartbeat I've never felt so grateful in my life.' Archie's fight was far from over as at five weeks old he fell sick again and caught E. coli which led to sepsis. Doctors began to test him aggressively which is when they discovered the tot had also contracted coronavirus. Mr Edwards said he was 'frightened to death' when he heard his boy tested positive for the killer virus. Little Archie was rushed to the ICU at five weeks old and placed on a ventilator for two weeks to save his life. Mr Edwards said it was heartbreaking he wasn't able to be by his son's side or hold his hand for two weeks as he was placed in self-isolation. Doctors began to test him aggressively which is when they discovered the tot had also contracted coronavirus. Mr Edwards said he was 'frightened to death' when he heard his boy tested positive for the killer virus He said: 'He was five weeks old when he got E. coli, and his lungs were collapsing and they were starting to struggle with what to do. 'They did a Covid swab which came back positive. 'His lungs were going white, and I honestly thought we were going to lose him in those ten days. I was frightened to death. 'When we were told he had Covid we thought it was going to be the last of it - it was the scariest moment of our lives.' Archie, who's due date was March 14, 2021, will hopefully be able to return home around that time. But Mr Edwards said he already feels like the 'proudest dad in the world'. The construction worker said: 'I feel like the proudest dad in the world at the moment with everything he's had to go through, everything Ms Murray has done. Mr Edwards said it was heart-breaking he wasn't able to be by his son's side or hold his hand for two weeks as he was placed in self-isolation 'We've got an amazing bond. I'm a father to a beautiful boy called Archie. It's the greatest feeling in the world. 'Holding him in my arms was the greatest moment in my life.' The parents were not allowed to see him together so they took turns driving to the hospital - Ms Murray in the mornings and Mr Edwards in the evenings. Mr Edwards, who has been with Ms Murray for five years, said: 'We weren't allowed to go together due to Covid. 'We had to come home every night but we went to see him every day. Sheree went in the morning and I went at night. 'He's got no infections whatsoever now. He's still in hospital and he will stay until about March so we will continue to see him one at a time. 'And I cannot wait to have him home with us - safe and sound. He's our miracle baby and we couldn't be prouder of him.' .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE For years, New Mexico governors have been able to squash bills passed during the final days of a legislative session simply by not acting upon them. But that would change under a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the pocket veto that cleared its first Senate committee on Wednesday with bipartisan backing. Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, the sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 2, said the current system allows the governor to veto bills without providing any explanation, which would change if the proposal is ultimately enacted. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ This is an unnecessary anti-transparency and anti-good government provision in our state Constitution, Candelaria said Wednesday. Republican senators also voiced support for the proposal, which passed the Senate Rules Committee 8-1, with Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, casting the dissenting vote. Its not a partisan issue its a legislative versus executive issue, said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque. Under the Constitution, the governor has 20 days after a sessions end to act on bills passed during the sessions final three days. Any bills that are not signed or vetoed during that period are automatically vetoed. Pocket vetoes have been used frequently by some New Mexico governors. In her first year in office in 2011, former Gov. Susana Martinez pocket-vetoed 65 bills out of 98 total vetoes. The Legislature filed a lawsuit against Martinez in 2017 challenging her vetoes of 10 bills. The state Supreme Court ultimately invalidated the vetoes a year later, ruling that the then-governor had not followed the proper constitutional procedures. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who issued 15 pocket vetoes during her first two years in office, opposes this years proposal, with the Governors Office arguing it would intrude into the governors executive authority and disrupt the balance of power among the branches of government. Its unclear what the resolution is attempting to express beyond the animus of its sponsor, Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett said Wednesday. The governor has pocketed bills in accordance with the authority afforded her by the state Constitution sparingly, and her veto messages have been thorough. However, Lujan Grisham would not ultimately be able to veto the proposal. Thats because, if approved by both the House and Senate during this years 60-day, it would go before statewide voters for final approval, likely in November 2022. Thirty years from now, what will historians consider the most consequential event of January 2021 the storming of the U.S. Capitol by an insurrectionist mob, or Alexei Navalnys heroic return to Moscow, followed by his immediate arrest? In a broad sense, the two events are about the same thing: the future of freedom. In one version of the future, the assault on the Capitol marks the point at which the forces of illiberalism, mob violence and disinformation, much of it stoked and financed by the Russian government, reached critical mass in the West. In another version, the assault will be remembered as a historical anomaly when compared with the recovery of freedom in places where it once seemed lost not just Russia but also China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. How can President Joe Biden move history toward the second version? By pursuing a foreign policy that puts dissidents first. A common view of dissidents is that they are a humanitarian problem, but one that gets in the way of more important issues. Hillary Clinton gave voice to this view when, on her way to Beijing as secretary of state in 2009, she insisted that human rights questions cant interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis. This isnt cynicism, but rather a version of the utilitarian idea that doing the greatest good for the greatest number always takes precedence over the immediate interests of a handful of people. But thats wrong, and not just philosophically. Dissidents matter to the U.S. strategically. The dictatorships that most threaten the free world are too powerful to be brought down militarily. Nor are they likely to moderate their behavior thanks to economic prosperity or reformers working within the system. Anyone in doubt on this score need only look at Chinas recent trajectory as an ever richer and ever more repressive regime. What can bring dictatorships down is a credible domestic opposition that galvanizes public indignation through acts of exposure, mockery and heroic defiance. That defiance highlights the hypocrisies of the regime while demonstrating the possibilities of challenging it. International pressure alone was not sufficient to bring down the apartheid government in South Africa. It took Nelson Mandela. Economic decay alone was not sufficient to bring down the communist regimes in Poland and Czechoslovakia. It took Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel. The Soviet Union might be standing today had it not been for Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov and Natan Sharansky. What is happening to Navalny is of a piece with that history. After barely surviving a brazen assassination attempt in August, Navalny duped one of his alleged would-be killers and extracted an unwitting confession. He followed up with an investigative video on the lavish lifestyle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, complete with a billion-dollar palace on the Black Sea, thats been viewed north of 70 million times. That Putin felt compelled to publicly deny owning the palace while facing nationwide protests over Navalnys arrest is a reminder of how much more he has to fear from one man with courage than from any other form of pressure. A dissident is to a dictatorship what a bald fact is to an edifice of lies, the revelation of which causes the whole thing to crumble. Whats true of Navalny in Russia is true of Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong in Hong Kong. Its true of Ilham Tohti and Xu Zhiyong in mainland China. Its true of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Alireza Alinejad in Iran. Its true of Jose Daniel Ferrer in Cuba and Leopoldo Lopez of Venezuela. Those, among many others, are names that should mean something to any reader of The Times who cares about the recovery of freedom in the world. These should also be names that Biden, his secretary of state nominee, Antony Blinken; and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, should make inextricable parts of American statecraft. Should China want U.S. tariffs eased? Negotiable but not while Lai faces trial and Tohti is in prison. Would Russia like to see U.S. sanctions eased on Kremlin-favored oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska? Conceivable but not while Navalny is under arrest and has to fear for his life. Would Iran like to resume nuclear negotiations? Then let Sotoudeh, Alinejad and every other political case in Evin Prison go. In that connection, it beggars belief that the White House is reportedly considering former diplomat Robert Malley as a special envoy for Iran. Malley is widely seen as one of Tehrans premier apologists in Washington; in November 2019 he went so far as to suggest that massive public protests in Iran justified Tehrans paranoia about an Israeli-Saudi-U.S. plot. A Malley appointment would signal that, on the things that matter most, Bidens foreign policy will be coldly transactional. It neednt be that way. A dissidents-first foreign policy would immediately revive Americas moral leadership after its squandering under Donald Trump. It would force our adversaries to choose between their material interests and their habits of repression. And it would provide a margin of safety and maneuver for the dissidents wed one day like to see in power. As foreign policy doctrines go, its more than decent. Its smart. Stephens is a columnist for the New York Times. It says something about the fluid nature of truth in public life these days that few believe Scott Morrison when he says he wont call an election this year. Should he announce an election, say, six months from now itll be met with a shrug because, well, what did you expect? Thats politics. Similarly, you have to work pretty hard to convince yourself that Bill Shorten means it when he declares that Labor can win under the leadership of Anthony Albanese, who is doing a good solid job and that hes not interested in replacing his long-time nemesis. Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Within the historic social drama that comes with living through a once-in-100-years pandemic, our national politics are small. Some of that is down to the need to just get through uncertain times, dealing with challenges as they come. But its also because of the leaders we have. Those who argue that there is too much attention paid to leaders and leadership manoeuvrings should take a good hard look at the Morrison government and the Albanese opposition. Both are near-complete manifestations of their leaders. Neither appears guided by a big animating policy idea or philosophical credo. Both are constrained and compromised by their partys recent past. If theyre guided by a coherent, expansive plan for what Australia should look like 10 or 15 years from now, its been kept well-hidden. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Arriver today presents the capabilities of its next generation software stack for Advanced Driver Assistance and (ADAS) and semi-autonomous driving. The presentation by Arriver's Head of Technology, Salah Hadi at Qualcomm's annual Automotive Summit outlines how Arriver will provide a leading software stack enabling Level 1 ADAS to Level 3 semi-autonomous driving in 2024. Arriver is developing this next generation software stack to be an open, flexible and scalable solution which will allow automotive manufacturers and automotive suppliers to, based on a robust software platform, tailor and customize solutions to their specific needs based on their individual product development strategies. The software stack consists of a fifth-generation perception stack which is built on almost two decades of development of vision-based perception. The fifth generation will provide high resolution, using 8-megapixel cameras, allowing for higher framerates and provide a wider field of view of 120 degrees, compared to today's solutions. The Arriver stack will provide full NCAP ratings and include features like Automatic Cruise Control, Pilot Assist, Glare Free High Beam, Lane Keep Assist, and Traffic Jam Assist supported by state of the art deep learning based detection functions like full 3D vehicle detection, pedestrians, bicycles, motor cycles as well as traffic signs, traffic lights. On top of that it will enable innovative solutions for determining drive free space and challenging police restricted and road work scenarios. The development uses the next generation of Arriver's Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which is up to 100 time more powerful than the current generation and will allow for the higher accuracy necessary for Level 3 applications and beyond, when the car takes over responsibility for the driver. The Arriver software will include up-to-date fusion capabilities, catering for simultaneous input from a number of different sensor types beyond vision, including radar, lidar, driver monitoring, thermal sensing, and ultrasonic sensor for short range (parking) application. Arriver's second generation drive policy; which will drive the vehicles decision making and actuation of the cars movement; will be developed and offered as part of the full software solution. The drive policy stack will further allow for up to 12 cameras, creating a high resolution, real time image of the environment around the vehicle. This capability will pave the way for fully autonomous driving in most scenarios and be Level 3 and higher capable from its introduction in production vehicles by 2024. Using the latest artificial intelligence and deep learning techniques both the perception and drive policy software will be able to support active learning, allowing for improved functionality over time with limited need for human interaction. In addition, Arriver is using advanced annotation concepts like non-causal stereo vision for automatic ground truth generation, leveraging the strong stereo vision knowledge and extensive data base. Non-causal stereo is moving detailed stereo information from future frames to the current frame, generating accurate ground truth for training and validation. As its main System on a Chip (SoC) hardware platform Arriver will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride platform expanded to support all tiers from L1 to L3 and above systems, which will bring industry leading performance and power management and a range of options allowing for a scalable system suitable for mass market cars as well as pushing the envelope for what is possible in the high-end premium vehicle market. In summary, Arriver software will be scalable and flexible, delivering industry leading performance in a new way not available in the market today. The software is going to be available to all auto manufacturers and Tier1 suppliers, and this will allow car manufacturers to create fantastic driving experience tailored to their own specific needs. The Technology Deep Dive will be presented by Salah Hadi at Qualcomm's automotive day on January 27, 2021. For more information please contact: Thomas Jonsson, EVP Communications & IR, [email protected], tel +46 (0)8 527 762 27 Arriver Arriver, a new software unit and brand which will be fully focused on further developing perception, fusion and drive policy software for the next generation cars. It builds on more than a decade of experience in Active Safety software development and will deliver an open, scalable and flexible architecture solution running on Qualcomm Snapdragon Ride System on a Chip (SoC) platform. Arriver is a wholly owned unit within Veoneer (NYSE: VNE and SSE: VNE-SDB) This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/arriver/r/arriver--tm--presents-software-stack-for-advanced-driver-assistance-and-semi-autonomous-driving,c3274988 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Arriver Continuing his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the border stand off with China, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused him of 'weakening' and 'destroying' the country and claimed that "for the first time" Chinese troops were "sitting inside Indian territory". On a two-day visit to Kerala, where Assembly elections are to be held in the next few months, he virtually kicked off the campaign of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and also slammed the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, alleging their policies have caused 'damage' to the state. Addressing UDF conventions at Thana and Nilambur in Malappuram district, forming part of his Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Gandhi also alleged RSS was spreading hatred and it was responsible for 'collapse' of the country's economy. "You know the damage the Prime Minister is doing to the fabric of the nation. For the first time, Chinese troops are sitting inside Indian territory. Our economy, one of the best performing in the world, has collapsed. Our youngsters simply cannot get jobs. This is the result of the ideologyof the RSS," he said. "Of course the Prime Minister is incompetent, but the real cause of this failure is the hatred the RSS is spreading in the country", the former Congress president said. Targeting Modi, he asked what happened to his "56 inch chest when the Chinese troops came inside the country. The Prime Minister has not said a wordabout China in the past six months," Gandhi said. "The Prime minister has divided the country and spread hatred and so the Chinese have decided to come inside the country they know the PM has weakened India and they have correctly assessed that he cannot stand up to them", the Congress leader alleged in Nilambur. He also claimed Modi has "destroyed" the country through the demonetisation and 'flawed' Goods and Services Tax (GST). Turning to the LDF, the principal rival of the Congress in the state, the MP told the gathering that "You have faced the Left front every day and you know the damage their policies have done to Kerala." Congratulating those who won in the local body polls and those who put up a fight and lost, he said the grassroot elections were becoming more and more important as they represent "true voices" of the people since the representatives were closer to them. Gandhi said when senior state Congress leaders had come to Delhi, he had told them that the UDF must view this election as special, as an election which will give Kerala a vision to go go forward. The vision should be built at the ground level from the people itself. The UDF would prepare a "mass manifesto" by capturing the imagination of the people of the state. "We should speak to farmers, labourers, youngsters, women, students on what they are expecting from the UDF and we should pledge that we will give what they want," he said. While selecting candidates, there should also be a balance between experience and youth as they represent the present and future respectively. "Our candidates should reflect this and inspire the people," he said adding the process by which the candidates were chosen should be transparent. This would be a transforming election and there was need to make the party manifesto a people's manifesto, he said. "In this election we should give the best advantage to the youngsters. I understand there is a place for experience and I also understand there is need for giving opportunities to youngsters who are our future," he said. The party would ensure that it not only won in the election, but sweep it, Gandhi added. Gandhialso dedicated various medical equipment, including multi-parameter monitor and portable ventilator, bought for the district hospital in Nilambur utilising his MP local area development scheme funds. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo withdrew his application for the San Jose police departments top job Tuesday, one day after he was announced as a finalist. Chief Medaria Arradondo has opted to remove himself from the San Jose police chief recruitment process, San Jose City Manager David Sykes said in a statement Tuesday evening. Sykes did not give a reason for Arradondos abrupt withdrawal. Arradondo led the Minneapolis police department during the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd, whose death ignited protests and renewed calls for police reform across the country. The Minneapolis police chief was one of six finalists selected to lead the San Jose police, and the only one from outside the region. Four candidates from within the department are vying for the top job alongside Piedmont chief Jeremy Bowers, who spent two decades as an officer in San Jose. We need a Chief who leans in proactively reducing crime, building relationships in the community, innovating new approaches to policing, and pushing for greater accountability and transparency, said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in a statement. Weve got much work to do, and the passive, bureaucratic, and conventional-thinking need not apply. A call to Arradondos secretary Natasha Hanson was not returned. The police chief finalists were selected from 18 applicants and were chosen after a screening interview and a review of their qualifications, Sykes said Monday in a statement. We are reevaluating our next steps and will release information once we have explored options, Sykes said Tuesday of Arradondos withdrawal. The city will hold a virtual candidate forum for the five remaining candidates at 10 a.m. Saturday. Members of the public are encouraged to submit questions in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@NMishanec A young businessman has shared footage of the disgusting moment a stranger urinated on his $80,000 BMW. Leo Alhalabi caught the stranger relieving himself on his car's back left tyre outside a property in Melbourne on January 14. The horrified digital marketing guru, 24, confronted the man, who had parked his white Toyota behind the flashy M4 in broad daylight on the quiet suburban street. 'Why did you park specifically here to piss on my car? Is it because it's a nice car?' Mr Alhalabi asked the man, as seen in a video he shared on Instagram. Pictured: Businessman Leo Alhalabi, 24, with his prized BMW M4 at a petrol station As the stranger stuttered and stumbled through his replies, Mr Alhalabi probed further, asking: 'Why piss here?' 'I was just pissing there because I haven't got a bathroom,' the man replied. Mr Alhalabi stifled a laugh and said: 'You don't have a bathroom so you piss on my car?' Pictured: The stranger urinating on Mr Alhalabi's $80,000 BMW in mid-January in Melbourne Mr Alhalabi confronted the stranger in the street and asked why he drove up to the expensive vehicle to relieve himself The man repeatedly apologised and offered to wash the tyre. Mr Alhalabi agreed to let him rinse the urine off the wheel and promised not to 'do anything' to him. 'Life is all about forgiveness, okay? So I'm not going to do anything to you,' he said, triggering a wave of grovelling apologies from the stranger. When the man said 'there is no bathroom in the city, Mr Alhalabi's friend chimed in and said: 'There's a tree. A car's not to piss on'. The stranger drove up to the BMW in his white Toyota (left), parked behind it and urinated on the tyre (right) The businessman called police, who said there was nothing they could do about it. At the end of the video, Mr Alhalabi congratulated himself for keeping his cool during the confrontation. He wrote: Don't let people trick you out of your position. I'll take the no assault charges or jail time.' 'Despite how much they may have deserved it.' People in the comments praised the businessman for remaining calm. Pictured: The stranger washing the BMW tyre with a cloth and a bottle of water in Melbourne The businessman called the police, who said there was nothing they could do about it (pictured right) 'Your kidding wow! Dont know how you kept your cool,' one user wrote. 'If I were you, I would have gone out and p*ssed on his shoes,' another added. 'As if man... you handled the situation like a champ wow,' someone else said. Another man questioned the authenticity of the video, claiming it was suspicious how quickly the stranger was able to finish urinating and turn to face the man. A video posted on January 31 last year showed Mr Alhalabi unwrapping the brand new BMW he's been 'dreaming' of buying for four years. 'I bought my dream car today...an M4!' he wrote in the caption. 'For those who know me, know how much of a huge moment this is. I thought Id get you at 25, managed to do so at 23.' 'Dreams do come true, I know because I pictured this moment a thousand times in my mind.' Chicago, IL, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Two by Four, an advertising agency with offices in Chicago and San Francisco, announced today that they have been named the agency of record by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). The AOA is the nations largest professional organization dedicated to the osteopathic profession, the fastest growing health care profession in the country. Representing more than 151,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students in the U.S., the AOA helps advance the distinctive philosophy and practice of osteopathic medicine. The profession, which is more than a century old, has grown rapidly in recent decades. The number of osteopathic physicians expanded 63 percent over the last 10 years and nearly 300 percent in the past 30 years. Today, one in four of all U.S. medical students attends an osteopathic medical school. Two by Four will partner with the AOA to increase visibility and understanding of osteopathic medicine and the role of osteopathic physicians (DOs) in the U.S. health care system. The scope includes creative, production, strategy, media, public relations and account management. We have tasked Two by Four with creating disruptive marketing that clearly communicates the distinctive value of the osteopathic profession, said Kevin Klauer, DO, EJD, CEO of the American Osteopathic Association. DOs account for approximately 11 percent of all physicians in the United States and hold some of the most prominent positions in health care todayits time for this to be understood on a much wider scale. Founded in 1998, Two by Fours work has created a lasting impression for brands like Wrangler, TimberTech, NCAA, Ubisoft, Dupont, Duke University and Getty Museum. Reliable health care options are critical today more than ever. With Dr. Klauer and the entire team at AOA, we are eager to help the public better understand how osteopathic medicine provides a holistic-approach to health and wellness, said David Stevenson, CEO and Chief Creative Officer at Two by Four. We welcome the opportunity to showcase the comprehensive medical care accomplished by DOs and the American Osteopathic Association. ### About Two by Four Two by Four has offices in Chicago and San Francisco. Core services include brand strategy, advertising, design, corporate identity, naming, interactive, promotions, experiential, internal marketing, public relations, research, media, direct response and social media content creation, curation and community management. For more information about Two by Four please visit twoxfour.com, become a fan of our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter or just bring us donuts. About the AOA The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 151,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages and funds scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for colleges of osteopathic medicine. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. [January 27, 2021] The RCMP takes part in an international operation to neutralize Emotet MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ - This week, the RCMP participated in an international cybercrime operation to neutralize Emotet malware. The Cybercrime Investigative Team, in collaboration with RCMP technical operations specialists, led the Canadian component of this complex investigation. In Project CIPHER, which began in March 2020, the RCMP developed specialized techniques making it possible to seize critical digital evidence for the benefit of all investigative partners. Coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, the operation also involved Dutch, German, French, British, American, Lithuanian and Ukrainian authorities. Thanks to their coordinated efforts, police made the malware infrastructure inaccessible by taking down the servers that enable it to function. A total of 13 servers that command and control Emotet were located in Canada. Simultaneously, 50 additional servers were blocked around the world. Malware at the root of numerous cyber-attacks Emotet is a form of malware used by criminal actors to illegally access the computer networks of individuals, corporations and government agencies. This malware is transmitted by email and is concealed in an attachment or download link. Potential victims are invited to download and activate the malware, which enables criminals to take control of their device without their knoledge. Using this malware, cybercriminals are able to steal users' personal information. Emotet reportedly infected more than 1.7 million computers in 226 countries, including 6,000 in Canada. This malware is the foundation of 60% of cyber-attacks and serves as a digital precursor to a wide range of other extremely damaging malware, making it one of the most significant current digital threats. Vigilant investigative teams In Canada, RCMP Cybercrime Investigative Teams investigate computer crimes of a national and international scope. Working collaboratively with the international law enforcement community to counter cyber threats is essential. Sharing of expertise and best practices helps us to better protect the public interest and be proactive in the fight against cybercrime. If you have information on individuals or groups of persons you suspect to be involved in cybercrime, contact the RCMP at 1-800-771-5401 or your local police department. Quote "Project CIPHER and the RCMP's critical role in this international operation are very concrete examples of our support for Canada's Cyber Security Strategy. Digitally protecting all Canadians and identifying and prosecuting cybercriminals are at the core of the RCMP's efforts to combat cybercrime." Michael Duheme, Deputy Commissioner, Federal Policing." Related Links Europol news release Canadian Centre for Cyber Security Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre RCMP SOURCE Royal Canadian Mounted Police [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Google Maps has introduced a way in which the company can help non-English speakers in India to use the application with greater ease. Maps will now be able to transliterate names into native language with more ease. Since names of most Indian places of interest (POIs) in Google Maps are not generally available in the native scripts of the languages of India. These names are often in English and in some cases are combined with acronyms based on the Latin script, as well as Indian language words and names. Google claims that it is dealing with this mixed-language issue which requires a transliteration system that maps characters from one script to another while accounting for the phonetic properties of the words as well. The official blog of the company explained the new upgrade with an example. Consider a user in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, who is looking for a nearby hospital, KD Hospital. They issue the search query, , in the native script of Gujarati, the 6th most widely spoken language in India. Here, (kay-dee") is sounding out of the acronym KD, and is hospital". In this search, Google Maps knows to look for hospitals, but it doesn't understand that is KD, hence it finds another hospital, CIMS. As a consequence of the relative sparsity of names available in the Gujarati script for places of interest (POIs) in India, instead of their desired result, the user is shown a result that is further away. To address this challenge, Google has built an ensemble of learned models to transliterate names of Latin script POIs into 10 languages prominent in India: Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and Odia. Using this ensemble, they have added names in these languages to millions of POIs in India, increasing the coverage nearly twenty-fold in some languages. The company claims that this will immediately benefit millions of existing Indian users who don't speak English. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. WOOD RIVER The Madison County Health Department on Tuesday reported that it had provided 9,965 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine so far Jan. 18-25. We only have a limited amount of vaccine at a time and can only schedule for the vaccine that we have on hand, officials stated online Tuesday. There will be plenty of vaccine and appointments for those who want one. The next step, officials said, is the vaccinations of more than 50,000 Madison County residents during the Phase 1B of the state program. Starting next week, the health department will launch an Online Appointment Scheduler for eligible people to receive the vaccine. The department will also launch a phone number for people who do not have access to a computer or do not use a computer. It will take several weeks, if not months, to vaccinate the people in Phase 1B, county health officials said in a released statement. Continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. People eligible for vaccinations in Phase 1B include those 65 and older and frontline essential works, including law enforcement, food workers, postal workers, grocery store workers, public transportation workers, manufacturing workers and people in education. The department also announced that Madison County now has recorded 25,080 COVID-19 confirmed and probable cases, including 110 reported Tuesday. The county recorded 1,239 tests Tuesday, for a total to date of 229,139. Late Tuesday, the county health department reported five new COVID-19 related deaths a woman in her 80s and four men in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s bringing the total to 428. As of Tuesday there were 51 COVID-19 patients in Madison County hospitals, four on ventilators. The three-day positivity rate in the county on Tuesday was 11.65%. The seven-day rate was 11.01% and the 10-day rate was 11.02%. With the current lock-down now looking certain to go on for many more months - and the severe restrictions on socialising to stay in place long after that -it's hard to find many reasons to be cheerful as the dreariest of Januarys draws to a close. The departure of Donald Trump has given us a brief moment of relief - if not outright joy - after a truly awful year but with the pandemic showing no sign of slowing it's now clear we still have a long way to go before this crisis is finally behind us. So it is that we must make the most of what little good news we come across and, in terms of the pandemic, no news is better than the roll out of the various Covid vaccines. It is a pity then to see that so much of the recent coverage and discussion of the vaccine has become so spiteful and vindictive. Where once there was an overwhelming sense of togetherness and community spirit, there is now an increasing sense of self righteous indignation in the air at even the slightest of infractions. This came to a head last week with the depressingly over-the-top reaction to the news that around 30 excess doses of the vaccine had gone to people who were not front-line hospital staff. To the uninitiated the cacophony of outrage - most of it emanating from a small but vocal handful of anonymous people on social media - would have suggested that thousands of doses had gone astray as Ireland's great and good stole the vaccine from the arms of elderly to dose themselves. The truth couldn't be more different. Far from the old school 'jobs for the boys' chicanery Ireland is so famous for, this seems to be a situation where intentions were, firmly, in the right place. All in all about 30 extra doses of the vaccine, that would have been thrown out and entirely wasted within hours, were given to people who were not front-line health workers. Most went to vulnerable community members, 11 went to builders working to refurbish a ward rife with the virus and four - four out of 140,000 - went to medics' family members. Should all of these people have gotten the vaccine? Based on Government guidelines no, but surely it's not a hanging offence to give out a few spare vaccines when everyone due to get them has already had theirs. Let's not forget that the very reason these spare vaccines were available at all is that the teams administering the jabs in the hospitals involved were so efficient they had managed to squeeze a few extra doses from the tiny vials. Everyone supposed to get the vaccine did and, thanks to the vaccine teams' skill, so did a few more. Surely that's good news. The task of vaccinating the entire country in a matter of months is an enormous one. Nothing like it has ever even been attempted before and there will be some bumps in the road. It's early days and progress may seem slow but in just three weeks, 140,000 people - including almost every nursing home resident in the country - have been vaccinated. What has been asked of the health service is as complex as it is unprecedented and rows like last week's are an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction. Have faith and have patience. remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in SsangYong Motor plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province / Courtesy of SsangYong Motor By Nam Hyun-woo SsangYong Motor entering court receivership now appears to be inevitable, after the troubled carmaker's largest shareholder, Mahindra & Mahindra, paid off a 30 billion won ($27.15 million) debt it owed. This is seen as a sign that the Indian auto giant is giving up on its Korean unit, which is in an autonomous restructuring support (ARS) program giving the two time to find new investors and prevent a court-led restructuring process from beginning. According to the Seoul Bankruptcy Court, Wednesday, Mahindra has recently repaid 30 billion owed to Bank of America. The court is currently mediating a four-way discussion between Mahindra, SsangYong, the Korea Development Bank (KDB), and U.S. vehicle importer HAAH as part of the ARS program. The KDB is leading the creditor group and HAAH is in negotiations with Mahindra to acquire a controlling stake in SsangYong. On Dec. 15, SsangYong said it had failed to repay a combined 60 billion won in loans from Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and BNP Paribas by the due date the previous day. Of them, Mahindra stood surety for the 30 billion won owed to Bank of America. "You can say that Mahindra has underwritten SsangYong's debt," a court official said. "From a legal perspective, SsangYong has earned some room to address its financial difficulties. It is up to Mahindra whether it will demand SsangYong pay back the 30 billion won, but it seems unlikely because it is trying to sell SsangYong due to its accumulating losses." Whether out for a leisurely stroll or on a more challenging hike while on lockdown one thing we all have in common is that urge to reach for our camera when we stop at a beautiful scene. Were incredibly lucky to live in such a picturesque country, and theres so much evidence of that through the beautiful photos our followers share with us on our social channels. When taking landscape photos, it doesnt have to be a complicated process to take your shots to the next level, so Ordnance Survey Ireland have put together some landscape photography tips for beginners to help you on your journey. Before jumping into our tips on improving your photos, its been said that using the right equipment can be half the battle, so lets briefly touch on some equipment you might need. Photography Equipment Basics The Camera If youd like to get into photography as a long-term hobby, investing in a good DSLR camera will set you on the right path. DSLR cameras give you full control over your camera settings which will allow you to take some beautiful high-quality photos. You can also change the lenses and filters on a DSLR camera which will allow you to experiment a lot more. It takes patience and a lot of practise to get the hang of a DSLR, but the results can be incredible. However, if youre interested in some tips for taking better landscape photos with just the use of your phone, the tips we outline below can equally be applied to using your smartphone camera. The Tripod Do you really need one? Tripods really are a landscape photographer's best friend. The tripod will stabilise your camera so you can get the exact photo you want and will help you achieve a much crisper and sharper image making it worth the extra weight on your walk. Again, even with smartphones, you can invest in low cost gimbals or mini tripods to stabilise your phone for those much higher quality photos. Even the humble selfie stick can help stablise your hand and deliver a clear picture for the perfect finish. Now lets get into taking the actual photos, what are the important elements for a beginner to watch out for? Tips for Taking Great Landscape Photos The Right Light When shooting landscape, light is hugely important, and the best light of the day appears around one hour after sunrise and again one hour before sunset. This is known as The Golden Hour in the photography world. The colours are more vibrant and the soft lighting can create some beautiful shadows which give your shots great depth and texture. Outside of The Golden Hour, side lighting (that is when the sun or light source is coming in from the side of your shot) will help give you the best result. Youll really have to move around and experiment with angles to capture this kind of lighting for your shot. A beautiful example of the Golden Hour lighting and shadows can be seen in the photo of the Giants Causeway below from Nataliya Hora. Image Copyright: Nataliya Hora Composition By composition we mean how you arrange or frame your shot. A good place for beginners to start is to build their photo around the horizon. A common trap that beginners can fall into is to always centre the horizon line, which, dont get us wrong, can work really well in some cases, such as capturing reflecting water. A great example of a centred horizon line can be seen in Rachel Kiernans image below. Image used with kind permission by private user Rachel Kiernan However, to capture aesthetically pleasing landscape photos in general, using the rule of thirds can really help you up your game. The rule of thirds The rule of thirds is created by crossing three horizontal lines with three vertical lines, effectively dividing your viewfinder or phone screen into a grid. Framing your shot so that your subject is positioned on one or more of the four intersecting points will make your photo composition so much more interesting. These days, almost all cameras, and even smartphone cameras have an option to turn this grid on. Stock User Rainbow6s photo of Killarney National Park, below, is a great example of using the grid. Instead of centering the boat, hes framed it off to the side so that it falls on one of the grid intersections, creating a beautiful composition. Image Copyright: Stock User Rainbow6 Another tip on using the rule of thirds is to use the horizontal lines in your grid as your guide for where the horizon should be in your composition. An easy way to remember it is either sky and land or land and sky. Susan Nicholsons shot of Rossbeigh Beach in Kerry, below is a great example of the Rule of Thirds being used the right way. Image used with kind permission by private user Susan Nicholson Play around with filters Filters, on a phone or camera, are simple yet highly effective ways to enhance your shot. There are many different kinds of filters out there but when it comes to landscape photography, there are two main types of filters you can use with your DSLR camera to enhance your photo. Polarising filter A polarising filter will help manage the reflections in your shot, hugely cutting down the glare on still water surfaces. It will also increase the contrast in the sky giving you a beautiful darker richer colour. Neutral density filter A neutral density filter helps control the amount of light entering the lens. Using a neutral density filter will allow you to extend shutter speeds in the daytime, creating beautiful results In regards to filters on your phone, whether you have an Android or iPhone, there are a range of settings prebuilt into your camera as well as many available from your play store for free. Some of the better ones include: Snapseed by Google on Android and iPhone VSCO on Android and iPhone Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC on Android and iPhone For more on phone filters, click here Filters on phones are applied after youve taken the shot, so the positive side is that you have full control of the filter intensity, but the downside is that its too easy to over-process your photo. If you do love a filter, use them to only enhance your photo by applying a very low setting to tweak your colour intensity. Below is a beautiful photo from Aengus OConner of Connemara Maths Academy. The deep blues and stillness of the water shows us how great a photo can look with the right camera settings. Image used with kind permission by private user Aengus OConner Change your perspective Typically beginners will default to taking photos at eye level, which does work very well in many circumstances, for example, this gorgeous wandering shot from Michelle Ni Mhuineachain works really well because its taken at eye level it gives us a strong sense of the endless winding road ahead. Image used with kind permission by private user Michelle Ni Mhuineachain We see another wonderful example of eye level composition in Theresa OTooles forest path photo, below, Theresas positioning gives us a great sense of scale of the trees around her, and it really makes for a great shot. Practice, Practice, Practice! Photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, famously said, your first 10,000 photos are your worst. So get snapping! You cannot take too many photos. Explore your 5km routes and try different shots and positions with your subject matter, youre all the more likely to get an amazing photo if youve taken heaps of shots. Delete the unwanted photos later to save on your memory space. And thats it. Truth be told, there are hundreds more landscape photography tips and tricks out there for you to learn, but when youre just getting started, improving elements like your lighting and composition are such a great place to start. Try mastering each element one at a time, and once youve built up confidence on each one, you can begin to combine the tips all together in your photography, and youll drastically improve your photos. The main thing is just have fun, take lots of photos and keep sharing them with us on our social media channels. An important local note and info on how this Kansas City joins the global community in order to remember the lessons of history. Read more . . . Union Station Will Honor Holocaust Remembrance Day, Commemorating the Liberation of Auschwitz on January 27, 1945 June 14th, 2021 is also Announced as Opening Date of International Exhibition - Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. Kansas City, MO January 26, 2021 On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Union Station will join countries and communities around the world to commemorate the January 27th, 1945 liberation of Auschwitz, 76 years ago. Tonight, on the eve of this important date, Union Station will present a special free, live music performance at 7:00 pm on the Stations Facebook account. Also, the Station will be lit in commemoration of the day. Station officials are encouraging the public to register for and attend an important live, online presentation the evening of January 27th -- titled, "Icons of the Holocaust: Symbolizing the Shoah in History and Memory" -- hosted by the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education. Free registration is available at https://mchekc.org/ihrd/. Significantly, June 14th, 2021 is also being made official as the opening date of Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. to be presented in Union Stations Bank of America Gallery. That important date marks the 81st anniversary of the first transport of 728 Polish men to the Auschwitz camp in 1940. Among them were soldiers, members of the resistance, students, as well as a small group of Polish Jews. This is considered to be the beginning of the operation of this German Nazi camp. With the final details of this significant presentation of history coming together in the last few weeks, we are pleased be able to announce the opening date on this international day of remembrance, said George Guastello, president & CEO of Union Station. Since we first announced plans to bring Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. to Kansas City and the entire region, weve been working to solidify an opening date. As you might imagine, there has been overwhelming interest in supporting and attending this world-class presentation of vitally important history. We are honored and humbled to be the host of something this significant and we look forward to welcoming our first guests this coming June 14th. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Electronic Shelf Label Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Components; Product Type; Store Type; Communication Technology; and Geography" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Hypermarkets Segment Support Electronic Shelf Label Market Growth During 2020-2027. The market was valued at US$ 464.7 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 1577.6 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.9% from 2020 to 2027. The report highlights key factors driving the market growth and prominent players with their developments in the market. Retailers use the electronic shelf label system for displaying product pricing on shelves. This system has benefits such as product pricing are automatically updated whenever a price is changed from a central control server. Hence its gaining popularity and boosting the need for the electronic shelf label market. The rising number of the supermarket, specialty store, and hypermarket are raising demand for the electronic shelf label market. The US, China, Germany, France, and Japan are five major countries contributing to the highest revenue share in the electronic shelf label market. Some of the factors stimulating the market for electronic shelf labels include an increasing number of supermarkets, malls, stores, and others, reducing labor availability, and trending retail automation demands. However, high charges of installation and supporting infrastructure needed for the system is a key challenge that is restraining the growth of the electronic shelf label market. As the system has a low maintenance cost, the retail industry has proved the system effectively beneficial for retailers, which creates a big opportunity for the market player of the electronic shelf label system market. Also, integration of Industry 4.0 and the emergence of advanced technologies for ESL, such as battery-free solutions and ePaper with multicolor, are anticipated to be positive for the electronic shelf label market. LabelNest, Diebold Nixdorf Incorporated, Displaydata Limited, E Ink Holdings Inc. M2Communication, NZ Electronic Shelf Labelling, Opticon Sensors Europe BV, Pricer, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Ses-Imagotag, and Teraoka Seiko are among the key players operating in the electronic shelf label market. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on North America Electronic Shelf Label Market North America has the highest adoption and growth rate of new technologies owing to favourable government policies to boost innovation and strengthen the infrastructure capabilities. Hence, any impact on industries is expected to affect the economic growth of the region in a negative manner. At present, the US is the world's worst affected country due to COVID-19 outbreak; thereby, influencing the high adoption of online shopping across the country. It is becoming apparent with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the US that few can escape its scope, presenting significant challenges to all industries. The close down of all retail outlets by the government authorities coupled with the social distancing norms laid down by them is affecting the investments by retail outlets. For instance, the sales of online grocery segment across the US, recorded an increase by 210.1% due to the pandemic. Thus, the above-mentioned factors are adversely affecting the electronic shelf label market over the years. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 4. Electronic Shelf Label Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 4.4 Expert Opinions 5. Electronic Shelf Label Market - Key Market Dynamics 5.1 Key Market Drivers 5.1.1 Rapid adoption of game-changing technologies across the retail - value chain 5.1.2 Upsurge in the use of IoT within retail industry 5.2 Key Market Restraints 5.2.1 High Capital Expenditure Value 5.3 Key Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Integration of Industry 4.0 for automation and smart management 5.4 Future Trend 5.4.1 Emergence of battery-free solutions 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Electronic Shelf Label Market - Global Market Analysis 6.1 Global Electronic Shelf Label Market Overview 6.2 Global Electronic Shelf Label Market Forecast and Analysis 6.3 Market Positioning - Top Five Players 7. Electronic Shelf Label Market Analysis - By Component 7.1 Overview 7.2 Electronic Shelf Label Market Breakdown, By Component, 2019 & 2027 7.3 Display 7.4 Battery 7.5 Transceiver 7.6 Microprocessor 8. Electronic Shelf Label Market Analysis - By Product Type 8.1 Overview 8.2 Electronic Shelf Label Market Breakdown, By Product Type, 2019 & 2027 8.3 LCD ESL 8.4 E-paper based ESL 9. Electronic Shelf Label Market Analysis - By Store Type 9.1 Overview 9.2 Electronic Shelf Label Market Breakdown, By Store Type, 2019 & 2027 9.3 Hypermarkets 9.4 Supermarkets 9.5 Non-Food Retail Stores 9.6 Specialty Stores 10. Electronic Shelf Label Market Analysis - By Communication Technology 10.1 Overview 10.2 Electronic Shelf Label Market Breakdown, By Communication Technology, 2019 & 2027 10.3 Radio Frequency 10.4 Infrared 10.5 Near Field Communication 11. Global Electronic Shelf Label Market - Geographic Analysis 12. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Electronic Shelf Label Market 12.1 Overview 12.2 Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 13. Industry Landscape 13.1 Market Initiative 13.2 New Development 14. Electronic Shelf Label Market - Company Profiles Altierre Corporation Diebold Nixdorf Incorporated Displaydata Limited E Ink Holdings Inc M2Communication NZ Electronic Shelf Labelling Opticon Sensors Europe BV Pricer Samsung Electro-Mechanics Ses-Imagotag Teraoka Seiko For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/rc79x5 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Islamabad: A day after America declared Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist, Pakistan on Tuesday slammed as completely unjustified the US designation of individuals supporting the right of self-determination of Kashmiris as terrorists. Pakistan shall continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support for the just struggle of the Kashmiri people for the realisation of the right to self-determination and the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN Security Council Resolutions, the Foreign Ministry said in Islamabad in a statement. The designation of individuals supporting the Kashmiri right to self-determination as terrorists is completely unjustified, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement without naming Salahuddin. The 70-year long indigenous struggle of Kashmiris remains legitimate, the spokesperson claimed. The gross and systematic violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people that have been recorded and reported by independent human rights bodies is a reality, he said. The Kashmiris remain undeterred and unbowed, he said. Pakistan has demonstrated a longstanding commitment of combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The people and government of Pakistan have rendered immense sacrifices in both blood and treasure to end this scourge, which has been acknowledged by the international community, the spokesperson added. The US on Monday declared Salahuddin as a global terrorist, dealing a major blow to Pakistan. In a notification, the State Department said Salahuddin, who hails from Kashmir and is based in Pakistan for the last 28 years, has committed, or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism. The US took the step against the militant groups 71-year-old head, whose original name is Mohammed Yusuf Shah, as he had vowed to block any peaceful resolution to the Kashmir conflict, threatened to train more Kashmiri suicide bombers, and vowed to turn the Kashmir Valley into a graveyard for Indian forces. Also read: US designates head of Kashmiri militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Syed Salahuddin as global terrorist For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belarus V.Makei participates in the memorial event dedicated to the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust On January 27, 2021 on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, Vladimir Makei, laid flowers at the Yama (i.e. pit) memorial. The ceremony was attended by local and national MPs, including the Chair of the Minsk City Council of Deputies, heads of diplomatic missions of Israel, Austria, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, the U.S., Resident-Coordinator of the United Nations Office and the Head of the EU Delegation to Belarus, as well as representatives of a number of public organizations. In his statement, V.Makei stressed that in Belarus the Holocaust has always been perceived as its own pain, a bleeding wound that does not heal. Our country went through all the horrors of Hitler's genocide. Nazism left a terrible mark on Belarus: more than 260 concentration camps and places of mass extermination, including more than 70 Jewish ghettos. More than 200 cities and 9 thousand villages were plundered, burned, turned into ruins. Millions of our compatriots have died. The head of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry especially noted the importance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust as a manifesto of the commitment of the world community to the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and any other forms of intolerance. V.Makei stressed that only through joint efforts of countries, peoples and every person on Earth it is possible to resist neo-Nazism, discrimination, attempts to rewrite history. This is the only way to preserve peace and form a tolerant and stable community of nations, the Minister noted. On January 26 and 27, a memorial line was launched on the building of the Belarusian National Library as a symbol of respect and memory for all victims of the Holocaust; a number of other thematic commemorative events will also be held in the country. Background Information: The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was established in 2005 by the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 60/7, co-sponsored by Belarus among 104 UN Member States, and is widely celebrated in the world. The date is timed to the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp "Auschwitz-Birkenau" by the troops of the Soviet Red Army in 1945, which was the largest complex of concentration camps in occupied Europe. More than 1 million people were murdered there. print version Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Dr Reddys Laboratories and Global Response Aid (GRA) on January 27 announced the termination of Avigan (favipiravir) clinical trial conducted in Kuwait on moderate to severe COVID-19 patients in a hospital setting, as the data failed to show a statistically significant difference for the primary endpoint. The data from the Kuwait study involving moderate-severe COVID-19 hospitalised patients did not show a statistically significant difference for the primary endpoint or the time taken to resolve hypoxia. However, low-risk category COVID-19 patients on the broad spectrum antiviral got discharged three days ahead of the placebo group. GRA is an alliance focused on improving medical supply chain worldwide. Hypoxia is a condition in which the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Hypoxia is the major symptom in patients with moderate-severe COVID-19. While it took seven days or a day less than placebo for resolution of hypoxia in the Avigan arm. Dr Reddy's said the full data analysis on 353 subjects would be available by the end of February 2021. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The drugmaker said a sub-group analysis carried out on 181 subjects in the low-risk category had shown patients on Avigan getting discharged three days ahead of the placebo group. "The sub-group analysis of the low-risk study cohort (n=181) demonstrated a 3 day earlier discharge in Avigan group compared to a placebo group (8 days vs 11 days; p=0.0063) for time to hospital discharge secondary endpoint," Dr Reddy's said in a statement. "The subgroup analysis data during the initial interim analysis points towards the hypothesis with clinically significant insights from this study that an antiviral drug like Avigan may be effective as part of early treatment initiation in COVID 19 patients and not effective in the late-stage hospital treatment for moderate and severe COVID 19 patients," Dr Reddy's added. The hospitalised patient study, conducted in Kuwait, on moderate to severe patients was one of the studies in the overall clinical program for Avigan, spanning the spectrum of asymptomatic to severe cases of COVID-19 in both outpatient and in-patient setting. Dr Reddy's said the Phase-III study, being conducted in an outpatient setting on patients with mild to moderate symptoms in North America in partnership with Appili Therapuetics and Global Response Aid, will continue. Dr Reddy's last year entered into a three-way deal with Japanese drugmaker Fujifilm and Dubai-based Global Response Aid to manufacture and sell its flu drug Avigan (favipiravir) for the potential treatment of COVID-19, Favipiravir was approved in India for restricted emergency use on patients with low to moderate COVID-19. Dr Reddy's along with over dozen companies have launched are selling the drug in India. PACE calls for all Georgian political parties to resolve the ongoing crisis and enter Parliament By Veronika Malinboym At the winter preliminary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on January 25, the special rapporteur of Tiny Cox presented the draft report on the October 2020 Parliamentary Elections.According to the report findings, the elections were overall free and carried out in respect of the basic freedoms, and the competition was both fair and free. Nevertheless, it has been said that the issues like campaign funding would need to be resolved in the future, in order to ensure the democratic conduct of the upcoming elections.However, several of the speakers at the session did not share a positive assessment of the October elections. For example, Jette Christensen, who visited Georgia as part of the international observation mission claimed that the country lacked a common information space, which, in turn, would be a crucial factor in restoring peoples trust in the Democracy and democratic processes.Similarly, Laima Andrikiene stated during the PACE session that she strongly disagrees with the positive assessment of the Parliamentary elections and expressed solidarity with the Georgian NGOs that named them the worst elections in the modern history of Georgia.The annual report released by PACE reads that it is regrettable that the opposition parties refuse to enter the Parliament, as doing so would be in the best interest of the country, and the failure to do so would undermine the countrys democratic processes.The PACE report goes on to recommend Georgia to fully and transparently investigate all allegations of electoral misconduct during the October 2020 parliamentary elections; the Assembly urges all political parties to take up the seats they won in the new parliament and not to undermine its democratic functioning.Regrettably, the opposition parties, alleging widespread fraud, announced that they would boycott the second round and the new parliament. This is especially regrettable given that the results for opposition parties in these elections would give them a strong position to execute parliamentary oversight. Parliament is the place for the conduct of politics and debate and the Assembly has therefore consistently opposed parliamentary boycotts. In the best interest of the country all political parties are therefore urged to take up their parliamentary mandates, the report added in the country-specific section.Head of the Georgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, MP Kakhaber Kuchava, responded to the criticism of the October 2020 Parliamentary Elections. Kuchava said the 21st century is the era of misinformation, and we often fall victim to it. He added that the NGOs, which refused to accept the election results have already admitted to being mistaken about the election conduct. U.S. President Joe Bidens administration announced it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administrations cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Acting U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills made the announcement of Bidens approach to a high-level virtual Security Council meeting, saying the new U.S. administration believes this "remains the best way to ensure Israels future as a democratic and Jewish state while upholding the Palestinians legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security." President Donald Trumps administration provided unprecedented support to Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as Israels capital, moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, slashing financial assistance for the Palestinians and reversing course on the illegitimacy of Israeli settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians. Mills made clear the Biden administrations more even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state," The AP cited Mills as saying. Mills said progress and an ultimate solution require the participation and agreement of Israelis and Palestinians. "In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis," he said. "This will involve renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people," Mills said. "President Biden has been clear that he intends to restore U.S. assistance programs that support economic development programs and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, and to take steps to reopen diplomatic relations that were closed by the last U.S. administration," Mills said. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Some Ohio schools that requested coronavirus vaccines will start receiving them this week ahead of the Feb. 1 anticipated start date, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday. DeWine said vaccination would begin in Cincinnati Public Schools on Thursday. Schools that are going to receive the vaccine next week already know, and the rest of the schools will be notified by Friday. Cuyahoga County schools are not included on the list of those receiving vaccines in the first week. Schools in Mahoning County, Medina County and Summit County are on the list. Columbus City Schools, Akron City Schools and Cincinnati Public Schools are all on the Week 1 list, but Cleveland Metropolitan School District is not. See the full list of which schools are included in Week 1 in the document viewer at the bottom of this post, or at this link. Not all schools will begin vaccinations next week, after Feb. 1, because of scarcity of the vaccines. The state is rolling out vaccinations to Ohioans 65-and-older as part of the same phase. The two groups will not share vaccination locations, but are pulling from the same state supply of vaccines. DeWine did not explain on Tuesday how districts and schools were prioritized. The goal is to get students back into buildings by March 1 in a full in-person or hybrid format, though school staff may not have received the second dose of the vaccine required to build immunity. A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health said because the board has not been involved in the rollout, it does not have a list of the schools set to begin vaccination next week. DeWine announced an excess of vaccines for this week, which would go to older Ohioans, and mentioned any future excesses would go to school staff, as well, in the future. Previous coverage: -- Ohio reports 4,262 new coronavirus cases, 29,768 new vaccines given: Tuesday update -- With Ohio giving lowest vaccine doses per capita among neighbors, Gov. Mike DeWine to give a coronavirus update: Watch live -- Can I still get my second dose of coronavirus vaccine if I develop COVID-19 symptoms after the first? -- Ohio vaccine rollout update: Patients over 80 find booking an appointment is frustrating, but getting the shot is well organized Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. 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Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning How can early development of sound clinical and ethical expectations for a clinical trial drive better outcomes? How are clinical trials with increased patient diversity leading to more successful treatments? While industry progress towards diverse clinical trials has been slow, there are many inspiring cases where more inclusive patient populations have been used to provide effective treatments for the communities that need them. How can early development of sound clinical and ethical expectations for a clinical trial drive better outcomes? What difference does it make to apply business intelligence and analytics to the challenges of diversity? Join this discussion with industry experts to learn how clinical trial Sponsors, study sites, and other support teams have made this work. This four-part webinar series will identify obstacles that continue to stifle appropriate patient diversity in clinical trials; unpacking the organizational overhaul needed to effect change; sharing case studies where sponsors, patients, and investigators have come together to overcome hurdles; and exploring how policy innovations that might include government-led mandates and incentives can move the industry forward as one. Join moderator Nicholas Kenny, Chief Scientific Officer, Syneos Health; Lorena Kuri, Head, Diversity Strategy, Bristol-Myers Squibb; Bassel Nazha, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory-Winship Cancer Center; and Diana L. Foster, PhD, Vice President of Strategy and Development, Society for Clinical Research Sites in a live webinar on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 12pm EST. For more information, or to register for this event, visit When It All Works: Case Studies for Success With Patient Diversity in Clinical Trials. Blazing a Trail to Clinical Trial Diversity Webinar Series This four-part webinar series will identify obstacles that have to-date, and continue to, stifle appropriate patient diversity in clinical trials; unpacking the organizational overhaul needed to effect change; sharing case studies where sponsors, patients and investigators have come together to overcome hurdles; and exploring how policy innovations that might include government-led mandates and incentives can move the industry forward as one. Speakers include experts from the Association for Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP), Bristol Myers Squibb, Emory-Winship Cancer Center, Incyte Corporation, NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) and the Society for Clinical Research Sites (SCRS). ABOUT XTALKS Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers. To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/ About Syneos Health Syneos Health is the only fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization. The Company, including a Contract Research Organization (CRO) and Contract Commercial Organization (CCO), is purpose-built to accelerate customer performance to address modern market realities. We bring together approximately 24,000 clinical and commercial minds with the ability to support customers in more than 110 countries. Together, we share insights, use the latest technologies and apply advanced business practices to speed our customers delivery of important therapies to patients. To learn more about how we are Shortening the distance from lab to life, visit syneoshealth.com or subscribe to our podcast. North Augusta, SC (29841) Today Showers in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. High 89F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Mostly clear skies. Low 62F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Advertisement An excavator known as the 'Bone Finder' has shared photos and footage of five locations where the ground had been disturbed on a property once owned by Fotis Dulos in the search for his missing estranged wife Jennifer's remains. Bob Perry was brought in last week to help Connecticut State Police once again search the Farmington property that had been owned by Fotis and his construction company when Jennifer vanished back in 2019. While detectives have previously searched the property during the long-running investigation, they asked Perry to help them re-examine parts of it using his ground-penetrating radar equipment. The 73-year-old, who is known as the 'Bone Finder', is a New Hampshire-based cemetery geophysics expert renowned for being able to locate unmarked graves or find where remains may be buried. Perry, who runs his company Topographix and has previously appeared on the History Channel, uses his radar technology to find anomalies in the ground. Bob Perry, 73, (above) was brought in last week to help Connecticut State Police search the property that was owned by Fotis Dulos when his estranged wife Jennifer vanished back in 2019. While detectives have previously searched the 5-acre property (above) during the long-running investigation, they asked Perry to help them re-examine parts of it using his ground-penetrating radar equipment. During his search, Perry ended up finding five locations where the soil had been disturbed. Perry, who runs his company Topographix and has previously appeared on the History Channel, uses his radar technology to find anomalies in the ground Investigators brought him in to pinpoint locations on the 5-acre property where the body of the mother-of-five could have potentially being buried. Jennifer hasn't been seen since May 2019 when she vanished from New Canaan, Connecticut while in the middle of a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband. Fotis was later charged with her murder but he vehemently denied it. He was accused of plotting against Jennifer with the help of his then-girlfriend, Michelle Troconis. Fotis died in hospital in January last year just days after being found unresponsive at his home after gassing himself in his car. In last week's search of the property police were specifically interested in a wood line area that Fotis had previously discussed with surveyors when he was trying to sell the property after Jennifer vanished. Fotis had apparently asked the surveyors if any future owners would be able to dig up that portion of the land to potentially put in a pool. The surveyors later reported the comments to authorities. During his search, Perry ended up finding five locations where the soil had been disturbed. It is not clear when the ground was disturbed. He told Hearst Connecticut Media that four of the areas were near the wood line and a fifth was found in the basement of the home. Perry said the basement location was likely a long pipe that stretched into the yard. Jennifer hasn't been seen since May 2019 when she vanished from New Canaan, Connecticut while in the middle of a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband. Fotis was later charged with her murder but he vehemently denied it Images of the property during the search showed red flags at the locations where Perry identified that the ground had been disturbed. Police later dug up these areas using shovels and excavators Police have refused to say if they found any evidence of remains on the property after digging it up. Perry said investigators have also not told him if they located any evidence Four of the areas were near the wood line and a fifth was found in the basement of the home (above). Perry said the basement location was likely a long pipe. It was not immediately clear where the pipe stretched to. He said it appeared as if that concrete in the basement had been dug up and then covered How does the Bone Finder's ground-penetrating radar equipment work? Ground Penetrating Radar is a form of sub-surface imaging that uses a transmitter and antenna to indicate what is below the ground. It can be used to located unmarked graves and mass burial sites. The transmitter send electromagnetic pulses into the ground to detect if any objects can be located. Signals are then returned in the form of images if objects are detected. Graves will often appear as bumps. Things like tree roots often show up as pointier shapes. Advertisement Images of the property during the search showed red flags at the locations where Perry identified that the ground had been disturbed. An image of the basement showed a section of discolored concrete that appeared to have been re-cemented at some point. Perry said that even though the ground had been disturbed, the reading on his machines did not indicate that a body was currently buried there. Investigators later searched the areas he identified by digging it up with shovels and excavators. Police have refused to say if they found any evidence of remains on the property. Perry said investigators have also not told him if they located any evidence. Authorities were spotted last week digging holes on the property but would not say at the time what prompted the search. The house was initially searched in 2019 but authorities said last week they were 'following up on old leads' again. The property Perry helped search last week was one of several Fotis and his company had been developing at the time of Jennifer's disappearance. It has since been foreclosed on and is now for sale by the bank. According to court documents, Fotis and Troconis had visited the property in the hours after Jennifer was last seen. Cell phone records show that Fotis visited the property twice that day. Once was at 1.37pm before returning hours later at 5.21pm. He never publicly explained what he was doing at the property that day. Troconis and Fotis' former attorney, Kent Mawhinney, have both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit murder charges. Troconis also pleaded not guilty to tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution. Authorities have never officially declared Jennifer dead and her remains have not been located. Prosecutors believe Fotis attacked Jennifer in garage of her home after she dropped their five children at school. Police have previously said they don't believe Jennifer could have survived the 'serious physical attack' without urgent medical attention. Police previously said they have surveillance video allegedly showing Fotis Dulos in a pickup truck with Troconis disposing bags of items, some of which were later recovered and found to be stained with Jennifers blood. Perry's machinery will show whether the ground has been disturbed by showing blips and lines on the screen (pictured above during the search of Fotis' property After years of turbulence, Libyas oil industry is finally starting to bounce back, with the production increase that started in December showing no signs of stopping. Ever since the end of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, Libyas oil sector has been hampered by political instability and economic uncertainty. However, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement in October 2020, the countrys oil and gas industry is set to pick-up once again. Libya is known to have the largest proven crude oil reserves on the African continent, making it strategically important for energy in the MENA region. The country has proven crude oil reserves of 48,363 million barrels, as well as 1,505 million cubic meters of natural gas reserves. At present, Libya is producing 1,224 million bpd of oil, up from just 121,000 bpd in the third quarter of 2020. This demonstrates the significance of the ceasefire agreement in revitalizing the Libyan oil sector and economy. However, this is still well below pre-Arab Spring average production figures of between 1.5 and 1.6 million bpd. While oil contributes approximately 60 percent to Libyas GDP, the substantial damage to infrastructure experienced over a decade of war means the sector needs considerable investment to reclaim its pre-war status. As production begins to increase, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) has announced aims to reach an output of 2.1 million bpd within the next three years. Nevertheless, the sector will have to invest heavily in its infrastructure to ensure this goal can be met. In mid-January, there was a decrease in the production of 200,000 bpd as a 60-year-old pipeline needed to be shut down for maintenance. This is just the tip of the iceberg, with aging and war-torn infrastructure presenting a long-term challenge for the industrys recovery. Related: Egypt Looks To Resume LNG Exports As Prices Rise Following blockades that dramatically obstructed the countrys oil production and exportation, the current situation seems stable. But the potential for further blockades of important oil sites continues to pose a threat to production. To avoid this, a clear plan for revenue sharing must be at the top of the government and NOCs agenda. In terms of regional stability, Libya does not fall under the same quota restrictions as other OPEC members, meaning that the organization will have to monitor Libyas output to ensure it does not negatively impact the price of oil due to overproduction. The potential need to curb production to contend with the reduced demand for oil across the globe, as lockdowns and greater pandemic restrictions continue to be put in place, could delay Libyas aims to become a major player in energy once again. Yet, revenue reports by the NOC of $1.115 billion for December offer promise to a sector that has been hard-hit by war, political instability, and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic. Until a long-term peace deal is achieved, the uncertainty surrounding the political future of Libya continues to threaten several of its major industries and its economy as a whole. However, as its recent output shows, the reserves and infrastructure are still viable; meaning Libya could yet become a major contender in the world of oil once more. By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oiprice.com: (TNS) Gov. Ned Lamont Tuesday announced a proposed bill aimed at providing all Connecticut residents with access to high-speed, broadband internet by September 2022.If passed into law, the bill will allow the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to require internet service providers to provide access to all residents where they have video licenses a measure that is currently prohibited.Citing the importance of high-speed internet for education and telehealth, Lamont called broadband access an essential service you need to survive in the 21st-century.Referring to his Everybody Learns initiative, Lamont said, I can get 140,000 Chromebooks out to people, but ... its like a brick unless you have internet connectivity. A 2018 survey found that 23 percent of Connecticut residents did not have internet access at home, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said during a Tuesday morning news conference. It showed that 21 percent of those without internet access are white households, 35 percent are Hispanic households and 34 percent are African American households, she said.We can close that divide by making sure all families can afford and access broadband internet in their homes, particularly those in undeserved communities, improving service and establishing stronger consumer protections, she said. These steps will help us ensure no one is left at a disadvantage.To reduce the costs of building broadband internet access, state officials said the bill would streamline the permit process that allows providers to install broadband on utility poles. Telecom companies will be required to report annual metrics on availability, download and upload speeds and outage information.The proposal also aims to make sure government agencies have enough staff and resources to partner with providers and municipalities, so they can map out exactly where access is needed.To increase consumer protections, the bill will give PURA the ability to oversee user complaints so they can better manage penalties for provider noncompliance. Additionally, it would prevent providers from refusing service to customers due to race, religion, sexual orientation or financial standing, including credit score.When asked about whether he expects service providers to cooperate with the states plan, Lamont said telecom companies want to have more customers, and we want them to have more customers. We all want more wide availability for this so, were not necessarily on different sides of the aisle.In addition to state regulations that would incentivize companies to build out access, Lamont said he expects the federal government to come forward with an infrastructure bill that includes competitive grants to get more people wired up faster so, I think well be rolling in the same direction.When President Biden comes forward with their infrastructure bill, high-speed, broadband access is one of the things theyre going to make available, he said. Its a grant, and youve got to compete for it. Well be the first ones able to say, Were ready to go. Lamont added: Frankly, Ive got to take a look at PURA. Weve got 100 people doing water and electricity, [and] Ive got a handful doing broadband. Broadband is a big piece of our future. Weve got to look at that balance.While the governor said hed like to get started on the project as soon as possible, he said its really up to the legislative leadership, where that is on the list of the priorities.Rep. Robert Sanchez, a New Britain Democrat and House chair of the legislatures education committee, called the bill proposal great news and something we desperately need.Im very eager to get this on the House floor and move it along, he said. Weve been having these discussions but absolutely moreso today because [internet access] is so critical due to the pandemic.At the start of the pandemic, Sanchez said more than 75 percent of New Britain students did not have internet service.Were doing better now of course, but we have to do a lot more, he said. We have so many kids throughout the state of Connecticut that still cannot connect.Rep. Maria Horn, a Salisbury Democrat whose district covers nine towns in the states northwest corner in Litchfield County, called internet access the roads of the 21st-century.It affects us in every possible way. .... Its critical during the pandemic but to be clear, this is of long-term importance to us, she said, noting that telehealth is the only way to deliver special medical services to people in Connecticuts rural areas.Same goes for education, same goes for economic development, she said. We have had the great privilege of having an influx of new families moving into our area and enrolling their children in our schools. ... They need high-speed internet access in order to stay here. The United States military said Wednesday it flew a B-52 bomber over the Middle East 'to deter potential aggression' amid tensions with Iran - the first such flight under President Joe Biden, and sixth by the US since November. The show of strength comes just days after Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, rejected demands to alter the 2015 nuclear accord that Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, pulled out of in the early days of his administration. It also took place just a week after Iran launched a massive military drill along the coast of the Gulf of Oman, the latest in a series of snap exercises amid escalating tensions over Washington's pressure campaign against Tehran. Opponents of the nuclear deal have demanded that Biden force Iran to agree to limitations on its missile program and other military capabilities as a precondition to America's re-entry into the agreement. Iran has insisted that the new administration lift economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration before it returns to talks with Biden. The US military on Wednesday released this handout photo showing a B-52 bomber (far right) from the 2nd Bomb Wing of Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana flying with Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s during a mission over the Middle East This is the first time that American B-52 bombers have flown over the Middle East since President Joe Biden (left) came into office. Earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (right) demanded that the US lift economic sanctions against Iran before it returns to negotiations over a possible renewal of a 2015 nuclear accord The American B-52 nuclear capable bomber flew nonstop from Louisiana's Barksdale Air Force Base into the region earlier in the day on Wednesday. The plane went over both the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, according to flight-tracking data. The US military's Central Command later published images of the bomber flying alongside Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s. While not mentioning Iran in its statement, Central Command said the flight was meant to 'showcase the US commitment to regional security.' The flights, the third-such operation this year, had become common in the last months of former President Donald Trump's administration. Trump's 2018 decision to unilaterally withdraw from Iran's nuclear deal with world powers sparked a series of escalating incidents in the region. The B-52 Stratofortress: America's long-range strategic bomber A US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress heavy bomber drops bombs in this undated file photo The United States Air Force currently has 76 B-52 Stratofortress bombers in service today. Designed and built by the Seattle-based Boeing Company, the B-52 is a long-range strategic bomber that has been used by the Air Force since the 1950s. It is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds of weapons while flying at a combat range of more than 8,800 miles without aerial refueling. This heavy bomber is powered by 8 turbofan engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney. Each engine is capable of producing 17,000 pounds of thrust to propel the plane forward in the air. The B-52 also boasts a wingspan of 185ft. Each aircraft has a length measuring 159ft4in. The plane stands at a height of 40ft8in. The aircraft weighs approximately 185,000 pounds. It can take off at a maximum weight of 488,000 pounds. To fly its long-range bombing missions, it needs fuel - a lot of it. Each B-52 has a fuel capacity of 312,197 pounds. The plane is a subsonic aircraft that can reach speeds of 650mph. It can also fly at a top altitude of 50,000ft. Source: Boeing Company Advertisement In the waning days of the Trump administration, there were fears of a brewing military confrontation as Iran prepared to mark the one-year anniversary of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, in Iraq. In early January, Trump overruled his acting secretary of defense, Christopher Miller, and ordered the return of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to the region. Miller wanted the Nimitz to return home, overruling the wishes of top Pentagon generals who thought the aircraft carrier should remain deployed in the Middle East as a deterrent to Iran. Less than a month before he left office, Trump cited 'chatter' that Iran might strike. Days after a December 20 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iranian-supported Shiite militia groups, Trump tweeted that Iran was on notice. Last week, Iran's military kicked off a ground forces drill along the coast of the Gulf of Oman on featuring tanks and paratroopers. Tensions in the region remain high after Iran announced earlier this month that it had resumed enriching uranium to near-weapons grade levels 'Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over,' Trump wrote on Dec. 23. He added, 'We hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq.' Biden has expressed a desire to return to the deal if Iran honors the deal's limits on its nuclear program. Antony Blinken, who was recently confirmed by the United States Senate as the next secretary of state, told lawmakers that he favors a return to the Iran nuclear deal provided that Tehran uphold its end of the bargain. 'If Iran comes back into compliance we would, too, but we would use that as a platform with our allies and partners who would once again be on the same side with us, to seek a longer and stronger agreement,' Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 19. 'Having said that, I think were a long way from there. 'We would have to see once the president-elect is in office what steps Iran actually takes and is prepared to take.' Zarif this week ruled out any changes to the nuclear accord and said that his government will not accept any demands to alter the terms of the deal. Iran's 'return to the [negotiating] table will be jeopardized if Washington or its EU allies demand new terms for a deal that was already carefully constructed through years of negotiations,' Zarif wrote in Foreign Affairs. In the waning days of the Trump administration, the former president, Donald Trump, overruled his acting Pentagon chief and ordered the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (seen above int his 2001 file photo) to stay in the Middle East, raising fears of possible military confrontation Biden, who took office last Wednesday, 'can begin by removing all sanctions imposed since Trump assumed office and seek to re-enter and abide by the 2015 nuclear deal without altering its painstakingly negotiated terms,' Zarif wrote. 'In turn, Iran would reverse all the remedial measures it has taken in the wake of Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal,' he said on Friday, adding that the 'initiative squarely rests with Washington.' There are considerable obstacles standing in Biden's path if he seeks to return to the Iran nuclear accord. Earlier this month, Iran began enriching uranium to levels unseen since the nuclear deal and also seized a South Korean-flagged tanker near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, a double-barreled challenge to the West that further raised Mideast tensions. Increasing enrichment at its underground Fordo facility puts Tehran a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent, while also pressuring Biden to quickly negotiate. There are also serious domestic constraints that have weakened Biden's hand, including the political strife evidenced by the siege on the United States Capitol on January 6. Newly confirmed Secretary of State Antony Blinken is seen above during a welcome ceremony after arriving at the State Department in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. Blinken has expressed a desire to return to the Iran nuclear deal provided Iran once again adheres to its terms The US, like much of the world, is also gripped by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed more than 400,000 Americans and dealt a blow to its economy. There is also bi-partisan suspicion of Iran in Washington, DC. Biden faces pressure both from Democrats and Republican opponents of the Iran deal. They don't want the U.S. to throw away the leverage of sanctions until Iran is made to address other items objectionable to Israel, Sunni Arab neighbors, and the United States. That includes Irans ballistic missiles and substantial and longstanding intervention in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq. Biden promises to deal with all that too. Getting back into the original deal 'is the floor and not the ceiling' for the Biden administration on Iran, the person familiar with the incoming administration's thinking on it said. 'It doesnt stop there.' Washington: Proud Boys leader Henry Enrique Tarrio was once a prolific co-operator with FBI and local law enforcement in South Florida, according to court records from a 2012 fraud case in which he pleaded guilty to helping sell stolen goods. Tarrio is under intense law enforcement scrutiny since the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, in which members of the Proud Boys have been charged with some of the most destructive and aggressive acts around the building, according to people familiar with the FBIs ongoing investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the case. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was arrested when he arrived in Washington DC. Credit:AP The Proud Boys are a male chauvinist group with ties to white nationalism. Last year, then-president Donald Trump famously told the group to stand back, and stand by when asked during a debate to condemn white supremacists and the Proud Boys in particular. The moment emboldened the group and others like it who felt Trumps comment indicated they had presidential support. The Proud Boys have led numerous pro-Trump protests, though since January 6, Tarrio has called for a halt on participating in marches. Even before the riot, he was the subject of a law enforcement investigation, and was arrested in early January for allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner torn down from a historic church during a previous protest in Washington DC. Tarrio has pleaded not guilty. Ruth Negga says she jumped at the chance of playing a black woman pretending to be white in her new movie, Passing. The film is one of the most anticipated at the Sundance Film Festival where it will get its world premiere on Saturday night. The Limerick-raised actress plays Clare Kendry, a black woman who meets up with childhood friend Irene Redfield, played by Westworlds Tessa Thompson, years later in New Yorks Harlem. Redfield is stunned to discover that her pal has spent years passing herself off as a white woman and has even married a white racist. Their friendship becomes an obsession which could endanger their futures. The film is an adaptation of Nella Larsens 1929 novel Passing and will be made by Rebecca Hall in her directorial debut. "It's not that often that you get these scripts, that are so full-blooded and fully-fledged, about two Black women," said Preacher star Negga. "Clare confounded me and mesmerized me and confused me." The 39-year-old Love/Hate actress, who was nominated for an Oscar for 2016s Loving, said she was deeply taken with Larsen's "almost clinical" treatment of the character in the book. She said she embraced the non-judgmental approach to the wilful, selfish, but still sympathetic character. "[Larsen] doesn't want her to be a victim or a hero - she wants her to be a human being." She said she had been intrigued with Larsens novel since reading it years before. Director Hall first approached Negga in 2016 about playing the bigger part of Irene Redfield. But the Irish star fought to play Clare and dyed her hair and eyebrows blonde for the role. Hall has called her star wildly unpredictable and thrilling and someone who just hurls herself out there. The director said she wanted to make the film because of her personal family history. Halls maternal grandfather was an African-American doorman in Detroit who apparently passed himself off as white when Halls mother was a girl. "I came across the novel at a time when I was trying to reckon creatively with some of my personal family history, and the mystery surrounding my bi-racial grandfather on my American mothers side, Hall said in a statement last year. In part, making this film is an exploration of that history, to which Ive never really had access." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Daily global deaths from COVID-19 topped 18,000 for the first time in the latest reminder of its deadly impact while countries further tightened restrictions Wednesday in their struggle against new virus variants. With vaccines seen as the only real chance of returning to some form of normality in the months ahead, a row also erupted between the European Union and drugs firm AstraZeneca over the supply of inoculations. Several countries meanwhile imposed new restrictions or considered them as they faced the reality that measures so far to contain infections have fallen short, particularly with new variants spreading. The more infectious strain of the virus that first emerged in Britain has now spread to 70 countries, the World Health Organization said, while another detected in South Africa has been found in 31. Overall, cases have now topped 100 million worldwide and some 2.2 million people have died from the virus since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019. A total of 18,109 deaths were registered on Tuesday, a new record. While necessary, waves of lockdowns and closures have led to severe economic losses and anger in some countries, including riots in recent days in the Netherlands and clashes between protesters and security forces in Lebanon. Britain, the hardest-hit country in Europe and which has became only the fifth nation in the world to surpass 100,000 deaths, announced new hotel quarantine rules on Wednesday for citizens. UK citizens and permanent residents flying back from 22 countries deemed at "high risk" from COVID-19 variants must stay in hotels for 10 days, interior minister Priti Patel told lawmakers. The 10-day quarantine will cost returning Britons 1,500 ($2,060, 1,697 euros), with meals served at the bedroom door and security guards supervising stays, according to media reports. 'Very unlikely' France considered whether to order a third nationwide lockdown as the government admitted that current restrictions, which include a nighttime curfew, were not enough. President Emmanuel Macron was reported at the weekend to favour a new lockdown, but the government decided to hold off for several days to analyse data on new infections and hospital admissions. Travel into Finland slowed to a near standstill Wednesday as new restrictions came into force, while Portugal suspended all flights with Brazil. In Latin America, 16 million Peruvians will enter a two-week lockdown covering a third of the country at the end of January. Russia's capital Moscow however was moving in the other direction, announcing Wednesday a further easing of restrictions citing the improving health situation. Hong Kong has begun using "ambush lockdowns" to suddenly close off and test everyone inside neighbourhoods where cases have spiked, while in Wuhan, relatives of coronavirus dead said they were being pressured by Chinese authorities. They say they have had their social media group deleted and were being pressured to keep quiet while a WHO team is in the city to investigate the pandemic's origins. 'Deliver on its commitments' The row between the EU and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca reflected the growing pressure on politicians over troubled vaccination rollouts. With AstraZeneca having informed the EU it could only supply a quarter of the vaccine doses it had promised for the first three months of this year, the European Union has been pressing it to "deliver on its commitments". The row risked setting the EU and Britain on a post-Brexit collision course as they both insisted on receiving promised supplies. "We reject the logic of first-come, first-served," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said. "That may work at the neighbourhood butcher's but not in contracts, and not in our advanced purchase agreements." 'War-time undertaking' The United States, which has seen the world's worst outbreak, has been seeking to speed up vaccination distribution, with new President Joe Biden trying to turn around the country's fight against the virus. "This is a war-time undertaking. It's not hyperbole," Biden said, announcing the US was buying an additional 200 million doses and will have enough to vaccinate 300 million Americansvirtually the entire populationby early fall. Further evidence of the pandemic's economic toll was also on display Wednesday as the German government said it expected Europe's top economy to grow by three percent this year, less than previously forecast, as longer virus shutdowns slowed the recovery. The struggle to put on the Tokyo Olympics was also back in the spotlight with IOC chief Thomas Bach calling for patience, while the Cannes film festival was postponed until July. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Democrats are pressing to double the federal minimum wage to $15, introducing a standalone bill in Congress Tuesday as lawmakers and White House officials haggle over President Joe Bidens COVID-19 stimulus plan, which also includes a bump to what some progressives denounce as the long-stagnant starvation wage of $7.25 per hour. In addition to calling for a $15 minimum wage during the pandemic, Bidens rescue plan includes more than $400 billion to cover $1,400 stimulus checks for millions of Americans; $400 billion for vaccines and to reopen schools; $35 billion to help local governments boost small businesses; and increased supplemental unemployment insurance, from $300 to $400. For more on the potential stimulus checks, read here. Many lawmakers and economists have recently said its likely that a relief package, potentially a targeted one with direct checks and vaccination funds, should pass Congress within weeks. But Bidens comprehensive $1.9 trillion plan and the Democrats persistent push to boost the minimum wage are far from a done deal in a U.S. Senate split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. Republicans have long argued that raising the minimum wage could kill millions of jobs. They cite reviews from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimated in 2019 that a minimum wage hike could cost the country about 1.3 million jobs. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has expressed strong support for Bidens overall economic recovery plan, but not the minimum wage increase. In 2019, when Democrats in the House passed a $15 minimum wage that was dead on arrival in the then GOP-controlled Senate, the Chamber of Commerce argued that the dramatic increase would have disruptive impacts on employers, particularly small businesses, as well as negative effects on the job opportunities for first time and lower skilled workers. But CBO also predicted that with a $15 minimum wage, more than 17 million Americans would see wage increases and 1.3 million would rise above the poverty threshold, which Democrats and some business groups say could lead to a host of broad economic benefits. Its not complicated: millions of people in this country are not being fairly paid for their work, Sen. Ed Markey recently said on Twitter. We have to raise the minimum wage. Its not complicated: millions of people in this country are not being fairly paid for their work. We have to raise the minimum wage. Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) January 17, 2021 The federal minimum age hasnt seen a bump since 2009. According to the Living Wage Calculator, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology market-based model taking into account minimum costs for food, childcare, health insurance, housing, transportation and other necessities, the living wage in 2019 was $16.54 per hour or $68,808 per year. A single-mother with two children earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour needs to work 138 hours per week, nearly the equivalent of working 24 hours per day for six days, to earn a living wage, according to analysis released last year through the MIT project. The new Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, told senators during her confirmation hearing last week that research into impacts of state-level minimum wage increases compared to neighboring states that do nothing shows overall job loss is very minimal if anything, CBS News reported. The economy will get a shot in the arm when states raise their minimum wage to start the new year, Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said in December. More than 1,300 businesses and business groups have signed on to support Sklars effort, according to CBS News. Businesses depend on customers who make enough to buy what they are selling, from food to car repairs, Sklar said. Minimum wage increases will go right back into local economies, helping workers and businesses get through the pandemic and economic crisis. Lets hope 2021 is also the year we raise the federal minimum wage, ending the longest period without an increase since 1938, when it was enacted to help our nation recover from the Great Depression. But many Republicans continue to balk at both the minimum wage proposals and broad COVID-19 relief. Sen. Mitt Romney recently told NBC News that he doesnt buy the idea that a $1 trillion or $500 billion package is the injection the economy needs. My own view is that whats holding back the economy is Covid, not money, Romney said. I want to do everything we can to get the Covid vaccines out. But once the Covid vaccine is out and people are inoculated, I believe youll see the economy coming back. Democrats would typically require support from 10 Republicans to pass a comprehensive package, but they could force much of the presidents plan through budget reconciliation a move tying the COVID-19 bill to the annual budget process, which requires only a simple majority. In the case of a 50-50 tie, Vice President Kamala Harris could cast the deciding vote. Regulatory provisions like the proposed minimum wage typically cant be part of a reconciliation bill because of the Senates Byrd rule, named after former Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The rule blocks from reconciliation bills extraneous provisions that dont impact the federal budget. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent who caucuses with the Democrats, says the standalone minimum wage legislation and the COVID-19 relief package could be pushed through Congress using reconciliation. We hope that our Republican colleagues understand the kind of pain and desperation thats out there and work with us, Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee chairman, told ABC News after Bidens inauguration last week. I have no problem with reaching out to Republicans, I prefer it that way, but if we hear very early on that Republicans do not want to act in a way that meets the needs of working people in this country, or the middle class, sorry, were going to do it alone. According to Fox News, Sanders says increasing the minimum wage does indeed impact the federal budget, because millions of workers currently receiving public assistance may no longer require it once their paychecks get a boost. Theyd be able to stand on their own two feet, which means it would have a very positive impact on the federal deficit, he argued. That is one of the major arguments we will be making. House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth told CNN, however, that getting minimum wage past the Byrd rule would be a stretch. Eventually that decision is made by the parliamentarian, so well see, Yarmuth said. Related Content: If he would have died by cancer, maybe theyd go, Oh my gosh was he suffering, for how long did he have cancer, what kind was it, what kind of treatment was he getting, she said. Cancer used to be the taboo subject. It took so many years to get it to the forefront, where now we talk openly about it. And thats really my goal with mental illness and with suicide. Once a week, volunteers hand out fliers in Spanish to those in cars lined up at a food distribution site in New Caney. Harris County officials post similar announcements and reminders in Spanish almost every day on social media. The efforts offer a glimpse into operations underway across the Houston region and country to distribute accurate information about COVID-19 to Latinos, from those who may not speak English as fluently as they speak Spanish to those who have been exposed to misinformation. Community organizers and advocates say the information pushes are important as the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine slowly gains momentum. Latinos, whom community leaders say are more likely to work in jobs considered essential, are among the groups that have suffered the most loss of life due to the coronavirus pandemic and cant be left behind in the vaccine rollout, organizers and advocates say. During the regions peak last summer, an analysis conducted by UTHealth School of Public Health showed that COVID-19 cases among Latinos in Harris County had been surging for months. By mid-summer, Hispanic persons reportedly accounted for nearly half of the confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Texas though they comprise 40 percent of the states population. The Latino community has been the hardest-hit in Houston, said Domingo Garcia, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, an organization that advocates for equality and empowerment of Hispanics. We need to vaccinate the Latino population. Some Latinos have expressed skepticism about the vaccine, two authors wrote in a Brookings Institution analysis published Monday, citing concerns ranging from a fear of the potential for long-term effects to concern about inoculation being too expensive. While there is nuance about such reservations among subgroups of Latinos, the authors encouraged federal health officials to commission a more in-depth study, reaggregate data to ensure Latinos are not treated as a monolithic group and acknowledge a saturation of misinformation that must be countered with facts in both English and Spanish. More than 425,000 people have died in the United States due to COVID-19. Nearly two weeks ago, Garcia met via Zoom with then-President-elect Joe Biden and then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and with Xavier Becerra, Bidens pick for health and human services secretary. All assured him they plan a big push to get vaccines to Latinos, especially essential workers, he said. One challenge, however, is the web is full of misinformation that can easily spread among families and friends. One video shows a man, in between sniffles, saying he woke up with sadness in the United Kingdom because he said the vaccine was being used to kill people there. Its not a joke, he says, looking at the camera. The vaccine will try to control you for life. The video, in Spanish, has collected millions of views, Garcia said. Just a guy talking conspiracy theories, he said. There is a lot of misinformation on the internet regarding the vaccine. (No evidence has surfaced of government officials using the vaccine to control people in the United States or elsewhere). Misinformation raises concerns Dr. Omar Matuk-Villazon, a pediatrician and professor at the University of Houstons College of Medicine, has seen such bogus claims reach people he knows. On a recent morning, Matuk-Villazons 24-year-old cousin in San Antonio scheduled to get his first dose of the Moderna vaccine later in the day because hes considered high-risk called him, with concern in his voice, that he didnt want the shot anymore. The cousin had read a screenshot of a Facebook post being circulated on WhatsApp claiming the vaccine contains steroids that he did not want in his body. Matuk-Villazon spent half an hour convincing his cousin to go the appointment. (In the end, he did). In another instance, a woman he knows expressed reservations after watching a video that claimed the vaccine would leave a chip inside those who receive it. I said, No maam, this is not going to be a chip, the doctor recounted. And then I had to convince her of the opposite. But such information doesnt affect all Latinos, Matuk-Villazon said, speculating that it affects few people and that a simple lack of access to reliable and accurate information as well as an inequitable vaccine distribution may be more detrimental to vaccination efforts than phony viral videos. I think a key component here is, we have to actually reach out to the Hispanic community, he said. Hes observed hesitancy among some Latinos but he said it was unclear whether this was due to mistrust or a lack of access to accurate information and the vaccine itself. Hes fielded many logistical questions What are the side effects? How can I get it? from the parents of patients and others whove consulted him. I dont know if the hesitancy is because we just are not giving the right information or we are not reaching out to them, he said. Among those who are trying to reach out is Maria Banos Jordan, who founded Texas Familias Council, a volunteer community organization in Montgomery County. Every Monday evening, Jordan hands out fliers with information about COVID-19 and the vaccine to people who visit the New Caney food distribution site. Online, Jordan shares posts on the groups Facebook page containing updates on the local and state response to the pandemic and on the vaccine rollout. Like any other crisis, the communication barrier is the primary obstacle, she said. This goes for any immigrant population. There really has to be a concerted effort. COVID does not ask for papers Since the beginning of the pandemic, Montgomery County officials were slow in their response, she said. More recently, shes heard from people who want the vaccine, regardless of any reservations about it they may have, but dont know how to get it. The county appears to be one of the few in the Houston region that does not post its social media updates in Spanish. A spokeswoman for its hospital district did not respond to an email asking why. That has been an ongoing concern of mine for years, Jordan said of the lack of immediate information available in Spanish, or any other foreign languages for that matter. Theres nothing. Meanwhile, in Harris County, officials consistently offer information in other languages and are planning to unveil a media campaign next week in Spanish and Vietnamese that will answer frequently asked questions about the vaccine. Other languages may be added to try reaching more people. Regardless of what your native language is, the truth is we are all interconnected as a community, particularly when it comes to this pandemic, County Judge Lina Hidalgo a native of Colombia, said in a statement. We simply cannot let vulnerable communities fall through the cracks when it comes to making sure they have access to vaccines. A question that has induced reservations in some Latinos is whether a persons immigration status will affect their ability to get vaccinated, said Garcia, of LULAC. During the administering of the initial batch of vaccines, a provider in Harris County had listed a question about citizenship status. Garcia said the group asked the provider to remove the question. He has not heard of any more issues since. At least in the region. The Republican governor of Nebraska provoked stern statements from top LULAC officials when he proclaimed the state would prioritize vaccinating legal residents. It appeared the governor changed his mind afterwards, Garcia said. We are trying to get the word out to everybody: You can get the vaccine regardless of your immigration status, Garcia said. COVID does not ask for papers. Aside from information, Garcia said the low supply of vaccine concerns him. He wants to ensure older Latinos in the region, many of whom served in the military and helped build Houston into the city it is today, can stay informed and get vaccinated. Weve lost a lot of abuelitos and abuelitas, he said, referring to grandparents. They are the ones that need the help the most right now. alejandro.serrano@chron.com (Bloomberg) --Oil edged lower as the worsening near-term coronavirus outlook raised concerns over the obstacles still facing crudes fledgling recovery. Futures in New York fell less than 1 percent Tuesday after flipping between gains and losses earlier in the session. While much of the world awaits a wider distribution of the vaccine, oil prices have struggled to sustain their rally. In China, a coronavirus flare-up is threatening fuel demand during the Lunar New Year period, with the government encouraging millions not to travel. Theres a lot of demand destruction-type events in the market, and its weighing on crude, said Bob Yawger, head of the futures division at Mizuho Securities. The market is giving the impression were running out of momentum here. West Texas Intermediate for March delivery fell 16 cents to settle at $52.61 a barrel. Oil has surged almost 50% since the end of October, but the rally has started to falter with obstacles still facing the recovery in global fuel demand. Vaccine coverage wont reach a point where it will stop the transmission of the virus in the foreseeable future, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Meanwhile, the U.K. exceeded 100,000 Covid deaths, serving as a stark reminder of the long road ahead before countries emerge from the pandemic. The fundamental oil picture is firmer for mid-year, but its not really that tight compared to other years, said Rick Joswick, head of oil pricing analytics at S&P Global Platts. The risk that shale producers may eventually increase production also puts a cap on the back-end of the forward price curve. Despite the day-to-day fluctuations in headline crude prices, the markets structure has been firming. Brents prompt timespread was 27 cents a barrel in backwardation on Tuesday, where near-dated contracts are more expensive than later-dated ones. The spread is at the strongest level since late February. About 1.7 billion trips are expected across China over the Lunar New Year period, down 40% from 2019, although 15% higher than last year. The travel rush, which starts on Jan. 28 this year, runs for 40 days and is normally the biggest mass movement of people around the globe as hundred of millions of Chinese jump on planes, trains and automobiles to see their extended families. In the U.S., analysts expect crude inventories to have risen last week, according to a Bloomberg survey. The industry-funded American Petroleum Institute will report its figures later Tuesday ahead of a U.S. government tally on Wednesday. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. A research group from Kumamoto University (Japan) has developed an automated measurement system to assess healthy lifespans using nematodes (C. elegans). Based on qualitative differences in lifespans, this system can classify populations of nematodes that are, on average, healthy and long-lived, healthy and die prematurely, and living with long periods of poor health. Since there are many similarities between the mechanisms that determine the lifespan of C. elegans and humans, the researchers believe that this system will make it easier to develop drugs and find foods that extend the healthy lifespan of humans. The concept of "healthy life expectancy" was proposed in the year 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is an important indicator for the health of a population. It refers to the average life expectancy minus the period of living dependent on continuous medical or nursing care. However, there is no clear scientific understanding of what constitutes a healthy lifespan in experimental animals or cells. Furthermore, the technology to objectively and rapidly analyze the factors that affect healthy life expectancy has not yet been established. Despite being an extremely simple animal, C. elegans has differentiated organs such as nerves, skeletal muscles, and a digestive tract, and many mammalian animal-related genes are conserved. It is very useful for cutting-edge research in fields like genetics and molecular biology. However, while lifespan analysis of this nematode provides a great deal of useful information, previous lifespan studies had many limitations including 1) sensitivity to various stimuli at room temperature, 2) a long experimental time required for daily measurements, 3) a lack of objectivity due to a tendency for results to be dependent on experimental technique, and 4) the small number of samples that can be processed at one time making it unsuitable for simultaneous measurement of many samples. The researchers attempted to resolve these issues by developing a new healthy lifespan assessment system that maintained the advantages provided by nematodes. They focused on determining the optimal conditions in a live cell imaging system for automatically measuring nematode survival, such as counting the number of nematodes in a sample, incubation temperature, medium thickness, feeding conditions, imaging interval, and survival determination method. This became C. elegans Lifespan Auto-monitoring System (C-LAS), a fully automated lifespan measurement system that can non-invasively measure a large number of samples (currently up to 36 samples). C-LAS uses overlapping images of nematodes to identify those that are moving, meaning they are alive, and those that are not moving, meaning they are dead. Next, by using C-LAS to observe C. elegans, the researchers found that nematodes can be classified as being in one of three possible behavioral states: an active (alive) state, an inactive survival state, or an inactive (dead) state. They defined the period of active behavior as the "healthy lifespan" and established a new system that they called the C. elegans Healthspan Auto-monitoring System (C-HAS). Similar to C-LAS, C-HAS is an automated health and longevity measurement system that can distinguish between live and dead nematodes by overlapping periodic images. It is also possible to detect when nematodes are in an inactive survival state (alive but unhealthy) when they only partially overlap between images. Using C-HAS, researchers can use these parameters for mini-population analyses. This type of analysis makes it possible to divide nematodes with the same genetic background into four groups: those with an average lifespan, those that are healthy and long-lived, those that are unhealthy and die prematurely, and those that have a long period of frailty. The researchers performed a mini-population analysis of nematode healthy lifespan using a combination of C-HAS and statistical analysis on common nematodes with the same genetic background. They found that about 28% of the population had average lifespans, about 30% had long and healthy lifespans, about 35% had healthy lifespans but died prematurely, and about 7% had a long period of frailty. They also found that activating--either genetically or through administration of the drug metformin--AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is closely associated with healthy life expectancy, dramatically increased the population with healthy longevity and reduced the population with long periods of frailty. Metformin is thought to increase healthy life expectancy in humans, and the present study supports this idea. Currently, clinical trials are underway to ascertain its association with healthy longevity. "It might be a little unexpected to see nematodes being used to measure healthy lifespans, but we have already used C-HAS to identify new genes related to healthy lifespan that were previously unknown," said study leader, Associate Professor Tsuyoshi Shuto. "This technology makes it possible to easily search for genes, drugs, or foods that are related to, or even extend, human healthy lifespans with a speed and accuracy that could not be obtained when using laboratory animals. We expect that C-HAS can be used for drug discovery research and in the search for healthy foods in the future. We are currently working on the development of C-HAS-AI, which will incorporate deep learning into C-HAS to boost automated analysis." ### This research was posted online in the Journal of Pharmacological Sciences on 29 December 2020. Source: Nakano, Y., Moriuchi, M., Fukushima, Y., Hayashi, K., Suico, M. A., Kai, H., ... Shuto, T. (2020). Intrapopulation analysis of longitudinal lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans identifies W09D10.4 as a novel AMPK-associated healthspan shortening factor. Journal of Pharmacological Sciences. doi:10.1016/j.jphs.2020.12.004 Target announced on Monday that it's giving another $200 million in bonuses to employees during the pandemic. That includes $500 bonuses to hourly team members and between $1,000 and $2,000 for store directors, executive team leaders and distribution center leaders, Target said in a release. "Never has their dedication, resiliency, care and compassion been more appreciated than during the pandemic," Target said in the statement. It's not the first time Target employees were given bonuses during the pandemic. Hourly team members also received $200 bonuses in July, and front-line team members were given $200 bonuses in early November, among other incentives. Other big-box chains and grocery stores have also given out bonuses and wage increases during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Walmart announced it would pay out an estimated $388 million $300 to full-time employees and $150 to part-time employees in one-time bonuses distributed Dec. 24. Meanwhile, Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and Starbucks permanently raised workers' hourly pay in recent months. Target's raise was part of a plan announced in 2017 to increase its minimum wage to $15 by the end of 2020. Amazon, Kroger, Albertsons and others gave their workers hazard pay during the early months of the pandemic, but have since ended it. Amazon also gave out a one-time bonus of $300 for full-time employees and $150 for part-time employees. CNN contributed to this report. Vietnam peace agreement The Vietnam peace agreement was signed in Paris, after years of tortuous negotiation, as men were still fighting and dying on both sides in a war that nobody won. The US Secretary of State, Mr Rogers, delayed the start of the ceremony as he couldnt decide which pen to use. The four ministers present each had to sign 32 documents together but the tardy Mr Rogers lagged behind. It was a very sombre affair apart from the pro-communist protesters chanting outside. Four women detectives Two more women will train as detectives in Sydney, bringing the total to four. The women are following Sgt Del Fricker and Senior Constable Gwen Martin, who were the first female members of the force to graduate as detectives. Sgt Fricker, who has a distinguished police record, was assigned to her first major case as a detective in January last year the murder of 14-year-old schoolgirl Maureen Bradley. Her inquiries led to an arrest and a conviction. SOS calls for petrol New Delhi, Jan 27 : China-based short video service TikTok that enjoyed nearly 120 million users in India before the ban amid plans to invest $1 billion, on Wednesday announced to scale down its 2,000-strong workforce in the country. The decision came against the backdrop of TikTok being among the 59 Chinese apps that the government has decided to permanently ban. The app was first banned temporarily along with other apps in last June. "It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2,000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. The company, however, did not disclose either the percentage or number of employers it has laid off or is going to inform them about the decision in days to come. "We have worked steadfastly to comply with the government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have." Despite the India ban and an ongoing legal battle in the US, Chinese short-video making app TikTok became the highest grossing app globally in 2020 with $540 million in profit. At 850 million, TikTok was also the most downloaded app in 2020, followed by WhatsApp at 600 million and Facebook at 540 million downloads worldwide, according to the data by app analytics firm Apptopia. The Indian government banned nearly 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh in June. By November, the government had banned over 250 Chinese apps. Other Chinese apps in the banned list were Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, BIGO LIVE and more. "It is disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated," the TikTok spokesperson said. Homegrown short-video making apps led by Josh captured more than 40 per cent market share of their Chinese rival since the Indian government banned it. Sensing a great opportunity, Indian content players launched apps like Josh, MX TakaTak, Roposo, Chingari, Moj Mitron, Trell and others to fill the huge void left by TikTok, according to Bengaluru-based market consulting firm RedSeer. According to RedSeer, the short-form content penetration currently is around 45 per cent of around 600 million Internet users in India. The number of Internet users in India set to grow to 970 million from current 600 million in next five years. Short-form market is also estimated to grow by 4 times on total time spent and reach to 400-450 billion minutes a month from the current 110 billion minutes. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The wife of a former Nigerian minister was paid N75 million from public funds without executing any contract, an investigator told a federal court on Wednesday. An operative of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Halima Turaki, wife of a former minister, Tanimu Turaki, was paid the N75 million from funds earmarked by her husbands ministry for a sensitisation project. Testifying as the 12th prosecution witness in Mr Turakis trial on money laundering charges, Bello Hamma-Adama said Mrs Turaki confirmed to the EFCC that she never executed any contract for the ministry. Mr Turaki, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was a former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs who was later given an additional role as the Supervising Minister of Labour, during the Goodluck Jonathan administration. The anti-graft agency last year levelled 16 counts of money laundering, jointly, against Mr Turaki, his former special assistant, Sampson Okpetu, as well as two firms Samtee Essentials Limited and Pasco Investment Limited. They were accused of using different companies to divert about N854 million between 2013 and 2015. The defendants denied the charges. Diverted funds Mr Hamma-Adama led by the prosecuting counsel, Mohammed Abubakar, on Wednesday, testified that the defendants diverted N359 million earmarked for a sensitisation project of the Federal Ministry Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs (FMSDIGA). He told the court the fund was disbursed in tranches into private bank accounts including the ones operated by Mr Turakis wife and brother. According to the witness, the former ministers wife and one of his brothers, Abdullahi Maigwandu, initially received N45 million each. The witness added that Mrs Turaki later received additional N30 million through a chain of transfers that started from the ministrys account to one Abubakar Sani Gudes Zenith Bank account, and to her bank account. Questioned He said the EFCC after gathering information about the shady transactions invited Mrs Turaki for questioning during which she allegedly confirmed receiving the payments without doing any job for the ministry. The witness said, she came alongside the 1st defendant (Mr Turaki) and a lawyer. On video, she mentioned that the transaction was done at her instance. She said she is a housewife. She said she was not a contractor with the Ministry of Special Duties. She said she did not carry out any sensitisation exercise for the ministry. The witness said Mrs Turaki, through her lawyer, Abdulaziz Ibrahim, who is also the lawyer defending one of the accused companies, refunded N75 million to the EFCC. He also said N50 million was transferred to Abdulrahman Yusuf, who was said to be a bureau de change operator and business associate of Mr Turaki. He added that Mr Yusuf transferred some of the funds to the former minister and N20 million to Samtee Essentials Ltd, a firm said to be owned by the second defendant. According to the witness, Mr Yusuf also conceded that he did not carry out any sensitisation programme for the ministry. The judge, Inyang Ekwo, adjourned the case till February 9 and 10. ADVERTISEMENT BELGRADE - Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said there is a worldwide "war" for the vaccine against coronavirus, with rich countries vying to get as many doses as possible to the detriment of those with fewer possibilities. Serbia, said Vucic on Tuesday night to State television Rts, has stipulated so far contracts for the provision of 6.5 million doses of vaccines but "the problem is there is no vaccine". The president compared the world to a Titanic that is crashing against an iceberg with rich passengers and their dear ones who are doing everything possible to reach safety, leaving the others to sink with the boat. Serbia, Vucic said, despite provision cuts, is working on a massive vaccination plan of the population with all the available doses. So far, he added, over 320,000 have been inoculated, with the country among the first in Europe for the number of people inoculated in relation to the population (just over 7 million). Three types of vaccines are administered in Serbia - China's Sinopharm, Russia's Sputnik V and Pfizer-BioNTech. People can reserve by compiling an online module and then wait for notification of the hour, date and place of vaccination. Vucic confirmed he will be vaccinated with Sinopharm, but that he is waiting for his turn in order to give priority to those more at risk. Government authorities have decided to get different vaccines to show they are all effective and safe. In the televised interview, Vucic also announced an upcoming package of measures to support the economy, businesses and citizens affected by the pandemic, which will be worth 2.5 billion euros. President Joseph R. Biden on Wednesday said climate change should be regarded as an essential element of U.S. foreign policy and national security. That is likely to bring big changes for Americas role in the world. That the Biden administration has rejoined the Paris Agreement, the global pact embraced by nearly 200 countries to slow down climate change, is only the first step, foreign policy experts say. Taking on climate change will require a reassessment of everything from United States military posture in the Arctic to helping fragile countries deal with the fallout of climate risks. It changes defense posture, it changes foreign policy posture, said John D. Podesta, a former Obama administration official. It begins to drive a lot of decision making in foreign policy, diplomacy and development policy. The White House executive order offered a glimpse of that shift. It directed the nations intelligence agencies to assess the risks posed by global warming around the world, and it directs all government agencies to figure out how climate considerations fit into their international priorities. Russia backed a Palestinian proposal for a Middle East peace conference, suggesting Tuesday it could be held at ministerial level in spring or summer, as the US said it would move towards renewing ties with the Palestinians under Joe Biden. The United States -- which had firmly sided with Israel under the administration of Donald Trump -- said Tuesday it intended to "restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis." Recalling that Moscow had backed Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas' idea for international talks in early 2021 when he first proposed it in September, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov offered ideas about who could be invited. "We propose holding an international, ministerial-level meeting in spring-summer 2021," Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting about the Middle East held by videoconference. The roughly 10 participants would include Israel, the Palestinians, the four members of the so-called Middle East diplomatic quartet (Russia, the United Nations, the United States and the European Union), along with four Arab states -- Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, Lavrov said. "It would also be important to invite Saudi Arabia, which is behind the Arab peace initiative," he added, without offering a specific date or site for the eventual conference. He noted that Moscow remained ready to host a meeting between Israel and the Palestinians in the Russian capital "at the highest levels." China voiced its support for Russia's idea at the UN meeting, but most other participants did not offer an opinion on the proposal. 'Credible US engagement' At last year's annual meeting of the UN General Assembly, Abbas -- who had rejected a peace plan advanced by then US president Trump -- said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needed to be resolved on the basis of international law, and under conditions agreed by the global community. On Tuesday, nearly all who spoke at the Security Council meeting, including the United States, reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution -- under which Israel and a future Palestine would coexist. "The Biden administration will restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis," said Washington's interim UN envoy Richard Mills. The new Democratic president "has been clear in his intent to restore US assistance programs that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people and to take steps to re-open diplomatic missions that were closed by the last US administration," he added. Under Trump, the US had stopped supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and closed the Palestinians' liaison office in Washington. In a joint statement the Security Council's European members -- Estonia, France and Ireland -- urged Israel to "show leadership" in moving towards a solution with the Palestinians, and called on both sides to engage in trust-building. For the first time in 15 years, the Palestinians are set to hold elections -- legislative polls on May 22, followed by a presidential election on July 31. Short link: ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Adolphus Aghughu as the Auditor-General of the Federation. This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Babjide Omoworare, dated January 26. The appointment, he said, is pursuant to Section 86(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). Mr Aghughu has been acting as the Auditor-General since the voluntary retirement/ of Anthony Mkpe Ayine from service upon attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 60 years on October 25, 2020. With a masters degree in economics, the Edo born Auditor-General designate is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management and Associate member of Chartered Institute of Taxation. He became an Auditor in the Office of the Auditor-General in 1992 and was promoted to the rank of Director of Audit in January 2016. The president also nominated Victor Muruako for appointment as Chairman for the Fiscal Responsibility Commission in accordance with the provision of section 5(3) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. Mr Muruako, a legal practitioner, had served as the Secretary to the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and currently acts as the Chairman of the Commission. Mr Omoworare informed that both letters of nomination have been forwarded to the Senate President Ahmad Lawan for confirmation by the Senate. Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams began to unfurl his reform agenda this week in a directive related to parole decisions that marks a sharp break from the more punitive bent of his predecessor, Leon Cannizzaro. In a memo to senior prosecutors on Monday, the office's new civil rights chief, Emily Maw, said the office's lawyers would no longer take a position on parole or pardon applications, no matter the nature of the underlying crime. This means we will not oppose parole or pardon applications, even where the prisoner was convicted of a violent crime. The order includes pending parole applications, from which the DAs office will withdraw any opposition filed by Cannizzaros office, Maw wrote. She described it as an interim policy, in a copy of the memo obtained by The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate. We are not experts in rehabilitation or corrections, Maw wrote. Determinations concerning the risk or merit of parole should be made by corrections professionals." Maw emphasized the new posture doesn't mean the office supports parole, saying that "in the ordinary course of cases, this office should take no position on parole decisions" because it goes beyond the law and "has little or no relevance to questions of recidivism or public safety." Francis Abbott, executive director of the state Board of Pardons and Committee on Parole, said Williams office notified him on Monday that it was reviewing all opposition that was submitted prior to him taking office on pending parole applications. Abbott said no other district attorney in Louisiana has a similar policy against taking a position on parole for an inmate. Some district attorneys, on the other hand, have policies to oppose parole as a matter of course for those slated to appear before the board. Williams issued a statement late Tuesday. I made a commitment to the people of New Orleans that we would be serious about working to end mass incarceration, it read. My directive to end the default practice of opposing pardon and parole applications for those who are eligible, removes an unnecessary hurdle to a productive life outside of prison for those who have been rehabilitated as determined by trained corrections officials. My office is focused on increasing safety and justice and this policy moves us in that direction. In the same memo, Maw also ordered prosecutors to withdraw requests seeking life-without-parole sentences a second time for inmates who were convicted of murders committed while they were juveniles. More than 200 such "juvenile lifers" in Louisiana who had originally received no-parole sentences were allowed new sentencing hearings over their parole eligibility under a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The high court ruled that such terminal sentences should be reserved for the worst of the worst juvenile offenders, a category to which district attorneys have varied in their interpretations. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Cannizzaro's office sought to restore no-parole sentences for several inmates who fell under the 2016 law. Please -- again -- understand that this is not an endorsement of the merits of any particular defendant's suitability for release on parole; this policy simply recognizes again that corrections professionals are best positioned to make these determinations, wrote Maw, the former director of Innocence Project New Orleans, whose position in the DA's office is a newly created one. Her memo was issued Monday, the start of Williams' third week in office. A criminal defense attorney, he beat former District Judge Keva Landrum in a December runoff to claim a seat that Cannizzaro vacated after two terms. Williams took office Jan. 11, joining a national wave of reform candidates who have wrested control of state prosecutor's offices in cities across the country with an eye to reducing incarceration and improving equity in the justice system. High bail bonds, low-level drug charges and hefty prison sentences are among their targets, though several of those progressive prosecutors have faced stiff political pushback. Though Cannizzaro declined to run for a third term, Williams deplored the former DA's prosecutorial tactics on the campaign trail -- while painting Landrum, a former prosecutor, with the same hard-nosed brush. Abbott, of the state parole board, said Cannizzaros office had a policy in place that they would respond directly to the board on a case-by-case basis, and regularly participated in open public hearings. Most often in such cases, district attorneys support opposition from crime victims, who have a right to be heard at parole hearings. In her memo, Maw anticipated concerns about not continuing that practice. Please understand that we are not doing victims a disservice by adopting this position, she wrote. Multiple overlapping laws make clear the Louisiana Pardon and Parole Board has a legal obligation to notify victims directly about important developments and the Louisiana DOC has gone over and above the legal requirements to ensure proper, timely, and meaningful victim notification. Maw wrote that the new policy on parole "may be amended or changed once the District Attorney has developed a comprehensive policy manual." How many inmates from Orleans Parish will be spared opposition from the district attorney under the policy put in place this week was not immediately clear. Loren Lampert, executive director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, also said Tuesday that he wasn't readily aware of any other DA in the state with similar policies on parole input. The new policy under Williams follows a similar move in December by the new reform district attorney in Los Angeles, George Gascon, who has barred prosecutors from appearing at parole hearings, among other sweeping changes, some of them controversial.. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Yucca Mountain appears to be a nonstarter again. The Biden administration, days old now, opposes the use of the controversial repository for storage of nuclear waste, Jennifer Granholm, the presidents pick for energy secretary, affirmed Wednesday during her confirmation hearing. Instead, Granholm promised, alternatives will absolutely be pursued, as toxic wastes remain trapped at dozens of sites across the U.S. Officials with the Trump administration made similar commitments last year. Granholms Wednesday comments came at the behest of Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Nevada Democrat and staunch Yucca Mountain opponent. Yucca Mountain. We know it has been a failed policy, Cortez Masto said, beginning her line of state-specific questioning. She continued: We still have challenges with really addressing the high-level nuclear waste storage that we have in this country. Yucca Mountain is not the answer. Yucca Mountain, near Las Vegas, was identified in the 1980s as the nations potential nuclear storehouse where some of the worst wastes would be sent and kept. The project flatlined under President Barack Obama and has failed to gain traction since, much to the disappointment of some Palmetto State politicians. South Carolinas Jeff Duncan, a Republican representing the 3rd Congressional District, has pitched the idled repository as the lawful solution to the waste deadlock at the Savannah River Site. Get it off the shores of Lake Keowee, Duncan has said of nuclear waste. Lets get it away from the Savannah River Site. The Biden administrations stance against Yucca Mountain, as relayed by Granholm, isnt exactly surprising. The president has long opposed the endeavor. And as a senator, Vice President Kamala Harris co-sponsored the Nuclear Waste Informed Consent Act, legislation introduced by Cortez Masto that would require the Department of Energy to secure approval from a states governor, local-level governments and neighboring tribes before a nuclear waste repository could be built. In an interview with the Aiken Standard in late 2019, Harris emphasized that local consent and decision-making is critical for successful storage and disposal. Communities have to be given the power to consent to what they want, meaning communities should have the authority to make the decisions about what happens to their communities, Harris said at the time. And what happens in those communities includes whether or not theres going to be a nuclear site there. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Loading Biden has also created a new office of domestic climate policy to co-ordinate climate policy across key government agencies. In his first appearance at the White House briefing room, Kerry said: The stakes on climate change just simply couldnt be any higher than they are right now [...] This is an issue where failure, literally, is not an option. Speaking earlier at the World Economic Forum, Kerry said he had read an article over Christmas that ought to stop every single one of us in our tracks. Headlined Watching Earth Burn, the story by New York Times writer Michael Benson pieced together satellite images of the Australian bushfire emergency. You could see huge plumes of smoke when you saw these pictures of Australias fires with, and I quote Michael, flame vortexes spiralling 200 feet into the air passing New Zealand and stretching thousands of miles into the cobalt Pacific, Kerry said. He continued to quote details in Bensons article, including the razing of an estimated 46 million acres, loss of dozens of lives, destruction of nearly 6000 buildings and potential extinction of some species. Benson summed it up, Kerry said. With shocking iconographic precision, that unfurling banner of smoke said: The war has started. Were losing. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Kerry did not directly criticise Australias climate change policies but earlier this week said he would push the worlds largest emitters to sign up to deeper cuts. Australia has a goal of cutting emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030. It has not signed up to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 but Morrisons language has shifted recently and many Liberal MPs believe he will take the pledge at the Glasgow summit. So we are here now, at this moment, not just because we understand the urgency or the moral imperative, were here because we know we cant afford to lose any longer and action is the one moral, economic and scientific imperative worth contemplating, Kerry said. He emphasised the need to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees but warned the world was on track to hit 4.1 or 4.5 degrees of warming. The Glasgow meeting was the last best chance to arrest the trajectory, Kerry said. But even if we did everything that was promised in Paris, folks, temperatures are going to rise to 3.7 degrees [of warming]. And thats just because the conglomeration of all the things people were willing to do didnt add up to what we need to do. Kerry estimated the world had to phase out coal five times faster than current rates, ramp up renewable energy six times faster and transition to electric vehicles 22 times faster. Loading In a panel discussion after Kerrys speech, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said companies knew they would have to reduce the supply of oil, gas and coal but said a careful transition was needed. Kerry responded: The problem with gas is if we build out a huge infrastructure for gas now and continue to use it as the bridge fuel when we havent really exhausted the other possibilities, were going to be stuck with stranded assets in 10, 20, 30 years. And gas is primarily methane. The fact is methane is 20 times [more] damaging, if not more, than fossil fuels. His views on gas are significant because the Morrison government has flagged the resource as a transition fuel for the coming decades. Strategy Analytics: True Wireless Stereo Headset Sales Surge 90% in 2020 as Chinese Vendors Surge Strategy Analytics in a newly published series of reports from the Device Technologies (EDT) team, forecasts total global Bluetooth headset sales volume of over 300 million units in 2020. As a category, True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Bluetooth headset sales witnessed growth of nearly 90% in 2020. The reports Global Bluetooth TWS Headset Sales and Revenue Forecasts through 2025, Global Bluetooth Headset Sales Forecast through 2025, and Global Bluetooth Headset Revenue Forecasts through 2025 details the global market share position of leading TWS headset vendors for 2020. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006144/en/ Figure 1. Global TWS Sales by Vendor Volume Share (Graphic: Business Wire) "TWS headsets drove global sales volumes in the Bluetooth headset segment," comments Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics (News - Alert) . "While the pandemic slowed demand briefly during the first half of the year, sales rebounded strongly during the second half. The Work From Home shift benefitted the entire Bluetooth headset category in terms of sales volume growth." "There is still plenty of potential in the broader Bluetooth headset market," comments Ville-Petteri Ukonaho, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics. "Our research shows that installed base and penetration of Bluetooth headsets is still low; less than one in ten people own a Bluetooth headset globally, so there is still significant room for growth. As leading vendors are no longer bundling wired headsets with new smartphones, we see huge potential for Bluetooth headsets." " Apple (News - Alert) maintained a commanding lead in the TWS segment in 2020, but its commanding share is shrinking as competition intensifies. Strong competition is expected from Xiaomi, Samsung (News - Alert) , and Huawei in 2021. The TWS headset market is already hugely overcrowded and despite a strong sales outlook, there will inevitably be consolidation in the years ahead," says Ken Hyers. The reports Global Bluetooth TWS Headset Sales and Revenue Forecasts through 2025, Global Bluetooth Headset Sales Forecast through 2025, and Global Bluetooth Headset Revenue Forecasts through 2025 are available to Strategy Analytics clients of our Emerging Device Technologies research service. About Strategy Analytics Strategy Analytics, Inc. is a global leader in supporting companies across their planning lifecycle through a range of customized market research solutions. Our multi-discipline capabilities include: industry research advisory services, customer insights, user experience design and innovation expertise, mobile consumer on-device tracking and business-to-business consulting competencies. With domain expertise in: smart devices, connected cars, intelligent home, service providers, IoT, strategic components and media, Strategy Analytics can develop a solution to meet your specific planning need. For more information, visit us at www.strategyanalytics.com. Source (News - Alert) : Strategy Analytics, Inc. #SA_Devices For more information about Strategy Analytics Emerging Device Technologies: Click here View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006144/en/ Creation of new Agrarian Policy Ministry deferred until March The powers of the new ministry have not yet been determined. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter A puppy with a birth defect at a rescue shelter in West Chester, Ohio was stood up on adoption day. The nine-month-old American Bully, Jack, was waiting for his new family at Peaches Bully Rescue after someone had stated they were interested in adopting him. They never showed. Jack was very sad when his meet and greet person was a no show, no call, reads the rescue shelters Facebook post addressing the matter. He had a bath, got a fancy harness on, had a fresh diaper, and a dedicated foster team that drove 40 minutes each way just to end in a huge disappointment. Fox 19 News reports that Jack has spina bifida, a birth defect that occurs when the spine and the spinal cord dont form properly during gestation. This may cause those with spina bifida to have mobility and orthopedic issues, such is the case with Jack. After Jacks story went viral, people flocked to the rescues Facebook page in the hundreds to voice their sympathy for the poor pooch. Jack and our team are so touched by the immense support and networking that this community has done, says a follow-up Facebook post. We have received over 600 inquiries and 200 applications for adoption for which we are processing. Jacks post has reached over 3 million people! Wow! In the words of Peaches Bully Rescue: Your family will come, sweet boy, and when they do, they will be perfect. For more information on Peaches Bully Rescue and their pooches, you can visit their website here. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 02:39:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIRUT, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 people were injured on Wednesday in clashes between protesters and security forces in Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli, the National News Agency reported. This is the third consecutive day of protests in Tripoli against the total lockdown imposed by the authorities to curb the COVID-19 pandemic and the dire economic and living conditions. Protesters attempted to break into the headquarters of the Tripoli government by throwing stones at security forces. Meanwhile, security forces continued to use water cannons and tear gas canisters to disperse protesters from the government headquarters. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the already worst economic and financial crisis in Lebanon's history as the total anti-virus lockdown measures increased poverty in the country. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:53:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on Jan. 14, 2021 shows the container terminal of Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) At a time when the deadly coronavirus is still raging in many parts of the world and humanity is encountering a raft of global challenges and crises rarely seen in history, no one can survive without joining forces and working together with others. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- In his special address at the World Economic Forum virtual event of the Davos Agenda, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for global action, global response and global cooperation to fix the world's problems. Xi's remarks on Monday resonate with all those across the world committed to upholding multilateralism and jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind. At a time when the deadly coronavirus is still raging in many parts of the world and humanity is encountering a raft of global challenges and crises rarely seen in history, no one can survive without joining forces and working together with others. Thus, an efficient way to jointly ride out the critical moment is to uphold multilateralism, in which all countries need to assume their due responsibilities and take concrete actions, instead of only making empty promises. China has walked the talk and devoted itself to the global fight against the once-in-a-century pandemic. Under immense pressure of epidemic prevention and control at home, it has offered urgently-needed supplies to others within its capacity. Members of a Chinese medical team assisting the Myanmar government's efforts in fight against COVID-19 board the plane before departure at the Kunming Changshui International Airport in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, April 8, 2020. (Photo by Chen Xinbo/Xinhua) Actions speak louder than words. So far, China has provided assistance to over 150 countries and 13 international organizations, and sent 36 medical expert teams to countries in need. It has also been actively engaged in global cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines and working hard to promote these life-saving tools to be more accessible and affordable. "It is especially important to scale up cooperation on the R&D, production and distribution of vaccines and make them public goods that are truly accessible and affordable to people in all countries," Xi said. Besides its efforts and actions in the anti-COVID-19 fight, China has made remarkable contributions to global causes aimed at alleviating poverty, tackling climate change and resuscitating the global economy. Because of the coronavirus and resulting economic recession, an additional population of about 100 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty, while the gap between rich and poor countries is very likely to grow. China, the first country to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control, has made historic achievements in eradicating absolute poverty despite the impact of the pandemic, contributing to over 70 percent of the global drive in this field. China has also continuously advanced South-South cooperation and made tangible contributions to poverty eradication and debt relief in the developing world. Women work at a poverty relief workshop of a relocation site in Fugong County of Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Nov. 2, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Chao) Meanwhile, China has taken concrete actions to promote sustainable development, and stepped up its efforts in building a cleaner and better world. Notably, the country has announced its goal of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Though meeting these targets will require tremendous hard work from China, the country, as Xi said, will "step forward, take action, and get the job done" when the interests of the entire world's population are at stake. Also, China has never stopped working to bolster economic globalization, by following through on its fundamental policy of opening-up, which has created more cooperation opportunities for other countries and accelerated global recovery and growth. Photo taken on Jan. 7, 2020 shows China-produced sedans at Tesla's gigafactory in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) For instance, despite the recession, China's foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road totaled 9.37 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars), up 1 percent year on year, official data showed. Charles Onunaiju, director of the Abuja-based Center for China Studies, said with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, China has in recent years become an increasingly open, inclusive and confident player on the global stage. In this globalized era, stronger multilateralism is the way forward to tackle tough global challenges. In this context, China, in both words and deeds, has boosted confidence in upholding multilateralism and injected impetus into a joint response to global crises. In the future, China will continue to join forces with the international community to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. Back in June last year the Indian Government announced a ban on 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok and Helo saying that they are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. Now there are reports that says that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has sent new notice to these apps last week saying that their answers and clarifications following the ban were found to be inadequate, so the temporary block has now been made permanent. In the other news TikTok today confirmed that it will downsize its India team that will impact all employees in India and is exploring all ways of a possible comeback. This has been confirmed by Tiktoks global interim head Vanessa Pappas and vice president for global business solutions Blake Chandlee. The executives expressed uncertainty on the companys comeback to India but expressed hope to do so in times to come. The company said that it has worked steadfastly to comply with the government of India order issued on June 29, 2020 and continually strives to make its apps comply with local laws and regulations. In a statement, the company said: We have done our best since then to address their (Indian governments) concerns. It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our over 2,000 employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India. Source 1, 2 Locally reported news and sports Stay Current with What's Happening Get the most of NNY360, register today! By providing your email address, you consent to receive emails and special offers from NNY360.com Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. The other day, National Geographic posted a picture to Instagram of Copenhagens Amager Bakke, a waste-to-energy plant built by the famed Bjarke Ingels Group, which burns trash, emits water vapor and powers over 100,000 households across Denmarks capital. For those who follow efforts in sustainability and green design, CopenHill is already a familiar sight. Its been triumphed by architecture publications for nearly two years, with special attention on its clever, pedestrian-oriented roof, which includes a ski slope and hiking paths. Still, it appears that many of National Geographics followers of which there are 150 million, making it the 11th-most followed account on Instagram had never heard of the project. In the comments, there is a singular refrain: Why dont we have these in America? The answer to that question is somewhere at the intersection of sobering and boring. The United States struggles to employ (if even attempt) many of the projects and processes perfected in recent decades by the Nordic model. Denmark and its neighboring nations are welfare states designed to foster equality, ensure education, and prioritize sustainability. America can get there, but party politics, special-interest tax breaks and broad-scale skepticism of science arent helping. It bears noting: you dont need to have Google Translate handy in Scandinavia. Over 85% of the local populations in Denmark, Norway and Sweden speak proficient English. Like much of the world, the area has been a prolific consumer of American stuff since the end of World War II. But in recent years, if that script hasnt flipped, its at least started to swivel a bit. Americans are increasingly likely to spend time looking at things the Nordics have (free healthcare, ethical prison systems, bike lanes), and wonder: Why dont we have these in America? Hygge has a seasonal connotation, but its part of a year-round devotion to chasing vibes. Febiyan/Unsplash Aside from buildable furniture and buildable toys, the most prolific recent export from Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), and the Nordic nations as a whole (which includes Finland and Iceland), has been philosophical. Its difficult to land in the World Happiness Reports top five year after year without people noticing. Foreigners, forced to confront the worlds inequities without the extensive social apparatuses of jolly Northern Europe, have decided theyd rather not wait for their countries to catch up. Theyre better off bottling the goodness at the source. This view, that the Nordic people have a way of life to offer to the world, a perspective thats responsible for their famous happiness, was a driving force behind the hygge explosion in 2016. At the end of that year, the Danish word, which refers to coziness, comfort, joy, and everyday togetherness, was the runner-up (after Brexit) for word of the year in the United Kingdom. The States was all in, too. Americans wanted to know how to say the word for the record, its hyoo-guh they wanted to know what qualified as hygge, they sought to implement it at an individual level. But eventually, and its hard to blame Denmark (a country with less people than Maryland) for this, the concept became commodified. You could buy your way to achieving hygge, with a tiny gift shop book that professed its teachings, or by way of a wool-knit fishermans sweater. The concept definition drifted from one provided in 2010, by Danish anthropologist Jeppe Trolle Linnet: a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow. It became more about good lighting. It became a fad. Which made it easier to dismiss, or, for some, to even despise. Happiness is more than soft sweaters and Edison bulbs. Jonas Jacobsson/Unsplash Thats a shame. This age, especially, is suited for hygge. One of the top Google search queues for the phrase reads, Is hygge still a thing? Yes, it most definitely is. Its possible that part of the concepts popularity stemmed from packaging, from its otherness; people enjoyed reveling in something that suggested they were well-traveled, cultured. It was a string of fun English words summed up in one fun-sounding word. Whatever reason brought people to hygge, though, that instinct should be acted upon again if not as a permanent lifestyle change, at least as a way to ease the sting of this long, quarantine winter. Strip away the lifestyle cult of hygge, and youre left with a pretty workable daily point of view: cherish friends and family, comfort yourself and others, create an inviting atmosphere. Its little wonder so many seized on the idea; in the wake of Denmarks 20th-century surge (and those of its neighbors), hygge seemed an elixir, a secret to success. It isnt. But when observed, its a recipe for lighter days. Mental health issues have accelerated at an alarming rate during the pandemic; sometimes, it helps to have a reminder to treat yourself and others with kindness. That can manifest with an assist from the unwritten playbook hygge provides. In this case, the word the branding actually helps. Its memorable. Its something to turn to. And watch, itll feel more potent when it isnt just scrawled in cursive across a scented candle. If hygge doesnt do it for you, though, there are other words. Sweden uses the phrase lagom, which venerates moderation and balance. Its descended from a long-standing proclivity in the Swedish psyche for simplicity: find appreciation where you are, with what you have. In Iceland, the unofficial national motto is etta reddast, which means Itll all work out in the end. (A helpful attitude to have, in a place where the soil in your backyard is hot enough to fry an egg.) Norwegians riff on hygge with the concept of koselig, only it doubles down on the companionship bit, and urges a celebration of the outdoors, even in the depths of winter. And the Finns, bless them, have kalsarikanni, which means getting hammered in ones underwear. The bible of vibes has already extended past these Nordic nations. The latest craze seems to be Japans ikigai, which refers to ones reason to getting up from bed each morning. Finding it is believed to have an impact on ones longevity. (The idea originated in Okinawa, one of the worlds highest concentrations of centenarians, so perhaps theres something there.) Of course, youre free to ignore all of these concepts. But at a time like this, when we could all use a boost, theres value in looking outward as in, across the sea before you look inward. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post Hygge Isnt Dead. The Scandinavian Way of Life Will See You Through Quarantine. appeared first on InsideHook. CBS has placed two top TV executives on leave after a report detailing accusations that they had created a hostile work environment, including making disparaging remarks about female and Black employees. The executives, Peter Dunn, the president of CBS television stations, and David Friend, the senior vice president of news for TV stations, were placed on administrative leave pending the results of a third-party investigation, the company said in a statement Monday. CBS is committed to a diverse, inclusive and respectful workplace where all voices are heard, claims are investigated and appropriate action is taken where necessary, according to the statement. CBS declined further comment. The suspensions came after The Los Angeles Times published a report Sunday in which employees accused the executives of bullying female managers and blocking efforts to hire and retain Black journalists. The newspaper reported that Dunn frequently denigrated a Black news anchor at KYW, the CBS station in Philadelphia, calling him just a jive guy and that at least four current and former female CBS executives said they had been bullied by Dunn from 2017 to 2019. Dunn declined to comment to The Los Angeles Times about the allegations made against him. The newspapers report also said several Black journalists had either left their positions at the Philadelphia station or were blocked by Dunn or Friend from being hired. In a statement to The Los Angeles Times, Friend said that he and CBS stations had a strong track record of hiring and supporting women and journalists of color. These comments I may have made about our employees or prospective hires were only based on performance or qualifications not about anyones race or gender, Friend said. In recent years, CBS has faced numerous scandals over the treatment of its employees, including at the highest levels of the company. Its longtime chief executive, Les Moonves, was forced out in 2018 after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct. On Sunday, officials from the National Association of Black Journalists met with CBS officials and called for both Dunn and Friend to be fired. The association said that the issues detailed in The Los Angeles Times investigation were not confined to one station, and that it had heard from several CBS employees across the country. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Republic Day violence: Mayawati seeks repeal of farm laws, Akhilesh blames BJP India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Jan 27: BSP national president Mayawati and her Samajwadi Party (SP) counterpart Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the BJP and its government at the centre over the Tuesday's tractors' parade violence and chaos in the national capital. Terming the violence unfortunate, Mayawati asked the Centre to immediately repeal the three new farm laws while Akhilesh held BJP responsible for the incident. Coronavirus cases: India records 12,689 new COVID-19 cases, 137 deaths in a day In a set of two tweets in Hindi, Mayawati said, "All that happened in the country's capital Delhi on the Republic Day must not have happened at all. It is extremely unfortunate, and the Central government must take it very seriously. At the same time, BSP yet again appeals the Central government to repeal the three farm laws without any further delay and end the protracted movement by the farmers so that such unfortunate incidents do not occur ever again." Akhilesh Yadav, who addressed a tractors' rally in his ancestral village of Saifai, Etawah on Tuesday, took to Twitter on Wednesday morning and said: "It is the BJP government's constant neglect, insult, and accusation of farmers that played a decisive role in turning farmers' anger into a rage. BJP is fully responsible for the circumstances that have now emerged. Now, taking the moral responsibility for it, the BJP (government) must repeal the farm laws immediately," Akhilesh said. Severe cold wave conditions to continue in northwest India for next 3 days, says IMD Thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital on Tuesday leading to clashes with police at multiple places, following the protesting farmers' intimidating tactics at the ITO cross section and hoisting of religious flag at the red fort. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence seen during the tractor parade, organised by the farmers in the national capital, which left over 100 policemen injured, claimed officials. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News The trouble began when the tractors rally, organised to oppose the three Central farm laws, left the pre-decided route and marched to central Delhi, the farmers, led by Nihangs on their horses and equipped with swords, kirpans and other weapons, charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades, which were erected the police said. At Red Fort, they broke the gates and entered its wells. A section of the crowd also managed to climb atop the rampart of the Red Fort where they hoisted their organisation's flag, the statement had added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 11:32 [IST] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [January 27, 2021] Member Driven Technologies Concludes 2020 with Strong Momentum Member Driven Technologies (MDT), a CUSO that hosts the Episys core platform from Symitar to provide a private cloud alternative for core processing and IT needs, today shared highlights from its unique 17th year in business. 2020 marked significant growth and success for MDT, both with clients and internally. The CUSO signed three new credit unions, successfully onboarded six and secured 10 client contract renewals (with an average renewal term of six years). Out of the six conversions completed last year, four were virtual. MDT quickly shifted its strategy to accommodate pandemic-related restrictions, prioritizing frequent check ins and video chats to ensure these projects were executed efficiently and effectively. All four virtual conversions were a success and even completed within the original timelines. The company also added more than 30 new products and/or enhancements to its offerings, many of which helped credit unions and members navigate the pandemic's impacts. These updates included Banno Online and Mobile and a new, sophisticated eSign solution. This continued prioritization of technology is reflective of MDT's dedication to delivering an open platform, allowing credit unions to select and implement the products and services that best meet their unique needs. Despite external challenges, MDT continued to put its people and community first; the company hired five nw employees and awarded five promotions last year. The CUSO also hosted a virtual talent show (MDT's Got Talent Zoomathon), raising $20,000 for the United Way Organization in Montana and #FeedtheFrontLine in Detroit, helping to provide meals to essential hospital workers. Demonstrating its commitment to equality for all, MDT launched a social justice committee last year, aimed at promoting and celebrating diversity and inclusion. MDT received both national and local recognition for its dynamic culture. The CUSO was acknowledged as a Best Fintech to Work for by Arizent based on feedback from employee surveys inquiring about factors such as workplace policies, practices, philosophy, systems, demographics and the overall employee experience. Crain's Detroit Business also recognized MDT as a 2020 Cool Place to Work in Michigan for the fourth consecutive year, ranking no. 16 among medium sized companies on the list. "While 2020 brought a unique set of difficulties, we were proud of how our organization responded, stepping up for our credit union clients and our employees during a time of great uncertainty," said Larry Nichols, CEO and president of MDT. "As we look ahead to 2021 and beyond, MDT will continue to prioritize supporting our people and communities, as well as delivering the open, modern technology our credit union clients need to make a difference and succeed." About Member Driven Technologies Member Driven Technologies (MDT) provides a private cloud alternative for core processing and IT needs. The CUSO hosts the Episys core platform from Symitar, as well as dozens of complementary solutions and supporting services to help run the entire institution, such as digital banking, payments, lending, security, continuity and regulatory solutions as well as imaging, consulting and hardware purchasing services. MDT's open platform allows credit unions to seamlessly integrate with virtually any technology provider of their choosing. By alleviating the technology burden, MDT frees credit unions to focus more on member service. With the CUSO's hybrid approach to outsourcing, credit unions across the country are boosting efficiencies, enhancing cybersecurity and business continuity and reducing costs. MDT serves credit unions representing more than $22 billion in assets and approximately two million members. Visit mdtmi.com or follow @memberdriven for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005104/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Close Talking to a departed loved one again could bring chills to the spine, but at the same time, it brings back memories of when they were still alive. A recently revealed Microsoft patent could bring that into reality if it comes to fruition because it allows people to see, hear, and chat with long-gone loved ones. It uses 3D motion images that boast realistic voice reconstruction technology and distinct personality traits culled from the available data on the departed person's communications on various social media platforms. In other words, the Microsoft patent is a chatbot that allows communication between the living person and the memories left behind by the departed loved ones. The Microsoft patent's name is "Creating a Conversational Chat Bot of a Specific Person," filed by Dustin Abramson and Joseph Johnson Jr. of Microsoft in 2017 that was recently approved this January 2021, Cnet reported. How Does It Work? According to TechCrunch, the chatbot could use information from social media posts, such as photos, voice data, electronic messages, written letters, and other personal data that are provided by the person "to converse and interact in the personality of the specific person." The person could ask the chatbot some momentous events that they shared in their lives or tell the chatbot they love them. It could be used in cellphones, desktop computers, or with personal assistants, such as Alexa and Siri. According to the Microsoft patent, the chatbot could rely on crowd-based perceptions and psychographic data if the person asks questions that the chatbot could not answer. That is where the AI and machine-learning processes would come in. Moreover, the departed loved ones' voice recordings would be combined with speech synthesis to create a voice font. Meanwhile, collected images can be converted from 2D to 3D motion from depth information selected from old photos. In the future, a more sophisticated version of the patent could emerge down the road that might enable people to speak to a person of differing ages. For example, a young adult who is starting to build his career or a senior citizen reflects on his life. ALSO READ: Japan Boosts Funding on AI Matchmaking to Help Its Citizens Find Love Bringing the Dead to Digital Life The idea of bringing back the dead to digital wife is nothing new and is something that is slowly getting popular. For instance, Michael Jackson gets to perform once more on stage during the 2014 Billboard Music Awards, five years after his death. Similarly, Kanye West gifted his wife Kim Kardashian a memorable experience of his dad giving a speech on her birthday. Both instances were made possible by the 3D projection of images, called hologram technology. According to LamsaTech, no special equipment, like cameras or glasses, are needed to display the 3D projection. Over the years, this technology has greatly advanced that it becomes more convincing and interactive. However, Microsoft's patent differs from the hologram technology in which it would be the first time that a chatbot will be equipped with information culled from social media accounts. The idea has caught the attention of tech firms, and perhaps in the future, AI avatars armed with people's memories could someday be used to interact with relatives or loved ones. RELATED TOPIC: Microsoft Unveils New Tool for Detecting Deepfakes Check out more news and information on Artificial Intelligence on Science Times. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2021) - New Carolin Gold Corp. (TSXV: LAD) (OTC Pink: LADFF) (the "Company" or "New Carolin") is pleased to announce the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders (the "AGM") held on Friday, January 22, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada. Shareholders voted in favour of all items put forward by the Board of Directors and management of the Company. All three of the individuals nominated for the Board of Directors, namely Kenneth R. Holmes, Robert P. Lunde and Dr. Kent Ausburn, were elected at the AGM and will serve as directors of the Company for the ensuing year. The shareholders of the Company also voted in favour of appointing Crowe MacKay LLP, Chartered Accountants, as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year, authorizing directors to fix the auditors' remuneration and re-approving the Company's incentive stock option plan. About New Carolin Gold Corp. New Carolin Gold is a Canadian-based junior company focused on the exploration, evaluation and development of our 100% owned property consisting of 144 square kilometers of contiguous mineral claims and crown grants, collectively known as the "Ladner Gold Project" (Project). The Project is located near Hope, BC in the prospective and under-explored Coquihalla Gold Belt, which is host to several historic small gold producers including the Carolin Mine, Emancipation Mine and Pipestem Mine, and numerous gold prospects. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.newcarolingold.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Kenneth R. Holmes" President Toll Free: 1(855) 891-9185 E-mail: ceo@newcarolingold.com Web site: www.newcarolingold.com This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this press release. Caution concerning forward-looking information This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72915 Customs officials in Nigeria have seized a shipment of endangered animal parts including pangolin scales and ivory headed for Vietnam. It was discovered in a container declared as furniture at the Lagos port. The Nigerian Customs Service says the items are worth $2.5m (1.8m). Upon investigation officials discovered the animal parts hidden inside logs including nearly 9,000kg of pangolin scales. Other items such as ivory, lion bones and animal horns were found. One person was arrested last Thursday in connection with the alleged trafficking. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world. Nigeria serves as a major hub for smuggling the endangered animals to south-east Asian countries such as China and Vietnam where they are used for traditional medicines. Earlier this month, a court in China jailed 17 people for smuggling pangolin scales worth $28m from Nigeria. 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Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Update on Vaccine Planning for Faculty and Staff Dear Northwestern community, This message provides an update on Northwesterns vaccination planning efforts. Vaccination plans in Illinois, Evanston and Chicago are still evolving, meaning certain aspects remain unknown today and continue to change. We will continue to share updates as we learn them. Limited Vaccine Availability The availability of vaccines across the state remains extremely limited, resulting in only about 5% of eligible individuals receiving immunization (see table below) each week. The City of Evanston also sent recent updates emphasizing the challenges with the vaccine rollout. The federal government allocates the vaccine to state and local health departments, which then determine how to best distribute them across their regions. Northwestern Universitys Role in Vaccine Distribution Northwestern University currently does not have direct access to any vaccine supply, which limits our ability to quickly increase access for faculty and staff. We are working closely with the City of Evanston to evaluate potential vaccine distribution sites on campus, for both the Northwestern and broader Evanston communities. It likely will be at least several more weeks before there is enough supply to support Northwestern vaccination sites. We are working diligently to ensure the infrastructure is in place to begin vaccinating according to public health guidelines once we are able to do so. Phases 1a and 1b of the Illinois plan A number of students, faculty and staff already have been vaccinated during phase 1a of the Illinois plan because they are healthcare workers exposed to patients in clinical settings. Most who qualified in this category received their vaccine through Northwestern Medicine (NM) or other non-University vaccination sites established for healthcare workers. NM and Feinberg School of Medicine continue to work closely to provide vaccines to faculty, staff and students who are working with patients or in a clinical setting. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has allowed local public health departments to begin moving to phase 1b, and both Chicago and Evanston have announced their intention to do so. This phase is anticipated to last several months. Under the Illinois plan, phase 1b focuses on frontline essential workers and those aged 65 or older. The states definition of frontline essential workers does not broadly include those working in higher education. However, some members of the University will qualify during this phase due to their age or the unique aspects of their job. The list below outlines IDPHs approach to phase 1b. Who is eligible in Phase 1b? Persons that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and frontline workers with higher risk off exposure due to inability to perform work duties remotely and proximity to co-workers or the public. Elder Age 65+ Frontline workers First responders : Fire, law enforcement, 911 workers, security personnel, school officers Education (congregate child care, pre-K through 12th grade): Teachers, principals, student support, student aids, day care workers Food and agriculture: Processing, plants, veterinary health, livestock services, animal care Manufacturing: Industrial production of goods for distribution to retail, wholesale or other manufactures Corrections workers and inmates: Prison/jail officers, juvenile facility staff, workers providing in-person support, inmates U.S. Postal Service workers Public transit workers: Flight crew, bus drivers, train conductors, taxi drivers, para-transit drivers, in-person support, ride sharing services Grocery store workers: Baggers, cashiers, stockers, pick-up, customer service Shelters/adult day care: Homeless shelter, womens shelter, adult day/drop-in program, sheltered workshop, psycho-social rehab Identifying Access in Phase 1b While the states plan does not specifically address the unique aspects of higher education, we have consulted our public health and clinical partners to ensure our interpretations are aligned about who qualifies under phase 1b. Certain frontline essential roles that are at an increased risk of exposure and transmission given the onsite environments in which they work will be prioritized in this phase. Individuals eligible under phase 1b will receive an email next week with a brief survey confirming their desire to receive the vaccine when it is available. Consistent with the practices of the public health departments and our partners at NM, we will prioritize that group by age. Please remember that the number of people in this group is likely larger than the available supply for example, Northwestern has more than 1,300 faculty and staff over the age of 65 that would fall into this 1b category. Future Phases of Vaccine Availability More individuals will have access to the vaccine as the state moves into future phases. Phase 1c includes individuals between 16 and 64 with higher-risk medical conditions and other essential employees. The timing for the transition to phase 1c is unknown. Other Ways to Get Vaccinated While Northwestern will continue to make efforts to offer the vaccine directly, in many cases, you may be able to get your vaccine earlier through other providers. Most distribution is currently happening through large healthcare systems, CVS and Walgreens, major grocery store chains with pharmacies and local municipal distribution sites. We encourage you to explore vaccine locations at Vaccination Location (illinois.gov). The City of Evanston is beginning to reach out to those who live or work in Evanston who completed its Vaccine Contact Form and who qualify in phase 1b. If the City contacts you, you can get vaccinated without any involvement from Northwestern. If you havent yet completed this form, we encourage you to do so. Northwestern continues to work with the City to share information about our faculty and staff needing access to the vaccine in these early phases. Staying Patient and Continuing Healthy Behavior In addition to the survey for those qualifying for phase 1b noted above, we will survey other members of the NU community to gauge interest for future stages. We ask that our faculty, staff and students respect the public health strategies tied to vaccine distribution and avoid attempts to jump the line for earlier access to the vaccine. We all wish the vaccination process was moving faster. We will continue to work with our partners to support vaccination plans where we can and treat people with fairness and transparency in the process. The work and collaboration across our Northwestern community this past year has been a testament of our strong culture, and while we are all anxious to move to this next phase of the COVID pandemic, your patience and diligence to stay healthy and safe remains essential. Please remember that all of our other precautions social distancing, testing and contact tracing, masking, washing hands and staying home when you are sick will be ever-more important as we move through the coming months. Lets all stay vigilant to maximize the benefit of the vaccine once it is ready for us. Luke Figora Senior Associate Vice President Chief Risk and Compliance Officer A woman who launched a frightening, vicious and unprovoked attack on a fellow attendee of a Westlife concert 18 months ago has avoided a jail term. Jackie Walsh (26) split the victims ear lobe during the attack after her earring got caught up when Walsh was pulling fistfuls of the womans hair. The victim said during the assault she could feel blood pouring down her face and could see clumps of her hair all over her shorts. The victim, who didnt make a victim impact statement because she is currently going through a severe bout of depression, was treated by a doctor at the concert. Her ear lobe was stitched up and she was given an anaesthetic. While she complained of an extreme headache for days after the attack, she didnt require further treatment. Walsh of Clonard Park, Ballybeg, Co Waterford, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm at Croke Park Stadium on July 5, 2019. She has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since. Judge Melanie Greally said the facts speak for themselves and described it as a frightening, vicious and unprovoked assault which had immediate consequences for the victim. She said testimonials before the court indicate that Walshs behaviour was entirely out of character and she was not normally a person who was inclined to engage in violent conduct. Judge Greally accepted evidence from Detective Sergeant Stephen Coleman that Walsh was heavily intoxicated on the night and genuinely didnt recall the assault, which started after the victim indicated that Walsh was sitting in her (the victim) boyfriends seat. Det Sgt Coleman told Siobhan Ni Chulachain BL, prosecuting, that the victim had not been drinking during the concert and her boyfriend had just gone to get her a burger when Walsh fell into his seat. She turned to tell Walsh that it was her boyfriends place when the woman attacked her by first grabbing her head and two fistfuls of her hair. She pushed her into the group sitting in front of her and punched her a number of times in the head. Walsh was arrested at the stadium during which she continued to be verbally abusive to gardai. She was released on bail but came to the garda station voluntarily the following September during which she identified herself on CCTV footage and took responsibility for the assault. She said she didnt remember anything about the incident and admitted she had been drinking heavily. Det Sgt Coleman agreed with David Perry BL, defending, that Walsh genuinely had no recollection of the assault. Mr Perry said his client had written a letter of remorse to the court and a letter of apology to the victim. He handed in a number of other letters written on behalf of Walsh which stated that her behaviour on the night was out of character. Counsel said his client had a difficult childhood and had mental health issues as a result. She had been dealing with them at the time of the assault but was still abusing alcohol. She has since begun to address her difficulties in a very serious and profound way, Mr Perry submitted. He said Walsh is embarrassed, mortified and ashamed of her behaviour on the night after she had drunk so much alcohol to the point of blackout. The judge acknowledged that Walsh was a bright young woman with plenty of potential. She noted that she has mental health difficulties, which she was addressing before the assault and which she continues to address. Judge Greally sentenced Walsh to two and half years in prison which she suspended in full on condition that she undergo 12 months Probation Supervision. She acknowledged that Walsh had saved 3,000 as a token of remorse for the victim who is willing to accept it. She ordered that the money be transferred to the victim within a week. Washington DC: Calling it an opportunity to fight for Indian farmers, members of Khalistani separatist groups along with others were seen in support of farmers outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC on Tuesday. A protest hosted by Sikh DMV Youth and Sangat saw a few dozen people gathered in front of the Indian mission to criticise the new rules, which the Narendra Modi government passed in September as part of a broader effort to deregulate the nation's massive agriculture sector. Many in the crowd held saffron-coloured 'Khalistan' flags and chanted anti-India slogans. Narender Singh, one of the leading agitators from Washington, called the rules a "violation of human rights and democracy of India. "Every year we mark January 26 as Black Day, but this year we are standing in solidarity with the farmers in India, who are not just Sikhs but belong to all faiths from across the country," Singh was quoted as saying by ANI. United States: Khalistan supporters held a protest outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC in support of protest against farm laws in India. pic.twitter.com/tFFd1391pW ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 Some of the members protesting have often been regulars at anti-India protests often batting for a separate Khalistan state. Every year they intended to overshadow the Republic Day celebrations, but the Indian embassy had pre-decided to scale back the celebrations because of the coronavirus pandemic. A month ago a Khalistan flag was seen draped over Mahatma Gandhi's statue near Indian Embassy in Washington DC where protestors were staging a similar protest, so this time security around the embassy and the Gandhi statue was beefed up. Tens of thousands of protesting farmers drove long lines of tractors into India's capital on Tuesday, breaking through police barricades, defying tear gas and storming the historic Red Fort as the nation celebrated Republic Day. When asked about the violence and how it was derailing the issues of the farmers, the protest leaders claimed police provoked the farmers into violence. "We do not believe in violence. If the Indian government wants violence, then the Sikhs will be violent too," said Udham Singh, a resident of Washington DC. Similar protests have occurred in major American and Canadian cities over the last two months as farmers have been protesting at the Delhi border. Many of the protests in the US have been led by the Sikh diaspora -- migrants or the children of migrants belonging to the Sikh community particularly-- living now in the United Kingdom, Canada and the US. The farmers have been demanding the withdrawal of new laws they claim will favour large corporate houses and devastate the earnings of smaller farmers. The government insists that the recently passed agriculture reform laws will benefit farmers and boost production through private investment. The group members also said that they plan to hold a bigger protest outside the embassy on August 15. Live TV [January 27, 2021] Sitetracker raises $42M in Series C Financing Sitetracker, the global standard for deploying, operating, and servicing critical infrastructure and technology, announced $42 million in additional funding today. The round was led by new investor H.I.G. Growth Partners as well as returning investor Energize Ventures with follow-on investment from all other returning investors, including New Enterprise Associates (NEA), National Grid Partners, Wells Fargo (News - Alert) Strategic Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and others. New investors participating in addition to H.I.G. Growth Partners include Energy Impact Partners (EIP), Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP), Clearvision Ventures, and others. This round of financing brings the total investment in Sitetracker to $92 million, and the investment will further accelerate Sitetracker's product roadmap and continued global expansion. "Sitetracker's continued growth is a testament to their understanding of the challenges faced by their industry-leading customers, in the multi-billion-dollar critical infrastructure space," said Scott Hilleboe, Managing Director of H.I.G. Growth Partners. "Sitetracker is uniquely positioned to tackle the business operations challenges faced by companies deploying, maintaining, and operating in industries like telecom, utilities, and alternative energy. We're thrilled to support Sitetracker in their next phase of growth." "It is clearer now more than ever that there are missing links within our critical infrastructure, and traditional analog industries must find solutions for remote deployment and maintenance of their assets to stay ahead of the curve," said Energize Ventures Partner Katie McClain, who recently joined Sitetracker's Board alongside Energize's existing seat held by John Tough. "We believe it is the right time to strengthen our commitment to Sitetracker, the leading-edge solution to enable companies to operate effectively and efficiently in this new digital age." Despite 2020's challenges, Sitetracker grew its global user base by 17,000 users across various industries, including telecom, utilities, and alternative energy. With a truly customer-centric approach, Sitetracker prides itself on localized support around the world. Sitetracker's global presence includes offices and employees across the USA, Europe, Latin America, and APAC and is supported by top system integrators and a global partner network. "Last year, we hired extensively across all departments. From executives, John Edebol, VP Americas, and Alejandro Padilla, VP LATAM to Jena Singleton, Head of Employee Experience, Diversity, and Belonging," said Giuseppe Incitti, CEO at Sitetracker. "Between our new leaders and the over 100 other hires we made last year; we are geared up to keep delivering Sitetracker to our customers at the highest standard." Sitracker innovated in 2020 to ensure its customers stayed ahead of the curve. Alongside out-of-the-box features like Trackers, Sitetracker Mobile, and Intelligent Project Templates, Sitetracker customers also adopted newly released features, including machine learning and Sitetracker for the field. Sitetracker's customers benefited from faster project completion, improved resource allocation, and decreased cycle times. Sitetrackers powerful platform coupled with their continued investment in customer success drove adoption rates above 90%. "Sitetracker is gaining momentum by fostering strong customer relationships and delivering best in class software to critical infrastructure companies," said Colin ryant, Partner at NEA. "We are excited to continue supporting Sitetracker on their journey to deliver game-changing software to critical infrastructure providers deploying and maintaining their distributed capital assets around the world." "As a leader in ESG investments, EIP is thrilled to be part of such a strong group of investors that believe in Sitetracker's bright future," said Harry Giovani, CEO & Managing Partner for Credit Strategies at EIP. "Utility companies need Sitetracker to support the deployment and maintenance of distributed energy resources, EV chargers, and IoT infrastructure. We're excited to support Sitetracker's continued growth in the utility market and across critical infrastructure." 'We are committed to building a software platform and company that empowers our customers to transform entire industries," said Giuseppe Incitti, CEO at Sitetracker. "And to our customers and employees, thank you for your partnership and hard work. I am excited to continue our journey together." To learn more about how you can find operational excellence for your critical infrastructure business, request a demo today. About Sitetracker Sitetracker, Inc. is the global standard for deploying, operating and servicing critical infrastructure and technology. The Sitetracker Platform enables growth-focused innovators to optimize the entire asset lifecycle through native platform inclusions like AI, automation, and actionable analytics. From the field to the C-suite, Sitetracker enables stakeholders to optimize how they plan, deploy, maintain, and grow their capital asset portfolios. Market leaders in the telecommunications, alternative energy, and utility industries - such as Ericsson (News - Alert) , Fortis, Google, British Telecom, and Vodafone - rely on Sitetracker to manage millions of sites and projects representing over $25 billion of portfolio holdings globally. For more information, visit www.sitetracker.com. About H.I.G. Growth Partners H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative investment firm with $43 billion of equity capital under management. H.I.G. Growth seeks to make both majority and minority investments in strong, growth-oriented businesses located throughout North America, Europe, and Latin America. H.I.G. Growth Partners considers investments across all industries but focuses on certain high-growth sectors where it has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, healthcare, internet and media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services. H.I.G. Growth strives to work closely with its management teams to serve as an experienced resource, providing broad-based strategic, operational, recruiting, and financial management services from a vast in-house team and a substantial network of third-party relationships. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.HIGgrowth.com. About Energize Ventures Energize Ventures is a pre-growth venture capital firm located in Chicago. Energize partners with entrepreneurs to advance the next generation of energy and industry by investing in software and business model innovations. Since it was founded in 2016, Energize has made 14 investments spanning cybersecurity, mobility, data analytics, operational efficiency and distributed assets. For more information on Energize Ventures, please visit www.energize.vc. About NEA New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly $24 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm's founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 230 portfolio company IPOs and more than 390 mergers and acquisitions. www.nea.com. About National Grid Partners National Grid Partners (NGP) is the venture investment and innovation arm of National Grid plc., one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world. NGP invests for strategic and financial impact and leads company wide disruptive innovation efforts. The organization provides a multi-functional approach to building startups, including innovation (new business creation), incubation, corporate venture capital, business development and culture acceleration. NGP is headquartered in Silicon Valley and has offices in Boston, London, and New York. Visit ngpartners.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) (@ngpartners_). About Wells Fargo Strategic Capital Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, a subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, provides long term capital in the form of equity and/or debt to current and prospective business customers, commercial partners of Wells Fargo, as well as approved Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) funds. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital's Merchant Banking team focuses primarily on private companies across a wide range of industries, providing creative financing solutions that fund growth and other capital needs. Wells Fargo Strategic Capital has approximately 50 team members across the United States and holds over 180 portfolio investments. About Salesforce Ventures Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Salesforce Ventures, the global investment arm of Salesforce, invests in the next generation of enterprise technology that extends the power of the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce Ventures is building the world's largest ecosystem of enterprise cloud companies and extending that technology to customers. Portfolio companies receive funding, strategic advisory, and operating support, and can easily join Pledge 1% to make giving back part of their business model. Salesforce Ventures has invested in more than 400 companies, including DocuSign, GoCardless, Guild Education, nCino, Twilio (News - Alert) , Zoom, and others across 22 countries since 2009. For more information, please visit www.salesforce.com/ventures. About Energy Impact Partners Energy Impact Partners (EIP) is a global investment platform leading the transition to a sustainable energy future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking utilities and operating companies to advance innovation. With more than $1.5 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit and infrastructure - and has a team of more than 45 professionals based in its offices in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, London and Cologne. For more information on EIP, please visit www.energyimpactpartners.com. About Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP) TIP is the strategic investment vehicle of Deutsche Telekom (News - Alert) . TIP is advised by DTCP, an investment management firm focused on growth equity and digital infrastructure. Founded in 2015, DTCP has raised more than $1 billion in funds from corporate and institutional investors and invested in over 70 companies. The driving force behind the firm's strategies is the belief that the convergence of networks, devices and the internet is creating more wealth, disrupting more businesses, and unleashing more innovation than any force in the history of technology. DTCP is headquartered in Hamburg with offices in Menlo Park, Tel Aviv and Seoul. To learn more about DTCP, please visit dtcp.capital. About Clearvision Ventures Clearvision Ventures was formed in 2015 by seasoned, entrepreneurial VC's, who have decades of proven venture investing experience, as well as successful technology entrepreneurial experience. We have backed the most highly valued companies at the intersection of software and sustainability, including ChargePoint, Sonnen and Azure Power. The firm's funds are structured as a long term evergreen funds, to better align with entrepreneurs for long term investing. We use our differentiated approach and value add to partner with and invest in the category leading digital technology start-ups that can play a meaningful and positive role in sustainable energy and infrastructure. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005127/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning 3 1 of 3 Rance Ristau / Spurs Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy, H-E-B Show More Show Less 3 of 3 H-E-B is adding to the excitement of their newly released Spurs sherbet by teaming up with the San Antonio Spurs to give away one Spurs throwback jersey, according to their Twitter post. In order for participants to enter the contest they must respond to H-E-B's Facebook post about the sweepstakes. The post explains how fans must include a picture with the famous H-E-B sherbet. Participants will have until February 1, 2021 to post their best photo and win a chance at the free jersey. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HubSpot , the world's leading inbound marketing, sales, and engagement platform, named Americaneagle.com as an official HubSpot platinum solutions partner. This recognition was awarded only seven months after Americaneagle.com joined HubSpot's partner program for the first time. Platinum certification gives Americaneagle.com the ability to gain exclusive access to the latest HubSpot products while providing the best tools and technology to help clients reach their goals. HubSpot continues to raise the standards of their training and tiering, highlighting the difficulty and honor of Americaneagle.com's achievement. Americaneagle.com's platinum certification guarantees that our clients will receive the best possible HubSpot services from some of the most highly trained digital experts in the country. "Americaneagle.com has been a wonderful partner to work with," said HubSpot Channel Account Manager, Ryan Baril. "Not only have they reached platinum status incredibly quickly, but the service they have offered our mutual clients has been outstanding. It's been exciting to see the complex business problems they have been able to solve using our suite of software and their significant expertise." The HubSpot Solutions Partner Program has a unique four-tier system that tiers agencies based on the number of valid certifications an agency holds, their success with the platform, and the number of clients they manage monthly that use HubSpot products. Once those criteria were met, Americaneagle.com averaged enough HubSpot client accounts to achieve platinum tier. "We are thrilled about this announcement as it is a testament to the hard work of our team here at Americaneagle.com," said Tony Svanascini, Americaneagle.com CEO. "We are honored to be a part of this group of distinguished agencies dedicated to providing clients with the right tools and services to help them grow." Americaneagle.com has added HubSpot to its suite of CMS, CRM and marketing platforms geared to help create digital experiences that drive client growth. With its certified professionals, industry expertise, and tighter alignment to HubSpot's training and services as a platinum partner, Americaneagle.com is uniquely positioned to help HubSpot clients maximize their investment with the right strategy and execution for their sales and marketing goals. For more information about Americaneagle.com's partnership with HubSpot, please visit https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/solutions/americaneagle-com . About Americaneagle.com Americaneagle.com is a full-service, global digital agency based in Des Plaines, Illinois that provides best-in-class web design, development, hosting, post-launch support and digital marketing services. Currently, Americaneagle.com employs 500+ professionals in offices around the world including Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, London, Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Washington DC, Switzerland, and Bulgaria. Some of their 2,000+ clients include Dairy Queen, FASTSIGNS, Soletrader, Stuart Weitzman, WeatherTech, and the American Management Association. For additional information, visit www.americaneagle.com. Contact Mike Svanascini, President [email protected] 847-699-0300 SOURCE Americaneagle.com Related Links https://www.americaneagle.com New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Opposition is gearing up to formulate a joint strategy to corner the government on the farm laws during the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament, especially following the violent clashes which broke out between the police and the protesting farmers in the heart of the national capital after the latter's proposed tractor rally on Republic Day went awry. The joint Opposition meet is set to be convened after the Presidential address and ahead of the presentation of the Budget, though no date has been finalised yet. Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi is speaking to the leaders of the opposition parties to convene the meeting through video conferencing, sources said. The Congress is reaching out to all the like-minded parties to press the government for repealing the farm laws passed in September last year, which have become the bone of contention between the farmers and the government as many rounds of talks between the two sides have failed to break the deadlock. After Tuesday's clashes, the Opposition is up in arms, alleging that hooligans had created ruckus in the national capital in connivance with the government. The Congress, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Left have backed the farmers' agitation while the Shiv Sena too has supported the farmers' demand. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have also demanded the repealing of the three farm laws. The CPI-M on Wednesday issued a statement which said, "The Politburo of the CPI(M) once again calls upon the Central government to immediately announce repealing of these laws and move towards this end in the forthcoming Budget Session of the Parliament." Akali Dal, which was part of the NDA alliance before breaking ties over the farmers' issue, is also reaching out to the like-minded parties to boycott the all-party meet to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. On January 19, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had passed three resolutions, including one demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal had said, "The CWC noted that these three laws impinge upon the Constitutional rights of states and constitute the first step in dismantling the three pillars of the edifice of food security built over the past decades -- MSP, public procurement and PDS." He reiterated that the three farm laws did not pass the Parliamentary scrutiny as they were bulldozed by muzzling the voice of the Opposition, particularly in the Upper House. "There is only one demand of the farmers and the farm labourers -- repeal the farm laws. But the government continues to side-step, malign, deceive and hoodwink the farmers by attempting to tire out, intimidate and divide them," he had said. In Cold War Exiles and the CIA: Plotting to Free Russia, published by Oxford University Press last year, Benjamin Tromly, a professor of history at University of Puget Sound, explores the relationship between Americas post-war spy agencies and anti-communist Russian and Soviet emigres dedicated to regime change in the USSR. His work contains extensive evidence of the machinations of the fascists with which the US government was working and the willingness of former socialists to work alongside the far-right to promote the anti-Soviet cause. Yet the books considerable strength is also at times a weakness. Tromly traces in detail the twists and turns in the reactionary, backstabbing, at times buffoonish, politically tragic, and frequently ineffective efforts of emigres jockeying for money and political influence. But the author does not make sense of all the evidence. In the final analysis, what fused all of the figures and organizations that populate Tromlys book was their bitter opposition to working class revolutionboth that which occurred in Russia in 1917 and those on the post-war horizon. Cold War Exiles and the CIA: Plotting to Free Russia identifies four groups of Russian and Soviet exiles who played a central role in the early years of the Cold WarWhites (counterrevolutionary supporters of the Romanov dynasty and monarchists), old socialists (Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries who opposed the formation of a workers state under the leadership of the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917), Vlasovites (followers of Andrei Vlasov, a turncoat Soviet general who went over to Hitlers side), and Solidarists (Russian fascists who, during the inter-war period, formed an organization with the acronym NTS). During World War II, both of these last two organizations collaborated in the Nazi invasion of the USSR, anti-partisan warfare, and mass killings. Book cover: CIA Exiles and the Cold War (Oxford University Press) Tromly shows that over the course of the 1940s and 1950s, all of these forces worked to varying degreessometimes in competition and sometimes in collaboration with one anotherwith American intelligence and spy agencies being formed out of the remnants of the defeated Nazi regime. The most right-wing of these four groupsthe Vlasovites and the Solidiaristsoperated with the support of the Gehlen Organization. Reinhard Gehlen had been Hitlers military intelligence chief on the eastern front. After the war he was tasked by the US with setting up a new West German spy agency. American and Western German operations were directed at recruiting supporters within the Soviet displaced-persons camps scattered across Europe, with the aim of uncovering Soviet spies in Germany, securing information about life behind the Iron Curtain, and cultivating underground networks of assets in the USSR who could communicate information back to Washington and Bonn. Even though the official US Cold War policy became that of containment of the Soviet Union, the more aggressive rollback approach continued to figure in the work of the CIA and its emigre operatives. This included organized political warfare and political-psychological operations intended to destabilize the USSR and facilitate resistance and guerrilla movements inside the country. Using radio transmissions and printed material sent by human couriers, air-dropped agents, and even balloons, the CIA and its assets sought to propagandize within Soviet borders. The American states fascist allies in the NTS hoped that even if these efforts failed, which they usually did, Soviet discovery of the intelligence operations would, according to Tromly, elicit a feedback loop of provocation, repression, and radicalization. Their aim was to create something like a replay of the Great Terror of the 1930s with the NTS being a candidate for the role of internal enemy that Trotskyists had earlier occupied. In short, according to these right-wing, US-funded psychopaths, the road to liberty would be achieved by the arrest and execution of millions of ordinary people falsely accused of fascist sympathies, just as millions of innocent people had been rounded up and killed during the Stalinist Great Terror, based on accusations of counterrevolutionary and Trotskyist activities. Tromly notes that the NTS itself, as well as the CIA, at the same time attempted to hide the organizations fascist outlook and past. They were depicted to both American and Soviet audiences as virtuous Russian freedom fighters (p. 187). Of particular interest are those portions of Cold War Exiles and the CIA that address the relationship between sections of the Russian left that opposed the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917 and the right-wing forces recruited by the CIA. The central player in this was the New York-based League of Struggle for the Peoples Freedom, in which the Mensheviks Boris Nikolaevskii (more commonly transliterated as Nicolaevsky), David Dalin (usually Dallin), and Rafael Abramovich played leading roles. Some within the League, such as Nikolaevskii, had set aside their opposition to the formation of the Soviet state for several years and played an active role in building the new country. But beginning in the 1920s, they renewed their agitation against the Bolsheviks, emigrated or were exiled, and moved to the right politically. General Vlasov (second from the left) during World War II, standing next to officers of the German army and the Russian Liberation Army in 1944. (Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1976-114-32) Speaking about the League, Tromly writes, The leftists in New York directed their efforts at courting the Vlasovites, who were then still associated with the Whites. [T]he old socialists attempted to woo the second-wave Vlasovites away from the monarchists and conservatives who held influence in the immediate post-war years. In this competition between putative ideological parents, the socialists had an advantage: they had the goodwill of powerful circles in the United States (p. 73). Basing himself on archival material at the Hoover Institution and a number of American universities, intelligence reports accessed through Freedom of Information Act requests, and the published writings of members of the League, Tromly establishes that Nikolaevskii and Dalin worked closely with the CIA and its forerunner organizations. In 1947 and 1948 Nikolaevskii and Dalin each took separate trips, sanctioned by the American state, to displaced person camps in Europe with the aim of developing relationships with former Soviet citizens. Here, they established ties with Vlasovites, followers of Andrei Vlasov, a Stalinist general who defected to the Nazis and formed the anti-Soviet Russian Liberation Army . In Europe, Nikolaevskii and Dalin worked towards getting the Nazi collaborators, grouped in an organization known as SBONR (Union for the Struggle for the Liberation of Soviet Peoples), to either enter the League directly or establish a permanent alliance with it (p. 79). The effort ultimately stalled because, according to Tromly, the CIA stopped backing the venture and Nikolaevskii and Dalin were unable to deliver the level of access to the American state that the Vlasovites hoped for. However, a corollary of Nikolaevskiis and Dalins endeavors to build these ties was an attempt to rehabilitate the Nazi collaborators as democrats so as to make them more palatable to the old socialists in New York. Nikolaevskii, in particular, was instrumental in trying to whitewash the collaborators pro-Nazi views. In a series of articles, he developed the position that Vlasovs Russian Liberation Army was from the very start, an attempt to create an anti-Bolshevik movement on the basis of a democratic program (p. 81) and that Vlasovites collaboration with the Nazis was really more a misguided form of defeatismthat is, they were democratic opponents of Stalin working for his defeat. Nikolaevskiis positions were justified by some in the League as expressing a necessary leniency towards those who had to take unprecedented measures to oppose Stalin, but provoked opposition from others as an unacceptable accommodation to fascism. Criticism of Nikolaevskii came from a number of the Leagues Jewish members, who throughout this period were the continued object of anti-Semitic slurs from the Vlasovite quarter. Ultimately, the League drafted theses on the Vlasovites that characterized their collaboration with the Nazis as deeply mistaken. These tensions, however, did not prevent the League from participating in CIA efforts to create a united front out of the different tendencies within the Soviet and Russian exile communities that included the collaborationist Vlasovites and openly-fascist NTS. And while there were continued fallings-out among these various groups, according to Tromly, the major frustration of the League was that it was unsuccessful in securing for itself pride of place in the anti-communist operations of the CIA. This was increasingly going towards the far-right in the CIA-front organization the American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Boris Nikolaevskii In 1950, Nikolaevskii wrote to the deputy head of the US spy outfit that was trying to create the united front and appealed for his organization to be elevated above the Vlasovites and the fascist NTS in Washingtons anti-Soviet operations. He insisted that the old socialists views were more reflective of the democratic sentiments of the Soviet people and stressed his organizations ties to the anti-communist American labor movement. Nikolaevskiis efforts failed, and the CIA refused to boot the far-right from the united front project. Some among the old socialists subsequently left the League over this issue, although others continued trying to win the favor of the American state. Tromlys discovery of Nikolaevskiis role in this history is significant. Nikolaevskii had been a revolutionary socialist. In 1917 he was a Menshevik Internationalist, and while hostile to the Bolshevik seizure of power, he contributed to the building of the first workers state, chiefly in his work with the Marx-Engels Institute in Moscow. In 1921 he, along with others, was exiled from the USSR. Nonetheless, for many years he remained a committed socialist and played an important role as an archivist of the personal papers and writings of major figures in the Marxist movement, including those of Leon Trotsky. He was a committed anti-Stalinist who maintained close ties to the Trotskyist movement during the inter-war period. At the time of World War II, he advocated for the defense of the USSR against the Nazi onslaught, despite Stalins crimes. That Nikolaevskii would have pursued a relationship with the CIA after the war and sought to whitewash the fascist sympathies of other layers being courted by the American state bears within it an element of tragedy. It appears that he suffered a fate shared by others among the left whose hatred of Stalinism and rejection of working class revolution drove them into the arms of US imperialism. Based on Tromlys research, one gets the impression that Nikolaevskii thought his presence would lend a more democratic and progressive coloration to American Cold War politics. His political evolution and the historical evidence that Tromly marshals merit further study. Within the old socialists milieu, Tromly also devotes special attention to David Dalin, a Menshevik who immigrated to the US in 1939. According to Tromly, Dalin, along with Nikolaevskii, came under scrutiny from US Military Intelligence for associating themselves with suspected Soviet spies during their German travels (p. 78). In a footnote, Tromly notes that the American Counter Intelligence Corps connected Dalin to Ilia Iakushev, an individual suspected of espionage for the Soviets. Throughout the book, Tromly repeatedly points out that the CIAs emigre networks were heavily infiltrated by Kremlin spies, a fact of which US intelligence agencies were well aware. These revelations, though hardly surprising, substantiate the findings of Security and the Fourth International, the ongoing investigation of the Trotskyist movement into the infiltration of the Trotskyist movement by the GPU and the American spy agencies. David Dalin was the husband of Lola Dalin, an individual who played a key role in facilitating Trotskys assassination in Mexico in 1940, as well as the 1938 murder in Paris of Trotskys son Lev Sedov, a leading member of the Fourth International. Lola Dalin helped protect Stalinist agents who fell under suspicion, thus enabling them to penetrate Trotskys inner circle and household. While there has so far been no definitive proof that Lola Dalin was a Stalinist agent, her marriage to a CIA operative who himself was suspected of having ties to the Soviet state makes Lola Dalins claim that she was an innocent and devoted ally of Sedov and Trotsky even more dubious. Tromly does not address these questions in his book. In response to an email inquiry, he indicated that he had not come across anything in his research related to Trotskys murder, which was carried out with the involvement of Russian and Soviet emigres. In the concluding chapter of Cold War Exiles and the CIA, Tromly links his study to the present. Here, a weakness appears. Tromly observes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken admiringly of Ivan Aleksandrovich Ilin, a White emigre thinker whose embrace of fascist ideas, and specifically the need to forge a national elite, had inspired the NTS. He thus correctly notes the Kremlins support for far-right politics. However, he makes no comment about the fact that currently in the Ukraine the US is actively supporting open fascists and anti-Semites who explicitly hail the Nazi collaborators of the World War II era as heroes. Having come to power in 2014 through a Washington- and Berlin-backed coup, Ukraines right-wing, anti-Russian government has been arming its own military and far-right battalions with war materiel financed by the US. The American states efforts are supported by a whole number of supposedly left-wing organizations that claim that the US is engaged in a form of democracy building in Ukraine. In short, Tromly fails to note that the political relationships that took form in the early years of the Cold War continue. In Ukraine today, the American state is reviving a playbook of a long pedigree. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Organisers of the Royal Welsh Show have confirmed that this year's event will be cancelled and postponed until 2022. The Welsh government had provided 200,000 funding for Wales' flagship and largest agricultural event after the 2020 show was call off due to the pandemic. Now the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) has again announced that the popular show will not be taking place for a second year running. The society has also cancelled Mays Smallholding and Countryside Festival and postponed Clwyds Feature County Year to 2022. It said the 'various alert levels' and 'current restrictions' meant that it was 'impossible' to hold large events this summer. Any restrictions on numbers and the associated two-metre social distancing rules were 'major barriers to the viability of events'. RWAS chief executive, Steve Hughson said: "Our events are central to the rural economy and way of life and mean so much to members, exhibitors, traders and visitors. "We fully understand the responsibility on all of us to ensure we deliver our events as soon as it is safe to do so. "Despite these challenges the society has stepped forward to support our local community by providing free facilities for a COVID Testing Centre and a mass vaccination centre. Despite the postponement of the Royal Welsh Show, the society said it would explore opportunities to host smaller Covid compliant events during the summer. Further announcements will be made later in the spring when a better understanding of the pandemic and restrictions is available, it added. Other major 2021 agricultural shows cancelled or postponed include Fife Show, Suffolk Show, Ayr Show, Royal Norfolk Show, Royal County of Berkshire Show and NSA Scotsheep. 2021 First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Freedom of Religion The United States Mint (Mint) announced today that it is launching a new five-year Platinum Proof Coin Program series starting in 2021 and continuing through 2025. This new five-year series is part of the program legislated by the 104th Congress in 1996. The new series features all new obverse (heads) designs, as well as a new common reverse (tails) design on a one ounce, 99.95 percent platinum proof coin each year. The designs are available here. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Program will reflect the five freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment to the United States Constitutionthat is: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This series uses the lifecycle of the oak tree from seedling to a mighty oak as a metaphor for our countrys growth as a nation that values freedom. Liberty grows to a thing of strength and beauty from a seedour Bill of Rights. Each of the freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment contributes to the growth and development of the Nation. All obverse designs in this series were created by Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Donna Weaver, and engraved by Chief Engraver Joseph Menna. The 2021 obverse design depicts a seedling and an acorn surrounded by the inscription WITH FREEDOM OF RELIGION LIBERTY GROWS. The 2022 obverse design features a juvenile oak tree framed with the inscription WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH LIBERTY BLOSSOMS. The 2023 obverse design portrays the branch of mature oak tree with acorns amid the inscription WITH FREEDOM OF THE PRESS LIBERTY BEARS FRUIT. The 2024 obverse design showcases several types of oak leaves assembled between the inscription WITH THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE LIBERTY SPREADS. The 2025 and final obverse design of this series features a mature spreading, impressive oak tree between the inscription WITH THE RIGHT TO PETITION LIBERTY ENDURES. The oak, known for its strength, can live up to 200 years and is a symbol of endurance. Additional obverse coin inscriptions are IN GOD WE TRUST, E PLURIBUS UNUM, and the year the coin is issued. The common reverse design for this series, by AIP Designer Patricia Lucas-Morris, depicts an eagle in flight, an olive branch in its talons. Inscriptions are UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $100, 1 OZ., and .9995 PLATINUM. The reverse engraver is former Medallic Artist Don Everhart. The first coin in the series, the 2021 First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Freedom of Religion, goes on sale on February 4, 2021. Each coin is encapsulated and inserted in a black presentation box. An image of the obverse design is incorporated on the outer packaging sleeve and on the Certificate of Authenticity. As with all Mint products containing a precious metal, this coin will be priced according to the range in which it appears on the Pricing of Numismatic Gold, Commemorative Gold, and Platinum and Palladium Products table. Current pricing information is available online at https://catalog.usmint.gov/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-usm-site-catalog-us/default/dwb6488dac/images/PDFs/2020-Pricing-Grid-v3.pdf. To sign up for Remind Me alerts for the 2021 First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Freedom of Religion, visit: https://catalog.usmint.gov/first-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution-2021-platinum-proof-coin---freedom-of-religion-21EJ.html (product code 21EJ). For additional information about the First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Program, visit: https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-eagle#platinumseries. Note: To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, the United States Mint will not accept and will not honor orders placed prior to the official on-sale date of February 4, 2021, at noon EST. To reduce the risk of employee exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace, the Mints sales centers are closed until further notice. Additionally, due to operational adjustments in response to COVID-19, our customer service representatives are available to assist with any questions you may have, but are unable to accept credit card information or place your order over the phone. Please use our website for all order placements at this time. About the United States Mint Congress created the United States Mint in 1792, and the Mint became part of the Department of the Treasury in 1873. As the Nations sole manufacturer of legal tender coinage, the Mint is responsible for producing circulating coinage for the Nation to conduct its trade and commerce. The Mint also produces numismatic products, including proof, uncirculated, and commemorative coins; Congressional Gold Medals; silver and bronze medals, and silver and gold bullion coins. Its numismatic programs are self-sustaining and operate at no cost to taxpayers. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Visit https://www.usmint.gov/news/image-library/american-eagle-coins for images of the 2021 First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin Freedom of Religion. Visit https://www.usmint.gov/about for information about the United States Mint. Visit https://www.catalog.usmint.gov/customer-service/shipping.html for information about shipping options. Visit https://catalog.usmint.gov/email-signup to subscribe to United States Mint electronic product notifications, news releases, and public statements. Sign up for RSS Feeds from the United States Mint and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. # # # Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. First, the easiest and most straightforward, is criminal justice. We should continue to track known extremists, and investigate and bring to account those who commit crimes. We have the expertise and the infrastructure to do so, and to do it while preserving civil liberties. We need no new statutes, nor should we import terrorist designations that should apply only to foreign groups beyond the reach of domestic law. But the first element will not succeed without a second, which is even more important but far more difficult: We must isolate and alienate the committed insurgents from the population. Just as Al Qaeda in Iraq depended on a much larger community of disaffected Sunnis for tacit support and recruitment, we face the prospect of there being a mass of citizens sullen, angry and nursing their grudges among whom the truly violent minority will be able to live undetectably, attracting new adherents to their cause. The fantasy that the presidency was stolen from Mr. Trump, which has gripped so much of the country, will not easily be broken. The nation is in an epistemological crisis. When facts become untethered from objective reality, they become excuses to justify what one wants to believe. Yes, the problem is far worse on the right than on the left, but the problem is a general one. We must establish, undeniably, what actually happened in the election. That requires neither new laws nor a thought police: Its not something for the government, but for all of the nation. We must all earnestly engage in an effort to listen to others ideas, no matter how daft they may seem; to understand where such ideas come from, no matter how hateful the source; to meet assertion with reason and evidence, not counterassertion. And where our evidence is lacking, we must patiently seek it out. Neighbor must speak with neighbor across the divide, rather than merely shunning alien views. Media figures must concede inconvenient facts, rather than tarring the other side with an emotionally satisfying broad brush. This is far from saying that all thoughts and ideas have equal validity: They do not. But truth is unavailing if not presented with clear underlying fact, and if not conveyed with respect. Success in restoring evidence-based truth as the language of public discourse is by no means assured, but lack of effort will doom us to failure. To be sure, the nations fundamental and legitimate political divisions will remain. But while not all differences can be bridged, they can be tolerated. For their part, Democrats would do well to avoid the more extravagant aspects of their agenda, which might confirm the worst fears of the rural heartland. By bringing people together, we can isolate the extremists. The final element of the plan concerns insurgency leadership. Mr. Trumps transition from mere subversion of the constitutional order to open incitement of mass violence exposes what he has long represented to the most radical fringe of his supporters: a charismatic symbol. By shamelessly espousing the politics of white grievance and convincing so many that he actually won re-election, Mr. Trump has created the conditions necessary for the extremists success. They know better than to take his recent, ritualistic admonitions against violence at face value, and so should we. He will continue to be their champion, and his self-serving lies will be their most potent enabler. By Lawrence White and Iain Withers LONDON (Reuters) - HSBC is "aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world", British lawmaker Chris Bryant told the bank's chief executive Noel Quinn on Tuesday in a hearing over its freezing of Hong Kong democrats' bank accounts. The CEO's summons to face the cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee came after former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui criticised HSBC for blocking his local bank accounts. The bank is complying with its legal obligations and is "not in a position to judge the motives" of Hong Kong police, Quinn told lawmakers questioning him over the lender's freezing of bank accounts of Hui and other pro-democracy politicians in the Asian city. "I can't cherry-pick which laws to follow," Quinn said, adding that the bank would have to comply with police requests in any country in the world. When pressed by lawmakers whether HSBC would ever deny police requests on ethical grounds, Quinn said he was not considering this in Hong Kong. "If you're asking, am I willing to walk away from Hong Kong? The answer is no. We're too committed through our history and heritage." Quinn had written to Hui, in a rare move by a bank boss to an individual customer, to argue that the bank had no choice and was complying with a police request. The grilling from British lawmakers saw HSBC yet again dragged into the political battle between Hong Kong's pro-Beijing and Democratic factions, as well as the wider tensions between China and the West over the city's future. Founded in Hong Kong but headquartered in Britain, HSBC has historically tried to remain politically neutral. Recently however it has shown support for Beijing, most notably last June when its top executive in Asia signed a petition backing Chinas imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. Police in Hong Kong, as in most places in the world, have long been able to request customer information from banks and ask that accounts be frozen as part of criminal investigations. Story continues Authorities are also scrutinizing the financial records of pro-democracy activists as they crack down on political opposition, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday. HSBC's lawyers believe a separate national intelligence law passed in 2017, which requires companies to assist China's state intelligence operations, "has no extraterritorial reach", the bank's head of compliance Colin Bell said. That means the bank would not for example send information about individual British-based bank accounts to China, he said in response to lawmakers' questions. (Reporting by Lawrence White and Iain Withers; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Jan Harvey) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Vanessa Oddo, assistant professor in UICs College of Applied Health Sciences. Credit: University of Illinois at Chicago A study led by a University of Illinois Chicago researcher uses a new approach to measure precarious, or low-quality, employment in the United States. And, according to those findings, precarious employment has increased 9% between 1988 and 2016. Precarious employment, or P.E., is defined as low-quality employment, which is often characterized by low wages, job insecurity and irregular hours, making employment risky and stressful for the worker. In her study, "Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis," Vanessa Oddo, assistant professor in UIC's School of Applied Health Sciences, sought to create a multidimensional and continuous measure of P.E. in the U.S. She also set out to describe changes in precarious employment over time, both overall and within subgroups. The paper is published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. A better understanding of long-term trends is a critical first step for informing future policies aimed at improving P.E. and population health in the U.S., Oddo said. Previously, the focus for measuring P.E. was on wages, hours and union membership. For this longitudinal study, she expanded the measurement criteria to add P.E. indicators including: Material rewardsthe wage and non-wage benefits afforded by employment. Working-time arrangementsthe length and intensity of working hours, underemployment and schedule predictability. Employment stabilityemployment continuity, contractual temporariness and/or organizational changes (e.g., downsizing). Workers' rightsdescribes welfare state provisions associated with employment, such as access to health insurance or pensions. Collective organizationthe possibilities (or lack thereof) for employee representation, most commonly measured through union representation. Interpersonal relationsemployees' power relative to management (e.g., their ability to make decisions or control their schedule) and can include exposure to discrimination. Training opportunitiesopportunities for promotion or to enhance skills. Characterizing trends in P.E. using a multidimensional indicator is critical given that employment quality is increasingly recognized as a social determinant of health, according to Oddo. P.E. can result in insufficient income, which compromises access to food and other necessities; greater exposure to adverse physical working conditions, such as toxic exposure, and limited control over both personal and professional lives, leading to stress. "Importantly, poor employment quality may be contributing to widening health inequities, as women, people with lower education levels, and minorities have a higher prevalence of P.E.," Oddo said. The research revealed P.E. score was significantly higher among people of color, women, people with lower levels of education and people with lower income. Between 1988 and 2016, the overall P.E. scores significantly increased indicating worsening employment quality over time. However, the study showed the largest increases in P.E. among males, people with a college education, and higher-income individuals. "These results suggest long-term decreases in employment quality are widespread in the U.S., rather than just confined to marginalized segments of the labor market," Oddo said. According to the study, the largest change over time in employment precarity among males and college-educated and higher-income individuals could be because their P.E. score was lower at the study's beginning in 1988, leaving a greater opportunity for declines. Additionally, the large increase in P.E. among males may also be due to the declining rate of union membership in the U.S., as union membership is associated with better employment quality and, historically, was more common among males. Oddo said P.E. has been studied more broadly after the 2008 recession when employment quality worsened and there was a notable shift toward contract work and the emergence of the gig economy. She added that there is speculation as to how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect P.E., both during the pandemic and after when work from home measures are lifted. A holistic approach to studying P.E. is important in the future as data can inform employment policy decisions. For example, a better understanding of P.E. in the U.S. may be helpful for informing future policies around secure scheduling (i.e. advanced notice of schedules) or gig work, like California's Assembly Bill 5, which changed the rules employers must use to determine whether workers are employees or independent. The distinction is important because independent contractors are not entitled to most of the protections and benefits that employees get, Oddo explained. Also, precarious employment could slow our ability to get back to work after COVID-19, as precariously employed individuals could face additional barriers to COVID-19 vaccination; for example, if they are undocumented workers or independent contractors. More information: Vanessa M Oddo et al. Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health (2020). Vanessa M Oddo et al. Changes in precarious employment in the United States: A longitudinal analysis,(2020). DOI: 10.5271/sjweh.3939 [January 27, 2021] TeleSign Board Appoints Joseph Burton as CEO TeleSign, the leading provider of customer identity and engagement solutions, today announced the appointment of Joseph Burton as CEO effective immediately. As CEO, Mr. Burton will focus on accelerating growth and reinforcing TeleSign's leading position in programmable communications and digital identity for the world's largest brands. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005816/en/ Joseph Burton, CEO, TeleSign (Photo: Business Wire) "TeleSign is a pioneer in digital identity and communications solutions for some of the most notable digital businesses in the world," said Mr. Burton. "We've seen companies react and dramatically accelerate their digital transformation in the past 12 months. This trend will continue as businesses and consumers adopt digital commerce and interactions. I'm excited to join TleSign to leverage our technology and global scale to continue helping the world's largest enterprises continue the digital transformation of their businesses." Joseph Burton served as CEO of Plantronics (now Poly (News - Alert) ) from 2016 to 2020, after joining the company in 2011 as Chief Technical officer, and then Chief Commercial Officer. He started his career in 1990 as a software engineer, was acquired into Cisco (News - Alert) in 2001 and served as Cisco's CTO for Unified Communications until 2010. Burton specializes in digital transformation, growth acceleration, corporate strategy and go-to-market, and has extensive expertise in technology and product development. He was most recently a Senior Advisor to the management consulting company McKinsey & Company (News - Alert) . He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Information Systems and completed the Stanford Executive program at Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA (News - Alert) ). "Joe brings more than two decades of experience building enterprise solutions and transforming global organizations to drive continued innovation and customer success," said Guillaume Boutin, CEO of Proximus and Chairman of the Board at TeleSign. "His leadership, transformation experience working with enterprise organizations and his expertise in software and hardware product development, make him an outstanding choice to lead TeleSign's growth and continued success for our customers, partners and employees." Burton replaces Ryan Disraeli as CEO and will report directly to Guillaume Boutin, CEO of Proximus, Belgium's leading telecommunications operator. About TeleSign TeleSign connects and protects online experiences with sophisticated customer identity and engagement solutions. Through APIs that deliver user verification, data insights, and communications we solve today's unique customer challenges by bridging your business to the complex world of global telecommunications. Learn more at www.telesign.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005816/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Brasilia: In a rare honor and sign of close ties between India and Brazil, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attended India's Republic Day celebrations organized by the Indian embassy in the national capital Brasilia and called India a 'brotherly nation'. Bolsonaro expressed, "Brazil and India have increasingly drawn closer and closer... on this occasion as we celebrate India's Republic Day, kindly convey Mr. Ambassador to PM Modi, who I see a close friend, kindly send my best wishes to prosperous India." Recalling how India assisted with inputs during the COVID-19 outbreak, Bolsonaro pointed out, "India has also lived up to all of the agreement and the commitments that were undertaken towards Brazil in the course of 2020." Thank you Excellency @jairbolsonaro for your gracious presence at the #RepublicDay celebrations and for your good wishes to the people of India on this historic occasion. May the ties between the people of India and Brazil be strengthened even more! #RepublicDayIndia https://t.co/EbQrHtQONV pic.twitter.com/oDOUJZF9Xt India In Brazil (@indiainbrazil) January 27, 2021 New Delhi, notably, had sent HCQ and Paracetamol to the country in 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic. Bolsonaro's move to attend India's Republic Day celebrations is also a significant departure from usual protocol, because usually Presidents and Prime Ministers, especially of big countries, don't attend the national day events organized by embassies. The Indian envoy to Brazil, Suresh Reddy told WION, "The two countries have realised the potential to deepen the economic and commercial partnership which is also being reflected in the growth in bilateral trade and the increasing presence of Indian companies in Brazil and from Brazil in India." Besides Jair Bolsonaro, the entire cabinet of the Brazilian government was present at the occasion, making it the most well-attended event of recent times. Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, Minister for Energy, Mines Petroleum, Minister for infrastructure Tersio, Minister for Communications Fabio Faraia, Minister for Education, Minister for Justice, Minister for Tourism all graced the event. Chief of Naval Forces, Joint Chief of Staff also attended the Republic Day celebrations. "The presence of a large number of Congressmen also reflected the bipartisan support to this dynamic India-Brazil partnership and increasing diversification of the engagement from energy to defence, from ethanol to tourism", envoy Reddy added. Last week, India had sent a commercial supply of 20 lakh doses of India-made COVID-19 vaccines, following which, Bolsonaro thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2020, India had invited the Brazilian President as the chief guest of India's Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath. In post-war period, the Armenian population of Azerbaijan living in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers has no alternatives left to full-fledged integration into the Azerbaijani economy: the separatist regime, which has been chronically dependent on the illegal exploitation of the resources of the occupied regions and funding from Armenia and the Armenian diaspora for three decades, today has no survival prospects, according to the report by the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication titled "The Armenian population in the mountainous part of Karabakh has prospects for sustainable development within the single economic space of Azerbaijan" seen by Vestnik Kavkaza. First of all, it is necessary to understand how much the situation has changed for the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh compared to the times when the Azerbaijani territories were occupied by Armenian troops: if before they had the seized natural resources of 20% of the Azerbaijani territory at their disposal, including the fertile fields of Karabakh lowlands, mountain mines, forests and rivers, now the Russian peacekeepers are responsible for the least habitable lands. Separatism has lost its illegal ways of providing itself, and without integration into the economy of Azerbaijan, it will become fully dependent on outside assistance. In financial terms, the fake NKR regime created on the Azerbaijani territories has always depended on external assistance. According to the report, estimates show that $200-250 million is needed annually to finance it, of which 50-60% came from the Armenian budget. In 2019 alone, Yerevan transferred $120 million as a budget transfer to the budget of the so-called regime as an "interstate debt". In addition to the direct transfer to its puppet regime, Armenia has also provided other forms of assistance, from vehicles to computer servers, including periodic donations. The total amount of donations from Armenian Diaspora organizations, another major source of funding to initiatives in the Nagorno Karabakh, are not reflected in any official documents. The Hayastan Foundation has provided about $15 million for the construction of the highway from Armenia's Vardenis to Azerbaijan's Aghdere. At the same time, neither Armenia nor the Diaspora were actively developing the region due to "neither war, nor peace" state, which made any economic projects in the occupied Azerbaijani territories unprofitable. Thus, supporters of the Karabakh occupation provided the separatists with a minimum standard of living. Now, after the defeat of the Armenian army and the collapse of the Armenian economy, which could not withstand the pressure of both the pandemic and excessive spending on occupation needs, the supporters of separatism in the Russian peacekeepers' zone of responsibility will lose funding from Armenia. The report notes that unemployment in Armenia reached 21%, 23.5% of citizens live below the poverty line, its GDP fell by 5% over the year, its foreign debt exceeded 66% of GDP. In such conditions, Armenia's high foreign debt lowers its international credit rating and makes it less likely to get new loans from international financial institutions. The separatists themselves can no longer earn a living, since earlier their earnings were based on the exploitation of the occupied regions of Azerbaijan, which were liberated from the invaders during the Second Karabakh War. According to the report, in 2019 the sectors in the so-called "NKR" with the largest share in GDP were mining, hydropower and agriculture. Now the separatist regime is deprived of all three sectors, since production mostly took place outside the territory of the former NKAO AzSSR. In particular, in the occupied territories, copper and molybdenum were illegally mined in the Tartar region, gold - in the Kelbajar region. Illegal mining at these fields, whose resources were previously exported through Armenia to foreign markets, has been stopped. The invaders also collected mineral waters from well-known Azerbaijani sources, such as Upper and Lower Istisu, Bagirsag in Kalbajar region, Iligsu, Minkend in Lachin region, Turshsu in Shusha region - the waters were collected from areas rich in mineral waters, transported to Armenia and packed and exported as an Armenian product. Now, as Azerbaijan has restored its sovereignty in these areas, the transportation and export of the mineral waters as an Armenian product has been impossible. The largest wine producers have lost over 50% of vineyards as these land are now controlled by Azerbaijan. They are no longer able to operate normally as they are short of manpower and raw materials. None of the industries based in the mountainous part of Karabakh has the development perspectives without integrating into the Azerbaijani economy. The analysis shows that raw materials supply, sales market and investments in this area is possible only if it is a part of the single economic space of Azerbaijan. During 30-year occupation of Karabakh, 36 HPPs generating 187.5 megawatts of electricity have been operating in the area with now only 6 of them with a total capacity of 75 MW being limitedly accessed by the so-called regime. The analysis shows that Armenians living in the mountainous regions of Karabakh, which have lost over 60% of its energy generation potential, have no alternative but to join energy-rich Azerbaijan's energy generation, transmission and distribution networks. The mountainous part of Karabakh is not self-sufficient in any type of food products. Kalbajar- Lachin economic region accounted for a large share of the output of main agricultural products and raw materials. The same trend is followed in livestock, another element of food security. Kalbajar, Lachin, Zengilan and Gubadly account for the greater part of pastures and agricultural lands for fodder production. The separatist regime failed to address self- sufficiency in agriculture, livestock, food and beverages over the past 30 years, and this problem is likely to be solved only within the food security framework of Azerbaijan. The report emphasizes that with the liberations of the lands from Armenian occupation in 2020, Azerbaijan saved from the hostage of occupation the 50,000-60,000 Armenians living in the mountainous part of Karabakh, creating conditions for the growth of their living standards. In particular, it is bringing transport infrastructure to the region, including highways and airports. ... "Investments, resources and a clear strategy are required to restore and develop the mountainous areas of Karabakh. The Azerbaijani government has already developed Karabakhs development strategy and launched projects to this end. The Armenian population in the mountainous part of Karabakh has prospects for sustainable development within the single economic space of Azerbaijan, a country that enjoys the largest economy in the Caucasus," the authors of the report concluded. Britains ruling Conservative Partys collection of data on 10 million UK voters around their ethnicity and religion was illegal, the Information Commissioner said. Elizabeth Denham said the party had deleted the data following a recommendation by the UKs Information Commissioners Office (ICO). Speaking to MPs on a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) sub-committee, Ms Denham said it was unacceptable that the party had used peoples names to attempt to derive their ethnicity and religion. She said: In our audit work, where we looked at the practices of all political parties, our recommendation was for any kind of ethnicity data to be deleted and the Conservative Party Im told and we have evidence that the Conservative Party have destroyed or deleted that information. Ms Denham said the party had done this voluntarily, but it would have ordered it to destroy the data if it had not agreed to do so. Read More She said: Religion and ethnicity are both like health information special category data that requires a higher standard for a legal basis to collect. So, again, ethnicity is not an acceptable collection of data, there isnt a legal basis that allows for the collection of that data. Asked to confirm if it was illegal, the Information Commissioner said: It was illegal to collect the ethnicity data and that has been destroyed. Privacy campaigners responding to Ms Denhams evidence said the ICO needed to do more to enforce rules around how political parties collect data on voters. Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, said: The Conservative Partys racial profiling of voters was illegal. Elizabeth Denham finally confirmed the unlawful nature of this profiling by the Conservative Party under pressure from MPs on the DCMS committee. Yet the ICO still has not explained what parties can and cannot do. Mass profiling of voters continues, even if this data has been removed. The ICO needs to act to stop unlawful profiling practices. Thats their job. During her address, Ms Denham also revealed she does not use Facebook or WhatsApp and said she understood user concerns about the trustworthiness of the platforms. Ms Denham said she did not use Facebook by choice and used Signal app that has seen a spike in new users since WhatsApps privacy changes announcement for her personal communications. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tencent, the worlds gaming juggernaut is looking at a billion-dollar acquisition of various U.S-based companies including giants like Take Two Interactive, EA and various other companies. According to a report by TMT Finance spotted by TweakTown, Tencent is currently raising billions to buy out a new gaming company. Insiders believe the Chinese giant is looking to force a hostile takeover of the aforementioned studios. Rockstar To put things into perspective, Take Two Interactive makes games like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands 3 amongst several properties that rake in billions in revenue. The other company that is being speculated for a takeover is Electronic Arts (EA) which makes games like FIFA, the Battlefield series and other games from franchises like Star Wars. A potential takeover of either of the two companies could result in beloved franchises under the Tencent Gaming umbrella. Electronic Arts Sources say the most likely scenario sees Tencent buying a South Korean developer at the moment. Some of the companies like NetMarble, Nexon and others. Tencent already is the third biggest shareholder in South Koreas biggest mobile game maker NetMarble. Tencent is already a majority stakeholder (93%) in major U.S. gaming companies like Riot Games; who are the makers of games like League of Legends and Valorant. Tencent has also invested in companies like Epic Games (Fortnight & Epic Games Store), Bluehole (PUBG), Ubisoft (Assassins Creed), Activision Blizzard (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft), and Grinding Gear Games (Path of Exile). Reuters Tencents investment in and ownership of some of the biggest gaming companies resulted in scrutiny from U.S. National Security last year. The Committee on Foreign Investments in the U.S. asked the aforementioned companies about their security protocols in handling Americans personal data. India also banned games owned and/or developed by Tencent including PUBG Mobile, Arena Of Valor and others due to national security concerns last September. It is possible that the acquisition of rumoured studios could lead to the ban of popular games like GTA or FIFA in India if it comes to fruition. The acquisition could be bad news for Indian gamers as popular games like GTA or FIFA could get banned by Indian authorities if Tencent games decides to purchase Take Two Interactive or Electronic Arts. It is worth pointing out that this news is pure speculation at the moment, however it is hard to ignore Tencent gobbling up gaming studios aggressively in the past few years. Tencent has not confirmed the validity of these rumours nor have they delivered a statement on the matter denying it. Source: TMT Finance via TweakTown Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Experts reviewing the emergency use application of British drugmaker AstraZeneca have submitted favorable recommendations for the coronavirus vaccine, the Food And Drug Administration said Wednesday ahead of the expected release of its final decision on authorization. Speaking to CNN Philippines, FDA Director General Eric Domingo said the expert panels have wrapped up their evaluation of the vaccine, adding that the agency would be running overtime to finalize the decision within the week. They [panels] gave their recommendations yesterday, and Im just flipping through them. Theyre quite positive, theyre very favorable, Domingo told The Source. So Im just really going to look at the data now both from the technical quality side and then the safety and efficacy side and recommendations and hope to finish going through this today or maybe tomorrow, he added. The British manufacturer applied for emergency use authorization of its vaccine in the country early in January. Domingo previously noted that the review of the product may be faster, as it has already gained approval in the United Kingdom, considered as a stringent regulatory authority. We know that other experts have seen it, and that we can rely upon the findings of these experts. So we just ask a little more local questions, things that are very specific to the Philippine situation for clarification, the FDA chief noted. The Philippines earlier secured around 2.6 million doses of AstraZenecas vaccine through the help of the private sector, with the second batch of procurement also in the works. A number of local government units have likewise entered into tripartite deals with the national government and AstraZeneca to secure doses of the product. So far, only Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the Philippines. Russian company Gamaleya Research Institute, Chinese drug maker Sinovac Biotech, and the distributor of India-developed vaccine COVAXIN also have pending EUA applications before the local FDA. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The leaders of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) have strongly condemned the incidents of violence at Red Fort on Republic Day in the national capital by a mob of farmers, protesting against the three farm laws enacted last year. The SKM on Wednesday called a meeting in which the incidents of violence by the farmers would be discussed and deliberations would be held to keep the agitation peaceful. The agitation on Delhi's borders by the farmers entered the 63rd day on Wednesday, demanding a repeal of three new Central farm laws and a legal guarantee for the procurement of all crops at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). The leaders of the SKM, a consortium of farmer organisations leading the agitation, have appealed to the farmers to continue protesting peacefully and condemned the incidents which took place on Tuesday. Darshan Pal, President of the Krantikari Kisan Union in Punjab and SKM leader, told IANS that the farmers' agitation is peaceful and the union has nothing to do with those taking the farmers to the Red Fort and indulging in violence during the farmers' tractor rally. Darshan Pal said the SKM meeting would discuss Tuesday's violence and ask the farmers to keep the protest peaceful. He said the question of any further talks with the Central government and a relook at the proposal to stay the implementation of the three farm laws for a year-and-a-half and constituting an experts committee to resolve the farmers' issue, could also be discussed in Wednesday's meeting. He said, "We will call Deep Sidhu an anti-social element and his organisation, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti, which are not part of our SKM." The leaders of the SKM have accused Punjabi actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu of deceiving the farmers by leading them to the Red Fort and indulging in violence there. The leaders of 32 farmers' organisations of Punjab are going to discuss the whole Red Fort violence before the meeting of the SKM scheduled at 2 p.m. Prior to this meeting, Harinder Singh Lakhowal, General Secretary of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal), a constituent of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, told IANS that 32 farmers' organisations in Punjab followed those routes agreed upon for the farmers Republic Day parade. He said that the clashes with the police or the unfurling of a flag at the Red Fort are extremely tragic and he condemned it in strong words. Harinder Singh said that the violent incidents have caused a lot of damage to the farmers' movement and he urged the farmers not to deviate from their cause and keep the protest peaceful. Joginder Singh, President of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan), said there was no plan of the SKM to reach the Red Fort as deviating from the prescribed routes and going to the Red Fort was against the agreement with the police. "The Union condemns any kind of violence," he added. Asked about raising a flag at the Red Fort and creating chaos there, he said it was very wrong. He added that in the SKM meeting, the outline of the movement so far and farmer violence as well as further strategy would be discussed. When the nation was celebrating the 72nd Republic Day on Tuesday, the farmers taking part in a tractor rally on the borders of Delhi deviated from the agreement with the police, broke the barricades, and people riding on tractors reached the Red Fort and indulged in hooliganism and violence. The miscreants also created a ruckus in Delhi's ITO area where the police had to lathicharge to disperse them. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Flames pictured in Rio Negro province, Argentina on January 26, 2021 are part of a wildfire raging in the south A wildfire raging in the south of Argentina has consumed a vast swathe of forestland in three days, local authorities said Wednesdayan area half the size of Liechtenstein. About a hundred firefighters, 26 fire trucks, two water-bombing helicopters and two planes are fighting to contain the blaze in a region unaccustomed to forest fires, officials said. The blaze, its origins unknown, is threatening a vast region around El Bolson, a town of some 18,000 inhabitants in the Rio Negro province in northern Patagonia. By Wednesday, it had destroyed some 8,500 hectares. Vegetation parched by recent drought, high temperatures and strong winds have complicated the firefighting effort. El Bolson civil protection official Leandro Romairone said rain was expected later Wednesday, but "not enough to have a decisive impact on firefighting." No populated area is immediately threatened, and "no evacuation is planned at this time," he told AFP. At least four firefighters have been treated in hospital for injuries sustained in the line of duty. Explore further Firefighters struggle to contain blaze in southern California 2021 AFP Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain UK citizens and permanent residents flying back from 22 countries deemed at "high risk" from COVID-19 variants must soon quarantine in hotels under new rules announced on Wednesday. The announcement came as the government signalled a current national lockdown would stay in force until at least March 8. Returning travellers must stay in hotels for 10 days while they complete the required self-isolation period, interior minister Priti Patel told lawmakers. Non-UK arrivals from the targeted destinationswhich include South America, Portugal, Cape Verde and South Africaare already barred following the discovery of two virus variants in Brazil and South Africa. Patel said the plans were still being "operationalised", with no date mentioned for their introduction, and further details would be announced next week. The 10-day quarantine will cost returning Britons 1,500 ($2,060, 1,697 euros), with meals served at the bedroom door and security guards supervising stays, according to media reports. "These new measures at the border are a necessary step to protect the public and our world class vaccination programme," Patel said. "Every layer of protection we have put in place will help to reduce the transmission of this virus and any new potential strain from entering the UK." The Times newspaper reported ministers were divided between those backing the limited quarantine regime and those favouring a blanket policy requiring arrivals from all destinations to self-isolate in hotels. The main opposition Labour Party's home affairs spokesman, Nick Thomas-Symonds, accused the government of failing to learn from past mistakes over protecting Britain's borders during the pandemic. Tentative lockdown end "I'm deeply concerned that the measures outlined today are yet another example of thistoo little, too late," Thomas-Symonds said, adding the government was "lurching from one crisis to another devoid of strategy". "Limiting hotel quarantining to only a limited number of countries from which travel from non-UK residents was already banned means that the home secretary's proposals do not go anywhere near far enough." Britain has been the hardest hit in Europe from the pandemic, becoming only the fifth country in the world to surpass 100,000 deaths after recording another 1,631 fatalities on Tuesday. With a more contagious virus variant sweeping the country since December, some health experts have warned it could register as many as 50,000 further deaths in the coming months. Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a third national lockdown in early January, shutting schools and non-essential shops, but critics have said the UK's borders remain a soft spot. Johnson said Wednesday that schools would be the first establishments allowed to reopen, but not before March 8 at the earliest, once the government has completed vaccinating the most vulnerable people by mid-February. Speaking to parliament, he anticipated "other economic and social restrictions being removed thereafter as and when the data permits". The government earlier this month scrapped its "travel corridors" from countries with lower caseloads and now asks all arrivals to show negative COVID-19 tests and then self-isolate. Ministers have since been mulling whether to require all incoming travellers to isolate in hotels, emulating actions taken by countries such as Australia and New Zealand which have emerged with dramatically lower death tolls. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Drugmaker Pfizer on Wednesday resumed deliveries of its coronavirus vaccine doses from its Belgium manufacturing plant in Puurs. Police were present as the lorry carrying supplies left the factory. Pfizer has said it's been ramping up production and expects to be able to make 2 billion doses in 2021, up from its earlier forecast of 1.3 billion doses. Many public health officials have expressed skepticism that the Pfizer vaccine could be successfully kept so cold across the globe. Pfizer has been shipping the shots in special containers with dry ice, but even in the US, some doses have been thrown out because they weren't kept at the proper temperature. Pfizer and BioNTech said they would also help health systems handle the vaccine, which requires ultracold storage. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) 2 Off-Duty Virginia Police Officers Charged With US Capitol Breach Fired From Jobs Two off-duty police officers from Virginia who were charged in connection to the U.S. Capitol breach have been fired from their jobs, according to the town of Rocky Mount, where they were employed. Jacob Fracker and Thomas Robertson have been let go from their employment at the Rocky Mount Police Department following a review for their alleged participation in the breach of the Capitol building earlier this month. The Town has followed the necessary due processes to conclude our review and notify these individuals of this decision. We will continue to assist in the federal investigation as called upon, a statement from the town said. The town explained that it holds its officers to high standards for how they conduct themselves on and off-duty. The process we have gone through reinforces how seriously we aim to uphold these standards and how important it is to communicate that the department works in the best interest of everyones safety, the statement added. Earlier this month, the pair were arrested after they were identified in a photo making an obscene statement in front of a statute of John Stark inside the Capitol building, prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia said. An investigation by the United States Capitol Police found social media posts allegedly authored by Robertson admitting to participating in the riots. CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business, the post states, according to court documents (pdf). Fracker has also been accused of authoring a separate social media post, which has since been deleted, which allegedly said, Not like I did anything illegal. Fracker also reportedly said he had been escorted in by the Capitol Police. The pair have been charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. So far, no lawyers are listed on the docket report of this case. Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Michael Sherwin told reporters during a conference call that prosecutors are preparing to bring sedition charges against some rioters over the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. We are working on those cases and I think the results will bear fruit very soon, Sherwin said. The top prosecutor for Washington said the cases would involve 18 U.S. Code 2384, or seditious conspiracy, and could have a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. No sedition charges have been brought in the breach as of yet, but at least one case of conspiracy has been filed. The first conspiracy charges were filed against three people allegedly affiliated with the paramilitary organization known as the Oath Keepers on Jan. 19. In a criminal complaint (pdf) filed on Jan. 19, prosecutors allege that Thomas Edward Caldwell, 65, of Clarke County, Virginia, had a leadership role in Oath Keepers and conspired with others to forcibly storm the Capitol building. The complaint also names Donovan Crowl, 50, from Ohio, and Jessica Watkins, 38, from Ohio, as alleged co-conspirators in that plan. Crowl and Watkins allegedly were part of the group. The three individuals and others had communicated with one another in advance of the breach and planned their attack, FBI Special Agent Michael Palian alleged in his affidavit. Palian said he had reviewed footage of the Jan. 6 event and observed eight to 10 individuals wearing paramilitary equipment attempting to enter the Capitol building. These individuals were wearing helmets, reinforced vests, and clothing with Oath Keeper paraphernalia, Palian said, and were operating in an organized and practiced fashion as they forced their way to the front of the crowd gathered around a door to the U.S. Capitol. The three members were each charged with conspiracy, conspiracy to impede or injure officer without lawful authority, destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding, restricted building or grounds violent entry, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. In an update, Sherwin told reporters that so far over 400 cases have been opened related to the Jan. 6 incident. Meanwhile, over 150 people have been charged federally, while over 50 others have been charged outside the federal level. The system doesnt always work, but the alternative is worse. Research shows that youth who are sent to adult prisons are more likely to die by suicide while in jail. They experience more psychiatric problems than young people in juvenile facilities. And they are more likely to commit additional crimes once they are released. Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related and global top news as of 27.01.2021: Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif has arrived in Armenia within his regional visit. Earlier, Zarif was first in Azerbaijan, then in Russia. Visits to Georgia and Turkey are also scheduled. Tete-a-tete meeting of the Armenian and Iranian FMs - Ara Aivazian and Mohammad Javad Zarif - commenced Wednesday. According to the Armenian FM, Iran is an important country in the region. "Armenia does not consider that the results of Azerbaijan's aggression and use of force against Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] can create a basis for lasting peace, or be viewed as an opportunity for regional cooperation," Aivazian said. Azerbaijan has transferred the bodies of another 31 fallen soldiers to the Armenian side. According to the Karabakh emergency service, these soldiers were reservists. To date, 1,318 such bodies have been retrieved, 15 of which, according to preliminary data, are of civilians, whereas the rest are of servicemen, reservists, or volunteers who participated in the recent hostilities. The Russian servicemen, who will be part of the Russian-Turkish joint center for monitoring the ceasefire and cessation of hostilities at the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] conflict zone, are undergoing training and getting ready to leave for Azerbaijan, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. This joint monitoring center will be located in Azerbaijan, in accordance with the memorandum signed by the Russian and Turkish defense ministers on November 11, 2020. Armenia legislature will hold a special session on February 3. The issue was among the unreported issues of Wednesdays Cabinet meeting of the government. Several issues will be on the agenda of this parliament's session. Russia will resume air communication with Armenia for one month. Accordingly, as per Tuesdays decree of the Russian government, citizens of the Eurasian Economic Union member states can enter Russia from February 1 to March 1, inclusive, from Armenia or Belarus via air checkpoints at the Russian state border, provided that they submit valid documents proving their identity, as well as a negative coronavirus test result, according to the press service of the Russian embassy in Armenia. Man wanted in Yerevan keeps 3-year-old son with him, threatens to hurt him, also fires gunshots. On Wednesday morning, police officers visited one of the mansions in Yerevan. Seeing the police officers, the man fired gunshots into the air, after which he kept his 3-year-old son with him and threatened to hurt him, if he was apprehended. Ghazaryan negotiated with the armed man for nearly two hours, after which the man put the gun down and released the child. The wanted man was apprehended and charged. There are no victims. A preliminary investigation is underway. Azerbaijan has started construction of a new motorway leading to the David Gareja Monastery. Of course, there is no word about the real name of this monastery in the Azerbaijani media, which reports on the start of construction, and it is referred to as the Keshikchidag Reserve. Georgia and Azerbaijan are disputing the territorial affiliation of the David Gareja Monastery, and there have even been several respective incidents in the past. At present, an unregulated part of the Georgian-Azerbaijani border passes through this monastery. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will have the first female Secretary-General. Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis, who joined the European Commission for Human Rights back in 1993, got over 96% of the votes. She will take office on March 1, 2021. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. A Playboy model has defended herself against critics who lambasted her topless desert images taken in Dubai - insisting she was 'careful to cover her breasts with her hands'. Luana Sandien, 27, from Brazil, delighted her 14,600 Instagram followers after sharing a series of photos showing her topless in the middle of a desert in Dubai over the weekend. However, not everyone was impressed with the daring shots. Luana's critics called them 'obscene' and questioned the model's sensitivity to the country's laws around dress code. Due to the religious nature of Dubai, nudity is frowned upon and topless sunbathing, for example, is considered public indecency and could lead to arrest. But Luana, who was wearing only white cut-out trousers and a headscarf, claims she didn't 'mean to embarrass anyone' and covered her breasts with her hands to avoid causing offence, according to the Daily Star. Luana Sandien (pictured), 27, from Brazil, delighted her 14,600 Instagram followers after sharing a series of photos showing her topless in the middle of a desert in Dubai over the weekend However, not everyone was impressed with the daring shots (above). Luana's critics called them 'obscene' and questioned the model's sensitivity to the country's laws around dress code However, the model, who stripped half naked in the sand dunes for her post, said she has still been attacked online for her nudity in the three images. Some fans accused her of 'insulting the signs of state sovereignty', according to Luana, who will soon be published in Playboy Denmark. She told the publication: 'It was one of the best pictures I've ever taken, but I didn't mean to embarrass anyone. 'I was careful to cover my breasts with my hands, knowing that in the country it is forbidden to be naked, and even so I was threatened by haters.' Due to the religious nature of Dubai, nudity is frowned upon and topless sunbathing, for example, is considered public indecency and could lead to arrest. Pictured, Luana But Luana (pictured), who was wearing only white cut-out trousers and a headscarf, claims she didn't 'mean to embarrass anyone' and covered her breasts with her hands to avoid causing offence Luana captioned the photos in Portuguese, which read: 'The beauty of the desert is that it hides a water well anywhere.' One of the model's followers questioned why she wasn't arrested for the nudeless posing, to which she replied: 'They let me do whatever I wanted ( I have my charms).' Luana's comments come after former Love Island star Georgia Steel was slammed by Maldives residents for posing topless for Instagram snaps, according to The Sun. Luana captioned the photos (above) in Portuguese, which read: 'The beauty of the desert is that it hides a water well anywhere.' One of the model's (pictured) followers questioned why she wasn't arrested for the nudeless posing, to which she replied: 'They let me do whatever I wanted ( I have my charms).' The influencer, 22, has been abroad for weeks, claiming to be there 'for work' by posting sultry snaps to social media to advertise brands. And her latest was a topless snap on Thursday - showcasing just a blue patterned bikini bottom and a sun hat in the photo - which seems to have angered the locals. The Sun reports that a local source said: 'It may seem strange to Westerners, but coming here and failing to observe our laws and customs is incredibly insulting. 'Influencers who think the Maldives is just a great backdrop for their Instagram should stop and think before one ends up in jail. Luana's comments come after former Love Island star Georgia Steel (pictured) was slammed by Maldives residents for posing topless for Instagram snaps, according to The Sun 'The resorts could also be in serious trouble if guests like Georgia are found to be generating [nude] images on the premises'. MailOnline approached Georgia's representatives for comment. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office states of the Maldives: 'Local laws reflect the fact that Maldives is an Islamic country. Violations of local laws may lead to a prison sentence. Nudism and topless sunbathing are not allowed anywhere, including on resort islands. 'You should respect local traditions, customs, laws and religions at all times and be aware of your actions to ensure that they dont offend, especially during the holy month of Ramadan or if you intend to visit religious areas.' Joanne Chen just became the second female general partner in the history of the now 26-year-old, Silicon Valley venture firm, Foundation Capital. Were she still alive, Foundation's founder, Kathryn Gould, would undoubtedly cheer the development. Known for her big personality, Gould first met Chen when Chen was an MBA student at the University of Chicago. Gould was recovering from a bout with cancer at the time, and after being introduced to Chen through one of Chen's professors, she initially advised Chen not to go into venture. As Gould herself discovered early on, doors open more easily to men in the venture world, which is why she'd started her own firm in the first place. Yet, like Gould, being dissuaded only motivated Chen more. While she began her career as an engineer at Cisco, she was long interested in finance, jumping into a banking analyst role with Jeffries, then working as an associate with the capital advisory firm Probitas before cofounding a mobile gaming company she would later wind down. Indeed, grad school in Chicago -- and meeting Gould -- only reinforced for Chen how much she wanted to become a VC, and following stints at Formation 8 and Hyde Park Angels, she landed at Foundation in 2014. (Sadly, Gould passed away in 2015.) Chen has certainly brought a fresh perspective to a firm that features 10 investors altogether. Aside from being the only woman in the group, Chen has a strong point of view, for example, on the entrepreneurial potential of students from U.C. Berkeley, where she studied as an undergraduate. While the university is not nearly so organized as Stanford when it comes to minting founders, in her view it has just as much talent and, as a result, it's a network into which she invests a lot of time and energy as an investor. Chen, who was born in China and grew up in Montreal, also spends a lot of time thinking about AI, both as an investor and also simply a person in the world. Her father, who received his PhD from the University of Montreal, went on to work at Bell Labs as a researcher, and her mother is a computer programmer and "DevOps person" who Chen routinely talks with about software tools. But their background isn't so simple. Story continues Like many immigrants, her parents left China following the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, roughly a dozen years after the Cultural Revolution had ended -- which also impacted her family. Because her grandfather helped architect a telecommunication network company in Shandong, he was persecuted by the Communist Party, stripped of all his responsibilities and, as an "intellectual," says Chen, placed in a so-called reeducation camp. Meanwhile, his son (her father) wasn't allowed to start college until he was 21, and it was only because he was a good student that he was invited abroad to attend graduate school. Today, her family's experience combined with China's use of artificial intelligence -- including to track its Muslim minority -- is top of mind for Chen in ways it may not be for someone with a lesser grasp of the lengths to which authoritarian regimes will go, and how quickly they can act. It's why most of Chen's work centers on understanding how AI, from how machines evolve from organizing activity to replacing humans (which will definitely happen, says Chen); to how to recognize and counter malicious applications of AI with AI (such as through recruiting software that screens out names and gender to eliminate human bias); and how to otherwise make sure that AI is used to improve our lives. Of course, Chen isn't exactly alone in her interest in AI. Nearly every startup today incorporates -- or says it does -- AI into its offerings, from lending companies to startups that help remote teams work more effectively. And investors, including at Foundation, have funded many of them. Asked how she deals with competition for many of these deals, Chen says she moves fast when there's a decision to be made. She engages with VPs of engineering and technical founders who share ideas through Slack communities and elsewhere. She also notes that Foundation provides capital to roughly 30 operators who write angel checks and help steer the firm's attention to interesting deals. Mostly, suggests Chen, she focuses on whatever is not landing in her inbox -- a lesson learned in part from Gould years ago. It's easy to believe. As Gould once told this editor of the advice she gives to other VCs: "It not the calls you take. Its the calls you make. Everyone is calling you with dumb startup ideas, and you can stay hugely busy sorting through that crap. My advice instead is to figure out who are the 10 to 20 smartest people you know and call them. One of them is always starting a company." Update: an earlier version of this story reported that Chen's family left China during the Cultural Revolution, but her parents left the country later in time, as currently reflected in the piece. Press Trust of India Climate and environmental activist Greta Thunberg on Monday asked the world to remember the promises it made to safeguard the environment in the wake of the crisis situation that has been created and inflicted on the present generation because of their wrongdoings. In a statement issued during the ongoing online Davos Agenda Summit, the young climate activist said the world must remember the promises it made to children and grandchildren. "My name is Greta Thunberg and I am not here to make deals. You see, I don't belong to any financial interest or political party. So I can't bargain or negotiate. I am only here to once again remind you of the emergency we are in. The crisis that you and your predecessors have created and inflicted upon us. The crisis that you continue to ignore," she said. She further said she was there to remind the world of the promises that it had made to their children and grandchildren and to tell it that there was no question of any compromise on the very minimum safety levels that still remain. "The climate and ecological crisis can unfortunately no longer be solved within today's systems. According to the current best available science that is no longer an opinion; that's a fact," she said. Thunberg further said there is a need to keep it in mind as countries, businesses and investors now rush forward to present their new so-called ambitious climate targets and commitments. "Right now more than ever we are desperate for hope. But what is hope? For me, hope is the feeling that keeps you going, even though all odds may be against you. For me hope comes from action not just words. For me, hope is telling it like it is."#wef2021 #DavosAgenda pic.twitter.com/Gt9PnRkcGm Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) January 26, 2021 "The longer we avoid this uncomfortable truth, and the longer we pretend we can solve the climate - and ecological emergency - without treating it as a crisis the more precious time we will lose. And this is time we do not have," she said. Thunberg further said that leaders and nations all over the world are speaking of an existential climate emergency, but instead of taking immediate action in an emergency, they set up vague, insufficient, hypothetical targets way into the future, like 'net-zero 2050'. She said these were targets based on loopholes and incomplete numbers and targets that equal surrender. "It's like waking up in the middle of the night, seeing your house on fire, then deciding to wait 10, 20, or 30 years before you call the fire department while labeling those trying to wake people up as alarmists. "We understand that the world is very complex and that change doesn't happen overnight. But you have now had more than three decades of blah blah blah. How many more do you need? Because when it comes to facing the climate and ecological emergency, the world is still in a state of complete denial," she said. Thunberg said the justice for the most affected people in the most affected areas is being systematically denied. She said she was not here to tell anyone what to do, as safeguarding the future living conditions and preserving life on earth as we know it is was voluntary. "The choice is yours to make. But I can assure you this. You can't negotiate with physics. And your children and grandchildren will hold you accountable for the choices that you make. How's that for a deal?" Thunberg asked. Published on 2021/01/26 | Source A woman in her 30s, who filed a lawsuit for billions of damages claiming to have been sexually assaulted by actor Cho Jae-hyun, gave up her appeal in the first trial, ending the three-year legal battle with Cho Jae-hyun's win. According to the legal community on the 26th, the first trial ruling was confirmed because A did not submit an appeal before the deadline for appeal. Earlier, the Seoul Central District Court's Civil Settlement Division 17 ruled against the plaintiff in a 300 million won compensation suit filed by A against Cho Jae-hyun on the 8th. Cho Jae-hyun and a string of victims Cho Jae-hyun was cited as the perpetrator of the Me Too movement in February 2018, and stopped all activities and began self-reflection. At the time, Cho Jae-hyun said, "I'm putting everything down and atoning with a sincere apology to those affected by me". In March of the same year, Cho Jae-hyun was again embroiled in controversy over allegations that he sexually assaulted someone at the movie site through MBC's "PD Notebook". At that time, the broadcast claimed that Korean-Japanese actress B was sexually assaulted by Cho Jae-hyun, who co-starred in the 2001 film "Bad Guy". "I think it's Cho Jae-hyun's fault that my life is ruined and that I can't act or get married as a woman", B said. "I don't think I can have children because I take a lot of medicine. I will tell the truth even if I die or if I am humiliated". In response, Cho Jae-hyun filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office against B on charges of attempted blackmail. At the time, Cho Jae-hyun responded by claiming, "It was an agreed-upon sexual relationship", and "B asked for 300 million won, but I refused, and handed over 70 to 80 million won", but the indictment was suspended because B was not investigated. An interview with H, who was almost sexually assaulted by Cho Jae-hyun, was also released. H said Cho Jae-hyun attempted sexual assault at an underground karaoke bathroom where she went for a end-of-drama party. "As soon as I entered the bathroom, Cho Jae-hyun followed me in and tried to rape me", H claimed. Cho Jae-hyun files a lawsuit seeking compensation for sexual violence After the broadcast, Cho Jae-hyun was additionally sued by A in July 2018 for compensation for sexual violence. A claimed that she was sexually assaulted by Cho Jae-hyun in 2004 when she was 17 years old and that she was living in a traumatized state. In September of that year, the court made a compulsory adjustment for an equitable settlement when an agreement was not reached between the parties, but a formal trial was held when A filed an objection. Cho Jae-hyun said, "After filing an objection, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the media. There was no coordination. This case is clearly a case of completion of the statute of limitations". [January 27, 2021] Lynchburg, Virginia Nonprofits and K-12 Schools to Receive $450,000 from Pacific Life Foundation The Pacific Life Foundation announced today it will provide $450,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations and K-12 schools in the greater Lynchburg, Virginia area throughout 2021. Since 2016, Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation have donated more than $1.3 million to the Lynchburg community. Grants totaling $392,000 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture; civic, community and economic development; education; and health and human services. The 2021 Virginia recipients include: Academy Center of the Arts Adult Care Center of Central Virginia Alzheimer's Association of Central & Western Virginia Amazement Square American Cancer Society, Orange (News - Alert) County Region American Heart Association, Western Virginia American Red Cross of Blue Ridge Virginia Bower Center for the Arts Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lynchburg Central Virginia Alliance for Community Living CHAP Children's Assistive Technology Service Girls on the Run of Central Virginia Greater Lynchburg Habitat for Humanity HumanKind Interfaith Outreach Association IRON Lives, Inc. Lynchburg Area Veterans Council Lynchburg Beacon of Hope Lynchburg Community Action Group Lynchburg Daily Bread Miriam's House United Way of Central Virginia Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities Virginia Council on Economic Education Virginia Legal Aid Society YMCA of Central Virginia YWCA of Central Virginia The Pacific Life Foundation not only provides funding to organizations, but also supports these organizations through volunteer efforts with the Pacific Life Good Guys program. In 2021, Pacific Life and its employees will continue to support its annual United Way campaign, during which the Pacific Life Foundation matches every dollar donated by employees. Additionally, the Pacific Life Foundation will continue to match all employee donations to nonprofits and universities. Supporting communities where Pacific Life employees work and live, the Pacific Life Foundation plans to give a total of $7.25 million in charitable grants in 2021. About Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation For more than 150 years, Pacific Life has helped millions of individuals and families with their financial needs through a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients and has been named one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.PacificLife.com. The Pacific Life Foundation (the Foundation) was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed more than $123 million to community and national nonprofit organizations. Grants are made to organizations that address a broad spectrum of social needs. Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of June 2020 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2020 FORTUNE 500 list. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005093/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tunisia: Mechichi cabinet reshuffle gets green light Ok to 11 new ministers. Reforms are the only way, PM (ANSAmed) - TUNIS, JANUARY 27 - At the end of a very intense day, in and out of Parliament, due to an imposing and peaceful protest, Tunisian Premier Hichem Mechichi won a vote of confidence for his new 11 ministers, all technicians, who will make "the government's actions more effective and fair", he said. Key ministers have been replaced, including the new minister of interior, Walid Dhahbi, of the environment, Chiheb Ben Ahmed, of justice, Youssef Zouaghi, as well as of health, tourism, culture, agriculture, industry and energy. Lawmakers were convinced by Mechichi's call for change at a difficult time for the country, with the pandemic hitting the economy hard, which was strongly affected by a loss in tourism revenue. All proposed ministers obtained a vote of confidence, including those who were questioned by the president of the Republic, Kaies Saied, who had raised doubts over the fact that they were involved in cases of "corruption" or "conflict of interest". "We have no other choice but to make reforms. There is still time and we must not surrender when we have to save our country", the prime minister said in his speech in the morning, adding that it is necessary to "break with populism" and to stop "selling illusions" because "this is the only road to take". Admitting that it is necessary to listen to the young, Mechichi said that the government has a clear strategic vision to review the model of development with the objective of putting the country on the right path and to create richness for young Tunisians who want to keep up with progress on digital technology. The energy transition is the cornerstone of the new economy as a pillar of sustainable development, of economic and social progress and for the protection of the environment, stressed Mechichi. He explained that "investing in projects to generate energy from renewable sources planned over the next three years will help revive the national economy". A better entrepreneurial climate and more impulse to businesses are among the priorities that the government has set this year, the Tunisian premier stated. "Our objective is to listen to the young, to encourage them to make their requests our priority. I don't know how to sell dreams, I chose this team carefully and now it is even more necessary to make a responsible political statement", Mechichi told lawmakers. Widespread political and especially social consensus will be necessary for him to reduce the budget deficit and succeed in promoting the reforms needed by the country, which were also urged by the International Monetary Fund in its latest report on Tunisia. (ANSAmed) PALO ALTO, Calif., TEL AVIV, Israel and LEVERKUSEN, Germany, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ukko, a biotech company with the mission to eliminate food allergies and sensitivities, today announced $40 million in new Series B funding. Ukko harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) and protein engineering to develop healthier food and therapies for food allergies. The new funding will allow Ukko to enter clinical trials with its investigational therapeutic for peanut allergy. It will also accelerate development of Ukko's gluten that is designed for people with celiac and other gluten sensitivities. The round was led by Leaps by Bayer the impact investment arm of Bayer and was joined by Continental Grain Company, PeakBridge Ventures, Skyviews Life Science and Fall Line Capital, as well as existing investors Khosla Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, and TIME Ventures, the investment fund of Marc Benioff. Novel approach with AI-powered platform Ukko's novel approach uses a proprietary AI-powered platform that precisely engineers food proteins to eliminate their allergenicity, while keeping their good biochemical and nutritional characteristics. The platform uses patient samples, computational biology, immunology, and protein engineering to make proteins that do not trigger the immune system. "We are at a unique crossroads in the history of science," said Prof. Yanay Ofran, Chairman and Co-founder of Ukko. "Big data allows us to understand the underpinnings of food sensitivities. Computational tools allow us to precisely design the proteins that make up our bodies and our food. New genome editing technologies allow us to rewrite DNA to produce these new proteins in living cells. Ukko sits at the intersection of these breakthrough technologies, allowing us to redefine healthy food at the molecular level, based on real data." Ukko has already built one of the largest clinically-validated molecular maps of food allergies, which unlocks critical data and allows the company a rich foundation for further innovation. Ukko has also generated promising data, based on patient samples, that suggests the company's investigational peanut and gluten proteins do not trigger allergic reactions responses in the immune system of patients. "We are at the forefront of a revolution. Pharma and the food industry will redefine how they think about their products and missions," said Anat Binur, CEO and Co-Founder of Ukko. "Hundreds of millions of people around the world suffer from food allergies and experts see it as a global epidemic. Ending food allergy is critical and is only the beginning. Ukko's tech has the potential to leverage science and human data to redesign our food and medicine." Improved gluten proteins and therapy for peanut allergy Ukko has a holistic food-to-therapy approach to solving food allergies and sensitivities. On the food side, Ukko is working on improved gluten proteins that are especially designed for people with celiac and other gluten sensitivities, which allows bakers, food companies, and home cooks to make delicious bread, pizza, pasta, and baked goods that everyone can eat. On the therapeutic side, Ukko is using its protein design platform to develop a new and promising investigational therapy for peanut allergy. Ukko's future pipeline includes plans to address additional major food allergens. "Ukko's investigative approaches to solving allergies and food sensitivities both from the food side and the patient therapeutics side have the possibility of delivering enormous benefits for humanity," said Juergen Eckhardt, MD, Head of Leaps by Bayer, which was built to drive fundamental breakthroughs in the fields of health and agriculture through new technologies. "One of the big challenges we're addressing through our Leaps investments is attempting to reverse autoimmune diseases, which have enormous impacts on the world's food systems and our health systems in every community around the globe. We are proud to lead this investment in Ukko and help solve the biggest allergies and food sensitivities. It is a great fit to our global leadership role in both health and nutrition." "I have been a witness to my patients' growing urgency to discover a cure for food allergies. While there are tremendous breakthroughs coming from the research and biotech worlds, safety remains a significant hurdle. Ukko's efforts to solve these challenges for allergies and sensitivities is one of the most promising and exciting approaches I have seen" said Prof. Lynda Schneider, Director of the Allergy Program at Boston Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Number of people suffering food allergies to climb in the coming years Hundreds of millions of people around the world suffer from food allergies and experts predict the numbers will continue to climb in the coming years. In the U.S. alone, one in 13 children has food allergies (about two in every classroom) and every three minutes a food allergy reaction sends someone to the emergency room. The incidence of celiac disease has been doubling every 15 years and even at that rate of growth over 80% of patients remain undiagnosed, leaving these people with higher risk for developing other serious conditions like anemia or even cancer. Economically, food allergies and sensitivities cost more than $25 billion[1] every year in the U.S. alone and place enormous strain on families, communities, the healthcare system, and the ag and food industries. Ukko has formed an Advisory Board that includes some of the world's top clinical experts in food allergy and sensitivities, and experts in food and agriculture innovation. The Advisory Board supports the company on the policy, business strategy, science, and clinical aspects of Ukko's work. Some of Ukko's advisors include Bernhard Van Lengerich, Former Chief Science Officer & Vice President for Technology Strategy at General Mills; Ann M. Veneman, Former US Secretary of Agriculture; Dr. Wesley A. Burks, Dean and CEO of the Univ. of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine and UNC Health; Dr. Edwin Kim, Associate Professor, Allergy & Immunology Program Director, UNC Food Allergy Initiative; Dr. Kari Nadeau, Director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University; Prof. Lynda Schneider, Director, Allergy Program Boston Children's Hospital Professor of Pediatrics Harvard Medical School; and Prof. Raanan Shamir, Chairman, Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel. [1] https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/psychosocial-impact-food-allergies About Ukko: Ukko is a biotech company with the mission to eliminate food allergies and sensitivities. Ukko uses a proprietary AI-driven protein engineering platform that allows the company to develop healthier foods and new types of therapeutics. Hundreds of millions of people suffer from food allergies a problem experts call an epidemic. Ukko is using its engineering platform to develop an investigational therapeutic for peanut allergies and an improved gluten for people with gluten sensitivities including celiac that will enable making healthy and wonderful foods. The company is co-founded by CEO Anat Binur, holds a PhD from MIT and an MPH from Columbia, alongside the company's Chairman, Yanay Ofran, who holds a PhD from Columbia University and is considered a leading expert in computational biology and who is also a professor at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv. Ukko is backed by some of the world's top investors in food, pharma, ag, and technology. The company's Advisory Board includes renowned allergy researchers and physicians, as well as executives and policymakers from the food and agriculture industries. Ukko is committed to working closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and following all applicable regulations prior to marketing any of its food or therapeutic products. For more information, go to www.ukko.us . About Bayer and Leaps by Bayer: Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to benefit people by supporting efforts to overcome the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development, and the Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2019, the Group employed around 104,000 people and had sales of 43.5 billion euros. Capital expenditures amounted to 2.9 billion euros, R&D expenses to 5.3 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com . Leaps by Bayer, a unit of Bayer AG, leads impact investments into solutions to some of today's biggest challenges in health and agriculture. The investment portfolio includes more than 30 companies. They are all working on potentially breakthrough technologies to overcome some specific challenges such as, e.g. regenerating lost tissue function, reducing the environmental impact of agriculture, preventing or curing cancer, and others. For more information, go to leaps.bayer.com Contact for media inquiries (Bayer): Carly Scaduto, phone +1 314 439 6978 Email: [email protected] Alexander Hennig, phone +49 175 30 89 736 Email: [email protected] Contact for media inquiries (Ukko): Mollie Starr, phone +1 415 602 7043 Email: [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. SOURCE Ukko Related Links ukko.us An 18-wheeler carrying a load of honey bees flipped over in downtown San Antonio, unleashing a horde of stinging insects. The incident occurred on Sunday morning, and proved to be bring a lot more sting when compared to other incidents first responders are used to. Local 21 CBS News reports that the truckwhich was owned by a bee removal businessturned over as it attempted to navigate a curve on 1-!0 West. The trucks speed, the wind, and the drivers unfamiliarity with the road caused the flip to occur. Fortunately, no injuries were later reported. KSAT 12 News reports that the truck had been carrying roughly 400 or more beehives. Each hive was estimated to hold roughly 20,000 to 25,000 bees in total. Upon responding to the scene, firefighters began to use a combination of soap and water to clean up the mess, avoiding the use of chemicals. The bees that were still in the truck were killed by foam sprayed by the firefighters for safety measures. However, a number of bees did manage to escape. Rick Fink, President of the Alamo Area Beekeepers Association, bemoans the situation to be unfortunate but does not blame the firefighters for the outcome. It saddens me definitely from the standpoint of the loss of bees, said Fink to KSAT 12 News. You know, Im glad no people were hurt, but it definitely saddens me from that standpoint. Further information on the whereabouts of the escaped bees, as well as any efforts to potentially contain them, has yet to be announced. A brand-new castle, described as being "inspired by the grandeur of European royalty," is headed for the auction block. The mansion on Moss Court in Granite Bay, CA, is scheduled for an online auction on March 15. For an idea of where the bidding might hover, the current list price on the place is $28 million. Located in an upscale suburb of Sacramento, Swan Lake Castle has six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and seven half-bathrooms on 15,400 square feet of living space. The nearly 5-acre property just north of Folsom Lake is filled with eye-catching details. Its like a Disney park, like a theme park, explains the listing agent, Vadim Eidemiller. It has three ponds, all kinds of fish, swanseverything. It has waterfalls with lights and music similar to Las Vegas. Theres also an intricate gazebo supported by eight classical-style statues, reached by a small footbridge. Exterior of Swan Lake Castle in Granite Bay, CA Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Fountains Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Gazebo Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Eidemiller says the castle took several years to build. It was built to commercial standards, but located in an area zoned residential. The current owners arent releasing a lot of information about the property. Many of the home's details aren't visible in the listing photos, and the owners would prefer to maintain the home's mystique. ___ Watch: Sacramento's Secret: Why This California Market Is No. 1 for 2021 ___ The sellers want to keep some features not exposed to the general public. They want to pre-screen people, because most likely, whoever is buying the property might be caring about their privacy, Eidemiller explains. Ceiling Vadim Eidemiller Windows Vadim Eidemiller Staircase Vadim Eidemiller Bathroom Vadim Eidemiller Bathtub Vadim Eidemiller Security door Vadim Eidemiller As a result, most folks can't see anything other than a few windows, ceilings, floors, a staircase, some bathroom fixtures, and a very secure door. Eidemiller claims that the castle is beautiful inside, built with true craftsmanship and wired with smart home features. Its difficult to describe, because everything so expensive and so high-end, he says. Its literally a castle. They took the design from some European castles. Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Construction on the castle began in 2012, putting to work a fleet of experts. [The owner] began his search for designers and craftsmen formerly schooled and trained in European architectures of the 17th and 18th centuries. His goal was to bring a piece of European royal luxury to Northern California, Eidemiller explains. [They] set about locating the craftsmen and artisans who could turn these plans into reality and who were up to the task of constructing the amenities, like the grand staircases, Gothic arches, domes, vaults, courtyards, and grand fireplaces, all built on a royal scale. The listing describes the master bedroom as having a balcony, walk-in closet, and wet bar. A basement features a theater, wine storage, and a workshop. There is also a garage with room for seven cars and open parking spaces for dozens more. Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Most of the construction was completed in the summer of 2020, and construction on the pool is finishing up now. Its not clear whether the interior is finished, but Eidemiller says the owners had a final permit signed off in 2019. Putting the castle on the auction block is a way to goose buyers into action, so that the owners can move on to other projects. Eidemiller tells us that the castle and the land are exceptional: "It truly is a home fit for European royalty. [The owner] built a home his royal forbears would be proud to live in. To see the finished creation is to fall in love with it." Interior Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Exterior Vadim Eidemiller The post Bidding Set To Take Flight on $28M Swan Lake Castle Near Sacramento appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. An employee at Kadima Rehabilitation and Nursing at Luzerne in Drums is both heartbroken and horrified. Horrified, they said, because 30 of its 31 residents recently tested positive for COVID-19. Heartbroken, they said, because of the filthy and deplorable conditions that residents, whove become like family to them, have to endure. I cannot stay silent anymore. The horror we have endured during this pandemic is unexplainable, said the staffer, who spoke to the Standard-Speaker on the condition of anonymity. The employee, fighting tears, described the COVID outbreak, along with the facilitys dirty floors, lack of cleaning supplies and soiled linens. But perhaps most eye-opening was a plastic tarp tacked to a doorway. The see-through plastic, with a taped red-line through its center, was meant to separate COVID-positive guests from others. The plastic tarp was our original COVID wall, they explained, saying it put residents and staff at risk. Obviously, it did because it spread. The employee said the facility is understaffed, and even more so now that six employees also recently tested positive for COVID-19. Just last week, the Pennsylvania National Guard sent 14 medical and general purpose personnel to help replace Kadima staffers rendered unavailable due to COVID-19 quarantines or other reasons. The staffer also noted that officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Health visited last week, likely because of complaints logged by staff members. +2 PA National Guard at Drums nursing home for COVID situation Members of the Pennsylvania National Guard were assigned to the Kadima at Luzerne nursing ho I need to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Our residents deserve better, the employee said. On Tuesday, the Standard-Speaker contacted Kadima to speak to an administrator about conditions and COVID cases. The call was forwarded to a woman who declined comment before she disconnected the call. A prior phone message left with an administrator at Kadima, made last week, went unreturned. The facility had its first COVID case about two weeks ago, according to the employee. At that time, they alleged that personal protective equipment was not readily available. They said another staff member took it into their own hands to provide for staff. The employee noted that as COVID cases began to spread, residents were moved from their rooms and exposed to the virus. They paid for an agency to spray a disinfectant in the rooms, but the conditions were unsanitary nonetheless, the staff member said. Linens are in short supply, shower rooms are moldy and the kitchen is a nightmare, they said. Nurses are trying to fit cleaning into their own schedules, the employee said, noting some have broken down in tears because of what theyve seen and because theyre stretched so thin. There was one weekend I witnessed a nurse on her hands and knees cleaning our dirt- and dust-filled med room, they said. The employee photographed towels they used while attempting to clean a residents floor. They didnt have a mop or detergent, so they used body soap and a towel. It was futile, they said. The staff tries our best to clean up but we are understaffed, tired and we feel helpless, the employee said. Employees have also taken home residents clothing to launder. And, the staffer said, theyve brought food for them to eat. The residents are not getting the care they require, the items they need, and their necessities met, the employee said. They noted that they love the residents and cant bare to see them living as they do. Its affecting everybody, especially the residents. They dont deserve to live like this. We have people who are veterans. We have people who have spent their whole lives working jobs, and they are being subject to inhumane conditions, they said. Our residents deserve better. Another employee described many of the same observations. The Standard-Speaker contacted the Department of Health to see whether Kadima had been reporting its COVID cases since none appeared in the departments COVID-19 Long-Term Care Facilities Data for Pennsylvania. Deputy Press Secretary Maggi Brown said that the department reports and shares data submitted to it by nursing homes, which are required to provide the information. Although we have held meetings and webinars to discuss the importance of data reporting, and have worked with facilities in this regard, some facilities may not be properly reporting, she said. While Barton didnt name Kadima or any other facility, she said the department continues to work with these facilities to ensure proper reporting is done so it can provide the most up-to-date and accurate numbers to the public. I cannot comment on specific cases or clusters of cases at facilities further than the data reported available on our website, but I can share that the Department of Health considers one case an outbreak and works swiftly to provide resources and supports to assist the staff and residents to minimize spread and prevent further outbreak, she said. These efforts include the National Guard Pennsylvanias Regional Response Health Collaborative (RRHC) Program, PA Patient Safety Authority and others. Barton also said the department doesnt confirm whether it visits facilities. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which also requires nursing homes to report data, have no information on Kadima. CMS fined the Drums facility $650 in December for failing to report the data. Wonder Bread marks 100th anniversary with commitment to students and science education. Tweet this "We are honored to be part of such an ambitious and rewarding project," said John Steed, senior vice president of legacy brands at Flowers Foods. "For the past 100 years, Wonder Bread has had a deep connection with classrooms and learning, so we are proud to be working with AdoptAClassroom.org to support education and are fortunate to have Emily accompany us along the way." As part of the initiative, Wonder Bread will donate $100,000 to AdoptAClassroom.org to support middle and high school teachers with supplies and equipment for science education. Also, Calandrelli will host an online series of publicly available science experiments for students. "Working with Wonder Bread to bring more funding to science programs is the kind of partnership that we get very excited about," said Ann Pifer, executive director of AdoptAClassroom.org. "Supporting STEM education is critical and is an important part of our mission to advance equity in education, to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn and succeed in school. We look forward to seeing how Wonder Bread's donations will empower students with real life skills." "Getting kids excited about science and interested in how it affects our lives every day is the best part of what I do," said Calandrelli. "Joining Wonder Bread to spread that message of wonder not just through my show but directly into classrooms is a fantastic opportunity. I can't wait to share my love of science with them." About Wonder Bread Founded in 1921 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wonder Bread is credited with the popularization of sliced bread in the U.S. and captures the "wonder" that founder Elmer Cline experienced when first watching a hot air balloon race. A century later, Wonder Bread remains an iconic brand in lunchrooms, at barbecues, at picnics and in lunch boxes across the country. About Flowers Foods Headquartered in Thomasville, Georgia, Flowers Foods, Inc. (NYSE: FLO) is one of the largest producers of packaged bakery foods in the United States, with 2019 sales of $4.1 billion. Flowers Foods operates bakeries across the country that produce a wide range of bakery products. Among the company's top brands are Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder and Tastykake. Learn more at flowersfoods.com . About AdoptAClassroom.org We are a national, award-winning nonprofit that provides the most flexible and accountable funding for PreK-12 teachers and schools throughout the U.S. Our proprietary, easy-to-use education fundraising platform helps teachers, principals, and administrators give every child the tools they deserve to succeed in school. Since 1998, we have raised $50 million and supported 5.5 million students. As a 501(c)(3) organization, we hold a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and a platinum rating of transparency from GuideStar. For more information, or to make a donation, please visit www.adoptaclassroom.org . SOURCE Flowers Foods, Inc. Related Links https://flowersfoods.com In another bizarre episode of this happens only in India, a couple allegedly murdered their two daughters. Recently, V Padmaja, principal of Masterminds IIT Talent School in Madanapalli town of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, was brought in for a Coronavirus test to the Taluk hospital after she allegedly murdered her two daughters. After she refused to get tested for Coronavirus, she said, Corona did not come from China it came from Shiva. I am Shiva and corona will be gone by March. BCCL She said this to the medical staff who attempted to get a nasal swab for an RT-PCR test. Padmaja and her husband Dr. V Purushotham Naidu, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Vice-Principal at the Government Degree College in Madanapalli, have now been arrested for allegedly bludgeoning their two daughters. They killed their two daughters Alekhya (25 years old) and Sai Divya (22 years old) to death with dumbbells at their home. On Tuesday evening, the couple was presented in front of a civil judge and the couple walked in calmly and will now be kept in Judicial custody for 14 days. The police tried to piece the story together from the statements given by the couple and also from people who know them. They also collected evidence from the crime scene that led to the murders of their two daughters. BCCL DSP of Madanapalli taluk, Ravi Manohar Achari, said, It seems like the whole family was involved in some extreme religious belief. The deaths are a result of this. The policeman who was involved in the custody of the couple after their arrest said that they were in it together. The couple had moved into the plush, three-storey house in August last year and surrounded their house with paraphernalia such as lemons and aloe vera linked to religious ceremonies. A police official said, The parents had no injuries on them but seemed to be in a trance, saying the girls will return. However, people who knew them said that its hard to believe that the couple were involved in occult practices or have murdered their daughters. Unsplash A worker at the Masterminds school said, I have known the principal of the Masterminds school for over 25 years. I cannot believe she could have done this. A police official said, It seems one of the girls told the parents that they can only get rid of evil by killing them (the daughters), but that they would not die. We have to verify if anyone in the family received treatment for mental illness. What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments section below! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ALEPPO, Syria Tensions are escalating between Syrian regime forces and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Hasakah province in northeast Syria. Clashes broke out in the city of Qamishli on Jan. 23 between the regime-affiliated National Defense Forces and the SDF-affiliated internal security forces known as Asayish. The National Defense Forces in Qamishli blamed the SDF for the clashes in a Facebook post, saying, Some people were shooting in the air to celebrate a wedding that was taking place near the positions of the Syrian army. Following that, the Asayish shot at the Syrian army checkpoints in the area, which prompted an immediate response [from the army]. Asayish accused members of the National Defense Forces of attacking their inspection checkpoints and firing live bullets at them, to which the Asayish responded. In a media statement, Asayish said, In coordination with the relations office affiliated with our forces, the Russian forces worked to restore calm in the city. The Russians also pledged that the National Defense [Forces] militia will not repeat such actions. Still, the clashes resumed during the night of Jan. 23, leading to a number of injuries among the ranks of the National Defense Forces. Tensions between the regime and SDF began to appear in early January. On Jan. 2, a man who the SDF said belonged to the National Defense Forces threw a bomb at an SDF security patrol in central Hasakah. The incident killed one person and injured 20 others, including members of the security patrol, according to the local North Press Agency. Meanwhile, the SDF has besieged al-Tayy and Halko neighborhoods in Qamishli in the countryside of Hasakah. The siege extended to the regimes positions in Tal Tamr in the countryside of Hasakah and the neighborhoods in central Hasakah city, including the Security Quarter where the official regime security departments are located. Russia, for its part, is working to deescalate the situation by mediating between the two parties. These efforts coincide with Russias military reinforcements in Hasakah province. The Russian Rusvesna website reported on Jan. 22 that aircraft belonging to the Russian air force are transporting Russian forces to the Qamishli military airport in Syria. According to the Russian TASS agency, members of the Russian military police and more than 300 Russian military forces were aboard these aircraft. The SDF has reportedly issued a set of demands in exchange for lifting the siege imposed on the regimes positions in Hasakah province. The regime considered these demands an attempt by the SDF to achieve gains in the area and in other provinces and expressed its forces readiness for any confrontation or escalation against the SDF. Questions arise as to what the SDFs demands are and whether they constitute a pressure card used by the SDF to weaken the regimes influence in Hasakah province, or whether they are a prelude to the regimes expulsion from the area. Meanwhile, questions are also on the table about the Russian mediating role in this dispute. Soheb al-Yurubi, a journalist at al-Khabour website, which follows up on news in Hasakah province and northeast Syria, told Al-Monitor, The SDF has a set of demands not only for the Syrian regime but also for Russia. The SDF is mainly demanding that Russia take a clear position on the field developments in the town of Ain Issa in northern Raqqa, i.e., to provide guarantees that it (Russia) will prevent any Turkish offensive in the area (Ain Issa). The SDF is also demanding that the regime and Russia accept their conditions regarding the joint management and military deployment in Ain Issa. Yurubi added, The SDF are also demanding that the regime release around 500 Kurdish prisoners who have been detained since 2004, and facilitates the SDF movement on the M4 highway and communication between al-Shahba area in the northern Aleppo countryside and Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city. It seems most of the SDF demands are rightful, most notably the freedom of movement and mobility between areas under their control. The regimes Fourth Division has besieged al-Shahba area where camps for displaced Kurds from Afrin are located and has prevented the entry of fuel and movement between Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods and al-Shahba area. Yurubi noted, The Russians are preparing to act as separation forces between the two sides. Russian forces have already taken a position in central Hasakah and Qamishli where they raised their flag on several buildings amid heavy deployment of Russian armored tanks and military police. The SDF, for its part, has several pressure cards and has begun using them. It already expelled government employees from the civil affairs departments and courts in the town of Tal Tamr, prevented the medical staff from entering the Qamishli public hospital, and took control of some of the regimes headquarters. But the regime continues to bet on the Russian presence to stop the escalation and prevent any US interference in favor of the SDF. For Russia, this is an opportunity to bring in additional forces to the area. Ahmed Hassan Abdel Qader, a political activist, told Al-Monitor, The SDF is trying to put an end to the regime and Russian blackmail in Ain Issa, and seeks to shrink the influence of the Syrian regime and its affiliated militias in the areas under [SDF] control in northeast Syria. I dont believe the SDF moves aim to expel the regime from Hasakah. Bilal Sattouf, a researcher in political science in northern Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, The SDF seeks to deliver to the Syrian regime and Russia a message whereby they continue to hold pressure cards. The SDF has always considered themselves revolutionary forces fighting against an authoritarian regime. Yet they had taken strategic steps to get closer to the regime occasionally when being subjected to Turkish political and military pressures. Sattouf said the success of the Russian mediation depends on the response to the SDF demands. Also, the upcoming positions the new US [administration will adopt] will determine which party will have the upper hand in any future settlement. For his part, Capt. Abdulsalam Abdulrazzaq, a researcher in military issues, told Al-Monitor, Russia has an interest in the long-standing tension between the SDF and the regime in Hasakah in order to complete its deployment. The tensions would also allow Russia to enter the heart of the US areas of influence in northeast Syria. The new Russian presence in the area would pave the way for competition with the US [over influence], the effects of which will be seen later on. Hassan Diab holds a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa Friday, February 7, 2020. nbsp;A lawyer for Diab says a French appeal court's order that the Ottawa sociology professor stand trial for a decades-old synagogue bombing is the latest misstep in a long odyssey of injustice. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Dean Browning is known in the Lehigh Valley for his political past, both as a Lehigh County commissioner and his recent congressional races. But Browning, who lives in South Whitehall Township, is known on Twitter for his tweets as @DeanBrowningPA. He garnered national attention last fall following a disastrous set of tweets that began when Browning tweeted, Im a black gay guy. Browning later explained he was sharing a message sent to him earlier in the week by a follower named Dan Purdy. Purdy deleted his account, but media reports said he strongly resembled someone named Byl Holte, Patti LaBelles nephew and adopted son. Since then, Browning has amassed more than 43,000 Twitter followers. This past weekend, Browning dove into a Twitter spat between actor/comedian Seth Rogen and Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX. Rogen has repeatedly commented on Cruzs tweets and did so again last week, when Cruz claimed President Joe Bidens move to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord showed Biden was more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. Rogens responses included calling Cruz a fascist who encouraged a white supremacist insurrection. Cruz claimed the Democratic Party was for rich, angry Hollywood celebrities, not blue-collar union members and workers in energy or manufacturing. Last week, when Cruz tweeted about the first film he saw in a theater, Rogen replied: Everyone who made that film would hate you. Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 22, 2021 On Sunday, Browning logged on and decided to weigh in. If @SethRogen lives in Canada, why is he so obsessed about our President and our Senators? How could you sit in another country all day obsessing about a different countrys politics? Go worry about Trudeau and company. Dean Browning (@DeanBrowningPA) January 24, 2021 Rogen replied, I live in America you stupid (expletive). Browning didnt respond to lehighvalleylive.coms efforts to talk to him on Tuesday. Its worth noting that Browning in 2016 declared he was voting for Cruz, not Donald Trump, on a first presidential nominating ballot at the Republican National Convention. He campaigned in 2018 and 2020 to represent the Lehigh Valley in Congress as a staunch supporter of Trump. In his last campaign, he lost the Republican primary last year to Lisa Scheller, for the chance to face Democrat incumbent U.S. Rep. Susan Wild. Trump endorsed Scheller, who was defeated by Wild in November. Whats your job? It says former in your bio. Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 24, 2021 Browning is retired from a career as an executive with Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of the Lehigh Valley, Harvel Plastics and New World Aviation. He is now chairman of the Common Sense Solutions PAC, which has its headquarters in his Lehigh Valley home. The PAC, according to its website, works tirelessly to expose hidden hypocrisies and uncover the truth, as well as holding elected officials responsible for their actions, whether they are incumbents or running for office. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Hyderabad, Jan 27 : Telangana Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan on Tuesday has felicitated Santoshi, widow of Colonel Santosh Babu, a day after he was posthumously conferred with Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest gallantry award. Santosh Babu laid down his life fighting against the Chinese incursions last year at Galwan valley. The Governor felicitated Santoshi and her children at Raj Bhavan. Soundararajan also felicitated Shikha Goel, Additional Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad and N. Shiva Shankar Reddy, Inspector General of Police (Nizamabad Range) on being selected for the prestigious President's Police Medals. Chadalavada Hemesh was also felicitated by the Governor. The 13-year-old has been awarded Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar for developing a wearable device for those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. The Governor also honoured Lt. General TSA Narayanan, Commandant of Military College of EME, Secunderabad for getting the award of Ati Vishishta Seva Medal. The Governor appreciated their dedicated services and thus bringing laurels to the state and the country. Soundararajan also hosted a virtual At Home for the inmates of the Bala Sadans across the state on the occasion of Republic Day. As the regular At Home could not be conducted as part of the Covid-19 preventive measures, the governor instead interacted with the inmates of Bala Sadans in a virtual mode and motivated them to work diligently to realise their dreams. "This is the happiest and memorable Republic Day for me, as I interacted with the inmates of Bala Sadans. They are having great confidence, communication skills and the dreams to realise and goals to achieve to serve the underprivileged in future," the Governor added. Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan assured all the children that they would be invited to the Raj Bhavan when conditions become normal and would give them a treat. The governor was moved by the suffering that some children had to go through at the hands of their relatives before their joining the Bala Sadans. A couple of children exhibited their singing talents and each of them, whoever got the chance to interact at the virtual meet, narrated their stories and dreams in a moving way. Day after the farmers' protest in the national capital took a violent turn, the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan on Wednesday announced it is withdrawing its support from the ongoing farmers' protest with immediate effect, saying "this format of agitation is not acceptable". "We are discontinuing our agitation but our fight for farmers' rights will continue," news agency ANI quoted Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan leader VM Singh as saying at the Ghazipur border. The Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan leader added that the protest will continue "but not like this". "This format is not acceptable," VM Singh added. This is the decision of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan & not of AIKSCC (All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee). This is the decision of VM Singh, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan & all office bearers: VM Singh, National Convener of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan pic.twitter.com/dTtW45ZMXL ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 Speaking about the violence in Delhi that broke out during the tractor parade, VM Singh said he and his organisation have nothing to do with it. VM Singh said that he has nothing to do with the protest led by Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait, who has been named in an FIR and charged with attempt to murder for the 26 January violence. "I have nothing to do with the protest which is being led by them and over here being represented by Rakesh Tikait on their behalf," VM Singh told ANI. He said, "We can't carry forward a protest with someone whose direction is something else. So, I wish them the best but VM Singh and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan are withdrawing from this protest right away." After the Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) has also announced that it will be withdrawing its support from the farmers' protest. "I am deeply pained by whatever happened in Delhi yesterday and ending our 58-day protest," Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) has said. Both the farmers' unions have condemned the violence that broke out during the tractor march in Delhi on Republic Day and said they can't continue with the protest in this manner. More than 300 Delhi cops were injured during the farmers' protest on Tuesday. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Mayor Sylvester Turner and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush have resolved their battle for control of Houstons Hurricane Harvey home repair program, capping a months-long feud that went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. Under a new plan that still must be approved by Houston city council and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, state officials would oversee the citys largest recovery program, a more-than-$400 million effort to repair or replace single-family homes damaged in the storm. Turners housing department would retain $835 million to administer the remaining programs, including one devoted to repairing and constructing affordable multifamily housing projects. City council will consider the new plan at its Feb. 3 meeting, Houston Housing Department Director Tom McCasland told the council housing committee Tuesday. The Texas General Land Office, which oversees Texas Harvey recovery, also must submit the agreement to federal housing officials, who will have 45 days to approve it. This is a good step forward, McCasland said. It brings us back into the position we should be in with the state as our partner, as opposed to being in an adversarial position with them. The agreement comes two years after Houston launched its Harvey recovery effort, which initially was based on a plan approved by city council in June 2018. City officials since have come under frequent criticism for the pace of the single-family repair program, and by last March had begun repairs on just 59 homes and reimbursed 44 homeowners for out-of-pocket expenses. The following month, Bush informed Turner he would ask federal officials for control over the citys $1.28 billion in recovery grant funds, arguing his agency could pick up the pace. In a letter to the mayor, Bush also offered to let the city negotiate the possible retention of most of its programs as long as it first relinquished control of the funds. GLO officials later made clear they intended only to take control of the single-family program, similar to an agreement they worked out with Harris County. By the end of December, the city had finished reconstructing or rehabilitating 164 single-family homes and sent out 119 reimbursement checks. On Friday, the GLO announced the end of its own reimbursement program for Harvey-damaged homes across 48 counties outside Harris County. Agency officials said the GLO had sent $86 million in reimbursements to 2,961 Texans, and earlier in the week had rebuilt its 2,500th home a disparity city officials say is partly due to the GLO slow-walking city paperwork, a charge agency officials deny. Turner fought the takeover in court, but the Texas Supreme Court last August effectively gave the GLO the green light to commandeer the program. HUD approved the takeover in October, at which point Bush gave the city a month to wrap up its recovery programs. Days before the deadline, city and state officials agreed to delay the takeover until they finalized the new deal. In the end, state officials are set to take over about $440 million from the city, most of which will be spent on repairing or reconstructing damaged single-family homes. The General Land Office also is taking control of a portion of the citys program dedicated to building new homes for low-income Harvey victims in less flood-prone areas. The city, meanwhile, will retain control of its program to buy out and demolish repeatedly flooded homes, along with one for repairing or building new rental properties of up to seven units. The city also will receive an additional $10 million to run its homebuyer assistance program, which provides down payments and other financial aid for Harvey victims to buy new homes. And the city will keep $72 million from its single-family program to wrap up existing projects. Ben Hirsch, an organizer and policy advocate for West Street Recovery, a disaster recovery organization, said city and state officials should have resolved their differences long ago, though he said it was hard to assign blame to any one person or government entity. Ultimately, Harvey was a huge disaster, and the response hasnt been adequate for low-income, especially Black and brown, homeowners, Hirsch said. Theres no way to soberly look at the situation and say, The system did a good job. Still, Hirsch said he views it as a positive outcome that the city will retain its multifamily rental program, which GLO officials acknowledge has been successfully run. They get to keep the thing that they believe will be the most impactful in reducing the housing crunch in the city in the long run, Hirsch said. The new agreement also will include benchmarks for each recovery program that the city must periodically meet to retain control of the funds, GLO spokeswoman Brittany Eck said, noting that the prior deal also included targets but did not explicitly require the city to meet them to keep the grant money. The agency did not have a list of the new benchmarks available Tuesday. McCasland told council members the city remains on track to finish its programs by August 2024, even though the federally set deadline has been pushed back to August 2025. In the meantime, GLO officials are freeing up $648 million of the citys new Harvey budget to be spent until federal officials approve the plan, allowing city housing officials to continue running their existing programs. The city is not expected to spend nearly that much money before receiving federal approval, however. McCasland said he also planned to ask federal housing officials to extend the deadline for homeowners to apply for reimbursements to cover out-of-pocket expenses on their Harvey-damaged homes. The GLO announced in December it would free up another $10 million for reimbursements, but the Dec. 31 deadline for applications since has passed. Housing officials also will ask city council to approve about $1 million in revenue from Houstons tax increment reinvestment zones to cover the cost of building an additional bedroom for 54 rebuilt Harvey-damaged homes. Houston and Harris County in 2019 asked the GLO for waivers that would exempt them from the agencys rule barring local governments from using federal Harvey recovery funds to rebuild a home with more bedrooms than the number of people living there, but the agency denied the request, fearing Texas would face the risk of an audit by HUD. jasper.scherer@chron.com Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan on Tuesday said the state government is committed to decentralisation under which it will establish Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital, Vijayawada as the legislative capital and Kurnool the judiciarys capital. He was speaking at the 72nd Republic Day celebrations at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in the presence of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. After unveiling the National Flag, the governor said the state government has a clear agenda for development of the state and is working for betterment of all sections of the people. The past examples have shown us that concentration of development at a single place would lead to unrest and regional imbalances. Hence the government is keen on decentralisation. Governor Harichandan said the government has given a stern warning to elements disturbing peace and amity, and perpetrators of such acts will be brought to book. Upholding the harmony of the social edifice is the prime responsibility of the government, no matter what it takes to ensure peaceful coexistence. Desecration of idols, vandalism, arson and all such acts of insanity have no place in our society. Those who do so will be dealt with firmly to restore peace and harmony in the state, he said, adding AP has been making rapid strides in terms of both welfare and development. The governor said the state has passed through testing times with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the government has effectively handled the situation. He said that the state is marching ahead with an emphasis on education, health care, agriculture and welfare. "The beneficiaries are selected in a transparent manner without any scope for discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, religion or political affiliation, by implementing the schemes in a saturation mode by covering all eligible persons." Governor Harichandan said the government has put in place necessary infrastructure and mechanisms for the storage, transport and administration of the Covid-19 vaccine. Despite the pandemic, Andhra Pradesh did not neglect welfare programmes or stop initiatives such as delivering rations and groceries, or purchase of agriculture produce, export of aqua products and special Kisan Rail services. He said the state launched the distribution of 31 lakh house sites for the poor on the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadasi and Christmas. He stated, "The scheme will ensure not only construction of houses but also that the habitations come up in 17,000 well-defined layouts". The governor said the state government delivered sale agreements pertaining to 2.6 lakh TIDCO houses to eligible women beneficiaries in urban areas, out of which 1.43 lakh units have been handed over for Rs 1. The cost of the Polavaram Irrigation Project has been revised to Rs 55,549 crore to stabilise the existing ayacut of 23.5 lakh acres and provide irrigation facility to 7.2 lakh acres. Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns has demanded the tertiary education union stop backing a left-wing academic who was sacked for superimposing a swastika onto the Israeli flag. Dr Tim Anderson was dismissed by the University of Sydney in 2019 after misconduct findings by the university over his use of Nazi symbolism in lecture materials and social media to highlight what he believes to be Israels inhumane occupation of the West Bank. Labor MP Josh Burns. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The lecture slide that is the subject of the controversy related to a 2014 war in which thousands of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. The economics and politics author has appealed against the universitys decision and has been legally supported by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). The union, which is facing criticism from politicians and a prominent Jewish association, insists it is backing Dr Anderson to uphold academic freedom but that does not mean it agrees with the veteran activists views. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... MOSCOW Moscow police launched a series of raids Wednesday on apartments and offices of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalnys family and associates, arresting his brother. The searched locations included Navalnys apartment, where police detained his brother, Oleg, and a rented apartment where Navalnys wife, Yulia, has been living. Video on the internet TV station Dozhd showed Yulia Navalny telling journalists from the window that police had not allowed her lawyer to enter the apartment. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The raids came four days before protests that Navalnys supporters have called for Sunday. Demonstrations calling for his release took place in more than 100 cities across the nation last Saturday, a strong show of rising anger toward the Kremlin. Nearly 4,000 people were reported arrested at those protests. Other locations raided by police Wednesday were the offices of Navalnys anti-corruption foundation and the studio that produces his videos and online broadcasts. The popular videos and broadcasts helped make Navalny into Russian President Vladimir Putins most prominent and persistent foe. There was no immediate police comment on the searches. Navalny associates said on social media that the searches were connected to alleged violations of epidemiological regulations from last weeks mass protest in Moscow. But the real reason for the searches of Navalnys teams, relatives and office is Putins crazy fear, Navalnys team said in a message. Navalnys challenge to Putin grew after he was arrested on Jan. 17 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Two days after his arrest, his organization released an extensive video report on a palatial seaside compound allegedly built for Putin. It has been viewed tens of millions of times, further stoking discontent. Navalny, the Kremlins most prominent and durable foe, fell into a coma while aboard a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20. He was transferred from a hospital in Siberia to a Berlin hospital two days later. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent. Russian authorities have refused to open a full-fledged criminal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that Navalny was poisoned. In December, Navalny released the recording of a phone call he said he made to a man he described as an alleged member of a group of officers of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, who purportedly poisoned him in August and then tried to cover it up. The FSB dismissed the recording as fake. Navalnys arrest and the harsh police actions at the protests have brought wide criticism from the West and calls for his release. Russias foreign ministry said Wednesday that a statement by the Group of Seven foreign ministers condemning his arrest constitutes gross interference in Russias domestic affairs. INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI) - National Guard servicemen and women will soon be leaving their posts at Long Term Care facilities. Since November over 1,500 soldiers have been actively supporting the COVID-19 response. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 and deaths in long-term care facilities are declining, soldiers will be gradually moved back to civilian life or other critical missions. The end of National Guard support will tie directly to the date facilities have their second vaccine clinic. Service members will leave the facility approximately seven days after the second clinic date, said Dr. Daniel Rusyniak the Chief Medical Officer of Family and Social Service. That will allow the soldiers to continue in the facility to provide support to the long term care residents while they get their vaccine dose." The process of the National Guard leaving will begin on January 31st and will continue weekly. Over 80 percent of soldiers will be transitioning out of facilities by February 22nd. By March 15th all guard members will no longer be serving at long-term care facilities. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Farmers' Protest: Deep Sidhu was not there when protests turned violent, says lawyer Soil health, post-harvest management major concern areas; Rs 1 lakh cr fund to address these issues: Tomar India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi/Davos, Jan 27: Flagging health of the soil and post-harvest management as major areas of concern for the Indian farm sector, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday said the government has set up a Rs 1 lakh crore fund under Aatmanirbhar Bharat programme to strengthen the storage infrastructure and reduce post-harvesting losses. Speaking at a panel discussion on ''Unlocking Innovation to Transform Food Systems'' during the World Economic Forum''s week-long online Davos Agenda Summit, the minister also said more than 80 crore people are being provided adequate food through the National Food Security Act, under which the government provides five kg of wheat and rice per person, per month at a highly subsidised price of Rs 2-3 per kg. He was replying to a query on what actions the government of India was taking to catalyse innovations and seek fresh solutions to transform the food systems. Tomar said nutrition is a big focus and priority area for the country and the government has launched a National Nutrition Mission also. On the other hand, wider research by the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) is taking place for producing new varieties that can reach everyone. "The concern is primarily of the soil health. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a programme in 2016 under which 12 crore farmers have been given soil-health cards. We are now emphasising on adoption of these cards to use balanced fertilisers in a more efficient manner and to increase productivity," Tomar said. Tractor rally violence: Farmers call-off protest at Chilla border, BKU (Lok Shakti) continues stir Production and productivity are being ramped up by strong research and development network and we already seeing an upward trend in agri production, he said, adding that ICAR is focussing on developing climate-resilient and nutritious varieties. Tomar further said, "Post-harvest management is also a major concern for us and to deal with that, Prime Minister Modi has given a slogan of making India self-reliant." "Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Yojana, we have set up a USD 13 billion dollar (Rs 1 lakh crore) fund for strengthening agri-infrastructure and cold storage, hence reducing post-harvest losses," he said. Speaking in the same panel, global fertiliser major Yara International''s CEO Svein Tore Holsether said as minister Tomar said, it all comes down to soil health and technology can improve soil health. "Healthy soil can not only provide better quality and increased farming, but it also leads to reduced carbon footprint and the opportunity to capture carbon from the atmosphere as well," he said. "Besides, a large agriculture sector has a direct effect on the economy as a whole. With the tech connectivity and farming, we can really benefit each farmer and society as a whole," Holsether added. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 20:00 [IST] Pennsylvania church gives away $13K in gift cards for store employees, customer bills Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A congregation in Pennsylvania recently gave out gift cards worth $50 each to all the employees of a local grocery store, while also helping to pay the bills of 200 customers. Macedonia Church of Pittsburgh, a predominantly African American congregation founded in 1903, held what it called a grocery store takeover on Saturday at a local Giant Eagle. In addition to the $50 gift cards given to the Giant Eagle employees, the church also paid upwards of $50 of each grocery store bill for patrons of the store. We wanted to recognize these frontline workers and show them that we appreciate all they do in this season, said the church in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday. We're able to be a blessing in our communities because of faithful givers like YOU! Thanks to all staff & volunteers as well as the management at Southside Giant Eagle for making this an excellent initiative. Pastor Brian James Edmonds, senior pastor of Macedonia Church, told The Christian Post that his congregation decided to do this event because our world is hurting right now. We are battling multiple pandemics, people are grieving lost loved ones, and frontline workers are putting their lives on the line. We thought this would be a powerful way to give people hope and demonstrate the love of Christ during uncertain times, said Edmonds. The total cost for the event was around $13,000, with Edmonds telling CP that it was rooted in our understanding that the church should also tithe into the communities that it serves. This is what it means to be a good neighbor. As a part of this particular outreach, we also gave $40,000 to local nonprofits who are doing transformative work, he continued. For the past couple years, we have taken an entire weekend offering and devoted it to local nonprofits. We call it Give100, since we are giving away 100% of what comes in. Ultimately, Edmonds told CP that he hoped the church taught people that they are not alone, that they are appreciated, and that the love of God just might surprise you at the grocery store. Our prayer is that someones faith is birthed, strengthened, or restored, as we are faithful to our calling to be the church, he added. As the United States continues to reel from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn, many churches are ramping up their charitable efforts to help the needy. Last year, One Church, a multisite congregation based in Ohio, held a fundraiser aimed at providing gift cards to every foster teenager in the state, or approximately 5,300 individuals. One Church Lead Pastor Greg Ford told CP in an interview last month that the idea for the gift card charity drive stemmed from a meeting with Franklin County Children Services last year. They shared with us that typically during the holidays, many donors want to provide toys and gifts for little kids but the teens are usually left out since they're typically not interested in toys at that stage, Ford said. They said if we could provide gift cards for local fast food restaurants or retail stores, that gives the teens a sense of independence. When they're out with their friends, they can have a meal and enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The WA Liberals have lost their candidate for the southern metro seat of Baldivis after the emergence of a blog post she wrote in April 2020 spouting a baseless conspiracy theory linking COVID-19 to the rollout of 5G telecommunications towers. Andrea Tokajis blog post on conservative website Caldron Pool, headlined Are Our Fears of the Coronavirus Undermining Our Freedoms?, pushed discredited theories that major pandemics were related to radio wave technologies. Former WA Liberals candidate for Baldivis Andrea Tokaji and excerpts from her blog post on conservative website Caldron Pool. Credit:WA Liberals/Caldron Pool She said the Spanish Flu of 1918 correlated with the introduction of radar equipment. This may be the evidence we have been overlooking, she said. In a similar fashion, the 1968 pandemic, referred to as the Hong Kong flu coincided with the introduction of satellites in the Van Allen Belt, omitting radio-active frequencies on levels which our bodies have adverse reactions to. Social networks face fines for involvement of minors into illegal activities - watchdog pixabay.com 17:55 27/01/2021 MOSCOW, January 27 (RAPSI) Social networks Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and YouTube video hosting service will be fined for failure to prevent distribution of calls for participation in the illegal January 23 rally targeted at minors, according to a statement of Russias communications agency Roskomnadzor. The Internet platforms did not delete in due time about 170 unlawful pleas despite the demand of the Prosecutor Generals Office, the statement reads. According to the Code on Administrative Offences, breaching of the requirements to restrict access to the banned information is punishable by fines ranging from 800,000 to 4 million rubles for legal entities. The watchdog also asked the social media platforms to refrain from disseminating information containing calls for participation in illegal events. Covid-19 had infected nine more people in Laois, reported on the day that the national death toll passes 3,000. There were 90 more deaths notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre this Tuesday, January 26. 89* of the deaths occurred this month. The median age of those who died is 83 years and the age range is 48-99 years. There has now been a total of 3,066** COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. The nine new cases for Laois is a fraction of the 25 reported yesterday, however the county is climbing further up the scale for its incidence rate compared to other counties, now at 16th place with 591.5 per 100k population. However another measurement of the disease puts Laois in better terms. The five day moving average for Laois up to January 25 is 17 cases, the fourth lowest in the state. The latest cases mean that there have been now been 2,554 in Laois. The number of new cases broke through the 2,500 mark last weekend. Laois had 501 of those cases in the last two weeks. As of midnight, Monday 25th January, the HPSC has been notified of 928 more confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 189,851 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Shockingly, there have already been more new cases this January in Ireland than in the whole of 2020, highlighted by Dr Tony Holohan, the HSE's Chief Medical Officer. Today we are reporting a further 90 deaths, bringing our cumulative total of lives lost to COVID-19 to more than 3,000 in Ireland. This highly infectious disease is having a severe impact on the most vulnerable in our society and we must continue the good work we are doing to suppress it. The decline in daily incidence of COVID-19 has begun, however the volume of disease in our communities remains very high. To date we have reported 96,000 cases in January 2021, which has already passed the total of 93,500 cases reported in 2020. Indeed, public health doctors in the Midlands reported a total of 4,000 cases in the first 8 months of 2020 and another 4,000 cases in the first four weeks of 2021. Through our enhanced public health surveillance programme, we have identified 6 additional cases linked to the Southern African variant of concern. All cases are being followed up by public health teams in line with the latest ECDC guidance published on the 21st January. The downturn in incidence has been achieved through the determination of people across the country to stay at home, to work from home and to avoid meeting and socialising with others. It is imperative that everyone continues to strictly adhere to the public health advice to protect ourselves and our loved ones from this highly-infectious disease. Of today's new cases by county, NPHET highlighted 257 in Dublin, 115 in Cork, 71 in Louth, 53 in Galway, 45 in Limerick and the remaining 387 cases are spread across all other counties***. FULL COUNTY TABLE AT THE END OF STORY. It also said 418 are men / 506 are women, 50% are under 45 years of age and the median age is 44 years old. The national 14 day incidence has fallen further to 721.1 per 100,000 population but there have been 34,336 new cases in the past two weeks. The seven-day incidence is 273.8 nationally while the five day national average for new case numbers has dropped by about 400 today to 1,591. As of 2pm today, 1,750 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 216 are in ICU. there were 65 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Read also: HOSPITAL SERVICE IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE PORTLAOISE MEDIC WARNS The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) A bomb blast in Cotabato province killed two people and wounded six others, local authorities said Wednesday. Tulunan Mayor Michael Limbungan said the explosive was in a ticket booth in front of a commercial bank in Barangay Sibsib. A bus was in the area picking up passengers when the bomb exploded past 12 p.m. He said one of the victims was killed on the spot, the other due to cardiac arrest. Authorities are pursuing the culprits, the mayor said. As per our information the perpetrators are going to Ligwasan Marsh heading to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Limbungan in an interview. He added investigators are looking into a possible extortion angle. Philippine National Police Spokesperson PBGen Ildebrandi Usana later explained it was because an extortionist group is known to have conducted operations near the area. Usana said they are also not discounting the possibility that communist rebels may have been involved in the attack since the town has been earlier infiltrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army. A special Tuesday (Jan. 26) edition of COSA TV featured driver Austin Sorrie discussing his career as a driver ahead of the 2020 OBrien Awards, for which he has received a nomination for Rising Star of the Year. The 21-year-old native of Montague, P.E.I. began driving horses from an early age and had his sights fully set on harness racing. My father had horses and right from day one Id be skipping school to go the barn; just be faking sick to go to the barn, Sorrie said. I always used to beat the bed posts off the bed all the time with the whips every time I came home. I went to the track just to collect whips, thats all I went for. Growing up in the Maritimes, Sorrie looked up to drivers like Marc Campbell, who he said can make one go unreal. He could be 100-1 and he jumps onto it and he just takes off. Sorries own potential star power glimmered early, well before the reinsman could acquire his professional license. He started competing with horses on the matinee circuit of P.E.I., where he managed to set a track record of 1:57.2 down at Pinette Raceway. We had the mare One Hot Betshe hadnt been [any] good for like two weeks, Sorrie said. So dad goes well, you can drive her in the matinee and just let her roll. And I was like Okay. She can go [1:]57 over at Charlottetown, hopefully [she can] go [1:]58. I want to go fast. Put her behind the gate and I just went as fast and as far as we could go. I came back and they were like You know how fast you went? and Im like No, probably like two minutes? She had been no good, she paced like two minutes the week before. [They said 1:]57, and I was like No way. You got the time wrong. And a bunch of people after that were like No, we had it in the phones and everything. Once becoming of age to attain his professional license, Sorrie took off. In 2018 (his first full year of driving), he won 32 races from 272. The next year, he won 80 races from 654 starts while taking the plunge away from his home province to work for trainer Patrick Shepherd and race in Ontario. After his first full year in Ontarioeven with the two-month shutdownSorrie won 151 races from 1,205 starts and pushed past the million-dollar plateau in career earnings. The transition was tough to start, it took a lot to get used to, Sorrie said of moving tack. Down home, we only race one night a week in the wintertime and then we shut down for two months. And up here you go seven days a week straight and nonstop. Theres been tons of people who have helped me out through my career. I moved in with J Harris, where Im still living now. He told me if I came to work for Patrick, hed give me a shot driving some horses each week. As long as I worked, I got the drives. Peter Brickman and Irish Thunder, the Preferred 3 Trottera nice horse to drive and be winning with himhe helped out a lot, getting that drive. Just about everybody who gives me a shot putting me down helps my career every time. In the few short years Sorrie has been a professional driver, he has already noticed how he has improved and matured at his craft, thanks in part to his experience racing on P.E.I.s matinee circuit. It teaches you a lot quick in the matinees, Sorrie said. You get people hooking up all the time. You always have to be paying attention because youre nervous, too. Its a big step to being a catch driver if you want to start. I see a big difference because when I first got my license I had everything on the front; the only spot I could win was on the front. And now it doesnt matter where I get away. You can plan the race out as it unfolds, it doesnt matter. You can be first up, second over, on the front; doesnt matter where you sit. As long as you have a horse in the right spot, you have a shot to win. Alongside the numbers, Sorrie has marked himself a competitive driver on the Ontario circuit. The young driver said that his career highlights since moving include when he won five races at The Raceway at Western Fair District on Nov. 30, and scoring his first win at Woodbine Mohawk Park in his first drive back in 2019. I shouldve won six, being a little greedy, Sorrie said of his five-pick in London. We were leaving the gate and I pushed him a little too much and he ran. I was parked the whole mile and still finished third. Im not sure how to explain that one because [it was my] first time over therefirst time getting a drive thereand I was hoping to just get a cheque, Sorrie said of his first victory at Woodbine Mohawk Park, driving his trainee Bugsy Maguire. Like top three would be wicked. Then he goes out and wins. "[The stretch] seemed real long that night because coming off the top of the turn, I flipped him out, I let him go, and I was like halfway down like Alright, wheres the finish line at. I started to look and getting worried and was like Alright, I watch a lot of races here. They always get picked off right at the wire. I dont know if Im far enough away or not. With hopefully many years ahead of him, Sorrie says he has the same ambitions as anyone who drives racehorses to someday be the best. And in his pursuit to be the best, he hopes to someday win in his home provinces classic race: the Gold Cup and Saucer. The Gold Cup and Saucer. Thats the one I want to win, Sorrie said. Just the way the show goes. The grandstands are packed, like you cant even walk through. And the lights go out and they put the spotlight on the horses as you watch them. Its something I dont think youll ever see before unless you go. Proud of the year he had by coming just nine wins shy of his 160-win goal, Sorrie said the news of his nomination for Rising Star of the Yearalongside trainer Rachel Andrewdid not hit him immediately. I got a phone call, I think it was 10:30 or something like that, Sorrie said. I was just waking up there, slept in a bit. So I was half asleep when I answered the phone and she goes Youre a finalist and I went Oh, okay. Never thought much of it. But then I got up and went and had a shower and I was like Im a finalist for the OBrien Awards again. Thats cool. Of his fellow nominee Andrew, Sorrie said She works hard. She puts a lot of time into her horses. She cares about them a lot. The 2020 Virtual OBrien Awards Gala takes place on Sunday, January 31, 2021 and will be available for viewing on standardbredcanada.ca from 7:00 8:30 p.m. (EST). The full COSA TV segment with Austin Sorrie is posted below: A woman in Argentina was shocked to discover that her mother was still alive seconds before she was about to be cremated. The 89-year-old mother, who has not been named, was admitted to a private hospital in Resistencia, a city in northeast Argentina, after complaining of chest pain on Saturday. The following day, doctors at the facility gave a death certificate to her daughter, 54, stating that the woman had died following a cardiac arrest. As funeral workers prepared to pass the elderly woman through the conveyor belt at a crematorium, her daughter managed to stop the cremation after noticing she still had vital signs. As funeral workers prepared to pass the elderly woman through the conveyor belt at a crematorium, her daughter noticed she was still alive and managed to avert the disaster (file) According to the newspaper Diario Norte, the 89-year-old woman had been in a private clinic since Saturday. When her daughter came to visit the next day, she was told by staff that her mother had died of a cardiorespiratory arrest and was given her death certificate. The local police said: '(The daughter) went to the sanatorium at 8.45am where she met with a doctor who told her about the death of her mother after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest, for which she was sent to the crematorium on Velez Sarsfield Avenue and hired the funeral and cremation service.' According to the news site Info Veloz, at the funeral, the daughter noticed that her mother still had vital signs as she was about to enter the incinerator and quickly told employees to stop the cremation. The 89-year-old woman, who has not been named, was admitted to a private hospital in Resistencia, a city in northeast Argentina, after complaining of chest pain on Saturday. The picture shows the police station where the incident was reported The woman then sent an audio to one of her relatives saying: 'I just wanted to let you know that mum is still alive. In the end, we were in the cremation room and we saw her with her vital signs. Now we're going to the clinic.' The patient was returned to the private clinic where she is currently being treated in intensive care. Her daughter has reportedly denounced the clinic to the local authorities who confirmed that they will carry out a full investigation. San Antonio, it's Girl Scout season, and a new delivery option is making it easier to snag some delicious cookies. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Girl Scout program partnered with Grubhub to have its cookies delivered to your doorstep starting Feb. 5. The nationwide delivery option, which runs until Feb. 28, doesn't require a minimum purchase of boxes, Flor Salas, a representative for Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, told MySA.com on Wednesday. However, she added Grubhub does have its own delivery fees. READ ALSO: Costco buys land on far West Side in San Antonio If you can't wait until next week to get your Thin Mint fix, there will still be Girl Scout booths scattered around San Antonio. Expect those to look a little different, Salas said. Instead of a troop of girls gathered together, it will only be one Girl Scout and an adult who lives in the same household at a local business that allowed them to be there. To find Girl Scouts selling cookies near you or order online, visit girlscoutcookies.org. On the website, you can type in your zip code and find the nearest booth and the date it will set up in your area. The yearly program serves as a way for the scouts to learn about teamwork, planning and the entrepreneurial spirit, according to their release. The local chapter, Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas, will also be participating in Flavor Fest from Feb. 12-21. The stint is a way for the organization to support local businesses by partnering with restaurants and venues to offer the public a drink or bite inspired by the iconic cookies. Magnolia Pancake Haus, Cereal Killer Sweets and Burger Boy are already signed up to create a Girl Scout cookie-flavored treat. You can find more details of collaborations by visiting girlscoutcookieflavorfest.org. Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) announced today the launch of a national effort to combat antisemitism. The two organizations, which have partnered on other projects, are calling on mayors across the country to sign a statement declaring that antisemitism is incompatible with fundamental democratic values. "Antisemitism is a growing societal menace, it comes from multiple sources, and mayors are uniquely positioned to lead their cities in taking concerted steps to fight it," said AJC CEO David Harris. "By launching this joint effort on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we recall the darkest period of genocide against the Jewish people, and the constant need for vigilance to guard against any and all forms of antisemitism." "In the last few years we have seen a significant increase in hate crimes directed at individuals and institutions based on faith, with the biggest increase among these incidents having been those directed at Jews," said Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. "We have always called on mayors to speak out against hate crimes when they occur, and the statement we are inviting mayors to sign today provides a way for them to register their opposition to the dramatic increase in antisemitism we have experienced in our country and work together to reverse it." The AJC-USCM initiative comes as incidents of antisemitism, some of them violent, continue to rise across the United States, confirmed in FBI reports and AJC public opinion surveys. American Jews, who make up less than 2% of the American population, were the victims of 60.2% of anti-religious hate crimes, according to the FBI 2019 Hate Crimes Statistics report. AJC's 2020 State of Antisemitism in America report found that 88% of Jews considered antisemitism a problem today in the U.S., 35% had personally been victims of antisemitism over the past five years and 31% had taken measures to conceal their Jewishness in public. Moreover, the AJC report revealed that nearly half of all Americans said they had either never heard the term "antisemitism" (21%) or are familiar with the word but not sure what it means (25%). In 2015, U.S. mayors from all 50 states issued a call to action to combat antisemitism in Europe. That AJC initiative also included mayors from across Europe. A two-page AJC ad in The Wall Street Journal, in June 2016, listed the 508 U.S. and European mayors and municipal leaders who pledged to combat the rise of antisemitism by signing the Mayors United Against Antisemitism initiative. In January 2019, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and AJC signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further enhance U.S.-Israel ties at the municipal level across the country. SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org CHICO, Calif. - Two people were arrested after police received information about a possible shoplift at Sportsman's Warehouse in Chico on Monday, according to Chico Police Department. When officers were arriving, they obtained information the suspect was in possession of a firearm. The officers located the identified man, Andrew Wilson, standing next to a vehicle and a woman, Catlin Nenadal, in the parking lot. The officers performed a high-risk arrest using a Chico Police K-9 and numerous officers. Wilson, 38-years-old, was on parole for possession of a controlled substance. After a vehicle search, officers found a large amount of heroin in the vehicle. Wilson was arrested and taken into custody for seven charges including possession of a firearm by a felon. Police arrested Nenadal on seven charges including possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. Riots, which took place in several cities in the Netherlands on 23 January following the government's decision to impose a 9pm curfew aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, resulted in several journalists being physically attacked amid a growing hostility towards the media. The International and European Federation of Journalists (IFJ/EFJ) join their affiliate in the Netherlands, the NVJ, in condemning the attacks and expressing alarm over the escalation of violence against media professionals since last year. The unrest started last weekend during protests against the curfew which came into force on Saturday. At least seven cases of violence against journalists and media workers have occurred in the last four days in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Enschede, Helmond, Tilburg, The Hague and Haarlem. Journalists were insulted, assaulted and pelted with stones. In addition, last Saturday, a man from Almere was arrested for posting a video threatening journalists who had reported on the recent riot on Museumplein in Amsterdam the week before. He advised public broadcaster NOS employees and journalists to 'flee the Netherlands' because something will be 'done' to them. On Saturday, a security guard who accompanied a NOS TV crew was pepper-sprayed in the face by rioters. In response to the latest incidents, Thomas Bruning, general secretary of the Netherlands Association of Journalists (NVJ), called on politicians to reiterate the important role of journalism. "This is shocking. Aggression towards journalists is increasing from weekly to daily frequency, it is not normal for journalists to go out with security guards, he added. He will consult editors to ensure journalists can continue to do their work safely. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said "Journalists' safety is not guaranteed in the Netherlands at the moment and steps must be taken to resolve this immediately in the name of press freedom and journalists ' right to work without fear or threats'. EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutierrez called on the authorities to do the utmost to protect journalists and investigate all attacks. "Just in one year, over 100 assaults against journalists were reported to the Dutch platform Persveilig. Persveilig is a monitoring platform launched by the NVJ, the Association of Editors-in-Chief, the Police and the Public Prosecution Service to help journalists who encounter violence or aggression in the course of their work". New Jersey health officials on Wednesday reported another 3,950 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 107 additional deaths as hospitalizations dropped to the lowest number since late November. The states seven-day average for new confirmed COVID-19 positive tests is 4,325, down 9% from a week ago, but up 4% from a month ago. The statewide vaccination total increased Wednesday 642,603 doses administered as the state learned from federal authorities that additional vaccine doses would be coming in the next three weeks. Make no mistake, however, that we like every other state need greatly increased vaccine production and delivery, Gov. Phil Murphy said while announcing the latest numbers during a briefing in Trenton. We just need the doses to make our program run as it has been purpose-built to run. New Jerseys 71 hospitals reported 3,190 patients as of Tuesday night, down 61 from a day earlier and the fewest number of patients since Nov. 30. Thats also down 18% from a recent peak on Dec. 22. The pandemic has killed at least 21,220 people in the state since the first COVID-19 death in March including 19,091 confirmed deaths and 2,129 considered probable fatalities from the virus. The probable fatalities were revised higher by eight deaths on Wednesday. New Jersey has reported 2,109 deaths in January, the most deadly month of the outbreak since May. New Jersey has now reported 606,492 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the nearly 11 months since its first positive test March 4. Another 70,045 cases from antibody tests have been reported, though those are considered probable and may overlap with the confirmed tests. The positivity rate for tests conducted Saturday, the most recent day available, was 12.62% based on 25,509 tests. The rate of transmission is 0.91, down from 0.92 a day earlier. Any number under 1 indicates that the outbreak is slowing. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage COUNTY-BY-COUNTY CASES (sorted by most new) Middlesex County: 57,975 confirmed cases (415 new), 1,674 confirmed deaths (217 probable) Bergen County: 58,618 confirmed cases (407 new), 2,189 confirmed deaths (268 probable) Essex County: 58,162 confirmed cases (404 new), 2,267 confirmed deaths (255 probable) Monmouth County: 43,338 confirmed cases (336 new), 1,128 confirmed deaths (108 probable) Passaic County: 46,341 confirmed cases (330 new), 1,422 confirmed deaths (163 probable) Ocean County: 43,263 confirmed cases (295 new), 1,541 confirmed deaths (90 probable) Hudson County: 55,192 confirmed cases (288 new), 1,677 confirmed deaths (171 probable) Morris County: 26,724 confirmed cases (228 new), 840 confirmed deaths (207 probable) Union County: 43,747 confirmed cases (184 new), 1,468 confirmed deaths (186 probable) Camden County: 35,657 confirmed cases (182 new), 923 confirmed deaths (69 probable) Burlington County: 27,274 confirmed cases (157 new), 631 confirmed deaths (48 probable) Gloucester County: 18,656 confirmed cases (145 new), 467 confirmed deaths (22 probable) Mercer County: 23,155 confirmed cases (127 new), 765 confirmed deaths (38 probable) Atlantic County: 16,727 confirmed cases (111 new), 438 confirmed deaths (22 probable) Cumberland County: 10,498 confirmed cases (75 new), 279 confirmed deaths (14 probable) Somerset County: 15,893 confirmed cases (75 new), 642 confirmed deaths (96 probable) Warren County: 5,304 confirmed cases (49 new), 183 confirmed deaths (15 probable) Sussex County: 6,690 confirmed cases (45 new), 198 confirmed deaths (55 probable) Hunterdon County: 5,186 confirmed cases (38 new), 93 confirmed deaths (54 probable) Cape May County: 3,132 confirmed cases (28 new), 140 confirmed deaths (20 probable) Salem County: 3,800 confirmed cases (13 new), 126 confirmed deaths (11 probable) VACCINATIONS There have been 642,613 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey so far, according to the states dashboard. Of those, 550,526 were the first of two doses people will receive. Thats out of more than 1 million doses the state has received from the federal government, according to a running tally by the federal Centers for Disease Control. All six of the states vaccine mega-sites have now opened along with about 200 other locations statewide. New Jersey has faced criticism for having a slower rollout than dozens of other states, according to data from the CDC. Murphy said on Wednesday that the state can now expect about 130,000 doses from the federal government over the next three weeks, up from 100,000, but demand is still far outpacing the supply in the state. We still have a big supply-demand imbalance. Were still going to be chopping to that for weeks to come, Murphy said during a CNN interview. VACCINATIONS BY COUNTY: ATLANTIC COUNTY - 18,999 doses administered BERGEN COUNTY - 70,004 doses administered BURLINGTON COUNTY - 31,574 doses administered CAMDEN COUNTY - 37,430 doses administered CAPE MAY COUNTY - 9,091 doses administered CUMBERLAND COUNTY - 9,775 doses administered ESSEX COUNTY - 51,631 doses administered GLOUCESTER COUNTY - 22,110 doses administered HUDSON COUNTY - 30,031 doses administered HUNTERDON COUNTY - 9,411 doses administered MERCER COUNTY - 16,035 doses administered MIDDLESEX COUNTY - 47,872 doses administered MONMOUTH COUNTY - 49,120 doses administered MORRIS COUNTY - 47,119 doses administered OCEAN COUNTY - 39,378 doses administered PASSAIC COUNTY - 30,080 doses administered SALEM COUNTY - 3,478 doses administered SOMERSET COUNTY - 25,327 doses administered SUSSEX COUNTY - 10,127 doses administered UNION COUNTY - 31,613 doses administered UNKNOWN COUNTY - 20,804 doses administered WARREN COUNTY - 6,322 doses administered OUT OF STATE - 25,282 doses administered HOSPITALIZATIONS There were 3,190 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Tuesday night. Thats 61 fewer than the previous day. That included 578 in critical or intensive care, with 406 on ventilators. There were also 416 COVID-19 patients discharged Monday, according to the states COVID-19 dashboard. Murphy has said any hospitalizations over 5,000 patients would likely trigger new rounds of restrictions. But the number of people being hospitalized has mostly ticked down slowly in recent days after hitting a more than seven-month high of 3,873 people on Dec. 22. SCHOOL CASES At least 629 students and staff in 131 school districts in New Jersey have caught COVID-19 through in-school outbreaks, according to the latest update from state health officials. Thats an increase of 10 districts from the previous weekly report. There are now confirmed in-school outbreaks in all 21 counties, though the state does not identify the individual school districts. Those numbers do not include students or staff believed to have been infected outside school or cases that cant be confirmed as in-school outbreaks. Though the numbers keep rising every week, Murphy has said the school outbreak statistics remain below what state officials were expecting when schools reopened for in-person classes. New Jersey defines school outbreaks as cases where contact tracers determined two or more students or school staff caught or transmitted COVID-19 in the classroom or during academic activities at school. AGE BREAKDOWN Broken down by age, those 30 to 49 years old make up the largest percentage of New Jersey residents who have caught the virus (31.2%), followed by those 50-64 (23.7%), 18-29 (19.3%), 65-79 (11.1%), 5-17 (7.5%), 80 and older (5.4%), and 0-4 (1.6%). On average, the virus has been more deadly for older residents, especially those with preexisting conditions. Nearly half the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents 80 and older (47%), followed by those 65-79 (33%), 50-64 (15.6%), 30-49 (4%), 18-29 (0.4%), 5-17 (0%), and 0-4 (0%). At least 7,713 of the states COVID-19 deaths have been among residents and staff members at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. That number has been rising again at a steeper rate in recent months, with deaths at the states nursing homes nearly tripling in December. There are currently active outbreaks at 435 facilities, resulting in 7,338 active cases among residents and 7,929 among staffers. GLOBAL NUMBERS As of Wednesday morning, there have been more than 100 million positive COVID-19 tests across the world, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.16 million people have died from coronavirus-related complications. The U.S. has reported the most cases, at more than 25.4 million, and the most deaths, at more than 425,200. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Analysts at Berenberg have picked their favourite stocks in various consumer-facing sectors Hopes for a swift exit of lockdown have been dashed by new research showing that infections have soared 50% between January 6 and 15 compared to the same period in December. Data from Imperial College London this week suggested that the rate of new infections in England was not dropping ten days into lockdown, with London showing figures twice as high as the rest of the nation. The government was initially looking to start easing restrictions in mid-February, however Boris Johnson said on Thursday it was too early to say when it could happen. Were seeing the contagiousness of the new variants that we saw arrive just before Christmas. Theres no doubt it does spread very fast indeed, he was quoted as saying by The Guardian. Consumer-facing companies will have to perhaps endure a longer period of depressed demand than expected, while those who emerge on the other side will be the ones with a solid cash position. According to Berenberg, food retail and manufacturers, general retail and beverages are set to be the fastest sectors to bounce back, while it will take longer for hospitality, leisure and travel. Pandemic winners to capitalise on growth The brokers favourite picks are stocks that already did well during the pandemic thanks to the shift to online shopping or an essential retailer denomination, namely ASOS ( ), Ocado ( ) and Pets at Home ( ). They are expected to continue expanding as they deliver high returns and good margins. Similarly, some food and beverage names have held up well in the past few months and could continue capitalising on that growth. For example, Greggs ( ) has remained open during lockdown and sales were only down 24% in December despite the heavy restrictions, suggesting can swiftly return to pre-pandemic trading levels when lockdown ends, while it continues to have significant expansion opportunity ahead. Fevertree ( ) has had an impressive retail performance during the pandemic, which should support its on-trade sales once the channel reopens, especially in newer markets where the strong rate of sale in the off-trade could be utilised to attract bars and restaurants to stock the brand. In the manufacturing space, Hilton Food Group ( ) is likely to continue performing well while the pandemic continues, although trading may get tougher when restrictions ease since most of its revenue comes from meatpacking for major retailers. Supermarkets Tesco ( ) and Marks and Spencer ( ) will benefit once the high COVID-19 safety costs plummet, while M&S was forced to address its weaknesses during the pandemic and Berenberg reckons it should emerge as a much stronger business. Competitor Sainsburys ( ) was upgraded to hold from sell as analysts believe its banking arm is now providing fewer risks though theyd rather see it sold to a third party. Quick bounce back for some In leisure, retail and travel some firms are forecast to outshine their rivals when restrictions are lifted to some degree. Hollywood Bowl ( ) can keep customers safe with dividers between each lane and will be attractive as a low-cost family activity, proven by the fact that it experienced demand beyond its capacity during many days last summer. ( ) shouldnt suffer too much thanks to its heavy focus on domestic travel, meaning it does not rely on international travel restrictions being loosened. Moreover, around half of its revenues are also contracted so it gets paid regardless of the extent to which passenger numbers have recovered. Elsewhere, ( ) has already showed it is able to rapidly recapture lost demand as a result of temporary store closures, having reported order intake growth of 69% in the 6 weeks to mid-July following the initial lockdown. Pressure for Next and Domino's Somewhat surprisingly, Berenberg has retail powerhouse Next ( ) among its least-preferred names due to extreme volatility in the fashion sphere, and competitors closing their shops could make the high street less attractive. In fact, analysts think that its share price rally was underpinned by the goal to make online sales 65% of the total over the next few years, however it is a flawed interpretation of the business since it overlooks the 500-strong store estate in the UK. Dominos Pizza ( ) is also on the brokers black book despite it reaped some benefits from the takeaway fever during lockdowns. However, the volume of pizzas it sold has declined and it will face more competition once restrictions are rolled back. In fact, less competition has been one of the silver linings of the crisis and some sectors especially non-food retail, pubs and restaurants, travel will benefit from it even after the pandemic. Among long-term lessons, Berenberg concluded, managers have discovered permanent cost efficiencies and renegotiated rental agreements, while the economy as a whole may be facing a business rates reform. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. These paying customers intend to perform science research in orbit, as well as educational outreach, according to The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying USD 55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket. They'll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January. "This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It's never been done before," said Axiom's chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station program manager for NASA. While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we're providing that opportunity," Suffredini told The Associated Press. The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Russia has been in the off-the-planet tourism business for years, selling rides to the International Space Station since 2001. Other space companies like Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plan to take paying customers on up-and-down flights lasting just minutes. These trips much more affordable with seats going for hundreds of thousands versus millions could kick off this year. Axiom's first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. These guys are all very involved and doing it for kind of for the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldn't be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest," Suffredini said. Each of these first paying customers intends to perform science research in orbit, he said, along with educational outreach. Lopez-Alegria, a former space station resident and spacewalking leader, called the group a collection of pioneers." Tom Cruise was mentioned last year as a potential crew member; NASA top officials confirmed he was interested in filming a movie at the space station. There was no word Tuesday on whether Cruise will catch the next Axiom flight. Suffredini declined to comment. Each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests and will get 15 weeks of training, according to Suffredini. The 70-year-old Connor will become the second-oldest person to fly in space, after John Glenn's shuttle flight in 1998 at age 77. He'll also serve under Lopez-Alegria as the capsule pilot. Axiom plans about two private missions a year to the space station. It also is working to launch its own live-in compartments to the station beginning in 2024. This section would be detached from the station once it's retired by NASA and the international partners, and become its own private outpost. (Newser) Robert Unanue, the chief executive of Goya, will no longer be allowed to speak to the news media without the approval of the company's board of directors. On Friday, the board voted to censure Unanue, CNN reports, after repeated comments supporting President Trump's unproven claims of election fraud. On Inauguration Day, per NBC News, Unanue called President Biden's electoral victory "unverified." He went on in the Fox Business interview to say: "I think this is mission accomplished, by the union, the partnership, the conglomerate of social media, big tech, big media, and big government for ushering in the dawn of a new world order. There is a war coming, now that the president is leaving today, they're still coming after the United States, the working class." Asked about the board's decision by the New York Post, Unanue declined to comment directly but said, "Independently, Ive made the decision to lower the temperature and walk away from speaking about politics and religion." story continues below Before the vote, a board member said: "Bob does not speak for Goya Foods when he speaks on TV. The family has diverse views on politics, but politics is not part of our business." A source told CNN that most of the family-controlled company's shareholders want to remove Unanue but have been unable to. Other directors have been especially unhappy with him since July, when he said the nation was "truly blessed" to have Trump as president. The Latino-owned company then experienced a backlash from politicians such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Julian Castro, once an Obama Cabinet member. Many members of Goya's board also are unhappy with the company's performance under Unanue, per CNN. (Ivanka Trump's intervention may have been ethically iffy.) Farmers' Protest: Deep Sidhu was not there when protests turned violent, says lawyer Tractor rally violence: Farmers call-off protest at Chilla border, BKU (Lok Shakti) continues stir India oi-Madhuri Adnal Noida (UP), Jan 27: Several union members have left the protest site to return home, while some are still present at Chilla along with their faction chief, who was talking to various media in the evening. The protestors had blocked the Noida-Delhi carriageway of the road since the beginning of their demonstration except for a brief period of time when the route was completely open. BKU (Lok Shakti) members, camping at some distance at the Dalit Prerna Sthal here, continued their protest. Tractor rally violence in Delhi: Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, BKU (Bhanu) quit farmers protests "Whatever happened in Delhi should not have happened. We condemn it and are against any violence. We had a meeting today headed by BKU Lok Shakti president Sheoraj Singh in the wake of the events that have unfolded and decided that our protest would continue," it''s spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri told. Meanwhile, two farmer unions on Wednesday withdrew from the ongoing agitation on Delhi's borders against the three farm laws, a day after violence broke out in the national capital during the tractor parade. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 18:52 [IST] New video of uproar at Red Fort surfaces, shows attempt to attack police personnel Farmers protesting against the three agriculture laws marched to the Red Fort on January 26, where they climbed on to poles and waved flags from its ramparts. Now, the second video has surfaced of the violence at the Red Fort. The farmers had barged into the premises of the Red Fort after deviating from their planned route for the tractor parade and hoisted flags at the iconic monument in the national capital. [January 27, 2021] Wedge Advisory Board Welcomes Key Industry Leaders HOLLAND, Mich., Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wedge , the video screening solution that helps recruiters make authentic connections with candidates, today shared details about the company's Advisory Board, welcoming Jack Blaeser, Wade Burgess, Allie Kelly, Theo Rokos, William Tincup and Bill Van Faasen. Collectively, the Wedge Advisory Board will help guide the company as it continues to meet the needs of the talent acquisition industry. "Following our funding announcement last summer, we're excited to announce the formation of our Advisory Board. We've brought together some of the world's top HR and technology leaders and are excited to continue Wedge's momentum with their guidance. I want to thank each of our new members for supporting us and look forward to what the future holds," said Wedge co-founder and CEO Matt Baxter. Jack Blaeser develops transformative business strategies and empowers teams, growing start-ups to $300M, leading turnaround companies and managing executive leadership roles for billion-dollar organizations. He held President, CEO, COO and board positions for BTC Inc., TenHands, MP, Retrieve Technologies and StrategicClaim. In addition to Wedge, he is a board member for Aeturnum, Incentivio and the Freedom Educational Foundation. Wade Burgess is an entrepreneur, leader and Chief Revenue Officer at Rev, which offers online audio transcription and video caption services. He specializes in organizational leadership, monetization, increasing top-line revenue growth and go-to-market strategies. Before Rev, Burgess worked at Automation Anywhere, Shiftgig and LinkedIn. He is an active board member, investor and advisor. Allie Kelly is Chief Marketing Officer at JazzHR, the leading recruiting software provider for small and medium-sized businesses. A full-stack marketer with experience in both B2B and B2C environments, Kelly's philosophy is that data drives creativity. She is also an advisor to Idelic and previously held positions at Attivio, SnapApp, Lionbridge and Stein Eriksen Lodge. HR technology expert Theo Rokos is Chief Revenue Officer at Job.com, a digital recruitment platform. He is the former co-founder and CEO of GreenJobInterview, acquired by Montage (now Modern Hire) in 2017. Known for his transformational leadership style, Rokos creates growth strategies designed to disrupt the recruiting space. He is co-author of the book "Sustainable Staffing." President and Editor-at-Large for RecruitingDaily, William Tincup is a globally-recognized writer, speaker and consultant at the intersection of HR and technology. As one of the industry's leading voices for more than a decade, he has supported countless international organizations and start-ups as an advisor, mentor, and investor. Bill Van Faasen currently serves as Interim CEO of Acreage Holdings Inc. He is Chairman Emeritus for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts and its former Chairman, President and CEO. Van Faasen sits on the board of Liberty Mutual Holding and High Street Capital Partners LLC and is a Trustee of Eversource Energy. Kelly commented, "Recruiting continues to evolve to keep up with today's dynamic business conditions, and as a result, it's become increasingly important that companies have the right talent acquisition technologies in place. Wedge recognized this shift early on, developing a solution that helps recruiting teams meet hiring goals faster without sacrificing the candidate experience." About Wedge Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Matt Baxter, Wedge is the one-way recorded video interview that enables candidates to show their true selves. For more information, visit wedgehr.com. Media Contacts: Kate Achille The Devon Group 732-706-0123 ext. 703 kate@devonpr.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A terminally ill doctor carrying "numerous" guns held an Austin medical office hostage for hours on Tuesday before fatally shooting a local physician and himself, police said, shaking the Texas capital city and leaving investigators hunting for a possible motive. Following a standoff that lasted more than six hours, officers entered the Children's Medical Group building in central Austin Tuesday night and found the suspect, Bharat Narumanchi, a 43-year-old pediatrician from southern California, dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. Nearby, officers said they found Katherine Dodson, also 43 and a pediatrician. She, too, had been fatally shot, police said. It's not clear what prompted Narumanchi to target the office, but investigators said his failing health may have been a factor. According to police, he had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was given just weeks to live. "We feel like his terminal cancer probably played a large part in whatever occurred in his life," Jeff Greenwalt, a police spokesman, told reporters Wednesday. Why he targeted Dodson was an even murkier question, according to police. Though she and Narumanchi worked in the same field, they may not have known each other. At some point last week, Narumanchi had visited the office and applied for a volunteer position, police said, but aside from that encounter, "there did not appear to be any relation or other contact between Dr. Dodson and Dr. Narumanchi." The apparent murder-suicide touched off a wave of mourning for Dodson, a mother of three who won honors and accolades for her pediatric work. "Last night, in a horrifying act of gun violence, one of our most skilled, compassionate pediatricians, Dr. Lindley Dodson, was held hostage and murdered at her Central Austin office," Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat who represents part of the Austin area, wrote on Twitter. "She provided care for our youngest 2 grandchildren & so many other children across the community." "At 43, her life has been cut terribly short," Doggett added. "She leaves behind her husband Drew and three children. What a tragic, tragic loss." The hostage incident began around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, when Austin police responded to a call reporting a disturbance at the Children's Medical Group building in the Oakmont Heights neighborhood. Shortly after arriving, officers learned someone was barricaded inside the building and requested a SWAT team. For hours, members of the SWAT team pleaded with the suspect to answer their calls or text messages. "You can come out of the front door with your hands up and empty and follow the instructions of the officer," the negotiator with a megaphone yelled, in video captured by reporters on the scene. "I know you've been dealt a very terrible card, but you've spent your entire life dedicated to other people." After several hours of silence, police sent a robot unit inside. According to police, members of the SWAT team decided to enter the building after losing contact with the suspect for several hours. Around 10:50 p.m., loud bangs erupted from inside the building. Moments later, images from the robot revealed at least one person was dead inside, police said Tuesday. When SWAT members stormed the building in a rescue attempt, they discovered the other body. Greenwalt, the police spokesman, told reporters Wednesday that Narumanchi had "numerous guns on him" but didn't offer specifics on the types of firearms. In a statement, police said Narumanchi was armed with a pistol and what appeared to be a shotgun, and was carrying two duffel bags. According to Greenwalt, Narumanchi took several hostages once he entered the building, ordering some of them to "tie themselves up." Over the course of the standoff, he said, Narumanchi let some go and others managed to escape. Investigators are now looking for friends and associates of Narumanchi who may be able to shed light on what motivated him. Police have already made contact with his family, who were cooperating with the investigation, Greenwalt said. It wasn't clear when he was diagnosed with cancer, according to Greenwalt, but the family was "entertaining hospice care." "The case - as far as who did this - is closed," Greewalt said. "But we really, really want to answer the question of why and provide as many facts and circumstances to the family and friends as we can, and provide as much close in this tragic sit as we can." ?? Pensando en la salud de todas y todos los peruanos, presentamos las nuevas disposiciones para enfrentar la emergencia sanitaria. ?? Estas medidas rigen desde el 31 de enero hasta el 14 de febrero. ?????????????? Cuidemonos entre todos! pic.twitter.com/fkORjGWaXF MICHIGAN Faced with the loss of livelihoods and shutting down some of the state's oldest businesses, the Michigan Fish Producers Association has filed a class action lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and some of its leadership for neglecting to renew the fishing licenses of the states commercial fisheries. Bay Port Fish Company co-owner Lakon Williams said the inaction by the DNR and the unwillingness to compromise on regulations has forced the hand of the producers to file the suit. The lawsuit alleges the actions the DNR and its leadership are taking are because the members of the association did not support a trifecta of house bills. The trifecta of tie-barred House Bills first introduced during the 2019 legislative session, which were approved in the House in early 2020, were referred to the Michigan Senate Committee on Natural Resources. The bills received overwhelming support from the DNR, along with the Michigan Steelhead and Salmon Fishermens Association, Michigan Trout Unlimited, and Michigan United Conservation Clubs. The only opposing testimonial on the bills was provided by the Michigan Fish Producers Association. The lawsuit claims that the DNR and co-defendants DNR Director Daniel Eichinger and Fisheries Chief James Dexter, refused to approve any commercial licenses and permits until there is an amendment to Michigan Compiled Laws 324.47301. A letter emailed to state-licensed commercial fishers from Dexter said the department received inquiries requesting clarification on Fisheries Order 243.21 and the letter was sent to address it. According to the letter sent Dec. 8, 2020, unless the commercial fishing legislation is passed this year, the department will not be able to enact provisions that were previously within the commercial fishing order that benefited your operations in recent years. The letter provided a breakdown on the provisions that were removed, which included closing the Lake Huron fishing season an extra month, restricting the depth of nets to 80 feet of water and imposing other limits as well. According to the letter, if the tie-barred bills were not passed, the DNR would remove the provisions which would impact the commercial fisheries. After the bills reached the Senate, they were pushed to a committee, and recommendations returned from the committee after several months due to the coronavirus. However, Williams said Eichinger stated the department did not have time to review the recommendations. As a result, the Senate never voted on the bills during the last legislative session, which means new bills will need to be introduced. On Jan. 19 four legislators Sen. Dan Lauwers, Sen. Kevin Daley, Sen. Curt VanderWall, and Rep. Phil Green sent a joint letter to Eichinger in support of the commercial fisheries and condemning the actions of the DNR that resulted in the suit. The heart of the matter seems to be the department openly communicated to the state licensed commercial fisherman that unless the House versions of the bills were passed and signed into law, either their licenses would not be granted in 2021 or dramatically changed to limit their ability to fish as they have in the past, the letter reads. We will let the Michigan Court of Claims decide whether your department has violated these citizens constitutional right to free speech. However, we are very concerned about a governmental agency using these tactics during the legislative process to achieve the agencys legislative goals. Withholding a persons license or administratively restricting their business as a threat and/or inducement for supporting, or worse; retaliation for not supporting legislative objectives of the administration smacks of totalitarianism along with political and economic extortion, the letter continued. We are concerned this was the objective by the department in its communications to the commercial fishing industry. The legislators close by stating the commercial fishing laws and rules are in great need of updating, but it is not at the fault of the commercial fishing industry, and in the meantime the department should maintain last years rules status quo. London: Boris Johnson has announced that Britain will introduce Australian-style hotel quarantine without exemption for residents returning from 30 countries with major coronavirus outbreaks. The new policy was announced as the death toll climbed by 1725 to 101,887. Britain is trying to curb a mutated variant of COVID-19 that was detected before Christmas that is between 30 to 70 per cent more transmissible; infections have fallen steeply - by almost a third over the last week. The UKs vaccination program is on track to deliver jabs to those in the top four priority groups by mid-February with 7.1 million doses already administered. A plane passes over the Sofitel Hotel near Londons Heathrow. Credit:PA Unlike Australia, Britain has never closed its borders and had previously allowed travellers to quarantine at home for ten days, with officials performing few checks leading to widespread non-compliance. The former executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority has been appointed to a post in the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Robin Keegan, a New Orleans native, will serve as deputy assistant secretary for economic development. She said that means she will be developing and enhancing innovative solutions to create economic opportunity in communities. "These are unprecedented times, which call for innovative and proactive solutions, including support for our small businesses and communities," Keegan said. Keegan spent five years at the LRA, including one year as executive director, two years as chief of staff and two years as director of economic recovery. The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The LRA helped spearhead the state's comeback after hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck in 2005. Guest column: Hard-earned lessons on supporting small businesses in uncertain times Small businesses are the backbone of the nations economy. In the aftermath of physical disasters, they are a beacon of hope in dark times, gi Keegan founded a consulting firm, Spring Industries, which works with communities across the nation grappling with problems by using her expertise with federal, state and local policies. She has also served as an adjunct lecturer at Tulane University, including a course she taught in sustainable urban planning and design. Keegan said she is temporarily working from Louisiana because of the coronavirus pandemic but will eventually be based in Washington, D.C. Analysts agree that Vietnam could become the next manufacturing hub for laptops and similar tech products, photo Le Toan Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., a unit of Foxconn, the worlds biggest contract electronic manufacturer, was granted an investment certificates last week to develop a $270 million factory to produce laptops and tablets. Located in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the factory will be developed by Fukang Technology with an annual output of eight million units. Zhuo Xianhong, general director of Foxconn in Vietnam, said last month that the manufacturer has invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam, including $900 million in the northern province of Bac Giang alone, creating jobs for over 35,000 local workers. It aims to pour an additional $700 million and create 10,000 jobs in the country this year. It is not clear what brands of laptops and tablets Foxconn will produce in Bac Ninh, however, the group is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple, a person with knowledge of the plan told Reuters in November, as the company diversifies production to minimise the impact of China-US trade tensions. In mid-January, a working group led by Xianhong visited the north-central province of Thanh Hoa to explore investment opportunities in the locality. At the reception meeting held by the provincial authorities, the representative of Foxconn Vietnam said that it is looking into a $1.3 billion investment in Thanh Hoa to produce electronics devices with export revenue of $10 billion per year. Another Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron also began establishing a new manufacturing base in Vietnam two years ago. In April last year, its Vietnamese subsidiary Wistron Infocomm Co., Ltd. received an investment certificate to develop a high-tech electronic products factory, called the Victory project, in Dong Van III Industrial Zone in the northern province of Ha Nam. The project will specialise in manufacturing and assembling various electronic computer devices and computer peripherals such as laptops, desktops, and computer monitors, among others. It is reported that Wistron will produce notebook PCs on behalf of US brands in Vietnam. With the total investment capital of $273.9 million, the initiative will produce 120 million units per year. Meanwhile, Pegatron Corporation established subsidiary Pegatron Vietnam Co., Ltd. in March last year. In October, the company was awarded an investment certificate to develop a $481 million factory to produce gaming equipment, phone accessories, smart speakers, game controllers, and varying types of computers in the northern port city of Haiphong. Microsoft, which began its foray into PC hardware in 2012, is scheduled to start producing its Surface line, including notebook and desktop computers, in northern Vietnam this year, as reported by Nikkei Asian Review. Avoiding overdependence According to Taiwan-headquartered Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute, global laptop and desktop computer supply chains are expected to shift significantly away from China over the next 10 years, with most key component makers moving into Southeast Asia. It is predicted that half of the worlds laptops would be assembled in the region by 2030, with Vietnam and Thailand pegged as the main manufacturing hubs. The institute found that Vietnam currently makes up for about 0.5-1 per cent of the global laptop market. However, the figure is set to increase as the escalating US-China trade dispute prompts more manufacturing giants to diversify production. June Le, marketing manager of ASUS Notebook, told VIR that ASUS sees promising potential in the Vietnamese market and would like to search for strong opportunities to increase investment and general business. Indeed, the Vietnamese market is one of the prioritised countries to have cargo of new products so that Vietnamese customers are those who can first enjoy new technology trends and innovations. According to experts, the movement of laptop manufacturing from China to Vietnam is part of a bigger movement of factories that produce many types of high-tech products to this country from its northern neighbours, driven by a surge in Chinese wages over the last 10 years and by the US-China trade war. COVID-19 has also accelerated the phenomenon because it shows many firms that they are overdependent on China as a production base. Many corporations in the US and Europe thought that they had a global supply chain, but COVID-19 exposed to executives of those corporations that they actually had a Chinese supply chain. For that reason, theres a growing consensus that about 20 per cent of the factories in China will leave the country over the next 5-10 years, according to on-the-ground foreign investment consultants weve spoken to, who helped multinational corporations set up factories in China 20 years ago, said Michael Kokalari, chief economist at VinaCapital. They are now helping some of those same corporations find alternative countries to relocate some of their factories in order to geographically diversify their production, he said. Relocation advantages According to Kokalari, it is not surprising that laptops will be one of the first high-tech products that manufacturers aggressively relocate from China to other countries, because they have become a commodity product with relatively low profit margins compared to other technology products, so manufacturers are under pressure to cut costs. The prediction that Vietnam will become a major laptop manufacturer is also not surprising, he added, because according to numerous surveys from Standard Chartered and others, Vietnam is the most preferred destination for manufacturers that wish to move their factories out of China. In addition, Vietnam is an attractive destination because factory wages are between one-half to two-thirds below those in China, and despite those lower wages, the quality of Vietnams workforce is comparable to Chinas, according to surveys by the Japan External Trade Organization and others. Although 20 per cent of factories in China are likely to relocate in the next decade, the remainder will stay put, meaning China will continue to be the worlds manufacturing powerhouse and manufacturers relocating to Vietnam will enjoy a favourable geographic proximity to those Chinese supply chains, Kokalari added. However, the lack of an efficient infrastructure and logistics system, as well as highly-skilled labour and high-tech expertise remain key challenges. The economist said that as observed in recent years, the sudden surge in trade orders and supply chain relocations at the height of the US-China trade war had resulted in a strain on existing infrastructure, pushing business costs up. Kokalari also pointed out the three biggest challenges for relocating laptop manufacturers. Firstly, supply chains in China are much better developed than in Vietnam, so most of the higher value-added components that current manufacturers of high-tech products in Vietnam require are imported, rather than manufactured by local Vietnamese suppliers - although there are signs that this will improve in the years to come. Secondly, theres a shortage of qualified middle managers and engineers in Vietnam, which means that manufacturers that set up factories in Vietnam that make technology products need to hire expensive expatriate employees to fill these mid-level positions, he went on. Thirdly, Vietnams physical infrastructure is sufficient for the countrys current manufacturing activity, but the government needs to improve in this area or the country will face physical bottlenecks that impede foreign-invested manufacturers within the next few years. [January 27, 2021] Horace Mann included in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) today announced it is one of 380 companies across 11 sectors included in the 2021 Bloomberg (News - Alert) Gender-Equality Index (GEI), which recognizes corporate commitment to transparency in gender reporting and advancing women's equality. The GEI expanded in 2021 to represent 44 countries and regions and includes companies in a variety of industries, including automotive, banking, consumer services, engineering and construction, and retail. "At Horace Mann we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion," said Horace Mann President and CEO Marita Zuraitis. "To be included for the third year in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index recognizes our efforts to strengthen our inclusive culture. We continue to reach beyond gender equity, working to diversify our workforce on all fronts through employee training, hiring and promotion practices to enhance and further strengthen our distinct corporate culture and brand." The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly listed companies increasing the breadth of environmental, social, governance (ESG) data available to investors. The comprehensive, transparent GEI scoring methodology allows investors to assess company performance and compare across industry peer groups. The reference idex measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. The 2020 GEI included 325 companies headquartered across 42 countries and regions. Horace Mann Educators Corporation was also included in the 2019 and 2020 GEI. Through disclosure of gender-related metrics using the GEI framework, the firms included in the 2021 GEI have committed to provide a comprehensive look at their investment in workplace gender equality and the communities in which they operate, raising the bar of what should be expected from other companies within the same industry. Horace Mann Educators Corporation was included in this year's index for scoring at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the framework's five pillars. Both the framework and the GEI are voluntary and have no associated costs. The GEI is a reference index and is not for use as a financial benchmark. The index is not ranked. While all public companies are encouraged to disclose supplemental gender data for their company's investment profile on the Bloomberg Terminal, those that have a market capitalization of at least $1 billion are eligible for inclusion in the index. To learn more please visit the GEI website. Bloomberg Terminal subscribers can access the GEI at {BGEI }. About Horace Mann Horace Mann Educators Corporation is the largest financial services company focused on providing America's educators and school employees with insurance and retirement solutions. Founded by Educators for Educators in 1945, the company is headquartered in Springfield, Ill. For more information, visit horacemann.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005094/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The director, Barney Thompson, is Irish but his long career as a producer and director included a stint in the US working with Saturday Night Lives Lorne Michaels, followed by 14 years reviving Londons Ealing Studios. Hes also co-directed a couple of St. Trinians films but they dont come near the creative chaos that he achieves here. To call it the story of a heist gone wrong is a grievous understatement. This is a plot in which next to nothing goes right. But the film itself is a different matter. Set in Northern Ireland, its a black but restorative farce in the tradition of John Michael McDonaghs equally loquacious thriller The Guard which had a comparable line in gallows humour. Bonus features include Alec Baldwin as a trigger-happy priest and a shoot-out in a church involving a couple of gun-toting nuns. In Pixie, the dialogue ricochets from one side of the screen to the other at the same speed as the accompanying gunfire. The screenplay, written by his son Preston, is based on the domino effect. One disastrous move precipitates another and in the centre of it all is Pixie (Olivia Cooke), the young and beautiful stepdaughter of an affable Sligo gangster (Colm Meaney). Shes blessed with a quick wit and a well-founded confidence in her own charms, which turn out to be very useful. As one wary young man remarks to a hopeful friend, she wont just break you. Shell take a Kalashnikov to your heart. Loading Pixies dearest wish is to come by enough money to escape Sligo for San Francisco, where she wants to pursue her ambitions as a photographer. Thanks to her family connections she learns of a sizeable drug deal being conducted by Alec Baldwin and his gangster priests. After a series of missteps, most of them lethal, the drugs fall into the hands of her friends Frank (Ben Hardy) and Harland (Daryl McCormack), like-minded amateurs excited and appalled by the seriousness of the complications theyve brought into their lives. Pixie goes on the run with them as fatalities multiply while they try to exchange the drugs for cash. The cast is a joy. Meaney and Baldwin relish the rhythms and eloquence of the dialogue. World-weary Dylan Moran (Black Books) contributes a memorable cameo as a drug dealer and Hardy and McCormack work up an engaging double act. But its Cooke who sets the pace. She played Becky Sharp in the recent TV version of Vanity Fair but her Pixie, clever, funny and bent on making mischief, is an even more artful piece of work. [January 27, 2021] Five Russian Companies to Pitch at UN's AI for Good Summit MOSCOW and GENEVA, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Five Russian startup companies, four of which are Skolkovo Foundation residents involved in Sk[ai]HUB, will pitch their AI-based sustainable solutions at the Russian track of the AI for Good Global Summit on Wednesday, January 27, a program aimed at accelerating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The summit connects AI innovators with problem owners with the aim of solving global challenges related to sustainability. The UN sustainable development program comprises seventeen SDGs covering three key areas: environment, society and governance. These tackle problems related to hunger, poverty, health, education, inequality, sanitation, clean energy, industry, economics, consumption, climate change, sea and land life, justice, and partnerships for these goals. The Skolkovo companies' solutions cover one or several UN SDGs. Sk[ai]HUB is an ecosystem of support measures and initiatives created by the Skolkovo Foundation to develop a high-tech AI field in Russia. The project involves over 400 AI startups, thirty-two thematic events over three years, is home to R&D centers belongig to twelve partners, as well as two supercomputers on the innovation center territory. As part of the Sk[ai]HUB Global Challenge, experts selected forty companies from 300 nominees to join the UN AI SDG case map for the Russian track of the UN program titled "AI for Good." Of these forty companies, five became laureates and will pitch their solutions at AI for Good on January 27 at the International Telecom Union, a UN subsidiary. The companies that are pitching at AI for Good on January 27 are: EMBLE a service that performs monitoring and functional diagnostics of equine internal organs using DeepSound AI neural network technology. Botkin.AI a software-based platform for radiological studies' analysis using artificial intelligence technologies. Unlike most solutions on the market in this area, Botkin.AI is a holistic product that combines AI technologies with the state-of-the-art results in terms of accuracy, but also IT technologies, allowing seamless integration into existing processes of medical organizations and making radiologists benefit from using it on a daily basis. Oz Forensics - helps to reduce costs and biometry fraud by automating online onboarding and client verification processes. This is an inhouse development AI platform to detect face biometry and liveness, ORC of any IDs and forgery recognition in any scans and photos. Oz Liveness (detection of a real person) helps to prevent deepfake fraud and spoofing attacks such as mask, fake video, etc. SOL a distance sign language interpretation platform that enables deaf people to receive the range of services that are available on the market for hearing citizens. BIOGEOHUB Software for automatic identification of biological communities and geomorphological features of the seabed by photo and video analysis for mapping seascapes and monitoring ecosystems. To view the Skolkovo companies' pitches at AI for Good, connect to the Experience Russia's Thriving AI Startup Ecosystem livestream. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. India's biscuit makers eyeing health but Oreo still enjoyed growth in 2020 just-food correspondent Raghavendra Verma surveys India's biscuit market, which has enjoyed bumper sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. India's biscuit market, already enjoying some tasty-looking growth before Covid-19, has, like many other product categories worldwide, seen demand rise during the pandemic due to higher at-home consumption. According to UK-based data and analysis group GlobalData, the market grew by 9.7% in 2019 to a value of US$4.7bn. Market insiders suggest that growth ticked up to around 12% in 2020 and there are forecasts the category can continue to see expansion of 10-12% in the coming years. Biscuits make up the largest processed food category in India, the 2019-20 annual report issued by local major manufacturer Britannia Industries claims, with more than 90% of the nation's households buying them. That said, annual average per capita consumption stands at 2kg, as opposed to 10kg in certain developed countries, such as the UK and Italy, notes data service Statista. The difference in per-capita consumption provides a good base for future growth, Britannia, home to brands including Good Day and Tiger, believes. How to capture that growth is the question on the minds of product developers and market strategists. India's biscuit category remains very fragmented and cluttered with numerous brands, Manoj Verma, sales director of major manufacturer Mrs Bectors Food Specialities, the owner of the Cremica brand, tells just-food. "The trend is likely to continue." More than 100 types of local and imported biscuits are available on Amazon's Indian site, where prices range from INR5 (US$0.07) for a 65g pack of Parle G glucose biscuits to INR2,499 for a 400g Belgian Collection Tin from upmarket UK grocer Marks and Spencer. The demand for costlier biscuits has risen rapidly in recent years and India's biscuit industry is moving towards premiumisation which should expand further the variety of biscuits sold to consumers, Verma explains. Mrs Bectors, which listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange last month, is continuing to launch lines to tap developing niches with pistachio cookies, honey oatmeal cookies, and chocolate chip cookies being among recent launches under the Cremica brand. Looking ahead, Mrs Bectors is also planning launches of healthier, low-calorie salty crackers, which it thinks will be a segment offering long-term growth. Another promising area is marketing biscuits as the perfect compliment to tea. Verma stresses in India "60% of biscuits are consumed with tea and people have tea at least two times a day". With Covid-19 pushing more people to work from home a trend expected to continue after the pandemic demand for biscuits that can be snacked from the larder with tea, is likely to increase, he says. The biscuit business is a key growth driver for Mondelez International in India. In recent years, one way in which Mondelez has sought to expand sales has been to use its Bournvita brand to meet what the US giant sees as demand for snacks during the morning, with, for example, the 2019 roll-out of Bournvita Biscuits Banana & Oats. In December, Mondelez sought to tap into what it says is growing demand in India for healthier snacks, with the launch of another Bournvita line Bournvita Crunchy. "Given the unprecedented times, health and hygiene has become very important for our consumers and they are looking up to their trusted snacking brands for nourishment and wellbeing," Sudhanshu Nagpal, associate director of marketing for Mondelez's biscuit business in India, says. "Taste continues to remain an important factor for our consumers, as they choose snacks to create eat experiences with their families, at home. "Our endeavour has always been to provide unique eat experiences and a broad range of product offerings to our consumers from indulgent to wholesome. Our latest launch Bournvita Crunchy, is in line with this commitment and we're confident that this wholesome product with provide our consumers with a 'guilt-free' snacking experience." At the more indulgent end of Mondelez's biscuit range, its flagship global brand, Oreo, continues to be a strong player in India, Nagpal asserts, with an 8.5% share of the country's sales of cream cookies. The Oreo brand, he adds, "gained massive momentum during the lockdown [with more] nesting at home with the family". One reason for Oreo's recent growth has been the way consumers are using the biscuits. Oreos are being used as an ingredient in milkshakes, coffee, cakes and ice creams made at home during the pandemic, Mondelez says, although it did not predict whether this trend will continue after Covid-19 subsides. Other food manufacturing majors, such as Britannia, Parle Products and ITC (through its Sunfeast brand), have also been benefiting from this trend, with Parle's low-fat Marie biscuits used to make cheesecakes or banoffee pie. Normally, Parle launches five or six products every year but has not done so since the pandemic broke out, Mayank Shah, the head of Parle's biscuit business, says, with the company focusing its efforts on the day-to-day running of operations. "In the next three months, we will start rolling out new ones," he adds, although would not give further details. One reason why Indian biscuit companies usually launch products so often is because so few new products generate sustainable sales, Jaspal Sabharwal co-founder of TagTaste Foods, an Indian network of food professionals, argues. Most companies launch between two and five new biscuit varieties annually, but a mere 0.3% are still sold after five-years, he says, noting "90% of the new launches don't last for even one year which is despite companies spending 4% of their revenue on advertising and publicity". Introducing new biscuit brands can be costly given retailers are demanding ever-bigger margins, says Amit Lohani, founder and director of the Forum of Indian Food Importers. "The retailer margin on Indian biscuits is 10-12%, while on imported ones it is 25-40%," he says. For access to major retail chains, there is an additional cost of a one-time 'listing fee', which in very exclusive stores that remain open 24 hours, could be as high as US$130 per store for every SKU. This is forcing many brands to focus on smaller shops first another reason for trying out new lines to see what attracts sustainable sales. "[The listing fee] is so high that most new products can't enter," says Sanjay Jain, director of a comparatively new and smaller manufacturer, Dugar Overseas, which sells its Sapphire brand butter cookies and confectionery through 1,400 distributors and 200 sales representatives. Sapphire cookies are sold in 400g and 800g tin packs as gifts but the company will soon introduce soft packages of 70g and 150g, Jain says. The smaller packages will target India's growing mass market for biscuits by helping consumers with high indoor humidity, which can make uneaten biscuits in larger packs damp and soft. Some brands, such as Parle's Monaco and Sunfeast's Bounce biscuits, use small packets inside larger packages to tackle this problem. Looking forward, at Parle, Shah says India's biscuit market is expected to grow between 10% and 12% over the next few years, with a high degree of premiumisation. This growth may include healthier or organic biscuits sales, which have expanded during the pandemic as health concerns have grown, Ankur Bisen, senior vice president at Gurgaon-based consultancy firm Technopak, suggests. "Earlier, premiumisation was about a discerning taste, the richness of the ingredients or creating a fusion of several ingredients," he tells just-food. "Now people are looking for healthy options, like wholewheat and multigrain." Competition looks set to be intense. As well as Mondelez targeting the better-for-you parts of the category with its new Bournvita Crunchy line, other manufacturers look set to be active. Britannia's R&D team is developing capacity to use "alternate cereals, whole grains, super seeds and protein isolates in the product portfolio", the company says in its annual report. "[We] continuously endeavour to disrupt the markets through the launch of new-to-market formats, thereby addressing more and more consumption occasions." [January 27, 2021] AM Best Assigns Preliminary Credit Assessment to Upland Specialty Insurance Company AM Best has assigned a Preliminary Credit Assessment (PCA) to Upland Specialty Insurance Company (Upland Specialty) (Dallas, TX) with a Financial Strength Assessment of A- pca (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Assessment of "a-" pca. The outlook assigned to these PCAs is stable. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pursuit Investors, LP (a Delaware corporation), the non-operating holding company of Upland Capital Group, Inc. The PCA reflects Upland Specialty's consolidated balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The PCA considers Upland Specialty's excellent projected risk-adjusted capitalization and sound business strategy, which should position the company to take advantage of current favorable market conditions in the excess and surplus (E&S) product lines that the company is targeting. The company is a new specialty E&S lines carrier that will seek to build a diversified commercial E&S business portfolio across the casualty, property and specialty business lines. Business will be generated through wholesale insurance brokers on a nationwide basis. Upland Specialty's senior management team possesses significant experience and a solid track record in the E&S market. AM Best believes that this experience, and management's existing relationships with its distribution sources, will be key to the company quickly gaining traction in its targeted markets. The PCA also considers the execution risk faced by any start-up operation. AM Best also recognizes that the company will be challenged to achieve operating profitability until it gains necessary scale. In AM Best's view, gaining sufficient scale may be the bggest challenge to the successful execution of the company's strategy, as growth will be dependent on the E&S market's acceptance of a start-up company that will be initially focused on long tail business lines. However, management's extensive relationships in the wholesale distribution market should help in this regard. Upland Specialty, which expects to commence operations in early 2021, is backed by an equity investment of up to $200 million from Newlight Partners LP (Newlight) and an additional investment from members of the company's senior management team. Newlight is a growth equity firm with approximately $4 billion in capital commitments and assets under management. The Newlight team has invested approximately $6 billion in over 100 investments since 2005, first as the Strategic Investments Group at Soros Fund Management LLC (Soros), and now as Newlight after the team's spin out from Soros in 2018. This press release relates to Preliminary Credit Assessments that have been published on AM Best's website. For all assessment information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual assessments referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating and Assessment opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. Copyright 2021 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005879/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was speaking to Cosmhuintir Fianna Fail, a grassroots organisation within the party, about the Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland. Photo: Tony Gavin Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern told a Fianna Fail group last night that work needs to be done now with a view to a unity poll in the future. Mr Ahern was speaking to Cosmhuintir Fianna Fail, a grassroots organisation within the party, about the Good Friday Agreement and Northern Ireland via Zoom. The meeting mainly focused on Northern Ireland and Mr Ahern said that politicians should find agreement on the smallest issues and build from there. Mr Ahern said there was sometimes too much focus on short-term issues and not enough medium-term or long-term focus. Mr Ahern also said that a unity referendum might take place at the end of the decade and that work needed to be done in relation to it now. He said that universities could be included as they could do research. Mr Ahern spoke about two roles he holds in universities he is Honorary Professor of Mediation Conflict Prevention in Maynooth University, while at Queens University Belfast he is Honorary Professor of Peace Studies. He explained how he gave lectures on both topics to PhD candidates. Sources said he told the meeting he was still in touch with former US president Bill Clinton and former British prime minister Tony Blair and praised newly inaugurated US President Joe Biden. He told the meeting that before the pandemic, he would make trips to Northern Ireland once a month. He also commended the three-party coalition in government, and said all ministers were doing their best in difficult situations. The meeting had around 100 attendees, including TDs Marc MacSharry, James OConnor, Jim OCallaghan, John Lahart, John McGuinness, Padraig OSullivan and Senator Pat Casey. The former Taoiseach will also be giving a Zoom discussion to the Donogh OMalley Cumann in University College Cork on February 9. With domestic extremist networks scrambling to regroup online, experts fear the next attack could come from a radicalized individual much harder than coordinated mass events for law enforcement and platforms to detect or deter. The big picture: Companies like Facebook and Twitter stepped up enforcement and their conversations with law enforcement ahead of Inauguration Day. But they'll be tested as the threat rises that impatient lone-wolf attackers will lash out. Where it stands: "Without any apparent large scale event in the immediate future, there is always a risk that radicalized individuals may feel themselves compelled to act out," said Jared Holt, a visiting research fellow with the Atlantic Council. What they're saying: Twitter says it's working closely with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to minimize potential risks, including those specifically relating to planned future demonstrations from white nationalists and other extremist groups across the country. "These relationships are longstanding and go beyond any one event," a Twitter spokesperson told Axios. Facebook and YouTube also said they continue to work with law enforcement. The Biden administration on Friday announced a plan to combat domestic terrorism one that will rely heavily on agencies like the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Council. The intrigue: There are patterns in online chatter that can predict when different extremist groups are most likely to translate talk into action. Platforms and law enforcement should pay close attention to online extremist groups when certain topics are in the news, say researchers. Militia groups grow more threatening when any kind of gun legislation is introduced, while white supremacists are animated by immigration topics, Holt said. Right now, disillusioned QAnon followers are being recruited by more violent groups. "We are already hearing of white supremacist groups seeking to mobilize frustrated conspiracy theorists," said Naureen Chowdhury Fink, executive director of security consulting firm the Soufan Center. One big worry: Even when tech platforms take action against users who encourage terrorism, those people don't face real-world consequences until it's too late. "If there are organizations that are currently promoting violence, it seems very strange that the only the only response we seem to have is to delete content online, rather than actually dealing with the individuals who are behind this," said Adam Hadley, executive director of Tech Against Terrorism, a United Nations initiative focused on the relationship between law enforcement and tech. One bright spot for platforms and law enforcement: Even radicals need a public presence in order to recruit and keep their numbers up. That means plenty of violent rhetoric is still circulating in venues that are easy to infiltrate and monitor, such as forums on the open web and public Telegram channels. The catch: Extremists who have found fellow travelers may still take to private, encrypted platforms to form clandestine online sleeper cells. As Axios has previously reported, there are signs this is already happening. We will see one of these groups do something that was planned entirely on or majority via an encrypted app, said Matt Mitchell, a technology fellow at the Ford Foundation. What's next: Look for more debates over the delicate balance of civil liberties, free speech and keeping Americans safe from domestic terrorism. The battle over forcing tech firms to build encryption backdoors for law enforcement is also likely to come roaring back. From UK to UAE, list of countries that have suspended flights from India amid COVID-19 surge India extends restrictions on flights to UK till February 14 due to new variant of Covid-19 India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 27: The Ministry of Civil aviation has further extended the ban on all flights between Indian and UK till February 14, the ministry declared so in an official statement. This was done to prevent the spread of the new strain of coronavirus going around in the UK. Earlier this month, the Union Health Ministry stated that a passenger coming from the UK can board a flight to India only when he has a negative test report from a sample taken 72 hours prior to the journey. Dense fog leads to poor visibility in Delhi; 4 flights delayed, 1 cancelled Moreover, as per the rules, the passenger also has to take the RT-PCR test on arrival at the entry airport in India. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Friday that travellers coming from the UK to the national capital will have to undergo a seven-day institutional quarantine and a seven-day home quarantine even if they test negative for COVID-19 on arrival. India had suspended all passenger flights between the UK and India from December 23 to January 7 as a new variant of coronavirus emerged in the UK. Over 60 passenger flights per week were flying between India and the UK in December before the decision. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 23:14 [IST] BELDEN, Miss. (WTVA) - Lee County investigators say a man scammed an elderly person out of thousands of dollars. Vito Balice allegedly took advantage of an elderly person in Belden and scammed the victim into giving him checks. He reportedly cashed those checks for approximately $9,000 without the victims permission. Investigators say Balice claimed he would pave the victims driveway but determined no work had been done. He faces exploitation of vulnerable adult charges in Lee County. Monroe County deputies arrested Balice on Jan. 25. According to the Lee County Sheriffs Department, Balice faced similar charges in Ohio and Illinois. Lowndes County investigators also sought him. Police used tear gas to disperse farmers who marched to the capital during India's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi. (Image: AP) The farmer who died after the tractor rally turned violent in New Delhi on January 26 was not shot, clarified the Assistant Director General (ADG) Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh Police, on January 27. The post mortem report clarifies that he (farmer who died during the tractor rally in Delhi yesterday) was not shot. He succumbed to the antemortem injuries which he received after his tractor turned turtle as seen in the viral video: Avinash Chandra, ADG Bareilly in Rampur, UP pic.twitter.com/goFuCA1I2X ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2021 "The post mortem report clarifies that he (farmer who died during the tractor rally in Delhi yesterday) was not shot. He succumbed to the antemortem injuries which he received after his tractor turned turtle as seen in the viral video," says Avinash Chandra, ADG Bareilly in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. The farmer died in Delhi after the tractor he was driving overturned at ITO. The protesters, however, alleged that the police had fired at him while he was chasing them. A video, shared by news agencies, showed a group of farmers chasing the policemen at ITO using their tractors. Shortly after the clip emerged, the death of one of the farmers driving the tractors was reported. Follow live updates of farmers' protest in Delhi An FIR has been lodged against 2,200 protesting farmers for their involvement in the violence near Faridabad. The case was lodged after the head constable posted at the Gadpuri Police Station filed a complaint. No arrests have been made yet. The tractor rally of farmers coincided with the 72nd Republic Day celebrations. The rally was aimed at pressuring the government to repeal the three farm reform laws - which have led to the nationwide agrarian stir. BRUSSELS Europes coronavirus vaccination woes snowballed into a full-blown crisis Wednesday, as Spain became the first country to partly suspend immunizations for lack of doses, and a dispute escalated with AstraZeneca over the drugmakers announcement that it would slash deliveries of its vaccine by 60 percent because of production shortfalls. The European Union has been beset by a litany of problems since it approved its first coronavirus vaccine, made by Pfizer and BioNTech, in December and rushed to begin a vast immunization campaign weeks behind rich nations like the United States and Britain. While it is flush with cash, influence and negotiating heft, the bloc of 27 nations has found itself behind those countries, as well as others like Israel, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates, mounting similar efforts to get enough doses for their citizens, even as many countries across the world, particularly poorer ones, struggle to secure any at all. The European Commission, the blocs executive branch, last week set a goal to have 70 percent of its population inoculated by this summer, a goal that was dismissed four days later by the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, as difficult. Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 7:01 am Last Friday, Molly Stearns, chief development officer at Overlake Medical Center & Clinics, emailed about 110 donors who gave more than $10,000 to the Eastside hospital system, informing them that highly coveted vaccine slots were available. "Dear Overlake major donors..." the email read. "We're pleased to share that we have 500 new open appointments in the Overlake COVID-19 vaccine clinic, beginning this afternoon and tomorrow (Saturday, Jan. 23) and next week." The email gave the donors an access code to register for appointments "by invite" only. Last week, the public-facing Overlake registration site was fully booked through March. The email and the appearance of favoritism that an Overlake leader acknowledged was a mistake raised eyebrows. Overlake shut down online access to the invite-only clinic after getting a call from Gov. Jay Inslee's staff. Overlake says the vaccination slots were not offered exclusively to donors, but also to Overlake board members, some patients, volunteers, employees and retired health providers some 4,000 people in all. All who registered were supposed to be eligible for the vaccine under current state rules, the email said. The invitation was a quick-fix solution after the hospital's scheduling system failed, said Tom DeBord, the medical center's chief operating officer. "We're under pressure to vaccinate people who are eligible and increase capacity," DeBord said. "In hindsight, we could certainly look back and say this wasn't the best way to do it." The state's glitchy effort to vaccinate millions of Washingtonians has relied heavily on hospital systems, who have been provided little logistical support, an unreliable supply of vaccine and fast-changing guidance on who qualifies and how to reach them. Now, after state officials expanded eligibility, a crush of seniors angling to book appointments has added to the strain for hospitals, which have been left to their own devices to manage the chaos. The Overlake invitations raise questions about whether the messy system gives those with influence, access or technical know-how a better shot at the vaccine. "Most efficient way" Last week, after the governor opened vaccine eligibility to anyone 65 and over, a flood of seniors crashed the medical systems' scheduling software. "Our system was overtaxed," DeBord said. Overlake, which shuttered an urgent care clinic to ramp up its vaccination efforts, was forced to launch a new scheduling system, but still had 1,400 vaccine slots to fill that weren't easily listed in the old or new systems because of technical troubles. In an effort to fill as many slots as possible, and fast, DeBord said the medical system simply contacted people whose emails were on hand, including some patients, retirees, major donors, and board members. "We thought that was the most efficient way to add slots," DeBord said, adding that he understood why it was being perceived negatively, but that "it was never intended to be a donor event." A policy adviser to Gov. Jay Inslee called Monday afternoon and encouraged Overlake to cut access to the exclusive appointments, which it did on Tuesday morning, freeing some slots for the general public. Said Inslee in a news conference Tuesday: "If in fact they were giving preference to some VIP list, that's not the way to do it. That is not acceptable for us. We need to give everybody a fair shot at the vaccine ... We've got to maintain public credibility in the system. I'm told that whatever they were doing has stopped, and that's good news." Regardless of intention, Overlake's inclusion of donors and board members reflects circumstances across the nation of rich people gaining access to vaccines. Hospital systems in Florida have offered vaccines to donors ahead of the general population, according to reporting from the Miami Herald, sparking frustrations from some Florida seniors unable to schedule a vaccination appointment. A Florida nursing home has also come under scrutiny after the New York Post reported that real estate moguls Bill and David S. Mack allegedly arranged for friends to receive vaccines through the facility, where David Mack is chairman. "The whole idea of jumping the line because you're rich is morally reprehensible," said Arthur Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. "When you're trying to combat a plague with scarce resources you really have to expect hospitals and their donors and others connected with them should have to wait with everyone else." Guidance from state and federal governments generally focuses on prioritizing vulnerable populations, and does not specifically address line-jumping for connected individuals, Caplan said. One exception is in New York, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to revoke medical licenses and levy sanctions of up to $1 million against providers who administered the vaccine unethically. But Caplan said it was more "saber-rattling" than actual policy, and he was not aware of that state or any others taking such actions. "Washington does not have penalties of this nature," Department of Health (DOH) spokesperson Danielle Koenig said in an email. "We want providers to work to ensure they are giving out the vaccine equitably and in a manner that protects those who are most impacted by COVID-19 and in keeping with current phase guidance." Navigating the chaos Washington state is simply not receiving enough doses of vaccine from the federal government to provide instant access to the more than 1.5 million people who qualified for vaccination last Monday, when the state moved into the first tier of phase 1B, which includes seniors and anyone over 50 in a multigenerational household. The state launched PhaseFinder, an online tool to determine eligibility, but some people are struggling to access it or find anywhere nearby that has doses. Some vaccine sites offer a wait list. Some don't. Online scheduling tools differ among sites. Hospitals are struggling to manage a wave of phone calls. The state's own hotline couldn't keep up on Monday. State officials acknowledged that opening up access would create confusion and some appointments would have to be canceled due to spotty supply. Some seniors, or caretakers, are booking multiple appointments to see which pans out first. And concern has grown that those who are most adept at navigating the chaos, or those with special connections, are most likely to get through the hurdles. Ellen Rubin, 68, a retired nurse and Overlake patient, said she was able to schedule a vaccination appointment for herself and her husband this week after receiving an invite from Overlake through MyChart, the online medical messaging system. But the retired nurse is concerned about elderly people who aren't as technologically adept as she is. "The systems are just so that anyone who's computer-savvy and system-savvy can figure things out," Rubin said. "But if you're not, you're kind of screwed." It wasn't clear to some who received the link for special access from Overlake on Friday that they had gained a unique opportunity. A donor reached by phone Tuesday afternoon said her husband received the email and the two set up an appointment. She said she assumed the general public received notice of the same thing "hopefully everybody," she said. But another person spread the link widely, including to those without connections to Overlake. The person, who spoke to The Seattle Times on the condition of anonymity, received an invite-only link from a donor and was able to sign up and receive a vaccination Friday. That person said they then signed up dozens of others within days, primarily people of color over 65 who were unable to get appointments elsewhere. Some Overlake patients did not receive the opportunity. Paul Benefield, 80, and his 77-year-old wife, Earlene, both have heart conditions, and she has diabetes. They have been seeing primary care doctors at Overlake Medical Clinics for about four years, and are registered on the Overlake online portal, but said they haven't received guidance from the hospital system. By chance, a friend forwarded them a link to the public Overlake vaccination website, and they were able to schedule February appointments for their first vaccines. On Friday the day Overlake notified donors and others they could make side-door appointments he saw his primary care doctor. "I unloaded my frustrations, and he had nothing to offer," Benefield said. When he later learned about the special access, he said, "Neither one of us got any indication of this." Seattle Times staff reporter Joseph O'Sullivan contributed to this report. ___ (c)2021 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 16:34:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KATHMANDU, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Nepali government on Wednesday started the first phase of a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 as Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli inaugurated the campaign through a virtual event. The vaccination process began from 120 vaccine centres across the country and the targeted groups for vaccination in the first phase include health workers, sanitation workers, and elderly people living in care homes, among others, according to the health ministry of Nepal. During the inauguration ceremony, the Nepali prime minister said that his country started the vaccination drive relatively early compared to many other countries around the world. "We aim to vaccinate all the population who need to be vaccinated within the next three months free of cost," he added. The country's health minister said that the ministry planned to inoculate vaccines and all the people would be vaccinated based on a priority list and in a phase-wise manner. Enditem Indian police imposed heavy security and closed several main roads around New Delhi on Wednesday, a day after farmers went on the rampage in the capital, leaving one person dead and several hundred injured. The violence marked a dramatic escalation in a standoff between the government and thousands of farmers who have been camped on the outskirts of Delhi since late November demanding that new agricultural reforms be scrapped. On Tuesday -- during the annual Republic Day parade -- convoys of farmers on tractors smashed through barricades to converge on the city centre, seeing off police baton charges and volleys of tear gas. One farmer was killed in what police said was an accident when his tractor overturned after hitting a barricade. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava said in a press conference late Wednesday that 394 policemen had been injured. "On 25th, we had mutually agreed on the terms, conditions and route of the farmer unions' march (on tractors) in Delhi. But they backstabbed (us) on those agreements which led to the violence," Shrivastava said. Around the city, security forces fought running battles with demonstrators. Farmers also laid into police with branches and metal bars, and hijacked buses used to block their convoys. One video showed police jumping down a seven-metre (20-foot) wall to escape baton-swinging protestors near the historic Red Fort landmark. Farmers there broke through police lines and ran their own emblem up a flagpole to cheers from the large crowd, before being dispersed from the ramparts by security forces. On one main road, people on rooftops threw petals on the tractor convoys. Elsewhere people cheered and applauded as farmers went past waving Indian flags and blowing horns. As night fell, the farmers retreated to the camps outside the city where they have been braving Delhi's chilly winter nights for months now. Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah ordered 15 companies of paramilitaries to boost security forces in the capital, according to media reports. Story continues On Wednesday morning a number of major roads were blocked as police and security forces set up barricades, leading to major traffic congestion. Riot police were stationed near the Red Fort. "We take this illegal protest, violence and damage to the protected heritage monument Red Fort, where they raised religious and farm union flags, very seriously. Video footage is being scrutinised to identify those involved. No one will be spared," the commissioner, Shrivastava, added. He said that at least 19 people had already been arrested and 50 others were being questioned in detention. - Blow for Modi - The unrest was a major embarrassment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government, for whom the farmer protests represent the biggest challenge since coming to power in 2014. Farming has long been a political minefield, with nearly 70 percent of the population drawing its livelihood from agriculture in the vast nation of 1.3 billion people. Laws passed in September enabled farmers to sell to any buyer they chose, rather than to commission agents at state-controlled markets. But farmers, at least in northern states like Punjab where most of the protestors come from, fear this will leave them at the mercy of big agribusiness corporations. The government has offered to suspend the reforms for 18 months, but farmer unions want nothing short of the laws being binned. - 'Deflated' mood - The violence could prove to be a setback for the farmers as well, by costing them support both among their own ranks and the wider population. "What happened yesterday was not right. This is the pride of the nation and they took the flag down," said Pramod Sharma, 35, a shopkeeper near the Red Fort. Farmer unions have condemned the unrest. "For the last two months they had been conducting their protest in a peaceful and dignified manner," said Parsa Venkateshwar Rao, a political analyst. "So even those who did not agree with them respected them. The violence has dented this a bit." At the Singhu state border crossing, one of the main protest sites, the mood was deflated on Wednesday, and some accused government elements of being behind the violence. "Our protest and movement was yesterday hijacked by the people who support the government, or wanted this to happen," said Amritpal Singh, 36, a gym trainer from Punjab who has joined the protests. But he added: "What happened shouldn't be seen as anything against our long and very peaceful struggle against the laws. We are here and not going anywhere." ja-grk-abh-ash-bb/bb/reb Providing economic relief to struggling families can lead to another positive effect -- fewer cases of child neglect, according to new research by the University of Washington. A 10% increase in a common benefit for low- to moderate-income working families, the Earned Income Tax Credit, led to a 9% decrease in the annual number of reports of child neglect made to child welfare agencies over a 14-year study period. That's a significant impact, researchers say, and can inform future social policies. The study is relevant to current policy actions, as President Joe Biden has recently proposed an expansion of the child tax credit as part of his new stimulus plan. The EITC is an important part of the U.S. safety net that has been shown to substantially reduce child poverty. Our results add to growing evidence that policies that improve family economic security can also prevent child maltreatment." Nicole Kovski, Doctoral Student, Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, UW She is lead author of the study published Jan. 19 in the journal Child Maltreatment. Child maltreatment is a common problem in the United States, with an estimated one-third of children subject to a child protective services investigation before they turn 18. The stress of poverty has long been linked to child abuse and family instability, and other research has explored the impact of different economic policies on child-abuse prevention. The UW study is the first to focus on the Earned Income Tax Credit - a program designed to assist lower-income families, often with a tangible benefit in the form of a tax refund - and its potential association with reports of child maltreatment made to child welfare agencies across the U.S. The Earned Income Tax Credit is provided by both the federal government and 28 states, and eligibility and credit size vary with income and family size. UW researchers focused on the generosity of refundable state EITCs, noting that such a benefit has been found to be put toward a family's basic needs. The research team analyzed the number of child abuse and neglect reports to local and state agencies from 2004 through 2017 and the correlation with the EITC program at the state level. The team hypothesized that the more generous a state's EITC, the more necessities, such as child care or rent, a family can put the money toward, potentially alleviating some of the stress that can lead to child maltreatment. Over the course of the study period, many states altered their level of benefit as a percentage of the federal tax credit, while others generally held steady. Minnesota, for example, provided an average of 33% of the federal credit, depending on household income, while Oklahoma provided 5% of the federal credit before making its EITC nonrefundable in 2016. With the child abuse and neglect data, the UW team counted all reports of maltreatment, rather than just those reports that were found to be substantiated, reasoning that any report increases the likelihood of a child being victimized in the future. Taking all states into account - those with and without an EITC -- during the study period, states averaged nearly 4,400 maltreatment reports per 100,000 children each year. When annual state EITC benefits were taken into account, the team found maltreatment reports, particularly those of neglect, declined as benefit levels rose: A 10 percentage-point increase in state-level benefits was associated with 241 fewer reports of neglect per 100,000 children. The effect was even more pronounced in the number of neglect reports on children from infancy through age 5, the age range at which the majority of maltreatment incidents occur. Put another way, a 10 percentage-point increase in the refundable EITC benefit led to a 9% drop in rates of reported child neglect. "This study highlights the importance of investigating the impact of social policies on health. Violence is a health issue with multiple forms, such as child maltreatment. An emerging body of evidence is empirically demonstrating that violence prevention can be an added benefit of social policies that were not necessarily enacted with that specific goal originally. This study is the most recent addition to that literature," said Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, an associate professor of epidemiology at the UW, director of the Violence Prevention Section at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, and the principal investigator of the project that supported this study. While child neglect showed a trend, the link between EITC benefits and reports of specific types of abuse - physical, sexual and emotional - was not statistically significant. Researchers note that child abuse rates, in general, have declined much more significantly than neglect rates in recent decades, while neglect is found in three-quarters of child maltreatment cases. Child neglect, too, may be more distinctly associated with poverty, past research has shown, potentially making some interventions more effective in preventing certain types of maltreatment than others. "Child neglect often involves the failure of a caregiver to provide children with necessities, such as food, shelter and basic supervision. Additional income provided to families through the EITC can improve parents' abilities to meet these basic needs," Kovski said. Researchers say the findings point to the fundamental value of an economic policy - the EITC - as a child-maltreatment prevention strategy. In other words, proactively improving financial stability among families may mitigate the circumstances that lead to child neglect and abuse. Auckland: The New Zealand Ministry of Health is carrying out urgent testing after two more people tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving hotel quarantine. The pair were staying at the Pullman Hotel in the Auckland CBD the same facility where a Northland community case identified this week had stayed. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government could approve a COVID-19 vaccine this week. Credit:Getty Images After news of the Northland case broke on Sunday, all 353 people who were at the hotel at the same time as the affected woman were asked to self-isolate and undergo tests. The pair have returned weak positive results and are at home isolating, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday evening. HUNTINGTON, Ind., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc., (OTCQB: NIDB), the parent company of First Federal Savings Bank, has announced that the Corporation will hold its twenty sixth annual shareholders' meeting on April 27, 2021 at 1:00 PM local time. The meeting will be held in the boardroom of First Federal Savings Bank at 100 Frontage Road, Huntington Indiana. The holders of record date for the annual meeting will be March 10, 2021. The Company also announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.28 per common share. This cash dividend will be payable on February 25, 2021 to common shareholders of record on February 11, 2021. The book value of NIDB's stock was $37.73 per common share as of December 31, 2020. The last reported trade of the Company's stock at the close of business on January 26, 2021 was $40.00 per common share and the number of outstanding common shares was 1,210,327 as of the same date. The annualized dividend yield is currently 2.8% when annualizing the current quarter cash dividend of $0.28 per common share against the January 26, 2021 closing price of $40.00 per common share. Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered at 648 N. Jefferson Street, Huntington, Indiana. The company offers a full array of banking and financial brokerage services to its customers through its main office in Huntington and five full-service Indiana offices in Huntington (2), Warsaw and Fort Wayne(2). The Company is traded on the OTC Markets Group, Inc. (www.otcmarkets.com) utilizing the OTCQB platform under the symbol "NIDB". Our web site address is www.firstfedindiana.bank. SOURCE Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc. Related Links http://www.firstfedindiana.bank Derry & Strabane is one of only four areas in the UK to access a 3.29m fund which aims to improve mental well-being. The Ideas Fund launches in Northern Ireland to help improve mental well-being as research reveals a decline during the pandemic. It is a new grants programme that will enable the UK public to think about, develop and test ideas to help improve mental wellbeing in the area where they live. The Fund has been designed to help people tackle problems that matter to them by connecting them with research professionals who can help bring their ideas to life. Initially the Fund will focus on ideas related to mental wellbeing, with 3.29m funding to support community initiatives in four geographical areas of the UK including the Derry & Strabane District Council area. The other three locations covered by the Fund include the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Oldham in Greater Manchester and the city of Hull. Findings published today from Mental Wellbeing in the UK research commissioned by the BSA reveal that one in ten (15%) adults surveyed by YouGov in Northern Ireland described their mental wellbeing as poor; and a third (33%) said their wellbeing had worsened since coronavirus restrictions were first introduced in March 2020. Other findings from the survey showed that across the UK, more women (52%) than men (39%) said their wellbeing had deteriorated. Unemployed people (40%) and full-time students (28%) were most likely to describe their mental wellbeing as poor; and homeowners (56%), retired people (63%) and those with a gross annual household income of 45,000+ (53%) were most likely to describe theirs as good. A third (34%) of all UK adults surveyed said they thought young people aged 16-30 were most likely to have poor mental wellbeing in the area where they live. NW COMMUNITY NETWORK Reaching people who may have been overlooked by research in the past is a key aim of The Ideas Fund particularly in rural or minority ethnic communities, amongst the young, marginalised and socioeconomically disadvantaged people. In Northern Ireland, the Fund will be working in partnership with the North West Community Network (www.nwcn.org) and Developing Healthy Communities (www.dhcni.com) to engage local people. North West Community Networks Roisin McLaughlin, said: The North West includes the second largest city in Northern Ireland as well as many rural communities, and many people living in areas with high levels of deprivation. We know the community sector provides vital support, particularly with regard to mental wellbeing, and there are some amazing local researchers in universities and beyond. We cant wait to see what they can do together as part of The Ideas Fund. Were really keen for anyone with an idea either from the community or a research background to register their interest on the Ideas Fund website and either myself or another local representative will be in touch. The Interim Mental Health Champion, Professor Siobhan ONeill, added: I am delighted that Derry City and Strabane District Council area have been chosen to participate in this programme. This is a much welcomed opportunity for our voluntary and community sector that are already doing such great work in addressing issues around mental health and wellbeing in their areas. This funding comes just as we are in the consultation period of the Draft Mental Health Strategy and the programme will offer an evidence-based approach to explore how communities can deliver mental health and wellbeing services. Delivered by the BSA and funded by Wellcome, the Fund supports the BSAs belief that science is about ideas that can and should come from anywhere and Wellcomes commitment to funding ideas that empower people, lead to better research and enable science to solve urgent health challenges. Visit www.theideasfund.org and follow @TheIdeasFund on Facebook and Twitter [January 27, 2021] Telestax Announces Strategic Agreement with NEC to Bring Programmable Communications and CPaaS Applications to the NEC Global Enterprise User Base Today, Telestax, the leading provider of CPaaS enablement to global communications companies, announced a strategic agreement with NEC (News - Alert) Corporation of America (NEC), the leading international provider and integrator of advanced IT, communications, and networking solutions. With this agreement, NEC is partnering with Telestax to bring CPaaS functionality to their extensive customer base and channel partner network. NEC has already incorporated the Telestax programmable SMS functionality into NEC UC-Suite, the company's integrated unified communications solution. The agreement ensures NEC will continue to add programmable SMS and voice, and release new CPaaS turnkey applications to customers throughout the 2021 year. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005069/en/ NEC was most recently recognized as the world's number one provider of call control products to the small and medium business markets (source: MZA Call Control Market Reports). With tens of millions of business users worldwide, NEC is in the top three globally for installed unified communications seats and ranks number one for global line shipments over the past three quarters. This partnership agreement with Telestax represents NEC's rapid global expansion into programmable cloud-based communications and collaboration services. "At NEC, we see the world's SMB market as one of the top priorities to maintaining our leadership position," said Ram Menghani (News - Alert) , President of NEC Enterprise Communication Technologies. "By working with Telestax, we can now deliver the best CPaaS capability to this critical market we already know so well. Thanks to the Telestax business model, it has been simple to integrate and white label their CPaaS platform into a full NEC experience. The Telestax offerings are designed for companies like ours that are strategically focused on rapidly bringing programmable cloud communications to the market." With this agreement, NEC has SMS-enabled a number of their products to improve communications and create new digital channels. The Telestax CPaaS platform has allowed NEC to add multiple new features and benefits, including: SMS enable any fixed line: The NEC UC-SUITE UNIVERGE SV9100 Contact Center application can now send text messages to colleagues, customers, and vendors just as easily as an internal chat message. With SMS enablemet, any fixed line can now support SMS communication. This functionality ensures communications reside in the organization's UC-Suite environment and opens up new opportunities for customer service and support channels. The NEC UC-SUITE UNIVERGE SV9100 Contact Center application can now send text messages to colleagues, customers, and vendors just as easily as an internal chat message. With SMS enablemet, any fixed line can now support SMS communication. This functionality ensures communications reside in the organization's UC-Suite environment and opens up new opportunities for customer service and support channels. Text colleagues a visitor has arrived on-site: The NEC Front Desk Assistant has become critical in providing contactless check-in powered by biometrics. By integrating with the Telestax CPaaS platform, the Front Desk Assistant sends a text message to alert employees that their guest has arrived, fostering a better, socially distant process. Telestax Turnkey Applications include: Smart 2FA - the ability to send a one-time password using the user's preferred channel - voice, messaging, or email. Two-factor authentication protects against phishing attacks and can provide customers with secure access to portals, account data, order status, and more. - the ability to send a one-time password using the user's preferred channel - voice, messaging, or email. Two-factor authentication protects against phishing attacks and can provide customers with secure access to portals, account data, order status, and more. Number Masking - the ability to cloak a customer or agent's number to ensure communications privacy during a phone or text exchange. "We are extremely proud that a company as large as NEC rapidly applied our rich communications APIs to release new features to their global SMB footprint," said Kevin Nethercott (News - Alert) , Chief Commercial Officer for Telestax. "Before the global pandemic hit, we were not thinking of contactless screening, but with CPaaS it's easy to pivot and innovate. Now NEC has a solution to ensure front desk areas have a safe way to intake visitors and send convenient SMS alerts to others. We enjoy working with the NEC team and look forward to more success stories this year." Solutions from NEC such as UC Suite with SMS enablement and Front Desk Assistant with thermal screening are available now. Learn more at https://www.necam.com/UnifiedCommunications/UCSuite/. To inquire about becoming a Telestax partner, please visit http://www.telestax.com or email Telestax at info@telestax.com. About Telestax Telestax is the leading CPaaS enabler for communications service providers and creator of the award-winning Restcomm API platform. Originating in the largest industry open source community, managed by Telestax, Restcomm has been tested by over 10,000 telecom developers and contains over 6 million lines of code. As a trusted partner in real-time communications, Telestax delivers Restcomm Cloud to innovative companies around the world. When service providers join with Telestax, their customers gain the advantage of a superior network and full CPaaS capabilities such as programmable SMS and voice. With bring your own carrier options, white labeling, and a complete suite of voice and messaging APIs, service providers benefit from new revenue streams and a competitive edge in the evolving digital transformation marketplace. Restcomm Cloud removes the friction in application development and business workflow integration with user-friendly tools like the Visual Designer. The Telestax RESTful API gives experienced developers control to create robust omnichannel applications alongside technologies such as advanced IVR and intelligent chatbots. Learn more about Telestax, Restcomm Cloud, and CPaaS enablement at www.telestax.com today. About NEC Corporation of America NEC Corporation of America (NEC) is a leading technology integrator providing solutions that improve the way people work and communicate. NEC delivers integrated Solutions for Society that are aligned with our customers' priorities to create new value for people, businesses and society, with a special focus on safety, security and efficiency. We deliver one of the industry's strongest and most innovative portfolios of communications, analytics, security, biometrics and technology solutions that unleash customers' productivity potential. Through these solutions, NEC combines its best-in-class solutions and technology and leverages a robust partner ecosystem to solve today's most complex business problems. NEC Corporation of America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, a global technology leader with a presence in 160 countries and $29 billion in revenues. 2021 NEC Corporation. NEC and UNIVERGE are registered trademarks of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned are the trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005069/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 A contentious near-total ban on abortion in Poland went into effect late Wednesday, despite rampant opposition from hundreds of thousands of Poles who began protesting in the fall in the largest demonstrations in the country since the 1989 collapse of communism. Thousands of outraged women, teenagers and allies returned to the streets Wednesday night bundled up against the cold after word that a ruling that halts the termination of pregnancies for fetal abnormalities virtually the only kind of abortion performed in Poland would come into force. The decision had been made in October by the Constitutional Tribunal, but its implementation was delayed after it prompted a month of protests. On Wednesday the government abruptly announced that the ruling was being published in the governments journal, meaning it came into effect. The resignation of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has sparked a fresh round of back-room plotting and negotiating as the pandemic rages and the economy tanks. The biggest question is whether he will get back in the saddle. Conte is a survivor, but he has no political party of his own as he tries to recruit a new, broader coalition anchored around himself. He offers investors stability, and that's an outcome that bond traders have craved. In the meantime, parliament and government activity are at a near standstill, raising the sense of urgency. Any coalition Conte might throw together would have to include the two main forces in his last left-leaning government: the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party. Neither has any interest in early elections, so Conte has that in his favor. "The widespread suffering of citizens, the deep social unease and economic difficulties require a clear perspective and a government that has a broader and more stable majority," Conte said in a Facebook post Tuesday. A new government must be a "clearly pro-Europe alliance," able to approve needed reforms, he said. In the last four years President Sergio Mattarella has already asked Conte twice to form a government. With official consultations with parties starting Wednesday and ending late Friday, it's now up to the 79-year-old head of state to confer again with myriad leaders across a complex political spectrum. He's also retiring next year. Polls show that the 56-year-old Conte is one of Italy's most popular figures, though he enters the race weakened after ex-Premier Matteo Renzi of the Italy Alive party pulled the plug on his second government. Renzi, a frequent critic of Conte, could elbow him aside to propel someone else into power, according to officials who asked not to be named on confidential talks. With the European Union's recovery package at stake, EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn urged Italian politicians to end the turmoil quickly. "Think about the good of Italian citizens, not about cheap political games," Hahn told daily La Stampa. "If politicians were distracted by an election campaign, they could not concentrate on what's necessary for the country." Below are the three likeliest scenarios, according to officials close to the talks: - 1. Conte III. Conte comes back to lead his third government in four years. He can count on Five Star and the Democrats, who've pledged to support him, but those two parties alone won't be enough. Conte lost his outright majority in the Senate as soon as Renzi's party pulled out, and he'll need help if he's to replace it. The Conte camp is therefore attempting to set up a new parliamentary grouping with more than a dozen centrists, unaffiliated senators, members of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party and some lawmakers from Italy Alive. Still to be resolved: how much power this group would have and what jobs they'd get. Conte's preference is for several key ministers to be reappointed if he succeeds in his comeback bid. That would include Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri and Health Minister Roberto Speranza. Investors would favor this sort of smooth transition to a still pro-European government. But this step is far from assured. One wing of the Democrats is unenthusiastic about Conte and wants to mend fences with Renzi. Five Star is a chaotic jumble of rival factions. Conte may be putting out feelers to Renzi's group to join a future government, Italian media reported Wednesday. Though Conte and his supporters had said they would never work with the ex-premier again, they are concerned they won't be able to assemble a working majority without him, newspapers including la Repubblica reported. - 2. A new premier. If Conte fails to drum up enough support, or if Renzi succeeds in blocking him, a new figure could emerge to head a similar alliance. So far, there are three people in the running, all Democrats: party leader Nicola Zingaretti, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini and Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini. Alternatively, the next administration could be a so-called government of national unity -- one that would leave right-wing euroskeptics shut out. It could be headed by a widely respected figure like ex-European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, at the helm of a clearly pro-Europe cabinet. The majority could be expanded to include all of Berlusconi's party if the numbers add up. Still, this is an outcome fraught with obstacles. The center-right includes the ailing Berlusconi's Forza Italia, which is divided, and many in Five Star strongly oppose working with establishment figures. - 3. Early elections. This remains only a remote possibility. Conte's backers don't want to see a vote usher in the opposition led by Matteo Salvini of the anti-migrant League. And a Salvini victory would give him a decisive say in picking the next president. There is also the fact that there will be fewer seats in play in the next election after a 2020 constitutional reform downsized both houses of parliament. The virus emergency and the country's crippled economy also suggest that elections would be a last resort for many in the establishment. The window for a vote is gradually closing. Mattarella's presidency ends in February 2022 and by law he cannot dissolve parliament in the last six months of his term. Elections would need to happen before August and the next scheduled vote is set for no later than May of 2023. Charges Filed in Reelfoot Lake Double Homicide By Easton Sanders, West Kentucky Star Staff OBION COUNTY - Authorities have released new information in the case of a Martin, Tennessee man accused of killing two men at Reelfoot Lake on Monday.In a Tuesday Facebook post, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said arrest warrants have been filed for 70-year-old David Vowell on two counts of first degree murder. Vowell is wanted for the shooting deaths of 26-year-old Chance Black and 25-year-old Zach Grooms, both of Greenfield.District Attorney General Tommy Thomas told West Kentucky Star the charges were filed to get Vowell's name into the National Crime Information Center database, and for assistance from the U.S. Marshall's Search Service.On Wednesday, the search at the lake was temporarily called off due to rising water levels. Authorities say it's possible that Vowell killed himself and could still be in the water somewhere. However, Thomas said they've found some tracks and believe he could have gotten out of the water."If he got out and is hiding in the wilderness, we suspect he's dead by now because of exposure." Thomas continued, "So the only option that we think would lead to his presently being alive is if someone assisted him and helped him get out of the area."According to Thomas, they are still performing other investigations such as a recanvass of neighborhoods, and interviews with people in the area.Officials say Vowell is considered armed and dangerous.Anyone who knows the whereabouts of Vowell, or was near the north end of Reelfoot Lake is urged to call 1-800-TBI-FIND. K9 Officer Who Suffered 2 Gunshot Wounds Chasing Armed Suspect Returns Home A Thurston County K-9 officer returned home after being shot during a heated chase. The brave police dog was sent to a hospital in Oregon, where he underwent multiple surgeries by veterinary specialists. Arlo is now recovered and has returned home, where he will continue to rest and recuperate. After the pursuit of an armed driver on I-5 south in Washington state on Jan. 13, Arlo was shot twice and sustained bullet wounds to the leg, shoulder, and neck. According to the Thurston County Sheriff, the armed driver was a 25-year-old male, who was also struck by gunfire and rushed to the hospital in serious condition. The wounded K-9 officer was rushed to a local animal hospital, where he underwent surgery and was stabilized, Komo News reports. However, Arlos care practitioners discovered a bullet lodged near his spine and had to schedule a second surgery, this time with veterinary specialists at Oregon State University in Corvallis. The brave police dog was brought to the hospital via medical transport a day ahead of schedule and underwent the second surgery on Jan. 15. The procedure wasnt going to be easy. Before the surgery, veterinarians had to bring down his fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). Once the fever was under control, they removed the bullet and bone fragments from his spine and surrounding areas. Some of the bullet fragments could not be removed safely, but veterinarians say the fragments should be harmless. The rest of the surgery involved fusing together his C-5, C-6, and C-7 vertebrae with screws and cement. Then, surgeons moved on to cleaning Arlos leg wound. When they cleaned and inspected the bullet wound in the other leg, they were amazed at the lack of injury, deputies said. The bullet missed K-9 Arlos knee by less than a centimeter and that if it had hit the knee, amputation would have been likely. The doctors perform surgery on K-9 officer Arlo. (Courtesy of Thurston County Sheriffs Office) (Courtesy of Thurston County Sheriffs Office) With a cast on his leg and six screws in his neck, Arlo spent a few nights in the hospital before returning to his home in Thurston County. Nearly the entire trip home K-9 Arlo and Deputy Turpin had a Police Escort with lights and sirens, starting from OSU by the OSU PD, deputies said. When Deputy Turpin and K-9 Arlo arrived home, they were greeted by neighbors, friends, firefighters, fellow K-9 handlers from multiple organizations from local and surrounding counties and a multitude of law enforcement officers from all local agencies and surrounding county and police agencies. It was quite humbling! Humbling, perhaps, but not surprising, considering that Arlo has amassed a TikTok following of more than 642,000 followers during his year with the Thurston County Sheriff. A recent photo of Arlo at home resting in comfort. (Courtesy of Thurston County Sheriffs Office) Unfortunately, Arlos neck and shoulder wounds left him with arthritis, and he will not be returning to active duty as a police dog. Deputies say that hes currently at home, resting and recovering with his family. K9 Arlo continues to improve every day. Hes at home resting and getting lots of attention from Deputy Turpin and his family, the department wrote in an update last Wednesday. Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired Newsletter here: https://www.theepochtimes.com/newsletter Tallinn: Estonia needs to restore its reputation after two years with a far-right party in its government, incoming Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. Taking over after the previous government resigned in a corruption scandal, the 43-year-old has refused to keep the far-right EKRE in her cabinet. Breaking from the previous government, Kallas also pledged not to spend any more public money to support Estonias fossil fuel industry, and end oil shale mining by 2040. Kaja Kallas, 43, is the new Prime Minister of Estonia. Credit:AP We have to attract investment [in the shale region] to employ the people working there, in order to prevent social-economic crisis, Kallas said. Alma Kelliher grew up, as she puts it "a stones throw away" from Siamsa Tire and had many of her first creative experiences on its stage, so for her to be now returning, (virtually for now) there's a very real sense of everything coming full circle for her. At the start of this month, Alma - who is a composer and a sound designer - received just the type of good news that you would want to start the year with when she was asked to become one of the new associate artists for the theatre. Well, 'what's an associate artist and what do they do?' I hear you ask. To answer that very question, we went straight to the source and asked Alma to give me (and subsequently you) the run down on what she'll be up to for the next few months. "It's a kind of support system that Siamsa will provide. The specific remit is for me to investigate what 'folk' means to me and means to my work," she said. "I'm a composer, a sound designer and a performer of music and so Siamsa are giving me the opportunity to investigate how I can incorporate folk in my work and also hopefully with the view to doing some form of collaboration with Siamsa down the line," she continued. To say that it's been a tough year for people like Alma and other artists and people who work in the arts, would be the understatement of the year. So, for Alma to get this, as she put it, "support system", she said that it comes at the best time and it is a huge boost to her. "It really is [a big boost] because particularly during Covid, to have that kind of structure, it's a weekly thing, it's wonderful. To feel too like I have a responsibility, not just an opportunity, but a responsibility to work every week, which is a really, really nice feeling, I'm already hugely enjoying the creative headspace of it," Alma said. This is by no means Alma's first connection with Siamsa, indeed the Tralee woman can trace many of her creative roots back to the theatre and for her, this new link almost feels like a 'creative homecoming' of sorts for her. "I was never a member of the Siamsa troupe but my sister Tracey was so when I was a kid, we used to drive her out to Finuge to the Teach Siamsa out there. All my school plays as well and I even learnt the organ in Tralee and all of our concerts were in Siamsa so I feel like I know the space well or it knows me well if you know what I mean," Alma continued. "Because a lot of my music would have elements of Irish mythology in it and that's an area that I've always been really interested in so when Siamsa approached me, I just thought to myself 'jesus, that's a fantastic fit'," she laughed. With Alma just finding her feet in the role at the moment, she said that she had not thought too far ahead into the future about anything specific that she wants to achieve or get out of the next few months, but she did hope that when all this is over, she'd finally get to play her first ever live gig in Kerry. "It's early days at the moment where I'm still just reading, researching and figuring things out but what I'd love to do is to do some work or present something in Siamsa. I've never actually even done a gig in Kerry and I've been performing and playing for years, so ideally in the future, when all this is over, I'd love to do something where I get to come home. That would be fantastic," she finished. Anyone who wishes to find out more about Alma and her music project 'Lux Alma', then they can head over to her website at www.luxalmamusic.com Alma is no stranger to the stage. She has also sung for the likes of Villagers, The Coronas, Sorcha Richardson, Cloud Castle Lake and Roisin O, gigged with I Have a Tribe and Sun Collective, and supported acts including Wallis Bird and The Lost Brothers. Her trio The Evertides were a mainstay of the Irish folk scene for a number of years, playing all the major folk festivals and getting broad radio play throughout Ireland. Lux Alma released her first single The Tomb in December 2018, followed by The Fly in February 2019, The Visit in April 2019. Her latest single The Shadow is available now on Spotify and iTunes. For those who are, its primarily for the safety of older loved ones who are at higher risk, said Grace Lee, the founder and chief executive of Birdy Grey. Others have told us that they are kindly encouraging guests to get the vaccine, but keeping it optional. [Sign up for Love Letter and always get the latest in Modern Love, weddings, and relationships in the news by email.] Among those opposed to requesting guests be vaccinated is Keith Willard, a wedding planner in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. I know in this day and age, it seems that everyone feels they have the right to ask almost anything from their guests, he said. Suggesting vaccination is a totally different story. Guests should be allowed to make decisions that make them comfortable, Mr. Willard said. Lewena Bayer, an expert on civility in the workplace and who is based in Calgary, Alberta, said that if there were high-risk guests, their health was worth risking perceived bad etiquette. She said it was acceptable to ask people to vaccinate, recognizing that some guests might choose not to attend. Not everyone including some doctors agree that a vaccine is necessary for wedding attendance, nor will the vaccine dramatically shift the way we live our lives at the moment. A survey of 700 epidemiologists by The New York Times in December found that the doctors were still worried about the longevity of immunity, the mutation of the virus and vaccine distribution. Three percent of the epidemiologists said they have attended or would have attended a wedding or a funeral within the month before the survey. And half of those surveyed said they would not return to the pre-pandemic normal until at least 70 percent of the population were vaccinated. [January 27, 2021] XIFIN Innovation Drives Growth in Four Key Business Areas Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Following a year that has redefined the diagnostic laboratory industry and healthcare at large, XIFIN experienced strong growth in four key areas in 2020, with expectations of continued momentum into the new year. This includes expansion into digital and genomic health, remote patient monitoring and oncology - while driving notable results for clients and providing unique insights into lab testing activity. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005300/en/ (Graphic: Business Wire) XIFIN has leveraged its vast clinical and financial claims data to create the Lab Volume Index (LVI), a laboratory test tracker informed by payment data that makes up 20 percent of all COVID-19 testing claims nationwide. After a year in which routine testing volume fell as much as 66 percent in the pandemic's early days, the industry has since recovered lost ground while also expanding to support ever-increasing COVID testing demands. In January 2021, routine testing is already over 100 percent of pre-pandemic baseline levels in the US; while COVID-19 and routine testing volume combined is just under 250 percent of baseline. "Diagnostic laboratories have played a remarkable role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has changed how labs will operate moving forward. Today, they manage continually changing testing demands, new data reporting needs and complex reimbursement requirements while looking ahead to anticipate testing shifts resulting from national vaccinations," said Lale White, executive chair and CEO at XIFIN. "We expect that a high volume of COVID-19 testing will continue undiminished for the first quarter of the year as PCR (News - Alert) tests remain the 'gold standard,' providing both viral load and variant data for disease management not available with point-of-care and at-home testing. In addition, the advent of vaccinations does not eliminate the need for testing. We anticipate a lower, but continuing level of PCR testing along with an increase in highly sensitive antibody testing as the number of people vaccinated rises." XIFIN Forecasts Strong PCR Testing Through Q1 2021 in Wall Street Briefing CEO Lale White and COO Kyle Fetter kicked off 2021 with Wall Street investors. On a teleconference with UBS analysts and subscribers, XIFIN leaders discussed the state of the diagnostics industry and shared short and long-term expectations. Notable themes included increased attention on genomic and viral load testing as the COVID-19 virus evolves, anticipation that PCR testing will not slow down until more of the US population is vaccinated, and a forward look at plans to include year-over-year testing comparisons within the LVI. Listen to a recording of the full conversation here. Market Expansion Reflect Shifts in Healthcare Dynamics XIFIN launched solutions XIFIN RPM 12 and XIFIN LIS 7 in 2020. These, along with VisualStrata, made notable impacts for the company and its customers. XIFIN saw a 100 percent customer retention rate, as well as a 25 percent growth in its revenue cycle business, specifically. Over the past year, RPM 12 helped XIFIN customers achieve a 10 to 30 percent average cash collection improvement. LIS volume grew 155 percent, with some clients, including A2Z, an Anatomic Pathology/Molecular lab based in New Jersey, expanding tests on the platform by nearly 600 percent - largely due to due to expansion in COVID testing. In line with increased testing for COVID-19 across all lab sectors, the healthcare industry as a whole saw disruption and innovation in all aspects during 2020, from operations to patient care. In response to the activity shifts in the space, XIFIN saw growth in four significant business areas: Digital and Genomic Health - In 2020, XIFIN welcomed a number of new clients in this space, including home testing innovator Everlywell and miR Scientific, a precision bioscience company focused on transforming cancer management. Companies are capitalizing on the increased acceptance of telehealth for patient care and health counseling services, as well as direct-to-consumer genomic testing. - In 2020, XIFIN welcomed a number of new clients in this space, including home testing innovator Everlywell and miR Scientific, a precision bioscience company focused on transforming cancer management. Companies are capitalizing on the increased acceptance of telehealth for patient care and health counseling services, as well as direct-to-consumer genomic testing. Remote Patient Monitoring Services and Medical Device - Expansion into this space, including the acquisition of several new customers like Notal Vision, emphasizes XIFIN's ability to support a better patient experience. The move also delivers the scalability customers need to meet the increased claim and payor requirements that follow expanded remote monitoring services. - Expansion into this space, including the acquisition of several new customers like Notal Vision, emphasizes XIFIN's ability to support a better patient experience. The move also delivers the scalability customers need to meet the increased claim and payor requirements that follow expanded remote monitoring services. Healthcare Informatics (News - Alert) and Oncology - As researchers and health leadership need to assess a multitude of data points to guide public health policy, collaboration and improved data insights to support value-based care initiatives become critical. For customers like Utah Cancer Specialists, XIFIN's scalable health informatics platform, VisualStrata, became foundational to collaborative efforts with other oncology practices and pharmaceutical companies to advance cancer research through a transparent shared data model. - As researchers and health leadership need to assess a multitude of data points to guide public health policy, collaboration and improved data insights to support value-based care initiatives become critical. For customers like Utah Cancer Specialists, XIFIN's scalable health informatics platform, VisualStrata, became foundational to collaborative efforts with other oncology practices and pharmaceutical companies to advance cancer research through a transparent shared data model. Traditional Laboratory Markets - XIFIN continues to acquire new laboratory clients in addition to providing expanded volume support for existing independent and hospital laboratories. The company's technology and services accelerate the time to reimbursement and cash collection, reducing the administrative burden on clinicians and lab managers. Currently, XIFIN supports 10 of the top 12 publicly traded laboratories in the US and saw growth in all its segments, including an upwards of 500 percent volume increase in Molecular in 2020. "The XIFIN RPM technology infrastructure, analytics and services have been an essential component in meeting our goals," said Kevin Feeley, CFO, BioReference Laboratories, an OPKO Health company. "Volumes have more than doubled and it has been handled to the same level of excellence with our clients and patients, without needing to add additional staff." About XIFIN XIFIN is a healthcare information technology company that leverages diagnostic information to improve the quality and economics of healthcare. The company's cloud-based technology facilitates connectivity and workflow automation for accessing and sharing clinical and financial diagnostic data, linking healthcare stakeholders in the delivery and reimbursement of care. To learn more, visit www.XIFIN.com, follow XIFIN on Twitter and LinkedIn, or subscribe to the XIFIN blog. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005300/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Logan, WV (25601) Today Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Social security payment rates reduced for two months PHUKET: Social Security Fund contributions paid by employers and employees have been reduced further, this time from 3% to 0.5% for two months, in order to help employers and workers affected by COVID-19 crisis. COVID-19Coronaviruseconomics By The Phuket News Wednesday 27 January 2021, 05:26PM Image: NNT Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri announced yesterday (Jan 26) that the Cabinet had approved to reduce the rate for paying contributions from February through March, reported state news agency NNT. Under normal circumstances, contributions from employees covered under Section 33 of the Social Security Act (workers currently employed and paying into the fund) are capped at B750 a month based on a maximum salary of B15,000. The new cap will be B75 a month for employees after the temporary deduction, explained the Bangkok Post. The further deduction for employees came after the Cabinet last month approved cuts in the monthly contributions for both employees and employers to 3% from 5%, the Bangkok Post noted. Also, people paying into the fund under Section 39 of the act (people no longer working but who keep paying into the fund) will pay only B38 instead of B278 per month. Mr Anucha pointed out that the reduced Social Security Fund contributions would apply to 11,164,387 employees under Section 33, and 1,832,500 people under Section 39, as well as about 487,000 employers. Hence, the Cabinet estimated that the contributions now not needed to be paid by workers would release B23.1bn to be injected into the economy, Mr Anucha said. Thail-language daily Post Today noted that the latest SSO Fund reductions, when combined with the previous reductions during March to May and September to November last year, will total about B68.6bn in contributions not collected, thus being released into the national economy. Cabinet ministers fear a public backlash over new mandatory quarantine plans that they believe do not go far enough to stop the spread of the virus from overseas. The new quarantine rules will apply only to anyone travelling from South Africa and Brazil, along with those who arrive in Ireland without a negative Covid-19 test. All other passengers are to be subject to mandatory quarantine in their homes, while a new 500 fine for taking any non-essential travel is to be introduced. Read More However, during a more than four-hour Cabinet meeting, ministers raised concerns the quarantine proposals would not go far enough to stop the spread of the virus or appease public demand for tighter controls on our borders once the spread of the disease was brought under control At the meeting, Culture Minister Catherine Martin and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris both called for stronger regulations than those proposed by the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19. Ms Martin, the Green Party deputy leader, told the meeting she did not believe the quarantine rules were strong enough to deal with the possibility of more variants of the virus emerging. She said a larger managed isolation regime was needed and suggested life would return to near normal by the summer if it was introduced. Mr Harris also said the new rules did not go far enough and called for more clarity on how the proposed quarantine regulations would work in practice. Chief whip Jack Chambers and Education Minister Norma Foley also pushed for tighter restrictions on travellers, who are to be legally ordered to quarantine in their homes. Mr Chambers insisted people should be told to remain in their homes for the two weeks rather than be instructed to restrict their movements.He said the messaging on quarantining at home should be strong to ensure compliance. His call for stricter rules on mandatory quarantining at home was supported by Ms Foley. Questions were also raised at the meeting about how mandatory quarantining at home could be policed. Ministers also called for the list of essential workers to be narrowed to reduce the amount of people allowed to travel overseas. Sources at the meeting said the quarantine proposals presented to the gathering needed a lot more work, which Health Minister Stephen Donnelly committed to undertake in cooperation with other departments. I think we are out of step with the public on this and we should be going further, a source said. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was crazy to expect that people would quarantine in their homes. She called for all passengers to be held in quarantine hotels instead. Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said the quarantine plans was half-baked, and will confuse the situation more. It was a missed opportunity to once and for all set out a strategy to suppress and contain the virus, he said. What we needed was a strong message from the Government that it will once and for all act, instead of more short-term responses, and stop-gap proposals, he added. Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said there was public support for stronger restrictions and urged the Government to act faster. Separately, Housing Minister Darragh OBrien raised concerns at Cabinet about the impact of the continued ban on non-essential construction. He told the meeting that for every week of the lockdown between 700 and 800 houses would not be built. He said the nine weeks of lockdown this year meant his housing targets would be off by between 6,500 and 7,000 new homes. The minister made a submission to the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 over the weekend seeking to have the ban lifted. However, it was decided to extend the ban until March 5. The proposals on international travel agreed by the Cabinet included a commitment to increase the fines for breaches of the rules relating to international travel. The Taoiseach said the fines would be 500. The Government said there would be increased Garda checks and enforcement activity on people making non-essential journeys during Level 5 restrictions. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said under new rules being considered gardai would be able to ask people travelling from the North to the Republic to turn back if they did not have an essential reason for their journey. Regulations for some of the new rules will be signed this week but new legislation will have to be drafted for other elements of the Governments travel restrictions. All India Kisan Sabha New Delhi-1, kisansabha[at]gmail.com 27th January, 2021 AIKS Congratulates the Millions Who Took Part in the Historic Kisan Parade BJP Government & Corporate Media Stop Conspiracy to Discredit Farmers Movement Repeal the Anti-Farmer, Anti-Worker Acts Immediately All India Kisan Sabha congratulates the millions of people who participated in the historic Kisan Mazdoor Parade across the country. Around the National Capital Region lakhs of tractors and other vehicles participated in the parade after hoisting the national flag, singing the national anthem and paying homage to the martyrs. It is for the first time since 15th August 1947 that such large number of Indian citizens led by the peasantry celebrated Republic Day. The parade was held in all States from Kashmir in the North to Kanyakumari in the South and from Gujarat in the West to Tripura in the East. It has reaffirmed the resolve of the people to defeat the anti-farmer, anti-worker Acts brought by the BJP Government to facilitate corporate loot and sent a clear message to the Government. What started as a farmers movement has become a peoples movement with the working class, women, students, youth and oppressed sections taking active part. We thank all those who participated in the parade to make it a great success. The overwhelmingly peaceful protest has rattled the BJP Government and ruling classes. Over the last two months the ruling dispensation and the corporate media has resorted to continuous provocation and spreading of lies. Corporate media and the Sangh Parivar which went all out to malign the peaceful united movement that has been going on for two months are now resorting to a conspiracy to discredit the farmers movement. Corporate media were silent about the martyrdom of over 150 farmers in the last two months of struggle and only carried out a malicious campaign at the behest of the BJP. There have also been many instances of farmers handing over agent provocateurs to the police including yesterday; notably many claimed to have been sent by the police themselves. After yesterdays isolated incidents in the Capital condemned by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and AIKS, the BJP Government and corporate media is seeking to paint the farmers movement as an unruly, violent movement. Rather the SKM leadership intervened effectively in a timely manner to resist a small section which was trying to force tractors to deviate from the designated route towards the Red Fort. It stopped movement of tractors from Singhu Border at 2 PM itself and also called off the Parade at 6 PM. This effectively isolated the group that played into the hands of the Government and their game-plan. The events point clearly to the complicity of the BJP Government with the disruptive elements. AIKS is confident that the people of our country will reject this conspiracy with the contempt it deserves. The BJP Government and the police have certain uncomfortable questions to answer. Why did police go against the route plan agreed with the SKM leadership and allow an alternative route to a small section which was allowed to reach up to the Red Fort? What is the connection of Prime Minister Modi and the BJP with Deep Sidhu and others who led the team to hoist the flag at Red Fort? Why have they not been arrested yet? Why did the police resort to brutal lathi-charge on the Parade from Palwal after it peacefully crossed 15 Km and the mutually agreed route was to cover 45 Km. AIKS warns the BJP Government and the Prime Minister that the sinister conspiracy against the united farmers movement will be defeated by the people of our country. We will reach out to all corners of India and to every citizen to expose this conspiracy. The BJP Government should stop resorting to lies and malicious propaganda, repeal the Anti-Farmer, Anti-Worker Acts and hold discussions to resolve the other issues raised by the farmers and workers. AIKS appeals to the people of our country to expose the conspiracy unleashed by the ruling classes using the corporate media. AIKS calls upon the Government to desist from resorting to threats and arrests of farmers leaders. AIKS would like to make it clear that the struggle has only been gaining in strength and will continue till the demands are met. Sd/- Ashok Dhawale, President Sd/- Hannan Mollah, General Secretary Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Calloway Assault Leads to Three Arrests By West Kentucky Star Staff CALLOWAY COUNTY - Three people were arrested Tuesday morning after a report of an assault in Calloway County.The Calloway County Sheriff's Department says deputies responded at around 9:45 a.m. to a report of an assault on 121 South in New Concord. Deputies said the victim told them 53-year-old Dennis Payton had assaulted them with a weapon.Deputies arrested Payton at a home on Newman Drive.Deputies said they recognized 50-year-old Deborah Duncan, who had active arrest warrants, in a vehicle at the home. They also located 52-year-old Rickey Carter. Both Duncan and Carter were found with methamphetamine, various prescription medications and marijuana.Payton is charged with second-degree assault, third-degree terroristic threatening, and menacing.Duncan faces charged of second-degree possession of a controlled substance, third-degree possession of a controlled substance, and illegal possession of a legend drug. She was also charged with theft by unlawful taking over $500 and theft of a controlled substance under $10,000 related to an earlier investigation.Carter is charged with possession of meth, possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. There have been repeated calls for an all-Ireland approach to covid on this island, but we already have one both jurisdictions are committed to half-measures that will inevitably prolong the crisis. What will it take for the governments north and south of the border to work together in a meaningful way? We can remove pandemic from the list of possibilities. We now know that even when faced with a natural disaster, which has claimed more lives than the Troubles and threatens the economic security of everybody living on this island, the preferred response to any suggestion of co-operation is, no. As the public comes to terms with the prospect of another year lost to covid, politicians seem more concerned with saving face and scoring political points than embarking on an elimination strategy so that life can return to normal. Sinn Fein and the DUP barley tolerate each other at the best of times, but this political animus is no excuse for the dereliction of duty in the Norths handling of the disease that has seen the death rate there reach three times that of the Republic. The DUPs apparent view is that a joined-up response, between both jurisdictions, would amount to some kind of dilution of their Britishness as if there is a separate orange virus and green virus that adheres to ones cells on the basis of nationality. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein have the temerity to lambast Micheal Martin and Leo Varadkar for a failure to implement an all-island strategy, despite the fact that they are a member of the Executive in the North which refuses to agree it. Read More The Dublin government does not have the power to swoop into the North and unilaterally implement a health strategy. If we want a co-ordinated response, it will require buy in from the Assembly and that will require negotiation and compromise concepts that appear to be anathema to the politicians in power. Writing in The Irish Times yesterday, Mary Lou McDonald called on the government here to initiate planning for a united Ireland because, what better way to convince the DUP to come to the table during this precarious time than raise the spectre of a border poll and a united Ireland? Common sense dictates that we must meet the challenges of the virus on an all-Ireland basis in the immediate term; including in respect of international travel. We can lose no more time in rising to this challenge, she wrote. Common sense may dictate it, but what is Sinn Fein doing to convince its partners in Stormont of the merits of this plan? Because they are the ones who need to be convinced and Sinn Fein are among the only political parties who can do it. I cant have been the only one who read McDonalds piece and thought plans for a united Ireland are entirely fanciful when we cant even get agreement on a temporary all-island approach to the suppression of a killer disease. This is not to suggest our own government are entirely blameless for the current morass. Politicians on this side of the border have raised the hackles of the DUP by unfairly criticising aspects of the Norths response to the pandemic even when that criticism is unwarranted. A case in point is Micheal Martin alleging, on RTEs Brendan OConnor show over the weekend, there was no testing for the UK variant in the North as it wasnt as big an issue there. This was met with a swift rebuke from both the Northern Ireland Department of Health and Arlene Foster. When Ireland was performing well, and boasted the lowest rate of covid transmission in the EU at the end of November, government ministers here could lord it over the Norths performance with some justification. However, now that our rate of transmission is among the highest in the world, its time for ministers here to eat some humble pie and admit they have made grievous mistakes in their handling of the pandemic. If we want to move forward and meet this challenge in a manner that assures the best chance of success for everybody on this island, then a change of both tone and strategy is needed. No one has a monopoly on wisdom when it comes to tackling a novel virus that is barely a year old. A good starting point would be an admission that everyone has made mistakes, but that we need to learn from them instead of continually repeating them. The Dublin government has made much of the fact that the porous border is a barrier to a zero covid strategy, yet has refused to share relevant travel locator documents, of passengers flying into Dublin, with its counterparts in the North. This is despite the fact that Micheal Martin publicly promised to address this issue as far back as last July. Finally resolving this matter would be a sign of good faith that the rhetoric about the need for a co-ordinated approach is more than mere lip service or, as DUP MP Ian Paisley Junior described it, all mouth and no trousers. While politicians butt heads and jockey for position, what the public wants, north and south of the border, is a coherent approach that maximises the potential for the elimination of the virus. Above all the public wants to see a plan that restores some semblance of hope that this disaster can be managed. What we have instead is a circular firing squad of politicians who spend their time squabbling and making excuses. Rather than highlighting all of the difficulties and obstacles to co-ordinating strategies, politicians should work to identify areas where co-operation can be achieved and then aim to build up from this foundation. This is essential because of one inescapable fact no one will be safe on this island until everyone is safe. We cant beat covid alone. It requires co-operation. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! POTTSVILLE A spokeswoman for the parent company of a city skilled nursing facility says the company is willing to work with the newly formed union at the center, but the COVID-19 pandemic is still an issue. In a prepared statement, Kennett Square-based Genesis HealthCare spokeswoman Lori Mayer said the company will always work with a union as much as possible, adding that it has worked closely with the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, in the state and nationally. More than 100 licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants and activity aides at the facility agreed last Thursday to unionize with SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania. Mayer said in her statement that the president of SEIU in Pennsylvania has commended Genesis HealthCare for its pandemic response initiatives. But she said centers represented by SEIU have similar mortality rates compared with other facilities owned by Genesis nationwide. Its no secret that this virus has affected our most vulnerable population, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who passed away due to the COVID-19 virus, Mayer said. Wages and benefits at the companys facilities are competitive, she said, adding that Schuylkill Center increased starting wages during the 2019 to 2020 time period. Local union organizer Diane Pritiskutch, a licensed practical nurse at the center, said Monday workers formed the union to make sure residents continue to get the high quality of care our home is known for. In a statement Monday, the union said close to a majority of center employees have been infected by COVID-19, adding that employees want to ensure resources are used to recruit and retain staff. In its announcement Monday, the union pointed to a study from Health Affairs that shows unionized nursing homes have lower mortality rates from the disease. It alleged that even before the pandemic, the company failed to provide regular raises to center employees and took away holidays, retirement contributions and other benefits. Pritiskutch added that employees havent had raises in several years. Weekly Covid-19 testing is to be introduced at special schools in Northern Ireland. (Liam McBurney/PA) Weekly Covid-19 testing for pupils and staff at Northern Ireland's special schools is to be introduced from the start of February. Special schools have remained open during the latest lockdown to care for pupils with complex needs. It is hoped the new testing programme will identify cases of Covid-19 early among those without symptoms, reducing the risk of spreading the virus throughout the school. The testing will be delivered by the Queen's University Belfast laboratory using a new testing technology called LAMP (loop-mediated isothermal amplification). LAMP is a saliva-based test and is expected to be easier than swab testing for children attending special schools. Test results will be available on the same day as the samples are obtained and school principals will work with the Public Health Agencys (PHA) Schools Team to take any required public health action on receipt of a positive result. The programme is jointly sponsored by the Departments of Health and Education and is subject to business case approval. Health Minister Robin Swann said LAMP testing was a "significant development in our fight against Covid-19". "The introduction of this new testing intervention for staff and pupils in special schools will allow positive cases to be identified early so that they and their contacts can isolate, helping to prevent further transmission of Covid-19 within these school settings," Mr Swann said. New Testing Interventions (NTIs) are progressing in a range of educational settings in Northern Ireland, including schools and universities, with the PHA playing an important role in their planning and operational delivery. Testing is one element in our road map out of this pandemic and I hope everyone avails of the opportunity to be tested, to keep themselves and those they care for safe. Education Minister Peter Weir acknowledged there had been calls for additional measures to support staff and students in special schools. The nature of special schools means that social distancing is difficult and it is important that staff are given every support possible to help them continue their vital and valuable work," the DUP MLA said. "Access to this testing programme will help provide additional reassurance to teaching staff, pupils and parents. I would encourage all staff and pupils to take the tests. Last week Stormont's Education Committee heard how staff in special schools were "living in fear" of catching the virus. It emerged that that Public Health Agency guidance allows for a child whose parent has tested positive for Covid to attend school after 10 days of no symptoms, even if another family member tests positive. Teaching unions had repeatedly called for all teachers and education staff to be prioritised for the Covid-19 vaccine. A number of special schools in Northern Ireland have moved to two-day weeks due to staffing pressures as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. After his arrest Jeffrey Epstein received $158 million and billionaire Leon Black is retiring as the CEO of the private equity firm he co-founded. The amount is considerably higher than originally reported, with reports last year in The New York Times reporting that he had paid Epstein $75 million. "Given the extraordinary strength and depth of Apollo's management team and consistent with best-in-class governance practices, I have advised the Apollo board that I will retire as CEO on or before my 70th birthday in July and remain as chairman," Black stated in a comment. Jeffrey Epstein Receives $158 Million Right after the arrest and suicide of alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, there has been a lot of questions as to how he got the luxurious fortune even without any real paper trail in finance which enable him to support such predatory lifestyle. An initial response can be tracked back to the CEO of the large private equity corporation, Leon Black, according to the findings of an internal Apollo Global Management report. Between 2012 and 2017, investigators found that, in addition to a $30 million loan, of which just a third was paid back, Black paid Epstein $158 million for a "variety of issues related to trust and estate planning, tax, philanthropy, and the operation of the Family Office." Black's payments to Epstein came right after Epstein was released from prison for a 2008 conviction on a charge of procuring a child for sex, which is a settlement that was notoriously lenient, allowing him to be free from prison work. Black and Epstein Management Rivalry In the Dechert study, a friendship going way back to the 1990s has been jotted down, with Black impressed by Epstein's links to prominent figures in politics, industry, and science, such as Harvard University researchers and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Black visited Epstein's Manhattan mansion regularly, entrusting him with private affairs and visiting his houses all throughout the globe. According to the paper, one of Jeffrey Epstein's contributions was convincing Black to concentrate on these problems, as well as meeting with his family and discussing how the estate was structured. He would prepare comprehensive "fire drill" plans, checking in various conditions how Black's estate would be taxed. Epstein's efforts were not always respected by Black's full-time employees. "In the family office, he was "generally a destructive and caustic power," the report said, one who "had a habit of overdramatizing even small perceived errors. Moreover, while putting up long lists of his own suggestions, Jeffrey Epstein would take credit for the ideas of others. Under pressure, several of his innovative estate-planning systems did not hold up. According to witnesses, including Black, "part of working with Epstein's challenge was to separate the good ideas from the bad ones." ALSO READ: Trump Offers Washington DC Hotel To National Guards Kicked Out of the US Capitol Black believed that his partnership provided only professional services that included "estate planning, tax, and philanthropic endeavors" as well as occasional meetings to conduct business at Epstein's townhouse, as he claims, Epstein had no separate office. Through emails that invoked his friendship with the billionaire and referenced private affairs shared in trust, Epstein pushed back on the matter at hand. Black had stood strong and while it was decided at an April 2018 meeting that while Epstein had played a key role in the transaction, one of Black's external lawyers had the idea. On Monday, in a letter to investors Black had stated that he committed $200 million to services that help survivors of sexual harassment, domestic abuse, and human trafficking, one way he will "begin to address the grievous error" of maintaining a professional relationship with Epstein. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Biden's trans military policy reversal will have catastrophic consequences, opponents warn Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment President Joe Biden has reversed a Trump executive order that banned trans-identified individuals from serving in the U.S. military, drawing criticism from military veterans who warn that the policy change will have catastrophic consequences. The White House announced the reversal Monday, stating that Biden had signed an executive order "... that sets the policy that all Americans who are qualified to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States should be able to serve. In July 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced in a series of tweets that individuals who identify as transgender would be prohibited from serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. Among the issues Trump cited at the time included the cost of paying for elective cosmetic surgeries and cross-sex hormones estimated between $2.4 million and $8.4 million each year. Trans-identified soldiers would also be taking an extensive amount of time off to recover from elective cosmetic procedures. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail, Trump wrote in one Twitter post when he reversed the Obama administration's policies on trans-identified people serving in the military. Biden's reversal came as incoming Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gave testimony during his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 indicating that the restrictions would be lifted. I truly believe that if youre fit and youre qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve, Austin said in response to a question from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. "And you can expect that I will support that throughout. Opponents of the reversal of the restrictions say that the move will impair military readiness and fuels further division in an already divided society. Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.,-based Family Research Council and a U.S. Marine veteran, said in a statement Monday that the move betrays Biden's promise to bring unity to a divided country. "Providing our service members with the resources to keep our country safe would help move our country in this direction. Instead, President Biden is diverting precious dollars from mission-critical training to something as controversial as gender reassignment surgery. The military cannot focus its efforts on preparing to fight and win wars when it is being used as a vehicle to advance the far-left's social agenda," Perkins said. Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, director of The Heritage Foundation think-tank's Center for National Defense, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post Monday that "political correctness" was being prioritized over military readiness. "By overturning the current policy regarding individuals suffering from gender dysphoria, the commander in chief is signaling that he is more interested in social engineering than safeguarding the health and well-being of American service members, Spoehr said. "After considerable study, the previous administration found gender dysphoric people attempt suicide at about nine times the rate of the general population. Service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria are also nine times more likely to have mental health encounters with a professional." Given that military service is inherently stressful, he continued, the rate of suicide among military personnel is already higher than that of the general population. "It would be immoral to place individuals at higher risk from mental injury such as those suffering from gender dysphoria in a situation where they are likely to experience extraordinary stress, he said. The Pentagon has said that approximately 9,000 service members identify as transgender, though independent estimates have put the number at around 16,000, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fewer than 1,000 have received a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria. In 2016, the RAND Corporation published a study on Pentagon medical expenditures and found that the costs incurred by U.S. taxpayers to pay for trans-identifying service members' medical costs fell somewhere between $2.4 million and $8.4 million each year. Maya Jama appeared to be a tad bored backstage at a photoshoot on Wednesday, posting a series of snaps to Instagram. The TV presenter, 30, posed behind-the-scenes in a semi-sheer white vest, flashing her waist, over a pair of snakeskin trousers. She wore her honeyed locks in waves around her shoulders, showcasing a perfectly made-up complexion. Bored? Maya Jama appeared to be a tad bored backstage at a photoshoot on Wednesday, posting a series of snaps to Instagram She accessorised with gold jewelry and flashed an orange manicure. Maya was seen lounging around between snapping photos, and took a selfie balancing a take-out coffee cup on her face. She showed off her dance moves on Friday as she sipped on a glass of wine and got 'waved' in her London apartment amid the UK's third lockdown. The TV presenter flaunted her incredible figure in a plunging white crop top and jeans, as she recorded herself shaking her hips in her kitchen. Killing time: Maya was seen lounging around between snapping photos, and took a selfie balancing a take-out coffee cup on her face Lazy gal: She wore her honeyed locks in waves around her shoulders, showcasing a perfectly made-up complexion Stylish: The TV presenter, 30, posed behind-the-scenes in a semi-sheer white vest, flashing her waist, over a pair of snakeskin trousers Maya rocked a gold necklace and displayed her natural beauty with minimal make-up as she captured the sizzling video. Her raven tresses tumbled down her back in a straight hairdo and she captioned the upload to her 2 million Instagram followers: 'Friday nights in lockdown.. FaceTime waved in my kitchen '. Maya was recently announced as the new host of BBC Threes Glow Up: Britains Next Make Up Star. Cheers: Maya is no stranger posing with coffee, having recently shared snap with her favourite coffee from London restaurant eggslut Glow Up returns for a third season later this year and the TV sensation will replace Stacey Dooley, who fronted the series for two previous runs. Maya said of the recent appointment: 'I absolutely LOVE Glow Up and cant wait to join the family! Im obsessed with makeup and creating different looks - its going to be so much fun and I cant wait to see what the [Make Up Artists] get up to!' Industry icons Val Garland and Dominic Skinner will also return as series judges, on hand to whittle down ten budding Make Up Artists [MUAs] one by one, before discovering Britains Next Make Up Star. Capturing the moment: The TV presenter sipped on a glass of wine and got 'waved' as she recorded herself, shaking her hips in her kitchen Having a whale of a time: Maya rocked a gold necklace and displayed her natural beauty with minimal make-up as she captured the sizzling video Stacey, 33, announced in October that she would be leaving as host. She tweeted: 'I won't be able to be a part of Glow Up, series 3. It was such an utter delight to work alongside Dom and Val. Total stars. 'And of course, a real treat to meet the artists, and appreciate their creativity! It's a show v close to my heart, and I wish everyone involved in the next gig, all the love in the world.' [sic] It's understood signing on to host new show This Is MY House led to Stacey being unable to front season three of Glow Up. Stunning: Her raven tresses tumbled down her back in a straight hairdo and she captioned the upload: 'Friday nights in lockdown.. FaceTime waved in my kitchen ' Her new show - set to air this year - sees four people declare a property is theirs, but only one of them is telling the truth. A team of celebrity judges will work together to figure out who is the honest homeowner and who are the imposters. When she announced the new show, and her subsequent departure from Glow Up, trolls hit out at Stacey on Twitter for ditching one to front the other. She replied to some of the comments, saying: 'Reading some of the unnecessarily cruel comments re my new gig. I got the same criticism doing Strictly and Glow Up. Back to business: Maya was recently announced as the new host of BBC Threes Glow Up: Britains Next Make Up Star 'I did well on Strictly and Glow Up went on to be a global series, that was recommissioned and Netflix took. I don't know why this platform is so unkind.' [sic] Meanwhile, Maya will be adding Glow Up to her CV of hosting gigs, which already includes a show on BBC Radio 1, the MOBO Awards, Stand Up To Cancer, and Save Our Summer with Peter Crouch. Some of the most revered names in the beauty and fashion industry have also appeared on the show, from Rankin, Henry Holland and Andrew Gallimore through to NikkieTutorials, Anastasia Soare and Lisa Armstrong. Glow Up series three will be available to stream in the UK exclusively on BBC iPlayer later this year. With science continuing to point to respiratory droplets and aerosols as a principal means of transmission, the study focused on airflow and the impact of ventilation rates and types, purification technologies (specifically needlepoint bipolar ionization) and the proper use of masks. The study was led by Dr. Qingyan (Yan) Chen, the James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue, who is widely recognized for his research into the spread of infectious disease through indoor air systems and how to prevent it. Dr. Chen uses sophisticated computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling in his research, which has focused on indoor environments, aircraft cabins and building design and analysis. He has published three books and over 470 journal and conference papers. He previously served as Principal Director of the Federal Aviation Administration's Center of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research. Dr. Chen and team looked at likely exposure to the virus, which can be quantified by the frequency, duration and intensity of exposure. The duration of a typical elevator ride is short usually less than a minute. Multiple scenarios of two-minute elevator rides were modeled to assess relative risk. Intensity of exposure is impacted by the level of air exchange or ventilation. Elevators have significant air exchange by design, compared to many other indoor spaces, and are required by code to have openings for ventilation. Many elevators also have fans to increase ventilation. "Air exchange is important. Our findings concluded that the higher ventilation in an elevator, relative to the compared activities, results in lower exposure opportunity. If all passengers properly wear masks, the relative exposure risk drops 50%. Air purification, called NPBI, can reduce this by an additional 20-30%," said Dr. Chen. "We compared the relative exposure risk of elevators to other common activities in a typical workday, including an hour-long bus ride and eight hours in an office environment. Riding an elevator was a lower exposure risk activity, given the short duration of an elevator ride." Qualitative comparisons place riding an elevator with all passengers wearing masks in a low exposure risk category, with a relative risk similar to that of shopping in a supermarket. "Elevators are an essential part of everyday life for many, often the first leg in your journey and the last on your route home. We know many passengers have questions about exposure risks associated with riding an elevator, and we want to provide answers verified by science," said Robin Fiala, Vice President, Marketing and Sales. "We're sharing the study results broadly in advance of publication to keep riders well-informed and limit misconceptions." More details of the elevator airflow study, including a technical whitepaper, are available on otis.com. The full technical report, authored by the Purdue University research team, is available by request and expected to be published in a peer-reviewed academic journal later this year. About Otis Otis gives people freedom to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world. The global leader in the manufacture, installation and servicing of elevators and escalators, we move 2 billion people a day and maintain more than 2 million customer units worldwide the industry's largest Service portfolio. You'll find us in the world's most iconic structures, as well as residential and commercial buildings, transportation hubs and everywhere people are on the move. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 69,000 people strong, including 40,000 field professionals, all committed to meeting the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories. To learn more, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @OtisElevatorCo. 1All riders properly wearing (nose and mouth covered) surgical-style masks as recommended by the World Health Organization as compared to no riders wearing masks. 2Air purification called needle point bipolar ionization (NPBI) as compared to elevators without NPBI air purification. SOURCE Otis Worldwide Corporation Related Links http://www.otis.com Penn State Health doctors on Wednesday acknowledged that health care workers who dont directly care for patients are receiving COVID-19 vaccine, even as outsiders who are older or have serious medical conditions endure long waits. They defended it, explaining that even hospital employees who arent directly involved in patient care have a crucial role in keeping the hospital running, and its therefore appropriate to vaccinate them. So many of them, while they might not be right at the patient bedside, are crucial to our day-to-day, even our hour-to-hour functions, which is the right reason to have them vaccinated so that hospital functions proceed uninterrupted, said Dr. Peter Dillon, the executive vice president and chief clinical officer for Penn State Health. RELATED: Gov. Wolf acknowledges Pa. in middle of pack for COVID-19 vaccination, says its not good enough More than three million Pennsylvanians became eligible for vaccine last week when the state expanded the highest priority group to include everyone over 65 and people 16-64 with chronic medical conditions, including smokers. That prompted a surge in demand that far exceeds available vaccine. Many people who are at high risk of becoming severely ill or dying from COVID-19 because of age or a condition such as heart disease have been unable to get an appointment, and have little idea of when their turn will come. Before last week, vaccine had been restricted mostly to health care workers and people in nursing homes, and even then was in short supply in Pennsylvania and all over the country. The rush on vaccine and barriers that many vaccine seekers are encountering is causing some to fear that people such as doctors, health care administrators or pharmacists might steer doses to favored people such as friends or relatives rather than people who are supposed to come first. It also has prompted complaints that eligibility for health care workers is too broad, enabling some who are removed from patient care to get vaccinated before people who have a more essential role, such as police officers or teachers. Dillon said hes heard reports of people being administered vaccine who maybe shouldnt have received it. However, he said hes heard no such reports from within Penn State Health, which includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center and Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center. We are being very careful to make sure the right people get the right dose at the right time, he said. Alison Beam, Pennsylvanias acting secretary of health, said this week the state health department knows of no instances of vaccine being steered to people who dont belong in Phase 1a, the highest priority group and which includes about 4 million Pennsylvanians. Pressed on the issue during a news briefing, Beam said an auditing process exists that could allow the state to verify whether or not a dose went to an eligible person, but she didnt go into detail. On a Wednesday conference call with reporters, two other Penn State Health doctors, in addition to Dillon, acknowledged and defended vaccinating non-frontline health care workers. Every operation I do has support from people who are in the back office who are scheduling the surgery supply chain, who are bringing the equipment we need, the blood bank, and all those people need to be protected so they come to work every day and allow us to do our jobs to take care of people, said Dr. Bret Delone, a surgeon and vice president for medical affairs at Penn State Health Holy Spirit. Dr. Jeffrey Held, the vice president for medical affairs at Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center, noted that, during the pandemic, some employees who dont normally interact with patients have been forced to do so because of staff shortages. Dillion said Penn State Health has vaccinated about 70% of its approximately 20,000 employees and we still have some to do. However, he said Penn State Health, including all three of its hospitals, is also reaching out to its highest risk patients and vaccinating them. Because of the limited vaccine supply, Penn State Health is being careful in selecting the patients, with most being over 75. Still, he noted Penn State Health has about 400,000 patients it would like to vaccinate, and further plans to open up clinics throughout its service area to vaccine non-patients. However, the Penn State Health doctors echoed the statements of Gov. Tom Wolf, and health care leaders all over the country, in saying the limited supply of vaccine, more than anything, is responsible for the inability to vaccinate all who want it. Wolf said this week Pennsylvania is only receiving 143,000 doses per week, with the supply further diluted by the fact that the two presently available vaccine brands require two doses to be fully effective. The Penn State Health leaders, as did Wolf, expressed optimism the vaccine supply will soon expand. Delone noted a Johnson & Johnson vaccine nearing approval requires only one dose, which will greatly help the effort to vaccinate more people. Tran Trong Khanh has always returned home to Vietnam during Tet to be with his mother, but the Covid-19 pandemic has put paid to such desires this year. More than two weeks before Tet (Lunar New Year) on February 12, Khanh is reconciled to an unusual holiday this year since he knows he cannot make it to Vietnam. "I know we live in a pandemic-hit year, so I have gradually given up hopes of reuniting with my family," the graduate student in Toronto said. His 71-year-old mother had also been looking forward to seeing her son. But Vietnam, which has closed its borders since March 2020 and only lets its nationals return on government repatriation flights, has had few such flights this year. Khanh is among many Vietnamese living across the world who wanted to return home but are unhappily reconciled to a quiet Lunar New Year without the customary family reunion or parties. A street vendor sells peach blossoms, a common Tet decoration in northern Vietnam, in Hanoi before Tet in January 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Ngoc Thanh. "I will call my mom and celebrate Tet with her on the screen, but it is not the same as being there. Anyway, I have mentally prepared for it." Some retain a glimmer of hope and keep checking for news about repatriation flights. On several Facebook groups for Vietnamese living abroad, mostly workers and students, members tell each other to keep their eyes peeled for the flight schedule and prepare to pay a lot if they are allowed to fly before Tet. Between January 26 and 28, some flights will bring Vietnamese from South Korea, Japan, Australia, the U.S., and Europe home. But they will never be enough to meet the surging demand with the holiday barely two weeks away. Some have opted for traveling to neighboring countries and entering Vietnam via land. On a 2,200-member Facebook group called "Ve Viet Nam Qua Duong Campuchia" (Returning to Vietnam via Cambodia), people exchange tips for flying to Vietnams neighboring country and entering Vietnam legally. "People should not be incited to avoid quarantine ... or make an illegal entry," a group administrator has warned. In the last few weeks, thousands of Vietnamese workers in Laos and Thailand gave up opportunities to earn extra money and instead returned to Vietnam earlier than usual to enter the compulsory 14-day quarantine before going home for Tet. But many others chose illegal ways. "I want to help my parents clean up the house and cook traditional foods for Tet; they will be sad without me there," an unnamed Vietnamese woman in Malaysia said. She had registered for a ticket on a flight but was not chosen. Some 100-150 people are caught daily trying to enter illegally through unmanned border trails, posing a huge risk of bringing Covid-19 into the country. In late December nine Vietnamese workers came from Myanmar through Thailand and Cambodia illegally into the country and avoided quarantine. After the mother of one of them reported the situation to Saigon authorities, all were traced and tested and four of them tested positive with coronavirus. On January 22, a boat illegally bringing 38 Vietnamese from Malaysia was intercepted off Ca Mau Province. Deputy Minister of National Defense Lieutenant General Tran Don has ordered the military to bolster troop numbers along borders to prevent illegal entrants since many Vietnamese work in neighboring countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and China. Vietnamese workers returning from Laos and Thailand listen to quarantine regulations at Cau Treo border gate in Ha Tinh Province, central Vietnam, January 17, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Duc Hung. Yearning for home Besides Tet, another reason many Vietnamese look forward to returning is that they have undergone a year of upheavals with job losses, lack of money and expired visas. In South Korea, Luong Thi Nga, 40, said the restaurant where she worked has been closed for three months, and she has no income "to live ... in a strange land." "I must spend a lot from my savings since tickets on repatriation flights are very expensive," the woman from the northern Tuyen Quang Province said. In countries like Malaysia, Brunei and the United Arab Emirates, many Vietnamese workers complain on Facebook that their employers have delayed salary payments because of their gloomy business situation. Some workers and students want to return since their visa or study program is finished. In Finland, Nguyen Thuy Linh and two of her Vietnamese friends, who graduated from a university in July 2020, have been living frugally to survive the ordeal. They could not return by a repatriation flight from Paris on January 28, and said they might celebrate the Lunar New Year with other Vietnamese in Helsinki. "Not seeing my family at Tet makes me sad, but we have to lift our spirits and try to enjoy what we have here," Linh said. The government has urged Vietnamese expatriates not to travel home for the New Year. It is normally a time for family reunions, but the Ministries of Health, National Defense, and Public Security agreed it is necessary to "encourage Vietnamese living overseas to comply with pandemic prevention regulations in their host countries." Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the transport ministry would study the possibility of resuming international flights after the holiday, from February 10 to 16, with restrictions remaining in place. "I will order some fast food or make some spring rolls for the Lunar New Year, and my friend in Vietnam will send me some banh chung," Khanh said, adding he would still be homesick. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Offer a personal message of sympathy... By sharing a fond memory or writing a kind tribute, you will be providing a comforting keepsake to those in mourning. If you have an existing account with this site, you may log in with that below. Otherwise, you can create an account by clicking on the Log in button below, and then register to create your account. Dead trees dont usually make compelling roadside attractions, but the giant stump at Klootchy Creek is an exception. Once measuring 200 feet tall with a 17-foot diameter and a circumference of 56 feet, the Sitka spruce between Seaside and Cannon Beach was officially the largest tree in Oregon, and one of the largest trees of its species in the country, before a windstorm finally destroyed it in 2007. The tree sprouted from the earth some 750 years ago, when only the Clatsop tribe of the Chinookan peoples lived along that stretch of coastline, long before European fur trappers and settler colonizers arrived. By the time the land it stood on was called Oregon, the tree had long since reached maturity. It eventually topped out at 216 feet tall though its crown at some point was cut short to 200. The tree withstood centuries of windstorms, lightning strikes and fires. It even survived the blades of timber companies that tore through neighboring forests with abandon, leaving it as one of the few true giants remaining in the region. Nature finally took its course in 2006, when a winter storm blew out a chunk of rotted wood along an old lightning scar on the trunk, creating a cavity 15 feet wide and two feet deep. Clatsop County officials said the tree wasnt likely to survive and contemplated cutting it down, according to reports in The Oregonian at the time. One year later, the ailing tree was dealt a final blow. During back-to-back storms that battered the coastline in December 2007, the giant Sitka spruce split 75 feet from the ground, sending tons of shattered wood and huge, moss-covered limbs to the ground. County officials decided to clean up the mess and leave the tree to rot in peace. The Klootchy Creek Sitka spruce in 2004, when it was the largest tree in Oregon.Terry Richard/The Oregonian Linda Casio of Vancouver blesses the world's tallest Sitka spruce in 2007 after it was damaged by a storm.Jamie Francis/The Oregonian Klootchy Creek County Park, found between Seaside and Cannon Beach on the north Oregon coast, is home to a dead Sitka spruce that was once the largest tree in Oregon. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian Today, visitors to Klootchy Creek County Park along U.S. 26 can see the severed, sun-bleached trunk standing tall still a giant beside its smaller neighbors. A piece of fallen trunk has been set beside the old tree, rotting from within, its decaying body providing fresh life for the next generation of trees. Klootchy Creek, once famous as home to the big tree, is now a quick pit stop for travelers on the way to the coast, a place to stretch legs and take a quick walk along the short, forested trail. The park has also become a gateway for the new Klootchy Creek mountain bike trail system, which is replacing the tree as the parks primary attraction. Visitors access the 25-acre park off U.S. 26, at a signed turnoff about 1.5 miles east of U.S. 101. The giant Sitka spruce might be dead, but the land where it rots continues to thrive. Stripped of its titles and most of its height, the tree continues to inspire awe for all those who stop by to see it. Stand by the stump and stare up to the sky, and you might be able to imagine the heights it once reached. --Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB Successful Validation of Novel AmyloFlextm Modified Release Technology Platform: New Safer to Use Value Added Tablets AHMEDABAD, INDIA and LAVAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited ("Cadila") and Altus Formulation Inc. ("Altus") today announced the successful completion of human clinical studies with TramaFlexTM breakable extended-release (ER) tablets, a novel value-added once-daily formulation of tramadol hydrochloride for the improved treatment of patients with moderate to moderately severe pain. Developed by Altus using proprietary AmyloFlexTM technology, human bio-equivalence studies conducted by Cadila demonstrated TramaFlex ER tablets are bio-equivalent to 24hr ER products available commercially in North America, Europe, and Asia. Unlike marketed brands that can rapidly release their entire contents if damaged, with potentially life-threatening consequences (dose-dumping), TramaFlex ER tablets maintain full extended-release performance when broken irrespective of how they are taken, with no dose dumping even with alcohol. Additionally, while commercial once-a-day products are available as 100mg, 200mg and 300mg tablets only, breaking TramaFlex generates new low starting dose 50mg tablets, for frail or lower weight individuals, and intermediate strength 150mg and 250mg tablets. Flexible dosing with TramaFlex provides smooth titration to meet the needs of more patients. Commenting on the new results, Dr. Damon Smith, CEO of Altus said; "we are delighted with the news results from Cadila first as a validation of the AmyloFlex platform as a robust cost-effective extended- release technology for value-added products, but most importantly because TramaFlex tablets offer patients suffering prolonged pain a safer to use alternative that is more likely to work for them; we look forward to bringing TramaFlex to market". Sharing his optimism regarding the new study results, Dr. Rajiv Modi, CMD, Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., said; "we are driven by research based innovation that provides care and affordable solutions to our customers. Our partnership with Altus allows us to leverage their unique Flexitab technology, ensuring cost-effectiveness and value-added formulations for patients". TramaFlex tablets and the AmyloFlex modified release technology platform are covered by issued and pending patents in N. America, Europe and Asia expected to provide protection until 2038. Altus is seeking additional licensees for TramaFlex and other AmyloFlex products (including its once-daily breakable formulation of the atypical anti-depressant trazodone) within and outside N. America. About Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is one of the largest privately held pharmaceutical companies in India. Over the last six decades, the company has been developing and manufacturing pharmaceutical products in India and selling and distributing these in over one hundred countries around the world. The company is presently in more than forty-five therapeutic areas spread across twelve specialities. For more information visit: www.cadilapharma.com About Altus Formulation Inc. Altus Formulation is a Quebec-based drug formulation and development company using its proprietary and patent protected drug delivery technologies to generate novel, differentiated and cost-effective new products for its partners and their patients. With a focus on Safer to Use formulations, Altus' technologies include Intellitab clinically validated abuse deterrent technology, Flexitab breakable extended-release tablets and SmartCelle micellar technologies for intravenous and topical delivery of low solubility molecules. For more information, please visit www.altusformulation.com Media Contact: M. Robert Bechard: Corporate Development and Licensing bbechard@altusformulation.com tel: (001) 514 817 2514 SOURCE: Altus Formulation Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/624891/Cadila-Pharmaceuticals-and-Altus-Formulation-Announce-Successful-Clinical-Studies-with-TramaFlex-Breakable-Extended-Release-Tablets On Saturday, over 20,000 Chicago educators voted overwhelmingly against the resumption of in-person learning, defying the campaign by Chicago Public Schools (CPS), Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Biden administration to reopen schools even as more than 3,000 people in the US die each day from COVID-19. The drive to reopen schools has become the focal point of the class struggle in the United States. Facing an incipient rebellion by educators threatening to break out of the control of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), on Tuesday Chicago Public Schools (CPS) was forced to temporarily back down from its aggressive push for fully in-person learning even as COVID-19 runs rampant. While CPS and the CTU work to hash out a deal the union feels it can sell to its members, the third largest school district in the country has switched to fully remote learning. Demonstration in Chicago, January 15, 2021 (Photo: Milwaukee Teachers Education Association/Flickr) The resistance of Chicago educators is seen as a threat by the entire ruling class, as opening schools is the linchpin to the campaign to force workers back on the job amid a raging pandemic. In order to maximize profits, schools must be reopened to ensure that parents return to unsafe workplaces. It is for this reason alone that the Biden administration and politicians from both parties are pressing to reopen schools across the country with the support of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Education Association (NEA), and all of their state and local affiliates. Acutely aware of the militancy among educators, the corporate media and political establishment are engaged in a frenzied propaganda campaign to vilify teachers and distort science. The most naked expression of the ruling class perspective came from the Wall Street Journal, which has been the most consistent advocate of herd immunitythe policy of allowing COVID-19 to run rampant throughout the population. On Monday, the Journal s Editorial Board denounced Chicago teachers as self-serving, declaring, Seventy-one percent of CTU voting members rejected a return to in-person learning until schools are safemeaning whenever teachers feel like going back. The Journal criticized the city for backing down in the face of mounting opposition by teachers, declaring Havent district leaders read the childrens book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie? Accommodating unreasonable demands leads to more unreasonable demands. The utter contempt for teachers voiced in these lines expresses the ruling class hatred of all workers, whose lives mean nothing to them. The Journal contemptuously dismisses the safe conditions demanded by educators at a time when every day over 3,000 people die from COVID-19 and roughly 175,000 become infected in the US, while more infectious and lethal variants of the virus spread undetected throughout the country. Throughout the pandemic, the Journal has written numerous articles supporting the Swedish model of letting the virus rip through the population with no safety measures whatsoever, which has left Sweden with one of the highest per capita death rates in the world. On May 4, when the death toll in the US stood at 71,447, the Journal wrote, American governors should study the Swedish model as they begin relaxing statewide lockdowns. On August 3, the Journal justified the initial reopening of schools, denouncing protesting teachers for engaging in political extortion. Today, as the death toll in the US stands at 435,387, the Journal continues to write endless sophistries to justify a policy that subordinates life to profit. The other major voice of the US political establishment, the New York Times, published an article Sunday by Erica Green titled, Surge of Student Suicides Pushes Las Vegas Schools to Reopen. The article presents the reopening of schools as a response to the mental health crisis confronting young people. This is a lie. The campaign to reopen schools is not about the well-being of students, but maximizing what the Times itself called labor force participation. Earlier this month, Brian Deese, Bidens incoming director of the National Economic Council, let the cat out of the bag when he said, We need to get the schools open so that parents can get back to work. Green expresses in a different form the same argument first advanced by the Times Thomas Friedman that the cure cant be worse than the disease, i.e. that preserving human life cannot become an obstacle to generating profits. This became the central slogan of the Trump administration to reopen nonessential workplaces and then schools last summer. These articles are a small sample of the deluge of media propaganda seeking to justify school reopenings in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the print and broadcast media seized upon two reports by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials to falsely claim that schools do not contribute to the spread of COVID-19. One report, published in the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) focuses solely on 17 schools in rural Wisconsin with small class sizes, with the disclaimer that the authors were unable to rule out asymptomatic transmission within the school setting because surveillance testing was not conducted. The report absurdly claims, COVID-19 outbreaks related to kindergarten through grade 12 (K12) classroom settings have been rarely reported. The second report similarly states, there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. The authors of both reports ignore the basic facts that over 2.7 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 in the US and that the massive upsurge of the pandemic began in November, coinciding with the steady reopening of schools throughout the fall. They neglect to mention that at least 530 K-12 teachers in the US have succumbed to the virus over the past year. The CDC reports omit the numerous studies which show that closing schools is one of the most effective measures to contain the pandemic. Most recently, a study published in Science magazine surveying 41 countries found that closing schools and universities is the second-most effective intervention that governments have taken worldwide. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in July estimated that closing US schools at the start of the pandemic saved over 40,000 lives. These claims also omit the data compiled by data scientist and whistleblower Rebekah Jones through the COVID Monitor, the only comprehensive tracker of outbreaks in K-12 schools in the US, which reports at least 505,068 COVID-19 infections among students and staff. While Trump and the Republicans first spearheaded the reopening of schools, the Biden administration has now taken up this mantle. Late last year, the Trump administration pressured the CDC to declare that schools did not contribute to the spread of COVID-19, in an advisory that was widely dismissed as tainted by political bias. But now, it is the Biden administration that is leading the drive to reopen schools, pressuring public health agencies to come up with data to claim that reopening schools is safe. Commenting on the governments efforts to deny that schools are major sources of the spread of COVID-19, Jones told the World Socialist Web Site in a tweet Tuesday, It's political interference in science, and it's wrong whether it comes from Ron Desantis in Florida or Joe Biden in Washington. Schools cause spread. 500k k12 cases and counting. The working class must reject with contempt the lying arguments advanced by the media and the political establishment to steamroll them back into unsafe classrooms and workplaces. In their struggle against school reopenings, Chicago educators are consciously fighting to protect their students, their families, themselves and all of society. Their struggle is the antipode to the homicidal indifference of the ruling class expressed by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Coinciding with the struggle in Chicago, in Montgomery, Alabama, dozens of educators mounted a sickout on Monday after the district continued in-person learning despite the fact that four educators died from COVID-19 last week alone. This action forced the district to retreat and within hours announce that schools will switch to fully remote learning on February 1. Educators and all workers are on a collision course with the Biden administration and the entire ruling class, which are determined to reopen schools regardless of the impact on educators, students, parents and the broader working class. They also confront enemies in the teachers unions, including the CTU and other radical locals, all of which have acquiesced to school reopenings or reached sellout agreements with the Democrats in New York City, Houston, Boston, Baltimore, Washington DC, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, California and numerous other cities and states. Throughout the country, teachers and other education workers are determined to oppose the homicidal policies of the ruling class. Educators in Chicago, Alabama, New York City, Michigan, California, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee have formed a network of rank-and-file safety committees, wholly independent of the unions and both capitalist parties, which are preparing for a nationwide political general strike. Every effort must be made to broaden these committees among all workers, in the US and internationally, to develop a unified movement of the working class fighting for its own interests. All schools and nonessential workplaces must be immediately closed! Remote learning must be fully funded and all workers must be provided with the resources they need! The $3.9 trillion amassed by the worlds pandemic profiteers during the pandemic must be expropriated and used to fund these social programs! Ultimately, the struggle facing educators and all workers is a global struggle against the capitalist system itself. No matter how many people are killed or families destroyed by COVID-19, the capitalists will brook no letup in the extraction of profits. Only through the socialist transformation of society and the placing of human needs before private profit will the working class be able to put an end to the pandemic and reorganize society on the basis of social equality. ADVERTISEMENT Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have called for a lower tax rate for deep offshore operations in Nigeria. The unions, in a joint memorandum on the Petroleum Industry Bill submitted to the Ad Hoc Committee on PIB for the public hearing on the bill stated that lower tax rate will attract more investments in deep offshore terrain. The unions, which said the 10 per cent proposed by the bill for deep offshore operations was too high, called for the rate to be reviewed down to 7.5 per cent. New licences and leases in deep offshore should have a lower hydrocarbon tax rate than old leases to attract more investments in deep offshore terrain, they said. They also called for a single regulatory model by having the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission to regulate upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum operations. All functions of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency ( PPPRA) and Petroleum Equalisation Funds are to be taken over by the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission, according to the unions. The unions also called for the inclusion of the Trade Union of Nigeria, Nigerian Labour Union, NUPENG and PENGASSAN to the board of NNPC. In its memorandum on the bill to the committee, Total Nigeria faulted the fiscal terms in the bill, describing it as globally uncompetitive. The investments made by Total and OML 130 partners will be excessively penalised by the new PIB as drafted today, particularly the recent Egina project which has been in production for around 2years. The proposed changes in the fiscal framework undermine our investment in Nigeria and are unfair and contrary to the spirit of the contract between the FGN and the Egina investor group. Moreover, the bill will endanger the viability of further developments on the block, the oil giant said. The deep offshore fiscal terms combined with the harsh PSC2005 have failed to deliver any major new developments. Following the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Amendment act, and the Finance Act that was passed in 2019 and 2020, Nigerian terms are even less competitive than other investment destinations in Africa where terms have recently been improved. LUND, Sweden, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hansa Biopharma will publish its Year-End report 2020 at 8:00 CET on February 4, 2021. All interested parties are invited to participate in a telephone conference, which will include a presentation of the interim results and a business update, on the same date at 14:00 CET/2:00pm EST. The event will be hosted by Hansa Biopharma's CEO, Sren Tulstrup, and CFO, Donato Spota, and the presentation will be held in English. Slides used in the presentation will be live on the company website during the call under "Events & Webcast," and will also be made available online after the call. To participate in the telephone conference, please use the dial-in details provided below: Sweden: +46 8 50 55 83 50 United Kingdom: +44 333 300 92 72 United States: +1 833 526 83 47 The webcast will be available on https://streams.eventcdn.net/hansa/2020h2/register For further information, please contact: Klaus Sindahl Head of Investor Relations Hansa Biopharma Mobile: +46 (0) 709-298 269 E-mail: [email protected] Katja Margell Head of Corporate Communications Hansa Biopharma Mobile: +46 (0) 768-198 326 E-mail: [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/hansa-biopharma-ab/r/hansa-biopharma-to-host-conference-call-to-provide-year-end-report-2020-and-business-update,c3274551 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Hansa Biopharma AB Infrastructure Minister Nicola Mallon has condemned those responsible for a recent threat by a masked man on NI Water key workers in Craigavon, which resulted in tens of thousands of pounds worth of work not being carried out. The firm said its contractors, who were working at Moyraverty Court, had to leave the site for their own safety, meaning essential work was not completed. This work, costing 50,000, was aimed at addressing structural defects in the area's water supply. Minister Mallon said the incident was "unacceptable" given that these are people working on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus. The minister said: "This attack on the very people who are on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19 is unacceptable. "To threaten NI Water staff and contractors whilst they are trying to service essential water-mains when they are already facing extremely difficult situations with the ongoing pandemic and the recent adverse weather conditions is reprehensible. "These attacks are reckless and waste precious resources - I would call on the whole community to condemn these actions," she added. Dermott McCurdy, Head of Capital Delivery at NI Water added: Our contractors are in the area to carry out essential upgrades to the water mains. For someone to threaten and intimidate them for simply doing their job, is intolerable. We have had no other choice but to remove the team which in turn, will delay these vital works for the whole community. They will only return when an appropriate risk assessment is completed and more importantly, when they feel it is safe for them to undertake the work. This is a prime example of the mindless actions of some ruining the benefits for all." NI Water has called on local representatives to support them in returning to the area and ensuring this doesn't happen again. My grandpa left Glasgow in 1905 and sailed to America and brought his thirteen children up as Americans and so I havent yet taken a position on Scottish independence but with the resounding victory of the Scottish National Party in elections last week, I suppose Ill have to. I like to invo A farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and 99.9% of the protesters were peaceful As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on 1 February when the Budget would be presented. The decision by farmer unions came a day after massive violence during their tractor parade in the national capital that left nearly 400 police personnel injured. The farmer leaders, however, alleged that there was a conspiracy behind Tuesday's incidents and demanded a probe. They said their agitation against the farm laws will continue and public meetings and hunger strikes will be held across the country on 30 January. "The tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy. Deep Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted a religious flag at Red Fort," farmer leader Darshan Pal, who has been accused by police of making inflammatory speeches, alleged at a press conference. Sidhu is a former aide of actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu in December after he supported the farmers' agitation. "We have cancelled our plan for a march to Parliament on budget day on February 1. But our agitation will continue and there will be public meetings and hunger strike across the country on January 30, " Pal said. Another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and "99.9 percent of the protesters were peaceful". Even as the farmer unions continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation against the farm laws, Tuesday's incidents that have been widely condemned started taking a toll with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee withdrawing from the protests on the Delhi's borders. Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who has been supporting the farmers' agitation, said, "We regret the Red Fort incident and accept its moral responsibility. The incident should be probed. There is a conspiracy behind it" Responding to a question on farmer leaders being named in FIR, Yadav said, "FIR, jail and torture are rewards of movements". "We have video clippings and we will expose how a conspiracy was hatched to defame our movement," Shivkumar Kakka said. As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in an FIR in connection with the violence during the tractor parade. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort during the Republic Day. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since 28 November, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky plans to submit to the Verkhovna Rada a bill that provides for the return of punishment in the form of restriction or imprisonment for inaccurate declaration and failure to submit a declaration, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy Andriy Kostin (from the Servant of the People faction) has said. According to the website of the Verkhovna Rada, bill on amendments to the Code on Administrative Offenses of Ukraine, the Criminal Code on enhancing liability for declaring inaccurate information and the subject's failure to submit declaration of the person authorized to perform the functions of the state or local government is registered under No. 4651 dated January 27, 2021. "The President of Ukraine consistently adheres to his principled position on an uncompromising fight against corruption. The introduction of this bill on increasing criminal liability for lying in declarations is what the Ukrainian society is waiting for, it coincides with the position of Ukraine's international partners and the recommendations of the Venice Commission," Kostin said. The parliamentarian said the bill was considered by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). "I agree that the fight against corruption is a matter of Ukraine's national security. I fully support the president's position," he said. Washington: The Biden administration is ramping up the distribution of coronavirus vaccines, announcing a new plan to deliver enough doses to protect 300 million Americans nearly the entire US population by the end of the northern hemisphere summer. President Joe Biden announced a surge in vaccine deliveries to states on Wednesday (AEDT) along with the news that the federal government would purchase an extra 100 million doses each of the approved coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna. Vials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a mass vaccination super site in Chula Vista, California. Credit:Bloomberg This is enough vaccine to vaccinate 300 million Americans by end of summer, early fall, Biden said, meaning most Americans would be vaccinated by around the end of August. Biden described the push to increase supply as a wartime effort. Sales of four-poster beds have soared by 300 per cent in the UK as Brits look to copy racy scenes from Netflix's Bridgerton in their own homes. The Regency-era romp, set in 1813 London, became a lockdown must-watch after the streaming service released it on Christmas Day last year. And since then, Argos has reported a 112 per cent increase in the number of people searching for its four-poster beds. Sales for four-poster beds have soared as Brits look to copy Netflix's Bridgerton in their own homes. Pictured: Rege-Jean Page as Simon Basset in the show Sales matched the trend, increasing by 300 per cent since November as the firm said customers no longer see them as an 'extravagance'. John Lewis brought its own brand four-poster bed back into stock yesterday, after it sold out. The company offer a king-size St Ives Canopy Bed Frame in grey or white for 799, with the white available for pre-order and the grey currently having less than 10 in stock. Meanwhile, Argos sell a four poster bed frame in white and pine, and it comes in both a double, for 400, and king, for 450, size. The Regency-era hit set in 1813 became a lockdown must-watch after the streaming service released it on Christmas Day last year. Pictured: Phoebe Dynevor and REge Jean-Page in teh show The show is based on Julia Quinn's best-selling novels and has attracted more than 63 million viewers since its release just a month ago. It explores the relationship between Daphne Bridgerton, played by Phoebe Dynevor, and Duke of Hastings Simon Basset, played by Rege-Jean Page. The pair star in numerous sex scenes, appearing to fuel a rise in customers searching for a similar style of bed. The show explores the relationship between Daphne Bridgerton, played by Phoebe Dynevor, and Duke of Hastings Simon Basset, played by Rege-Jean Page And it's not just furniture the show has inspired, with British search engine Lyst reporting an increase in demand for corsets, pearl and feather headbands and long gloves since its release. Searches for empire line dresses have soared by 93 per cent with luxury brands Simone Rocha, Erdem and Brock Collection leading the way. Among the millions who have been captivated by the show include Sarah Ferguson, who earlier this month said she was 'obsessed' with the Regency Romp and even revealed her desire to get creator Shonda Rhimes to adapt her upcoming novel. 'The way [producer] Betsy Beers and Shonda Rhimes have created Bridgerton is fabulous and I was really impressed. I definitely will be talking to Shondaland about making Her Heart for a Compass into a TV series,' she said. 'I hear they might be making future series at Sunninghill Park for the next five years, which is my old home,' she said. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, President Bidens nominee for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday called for Americas muscular return to the multilateral body to counter the rise of China during her confirmation hearing, while facing tough questions for her decision to deliver a speech two years ago at an institute that some have described as disseminating Chinese propaganda. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield gave the remarks in October 2019 at Savannah State Universitys Confucius Institute, which has since closed. It was one of dozens of such entities around the country that offer Chinese-language classes, an operation that has drawn concerns about whether the Chinese Communist Party was using the centers to disseminate Chinese government propaganda on U.S. campuses. A number of Republican lawmakers sharply criticized Ms. Thomas-Greenfields speech to the institute as being overly optimistic about Chinas relationship with African countries while not being tough enough on Beijings human rights record. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield said she had made a huge mistake speaking at a Confucius Institute, and that it did not constitute an accurate portrayal of her views on China. US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi.(Reuters) Speaker of the US House of Representative and California representative, Nancy Pelosi has purchased 25 call options of Tesla Inc. The same purchase has now come under the radar, as it stands to benefit from the new Joe Biden administration. What happened? According to a report, Pelosi or her husband Pual, who runs a venture capital firm purchased options of Tesla at a stake price of $500 and the expiration of March 18, 2022. Pelosi paid between $500,000 and $1,000,000 for the options. The shares of Tesla have risen from $640.34 at the time when the calls were purchased to $890 today. As of January 27, they were valued at $1.12 million. Why is this important? The above purchase of is questionable as it could be argued that Tesla stands to benefit from new President Joe Bidens administration. Biden has significantly supported electric vehicles and its purchase. His administration could even lift the cap on sales, giving buyers tax credits again, which in turn becomes an advantage for the car maker. The President has suggested programmes that could incentivise customers for trading in used vehicles towards the purchase of an electric vehicle. Now Speaker Pelosi could face conflict as she works to pass clean energy initiatives from which her family could profit. Bone of contention While it's legal for members of Congress and their spouses to own stocks, it has been a controversial topic for years. Former Republican US Senator David Perdue has been criticised over and over again for his stock trading during his six years of tenure. As long as the members disclose their transactions as per the STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act, 2012, there isn't a problem legally. But now Pelosi's transactions could push for stricter regulations regarding stock transactions of members of Congress. In fact, US Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon is one member of Congress who has co-sponsored legislation to ban the adding of individual stocks by members of Congress. Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives received Indian vaccines under grant assistance in sync with its Neighbourhood First policy. India on Tuesday informed the UN Security Council that it will supply vaccines to the Covax facility of the World Health Organisation and undertake contractual supplies to various countries in a phased manner. It also added that more than six million doses have been airlifted to nine countries under New Delhis vaccine diplomacy. As the largest vaccine-producing country of the world, we are fulfilling our commitment to make our vaccine production and delivery capacity available for the benefit of the entire humanity, Indias Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said on Monday. Speaking at the UNSC briefing on Maintenance of international peace and security: Follow-up on the implementation of resolution 2532, Naidu informed the dignitaries that two vaccines have already been granted approval for emergency use in India and the country plans to vaccinate about 300 million citizens in the first six months. Resolution 2532 (2020), adopted in July 2020, expressed support for the Secretary-Generals appeal for a global ceasefire to help unite efforts to fight COVID-19 in the worlds most vulnerable countries. We have already airlifted more than six million doses to nine countries in Phase-I as grant assistance. Contractual supplies to various countries are also being undertaken in a phased manner. We will also gradually supply to the Covax facility of the WHO, Naidu said, adding that India has also provided training to several partner countries to strengthen their clinical capabilities, as well as to enhance their capacities for vaccine administration. Covax is a global initiative to ensure rapid and impartial access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level. Last week, Covax had announced that, pending WHO emergency use listings, nearly 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate are anticipated to be available in the first quarter of 2021, via existing agreements with the Serum Institute of India (SII) and AstraZeneca. Naidu told the Council that India has assisted more than 150 countries through urgent health and medical supplies. New Delhi has pledged 15 million dollars for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and operationalised the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for its neighbours with an initial contribution of 10 million dollars. In the spirit of South-South cooperation, through the USD 150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund, we have responded to member states requests for COVID-19 related assistance, Naidu said. Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives have received Indias COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance in sync with its Neighbourhood First policy. On Friday, India began commercial exports of COVID-19 vaccines and sent two million doses each to Brazil and Morocco. Lets start with the good news, which is that Australias economy has held up remarkably well over the summer period against both the Treasury and Reserve Banks expectations for it. Jobs figures provided some comfort, as do consumer confidence levels. There is even talk among some economists that we are out the other side of this COVID recession and that a progressive relaxation of some of our central banks more extreme levels of support for the economy will soon be on the cards. Illustration: Matt Davidson Credit: Such talk is premature. Understandable, but premature. Such optimism finds its roots in the sooner-than-expected availability of a wider-than-expected choice of vaccines to fight COVID-19. Emerging news this week of production problems in Europe are cause for concern, of course. But overall, progress towards a full vaccine rollout appears better than assumed in last Octobers budget update, when Treasury assumed that: A population-wide Australian COVID-19 vaccination program is fully in place by late 2021. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Driven by video conferencing platform Teams, more than 200 million students and educators worldwide now rely on Microsoft education products for remote learning, CEO Satya Nadella has stressed. Speaking to analysts during the company's Q2 2021 earnings call, Nadella said that in AI, the company offers the most comprehensive portfolio of tools, frameworks and infrastructure. "We built Teams that brings together multiple capabilities. It brings together chat. It brings together meetings, collaboration as well as business process workflow, all into one scaffolding," Nadella said on Tuesday. "Whether it's SAP, ServiceNow and even Salesforce, all of these applications are getting integrated into Teams very rapidly and so that's the power of Teams as a platform capability, not just just knowledge workers collaborating," The Microsoft CEO stressed. He said that the pandemic has shown the importance of empowering the two billion frontline workers around the world with the right technology and Teams is at the forefront. Microsoft Teams reached more that 115 million daily users by the end of 2020. Nadella said recently that Microsoft Teams could soon be as significant as the Internet browsers and operating systems. Last week, enterprise application software provider SAP and Microsoft announced to integrate video conference and collaboration platform Teams with SAPs intelligent suite of solutions. "The case for digital transformation has never been more urgent," said Nadella. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Irish researchers will take part in a major European project aimed at bringing so-called "green hydrogen" into the renewable energy mainstream, including powering the likes of Valentia and the Aran Islands. Green hydrogen is described as producing energy through the electrolysis of water, while eliminating emissions by using renewable energy. Its supporters say it could completely revolutionise clean energy, while its detractors say it is too cumbersome to achieve on a mass scale. NUI Galway researchers Dr Pau Farras Costa, Dr Rory Monaghan and Dr Thomas van Rensburg, members of the Energy Research Centre at the University's Ryan Institute, will assess the economic impacts of the Green Hysland project in Mallorca, the Spanish island. Their research will examine whether it can be adapted in countries like Ireland. Read More Bord Na Mona ends peat harvesting in drive for greener energy production Green Hysland is a five-year project that aims to generate, distribute and use at least 300 tonnes of hydrogen per year produced from solar energy in Mallorca, all the while reducing carbon emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year. The aim of the 50m project is to embed green hydrogen in the islands whole energy system, from solar power generators which will produce the hydrogen, to gas grid operators which will distribute it and to bus operators, vehicle rental firms, homes, businesses and hotels using it for power, heat and mobility. Mr Farras Costa, of NUI Galways School of Chemistry, said: Green Hysland will be the first opportunity to demonstrate how green hydrogen holds the key to island decarbonisation and energy independence." Mr van Rensburg, of the School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway, said the research meant they will be able to examine "our ability to replicate green hydrogen deployment on Irelands islands, including the Aran Islands and Valentia Island, with their excellent renewable energy potentials". Mr Monaghan, of NUI Galways School of Engineering, said the "potential and ambition for Mallorca alone is huge". "Take for example the 20,000 tonnes reduction in CO2 emissions as part of this research that is the equivalent of the energy use in more than 2,300 homes in a year. It comes as a major report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) outlines the main barriers to green hydrogen uptake and the policies needed to address the deficit. The report called for national hydrogen strategies to be adopted in various countries. Each country needs to define its level of ambition for hydrogen, outline the amount of support required, and provide a reference on hydrogen development for private investment and finance, IRENA said. As green hydrogen becomes mainstream, policies should integrate it into the broader energy system, with civil society and industry involved, IRENA said. [January 27, 2021] Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Sells Its Investment In ZorgDomein THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Levine Leichtman Capital Partners ("LLCP"), an international investment firm, announced today that it has sold its investment in ZorgDomein ("ZorgDomein" or "the Company"), the leading healthcare referral platform in the Netherlands, to Rabobank. Founded in 2000, ZorgDomein provides SaaS-based solutions to the Dutch healthcare sector. The Company connects various types of healthcare providers to patients through digital patient referrals, diagnostic requests and consultations. In 2019, over 6 million patients found the right care through 14+ million referrals in the ZorgDomein environment. More than 80,000 care providers, such as GP's and specialists, use the platform on a daily basis. Wouter Snoeijers, Managing Director of LLCP, said, "We believe that LLCP's investment in ZorgDomein has been highly value additive for all stakeholders. We supported the Company's growth in new product areas through substantial investment in data analytics, consumer facing propositions such as the 'Digital Patient Journey,' and enhanced referral solutions. ZorgDomein has a unique position in the Dutch healthcare domain and we believe Rabobank will be an outstanding partner that will further support the Company as it executes its futuregrowth plans." Dick Gorris, CEO of ZorgDomein, commented, "We are grateful for the support that LLCP has offered us over the past years. Their investment in the growth of the Company and ability to understand the complexity of operating within the Dutch healthcare domain has helped us ideally position the business for the next phase of growth." PwC served as financial advisor and NautaDutilh served as legal counsel in connection with the transaction. About Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, LLC is a middle-market private equity firm with a 37-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including franchising, professional services, education and engineered products. Since inception, LLCP has managed approximately $11.2 billion of institutional capital across 14 investment funds and has invested in over 90 portfolio companies. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. LLCP's global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by seven partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 21 years. The firm currently manages approximately $7.3 billion of assets including its most recent flagship fund, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners VI, L.P., which closed in 2018 with $2.5 billion of committed capital, and its most recent European fund, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Europe II SCSp, which closed in 2020 with 463 million of committed capital. LLCP has offices in Los Angeles, London, The Hague, Stockholm, New York, Chicago, Charlotte and Miami. Contact: Mark Semer or Ross Lovern Kekst CNC (917) 439-3507 or (917) 842-7205 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/levine-leichtman-capital-partners-sells-its-investment-in-zorgdomein-301215165.html SOURCE Levine Leichtman Capital Partners [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Pin 1 1 Shares Penguin Bloom is a true story drama of loss and overcoming adversity to persevere. A feel good story with solid performances from Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review. Penguin Bloom is dropping on Netflix tomorrow, January 27th. The film is based off of Australian nurse Sam Bloom, who never thought she would get her life back after an accident in Thailand, which left her in a wheelchair. Penguin Bloom is her inspirational road to recovery and the unlikely friend who helped her get there. Check out all the details in my parents guide movie review! Penguin Bloom Parents Guide Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts) goes on vacation with her family to Thailand. After a freakish accident where a railing breaks and she falls off the roof of a building, Sam is left paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair. Her husband Cam (Andrew Lincoln) and sons Noah (Grifffin Murray-Johnston), Reuben (Felix Cameron) and Oli (Abe Clifford-Barr) try to help her deal with her new wheelchair bound life, but Sam has slipped into a depression, mourning the life she once had. When Noah rescues a baby Penguin, which they nickname Peng, Sam is forced to care for the bird when it is left in her care one day. The two start to form a special bond, but can Peng help Sam overcome her depression and live life once again? You have to watch it to see! Penguin Bloom Age Appropriate Lets take a look at what parents need to know before allowing their kids to view Penguin Bloom. Language: The film contains mild language but there are cuss words used a few times thoughout the film, mostly the S-word. Violence: The story is about a mother who falls off the roof of a building, that particular scene is shown a couple of times throughout the film and can be difficult to watch. There is another scene in which a penguin is being attacked and pecked at by another penguin. Overall Thoughts Penguin Bloom is a totally predictable film but despite the predictability, it is still an enjoyable watch. This is mainly due to Naomi Watts solid performance as Sam, who has a knack for taking even the most tiresome role and making it interesting. Not to say Sam Bloom is boring persay, in fact the layers to the grief she endures is complex, but this sort of multifaceted character tends to be difficult to project on screen. However, Watts does an outstanding job at tapping into the depression while also attempting to put on a brave face for her children. And underneath it all, there is an apparent anger boiling inside of her which is screaming to get out. We also see Andrew Lincoln, who is best know as Rick from The Walking Dead franchise. His poignant performance as Sams husband was heartfelt, as viewers feel the magnitude of those effected by her accident. And then you have Peng, the flightless bird which parallels Sam being bound to the wheelchair. The symbolism and imagery in this film takes a predictable run-of-the-mill story and breaths fresh air into it. Sure Penguin Bloom has its shortcomings, but it delivers audiences enough to easily digest. Using an experimental technique whereby flowers can be coaxed to form from plant roots, biologists led by the University of Pennsylvania's Doris Wagner uncovered a protein that enables for the initial loosening of chromatin that can allow new proteins to be made and plants to take on different forms. Credit: University of Pennsylvania Cells don't express all the genes they contain all the time. The portion of our genome that encodes eye color, for example, doesn't need to be turned on in liver cells. In plants, genes encoding the structure of a flower can be turned off in cells that will form a leaf. These unneeded genes are kept from becoming active by being stowed in dense chromatin, a tightly packed bundle of genetic material laced with proteins. In a new study in the journal Nature Communications, biologists from the University of Pennsylvania identify a protein that enables plant cells to reach these otherwise inaccessible genes in order to switch between different identities. Called a "pioneer transcription factor," the LEAFY protein gets a foothold in particular portions of the chromatin bundle, loosening the structure and recruiting other proteins that eventually allow genes to first be transcribed into RNA and then translated into proteins. "The programs that are not needed in a given cell or tissue or condition are effectively shut off by various chromatin modifications that make them very inaccessible," says biologist Doris Wagner of the School of Arts & Sciences, senior author on the work. "The question has always been, How do you go from shut to open? We found that LEAFY, this protein that we already knew was important in reprogramming plant cells, is one of these pioneer transcription factors that get a foot in the door, as it were, to alter the program of cells." Pioneer transcription factors were first characterized by Penn faculty member Kenneth Zaret of the Perelman School of Medicine, whose own work has examined these regulatory proteins in animals, such as in the context of liver development. Early in her time at Penn, Wagner heard Zaret give a talk about his work in this area and grew curious about looking for similar factors in plants, given that flexible gene expression is so critical to their survival. Indeed, plants must switch between expressing whole sets of different genes all the time. In rich soils, they may grow more branches to get bigger, while in a drought they may express more genes associated with developing flowers, so they can set seed and reproduce before they succumb. The structure of the LEAFY protein (in red) enables it to bind to the DNA helix, making it accessible to be transcribed into RNA and then proteins. Credit: Courtesy of the Wagner laboratory How plant cells determine their identity and fate has been a focus of Wagner's work since the start of her career, and so has LEAFY. During her postdoc days, Wagner showed that LEAFY could reprogram root cells to produce flowers. "That gave us a good clue that LEAFY might have this 'pioneer' activity, but we had to look more closely to prove it," she says. To do so, Wagner and colleagues first used isolated protein and strands of genetic material to show that LEAFY, though not other transcription factors, bound to nucleosomes, subunits of chromatin where DNA spools on a cluster of proteins called histones. Specifically, the binding occurred at the gene AP1, which is known to be activated by LEAFY to prompt plants to make flowers. To confirm that this connection was true in a living organism, the researchers took plant roots and applied a compound that causes them to flower spontaneously. When flowering, they found that not only did LEAFY bind strongly to AP1 but that the binding site was also occupied by a histone. "This tells us that the histones and LEAFY are really occupying the same portion of DNA," Wagner says. Furthermore, they showed that chromatin structure began to open up at the AP1 region when LEAFY was activated, a key facet of what pioneer transcription factors do. This opening was limited, and full loosening of chromatin took days. What did happen quickly, the researchers found, was that LEAFY displaced a linker histone protein, creating a small local opening that also allowed other transcription factors to nose their way into the DNA. Though pioneer transcription factors had been proposed to exist in plants, the new work provides the first concrete support backing this conception for LEAFY. And Wagner believes there are others. "If necessary, plants can alter their entire body plan or generate an entire plant from a little piece of leaf," she says. "We predict setting this in motion will require pioneer transcription factors. So plants may actually have more of these factors than animals." In upcoming work, she and her team hope to delve more deeply into the processes that precede and follow this "pioneering" activity of LEAFY: Does anything restrict its activity and how do the other factors that it recruits fully unpack the hidden-away genes? "It would be great to find out both sides of this equation," Wagner says. The findings have significance in agriculture and breeding, where LEAFY is already manipulated to encourage earlier flowering, for example. And as more is understood about pioneer transcription factors in plants, Wagner can envision a fine tuning of other aspects of plant growth and activity, which could be leveraged to help crops adapt to new environmental conditions, such as those being ushered in by climate change. Explore further Dueling proteins give shape to plants More information: Run Jin et al, LEAFY is a pioneer transcription factor and licenses cell reprogramming to floral fate, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Run Jin et al, LEAFY is a pioneer transcription factor and licenses cell reprogramming to floral fate,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20883-w A Wollongong man is facing child abuse material charges after allegedly taking photographs of girls at the beach. The 52-year-old man was apprehended by members of the public on Tuesday after they allegedly saw him photographing girls while they were swimming at Wollongong Harbour. Police arrested him, seized his phone and later searched his home. The 52-year-old man was apprehended by members of the public on Tuesday after they allegedly saw him photographing girls while they were swimming at Wollongong Harbour Police say his phone contained images of girls aged between 11 and 14. The pictures were taken in the Wollongong and Towradgi areas south of Sydney between last December and January. He is charged with nine counts of possessing and producing child abuse material. He will face court on Wednesday after being refused bail. A digital display at a bus station warns pedestrians to follow CCP virus guidelines in central London on Jan. 20, 2021. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images) UKs Johnson Promises Plan for Phased Easing of England Lockdown British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to publish a plan in a months time for taking England out of the ongoing CCP virus lockdown. He told Parliament on Wednesday that the government intends to review the current lockdown measures in mid-February, once the most vulnerable had been offered the first dose of a vaccine for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Downing Street for Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament on Jan. 27, 2021. (Leon Neal/Getty Images) The government will then publish its plan for taking the country out of lockdown when Parliament returns from recess in the week commencing Feb. 22. Our aim will be to set out a gradual and phased approach towards easing the restrictions in a sustainable way, he said in a statement to lawmakers. With the official death toll from the CCP virus in the UK passing the 100,000 mark on Tuesday, the government has come under pressure for past and present handling of the pandemic. In the meantime, the government is under pressure from some quarters, including a group of backbench Tory MPs, to provide a route out of lockdown. The ongoing England-wide lockdown, the third since the pandemic began last spring, started on Jan. 6 after the discovery of a new variant of the CCP virus in southeast England, which Johnson said is up to 70 percent more transmissible than the original variant. On Jan. 22, Johnson announced that evidence suggests the new variant could be up to 30 percent more deadly. Under the new restrictions, people may only leave home for limited reasons, such as to shop for essentials, to work if they cant work from home, to exercise, to seek medical assistance, or to escape domestic abuse. Primary and secondary schools have been closed to all pupils except children of key workers, with all lessons moved online. I know everyone yearns to know how much longer we must endure these restrictions, with all their consequences for jobs, livelihoods, and most tragically of all, the life chances of our children, Johnson told Parliament. We will not persist for a day longer than is necessary, but nor can we relax too soon, because if we do, we run the risk of our NHS [National Health Service] coming under still greater pressure, compelling us to re-impose every restriction and sustain those restrictions for longer. He said the current measures appear to have reduced infection rates, but we do not yet have enough data to know exactly how soon it will be safe to reopen our society and economy. But he said the overall picture should be clearer by mid-February, with more information available on the effect of vaccines in preventing hospitalisations and deaths, as well as the effect of the current restrictions in driving down infections. So we will then be in a better position to chart a course out of lockdown, without risking a further surge that would overwhelm the NHS, he said. Johnson also said it will not be possible to re-open schools immediately after the February half-term holidays. He expressed hope that schools could be safely reopened from March 8, with other economic and social restrictions being removed thereafter as and when the data permits. Simon Veazey contributed to this report. A radical solution for inner city illiteracy and poverty Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Young President Lincoln, who had less than one year of formal schooling, was motivated to learn on his own. Self-taught Abraham Lincoln would have excelled in our inner-city schools but young Abraham Lincoln was an exception. By all accounts, as a nation, we have given up on inner-city illiteracy and poverty. This is the third in a series of editorials, where I address American inner-city illiteracy and poverty. This stubborn problem, which has quietly simmered for decades, is not being addressed as a national priority. Therefore, this problem is not going away, while inner city children and parents are left abandoned to stare at a bleak future defined by their illiteracy and poverty, one generation after another. Missing parent-child partnership An effective parent-child partnership is essential for any child to finish and excel in schoolunless of course you are Abe Lincoln! When children perform poorly in school, parental involvement helps the child get through schoolwork and perform to the best of his/her abilities. A sample of parental role in a childs successful education are: 1. Set goals for the child regarding school performance and expect the child to meet or exceed it, 2. Ensure the child devotes time to do schoolwork, 3. Skillfully motivate the child employing positive and negative incentives at home and elevate the childs expectations, 4. Ensure the child is not distracted from school or schoolwork, 5. Ensure the child is not influenced by friends to disregard schoolwork, belittle schoolwork, and set low expectations for school performance, and 6. Teach the child as needed and help the child complete schoolwork (if the parents are literate). Church history: Successfully educating illiterates Worldwide, over the last 500+ years, missionaries, upon arriving at mission fields in Asia, Africa, and other continents/islands were confronted with illiteracy and poverty. With financial support from churches back home, they promptly responded by erecting church-based schools and offered free education to local children. Literacy had generational impact. In south India, my grandparents and perhaps their ancestors benefited from free education in mission schools in the 19th century. My paternal grandfather, finished high school in a church-based school for free, went on to graduate from the churchs school of theology before becoming an ordained minister and served in many churches until his death in 1932 in his fifties. My mother, who lost her mother at age 1, was educated from 1928-1933 for free in a boarding school for girls founded by English missionaries way back in 1858 (Sara Tucker School for girls). The explicit goal of the school was to eradicate illiteracy among girls and women in that part of the world in the 19th Century. The challenge: Tuition-less church schools Today, tuition-based church-schools attract only a very tiny and negligible percentage of students in American inner cities. This is because tuition-based church-schools are not an affordable option for the poor in inner cities consequently, church-schools need to be tuition-less to attract public school children, who are falling way behind in school. After decades of illiteracy and poverty in inner cities, should American churches treat inner cities like a foreign mission field, where missionaries built and ran tuition-less church-schools for the illiterate and the poor? Yes. Tuition-less church-schools mandate needs to be: 1. Educate poor inner-city children in a loving and caring environment to deliver education, the gospel, and basic Bible education, 2. Offer help with schoolwork to children and their parents after school hours, 3. Minister to parental groups outside school hours to help build a parent-child relationship at home to enable their children to excel at school, 4. Make the gospel of Jesus Christ known to the parents, 5. Operate the school with donated funds from individual donors, foundations, and churches from around the country, 6. Accept voluntary donations from parents of students, who can afford it, and 7. If a parent or child is dissatisfied with the school, let them return to the public school. Tuition-less church schools to require parents commitment Public schools do not come to the rescue of the parent and child outside the school hours, when the child is failing in schoolwork; this is evident in our inner cities. In contrast, the proposed tuition-less church-schools are to be committed to enable parent-teacher groups to meet periodically to encourage and enable parents to provide appropriate support for their children to excel at school. Unskilled parents, who are unable to partner with their child to motivate the child to excel in school, would have the opportunity to hear and learn from other parents/teachers through periodically required meetings of parents/teachers in groups. Parents unwilling to make a commitment to participate in required after-school efforts to help their struggling children are unfit for this type of school. Test driving a model tuition-less school Establishing a model tuition-less church-school with about 100 students (K-6) would help convince the doubters it would also enable us to test drive a tuition-less church-school before launching more such schools. A model tuition-less church-school can be established by gifts, donations, and American church offerings targeted for this purpose; this school need not cost as much as our public schools in inner cities (public schools cost $16,000 per child in Baltimore). The proposed tuition-less church schools are likely to occupy a special niche among inner city schools without ever replacing all public schools. Yet these tuition-less church-schools are intended to influence and make a dramatic difference in as many students and parents as feasible. One pastor, who runs a tuition-based church school in inner city Philadelphia, recognizes the value of a tuition-less church-school he has about 20+ years of experience in running a tuition-based inner-city church-school. He welcomes the idea saying, Tuition-less church schools will help mothers and fathers to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he adds, We are losing rapidly our inner-city youth to crime. Speaking to him, I sense there is an urgent spiritual and physical need in inner cities that only tuition-less church-schools can address. If the idea of tuition-less church-schools for inner cities sounds radical to you, consider such schools in the context of David Platts Radical Christianity. The hotel industry, where occupancy rates are still down 30 percent from a year ago, is getting in on the ghost kitchen trend. Ghost kitchens, also called digital kitchens, are cooking facilities that produce food only for delivery or takeout. Demand for the concept is booming, Debra Kamin reports in The New York Times. The pandemic has opened the business model to more entrepreneurs. To turn his chicken cutlet sandwich concept into a business, Richard Zaro started renting space in July at the Four Points by Sheraton Midtown near Times Square, paying $6,000 a month for a fully outfitted catering kitchen. Average restaurant start-up costs for brick-and-mortar locations, in comparison, can run from $200,000 to more than $1 million. Within four months, he had generated enough revenue and created a large enough base of loyal customers to move to a stand-alone location. His new business, Cutlets, opened in a former Tender Greens restaurant near Gramercy Park on Dec. 1, and has plans to expand. New Delhi, Jan 27 : A day after the violence and chaos at the Red Fort during the 'tractor rally' by farmers, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel visited the 17th century monument on Wednesday afternoon to assess the "damage". The Minister, in charge of Culture and Tourism Ministry, visited the spots within the premises where a section of protesters had indulged in vandalism. He was accompanied by senior Delhi Police officers and other officials. He was apprised by security personnel about the damage done to the structure and the ticket counters and how the protesters had barged into the monument on Tuesday. Glass panes of structures at the spot as well as police vehicles were also damaged by a section of agitators, who clearly outnumbered security personnel deployed at the Red Fort. Security personnel were hit with sticks and iron rods. On Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of farmers riding tractors and motor cycles and on foot had swarmed the Red Fort, climbed up to its ramparts while waving the tricolour, farmer union flags and pennants with religious symbols. A youth had climbed up a flagpole and hoisting a pennant and a farmer union flag. Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu had done a Facebook Live from the ramparts of the hoisting. The farmer unions have since distanced themselves from Sidhu, who was summoned by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Sikh for Justice case registered on December 15 last year. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Outfitter will keep his license but won't guide on the Bridger-Teton. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Five people had to be rescued after they got stuck in areas of northern and eastern Arizona blanketed by heavy snow from the latest major storm, authorities said. In another rescue Tuesday, a barefoot hiker stranded on the Huachuca Mountains near Sierra Vista in southern Arizona was airlifted to safety by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Rescue crews in northern Arizona ultimately used a helicopter to reach three hikers who were stranded in a canyon near Sedona. Crews also freed two people whose vehicle got stuck on a forest road near Heber-Overgaard. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ The three hikers started out at Bear Mountain and repelled down a 200-foot (60-meter) cliff after about eight hours and then got stuck in Haribo Canyon on Sunday evening. They called for help, but rescuers couldnt immediately reach them because of the storm, the Yavapai County sheriffs office said. Rescuers hiked for two days through rugged terrain and 18 inches (46 centimeters) of snow to reach the trio while they huddled together at night with a warming blanket, sheriffs spokesman Dwight DEvelyn said. Authorities kept in contact with the group by cellphone. An Arizona Army National Guard UG-60 Blackhawk crew was able to hoist the hikers and the rescue teams from the site Tuesday. Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said the hikers are lucky to be alive, noting they had limited supplies and not much battery life on their cellphones. In the Sierra Vista rescue, Cochise County sheriffs officials were told a hiker was isolated and in distress. A hoist-equipped UH-60 Black Hawk lowered an emergency technician 150 feet to the mountains below and then accompanied the hiker back up to the hovering helicopter. Authorities said the hiker was suffering from exposure, hypothermia and possible frostbite and was taken to a hospital for treatment. Elsewhere, the Navajo County Sheriffs Office said crews from several agencies rescued two Phoenix-area men with four dogs after their vehicle got stuck on a forest road at Black Canyon Lake near Heber-Overgaard. That rescue began late Monday and ended early Tuesday, officials said. Rescuers tried to clear a path to reach the stranded truck, but the snow was getting worse. The Coconino County Sheriffs Office provided a snowcat, a vehicle designed to move easily on snow, to complete the rescue, authorities said. Parts of Heber-Overgaard got up to 14 inches (36 centimeters) of snow between Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon, the National Weather Service said. TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bennett Jones has been appointed to the UK Government's new Trade Law Panel together with Linklaters LLP. The appointment follows an open and competitive international procurement process. The Trade Law Panel was established to assist the UK government in international trade disputes at the WTO and in connection with disputes brought under the UK's trade and investment treaties. Prior to the UK's exit from the European Union, the UK was represented in such matters by the EU. "Our appointment reflects our extensive experience in WTO dispute settlement as well as our deep expertise in international investment litigation," said Darrel Pearson, head of Bennett Jones' International Trade and Investment Team. "We are delighted with this appointment and look forward to working with Linklaters and the UK Department of International Trade in these matters," said Valerie Hughes, Senior Counsel with Bennett Jones, and Former Director of the WTO Legal Affairs Division and the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat. Bennett Jones' International Trade and Investment team brings diverse perspectives to bear in advising governments, businesses and business associations on broad and complex investment treaty and WTO legal and policy issues. Team members have decades of experience serving in WTO leadership positions and have been involved in more than 70 WTO disputes covering every aspect of WTO law. About Bennett Jones Bennett Jones is the firm that businesses trust with their most complex legal matters. With 500 lawyers and business advisors, the firm is well equipped to advise businesses and investors with Canadian ventures, and connect Canadian businesses and investors with opportunities around the world. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427080/Bennett_Jones_LLP_Bennett_Jones_Appointed_to_UK_Government_s_Pos.jpg CONTACT:Peter Zvanitajs, Senior Communications Advisor, zvanitajsp@bennettjones.com, 437 999 6214 Belarusian authorities have failed to investigate allegations of torture by protesters detained during anti-government demonstrations calling for the resignation of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, a report issued on January 27 by Amnesty International says. The report says the victims, not the perpetrators, are being punished and called on the international community to take steps to deliver justice and hold the perpetrators accountable. We have repeatedly called for effective investigations to bring those responsible to justice, but there is little hope of that from a system that not only protects police with anonymity, but also encourages intimidation and further violence against victims and witnesses, said Marie Struthers, Amnesty Internationals director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The report says there have been no criminal investigations launched into the more than 900 complaints of abuses committed by law enforcement officers that Belarusian authorities admit they have received since protests began after the presidential election in August 2020 that Lukashenka claims he won. Crisis In Belarus Read our coverage as Belarusians continue to demand the resignation of Alyaksandr Lukashenka amid a brutal crackdown on protesters. The West refuses to recognize him as the country's legitimate leader after an August 9 election considered fraudulent. Authorities have instead launched criminal cases against protesters, charging them with participating in mass riots and violence against police officers. Struthers said the failure of the Belarusian justice system to ensure accountability means justice must now be pursued internationally. Governments, international and regional organizations should use all their leverage to pressure the Belarusian authorities to end this assault on human rights, she said. Amnesty International has compiled the accounts of peaceful protesters who said they were beaten, held in stress positions, and deprived of food, drinking water or medical care for days. Belarus has witnessed regular protests since Lukashenka, in power since 1994, was declared the winner of the August election, which the opposition says was rigged. Nearly 160 demonstrators were detained over the past weekend in the most recent roundup of protesters. The Amnesty International report adds to previous credible descriptions of torture during a widening security crackdown, which has also seen the arrests of many independent journalists. Several protesters have been killed and thousands arrested during the demonstrations demanding Lukashenka's resignation. Lukashenka has denied any wrongdoing and refuses to negotiate with the opposition on stepping down and holding new elections. The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries refuse to recognize Lukashenka, 66, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the falsification of the vote and postelection crackdown. Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya is scheduled to speak on January 27 at an online discussion on how the EU plans to keep Belarus on the agenda and provide more political support to Belarusian civil society. With reporting by dpa One day before President Bidens inauguration, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the determination that Chinas treatment of Muslim Uighurs and other minority groups in the countrys western Xinjiang region should be officially recognized as attempted genocide. Although the designation was at least two years in the making, it was in part a direct response to new information documented by the Associated Press and humanitarian groups last summer. The AP investigation, based on state documents and interviews with 30 ex-detainees and a former detention camp instructor, found that the Chinese government has been using forced sterilization, abortions, and forced birth control to reduce its Muslim population -- even as it encouraged the countrys Han majority to have more children. Some religious freedom experts believe that Pompeo, who has led the international charge against China over its persecution and internment of Uighurs, was intentionally trying to tie the incoming Biden administrations hands regarding its China policy. But if the new administration feels boxed in by the move, it isnt showing it at least not yet. Human rights activists, who are closely watching for signs that Biden will maintain the Trump administrations commitment to curbing religious persecution around the world, are impressed with early messaging from his top foreign policy officials. The true test, they add, will be how these early words translate into policy. New Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whom the Senate confirmed Tuesday, testified last week that President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China, although Blinken said he disagreed with many of the ways Trump went about it. When it comes to Pompeos classification of Chinas treatment of the Uighurs as genocide, however, the incoming chief diplomat didnt hesitate. In his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken said that he and Pompeo are very much in agreement over the designation. That would be my judgment as well, he added. President Biden has lambasted the Trump administration for leaving it with a COVID vaccine mess and the pandemics related job losses and evictions crises, but when it comes to Chinas human rights abuses, the new commander-in-chief has closed ranks with his predecessor. Late last week, the White House issued its strongest statement of unity with Trump policy to date after China slapped sanctions on 28 former administration officials, including Pompeo and former national security adviser Robert OBrien, who Beijing said gravely interfered in Chinas internal affairs and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden-Harris administration views Chinas sanctions as an unproductive and cynical attempt to play one administration against the other and urged all Americans to condemn it. President Biden looks forward to working with leaders in both parties to position America to out-compete China, she said. Regarding the systemic persecutions of Chinas Uighur population, Blinken was echoing his bosss previously stated position. Back in August, Biden took an unequivocal stance. The unspeakable oppression that Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have suffered at the hands of Chinas authoritarian government is genocide, and Joe Biden stands against it in the strongest terms, his campaign said in a statement. Blinken took it further last week, saying he would look for ways to follow up on the previous administrations genocide determination, including the possible step of banning exports to China of any goods -- such as surveillance equipment -- the government can use against the Uighurs, along with imports from China of any goods made with forced Uighur labor. The issue of imports is especially sensitive because forced Uighur labor has been linked to popular U.S. clothing brands such as Nike and Calvin Klein, and Trumps U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last fall barred the importation of certain apparel and cotton products produced in the Xinjiang region. Nina Shea, the director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute, a conservative foreign-policy think tank, is encouraged that the new administration has readily agreed with Pompeo on the genocide determination. Shea also dismissed media depictions of the designation as Pompeos parting shot at Biden. Instead, she described it as the culmination of two years of disturbing information leaking out of China about its repression, internment and abuse of Uighurs. The United States is leading on this in the world, Shea said, because no other government has confronted China by calling the forced sterilization and other forms of persecution by its rightful name. Genocide is really the destruction of a people -- in whole or in part -- through specific acts, she told RealClearPolitics. We tend to think of the Holocaust as being mass killings. But the whole point of the genocide laws since WWII and the Nazi period was to prevent mass killings. The sophisticated Chinese government wants to try to hide its atrocities so there arent any international trade repercussions, Shea added. So Beijing is pursuing the more medically sophisticated method of suppressing or stopping births, she said. Knox Thames, a former special adviser for religious minorities in the Obama and Trump administrations, said Blinkens decision to back up Pompeo sends a strong signal to Beijing of the importance of human rights, regardless of administration. For these statements to matter, accountability must follow, Thames said. The Biden administration, he added, should find targeted ways to hold the Chinese government accountable by continuing to impose Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions on Chinese officials involved in detaining and abusing Uighurs. Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27 reminds us of the need to do more to stop genocides from happening again, Thames said. The start of the Biden administration presents a unique opportunity to establish a policy of consequences when mass atrocities occur. Advocates within the Uighur community are encouraged by both the outgoing and incoming administrations strong statements but argue that far more actions are needed to educate the U.S. public about products they purchase made from Uighur slave labor and to prevent Americans dollars from supporting it. Lou Ann Sabatier of the 21 Wilberforce Initiative, a human rights organization dedicated to defending people of faith internationally, called the genocide determination a wake-up call to the world that should be backed up by further efforts to document the abuses and hold the Chinese government accountable. In an essay for the Washington Post, Rushan Abbas, the founder and executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs, detailed the detention of her sister, a medical doctor from the Xinjiang region, more than two years ago. China seized my sister. Biden must fight for her and all enslaved Uighurs, she wrote. The Chinese government sentenced Abbas sister to 20 years in prison on terrorism charges in what the rights advocate describes as a sham trial. Abbas believes her sister has been pressed into forced labor as part of the Chinese prison system and is likely producing goods that U.S. customers are purchasing and consuming. What is even more shocking than the Chinese governments disregard for human rights and international law is that global companies are knowingly complicit in this genocide, she wrote. The normalization of slavery in the modern world is happening, and we consumers are enabling it. Most Americans remain oblivious to the fact that 20% of the worlds cotton products comes from the Xinjiang region, she asserted. Modern-day slavery is woven into cotton T-shirts, pillowcases and sneaker laces, Abbas said. Seventy five years ago, Siemens, BMW and Volkswagen profited from the exploitation of Jewish labor in Nazi Germany. Never again seems to be happening all over again. Abbas is calling on the Biden administration to fully enforce the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, which Congress passed nearly unanimously last summer. The law imposes sanctions on entities and individuals involved in the human rights abuses and requires the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to submit a classified report to Congress on the scope and scale of the detention and forced labor of Muslim minority groups in China. She also urged the administration to prioritize Section 307 of the Tariff Act, which prohibits the importation of goods made with forced labor. I believe strongly that President Biden and his team have a firm commitment to holding the Chinese regime accountable, along with the businesses that knowingly choose to be complicit in these crimes against humanity, Abbas wrote. The international community is watching, China is watching, and it is no overstatement that the future of our democratic world and freedom is at stake. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 00:54:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenya on Wednesday welcomed a report of the East African bloc's (IGAD) appointed fact-finding mission that was set up to look into issues surrounding the diplomatic spat with Somalia while Somalia rejected the report, terming it "biased, partisan, unfair, compromised and predetermined to exonerate Kenya". Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the impartial report definitively settles the dispute between the two neighboring countries, noting that Kenya will not be drawn into the campaign whose sole intent remains the creation of artificial fissures for parochial and domestic political ends at the expense of regional peace and security. "It is incumbent on the administrations to which this hard-worn peace has been entrusted to, to honor the sacrifices made in the past and the will of the people by making a constructive contribution to regional peace, security and prosperity," the ministry said in a statement issued in Nairobi. The mission which was appointed by Djibouti President Ismail Guelleh who is also the chairman of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said in its report that the decision by Somalia to sever diplomatic relations with Kenya was uncalled for and has negatively impacted the lives of Somalis who seek relief and amenities in Kenya. The mission which investigated claims by Somalia that Kenya is interfering with its internal affairs and arming militia to destabilize Mogadishu said there is no evidence to confirm that. "It is now evident that the simulated crisis being contrived by Somalia does not advance IGAD's vision for achieving peace, prosperity and regional integration in the region," the ministry said. During the summit in Djibouti on Dec. 20 last year, Somalia reiterated allegations against Kenya causing the IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government to call for a verification of the allegations. Somalia accused Kenya of among other things alleged interference and violation of her territorial integrity. During its visit to Kenya, the ministry said the government provided the mission with irrefutable evidence invalidating all allegations against Kenya and accorded every assistance including a visit to the Kenya-Somali border to independently verify facts on the ground. It said Kenya which hosted talks that culminated in the formation of a transitional government of Somalia has spared no cost to stabilize Somalia and create conditions for peace and prosperity. "This remains our long-held commitment from which we will not be distracted," said the ministry. However, Somalia rejected the IGAD report terming it "biased, partisan, unfair, compromised and predetermined to exonerate Kenya." "It is instructive to note that the commission intentionally declined to visit Beled Hawo on two occasions to witness Kenya's atrocities against Somalia," Osman Dubbe, minister for information told journalists in Mogadishu. Dubbe said the IGAD fact-finding team sided with Kenya and had not seriously investigated the allegations made by Somalia against its neighboring country. "The federal government of Somalia (FGS) regrets the partisanship portrayed by Djibouti and IGAD under the chairmanship of Ismail Guelleh. FGS strongly holds to all its initial accusations against Kenya and will pursue all means to protect her sovereignty," he said. The minister said the team did not visit Beled Hawo near the Kenya-Somali border which was the scene of clashes between Somali National Army (SNA) and Jubbaland troops that Somalia claims were backed by Kenya. The minister called for the immediate withdrawal of the "baseless and unfair report" and demanded an apology, "failure to which Somalia is considering withdrawing from IGAD." He accused the IGAD team of not being neutral in the affairs of the two countries and of adopting a one-sided report. Somalia severed its diplomatic ties with Kenya on Dec. 15, 2020, accusing Nairobi of constantly meddling in Mogadishu's territorial and internal affairs, allegations which Nairobi has repeatedly denied. Enditem Myanmar: Mon State calls for investors in the fisheries sector January 27,2021 | Source: Myanmar Times Mon State is calling on both local and foreign investors to take advantage of its strategic location and geography to invest in the fisheries sector. U Myint Soe, chair of the Mon State Fisheries Federation said interested parties can invest in the sector to produce finished and value-added products. Other players in the industry see such investments as an opportunity to further develop the state and its economy. We would like to invite investors to gain access to modern technology. Mon State in return can offer our land, lakes, and labour, said vice-chair of the Mon State Fisheries Federation U Khin Maung Yee. Mon State is geographically connected to the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Mottama in the West with more than 140 miles of coastline. Fisheries related businesses are a key driver for the state's economy. Shipping by sea is readily available and transportation by road is also an option for exports to China, Thailand and India. Mon State should invite businesses that will invest in canned fish or dried fish factories, said local businessman U Thet Win Paing. The state usually produces more than 100,000 tonnes of prawns and shrimps every year. As much as 12,000 tonnes are exported to China, Singapore, and Malaysia annually. Approximately 80 percent of the fishery products that are produced within the state are exported to China. Mons call for investors comes on the back of a decline in fisheries exports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the value of Myanmar's fish export market increased from US$732.2 million in the 2018-19 fiscal year to $858.9 million in 2019-20, this figure is projected to drop drastically as the market has been plagued by difficulties arising from the COVID-19 outbreak. The government will try to negotiate with other countries to connect and export fishery products to their markets, said Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Aung Thu. We need to negotiate with the Myanmar Fisheries Federation and the respective departments to issue COVID-19 free certificates on the fish produced in the country, he said. This will help identify and set standards, upgrade the technolocial skills of the staff and improve the knowledge of the cold storage facilities. he said. He added that the Department of Fisheries and Cooperative Department will also collaborate to improve local fish consumption. Law enforcement agencies from several countries collaborated in a joint operation that resulted in taking over the command-and-control infrastructure behind Emotet, one of the world's largest botnets. Whether this disruption to the botnet will be permanent remains to be seen, but it's a promising development according to security experts. "This operation is the result of a collaborative effort between authorities in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Lithuania, Canada and Ukraine, with international activity coordinated by Europol and Eurojust," Europol announced Wednesday. "This operation was carried out in the framework of the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT)." What is Emotet? Emotet has been in operation since 2014 and over the past months has been the most commonly detected malware family by security products. The program started out as a Trojan program focused on the theft of online banking credentials, but over time evolved into a malware-as-service platform that was used by other cybercriminal groups to deploy their own malware or gain access to infected computers. Emotet is run by a group tracked in the security industry as TA542 and one of its main customers was the group behind TrickBot, another botnet that was known for distributing the notorious Ryuk ransomware. The Emotet / TrickBot / Ryuk relationship is well known in the security industry and organizations have been repeatedly warned to take Emotet and TrickBot infections on their networks seriously because they are a precursor to ransomware. TrickBot command-and-control servers were targeted in a separate Microsoft-led industry takedown operation in October, but the botnet is not completely dead and new TrickBot samples continued to be distributed by Emotet after Microsoft's action. Other cybercrime gangs that use other malware programs, for example Qbot, also rely on Emotet for distribution. Emotet itself is primarily distributed through spam emails that use social engineering to trick users into opening Word documents with malicious macros, rogue PDF files or URLs that lead to infected Word files. TA542 spam campaigns use generic lures such as invoices and other financial documents, but also try to exploit global or regional events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The group uses advanced techniques to increase its chances of success, such as threat hijacking, where emails pose as replies to legitimate conversations the Trojan stole from infected computers, or addressing the recipients by their real name and including their job titles and company names in the subject. According to Vinay Pidathala, director of security research at Menlo Security, Emotet was the most prevalent malware observed in 2020 and the latest identified Emotet samples in the company's global cloud date January 2. The Emotet takedown According to Europol, Emotet's infrastructure consisted of several hundred servers located across the world and serving different purposes, including making the botnet more resilient to takeover attempts. Law enforcement agencies had to work together to develop a strategy that involved gaining control of the infrastructure from the inside and redirecting victims to servers under their own control. As part of the investigation, the Dutch National Police seized data from the servers used by Emotet, including a list of stolen email credentials abused by the botnet. The agency set up a web page where users can check if their email address was among those affected. The information about infected computers that was gathered during the operation was also shared with national CERTs so the victims can be identified and contacted. "Only time will tell if the takedown will have long-term impact to Emotet operations," Jason Passwaters, COO of security firm Intel 471, tells CSO. "These groups are sophisticated and will have baked in some sort of recovery. Emotet itself does not appear to have any sort of inherent recovery mechanism, but a lot of the infected machines will have other malware installed as well, such as Qbot, Trickbot or something else. This could act as a way to recover those infected bots and pull them back under their control." According to Passwaters, members of these cybercrime groups are spread across the world in different jurisdictions and even if some of them are caught and forced to cooperate with law enforcement, others can use the source code to attempt to rebuild the botnet. However, such efforts to launch a new Emotet-based botnet shouldn't be hard to detect for security vendors. Based on information Intel 471 has, the law enforcement operation took place January 26 and also resulted in the arrest of several Ukrainian nationals who were responsible for running the botnet infrastructure. "This is a very promising event," Passwaters said. "All of those country flags on the announcement perfectly sum up what is required to have any real impact on these organized cybercrime groups and operations. I'm particularly encouraged to see the efforts in Ukraine. Historically corruption and other limiting factors have stood in the way of impactful LE action in Ukraine, but it's really good to see them at the forefront given they are in many ways ground zero for organized cybercrime. The difference between 'disruption' and 'takedown' boils down to criminals being put in handcuffs. It's the pinnacle of a takedown operation and the only way you'll have long term impact." "We are yet to see an instance where Emotet utilized anything other than compromised websites to host malware while maintaining the actual servers for the botnet under direct control to send instructions to infected machines," Josh Smith, security analyst at Nuspire," tells CSO. "Emotet operators have taken a significant financial blow now that their infrastructure is offline. It remains unknown if the operators will attempt to rebuild, but this is certainly possible. Emotet operators could also look at working with another botnet to distribute the malware." Even if this turns out to be the death of Emotet, other botnet operators will rush to fill the void and serve TA542's former customers, as this is usually what happens in the cybercrime ecosystem when a big player goes down. "We need to be cautious; threat actors are becoming smarter and better every single day," Francisco Donoso, director of global security strategy at Kudelski Security, tells CSO. "Every time this occurs, they will learn what technical (or likely operational) security steps they could have taken to reduce the risk of getting caught. There are significant resources being spent on both sides of this 'battle' and the criminals will continue to see value in building such botnets, as we are talking about a multi-billion-dollar industry." Romania strongly supports the fight against all forms of discrimination and all ways of spreading them, hate speech and anti-Semitism, Prime Minister Florin Citu conveyed in a message on the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. "January 27 is a day of great symbolic significance, of commemoration and homage to the victims of the tragic events of World War II and of marking, this year, of the 76th anniversary of the release of prisoners from the Auschwitz camp. However, in the period we are going through, marked by a proliferation of conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism and intolerance, it is not enough just to honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and to remember them, but it is all the more necessary to send a call for action. Romania strongly supports the fight against all forms of discrimination and all ways of spreading them, hate speech and anti-Semitism," Florin Citu wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. He brings to mind the measures and steps taken by Romania in recent years to combat anti-Semitism. "Exercising the Presidency of the Presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the adoption in 2018 of a special law to combat anti-Semitism, the preparation of a National Strategy to prevent and combat anti-Semitism, xenophobia, radicalization and hate speech is only part of our country's significant interest in protecting the values of a democratic society, the fundamental rights and freedoms of each of us. Let us never forget to speak out strongly and firmly against intolerance and discrimination whenever and wherever they might occur," Citu said. ALBANY An attempted burglary call led officers to more than 50 pounds of marijuana Tuesday evening, Albany police said. Police said they were called around 10:45 p.m. to a home on Manning Boulevard between Washington Avenue and North Allen Street. Scott Cam has rubbished rumours he 'saved the day' by buying The Block's Jimmy and Tam Wilkins' $4.2million Brighton property after they were forced to put it back on the market. His manager, Chris Giannopoulos, told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that the rumours are 'not to believed' and that Scott, 58, did not purchase the property, after cyber security expert Emese Fajk failed to pay up. 'It's pretty simple. The rumours are not true. It's unfounded,' he said. Not true: Scott Cam (pictured) has rubbished rumours he 'saved the day' by buying The Block's Jimmy and Tam Wilkins' $4.2million Brighton property after they were forced to put it back on the market Giannopoulos explained the Channel Nine star has been unable to comment on the situation himself as he is away on holidays. 'He's away for a few days and is unavailable for comment,' he explained. The iconic tradesman - and the face of the show for more than a decade - has previously purchased properties renovated by the show's contestants. Scandal: His manager, Chris Giannopoulos, told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that the rumours are 'not to believed' and that Scott, 58, did not purchase the property, after cyber security expert Emese Fajk (pictured centre with Jimmy and Tam Wilkins) failed to pay up 'The rumours are not true. It's unfounded,' Scott's manager, Chris Giannopoulos, told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday that the recent claims are 'not to believed' On Monday, New Idea claimed that the Logie-winning host saved the day by secretly purchasing the Melbourne mansion for himself, after cyber security expert Emese Fajk failed to pay up. 'Scott's involved in the show, so there would be no need for a real estate agent to transact (the property). If he has bought it, it wouldn't surprise me,' McGrath St Kilda principal Michael Townsend told the publication. Fajk - who claims to have worked with Apple and the United Nations - initially bought the home at auction for a show record of $4,256,000. Blindsided: The failed sale of Jimmy and Tam's home has devastated the Queensland couple, who even watched the finale over celebratory drinks with Fajk But just days before Christmas, both the 28-year-old's settlement and deposit payments failed to go through. Jimmy and Tam were left in the unenviable position of having to find a buyer for the prestige home right as the summer holiday period began. The failed sale of Jimmy and Tam's home has devastated the Queensland couple, who even watched the finale over celebratory drinks with Fajk. Company Ranked Sixth Overall and Leads the Pharmaceutical Industry in Governance of Access Secured Industry-Leading Positions in All Three Technical Areas Evaluated Shows Strong Performance in Health System Strengthening and Compliance Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited(TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) (Takeda) has earned an industry-leading position within the 2021 Access to Medicine (AtM) Index published today. Specifically the company achieved notable, high scores in all three technical areas evaluated by the Index, including being ranked first in Governance of Access. Takeda also demonstrated strong performance in the areas of health system strengthening, compliance and R&D capacity building, according to the Index. This honor underscores Takedas commitment to prioritizing patient needs by ensuring access to our life-transforming treatments, said Christophe Weber, Takeda president and chief executive officer. As a purpose-driven company that puts the patient at the center of everything we do, we are committed to not just inventing medicines but making sure patients can access transformative therapies. The AtM Index is a rigorous, biennial research project combining data-collection, verification, scoring and analysis that compares 20 of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies on their efforts to address access to medicines. Takeda was ranked sixth overall, and achieved top 10 positions within the three technical areas evaluated: Governance of Access, Research & Development and Product Delivery. This included top ranking in Governance of Access. Takeda is humbled by our recognition within the latest Access to Medicine Index, added Ricardo Marek, president of the Growth & Emerging Markets Business Unit of Takeda. Our ranking further illustrates how Takedas values are being lived across the company, and how our Access First approach across Takedas Growth & Emerging Markets Region is helping patients overcome access challenges in a more sustainable manner. Other notable highlights from Takedas achievements in the 2021 Index include: Recognition for its focus on end-to-end patient access to treatment. In fact, Takeda was cited for its focus on affordable access to medicines throughout the drug development process from early-stage clinical development through product launch and commercialization. Takeda also led the Indexs 20 companies in the category of assessing access strategies for medicines that must be administered by healthcare practitioners (HCP). The company led the industry for R&D capacity building. Takeda earned an industry-leading position in the area of health system strengthening. Takedas Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access, a local community care program in Kenya and Rwanda focused on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), was recognized as a scalable and inclusive business model aimed to meet the access needs of a population at the very base of the economic pyramid Susanne Weissbaecker, Global Head of Access to Medicines, Takeda, commented: Takedas continued leadership position in the 2021 Index is a testament to the impactful initiatives that we have put in place to help patients access our innovative and potentially life-saving medicines, while helping strengthen health systems in partnership with local governments, NGOs, and industry partners. Takeda has and hope to continue to play our part in helping patients overcome access challenges worldwide - despite the global pandemic. About Takedas Access to Medicines Initiatives Focusing on countries with less developed or evolving healthcare systems, Takedas Access to Medicines strategy forms part of the companys commitments to enhance peoples health worldwide. It is designed to help strengthen healthcare systems, and to tackle barriers that limit patient access to medicines. This includes partnering to implement affordability-based Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) for Takedas innovative treatment portfolio - notably in the fields of rare and complex diseases - along with efforts that go beyond medicines in areas such as Research & Development (R&D), and health system strengthening via its flagship Blueprint for Innovative Healthcare Access program in Kenya and Rwanda. About the Access to Medicine Index The Access to Medicine Index is published every two years by the Access to Medicine Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, plus the UK and Dutch governments. The 2021 Index tracks company action to rank 20 of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies. It measures companies actions to improve access to medicine across 106 low- and middle-income countries and in relation to 82 high-burden diseases, conditions and pathogens. The analytical framework for 2021 has a new, focused structure, with 33 indicators grouped into three Technical Areas: Governance of Access; Research & Development; and Product Delivery. About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetic and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in peoples lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in healthcare in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com. Important Notice For the purposes of this notice, press release means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) regarding this release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question-and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction). Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws. The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, Takeda is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words we, us and our are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005569/en/ A costume inspired by legend will carry the hopes of Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne when Michael Holden competes next week in the national finals of the Junk Kouture competition, in which second level students give free reign to their imagination in creating fashion out of rubbish. Michael delved into his interest in mythology to find a theme for his Junk Kouture entry, his father's leather workshop provided most of the materials and teacher Brenda Ni Fhrighil guided the project to completion. Last March Michael's outfit won the regional final of the Junk Kouture competition and next week he will compete against the best designs from across Ireland in the national finals, which are being held nine months later than originally scheduled because of coronavirus restrictions. Michael took a slice of Arthurian legend and added a touch of Star Wars, Monty Python and global disaster when he came up with the design for his costume entitled 'Arthur's Legend'. "There is a story about how King Arthur would return when needed most by the world, so I pictured this future scenario where King Arthur returns in the year 3000 to a world where humanity has basically decimated the planet - chemical disasters, nuclear warfare, environmental disasters, everything - and he sits in this apocalyptic dystopia," Michael explained. "His armour has to reflect that of course. It's made of scraps of leather from my Dad's workshop and bits of old computer parts to add a futuristic element, based very heavily on medieval suits of armour and taken as well from sources such as Star Wars and Monty Python's Holy Grail," he added. Now in its tenth year, Junk Kouture which is Ireland's leading fashion and art competition for secondary schools, challenges students to create unique and innovative outfits from recycled materials and junk. The final will be broadcast on RTE 2 on Thursday, February 4 at 7pm when Michael will hope to emulate the success of his fellow Pobalscoil student Maxim O Suilleabhain, who won the national Junk Kouture title in 2019 with a futuristic costume inspired by his family's Phoenix Cinema in Dingle. The Saolta University Health Care Group which runs Sligo University Hospital (SUH) has been advised by the HSE that there is very little vaccine available to give a first dose to additional frontline healthcare workers outside of residential care facilities until February. The Saolta Group run six hospitals across the West and North West of Ireland, providing acute and specialist hospital services. Last week the vaccination programme for frontline workers at SUH came under scrutiny after Sinn Fein Justice spokesman and TD for Sligo/Leitrim, Martin Kenny raised concerns about the administration of the vaccine at the hospital. Speaking before the Dail, Deputy Kenny said he had written to the Chief Officer of the HSE in the area, following reports on how the Covid vaccine was being administered at SUH. Sligo University Hospital According to health workers who have spoken to me, there are people who are on leave from work at the hospital, so not in contact with patients or staff at present, who are being called in to receive the first dose of vaccine, Deputy Kenny said. Meanwhile, some frontline staff: health workers, care assistants, security, catering and cleaning staff, are still waiting for their first dose. There are also reports of administration staff and senior management receiving vaccination while frontline staff are waiting. However a statement issued from the Saolta Hospital Group stressed the vaccination programme at SUH is being rolled out in accordance with the Government's provisional vaccine allocation groups list. The Covid-19 vaccination programme for staff in Sligo University Hospital commenced on Wednesday, January 6 and over 680 vaccines were administered to hospital staff, noted the Saolta statement. In the first instance the vaccine was offered to staff directly providing care to confirmed and suspect Covid-19 cases including ICU, the Emergency Department, Acute Assessment Unit and the Covid-19 wards. This includes support staff and clerical staff working in these areas also. The Covid-19 vaccination process requires people to get two doses. This means that most of the deliveries over the coming weeks will be used for the second dose needed to complete the vaccination course for those who received the first dose. We have been advised by the HSE nationally that there is very little vaccine available to give a first dose to additional frontline healthcare workers outside of residential care facilities until February. They have also advised us that when the vaccination programme in residential care facilities is completed, vaccine supplies will be directed to frontline healthcare workers. Vaccine clinics will be scheduled according to the availability of the vaccine and all staff in the hospital will be offered the vaccine noted the statement. The hospital vaccination team are also supporting administration of vaccines over the last week in Residential Care Facilities locally, it was noted in conclusion. The deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor served as a racial reckoning for many, including Black college students in Texas. In turn, they pushed their respective universities to take swift action in making sure students felt a sense of inclusion. Eight months later and they still don't feel as though enough is being done to make them feel welcome on their campuses. When we have people who don't know what it feels like to be oppressed try to make decisions about the oppressed, they often overlook the real demands and they only see racism from their narrow point of view," Texas A&M student Qynetta Caston told the Texas Tribune's Kate McGee. Students like Caston have petitioned for the university to remove a Confederate statue located on Texas A&M's campus, yet it still stands. Instead, they approved $100 million in scholarship funding to "boost diversity" at all campuses and partnered with the George Floyd Foundation to launch the 'Be His Legacy' internship. RACISM NO MORE: UT drum major says 'Eyes of Texas' is 'racist' and won't perform any longer Across Texas, students have also called for leaders to stop contracting with city police because of past shootings among officers, hire more Black faculty, rename buildings that honor Confederate leaders and at Rice University, improve lighting for identification photos to favor students with dark skin. The fact that it's taking so long is disheartening, said Rice student Kendall Vining, as reported by McGee. It means that, of course, somebody else is still trying to decide what's best for us, rather than us literally telling them what could be done to help. University of Texas Arlington spokesperson Joe Carpenter said students need to be patient if they want results. There's always a desire to move faster and do it better, University of Texas Arlington spokesperson Joe Carpenter shared with McGee. Some things, to be done right, take the involvement, not of one individual to just dictate something. KPMG brings together global organization's environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments under one umbrella, Our Impact Plan Incorporates roadmap to become net-zero by 2030, commitment to increase inclusion and diversity and to drive sustainable growth for clients and stakeholders Includes progress against newly created Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics and specific commitments across four categories: Planet, People, Prosperity and Governance KPMG today published its first global environmental, social and governance (ESG) plan. Our Impact Plan brings together new and existing ESG commitments under one umbrella, focusing on four important categories: Planet, People, Prosperity and Governance. The plan also catalogues current data across the global organization and reports against metrics outlined in a report created by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and drafted in consultation with its International Business Council (IBC), titled Measuring Stakeholder Capitalism, which KPMG had a key role in shaping. KPMG will continue to strengthen its commitments outlined in the plan and improve reporting on its progress in the months and years to come. KPMG Global Chairman and CEO, Bill Thomas said, "By harnessing our convening power, digital capabilities and expertise, KPMG has an opportunity and responsibility to help shape and lead on some of the critical issues the world faces-doing so is core to our purpose to Inspire Confidence and Empower Change. Now is the time to improve how we do what we do for the better, and we can jumpstart that momentum by measuring our actions, learning from each other, and holding each other accountable. Our Impact Plan is only a start, and we know we need to do more, but it is a step that will help KPMG become an even better organization." Global Head of Corporate Affairs, Jane Lawrie added, "The challenges we face in our world were put into the spotlight in 2020, reminding us all that we need to act now to make a difference. KPMG has already made some important progress, but we know we have a long way to go. Our Impact Plan brings together our collective ESG commitments in one place, allowing us to measure our progress and hold ourselves accountable. We are also in a privileged position working with many global and local organizations, large and small, who are committed to addressing these world issues, and together we can make a real difference." "Our Impact Plan reaffirms KPMG's long-standing commitment to the UN Global Compact principles, while delivering against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)," Lawrie continued, "and over the coming months and years these commitments will be strengthened, and progress will be reported openly." Highlights include: Planet: We have pledged to become a net-zero carbon organization by 2030 through reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, achieving 100 percent renewable electricity, and offsetting our residual emissions. We have pledged to become a net-zero carbon organization by 2030 through reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent, achieving 100 percent renewable electricity, and offsetting our residual emissions. People: In 2020, we created a Collective Action Plan, drafted with input and participation from thousands of our colleagues, which will set ambitious goals for workplace diversity and equality. In 2020, we created a Collective Action Plan, drafted with input and participation from thousands of our colleagues, which will set ambitious goals for workplace diversity and equality. Prosperity : KPMG's partnerships with UNESCO and other organizations helped us to support people severely impacted by the learning crisis, and through our recently launched KPMG IMPACT network, KPMG firms are supporting clients on their journeys towards sustainability and shaping the future ESG agenda. : KPMG's partnerships with UNESCO and other organizations helped us to support people severely impacted by the learning crisis, and through our recently launched KPMG IMPACT network, KPMG firms are supporting clients on their journeys towards sustainability and shaping the future ESG agenda. Governance: In 2020, we updated our global Code of Conduct and refreshed our Values. We are also using our position and expertise to help harmonize ESG metrics, which includes our work with the WEF IBC to create the Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, in addition to having accepted positions at the IIRC, TCFD, Corporate Reporting Dialogue and SASB, among others. About KPMG International KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 146 countries and territories and in FY20 had close to 227,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. Disclaimers Our Impact Plan represents the collective environmental, social and governance commitments of independent KPMG firms, affiliated with KPMG International Limited. The data represented in Our Impact Plan is aggregated data from KPMG firms for the 12 months to 30th September 2020 unless stated otherwise. Throughout this press release, "we", "KPMG", "us" and "our" refers to the global organization or to one or more of the member firms of KPMG International Limited ("KPMG International"), each of which is a separate legal entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-a-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006071/en/ Contacts: Mark Walters Global Head of Communications KPMG International mgwalters@KPMG.com +1 212 872 7679 Hundreds of protesters broke loose from a planned tractor rally by farmers on the city outskirts and stormed Red Fort on January 26, with others breaching barricades and clashing with police in other parts of the capital. Punjabi actor-activist Deep Sidhu was seen handing over a 'kesri' flag to a man to hoist it on the ramparts of the Red Ford alongside the tricolor inviting criticism for the farmers protest against the controversial agricultural reform laws underway at several border points of Delhi for more than two months now. Follow LIVE UPDATES on Farmers' Protest HERE Farmers unions, who have disassociated themselves from the faction that stormed the Red Fort, accused Sidhu, and politicians, of leading the youths towards the monument, an act that, they said, was not in the route of scheduled tractor parade. "Deep Sidhu is not a Sikh, he is a worker of the BJP. There is a picture of him with the PM. This is a movement of farmers and will remain so. Some people will have to leave this place immediately- those who broke barricading will never be a part of the movement," Rakesh Tikait, national spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union told news agency ANI. Lawyer-turned-actor-turned-activist Born in 1984 in Punjab's Muktsar district, Sidhu studied law and started practice for some time till he won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award and eventually ended up as an actor in Punjabi movies. His first movie Ramta Jogi was released in 2015. But he gained prominence in 2018 when the movie Jora Das Nimbria, with Sidhu in the lead role of a gangster, hit theaters. A sequel was released in March 2020 when Coronavirus-induced lockdown was imposed across the country. READ| No flag but sacred tiranga should fly aloft Red Fort: Shashi Tharoor Hahahahaha. The poor landless farmer for whom WOKES are crying. pic.twitter.com/yjl592EuqX Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) November 27, 2020 Sidhu, 36, was among many activists and artists who joined the farmers protest at Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana since September 25. In November, a video in which he was heard trying to convince Haryana police at Sonepat about the importance of farmers protest and why they should be allowed to march to Delhi, was shared extensively. The video, of him, speaking in English, was shared by filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri who mocked the actor for speaking in English and dubbing him as a poor landless farmer. Popularity apart, Sidhu faced opposition from farmers unions who called him BJP-RSS agent. In December, he was barred by farmer organisation from speaking on stage over diverting attention. Gaurav Pandhi, national coordinator of the Congress party's digital communications and social media was among many who pointed out his BJP links Turns out, BJP's Deep Sidhu & his followers were the ones who tried to siege Red Fort & hoisted Nishan Sahib. This is BJP's sinister plan. I had sounded alert on him 2 months ago (check tweet below) #____ https://t.co/eaMceM52Og pic.twitter.com/dp6rwziDAU Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) January 26, 2021 , , 6 December ,Twitter Sunny Deol (@iamsunnydeol) January 26, 2021 Sidhu's alleged association with the BJP comes from the fact that he was part of the team hired by BJP MP Sunny Deol during his Gurdaspur election campaign in 2019. His pictures with Prime Minister Narendra Modi have also appeared. Deol, however, has distanced himself from Sidhu. Despite being shunned by farmers' unions, Sidhu has been reportedly attempting to take a leadership role in the protest for quite some time now. He appeared on the protest site at the Singhu border a day before the tractor march of January 26. He took over the main stage and, along with gangster-turned-social activist Lakha Sidhana, announced they would hold the march inside Delhi, not in accordance with the routes mutually agreed upon by farmers unions and Delhi police. While Sidhu was at Red Fort during the protests on January 26, Sidhanas presence could not be confirmed. In a video released on social media after the Red Fort incident, Sidhu said it was the outcome of the agitation that has been going on for several months. He said the Nishan Sahib and Kisan Union flags were hoisted in a flow of emotions. He has admitted that he was behind hoisting the Nishan Sahib flat atop the monument. I had warned that our leaders had taken a decision which is against the youths sentiments. How can Deep Sidhu instigate such a huge crowd? You will not find a single video of me leading anyone to Red Fort. Everyone was swayed by the moment, Sidhu said in the video. Sidhu and his brother, Mandeep Singh, were among those summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently in connection with a case filed against the Sikhs For Justice. We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Head of the opposition Bright Armenia faction of the Armenian Parliament, member of Armenias delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Edmon Marukyan has been re-elected as first Vice-Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the lawmaker said on Facebook. Today I was re-elected as the first Vice-Chairperson of one of the most important committees of PACE the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The Committee Chairperson has three deputies. My candidacy has been presented by the PACE Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) political group, he said. The Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rightscomprises 85 members and their alternates to which should be added the presidents of the 5 political groups as ex-officio members. It deals with a wide range of legal and human rights topics, appointing parliamentary rapporteurs mandated to prepare reports based on in situ research, hearings and exchanges of views with experts. This work culminates in resolutions and recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) addressed to member states and other Council of Europe bodies. The Committee has three sub-committees: on human rights, on crime problems and the fight against terrorism, and on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan AstraZeneca's chief executive has said that the pharmaceutical firm wasnt selling vaccines ordered by the European Union to other countries at profits. A delay in orders has flared the EU after a breakdown in supply. Last week, the company had said in a statement that a temporary reduction in deliveries was caused due to 'reduced manufacturing'. The supply was not directed to different nations to make additional revenues. Amid the mounting tensions over the shortfall of vaccine supply, the AstraZeneca chief had rejected the claims that the company diverted the UK's vaccine consignment to the European Union, stressing that the UK had signed for 100 m doses of AstraZeneca in early agreements and the UK "will come first" for vaccines. European Union, threatened to block vial shipments to the third-world countries outside the 27-nation-bloc. They said that the vaccine developer had 'societal and contractual' responsibilities. Furthermore, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a European press conference, that AstraZeneca has been providing "insufficient explanations" about how short the volumes of supply will be. AstraZenecas CEO Pascal Soriot acknowledged the angst over sluggish vaccine rollout, saying that his team was working round the clock to fix the issue and ramp up manufacturing to meet the demands. In a statement to LENA European newspaper alliance, Soriot stated that AstraZeneca was not obstructing the vaccine supply of the EU and selling it to countries elsewhere to make profits. Were certainly not, the boss alleged. AstraZeneca, last year, reached an agreement with Europes Inclusive Vaccines Alliance (IVA), spearheaded by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, to supply up to 400 million doses of the University of Oxfords COVID-19 vaccine. IVA aimed to accelerate the supply of the vaccine and to make it available to other European countries, and the company sought to run supply chains in parallel across the world with other countries. Speaking of the commitment, Pascal Soriot said: This agreement will ensure that hundreds of millions of Europeans have access to AstraZeneca vaccines and the European supply chain will make the vaccine available widely and rapidly. However, simultaneously, the company entered similar agreements with the UK, US, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance for 700 million doses. Read: EU Slams AstraZeneca Over Vaccine Dose Delivery Read: COVID Vaccine Manufacturers 'must Deliver', Says EU Chief Amid Shortfall By AstraZeneca Today at @WEF #DavosAgenda, #DavosAgenda CEO Pascal Soriot emphasised the importance of building resilient healthcare systems to recover from the pandemic through public-private sector collaboration. More on our partnership with WEF and @LSE: https://t.co/1J0NcdVrb8 pic.twitter.com/XboabHe3yI AstraZeneca (@AstraZeneca) January 25, 2021 Initial volumes 'lower' However, with AstraZeneca not being able to meet the supply demands for the EU, Europes immunisation campaign suffered a hit and across several European countries, the mass inoculation campaign was hampered by a temporary shortfall in the supply chain. The company, meanwhile, took accountability stating: Initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain, in a statement. Meanwhile, the EU Commission told the press that Astra had informed the EUs vaccination steering board of a delivery schedule change, unable to meet the goal of at least 300 million doses and an additional 100 million which was a part of the companys global commitments to ship more than 3 billion doses. Read: Biden Commerce Pick Stresses Investment In COVID-19 Recovery Read: EU Warns Of Blocking COVID-19 Vaccine Export Amid 'surprising' Shortfall By AstraZeneca Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. It's a question that is on many people's minds: can I legally cross into Belgium from Luxembourg to visit IKEA or another non-essential store? We at RTL Today have spent the morning breaking our heads trying to answer this most crucial question posed by our readers below articles and social media posts (and we're worried about how to explain this invested time to our superiors). The complexity of the situation was reflected in the fact that after contacting local and federal police, the Ministry of the Interior and the coronavirus hotline, we were even more confused because few contacts knew who we should actually talk to. Here are our findings. As of Wednesday 27 January, non-essential travel to and from Belgium is prohibited, and a filled-out travel document is required for anyone travelling by road, air, sea and rail. Cross-border commuters are able to travel normally, provided they have necessary proof. This form lists several reasons why the journey is valid, ranging from work-related trips to emergencies. Below we've listed reasons for and against going to Belgium and, more specifically, paying IKEA a visit. Because let's be honest, that's the only thing you care about. Arguments in favour of crossing the border According to Belgium's coronavirus information website, travel is only allowed for a certain number of reasons: (1) compelling family reasons, (2) humanitarian reasons, (3) study purposes, (4) residents of border areas, (5) professional reasons when performing work-related activities, or (6) miscellaneous. One section of the form relates to Luxembourg residents and explains the reason for the journey: "A trip for one inhabitant of one of the border municipalities and their direct neighbouring municipalities in the border country as part of daily life for activities that are also authorised in the country of primary residence and which are necessary; a trip of a local from a border area to the border country as part of daily life for activities which are also authorised in the country of primary residence and which are necessary for as far as credible proof of this can be provided" As you can probably imagine there is a lot to unpack here. The fact that "miscellaneous" is mentioned as a separate point is questionable in itself and really blurs the attempt to finding a clear, concise answer. A resident living in a municipality touching the Belgian border may thus cross the border "as part of their daily life of activities which are also authorised in the country of primary residence". Were IKEA to exist in Luxembourg, shopping there would be permitted (as non-essential shops are open in the Grand Duchy). Furthermore, Belgian residents may continue paying visits to the furniture giant. On 24 January, Petra De Sutter, Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of public enterprises and the civil service, said on Belgian TV that "if you are used to shopping on the other side of the border, there is no problem." While this comment was related to Belgian residents, one would presume it sets a similar guideline for residents from Luxembourg. Arguments against crossing the border When contacting the coronavirus information hotline, RTL Today was told that while essential trips to supermarkets and butchers are permitted, IKEA would not be deemed necessary, and thus forbidden. Indeed, the form states that these trips must be "necessary for as far as credible proof of this can be provided". Showing a purchase receipt of a KALLAX cupboard to officers may not be convincing enough. RTL's mobile reporter visited the border area on Wednesday morning and stated that police checks occur at the Aire de Hondelange, which is situated after the IKEA exit, but units are also on standby in Sterpenich (IKEA exit). (As a side note: at the Knauf Schmett shopping mall in the north, police officers are stationed right on the border line). Police control borders Zanter e Mettwoch an nach bis op d'mannst den 1. Maerz sinn net-essentiell Deplacementer an an aus der Belsch eraus verbueden. Conclusion: What to do? Just don't travel. While you may get away with crossing into Belgium, popping over to your favourite store and returning to Luxembourg without a fine or police check, you are risking a non-essential trip. You could argue that the restrictions in place are too vague and can be interpreted in a million different ways, and we at RTL Today would in principle agree with you. However, we can conclude that the main purpose of crossing the border should remain an essential trip. For now, buy local and order IKEA online. FULTONDALE, Ala. (AP) - Gov. Kay Ivey is promising help to families and businesses impacted by the tornado that tore up some of Birmingham's suburbs. She said the people of Alabama are praying for them and will help them rebuild. The terrifying tornado trapped entire families in the wreckage of their homes Monday night, killing a teenager and injuring 30 people. Some survived in bathtubs and basements. The weather service says the twister was an EF- 3 with 150 mph winds. The governor says "homes and businesses can be rebuilt, but losing a young soul to a heart like this is beyond heartbreaking." Id like to express my deepest condolences to the people of Fultondale & Center Point. The people of Alabama are praying for you & were here today as a sign of our commitment to helping you recover. #alpolitics #alwx 1/5 pic.twitter.com/vfFcYZD4Dh Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) January 27, 2021 Ill be touring the damage shorty but what Ive seen so far made it clear that we have a lot of work ahead of us to ensure this community is restored. Unfortunately, Alabama is no stranger to the damage mother nature is capable of causing in our communities. #alpolitics #alwx 3/5 Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) January 27, 2021 The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday arrested YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor in another money laundering case related to Mackstar Group and PMC Bank. Kapoor is the third person to be arrested in the case. On January 23, the ED had arrested Mehul Thakur and Madangopal Chaturvedi in connection with the case. A day earlier, it had conducted raids at 10 premises, including residence of former underworld don Bhai Thakur and offices of Viva Group, controlled by the Thakur family. Kapoor, who was arrested in March last year by the ED in a money laundering case, is already in judicial custody. The Bombay High Court had on Monday refused to grant bail to him. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also interrogating him in a related case. Also read: HC denies bail to Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor in money laundering case In the latest case, the ED has alleged that YES Bank had sanctioned a Rs 200 crore-loan to Mackstar Group which was siphoned off by Kapoor, Thakur and Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) promoters Sarang Wadhawan and Rakesh Wadhawan, who also held stake in Mackstar Group. The Wadhawans are the key accused in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank scam case. The ED alleged that the Wadhawans took the loan from YES Bank without knowledge of the other stakeholders of Mackstar Group. The loan was taken for repair and refurbishment of a newly constructed building of Mackstar Group. The Wadhawans diverted two commercial properties, worth Rs 34 crore, in the said building to Viva Group. The sale agreement for the properties was prepared and registered on June 26, 2017. The purchase amount was paid through 37 cheques issued by Viva Holdings, a Viva group company. In its probe, the ED found that the cheques were never encashed. The two properties have also not been shown on the balance sheet of Viva Holdings. The central agency suspects that loans worth hundreds of crores of rupees, taken from PMC Bank, have been transferred by the Wadhawans to Viva Group. Meanwhile, Mehul Thakur, who is a member of the Thakur family, and Madangopal Chaturvedi, a director of Viva Group, were produced in a PMLA court today, which extended their custody till January 30. Also read: YES Bank Q3 results: Profit surges to Rs 151 crore, NII jumps 140% (@FahadShabbir) Washington, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :US Democrats' efforts to convict Donald Trump at his impeachment trial suffered a fresh blow Tuesday when almost all Republicans senators backed dismissing the case, underlining the former president's continuing hold over the party. The motion failed after all 50 Democrats and only five Republicans in the Senate did not support the push to throw out the case before the trial has begun. The result confirmed Democrats will struggle to persuade 17 Republican senators -- the number needed for the required two-thirds majority -- to vote to convict Trump. Rand Paul, Republican senator from Kentucky, raised a point of order to hold a vote on the constitutionality of the impeachment trial as Trump has left office. Democrats then called for a vote to kill the point of order, winning 55-45. Paul said afterwards "that 45 Senators agreed that this sham of a 'trial' is unconstitutional... This 'trial' is dead on arrival in the Senate." The House of Representatives presented a single article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday accusing Trump of inciting the storming of the Capitol earlier this month, setting in motion the first-ever impeachment trial of a former president. The trial of Trump, who was impeached by the Democratic-majority House for an unprecedented second time, is to begin the week of February 8. bs-elc/jm [January 26, 2021] DEADLINE ALERT: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. Reminds Investors That a Class Action Lawsuit Has Been Filed Against Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. and Encourages Investors to Contact the Firm Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C., a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm, reminds investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of investors that purchased Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd. (NYSE: NAK) securities between December 21, 2017 and November 25, 2020 (the "Class Period"). Investors have until February 2, 2021 to apply to the Court to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Click here to participate in the action. Northern Dynasty engages in the exploration of mineral properties in the United States. Its principal mineral property is the Pebble copper-gold-molybdenum project comprising 2,402 mineral claims that covers an area of approximately 417 square miles located in southwest Alaska (the "Pebble Project"). On August 24, 2020, the U.S. Army released a statement concerning the Pebble Project, stating that it would result in "significant degradation of the environment and would likely result in significant adverse effects on the aquatic system or human environment." The U.S. Army further found that "the project, as currently proposed, cannot be permitted under section 404 of the Clean Water Act." The U.S. Army requested that the Company submit a mitigation plan in response to this finding On his news, Northern Dynasty's stock price fell $0.55 per share, or 37.9%, to close at $0.90 per share on August 24, 2020. On November 25, 2020, Northern Dynasty reported that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had rejected its permit applications related to the Pebble Project. On this news, Northern Dynasty's stock price fell $0.40 per share, or 50%, to close at $0.40 per share on November 25, 2020. The complaint, filed on December 4, 2020, alleges that throughout the Class Period defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) the Company's Pebble Project was contrary to Clean Water Act guidelines and to the public interest; (2) the Company planned that the Pebble Project would be larger in duration and scope than conveyed to the public; (3) as a result, the Company's permit applications for the Pebble Project would be denied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and (4) as a result, defendants' public statements were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. If you purchased Northern Dynasty securities during the Class Period and on an American Exchange and suffered a loss, have information, would like to learn more about these claims, or have any questions concerning this announcement or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Brandon Walker, Melissa Fortunato, or Marion Passmore by email at investigations@bespc.com, telephone at (212) 355-4648, or by filling out this contact form. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C.: Bragar Eagel & Squire, P.C. is a nationally recognized law firm with offices in New York, California, and South Carolina. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in commercial, securities, derivative, and other complex litigation in state and federal courts across the country. For more information about the firm, please visit www.bespc.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005956/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Most of the world is struggling to secure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations. has the opposite problem: Plenty of shots, but a shortage of people willing to take them. As rolls out one of the worlds biggest inoculation programs, some health-care and other frontline workers are hesitating because of safety concerns over a vaccine that has yet to complete phase III trials. As of Monday, only about 56% of people eligible to get the shot have stepped forward in a nation with the worlds second-worst Covid-19 outbreak. Unless the inoculation rate significantly increases, will fall far short of its target of inoculating 300 million people -- or about a quarter of the population -- by July. That will setback global efforts to contain the virus and snuff out optimism that a recovery is taking root in an economy set for its biggest annual contraction in records going back to 1952. At least 40% of doctors here are unsure and want to wait, said Vinod Kumar, a resident doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences of Patna, in the eastern state of Bihar. Carrying out a vaccine trial on us when India is short of doctors, health-care workers doesnt make sense. While vaccine hesitancy has surfaced in places like Japan and Brazil, and Chinas candidates have also faced questions over data, the scale of the problem in India is by far the biggest. The major difficulties facing places like the U.S. and Europe are mostly due to scarce supplies rather than vaccine acceptance, and some countries are turning to New Delhi for help: India says it can produce 500 million shots per month for export, and countries such as the U.K., Belgium and Saudi Arabia have sought to buy them. Indias domestic vaccine program administers one of two shots: the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Ltd., or the Covaxin shot developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd., a private company based in Hyderabad. Indias approval of the Bharat Biotech shot, which was developed with government-backed research groups, was met with widespread criticism from scientists because of the lack of complete data. Many in our institute arent comfortable with Covaxin because we dont know how effective it is, said Adarsh Pratap Singh, a member of the Resident Doctors Association at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. To build trust among people the government must come out with the data, evidence of the trials, and encourage free and fair discussions. Both the company and the government have defended the shot. Krishna Ella, Bharat Biotechs chairman, said earlier this month that the company carried out 200% honest clinical trials and had a track record of producing 16 safe and effective vaccines. Indian scientists want to bash on other Indian scientists, he said while dismissing criticisms in a virtual press briefing on Jan. 4. A spokesperson for Bharat Biotech didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The government, meanwhile, has urged health-care workers to get vaccinated. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has sent tweets imploring #CoronaWarriors to take the shot, while dispelling rumors that the vaccine could cause infertility. A federal health ministry spokesperson wasnt immediately available to comment. Vaccine hesitancy among health workers should end -- I am pleading on behalf of the government, that please adopt it, because no one knows how this pandemic will take shape in the future, said V. K. Paul, a member of the planning body Niti Aayog, noting that hes taken the Covaxin shot without any adverse effects. These two vaccines are safe, he said. We have a system to track it and if there is an unusual signal, it will be responded to the way it should be. Initial apprehension and doubt at the start of any vaccine rollout is normal, said Preeti Sudan, former secretary at the federal ministry of health and family welfare. India was successful in its polio immunization program, she noted, after launching a massive campaign involving children, mothers and opinion leaders to help dispel vaccine fears. Low Vaccination Rates As of Monday, India distributed about 2 million shots nationwide. In Madhya Pradesh, the largest state in central India, about 75% of enrolled people turned up for vaccination on Jan. 21, while two days later in Bihar the rate was much lower at 51.6%. On Jan. 19, about 55% of those eligible were vaccinated in Rajasthan and 54% in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, according to state government data. While the hesitation relates to both vaccines, people are most wary about Bharat Biotechs Covaxin. In Tamil Nadu, for example, only 23.5% of those allocated Covaxin received the shots on Jan. 19, compared with 56% for the Serum Institutes Covishield, the data show. Nirmalya Mohapatra, a doctor at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, plans to wait and watch for more clarity before getting vaccinated with Bharat Biotechs shot. If given a choice now, he would opt for Covishield, as its efficacy data was reviewed by leading medical journals. Covaxin could turn out to be a better vaccine in the future, said Mohapatra, who is also vice president of the resident doctors association at the hospital. But for now there is some apprehension because of the lack of a complete trial. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American WUHAN (CHINA) : A relative of a coronavirus victim in China is demanding to meet a visiting World Health Organization expert team, saying it should speak with affected families who allege they are being muffled by the Chinese government. China approved the visit by researchers under the auspices of the UN agency only after months of negotiations. It has not indicated whether they will be allowed to gather evidence or talk to families, saying only that the team can exchange views with Chinese scientists. I hope the WHO experts dont become a tool to spread lies," said Zhang Hai, whose father died of COVID-19 on Feb. 1, 2020, after travelling to the Chinese city of Wuhan and getting infected. Weve been searching for the truth relentlessly. This was a criminal act, and I dont want the WHO to be coming to China to cover up these crimes." Chinas Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The WHO team, which arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 14 to investigate the origins of the virus, is expected to begin field-work later this week after a 14-day quarantine. Zhang, a Wuhan native now living in the southern city of Shenzhen, has been organizing relatives of coronavirus victims in China to demand accountability from officials. Many are angry that the state downplayed the virus at the beginning of the outbreak, and have attempted to file lawsuits against the Wuhan government. The relatives have faced immense pressure from authorities not to speak out. Officials have dismissed the lawsuits, interrogated Zhang and others repeatedly and threatened to fire relatives of those who speak to the foreign media, according to interviews with Zhang and other relatives. Zhang said chat groups of the relatives were shut down shortly after the WHO teams arrival in Wuhan, and he accused the city government of trying to silence them. Dont pretend that we dont exist, that we arent seeking accountability," Zhang said. You obliterated all our platforms, but we still want to let everyone know through the media that we havent given up." WHO says its visit to China is a scientific mission to investigate the origins of the virus, not an effort to assign blame, and that in-depth interviews and reviews" of early cases are needed. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China initially rejected demands for an international investigation after the Trump administration blamed Beijing for the virus, but bowed to global pressure in May for a probe into the origins. On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease official in the United States, said at the World Economic Forum that the origins of the virus that has brought the world to its knees are still unknown, a big black box, which is awful." The mission was repeatedly delayed by negotiations and setbacks, one of which prompted an unusual public complaint by the WHO head. The arrival of the WHO mission has revived controversy over whether China allowed the virus to spread globally by reacting too slowly in the early days. From the beginning, WHO officials have been trying to get more cooperation from China, with limited success. Audio recordings of internal WHO meetings obtained by The Associated Press and aired for the first time Tuesday show that even while the WHO praised China in public, officials were complaining privately about not getting enough information. The U.N. agency has no enforcement powers, so it must rely on the goodwill of member countries. Keiji Fukuda, a public health expert at the University of Hong Kong, has called the visit an image building mission," with China eager to come off as being transparent and the WHO keen to show it's taking action. Both China and WHO hope to get some brownie points," said Fukuda, a former WHO official. But it all comes down to what will the team have access to. Will they really be able to ask the questions that they want to ask?" Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Beth Nilsson treasures a photo her son, Caleb McCree, taken in Las Vegas two years ago where he was beaming with pride after bungee jumping. "He was very proud of that that was an achievement," she said. It's also how the grieving Slidell mother wants to remember her 43-year-old son, who was shot to death at a Slidell gas station Sunday afternoon by St. Tammany Parish law enforcement officers who were responding to a report of a stabbing. Nilsson said that her son suffered from mental illness, although she declined discuss specifics. "When he was on his medication he was a different person," Nilsson said of McCree, who lived with her. "I'm not sure what happened. I hope the investigation will reveal what actually occurred Sunday." Details from law enforcement officials have been scarce. Authorities have said only that a Slidell Police officer had responded to a call about a stabbing at the Circle K gas station and convenience store around 4:30 p.m. He called for backup and another Slidell Police officer and a St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene. In a news release Sunday evening, the Slidell Police Department said the officers arriving on the scene encountered McCree and at some point "shots were fired by Slidell Police and the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office, resulting in the killing of the alleged suspect." McCree's fatal encounter with officers was captured on video by witnesses, one of whom said that he started recording when he saw an officer pointing a gun at a man holding a knife. The witness said the man continued moving toward police after being told to stop and after being hit with a stun gun. The video shows a shirtless man walking forward as officers point guns at him in the parking lot of the business on Airport Road. The camera dips down as gunfire begins and raises second later, when the man can be seen lying on the ground. McCree was pronounced dead on the scene, authorities said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up State Police are investigating the shooting, and all three officers are on paid administrative leave pending the outcome. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office is conducting an autopsy Wednesday, according to a spokesman. The last officer-involved fatal shooting in St. Tammany Parish happened in 2019, when St. Tammany Parish sheriff's deputies were serving a protective order sought by the parents of Kevin Dudenhefer, a 32-year-old Lacombe man who suffered from schizophrenia. He was carrying a firearm which his parents said was not loaded -- when deputies arrived at the family's home. Deputies tried unsuccessful to subdue him with a stun gun. When he pointed the weapon at the deputies, they fired and killed him. Prior to that, an Iraqi war veteran who suffered from PTSD was fatally shot in 2013 by sheriff's deputies who were responding to a call that he had fired a weapon at his girlfriend. He was killed after pointing a weapon at deputies, according to news reports. When Dudenhefer was killed in 2019, the Sheriff's Office said all deputies had undergone critical intervention team training and mental health first aid training. Slidell Police also have specialized annual training to help identify and better deal with those who may have a mental illness, police spokesman Daniel Seuzeneau said Tuesday. "However, even then, if someone is an immediate threat to a member of the public or an officer, we have to protect the public and our officers have to go home at night," he said. Nilsson said that she is reserving judgement in her son's shooting until all the evidence has been reviewed, but she urged families who have a loved one with mental illness "to do all they can to help that person and to not give up on that person." She said that she wants to highlight a problem that she called universal. "I do not want this to happen to any other mother or any other son," she said. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form NEW DELHI, 19th JANUARY 2021: LG Electronics, Indias leading consumer durable brand, has pledged to support the Armed Forces by contributing Rs. 1 Crore to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund (AFFDF), under Kendriya Sainik Board Secretariat (KSB SECTT), a nodal organization of the Govt. of India, Ministry of Defence as part of its Kar Salaam initiative. The Kar Salaam initiative, dedicated to the soldiers of India, was started by LG Electronics 3 years ago to salute their spirit of generous contribution and service towards the nation. In 2020, LG Electronics donated Rs. 1 crore to Armed Forces Flag Day Fund which was utilised for education of girl child of ex-servicemen & martyrs of the Defence Forces. LG Electronics has been working on a number of CSR initiatives to help the community in every possible aspect and reaffirm its commitment towards the people. In these precarious and challenging times, LG Electronics has pledged to support the chivalry and sacrifice of Indias brave soldiers for assuring us a fearless life while protecting the borders. The contribution made by LG Electronics will help the dependents of brave martyrs, veterans and their families. To further support the cause, LG conducted a public awareness drive for contribution to the Armed Forces Flag Day Fund. Radio & Digital mediums were leveraged to further amplify communication across the masses for the initiative. The awareness campaign was also conducted 7,000 retail stores across the country. Video link of KAR SALAAM initiative Commenting on the gratifying occasion, Young Lak Kim- MD -LG Electronics India said, LG Electronics is one of the most loved & trusted brands, and as a responsible brand we are committed to contribute for meaningful social causes. Kar Salaam is an extension of this philosophy, This is a drive to extend our support to thousands of families of ex-servicemen of the Defence Forces who have served the nation with undeterred commitment & dedication. We hope that by this contribution we are able to further bring positive support and change to their families. We are extremely thankful to Kendriya Sainik Board for being our trusted partner in helping us implement this initiative, he added. Air Commodore B. Ahluwalia- Secretary KSB said, Armed Forces Flag Day Fund is set up to serve the welfare & rehabilitation needs of ex-servicemen & families of the Defence Force. We have a huge requirement & initiatives like Kar Salaam certainly helps us in raising awareness & generation of funds which helps in welfare of war widows, children of martyrs, war disabled soldiers & ex-servicemen. We would like to applaud LG Electronics for coming forward & creating a mass movement for this as we believe every day is Armed Forces Flag Day & we need people of India to come forward & contribute. The earlier contribution by LG Electronics has helped in supporting the education of the girl child. We are confident that initiatives like these will help in creating a mass movement to help the cause. To contribute to Armed Forces Flag Day fund log into www.ksb.gov.in #KarSalaam https://www.lg.com/in This is a partnered post. (Natural News) Todays Situation Update for Jan. 27th discusses the TEXIT movement (Texas secession), the military occupation of the District of Columbia foreign land (DC), and dares to delve into bizarre, horrifying new science that demands anal swab covid testing for children and adults. Yes, anal swabs are the new covid-19 testing protocol now being pushed in China and no doubt arriving soon in America. Scientists and the media are claiming that if they stick a swab up your butt, it reduces false positives. Of course, its all just stupid at this point. The coronavirus is a respiratory virus, and unless you breathe through your rectum, anal swabs are nothing more than obedience training for sheeple. Globalists are literally dreaming up the most insane things they can think of, then declaring those things to be science and demanding you comply. America is descending into a scene ripped right out of Idiocracy. This is how it has come to triple masks being pushed by the delusional media, along with anal swabs that require you to pull down your pants and literally bend over and take it up the rear in the name of compliance. China Pushes Anal Coronavirus Tests, declares The National Pulse. That story cites the Washington Post, which explains: Some Chinese doctors say the science is there. Recovering patients, they say, have continued to test positive through samples from the lower digestive tract days after nasal and throat swabs came back negative. This is all based on faulty PCR testing, by the way, which determines the outcome of the test by changing the cycle settings to achieve whatever desired outcome they want. But as I stated in the podcast below, If covid is in your BUTT, why do you have to wear a diaper on your FACE? The new anal swab covid testing is also, of course, another twisted opportunity for left-wing perverts and pedophiles to sodomize children in the name of science. No doubt top democrat donors will be lining up as volunteers to conduct anal swabbing on children because theyre truly that twisted. Listen to the full podcast below. The last five minutes also contains a hilarious comedy skit concerning NASA transtronauts, which refers to transgender astronauts and the possible problems they may encounter with space suits calibrated to the wrong gender. Brighteon.com/94a83f32-ba4c-46c7-b878-060a62ead456 Hear each days new podcast at Brighteon.com: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport Wilkes-Barre, PA (18701) Today Periods of rain. Low 47F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 47F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Commuters in Accra have called on government to direct commercial drivers to reduce passenger intake to enhance the observation of social distancing in vehicles. That, they said, had become necessary to contain the second wave of covid-19, in view of the increasing number of cases being recorded daily. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) the commuters said though they continued to observe the other safety protocols like wearing of nose masks and use of hand sanitizers, the non-adherence to social distancing in vehicles still posed a great danger. Mr Isaac Aidoo, a passenger, spotted in a Dansoman bound vehicle at the Old Tema Station, said it was unsafe to sit close to strangers because one could not tell who had the virus or not. Weve been asked not to attend funerals due of the rise in the COVID-19 numbers, yet we pack ourselves daily into vehicles with strangers. This is sad, he bemoaned. Mr Aidoo, therefore, urged the Government to immediately direct drivers not to load to full capacity to allow for social distancing. Madam Janet Terkpertey, also a passenger, said: I dont feel comfortable sitting close to a stranger because the COVID-19 numbers keep increasing. But public vehicle is my only means of commuting so I do not have an option than to call on government to instruct drivers to take fewer passengers to allow for social distancing. Madam Regina Emefa Abokraa, another passenger, said only a few people could afford car hiring services and it was time government acted to save the larger public. She called for strict enforcement of the protocols, particularly the wearing of face masks in public transports, as some passengers took them off immediately they boarded the vehicle. Mr Abubakar Abdul Salam, Chairman of the Accra New Town branch of the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU) said drivers incurred losses when they were directed to take fewer passengers from March last year. Government will have to reduce the price of fuel to help the drivers as they are already facing hardship and cannot be the ones to bear the cost of fewer passengers, especially looking at how expensive fuel is now, else passengers will have to pay twice the fare, he stated. Mr Kofi Afful, Tema Station GPRTU Welfare Chairman, said: We do not have a problem if we are to reduce the number of passengers to ensure the social distancing. However, we cannot bear the cost with the reduction that comes with it while we pay our car loans. Therefore, if the government is willing to bear some of this cost or help in the repayment of the car loans, we are ready to comply, he added. Ghana has witnessed a significant surge in the spread of the virus in recent weeks with the country recording nearly 2,000 new cases of infections within three days. The active cases as at Monday, January 25, stood at 3,286 with the death toll at 367. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Press Release 27 January 2021 The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has said that introducing hotel quarantines in the UK would cause irreparable damage to an industry which contributes nearly 200 billion to the UK economy. Advertisements The UK has been one of the worst affected countries by the ongoing global COVID19 pandemic in the world. As of 06:22 GMT on 26 January 2021, the UK had reported 98,723 deaths and 3,680,101 cases. Only the U.S., Brazil, India, and Mexico have reported more deaths than the UK, according to Johns Hopkins University of Medicine. The UK recently removed the travel corridors it had created and is currently discussing whether to enforce quarantine measures in an attempt to control the importation of new cases and variants of the virus. Many countries around the world have been able to control COVID19 numbers with greater success, due in part to much stricter quarantine measures for arriving travellers. Not everyone agrees with strict quarantine measures. Gloria Guevara, WTTC President & CEO, said, "The UK travel and tourism sector is in a fight for survival - it's that simple. With the sector in such a fragile state, the introduction of hotel quarantines by the UK government could force the complete collapse of travel and tourism. Travellers and holidaymakers would simply not book business or leisure trips knowing they would have to pay to isolate in a hotel, causing a drastic drop in revenues throughout the sector. "From airlines to travel agents, travel management companies to holiday companies and beyond, the effect on UK travel businesses would be devastating, further delaying the economic recovery. Even the threat of such action is enough to cause consternation and serious alarm. WTTC believes the measures introduced by the government just last week - proof of a pre-departure COVID19 test, followed by short quarantine and another test if necessary, could stop the virus in its tracks, and still allow the freedom to travel safely." "A number of countries, such as Iceland, have successfully implemented a testing regime on arrival, which has curbed the spread, whilst ensuring borders remain open. So, it's crucial these measures are given some time to work. Despite the current gloom, we truly believe there is room for optimism and a brighter future ahead. Business travel, visiting families and holidays can return with a combination of an internationally recognised testing regime, vaccines and mandatory mask wearing. These simple but highly effective measures, if implemented properly, could aid the revival of a sector which will be essential to powering the UK and global economic recovery." Currently people arriving in the UK must provide proof of a negative COVID19 test taken up to 72 hours prior to departure. They also need to self-isolate for 10 days though this can be reduced to just 5 if they agree to pay for and pass another COVID19 test a few days after their arrival. The UK Government is expected to make a decision today or Wednesday on whether to force travellers to quarantine in specific hotels, at their own cost, upon arrival in the UK. Details of the quarantine, the number of nights, choice of hotels, how it will work, costs involved, and whether this will be a blanket rule for everyone, or if there'll be numerous exemptions as the UK has done so often in the past, have yet to be confirmed. Whilst a lot of countries have quarantines of 14 days, Hong Kong recently increased the quarantine from 14 to 21 days, and New Zealand recently reported the first community case of COVID19 in two months after a woman who travelled from London started showing mild symptoms 2 days after leaving 14-day mandatory quarantine where she had tested negative twice. Thailand learned early on that if you are going to implement quarantine for arrivals, it has to be for everyone, regardless of country of origin, job or VIP status. The virus does not discriminate. MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - In his first call as U.S. President to his Russian counterpart, Joe Biden warned Vladimir Putin against meddling with U.S. presidential election. The White House said Biden warned that his government would impose additional sanctions on Moscow if U.S. intelligence confirms Russian interference in election. A White House statement about the telephone call said Biden voiced concern over the SolarWinds hack, reports of Russia placing bounties on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, the poisoning of Russian Opposition leader Aleksey Navalny, and treatment of peaceful protesters by Russian security forces. He reaffirmed the United States' firm support for Ukraine's sovereignty in the wake of Russia's ongoing aggression. 'President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies,' the White House press release added. The two leaders discussed both countries' willingness to extend New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) for five years, agreeing to have their teams work urgently to complete the extension by February 5. They also agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms control and emerging security issues. Trump had refused to sign on the new START, that was due to expire next month. The two presidents agreed to maintain transparent and consistent communication going forward, according to the White House. Earlier, at a media briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, 'the President's intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia.' 'The conversation between the leaders of Russia and the United States was of a business-like and frank nature,' according to the Kremlin. Biden, who has in the past referred to Putin as 'a KGB thug', accused Donald Trump of being 'Putin's puppy' during an election debate. He accused his predecessor of being too weak on Russia. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de Plainview ISD students in the high schools special education program will now have the option to take a course that will educate about public transportation. During a regular school board meeting last week, the Plainview ISD School Board unanimously voted to approve an innovative course aimed at helping students learn about available methods of public transportation. Brandy Tirey, director of student support services for the district, said the course will teach about services like Spartan and how to utilize them. It will provide more independence for them, Tirey said. The vote for the new course was a unanimous 7-0. The district will also forgo educator evaluations again this year. As educators continue to face unusual challenges created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Education Agency, which requires districts to evaluate its educators, has given districts the option to waive those requirements for the 2020-2021 school year. After a School Board meeting last week, Superintendent H.T. Sanchez said moving forward with the evaluations doesnt make sense. He noted that some educators are still conducting online classes and cited the presentation made by the team of educators who told the board that kids who returned from online instruction have fallen considerably behind their peers even though the material and tools provided for online learners is the same as whats provided for those learning in-classroom. During the meeting, Sanchez told the board that teachers are working hard to close those gaps. He added that if a teacher is doing a good job, they can rest easy and if they need help, the district will continue to provide resources to intervene. Our first option is to improve you, our last is to remove you, he said. The board approved the waiver of staff evaluations with a unanimous vote of 7-0. The board also approved a grant that has yet to be officially presented to the Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. Robin Straley, director of secondary teaching and learning, said the grant is from the Lubbock Economic Development Association/Workforce Commission and is funded by the Plainview-Hale County Economic Development Corporation. The grant is for $7,533 and will benefit the districts CNA program. While the district has been informed of the grant, the official check presentation will be set at a later date. The EDC has awarded grants to the Plainview ISD CTE program every year for at least the last five. The grants have helped enhance the CTE programs culinary arts, welding and CNA programs. The funding was approved with a unanimous vote Thursday night. The charitys role is controversial because it is led by Benjamin Koppel, the president of the Adass Israel Congregation, part of a small ultra-orthodox group of about 150 families based in Elsternwick and Ripponlea where Ms Leifer worked. The Age has confirmed Ms Leifer will be offered support from the charity Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria, a group contracted by Corrections Victoria to assist every Jewish person in the states system and support prisoners to observe and grow while in prison. A Jewish charity will offer chaplaincy services to alleged paedophile Malka Leifer when she returns to Australia, a decision that has angered some members of the religious community. Mr Koppel was president of the Adass Israel Congregation when Ms Leifer left Australia in 2008, 24 hours after she was accused of sexually molesting some of the students and sacked by the board. He was questioned in the Supreme Court in 2015 about the decision to hire Ms Leifer amid allegations she travelled to Israel with the assistance of the Adass board. However, there is no evidence or allegations to suggest Mr Koppel helped Ms Leifer, or knew about plans to help her leave for Israel. After years of resisting extradition to Australia, Ms Leifer was expected to arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday evening following a ruling by Israels Supreme Court that the 52-year-old return to Australia to face prosecution. She will face court in Melbourne on Thursday. A government spokeswoman told The Age that Ms Leifer would come under the custody of Victoria Police upon arrival and be taken to a police quarantine facility until her first court appearance via video link. Following that court appearance, in the case Ms Leifer is remanded to face court again, she would be taken to a prison isolation facility where she will serve a 14-day quarantine period. A board member of Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria told The Age they had received calls from frustrated members of the community this week who believed a group linked to the Adass group should not support Ms Leifer considering the seriousness of the allegations. Kolkata, Jan 27 : A special CBI court at Asansol has issued an arrest warrant against "absconding" TMC youth leader Vinay Kumar Mishra in a cross-border cow smuggling racket in West Bengal, sources said on Wednesday. One of the Trinamool Youth Congress' General Secretaries, Mishra was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) several times in the last one month but he skipped all summonses. The last summons was served on January 19, the sources said. The agency had also issued a Lookout Notice against him. The CBI had recently raided Mishra's residence in Kolkata's Rashbihari Avenue area but failed to arrest him since he is "absconding", the sources added. The crackdown came ahead of state Assembly polls in April-May this year. The central agency is now probing the larger conspiracy angle to the cattle-smuggling racket. The CBI had filed an FIR in September last year against six persons, including some Border Security Force and Customs officers, who were allegedly bribed by international cattle smugglers. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a booster of conspiracy theories with a track record of making racist statements, repeatedly endorsed violence against Democratic leaders and federal agents, according to a CNN review of her Facebook activity. Greene filled her feed with extremist content for years before she was elected in November, becoming the first open supporter of QAnon, an extremist ideology baed on false claims, to win a seat in Congress. In a January 2019 post, Greene "liked" a comment advocating "a bullet to the head" of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to a screenshot published by CNN's KFile. In another, from April 2018, a commenter asked, "Now do we get to hang them ??" referring to former president Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, KFile reported. In response, Greene did not denounce the suggestion of execution and instead wrote, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off." The revelations are the latest examples of Greene's far-right, conspiratorial online exploits, which also include supporting the bogus claim that the Parkland, Fla., school shooting was staged and backing a dangerous conspiracy about child abuse. Greene has also relentlessly boosted the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was rigged against President Donald Trump, even though court after court has dismissed the former president's claims and state officials across the country, including Republicans, have rejected the baseless allegations. Greene's statements have resulted in her temporary ban from Twitter and they have prompted a number of advocacy organizations to call for her resignation or expulsion from Congress - a push that intensified after CNN's Tuesday story. The offices of Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not respond to requests for comment about Greene's Facebook activity or the campaign for her removal. On Twitter, Greene characterized the KFile report as a "hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office" but did not dispute the authenticity of the posts it highlighted. Instead, Greene wrote that she has had "teams of people manage my pages." "Many posts have been liked," she said. "Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet. They are taking old Facebook posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice." But Greene's office did not respond to questions about why the posts and "likes" remained on her page if she did not agree with them. Many of the posts included in the CNN article are no longer visible. It's unclear whether Greene changed her privacy settings or Facebook removed the posts. The social media company did not respond to a request for comment. Rep. Don Beye, D-Va., was among those calling for Greene's resignation. "So you aren't denying you wrote called for the deaths of political leaders, you aren't taking responsibility, you aren't apologizing, you aren't even saying it was wrong," he wrote on Twitter, responding to Greene's statement. "You're just blaming others. Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House, and you should resign." Greene has a history of singling out Democrats - especially Pelosi - with threatening and ominous rhetoric. Before she ran for office, Greene circulated a petition to have Pelosi impeached. In February 2019, she led a group of Trump supporters into the speaker's office, where she accused Pelosi of "treason" and suggested she "shall suffer death or shall be imprisoned." In now-deleted posts, Greene "liked" one comment encouraging her to "beat Pelosi's ass" and another that advocated for Pelosi's ouster "through removal or death, doesn't matter, as long as she goes." In others, she criticized FBI agents not being sufficiently loyal to Trump. She "liked" one comment that proposed capital punishment for those law enforcement officials, reading: "Trump already said there were some great ones working with FBI but some have fallen and quite frankly need to be hung for TREASON!" And in another Facebook post, surfaced by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America and also published Tuesday, Greene endorsed the gruesome conspiracy dubbed "Frazzledrip," which involves Clinton, her aide Huma Abedin, satanic ritual and child murder. A commenter called it "another hillary hit." Greene replied: "I post things sometimes to see who knows things. Most the time people don't." A British couple who spent two weeks in quarantine at an Australian hotel have shared their experience as the Government introduced similar measures for travellers returning to the UK from high risk countries. Under a new scheme unveiled today, passengers arriving from more than 20 'red list' countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Similar quarantine schemes are already in place in countries including Australia, Singapore and Norway. Speaking to FEMAIL, British travel bloggers Alex and James Lock told how they spent 14 days in a 20sq m room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney, where hotel quarantine costs $4000 AUD, or 2,200, for two adults staying together. The couple, who have lived in Australia for six years, were escorted to the hotel from the airport and had no choice over where they would be staying, or the type of room - they didn't even have a window that opened. Quarantine diary: Travel bloggers Alex and James, who are originally from the UK but are currently in Australia, spent 14 days in a 20sq m room at the Intercontinental in Sydney last month after being whisked to the hotel on arrival. Pictured, Alex working in the hotel room Lunch: An example of the type of lunch that was delivered to Alex and James's room. The couple did not have a choice in their meals but the offering did change every day Tested: On day two and day 10 of the quarantine, a nurse came to the hotel room to carry out nasal and throat swabs for a Covid-19 test. The tester stood outside the hotel room door in full PPE and reached in to take the samples. Pictured, James being tested in the hotel Quarantined: Alex and James Lock told how they spent 14 days in a 20sq m room at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney, where hotel quarantine costs $4000 AUD, or 2,200, for two adults staying together. Pictured, the couple pose for a playful snap in their hotel room What countries are on the quarantine red list? Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement Travellers returning to the UK will also not be given a say over their hotel or type of room. Alex, 31, and James, 32, who boast more than 72,000 Instagram followers and 3,100 YouTube subscribers, told how they survived largely on basic, cold meal packs like sandwiches and salads that were dropped off outside their hotel room in cardboard containers. This was supplemented by care packages delivered by friends to the hotel reception, which were then taken up to the room by a member of staff wearing a mask. The couple were also allowed to order one meal a day from local restaurants using delivery apps like Deliveroo or UberEats. The couple, who kept busy with YouTube exercises classes, work and Netflix, revealed how there was no room cleaning service so they were given fresh bedsheets after a week to change themselves. They also had to hand wash their clothes in the bathtub and leave their rubbish tied up outside the room. Covid-19 tests were administered twice during their stay - on day two and day 10 - and there was a daily phone call from a nurse who asked about symptoms and checked on their welfare. Here, James and Alex share their day-in-the-life diary with FEMAIL... Handwash only: Without the luxury of a laundry service, Alex and James had to hand wash their clothes in the bathtub ARRIVAL Walking through the door to the 20m sq hotel room, we were just happy to see a comfy bed. We had been travelling for over 25 hours, and then had a long wait between the airport and getting to the hotel. We had no idea where we would be placed until we arrived outside the building. We tracked our location on Google Maps, since it was pitch black and no army or police personnel had told us where we were going. The room was relatively spacious. We were lucky to have a desk, which meant we had a separate space other than just sitting on the bed, and with a little rearranging we could just make a space big enough at the end of the bed for some exercise. We had two huge windows, but when we tried to open them realised they were sealed shut. Having no fresh air was very difficult. It was definitely one of the things we struggled most with across the 14 days. Some people and families lucked out with open windows, even balconies. But that is just the luck of the draw! There was a TV with basic channels, a kettle and a coffee pod machine with four complimentary pods, any additional ones were at a charge of $1 each (50p). With jet lag kicking in quick, we went through them quickly! There was a small fridge that had some standard mini bar food snacks, but everything in there was payable at usual hotel prices. There was zero cooking equipment, which was an immediate worry as we had heard the food wasnt going to be great. Our room was next to the main lift lobby where a single security guard sat for 24 hours of the day. We could occasionally hear murmurings outside at the lift where the security guards would change shifts. But there was always someone there, night and day. MORNING Food is served: Cold meals were delivered in cartons left outside the hotel room three times a day. Breakfast was typically a selection of a mini packet of cereal, long-life milk, a mini yoghurt and a piece of fruit. Lunches were something like a salad, sandwich or cold pasta Staying active: The couple tried to do a 30-minute YouTube HIIT workout every day. Pictured, Alex and James working out in the hotel in a grab taken from their YouTube vlog Breakfast was delivered in a paper carton every day at 8am. We were not allowed into the corridor so it was a case of putting on a mask and leaning outside to pick it up off the ground. DAILY HEALTH CHECKS FROM A NURSE AND WEEKLY COVID TESTS Once a day we received a call from a nurse asking how we were feeling and if we had any Covid symptoms. On days two and 10 the nurse came to the hotel room to carry out nasal and throat swabs for a Covid-19 test. The tester stood outside the hotel room door in full PPE and reached in to take the samples from us. Not going to sugarcoat it, the test is rather uncomfortable. There was a mental health nurse on call at any time of day that you could speak to if you were struggling. We felt that any member of staff we spoke to were kind, considerate and helpful throughout the quarantine period. Advertisement Most mornings we were given a selection of a mini packet of cereal, long-life milk, a mini yoghurt and a piece of fruit. There was no metal cutlery so we had to try cut through our fruit with very blunt plastic knives. To keep ourselves active we tried to do a 30-minute YouTube HIIT workout every day. While eating our breakfast, we responded to any emails we had received overnight and settled down to a few hours work before lunch, which was again delivered in a carton in the corridor. Like breakfast, we didn't have a choice in food selection. What was delivered wasn't horrendous and changed every day. It was usually made up of a salad, sandwich, or cold pasta with a couple of hidden treats on the side - like a slice of cheese. AFTERNOON Since we didn't have the luxury of a washer or a dryer, the hotel recommended we wash our clothes in the bathtub and use the washing line provided. After travelling for two weeks through Italy before flying to Australia, we had a lot to get through. It was like the olden days! We continued working until the late afternoon, unless we wanted to take a break to watch something on Netflix on the laptop or to have a nap (jet lag made us tired). We then usually spent time on the phone to our family and friends, updating them on life in quarantine. Being able to keep in touch with friends and family over FaceTime and WhatsApp was good for our mental health. We were also extremely lucky to have each other. The hotel also gave us brain teasers and colouring pencils to lift spirits, which we thought were nice touches. EVENING Relaxing: James and Alex watch Netflix on the laptop at the end of another day in quarantine Delivery! The couple were allowed to order in one meal a day using apps like UberEats Dinner was dropped off at around 5-6pm. Again, this was delivered in a carton and tended to be very basic. However we were allowed to order one takeaway meal every day, using food apps like Deliveroo and UberEasts. The food was dropped off downstairs at the hotel and brought up to our room and left outside in the corridor. We did this most days. As the day drew to a close we would enjoy a glass of wine - or two - before watching a film on Netflix and going to sleep, knowing we would have to do it all again the next day. LOOKING BACK Some people have compared quarantine to prison life. In prison you get fresh air and are sometimes able to choose your meals. We didn't have either. But then again you are in a hotel room with lots of other comforts. At the end of the day you know what you're signing up to - at least to a point - and you know there is that silver lining when you are released. If anything it gives you a new sense of appreciation for freedom, fresh air, family and friends! We also think and agree that quarantine really has made the difference with containing the virus within Australia and we feel it is totally necessary. Follow Alex and James' adventures at www.instagram.com/twosometravellers and www.youtube.com/twosometravellers The proceeds from its placement during the second quarter of the 2021 financial year will be used for the development of OroMist products, the identification and evaluation of new technologies for potential acquisition and for working capital. The companys product pipeline includes ZolpiMist, a first-in-class oral spray of zolpidem tartrate for the treatment of short-term insomnia Suda Pharmaceuticals Ltd ( ) (FRA:E4N) ended the second quarter of the 2021 financial year on a positive note, with a cash balance of $5.47 million after a successful capital raise and a refund from the Australian Taxation Office. The company received a refund of $0.662 million under the R&D Tax Incentive Program, having committed $1.52 million to R&D to support ongoing development of its oral spray projects, including the development of anagrelide for financial year 2020. SUDA chief executive officer and managing director Dr Michael Baker said: It was very pleasing to see the Australian Government demonstrate positive sentiment towards the R&D Tax Incentive program as it is an important pillar of the innovation ecosystem. Heading into 2021, the company is focused on the development of its ZolpiMist oral treatment for insomnia. Strongly supported placement The company also raised $2.76 million in December through a well-supported placement to existing and new sophisticated investors. A total of 76,708,975 shares were issued at $0.036 per share, representing an 8% discount to the weighted average closing price of shares over the preceding 10 days prior to the last trading day before announcement of the offer. Due to the timing of the placement, the closing cash balance for the second quarter does not include the costs associated with the capital raise - which will be included in the Appendix 4C for the March quarter. In connection with the offer, SUDA directors and management will contribute up to $50,000, subject to the approval of the shareholders in respect of the directors participation at an EGM to be held on the 29th of January 2021. Baker Young were the lead manager for the offer. Funding OroMist development The proceeds will be used by SUDA to continue advancing the development of the companys low-risk oral sprays using its OroMist technology to reformulate existing pharmaceuticals. Along with ZolpiMist, other oral spray products in development include treatments for migraines headaches, motion sickness, drug-resistant epilepsy and certain cancers. The funds will also be used to identify and evaluate technologies for potential acquisition and for working capital. Dr Baker said: We are very pleased with the level of support that we received from sophisticated and professional investors for the placement. ZolpiMist update Notably, the company has advised today that Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Singapore Pte Ltd (MTPS) has indicated its intention not to proceed with the license and supply agreement for ZolpiMist. MTPS cited a change in business strategy across the ASEAN region as their primary reason not to proceed with the agreement. SUDA has agreed to terminate the agreement and notes that there is no immediate impact on revenue streams. Pursuing partnerships ZolpiMist is approved by the TGA and is marketed in the US and the company has rights to the product outside of the US and Canada. SUDA will continue to focus on the remaining partnerships it has in place for ZolpiMist, look to secure additional partners for the ASEAN region and other territories and will continue to source and evaluate additional technologies for potential acquisition that align with the companys areas of focus, oncology and the central nervous system. Looking forward In the near-term, the company will continue to identify and evaluate several technologies in the fields of oncology and the central nervous system. SUDA will also continue to identify technologies from leading research institutes and intends to secure the technology that it believes best fits with its short to long term strategic objectives. Dr Baker said: There are many exciting technologies being developed across the globe. SUDA is continuing to work diligently to secure the technology that we feel best aligns with our core areas of focus and that will deliver value to our shareholders. Hyderabad, Jan 27 : Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and Global Response Aid FZCO (GRA) on Wednesday announced the termination of Avigan (antiviral drug) trial study conducted in Kuwait focused on moderate to severe Covid patients in a hospital setting. The hospitalised patient study, conducted in Kuwait, on moderate to severe patients was one of the studies in the overall clinical programme for Avigan, spanning the spectrum of asymptomatic to severe cases of Covid in both outpatient and in-patient setting. The Phase 3 study, being conducted in an outpatient setting on patients with mild to moderate symptoms in North America by Dr. Reddy's, in partnership with Appili Therapuetics and GRA, will continue, the Hyderabad-based pharma major said. The data from the Kuwait CVD-04-CD-001 study involving moderate-severe Covid-19 hospitalised patients did not show statistically significant difference for the primary endpoint for Avigan vs Placebo. The full data analysis on 353 subjects would be available by the end of February 2021. Within this group, there was a sub group analysis carried out on 181 subjects in the low risk category, and it demonstrated a 3 day earlier discharge in Avigan group compared to placebo group for time to hospital discharge secondary endpoint. The sub group analysis data, during the initial interim analysis, points towards the hypothesis with clinically significant insights from this study that an antiviral drug like Avigan may be effective as part of early treatment initiation in Covid-19 patients and not effective in the late-stage hospital treatment for moderate and severe Covid-19 patients. Dr Reddy's, in partnership with Appili Therapuetics and Global Response Aid, shall continue the phase 3 pivotal study being conducted in North America in an out-patient setting. The Presco study aims to determine the efficacy of Avigan as an early treatment for Covid-19 patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms, with the goal of alleviating symptoms and preventing disease progression before the infection requires hospitalisations or other intensive interventions. Additional observational studies to evaluate efficacy of Avigan as part of early treatment in Covid-19 patients are also initiated, it added. Washington, Jan 27 : Boeing is targeting March 25 for the launch of its commercial space capsule called Starliner's second uncrewed flight test to prove the system is ready to fly crew missions for NASA to the International Space Station (ISS). Boeing's Orbital Flight Test-2, or OFT-2OFT-2, mission will launch Starliner on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. It will dock to the space station and return to land in the western US about a week later as part of an end-to-end test flight to prove the system is ready to fly crew, NASA said in a blog post this week. Boeing had signed a contract with NASA's Commercial Crew Program to fly operational missions to and from the space station with Starliner in 2014. Its debut uncrewed orbital flight mission in 2019 did not go exactly as planned, requiring it to make another try before putting astronauts on board for the crewed flight test. A NASA probe into Boeing's commercial space capsule that failed to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) in December revealed numerous software bugs that should have been found in internal testing and not during an unmanned space flight. For the new mission, Boeing recently completed the formal requalification of Starliner's OFT-2 flight software. Teams conducted a full software review and several series of tests to verify Starliner's software meets design specifications. Boeing also will complete an end-to-end simulation of the OFT-2 test flight using flight hardware and final versions of Starliner's flight software to model the vehicle's expected behaviour before flight, NASA said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Andrew Bailey said while digital innovation in payments was likely to remain into the future, cryptos in their current form were unlikely to last The governor of the , Andrew Bailey, has warned the crypto sector that digital currencies such as Bitcoin will not last long in their current form due to a lack of design and governance that will give them staying power in global finance. Speaking during a panel on digital currencies at the World Economic Forum on Monday, Bailey said while digital innovation in payments was likely to remain, cryptos in their current form were unlikely to last despite a recent surge in the value of Bitcoin. There have been huge innovations in payments in recent years but we still have some very big gaps to fillHave we landed on what I would call the design, governance and arrangements for a lasting digital currency? No, I don't think we're there yet. I dont think cryptocurrencies as originally formulated are it, Bailey said. However, the central bank governor said there is room for innovation, particularly concerning stablecoins, cryptocurrencies that derive their value from a different asset or basket of assets such as the US dollar or gold. The whole question of people having assurance that their payments are going to be made in something with stable value, Bailey said. Despite being held as the new forefront of payments technology, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have attracted sceptics from central bankers and other financial heavyweights amid concerns over the stability of their value as well as their unregulated nature. Earlier in January, European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde said Bitcoin has been involved in some funny business as well as some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity and that any loopholes in regulation needed to be closed to prevent similar activity in the future. The ECB boss went on to say Bitcoin as still a highly speculative asset, a view echoed by the UKs Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which warned crypto investors that they should be prepared to lose all their money if they parked it in digital assets. Bitcoin was trading around 7.6% lower on a 24 hour period at US$31,591 in lunchtime trading in London on Tuesday. This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. You are the owner of this article. India-US partnership is built on the foundation of shared values and they are looking forward to working with the Biden administration, said Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu in his Republic Day address on Tuesday. "In all of this, the Indian-American community is a critical pillar of our relationship with the US," Sandhu said, adding that he is confident that the community will continue to play its important role in bringing the two nations closer. "We look forward to working with the new Administration, led by President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris," Sandhu said. "India-US partnership is built on the foundation of shared values - democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. From outer space to nanotechnology, Indo-Pacific to climate change, healthcare to education and IT, there is a recognition that our partnership can benefit, not just our two nations, but the entire world," he added. On the fight against coronavirus, Sandhu said both in the US and India, vaccines have been developed and large-scale vaccination programmes have begun. "In India, we are undertaking the world's largest vaccination drive. The Government of India has taken special care to ensure that made in India vaccines are also made available to other countries, our neighbours, friends and partners," said the ambassador. As the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described it, India's strength as a "pharmacy of the world" will contribute towards making a safer and healthier world, he said. Sandhu said as the country emerges out the pandemic, it will continue to focus on strengthening the economy and building on the reforms that have been undertaken in various sectors. "Despite the pandemic, foreign investments have continued to grow, a recognition of the tremendous confidence the world has in India," Sandhu said. Celebrated virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, India's 72nd Republic Day event was attended by hundreds of Indian Americans from across the country. The Address by the President of India on the eve of Republic Day was played. This was followed by a short cultural programme involving local artistes and rendition of patriotic songs by students of Gandharva School of Music, Richmond, and a violin recital by Kamalakiran Vinjamuru. Also Read:Biden stimulus plan could boost US output by 5% over 3 years: IMF Now that a COVID-19 vaccine has arrived, many of us are eagerly awaiting the day we get our first shot. However, figuring out when youre eligible, and where to get vaccinated once you are, is challenging. The rules and registration processes vary among states, and sometimes counties, too, and vaccine supplies are limited, making appointments hard to get. Many people are feeling confused, and scammers are capitalizing on this. In December, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a warning about scams related to COVID-19 vaccines. Shortly after, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General also issued an alert. Scammers are often advertising false shortcuts to getting the vaccine and using phone calls or platforms like text messages and social media to try to steal personal and insurance information, money, or both. So how can you know if youre getting scammed? For starters, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Any call claiming that you can cut in line to get the vaccine by paying out of pocket is a scam, says the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. READ MORE: Use our lookup tool to find out what's happening with the COVID-19 vaccine where you live Here are red flags to watch for. Red flag: A government official is contacting you for information to get you signed up for the vaccine. Government officials wont call or email you to tell you that youre required to get the vaccine, nor will they call or email you to ask for personal information or money to get you signed up. Be suspicious of door-to-door solicitations about the vaccine, too. Red flag: Youre asked to pay money upfront for the vaccine. The coronavirus vaccine is free. You will not be asked to pay in advance or to pay out of pocket for the vaccine. (Vaccination providers can charge an administration fee for giving the shot, says the CDC. Providers are instructed to submit administration fees to your insurance, or if youre uninsured, to a Provider Relief Fund.) Red flag: Youre promised early vaccine access if you pay a fee. Theres no way to pay your way to an earlier spot in line. Visit your states health department website for up-to-date information on whos eligible in your area. Pennsylvanias site is here at health.pa.gov; New Jerseys is here at covid19.nj.gov/pages/vaccine. (Philadelphias vaccine schedule differs from the rest of Pennsylvania. Visit the citys Department of Public Health website to see whos eligible at phila.gov/programs/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/vaccines.) Red flag: Your insurance company is calling to determine if youre eligible for the vaccine. Ignore unsolicited emails and calls from people asking for personal or medical information to determine whether youre eligible for the vaccine, even if the caller claims theyre from your insurance company or a medical center. Your insurance company will not call to ask for this information. If you have COVID-19 related questions for your insurance company, connect directly by calling the number on the back of your medical insurance or prescription card. Red flag: You get a text message from an unknown number with a link advertising the vaccine, or you see vaccine opportunities advertised on social media. Keep vaccine conversation over text messaging between family and friends. The HHS warns against responding to, or opening, links in text messages from people you dont know. You should also ignore ads or offers on social media platforms related to COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatment. Red flag: Youre offered to have a vaccine shipped to your house. As much as wed all dream of having a vaccine shipped straight to us, its not an option. If you think youve been scammed: Fraud attempts requesting personal information or payment can appear to be legitimate. If you think youve been the victim of a COVID-19 scam, you can report it to the HHS Office of Inspector General at oig.hhs.gov/fraud/report-fraud or call 1-800-HHS-TIPS. Pennsylvania residents can also file a complaint with the state Attorney Generals Office at attorneygeneral.gov/submit-a-complaint/scams-complaint. READ MORE: Our best pandemic tips: Read our most useful stories about COVID-19 LyondellBasell-Sinopec JV to manufacture propylene oxide and styrene monomer in China LyondellBasell, one of the major plastics, chemicals and refining companies in the world on Mnday announced the signing of an agreement with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), one of the largest integrated energy companies in China, to form a 50:50 joint venture to produce propylene oxide (PO) and styrene monomer (SM) in China. First announced on 23 December 2019, the JV will operate under the name Ningbo ZRCC LyondellBasell New Material Company Limited. Torkel Rhenman, executive vice president, Global Intermediates and Derivatives, LyondellBasell, signed the agreement to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) with Sinopec, in Houston, Texas. "As China's economy continues to grow, so will demand for propylene oxide and styrene monomer. We are excited to expand our relationship with Sinopec through this joint venture in order to better serve China's domestic market. Sinopec's outstanding operational capabilities combined with LyondellBasell's leading technology is a win-win," said Rhenman. "Built on the remarkable success of our first Joint Venture, we are very delighted to continue to enhance the important partnership with LyondellBasell for future achievements. The establishment of the new Joint Venture is not only in line with the national drive for further opening-up, but also a vital step for Sinopec to deepen and expand our international operations," said Yu Baocai, senior vice president of Sinopec Corp, adding that the new joint venture will help propel economic development of the city of Ningbo to a new level. As per the agreement, the joint venture will set up a new PO and SM unit in Zhenhai Ningbo, China with annual PO capacity of 2,75,000 tonnes per annum and 600 KTA capacity of SM. The unit will use LyondellBasell's leading PO / SM technology. Products produced by the JV will be marketed equally by both partners, significantly expanding their respective participation in the Chinese market for PO and SM. Startup is expected at the end of 2021. The formation of the JV is subject to approvals by relevant government authorities, including antitrust review by the State Administration for Market Regulation. LyondellBasell said it expected to make its equity contribution to the JV during the first quarter of 2021, but did not specify the amount. According to IHS Markit, China accounts for more than 60 per cent of chemical market demand in Asia and represents 40 per cent of global chemical market growth over the next decade. PO and SM are core products of LyondellBasell and are used in a variety of applications, including packaging, building and construction, furnishings and transportation. At present, LyondellBasell operates five wholly-owned facilities in China which are located in Guangzhou, Suzhou, Dalian, Dongguan and Changshu. Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - A panel of Supreme Court judges led by Chief Justice Hassan B. Jallow has dismissed the constitutional immunity claim by embattled retired Capt. Yankuba Touray, member of the defunct Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) that brought Yahya Jammeh to power in The Gambia in July 1994, for lack of merit. The ruling on Wednesday by the countrys apex court has paved way for the High Court to continue with the prosecution of the one-time minister, Touray, for his alleged participation in the murder of finance minister Ousman Koro Ceesay. He is being tried on a single charge in connection with the death of Ceesay during the reign of the junta in 1995. Touray denied any wrongdoing and since then has been detained at the central prison at Mile Two. Touray refused to recognize the country's first truth commission, a problem that earned him an arrest, detention and murder charge in July 2019. He refused to testify before Gambias Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) in 2019. Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court in October 2020 referred the case to the Supreme Court for the determination of the Constitutional immunity clause, after both the prosecution and defence argued over the immunity clause in the 1997 constitution. Delivering the verdict, Chief Justice Hassan Jallow went through the arguments of both the prosecution and defence and upheld that Mr Touray is not entitled to constitutional immunity as claimed by his lawyer. The five-panel member of judges led by the Chief Justice, however, did not furnish the court with reason for the dismissal of the appeal but promised to give it later. Several junta members were alleged to have participated in the murder, including Edward Singhatey and Peter Singhatey but Touray alone is now facing the criminal charge, the allegation he vehemently denied. During the main trial, the prosecution presented nine witnesses before declaring the closure of their case, while the defence called three witnesses including Mr Touray himself. If found guilty, Mr Touray could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. -0- PANA MSS/AR 27Jan2021 With the town of Tafas surrounded by Assads forces, Ahmad al-Oda has said that he will not negotiate with the fighters to ensure that they are not displaced or arrested reports Alsouria Net. Ahmad al-Oda, commander of the 8th Brigade in the Russian-backed Fifth Corps in Daraa Governorate, refused to intervene as a mediator to solve the issue of the town of Tafas in the western countryside of Daraa. A source familiar with the matter said that the Central Committee responsible for the western regions of Daraa asked Oda to play the role of mediator with the other party, Assads forces and Russia, but he declined the request. The source added that, the mediation request made by the members of the Central Committee relates to the intervention of Oda in order to integrate the wanted fighters into his forces so they are not displaced or have to surrender themselves. Oda was asked to persuade the officers in the Assad forces to reverse Mondays decision and to solve the Tafas issue. Three conditions On Monday, during a meeting in Daraa, the Assad regime required the notables of Tafas and members of the Central Committee in the western countryside of Daraa to implement three things to stop the security campaign, which the regime started on Sunday. The conditions are to displace or hand over a number of persons and their families; allow searches for Islamic State (ISIS) and extremists cells, as described by regime officers; and completely evacuate the headquarters of the Syrian state in Tafas and hand them over to the regime. The deadline that the Assad regime set is next Thursday. The source pointed out that the Daraa Central Committee has not yet taken any decision regarding the conditions imposed by the regime, pointing to the difficulties that come with possibly displacing any of the wanted persons to northern Syria. Local networks reported that the Fourth Division forces are still bringing reinforcements to the western countryside of Daraa, especially in the vicinity of Tafas. On Sunday, Tafas, in the western countryside of Daraa, witnessed sporadic clashes and tank shelling by Assads forces, which tried to storm several areas under the pretext of searching for wanted persons and heavy weapons. Assads forces were targeted by gunmen, which led to the death of a number of members. Local networks said the number exceeded three. Oda is considered one of the most prominent former leaders of the Free Army in southern Syria. He entered into a settlement agreement in 2018, which allowed him to stay in his city of Busra al-Sham. The events taking place in Tafas resemble those that the eastern town of al-Karak experienced at the end of last year, at which time Oda was unable to intervene to resolve the security tension that was brought about by the siege imposed by Assads forces. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Belarusian citizen Uladzlen Los, a lawyer with jailed Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), says he will continue his work with the Kremlin critic's team even though Russian police forced him out of the country following weekend rallies by tens of thousands calling for Navalny's release. "I will continue to work distantly as much as I can. I will help those detained, filing appeals on their behalf. I will help them file complaints with the European Court of Human Rights. Unlike Belarusian citizens, Russians have a right to appeal with that court. I have enough work," Los told RFE/RL in an interview on January 26. Los, along with several other Navalny associates, was detained last week before the demonstrations and sentenced to three days in jail on a charge of disobeying a police order. Other associates were also sentenced to several days in jail or fined as the authorities looked to curb the scale of the expected demonstrations. Undisclosed Location Then, on January 24, Los said he was handcuffed and forced into a car with a sack over his head in Moscow before being taken on a 10-hour drive to the border by plainclothes police and handed over to Belarusian authorities. Los managed to leave Belarus quickly after arriving and is currently in an undisclosed location. "It's not possible to deport all of Aleksei Navalny's associates from Russia, because they are Russian citizens. [Police] did that to me because I am a Belarusian citizen. They kicked me out of Russia intentionally to complicate our activities in terms of assisting those detained during the rallies [on January 23]," he added. The January 23 protests in support of Navalny were the largest Russia has seen in years. The 44-year-old Kremlin critic was arrested on January 17 as he returned from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning attack with a military-grade nerve agent. Navalny has said the poisoning was an assassination attempt by the state to silence him. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident. Los told RFE/RL he is confident that protests in Russia will continue and gain momentum despite the crackdown by security officials. He compared the protests in Russia with ongoing rallies in Belarus, where almost daily demonstrations since August 2020 have demanded the resignation of strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has run the country since 1994, and fresh elections saying the last vote was rigged. "Russian authorities will always say that they control the situation. Alyaksandr Lukashenka also says everything is under his control. But do we believe him? I doubt that. This is the year of elections to the State Duma (Russian parliament's lower chamber). It is not possible to just continue to tighten the screws and use violence all the time. [The government] will have to start a dialogue," Los said. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the recent, horrific terrorist attack that took place in Baghdad. On January 21, two suicide bombers exploded their vests in the center of the capital. More than 30 people were killed and at least 100 were wounded in the busy marketplace in Tayaran Square. The attack was planned and executed to produce maximum casualties. Such a deadly attack against civilians in Baghdad has become rare in recent years. The city has been gradually returning to normal life after the Islamic States control of large swaths of Iraq and Syria was ended by the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The terror group lost its last stronghold in Raqqa in 2019, although remnants have continued to carry out attacks in both Syria and Iraq. The United States has been drawing down its forces in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said during his recent confirmation hearing that he remains concerned about the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and elsewhere. I support maintaining a small number of U.S. troops to carry out a limited mission focused on advising and assisting Iraqi counter-terrorism forces to deal with the continuing threat from ISIS, he told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Spokesman for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Colonel Wayne Marotto said in a tweet that the twin suicide bombing in Baghdad is yet another instance of terrorists killing fellow Iraqis and harms those who seek peace. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad called the attack a reprehensible act of cowardice that underscores the dangers of terrorism that millions of Iraqis continue to face. In a statement, then Acting Secretary of State Daniel Smith condemned in the strongest possible terms [the January 21] terrorist attacks in Baghdad. They were vicious acts of mass murder and a sobering reminder of the terrorism that continues to threaten the lives of innocent Iraqis, he wrote. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and hope for a speedy recovery of those wounded. A naked yoga teacher has revealed how she has ditched Britain to live with her chocolate-farming toyboy lover despite only knowing him for ten days. Caroline Knight, 33, is now living in the Amazon jungle 70 miles from civilisation with no running water. But despite the jungle heat, ravenous insects and back-breaking toil trying to get their plantation up and running, she has said that life could not be sweeter after falling head over heels for 19-year-old Peruvian cacao farmer Romulo Elier Huaman Roque. Caroline, originally from Oxford, had been making a living running naked yoga classes and providing massage therapy in London's trendy Stoke Newington - but escaped the UK for Peru before the first lockdown was announced. Caroline Knight, 33, (pictured) has ditched Britain to live in the Amazon jungle 70 miles from civilisation with no running water Caroline had jetted to South America in March 2020 to spend 10 days teaching yoga on the Hoja Nueva retreat near Puerto Maldonado after an invite from a friend. She Caroline continued: 'From Puerto Maldonado it was a two-hour drive, then a boat ride and a trek to reach the retreat. 'I was feeling really jet-lagged when I arrived, but the place had amazing energy and before long I was mulling over plans to extend my stay so I could see more of Peru. She has said that life could not be sweeter after falling head over heels for 19-year-old Peruvian cacao farmer Romulo Elier Huaman Roque (pictured together) Caroline (pictured with toyboy lover Romulo) had jetted to South America in March 2020 to spend 10 days teaching yoga on the Hoja Nueva retreat near Puerto Maldonado after an invite from a friend 'I noticed Romulo, he worked as the handyman and looked after the animals. 'In the evenings, we'd all hang out together in a group, and Romulo was always on the edge of the conversation. 'He was shy and whenever I said hello to him, his eyes would dart to the ground. 'I think it was maybe a little awkward for him because he was wary of coming between a developing relationship between me and another person at the camp. 'But on the odd occasion I got Romulo alone to chat, he came across as really nice and genuine. The feelings I had for him were intuitive rather than obvious.' Peru announced a national lockdown half way through the retreat. Caroline waited for the Peruvian quarantine to be lifted but found herself pining for Romulo (pictured together) The twelve-strong group - mostly Britons - were given the option of staying on in the jungle or returning to Puerto Maldonado 70 miles away. Caroline said: 'For me, it was a head over heart decision. I wanted to stay but I felt like I was in survival mode and would have more options in Puerto. 'Reluctantly, I decided to find a 10-a-night room in Puerto and wait out the quarantine. 'I was basically staying in a wooden hut with bunk beds, but there were worse places to be stuck for lockdown - there was a view of the river from the terrace and the hostel had a pool. 'Most of the others arranged flights back to the UK but there didn't seem much point swapping what I had in Peru to be locked down back home, so I decided to stay put.' Romulo told Caroline (pictured together) how his late father Romulo Huaman Gamboa had planted cacao trees on family land deep in the Amazon rainforest Romulo (pictured) returned to the jungle for three weeks to work on the family farm which Caroline remembers as a period of being miserable and lonely Caroline waited for the Peruvian quarantine to be lifted but found herself pining for Romulo. 'He didn't even have a phone and I had no idea if I'd ever hear from him again,' she said. But then, ten days into lockdown, a Facebook message popped up from Romulo. 'He'd borrowed a phone,' she said. 'We chatted for ages and then he said, "I have something to tell you - I think I love you". 'Even though I'd only known him a matter of days, I felt the same. My head was telling me to hold back, though, and I replied "I think I love you, too".' Caroline would wait anxiously to hear from Romulo for the next month. Caroline (pictured with Romulo on the farm) believed that she could find a market for the organic produce back home in the UK The pair managed weekly video or text chats before Romulo announced he was coming to Puerto. Caroline recalled: 'It was an amazing, passionate week. We'd spend days by the pool, and evenings going for walks or cooking for each other. 'It was the first time we'd slept together and all I'll say is we had a lot of fun.' Romulo returned to the jungle for three weeks to work on the family farm which Caroline remembers as a period of being miserable and lonely. 'Everyone else had gone back to the UK. I was alone and isolated,' she said. 'Romulo couldn't even call me. 'When he returned after three weeks away and invited me to go and live with him, his mother, and his six brothers and sisters in the jungle, I leapt at the chance. Caroline (pictured) is currently relying on savings and help from her family to get by while waiting for the business to take off 'The hostel was starting to feel like a golden cage and I was ready for some adventure. 'We had our own room - basically a little wooden hut. The 'house' is really just a yard with a corrugated metal roof and a collection of makeshift cubicles for rooms. 'Some of the hygiene left a lot to be desired but I'm not too much of a princess, so I just got on with it.' Romulo told Caroline how his late father Romulo Huaman Gamboa had planted cacao trees on family land deep in the Amazon rainforest - but that the plantation had been swallowed by the jungle after his death in March 2017. Cacao nuts are the raw ingredient for making chocolate - and Caroline believed she could find a market for the organic produce back home in the UK. The yoga teacher (pictured with Romulo) said that 19-year-old men in the UK are 'basically children' but claimed that men grow up fast in the Amazon Caroline (pictured with Romulo) said that he can be quiet and reserved at times but added that he has got a 'playful, affectionate and open-minded side' as well Caroline explained: 'One of the locals offered us a room near the plantation so we set about reviving it. 'It was two hours' drive away in a jungle village community called Lucerna, home to just 70 people. 'We spent days hacking back the jungle with machetes. It's been really hard work - my hands were covered in blisters from all the macheteing. 'But the trees have already rewarded us with fruits and I've trashed my fingernails pulling them from the pods. The beans have been processed by hand into raw cacao. Caroline had been making a living running naked yoga classes and providing massage therapy in London's trendy Stoke Newington 'We've had our first orders, mostly through our Instagram account - Jungle Cacao Peru - and through contacts back home. 'I used to run a herbal tea company, and still know lots of foodie business owners - some of them have been quick to see the value in our product. 'Those first orders are packed ready and waiting to send to the UK. I really hope we can make a business out of it.' In the meantime, Caroline said she is currently relying on savings and help from her family to get by. 'The cost of living is almost non-existent,' she said. 'Food is cheap and plentiful. We have everything we need.' 'Luckily I've always been able to make money go far and I've got a stingy, prudent streak in me which has served me well here.' For the time being, tourists in Peru are allowed to stay under a special arrangement which means they can remain until 45 days after the government calls an end to the national state of emergency. Caroline said: 'The mosquitoes and sand flies have driven me to distraction, we have to collect our water from a neighbour in 20-litre buckets, and the heat and physical labour are intense. Caroline (pictured with Romulo) has said that she cannot wait to bring him home to meet her friends and family in the UK 'But I feel safe and loved with Romulo. There are 14 years between us, but I don't give it a second thought. '19-year-old guys back home are still basically children, but men grow up fast in the Amazon. 'Romulo can be quiet and reserved at times, but he's got a playful, affectionate and open-minded side, too. 'We've even made time for some naked yoga when we can find a private space. 'Romulo is eager to explore the world, and I can't wait to bring him home to the UK to meet my friends and family.' She added: '2020 was the most unpredictable year on record, and I never imagined I'd begin 2021 living deep in the Amazon rainforest. 'But waking beside Romulo each morning to the magical sound of howler monkeys calling across the jungle canopy makes all the hardships worthwhile.' To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Dubais exports to Israel are projected to reach $4 billion annually as businesses on both sides tap into synergies and build partnerships, said Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Buamim was speaking during a recent virtual event hosted by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry. UAE and Israeli businesses stand to benefit from building partnerships in key sectors of mutual interest such as trade, services, tourism, healthcare, technology, agriculture and sustainability, industry experts said during the event. The event, hosted as part of the Global Partnership Series, was attended by 182 participants from 13 countries, including the UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and India, including public and private sector stakeholders representing a wide variety of economic sectors. Speakers included Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry; Mohammed Al Muallem, CEO & Managing Director of DP World, UAE Region and CEO of Jafza; Uriel Lynn, President of the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce; Omar Khan, Director International Offices, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry; and Shlomi Fogel, Owner, Chairman & CEO Ampa Group. A panel discussion, titled Building the Bridge to New Opportunities, examined the strategic positions that Israel and Dubai occupy, not only as final attractive trade destinations, but also as gateways to even larger markets, practical information on the general business environment and potential avenues of Israel-UAE economic cooperation. Buamim noted that he is optimistic about the prospects and outlook for UAE-Israel trade and investment in the near future, given the strong commitment from both governments and remarkable progress that we have seen since relations normalised last year. Going forward, trade is expected to play a fundamental role in strengthening and expanding UAE-Israel economic relations. According to the joint economic study conducted recently, Israel could become one of Dubais top 10 trading partners in the near future, Buamim said. Dubai Chambers President & CEO said the virtual event, hosted as part of the organisations strategic partnership with the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, is the latest in a series of joint initiatives and collaborations that are paving the way for bilateral partnerships that create mutual benefits and economic growth. Al Muallem said the normalisation of ties between the UAE and Israel has proved to be a benefit to both countries with initial bilateral trade estimated to reach $5 billion. We look forward to the Israeli businesses utilising the core competencies of DP Worlds Jebel Ali Port, that offers connectivity to over 150 ports globally, connecting customers to over 3.5 billion consumers, and Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), a multimodal trade and logistics hub that is home to over 8,000 companies from across the globe, Al Muallem said. Our primary goal is to help companies capitalise on Dubais strategic position through Jebel Ali Port and the Free Zone as a gateway to thriving markets and unmatched opportunities. As a leading enabler of smart trade, we employ our cutting-edge digital infrastructure and trading technologies to promote growth in the logistics sector locally, regionally and globally, Al Muallem added. Lynn emphasised on the importance of strengthening UAE-Israel bilateral relations in various fields, including trade, services, hi-tech, healthcare, agriculture, water technology, digital, clean and solar energy. At Israel, we aim to bring the most value to Dubai and UAE community, and facilitating cross-border cooperation across several economic sectors of mutual interest. And organizing these virtual events and business meetings would strengthen relations, introduce new opportunities, and help business expand in global markets, said Lynn. Fogel described Dubai as a global centre for trade and business, and Israel is keen to build bilateral relations with Dubai in various sectors and explore the competitive advantages it provides to the Israeli business community. He also called the Israeli business community to benefit from the competitive advantages that Dubai offers, expand their trade ties, open doors for new opportunities, and enter Dubai market. The event also featured an informative presentation providing an overview of Dubais economy, business environment, competitive advantages and other new incentives that Israeli businesses can benefit from. TradeArabia News Service Samsung Display revealed more details on the new generation of power-efficient OLED panels, which is currently adorning the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Not only is it more efficient but brighter too. The OLED is cutting the power draw by 16% while increasing brightness too. The results from our Galaxy S21 Ultra testing proves that the display can get really bright and the battery runtimes seem to confirm Samsung's claims that the panel is more efficient as well. We all know that OLEDs use organic light-emitting diodes and Samsung has come up with a new material that increases the moving speed of the electrons bumping up the brightness. It's implicit that Samsung will be making this new generation of OLEDs for other manufacturers as well but it's unclear when the new tech will hit the market in a consumer-ready product. As for now, the only way to experience the new tech is to get a Galaxy S21 Ultra. Source (in Chinese) ADVERTISEMENT The police in Anambra State have arrested a man for allegedly killing his wife and their four-year-old son. The police spokesperson in the state, Haruna Mohammed said the 28-year-old man, Chukwuemeka Obijofa, ran amok and used a shovel to attack his wife, Chisom Chukwuemeka, and their son. The incident occurred in Ofufe Nza village in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of the state, according to a statement from Mr Mohammed, Wednesday. Police detectives visited the scene, rushed the victims to the Joint Hospital, Ozubulu, for medical attention where the woman and child were certified dead by a medical doctor on arrival, Mr Mohammed, a chief superintendent of police, said. The spokesperson said the suspect also used the shovel to attack a member of the communitys vigilante who tried to rescue the victims. The wounded vigilante member is responding to treatment, while the corpses of the victims have been deposited at a morgue for autopsy, he said. The Commissioner of Police, John Abang, has directed that the case be transferred to the state CID, Awka, for investigation to unravel the actual cause of the incident. (NAN) Are school districts in Central New York and around the state requiring teachers and school staff to get the coronavirus vaccine? Could it become mandatory for teachers and other school personnel once the vaccine supply becomes more available? While possible the state could order school employees to get shots, its not likely - at least not yet. Jay Worona, deputy executive director and general counsel for the New York State School Board, said under New York state law, the governor could mandate the Covid vaccines for school district employees through an executive order. So far, Cuomo hasnt done that. We have not crossed the bridge to say by law you must take it,' Gov. Cuomo said recently when asked about mandating the vaccine. Cuomo said there is a complicated legal question as to whether or not you can mandate someone to take a vaccine that is authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use, as is the case with the Covid-19 vaccines. Colleen Heinrich, a lawyer specializing in education law with Ferrara Fiorenza PC law firm in Syracuse, agrees. But she also pointed out that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued an opinion saying they believe the vaccine could be mandated by an employer as a condition to continued employment or as a condition to returning to the physical workplace. But the EEOC position is just an opinion, she noted. Cuomo said he believes the refusal rate wont be high enough among educators to cause concern. Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said last week a recent survey of area teachers showed 4,000 people got the shot, another 4,000 are scheduled and 3,000 to 4,000 still want it. An estimated 1,900 said they dont want the vaccine, he said Right now, the most critical problem is the vaccine shortage, officials agree. But its still a question, and many wonder if the state doesnt mandate it, could school districts require the shots? So far, local school districts havent done so. If one did, it could become a collective bargaining issue between the teachers union and school district, Worona said. In theory, getting vaccinated against Covid-19 could become a condition of employment, meaning if you dont get it, you dont meet the eligibility requirements for employment in that school district, Worona said.. If that occurs, teachers unions could welcome it because they want to protect their members or they could see it as a dangerous precedent, he said. It would definitely signal a conversation, he said. Bill Scott, president of the Syracuse Teachers Union, said hes been vaccinated and encourages everyone in education to do so as well. We will wait to see what the state decides as far as making it mandatory,' he said. Many Syracuse City School District staff cant get vaccines, and thats the biggest concern at the moment, he said. Scott said he plans to write to McMahon and Cuomo to ask that educators be given a better way to make vaccine appointments without the online scramble. This often happens during the working day and as such teachers go to the site to discover there are no appointments available,' he said. Andy Pallotta, president of the New York State United Teachers union, echoed that frustration. The teachers union doesnt support a mandate, but believes most of his members are willing to get it, he said. After all, the union fought hard to get educators into the 1B priority group eligible for the vaccine, he said. The question of whether a teacher who chooses not to be vaccinated without a valid medical reason should be paid if they have to quarantine is a thorny question. Right now, health experts arent sure if people who are vaccinated can still carry the virus to someone else. But if data show they cant, would districts have to pay the unvaccinated teachers to quarantine if exposed? Thats a question yet to be addressed, district officials say. Elizabeth Doran covers education, suburban government and development, breaking news and more. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact her anytime at 315-470-3012 or email edoran@syracuse.com MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Onondaga County to try new Covid-19 vaccine signup for seniors as 1,000 more doses arrive NY vaccine plan excludes many people with developmental disabilities vulnerable to Covid Cuomo expects to ease some Covid restrictions, cluster zones Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Surrey, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTC Pink: DAUGF) ("Desert Gold" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Christopher Marsh has joined the Company's board of directors. Currently, Mr. Marsh is the President of Blockchain Foundry. Previously, Chris spent 8 years at Richardson GMP and GMP Securities in Toronto, Canada, as an investment banker and corporate development executive. He also spent four years in London, England, where he worked in corporate finance and asset management. Mr. Marsh is a CFA charter holder and holds a Masters in Finance degree from London Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. Desert Gold's President & CEO Jared Scharf commented, "Chris, a successful entrepreneur with significant banking and business development experience, will add financial depth, new business contacts and independence to our board as we continue to move Desert Gold's exciting story forward. We welcome Chris to the team." About Desert Gold Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is a gold exploration and development company which holds 2 gold exploration permits in Western Mali (SMSZ Project and Djimbala), its Anumso project in Ghana's Ashanti Belt and its Rutare gold project in central Rwanda. For further information please visit www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. Website: www.desertgold.ca "Jared Scharf" ____________________ Jared Scharf President & CEO Contact: Jared Scharf, CEO Email: jared.scharf@desertgold.ca Tel. No.: +1 (858) 247-8195 For further information please visit our website www.desertgold.ca or information available on www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, the Property, financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72913 Relations with Ukraine had recently been developing in the wrong direction, Szijjarto admitted. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has expressed hope that it will be possible to stop deterioration of bilateral relations with Ukraine. Speaking at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv, Hungary's top diplomat admitted that the relations with Ukraine had recently been developing in the wrong direction, an UNIAN correspondent reports. "I believe that our meeting today will yield results, and that we can stop the deterioration in our relations and reverse the process in the right direction," Szijjarto told reporters. The official said it is very important for Hungary to support the Hungarian minority in Ukraine's western Zakarpattia region. In his opinion, such support creates an opportunity for unification with Ukraine. "We believe when we support the Hungarian community of Zakarpattia, in this way we support and help the relations between Ukraine and Hungary," Szijjarto said. He added his country had always supported the sovereignty of Ukraine and the integration of Ukraine into the European Union. Read alsoBudapest's support for Hungarians in Zakarpattia can't cross "red lines" FM Kuleba"All accusations related to separatism [by the Hungarian minority] they are nonsensical. And I agree with my colleague Dmytro [Kuleba] that Zakarpattia should become a story of succcess. And we are ready to further develop and expand this success story," Szijjarto said. Ukraine-Hungary ties: Recent developments Relations between Ukraine and Hungary soured after a new law on education was adopted and signed in the fall of 2017. Hungary has been blocking NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) meetings, claiming that the rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine have been violated by provisions of the law, which determines that the official language, Ukrainian, should be the language of instruction at education institutions. In addition, during local elections in the fall of 2020, Hungarian officials, while visiting Zakarpattia region, were campaigning for Ukraine's ethnic Hungarian KMKSZ Party. The authorities, as a result, have put them on the stop list. Reporting by UNIAN The 73-m-high sitting Buddha statue on top of the Phat Quoc Van Thanh Pagodas main palace (Photo: tuoitre.vn) Hanoi - After four years of construction, a 73-m-high sitting Buddha statue - the tallest of its kind in Southeast Asia - has been inaugurated at the Phat Quoc Van Thanh Pagoda in the southern province of Binh Phuoc. The statue was erected on top of the pagodas main palace, which was built on an area of 8,100 sq m. The two are among the major items at the Phat Quoc Van Thanh Pagoda complex. On 117,726 sq m, the complex includes 24 large-scale items, each covering an area of more than 3,000 sq m. Construction began on January 5, 2017. Since Buddhism arrived in Vietnam from India and China thousands of years ago, it has been mixed with local traditions and beliefs while contributing to shaping the countrys cultural heritage. The Oti Regional Police Command has reacted to an allegation of fuel siphoning from an accident vehicle made against the Police at Likpe Bakwa by an Assemblymember. A statement dated January 26, 2021, signed and issued by the Oti Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr John Nchor said, the Assemblymember, Godfred Coffie, took the video [VIDEO ATTACHED BELOW] of the Police action and circulated it on social media to "malign the entire Police Service." According to the police, "fuel was leaking from a hole on the tank of the accident truck, ostensibly punched by unscrupulous persons." "Knowing that the leakage posed danger to the inhabitants living around the accident scene, Police took the necessary precautions to drain the fuel from the tank to prevent any adverse situation." "This was not done under the cover of darkness nor in seclusion, but in broad day light in the open with some inhabitants looking on." The police said Mr Godfred Coffie, the Assemblyman whose mother was being buried that day, appeared at the scene in the company of other mourners and took offence that Police did not inform him before draining the fuel. Thus, took a video of the Police action, taking to social media to malign the entire Police Service. It said the Regional Police Command has since invited Mr Godfred Coffie to explain why he took "that sinister action, having worked well with the Police in the past." Below is a video of the incident The attention of the Oti Regional Police Command has been drawn to a video circulating on social media accusing the Police at Likpe Bakwa of siphoning fuel from an accident truck.The accusation is false, as the video and its commentator, Mr Godfred Coffie, Assemblyman for Likpe Bakwa purely misrepresented the facts, calculated to ridicule the Police and to cast a slur on the hard earned image of the Service.The facts are that, at about 8:00pm on 14th January, 2021, a KIA Rhino truck with registration no. GT 3169-20 loaded with sawn wood with four persons board including the driver, traveling from Likpe Bala to Accra rammed into a ditch at Likpe Bakwa.The incident became a matter of Police investigation.About a week later, on 23rd January 2021 it came to the attention of the Police that fuel was leaking from a hole on the tank of the accident truck, ostensibly punched by unscrupulous persons.Knowing that the leakage posed danger to the inhabitants living around the accident scene, Police took the necessary precautions to drain the fuel from the tank to prevent any adverse situation.This was not done under the cover of darkness nor in seclusion, but in broad day light in the open with some inhabitants looking on.Mr Godfred Coffie, the Assemblyman whose mother was being buried that day, appeared at the scene in the company of other mourners and took offence that Police did not inform him before draining the fuel. Thus, took a video of the Police action, taking to social media to malign the entire Police Service.The Regional Police Command has since invited Mr Godfred Coffie to explain why he took that sinister action, having worked well with the Police in the past. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Update: Within hours of opening the website on Wednesday, all appointments through Tuesday, Feb. 2 are booked. More appointments will be made available for Wednesday, Feb. 3 and on in coming days. Appointments are now open at Springfields Eastfield Mall for those eligible for their coronavirus vaccine under the states vaccination distribution plan. People prioritized in Phase 1 of the distribution plan can book appointments at the soon-to-be mass vaccination site as early as Jan. 29. Those eligible individuals include health care workers, residents and staff of longterm and congregate care facilities and first responders. Individuals 75 years and older - the first priority group in the plans second phase, which is set to begin Feb. 1 - are also able to schedule vaccines at the Springfield mall via the Curative platform. Gov. Charlie Baker announced Monday the Eastfield Mall would, starting Jan. 29, serve as a new mass vaccination site. The launch of the site is part of a greater effort on the part of the Baker-Polito Administration to expand COVID-19 vaccination locations throughout the state. By mid-February, the governors office said it expects there will be 165 such sites across Massachusetts. The governor also announced Monday new mass vaccination sites would open at the Double Tree Hilton Hotel in Danvers on Feb. 3 and the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston during the first week of February, officials said. These are in addition to sites already announced at Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park, the governors office noted in a statement. By mid-February, the commonwealths mass vaccination sites will have the capacity to vaccinate 76,000 people each week. The administration expects to open at least seven mass vaccination sites as vaccine distribution continues. These mass vaccination sites have the ability to significantly and rapidly scale up operations if vaccine supply from the federal government increases, the office added. As of this week, Massachusetts plans to have 103 publicly available vaccination sites to allow the state to have capacity to administer 242,000 doses of the vaccine each week. The capacity is significantly more than the 173,175 first and second doses the state expects to receive from the federal government this week, authorities said. Bakers office pointed out the states capacity to vaccinate is not the same as the number of shots administered. Vaccine capacity is determined by the states plan to establish sites, staff and logistics in place to do 305,000 doses by mid-February, the office said. But, the actual number of vaccinations administered to residents depends on several variables, including the availability of doses from the federal government. State officials, the governor noted, are planning to set up the capacity to administer more doses than we are currently receiving from the federal government. If Massachusetts continues to get the same number of doses from the federal government that the state is getting now, there could be empty seats at vaccine sites, his office said. Related Content: Gurgaon (Haryana) [India], January 27 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Concentrix Corporation, a leading global provider of customer experience (CX) solutions and technology, today announced its plans to reimburse the cost of COVID-19 vaccinations to all Indian employees not covered under the country's immunization program, as well as those in states where the vaccine is not provided free of charge. In addition to offering the vaccine as a free, optional benefit to staff, Concentrix is determined to support inoculating its employees as quickly as possible, depending on supplies and evolving circumstances. The company is committed to completing this process safely and methodically and is working closely with local officials in different states across India to ensure its staff remain prioritized. As the complexities of vaccine management continue to be a major public health driver, Concentrix will also assist its staff through internal awareness campaigns, educating them on mass vaccination efforts by local health authorities and the Indian Government. "I'd like to extend my sincere gratitude to all our staff members for their effort and dedication to taking care of our clients and business during these challenging times," said Deepak Wadhawan, Concentrix' Global Vice President, India. "As an organization, we have always been fanatical about our staff and clients. As a responsible corporate entity, we recognize the enormous responsibility we have to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees and ensure smooth business continuity for our clients. Concentrix is proud to contribute to this vaccination drive and help protect our communities together with the government," he added. Since the pandemic began, Concentrix India has taken extensive preventive measures to keep its employees safe and healthy, including the launch of coronavirus insurance to cover the cost of treatments; a virtual medical-assistance program for employees and their families that offers 24/7 online consultations with doctors and specialists; regular COVID-19 news, updates, and resources; and more. It will continue monitoring the latest developments in global vaccination news and look for new and innovative ways to protect its employees. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Driven by LoRa Alliance Member Initiatives Roaming Services are in Active Use by a Multitude of Customers FREMONT, Calif., Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The LoRa Alliance, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN standard for the Internet of Things (IoT) low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), today announced that multiple network operators have deployed roaming-capable platforms, with full LoRaWAN roaming capabilities now available in 27 countries around the world, as well as via satellite. Multiple customers globally are already leveraging the roaming services provided by public LoRaWAN network operators. The LoRa Alliance continues to drive a strategy of making LoRaWAN widely accessible and easy to use, said Donna Moore, CEO and Chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance. As of the end of 2020, we have public and private LoRaWAN networks active in more than 160 countries around the world. We also know that true global coverage is most quickly accomplished by interconnecting networks and allowing devices to seamlessly move between them especially for logistics and tracking applications. Many of the largest global brands have supported this approach by implementing LoRaWAN roaming across their networks, making LoRaWAN more accessible than ever before. Recent updates to the TS002-1.1.0 LoRaWAN Backend Interfaces Technical Specification completed in Q4 2020 enhance ease-of-use for roaming implementations and add support of LoRaWAN geolocation features for roaming devices. LoRaWAN roaming covers both mobile assets and fixed ones of multi-national customers whose devices leverage the radio coverage from roaming partners across multiple countries. In addition to public-to-public network peering, LoRaWANs roaming capabilities also support public-to-private and private-to-private network peering. The LoRaWAN protocol also offers a very unique feature, whereby a given device could be served simultaneously by several gateways that may belong to the home and one or more visited networks. From a functionality perspective, this allows several networks gateways to act as one, with unified coverage serving the device. To further support roaming, the LoRa Alliance has launched the Connect EU initiative to accelerate roaming across Europe, with participation from other regions. The initiative supports and encourages collaboration among all LoRa Alliance members who are interested in leveraging LoRaWAN roaming. This effort, along with the LoRaWAN Backend Specification enhancements, shows the alliance's commitment to the continuous improvement of this capability and ensures active member engagement in roaming networks and hubs. LoRaWAN roaming capability is presently available from the following LoRa Alliance Members in these countries: 3S in Tunisia A2A in Italy Charter Communications in the USA Connexin in the United Kingdom Czech Republic (Ceske Radiokomunikace, a.s.) in the Czech Republic ER-Telecom-Domru in Russia Everynet and its partners in Brazil (American Tower do Brazil), Indonesia (Telkom Indonesia), Iceland (Lysir), UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Mexico Digita Oy in Finland komro GmbH in Germany KPN in The Netherlands Lyse in Norway Minol-ZENNER Group in Germany MIOT Melita.io Technology GmbH in Germany Netmore in Sweden NNNCo in Australia Objenious by Bouygues Telecom in France Orange in France (Roaming is currently limited to a single partner, it will be extended to the French market in H2 2021) Pingday in Sweden Proximus PLC in Belgium and Luxemburg Senet in the USA SenRa in India Swisscom Ltd in Switzerland Telekom Srbija in Serbia VTC Digicom in Vietnam Actility Roaming Hub (interconnecting 20 networks for roaming) Lacuna Space (LoRaWAN satellite company) In addition to being able to access LoRaWAN roaming via agreements with network operators, multiple LoRa Alliance members have launched roaming hubs that can mutualize multi-network interconnections. The hubs make it easier for network providers to connect to multiple vendors at one time. Finally, roaming is already accessible via satellite network provider Lacuna Space allowing for integrated terrestrial and satellite networks, providing coverage to remote areas. To learn more about LoRaWAN, the LoRa Alliance, the benefits of membership, and to keep up with the alliances latest developments, please follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter or visit our website. About the LoRa Alliance: The LoRa Alliance is an open, nonprofit association that has become one of the largest and fastest-growing alliances in the technology sector since its inception in 2015. Its members collaborate closely and share expertise to develop and promote the LoRaWAN standard, which is the de facto global standard for secure, carrier-grade IoT LPWAN connectivity. LoRaWAN has the technical flexibility to address a broad range of IoT applications, both static and mobile, and a robust LoRaWAN Certification program to guarantee that devices perform as specified. Deployed by 150 major mobile network operators globally, LoRaWAN connectivity is available in more than 160 countries, with continual expansion. More information: http://lora-alliance.org/ LoRa Alliance and LoRaWAN are registered trademarks, used with permission. An image accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c83862ee-af3b-4f15-95f2-87b112eac9bc Philadelphia is home to some of the most venerated medical institutions in the country. Yet when it came time to set up the city's first and largest coronavirus mass vaccination site, officials turned to the start-up Philly Fighting COVID, a self-described "group of college kids" with minimal health-care experience. Chaos ensued. Senior citizens were left in tears after finding that appointments they'd made through a bungled sign-up form wouldn't be honored. The group quietly switched to a for-profit model and added a privacy policy that would allow it to sell users' personal data. One volunteer alleged that the 22-year-old CEO had pocketed vaccine doses. Another described a "free-for-all" where unsupervised 18- and 19-year-olds vaccinated each other and posed for photos. Now, the city has cut ties with Philly Fighting COVID, and prosecutors are looking into the "concerning" allegations. The group offered a partial apology Tuesday while defending the switch to for-profit status, and CEO Andrei Doroshin told Philadelphia magazine that claims he had helped himself to leftover vaccine doses were "baseless." Just a few weeks ago, Philly Fighting COVID was receiving glowing coverage from the likes of NBC's "Today" show. The group had a compelling story: Doroshin, a graduate student at Drexel University, helped orchestrate an effort to use 3-D printers to make free face shields for hospital workers at the start of the pandemic. By summer, he and his friends were running their own pop-up testing sites citywide. But as Philadelphia magazine reported, the group's "executive team" lacked anyone with a medical degree or advanced degree in public health. Doroshin himself listed a resume that included stints teaching a high school film class, producing videos of people longboarding and practicing parkour, and founding a nonprofit that, according to Philadelphia magazine, "mostly consisted of a meme-heavy Twitter account, some minor community lobbying, and a fundraiser with a $50,000 goal that netted $684." Speaking to "Today," Doroshin said that his lack of a traditional public health background allowed him to "think a little differently" and speed up the vaccination process. In another interview, he expressed hopes of setting up a McDonald's-like franchise and suggested that best practices for administering vaccines "can go out the window." Philly Fighting COVID's young, entrepreneurial leaders also openly talked about the potential for profit, one former volunteer told WHYY: "They were bragging about how rich they were going to get." Another volunteer said the group's executives "said they were gonna be millionaires" by billing insurance providers for administering vaccine doses that Philly Fighting COVID got free. (Doroshin has disputed these allegations.) The city's partnership with the group began drawing scrutiny last week after WHYY reported that Philly Fighting COVID had abruptly backed out of plans to host coronavirus testing clinics in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods and "completely ghosted" community leaders, as one pastor put it. Then, on Saturday, dozens of senior citizens lined up for hours to be vaccinated at the Pennsylvania Convention Center only to be turned away because the group had accidentally allowed too many people to sign up. "There were literally 85-year-old, 90-year-old people standing there in tears, with printed appointment confirmations, saying, 'I don't understand why I can't get vaccinated, I'm 85,'" one witness told the station. A registered nurse who volunteered with the group categorized it as a "disaster of an operation." Katrina Lipinsky told the Philadelphia Inquirer and WHYY that she wasn't asked for her medical credentials before she began administering vaccines, and that plenty of unused doses were left over after senior citizens were turned away on Saturday. She alleged that she saw Doroshin place between 10 and 15 of those doses in his bag and take them with him when he left. The 22-year-old CEO attended a small gathering with friends that night, according to WHYY, and a photo that circulated on Snapchat appeared to show him "getting ready to administer an unspecified syringe" to an individual in a private home. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said at a Tuesday briefing that the allegations were "very disturbing" if true, and that any leftover vaccine doses should have been returned to the city. He also said that "in retrospect" it was a mistake to partner with the group. The city announced on Monday that it would no longer work with Philly Fighting COVID for coronavirus testing or vaccine distribution, a day before the allegations of mishandled vaccine doses surfaced. The decision to sever ties was made after health officials became aware that the group had switched to for-profit status, Farley said Tuesday. Farley also cited concerns about the group's privacy policy, which were first raised by WHYY. For weeks, Philly Fighting COVID collected data from tens of thousands of Philadelphians seeking vaccine appointments without telling them how that information could be used. When a privacy policy finally appeared on the group's website last week, it contained provisions that would allow Philly Fighting COVID to sell users' personal data to a third party. In a Tuesday statement, Doroshin called the inclusion of that language a "mistake" and said it had been removed. "We never have and never would sell, share, or disseminate any data we collected as it would be in violation of HIPAA rules," he wrote. Doroshin also apologized for "any miscommunications" as Philly Fighting COVID switched its focus from testing to vaccines, and said that he never intended to "cause confusion or harm." The group lacked the resources to handle both testing and vaccinations at the same time, he said, adding that becoming a for-profit company was necessary for "scaling up." But elected officials still have questions. On Tuesday, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (D) asked anyone with knowledge of potential criminal activity to contact his office, while Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) invited Philadelphians who felt they had been misled by Philly Fighting COVID to open a complaint. Multiple city council members have called for an investigation, the Inquirer reported, and want to know why inexperienced college students were placed in charge of such a crucial task in the first place. Notably, everyone on Philly Fighting COVID's executive team is White, reported Philadelphia magazine - a fact that has raised eyebrows in a city that has struggled to vaccinate its substantial Black population, (Philadelphia is roughly 44% Black, but only 12% of vaccines have gone to Black people so far.) The city is also home to the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which pioneered one of the earliest efforts to conduct coronavirus testing in communities disproportionately affected by the virus. "If there was anybody poised and ready to do this, it was us," founder Ala Stanford told the magazine, adding that the city had suggested she team up with Philly Fighting COVID to administer vaccines. "I happen to have been a doctor for 23 years, longer than some of these kids have been living, but I need these white kids to teach me how to do it?" Pangolins are believed to be the world's most-trafficked animal Nigeria has seized pangolin scales and tusks and bones from endangered species allegedly bound for export to Vietnam, a senior customs official said Wednesday. Pangolin scales are traditionally used in China for a range of ailments, including treating blood clots, although there is no scientific evidence they have medicinal value. Studies have also suggested the pangolin may have been the intermediate host that transmitted the coronavirus to humans when it first emerged at a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The Nigerian items concealed in a container as furniture materials were intercepted by customs operatives at Apapa port in Lagos on January 21, the area controller, Mohammed Abba-Kura told AFP. "Immediately the container was opened, logs were seen in front, and upon 100 percent physical examination of the container, elephant tusk and the pangolin scales were seen concealed by the logs," he said. "The items, falsely declared as furniture, comprised 162 sacks of pangolin scales... and 57 sacks of mixed endangered species of various sizes such as ivory/animal horns, lion bones and others," he said. The total haul weighed 8,800 kilogrammes (19,400 pounds), he said. Abba-Kura said the items were valued at 952 million naira ($2.5 million, 2.07 million euros) on the black market. He said the consignment was heading to Haiphong, Vietnam before it was intercepted, adding that a suspect had been arrested over the shipment. Nigeria is major hub for traffickers sending the scales of African pangolins to Asia. Pangolins are believed to be the world's most trafficked mammals accounting for as much as 20 percent of all illegal wildlife trade. Nigeria has made huge seizures of illegal animal parts in recent years in line with the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Explore further Vietnam seizes two tonnes of ivory and pangolin scales 2021 AFP Police took to the streets of Dutch towns and cities in force Tuesday night in an attempt to prevent violent rioting that shook the country for three successive nights after a nationwide curfew was introduced to curb the spread of the covid-19. By late night, the increased police presence appeared to have paid off, with no major rioting or clashes between youths and police reported. We are seeing a different picture to yesterday, police chief Willem Woelders told Dutch current affairs show Nieuwsuur. Local broadcaster Rijnmond reported that riot police were deployed in the south and west of the city, but police did not immediately report any major disturbances. In Amsterdam, riot police were dispatched to a commercial street where a large group of youths had gathered and set off fireworks, but there were no violent confrontations. The rioting, which started with the torching of a coronavirus testing center in a fishing village on Saturday night, is the worst to hit the Netherlands in years. It was initially triggered by anger over a tough coronavirus lockdown that has been in force since mid-December, but calls for rioting swirling on social media and mainly spread among young people increasingly fuelled the unrest. Schools have been closed in the country since the Christmas holidays. Police said Tuesday afternoon that video images showed that many rioters were young teenagers and that many of the people they arrested were picked up close to their homes. I join others in appealing to parents to keep their children at home. Certainly after 2100, stay indoors, said North-Holland regional Police Chief Anja Schouten. The violence has stretched the police and led at times to the deployment of military police. Japan Prime Minister apologises after lawmakers' night club outings New Covid variants could derail growth: IMF World economic outlook US House representatives deliver trump Impeachment charge to Senate AstraZeneca has pulled out from a meeting with the European Union scheduled for Wednesday to discuss COVID-19 vaccine supplies, an EU official said. The official added that the EU keeps asking the company to provide further explanations about its announcement to cut vaccine deliveries to the EU in the first quarter. Short link: In a relief to Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and former minister for industries Murugesh Nirani, the Wednesday protected them from arrest in a case pertaining to alleged forgery over withdrawal of approval for a parcel of land in the state. The top court however refused to stay the January 5 order of Karnataka High Court, by which it had allowed restoration of the criminal complaint against the Yediyurappa. You (Yediyurappa) are a sitting Chief Minister. Who can issue arrest warrant against you, the top court observed. A bench of Chief Justice Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, which issued notices to complainants, one A Alam Pasha and others, in the case agreed to examine the pleas of Yediyurappa and Nirani challenging the order of the high court restoring the complaint. Issue notice. There shall be stay of arrest in the meantime, the bench said in its order. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Yediyurappa, said the appeal raises a legal question whether a court can proceed under the provisions of Prevention of Act against a public servant without prior sanction on the ground that he had demitted the office, which he had allegedly used for commission of offence. He sought stay of the High Court order or the proceedings before the trial court saying that process will start after the High Court's verdict. Rohatgi said that Yediyurappa will be arrested pursuant to the arrest warrant issued by the trial court. You are a sitting Chief Minister. Who can issue arrest warrant against you. Moreover, against the Chief Minister, they issue letter of request and not warrant, the bench said. The top court also issued similar order on the plea of Nirani. In his appeal, Yediyurappa said, That one of the questions of law that arises in the present Special Leave Petition pertains to whether a court can proceed under the provisions of the Prevention of Act, against a public servant without prior sanction, on the ground that he has allegedly demitted the office which he was alleged to have abused, in view of the amended provisions of section 19 of the PC Act. He said that being aggrieved by the impugned final judgement of January 5, he has filed the appeal as it had erroneously allowed the petition filed by Pasha/complainant under section 482 CrpC and thereby set aside the well-reasoned order of August 26, 2016, passed by the Special Judge whereby the complaint was dismissed for want of requisite prior sanction. However, by virtue of the impugned judgement, the High Court erroneously set aside the order only on the ground that the petitioner had demitted the office which had allegedly been abused by him at the time of commission of offence and therefore no sanction was necessary to be obtained, the appeal said. It said that the same is contrary to the settled law laid down by this court in a catena of judgements as well as the provisions of the amended PC Act. Yediyurappa said that action of Pasha/complainant in waiting for him to demit office before submitting the complaint is a complete abuse of the process of law and by permitting the complainant to adopt the device to circumvent the statutory protection afforded to a public servant, the High Court has rendered the protection illusory. On January 5, the Karnataka High Court had partly allowed a petition by Pasha and accordingly set aside the August 26, 2016 order of additional city civil and sessions judge related to three of the four accused, including Yediyurappa, dismissing the complaint against them. The case under Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Act related to alleged criminal conspiracy and forgery of documents purported to have been issued by Pasha in 2012 when Yediyurappa was the chief minister in his first term. Besides Yediyurappa, Nirani, former principal secretary V P Baligar and former managing director of Karnataka Udyog Mitra Shivaswamy K are the other accused. They have been accused by the Pasha of committing forgery of documents purported to have been issued by her seeking to withdraw the approval granted for allotment of 26 acres of land at Devanahalli Industrial Area in Bengaluru Rural District. Initially, the lower court had in 2013 dismissed a complaint filed by her on ground that sanction to prosecute the accused had not been obtained. She filed a fresh complaint in 2014 after Yediyurappa demitted office, but it was also dismissed by the lower court on August 26, 2016 on the same ground, though giving liberty to approach the court after getting prior sanction from competent authority. Pasha had submitted that since the respondents were no longer in office, sanction for their prosecution was not necessary. The High Court concurred with her submission and ruled that the quashing of the earlier complaint for want of sanction would not act as a bar to maintain the latest complaint filed in 2014 after the respondents demitted office. The high court, however, upheld the lower court order in respect of Baligar, the third respondent, as the government did not grant sanction to prosecute him. It directed the complaint to be restored in file and said that the same shall be proceeded with in accordance with law. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Wednesday orally observed that freedom of speech is not absolute during its hearing on pleas seeking stay on FIRs against actors and producers of Tandav web series on Amazon Prime. Also, the Supreme Court issued notice on plea of 'Tandav' makers and actor to club several FIRs registered against them across the country. The court refused to grant protection to actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Amazon Prime Video (India) & makers of Tandav, from arrest in several FIRs against them and asked them to approach High Court for anticipatory bail or quashing of FIRs. Supreme Court also issues notice on plea of 'Tandav' makers and actor to club several FIRs registered against them across the country. ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 A bench headed by Ashok Bhushan expressed its disinclination to pass any direction to stay the FIRs. The top court said the petitioners should go to the high courts to seek quashing of these cases. Senior advocates Fali S Nariman, Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra cited the top court judgment in Arnab Goswami case to seek relief in the matter. Luthra argued that the director of the web series is being harassed. "Is this way liberty should be protected in the country and FIRs are being filed across the country," he added. The bench observed that the right to freedom of speech is not absolute and it is subjected to restrictions. Nariman submitted that apologies have been made, and despite that several FIRs have been filed in six states. Justice Bhushan replied: "You want the FIRs to be quashed, then why can't you approach the High Courts?" Nariman said the web series makers have removed the objectionable content and still there are cases being filed against them. The top court questioned, why petitioners have moved the court under Article 32. The bench said the police can file closure reports too if apologies have been made. Rohatgi cited Arnab Goswami case to move the top court after a violation of Article 19(1)(a). He added people get offended with anything and everything these days. "Please protect us with no coercive steps. We deleted content without any protest. Scenes have been deleted. Its a political satire," argued Rohatgi. Rohatgi submitted that People are so sensitive in this country freedom to speech under then 19 (1)(a) would be destroyed. The top court will further hear the matter after lunch. The political and social relationship between the evangelical community and President Donald Trump has to be one of the strangest and most ironic as well as strong and committed relationships in presidential history. The bonds between President Trump and the evangelicals started in 2016, continued through the 2020 election, and in some ways are more fervent and fiercer than ever before. During the 2016 election, polls showed that almost 90% of evangelicals voted for Trump. In the 2020 election, that number rose to 95%. One must surmise that a great many evangelicals were with Trump at the Washington Monument on Jan. 6, a mostly peaceful First Amendment protest, demanding a fair, accurate, and justified account of the national vote. Many evangelicals, on that mostly peaceful mid-morning, prayed and sang hymns asking for God's divine guidance. Evangelicals, with Trump, felt they were possibly robbed of the White House. The seemingly unbreakable relationship between evangelicals and Trump really does appear to be an Odd Couple. Trump has probably been with more women than all the men combined in a large Sunday school class. And Trump has probably used the "F-word" more often than all the men combined in that same Sunday school class. So where did the common bond come from? How did the sincere trust develop? When did such loyal faith emerge? One must first say Trump's pick of Mike Pence as his running mate was a great start. Pence, a Bible-toting, born-again, unapologetic Christian, allowed the evangelicals to start developing their trust in Trump. Trump chose Pence over Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, and Newt Gingrich. This gave the evangelicals immediate comfort that maybe, just maybe, Trump was not playing them. In the past, evangelicals had been taken for granted by the moderate RINO wing of the Republican Party exemplified by politicians such as Mitt Romney, John McCain, and Paul Ryan. It looked to me as though evangelicals had turned the other cheek so much that they no longer appeared to be able to fight for themselves. So they hired Trump to do the fighting for them. Trump, an arrogant bar room fighter who took no prisoners and offered no apologies, would now fight the good fight and run the good race for those who either no longer knew how to fight or somehow thought it beneath them. There was leadership within the Christian community such as Franklin Graham who supported Trump. But in the end, the greatest support for Trump came from the congregations themselves and not the ministers. The relationship between Trump and evangelicals started from the pews, not the pulpit, and there it remains today. When the bond became apparent, the left, the progressive socialist secular communities, cried hypocrisy on the right. The Christian community pointed out that many Hall of Famers in the Bible, both Old and New Testament, had checkered pasts of real indiscretions. From Moses and King David to Peter and Paul, all of these devout men made significant mistakes in their pasts. Nevertheless, they were able to still lead the faithful flock with God's divine guidance. And Trump always came through for the evangelicals. From pro-life issues to keeping churches open during COVID to nominating conservative strict constructionist judges to traditional family measures to support of Israel and Jerusalem to Second Amendment rights, Trump never, ever disappointed the evangelical community. Never. Unlike the left, Trump never said quoting from the Holy Bible is hate speech. Unlike past GOP nominees who either got scared or really didn't believe, Trump kept the faith and continued the fight. Evangelicals seemed to see Trump as Daniel in the lion's den, surrounded by the Deep State and seemingly fighting all alone. If Trump used the "F-word" in speaking of a faux impeachment, evangelicals decided they could live with that. And some brethren would actually repeat it. If Trump wins this second impeachment charge, most evangelicals will most likely support Trump again in 2024. Evangelicals have a habit in history of supporting martyrs. That is why the Deep State, Pelosi, Schumer, RINOs, NeverTrumps, and the like are engaging in this unconstitutional impeachment. They know that Trump would win the primaries again and quite possibly take back the White House. Most Americans and certainly evangelicals didn't like it when hundreds of thousands of votes somehow appeared in the middle of the night in just a few select precincts in just a few select states. If Trump keeps faith with the evangelical community, God only knows if a miracle will happen again in 2024. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Watcho, the new and fast-growing OTT platform from Dish TV India Limited (Indias leading DTH Company), is all set to premiere a new original web series Sarhad. In keeping with its vision of delivering quality content to its viewers and presenting a unique perspective on issues concerning the youth and the nation, Watcho announced that the series is slated to be aired on 26th January 2021. Packed with lots of action and thrill, the series tells a tale of treachery, strained relationships, espionage, and has a unique take on militancy. Sarhad focuses on the life of a militant who infiltrated India and later surrendered himself to the Indian Armed Forces under mysterious circumstances. Further, into the episodes, the story sheds light on how Mahesh Singh, an Indian secret services officer, interrogates the captured militant to bring out the truth and seek justice for the nation. Set in the valley of Kashmir, the new web series stars Imran Farooq Ganaie, Dharmendra Singh, Adil Pala, Ravindra Arora, Komal Rajput, Joizya Mir, Shabeer Hakak, Taufiq, Shahid Malik, Tariq Jameel, and Anjum Mir. Commenting on the launch of the new series, Mr. Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head Marketing, DishTV & Watcho, Dish TV India Ltd, said, At Watcho, we have started the year on a high note by augmenting our content portfolio with yet another quality web series. Our portfolio of original content on Watcho now extends across genres and is a result of extensive research and consumer insights on their preferences in terms of viewing content. This original web series Sarhad has given us an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to scaling up and sustaining the superior quality of the content available on our platform. Bringing in a unique assortment of snackable content cutting across all genres, Watcho offers many original shows including web series like JaalSaazi, Titli-Current Maarti Hai, Its my pleasure, 4 Thieves, Love Crisis, Ardhsatya, Mortuary, Chhoriyan, Rakhta Chandana, and original influencer shows like Look I Can Cook, Bikhare hain Alfaaz, etc. to name a few. Available across screens (Android & iOS devices, Dish SMRT devices, D2H Magic devices, and Fire TV Stick) and at www.watcho.com, Watcho presently provides over 35 plus original shows in Hindi, Kannada, and Telugu regional languages. When the Waterbury Record ceased publication at the end of March, Waterbury, Vermont, was on its way to becoming another news desert. At the time, Lisa Scagliottia longtime Waterbury resident who used to work as managing editor of two of the Records sister weeklieswas running a journalism internship program at the University of Vermont: training students, offering editing and feedback, and helping aspiring journalists place work in local publications. When covid-19 interrupted daily life, students schedules were upended, and Scagliottis local paper shut down. So she and her students seized the moment and launched their own publication: the Waterbury Roundabout. At first, the Roundabout was digital-only. A student named Julia Bailey-Wells built the website using WordPress; Scagliotti and her students wrote stories about mail-in ballots for an upcoming school budget vote, grant funding for reimagining the towns Main Street, and summer rallies against racism. When the Roundabout began publishing a weekly email blast highlighting the most important local stories of the week, the Waterbury community responded with interest. Soon after the Roundabouts launch, local publications began picking up and running the sites stories. The Barre Montpelier Times Argus asked the Roundabout to partner with its existing initiative to reach more local communities with printed weeklies; the Waterbury Readersupplemented by Roundabout stories, printed and delivered by the Times Arguswas born. The Roundabout isnt the first scrappy startup to materialize in hopes of filling a void in a local community. In Del Rio, Texas, a local man turned his events website into a weekly tabloid after the local paper shut down last November. Five years after the closure of a local paper in Eudora, Kansas, students from the journalism school at the University of Kansas have begun to meet course requirements by reporting stories for an online startup called the Eudora Times. Scagliotti and the team at the Roundabout have a foot in both worlds: at present, the publication is Scagliottis passion projectaided by a few recurring team members like photographer Gordon Millerand its supplemented by freelance contributions and, during the school semester, by student work. Damian Radcliffe, a Tow fellow and journalism professor at the University of Oregon, has done research on small-market journalism for more than a decade; during the economic crisis of 200809another moment in which the decline of local newspapers became a focal point for many media commentators, citizens, and politiciansRadcliffe researched the emergence of hyperlocal publications in the US, UK, and other parts of the world. At that time, there were quite a large number of new hyperlocal publications, typically online-only, certainly online-first, Radcliffe says. And the people behind them tended to be either journalists who had been laid off and decided to do something entrepreneurial, or concerned citizens who saw an information deficit in their community. They were doing this, in many cases, as a labor of love. Theyd often have a day job, and, often, they would be the only source of fresh and original news from that locale. Scagliotti fits this description, but the Roundabout is her day job. Her position at the University of Vermont was frozen at the end of the spring; after the Roundabout took off, she chose not to return in the fall. Her work is largely a labor of love, with a little creative entrepreneurship that allows her to defray minimal expenses, to begin paying professional contributors, and to take an occasional stipend herself. At the end of 2020, Scagliotti registered the publication as a nonprofit. The Times Argus pays to syndicate the weekly stories it prints. The Roundabout has made some money from community donations, with assistance from the New England Newspaper and Press Association, a nonprofit entity that funnels charitable giving to local news organizations. Local community members have contributed reporting and writing for free. Today, the publications newsletter has around fourteen hundred subscribers in a town of five thousand people (they picked up forty more subscribers this week). Sign up for CJR 's daily email Everybody asks me, How sustainable is this? How long can you keep going? And I dont know the answer, Scagliotti says. We didnt sit down and do a lot of business planning. I wasnt even sure I was starting a business. We didnt really think it through that much. We just started doing it. More than anything, it was a time where people just needed information. Radcliffe notes that when hyperlocal newsrooms crop up to fill a void, the spontaneity can create vacuums in both the business model and available resources for fostering innovation. Its very difficult, in these circumstances, to do new things and do things differently, Radcliffe says. Theres a really important question for us in the industry to grapple with, which is to say, how do we support these really small newsroomswhich are the bulk of newsrooms in the USto enable them to become more sustainable, to enable them to do things differently, given all of the constraints that they are operating with? For now, though, Scagliotti is taking things one day at a time. No matter what happens to the business, people still need news, she says. Sometimes, what needs to be done is right under your nose. The Journalism Crisis Project aims to train our focus on the present crisis, tallying lost jobs and outlets and fostering a conversation about what comes next. We hope youll join us (click to subscribe). EXPLORE THE TOW CENTERS COVID-19 CUTBACK TRACKER: Over the past nine months, researchers at the Tow Center have collected reports of a wide range of cutbacks amid the pandemic. Now theres an interactive map and searchable database. You can find it here. CONTRIBUTE TO OUR DATABASE: If youre aware of a newsroom experiencing layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs, print reductions, or any fundamental change as a result of covid-19, let us know by submitting information here. (Personal information will be kept secure by the Tow Center and will not be shared.) Below, more on recent media trends and changes in newsrooms across the world: JOURNALISM JOBS AND OPPORTUNITIES: MediaGazer has been maintaining a list of media companies that are currently hiring. You can find it here. The Deez Links newsletter, in partnership with Study Hall, offers media classifieds for both job seekers and job providers. The Successful Pitches database offers resources for freelancers. The International Journalists Network lists international job opportunities alongside opportunities for funding and further education. And an organization of fifty writers called the Periplus Collective recently announced a mentorship program to serve early-career writers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Lauren Harris is a freelance journalist. She writes CJR's weekly newsletter for the Journalism Crisis Project. Follow her on Twitter @LHarrisWrites. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here A new Bulgarian power plant that will use trash to generate heat and electricity for tens of thousands of people is being hailed by its supporters as a green solution for Sofia's mountain of waste. But critics say the EU-funded incinerator will make the city's already-polluted air even worse. Billy Graham prayer line seeing spike in calls amid fears of uncertainty Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Billy Graham Evangelistic Associations prayer phone line has received 1,000 calls every day since its creation in March 2020 in response to COVID-19 and the lockdowns, said its assistant director Jonathan Edwards. Most people call the prayer line because theyre afraid and worried about current events, said Edwards, who manages the prayer line for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, in an interview with The Christian Post. Call numbers rose rapidly at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Theyve started rising again at the beginning of January. Right now, the phone line receives 200 more calls than usual every day, he said. Call numbers get even higher after the Rev. Franklin Graham appears on television. A lot of folks are just experiencing a lot of fear. People are just calling, and they dont know where to turn. They see where we are in the world and theyre just not sure where to turn, said Edwards. They just need hope. Calls come from a mix of Christians and non-Christians, he said. Some of the people call because they experienced personal tragedies. Others call because they're stuck in COVID-19 wards without anyone to pray with, and still others call because theyre afraid of the increasing chaos and fear in American politics. They all want prayer. People on the prayer line commonly ask for healing, peace from God, and comfort for fear, said Edwards. The BGEA, in a press release, shared several stories of individuals who called the prayer line. The group changed the names in the stories for privacy. Ines, a believer, voiced her concern about troubles at the Capitol. As a child, her family left Cuba during tumultuous times. Ines still remembers the disturbing events and is fearful of seeing continued unrest in America, the release read. The volunteer assured her that God sees everything thats going on and He is the El Roi, a Hebrew name for God that means the God who sees me. The BGEA originally planned for the prayer line to be a short-term feature during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Edwards said. But the lockdowns continued, and more people called than the group expected. [Call numbers] have been very, very, consistently high, he said. Eventually I thought wed see that balance slow down, and it hasnt. They need to find the hope of Christ somewhere. Over 6,700 people decided to follow Jesus after talking with volunteers on the prayer line, said Edwards. This number makes up part of a larger trend in evangelism. In 2020, 1.7 million people became Christians through the BGEAs online ministries, an increase of 400,000 people from 2019. The ministry team which operates the prayer phone line, reads the Bible to keep from feeling overwhelmed by the fears they hear about every day, said Edwards. Consistently dealing with fear can be an emotional burden. Were going to experience fear. Nowhere in the Bible does Christ say were not going to experience fear, Edwards said. With a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you can know your salvation is assured, you can know where youre going. There will be times that were fearful, but you can experience peace with God. Edwards said he often shares Psalm 56:3 with his team. The text reads, When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE As New Mexicos legislative session enters its second week, lawmakers are forging ahead with a new relief package aimed at helping essential workers, restaurants, bars and other small businesses through the final throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two relief bills were approved without dissent Tuesday by a Senate committee, while other measures could be voted on later this week. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ One of the fast-tracked bills would give a $600 cash rebate to low-income New Mexico workers or those earning $31,200 or less annually and provide a four-month tax break for restaurants and breweries hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. One thing we know for sure is the working poor who make less than $15 an hour have by and large borne the brunt of this pandemic in a number of ways, said Sen. Jacob Candelaria, D-Albuquerque, a sponsor of the legislation. He also said those receiving the cash assistance would likely reinject the money into New Mexicos economy by paying it on bills, food or other necessities. Meanwhile, a separate bill also endorsed Tuesday by the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee would direct a state agency to waive the fees for 2021 liquor licenses. Bars around New Mexico had to pay liquor license fees last year, despite being closed for most of the year due to public health orders issued by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration. Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, said funding for the relief package an estimated $185 million for the rebates and restaurant tax breaks alone would come from the states cash-flush reserves. This is exactly what we need to use that money for to help working families and small businesses, Wirth said in an interview. He also said legislative leaders are hoping to send the bills to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham for final approval by mid-February. The bills will take effect immediately upon being signed if they pass both legislative chambers with at least a two-thirds majority vote. The goal here is to have bipartisan support, Wirth told the Journal. This is a time when government can really help. In all, Wirth cited five bills as part of the relief package. Only two of the five bills have been voted on, and measures dealing with alcohol home delivery and changes to a small-business loan program could be taken up in the coming days. During Tuesdays committee hearing, both relief measures passed on 10-0 votes and faced little criticism, though some GOP senators said business restrictions should be relaxed in addition to passing the aid measures. All these businesses really want to do is open their doors and let the customers back in, said Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho. 2 previous packages Already, New Mexico lawmakers have passed two separate pandemic relief packages in June and November legislative special sessions last year. The most recent package authorized the spending of $330 million in federal funds on expanded unemployment benefits, small-business grants and cash assistance payments, among other programs. But the November package was approved over objections that it did not include hazard-pay bonuses to essential workers making less than $15 an hour who have been at the front lines of the pandemic working at grocery stores, hospitals and other businesses. Such workers would benefit from the new relief package, which would target the $600 rebates to New Mexicans who qualified for the states Working Families Tax Credit in 2020. Meanwhile, restaurant and brewery sales from March through June would be exempted from the states gross receipts tax under the same bill. Indoor restaurant dining is still off the table in most New Mexico counties though limited patio dining is allowed and Allison Smith of the New Mexico Restaurant Association said the measure would give eateries a little breathing room to survive the pandemic. In addition, the state would offset any local government revenue losses caused by the relief bill, Wirth said. Small businesses suffer Many small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic, with their sales having dropped by about 40% as New Mexicans increasingly have turned to internet sales. In addition, the states unemployment rate has surged it was at 8.2% for December and some state economists have projected it could take years for New Mexico employment to return to pre-pandemic levels. Lujan Grisham has called for up to $475 million to be spent on one-time pandemic relief measures during this years 60-day session, although she has not stipulated to lawmakers which specific programs should be funded. The session runs through March 20. It was the end of April just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth COVID-19 case and 50,000 deaths when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced highly significant news about a drug called remdesivir. That was surprising because the antiviral drug, owned by Gilead Sciences and developed with investment from the federal government, had languished for years with no apparent commercial use. It had struck out as a treatment for hepatitis C and Ebola. But early in 2020, when the first global cases of a new pneumonia-like viral illness emerged in China, Gilead resurfaced the compound, branded as Veklury, and shared it with scientists across the globe. From the Oval Office, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said remdesivir would be the standard of care for treating coronavirus disease. Its emergency-use approval by the Food and Drug Administration immediately drew a storm of criticism. Clinical trials suggested it was only modestly helpful to COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization recommended against its use. Politicians railed at its $3,120 price tag. Yet, nine months later, it appears Fauci was right: As U.S. infections climb above 24 million, doctors with no other FDA-approved treatment options are now prescribing remdesivir to half the COVID-19 patients in U.S. hospitals. We want to shorten their hospital stay, said Dr. Jade Le, an infectious disease specialist with Access Physicians in Texas, where hospitals have been at capacity for weeks. Le prescribes remdesivir on average three to five times a day, always in concert with a low-cost steroid. This month, Gilead chief executive Daniel ODay raised the Foster City companys profit estimates, noting that remdesivir alone would deliver about $2.8 billion in 2020 sales, bolstered by its use in U.S. and European markets. The company is proud of the role the treatment is playing during the pandemic, he said. Still, controversies abound. Tension mounted last summer as shortages of remdesivir taxed the global medical community and raised urgent questions about how the federal government could step in. While doctors rationed the drug, politicians and advocates said U.S. taxpayers had invested enough in remdesivirs development to merit a lower price. The remdesivir story is actually a story that is all too common, said Zain Rizvi, law and policy researcher at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Rizvi and other advocates say the drug would not have come to market if it wasnt for federal grants and the help of U.S. scientists. They said the rags-to-riches story of remdesivir, a losing prospect turned blockbuster, holds lessons in how Americans end up paying more for medicine than anyone else in the world. Remdesivir used taxpayer dollars to be developed but in a public health emergency, patients have no option but to pay whatever the pharmaceutical giant demands. Rizvi has estimated that federal grants of at least $70 million supported the scientific discovery of remdesivir. He pointed to early research done, including a collaboration between Gilead and university scientists, using federal grants, to test remdesivirs antiviral compounds against coronaviruses, such as MERS and SARS. Others figure the investment could be much higher. Kathryn Ardizzone, legal counsel for the patent rights group Knowledge Ecology International, is among those, though she agreed the amount is at least $70 million and declined to estimate the total amount of federal dollars used for remdesivirs discovery. There is no publicly available database of how much the government has spent to develop any drug, including remdesivir. The NIH said in an emailed statement that it did not develop remdesivir. The agency confirmed it funded research on the drugs uses as well as providing money to institutions that worked with Gilead to develop the drug. KEI filed a Freedom of Information Act request to view the grants and clinical trials related to remdesivir. In October, the group sued the National Institutes of Health because it had failed to respond. Ardizzone said she expects the records will counter Gileads justification of remdesivirs price: When the government has played such a critical role at every step of the way, that argument falls apart. Gilead, in an emailed statement, said its investment in the drug predates any government involvement and disagrees with the premise that the government has any rights to Gileads remdesivir intellectual property. No federal scientists are named on remdesivirs patents. The company has defended the price of the drug, saying it invested more than $1 billion in 2020 to support clinical trials as well as to manufacture and distribute remdesivir. Gilead priced it at $3,120 for a five-day course of treatment in the U.S. market, and $2,340 for other developed countries. Some smaller U.S. government entities, like the Indian Health Service, pay the lower price as well. Noting the price for developed countries, Gilead spokesperson Arran Attridge said the drug is priced significantly below the potential value it delivers. But U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a top-ranking Democrat from Oregon on the Senate Finance Committee, said he has been concerned about Gileads price for a five-day course of treatment since it was announced. My previous investigative work ... has shown Gileads willingness to put profits over patients, Wyden said. Wyden, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released an investigation in 2015 of Gileads hepatitis C drug prices and marketing. At its core, remdesivir is a simple, small molecule drug. Generics manufacturers in India have copied the design and priced it at $53.34 per vial, or $320 for a course of treatment. The U.S. government, so far, has not exerted its intellectual property rights. But there are signals that could change. In late summer, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a group of more than 30 attorneys general calling for the federal government to license remdesivir to another manufacturer, such as a lower-cost provider from overseas. President Joe Biden nominated Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Another Biden pick, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, an infectious disease specialist who has been tasked to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, co-authored a New York Times opinion piece suggesting that HHS could buy the drug from another company (including a generics maker overseas) and pay royalties to Gilead. This fall, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, held a news conference supporting the approach Walensky and others proposed. Neither maneuver, however, was meant as a lever to lower its price for patients, said Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University. Mossoff doubted that either of the strategies would hold up in court and noted there are plenty of congressional proposals to lower drug prices and sometimes people get ahead of themselves. They try to use the law to advocate for what should be a policy goal, he said. Underlying Becerras and Walenskys proposals is the deeper, nagging question of whether Gilead should fully own the rights to remdesivir if the U.S. funded research and its scientists worked with Gilead to discover the drug. Doggett put it this way: Gilead is overcharging on a drug that was saved from the scrap heap of failed drugs only because of taxpayer-funded research. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., have asked the governments federal watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, to investigate what legal rights do federal agencies have in relation to remdesivir. Gilead said it is cooperating with the investigation; government officials expect the review to be completed this spring. Gilead, in an emailed statement in response to a question about the GAO review, called the governments involvement limited. In response to questions about the patents, Gilead said its own investments predate any government involvement and its inventors identified the drugs antiviral activity, optimized the formula and scaled up the manufacturing process. Gilead confirmed it has eight listed patents on remdesivir, with the last expiring in 2038. In the abstracts of two patents, filed in 2014 and 2015, the CDC and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases are mentioned as places studies were conducted. Each patent emphasizes its focus on treating the Ebola virus and other filoviruses that cause fatal hemorrhagic fevers. Christopher Morten, deputy director of technology law and policy clinic at New York University School of Law, said those two patents should list government scientists as co-inventors. Referring to one patent (No. 9,724,360), Morten said its earliest filing was October 2014. Which makes perfect sense, because the U.S. government collaboration started in 2013 with Ebola and the CDC, Morten said. While not attaching specific government investment dollars to its descriptions, Gilead confirms the collaboration, as well, saying it worked with the U.S. government to confirm remdesivirs preclinical activity against Ebola. Morten, who previously represented pharmaceutical companies as a patent lawyer, said he believes the question of inventorship should be raised in court, using the legal tactic proposed by CDC chief Walensky. Morten co-authored a white paper on remdesivir with the HIV advocacy group PrEP4All. Notably, PrEP4All also challenged Gileads patents for the HIV drug Truvada. In 2019, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services sued Gilead over patent rights for Truvada. The case is ongoing. Back on the pandemics front lines, U.S. doctors administer remdesivir even after the World Health Organization recommended against the drug in November. The WHOs recommendation, which referenced results from an international trial called Solidarity, found remdesivir did not improve a COVID-19 patients chance of survival. The Food and Drug Administration gave remdesivir full regulatory approval in October, making it the only approved U.S. treatment for the deadly disease. Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of Americas panel on COVID-19 treatment guidelines, pointed to another clinical trial of more than 1,000 hospitalized patients run by the National Institutes of Health. The trial, called ACTT-1, showed hospital stays of about 10 days for those who received remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who did not, he said. Many of us believe remdesivir has a role, Gandhi said, though we wish it had a greater effect. He noted that the trial showed one group of patients saw the biggest benefit: those who need supplemental oxygen but are not yet on a ventilator. Its clear, he said, we need better drugs than remdesivir. Remdesivir, along with a steroid, was enough for Shirley Lewis. The 69-year-old Florida resident said she was sick for about a week when she found herself unable to breathe and went to the hospital. Im telling you, I was like half-dead and half-alive ... all I could do was pray, Lewis said. Doctors put her on supplemental oxygen and began IV bags of remdesivir paired with steroids. Lewis said she felt the difference right away. I said, Oh, thank God, Lewis recalled about a month after being released from the hospital. I thought it was some kind of miracle, I really did. So dont let them say it doesnt work, because it did. Sarah Jane Tribble is a Kaiser Health News writer. Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit news service, is an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. Press Release January 27, 2021 VILLAR BATS FOR CATANDUANES AS PH's ABACA CAPITAL Senator Cynthia Villar, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, is pushing for the declaration of the Province of Catanduanes as the 'Abaca Capital of the Philippines' in her recently filed Senate Bill No. 1748. The Philippines is the top producer of abaca in the world and Catanduanes is the top abaca producer of the country and the world also, as it contributes 90 percent to abaca production in Bicol Region. Villar's proposed bill seeks to "promote and support the abaca industry of the province, while safeguarding it from destruction of plant diseases and calamitous events." Statistics from the Department of Agriculture show that, "from 2013 to 2019, the Bicol Region is the top producer of abaca fiber having produced a total of 22,987 metric ton, which comprises 37% of the national production. The abaca harvested in the province of Catanduanes is even higher than the production of Ecuador, the second biggest abaca producer in the world after the Philippines. "It is but proper and apt that we officially name Catanduanes as the abaca capital of our country because it really is ever since. Once passed, the bill will also provide the province with additional government support and allocation. That will help them to further grow and develop the abaca industry to benefit the farmers and all the people who depend on it for livelihood," said Villar. Abaca is the main source of livelihood of the people living in Catanduanes. The abaca industry directly benefits nearly 13,000 farmers who are tending over 33,000 hectares of land in 11 abaca-producing municipalities in the province. "About 97% of all the total abaca produced in the country are exported as pulp,raw fiber, handloom fabric or handicraft. So, it is a high value agricultural commodity and top dollar earner. Demand for it is even increasing during the pandemic because abaca is the main raw materials for masks, PPE and other medical or healthcare-related product," cited Villar. Abaca is also an important raw material for tea bags, coffee filters, food packaging, textile, clothing, shoes, bags, wall coverings, sheets, and even paper money. Japanese currency notes (Yen) actually contain up to 30% abaca. According to Villar, "The abaca sector alone contributes Php4.7 billion to country's economy annually, so it deserves all the support it needs. Aside from its economic contribution, fiber from abaca also has great environmental benefits. The plant which is a species of banana native to Philippines is considered to be zero waste." Besides abaca, Villar also bats for more government support to other natural fibers in the country such as bagasse, bamboo, banana, bariw, buntal, buri, cabonegro, cogon, coir, cotton, jute (saluyot), kapok, kenaf, kozo, maguey, nipa, nito, pandan, pina, raffia, ramie, rattan, rice straw, sabutan, salago, sansevieria, seagrass, sil, sisal, sword agave, talahib, tikog, vetiver and waterlily. Additional data to be presented include two abstracts from Study 218 ( NCT03173560 ), which is a Phase 2 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of two starting doses of LENVIMA (18 mg versus 14 mg once daily) plus everolimus (5 mg once daily) in patients with advanced RCC. These include a health-related quality of life outcomes analysis (Abstract # 314) as well as efficacy analyses by independent imaging review, and by subgroup of patients who received prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy per investigator assessment (Abstract # 307). A Trial in Progress abstract will also be presented on a Phase 3 study ( NCT04586231 ) exploring the efficacy and safety of LENVIMA plus the hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2) inhibitor belzutifan (MK-6482) versus cabozantinib in patients with advanced RCC who received prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy (Abstract #TPS372). "We're excited to present new investigational data on LENVIMA that we hope will provide the oncology community with optimism at this year's Genitourinary Cancers Symposium," said Dr. Takashi Owa, Vice President, Chief Medicine Creation Officer and Chief Discovery Officer, Oncology Business Group at Eisai. "We remain relentless in our pursuit to spark change in the oncology space by continuing to evaluate the LENVIMA plus everolimus combination as well as research new potential combination treatment options for renal cell carcinoma patients. We're dedicated to fighting for patients suffering from this insidious disease and we believe these results mark a big step in the direction of greater therapeutic knowledge and options for this community." In March 2018, Eisai and Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA, both as monotherapy and in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA and Merck's HIF-2 inhibitor, belzutifan. To date, 20 trials have been initiated under the LEAP (LEnvatinib And Pembrolizumab) clinical program, which is evaluating the KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA combination across 13 different tumor types. For more information on the LEAP program, please visit clinicaltrials.gov. This release discusses investigational compounds and investigational uses for FDA-approved products. It is not intended to convey conclusions about efficacy and safety. There is no guarantee that any investigational compounds or investigational uses of FDA-approved products will successfully complete clinical development or gain FDA approval. The full list of Eisai presentations is included below. All abstracts will be available for viewing on demand via the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium website from February 11 at 8:00 AM EST through February 13, 2021. Study/Trial Abstract Name Virtual Presentation Details CLEAR study (KEYNOTE-581/Study 307) A phase 3 trial of lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab or everolimus versus sunitinib monotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (the CLEAR study) Oral Presentation (Late-Breaker) Abstract #: 269 February 13, 2021 at 1:00 PM-2:15 PM EST Robert Motzer, MD Study 218 Health-related quality of life outcomes from a Phase 2 open-label trial of two different starting doses of lenvatinib in combination with everolimus for treatment of renal cell carcinoma following one prior VEGF-targeted treatment Poster Session Abstract #: 314 Cristiane Bergerot, PhD Phase 2 trial of lenvatinib (LEN) at 2 starting doses + everolimus (EVE) in patients (pts) with renal cell carcinoma (RCC): results by independent imaging review (IIR) and prior immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) Poster Session Abstract #: 307 Sumanta Pal, MD Trial in Progress Phase 3 study evaluating efficacy and safety of MK-6482 + lenvatinib versus cabozantinib for second- or third-line therapy in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who progressed after prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy Poster Session Abstract #: TPS372 Robert Motzer, MD About Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Worldwide, it is estimated there were more than 430,000 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed and nearly 180,000 deaths from the disease in 2020. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated there will be more than 76,000 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed and nearly 14,000 deaths from the disease in 2021. Renal cell carcinoma is by far the most common type of kidney cancer; about nine out of 10 kidney cancers are RCCs. Renal cell carcinoma is about twice as common in men as in women. Most cases of RCC are discovered incidentally during imaging tests for other abdominal diseases. Approximately 30% of patients with RCC will have metastatic disease at diagnosis, and as many as 40% will develop metastases after primary surgical treatment for localized RCC. Survival is highly dependent on the stage at diagnosis, and with a five-year survival rate of 12% for metastatic disease, the prognosis for these patients is poor. About LENVIMA (lenvatinib) Capsules LENVIMA is indicated: For the treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RAI-refractory DTC) In combination with everolimus, for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following one prior anti-angiogenic therapy For the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) In combination with pembrolizumab, for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR), who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy, and are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trial LENVIMA, discovered and developed by Eisai, is a kinase inhibitor that inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors VEGFR1 (FLT1), VEGFR2 (KDR), and VEGFR3 (FLT4). LENVIMA inhibits other kinases that have been implicated in pathogenic angiogenesis, tumor growth, and cancer progression in addition to their normal cellular functions, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors FGFR1-4, the platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR), KIT, and RET. The combination of LENVIMA and everolimus showed increased anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity as demonstrated by decreased human endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation, and VEGF signaling in vitro and tumor volume in mouse xenograft models of human renal cell cancer greater than each drug alone. In syngeneic mouse tumor models, lenvatinib decreased tumor-associated macrophages, increased activated cytotoxic T cells, and demonstrated greater antitumor activity in combination with an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody compared to either treatment alone. Important Safety Information Warnings and Precautions Hypertension. In DTC, hypertension occurred in 73% of patients on LENVIMA (44% grade 3-4). In RCC, hypertension occurred in 42% of patients on LENVIMA + everolimus (13% grade 3). Systolic blood pressure 160 mmHg occurred in 29% of patients, and 21% had diastolic blood pressure 100 mmHg. In HCC, hypertension occurred in 45% of LENVIMA-treated patients (24% grade 3). Grade 4 hypertension was not reported in HCC. Serious complications of poorly controlled hypertension have been reported. Control blood pressure prior to initiation. Monitor blood pressure after 1 week, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and then at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose when hypertension is controlled or permanently discontinue based on severity. Cardiac Dysfunction. Serious and fatal cardiac dysfunction can occur with LENVIMA. Across clinical trials in 799 patients with DTC, RCC, and HCC, grade 3 or higher cardiac dysfunction occurred in 3% of LENVIMA treated patients. Monitor for clinical symptoms or signs of cardiac dysfunction. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Arterial Thromboembolic Events. Among patients receiving LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus, arterial thromboembolic events of any severity occurred in 2% of patients in RCC and HCC and 5% in DTC. Grade 3-5 arterial thromboembolic events ranged from 2% to 3% across all clinical trials. Permanently discontinue following an arterial thrombotic event. The safety of resuming after an arterial thromboembolic event has not been established and LENVIMA has not been studied in patients who have had an arterial thromboembolic event within the previous 6 months. Hepatotoxicity. Across clinical studies enrolling 1,327 LENVIMA-treated patients with malignancies other than HCC, serious hepatic adverse reactions occurred in 1.4% of patients. Fatal events, including hepatic failure, acute hepatitis and hepatorenal syndrome, occurred in 0.5% of patients. In HCC, hepatic encephalopathy occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients (5% grade 3-5). Grade 3-5 hepatic failure occurred in 3% of LENVIMA-treated patients. 2% of patients discontinued LENVIMA due to hepatic encephalopathy and 1% discontinued due to hepatic failure. Monitor liver function prior to initiation, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Monitor patients with HCC closely for signs of hepatic failure, including hepatic encephalopathy. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Renal Failure or Impairment. Serious including fatal renal failure or impairment can occur with LENVIMA. Renal impairment was reported in 14% and 7% of LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, respectively. Grade 3-5 renal failure or impairment occurred in 3% of patients with DTC and 2% of patients with HCC, including 1 fatal event in each study. In RCC, renal impairment or renal failure was reported in 18% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (10% grade 3). Initiate prompt management of diarrhea or dehydration/hypovolemia. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue for renal failure or impairment based on severity. Proteinuria. In DTC and HCC, proteinuria was reported in 34% and 26% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. Grade 3 proteinuria occurred in 11% and 6% in DTC and HCC, respectively. In RCC, proteinuria occurred in 31% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus (8% grade 3). Monitor for proteinuria prior to initiation and periodically during treatment. If urine dipstick proteinuria 2+ is detected, obtain a 24-hour urine protein. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Diarrhea. Of the 737 LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, diarrhea occurred in 49% (6% grade 3). In RCC, diarrhea occurred in 81% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (19% grade 3). Diarrhea was the most frequent cause of dose interruption/reduction, and diarrhea recurred despite dose reduction. Promptly initiate management of diarrhea. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Fistula Formation and Gastrointestinal Perforation. Of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus in DTC, RCC, and HCC, fistula or gastrointestinal perforation occurred in 2%. Permanently discontinue in patients who develop gastrointestinal perforation of any severity or grade 3-4 fistula. QT Interval Prolongation. In DTC, QT/QTc interval prolongation occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QT interval prolongation of >500 ms occurred in 2%. In RCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 11% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 6%. In HCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 2%. Monitor and correct electrolyte abnormalities at baseline and periodically during treatment. Monitor electrocardiograms in patients with congenital long QT syndrome, congestive heart failure, bradyarrhythmias, or those who are taking drugs known to prolong the QT interval, including Class Ia and III antiarrhythmics. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery based on severity. Hypocalcemia. In DTC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In 65% of cases, hypocalcemia improved or resolved following calcium supplementation with or without dose interruption or dose reduction. In RCC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 6% of LENVIMA + everolimus treated patients. In HCC, grade 3 hypocalcemia occurred in 0.8% of LENVIMA-treated patients. Monitor blood calcium levels at least monthly and replace calcium as necessary during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome. Across clinical studies of 1,823 patients who received LENVIMA as a single agent, RPLS occurred in 0.3%. Confirm diagnosis of RPLS with MRI. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity and persistence of neurologic symptoms. Hemorrhagic Events. Serious including fatal hemorrhagic events can occur with LENVIMA. In DTC, RCC, and HCC clinical trials, hemorrhagic events, of any grade, occurred in 29% of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA as a single agent or in combination with everolimus. The most frequently reported hemorrhagic events (all grades and occurring in at least 5% of patients) were epistaxis and hematuria. In DTC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 2% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 1 fatal intracranial hemorrhage among 16 patients who received LENVIMA and had CNS metastases at baseline. In RCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 8% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients, including 1 fatal cerebral hemorrhage. In HCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 5% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 7 fatal hemorrhagic events. Serious tumor-related bleeds, including fatal hemorrhagic events, occurred in LENVIMA-treated patients in clinical trials and in the postmarketing setting. In postmarketing surveillance, serious and fatal carotid artery hemorrhages were seen more frequently in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) than other tumors. Safety and effectiveness of LENVIMA in patients with ATC have not been demonstrated in clinical trials. Consider the risk of severe or fatal hemorrhage associated with tumor invasion or infiltration of major blood vessels (eg, carotid artery). Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Impairment of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Suppression/Thyroid Dysfunction. LENVIMA impairs exogenous thyroid suppression. In DTC, 88% of patients had baseline thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level 0.5 mU/L. In patients with normal TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH level >0.5 mU/L was observed post baseline in 57% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In RCC and HCC, grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism occurred in 24% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients and 21% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. In patients with normal or low TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH was observed post baseline in 70% of LENVIMA-treated patients in HCC and 60% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients in RCC. Monitor thyroid function prior to initiation and at least monthly during treatment. Treat hypothyroidism according to standard medical practice. Impaired Wound Healing. Impaired wound healing has been reported in patients who received LENVIMA. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to elective surgery. Do not administer for at least 2 weeks following major surgery and until adequate wound healing. The safety of resumption of LENVIMA after resolution of wound healing complications has not been established. Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ). ONJ has been reported in patients receiving LENVIMA. Concomitant exposure to other risk factors, such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, dental disease, or invasive dental procedures, may increase the risk of ONJ. Perform an oral examination prior to treatment with LENVIMA and periodically during LENVIMA treatment. Advise patients regarding good oral hygiene practices and to consider having preventive dentistry performed prior to treatment with LENVIMA and throughout treatment with LENVIMA. Avoid invasive dental procedures, if possible, while on LENVIMA treatment, particularly in patients at higher risk. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to scheduled dental surgery or invasive dental procedures, if possible. For patients requiring invasive dental procedures, discontinuation of bisphosphonate treatment may reduce the risk of ONJ. Withhold LENVIMA if ONJ develops and restart based on clinical judgement of adequate resolution. Embryo-fetal Toxicity. Based on its mechanism of action and data from animal reproduction studies, LENVIMA can cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. In animal reproduction studies, oral administration of lenvatinib during organogenesis at doses below the recommended clinical doses resulted in embryotoxicity, fetotoxicity, and teratogenicity in rats and rabbits. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus; and advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with LENVIMA and for at least 30 days after the last dose. Adverse Reactions In DTC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (73%), fatigue (67%), diarrhea (67%), arthralgia/myalgia (62%), decreased appetite (54%), decreased weight (51%), nausea (47%), stomatitis (41%), headache (38%), vomiting (36%), proteinuria (34%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (32%), abdominal pain (31%), and dysphonia (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were pneumonia (4%), hypertension (3%), and dehydration (3%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions in 68% of LENVIMA-treated patients; 18% discontinued LENVIMA. The most common adverse reactions (10%) resulting in dose reductions were hypertension (13%), proteinuria (11%), decreased appetite (10%), and diarrhea (10%); the most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were hypertension (1%) and asthenia (1%). In RCC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients were diarrhea (81%), fatigue (73%), arthralgia/myalgia (55%), decreased appetite (53%), vomiting (48%), nausea (45%), stomatitis (44%), hypertension (42%), peripheral edema (42%), cough (37%), abdominal pain (37%), dyspnea (35%), rash (35%), decreased weight (34%), hemorrhagic events (32%), and proteinuria (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (5%) were renal failure (11%), dehydration (10%), anemia (6%), thrombocytopenia (5%), diarrhea (5%), vomiting (5%), and dyspnea (5%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 89% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were diarrhea (21%), fatigue (8%), thrombocytopenia (6%), vomiting (6%), nausea (5%), and proteinuria (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 29% of patients. In HCC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (45%), fatigue (44%), diarrhea (39%), decreased appetite (34%), arthralgia/myalgia (31%), decreased weight (31%), abdominal pain (30%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (27%), proteinuria (26%), dysphonia (24%), hemorrhagic events (23%), hypothyroidism (21%), and nausea (20%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were hepatic encephalopathy (5%), hepatic failure (3%), ascites (3%), and decreased appetite (2%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 62% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were fatigue (9%), decreased appetite (8%), diarrhea (8%), proteinuria (7%), hypertension (6%), and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 20% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were fatigue (1%), hepatic encephalopathy (2%), hyperbilirubinemia (1%), and hepatic failure (1%). In EC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA + pembrolizumab - treated patients were fatigue (65%), hypertension (65%), musculoskeletal pain (65%), diarrhea (64%), decreased appetite (52%), hypothyroidism (51%), nausea (48%), stomatitis (43%), vomiting (39%), decreased weight (36%), abdominal pain (33%), headache (33%), constipation (32%), urinary tract infection (31%), dysphonia (29%), hemorrhagic events (28%), hypomagnesemia (27%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (26%), dyspnea (24%), cough (21%) and rash (21%). Adverse reactions led to dose reduction or interruption in 88% of patients receiving LENVIMA. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reduction or interruption of LENVIMA were fatigue (32%), hypertension (26%), diarrhea (18%), nausea (13%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (13%), vomiting (13%), decreased appetite (12%), musculoskeletal pain (11%), stomatitis (9%), abdominal pain (7%), hemorrhages (7%), renal impairment (6%), decreased weight (6%), rash (5%), headache (5%), increased lipase (5%) and proteinuria (5%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 3% of patients receiving LENVIMA + pembrolizumab, including gastrointestinal perforation, RPLS with intraventricular hemorrhage, and intracranial hemorrhage. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 52% of patients receiving LENVIMA + pembrolizumab. Serious adverse reactions in 3% of patients were hypertension (9%), abdominal pain (6%), musculoskeletal pain (5%), hemorrhage (4%), fatigue (4%), nausea (4%), confusional state (4%), pleural effusion (4%), adrenal insufficiency (3%), colitis (3%), dyspnea (3%), and pyrexia (3%). Permanent discontinuation due to adverse reaction (Grade 1-4) occurred in 21% of patients who received LENVIMA + pembrolizumab. The most common adverse reactions (>2%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were gastrointestinal perforation or fistula (2%), muscular weakness (2%), and pancreatitis (2%). Use in Specific Populations Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment and for at least 1 week after last dose. LENVIMA may impair fertility in males and females of reproductive potential. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with mild (CLcr 60-89 mL/min) or moderate (CLcr 30-59 mL/min) renal impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC or EC and severe (CLcr 15-29 mL/min) renal impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe renal impairment. There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC and severe renal impairment. LENVIMA has not been studied in patients with end stage renal disease. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with HCC and mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A). There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC with moderate (Child-Pugh B) or severe (Child-Pugh C) hepatic impairment. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and mild or moderate hepatic impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment. LENVIMA (lenvatinib) is available as 10 mg and 4 mg capsules. Please see Prescribing information for LENVIMA (lenvatinib) at http://www.lenvima.com/pdfs/prescribing-information.pdf. About the Eisai and Merck Strategic Collaboration In March 2018, Eisai and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly develop, manufacture and commercialize LENVIMA, both as monotherapy and in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA. In addition to ongoing clinical studies evaluating the KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA combination across several different tumor types, the companies have jointly initiated new clinical studies through the LEAP (LEnvatinib And Pembrolizumab) clinical program and are evaluating the combination in 13 different tumor types (endometrial carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, urothelial cancer, biliary tract cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, glioblastoma, ovarian cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer) across 20 clinical trials. About Eisai Eisai is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, with approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. We strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, including Oncology and Neurology. In the spirit of hhc, we take that commitment even further by applying our scientific expertise, clinical capabilities and patient insights to discover and develop innovative solutions that help address society's toughest unmet needs, including neglected tropical diseases and the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com (for global), us.eisai.com (for U.S.) or www.eisai.eu (for Europe, Middle East, Africa), and connect with us on Twitter (U.S . and global) and LinkedIn (for U.S.). LENVIMA is a registered trademark used by Eisai Inc. under license from Eisai R&D Management Co., Ltd. KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. SOURCE Eisai Inc. Related Links http://www.eisai.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Elliot Page, Emma Portner did not divulge any details regarding their separation Actor Elliot Page and Emma Portner said Tuesday that they are divorcing after three years of marriage. After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce following our separation last summer, the Canadian couple said in a joint statement. We have the utmost respect for each other and remain close friends. They gave no further details. Page, the 33-year-old Oscar-nominated star of Juno, Inception, and The Umbrella Academy, and Portner, a 26-year-old choreographer and dance teacher, announced their marriage early in 2018 after only having hinted at their relationship on social media. Portner was vocal in her support of Page when the actor came out as transgender in December, an announcement that was widely greeted as a watershed moment for the trans community in Hollywood. Page, the 33-year-old actor from Nova Scotia, said his decision to come out as trans, which also involved changing his first name, came after a long journey and with much support from the LGBTQ community. I cant begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self, Page wrote. Ive been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community. Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place. The more I hold myself close and fully embrace who I am, the more I dream, the more my heart grows and the more I thrive, added Page, who said his pronouns are he and they. Page signed his statement with the words, All my love, Elliot. Read her entire statement below (With inputs from The Associated Press) NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of REV Group, Inc. (NYSE: REVG). If you are a shareholder of REV Group, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at: http://pjlfirm.com/rev-group-inc/ You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation. Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP Related Links http://www.pjlfirm.com The Project's Peter Helliar didn't hold back when he appeared on the Channel Ten show on Wednesday. The 45-year-old host was interviewing Dr Paul Griffin, who is an expert in infectious diseases, about the coronavirus vaccine. Peter left his co-stars in stitches and completely gobsmacked when he asked about the new anal swab available in China. 'Are there any plans for it in Australia?' The Project's Peter Helliar (pictured) left his co-hosts in stitches as he discussed China's new anal swab coronavirus tests on Wednesday While discussing the vaccine, he asked: 'Can I hug the person who gives me the vaccine? Can I hug somebody when I get home? Or do I need to wait for the finals in September before I start hugging strangers?' 'The simple answer there is it takes a few weeks to generate immunity,' Dr Griffin said. 'We don't yet know how much they block transmission, so it's probably better to avoid any interpersonal contact except with first-degree relatives, if you can.' Interview: The 45-year-old host was interviewing Dr Paul Griffin (pictured), who is an expert in infectious diseases, about the coronavirus vaccine when he asked about China's anal swab 'I had another question, but I might wrap it up there,' Peter then said, prompting Dr Griffin to say: 'I was interested in your other question.' The Project host then discussed the anal swab coronavirus tests and asked whether they would be made available in Australia. 'OK, doc. A fresh outbreak today in Beijing. I'm sure you're across it. They've decided that anal swabs are the best way to do the testing now,' he said. 'A fresh outbreak today in Beijing. I'm sure you're across it. They've decided that anal swabs are the best way to do the testing now... Are there any plans for anal swabbing to become a bigger thing in Australia?' Peter asked. Pictured Carrie Bickmore 'Obviously it makes the drive-through testing a bit harder, I would imagine. Are there any plans for anal swabbing to become a bigger thing in Australia? If so, do we have to change the way we test? Do we all go a through a Liquorland or something? How does it work?' Dr Griffin explained: 'We know our testing in Australia has been a huge part of our success.' 'One of the concerns we have about those swabs when we do those nose swabs is we can induce a sneeze or a cough reflex.' 'Certainly if we went to those other types of swabs, there are similar reflexes there that, in close proximity to someone's face, might be a problem,' he joked, while the show's hosts burst into laughter. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Petrol and diesel prices in Delhi reached a record-high level on Wednesday. According to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL), petrol rates have climbed to Rs 86.30 per lire, while diesel stood at Rs 76.48 per litre in the national capital on January 27. Fuel prices are continuously flaring up across India since January 6. In Delhi alone, petrol rates increased by Rs 2.59 a litre and diesel by Rs 2.61 a litre since January 6, 2021. In Mumbai, diesel prices touched a record high of Rs 83.30 a litre, while petrol jumped to Rs 92.86 a litre. In other cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, petrol urged to Rs 87.69/litre, Rs 88.82/litre, and Rs 89.77/litre, respectively. Similarly, diesel has touched Rs 80.08/litre, Rs 81.71/litre and Rs 83.46/litre in Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, respectively. International crude oil prices alone cannot be blamed for the record-high increase in fuel price in India. It is also the Centre's high excise duty and state's value added tax (VAT), which have spiked fuel prices in the country. In 2018 and 2019, the share of excise duty on a litre of petrol was 47 per cent. The government increased the excise duty by Rs 3 per litre in March 2020 and by another Rs 10 per litre in May 2020 when global crude oil prices were below production costs. According to Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the petrol is priced at Rs 26.34 per litre. The rest is taxes, duty and dealer's commission. Cost of petrol minus levies and commission comprises only 32 per cent of what a buyer pays at the petrol pump station. Tax and duty components (total cost minus base price and dealer's commission) on petrol in Delhi comprise around 64 per cent. The Centre charges around Rs 32.98 (125 per cent of the base price) as excise and the Delhi government charges Rs 19 (72 per cent of the base price) per litre on VAT on petrol. Other levies include dealer commission of around Rs 3.67 per litre. Check latest and revised petrol prices today Price of petrol in Delhi today, January 27- Rs 86.30/litre Price of petrol in Mumbai today, January 27-Rs 92.86/litre Price of petrol in Chennai today, January 27-Rs 88.82/litre Price of petrol in Kolkata today, January 27-Rs 87.69/litre Price of petrol in Hyderabad today, January 27-Rs 89.77/litre Price of petrol in Bengaluru today, January 27-Rs 89.21/litre Price of petrol in Gurgaon today, January 27- Rs 84.43/litre Price of petrol in Noida today, January 27-Rs 85.67/litre Check latest and revised diesel prices today Price of diesel in Delhi today, January 27- Rs 76.48/litre Price of diesel in Mumbai today, January 27- Rs 83.30/litre Price of diesel in Chennai today, January 27-Rs 81.71/litre Price of diesel in Kolkata today, January 27- Rs 80.08/litre Price of diesel in Hyderabad today, January 27- Rs 83.46/litre Price of diesel in Bengaluru today, January 27-Rs 81.10/litre Price of diesel in Gurgaon today, January 27- Rs 77.08/litre Price of diesel in Noida today, January 27- Rs 76.93/litre Also read: Petrol, diesel prices at record-highs after fourth hike this week Also read: Fuel price hike: Petrol, diesel prices hit all-time high in Delhi Advancing two high-value gold projects in West Africa Nigeria has had very little exploration over last 60 years due to focus on oil Segilola has nameplate capacity of 650,000 tonnes per annum (tpa); processing rate of 625,000 tpa What Thor Explorations does: West Africa-focused mining group Thor Explorations Ltd ( ) is advancing Nigeria's first large-scale gold mine, namely its flagship Segilola project, towards first production. The Vancouver-based company is fully funded, in construction and on track for the first gold pour at the wholly-owned project in the second quarter of 2021, the company has said. Thor Explorations also has the Douta exploration project, where it holds 70% and has an opportunity to increase that to 100%, in the south-east region of Senegal. The mining lease lies within 5 kilometres (km) of Senegal's largest undeveloped gold resource, namely the 4.4 million ounce (Moz) Massawa deposit, which was recently sold by Barrick Gold Corp ( ) to ( ) for up to US$430 million. Elsewhere, Thor Explorations is also in a joint venture with major Barrick Gold on the Central Hounde project in western Burkina Faso. Barrick has a 51% stake, while Thor owns 49%. Barrick is earning up to 8% by funding a minimum of US$2 million and completing a pre-feasibility study (PFS) on the property, which lies in the prospective Hounde belt, which has seen 10 Moz worth of gold discoveries. Back to the firm's main project, and construction at Segilola started on the mine early last year. It has a 15 month build time-line for the high-grade open pit project and all approvals are in place. Segilola has a 25-year mining licence and the NI-43 101 open pit probable reserve stands at 405,000 ounces of the yellow metal at a grade of 4.2 grams per ton (g/t). The higher confidence indicated resource is 469,000 ounces at 4.7 g/t of gold. A definitive feasibility study showed a robust project, to be mined by a contractor, with a five-year mine life, which offers excellent leverage to the gold price. Capital expenditure for the mine was put at just US$87.5 million, while the all-in-sustaining-costs (AISC) are put at a competitive US$662 per ounce, which is in the lowest quartile on the global cost curve. Based on a gold price of US$1,300 per ounce, the post-tax net present value (NPV) comes in at US$138 million with an impressive 50% internal rate of return (IRR) and a payback in under 1.4 years. With the current reserve, at a US$1,600 gold price, Segilola shows a post-tax NPV of US$238.1 million and at a US$1,800 gold price shows a post-tax NPV of US$305 million In April, 2019, Thor signed a term sheet for a US$78 million financing with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) for the construction and ramp-up of the project. The package included a US$54 million senior secured credit facility, a US$9 million gold stream pre-payment and a US$15 million equity investment from AFC, which will become a 20% shareholder in Thor. How is it doing: On February 2, Thor Explorations announced an encouraging first set of drill results from the northern extensions of the Makosa Discovery at its Douta Project, Senegal, with mineralisation confirmed over 1,000 metres (m) of strike length in a number of parallel lodes at Makosa North. The group noted that the drilling program was designed to test the mineralisation along strike and down dip from the mineralisation delineated from previous drill programs on Makosa. The results received to date confirm the continuation of the Makosa mineralised system along strike to the north. The best results included 5m grading 3.37 grams per ton (g/t) gold from 32m returned from drill hole DTRC129, which is located on the northern-most section completed in this program. The group said there is obvious potential to extend the mineralised strike length further to the north. Ongoing exploration is planned to explore the Makosa North mineralisation both to the north and at depth. In December 2020, Thor Explorations had also announced encouraging final drill results from in-pit and extensional diamond drilling at Segilola, which could potentially lead to more ounces being recovered, ahead of an updated resource statement earmarked for early in the first quarter this year. Highlight drill assays included 32.5 metres (m) (17m true width) at a grade of 3.2 g/t gold in one hole, and 47.5m (20m true width) grading at 2.2 g/t gold in another. Meanwhile, in October, the company said it had started a 10,000m reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at its Douta project, following a successful auger drilling campaign carried out in May and June which delineated three promising drill targets. The firm said the program would initially focus on the Maka prospect where two high-grade gold mineralized areas have been defined through auger drilling. The program will then focus on extending the strike length of the Makosa discovery located in the southern part of the licence. The next major milestone for Douta then is the publication of a maiden resource. The Douta licence is strategically positioned between the world-class deposits of Massawa and Sabadola to the west and the Makabingui deposit to the east and is home to five separate gold prospects identified by surface geochemical sampling. These comprise the more advanced Makosa prospect over a 3km strike length, and the earlier stage Maka, Mansa, Samba and Makosa Tail prospects. On the financing front, on December 1 last year, Thor revealed that it had received an initial disbursement of US$21.5 million under the US$54 million senior debt facility from the Africa Finance Corporation. The drawdown coincided with the arrival of the first shipments of equipment at Lagos port, as well as the shipment of SAG and ball mills from China under an EPC contract with Norinco International. Inflection points: First gold pour from Segilola project Further results from Douta More news from Burkina Faso project What the boss says: In February's statement on Douta, Thor Explorations chief executive Segun Lawson, told investors: These drill results extend the mineralised strike length of Makosa by over a kilometre. Furthermore, the mineralisation remains open to the north and at depth. We will be extending the drill program to follow the mineralisation along strike as Makosa remains a priority for us. And continues to demonstrate its exploration potential. "We are looking forward to receiving the remainder of the results from the other prospects in the coming weeks, which we intend to feed into a maiden resource statement. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com The rapporteur highlights the Assembly's continuous commitment to dialogue as a means of reaching lasting solutions. The Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has approved a preliminary draft decision on confirming the credentials of the Russian delegation without any restrictions. The draft posted on the PACE website was prepared by the committee ex-chair, Austrian MP Stefan Schennach. It is noted the substantive grounds on which the credentials were challenged refer to serious violations of the basic principles of the Council of Europe enshrined in Article 3 and the Preamble of its Statute (ETS No. 1), the deterioration of the situation in the Russian Federation with regard to the rule of law and democracy, the respect for basic freedoms and human rights, in particular freedom of expression, assembly and association, the arrest and ongoing detention of Mr. Navalny and, more generally the compliance of the Russian Federation with its commitments and obligations in the Council of Europe and with recommendations included in Assembly Resolution 1990 (2014), Resolution 2034 (2015), Resolution 2063 (2015), Resolution 2292 (2019) and Resolution 2320 (2020). Read alsoPACE backs Ukraine's initiative to contest Russian delegation's credentialsAt the same time, the rapporteur highlights the Assembly's continuous commitment to dialogue as a means of reaching lasting solutions. He therefore proposes that the Assembly ratifies the credentials of the Russian Federation and return to the assessment of the progress made when a monitoring report is submitted later this year. On Wednesday, PACE members may submit their comments to this draft. The vote for the document will take place on Thursday morning. Russia in PACE: Previous developments In April 2014, PACE stripped the Russian delegation of the right to vote and expelled its representatives from all governing bodies of the Assembly over the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea. Russia then refused to pay contributions to the Council of Europe as of June 2017. Many PACE members and politicians called such actions of Russia blackmail. On June 25, 2019, PACE adopted a resolution that canceled the existing mechanism for imposing sanctions against delegations. On June 26, 2019, PACE voted to ratify the credentials of the Russian delegation without imposing any sanctions. This allowed Russia to return to the Assembly's session hall, and it reportedly resumed paying its contributions. On January 25, PACE backed Ukraine's initiative to appeal the credentials of the Russian delegation. Reporting by UNIAN New York: Ghislaine Maxwell asked a US judge to dismiss the criminal case accusing her of recruiting teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, citing various grounds including that an agreement not to prosecute the late financier also shielded her. In court filings on Monday night, local time, lawyers for the British socialite also complained that not enough black and Hispanic grand jurors were used to indict her, and that parts of the indictment were too vague and should be thrown out. Ghislaine Maxwell, pictured in New York in 2016, is being held in a Brooklyn jail. Credit:Getty Images A spokesman for US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan declined to comment on Tuesday. The office is expected to respond in a few weeks. Maxwell, 59, is being held in a Brooklyn jail after being denied bail twice following her arrest last July 2 at her New Hampshire home, which prosecutors called a hideout. Checkout No resources available in your cart Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong! Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday landed at the Kozhikode airport to begin his two-day visit to Kerala, and held closed-door meetings with Congress and IUML leaders. These included former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, M Ramachandran, and Indian Union Muslim League leaders PK Kunhalikutty and KPA Majeed. With Assembly elections around the bend, various political parties are doing their home work to finalise seat-sharing with coalition partners. Rahul Gandhi has been insisting on promotion of new faces and women leaders in the elections to the 140-member Assembly. The state Youth Congress leadership has already submitted a list of probable candidates from among its leaders and openly demanded that they be given a fair proportion of tickets. Rahul Gandhi, a member of Parliament from Wayanad, will participate in a few functions regarding his MP Local Area Development Schemes in the constituency during his visit. The former AICC President has been discussing with Muslim League leaders the seat-sharing within the United Democratic Front. KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran told IANS: "Rahul Gandhi has met with IUML leaders as this party is a major constituent of the UDF coalition. The Congress-IUML relations are very cordial. As far as seat-sharing is concerned, we are yet to mull the finer details and are holding broader discussions only at present." The Congress has already inducted former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor into the Manifesto Committee, sending out a clear message that he will have a major say in the UDF campaign and even during government formation in case the UDF returns to power. Both Rahul and his sister Priyanka Gandhi will remain in the coastal state during the entire campaigning period since, Congress sources said, they will be major trump cards for the party. According to a criminal complaint, Brandenburg told a detective that he removed the vials from the refrigerator for three hours on Dec. 24, then replaced them. The next day he took the vials out of the refrigerator again. This time he left them out for nine hours, thinking the vaccine would be rendered ineffective if it wasnt refrigerated for 12 hours. But he said a pharmacy technician found the vials and put them back in the refrigerator. Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav on a tour of the Jewish Museum March 1, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. (Roberth Griffith-Pool/Getty Images) Holocaust Memorial to Be Built in Canberra A new museum and education centre will soon be built in Australias capital, Canberra, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The federal government is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day by committing $750,000 towards the establishment of a new facility. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who lost family members in the Holocaust, described it as one of the darkest chapters in world history. Over six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, including 1.5 million children. The Nazis did not spare other minority groups either. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg addresses media during a press conference on December 08, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images) If we were to observe a minutes silence for every victim, that silence would go for 11 years, Frydenberg told ABC radio. And now, survivors are passing by, and with time memories fade, events are forgotten. Frydenberg described the genocide as a crime against humanity, not just a crime against the Jewish people. Education Minister Alan Tudge said it would help Australian students, teachers, and the community better understand the Holocaust and its impact. Holocaust education is an important subject that all students should learn. This centre will help facilitate this, Tudge said. Jan. 27 marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp where more than one million Jews were killed. United Nations General-Secretary Antonio Guterres used the anniversary to warn of growing anti-Semitism around the world. Guterres said it is a duty to to learn and to relearn the lessons of the Holocaust, so that it is never repeated. But a similar crime against humanity is happening again, though in China. International human rights lawyer David Matas drew parallels between the Holocaust and the modern-day persecution of Falun Gong adherents and other groups at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). [Holocaust scholar] Yehuda Bauer wrote that the Holocaust can be a precedent, or it can become a warning. In my view it can be both, and in the case of the killing of Falun Gong for their organs it has been both, Matas told a panel of experts on Dec. 9, 2020. Matas drew the comparison at a panel of lawmakers, lawyers, and human rights advocates convened to examine the CCPs systematic nationwide rights violations against the Falun Gong spiritual practice and its consequences for Canada-China policy. Falun Gong is a spiritual meditation practise whose adherents live by the core tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. The methods used to carry out its persecution are similar to those used by the Nazis. Some of these include: inciting hatred against the group with relentless propaganda campaigns, intimidating whistleblowers and defenders, covering up evidence of atrocities, providing financial incentives for persecution (through the lucrative organ trade), using the legal system to justify and advance persecution, guaranteeing impunity for Chinese officials involved, and using technology and human experimentation to refine the methods of persecution. On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet Army liberated the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland. Soldiers freed more than 7,000 people who had been held at the camp by Nazi Germany. They were starved and tortured. The Soviets also found piles of corpses and piles of clothing, shoes and human hair removed from people who had been executed in the gas chamber. The soldiers were not prepared for what they would find, according to history.com. They rushed toward us shouting, fell on their knees, kissed the flaps of our overcoats, and threw their arms around our legs, remembered Georgii Elisavetskii, one of the first Red Army soldiers to step into Auschwitz. After five years of hell, Auschwitz was liberated at last. History.com reported, Eva Mozes Kor was 10 years old when she spotted the soldiers. She was one of a group of hundreds of children who had been left behind, and she had endured medical experiments during her imprisonment. She remembered how the soldiers gave her hugs, cookies and chocolate. ... We were not only starved for food but we were starved for human kindness. Auschwitz-Birkenau is a lasting symbol of the horror of the Holocaust. Millions of people visit it each year to pay homage to the lives senselessly and brutally lost there. Jews from Subcarpathian Rus undergo a selection on the ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Taken in May 1944. During World War II by mid-January, the Soviet Army was approaching Auschwitz. The SS - Adolf Hitlers paramilitary organization, Schutzstaffel, began destroying evidence and emptying the concentration camp by forcing 60,000 prisoners - mostly Jews - to march west. Prisoners who fell behind were shot. Fifteen thousand people died on the death marches. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, thousands of prisoners also were killed in the days prior to the marches. It is estimated that at minimum 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945; of these, at least 1.1 million were murdered, according to the museum. The Holocaust began in 1933 when Hitler came to power. It ended in 1945 when Hitler and the Nazis were defeated. During the Holocaust, 11 million people died including 1.1 million children. Of those 11 million, 6 million were Jews. The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators, according to the museum. The Nazis came to power in Germany in January 1933. They believed the Germans belonged to a race that was superior to all others. They claimed that the Jews belonged to a race that was inferior and a threat to the so-called German racial community. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designed Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. A view inside a prisoner barracks in the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz Birkenau or Auschwitz II in Oswiecim, Poland, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019. On Jan. 27, 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz death camp in German-occupied Poland. Auschwitz was the largest of the Germans' extermination and death camps and has become a symbol for the terror of the Holocaust. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)AP READ MORE Auschwitz death camp was liberated 75 years ago (story from 2020). The Pfzier vaccine has to be strictly controlled as it has to be stored at sub-zero temperatures. First Minister Arlene Foster has backed the approached of the South Eastern Trust after an email emerged offering family and friends of staff the chance to get the vaccine. A spokeswoman for the Trust stressed it was not about prioritising anyone but rather ensuring slots were filled and a vaccine that had to be strictly controlled, in terms of refrigeration, did not end up going down the drain. Read More First Minister Arlene Foster said she would rather see people vaccinated than see doses "wasted". "Wasting the vaccine would send out the wrong message," she said. "Of course the trust has said they will be applying the guidance and no one will, in quotes, be 'jumping the queue'. "What we are trying to do is ensure the vaccine is used in the most effective way." The Department of Health released details of plans to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine in the coming weeks, with everyone over the age of 65 to be offered a jab within the next five weeks. The BBC reports an email from the South Eastern Trust asked if staff knew of anyone in that age category that could book an appointment before the official announcement was made. The email stated: "We have been asked to send this to staff in advance of the regional announcement later this week. "Anyone with relatives/friends in the 65 to 69 year age group will be invited to make an appointment to receive the Pfizer vaccine at one of the trust facilities." It added: "Grateful if you could pass this on to anyone you know in that age group. "More details will be in the media this week but we are keen to get the Thursday/Friday slots filled asap." It goes on to provide details of how to book. The trust said "hundreds of precious vaccine slots" would have been lost had it not taken the action. In a statement to the Belfast Telegraph, the South Eastern Trust said: "The regional vaccination programme is actively being rolled out across NI, and the South Eastern Trust vaccination centre is operating seven days a week, 12 hours a day. "The next stage of the programme will be for Trust Vaccination Centres to open to clinically extremely vulnerable groups and all those within the 65-69 age group. "This is due to commence on Thursday, January 28, following the categories of care home residents and staff, and all healthcare staff including those within the voluntary and community sector. "In advance of the online public booking system going live, we have now commenced a local trawl inviting those aged 65-69 whom we could book manually to fill the early morning slots on the first day. "We are clear that if we had not done this we would lose hundreds of precious vaccine slots on Thursday morning. "Our trust staff are fully committed to implementing the regional guidance in relation to rollout of the programme and can assure that we will continue to vaccinate the appropriate groups at the appropriate time within the vaccination centre and are working hard to maximise every vaccine slot for the benefit of everyone in Northern Ireland. "The healthcare system in Northern Ireland is under incredible pressure. It is vital that the vaccination programme moves forward swiftly and efficiently and that not a single dose of vaccine is wasted." The 32-year-old comedian is in judicial custody and lodged at Indore Central Jail since he was arrested on 1 January for objectionable comments that he would have allegedly made against Hindu deities at a comedy show in Madhya Pradesh The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court is slated to deliver its judgment tomorrow on the bail application of stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, according to several media reports. The 32-year-old comedian is in judicial custody and lodged at Indore Central Jail since he was arrested on 1 January for allegedly making objectionable comments against Hindu deities at a comedy show in Madhya Pradesh. According to LiveLaw.in, the court will also hear the bail application of Nalin Yadav, who was also arrested in the same case. BREAKING : Madhya Pradesh High Court(Indore Bench) to deliver judgment tomorrow on the bail applications of comedians Munawar Faruqui and Nalin Yadav, who were arrested on January 2 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments during their comic show.#MunawarFaruqui pic.twitter.com/nNpcmnFdYZ Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 27, 2021 According to a report in The Quint, a bench of Justice Rohit Arya had reserved his order on Monday on the bail application after hearing the arguments of both the petitioner and prosecution for around 30 minutes via video conferencing. The court had also asked the prosecution and two local advocates opposing Faruqui's bail to furnish documents relating to the case. Faruqui was arrested by the police following a complaint against him filed by Eklavya Singh Gaud (36), son of local BJP MLA Malini Laxman Singh Gaud. Senior advocate Vivek Tankha, appearing for Faruqui, contested the charge against his client under Section 295A (outraging religious feelings) of the IPC. He argued that the comedian, a resident of Junagadh in Gujarat, had not spoken any word that would hurt anybody's religious feeling during the show on 1 January at a cafe in the city. However, the complainant created a furore on the dais and got the function stopped mid-way, said Tankha. Government advocate Amit Singh Sisodia opposed Faruqui's bail plea. Local advocates Rajesh Joshi and Manish Gupta, too, opposed bail to the comedian, contending he has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. They argued that the comedian, during his shows in the past as well, had made objectionable comments against Hindu gods and goddesses and such remarks of his have come to light on online platforms. The comedian moved the high court after the lower courts turned down his bail pleas. Besides Faruqui, four other persons associated with organising the show were booked under IPC section 295A (outraging religious feelings) and other counts. According to the complainant, indecent statements were made at the show against Hindu deities, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and the 2002 Godhra incident. All the accused were booked under IPC sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs), Section 269 (unlawful or negligent act likely to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life) and other relevant provisions. With inputs from PTI Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy said doctors have cleared him to begin presiding over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The 80-year-old lawmaker, who'd been in his Capitol office, was taken to George Washington University Hospital Tuesday 'out of an abundance of caution' after being examined by Congress' attending physician, Leahy spokesman David Carle said. Leahy was sent home after tests and told Capitol Hill reporters that he had been suffering from muscle spasms. Sen. Patrick Leahy was briefly hospitalized Tuesday for muscle spasms. He's since been cleared and will preside over former President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial when it begins next month Sen. Patrick Leahy is the president pro tempore of the Senate, a role that goes to the longest-serving member of the Senate's majority party. The Democrats took control of the Senate last week when two new Democrats from Georgia and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in Former President Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial is set to begin next month and Sen. Patrick Leahy will preside over it instead of Chief Justice John Roberts because Trump is no longer in office Leahy had commenced his role of overseeing Trump's latest impeachment trial by swearing in his fellow lawmakers. The actual trial will begin next month. Leahy is presiding because he is the Senate's president pro tempore, a largely ceremonial post. Chief Justice John Roberts presided over Trump's first impeachment trial a year ago when Trump was still president. The Senate president pro tempore job normally goes to the longest-serving member of the Senate's majority party. Democrats took control of the upper chamber last week when Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff were sworn-in, as well as the party's tie-breaking vote, Vice President Kamala Harris. Leahy was first elected in 1974, making him the longest-serving current senator of either party. He told Capitol Hill reporters that he'd make a decision about running for re-election in November or December. Leahy will be chairman once again this year of the Senate Appropriations Committee, a panel that controls a large chunk of the federal budget and will be in the middle of President Joe Biden's effort to provide more spending to combat the pandemic and recharge the economy. Leahy is the fifth-oldest current senator. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., 87, is the oldest. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 10:23:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The South African government on Tuesday launched a 1.2-billion-rand (79.4-million-U.S.-dollar) fund to support the tourism sector amid the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. The Tourism Equity Fund will be used in particular to help facilitate "the participation of black entrants, women and persons with disabilities," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in the virtual launch of the fund. Noting that the capital-intensive nature of the tourism industry prevents many black-owned tourism enterprises from growing, Ramaphosa said that by providing access to finance, the fund "intends to address this challenge." Meanwhile, according to Small Business Development Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, an enterprise in the tourism sector could receive funding of up to 15 million rands (1 million dollars). Enditem Cibolo area church leaders gathered on Main Street in Cibolo outside St. Pauls Evangelical Church to pray for people driving by, in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a day set aside in his honor. Cibolo Mayor Stosh Boyle helped bring together spiritual leaders from St. Pauls, Everyday Christian Fellowship, and Refuge Church of San Antonio in Cibolo to offer a drive-by prayer service on Jan. 18. Tables with boxes of doughnuts were set up, neon cardboard signs were drawn, and a half-dozen church members stood by, inviting passing motorists to pull over to be prayed upon. We wanted to do something in light of MLK Day and honor Dr. Martin Luther King. We wanted to honor our residents, to bring folks together, Boyle said. From 7-9:30 a.m., and again from 3:30-6 p.m., Boyle and the church members stood by, ready to offer prayer and words of comfort for anyone driving past. Motorists honked, many waved, and some stopped to chat with the group on their way to or home from work. Several pulled over, exited their vehicles, and joined the pastors curbside for a word of prayer and encouragement. Refuge Church pastor Terrin Phillips and two members of his congregation stood on the sidewalk that afternoon in front of St. Pauls, just across the street from Cibolo City Hall, where Boyle and the citys council members meet to manage and direct the citys affairs for its citizens. But this day would be focused on Cibolos residents in a different light. Representatives from different churches in the community stepped in and donated time and were just trying to reach as many people as we can, Boyle said. We want to set the tone right for 2021 and make sure we do our best to bring the community together. Phillips, whose congregation meets at the Cibolo Family YMCA, said he happily responded to Boyles request. So many people in our community are hurting. This is about a group of guys churches coming together and saying, Look people, its not about the things we disagree on, were going to put that stuff aside and were going to pray, Phillips said. Every car that comes by, Im praying for them whether they stop, or they dont. We all need it, were all a little messed up during this time, Phillips added. He is one of the founders of Refuge Church, formed 7 years ago. He was joined that afternoon by Refuge Church childrens pastor Sarah Uhlhorn, and church member Omar Rivera, who held signs announcing the drive-up prayer effort. Also on hand that Monday afternoon was Cibolo City Councilman Joel Hicks. The common denominator between all of us out here now is Jesus Christ, Phillips said. And to me, thats the most important thing, the pastor said. Phillips told of how the people he meets and the congregants he talks with have spoken of the hardships and personal strife suffered during the past year, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect peoples lives, and livelihoods. Our world can go to hell in a hand basket, and it seems sometimes like it is, he said. In the world that we live right now, you can love people, even people who see things differently than you. You can love them; you dont have to be so contrary with people. I just keep my eyes focused on Him, the pastor added. Hes helped me and, whether people like to admit it or not, hes can change peoples lives. Boyle said the days gathering would likely become a monthly event, a Cibolo Drive-Up Prayer Service, to be staged at different points throughout the city. With something new like this its all trial and error. But the recipes been good so far, Boyle said. jflinn@express-news.net MASON CITY, Iowa - More help is available for bars and restaurants in Iowa that have struggled through the pandemic. The State of Iowa is launching a new grant program to assist those small businesses. Governor Kim Reynolds has set aside nearly $40 million in CARES Act money to fund the grants. Eligible businesses could receive a maximum of $25,000, depending on their losses. "You need to have at least shown a 15% decrease in sales, gross sales and that needs to be verified from your sales tax reciepts," said Brook Boehmler, director of the Small Business Development Center at NIACC, explaining one of the criteria businesses need to meet to get the grant. The money is available for bars, breweries, wineries, and full-service restaurants. Amounts awarded will depend on how much profit a business lost between April 1st and September 30th of last year. Boehmler says our local bars and restaurants still need help. "We really appreciate this funding, because we've seen a lot of restaurants are still hurting," he said. Businesses can submit an application starting on February 1st and you have until February 15th to get them in. Learn more about the grant program here. Syracuse, N.Y. Toddrick Rice had recently left Syracuse to begin a new life in Georgia. But Rice, 21, had to return to Syracuse to resolve a felony drug charge from June of last year, said his lawyer, Heather Vincent. He never made it back to Georgia. On Monday, Rice pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance. A judge allowed him to return to Georgia to serve a probationary sentence. That same night, Rice was stabbed on the citys North Side and later died, police said. Officers responded around 8:15 p.m. Monday to St. Josephs Hospital Health Center, in Syracuse, where Rice was dropped off by a private vehicle after the stabbing at Bear and Carbon streets. He was pronounced dead the next day. Its unclear what led to Rice being stabbed. Police have not released any further details. Rice was planning to return to Georgia after his court appearance, Vincent said. His mother had moved down there, she said. Its just a very unfortunate situation. (CNN) A Brazilian court has approved an investigation into Heath Minister Eduardo Pazuello's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, after oxygen shortages collapsed the health system of Manaus, capital city of Amazonas state, last week. Federal Supreme Court Judge Ricardo Lewandowski greenlit the investigation on Monday. Pazuello now has five days to provide testimony to the federal police. It is alleged that the Ministry of Health was alerted to the city's looming shortages of oxygen -- often critical for treating severe cases of Covid-19 -- on January 8, but only took action on January 12, according to a request for a probe sent to the Attorney General's Office (PGR) by the political party Cidadania. Pazuello himself visited Manaus on January 11, and the federal government subsequently sent supplemental oxygen to the city, but neither were enough to prevent a crisis. Hospitals in Amazonas soon ran out of oxygen, and on January 14 and 15 at least 29 patients died due to the shortages, according to an ongoing investigation. "The reality is that there's a lower supply of oxygen," Pazuello acknowledged later. "Not an interruption, but a lower supply of oxygen." Pazuello and other top federal officials have defended the government's reaction to warnings of a crisis in Manaus, arguing that no one could have predicted the rapid spike in Covid-19 cases that strained hospitals. "This was a situation completely unknown to everyone. It was too fast," Pazuello told a press conference on Tuesday. He added that the city's health crisis was compounded by a number of issues including "oxygen problems, lack of professionals, low number of beds." A separate report by Brazil's Solicitor General has also alleged that during Pazuello's trip to Manaus, he encouraged medical professionals to adopt an "early treatment" kit against Covid-19 that includes unproven drugs including hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. The health minister has since denied doing this. House of Representatives President Rodrigo Maia told a Monday press conference that he believed Pazuello had "committed a crime" not only by letting the state's health system collapse, but by promoting ineffective treatments for the city's surging Covid-19 cases and by failing to obtain vaccines for the country earlier. Mounting criticism The growing criticism of Pazuello's pandemic response in Manaus follows a recent investigation by CNN Brazil, which found that top executive Abert Bourla sent a letter to the Brazilian government in September offering 70 million doses of its vaccine, which was co-developed with German pharmaceutical company BioNTech. But Pfizer received no response from the government, according to CNN Brazil. Pazuello responded to a request for comment by CNN Brazil with an open letter saying that the purchase would only have frustrated Brazilians, as just 2 million doses would have been delivered in the first quarter of 2021. He also said that certain conditions of the sale were unacceptable to the Brazilian government -- including a payment guarantee and an agreement that contractual issues be tried in a US court -- and accused the drugmaker of "creating embarrassing situations for the Brazilian Government, which will not accept market impositions -- which will also not be accepted by Brazilians." Brazil began its vaccination campaign last Saturday, but the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro has faced mounting criticism for its mishandling of the pandemic. Since the pandemic began, the country ratcheted more than 8.8 million infections and the second highest number of deaths in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. A mother-of-two who went viral with MC Hammer parody 'I Can't Teach This' has warned that parents are putting 'too much pressure on themselves'' when it comes to homeschooling. Comedian Sophie McCartney, from Liverpool, appeared on Lorraine today and told how she is very much 'working on the basis' that if her children get to 25 and they can 'spell their names and count to ten' she'll know she's done an 'OK job.' Lorraine went on to highlight the importance of parents just 'doing what you can' in these difficult times. Sophie responded: 'We put so much pressure on ourselves as parents and as long as they're happy, occupied and not in front of the TV for 24 hours a day - 22 and a half I think is OK- then that's OK.' Sophie McCartney (pictured) appeared on Lorraine today to tell how she has been trying to keep spirits up to parents who are homeschooling across the nation amid lockdown Sophie went viral with her parody of MC Hammer parody 'I can't Teach This' (pictured) The parenting blogger, who appeared via video link, went on to admit that the current demands on parents are 'really, really hard.' 'And you know what, this is my second time round of doing it and I think this time it's worse,' she explained. 'Although I had the experience of the first lockdown, I've now got a second child I'm homeschooling as well, and phonics and a five-year-old is just a near-on impossible task.' Speaking of her worst subject to teach, Sophie continued: 'At some point from the eighties to now, they've just changed maths and no one got the memo. It's not my strong point - words and jokes I'm good at - numbers, not so much. 'We sit down and my little boy, he's nearly eight, so is in year 3, and we sit down to do it and he just has a look of complete confusion. He just looks at me and says, "Mummy shall we skip this one...and I'm like "Yeah!" The parenting blogger explained that 'a lot of the time if you don't laugh, you'll just cry.' Pictured left, Lorraine and right, Sophie Lorraine praised the mother-of-two for keeping spirits up during lockdown (pictured, in one of viral videos' Sophie, who set up her social media pages three years ago, also spoke of her famous connection - Paul Mccartney. 'He is my dad's first cousin, and he's my second cousin,' she said. 'My granddad and his dad were brothers. I don't have the vocal capabilities that he has. Mine airs more on the cringe mum rapping side of the gene pool.' Lorraine went on to say how Sophie has attacked homeschooling with a sense of humour - which she added is 'vital' - especially now. 'I think a lot of the time if you don't laugh, you'll just cry,' Sophie replied. 'I spent an hour and a half trying to sound out "eleven" with my daughter and all she kept saying was 'a level.' 'I started saying it so much I started questioning how you said and spelled the word eleven.' Offering a message of positivity and hope to viewers, Sophie added: 'Everybody, you can do this! Keep powering on. The end is in sight.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 15:35:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Laos' National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control continues to implement preventive measures and monitor people entering the country to avoid a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak. Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Sisavath Soutthaniraxay, told a press conference here on Wednesday that people entering Laos will be sent to quarantine centers for 14 days to prevent people from bringing the virus to the country. On Wednesday, a total of 2,968 people entered Laos through international border checkpoints. At all border crossings, the temperature of each person entering Laos was checked and no one showed signs of fever. As of Wednesday, Laos has tested 102,332 suspected cases with 44 cases testing positive, and 41 patients have recovered. The other three infected cases are treated in a designated hospital in Lao capital Vientiane. Laos announced its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24 last year. Enditem GRAND RAPIDS, MI A leader of a Michigan militia admitted Wednesday, Jan. 27, that he conducted surveillance on the vacation home of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a plot to kidnap her. Ty Garbin, 25, pleaded guilty to kidnap conspiracy, a potential life offense, in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker. Sentencing is set for July 8. Under a plea agreement, Garbin has to cooperate with investigators. In exchange, prosecutors will not file additional charges. Prosecutors would also seek to lessen his potential punishment for significant help in the investigation. Garbin, represented by attorneys Mark Satawa and Gary Springstead, admitted in court that he joined others in September for night-time surveillance of the governors Northern Michigan home. I was (there), your honor, he said. Garbin is the first of six federal defendants to plead guilty to charges. Others indicted on federal kidnapping-conspiracy charges are Brandon Caserta, 33, of Canton, Barry Croft Jr., 44, of Bear, Delaware, Adam Fox, 37, of Wyoming, Kaleb Franks, 26, of Waterford, and Daniel Harris, 23, of Lake Orion. (Top left to right) Adam Fox, Barry Croft and Ty Garbin (Bottom left to right) Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Eight others await trial on state charges. A life-long Michigan resident, Garbin lives in Livingston Countys Hartland Township. He earned his certificate for aircraft maintenance at a trade school, he told the judge. He was an alleged leader of Wolverine Watchmen, a Michigan-based militia. Earlier testimony showed that those allegedly involved had a strong interest in firearms and Second Amendment rights. I know firearms are an interest of yours, the judge said, adding that he would be prohibited from possessing guns because of the felony conviction. I understand that, your honor. Garbin said he was involved in discussions about kidnapping the governor and took part in field training. The talk included storming the state capitol, or kidnapping Whitmer from the governors Mackinac Island residence or her private Northern Michigan home, court records said. The participants conducted tactical training, as well as combat first aid, including use of tourniquets, and treating burns, gunshots and shrapnel wounds in the event they were in a firefight with police, the plea agreement said. Undercover FBI agents and confidential sources provided information throughout summer planning before arrests began in October. Read more: Militia leader to admit conspiring to kidnap Gov. Whitmer, cooperate in probe, records say 6 suspects in alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer indicted by federal grand jury Suspected Michigan militia leader to plea in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot, records show Alleged leader in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot faces first Michigan court appearance Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Christine Dacera died due to natural causes, according to a medico legal report submitted Wednesday during the preliminary investigation into her death. "The ruptured aortic aneurysm will remain the cause of death as shown in the autopsy findings," the report of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory dated January 11 said, It added that while aneurysm a defect in the arterial blood vessel wall is common among the elderly due to atherosclerosis, it could also happen in younger persons due to other reasons. In Dacera's case the report explained that increased blood pressure within her aorta "further weakened that defect, and eventually burst" it. This led to blood loss and symptoms including weakness and nausea, it said. "The loss of blood due to the ruptured aorta killed her within a few hours. The dilatation or aneurysm started (a) long time ago or maybe years, prior to her death. No alcohol or recreational drugs taken the night prior to her death will cause that kind of dilatation or defect on her aorta," it went on to say. Dacera's heart also weighed 500 grams, larger than the normal 300 grams, which the report said supported her apparently undiagnosed hypertension. Homicide has been ruled out as the cause of death. Atty. Jose Leda, the lawyer of the Dacera family said they have not read the documents submitted at Wednesday's preliminary hearing. "We always base our moves and actions sa documents na hawak namin. But it doesn't mean that the family and family counsel will not exhaust all possible legal remedies para ma-seek yung justice na hinahanap ng pamilya," he told reporters. [Translation: We always base our move and actions on the documents that we have. But it doesn't mean that the family and family counsel will not exhaust all possible legal remedies to seek justice for the family.] Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the toxicology report of the National Bureau of Investigation's forensic team is ready but would leave it to them to disclose their findings. Dacera was found unconscious in the bathtub of her hotel room in Makati City following a New Year's Eve revelry. She was brought to the Makati Medical Center where she was declared dead on arrival reportedly due to ruptured aortic aneurysm. TIMELINE: The Christine Dacera case CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario contributed to this report. With everything that went on in 2020, keeping up with documentaries was probably not high on anybodys must-do list. That might not be your top resolution for 2021, either. But, in the spirit of cleaning up 2020 leftovers, and clearing space for the new year, heres a look at three documentaries from last year that you can still stream online. The documentaries all share an Oregon connection, though the tones are quite different, ranging from an affectionate salute to a Bend video store to disturbing examinations of a cult, and a fertility doctors terrible secret. The Last Blockbuster: Now that its become the last remaining Blockbuster store, the Bend video shop has drawn national media attention as a sort of unicorn that managed to survive the onslaught of the streaming age. Back in 2017, when filmmakers Taylor Morden and Zeke Kamm began filming their feature, you could find a dozen-odd Blockbuster stores, still hanging on. As work on the film progressed, however, the last few stores closed, leaving the Bend outpost as the last Blockbuster standing. The Last Blockbuster is wistful, surprisingly informative and joyously nostalgic, as ordinary folks and more famous faces alike share memories of going to a Blockbuster on a weekend night, roaming the aisles for movies, and inhaling distinctive Blockbuster aromas. Adding to the warmth of the film is its affectionate portrait of Sandi Harding, the general manager of the Bend Blockbuster. Whether heading to big-box stores to buy copies of movies she knows her Blockbuster customers will want, or recalling how her family has been involved in working at the store, Harding comes across as the heart and soul of the operation. To their credit, Morden and Kamm make what could have been deadly dull financial matters absorbing, combining interviews and archival footage to explain how Blockbuster went from a peak of 9,000-some stores down to one. Its not as simple as Netflix or other streaming options killing video stores, but instead a more complex matter of corporate mismanagement, greed, missed opportunities and bad decisions, made by people who were paid a lot to presumably know better. The Last Blockbuster could benefit from being shorter. But even when the anecdotes tend to wander, its enjoyable to hear fond memories of Blockbuster experiences from Kevin Smith, Adam Brody, Ron Funches, Eric Close (the actor, known for Nashville, Without a Trace and more, lives in the Bend area), Paul Scheer, Doug Benson, Samm Levine, and more. As a side note, The Last Blockbuster would make a good do-it-yourself double bill for home viewing with At the Video Store. That 2019 film from Portland-based filmmaker James Westby also pays tribute to the vanishing institution of the video store. The documentary marks the end of an era where film-crazed nerds worked at the stores, and customers could discover hidden treasures or ask questions of employees who cared deeply about all kinds of movies. While The Last Blockbuster takes a fairly glowing view of its subject, At the Video Store provides some tart counterpoints, with owners of stores that are now closed talking about how Blockbuster drove out mom-and-pop businesses. Interviews with Portland and Seattle artists, critics and film experts, along with such celebrities as Bill Hader, John Waters, Todd Haynes and Gus Van Sant, add poignance and perspective. The ongoing pandemic makes sharing a communal movie experience, either at the theater or a video store, seem all the more precious and desperately missed, which makes both The Last Blockbuster and At the Video Store bittersweet viewing. (The Last Blockbuster is available to rent or buy on digital video on demand, from such platforms as Amazon Prime Video. Which seems painfully ironic. But hey! You can also order a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack Blockbuster Exclusive from where else? the Bend Blockbuster. Heres the link to order: https://bendblockbuster.com/product/last-blockbuster-movie-pre-order/ Rent or buy At the Video Store via Vimeo: https://www.atthevideostoremovie.com/) Heavens Gate: The Cult of Cults: Like Wild Wild Country, the Netflix documentary series about the craziness that followed when the Rajneeshees came to Oregon, this HBO Max documentary looks back at a cult that had a connection to Oregon. Wild Wild Country has its disturbing moments, however, its a walk in the park compared to Heavens Gate: The Cult of Cults. The four-part series explores the creepy roots of what became known as the UFO Cult, which gained an awful notoriety in 1997, when 39 members of the group died after taking their own lives, in California. The event was both horrific and bizarre, to the point where Saturday Night Live included a skit joking about the mass suicide committed by people who apparently believed they werent dying, but were instead being taken to the next level. That the practices of the group included castration, an affinity for Star Trek, following a leader who claimed he was an alien from space, and dying while wearing matching Nike sneakers all made the Heavens Gate cult easy to mock. The docuseries tells the story of how the group first captured the media spotlight. In 1975, cult leaders Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles, looking for new recruits to join their quasi-religious group, held a community meeting in the Oregon coast town of Waldport. After that meeting, however, about 20 people were reported missing from the Waldport area. The mysterious disappearance made national news. From there, the Heavens Gate cult became less publicized, as Applewhite and Nettles who sometimes referred to themselves as Do and Ti, as in the Do-Re-Mi song in The Sound of Music, one of Nettles favorite films sought to keep a low profile, while continuing to attract followers. The docuseries includes enlightening interviews with sociologists, former members of Heavens Gate, and experts in religious studies and cult indoctrination methods. Most wrenching are interviews with family members of cultists, the children, parents and siblings who were left behind. Their sense of bewilderment and loss are real. That pain makes the idea of regarding the Heavens Gate cult as anything other than a tragic waste seem cruel. (Heavens Gate: The Cult of Cults is streaming on HBO Max) Baby God: Wendi Babst was a retired Clackamas County Sheriffs Office detective when she decided to use her free time to learn more about her family background. But Babsts interest in genealogy led her to a shocking discovery, one which is recounted in the HBO documentary, Baby God. As she looked at her DNA results, Babst was surprised to see she was related to people she had never heard of before. Then she realized that these were half-siblings, and that the fertility doctor her mother had seen years ago was actually Babsts father. In director Hannah Olsons Baby God, Babst and others learn the story of Dr. Quincy Fortier, an obstetrician-gynecologist who, during his decades-long medical practice in Nevada, used his own sperm to impregnate scores of female patients who wanted to have children. Without informing the women, and long before DNA matches were available, the fertility doctor continued his appalling practice well into his 70s. Babst says she wanted to learn more, digging into details as if this was a case. As she follows leads and meets with others who were born with Fortiers DNA, Babst wonders about this man she never knew, trying to decide how she feels about him. There can be good in people who do bad things, she notes. But the more Babst -- and we, the viewers learn about Fortier, its hard not to be horrified. (Baby God is streaming on HBO Max) Subscribe to our What to Watch newsletter. Email: -- Kristi Turnquist kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. First, I really want to say were really glad people are wanting to get vaccinated, and Im really glad people are being honest when they are filling out that form, Arwady said. I know everybodys pretty anxious to get vaccine, but just the truth of the matter is if codes are shared in ways beyond what theyre meant to be, we then are not able to get those folks vaccinated. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning US President has signed a series of executive orders to ensure racial equity across the country, acting on one of his core campaign promises to dismantle "systemic racism" that has plagued America far too long. While announcing the four presidential actions on Tuesday at the White House, a week after being sworn in as the 46th US President, Biden cited the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer last May, which touched off demonstrations across the country. Biden called the killing "the knee on the neck of justice," and said that because of it, "the ground has shifted. It changed minds and mindsets." "In my campaign for President, I made it very clear that the moment had arrived as a nation where we face deep racial inequities in America and systemic that has plagued our nation for far, far too long," Biden said. Through four executive actions to advance racial equity and take first steps to root out systemic in housing and criminal justice, Biden renewed his administration's commitment to making the American Dream real for families across the nation by taking bold and ambitious steps to root out inequity from the economy and expand opportunities for communities of colour and other underserved Americans. We have never fully lived up to the founding principles of this nation, to state the obvious, that all people are created equal and have a right to be treated equally throughout their lives. And it's time to act now, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because if we do, we'll all be better off for it, Biden said at a White House ceremony to sign the executive order. For too long, we've allowed a narrow, cramped view of the promise of this nation to fester," he said. In an executive order, Biden directed federal agencies to combat resurgence of xenophobia, particularly against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, that he said have skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic. This is unacceptable and it's un-American. I've asked the Department of Justice to strengthen its partnership with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to prevent those hate crimes, he said. He asked the Department of Health and Human Services to put out best practices for combating xenophobia in the national response to COVID-19. He also announced to rescinded the previous Trump administration's harmful ban on diversity and sensitivity training, and abolished the offensive, counter-factual 1776 Commission. Unity and healing must begin with understanding and truth, not ignorance and lies, Biden said. Last year, former president Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop racial sensitivity training, labelling it "divisive, anti-American propaganda". Trump has previously said he does not believe systemic is a problem in the US. Biden issued an executive order that will ultimately end the Justice Department's use of the private prisons. The executive order directs the Attorney General to decline to renew contracts with privately operated criminal facilities. This is the first step to stop corporations from profiteering off of incarcerating -- incarceration that is less humane and less safe, as the studies show. And it is just the beginning of my administration's plan to address systemic problems in our criminal justice system, he said. According to the federal Bureau of Prisons, a little over 14,000 federal inmates are currently in privately managed facilities in the country. The figure was 9 per cent of total federal inmates. In his remarks, Biden said that those eight minutes and 46 seconds that took Floyd's life paved the way for change. ... It stirred the conscience of tens of millions of Americans, and, in my view, it marked a turning point in this country's attitude toward racial justice, he said. When his six-years-old daughter, Gianna, who I met with when I met with the family -- I leaned down to say hi to her, and she said -- looked at me, and she said, "Daddy changed the world." That's what Gianna said -- his daughter. "Daddy changed the world." And I believe she is right, he said. COVID-19 has further ripped a path of destruction through every community in America, but no one has been spared, but the devastation in communities of colour has been nothing short of stunning, Biden said. Black and Latino Americans are dying of COVID-19 at rates nearly three times that of white Americans. And it's not white Americans' fault, but it's just a fact. And the Americans now know it, especially younger Americans, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Here's a look at what was happening in the drinks industry on this day in ... Here's what was making the drinks news on this day in recent years Sales of non-alcoholic spirits in the UK in 2019 hit GBP37m (US$48.2m), up 506% versus 2014, According to GlobalData, the sector is forecast to more than double in size again over the next five years. The publication of the World Economic Forum's annual Global Risks Report in early-2019 showed environmental issues again dominating the long-term global risk landscape. For drinks companies, however, their significant exposure to climate-related risk only told part of the story, with their supply chains particularly threatened by a combination of risk factors. Three years ago, Suntory confirmed reports of a near-US$1bn investment in its US Bourbon distilleries, a decision partly spurred by then-President Donald Trump's corporate tax cuts. A report in January 2017 forecast that the global value of plant-based waters, a category dominated by coconut water, was set to double by 2020. Molson Coors focused its attention five years ago on raising almost US$2.4bn to help fund the purchase of SABMiller's interest in MillerCoors. 2015 - Sports sponsorship in the sustainability spotlight In 2015, the sponsorship of sporting events by alcohol brands came in for intense scrutiny, across a number of countries. The pressure on policymakers to introduce regulation was also on the rise. 2014 - Peltz to drop PepsiCo merger efforts Nelson Peltz, the US billionaire and activist investor, halted his campaign to merge PepsiCo with Mondelez International after the Cadbury chocolate producer offered him a seat on its board. Having agreed to take a majority stake in United Spirits in November, Diageo would bring "much-needed" financial prudence to the Indian company by ending a "vicious" cycle of volume focus, high working capital and low profitability, an analyst predicted. Dave Peacock's exit as US president at Anheuser-Busch InBev nine years ago completed a full change of backroom staff at the brewer, but how would it affect the company's performance on the pitch? 2011 - Diageo buys stake in Hanoi Liquor Joint Stock Co Diageo increased its presence in Vietnam in 2011 by agreeing to acquire almost 24% of local spirits group Hanoi Liquor Joint Stock Co for GBP33m (US$52.2m). For further details on how to subscribe to just-drinks, click here by Sumon Corraya 38-year-old Runu Veronica Costa works at the Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka. The facility hosted the inaugural day of the campaign. Mass vaccination will begin on February 7. Dhaka has already purchased 30 million doses from the Oxford-AstraZeneca company, produced in India. Dhaka (AsiaNews) - The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 started today in Bangladesh. On this first day, of great symbolic value in the fight against the global pandemic, a total of 25 people received the first vial and, among them, there was also the Catholic nurse Runu Veronica Costa (in the photos). The woman was able to take advantage of the inoculation as she belongs to the category of health workers, among the most exposed in the fight against the virus, receiving the vaccine at 4 pm local time. Runu Veronica Costa, a 38-year-old from the parish of Santa Rita in Mothurapur, a village in the metropolitan area of Pabna, works at the Kurmitola General Hospital in Dhaka and has a long experience in the public health sector. Other personalities who received the first dose of the vaccine today include: Dr. Ahmed Lutfur Moben, Dr Nasima Sultana, Didarul Islam, and Army General M Imran Hamid. The campaign that took place inside the Kurmitola General Hospital was inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina through video link from her official residence in Ganabhaban. As soon as the injection was completed, the premier, who "thanked" all those present at this historic day in the fight against the pandemic, turned to the Catholic nurse asking her if she had fears or concerns about the vaccine. Her confident and smiling answer: "No". People with priority access to the vaccine include doctors, nurses, other health professionals, members of government agencies and police forces, the military and journalists, all represented today by at least one member who was able to receive the first administration. After the injection, both the Catholic nurse and the other beneficiaries remained inside the hospital "under observation" for an hour. The appointment is now for 7 February, when the mass campaign will start, which can be accessed by booking through the "Surokkha" app. The government intends to vaccinate at least six million people for the first month and another five million the next. Bangladesh has purchased 30 million doses from the Oxford-AstraZeneca company produced in its Serum, India plant. Five million doses were delivered on January 25, while the first shipment of two million arrived on 21st of the month as a gift from the Indian government. International Lebanese PM urges citizens to stop protests against lockdown Hassan Diab Beirut, Jan 27 (IANS) | Publish Date: 1/27/2021 10:53:30 AM IST Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Wednesday urged the citizens to stop destroying public properties and attacking the countrys army during their protests against the total lockdown and political deadlock, the National News Agency reported. The government is neither formed nor disrupted by burning tires, blocking roads, attacking state institutions, and targeting internal security forces and the Lebanese army, Diab said during a meeting for the ministerial committee in charge of the vaccination campaign in Lebanon, Xinhua reported. Several demonstrations were witnessed all over the country in the past few days, namely in Tripoli, Lebanons largest northern city, in protest against the total lockdown. Tuesdays protests in Tripoli led to the injury of 76 people and the arrest of five people. Diab noted that the pandemic is spreading rapidly and the total lockdown has helped in avoiding a national disaster in absence of sufficient hospital beds for infected people. The Prime Minister said that the Lebanese army has started a second round of distributing 266 US dollars to 250,000 families to reduce the suffering of citizens amid the lockdown. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Seven New Mexico counties are now in the yellow level of pandemic-related business restrictions, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday. The tiered restrictions are determined by two-week averages of new daily per-capita cases and test positivity rates. Colfax, Grant, Los Alamos, San Miguel, Socorro and Sierra counties joined Union County in the yellow level. All those counties currently have a virus positivity rate below 5%. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Under the yellow-level restrictions, essential retail businesses may operate at 33% of maximum capacity. Restaurants can operate at 25% of capacity for indoor dining, which is prohibited in the red-level restrictions, and at 75% capacity for outdoor dining. Businesses that serve alcohol must close by 10 p.m., an hour later than under red-level restrictions. Occupancy limits for houses of worship and hotels are also slightly higher for counties under yellow-level restrictions. Harding County is the states only region in the green level. That county has met state thresholds on both metrics of new per-capita virus cases and test positivity. The gating requirement for per-capita cases is 8 per 100,000 people during the most recent two-week period. According to an NMDOH news release, 28 of the states 33 counties recorded lower average daily per-capita rates of new cases in the past two weeks, and 29 counties saw decreasing test positivity rates. In addition, the states most populous counties Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Sandoval, San Juan and Santa Fe each improved dramatically in both of the two health gating criteria metrics, the release said. But those counties have not yet met the gating criteria and remain under the strictest red-level business restrictions. Lincoln, Luna and Taos counties all reported increases in per-capita new daily case rates and test positivity rates. The state reported 755 new virus cases on Wednesday, according to a DOH update. The state also tallied 27 deaths, including a man in his 20s from San Juan County, who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions, and a Lea County man in his 30s who had been hospitalized. There have been a total of 3,198 deaths related to COVID-19 in New Mexico. There are 586 people hospitalized with the virus. New Mexico has begun vaccinating people older than 75 and people over the age of 16 who are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19. But limited supplies have hampered those efforts. Melanie Mozes, Presbyterian Healthcare Services spokeswoman, said Presbyterian unexpectedly received fewer vaccines than anticipated for the week of Jan. 25. That resulted in hundreds of upcoming vaccination appointments needing to be rescheduled, Mozes said. Vaccine supply remains limited across the nation, and we continue to work collaboratively with the New Mexico Department of Health to respond to the needs of our communities, Mozes wrote in an email to the Journal. Patients who received their first dose from a Presbyterian facility will receive an outreach to schedule an appointment for their second dose within the recommended time frame of the current CDC guidelines. We understand the stress of this situation for community members and are doing everything we can, in partnership with NMDOH, to address these concerns as quickly as possible. Dr. Tracie Collins, secretary-designate of the Department of Health, said Monday that New Mexico is receiving between 25,000 and 35,000 vaccine doses each week. Collins added that we ultimately need more vaccine to keep pace with the demand. There is no reason to believe that the Hungarian community in Ukraine is prone to separatism, says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. "There is no reason to believe that Ukrainian Hungarians are prone to separatism, just as there is no reason to believe that the Ukrainian state wants to cause any harm to the Ukrainian Hungarians of Zakarpattia. We are one country, one society, and we will always be like that," said Kuleba at a press conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Kyiv on Wednesday. At the same time, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stressed that there is one significant obstacle to the development of Ukrainian-Hungarian relations - these are emotions and suspicions. "Today we talked separately with Peter about this, and we agreed that Ukrainian-Hungarian relations should be approached with a warm heart, but with a cold head. I categorically condemn any manifestation of disrespect for the Hungarian community of Ukraine and I consider unacceptable any anti-Ukrainian rhetoric that is voiced from individual circles in Hungary," Kuleba stressed. The Ukrainian minister added that there is no reason to suspect the Ukrainian Hungarian community as a whole of any malicious intent. "But there may be individual criminal cases, within which the activities of specific people will be investigated. We live in a country where the rule of law reigns, where there is an investigation, where there is a court, and everyone has the opportunity to defend himself in court. But I am deeply convinced, that the activities of one person should not hold the relations between the two good neighboring countries hostage. If he violated the law, he should be held accountable; if he proved in court that he did not violate the law, all charges are dropped," Kuleba explained. In turn, the Hungarian Foreign Minister indicated that he hopes that Budapest is also interested in developing mutual trust. "Mr. Minister talked about the rule of law and that everyone can exercise their right, and that he does not agree with any statements about the intentions of separatism in Hungary. I want to hope that all the participants, who are representatives of the Ukrainian state, will also act in this direction, because if the position on the Hungarians in Zakarpattia, which reflects this situation in this way, becomes the main one, it is difficult to hope for an improvement in mutual relations," Szijjarto added. ASHEVILLE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / When it comes to Self-Directed IRA investing, individual investors are on their own with investment decisions. That means that while a Self-Directed IRA administration firm does not act as a financial advisor, it can still serve as a source of information. That's why American IRA, a Self-Directed IRA administration firm in Asheville, NC, recently released a blog post detailing some of the best online calculators and tools investors can use to get an idea of what their current investment picture looks like. In the post, which is available at the American IRA blog, highlighted a number of retirement calculators that any investor can use. For example, the post shows off a compound interest calculator, which helps investors understand how much money they would have to put away in retirement to hit a certain goal. The compound interest calculator also highlights one of the proverbial "most powerful effects" for investors because it shows just how much money can be gained by investors who start their retirement journey early. Another calculator available at the blog post is a mortgage calculator, which helps investors understand the value of a mortgage loan and what the monthly payments might look like. A third calculator, a retirement calculator, also helps investors get a sense of what retirement might look like based on a retirement investor's current levels of investment and money saved away. But the post didn't stop at investment calculators. American IRA also pointed to its Frequently Asked Questions, which is an important resource for any investor who might be considering a Self-Directed IRA. "This post is about empowering people," said Jim Hitt, CEO of American IRA. "The investment calculators available here are great for anyone that wants to start taking control of their financial destiny. And while American IRA is a Self-Directed IRA administration firm and not an investment advisor, our role as a custodian means that we like to see people who are better-informed about their own retirement." Hitt pointed out that Self-Directed IRA investors often like to take control over their own decisions, which is why retirement education is so important to the Self-Directed IRA administration firm. For more information, visit the post at www.AmericanIRA.com or call 866-7500-IRA. About: "American IRA, LLC was established in 2004 by Jim Hitt, CEO in Asheville, NC. The mission of American IRA is to provide the highest level of customer service in the self-directed retirement industry. Jim Hitt and his team have grown the company to over $400 million in assets under administration by educating the public that their Self-Directed IRA account can invest in a variety of assets such as real estate, private lending, limited liability companies, precious metals and much more. As a Self-Directed IRA administrator, they are a neutral third party. They do not make any recommendations to any person or entity associated with investments of any type (including financial representatives, investment promoters or companies, or employees, agents or representatives associated with these firms). They are not responsible for and are not bound by any statements, representations, warranties or agreements made by any such person or entity and do not provide any recommendation on the quality profitability or reputability of any investment, individual or company. The term "they" refers to American IRA, located in Asheville and Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA." SOURCE: American IRA, LLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/621239/American-IRA-Explains-Essential-Tools-for-Self-Directed-IRA-Investors Amid the R'Day Kisaan Parade row, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has alleged that some miscreants have joined the protest to defame the farmers movement. They did not plan to unfurl the flags at Red Fort and this was not their program. Amid the chaos over Republic Day Tractor Rally, questions have been raised over who instigated the violence and how did a peaceful protest go out of hands. While leaders of farmer unions have disassociated themselves from the violence, the presence of Sikh symbols at the red fort site cannot be ignored. As a section claims that Khalistani flags were hoisted at the ramparts of red fort, it is to be clarified that there is a difference between Khalsa and Khalistanis. In the visuals emerging from the protest site, the flags and symbols of Khalsa can be identified. Thus, it would be wrong to associate the Khalistanis with the farmers movement. Having said that, it is also important to ask who allowed the Khalsas to bring holy religious symbols at the protest site. Isnt this a disrespect of the granthis, who profess the message of peace and harmony? Isnt this a disrespect of the thousands of farmers who spent almost 2 months at the border peacefully putting forth their demands? SS Pandher, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has alleged that some miscreants have joined the protest to defame the farmers movement. They did not plan to unfurl the flags at Red Fort and this was not their program. Bharat Kisan Unions Rakesh Tiktait, on the other hand, has expressed that uneducated people were driving the tractors and didnt know the path towards Delhi. Some of them unknowingly deflected towards Red Fort. He added that those who created violence and unfurled flags at Red Fort would have to pay for their deeds. He also pointed out a conspiracy is going on against a particular community and this is not a movement of Sikhs but farmers. A Central Pa. woman charged in connection with Nancy Pelosis stolen laptop claims she wasnt running from authorities and deleting social media evidence in the days after the Capitol riot, but actually was hiding from an ex-boyfriend. Riley Williams, 22, requested a protection from abuse order against her ex-boyfriend in Dauphin County Court on Jan. 13, the same week federal investigators said the former boyfriend called them after recognizing her in video footage inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6 siege. He provided information against her to the FBI, according to court records, and she now faces federal criminal charges. A judge granted a temporary protection from abuse on Jan. 14 based on Williams allegations and scheduled a hearing for 8 a.m. Wednesday to hear evidence. The former boyfriend told PennLive he looked forward to providing evidence and disproving her abuse allegations in the hearing. Williams, however, asked for a continuance and the judge granted it. The hearing is now set for April 21. This hearing was continued against our clients wishes, said his attorney R. Emmett Madden. He is anxious to present his evidence proving that all of Ms. Williams allegations are false and her efforts to use him as a scapegoat will not succeed. One of Williams allegations against her ex-boyfriend was that he showed up at her mothers house and her home at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 11. Her mother called 911 about a suspicious person. But Madden provided a police report from the ex-boyfriends hometown in New Jersey that showed police there confirmed his whereabouts in New Jersey at 5:44 p.m. Jan. 11 after receiving a call from Harrisburg police. The protection from abuse hearing has taken on additional significance because of the former boyfriends role providing information against Williams to the FBI, including allegations that she wanted to sell Pelosis laptop to the Russians. In court documents, police contend that Williams packed a bag, changed her phone number and deleted her social media accounts to avoid police. But when Williams appeared in court last week, her defense attorney said a police officer told her to change her phone number to avoid her abusive boyfriend. The defense admitted Williams was inside the Capitol but said the former boyfriends accusations were overstated. The former boyfriend told authorities Williams still had Pelosis computer device or destroyed it, a special agent wrote in the affidavit. This matter remains under investigation. Williams defense attorney on Tuesday said the FBI has not recovered the laptop from Williams despite searches of her home and car, according to media reports. The fate of the laptop remains unknown. In Williams request for protection filed on Jan. 13, she said her ex-boyfriend visited her home and her mothers home on Jan. 11 without an invitation, and without permission looking for her. The police have told him not to go to my residence and he still does, Williams said, alleging that he was stalking and threatening her. She said he had repeatedly called her at her job, tried to get her terminated, had his friends stalk her, shared naked photos of her with her relatives and acted violently toward her. She also said: He has contacted the FBI and told them I had access to Nancy Pelosis laptop and sold it to the Russians. The laptop reference was included in her summary of the facts of the most recent incident of abuse, on the protection from abuse form. She said only dated this individual for approximately three months. PennLive is not naming the tipster, who lives in New Jersey, because he was not named by federal authorities in court documents. His attorney said Williams abuse claims are easily refuted and that she filed them in her flawed logic to try to stop his client from reporting things he knew to the FBI. Her claims dont make any sense, Madden said. The feds dont charge based on what an ex-boyfriend says, they have independent evidence. Shes grabbing at straws. Madden said he believed Williams, who was representing herself for Wednesdays PFA hearing, likely wasnt prepared and could have been facing possible Fifth Amendment issues of self-incrimination because of the overlap of abuse allegations and the federal criminal charges she is fighting. Williams was charged with theft, obstruction and trespassing, as well as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. The Dauphin County judge on Jan. 14 ordered the ex-boyfriend to stay away from Williams, her home, her workplace, and her mothers home in Lower Paxton and also restricting him from posting any remarks or images regarding Williams on any social network. Those restrictions remain in place until the April hearing. Williams graduated from Mechanicsburg Area Senior High in 2017, according to published lists of graduates and yearbooks. She has no prior criminal record in Pennsylvania, according to online court records, just six traffic violations from 2017 to 2019 in Cumberland and Dauphin counties. The federal affidavit said Williams traveled to the Capitol in Washington D.C. with her father, who lives in Camp Hill. They got separated at the protest but drove home together later, according to the affidavit. READ: Not that Riley Williams: Mechanicsburg teen mistaken for woman arrested in U.S. Capitol riot Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. QUINCY, Mass., Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stop & Shop, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health, today announced that select Massachusetts pharmacy locations have been approved and have begun to administer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccination. Per Massachusetts distribution plan, current eligible individuals must live, work or attend school in Massachusetts, and include healthcare workers, as well as non-hospital-based healthcare personnel and residents of other long-term care settings covered under the rollout of Phase 1. Effective Monday, February 1, select Stop & Shop locations will begin accepting online vaccination appointments for those 75 and older. The Massachusetts Department of Health will determine individual eligibility, and eligible customers will be able to schedule their vaccination via Stop & Shops Online Vaccine Scheduling System. Stop & Shop is only authorized to immunize individuals who live, work or attend school in Massachusetts under the guidelines of Massachusetts Phase 1 through January 31, 2021, which is limited to direct & COVID-facing healthcare workers, long term care facility staff and residents, first responders, congregate care setting workers, home-based healthcare workers, and healthcare workers doing non-COVID facing care. Effective February 1, 2021, those living, employed or studying in Massachusetts who are 75 and older will be eligible for vaccination at participating Stop & Shop pharmacies. Customers are urged to visit www.stopandshop.com/covid-vaccine to schedule an appointment and view the most recent COVID-19 updates. Customers should not visit or call Stop & Shop stores for vaccine updates or appointments as all pertinent information and appointment requests will be provided online Stop & Shop is proud to continue to do its part in the fight against COVID-19, shared Katie Thornell, Director of Pharmacy Operations at Stop & Shop. Being an early provider of the vaccine demonstrates our commitment to being a trusted health resource within our local communities. We are excited to begin helping members of the community protect themselves against COVID-19, while continuing to provide a safe shopping experience for your familys everyday grocery and pharmacy needs. In December, Stop & Shop announced a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to be among the first COVID-19 vaccine providers, making the shot available to its customers across the Northeast. The coronavirus vaccine will be administered to Stop & Shop customers who are eligible for Phase 1 and those over 75 at no out-of-pocket cost. Stop & Shop and its pharmacists are eager to do their part to assist the community by providing the COVID-19 vaccine in a safe and sanitized environment. During immunization, customers will be required to wear PPE and pharmacists will be equipped with masks, gloves, and face shields. The pharmacy team utilizes the same thorough disinfection protocols for all patients, disinfecting and sanitizing between each patient to ensure the health & safety for all patients. Flu, pneumonia, shingles and other immunizations are currently available to customers at all Stop & Shop Pharmacy locations. To find your nearest Stop & Shop pharmacy, visit www.stopandshop.com/pharmacy. For more information on Stop & Shops rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine, visit www.stopandshop.com/covid-vaccine. Then I think it can go back to what it was. The Oscars are such a gigantic revenue stream for so many people. But this will be a special year. Everything is unprecedented right now, so this will be [too]. That doesnt mean it sets the precedent. Peter Mehlman An Emmy-nominated former writer and producer of Seinfeld. Lets face it. The subtext of every Oscar night is, wow, look how much better our lives are than yours. We wear gowns that cost roughly the entire tax base of Tulsa. We make embarrassing acceptance speeches and still get to cancel each other a day later. I mean, just dial back that privilege a little bit. Hollywood should give up on the idea that everyone aspires to be us. These arent glamorous times and yet we keep acting like were taking our cues from Norma Desmond. Maybe this year instead of black tie they should tone it down to office casual. Like on the red carpet, if the best supporting actress says shes wearing Converse All Stars and L.L. Bean, maybe the audience will be more open to, you know, cleaning out the plastic gyres in the ocean. And do we really still need a red carpet? Can these people not stand on a sidewalk now? To tell you the truth, the first thing they should do is just not invite any of the acting nominees to attend. Set up live remotes at their homes, maybe in a room that doesnt have a view of the indoor-outdoor tide pool, or theyre not backed by an original Warhol silk-screen of Chairman Mao. Dont you think accepting an Oscar on a couch with dogs and kids might just humanize these people? Ricky Gervais The award-winning comedian, writer and five-time host of the Golden Globes. I like to see acclaim and I like to see people rewarded, and if it means something to them, thats nice. But I also want to see a bit of humility and fun. The audience knows they already got tens of millions [of dollars] that year, and now were meant to care as much about that award as they do. Well, thats a hard ask. Aster DM Healthcare has announced the appointment of David Boucher, a global leader in healthcare service excellence and medical value tourism, in an effort to strengthen its patient and customer service offering. Working closely with the strategic leadership team of the organisation, he would be responsible for fostering and driving a culture of patient/ customer centricity, while improving patient experience across markets. The appointment is in alignment with Asters long-term vision to make its quality healthcare services accessible to patients across the world. Commenting on the appointment Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare said: The 3 S of healthcare - safety, service and savings propel people to go searching for healthcare services. At Aster, we are committed and passionate about complementing the highest levels of clinical expertise with best pricing and unparalleled seamless service. We aim to combine the three elements to ensure patient wellbeing and care for them with grace and compassion. Boucher brings his unique perspectives of leading healthcare systems that saw 150 nationalities being served as patients, personalizing and creating a haven for care and recovery for people who travel for access to quality care. As the group head of Service Excellence, we hope to build on our combined strengths further to become one amongst the most distinguished brands in healthcare built on the cornerstone of trust. A leading healthcare provider in India and GCC and soon to be a local player in Cayman Islands, Aster DM Healthcare is on the verge of an exciting journey and I am thrilled to join the organisation at this point. With a core-focus on the voice of the customer or patient and enabling solutions that would support them in the best possible way, the organisation has tremendous potential to emerge as a global leader, said Boucher. With more than four decades of experience in the area of patient excellence and business transformation, Boucher has provided both operational and strategic leadership at various roles with healthcare organisations across the world. He last served as Chief Business Transformation Officer at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Prior to that he served as President and COO of UCI Medical Affiliates, Columbia, USA and held several leadership roles with various healthcare organizations like BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Columbia, Companion Global Healthcare among others. Boucher has been quoted in over 250 newspapers and journals including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Economist, US News & World Reports. He has been interviewed on NBC Nightly News and Fox Business News. He has also delivered lectures on disruptive innovation in healthcare at Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management and Harvard Medical School. -- Tradearabia News Service Laura Anderson has insisted that flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Love Island star, 31, said she 'felt guilty the whole time' she was away after claiming she'd flown to the UAE for a 'business trip' following backlash towards influencers bending travel restrictions to fly abroad. Laura's comments as Home Secretary Priti Patel also took aim at influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world' in Parliament on Wednesday, insisting that given the pandemic people 'shouldn't go going on holiday right now.' I felt guilty! Laura Anderson has insisted that flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' during the COVID-19 pandemic after facing backlash for claiming her break was a 'work trip' Laura, who has since returned to the UK, shared her thoughts on the backlash during an Instagram Q and A, after being asked whether she felt guilty about being in Dubai. She said: 'I felt guilty the whole time. I don't think anyone realised how bad the strain would get, and how quickly. So hearing people upset, I felt horrific.' In a caption on the post she added: 'The backlash was horrendous and still is. I don't expect anyone to understand my situation. 'I apologise to everyone I've upset, I truly mean that as it was never my intention.' Fuming: Laura's comments as Home Secretary Priti Patel also took aim at influencers for 'showing off in sunny parts of the world' in Parliament on Wednesday It was tough! The Love Island star said she 'felt guilty the whole time' she was away after claiming she'd flown to the UAE for a 'business trip' Her comments came as Home Secretary Priti Patel also slammed influencers for brazenly jetting abroad despite government guidelines banning international travel. She was detailing new plans introduced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to have travellers to the UK from 22 'red list' countries quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Speaking in the House of Commons Patel said: 'There are travel bans in place for countries that are rest listed and that will continue. 'The announcement today will also reduce the number of travelling passengers. I do what to emphasis that because people should simply not be travelling. 'We see the examples, I will call some of them out, border force have given me examples. Controversy: Laura was previously forced to delete some of the comments on her recent sun-soaked bikini snaps after receiving backlash for sharing her exploits 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis, which is clearly not acceptable. "We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world that they are in, mainly in sunny parts of the world. Going on holiday is not an exemption and it is important that people stay at home.' Government sources have told MailOnline that the United Arab Emirates, where many social media stars have jetted off during lockdown, is looking less likely to appear on the list of quarantine countries. Expats working in Dubai and following the rules have now accused influencers of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and risking spreading the virus by partying and flouting social distancing. Raging: Stars such as Sophie Kasaei (pictured) have faced backlash for bending government guidelines and claiming their holidays to Dubai were for 'work reasons' An agent, whose client had travelled to Dubai, told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We manage their social media accounts and I've seen a number of death threats in direct messages. 'It's been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it's a terrible look, but they ignored it.' Laura was previously forced to delete some of the comments on her recent sun-soaked bikini snaps after receiving backlash for sharing her exploits. The TV star addressed the negativity on her Stories, as she admitted some would be put off becoming an influencer after learning the realities. Amid mounting criticism towards influencers and reality stars who have jetted to abroad on 'business trips' to escape the strict UK lockdown, Laura said: 'This whole thing about everyone hating influencers, I'm just like f**k.. this is what I do for a job at the minute. I don't want to feel c**p. 'I'm thinking maybe, would it be a good idea to give more of an insight into the reality of being an influencer. 'I think a lot of young people might want to do it, but you realise it's not that great when you see the reality of it. I saw someone in my comments saying you're on holiday, but when you're working you're not on holiday. 'On holiday doesn't mean just in the sun. I want people to understand then maybe they won't get as annoyed, it's not just right now, all the time. 'I remember when Molly-Mae went into the villa everyone was like omg she's an influencer, as it if was a negative thing. I thought it would be a good idea to give an insight so people don't hate it as much and realise how hard it is.' Poor me! The TV star addressed the negativity on her Stories insisting her job as an influencer is 'hard' and she 'feels c**p' after being hit by online criticism STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that hell lift restrictions put in place for the majority of coronavirus (COVID-19) micro-cluster zones, and that there will be a plan for New York City restaurants by the end of the week. Staten Island will lose its Yellow and Orange Zone designations that have put restrictions on things like businesses and gatherings, and required ramped up testing for schools. Four Yellow Zone restrictions will remain in place in parts of the Bronx, Queens, Washington Heights, and Orange County. The boroughs zone designations -- with the Orange Zone largely covering Staten Islands South Shore, and the Yellow Zone covering the North Shore -- had been in place since Nov. 23. Cuomo said he made the decision to reflect the declining coronavirus metrics as the state gets further away from the holidays. Follow the facts, follow the science and follow the numbers, Cuomo said. The micro-cluster zones are down all across the state. New York's micro-cluster restrictions are shown as of Jan. 27 2021. (Courtesy: New York State) The last time Cuomo announced an update to the micro-cluster zones around the state was Dec. 14. There are state-wide regulations that remain in place like limitations to capacity at retail stores, and testing requirements at businesses like salons, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa said. All of those requirements that exist as a result of COVID continue, she said. Its just the specific rules that applied to the zones. Cuomo also said hell meet with New York City elected officials and representatives from its restaurant community to discuss a plan about the industry going forward. His hope is that indoor dining will be able to resume at 25% capacity. The five boroughs remain the states only region where restaurants are closed. The executive order that has shuttered the citys indoor dining since Dec. 14 is different from what established the micro-cluster strategy. Cuomo added that the state is motivated to get restaurants and businesses back to full operation, in part, because of the tax revenue that theyll generate for New York. Closing time for restaurants that have indoor dining remains at 10 p.m., because, Cuomo said, they want to prevent them from becoming social bar settings. This has been economically devastating for a number of businesses, the restaurants included, so I want to get them up and running as quickly as possible, he said. The governor added that restrictions remain subject to change based on the metrics related to the virus. He urged caution as more and more strains of the virus are identified, and reiterated the importance of vaccinations across the country. If the facts change, I have no problem looking the people of this state in the eye and saying the facts changed, our plan has to change, Cuomo said. You cant have a consistent plan when you dont have consistent facts. Karen Sparks got the first glimpse of her tornado-ravaged neighborhood Wednesday, not sure what she would find and stunned at what she saw. Sparks home on Fultondales Nelda Circle fared better than most. The house was still standing, but the roof was nowhere to be seen. She was emotional as she surveyed what was left. Im in utter shock,' Sparks said. Its more devastated than I thought. Sparks said she was sleeping in the basement when the EF-3 tornado with winds of 150 mph struck about 10:30 p.m. Monday. My son screamed that the tornado was trying to pull him out of the house,' she said. Monday night I was just thinking everything was fine. My roof was off but by the grace of God, He got us out,' she said. This whole neighborhood is total devastation. I thought it was just my street. Touring damage from Fultondale after the governor toured the area. Posted by al.com on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 It was during Sparks first return to her home that Gov. Kay Ivey was touring the storm damage. The two women shared a brief exchange. Sparks told Ivey that she moved to Fultondale four years because it is such a friendly city. Well come together and will rebuild,' Sparks told the governor. Thank you for being here. Thank you, thank you. Here is full coverage of the tornado . Its the least I could do,' Ivey told Sparks. This area is known for people who come together. Prior to Iveys tour of the damage, she met with city and county officials at Fultondale City Hall and then spoke with reporters, first addressing the death of 14-year-old Elliott Hernandez, a Fultondale High School ninth grader killed when he and his parents and another family member took cover in the basement. Authorities said a tree fell on the house, which caused the home to collapse, trapping the family. Elliotts parents were critically injured, and the other family member escaped with minor injuries. Homes and businesses can be rebuilt,' Ivey said, but losing a young soul to a storm like this is beyond heartbreaking. Ivey also sent her thoughts to the other 30 victims injured, and to the man who lost their homes and businesses. What Ive seen so far clearly shows weve got a lot of work to do to rebuild this community,' she said. The damage done to Fultondale High School may very well be too substantial to repair. The state is already working with Jefferson County and school officials to ease the burden and provide any and all resources available. Alabama is no stranger to the damage Mother Nature is capable of handing out,' she said. Just last year we experience several tropical storms and extremely powerful hurricanes that caused hundreds of millions in damage to our gulf coast and displaced thousands of citizens. During that time, I acted swiftly to ensure that local leaders and residents received the resources they desperately needed during such an unfortunate time and I assure all of you that whats happened here in Fultondale will be treated with the same urgency and care,' she said. Crews are still working to clear the debris and restore power to all areas hit by the storm. About 270 Alabama Power customers in the area are still without power and the utility service said today it is working to restore service to as many of those as possible this afternoon. State EMA officials are working with county officials to complete the damage assessment process. There is not yet any estimates on the number of homes and businesses destroyed, nor a financial tally. These are seasoned professions who know what to do and when to do it and I have every confidence in their ability to handle the situation,' the governor said. As this community begins the recovery process, my administration and the state will be there every step of the way. Alabamians always step up to help their neighbors in times of disaster,' she said. Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb spoke to the overwhelming support the city has received in the storms aftermath. Most people know Ive only been mayor for two months. When running, people would ask me questions like, Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Are you religious? Whats your religious beliefs?' Holcomb said. When the tornado came, I got phones calls from New York to California offering their help. Nobody has asked me if its Black people that were helping, if its white people, what religion they are or what their political beliefs are. People say we are divided. To some point we may be, but when something like this happens, were not divided,' Holcomb said. Were one union under God and I felt like people needed to know that. When something like this happens, we come together, and we work together. Center Point Mayor Bobby Scott, whose city was also hit by the tornado, said he, too, has received an outpouring of support. Were very grateful to have that,' he said. And as soon as we have taken care of our citizens in Center Point, we will extend the same to Fultondale. We know it will be a long recovery, a lot of hard work. Jefferson County EMA Director Jim Coker praised all first responders for their swift response Monday to storm-affected areas. As they were rallying the troops Monday night, Coker recounted his telephone conversation with one Jefferson County municipal fire chief. I said, we need your heavy response. His response was, Were on it,' Coker said. That was our entire conversation. Im still amazed at the attitude. In Alabama, Coker said, we can never let our guard down, but we can always help each other out. experts on Wednesday said the position of protesting farmer unions has weakened and they may face a credibility crisis after the violence during their tractor parade on Republic Day, saying time is ripe for the government to strike the best deal and end the two month-long agitation. The tractor parade meant to highlight the demands of the farmer unions dissolved into anarchy on the streets of Delhi on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Centre has so far held 11 rounds of discussion with the protesting farmer unions. In its tenth round, the government had offered the unions a proposal to suspend the new laws for 1-1.5 years, which the latter rejected outright. However, at the 11th round of discussion held just before Republic Day, the government had asked the unions to reconsider the proposal and convey their final decision. "The violence on a day has sent out a bad name to the country worldwide. Today, farmers are facing credibility crisis. Therefore, it is the best time to strike a deal," Indian Council of Food and Chairman M J Khan told PTI. So far, about 40 protesting farmers' unions were negotiating with the government on a point of strength and the government was giving in more to their demands, he said. "But today, the government may agree less and find a solution. That solution is to concede to their demand on minimum support price (MSP) and not repeal of the laws," he noted. Khan further said implementation of MSP for 23-odd crops will have zero impact on the exchequer. There will be little implication on the trade to the tune of Rs 80,000-Rs 90,000 crore, which can be recovered from consumers. After Tuesday's violence during the tractor parade, farmers will negotiate from the point of weakness and therefore, this is a better time for the government to take the talks further and end the current impasse, he added. Khan also said the government cannot afford to send the protesting farmers back with empty hands after 60 days of protest. It has to give more than what it has already agreed to. Agri-expert Vijay Sardana claimed the protesting farmers' unions have "vested interest with hidden agenda to protest against the ruling party". After Tuesday's violence in Delhi, the government should rethink how to engage with the protesting farmers' bodies, which have no proper base. The government should not go by their face value. "The way forward is very clear. The government should give a clear message that there won't be further talks and they can come before the Supreme Court-appointed panel and submit their suggestions," he said, adding that the new agri-laws are not only for wheat and rice-growing states. Agri-economist and former member of erstwhile government's think-tank Planning Commission, Abhijit Sen said so far the protesting farmer unions were united. But after the Tuesday's incident, he said "the extent of sympathy that the farmers unions had, may actually go down quite exponentially". "Both sides are playing to the gallery. They are really not doing serious talk," he said. Asked if there are problems in the new farm laws, Sen said, "If you are in Punjab and Haryana, there are serious problems with these laws. If you are in other parts of the country and not growing rice and wheat, there are not that serious problems with the laws." There are still serious problems with the laws as far as what could mean the Centre and states' relationship. Basically, it means that much of the agriculture would then become a central subject, he said. "If that happens, I believe agriculture will be worse of in India," Sen said, adding that agriculture in India is too diversified to be a central subject and needs very careful and varied inputs in different locations. On options left with the government to end the crisis, the expert said, "They can make the current central laws into model laws, and say that these laws will not come into application unless the states clear them in their legislature." He also alleged that the Supreme Court was "very careless" in handling the issue, saying the apex court should have dealt with the matter on the constitutionality of the laws and not acted as a negotiator. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two priests arrested for abusing minor in Malta Victim of sex abuse is former altar boy (ANSAmed) - VALLETTA, JANUARY 27 - Two Maltese priests were arrested on Monday by Maltese police for sexually abusing a child in 2003 when he was eight, an altar boy at a parish church in Xaghra, on the island of Gozo. The two men - Joseph Sultana, 84, and Joseph Cini, 70 - separately appeared before the court of Gozo on Wednesday morning. Both pronounced themselves not guilty. The case was reported by Maltese civil authorities to the Commission of safeguard of the Catholic church. The curia confirmed in a statement that it gave police all information on the case and urged the public to denounce all cases of alleged sexual abuse. The court in Gozo listened to the victim, who is today 26, ordering not to publish his name. The man, who currently lives abroad, said he only took up the courage to talk about the abuse in 2019 with the bishop of Gozo, who encouraged him to talk to the Commission.(ANSAmed) Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A body was found stuffed into a wheelie bin floating in a dam has been identified as a 'high level' drug dealer and father-of-three. Dinh Lam Nguyen, 51, who was well-known to police, was last seen in Balga, north of Perth's CBD, on January 20. He was reported missing two days later by his roommate, and on Monday his rotting remains were discovered dumped in the Glen Brook Dam. A 'foul smell' led a group of teenagers and an adult to open the wheelie bin, which contained Nguyen's decomposing body wrapped in pink plastic. Police are still hunting for his killer. Gruesome images show the father-of-three's body (pictured) being pulled out of the dam after being discovered in a wheelie bin on Monday Dinh Lam Nguyen (pictured) has been identified as the body found in a wheelie bin at Glen Brook Dam in Perth on Monday. It's since been revealed he was a convicted drug dealer The Vietnamese national was a convicted drug dealer who was sentenced to three years in jail after he was caught with ice in 2016, The West Australian reported. Nguyen was found with 27 grams of the illicit drug when he was pulled over by police in South Greenough, around 380km north of Perth, in August 2016. A large dagger was also found in his car. The father had been on bail at the time for being caught with 16.88g of ice with the intent to sell or supply - as well as possessing a knife. He was sentenced to three years behind bars in 2017 and during his hearing he was labelled a 'higher level' drug dealer. Nguyen also had violence, traffic, damage and dishonesty convictions. He had moved to Australia in 1990 to avoid army conscription. A 'foul smell' led a group of teenagers and an adult to open the wheelie bin, which contained Nguyen's decomposing body wrapped in pink plastic Nguyen's car (pictured above) has also gone missing following his gruesome death - and has still not been found Acting Detective Inspector Sean Wright confirmed on Wednesday Nguyen had family and children, some based in Perth. 'They are going through the grieving process, they are very distraught,' he said. 'They are going to give us some lifestyle [information]... so we [can] know more about him. 'Mr Nguyen is known to police. We need to identify what caused his death and who did it.' Nguyen was last seen driving away from his house by his roommate in his blue Mazda 3 sedan - which has since gone missing. His body, found near a picnic area at John Forrest National Park, was wrapped in pink plastic, with locals initially thinking ignoring the bin because they thought it was just filled with rubbish. Police divers (pictured) after removing the Dinh Lam Nguyen's body from the wheelie bin in Perth's Glen Brook Dam A group of teenagers opened the wheelie bin due to the horrific smell and were confronted with human remains (pictured, police removing the body from the scene) But after the group of teenagers made the grim discovery, police waded into the waist-deep water to retrieve the body, with a post mortem underway to determine exactly how long the remains had been in the dam. Acting Detective inspector Wright confirmed the members of the public were alerted to the wheelie bin due to its foul odour. 'The circumstances surrounding human remains [found] in a bin at a picnic site in a dam is highly unusual,' he said. CCTV footage obtained from the park could also potentially reveal who placed the victim in the dam. An autopsy will be conducted this week to determine the cause of death. Former Bethlehem city administrator Dana Grubb on Wednesday jumped into the Bethlehem mayoral race. Grubb, 70, is running as a Democrat and hell face Bethlehem City Councilman J. William Reynolds, 39, in the May Democratic primary. Mayor Bob Donchez cannot run again because of the citys two-term limit for mayor. Grubb announced his candidacy Wednesday morning at a socially-distanced campaign kickoff held at the Steel Ice Center on former Bethlehem Steel Corp. land. Over his 27-year career in city government, Grubb helped create the tax increment financing district that ushered in the redevelopment of the former factory into the SteelStacks campus. Our history is what makes Bethlehem unique, and distinguishes it among others, Grubb said. We need to build on that history to secure and grow our future. In his speech Grubb touted his ability to work collaboratively across departments over his career to solve the problems facing the city. He vowed to bring that attitude back to City Hall. Grubb was the city grants administrator and deputy director of community development among other roles. He retired from the city in 2004 after he and Harvey Joseph, who was the environmental health director, got into a fistfight in City Hall. Then-Mayor John Callahan told them they could retire or be fired. I also believe in personal accountability, service to community, and leaving the world in a better place, Grubb said Wednesday. Were all held accountable for the mistakes weve made. We should learn from them, and then move on to remain active and contributing members of society. Currently, Grubb owns a small business providing photography to local Relators, the Wind Creek Event Center and working for The Bethlehem Press. The lifelong city resident said hes running for mayor solely to serve the citizens of Bethlehem. If elected, he will not take city health benefits or accrue a pension, he vowed. Bethlehem City Hall needs to again work to serve its citizens and the employees working at 10 E. Church St. need to feel supported and appreciated, Grubb said. It is time for a mayor who is not a political insider, someone who will be independent of political expediency, and who will seek only to serve Bethlehem residents and improve the quality of life throughout the community. It is nobodys turn to be Mayor, after holding other elected offices, Grubb said referencing Reynolds, who lost to Donchez in the 2013 mayoral primary but did not challenge him four years later. Bethlehem needs someone who will apply common sense and logic to governance, and not default to political favoritism based on campaign contributions or other influential factors. Bethlehem residents tell Grubb they dont feel their government is responsive and Grubb says city worker morale is at an all-time low. A respected and content workforce will deliver better services to residents, developers, contractors, business owners and relators, he said. If elected, Grubb would form a a small business concierge, a one-stop shop to help aspiring and current business owners navigate bureaucracy. Public service is an attitude as well as a commitment, and poor morale among city workers affects how well services are delivered to the community, Grubb said. The Bethlehem Parking Authority is a top complaint for many residents and business owners, who feel it is not responsive or in touch with the communitys needs, he said. Grubb floated the idea of possibly bringing the day-to-day operations of the authority into City Hall, allowing the authority to operate solely as a financing authority. This would give residents and business owners recourse through their elected representatives, he said. The city needs to continue to expand its tax base via economic development, but in a manner that respects the citys rich history and is compatible with its neighborhoods, Grubb said. Bethlehem needs more affordable housing not public housing but homes for working-and-middle class families like the one he grew up in, he said. Community development has played second fiddle to economic development for too many years, Grubb said. He vowed to create a city-wide affordable housing task force. (Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith recently created an affordable housing task force.) Public safety and a strong parks and recreation systems would be at the forefront of city services in his administration, Grubb said. I believe that a robust community policing program strengthens relationships between residents and law enforcement, and builds trust, he said. Training in both traditional law enforcement disciplines as well as newer applications will ensure that every resident can trust the Bethlehem Police Department to apply the law equally, to everyone, at all times. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Oneida County is no longer under yellow zone restrictions, according to an announcement by Gov. Andrew Cuomo Wednesday. Cuomo says because of the progress each region has made in reducing coronavirus rates, there are no more orange zones, and the only remaining yellow zones are in New York City and Newburgh. Oneida County was placed in a yellow zone in December, as part of the states micro-cluster strategy to curb the spread of the virus in places where positivity rates were rising. Regions in certain zones had to follow the restrictions listed below: Now, the county will return to the coronavirus guidelines set out by the state prior to becoming a yellow zone. For school districts, the 20% Covid testing requirement goes away. "For Rome, we did decide to cancel our testing program as of this afternoon and for the rest of this week, we don't need to test to have kids back," says Rome School Superintendent, Peter Blake, whose district resumes hybrid learning on Monday, February 1st. "When it comes down to it, when you don't need to do it, it's just one less thing that people have to worry about. We need to focus on getting our kids back in the building and getting our schools open." The Whitesboro School District had nearly reached the 20% threshold, with a less than 1% positivity rate. They, too, will suspend testing, but both districts will offer it on an as-needed basis. More information on existing state andates and restrictions can be found here. After the grand success of Mirzapur, Divyenndu Sharma is gearing up for his next film Mere Desh Ki Dharti. He hopes that he aspires farmers with the movie, which he says is every much relevant amid the ongoing protests. PrimeVideo "This film is very, very close to my heart and that's why I am very protective about this film. I really want this film to reach out to as many people as possible, especially the farmers so maybe whatever we have done in the film if that could inspire them, not solve but assist them in any way in their problems would be a great thing, a great start," he was quoted as saying by IANS. Mere Desh Ki Dharti is said to be a humourous yet inspirational take on the journey of two engineers, one of which is played by Divyenndu, who are abject failures in urban world but icons in the rural India. "This is a special one for me and especially the current scenario, what's happening with the farmers, it becomes more important", he said. Also starring Anant Vidhaat and Anupria Goenka, Faraz Haider directorial has other great actors like Inaamulhaq, Brijendra Kala, Rajesh Sharma, Atul Shrivastava and Farrukh Jafar playing pivotal roles. Twitter Before Mirzapur, Divyenndu Sharma shot to limelight because of his role in Pyaar Ka Punchnama. In an interview with Indiatimes, the actor had revealed why he rejected the second film. "The makers wanted me to become a part of Pyaar Ka Punchama 2 because Liquid was such a hit character, but I wanted to play different characters. My whole aim is to be different whenever I come on stage or screen. I didnt want to particularly be a part of one genre. I wanted to explore and stand somewhere as an actor. My director Luv really understood my reason for saying no to the film. Twitter "I always knew Pyaar Ka Punchama 2 will be a super hit and it will become a very big franchise but even after knowing all this I said no to it which shows that I have some guts as an artist. But as an actor, I have no regrets about not being a part of it because I am not here to play safe, do stuff which is more commercial," he added. You can read the full interview here. TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Investigators say a Mooreville man beat another man then assaulted a Lee County law enforcement officer. Lee County deputies responded on Jan. 25 to a report of a shooting on County Road 1409. Deputies found the victim suffering from head trauma and what they believed was a gunshot wound. According to the Lee County Sheriffs Department, investigators determined two people got into an argument and one person pulled a gun and shot into the second persons vehicle. Investigators say the suspect, 28-year-old Vernon Stults Jr., then attacked the unnamed victim and beat the victim with a pistol. Deputies found Stults at his nearby home. Investigators say he attacked an officer while they tried to arrest him. Investigators charged Stults with aggravated assault and simple assault on a police officer. According to the sheriffs department, Stults is also on probation with the Mississippi Department of Corrections. After Amanda Gormans reading at the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, the online poetry library Poets.org saw a 250 percent increase in hits on its site. This statistic, and the unprecedented media attention for a poet in America, suggest that we have a hunger for the specific kind of hope found in poetry. And it speaks to the importance of poet laureates. The week before the inauguration, poetry generated a different response locally when Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the search for the next Houston poet laureate and it made the evening news. Many of the comments on the web story were disparaging. Why pay the laureate for her two years of public service when we have potholes to fill? Why spend any tax dollars on poetry? Lets take these questions seriously. What kind of service do poets provide a nation and a city? When former Mayor Annise Parker decided that Houston deserved a poet laureate in 2013, I served on the selection committee. Because it was the first time, we did research on the various models and discovered only a few cities with laureate programs then; now dozens have followed suit. The group agreed that the public service that a poet laureate would perform deserved a modest stipend, and when we asked Parker to use hotel occupancy tax funds already designated for the arts, she agreed. Since then, Houston has had four inspiring poet laureates Gwendolyn Zepeda, Robin Davidson, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton and Leslie Contreras Schwartz. They have delivered hundreds of performances, service projects and free public workshops. Theyve created Houston-specific books and exhibits, all with the aim of making poetry understandable and accessible, bringing Houstonians together as a community. Gorman, 22 , made poetry accessible to the American public at an entirely new level as the first national youth poet laureate when she performed an original poem, The Hill We Climb, written for the inauguration. The national media pronounced that Gorman stole the show at the event. In addition to the mainstream medias reaction, Gormans performance elicited enthusiastic Twitter responses from celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hillary Clinton. In scanning the myriad headlines about the inauguration, I had to wonder how Gormans poetry had eclipsed the likes of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks. As I reviewed the coverage of the young poet, the word that I noticed most was hope. In an interview, Gorman shared a chant she intones, eyes closed, before each of her performances: I am the daughter of Black writers, who are descended from Freedom Fighters, who broke the chains who changed the world. They call to me. In this chant, the poet aligns herself with her ancestors, and she articulates her purpose: to change the world for the better. It is her personal call to action. What inspired hope in Gormans performance was its authentic description of this historic moment. Our nation is suffering, and Gormans poem acknowledges that. She names the division racism, and inequity that we are facing as a nation today, and makes a direct call to overcome that injustice together. Hope is an elusive thing. What I observe in Gormans example is this: Poetry has the power to bring people together. Poetry can inspire hope. Poetry prepares us to do the work of becoming a better, more just nation. Using Gormans metaphor, the struggle of climbing the hill is our most important calling. Poetry is the ignition. It is the call to action. Having a poet laureate can bring us together as a community and as activists. Our work must follow. Houston has the opportunity to do great work and become an example in social justice, providing a vivid example to the rest of the nation. So let Houston encourage and embrace its next great poets. Reagler lives in Houston. Her latest book of poetry, Into The The, will be released March 2021. The Opposition is gearing up to formulate a joint strategy to corner the government on the farm laws during the upcoming Budget Session of the Parliament, especially following the violent clashes which broke out between the police and the protesting farmers in the heart of the national capital after the latter's proposed tractor rally on Republic Day went awry. The joint Opposition meet is set to be convened after the Presidential address and ahead of the presentation of the Budget, though no date has been finalised yet. Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi is speaking to the leaders of the opposition parties to convene the meeting through video conferencing, sources said. The Congress is reaching out to all the like-minded parties to press the government for repealing the farm laws passed in September last year, which have become the bone of contention between the farmers and the government as many rounds of talks between the two sides have failed to break the deadlock. After Tuesday's clashes, the Opposition is up in arms, alleging that hooligans had created ruckus in the national capital in connivance with the government. The Congress, DMK, Nationalist Congress Party, Trinamool Congress, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Left have backed the farmers' agitation while the Shiv Sena too has supported the farmers' demand. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have also demanded the repealing of the three farm laws. The CPI-M on Wednesday issued a statement which said, "The Politburo of the CPI(M) once again calls upon the Central government to immediately announce repealing of these laws and move towards this end in the forthcoming Budget Session of the Parliament." Akali Dal, which was part of the NDA alliance before breaking ties over the farmers' issue, is also reaching out to the like-minded parties to boycott the all-party meet to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. On January 19, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had passed three resolutions, including one demanding the withdrawal of the three farm laws. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal had said, "The CWC noted that these three laws impinge upon the Constitutional rights of states and constitute the first step in dismantling the three pillars of the edifice of food security built over the past decades -- MSP, public procurement and PDS." He reiterated that the three farm laws did not pass the Parliamentary scrutiny as they were bulldozed by muzzling the voice of the Opposition, particularly in the Upper House. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT), under Govt. of Karnataka, has called for applications in a prescribed format from eligible and interested candidates for filling Sixteen (16) vacancies to the post of Stenographers and Typists in KSAT through direct recruitment to be posted at Bengaluru in Karnataka, India on a fulltime basis. The offline application process towards the same started on January 25, 2021 and closes on February 25, 2021 by 5:30 pm. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Stenographers and Typists in KSAT Organisation Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal (KSAT) Educational Qualification Class 10/SSLC/Matriculation or equivalent Experience Freshers can apply Job Responsibilities null Skills Required null Job Location Bengaluru Salary Scale In the range of Rs. 21,400 to Rs. 58,250 per month as per the post Industry Govt. of Karnataka Application Start Date January 25, 2021 Application End Date February 25, 2021 KSAT Recruitment 2021: Age Criteria And Fees Candidates interested in applying for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021 must have completed 18 years of age and not be more than 35 years (GM/UR), with relaxation (upper age limit) up to 3 years (OBC -2A/2B/3A/3B) and 5 years (SC/ST/CAT-I) respectively as specified in the KSAT Notification 2021 norms. For details regarding application fee for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021, refer to the official KSAT Notification 2021 norms. Also Read: WBHRB Recruitment 2021 For 1,647 Medical Technologist Grade III Posts, Apply Online Before February 6 KSAT Recruitment 2021 Vacancy Details Stenographers - 13 Typists - 03 Total - 16 KSAT Recruitment 2021: Education And Eligibility Desirous candidates applying for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021 must have passed Class 10/SSLC/Matriculation or equivalent from a recognised Board/Institution as specified in the KSAT Notification 2021 norms. Candidates' must have knowledge of Kannada language - read, write and speak. KSAT Recruitment 2021: Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021 will be done through a Written Test/Typing Test as notified in the KSAT Recruitment 2021 norms. Candidates selected for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021 will be paid emolument in the range of Rs. 21,400 to Rs. 58,250 per month as per the post. Also Read: KSP Recruitment 2021 For 545 Sub-Inspector (Civil) Posts, Register Online On KSP.Online.In. Check Details Here KSAT Recruitment 2021: How To Apply Candidates applying for KSAT Jobs 2021 through KSAT Recruitment 2021 must fill the application form in a prescribed format post-download form the official http://www.ksat.karnataka.gov.in/ portal and send their applications to the "Registrar, K.S.A.T., 7th Floor, Kandaya Bhavana, K.G.Road, Bengaluru 560 009" on or before February 25, 2021 by 5:30 pm. Download KSAT Recruitment 2021 Notification PDF for Stenographers and Typists posts The higher education institution reiterated the call for all volunteers to keep protecting themselves from the disease, especially due to the new COVID-19 outbreak reported in Peru. In a statement, the UPCH indicated that the volunteer was diagnosed and treated since the disease was detected, and that she was granted early in-patient care, as well as access to the intensive care unit for mechanical ventilation. "She received all the care indicated to treat the disease and its complications. In addition, she was fighting for her life for more than a week, without overcoming the onslaught of it," the statement reads. The university reiterated that volunteers must keep protecting themselves, taking into account that this is a study in which candidate vaccines are tested, and that they may have received a placebo. "The outcome of this case has been communicated to the study's safety committee and to regulatory authorities for an investigation to take place in accordance with the regulations in force so as to conduct a full investigation into this unfortunate event," the statement said. The UPCH explained that this is a double-mind clinical trial to test the efficacy of candidate vaccines against a placebo, that is, neither the participant nor university researchers know which research product a participant has received (either one of the candidate vaccines or a placebo). "Cases of infection or deterioration in participants receiving a placebo correspond to what would occur in the non-immunized population, while cases of infection or deterioration in participants who had received one of the candidate vaccines may occur because the efficacy of them is not 100%," the university added. Comunicado a la opinion publica pic.twitter.com/7CU9UNEZ2X UPCH (@CayetanoHeredia) January 26, 2021 (END) LIT/RMB/MVB Loading... Lima-based Cayetano Heredia University (UPCH) has announced that one of the volunteers who participated in the clinical trials of a coronavirus candidate vaccine has died of COVID-19-related pneumonia.Publicado: 27/1/2021 - Romania's Chief of Defence Staff Daniel Petrescu on Wednesday attended the 185th meeting of the NATO Military Committee, NATO's highest military authority, in a virtual format. During the working sessions, operational commitments were discussed, including in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans, the fundamental concept of "NATO Warfighting" was approved, progress with strengthening the deterrence and defence posture in the Euro-Atlantic area was analysed, and proposals were made to nullify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on national and NATO defensive capabilities, according to a press statement from the Ministry of National Defense (MApN). Petrescu highlighted the commitment of the Romanian armed forces to NATO missions, mentioning that Romania's relevant last action to date was the deployment to Iraq this January, of a communications and informatics detachment serving with the "NATO Mission in Iraq" and "Inherent Resolve" operations. He also thanked Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain, its NATO allies, for their contributions to strengthening the air policing service. Last but not least, he welcomed the constant support of NATO countries to the process of reaching the initial operational capacity of the Multinational Division South-East based in Romania.The role of the Military Committee of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is to provide advice to the North Atlantic Council on how the alliance can respond to global security challenges. For one year, meetings of the chiefs of defence take place twice at NATO Headquarters in Brussels and once in a NATO member country. The routine activity is performed by the national military representatives permanently present at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to MApN.The meeting was attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who outlined NATO's goals for 2021, including strengthening transatlantic relations and the adaptation of the mission in Afghanistan. At the same time, he presented the main strategic directions formulated at the conference of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs of December 2020 and the objectives of the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in February this year. "Sony is proud to support and encourage student innovators with KOOV Academy," stated Michiko Araki, VP of Marketing and New Business at Sony Electronics Inc. "Our teachers and students are of utmost importance, and we will continue to prepare them well to drive innovationthey are where it all begins." The STEAM program will offer educators "getting started" trainings, help them design lesson plans, and will provide classroom support for the kickoff of their programs. In addition, Sony has committed to donating KOOV robotics and coding kits to classrooms serving underprivileged students across San Diego, enabling them to start their programs. Dr. Carolyn Hofstetter, Chair of the Education Studies Department at UC San Diego, shared, "We are excited about this opportunity to make computer science education accessible for more kids, schools and communities. We appreciate Sony's partnership in this important endeavor." Dr. Amy Eguchi, Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science Education, leading the project at UC San Diego, stated, "UC San Diego is committed to promoting diversity in STEAM fields. KOOV Academy will help us reach and excite our diverse student population with fun hands-on activities through project-based approaches. We hope to engage more students in integrated STREAM (Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Art and Math) learning. KOOV is a perfect robotics learning tool that can attract many students in STREAM learning." For those interested in KOOV Academy participation or wish to hear about opportunities in the community, please submit an interest form here. About UC San Diego UC San Diego is a student-centered, research-focused, service-oriented public institution that provides opportunity for all. Recognized as one of the top fifteen research universities worldwide, a culture of collaboration sparks discoveries that advance society and drive economic impact. About Sony Electronics Inc. Sony Electronics is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America and an affiliate of Sony Corporation (Japan), one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world, with a portfolio that encompasses electronics, music, motion pictures, mobile, gaming, robotics and financial services. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Sony Electronics is a leader in electronics for the consumer and professional markets. Operations include research and development, engineering, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service. Sony Electronics creates products that innovate and inspire generations, such as the award-winning Alpha Interchangeable Lens Cameras and revolutionary high-resolution audio products. Sony is also a leading manufacturer of end-to-end solutions from 4K professional broadcast and A/V equipment to industry leading 4K and 8K Ultra HD TVs. Visit http://www.sony.com/news for more information. SOURCE Sony Electronics, Inc. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. New Delhi: Delhi Police on Wednesday said that it has detained 200 people in connection with violence during farmers' tractor rally in the city on Tuesday. Those detained will be arrested soon, the Delhi Police said, adding that 22 FIRs have been registered in connection with Tuesdays violence and chaos in Delhi. Delhi Police said that it has registered FIR under IPC Sec 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 120 b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and other sections, regarding Tuesdays violence. Delhi Police register FIR under IPC Sec 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 120 b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and other sections, regarding yesterday's violence. Matter to be investigated by Crime Branch: Delhi Police ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 The matter will be investigated by the Crime Branch, the Delhi Police said. The FIR has been registered in connection with the violence at Red Fort in Delhi during farmers' tractor rally yesterday. The matter will be investigated by the Crime Branch, the Delhi Police said. Delhi Police chief also reviewed the security situation in the aftermath of Tuesday`s violence that broke out amid farmers` tractor rally. Giving more information, Delhi Police said, Additional DCP Central`s operator was attacked with a sword at ITO on Tuesday during the violence. The Delhi Police said that more than 300 police personnel have been injured after being attacked by agitating farmers on January 26. As per sources, a special investigation team of the Delhi Police Crime Branch is likely to investigate the entire incident. According to the Delhi Police, with another FIR being registered at the IP Police Station in connection with the violence at ITO in the national capital, the total number of FIRs rose to 22 on Wednesday. Traffic and metro services continue to remain affected post farmers` tractor rally violence. Delhi Traffic Police on Wednesday issued an advisory after traffic was affected in several parts of the national capital. Security was also heightened near the Red Fort where a group of protestors entered the fort and unfurled their flags from its ramparts yesterday. Farmers broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism across several parts of the national capital during their Kisan tractor rally organised to protest against the Centre`s three new farm laws on Tuesday. Several public and private properties being damaged in acts of vandalism by the rioting mob. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers` Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Live TV A handful of COVID-19 restrictions will be eased across Greater Sydney from Friday, but it will be at least two weeks before hospitality venues can permit one person per two square metres. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday announced household gatherings could increase to 30 visitors, with 50 people outdoors, as of 12.01am on Friday. Masks will also no longer be compulsory in retail shopping venues from Friday, but they are recommended. They will remain mandatory for hospitality staff, on public transport and in places of worship, gaming rooms, beauticians and hairdressers. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, at a press conference about the easing of restrictions in NSW. Credit:Janie Barrett Hospitality venues will have to wait at least another two weeks before the anticipated easing of the one person per four square metres to one per two square metres. The "Arbeit macht frei" (Work sets you free) gate is pictured on the site of the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz, empty due to COVID-19 restrictions, two days before the 76th virtual anniversary of the liberation of the camp in Oswiecim, Poland, January 25, 2021. Picture taken January 25, 2021. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel - RC2AGL9XF2P3 Body of Missing Woman Found in Mayfield Park By West Kentucky Star Staff MAYFIELD - The body of a missing Mayfield woman was found over the weekend.The Mayfield-Graves County Fire and Rescue Squad and Graves County Emergency Management Director Tracy Warner conducted a search on Saturday at Kess Creek Park, where they found a woman's body lying in the woods near her home.Graves County Coroner Brad Jones and Deputy Coroner Patty Redmon were dispatched to the scene after it had been secured by the Mayfield Police Department. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by the Coroners Office.The woman was identified as 61-year-old Donna Ballew of Mayfield. Jones said Ballew was reported missing on Jan. 15.Jones ordered an autopsy, but said no foul play is suspected. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. DETROIT (AP) One of six men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, admitting that the group discussed an incredible scheme to snatch her at her lakeside vacation home and destroy a bridge to slow down police. Ty Garbins guilty plea is a major catch for prosecutors, only about four months after arrests were made. His testimony would strengthen the governments case against the others and back up evidence collected by informants and undercover agents. Garbin appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids a few hours after prosecutors filed a plea agreement that is loaded with details about the operation and his pledge to fully cooperate with investigators. There is no agreement on his sentencing. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, by anti-government extremists upset over the coronavirus restrictions she imposed in Michigan. Six people were charged in federal court while eight others were charged in state court with aiding the alleged scheme. In the plea agreement, Garbin, 25, of Hartland, admitted to more than six pages of stunning allegations. He said he and others trained with weapons in Munith, Michigan, and Cambria, Wisconsin, last summer and discussed the plan to storm the Capitol and kidnap the governor. The plot, he said, eventually switched to Whitmers second home in Antrim County. Garbin said he advocated waiting until after the national election, when the conspirators expected widespread civil unrest to make it easier for them to operate. In September, the six men trained at Garbins property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a shoot house to resemble Whitmers vacation home and assaulting it with firearms, the plea deal states. The men also made trips to Antrim County to surveil the home and the area, Garbin said. Garbin said he sent a text message to someone who turned out to be a government informant, indicating that if the bridge goes down it will stop the wave, a suggestion that police would be delayed in responding to a kidnapping if a nearby bridge was blown up. He said he also offered to paint his boat black for another night of surveillance. Last fall, defense attorney Mark Satawa said Garbin had no intention to carry out a kidnapping, no matter what he might have said in recorded or online conversations. A big talk defense emerged as a strategy. Saying things like, I hate the governor, the governor is tyrannical ... is not illegal, even if youre holding a gun and running around the woods when you do it, Satawa said in October. The other defendants are Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. A trial has been scheduled for March 23. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American Smaller scale turf cutting contractors may continue in operation despite the moves to decarbonise the country, Just Transition Commissioner Kieran Mulvey said on Monday. Mr Mulvey said Bord na Mona had been forced to exit peat harvesting earlier than originally planned because of court rulings, planning law and public policy but he saw no impediment to smaller operators. Bord na Mona has announced it is ending all peat harvesting and Mr Mulvey said that will reduce carbon emissions by nearly 95%. Speaking to Offaly County Council, he said: I still hold the view that turf harvesting can still take place. No policy decision has been made regarding that and there are thresholds under which that can be done that doesn't attract difficulties. In 2019 the High Court ruled that peat harvesting on bogs over 19ha requires planning permission and licensing but that consent has proved very difficult to attain in many cases. While oil is the most commonly used home heating fuel in Offaly, peat remains a very important source, with nearly 38% of homes being centrally heated by burning it according to 2016 figures from the Central Statistics Office. That makes Offaly households far more dependent on peat than any other county, including neighbours Westmeath (19.6%) and Laois (16.1%). Fears for fuel poverty have also been raised by Bord na Mona's confirmation that it will cease briquette production by 2024, using existing stocks of peat in the meantime. Mr Mulvey said he believed Bord na Mona had adequate peat reserves to keep its briquette factory in Derrinlough in production until 2024. In a wide ranging presentation and question and answer exchange with councillors, Mr Mulvey also hit out at the European Union, criticising its application of state aid rules and its approach to peat harvesting for horticulture. Millions of euros worth of grants are available from the Just Transition Fund for job creation projects in regions affected by decarbonisation but EU rules on state aid mean companies and community groups will have to raise much more money themselves than they previously thought, putting the plans in jeopardy. There was widespread shock before Christmas when applicants discovered they would have to contribute between 15,000 and 100,000 if they are to receive their grants. Isn't it amazing that Lufthansa, Norwegian Air and Air France seem to get state aid and nobody bothers about it, said Mr Mulvey. The bigger you are, it's the usual argument, some countries in Europe can do what they like and some others, like ours, don't seem to be able to do what we like. But I am conscious of this but I think a lesson has certainly been learned about this and there has be a better way of doing this. Sixty-nine projects involving 11.2m of spending were not affected by the state aid rules but 25 other projects were. He was especially concerned to learn that not-for-profit organisations, which he thought would be exempt, were also subject to the rules. Mr Mulvey was also critical of the EU's position on the harvesting of peat for horticultural purposes. The horticulture industry in Ireland has indicated it will be damaged when Bord na Mona ceases supplying peat. Mr Mulvey said that while large scale peat harvesting in Ireland will end, peat will then be imported from other EU countries that don't appear to have the same restrictions on them, namely the Baltic countries. This is a contradictory position, even within the European Union. He said it seemed a jurisdictional issue between some Government departments was slowing down the establishment of a working party on the matter. Personally I'd wish they get on with it and do it. It's urgent and needs to be addressed. He said the ESB will be required by planning law to demolish its former peat-fired generation stations in Shannonbridge and Lanesborough but he believes both sites should be used for community gain projects. Cllr Eamon Dooley, Fianna Fail, was very critical of the just transition process and said Offaly, the county most impacted by decarbonisation with about 1,000 of Bord na Mona's 2,200 employees, was not being treated fairly. Unlike Bord na Mona headquarters at Newbridge, where most employees made redundant possess professional qualifications, the vast majority of workers in Offaly are general operatives, whose skills set while eminently suited to the needs of peat production, are ill suited to a more modern, digital economy, said Cllr Dooley. The former Bord na Mona employee added: The reality is they will find it extremely difficult to gain employment. He said that over that last 32 years, when preparations should have been made for life after Bord na Mona successive governments failed to act, despite being repeatedly called upon to do so. This Council has always been alive to the challenges posed by the inevitable decline of the peat industry and to the need for a planned just transition, long before the phrase was coined. He said Offaly County Council had taken the lead and done the heavy lifting by setting up the Just Transition Team. By any metric, the impact in the here-and-now on the people of Offaly is far more negative and impactful than it is on any other county, and funding for the county under the Just Transition Fund must reflect that reality, said Cllr Dooley. Mr Mulvey said he would engage with the department in relation to Offaly getting a fair share. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) House Minority Leader Stephen Paduano sees nothing wrong in a possible 'Duterte-Duterte' tandem in 2022, saying anyone has the right to run for a government position. "We have all the right, and it is also the right of whoever that will want to tandem, even father and daughter tandem, for as long as they are qualified," Paduano said in a briefing of the Minority bloc when asked about a possible father-daughter tandem for the 2022 national election of President Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. Under the Constitution, an individual may become a President if he meets the following: natural born Filipino, registered voter, must be able to read and write, 40 years of age at the day of the election, and must have resided in the Philippines ten years before the election is held. According to reports, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo said in a recent forum that a father and daughter tandem for the coming election, with the chief executive as vice president has no legal impediment. Duterte has repeatedly said he advised his daughter to not run for chief executive, saying being a president is not a woman's job. The presidential daughter earlier topped a survey as Filipino voters' early pick for president in 2022. However, she said in an interview that she would want to have her name removed from similar surveys in the future. For Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, it is important to have "more informed choices" and name should come second, while Magsasaka Party-list Rep. Argel Cabatbat said they will support the candidate who they think is able to help their stakeholders. Gabriela Part-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said instead of focusing on the elections, it is better to solve current issues the country is facing today, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic. She added that anyone who cannot assure providing a solution to the needs of Filipinos does not deserve to lead. "Dapat mamulat ang taong bayan na kailagan nila ng mga mamumuno na tutugon sa mga pangangailangan natin ngayon," she noted. [Translation: The people should know that we need leaders who are able to address our needs today.] The company believes results from the 2020 drilling are in line with previous high-grade results and will be valuable additions to the updated resource estimate which is currently underway and due to be completed in February. Mineralised systems as well as the resource locations at Menzies Gold Project in Western Australia ( ) has intersected high-grade gold mineralisation from the recently completed drill holes at Menzies Gold Project in Western Australia. The company has also initiated scoping studies at Menzies Gold Project, which is due for completion in March 2021. Assays returned from the final 2020 drill holes at Menzies confirmed further high-grade mineralisation including: 4 metres at 8.85 g/t gold from 115 metres including 1 metre at 31.79 g/t from 117 metres; 8 metres at 4.84 g/t from 56 metres including 1 metre at 29.03 g/t from 63 metres; 1 metre at 24.62 g/t from 133 metres; 2 metres at 10.18 g/t from 68 metres; and 1 metre at 14.31 g/t from 145 metres. Valuable additions to the updated mineral resource estimate Kingwest CEO Ed Turner said: These final results from the 2020 drilling are in line with previous high-grade results and will be valuable additions to the updated mineral resource estimate (MREs) which are currently underway and due to be completed in February. These MREs will be utilised in the scoping study which is also underway and due for completion in March. Importantly the drilling to date that will be included in the MREs is still mainly only to a maximum depth of 100 metres below the surface. Deeper extensions to the mineralisation will be the main focus of 2021 drilling which is already underway. I also eagerly await initial assays from the Goongarrie aircore drilling. The planned drilling metres was doubled during the program partly in order to better test the targets beneath transported sediments but also based on visually encouraging material intersected in the target areas. Menzies Gold Project In the second half of 2020, 157 RC holes were drilled at Menzies for a total of 15,732 metres and all of them postdate the last JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). The assays from these 157 holes are expected to upgrade significant amounts of the MRE category from Inferred to Indicated level and increase the size of the MRE, which currently total 319,900 ounces at 2.1g/t gold. Drill holes at the project were designed to follow up numerous high-grade results previously reported with several successfully testing for depth extensions to the two main lodes at the Pericles Deposit within the Lady Shenton System. The high gold mineralisation intersected at these drill holes proves the potential to increase all resources further at depth. Menzies scoping study At Menzies, a scoping study has also been started and is due for completion in March 2021. The scoping study will focus on shallow ore that can be toll treated rather than be milled onsite at Menzies. There are a number of mills within trucking distance from Menzies enabling Kingwest to avoid unnecessary capital expenditure before the commencement of open-cut mining. Further drilling in 2021 will focus on proving up deeper extensions to the updated MREs and mineralisation that may be mined from underground operations following open-cut mining. Goongarrie Gold Project drilling A maiden air-core drilling program has just been completed at the highly prospective Goongarrie Gold Project (GGP) with 381 holes for 10,682 metres drilled at numerous targets across the project area. Drilling was focused on multiple targets on and around the shallow salt lakes or on clay pans adjacent to the salt lakes. Turner said: I also eagerly await initial assays from the Goongarrie aircore drilling. The planned drilling metres was doubled during the program partly in order to better test the targets beneath transported sediments but also based on visually encouraging material intersected in the target areas. The ancient lake sediments are widespread and have inhibited previous exploration efforts as they act as a mask above possible mineralisation. The initial program was extended by more than 5,000 metres due to a number of factors and additional drill holes and deeper holes were also planned during the program based on the prospective rocks intersected. BATON ROUGE Gov. John Bel Edwards offers his condolences tonight to the family of former Rep. Steve Carter, who died following his battle with the coronavirus. Gov. Edwards said: I am deeply saddened to learn that former Representative Steve Carter lost his battle with COVID-19 this evening. Steve served the Baton Rouge community in the Louisiana Legislature for 12 years, and I was honored to serve with him during that time. I hope you will join me and Donna in praying for his wife Gloria, his children Amelia and Solomon and their families, including his four granddaughters, Yvie, Carter, Julia and Addie during this very difficult time. The Governor will order flags flown at half-staff the day of former Rep. Carters funeral. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... PHOENIX Two inmates who escaped from an Arizona prison in Florence last weekend both have medical issues and may try to visit drug stores or pharmacies, authorities said Tuesday as the search continued. Arizona Department of Public Safety officials on Tuesday released a surveillance photo they said shows fugitives John Charpiot and David Harmon attempting to rob a business in Florence, south of Phoenix. Both men were wearing white long-sleeved shirts and not their prison-issued uniforms. DPS officials said the robbery attempt occurred Saturday after Charpiot and Harmon escaped from the medium custody south unit by breaching a fence using tools retrieved from a facility room. DPS Director Col. Heston Silbert said Monday that authorities were doing door-to-door searches of homes within a few miles of Florence prison in case the escapees were still in the area and holed up someplace. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Charpiot was sent to prison in 2011 on a 35-year sentence for molestation of a child and sexual abuse out of Maricopa County. Harmon has been imprisoned since 2012 after being convicted out of Maricopa County and sentenced to 100 years for kidnapping and second-degree burglary charges. Rewards of $35,000 per inmate have been offered for information leading to their arrests. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla has pulled the plug on his province's deal with tycoon Lucio Tan and his company's Chinese partner for the upgrade of Sangley Airport. Citing various deficiencies in the submission of requirements for the projects joint venture agreement, Remulla said the provincial governments special selection committee recommended the rejection of the redevelopment plan submitted by the consortium of Tans MacroAsia Corporation and state-owned China Communications Construction Company Ltd. or CCCC. CCCC, along with its subsidiaries, had been blacklisted by Washington in August 2020 for its role in incursions in the South China Sea. It also stayed on the World Banks blacklist from 2011 to 2017 for fraudulent practices in the construction of Philippines National Roads Improvement and Management Project. The firm's blacklisting overseas has so far not been cited as a reason for the cancellation of the Sangley airport plan. RELATED: PH to honor contracts with Chinese firms despite US blacklist Palace The Cavite city government awarded the consortium a multi-billion peso contract to upgrade Sangley Airport into an international gateway in February last year, but the initative hasnt moved since. The consortium emerged the sole bidder for the project, which will be executed through a public-private partnership with the local government unit. MacroAsia also confirmed it received an email from the provincial government regarding the cancellation of the notice of selection and award in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange hours after Remulla made the announcement. Remulla also indicated the project will begin again, hopefully with successful negotiations with any qualified partner by October. I still believe that a new international airport is important for the country in the long run and it must be stressed that cancellation is not in prejudice of anyone applying again, the governor added. Intelligent Document Processing Solution Improves Contract Review Efficiency and Reduces Extraction Time By up to 80% New York, NY - January 25, 2021 Cortical.io today announced a new release of its Cortical.io Contract Intelligence software. Utilizing a patented natural language understanding (NLU) approach based on semantic folding theory, the software analyzes the content of large quantities of documents with a degree of accuracy that is difficult to achieve with manual Remembering those who are deployed in combat zones San Antonio, TX. (Oct 26, 2020) With numbers of Trick or Treaters projected to be at an all-time low due to COVID-19, Gunn Auto Group and their philanthropic arm, Gunn Gives, has teamed up with San Antonio-based nonprofit Soldiers Angels for a candy drive benefitting the organizations Treats for Troops outreach. Each of the five San Antonio area Gunn Auto stores and their three collision centers will serve as collection points for the community to drop off store-bought candy that will be shipped to our brave men and women overseas deployed in combat locations around the world. Donation Guidelines Individually wrapped candy is preferred, but unopened small bags of loose candy such as candy corn, jellybeans, etc. are accepted. While the thought is appreciated, due to health department regulations, homemade or handmade candy are not allowed. Baked goods, whether store bought or homemade are also a no-no. YES! We collect chocolate and the troops really appreciate them. Soldiers Angels Treats for Troops is an annual campaign dedicated to collecting and shipping excess Halloween candy to our servicemen and women. Traditionally, Halloween is one of the organizations busiest collection times and Amy Palmer, President and CEO of Soldiers Angels is concerned that they may not be able to meet the need. CDC and health experts are encouraging people to stay inside and do single family parties, Palmer said. Without door-to-door trick or treating this could greatly reduce the amount of candy we receive. We not only take bags of packaged candy; we take leftover individually wrapped Halloween candy. Many of our donors are parents trying to get excess Trick or Treat candy out of the house! Candy may be dropped off at all five Gunn Auto San Antonio dealerships: Nissan, Chevrolet, Buick/GMC, Honda and Acura and their three collision centers as well as Gunn Nissan of Denton. Donors may come into the showrooms to drop off their donations or may opt for a contact-free option by utilizing each locations Service Center drive thru. San Antonio Participating Locations Gunn Acura 11911 W Interstate 10, San Antonio, TX 78230-1012 Gunn Buick GMC 16440 Interstate 35 N, Selma, TX 78154 Gunn Chevrolet 16550 Interstate 35 N, Selma, TX 78154 Gunn Honda 14610 W Interstate 10, San Antonio, TX 78249 Gunn Nissan 750 NE Loop 410, San Antonio, TX 78209 Gunn Collision Northeast 12520 Judson Rd, Live Oak, TX 78233-4101 Gunn Collision Selma 16380 Interstate 35 N, Selma, TX 78154-1214 Gunn Collision Northwest 4851 Woodstone Dr, San Antonio, TX 78230 DENTON LOCATION Gunn Nissan of Denton 5650 S Interstate 35 E Denton, TX 76210 Our founder Pop Gunn served with the 13th Armored Division during World War II as a Lt. Colonel under General Patton and he was a Bronze Star recipient. Curtis C. Gunn, Jr., a Navy Lieutenant served as a Navigator and Operations Officer on the USS Boyd, said Sean Gunn, CEO, Gunn Automotive Group. Currently, Gunn Auto Group collectively employs more than 50 former servicemen and women and reservists. We truly appreciate our military and their families for the many sacrifices they make so we can live in a free country. Gunn has pledged 100 boxes (roughly 3,000 pounds) of candy for troops currently serving in combat zones. Top Gunns volunteers, across all of our stores and collision centers, will collect, sort and package the donations and deliver them to Soldiers Angels for shipping. Gunns philanthropic arm Gunn Gives has donated millions of dollars to area charities. In their pursuit to do more than simply write a check the Top Gunns volunteer corps was created so they could provide physical, in-person support to important causes. Treats for Troops drop off is available from 7am-7pm, now thru Wednesday,November 11, 2020. About Gunn Automotive Group What began as a horse-drawn wagon company more than 100-years ago has evolved into a third generation, locally owned automotive company representing six of the top selling automobile brands; Acura, Buick, Chevrolet, GMC, Honda and Nissan. The Gunn Automotive Group employs approximately 650. Their philanthropic arm, Gunn Gives, has provided millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations since its inception. In their pursuit to do more than simply write a check the Top Gunns volunteer corps was created so they could provide physical, in-person support to important causes. For more information about GUNN GIVES About Soldiers Angels Soldiers Angels is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides aid, comfort, and resources to the military, veterans, and their families. Founded in 2003 by the mother of two American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Soldiers Angels Angel volunteers assist veterans, wounded and deployed personnel and their families in a variety of unique and effective ways. (Tax ID# 20-0583415). www.soldiersangels.org. Editor's Note: This content is made possible by Sponsored content contributor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com State-owned on Wednesday said it will raise Rs 205 crore by issuing Basel III compliant later this week. The bank is issuing Basel III compliant perpetual debt instruments in the nature of debentures on private placement basis, said in a regulatory filing. From the issue size of Rs 200 crore with green shoe option up to Rs 300 crore, the bank said it has accepted bids of Rs 205 crore. The coupon on the is fixed at 8.73 per cent per annum to be payable annually. The date of allotment of is January 29, 2021. Perpetual bonds and those instruments that carry no maturity date and hence may be treated as equity, not as debt. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two more Illinois regions will see COVID-19 mitigations scaled back amid declining positivity numbers, state officials announced Tuesday. The states seven-day rolling case positivity rate stood at 4.6% Tuesday, the 18th consecutive day that figure has dropped, and the lowest mark it has reached since Oct. 14. The state reported 3,667 new and probable COVID-19 cases Tuesday out of 69,285 test results reported over the previous 24 hours. Regions 8 and 9, which include DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties in the Chicago suburbs, were cleared to move to Tier 1 mitigations. Five of the states 11 public health regions now are in Tier 1 mitigations. Tier 1 allows limited indoor service at restaurants and bars and some group recreational activities to resume. Another five of the states 11 public health regions have returned to Phase 4 of the states Restore Illinois plan. Only Region 4 in the Metro East area on the Missouri border remained in stricter Tier 2 mitigations as of Tuesday, meaning indoor service is not allowed at bars or restaurants. Illinois entered Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan Monday, making the vaccine available to residents age 65 and older as well as front line non-health care essential workers. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, an estimated 3.2 million people are eligible to receive a vaccine under Phase 1B. Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference Monday that eligible residents may have difficulty obtaining a vaccine in the early stages as the federal government works to ramp up production to meet state demand. Illinois Department of Public Health officials said 1.7 million vaccine doses have been delivered to the state, with 719,995 administered to date. Public health officials also announced Monday that eight cases of a new COVID-19 variant were identified in Cook County. The variant first was identified in the United Kingdom in November and spotted in Illinois on Jan. 15. The new variant is believed to be more contagious than the initial COVID-19 strain that originated in China more than a year ago. We are following closely to see if there is evidence that infections by this variant cause more severe disease or death, state health department Director Ngozi Ezike said. Based on the information available now, the vaccine will still be effective. Continued masking and vaccination when it is your turn remain our best path to defeating this virus as quickly as possible, Ezike added. As of Monday night, 3,001 people in Illinois were reported to be hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those, 608 patients were in intensive care units and 320 were on ventilators. . Total cases in west-central Illinois counties as of Tuesday, according to individual county health departments, were: Brown County 626 total, 592 recovered, seven deaths Seven new cases. Cass County 1,812 total, 1,737 recovered, 31 deaths Nine new cases. Greene County 1,270 total, 1,200 recovered, 42 deaths Seven new cases. Jersey County 2,317 total, 2,191 recovered, 44 deaths 23 new cases and one additional death. Macoupin County 4,201 total, 2,914 recovered, 98 deaths 38 new cases and one additional death. Morgan County 3,393 total, 3,228 released from restrictions, 94 deaths Two new cases. Pike County 1,596 total, 1,493 recovered, 45 deaths 22 new cases. Sangamon County 14,996 total, 205 deaths 40 new cases. Schuyler County 629 total, 593 recovered, 16 deaths Eight new cases. Scott County 412 total, 373 recovered, one death 26 new cases. Statewide, 3,667 new cases of coronavirus disease and 87 deaths were reported Tuesday, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. There have been 1,108,430 cases and 18,883 deaths in Illinois. Today my organization, Girls Who Code, took out a full-page ad in the New York Times urging President Biden to implement a Marshall Plan for Moms. Why? Because Im tired of waking up every morning to new headlines about the demise of womens careers and hearing zilch about solutions. And Im not alone. Our open letter was signed by 50 prominent women, from A-List celebrities to tech founders to labor leaders representing hundreds of thousands of working women. Our ask is simple: put moms at the center of our economic recovery. If theres one thing weve learned during the pandemic, its that moms are the bedrock of society. Overnight, we became teachers, nannies, tech support, cooks you name it, weve done it this year. When America shut down, we stepped up. When we all went home last March and schools closed their doors, it didnt take long for the trend to emerge: women, especially women of color, were being disproportionately impacted by Covid-19. As early as May, research showed that women were maxing out and burning out. We were bearing the brunt of childcare responsibilities, working a second second shift, and it was having a measurable impact on our mental health. By September, the trend had become a full-blown national crisis. More than 2 million women had left the workforce, at a rate of four times that of men. One in four women was considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to Covid-19. And in December, 100 percent of all jobs lost in the US were lost by women. Most of us dont need research studies or jobs reports to tell us how it happened: we are living it every single day. Some moms, the lucky ones, are juggling Zoom calls while making cereal and helping our kids log in to online school. We are running ourselves ragged, exhausted, passing up career opportunities and deferring our dreams because we simply cannot do one more thing. Other moms have seen their lives turned upside-down. They have lost jobs in hard-hit sectors like hospitality and are dealing with issues like food insecurity that no American should face. Thats why we are calling on the Biden administration to create a task force dedicated to passing a Marshall Plan for Moms. The plan should include short-term direct payments to moms, depending on need. Ive heard this idea is controversial, and I respectfully disagree: its time to put a dollar figure on our unseen, unpaid labor. We cannot fix what we cannot name. Beyond basic income, a Marshall Plan for Moms should be a 360 plan to get women back to work that includes retraining programs to address the seismic shifts in our economy that have happened this year, as well as school reopening plans to get kids back in school five days a week. And lets be honest: we didnt get to this place overnight. Like so many inequalities in our society, the pandemic has shined a bright, unflattering light on the lack of structural support for moms. We have to act immediately on policies to address paid family leave, affordable childcare, and pay equity. If all that sounds like an overly ambitious plan, consider this: in one year, womens workforce participation has dropped to where it was in the 1980s. The gains weve spent decades fighting for could be erased overnight. President Biden didnt create these problems, but as we Build Back Better, his administration has an opportunity to fix them. Im encouraged to see some of these policies already in the administrations American Rescue Plan, which includes funds for reopening schools and childcare, and raising the minimum wage. As this plan makes its way through Congress, its critical we keep the focus on moms. The first 100 days of a new administration are an opportunity to define our values as a nation. Lets start by valuing moms. Reshma Saujani is the founder of Girls Who Code Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lancaster police are investigating an overnight shooting they said sent a 25-year-old man to the hospital. The man was found with a gunshot wound to his torso around 12:46 a.m. Wednesday. at Pearl and Second streets, police said. They said he was taken to Lancaster General Hospital and is in stable condition. Several spent shell casings were found on the 800 block of Second Street, and bullets hit the home where the man was found, police said. Based on the evidence at the scene, police believe the suspects shot into the home and hit the man while he was inside. Two other people were inside at the time of the shooting. Lancaster police are continuing to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Lancaster Bureau of Police at 717-735-3300, or Lancaster Crime Stoppers at 800-322-1913. Tips can also be anonymously submitted by texting LANCS and your message to 847411. READ MORE: Harrisburg police arrest 15-year-old in connection with fatal daytime robbery 1 dead in Allentown shooting, authorities say 12-year-old boy charged in sisters accidental shooting death in Philadelphia: report The on Wednesday interacted with investors and companies from various countries regarding opportunities in the proposed petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment region (PCPIR), according to an official release. The state government is set to provide industrial land for the proposed PCPIR by July 2021, according to the release. The PCPIR is being developed by the Rajasthan State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO) near the 9-MTPA (million tonnes per annum) HPCL Rajasthan Refinery and Petrochemcial Complex in Barmer district of Rajasthan. A virtual meeting between potential investors from across the world and the state government was held on Wednesday to promote investment in the region, it said. Delegates from Embassies of the UAE and Brazil, along with the representatives of nearly 100 companies from various countries participated in the virtual meet. The companies were from countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Germany, the UK, the US, and Switzerland, the Netherlands, France, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Brazil, Bahrain, Jordan and South Korea. Domestic investors also participated in this. Representing the state government, senior ministers and officials assured investors of support and opportunities in the sector. "It is the first global dialogue for investment, however, we wish to hold it as a continuous process for facilitating investments in the region," said the state's Industries Minister Parsadi Lal Meena. The RCPIR is emerging as a lucrative investment destination in petrochemicals and ancillary industries due to advantages of location, connectivity, resources and policy incentives, an official statement said. Along with the first phase, RIICO has identified 422 hectare of land in village Ramnagar (Thob) of the Barmer district, which is about 35 km from the refinery-cum-petrochemical complex. The process for allocation of this land to RIICO has been started. Sixteen government land parcels of about 2,290 hactare have been identified in Barmer and Jodhpur districts. Further, additional land parcels are being identified in these districts, according to the statement. A total investment of Rs 15,000 crore is expected in the PCPIR, generating nearly 1.5 lakh job opportunities, it added. A range of petrochemical products, including polyethylene, polypropylene, butadiene, benzene and toluene from the refinery will be available for the downstream industries in the region. Situated nearly 9-13 km from the refinery, the first phase includes 93 industrial plots spread over 243 hectares of land. The state government through the dialogue also sought suggestions to improve the investment ecosystem. "New mining policy is being drafted and the suggestions of the participants are most welcome and those would be included for consideration of the state government," said the state's Mines Minister Pramod Jain Bhaya. He said that early commencement of the work on PCPIR would give investors adequate time before operations of refinery commence next year. He said that there was some impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress of the refinery development, however, the work has now resumed at a normal pace. Kuldeep Ranka, principal secretary to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and chairman of RIICO, highlighted the advantages for investment in the PCPIR. During a presentation on opportunities in the petroleum sector, RIICO Managing Director Ashutosh A T Pednekar stated that India's per-capita plastic consumption at nearly 11 kg is much less than the world average of 33 kg. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Changes requested by the organizations include amending the French code of criminal procedure to explicitly prohibit discriminatory identity checks, introducing specific rules for checking minors and creating a comprehensive database on identity checks. It is difficult to get a precise measure of racial profiling by the police because ethnic statistics are tightly regulated in France. But a 2017 investigation by the state civil liberties guardian found that young men perceived to be Black or Arab were 20 times as likely to be subjected to police identity checks than the rest of the population. Several studies from nongovernmental organizations, including a Human Rights Watch report released last June, also pointed to systemic discrimination by the police. In 2016, Frances Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that police identity checks of several young men because of their real or supposed origin constituted a serious misconduct involving the responsibility of the state. Police officials and unions have long ignored these reports, and various French governments have balked at pushing for police overhauls. Gerald Darmanin, the interior minister, has insisted that instances of police racism were the work of individuals rather than a systemic issue. But even members of the police force have started to sound the alarm. Its a fact there is racism in the police, said Noam Anouar, an officer turned whistle-blower who in 2017 revealed racist messages sent by his superiors. He accused the police authorities of regularly finding ways to retrospectively justify practices that could be considered discriminatory. The administration has legalized illegality, Mr. Anouar said. By driving the government into a judicial corner, the organizations collective action aims to end these practices. Slim Ben Achour, one of the lawyers representing the groups, said the move confronts the state with its responsibilities, about what he called its passiveness in addressing the issue. Forty-five Republican senators have voted in favor of an effort to dismiss former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Republican Senator Rand Paul introduced the motion objecting to the impeachment trial on Tuesday, said a report from Daily Wire. Paul's motion argued that going forward with the impeachment trial would be unconstitutional since Donald Trump was no longer in office. The former president left office last Wednesday. However, the motion was defeated with a 55-45 vote favoring Democrats who did not view the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional. NBC News noted that this number of votes showed how the Democrats might have an "uphill climb" to secure 67 votes for a conviction against Trump. Read also: Donald Trump Establishes 'Office of the Former President' in Florida With this, the Senate may not have the required supermajority votes to convict Donald Trump as 17 Republicans would have to vote with the Democrats. Five Republican Senators View Donald Trump Impeachment Proceedings as Unconstitutional A Business Insider report noted that there were five Republicans who voted against Paul's motion: Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey. One of the Republican senators who agreed to the motion was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who earlier said he was undecided whether a conviction was right for Trump. His decision indicated how he thought his caucus should vote on convicting Donald Trump. He also worked on a trial calendar with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer despite prior refusal to say how he'd vote on the trial. Republicans have been poised to push their theory of unconstitutionality in the coming days. They were supported by some legal scholars who supported the notion. However, most people dismissed this argument and said refusing to hold an impeachment trial for a federal official who was about to leave the office or already left office could allow them to escape accountability. Yale Law School professor Akhil Reed Amar told NPR that the argument made "no sense at all." For Amar, following this line of thinking could give someone a "get-out-of-jail free card" where they could do anything and be immune to impeachment. Paul Slams Democrats for Striking Division Through Donald Trump Impeachment In a speech on the Senate floor, Paul said Chief Justice John Roberts did not have plans to preside over another impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump, Daily Wire reported. "The Chief Justice's absence demonstrates that this is not a trial as a president, but of a private citizen," said Paul. He then argued that it would be held against a private citizen if there will be an impeachment trial. And not against a president, a vice president, or civil officer, which is unconstitutional. Paul also criticized the Democrats and accused them of striking division in America when even President Joe Biden calls for unity. "Hyper-partisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation's history," Paul noted. He also accused the Democrats of "wasting the nation's time on partisan vendetta" against Trump instead of doing their work in the House, the Senate, and the executive branch. "It's almost as if they have no ability to exist except in opposition to Donald Trump," Paul added. Related story: House Lawmakers Deliver Trump Impeachment Article to Senate The single impeachment article against Trump was delivered to the Senate on Monday, alleging Trump encouraged "imminent lawless action at the Capitol" on January 6. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Ex-Russian senator Sabadash detained as part of new embezzlement case ITAR-TASS 11:59 27/01/2021 ST. PETERSBURG, January 27 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) - Ex-member of the Russian Federation Council and owner of Liviz liquor producer Alexander Sabadash has been detained on new embezzlement allegations until March 19, the United press service of St. Petersburg courts has told RAPSI. When explaining the detention petition, an investigator said Sabadash had the U.S. citizenship and property in France. According to the investigation, in 2013, Sabadash and his accomplices took out a loan on behald of their firm Norfolk without the companys financial state conclusion. Thus, they embezzled 100 million rubles ($1.3 million) from the Bank Tavrichesky. The defendant pleads not guilty. Sabadash was arrested on January 25 when leaving a detention center after serving out of two sentences. In 2015, he received a 6-year prison sentence for attempted embezzlement of 1.8 billion rubles (about $25 million at the current exchange rate) involving Arkhangelsk-based developer ES-Kontaktstroy and JSC Vyborgskaya Cellulose. Sabadash, believed to be the owner of Vyborgskaya Cellulose, has organized a fraudulent VAT refund scheme, according to investigators. In October 2017, Sabadash was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for embezzlement from the Bank Tavrichesky. Somov and Garkusha were sentenced to 7 years in prison each. Moreover, all defendants were fined 100,000 rubles ($1,300) each. According to case papers, from June to December 2013, Somov, Garkusha and Sabadash stole 190 million rubles by signing credit contracts in violation of a procedure of approval and processing of loans established in the bank. The defendants transferred the embezzled money to accounts of foreign companies controlled by Sabadash. Sabadash was stripped of his seat in the parliaments upper house, the Federation Council, in 2006 after he was accused of carrying out business activities, which senators are forbidden to do. A young Notasulga man has been sentenced to 198 years in prison for the kidnapping and rape of a 68-year-old woman in what the veteran prosecutor called the worst case hes ever seen in which a victim survived. Terrance Devonte Cobb, a 22-year-old with 15 prior adult felony convictions, unexpectedly pleaded guilty in an Elmore County courtroom Monday as his trial was to begin in the horrific 2018 case that spanned three Alabama counties and 12 law enforcement agencies. Elmore County Chief Deputy District Attorney CJ Robinson provided this account of what happened on that day: It was New Years Eve 2018 when the victim, a grandmother and the wife of an Alexander City preacher, attended a funeral in south Alabama. She picked up her daughter in Montgomery and drove to Opp, dropping her daughter back off when the funeral was over. The woman traveled Interstate 85 until taking the Tallassee exit, which is in the corner of Elmore County. After driving for about two miles, a vehicle driving erratically came up beside her and sideswiped her van before crashing out. The victim called her husband and told him she had been involved in a wreck. She said, Im going to make sure theyre OK,' Robinson said. She got out of the car and he (a man later identified as Cobb) comes running toward her car. Elmore County Chief Deputy District Attorney CJ Robinson (Contributed) The woman tried to get back into her vehicle and he tried to force his way in as well. She was yelling for him to stop. He gets mad, goes back to his car, comes back to a car with a gun in his hand and shoots the window out,' Robinson said. Shes covered in glass, with cuts and stuff. Cobb then got into the womans van, put a gun to her head, and forced him to drive him around for the next couple of hours. They ended up in a remote, wooded area in Macon County, where authorities say he forced her to perform oral sex on him and then raped her. Cobb, authorities would later find out, is HIV positive. The victim would later go through three months of preventative treatment and never tested positive for the virus that can lead to AIDS. The victim was on the phone with her husband when the initial attack happened. The husband heard the gunshot but then the line went dead. Her family was panicked, not knowing what happened. The husband called Alexander City police, who then called authorities in Macon County and eventually Tallassee police where investigators pinged her phone and were able to quickly identify the last two numbers that had been dialed from her device. They ran the number through their database and learned that the number was a match to one of the departments confidential informants. A narcotics detective called the informant, who told the officer he had been expecting their call. The informant told police that his cousin Cobb- had called him and reported that he had wrecked and taken a white woman hostage. He went on to say that the pair had been together at the Victoryland casino in Shorter and decided to steal some cars. Cobb, he said, left in a stolen a car which ended up matching the wrecked car later found. He gave police Cobbs address, and they began to prepare arrest and search warrants. In the meantime, Cobb had released the victim. He had her put her out somewhere,' Robinson said. Shes in Macon County and has no idea where she is. Shes just driving to find some lights. The woman ended up at a truck stop in Tuskegee. She ran into the store for help and eventually a state trooper responded to an emergency call. He had enough presence of mind to turn on his body cam,' Robinson said. So, we had six to eight minutes of footage that was raw and emotional. This was literally the first person of safety she had seen since two hours before. Its powerful, gut-wrenching,' he said. If you can watch (the footage) without an emotional response, then you are dead inside. Police then went to Cobbs home to carry out their warrants. They found a 9 mm handgun that matched the bullets fired into the victims van and also $278 that had been stolen from her. He had her AARP card that he kept as a souvenir in his pants pocket,' Robinson said. Additionally, they found 41 stolen IDs in his nightstand from unrelated crimes. Cobb was taken to jail where he consented to a DNA swab which turned out to be an exact match to semen found during the investigation. After the victim was treated for the rape injuries and was on her way home, she thought she was having a heart attack. She was taken back to the doctor and diagnosed with broken heart syndrome, which feels similar to a heart attack and is caused by intense physical or emotional stress, often in the loss of a loved one. She was mimicking symptoms of a heart attack and even today she has to go to therapy and counseling for broken heart syndrome,' Robinson said. In one of the initial court hearings, Robinson said Cobb grabbed his crotch and told one of younger female assistant district attorneys what she can do to him in court. The suspect was thrown out of the courtroom. At the next hearing, Cobb said publicly in the courtroom, I should have just killed that white bitch. Again, he was kicked out of the courtroom and future hearings were held via Zoom. Additionally, Robinson said, Cobb sexually assaulted two male inmates while in the Elmore County Jail awaiting trial. Hes threatened to kill me, hes threatened to kill Judge (Bill) Lewis,' Robinson said. He also confessed to the attack on the woman to a fellow inmate at the county lockup. As the case proceeded through the justice system, Robinson said they eventually offered Cobb a plea deal with 68 years to serve in prison, because that was the age of the victim at the time of the attack. This (the offer) was just to save the victim from having to go to trial,' he said. Cobb turned down a deal. Twice. At that point, Robinson decided, there would be no more offers. Not wanting to delay the process any further, the Elmore County District Attorneys Office paid to rent the Wetumpka Civic Center to have the jury selection so that they could be properly distanced to comply with COVID-19 safety practices. The 150 potential jurors showed up Monday at the Civic Center, where there was beefed up security including a SWAT team. As the began the process to pick a jury, the defense approached prosecutors and offered a guilty plea with a life sentence, which actually would only be 35 to 40 years in prison. I said absolutely not,' Robinson said. He consulted with the victim and asked her if she was still willing to testify in open court. She nodded her head yes. Im done with him having power over me. Im ready to have my life back,' she told Robinson. She said she was tired of him controlling her life and calling the shots. She said, Lets go.' It was then that Cobb entered a blind plea, which means he pleads guilty to the crimes with no promise or idea of what his sentence will be. The attorneys, the defendant and the victim and her family all met in a conference room. Cobb looks over (toward the victim) and says, Im sorry. I know shes mad at me but I grew up hard. When youre on the street, you have to do what you have to do, and I had to what I had to do. I know shes mad, but I did it. Im sorry. The victims husband and children spoke, as did the victim. The emotional body cam footage also was played and submitted to the court. It was two hours of hell she went through,' Robinson said. The judge gave Cobb the 198-year sentence for five felony convictions first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, first-degree robbery, second-degree kidnapping and shooting into an occupied vehicle. The 99 years for rape and the 99 years for sodomy will be served consecutively, meaning one after the other. Cobbs attorney, Michael Holton, said he was disappointed in the sentence but declined to comment further. Robinson said he was stunned in a good way - at the outcome. He had prayed before court Monday about his two objectives: the first was to find a way to not re-victimize the now-70-year-old victim by making her talk about the living hell she experienced in front of her family and a courtroom of strangers and a defendant with a smile on his face getting kicks out of it and, second, to lock this animal up for the rest of his life so that he could never do this to anyone again. I didnt know I could accomplish those two things at the same time, Robinson said. But he did. And later posted this on Facebook: There is a song entitled, Yet not I, but through Christ in me. I encourage you to listen to it. The lyrics express how I feel today. The result is not common, in fact I would have told you it was almost impossible. However, my God is faithful and delivered the victory without the devastating fight we prepared to endure. Thank you for reading! 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Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning (Natural News) A former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security warned Sunday, Jan. 24, that President Joe Bidens executive orders undoing the border controls implemented by his predecessor will trigger an immigration and border security crisis. The actions Biden and the administration have taken are actually going to cause an immigration and border security crisis on the southwest border and thats something we dont need right now, former Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf said in an interview on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures. Wolf was referring to a wave of immigration orders, memorandums and proclamations signed by Biden shortly after his inauguration last week. With these, Biden halted work on a border wall with Mexico, lifted a travel ban on people from several predominantly Muslim countries and reversed plans to exclude immigrants living in the country illegally from the 2020 census. The president also signed a memorandum to preserve Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Since it was introduced in 2012, DACA has shielded hundreds of thousands of people who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. He also extended up to June 2022 the temporary legal status of Liberians who fled civil war and the Ebola outbreak. These things concern me. The [Homeland Security] department has done a good job over the last several months of keeping increased number of folks coming to the border illegally, under control, and weve done that through a variety of different authorities. Weve seen a roll back of some of the authorities. It really is concerning, said Wolf. What the Biden administration is saying is were not going to deport them because were going to focus on other things. Theyre moving resources to the border to process immigration, to process asylum claims. I think in a COVID-like environment thats very dangerous. Wolf noted that the border wall system put in place in Trump administration absolutely works. They said we dont need a border wall system on every mile of that border. We need it in strategic locations. And thats what Customs and Border Protection has done. But to say that we dont need an effective border wall system in very high traffic areas, an area that we know cartels use over of and over again. I think is very naive. I think its the wrong approach. Wolf also didnt agree with the 100-day moratorium on deportations for certain noncitizens issued by the DHS, which will start Friday, Jan. 29. According to Wolf, the new administration is essentially saying it wont deport individuals with final orders of removal, criminals in most cases, were not going to deport them for 100 days. Biden proposes immigrant-friendly bill Bidens most ambitious proposal is an immigration bill that would give legal status and a path to citizenship to anyone in the U.S. before Jan. 1 and reduce the time that family members must wait outside the country for green cards. Under the bill, those enrolled in DACA, those with temporary protective status for fleeing strife-torn countries and those working at farms would only wait three years to get citizenship while most of the others would wait eight years. Eligible family members will also be granted temporary status until their petitions are processed so they can wait for green cards in the U.S. The bill also offers development aid to Central America, reduces the 1.2 million-case backlog in immigration courts and provides more visas for underrepresented countries and crime victims. (Related: POTUS Trump proposes amazing new immigration plan that emphasizes merit-based system including English proficiency and self-sufficiency.) Bidens proposal is expected to face resistance in Congress. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, provided a glimpse of what is to come, describing the bill as having open borders: Total amnesty, no regard for the health and security of Americans and zero enforcement. Follow JoeBiden.news for more news related to the presidents efforts to undo the work of his predecessor. Sources include: NewsMax.com APNews.com Warning of a political crisis, experts call for talks and for electoral authorities to end their silence. Myanmars powerful military on Tuesday declined to rule out staging a coup over its claim that the countrys 2020 elections were tainted by voter fraud, as experts warned the dispute is leading to a political crisis in the nascent democracy that emerged from harsh army junta rule only a decade ago. The November 8 elections were won by Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) in a landslide, but the military-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) contend that there was widespread voter fraud and have been ramping up pressure on electoral authorities to investigate. The military, whose soldiers are guaranteed 25 percent of seats in parliament under the constitution, and the USDP, made up of former military officers, claim to have found 8.6 million irregularities in voter lists in 314 townships that could have let voters cast multiple ballots or commit other voting malpractice. But the military and its proxy the USDP, which fared poorly in the November vote, have not presented any evidence of actual voter fraud on the day of the election. Army and USDP backers have staged protests in several cities in central Myanmar this year. Major General Zaw Min Tun, the military spokesman, asked at a weekly news conference whether an army takeover could be ruled out, said: No. As I said already, the military is going to follow the laws, including the constitution and existing laws. In order to strengthen the democratic system, we are going to follow and reflect those laws. Asked to clarify, he said: What I want to say is that we do not say the military will seize state power nor do we say we will not seize power. We will follow the laws in accordance with the constitution. Myanmars constitution, enacted in 2008 under military rule, contains a provision that allows the militarys commander-in-chief to wield sovereign power during a state of emergency that could lead to a disintegration of the country. Some critics have said this makes a military coup technically legal, though the state of emergency would have to be declared by Myanmars president, a civilian. Zaw Min Tun reiterated the militarys demand that the ruling government, the Union Election Commission and the Union parliament resolve the election disputes, claiming all three are manipulating the law to avoid addressing the armys contentions Whether or not they are manipulating the law, you can clearly see if you read our previous statements, he said. We have clarified this issue from a legal point of view, and we have requested a special parliamentary meeting on the matter. They have refused. We have already released statements on which of their actions are not legal There are other issues as well. I would like to say that you should all read them again, Zaw Min Tun said. Legal experts and the NLDs members of parliament said that the dispute over potential voter fraud should be settled in the courts. If they are unsatisfied with the ongoing disputes about the election results, there are options to file complaints under the election law, Aung Thein, an NLD member of parliament told RFAs Myanmar Service. I think they need to take that route. There is no legal mandate that the UEC must respond and answer to each separate question. If what they are doing is not in line with the law, the military has to act according to the law If the government authorities have to come forward and give an explanation whenever the military makes an allegation at a press conference, there will be no end to it, Aung Thein said. But disputing the elections results after the fact is not helping the country come together according to Zin Mar Oo from the Myanmar Network for Free and Fair Elections. It wont be so complicated if we stick to the mandate that the UECs decision is final no matter what, Zin Mar Oo told RFA. They didnt say anything when the authorities initially compiled the voters list. But now that the election is over, they are playing the blame game. It does not make any sense, he added. NLD-military friction Aung San Suu Kyis NLD, which swept the Nov. 8 elections by securing more than 82 percent of all 1,117 contested seats in the Union, state, and regional legislatures, will form a government and launch Aung San Suu Kyis second five-year term around the end of March. The USDP has refused to accept the results of the vote in which it won only 71 seats, or 6.4 percent, nationwide. In response to the allegations, the UEC has been mostly silent, contributing to the risk of a political crisis in the form of tensions between the ruling party and the powerful military. The analysts said that the military is growing more assertive as its claims are ignored by both the ruling party and the UEC. There are growing disagreements between the military and the ruling government. In fact, when the military initially released the alleged voting fraud lists for ten or eleven townships, the ruling government should have reacted by releasing its own lists for these townships to refute their claim, Ye Htut, a political observer and former minister of information, told RFA. This problem should have been resolved much earlier, but now the issue has snowballed over time, Ye Htut said. He called on State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, the military leaders and the UEC to resolve the issue at the negotiating table, saying he was concerned that the dispute could grow to the point where it causes political instability or has negative effects on the economy. The NLD rejected the notion that the UECs lack of response was causing any friction with the military. The UEC made a decision within its authority. I dont think its inaction is pushing the NLD and the military into crisis. It really depends on the perspective of the observers, NLD spokesperson Myo Nyunt told RFA. I dont think the UECs actions have any effect on the national reconciliation work between the NLD and the military, he said. Zaw Min Tun, however, hinted during Tuesdays press conference that the UECs silence was making a strained relationship worse. You could judge by the example of the relationship between two people. If you treat me fairly but I ignore your demands for your rights and opportunities, will you and I have a good relationship? he asked. Just think about it. This is the basis. I dont want to say anything else, Zaw Min Tun said. Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS), one of the countrys minor political parties, said he didnt think the voter fraud dispute would affect the countrys most urgent issues. I only think the UEC needs to come forward and resolve this problem, he told RFA. RFA attempted to reach the UEC and presidential office spokesperson Zaw Htay for comment, but they did not respond. The dispute is drawing attention away from more urgent issues Myanmar faces, according to Sai Nyunt Lwin, the vice chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), a political party that advocates for Myanmars largest ethnic minority. In a time like this, the only and most critical issue should be national reconciliation, Sai Nyunt Lwin told RFA, referring to ongoing fighting between the military and ethnic insurgent groups in the countrys western areas. I think it is best if they meet and calmly discuss this issue. They should have face-to-face meetings for better communication, he said. Intervention by the military is troubling to many in Myanmar, which endured brutal, corrupt military rule from 1962 to 2011. In 1990, the military nullified the results of an election in which the NLD won 81 percent of the seats in parliament, holding Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 15 years between 1989 and 2010. Reported by Thet Su Aung, Thiha Tun, Phyu Phyu Khaing, Soe San Aung, Kyaw Lwin Oo and Thet Su Aung for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung. Written in English by Eugene Whong. Description Location: Karlsruhe Location: Cary - North Carolina Location: Katowice Job Description Job description Be part of the SWC MES engineering department Provide technical vision , leadership and foundational concepts to the MES multiyear technical product roadmaps. Drive the transition process from a traditional MES system architecture to a modern, cloud enabled, modular architecture Closely collaborate with Business, Engineering and Analytics Platform Architects to translate the business vision into viable concepts and transform existing product capabilities. Drive key architectural decisions and design considerations Own the responsibility for architecture design pattern from Cradle to Grave Collaborate with other architectural teams within RA Candidates should be creative and technically skilled who enjoys being part of a dynamic team with a lot of responsibility and the opportunity for personal development. Essential Functions Works with product marketing and technology management to define customer requirements Writes architecture specifications that apply customer and system requirements to create appropriate solutions for Common Communication Platform that are deployed across products, product groups, and in some cases across vendors Provides development teams guidance in selecting product implementation technologies Works with product marketing & product engineering of technology adaptor teams to evangelize solutions and gain wide acceptance and consistent implementation. Works with software development teams to provide work estimates and status reports as requested. Maintains adequate interaction to ensure assigned tasks are prioritized appropriately. Keeps informed of new developments in the software engineering and computer engineering fields and disseminates appropriately through the organization. Identifies and participates in technical and developmental training opportunities. Researches, considers, and explores new possibilities utilizing the latest technologies and standards. May function as a technical lead of a small to mid-sized development team. Maintains technical expertise in field. Keep current through contacts with educational institutions, professional societies, and technical publications. Maintain awareness of applicable new technologies, processes, and competitive trends. Develop and maintain relationships with partner companies. Clearly communicates and conveys design concepts, both verbally and written. Also able to learn and understand complex control system concepts. Effectively teams with others throughout mutually supportive professional relationships, open and direct communications, honesty and respect. Able to cope with and leverage stylistic differences and differences of opinion. Preferred Qualifications Typically requires 8 years of experience in a software product development environment, including 2-3 years of design/architecture experience Working knowledge of modern web/mobility technologies, platforms, tools and libraries Sound experience on containerization Sound experience in Kubernetes/Helm Sound expertise around Azure or AWS (ideally multi cloud provider experience) with as preference Azure. Infrastructure as code affinity Containerization of Java based Enterprise Apps Domain driven design Java technology stack (JEE, Spring, Camel, ...) CQRS API/ API Gateway technologies Microservices Messaging, Message Brokers Kafka, Kafka Connect Change data Capture On Premise and Cloud integration for IIOT, OPC UA Working knowledge of JS, C++ , C# Knowledge of multithreading, concurrent system, real-time systems is a plus Working knowledge of cloud computing and Microsoft Azure technology or related system is a plus Direct experience with the Industrial Automation industry. Experienced in both local and global technical development team environments. Previous experience in technical team leadership Requirements See job description Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. A screenshot demonstrates how the IRIS UxS ground control station shows a mixture of real-time contacts from local sensors with near real-time contacts provided by a space-based data feed Complete awareness of the air picture in your mission space increasingly requires knowing whats over the horizon for long range unmanned flights Kongsberg Geospatial, developer of the TerraLens Geospatial SDK, uAvionix, creators of the PingStation Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) transponder, and Aireon, developers of a space-based ADS-B network announced that they will be demonstrating a horizonless air picture to help improve drone operations safety in an upcoming online seminar hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). Kongsberg Geospatial, along with its partners Aireon and uAvionix, will demonstrate how a space-based ADS-B feed can be fused with a ADS-B local receiver to create the worlds first demonstration of a horizonless air picture for BVLOS operations. This is important for long-range, BVLOS missions where unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) operators need to be aware of air traffic and other unmanned systems both in the mission area, and over the horizon. This combined sensor picture, integrated and correlated within the Kongsberg geospatial IRIS Airspace Management application, provides for the best of both ADS-B worlds: the local accuracy and update rate from the uAvionix PingStation ADS-B receiver combined with the worldwide coverage of the space-based Aireon ADS-B satellite receiver network. This integrated and correlated airspace picture provides highly accurate local coverage while eliminating local blind spots caused by terrain or obstacles while providing an over the horizon capability to monitor your own or any other ADS-B emitting aircraft. Complete awareness of the air picture in your mission space increasingly requires knowing whats over the horizon for long range unmanned flights, explains Paige Cutland, Vice President at Kongsberg Geospatial, and one of the presenters. By combining local ADS-B transponder data with a space-based feed, we can effectively create a horizonless air picture so operators are aware not only of traffic in their immediate area, but whats in the air beyond the immediate sensor range of their equipment. Cyriel Kronenburg, Vice President International Development & Strategic Partnerships at uAvionix will describe how uAvionixs PingStation2 multi-channel sensors can provide a real-time picture of nearby air traffic both for commercial aircraft and unmanned systems. Demetrius Zuidema Manager of Commercial Data Services at Aireon, will be providing information and examples of the near real-time air traffic data available from Aireons space-based ADS-B data feed. The presentation will feature examples and scenarios of how both services can be integrated into a single operating air picture for situational awareness for UAS operators who conduct BVLOS operations. The online seminar will be hosted on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2021 at 3:00pm EDT by AUVSI, and a link for registration is available here. ENDS ### About Kongsberg Geospatial: Based in Ottawa, Canada, Kongsberg Geospatial (https://kongsberggeospatial.com) creates precision real-time software for air traffic control and UxS and situational awareness. The Companys products are primarily deployed in solutions for air-traffic control, Command and Control, and air defense. Over nearly three decades of providing dependable performance under extreme conditions, Kongsberg Geospatial has become the leading geospatial technology provider for mission-critical applications where lives are on the line. Kongsberg Geospatial is a subsidiary of Kongsberg Defence Systems. About Aireon: Aireon operates the first ever, space-based air traffic surveillance system for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft throughout the entire globe. Aireon harnesses next-generation aviation surveillance technologies that were formerly ground-based and extends their reach throughout the world to significantly improve efficiency, enhance safety, reduce emissions and provide cost savings benefits to all stakeholders. Aireons high-fidelity, low-latency surveillance data is available for various applications, allowing aerospace industry partners access to revolutionary data capabilities that enhance asset tracking, aircraft situational awareness and decision support analytical tools. In partnership with leading ANSPs from around the world, like NAV CANADA, Enav, NATS, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and Naviair, as well as Iridium Communications, Aireon provides global, real-time, space-based aircraft data for enhanced air traffic surveillance, innovation and analytics. For more information, please visit http://www.aireon.com. About uAvionix: uAvionix (https://uavionix.com) was founded with the mission of bringing safety solutions to the unmanned aviation industry to aid in the integration of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) into National Airspace Systems (NAS). uAvionix offers low SWaP TSO-certified and uncertified avionics for General Aviation (GA), Airport Surface Vehicles, and the UAS markets. The team consists of unparalleled engineering and management talent with a unique combination of experience with avionics, surveillance, airport services, UAS aircraft development, radio frequency (RF), and semiconductor industries. uAvionix is backed by investors at Playground Global and Airbus Ventures. About AUVSI: The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (https://auvsi.org), is the world's largest nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of unmanned systems and robotics. AUVSI represents corporations and professionals from more than 60 countries involved in industry, government and academia. AUVSI members work in the defense, civil and commercial markets. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. ROME, JAN 27 - President Sergio Mattarella is set to start a round of formal consultations on Wednesday after Giuseppe Conte quit as premier on Tuesday, marking the collapse of his second government. The government no longer had an absolute majority in the Senate after ex-premier Matteo Renzi's Italia Viva (IV) party triggered a crisis in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic by withdrawing its support. The other parties in the ruling coalition, the 5-Star Movement (M5S), the centre-left Democratic party (PD) and the left-wing LeU group, are in favour of Conte forming a new executive, which would be his third. Conte had been hoping to replace IV with so-called 'constructor' lawmakers and Senate Speaker Elisabetta Casellati said Wednesday that a new group has been formed in the Upper House, the Pro-Europe MAIE Democratic Centre (MAIE-CD) group. However, while this new group has around 10 Senators, this is not enough to replace IV in the Upper House. Indeed, while the M5S and the PD had previously ruled out patching things up with Renzi, this notion is no longer a taboo subject. A third Conte government would have a new programme and probably a reshuffled cabinet too. There is also the possibility that the old coalition could be reformed but under a different premier. Another option is the creation of a broad government of national unity. The centre-right opposition is calling for early elections. The consultations will start in the afternoon with Mattarella holding talks with Casellati and House Speaker Roberto Fico. He will speak to the political parties on Thursday and Friday. After the consultations, Mattarella will decide whether he wants to hand a mandate to someone to try and form a new government. Conte's first government, which lasted from June 2018 until August 2019, was backed by the M5S and Matteo Salvini's right-wing League party. (ANSA). Professor Joseph Osafo, Head of Psychology at the University of Ghana, has urged the new ministerial appointees to work hard and support the President's vision. President Nana Akufo-Addo has named 46 Ministers-designate for his central and Regional governments. Among the list are notable faces who were part of his first administration and new names that have been introduced to head Ministries and Regions in his second term. Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Prof. Joseph Osafo advised the incoming Ministers to put Ghana first ensuring they execute their duties effectively to enhance the progress of the nation. "Ghana is going through a lot of challenges now globally, so when you're appointed as Minister; you're going to work under very serious circumstances. So, you should work hard for the progress of the nation," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video PEOPLE may be able to book an appointment to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by June or July when there is likely to be open access to vaccines, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has told his party. Mr Varadkar told the Fine Gael parliamentary party today that the country is likely to emerge from the current lockdown - which has been extended to March 5 - in a manner similar to how it emerged from restrictions after the first wave of the virus last year, and may go from from Level 5 to Level 4, or Level 4 with modifications. Under the Living with Covid plan, Level 4 would allow gatherings of up to 15 people outdoors and outdoor dining limited to a maximum of 15 patrons. Read More Mr Varadkar said that case numbers, hospital and ICU admissions and the progress of the vaccination programme would inform the Governments approach. He noted that while ICUs and critical care settings are under pressure there are hundreds of beds free in hospitals which was not the norm in the health service for January. Mr Varadkar told the meeting that supply of the vaccines will ramp up in the coming months with current projections showing that 1.1 million doses of the vaccine will have been received and delivered in the State by the end of March. He said this may be more depending on how the dispute between the EU and vaccine-maker AstraZeneca over supply delays is resolved. Mr Varadkar told TDs and Senators that the EU was taking a hard line with the company but the Government expects the game-changer vaccine to receive regulatory authorisation on Friday that would allow its rollout in Ireland from the second week of February, starting with the over-85s. While cautioning that his figures were heavily caveated, the Fine Gael leader said that based on current supply projections the State will take delivery of 1.5 million doses in the month of April, and up to two million doses in May. He told TDs and Senators there will be eight mass vaccination centres set up in cities and towns such as Athlone and Sligo with smaller local vaccination centres in other areas. He said the vaccination programme will ramp up in May with the involvement of GPs and pharmacists allowing between 75,000 and 100,000 doses per week to be administered. Sources said Mr Varadkar told the meeting it was likely there would be open access in June or July when it could be a case of a person being able to book a time for an appointment to be vaccinated. Mr Varadkar was said to have struck an optimistic tone but warned the next few months were going to be grim. He also told the meeting he was quietly confident a phased reopening of schools would begin next month and continue into March. The meeting heard calls for clarity on the Leaving Cert from senators Micheal Carrigy and John Cummins. Junior minister with responsibility for special education, Josepha Madigan, said intense negotiations on the schools issue were ongoing. Amid the ongoing debate over calls for a Zero Covid strategy, Mr Varadkar said while he would not rule out or dismiss any strategy it was a slogan that meant different things to different people. The meeting heard it was important to emphasise that following this weeks measures there is no silver bullet to eliminate Covid-19 from Ireland. Amid criticism from some participants that the measures on quarantine announced by the Government on Tuesday do not go far enough, the Fine Gael leader said international travel accounts for 1pc or less of Covid-19 cases in the country. A German survivor of the Holocaust Wednesday urged lawmakers during a special session of the German Parliament to "take care of our country." Charlotte Knobloch, 88, told lawmakers that the lives of Jews in Germany are still far from normal, nearly eight decades after Nazis murdered 6 million European Jews in the Shoah -- another name for the Holocaust. Knobloch also warned of democracy's fragility and asked lawmakers to protect the achievements of the last decades for Jews and non-Jews and defend Germany against extremists. She said right-wing extremism is the greatest threat of all. The session was held to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 76 years after the Soviet army liberated the Auschwitz death camp in occupied Poland. As Bay Area counties race to vaccinate health care workers and elderly residents, some are questioning why out-of-town residents are allowed to get shots at San Franciscos only mass vaccination site, which opened Friday. It is the latest gripe in San Franciscos vaccine rollout, which has confused and frustrated many eligible residents who havent gotten their shots yet. But city officials say that they have little choice over the matter, as regional health care providers that operate in San Francisco which receive two-thirds of the citys entire supply from the state care for patients from all over Northern California. The Bay Area is porous and were all interconnected, Dr. Grant Colfax, director of the citys public health department, said at a Monday news conference. We need to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible. Critics of the current system say that San Francisco residents only 6% of whom have received one dose should at least be prioritized at City College of San Francisco, the citys only mass vaccination site. That location was chosen because its close to neighborhoods that have been particularly hard hit by the virus, like the Outer Mission and the Excelsior. But Elizabeth Fernandez, a spokeswoman for UCSF, which is currently running the site, said its vaccine supply is intended to provide vaccines for our patients regardless of where they live. On Tuesday, a seemingly endless number of cars rolled up to the vaccination site in the parking lot on Frida Kahlo Way, across from the college. Of the 22 vaccination seekers The Chronicle spoke with, seven came from out of town, including San Rafael, Foster City, Pacifica, Daly City, Tiburon and Burlingame. One wasnt even from the Bay Area. Barry Abe, 79, said he is neither a San Francisco resident nor a UCSF patient; he lives in Tracy. He said his brother was able to get an appointment for him online, but he wasnt sure exactly how. His brother did not respond to multiple calls from a reporter. It didnt matter to Abe how he got the appointment or where he got the shot. He just cared that he finally had some protection from the virus. If I get sick, I could pass it onto my mom who is 101, he said. And that would probably be a death sentence. Fernandez did not respond to a question about how someone like Abe was able to get an appointment. She also declined to say how many of the nearly 3,000 people who have received a vaccine at the site since it opened have been San Francisco residents. The city has not asked us to report where the patients live, in part because our patients come from throughout Northern California, she said. Still, Supervisor Ahsha Safai, whose district includes the City College site, says many of his constituents have complained that they havent been able to get a vaccine at the site, despite the fact that they are eligible. He said many have scoured the internet for an appointment or tried calling their providers, but have had no success. When he went to the site this weekend, he said many people getting vaccinated were from out of town. This vaccination site was designed to be an immediate response in one of the harder-hit areas and communities of San Francisco, Safai said. To hear from people that they havent been able to get an appointment, and then to hear that there are people coming in from out of county, its tough. While cities should make sure their residents are prioritized, Dr. Lee Riley, chair of the Division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology at Berkeley Public Health said, every vaccine poked into someones arm brings the region one step closer to herd immunity. We need to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, so ultimately it doesnt matter where the jurisdiction for the vaccination is, he said. This whole issue of not having enough doses is whats really creating this chaos right now. Until that is resolved, were going to continue to have this kind of issue. Currently, the City College site is run by UCSF but Dignity Health, Kaiser and Sutter Health are also partnering with San Franciscos public health department on the mass vaccination program. People are invited to the site if they are 75 or older and a UCSF patient, regardless of where they live. The health care provider also began vaccinating San Francisco residents this weekend who are 75 or older, regardless if they are a patient or not. Fernandez did not respond to a question about how someone who is not a UCSF patient could get an appointment. Supervisor Matt Haney, frustrated at what he feels has been an opaque vaccine roll out, was expected to introduce legislation Tuesday that would force the city to report more specific vaccine data, including the demographics of those who have been vaccinated. It would also require the city to submit a plan next month that describes how it will vaccinate everyone who works and lives in the city, regardless of insurance. San Franciscos public health officials have a goal to vaccinate all San Francisco residents by the end of June. To achieve that, the city would need to vaccinate at least 10,000 people a day. Currently, there are only enough doses to vaccinate about 3,000 people a day between the health department and private providers. City officials say they are stymied by an inconsistent and unreliable supply from the state, which makes it hard for them to plan how many appointments they can make and how much staff they need on a given day. Two more mass vaccination sites will open within the next few weeks, one at SF Produce Market in the Bayview and another at Moscone Center. Its unclear if those sites will prioritize San Francisco residents. We are in good shape in San Francisco with a plan to get people vaccinated quickly once we have the supply we need, Breed said at a Tuesday news conference. We have a plan and ability to distribute 10,000 doses a day, once we have more supply of the vaccine. Meanwhile, San Franciscos public health department is still in the first tier of vaccinations, mainly because of how many health care workers it has to vaccinate. Dr. Susan Philip, director of the Disease Prevention and Control Branch at San Francisco Department of Public Health, said Tuesday at a news conference that San Francisco has a larger share of health care workers in the city than other counties, but did not provide specific numbers. The city is responsible for vaccinating all of them, regardless of where they live. That means it is going to take us longer to vaccinate all of the people that have been serving us throughout the pandemic, Philip said. Currently, 210,000 people in San Francisco are eligible for a vaccine, between health care workers and people over 65. But the entire city including private health care providers has received only 144,000 vaccine doses from the state, and 98% of those doses have been administered or scheduled for a second dose, according to city data. Aside from supply, there are other logistical barriers that the city must contend with like the weather. UCSF said it will have to close the City College site Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the week due to the rain and strong winds ahead. Appointments from Tuesday and Wednesday will be rescheduled. Officials did not make appointments past Wednesday because UCSF didnt have enough doses. As the city scrambles to figure it all out, people like 78-year-old David Boyd have no idea what to do. Boyd, who lives in supportive housing South of Market, said he is on Medicare/MediCal and does not have a primary care provider in the city. He said hes tried calling Kaiser every day for over a week, but has had no luck as the provider says its still vaccinating just health care workers. I cant even understand how people are getting appointments, said Boyd, who had cancer and has AIDS. Its like saying youre eligible to win the lottery, but they dont even tell you where to buy a ticket. Trisha Thadani and Nanette Asimov are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com, nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani @NanetteAsimov SACRAMENTO Months after California voters overturned a law abolishing cash bail in the state, advocates are trying again with a new approach that would not rely on the risk assessment tools that divided support for their first attempt. Democratic legislators introduced a pair of identical bills Wednesday SB262 by state Sens. Bob Hertzberg of Van Nuys (Los Angeles County) and Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, and AB329 by Assembly Member Rob Bonta of Alameda that would set bail at $0 for misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. For other crimes, the measure would require the judiciary to develop statewide bail standards though most bail money would be refunded if the charges were dropped or if a defendant made all mandatory court appearances. Bail companies would retain only a small surcharge. Critics of Californias criminal justice system have long targeted bail as unfair. They contend that the process in which defendants pay to secure their release while awaiting trial keeps poor people locked up, contributing to an overcrowded jail system in which nearly two-thirds of inmates on any given day have not yet been sentenced. Bonta said the new legislation would address the most egregious, fundamentally unjust elements of money bail while giving advocates more time to develop a better pretrial release system. Poor people are being punished for being poor, Bonta said. The jailhouse swings open and closed based on how much you have in your wallet. Advocates first tried to eliminate cash bail several years ago. Following a protracted battle in the Legislature, then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law in 2018 that would have largely left pretrial release decisions up to judges, replacing bail with assessments of a defendants risk of fleeing or committing another crime if freed. The bail industry quickly qualified a referendum asking voters to repeal the law, which threatened their business. Bail companies generally charge a nonrefundable 10% fee to post bail for a defendant. They argue that the system promotes public safety and encourages defendants to show up in court. In November, Californians rejected the replacement risk assessment system with 55% of the vote, amid a split among criminal justice groups opposed to cash bail. Some believe the tools used to conduct risk assessments are biased against people of color and would have been worse than maintaining bail. They will now have to start from scratch at the state Capitol amid a new political climate. While Gov. Gavin Newsom has previously expressed support for eliminating cash bail, it is unclear if legislators will embrace the policy so soon after being rebuffed by voters. Bonta said the referendum campaign, in which the bail industry disappeared from public view and debate revolved around the merits of risk assessment, proved that Californians recognized the harms of cash bail and do not want it to continue. Nobody was saying the money bail system is fair, is safe, is just, lets keep it, Bonta said. There is likely to be considerable opposition from some prosecutors, bail companies and law enforcement groups, which previously worked to defeat the law abolishing cash bail. A representative for the California Bail Agents Association said the organization had not yet seen language for the bills, but was concerned about the attempt to link bail refunds to the outcome of cases. Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff Michael and Shavonn Janes are bringing the madness to Johnstown, Colorado, opening the states newest Teriyaki Madness on Wednesday, January 27. The couple is excited to introduce Northern Colorado to the Seattle-style teriyaki restaurant with satisfying bowls of addicting flavors made with high-quality ingredients like all-natural marinated chicken, steak, salmon or tofu with fresh, stir-fried veggies and a base of steamed white, brown or fried rice or Yakisoba noodles. The new shop will be located at 4944 Thompson Pkwy, next to Crumbl Cookie. The Janes are inviting locals out to celebrate the grand opening with events beginning January 27 through February 2. The schedule of events and primary giveaways are included below: January 27 to January 29: All in-shop customers may enjoy $5 Junior and Regular Chicken Teriyaki Bowls. January 28: The Grand Opening celebration event kicks off with a chance for customers to win free Teriyaki Madness. Any customer who places an order through the app between January 28 and February 2 will be entered to be one of five winners to receive free Teriyaki Madness for one year, or one of twenty winners to receive free Teriyaki Madness for one month. January 30: $1 from every regular bowl purchased will be donated to Mountain View High School. The Janes, who are also owners of their own brokerage, The Janes Group, and custom home company, Solace Homes, were inspired to open their Teriyaki Madness to offer a great contribution to restaurant options in Northern Colorado. After visiting Teriyaki Madness while in Utah, the Janes decided the brand would be a perfect fit for Johnstown. They are confident that the brands healthy alternatives will be a major hit in Northern Colorados vibrant, welcoming community. Were thrilled to bring Teriyaki Madness to Johnstown, said Michael Janes. Looking ahead, we have a second location in Greeley in the works and a third location to follow. Shavonn and I would like to continue growing the brand throughout Northern, Southern and Western Colorado, and our plan is to own double-digit locations in the future. In the past decade, we have been growing at a rapid pace, introducing bold flavors to new communities. We are ecstatic to be opening up our sixth Colorado shop in Johnstown, said Teriyaki Madness CEO Michael Haith. Michael and Shavonn are wonderful members of our franchise family, and we are so excited to watch and support them as they champion the brands entry into this new market. Michael and Shavonn will surely drive success in the state as Teriyaki Madness continues to expand beyond Johnstown and throughout Colorado. For more information about Teriyaki Madness of Johnstown, visit the restaurants official website, http://www.TeriyakiMadness.com. ABOUT TERIYAKI MADNESS: Fast-casual teriyaki shop franchise Teriyaki Madness is committed to unconditionally satisfying guests by offering delicious, made-to-order, healthy (or not) bowls, apps and sides, prepared with fresh, all-natural ingredients served quickly and at a reasonable price. Guests can enjoy their bowls in the shop, or order through the mobile app for delivery or curbside pickup. Teriyaki Madness has been ranked on Entrepreneurs Top Food Franchises and FastCasuals Movers and Shakers in 2019, and the Inc. 5000 list for three straight years. Founded in 2003, the brand currently has franchise agreements in place for nearly 250 shops across the U.S., with franchising opportunities nationwide for qualified single and multi-unit candidates. For more information, visit http://www.franchise.teriyakimadness.com. We have been helping vulnerable people for two decades, but never before have I seen such poverty. This is how charity activist Hacer Foggo summarizes the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the most indigent segments of Turkish society. Foggo, a co-founder of the Deep Poverty Network, a civic initiative helping the poor, speaks of a rising number of people waiting outside groceries for the disposal of bad vegetables and fruits, mothers unable to breastfeed their babies because of malnourishment, and supermarkets installing hook locks on infant formula and other basic items of food. Im afraid that well see families living in the streets in the near future, she warns. Poverty in Turkey has both expanded and deepened during the pandemic, which hit at a time when Ankara was already in financial dire straits amid economic turmoil, since 2018. Official statistics on poverty are available in the yearly Income and Living Conditions Survey of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), although many experts believe they fail to thoroughly reflect the picture on the ground. According to the 2019 survey, which is the most recent one, up to 17 million people live below the poverty line in the country of 81 million. How the figure has changed during the pandemic remains unknown, but as Foggo notes, alarming signs abound on the ground, especially in Istanbul. In addition to those worst hit, who struggle to feed themselves or pay for accommodation, millions of families are unable to pay for electricity or internet to ensure the remote schooling of their children. The problem of poverty and income distribution has haunted Turkey for decades. The TUIK surveys provide the main reference for the trends, though they are not fully reliable as they rest on the incomes that families declare and lack any cross-testing methods. Turkeys Gini coefficient a statistical measure used to gauge income distribution, with zero corresponding to perfect equality stood at 0,395 in 2019, reflecting little progress since 2015, although President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government often boasts of elevating living standards in the country. The figure marks a relative improvement from 0,415 in 2009, but the income of the richest 20% in Turkey remains 7.5 times bigger than that of the remaining 80%. The TUIK surveys classify families as poor if their incomes are less than 60% of the median income. Accordingly, the 2019 survey found that 21.5% of families in the country were poor. The data for the pandemic-hit 2020 will be released in September. Pundits expect a major increase in the impoverishment rate and the number of poor due to a steep increase in unemployment and income losses in low- and middle-income groups, coupled with the governments failure to extend adequate support to those in need. Data compiled by the Family and Labor Ministry shows the governments social welfare assistance totaled about 50 billion Turkish liras, or 1.16% of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019. About a fourth of that assistance is in the form of government-paid social security premiums for some 7 million people, which entitled them to free health care. Other major categories include small monthly allowances to about 1.5 million elderly and handicapped people and monthly home care assistance for 514,000 people in need of nursing. Additionally, Ankara allocates funds to district administrations to distribute benefits such as coal for heating and scholarships for university students. Such welfare programs may be worth only about 1% of the GDP, but Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) has keenly publicized them over the years and built a reputation as an exceptionally charitable government. The pandemic, however, has badly shaken that image. While many governments in developed and emerging-economy countries have braved going in the red to offer substantial grants to both individuals and companies, Ankaras handouts have been limited to 8 billion liras ($1.1 billion). The sum includes one-off assistance of 1,000 liras (about $145) to 6 million families, followed by another one-off payment of 1,000 liras to 2 million families from funds raised in a national solidarity campaign. The Unemployment Insurance Fund, meanwhile, has paid 38 billion liras ($5.1 billion) in monthly allowances to about 5 million employees furloughed by crisis-hit enterprises. The government counts those payments as welfare assistance as well and claims that its so-called welfare shield against the pandemic totaled about 46 billion liras ($6.2 billion). Still, the sum amounts to less than 1% of Turkeys estimated GDP in 2020. This puts Turkey on par with countries such as India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa, while the relief packages of others have reached up to 9% of their GDPs, according to the International Monetary Fund. With little to offer as direct cash assistance, the AKP government encouraged borrowing by facilitating access to cheap credit, especially in the second half of 2020. This, of course, was of little benefit to the poor, especially those in the grips of deep poverty. Turkeys official unemployment rate has floated around 12% to 13% during the pandemic. Yet alternative calculation methods, counting in those who stopped actively looking for jobs out of despair or because of pandemic restrictions, put the rate at about 40%, or nearly 10 million people. This alone is a striking sign that poverty in the country is both expanding and deepening. Erdogans government lacks the means for meaningful relief, with public deficits and the public debt stock growing under the impact of other factors. Wary of mounting popular frustration with the government, it has even sought to hamper assistance initiatives by opposition-held local administrations in a bid to prevent them from expanding their outreach at the AKPs expense. The anger of the poor, however, is growing, amplified by the anger of the new poor. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A poll ahead of next year's French presidential election has put far-right politician Marine Le Pen almost level with President Emmanuel Macron, should they make it to the final round. The poll by Harris Interactive saw Macron receive 52 percent of the vote to Le Pen's 48 percent, according to Le Parisien. France is due to head to the polls in April 2022 for the first round of the presidential election. The incumbent President Macron is eligible for reelection but has not yet said whether he will run again. Le Pen, who came second to Macron in the 2017 election and third to Francois Hollande in the 2012 election, has announced that she will run in 2022. Only the survey results for the first round of the vote have been made public for now, with Le Parisien reporting what it says are the poll's second round findings from the poll. A poll ahead of next year's French presidential election has put far-right politician Marine Le Pen (pictured) almost level with President Emmanuel Macron, should they make it to the final round [File photo] The study was commissioned by the CommStrat firm and the daily L'Opinion and was carried out online between January 19 and 20. It suggested National Rally leader Le Pen would narrowly beat Macron in the first round, gaining 26 to 27 percent of the votes against his 23 to 24 percent. If accurate, the survey indicates that Macron and Le Pen are set to duel for the presidency for the second time. In 2017, Macron beat Le Pen in the second round, gaining 33.9 percent of the votes to her 66.1. However, the margin between the pair was much smaller in the first round of voting, with Macron winning 24 percent and Le Pen taking 21.3 percent. Macron's leadership has been under scrutiny over labour disputes that sparked huge protests beginning in 2018, as well as his handling of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron (pictured) has not yet declared whether he intends to run for re-election [File photo] His response to the murder of schoolteacher Samuel Papy in October last year and a subsequent attack on a church in Nice drew condemnation from Muslims at home and abroad and reinvigorated a divisive debate in French society around the role of religion in the public sphere. These challenges are unlikely to be fully resolved in the fifteen months before the next election and will be inherited by the next French president. Another challenge is a growing wave of Euroscepticism in France, which could see voters favour Le Pen. While she has dropped her calls for France to leave the EU amid a party rebrand following Macron's 2017 victory, the National Assembly member is a strong advocate for EU reform. With campaigns yet to get under way, the results suggested by the poll could change dramatically but they appear to show gains for the far-right compared with previous surveys. A June 2020 poll carried out by Ifop-Fiducial placed Macron at 55 percent in the second round of voting against Le Pen at 45 percent. The Harris Interactive poll reported by Le Parisien appears to show that Macron's already-slim ten point lead has shrunken even further. This month's survey was conducted with a sample of 1,403 French people over the age of 18, including 976 registered voters. An. Stephensi. Credit: Radboud University Larvae of a new malaria mosquito species are abundantly present in water containers in cities in Ethiopia. The mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is the main malaria mosquito in India but only appeared on the African continent a few years ago. It has now been found in cities and towns in urban settings in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. Researchers from the Radboud university medical center and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia showed that the invading mosquito species is highly susceptible to local malaria strains. Malaria can therefore become an increasing problem for urban areas in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. In Africa, malaria is traditionally been a rural disease with towns and cities associated with much lower levels or absence of malaria. This is due to the fact that most African malaria mosquitoes breed in rural areas. However, the introduction of Anopheles stephensi may increase the malaria risk for urban populations. Over recent years there have been increasing reports of the Asian mosquito species Anopheles stephensi in the Horn of Africa. Anopheles stephensi can reproduce particularly well in man-made containers with clean water. This makes Anopheles stephensi a notorious mosquito species for urban malaria The Asian mosquito appears to be particularly susceptible to African malaria A mosquito species only poses a health risk if it can spread local malaria parasites. "That is why we performed mosquito feeding experiments with the blood of Ethiopian malaria patients. This allowed us to determine whether the local malaria parasite can develop in the new mosquito," explains Professor of Epidemiology of Tropical Infectious Diseases Teun Bousema of Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen. "To our surprise, the Asian mosquito turned out to be even more susceptible to local malaria parasites than our Ethiopian mosquito colony. This mosquito appears to be an extremely efficient spreader of the two main species of malaria." With this important puzzle piece, concerns about urban malaria in Africa are increasing. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) already sounded the alarm about the possible consequences of the invasion of Anopheles stephensi in Africa. With this new findings, these concerns seem justified. "An aggressive approach to target this mosquito is now a top priority," concludes dr. Fitsam Tadesse. "Only if we act quickly can we prevent the spread to other urban areas on the continent. We must target the mosquito larvae in places where they now occur and prevent mosquitoes from spreading over long distances, for example via airports and sea ports. If that fails, the risk of urban malaria will rise in large parts of Africa." Eggs An. Stephensi. Credit: Radboud University About malaria With approximately 216 million cases and 400,000 deaths per year, malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases of our time. Compared to the situation before the year 2000, there is a clear decrease in the number of sick people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Unfortunately, malaria now seems to be on the rise in several areas where it was previously under control. Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the main types of malaria for humans. They are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and vice versa. There are about 60 mosquito species that can transmit human malaria. In Africa, a number of mosquito species are traditionally responsible for the most malaria transmission. Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes have been labeled the most dangerous animal species on earth and are especially common in rural settings in Africa. Spraying with Insecticides and the use of impregnated mosquito netting against mosquitoes are among the most effective ways to combat malaria. Since 2015, a vaccine has been registered for use. This vaccine, Mosquirix, offers some protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the deadliest form of malaria. Preventing the spread of malaria is considered one of the greatest challenges in the fight against malaria. Explore further Invasive Asian mosquito species threatens African cities: study More information: Fitsum G. Tadesse et al, Anopheles stephensi Mosquitoes as Vectors of Plasmodiumvivax and falciparum, Horn of Africa, 2019, Emerging Infectious Diseases (2021). Journal information: Emerging Infectious Diseases Fitsum G. Tadesse et al, Anopheles stephensi Mosquitoes as Vectors of Plasmodiumvivax and falciparum, Horn of Africa, 2019,(2021). DOI: 10.3201/eid2702.200019 Data from trials conducted on the effectiveness of several new vaccines against South Africas COVID-19 variants will be available before the end of the week. Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), made this known on Tuesday night at a virtual news conference ahead of the launch of the 2021 Bill and Melinda Gates Annual Letters. Mr Gates said: South Africa is one of the three countries where the COVID-19 variant is slightly more infectious, and might be slightly more fatal. What we think is that the vaccines will be only slightly less effective, but within two weeks, the data will be out. If there is a drop in effectiveness, even by 10 per cent, well still need to use the vaccine, because it is still very effective. But then, well look at whether we need to add an additional thing to the vaccine so it covers the variants that have emerged, and we get the efficacy level back up closer to 100 per cent. So, were investing money in that right now. Im talking to all the companies. Its definitely bad news that these variants showed up, but we do expect that the vaccines will still have a pretty high level of efficacy, even before we make that new addition. On BMGFs plan to ramp up supply of COVID-19 vaccines to African countries, Gates said that funds would be raised from the Gates Foundation and from rich countries to pay for the vaccines. So, the way GAVI has always worked is that for the countries with the low GDP per person, theres almost no co-financing required. So, we raise money from the Gates Foundation and from rich countries, and they pay for the vaccines. The same thing will take place here with the Coronavirus vaccine. The GAVI money, which was difficult to raise when the U.S wasnt involved, now we see a clear path to raise up to about 10 billion dollars, just for vaccine procurement, which should be enough to finance it for most of the GAVI-eligible developing countries, he said. Mr Gates expressed optimism that some factories in India which the foundation had assisted with finance, and have larger capacities than the factories in the West, would produce large number of doses of vaccines within the next few months. Well, the agreement we have with India is that those factories, at least half the capacity will be dedicated to going to supply, through GAVI, to Africa and other developing countries. Every day, of course, were trying to speed this up, he said. According to him, before the establishment of GAVI in 2000, the key vaccines required for saving millions of lives were not cheap enough for the poor countries, and the coverage levels were very low. And so GAVI deserves more visibility for what it did, funded by many governments and our foundation, to get diarrhoea vaccines and pneumonia vaccines into all the children in the world. The GAVI approach, where it buys the vaccines at the very lowest price with that donor money, has worked very well. ADVERTISEMENT Thats why deaths of children under five, since the year 2000, in the world at large, has been cut in half. Its an even higher percentage if you just focus on Africa, Mr Gates said. According to him, partners are working on vaccine processes, but wont want to speed them up, so as not to compromise safety for the factories or for the trials. He said that there was a need to balance things as they push ahead. Mr Gates said that the costs of the pandemic, not only the lives, but the economic, educational, and mental health impacts, were hard to quantify, saying they are gigantic. Fortunately, there is an end in sight. Through great scientific work, many vaccines are becoming available and so that means that over the course of this year, the numbers will start to go down. And certainly by sometime next year, I believe well be able to say that were largely back to normal, he said. Africas response to the pandemic Mr Gates noted that the response to the pandemic had been a huge public health effort, with some countries demonstrating best practices, including many in Africa. Senegals civil society organisations, Kenyas strong guidelines, Nigerias private sector partners are coming in to provide resources, he said. Mr Gates said that the goal of BMGF was to get back on the previous path of progress, and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He said that the foundations aspiration was for everyone to have a healthy and productive life. There are some huge challenges in getting the tools out to the entire world. There is some inequality in the distribution, and thats where the foundation has put a lot of its resources. Trying to get vaccine manufacturers all throughout the globe, to be able to make these vaccines, and make sure that, particularly for those being made in Asia, that theyre available broadly to all countries. Theres a lot to be done in terms of still getting these vaccines out, he said. Gates advised that the world should ensure it takes the lessons from this pandemic to prepare for the future ones. He added that efforts should be intensified to allocate more resources to the public health, noting Africa learnt a lot in its fight against Ebola and Polio diseases. A lot of resources and infrastructure that was developed for those have been helpful in COVID-19, and it just points out that we need to invest in more of those, even for the times when theres no pandemic, he said. The philanthropist said that BMGFs commitment to health issues was stronger than ever, and the foundation was proud to have been able to play a role in responding to the pandemic. (NAN) Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. And when it comes to updates, installing them is more or less a Russian roulette, as they can very well work just fine for some but cause quite a mess for others.The latest updates, for example, are now blamed for connection problems by some users. Google itself has confirmed its looking into the whole thing to figure out what exactly is happening.At this point, the reports in this regard are rather scarce and contain little information, with users simply complaining that Android Auto can no longer run after the smartphone is connected to their head units. These problems seem to be plaguing both wired and wireless connections, and in most cases, the latest update for Android Auto is the one blamed for the whole thing.Some claim that while Android Auto actually launches, it continuously connects and disconnects for absolutely no reason.My Android Auto just keeps disconnecting and reconnecting when connected wireless, with USB it starts up plays music for a few seconds then goes to a black screen with wording if I want to use AA stop my car and check my phone, one user explains The good news is Google is already investigating the problem, but of course, its too early to tell if a fix is on its way or not.Thanks for reporting this issue. We forwarded this issue to the rest of the team. We'll update with more information when it's available. Thanks! a member of the Android Auto posted a few hours ago.No workaround is known to exist for impacted users, but those who are confident the latest Android Auto version is causing the connection problems can just downgrade to a previous release. Doing this comes down to downloading the APK installer from this page and then manually installing it on the device. A woman who allowed her home to be used to store drugs has had her children taken away from her and placed into care since her arrest, a court has heard. Veronica O'Connor (41) was not present in her home when it was raided by gardai, although two individuals who did not live in the house were present along with her two children. O'Connor of Bunratty Road, Coolock, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to permitting the sale of controlled drugs from her address on February 22, 2017. She has two previous convictions for road traffic offences. Sergeant Janice Gray told John Berry BL, prosecuting, that on the date in question, gardai obtained a search warrant for O'Connor's address on foot of confidential information. The door to the house was barred when gardai arrived and was not immediately opened when they knocked. Sgt Gray said that when the door was opened, gardai found two people in the house who did not reside there, as well two children. O'Connor was found in a car outside the house and had been talking with her brother having received bags of clothing from him. Gardai discovered heroin with a value of 2,412 in the kitchen inside a container that would normally contain tea. They also discovered 48 Diazepam tablets for which the accused took responsibility. Mr Berry told the court that the State's case was that O'Connor was knowingly allowing people to use her home for the supply of heroin. He said that she gave no names as to who these people were and the State is not going so far to say that it was the two people who were in the house when gardai arrived. Sgt Gray agreed with Pieter Le Vert BL, defending, that at least one of those two people would be known to gardai and is now serving a fairly lengthy sentence for a drugs offence. She agreed there were no trapping of wealth in the house. The sergeant agreed that his client was on methadone, had relapsed back into taking heroin and was trying to detox so she could get treatment. She agreed his client has had a long addiction, but has gotten clean on several occasions. Mr Le Vert told the court that the two children have been taken away from his client and are now in care. Judge Martin Nolan said the accused was a lady of a certain age who should have known better, but had little record of conviction. He said that while the amount of drugs was serious enough, it was not too serious in relation to the amounts that come before the court. Judge Nolan said he did not think she deserved a custodial sentence. He sentenced O'Connor to two years imprisonment, but suspended the entirety of the sentence on condition that she keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has expressed disappointment with the inability of successive administrations in the country to ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law. He said it was difficult to explain why the bill did not pass despite collective interest by all for the passage of the bill. Mr Gbajabiamila stated this on Wednesday while declaring the public hearing on PIB open in Abuja. The hearing was by the House Ad-hoc Committee on PIB. The making of the PIB started in 2000 when former President Olusegun Obasanjo constituted the Oil and Gas Reform Committee (OGRC). The PIB that resulted from the recommendations of the OGRC was first introduced to the National Assembly in the 6th Assembly, but was bedevilled by controversies. The 8th Assembly was able to pass a part of the bill after it was broken down into three distinct bills, namely the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB), 2016; the Host Communities Entitlement and Protection Bill, 2016; and the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill. The PIGB passed by the 8th National Assembly was rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari. A harmonised bill was forwarded to the National Assembly in September 2020 and the House passed the bill for second reading in November 2020. Hearing At the hearing, Mr Gbajabiamila also stated the oil sector is underperforming due to lack of a legislative framework to guide the sector. It is disappointing and frankly difficult to explain how successive governments have failed to deliver on the promise of reform despite this broad agreement, the Speaker said. For a long time, we have known that this critical national industry underperforms its potential and our national expectations. For the most part, we all agree on the need for legislative action to make improvements through statutory and regulatory reform. The Speaker said the House will be willing to accommodate concerns and disagreements by players in the sector, adding that disagreement should not lead to conflict. He said, We are not oblivious to the fact of many contending interests in this sector. These contentions do not need to result in conflict, especially when we know the objective of national prosperity benefits us all. Therefore, the process of engaging with stakeholders will continue beyond this public hearing to accommodate the diversity of interests and ensure all critical views form part of the deliberations that inform the final legislation. Mr Gbajabiamila said the bill will help correct mistakes against oil-producing communities. Let us remember those attempts and be motivated by the knowledge that we can now correct past mistakes and fulfil the responsibility we owe these communities once and for all, he said. He also disclosed that the bill will be passed by April. ADVERTISEMENT | : .. - - .. : - .. . : : . : . : . : . . . TORONTO and KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (Solar Alliance or the Company) (TSX-V: SOLR) is pleased to announce it has signed a contract with Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (LG&E and KU), part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, to build an additional 500-kilowatt (kW) phase of a solar system in Kentucky. On November 9th, Solar Alliance announced it had signed a contract for a 500-kW system that included an option for LG&E and KU to select Solar Alliance to build an additional 500-kW system at the same location. LG&E and KU exercised that option, and Solar Alliance will now build a combined 1-megawatt (MW) project for the customer. The two phases will be built simultaneously, and construction will commence in the spring of this year. The two projects represent sections three and four of LG&E and KUs Solar Share Program, a cost-effective option available to the utilities residential, business and industrial customers who want to support solar energy for as little as 20 cents per day. A total of eight 500-kilowatt Solar Share sections are planned for the Simpsonville facility, for a total of four megawatts. Reaching the sites halfway point is a milestone were thrilled to be approaching and one we couldnt have reached without our customers, said LG&E and KU Vice President of Customer Services Eileen Saunders. We developed this program in response to our customers increasing interest in supporting local solar generation and advancing their sustainability goals, and that desire continues to grow across a variety of our customer categories. Solar Alliance is working with Boyd CAT, a regional Caterpillar dealer, on this and other projects as the two companies expand the portfolio of solar projects they are partnering on. Solar Alliance is proud to be building this additional 500-kilowatt project in Kentucky, said Solar Alliance CEO Myke Clark. This is a significant project for LG&E and KUs Solar Share Program. This project also expands the portfolio of solar projects we are developing with Boyd CAT. They are a strong partner that brings expertise and quality products to these projects and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them on future projects. Construction of each section is completed as each becomes fully subscribed through customer enrollments. The utilities are currently accepting enrollments for the fifth section, which is now more than 45% subscribed. About LG&E and KU Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve more than 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 329,000 natural gas and 418,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 558,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. More information is available at www.lge-ku.com and www.pplweb.com. Myke Clark, CEO For more information: Solar Alliance Sales (865) 309-4674 info@solaralliance.com Investor Relations Myke Clark, CEO 416-848-7744 mclark@solaralliance.com About Solar Alliance Energy Inc. (www.solaralliance.com) Solar Alliance is an energy solutions provider focused on residential, commercial and industrial solar installations. The Company operates in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and North/South Carolina and has an expanding pipeline of solar projects. Since it was founded in 2003, the Company has developed wind and solar projects with a combined capital cost exceeding $1 billion that provide enough electricity to power 150,000 homes. Our passion is improving life through ingenuity, simplicity and freedom of choice. Solar Alliance reduces or eliminates customers' vulnerability to rising energy costs, offers an environmentally-friendly source of electricity generation, and provides affordable, turnkey clean energy solutions. Statements in this news release, other than purely historical information, including statements relating to the Company's future plans and objectives or expected results, constitute Forward-looking statements. The words would, will, expected and estimated or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Companys actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different than those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include but are not limited to: uncertainties related to the ability to raise sufficient capital, changes in economic conditions or financial markets, litigation, legislative or other judicial, regulatory and political competitive developments and technological or operational difficulties. Consequently, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release." Pregnant Lauren Goodger has lashed out at her critics after being hit by claims her baby bump is fake. The TOWIE star, 34, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend of three months Charles Drury, 23, also claimed her widely-panned anti-vaccination comments have been misconstrued. She said: 'People have even accused me of having a fake bump. Its totally crazy. It can be frustrating and annoying. But at the end of the day we are happy, we are having a baby, keep your opinions to yourselves and f**k off.' First time mum: Pregnant Lauren Goodger has lashed out at her critics after being hit by claims her baby bump is fake (pictured last week) Lauren confirmed she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Charles on January 18, three months after announcing their relationship. The TV personality revealed she is three months pregnant in her new! Magazine column and will welcome the couple's first baby in July. Now, in an interview with The Sun, Lauren revealed she has been hit with bizarre claims that her baby bump is fake as well as other criticisms. She said: 'People have even accused me of having a fake bump. Its totally crazy. It can be frustrating and annoying. Blooming: The TOWIE star, 34, who is expecting her first child with boyfriend Charles Drury, 23, also claimed her widely-panned anti-vaccination comments have been misconstrued 'But at the end of the day we are happy, we are having a baby, keep your opinions to yourselves and f*** off.' Lauren also shed light on comments she made earlier this month, when she was condemned for her apparent anti-vaxxer views, despite scientists saying vaccination is the best hope for beating COVID-19. She claimed she 'doesn't believe' in face masks and likened the virus to a cold as she said she would refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine. Piers Morgan went on to brand her 'a half-wit' for the comments, yet she has now insisted the comments were misconstrued and inaccurate. The happy couple: Lauren confirmed she is expecting her first child with boyfriend Charles on January 18, three months after announcing their relationship (pictured on January 11) Speaking on Good Morning Britain, an incensed Piers questioned how Lauren could refuse the vaccine but inject herself with fillers - before imploring the public 'not to listen to these imbeciles'. He said: 'Lauren Goodger, who I'm informed is a TOWIE babe, has gone public having a go about the Covid vaccine on the day we discovered a million people in this country have the virus and we're obviously in a desperate situation. 'She said she's terrified of the vaccine and has already had Covid and didn't die, so obviously it's not a problem. 'She said I don't like taking medicine or antibiotics. Lauren said: 'I'm more scared of the vaccine than I am the virus' really?' She said: 'I don't like taking medicine, I won't take antibiotics but I do do aesthetics'... what?' On his comments, Lauren insisted he was incorrect in his criticism, as he went on: 'Theres one big reason I wont be having the vaccine for a while. 'Im pregnant, Im not allowed to. Why are they commenting on my Instagram?... 'Why on earth is Piers Morgan talking about me on the news? Were in this massive pandemic arent there more important things to be focusing on?' LOCAL healthcare chiefs are urging people in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary to not get distracted by the gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases, and to take collective action to bring infection rates to a minimum. The Department of Public Health Mid-West, UL Hospitals Group, and HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare say that while they welcome the considerable decrease in daily infection levels - which have dropped from 238 cases on January 12, to 70 on January 25 across the Mid-West - there is still a long road ahead. While they say the latest numbers are a clear indication that there is sizeable buy-in from the public to comply with public health guidelines, due to close contacts not being tested at this time, it is important for the public to understand that the current daily figures do not present a full picture, and we advise that people still consider everyone they meet a positive case. Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health Mid-West, said: The current trend of decreasing infection levels is a welcome one, and helps our team manage complex clusters and outbreaks when they do arise. However, previous experience has shown that where there is a noticeable drop in cases, there can be a shift in behaviours whereby some members of the public relax their efforts, which then leads to more cases and outbreaks in the community. Our baseline of cases is far too high at present for us to drop the guard, and we now have a collective responsibility to suppress the spread of the virus in the community, as our healthcare services continue to treat a significant number of very ill patients with Covid-19. It will take a number of weeks before continued positive trends in the community are felt in local hospitals. While the number of Covid positive inpatients in University Hospital Limerick has decreased this week, much of this relates to the delisting of patients as Covid positive rather than recovered patients being discharged from hospital. UL Hospitals Group CEO, Colette Cowan, said: While patients may no longer be considered actively infectious and may be treated on a post-Covid or non-Covid ward, many patients will require ongoing care and rehabilitation before they are well enough to be discharged. These patients often require a longer stay in hospital. There are also very unwell patients receiving respiratory support on our medical wards who may unfortunately require to be admitted to ICU. And more work is required of all of us to further reduce community transmission. Hospitals in our region and around the country remain severely challenged by this virus with significant curtailment of scheduled care; difficulties in transferring or discharging patients due to outbreaks; and considerable numbers of staff unable to work through illness or contact with Covid-19. Essential services continue to operate for Covid and non-Covid patients and we all need to sustain our efforts to optimise the levels of care available for our sickest patients. HSE Mid West Community Healthcare Chief Officer, Maria Bridgeman said: Concurring with my colleagues in public health and the acute hospitals, some of our most vulnerable groups remain at a high risk. All those who we hold dear to our hearts, those who are in nursing homes, mental health facilities, disability settings and wider congregated settings must be protected as we continue to meet the challenges of the third wave of Covid-19. Our priority is the health and safety of staff and our service users and while there is a downward trend in case numbers we are pleading with the public to reduce any risks posed to them. Our battle with Covid-19 has been inhibited by many challenges including staffing so it is vital the public continue to play their part to save lives, please adhere to the public measures, please stay at home and please limit your contacts as every effort and sacrifice you make really does count. LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Wednesday the COVID-19 lockdown in England would last until March 8 when schools could start to reopen as he said some travellers to Britain would have to quarantine in government-provided hotels. Britain saw infections soar at the end of last year after a highly contagious new variant emerged in southeast England, taking cases and deaths to record levels. On Tuesday, Britains COVID-19 death toll surpassed 100,000, the first European state to reach that figure, leading to questions about Johnsons handling of a crisis that has also battered the economy. England has been in lockdown since the start of January with schools, pubs and restaurants closed and people told to stay home as much as possible. Britain has begun a vaccination programme aimed at delivering shots to 15 million people in priority groups by the middle of February. Johnson told parliament he hoped that would allow schools to begin reopening the following month. We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday the 8th of March, with other economic and social restrictions being removed (then or) thereafter, as and when the data permits," he said. Britain has banned travellers from 22 high-risk nations, where new coronavirus variants have emerged, such as South Africa and some in South America, or may be present, like Portugal. Johnson said measures would be brought in for those still allowed to enter from those countries. We will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in government-provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception," Johnson said. They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine." Britain has the worlds fifth highest toll from COVID-19 and the highest deaths per 100,000 people. Johnson said he felt deep sorrow about the loss of life on Tuesday, but added the government had done everything it could. Asked repeatedly by the leader of the Labour opposition, Keir Starmer, why Britain had fared so badly, he said there would be a time to learn lessons but I dont think that moment is now" when 37,000 people were in hospital with the virus. There are no easy answers, perpetual lockdown is no answer," he said. (Additional reporting by William James and Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Giles Elgood) Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor MONCKS CORNER Investigators have arrested a man and woman accused of using fake Facebook profiles to lure two men to meetings and then ambush them with bullets. Berkeley County deputies arrested Melissa Marie Mosley, 40, and Jerrod Lee Smith, 25, on Friday. On Jan. 1, a Moncks Corner man said he'd driven to some apartments on Merrimack Road to meet up with a woman he'd been chatting with on Facebook. When he parked, according to a Moncks Corner Police Department incident report, a man appeared and shot a bullet into the door of his pickup truck. That man drove away and wasn't injured, police said, but another man would soon die under similar circumstances. Berkeley deputies were called to the Perry Hill area the next day, after 38-year-old Brandon Dwayne Legette was shot and then crashed his vehicle into a tree. First responders took Legette to a hospital, but he later died of his injuries. Detectives from the Moncks Corner Police Department and Berkeley County Sheriff's Office compared notes to solve the two shootings. Investigators suspect that Mosley set Legette up and that Smith opened fire, Berkeley County spokeswoman Carli Drayton said. Jail records show that each of the suspects faces one charge of attempted murder. Smith was also charged with murder, and Mosley with two counts of acting as an accessory. Moncks Corner police say they'll continue investigating to be sure no more people were involved. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Zarif also expressed Irans strong support for Armenias territorial integrity as he discussed regional security and bilateral ties with his Armenian counterpart Ara Ayvazian. The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches importance to the territorial integrity of all countries and strives to ensure that the religions and rights of all peoples are always protected. Our red line is the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and we have made that clear, he told Ayvazian at the start of their talks. We stand ready to deepen our relations with Armenia in the political, economic, cultural and security fields, he said. We have many common concerns. Our concerns include the presence of terrorists and foreign fighters, Zarif added, seemingly alluding to the widely documented participation of Middle Eastern mercenaries in the six-week war on Azerbaijans side. Zarif also mentioned those concerns during his separate meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held later in the day. Pashinian said he looks forward to discussing with Irans top diplomat developing and deepening our bilateral relations and other very important issues. An Armenian government statement on the meeting said the two men exchanged thoughts on the aftermath of the Karabakh war stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire on November 10. The prime minister noted that many issues, included Nagorno-Karabakhs status, remain unresolved and that Armenia is ready to continue negotiations within the framework of the co-presidency of the OSCE Minsk Group, said the statement. According to the statement, Zarif and Pashinian stressed the importance of unblocking and reactivating regional transport links. The ceasefire agreement calls for the opening of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for cargo and other traffic. It specifically commits Yerevan to opening rail and road links between the Nakhichevan exclave and the rest of Azerbaijan that will presumably pass through Armenias Syunik province bordering Iran. For its part, Armenia should be able to use Azerbaijani territory as a transit route for cargo shipments to and from Russia and Iran. Speaking to RFE/RLs Armenian Service after his talks with Ayvazian, Zarif said Iran too sees now a real chance to establish a rail link with Armenia passing through Nakhichevan. That is one requirement for both Iran and Armenia as well as for the region, and we are working with both Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, he said. Zarif arrived in Armenia from Moscow as part of a regional tour which he began in Baku on Monday. Meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, he congratulated Azerbaijan on its victory in the war and expressed Irans readiness to help rebuild areas around Karabakh retaken by Azerbaijani troops. In what should have been a day of pride for the Indians as the country celebrated its 72nd Republic Day, mayhem and anarchy prevailed on January 26 in the national capital. A handful of anti-national people tried to play with the nationalist spirit of people in the name of their democratic right to protest on Delhi roads. Watch video: Delhi's Chilla border emptied after nearly two-month protests; farmers seen taking off tents The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal the three new agriculture laws descended into anarchy on the streets of the city as protesters deviated from routes, attacked police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag on the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Tens of thousands of protesters also broke through barriers and fought with police. In a development that caused embarrassment to Indians, the Red Fort was vandalised and a raging crowd hoisted a religious flag. On August 16, 1947, when India got independence from the British the tricolour was hoisted on the Red Fort while on Tuesday but now it got associated with the flag of a particular religion. On Wednesday (January 27), Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary took upon himself to visit the fortress and show the viewers of Zee News what was left behind after the security forces managed to save the Red Fort from the hoodlums. Shattered glass, broken parts of walls, window panes, poles and boards, can be seen strewn across the length and breadth of the Red Fort. READ | BJP MLA writes to Amit Shah, seeks death sentence for farmer leaders involved in tractor rally violence As cracks began to appear in their ongoing stir, the farmer unions cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1--the day when the General Budget is due to be presented. However, they said their agitation against the farm laws will continue and public meetings and hunger strikes will be held across the country on January 30. The violence which has evoked all-round condemnation had an immediate fallout among the protesters with the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee(AIKSCC) withdrawing from the two-month-long protests at the Delhi's borders. The two bodies are small outfits in the 41-member grouping of farmer unions who are demanding a repeal of the three contentious farm laws. READ | DNA Exclusive: When agitating farmers hold national capital roads to ransom on Republic Day Farmer leaders Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav and Darshan Pal and social activist Medha Patkar were among the 37 people named by the Delhi police in an FIR on the violence during the tractor parade here that includes an attempt to murder charge even as two farmer unions on Wednesday said they are withdrawing from the protests against the farm laws. As authorities try to come to grips with the violent turn of events on Tuesday during which protesters also stormed the iconic Red Fort and hoisted a Sikh religious flag, Delhi police commissioner S N Srivastava said 19 people have been arrested while 50 people were detained for questioning. Srivastava alleged at a news conference that some farmer leaders like Satnam Singh Pannu, Darshan Pal and Buta Singh gave inflammatory speeches. He warned that no culprit will be spared. READ | Farmer leaders were also involved, says Delhi Police Commissioner on tractor rally violence Srivastava said 25 criminal cases have been registered so far while 394 personnel of the Delhi police were injured and 30 police vehicles damaged. He said the farmer unions did not follow the conditions set for the tractor rally that was supposed to be held from 12 noon to 5 PM and accused them of betrayal. The condition of a maximum of 5,000 tractors in the march was also not followed by the protesting unions, he added. As police try to identify culprits involved in the violence through CCTV footage and face recognition system, the FIR showed that the people named in the FIR included Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu, Joginder Singh Ugraha, Surjeet Singh Phool, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Harinder Singh Lakhoval, Gurnam Singh Chanduni and Rakesh Tikait. READ | Republic Day Delhi violence: Two farmer unions withdraw from protests against agri laws The FIR registered at Samaypur Badli was filed against unknown persons. It mentions multiple IPC sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (rioting) and 353 (assault/criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 120B (criminal conspiracy). In one of the FIRs, a Delhi Police cop claimed that some protesters tried to kill him by riding a tractor on the barricades. Srivastava said not a single life was lost as the Delhi Police showed extreme restraint, adding that the farmer leaders will be questioned in connection with the violence. "Police had many options but remained calm. We dealt with the situation in a proper way that is why no one was killed due to police action during tractor rally violence." One protester was killed after a tractor overturned. A police official said the violence will be investigated by a joint team of crime branch, special cell, district units of Delhi Police. The leaders of the main farmer unions alleged there was a conspiracy behind the violence and demanded a probe as they continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation. "The tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy. Deep Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted a religious flag at Red Fort," Darshan Pal alleged at a press conference. Sidhu is a former aide of actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu in December after he supported the farmers' agitation. READ | Twitter takes this strong action against those who might have tried to incite Delhi riots Another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and "99.9 per cent of the protesters were peaceful". Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who has been supporting the farmers' agitation, said, "We regret the Red Fort incident and accept its moral responsibility. The incident should be probed. There is a conspiracy behind it". Responding to a question on farmer leaders being named in FIR, Yadav said, "FIR, jail and torture are rewards of movements". "We have video clippings and we will expose how a conspiracy was hatched to defame our movement," said another leader Shivkumar Kakka. READ | FIR filed against rioters involved in farmers' tractor rally violence; check details Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel visited the Red Fort to take stock of the damage caused by a section of farmers who stormed the monument and hoisted the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh religious flag, thereafter deviating from the rally route. The minister has sought a report on the incident. READ | Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Rakesh Tikait, other leaders booked for violence during farmers' tractor march in Delhi Security was beefed up at several places across the national capital, especially at the Red Fort and farmer protest sites, with the deployment of additional paramilitary forces. In a statement, the farmers' body Samyukta Kisan Morcha alleged, "The Union government has been severely shaken by this peasant agitation. Therefore, a dirty conspiracy was hatched with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others." Talking to reporters, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatever happened during the tractor parade in the national capital, adding that his union was ending its protest. The union was staging the protest at the Chilla border, an area between Delhi and NOIDA in Uttar Pradesh. VM Singh of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said it is withdrawing from the ongoing agitation as they cannot carry forward a protest with someone "whose direction is something else". As Tuesday's events generated political heat, the BJP accused the Congress of inciting the violence and claimed that those who have lost in elections are working to vitiate the atmosphere in the country. Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that India will not tolerate its flag's insult at Red Fort and alleged that the Congress has always worked to incite farmers during the ongoing agitation. The Congress on its part held Home Minister Amit Shah responsible for the violence and demanded that he be sacked immediately while the Delhi's ruling party Aam Aadmi Party(AAP)alleged that the BJP planted its "stooge" actor Deep Sidhu to create "chaos" in the' tractor parade. At a news conference, Congress Chief Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala also accused the Modi government of being part of a "concerted conspiracy" to malign the farmers' agitation by allowing some miscreants to enter the Red Fort complex and hoist their flag. The police in Haryana's Palwal district also registered an FIR against 2,000 unidentified protesters for trying to break barricades to forcibly enter the national capital and driving dangerously, among other charges, officials said. Around 50 protesters have been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC as they drove tractors dangerously, endangering lives of Palwal police chief Deepak Gahlawat and other officials who were on duty, they said. Meanwhile, two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court over the tractor rally violence with one seeking setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence. Live TV Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. He stumbled in the mud before reaching his arm out and asking for help The man left the venue but police found him a short time later hiding in mud He was at a venue in Cairns when he got into an argument with bouncers A man, 21, tried to run away from police during Australia Day celebrations A 21-year-old man who tried to run away from police during Australia Day celebrations got stuck in the mud while hiding before officers had to rescue him. The Victorian man was partying in Cairns on Tuesday night when he got into a verbal disagreement with bouncers and other patrons at a bar on Shields Street. He left the venue but police found him a short time later hiding in mud and water under the Cairns Esplanade boardwalk. The 21-year-old man was found by police hiding in mud and water under the Cairns Esplanade boardwalk 'The man ended up a little stuck in the mud and requested police assistance to get him out,' Constable Matt Cornish said. Police bodycam footage shows one of the officers telling the man he is being arrested for 'public nuisance and fighting'. The man stumbled awkwardly in the mud, before reaching his arm out and asking for help out of the water. The officer assisted him, before handcuffing him and putting him into the back of the police paddy wagon. He was issued with two infringement notices, one each for public nuisance and obstructing police. Overall Queensland Police said they were 'extremely pleased' with the behaviour of locals on Australia Day. Among Tuesday's arrests were four protesters who were dragged away in handcuffs while attending a demonstration in Sydney's Hyde Park. More than 5000 people descended on the Domain near the city's CBD to call for the date of Australia Day to be changed. Relations between police and protesters were friendly during most of the event, with officers even snapping selfies with some participants, but turned ugly when some of the crowd moved to Hyde Park after the rally ended. The chief of the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said Korea's economy has suffered the smallest damage in the OECD from the coronavirus crisis. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva made the remarks in a virtual conference with Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki. According to the Finance Ministry, they discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between Korea and the IMF and how Korea has responded to the epidemic. Georgieva said Korea has suffered the least economic damage in the bloc of rich countries thanks to its rapid response to the coronavirus outbreak. Recently, the IMF predicted the Korean economy will contract by 1.9 percent this year, the second best outlook in the OECD after Lithuania's -1.8 percent. Hong said Korea has been able to minimize damage from the epidemic with "balanced fiscal measures" by implementing four supplementary budgets as well as effective quarantine measures. Smartphone with Chinese applications is seen in front of a displayed Indian flag and a "Banned app" sign in this illustration picture taken on July 2, 2020. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters) India Retains Ban on 59 Chinese Apps, Including TikTok NEW DELHIIndia has decided to retain its ban on video app TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps after reviewing responses from the companies on issues such as compliance and privacy, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Jan. 26. When it first imposed the ban in June 2020, Indias ministry of electronics and information technology (IT) gave the 59 apps a chance to explain their position on issues including whether they censored content, worked on behalf of foreign governments, or lobbied influencers. The companies, which include ByteDances popular video-sharing app TikTok, Tencent Holdings WeChat, and Alibabas UC Browser, were asked in July 2020 to respond to 77 questions amid rising tensions between India and the Chinese regime following a border clash between the two nations. A government panel looking into the app ban decided, after reviewing the responses, that there will be no change in the countrys position for now as the ban was in the interest of Indias national security and sovereignty, one source said. The government has sent notices to the companies informing them of its decision, the source said. It wasnt immediately clear until when the ban would be in place. The Times of India newspaper reported late on Jan. 25 that the ban is permanent. Indias IT ministry didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. TikTok said in a statement it is evaluating the notice and will respond to it. We continually strive to comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns the government may have. Ensuring the privacy and security of all our users remains to be our topmost priority, it stated. UC Web declined to comment. Beijing condemned the ban on Jan. 27. The extension of the ban comes days after Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a minor face-off in a disputed stretch of their shared border in the eastern Himalayas. The ministrys June 2020 order stated that the apps were prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order. It followed a skirmish with Chinese troops at a disputed Himalayan border site when 20 Indian soldiers were killed. In September 2020, India banned another 118 mobile apps, including Tencents popular video game PUBG, as it stepped up the pressure on Chinese technology companies following the standoff at the border. The 118 apps continue to be banned and no decision has been reached on them yet. By Sankalp Phartiyal Junior Bake Off fans were in uproar last night after a fan favourite was eliminated before the quarter final - with many saying he has been 'robbed' of the crown. Zack Cohen, 13, from Leeds, had dazzled viewers of the hit Channel 4 show with his clever flavour combinations and ambitious designs for his bakes. But during the second day of finals week, he came 6th in the technical after struggling with his Japanese deco cake and added too much chilli to his tarlet showstopper. Judges Ravneet Gill and Liam Charles ultimately decided the baker should go home for the mistakes, but many viewers were left stunned by the decision. Junior Bake Off fans were in uproar last night after fan favourite Zack, 13, from Leeds, was eliminated before the quarter final - with many saying he had been 'robbed' of the crown The judges were unimpressed by his chocolate and chilli showstopper, which they said was 'too spicy' One commented: 'Zac has been absolutely robbed there.' Another wrote: 'I'm shocked!! I would have put money on Zack reaching the final. I think we will see a lot more of him in the future.' During last night's programme, the contestants were tasked with creating two internationally-themed bakes. For their technical, Rav and Liam challenged the bakers to craft a tricky Japanese deco cake, with many saying they'd never heard of the sweet treat. Many of those watching at home were left baffled by the decision from the judges and said they had hoped the 13-year-old would win the whole contest After the challenge was revealed, Zack confessed it was 'really hard' and there were 'a lot of things to do' to complete the bake. He went on to split the cherry cream for the centre of the cake and struggled to get the 'perfect roll' on the bake, saying: 'This is so hard!' Judging his bake, Rav said: 'The design is good but there are areas where it has been missed. There is a little bit of uneveness. 'The sponge is very good, but the cream - I can just see lumps of gelatin in.' The talented baker confessed the technical challenge would be 'really hard' because there was so much to do in the short time period set Zack was placed in sixth place and confessed he was disappointed, saying: 'It was such an awful challenge. We all have our good days, so that was just a bad day on my behalf.' Meanwhile for his showstopper he made Mexican Chilli Chocolate Tartlets, combining the chocolate with a spicy kick. The judges confessed they were concerned about how much chilli he was putting into his bake, with Rav saying she 'really didn't like' the flavour combination. He went on to decorate his bakes with tempered chocolate and marshmallow. He struggled with rolling his Japanese deco cake, while the judges were also critical of his cherry cream The judges praised him for the finish on his tarts, with Liam adding: 'I do like what you tried to achieve in two hours. The pastry is thin, the ganache is super glossy, the marshmallows are there.' However as soon as they cut into the bake, they told him that they found the spicy flavour too overpowering. They also said his pastry was slightly too bendy when it should have snapped easily. Liam said it 'tickled his ears', and told him: 'You should have concentrated more on the actual components of the tart. There is a really good idea there, it just needs refining.' The 13-year-old was placed in sixth position after the technical challenge round, in which Liam and Rav said the cream had 'lumps of gelatin in' Zack was left in tears after the judging, saying: 'It went awful. The only comment I did like was that the ganache looked shiny.' After presenter Harry Hill announced that he was out of the competition, Zack could be seen sobbing while the other bakers tried to comfort him. Judge Liam said that Zack would be missed in the tent, saying: He brought so much creativity. His flavour combinations were sometimes absolutely flawless. ' During his showstopper bake, the judges confessed they were concerned about how much chilli he was putting into his tartlets Meanwhile Ravneet added: 'One bad day at this stage of the competition can mean that you go home and Zack was unlucky today.' He said he would take away how much fun hes had in the tent, in addition to how proud Ive made myself for doing so well. But viewers were in uproar over the decision, with many saying the baker had been among the best in the contest. The 13-year-old was left in floods of tears after being eliminated from the baking competition before the quarter final One wrote: 'I'm shocked! I would have put money on Zack reaching the final. I think we will see a lot more of him the future.' Another commented: 'Zack did not deserve to go home, not watching the quarter final. End the #JuniorBakeOff' One commented: 'No way Zack should have gone home tonight, he has been so great the whole way through.' New York - The results of the Peoples' Climate Vote, the world's biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change are published today. Covering 50 countries with over half of the world's population, the survey includes over half a million people under the age of 18, a key constituency on climate change that is typically unable to vote yet in regular elections. Detailed results broken down by age, gender, and education level will be shared with governments around the world by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which organized the innovative poll with the University of Oxford. In many participating countries, it is the first time that large-scale polling of public opinion has ever been conducted on the topic of climate change. 2021 is a pivotal year for countries' climate action commitments, with a key round of negotiations set to take place at the UN Climate Summit in November in Glasgow, UK. In the survey, respondents were asked if climate change was a global emergency and whether they supported eighteen key climate policies across six action areas: economy, energy, transport, food & farms, nature and protecting people. Results show that people often want broad climate policies beyond the current state of play. For example, in eight of the ten survey countries with the highest emissions from the power sector, majorities backed more renewable energy. In four out of the five countries with the highest emissions from land-use change and enough data on policy preferences, there was majority support for conserving forests and land. Nine out of ten of the countries with the most urbanized populations backed more use of clean electric cars and buses, or bicycles. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said: "The results of the survey clearly illustrate that urgent climate action has broad support amongst people around the globe, across nationalities, age, gender and education level. But more than that, the poll reveals how people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis. From climate-friendly farming to protecting nature and investing in a green recovery from COVID-19, the survey brings the voice of the people to the forefront of the climate debate. It signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge." The innovative survey was distributed across mobile gaming networks in order to include hard-to-reach audiences in traditional polling, like youth under the age of 18. Polling experts at the University of Oxford weighted the huge sample to make it representative of the age, gender, and education population profiles of the countries in the survey, resulting in small margins of error of +/- 2%. Policies had wide-ranging support, with the most popular being conserving forests and land (54% public support), more solar, wind and renewable power (53%), adopting climate-friendly farming techniques (52%) and investing more in green businesses and jobs (50%). Prof. Stephen Fisher, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, said: "The survey - the biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change - has shown us that mobile gaming networks can not only reach a lot of people, they can engage different kinds of people in a diverse group of countries. The Peoples' Climate Vote has delivered a treasure trove of data on public opinion that we've never seen before. Recognition of the climate emergency is much more widespread than previously thought. We've also found that most people clearly want a strong and wide-raging policy response." The survey shows a direct link between a person's level of education and their desire for climate action. There was very high recognition of the climate emergency among those who had attended university or college in all countries, from lower-income countries such as Bhutan (82%) and Democratic Republic of the Congo (82%), to wealthy countries like France (87%) and Japan (82%). Notes to Editors: The percentage of a population estimated to support a particular policy does not indicate that those who did not are against the same policy, since not endorsing a policy could also be due to indifference to it. The country results present what people think who are physically in a particular country. They are not representative of what nationals of a particular country think. So for example, they are representative not of what French people think, but of people in France. ### UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. Learn more at undp.org or follow @UNDP Military helicopters descend for a landing at the Port of Beaumont Wednesday morning. The aircraft are part 1,500 military cargo being staged at the port as part of the U.S. Army 842nd Transportation Battalion's operation to deploy the equipment to Europe for 1st Combat Aviation Brigade's training exercises with NATO allies. The U.S. Army's "Demon Brigade" will be loaded onto ships due to arrive at the port next week. Read more here. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Dancing with the Stars pro Sharna Burgess recently debuted her romance with actor Brian Austin Green. And on Wednesday, the 35-year-old sent her Instagram followers into a frenzy when she shared a sponsored post which at first glance looked like a pregnancy announcement. In the photo, the makeup-free dancer sat in her bed as she looked down at what appeared to be a pregnancy test. Double take: Sharna Burgess sent her Instagram followers into a frenzy when she shared this sponsored post which at first glance looked like a pregnancy announcement. The Dancing with the Stars pro is currently dating Beverly Hills, 90210 actor Brian Austin Green But in her lengthy caption, the Australian TV star explained how she'd struggled with being on hormonal birth control for years. 'I tried the pill, but I experienced mood swings, weight gain, periods that were nearly knocking me out with fatigue and pain,' she wrote, adding that she'd recently started using a birth control app as an alternative. She then offered her fans a discount code and revealed the product also came with a free thermometer, which is likely what she was holding in the photo. 'I had to stop scrolling and read the fine print': In the photo, the makeup-free dancer sat in her bed as she looked down at what appeared to be a pregnancy test. Her post made several fans (pictured) jump to the conclusion that she was pregnant with her first child Sharna's fans were quick to respond to her photo, with many of them assuming the post was a pregnancy reveal. 'I thought this was a pregnancy announcement,' one wrote. 'OMG... it sounds like you are pregnant,' another added, while a third commented: 'I thought you were pregnant for a minute.' Empowering message: Many fans appreciated her candid post about hormones and PMS symptoms, including one who wrote: 'I love the honesty here, hormones are so very real!' Real talk: One supporter commented, 'Love that you are normalising even discussing menstruation, PMS and use of birth control. It's empowering to others' A fourth wrote below Sharna's post: 'Woah, I thought this was an announcement and I had a stop scrolling and read the fine print.' But many fans appreciated her candid post about hormones and PMS symptoms, including one who wrote: 'I love the honesty here, hormones are so very real!' Another commented: 'Love that you are normalising even discussing menstruation, PMS and use of birth control. It's empowering to others.' Sharna and Beverly Hills, 90210 actor Brian made their romance 'Instagram official' earlier this year while on holiday in Hawaii. Loved up: Sharna and Brian made their romance 'Instagram official' earlier this year while on holiday in Hawaii She shared a photo of them passionately kissing on a balcony overlooking the ocean, along with the caption 'him' and a red love heart emoji. The 47-year-old actor is certainly smitten with the blonde, recently gushing about their budding romance in a TV interview. While appearing on Access Daily, he told Mario Lopez that he and Sharna share a business manager, who in fact introduced them. He also spoke about their recent romantic getaway, saying that 'we had a great time. We had a really good time.' Happy: The 47-year-old actor (pictured) is certainly smitten with the blonde, recently gushing about their budding romance in a TV interview Brian continued: 'Hawaii is an amazing place and it's all going really well right now. You know, it's early on so we don't have any labels for anything obviously but we're really enjoying each other's company, and she's an amazing woman. 'She's super responsible and she's super sweet and caring and compassionate and fun to be around, so I feel blessed right now.' Brian then shed light on how they met, saying: 'Yeah, so we have the same business manager and she was like, "Hey, I've got a client that you should meet." And I was kind of in a place of like, you know, "okay" and I begrudgingly went and we met.' How they met: While appearing on Access Daily, Brian told Mario Lopez that he and Sharna (pictured) share a business manager, who in fact introduced them Prior to dating Sharna, he was involved with Maxim model Tina Louise. He was previously married to actress Megan Fox, with whom he shares three sons, but they announced their split last May. She finally filed for divorce the day before Thanksgiving and has moved on with musician Machine Gun Kelly. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning President Uhuru Kenyatta has affirmed Kenyas commitment to implementing global climate change adaptation initiatives. At the same time, the President called for concerted global efforts in addressing climate change saying, like COVID-19, the challenge is a reality that the world must confront urgently. Kenya commits to implement the adaptation action agenda; but we can only succeed if we all, as a global community, collaborate in this noble endeavour, the President said. President Kenyatta spoke Monday evening at State House, Nairobi during a virtual high-level session of the Climate Adaptation Summit 2021. Several world leaders among them Prime Ministers Boris Johnson (UK), Narendra Modi (India), Evelyn Wever-Croes (Aruba) as well as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and his predecessor Ban Ki-Moon attended the meeting hosted by Prime Minister Mark Rutte of The Netherlands. President Kenyatta emphasized that by pulling together the world will emerge stronger and more resilient from the dangers posed by climate change. Indeed, we can expect to reap the triple dividends of reducing emissions, spurring economic growth and delivering social and environmental benefits, President Kenyatta said as he implored world leaders to rally behind efforts to upscale climate adaptation efforts. The President identified agriculture as a top priority in Africas climate change adaptation agenda saying a large percentage of the continents population rely on the sector for its survival. He said African farmers must be given the tools, information and financial support to enable them to embrace sustainable agracultural practices, respond to changing weather patterns and maximise productivity of their farms President Kenyatta told the summit that Kenya has upscaled its climate change adaptation efforts by mainstreaming the subject into its national development strategies. Kenya is already experiencing the multi-fold climate impacts, including erratic rainfall, droughts and increased temperatures. To contain this situation, we have scaled up our adaptation efforts; mainstreaming it into our national development strategy, he said. The leaders who spoke during the summit were unanimous in their call for acceleration of climate adaptation efforts so as to safeguard communities from the harmful impacts of a changing climate. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- As Americans brace for another year of pandemic-related school disruption, the digital divide remains a daunting challenge for K-12 public school systems in most states. Although progress to bridge the divide has been significant, up to 12 million K-12 students remain digitally underserved going into 2021, according to a new report by Common Sense, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and the Southern Education Foundation. The report, titled Looking Back, Looking Forward: What It Will Take to Permanently Close the K-12 Digital Divide, released today, provides a granular understanding of the digital divide's impact on students, and offers a set of recommendations at the federal, state, and local levels to permanently close the digital divide. The report finds that since March 2020, programs to enable distance learning during the pandemic reduced the number of students without access to broadband service by 20 to 40% and reduced the number of students without access to an e-learning device by 40 to 60%. The new analysis also finds that more than 75% of these efforts will expire in the next one to three years, leaving temporarily connected students once again digitally underserved. Leadership Required to Permanently Close the Gap "States and school districts have stepped up to tackle the homework gap during the pandemic. And while some support has flowed to these efforts from the Federal Government, it has been inconsistent and remains insufficient," says James P. Steyer founder and CEO of Common Sense. "There remains a significant need to support states and schools that have stood up programs to close the homework gap during the pandemic, and to help them close the divide for good. It is incumbent on the Federal Government and state governments to not only prevent these efforts from stalling, but enhance them, ensuring access to broadband service and devices, and to deploy future-proof broadband infrastructure that can meet the needs of students right now, and going forward." "Fundamentally, this is a matter of equity that requires leadership at all levelsfrom the Federal Government to local communities," says Raymond C. Pierce, President and CEO of the Southern Education Foundation. "Some of the most successful efforts to bridge this divide have involved school districts working in partnership with local organizations and community advocates to meet families where they are, and to ensure access to the internet and the other technology students need to learn remotely." As students return to the classroomand vaccines bring hope for a post-pandemic futurethe momentum to eliminate the digital divide must continue to drive the strong and equitable economic growth necessary to advance society as a whole. "This is not a short-term problem. The digital divide predated COVID-19 and will persist beyond it without further action," says Lane McBride, a BCG managing director and partner leading the firm's Education, Employment, and Welfare Engagement sector within the Public Sector practice in North America, and a co-author of the report. "We need leaders in government, corporations, philanthropies, and the education sector to seize the moment and work together on practical and lasting solutions." Key Findings Closing the digital divide is a fundamental equity issue, essential to the future of our economy and society Long-term solutions must address the needs of 15 to 16 million K-12 students who were affected by the divide when the pandemic began State and district efforts have been significant but insufficient; up to 12 million K-12 students remain under-connected going into 2021 Solutions have largely been temporary measures; more than 75% of these efforts will expire in the next one to three years Long-term solutions must address all three root causes of the divide: lack of available broadband, lack of affordability, and non-technical, non-financial barriers to adoption such as lack of digital skills or distrust of providers Closing the divide requires $6 to $11 billion for the first year, and $4 to $8 billion annually thereafter to address affordability and adoption gaps, as well as additional investment in universal broadband infrastructure to for the first year, and to annually thereafter to address affordability and adoption gaps, as well as additional investment in universal broadband infrastructure Federal and state policy should enable expanded investment in broadband infrastructure, sustained federal funding ensuring affordable options, bulk procurement and transparent pricing, community-based support for digital inclusion, and ongoing measurement Cross-sector partnerships among public, private and social sectors are essential to close the digital divide and keep it closed This report, the third in a series of national studies, can be downloaded here . Also see Closing the Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning (June 2020) and Connect All Students: How States and Districts Can Close the Digital Divide (October 2020). Looking Back, Looking Forward: What It Will Take to Permanently Close the K-12 Digital Divide was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation, and BCG. To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Samantha Tartas at +1 201 741 6761 or [email protected] . About Common Sense Common Sense is the nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive in the 21st century. Learn more at commonsense.org. About Southern Education Foundation Originally founded in 1867 to educate Black children and children from low-income families in the South, the Southern Education Foundation was a pivotal source of research and data to support legislation and litigation aimed at fighting inequity in education during the civil rights era. The organization today conducts leadership development, research, and advocacy to improve educational opportunities for low-income students and students of color and achieve educational equity in the Southern U.S. It is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Find out more at southerneducation.org About Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we help clients with total transformationinspiring complex change, enabling organizations to grow, building competitive advantage, and driving bottom-line impact. To succeed, organizations must blend digital and human capabilities. Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives to spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting along with technology and design, corporate and digital venturesand business purpose. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, generating results that allow our clients to thrive. SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Related Links www.bcg.com Great Canadian Gaming Corp CEO Rod Baker has resigned, the company said on Monday, after he and his wife were charged with travelling to northern Canada and misleading authorities in order to receive the coronavirus vaccine. The North York, Ontario-based company said in a statement that it received the chief executive officers resignation on Sunday but offered no details, stating that it did not comment on personnel matters. Baker did not immediately return a request for comment. Great Canadian Gaming Corp is in the process of being bought by Apollo Global Management Inc for C$2.52 billion ($1.98 billion). The Canadian Broadcasting Corp, which first reported the incident, said Baker, 55, and his wife Ekaterina Baker, 32, had travelled from Vancouver to the Yukon territory and posed as local workers in the remote community of Beaver Creek in order to receive a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The sparsely populated territory, home to a high proportion of indigenous people, is situated in northwestern Canada, where government data shows a faster vaccination rate than in the rest of Canada. It covers almost 500,000 km (310,685 miles) with just under 36,000 residents. Documents filed in the Yukon court registry show the pair were charged on Thursday with having failed to behave in a manner consistent with (their) declaration. They also were charged with failing to quarantine for 14 days on arrival in Yukon and each was fined C$1,150 ($902.60), according to the tickets. We are deeply concerned by the actions of individuals who put our Elders and vulnerable people at risk to jump the line for selfish purposes, White River First Nation Chief Angela Demit, leader of the local indigenous nation, wrote on Facebook. The Yukon government did not offer an immediate comment. Last month Apollo sweetened its bid for Great Canadian Gaming Corp, helping the private equity firm to win support of shareholders who had opposed the initial offer. ($1 = 1.2741 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Moira Warburton in Vancouver Editing by Denny Thomas and Howard Goller) KALAMAZOO, MI The Kalamazoo County Department of Health and Community Services plans to release new statistics weekly to update citizens about vaccination efforts. The health department has given 7,331 vaccines, including 2,976 in the past week, according to Jan. 25 statistics provided to MLive. HCS has held five vaccination clinics in the past week, and 897 staff/volunteer hours at clinics. Kalamazoo County Health Public Information Officer Lyndi Warner said the health department posted the report on its website today, and officials plan to post updated figures on the web site each week moving forward. State data shows 45,750 doses had been shipped out to Kalamazoo County vaccine providers, including the county health department, as of Jan. 26. The data shows 24,324 of those doses were administered as of Jan. 25. 21,532 people age 65 and older were on a waitlist as of Friday, Jan. 22, Warner said. The department has received 6,783 calls to the COVID call center since Jan. 4, the figures show. The health department received 378 requests from groups in groups 1A an 1B the past week. Requests are made by agencies/organizations to vaccinate employee groups and requests are reviewed to determine priority group and sent to scheduling as openings occur, the health department said. As of Jan. 26, Kalamazoo County recorded 12,409 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 303 deaths. Read more: Kalamazoo County pre-registers 20,000 seniors for vaccinations New public information officer working to improve communications for Kalamazoo As recipients of Emorys Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship (clockwise from left), Curley Bonds, Tolton Pace and Fatima Cody Stanford strive to continue Kings legacy of leadership and service in their communities. The Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship is awarded to selected outstanding students who are accepted to Emory. Most recipients are graduates from Atlanta Public Schools (APS). All APS seniors, regardless of ethnicity, who are accepted into Emory University are considered for this scholarship award. One scholarship that is funded jointly by Oxford College and the Newton County King Scholar Fund is awarded annually to a student from a Newton County high school who chooses to attend Oxford College. This award continues to Emory College, Goizueta Business School or Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Students who receive the MLK Jr. Scholarship demonstrate outstanding character and clear potential to continue Kings legacy of ethical leadership, persistent advocacy for justice and rigorous scholarship. MLK Scholars and alumni are invited to stay connected through an Emory Connects group specifically for them. In 1969, three Emory faculty members Charles Strickland, Anthony Orum and Henry Pratt initiated an endowment to establish the universitys Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. Their intention, according to early records, was to demonstrate Emory Universitys commitment to Dr. Kings principles of non-violence, brotherhood and justice by assisting worthy students to attend Emory. Other faculty and staff, students and alumni joined the cause, contributing to the fund through special events, payroll deduction and other avenues. Now, more than 50 years later, the dream birthed by Strickland, Orum and Pratt has provided an Emory education to almost 200 students and impacted countless lives through them. One of those students is Curley Bonds 87C, who works as chief medical officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health the largest public mental health system in the U.S. Being part of the MLK Scholars program had many immediate benefits, Bonds says, but the most important was being included in a learning community of other students who took academics seriously. This truly fostered a sense of being part of an intellectual community of creative and inspirational thinkers. I learned that being exposed to things and people early on in ones educational trajectory has a huge impact on ones career and life choices, Bonds adds. I may not have chosen a career in academic and public sector psychiatry had I not had the early influence of participating in the Emory Scholars Program. Creating a foundation for success Scholarship criteria have undergone slight changes over the years, but continue to focus on local students. MLK Scholarships are awarded to incoming first-year students to Emory College who graduate from the Atlanta Public Schools system. The Oxford MLK Scholarship is designated for incoming first-year students at Emorys Oxford College who are Newton County residents. The Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship gives Emory a unique opportunity to honor Kings legacy by supporting Atlantas next generation of equity and justice leaders, says Margaux Cowden, who oversees the MLK Scholarship along with the Woodruff and other premier merit scholarships in Emory College. We are eager to build on the MLK Scholarship and expand its impact. Some recipients, such as Fatima Cody Stanford 00C 01MPH, set a goal for themselves to gain admission to Emory through the scholarship program. Our high school counselors told us about the program, and I had seen students in classes before me receive the scholarship, Stanford says. I was determined to do the work to get there myself. Stanford spent 12 weeks between her sophomore and junior years of high school conducting biochemistry research at Rollins School of Public Healths research center through an NIH-funded research program. The experience solidified her desire to attend Emory. That time was so rich, she says. I got to know what Emory was like and realized there were so many things I could do in that space. I knew I would go to Emory if given the chance. She earned her chance and took full advantage of it, getting involved in as many aspects of campus life as possible often in leadership roles. People were looking to see what we were doing on campus, she says. We were all active in our own respective spaces on campus. That transition from high school to college helps define who you are and who youll be in the world, she adds. As MLK Scholars we had a mantle to carry and were expected to use it in a positive way. Tolton Pace 00C 02MPH agrees that being an MLK Scholar impacted every aspect of his life at Emory and beyond. The program provided the foundation for every success at Emory academically, socially, spiritually and financially, Pace says. It gave me a network of peer and faculty mentors, offered an ease on the financial burden for my mom and provided opportunities for service-learning that developed my character, calling and commitment to the community. Pace was so appreciative of what the scholarship meant that he returned to Emory as assistant dean of admission and director of multicultural recruitment from 2005 to 2007. In that position I had the opportunity to manage the admissions process for the MLK Scholarship, he says. I was able to recruit students whose stories mirrored my own and facilitate the chance for more of them to access Emory and higher education. Continuing the legacy Fast forward to today, and its easy to see that Pace, Bonds and Stanford still carry that mantle of expectations they assumed when joining Emory as an MLK Scholar. Paces work as a senior program manager with the City of Atlanta includes administering federal grant funds on behalf of the city that help residents including youth and those with significant barriers access employment, education, training and support services so they can succeed in high-quality jobs and careers. While at Emory I learned that exposure, access and opportunity can make all the difference in the success of students who come from underrepresented backgrounds like myself, Pace says. He strives to help make those opportunities possible through his work as a student pastor at a local church, facilitating enrichment activities, leadership conferences and retreats for youth. Bonds oversees and ensures the quality of all clinical operations for Los Angeles Countys department of mental health, but is taking additional steps toward equity during the pandemic. The global pandemic and the attention to dismantling systemic racism have shined a bright light on economic disparities that impact health outcomes negatively for communities of color, he says. Ive been part of a large team that works to improve access to care for our most vulnerable residents. In addition, Bonds uses his faculty appointments at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University to teach medical students, psychiatry residents and other learners about the social determinants of health and encourage them to take their role as patient advocates seriously. Stanford also works to make a difference in the medical community, through her positions at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. I learned that I had something to offer thats unique: thought leadership, Stanford says. I carried that beyond my time at Emory its been a theme in my career. Her leadership roles have ranged from serving as the first Black president of the Intersorority Council while at Emory to one of her current positions as the founding director of diversity for the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard. All along the way, she has mentored students from Harvard and other institutions anyone who is eager to work hard and learn. Its so important to mentor others, she says. We need to bring students along with us. I cant go back and change atrocities, but I can make it better for those coming after me. In Facebook comments and posts made in 2018 and 2019, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greenes social media accounts indicated support for executing prominent Democrats. A number of controversial posts continue to surface from the recent past of the representative for Georgias 14th District. CNN reported Tuesday that in a post from January 2019, Greene liked a comment that said a bullet to the head would be quicker to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In other posts, Greene liked comments about executing FBI agents who, in her eyes, were part of the deep state working against then-President Donald Trump, according to screenshots by CNN. At the 22:00 minute mark from a live video posted in February 2019, Greene on Facebook called Pelosi a traitor to our country and guilty of treason over her policies on immigration. She took an oath to protect American citizens and uphold our laws, Greene said. And she gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land. Thats what treason is. And by our law representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government. And its, uh, its a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason. A few hours before the CNN story was published, Greene released a statement calling the article a hit piece that focused on my time before running for political office. Over the years, Ive had teams of people manage my pages. Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views, Greene wrote. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet. They are taking old Facebook posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice. She called the network the enemy of the people and said she would never back down. Nick Dyer, spokesperson for Greene, said the congresswoman did not have further comment as she prepared for a town hall in Rome on Tuesday night and referred back to her statement. Previously, Greene has been unapologetic about controversial posts from the past including those where she said Black people are held slaves to the Democratic Party, worried about an Islamic invasion of our government, after the first two Muslim women were elected to the House and when she said she would feel proud to see a Confederate monument if she were a Black person because it would symbolize how much progress the country has made since the Civil War. After Politico reported on those older videos, Greene didnt deny she had said them but instead attacked the fake news media for reporting on them. The fake news media is collaborating and article after article after article and taking teeny little pieces of things Im saying and spreading them around and inciting violence against me, Greene said in a Facebook video posted following the Politico piece. In one of the new Facebook examples unearthed by CNN from April 2018, Greenes account wrote about the Iran nuclear deal from the administration of former President Barack Obama. According to CNN, a commenter asked Greene, Now do we get to hang them ?? Meaning H & O ???, referring to Obama and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. Greene replied, Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off. Since Greene, R- Rome, was sworn in, more Facebook activity has been unearthed including comments she made and liked on Facebook about the 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed. The liberal media watchdog Media Matters reported Greene agreed with a 2018 Facebook comment that the mass shooting was actually a false flag planned event. The group also reported that Greene replied, That is all true, to a comment on social media that said the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 in Connecticut was staged. Twenty-six people died in that event, including 20 children. In a separate Facebook post in 2018, Greene also claimed, I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that we need another school shooting in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control, according to Media Matters. Before running for Congress, Greene created a following on both Facebook and YouTube as a conservative voice and gun-rights advocate. She would regularly record her thoughts on current events and post her own political commentary. Greene discussed the QAnon conspiracy theory, which holds that a secret government figure known as Q was working behind the scenes against a cabal of cannibalistic pedophile Democrats. Greene called Q a patriot on one of her videos. As a congresswoman, shes using similar methods to reach her supporters, not just in the 14th District but around the country. On Monday, Greene posted a video in which she said Democratic voters might have buyers remorse for voting for Joe Biden after he has begun implementing policies he said he would on the campaign trail. In Mondays video, Greene also said she had been suspended for at least the second time by Twitter. Im currently in Twitter timeout, she said. Im suspended for 12 hours today for tweeting, probably cant even say what I tweeted about because then Ill end up banned on Facebook too. Greene then said she and her team are working on a bill that would push back on Twitter and big tech censorship. During her first week as a congresswoman, Greene filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. Wednesday night, Greene is hosting a town hall in Dalton at 6 p.m., although registration is closed because of capacity limits. Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin. ___ (c)2021 the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) Visit the Chattanooga Times/Free Press (Chattanooga, Tenn.) at www.timesfreepress.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. [January 27, 2021] Hurricane Electric Expands Global Network to New Jersey With New Point of Presence at NJFX Hurricane Electric, the world's largest IPv6-native Internet backbone, announced today that it has deployed a new Point of Presence (PoP) at NJFX, the only Cable Landing Station (CLS) colocation campus in the U.S. offering Tier 3, carrier-neutral data center capabilities. The new PoP is located just 60 miles from Manhattan and is Hurricane Electric's (News - Alert) fifth in New Jersey and 11th in the greater New York City area. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005405/en/ Hurricane Electric will leverage NJFX's network-rich facility to provide high-speed IP transit via its extensive global IPv6 and IPv4 network through 1/10/100GE (Gigabit Ethernet) ports, resulting in reduced latency and improved traffic flow. Additionally, networks within NJFX's facility will have a direct path to Hurricane Electric's global network encompassing more than 250 major exchange points and more than 8,000 different networks. The expansion will also allow Hurricane Electric and its customers to directly interconnect with subsea capacity services across the Atlantic to Ireland, Denmark and Northern Europe. "We are excited to expand our network to NJFX," sid Mike Leber, President of Hurricane Electric. "Today's network expansion furthers our goal of providing more connectivity globally to as many enterprises as possible, while satisfying critical bandwidth demands." NJFX, home to four subsea cable systems and seven independent U.S. fiber-based backhaul providers, serves as a strategic distribution center for data demarcation into and throughout North America. Its community of carriers make the NJFX CLS a marketplace rich with fiber networks and platforms providing multiple options for routes, security and diversity. "We are delighted to welcome Hurricane Electric's robust network to our CLS colocation campus," said Gil Santaliz, CEO for NJFX. "Today's expansion will enable access to Hurricane Electric's rich global network for enterprises and cloud providers within our ecosystem." NJFX offers 64,800 square feet of data center space and is the first and only colocation campus physically located at a cable landing station. With Tier 3 (News - Alert) , carrier neutral data center capabilities, this data center is strategically located to offer direct access to multiple independent subsea cable systems interconnecting North America, Europe, South America, and the Caribbean. About Hurricane Electric Hurricane Electric operates its own global IPv4 and IPv6 network and is considered the largest IPv6 backbone in the world. Within its global network, Hurricane Electric is connected to more than 250 major exchange points and exchanges traffic directly with more than 8,000 different networks. Employing a resilient fiber-optic topology, Hurricane Electric has five redundant 100G paths crossing North America, four separate 100G paths between the U.S. and Europe, and 100G rings in Europe, Australia and Asia. Hurricane also has a ring around Africa, and a PoP in Auckland, NZ. Hurricane Electric offers IPv4 and IPv6 transit solutions over the same connection. Connection speeds available include 100GE (100 gigabits/second), 10GE, and gigabit ethernet. Additional information can be found at http://he.net. About NJFX NJFX owns and operates a 64,800 square foot purpose-built Tier 3 Cable Landing Station (CLS) Colocation facility and campus in Wall, NJ. The unique facility operationally supports high and low-density colocation solutions with 24/7 support. It is the only carrier-neutral CLS colocation campus in the U.S supported by several route-independent carriers that offer direct access to multiple independent subsea cable systems interconnecting North America, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. The facility offers direct access to the Havfrue/AEC2, Seabras, TGN1 & TGN2 subsea cable systems. For more information, please visit www.njfx.net View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005405/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] MOUNT STERLING A deleted text was at the center of a Jan. 6 hearing involving three former correctional officers who are facing federal charges in a May 17, 2018, assault that led to the death of 65-year-old prisoner Larry Earvin at Western Illinois Correctional Center. Former correctional officers Todd Sheffler, Willie Hedden and Alex Banta are facing charges. Sheffler was a lieutenant and Hedden and Bantas supervisor. Earvin was assaulted while being transferred to another prison unit; the resulting injuries led to his death a month later, according to the indictment and an autopsy report that ruled the death a homicide. The Jan. 6 hearing was related to an indictment filed against Hedden on Dec. 5 by the U.S. Attorneys Office, alleging obstruction/falsification of a document and claiming he corruptly persuaded a friend and fellow WICC employee to delete a text message Hedden sent after Earvins death that prosecutors said pointed to Heddens involvement in the assault. A motion filed Jan. 6 by Bantas attorney, Springfield-based Howard Feldman, requests an appropriate redaction of any text message or reference to any text message sent by Hedden that incriminates Banta and the prosecution intends to use as evidence at trial. They want to limit it and dont want that as evidence, said Sharon Paul, public information officer for the U.S Attorneys Office Central Illinois District. It has not been ruled yet and, at this point, we havent responded. Should the motion pass, Banta still will face charges, including conspiracy to deprive civil rights, deprivation of civil rights, conspiracy to engage in misleading conduct, obstruction/falsification of documents, and obstruction misleading conduct. Hedden and Sheffler face similar counts. The three still are awaiting a trial date, Paul said. The next meeting will be a Feb. 3 status conference, she said. The outcome of that meeting will determine when a trial date is set. Earvin suffered multiple broken ribs, a punctured colon and other serious internal injuries in the assault. He had been set to be released within months of the incident but died June 26, 2018. He was serving a six-year sentence for a Cook County robbery. More than 100,000 people have died in the United Kingdom after contracting the coronavirus, a year into Europe's deadliest outbreak, figures from the government showed Tuesday. Britain is the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 virus-related deaths, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, and by far the smallest. The US has recorded more than 400,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world's highest total, but its population of about 330 million is about five times Britain's. The health department said 100,162 people have died after testing positive, including 1,631 new deaths reported Tuesday. "It's hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic," a somber Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a televised news conference. The UK toll is more than twice as many people as were killed by German bombs in Britain in the 1940-41 Blitz, and 30,000 more than the total number of British civilians killed during the six years of World War II. The first confirmed British victim of the virus was Peter Attwood, an 84-year-old retiree who died on Jan. 30, 2020 - though the cause was not recorded as COVID-19 until months later. A year on, hundreds of thousands of Britons are grieving the loss of loved ones, and demanding an accounting for the terrible toll. In part, Britain has suffered because of longstanding factors such as high levels of conditions including obesity and heart disease, a large gap between rich and poor and London's status as a global crossroads. But decisions during the pandemic also played a part. Johnson's Conservative government is accused by many scientists of waiting too long to impose a lockdown in March as infections were rising exponentially. Leading epidemiologists say acting a week sooner might have cut the death toll in half. As in other European countries, cases fell in the summer, then took off again. A more transmissible variant identified in southeast England helped push infections to new highs, and brought a new lockdown, even as a nationwide vaccination campaign began. Johnson - who spent a week in the hospital with the virus in April - has promised that a public inquiry will examine Britain's handling of the pandemic, though he has not said when it will start. "Of course we will learn lessons in due course and of course there will be a time to reflect and to prepare for the next pandemic," Johnson said last week. The official count records people who died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus. The full toll, as elsewhere, is likely even higher, due in part to missed cases early on in the pandemic. U.K. statistics agencies say that the number of deaths registered that mention COVID-19 on the death certificate is more than 108,000. Also read: Biden stimulus plan could boost US output by 5% over 3 years: IMF Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 08:06:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- Now that more than one in every 80 people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus, the global community was knit together like never before with the same memory of pain and hope for normalcy. -- There were a lot of botched responses to the virus, a virus whose origin and cure are unknown, for instance, the erroneous idea of injecting disinfectant as possible treatment, controversy over the concept of herd immunity, and hijacking of other countries' medical materials. -- In fortifying a defense line involving all humans, rich and poor, there is a role for China. Considered safe, effective, and easy to store, vaccines from Chinese producers have been approved in such countries as Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Pakistan and Serbia. -- As of January, China has provided assistance for over 150 countries, sent medical teams to those in need, offered funding to relevant United Nations agencies including the WHO, and provided countries around the world with over 220 billion masks, 2.25 billion protective suits and over 1 billion testing kits. NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Global COVID-19 cases hurtled to 100 million on Tuesday, breaking yet another grim record, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Throughout a roller-coaster year featuring a pandemic, when waves of the virus and its faster-spreading variants are ravaging the world, however, human efforts to defeat the disease at times and in some places lagged or went wrong, like belated test results, public defiance of necessary restrictions and, more recently, unbalanced vaccine distribution. In this life-or-death race of mankind versus virus, COVID-19 caught everyone off guard at first. However, anti-virus measures like lockdowns and calls for wearing a mask have gained increasing popularity, with the faster-than-ever work on vaccines expected to usher in an end to the pandemic. Now that more than one in every 80 people worldwide have been infected with the coronavirus, the global community was knit together like never before with the same memory of pain and hope for normalcy. Humans have gone to great lengths to outrun the virus, and against all odds in the future, there is this overwhelming strength of a global community hand in hand. A man wearing a face mask walks past the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States, Jan. 24, 2021.(Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua) CATCH-UP IN ANTI-VIRUS RESPONSE After its outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic has seen an upward spiral. It took months for global infections to cross the ten million mark since the very first reported case, but only about two weeks to add yet another ten million from 90 million. So far the outlook is still not rosy. A faster-spreading coronavirus variant first reported in Britain has been detected in at least 60 countries, said the World Health Organization (WHO) on Jan. 20. Some countries have set record after record for daily increases. With over 100,000 new cases every day for weeks, the United States has set a yet unbeaten, painful global record. Understaffed hospitals have struggled with a dearth of beds. Deaths also rose, so fast that a county in Texas, for example, used temporary coolers to hold bodies. Motorists line up to receive inoculation at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, the United States, Jan. 15, 2021.(Xinhua) Other parts of the world have not fared much better. Take Japan for example: Its medical system was so overwhelmed that some hospitals had to turn away patients. Yet outside hospitals, the pandemic is causing larger-scale damage as it sent the economy into free fall. Amid lockdowns, countless businesses across the globe have filed for bankruptcy, leaving laid-off workers in the lurch. In a January report released by the World Bank, global economic output is expected to expand 4 percent in 2021 but still remain more than 5 percent below pre-pandemic projections. There were a lot of botched responses to the virus, a virus whose origin and cure are unknown, for instance, the erroneous idea of injecting disinfectant as possible treatment, controversy over the concept of herd immunity, and hijacking of other countries' medical materials. Today humanity is better equipped with more knowledge and consensus. Workers unload a container of China's Sinopharm inactivated coronavirus vaccines at the Belgrade Airport, Serbia, Jan. 16, 2021. (Photo by Predrag Milosavljevic/Xinhua) In Europe, which was hit by a deadlier second wave of COVID-19, many countries have started the new year with lockdowns or earlier curfews. Sweden tightened its social distancing rules, and Britain has imposed several rounds of national lockdowns. In a rapid response to the more contagious variant, dozens of countries have announced bans or restrictions on travel from Britain. When COVID-19 started to sweep China during its traditional New Year festival marked by enormous population flows, a tight system for virus control involving all sectors of society was swiftly in place, featuring early intervention to break chains of transmission, a well-guarded community-based line of defense, etc. Now, China has long got the virus under control and become the first major economy to return to growth, a testament to the effectiveness of its anti-pandemic measures, like mandatory mask-wearing policy, use of health QR codes with authorization from the public, and strict quarantine rules. "This pandemic has shown that China has done wonderful work for the world to follow as an example," said Ejaz Ahmad Khan, a specialist in infectious diseases at Islamabad-based Shifa International Hospital. "Even after one year, China is still on alert. And that's why we see very few cases while the world is struggling to go through the pandemic right now." A bus runs past an advertising board reading "Stay Home Save Lives" in London, Britain, Jan. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Han Yan) PICKUP IN VACCINE DISTRIBUTION COVID-19 vaccination is now underway in more than 50 countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Jan. 21, calling it "a stunning scientific achievement and a much-needed source of hope" for safe and effective vaccines to be developed and approved in less than one year. In pooling talents and funds, humans are winning in the race against a novel coronavirus. To dispel doubts and assure the public of vaccine safety, leaders and high-level officials in countries like Indonesia and Turkey took a dose live on TV before mass roll-outs. Despite the good news, vaccine distribution came as a drag. In the United States, though the country was among the first to develop and approve COVID-19 vaccines, Americans got poised to roll up their sleeves for a shot only to find a lack of organization, like queue-jumping and deliberate waste of doses in some states. "Operation Warp Speed has failed to come anywhere close to its original goal of vaccinating 20 million people against the coronavirus by the end of 2020," said a New York Times editorial. "That's an astonishing failure." A medical worker receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Bangalore, India, Jan. 16, 2021. (Str/Xinhua) Outside the developed part of the world, the imbalance in distribution loomed large. While more than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries, just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country, Tedros said on Jan. 18, warning of "a catastrophic moral failure." A week later, Tedros, citing two new studies, added that it would also be an economic failure if the world doesn't deliver equitable access to vaccines. "Vaccine nationalism might serve short-term political goals," he said at a media briefing. "But it's in every nation's own medium and long-term economic interest to support vaccine equity." Hope is on the horizon. A global plan named COVAX has been launched to provide innovative and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, treatments and vaccines. After mistakes made during the HIV and H1N1 pandemics, Tedros said, "We have an opportunity to beat history." Medical members work at a COVID-19 unit of the Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, Italy, Nov. 12, 2020. (Photo by Gianni Schicchi/Xinhua) In fortifying a defense line involving all humans, rich and poor, there is a role for China. Considered safe, effective, and easy to store, vaccines from Chinese producers have been approved in such countries as Brazil, Chile, Turkey, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Pakistan and Serbia. Expectations have run high. When a million doses of China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines arrived at the Belgrade Airport in mid-January, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic was there to welcome the shipment. "As an ordinary person and the president of Serbia, I am convinced of the quality of the Chinese vaccine," he said. "Vaccinating only a sector of the world population will not be the solution, since the world is in constant motion," Rafael Vilasanjuan, a department director at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, recently told Xinhua, "so it is essential to understand that if the problem is global, then so is the solution." People pass by a COVID-19 test poster in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Jan. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso) PANDEMIC AS WAKE-UP CALL Now that COVID-19 is reaching one grim milestone after another, questions about its end are becoming more pressing. There is no easy answer, but history can serve as a reminder. In a decades-long relay race of scientists, doctors and governments, for example, an increasing number of diseases once considered incurable, like diabetes, cancer and AIDS, have somewhat come under control through new medicines. Time after time, humans united as one gained an edge over common enemies and bailed the whole community out. From the ashes of World War II, the United Nations arose with consensus about peace and multilateralism. From the 2004 tsunami across the Indian Ocean to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, an array of international teams always came to the rescue. What's more, terrorism was put under a tight siege by a global military alliance. This pandemic is no exception. "This is a wake-up call," Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said in December. "If there's one thing we need to take from this pandemic, with all of the tragedy and loss, (it) is that we need to get our act together." A woman selects face masks at an open-air market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde) Throughout the turbulence, mutual aid came flowing in. As early as January 2020, China submitted to the WHO and shared globally the virus's genome sequence, a boon for research into the disease and its vaccines. When July just started, WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said there were already over 60,000 sequences shared. "I think this is probably the first time that we've seen almost all countries willing to share the genetic sequence data of this virus in a public database through GISAID, through GENBANK," she said. By noon on Feb. 5, 2020, China, then the epicenter of COVID-19, had received prevention and control supplies from 21 countries. Afterwards the virus hit the whole world, and China returned the favor. Italy sent 40,000 masks to China as soon as the health crisis broke out in Wuhan. Later China donated millions of masks back when COVID-19 raged in Italy. Staff members of a supermarket hand out face masks to customers in Vienna, Austria, Jan. 25, 2021. (Photo by Georges Schneider/Xinhua) As of January, China has provided assistance for over 150 countries, sent medical teams to those in need, offered funding to relevant United Nations agencies including the WHO, and provided countries around the world with over 220 billion masks, 2.25 billion protective suits and over 1 billion testing kits. "Remember," Tedros said on Jan. 8 during a COVID-19 virtual press conference, "ending this pandemic is one of humanity's great races and whether we like it or not, we will win or lose this race together." (Video editors: Zheng Jinqiang, Yang Dingdu) After weeks of sizzling series of auditions, 15 beautiful ladies have been unveiled for the maiden 'Pose For Africa' modelling contest. The competition would start airing from February 6, 2021, on TV Africa as the beautiful ladies compete for honours and the chance to become a top Ghanaian model. The modeling contest first of its kind in Ghana is aimed at giving a platform for young female models to realize their dreams of becoming top models in the world. The 13-week Reality Show themed 'Representing the true image of Africa' would see these young beautiful ladies showcase their runway prowess, project shoots, interactive competitions among other various task shoots. The reality show would also promote tourism thus showcasing various Ghanaian arts to the outside world especially with participants across the African continent. Mrs. Afua Asantewaa O. Aduonum Chief Executive Officer of ASKOF Productions Limited said she was anticipating a keenly contested show considering the zeal of the young ladies. "If the high sense of enthusiasm of the contestants is anything to go by then, l can confidently say the stakes are high, Africa should brace itself for a real showdown," she said. The contestants for this year's reality show include Jacqueline, Roselyn, Kabukie, Marina, Racheal, Diamond, Cornelia, Regina Dzeagu, SweetBaby, Theresa, Ilse, Selma, Christiana, Russia, and Regina Amor. The winner for this year's Pose For Africa modeling show would sign a modeling contract with a top Modeling Agency, a trip abroad, cash prices, among others. The reality show is powered by ASKOF Productions Limited produced by Mcphillimages with support from Tee Bay Beauty, MJ Grand Hotel, Da Therapizts, Amelbeau, PMML, Eye 360 Security, Style by Ele, Vana Bites Chartma Herbal Center, Film God, Freddie Studios. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video US President Joe Biden has had his first call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin (Evan Vucci/Mikhail Klimentyev/AP) US President Joe Biden has had his first call with Vladimir Putin, the White House and Kremlin said. Mr Biden raised concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny while pressing the Russian president on his nations involvement in a massive cyber espionage campaign and bounties on American troops in Afghanistan, US officials said. On a positive note, the two presidents agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete an extension of New Start, the last remaining US-Russian arms control treaty, before it expires next month. In the nearest days, the parties will complete the necessary procedures that will ensure further functioning of the pact, the Kremlin said in its readout of the call. Expand Close Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia on the flight from Germany to Moscow, where he was subsequently arrested (Mstyslav Chernov/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia on the flight from Germany to Moscow, where he was subsequently arrested (Mstyslav Chernov/AP) Mr Biden has looked to establish a break from the warm rhetoric often displayed towards Mr Putin by his predecessor, Donald Trump. But the new president is also looking to preserve room for diplomacy. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Mr Biden has not held out hope for a reset in relations with Russia but has instead indicated he wants to manage differences with the former Cold War foe without necessarily resolving them or improving ties. And, with a heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions needed on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not something he seeks. Moscow reached out last week to request the call, according to the US officials. Mr Biden agreed but wanted first to prepare with his staff and speak to European allies, including the leaders of Britain, France and Germany. Expand Close Joe Biden assured Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg of the USs commitment to the alliance (Oliver Hoslet/Pool/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joe Biden assured Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg of the USs commitment to the alliance (Oliver Hoslet/Pool/AP) On Tuesday before his call with Mr Putin, Mr Biden spoke to Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, pledging the United States commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Mr Biden told Mr Putin that his administration is assessing the SolarWinds breach and the reports that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. Mr Biden said the United States is willing to defend itself and will take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, according to the administration officials. The Kremlins readout did not address the most contentious issues between the countries, though it said the leaders also discussed other acute issues on the bilateral and international agenda. It described the talk as frank and businesslike often a diplomatic way of referring to tense discussions. It also said Mr Putin congratulated Mr Biden on becoming president and noted that normalisation of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries. Among the issues it said were discussed were the coronavirus pandemic, the Iran nuclear agreement, Ukraine and issues related to trade and the economy. Telephone conversation with US President Joseph Biden: cooperation in trade and the economy, New START, UN Security Council summit https://t.co/JTH4Ws7lcj President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) January 26, 2021 The call came as Mr Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. Mr Bidens team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. More protests are planned for the coming weekend. Mr Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Mr Putins best-known critic, was arrested on January 17 as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Mr Biden has previously condemned the use of chemical weapons. Russian authorities deny the accusations. Expand Close Demonstrators clash with police in St Petersburg during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Demonstrators clash with police in St Petersburg during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny (Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Mr Trump seemed to seek Mr Putins approval, frequently casting doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, including when he stood next to Mr Putin at their 2018 summit in Helsinki. He also played down Russias involvement in the hacking of federal government agencies last year and the allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties. Despite this conciliatory approach, Mr Trumps administration toed a tough line against Moscow, imposing sanctions on the country, Russian companies and business leaders for issues ranging from Ukraine to energy supplies and attacks on dissidents. Mr Biden, in his call with Mr Putin, broke sharply with Mr Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 elections. On Monday, he told reporters he hoped the US and Russia could co-operate in areas where both see benefit. I find that we can both operate in the mutual self-interest of our countries as a New Start agreement and make it clear to Russia that we are very concerned about their behaviour, whether its Navalny, whether its SolarWinds or reports of bounties on heads of Americans in Afghanistan, Mr Biden said. Mr Bidens approach has met with approval from some former US diplomats who have dealt with Russia and are looking forward to seeing how Mr Bidens team, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his nominee to be the number three at the State Department, Victoria Nuland, delineates the contours of Russia policy. Ms Nuland, who held the Europe portfolio at the State Department in President Barack Obamas second term, is reviled by Mr Putin and his aides in particular for her support of pro-Western politicians in Ukraine. She and Mr Sullivan are said to share opinions about how to deal with Moscow, taking a tough line on human rights and Russias intentions in eastern and central Europe while keeping an open channel to the Kremlin on other matters. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 21:09:39|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A citizen runs in front of the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, on Oct. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Chen Bin) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese government spokesperson Wednesday urged the U.S. government to prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remarks in response to a query about a recent statement relating to Taiwan issued by the U.S. State Department. The Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, and is the most important and sensitive core issue in China-U.S. relations, said Zhu, urging the U.S. side to adhere to the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority in Taiwan has been colluding with external forces and making provocative moves to seek "Taiwan independence" over the past years, Zhu said. "That is the root cause of the current complex and severe cross-Strait relations." The DPP authority should adhere to the 1992 Consensus and stop such provocations, which is the only way to improve the cross-Strait relations and achieve peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Zhu added. On January 26, Pathet Lao newspaper published a front-page article titled Congratulations to the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The article emphasised the congress as an important political event and a strong development milestone of the Vietnamese revolution in the new period, towards solidarity, democracy, discipline, creativity and development. It affirmed that the Party, State and people of Laos will continue to join hands with the Party, State and people of Vietnam in protecting, preserving and promoting the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. According to Nhan Dan (People) Newspapers resident correspondent in France, many major French news agencies ran articles about Vietnams 13th National Party Congress, highlighting the countrys economic achievements as well as its effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article on the French Communist Partys L'Humanite newspaper hailed the congress as an important political event in Vietnams political life which takes place in the context of Vietnam having attained many achievements in terms of economic development and international integration. According to daily newspaper Le Monde (The World), Vietnam is an exception in both Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region regarding the health and economic criteria. While countries have been severely affected by COVID-19, Vietnam has effectively contained the spread of the pandemic and limited the COVID-19-related mortality rate, while achieving positive growth in a gloomy global economic picture. Media reports in the Czech Republic have highlighted Vietnams rising position and recent achievements, as well as the sound development of the traditional friendship between the two countries. The online newspaper halonoviny.cz ran an article on January 25 emphasising that under the leadership of the CPV, in recent years Vietnam, as a member of ASEAN, has had a rising role and position in the region and the world. On January 24, the website parlamentnilisty.cz highlighted Vietnams economic development achievements after 35 years of its Doi Moi (renewal) process, as well as the countrys success in international integration. In Asia, Japans Nikkei Asia newspaper published an article on the congress, noting that Vietnam was among the few countries to achieve a GDP growth rate of 2.9% in 2020 thanks to its effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Republic of Koreas national broadcaster KBS, Yonhap News Agency and some other local newspapers provided detailed coverage of the congress, underlining Vietnams goal of becoming an upper middle-income country. Australian media ran articles and photos of flags and banners in Hanoi to welcome the 13th National Congress of the CPV. Latin American press also highlighted the opening of the congress. The website of Telesur, a terrestrial and satellite television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela, laid stress on the main topics of the congress, emphasising Vietnams development goals for the next five-year period, with orientations to 2030 and a vision to 2045. Meanwhile, Argentinas Infobae news website and TN television channel published photos on Vietnamese Party and State leaders paying tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, who found the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1930, at his mausoleum in Hanoi ahead of the opening ceremony. Among infectious diseases that have caused pandemics and epidemics, smallpox stands out as a success story. Smallpox vaccination led to the disease's eradication in the twentieth century. Until very recently, smallpox vaccine was delivered using a technique known as skin scarification (s.s.), in which the skin is repeatedly scratched with a needle before a solution of the vaccine is applied. Almost all other vaccines today are delivered via intramuscular injection, with a needle going directly into the muscle, or through subcutaneous injection to the layer of tissue beneath the skin. But Thomas Kupper, MD, chair of the Department of Dermatology, and colleagues, had reason to suspect that vaccines delivered by skin scarification may offer better protection against respiratory diseases. In a study published in Npj vaccines, Kupper and co-authors present results from preclinical studies suggesting skin scarification may help generate lung T cells and provide protection against infectious diseases, with implications for prevention of COVID-19. "We have known for years that this technique was a good way to generate T cells that would home to the skin, but our study shows that skin scarification is also an effective way to generate T cells that home to the lungs," said Kupper. "Vaccine development today is focused on selecting the best antigen(s) for T cells and B cells. But for a vaccine to work to its full potential, it also needs to direct T cells to where they are needed most. For respiratory pathogens, that means getting T cells to the lungs." Historically, smallpox vaccines used live vaccinia virus (VACV). More recently, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA), a modern alternative that lacks about 10 percent of the parent genome and cannot replicate in human cells, thus avoiding the serious side effects seen with VACV. MVA, as a smallpox vaccine, is injected subcutaneously. Kupper and colleagues set out to determine if the skin scarification route of immunization with MVA could provoke a more effective T cell response than other routes of immunization. The team inoculated mice using either skin scarification, intramuscular, subcutaneous, or intradermal injection. Skin scarification generated more T cells, produced greater numbers of lung-specific T cells and provided superior protection against lethal viral doses than the others. "We used to think that lung-homing T cells could only be generated by direct lung infection, but here we find overlap between T cells appearing after lung infection and T cells generated through skin scarification," said Kupper. The authors note that their work is preclinical -- until clinical trials are conducted in humans, it's unknown if the phenomenon seen in the mouse model can be replicated in people. But the work has spurred the Kupper lab to explore the potential for using the MVA vector and skin scarification technique to develop more powerful -- and, potentially universal -- vaccines against other infectious illnesses such as influenza and coronaviruses. "We have known for a while that you can program T cells to go where you want them to go in the body -- if you want protective T cells in the lungs, this is one way to achieve that. It is a serendipitous finding, but it seems to work very well," said Kupper. ### This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health/NIAID (R01 AI127654) and the National Institutes of Health/NIAMS (R01 AR065807). Kupper and a co-author are inventors on a patent relevant to this study (US8691502B2). The patent is now owned by Pellis Therapeutics, a biotech company specializing in vaccines, in which Kupper and a co-author have equity. Kupper has received funding from the NIAID to study MVA s.s. immunization with constructs encoding SARS CoV2 proteins, including Spike as well as other conserved T cell antigens (R01 AI127654). Paper cited: Pan Yet al. "Epicutaneous immunization with modified vaccinia Ankara viral vectors generates superior T cell immunity against a respiratory viral challenge"Npj vaccinesDOI: 10.1038/s41541-020-00265-5 The Checkup for Jan. 27: Vaccine appointments available for those 75 and over. But they're going fast ON VACCINES, CALL. AND CALL AGAIN: All people 75 and older are now eligible to sign up for the vaccine. Anyone who has not received their firs By the time registration opened for people 75 and older on the Massachusetts vaccination website Wednesday, many Berkshire County seniors and their loved ones already had spent hours trying to figure out how to secure a slot. They stayed up until midnight, or woke early, only to find that the Phase Two clinics were not available yet. Even after appointment sign-ups began about noon, website issues bogged down the process. While some residents sped through the sign-ups, others described sites that would not load, forms that froze and pharmacies with no available appointments. Local health officials urged residents to continue to try to access maimmunizations.org, the state-operated website for public clinics. Where to call To set up a vaccine appointment without access to the internet, residents can call councils on aging in numerous communities for assistance: Adams: 413-743-8333 Dalton: 413-684-2000 Great Barrington: 413-528-1881 Lee: 413-243-5545 Lenox: 413-637-4787 North Adams: 413-662-3125 Pittsfield: 413-499-9346 Sheffield: 413-229-7037 Williamstown: 413-458-8250 If these appointments fill, there will be more down the line, said Laura Kittross, director of the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association. So, check back often. Residents also can check their eligibility, see a map of vaccination sites and register for appointments at mass.gov/covidvaccine. People without access to the internet can call many local councils on aging for help registering. People 75 and older will be eligible for the vaccine starting Monday, with the first large-scale public clinic in the Berkshires scheduled for Tuesday. Current vaccination locations include three primary sites Berkshire Community College in Pittsfield, W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School in Great Barrington and the St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish Center in North Adams as well as several pharmacies. Residents in later stages of Phase Two, including those ages 65 to 74, are not eligible yet. They should not reserve an appointment, Kittross said, as that would slow the process. IDs will be checked at clinic doors. Officials stressed that the vaccination timeline depends on the availability of doses. State representatives for the region have expressed hope that vaccinations might begin for the next priority group in Phase Two as soon as mid- or late February. But, in an email to patients, Berkshire Health Systems warned that it might take up to eight weeks to vaccinate the estimated 18,000 county residents who are 75 or older. The state said Wednesday that it remains on track to start vaccinating the general public in April. State officials told The Eagle that the website issues were caused by high demand and limited vaccine supply. At a news conference, Gov. Charlie Baker defended the process and urged patience. If you cant secure an appointment right away, you need to be patient about that, he said. We understand the difficulty thats attached to that. But, keep checking the website. Baker said that more time slots would be added on a rolling basis as additional vaccine shipments arrive from the federal government and that the administration is working to create additional resources for the registration process. In Berkshire County, people rushed to snag several thousand available appointment slots through the afternoon and early evening, with about 500 openings remaining by 6 p.m. But, as the earliest clinics filled up to capacity, some would-be recipients ran into virtual walls. Dave Pill, manager of a condo in Lenox, spent the day trying to help troubleshoot for a half-dozen of his eligible residents who wanted to make appointments. None was able to get the site to load. This is so frustrating, he said. Youre rolling this website out, its having issues, and these are the people that are least technically adept. Pill, who is not yet eligible, found that the server timed out every time he tried it. One woman who lives in the complex told him she was giving up on public clinics and would wait until Walgreens had more appointments available. I dont know if its a supply issue, or a technology issue, he said. Its kind of funny that none of this seems to be working right. Doesnt matter which state youre in. Though pharmacies also are offering some vaccinations statewide, Walgreens and Stop & Shop locations countywide did not appear to have available appointments as of midday Wednesday. Some vaccine hopefuls described long wait times in virtual lines at pharmacies and frustration that they were forced to make a Walgreens account, only to find that they could not book an appointment. Berkshire Allergy Care, though listed as a vaccine provider, is not making appointments at present. Despite initial confusion, some Berkshire seniors found that the whole process ran quite smoothly. Loretta Scheel, of Stockbridge, woke up early to register but saw only Phase One clinics on offer. As she sorted through the website, it froze several times, crashing her tablet and a computer browser. Shortly after noon, though, she was able to get through and book appointments for herself and her husband. It was very simple; we just chipped right through the process, she said. It was pretty clear and, at the end, they just sent us an email to say youre confirmed! Like others who were able to register Wednesday, Scheel, 79, is thrilled to have a concrete date for the long-anticipated vaccine. When youre our ages, you feel like this is a year you never get back, she said. So, we really wanted to get back out. We know we still have to be careful, but were looking forward to breathing more easily. A Boris Johnson super-fan has turned her toilet door into a perfect Downing Street replica - and invited the Prime Minister to come and 'rest his weary a**e'. Karen Vagges, 50, spent 120 decorating the door with black paint and brass fittings, including a near-identical lion head door knocker, the iconic house number and even a letterbox. The quirky feature can be seen from the house's entrance hallway, and Karen takes joy in asking guests to 'visit Number 10' when they request a trip to the bathroom. Karen from Dinas Powys, South Wales, believes Boris Johnson deserves a 'rest' and has even welcomed him to 'come and give it a go' himself. Karen Vagges, 50, from Dinas Powys, South Wales, pictured standing in front of her toilet door, which is a perfect Downing Street replica. She spent 120 decorating the door The toilet's interior. The quirky door can be seen from the house's entrance hallway, and Karen takes joy in asking guests to 'visit number 10' when they request a trip to the bathroom She has also offered her own 'Number 10' up for Cabinet meetings - though admits it wouldn't fit more than three ministers inside if a meeting was called. But it does come with a shower cubicle, which Karen claimed Mr Johnson would be 'welcome to use if he starts to sweat with everything he's got on his plate'. She even has her own Downing Street cat called Daisy, and boasts she's proud of her and her 60-year-old husband Tony Vagges' work, which 'always raises a smile'. Karen said: 'I wanted to paint the door blue at first, but then my husband thought black would be better to match the grey walls, and I thought, "oh, like number 10". 'It's a normal internal door, so we bought all the outdoor, brass accessories from eBay and then Tony fitted them all. 'It doesn't have a proper letterbox or keyhole. It's all for show. We didn't want to wreck the door, so we just put a wooden panel on the door for the letterbox. The door of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister. Karen said: 'If Boris wants to come to the alternative Number 10, he's more than welcome' 'Brass is quite expensive, and the door knocker was about 25 on its own, so it certainly wasn't the cheapest thing to do but I'm proud of it. It came out really well. '[Boris is] welcome to have a couple of Cabinet meetings in there, but I wouldn't get them all in. He'd probably struggle at three, but I'm sure he'd like it.' She continued: 'If he starts to sweat with everything he's got on his plate then he's very welcome to come and have a shower in there. Never say never. 'It was just meant to be a bit of humour on the way into the house. We've even got our own Downing Street cat. 'If Boris wants to come to the alternative Number 10, he's more than welcome. He should manage his expectation, but come and give it a go. It's like a home from home.' Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured speaking during Prime Minister's Questions today at the House of Commons in London Referring to the Prime Minister, Karen said: 'He could probably do with using our toilet to rest his weary a**e.' Social media users reacted to Karen's snap of her unorthodox toilet door on Facebook, with the post accumulating more than 1,400 likes. One person commented: 'I love it. Sums up the situation in the UK!' Another said: 'A lot of c**p goes on behind that door in real life so very apt.' A third added: 'Haha love it!' Karen said: 'Everybody comments on it. One person even thought it was a separate flat and we were renting out part of the house. 'I'm not saying everybody would have it, but everyone likes it.' Mike Pence is reportedly 'homeless' after being booted from the Vice President's official residence last week. The ex-VP and his wife, Karen, returned to their home state of Indiana last Wednesday but no longer own property there, according to one former Trump advisor who spoke with Business Insider. 'He doesn't have anywhere to live,' the source told the publication on Tuesday. There are now rumors the pair are 'couch surfing', either staying with Pence's brother in Columbus, Indiana or at the Indiana Governor's secluded vacation cabin in Brown County. Several insiders are said to be 'vexed' by the fact that the vice president doesn't own property. He has reportedly not owned a home in more than 10 years. Mike Pence and his wife Karen are reportedly 'homeless' after being booted from the Vice President's official residence last week. Pence is pictured last week Speaking last week, telling fans he will be moving home to Indiana by the summer, but some that may not be the case Speaking last week, Pence told fans that he would be moving home to Indiana by the summer, but some that may not be the case. Insiders predict he may rent in Washington, DC as he considers a run for the White House in 2024, while others believe he won't purchase a property while there are still threats to his safety. During the siege of the Capitol earlier this month, angry MAGA supporters stormed the building threatening to kill the Vice President if he did not try to overturn the results of last November's election. Pence still has a Secret Service detail, and is thought to be concerned about the protection of his family. 'That would make sense. They wanted to hang him in the Capitol,' one Indiana Republican told Business Insider. Pence moved into the Governor's Mansion in 2013, where he lived until he was elected Vice President in 2016 Vice President Pence and his wife spent the past four years leaving in the Vice President's Residence, located on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC The Pences owned modest family homes in Indiana in the 1980s and 1990s, before they moved to Washington, DC in 2000. They returned to Indiana about a decade later, where they rented in Indianapolis for three years before Pence was elected as Governor of the state in 2013. They then moved into the Governor's Mansion, where they lived until Pence was elected as Vice President in 2016. Vice President Pence and his wife spent the past four years living in the Vice President's Residence, located on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Washington, DC. Mike and Karen Pence are seen in their official Christmas 2020 portrait taken inside the Vice President's Residence The Pences have just been booted from the Vice President's Residence (pictured), which has been tastefully redecorated The interior of the Vice President's residence is pictured. New VP Kamala Harris will soon move into the dwelling, which is currently undergoing some minor reparis If the couple do decide to put down roots again in Indiana, they'll have no shortage of cash to splash on a property. Pence has a net worth upwards of $1 million, and he could make plenty more money in the coming years. Sources told Business Insider that Pence is could be 'eyeing a position at the helm of a Christian college', such as Liberty University. That would guarantee him an annual income in the high six figures - which is more than the cost of the average home in Indianapolis, which is currently around $169,000. Meanwhile, the state government spent a similar figure renovating the Indiana Governor's vacation cabin back in 2013, just after Pence become the state's Governor. According to reports at the time, the five-bedroom cabin received a $162,000 makeover and new furnishings. That is the property where the Pences are now believed to be staying, but officials would not confirm or deny if the political pair are bunking down there for the time being. Birendra Chhetri of Dang has been stranded in the UAE for the past 10 months. He was lured there by the offer of the Dubai Police job, but he was fleeced of Rs 500,000 in the process. Now, he fears if he has to get into legal trouble even to return to Nepal. Chhetri is a representative of many young people cheated by foreign employment agents and left stranded. Likewise, there is also a big number of youth who had gone to the UAE on visit visas, returning to Nepal after being stuck there for months and registering a complaint at the Department of Foreign Employment, seeking compensation. On January 4, the Department of Foreign Employment raided Babystar International Pvt Ltd after nine youth from Siraha were left stranded by in the UAE on a visit visa. However, no documents were found there. Then, the monitoring team went to a hotel in Gaushala of Kathmandu and confiscated two passports with visit visas stamped on them. According to a victim, Afzal Miah, they were held hostage at the hotel for six days. These incidents show how the recruitment agents are misusing visit visas for fraudulent activities that could amount to human trafficking. Further, this problem has left concerned decision-makers in a dilemma about whether to tighten the visit visa criteria to prevent trafficking or to loosen them in respect of their human rights. The youth exodus There have been plenty of such events. However, the tragedy is that no matter how many such events have happened, no matter how many problems there are, the number of people going to the UAE and other labour destination countries on visit visas has not dropped. Human traffickers offer seemingly legitimate jobs in European countries and Afghanistan, only to lure them into forced labour in the UAE by fleecing large sums of money. Many Nepalis are arriving in the UAE illegally, dreaming of getting a working visa within three months by going on a visit visa after not finding any job in the country. And, this trend is increasing every day, suggests the statistics of the government itself. According to the Department of Immigration, from September 1 to December 31 last year, 26,000 Nepalis went to different countries with visit visas. Of them, 9,000 had gone to the UAE only. Likewise, Kumar Dahal, the Director-General of the Department of Foreign Employment, also reports this number has increased with the reopening of international flights that were suspended due to the Covid-19 crisis. The Director-General of the Department of Immigration, Ramesh Kumar KC, considers the number of Nepalis going to the UAE to visit unnatural. How can we believe that 9,000 Nepalis went to the UAE to visit during such a pandemic? says KC. But, his own office records show they received visit visas from the UAE government. Further, KC adds, It is becoming more difficult to differentiate between the Nepalis going for an actual visit and for labour using a visit visa. We thoroughly examine every document of those going to the UAE. After checking, once everything is in order, we cannot stop them. During such checks, the immigration has stopped 425 people also, but 200 of them later flew by providing necessary documents requested by the department, reports KC. Although it is legal to go abroad on a visit visa, it is illegal to go abroad on a visit visa to work. However, apart from recruitment companies, travel agencies and consultancies are also running the business of visit visas. It has been alleged that the human traffickers who used the visit visa as a weapon have arranged a setting at the immigration office at the Tribhuvan International Airport. But, the Department of Immigration sees other issues as a bigger problem than this. KC says that the Nepali embassy in Abu Dhabi has written a letter to the department after the number of people stranded in the UAE who went there on visit visas increased. On the other hand, the Department of Foreign Employment has also sent a letter to the Department of Immigration after it received complaints from those stranded in the UAE daily. Decision-makers dilemma File: Department of Immigration KC says, We are in a dilemma on how to conduct the checking strictly when people are being trafficked in the name of visit visas. Because it is a human right and a fundamental right to be able to travel after getting a visa. To resolve this problem, discussions with the concerned bodies such as insurance companies are underway, informs KC. We have proposed to make it compulsory to have periodic insurance of Rs 1 million to Rs 1.5 million for a visit visa, says KC, We have tried to make arrangements to bring those people back by using the same amount in case there arise any problem after reaching abroad. He further adds that the matter will be resolved in a few days. Likewise, KC says, We will strictly ask for the source of the money with clear documents that explain from which bank, at what rate and when the foreign currency was exchanged. Currently, most of the people who go on a visit visa for labour are found to be carrying illegally exchanged foreign currency. However, the existing rules say the Department of Immigration should allow the person carrying the proof of hotel booking, two-way air tickets, sponsorship letter, and 1,000 US dollars to go freely. ADVERTISEMENT The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, John Tsoho, has officially communicated a reinstatement notice to a judge, Mohammed Yunusa, who was accused of bribery and sundry infractions in 2016. Mr Tsoho, via a letter dated January 11, 2021, communicated to Mr Yunusa the National Judicial Councils decision lifting the suspension slammed against him over four years ago. In the letter titled, RE: Lifting of suspension from office, and seen by PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr Tsoho said the NJC reversed its sanction against the judge following a letter of plea written on his behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yemi Akinseye-George. The letter read, I write to forward to you the letter from the Deputy Chairman National Judicial Council (NJC), Hon Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, CFR, Ref number NJC F.3/FHC493/111/366 dated December 23, 2020, conveying to you the decision of the National Judicial Council with regard to the letter of plea written on your behalf by Prof. Yemi Akinseye-George, SAN. The letter speaks for itself. The NJC had in July 2016 recommended Mr Yunusa to President Muhammadu Buhari for compulsory retirement based on the various allegations levelled against him. The council also placed him on an immediate suspension pending the approval of the recommendation for his compulsory retirement by the President. The President never gave any attention to the recommendation and Mr Yunusa remained on suspension until the NJC reversed itself to give the judge a clean bill of health in December 2020. Defence lawyer, John Odubela, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on Monday, informed the court where Mr Yunusa was being prosecuted for bribery that the NJC had issued Mr Yunusa a letter of reinstatement. He urged the court to act on the letter by discharging Mr Yunusa of the bribery charges instituted against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2016. The trial judge, Serifat Solebo of the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja, overruled EFCCs objection to Mr Odubelas prayer. She relied on the NJCs clearance to discharge Mr Yunusa. The EFCC had accused Mr Yunusa in the amended nine counts of taking bribe from a top lawyer, Rickey Tarfa, to the tune of N2,250,000. Mr Tarfa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, is also being separately prosecuted on similar charges. The EFCC had called about 10 prosecution witnesses and tendered about 50 documents as exhibits in the case against Mr Yunusa. The prosecuting counsel, Wahab Shittu, told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday that he had only two witnesses more to call to close the prosecutions case, and vowed to appeal the Mondays ruling. Also on Tuesday, Mr Shittu amended the charges to remove Mr Yunusas name from the charges and proceeded against the remaining defendant, Esther Agbor, who is a worker at Mr Tarfas law firm. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. WESTFIELD The 104th Fighter Wing has canceled the scheduled 2021 Westfield International Air Show and Barnes Air National Guard Base Open House due to COVID-19. Here at the 104th Fighter Wing, the health and safety of our community and our Barnes customers is our top priority, said Maj. Stephen Steagle Mindek, project officer for the scheduled 2021 air show in a letter released Wednesday. We understand what the Air Show means to the 104th and the surrounding communities; making the decision to cancel this community event was difficult but necessary. Thank you for your unwavering support of the 104th Fighter Wing. We look forward to the next opportunity that we can safely host another Air Show and Open House here. The show was scheduled for Aug. 14 and 15, a date the 104th, which is part of the Massachusetts National Guard, confirmed last summer. The show was to have featured the Air Force Thunderbirds, the Geico Skytypers, an aerobatics team flying World War II-era planes and an array of other attractions. The last time Westfield hosted an air show was in 2017 when it drew 60,000 spectators each day. Westfield Mayor Donald Humason said Thursday he learned of the cancellation last week, but it wasnt a surprise. We all hope that by summer things will be back to normal and well all be able to gather again, Humason said. But there is so much planning involved. Their mission is so important. They erred on the side of caution. His concern now is that the Westfield show be rescheduled. Air show sites around the country are on a two or three-year rotation with the military demonstration teams that are the big drawing cards. So it might take a few years for Westfield to get its opportunity again. So I kept my fingers crossed, Humason said. Its a big thing for our city. It does a lot for our region. We are big fans in our communities of the Air Guard and the mission. The Thunderbirds, according to their website, are still scheduled to appear Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 at the Pease Open House in Portsmouth New Hampshire. The 104th Fighter Wing now has F-15 fighter jets and the mission to provide air security over much of the East Coast including New York City. That means the Westfield-based planes provide security for one quarter of the nations population and over one-third of the gross domestic product. Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport brings in about $1 million a year to city coffers in rent and taxes, compared with a cost to the city budget of $800,000. In total, the airport and its tenants military and civilian have a $138.5 million payroll and total economic impact of $236 million a year. The airport is responsible directly or indirectly for 2,100 jobs. Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee last hosted its Great New England Air and Space Show in 2018. An estimated 63,400 people attended over the two days of that event. [January 27, 2021] Auron Therapeutics Closes $12.75 Million Seed Financing to Develop Differentiation Therapies for Treatment of Cancers WELLESLEY, Mass., Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Auron Therapeutics (Auron), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing differentiation therapies for treating cancer, today announced the completion of its $12.75 million seed financing round. Proceeds will be used to discover and develop novel therapeutics directed toward differentiation therapy, which reactivates endogenous cellular programs to elicit tumor cell maturation and differentiation. The round was led by Polaris Partners, Arkin Bio Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners USA with additional support from Eli Lilly and Company, BrightEdge (the investment arm of the American Cancer Society), Casdin Capital and Franklin Berger. Joining Aurons chief executive officer, Kate Yen, Ph.D., on the Companys Board of Directors are Isaac Ciechanover, M.D., of Polaris Partners as chairman, Alon Lazarus, Ph.D., of Arkin Bio Ventures and Anna French, Ph.D., of Qiming Venture Partners USA. Brad Robling of Lilly joins as a board observer. Auron was founded by Dr. Yen, Matt Vander Heiden, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, Dept. of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and associate director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Ross Levine, M.D., member of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program and an attending physician on the Leukemia Service, Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) and Eytan Stein, M.D., assistnt professor on the Leukemia Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and director of the Program for Drug Development in Leukemia. Despite great strides in treating cancer, current treatments, which primarily depend on killing tumor cells, do not lead to cures and can often involve challenging side effects, said Dr. Yen. Our approach is different and involves transforming malignant cells into a more normal state rather than killing them. Capital from this seed financing will enable us to advance a lead candidate toward advanced preclinical development and also provide us the opportunity to identify new disease targets to investigate. Dr. Ciechanover added, We are excited to back Dr. Yen and her team to develop this important new class of therapies. Aurons multi-omic translational platform is designed to identify promising therapeutic targets, agents, and candidate biomarkers, which should expedite clinical trial enrollment and reduce the cost of drug development. We view Auron as an excellent fit in our oncology investment portfolio and look forward to working with the management team to advance programs toward clinical development. About Auron Therapeutics. Auron Therapeutics aims to cure cancer by radically changing the paradigm of cancer therapeutics from cell killing to transformation of malignant cells into more normal functioning cells. This transformation, called differentiation therapy, reactivates endogenous cellular programs to elicit tumor cell maturation and reprogram cancer tissue to a more normal phenotype. Please find more information at www.aurontx.com. CONTACT Auron Therapeutics Kate Yen, Ph.D. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Kate.yen@aurontx.com MEDIA Ryo Imai Burns McClellan rimai@burnsmc.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2021 / Gold Mountain Mining Corp. (TSXV:GMTN)(FRA:5XFA)("Gold Mountain" or the ("Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Ore Purchase Agreement ("OPA") with New Gold Inc. ("New Gold") for a three-year term. HIGHLIGHTS: Gold Mountain will deliver ore to New Gold's New Afton Mine located 130km from the Company's Elk Gold Project in Kamloops, British Columbia. Pursuant to the OPA, New Gold has agreed to pay Gold Mountain in a timely manner based on the tonnes and grade of the ore delivered to the mill independent of when it's processed. The OPA provides the Company with an efficient path towards initial production following the receipt of necessary permits. Kevin Smith, CEO of Gold Mountain, states "Signing the OPA with New Gold represents another key milestone and partnership for Gold Mountain. This agreement will help advance initial production at the Elk Gold Project by eliminating the time and capital required to build on-site infrastructure. We are confident in our ability to execute on our mine plan and deliver significant value for our shareholders." Ore Purchase Agreement Under the terms of the OPA, Gold Mountain will deliver 70,000 tonnes of ore per annum, approximately 200 tonnes per day, to the mill located at New Gold's New Afton Mine situated 130km from the Elk Gold Project, in Kamloops, British Columbia. The OPA has a term of three years, giving Gold Mountain sufficient time to scale its business accordingly. The ore will be sampled and weighed at the Elk Gold Project site to determine the contained ounces of gold and silver being delivered to the New Afton Mine. Following delivery of the ore, New Gold will pay Gold Mountain at the end of each calendar month based on the value of the gold and silver in the ore, net of the agreed metallurgical recovery and concentrate selling costs. New Gold then has 17 days to deliver payment for the ore. The terms of the OPA mitigate the variance and volatility of operational throughput for Gold Mountain and allows the Company to avoid any risk of recovery. By securing a world-class toll milling partner in New Gold, along with the previously announced mining contract executed with Nhwelmen-Lake LP, Gold Mountain has the operational partners in place to increase shareholder value. The terms of the OPA supports the economic analysis set forth in Elk Gold's 2020 PEA posted on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and available for download at https://gold-mountain.ca/operations/. The OPA is effective upon the first delivery of ore to the New Afton Mine. Prior to the first delivery of ore, the parties must settle on a sampling procedure for tracking the tonnes and grade delivered, Gold Mountain must receive the Permit (as defined below) and New Gold must obtain a permit amendment to allow for the processing to occur. Mining Permit Update Gold Mountain is pleased to provide an update on the progress of the Joint Permit Amendment Application that was submitted in May 2020 (the "Permit") and will allow for the extraction of 70,000 tonnes per annum of ore. The Permit was accepted through the application screening phase of the application review and Gold Mountain has responded to the first round of technical review questions that were provided by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development. Gold Mountain is anticipating a second (final) round of technical review questions from the regulators in the coming months prior to completing the Permit review process. COVID-19 Gold Mountain is committed to the health and safety of all employees, contractors, and local communities in which they operate. The Company has implemented additional controls and safety protocols in accordance with Canadian guidelines and government requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic. About New Gold Inc. New Gold is a Canadian-focused intermediate gold mining company with a portfolio of two core producing assets in Canada, the Rainy River and New Afton Mines. The Company holds an 8% gold stream on the Artemis Gold Blackwater project located in British Columbia and a 6% equity stake in Artemis. The Company also operates the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico (in reclamation). New Gold's vision is to build a leading diversified intermediate gold company based in Canada that is committed to environment and social responsibility. For further information on New Gold, visit www.newgold.com. About Gold Mountain Gold Mountain is a BC-based gold and silver exploration and development company focusing on the expansion of the resource at the Elk Gold Project, a past producing mine located 57 km from Merritt in South Central British Columbia. www.gold-mountain.ca. For further information, please contact: Gold Mountain Mining Corp. Kevin Smith, Director and Chief Executive Officer Phone: 604-309-6340 www.Gold-Mountain.ca Email: KS@gold-mountain.ca Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Gold Mountain obtaining its mining permit, Gold Mountain hauling ore to New Afton, New Gold paying Gold Mountain in a timely manner, the ability of Gold Mountain to execute on its mine plan, the terms of the Permit, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; the price of gold; New Gold's ability to obtain its custom milling permit, Gold Mountain's timely receipt of the Permit and the results of current exploration. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Gold Mountain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For a comprehensive overview of all risks that may impact the Company, please see the Filing Statement dated December 14, 2020 a copy of which is available on Gold Mountain's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE: Gold Mountain Mining Corp View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626079/Gold-Mountain-Mining-Corp-Signs-Ore-Purchase-Agreement-With-New-Gold-Inc Many people snickered at the claim made in Texas v. Pennsylvania that there is only a one in a quadrillion chance that Joe Biden won all the swing states as currently claimed. The true meaning beneath the statistic is simple: the vote counts certified in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia are fake, so let's cut through all the noise and decide what to do next. "One in a quadrillion" is a rarified way of saying it just didn't happen. Texas's case was shot down because in the United States both grammar and logic have been overtaken by rhetoric. The old trio: Grammar, logic, and rhetoric Rhetoric is not the same thing as logic or grammar. Philosopher Richard Weaver championed rhetoric as a tool to share truth rather than skirt it. But ever since the ancient birth of "sophistry," there have been rhetoricians who see logic and grammar as disposable tools to support a primary rhetorical agenda. (Some call this, basically, propaganda.) When people ask you, "how can 95% of doctors be wrong?" or "how can all the courts be wrong?," you should keep in mind that the overemphasis on rhetoric has been universal in colleges since the 1980s, even in Christian and conservative colleges. Professional degrees in medicine and law followed undergraduate degrees in which rhetoric, rather than literature, was used to teach people writing. This was the fruit of the endless battles over "general education" requirements. Consider some stupid ideas that have attained a consensus in the worlds of medicine and law. The same medical community that concluded that racial justice rallies were not dangerous during a COVID pandemic but patriotic rallies were also concluded that there is no purpose to indicating on birth certificates whether someone is male or female. The Supreme Court (even with its mythical conservative majority) that decided, indirectly, that birth certificates can be issued showing two fathers and no mother has also claimed that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not mean that citizens in all states have equal protection of their voting rights (see here). To come up with the latter, they appealed to the question of "standing" which is a rhetorical move rather than a rational or logical examination of the claims put forward by Texas. So, now, the faux consensus on election fraud Many liberals who insist there is "no evidence" of election fraud refer us to the fact that so many courts have rejected lawsuits filed by people alleging fraud. From this trend one can conclude two things. First, it is commonplace in the United States for people to confuse credentials for evidence, and therefore to think a summary of what credentialed authorities say about evidence is as good as, or better than, or the same thing as, a summary of evidence. They believe such things because they have been taught to think rhetorically asking what is most persuasive rather than logically (what is actually true) or grammatically (what is rational). Second, courts are run by the most educated people in America, which means they went to colleges where rhetoric was literally forced on every student and logic and grammar were systematically devalued. Every composition and rhetoric teacher in English 101 begins by telling students to consider their audience before writing an essay. Judges are the teacher's pets who always did what their composition teacher told them; that is how they got straight As and rose up the ranks of respectable society. So while their audience is vesting all their authority in judges, the judges are doing what rhetoricians taught them. They are basing their rhetorical responses on what their imagined audience wants to hear. Liberals those who most resemble their English 101 teachers from college are the audience that judges have in mind when they write their opinions. In citing judges, liberals are merely stating their own rhetorical position through deceitful ventriloquism, which has nothing to do with the facts or what a reasonable person would conclude from looking at facts. The rhetorical reading of election fraud claims In a world where rhetoric has replaced logic and grammar, standards and thresholds become easily adapted to the "situation" and "audience." I compiled a list of questions that election frauddeniers cannot answer logically or rationally here. With grammar now deemed less important than rhetoric, terms such "beyond a reasonable doubt" can seamlessly turn into "a strong case in response to one particular reasonable doubt." The audience has no clear understanding of conjunctions, prepositions, articles, or subordinate clauses. One can transform any phrase rhetorically into the opposite of what it means grammatically. Grammar is key to ratios and therefore to mathematical reasoning. The ratio of Joe Biden votes to total votes is not the same as the ratio of Joe Biden votes to Trump votes. Votes counted divided by votes cast is not the same ratio as votes cast divided by votes counted. People who have no command of grammar have no real defense against propagandists. Skilled rhetoricians can construe "preponderance of" to mean "convincing possibility in." A video emerges of Georgia workers throwing out Republican poll-watchers based on false claims about a broken water pipe, then surreptitiously scanning ballots taken from a hidden suitcase. The fact that authorities lied, threw out observers, and then did things they were not legally entitled to do shows a preponderance of evidence that they committed an election crime. People who committed one election crime would probably be capable of committing another election crime (reporting fake results), so their credibility as witnesses should be received with suspicion. The audience trained to think rhetorically will interpret these facts irrationally (that is, against the "ratio"). There exists one possible explanation they were just putting away papers and doing some regular housekeeping. This excuse is far-fetched but comforting to some. The audience sees the preponderance of evidence favoring the anti-Trump position because of the irresistible option to see the image as innocent rather than incriminating. Within the evidence, there exists a possibility they weren't scanning ballots, but doing some other wholesome paperwork after hours and the innocent possibility sounds more convincing to the audience. So even this obvious video evidence is "debunked" and deemed "not credible," despite the fact that affidavits signed by Republican poll-watchers before they knew of the video's existence matched the events and timing caught on video, while the Georgia state officials made statements that were completely disproved by the video. In the ungrammatical and illogical world of rhetoric, the fact that an election authority broke one law and got caught can be interpreted as proof that he didn't break other laws and therefore merits credibility as a witness. How does this work? The audience likes the suggestion that if such people had committed more crimes, they would have been caught engaging in them (a presumption that runs utterly against the reality that people are usually creatures of habit). The fact that these accused parties are actively preventing any investigation that would reveal more crimes is then taken rhetorically as proof that they must be innocent. The Los Angeles Times, for instance, argues that the election fraud of 8,000 ballots in the small city of Hawthorne proves that national fraud could not affect the outcome of a presidential race. This too baffles a rational reader. The officials at the Times say that if a scheme involving 8,000 ballots could be caught, then a much bigger scheme would certainly come to light. But the Hawthorne case runs counter to the repeated pre-election claim by liberals that election fraud was close to nonexistent in the United States. There are countless reasons why a small crime ring in Hawthorne might be discoverable while larger conspiracies might involve people shrewd and powerful enough to cover up what they did. The main lesson learned is that the liberals were wrong about the nonexistence of fraud before. Yet they emerge from the Hawthorne scandal with more credibility. This is an utterly irrational application of "credibility as" a source of information on election fraud. We see the same trend with digital forensics. Since the perceived audience doesn't understand grammar or ratios, its members look at two irrefutable facts (a) we have done digital forensics on only one county's tabulation system representing less than 1% of the ballots counted by a certain software company, and (b) in that one county, we found erroneously reported data that falsified the winner of the presidential election and they conclude that fewer than 1% of the ballots could have been falsified and the election should stand. Proven fraud proves that no fraud happened. Hence, a liberal will be confronted with evidence that, let us say, 9,000 dead people's names appeared on the rolls as having voted, and the liberal will mention that one person was incorrectly reported as dead. To the liberal, the "preponderance of evidence" standard has been met for a Biden win because one mistake by the Trump team overturns all Trump's findings, but one convincing excuse from the Biden team (even if it is still speculative) overturns an infinite number of proven Trump claims. When shown video of Democrats affixing boards over windows to prevent observers from seeing them count ballots, liberals claim that this disproves fraud because no observers can state that they witnessed any illegal activities during the tabulation process. The fact that the Democrats were bold enough to hide possible crimes from observers looks to liberals like proof that they must not have committed any crimes. Logic involves the use of reason to examine different claims and decide which one is most plausible or certain. Grammar involves the effective use of language to convey meanings honestly and efficiently. Rhetoric is different. It is the art of argumentation, a "craft" tailored to the goals of the speaker and his audience. A good rhetorician can convince an audience of a certain proposition even if the proposition is false. Good logicians and good grammarians will not fall for the tricks of a good rhetorician. By the 1990s, people who received Composition/Rhetoric Ph.D.s overwhelmed Ph.D.s in literature, philosophy, and linguistics, largely because it was so easy to place graduates of Composition programs. Almost every university requires that all students take a distribution requirement in writing. Composition/Rhetoric programs marketed their grads as uniquely trained to run them. We now live with the result of bad education. To believe in Biden's win, we would have to believe that since nobody has given a clear reason for the simultaneous stoppage of vote-counting in key swing states, no nefarious reason could exist for it. We would have to believe that Republican observers were expelled in multiple districts simply because all the election officials were in the same bad mood. We would assume that all affidavits provided by Trump's team are lies, but all statements provided by Biden's team are truthful. We would have to believe that millions of voters who favored Biden by breathtaking margins mailed in their ballots late enough that they arrived after the Election Night, to be counted with no observation, but no large contingent of Trump voters mailed in ballots on such a late date. We would have to believe that Democratic activists who support amnesty for people who defrauded immigration processes or asylum claims, and who spent four years equating Trump to Hitler, would miraculously show restraint and report nothing but honest vote totals. We would have to believe that honest mistakes caused the computer glitch in a Michigan county, but nowhere else, even though authorities are actively preventing the Trump team from inspecting the software and hardware. That anybody believes that the Biden win was certifiable is a sad irony. That half the country believes it is an indictment against our nation. As a former English professor, I say, give credit where it is due. Blame the English departments. Robert Lopez can be followed on Twitter, bobbylopez.me, and Gatekeepers Online, where he hosts the Big Brown Gadfly. Image: Wokandapix via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Sergey Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif have met to discuss the crisis in Syria, the need for diplomatic efforts and plans for another meeting of the Astana countries writes The Syria Times. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated the need for finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria. Lavrov stressed during a press conference with his Iranian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday, the necessity of finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria and implementing UN Resolution 2254 through a Syrian-Syrian dialogue without any external interference, noting that the talks dealt with preparations of the next meeting in Astana formula, scheduled to be held next February in Sochi. For his part, Zarif called on the international community to support efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria and not to obstruct this target, and to cooperate in providing humanitarian aid to those who are in need. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the first phase of the Al-Fayrouz fish-farming project, the Middle Easts largest fish farm located east of Port Said about 196km northeast of Cairo, on Saturday. The project is built on an area of 15,886 feddans (one feddan equals 1.038 acres) and is planned to include 5,908 tanks with annual production of 13,000 tons. Its first phase, inaugurated this week, is constructed on 14,398 square metres and has a total of 5,331 tanks. The project also includes two lakes, a fish-processing factory, an ice-production factory, a test and research laboratory, and a number of water plants, in addition to a network of canals and drains. According to Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Radi, the project provides 10,000 direct and indirect job opportunities and is meant to secure foreign currency and support the national economy by increasing fish exports to the Arab and European countries. He added that the project aims at reducing the gap between fish production and consumption in Egypt in order to achieve self-sufficiency and reduce fish imports. Head of the General Authority for Fish Resources Development (GAFRD) Salah Moselhi told the state-owned daily Al-Gomhouriya that the authority was operating according to Egypts 2030 Strategy that aims to increase local fish production to three million tons of fish by 2030. Egypt currently ranks first in Africa and sixth worldwide in fish-farm production. In 2020, Egypt produced almost two million tons of fish with a value of about LE50 billion, of which 80 per cent was produced through fish-farming, Moselhi said. Ali Abdel-Mohsen, chairman of the Agricultural Economics Research Institute, said that Egypt was 90 per cent self-sufficient in fish and that the average fish consumption per capita was 20kg per year. Egypts exports of fish amount to about 35,552 tons valued at LE883 million, Abdel-Mohsen said. With the River Nile and two coastlines overlooking the Mediterranean and Red seas, fish have long been a cheap source of protein for many Egyptians. Tilapia, locally known as bolty, is the most farmed species of fish in Egypt. Its price ranges between LE25 and LE40 per kg depending on its source, around five to six times less than the price of a kg of meat. Egypt ranks third in the production of tilapia worldwide, representing 70 to 75 per cent of local fish production, Moselhi said, adding that Egypt exports fish to various Arab and African countries. Al-Sisi also inaugurated the first phase of another fish-farming project at Al-Deepa, west of Port Said, via video-conference on Saturday. The project is built on 203 feddans of land. The first phase is built on 107 feddans of land and comprises 60 tanks, while the second phase, still under construction, is being built on 96 feddans and is scheduled to include 12 tanks. Fish-farming in Egypt has been growing over the past few years due to the expansion of projects. One of the most prominent was inaugurated in 2017 in the shape of the Berket Ghalioun (Ghalioun Lake) fish-farming project located in the Delta Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate, 134km north of Cairo. It has a production capacity of five million kg of fish and shrimps per year. The project was built on 12,000 feddans of land and has 1,359 basins for freshwater and saltwater fish and shrimp farming. The projects industrial zone, established on an area of 55 feddans, includes ice and foam factories and packaging and fish-feed factories with a capacity of 120,000 tons a year. It also produces 60,000 tons of shrimp feed a year. During his speech at the inauguration of the Al-Fayrouz project, Al-Sisi highlighted ongoing projects to develop 1,500 villages in Egypts countryside. In three years time, the Egyptian countryside will be greatly transformed, the president said. In addition to offering job opportunities, the projects would also provide sanitation services, road networks, drinking water systems, and government institutions in addition to other facilities, he said. Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine Al-Kabbaj confirmed that Al-Sisi had ordered the expansion of the Decent Life initiative to develop Egyptian villages, including 1,500 villages in 50 centres inhabited by 18 million citizens. She added that the initiative came within the framework of state plans to develop all Egyptian villages within three years in order to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and basic services. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said the state had launched the initiative in cooperation with civil society and private-sector institutions, adding that the total cost was some LE515 billion. The biggest challenge was not the funds, however, but the enormous number of projects being implemented simultaneously, Madbouli added. He explained that the state had implemented more than 31,000 projects to improve peoples lives in rural and urban areas as part of the Decent Life initiative. These would be completed within the next three years, he said, with an investment exceeding LE5.8 trillion of which LE3 trillion had already been spent. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: Police detain a man during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Photo: AP Joe Biden challenged Vladimir Putin over the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and reports of Russian bounties on the heads of US soldiers in Afghanistan in their first presidential phone call. Mr Biden also raised concerns about Russian aggression against Ukraine, and reaffirmed Washingtons strong support for Ukraines sovereignty. Mr Biden made clear he would act firmly in defence of our national interest in response to malign actions by Russia, the White House said. The Kremlin said Mr Putin told Mr Biden he supports normalisation of relations and feels it would benefit the international community. Mr Navalny returned to Russia last week for the first time since he nearly died from poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok. The Russian opposition leader was detained on arrival and jailed for 30 days for allegedly violating the terms of his suspended sentence. Another court hearing, which could see him sentenced to three and a half years in prison, is expected later this week. Rallies in Mr Navalnys support swept across Russias 11 times zones on Saturday in the biggest show of discontent with Mr Putin in years. He is not counting on support from the West and his team has no plan to meet the EUs foreign policy chief in Moscow next week, a key ally said. Mr Putin and state-owned media claim that Mr Navalny was a foreign spy bent on destroying Russian state. The G7 group of nations yesterday condemned the arrest of Mr Navalny, calling his detention politically motivatedin a statement. The groups foreign ministers said Mr Navalnys detention was deplorable and called for his immediate and unconditional release. Read More Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] By Adam Sitkoff - Executive director American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi Amid the hardships, fear, and sadness, we have been buoyed by those who give us hope, from ordinary people engaging in unexpected acts of generosity and kindness to many of our member companies that stepped up to support the community in Vietnam. We thank Vietnams leadership for taking serious and appropriate steps to mitigate the damage from the terrible virus. While the future is unknowable, the government and the people of Vietnam have done an outstanding job. Last year was a challenging one but the United States and Vietnam worked together in a respectful and cooperative way to resolve some important trade issues. And now, as we prepare for the Year of the Buffalo, the US-Vietnam relationship is solid and is growing stronger on a daily basis. The Trump administration said that although Vietnams currency practices hurt American businesses, it decided not to impose tariffs or other trade restrictions that would harm the commercial relationship between our two countries. The administration had been investigating Vietnams policies and practices related to currency valuation since October. It was the first case in which the US cited currency manipulation as a reason to investigate a trading partner under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 the same legal tool the White House used to impose massive tariffs on imports from China. Throughout the investigation, we forcefully argued that the US and Vietnam have developed a healthy commercial relationship and that growth in the US-Vietnam trade deficit has been driven primarily by the relocation of supply chain security and sourcing operations from China to Vietnam, not by unfair actions taken by the State Bank of Vietnam. We explained to the Trump administration that currency manipulation has not been an issue for our members, and that we prefer the US government to instead prioritise efforts on more pressing issues facing our business community such as discriminatory policies on digital trade and broadcast, pharmaceutical imports, intellectual property rights, customs and tax procedures, and more. We urged President Trumps team to resolve issues with Vietnam by negotiation and not by resorting to duties, tariffs, or other harmful trade barriers. Feedback and pressure from the business community made a huge difference in the outcome of this case. That is why our members place great importance on engagement with both governments. We believe that robust dialogue between the private sector and government helps lead to optimal public policy outcomes. Most importantly, our business community strongly believes that both countries can prosper together. President Biden is now in office and we expect his trade policy to focus on helping US workers. It is critical that US companies and investors here encounter an equal, level, and predictable playing field as a solid foundation, not only to attract new investment, but also to maintain and grow the investment that is already here. In addition, we recommend that foreign investment limitations, an overly restrictive legal framework of laws, and burdensome administrative procedures should be carefully reviewed and selectively relaxed to encourage increased US investment. In our view, by opening its market to more US goods and services, Vietnam can help to rectify the growing trade imbalance between the two countries in a manner that benefits both countries. As major investors here, US companies have an interest in Vietnams continued success. It is a new year and we welcome the incoming leaders in both countries. US investors are optimistic about business prospects in Vietnam, and we support efforts to create a modern economy that will attract future investment and high-paying jobs for Vietnamese people. We will continue to work on lowering barriers to trade, to help the Vietnamese government make it easier to do business, and to create a high-standard, transparent, and stable business environment to ensure that all investors have fair access to that opportunity. Lucknow, Jan 27 : Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday addressed members of the nyay Panchayat in Amethi's Jamoh and underlined the need for strengthening the party organisation. Addressing the meeting virtually, Priyanka said that for her the relationship with Amethi was not political but was that of a family. She said the farm laws were detrimental to the interests of not only the farmers but the whole country. She also said that the Congress supports and stands with the farmers and the weaker sections of the society. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Over the past decade, more than a million undocumented immigrants have been returned to Mexico. The majority of them lived in the United States for the better part of their lives. Over the past decade, more than a million undocumented immigrants have been returned to Mexico. The majority of them lived in the United States for the better part of their lives. Anita Isaacs is a professor of political science at Haverford College. Anne Preston is a professor of economics at Haverford. Patrick Montero is the photography editor at Haverford College. They are the co-directors of the oral history project migrationencounters.org . A week into his term, President Joe Biden is already making good on his campaign promise to reverse President Donald Trump's immigration policies, confront the nativism that infuses our treatment of immigrants, and pursue comprehensive reform that would provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The contributions of immigrants, and the human toll of anti-immigrant policies should take center stage as we renew our national conversation on immigration. Between June 2018 and June 2019, we interviewed 430 former immigrants living in Mexico City. More than a third left the United States during the first 18 months of the Trump administration. They were either deported or chose to go because they saw no future for someone who was undocumented in the United States. The vast majority were brought to the United States as young children, by parents fleeing poverty and violence. In their journeys to become Americans, they tried hard to fit into a society that could be unwelcoming. They often forgot how to speak Spanish. Some starred in high school musicals; others ran for student government. More than half graduated from high school; a quarter obtained a college degree. As adults, they raised families and paid taxes. Several built successful painting, landscaping, construction and transportation businesses that employed American workers. But others struggled to find their footing amid the constant fear of being detained and deported. A man grasped how few opportunities were within his reach after a high school classmate asked if he planned to be a waiter all his life. Despairing over the future, some like that man decided to return to Mexico. Others had no say. A college graduate who was deported shortly after paying off his student loan debt compared the disbelief he felt to that of a distorted black and white image suffused with static and flickering across a television screen. I felt out of it, he said. It was hard to process. Many of those who return face a different kind of stigmatization in Mexico. They are often singled out for the way they dress; teased for their halting, accented Spanish; and stereotyped as arrogant, as failures, as criminals. Disoriented and overwhelmed by culture shock and the trauma of being separated from their families in the United States, most suffer from anxiety and depression. Some find the resilience to start over and pursue new dreams in Mexico. These photos and quotes give a small glimpse into a handful of the many lives derailed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global cardiac rhythm management devices market size is expected to touch USD 35.22 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 7.5% from 2019 to 2026, Cardiac rhythm management devices have witnessed evolution of pacemakers, cardiac resynchronization therapy, implantable cardioveter defibrillators and loop recorders over the last decade. The growth drivers for the market include favorable legislative policies followed by Government in developed and developing countries. Additional market drivers include rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), cohesive reimbursement climate and technological advancements that boost market growth CRM devices are the universal solution for patients suffering from arrhythmias. Latest findings in Cardiac Resynchronization therapy devices are anticipated to drive this market. Furthermore, implantable cardioverter-defibrillators have opened up more vistas of operations since their integration with pacemakers. This increases the product life for pacemakers. Cardioverter- defibrillators having found immense applications are certain to expand market growth. Get Sample Copy @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market/request-for-sample Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is also debilitating human population that explains high growth of external defibrillators. Government initiatives are working in the direction of making economies more cardio-friendly. This works positively for external debrifillators to experience surging market growth. As per Government data available More than 6.0 million people have fallen prey to cardiac disorders. Of these, 0.8 million are victims of atrioventricular blockage that ends in cardiac failure. This proves an outgo of USD 20-60 billion annually. Hence to prevent this, CRM devices are being put to effective use to prevent surgical costs from inflating and also prevents readmission charges, thus impacting market growth. North America took credit of nearly 35% overall market for CRM Devices in 2016. This was particularly due to supportive legislative policies, lenient reimbursement schemes and increase in cardiovascular diseases. Asia Pacific was seen as fast growing market for CRM devices with a CAGR of 9%. This was largely made possible due to accessibility of CRM devices. Do you have questions or special requirements? Ask our industry experts @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market/speak-to-analyst The key players operating in Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Implantation include St, Jude Medical, BIOTRONIK, Inc., Medtronic and Boston Scientific Corporation and ZOLL Medical Corporation among others. Polaris Market Research has segmented the global Cardiac Rhythm Management (CRM) market on the basis of product and Region: CRM Devices Product Outlook (Revenue USD Millions 2015-2026) Pacemakers Implantable Pacemakers External pacemakers Defibrillators Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Subcutaneous ICD Transvenous ICD External Defribillator Manual ED Automated ED Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) CRT- Defibrillators CRT-Pacemakers Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Nvidia Broadcast transforms any space into a home broadcast studio, upgrading standard webcams and microphones into premium smart devices through the power of AI. Improve the video and audio quality of your livestream with AI capabilities, such as virtual background, webcam auto frame, and microphone noise removal. With dedicated AI processors called Tensor Cores on GeForce RTX GPUs, the AI networks are able to run high-quality effects in real-time. When not broadcasting, these features can also enhance your video conference calls and voice chats, making Nvidia Broadcast a perfect AI companion for anyone. Nvidia Broadcast is compatible with a wide range of broadcasting, video conferencing and voice chat apps. These include: OBS Studio, Streamlabs, XSplit Broadcaster, Twitch Studio, HuYa, DouYu, Bilibili, Discord, TeamSpeak, Skype, Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Meet, Bluejeans and more. Features: Virtual Background Experience instant creative control at your fingertips. Background Removal, Replacement and Blur (beta) allow you to customize your background without the need for expensive equipment or complex lighting setups. Personalize your webcam feed using powerful AI greenscreen effects perfect for work and play, wherever you are. The possibilities are endless. Noise Removal Loud keyboard typing. Annoying microphone static. Bothersome PC fans. Noise Removal uses AI to eliminate unwanted background noise at the touch of a button. Go live or attend a meeting remotely without worrying about finding a quiet place. Or mute players in loud environments, making them easier to understand. NVIDIA Broadcast makes it fast and easy. Auto Frame Lights, camera, app-tion. Dynamically track your movements in real-time with Auto Frame (beta), automatically cropping and zooming so you remain the star of the show - even as you move around. System Requirements: GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, Quadro RTX 3000, TITAN RTX or higher RAM: 8GB RAM or higher CPU: Recommended: Intel Core i5 8600, AMD Ryzen r5 2600 or higher Driver: NVIDIA Display Driver version 456.38 or higher Internet connectivity during installation What's New: New Effect - Room Echo Removal (beta): reduces room reverb from your audio. New Effect - Video Noise removal (beta): reduces video noise from webcams, especially in low light situations. This first version is not yet fully optimized and may have a higher impact on performance than other effects. Updated Effect - Noise Removal: added additional support for pet sounds (e.g. cats and dogs), improved quality and performance. Updated Effect - Auto Frame: added a buffer zone so the camera doesnt move if you stay within the center third of the frame. App improvements: Multi-effect functionality: added support for multiple effects so users can combine up to 2 effects per device for a maximum of 6 effects. Please note that running multiple effects will have a higher performance impact on the system. Audio effects can be combined but noise removal loses some effectiveness. Improved Camera preview quality Improved and clarified UI messaging Reduced the memory size of the installer Bug fixes: Researchers at Princeton and Google are using a ventilator designed and built at Princeton in an effort to automate and improve controls for all types of ventilators. Credit: Aaron Nathans Spurred by the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at Princeton and Google are applying mechanical engineering and artificial intelligence in an effort to increase the availability and effectiveness of ventilation treatments worldwide. Ventilators and their support equipment are lifesaving technologies, but they are also expensive and complex devices that require expert attention from doctors and other highly trained medical workers. The devices must be carefully calibrated and monitored to ensure they are meeting a range of parameterspressure, volume, breath ratetuned to each individual patient. Often, these measures change during treatment, requiring further tuning. Researchers at Princeton led by Daniel Cohen and Elad Hazan thought that much of this monitoring and adjustment could be handled by artificial intelligence. If computers could handle more of the job, it could not only lessen the burden on medical workers but also allow ventilators to be deployed in areas with shortages of expert operators. The project stemmed from a new ventilator designed and built by a team led by Cohen, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Since the early COVID-19 outbreak last spring, Cohen's team had been working to design low-cost ventilators using readily available parts. Initially, Cohen met with Hazan to discuss a control system for the new design. But the researchers realized that artificial intelligence could improve controls for all ventilators, not just the type designed at Princeton. The meetings led to the question "Can we improve people's health by improving the control methods used by the ventilators?" said Hazan, a professor of computer science and director of Google AI Princeton. As is typical for medical devices, the Princeton ventilator design would have to undergo a thorough review before it could be used with patients. In the near term, however, the machine could play a critical role in allowing researchers to improve systems used to operate other ventilators. Most modern ventilators are controlled through a standard algorithm, known as PID, for continuously monitoring and adjusting a device. These PID algorithms, dating to the early 1900s, are used to control many popular automated devices such as cruise controls in cars. "The hypothesis is that applying AI tools can improve on these older methods from classical control theory and can make the systems more robust and safer," said Hazan, who brought together a team that included senior Paula Gradu; graduate students Xinyi Chen, Udaya Ghai, Edgar Minasyan, Karan Singh and Daniel Suo; and recent Ph.D. graduates Naman Agarwal and Cyril Zhang. Hazan said the control research went hand-in-hand with the work in Cohen's mechanical engineering lab to design a more cost-effective ventilator, which involved obtaining previously proprietary industry standards to create a broadly open-source device. Access to a working ventilator has been critical. The physics underlying breathing is complex, and breaking the gas/fluid dynamics down into working equations is generally impractical and inaccurate. So instead of approaching the control problem through the physics of the lungs, the researchers decided to run experiments on the Cohen team's ventilators and apply machine learning to "learn" from the experiments. If the approach worked, artificial intelligence would not need to solve the underlying physics. Instead, it would uncover patterns in the data that would guide the safe and effective operation of the ventilator. Hazan said the early results have been promising, and the research team is preparing a scientific article on the approach. He said it would not have been possible without a way to accurately simulate ventilator operations. "That is why the collaboration with Professor Cohen is so essential," he said. "They already had an open source setup that we were able to use." Designing a low-cost ventilator that "goes together like Legos" The development of the ventilator began as part of an effort by Cohen and Daniel Notterman, a physician and lecturer with the rank of professor in molecular biology, to respond to needs of the regional medical community during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the outbreak last spring, medical experts feared that the country might run short of ventilators, and the researchers set out to design a new system that was inexpensive and could be assembled from off-the-shelf parts. After initial conversations with Notterman on the design and clinical needs of mechanical ventilation, teams of researchers from across the campus worked on the design. The effort involved individuals from departments including computer science, neuroscience, physics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. Julienne LaChance, a graduate student in Cohen's lab, led engineering efforts to build a prototype. In addition to LaChance, Notterman and Cohen, the local Princeton team includes Tom Zajdel (electronics and hardware), Manuel Schottdorf (software and controls), Grant Wallace (software architecture), Sophie Dvali (flow and sterility), and Zhenyu Song (software). External collaborators include Chase Marshall (computer-aided design and layout), Rengo Seirup (electronics and hardware), Moritz Kutt (printed circuit board design), and Jonny Saunders (user-interface design, software and alarm system). "Modern ventilators seek to maximize clinical outcomes while at the same time protecting patients from excessive levels of pressure and volume," said Notterman, who is a board certified pediatric intensive care physician with experience managing patients with respiratory failure. "Although conceptually simple, the regulation of ventilator performance is extremely complex. This effort provided the opportunity for experts in programming, engineering and clinical medicine to rethink many of the usual solutions, under the leadership of Professor Cohen." LaChance, who worked as a researcher at General Electric before coming to Princeton, said the plan was to build a ventilator that could be easily assembled from off-the-shelf parts and that could meet a variety of clinical requirements. "It basically goes together like Legos," she said. "I picture my high school robotics team putting this together." The team worked on two prototypes. One was built in Hoyt Labs under the direction of Zajdel, a post-doctoral researcher in Cohen's lab with a background in electrical engineering who has been instrumental to completing the performance testing, said Cohen. The other is in a garage in Rensselaer, New York, undergoing fine-tuning to the design and compiling of full documentation to be shared with the community. "Like a lot of people, I am not on campus right now," LaChance said. "So I started a 'garage build.'" The ventilator is now fully built and meets key performance standards set forth by the FDA, while costing less than $1,500a tenth or twentieth the price of commercial ventilators, Cohen said. The first version is known as PVP1for the "People's Ventilator Project"to emphasize the completely transparent and open nature of the project. Cohen added that a key to the project was combining carefully designed, modular hardware with a flexible, reliable and open software foundation that opens up the potential of the machine. "The team has really worked fantastically well together, despite strict remote operations, three different time zones spanning 12 hours, and a frenetic pace," said Cohen. Cohen said LaChance played a key role in obtaining engineering standards used to build the new ventilator. Documents containing standards, developed by international standards organizations, are usually purchased by companies that want to develop new machines. Because multiple standards are needed for a single device, and each standards document can run to thousands of dollars, the cost can be prohibitive for non-corporate designers. On a Sunday in March, LaChance and another designer, AJ Ortiz, met virtually with representatives of the U.S. standards organization that oversees such devices, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), to ask them to open the ventilator standards on an emergency basis. The ANSI representatives agreed. "ANSI is proud to support the crucial efforts of Princeton and many groups engaged in the combat against COVID-19 by providing free, read-only access through our portal to 37 critical international standards from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)," said Mary Saunders, ANSI vice president of government relations, who earned a master's degree from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in 1979. "In creating the portal, ANSI proactively reached out to ISO and IEC to gain approval for opening access to these standards, which were identified by U.S. companies, agencies, organizations, and universitiesincluding Princetonas being essential to their response efforts." Cohen said the team has worked to meet the engineering standards while rethinking approaches to many of the challenges imposed by the pandemic, such as reduced availability of parts and financial stress on hospitals and medical facilities. Besides working with Hazan's research group on improving controls, the ventilator team is now actively seeking manufacturing partners to help push for regulatory approval, especially in less affluent countries in need of ventilators both now and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers are also exploring the suitability of the system for cost-effective and safe pediatric ventilation. "We have been using robust, simple parts that we put together with a lot of very well done software and coding," said Cohen. "We are trying to develop a generalized platform that anyone can work with, or improve upon, anywhere in the world, even after the pandemic." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak Justice minister nominee, vice minister hit for misbehavior Monday's confirmation hearing for Justice Minister nominee Park Beom-kye failed to clear up suspicions against him but rather confirmed that the three-term lawmaker had many reasons to be disqualified. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) defended him, stating, "There were no serious problems." Yet it's doubtful that he is qualified to lead the Ministry of Justice, given the extent of unresolved suspicions surrounding him. Above all things, the nominee was indicted a year ago on charges of assaulting opposition party officials during a scuffle in April 2019 when opposition lawmakers occupied parliamentary committee meeting rooms to physically stop the DPK from fast-tracking electoral and prosecutorial reform bills. If named officially, Park will become the first justice minister ever to stand trial as a defendant. His morality and law-abiding spirit are also in doubt. The main opposition People Power Party accused him of intentionally omitting some of his assets in his financial disclosure as a lawmaker. Park's vehicles have been impounded on several occasions for traffic and parking violations. He is also suspected of assaulting a person preparing to take the bar exam who approached him for help four years ago, and abetting Election Law violations committed by his aides. The assault incident involving Vice Justice Minister Lee Yong-gu is raising the ire of the public, too. Ripples from the incident have grown bigger since it was discovered that the taxi driver he allegedly assaulted had shown a video evidence of violence to a police officer but the officer said he would behave as if he had not seen it. Given that the justice minister and the vice justice minister are tasked with upholding the rule of law, letting Park and Lee stay in the ministry is tantamount to ridiculing this abiding tenet. We have to be concerned that the Ministry of Justice might degenerate into the "Ministry of Injustice." President Moon Jae-in should consider withdrawing his pick for justice minister, and Lee should resign and then face a thorough investigation. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (OTCQB: SVBL, TSX: SVB) (Silver Bull) is pleased to announce it has completed its due diligence and has closed om the option agreement with Copperbelt AG (Copperbelt), a public, non-listed mineral exploration company registered in Zug, Switzerland, regarding their 100% owned Beskauga copper-gold project located in northeastern Kazakhstan. Highlights of the Agreement With the closing of the deal Silver Bull has paid Copperbelt a total of US$70,000 in upfront fees. Silver Bull has four years to conduct exploration on the property. Exploration expenditures on Beskauga and certain other licenses required to keep the option in good standing are US$2 million in year one, US$3 million in year two, US$5 million in year three and US$5 million in year four, for a total exploration spend of US$15 million over four years. After completing US$15 million in cumulative exploration expenditures Silver Bull can acquire the Beskauga property for a US$15 million cash payment. Copperbelt may receive a bonus payment of up to US$32 million should Silver Bull publish a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) with a resource of up to 10 million gold equivalent ounces on the main Beskauga prospect and 5 million gold equivalent ounces on an additional prospect. 20% of the bonus is payable 60 days after publishing a BFS, with the remaining 80% payable on the commencement of mine construction. Up to 50% of the bonus is payable in common stock of Silver Bull at Silver Bulls election. Silver Bull will pay a finders fee to a third party upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. Tim Barry, President, CEO and director of Silver Bull states, We are extremely pleased to close this agreement with Copperbelt. We believe the Beskauga copper-gold project represents one of the best exploration opportunities in the world. The high quality work that has been completed on the project to date indicates that Beskauga is a huge mineralizing system that has considerable upside that has yet to be explored. We will be working closely with our partners from Copperbelt to quickly and efficiently explore these areas. In addition to the exploration potential at Beskauga, the project has excellent infrastructure. Paved road access and, 1100 KVA power lines, heavy rail, and a highly trained workforce all lie within a 10 kilometer radius. The capital city of Nur-Sultan, located approximately 300 kilometers from the project, has a major international airport allowing for easy access and administration of the Beskauga project. As a mining jurisdiction Kazakhstan is fast becoming a go to place due to its recently updated mining law and incredible geological prospectivity. In June 2018 the Kazakhstan government implemented a new mining code based on the mining code used in Western Australia and has reduced a considerable amount of the administrative burdens for subsoil users. Unlike many governments around the world today, the Kazakh government is very supportive of the mining sector, a view which is highlighted by the fact that numerous major mining companies have recently set up an office in the country and acquired exploration licenses. We expect to provide more details about the Beskauga project itself in the coming months. About Kazakhstan Size: Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, covering 2,717,300 km2, and has a population of 18.2 million people. Capital City: The capital city is Nur-Sultan which is located 300 kilometers from the project. Nur-Sultan has a major international airport allowing for easy access and administration of the Beskauga project. Mining Law: Kazakhstan adopted a new mining code titled Code on Surface and Subsoil Use (the "SSU Code") on December 27, 2017, that became effective on June 29, 2018. The SSU Code is based on the Western Australian model where Kazakhstan moved from a contractual regime to a licensing regime for solid minerals (except for uranium). Coincident with the updated SSU law, the Kazakhstan government also reduced a considerable amount of the administrative burdens for subsoil users. Tax: A summary of pertinent taxes related to exploration in Kazakhstan is as follows: 20% corporate tax 12% value-added tax (VAT) is refundable for exploration companies 4.7% royalty for copper 5% royalty for gold and silver Geological Prospectivity: Kazakhstan is one of the most prospective countries in the world for a number of metals. According the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Kazakhstan is; 1 st in the world for uranium production (41% of world output) in the world for uranium production (41% of world output) 2 nd in the world for chromite production (18% of world output) in the world for chromite production (18% of world output) 4 th in the world for titanium production (6% of world output) in the world for titanium production (6% of world output) 10th in the world for copper production In addition, Kazakhstan has significant proven reserves (as yet unmined) of gold, silver, lead, zinc tin, iron ore, nickel, cobalt, and bauxite. The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies in 2017, ranked Kazakhstan the 24th best mining jurisdiction in the world. Sierra Mojada Update Silver Bulls Sierra Mojada project remains under an illegal blockade organized by a Cooperative of local Miners called Sociedad Cooperativa de Exploracion Minera Mineros Nortenos, S.C.L. (Mineros Nortenos). Due to COVID-19 the Mexican court system remains closed and the timing of reopening is uncertain. In an attempt to force Silver Bull into making a settlement, Mineros Nortenos has blocked access to the project since September 2019. To ensure the safety of all involved, Silver Bull has elected to halt all operations on the project until a resolution can be found. The joint venture option with South32 remains in good standing but under a force majeure pause. About Silver Bull: Silver Bull is a mineral exploration company whose shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade on the OTCQB in the United States. Silver Bull owns the Sierra Mojada project which is located 150 kilometers north of the city of Torreon in Coahuila, Mexico, and is highly prospective for silver and zinc. Sierra Mojada is currently under a joint venture option with South32 International Investment Holdings Pty Ltd. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, CPAusIMM Chief Executive Officer, President and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 info@silverbullresources.com Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the potential payment of a finders fee in connection with the Beskauga option agreement, the potential upside of the Beskauga property, future exploration of the Beskauga area, support of the Kazakh government of the mining sector, geological prospectivity of Kazakhstan , the potential resolution of the blockade at Sierra Mojada. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including such factors as the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the interim periods ended January 31, 2020, April 30, 2020, and July 31, 2020, and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Interiors are left incomplete as builders await the end of China border closure due to coronavirus. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Pyongyang General Hospital in Pyongyang, North Korea in this image released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 17, 2020. A North Korean state-sponsored project to build a state-of-the-art hospital in the capital Pyongyang has been severely delayed due to a year-long suspension of trade with China over coronavirus concerns, government officials told RFA. Though exterior work on the Pyongyang General Hospital is complete, the project was supposed to have been ready by the Oct. 10 75th anniversary of the 1945 founding of the ruling Korean Workers Party, but builders have not been able to install elevators or finishing hospitals interiors without building materials and medical equipment from China. The project has been such a priority for the North Korean government that authorities forced residents from areas outside the capital to donate food and supplies for construction workers, with many complaining that they would never be permitted to set foot in the capital, much less use the hospitals modern facilities. Work on the hospital began in March 2020, but it has been several months since construction was put on hold. The pet project of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should have had a guaranteed supply of materials, an official of Pyongyangs municipal government told RFAs Korean Service Jan. 21. However, the interior work has not been started at all. Electric wiring, lighting, marble, other interior materials and medical equipment should have been imported from China, but they have not been brought in due to the coronavirus, said the source, who requested anonymity to speak freely. North Korea and China shut down the Sino-Korean border in January 2020 and suspended all trade, a move that has all but closed the North Korean economy off from the rest of the world. Though builders tapped domestic suppliers to begin construction on the hospitals exteriors in March, work cannot continue until imports resume. During the ruling partys eighth congress, held Jan. 5-12, the party ordered factories and other government agencies to wean themselves off of imports so the countrys economy could be more self-sufficient. But RFA reported last week that because the congress decided to invest heavily in North Korea's tourism sector, government officials were scrambling to find ways to import materials for building interiors in anticipation of a building boom. Inpatient facilities will go in the two main high-rise buildings, so elevator installation is the core of all interior work, the source said. Last year, they signed a contract to import elevators and escalators from a company in Shanghai but the coronavirus has prevented them from being brought in, said the source. The source said that the Shanghai firm had been chosen because its products were deemed to be fast and energy-saving, and safe in buildings over 30 floors, criteria that fit Kim Jong Uns instructions to complete the hospital with the newest amenities. The company in Shanghai is not a Chinese company. It is a joint venture between a Chinese company and South Koreas Hyundai Elevator Co., Ltd. But since we have a contract with a Chinese firm to import the elevators, there are no problems with customs, said the source. Another source, an official in North Hamgyong province in the countrys northeast, told RFA Jan. 22 that the hospital project became a priority when Kim Jong Un lamented publicly that the North Korean capital had no world-class medical facilities. The leadership ordered the completion of the Pyongyang General Hospital as the best medical facility, even authorizing the use of party funds to import the best modern medical equipment should the national budget be insufficient, said the second source, who declined to be named. The UN Security Councils Sanctions Committee on North Korea did not reply to RFAs inquiries about the South Korea-China joint venture and whether importing elevators violate sanctions meant to prevent Pyongyang from funneling resources into its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea in September officially banned imports of products from China produced by joint ventures. At the time of the ban, a source from Dandong, China, on the border with North Korea, told RFA that authorities targeted so-called Sino-foreign joint venture projects, especially those made in cooperation with companies from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan. A sanctions expert who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of his job told RFA that products produced by South Korea-China joint ventures can be exported to North Korea unless they are sanctions items. In that case, they must be approved for a sanctions waiver by the UN Security Council. Even so, they may be subject to sanctions unilaterally imposed by the United States. Reported by Hyemin Son for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, Md., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LIBRA Insurance Partners, one of the nation's largest insurance marketing organizations, successfully petitioned the Colorado Department of Insurance to add restrictions and mandates to the Voya/Resolution Life transaction prior to approving the close of the transaction. These conditions were proposed in order to protect the rights of the policyholders of Voya products whose insurance policies would be included in the transaction, as well as the insurance agents who represented the Voya policies to their clients. In December 2019, Voya publicized its agreement to sell its Individual Life and other legacy non-retirement annuities businesses to Resolution Life. LIBRA Insurance Partners subsequently took the unusual step of intervening in the Colorado regulatory proceeding as an "Interested Party" because, collectively, its partner agencies had written thousands of policies over the years with Voya, and its predecessor, ING Life. LIBRA Insurance Partners joined Valmark Financial, a leading broker-dealer, as "Interested Parties" in the regulatory action to ensure their respective policyholders and agents/producers would be properly protected in the transaction. "LIBRA Insurance Partners collectively sold hundreds of millions of dollars of premium with Voya and its prior companies, representing thousands of policies. We have a great deal of business impacted by this transaction. Customers purchased these policies as a long-term promise and they deserve to be represented in a transaction such as this," said William (Bill) Shelow, CLU, ChFC, CPCU, LLIF, President and CEO of LIBRA Insurance Partners. "Resolution Life is much less diversified as a company than Voya, and we were concerned with the future performance and serviceability of these products with a transfer of ownership. We wanted to ensure that Resolution Life maintained the capital required to service policyholders uninterrupted rather than pay dividends to shareholders." LIBRA Insurance Partners, represented by James S. Bainbridge, Esquire of The Bainbridge Law Firm, LLC in Plymouth Meeting, Penn., was successful in petitioning the Colorado Department of Insurance to place, what some industry analysts refer to as unprecedented, restrictions on Security Life of Denver, the individual life unit Resolution Life purchased from Voya. "We were extremely pleased that the Department of Insurance took the time to conduct a very thorough regulatory review and implement several important restrictions we collectively requested as Interested Parties," Bainbridge stated. The restrictions include the following: (1) limiting upstream profits until the organization maintains a risk-based capital (RBC) that has exceeded 600 percent for the first four years after the transaction closed; (2) instituting a capital maintenance requirement of a minimum of 350 percent per year; (3) verification and monitoring of Resolution Life's 100-million-dollar commitment for improvements to systems and processes for servicing policyholders; and (4) improving access to policy information and policy servicing for policyholders, advisors, agents and BGAs. Commenting on the restrictions, Shelow stated that "LIBRA Insurance Partners is proud to have been instrumental in providing additional access to policy information our partners and their advisors did not have access to originally." He added, "LIBRA Insurance Partners believes that our obligations to clients exist well after the sales process takes place, and we are committed to taking every step available to us to protect the policyholders and further ensure we deliver on the promises our partner agencies and their advisors and agents make to their clients." About LIBRA LIBRA Insurance Partners is an insurance marketing organization that is dedicated to serving its partners and their brokers in navigating the marketplace. They differentiate themselves by offering industry-leading knowledge, resources and education in order to provide financial security for families and businesses. Formerly known as LifeMark Partners and BRAMCO Financial Resources, the united firm is committed to the ongoing development and enhancement of robust, proprietary resources for its partners that revolutionize the industry. The organization's foundation is built on collaboration and sharing best practices; partners grow their agencies together through regular training, networking and educational opportunities. To learn more about becoming a LIBRA partner firm, visit www.LIBRAInsurancePartners.com or call (410) 837-3022. About The Bainbridge Law Firm, LLC James S. Bainbridge, Esquire is the founder and managing director of The Bainbridge Law Firm, LLC, a business litigation and counseling boutique that focuses on providing results-oriented legal representation that protects client resources. James regularly represents life insurance carriers, agents, broker-dealers, and in certain select cases insureds, in complicated coverage disputes. He has litigated life insurance matters in courts across the country and both writes and speaks regularly on developments in the industry. James was a regular contributor to the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting's Essential Wisdom Series, a trusted source of actionable technical and marketplace knowledge for AALU membersthe nation's most advanced life insurance professionals. The Wall Street Journal has also mentioned/quoted James in two recent articles, "Life Insurance Customers Push Back Over Surprise Cost Increases" and "Happy 100th Birthday! There Goes Your Life Insurance." To learn more about James or The Bainbridge Law Firm, visit www.thebainbridgelawfirm.com or call (484) 690-4542. SOURCE LIBRA Insurance Partners Related Links http://www.librainsurancepartners.com/ Walgreens Boots Alliance has named Rosalind Brewer as its next chief executive, making her the only Black woman to currently run a Fortune 500 company. The appointment of Ms. Brewer, currently the chief operating officer and a board member at Starbucks, takes effect March 15. Ms. Brewer will replace Stefano Pessina, who had previously announced his plans to step down from the role. Mr. Pessina had been the pharmacy giants chief since 2015, following the multibillion-dollar merger of Walgreens and Alliance Boots a year prior. Shares of Walgreens rose by 5 percent on Wednesday, the first session after the announcement of her appointment. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has hit Cobb County School District near Atlanta hard, with three teachers dying of the virus in the past month. One of the teachers was kindergarten art instructor Patrick Key, 53, who died on Christmas Day after spending weeks in a hospital, KHOU Channel 11 reports. Key was a strong advocate for wearing masks and in his obituary requested the people purchase and wear masks to protect others and yourself in honor of him, according to USA Today. Last week, a school district employee requested a moment of silence at a board meeting for the teachers and asked that people put on masks to honor Keys request. Two board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale refused to put their masks on during the moment of silence, the Washington Post reports. It was a decision that did not go unnoticed during the meeting and has brought criticism of the board members and Ragsdale. Id like the record to reflect that some of you did not wear a mask, the final request of a Cobb teacher who died, said Jennifer Susko, a schools employee who requested the moment of silence, according to USA Today. Your actions in these two minutes have spoken louder than words. We see where your priorities are. Please know that many of us reject your false gratitude for staff since we seem disposable to many of you. Ragsdale and the two board members who didnt wear masks, David Chastain and David Banks, have not commented on the incident, USA Today reports. Keys widow, Priscella Key, who also is a teacher in the district, tells USA Today the actions by the board members and superintendent would have broken his heart. When several board members refused to put on a mask for a few seconds just to honor his memory, we were stunned. It was very disappointing, painful, and insulting, Priscella Key tells USA Today. Patrick deserved better. The two other Cobb County teachers that passed away from COVID that very day deserved better. Dana Johnson, an elementary school teacher, and Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at an elementary school, died from the virus after Key, the Post reports. Teachers tell KHOU they are fed up with the school board and how its policy on the coronavirus. Their attitudes about it kind of run the gamut, teacher Chantae Pittman tells KHOU. But at the base core level of it, its just a matter of theres no communication and theres no transparency. The Post reports the district does require all employees, students and visitors to wear masks in school buildings where social distancing is not possible. A spokesman for the district said Ragsdale and the two board members who didnt wear masks were physically distant during the meeting. The Cobb County Board and Districts hearts go out to the Johnson, Key, and Lindsey families. Cynthia, Dana, and Patrick were incredibly valuable members of our Team, a statement from the district says. The outpouring of support for their families show how much they were loved and how they positively impacted every student, teacher, and parent who they interacted with. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. US President Joe Biden is entering his second week in office with a lot on his plate. Among the most pressing issues are plans to produce and distribute the Covid-19 vaccine in the US, economic rescue proposals to support tens of millions of Americans during a difficult time, and the issuing of dozens of executive orders to reverse many of former president Donald Trumps policies, especially regarding immigration, borders and travel constraints. But there are also other issues competing to get Bidens attention, among them foreign policy issues. Biden has already been faced with his first foreign policy challenge related to Russia and China. His administration has called for the immediate release of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and more than 2,000 of his supporters detained after attending rallies in some of the largest nationwide protests in Russia in years. In a statement that signalled a more confrontational stance towards Moscow from Washington, the US State Department condemned the harsh tactics used by the Russian authorities against the protesters and journalists at the weekend. We call on the Russian authorities to release all those detained for exercising their universal rights and for the immediate and unconditional release of Aleksei Navalny, it said. The United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies and partners in defence of human rights, whether in Russia or wherever else they come under threat. Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was jailed last week upon his return from Germany where he had been recovering from an assassination attempt he says was ordered by the Kremlin. He called on his supporters to hold rallies demanding his release. The White House said Biden had instructed Avril Haines, US director of national intelligence, to probe Moscows use of chemical weapons against Navalny in connection with the assassination attempt. Even before Biden took office, Jake Sullivan, the new US national security adviser, said the Russian crackdown on protesters was a violation of human rights and an affront to the Russian people. Yet, despite the tensions, the Biden administration will not want to burn all the bridges with Russia. There are other crises that cannot be resolved unless Russia cooperates with the US, including the conflicts in Syria and Libya. All eyes will be on contacts between Biden and Putin, in which Biden will need to walk a fine line as he seeks to toughen his administrations stance on Russia while preserving room for diplomacy in a post-Trump era. Biden has not held out hopes for a reset in US relations with Russia, but he has indicated that he wants to manage differences with the former cold war foe without necessarily resolving them or improving ties. With an already heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not something Biden seeks. When he first speaks with Putin before the end of this week, Biden is expected to call Putin out for the arrest of Navalny and the crackdown on the Russian opposition, express concerns about cybersecurity and press allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties to kill American troops in Afghanistan. At the same time, Biden must be mindful of his own proposal to extend for five years the last remaining US-Russia arms control treaty that is due to expire in February. On Monday, Biden told reporters that he had not yet decided how to respond to the Navalny situation but expressed hopes that the US and Russia could cooperate in areas where both see benefits. I find that we can both operate in the mutual self-interest of our countries on a New START [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] agreement and make it clear to Russia that we are very concerned about their behaviour, whether its Navalny or reports of bounties on the heads of Americans in Afghanistan, Biden said. Biden has already ordered the US intelligence community to launch reviews of each of those issues, according to the White House, which on Friday said the US proposal to extend the New START would be accompanied by reckonings on the other matters. The approach has met with approval from some former US diplomats who have dealt with Russia and are looking forward to seeing how Bidens team, including Sullivan and his nominee as number three at the State Department, Victoria Nuland, sets out the contours of Russian policy. TOUGH ON CHINA: Biden has signalled that he will maintain a tougher stance on China, and last week the US urged China to stop intimidating Taiwan after Chinese jets flew into the countrys air-defence zone in the second warning to Beijing since Biden became US president. We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwans democratically elected representatives, the State Department said. The warning came days after the presidential inauguration, which was attended by Hsiao Bi-Khim, Taiwans representative in the US. The invitation marked the first time that a de facto Taiwanese ambassador to Washington had attended an American presidential inauguration. Haines said Washington needed to take a harsher stance towards China, and new Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he disagreed with the way Trump had implemented his hawkish China policy but that the former president was right in taking a tougher approach. It seems the US-China trade war is not going away under Biden, but he might not confront Beijing right away because he wants to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic and the state of the US economy. Even so, he looks set to renew the pressures over trade and technology grievances that prompted Trump to hike tariffs on Chinese imports in 2017. Negotiators might tone down Trumps focus on narrowing Chinas multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the US and push harder to open its state-dominated economy. Biden is evaluating the US tariffs on Chinese goods and wants to coordinate future steps with allies, White House Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday. The president is committed to stopping Chinas economic abuses, Psaki said. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian appealed to Washington to learn from Trumps erroneous policies and adopt a constructive attitude but gave no indication of possible changes by Beijing. Cooperation is the only correct choice for both sides, Zhao said on Tuesday. In the same way that Biden will be walking a fine line in his contacts with Putin, he will also be walking on a high wire with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they talk together. China faces more opposition than ever in Washington due to its trade record, territorial disputes with neighbours, crackdown on Hong Kong, reports of abuses against ethnic Muslims and accusations of technology theft and spying. Katherine Tai, Bidens choice to succeed former US trade representative Robert Lighthizer, sounded a hawkish note on China in a speech this month. We face stiffening competition from a growing and ambitious China, Tai said. A China whose economy is directed by central planners who are not subject to the pressures of political pluralism, democratic elections or popular opinion. After more than two years and 13 rounds of talks, negotiators have yet to tackle one of the biggest irritants for Chinas trading partners the status of politically favoured Chinese state companies that dominate industries from banking to oil to telecoms. Europe, Japan and other countries earlier criticised Trumps tactics against China but also echoed complaints that Beijing steals technology and breaks promises to open markets by subsidising and shielding companies from competition. OTHER CHALLENGES: Another challenge for Biden is Iran. The Iranians are eager to restore the nuclear deal with Iran, and they warned Biden on Tuesday that there would not be an indefinite period before a decision was needed on the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran said it expected Washington to lift the crippling economic sanctions that Trump imposed on the country after pulling America out of the nuclear deal in 2018 as part of what he called maximum pressure against Iran. The remarks by Irans Cabinet Spokesman Ali Rabiei are part of the pressure that Tehran is trying to exert on the US as it seeks to get the Biden administration to quickly return to the deal. Though Biden has pledged to return to the deal, Rabiei said there had yet to be communication between Iran and Biden on the subject. The US will not have all the time in the world, Rabiei said. We are waiting for the official announcement of their stance as well as the lifting of sanctions. In the meantime, Iran would take a further step away from the nuclear deal by imposing restrictions on inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog in late February, he said. The challenges posed by China, Russia, Iran and other global crises cannot be addressed by the US alone, and reviving the transatlantic alliance is also vital for the US, Biden said in his first days in office. In a series of calls with some of Americas closest allies, Biden talked up transatlantic ties and the need for multilateral cooperation. During a call between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Biden, the two men discussed policies towards China, Iran and Russia, among other issues. According to an account released by the White House, Biden conveyed his intention to strengthen the special relationship between our countries and revitalise transatlantic ties, citing the critical role of NATO. Biden also noted the importance of co-operation, including through multilateral organisations, on shared challenges such as combatting climate change, containing Covid-19 and ensuring global health and security a turn away from Washingtons unilateral approach to global problems under Trump. Biden also talked about working with Johnson at the G7 and UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) being hosted by the UK in June and November this year. In Bidens first call with German chancellor Angela Merkel, both agreed that international cooperation was vital to tackling global challenges like the coronavirus pandemic and climate change. Merkel welcomed Bidens returning the US to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement. The two leaders also spoke about foreign policy issues like Afghanistan and Iran, along with trade and climate policy. The same message of cooperation was echoed in a call between Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, when Biden expressed his desire to strengthen bilateral ties, the White House said. Biden had emphasised his commitment to bolstering transatlantic relations through NATO and the US partnership with the European Union, it added. The two leaders also agreed on the need for close coordination, including through multilateral organisations, in tackling common challenges such as climate change, Covid-19 and the global economic recovery, the statement said. They also agreed to work together on shared foreign policy priorities, including China, the Middle East, Russia and West Africas Sahel region. Despite the weight of his domestic agenda, Biden seems very much aware of the relationship between a strong America abroad and a strong America domestically. The new administration looks at global challenges like China, Russia and Iran, climate change, Covid-19, and the global economic slowdown and realises that America cannot do things alone. It needs the strength of its partners, and the transatlantic alliance is the greatest American asset abroad. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: Texas is preparing to launch a mobile vaccine program to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations in rural counties. Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) announced the launch of the State Mobile Vaccine Pilot Program on Wednesday. Texas National Guard members, who will be part of the teams administering the inoculations to qualified residents, will be ready to start by Thursday. RELATED: RGV teen pleads with Abbott to help his mom survive COVID-19 before his 15th birthday The first five counties the mobile units will be deployed to are DeWitt, Marion, Real, Sherman and Starr. TDEM is coordinating with each county to schedule the arrivals of the vaccination teams. DeWitt, which encompasses Cuero, and Real, where Leaky is, are the closest to San Antonio. READ MORE: S.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: One shot COVID-19 vaccine gives Gov. Abbott hope "The State Mobile Vaccine Pilot Program will help us ramp up vaccination efforts among homebound Texans, Texans 65 years of age or older, and among communities in need," Abbott said in a statement. Texas joins states like Wisconsin and Florida where similar mobile programs started administering shots last week. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye Sean Marrs/Special to SFGATE Hawaii looms large in the imagination of the U.S. mainland as a tourist paradise: beautiful beaches and volcanoes, delicious food, and the spirit of aloha, a spirit of welcoming. But aloha is a complicated concept, and for some, the tourist industry sells the idea of Hawaii as uncomplicated and without any problems. But Hawaiis natural beauty conceals some ugly realities. The military controls 21% of the island of Oahu, and there are 115 different sites on the islands identified as having been poisoned by decades of ordnance testing and military activity. Meanwhile, Indigenous Hawaiians suffer disproportionately from homelessness and poverty. OnoLivs patented, useful and problem-solving technology for website visitors is capable of capturing a complete live chat market of over 20 million+ websites spending billions+ to support over 2 billion+ users. OnoLiv single mobile app for user transforms website based live chat to powerful mobile app-based live chat which drastically changes use of live chat, interaction of website or online business with customers and visitors. Like single phone and SMS applications found in all 6 billion smartphones of the world, OnoLiv is Must have App for All Devices of World. Start using a single OnoLiv Live Chat App for live chat support from any website from your mobile device. Whats New and Currently Missing is Single OnoLiv Mobile App for Users for Live Chat With Any Website. OnoLiv - World's First Single Live Chat App for Users for All Websites. Currently, online businesses and websites are very smart and employing each new channel for marketing and supporting customers. Clearly OnoLiv must-have app for enterprise users which is a new channel of communication to support precious visitors and convert them to actual paying, happy customers. When a person visits a website, they have the option to chat in real-time with the available agents if they have any queries. Often, visitors anonymously connect with these company agents to get immediate answers. However, today, the patented (US10623451) OnoLiv mobile app enables users to connect with live chat agents from any website through one mobile application. Everyone who has used this feature previously will know that these integrated live chats are poorly constructed, limited, slow, need to refresh while webpage changes and script-based. Moreover, they do not save the previous conversations and fall short of industry standards. These live chats are lacking when it comes to smart clients and single mobile apps for users. OnoLiv, a new patented app for centralized live chat, ensures efficient service and seamless communication. This app primarily focuses on enhancing customer support through OnoLiv. 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With just one tap, users can share selective user information with the live chat agents of the selected websites. 10. All advantages of smart mobile application like quick display, updated interface v/s slow refreshing of live chat interface while changing of a webpage in web-based live chat, utilize local storage, 10x faster - bytecode v/s script code, interactive, visual, can employ mobile sensors including GPS, camera, faster typing, sending and receiving messages & different types of media. OnoLiv is a competitor of WhatsApp Business and offers all the interactive features of an instant messaging app. Moreover, it provides an innovative single place to connect with an available agent of any websites in real-time. Additionally, the patented rights also provide a monopoly advantage to the app. The websites integrate the open/install OnoLiv app, which allows users to install and open the OnoLiv app from the website and use it for real-time live chat with agents of various websites. This innovative solution gives the app platform an upper-hand owing to its already existing user base from the websites. With just one tap of the OnoLiv button, the installed mobile app opens and instantly connects to a live chat with your chat agent, ready for use with any website. Websites just need to integrate OnoLiv with websites and apps. Visitors or customers or users of the website just need to tap on the OnoLiv button to open the OnoLiv app or install a plugin in one or more browsers of user devices and directly open the app from the user's device and real-time connect with currently viewing website associated available agent for real-time live chat conversation, get support, ask queries and solve problems. The concept of software-as-a-service has recently taken the tech world by storm, and OnoLiv has taken full advantage of this. Providing an innovative solution in an already existing market is a far more successful approach than starting from scratch. This model has worked for companies, targeting efficient and innovative solutions for an already existing customer base. Over 10 million websites with over 1 billion users currently use website based live chat. Start using the OnoLiv app today, and connect with your customers more effectively. At present OnoLiv application is under development. The app will soon launch on Apple App Store and Google Play Store to prove and validate concepts and attract millions in funding like https://bit.ly/2Lz8HmN. Businesses and end-users can soon pre-registrar with the OnoLiv on Apple App Store and Google Play Store and give their pre-launch reviews. For any types of enquiry and more details contact: Mr. Yogesh Rathod (Inventor and Founder of OnoLiv) Contact@OnoLiv.com Web: https://onoliv.com/ Preparations have begun for the 2021 live racing season at Running Aces, which will mark the 14th year of racing operations at the Minnesota oval. The new season will also usher in a new face at the helm of the racing side at Running Aces, as Steve Carpenito was selected this winter to be the new director of racing for the track. Steve brings a wealth of harness racing knowledge and experience with several decades under his belt serving in many different capacities throughout the industry, and his new role in Minnesota will include oversight of all aspects of the live racing, simulcasting and mutuels departments as well as taking the helm of the race office. Steve got the opportunity to familiarize himself with Running Aces last summer while serving in the judges' booth during the 2020 season. The racing dates for 2021 were recently approved and finalized by the Minnesota Racing Commission and offer a couple of changes to the Running Aces schedule, including a return to the more popular evening post times after having raced afternoon programs for the first time in 2020 - a change for last year that was largely due to circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time ever, live racing will be offered on Thursdays, which will replace Saturdays in the weekly schedule - with the expectation being that the Running Aces racing product will enjoy better national exposure in the Thursday slot versus the overcrowded racing market on Saturday evenings. Sunday evenings will remain in place and offer the popular opportunity for family and weekend trips to the track for local race fans, and the always popular Tuesday evening cards return as well. The upcoming season will offer the most race days ever at Running Aces, with 55 cards of racing that will span from May 16 through Sept. 18. Another change for 2021 is a new post time of 6:05 p.m. for all race days, which is a departure from 7 p.m. post times on Tuesdays that stood as the norm for many years. The Running Aces team feels that a consistent post time for all race days is much easier for fans to rely on when planning trips to the track or planning to watch and play Running Aces from out of state. There are a few exceptions to the Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday schedule: Dark on Sunday, July 4 Live racing on Monday, July 5 Dark on Thursday, Sept. 16 Live racing on Friday, Sept. 17 and Saturday, Sept. 18 (Minnesota Night of Champions) Pre-season qualifying races have been scheduled for Friday, May 7 and Wednesday, May 12 with post time at 11:30 a.m. for both days. During the live season, qualifiers will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays before the live racing cards. There will also be two special morning qualifying sessions offered in June to accommodate two-year-olds as they begin their freshman campaigns. Horsepeople are invited to visit the Running Aces website to download the 2021 stall applications. Interested parties should fill out the applications completely and return them promptly to director of racing Steve Carpenito. The deadline for stall applications is Monday, March 15. Those with questions about racing in Minnesota this summer can contact Carpenito via email at [email protected]. (Running Aces) Australia must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2045 if it is to do its part to keep warming to less than 2 degrees, an expert panel has found. The 2-degree figure is the upper limit of the Paris Agreement signed by the government in 2016. To reach the more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees set by the agreement, the nation must reduce emissions by 74 per cent by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2035, according to an analysis by the newly created Climate Targets Panel. The panel includes leading Australian climate scientists such as professors Will Steffen, Lesley Hughes and Malte Meinshausen, as well as former Liberal leader John Hewson. Operations at the Carmichael Coal Mine, Queensland, last year. Credit:Cameron Laird The Australian government has committed to reducing emissions by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030 from a 2005 base, which Professor Steffen says is inadequate to meet the Paris goals. It is also far short of the recommendation by the Climate Change Authority in 2014, which said the government should cut emissions by 45 to 65 per cent by 2030. Due to a failure over recent years to drive emissions down, Australia must now make deeper cuts each year to make a reasonable contribution to Paris targets, said Professor Hughes, pro-vice-chancellor at Macquarie University. (Natural News) A senior Member of Parliament warned that the British public may rise up if Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government does not outline an exit strategy for the U.K.s ongoing nationwide lockdown. We have to focus on hospital admissions and keep that focus rigorous [or] at some stage people have got to rise up and bring it down, warned Desmond Swayne, the MP for New Forest West. Swayne noted that the goalposts keep moving on the lockdown timeframe. The MPs comments echo those of West Midlands Police commissioner David Jamieson. Back in October, during the start of the second lockdown, Jamieson warned that were sitting on a time bomb here. Were getting very near the stage where you could see a considerable explosion of frustration and energy, Jamieson said. Things are very on the edge in a lot of communities and it wouldnt take very much to spark off unrest, riots, damage. Continuing lockdowns without end are intolerable In an interview with Talk Radio, Swayne warned that ordinary Britons would not tolerate an extended coronavirus lockdown. As hospital admissions decline, with the progress of vaccination, the notion that ordinary people are going to be prepared to tolerate going on living like troglodytes, in this ridiculous way, is absurd, he said. Swayne also took a shot at the reasoning being used by the government to justify the extended lockdown. He stated that reducing the burden on the National Health Service (NHS) and reducing hospital admissions makes the burden of lockdowns intolerable. (Related: If lockdown were a drug, it wouldnt be approved, says UK medical researcher lockdowns do more harm than good.) As they reduce, the burden of lockdown becomes intolerable, he stated. We are going to have to live with this as an endemic disease. According to Swayne, the government has to remain focused on a fixed goal post to end the lockdown. The goal post has to be the NHS coping with a predictable and acceptable number of hospital admissions, he said, adding that the people would eventually have to rise up and bring it down should this not be met. Im deeply skeptical of this belief out there that everyone is in favor of the lockdown and are quite happy for it to go on. This is madness. As of the time of writing, the United Kingdom has had 3,680,101 reported cases of COVID-19 according to data from Johns Hopkins University. UK Prime Minister says its too early to take about ending the lockdown Prime Minister Johnson has repeatedly stated that it was too early to say when restrictions would be lifted. At the same time, suggestions for easing the lockdown by other government figures have kept moving to later dates summer or even beyond is now being touted as the possible timeframe. In response to this, a coalition of 70 conservative MPs has come together urging the government to start lifting the lockdown no later than early March. People must see light at the end of the tunnel and feel hope for the future and businesses need to be able to plan our recovery, said MP Mark Harper, who leads the coalition dubbed the Covid Recovery Group. Environment Secretary Goerge Eustice, on the other hand, has warned that even more draconian restrictions may be introduced if people dont obey the current rules. Generally, with this whole pandemic, weve had to take some quite extraordinary steps, very draconian steps, that are a big infringement on peoples liberty, Eustice said. And yes, that does mean that we have to intervene in quite a draconian way and issue penalties, and we make no apology for doing that, he added, stating that further measures are currently under review. Follow Pandemic.news for more of the latest news on the Wuhan coronavirus. Sources include: Summit.news DailyMail.co.uk Coronavirus.JHU.edu Medical workers are seen at a COVID-19 test site in Beijing, China, on Jan. 23, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images) As CCP Virus Continues to Spread in Beijing, Residents Grow Angry Over Lockdown and Soaring Food Prices The latest round of the COVID-19 outbreak in Chinas capital Beijing is spreading rapidly, with cases popping up in more districts. A local hospital was locked down, and hundreds of residents were urgently relocated for quarantine. The Epoch Times spoke with some Beijing residents who expressed frustration over the governments handling of the situation and the recent spike in food prices. During a press briefing on the epidemic situation in Beijing on Jan. 25, authorities reported that five new cases were confirmed the day before, including one in Xicheng district, located in the city center, according to Chinese news portal Sohu. Due to Chinese authorities past record of underreporting infections and covering up information, it is difficult to assess the true scale of the current CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus outbreak. At the press conference, local authorities from Daxing district said that residents are required to stock up on three days worth of food and supplies, but said they would be limited to one order per day. They should also avoid buying in large quantities in a single transaction, authorities said. Residents who are self-quarantined at home usually get their groceries and supplies from community workers. But lately, many community workers have also been confined to their homes. Also on Jan. 25, Beijing Nanjiao Cancer Hospital in Daxing district, a hotspot of the latest COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing, announced that the hospital suspended all outpatient services and stopped admitting new patients for hospitalization. Administrators confirmed that the CCP virus was detected on two samples from the hospitals garbage truck after nucleic acid testing on Jan. 23, Chinese news media Sina reported. The hospital is about 6 miles away from the residential community where infected cases were detected last week. Meanwhile, the CCP virus has also spread to the Zhongguancun area, which is known as Chinas Silicon Valley, in Beijings Haidian district. NetEase Inc., a big Chinese internet company that owns a major Chinese news portal and online service website 163.com, announced on Jan. 22 that one employee tested positive for COVID-19, whose roommate is a close contact of a confirmed patient in Daxing district, Sohu reported. People working at the same NetEase office building in Zhongguancun are under quarantine at home until Jan. 31, state-run meda China Daily reported on Jan. 23. However, a NetEase employee told The Epoch Times on Jan. 23, We are all sealed inside the office building now and cannot get out. Others expressed the concern that such centralized isolation makes it easier for the virus to spread among staff. Chaotic Relocation and Poor Isolation Conditions A Daxing resident who has been evacuated from his home and placed into quarantine centersalong with hundreds of other localstold The Epoch Times that many problems occurred during the relocation and quarantine process, and people are frustrated with the governments handling of the situation. A resident from Daxings Tiangongyuan Huirong community, surnamed Li, said that the local governments epidemic prevention measures are very rigid. As long as there is a confirmed case in a building, all residents must be sent to other places for quarantine, regardless of whether or not they were in close contact with the infected person. Moreover, Li is very concerned that local authorities did not separate people during the relocation process; people residing in the units that have confirmed cases were mixed in with the others. All residents were queuing in the same line as they waited to board the buses. And there was no space or separation between seats on the buses to maintain social distance. Those who were not a close contact [of the infected] all became a close contact this way. [The governments approach] is cruel and inhumane, he said. More than 100 people from Lis building unit are being quarantined at Fangshan Art House Hotel, located in the outskirts of Beijing in Fangshan district. The residents of Tiangongyuan Ronghui community in Daxing district, Beijing are quarantined at Fangshan Art House Hotel. Some windows in the hotel dont open to the outside, so there is poor air circulation. (Provided by interviewee to The Epoch Times) Li said that the meals provided at the quarantine site are always cold. Theyve stayed in the hotel for two consecutive days, and many people, including himself, reported that they felt dizzy because theyre not getting enough oxygen and fresh air. Li said that some of the windows did not open to the outside. Instead, they opened to a lobby with a glass ceiling, which was closed off. Hotel room window is nailed shut. (Provided by interviewee to The Epoch Times) Li also said that authorities have not told them when they can return home and how long the quarantine period will last. Everyone is waiting around nervously. He expressed his frustration, This time we are completely distrustful of the Daxing government, the capitals epidemic prevention and control capabilities, and the government, and we are so disappointed! Food Price Hike Beijing is surrounded by Hebei, the province hardest-hit by COVID-19 this year. The highways connecting Hebei to Beijing were closed in order to prevent the virus from spreading to the capital city. A Beijing resident surnamed Wu told this publication that Beijings food supply mainly comes from Hebei and Shandong provinces. Now Hebei is basically locked down. And some places in Beijing have been closed and food cannot be brought in. Vegetables from Shandong can still come into some places, but there will be less and less in the future. She observed that the prices of meat, eggs, and green vegetables in Beijing are now rising sharply. Eggs used to cost more than eight yuan (about $1.20) a kilo, but now they have jumped up to 14 yuan (about $2.10). Prices for vegetables have doubled. The price of pork has gone up even more. The best pork quality before the African swine fever was more than twenty yuan (about $3) a kilo, and now it is eighty yuan (about $12). Wu said that the Beijing municipal government now tells people to eat the basic three staple foodscarrots, potatoes, and cabbage. Hong Ning, Zhang Dun, Gu Xiaohua, Luo Ya and Zhang Yujie contributed to this report. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Every Thursday morning, Arizona parent Marta Mac Ban dresses her six-year-old daughter in khaki shorts and a navy blue shirt and takes her to a neighbors house to study with other children. Participants recite the Pledge of Allegiance, review the calendar and collaborate on enrichment activities. Other days during the week, Mac Ban teaches her daughter at home. The routine is new for the family, which did kindergarten in the Cave Creek Unified School District until March. Thats when COVID-19 forced an abrupt switch to Zoom. Mac Ban, who tries to limit her daughters screen time, quickly opted out. Shes not going to sit still for hours at a time staring at a computer, Mac Ban says. Many families across the United States have made similar moves during the past 10 months, as teachers unions have lobbied to keep campuses closed. The showdown in Chicago, where union members have refused to resume in-person instruction, is just one example. Similar power struggles have played out in Maryland, South Carolina, and elsewhere, leaving parents caught in the middle. Some have kept their children enrolled in public schools, while gathering in small groups to supplement the online instruction. Other families, like the Mac Bans, have quit the system altogether. Workarounds include homeschool co-ops, pandemic pods, and microschools. Teachers unions have watched the trend with alarm. Their concern is not that home-supervised instruction fails, but the opposite. They worry that parents will like the experience so much that they wont want to return to their neighborhood schools when the pandemic subsides. Ashley Ekpo, a working mother from Maryland, might fall into this category. She started homeschooling her five children as a temporary measure to get through the pandemic, but is no longer sure if she wants to stop. Were staying open-minded because were having a really good experience with it, she says. For families that do come back, union leaders and their allies have a different concern. They worry that pod children will have learned too much during the pandemic -- forcing uncomfortable questions about public school performance. Children whose parents have the means to participate in learning pods will most likely return to school academically ahead, writes Atlanta Public Schools learning specialist Clara Totenberg Green. She fears the extra instruction will exacerbate inequities. Think about that: getting ahead is now a problem. The National Education Association takes this backward position in a recent policy paper. Using loaded terms like radical and unqualified, the report paints pod parents as segregationists. The authors argue that the proliferation of home study groups will widen opportunity gaps because well-resourced families will benefit disproportionately. New York University sociologist R. LHeureux Lewis-McCoy embraces the logic, labeling pod parents as opportunity hoarders. Gregory Hutchings, superintendent of Alexandria Public Schools in Virginia, piles on with additional warnings about opportunity gaps. Apparently, however, his desire that nobody gets ahead during the pandemic applies only to others. Shortly after a recent lecture on the topic, he quietly pulled one of his own children out of the district and enrolled her in a private Catholic school with face-to-face instruction. Brooke Hunt, a homeschool parent from Arizona, rejects the claim that learning pods work only for certain segments of society. She sees ample diversity in the homeschool group that she runs with two other families. Participants not only come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, but also different age groups. Her only regret is that she cannot help more families thrive during the pandemic. I wish I could open my home to everyone where there is a need, Hunt says. Teachers unions could benefit from the same entrepreneurial spirit. Instead of fighting against educational solutions that threaten their authority, they should look for ways to scale up innovation. The goal should be to expand opportunity for everyone -- not to hold privileged children back. Our organization, the nonprofit Institute for Justice, has argued for three decades that the process starts by expanding choice. The public interest law firm, which recently earned a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on behalf of low-income private school families in Montana, has followed up with similar lawsuits in Vermont and New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the usual suspects have opposed all of these efforts. Union leaders complain about opportunity gaps, but then do everything they can to limit opportunity. While the teachers themselves generally adjust and do all they can for the kids entrusted to them, their unions focus on politics. The lack of choice that results locks most families into a single option. Mac Ban understands the score. One size does not fit all, she says. Its ironic that they say, No child left behind because so many kids are left behind when everyone is forced to go just to one school based on their ZIP code. Daryl James is a writer and Erica Smith is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice in Arlington, Va. Image: Pixnio Prime Minister Boris Johnson put England on notice that the national virus lockdown will continue for at least another six weeks, with schools staying closed and new border quarantine rules coming into force. A day after the British death toll passed 100,000, Johnson said the government will review the impact of pandemic measures and the effectiveness of the vaccine program in mid-February. But the soonest restrictions could begin to be eased and schools fully reopened is March 8, he said, and some rules will be tightened. In an attempt to stop dangerous mutant strains of the virus entering the U.K., new 10-day hotel quarantine measures will be imposed on all passengers arriving from hot spot regions such as South America, South Africa and Portugal. "Everyone yearns to know how much longer we must endure these restrictions, with all their consequences for jobs, livelihoods and most tragically of all, the life chances of our children," Johnson told members of Parliament on Wednesday. "We will not persist for a day longer than is necessary, but nor can we relax too soon." Johnson rejected a call from Tory colleague Steve Brine to consider opening some schools before March 8. "This is about as fast as we think we can prudently go," the prime minister told Parliament. While the lockdown appears to have curbed the spread of infections, "we do not yet have enough data to know exactly how soon it will be safe to reopen our society and economy," he said. The U.K. is three weeks into its third national lockdown since the pandemic began almost a year ago, with tens of millions of workers ordered to stay home and retail and hospitality businesses shuttered. Since then, the government has committed almost 300 billion pounds to emergency support for the economy. Despite the lockdowns and stimulus measures, the U.K. has suffered the fifth-highest death toll in the world and the heaviest economic hit of any Group of Seven country. In recent weeks, Johnson's administration has focused on driving ahead with a mass vaccination program that aims to provide shots to the 15 million most vulnerable people and carers by Feb. 15. Once that goal has been achieved, ministers will consider if and how restrictions can safely begin to be eased. "We remain in a perilous situation," Johnson said. The spread of a more contagious and potentially more deadly new strain of the virus, first found in southeast England, has set back the government's ambitions for reopening the economy in the spring, he said. Other strains have been identified in Brazil and South Africa and ministers have been debating border measures including quarantining all arrivals in hotels. In the end, Johnson announced a more limited policy aimed at arrivals from specific countries thought to be most at risk of carrying a new variant of the disease. "In order to reduce the risk posed by U.K. nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in government-provided accommodation such as hotels for 10 days, without exception," the prime minister told the House of Commons. "They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine." Extra police will also be stationed at ports and airports to stop Britons leaving the U.K. to go on holiday or for any other non-essential reason, Home Secretary Priti Patel said. "Anyone who does not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home," she told Parliament. Johnson, who has been criticized for being slow to take action throughout the pandemic, said the government will review the lockdown and vaccine roll-out in mid-February and aims to publish a plan for easing the restrictions in the week of Feb. 22. "We have one of the highest death rates in the world," said Keir Starmer, leader of the U.K.'s main opposition Labour Party. "The truth is this was not inevitable, it wasn't just bad luck. It's the result of a huge number of mistakes by the prime minister during the course of this pandemic." Tens of millions of birds in the western U.S. migrate along the same two corridors, according to a new study from the Audubon Society. California's Central Valley and the Colorado River Delta along the US-Mexico border are major thoroughfares for dozens of species, including hummingbirds, swallows and goldfinches. The research indicates they host 'major proportions of many species' global populations,' including 80 percent of Lawrence's goldfinches. The birds rely on wetland habitats to see them through a long journey over a dry and harsh landscape. Scroll down for video Some 48 million landbirds, including nearly 40 percent of all Anna's Hummingbirds, use California's Central Valley as a stopover when migrating south in the fall, according to a new report from the Audubon Society 'The Valley and Delta act as migratory bottlenecks,' the Society said in a statement. 'As birds migrate through these latitudes, they funnel into these study regions.' Those dense concentrations make the birds vulnerable, it added, and both regions should be the focus of conservation efforts. Scientists had long suspected the two regions were important stopovers, but 'there really wasn't any kind of science or data to back up those claims,' Bill DeLuca, a migration ecologist with National Audubon Society's Migratory Bird Initiative, told Audubon magazine. 'I don't think we realized just how important they were to landbirds during migration.' To get an answer, DeLuca's team analyzed data from eBird, a citizen-science app that allows birdwatchers to record when and where they've spotted a new feathered friend. Researchers with the Audubon Society say tens of millions of birds stop off in the Colorado River Delta and five locations in California's Central Valley when migrating in the spring and fall They combined that data with a mathematical model developed by the landbird conservation group Partners in Flight to get an estimate of all the birds touching down in both areas. 'It's allowed people like us to start to ask these really cool questions in these novel ways that we never would have been able to ask,' said DeLuca, lead author of a new study in Ornithological Applications. 'Or we could ask, but we can never answer.' More than a quarter of North American tree swallows migrate through the Colorado River Delta in northwest Mexico, a habitat threatened by upriver dams and climate change Unlike migrating birds in the eastern US, which fly over water, western birds spend much of their journey crossing arid landscapes and honing in on lush spots. Situated between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Pacific Coast Range, California's Central Valley is a 450-mile expanse that includes grasslands, wetlands, rivers, and other diverse habitats. Northwestern Mexico's Colorado River Delta is a patchwork of estuaries and wetlands that feed into the Gulf of California. DeLuca's team carved out five sectors the Delta and regions of the Central Valley in Sacramento, Yolo, San Joaquin and Tulare then focused on 112 species known to frequent the two corridors. They determined some 48 million landbirds used the Central Valley as a stopover when heading south in the fall, including nearly 40 percent of Anna's Hummingbirds. In the spring, 65 million migrating birds stopped in Tulare alone, including 80 percent of Lawrence's Goldfinches who frequented Tulare alone. According to DeLuca, if even more than one percent of a species uses a region 'then we know that that site is really important to that species at the population level.' The Colorado River Delta, which is about a sixth of the size of the Central Valley, hosted about 17 million migratory birds in the fall and 14 million in the spring, including more than a quarter of North American tree swallows. 'These migratory pathways are ingrained in birds, and they are sort of still following them even though there's a fraction of the landscape available that used to be there,' said co-author Andrea Jones, director of bird conservation for Audubon California. The Delta and Central Valley are part of the Pacific Flyway, a bird 'superhighway' that's one of four major North American migration routes. It's long been known both were vital to local species and waterbirds, 'but we were astounded at the sheer number of land-based birds who also depend on the region,' said Meghan Hertel, director of land and water conservation for Audubon California. Both corridors have been vastly transformed by humans: The Central Valley's grasslands and wetlands have largely been gobbled up by commercial and agricultural development. And while the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated much of the Colorado River Delta a nature reserve in 1993, upstream dams and climate change have left parts of it dry for decades. 'These are really altered landscapes, but they're still super, super important,' Deluca said. 'Any information that we can use to attach a higher importance to those locations and to get more people interested only increases the probability that we can have more effective conservation.' A 2019 study indicated the number of birds in North America has plummeted by nearly three billion in the past 50 years, the equivalent of losing one in four birds. A Florida man who had been recently named Paramedic of the Year helped a supervisor steal COVID-19 vaccines meant for first responders, sheriff's officials said. Joshua Colon, 31, forged the vaccine screening and consent forms to help cover up the theft of three vials containing 10 doses each of the Moderna vaccine, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference Tuesday. Colon was arrested on Monday, days after his resignation from Polk County Fire Rescue, Chief Robert Weech said. According to authorities, Colon told investigators that a captain with the fire department had asked him to take the vaccine. Judd said the captain will also be arrested when he returns home from a work assignment in California. Polk County Fire Rescue had been delivering the coronavirus vaccines to first responders, and Colon was administering the shots, Judd said. On Jan. 6, Colon received three vials, and was directed to administer the shots to first responders at a fire station in Davenport, Judd said. At the end of his shift, Colon noted that he administered 28 vaccines, adding that two of them were no good, an arrest report said. Later Colon retracted that, saying he gave 27 vaccines and three were waste. Colon is charged with felony counts of uttering a false instrument, criminal use of personal identification, creating a fictitious person and falsifying an official record as a public servant. The investigation began when a battalion chief noticed discrepancies in the paperwork Colon filed after a vaccine assignment. The Jan. 6 paperwork included three falsified forms, investigators said. One had the name of a former Haines City firefighter, and two were fake names, one of which resembled a former Haines City firefighter. During the investigation, the two firefighters were contacted and told investigators that they had not yet received the vaccine. Judd said deputies interviewed Colon at his lawyers office. Judd said Colon admitted to falsifying the paperwork, and said the captain had asked him to procure doses for his mother. Colon told investigators he initially refused, but the captain threatened to report him for stealing and selling vaccines. Colon said that frightened him. According to the report, the captain ordered Colon to go on a lunch break the next day. When he returned he noticed the three doses were missing, but he did not report the issue. While at the lawyers office, Colon called the captain and they discussed the vaccine, according to investigators who monitored the call. The captain told Colon that the doses were in a car parked outside a friends house in Saint Cloud, officials said. According to Judd, deputies found two vials there. The third has not been recovered. A group of local civic clubs in Lakeland had named Colon Paramedic of the Year for his actions after a serious highway crash, according to a recent Polk County Fire Rescue social media post. The bottom line is, Joshua tried to cover for the captain, Judd said of Colon's arrest. Joshua set up the circumstance for the vaccines to have been stolen. Had Joshua simply gone to his boss right then, hed have been the hero. Instead he started falsifying paperwork, making up people who didnt exist to cover it up. Drilling Results - Progress Report Perth, Jan 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Wiluna Mining Corporation Limited ( ASX:WMX ) ( FRA:NZ3 ) ( OTCMKTS:WMXCF ) is pleased to provide a progress update on further high-grade results from an additional 32 holes and 8,127m of resource development and discovery drilling at the Wiluna Mining Centre.HIGHLIGHTS- Multiple shallow high-grade results from resource development drilling at Wiluna Mining Centre- High-grades up to 15.1g/t assayed in previously un-sampled historical core.- Seven drill rigs recommenced drilling in January targeting new sulphide ore shoots, and infill drilling to grow the Sulphide Development Resources and Reserves.- Seismic survey has commenced to map extensions of known gold structures and define new drill targets.Multiple significant intercepts from 56 holes and 7,525m of previously un-sampled mineralisation identified in the large historical core library at the Wiluna mine site.Resource and reserve development programs at the Wiluna Mining Centre are designed to follow-up positive drilling results reported through the past 12 months. The drilling program focuses on highest-value deposits scheduled for mining in the next 4 years to further strengthen the sulphide mine plan, with results reported here from Essex, Bulletin and West Lode South zones. The Company has currently deployed 7 rigs at the Wiluna operation with drilling accelerating in January 2021.Wiluna Mining's drilling strategy in the past 12 months has successfully defined thick high-grade intervals at shallow levels, close to multiple previously mined zones with available access for rapid low-cost development (Figure 1). These results demonstrate that the Wiluna orebody is a very large scale and high-grade gold system.Further updates to our Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve will be released in the first quarter of 2021, building on the recently updated Resource Estimate (see ASX release 5 November 2020). The Company has chosen to delay its publication of an updated Ore Reserve (originally slated for January 2021) to include excellent drill results from the Bulletin South zone (see ASX releases 27 October 2020 and 17 November 2020) that are expected to make a material and valuable contribution to the life-of-mine plan and Ore Reserves.To view tables and figures, please visit:About Wiluna Mining Corporation Ltd Wiluna Mining Corporation (ASX:WMX) (OTCMKTS:WMXCF) is a Perth based, ASX listed gold mining company that controls over 1,600 square kilometres of the Yilgarn Craton in the Northern Goldfields of WA. The Yilgarn Craton has a historic and current gold endowment of over 380 million ounces, making it one of most prolific gold regions in the world. The Company owns 100% of the Wiluna Gold Operation which has a defined resource of 8.04M oz at 1.67 g/t au. In May 2019, a new highly skilled management team took control of the Company with a clear plan to leverage the Wiluna Gold Operation's multi-million-ounce potential. The mental health of our doctors, nurses, and other health care workers is paramount now more than ever. Origins Counseling in Dallas is pleased to offer a valuable new service specifically for frontline health care workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic. The Frontline Health Care Workers Support Group begins online in February. This virtual support group will be offered free of charge and meet twice a week from February 2 to February 17. Facilitated by an expert clinician, Shea Barakatt, LCSW, LCDC, each of the six one-hour sessions will address the unique challenges faced by our countrys frontline health care workers, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief and loss, compassion fatigue, coping skills, and emotional regulation, as well a special session for the family of the frontline health care worker. Frontline health care workers are amongst the most vulnerable groups at risk of mental health problems, according to an October 2020 article published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity Health entitled The psychological impact of COVID-19 and other viral epidemics on frontline health care workers and ways to address it: A rapid systematic review. Particularly during severe viral epidemics such as COVID-19, medical workers face the uncertainty of the crises coupled with their fear of becoming infected, placing them at an increased risk of traumatic and stress-related disorders, including depression and anxiety. The article suggests that psychosocial support to help frontline health care workers cultivate coping strategies to address these understandable fears can help. Barakatt, a masters level therapist, serves as Clinical Director of Origins Counseling in Dallas for Origins Behavioral HealthCare. She is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and a licensed chemical dependency counselor (LCDC). Barakatt says she was inspired to offer this new service out of her deep concern for the frontline health care workers who face such emotionally difficult battles each day in their professions. The mental health of our doctors, nurses, and other health care workers is paramount now more than ever. They are on the frontlines of a continued pandemic and put their health and safety at risk every day to save others affected by COVID-19, she says. As mental health professionals, we feel we must provide health care workers and their families with access to the care they need so that they can continue to offer Americans lifegiving support during this global pandemic, says Barakatt. For more information and to register for the free group, contact dallas@originscounseling.com or visit us online at: https://www.originscounselingdallas.com/services/frontline-healthcare-workers-support-groups/ About Origins Counseling Dallas Origins Counseling in Dallas offers a range of treatment programs targeting recovery from substance use, mental health issues, and beyond. Our primary mission is to provide a clear path to a life of healing and restoration. We offer renowned clinical care for mental health and have the compassion and professional expertise to guide you toward lasting sobriety. Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. While there is still a stay at home order in place throughout Los Angeles, Lena Headey stepped out to do some shopping. The 47-year-old Game of Thrones star was spotted leaving the Clare Vivier store in West Hollywood on Tuesday afternoon. The actress did mask up, staying safe amid the pandemic as the COVID-19 virus continues its spread across Los Angeles. Stepping out: While there is still a stay at home order in place throughout Los Angeles, Lena Headey stepped out to do some shopping Headey was spotted wearing a black long-sleeved top with multi-colored crescent moons and stars. She had her auburn locks pulled back as she stayed safe with a brown face mask covering her mouth and nose as she made a phone call. The actress completed her look with a green suede purse, blue corduroy jeans and multi-colored Vans sneakers. Lena's look: Headey was spotted wearing a black long-sleeved top with multi-colored crescent moons and stars The 300 star was not seen with her new beau, actor Marc Menchaca, who she was first linked to back in late October. The relationship comes just after Headey split with her childhood friend Dan Cadan in 2019, after one year of marriage. The exes share five-year-old daughter Teddy together, and the actress also has a 10-year-old son Wylie from her first marriage to musician Peter Loughran. New beau: The 300 star was not seen with her new beau, actor Marc Menchaca, who she was first linked to back in late October Headey has been keeping plenty busy since wrapping Game of Thrones in 2019, where she played Queen Cersei Lannister. She starred in the movies Fighting With My Family and The Flood in 2019, and voiced Maudra Fara in The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance. The actress also voiced Morgana in Wizards and Big Mama in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Keeping busy: Headey has been keeping plenty busy since wrapping Game of Thrones in 2019, where she played Queen Cersei Lannister It seems she'll have another busy year in 2021, with two new movies coming out, Twist, a modern take on Oliver Twist with Michael Caine and Rita Ora, and Gunpowder Milkshake with Karen Gillan and Carla Gugino. She also stars as the title character of the Showtime pilot Rita, alongside Josh Hutcherson and Shay Rudolph. The actress also stars in the upcoming Gypsy Moon with Sam Worthington and voices Evil-Lyn in the Masters of the Universe: Revelation animated series. Then-Vice President Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow in 2011. President Joe Biden has been thrown into a high-wire act with Russia as he seeks to toughen his administrations stance against Putin while preserving room for diplomacy. (CNN) -- In March last year, the UK government said it was hopeful the country could cap its coronavirus deaths at 20,000. It was a bleak target to set, but one the nation came to begrudgingly accept. Ten months on, Prime Minister Boris Johnson delivered a somber public briefing Tuesday, in which he announced the country could now count more than 100,000 people as its Covid-19 dead, in what he called a "grim statistic." Of the worst-affected nations, the UK has earned the dishonor of having the highest number of confirmed deaths in the world, proportionate to population. A surge in case numbers that began in December has pushed hospitals to the brink. ICU workers say they have been forced to "dilute" their care and describe mental health struggles under unprecedented pressure. Schools are shut and have moved online, disrupting the lives of students and working parents alike. All but essential shops are closed. In England, socializing, even outdoors, is banned, except in pairs for exercise. There are few differences from the spring, when Britons suffered a devastating first wave and were put under a draconian lockdown. They are now asking themselves how they got here. Yet again. When asked that very thing, Johnson has repeatedly pointed to a new and more contagious variant of the virus, now infamously known around the world as the "UK variant." Health Secretary Matt Hancock too has claimed the country's response was working until the new variant hit. But it's not that simple. Like in the first wave, the government has been slow to respond to rising case and death numbers with restrictions. It has failed to get an adequate contact-tracing and isolation system running. And it has, again, been slow on border controls, only closing "travel corridors" with more than 60 countries or territories in mid-January amid record-breaking daily death tolls. Experts say the government hasn't learned from its past mistakes and still lacks a coherent strategy. Prof. Anne Johnson, president of the UK's Academy of Medical Sciences, said there was a clear correlation with the relaxation of restrictions before Christmas and the recent spike in infections. "The new variant is important and more transmissible, but that's not the only cause of the third wave. Let's be clear," she told CNN. Boris Johnson had for weeks been telling the nation they could celebrate Christmas with friends and families, allowing a mixing of households if they just followed the rules during a November lockdown. He called the whole thing off at the 11th hour, at least in England's worst-hit counties. But it was too late. The damage had been done well before the holidays began, and medical staff knew they would be in for a tough January. "Inevitably, if you come out of lockdown on the 2nd of December, as we did, with people gagging to get to the shops and get out and about, and we've got three weeks before Christmas, that's going to be clearly a moment for seeing more transmission," Prof. Anne Johnson said. In the aftermath, the Prime Minister argued the government could not have foreseen the new, more transmissible variant. But the idea that viruses mutate, sometimes in the shape of more aggressive forms, is widely understood. It was even flagged as a potential threat in a July report by the Academy of Medical Sciences, for which Prof. Anne Johnson was a lead author. The government had commissioned the report for the precise purpose of preparing for the difficult winter it knew was coming. In July last year, the Prime Minister was forced to admit he had not read the report when asked in parliament. In January, six months later, he did not answer a question by the BBC's Andrew Marr in an interview on whether he had finally gotten around to reading it. His office did not answer a question from CNN on whether he had now read it. It's an example of what the Prime Minister's critics say is his aversion to detail. The Johnson government has long emphasized learning to live with Covid-19, simply accepting a certain level of circulation in the community. Had he taken the winter report's warning seriously, however, he may have understood the additional threat of a new variant. The report, along with several others from medical experts, also raised concerns about the country's test, trace and isolate system. Testing has improved dramatically, but tracing and isolating hasn't. Anecdotal evidence is growing that an app designed to aid the process is largely inactive. The Department of Health told CNN that the app had been downloaded more than 21 million times and was still a key tool in helping break chains of transmission. But compliance is a major issue. In an ongoing survey of people's behavior and feelings around Covid-19 in the UK by the University College London, 38% of respondents said they were not isolating after developing symptoms for the full recommended 10-day period. Some 13% said they were not isolating at all. And 75% of adults over the age of 60 who reported experiencing symptoms at least once said they had never bothered requesting a test. The study's lead author, Dr Daisy Fancour, said in a statement the number of respondents not isolating was "deeply concerning." The study also finds a correlation between isolation compliance and income level. This suggests that many people breaking rules on isolation are doing so because of financial pressures. "The increased adherence to self-isolation rules among those with a higher household income suggests that many of those not isolating are breaking guidelines due to financial concerns, and more support needs to be put in place to allow people to self-isolate without fear of losing out financially," Fancour said. 'Too little, too late' After the hardship of the first wave, it's difficult to comprehend why the government hasn't adopted the models seen in countries that have been more successful in their responses, particularly in terms of border controls. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel admitted to a group of Conservative Party supporters that the government should have closed borders in March, according to a video published by the pro-Conservative website Guido Fawkes. She claimed that she had supported the idea at the time. The UK may have finally hardened its border, but it's easy to see how more cases could slip through the net. Most of the country now requires people crossing its borders to self-isolate for 10 days, but it has no robust mechanism to ensure people are complying. In Canada, arrivals isolate at home, but police check in with them. Rule-breakers face up to six months in jail. Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore use electronic wristbands to ensure people stay home during quarantine periods. They are controversial from a privacy perspective, but they broadly work. And in Australia, arrivals are forced to stay for two weeks in strict government-monitored "quarantine hotels." Arrivals have to pay for their own quarantine, charged at a rate of around $3,000 ($2,3000) for one adult in most states. It's a measure Johnson's government is only now considering. The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, chastized Johnson in a scathing speech earlier this month, saying his indecision was costing lives. "Every time there's a big decision to make, Boris Johnson gets there too late," he said. "The government says it's trying to balance the health crisis with the economic crisis. Yet we ended 2020 with one of the worst death tolls in Europe and the deepest recession of any major economy. That's not bad luck. That wasn't inevitable. It's the consequence of the PM's repeated delay and incompetence." Enforcing the kind of border controls seen in Australia wouldn't be hard -- when you take out Northern Ireland, the UK is essentially an island around the size of the state of Kansas. The export of the UK variant to 60 countries demonstrates how porous the UK's border has been. Australia, a country of 25 million people, has reported just over 900 deaths. It has been able to keep the virus at bay with its quarantine hotels in conjunction with swift local lockdowns, granular data and transparency that has won the public's trust, according to a report by consulting firm McKinsey. The country is now working on its economy's recovery as the UK struggles just to keep its own open. When asked by a reporter whether he could have done more to prevent deaths, Johnson said he took full responsibility for his government's response but made no admissions of any missteps. "We did everything that we could to minimize suffering and minimize loss of life in this country as a result of the pandemic, and I'm deeply sorry for every life lost." The threat of vaccine complacency Johnson also sought on Tuesday to focus on the UK's success with its vaccine program. The UK was the first country to begin vaccinating people with a fully vetted and authorized Covid-19 shot, and to date it has given at least 6.8 million people the first of two doses. The prospect of success here could offer Johnson the political get-out-of-jail card he sorely needs. But for the vaccine rollout to be a success, Johnson's government will need to smooth out its distribution, which some medical service providers say has been haphazard to date, though it is early days. "There are clearly issues around supply," said Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents providers of the government-funded National Health Service. But he is not aware of whether the problem is one of supply or of distribution. The Department of Health and Social Care declined to tell CNN how many vaccine doses the country had in stock, saying it was now part of the country's critical infrastructure, citing "security reasons" for withholding details on supplies. But it said that the country's "vaccine supply and scheduled deliveries will fully support" the country's program, including the immunization of four key groups by February 15. "The UK has already vaccinated more people than any other country in Europe, and we are mobilizing the government, NHS and our armed forces as part of a massive national effort to lead us out of this crisis," it said. Supply concerns are compounded by the pressure to administer a large number of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine fast. Rigid temperature requirements mean doses that are refrigerated need to be used in five days. With a box typically containing 1,000 doses, surgeries and vaccine centers have to administer 200 shots a day to ensure no doses in a box go to waste. Mortimer said the vaccine program was "truly impressive" in scale and had given worn-out NHS workers a huge boost in morale, but he emphasized the urgent need to improve distribution. Like many health experts, he warns against the UK becoming too reliant on the vaccine as a silver bullet. Improving other measures -- especially the test, trace and isolate system -- is crucial to bringing infection numbers down until there is a high level of immunity in the country, which may not be until the end of the year, Mortimer explained. "We need to know that as the vaccine is rolled out, and as it takes time for the vaccine to gain efficacy, that those elements of tracing and isolating are robust, and are robust for the longer term. It's probably too early to say we have full confidence in that, but it's really important the government gets that right," he said. "The sad reality of this last 10 months is that NHS organizations have seen this virus do real harm to their communities. We can see this in a really depressing death toll, but we can also see it in the longer-term impact the virus having on people's health." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Covid-19 has killed 100,000 people in the UK. Experts say the government is still getting it wrong" Supermodel Irina Shayk was seen with her daughter Lea in New York City on Wednesday morning. The Vogue cover girl walked at a fast clip as she had her child, age three, in a stroller. And at one point the little girl walked out of her stroller and in to her mother's arms for a sweet embrace. Both mother and child were wearing bright red coats. Good mommy! Supermodel Irina Shayk was seen with her daughter Lea in New York City on Wednesday morning The child had on a red coat on top of a pair of pink tights and hot pink sequined boots. Little Lea also wore a pink fuzz-ball beanie to keep her head warm as she spent time in the winter air. The 34-year-old supermodel was dressed in a fire engine red double-breasted coat over a black dress with knee high lace up boots and a black hat. The former Victoria's Secret model also had on a black face mask. Shayk carried a small red crocodile handbag that stood out. The Russian native kept her beautiful brown hair messy. Shayk accessorized with a small pair of sunglasses and two gold necklaces. Just the two of us: The Vogue cover girl was she talking to her child, age three So much love: And at one point the little girl walked in to her mother's arms for a sweet embrace Irina welcomed Lea with actor Bradley Cooper in 2017; the couple was romantically linked from 2015 until 2019. The exes have reportedly settled their differences and are now amicably co-parenting their daughter, with the actor having recently made a cross-country trip to spend time with her. He was previously married to Jennifer Esposito from 2006 until 2007; before starting a relationship with Shayk, the actor was also involved with actresses Zoe Saldana and Renee Zellweger. Warrior look: The 34-year-old supermodel was dressed in a fire engine red double-breasted coat over a black dress with knee high lace up boots and a black hat Dressed to impress New York: The former Victoria's Secret model also had on a black face mask. Shayk carried a small red crocodile handbag that stood out Doting mom: Later in the day, Shayk was seen picking up her daughter Lea from school Although the coronavirus pandemic has made a notable impact on the film industry, Cooper managed to stay busy throughout 2020 and currently has two major projects in the pipeline. The actor is set to star in the upcoming Guillermo Del Toro-directed thriller film Nightmare Alley, which is based on the 1946 novel of the same name. The Pennsylvania native will portray a carnival worker who delves deep into a seedy underground world after meeting a mysterious psychiatrist. Cute: In addition to carrying her small red alligator handbag, Shayk also sported a Minnie Mouse bag as she ran errands The Russian bombshell looked fablous as she accessorized with her two red purses and matching leather jacket Bold fashion statement: All eyes were on her fire engine red double-breasted coat over a black dress with knee high lace up boots and a black hat as she walked across the street Production on the film initially began in January of last year and continued until March, when shooting was shut down due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic; principal photography resumed in September and finished up three months later. Cooper will also have a main role in the period drama Soggy Bottom, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The crew was supposed to begin filming in the spring or summer of 2020; shooting commenced in August and was finished by November; a release date for the film has not been confirmed as of yet. It's all good: Cooper and Shayk have reportedly settled their differences and agreed to coparent their child; the two are seen with Lea during a trip to Italy in 2018 Before entering into a relationship with Lea's father, Shayk was notably involved with star athlete Cristiano Ronaldo, whom she began dating in 2009. The couple was the subject of intense media attention until they split up in 2015, when she began seeing Cooper. In an interview with Vogue, the model spoke about her feelings on dating and how she was grateful for the time that she had with her former partner. 'I think in all good relationships you bring your best and your worst its just the nature of a human being. Two great people dont have to make a good couple. I think weve been very lucky to experience what we had with each other,' she stated. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said Tuesday he will increase the amount of COVID-19 vaccine sent to states by 15 percent and will send federal staff to states including Connecticut, to help set up vaccination sites. Biden said he had placed more orders with Pfizer and Moderna, a move that will bring more doses to Connecticut at a time state officials have said the supply levels have been problematic. Connecticut will receive 53,700 doses next week, the state Department of Health confirmed, while shipments have averaged about 46,000 doses over the past several weeks although last weeks total was over 90,000 in a one-time bump-up. Nationwide, the federal government will oversee the shipment of 10 million vaccine doses next week, up from 8.6 million. The United States has now ordered 600 million doses, enough to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans, by the end of summer or early fall, Biden said in a speech. Both the Pfizer and Moderna shots require two doses multiple weeks apart for full efficacy. The changes are part of Bidens goal of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. He also activated a war-time law, the Defense Production Act, to order manufacturers to produce more gloves, masks, syringes and other supplies need to administer the vaccine, he said. Connecticut has been among the top states as measured by the percent of population inoculated and the percent of doses received that have been shot into arms. Weve been saying all along we have the infrastructure ready to handle more doses across the state as demand continues to far outpace supply, Gov. Ned Lamonts Communication Director Max Reiss said. This increase is a significant first step toward getting as many Connecticut residents vaccinated as possible. Numerous providers, including Yale New Haven Health and Community Health Center Inc., have said they have more capacity to administer vaccines than they have vaccine doses over the last few weeks. Considering that, its unclear how federal assistance in setting up vaccination sites would help the state speed up the process. Biden directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up federally run mass vaccination centers around the country to assist with administering the shots. Locations for these centers have not been announced yet. But FEMA has alerted Connecticut that the agency will send support staff to the state to erect vaccine sites and for logistics, Reiss said. White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and other senior administration officials held a call with governors Tuesday afternoon to discuss the vaccine distribution process. Biden promised that states will now have a three-week reliable forecast of how much vaccine they will receive and a receptive ear at the White House to coordinate distribution efforts. Biden also announced that the federal government will cover the cost of governors using the National Guard to assist with vaccine distribution in their states. Connecticut has used the National Guard to help set up and direct patients at its first mega-vaccine site on an old runway at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, run by Community Health Center. We anticipate using the guard throughout to stand up additional vaccination sites, Reiss said. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Connecticut has received 515,675 vaccine doses and administered about 66 percent of those doses. Only a handful of other states have been able to administer more of the vaccines doses they receive more quickly. For example, West Virginia is leading in this metric, having administered 76 percent of doses received. Connecticut has vaccinated health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents. The state is now scheduling vaccine appointments for individuals 75 years and older. In Connecticut, 291,257 people have received one or more vaccine doses, while 45,190 people have received two doses, CDC data shows. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson WASHINGTON: At least two journalists tested positive for coronavirus after witnessing the Trump administrations final three federal executions, but the Bureau of Prisons knowingly withheld the diagnoses from other media witnesses and did not perform any contact tracing, The Associated Press has learned. The AP is not identifying the journalists, but has confirmed they both received positive coronavirus tests following the executions earlier this month at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. The Bureau of Prisons just completed a record number of executions under former President Donald Trump, more than any previous administration. The reinstated death penalty began in July as the virus raged through the prisons, complicating Bureau of Prisons efforts as attendees sued over COVID-19 concerns in the confined execution chamber. Their concerns were founded; many attendees and Justice Department officials have gotten sick and the virus also spread among the death row inmates. President Joe Biden has said he is opposed to the death penalty and will work to end its use but hasnt yet specifically halted federal executions. Just days before Biden was sworn in, the Bureau of Prisons executed three death row inmates Lisa Montgomery, Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs. Both Johnson and Higgs had tested positive for coronavirus in the weeks before their executions.The Bureau of Prisons said one of the reporters contacted the agency on Jan. 21 to inform officials that they had tested positive for coronavirus, but the agency decided not to contact any other media witnesses and did not attempt to conduct a contact tracing investigation. The BOP only confirmed that officials had been aware of the positive test result for days when contacted by the AP on Wednesday. The AP has witnessed every federal execution since the death penalty resumed. A spokesperson for the agency said that under its guidelines, officials would have initiated contact tracing if the reporter had contacted them within two or three days of the execution, citing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because the reporter contacted them about six days after the execution, they did not initiate contact tracing or notify any of the other witnesses, the spokesperson said. The Bureau of Prisons would not say Wednesday whether any staff members or witnesses had also tested positive. The revelation again raises questions about how the federal Bureau of Prisons is conducting contact tracing to try to stop the spread of the virus as the number of cases continues to explode within the federal prison system. The agencys contact tracing process is opaque, but BOP records show that some employees who had contact with inmates or others who had tested positive for the virus at the Indiana prison complex later declined testing. The agency filed papers Wednesday certifying that it had complied with a court order to keep contact tracing records for staff members at the prison complex who may have tested positive for the virus within two weeks of the executions. That was in a case where the agency had violated a prior court order requiring execution staff members to wear masks. The news of the journalists positive tests was just the latest instance of witnesses or members of the Justice Departments execution team testing positive for the virus, and it comes as advocates have decried the executions as virus super-spreader events. Lawyers for inmates at the prison complex had tried unsuccessfully to halt the Jan. 16 execution of Higgs after Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Marshals staff members removed their masks inside the execution chamber during the Jan. 14 execution of Johnson, in violation of a federal court order. During Higgs execution, executioners were more diligent. When a marshal called from a chamber phone to ask if there were any impediments to proceeding with Higgs execution, he kept his mask on and shoved the receiver under it. For all the executions, the media witnesses were packed into a small room inside the execution building, where social distancing was nearly impossible, and seated close together. They had traveled with other journalists and prison staff members in an unmarked van to a security screening and then to witness the execution. Reporters sometimes had to wait for 30 minutes or more inside the van before being led into the chamber building. They were also inside a media center, where reporters were at tables spaced about 6 feet apart, for several hours. The Bureau of Prisons required media witnesses to wear masks at all times, including inside the execution chamber. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said reporters had been warned social distancing may not be possible, but masks were required to be worn in the media witness rooms and reporters had been offered additional personal protective equipment, including face shields, gowns and plastic suits. The Justice Department disclosed in December that eight members of the specialized execution team a group of about 40 employees who are brought into the Indiana prison for executions had tested positive for the virus shortly after the execution of Orlando Hall in November. Only six members of the team opted to be tested for the virus before they left Terre Haute and all tested negative, the agency said. But six others tested positive within a week and two more members of the team also tested positive a short time later.The Justice Department has argued that contact tracing for executions is not always possible for members of the execution team, given the paramount need for their confidentiality due to the sensitivity of their occupation and their unique mission. The Bureau of Prisons also did not conduct contact tracing for execution team members who tested positive following executions in August, September and November, according to court records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union. ___ Tarm reported from Chicago. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) Biden Believes Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Is Bad Deal for Europe: White House Press Secretary White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that President Joe Biden believes the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline is a bad deal for Europe and the administration will review restrictions on the project. Psaki made the remarks in response to a question at a White House press briefing, when she was asked by Polish Radio reporter Marek Walkuski whether Biden is determined to use all the tools he has, like sanctions, to stop the project. Poland has long opposed the mammoth project that would let Germany double its Russian gas imports, with the Polish anti-monopoly watchdog in October fining Gazprom, the Russian state energy company leading the project, $7.61 billion over the pipeline, arguing it would have serious consequences for Polands and the EUs economy. Psaki responded to the Polish reporters question by saying that Biden continues to believe that Nord Stream 2 is a bad deal for Europe. She added that the Biden administration would review the restrictions on the project that were imposed during President Donald Trumps administration under the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual defense policy bill that passed on Jan. 1. The Trump administration imposed sanctions on any companies helping Gazprom, the Russian state energy company leading the project, to lay pipeline, insure vessels, or verify equipment. Trump opposed the project on the grounds that it would strengthen Russian President Vladimir Putins economic and political influence over Europe. Poland has been one of the fiercest critics of the pipeline, which would sharply reduce central and Eastern European countries bargaining power in case of a supply row with Russia, which has in the past cut deliveries of the fuel to Ukraine and parts of Europe in winter during pricing disputes. Many EU officials in Brussels have also expressed opposition to the project, hoping to reduce the blocs energy dependence on Russia. Besides opposing the Nord Stream 2 project, the Trump administration also sought to expand U.S. liquefied gas exports to the EU, as part of a larger effort to diversify European energy imports. Biden has also opposed the project, which would bypass Ukraine and deprive it of lucrative transit fees, since he was vice president under former President Barack Obama. Berlin has forged ahead with the project, however, with both Russia and Germany arguing the pipeline is a purely commercial project. The $11 billion pipeline, which is 90 percent complete, would double the capacity of the existing Nord Stream duct to deliver gas from Russia to Europe via Germany under the Baltic Sea. The issue is coming to a head as the Senate has begun confirming Biden Cabinet members who could weigh in on decisions on the project, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and as construction resumes after being stalled for about a year following a threat of sanctions from the United States and the withdrawal of pipe-laying company Allseas. A ship called the Fortuna on which Washington slapped sanctions on Trumps last full day in office last Wednesday, has begun work in deep waters off Denmark, ahead of the resumption of construction, Nord Stream 2 said on Sunday. The State Department is expected to issue a report to Congress soon on the companies helping Gazprom complete the project, which could add pressure to firms to drop out. Some companies, including Zurich Insurance Group and Norways risk management and quality assurance firm DNV GL, have dropped work on the project. Reuters contributed to this report. After the CCTV was viewed Bradley was identified and arrested A Belfast woman with more than 200 criminal convictions avoided a prison sentence yesterday after she admitted stealing clothes from an adult shop. Rosaleen Mary Bradley (37), from Cliftonville Road, appeared at Belfast Crown Court where she was arraigned and sentenced for stealing goods worth 80 from the Ann Summers store in Rosemary Street. After she entered a guilty plea to theft, Crown prosecutor Gareth Purvis said Bradley was captured on CCTV in the store on October 22, 2019. On the first floor she started de-tagging clothes she then placed in an Ann Summers bag lifted from behind the counter. Bradley went back down the stairs, selected several pairs of pyjamas, then returned upstairs with those items, which she also placed in the bag before leaving the store. Mr Purvis said that as the items had been de-tagged the shop's alarm did not sound. After the CCTV was viewed Bradley was identified and arrested. The prosecutor said that during interview she "readily admitted" the theft and told police: "I'm sorry, I always am." A defence barrister said Bradley served a prison sentence for similar offences committed around the same period as the Ann Summers theft, adding she was now on licence and working with the Probation Service. The barrister urged Belfast Recorder Judge Stephen Fowler not to impose a further prison sentence for the theft, and questioned why it wasn't dealt with the same time as the other charges. Judge Fowler agreed, and noting Bradley's 205 criminal convictions, made her the subject of a two-year probation order. He said: "I have to say to you that with your record it is virtually inevitable that you will be jailed if you breach probation. "Do you understand that? This is an opportunity for you to break this cycle of offending." Bradley replied: "I'm getting a lot of support at the minute and it's going very, very well. "I have never had this kind of support before. Thank you very much." (Newser) Less than two weeks ago, a 22-year-old named Andrei Doroshin landed on the Today show, which featured the "whiz kid" and the company he created. His Philly Fighting COVID landed a contract to manage the largest mass-vaccination site in the cityand it didn't go well. The Philadelphia Health Department on Monday announced it was cutting ties with the group, a self-described "group of college kids" that has been accused of pocketing vaccine doses, turning away crying seniors after overbooking, and stealthily shifting to a for-profit model. Doroshin calls the claims "baseless." The details: Doroshin, in his fifth year in a combined undergrad/master's psychology program at Drexel University, first came onto the scene at the start of the pandemic, when he made 3D printed face shields to donate to area hospitals. From there, he moved into pop-up COVID-19 testing and finally vaccinations, with his group doling out almost 7,000 of them at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. As David Murrell writes for Philadelphia Magazine, "In the course of this progression, Doroshin has been hailed as a kind of operational savant." This despite a resume that features a career start as director of photography for AND Productions in Los Angeles, a gig teaching at the Rancho Mirage Film Department, and the creation of a nonprofit centered on air pollution. But here's what was "left unsaid," per Murrell: AND Productions was founded by his dad, and Doroshin helped him out when he was 14; he "taught" at Rancho Mirage when he was a high school student there; and a fundraiser for that nonprofit sought to raise $50,000 but reeled in $684. story continues below But that's not why the health department severed ties. That relates to a quietly made change involving Philly Fighting COVID's transition to for-profit status, and alterations to the data privacy policy on a vaccine interest form it created that would give it the power to sell user data. That web form featured a City Council seal, even though the council was uninvolved with the site, per Philadelphia. Doroshin wrote on Facebook that user data would never be sold and that the language was a "mistake" that has been corrected. He also says he talked to Deputy Health Commissioner Caroline Johnson about the for-profit move, which he says would facilitate fundraising and help with operational costs. The city's stance: "For Philly Fighting COVID to have made these changes without discussion with the city is extremely troubling." But that's not all. WHYY reported the group goofed on its sign-up page, and appointments for Saturday were overbooked as a result. "There were literally 85-year-old, 90-year-old people standing there in tears, with printed appointment confirmations, saying, 'I don't understand why I cant get vaccinated, I'm 85,'" said one such person. Then this allegation from Katrina Lipinsky, an on-site RN who says that the day actually ended with some vaccines left unused, and that Doroshin put roughly 10 doses in his bag. Three sources told WHYY that a Snapchat image posted that night showed Doroshin seeming ready to administer a vaccine to someone off-site. As for how the city ended up working with Philly Fighting COVID on vaccines in the first place, a health department rep tells Philadelphia they were the only "community provider that had finished their requisite forms and approvals and had come to us with a plan for how to distribute vaccine." Answers may be coming. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Councilwoman Cindy Bass on Thursday plans to introduce a resolution that would have the public health and human services committee "hold hearings to investigate the City's vaccine contracting process, including an examination of Philly Fighting COVID's contract with the City." (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.) MADISON, N.Y. Sgt. Lisa Pearsall has been away from her family on National Guard duty for the past three weeks but returned Monday to surprise her son at Madison Central School. Second-grader Noah Pearsall was shocked to see his mother outside of his classroom, and his first instinct was to jump into her arms. Madison Central School posted a video of the happy reunion on Facebook. Lisa was in Washington D.C. providing additional security leading up to and during President Bidens inauguration. DGAP-News: Toyota Mobility Foundation / Key word(s): Miscellaneous Toyota Mobility Foundation Announces Six Finalists for the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge 27.01.2021 / 11:15 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Toyota Mobility Foundation Announces Six Finalists for the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge Sixteen teams of innovators, from 9 countries, developed proofs-of-concept (PoC)s of their innovative data-driven solutions towards improving mobility and city planning in Kuala Lumpur Six Finalists were selected by a panel of judges and will receive a US$125,000 grant each to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) as a ready-to-implement solution KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 27 January 2021 - Six solution ideas were announced as finalists for the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH) program. The Toyota Mobility foundation (TMF) launched CATCH in February 2020 with a global call for dynamic, intelligent and data-driven solutions to address mobility and city planning challenges in Kuala Lumpur. Image: http://release-manager.media-outreach.com/i/120492 Despite the continuing impact of COVID-19, the CATCH program progressed through the application stage in May, receiving over 90 entries from 20+ countries. Then the Semi-Finalist stage finished in December. In this stage with tremendous support and insights from our strategic and data partners, the Semi-Finalists obtained an understanding of Kuala Lumpur's mobility issues for their Proof of Concept (PoC) development over a 6-week period. An esteemed panel of 8 judges from various fields of expertise such as government, sustainable mobility, venture capital, technology, and industry virtually assessed the 16 Semi-Finalists. After careful consideration and based on the feedback from the judges, TMF identified six teams as Finalists rather than five teams as originally planned. The following six teams are deemed to be best suited to CATCH's problem statement and the five assessment criteria of creativity, feasibility, sustainability, desirability and technicality. These teams will be asked to further develop their MVPs, and at this stage each will receive a grant of US$125,000 of financial support to drive testing and implementation of intelligent data-driven, connected solutions, aimed at a more efficient, innovative, secure and sustainable city of Kuala Lumpur. The six finalists are as follows: Company Name Country Solution Description GeoSpock UK Analytics database technology enabling smart city data fusion to power advanced multimodal transport optimization Hayden AI Technologies USA Artificial intelligence powered data platform that helps innovative cities to improve traffic safety and efficiency KERB Malaysia/ Australia P2P/B2B parking management platform to increase parking supply around transport hubs, track real-time data and optimize commuters' journeys Liftango Australia Defeating traffic congestion at the source: Demand-responsive first mile commuter transport in Bandar Sunway Numina USA Privacy-first computer vision solution to measure multimodal traffic flows and identify opportunities to improve pedestrian safety RUNWITHIT Synthetics Canada Synthetic KL, a live, geospatial, interconnected synthetic modelling environment for designing targeted, impactful mobility solutions Conceptualizing Data-Driven Innovations to Reality TMF will continue to work together with strategic partners including Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and its data partners - Prasarana, MapIT, and Grab - to support the finalists until the selection of a final winner in April-May 2021. This support includes the financial grant by TMF and incubation and mentorship provided by experts and judges supporting this CATCH program. Yu Chuan Hock, Director of Urban Transportation of KL City Hall (DBKL) commented: "Kuala Lumpur City Hall is looking forward to a practical and workable solution to be implemented to ease congestion and disperse traffic more effectively." Ir. Dr.Karl Ng, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) commented: "These entries show how amazing such innovations can be produced, and even thrive, when data is readily made available." Pras Ganesh, Director of Programs of TMF commented: "CATCH was designed to grasp ground breaking innovations, and we were impressed by the ideas of 16 strong Semi Finalists who showcased new data driven mobility and city planning focused solutions. Though it was very difficult to narrow down the selection, as Toyota Mobility Foundation, we are very excited about the six Finalists and what they can deliver in the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage to improve the quality of life of the residents of Kuala Lumpur." Through CATCH, TMF strives to unlock human-centric, data-driven innovations toward Toyota's mission of 'Producing Happiness for All' through 'Creating Mobility for All' for residents of Kuala Lumpur. Moreover, TMF hopes to utilize the insights gained through this challenge to solve mobility issues in other regions and countries in the future. To find out more visit www.tmf-catch.org/ About Toyota Mobility Foundation The Toyota Mobility Foundation was established in August 2014 to support the development of a more mobile society. The Foundation aims to support strong and equitable mobility systems. It utilizes Toyota's expertise in technology, safety, and the environment, working in partnership with universities, government, non-profit organizations, research institutions and other organizations to address mobility issues around the world. Solutions till date have aimed at resolving urban transportation problems, expanding the utilization of multi-modal mobility, and developing solutions for future generations. Media Contact Toyota Mobility Foundation Email: info@toyota-mf.org When Russians took to the streets in the tens of thousands on January 23 in the biggest wave of nationwide protests in years to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, there were chants demanding the Kremlin critic's release as well as calls for President Vladimir Putin to step down. But there was something else seen and heard at rallies from Yakutsk to thousands of kilometers west in the capital, Moscow. Chants of "Long live Belarus!" rose from the crowds and some protesters held up white-and-red flags, the symbol of the protests against Alyaksandr Lukashenka that erupted last August after an election tens of thousands of Belarusians believe was rigged to hand the 66-year-old authoritarian leader another term in office. And like in Belarus, cars honked in support as they cranked up Changes, a Soviet-era dissident rock anthem, also on the playlist of protesters in Belarus. "I am sure Belarusian protests inspired some Russians, and the presence of white-red-white flags as well as 'Long live Belarus' slogans proves it," explained Alesia Rudnik, a Belarusian analyst based in Sweden, in e-mailed comments to RFE/RL. The similarities don't end on the street. The rallies in Russia were called by Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, shortly after Navalny returned to Russia on January 17 from Germany, where he had been treated for poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent that he blamed on the Russian authorities. However, much of the legwork to organize the rallies at the local level was done using social media, especially Telegram, according to Alexander Morozov, an expert on Russia at Prague's Charles University. "NEXTA also claims it is coordinating the Russian protests," added Morozov, referring to the popular Belarusian Telegram channel that has played a key role in the protests there, as well as providing unfiltered information in a country where most media serve merely as government mouthpieces. And just like Belarus, where protests have spread to many towns and smaller cities outside of Minsk, the January 23 protests in Russia were not limited to a few dense population centers such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. That, according to Morozov, was largely unprecedented. "Protests are taking place in cities such as Belgorod, Magnitogorsk, Bratsk, in cities where protests have not been held for the past 200 years," Morozov told RFE/RL's Belarus Service. Demonstrations in Russia were reported in more than 100 cities and towns nationwide, with an estimated 40,000 attending the rally in Moscow. Police were reported to have detained 3,711 people on January 23, according to the independent monitor OVD-Info, which said the number was a record in its decade of tracking arrests. Reports of bloodied and battered protesters and bystanders were plentiful. As In Minsk, So In Moscow... Support for Belarus's pro-democracy movement is not a recent phenomenon, noted Katsiaryna Shmatsina, a research fellow at the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies think tank. "The fact that Russian protesters express solidarity with Belarus underlines that Russian society is not homogeneous with regards to Kremlin's 'near abroad' revanchism. Russian liberals have sympathized with Belarus's struggle for democracy since the beginning of the protests in August 2020," Shmatsina told RFE/RL. But despite the similarities, the role of Belarus's protests on the current movement in Russia is probably minimal, argued Nigel Gould-Davies, a former British ambassador to Belarus and a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. "Although Russians are aware of recent events in Belarus, I don't see clear evidence that many are specifically inspired by them," Gould-Davies told RFE/RL in e-mailed comments. Furthermore, the red-and-white flag of the short-lived first Belarusian republic has been flown in months of protests in Russia's Far East in support of detained ex-Governor Sergei Furgal, noted Gould-Davies. Furgal, the former governor of Khabarovsk, is being held in Moscow on charges of ordering the murder of at least two businessmen 15 years ago, which he denies, and supporters say was payback for beating the Kremlin-backed candidate from the ruling United Russia party in the 2018 election. What does link Russia and Belarus, noted Gould-Davies, are the "underlying causes" fueling unrest in both countries: "frustration and disillusion with a long-standing authoritarian system, poor economic prospects, and growing repression." In the early days of the protests in Belarus, Lukashenka appealed to Putin to send riot police, warning that "if Belarus falls, Russia will be next." He also accused the West of trying to whip up a "color revolution" in Belarus. The Kremlin has also tried to paint the Navalny rallies in Russia as foreign-inspired, even citing Belarus as an example. "Given the example of the political techniques tested in Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, we cannot rule out the possibility of similar destabilization in our country, Russian First Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandr Gorovoi said on January 21, two days ahead of the nationwide demonstrations. Lukashenka's government has responded to protests at home with what Human Rights Watch has called an "unprecedented crackdown," as security forces have detained thousands of people and "subjected hundreds to torture and other ill-treatment in an attempt to stifle the protests." Reports of protesters being kicked, beaten, and abused by Russian police on January 23 appeared to indicate the Kremlin is ready to deal with any wave of protests harshly. But the excesses of Belarus may prove a warning to the Kremlin. "The harshness of the Belarusian crackdown -- initially much worse than what we have just seen in Russia -- proved counterproductive and provoked even bigger protests," offered Gould-Davies. Are Putin's, Lukashenka's Fates Now Tied Together? In September, Putin promised Lukashenka possible police or other military support, as well as a financial injection of $1.5 billion in the form of a state loan. However, as the Belarusian strongman showed not only no signs of acceding to opposition demands, but doubled down on his government's crackdown, Putin appears to have become wary of hitching himself too closely to the increasingly isolated Lukashenka. "Even though Putin understands that the protests in Russia were triggered by the Navalny case, rather than being inspired by Belarus, he will most likely avoid direct public confrontation with Lukashenka so as to avoid supporting the so-called 'myth of protests' viral spreading from neighboring countries," Rudnik explained. For Lukashenka, Putin's predicament could offer a bit of breather from Kremlin demands to orchestrate a transfer of power, said Oleg Chupryna, a PhD candidate at the Center for European and Eurasian Studies at Maynooth University, Ireland. "For Lukashenka, I think the developing events in Russia represent a double-edged sword. Indeed, Putin's current domestic troubles may buy Lukashenka some time and sympathy from his Russian colleague," Chupryna explained to RFE/RL. "I think the Belarusian autocrat was absolutely right when he said that if Belarus falls (meaning his regime), Russia would be next. But the opposite also is true; if Putin's regime falls, Lukashenka's will be next for sure." The possibility of facing a similar threat could push Putin and Lukashenka closer, at least for the time being, opined Kenneth Yalowitz, a fellow at the Wilson Center in Washington who served as U.S. ambassador to Belarus in the 1990s, in e-mail comments to RFE/RL. "The Russian demonstrations are not yet a real danger to Putin but they are a serious warning of the level of popular dissent in Russia and Belarus," Yalowitz explained. "Both Putin and Lukashenka now face a common threat from below and the response will likely be more crackdowns." The Internal Security Wing personnel seized explosives at the place belonging to Manjegowda of Indrapura village, coming under Gorur Police station limits in Hassan district, on Tuesday. In all, 1,250 gelatin sticks, two detonators, ammonium nitrate and other explosive items have been seized. A case has been registered, according to the police. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Awards identify and honour the most respected companies and their C-Suite executives, rewarding outstanding performance, innovation and ethics across international business and finance communities. Lardi & Partner was the outright winner in the category 'Digital Business Transformation Firm of the Year'. Experts warn that 40% of companies will not survive past 2030 if they fail to navigate the challenges of digital transformation. The CEO of Lardi & Partner Consulting, Kamales Lardi, leads the way with a cross functional, customer-centred approach that enables clients to get the very best of the process, helping companies to succeed in a landscape that has seen many fail. With so much evidence of the importance of digital transformation it's surprising that only a third of companies around the world have started the process. One of the reasons behind this reality is that an effective digital transformation is an extremely challenging and time-consuming task, with the fear of failure leaving many lacking in confidence. 2020 was an unprecedented year for the business world, with COVID-19 making it even more important for companies to be able to manage their operations online. Lardi & Partner Consulting has been partnering with organisations around the world to help them realise the incredible potential to be gained from digital transformation. In an interview with Business Worldwide Magazine, Kamales Lardi explained her approach: "It's a combination of things that we blend together to help our clients achieve lasting success. We appreciate how complex a transformation can be as many of the organisations we work for tend to have operations, customers and staff based in several different locations with years of legacy culture, technology and processes embedded in everything they do. We know how to unpick those complexities and to find the opportunities for creating new and sustainable value. We specialise in these journeys and have spent years understanding what works and what doesn't, and I'd say that our experience and objectivity is something that others struggle to provide." Further information on digital transformation initiatives, leadership training programmes, and strategic vision workshops can be found at the company website https://www.lardipartner.com/ . An article on the company can be found on the Business Worldwide Magazine website: https://www.bwmonline.com/2021/01/25/moving-your-business-into-the-digital-age/ Further information about the Business Worldwide Magazine Awards 2020 visit - https://www.bwmonline.com/2020-global-corporate-excellence-awards-winners/ About Business Worldwide Magazine Business Worldwide Magazine is the leading source of business and dealmaker intelligence throughout the world. Our quarterly magazine and online news portal enables an established audience of corporate dealmakers to track the latest news, stories and developments affecting the international markets, corporate finance, business strategy and changes in legislation. This readership includes of CEO/CFO - Banks, Corporate Lawyers and Venture Capital/Private Equity Companies to name a few. Contact David Jones Awards Department E: [email protected] Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427233/Kamales_Lardi_CEO.jpg SOURCE Business Worldwide Magazine Across the country, leftists in charge of public education are substituting indoctrination for learning. Facts and objective standards are out, liberal shibboleths are the order of the day. My state, Minnesota, exemplifies the trend. Under state law, the Department of Education promulgates standards and benchmarks for K-12 schools in a variety of disciplines. These standards are periodically revised, and this year the Social Studies standards are being rewritten. Under Minnesotas hard-left governor, Tim Walz, the committee doing the revision consists almost entirely of left-wingers. That committee has released the first draft of its standards. This draft drops almost everything normally regarded as historythe Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II, the Holocaust, and any reference to minor figures like George Washingtonin favor of political indoctrination like this: * Systemic racism in the United States rooted in our founding * Developing a respectful awareness of the LGBTQ+ community * The Reconstruction period, specifically successful efforts to disenfranchise newly freed Black Americans and connecting this history to persistent discrimination and inequity in the present * An analysis of the ideology of Manifest Destiny and its relationship to whiteness, Christianity, and capitalism More here. The committee recently held a public meeting (via Zoom, of course) in which members aired their world-views as they relate to teaching Social Studies to school children. This video, taken from that meeting, consists mostly of audio clips of committee members talking. Essentially, liberals want our schools to be hotbeds of anti-Americanism. Unfortunately, just about all of our public school systems are in their hands. Unless voters wake up and demand change, the results for our young people and our country promise to be disastrous. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Switzerland said Wednesday it was prepared to spend more than a billion dollars on testing for asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, saying they were probably responsible for most new infections. Health Minister Alain Berset said the government would assume the estimated costs of around one billion Swiss francs ($1.12 billion, 930 million euros) of testing people who are not showing coronavirus symptoms. "It is believed that more than half of COVID-19 infections are transmitted by people who do not display symptoms and are unaware that they actually have the virus," said a government statement. "The federal government will now pay for persons without symptoms to be tested so that those who are particularly vulnerable can be better protected and local outbreaks of infection can be contained early on." It said by assuming the cost burden, it hoped to be able to identify outbreaks in settings like schools and care homes sooner. "This is particularly important in view of the fact that new, more infectious strains of the coronavirus are currently spreading in Switzerland," the government said. The wealthy Alpine nation of 8.6 million people has registered more than 515,000 cases during the pandemic and nearly 8,500 deaths. The epidemiological situation is improving slowly, the government said. But it added that it remains "greatly concerned" by the number of cases of the new virus variants, which accounted for 10 percent of positive tests last weeka percentage that is doubling each week. "No democratic and open society has found a perfect solution to fight the pandemic," Swiss President Guy Parmelin told a press conference in the capital Bern. Shorter quarantine with test Switzerland is changing its quarantine rules from February 8, meaning those told to self-isolate can come out of quarantine after seven days, rather than 10, with a negative test result. The rule also applies to incoming travellers from a country with a high risk of infection. Everyone arriving in landlocked Switzerland by air, boat, bus or train must complete an online form, not just those from high-risk countries as before. All arrivals by air will need to show a negative test result before boarding the plane. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said Switzerland had spent 15 billion Swiss francs tackling the pandemic in 2020 and was now racking up 150 million francs of debt every day. Nearly 2.3 percent of the population have received their first COVID-19 vaccine injection, broadcaster RTS said. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis revealed that government ministers had received their first vaccination dose in mid-Januarysomething not made public at the timeeven though none of them are in the vulnerable categories currently being immunised. "We only have seven ministers, not 21 like some other countries," he told CH Media newspapers, as he raised the prospect of government being unable to continue if several ministers fell ill with the virus. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Hollywood heavyweight Chris Hemsworth is adored by many fans for his handsome features and rugged physique. And while he no doubt has a million-dollar smile to match, the Australian actor rarely shows off his pearly whites in photos. During a break from filming Thor on Tuesday in Sydney, Chris was seen visiting a specialist Orthodontist/Dentist. Is everything OK? Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (pictured) visited a specialist dentist in Sydney on Tuesday during a filming break for Thor: Love and Thunder The Extraction star could have easily slipped under the radar among the locals, dressing in a very laid-back ensemble. Despite have a net worth of more than $100 million, Chris wore a simple white T-shirt, black shorts and white sneakers. He completed his low-key look with a black cap and sunglasses. Chris looked super fit in the T-shirt, which showcased his muscular arms. Going incognito: The Extraction star could have easily slipped under the radar among the locals, dressing in a very laid-back ensemble A tooth Thor-ty appointment? Perhaps the actor had an urgent dental emergency during filming in Sydney Earlier in the day on the public holiday, Chris threw his support behind changing the date of Australia Day. 'Lets find a date where all Australians can celebrate this beautiful country together,' he wrote alongside a photo of a special Welcome to Country ceremony held at the Thor studios in Studio. 'Lets find a date where all Australians can celebrate': Earlier in the day on the public holiday, Chris had thrown his support behind changing the date of Australia Day Working hard: A special Welcome to Country ceremony was held at Fox Studios on January 26 as they prepared for another day on set Keeping it simple: Despite have a net worth of more than $100 million, Chris wore a simple white T-shirt, black shorts and white sneakers Chris left the medical centre with a white slip or receipt in his hand, and his phone in the other. He approached a white SVU, which someone else appeared to be driving. Chris, who plays the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor, in the hit Marvel films, arrived in Sydney via private jet last week. On Friday, the actor looked like he was well and truly ready to pick up where he left off as he arrived to the set of the upcoming franchise installment, Love and Thunder. The star, who has been training hard for the role, showed off his buff build and bulging biceps as he arrived at Fox Studios to start filming. Lights, camera, action! Chris, who plays the Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor, in the hit Marvel films, arrived in Sydney via private jet last week On set: Chris' Spanish actress wife Elsa Pataky was recently in Sydney filming Benjamin Millepied's new movie, Carmen Chris' Spanish actress wife Elsa Pataky was recently in Sydney filming Benjamin Millepied's new movie, Carmen. It's believed with her part now wrapped on the film, she has flown back to Byron Bay with the couples' three children. The Hollywood power couple have lived in New South Wales' trendy coastal town since 2014. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-R) - a supporter of QAnon conspiracy theories - has blamed her social media team after it was discovered her Twitter account 'liked' posts calling for the deaths of prominent Democrats. Greene's account showed support for executing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi other prominent Democratic politicians in the years before she was elected to Congress. Greene, who now represents Georgia's 14th Congressional District, repeatedly posted debunked conspiracy theories and liked posts from far-right extremists in 2018 and 2019, according to a CNN KFile review of hundreds of posts on Greene's Facebook. She reportedly liked a comment in January 2019 that said 'a bullet to the head would be quicker' to remove Pelosi from her role as House Speaker. Greene also appeared to like comments that mentioned executing FBI agents because they were a part of the 'deep state' that was working against Trump. But on Tuesday Greene blasted CNN's revelations as a 'hit job' and insisted teams of unnamed social media managers were to blame for the posts. She wrote on Twitter: 'I've had teams of people manage my pages. Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views.' Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-R) - a supporter of QAnon conspiracy theories - routinely indicated her support for executing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi other prominent Democratic politicians Greene reportedly liked a comment in January 2019 that said 'a bullet to the head would be quicker' to remove Pelosi from her role as House Speaker Greene has faced increased calls to resign from the House for her part in helping incite rioters who descended on the Capitol earlier in the month. Greene pictured on the steps on the US Capitol on Jan. 4 In a April 2018 Facebook post, Greene went on a conspiracy-laden tirade about the Iran Deal, in an effort to slam former President Barack Obama. A person asked the future-representative: 'Now do we get to hang them?? Meaning H & O???,' in reference to Hillary Clinton and Obama. Green responded: 'Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off.' Greene has faced increased calls to resign from the House for her part in helping incite rioters who descended on the Capitol earlier in the month. She, like a select handful of extreme Trump loyalist, asserted that he would remain president - promoting more conspiracies about voter election fraud. She also faced calls to resign last week after Media Matters reported that she agreed with sentiments describing the Parkland shooting as a 'false flag' operation - referring to acts carried out by a group to appear as if they are perpetrated by another group or individual. She also faced calls to resign last week after Media Matters reported that she agreed with sentiments describing the Parkland shooting as a 'false flag' operation Additional social media comments found by CNN showed Greene referring to Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg as '#littleHitler' and promoted conspiracies about him being a 'bought and paid little pawn' Additional social media comments found by CNN showed Greene referring to Parkland survivor and activist David Hogg as '#littleHitler' and promoted conspiracies about him being a 'bought and paid little pawn.' Prior to her run for Congress, Greene began circulating a White House petition in Jan. 2019 calling for the removal of Pelosi for 'crimes of treason.' During one speech promoting the petition, Green even suggested that Pelosi could be executed for treason. 'She's a traitor to our country, she's guilty of treason,' Greene declared in the clip. 'She took an oath to protect American citizens and uphold our laws. And she gives aid and comfort to our enemies who illegally invade our land. That's what treason is. And by our law representatives and senators can be kicked out and no longer serve in our government. And it's, uh, it's a crime punishable by death is what treason is. Nancy Pelosi is guilty of treason.' Greene has liked comments calling for the 'arrest' of Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry. She also liked a comment that said 'HANG that b***h,' referring to either Obama or Kerry In another post promoting the petition, Greene liked a comment that said about Pelosi 'through removal or death, doesn't matter, as long as she goes.' She also liked one that cheered her on to 'beat Pelosi's ass.' Greene has liked comments calling for the 'arrest' of Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry. She also liked a comment that said 'HANG that b***h,' referring to either Obama or Kerry. A huge supporter of 'deep state' conspiracies, Greene has suggested on Facebook that FBI agents disloyal to Trump were traitors. The ardent Trump supporter took to her own Twitter account after CNN reached out to her about the Facebook posts, comments and sentiments Greene liked a comment that read: 'Trump already said there were some great ones working with FBI but some have fallen and quite frankly need to be hung for TREASON!' Another she liked said, 'These Traitors need to be put to death as an example of what will no longer be tolerated in our country!!!' The ardent Trump supporter took to her own Twitter account after CNN reached out to her about the Facebook posts, comments and sentiments. 'Fake News CNN is writing yet another hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office,' she declared. 'I will never back down to the enemy of the American people and neither should you.' She added: 'Over the years, I've had teams of people manage my pages. Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet.' Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. First Nations groups in Manitoba will take part in a national conference this week, seeking to take on systemic racism in health care. First Nations groups in Manitoba will take part in a national conference this week, seeking to take on systemic racism in health care. The two-day event, titled "Addressing Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canadas Health Care Systems," is set for Wednesday and Thursday. It will include leaders at the provincial and federal levels, including members of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and its northern wellness arm, Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin. "This is not something new that were bringing up, we have done it so many times," MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said Tuesday. "But were not going to do this anymore. Were going to actually initiate change." One of the most recent high-profile incidents sparking the drive is the case of Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman and mother of seven, who died Sept. 28, 2020, at a Quebec hospital after she recorded staff hurling racist insults at her. MKO held an online news conference Tuesday to discuss anti-Indigenous racism in health care, in advance of the wider conference. Speakers shared their thoughts and personal experiences including O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation band councillor Brian Wood, who said his wife was a recent victim of systemic mistreatment when she sought medical help for an accident. After hurting her leg Jan. 11, Wood and his wife went to a local nursing station (OPCN is roughly 130 kilometres by air north of Thompson), where she was only briefly checked over and told to go home and rest. "I knew there was something seriously wrong with my wife, because she was wailing in pain," he said. Even after asking to be re-evaluated, the nurse refused, and wanted to schedule her on a flight to a hospital in Thompson two days later, he said. It was only after Wood complained to OPCN Chief Shirley Ducharme and the communitys health director that the nursing centre brought his wife back to schedule a reassessment. Eventually, Wood brought his wife to Thompson himself, a four-hour drive. She was then transported to Winnipeg, where she received surgery for several fractures in her leg and knee. "I find that very appalling. No one should be treated that way, regardless of if it is in a First Nation," he said. There was no attempt at an accurate diagnosis of his wifes injury, Wood said not a unique situation. "This has to change, we cant continue to treat our First Nations people the way weve been treated," he said. "Theres so many (misdiagnosed) assessments, and for our people to find out too late that they have terminal cancer or other serious medical conditions. This has been a norm for too long." KIM chief executive officer Dr. Barry Lavallee called the incident "an example of a system that actually facilitates racist treatment toward Indigenous people." MKO will lobby federal leaders at the conference for an overhaul of the health-care system in Canada, both through the providers and the institutions that train them "to recognize racism in health-care systems," Lavallee said. "We really want the federal government to exercise its power to influence provincial and territorial governments to develop racism-specific policies in not only health-care systems, but the colleges that give licences to nurses, and physiotherapists, and physicians, and other providers." malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: malakabas_ Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Beef is off the menu in some of Jakartas warungs. The iconic Rendang curry is now too expensive to make as sky-rocketing Australian beef prices force food stalls to serve telur balado boiled eggs with chilli sauce instead. Importers and wet market sellers are angry. Three days of strikes have forced the Indonesian Trade Ministry to warn it may have to go elsewhere. Mexican cattle and Indian buffalo are all on the table as replacements in Indonesias market worth $575 million-a-year to Australian live exporters at the same time as Australian beef faces restrictions from China. Indonesian beef seller Sukarma at the Rawamangun wet market in Jakarta. Credit:Karuni Rompies But the dispute is not the product of profiteering, sanctions or bilateral tensions that have become a hallmark of geopolitics in the past two years. It is much more cyclical than that. A great herd rebuilding is under way across Australia. Farmers slaughtered and exported their cows by the millions as a crippling drought swept across the country and sent the national herd to its lowest level in 30 years. Now rain and greener pastures have finally allowed farmers to restock. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Educators across Staten Island have been finding new ways to engage their students in remote learning since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and Schools Chancellor Richard A. Carranza was able to see firsthand how those educators are giving music and art lessons virtually. Carranza joined two classes at PS 29 in Castleton Corners on Tuesday to highlight how creative teachers are getting with lessons with their remote students. He was joined by District 31 Superintendent Vincenza Gallassio and the school principal, Christine Zapata. Using Google Classroom, the chancellor joined the third-grade music class with teacher Brian Stephens, as students learned how to play a song on the ukulele. Stephens introduced Carranza to his students and thanked him for tuning in. I just want to thank you all, because playing an instrument is something you can do for the rest of your life, Carranza said. This photo shows the chancellor in a virtual music class with teacher Brian Stephens and his students. (Staten Island Advance/Screenshot by Annalise Knudson) Carranza listened in during the class, which included an improvisation session between students and Stephens. Just like us teachers are responsible to get you guys the tools that you need, and Ms. Zapata is responsible to get us the tools to give to you, hes responsible for the principals, Stephens told his class during a Google Meet on Tuesday afternoon. To get the tools to the principals, to get the tools to us, to get the tools to you. So his job is even bigger than everyone elses. He has more responsibility than us. So lets give him a nice applause, thank you for coming, appreciate it. While Carranza said he doesnt have a ukulele like the students, he brought out his guitar to play some tunes. Stephens told his students that Carranza is an accomplished mariachi musician. The chancellor asked teachers and administrators on the Google Meet to try to guess the songs he played, which included Morris Alberts Feelings and Led Zeppelins Stairway to Heaven. I just want to thank you all, because playing an instrument is something you can do for the rest of your life, Carranza told the students. (Staten Island Advance/Screenshot by Annalise Knudson) When asking students what their favorite part about the class was, he received answers like when you learn to play and to play music you can make up. Carranza then bid farewell to the music class and joined a first-grade art class taught by Zach Lombardi, who was teaching his students how to make paper sculptures. Students explained the techniques of making the paper sculptures to Carranza. This is a lot of fun. So boys and girls, how do you come up with your ideas of what youre going to make? Carranza asked the students. Some said they look at their paper to come up with an idea. One student offered this advice: Just think really hard like youre teleporting. Students explained to Carranza the techniques they used to make their paper sculptures. (Staten Island Advance/Screenshot by Annalise Knudson) The chancellor asked for help from the students in making his sculpture, and then showed off his own creation of a paper person with legs, feet, arms and hair. Students also shared their creations with the chancellor. These included several animals. I want to say thank you for your help today You have a great teacher, give him a round of applause, Carranza said to the students. Lets clap for Mr. Lombardi. Thank you. Have fun boys and girls. FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER. GTO Team-BHP Support Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 61,069 Thanked: 202,978 Times View My Garage Outside of the big 3 Germans, which luxury car brands would you consider & why? Historically, the big 3 German marques - Audi + BMW + Mercedes - have dominated the luxury car segment in India, controlling over 90% of the sales volumes. In the recent past however, that has started to change. Slowly & steadily, other luxury marques are chipping away at the market-share of the Germans. There are several contributors to that emerging trend: - The other luxury brands have stepped up the game with truly wonderful cars! Drive the new S60 and you will be rather impressed. Porsche now offers practicality via its new crossovers. - They have ramped up investments in India. - Many luxury car customers are looking for something "different". A few are also bored of owning the same German brands over & over again. - Missteps by the Germans themselves have contributed to customers looking elsewhere. As an example, Audi India is - Tech: The hybrids of Lexus, offroad capability of Range Rovers, EVs of Tesla... - Then of course, there are several customers who prefer not to own a flashy brand for personal / business reasons. They will gravitate toward cars like the Camry (a Lexus in disguise) or Superb (an Audi in disguise) which offer you 70% of the luxury car experience at 50% of the price, and without a loud badge on the hood. Outside of the big 3 Germans, which luxury brand would you spend your hard earned 50 lakh - 1.5 crore rupees on? Please note this is a multiple choice poll, so do vote for all the brands that you are drawn to. IMHO, the biggest challenger will be Tesla. Even if their launch pricing is too high, Tesla will eventually go the CKD route and make the prices more acceptable. When it comes to EV technology, Tesla is at least 5 - 7 years ahead of everyone else (I have driven EVs from all the big brands before making this statement). Furthermore, Tesla is also a "super cool" badge which will attract many wealthy Indians. In the USA, the Model S has outsold the mighty S-Class in some years. China? December 2020 retail sales numbers (source FADA): * Mercedes - 805 units * BMW - 604 units * Jaguar Land Rover - 183 units * Volvo - 123 units * Audi - 41 units * Porsche - 24 units Lexus missing from the list as I don't think their dealers are sharing numbers. If someone doesn't share, it's usually because they are too low & embarrassing. Mini? They delivered 502 cars in 2020. Historically, the big 3 German marques -- have dominated the luxury car segment in India, controlling over 90% of the sales volumes. In the recent past however, that has started to change. Slowly & steadily, other luxury marques are chipping away at the market-share of the Germans. There are several contributors to that emerging trend:- The other luxury brands have stepped up the game with truly wonderful cars! Drive the new S60 and you will be rather impressed. Porsche now offers practicality via its new crossovers.- They have ramped up investments in India.- Many luxury car customers are looking for something "different". A few are also bored of owning the same German brands over & over again.- Missteps by the Germans themselves have contributed to customers looking elsewhere. As an example, Audi India is a shadow of its former self . BMW's ugly radiator grille design is a major deal-breaker for me personally.- Tech: The hybrids of Lexus, offroad capability of Range Rovers, EVs of Tesla...- Then of course, there are several customers who prefer not to own a flashy brand for personal / business reasons. They will gravitate toward cars like the Camry (a Lexus in disguise) or Superb (an Audi in disguise) which offer you 70% of the luxury car experience at 50% of the price, and without a loud badge on the hood.Please note this is a multiple choice poll, so do vote for all the brands that you are drawn to.IMHO, the biggest challenger will be Tesla. Even if their launch pricing is too high, Tesla will eventually go the CKD route and make the prices more acceptable. When it comes to EV technology, Tesla is at least 5 - 7 years ahead of everyone else (). Furthermore, Tesla is also a "super cool" badge which will attract many wealthy Indians. In the USA, the Model S has outsold the mighty S-Class in some years. China? Tesla is chipping away at the market-share of the Germans. Tesla has the brand as well as the product to attack the entrenched players IMHO.* Mercedes - 805 units* BMW - 604 units* Jaguar Land Rover - 183 units* Volvo - 123 units* Audi - 41 units* Porsche - 24 unitsLexus missing from the list as I don't think their dealers are sharing numbers. If someone doesn't share, it's usually because they are too low & embarrassing.Mini? They delivered 502 cars in 2020. Last edited by GTO : 25th January 2021 at 10:11 . A 37-year-old Houston man accused of shooting a Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy was booked into jail on three felony charges in connection with the Tuesday afternoon attack, court records show. Moises Martinez was charged Wednesday with two counts of felony aggravated assault against a public servant and felon in possession of a weapon, according to Harris County court records. Martinez is accused of opening fire at two deputies, identified in court documents as B. Miller and B. Barragan, when they responded to a report of a suspicious person on the 1200 block of Forestburg in northwest Harris County, officials said. Martinez resides on that block, according to court records. Barragan was struck four times and transported to the hospital, where he remained in stable condition and "good spirits" on Wednesday morning, the sheriff's office said. He will require surgery and is expected to be released in a few days. The shooter fled on foot and law enforcement detained him after a three-hour manhunt. Authorities are still searching for the firearm. Martinez was convicted in 2006 of felony weapon possession and in 2010 of burglary, court records show. In October, Martinez was charged with throwing rocks at a neighbor's car and assaulting his mother, taking her phone and keys and locking his parents out of the house, court documents show. A 1 p.m. probable cause hearing is scheduled. Prosecutors filed a motion requesting a hearing to deny bail for Martinez because he has twice been convicted of a felony. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 20:55:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member disinfects a school in Bangkok, Thailand, Jan. 26, 2021. Thailand said Wednesday that from next week, it will reopen most schools, excluding those in Samut Sakhon province, the epicenter of the country's latest COVID-19 outbreak. (Xinhua/Rachen Sageamsak) BANGKOK, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Thailand said Wednesday that from next week, it will reopen most schools, excluding those in Samut Sakhon province, the epicenter of the country's latest COVID-19 outbreak. The Ministry of Education ordered schools to close in 28 provinces and regions, which were declared as areas under maximum control, at the beginning of January. All public and private schools as well as educational institutions in the 27 provinces, including the capital Bangkok, are allowed to resume onsite classes from Feb. 1, according to a directive issued by Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan. Schools would remain closed in Samut Sakhon, where the latest outbreak erupted after a seafood market vendor was confirmed of being infected in mid-December. The announcement came after the country's reporting of its second highest number of new daily caseload Wednesday, with a majority of which detected following mass testing in Samut Sakhon. The directive said the number of students per classroom must not exceed 25, while anti-pandemic measures must be strictly followed, such as the wearing of face masks and the washing of their hands with alcohol gel. As of Wednesday, Thailand's total COVID-19 caseload rose to 15,465, with more than 10,000 of the infections reported since mid-December. Enditem Members of the Korea Association of Music Venues hold placards asking the government to revise "unrealistic" social distancing measures on their businesses at Rolling Hall near Hongik University in western Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of Korea Association of Music Venues By Park Ji-won Times have been tough for everyone since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, but professionals in the country's small live music community have been experiencing especially severe financial difficulties. After cancellations of performances and bankruptcies of concert venues over the last year, groups of music industry workers have urged the government to come up with "realistic" measures to tackle their financial difficulties, and asked for more government support A group whose name translates to Emergency Committee for the Normalization of Live Music consisting of hundreds of CEOs of indie music labels, production companies and various other workers released a statement Tuesday urging the government to revise social distancing measures in order to allow small venues to hold live events for audiences and to stop marginalizing the live music community. "We did our best to cooperate with the government and have endured. But as long as the Level 2.5 social distancing rule remains, we cannot survive anymore Many production companies and concert venues have closed in the Hongdae area. If there are no opportunities in the ongoing situation, more companies will go bankrupt," the committee said in a statement. Stressing that there were no known cases of infections spreading at concerts last year, it urged the government to ease its social distancing measures and get rid of unfavorable rules applied "unfairly" to small venues that offer standing room only instead of assigned seats. It asked the administration to let the small venues welcome more paying customers than now. It also said holding performances online as an alternative is only beneficial for a very small group of people, thus not a suitable long-term replacement. The remarks came after famous music venues such as Evans Lounge, DGBD and V-Hall, located near Hongik University in western Seoul, also known as Hongdae, have one after another gone out of business recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For some time now, the government has implemented level 2.5 social distancing measures which forces theaters and live music venues to leave two seats empty for every occupied seat until Jan. 31. The Korea Association of Music Venues also said in a statement Monday: "Due to the prolonged pandemic, small private venues are at risk. Events continue to be canceled, postponed and canceled again. We cannot organize shows because of the constantly changing social distancing measures. More venues have shut down. Following that, staff in various areas such as stage, sound and lighting are suffering financial difficulties." It said unlike other industries holding virtual events, it is impossible for live music venues to hold shows without a certain number of paying customers. "There are almost no measures for live music or reflecting the nature of the industry." She has made no secret of the fact she's a Spice Girls superfan, and on Wednesday, Kim Kardashian appeared to be paying tribute to her favourite band member Emma Bunton. 'Baby Spice,' the 40-year-old star captioned the picture, which showed her hair styled up in bunches, as was Bunton's trademark style from the group's late nineties heyday. Last July, Kim posted a group shot of her sisters likening to them to the Spice Girls, which prompted Victoria Beckham to ask which of the Kardashian sisters had dressed up as Posh Spice. 'Baby Spice!' Kim Kardashian, 40, puts her hair in bunches giving a style nod to Emma Bunton... as she models a busty snakeskin top for a Wednesday Instagram post In 2015, the mother-of-four shared an epic throwback of herself posing as Victoria Beckham a.k.a Posh Spice, as she dressed up as the group in high school. 'I'm so Thankful that me & my friends were the Spice Girls for our high school talent show!,' Kim wrote, adding: 'The Spice Girls got me through a lot!' she wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, Kim's most recent post comes amid her rumoured 'divorce' plans from husband Kanye West, which the star has so far remained silent on. Inspo: Emma Bunton was known for her trademark hairstyle in her 90s heyday with the Spice Girls Instead, it's been business as usual for the KUWTK personality, who has been posting a series of looks on her Instagram lately. On Tuesday, Kim was seen wearing a sheer skintight pencil dress with embroidered lines running down to the hem. Kim teamed the sexy look with some bright orange Prada flame heels and captioned the two photos with an orange heart emoji. Wannabe: Last July, Kim, 39, shared a photo of herself and her four sisters Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian, and Kendall and Kylie Jenner, simply captioning the post: 'Spice Girls' Too Much? The reality star was clearly feeling a resemblance between herself, Kourtney, 41, Khloe, 36, Kendall, 24, and Kylie, 22, and the fab five girls from the group (above in 1995) Say You'll Be Her: In 2015, Kim shared this throwback of herself dressed as Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice, while her friends dressed as the Spice Girls in high school Viva Forever: Meanwhile in 2012, Kim jumped on Twitter to reveal the band were her 'obsession' as the played at the London Stadium for the Olympics closing ceremony The KKW Beauty maven is focusing on her businesses and staying home with her four children, amid rumors she is close to divorcing husband Kanye West. Meanwhile, it's reported Kanye is 'less than thrilled' that the divorce will be broadcasted on TV. The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star will reportedly discuss the end of her marriage on the last series of the family's E! reality show and the Bound 2 rapper is not impressed. Sexy look: Kim Kardashian shared two shots from her closet as she modeled a skintight sheer dress Personal: Meanwhile, it's reported Kanye is 'less than thrilled' that the divorce will be broadcasted on TV. The family wrapped filming on the final season earlier this month A source told Us Weekly magazine: 'He is less than thrilled. She will continue to focus on her business empire. Kim has been in individual counselling and is at peace with where her life is headed.' Kim and Kanye - who share North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, two, and Psalm, 19 months, together - had been in marriage counselling as they 'tried to work through things'. A source said of their counselling sessions: 'Divorce has been discussed, but Kim wants more than anything for their relationship to work.' 'There wasn't anything specific that happened that led them to this point ... They are 100 percent aligned when it comes to the kids.' However, another insider insists the couple are just dealing with 'regular relationship issues'. They added of the couple's struggles: 'It's just regular relationship issues. There is no one else involved. Divorce talks have been on and off with them since the spring.' President Zelensky: "It is our national and moral duty to remember the victims of the Holocaust who were murdered here in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe." Israel's President Rivlin: "We must not partake in the sin of forgetfulness and denial." KYIV, Ukraine, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky today unveiled a powerful new monument commemorating the Babyn Yar massacre. At the ceremony, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the start of eightieth year commemorations of the massacre, messages of support and appreciation were broadcast from international leaders, including Israel's President Reuven Rivlin. The monument, titled "A Glimpse into the Past" was commissioned by the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (BYHMC) and created by prominent Ukrainian artist and architect Anna Kamyshan. It includes a tree with broken branches, as a metaphor for a life cut short. At both ends of the tree stands untreated stone boulders. Each one includes a viewfinder through which can be seen pictures taken by the German photographer and propagandist Johannes Hahle in the aftermath of the Babyn Yar massacre. The stone boulders stand at the exact spot where the original photographs were taken, pinpointed by researchers at BYHMC. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who unveiled the new monument, said "Today's ceremony signals the beginning of our eightieth anniversary commemorations for the tragedy of the Babyn Yar massacre. It is our national and moral duty to remember the victims of the Holocaust who were murdered here in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe. The monument which I unveiled today and the wider construction of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center is an essential part of this. Babyn Yar represents a dark moment in Ukraine's history, but by commemorating it in this way, we create light and hope for the future." At today's ceremony, messages were broadcast from a number of global dignitaries including Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, who thanked Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Natan Sharansky (Chair of the Supervisory Board at BYHMC) for their contribution towards commemorating the tragedy. He said "There has been no crueler, no more concentrated instance of mass killing than that of Babyn Yar. Thirty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-one Jews, including infants, children, women and the elderly, were slaughtered for two days in the valley of killing at Babyn Yar. This land in the suburbs of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, cried silently. Never in the history of Europe has there been such a large-scale, effective extermination operation carried out in such a short time.We must not partake in the sin of forgetfulness and denial. I thank you, those who stand guard over memory and do everything possible to make sure nobody forgets. Let the memory of our brothers and sisters who were slaughtered at Babyn Yar, and at other extermination sites, be engraved in our hearts forever." Additional messages were sent by Natan Sharansky, Chair of the Supervisory Board at BYHMC, Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jack Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress and Mark B. Levin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry. Today's ceremony was the first of a series of commemorative events to mark the eightieth year since the Babyn Yar massacre. 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis during just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter at Babyn Yar throughout the Nazi occupation of Kyiv. It was also confirmed today that President Zelensky has approved the establishment of a committee to oversee the eightieth anniversary commemorations. The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal and the Head of the Presidential Administration, Andrii Yermak were appointed as co-chairmen of the committee, whose full title is the "Organizing Committee for the Holocaust Memorial to the Babyn Yar tragedy and strategic development of the historic Babyn Yar area in Kyiv". The committee of around 60 members so far, is comprised of academics, communal leaders and other dignitaries from Ukraine and across the world. At today's ceremony, Head of the Presidential AdministrationAndrii Yermak commented "The establishment of this committee is another important milestone towards developing a fitting commemoration of the Babyn Yar tragedy and its victims. I thank the impressive list of prominent figures on the committee for their involvement. For too long, the story of Babyn Yar has evaded the historical record and the collective public memory. With the leadership and help of this committee, the upcoming 80th anniversary will be a significant step towards correcting this." In a parallel development marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a European Parliament Working Group ("Babyn Yar - Memory for the Future") called for "our colleagues, members of the European Parliament and Members of National Parliaments to commemorate" the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre during 2021. Co-Chair of the Working Group and Member of the European Parliament, Monika Benova said, "I believe this should be a common effort shared between Europeans and Ukrainians." About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. In September 2020, Ukraine's government represented by the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, under the auspices of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with BYHMC, represented by Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder, to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the Babyn Yar tragedy. A series of commemorations during 2021 will mark the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. Video - https://youtu.be/Slknb6lpyrM Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427947/Andrii_Yermak_President_Volodymyr_Zelensky.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427950/A_Glimpse_into_the_Past_monument.jpg As the United States welcomed a new president, there remains concern among citizens and brands about the country's deep polarization. WARC's first Spotlight US series, "Marketing in a polarized nation," explores how brands can chart a path forward. While some brands embrace polarization, WARC explains how most Americans are actually moderate, and many are looking to brands for trust, truth and even sanctuary during a time that remains disruptive. WARC Spotlight US is a new bimonthly series, with each edition focused on a timely topic geared towards helping brands market effectively in the US. The series is a capsule collection of expert commentary and insights, tackling each topic from a range of angles. Contributors to the series are highly-regarded industry professionals offering the latest advice into what's working. Launching with the theme 'Marketing in a polarized nation', this first Spotlight US includes eight exclusive and diverse pieces bringing together varying points of view and research for brands to draw on at a time of disruption. Cathy Taylor, US Commissioning Editor, WARC, says: "This quote by the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan made a comeback during the Trump years: "You are entitled to your opinion. You are not entitled to your own facts." A lot of the current polarization emanates from America currently being a nation that cannot agree on its own facts. The challenge for brands is to reach customers with such varying beliefs and attitudes." "While there are no easy answers, some themes have emerged from this first edition of our Spotlight US series, such as the changing nature of influencers. As a growing share of Americans feel corporations should use their influence to impact important issues, how brands respond to current times will greatly influence where customers spend their hard-earned dollars, as will their ability to build and maintain trust." WARC's Spotlight US "Marketing in a polarized nation" consists of the following pieces: Interview with renowned political marketing strategist Mark Penn on why the US is actually moderate. View here Kirsten Maryott, Strategy Director, Wieden+Kennedy, explains why polarization, for brands, is a good thing. She says: "Polarization - in politics and beyond - gives us passion groups. When it's clear what a brand stands for, and what they stand against, things get interesting." Read here 'It's not just political: The cross-currents buffeting US consumers' is an article by Victoria Sakal, Managing Director, Brand Intelligence, on the role of brands in a post-election world. Shawn Francis, Head of Creative, WeAreSocial NY, addresses the role of influencers in his piece 'Polarization in the U.S. is fueling a new wave of reliable, authentic influencers.' Anita Schillhorn, Director of Strategy, McKinney LA, looks at what unifies Americans in her article 'After the riot: How brands can respond to an ever-changing US political climate.' In 'US consumers voted for stability over disruption, and that has implications for brands' J.Walker Smith, Chief Knowledge Officer, Kantar discusses consumer tension around disruption. Avin Narasimhan, US Head of Communications Planning, PHD looks at why "Brands need values, not politics." Read WARC's Cathy Taylor's opinion piece detailing the report's key themes and why they create a pathway for brands here. remaining of Thank you for reading! This is your last free article before you will be asked to subscribe. Already have a paid subscription? Sign in Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. HURON COUNTY Over 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Huron County since they arrived, according to Ann Hepfer. The health officer for the Huron County Health Department provided an update on the countys vaccination efforts at this weeks Huron County Board of Commissioners meeting. The health department is currently finishing up Phase 1 of vaccinations, with law enforcement officers and some in adult foster care still needing to get vaccinated. It has had a focus on getting those 65 and older vaccinated. The first mass vaccination clinic took place at Bad Axe High School, where 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were given. Hepfer said that was the biggest space the health department could get at the time, and that all further mass vaccinations would take place at the Assembly of God church on South Van Dyke Road west of Bad Axe. Those who have received the vaccines were very receptive and no major side effects have been reported. Peoples arms are sore and tender, Hepfer said. Some complaints were that more people are tired after their second dose and a little achy. Those side effects are normal. The health department is receiving about 200 doses of vaccine a week, which Hepfer acknowledged is not very much. She added there is a nationwide shortage of vaccines and asked people to be patient, as the Scheurer, McLaren, and Harbor Beach hospitals have limited supplies as well. Starting this week, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services website has a vaccine tracker that shows how many vaccine doses have been administered per county. According to the website, 4,575 total doses have been distributed so far in Huron County, 3,600 of the Moderna vaccine and 975 of the Pfizer vaccine. There is also a vaccine tracker on the Tribune's website, which gives a closer look at how the rollout is happening in Michigan and across the country. We do not waste one dose, Hepfer said. If someone have an appointment scheduled then cancels it, we have a way of checking so that someone can fill that spot quickly. Hepfer and Commissioner John Murphy also spoke and came up with a way to get their remaining vaccine and start using it on educators, preschool through 12th grade, and day care providers. The health department plans on using what vaccines it has left for those efforts. School and child care staff are part of phase 1B of people to get vaccines, along with frontline state/federal responders, corrections staff, and people 75 years and older. I cant let our educators sit out there not vaccinated any longer, Hepfer said. Hepfer finished by saying that this is a very exciting time and that everyone who comes to a clinic has been very gracious. She compared it to getting close to finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Weve waited so long for this, Hepfer said. It gives people hope, it gets them out of their homes and be able to go to church and go to gatherings with their family. For us, its a time to shine. Were so happy we get to do this. Registration for future vaccinations is open again on the Huron County Health Departments website, at www.hchd.us. Those who register will be notified by either email, text, or phone call when more doses are available. Amaravati, Jan 27 : Andhra Pradesh chief secretary Aditya Nath Das on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the state of procuring forest clearances for 56 hectares of land crucial for the new Kadapa - Bengaluru broad gauge. "Out of 815 hectares of land required for the new Kadapa - Bengaluru broad gauge railway line, 163 hectares land has been acquired while the balance is at different stages of acquisition," explained Das to Modi in a video conference. The balance 56 hectares are located in Kadapa and Chittoor districts for the new 268-km-long broad gauge railway line. On Wednesday, the prime minister interacted with the chief secretaries of a few states and asked them to raise awareness level of the masses on generic medicines use. He reviewed the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) scheme and asked the states to use social media to bolster generic medicines awareness levels. Modi directed the chief secretaries to make use of rent-less places in PHCs, CHCs and civil hospitals to set up generic medicines facilities. Das said the state government has achieved impressive results by using generic medicines at Tirupati Sri Venkateshwara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) and also some board hospitals, even as similar moves will be made in all other hospitals. He connected with Modi from his camp office in Vijayawada. BENGALURU : Home grown payments solution unicorn Pine Labs on Wednesday launched its AllTap App solution, which will allow micro merchants, home entrepreneurs, street vendors and cab drivers to accept card-based digital payments through their NFC-enabled smartphones. The payments solution company has partnered with card networks including RuPay, Visa, Mastercard and Amex to accept payments and plans to onboard close to 1 million merchants on to the app over the next one year. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic The app-strategy is a differentiator from its existing lines of business where Pine Labs assists in deploying QR-codes as well as point-of-sale (POS) machines offline at physical merchant outlets. The AllTap app will also allow merchants to accept payments through static or dynamic quick-response (QR) codes, and will enable its credit Buy Now Pay Later product for customers during the payment process. Pine Labs plans to add other features including loyalty offerings, financial services including insurance, as well as credit for these merchants on the app, over the next 90 days, as it plans to tap 100,000 merchants this quarter. Along with the dissemination of financial services, it will also look to issue credit cards to micro-merchants through its banking and credit partners, the company said. At Pine Labs we have built a great terminal, however merchants build strong relationships with their servicing apps or banking partners. Hence with the launch of AllTap App, we are moving in the direction of building direct merchant relationships where the app will act as a merchant home helping them avail services like loyalty, credit and other financial service products," said Amrish Rau, chief executive of Pine Labs in an interaction with Mint. Pine Labs also plans to introduce invoice-discounting or revenue-based lending to these partners, in the next 3 months, through its non-banking finance partners. For 2021, Pine Labs will broadly be focussed on three strong growth lines. First is introducing newer digital payment capabilities for merchant partners, second will be offering newer commerce solutions while digitising storefronts; lastly, the focus will be on bringing access to financial services," commented Rau. Currently, there are close to 100,000 terminals being deployed at offline stores in the country, with Pine Labs contributing close to 20% of that deployment, Rau added. At present, revenues from payments and subscription of its POS software continues to be the largest contributor to its financials. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the transaction limits on contactless card payments from 2000 earlier to 5000, starting January 1, 2021. In December, last year, Pine Labs announced raising close to $100 million from Lone Pine Capital as part of secondary and primary share sale. This investment round took the company's valuation from $1.6 billion to $2 billion within a year. The Noida-based startup was the first to reach a $1 billion in valuation in 2020, marking its entry into Indias unicorn club in January. Mint was the first to report on its December 9 edition that the company was looking to expand in Southeast Asian markets, with plans to launch its Buy Now Pay Later product in Thailand and Philippines by February 2021 and, subsequently, in Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia. By mid-2021, Pine Labs also plans to introduce prepaid vouchers and gift cards through its subsidiary Qwikcilver, which it had acquired last year, to extend its footprint further in these new South Asian markets. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Multi-stage ransomware threats across the energy, healthcare, pharmaceutical and banking industries is concerning because nation-states and cybercriminal groups are disrupting business operations and demanding huge ransom payments, said Israel Barak, CISO, Cybereason Cybereason, the leader in future-ready attack protection, today announced that Israel Barak, the companys Chief Information Security Officer Israel Barak will take center stage at the RSAC 365 Virtual Summit, Wednesday, January 27, 11:45 am - 12:15 pm ET, to deliver a presentation titled Critical Infrastructure Network Attacks: Code Red, Alert Network Operators. Barak will analyze the tactics, techniques and procedures used by nation states to target critical infrastructure providers by adopting multi-stage ransomware attacks against the operators of critical infrastructure networks. In recent research into the ransomware threat against critical infrastructure providers, Cybereason identified multiple threat actors executing multi-stage ransomware attacks involving data theft, the stealing of user credentials, and lateral movement across victim networks to compromise as many endpoints as possible. This includes critical assets like the domain controllers, which could take between several minutes to several hours to compromise. Multi-stage ransomware threats to critical infrastructure providers across the energy, healthcare, pharmaceutical and banking industries is concerning because nation-states and cybercriminal groups are disrupting business operations and demanding huge ransom payments. Instead of stopping the threats through anti-ransomware technology readily available and launching an around-the-clock threat hunting program to empower global enterprises to swiftly detect and end multi-stage ransomware and other cyberattacks, organizations of all sizes continue to pay steep ransoms, said Barak. About Cybereason Cybereason is the champion for todays cyber defenders providing future-ready attack protection that unifies security from the endpoint, to the enterprise, to everywhere the battle moves. The Cybereason Defense Platform combines the industrys top-rated detection and response (EDR and XDR), next-gen anti-virus (NGAV), and proactive threat hunting to deliver context-rich analysis of every element of a Malop (malicious operation). The result: defenders can end cyberattacks from endpoints to everywhere. Cybereason is a privately held, international company headquartered in Boston with customers in more than 30 countries. Learn more: https://www.cybereason.com/ Follow us: Blog | Twitter | Facebook Media Contact: Bill Keeler Senior Director, Global Public Relations Cybereason bill.keeler@cybereason.com (929) 259-3261 The funds will support platform automation and team growth as MPOWER finances thousands of additional international and DACA students at over 350 universities across North America MPOWER works with universities and colleges across the US and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries , a provider of educational loans to high-promise international and DACA students, announced Tuesday that it raised $25 million from New York investment management firm Tilden Park Capital Management LP to fund the automation of its loan platform and additional hiring initiatives. The funds will support platform automation and team growth as MPOWER finances thousands of additional international and DACA students at over 350 universities across North America, the company said. "We're humbled to be working with Tilden Park and will substantially benefit from their capital markets and credit expertise, as well as their global investment experience," MPOWER CEO Manu Smadja said in a statement. "Tilden Park was attracted to MPOWER's strong credit quality and social mission." The $25 million in fusion adds to the $9 million that MPOWER raised last year and will be invested in further automating MPOWER's digital loan platform, which leverages proprietary underwriting technology to provide a loan decision to students within minutes, the company said. The money will also help MPOWER grow its team in Washington, DC, and Bangalore, India. The company plans to hire more than 50 employees this year across its engineering, marketing, operations, underwriting, analytics, HR and finance departments. Essentially, MPOWER works with universities and colleges across the US and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries. Since 2014, it has received more $2 billion in loan application volume on its platform, the company said. This process helps students build their credit histories and provides them with personal finance education and career support to help prepare for life after school. This is particularly important now, as international students face greater challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic and shifting immigration policies. Tilden Park is a fixed-income-focused alternative asset manager that concentrates primarily on structured products and mortgages, fixed income relative value and related corporate credit and equity strategies. Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel NEW DELHI (AP) Leaders of a protest movement sought Wednesday to distance themselves from a day of violence when thousands of farmers stormed India's historic Red Fort, the most dramatic moment in two months of demonstrations that have grown into a major challenge of Prime Minister Narendra Modis government. Farmers demanding the repeal of new agricultural laws briefly took over of the 17th-century fort, and images broadcast live on television shocked the nation. In a particularly bold rebuke to Modis Hindu-nationalist government, the protesters hoisted a Sikh religious flag. At least one protester died, and several demonstrators were injured, as were more than 390 police officers, and there are concerns the violence could undermine the protest movement that has thus far been largely peaceful and is growing in strength. Police said 19 people were arrested and 50 others were detained for questioning. The farmers many of them minority Sikhs from the major agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana are demanding the repeal of new laws they say will favor large corporate farms, devastate the earnings of many farmers by cutting price supports and leave those who hold small plots behind as big corporations win out. The government insists the laws will benefit farmers and boost production through private investment, but, in the face of protests, it has offered to suspend them for 18 months. The farmers want nothing less than a full repeal. On Tuesday, more than 10,000 tractors and thousands more people on foot or horseback moved into the capital, shoving aside barricades and buses blocking their path and at times met by police using tear gas and water cannons. The situation is normal now. The protesters have left the streets of the capital, New Delhi police officer Anto Alphonse said Wednesday morning. Hundreds of police are now guarding the fort, while the farmers have returned to their camp at the edge of the capital, where they have hunkered down since November, when they last tried to march into New Delhi. Unfazed by the winter cold and frequent rains, they have said they will stay until the farm laws are repealed. Story continues The protesting farmers groups were scheduled to meet later Wednesday to discuss the future course of action. Another march is planned for Feb. 1 when the Modi government is scheduled to present the annual budget in Parliament. As the protests have gathered strength, they have rattled the government like never before since they form the most influential voting bloc in India and are also crucial to its economy. But political analyst Arti Jerath said Tuesdays violence could dampen their power. The Supreme Court has all along said the farmers can continue with the protest without disrupting the life in New Delhi," she said. "Tuesdays development has given the government a handle to go to the top court and say see this is precisely what it was fearing that it would turn violent. Cracks appeared Wednesday in the protest movement when a former convener of the farmers umbrella organization disassociated himself from the group after Tuesdays violent clashes. V.M. Singh said he was ready to hold talks with the government on legislation guaranteeing a minimum support price for wheat and rice. He said he is no longer seeking the repeal of the three new laws. Protest organizer Samyukt Kisan Morcha, or United Farmers Front, sought to distance the movement from the violence, accusing two outside groups of sabotage by infiltrating their movement. Even if it was a sabotage, we cant escape responsibility, said Yogendra Yadav, another protest leader. Yadav said frustration had built up among the protesting farmers and asked, how do you control it if the government is not serious about what they have been demanding for two months? Several roads were closed again on Wednesday near the police headquarters and Connaught Place, a shopping area close to government offices, following a protest by some retired Delhi police officers demanding prosecution of the protesting farmers who engaged in violence, the Press Trust of India news agency said. Since returning to power for a second term, Modis government has been rocked by several convulsions. The pandemic sent Indias already-teetering economy into recession, social strife has widened and his government has been questioned over its response to the coronavirus pandemic. India last suffered a recession in 1979-80 after an oil shock. In addition, India has seen a rising tide of Hindu nationalism under Modi that has rankled minority groups. In 2019, the year that witnessed the first major protests against his administration, a diverse coalition of groups rallied against a contentious new citizenship law that they said discriminated against Muslims. Anger is now also beginning to rise among Sikhs, though the farmers protests remain largely driven by economic factors. India is predominantly Hindu while Muslims comprise 14% and Sikhs nearly 2% of its nearly 1.4 billion people. The government on the national security front has failed. I think this government seems to be quite blinkered on the kind of security challenges that it is creating for itself by alienating minority communities, Muslims and Sikhs, said Jerath, the political analyst. Tuesday's escalation overshadowed Republic Day celebrations, including the annual military parade that was already scaled back because of the coronavirus pandemic. Neeraja Choudhury, a political analyst, said the government failed to anticipate what was coming and prepare for it adequately. If the farmers are agitated overall India, you cant dismiss the protests as some opposition inciting the farmers. Police said the protesting farmers broke away from the approved protest routes and resorted to violence and vandalism. Anil Kumar, a police spokesman, said more than 300 police personnel were injured in clashes. Several jumped into a deep dry drain in the fort area to escape the protesters who outnumbered them at several places. Police said one protester died after his tractor overturned, but farmers said he was shot. Several bloodied protesters could be seen in television footage, but it's not known how many were injured. Thirty police vehicles and hundreds of metal barricades were damaged by the protesters, police said. Headteacher Martine Buckley has warned parents that children could lose their place at school if lockdown rules are broken A headteacher has threatened to withdraw pupils from a school in Oldham after children told teachers they had been visiting people outside of their households. Martine Buckley, executive headteacher at Yew Tree Community School in Chadderton, sent a letter to parents urging them to follow lockdown rules after 'open and honest' pupils had told staff they had visited friends, neighbours and family. She said staff at the primary school are 'putting their own safety at risk' to teach the pupils and 'should be confident' that parents are following the measures. She added that anyone breaking lockdown - which bans household mixing - or putting staff in danger, would have their child's place withdrawn from the school. In full, the letter, which has been posted on the school's website and its Facebook page, reads: 'Dear Parents. I am very upset to be writing this letter but I feel I must. 'Our lovely children are open and honest and they tell us about their lives and activities. 'Currently a number of them are telling us that they are visiting friends, neighbours and family which is against the law. 'Our teachers and support staff are putting their own safety at risk to look after your children and they should be confident that you are doing your bit to follow the lockdown rules. Head Martine Buckley thanked parents who were doing the right thing and said staff should be confident that parents are 'doing their bit'. Pictured: Yew Tree Community School, Oldham 'I am afraid that I will have to withdraw the offer of a place in school to children whose parents are putting us in danger. 'To everyone who is doing the right thing I want to say a huge thank you. I know that this is most of you. 'I know that home learning is nigh on impossible for too many of you and we all sympathise and feel for you. 'We will get over this much quicker if we all follow the rules.' The letter was mostly well-received by parents and the community with many complimenting the approach. But Mrs Buckley said the school had received some negative feedback which she described as 'distressing' in a second letter shared today. It added: 'There has been some negativity and that has been distressing for example a mistaken belief that we are interrogating children. 'We arent. As I say in my letter our children are open and honest and they chat to us, telling us all about whats important to them. 'We have spoken to one or two parents about incidents over the past weeks but these have been positive conversations and no child has had their place removed. 'Our children and their families have been fantastic during these difficult times but we need everybody to try to continue their efforts for hopefully what will be only a few more months.' Mrs Buckley went on to express pride in the school's teachers and support staff who she said are all 'working incredibly hard to teach the children of critical workers and vulnerable children and to provide remote learning for the children at home.' She added: 'It is thanks to the staffs hard work and desire to support the children that we were able to keep school open during the holidays of the first lock down and have offered weekend catch up lessons to 150 children, something we are hoping to grow once we come out of this current lockdown. 'We will continue to do our best for the whole school community: children, parents and staff.' Schools across England are currently closed except for vulnerable children or children of key workers. It is believed that Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, will within days rule out the full reopening of schools after the February half-term break. While no exact date has been reported, headteachers and education leaders expect the push-back could be as late as April or even May. This week, education secretary Gavin Williamson is expected to announce that schools will not reopen after half term. Mr Williamson said parents and teachers would get two weeks notice On January 4, the government announced that schools would close the next day after a short reopening because of high infection rates across the country. Mr Williamson then said that parents and teachers would be given two weeks notice for the full reopening of schools. During a round of media interviews this week, he insisted there would be no repeat of the shambolic episode at the start of this month when schools were ordered to close just one day after returning from the Christmas break. It comes as a number of MPs have called for teachers and support staff to be prioritised in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Children's Commissioner for England Anne Longfield has said families need 'hope and clarity' about what will come next for children's education. She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that schools should open 'as soon as possible' and called on ministers to set out at Downing Street press conferences what progress is being made towards reopening. Meanwhile, NHS's chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said yesterday that teachers could be among those key workers considered for immunisation after the most vulnerable have been vaccinated. Sir Simon Stevens said there should be a 'legitimate discussion' about vaccinating public-facing workers such as teachers after those most at risk have received their jabs. He also suggested those with learning disabilities should be considered for the next round of vaccinations, and said that this should perhaps happen as early as February. ROME, JAN 27 - Finance police on Wednesday executed a warrant by Reggio Calabria DDA anti-mafia prosecutors to seize assets worth 124 million euros from people linked to the Piromalli clan of Calabria's 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate. The seized assets included companies, stakes in companies, properties, bank accounts, land and vehicles owned by four entrepreneurs who allegedly belong to the Piromalli clan. The 'Ndrangheta is considered by many experts to have become Italy's most powerful mafia. (ANSA). Ilham Ahmed of the Syrian Democratic Council has not ruled out discussion with the Syrian regime or Turkey, during a symposium in Aleppo reports North Press. The President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Ilham Ahmed, said on Monday, that they do not rule out a security dialogue between the Syrian government and Turkey. This came during a speech delivered by Ahmed, in a symposium held by the SDC in the city of Aleppo on the third anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Afrin. The symposium was attended by political and human rights figures from the city, as well as independents and party heads from all over Syria. In her speech, Ahmed indicated that the Syrian government imposed a siege on Afrins IDPs in the northern countryside of Aleppo (Shahba areas). This policy serves the Turkish regime, she said. The silence of the Syrian government regarding the Turkish bombing of the town of Tel Rifaat, during which three civilians lost their lives, serves the Turkish states policy. The symposium is being held on three topics: the occupation of Afrin, the violations, and the resistance strategies. Behzad Ammo, head of the SDC Media Office, told North Press that the symposium is a continuation of the seminars held by SDC in northeastern Syria in 2020. The SDC had held thirteen symposiums in northeastern Syria, which resulted in the National Conference for the People of Jazira and the Euphrates on Nov. 25, 2020. This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. New Delhi: The Supreme Court Wednesday stayed the Bombay High Court order which acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" cannot be termed as sexual assault. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stayed the high court order after Attorney General K K Venugopal mentioned the matter. The top court also issued notice to Maharashtra government and permitted the AG to file an appeal against the January 19 verdict of Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. A Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde also issues notice to the accused in the case, seeking his response in two weeks. https://t.co/RACAoDiQDZ ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 On January 19, the high court had said that groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" cannot be termed as sexual assault as defined under the POCSO Act. It held however that since the man groped her without removing her clothes, the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault and, instead, constitutes the offence of outraging a woman's modesty under IPC section 354. The high court had modified the order of a sessions court, which had sentenced a 39-year-old man to three years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Live TV Two of the countrys most powerful unions have combined to launch a social media, TV and radio campaign targeting the Morrison governments industrial relations overhaul, claiming it will let companies cut workers pay. The CFMEU and Electrical Trades Union have gone out ahead of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, which has also attacked the laws but will only decide on its own campaign next week, and argue that a group of key crossbench senators should vote down the legislation entirely. CFMEU national construction division secretary Dave Noonan is one of the forces behind the campaign. Credit:Jesse Marlow Branded Stop the Bus, the campaign evokes the unions Your Rights at Work campaign (which included a bus travelling the country) that contributed to the Howard governments 2007 election loss and ups the ante for a fight over industrial relations when Parliament returns next week that will likely run throughout the year. With Labor and the Greens set to oppose the governments bill as it stands, a group of senators including independents Rex Patrick and Jacqui Lambie along with Centre Alliances Stirling Griff and One Nations Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts are likely to control its fate. We lived in an electric world. We relied on it for everything. And then the power went out. Those words were part of the intro of the 2012 TV series Revolution, which presented a hypothetical scenario of what would the modern world be like if electricity suddenly disappeared. The show lasted for two seasons, and then it went out like a lightlargely forgotten. But I remembered Revolution on Dec. 28, when more than 10 million Mexicans, almost 8 percent of the countrys total population, experienced a world without electricity firsthand as a massive blackout occurred in different cities throughout the country. It lasted almost two hours, long enough for citizens to experience disruptions to subway services, dangerous roads because of the lack of working streetlights, interruptions to water service, and a general disconnection from all existing telecommunications networks. (Luckily, I wasnt in one of the affected areas.) Since then, the country has found itself in the midst of a heated debate about how the blackout happenedand how to keep it from happening again. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mexicos National Electrical System depends on one single national grid that crosses the entire country and supplies all statesexcept for Baja California, whose system is linked to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, in the United States. Almost all the power plants run on fossil fuels, which provide a continuous source of energy, while renewable energies output can vary based on conditions. (If the sun doesnt shine or wind doesnt blow, that can reduce how much solar or wind energy is produced.) After the blackout, the National Center for Energy Control, known as CENACE for its initials in Spanish, explained that a power unbalance between the electrical load and generation had caused a loss of approximately 7,500 megawatts of energy. But the Federal Commission of Electricitywhich is known as CFE for its initials in Spanishgave different and contradictory explanations for exactly how this happened. Advertisement First, it presented a document from the civil protection office in the state of Tamaulipas that stated the power imbalance had been caused by a fire that affected two transmission lines. But Pedro Granados, the coordinator of civil protection of Tamaulipas, denied that his office had drafted the document. The CFE then confirmed that, in fact, the document was fake. Facing a credibility crisis for having presented a false document, the CFE opened an investigation to figure out what happened with the document. Advertisement The CFE also changed course and began blaming the intermittency of renewable energies for the blackout. Then, it announced a plan to take out of operation some of the renewable energy plants connected to the system, to ensure its reliability. However, experts say that these measures will set back the country in its environmental goalsand that they have more to do with political interests than with whats best for the citizens. Advertisement To understand this all, we need to take a little trip back in time. For many years, the countrys energy system was controlled entirely by the CFE, which held a monopoly on the generation and delivery of electricity. Basically, it owned most of the energy plants that supplied the electricity it later distributed to the end users. But when Enrique Pena Nieto was elected president in 2012, he had other plans. At the beginning of 2013, his government approved the so-called Energy Reform plan to open the Mexican energy sector to private investment. Pena Nieto said it was necessary because the state-run system was unable to generate all of the electricity of the country without outside funding. Advertisement In the long run, this was also supposed to help with the transition to renewable energies, since that technology is mostly financed by private companies. The ultimate promise was that, by increasing energy competitiveness and energy sources, electricity rates would drop. Advertisement However, when Pena Nietos administration ended in 2018, the initiative had little to show for itin fact, electricity rates had gone up. The reasons for this were varied and complex. To begin with, transitioning to a fully functioning decentralized system is difficult. The first projects resulting from this reform were only beginning to operate in 2018, according to Leopoldo Rodriguez, president of the Mexican Wind Energy Association. So naturally, fossil fuel plants were still central to the grid. But when fossil fuel prices began to go up in 2016, so did electricity prices, according to the Senerthe government office in charge of the administration and regulation of the countrys energy resources. Advertisement Apart from this, its impossible to review the Energy Reform and leave corruption and political interests aside. Under the Energy Reform, companies that wished to enter the energy market had to participate in electricity auctions, organized by CENACE. Simply put, the electricity suppliersstill mostly owned by the CFEannounced a demand for electricity, and all interested companies, including the renewable energy ones, competed in an auction to meet the demand at the most competitive price. On paper, everything looked good. But thanks to the federal and local governments, an administrative tar pit made it extremely difficult for the private investors to build their energy plants. By 2018, only one of the 49 solar and wind energy plants that got contracts in the first three electricity auctions had begun to operate. Even when the laws to punish corruption exist, they are not enforced, which takes us back to the present. Advertisement Advertisement The rise in electricity and gas prices, the uncertainty that the private investors faced in front of a government that hindered the development of their projects, the fact that CFE continued to control most of the electricity market in Mexico, and the overall corruption of the energy sectortogether, it all made it seem that the changes proposed by Pena Nietos administration had been ineffective and a political ruse. These shortcomings of the Energy Reform were key to the political campaign of the current Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. A populist candidate, he promised to stop the corrupt energy exploitation by the private sector, both national and international, and to give back to the state the control over the countrys energy industry. Since then, his administration seems to have declared an open war against private investors and has prioritized fossil fuels over renewable energies because even as research on other energy sources continues, the development of the world economy will continue to be based on hydrocarbons for several decades, he said. Advertisement This type of thinking is unsustainable in a world that is suffering the consequences of climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels. Mexico is one of the 15 countries that emit the most carbon dioxide in the world, and the energy sector represents more than two-thirds of the countrys total gross emissions. And taking the climate impact aside, will Mexicos fossil fuelsdependent electrical system survive in a world that is gradually Advertisement Advertisement depleting its oil reserves? Keeping a centralized, fossil fueldependent energy system doesnt make sense. As Andrea Marin, director of the advisory firm Energy BY5, pointed out, the costs of renewable energies are more competitive than ever. We see these technologies positioning themselves not only as the cleanest and most sustainable, the ones with no carbon dioxide emissions, but also as the cheapest. Today it makes sense to buy clean energy from a financial perspective. Advertisement At first sight, it might sound crazy to compare a two-hour blackout to the world portrayed in Revolution, where chaos reigned as the government collapsed and militias took over. But maybe its not so far-fetched. To date, Mexican experts are both intrigued and surprised that a simple unbalance or fire could be responsible for a national blackout. They explained that the system has protocols to deal with these type of power imbalances. When they happen, the engineers can regulate the flow of energy in the transmission lines. Also, the system has network protectorsdevices used in electricity distribution systems to isolate any fault with the energy supply and keep the service going. According to Paul Alejandro Sanchez, Ph.D. in public policy and an expert in the energy sector, the biggest question that hasnt been answered yet is: Was the magnitude of this technical event so big that it exceeded human capacity, or was it just a human capacity deficit that could not cope with a normal technical problem? Advertisement Advertisement Is the system that fragile? And, if so, arent this type of malfunctions bound to happen again? How can the government ensure our energy security under these circumstances and also uphold its promises of generating 35 percent of the countrys energy from clean sources by 2024, and up to 50 percent by 2050? The CFE seems unable to answer these questions. Yet its operating budget will be reduced 8.6 percent in 2021, and the current government wont allow anyone else to carry the burden of lighting up the entire country. Yet, in the midst of all the darkness and uncertainty, there is a glowing fact: The blackout was a warning that the Mexican government needs to start rethinking its energy policies if we are to keep the country plugged in to the 21st century. Until then, we may as well start buying candles and conducting drills for future blackouts. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 LNP and Greens MPs say the imminent closure of the Queensland Maritime Museum is an absolute tragedy and the blame for the loss of an iconic institution would be on the state government. The museum opened to the public again at the weekend and offered five tour sessions on both days despite the fact the money from the tickets would be nowhere near enough to save the museum. The Penguin at the Queensland Maritime Museum. It served as a pearl lugger from the early 1900s until World War II when it was requisitioned as a cargo boat for the military. It then returned to pearling service after the war until 1981. The museum is in serious financial difficulties after the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown sank its revenue and severely dented its volunteer base. LNP opposition arts spokesman Christian Rowan wrote to Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch on Friday after receiving correspondence between a concerned voter and Deputy Premier Steven Miles office. The New York Times announced a return to its newsroom leadership team on Wednesday with the elevation of its metro editor, Clifford J. Levy. Mr. Levy, 53, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has led the metro desk since 2018. He was previously a deputy managing editor overseeing The Timess online platforms and had worked as a Moscow bureau chief and an investigative reporter. In a note to the newsroom on Wednesday, Dean Baquet, the executive editor, and Joseph Kahn, the managing editor, said Mr. Levy would temporarily advise the audio department, the home of the podcast The Daily, before taking on a broader role. The audio department is overseen by Sam Dolnick, an assistant managing editor and a member of the Sulzberger family that controls The Times, and Lisa Tobin. Mr. Levy was promoted a month after The Times issued a correction for Caliphate, a 12-part audio series that sought to shed light on the Islamic State. In an editors note, The Times said the podcast had given too much credence to the false or exaggerated account of one of its main subjects, Shehroze Chaudhry, a Canadian who claimed to have taken part in Islamic State atrocities. On the day the note was published, Mr. Baquet described the problems with Caliphate as an institutional failing, saying its errors should not be blamed on any one reporter. Letters sent through principals state, You have been directed to report for in-person work starting this week. Without an approved accommodation or leave of absence, all K-8 staff members are required to report to work in-person on January 27th as previously directed by CPS. Consequently, you are not approved to continue remote instruction. ... If you do not report for in-person instruction as directed, your absence from the school building will be unauthorized and CPS may take appropriate next steps, including cutting off your access to CPS systems and discontinuing your pay. Russia and the U.S. have agreed to extend the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) without pre-conditions, as Moscow insisted, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Wednesday. "On our conditions," he said in response to a corresponding question by TASS. "For five years without pre-conditions, without any additions, without any appendices whatsoever," he added. "Generally speaking, this is a mutually beneficial decision. This is the only right decision possible. Now we have enough time to launch and hold in-depth bilateral negotiations on the whole range of issues related to strategic stability, and to ensure reliable security for our country for a long period of time", Ryabkov told reporters. According to Ryabkov, Moscow and Washington have been engaged in talks on extending the New START over the past few days. "Yesterday, [U.S.] Ambassador [John] Sullivan and I exchanged notes fixating the agreement on a five-year extension", the Russian diplomat recalled. Earlier this week, the White House said that during a phone call President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the willingness to extend New START for five years and agreed to have their teams work to complete the extension by the 5 February deadline. New START has been in force since 2011 and is due to expire on 5 February. It is the only remaining legally binding agreement on nuclear arms control between Russia and the United States. The treaty limits each country's nuclear arsenal to 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 1,550 nuclear warheads, and 800 launchers. By Sho Chang-young A few days ago, in my apartment complex, there was an announcement regarding the preliminary measures for enrolling school-aged children in elementary school. Conventionally, this process was done directly on-site. The notified parents had to take their children to the corresponding school and face-to-face contacts were made with teachers. But the announcement said that procedures had to be done indirectly this year because of COVID-19. So the elementary school in our district would do it over the phone. It's a simpler and easier way, rather than other indirect but effective methods such as a drive-through. How would our cute neighboring children feel about that awkward meeting with their first school teachers by phone? The South Korean school year, which includes two semesters, starts on March 1 and ends on the following Feb. 28. This means that the whole period of the 2020-21 school year has been deeply affected by COVID-19. Most school schedules have been severely modified or cancelled. And I'm worried that the ongoing situations will not be over soon. As a school retiree, I often and naturally get news about the fluctuating aspects of schools in this pandemic era. Among them, the most challenging issue would be the alteration of school schedules. It has largely to do with the online schooling. In these unstable days, online learning has the advantage of overcoming the restrictions of time and space, let alone practicing social distancing. You may have heard of "e-learning" since before this COVID19 world emerged. I recently came to know that "ZOOM," the latest powerful web tool for online education, is largely used by teachers and their students. However, this type of learning has several disadvantages that could be easily addressed by face-to-face contact in the classroom. From my past teaching experience, one of the most impressive moments in class is when a student's "Aha experience" occurs. This insight represents "sudden and complete understanding," and often follows face-to-face contact. It tends to happen more frequently in elementary and secondary school classrooms than in college classrooms. But online learning, lacking face-to-face contacts, offers little chance for this valuable experience. As an alternative, the compromise model is widely used. Some students attend real classroom learning with their teachers, while others use remote online system for learning. Later, they switch roles and follow the other group's learning pattern. Based on the changed school schedule, this learning routine continues until the semester finishes. I have overheard a new term "hybrid-learning," which defines that kind of learning, in overseas news. Isn't it plausible? Well, it still does not give us full satisfaction as far as face-to-face contact is concerned. Again, school classrooms should be filled with cheerful and busy students. Teachers are supposed to speak to them as usual, "Please, listen to me," "Let's break into pairs," and "Share your views with your peers." In this environments, "the Aha experience" also come up spontaneously. I really hope that stable school schedules can be restored during the 2021-22 school year to foster promising citizens, regardless of negative elements like COVID-19. I think it's possible, although difficult, if a thorough self-reflection on bitter precedents is performed. Now is the time for all schools to prepare their 2021-22 annual plans and schedules. Of course, school officials and staffs will do their best for that, but we should ask ourselves what we ordinary people can do to support them? The writer is a retired principal of Gunsan Girls' High School and lives near Seoul. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO), a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and solutions, today announced intended changes and recent additions to its senior leadership team to further increase customer focus and strengthen investment in precision agriculture and digital solutions to maximize stakeholder value. Robert Crain will be the Senior Vice President leading the newly formed Customer Experience team charged with delivering the best end-to-end customer experience in the industry. Seth Crawford has joined the senior team in the new role of Senior Vice President, Precision Ag and Digital to reinforce AGCOs commitment to delivering industry-leading, smart farming solutions. Following a successful, 22-year tenure at Deere & Company, Mr. Crawford joined AGCO in 2019 to lead its Fuse Connected Services and Technology division. Additionally, other members of the senior team will assume worldwide responsibility for AGCOs core brands to maximize brand value in each of their regional target markets. Torsten Dehner will be the Senior Vice President responsible for the Fendt, Valtra and Challenger brands; Luis Felli will be the Senior Vice President responsible for the Massey Ferguson brand. Kelvin Bennett has also joined the senior team in the role of Senior Vice President, Engineering following the retirement of Dr. Helmut Endres. Mr. Bennett has held numerous global engineering leadership roles throughout his 14-year tenure at AGCO. Tiffany Snyder, Vice President of Strategy & Transformation, has also joined the senior team to fortify AGCOs strategy development and execution practices. Ms. Snyder joined AGCO in early 2020 following a successful, 25-year career at Cargill, Inc. Eric Hansotia, AGCOs new Chairman, President and CEO as of January 1, 2021, looks forward to the future, AGCO has a track record of strong performance throughout its 30-year history. I look forward to working with the AGCO leadership team to deliver farmer-focused solutions to sustainably feed our world in the years to come. About AGCO AGCO (NYSE:AGCO) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural solutions and delivers high-tech solutions for farmers feeding the world through its full line of equipment and related services. AGCO products are sold through five core brands, Challenger, Fendt, GSI, Massey Ferguson and Valtra, supported by Fuse smart farming solutions. Founded in 1990 and headquartered in Duluth, Georgia, USA, AGCO had net sales of $9 billion in 2019. For more information, visit www.AGCOcorp.com. For company news, information and events, please follow us on Twitter: @AGCOCorp. For financial news on Twitter, please follow the hashtag #AGCOIR. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210125005871/en/ Credit: CC0 Public Domain More than 3,000 donated kidneys are discarded every year in the U.S., even as thousands of people die on kidney transplant waitlists. About a fifth of all donated kidneysparticularly those from people who are older, have metabolic or cardiovascular conditions, or have diedare deemed poor quality. Doctors and patients often refuse such kidneys rather than risk transplanting an organ that might not work. But studies suggest that some of the vetoed kidneys might be usable. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an imaging agent that could help refine assessments of kidney health, potentially salvaging some otherwise discarded kidneys. The imaging agent, dubbed RadioCF, attaches to and illuminates each nephron in the kidney. Nephrons are tiny filters that clean waste from the blood. People with low numbers of nephrons are at risk of developing chronic kidney disease. With the aid of the imaging agent, researchers were able to count nephrons in the kidneys of living mice and in a human kidney that had been turned down for transplantation. The study, published online in the American Journal of Physiology: Renal Physiology, opens up the possibility of developing RadioCF into an aid for evaluating donated kidneys and a clinical tool for assessing kidney health in people with diabetes, high blood pressure or other conditions that put them at risk of chronic kidney disease. "People are born with a fixed number of nephrons, and then they lose some with age or because of injury or disease," said senior author Kevin Bennett, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology at the university's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. "The number of nephrons is thought to be correlated with risk of progression of kidney disease. I think it's recognized that it would be useful for clinicians to know that number, but there's no technology to measure it. This appears to be the first tool with translatable potential that can directly measure nephron number." Nephrons perform the core function of the kidney. Anything that damages or destroys nephronspersistent high blood sugar or blood pressure, drugs, toxins, infection or injuryor just being born with a small complement of nephrons, impairs kidney function and puts people on the path to developing chronic kidney disease and, in severe cases, kidney failure. Nearly 100,000 people in the U.S. have kidney failure and are waiting for transplants. All else being equal, a kidney with many nephrons would be a better candidate for transplant than one with few, but nephron number is not routinely factored into transplant decisions, the researchers said. Bennett and colleagues previously developed a way to count nephron number using a charged protein known as cationic ferritin and MRI. "We get beautiful maps of the nephrons with MRI, but the problem is that MRI requires a high dose of cationic ferritin, so it may be difficult to translate into clinical use in living patients," Bennett said. "So we took the ferritin molecule and turned it into a PET agent. That allowed us to drop the dose by a factor of 1,000." Positron emission tomography, or PET, is a way of visualizing biological structures by detecting radiation emitted by a radioactive tag attached to a targeting molecule. To make a PET tracer for nephrons, Bennett and colleagues affixed the radioisotope Cu-64 to cationic ferritin. Along with Bennett, the research team included co-first authors Edwin Baldelomar, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher, and David Reichert, Ph.D., associate professor of radiology, and co-author Kooresh Shoghi, Ph.D., associate professor of radiologyall at Washington Universityas well as Bennett's research partner and co-author Jennifer Charlton, MD, a pediatric nephrologist at the University of Virginia, among others. To assess whether RadioCF can be used to estimate nephron number in living animals, the researchers injected healthy mice with the compound. For comparison, they also injected mice carrying a mutation that reduced their nephron density by about a third. The PET signal was significantly stronger in healthy mice. For both groups of mice, the PET signal correlated with the density calculated by counting nephrons under a microscope. The researchers also evaluated the compound in a donated kidney from a deceased 75-year-old woman that had been rejected for transplantation. They injected the kidney with RadioCF and performed a PET scan. Then, they injected it again with cationic ferritin and ran an MRI for comparison. As expected, the MRI produced more detailed data. But the two methods were closely correlated, indicating that RadioCF accurately measured the number of nephrons. "If we could measure nephron number in people with diabetes or hypertension or something else that puts them at risk of chronic kidney disease, or in people in the early stages of kidney disease, doctors could initiate treatment early to try to preserve kidney function and reduce the chance they will develop end-stage kidney disease and require a transplant," Bennett said. Most people living with chronic kidney disease don't know it because symptoms such as fatigue, reduced urination, difficulty sleeping and shortness of breath often don't appear until the disease is advanced and the kidneys have begun to fail. The researchers are working toward a clinical trial to evaluate whether RadioCF accurately measures the number of nephrons in people. Explore further Mechanisms in the kidney that control magnesium and calcium levels discovered More information: Edwin J. Baldelomar et al. Mapping nephron mass in vivo using positron emission tomography, American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology (2020). Journal information: American Journal of Physiology Edwin J. Baldelomar et al. Mapping nephron mass in vivo using positron emission tomography,(2020). DOI: 10.1152/ajprenal.00418.2020 Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. WASHINGTON (AP) All but five Senate Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss Donald Trumps historic second impeachment trial on Tuesday, making clear a conviction of the former president for incitement of insurrection after the deadly Capitol siege on Jan. 6 is unlikely. While the Republicans did not succeed in ending the trial before it began, the test vote made clear that Trump still has enormous sway over his party as he becomes the first former president to be tried for impeachment. Many Republicans have criticized Trumps role in the attack before which he told his supporters to fight like hell to overturn his defeat but most of them have rushed to defend him in the trial. I think this was indicative of where a lot of peoples heads are, said South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, after the vote. Late Tuesday, the presiding officer at the trial, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was taken to the hospital for observation after not feeling well at his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement. The 80-year-old senator was examined by the Capitols attending physician, who recommended he be taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, he said. Later Tuesday, Carle said Leahy had been sent home after a thorough examination and was looking forward to getting back to work. Leahy presided over the trials first procedural vote, a 55-45 tally that saw the Senate set aside an objection from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul that would have declared the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional and dismissed the trial. The vote means the trial on Trumps impeachment will begin as scheduled the week of Feb. 8. The House impeached him Jan. 13, just a week after the deadly insurrection in which five people died. What seemed for some Democrats like an open-and-shut case that played out for the world on live television is running into a Republican Party that feels very different. Not only do senators say they have legal concerns, but they are wary of crossing the former president and his legions of followers. Its unclear if any Republicans would vote to convict Trump on the actual charge of incitement after voting in favor of Pauls effort to declare it unconstitutional. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said after the vote that he had not yet made up his mind, and that constitutionality is a totally different issue than the charge itself. But many others indicated that they believe the final vote will be similar. The vote shows that theyve got a long ways to go to prove it, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said of House Democrats charge. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said he thinks the vote was a floor not a ceiling. Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said he thinks that most Republicans will not see daylight between the constitutionality and the article of incitement. Youre asking me to vote in a trial that by itself on its own is not constitutionally allowed? he asked. Conviction would require the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate far from the five Republicans who voted with Democrats Tuesday to allow the trial to proceed. They were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania all recent critics of the former president and his effort to overturn President Joe Bidens win. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Trump provoked the riots and indicated he is open to conviction, voted with Paul to move toward dismissing the trial. Democrats rejected the argument that the trial is illegitimate or unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and to the opinions of many legal scholars. Democrats also say that a reckoning of the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters egged on by a president as Electoral College votes were being tallied, is necessary. It makes no sense whatsoever that a president, or any official, could commit a heinous crime against our country and then defeat Congress impeachment powers and avoid a vote on disqualification by simply resigning, or by waiting to commit that offense until their last few weeks in office, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Before the vote, the senators officially opened the trial by taking oaths to ensure impartial justice as jurors. The nine House Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump carried the sole impeachment charge across the Capitol on Monday evening in a solemn and ceremonial march along the same halls the rioters ransacked three weeks ago. The lead House prosecutor, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, stood before the Senate to describe the violent events of Jan. 6 and read the House resolution charging high crimes and misdemeanors. For Democrats the tone, tenor and length of the trial so early in Bidens presidency poses its own challenge, forcing them to strike a balance between their vow to hold Trump accountable and their eagerness to deliver on the new administrations priorities following their sweep of control of the House, Senate and White House. Chief Justice John Roberts is not presiding at the trial, as he did during Trumps first impeachment, potentially affecting the gravitas of the proceedings. The shift is said to be in keeping with protocol because Trump is no longer in office. Instead, Leahy, who serves in the largely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, was sworn in on Tuesday. Leaders in both parties agreed to a short delay in the proceedings, which serves their political and practical interests, even as National Guard troops remain at the Capitol because of security threats to lawmakers ahead of the trial. The start date gives Trumps still-evolving legal team time to prepare its case, while also providing more than a months distance from the passions of the bloody riot. For the Democratic-led Senate, the intervening weeks provide prime time to confirm some of Bidens key Cabinet nominees. A Modern Four-Bedroom Home on the Riverbank $3.77 MILLION ($4.795 CANADIAN DOLLARS) Set on the banks of the Rideau River, this custom-built four-bedroom home is in Manotick, a village about 15 miles south of Ottawa, Canadas capital city. The 3.4-acre property includes 264 feet of water frontage, with two boat slips. Its rare to acquire a property on the river with this much waterfront, said Marilyn Wilson of Dream Properties, the listing broker. And having two boat slips is unusual. You wouldnt be able to get them now because of conservation rules. Built in 1985 for the family of a local construction executive, the 6,105-square-foot house is anchored by a soaring, octagonal great room whose domed 20-foot ceiling, in honey-toned British Columbia fir, tapers into a skylight. The stacked, repeated design of the ceiling evokes Art Deco, but the materials make it very warm for a contemporary home, Ms. Wilson said. A granite column in the center of the room incorporates two gas fireplaces, built at right angles to each other. Walls of windows offer river views from three sides of the great room, which is large enough to encompass the living and dining rooms. Sightlines are spectacular, Ms. Wilson said, including incredible sunset views from the west-facing windows. Beef is off the menu in some of Jakartas warungs. The iconic Rendang curry is now too expensive to make as sky-rocketing Australian beef prices force food stalls to serve telur balado boiled eggs with chilli sauce instead. Importers and wet market sellers are angry. Three days of strikes have forced the Indonesian Trade Ministry to warn it may have to go elsewhere. Mexican cattle and Indian buffalo are all on the table as replacements in Indonesias market worth $575 million-a-year to Australian live exporters at the same time as Australian beef faces restrictions from China. Indonesian beef seller Sukarma at the Rawamangun wet market in Jakarta. Credit:Karuni Rompies But the dispute is not the product of profiteering, sanctions or bilateral tensions that have become a hallmark of geopolitics in the past two years. It is much more cyclical than that. A great herd rebuilding is under way across Australia. Farmers slaughtered and exported their cows by the millions as a crippling drought swept across the country and sent the national herd to its lowest level in 30 years. Now rain and greener pastures have finally allowed farmers to restock. CPPCC member advises on Shanghais five new towns By:Zheng Qian | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-01-26 15:56 The vigorous development of five new towns in Shanghai is no doubt the hottest topic at the ongoing fifth session of the 15th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress. (Jiading New Town) The five new towns are Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui New Town. As city Mayor Gong Zheng emphasized, Shanghai is to optimize its spatial pattern through the robust growth of the five new towns. In the view of Wen Jun, a CPPCC member and the dean of the School of Social Development in East China Normal University, the new towns development is inevitable for Shanghais urban transformation. Wen pointed out that problems like population attraction, industry development, transportation and public facilities configuration should be solved. (Wen Jun) Reports show that the population growth rate of the new towns has been gradually slowing down since 2010 and the imported population of the downtown areas in each new town is especially much lower than expected. The new towns are well connected to the city centre but have no transportation networks of their own. Whats worse, the planning scale of some of the new towns was too large, making city-industry integration more difficult. In Wens opinion, the five new towns should have their own development routes. For Jiading New Town, automobiles, smart sensors, health care and robotics should be especially boosted. With the G60 Science and Technology Innovation Corridor (a high-tech manufacturing zone) Songjiang New Town may focus on intelligent manufacturing equipment, integrated circuits, and biomedicine. Led by Huawei, Qingpu New Town should develop key industries like information technology, modern logistics, exhibition tourism and the Beidou satellite navigation system. The premise of all these developments is residents happiness and belonging, said Wen. Jointown Pharma set to expand logistics, network From:ChinaDaily | 2021-01-27 09:38 Wuhan, Hubei province-based Jointown Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd plans to expand its distribution facilities and recruit more logistics employees in a bid to meet surging demand from COVID-19-related cold-chain shipments. The company unveiled the plan after it signed an agreement with the Asian Development Bank for a private sector loan of up to 30 million euros ($37 million) on Thursday. German Investment and Development Corporation, or DEG, will co-finance the project with an additional 30 million euros. The financing will support the construction and expansion of Jointown's facilities in Tangshan, Hebei province, as well as in Haikou, Hainan province, and Nanjing, Jiangsu province. These pharmaceutical distribution facilities will include cold chain warehouses for temperature-sensitive pharmaceutical products, including vaccines. "The financing will help Jointown to expand its distribution capacity of medical supplies and medicines to hospitals and retail pharmacy outlets in underserved areas in China," said Suzanne Gaboury, director-general of the ADB's Private Sector Operations Department. It was the second loan from the ADB to Jointown since the COVID-19 outbreak. In February 2020, the ADB lent 130 million yuan ($20 million) to the company to help with accessibility of essential medical supplies in China's rural areas. "The new loan will contribute to the country's pharmaceutical capacity in further strengthening resilience against potential future pandemics," Gaboury said. Liu Zhaonian, vice-chairman of Jointown, said that the financing cooperation, together with the help of the internet of things and block chain technology, will raise the company's medical distribution capacity and effectively serve the upstream and downstream sectors of the medical industry to help better guarantee people's livelihoods. "With the loan facilities, we will be able to reach out to the broader population, including in secondand third-tier cities and rural areas, with essential medicines and medical supplies," Liu said. He added that currently the pandemic has not been reversed yet worldwide, and the situation in China is also showing signs of a relapse. "Now, the priority in the country is contagion prevention and control, and the priority of prevention and control is vaccinating as many people as possible. To this end, the cold-chain distribution of vaccines is our recent core task." Jointown said it inked a deal in December with Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd, one of the country's COVID-19 vaccine providers, and started vaccine distribution on Jan 2. Vaccine distribution now covers more than 10 provinces and municipalities across the nation. Previously, Jointown owned around 200 cold-chain trucks. To meet surging distribution demand, it procured an additional 52 trucks. To ensure safe distribution of vaccines, a 24-hour intelligent monitoring system was installed inside the cold-chain trucks. "The internet-based system monitors temperature, humidity and the drivers' entire driving process inside the truck, sending visualized data back to the control center every few minutes. Each truck is equipped with two drivers so that they can drive in shifts to avoid fatigue driving. "Currently, our 120-strong driver team is still not enough for COVID-19 vaccine distribution. We held an internal meeting on Jan 20 to discuss the recruitment of new drivers and management personnel. On Monday, new employees were in place," Liu said. According to the National Health Commission, China started its COVID-19 vaccination program among target groups on Dec 15. By Jan 20, more than 15 million doses had been administered. So far, vaccinations have been conducted in an orderly manner. In the next step, vaccinations will be gradually provided to the general public, said the NHC. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) left, confers with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) center, and Senate subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Chairman Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 30, 2014. (AP Photo) Senate Democrats Reintroduce Bill for DC Statehood Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) led over three dozen of his Democrat colleagues to introduce a companion bill for Washington, D.C.s statehood on Tuesday. A similar bill passed the House last year and will now face a Democrat-controlled Senate to determine if D.C. will become the 51st state. The effort for statehood, which would endow the citizens of D.C. full representation in Congress and control over issues that affect the district, was started in 2013 by Carper. The D.C. statehood effort has broad support among Democrats, who currently control the House, the White House, and potentially the Senate if they remove the legislative filibuster. The Senates legislative filibuster stipulates that 60 votes are needed to end a debate on a bill and vote. However, a vote of 51 senators could remove the filibuster rule unless the two moderate Democrat senators who have recently gone on record against eliminating the 60-vote threshold keep their commitment. Washington D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has pioneered the effort for statehood in the House and thanked Carper for reintroducing the statehood bill in the Senate. We are deeply indebted to Senator Carper for his unending efforts for D.C. statehood and his priority in reintroducing the Senate companion to our D.C. statehood bill this year with a record number of original cosponsors, Norton said. In addition to Senator Carpers good news, Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer have already committed to bringing the D.C. statehood bill to the House floor again this Congress, Norton added. Democrats have the majority in the House and the Senate, and President Joe Biden supports D.C. statehood. This is the time we can finally correct this historic injustice and give D.C. residents the same rights as other taxpaying Americans. Carpers bill has 38 cosponsors in the Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. President Joe Biden also supports D.C.s statehood. The President has supported D.C. statehood in the past; that certainly remains his position. But I dont have anything for you on the timeline or next steps there, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. This isnt a Republican or Democratic issue; its an American issue because the lack of fair representation for D.C. residents is clearly inconsistent with the values on which this country was founded, Carper said in a statement. It is therefore incumbent upon all of us who enjoy the right and the privilege of full voting rights and representation to take up the cause of our fellow citizens in the District of Columbia. Washington D.C. has a population that is larger than some states like Vermont, with a little more than 700,000 residents, and can vote in presidential elections. However, critics in the Republican party argue that the effort to give D.C. statehood is a power grab and would tip the scales in Democrats favor. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) held a press conference detailing their opposition to the measure in July 2020, after the House passed the statehood bill. Graham told reporters, From a South Carolina point of view. This is not a good deal for us. Being two of 50 is better than being two out of 52. This would dilute South Carolinas say in the United States Senate and it would empower the most radical agenda in modern American politics. This is not about enfranchising people, this is about expanding the Senate map to accommodate the most radical agenda that Ive ever seen since Ive been up here, getting more radical by the day. A strong storm system brought heavy rain and powerful winds to the Bay Area late Tuesday, increasing the risks of mudslides and flash floods that have already prompted evacuations in some parts of Northern California. An atmospheric river barreled into the West Coast, causing flooding, evacuations and dropping snowfall in the Sierra. In some places, including San Benito County and Big Sur, the storm was expected to bring up to 10 inches of rain by Wednesday. A high wind warning took effect from Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon as southerly winds pounded the coasts and higher peaks with gusts between 50 and 70 mph. Inland areas were experiencing gusts between 35 and 50 mph, and thousands of people in Northern California lost their electricity. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said the adverse conditions resulted in some weather-related power outages, and officials were on the alert for mudslides impacting the regions burn scars. A flash flood watch is in effect through Thursday for potential debris flow in the East Bay hills, the North Bay, in the Santa Cruz and Santa Lucia mountains, parts of Sonoma County and along much of the San Mateo County coast. Weather officials advised people to be wary of rapid pooling of water and to watch for potential landslides and washouts in steep terrain. An evacuation warning was issued Sunday for the San Lorenzo Valley and the northeast coast of Santa Cruz County. Residents of the area, where bare slopes scarred by the summers fires pose a mudslide risk, were told to be prepared to leave immediately. Coastal communities near Ano Nuevo and Butano state parks, including Loma Mar, Dearborn Park, Costanoa and Barranca Knolls, were also affected by the warnings, which are not mandatory. The Monterey County Sheriffs Office issued an evacuation order Tuesday afternoon for areas within and two miles downslope from the Carmel and River Fire burn scars. In the urban areas, its predominantly going to be a beneficial rainfall; however, we are expecting hazards on roadways and in low-lying areas and floods in poorly drained areas, said National Weather Service meteorologist Drew Peterson. Santa Cruz and Big Sur will be more at risk of flooding Wednesday as the storm makes its way south, with snow in the Santa Lucia Mountains contributing to increased runoff. Parts of Highway 1 in Big Sur were expected to remain closed until Thursday, according to CalTrans. As the atmospheric river moves south Thursday morning, lingering showers will be possible through Friday morning and into Saturday, meteorologists said. Vanessa Arredondo is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vanessa.arredondo@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @v_anana Tens of thousands of homeowners paying for British Gas cover are unable to get an appointment. The gas giant has cancelled all but essential jobs in the third national lockdown, including most boiler services. It comes as thousands of engineers strike over pay and conditions. Union GMB claims more than 100,000 homes are waiting for a slot but British Gas disputes this figure. Service shutdown: British Gas has cancelled all but essential jobs in the third national lockdown, including most boiler services Katie Bennett, 62, paid 34 a month for a HomeCare plan but when she called British Gas last month to fix her hob, the earliest availability was nearly three weeks later. The day before her appointment Katie, a retired HR worker, received an email telling her the visit had been moved to March. She says: 'It isn't acceptable. They are taking money and not providing the service.' Pam Rowles, 61, has been trying to get her boiler's annual service since August. The retired legal secretary, who pays 21 a month for her HomeCare plan, was given an appointment for October, but this was moved to December after British Gas said it was too busy with urgent repairs. No one came and the service was postponed. When an engineer did arrive, he said he could not remove the boiler cover as he didn't have the tools. Pam was then told the firm was pausing all non-essential jobs. However, after Money Mail contacted British Gas, it confirmed it would arrange a service for her before March and pay compensation for the missed appointment. A British Gas spokesman says if a job cannot be completed within a contract period, the customer will be compensated. He adds: 'We will attend all essential and vulnerable customer appointments.' f.parker@dailymail.co.uk It was pretty terrifying at that point. I told them I was a tourist and wasnt filming them, he says. Luke Baker also called the police and was contacted by a force intelligence officer. Luke says he feared for the local Indigenous children and teenagers in town. They have a right to feel safe, he says. Tom Sewell of the Lads Society. Credit:YouTube On Monday, six police officers from Stawell confronted the group, whose members filmed them and later posted their police identification name tags online. On Tuesday morning, two uniformed officers collected surveillance vision from Halls Gap stores. The decision of Halls Gap locals to call the police and the immediate law enforcement response is indicative of a change in the way authorities, and many in the general public, are viewing extreme right-wing groups. They were once widely dismissed as little more than disorganised attention-seeking misfits spruiking racist political manifestos, but Australias policing and security agencies are increasingly concerned about the capacity of a group adherent or lone wolf feeding off social media posts to commit an act of domestic terrorism. There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting white power. That is intimidating for anyone. Halls Gap resident James The 2019 terror attack by an Australian on a mosque in New Zealand that left 51 dead served as an ideological rallying point for some far-right groups, and a reminder of the potential consequences of underplaying the potential threat. ASIO recently revealed that 40 per cent of its priority case load involved right-wing extremist groups. ASIOs deputy director-general, Heather Cook, told a parliamentary committee last year the COVID-19 pandemic was fuelling a surge in radicalisation because of the amount of time individuals are spending in isolation, working from home or not in school. The Canadian Parliament is now debating a move to declare the far-right group the Proud Boys a terrorism entity. In Melbourne last November, a lone-wolf extremist on the fringe of local far-right groups, Philip Galea, was jailed for 12 years for planning a terrorist attack on Trades Hall, the Socialist Alliances Melbourne headquarters, and the Melbourne Anarchist Club. The mainstay ideology of Australian far-right groups remains viciously racist and incoherent, experts and police say. The danger in reporting on them is that it risks feeding their craving for attention as they trawl for fresh members and resources. According to one policing intelligence official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak with the media, some of the groups are attempting to shed their history of being disorganised and fracturing. In other words, they are getting organised. In doing so, they potentially pose fresh and difficult policy challenges for state and federal governments, some of which will be canvassed in a recently launched federal parliamentary committee inquiry into far-right extremism. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have identified some of the key organisers and participants of the Grampians gathering. Some show the faces of young men who would prefer to stay in the shadows posing in their own online posts with faces covered. The organisers include the Lads leader Tom Sewell, raised in the middle-class suburb of Balwyn in Melbourne. The Lads have also been accused of a failed attempt to branch-stack the NSW Young Nationals in 2018. Alleged members of the group were seen visiting a general store, meeting and camping at Halls Gap. Mr Sewell has claimed in a social media post that the Grampians event was aimed at providing content for a new neo-Nazi group, the European Australian Movement. He has the hallmarks of some far-right activists in the US, including those who stormed the Capitol three weeks ago, a move which Mr Sewell said in one online message had lessons for Australian extremists. His posts indicate that he is a racist conspiracy theorist appealing to marginalised, underemployed young Australians on the fringes of society. He is also ex-Australian Army. Several in his Grampians group may have also been ex-military. Photos show some wearing army-issued boots and packs. Mr Sewell is shunning mainstream social media sites, which are increasingly seeking to ban extremist content, and instead posting on new online platforms popular with extremists. On one site, he has posted videos of the name tags of the police that approached his group in Halls Gap on Monday, along with audio in which he belligerently challenges a policeman to Google me, mate. Key questions for the parliamentary committee and legislators will be how to regulate these online sites, as well as whether to proscribe far-right groups as terrorist organisations. Extremist expert Lydia Khalil of the Lowy Institute says that while the proscription debate is important, it faces several legal and political hurdles and should not be viewed as a catch-all solution. She says early prevention is critical and that government agencies having belatedly expanded their focus from programs targeting would-be jihadists to right-wing extremists must concentrate on tailoring interventions to far-right groups. But this, too, was no easy task, given such organisations are more diverse than some jihadist groups. Khalil says anti-terror agencies successfully worked with the Muslim community to deradicalise at-risk youths but there are far fewer levers to target Australians drawn to neo-Nazism, extreme patriotism or other far-right ideologies. You are dealing with a small, discrete threat that resides within the larger Anglo majority, she says. That makes it much harder for policymakers to not only tailor, but given the polarised political environment, justify these interventions. Mr Sewell spews a mix of anti-government and anti-society comments, patriotism and white supremacy in his calls for action. He is also virulently anti-Semitic. Things "must change" in Formula 1 to give young drivers a better chance of securing a seat. That is the view of former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi, who this week watched his son Giuliano test a F1 car - for the first and the last time. "I will continue to watch and follow everything related to Formula 1, but I am too old for it now so it was wonderful to see my son driving a Ferrari Formula 1 car," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. 21-year-old Giuliano is heading to Japan this year, having left both Formula 2 as well as Ferrari's driver academy. "He will race almost every weekend, which is not possible in Europe anymore unless you pay a lot of money," Jean Alesi said. "Nowadays you have to be a billionaire and buy a team, otherwise you will not end up in the Formula 1 world. The seats are blocked by the drivers of Vasseur and Wolff. "Fortunately there is Ferrari, who supply engines to some F1 teams so they can also supply drivers. Mick Schumacher got his seat in Formula 1 also with his Formula 2 title, but without the support of Maranello it would not have been possible," Alesi added. He said the fact Sergio Perez almost lost his career in F1 is another example of the system failing to work effectively. "He finished fourth with a budget of 15 million in his pocket and yet he was almost without a team for the coming season," Alesi said. "That must change. It cannot be that Hamilton has to fight like crazy to get paid what he deserves, and then young drivers have to pay to put on the show." (GMM) WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is awarding $21.5 million in federal funds to the State of Louisiana for relief assistance from COVID-19 and Hurricane Laura. This past year, Louisianas hospitals and state agencies have had to grapple with both a pandemic and one of the strongest hurricanes ever to make landfall along our coast, said Dr. Cassidy. This federal funding relieves the burden on our state to make a strong recovery and bounce back. The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS) is receiving $17.5 million in federal funding for emergency protective measures in response to the COVID-19 crisis. FMOLHS made hospital modifications by expanding ICU beds for temporary COVID-19 patient care at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center and purchased supplies, materials and personal protective equipment. FMOLHS also incurred costs for employees working overtime to care for COVID-19 patients and administered tests, treatment and diagnosis of symptoms. The City of DeRidder is receiving $1.1 million in federal funding for using contract labor for debris removal following the destruction caused by Hurricane Laura. Its estimated that 350,000 cubic yards of vegetative debris and 50,000 cubic yards of construction and demolition debris were disposed of after the storm. The Governors Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is receiving nearly $3 million in federal funding for contracting with the American Red Cross to operate non-congregate sheltering at hotels for Hurricane Laura evacuees to comply with COVID-19 mitigation measures to protect public health. American Red Cross contracted with 41 hotels for 4,467 units. At its peak, the Louisiana non-congregate shelter program for Hurricane Laura sheltered 21,510 evacuees in 8,115 hotel rooms. Dive into the background of the nine impeachment managers Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose to present the case to the Senate in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump, and a common thread will emerge: deep experience in the law. All equipped with law degrees, the nine managers include Democrats who served as notable characters in Mr. Trumps first impeachment trial and some who have spoken out forcefully against Mr. Trump in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Previous impeachment trials have shown that the role of impeachment manager can bring valuable recognition to representatives and elevate their political profile. Lindsey Graham, now the senior senator from South Carolina, served as an impeachment manager in the Senate trial of President Bill Clinton. Representative Adam Schiff of California served as the lead manager in Mr. Trumps first impeachment trial. The six men and three women whom Ms. Pelosi chose reflect the geographic and demographic diversity within the Democratic caucus. It was pretty terrifying at that point. I told them I was a tourist and wasnt filming them, he says. Luke Baker also called the police and was contacted by a force intelligence officer. Luke says he feared for the local Indigenous children and teenagers in town. They have a right to feel safe, he says. Tom Sewell of the Lads Society. Credit:YouTube On Monday, six police officers from Stawell confronted the group, whose members filmed them and later posted their police identification name tags online. On Tuesday morning, two uniformed officers collected surveillance vision from Halls Gap stores. The decision of Halls Gap locals to call the police and the immediate law enforcement response is indicative of a change in the way authorities, and many in the general public, are viewing extreme right-wing groups. They were once widely dismissed as little more than disorganised attention-seeking misfits spruiking racist political manifestos, but Australias policing and security agencies are increasingly concerned about the capacity of a group adherent or lone wolf feeding off social media posts to commit an act of domestic terrorism. There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting white power. That is intimidating for anyone. Halls Gap resident James The 2019 terror attack by an Australian on a mosque in New Zealand that left 51 dead served as an ideological rallying point for some far-right groups, and a reminder of the potential consequences of underplaying the potential threat. ASIO recently revealed that 40 per cent of its priority case load involved right-wing extremist groups. ASIOs deputy director-general, Heather Cook, told a parliamentary committee last year the COVID-19 pandemic was fuelling a surge in radicalisation because of the amount of time individuals are spending in isolation, working from home or not in school. The Canadian Parliament is now debating a move to declare the far-right group the Proud Boys a terrorism entity. In Melbourne last November, a lone-wolf extremist on the fringe of local far-right groups, Philip Galea, was jailed for 12 years for planning a terrorist attack on Trades Hall, the Socialist Alliances Melbourne headquarters, and the Melbourne Anarchist Club. The mainstay ideology of Australian far-right groups remains viciously racist and incoherent, experts and police say. The danger in reporting on them is that it risks feeding their craving for attention as they trawl for fresh members and resources. According to one policing intelligence official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak with the media, some of the groups are attempting to shed their history of being disorganised and fracturing. In other words, they are getting organised. In doing so, they potentially pose fresh and difficult policy challenges for state and federal governments, some of which will be canvassed in a recently launched federal parliamentary committee inquiry into far-right extremism. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have identified some of the key organisers and participants of the Grampians gathering. Some show the faces of young men who would prefer to stay in the shadows posing in their own online posts with faces covered. The organisers include the Lads leader Tom Sewell, raised in the middle-class suburb of Balwyn in Melbourne. The Lads have also been accused of a failed attempt to branch-stack the NSW Young Nationals in 2018. Alleged members of the group were seen visiting a general store, meeting and camping at Halls Gap. Mr Sewell has claimed in a social media post that the Grampians event was aimed at providing content for a new neo-Nazi group, the European Australian Movement. He has the hallmarks of some far-right activists in the US, including those who stormed the Capitol three weeks ago, a move which Mr Sewell said in one online message had lessons for Australian extremists. His posts indicate that he is a racist conspiracy theorist appealing to marginalised, underemployed young Australians on the fringes of society. He is also ex-Australian Army. Several in his Grampians group may have also been ex-military. Photos show some wearing army-issued boots and packs. Mr Sewell is shunning mainstream social media sites, which are increasingly seeking to ban extremist content, and instead posting on new online platforms popular with extremists. On one site, he has posted videos of the name tags of the police that approached his group in Halls Gap on Monday, along with audio in which he belligerently challenges a policeman to Google me, mate. Key questions for the parliamentary committee and legislators will be how to regulate these online sites, as well as whether to proscribe far-right groups as terrorist organisations. Extremist expert Lydia Khalil of the Lowy Institute says that while the proscription debate is important, it faces several legal and political hurdles and should not be viewed as a catch-all solution. She says early prevention is critical and that government agencies having belatedly expanded their focus from programs targeting would-be jihadists to right-wing extremists must concentrate on tailoring interventions to far-right groups. But this, too, was no easy task, given such organisations are more diverse than some jihadist groups. Khalil says anti-terror agencies successfully worked with the Muslim community to deradicalise at-risk youths but there are far fewer levers to target Australians drawn to neo-Nazism, extreme patriotism or other far-right ideologies. You are dealing with a small, discrete threat that resides within the larger Anglo majority, she says. That makes it much harder for policymakers to not only tailor, but given the polarised political environment, justify these interventions. Mr Sewell spews a mix of anti-government and anti-society comments, patriotism and white supremacy in his calls for action. He is also virulently anti-Semitic. Kyle Sandilands made a candid admission about his dating life during an interview with Samantha Armytage on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Wednesday. The 49-year-old radio shock jock was discussing Samantha's recent wedding to businessman Richard Lavender when he brought up her Channel Seven colleague, Basil Zempilas. Kyle revealed that years ago, he'd been involved in a love triangle with the 49-year-old Perth mayor and former Weekend Sunrise host. Confessions: Kyle Sandilands (pictured) made a candid admission about his dating life during an interview with Samantha Armytage on The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Wednesday In a bizarre turn of events, Kyle claimed he'd ended up 'engaged by mistake' after the woman he was seeing bought an engagement ring. 'I was caught up in this whole thing. Anyway, Basil was the one the family wanted her to marry,' he added. Interjecting, Samantha, 44, told Kyle he'd 'cut Basil's grass'. Off on a tangent: The 49-year-old radio shock jock was discussing Samantha Armytage's (right) recent wedding when he brought up her Channel Seven colleague, Basil Zempilas (left) 'I cut Basil's grass. I cut way more than the grass, but anyway, that didn't work out,' he continued. His co-host, Jackie 'O' Henderson, then clarified that the woman had chosen Kyle over Basil. 'She did, yes. And then I walked away from the whole relationship,' he added. Love rival: Kyle revealed that years ago, he'd been embroiled in a love triangle with the 49-year-old Perth mayor and news presenter. Pictured at a Brownlow Medal function in Perth in September 2018 Kyle said he never considered the relationship to be serious, and confessed he was also 'sleeping with seven other people at the radio station' he was working at. He claimed to suffer from 'commitment-phobia', and said that had prevented him from settling down with the woman. Both have since moved on - Basil has been married for 12 years to wife Amy Graham and they have three children together, while Kyle has been dating his former assistant Tegan Kynaston for over a year. A high proportion of survivors of Ebola experienced a resurgence in antibody levels nearly a year after recovery, a new University of Liverpool study has found. Published today in Nature, the finding hints that hidden reservoirs of virus could exist long after symptoms ease and has implications for monitoring programmes and vaccine strategies. When a person is infected with Ebola virus, their body produces antibodies to fight the disease. Antibody concentrations peak and then decline slowly over time, providing the body with some degree of immune protection over the infection. However, little is known about the antibody response over prolonged time periods. Researchers from the University's Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences tracked antibodies in a cohort of survivors of Ebola virus disease from the 2014-2016 Sierra Leone outbreak for up to 500 days after recovery from their infection. As expected, antibody levels dropped away slowly after the acute phase of recovery, but then unexpectedly increased rapidly once more around 200 days later, only to decline thereafter. This particular pattern was observed in over half of participants with longitudinal data. Although there was no detectable Ebola virus in the participants' plasma taken around the time of asymptomatic antibody resurgence, the study indicates that the Ebola virus may be able to persist inside the bodies of many recovered patients for long periods of time. 'Hiding' inside immunologically privileged sites, such as the eyes, central nervous system or testes, the virus may then start to replicate spontaneously, prompting the renewed antibody response. With this in mind, the researchers suggest that long-term monitoring of survivors is warranted, and that repeat immunisation with vaccines should be considered to boost and maintain protective antibody responses in survivors. The work was led by Dr Georgios Pollakis, Professor Bill Paxton and Professor Calum Semple at the University of Liverpool and Dr Janet Scott, now at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research. Research collaborators included experts from Public Health England, the National Safe Blood Service and the 34-Military Hospital, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Corresponding author and study lead Dr Georgios Pollakis, Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool, said: "Our finding that many survivors experienced a resurgence in antibodies, which could not be explained by re-infection or vaccination, was surprising and demonstrates a need for continued monitoring of these patients." Lead Investigator Professor William Paxton, Professor of Virology at the University of Liverpool, added: "Viruses throw up many surprises, but this high frequency of antibody re-stimulation was not something we expected to find, and indicates that vaccination of Ebola survivors should be considered to keep immunity high and suppress further viral activity. Furthermore, the findings will also help us to better understand the immune system." Trial Clinical Lead Dr Janet Scott, Clinical Lecturer in Infectious Diseases at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, said: "Evidence of Ebola virus antigen driving an immune response hundreds of days after apparent recovery from Ebola virus disease offers a mechanism that could be driving Post Ebola Syndrome. The clinical science community should now increase efforts to better understand, treat and support Ebola survivors." Chief Investigator Professor Calum Semple, Professor of Outbreak Medicine at the University of Liverpool commented: "This phenomenon is likely to have occurred in all populations of people who have survived Ebola virus infection in past years. Our description of this biological phenomenon should not be taken to indicate yet more problems for Ebola disease survivors, rather a better understanding of their problems. It is very important to emphasise that no Ebola virus transmission events were observed in this cohort." The Liverpool team is now using a similar research approach to track antibodies in COVID-19 survivors. ### The study was supported by the University of Liverpool, Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Public Health England, and the NHS Blood and Transplant. The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas Your choice for flooring in Central Texas! Your flooring is more than just the surface you walk on it's an integral part of your home. With over 35 years of flooring experience, The Best Little Floorhouse in Texas has the resources and knowled Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 18:59:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on his re-election as president of Portugal. In the message, Xi said China-Portugal relations have stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year. The traditional friendship between the two countries has shown new vitality, Xi said, adding that anti-pandemic and public health cooperation has made new strides while practical cooperation has continued to make new progress. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Portugal relations, and stands ready to work with Rebelo de Sousa to push for new achievements in bilateral ties in a bid to benefit the two countries and peoples. Enditem RED BUD The Southwestern Illinois College Red Bud Campus will host its annual poetry contest for area students and residents this spring. Individuals of all ages are invited to showcase their creative abilities in the contest through poetry. Divisions for entries are as follows: adult, high school, eighth grade, seventh grade, sixth grade, fifth grade and fourth grade. Representative Image. State-run Bank of India on Wednesday said it has raised Rs 750 crore by issuing Basel III compliant bonds. "Bank of India has raised Rs 750 crore via Basel III compliant additional tier 1 (AT-1) bonds on January 27, 2021 on private placement basis," the bank said in a release. The issue was over-subscribed with receipt of bids of up to Rs 1,017 crore against the issue size of Rs 750 crore. The coupon on the bonds was 9.04 per cent for five years and it carries a call option, it added. State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank offer education loans at 6.9% Stock of Bank of India closed 2.97 per cent down at Rs 49 apiece on BSE. Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Madan Mohan Sethi at the event (Photo: VNA) Vice Chairwoman of the HCM City Peoples Committee Phan Thi Thang speaks at the event (Photo: VNA) HCM City Ho Chi Minh City wants to continue to be an important partner of India in the fields of economy-trade, health care, information technology and clean energy, said Vice Chairwoman of the municipal Peoples Committee Phan Thi Thang.During a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of Indias Republic Day held by the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on January 26, Thang said with161 projects worth over 74 million USD, India is now placed 25th out of 110 countries and territories investing in the city. Two-way trade reached nearly 1.5 billion USD last year.Attention was paid to holding exchange, economic-cultural and education cooperation activities each year. In particular, the Indian Consulate General suggested training a contingent of medical staff for the city, she said.According to her, Ho Chi Minh City and New Delhi will hold ceremonies to place the statues of leader Mahatma Gandhi and President Ho Chi Minh in respective locality to foster friendship between the two cities and nations.Indian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Madan Mohan Sethi, for his part, described Vietnam as a main pillar in Indias Act East Policy and an important partner of Indias Indo-Pacific Vision. The two countries also share similar stances on global issues.To lift two-way trade to 15 billion USD, he said the Consulate General held a number of online workshops on trade and investment in various fields.In the near future, India will connect Vietnamese exporters with Indian importers, as well as Vietnamese localities with India states, boost multifaceted exchange with Vietnam, thereby opening more opportunities to tighten people-to-people friendship, contributing to lifting bilateral ties to a greater height, he said. President Moon Jae-in talks on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Yonhap Chinese president supports denuclearization of Korean Peninsula By Do Je-hae Chinese President Xi Jinping showed support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and underlined the importance of diplomacy in nuclear issues, during his first phone call of the year with President Moon Jae-in late Tuesday, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. "Xi said that realizing denuclearization was in line with the common interests of Korea and China, and that China highly assesses and actively supports President Moon's efforts," a presidential source said. Right after the 40-minute phone conversation during which the two leaders shared their views on the situation on the peninsula, the presidential office reiterated that Xi supported diplomacy for progress on Korean Peninsula issues, saying, "North Korea's position to the outside world is that it has not closed the door on the possibility of dialogue with the U.S. and South Korea." Xi also said he supports inter-Korean dialogue and talks between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the presidential office. The two leaders also agreed to cooperate on realizing the Korea-China-Japan summit which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the diplomatic standoff between Seoul and Tokyo following their conflict over historical issues. The phone call came as President Moon, in his last year in office, has been trying to gain the support of neighboring countries, particularly China and Japan, in resuscitating talks with North Korea under new U.S. Joe Biden administration. Since the beginning of the year, Moon has underlined the role of China in North Korea issues. But the Chinese side did not mention Xi's assessment of the Korean Peninsula situation, according to latest reports, reflecting differences between Seoul and Beijing in their diplomatic policy priorities. Some experts say the call had more to do with Beijing's strategic competition with Washington rather than bilateral issues. "From China's point of view, the call was made to neutralize South Korea before South Korea-U.S. cooperation is strengthened. With regard to the Korean Peninsula situation, Xi repeated China's existing position," Shin Beom-chul, director at the Research Institute for Economy and Society, told The Korea Times. "Therefore, China's intention was to prevent the strengthening of Korea-U.S. cooperation as it has determined that a stronger Korea-U.S. alliance under the Biden administration would result in a strategic environment unfavorable to China." "These days, amid the rivalry between the U.S. and China, China's diplomatic outreach to South Korea cannot be interpreted without China's strategic consideration of the U.S.," Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute, said to The Korea Times. "It's good that the Chinese leader called President Moon in the New Year. But then the fundamental reason is not because of South Korea's national strength or own work but rather China's perception of South Korea's usefulness in dealing with the U.S. as an ally of the U.S." The timing of the Moon-Xi phone talks has raised eyebrows considering it came while Cheong Wa Dae has been trying to set a date for the first phone call with new U.S. President Biden, who began holding a series of phone calls with world leaders immediately after he arrived at the White House last week. Cheong Wa Dae explained that the phone call had been planned for some time due to the need to discuss preparations for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with China in 2022, for which the two countries have launched a joint committee to implement various projects. Also Moon's office added that the phone call was to exchange New Year greetings ahead of the Lunar New Year. But some media reports have taken issue with the fact that the phone call with Xi came before Moon had a chance to talk with Biden since the new U.S. leader took office, Jan. 20. Some experts said the phone call can be seen as going against Korea's diplomatic tradition, and as its tilting toward China. "In diplomacy, symbolism is very, very important. All South Korean governments used to send an envoy to the U.S. first, respecting the traditional importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. This time, it is the new U.S. administration. People would have expected the South Korean president to have had a phone conversation, particularly in the New Year, with the new Biden administration," Lee added. Cheong Wa Dae has declined to comment on which side initiated the call. But the timing is raising a high level of interest as it came a day after the new U.S. administration indicated that it would continue its hardline stance on China. "I think our approach to China remains what it has been since for the last months, if not longer. We're in a serious competition with China. Strategic competition with China is a defining feature of the 21st century," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing, Jan. 25. John Kerry, President Bidens special envoy for climate change, urged business leaders on Wednesday to recommit themselves to reducing emissions, promising big profits for those who do so. A zero emissions future offers remarkable opportunity for business, for clean green jobs, for economic growth, he said at the virtual World Economic Forum, traditionally held in Davos. The highest valued auto company in the world today is Tesla, and it only makes electric vehicles. Mitsubishi is building the worlds largest zero emissions steel plant in Austria. Mr. Kerry, a former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee, went on to list a number of companies that are succeeding and added, Globally, the cheapest new electric power plant you can install is based on renewables. In many parts of the world, including in the Southwest United States, India and the Middle East, solar panels increasingly generate electricity at a much lower cost than plants that run on coal or natural gas. Wind turbines also provide cheap power in many areas, including in Texas and Europe. Fresh disruption is being anticipated at Irish ports as a new requirement for negative Covid-19 tests for lorry drivers entering France comes into force. The new rules come into effect from 11pm on Wednesday night Irish time but Government testing centres will not be operational until Thursday morning. The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has described calls from the Department of Transport to pre-book Covid-19 tests absolutely infuriating. There aren't enough centres. There aren't enough centres in truck-friendly places IRHA spokesman Eugene Drennan Spokesman Eugene Drennan told the PA News Agency: I have an email here asking us to test on time. Ministers urge hauliers to pre-book and allow enough time for pre-departure. Now that is absolutely infuriating. The nature of our work is governed by strict timelines. We cannot get to the test centres until the timeline allows us. We are delayed at the import point, so that delays everything on the way. Then we try to get to the ferry. Pre-booking does nothing for you, because there will be a queue to the centres and its articulated trucks that are going there. So the guy that is 27th down the line, the fact that he has a test booked in the next 10 minutes, do you think everybody is going to stand aside and allow him to go ahead of them? Direct sailings to the continent, many of which enter through France, have been a lifeline for hauliers seeking to avoid the UK land bridge due to Brexit chaos. The Government has set up two testing centres where lorry drivers can be tested free of charge, at Dublin Airport and in Gorey, Co Wexford, near Rosslare harbour. Hauliers travelling on ferries from Ireland to France urged to pre book and allow enough time for pre-departure COVID-19 tests. New requirement from this Thursday 28th Jan. All commercial drivers require negative COVID-19 antigen or PCR test. More at https://t.co/YkluDiROxR pic.twitter.com/YUFWHxE2x2 Department of Transport (@Dept_Transport) January 27, 2021 But road hauliers believe the two centres are not enough. Mr Drennan said: There arent enough centres. There arent enough centres in truck-friendly places. What will happen if they cant test quick enough and drivers cant get out? It doesnt get to market on time if it doesnt get on the ferry. Mr Drennan said he had been reassured that any lorries departing on Wednesday night prior to 11pm will be allowed into France without a negative Covid-19 test. He added: But Im worried about it. I hope the French honour their word. I am a little bit worried about that. Its absolutely going to be difficult. I hope they honour their word and we can get off of the ship. Thats the big fear. Mr Drennan said the IRHA had first flagged concerns over testing requirements with the Department of Transport on December 14, and raised the issue repeatedly since. He added: The first sailing is tonight and we have no centre. What do you tell the fisherman out in Donegal today should you land your catch were not sure we can get on the boat with that. Its worrying. The Department of Transport has said it is continuing to work with Wexford County Council on an additional site for traffic bound for Rosslare harbour. It is intended that this site will open for testing over the coming days, the department said in a statement. Free COVID-19 antigen tests for commercial drivers will be available at testing facilities near ports of Dublin and Rosslare. Drivers travelling on ferries from Ireland to France need evidence of a negative COVID-19 antigen or PCR test prior to boarding. Department of Transport (@Dept_Transport) January 27, 2021 The statement said: The testing facilities will be reviewed on a daily basis to ensure alignment between demand and provision of the service. Hours of operation at the sites will be based around ferry sailing times to France and will be subject to review based on demand. The testing facilities can be availed of by all commercial drivers who are departing on ferry sailings from Ireland to France including hauliers from Northern Ireland. Tests will only be provided to hauliers who are travelling to France or other countries where a negative Covid-19 test is required for entry. Authorities in northeast Brazil are looking into the murder of a five-year-old girl whose mother admitted to ripping out her eyes and then cutting out a piece of her tongue before she allegedly chewed on it. Josimare Gomes was arrested at her home in the municipality of Maravilha on Sunday and then confessed to investigators that she killed Brenda da Silva because her daughter was possessed by the devil, Brazilian outlet Folha de Alagoas reported. The Civil Police said Marinho da Silva made a call for help at 4pm local time after his 30-year-old daughter had locked herself in a bathroom with his granddaughter for 30 minutes and refused to open the door. Josimare Gomes (left) was arrested on Sunday night after she allegedly killed her five-year-old daughter, Brenda da Silva (right) by gouging out her eyes and cutting out her tongue Brenda's grandfather discovered her lifeless body in the bathroom of the family home in north eastern Brazil on Sunday after he saw blood pouring out of a drain outside Brenda da Silva was killed by her mother during a gruesome attack at the family home in Maravilha, Brazil. The five-year-old's mother reportedly used scissors to gouge her eyes out and to cut her tongue The family's worries worsened when they spotted a trail of blood and water pouring out from a drain behind the home that is located in the Maravilha village of Sao Cristovao. Marinho da Silva then broke down the door and found Gomes clutching on to the scissors as Brenda da Silva was lying on the floor without her eyes and tongue. Authorities arrived and saw Gomes praying and holding a rosary next to her daughter's corpse before they placed her under arrest. Investigators believe that these injuries, inflicted with a pair of scissors while she was still alive, caused her death. It has also been reported that Gomes was sedated and then taken to the police station in the nearby municipality of Delmiro Gouveia. Gomes reportedly gave a garbled statement to the police the following morning in a number of languages including Spanish. It has also been reported that Gomes, who was sedated and then taken to the police station in the nearby municipality of Delmiro Gouveia, had reportedly chewed on her daughter's tongue Josimare Gomes with her daughter Brenda da Silva. Gomes confessed to the police that she had actually killed the demon inside her daughter and not the five-year-old child, who she insisted was alive In an otherwise incoherent statement, she is said to have denied gouging out her daughter's eyes and putting her daughter's tongue in her own mouth. Gomes also told authorities that her child was still alive and instead she had killed the demon who was living inside of da Silva. The suspect is known to suffer from mental health issues including depression, and it is believed she carried out the attack during a psychotic episode. At the urging of Maravilha district attorney Kleytione Pereira, Gomes, who remains in police custody, was transferred to the Hospital of Custody and Psychiatric Treatment for a full psychological and psychiatric evaluation. Brenda da Silva, the five-year-old girl who was killed by her mother in Brazil on Sunday and who had her eyes gouged and a part of her tongue cut out because the woman claimed she was possessed by a demon Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 It went smoothly, she said, and both she and her 72-year-old mother got doses of the Moderna vaccine. But she said that her blood boiled Friday when she learned that a married couple had been accused of misrepresenting who they were and violating protocols in order to get their shots. We thought we were ready. We told ourselves we were. Then we told this lie to the world. We are open for business. We are COVID-free! Read more STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- While Mayor Bill de Blasio is confident that New York Citys public schools will reopen at full strength next school year, the union representing the citys teachers is not so sure that will be the case, according to a new report. On Tuesday, de Blasio told MSNBC that the citys public schools, which have experienced a host of rolling closures in recent months as a result of ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, would safely reopen in September. Were coming back in September full strength. I dont have a doubt in my mind, the mayor said. However, the statement from de Blasio came just days after Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), told the Wall Street Journal that he could not commit to the full reopening of schools next year. I want to be fully open in September, and I cant guarantee that right now, Mulgrew said in an interview on Friday. The union leaders primary concern is the citys slow rollout of its vaccination efforts, with Mulgrew having said that he will oppose a full reopening of New York City public schools until all teachers are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Increased availability of the vaccine is the key to fully reopening everything, from schools to businesses, he told the New York Post. Weve been through too much as a school system and as a city to further risk the health of our students, their families, and our staff. As of Monday, City Hall could not provide the number of New York City teachers who had received the coronavirus vaccine, stating that officials are still categorizing the data by employment status. Mulgrew said in a statement to the Post earlier this week that the city is barely managing all the aspects of the current random testing program and tracing requirements. ABOUT SCHOOL CLOSURES Schools across the city were closed temporarily on Nov. 19 after the coronavirus positivity rate surpassed 3% over a seven-day rolling average citywide, the threshold de Blasio said would trigger a shutdown of all city public schools. Elementary schools, preschools and District 75 schools, which teach special education students, reopened in December with increased coronavirus testing. It remains unclear when middle and high schools will reopen, though the mayor has indicated it could happen before the end of the school year with increased vaccination and testing efforts. I want to get middle school open soon and then high school beyond, de Blasio said on MSNBC on Tuesday. But we got to see what happens with this variant. Weve got to get more people vaccinated. Weve got to have more testing capacity. Im certain well do it over time in this school year, but a few challenges we got to overcome first. As a business owner, it can be easy to see the importance of marketing early on. Even for those who have just started their company and are ready to make their mark, it is quite clear that marketing is king when it comes to achieving standout success. As a matter of fact, it can be understandably overwhelming for those who are unsure of how to move forward, as much larger businesses can easily steal the spotlight away from a smaller business - especially with the use of a quality social media marketing agency. Without the right amount of relevance, there can be little hope for any business to make enough revenue to break even. It is undoubtedly a challenging situation, and one that requires the help of professionals to get the job done. It is the reason why many startup owners would benefit from an experienced accountant. It is not just about dealing with paperwork and ensuring that deadlines are dealt with. It is also about learning from an experienced accountant, and taking from their wealth of business knowledge to hopefully steer a business in the right direction. The same thing goes for the use of a social media marketing agency for the business. It is clear that people are making a move to the digital space, especially with the COVID-19 crisis. While most people were already on the way to a fully online experience, the pandemic has expedited the process. Here are a few things to consider when hiring a social media marketing agency for your brand. Consider their experience and reputation First and foremost, it would be remiss not to consider factors such as experience and reputation. After all, any business owner would want to make use of the best possible agency for their company, which is why such factors matter when making the choice. Fortunately, such things can be quite easy to figure out, as a bit of research can yield plenty of results. If there is a chance, you could even get in touch with businesses that have used their services before and ask questions about how they were able to help. It might not be as clear-cut as looking at reviews of a specific product online, but there will undoubtedly be both positive and negative examples of just about any business out there. Consider the platform the social media marketing agency wants to utilize Any business worth their salt would be looking to take advantage of their niche, and it is something that online business owners will know well. When it comes to working with an agency, it would be a good idea to pay attention to the platform they might want you to use. Considering that a user can get into talks with such an agency early on, it can be easy to figure out whether or not they are worth the business owner's time by asking the right questions - with one of the most crucial questions being the platform they might choose for the company. The social media marketing agency's answer to such a question could very well dictate how they intend to move the business forward. For example, they might go for the safe route and make use of a well-known platform such as Facebook to make use of a marketing campaign. While it might be the safe route, it is also the most generic, and one that might not yield the best results. It would be wise to keep an eye on those who might suggest something like Youtube, as a business owner that pays close attention to their niche can see right away whether or not it might be a good idea. The general rule of thumb is that if the user agrees with the primary choice of social media agency, then it is a good sign. Ensure that they have an understanding of marketing strategies While it might be somewhat challenging to figure out whether or not such an agency might be proficient in marketing, it can be made a more comfortable experience by asking about search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. After all, any quality social media marketing agency will know how to make use of SEO solutions as many of the different tactics used in SEO coincide with the goals of the agency. For example, they might talk about the pay-per-click (PPC) strategy as a good way to get a foundation going for the business. They would not be wrong, as a PPC account can help provide invaluable data - especially for a startup that is still working their way around their chosen industry. It helps provide the necessary keywords that a marketing agency can use to device future marketing strategies. That said, it can also cost quite a bit more than typical SEO solutions, which is why it pays to ask about what the agency might have planned. Is their customer service up to par? Last but certainly not least, it would not do for a quality marketing agency to answer the right questions but provide less than satisfactory customer service. For example, it is absolutely crucial for a business owner to know not just how to get in contact with the agency, but when. There could be situations where the business owner needs their input, but they are nowhere to be found. It is the reason why a best-practice method would be to interact with any marketing agency you are interested in and ask as many questions as possible. If the company owner is already finding it challenging to get in touch with them, it might be better to look elsewhere. Without a doubt, it pays to err on the side of caution when it comes to hiring a quality social media marketing agency to help the company. The online reputation of a company is far more crucial than ever before, which is why it would be a shame to end up with a subpar agency. When it comes to making big choices for a company, ensure that all prerequisites are met with flying colors. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Researchers in the United States have conducted a study showing that Modernas mRNA-1273 vaccine neutralizes all circulating variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) tested to date. The novel SARS-CoV-2 virus is the agent responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has now caused more than 2.14 million deaths worldwide. Clinical trial findings have previously shown that Modernas mRNA-1273 elicits potent neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 and is highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and severe disease. However, concerns have arisen that the recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 variants in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7 lineage) and the South African (B.1.351 lineage) could avoid targeting by neutralizing antibodies elicited by natural infection or vaccination. Now, a study conducted by researchers from Moderna Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, has demonstrated the efficacy of mRNA-1273 against all known circulating strains of the virus. Nevertheless, active viral surveillance and testing of vaccines against emerging variants must continue so that strain-matched vaccines can be developed if warranted, says Darin Edwards and colleagues. A pre-print version of the research paper is available on the bioRxiv server, while the article undergoes peer review. The vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization in December 2020 Modernas mRNA-1273 vaccine received Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration on the 18th December last year (2020) after a phase 3 trial demonstrated efficacy of around 94%. However, the increased transmission rates and higher viral loads associated with the recently emerged B.1.1.7 (UK) and B.1.351 (South Africa) variants have raised concerns that these strains may potentially circumvent immunity conferred by natural infection or vaccination. The genome of the B.1.1.7 variant contains seventeen mutations. Eight of these mutations are located on a protein called spike the main structure the virus uses to bind to and infect host cells. Ability of mRNA-1273 immune sera from NHPs and humans to neutralize SARSCoV-2 pseudoviruses representing early variants. (A) Rhesus macaques (NHPs) were immunized with 30 g mRNA-1273 on a prime-boost schedule, and sera were collected 4 weeks post-boost. (B) Phase 1 trial participants were immunized with 100 g mRNA-1273 on a prime-boost schedule, and sera were collected 1 week post-boost. Neutralization was measured by a recombinant VSV-based SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus neutralization assay incorporating full-length spike protein of the Wuhan isolate (D614) or the indicated spike variants (D614G, A222V-D614G, S477N-D614G, N439K-D614G, mink cluster 5 variant). Min to max box plots, with the box from 25-75% and the median value denoted by the line. The horizontal dotted lines indicate the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ=40). G=D614G. A 2021 study has already shown that one of these mutations the 69-70 deletion is associated with reduced sensitivity to neutralization by convalescent serum from previously infected individuals. The spike protein of the B.1.351 variant contains even more mutations than B.1.1.7. Three of these are located on the spikes receptor-binding domain (RBD), the region that binds to host cells as the initial stage of infection. As the RBD is the predominant target for neutralizing antibodies, these mutations could impact the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies already approved and in advanced development as well as of polyclonal antibody elicited by infection or vaccination in neutralizing the virus, says Edwards and the team. Data from another 2021 study suggested that a key mutation in the B.1.351 variant E484K also confers resistance to SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. What did the researchers do? The researchers assessed the neutralization capacity of sera from eight Phase 1 clinical trial participants and from non-human primates (NHPs) that had received the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Neutralization was measured against the original SARS-CoV-2 isolate from Wuhan, China; the D614G variant that then became dominant; the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants, and other variants that have previously emerged (20E, 20A.EU2, D614G-N439K, and mink cluster 5 variant). What did they find? All samples from both the clinical trial participants and NHPs fully neutralized all of the SARS-CoV-2 strains tested. No significant impact on neutralization capacity against the B.1.1.7 variant was observed whether antibody titers were measured against the full set of mutations or the 69-70 deletion only. Although these mutations have been reported to lessen neutralization from convalescent sera, sera from the Phase 1 participants and NHPs immunized with mRNA-1273 were able to neutralize the B.1.1.7 variant to the same level as the D614G virus, writes the team. Of all the variants tested, the only one that reduced levels of neutralizing antibodies was B.1.351. Sera from the clinical trial participants showed a 2.7-fold reduction in neutralization when the three mutations (K417N, E484K, N501Y) found in the spike RBD were included. Importantly, when the full set of B.1.351 mutations were included, a 6.4-fold reduction in neutralization was observed. All samples still neutralized the B.1.351 variant However, neutralizing titers remained above the levels previously found to confer protection in NHPs and all samples from both the clinical trial participants and NHPs fully neutralized the B.1.351 variant. Viral escape was not detected in any of the samples tested. These data demonstrate reduced but still significant neutralization against the full B.1.351 variant following mRNA-1273 vaccination, writes the team. The researchers say the emergence of strain variants and the ability of the virus to partially overcome natural or vaccine-induced immunity does serve as a call to action and that active viral surveillance and testing of protection against new viral variants must continue. The mRNA platform allows rapid design of vaccine antigens that incorporate key mutations, says Edwards and colleagues. Strain-matched vaccines can be developed in response to these variants, either to understand how we might evolve the vaccine-induced immune response through boosting, or to assess the cross-protection provided by a primary series, concludes the team. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Police departments in some of Illinois biggest cities Aurora, Naperville, Joliet and Rockford among them have yet to implement body cameras, though officials in those cities are at various stages of evaluating their potential use. Under the proposed law, the states second- through fifth-largest cities and other municipalities and counties with more 100,000 residents would have until 2023 to equip all their officers. Holocaust victims remembered in Italy 76 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. Italy marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January 2021 with hundreds of memorial events in Rome, Milan and about 60 other Italian cities, on the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Many of the commemorative initiatives will be online this year, due to the covid-19 pandemic, and new stolpersteine memorials will be unveiled in Rome and Milan. The bronze-capped cobblestones are installed outside the last chosen place of residence of victims of the Holocaust, detailing their first and last names, date of birth, date and place of deportation, and date of death in a Nazi extermination camp. This year there have been 31 new stolpersteine installed in Milan and 21 in Rome, including one dedicated to the Emma Di Veroli, a two-year-old girl who was deported from the city's Jewish Ghetto area in October 1943 and killed on her arrival in Auschwitz. Rome will host an exhibition entitled From Italy to Auschwitz, at the Museo della Shoah near the city's Great Synagogue, which describes the story of all the people arrested in Italy between 1943 and 1944 - the majority of them Jews - and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Among the online events from Rome will be a conversation, live from the Facebook page of the capital's Jewish community, with Holocaust survivor Sami Modiano who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. Established in 2005 by the United Nations to commemorate the day in 1945 that the survivors of Auschwitz were liberated by the Russian army, the initiative honours the memory of the millions of Jews but also homosexuals, Romany people and others who suffered persecution, deportation, imprisonment and genocide. For Rome events commemorating International Holocaust Day see Cultura Roma website, and for Milan events see Comune di Milano website. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : The lone legislator of Haryana's Indian National Lok Dal Abhay Singh Chautala on Wednesday resigned from the Assembly over the three new farm laws and registration of cases against farmer leaders for the violence in Delhi on Republic Day. Chautala reached the assembly here riding a tractor and handed over his resignation to Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who accepted it. In his resignation, he cited the reason as non-acceptance of the demand of the protesting farmers seeking roll back of all the three farm laws. "Shri Abhay Singh Chautala, who represents Ellanabad assembly constituency, he came to me personally and tendered his resignation. I believe that the resignation that he has submitted is correct in all technical aspects. I have accepted it. "He has referred to his earlier two letters that he had sent to me citing union government's refusal to accept farmers' demands," a statement by the Speaker said. Talking to the media, Chautala blamed the BJP for perpetuating violence in Delhi on Republic Day. Earlier this month, Chautala, the grandson of former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal, sent a "conditional" resignation letter to the Speaker, offering to resign from the assembly in Haryana if the Centre failed to repeal the new agricultural laws by January 26. In his letter, Chautala had said it should be considered a resignation from the Assembly if the Central government failed to repeal the three farm laws by January 26. His party's breakaway faction, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), is the crucial coalition partner in the state BJP government led by Manohar Lal Khattar. JJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has been maintaining a stoic silence in public over the issue of farmers, who have been staging protests on the border of the national capital, demanding revoking of the agricultural laws, for the past 63 days. The INLD and the JJP are primarily rural Jat-centric parties with the farmers as their core vote bank. The Jats, a dominant farming community, comprise 28 per cent of the state's population. Twenty five Jat leaders, including four Chautalas, were elected to the state assembly in October 2019. Coming out openly for the first time with the protesting farmers, JJP national chief and former MP, Ajay Singh Chautala, who is the brother of Abhay, on December 2, 2020, said the Centre should give, in writing, an assurance on the minimum support price (MSP) to the protesting farmers that largely come from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Political observers believe pressure on the JJP within the party to withdraw its support to the state government has been gaining as the BJP Central leadership has been adopting a 'tough posture' on its three agricultural laws. Besides the JJP's 10 legislators, seven independent MLAs had also extended support to the BJP, helping it reach a tally of 57 seats in the 90-member Assembly. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning [January 27, 2021] TransferWise and Visa Announce Global Partnership Following Successful Collaboration on Cloud Technology Visa (NYSE: V) and TransferWise today announced a global partnership and the first use of Visa Cloud Connect, a new way for fintechs and partners to securely connect Visa's global processing network, VisaNet, through the cloud. Visa Cloud Connect underpins a new global agreement between Visa and TransferWise that will enable the expansion of TransferWise's multi-currency debit cards in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, U.K. and U.S. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006164/en/ The TransferWise multi-currency account allows consumers and businesses to hold and convert 55 currencies at the real exchange rate. The multi-currency debit card lets customers spend and withdraw directly from any of the currency balances. Expanding the offering into new markets would have previously required significant investment in local data centers, telecommunications infrastructure and specialized payment hardware. With Visa Cloud Connect, TransferWise can quickly establish a secure connection to VisaNet through its cloud provider, eliminating the need for costly local connectivity and speeding up TransferWise's roll out plans. "The TransferWise team came to us last year with a challenge: enable the global rollout of their debit card program, and do it entirely in the cloud," said Jack Forestell, executive vice president and chief product officer, Visa. "It was an exciting opportunity for us to partner with TransferWise and show how we're thinking and working differently to help today's fintech innovators scale up quickly. With Visa Cloud Connect, we've created an approach that lets TransferWise tap into Visa's global infrastructure-one of the most secure, reliable and resilient systems in the world-through a single integration. Through our work with TransferWise, we've created a blueprint for other fintechs to quickly and securely connect with Visa's massive scale and reach." "We've been working to remove borders in the world's financial networks. Cards should work the same across borders too. In Visa, we found a partner who shares our ambitions to make money work seamlessly no matter where you are. We're excited to see how the outcome of our collaboration impacts the next generation of multinational financial institutions across the globe," said Kristo Kaarmann, TransferWise co-founder and CEO. p> Connecting Visa's state-of-the art infrastructure with the cloud Today, global card programs expanding into multiple countries require investment in local data centers using specialized hardware and telecommunications infrastructure as well as coordination with local partners to adhere to regional standards. This can slow down new rollouts and delay customer adoption. Visa's new Visa Cloud Connect platform provides a secure cloud-based connection to VisaNet, including a unified certification and testing framework, Visa-hosted security services such as transaction encryption and PIN key management, and simplified settlement in local markets. This combination of technology and services simplifies global connectivity and testing, lowers IT costs through cloud integration, and speeds time to market for launching programs in new geographies. This is particularly beneficial for new types of clients like TransferWise who have been operating on cloud-based systems from their inception. Visa Cloud Connect is currently in pilot phase with TransferWise and is slated for global availability for other clients in August 2021. TransferWise Multi-currency Account TransferWise, now 4-years profitable, serving 10 million customers and moving $6 billion in cross-border transactions every month, will be the first company to integrate globally with Visa via a single integration. This will dramatically speed up TransferWise's plans to rollout to customers the debit cards that accompany its multi-currency account in a host of new markets. Since launching the TransferWise multi-currency account in 2018, the company has issued more than 1 million debit cards through existing processors and partners. The account and card help people and businesses avoid high foreign transaction fees and costly exchange rates when travelling, managing their money in multiple currencies, or doing business across borders. About Visa Visa (NYSE: V) is the world's leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews. About TransferWise TransferWise is a global technology company that's building the best way to move money around the world. Whether you're sending money to another country, spending money abroad, or making and receiving international business payments, TransferWise is on a mission to make your life easier and save you money. The TransferWise account is the first multi-currency account for travelers, expats and freelancers that allows customers to hold, spend and send money in 55 currencies at the real exchange rate, with local bank details to receive funds in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Europe and Hungary. Co-founded by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann, TransferWise launched in 2011. It is one of the world's fastest growing tech firms having raised over $1 billion in primary and secondary transactions from investors such as D1 Capital Partners, Lead Edge, Lone Pine, Vitruvian, IVP, Merian Chrysalis Investment Company Ltd, Andreessen Horowitz, Sir Richard Branson, Valar Ventures and Max Levchin from PayPal (News - Alert) . View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006164/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Peter Doocy, Fox Newss White House correspondent, has asked Joe Biden tough questions. (Fox News) There were so few press conferences during the Trump administration that at one point the podium in the press briefing room was literally gathering cobwebs. The Biden administration has resumed regular press briefings, and no journalist so far has made more of an impression in the Brady Briefing Room than Fox Newss Peter Doocy. Hes quickly developed a reputation for asking the president tough questions and occasionally provoking mildly annoyed responses from top officials. Still, its worlds away from the tense media relationship with the last White House, where the president wrote off all but the most fawning coverage on Fox and Newsmax as fake news, and a perhaps preview of a new dynamic in Washington. Here are some of Mr Doocys most memorable exchanges so far. One early indication that a more open dialogue was coming back could be found in Doocys exchange with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki over coronavirus travel bans. On Monday, the Biden administration banned noncitizen travel from South Africa, and extended similar bans from the Trump administration on nations like Brazil, Europe, and Britain over new, highly contagious coronavirus variants. Read more: Follow all the latest live Biden administration news updates and analysis "When president Trump was imposing travel restrictions in March, specifically on China then candidate Biden called it 'xenophobic' and 'fear-mongering, the Fox White House correspondent asked. Now, President Biden is putting travel restrictions on people coming in from other countries. What word do we use to describe that?" The press secretary responded that the question wasnt quite a fair articulation, arguing Mr Biden opposed the Muslim travel ban, which he recently overturned, as xenophobic, and had criticised the previous presidents coronavirus bans on travel from China as an incomplete and stigmatising solution. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. In another exchange on Monday about coronavirus, Mr Biden acknowledged the hard-nosed reporters style directly. After a question about whether the president could live up to his campaign promises that he would tackle the pandemic in short order, Mr Biden said, I know he always asks me tough questions, and he always has an edge to them, but I like him anyway," before saying he wasnt overselling his ability to tackle Covid. Story continues This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Yet another memorable moment came a day later on Tuesday. As Mr Biden was walking away, after signing executive orders aimed at addressing racial inequity, Doocy shouted out, "Mr President, what did you talk to Vladimir Putin about?" following news that the leaders had a recent phone call. Mr Biden responded, You. He sent his best. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. The president seemed a bit peeved at the question, but fellow White House journalists at the Washington Post and New York Times thought it was fair. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Things got off to a testy start almost instantly between the reporter and the administration, after Doocy peppered the press secretary with questions over why the Biden family wasnt masked at inauguration festivities, despite Mr Bidens repeated calls to mask up and a federal order requiring masks on federal property. I think we have bigger issues to worry about at this moment in time, Ms Psaki said. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Doocy was named White House correspondent for the network earlier this month. Hes the son of Steve Doocy, co-host of Fox Newss Fox and Friends, perhaps President Trumps favourite show on the network before he eventually disavowed Fox for reporting that Mr Biden was winning the election. The young Doocy is no stranger to asking memorable questions. In 2008, as a student at Villanova University, he asked John McCain, on campus for a speech, whether he wanted to get a shot of whiskey together once the event was over. He paused and had this great reaction. He collected himself, and he eventually came around to saying that it was one of the two best questions he had heard in the entire campaign. As a college junior, this was so cool to hear, Doocy told the Villanova alumni magazine. The last four years of interactions between the press and the president have been downright toxic, with the White House relentlessly attacking journalists as dishonest and the enemy of the people, while often going weeks or months without the president and top officials taking formal questions. Mr Trump also regularly singled out female journalists of colour for abuse as stupid and nasty, and the White House briefly banned CNN journalist Jim Acosta, who had a habit of asking hard questions of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders that would later go viral. The president kept on attacking the press right up until his speech to the rioters who eventually stormed the Capitol on 6 January, lambasting his favourite target, the fake news media, who wouldnt affirm his outright lie to his supporters that he won the election but for a rigged process. The Biden administration has promised to bring trust and transparency back to the briefing room. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Under the Obama administration, where Mr Biden served as vice president, more people were prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act for leaking classified information, which often wound up turning into major news stories, than under all previous administrations at the time. The federal government also seized journalists communications without notice for national security reasons, and surveilled a Fox News journalist it argued was a co-conspirator for receiving leaked information, a move the New York Times editorial board wrote in 2013 was beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news. [January 27, 2021] On-Demand Vehicle Servicing App For Hodaka Makes Finding a Mechanic As Easy As ABC SINGAPORE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A leading Singapore motorcycle and scooter wholesaler, Hodaka Motoworld, has made it extremely convenient for vehicle owners to zero in on the right vehicle mechanic and servicing dealer. Their recently launched app "Mechanic Finder" which was developed by a leading app developer, HokuApps, makes it very easy to find a low-priced mechanic to repair vehicles as well as book a servicing slot as per one's convenience. Getting a vehicle repaired or serviced to one's complete satisfaction was never easier, with an app like this. This app can help the vehicle owners get quotes from a number of mechanics and empowering them to go with the one who offers the best terms. Furthermore, the app lets you book an appointment at a time slot that best suits your schedule. The reviews feature enables customers to rate the service rendered by the mechanic in question enabling clients to make informed choices, with regard to hiring a mechanic. Established in 1999, Hodaka Motoworld Pte Ltd provides the largest range of motorcycle helmets, motorcycle jackets, motorcycle parts, and accessories for motorcyclists. James Lim "In our line of motorcycle and scooter wholesaling as well as the retailing of automotive spare parts and accessories, we attach great importance to customer satisfaction. We decided to address the important need of getting one's vehicle conveniently serviced by a dealer who offers the best possible terms. In this regard, I am happy to state that HokuApps has come up with a great app in the shape of a Mechanic Finder. I am sure that this will prove to be quite popular among vehicle owners in Singapore, owing to its great features." The "Mechanic Finder" app is live on both iOS and Android app store and will prove to be a boon to busy Singapore residents, looking to conveniently book a servicing slot for their vehicles with a dealer that offers the best service at the most economic terms. No longer will they have to individually contact multiple dealers to zero in on the right one. The app's features comprise convenient workflows in terms of product cart, customer's job, dealer bidding for the jobs, job confirmation & scheduling, and job completion & encashment request that makes the whole process of finding the right dealer for the job at hand quite easy and convenient to manage. According to Arif Gafar, Director of HokuApps, the emerging and very well-regarded rapid app development platform, "The brief from our client Hodaka Motoworld was quite clear. They wanted us to develop an on-demand vehicle service app that would make booking a car servicing slot with the dealer of one's choice very easy". About HokuApps HokuApps helps businesses to turn their business ideas into elegant mobile applications at an incredible speed. HokuApps develops the most technologically advanced and secure omnichannel applications, with an excellent user experience, empower employees with actionable insights wherever they are and whenever they need it. It helps seamlessly connect to anything and everything, build an app once and deploy it on all the platforms. SOURCE HokuApps [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [January 27, 2021] Paperless Parts Launches Search Function to Make Quoting Manufacturing Jobs Faster and More Accurate Paperless Parts, the leading secure, cloud-based sales and quoting platform for job shops and contract manufacturers, today announced the latest enhancement to its quoting platform: Paperless Search. This new feature empowers estimators to prepare more accurate and consistent quotes by easily finding and referencing data from historical quotes and past jobs. According to a recent Paperless Parts survey of more than 400 U.S. manufacturing part buyers and engineers within procurement, 67% of respondents expect a quote in less than 24 hours and only 6% of respondents are willing to wait longer than three days. This data shows that manufacturers must return RFQs as quickly as possible or risk their chances of winning the job. However, many job shops and contract manufacturers still use manual tools and outdated processes that make it hard to engineer quotes and often overlook existing materials within the organization that could be helpful in speeding up response time and providing consistent and accurate quotes. Paperless Search addresses these challenges by breaking data out of locked filing cabinets and helping make sense of it by putting it into a single, searchable and secure database. Manufacturers can now easily find all data and files loaded into the Paperless Parts platform, including historical quoting and parts information, in a digital format. This ability to search anything not only improves customer service by enabling a prompt response to RFQs, but also empowers the shop's front office to field inquiries efficiently because they can reference previous parts, quotes and orders quickly. "As consumers, we often take for granted the ability to easily find the information we need in seconds by entering a few hsty keywords," said Jason Ray, co-founder and CEO at Paperless Parts. "For resource-strapped manufacturing shops, that is a luxury they have longed for when going through the tedious process of estimating jobs. Paperless Search is a powerful tool that will only become more valuable as data capture and analytics become more prevalent in modern machine shops and we are eager to see how much more nimble our customers can be armed with the information uncovered in their searches." Additional features of Paperless Search include: Unlimited Data Capture - This feature makes every word in a user's account searchable, including information such as comments in collaborative chat tools; part names and quality certifications on prints from past jobs; and file names. Users can search for exact words or portions of words. Data Transformation (News - Alert) - Paperless Parts turns raw data into meaningful insight, such as connecting critical tolerances from technical drawings to quote items; supporting file names to jobs won; and chat conversations to specific parts. Results are also ranked using a fine-tuned scoring algorithm to deliver the most relevant results. As a result, users can type plain-English terms into the search box and easily find technical information or other details buried in the data of past quotes and jobs. Display and Location Markers - For ease of use, all search results are displayed by highlighting exactly what terms matched. Clicking a result will take the user directly to a detailed view of the matched entity, which may be a part in the 3D viewer or a quote item. Users can also look at other fields to quickly zero in on supporting data, such as grouping quote items by their materials or customer name for identification. "Paperless Search saves a lot of time," said Bill Berrien, Chief Executive Officer at Pindel Global Precision, Inc. and Liberty Precision Manufacturing Technologies, both Paperless Parts customers. "The ability to search every word in our Paperless Parts account, including data that used to be trapped on PDF drawings, has significantly increased our efficiency in the estimating process by giving us the ability to quickly reference past data. The ability to rapidly search technical data in the given quote, in addition to past quotes, is a key component in the manufacturing value stream and a major step shops need to take when thinking about adopting industry 4.0 technologies and leveraging the digital thread through their operations. Through this feature, Paperless Parts has made that possible." Paperless Search is available immediately to all Paperless Parts customers. To learn more or schedule a demo, visit www.paperlessparts.com. About Paperless Parts Paperless Parts empowers job shop and contract manufacturers to modernize and grow using the company's secure, ITAR compliant cloud-based estimating platform. The software streamlines manufacturers' existing workflows by combining business process automation tools and a proprietary geometric pricing engine to power configurable formulas that drive estimating consistency and accuracy. The platform integrates with ERP systems to level up front office business operations and customer communication, and enables more efficient responses to RFQs for a variety of manufacturing processes including: sheet-metal fabrication, CNC machining, and additive manufacturing. Over 1 million files have been uploaded and analyzed through the platform to support the estimating process for manufacturers providing components and assemblies for the aerospace and defense, medical, semiconductors and industrials sectors. Privately funded by manufacturing industry experts, Paperless Parts was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Boston. Learn more at paperlessparts.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005231/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Investors in Indivior celebrated after the pharmaceuticals group and its former parent company Reckitt Benckiser put an end to a bitter and costly legal battle. Dettol-maker Reckitt has dropped a 1billion claim related to a US probe after Indivior agreed to pay it 36million over the next five years. Both have also agreed to drop all liabilities against one another in a settlement that will save them millions in legal costs. Lawsuit: Indivior has spent years wrangling with US authorities, who accused the company of fraudulently marketing its bestselling opioid addiction treatment suboxone Indivior has spent years wrangling with US authorities, who accused it of fraudulently marketing its best-selling opioid addiction treatment suboxone by underplaying safety risks. It is one of the few corporate prosecutions related to the US prescription opioid epidemic, which has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths. Last year Indivior agreed to pay 440million to settle the case and a former boss pleaded guilty to fraud charges, landing him jail time and fines. Indivior was spun out of Reckitt in 2014 but because a lot of the charges related to actions carried out before the separation, Reckitt also faced lawsuits and eventually reached a 1billion settlement with US authorities last year. Stock Watch - Getech Energy software group Getech is trying to find the best places to put hydrogen fuel hubs in the UK, under an agreement with hydrogen supplier H2 Green. There is a growing push for buses and lorries to switch from polluting diesel fuels to more eco-friendly hydrogen. But a major shift is not yet feasible because there are so few refuelling points. Shares rose 85.3 per cent, or 11.6p, to 25.2p on news of the deal, which gives Getech the option to buy H2 Green for up to 1million. Reckitt said it had the right to claim this back from Indivior. But this has now been scrapped under the truce, which was announced after the market closed on Monday. The resolution sent Indivior shares 13.1 per cent higher, up 16.8p, to 144.7p, which meant it topped the FTSE 350 leaderboard. But the terms were less well received by Reckitts backers. Shares fell 2.7 per cent, or 178p, to 6376p, making it the largest faller on the FTSE 100. The wider market rose, with the Footsie closing up 0.2 per cent, or 15.16 points, at 6654.01, and the FTSE 250 0.5 per cent higher, up 97.95 points, to 20,448.36. Airlines and travel groups were back in favour after a bruising start to the week, when their shares were whacked by the Government mulling plans to introduce expensive quarantines for people coming into the UK. Easyjet rose 0.3 per cent, or 1.8p, to 730.4p, while British Airways-owner IAG was virtually flat at 139.95p and Jet2 climbed 3 per cent, or 37p, to 1255p. But Whitbread was knocked after JP Morgan analysts said that although the hotel chain will be the first to recover from the crisis because of its focus on the UK, it will take until 2024-2025 for room revenues to get back to 2019 levels. The Holiday Inn-owner slid 3.3 per cent, or 100p, to 2935p. Elsewhere, the effects of the third lockdown weighed on sushi and sandwich-maker Greencore. It reported a 15pc drop in revenue during its first quarter, when it made 313million in the 13 weeks to December 25. It said the latest Covid measures meant total turnover fell 20 per cent and sales of its food-to-go products were 35 per cent lower. This is less extreme than during the first full lockdown but not enough of a silver lining to keep Greencore in the black. The stock fell 2.8 per cent, or 3.3p, to 113.2p. Irn Bru-maker AG Barr said annual profits would be higher than expected even though it will take a hit from closures of pubs and restaurants. But the trading update for the year ended January 24 failed to make AG Barrs shares fizz. It closed 0.7 per cent higher, up 3.5p, at 500p. Astrazeneca (up 0.7 per cent, or 55p, to 7952p) received a boost after its mild asthma treatment, symbicort, was approved in China. It came as the pharmaceuticals heavyweight was embroiled with a battle with German newspaper Handelsblatt over claims its Covid vaccine is only 8 per cent effective for those over the age of 65, which Astra vehemently denies. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. Exports of agricultural food from Ukraine in January-November 2020 decreased 0.3% compared to the same period in 2019, to $20 billion, the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture said on Tuesday, citing data of the State Statistics Service. "During the reporting period, Ukraine supplied agricultural food to the EU for the amount of $5.8 billion, or 28.9% of the total export of such products," Economy Minister Ihor Petrashko said in a statement. According to the State Statistics Service, in addition to the EU, the largest importers of Ukrainian agri-food products in January-November 2020 were China with $3.1 billion, India with $1.3 billion, Egypt with $1.3 billion and Turkey with $0.9 billion. Over the period, cereals, oil and meat products were exported most of all. In addition, the supply of sunflower oil, barley, wheat, honey, fruits and nuts, bakery and confectionery products increased, the ministry said. As previously reported by the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), the export of agricultural food products from Ukraine in 2019 amounted to $22.2 billion, which is 19% more than in 2018. According to its data, over the year the share of agri-food products of total exports from the country amounted to 44%. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration will work to safeguard American telecoms networks from "untrusted vendors" like Huawei Technologies Co Ltd that threaten national security, the White House said on Wednesday, offering some insight into its plans for China's top telecoms equipment company, long in Washington's crosshairs. "Telecommunications equipment made by untrusted vendors, including Huawei, is a threat to the security of the U.S. and our allies," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in a daily briefing. "We'll ensure that the American telecommunications network...do not use equipment from untrusted vendors and we'll work with allies to secure their telecommunications networks and make investments to expand production of telecommunications equipment by trusted U.S. and allied companies," she added. Huawei declined to comment and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Questions have swirled about how Democratic President Joe Biden, who took office earlier this month, will handle Huawei. The company has been accused by Washington of being capable of spying on customers, as well as intellectual property theft and sanctions violations. Huawei has denied wrongdoing. Biden's predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, placed the company on a trade blacklist and led a global campaign to convince allies to exclude it from their networks. The remarks come after Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, Biden's nominee to head the U.S. Commerce Department, raised red flags among China hardliners in Washington on Tuesday by refusing to commit to keeping Huawei on the U.S. economic blacklist overseen by the agency. Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, a China hardliner with no role in the confirmation proceedings, called on the Senate on Wednesday to put a freeze on the Raimondo process until the Biden administration gives a clear answer on whether it plans to keep Huawei on the blacklist. Story continues "We need a Commerce Department with strong national security credentials and a Secretary with a clear understanding of the (Chinese) threat," he said in a statement. "Until they make their intentions clear on whether they will keep Huawei on the Entity List, I urge my Senate colleagues to hold Ms. Raimondos confirmation." The Senate Commerce Committee said Wednesday it will vote Feb. 3 on Raimondo's nomination. (Reporting by Jeff Mason, Nandita Bose and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Additional Reporting by David Shepardonson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy) A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. VayuAI Logo Vayus proprietary technology retires the current model of one drone per human operator, said Jim Kiles, CEO of VayuAI. This will enable a more scalable and autonomous fleet capable of executing the most challenging missions. AFWERX, the catalyst for fostering innovation within the U.S. Air Force, announced VayuAI as one of the 179 participating teams selected from across the globe competing to Reimagining Energy for the DoD. The AFWERX Challenge is centered around six topics - Fixed and Mobile Energy Generation, Energy Transmission and Distribution, Fixed and Mobile Energy Storage, New Warfighting and Operational Equipment, Data Availability for Improved Planning and Decision Making, and Energy Culture, Policy, and Education. The proposals selected to advance represent innovative solutions to allow for more effective warfighting and humanitarian missions less reliant on fossil fuels. Located in San Francisco, VayuAI is competing in the New Warfighting and Operational Equipment alongside a diverse group of teams - originating from the vast regions of North America, Europe, Australia and other allied countries that represent entrepreneurial startups, small businesses, large enterprises, academic institutions and research labs all vying to Reimagine Energy for the Department of Defense. The AFWERX Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenge is critical to our mission of increasing collaboration between large businesses and entrepreneurs to accelerate solutions for the Air Force, stated Mark Rowland of AFWERX. On behalf of AFWERX and the Department of Defense, we congratulate the teams advancing to the next phase. Their contributions are invaluable and have the potential to create game-changing results across the Air Force enterprise. The New Warfighting and Operational Equipment Challenge strives to radically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and create non-fossil fueled vehicles and equipment. The Department of Defense (DoD) consumes large amounts of operational and facility energy to provide a combat-credible force. The DoD is one of the largest single consumers of energy globally, and the Air Force is the largest user of fuel energy in the US Government. The way we generate, transmit, store, and use this enormous amount of energy today is both a paramount combat enabler and a potentially crippling vulnerability. VayuAIs cloud-based platform will reduce labor-intensive tasks by enabling drones to autonomously and safely navigate their environment and perform their work. VayuAI enables drones and robotic ground vehicles to maneuver without risk of collision- in all weather, day or night. This breakthrough will allow the Air Force to transfer appropriate manned truck, helicopter, and fixed-wing aircraft missions to smaller and more efficient autonomous vehicles, with significant savings in fuel and manpower. VayuAIs proprietary technology retires the current model of one drone per human operator, said Jim Kiles, CEO of VayuAI. This will enable a more scalable and autonomous fleet capable of executing the most challenging missions. To learn more about the Reimagining Energy for the DoD Challenges, click here ABOUT VayuAI VayuAIs cloud-based AI enables connected machines to work better together to dramatically enhance outcomes. Solutions are focused on Drones and Wind Energy. Learn more at vayuai.com. ABOUT AFWERX Established in 2017, AFWERX is a product of the U.S. Air Force, directly envisioned by former Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. Her vision of AFWERX to solve some of the toughest challenges that the Air Force faces through innovation and collaboration amongst our nations top subject matter experts. AFWERX serves as a catalyst to unleash new approaches for the warfighter through a growing ecosystem of innovators. AFWERX and the U.S. Air Force are committed to exploring viable solutions and partnerships to further strengthen the Air Force, which could lead to additional prototyping, R&D, and follow-on production contracts. ### Media Contacts: Neil Cohen Neil@vayuai.com AFWERX Media Contacts: support@afwerxchallenge.com Marketing@afwerx.af.mil The conventional hydraulic braking system is bowing out after being an integral part of automotive history for more than a century.Like internal combustion engines, its being replaced by less mechanically complex, yet highly efficient electronics as we enter a new era of mobility. In this new age, such systems are not only required to stop a vehicle but also aid multiple safety features and provide energy recuperation for the powertrain.Due to the push for electrification, many new companies have joined the industry in recent years, seemingly overnight, while established manufacturers such as ZF have also shifted their focus and successfully adapted to the latest requirements.As part of their strategy to provide a wide range of components for current and future EVs, the Friedrichshafen-based company known for its widely used automatic gearboxes has developed an advanced brake control system already in use on VWs ID.3 and ID.4 models."We meet the trend toward electromobility with our entire range of technological solutions not just in driveline technology," says Wolf-Henning Scheider, CEO of ZF Group.Benefiting from an optimized interface, ZF states that the system can be effortlessly incorporated into the vehicles electronic architecture and will also provide stopping power and efficient energy recuperation to all future EVs built on the Groups MEB platform It replaces previously necessary mechanical components with software functions, which translates to compact units and reduced cost.The braking system for a battery-electric vehicle utilizes intelligent integration in a number of ways, said Manfred Meyer, Senior Vice President for Engineering of ZFs Active Safety division. For example, we can eliminate the need for a mechanical locking mechanism in the drivetrain and keep the vehicle in park mode through software that controls this function within the ESC and redundantly in the Electronic Brake Booster unit. The brake system itself helps ensure that the car cannot move this saves cost and results in less weight.The system is also fully compatible with advanced driver assists that require automatic emergency braking, a crucial feature for current and future safety requirements.From a technical standpoint, the brake architecture uses ZFs electronic brake booster (EBB) for enhanced brake actuation and its latest generation EBC470 electronic stability control (ESC) to help stabilize the vehicle in challenging road conditions.Additionally, the company claims that the ESC and EBB software is so well-calibrated and optimized that the difference in brake pedal feel is almost nonexistent to the driver during energy recuperation.On VWs MEB platform, the system is part of a software network stored in the stability control unit which meets the rigorous safety standards of the European road safety association (EuroNCAP).Founded in 1915, ZF Friedrichshafen AG made a name for itself by providing innovative manual and automatic transmissions to a large number of carmakers. Apart from driveline solutions and braking systems, the company also manufactures steering systems or chassis components such as shock absorbers, cross-axis joints, or full axle modules. Hannan University LINE Official Account Rich Menu Users can receive relevant information tailored for them based on their student information, such as their grades and faculties via LINE, and check information anytime, anywhere 24/7 by a chatbot. transcosmos inc. and transcosmos online communications inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President: Hiroshi Kaizuka) are proud to announce that the two companies offered "KANAMETO," a Digital Transformation (DX) tool powered by LINE, to Hannan University (Osaka, Japan; President: Hiroshi Tagami) on December 21, 2020, thereby helping the university strengthen communication with its students and their parents by using LINE. Hannan University opened "Hannan University LINE Official Account (Account name: Hannan University Info)" on December 21, 2020. Using the account, the university sends out segmented LINE messages to its students and parents to provide various information such as course registration procedures, class policies, and Covid-19 related content. In addition, the university offers chatbot services to enable both students and parents to solve frequently asked questions in a Q&A format. By sending out a diverse range of information effectively, Hannan University aims to make university life more convenient for students, and enhance collaboration with parents in their children's learning processes. The LINE official account is designed for "students" and "parents" alike, enabling parents and the university to collaborate in assisting students' learning process with a single LINE official account. Hannan University has prepared two sets of rich menu, one for students and the other for parents, making it easier for students and parents to access the information they need. As the novel coronavirus disease continues to spread, information from the university is drawing greater attention not only from the students but also from their parents than ever before. Against this backdrop, Hannan University offers a framework that gives access to students and parents to the same information via LINE which claims 86 million monthly active users (*). (*) As of September, 2020. Users can receive relevant information tailored for them based on their student information such as their grades and faculties via LINE. To enable users to readily check information anytime, anywhere 24/7, chatbot services are also available for topics that receive many inquiries from both students and parents such as "teaching methods," "assignments," "attendance and absence," "class cancellations and make-up classes," "teaching tools," "network environment" and "classrooms." "KANAMETO" is a LINE-powered DX tool developed and offered by transcosmos online communications inc., a joint-stock company between transcosmos, LINE Corporation and salesforce.com Co., Ltd. Equipped with a questionnaire feature, KANAMETO enables businesses to deliver segmented messages based on user attributes collected via this feature in addition to a chatbot feature for having one-on-one chat communication with multiple LINE users simultaneously. By adding a new feature to integrate KANAMETO with Salesforce Service Cloud in October 2019, it became easier to visualize customer service performance and to perform analysis to increase productivity. Moreover, in May 2020, transcosmos online communications launched a reporting feature specifically designed for local governments through which their citizens can report issues they have found related to public road and park conditions. transcosmos is a trademark or registered trademark of transcosmos inc. in Japan and other countries. Other company names and product or services names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of respective companies. About transcosmos online communications inc. transcosmos online communications inc. was founded in May 2016 as a joint-stock company between transcosmos inc. and LINE Corporation. In October 2017, the company received investment from Salesforce Ventures, an investment arm of salesforce.com, Inc. transcosmos online communications aims to deliver diverse solutions and services that build a better and stronger relationship between businesses and users through leveraging LINE's platform user base and transcosmos's sales and development capabilities. The company's ultimate vision is to make their communication platform a new de facto standard for communication between businesses and users. In September, 2017, transcosmos online communications released "KANAMETO," its proprietary segmented messaging tool compatible with LINE Official Accounts. Visit us here (Japanese only): https://transcosmos-online.com/ About transcosmos inc. transcosmos launched its operations in 1966. Since then, we have combined superior "people" with up-to-date "technology" to enhance the competitive strength of our clients by providing them with superior and valuable services. transcosmos currently offers services that support clients' business processes focusing on both sales expansion and cost optimization through our 169 bases across 30 countries/regions with a focus on Asia, while continuously pursuing Operational Excellence. Furthermore, following the expansion of the e-commerce market on the global scale, transcosmos provides a comprehensive One-Stop Global E-Commerce services to deliver our clients' excellent products and services in 48 countries/regions around the globe. transcosmos aims to be the "Global Digital Transformation Partner" of our clients, supporting the clients' transformation by leveraging digital technology, responding to the ever-changing business environment. https://www.trans-cosmos.co.jp/english/ THREE people were issued with Fixed Charged Penalty Notices last night after they met up for a 'night swim' in Castleconnell. According to gardai, the trio travelled around 20 kilometres for the late-night dip - in breach of the current Covid-19 travel restrictions. "Castleconnell gardai issued fines to 3 people this evening who travelled 20 odd km to meet up for a night swim," read a post on social media. Gardai have not said if the three travelled from outside of County Limerick or if they encountered them before or after they entered the water. Yesterday, Taiseach Micheal Martin confirmed the current restrictions will remain in place until at least March 5. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on January 27, 2021 2021/01/27 China News Service: The China-Europe freight train left Yiwu for Europe only recently, which is the first one this year carrying COVID-19 prevention supplies on board. The year 2020 witnessed for the first time that the China-Europe Railway Express completed more than 10,000 services annually. It has played an important role in smoothing global industrial chains, meeting the needs of people in countries along the route, and opening up a "cargo lifeline" for China and European countries to fight the virus together. Can you give us more details on that? Zhao Lijian: That's a good summary. Indeed, across the Eurasian continent where there was the ancient Silk Road for camel caravans on their trade routes, there's now the China-Europe Railway Express hailed as a "steel camel fleet". As an important symbol of BRI cooperation, the China-Europe Railway Express has become a major transportation channel and a green lane connecting Asia and Europe with unique advantages of high efficiency, large rail networks and all-weather operation. Amid the pandemic, the sustained, orderly and smooth China-Europe freight train service illustrates the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, and injects China's strength into global efforts to combat COVID-19 and revitalize the economy. We express congratulations on the successful operation of the first China-Europe freight train in the new year. We hope it will bring benefits to households along its route across the Eurasian continent, ignite hope for the world to defeat the virus at an early date, and contribute more outcomes to the BRI cooperation. Reuters: Indonesia recently seized an Iranian-flagged oil tanker and another oil tanker Freya over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country's waters. The tanker Freya, managed by a Shanghai company, had 25 Chinese crew members on board. Has the foreign ministry contacted Indonesia for the 25 Chinese nationals detained? Can you tell us more about it? Zhao Lijian: We read this from reports. Our embassy in Indonesia learned from the Indonesian side that there were indeed 25 Chinese crew members on the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker seized by Indonesia, who are in sound physical condition. The embassy expressed concerns to Indonesia, asking it to verify the situation of the Chinese seafarers and formally notify the Chinese side as soon as possible, investigate the case in a lawful and just manner, and guarantee the health, safety and legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese nationals. Our embassy will continue closely following the investigation and provide assistance to the pertinent crew members. Phoenix TV: The new U.S. administration has named climate change one of its top priorities, and announced it will return to the Paris Agreement. But there are voices inside the U.S. that accuse China of inadequate actions on this issue. What is your response? Zhao Lijian: Last year, China announced that we aim to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. We also announced four new measures to scale up nationally determined contributions (NDCs), namely lowering carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, increasing the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption, increasing the forest stock volume, and stepping up total installed capacity of wind and solar power. This series of major policies, designed in accordance with our national condition and capacity, represent our best efforts in dealing with climate change. They meet the Paris Agreement article on the NDCs reflecting the highest possible ambition of each Party, showcase China's firm determination to actively address climate change and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and have contributed to the global climate change endeavor, thus winning wide acclaim from the international community. How do we measure China's climate actions? Let's put them in perspective with two examples. First, China is the largest developing country in the world, but the target time China has set for itself to reach carbon neutrality is only 10 years behind that of major developed countries. Second, most developed countries have pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, which means it will take them 60 years to traverse the path from carbon peaking to neutrality. As China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and strives to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, it will only take China about 30 years. Such comparison heightens the extraordinary commitment and efforts on the part of China. China is set to make strenuous efforts to realize these goals. The United States has emitted more carbon dioxide than any other country and is still a major emitter. The former U.S. administration took a big step back with regard to its climate actions. It pulled out of the Paris Agreement and denied its obligations in funding emission-cutting endeavors, which seriously crippled international ambitions and efforts on climate change. China hopes the U.S. side will fill in the gap left over from the past four years, submit ambitious NDC targets and long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy under the Paris Agreement, so as to assure the international community that it is serious about climate change. To truly realize the goals of the Paris Agreement calls for revolutionary technological innovation and breakthroughs, as well as joint actions and deepened cooperation between countries under multilateral frameworks. China will always keep its door wide open for dialogue and cooperation. RIA Novosti: Russian and U.S. presidents during their phone call yesterday discussed both countries' willingness to extend the New START treaty for the next five years. Today the Russian side said that countries agreed to extend the treaty without any conditions. I'm wondering what's China comment on this? Zhao Lijian: The Chinese side welcomes the extension of the New START treaty as agreed by the United States and Russia. It is conducive to upholding global strategic stability and promoting international peace and security, which meets the aspiration of the international community. We hope the two sides will complete the relevant procedures regarding the extension as soon as possible. In the meantime, as countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, Russia and the United States still possess more than 90 percent of nuclear weapons in the world. The two sides should follow the international consensus, fulfill their special and primary responsibilities in nuclear disarmament, and further drastically and substantively reduce their nuclear stockpile, so as to create conditions for realizing general and complete nuclear disarmament. Bloomberg: Gina Raimondo, President Joe Biden's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, said at the Senate confirmation hearing that the United States must take aggressive steps to combat China's unfair trade practices. She cited things such as anti-competitive behaviors, and dumping of cheap steel and aluminum into the U.S. market. Does the foreign ministry have any comment on Ms. Raimondo's remarks during the confirmation hearing? Zhao Lijian: The United States talks a lot about its pursuit of a level playing field and fair trade, but what it has done is quite contrary. In the past few years, the last U.S. administration blatantly engaged in unilateral, protectionist and bullying practices. It waged trade wars, overstretched the concept of national security, abused various excuses and lists, did all it could to suppress Chinese companies, and coerced other countries into giving up their cooperation with Chinese businesses. These practices severely violated international trade rules and the principle of fair competition, undermined normal market order, hurt the rights and interests of Chinese companies, and in the end undermined the interests of American businesses and workers. Of course, the last U.S. administration not only targeted China but also arbitrarily sanctioned and threatened to sanction other countries. Its practice of "America only" has been rejected by the international community. We hope the United States will learn from its lessons, correct the mistakes, earnestly respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, and foster an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies investing and operating in the United States. China will continue taking necessary measures to safeguard our companies' lawful rights and interests. Associated Press of Pakistan: The first information platform for agricultural and industrial cooperation between China and Pakistan was launched online yesterday. Ambassadors and senior officials from both countries attended the launch ceremony. What is your comment? Zhao Lijian: We noted this and want to express our congratulations on it. I was posted to Pakistan twice, and now back in China I am still closely following the development of CPEC. Agriculture is an important area of practical cooperation between China and Pakistan. The leaders of the two countries have agreed to make agriculture one of the priority areas for the next-stage high-quality development of CPEC. The two governments established a joint working group on agricultural cooperation in 2018, and set up a new working group for agriculture under the framework of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee in March 2020, which has produced positive results. China and Pakistan enjoy strong complementarity in the agricultural sector with great potential and broad prospects. China is committed to strengthening agricultural cooperation with Pakistan to boost the economic and social development of the two countries and deliver the fruits of development to the two peoples. We hope and believe that the launch of this information platform will further promote bilateral exchanges and generate more cooperation outcomes. Yonhap News: President Moon Jae-in and President Xi Jinping talked over the phone yesterday. Can you comment on their discussions and China's expectations for future China-ROK relations? Zhao Lijian: President Xi Jinping and President Moon Jae-in had a phone call last night, which is their first phone call in the new year after eight months since they had their last phone conversation. The two presidents had in-depth discussions and reached important consensus on anti-epidemic cooperation, China-ROK ties and other issues, marking a good start for China-ROK exchanges and cooperation in 2021. We believe this phone call will lead both countries in achieving new, major progress in bilateral relations. Reuters: Cavite, a province of the Philippines, canceled its award of a deal involving China Communications Construction Company and a Philippine company to upgrade an airport. What's your comment on this? Zhao Lijian: I'm not aware of the specifics you asked about. I'd like to stress that our government supports Chinese companies in carrying out practical cooperation in the Philippines for win-win results in accordance with laws and regulations. We believe the Philippine side will follow the principle of fairness and justice and provide a favorable environment for Chinese businesses, which serves the common interests of both sides. NHK: The United States has been asking China to join its talks on nuclear disarmament with Russia, including on the New START treaty, but China has refused to do so. Is there any change in China's stance? Zhao Lijian: China's position is consistent and clear. The Paper: According to Japanese media, a senior official of the Japanese foreign ministry told the foreign affairs division of the Liberal Democratic Party on January 26 that the Japanese government does not believe that China has committed "genocide" in Xinjiang. What is China's comment? Zhao Lijian: We have said many times that the so-called "genocide" in Xinjiang is a completely false accusation, a lie concocted by some anti-China forces and a staged farce to smear and defile China. We believe the vast majority of countries in the world are sharp-eyed as they have an objective and fair assessment of Xinjiang's development and the Chinese government's policy on making Xinjiang a stable and prosperous place. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Health and Human Services Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly, will host a video conference at noon Tuesday to provide an update on COVID-19 in California. California is revamping its vaccine delivery system to give the state more control over who gets the shots following intense criticism of a slow and scattered rollout by counties. The states health agency on Tuesday said third-party administrators would take over ordering and distributing vaccine doses, putting an end to a hodgepodge system where each county and hospital system ran its own vaccine delivery program. The move comes after California faced criticism for a slow rollout as coronavirus cases soared and hospital beds filled up with patients in much of the state. Researchers from the University of Sheffield's Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) have been awarded a 1.6 million grant from the Medical Research Council (MRC). The grant will support their partnership with Aclipse Therapeutics to advance the translational development of M102 - a drug candidate for the treatment of motor neuron disease (MND). Neuroprotective properties of M102 were discovered by SITraN researchers in 2013. Preclinical models evidenced the potential for M102 to slow down MND progression, which affects a patient's ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe. The drug candidate activates the NRF2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) and HSF1 (Heat shock factor 1) signalling pathways, which can work in combination to protect motor neurons from injury. M102 has the potential to significantly slow down the disease progression in both familial and sporadic MND patients. The MRC grant will allow us to develop patient stratification biomarkers that will be applied in the M102 clinical studies, potentially enabling a personalised medicine approach in MND. This means that we can identify those who do and do not respond to M102 so we can target the treatment at those MND patients who are most likely to benefit. In addition, we will conduct, in collaboration with Aclipse, all the necessary development needed to reach the clinic. " Dr Richard Mead, Principal Investigator on the Project Co-applicant on the project Dr Laura Ferraiuolo said: "This project will use a methodology developed by my lab team to allow us to identify gene signatures that can discriminate between responders and non-responders to selected drugs. Our future aim is to be able to identify the best drug for each patient, making a huge step forward in drug efficacy and patient wellbeing." Co-applicant on the project Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Director of SITraN and the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre said: "This funding award from the MRC is wonderful news for MND patients who are in desperate need of an effective therapy to address this life-threatening neurodegenerative disease." "Along with my SITraN colleagues, Dr Richard Mead and Dr Laura Ferraiuolo, we led the MND biology research that enabled the development of M102, including the discovery of a potential precision medicine approach for M102 in MND, so we are very appreciative that MRC's funding support will allow us to take this exciting therapeutic approach to human clinical trials." "We greatly appreciate the support from the MRC for our vision for a novel and broad multi-disease pathomechanism approach to treating MND patients," said Raymond K. Houck, CEO of Aclipse Therapeutics. He continued: "The MRC award, coupled with our recent FightMND grant award, accelerates M102's development into its first-in-human clinical studies and validates M102's biology and potential for a precision medicine approach for the treatment of MND. "The research funding from these programs will be key as they will support the completion of our investigational new drug (IND)-enabling work and the regulatory filings for first-in-human studies. Importantly, M102 may have applications in a wide array of conditions associated with impaired neuronal function such as Friedreich's ataxia, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease." MND - also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - affects approximately 5,000 people in the UK and 25,000 people in the US; with numbers expected to rise. MND is a disorder that affects the nerves - or motor neurons - in the brain and spinal cord that form the connection between the nervous system and muscles to enable movement of the body. The messages from these nerves gradually stop reaching the muscles, leading them to weaken, stiffen and eventually waste. Currently, there is no cure for MND and no effective treatments to halt or reverse the progression of this devastating disease. While Numbers better, but no word on reopening (Jan. 25) had some encouraging data about lower COVID-19 infection rates and higher ICU capacity, I think it is too early to lift local restrictions. The new, more contagious, variant in the United Kingdom went from being responsible for a few to the overwhelming percentage of cases within two to three months. During that period the number of cases increased, as did hospitalizations and deaths. That variant is now in California and that same trend line is probably just beginning here. Which is better for our physical and mental health, opening up to only close down again in a few weeks, or staying the course until more people are vaccinated and then finally opening up for good? Stephen Upjohn, San Francisco In-person classes needed Thanks for the praise of teachers and students in Higher education in a pandemic (Insight, Jan. 24). It is truly inspirational to see how many of us made the shift to remote learning in good spirits and with strong measures of success. My co-teacher (Ann Wettrich) at City College of San Francisco and I ended up teaching a course (late start) just when shelter-in-place began, so the students who signed up for our class knew what they were getting into and were completely equipped to handle online learning. It was an extremely successful class, so you can count two more teachers who see the value of online education. But we would eagerly swap in-person learning for the online platform any day. And, yes, there are other faculty who appreciate that they can teach from anywhere, and some students are adept at the switch. But enrollment has plummeted due to the ongoing digital divide. So please temper the celebration. We have lost many students who may never return to college if we dont embrace face-to-face learning in systematic ways once the world opens back up. Leslie Simon, San Francisco Justice must prevail If somebody came to my house and tried to murder me but didnt succeed, I could seek justice to stop him/her from trying it again. Well, former President Donald Trump and his associates in Congress tried to dismantle my/our Democracy. And now they are saying because they did not succeed, there is no need to punish them. Does this really sound correct to you? Anne Smith, Berkeley Not worth impeaching Several people have taken me to task for objecting to proceeding with former President Donald Trumps impeachment. I understand their anger that he hasnt faced the full measure of legal judgment for his malfeasance in office. Yet, history has already and will continue to hold Trump accountable for the way he has polluted the United States and the presidency with his behavior. But heres the thing: We are in a grave national medical crisis that must be addressed immediately, aggressively and wisely by our political leadership. Any time lost pursuing the impeachment is time delayed in addressing this horrible pandemic. Even just one days delay could mean dozens if not hundreds of lives destroyed as a result. Time spent attempting to punish Trump by another impeachment is not worth that. John Stedman, San Francisco Charge cars from home Regarding Newsom changes electric car focus (Front Page, Jan. 23): I contend that the necessary charging stations have already been built. One simplifying aspect of the electric car is that ordinary citizens with electric power at home can, with modest investment, provide a place for charging them. This must be standardized as it is very easy to ruin a lithium-ion battery if it is not charged properly. All one needs is a Lyft- or Airbnb-like app that provides the driver with the locations of willing citizens who are ready to provide electricity and a price. Perhaps people with solar panels may charge less on a sunny day. With government involvement, ordinary citizens may be able to avoid the excessive fee that private companies that provide such services charge; it seems like these companies can ratchet up the fee whenever they feel like it. Nitash Balsara, El Cerrito Revamp our elections I agree that we need to get money out of politics, as Peter Coyote expresses in How to restore faith in our system (Open Forum, Jan. 22). An approach called final five voting might also accomplish this goal. It is designed to make votes matter more than money, it increases competition in elections and makes it more likely that candidates with innovative ideas influence the outcome of elections. The Wisconsin Legislature is considering this approach by first holding open primaries that promote a range of candidates with diverse views and then letting the five candidates with the most votes go on to the general election. The general election then uses ranked choice voting to select the winner, which gives all voters more power to choose the winner. This proposal deserves more attention in our discussions of how to make our election system more democratic and less beholden to monied interests. Margit Birge, Oakland Prosecute Trump slowly Regarding Trump deserves quick conviction (Editorial, Jan. 23): I disagree. I believe former President Donald Trump deserves slow and multiple convictions and jail time for his numerous criminal acts before and during his presidency. These include multiple acts of obstruction of justice documented by the special council in the investigation of Russian interference, campaign finance law violations in paying off his hookers, tax and finance fraud being documented in New York, bribery in the infamous we want you to do us a favor, as documented in his first impeachment and, of course, his incitement of his mob to insurrection, which is the basis for his second impeachment. All of these can be prosecuted in federal and state courts, coordinated by a special independent prosecutor without taking time and energy from Joe Bidens agenda in the Senate. Further, rather than a quick and rancorous fight that would likely provoke violence from Trumps supporters, the effect would be that of a slow boil that would lay out Trumps crimes for all to see. I dont know whether felons can run for president but I dont believe one could be elected. David Posner, Napa Home cooks need help The Bay Area starting in Alameda County has the chance to open up opportunities for home cooks to make a living. The food industry has suffered under the weight of COVID-19. Even before COVID-19, challenges like high costs and competition prevented people like myself, who want to share food with their community, from building a business with meaningful income. As a single mom and food industry professional, I have been looking for a solution. Today, I am able to sell a small menu through an online platform, Shef, but I am limited. Currently, in order for a home cook to sell food, theyd typically have to work out of a commercial kitchen, which is out of reach for many. In the coming weeks, Alameda County has the chance to implement new rules allowing some chefs to fully operate their businesses from home, with strong food-safety standards in place. I support this proposal. As the pandemic continues, home cooks need more flexibility. Allowing some to use their own kitchens, not just commercial spaces, is more critical now than ever. It will help laid off workers and single parents like me land on our feet and earn a meaningful living. Eligible military personnel can save $750 on a new Acura vehicle at Acura of Salem Acura of Salem, a dealership in Salem, OR, is offering the Acura Military Appreciation Offer, which can save eligible military personnel $750 on their purchase of a new Acura vehicle. The Military Appreciation Offer is available from January 2021 through March 31, 2021. Eligible drivers are encouraged to act soon to receive $750 towards any 2020 or newer Acura model at the dealership. This offer must be financed or leased with Acura Financial Services . Eligible military personnel includes U.S. military active-duty personnel including anyone who is in the army, navy, air force, marines, national guard, coast guard and active reserve; military retirees; military ready reserve and military veterans who are within one year of separation from active service. Spouses of any of the qualifying military personnel listed here can also take advantage of this special offer with Acura of Salem. In order to take advantage of this temporary offer, eligible drivers will need to bring proof of their military status to Acura of Salem. For military personnel, this means bringing a Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) as proof of military status. Spouses of eligible military personnel who want to take advantage of this offer should bring a military ID and a spouses LES. Drivers who are interested in this special offer or in viewing more special offers from the dealership are encouraged to check out the Acura of Salem website, acuraofsalem.com. This special offer applies to any new Acura model excluding the Acura NSX. The vehicle must be new and unregistered. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close 18+ FOR.kg search news service (news aggregator, media aggregator) Read first Agreement on the use of the FOR.kg search site When using materials from the FOR.kg - reference to the source is required For all questions please contact customer support EDWARDSVILLE A Southern Illinois University Edwardsville nursing student shot Jan. 14 near campus has died. Moneer Damra, 26, of Chicago, died at Barnes Jewish Medical Center in St. Louis Wednesday morning. He suffered life-threatening injuries in a random act of gun violence off-campus on Jan. 14 and was transported to a regional hospital after a shooting on the ramp from Illinois 157 to Interstate 270 in Glen Carbon. The Madison County States Attorneys office has charged Jacob Godoy, 16, of Woodson Terrace, Missouri, and Jimmy Ortiz, 19, of Hazelwood, in relation to the shooting. Charged as an adult, Godoy faces charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery. Ortiz was charged with aggravated battery. A GoFundMe page was set up by the SIUE Army ROTC Club to support Damra. His goal was to become an Army nurse. Friends and fellow students have described Damra as a beautiful soul, compassionate, a good motivator, and a friend they could count on for encouragement and positivity. Lt. Col. Timothy Clark, SIUE ROTC professor of military science, said Damra possessed the uncommon balance of compassion and drive. He would fiercely compete against his previous best effort, and against you, but he would also encourage you, Clark said. He was absolutely committed to his friends and would do anything for them or with them. Moneer didnt just make you want to be better; somehow he actually made you better. When a person brings that culture to a group, its a beautiful thing to see. Those of us a little older and jaded sometimes embrace the falsehood that one person cant make a difference, but Moneer disproved that daily, Clark said. All that matters to us is you are dependable, show up and do your best. He did his best day-in, day-out and eventually was recognized as one of our best. Details are being finalized for funeral arrangements and an SIUE memorial service. Our thoughts and prayers are with Moneer Damras family and friends as they attempt to deal with this inexplicable tragedy, said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. From all that I know, Moneer was filled with so much potential, had such a big heart and made a positive impact on everyone around him. It is absolutely heartbreaking. AKRON, Ohio The University of Akron announced Wednesday that Mitchell S. McKinney has been named as the dean of the universitys largest college, the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences. McKinney currently works at the University of Missouri as a communication professor and director and founder of its Political Communication Institute. If approved by UAs Board of Trustees at its Feb. 10 meeting, McKinney would begin on July 1. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer have asked the university for the salary that McKinney would be paid. UPDATE: University of Akrons dean of arts and sciences to make $215,000 base salary McKinney will replace Joe Urgo, who has been acting dean of the college and interim senior vice provost. Its a tremendous honor to be named dean of the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Akron, McKinney said in a news release. Colleges of Arts and Sciences serve as the intellectual core of the university; and during such challenging times for higher education, Im eager to begin my partnership with the outstanding BCAS faculty and staff in education, fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and the natural sciences as we serve our students and the Akron and Northeast Ohio communities through our instruction, research and creative endeavors, and engagement activities. At the University of Missouri, McKinney was appointed to several leadership positions including director of graduate studies, chair of the communication department and faculty fellow for academic affairs in the office of the provost. He has also taught at the University of Oklahoma, the University of Kansas, Johnson County Community College in Kansas, Missouri Southern State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. McKinney previously worked as a staff member in the U.S. Senate and White House and has been a political commentator for outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, C-SPAN, NPR and BBC News. Hes a scholar on presidential debates and has served as an advisor to the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates and has advised election commissions in countries including South Korea, Germany, Great Britain and New Zealand. He graduated with two bachelors degrees in speech communication and government from Western Kentucky University, received his masters in communication studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his doctorate in communication studies from the University of Kansas. We are so fortunate to have Mitchell McKinney stepping into this important role, said UA Provost John Wiencek. He is highly regarded by his colleagues for his leadership and scholarship, especially in areas focused on equity and social justice, and I am confident that his expertise and enthusiasm will catalyze a substantial advancement of academic and scholarly excellence within Buchtel College and in service to our students. McKinney said he and his partner, Bryan Pepper, are looking forward to moving to Akron after more than two decades in Missouri. They will move to the Rubber City with their three cats, Bentley, Alley and Charlie. [January 27, 2021] AmTrust Builds Cyber Insurance Team AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. ("AmTrust" or the "Company"), a global specialty property and casualty insurer, today announced that two new professionals, Jeffrey Batt and Michelle Ingrassia, have joined its cyber insurance team headed by Aaron Basilius, Senior Vice President, Cyber. Basilius joined AmTrust in July 2020 from Munich Re where he was Head of Cyber, North America for its large risk corporate division. AmTrust is currently active in this large risk cyber insurance market and is also developing cyber risk solutions for a wide range of small businesses, which will be launched later this year. "In the last year, with cyberattacks and data breaches on the rise, we have seen the demand for cyber insurance grow dramatically, especially in AmTrust's core small business market," said Basilius. "We are delighted that Jeffrey and Michelle have joined our growing team as we build out AmTrust's cyber insurance offerings." Batt joins AmTrust from M&T Bank where he was the Cyber Insurance Practice Leader. Previously, he was Vice President in the Marsh Cyber Practice. From 2010-2016, he was an Associate Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Defense. He holds a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center and a BA from Hamilton College. As VP, Head of Cyber Strategy & Innovation at mTrust, Batt will be responsible for AmTrust's engagement with its customers and business partners and creating risk solutions. Ingrassia joins after seven years with Beazley where she was most recently an attorney for its Cyber & Tech division. Earlier, she was with The Falcigno Group (now TFG Insurance Specialties) in Connecticut. A member of the Connecticut State Bar, she holds a JD cum laude from the Quinnipiac University School of Law and a BA from George Washington University. As VP, Cyber Product & Underwriting Management at AmTrust, she will oversee AmTrust's cyber insurance offerings. AmTrust cyber insurance leader Basilius served as managing counsel for Beazley's Cyber & Tech division from 2010-2018 and, prior to that, practiced law with Wilson Sonsini in Palo Alto (News - Alert) , CA. He holds a JD from the University of Chicago Law School and a BA from Brigham Young University. Basilius concluded, "Our team draws on many years of broad practical experience in the dynamic global cyber insurance market. As cyber risk increasingly affects businesses of all types and sizes, we expect our group and practice to become an important new growth area for AmTrust." About AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., a multinational insurance holding company headquartered in New York, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers' compensation, business owner's policy (BOP), general liability and extended service and warranty coverage. For more information about AmTrust, visit www.amtrustfinancial.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005108/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BRAZIL, Ind (WTHI) Brazil Mayor Brian Wyndham is looking forward to the year ahead. Tuesday he gave his State of the City address on Facebook. He reflected on the city's success despite the pandemic. His plans for the New Year include expanding a new sanitary system and continuing to pave roads and applying for more food grants. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Dutch government has vowed not to bow to those it labelled "scum" and "criminals" after riots against a coronavirus curfew, but who is really responsible for the unrest? Officials and analysts say a diverse mix of people ranging from bored teenagers to hardcore Covid-19 conspiracy theorists are involved in the worst unrest to hit the Netherlands for decades. That is coupled with a long-standing liberal streak in a country already uneasy about its first nationwide curfew since the Nazi occupation during World War II. - Covid sceptics - The Netherlands has a small but vocal group of people who are sceptical about the existence of Covid-19 or its deadliness, and who have held numerous demonstrations over the past year against lockdown restrictions. This group was mainly responsible for illegal demonstrations on Amsterdam's famous Museumplein on Sunday where police used horses, dogs and a water cannon to disperse protesters. "This group is mainly peaceful, but they do have a radical core" that could be prone to violence, Jan-Willem Duyvendak, sociology professor at the University of Amsterdam, told AFP. Mixed into this group are often also "little jerks, who think it's fun taunting the police", added Tom Postmes, social psychology professor at Groningen University. Covid-sceptic theories have been amplified by some politicians, particularly the far-right Forum for Democracy party lead by populist Thierry Baudet. The party recently called on people to "resist" the curfew but Baudet said he condemned the violence. There is also a long tradition of anti-vaccination sentiment among conservative Protestants in the so-called Bible Belt in the central Netherlands -- which includes the fishing village of Urk where the first riots broke out on Saturday night. - Bored youths - The more spontaneous anti-curfew riots that erupted in Rotterdam, the Hague and other cities appeared mainly to have involved disaffected youths, officials and analysts said. Story continues The Dutch public prosecution service said on Tuesday that "many of those arrested are teenagers and live at home with their parents". They appeared to have no firm agenda besides anger with the curfew and 10 months of coronavirus measures, alongside broader socio-economic frustrations. Dutch media reported that many had used social media groups to organise where to meet. "There are pent-up frustrations and anger at the situation. There is a feeling that 'the world is bad and stupid'," Carsten de Dreu, social psychology professor at Leiden University, told AFP. While centre-right Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was "not going to look for sociological causes" behind the riots, the unrest often took place in lower-income areas or in city centres where youths were more likely to gather, analysts said. "There are many young people who have to join online classes with a single laptop for three children, who do not have their own bedroom," added De Dreu. "The only place where you can be yourself is going outside and meeting your friends in the street. Then, if there is tension, it can easily escalate," he added. "The first stone is thrown and the rest is history." - Football fans - The Netherlands has several highly partisan sporting rivalries and "there is definitely an element of football hooliganism involved in the rioting", Jan-Willem Duyvendak told AFP. But in a twist, hardcore fans came out in force in towns including Den Bosch, Maastricht and Tilburg saying they wanted to "defend their city" and assist the Dutch police. Police "in some places (were) even welcoming them as a type of militia", said Duyvendak, adding that "it was remarkable that police didn't have to be afraid that football hooligans were going to riot". Dutch police commander Willem Woelen however insisted that while fans were allowed to "share information with the police", law enforcement is "reserved for the police". The curfew applied to the supporters too, a police statement said. jhe/dk/bp U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday had his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling, among other important issues, that the United States strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. "He [Biden] called President Putin this afternoon with the intention of discussing our willingness to extend New START for five years, and also to reaffirm our strong support for Ukraine's sovereignty in the face of Russia's ongoing aggression," she said at a daily press briefing on Tuesday, January 26. She also noted that Biden in his conversation with Putin raised the issue of a Russian hacker attack on U.S. federal agencies and business companies through SolarWinds' software. Biden also recalled how the Russians offered a reward to Afghan forces for killing U.S. military personnel, interfered in the 2020 election, poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and harassed peaceful protesters in Russia. "His [Biden's] intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia," Psaki added. op Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKSUST) and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) recently demonstrated that the selectivity determinant of Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) for DNA binding lies in a 19-amino acid insertion helix in the Orc4 subunit, which is present in yeast but absent in human. Removal of this motif from Orc4 transforms the yeast ORC, which selects origins based on base-specific binding at defined locations, into one whose selectivity is dictated by chromatin landscape (genomic nucleosome profile), a characteristic feature shared by human ORC. Further understanding of the preferred DNA shapes and nucleosome positioning requirements will provide new insights for the plasticity of the human ORC in selecting replication initiation sites during programmed development and disease transformation, and also help identify potential targets for anti-cancer drug screening and therapy design. All living creatures, from simple unicellular yeast to complex multicellular human being, propagate through cell divisions. Each division requires the exact replication of the genome DNA, which is the blueprint of the identity of every organism. Over-replication may lead to cancers and under-replication may lead to developmental defects such as Meier-Gorlin syndrome. DNA replication is initiated at replication origins by ORC and other protein complexes assembled at these sites. Interestingly, ORC is highly conserved in protein structure and function from yeast to human, but targets DNA sites that bear no obvious common features in these two systems. What causes this difference? This question had puzzled the scientists for decades. "Structure informs function," said Prof. Bik Tye, lead researcher and Senior Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, HKUST. "In 2018, we solved a high-resolution structure of the yeast ORC using cryo-electron microscopy. When we compared the structures between yeast and human, we found one important difference between them, which lies in one subunit of ORCOrc4." "The yeast Orc4 has an additional 19-amino acid motif which makes specific contacts with origin DNA and is not present in human," said Prof. Tye. "We immediately realized that this short motif of Orc4 might be a critical factor that causes the different behaviors of ORC in DNA binding between yeast and human. We then deleted this motif in yeast cells to test if it could convert the yeast ORC into one that behaves with human-like properties. Indeed, the engineered ORC in yeast behaves more like a human ORC, or as we call it, a humanized ORC." DNA replication is one of the most fundamental processes in living cells. It is catalyzed by a similar set of replication machineries from yeast to human. In yeast cells, DNA replication starts from a set of sites, termed as replication origins. These sites share a specific DNA sequence, which can be recognized by a six-subunit protein complex known as origin recognition complex (ORC), Orc1-6. ORC binds to origin DNA, then serving as a platform to recruit Mcm2-7 helicase onto DNA. Mcm2-7 helicase is the machine responsible for separating double-stranded DNA to provide templates for DNA replication. "The activities of each origin are tightly regulated to ensure genome integrity," said Prof. Zhai Yuanliang, collaborator of the study and Assistant Professor at the School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science at HKU. "Mis-regulation of replication initiation can cause either under- or over-replication of chromosomal DNA, which will induce DNA strand breaks, gross chromosomal rearrangements, and genome instability, a characteristic of almost all human cancers." Inhibition of replication initiation is considered as an effective anti-cancer strategy for the selective killing of cancer cells through apoptosis while normal human cells arrest in G1 state (growth) or withdraw from the cell cycle into G0 state (inactive). "Our studies lay a solid foundation to identify pairs of interactions, that are critical for origin recognition and helicase loading, with the potential as targets for anticancer drug screening and design," Prof. Zhai noted. "This study demonstrates the power of multi-disciplinary approaches to answer fundamental questions in life sciences." commented Prof. Danny Leung, Assistant Professor at the Division of Life Science, HKUST, and Director of HKUST's Center for Epigenomics Research. Prof. Leung's team was responsible for the epigenomics and bioinformatic analyses of this study. The Center coordinates the efforts of the Hong Kong Epigenomics Project and facilitates regional researchers in carrying out epigenomic studies. "It began with the atomic model of the yeast ORC bound to origin DNA and the discovery that a single motif in one of the subunits is responsible for the base-specific recognition of DNA by ORC. We conducted genome-wide assays and biochemical experiments to define binding characteristics, which led to the model that removal of this motif is the basis for the behavior of the human ORC, culminating in an insight for the evolution of ORC as eukaryotes adopt more complex genomic and epigenomic structures. This insight also bears critical information on disease transformation that is often associated with the plasticity of DNA replication," Prof. Leung observed. Explore further How to make a replication origin in multicellular eukaryotes More information: Clare S. K. Lee et al, Humanizing the yeast origin recognition complex, Nature Communications (2021). Journal information: Nature Communications Clare S. K. Lee et al, Humanizing the yeast origin recognition complex,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20277-y UABs Chief of Medicine was even initially skeptical of taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Kiersten Kennedy is African American, the accomplished daughter in a military family that moved to Montgomery when she was five years old. Her trepidation was not rooted, however, in memories of the demonic Tuskegee Syphilis Study, or her knowledge of the historic healthcare disparities that are fueling skepticism about vaccine among some African Americans. I am just not a medicine taker, she tells me with a bit of a laugh. I know that sounds strange. If theres a way for the body to do it naturally, then I really like that angle to any sort of treatment. When the vaccine became available late last year, Kennedy further rationalized that shed survived nine months without testing positivenine months of helping treat the overwhelming tsunami of COVID-19 patients at UAB Hospital during the peaks of the pandemic. Id done all the things I was supposed to do. I cut out all social gatherings, always wear a mask, and Ive always been hypervigilant about hygiene. Is it really necessary for me to get it? It was, of course. As a leading medical practitioner. As an African American. As a mother of four children whose two-year-old cried outside her bedroom door as she self-isolated for 10 days before the vaccine was available after fearing she may have been exposed to the virus, not at the hospital but the gym. That experience definitely played a role in deciding to take it, she says. I realized this virus is truly airborne [not just on surfaces], and I wanted my gym life back. Once the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines became available, Kennedy did her own surgical dive into how the vaccine works: It helps the body create antibodies with a messenger component of the virus (mRNA) that remains in the body only temporarily. Like Snapchat, Kennedy says. I can have it in my body to teach it how to create antibodies and then it will go away. That was helpful. As was the ethical responsibility that comes with being a front-line healthcare worker who confronts the virus every day. Kennedy deemed not taking the vaccine to be contrary to her calling. She took her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on December 17th, the second shot on January 7th. To have the vaccine and not take advantage of it, she says. Thats irresponsible. Dr. Kierstin Kennedy, MD (Assistant Professor, Hospitalist), 2016.Steve Wood FAMILY MODELS The only doctor 14-year-old Kiersten had ever seen was The Cosby Shows Dr. Huxtable. She was a good student with an interest in science but didnt consider medicine until she met an uncle and two cousins at a family reunion in California, where she was born before the family moved to Montgomery. The uncle was a general surgeon, the cousins, a medical student, and a resident, respectively. It was the first time Id seen Black people who were doctors, she says. She found her way to UAB as an undergraduate and never really left. She earned a masters in health administration at the institution, a Doctorate at the School of Medicine, completed her internship and residency at the hospital before joining the hospital faculty before being named to her current position in March 2018. UAB has been good to me, she says. Ive not sacrificed anything by staying in Birmingham, though I dont feel like I had the typical experience for a Black person in Alabama. WE FELT ISOLATED On March 18, 2020, Kennedy was working the noon-to-9 p.m. shift when word came that the hospitals first corona-positive patient was on the way. She and emergency medicine physician Dr. Charles Khoury were stressed, wondering about the patients condition. Now, looking back, she was not very sick at all, Kennedy says. She was great compared to what we see now. The wave of infected patients hit in mid-April and lasted through May. It was a time with no precedent, Kennedy recalls. Should COVID-19 patients be placed in any available room or a single unit? What was the proper treatment? Operationally, it seemed like ideas and instructions were changing every day, Kennedy says. We were behind the science. There was a lot of fear, she adds. People were afraid we were not prepared enough. We didnt know how infectious the virus was. Was it Ebola or the flu? No one was entirely sure. We didnt know if we had enough [personal protective equipment]. For a while, we didnt know when we were going to get more so we wondered how we could stretch [N95 masks]. Some were really fearful. Because UAB stopped doing elective surgeries (and people stopped electing to do them), the hospital was often a ghost town outside of the areas with COVID patients. We were sending doctors home, she says. That tide shifted in July, not long after some businesses reopened from shutdowns instituted by Mayor Randall Woodfin, based on recommendations from the Jefferson County Department of Health, to stem the spread of the virus. The summer rise in infectionsand deathselevated the risk to health care workers and heightened fears. We felt isolated, Kennedy recalls. It seemed like COVID-19 was no one elses problem, like no one understood what we were going through It was overwhelming. People said, I never signed up for this. The last pandemic was in 1918, so there was no training around it. You learn sometimes youll have to sacrifice your own time to take care of a patient. Thats not the same as putting yourself in harms way. Were trained to stay calm in high-stress situations, to think under pressure. That has come in handy. In a lot of ways, we were doing less thinking and just doing. When things slowed down enough to think, you realize youre putting yourself in harms way. Many health-care providers have died from COVID-19. Twenty-twenty was the longest decade of my life. Like hospitals nationwide, UAB took a financial hit due to the pandemic. In the Spring, hospital employees took a pay cut, Kennedy shared. Yet no one quit their job, she said. Not in the wake of the pay cut or the fear. Not a single one. NO VACCINATION BLUEPRINT Like the rest of us, Kennedy watches with frustration as Alabama struggles to efficiently distribute its limited supply of COVID-19 vaccinations statewide. Were seeing the downstream effects of disorganized leadership, she says. If you have a plan for rolling it out that starts at the national level, youd see more consistency from state to state, county to county. We were given a number of doses and who they felt should receive it. Thats it. There was no further guidance on how to build an efficient process to get people in and out. UAB utilized its Office of Interprofessional Simulation for Innovative Clinical Practice to create a process, Kennedy says, capable of vaccinating up to 1,000 people during a 10-hour shift. Not every hospital has those kinds of resources, so what you see is people fumbling over themselves learning as they go, trying to figure this out, she says. Our process wasnt seamless. We arent perfect. With few resources, its a mess. Everyone needed a plan, a blueprint to give out. Thats why [vaccinations] are taking so long; everybodys trying to build the blueprint on their own. COVID-19 AND AFRICAN AMERICANS COVID-19s disproportionate impact on African Americans and other people of color has been evident almost from the day it first attacked us. Were 1.4 times more likely than whites to get infected, 3.7 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 2.8 times more likely to die from the virus, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Its a reflection of myriad long-time disparities in healthcare, including limited access to quality care and healthy food options in low-income and rural areas, as well as unhealthy living habits impacted by poverty and other socio-economic conditions. You dont have time to work out if youre trying to put food on the table, Kennedy says. Theres also an understandable distrust of doctors. Numerous studies have shown Black patients are too often treated differently by white doctors than Black ones, which are still too few in numbers. I cant tell you how many times [Black patients] said it was the first time theyve had a Black doctor take care of them, Kennedy says. Or they say, Thats the first time a doctor has explained that [condition or treatment] to me. That is very powerful and all of us should feel the full weight of that responsibility to rebuild trust with patients, especially Black patients. I really appreciate the opportunity to see on their worst day, potentially the scariest moment of their lives, and hopefully give them a positive experience as it pertains to their care. Conversely, treating some patients has been complicated by a plethora of misinformation and inane conspiracy theories about COVID-19. Kennedy and other physicians saw their credibility questioned by patients like never before by keyboard physicians, she calls them. I cant recall ever having to argue with patients about the validity of what were doing or them telling us how to do our jobs, she says. Safe sex will protect you from getting [a sexually transmitted disease] and it does not violate your rights. I dont know what to do when you argue with a distrust of my training or medical education. A patient once said, Whats the government paying you to say this? At that point, it is not productive. Ill-informed pushback about whether the virus is real came primarily from white patients, Kennedy shared, while conversations with Black patients centered on their concerns about the vaccine. Earlier this month just 17 percent of Blacks and Latinos from low-income families who participated in focus groups ant UAB said they would get the vaccine. Like numerous African American professionals, Kennedy is sharing her vaccine experience in hopes of swaying more Blacks to take it. The potential impact on African Americans not getting vaccinated, she says, is all but apocalyptic. We will see what essentially equates to a slaughter of our people, she says. Thats hard to watch when we have a tool that will help avoid it. Kennedy is honest with patients about her vaccination, especially the second dose. The vaccine can create temporality COVID-19-like symptoms in some patients. Kennedy experienced a fever, chills, headaches, and muscle aches following her second dosage. I thought, Why do my ribs hurt? she recalls. I knew it might happen and knew I could take Tylenol and ride it out. It only lasted twenty-four hours. Hearing me talk through it changed some minds, she says, The only way to dispel skepticism is with truth and education. Despite the sobering impact of COVID-19 nationally and around the world, Kennedy says that by exposing so glaringly the devastating effects of the long-time healthcare disparities, perhaps they will finally get effectively addressed. Thats one glimmer of hope, she says. Everyones talked about health disparities for years; its something that got a lot of lip service but no real resources. This pandemic has uncovered drivers of the disparities in a way that could not be uncovered with previous research. Now, we cant ignore it. Or be skeptical about it. Unafraid to start uncomfortable conversations, Roy is a voice for whats right and wrong in Birmingham, Alabama (and beyond). His column appears in The Birmingham News and AL.com, as well as in the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register. Reach him at rjohnson@al.com and follow him at twitter.com/roysj Six Laois students from four different secondary schools have been awarded entrance exhibition awards from Trinity College Dublin. The awards are given to students starting first year in the university who achieved the highest points from their school, with tied students each receiving the honour. They are Aisling Ahern and and Angela He both graduates of Scoil Chriost Ri in Portlaoise. James White and Dean Winters both graduates of St Mary's CBS Portlaoise also received the awards. Senan Moran from Mountrath Community School and Jodie Walsh from Colaiste Iosagain Portarlington also won. Students from every county in Ireland and 15 countries in the EU were awarded special Entrance Exhibition Awards from Trinity College Dublin this year on Wednesday January 27. The awards go to the student accepted into the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree programme who achieves the highest points among Trinity entrants from their secondary school, above a minimum of 500 CAO points. Many former awardees have gone on to make a significant contribution to the economic, cultural, and political life of Ireland and beyond. Past Exhibitioners include Tanaiste and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Of the 2020 new entrants to Trinity, 527 students qualified for an award, up from 452 in 2019. The students come from a record 455 different schools, 438 schools on the island of Ireland (up from 403 in 2019) and 17 schools from overseas. For the first time, the awards were delivered virtually view them here The Trinity Provost is Dr Patrick Prendergast. "We are delighted to welcome these talented students to Trinity and only wish that they and their families could come to celebrate with us at the University, as they usually do. Since we revised the Entrance Exhibition Awards in 2018 as part of our commitment to boosting diversity we are seeing an ever-growing number of schools represented and, this year, all 32 counties on the island of Ireland. We congratulate each student and wish them well in their studies." Changes made to the awards scheme in 2018 meant that students who achieve the highest points among Trinity entrants from their secondary school with a minimum of 500 points in the Leaving Certificate (or its equivalent second level final examinations) are eligible for an Entrance Exhibition Award. This includes bonus points for Mathematics. Previously, any students receiving 560 or more points (excluding bonus points) were awarded Entrance Exhibition Awards which meant that there could be up to 20 students from any one school. The Entrance Exhibition Awards were awarded to 322 students from Leinster, 75 from Munster, 61 from Ulster, 52 from Connacht and 17 international students from Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, France, Poland, Norway, Austria and Netherlands. Awardees will receive a certificate and a 150 book token. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID The Indian government introduced provisions for Equalisation Levy (EL 1.0) on digital advertising and related services in 2016. This levy was extended to a wide variety of digital activities through the Finance Act, 2020 (EL 2.0). EL 1.0 was introduced based on the work of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) under the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project under Action Plan 1 on Digital Economy. While the Action Plan 1 did not give any specific recommendations, it discussed a few alternative approaches, one of them being an Equalisation Levy-type provision, which India adopted. Subsequently, itself decided that more work was needed to evolve a consensus approach to address the challenges of the Digital Economy and set up the Inclusive Framework. The Inclusive Framework has since made recommendations referred to as Pillar 1 proposals which provide an approach by which digital businesses could be taxed. However, the proposals are still under discussion and a complete unity is yet to emerge among all countries. India and the US, two key stakeholders, are also not fully aligned to the current proposals. Meanwhile, an international consensus has remained elusive, even as many countries have legislated unilateral measures similar to EL to tax digital companies. Developed countries like the UK, France, Australia, Spain, Austria, etc, and many developing countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, Chile, etc, have proposed or already implemented such levies. EL2.0 was introduced by India in the wake of these developments. Ideally, countries should wait for an international consensus, which can avoid risks of double taxation that can be detrimental for the digital ecosystem. However, the counter from countries is that such a wait cannot be inordinate, and that the unilateral measures would be withdrawn once such a consensus emerges. While there is no official line from India on this, it is expected that if an international consensus emerges, India would reconsider EL 1.0 and EL 2.0. Another key development relevant with regard to the future of EL 2.0 is the US Trade Representative (USTR) investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. According to the relevant law, USTR is empowered to investigate actions by countries which can cause harm or is prejudicial to the US interests and propose retaliatory measures. Such an investigation has been launched by the USTR against DST from almost all countries, including EL 2.0 by India. The investigations against France started earlier in 2019. After concluding that the French law was discriminatory and prejudicial to US interests, as a counter measure, it proposed tariffs on various French products. France agreed to defer its DST and the matter is now in a stalemate. The USTR report on the EL 2.0 was released earlier this month. India has strongly objected to the findings and maintained that the levy is equitable and does not particularly discriminate against any US companies. The next step usually is for the USTR to propose measures, like in the French case. However, the course of action may also be impacted by the new administration in Washington and in case the Inclusive Framework discussions progress further. Where does that leave digital companies that are doing business in the Indian market? EL 2.0 has been on the statute for almost a year. The compliance with the same has been gradually increasing. However, it could be much higher if many of the ambiguities in the law could be addressed. The upcoming Budget is a good opportunity for the government to provide some guidance. The scope of EL 2.0 is not entirely consistent with the above developments which all along have been focused on the digital economy. The existing language seems wide and could cover a range of business models including brick-and-mortar companies if they do any activities such as intra group services or sale of their goods online and bring them into the ambit of EL 2.0. The date of effect of EL 2.0 was April 1, 2020. However, the government did realise that some of the existing provisions on taxation of royalties, fees for technical services, etc, could create a dual taxation, and hence provided an exemption from such taxes for income which is subject to EL 2.0. However, such exemptions kick in from April 1, 2021, thereby creating a risk of double taxation for Financial Year 2020-21. The law levies 2 per cent of the amount of consideration received or receivable by e-commerce operators, without defining the term consideration. This has created ambiguity as to what would be the amount of consideration that needs to be taken for marketplaces. It is unclear whether EL 2.0 should be paid on the net commission which is their own income or whether on the entire consideration collected on behalf of sellers. Another issues that arise on account of the lack of definition of consideration is the treatment of discounts, sales returns, bad debts, etc. These are genuine business situations in which the income of digital providers is reduced and hence it should be clarified that such situations will reduce the base liable to EL. EL 2.0 provisions bring into its ambit revenues of non-Indian digital companies from specified revenues earned from other non-Indian customers, if an Indian IP address is used or is in relation to Indian data. Monitoring of such Indian touchpoints are administratively onerous and may not even yield enough revenues to justify the onerous task. The government has been very responsive to the needs and asks of industry and keenly focused on the Ease of Doing Business in India. We hope that answers to some of the above ambiguities find their way into the upcoming Budget. The government could also consider providing a clear road map on this levy as the works towards creating a consensus, to provide certainty to taxpayers that this is only an interim measure. Finally, with India increasingly playing a regional and a global role on many matters, it could play an active role on moving beyond the current impasse and helping reach a consensus on this critical area. The author is partner (tax & regulatory), PwC India Haiti - Elections : First contribution of $20MM for the referendum and the elections On Monday at the residence of Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe, the signing ceremony of a draft document on the protocol of technical and financial support to the electoral process took place between the Head of Government and Fernando Hiraldo, Permanent Representative of the Program of United Nations for Development (UNDP) in Haiti, in the presence of Mathias Pierre, Minister Delegate to the Prime Minister's Office in charge of electoral issues and relations with political parties and of the UNDP Technical Advisor Amor Boubakri as well as members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). With this signature, which follows its request to the United Nations, the Haitian Government undertakes, in accordance with the wishes of President Jovenel Moise, to the holding in 2021 of democratic, transparent and free elections. "This agreement allows Haiti to pay the first 20 million US dollars, the first contribution to the basket fund [common fund managed by the UNDP] for the conduct of the referendum and elections for the renewal of political staff, based on the principle elected officials must replace elected officials," Minister Mathias Pierre clarified on his official Twitter account. "[...] Pending the contribution of our technical and financial partners, this Basket fund will be supplied by funds from the Public Treasury", Prime Minister Jouthe specified. This agreement, which confirms United Nations support for the next elections in Haiti, will allow UNDP through the Office of Nations for Project Support Services (UNOPS) to provide technical support to the CEP for the referendum and the elections which will be organized during the year. This support should make it possible, among other things : to ensure the training of electoral system agents, to facilitate the transport of materials to the various points of the country and to secure sensitive electoral materials (ballot boxes, ballot papers, electoral registers and non- sensitive). The Prime Minister took the opportunity to salute the work of the CEP, which, in a difficult context, managed to draw up an electoral calendar https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32719-haiti-flash-complete-calendar-of-all-electoral-operations-2020-2022-official.html HL/ HaitiLibre The judicial panels of inquiry probing various acts of police brutality and human rights abuses have yet to resume in about 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a report says. The judicial panels had gone on a short recess for the Christmas and New Year holidays in December 2020, with some of them resuming sitting on January 5. A weekly report issued by a civil society group, YIAGA Africa in partnership with Enough is Enough (EiE), stated in their report made available to PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday, that 13 out of the 29 states where the panels had been set up had not resumed proceedings in 2021. The report entitled, Weekly Updates on the #EndSARS Judicial Panel of Enquiry No. 9, also stated that only Katsina and Niger states panels had concluded their hearings with their reports being prepared and to be sent to the governors. It stated that Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Gombe, Rivers, Taraba, Kwara, Edo, Kaduna, Lagos, Nasarawa, Ondo, Osun, and Plateau, are the only states whose panels had resumed proceedings. The report added that Oyo and Kogi states remain the only states that have constituted a Judicial Panel of Inquiry but are yet to commence sittings, as petitions continue to be submitted at the Panel secretariat. The report noted that states such as Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and the Zamfara were yet to constitute a Judicial Panel of Inquiry. Setting up of panels The judicial panels of enquiry were set up by various state governments and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), whose panel sits in the FCT, aftermath of last years nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality with demands for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Police authorities also proscribed SARS in response to the protests. The panels were said to comprise about 60 members across the states. The members include retired judges, ex-police officers, NHRC officials, and representatives of civil society groups, and the youths. Petitions nationwide According to YIAGAs report, 29 states have received about 2,361 petitions, with Anambra State topping the list with 310 petitions. It stated that Adamawa state had the least with seven petitions. It added, Data from the panels show the following number of petitions submitted across the country: FCT 250 petitions, Rivers State 181 petitions, Anambra State 310 petitions, Edo State 147 petitions, Lagos State 210 petitions, Imo State 110 petitions, Abia State 87 petitions, Akwa Ibom State 159 petitions, Ekiti State 81 petitions, Plateau State 58 petitions, Cross River State 61 petitions, Ogun State 105 petitions, Oyo State 50 petitions, Enugu State 75 petitions, Benue State 51 petitions, Ondo State 32 petitions, Osun State 20 petitions, Bayelsa State 40 petitions, Kwara State 24 petitions, Nasarawa State 36 petitions, Delta State 78 petitions, Ebonyi State 37 petitions, Taraba State 19 petitions, Adamawa State 7 petitions, Gombe State 15 petitions, Bauchi State 10 petitions, Kaduna State 29 petitions, Katsina State 61 Petitions, and Niger State 18 Petitions Of the total petitions received so far, Yiaga Africa said that about 63.3 per cent of witnesses that made submissions were victims of police brutality, while 27.7 per cent were family members of victims. It added that 6.6 per cent of the witnesses were representatives of police/security agencies, 1.65 per cent were government representatives, and 0.66 per cent represented other categories. ADVERTISEMENT Recommendations The report called for proactive media engagements to provide updates and information on the work conducted by the panels. We call on the panels in the states to proactively engage with the media to ensure citizens are informed of the work done by the Panels since their establishment. As the Panels resume, they should provide a status report and the next steps to promote transparency and build confidence in the process. We call on both the federal and state governments to provide adequate support and resources needed to ensure that the Panels function optimally and safely during the sittings especially as Nigeria experiences the second wave of COVID-19. The lack of support and welfare for members of the Panel prevents the Panels from functioning optimally within the allocated time for the hearing of petitions in line with their terms of reference. Joe Biden brushed off a reporter's question about his discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press conference. Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Mr Biden what he discussed with Mr Putin on a recent call between the leaders. The president replied "You. He sends his best" as he walked away from the press. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed that Mr Biden called Mr Putin on Tuesday. "President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies," the White House said in a statement. "The two presidents agreed to maintain transparent and consistent communication going forward." According to the White House, Mr Biden told Mr Putin that the US would defend itself from "malign actions by Russia". His intention was also to make clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of our national interests in response to malign actions by Russia, Ms Psaki said. The White House said part of the discussion included a five-year extension to the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty signed between the countries in 2010. Ms Psaki said Mr Biden also pressured Mr Putin on Russia's "ongoing aggression" toward Ukraine and addressed reports that Russia was offering bounties on US military members in Afghanistan. That story broke during Donald Trump's administration, and Mr Trump did not address the issue with Mr Putin. Mr Biden also reportedly discussed Russia's alleged interference in the 2020 US election and Mr Putin's ongoing attacks against the country's opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. Mr Navalny was nearly killed last year when he was poisoned on an aeroplane. The president also reportedly discussed a massive cyberattack last year that targeted numerous US government agencies and private companies. Both US intelligence officials and private cyber security firms have pointed to Russia as the culprits of the hack. Mr Navalny accused Mr Putin of being behind the poisoning. Protesters supporting Mr Navalny who opposed his arrest in Russia have been met with violence by the country's police. The Kremlin had a different account of the call, stating that Mr Putin and Mr Biden discussed "topical issues" like the economy and the coronavirus. It did mention that the "Ukraine domestic settlement" was discussed, but did not offer further detail. While Mr Biden made the call, sources speaking with CNN said the Kremlin requested the correspondence. Mr Biden told reporters Monday that he hoped to discuss troubling issues with Russia while still leaving the potential for further diplomacy and normal relations on the table. "I find that we can both operate in the mutual self-interest of our countries, as a New START agreement, and make it clear to Russia that we are very concerned about their behaviour, whether it's Navalny, whether it's the Solar Winds or whether it's reports of bounties on the heads of Americans in Afghanistan," he said. Mr Biden reportedly wanted to call other European leaders prior to his call with Mr Putin to gauge their concerns. The president received briefings from senior administration officials prior to his call with Mr Putin, a break from Mr Trump's habit of entering calls without preparation. Mr Putin was one of the last world leaders to congratulate Mr Biden on his electoral victory. The Russian president waited until the electoral votes were counted on 6 January to send his congratulations. A doctor holds a newborn baby. ER Productions Limited/Getty Images Experts predict the pandemic may lead to 300,000 fewer births in 2021. New data from states that track births in near-real-time offer clues about a possible birth rate slow-down. The pandemic decline compounded with years of falling birth rates could have long-lasting impacts. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Months of economic hardship, public health panic, and tenuous confidence in the future have led to the beginnings of a pandemic-driven "baby-bust." New data from some states that track births in near-real-time offer clues about a possible decline in the birth rate, according to a new NBCLX report. Phillip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley University, and Melissa Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, published a report this summer predicting the pandemic could result in half a million fewer births in 2021. They updated their estimate in December, projecting the number may be closer to 300,000, but stood by their prediction that the virus will lead to a large reduction in children born this year. The pandemic and its resulting lockdown measures began impacting most Americans in mid-March. December - nine months later - marked the first month babies conceived during the pandemic started being born, allowing for the first pieces of pandemic birth rate data to emerge. December 2020 birth rates in Florida were down 8% from December 2019, according to NBCLX. Ohio's December rates were down 7% from the previous year and Arizona saw a 5% decrease, the outlet reported. And it's not just birth rates declining. Philip Cohen, a sociologist and demographer at the University of Maryland, found that Google searches for contraception, sex advice topics, and pregnancy, all fell in 2020. But Levine warned against drawing any national conclusions about the shortage from only a few states' data, and noted that preliminary birth data for the first half of 2021 won't be out until the fall. Story continues "It's going to be months really before we have some indication of what actually happened," Levine told Insider. When that bust does start to materialize, though, the consequences could be long-lasting. "What I think is important to keep in mind, is that we're talking about 300,000, say, fewer births now, but that's compounded on top of the half a million fewer births that are already taking place over the past decade or so," Levine said. The national birth rate has been falling since 2007, when it hit a peak at 4.3 million. Levine said experts aren't really sure why the birth rate has continued to fall in subsequent years, though earlier drops are often linked to the Great Recession. In 2019, the provisional number of births in the US was 3.7 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control. "At this point, 300,000 births in one year, one time, isn't really that big of a deal for the broader economy and society as a whole," Levine said. "But you start finding yourself down close to a million births a year, for several years, so those trends continue, and that's going to have important implications for the country going forward." Those implications could be both social and economic, according to Levine. In terms of the economy, more people equates to more workers and a bigger economy. But the opposite is true as well. "If you think about following kids through their lifespans, you're talking about school enrollments falling for the next couple of years. You're talking about a smaller college entry cohort," Levine said. "A little bit after that, you're talking about entering the labor force." Fewer workers in the labor force would impact social security, Levine said, since social security is financed through tax contributions of current employees. And the impacts go beyond the economy. "You don't have to go much further than thinking about what the Baby Boom has done to American society to think about what a large cohort can do," Levine said. "A small cohort can have the opposite effect." It's not clear when, or if, trends will return to normal once the pandemic ends, Levine said. Just because public health measures return to normal and vaccinations become commonplace, doesn't mean the economy will immediately bounce back. Levine said it could take years to recover. "To the extent that the fertility effects that we're likely to see this year are based on economic conditions, those are likely going to continue for a while." Read the original article on Insider Yves here. Im running this post on Republican ray cray Trump loyalism in the interest of furthering his inquiry on who participated in the Capitol seizure and what their backgrounds were (residence, profession/employment, age). This one wont be as scientific but it might still help counter the media stereotyping of Trump supporters as embittered white working class losers from flyover. Youll need to read the short post first to read what the beliefs are and then come back to my questions. 1. Do you know anyone personally who harbors some or all of these views? What can you tell us about their education level or other class indicators, profession/employment, age, and where they live? The one person I know who believes in all sincerity that the election was stolen and Antifa was responsible for the violence at the Capitol seizure (and also sometimes lobs right wing Covid talking points) does not fit the media caricature of Trump fans at all: a professional with an advanced degree from a very well regarded school, high profile in their field, traveled regularly and extensively overseas, and a big fan of the arts (knowledgeable about fine arts, opera, classical music, and often went to theater and music in NYC, London, Vienna, and Italy). Believes in MMT. His friends are mainly NYC liberals so he limits himself to the occasional pointed question about their politics. 2. If any of these individuals is closer to you than a casual acquaintance, how do you deal with them when they go off on political discussions/diatribes that youd be inclined to rebut if, say, you saw them in the comments section at NC? With my friend, I listen for a bit, since I tell myself I ought to hear the supporting arguments for these views, but after a bit I lose patience and try to find an excuse to change the topic or end the discussion rather than argue (which I sometimes do a bit even though its not productive). So I have to confess to not knowing what to do, and perhaps harboring unrealistic expectations about what I should do. Having said that, Australians are very skilled at speaking across political lines, and they often use humor, but Americans are too earnest for most of us to be adept at that. By Peter Dorman, professor of economics at The Evergreen State College. Originally published at Econospeak You have to read it to believe it. An excerpt: Whereas history tells us that after George Washington appointed Major General Benedict Arnold to command West Point, Arnold conspired to surrender the fort to the British; and Whereas the ten Republican House members, by voting to impeach President Trump, repeated history by conspiring to surrender our nation to Leftist forces seeking to establish a dictatorship void of all cherished freedoms and liberties. Whereas there is growing evidence that the violence at the capitol was a false flag operation designed to discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans; this provided the sham motivation to impeach President Trump in order to advance the Democrat goal of seizing total power, in a frightening parallel to the February 1933 burning of the German Reichstag. That we condemn the betrayal by the following ten Republican members of Congress who voted in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi to support a second sham impeachment. Wow. Benedict Arnold, the Reichstag Fire: they sure know their history. And I like the false flag bit: the people who gathered outside the capitol were patriots defending their country against a monstrous conspiracy to undermine democracy and impose tyranny, but the ones who actually went into it were Antifa rabble. Given Victorias more than 1000 kilometres of ocean and bay beaches, 85,000 kilometres of rivers and creeks, 588 public and commercial swimming pools, and many more backyard pools, it is no wonder that drownings are an all too often occurrence. This summer, and during the past six months, the number of such tragedies has reached record levels. Forty-two people have drowned since July last year, including seven in the past two weeks. That is 15 more than the five-year average. During a year dominated by a virus that forced most Victorians to spend an inordinate amount of time cooped up at home, it is an added tragedy that for some, finally enjoying time outside has resulted in such terrible consequences. Experts stress all children should know how to swim, but fewer have been turning up to lessons, even before COVID-19. Credit:Newsday Statistics show a disproportionate number of those who drown are male, mostly the young and the elderly. Authorities are also increasingly worried about men under the age of 45 who overestimate their abilities. But as recent drownings have shown, it can happen to anyone, at any time, in a wide range of situations. A Melbourne post office worker died after she was swept off a rock by a wave with three others at Bushrangers Bay on the Mornington Peninsula. A Berwick teacher died when she tried to rescue a 14-year-old girl at Venus Bay on the South Gippsland Coast. A four-year-old Doveton girl who was pulled unconscious from a lake in Melbournes south-east died several days later. A 58-year-old man died near Anglesea after heading out in a small boat that overturned. Someone from the prison administration might thus be trying to ease punishment for themselves. Photos of the Izoliatsia (Isolation) secret prison in the occupied city of Donetsk have been posted on Telegram by an anonymous user. "Now you see unique images: photos of the Izoliatsia premises, prisoners' cells (the first floor with bars) and an exercise yard surrounded by barbs, where we would be taken out in mornings for five to seven minutes. But the highlight is not even that. These photos are posted in the public domain on the Telegram channel, which promises to continue to post pictures of Izoliatsia, including data from the 'logbook of visits to detainees by the Special Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic ("DPR")'s Ministry of State Security," Ukrainian blogger and journalist, former prisoner of the said prison Stanyslav Aseyev wrote on Facebook. Read alsoConcentration camp with sadists at helm: Ex-political prisoner Aseiev speaks about Donetsk prisonAmong other things, images show a torture desk in the basement. There's scotch tape and a "tapik" electrocution torture tool put on it. "It seems some from the [prison] administration who have some brains left have finally understood how this 'issue' will turn out for them in the near future an international wanted list and a trial from our side and in this case, being given up on by 'brothers' from the FSB. So they decided to earn themselves an indulgence," Aseyev said. On the channel, more photos were posted, as well as a logbook of visitors. In one of the photos, it could be seen the "DPR" forces parked a tank at the premises. The material released is called to be used to identify all those who had been held in the Izoliatsia prison as well as those involved in their illegal arrest and holding. What is Izoliatsia Izoliatsia is a notorious secret prison in the stronghold of Russia-controlled forces, Donetsk, run by the self-styled "DPR Ministry of State Security." It was created in June 2014 at the site of the Izoliatsia art fund seized by the Russian proxies. Read alsoHead of Donetsk art hub Liubov Mikhailova: On Donbas issue, Ukraine seems to be walking the path of "let go and forgive", imposed by RussiaLittle is known about the prison. According to media reports, prisoners may be held there for years without trial. Torture is common against detainees. Aseyev was released from captivity as part of a prisoner swap effort in December 2019. Reporting by UNIAN The United Arab Emirates is holding activist Ahmed Mansoor under abhorrent detention conditions that violate his rights as a prisoner, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Mansoor, an electrical engineer, poet and human rights defender, was arrested by Emirati security forces in a late-night house raid in 2017. The father of four was later handed a 10-year jail sentence and fine of 1 million dirhams ($272,000) in 2018 for insulting the status and prestige of the UAE, a charge connected to social media posts that were critical of the UAE government or called for reform. According to the report published Wednesday with the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Mansoor has been held in an isolation ward of al-Sadr prison, living in solitary confinement in a cell "barely the size of a 2 x 2 meter parking spot" (6.5 x 6.5 foot) without access to reading materials, a mattress or other basic necessities. Since his arrest, Mansoors been denied regular visits or calls from his wife and four sons, the report said. Human Rights Watch said its findings came from interviews with two former prisoners, as well as a source with direct knowledge of Mansoors legal proceedings. Damning new details reveal just how cruelly the UAE has been treating Ahmed Mansoor, its most celebrated human rights activist, a man who courageously stood up to his abusive government, demanding it respect human rights when very few would dare, said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. The UAE authorities railroading of Ahmed Mansoor shows their utter contempt for the rule of law and their determination to intimidate its critics into silence by any means necessary, he said in a statement. Mansoor has led two hunger strikes to protest his solitary confinement and what rights groups said was a sham trial. He lost 24 pounds during his second hunger strike in 2019, which lasted for 49 days. A group of United Nations human rights experts in 2019 condemned his prolonged imprisonment, warning his dire conditions and deprivation of liberty may constitute torture. Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called on the UAE to "immediately and unconditionally" release Mansoor and other political prisoners, end the activists solitary confinement and allow him regular family visits and adequate medical care. The group also urged Western governments that sell arms to the UAE, including the United States, to press the Emirati government for Mansoors release. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto assures that support for the Hungarian community in Ukraines Zakarpattia region is support and assistance to Ukraine-Hungary relations and its not a question of separatism. "We regard the Hungarians of Zakarpattia region as an opportunity to unite with you. We believe that when we support the community of Hungarians in Zakarpattia region, we support in this way and help relations between Ukraine and Hungary," Szijjarto said during a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. Hungarys minister also expressed hope that today's meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart will bring results and they will manage to "stop the deterioration of our relations and channel this process into a good direction." "We have always supported your integration and your sovereignty, and therefore all the allegations of separatism do not make sense," Szijjarto said. As reported, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary Peter Szijjarto makes a working visit to Ukraine on January 27 at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. ol The topic of digital transformation has been heard as water cooler conversations or seen in management presentations for quite some time. But the term was not really filled with practical reality, nor top-of-mind for many organizations, until the pandemic forced companies to drastically rethink their business and operations overnight. The pandemic gave a substantial thrust to digital transformation spending and execution, and will continue to do so for some time to come. The unprecedented imperative, as noted by McKinsey, forced organizations to drastically shorten the implementation of digital efforts to a fraction of time compared to normal circumstances. However, while the speed and depth of digital transformation impetus is startling, organizations must still address barriers in order to take advantage of the impetus, achieve sustainable impact, and gain an ability to scale the business. These are the four barriers we come across the most. 1 Communication Heres a short video to enjoy that makes this point on communication. It plays on the theme of a couple sitting in a therapists office and coming to realize that in many cases perceived differences are about communication. Theres a lot of communication happening, but its misaligned, or the communication isnt clear to both parties. The digital transformation relationship, by definition, needs to be applied across many different groups and teams. Unless every team involved in a digitally transforming organization participates, it runs a high risk of ultimately causing most communication to be ineffective or misinforming. It is essential, therefore, for organizations to find a common frame and taxonomy to arrive at organization-wide clarity on their digital transformation strategy. This pan-enterprise frame is particularly important for bringing stakeholders from lines of business and IT closer together. Building a guiding coalition both requires and fosters clarity about the strategic goals behind various digital initiatives, particularly when transitioning from and enhancing immediate reactions to macro situations such as Covid-19 into long-term impact on your business. Metrics and taxonomy are likely to differ when discussing initiative A to increase productivity, initiative B for faster time-to-market, and initiative C to enhance trust in the entirety of the organizations internal and external environments. 2 Orchestration Developing a common view and shared taxonomy on digital transformation presents an essential aspect but it only represents an initial step that others need to follow to also realize sustainable business value. Many organizations still struggle to sequence and orchestrate their many important initiatives undertaken to drive and scale the digital agenda. Here, insufficient alignment and commitment across the organization can add uncalculated risks. Certain dependencies, risks, and pre-requisites may exist between various initiatives, as well as within an individual initiative itself. To demonstrate with an example: implementing a new digital service around predictive maintenance implies connected machines as pre-requisites, the structure of a data fabric for data aggregation as a dependency, and a legacy on-premises infrastructure environment as a risk. Thus, not only deep insights, but also further white spots such as production data security and compliance can be identified early to de-risk the organizations path to value realization, supporting effective orchestration, and scaling. 3 Differentiation When was the last time your business did something completely unique and differentiating in the digital context, that none of your peers had thought of? If the answer is a long, long time ago, then now is probably the best chance to take a different path and pursue digital efforts to truly differentiate your business from peers and the market. Uniqueness and differentiation are not only playing an important role in personal social and communication circles with easy comparison options possible through Instagram, Twitter, and so on. More and more companies are also desperate to break out of me-too initiatives caused by the fear of missing out (FOMO) when not copy-catting others. With customer experience overtaking price and product as key differentiators according to Gartner, do not allow your organizations transformation strategy to be directed by FOMO, where every company is simply doing what their peers are doing, too. Instead, advance your digital ambition through the co-invention of novel ideas that create exceptional customer experiences and execute outside-the-box-thinking with maximum impact on your business, enabled through a unique value proposition with technology. 4 Prioritization During the immediate response to the Covid-19 pandemic, customers, partners, and employees safety, as well as business continuity, were primarily driving decision-making addressing digital efforts. Subsequently, organizations are shifting from emergency and reactive modes to being pro-actively-oriented and shaping character in pursuit of their digital transformation strategy. However, with that comes the so-called priority paralysis. Too much choice for digital initiatives can leave your organization paralyzed and may leads to resourcing issues due to the potential of ineffective prioritization. It's crucial to design your transformation strategy effectively by gaining insights into critical building blocks early in order to accelerate the time from an initial digital idea or crisis implementation to actually achieving the expected impact on business value. In order to realize benefits faster, identify and build minimum viable product (MVP) targets to prioritize effectively and accelerate time-to-value. Include profound technology expertise and your business complete ecosystem to arrive at an architectural strategy containing concrete building blocks for your MVPs that ultimately impact and scale your organizations efforts. Digital Next Advisory provides steps to break down the barriers With its Digital Next Advisory approach, HPE offers a lightweight, proven, and iterative framework to jointly engage in removing these hurdles wherever you are currently in your digital transformation journey; at its beginning or stalling. To effectively execute and scale your digital transformation journeys with the right technology in place, the Activate moment provides a powerful model for framing and communicating your digital initiatives. During an Align moment you gain deep insights to better sequence and orchestrate your digital initiatives. With an Advance moment, we help rapidly identify a differentiated and unique value proposition through technology for your business. And the Accelerate moment helps you move faster from your initial digital idea to benefit realization. Addressing and removing these four common barriers not only enables your organization to create real impact and sustainably scale your digital efforts, but it also provides enablement and stimulation to continuously grow your organizations digital ambition. This can create a prosperous cycle of effective execution that drives business value and the confidence for even greater digital ambitions. For further information please reach out to digitaladvisor@hpe.com. ____________________________________ About Yara-Yasemin Schuetz Yara-Yasemin Schuetz is a Digital Advisor at HPE. She supports organizations in their digital transformation journey, from strategizing to realizing the full value of leveraging digital technologies, in order to advance the way people live and work. Fluent in four languages, she uses those linguistic skills to good use to create a shared language between business outcomes and IT requirements. Her consulting approach to empowering organizations to unlock their full digital ambition embodies having participants step out of their comfort zone for greater collaboration. She holds an MSc in Digital Business Management from the University of Reutlingen, recently led an empirical study on digital strategy patterns. Vietnamese peacekeepers at Vietnams Level-2 field Hospital No. 2 (L2FH2) in South Sudan have been honoured with United Nations Peacekeeping medals in recognition of their outstanding contributions during a year-long mission in the country. Vietnamese peacekeepers at Vietnams Level-2 field Hospital No. 2 (L2FH2) in South Sudan have been honoured with United Nations Peacekeeping medals in recognition of their outstanding contributions during a year-long mission in the country. Member of Vietnams second Level-2 Field Hospital in South Sudan. At a medal parade ceremony held in Bentiu, South Sudan on January 22, Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Bentiu Field Office Hiroko Hirahara and Sector Unity Commander for UNMISS Major General Shamim Kamal presented the medals to all 63 members of the L2FH2. This is a recognition from the UN of the hospitals efforts during their mission in South Sudan, as well as being a testament to Vietnam's contributions as an active and responsible member of the UN, contributing to peace and stability around the world. Speaking at the event, Hiroko Hirahara expressed her sincere thanks to the Vietnamese government for deploying the hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission. She affirmed that amid the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnams field hospitals have played an important role in pandemic control and prevention at the Bentiu base, as well as actively contributing to the implementation of response plans and strictly following the regulations of the mission as well as those of the World Health Organisation. The UN official also hailed the L2FH2 for its active participation in Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) activities, including HIV/AIDS counselling, supporting Bentiu Hospital, sharing medicine and equipment with local authorities, and providing useful devices and learning tools for local students, in addition to their consistent and professional work. Thanking the UNMISS and other relevant units for their support at the hospital over the past year, Director of the L2FH2 Lieutenant Colonel Vo Van Hien, expressed how it was both his and his teams honour to make contributions to solidarity and cooperation within the UNs organs. After more than a year in the UN peacekeeping mission, L2FH2 has received and treated over 1,600 patients, performed 28 surgeries and transported seven patients for emergency treatment by airway to higher level hospitals, while successfully handling complex medical emergencies that require a high level of expertise. In particular, the hospital examined, screened and treated more than 59 suspected COVID-19 cases while protecting the hospital staff, participated in anti-epidemic support for other units in the mission, as well as providing professional training and advising on disease prevention and control measures in the stationed area. The hospital earlier received compliments from the UN health division based in New York as the hospital with the best preparation within the UNMISS in response to COVID-19, in addition to other commendations from the heads of the UN health agency, the UN peacekeeping forces medical division, and the UNMIS health department. Nhan Dan Vietnam expects to expand engagement in UN peacekeeping operations Vietnam will continue to seek measures to enhance the efficiency of and expand the areas of engagement in UN peacekeeping operations, heard a conference held by the Ministry of National Defence in Hanoi on January 7. The has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the capital leaving over 100 policemen injured, officials said on Wednesday. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Additional PRO (Delhi Police), Anil Mittal, said 22 FIRs have been so far registered in connection with Tuesday's violence. More than 100 policemen have been injured in the incident, he said. The Sayunkt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which comprises various farmer organisations, had proposed a "Kisan Tractor Rally" on Republic Day. The SKM had held several rounds of meetings with the in connection with their tractor parade. They had given an undertaking to the police to take out a peaceful rally as per the proposed plans on four agreed upon routes. However, on Tuesday around 8.30 am, 6,000 to 7,000 tractors assembled at the Singhu border, police said. Instead of going on the pre-decided route, they insisted upon going towards central Delhi and despite repeated requests, the farmers, led by Nihangs on their horses and equipped with swords, kirpans and fursas, had charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades, which were erected between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar, the police had said. Similar incidents were reported from Gazipur and Tikri borders. The farmers at the Gazipur border broke through the barricades at several points and headed for ITO, where they were joined by the farmers who had come from the Singhu border. At the Tikri border also, the farmers did not agree to the pre-decided plan and fought with police. They not only broke barricades, but also attacked police vehicles and personnel with deadly weapons. Instead of turning towards Najafgarh, they headed towards Peeragarhi and further towards the central part of the capital, police had said. At ITO, a large group of farmers, who had come from Gazipur and Singhu borders,had attempted to move towards Luytens' Delhi. When they were stopped by policemen, a group of these farmers became violent and broke the barricades, damaged iron grills and dividers and even tried to run over the policemen deployed at these barricades, the police had said in a statement. However, police personnel succeeded in stopping them from entering Lutyens' Delhi. Meanwhile, some farmers also indulged in vandalism and attacked policemen. Later, they changed their plans and moved towards Red Fort, it said. At Red Fort, they broke the gates and entered its wells. A section of the crowd also managed to climb atop the rampart of the Red Fort where they hoisted their organisation's flag, the statement had said. Police had managed to remove the crowd from the rampart. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opel's new electric Combo-e light commercial vehicle which has a range of up to 275km from a single charge. It is beyond me why, with reduced Lockdown traffic, people seem to feel the need to flash their headlights for me to go faster. Ive endured several instances of it this past while and I wonder: Where are people rushing to? I might add I was close enough to the speed limit on nearly every occasion. What does that say about their observance of signs? :: Hyundais entry-level SUV, the Bayon, is due here in July Im told. It will rival the likes of the Toyota Yaris Cross and Ford Puma. Preview images hint at the Bayon taking styling cues from the front of the newly refreshed Kona. Because it is aimed mostly at the European market, the new crossovers name echoes that of the city of Bayonne in France which is renowned for its outdoor sporting activities. :: Opel has revealed first pictures of its new electric Combo-e light commercial vehicle. It has a range of up to 275km from a single charge and up to 4.4m3 cargo space, 800kg payload. It comes in two lengths and arrives late in the year. :: Peugeot is expanding its electric vehicle range too with the electric new e-Partner, the latest light commercial vehicle (LCV) to join the brands line-up as a full EV. It has a claimed range of up to 275km. There are two lengths, Standard and Long, up to three seats (vans) and up to five seats (deep cabins), a towing capacity of up to 750 kg and a payload of up to 800 kg. It is due here in the second quarter of the year. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:21:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Citizens wearing masks take selfies at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 15, 2021. (Xinhua/Lo Ping Fai) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday heard a work report delivered via video link by Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on the HKSAR government's work in 2020, its COVID-19 response and other situations. "On major issues such as national security, you have taken a firm stand and assumed responsibilities, demonstrating your love of and deep sense of responsibility to the motherland and Hong Kong," Xi told Lam. "The central authorities fully acknowledge your performance and the performance of the HKSAR government in fulfilling duties," Xi said. Pacific Green Technologies has announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific Green Technologies (Shanghai) Co Limited has signed a Framework Agreement with Sinopec Star Co, Ltd, a subsidiary of Sinopec. The deal is to provide design, development engineering and consulting services. The agreement provides for Pacific Green to work alongside Sinopec Star on a portfolio of projects in the areas of Onshore and Offshore Wind Power, Photovoltaic Power and Comprehensive Energy Utilisation, as Sinopec seeks to expand its renewable energy portfolio. The Agreement is effective until December 1, 2022. Scott Poulter, Pacific Green's Chief Executive commented: "The Framework Agreement covers a portfolio of exciting projects and it is a great honour to have been engaged to work alongside Sinopec Star's excellent team." Scott added: "Pacific Green's technologies, particularly in the solar power, desalination and battery energy storage system (BESS) sectors, provide the perfect solution to the world's growing demand for renewables and the increasing involvement of the oil majors in renewable and sustainable energy." -- Tradearabia News Service BALLSTON SPA A young New York National Guard member from Clifton Park has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the disappearance two years ago of a Saratoga County biker, Michael P. Ahern of Stillwater. Jack L. Jeffers, 25, a private first class, had been a focus of the investigation into Ahern's disappearance along with associates of at least one other local motorcycle club. Jeffers has an extensive arrest record that includes a federal conviction for gun trafficking. According to court records, Jeffers has been in custody since about April 2019, three months after Ahern was reported missing. When authorities went to investigate at a garage on Brickyard Road where Ahern had resided, his pets and vehicles were still there. Related: Saratoga County Sheriff's asking for help in Stillwater man's disappearance A top legislative aide's secret life as leader of violent biker gang Saratoga County sheriff's officials on Tuesday said that Jeffers may not have acted alone either in causing Ahern's death or disposing of the corpse and that others associated with the area's biker club network remain a focus of the investigation. "I want to offer my sincere condolences to the Ahern family, and his three children," Sheriff Michael H. Zurlo said at a news conference. "This will bring some type of closure to them and to the rest of his family members." The sheriff said that Ahern was "shot and killed" by Jeffers. The alleged murder weapon was recovered by investigators; Jeffers had possessed the gun illegally, he added. Despite Jeffers' admission to killing Ahern, he was charged with second-degree manslaughter rather than murder. That charge indicates that Jeffers "recklessly caused the death" of another person but the Saratoga County district attorney's office and police did not specify what triggered the killing. "The investigation revealed, and he was charged with, having recklessly caused the death of Michael Ahern and that's the charge which was appropriate for the reckless homicide," said District Attorney Karen A. Heggen, without elaborating. Jeffers, who has been arrested multiple times in the past two years, was charged last year with other crimes related to the homicide investigation, including grand larceny, tampering with evidence and criminal possession of a weapon. Zurlo said that Jeffers disposed of evidence and also stole a truck that had belonged to Ahern. In jail on other charges, he was arrested on the manslaughter charge on Monday and arraigned in the town of Milton. He pleaded guilty on Tuesday and is expected to be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison under a plea agreement. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30. Although Zurlo said the two-year investigation had come to "a successful conclusion," investigators acknowledged that the probe is ongoing and others may have had a role in Ahern's disappearance. "We're still working on a few things with the (human) remains," Capt. Jeffrey Brown, head of the sheriff's investigations unit, said when asked if they had recovered Ahern's remains. "I don't want to get into too much. We do have some moving parts, some loose ends. ... There are some other people that could be involved." Brown said that Jeffers and Ahern were living together, but investigators have not confirmed what sparked the dispute that led to the fatal shooting. "We believe there was money issues; certainly I believe there was narcotics involved, so any one of those ... multitude of things could have led them to argue that day and ultimately ended with Mr. Ahern (dead)," Brown said. The captain confirmed that other area bikers are among the suspects they are still investigating in connection with the homicide. "A lot of the local people they hung out with were different local bike gangs and a lot of them are affiliated in one way or another with each other although they are separate in some ways," Brown said, adding that additional arrests are possible. He added that Jeffers is cooperating in the investigation. The building where Ahern was apparently killed had served as the clubhouse for his now-defunct motorcycle club, Rolling Pride. Police believe his body was disposed of elsewhere, according to a person briefed on the case. Cellphone records indicated he had been at that location around the time he vanished. State Police forensic investigators, in coordination with Saratoga County sheriff's deputies and local police, scoured the Brickyard Road property in 2019 for evidence of what happened to the biker, who also had dealings with members of the club known as the East Coast Syndicate. Although they found some forensic evidence at the garage, there were no human remains recovered. Ahern's disappearance led to Joseph Brady, a former state legislative aide and founding member of the Capital Region chapter of East Coast Syndicate, being questioned in 2019 after he and his biker associates were monitored by police for several months. No members of the club have been accused of wrongdoing and no charges have been filed against them. During their surveillance of the group, investigators also learned a troubling allegation that Brady had purported to carry teeth in his pocket that he boasted belonged to someone who had disrespected their club. The Times Union could not independently verify if that allegation was connected to Ahern's disappearance. At least one member of the club also had posted a message on Facebook that appeared to taunt law enforcement investigators: "No body, no crime," it read, according to a person who viewed the post, which has since been removed. Brady was the longtime legislative director for state Assemblyman Peter J. Abbate Jr., a Brooklyn Democrat and state lawmaker since 1986 whose leadership of the chamber's Governmental Employees Committee gave him significant influence over labor issues. Jeffers joined the National Guard in 2012. Hes in the process of being dismissed because of a prior conviction, said Eric Durr, a spokesman for the state's Division of Military and Naval Affairs. In October 2019, nine months after Ahern's death, Jeffers and another man, Jeffrey Barber also a New York resident were arrested in Vermont on charges of using a straw buyer to purchase seven handguns and a rifle from a Bennington, Vt., gun store. Barber and Jeffers both pleaded guilty in the federal criminal case. Last June, Jeffers was sentenced to nine months in federal prison. A sentencing memorandum filed by Jeffers' defense attorney said that alcoholism runs in his family and that in 2017 he began using large amounts of heroin and cocaine. That memo states that Jeffers also was in the U.S. Army, but a National Guard spokesman said their records indicate that Jeffers only served in that service branch. "Mr. Jeffers' increasing drug use coincided with new friends that he met a work. His family described this new peer group as 'toxic' and 'attempted to steer (him) away from that group,' the memorandum states. "Instead, Mr. Jeffers began spending less time with his family and more with his new peer group all of whom were older. ... Mr. Jeffers split from his live-in girlfriend and graduated from heavy drinker to cocaine abuser, to heroin abuser to methamphetamine abuser in short succession." Mike Goodwin contributed reporting for this story. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. IDLIB, Syria Robberies have been on the rise in Syrias opposition-controlled areas, be they controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or the Turkey-allied Free Syrian Army factions. But lately, robberies have multiplied in the Idlib areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and have become an almost daily occurrence, sparking fears and concerns among civilians, amid rampant unemployment and price hikes in those areas. Robberies have exacerbated civilians already tough circumstances. Ibrahim Hamdan, 58, was displaced from Aleppos southern countryside and now lives in a camp in the Idlib countryside. He told Al-Monitor, I have a big family of eight, and I drive a 1998 Hyundai pickup truck. I use the pickup to sell livestock. One day, while I was heading to the livestock market in al-Bardaghli town in the Idlib countryside, I parked on the side of the road and locked the vehicle. I left $500 inside it, and I entered the market for about one hour. When I returned, the pickup was gone. My heart almost stopped because of the shock. I started screaming and asking if anyone spotted the vehicle, but nobody answered. I realized it had been stolen. I went to the police station that is affiliated with the Syrian Salvation Government and filed a complaint. It has been around five months, and I still havent found it. I lost the $500 and the car, which costs around $3,300. I have nothing left to make ends meet. It was all we had, and we lost it in a moment. Samer Omar, 33, who was displaced from the Hama countryside and now lives in Banash in the Idlib countryside, told Al-Monitor, About three months ago, I went to the grocery store in the market in Banash city. I parked my motorcycle in the market. I kept my eyes on it for fear of robbery. As soon as I paid the grocer and headed back, I could not find it. I still havent found it. I filed a complaint at the Banash police station, but they could not identify the thief. My cousin had a similar experience. When it was his turn at the dentist, the thief took advantage and stole his motorcycle, although he had installed an alarm to protect it from theft. Khaled Salem, 65, a car seller from Sarmada in the Idlib countryside, told Al-Monitor, Car theft gangs are professional. They distribute tasks among each other. Some watch the victim as soon as he gets out of the car, while others follow him to make sure he entered his destination. They inform the others who turn the car on without arousing suspicion in crowded areas, such that people cannot differentiate between the thief and the car owner. The robbers then drive the car to a destination that is usually in rural areas, out of sight. They change the cars features to make it unidentifiable. For example, they paint it another color, from white to blue perhaps. They eliminate any distinctive signs on it, like broken pieces, scratches or dysfunctions. Then, they sell it in a remote area. Say they stole it from Idlib, they sell it in al-Bab in the Aleppo countryside, and so on. Local news websites reported that on Jan. 20, Idlib experienced the largest crime spree yet, which involved the robbery of several stores in the Saliba market in the city center. Although armed robberies appeared to have decreased in recent months, a number of them were reported recently. Local newspapers in Idlib said a minivan was stolen at gunpoint. The armed men forced the driver to step out of the minivan on the Harbanush-Idlib road, and they drove away. Mohannad Darwish, a media activist who lives in Idlib, told Al-Monitor, We must distinguish between abductions and robberies. In general, abductions aim at asking for a ransom, and those significantly decreased in Idlib areas. However, the widespread crimes are those related to robberies, especially of motorbikes, cars, stores and even houses. This type of crime is linked to the deteriorating situation and tough living circumstances in the area. Poverty and lack of jobs are the main causes of theft. Besides, the ruling authorities leniency in punishment does not help. The worse the living circumstances, the more the crime and theft rates, notably with the lack of real opportunities for young people and the increasing life needs during winter, such as heating. He added, Halting robberies requires more transparency in dealing with such gangs from the security apparatus affiliated with the military factions. It also requires seriousness from the judicial authorities and painful, public rulings to deter criminals. However, this isnt the case at the moment." He said the media often will not disclose criminals' names or publish photos of their faces, further adding to a lack of accountability. He said that abductions and theft are on the rise in Idlib, but that the area is still much better in terms of crime compared with areas under the control of the Free Syrian Army in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch areas. Darwish said it is much easier to control crime in Idlib because of the centralized security forces in the hands of one faction that is, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham as opposed to the Free Syrian Army-controlled areas, where multiple factions handle the security situation. NORTHAMPTON Cooley Dickinson President and CEO Joanne Marqusee is leaving that position to become executive vice president and chief integration officer for Wellforce, a health care system that includes Tufts Medical Center. Wellforce also oversees four community hospital sites in eastern Massachusetts, a large provider network and a homecare/hospice agency. Marqusee joined Cooley Dickinson in 2014, following its affiliation with Massachusetts General Hospital and the larger Mass General Brigham system, and in announcing her departure called her time at the hospital during which she is credited with a number of accomplishments the highlight of my career. I am so gratified to have worked with the people here, Marqusee said. She will depart Cooley Dickinson at the end of February. The staff at Cooley Dickinson is incredibly talented, committed, and caring. Im extremely proud of what we have accomplished together, including but certainly not limited to the amazing care and compassion that the people of our hospital offered and continue to offer to patients and the community throughout the pandemic. Dr. Peter L. Slavin, president of Massachusetts General Hospital, said Marqusee has been integral in leveraging the strengths of MGH and MGB to expand services for patients and families in the Pioneer Valley, including opening the Mass General Hospital Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson and attracting a range of outstanding specialists to the area. She is a superb leader who has raised the standards of quality, equity, service, and accessibility at Cooley, said Slavin in a statement. Joanne clearly is leaving an important and lasting imprint on this very special hospital. We know she will be as successful in her new role and we wish her the best and we will miss her. During her tenure at Cooley Dickinson, Marqusee, who holds a master of public policy degree from Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government, is credited with the creation of a behavioral health pod in the Emergency Department, opening of a new Breast Center and expansion in provider practices. At the opening of the $2.4 million Breast Center in 2017, that was designed with patient input, Marqusee and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz led a walk from City Hall to the center on Cooleys campus to, as the mayor said at the time, raise awareness of breast cancer screening and early detection. Asked Tuesday about Marqusees departure, Narkewicz said he was wishing her well and that he was thankful for her service to Cooley Dickinson and the City of Northampton. He particularly cited her work with the city in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been an outstanding leader over these seven years, Narkewicz said. She has been a very community-oriented leader of the hospital and a very collaborative leader. I am proud of the collaborations that she and the hospital have had during her tenure, including most recently and most importantly responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the City of Northampton. He added that Marqusee and her health team have been in constant contact during the pandemic in addressing such issues as available testing, outreach to underserved communities and those facing homelessness and being great partners in helping us assist those residents. The hospital has played a leading role in addressing the pandemic and that is a testimony to her leadership, Narkewicz said. He added that the two recreated their 2017 walk between City Hall and Cooleys comprehensive breast center many times to bring awareness to the disease and the importance of early detection. Marqusee said at the opening that the 6,000 square-foot facility includes all the many different services needed by both men and women who are getting screened for breast cancer. We want to make what can be a very challenging time in someones life a little less challenging, she said. Marqusee is credited with addressing equity issues, including through LGBTQ programs and more recently launching a comprehensive anti-racism plan. Joanne has been an extremely effective leader and has left Cooley Dickinson in a strong position, said Fraser Beede, board of trustees chair, adding that Cooley will continue to build on her legacy and provide high quality, compassionate care for the community. Cooley Dickinson said a transition plan will be announced in the coming weeks. Related content: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appointed Regional Policy Minister Carolina Darias as the new health minister on Tuesday after her predecessor resigned to run in an election in a move criticised by the opposition amid rising COVID-19 infections. In her previous job, the 55-year-old lawyer-turned- politician from the Canary Islands helped coordinate Spain's response to the pandemic, overseeing weekly meetings of regional health chiefs. Former Health Minister Salvador Illa, who like Darias is from Sanchez's Socialist Party (PSOE), stepped down to run in an election scheduled in his native Catalonia for Feb. 14 to try to win the regional government away from pro-independence parties. It is intolerable that Sanchez is more concerned with garnering votes than saving lives, Pablo Casado, leader of the main opposition People's Party, tweeted about Illa's departure, shortly before the health ministry reported 36,435 new cases and 591 deaths on Tuesday. Spain's cumulative infections now total 2,629,817, while the death toll is at 56,799. Despite the two-week number of infections tripling over the past month to a record 893 cases per 100,000 people on Tuesday, Spain, unlike many European countries, has chosen not to impose a new nationwide lockdown after the first one ended in May. Instead, the government has delegated regional authorities to deploy a mixture of curfews, caps on gatherings and restrictions on business opening hours, which still required central coordination, of which Darias was in charge. Darias had to spend 30 days in isolation after testing positive for the virus in March. In this first change of the minority government line-up since Sanchez' leftist coalition came to power just over a year ago, Catalonia's Socialist leader Miquel Iceta will replace Darias as the regional policy minister. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Most marriages in Zimbabwe are customary rather than legal unions that, if ended by divorce or death, leave the women empty handed. But a court ruling last year granted women the right to equal property if the marriage is registered. Thirty-nine-year-old Juliet Gweneres customary marriage of 12 years ended in 2016. She was left with five children to care for and no property or support from her ex-husband. She was forced to move in with her mother in Chitungwiza town, about 40 kilometers southeast of Zimbabwes capital, Harare. Gwenere wants her three daughters not to make the same mistake she made when they get married. I encourage my children to go to school. Just to empower yourself. At least if you are empowered you can stand on your two feet. Thats what I always tell my kids, thats what I always encourage other women; to stand on their own two feet, Gwenere said. Most marriages in Zimbabwe are customary, unregistered unions that give no legal protection or inheritance rights to women if the union ends. However a Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruling last year granted women the right to equal property - if the marriage is registered. Hilda Mahumucha, from Women Lawyers of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe, says that since the ruling her organization is noticing more women becoming aware of their rights. This has been a development in the positive direction, especially for women who had been disadvantaged for years. Most of our clients who visited our offices expressed their confidence in the judiciary system, especially with regard to their right to protection, which is a constitutional right. They even expressed that they even have (the) right to equality with their male counterparts unlike in the past when the burden of proof was placed on the woman to indicate how she contributed towards the acquisition of the matrimonial property, Mahumucha said. But rights advocates say women, especially in the countryside, need to be educated on the importance of marriage registration. Maureen Sibanda, head of governance for U.N. Women in Zimbabwe said, We have a lot of work out for us or civil society. Gender equality advocates need to continue with advocacy. We need to engage with lawmakers, we need to engage with judges in terms of the promotion of womens rights, on judiciary activism, even interpretation of some of the normative frameworks that are out there that promote womens rights. While Zimbabwes wheels of justice turned too slowly for women like Juliet Gwenere, there is at least a more hopeful future for equality and legal protection for her daughters. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fortis Lux Financial, a premier financial service organization with over $5 billion of assets serviced that helps businesses, families, and individuals achieve their financial goals, today announces the expansion of services to businesses and business owners who face an increasingly complex business, economic, and financial climate. These activities have led to continued growth of the firm's strategic partnership initiative, with the addition of Big Apple Accounting, Tax & Advisory. "The COVID economy has pushed business owners and executives into making decisions amid uncertainty and turmoil," explains John Salina, Managing Director, Fortis Lux. "We've developed a strategic partnership program to help ensure clients have access to the trusted professionals, resources, and technology they need to help them make decisions that will serve them well not only through the pandemic, but for generations to come." Big Apple Accounting, Tax & Advisory ("BigAppleAccounting") is a full-service CPA firm that offers monthly accounting, tax preparation, tax planning and outsourced CFO services to small business owners, high net worth individuals, medical practice owners, and entrepreneurs. In addition, Big Apple Accounting offers compilations, reviews and audits to small business owners. This is the latest professional group to join in Fortis Lux's strategic partnership directive. Big Apple Accounting, Tax & Advisory, which has been providing both onsite and remote services since its inception 5 years ago, is uniquely positioned to help clients transition to and become acclimated with a remote business, accounting and financial operations model. This strategic partnership will allow BigAppleAccounting to provide clients access to additional financial services beyond accounting and tax services. Working with Fortis Lux Financial, will allow BigAppleAccounting to offer current and future clients wealth management services, estate planning, investment planning, tax management, and retirement options. Clients will be offered access to a custom financial solution to support every stage of life. COVID has been the ultimate business disruptor, according to the latest MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Coronavirus Impact Poll with 55%* of businesses saying that it will be six months to a year before businesses return to what they would consider normal. "As trying as these times have been, it has been exciting to work with clients through this crisis, and help clients take advantage of opportunities and build better, more sustainable and reliable businesses processes," adds Busayo Ogunsanya CPA MST, Managing Partner, Big Apple Accounting, Tax and Advisory. "We have assisted clients with the payroll protection program, SBA EIDL loan, payroll protection program forgiveness, and SBA 7a Loan. The opportunity to simplify the financial client life and to produce a truly customized and comprehensive strategy focused on unique situations and priorities is something we are excited about!" Fortis Lux is a comprehensive financial planning firm that offers wealth management, protection, risk management, trust and estate planning advice and solutions to address your present and future financial needs. For more information, visit www.FortisLux.com. Big Apple Accounting, Tax & Advisory ("BigAppleAccounting") is a full-service CPA firm that offers monthly accounting, tax preparation, tax planning and outsourced CFO services. For more information, visit www.BigAppleAccountingcpa.com or call:(646) 572-8621. Securities and investment advisory services offered through qualified registered representatives of MML Investors Services, LLC. Member SIPC (www.SIPC.com). Supervisory Office 420 Lexington Avenue Fl 25, Suite 2510 New York, NY 10170. (212) 578-0300. Neither MML Investors Services, LLC nor any of its employees or agents are authorized to give legal or tax advice. Consult your own personal attorney legal or tax counsel for advice on specific legal and tax matters. Strategic partnership firms such as Big Apple Accounting, Tax and Advisory, are not affiliated with MML Investors Services, LLC. and are solely responsible for their own products and services provided. CRN202301-276648 Resources: *https://www.uschamber.com/report/small-business-coronavirus-impact-poll-june SOURCE Fortis Lux Financial Related Links https://fortislux.com/ It's A Sin viewers were shocked over a very cheeky reference to Phillip Schofield's sexuality, because filming wrapped before he came out in February last year. The show, set in the 80s, shows Ritchie (Olly Alexander) and his lover Donald (Nathaniel Hall) speculating about which celebrities are homosexual. Donald said in episode three of the drama: 'Ill tell you who else: Phillip Schofield.' 'Ritchie replied: 'If only.' 'It's a coincidence': It's A Sin viewers were shocked over the show's cheeky reference to Phillip Schofield's sexuality because filming wrapped BEFORE he came out Donald told Ritchie (pictured) in the show: 'I had a friend who worked in The Broom Cupboard, said hes at it like Billy-o' when talking about Schofield in the 80s Donald added: 'I had a friend who worked in The Broom Cupboard, said hes at it like Billy-o.' In fact, writer Russell T. Davies, 57, confirmed that the reference was a complete coincidence and said lawyers allowed the line because the star is married to a woman. He told The Times: 'Gay men always say that a handsome man on television is gay. So in the 1980s we always used to say Phillip Schofield was gay. The lawyer said, No, you dont need to clear this with Schofield, because hes straight. Hes married with children, we dont need to check that. Brave: Phillip, who has been married to wife Stephanie for over 27 years revealed he is gay during an appearance on This Morning last February Candid: Phillip, who shares daughters Molly, 28, and Ruby, 25, with his wife, spoke about his battles with keeping his secret and the relief of coming out Only now hes come out! Isnt that weird? He also told Pink News: 'See, I never thought that Phillip Schofield was gay. I was like a right chump Hes always been very nice to me I look a little bit like Im taking potshots at him now. 'Whereas actually, when that was written and filmed wed all presumed he was so straight that that line was no offence, because I was attacking gay men who always presume that the handsome man on television is gay.' 'i feel like a chump': Writer Russell T Davies revealed lawyers said he did not need to check the line with Schofield because he was married to a woman and said he was not taking potshots at the star because he didn't know he was actually gay Viewers wrote on Twitter: 'I watched #ItsASin and had to check filming dates due to the Phillip Schofield mention. 'Filming wrapped 7 days before he came out (officially). Must just be a coincidence?' 'Loved the @schofe reference #itsasin.' 'Laughed my a** off at the reference to Phillip Schofield.' 'Already on ep 3 of #ItsASin where theres a sneaky reference to Philip Schofield being gay. Filming for this finished in January 2020. Schofield came out in February 2020....' MailOnline has contacted a spokesperson for Phillip Schofield, 58, for comment. It's A Sin tells the story of five friends who live in a flat together in London in 1981, but their lives are turned upside down by the AIDS crisis. Last time: Phillip and supportive Steph were last seen in public together at the National Television Awards a month before he went public with his sexuality) Back in February, Phillip bravely revealed he was gay in an emotional discussion with Holly WIlloughby, 39, on This Morning. After 27 years of marriage to his wife Stephanie, he admitted that he has suffered 'inner conflict' and is now ready to 'celebrate and be proud' of his sexuality, yet insisted he is not thinking about a new relationship. Phillip, who shares daughters Molly, 28, and Ruby, 25, with his wife, spoke about his battles with keeping his secret and the relief of coming out. Phil met Stephanie when she was a BBC production Assistant and he was working for the BBC Children's television. You what? The reference didn't go unnoticed with viewers who took to Twitter afterwards - It's A Sin tells the story of five friends who live in a flat together in London in 1981, but their lives are turned upside down by the AIDS crisis He said: 'Every person I tell it gets a little lighter and a little lighter, at the same time I have made this decision which is essential for me and essential for my head and that is principally the reason I have done this. They have been supporting while we get to this moment because we all know it was coming... 'We've never had any secrets. It is tough but it's not something that has happened quickly, I have had to deal with this in my head for quite some time, we've gone through this together, we have been honest and have been open and Stephanie as I said, you know'. Quick to lavish praise on his wife, he said: 'She's amazing, she's incredible, there's no one in my life who would have supported me. As a wife the way she's supported me, she's astonishing, literally astonishing, it's a good questions, you know this has been bothered me for a very long time.' Film Review: Let Him Go: Should Have Been a Jack Reacher Movie R | 1h 53min | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 6 November 2020 (USA) Neo-Western thriller Let Him Go features long-married Montana ranchers George and Margaret Blackledge (Kevin Costner and Diane Lane) in what at first looks to be a delicious movie night for folks of a certain age. (LR) Kayli Carter, Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Heck, any ageLane and Costner not only make a handsome couple, they project a most excellent, well-worn marriage chemistry, where, were it a century or two earlier, George would have lit out for the frontier, and Margaret, in a bonnet, would have said, I will go with thee, George. And speaking of handsome, add a fine, late 50s vintage Chevy Bel Air station wagon, bisecting the Rocky Mountain American West, and rugged North Dakota Badland beauty. Throw in an exceptionally good-looking mysterious young Native man with tremendous hair, horse, cowboy hat (Booboo Stewart), and a couple of cozy campfires, a (slightly saccharine) folksy score, and youd appear to have found a winner. The Moon Wink Motor Court where the Blackledges spend a night, in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Not So Fast What you get is more like 1972s Deliverance (featuring extremely dangerous inbred mountain folk) crossed with 2013s August Osage County (featuring a mean-as-a-snake matriarch). James Blackledge (Ryan Bruce), son of former horse-trainer Margaret and retired lawman George, dies tragically in a horse-related accident, leaving the Blackledges beloved 5-year-old grandson, Jimmy (Otto and Bram Hornung) with James widow, Lorna (Kayli Carter). Needless to say, Jamess untimely death weighs heavily on George and Margaret. However, when Lorna moves on and marries the no-good, wife-beating Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain) and then suddenly vanishes, frontierswoman-like Margaret storms off in pursuit, reluctantly driven by George, who, discovering his old (loaded) service revolver already stowed under the drivers seat, knows hes got to go along and be the level-headed one. Diane Lane and Kevin Costner in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Off they drive to North Dakota, home of the Weboy clan to reclaim their kin, which starts off as that aforementioned picturesque road-trip. At this point, its sort of like About Schmidt, where instead of Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) writing letters to his African stepson starting with Deeeaaaarrr Ndugu, Margaret pines for Jimmy. As they ask questions along the way, the suspense builds, because the Weboys would appear to be precognizant, hyper-aware, and immediately informed of all comings and goings within a 1,000 miles of their barren Gladstone, North Dakota homestead. Everyone they meet appears to be forwarding the info of their whereabouts. Its mildy creepy. Even the Native lad they share a campfire with, ominously warns them to Go easy. Booboo Stewart plays a solitary hunter/trapper in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Upon Arrival The film kicks into high gear when George and Margaret inevitably find their way to the Weboys Black Hills establishment. Its a scary Southern-gothic type American family consisting of few big, dangerous, not-too-bright, bad hair-cut-sporting loutish sons, all easily cowed by their psychotic mom. Sort of like if Norman Bates from Psycho had big brothers and the dead mom had somehow come to life and was cooking bad porkchops. (LR) Adam Stafford, Connor Mackay, Lesley Manville, Kevin Costner, Jeffrey Donovan, and Diane Lane have some porkchops in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Speaking of moms, British actress Lesley Manville nails the chain-smoking, everybodys-face-slapping, toxic matriarch Blanche Weboy with relish, which is a far cry from her usual power alley of British working-class characters. Blanches brother Bill is played with smarmy menace by Jeffrey Donovan, best known as the bespectacled CIA agent who makes detached, intellectual commentary in Sicario, about gruesome bodies hanging from bridges in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. (LR) Kevin Costner, Jeffrey Donovan, and Diane Lane in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) What It Is Basically what youve got here, basically, are warring grandparents in a custody battle featuring a pistol and a hatchet. Short shrift is given to what wee Jimmys mom Lorna wants, although to be fair, given that shes always sporting a new shiner, its kind of a moot point. Kayli Carter plays an abused wife and mother in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) But I mean, where are the child-care workers and the attorneys settling this legally? Why all the overly dramatic brouhaha with former lawman George who seriously oughta know better? Because then its not a neo-Western anymore; its a different movie. Normally nowadays, any movie shot out west featuring horses and craggy-featured actors is a Western, but because its 2021 and not 1950, its automatically a neo-Western. However, what remains true to the original genre here is that the man makes a major sacrifice for the women and children. The entire time, grumpy George is not a happy camper. Hed rather not go at all. That all said, its still pretty good watchin. Why? Because its got all that good rugged, rustic Americana stuff to look at, wide open vistas and suchgood for curing pandemic quarantine cabin fever, if only for a brief spelland because Costner, Lane, and Manville act up a storm, even though theyre undermined by bad writing and hatchet-silliness. The Blackledges drive to North Dakota in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) The only thing that seriously rankles is that this kind of story calls for Costner-heroism, and here our hero is hampered by eye-rolling, predictable, scripted, old-age-ineptness: No! Dont hold the shotgun resting on the bad guys chest, with one hand, while you lean out the bedroom door for at least half a minute and whisper directions! Personally, Id have preferred to see Let Him Go as a Jack Reacher movie. Its the perfect setting for 65 former military cop-turned-drifter Reacher to hitchhike through the Badlands, catch wind of Weboy wrong-doing, show up and eat all their porkchops, and then beat the ever-livin heck out of all of them with his bare hands. Actually, he would probably hatchet them all into the afterlife and sweep the Dakotas clean of their ilk. I like the thought of that movie a lot. George Blackledge (Kevin Costner) nurses a badly wounded hand in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Still, its worth a watch because Costner and Lane make an extremely attractive couple. They sell, splendidly, the now-fading traditional value (and hope that most of us still have) for a long-time spouse who can finish your sentences and know you better than you know yourself. Someone you can sit in silence with all day long and yet go have a first date experience, with none of the long-ago thrills faded. That never gets old. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane in the Dakota Badlands in Let Him Go. (Focus Features) Let Him Go Director: Thomas Bezucha Starring: Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Kayli Carter, Jeffrey Donovan, Lesley Manville, Ryan Bruce, Booboo Stewart Rating: R Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes Release Date: Nov. 6, 2020 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars The Gauguin will also be returning to Fiji in 2022, offering 12-night and 13-night Fiji, Tonga, Cook & Society Islands itineraries. These comprehensive voyages follow in the wake of explorers, encompassing the exquisite Society Islands, home waters of The Gauguin, and the Cook Islands with its unique culture and exquisite lagoons. Other highlights include sailing across the International Date Line, a rare visit to the Kingdom of Tonga, and the paradisiacal Fijian islands. Ports of call on the voyages are Papeete, Tahiti; Moorea, Society Islands; Taha'a (Motu Mahana), Society Islands; Bora Bora, Society Islands; Aitutaki, Cook Islands; Vava'u, Tonga; Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji; Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji; Beqa Island, Fiji (13-night sailing only); and Lautoka, Viti Levu, Fiji. Designed specifically to sail the pristine lagoons of these islands, The Gauguin provides an up-close, authentic experience of the South Seas and offers an elegant yet casual ambiance with luxurious accommodations, exceptional service, gourmet dining, trademark Polynesian hospitality, private beach retreats, and extraordinary all-inclusive value. To launch its 2022 voyages, Paul Gauguin Cruises is offering savings of 30% off standard cruise fares on all voyages, plus included airfare from Los Angeles. Paul Gauguin Cruises' top priority has always been to ensure the safety and comfort of its passengers. The health protocols developed by Paul Gauguin Cruises and PONANT exceeds international regulations. The Sail with Confidence booking policy is an extra effort to ensure travelers feel confident booking a well-deserved cruise vacation now without worry should they need to cancel. For rates or more information on Paul Gauguin Cruises, please contact a Travel Professional, call 800-848-6172, or visit www.pgcruises.com. About Paul Gauguin Cruises Paul Gauguin Cruises operates the 5+-star cruise ship, the 332-guest m/s Paul Gauguin, providing a deluxe cruise experience tailored to the unparalleled wonders of Tahiti, French Polynesia, and the South Pacific. Paul Gauguin Cruises has been recognized by notable publications in travel and lifestyle. One of the "Top Small Cruise Lines" in the Conde Nast Traveler 2020 Readers' Choice Awards and is honored on the publication's 2020 "Gold List." Paul Gauguin Cruises was selected as "Best Small-Ship Cruise Line" in Global Traveler's Leisure Lifestyle Awards from 2016 to 2020, and has received top honors in BRIDES Magazine's Honeymoon Awards for the past three years. And recently the line was recognized for the fourth time for having the "Best French Polynesia Cruises" in the AFAR Travelers' Choice Awards. In September 2019, Paul Gauguin Cruises joined PONANT's family, the world leader of small-ship cruising. Media Contact: Paul Gauguin Cruises Public Relations Department [email protected] SOURCE Paul Gauguin Cruises Related Links http://www.pgcruises.com A man who was wrongfully arrested in 2019 for the 1988 murder of a 10-year-old girl is suing the police officers who arrested him, claiming they were fame-hungry and framed him to crack the cold case. On Tuesday Joao 'John' Monteiro, 60, filed a lawsuit in Rhode Island District Court claiming he was wrongfully accused, framed and arrested for the murder of Christine Cole. Cole was just 10 when she disappeared in January 1988 outside a market on Slater Street in Pawtucket. Her body was found on a beach in Warwick 54 days later. Monteiro was arrested in July 2019 by Pawtucket police with officials saying a breakthrough in DNA technology connected him to the crime and he lived in the apartment above the market where Cole was last seen. However, just seven months later the charges were dropped because the DNA evidence was too broad and did not specifically point to Monteiro as the killer. On Tuesday Joao 'John' Monteiro, 60, (left) filed a lawsuit in US District Court claiming he was wrongfully accused, framed and arrested for the 1988 murder of Christine Cole (right). Monteiro was arrested in July 2019 by Pawtucket police with officials saying a breakthrough in DNA technology connected him to the crime but the charges were dropped seven months later because the DNA evidence was too broad In the lawsuit Monteiro names four members of the Pawtucket Police Department including Detectives Susan Cormier (above), Trevor Lefebvre, Major Daniel Mullen and Chief Tina Goncalves. He claims Cormier was a 'media hound who frequently issued press releases in order to be in the limelight.' In the lawsuit Monteiro, an immigrant from Cape Verde and father-of-four, names four members of the police force Detectives Susan Cormier, Trevor Lefebvre, Major Daniel Mullen and Chief Tina Goncalves - who he claims were fame hungry and wanted attention for closing the case. The suit also names Tamara Wong, the employee with the Rhode Island Department of Health who supplied DNA Evidence related to the case. He accused Det. Cormier of being 'a media hound who frequently issued press releases in order to be in the limelight.' The lawsuit further says that Defendant Cormier 'wanted publicity for solving "cold cases."' Lawyers noted that Cormier and other Pawtucket officers created a playing-card deck of 52 cold cases that she boldly declared she would solve. When cops arrested Monteiro in 2019 she said to reporters: 'I hope this is a message to the people responsible for these crimes: We are coming for you.' Monteiro claims that officers with the Pawtucket Police Department took advantage of his limited English to make it appear that he lived near the crime scene and a state lab technician misrepresented DNA evidence to obtain an arrest warrant. The lawsuit further says that Defendant Cormier (left) 'wanted publicity for solving "cold cases"' In the lawsuit, filed by Chicago-based firm Loevy & Loevy, Monteiro said he had never knew Cole, never interacted with her and no legitimate evidence tied him to the crime. The civil complaint claims he was arrested without probable cause, deprived of his constitutional rights, falsely imprisoned and slandered. Monteiro's lawyers say the arrest has changed his life for the worse. He lost his job of 15 years and was ultimately left homeless. Theyre seeking damages, attorneys fees and other costs. The lawsuit claims the DNA evidence used in the case was misrepresented or falsified to obtain an arrest. 'This DNA profile potentially pointed to any number of men who may have had some connection to the area. For some unknown reason, the Pawtucket defendants decided to target Plaintiff, an innocent man,' the lawsuit seen by DailyMail.com said. Monteiro pictured afte rhe was charged with murder for the death of Christine Cole. Those charges were later dropped. Monteiro says his life has been upended since the accusation and he lost his job and was rendered homeless Monteiro's attorneys further allege he was targeted for his race. 'But for his race, ethnicity and/or national origin, defendants would not have targeted him for unlawful arrest,' the lawyers wrote. On the same note the complaint has pointed to several previous legal actions led by people of color against the police department for false arrests or imprisonment. Acting Public Safety Director and Police Chief Tina Goncalves, who is named in the lawsuit, defended the department in a statement shared with DailyMail.com. 'Cold cases always have a high degree of difficulty given the time that elapses. Detective Sue Cormier and the Pawtucket Police Department have a passion for solving these cases and providing closure to the families of the victims. In this particular case, the Department met the burden of proof for probable cause with new testing for the DNA sample to administer an arrest,' she said. 'The Attorney Generals Office looked at the findings and stated that they would require more information. The Pawtucket Police Department is working closely with the Assistant Attorney General assigned to the case and remains committed to giving the family of 10-year-old Christine Cole closure. At this point, the individual continues to be a prime suspect in the case,' she added. Pawtucket police reopened the three-decade old case in 2018 and conducted a DNA analysis of blood reportedly found on Coles pants. That analysis showed a potential link to Monteiros son, who was born five years after Christines death and whose DNA was in the criminal database, according to The Providence Journal. The DNA profile could have been used to indicate a potential link to any relative on his sons paternal side but did not directly implicate anyone, the lawsuit says. Luzerne County Council approved a requested tax break for a proposed major commercial development project in the Hazleton region Tuesday. Council voted 7-4 to grant a 10-year abatement of property taxes on new construction in a $500 million project that Hazleton Creek Commerce Center Holdings LLC plans to develop. on a 393-acre tract that stretches from Hazleton into Hazle Twp. The developer plans to build five massive warehouse and manufacturing buildings on the long-vacant mine-scarred tract, near state routes 309 and 924. The commercial space will be marketed to Fortune 100 companies, the developers attorney, Raymond Rinaldi, told council. The tax abatement will be under the state Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance legislation, which encourages the improvement of deteriorated properties. It would only apply to new construction. The county and other taxing bodies will still collect property tax on the land. Hazleton, Hazle Twp. and Hazleton Area School District approved the requested tax break for the project last year. The property will generate between $3.5 million and $6 million in tax revenue per year once the LERTA tax break expires, Rinaldi said. Councils approval followed a sharp debate over Councilman Harry Haass proposed amendment that would have voided the tax abatement if the developer sold the property during the 10-year period it is in effect. Haas said he does not want council and county taxpayers to get burned in a scenario in which the developer sells the property and the new owner does not continue to develop the project. Vito DeLuca, assistant county solicitor, warned that provision could be a deal-breaker. Haas disagreed, saying that agreeing to his proposal would demonstrate good faith on the part of the developer. Council members Tim McGinley, Chris Perry, Sheila Saidman, Matthew Vough, Robert Schnee, Lee Ann McDermott and Kendra Radle voted no on Haass proposed amendment, then voted in favor of granting the tax abatement. Council members Walter Griffith, Stephen J. Urban, Linda McClosky Houck and Haas voted yes on the Haas amendment, then voted no on the tax break. (Updated to correct first name of Chris Perry.) LITCHFIELD BEACH Even during a pandemic, one South Carolinian is doing her part to make the Hammock Coast a better place for everyone to share. Greenville resident Susan McKibben should be like any vacationer collecting seashells or relaxing in a beach chair along the surf but instead wakes up before the sun comes up and one thing pops in her head. Trash. "People didn't litter back in the day like they do now," McKibben said while on a daily walk recently in the Litchfield Beach community where she co-owns a vacation home. "We just knew not to litter growing up. "It is ingrained in me when I see a piece of trash to pick it up." Dan Thompson also makes daily walks through the neighborhood and said he noticed McKibben one morning as she had a stick in one hand and a bag in the other. "Two years ago, I was walking and I noticed her picking stuff up," said Thompson, adding that he has noticed her doing it on multiple occasions. "I thought that was a pretty nice thing she was doing. It wasn't just a one day fluke." McKibben remembers back years ago when she sent her three children off to grade school in Greenville and started off on a daily walk with a neighbor. "We started walking and just saw all of this trash, especially near the school," she said. "I just started picking it up. "When I come down here (Litchfield), I just say to myself that I need to do it here, too. It just bothers me to walk by it." Ironically, an advertisement that most people discard caught the eye of her husband and son that made them decide to buy the property along with other friends around 12 years ago. "They saw it on an ad that was most likely trash," he said. "They said you need to look at this place in Litchfield. "We used to come to Pawleys when I was a kid. My husband and I vacationed for years with our children." They quickly made the decision to buy it with a group of four, sharing visitation rights. Everyone comes for two weeks each. Sign up for our Myrtle Beach weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff. Email Sign Up! Some mornings McKibben doesn't find much trash, but she uses that time to appreciate the beauty of the area. "You would not believe some of the stuff I find," she said while pointing over to a construction glove in a nearby driveway. She picks it up and places it on a mailbox in hopes the owner comes back for it. "I always wonder if they come back and look for them," she said. "I'll put them on the mailbox and if they are still there tomorrow I will properly dispose of them." She said that one day in Litchfield she found an entire set of socket wrenches in good condition, but the strangest piece of trash McKibben ever discovered was found in Greenville. A Thanksgiving meal on a plate covered in tinfoil. "My thought was that someone had been at their mother's or grandmother's, put it on top of their car and drove off," she said, laughing as she remembered walking by it. "The whole plate was there." She finds change daily in Litchfield and saves it to see how much she can save. Once she found a sandwich baggie of pills and had to ask a friend what they were. "I have found undergarments," she said. "All kinds of crazy stuff." It saddens her to find discarded cigarette butts, beer cans or bags of dog poop, but she always picks it up. It's just in her DNA. "I find it very disheartening that people come to such a beautiful spot and throw out trash," Thompson added. McKibben agreed with Thompson, but while picking up a piece of plastic, she thought back to one thing. At the end of her two weeks, it is a lot cleaner. Panama-flagged MT Freya (left) and Iran-flagged MT Horse tankers are seen anchored together in Pontianak waters off Borneo Island, Indonesia, Jan. 24, 2021. The crews of two tankers seized by Indonesia over the weekend admitted that they were carrying out an unauthorized oil transfer from an Iran-flagged vessel to a Panama-flagged one and hiding their ships identities, a spokesman for the Indonesian coast guard said on Tuesday. Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) MT Horse and MT Freya were scheduled to arrive Tuesday afternoon at a naval port in Batam, in the Riau Islands, for an ongoing investigation after they were seized by Indonesias Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla) on Sunday. Members of the crew admitted they were making an unsanctioned transfer of oil, had shut down the tankers automatic identification systems, lowered national flags, and covered the vessels names in a bid to conceal their identities, Bakamla spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said. It will be investigated further in Batam. However, they were caught red-handed and confessed, Wisnu said in a statement received by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Thirty Iranian nationals crewed the Horse, while 25 Chinese nationals crewed the Freya, coast guard spokesman Wisnu had said on Monday. The head of Bakamla, Adm. Madya Aan Kurnia, said Indonesia had the authority to investigate because the ships were caught in the act of committing violations regulated not only by Indonesia but also by international law. Iran can protest, or question this. But its clear, the two supertankers were caught red-handed by Bakamlas KN Marore as it was on patrol, Aan told BenarNews by phone. Aan said the crews of the two tankers initially declined to answer radio calls when their positions were detected in waters off Pontianak, West Kalimantan. They were caught transferring fuel oil from an Iranian ship to a Panamanian ship. When the security forces arrived, some oil was thrown into the sea, creating pollution, Aan said. After the tankers arrive in Batam, an investigative team with representatives of several ministries and related institutions will carry out the investigations, he said. This is not just a security issue, Aan said, adding that he had reported about the two tankers to the Foreign Ministry and the ministries of immigration, transportation, environment, and energy and mineral resources, along with police. Tomorrow the teams will start investigations, in their respective fields. Aan said the two tankers had been escorted to the naval base for investigation of initial allegations. Further legal measures would be determined based on the results of the investigation, he said. He said that Bakamla had become more vigilant after a Chinese survey ship earlier this month went through Indonesias exclusive economic zone with its AIS turned off. The Indonesian Navy has been investigating the discovery of an unmarked underwater surveillance drone, or sea glider, near South Sulawesi in December. The device, which is capable of collecting military intelligence, likely belongs to the government of China, Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told the website of Australias ABC News at the time. Were also suspicious because of that sea glider. The issue has been conveyed to the Chinese side as well. We ask the foreign ministry to tell the Chinese that while passing through Indonesian sea routes, AIS must be turned on and it must be reported if the system does not work, Aan said. The tankers were suspected of committing four violations, including violating the right of passage in an Indonesian archipelagic sea lane and transferring oil there, Wisnu told BenarNews on Monday. The Freya had traveled from Bayuquan district in Chinas Liaoning province on Jan. 6 and was near Indonesia and Singapore six days ago, according to the MarineTraffic.com website. The Panama-flagged tanker is owned and managed by a firm listed as the Shanghai Future Ship Management Co., according to information from the site. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Communist Party cadres hang a placard on the neck of a Chinese man. The words on the placard state the man's name and accuse him of being a member of the "black class." (Public Domain) Wokeism Isnt Cool, Chinese People Know Too Well Commentary Lets begin with a true story that happened in China. Mr. Zhang (a pseudonym) was my fathers high school English teacher in the 1960s. Twenty years before that, he worked as an interpreter for American liaison officers in China during World War II. Because he and his wife were from rich families, after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took power, they lived a low-profile life in order to avoid troubles that might arise because of their family backgrounds and his experience working with Americans. In 1966, the Cultural Revolution began. Young people were encouraged to accuse, turn in, or even beat up their parents to prove their revolutionary devotion, or to break away from their unfavorable family backgrounds. Those who dared to do that were considered heroes. Mr. Zhangs teenage daughter, Ling (also a pseudonym), a classmate of my father, put up a poster accusing her parents of dancing the waltz and having capitalist thoughts. That ignited a ferocious campaign against her father. Posters attacking him were everywhere, calling him a monster. In front of mass rallies, half of his hair was shaved. With a big and heavy board hanging around his neck with his name crossed out with red ink, he was beaten, spat on, and cursed at. As a result, Mr. Zhangs son went insane, the entire family suffered tremendously, and Ling lived with immense guilt. Two years ago, before her death from cancer, her parents came to visit her. However, she kept her eyes closed, pretending to be asleep because she didnt dare look at them. This is just one of the millions of sad stories that have happened in China: families torn apart, friends betraying friends, teachers beaten to death by students Similar scenarios occur in every communist country. Now, something similar is happening in the United States. Also in America Helena Duke, an 18-year-old from Massachusetts, publicly ridiculed her mother by sharing a video of her at the U.S. Capitol protest on Jan. 6. The post went viral, causing Helenas mother to lose her job. Helena became a hero, and raised over $73,000 when she turned to Gofundme to seek donations for her college education. Helena isnt alone. According to the media, since the Jan. 6 Capitol protest, the FBI has received more than 100,000 tips about the participants, most of them from family or friends. If you browse Helenas Twitter account or her Gofundme page, its full of comments like proud of you, right choice, brave, etc. But as a Chinese American, I have a heavy heart. Family bonds are the most precious. They are beyond political affiliations. No NORMAL society glorifies reporting against family members. From imperial China to Western law systems since ancient Rome, there is legal immunity of concealment among relatives. Confucius said, Benevolence is the characteristic element of humanity, and the greatest exercise of it is in loving family members. The only societies that would encourage betraying family members are communist and Nazi governments. How has the United States gone this far? My understanding is that there are two reasons: one short-term, one long-term. The short-term reason is the demonization of conservatives by mainstream media. Actually, this is standard practice by communist and Nazi governments. Before persecuting a specific group, the propaganda machine would be revved up to its full capacity to demonize the group so people would feel indifferent when the group is brutalized, and their family members would feel the urge to cut ties with them to protect themselves. The persecuted group can be landowners, capitalists, intellectuals, religious followers, Jewish people, or anybody. The long-term reason is the destruction of family bonds and ethics since the 1960s. Actually, the 1960s was a watershed moment in modern history that sustained an unprecedented counterculture movement sweeping from East to West. Rebellious young people in the West revered Karl Marx, Herbert Marcuse, and Chairman Mao, vowing to shatter Judeo-Christian civilization and traditional culture, including family bonds and ethics, just like their Eastern counterparts. Although far apart, the West and the East experienced similar havoc at similar times, originating from the same source: communism. Actually, we are not that far from a Cultural Revolution 2.0 in America. When Black Lives Matter activists tear down sculptures of historical figures, urinate on them, and behead them, what is the difference from Chairman Maos Red Guards, who bludgeoned Buddhist sculptures and burned scriptures? When Antifa wants to burn everything down, and get a new world from the ashes, what is the difference from the communists ideal of smashing the old world? When defund the police becomes the new political correctness, what is the difference from the Chinese Cultural Revolutions lawlessness and mob rule? When mainstream media become the mouthpiece of leftist ideology, what is the difference from the propaganda departments in China and the Soviet Union? When the issue of race becomes omnipresent, and white people are considered to be born with implicit bias, what is the difference from categorizing people according to their family backgrounds, and denouncing the children of capitalists and landowners as bastards? Former President Ronald Reagan said, Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. As human beings, we have all kinds of weaknesses, like greed, lust, selfishness, and ego. But communism, the specter, is staring at us without a blink, and charging toward us. If we dont know its strategy and take action to counter it, it will take away our freedomquickly. Jean Chen is originally from China and writes under a pen name in order to protect her family members there. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Rs 20 crore for Regional Centre for empowerment of physically challenged in Tripura: Thaawar Chand Gehlot Cops clash with sacked teachers in Tripura, over 40 injured India pti-Madhuri Adnal Agartala, Jan 27: Tension prevailed in Agartala on Wednesday, as scores of terminated school teachers demonstrated outside Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb's official residence here, prompting the police to use tear gas and water cannons to disperse them. Over 10,000 government school teachers were sacked last year, in accordance with a 2014 high court order, which said that their recruitment process was a faulty one. The Supreme Court later upheld the verdict. Demanding a solution to the crisis, the teachers had been staging a sit-in over the last 52 days at Paradise Chowmuhani in the state capital. Trouble started in the morning after the police dismantled the makeshift tent, where they had been holding the protest, and detained around 300 agitators. PM Modi extends best wishes to people on statehood days of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya Shortly after, the protesters set out on a march to the CM's residence, notwithstanding the restrictions, even as the police tried to stop them. A scuffle ensued, following which the police lathicharged the agitators, burst tear gas shells and sprayed them with water. The demonstrators, in retaliation, ransacked vehicles of police and district officials. "We had information that the movement could turn into a violent protest and there were chances of breach of peace. The district magistrate had announced that prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed around the CM's residence. So the gathering was illegal," Additional Superintendent of Police Shasvat Kumar said. According to a member of the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) -- a forum created by the terminated teachers -- the Tripura police dismantled the tent without any warning, when the agitators were still asleep. Many teachers were detained forcibly by the police and taken to Tripura State Rifles (TSR) camps near here. We are not criminals. Why did the government use force?" Kamal Deb, a leader of the forum, said here, adding that several protesters sustained injuries in the melee. Inspector General (law and order) Arindam Nath told reporters that police applied force "judiciously and with a human face". Under no circumstances, we could have allowed the protest near the CM's residence, he added. YREKA, Calif. Last Friday, Siskiyou County held a mass coronavirus vaccination clinic, which officials have promised will be the first of several. But for many eligible people in the community, it ended before it began. The clinic at the SIskiyou County Fairgrounds was set to start at 10 a.m., but Siskiyou County Public Health announced at 9:42 a.m. that it had already reached the maximum number of doses available. Officers from California Highway Patrol were tasked with notifying people lined up in cars outside of the clinic that it would be closing. Commentors on social media claimed many people were lined up to receive their shots hours before the clinic was set to open, apparently accounting for the early cut-off. Regardless, the event accomplished what it set out to do. Siskiyou County Public Health said that 1,146 people received their first doses of the vaccine at the clinic. California's vaccination plan for Phase 1A largely mirrors neighboring Oregon consisting of healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Vaccinations for eligible people in this group have been proceeding quietly around the state for weeks. But California's Phase 1B differs significantly from what Oregon has adopted. California's first group of Phase 1B includes seniors 65 and older, educators and childcare providers, first responders, and food or agricultural workers together making up a massive subset of the population. Because California has reached this first group of Phase 1B, an event like Siskiyou County's on January 22 was open to a much larger portion of the local population than similar events in Jackson and Josephine counties that happened during the same time period, but were open only to Phase 1A, teachers and childcare workers. "For all of those who were unable to receive the vaccine at this vaccination clinic, please be assured that this was not your only opportunity to be vaccinated," Siskiyou County Public Health said in a statement. "Additional vaccination clinics are being planned and numerous healthcare providers in the community are enrolled, or are in the process of enrolling, as CalVax providers and are beginning to administer the vaccine to eligible individuals." Public health officials thanked staff and volunteers that helped to work Friday's clinic, including California Highway Patrol, the Yreka Police Department, Siskiyou County OES, the Siskiyou County Environmental Health Department, the Siskiyou County Probation Department, Mt. Shasta Ambulance and the Siskiyou County Fairgrounds staff. "It could not have been done without the help and hard work of all those involved," the agency said. New Delhi: Under the incoming GST regime, Coca-Cola India will marginally raise prices of its aerated beverages but will cut rates of packaged drinking water Kinley and hold those of juices and juice-based drinks to reflect tax incidence. Announcing the impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on consumer rates, the company also said it will launch an affordable range of aerated beverages to cater to price sensitive consumers and another affordable Value Water segment priced significantly lower than Kinley water. With a GST of 40 per cent as opposed to current incidence of taxation at 34-35 per cent, aerated beverages like Coke have been the worst hit category of beverages under GST, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. ALSO READ: Congress to decide over participating in June 30 GST midnight launch event in Parliament on Wednesday It, however, did not give the exact change in price that will be warranted because of GST, which is to kick-in from July 1. Company has no choice but to minimally increase the prices even after absorbing the significant portion of the tax increase, Coca-Cola India said. On its move to reduce price of packaged drinking water, the company said it has advised its bottling partners to reduce price of its signature water brand Kinley and will launch affordable Value Water category priced significantly lower than the current portfolio of Kinley water. Coca-Cola India said its overall pricing strategy under the GST regime will provide better value for money and range of choices to its consumers. The company has advised its bottling partners to absorb a significant part of the price hike on its product portfolio and pass on the benefits of price advantages to the consumer wherever possible, it added. Commenting on the development, Coca-Cola India& South West Asia Business Unit President T Krishnakumar said GST is a landmark reform for creating a unified taxation system in the country. We will pass on the taxation benefits to the consumers and make all attempts to absorb the maximum impact of the escalation of tax in some categories of our beverage portfolio, he added. As GST is expected to propel the Indias growth story forward and benefit society at large, Krishnakumar said the company is committed to provide our consumers with the right value for money with various refreshing options. ALSO READ | GST roll out on July 1: Heres how your movie time will be affected and what B-town has to say about this impact For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) extended their fall on Wednesday as investors resorted to profit booking after December quarter results, while concerns over its bid to acquire Future Group businesses also spooked sentiment. The Reliance stock has declined as much as 9.65 per cent in the last three sessions. This was the second straight session when Mukesh Ambani-led oil-to-telecom conglomerate was among the top laggards on the BSE SENSEX and Nifty. Extending fall for the third straight session, RIL shares opened lower at Rs 1,930.20 on Wednesday, against previous closing price of Rs 1,939.70 on the BSE. During the day's trade, the stock fell as much as 2.73 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 1,888, before closing at Rs 1,895.25, down 2.29 per cent. The BSE SENSEX ended Wednesday's trade at 47,409.93, down 937.66 points or 1.94 per cent amid profit booking ahead of Budget. The market capital (m-cap) of the country's most valued firm has declined Rs 97,880.97 crore in last three sessions to Rs 12,01,482.50 crore on the BSE. On the volume front, there was surge in selling as 17.4 lakh shares changed hands over the counter as compared to two-week average volume of 9.91 lakh shares on the BSE. Also Read: RIL Q3 results: Profit rises 12.5% to Rs 13,101 crore, revenue down 22% The BSE heavyweight hit 52-week high of Rs 2,368.80 on September 16, 2020 and 52-week low of Rs 867.82 on March 23, 2020. In line with Reliance Stock, shares of Future Retail also declined 4.98 per cent to settle at Rs 77.25 on the BSE on Wednesday. Also Read: Reliance Industries share falls over 9% in three sessions, here's why The share of oil-to-chemicals giant came under stress after Amazon filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking detention of Future Group founders, including CEO Kishore Biyani, and seizure of their assets as it sought to block Future Group from selling retail assets to Reliance Industries. In the petition, Amazon sought enforcement of the Singapore arbitrator's ruling in October against Future Group's Rs 24,713 crore deal with Reliance. Meanwhile, Future Retail, in a regulatory filing, on Monday said it would defend the matter through its legal counsels. On the earnings front, Reliance Industries reported 12.5 per cent year-on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 13,101 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, on the back of strong rebound across all businesses. Consolidated revenue, however, fell by 22 per cent to Rs 1,28,450 crore in the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1,60,447 crore in the year ago period. The firm reported highest ever quarterly consolidated profit before exceptional items at Rs 15,015 crore, while consolidated EBITDA before exceptional items stood at Rs 26,094 crore during December quarter of 2020. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Loading Biden has also created a new office of domestic climate policy to co-ordinate climate policy across key government agencies. In his first appearance at the White House briefing room, Kerry said: The stakes on climate change just simply couldnt be any higher than they are right now [...] This is an issue where failure, literally, is not an option. Speaking earlier at the World Economic Forum, Kerry said he had read an article over Christmas that ought to stop every single one of us in our tracks. Headlined Watching Earth Burn, the story by New York Times writer Michael Benson pieced together satellite images of the Australian bushfire emergency. You could see huge plumes of smoke when you saw these pictures of Australias fires with, and I quote Michael, flame vortexes spiralling 200 feet into the air passing New Zealand and stretching thousands of miles into the cobalt Pacific, Kerry said. He continued to quote details in Bensons article, including the razing of an estimated 46 million acres, loss of dozens of lives, destruction of nearly 6000 buildings and potential extinction of some species. Benson summed it up, Kerry said. With shocking iconographic precision, that unfurling banner of smoke said: The war has started. Were losing. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Kerry did not directly criticise Australias climate change policies but earlier this week said he would push the worlds largest emitters to sign up to deeper cuts. Australia has a goal of cutting emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030. It has not signed up to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 but Morrisons language has shifted recently and many Liberal MPs believe he will take the pledge at the Glasgow summit. So we are here now, at this moment, not just because we understand the urgency or the moral imperative, were here because we know we cant afford to lose any longer and action is the one moral, economic and scientific imperative worth contemplating, Kerry said. He emphasised the need to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees but warned the world was on track to hit 4.1 or 4.5 degrees of warming. The Glasgow meeting was the last best chance to arrest the trajectory, Kerry said. But even if we did everything that was promised in Paris, folks, temperatures are going to rise to 3.7 degrees [of warming]. And thats just because the conglomeration of all the things people were willing to do didnt add up to what we need to do. Kerry estimated the world had to phase out coal five times faster than current rates, ramp up renewable energy six times faster and transition to electric vehicles 22 times faster. Loading In a panel discussion after Kerrys speech, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said companies knew they would have to reduce the supply of oil, gas and coal but said a careful transition was needed. Kerry responded: The problem with gas is if we build out a huge infrastructure for gas now and continue to use it as the bridge fuel when we havent really exhausted the other possibilities, were going to be stuck with stranded assets in 10, 20, 30 years. And gas is primarily methane. The fact is methane is 20 times [more] damaging, if not more, than fossil fuels. His views on gas are significant because the Morrison government has flagged the resource as a transition fuel for the coming decades. Hyderabad (Telangana): On credible information, the police officials of Commissioner`s Task Force North Zone team along with Rachakonda Police apprehended most wanted serial killer Maina Ramulu on Tuesday. The police detected two murder cases, one case of Mulugu Police Station, Siddipet Commissionerate and another case of Ghatkesar Police Station, Rachakonda Commissionerate against Ramulu. Ramulu has been previously arrested in 21 cases out of which 16 were murder for gain cases, four were property cases and one was a case of escaping from police custody. He was a life convict and was later released after an appeal in the Telangana High Court.Anjani Kumar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City told reporters, "On January 1, 2021, the complainant Kavala Anathaiah, resident of Hyderabad came to Jubilee Hills Police and lodged a complaint regarding his wife Kavala Venkatamma (50) found missing since December 30, 2020 at 8 am. The Task Force, North Zone team, Hyderabad City Police started working to trace the missing women. Later on January 4, 2021 the dead body of Venkatamma was found near railway track of Ankushapur village, in the limits of Ghatkesar Police station." "The accused Ramulu was born and brought up at Aarutla village, Kandi Mandal, Sanga Reddy District of Telangana. When he was 21 years old, his parents got him married but within a short period, his wife eloped with another person. Since then he bore a grudge against women and started committing serial killings of women. Since 2003, he has committed 16 offences. The accused has been involved in property theft cases as well," Kumar added. The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Ranga Reddy District sentenced the accused Ramulu to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 500 on February 21, 2011. Anjani Kumar further said, "While under life imprisonment in Central Prison Cherlapally, he was admitted in Mental Hospital, Erragadda for treatment on December 1, 2011. Later, he along with five other prisoners escaped from the mental hospital on the intervening night on December 30, 2011. In this regard, a case was registered against the escaped prisoners. After escaping, the accused Ramulu committed five more murder for gain cases in the limits of Bowenpally police station (two cases), Chanda Nagar police station (two cases) and Dundigal police station (one case). He was arrested by Bowenpally Police on May 13, 2013 in five cases. After this arrest, he was released from jail on October 3, 2018 after an appeal petition in the Telangana High Court." "He still did not change his attitude and again committed two murders, one in the limits of Shamirpet police station and another one in Patancheru police station. He was arrested again and remanded to judicial custody. Later, he was released from Central Prison, Cherlapally on July 31, 2020," Kumar added. On December 10, 2020, the accused went to Bala Nagar (Cyberabad) toddy compound and trapped one unknown woman aged between 35 to 45 years. He convinced her to consume liquor with him and offered to pay a huge amount for sexual favours. He took her to an isolated area in the limits of Japtha Singyapally village, Mulugu police station in Siddipet. Both consumed liquor after which the accused brutally murdered her by strangulating with her saree and committed theft of silver items from the deceased and escaped from the scene, Kumar said. On December 30, 2020 he trapped another woman, Kavala Venkatamma (50) from Yousufguda Toddy compound in the Jubilee Hills police station limits and took her to an isolated area in the limits of Ankushapur village under Ghatkesar police station limits. After consuming liquor, he brutally murdered her with a boulder and made away with her valuables, Kumar further said. He informed, "The Task Force, North Zone team along with Ghatkesar Police verified approximately 500 CCTV footages at all possible places from Yousufguda Toddy compound to Ankushapur railway track, Ghatkesar and also verified the modus operandi of the accused person and identified the offender as Ramulu on January 26. The accused is being handed over to Station House Officer (SHO), Ghatkesar police station for further investigation. A state burial service was held today, January 27 for former President of Ghana, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings to usher him into the land of eternity. Former President has been buried at the new Military Cemetery at Burma Camp. As the Statesman exits the land of the living, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Sam Pyne is pleading with Ghanaians who have been pained by Mr. Rawings' actions to let go of their pains. Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", Sam Pyne advised the embittered Ghanaians to forgive the late former President and let bygones be bygones. "Let's leave everything to God and forgive his wrong. Let's move forward as a nation. I have personal issues; my father and I were victims but I don't want to talk about that anymore," he said. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Apple Inc on Wednesday reported holiday quarter sales and profits that beat Wall Street expectations, as new 5G iPhones helped push handset revenue to a new record and sparked a 57% rise in China sales. Apple shipped its iPhone 12 lineup several weeks later than usual, but an expanded number of models and new look appear to have tapped into pent up demand for upgrades, especially in China. The company also posted strong sales of its Mac laptops and iPads in the quarter, driven by consumers working, learning and playing from home during the pandemic. Apple's revenue for the ... Kolkata/New Delhi, Jan 27 : A special CBI court in Asansol in West Bengal has issued an arrest warrant against "absconding" TMC youth leader Vinay Kumar Mishra in a cross-border cow smuggling racket in West Bengal, sources said on Wednesday. One of the Trinamool Youth Congress' General Secretaries, Mishra was summoned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) several times in the last one month but he skipped all summonses. The last summons was served on January 19, the sources said. The agency had also issued a Lookout Notice against him. The CBI had recently raided Mishra's residence in Kolkata's Rashbihari Avenue area but failed to arrest him since he is "absconding", the sources added. Meanwhile, sources in Delhi said that CBI teams on Wednesday carried out searches at two locations in West Bengal, including the premises of Trinamool Congress leader Bariq Biswas, about 60-70 km from state capital Kolkata. The sources said that Biswas' name had cropped up in the cattle smuggling case, adding that Biswas was involved in other smuggling cases earlier too. The crackdown came ahead of state Assembly polls in April-May this year. The central agency is now probing the larger conspiracy angle to the cattle-smuggling racket. The CBI had filed an FIR in September last year against six persons, including some Border Security Force and Customs officers, who were allegedly bribed by international cattle smugglers. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed LNP and Greens MPs say the imminent closure of the Queensland Maritime Museum is an absolute tragedy and the blame for the loss of an iconic institution would be on the state government. The museum opened to the public again at the weekend and offered five tour sessions on both days despite the fact the money from the tickets would be nowhere near enough to save the museum. The Penguin at the Queensland Maritime Museum. It served as a pearl lugger from the early 1900s until World War II when it was requisitioned as a cargo boat for the military. It then returned to pearling service after the war until 1981. The museum is in serious financial difficulties after the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown sank its revenue and severely dented its volunteer base. LNP opposition arts spokesman Christian Rowan wrote to Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch on Friday after receiving correspondence between a concerned voter and Deputy Premier Steven Miles office. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / FIORE GOLD LTD. (TSXV:F)(OTCQB:FIOGF) ("Fiore" or the "Company") is pleased to report additional results from the ongoing drilling program at its Gold Rock project in Nevada (Figure 1). These latest results continue to demonstrate strong intervals of oxide gold mineralization both within and outside of the current resource pit shells. We view this as encouraging in our efforts to upgrade Inferred resources and expand the overall resource envelope as part of the ongoing Feasibility Study ("FS") of the federally permitted Gold Rock project. Highlights from the twenty-nine holes reported here include: 15.2 m of 1.14 g/t gold and 18.29 m of 0.84 g/t gold in hole GR20-069 19.8 m of 1.33 g/t gold in hole GR20-076 12.2 m of 1.61 g/t gold in hole GR20-079 12.2 m of 1.75 g/t gold in hole GR20-081 27.4 m of 0.46 g/t gold in hole GR20-097 In the central part of the deposit (cross-section 1, Figure 2) hole GR20-069 intercepted 15.2 metres of 1.14 g/t gold and 18.3 metres of 0.84 g/t gold, hole GR20-099 intercepted 16.8 metres of 0.71 g/t gold, and GR20-097 intercepted 27.4 metres of 0.46 g/t gold, all from areas near the base of the current northern pit shell from the 2020 Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA"). Hole GR20-069 also intercepted 32.0 metres of 0.37 g/t gold below the base of the current design pit shell. Cross-section 2 (Figure 3) is located in the southern part of the deposit and shows stronger mineralization in the eastern limb of the Easy Junior anticline. Intercepts included 10.7 metres of 0.96 g/t gold in GR20-071, 19.8 metres of 1.33 g/t gold in GR20-0076 and 12.2 metres of 1.61 g/t gold in GR20-079. Mineralization in this area remains open to the east. Tim Warman, Fiore's CEO stated, "These holes reported today are primarily infill holes targeting gaps in the existing resource. The results are consistent with previous drilling and continue to show strong, continuous mineralization and excellent opportunities to expand the current resource envelope going into the Feasibility Study. Work on the FS is progressing well: logging of the large diameter metallurgical core holes and the HQ core holes is underway and should move even faster once our new core logging facility is complete in the coming weeks. We are also looking forward to results from several exploration holes drilled at the Jasperoid Creek target approximately 1.05 miles (1.7 km) north of the former Easy Junior pit (Figure 1)." Complete results for the twenty-nine holes referenced in this press release are shown in the table below. Hole From (m) To (m) Length (m) Grade (g/t Au) GR20-066 85.34 92.96 7.62 0.47 and 126.49 129.54 3.05 0.47 and 138.68 141.73 3.05 0.23 GR20-067 124.97 131.06 6.10 0.45 and 138.68 153.92 15.24 0.27 GR20-069 21.34 24.38 3.05 0.50 and 149.35 164.59 15.24 1.14 includes 156.97 163.07 6.10 2.02 and 170.69 188.98 18.29 0.84 and 210.31 242.32 32.00 0.37 GR20-071 86.87 97.54 10.67 0.96 includes 86.87 92.96 6.10 1.39 GR20-072 179.83 184.40 4.57 0.36 and 233.17 239.27 6.10 0.37 GR20-073 178.31 184.40 6.10 0.45 GR20-074 no significant results GR20-075 166.12 176.78 10.67 0.35 GR20-076 129.54 149.35 19.81 1.33 includes 138.68 146.30 7.62 1.62 includes 129.54 132.59 3.05 2.77 GR20-077 no significant results GR20-078 no significant results GR20-079 170.69 182.88 12.19 1.61 includes 172.21 178.31 6.10 2.74 GR20-080 no significant results GR20-081 147.83 160.02 12.19 1.75 includes 147.83 158.50 10.67 1.93 GR20-082 175.26 182.88 7.62 0.94 includes 176.78 179.83 3.05 1.48 and 208.79 217.93 9.14 0.32 GR20-083 67.06 71.63 4.57 0.34 and 141.73 146.30 4.57 0.78 GR20-084 108.20 117.35 9.14 1.22 includes 111.25 115.82 4.57 2.17 GR20-085 no significant results GR20-086 0.00 3.05 3.05 0.27 and 150.88 160.02 9.14 0.41 GR20-087 117.35 120.40 3.05 0.26 GR20-088 no significant results GR20-089 0.00 3.05 3.05 0.28 GR20-090 no significant results GR20-091 assays pending GR20-092 no significant results GR20-093 no significant results GR20-094 no significant results GR20-095 117.35 120.40 3.05 0.28 GR20-096 assays pending GR20-097 38.10 41.15 3.05 0.27 and 48.77 73.15 24.38 0.29 and 86.87 114.30 27.43 0.46 GR20-098 no significant results GR20-099 192.02 208.79 16.76 0.71 GR20-100 188.98 193.55 4.57 0.75 and 201.17 204.22 3.05 1.70 Assay highlights are calculated with a cutoff of 0.006 opt (0.20 g/t) Au. Highlighted intervals contain less than 10 feet (3 m) of material below cutoff grade. The holes from the current program, including those in this release, are all reverse circulation ("RC") holes and represent 66,390 feet (20,236 m) of a drilling program consisting of a mix of HQ and PQ diamond core holes as well as RC and sonic holes. Total planned footage for the drilling program to support the FS will be approximately 198,000 ft (60,000 m), with approximately 115,000 ft (35,000 m) focused on resource expansion to add Measured and Indicated resources for inclusion in the FS. Gold Rock Project and PEA Highlights The federally permitted Gold Rock gold project ("Gold Rock", or the "Project") is located approximately 8 miles southeast of the Pan Mine in White Pine County, Nevada. The recently released Gold Rock Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") provides an updated mineral resource estimate and a base case assessment of developing the Project as a satellite open pit operation that will share significant infrastructure and management with the adjacent Pan Mine. The PEA also identifies a considerable number of opportunities to enhance the project economics as Gold Rock advances to the Feasibility stage by drilling to increase the mineral resource, further metallurgical testing aimed at optimizing recoveries, and geotechnical drilling aimed at reducing the stripping ratio. Further updates will be provided as we progress work in these areas. The PEA was prepared in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). A Technical Report with the details of the PEA is available on SEDAR under the Company's profile. Gold Rock Mineral Resource Estimate The Company's updated Gold Rock Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE"; effective date of March 31, 2020) was completed by APEX and forms the basis for the PEA. A summary of the MRE is highlighted in the table below. Pit-Constrained Mineral Resource Summary Resource Classification Cut-off opt/gpt Tons/Tonnes Gold opt/gpt Gold Ounces Total Indicated 0.003/0.09 20.9/19.0 0.019/0.66 403,000 Total Inferred 0.003/0.09 3.0 /2.7 0.025/0.87 84,300 Key Assumptions, Parameters, and Methods related to the Mineral Resource Estimates: Mineral Resources were prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards (2014). Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Troy ounces per short ton ("opt") / grams per tonne ("gpt") This estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues. Open pit Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 0.003 opt/0.09 gpt gold that is based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz. A revenue price of US$1,400 is used for the base case economic model. The Mineral Resources are constrained by a pit shell with appropriate mining costs, processing costs, metal recoveries, and pit slope angles. Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content. Contained gold ounces are in troy ounces. Technical Report & Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information relating to Fiore Gold's properties contained in this news release was approved by Paul Noland (AIPG CPG-11293), Fiore Gold's VP Exploration and a "Qualified Person" under National Instrument 43-101. References to the Gold Rock project PEA are taken from the "Technical Report on the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Gold Rock Project, White Pine County, Nevada, USA" (the "Technical Report"). The Technical Report, which is dated April 30, 2020 with an effective date of March 31, 2020, was prepared in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards for Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is available under Fiore's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at fioregold.com. The report is authored by Michael B. Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., Gregory B, Sparks, B.Sc., P.Eng., Sam J. Shoemaker, Jr., B.S., SME Registered Member, Warren E. Black, M.Sc., P.Geo., and Steven J. Nicholls, BA.Sc., MAIG. Corporate Strategy Our corporate strategy is to grow Fiore into a 150,000 ounce per year gold producer. To achieve this, we intend to: grow gold production at the Pan Mine while also growing the reserve and resource base; advance exploration and development of the nearby Gold Rock project; and acquire additional production or near-production assets to complement our existing operations On behalf of FIORE GOLD LTD. "Tim Warman" Chief Executive Officer Contact Us: info@fioregold.com 1 (416) 639-1426 Ext. 1 www.fioregold.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward looking information" (as defined under applicable securities laws), based on management's best estimates, assumptions and current expectations. Such statements include but are not limited to, statements with respect to any future mining operations at Gold Rock, including those described in the PEA, upgrading the Gold Rock inferred resources and expanding its resource envelop, plans for a Gold Rock Feasibility Study, enhancing the Gold Rock project economics at feasibility stage, including by drilling to increase the mineral resource, further metallurgical testing aimed at optimizing recoveries, and geotechnical drilling aimed at reducing the stripping ratio, future updates regarding progress of feasibility work, anticipated results and expectations that the Company will advance the Gold Rock project to feasibility, the Company's future gold production, corporate strategy, goal to become a 150,000 ounce producer, goal to acquire additional production or near production assets, and other statements, estimates or expectations. Often, but not always, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "expected", "budgeted", "targets", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "scheduled", "estimates", "aims", "will", "believes", "projects" and similar expressions (including negative variations) which by their nature refer to future events. By their very nature, forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Fiore Gold's control. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, as well as a number of assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company concerning, among other things, anticipated geological formations, potential mineralization, future plans for exploration and/or development, potential future production, ability to obtain permits for future operations, drilling exposure, and exploration budgets and timing of expenditures, all of which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of Fiore Gold to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated by such forward looking statements include, but not limited to, risks related to the Pan Mine performance, risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including government restrictions impacting the Company's operations, risks the pandemic poses to its work-force, impacts the virus may have on ability to obtain services and materials from its suppliers and contractors; risks related to the company's limited operating history; risks related to general economic conditions, actual results of current or future exploration activities, unanticipated reclamation expenses; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; fluctuations in prices of metals including gold; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; increases in market prices of mining consumables; possible variations in ore reserves, grade or recovery rates; uncertainties involved in the interpretation of drilling results, test results and the estimation of gold resources and reserves; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; the possibility that capital and operating costs may be higher than currently estimated; the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated expenses in the work programs; availability of financing; accidents, labour disputes, title disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry; delays in the completion of exploration, development or construction activities; the possibility that required permits may not be obtained, renewed or amended in a timely manner or at all; changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, tax rules and regulations, and other factors identified in Fiore Gold's filings with Canadian securities authorities under its profile at www.sedar.com respecting the risks affecting Fiore and its business. Although Fiore has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof and are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Fiore disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as require by law. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. SOURCE: Fiore Gold Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626064/Fiore-Gold-Drills-198-Metres-of-133-gt-Gold-and-122-Metres-of-175-gt-Gold-Continues-to-Expand-Oxide-Mineralization-at-its-Gold-Rock-Project-Nevada Berger said when he read the findings of the first probe, "it was pretty clear to me we needed to do a follow-on... The preps of 2021 might be a different kind of student after living through Victorias second wave of coronavirus, a veteran principal says. Brian Everett, principal of St Margarets Primary School in Geelong East, said this years foundation students would be more adaptable and have heightened awareness because of their experiences last year. Sophie Butcher, who will start prep on Thursday at St Margarets Primary School, with her mother Catherine Tanner and father Sam Butcher. Credit:Joe Armao Theyve lived through a year where people wore masks, they couldnt go to the park ... they couldnt have a birthday party, Mr Everett said. They were exposed to world events beyond their comprehension. As concerns about the rocky vaccine rollout continue, President Biden on Tuesday said states can expect to receive 17% more vaccine next week and get three weeks advance notice from the federal government about how much vaccine they will be getting. Both would come as a welcome improvement to local health departments and medical providers who say the unpredictable, scarce vaccine supply from state and federal governments makes it almost impossible to plan ahead for appointments and vaccinate more people. Biden also said the federal government has bought more doses from vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna and should have enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans by end of summer, early fall. California will shift to an age-based system for prioritizing vaccinations in mid-February, Dr. Mark Ghaly, Californias secretary of Health and Human Services, said Tuesday. Its a change from Californias initial strategy of weighing job-based risk, and health officials hope it will speed up and simplify the vaccination process. Meanwhile, Californias reopening trajectory became clearer. A day after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state could emerge from its strict lockdown due to improving intensive care unit capacity projections, each of the nine Bay Area counties returned to the purple most restrictive tier of Californias color-coded reopening blueprint. In total, 54 California counties stayed in the most restrictive purple tier, which allows for activities like outdoor dining and indoor personal-care services, such as haircuts and nail appointments, for the first time since early December. Three counties Alpine, Mariposa and Trinity were in the red tier, and Sierra County was in the best shape the only county in the orange tier. No California counties are in the least restrictive yellow tier, Ghaly said Tuesday. Ghaly said some counties did show promise of moving toward a less-stringent tier. But concerns still loom. Reopening will inevitably cause more cases, and if more infectious variants spread, that could set the state back. Variants, in general, are a concern, Ghaly said Tuesday. It can create resistance to our antibodies or resistance to tools in our toolkit. ... Thankfully, we have a relatively low number of cases today. ... If (the coronavirus) becomes more virulent, that gives us concern and guides the rest of our response to this pandemic. Ghaly said that the states lockdown rules could have prevented as many as 25,000 hospitalizations across the state and as many as 5,000 admissions into intensive care units. Its not a moment to take down our guard, he said. Ghaly also defended the decision to ban outdoor dining as part of the stay-at-home order implemented last month, which was criticized by business leaders and some health experts who said there was no data tying virus transmission to outdoor dining. The decision was made in an effort to reduce overall movement and overall mixing, Ghaly said, as opposed to signaling that outdoor dining itself was risky. Californians desire to socially mingle remains a worry for health experts. Every time a cherished holiday or social event like Christmas or Thanksgiving arrives, people tend to let their guards down, said Dr. George Lemp, a retired University of California epidemiologist. The next social event that could lead to widespread gatherings is the Super Bowl on Feb. 7. If you have people congregating indoors for a length of time and theyre not wearing masks and theyre mixing families, then theres always the potential for transmission, Lemp said. Thats always a concern. Obviously, things are looking better and the vaccine is giving people a lot of hope, but were still facing a situation where the vast majority of people arent being vaccinated. California has scrambled to simplify its vaccine rollout, which has left it ranked 39th among the 51 states and the District of Columbia in per-capita vaccinations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention even as the chief difficulty remains the limited quantities and inconsistency of federal supply. Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news briefing on Monday that under a new age-based system, people 65 and over and some essential workers education workers, food and agriculture workers and first responders will remain a top priority, along with health care workers and nursing home staff who were first to get vaccinated. But after most of those groups get vaccinated, the state will transition to an age-based eligibility system, which will allow us to scale up much more quickly to get vaccines to impacted communities much more expeditiously, Newsom said. Many Bay Area counties and health care providers have already adopted age-based prioritization vaccinating those 75 and older first, and those 65 and older when vaccine supply allows for it. Marin County is prioritizing those 75 and older, as is Sonoma County, which is poised to open a vaccination clinic at Rohnert Park Community Center on Wednesday for residents 75 and older. The four main arms of vaccine distribution in Marin County the public health department, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health and Marin Health all agreed to focus our next 25,000 doses on our older, most vulnerable residents, Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said during a COVID-19 update to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Some critics said Californias initial strategy, which factored in workers risk of exposure to the virus when considering their place in line transportation workers, for instance, were placed in a higher tier than waste and wastewater workers was too complicated and made it difficult for providers and local health departments to decide quickly who they could vaccinate. It is easier and faster to verify someones age than their occupation. State and local officials have said that vaccinating older residents first would help reduce deaths and relieve some of the pressure on hospitals, since the majority of COVID-19 deaths and ICU admissions are among those who are 60 or older. But doing so also means that many essential workers under age 65 will have to wait longer to get immunized. There, of course, is going to be some sectors of our population who dont come to the front of the line as quickly as others, Ghaly said. Were working to make sure that communication is simple and well understood. The state also announced that a third party administrator will operate a statewide vaccine distribution network, but it did not provide details on who the administrator will be or how exactly it would change the existing vaccine distribution system. California launched a pilot program called MyTurn that allows Californians to sign up to be notified when it is their turn and to schedule an appointment when they become eligible. It is available at myturn.ca.gov for all state residents to sign up, but only those in Los Angeles and San Diego counties can make appointments. It will expand elsewhere starting in February. Michael Williams, Aidin Vaziri and Catherine Ho are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: michael.williams@sfchronicle.com, avaziri@sfchronicle.com, cho@sfchronicle.com The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) elected Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis to the post of Secretary General of the Assembly, the first woman to hold the post in the Assemblys 72-year history, according to the Organization. She will serve for a five-year term starting on 1 March 2021. The election took place by electronic voting, with a very large participation rate of 96.46%. Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis has been working for 21 years with and for parliamentarians from all over Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly, leading, in turn, its Monitoring and Political Affairs Committees. She started her career at the Council of Europe in 1993 at the European Commission of Human Rights. She is a Doctor in Law, holding a PhD on the European Convention of Human Rights from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Despina Chatzivassiliou-Tsovilis was born in Athens, Greece, on 28 February 1967. In line with the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, the Secretary General ensures the proper functioning of PACE, implements its decisions and co-ordinates the work of the committees. She will head a secretariat of around 90 staff which assists the President and the Assembly members to carry out their work, and ensures the proper conduct of parliamentary proceedings. Nifty, Sensex continues to be under pressure Wednesday closing report To bookmark you need to sign in We had mentioned in Mondays closing report that Nifty, Sensex are under pressure. On Wednesday, the major indices continued to correct and ended with major losses. On the NSE, there were 637 advances, 1,233 declines and 341 unchanged. The trends of the major indices in the course of Wednesdays trading are given in the table below: Hindustan Unilever reported financial results for the Oct-Dec 2020 quarter (Q3FY21). Net profits grew 19% YoY to Rs 1,921 crore vs Rs 1,616 crore in the corresponding quarter in the previous year. Consolidated revenue grew by 21% YoY to Rs 11,872 crore. Axis Bank reported decline of 29% in net profit on YoY basis to Rs 1,335 crore compared to Rs 1,884 crore in the previous year. Net interest income declined 0.33% YoY at Rs 19,911 crore versus Rs 19,976 crore in the previous year. Bank of Baroda reported net profit of Rs 1,061.1 crore in the Q3FY21 against loss of Rs 1,407 crore in the same quarter last year. Net interest income went up 8.6% YoY at Rs 7,749 crore versus Rs 7,132 crore in the previous year. Chennai Petroleum reported a loss of Rs 556.44 crore vs a profit of Rs 290.58 crore in the previous year. Revenue fell to Rs 11,458.32 crore from Rs 11,965.01 crore YoY. Nippon Life India Asset Management reported 42% YoY growth in net profit at Rs 212 crore compared to Rs 149 crore in the previous year. Revenues grew 11% YoY to Rs 399 crore compared to Rs 360 crore. Emami reported 44.6% YoY jump in net profit to Rs 208.9 crore vs Rs 144.4 crore in a year ago period. Revenue shot up 14.9% YoY at Rs 933.6 crore against Rs 812.6 crore. Marico reported a 13.04% YoY increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 312 crore vs Rs 276 crore in the previous year. Revenue went up by 16.33% YoY to Rs 2,122 crore during the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1,824 crore in the previous year. Tejas Networks has signed a multi-year contract with Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a leading independent private company providing telecommunications infrastructure, managed & engineering services across Afghanistan. Sterling & Wilson Solar commissioned Shells 25 MW solar project in Oman. NALCO approved share buyback scheme at Rs 57.50 per share via tender offer of up to 13.03 crore shares. The top gainers and top losers of the major indices are given in the table below: The closing values of the major Asian indices are given in the table below: WASHINGTON - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was among the 45 Republicans who voted Tuesday against holding an impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised an objection questioning the constitutional basis for the impeachment and removal of a former president. Even so, McConnell said Wednesday that he plans to "listen to the evidence" during the trial. "Well, the trial hasn't started yet. And I intend to participate in that and listen to the evidence," McConnell told reporters at the Capitol Wednesday morning. Asked whether he remains open to convicting Trump - as he suggested this month - McConnell did not reply and turned to enter his office. In a previous message to his colleagues, an excerpt of which was released by his office, McConnell said, "While the press has been full of speculation, I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate." Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, delivered a forceful rebuttal against Republicans, including former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who have argued that Democrats should just "get over it." "When almost 50% of Trump loyalists refuse to believe that the events of three weeks ago occurred, or, if they occurred, that they had anything to do with President Trump, we need to make a record - a record of fact, not just for our current deliberations but for history," Durbin said. He then recounted some of what took place on Jan. 6 within the Senate chamber. "Do you remember at 2:15, when the Secret Service went up and grabbed the vice president by his arms and pulled him down, out that door, so that they could take him to a secure place? We were stunned by that. I was," Durbin said. He added: "I'll never forget it. Do the 45 senators who voted against the impeachment trial last night still remember it? I certainly hope they do." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Wednesday criticized the former president's GOP defenders, calling their actions "deeply, deeply irresponsible" and vowing to hold Trump accountable for his role in inciting the riot. "Only five Republican senators were willing to take a principled stand against this reckless and ill-advised effort by members of this body who are eager to excuse President Trump's campaign to overturn the election and, apparently, to excuse his incitement of the mob that every one of us experienced in this Capitol," Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor. "I would simply say to all of my colleagues: Make no mistake, there will be a trial, and the evidence against the former president will be presented in living color for the nation and every one of us to see once again." Tuesday's effort by Paul failed on a vote of 55 to 45. But it nonetheless was a signal that the proceedings probably will end with Trump's acquittal on the charge that he incited the Capitol riot. "No one will be able to avert their gaze from what Mr. Trump said and did and the consequences of his actions," Schumer said Wednesday. "We will all watch what happened. We will listen to what happened, and then we will vote. We will pass judgment as our solemn duty under the Constitution demands. And in turn, we will all be judged on how we respond." Earlier Wednesday, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said he has been discussing with some Republicans the possibility of a swift Senate vote to censure Trump rather than a lengthy impeachment trial. In an exchange with reporters at the Capitol, Kaine called Tuesday's vote "completely clarifying that we're not going to get near 67," the number of votes that would be necessary to convict Trump. "I think there is a need for some accountability and some consequences," Kaine told reporters. "And I think many Republicans, if you look at the words they've used about what happened on January 6 and the president's role in it, they've essentially stated that. So, if we could do something like this and . . . potentially avoid the trial, I think that would be beneficial, but we're not there yet." The Constitution requires the Supreme Court chief justice to preside over a Senate trial of a sitting president, but Chief Justice John Roberts declined to be part of this trial because Trump is no longer in office. Presiding over the trial will be Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., president pro tempore of the Senate, who returned to the Capitol on Wednesday after being taken to a hospital Tuesday when he did not feel well. Leahy presided over the Senate session when the chamber opened Wednesday morning. In a statement Tuesday night, Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, said the 80-year-old senator was released from George Washington University Hospital after the Capitol physician suggested that he go there for observation "out of an abundance of caution." "After getting test results back, and after a thorough examination, Senator Leahy now is home. He looks forward to getting back to work," Carle said. New Delhi: Noted social activist Shabnam Hashmi returned the National Minority Rights Award on Tuesday, protesting against the recent mob lynchings, the latest being that of a Muslim teenager near the national capital. Hashmi, who was conferred the award in 2008, said the National Commission for Minorities, which confers the award, has lost all its credibility and hit out at the chairperson of the body over his condemnable statements. NCM chairperson Gayorul Hasan Rizvi recently courted controversy saying those who cheered Pakistans victory in the Champions Trophy final against India should be deported to that country. I return the National Minority Rights Award, which has lost all its credibility, in protest against the consistent attacks and killings of the members of the minority communities and total inaction, apathy and tacit support to the violent gangs by the government, Hashmi wrote in a letter to the commission. It comes nearly two years after an episode where a number of authors, filmmakers and scientists had returned national awards in the wake of the lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq in Uttar Pradeshs Dadri over rumours of beef consumption. Earlier, she visited the commission and handed over the award and the citation to its Director TM Skaria. Hashmi said she tried contacting Rizvi as well but he was not available. The award carried no cash component before 2011 and used to come with a citation. However, in 2011 the Minority Affairs Ministry approved a proposal to attach a cash component of Rs 2 lakh (individuals) and Rs 5 lakh (organisations). The citation that Hashmi was given lauded her work in Gujarat after the 2002 riots and also in Kashmir. It also mentioned that her work invoked the wrath of divisive forces, leading to physical attacks as well. It is given to an individual or an organisation every year on Minorities Rights Day on December 18 for outstanding contribution to promote and protect the rights of minorities over a period of time. In 2013, there was a controversy when the award was given to Father Ajay Kumar Singh for his campaign against the 2002 Kandhamal riots in Odisha. The state government had objected to the decision. Earlier this month, Hashmi had stepped down as the trustee of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), an NGO founded by her. The foreign funding license of the NGO was cancelled by the home ministry in December last year citing undesirable activities against public interest. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results Odion Ighalo is in discussions over a move to Dubai after confirming the end of his one-year loan at Manchester United with a heartfelt goodbye on social media. Ighalo will initially return to Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua at the end of this month ahead of his next transfer - with a 7m-a-year offer from a club in Dubai plus interest from MLS clubs and the Premier League among his options. The 31-year-old scored five goals across 23 appearances in all competitions for United and provided a low-cost, low-risk option up front but was phased out following the signing of Edinson Cavani. Odion Ighalo's one-year loan at Manchester United will come to an end at the end of the month The boyhood United fan said in a tweet: 'It's so hard to see this dream come to an end. 'But I give God the glory for helping me fulfil this lifelong dream of putting on a Manchester United shirt as a player and represent this great club, it was indeed an honour I will forever cherish and be grateful for. 'To the manager I say thank you for trusting and believing in me when many did not. To my amazing team-mate I will miss you guys, it was always fun... and I pray we win the league and FA Cup this year. The Red Devils fan scored 5 in 23 games in all competitions during his time at Old Trafford 'To the best fans in the world (the Manchester United fans) we have missed you, but we hear your voices cheering us on from afar, we can't wait to have you all back in the stands. 'I'm still and will remain a Manchester United fan forever. Once a Red, always a Red. Thank you Manchester United and God bless.' Sportsmail revealed earlier this month that former Nigeria international Ighalo has openly admitted he would be keen on a move to play in America in the MLS. He namechecked David Beckham's 2018-founded Inter Miami side, currently boasting former PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi and former Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain as a potential option. WASHINGTON Among the most urgent tasks a new president faces is assembling a core group of advisers to serve in the cabinet. Donald J. Trump valued deal makers and personal wealth and demanded loyalty. In doing so, he created a cabinet of mostly wealthy, white men with limited experience in government, mirroring himself. His administration was the wealthiest of any American presidents: His secretaries of education, commerce and the Treasury, as well as his first secretary of state were worth a total of at least $1.3 billion and as much as $2.9 billion, based on financial disclosures. President Biden has taken a different approach, turning to policymakers with government experience for most of his cabinet nominees, many of whom he has worked with for decades. The new president has also prioritized diversity in filling out his circle of top advisers. He is on track to assemble the most diverse cabinet in American history. Mr. Biden has nominated far more women and more nonwhite cabinet members than Mr. Trump, and has chosen the first openly gay person to be a cabinet-level secretary. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. White House spokesperson Jen Psaki is not running for governor of Connecticut. Her predecessor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said she would be throwing her hat in the ring for governor of her home state, Arkansas. When asked to comment during a Tuesday press briefing, Psaki -- who is a Greenwich High School graduate -- said she had no intention of following suit. Former President Donald Trump offered Sanders an endorsement. When asked if President Joe Biden would be getting involved, Psaki said no. How high is the Arkansas Republican gubernatorial primary on the presidents list of priorities? Not high, Psaki said. I can confirm for you Im not running for the governor of Connecticut in the future. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont expressed some tongue-in-cheek disappointment. Tell her too bad because I wouldve voted for her! he said on Twitter. Last March, I was driving with my e-bike attached to the bicycle rack. A vehicle pulled across in front of me, forcing me to brake. The driver behind ran into my car, causing extensive damage. I reported the accident to my insurer, Aviva. The other driver admitted liability. Aviva advised that the claim for the damage to the e-bike and rack should be sent to solicitors Irwin Mitchell, which handled its third-party claims. I am still awaiting payment. The delays have been blamed on the pandemic. All that is required is a settlement of 514.99 for a new rack, and 2,950 for the e-bike. G. B., Budleigh Salterton, Devon. Backpedalling: A reader was left waiting nine months for insurer Aviva to replace his electric bike that was destroyed in a car crash Tony Hazell replies: You hoped your undisputed claim would be settled quickly. But the only thing some insurance companies do swiftly is put up premiums. Aviva and Irwin Mitchell say they were working on your behalf behind the scenes. Axa was the insurer for the other driver, and Irwin Mitchell says it only coughed up when threatened with litigation. An Aviva spokesman apologises for the delay and tells me: There was a delay with the other insurer making the payment, despite having admitted liability for the accident at an early stage. 'However, the payment has now been made by the other insurer to our customer following the prospect of legal proceedings. An Irwin Mitchell spokesman apologises, saying: The other insurer did not respond to repeated chases for payment over several months. Axa tells a different story. It apologises but says it was hampered due to delays in receiving documentation it requested. This included clarification of the size of the claim, which it says was not supplied until July 21, and images of the damage, which it says it never received. An Axa spokesman says: We responded swiftly to all correspondence, but there were delays in providing the information we needed to verify the claim. Weve paid in order to close the claim. You gave me a copy of the email you sent to Irwin Mitchell on March 31 with images of the damage. Aviva has added a 50 to your payment as a gesture of goodwill, and Irwin Mitchell made an ex gratia 100 payment. How can I track down an old building society account? My wife found an old Cheltenham & Gloucester passbook showing a balance of 4,107. We visited the linked address in Solihull, where there is now a TSB branch, and were told C&G had been taken over by Lloyds in 1995. In 2013, the branches were rebranded TSB. The staff sent us to the nearest Lloyds branch. Lloyds said the account no longer existed and sent us back to TSB where staff told us to visit mylostaccount.org.uk. This site could not find our account. J. D., Solihull, W. Mids. Lloyds has, at my behest, looked again. Your account was closed and 4,310.91 was transferred to Alliance & Leicester on June 6, 2008. Alliance & Leicester was taken over by Santander later that year. You tell me you are happy to take it from here. We love hearing from our loyal readers, so ask that during this challenging time you write to us by email where possible, as we will not pick up letters sent to our postal address as regularly as usual. You can write to: asktony@ dailymail.co.uk or, if you prefer, Ask Tony, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT - please include your daytime phone number, postal address and a separate note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Tony Hazell. We regret we cannot reply to individual letters. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given. New Delhi: In the wake of violence in the national capital following the farmers' tractor rally, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has decided to deploy additional paramilitary troops in Delhi to restore peace and maintain law and order. The decision to deploy additional paramilitary personnel was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah late on Tuesday and attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava among others. Shah is also understood to have directed the Delhi Police to identify and take action against those involved in the violence. Additional paramilitary troops will be brought in for deployment in sensitive places in Delhi, a senior Home Ministry official said. Delhi: Heavy security deployment near Red Fort in the national capital. '83 Police personnel were injured after being attacked by agitating farmers yesterday,' as per Delhi Police. pic.twitter.com/AvK7DVtsEY ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2021 The exact number of additional troops was not known immediately, but officials suggested that it could be around 1,500 to 2,000 personnel (about 15 to 20 companies). Around 4,500 paramilitary personnel were already deployed for law and order duties ahead of Republic Day. Earlier in the day, the Home Ministry decided to temporarily suspend the internet in parts of Delhi like Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk and Nangloi and their adjoining areas for 12 hours from Tuesday noon. "In exercise of the powers conferred by section 7 of the Indian Telegraph Act 1855 and in the interest of maintaining public safety and averting public emergency, it is necessary and expedient to order the temporary suspension of internet services in the areas ... In Delhi from 12:00 hours to 23:59 hours on January 26," an order issued by the MHA said. Rapid Action Force personnel have also been repositioned in the national capital and vigil has been intensified in view of the evolving situation. Earlier, the Union Home Secretary briefed the Home Minister about the situation in Delhi, the official said. The Home Minister reviewed the situation after hundreds of protesting farmers on tractors barrelled through police barricades to enter central Delhi areas, including Red Fort and ITO. The Home Secretary and Delhi Police chief also apprised Shah about the steps being taken by the police to maintain peace, another official said. A few other officials were also present at the meeting. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort where they hoisted a religious flag. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. Live TV (With PTI Inputs) GOVERNMENT is clinically testing anti-parasite drug, Ivermectin in a bid to establish its efficacy in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The second wave of COVID-19 currently affecting the country has resulted in 1 075 deaths as at yesterday. This was revealed by acting Health secretary, Robert Mudyiradima on Monday when he appeared before a virtual committee hearing by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care chaired by Ruth Labode. Mudyiradima told MPs that government was in the process of clinically trying Ivermectin, which has not been banned in the country, but has been allowed for individual COVID-19 applications. Its widespread use is limited until clinical trials that are underway to prove its efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients are proven, Mudyiradima said. The therapeutics for COVID-19 treatment such as the zumbani herbal plant, steaming and Ivermectin are still being studied for their efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19, he added. However, recently a prominent medical practitioner, Jackie Stone stoked controversy in the medical fraternity after prescribing Ivermectin, Doxycycline and Nano Silver as COVID-19 therapy, reportedly despite lack of clinical evidence that they were safe. Other medical practitioners said her prescriptions were a worrying combination of therapy for patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19. The Medical and Dental Professional Council of Zimbabwe also wrote a letter of complaint about Stones behaviour to the Medical and Dental Professional Council of Zimbabwe registrar Josephine Mwakutuya last week, demanding that her fitness to continue practising in the country should be reviewed. But the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) wrote to Vice-President and Health minister Constantino Chiwenga (pictured), seeking authorisation of Ivermectin for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. There is increasing evidence that the anti-parasite drug Ivermectin has the potential to improve outcomes for patients affected by COVID-19. It also protects or prevents infection of both high risk individuals such as healthcare workers and those exposed to contacts of persons infected with COVID-19, a letter dated January 18 by Emcoz vice-president Demos Mbauya read. He further claimed that evidence showed that the veterinary vaccine could reduce the need for hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients and shortens healing time. Mbauya said while there was veterinary and human formulations of Ivermectin, their proposal referred only to the human version of the vaccine, whereby more than three billion doses have already been administered worldwide. The medicine is on the World Health Organisation (WHO) list of essential medicines and it won the Nobel Prize in 2015 for its beneficial impact on humanity. The medicine has an excellent safety profile and most of the side-effects associated with the use of Ivermectin are side-effects resulting from the body eliminating the parasites that have been killed by it, he said. Health experts welcomed the on-going clinical trial of Ivermectin. Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association interim president, Johannes Marisa said: So it has been used prophylactically as a treatment. It will be very good for the ministry to stimulate research about the use of Ivermectin. The research can be conducted using a cohort method after you make a follow up of patients after administering. He said it probably could play a very significant role in reducing morbidity and mortality. If the drug is working then its wise that as a nation we get it en-masse and we administer to as many people as possible, Marisa said. Mpilo Central Hospital chief executive Solwayo Ngwenya said: The use of Ivermectin is meant for parasitic organisms for veterinary medicines. We recommend that medicines that have to be used in humans have to undergo strict checks before they are allowed to be prescribed. For example, we need to know the doses of how much Ivermectin must be administered, its side-effects and so forth, Ngwenya said. Zimbabwean doctors, who are at the forefront of fighting COVID-19, also wrote to the Health ministry seeking permission to use Ivermectin and Nano Silver to treat COVID-19. Stone, who has been prescribing Ivermectin to her patients, said her current focus was to get it regularised, adding that if its use was further delayed, that would result in the country experiencing 75% unnecessary COVID-19 deaths. I will leave the issue of validation to the appropriate authorities. To the best of my knowledge, no actual charges were laid on me and I am free to continue to practise as normal. The allegations made by my colleagues need to be substantiated, which they have been unable to do, Stone said. She said the affected persons she harmed should be the ones to register complaints over her behaviour, adding that she would send some testimonials to prove the efficacy of the vaccine. In a letter dated January 24 written to the Health ministry secretary Jasper Chimedza by the College of Primary Care Physicians of Zimbabwe, claimed to have successfully used Ivermectin in conjunction with Nano Silver, with the treatment registering good results. We feel comfortable using this drug which has been around for 40 years on the WHO essential drugs list and has an excellent safety profile. We understand that it was currently not registered in Zimbabwe, but we fill out section 75 forms for non-registered drugs all the time in the course of our practice, part of the letter signed by 23 local doctors read. Following the diligent efforts of physicians associated with a United States group called Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, the USs National Institutes of Health last week upgraded their recommendations for the miraculous drug Ivermectin, making it an option for use in treating COVID-19 within the United States. The United Kingdom has also approved the use of the vaccine, a report in The Times publication said. Last week in South Africa, a group of doctors, clinicians, pharmacists, public health specialists and scientists interested in exploring the potential of Ivermectin to prevent and treat COVID-19 lodged application with the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority seeking permission for doctors to prescribe the drug to their patients. According to the doctors, Ivermectin has been approved for use at provincial level in Argentina, at the State level in India and country level in Belize and Macedonia, while possible use was being explored in the US and Australia. Newsday ANN ARBOR, MI Pediatric experts at Michigan Medicine C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital will answer questions from parents about returning to school in-person and continuing to manage virtual school during a live forum on Thursday, Jan. 28. With some districts making the push to move away from remote learning and taking steps toward a full return to in-person instruction, doctors at Mott will answer questions ranging from virus transmission risks to supporting children and teens during school transitions. Returning to in-person learning is an exciting milestone for our communities, but many families may also be apprehensive about the transition, Dr. Jenny Radesky, a pediatric specialist at Mott, said. Parents may have questions about everything from COVID-19 exposure risks to supporting their child or teens emotional, social and mental health. We hope to help answer some these questions as families approach this new era of the pandemic. In addition to Radesky who is moderating the panel, the forum will also include Mott pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Alison Tribble and Dr. Terry Bravender, chief of adolescent medicine at Mott, according to the release. The panelists plan on covering a variety of pressing concerns such as COVID-19 health risks in children, contact with at risk family members, managing behavioral challenges or how to respond and engage kids who have been forced to miss milestones, officials said. The live event will begin at noon Thursday and is scheduled to run until 1 p.m. Members of the public are able to participate in the discussion by going to both the @MottChildren and @MichiganMedicine Facebook pages as well as the @UMichMedicine and @MottChildren Twitter accounts and Michigan Medicine YouTube channel. Attendees may ask questions live at the time of the event and are able to add questions to the event discussion area on Facebook before the forum, officials said. The event listing on Michigan Medicines Facebook page shows 89 people currently intending to participate and 389 individuals who are interested. In Ann Arbor, the target to begin the transition for Ann Arbor Public Schools students to hybrid in-school learning is set for March 2021, pending significant progress in vaccination of school personnel and a reduction in the overall level of community COVID infection. READ MORE FROM THE ANN ARBOR NEWS: Plans for early March return to in-person classes outlined by Ann Arbor Public Schools Ann Arbor schools taking definitive, positive steps toward in-person learning, superintendent says More than 120 physicians join push for in-person classes in Ann Arbor Public Schools Political pressure wont drive Ann Arbor schools to return to classroom, board says A New York City artist who set up an anonymous 'apology hotline' that was used by murderers and molesters to secretly confess to their crimes watched his life slowly 'unravel' after struggling to cope with increasingly-sinister messages - while facing violent death threats from callers. The Apology Line was launched in 1980 by Allan Bridge, who hung up flyers in lower Manhattan encouraging strangers to call up and 'apologize for their wrongs against people without jeopardizing themselves.' Bridge, who came to be known as Mr. Apology, soon racked up thousands of hours' worth of messages on his answering machine from people admitting to affairs, theft, and violence but as new podcast The Apology Line recounts, bearing the weight of the world's confessions grew increasingly difficult for Bridge, who lost friendships and even faced death threats before his untimely accidental passing. Flasback: Allan Bridge was known as Mr. Apology in the '80s and early '90s when he ran The Apology Line, a hotline for confessions Soliciting stories: He posted flyers around Manhattan encouraging people to call and apologize anonymously for things they'd done The Apology Line podcast is narrated by Marissa Bridge, Alan's wife, who watched the story unfold in real time. Allan was born in Falls Church, Virginia and earned a fine arts degree from the University of Chicago before eventually moving to New York City in 1977. An artist, he did work as a sculptor and carpenter to make money, but he also shoplifted until he felt guilty enough to give it up. 'Shoplifting began to seem juvenile, almost scuzzy. I wanted a way to reconcile my darker side with my lighter half,' he told Wired in 1994. So in 1980, he came up with an idea for a social experiment cum interactive art project: He printed flyers to hang up in TriBeCa and eventually elsewhere in the city inviting people to apologize for things they'd done to others. 'Attention amateurs, professionals, criminals, blue collar, white collar. You have wronged people. It is to people you must apologize, not the state, not to God. Get your misdeeds off your chest!' the flyers read. The message went on to encourage callers to remain anonymous, and to even call from a payphone so their numbers couldn't be traced. A statement: An artist, Allen collected the recordings, which eventually numbered over half a million, and would shared them in a fan magazine, on the radio, and at art shows The flyer worked: Soon Allan was getting hundreds of calls from people who would leave recordings on his answering machine new technology at the time and share their secrets. People confessed to infidelity, theft, racist thoughts, domestic violence, bestiality, and child molestation. Callers included child runaways, a silent witness to a robbery, and people who'd committed acts of violence including one who admitted he was HIV+ and knowingly spread the virus to men and women. One woman apologized because she felt guilty about being rich, another said he killed his own mother, and yet another confessed to 15 or 20 muggings and a murder. One even claimed to be the Zodiac Killer. Over the course of the 15 years that the line was up and running, Allan received over half a million messages from across the US and Canada. 'I think that there were very few ways people could unburden themselves back then,' Marissa reflected to amNY. 'There was confession to a priest or talking to a psychiatrist or a therapist or confiding in a close friend but this provided another way, a free way, and a way that was very easily accessible. Criminal activity: People confessed to infidelity, theft, racist thoughts, domestic violence, bestiality, child molestation, murder, and more 'Not everybody can afford to go to a therapist then or now. Allan obviously posted all around New York City and in the boroughs around New York City, but he also posted a lot in the subways or where maybe hed get people who were criminals or had a lot of stuff to unburden themselves with and they got it.' According to a 1994 Chicago Tribune story, about 70 per cent of callers were women, who apologized for everything from being rude to coworkers to cheating on their spouses. '[The line] is for ordinary people who feel troubled by something they did and want to reconcile those feelings by getting it off their shoulders,' Allan said at the time. The hotline became popular enough that Allan introduced extensions to categorize types of confessions, like sex, crime, child abuse, hatred, and addiction. He allowed most to go to voicemail, but would occasionally pick up and talk to the caller, particularly in cases where he or she sounded suicidal. 'Allan was a petty criminal in his early life, and he worried that people could fall too easily into being either the predator or the prey. He lived his life to say, "Let's see if we can be better people," Marissa said, according to Westword. A large part of the growing popularity was that Allan wasn't alone in listening to the confessions he shared them, hence his direction that callers remain anonymous. Downsides: The line led to death threats for Allen, who became consumed with the line and lost many friends Some of the recordings would be played in the outgoing message on the answering machine, before callers could leave their own confessions. Others were printed in magazines, some played at Allan's art shows in galleries and museums, and some made it onto radio shows. Allen even launched a fan magazine with a circulation that reached 4,000. 'The Apology Line is much more than just confessions and apologies,' he wrote in the quarterly magazine, according to the New York Times. 'From the very beginning, callers have mostly used the line to open up the lonely hidden-away recesses of their identities to reveal secret activities or thoughts or fixations or obsessions or yearnings.' Speaking to the New York Post, one caller said the appeal of the line was that it was like a 'proto-Internet ... with a community composed of people you never meet.' Allan remained true to his promise to keep the calls anonymous, even when police came calling. Once, while giving an interview to the SoHo Weekly News, he described a caller who said he'd beaten and robbed gay men. When a detective read the interview and contacted Allen about it, he wouldn't hand the tape over but did agree to play it publicly in a radio interview so the detective could tune in and listen. Allan managed to have a small amount of financial success from The Apology Line, selling the rights for a movie and a novel. The movie, Apology, aired on HBO in 1986. Telling the story: His wife is now sharing the story in a new podcast called The Apology Line But ultimately, the hotline appears to have done more harm than good. According to Marissa, who married him in 1984, Allan faced death threats including one left on his very own answering machine. 'I'm sorry, but I'm going to kill you,' the caller said. 'We were scared,' said Marissa. In New York City in the '80s, 'if somebody said they were coming to kill him, I believed it.' Stay tuned: New episodes of Wondery's The Apology Line come out every Tuesday His life continued 'unraveling' in the early 1990s, taking up his whole life. It didn't help that a few callers weren't exactly apologizing, but rather bragging about what they'd done with no sign of remorse. 'Keeping up with everything was a Sisyphean task. Calls got dark,' said Marissa. Most of the couple's friends 'drifted away,' and Allan clung to the project longer than either of them had expected. 'Originally I dont think he thought it would last more than a year or two, but he felt even at that time that the callers needed him and that this was a really needed service, so he didnt stop doing it,' Marissa told amNY. 'He, like most artists, have a cycle to work on something for a couple of years and then you move on he never moved on from that. It just had too strong of a grip on him. 'It did get more intense as the years went on, and it was difficult living with it, but I also really believed in the project. Eventually, he was thinking of giving up the line altogether, but he never got the chance: In 1995, when he was 50, he was killed by a Jet-Ski in a scuba-diving accident off the coast of Long Island. A federal commission gave Scranton a $50,000 grant for creating an economic development plan to support industry expansion and job growth, officials announced Tuesday. The grant comes from the Appalachian Regional Commission, an economic development agency that represents a partnership of federal, state and local governments in 13 states, said U.S. Rep Matt Cartwright, D-8, Moosic. Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and home to some of the best universities, hospitals and small businesses in the Commonwealth. But a lot of people and businesses are hurting right now. These resources will help Scranton create a plan for long-term success for all of them, Cartwright said. The grant will cover half of the estimated $100,000 cost of devising a plan, said Eileen Cipriani, executive director of the Scrantons Office of Economic and Community Development. OECD will provide $25,000, while the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and the Scranton Area Community Foundation each will contribute $12,500, she said. NEPA Alliance, an economic development organization that is a conduit for ARC in Northeast Pennsylvania, also assisted Scranton in securing the grant. An economic plan would aim to capitalize on local assets, leverage private-sector involvement and establish a blueprint for community collaboration, to create an environment for economic prosperity in and around Scranton. The funding will help us develop a comprehensive strategic plan alongside our community partners to chart a course for growth for Scranton, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti said. The city now will line up a vendor consultant to devise a plan, Cipriani said. The vendor would take into account, and build upon, prior studies done over the years, Cipriani said. A time frame for completion is undetermined. Wed like to do it as soon as we can, Cipriani said. Israel, which leads the world in vaccinating its population against the coronavirus, has produced some encouraging news: Early results show a significant drop in infection after just one shot of a two-dose vaccine, and better than expected results after both doses. Public health experts caution that the data, based on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, is preliminary and has not been subjected to clinical trials. Even so, Dr. Anat Ekka Zohar, the vice president of Maccabi Health Services, one of the Israeli health maintenance organizations that released the data, called it very encouraging. In the first early report, Clalit, Israels largest health fund, compared 200,000 people aged 60 or over who received a first dose of the vaccine to a matched group of 200,000 who had not been vaccinated yet. It said that 14 to 18 days after their shots, the partly vaccinated patients were 33 percent less likely to be infected. At about the same time, Maccabis research arm said it had found an even larger drop in infections after just one dose: a decrease of about 60 percent, 13 to 21 days after the first shot, in the first 430,000 people to receive it. Former first deputy head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Dmytro Neskornomny, whose name is unofficially featured in the case for ordering the removal of head of the SBU's Main Directorate of Internal Security Andriy Naumov, will give a press conference in Brussels on February 2, where he will talk about corruption in Ukraine. An announcement with an invitation to Neskoromny's press conference has been posted on the Press Club Brussels Europe website. According to the announcement, the press conference will be held at the Brussels Press Club at 10:00 on February 2. "Former First Deputy Head of the Security Service of Ukraine [...] Dmytro Neskoromny will talk about provocations against him by the SBU officials, as well as sensational facts of corruption in the highest levels of power in Ukraine," according to the announcement of the online stream from the Press Club. Earlier, the Interfax-Ukraine agency, citing an informed source in law enforcement agencies, said that in the near future, the investigation plans to announce that the motive for the order to remove head of the SBU Main Department of Internal Security Naumov was that he was the only obstacle to obtaining high position in the SBU leadership by former Deputy Head of the Security Service Neskoromny. Three emus have been deliberately run down and left to suffer a painful death on a Victorian country road in a horrific case of animal cruelty. The native birds were hit on Monday at Golden Beach in the Gippsland region, east of Melbourne. Rescuers said two were killed by the impact and one was left to suffer in the heat with a broken leg, and had to be euthanised by devastated rescue workers. Pictured: A rescue worker at the scene where three emus were deliberately mowed down Help for Wildlife carer Sue Kirwan believes the emus were hit with a bull bar because the impact of hitting three large birds would have damaged an unprotected bonnet. 'Otherwise the car would still be there, she told news.com.au. 'The body of the bird is probably the height of your bonnet.' The trio were part of a family of emus that have been living in the area for years. Ms Kirwan said the situation was upsetting for locals who used to look out for them and watch them grow up. The trio were part of a family of emus that have been living in the area for years (stock image of baby emus) She the emus 'would have to have been [hit] on purpose, if you look at the photos'. The wildlife worker said rescuers have encountered people who 'mow down kangaroos on purpose' and sometimes wombats. 'Its just some of the things our poor carers have to contend with,' she said. The penalty for killing native birds carries hefty fines or penalties of up to two years in jail. Farmhand Jacob Scott Macdonald was sentenced to prison after he filmed himself excitedly mowing down a mob of emus in Cowangie, western Victoria (pictured) in 2019. In October 2019, farmhand Jacob Scott Macdonald was sentenced to prison after he filmed himself excitedly mowing down a mob of emus in Cowangie, western Victoria. Jacob Scott Macdonald served just 21 days in jail for deliberately mowing down emus with his car in 2019. He had been driving along Pallarang Road in the remote farming community of before he came across the group of birds. With the camera rolling on his phone, Macdonald laughed wildly as his ute barreled through the mob. 'F***ing emus,' he is heard yelling in the video. 'This is f***ing great.' In the video, he is also heard counting the number of emus disappear under the bonnet of his car. Seven emus were later found dead on the outback road and the footage, which Macdonald said was only meant to be sent to a few friends, went viral. Macdonald pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him and was fined $800 and originally given a 42 day sentence. The sentence was then reduced to 21 days on appeal, with a nine-month community corrections order where he was recommended to volunteer 100 hours at an animal welfare charity. Innovative solution enables Salesforce users to compliantly capture calls from mobile, Unified Communications and traditional phones and automagically present recordings, call data and AI-enriched insights in Salesforce Reduces sales administration and improves the quality of customer interactions via Dubber's powerful AI analytics Proactively manage customer accounts with customised notifications capable of alerting stakeholders of the use of keywords and phrases MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dubber Corporation Limited (ASX: DUB) (Dubber), the global leader in Unified Call Recording & Voice Intelligence, today announced the global launch of Dubber Unified Call Recording and Voice AI on Salesforce. The solution enables enterprises to connect their Dubber-enabled telephony or UC platform of choice with their Salesforce environment and start automatically capturing and logging customer conversations. Call recordings, data, insights and alerts can now be compliantly captured and aggregated, ready for use within Salesforce. Salespeople can then quickly search for information contained in call records such as filtering opportunities by key words, and sales managers can easily access sentiment analysis, and other data points by customer, sales representative or across an entire sales team. Salesforce is the world's leading customer relationship management (CRM) provider with over 150,000 customers globally. Dubber allows Salesforce users to automate voice recording at scale from any device - with no need for hardware. Unified call recording and voice AI are a key enabler of compliance, customer satisfaction and sales performance - delivering real-time insights, sentiment analysis, alerts, transcriptions and more. Research conducted by Salesforce has shown a massive 92% of customer interactions occur by phone and, according to CSO insights, 42% of sales representatives do not feel they have the right information before making a sales call. Dubber solves these issues by giving sales leaders and teams the visibility and resources they need to reduce inefficiencies and improve performance. "Dubber's integration into the Salesforce AppExchange solves a myriad of issues that sales staff face everyday," said Steve McGovern, CEO Dubber. "We're putting sales leaders back in the driver's seat by ending not knowing what was said and how satisfied customers are. And we're giving sales reps back hundreds of hours of lost productivity taken in entering notes and updating records. Dubber on Salesforce should be the one thing every sales leader does first in 2021 - to boost performance and productivity and get an edge over competitors." McGovern added, "The essence of a successful CRM strategy is to understand and represent the true relationship with the customer. There is no better way of doing that than being able to append the actual contact conversation, reflecting, not just the one-dimensional facts but, also, capturing the nuances of expression. With Dubber Unified Call Recording and voice AI integrated with Salesforce, users can now get the full picture of their customers - eliminating the guesswork and intuition that businesses have relied on thus far to enable better customer experiences." A study conducted by The Bridge Group (2017) identified that improving sales productivity and performance remains the number one challenge for sales leaders and businesses. The most concerning insight being field-based sales reps typically only spend 22% of their time actively selling, with over ~45% of their time dedicated to administration related tasks. The average field and sales manager works 49.6 hours per week, meaning only 11 hours per week are spent selling and up to 22.3 hours are allocated to administration duties. For existing Call Dub and Dub AI customers, the Dubber on Salesforce connector retails for an additional $15 per user per month. By simply provisioning the Dubber on Salesforce connector, Call Dub users effortlessly enable automated and accurate call logs and recordings. For Dub AI users, they receive enhanced AI-powered transcriptions, insights and alerts, and typically can see improved sales productivity by up to 5 hours a week or a 10% productivity gain. Dubber is available on over 142 service provider networks globally as well as leading collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex Calling. Background, Dubber on Salesforce: From today, existing Dubber customers can integrate their Salesforce environment with their call recordings by simply visiting the Salesforce AppExchange and subscribing Flexible plans start as low as US$14.95 per user per month for the Call Dub solution per user per month for the Call Dub solution Integrate with over 142 Unified Communications providers No limits on call recording storage to maximise compliance Dubber is now available via the Salesforce AppExchange. Source: https://spotio.com/blog/improve-sales-productivity/ Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1346523/Dubber_Logo.jpg Credit: CC0 Public Domain Research published in the International Journal of Sustainable Aviation, looks at the opportunities and challenges facing the aviation industry in its aspirations to employ electric aircraft rather than adopt biofuels. Diego Lentini of Sapienza Universita di Roma, Italy and Hernan Tacca of the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, explain how the growth of air travel in recent years, COVID pandemic aside, has led to a massive increase in emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. New ways to power aircraft that are carbon neutral, pollution free, and sustainable are now urgently needed the industry is to become sustainable. Dedicated airframes are now needed in order to make the transition to sustainable, electrically powered aircraft. Fundamentally, putative electric aircraft suffer from a significant limit on their range. Other types, such as turbo electric aircrafts require liquid hydrogen, which brings its own serious challenges. And, hybrid-electric aircraft require smaller wings and thus can handle only a smaller load. The team's analysis of current technological solutions and proposals suggests that many of the options envisaged for electric aircraft can give "only a limited relief of the aviation environmental impact, and imply substantial extra costs." Turbo aircraft fed by liquid hydrogen may well offer a viable alternative provided the hydrogen is sustainably sourced, the team suggests, but this would require serious consideration in terms of safety. The team concludes that before electric fleets become tenable for the aviation industry there needs to be a "paradigm shift in the fuel infrastructure development, and above all, a decisive policy shift in the way environmental problems are tackled." There perhaps remains a significant delay in departures before we see electric aircraft taxiing to the runways and taking to the skies. Explore further Report calls for multipronged action to mitigate small aircraft lead emissions More information: Diego Lentini et al. Opportunities and challenges for electric propulsion of airliners, International Journal of Sustainable Aviation (2021). Diego Lentini et al. Opportunities and challenges for electric propulsion of airliners,(2021). DOI: 10.1504/IJSA.2020.112645 As Democrats push to quickly pass a sweeping coronavirus relief plan, Sen. Bob Casey said hes open to moving ahead without Republican support including by ending the filibuster, the Senate rule requiring 60 votes for most major legislation. And while that move now appears unlikely and reverses Caseys position at least as recently as 2017 the Pennsylvania Democrat also said he is ready to quickly move to reconciliation. Thats a different Senate tactic that would allow Democrats to pass some tax or spending bills, including much of the relief plan, with just 51 votes, instead of the usual 60. Either step would bypass Republicans, despite President Joe Bidens calls for unity and bipartisanship. Caseys stance signals that hes on board with Democrats aggressive posture as they take control of the White House and Congress for the first time in a decade. In an interview Monday, he pointed to the pressing demands of the nations health and economic crises, along with the devastating effects of climate change and other urgent issues, to argue that big action is required even if it means doing it unilaterally. Its always preferable to have strong bipartisan support, its always obligatory to dedicate some time to that, but there are times when you have to, to use the old expression, fish or cut bait, said Casey, a close Biden ally and fellow Scranton native. You cant drag it out and hope that some bipartisanship will play out when it wont be there. He said Democrats will know in the near term whether Republicans might seriously entertain supporting Bidens $1.9 trillion relief plan, and if not, youve got to try to get as much done as you can to get things done by reconciliation, because people are hurting right now. Hs comments came as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) told Democrats to be ready to vote as soon as next week on a budget package that could clear the way for unilateral action. Democrats are eager to enact an ambitious agenda, and are wary of repeating their efforts in 2009, when they sought out GOP support for President Barack Obamas big initiatives, and tempered some of their ideas, only to come up empty. The GOP has accused them of immediately abandoning Bidens talk of bipartisanship. Casey said hes open to ending the 60-vote threshold for advancing legislation, though that step appears highly unlikely, since two fellow Democrats oppose the idea. In 2017, however, Casey joined a bipartisan letter urging Senate leaders to preserve the filibuster, and the power of the minority party, at a time when Republicans held control of the White House and Congress. Casey pointed Monday to Republican obstruction under Obama, and the lack of legislative action in the late years of the Trump era, to justify his support for acting unilaterally now. His shift on the filibuster is another signal of how Casey has evolved from a relative moderate in the Senate as he takes more liberal and aggressive stands on a number of issues, hewing to the leftward pull within his party. Im certainly open to that in ways that I would not have said I was two years ago, Casey said. The Senate doesnt function like it used to and I think as much as Id like to think that we can go back to those days when consensus and bipartisanship was the rule rather than the exception, now its the opposite. He added, One way to make the Senate function better and to get big things done that the American people have been asking for years is to take a look at a rule change. Even if ending the filibuster is unlikely, reconciliation gives Senate Democrats another option, one the GOP also used to pass President Donald Trumps tax cuts. Republicans have accused Democrats of hypocrisy on the 60-vote threshold now that theyre in the majority. The same tool that some Democrats now want to destroy, they used freely and liberally throughout their years in the minority, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said this week. If Democrats did eliminate the filibuster, a time would come when the GOP could advance abortion restrictions, loosen environmental regulations, or place limits on labor unions without any way for Democrats to block it, McConnell added. (McConnell preserved the filibuster for legislation, but eliminated it for Supreme Court nominees, after Democrats had ended it for lower court judges in response to what they saw as GOP obstruction). Republicans, including Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), have said they oppose Bidens coronavirus relief plan because the cost is too high, it comes too soon on the heels of a package passed in December, and includes several measures, like a $15 minimum wage that they argue would hurt the economy. Casey said the December package was meant as a short-term bridge only, and that the countrys needs remain dire. The 60-vote requirement in the Senate has long been cited as a way to force some measure of bipartisanship on major legislation and to give the minority party some influence, in contrast to the House, where the majority rules unfettered. But with blocking tactics now routine, eliminating the rule is a perennial topic of debate, one that lawmakers in both parties have flip-flopped on depending on whether they were in the majority. Trump urged fellow Republicans to go all the way and end it for legislation. Democrats have increasingly argued that its simply a tool of obstruction, and gives even more outsized influence to a minority of the country, which already has disproportionate power in a chamber where small, rural states have as much representation as large ones. Its unlikely, however, that Democrats can end the 60-vote threshold, since two of their most moderate members, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, have said they oppose the idea. Tim Cahill, senior vice president of Lockheed Martin International (standing left) and Larry Schuette, director of Global Research and Innovation, Lockheed Martin (standing right) with Theresa Mayer and Mitch Daniels on screen during the announcement of the research partnership on Thursday (Jan. 21). (Lockheed Martin photo) Agreement between university and global security and aerospace leader will advance key work in hypersonics, other areas WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Representatives from Purdue University and Lockheed Martin on Thursday (Jan. 21) signed a master research agreement (MRA), furthering an alliance between one of the largest global security and aerospace companies and a leader among universities in hypersonics research. Tim Cahill, senior vice president of Lockheed Martin International, and Theresa Mayer, executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue, signed the agreement in a virtual ceremony. The MRA will help advance important research and development collaborations on key technologies while allowing for expanded research partnerships and opportunities for Purdues undergraduate and graduate talent. I am deeply appreciative and aware of the immense value of collaboration with the talent we find at programs like the ones at Purdue, Cahill said. Purdue has a rich tradition of working with Lockheed Martin. In fact, the F-35 lift fan was designed by a Purdue grad. Likewise, the resources and research that Purdue has invested across many disciplines, including in hypersonics, is world-class. Cahill, an active Purdue College of Engineering alumnus, has remained appreciative of his engineering education at Purdue University. Purdue opened my eyes to the expansive and complex nature of aeronautical engineering and sent me on a course to design and manage a range of defense systems, said Cahill, who received both his bachelors and masters degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue. My education positioned me well for my work as a U.S. Air Force officer and a 25-year career at Lockheed Martin. The MRA builds upon already existing connections between both sides. More than 650 Purdue alumni currently work with Lockheed Martin. We are grateful for this expanded chance to contribute to our national defense at a moment when, for the first time, Americas technological leadership is being seriously challenged, and for the opportunities Lockheed Martin will provide for our faculty and our students during and after their days at Purdue, Purdue President Mitch Daniels said. The master research agreement was fully executed in November and new collaborations have already begun in hypersonics, including more than $600,000 in research funding. Hypersonics are an ongoing focus of Purdue research, advancing aircraft and missile technology that enable speeds faster than five times the speed of sound. The speed creates significant thermal and aerodynamic loads. Mayer said the agreement covers research in many areas including hypersonics, systems engineering, high temperature materials, optics, cybersecurity and others. Purdues research infrastructure is world-class and is being strategically expanded in partnership with the defense sector, Mayer said. The faculty, students, and staff at Purdue are delighted to move forward in this most important partnership with Lockheed Martin. Cahill already has been instrumental in work to advance a systems engineering research effort at Purdue. Lockheed Martin has provided important input in the design of Purdues Mach 8 quiet wind tunnel facility. Thursdays signing ceremony included Daniels, Mayer and David McKinnis of Purdues Office of Industry Partnerships. They were joined virtually from the Lockheed Martin corporate headquarters by Cahill; Steve Walker, vice president and chief technology officer; and Larry Schuette, director of global research and innovation, among others. Purdue continues to establish itself as a hub of hypersonic capabilities research, most recently with announcements that the university had received funding to develop a Mach 8 quiet flow wind tunnel and has obtained a Hypersonic Pulse (HYPULSE) shock tunnel donated by Northrop Grumman. Purdue has one of the most comprehensive hypersonics research capabilities in the country with nearly 40 world-renowned researchers in hypersonics, with expertise in navigation, aerodynamics, aerothermal effects, propulsion, autonomy, system engineering, high-temperature materials, and manufacturing. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/. About Lockheed Martin Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. For additional information, visit www.lockheedmartin.com. Writer, Media contact: Brian Huchel, 765-494-2084, bhuchel@purdue.edu Sources: Mitch Daniels, president@purdue.edu Theresa Mayer, tsmayer@purdue.edu April LaFever, april.lafever@lmco.com, 301-219-1041 Journalists visiting campus : Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines: Initial drilling at the Swamp Thing prospect has highlighted the potential for further high-grade copper-gold and polymetallic skarn to be discovered at the project. Chalcopyrite-Quartz-Garnet-Amphibole Breccia at 52.1 metres metres down hole (similar to mineralisation observed in historical workings at surface at Wolf Mountain) Ltd ( ) has intersected strong visuals from initial drilling at The Swamp Thing target within its Greater Falun copper-gold project in Sweden. The company intersected a thin 30-centimetre semi-massive sulphide skarn mineralisation with visual chalcopyrite from 58.30 metres in the first hole at the prospet. Although narrow, the company believes this intercept is significant because its situated at the contact zone between limestone and one of several feldspar-porphyry apophyses - which are believed to be feeders for the mineralisation. Extremely encouraging Alicanto managing director Peter George said: These are more promising results which highlight the immense potential at Greater Falun. While it is still early days in our exploration program, the latest diamond drill core suggests there could be proximal high-grade copper-gold or polymetallic skarn to be found nearby. We are extremely encouraged by the combination of the visible sulphides and chalcopyrite, the pervasive skarn alteration, the location of the mineralisation below old surface workings and the extensive sequence of limestones. Wolf Mountain Prospect The company has also intersected intense biotite-amphibole-garnet alteration footprint in all recently drilled holes at the Wolf Mountain Prospect, proving the area has hosted a larger active alteration system than previously demonstrated. The alteration footprint has now increased to around 2.5 kilometres long and up to 1 kilometre wide at surface with the strongest alteration containing distal copper-gold skarn located at the original Wolf Mountain historical workings. Going forwards, exploration at Wolf Mountain is now vectoring in towards the causative intrusion driving the strong alteration which could be at depth below the Wolf Mountain distal copper-gold skarn mineralisation. Location of targets and Magnetic Signatures within the Greater Falun Project area Drilling ongoing Alicanto is currently undertaking field work and an initial 4,000 metre drilling program within the Greater Falun Project and along strike from the historical Falun mine (which produced 28 million tonnes at 4.0% copper, 4.0 g/t gold, 35 g/t silver, 5.0% zinc and 2.0% lead). The program is 75% complete and is now scheduled to be completed in February 2021 with assays expected soon after. Looking forwards Phase two follow up drilling is being planned with the company fully funded for these phases of exploration. George said: We have now intersected copper-gold and polymetallic skarn mineralisation, including visible and/or assayed chalcopyrite/copper, at multiple targets (Wolf Mountain, Lustebo, Green Mile and Heden). There are also new surface targets we have yet to test (Stone Lake, Sagittarius, Oxberg 46 and Birch Mt), all of which sit within 15 kilometres of each other. With our fully funded initial diamond core and geophysical program expected to be completed in the coming weeks, we look forward to generating strong news flow over coming months. Educators unions in Massachusetts on Wednesday are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to retract a statement issued from his administration regarding the timeline for COVID-19 vaccinations. The statement from the Executive Office of Education came on Tuesday, in response to complaints from educators unions, which claimed that an adjustment to the distribution of coronavirus vaccinations in Massachusetts could delay inoculations for K-12 employees. Union leaders said, our members, our students, and their families feel like pawns in a chess game a game whose rules keep changing. In full, the statement from the Executive Office of Education read: The teachers union leaders claims are false and misleading. Teachers are scheduled to receive a vaccine in Phase Two the first group of workers in the state to be prioritized for the vaccine after healthcare workers and first responders. The Administration is calling on these union leaders to be honest partners in the effort to educate children in classrooms. Instead, these leaders attack good faith efforts to go back to school despite overwhelming evidence that it is safe to do so, and the Administration was dismayed to learn these same union leaders also oppose going back to the classroom until vaccines for children are developed. There is no legitimate evidence from any public health or medical body to back up the union leaders claims, and their tactics will only exacerbate the emotional and educational harm students are experiencing as a result of being out of the classroom. On Wednesday, presidents of the AFT Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Boston Teachers Union have issued a joint statement, asking Baker to retract the statement. We have had sharp differences with Governor Baker over school safety throughout the pandemic. We voiced those differences again yesterday when the Governor announced changes to the states vaccine delivery plan, changes that we sincerely believe risk the health and safety of teachers and students by delaying vaccine access for thousands of educators, the statement read. The Baker administration issued an appalling response taken straight from the Donald Trump playbook which included, the administration was dismayed to learn that the same union leaders also oppose going back to the classroom until vaccines for children are developed. This is patently false. We have never made such a statement individually or collectively, the statement continued. We are astonished that the Governor would fabricate an inflammatory assertion on something as important as the COVID-19 vaccine. Our position has always been that educators should be among the first frontline workers to receive vaccines because they often work with children in confined spaces. Asked for comment about the call for a retraction, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Education on Wednesday morning referred MassLive to a quote from MTA President Merrie Najimy in a recent Boston Herald article. Najimy indicated to the Herald that there was hope that more schools could open for students within the next 100 days with more COVID testing and vaccine distribution. However, it is very unlikely that most schools will be open to all students in that time, Najimy said in a statement to the Herald. They wont even have started vaccinating children in that period, so children will still be vulnerable to both getting the disease and spreading it. Earlier this week, Baker announced that seniors aged 65 and older would be moved up in the states priority-based vaccine rollout. Phase 2 of the rollout begins on Feb. 1, with people 75 and older slated to be the first priority group. Residents older than 65, along with residents of all ages with two or more health conditions that put them at high risk for COVID complications, will be able to get shots after the first group. The unions said that more than half of Massachusetts educators are working at schools. Meanwhile, 3,500 have contracted the virus, in addition to nearly 6,000 students, according to the unions. Related Content: A June 2018 San Francisco ballot initiative raising taxes on commercial rents to pay for young childrens care and education was legally approved by 51% of the citys voters, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday, rejecting business groups argument that it needed a two-thirds majority. Proposition C was designed to raise $146 million a year, mostly to fund child care and education for children younger than 6. In upholding the measure, the First District Court of Appeal relied on a ruling last June by another division of the same court upholding a November 2018 initiative, also titled Prop. C, that won 61% voter approval to fund programs for the homeless. Both measures were challenged under Prop. 218, a 1996 initiative that required two-thirds voter approval for any tax increase proposed by a local government for specific purposes. But the appeals court said measures placed on the ballot by signatures on initiative petitions were actions by the voters, not local governments, and could be approved by a simple majority vote. The initiative power is one of the most precious rights of our democratic process and must be interpreted broadly, Justice Mark Simons said in Wednesdays 3-0 ruling, quoting last years decision. He said Prop. 218s vote requirements applied only to measures passed by a city council, board of supervisors or school board and submitted to the voters. Opponents of the measure also noted that then-San Francisco Supervisor Norman Yee was deeply involved in Prop. C, turned in the petitions and signed the ballot arguments. But Simons said it was still a voter initiative and there was no evidence that Yee had controlled the process for qualifying and passing it. Laura Dougherty, lawyer for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said the ruling shows that a politician can now copy and paste their special tax proposal into a citizen initiative petition and sidestep the two-thirds vote requirement. She said the association would appeal to the state Supreme Court. The Jarvis Association and other business-supported groups also appealed the earlier ruling to the state Supreme Court, but the court denied review in September. That allowed San Francisco to fund homelessness programs with $250 million to $300 million a year in new taxes on gross receipts of corporations with annual revenue above $50 million. The June 2018 ballot measure was a 3.5% tax on business revenues from rentals of commercial space and a 1% tax on rentals of warehouse space, exempting businesses that receive up to $1 million a year in rental revenue. The ruling is another step toward ensuring that San Francisco families benefit from millions of dollars for child care and early childhood education that voters approved in June 2018, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. Its needed now more than ever as we face an economic crisis on top of a pandemic. Prop. 218 was a follow-up to Prop. 13, the 1978 initiative sponsored by the late businessman and anti-tax activist Howard Jarvis that slashed property taxes and required two-thirds votes of both legislative houses for new state taxes. Both measures substantially reduced government revenue and raised the bar for future tax increases. The state Supreme Court has upheld those measures but gave a strict interpretation of Prop. 218 in a 2017 ruling. In deciding that a Southern California citys tax initiative was not covered by another provision of Prop. 218 that required special elections for local tax measures, the high court said neither the text nor the context of Prop. 218 supports the conclusion that the term local government was meant to encompass the electorate. Jonathan Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, has said his organization is prepared to sponsor another ballot measure to require two-thirds voter approval for any increase in local taxes for specific purposes. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Amynta Group, a leading insurance services provider of property & casualty and warranty protection products and services, announced that Dominic Addesso has been appointed Non-Executive Chairman of ClearView Risk, Amynta's habitational property program and wholesale brokerage business. Addesso will work with Parker Rush, CEO of ClearView, in growing the business and expanding its position across the property market. Addesso will continue to serve on Amynta's Board of Advisors. "I am pleased to welcome Dom to ClearView. Dom has been a great partner to Amynta since joining our Board of Advisors and we are delighted to expand his role with ClearView. Dom is a highly respected leader within the (re)insurance market, and we will benefit from his vast experience and proven track record of success," said Robert Giammarco, Chairman and CEO of Amynta. "ClearView has enjoyed a strong relationship with Dom for many years. His experience and relationships will be invaluable as we continue to build high quality capacity in the habitational space and find new opportunities in the property and surplus lines markets. We look forward to working with Dom as we continue to invest in the growth of our business," said Parker Rush, CEO of ClearView Risk. "ClearView has established a strong market presence in the habitational and surplus lines market, with significant opportunities to expand its business. I am looking forward to working with Parker and his team to build on ClearView's success," said Dom Addesso. Addesso brings over 40 years of experience in the (re)insurance market. Addesso was previously President and CEO of Everest Re Group before retiring at the end of 2019, after having also served as CFO of the company. Prior to Everest, he held various roles at Munich Re America, including President of US Treaty. Addesso first began his insurance career in 1978 at Selective Insurance after becoming a Certified Public Accountant at KPMG. About Amynta Amynta Group is a premier insurance services company with more than $3.5 billion in managed premium and 2,000 associates across North America, Europe, and Australia. An independent, customer-centered, and underwriting-focused company, Amynta serves leading carriers, wholesalers, retail agencies, auto dealers, OEMs, and consumer product retailers with innovative insurance and warranty protection solutions. Amynta operates through three segments: Managing General Agencies; Warranty, including automotive, consumer and specialty equipment; and Specialty Risk Services. For more information, please visit amyntagroup.com. Media Contact: Brenna Tetley Phone: +1.646.887.9498 Email: [email protected] SOURCE The Amynta Group Related Links www.amyntagroup.com A teenager who was convicted of shouting: 'I don't want your coronavirus in my country' as he beat up a Singaporean law student during a racist attack was today ordered to pay his victim 600. The 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, punched 24-year-old Jonathan Mok in the face during the group attack on February 24 last year. Witnesses to the attack standing a few metres away heard the words 'disease' and 'coronavirus' used, while Mr Mok said the defendant told him: 'I don't want your coronavirus in my country.' UCL law student Mr Mok, who had been studying in London for two years at the time of the incident, required surgery on his face following the confrontation on Oxford Street, central London. The teenager admitted wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm but denied a racially aggravated offence, claiming he had not mentioned the virus and was not racist. However, he was found guilty of racially aggravated grievous bodily harm earlier this month following a trial at Highbury Corner Youth Court in December. At a hearing at the same court today, chair of the bench Mervyn Mandell sentenced the teenager to an 18-month youth rehabilitation order, telling him: 'This was an unprovoked attack for no reason other than his appearance.' The youth was also ordered to wear an electronic tag, face a curfew order between 8pm and 7am for 10 weeks and pay 600 compensation to the victim. A medical report showed Mr Mok temporarily lost the ability to see out of his right eye and had to undergo surgery under general anaesthetic to repair his nose and left cheek, which included seven screws. UCL law student Jonathan Mok (pictured after the attack), 24, said the boy told him, 'I don't want your coronavirus in my country', before punching him in the face in an unprovoked attack outside a souvenir shop on Oxford Street, central London At the trial at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, he claimed he could not have made the comments as he thought Covid-19 was 'b******s' until his grandfather died of the virus around six weeks after the incident. Magistrates were shown limited view CCTV from the Gifts of London shop which displayed aspects of the attack at 9.15pm on February 24. Other nearby witnesses heard: 'I don't want your diseases' and: 'You're diseased. Don't come near me.' Following the assault, a Facebook post by Mr Mok went viral with thousands of shares and covered by national and international media. Reading out his victim impact statement, prosecutor Simon Maughan said: 'This crime has taken a heavy toll on me and my family. I have repeated memories of the crime that keeps me up at night. He added: 'I believe the defendant will be a threat to the community especially Singaporeans/south Asian-looking friends who continue living in the UK. 'The lack of remorse shown by the accused by refusing to identify the other individual who initiated the assault as well as the assaulters shows no sign of regret nor hesitation in committing this crime randomly compounds this fear. Another youth is said to have begun the confrontation by barging into the student (pictured) and saying 'coronavirus' in his ear, starting an argument, and punching him twice 'I am afraid that these individuals, especially those who are not identified, might be emboldened to commit similar offences in the future. 'I believe they are a threat, in particular to those who look different from them, in the contextual backdrop of the worldwide pandemic.' Mr Maughan said while the teenager has no convictions, he had two youth cautions involving one common assault and an assault on a police constable. He said: 'He was not the instigator of the attack but was quick to get involved, and he soon became the leading figure in the assault on Mr Mok. 'You should consider the fact he has no convictions and his age of the time, being only 15. 'For an adult, the starting point would be up to three years imprisonment with a starting range of one year and six months. 'The court needs to consider the maturity of the offender, and a starting point could be considered half or a third of that.' The teenager told magistrates that he still considered the group of males his friends. At the trial at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court, the attacker claimed he could not have made the comments as he thought Covid-19 was 'b******s' until his grandfather died of the virus around six weeks after the incident When asked if he was concerned his friends would commit another serious assault, the teenager said: 'I won't let them'. Gerard Pitt, mitigating, said: 'It was not planned, it was not part of a pattern of behaviour, he was not part of an organised group showing racial hostility.' He added: 'In my submission, the racial element can be attributed to his age, lack of maturity, and lack of understanding.' Magistrate chairman Mervyn Mandell said: 'You're a young person. You were 15 at the time of the incident in February 2020. 'You have no previous convictions. This was an unprovoked attack during the evening on Oxford Street on an individual for no reason other than the reason for his racial appearance. 'We have considered the following: one, there was intent by the group by which you were part, two the impact of the individual in question, three the group action, four the humiliation on the complainant, five, the sustained incident and the hostility shown to that complainant, six, the emotional toll and stress to the complainant including the anxiety he has now suffered. 'The complainant suffered serious damage to his right eye which required major surgery.' A man whose WWII pilot father shot him in the head as a one-year-old has successfully campaigned for his late dad to get a $2,000 memorial plaque. The plate for WWII fighter pilot Robert Bungey, who took his own life shortly after shooting his baby son Richard, was granted by Holdfast council in Adelaide, South Australia. Councillor and family friend Rosemary Clancy opposed the plaque because she did not want to commemorate someone who had perpetrated domestic violence. Richard Bungey's WWII fighter pilot father Robert (pictured) shot him in the head as a one-year-old, but has successfully campaigned for his late dad to get a $2,000 memorial plaque The plate for WWII fighter pilot Robert Bungey (pictured centre with his squadron in 1941), who took his own life after shooting his son Richard, was granted by Holdfast council in Adelaide, South Australia Mr Bungey was a skilled fighter pilot from Adelaide who shot his 13-month-old son after returning from the Battle of Britain in 1943, reported Adelaide Now. After shooting his young son, Robert took his own life at Brighton Beach following the death of his wife Sybil to meningitis. Richard, now 77, has defended his father despite the act of family violence, saying he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. 'Nobody realised the depths of Bob Bungey's grief and stress until too late. He snapped,' Richard wrote in a 2019 biography he wrote about his father. A councillor and family friend, Rosemary Clancy, said council should have consulted with domestic violence groups because Mr Bungey (pictured in 1943) had perpetrated an act of domestic violence MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT LIFELINE Phone: 13 11 14 (24 hours/7 days) Text: 0477 13 11 14 Chat online: lifeline.org.au/crisis-chat BEYOND BLUE Phone: 1300 22 4636 KIDS HELPLINE Phone: 1800 55 1800 Advertisement While Richard was the person advocating for the plaque, but said his dad 'would have hated' it. 'It's great, but dad would have hated it of course because he shunned the limelight and attention,' Richard said. Ms Clancy was one of two out of twelve councillors to oppose the plaque, and is a close friend of Richard's late older brother David. David helped raise Richard after both of their parents had died. 'I believe we cannot support domestic violence in any form,' said Ms Clancy. She argued the council should consult with domestic violence groups on the matter. Robert 'Bob' Bungey joined the airforce at age 21 and fought as a pilot during World War II. He flew during the Battle of Britain and was a commander of RAF 452 Squadron of Spitfires, leading it to become the Fighter Command's most successful squadron. The plaque is to be placed in the Adelaide suburb of Somerton Park near the family home. Richard Bungey (pictured) fought to have his father memorialised, forgiving him for shooting him in the head as a baby and describing him in his book as a 'sensitive' man with PTSD London: Boris Johnson says he did everything he could to prevent the loss of life, as Britains coronavirus death toll passed 100,000. The British Prime Minister appeared sombre at a news conference held in Downing Street, during which he said he accepted full responsibility for the handling of the pandemic, promising that lessons would be learnt. Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves the podium after leading a virtual press conference on the COVID-19 death toll. Credit:AP While the steep decline in the rate of new COVID-19 infections continued on Tuesday, the death toll increased by another 1631, taking the overall toll to 100,162. Its hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic, the years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended, for so many relatives, the missed chance even to say goodbye, Johnson said. Scientists know that the ossicles in extant mammals' close non-mammal relatives were attached to the lower jaw and functioned with it, serving in both chewing and hearing. In many mammal lineages, the ossicles eventually detached from the lower jaw and came to serve only auditory functions. The researchers analyzed computed tomographic (CT) images of the new haramiyidan's well-preserved malleus and incus, two of the three middle ear ossicles, and found them remarkably similar to those of modern monotremes (egg-laying mammals). Since haramiyidans and monotremes are not thought to be closely related, this resemblance demonstrates a surprising instance of convergent evolution. "Although separated by 160 million years of geologic time, it is remarkable how similar these bones are in Vilevolodon and the living monotremes, platypus and echidna," notes Wible. The malleus and incus of monotremes have long been considered to be unique adaptations as they are wholly unlike these bones in the remaining living mammals, marsupials and placentals. Reanalysis of Mesozoic fossils with preserved middle ear ossicles led the researchers to conclude that this type of malleus and incus represent an evolutionary stage between fossils with ossicles attached to and functioning with the lower jaw and those where the ossicles are detached from the lower jaw and exclusively function for hearing. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is among the top natural history museums in the country. The museum generates new scientific knowledge, advances science literacy, and inspires visitors to become passionate about science, nature, and world cultures. More information is available at carnegiemnh.org. SOURCE Carnegie Museum of Natural History Related Links https://carnegiemnh.org Lisa Rinna started off the week with a jaw-dropping bikini 'thirst trap.' The reality star, 57, shared a photo of herself sunbathing in a Fendi bikini with her gym-honed abs and arms on display. The photo was taken during a trip Lisa took to Costa Rica in 2018, and the former soap opera star lamented on just how much she missed being able to travel as she posted the photo to her Instagram account on Monday. Making a splash! Lisa Rinna posted this incredible bikini throwback on Monday 'Monday Morning Thirst Trap,' Lisa captioned the post. 'I miss traveling. Costa Rica 2018,' she added, along with several sunshine emojis. Lisa exuded vacation bliss as she laid out on the balcony, surrounded by lush green trees and a blue sky. The former Days Of Our Lives star gazed into the distance through her large, futuristic shades. Despite restrictions made due to the pandemic, Lisa has remained busy with her business endeavors lately. Chic: Earlier this month, Rinna posted snaps from her Rinna Beauty launch party Earlier this month, Lisa threw a launch party for her new cosmetics company, Rinna Beauty, and shared snaps from the stylish soiree to her Instagram account. The launch party for her Rinna Beauty took place earlier this month, despite the fact that she launched the brand and its products on November 30th, 2020. The brand shared a slideshow of images from the outdoor event, including Lisa posing with a giant pink lip cake that said 'Congratulations' on front of it in icing. Pucker up: The launch party for her Rinna Beauty took place earlier this month, despite the fact that she launched the brand and its products on November 30th, 2020 Looking good: The 57-year-old Real Housewives of Beverly Hills beauty looked incredible in the Sunday snaps while rocking her Rinna beauty lip products Lisa rocked long hair with pink glossy lips and smokey eye makeup; the beauty sported statement gold hoop earrings. Lisa paired a fitted black belted blouse with patterned leggings, adding sky high Mary Jane heels. She held on to a lip pillow while posing on a blush colored couch, with two more matching mid pink lip pillows besides her. Details: The brand shared a slideshow of images from the outdoor event The mother of two showed a closer look at her gorgeous makeup and hair look with a head and neck snap shared to her Instagram. Another images showed the lipsticks styled on a mirror for glam snap as well as one of a inflatable set of lips that had Rinna Beauty emblazoned on it in the pool. The last side featured cookies that had various colors and various phrases or words on each cookie. So cool: Another images showed the lipsticks styled on a mirror for glam snap as well as one of a inflatable set of lips that had Rinna Beauty emblazoned on it in the pool Yum! The last side featured cookies that had various colors and various phrases or words on each cookie The vegan beauty brand features three different lip kits with cheeky names for the three-piece sets. The three kits, which are all in the nude tone range, are called Birthday Suit Lip Kit, Legends Only Lip Kit and No Apologies Lip Kit. They include a lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss and retail for $45. Customers can buy the lipstick or lip gloss by themselves or in the sets. The reality star and actress will also expand her brand to include bronzer and eye makeup next, she told Page Six in December. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Front , the first strategic investment platform that puts data-driven investment guidance in the hands of a new generation of investors with FISCO technology, today announced Adam Israel as the new COO. Adam brings decades of financial services experience to this fast-growing fintech startup, previously managing strategic broker dealer initiatives at top domestic and international wealth and banking businesses, including HSBC. "Wealth creation is an uneven playing field. People lack access to the tools and insights that help big financial institutions invest strategically," said Adam Israel, COO at Front. "That is, until Front. I am thrilled and honored to bring my experience to a mission that will empower millions of people to build stronger financial futures." Front launched a waitlist for their app in November 2020 that grew to 40,000 people in two months. The company officially launched to the public January 2020 and, while not a requirement to use the app, investors who have linked their existing brokers now represent over $70 million in assets under management (AUM). Front connects to popular brokers, like Robinhood, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Stash, and others, to provide personalized portfolio analysis and daily stock picks. Front's proprietary FISCO technology sets Front apart from other fintech companies. FISCO leverages AI to help investors understand risk with a single score for every stock. Like a credit score for stocks, FISCO makes expert insights simple, free, and accessible to everyone. The announcement of Front's new COO follows the success of Front's official app launch , giving a new generation of investors access to Front's strategic investment tools. The Front app is available for free on iOS and Android to help everyone invest with confidence. About Front Front is the first strategic investment platform to empower a new generation of investors with FISCO stock scoring technology. With Front, people learn data-driven investment strategies, better portfolio management, and can connect their broker to invest with confidence. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Front was founded in 2020 to help people build stronger financial futures. Front is a Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) with the SEC. Company advisors include leaders from Google, Microsoft, Visa, and Target. Get the free Front app for iOS and Android . Learn more at front.org . Contacts: Lauren Weatherall [email protected] (415) 322-3015 Natacha Rousseau [email protected] (323) 352-6417 SOURCE Front Finance Related Links https://front.org/ You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A young schoolteacher found dead in her home did not commit suicide, her family claims - and they say they have new evidence to prove it. Ellen Greenberg, 27, was stabbed 20 times in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on January 26, 2011, with the Medical Examiner's Office initially ruling the death a homicide. Greenberg was stabbed 10 times in the neck and the back of her head and 10 times in her stomach, abdomen and chest. A knife was still plunged in her heart. At the time, police claimed that the door of Greenberg's apartment had been locked from the inside and that there were no signs of a struggle. Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne subsequently changed the cause of death to suicide and the case was closed. But a decade on from her death, Greenberg's parents remain adamant that their daughter did not kill herself and they are fighting for the case to be re-opened. Greenberg's father, Joshua, 'absolutely 100%' believes that his daughter was murdered. 'It's been 10 years. I'm not going away. I'm going to get justice for my daughter,' he , told DailyMail.com on Wednesday. Ellen Greenberg, 27, was stabbed 20 times in the kitchen of her Philadelphia apartment on January 26, 2011, with the Medical Examiner's Office initially ruling that the cause of death was homicide. Greenberg is pictured with her parents Sandee and Joshua prior to her death. The couple are The Greenberg family's lawyer, Joe Podraza, told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that new evidence refutes investigator's claims that the teacher took her own life. The Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General alleged that several death and suicide- related searches has been performed on Greenberg's laptop in the weeks leading up to her death. According to Podraza, the hard-drive was subsequently examined by the FBI lab in 2011 and no such searches were found. Podraza recently hired his own expert to examine the hard-drive, with the results confirming what the FBI concluded: Greenberg did not search for anything related to suicide prior to her death. Additionally, Podraza commissioned a photogrammetry recreating each of Greenberg's 20 stab wounds. Photogrammetry - a new technology which was unavailable at the time of Greenberg's death - is able to create a 3D anatomical recreation of a corpse. It showed the size, depth, and length of each stab wound, with the creators concluding that all of them could not have been self-inflicted - particularly the ones to the back of Greenberg's neck and head. 'We do not believe Ellen Greenberg took her own life,' Podraza told DailyMail.com. Podraza commissioned a photogrammetry recreating each of Greenberg's 20 stab wounds. Photogrammetry - a new technology which was unavailable at the time of Greenberg's death - is able to create a 3D anatomical recreation of a corpse Photogrammetry showed the size, depth, and length of each stab wound, with the creators concluding that all of them could not have been self-inflicted - particularly the ones to the back of Greenberg's neck and head The Greenberg family have sued The City of Philadelphia and Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne to have Greenberg's cause of death re-classified to 'homicide' or 'undetermined'. Dr. Osbourne is pictured left, the Greenberg family lawyer, Joe Podraza, is pictured at right The Greenberg family have sued The City of Philadelphia and Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne to have Greenberg's cause of death re-classified to 'homicide' or 'undetermined'. Dr. Osbourne relocated to Florida in 2014 and no longer works for the Philadephia Medical Examiners Office. However, Podraza told DailyMail.com that Dr. Osbourne should not have changed the cause of death in light of police claims. 'What the police discovered is completely separate to the physiological evidence performed during a medical examination and should have no baring on its outcome,' he stated. The Greenberg family are now urging Philadelphia Attorney General Josh Shapiro to reopen the case. A petition to have the case reopened has already garnered 27,000 signatures. Meanwhile, more than 16,000 people have joined the Justice for Ellen Facebook page, which aims to support Greenberg's parents as they push to have her case re-opened. Ellen's body had been found by her fiance, television producer Samuel Goldberg, with whom she lived, and he said the door was locked from the inside Ellen's body had been found by her fiance, television producer Samuel Goldberg, with whom she lived. He told police he had kicked in the door because it had been locked from the inside. Goldberg said he left her to go the building's gym at around 4.45pm and returned at 5.30pm to find he couldn't get in. Neighbors confirmed hearing him shouting for Ellen through the front door. Frustrated, he began calling before texting her the following nine messages: 'Hello,' 'open the door,' 'what r u doin,' 'i'm getting pissed,' 'hello,' 'you better have an excuse,' 'what the f***' 'ahhh' 'u have no idea.' Goldberg went back downstairs to ask the apartment building security guard if he had some sort of tool that he could use to break in. The guard did not. Goldberg returned several times asking the guard to come with him to help break down the door. 'It's been 10 years. I'm not going away. I'm going to get justice for my daughter': Ellen Greenberg and her father, Joshua, are pictured Ellen Greenberg and her mother, Sandra, are pictured Last year, investigative analyst Thomas P. Brennan Jr. 76, described himself as, 'disgusted,' by the 'total lack of basic police work,' that took place at any stage of this investigation. He told DailyMail.com: 'In a case like this, in an apartment complex, it's basic police work. When you get there, you take a look at the scene and you say, ''Hey you two guys go down and check the trash.'' But they never did that. They never did anything. 'They came in, looked around, said, ''Suicide,'' and left.' Greenberg was discovered inside this apartment on the kitchen floor with a 10-inch kitchen knife lodged in her chest In the weeks prior to her death, Greenbergs parents, Josh and Sandee, said something had been troubling their daughter. However, they did not believe she was suicidal. A couple of weeks before her death Greenberg told her parents that she wanted to quit her job and 'come home.' They said she could come home if she needed to, but they wanted her to seek help for her anxiety. She told them it was the stress of organizing a wedding she was due to marry that August and had sent out 'Save the Date' cards just four days before her death - and that work was particularly busy. Her father said, 'Something was amiss. Her personality was changed. She played it off that work was too much but when the teacher who took on Ellen's class saw her books and marking she said everything was perfect.' Greenberg saw a therapist who prescribed her Ambien and Klonopin for anxiety. Police pointed to this as further support for a finding of suicide. But psychiatrist Dr Ellen Berman, who saw Greenberg three times before her death, was clear that her new patient was not suicidal. Samuel Goldberg is now 38 and a married father of two living in New York. He remained in contact with the family for a year or so following Greenberg's death. However long it takes Ellen's parents will not give up. Sandee said, 'I've got the rest of my life to fight for this' (Alliance News) - A complaint by rights groups over a toxic spill at an oil site in Chad linked to the British subsidiary of mining giant Glencore PLC has cleared a hurdle in the UK, Britain's trade ministry said. The case relates to an accident in September 2018 at the Badila oilfield in southern Chad, when an earth bank supporting a wastewater basin collapsed. The equivalent of 34 Olympic-sized swimming pools of contaminated water spilled into fields and a local river, killing livestock and fish and causing at least 50 local people to fall sick with skin lesions, vomiting and diarrhoea, the groups say. They are demanding compensation from Glencore UK, a subsidiary of the Swiss-based mining leviathan that was in business with a local oil firm, PetroChad (Mangara), or PCM. A unit of Britain's Department for International Trade said the complaints "merit further examination". If a mediated agreement cannot be found, the DIT's NCP unit "will examine further the claims about the company's conduct in order to reach a finding as to whether the company breached" OECD guidelines, it added. The NCP is the UK's National Contact Point a an agency set up by OECD governments to intercede in complaints about international business. It highlighted that for now, "the decision to further examine the claims about Glencore UK's conduct is not a finding against the company." Anneke Van Woudenberg, executive director of one of the complainant groups, the UK campaign organisation Rights & Accountability in Development, told AFP that the decision was "very important step" towards resolving the complaint. "We have been trying to communicate with Glencore for more than a year" over taking measures, she said. The two other groups in the complaint are the Chad-based Public Interest Law Center and the Association of Young Chadians in the Oil Zone. Glencore UK, in its submission, had argued that its local partner PCM had "first-hand knowledge of the issues as they arose" and had already made "a considerable effort" to respond to concerns, it said. Glencore has been exploiting oil in Chad since 2013. The following year, the Chadian state signed a loan with the company. In a statement to AFP, Glencore said it "acknowledges the decision" by the NCP and said it had been "transparent about the incident." "Action has been taken," it said. Glencore shares closed 6.7% lower at 238.00 pence each in London on Wednesday. In Johannesburg, the stock fell 6.9% to ZAR49.49. source: AFP Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The storm system that tore through Northern California overnight Tuesday left downed trees, flooded roads and power outages in its wake along with potentially life-threatening landslides in Monterey County. The Bay Area escaped the brunt of the strong winds that accompanied Tuesdays rains primarily damage from fallen tree limbs and downed power lines. Tens of thousands of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in the Bay Area woke up without power Wednesday morning, the utility reported with the highest proportion in the East Bay and South Bay. By 10 a.m., 15,647 were still without power. Meteorologists warned Wednesday that the danger was not yet over, particularly for burn-scarred areas where rain could trigger debris flows. The rain had stopped Wednesday morning in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which also anticipated mudslides. Even though the heaviest rain has stopped, the soils are still saturating even after the rain has stopped, said National Weather Service meteorologist Steven Anderson. When porous soil fills with water, landslides can occur, he said. A flash flood watch will remain in effect through Thursday in the South Bay, the East Bay and Monterey County, encompassing the scars where the CZU Lightning Complex, the SCU Lightning Complex, the Carmel Fire and the Dolan Fire burned last year. The fires weakened the soil and destroyed trees that could have kept the soil from washing away, increasing the chance of a landslide. Heavy rain is expected to continue pelting the area around Big Sur throughout the day Wednesday. Monterey County fire officials reported landslides that slathered River Road, along the Salinas River, with mud, damaging property, trapping animals and sending at least one person to the hospital. Authorities were still assessing the damage Wednesday morning. The area that saw the brunt of the mud flow had been under a mandatory evacuation order but Dorothy Priolo, a deputy fire marshal at the Monterey County Regional Fire District, estimated that about 75% of the residents did not evacuate. We are asking people to evacuate as soon as they can because this may be only the first wave of the mud flow, Priolo said. We do expect that more of these rain showers will add to the problem in the next day or two. Between 20 and 25 homes along River Road sustained some level of damage, Priolo said. One woman was injured when the mud entered her home. She was able to get out and take herself to the hospital. About 50 horses and cattle needed to be evacuated from the area. At least one resident Priolo spoke with had declined to evacuate, seeing little risk of a mudslide. Others, Priolo said, stayed behind to secure their properties. These are ranch-style properties that are several acres and in clusters, Priolo said. Folks here are accustomed to fending for themselves. By midmorning Wednesday, an atmospheric river a storm system that can create extreme rainfall had stalled directly over the scar of the Dolan Fire that scorched more than 120,000 acres in Monterey County last year. To the north, in Marin County, the storm flooded several off-ramps at different points along Highway 101, the sheriffs office reported, from Corte Madera north to Lucas Valley. A tree came crashing down on an unoccupied car on Laurel Avenue in Inverness, but authorities said no one in Marin was injured. The heaviest rainfall was seen in Monterey. Further south, the Hearst Castle reporting 5.20 inches of rain within 24 hours. Three Peaks Mountain in Big Sur saw up to 4.42 inches, while in Marin County, Mount Tamalpais saw more than 1.5 inches. The precipitation, though, is not likely to be a drought-buster, Anderson said. Before yesterday, San Francisco had recorded about 3.3 inches of rain during the wet season. Tuesdays storms brought that up by about another inch. Now Playing: Video: Caron Creighton The rain deficit is about 9 inches below normal, and we had about 1 inch overnight into today, Anderson said. I dont even think you could call that a dent. But, Anderson said, Any rainfall, of course, is welcome. Winds were the strongest along elevated points throughout the South Bay and East Bay, with gusts regularly topping 60 mph. The highest peak winds were recorded on Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County, where winds of 80 mph were recorded at an elevation of about 3,900 feet. Alameda Countys Mount Allison saw peak winds of 72 mph. The highest elevations along the Bay Area also saw snowfall. About 1 to 3 inches had dusted Mount Diablo in Contra Costa County and Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County but by Wednesday morning, additional rainfall had melted it all away, the NWS said. The storm dropped about 2 feet of new snow on the Sierra Nevada as of mid-morning Wednesday. The central Sierra, around Yosemite National Park and Mammoth Lakes, was expected to get the heaviest snowfall, according to meteorologists. Michael Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: michael.williams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaeldamianw ROME, JAN 27 - A prisoner who broke out of Rome's Rebibbia prison on Sunday January 17 turned himself in to police at Cerveteri north of the Italian capital on Wednesday. The 41-year-old went to the police station in the town near the coast about 50 km north of Rome, famous for its Etruscan tombs. The man, who had been detained for "crimes against the person", is believed to have scaled Rebibbia's exterior wall. The prison union SSP said "this umpteenth jail break lays bare the critical problems of the Italian prison system". It said "the government has invested insignificant sums of money in the last 10 years and this is the result". (ANSA). WALLDORF, Germany, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced RISE with SAP, a milestone offering to propel customers' holistic transformation into intelligent enterprises. RISE with SAP offers customers at all stages of digital transformation a completely new way to redesign processes for better business outcomes. Along with its robust partner ecosystem, SAP will deliver fast time to value, and flexibility to thrive amid change all without high up-front investments. The announcement to deliver business transformation as a service was made during RISE with SAP: The Introduction, where SAP also unveiled plans to make a strategic acquisition in the business process intelligence space. Join Christian Klein and guests including Microsoft, Siemens and LIVEKINDLY at the RISE with SAP: The Introduction event. Click here to join live. Catch the replay here . "Geopolitical tensions, environmental challenges and the ongoing pandemic are forcing businesses to deal with change faster than ever before," said Christian Klein, chief executive officer, SAP. "Companies that can adapt their business processes quickly will thrive and SAP can help them achieve this. This is what RISE with SAP is all about: it helps customers continuously unlock new ways of running businesses in the cloud to stay ahead of their industry." RISE with SAP is a single offering that provides a path to the Intelligent Enterprise for every customer, independent of starting point or complexity. Offered on a subscription basis, it features one responsible party for service-level agreement, operations and support. The holistic approach will help companies truly transform their business, going beyond a technical migration to the cloud to enable continual transformation. Together with its strong partner ecosystem, SAP will guide companies through their business transformation by: Redesigning business processes Business process intelligence is built on SAP's business model and process expertise gained from working with over 400,000 customers across 25 industries. Customers can continuously analyze how their business processes perform, benchmark them against industry standards and easily adapt them to new requirements and business demands. Intelligence can be embedded in business processes thanks to a direct connection to SAP's workflow, robotic process automation (RPA) and other artificial intelligence (AI) services. Enabling technical migration SAP tools and services support the entire technical journey with fast time to value, augmented by offerings from SAP's strong ecosystem. This includes automated services to aid the move to modular and standard solution landscapes for faster consumption of innovation in the cloud, as well as support from technical architects to help enable smooth migration and high adoption. Customers' cloud infrastructure of choice runs in an SAP data center or with a hyperscaler of choice to benefit from infrastructure-as-a-service capabilities without data and system lock-in. Building an intelligent enterprise SAP Business Technology Platform delivers one semantic layer across an enterprise, providing the foundation for a holistic business transformation. This approach helps keep the core clean and allows for easier consumption: Easily complement, extend and integrate with SAP, partner, and third-party solutions using the same data model and platform services as SAP applications. as SAP applications. Access more than 2,200 APIs to help ensure integration to on-premise, cloud and non-SAP systems. Steer and plan across the enterprise in real time, and provide high-quality data for analytics, planning and AI scenarios thanks to one semantical data layer. to one semantical data layer. Gain superior low-code or no-code capabilities to extend SAP solutions, intelligent RPA to drive automation and a world-class workflow service to change processes on the fly. and a world-class workflow service to change processes on the fly. SAP S/4HANA Cloud has embedded AI, RPA, advanced analytics and flexible deployment options, depending on customer complexity. Unified access is provided to one of the world's largest business networks, including SAP's supplier, logistics and asset intelligence networks, allowing companies to manage their complete supply chain to react faster to changing market conditions. For additional information on RISE with SAP, read blogs by Christian Klein, Juergen Mueller, Thomas Saueressig and Uwe Grigoleit, as well as an interview with Jan Gilg. Read what SAP partners have to say here. Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews. About SAP SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com. Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. 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If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact [email protected] and write Unsubscribe in the subject line. SOURCE SAP SE Related Links www.sap.com The controversial Coon cheese brand should have been renamed 'a long time ago', according to its biggest rival. The popular 86-year-old brand will be relaunched as Cheer from July, its Canadian owner Saputo Dairy Australia confirmed recently, sparking a divided reaction. 'Fortunately it had never been my decision to make, but if it had have been... I would have been thinking a long time ago that a brand transition would be a good idea,' said Barry Irvin, chairman of Bega Cheese, told the Herald Sun. Mr Irvin said he had long felt 'uncomfortable' about the rival's traditional brand, even though he knew that its origin was 'not one of racism'. The worldwide Black Lives Matter movement was a big factor in Saputo deciding to rebrand Coon cheese as the existing name was considered a racist slur The cheese company's Canadian owner Saputo strongly backed the new name 'Cheer', but its rival Bega, was not impressed 'I had been thinking for a long time that it wasn't a good brand name for the era that we live in and hasn't been for some time, so I understand why they made that decision.' The replacement name 'Cheer', which is enthusiastically backed by Saputo, hasn't convinced Irvin. 'I'm not sure if it would have been the name I'd have chosen, but then again, I'm just the average consumer,' Mr Irvin said. The decision to ditch its controversial name last year followed the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement worldwide. The owner announced its decision last year to 'retire' the name of Australia's best loved cheese because of its historical use as a racist slur. Aboriginal activists, including academic and former diplomat Dr Stephen Hagan, have spent the past two decades lobbying to have the brand name changed. Barry Irvin (pictured), chairman of Bega cheese wouldn't have called Coon cheese 'Cheer' 'The name Cheer has the significance of pleasure and joy,' Saputo's chief executive Lino Saputo in a statement. 'It's nice when you take a picture you say cheese and when you give a toast you say cheers.' Mr Saputo said it was a lengthy process to come up with a new name that reflected the brand. 'We took some time to think about this, we wanted to do the proper due diligence and consulted with different focus groups and we narrowed it down to three to five names and resoundingly consumers thought this was the right reflection of what we're bringing for families,' he said. The rebranded Cheer Cheese will appear on supermarket shelves from July. The owners spent more than six months deliberating over the new name. 'At Saputo, one of our basic principles as an organisation is to treat people with respect and without discrimination and we will not condone behaviour that goes against this,' Saputo said after announcing its decision last July. 'After thorough consideration, Saputo has decided to retire the Coon brand name.' Since the change was announced, collectors have spotted an opportunity. An empty packet of 'vintage' Coon cheese is selling for $50 online, just over a week after the rebrand was announced. 'No longer in circulation, you may have seen these about. Some people found theirs to be racist but I can assure you this one was named after its creator not under any bad motives. The asking price for 'vintage' Coon cheese packaging is $50 online, just over a week after the controversial label changed its name to Cheer following a backlash over racism 'Absolutely 100 per cent genuine. Can post or deliver within Perth for a fee.' But the new packaging will not hit the shelves until July this year, so fans of the Coon brand can go to their local supermarket and buy a packet of 24 Tasty Slices for about $6 - rather than shelling out $50 for an empty packet. Meanwhile, Bega is also in the news for buying out umbrella brand Lion Dairy and Drinks, which includes Dairy Farmers, Farmers Union, Yoplait, Big M and Daily Juice. The acquisition means the brands will return to Australia after almost a decade of international ownership. 'Dairy Farmers and Farmers Union were founded before federation, some 120 years ago, and some dairy farming families that have supplied dairy farmers for that entire period of time,' Mr Irvin told A Current Affair. Pakistan will begin its COVID-19 inoculation drive next week, authorities say, with frontline health workers to be the first to receive jabs. The January 27 announcement was made by Asad Umar, who oversees Pakistan's efforts to stem the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing has pledged to donate 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine made by the Chinese state-owned firm SinoPharm. The first batch is expected to be flown to Pakistan by January 31. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said in a news conference on January 21 that the Chinese vaccine is being gifted to Islamabad as a goodwill gesture from Beijing in view of the all-weather strategic relationship between the two countries. Qureshi said Islamabad expects Beijing to donate a further 1 million vaccine doses in the near future. Islamabad has so far approved two vaccines for emergency use, one made by SinoPharm and the other by Oxford-AstraZeneca. Pakistani officials say Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is also likely to get similar approval. Ghazna Khalid, a member of the government task force on COVID-19, said that Pakistan, a country of 220 million people, would procure vaccines from various markets. "There's going to be an accumulation of vaccines, a consortium available. Theres going to be Chinese vaccines, there's going to be AstraZeneca," she said. "We are the fifth-biggest country in the world, and it's going to be very difficult to immunize." Pakistan reported 1,563 new coronavirus infections and 74 deaths on January 27, taking the total number of cases to more than 537,477, with 11,450 deaths. Based on reporting by Reuters, dawn.com (Image: Reuters) After unprecedented scenes of chaos and violence in Delhi during the tractor march by farmers on Republic Day, security was heightened around the Red Fort, borders in Tikri and Singhu on January 27. Delhi: Heavy security deployment at Tikri border where farmers are protesting against #FarmLaws. pic.twitter.com/pizT7EJDHU ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the rampant violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital leaving over 300 police personnel injured, officials said. One protestor died allegedly after a tractor overturned. Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel visited Red Fort, a day after the violence. Earlier in the day, the Delhi Metro informed that the entry and exit gates of Lal Quila metro stations in front of Red Fort will remain closed. Entry gates of Jama Masjid metro station in the vicinity have also been closed. The exit is, however, permitted at this station, the officials said. Follow LIVE Updates of Farmers' Protest HERE Traffic congestion was also reported from several parts of the capital, including Anand Vihar as many roads around Red Fort were closed on January 27. The Delhi-Noida-Delhi (DND) flyway also witnessed huge traffic snarls. At the ITO traffic was moving bumper to bumper because of the protest by retired policemen, who were demanding action those who indulged in violence on January 26. Delhi: Traffic congestion in parts of the national capital; visuals from near Anand Vihar. pic.twitter.com/HTNKaftYLA ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 The tractor parade on Republic Day against the three agri-laws turned violent on January 26 as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles, and hoisted a religious flag next to the Tricolour at the Red Fort. Farmers union leaders, however, disassociated themselves from protesters who stormed Red Fort. Some miscreants joined the protest to defame farmers' movement. We did not plan to unfurl the flags at Red Fort, this was not our program. Deep Sidhu's photo with the PM has floated, we had already expressed doubt over him, said SS Pandher, Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee. READ | Meet Deep Sidhu, Punjabi actor-turned-activist accused of instigating farmers at Red Fort on Republic Day The protesting farmers have also announced a foot march to Parliament on February 1, when the annual Budget is presented, to press for their demands including a repeal of the three new agriculture laws. Thousands of farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for nearly two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops. Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Nebraska Public Power Distric Global Credit Research - 26 Jan 2021 New York, January 26, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Nebraska Public Power District and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 20 January 2021 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology (ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion. This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history. Key rating considerations are summarized below. Nebraska Public Power District's (NPPD) A1 rating reflects its resilient service area, long-term contracts with wholesale customers, competitive rates and the district's conservative management that has increasingly led to robust liquidity. The district's rating also captures certain contractual weaknesses in the long-term contracts with wholesale customers, construction delays at the R Project transmission line, and heightened environmental risks including carbon transition risk. NPPD relied on coal fired generation for around 48% of its power supply over the last three years and most of it was from older plants between 38 to 59 years old. Story continues This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period. The principal methodology used for this review was US Public Power Electric Utilities with Generation Ownership Exposure Methodology published in August 2019. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology. This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit. This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history. Clifford Kim Lead Analyst Project Finance Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 7 World Trade Center 250 Greenwich Street New York 10007 US JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Angelo Sabatelle MANAGING DIRECTOR Project Finance JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 2021 Moodys Corporation, Moodys Investors Service, Inc., Moodys Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, MOODYS). All rights reserved. CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS AFFILIATES ARE THEIR CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY MOODYS (COLLECTIVELY, PUBLICATIONS) MAY INCLUDE SUCH CURRENT OPINIONS. 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The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) has today launched the first pan-Asia Pacific clinical practice standards for the screening, diagnosis, and management of osteoporosis, targeting a broad range of high-risk groups. Published in Osteoporosis International today, 'The APCO Framework' comprises 16 minimum clinical standards set to serve as a benchmark for the provision of optimal osteoporosis care in the region. Developed by APCO members representing key osteoporosis stakeholders, and multiple medical and surgical specialities, this set of clear, concise, relevant and pragmatic clinical standards aims to support national societies, guidelines development authorities, and health care policy makers with the development of new guidelines, and to encourage the revision of existing guidelines. According to the Framework lead author, APCO Chairperson, and Director of the Osteoporosis and Bone Metabolism Unit at Singapore General Hospital, Dr Manju Chandran, Singapore, APCO employed a 5IQ analysis and the well-established Delphi Consensus process to analyse the 18 clinical practice guidelines currently available in the Asia Pacific region, to inform the development of The APCO Framework. "Utilising a comprehensive, four-round Delphi consensus method enabled our APCO members who work in vastly different health care systems, to reach a remarkable level of consensus on a benchmark set of clinical standards for the provision of quality osteoporosis care for the Asia Pacific region." The APCO Framework offers clinicians structured, well-articulated, and readily accessible clinical practice guidelines that define: Individuals to be identified for assessment; Investigations required; Relevant indications for treatment; Appropriate selection of interventions to be made; The guidance and information patients need for self-care; Integration of healthcare systems for optimal provision of care; and The need, and methods for monitoring and improving the quality of osteoporosis care. "Implementation of The APCO Framework, or a similar set of standards of care informed by the Framework, is expected to significantly reduce the burden of osteoporosis not only in the Asia Pacific region, but also worldwide. We hope that the Framework can serve as a stimulus for harmonisation of guidelines in other regions that have similar socio-economic diversity and heterogeneity of health care resources," Dr Chandran said. Globally, the population aged 65 years or over increased from six per cent in 1990, to nine per cent in 2019.[1] This proportion is projected to rise to 16 per cent by 2050,1 meaning one in six people worldwide will be aged 65 years or over by 2050.[1] The number of people aged 60 years and over in the Asia-Pacific region - home to more than a third of the world's population aged 65 years and over, and to more elderly people than any other region [2] - is predicted to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching a staggering 1.3 billion people.[3] Osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations are expected to increase exponentially, not only because of the region's rapidly aging population, but also due to mounting urbanisation, and the subsequent increase in sedentary lifestyles.[4] Despite the presence of generally safe and effective treatments for osteoporosis, as many as five in six patients presenting to their primary care physician (PCP), or to a hospital with a fragility fracture, will not be assessed for osteoporosis, nor appropriately managed to prevent further fracture.[5] According to Medical Director of Osteoporosis Australia, and APCO Executive Committee member, Professor Peter Ebeling AO, Australia, as many as half of those who have sustained a hip fracture, have already experienced a previous fracture at other skeletal sites. "In fact, a prior fracture at any site is associated with a doubling of future fracture and mortality risk. The unfortunate ramifications of the gross under-diagnosis and under-treatment of osteoporosis is that a large number of people sustain further debilitating secondary fractures, which places a substantial, but importantly, preventable burden on already strained healthcare systems," said Prof Ebeling. A fragility fracture, which occurs every three seconds worldwide, [6] compromises quality of life and loss of independence. [6,7] Concerningly, one-in-four patients who sustain a hip fracture die within a year, and less than half of those who survive, regain their previous level of function.[8,9] In 2010, an estimated 158 million people aged 50 years and above were at high risk for osteoporotic fracture - a figure which is set to double by 2040.[10] According to International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) CEO and APCO Executive Committee member, Dr Philippe Halbout, Switzerland, these alarming statistics, coupled with the anticipated, exponential rise in osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations, warrant a standardised set of minimum clinical standards for the region. "Anecdotal evidence to date reveals significant inconsistencies in osteoporosis clinical practice guidelines in the Asia Pacific region, which vary widely in scope and recommendations. This was confirmed when we analysed the 18 guidelines." "Implementation of the minimum clinical standards proposed by The APCO Framework, and reform of existing guidelines, will support clinical improvement initiatives, while also paving the way for a more holistic approach to osteoporosis care, and ultimately, greater consistency across all national and regional clinical practice guidelines in the region," Dr Halbout said. ### To download or access The APCO Framework, head to http://www. apcobonehealth. org/ apco-framework To learn more, visit http://www. apcobonehealth. org or email secretariat@apcobonehealth.org. About APCO The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) comprises osteoporosis experts from several countries and regions in the Asia Pacific, charged with developing tangible solutions to the substantive challenges involving osteoporosis management and fracture prevention in this most populated and fastest growing part of the world. APCO's mission is to engage with relevant stakeholders, including healthcare providers, policy makers and the public, to help develop and implement country and region-specific programs for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, and its complication of fragility fractures, in the Asia Pacific. About IOF The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest non-governmental organisation dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF's mission is to promote bone and musculoskeletal health as a worldwide priority. The 5IQ analysis and Delphi consensus process The 5IQ exercise assessed the extent of disparity when comparing the national guidelines currently available throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Delphi technique (a structured communication technique using a systematic, interactive forecasting method reliant upon an expert panel) was employed to achieve APCO member consensus for the development of clinical standards of care.11 References Credit: CC0 Public Domain When Daniella Chusy, currently at Indiana University, U.S., learned that many captive elephants were thought to be overweight and that their low birth rates suggested that they may be facing a fertility crisis, she began seeing parallels with the obesity crisis humans face currently. But no one had actually measured how much fat captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in zoos carry. "I was interested in discovering whether methods predominantly used in human health research could help us learn more about elephants," says Chusyd at University of Alabama at Birmingham, U.S. (UAB) at the time. She and her colleagues decided to learn about the relationship between the amount of fat the animals carry and their health and they publish their discovery that captive Asian elephants are less fat than the average human in Journal of Experimental Biology. "Obesity is not clearly defined in humans, let alone elephants," she says. However, Chusyd, Janine Brown at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, U.S., and Tim Nagy (UAB) suspected that they could get a reasonably accurate estimate by paradoxically measuring the amount of water in the elephants' bodies, which they could then subtract from the body mass to calculate the animals' fat levels. The best way to measure body water is to give an animal a dose of so-called heavy water, although that is easier said than done; there can be no spillages. "We came up with the idea of using bread soaked with heavy water to deliver it to the elephants," she chuckles, explaining that the animals are particularly partial to the treat; "I quickly became their best friend," she smiles. The animals' keepers also collected blood samples before and up 20 days after the elephants consumed the heavy water, to track the quantity of heavy water in their bodies. Returning to UAB with the samples from zoos across the U.S. and Canada, Chusyd analysed them with support from Catherine Hambly and John Speakman at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Calculating the animals' body water and fat content, they found that on average the males carried slightly less fat (~8.5%) than the females (~10%) - healthy humans average 6-31% fat. Overall, the females' body fat ranged from 2% to 25%, although the males were larger and carried more total fat. But how did the animals' fat levels correlate with their overall fitness and fertility? Fitting each animal with an elephant-sized fitness tracker, the team was pleased to see that the captive animals were walking similar distances (between 0.03 and 2.8 km each hour) to free-ranging animals, with the youngest elephants walking the farthest. In addition, when David Allison, Lilian Gozarri-Arroyo and Stephanie Dickinson at Indiana University compared the females' fertility, they were surprised that the infertile females carried the least fat, more similar to the disrupted fertility cycles of underweight female humans. However, when the team compared the animals' insulin levels, the fattest elephants tended to have the highest insulin levels. "It is possible that elephants could develop a diabetic-like state," says Chusyd, adding that the jury is still out on whether captive Asian elephants experience obesity. But when it comes to the care provided by zoos for the majestic mammals, Chusyd says, "They are doing a great job ... they know their individual elephants best," adding that activity seems to be the key to keeping elephants in shape. Explore further Elephants found to have the highest volume of daily water loss ever recorded in a land animal More information: Daniella E. Chusyd et al, Adiposity, reproductive and metabolic health, and activity levels in zoo Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), The Journal of Experimental Biology (2021). Journal information: Journal of Experimental Biology Daniella E. Chusyd et al, Adiposity, reproductive and metabolic health, and activity levels in zoo Asian elephant (Elephas maximus),(2021). DOI: 10.1242/jeb.219543 A criminal defense attorney who left Jason Williams' law office last year was charged this week on a misdemeanor count of failure to file taxes. The charge against Robert Hjortsberg, who also managed Williams' two City Council campaigns, resulted from the same investigation that sparked the 11-count federal tax fraud indictment now pending against Williams and law partner Nicole Burdett. Williams won a December runoff to become Orleans Parish district attorney. He took office Jan. 11. Hjortsberg faces a single count of willful failure to file a federal return for the 2017 tax year, when he received a gross income greater than $100,000, according to the charge filed Tuesday by prosecutors in the Western District of Louisiana, based in Lafayette. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Uebinger signed the bill of information charging Hjortsberg. Uebinger also is leading the prosecution of Williams and Burdett. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, which includes New Orleans, recused itself from the case. Hjortsberg declined to comment. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Since Williams and Burdett were indicted in June, voters have elected Williams as the city's top prosecutor. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman recently reset a trial date in that case for Nov. 1. Burdett faces a separate indictment over her own alleged tax troubles. +3 Federal judge sets November trial date for Jason Williams' tax fraud case Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has a new trial date in his federal tax fraud case -- and it gives him much more time to settl Henry Timothy, the Westwego tax preparer who is the government's star witness in its case against Williams and Burdett, also implicated Hjortsberg in his testimony last year before a federal grand jury, according to a transcript. Timothy told the grand jury that Hjortsberg asked him to inflate expenses on his returns, although that's not alleged in the charge against him. Hjortsberg was charged in a bill of information. Federal misdemeanors are not required to be charged by indictment. Faye Brookes has reportedly broke Dancing On Ice rules after plugging fitness, beauty and fashion brands on her Instagram. In the now-deleted social media posts, the former Coronation Street star, 33, is said to have used the skating show in her caption which is allegedly a breach of ITV regulations. It comes after it was claimed that Dancing On Ice is 'refusing to axe fellow contestant Rufus Hound' after historic tweets by the star using racist and homophobic slurs resurfaced. Claims: Faye Brookes has reportedly broke Dancing On Ice rules after plugging fitness, beauty and fashion brands on her Instagram (pictured with pro Hamish Gaman on the show) Earlier this month, Faye is said to have promoted a MyBodyFitPal massage gun and Roxy Joggers while referencing the ITV skating show. The actress also plugged beauty box brand, Roccabox, to her Instagram on January 6 revealing the products had gone straight into her 'Dancing On Ice bag'. All three posts have now been deleted. A source told The Sun: 'No one is telling the celebrities they cant use their social media or have commercial deals.' They added that the celebrities' contracts 'clearly state' that they need 'written permission in advance' if they are to name ITV or Dancing On Ice. Now-deleted: In the now-deleted social media posts, the former Coronation Street star, 33, is said to have used the skating show in her caption which is allegedly a breach of ITV regulations (above) The source continued: 'According to the contracts, the celebrities have to speak to ITV and get formal permission before any posts, which the deletion suggests Faye has not done. 'Ultimately, breaking a contract could result in the termination of a contract.' Dancing On Ice declined to comment when approached by MailOnline. Faye's representatives have been contacted. A source told The Sun: 'According to the contracts, the celebrities have to speak to ITV and get formal permission before any posts, which the deletion suggests Faye has not done.' (pictured earlier this month on the show) On Sunday night, Faye and her pro partner Hamish Gaman scored the highest score of the night with 33.5 points. Both judges Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean dubbed her performance the best first skate they have ever seen on the show. This left Faye in tears, overcome with emotion, having previously insisted she wanted to make her father proud. A promising start: On Sunday night, Faye and her pro partner Hamish Gaman scored the highest score of the night with 33.5 points (pictured) It comes after it was claimed that Dancing On Ice bosses are 'refusing to axe Rufus Hound' after historic tweets by the star using racist and homophobic slurs resurfaced. The Sun reports the comedian, 41, has been told he 'won't be kicked off the show' after old tweets from the star emerged in which he used the word 'r****d' in 2011, referred to Ed Sheeran as a 'gay lord' and tweeted racist slurs including the n-word in 2012. A source claimed to the website that ITV was being hypocritical with Hound - following the axing of I'm A Celebrity star Jack Maynard back in 2017 after tweets emerged of him using racist and homophobic slurs. Claims: It comes after it was claimed that Dancing On Ice bosses are 'refusing to axe Rufus Hound' after historic tweets by the star using racist and homophobic slurs resurfaced A source told the website: 'Dancing On Ice have made their position clear and while Rufus's tweets have been quietly condemned, right now it's not being seen as an offence which would require his removal. 'It seems there is one rule for some, and one for another. After Jack was taken off I'm A Celebrity for the same kind of tweets, it was assumed that Rufus would be told he should step down. 'But it's been made clear to those working on the show that they're standing by him.' A representative for Dancing On Ice declined to comment to MailOnline. A spokesman for Rufus Hound has also been contacted for comment. Backlash: The Sun reports the comedian, 41, has been told he 'won't be kicked off the show' after old tweets from the star resurfaced in which he used offensive slurs (pictured on the show with partner Robin Johnstone) Earlier this week it was reported Dancing on Ice bosses were facing calls to remove Hound from the show after he tweeted claims that Theresa May planned the Manchester Arena terror attack. The comedian stirred outrage among MPs and bomb victims who want him axed from the show for retweeting the unsubstantiated claims - coincidentally Mr Hound is now isolating for ten days after coming into contact with coronavirus and will not be appearing on this week's show. Mr Hound retweeted: 'Given the attacker was known to MI5, the timing seems fortunate for May that an attack "slips through" as Labour are making progress.' He then added his own comment, suggesting that May, the Prime Minister at the time of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombings, had planned the attack to help the Tories win the election, The Sun on Sunday reports. Unearthed: Hound used shocking racist slurs in a tweet from 2012 which contained the n-word Tweets: He also branded Ed Sheeran a 'gay lord' in a 2012 tweet and used the word 'r****d' in a 2011 tweet The conspiracy theorist wrote: 'Apologies for mild tinhattedness, but I've been thinking the same. Esp. as she was Home Secretary for so long.' He later tweeted that he was not suggesting it was true, but that he believed it could be possible, adding: 'I guess I'm not really alleging it as true, more that I don't believe our establishment is incapable of such evil. Especially during an election.' MP Rob Halfon told The Sun on Sunday: 'This is horrific.'These trivial remarks are deeply offensive to victims of the Manchester attack.' Whilst another Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke told the publication that it was ITV's 'moral responsibility' to 'chuck out' contestants using the show as a political platform. Report: Earlier this week, it was reported that Dancing On Ice bosses were facing calls to remove Hound from the show after he tweeted claims that Theresa May planned the Manchester Arena terror attack Horror: A scene following the Manchester Arena attack at an Ariana Grande concert Jade Clough, 33, from Stockport, who was hit by shrapnel at the Manchester attack carried out by Salman Abedi, told The Sun on Sunday that the claims were 'outrageous' and said the celebrity's actions could make people feel it was ok to share similar unsubstantiated claims. ITV declined to comment on the matter, MailOnline has contacted Hound's representatives for comment. Ahead of the report on his historic tweets on Sunday, Hound shared a link to tweets originally posted in September 2020, in which he responded to criticism of his posts. The thread read: 'Hi there Occasionally for different reasons, people trawl through my timeline (I've been on this site for 11 years, so that's a fair bit of material) to find stuff that they can take offence at or inspire offence in others with. Tweets: In a series of tweets made in 2017 Mr Hound shared his view that the government were not 'incapable of such evil' 'So, I just want to make something abundantly clear: When I was a stand-up and a younger man, the culture on here was much darker and edgier. I made jokes about race, sexuality, politics... everything. 'You may not like those jokes. You may find those jokes offensive or upsetting. And if you do, there's a very good chance that I hadn't thought about them or the subjects they covered enough. 'Hell, I put out a Comedy Central Special that was almost entirely about oral sex and when I watch it back (I have done this only once in the last 6 years) there's stuff I wish I hadn't said, or said differently or just flat out don't like.' He continued: 'My point is this. For the last few years, I have largely absented myself from the pop mainstream. Stopped doing panel shows, only went on quizzes when I could win money for charities etc. Theatre's what I've been doing and that comes at enormous personal cost. 'Cost of time, money and relationships. But I LOVE it. As anyone who knew me from birth to 19 and they'll tell you. It's all I ever wanted to do. And now I get to do it. Or did, before... y'know....' He branded his past tweets 'stupid and hurtful', writing: 'If anything I've said or tweeted in the past was stupid or hurtful, it's because I can be stupid and hurtful. I, sincerely, try to understand and do better. Ask anyone who knows me. I am not short of thinking. Paralysingly, sometimes. 'I'm not aware of anything specific coming my way, hand on heart. This isn't one of those moments where my publicist has phoned me and said they've found my prints on the body (I don't even have a publicist. Well, I did but they died in mysterious circumstances. And I wear gloves) Response: Ahead of the report on his historic tweets on Sunday, Hound shared a link to tweets originally posted in September 2020, in which he responded to criticism of his posts Regret: He branded his past tweets 'stupid and hurtful', writing: 'If anything I've said or tweeted in the past was stupid or hurtful, it's because I can be stupid and hurtful' '... it's more that I just want to say people change. People grow. People improve. Whilst I still have endless improvements to make, undoubtedly, I'm trying. 'So, if a load of old s**t I came out with years ago offends you or upsets you, know that there's a very good chance it offends and upsets me too, which is why I stopped saying it.' He continued: 'I believe in equality of opportunity, in love as a superpower, in women. I believe you should be free to do anything you like as long as it doesn't endanger the physical wellbeing of other people. 'I believe that who you are and who you choose to be should be met with kindness by the world. I believe no one person has any more intrinsic value than any other. I believe we should be working together to make the world a better place for all of humankind. 'I believe we can all be better if we choose to be and shouldn't be defined by our worst days. I believe that, when all is said and done, Salt and Vinegar Squares are the absolute best crisps.' 'And all I can ask you to think of me is this: Imperfect man, trying to be kind, sane and funny in an unkind, mad, bleak world. Thank you for coming to my [bloa]TED [sense of self regard] talk x.' It comes after the former Celebrity Juice star caused a stir during week one's show by criticising the UK Government over free school meals. Mr Hound took aim at the government's stance on free school meals and said his video game-inspired performance was the 'least mad thing that has happened in a long time.' Missed a week: Sources say Mr Hound has tested negative for the coronavirus and is now isolating at home. Mr Hound pictured with pro Robin Johnstone on the show He said: 'I've spent most of this year not being emotionally stable because the world stopped making sense and this does not make more sense of it. 'We live in a world where the people we elect don't want to feed hungry children, this is the least mad thing that has happened to me in a long time.' Ofcom has since received 341 complaints about the episode, with the majority made about Mr Hound. On Sunday the comedian has had to pull out of the show in accordance with government guidelines, which state that he now has to quarantine at home for 10 days. Mr Hound was set to perform in a group routine on Sunday night and again the following week for his individual skate, but he will now be forced to miss both. A spokesperson for ITV told MailOnline: 'This week Rufus Hound came into contact with someone outside of the show who tested positive for Covid 19. 'This means, following government guidelines, he will isolate for ten days. We are hoping to welcome him back to the ice soon. 'We continue to have a robust set of measures in place to operate safely within Covid-19 guidelines and to ensure the wellbeing of everyone connected with the production.' Sources say he has tested negative for the coronavirus and is now isolating at home. They added that while Rufus will have to isolate, his professional partner Robin Johnstone will not as she hasn't come into contact with anyone Covid positive. She will not appear on Sunday evening's show however. It is currently unclear whether the skating duo will return to the show once his isolation period ends. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2021 - 04:33 | All, World Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries on Tuesday accused Moscow of arresting Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and called for the release of the leader and his supporters detained for protest activities. Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was detained by police on Jan. 17 soon after he arrived in Moscow from Germany, where he had been recuperating for five months after a nerve-agent attack he blames on Russian authorities. The G-7 foreign ministers from countries including the United States and Japan said in a statement that they are "united in condemning the politically motivated arrest and detention" of Navalny. "We are also deeply concerned by the detention of thousands of peaceful protesters and journalists, and call upon Russia to adhere to its national and international obligations and release those detained arbitrarily for exercising their right of peaceful assembly" on Saturday, the statement added. The ministers also said the events "confirm a continuous negative pattern of shrinking space for the opposition, civil society, human rights defenders and independent voices in Russia." The other G-7 members are Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy, as well as the European Union. A Miami art teacher claims she was sent home from her school after the principal discovered politically-charged posts on her Parler account. Audrey Betancourt, a staunch Republican and supporter of former President Donald Trump, expressed her outrage over what she views as an unfair punishment by Miami-Dade Public Schools (MDPS) in an interview with Local 10 on Tuesday. She shared screenshots of her Parler posts under the username @Audrey_Trumpian4Life, which are no longer accessible after the right-wing social media platform was forced offline in the wake of riots at the US Capitol on January 6. One was a forwarded post from another user who wrote: 'hang Nancy Pelosi' in response to a story about a laptop being stolen from the Democratic house speaker's office during the riots. Another featured a video produced by the Proud Boys, which Betancourt said was 'all about the truth'. In a third post, Betancourt shared a photo she took at a MAGA rally, writing: 'Getting ready for caravan rally here in beautiful Doral Florida where we can run over Antifa and BLM [expletive] with us!!!!! Woohoo!!!' A commenter wrote back: 'If they block the road, they become a threat. You do not stop for them,' to which Betancourt replied: 'Hell no!!!!' Scroll down for video Miami art teacher Audrey Betancourt (pictured) claims she was sent home from her elementary school after administrators found politically-charged posts on her Parler account Betancourt's profile on Parler, which is no longer online, is shown above. She shared the posts she claims got her in trouble with the Miami-Dade Public Schools with Local 10 on Tuesday Betancourt sought to defend the Pelosi post to Local 10, saying: 'When I feel that there is treason going on, treasonous acts, and when someone is treasonous you can possibly be arrested, killed, hung, whatever.' In a different post, Betancourt shared several quotes from Trump insisting that he would not let voter fraud remove him from the White House - despite a lack of evidence that fraud occurred. 'I will never give up, I will never give in. I'm gonna fight like hell! We will not let them do this to the good people of this Nation,' she quoted Trump as saying. In her own words, she wrote in all-caps: 'Our president would never usher these words unless he meant them!! He's a fierce fighter and he made me one too!!!! This is not over.' In one post, Betancourt shared a photo she took at a MAGA rally, writing: 'Getting ready for caravan rally here in beautiful Doral Florida where we can run over Antifa and BLM [expletive] with us!!!!! Woohoo!!!' Another post featured a video produced by the Proud Boys, which Betancourt said was 'all about the truth' In a different post, Betancourt shared several quotes from Trump insisting that he would not let voter fraud remove him from the White House Betancourt is now gearing up for a fight with MDPS officials who were apparently tipped off about her posts on Monday afternoon. She said the principal at Coral Way, where she was once named 'Rookie Teacher of the Year', told her to stay home on Tuesday, without giving an explanation for why. She said she has since been reassigned out of the school pending an internal review. Betancourt doesn't believe she broke any school policies and said she doesn't understand why sharing her political opinions outside the classroom is problematic. 'I felt that I lived in a free society, that I could feel something but as long as I don't go out and commit that, I can say that. I'm allowed to say that,' she said. In her interview with Local 10, Betancourt said she doesn't understand why sharing her political opinions outside the classroom is problematic. 'I felt that I lived in a free society, that I could feel something but as long as I don't go out and commit that, I can say that,' she said She insisted that she's kept politics out of the classroom, adding: 'I never, ever, ever put my views on anyone or talk about politics. Nobody knows anything about my politics or anything like that.' Betancourt said she is just as passionate about her job as she is about her politics. 'I love my kids and I love what I do,' she said. I'm an art teacher. Who doesn't love art?' But she isn't sure if she wants to fight for her job if it means giving up her freedom of speech. 'I'm not sure how hard I would fight,' she said. 'Maybe for the right, but not for my job.' MDPS did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment. ADVERTISEMENT Locusts have remained a major threat to the Horn of Africa due to favourable weather conditions, Keith Cressman, a senior locust forecasting officer at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation (FAO) said. In a statement issued in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mr Cressman observed that while plenty of efforts have been made in the past year to fight the locusts, the current weather in the region favours the insects. We have not seen a break in the weather pattern. We had a cyclone in December. Cyclones normally dont occur in the region during the period, but this is the second year in a row that this is happening and it is favouring the insects, he said. The occurrence of cyclones, he noted, means the failure of seasonal rains and the presence of strong winds that carry the locusts from one region to another. We still have the challenge to manage the locusts to reduce their impact on food security but we are not worse off. For 2021, we need 80 million U.S. dollars to control the insects, said Mr Cressman. In the Horn of Africa, the locusts have invaded Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, and Ethiopia and have also spread to Pakistan and India in South West Asia. (Xinhua/NAN) A female pediatrician was shot and killed on Tuesday night by a terminally ill doctor who had been turned down for a volunteer position at the practice a week ago. Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson, 43, was shot and killed by Bharat Narumanchi on Tuesday at Children's Medical Group in Austin, Texas. He showed up at the practice with a pistol, a shotgun and two duffel bags at 4.30pm and took the mother-of-three hostage along with four other employees. The four others either escaped or were let go by Narumanchi but he kept Dodson behind. After a six hour stand-off during which police negotiators pleaded with him not to kill her or harm himself, Narumanchi shot Dodson dead then killed himself. It's unclear where he is from but police say his family had been making plans for him to have hospice care. Police have not revealed what kind of cancer Narumanchi had been diagnosed with. A week ago, he went to Dodson's office in Austin and applied for a volunteer position but was turned down for the role. It is not known why and it's unclear if it was Dodson who turned him down. Katherine Lindley Dodson, 43, was shot and killed on Tuesday night by Bharat Narumanchi, another pediatrician who had terminal cancer. He killed himself afterwards The incident took place at Children's Medical Group in downtown Austin (above on Wednesday with floral tributes to the pediatrician) A police crime scene marker is taped to the door at Children's Medical Group on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2021 in Austin, TX. Monday evening Austin Police responded to a hostage situation. After hours of negotiation police found two bodies inside the location after the hostage taker took his own life and that of the hostage. Sergio Flores/Daily Mail Flowers lay next to writing at the doorstep of Children's Medical Group on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2021 in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday 'We feel like his terminal cancer probably played a large part in whatever occurred in his life and what was happening yesterday. 'But we dont know why he targeted this particular business,' an Austin Police spokesman said on Wednesday. On Tuesday at around 4.30pm, he returned to the office with several guns and took Dodson and four other members of staff hostage. Dodson was described by friends as a talented doctor and loving mother-of-three The other four either escaped or released but she was held back for six hours before being killed. Hostage negotiators pleaded with Narumanchi not to kill her or harm himself. As they tried to talk him out of it, Dodson's terrified colleagues gathered in the street for updates. A hostage negotiator pleaded with Narumanchi to answer his phone and communicate with them. 'I want to help you work through this. You have saved a lot of lives. 'I cannot guarantee your safety unless you comply. I am letting you know, doctor, there is a way to resolve this. 'I need your help to fix the situation. That starts with you answering the phone,' the negotiator said. At around 10pm, police sent in a SWAT robot which detected the two bodies. Police were seen entering a building as they respond to hostage situation at doctor's office in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday night A man and a woman embrace as Austin police officers and members of SWAT work the scene late Tuesday Witnesses described seeing the other employees flee from the building after Narumanchi arrived with his weapons. 'A whole group of people from next door had gotten free. I guess they escaped out the back door is what they said,' one woman said. Friends and former patients of Dodson are now paying tribute to her. Her husband Drew told The Austin American Statesman that the family had received an outpouring of support. 'You saw her at your worst when your kid was sick, and she just always had a smile on her face. 'She made you feel like you were the only parent there, even though there was a line of kids waiting,' parent Karen Vladeck said. Toby Atkins, who took his four-month-old to see Dodson, said: 'For a set of first-time parents, she was an absolute blessing. 'We went in with a list of concerns as first-time partners "not sure how all this works!" and she was almost humorous as she attacked our list. 'We had masks on, but you could tell she was smiling underneath.' Glenna Bruunn recently took her children for COVID testing. Dodson, she said, put the kids at ease. 'She was a mom and she just knew how to do things expertly. She just had a way with children,' she said. GOVERNMENT received a total of $7.37 billion from oil, gas and quarrying/mining companies in fiscal 2018, with the largest payment of $2 billion coming from majority State-owned National Gas Company (NGC). However, for the period 2019 to 2020, unaudited figures indicate a declining trend in revenue. Family members and government officials attended a mass in remembrance of Carlos Holmes Trujillo, the Colombian Defense Minister who died on Tuesday morning from complications related to COVID-19. He was 69. The defence minister passed away after being in the hospital for two weeks and spending the last few days in an induced coma at an intensive care unit in Bogota. President Ivan Duque said of Holmes Trujillo: His life was a reflection of his vocation for public service, President Ivan Duque said of Holmes Trujillo. Holmes Trujillo became defence minister in November 2019, after serving as foreign minister. He was also the mayor of Cali from 1988-1990. Colombia reported more than 15,000 new cases per day in mid-January, up from about 7,000 cases in early December. Colombia has more than 50,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Indiana Jones wouldnt have done it this way. A crew working in Marion Square found the John C. Calhoun monument time capsule over the weekend, and archaeologists say they will likely open it in a couple of weeks. The suspense wont kill us, but its palpable in these times oprf chronic attention deficit. Indy would have popped that thing open right on the spot without a whit of concern about remnants of a century-old plague, malevolent, face-melting spirits or radioactive artifacts from whatever aliens apparently helped build the monument. (Anyone who was there when they took down John C. can attest that its impressive construction seemed beyond the skills of 19th century craftsmen, perhaps even otherworldly.) Eric Poplin, the archaeologist hired by the city, told The Post and Couriers Thomas Novelly that scientists want to crack open the capsule in the safest, most responsible way possible to preserve its fragile contents. We need to figure out best how to take off one of those sides and still make sure that we dont damage anything inside, Poplin said. Thats smart, because Charleston officials want to preserve the capsule's contents, which reportedly includes a banner from Calhouns 1850 funeral. It is, after all, part of the citys history. Coincidentally enough, this week Novelly also reported that James Bezjian a professor at The Citadel has joined the Pentagons new iteration of the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives program. Basically, its like the group that rescued cultural artifacts swiped by the Nazis in World War II. They even made a movie about that team, Monument Men, not Raiders of the Lost Ark. As Bezjian noted, its important to preserve artifacts so history doesnt get lost or twisted (even though artifacts sometimes are used to do just that). Monuments and art often offer contemporary depictions of past events, which make such decor priceless in more ways than one. Once this stuff is gone, its gone, he said. Sign up for our new opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! The mission of this group is to help countries protect artifacts and historical sites, and provide the Pentagon with lists of areas in any country that should be spared should we find ourselves at war with them. Thats a sad reality of the modern world. But imagine the public relations fallout from destroying the pyramids of Giza or the Eiffel Tower. That would be like a gang of lunatics sacking and vandalizing the United States Capitol. Now, the folks who opposed removing Calhoun from his 100-plus-year perch would probably question the sincerity of the citys concern for these artifacts. If Charleston was truly interested in preserving history, theyd argue, City Council wouldnt have unceremoniously yanked him off that pedestal. But thats not quite the same. Council didnt vote to melt down Calhouns statue, or erase him from history books. They just decided he should no longer be the citys literal centerpiece, seeing as how Calhoun held views on slavery that were radical even in his times. Why do you think they had to put him on such a high pedestal? The point is, most people would agree its important to preserve history. That doesnt mean we dont occasionally relocate our art and artifacts, perhaps display them in another room. Even the Liberty Bell has been moved a few times. That's not a sin against history. Every week we are reminded that those who dont know their history are doomed to repeat it. Calhoun stood over Charleston like Batman for more than a century, and yet many people remain oblivious to his controversial beliefs that many found and still find offensive. Of course, Calhoun and the artifacts our 19th century ancestors sent us should be on display somewhere. Once if our most recent polarization subsides, Calhoun and the artifacts recovered from that time capsule should be in a museum (assuming one agrees to take his curmudgeonly self). The mere existence of that time capsule is proof no one expected the statue to stand there forever. Times change, and the people and events a city or nation wants to highlight can change. Moving an artifact isnt erasing history. Destroying it, however, is. That's a lesson the military and the city have learned over time. Perhaps one day their efforts will teach everyone else the difference. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Amanda Gorman is still riding high one week after hypnotizing the nation with her words. Says she also wants people to take her presidential dreams seriously. Appearing on Tuesday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," the 22-year-old opened up at President Joe Biden's Jan. 20 swearing-in to become the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. Gorman, who hails from Los Angeles, and her mother, Joan Wicks, attended the inauguration ceremony. She says that when they were seated in the earshot of Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and former President Barack Obama, the two could not help but be a little star-struck. Gorman said she overheard the previous first lady, Michelle Obama, in her Tuesday conversation with DeGeneres, continually advising her husband to support social distancing measures. "[Michelle] kept yelling at Barack, 'Stop hugging people! Stop getting close to people,'" Amanda Gorman recalled. "And then when I was done, she kind of pushed him out of the way and gave me just the biggest, warmest Michelle Obama hug." Poet Amanda Gorman on Jan. 20 with former Presidents Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. Gorman said she discovered on Dec. 30 that she had been selected as the inaugural poet, but still wanted to have more time to practice her poem, "The Hill We Climb," before offering it at the event. "I understood, in some capacity, that I was making history as the youngest inaugural poet," she stated. "I didn't know really what that history would look like or the impact that it would have." Amanda Gorman doubled down on her previously stated goal of wanting to run for president someday elsewhere in the chat, noting that loved ones planned to hold her accountable for a dream she's had since sixth grade. "It's something that my family takes very seriously," she said. "They know when I say something, I mean business." ALSO READ: Trump Offers Washington DC Hotel To National Guards Kicked Out of the US Capitol Knowing Amanda Gorman Amanda Gorman has a twin sister, Gabrielle, in addition to an older brother, Spencer. Gabrielle Gorman has devoted her life to making headlines as well: she's an activist and filmmaker. It sounds like they have a good sisterly connection: Amanda joked that once it's safe, Gabrielle wants to "drag [her] to Disneyland." We think both of them deserve some fun! She was elected the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017 before becoming the youngest poet to give an inaugural speech. Before that, at 16 years old, she was named as the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles in 2014! (She was the first to earn the honor too!) She's been in love with poetry since the third grade, according to the Los Angeles Times. Check out 6 of her most impressive works for some poetic inspiration. For the privilege of performing at the inauguration, Dr. Jill Biden, the new First Lady of the United States, was the one to pick Gorman. At the Library of Congress, Dr. Biden had seen her read poetry and campaigned for her before the inaugural committee. The admiration seems to be the mutual-the pleasure of Gorman as he pointedly calls the new First Lady "Dr." "Biden" has been palpable! As if writing a poem for a presidential inauguration was not overwhelming enough, just two weeks after insurrectionists stormed the U.S., this inauguration fell. Capitol to try to stop the confirmation of the outcome of the 2020 referendum. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / GlobeX Data Ltd. (OTCQB:SWISF)(CSE:SWIS)(FRA: A2PN34) ("GlobeX" or the "Company"), the leader in Swiss hosted secure data management and secure communications, is pleased to report that its CEO, Alain Ghiai, joined Steve Darling from Proactive discussing GlobeX's new listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. GlobeX Data CEO Alain Ghiai joined Steve Darling to bring news the company will have a listing on the Frankfurt Exchange in Germany. Ghiai telling Proactive why this move is key for the company being on one of the largest and most efficient trading facilities in the world. The Interview article and video can be viewed by click this link: CEO Interview on ProactiveInvestors GlobeX's Data privacy solutions are all hosted in Switzerland, protecting users' data from any outside data intrusion requests. In Switzerland, the right to privacy is guaranteed in article 13 of the Swiss Federal Constitution. The Federal Act on Data Protection ("FADP") of 19 June 1992 (in force since 1993) has set up a strict protection of privacy by prohibiting virtually any processing of personal data which is not expressly authorized by the data subjects. The protection is subject to the authority of the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. Under Swiss federal law, it is a crime to publish information based on leaked "secret official discussions." In 2010 the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland found that IP addresses are personal information and that under Swiss privacy laws they may not be used to track Internet usage without the knowledge of the individuals involved. About GlobeX Data Ltd. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, document management, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. On behalf of Management GLOBEX DATA LTD. Alain Ghiai President and Chief Executive Officer +1.416.644.8690 corporate@globexdatagroup.com For more information please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit us at https://globexdatagroup.com. For more information on Sekur visit us at: https://www.sekur.com . For more information on SekurSafe visit us at: https://www.sekursafe.com . Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guaranteeing future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626137/GlobeX-Data-CEO-Interviewed-on-Proactive-About-Its-Listing-on-the-Frankfurt-Stock-Exchange-and-the-Year-Ahead MVUTJINI - It seems the effects of Cyclone Eloise were so intense to the point that the heavy rains, which resulted in floods, swept away a buried casket. The incident happened at Ehini, an area situated at the west of Malagwane Hill, just before Mvutjini in Ezulwini. Information gathered was that the shocking discovery was made by a child during the course of the recent floods, which ended on Monday. The washed away grave was of a woman named Zodwa. A sister to the deceased, Rose Myeni, confirmed the incident. Rose stated that they were informed by a child that the grave had been damaged. I called my parents and informed them about the incident. We quickly went to graveyard where other family graves are located and inspected the scene. Indeed we found that the grave where Zodwa was buried was empty. Only a few bricks, which had also been damaged, were found. We tried in vain to search for the casket and possibly the remains of our sister along the riverbank, but in vain, she said. Buried According to Rose, her sister Zodwa was buried in 2010. She pleaded with anyone who might come across any human remains to report to Ehini Royal Kraal. Her father Solomon Myeni also confirmed the incident. He stated that they spent the whole day searching for the casket and the remains of Zodwa, however, they returned empty-handed. I would like to appeal to anyone who might come across human bones, be it a skull or anything, to report to the police or the royal kraal. I am hoping that people will come across the human skeleton as there are many activities in the river, Solomon said. Some residents use the river to do their laundry and other household chores. Solomon said it was very important to locate the remains because a human was different from an animal. He stated that indvuna of the area had been made aware of the incident. However, he said he was yet to report it to the police as they had hopes that they would locate the remains. When the graveyard was visited, it was discovered that it was located not very far from the river, whose banks were washed away by the floods on Sunday. It also appeared that the river took another direction and eroded the soil at the edge of the graveyard during the floods, eating away a large chunk of the soil closer to the grave. It was also discovered that the floods swept away the casket from the bottom before the whole grave collapsed into the river. There was only one brick left at the top of the grave while a few debris were also found next to where the grave was. The river was still flowing fast at the bottom of the grave yesterday and it is believed that the remains may have been washed downstream. Fortunately, according to the family, the floods are over, otherwise the remaining graves would have also been damaged by the strong water current. Havoc It was also observed that the river joins Mbabane River, which caused havoc to many establishments during the recent floods. Solomon stated that the only option was to divert the water to its normal flowing position in order to avoid further damage to the graves. Indvuna Jabulani Dvuba confirmed having received information concerning the casket which was swept away by the floods. Yes, the chairman reported the incident. We have lost a casket with the remains of the person who was buried as a result of the recent floods in the area. We would like to appeal to members of the public to help us in case they come across the casket or any human skeletal remains, Dvuba said. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said reporting a missing corpse was very important for many reasons. First, Vilakati said a human being did not belong to anyone, but government hence the importance of reporting. She said reporting the missing corpse could help in identifying the family of the deceased in case the corpse was found. Vilakati also advised that such incidents should be reported to the royal kraal. MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Quebec Precious Metals Corporation ("QPM" or the "Company") (TSXV:QPM)(OTCQB:CJCFF)(FSE:YXEP) is pleased to provide an update on the drilling program on its Sakami Project (the "Project") in Quebec's Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory and an outline of its exploration plans for 2021. Normand Champigny, CEO of QPM, stated: "2020 was a very significant year for QPM with the discovery of the La Pointe Extension which redefines the Sakami Project. With drills turning again at Sakami, we expect to discover new areas of mineralization both along strike and at depth along the La Pointe deposit trend. This work will assist us in our goal of the preparation of a maiden resource estimate. In addition, our new Lloyd surface discovery on the Elmer East project, illustratres the high exploration potential of the James Bay gold camp. We plan to advance our entire project portfolio this year. Of critical importance in these challenging times is to continue to apply a rigorous COVID protocol to protect the health of our employees, contractors and communities. We hope for a gradual return to normalcy during the course of this year." Sakami Project ( Table 1 , Figures 1 to 5 ) Discovery at La Pointe Extension significantly increased the mineralized strike length from 950 m to 3,450 m and suggests the possibility to further expand to 4,450 m 950 m to 3,450 m and suggests the possibility to further expand to 4,450 m Mineralization from surface up to a depth of 500 m and open in all directions 12,361 m of drilling completed in 2020 and 25,778 m since the creation of QPM in 2018 Since the creation of the Company in 2020, drilling continues to focus on areas in and around the La Pointe deposit. Our technical team reviewed and interpreted data from soil geochemical, airborne magnetometer and surface geophysical surveys as well as surface rock sampling programs. This resulted in the discovery of the La Pointe Extension where drilling started in early 2020. Drilling at La Pointe and La Pointe Extension progressed until the fall of 2020, producing some of the best drill results as follows: La Pointe Extension PT-20-173 - 0.30 m at 60.80 g/t Au PT-20-162 - 42.0 m at 1.31 g/t Au PT-20-159 - 80.0 m at 1.10 g/t Au PT-20-155 - 53.8 m at 1.03 g/t Au PT-20-154 - 70.3 m at 1.14 g/t Au PT-20-153 - 35.4 m at 1.45 g/t Au PT-20-151 - 80.1 m at 1.15 g/t Au PT-20-148 - 7.6 m at 2.91 g/t Au La Pointe PT-20-147 - 7.0 m at 2.69 g/t Au PT-20-145 - 4.0 m at 1.31 g/t Au PT-20-141 - 11.0 m at 1.04 g/t Au PT-20-139 - 3.5 m at 4.15 g/t Au Table 1 presents the results of the 2020 drilling and Figures 1 to 5 show: Drill results and contoured metal factors (estimated true thickness in metres x grade in g/t Au) from all holes reported to date in plan, 3D view and longitudinal section; and Areas to be drilled in 2021. The updated corporate presentation on the Company's web site includes the recent drill results. Complete drill results and calculated drill hole composites are also available (https://www.qpmcorp.ca/en/projects/sakami-technical-information/ ). The drilling results indicate to date that gold-bearing mineralization at the La Pointe Extension discovery and at La Pointe has a similar geological character: hosted within a volcano-sedimentary sequence of the Yasinski Group (La Grande Subprovince), which is metamorphosed to amphibolite facies and is strongly deformed by a regional WSW to ENE event. This sequence is in contact with sedimentary rocks of the Laguiche Group (Opinaca Subprovince) to the east. The lithologies are composed mainly of 1) biotite-rich and silicified paragneiss with intrusions of granodiorite, tonalite and pegmatite, and 2) amphibolite (metamorphosed sedimentary iron formation and mafic volcanic rock). The gold mineralization is accompanied by disseminated arsenopyrite, pyrite and pyrrhotite and cross-cutting quartz-carbonate veinlets. The Project provides the Company with a controlling position over a 23-kilometre-long segment of a favourable geological contact and comprises 259 claims (131.1 km2). It is located 570 km north of Val d'Or, Quebec, 120 km east of the municipality of Wemindji, 90 km from the Eleonore gold mine and 47 km northeast of the paved James Bay Road. Good infrastructure is present including major access roads, a hydro-powered electric grid and airports. Drilling can be carried out throughout the year. Elmer East project (see press release of January 20, 2021 ) Lloyd Discovery made at surface during the 2020 summer Channel sampling confirmed gold mineralized area approximately 60 m long by 10 m open in all directions. The most significant composite grades are as follows: Channel R4 - 4.06 g/t Au, 38.9 g/t Ag, 1.72 % Zn, 1.88 % Pb over 2.0 m Channel R9 - 1.77 g/t Au, 12.3 g/t Ag, 0.30 % Zn, 0.78 % Pb over 1.0 m Channel R8 - 1.73 g/t Au, 10.3 g/t Ag, 1.00 % Zn, 0.49 % Pb over 1.0 m Channel R7 - 1.18 g/t Au, 10.2 g/t Ag, 0.52 % Zn, 0.71 % Pb over 1.0 m Channel R3 - 0.96 g/t Au, 19.5 g/t Ag, 1.66 % Zn, 0.51 % Pb over 2.0 m The Lloyd discovery consists of a 1 to 2 m wide SW-NE shallow dipping oxidized quartz vein with various amounts of sulphides (galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite). Mineralization is hosted in an extensional vein in a weakly chloritized wacke and paragneiss near the contact with a polygenic conglomerate of the Wabamisk formation. The Elmer East project consists of 929 claims (488 km2). 2021 Exploration Plans Winter and summer Sakami (La Pointe, La Pointe Extension): drilling program (14,000 m, 40+ holes, 2 rigs) based on the drill 2020 results combined with the recently interpreted target areas from geological and structural information and induced polarization survey data; metallurgical testing; and surface detailed geological mapping. Summer Elmer East: geological mapping, sampling and trenching along the Lloyd discovery. Cheechoo- Eleonore Trend: Prospecting work on anomalous gold in till samples. Blanche and Charles: geological mapping, sampling and prospecting Quality Assurance/Quality Control For the Sakami project, the drilling contract was awarded to Forage Val-d'Or Inc. based in Val-d'Or, Quebec. The hole diameter is NQW. Quality assurance and quality control procedures have been implemented to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of the core samples. The drill core was logged and then split, with one-half sent for assay and the other retained in the core box as a witness sample. Duplicates, standards and blanks were inserted regularly into the sample stream. The samples were delivered, in secure tagged bags, directly to the ALS Minerals laboratory facility in Val-d'Or, Quebec. The samples are weighed and identified prior to sample preparation. All samples are analyzed by fire assay with AA finish on a 30 g sample (0.005-10 ppm Au), with a gravimetric finish for assays over 10 ppm Au. Qualified Person Normand Champigny, Eng., Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Qualified Person under NI 43- 101 on standards of disclosure for mineral projects, has prepared and approved the technical content of this release. About Quebec Precious Metals Corporation QPM is a gold explorer with a large land position in the highly-prospective Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Quebec, near Newmont Corporation's Eleonore gold mine. QPM's flagship project is the Sakami project with significant grades and well-defined drill-ready targets. QPM's goal is to rapidly explore the project to advance it to the mineral resource estimate stage. For more information, please contact: Jean-Francois Meilleur President Tel.: 514 951-2730 jfmeilleur@qpmcorp.ca Normand Champigny Chief Executive Officer Tel.: 514 979-4746 nchampigny@qpmcorp.ca Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Table 1: Sakami Project - Summary of 2020 significant drill results Notes: All widths are drill indicated core length. Drilholes are generally planned to intersect mineralization as close to perpendicular to strike as possible. True widths are estimated to range from 75% to 90% of the down-hole length when drillhole inclination and dip of the mineralized horizons are considered. All gold values presented are not capped. Hole # UTM E UTM N Length (m) Azimuth () Dip () Number of samples From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) La Pointe Deposit PT-20-138 375462 5895042 141 135 -50 94 No significant values PT-20-139 375532 5895041 60 135 -50 59 36.50 40.00 3.50 4.15 PT-20-140 375496 5895077 174 135 -63 149 118.00 119.00 1.00 1.17 173.00 174.00 1.00 1.68 PT-20-141 375536 5895107 132 135 -54 109 54.00 65.00 11.00 1.04 Including 54.00 55.50 1.50 3.41 Including 62.30 65.00 2.70 1.66 79.40 80.50 1.10 1.13 105.00 106.00 1.00 1.23 PT-20-142 375496 5895008 60 135 -50 62 39.00 40.00 1.00 1.31 PT-20-143 375623 5895020 201 0 -50 183 83.00 84.00 1.00 1.99 PT-20-144 375602 5894893 276 330 -50 209 69.00 72.00 3.00 1.68 163.50 164.00 0.50 1.17 193.80 195.00 1.20 1.15 PT-20-145 375650 5894909 216 335 -50 182 22.10 26.10 4.00 1.31 45.30 96.90 51.60 0.60 Including 60.00 63.00 3.00 1.33 Including 72.50 79.00 6.50 2.14 PT-20-146 375695 5894940 270 0 -50 235 60.50 64.70 4.20 1.55 PT-20-147 375812 5894959 276 0 -50 214 22.00 29.00 7.00 2.69 125.90 137.00 11.10 0.31 Including 125.90 127.40 1.50 1.09 171.00 175.50 4.50 1.38 PT-20-152 374632 5894963 729 27 -53 130 700.50 714.00 13.50 0.52 La Pointe Extension PT-20-148 374470 5894276 345 145 -50 316 54.00 55.20 1.20 1.06 241.20 241.60 0.40 5.61 279.00 280.50 1.50 4.06 288.90 296.50 7.60 2.91 PT-20-149 374202 5894096 348 145 -50 280 241.45 242.15 0.70 2.19 252.50 253.20 0.70 5.06 287.00 333.00 46.00 0.25 PT-20-150 374263 5894016 270 145 -50 210 189.50 221.00 31.50 0.49 PT-20-151 373962 5893849 336 145 -50 300 231.90 312.00 80.10 1.15 Including 269.00 293.95 24.95 2.21 Including 288.00 293.95 5.95 4.63 PT-20-153 374019 5893767 267 145 -50 222 152.10 187.50 35.40 1.45 Including 175.00 179.10 4.10 3.65 PT-20-154 374017 5893857 366 145 -50 296 74.80 81.60 6.80 2.74 Including 80.10 81.60 1.50 11.75 196.40 266.70 70.30 1.14 Including 196.40 233.30 36.90 1.66 PT-20-155 373935 5893799 294 145 -50 244 225.10 278.90 53.80 1.03 PT-20-156 373906 5893749 303 145 -50 278 220.70 248.00 27.30 0.29 PT-20-157 373865 5893720 375 145 -50 340 216.90 258.00 41.10 0.47 333.05 354.00 20.95 0.39 PT-20-158 373917 5893646 264 145 -50 227 151.00 175.50 24.50 0.52 227.30 235.90 8.60 0.46 PT-20-159 373962 5893849 429 145 -50 342 291.00 392.00 101.00 0.93 Including 291.00 371.00 80.00 1.10 Including 303.50 371.00 67.50 1.21 PT-20-160 373963 5893671 219 145 -50 213 148.00 165.00 17.00 0.28 Including 148.00 161.00 13.00 0.31 PT-20-161 373995 5893714 207 145 -50 166 84.80 88.60 3.80 0.67 135.50 166.50 31.00 0.62 PT-20-162 374079 5893773 208.5 145 -47 200 98.00 99.00 1.00 5.11 124.00 166.00 42.00 1.31 Including 133.70 150.50 16.80 1.95 182.40 187.80 5.40 0.97 PT-20-163 374160 5893827 189 145 -50 111 95.30 163.80 68.50 0.70 Including 119.60 136.50 16.90 0.78 Including 153.40 163.80 10.40 1.85 Including 160.30 161.40 1.10 10.30 PT-20-164 374160 5893827 249 145 -47 181 60.40 66.40 6.00 1.34 Including 60.40 61.00 0.60 10.60 91.60 94.20 2.60 2.94 108.20 172.70 64.50 0.62 Including 139.00 153.50 14.50 1.32 190.00 194.20 4.20 0.49 PT-20-165 374117 5893902 363 145 -70 190 40.50 43.00 2.50 0.93 229.30 230.80 1.50 3.52 237.00 240.00 3.00 1.04 244.50 252.80 8.30 0.92 267.00 270.00 3.00 0.33 303.00 307.50 4.50 1.14 PT-20-166 374239 5893899 234 145 -47 172 34.50 36.00 1.50 2.92 90.00 97.20 7.20 1.92 111.50 132.50 21.00 0.61 123.50 132.50 9.00 1.11 PT-20-167 374239 5893899 312 145 -70 216 28.90 30.40 1.50 1.17 50.50 51.80 1.30 1.01 117.00 164.80 47.80 0.53 PT-20-168 374592 5894282 306 145 -57 275 46.90 47.60 0.70 2.77 103.60 116.15 12.55 0.44 182.00 194.00 12.00 1.03 Including 182.00 190.00 8.00 1.44 PT-20-169 374619 5894235 264 145 -45 167 139.80 178.00 38.20 0.60 PT-20-170 374540 5894163 234 145 -47 206 31.50 39.00 7.50 0.35 112.00 126.00 14.00 0.68 including 113.00 115.00 2.00 2.22 147.00 184.50 37.50 0.82 including 164.00 165.00 1.00 8.56 PT-20-171 374464 5894106 225 145 -47 152 67.10 69.70 2.60 1.20 including 68.60 69.70 1.10 2.17 109.50 115.50 6.00 1.07 143.50 179.30 35.80 0.32 PT-20-172 374464 5894106 291 145 -65 200 86.50 94.50 8.00 0.55 109.50 112.50 3.00 1.17 221.50 232.00 10.50 0.42 242.50 250.00 7.50 0.70 PT-20-173 374369 5894068 288 145 -47 221 41.20 42.60 1.40 15.01 including 41.60 41.90 0.30 60.80 175.50 190.50 15.00 0.60 including 183.00 190.50 7.50 0.93 PT-20-174 374369 5894068 348 145 -65 270 187.50 200.80 13.30 1.13 106.50 108.00 1.50 1.01 121.10 122.40 1.30 1.23 171.00 172.50 1.50 1.00 257.70 264.80 7.10 0.46 PT-20-175 374715 5894264 222 145 -47 165 48.00 49.50 1.50 1.26 76.50 78.00 1.50 1.87 94.50 99.00 4.50 0.76 PT-20-176 374715 5894264 21 145 -65 13 NSV PT-20-176A 374715 5894264 303 145 -65 230 13.40 15.40 2.00 1.29 111.40 120.80 9.40 0.86 144.00 151.50 7.50 0.29 Simon area Hole ID UTM E UTM N Length (m) Azimuth () Dip () Number of samples From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) SI-20-06 376176 5897593 165 315 -60 148 7.50 11.50 4 0.37 23.60 31.50 7.90 0.30 48 105.30 57.30 0.52 Including 48 66 18 0.90 Including 84.50 105.30 20.80 0.57 SI-20-07 376442 5897352 150 330 -60 121 No significant values SI-20-08 376232 5897427 126 135 -75 39 78.50 80.30 1.80 0.72 SI-20-09 376143 5897503 146.20 315 -50 124 30.50 31.60 1.10 1.31 SI-20-10 376338 5897569 150 315 -50 48 No significant values SI-20-11 376555 5897372 159 315 -50 70 No significant values SI-20-12 376759 5897593 129 315 -75 48 No significant values SI-20-13 377064 5897440 201 315 -75 22 No significant values SI-20-14 377005 5897500 150 315 -50 24 No significant values SI-20-15 376934 5897308 150 315 -50 5 No significant values SI-20-16 376176 5897593 219 315 -72 150 54 108 54 0.73 Including 55 79.50 24.50 0.91 SOURCE: Quebec Precious Metals Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626141/Quebec-Precious-Metals-Provides-Update-on-Sakami-drilling-and-Outlines-Plans-for-2021 Apple TV+ announced late yesterday that their global hit espionage thriller 'Tehran' has been renewed for a second season following its critically acclaimed season premiere. The Apple TV+ series "Tehran" tells the thrilling story of Mossad agent Tamar Rabinyan, who goes deep undercover on a dangerous mission in Tehran that places her and everyone around her in dire jeopardy. Tehran stars Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub, Navid Negahban, Shervin Alenabi, Liraz Charhi and Menashe Noy. Season one of the series left fans hanging as to whether the main character, Tamar Rabinyan, would make it safely across the Iranian boarder when the mission was unexpectedly compromised. Since its debut on Israeli network Kan 11 and globally on Apple TV+, 'Tehran' has captivated viewers worldwide, and has been hailed by critics as "gripping," "heart stopping," and a "captivating spy thriller." It's unknown at this time when the series will be given a launch date. For a complete overview of season one, click here. (Click on image to greatly Enlarge) Archive: Apple TV News The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Sunday, Jan. 24 10:45 p.m. Officers performed a warrant arrest in the area of Bay City Road and Sam Street. 6:41 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to speak with a 20-year-old man in reference to another 20-year-old man making threats toward him no physical assault occurred. During the investigation, it was discovered that both subjects were in violation of their terms of probation. A report is being sent to their probation officers. 5:06 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the area of Sharon Road and Laurel Lane. 3:10 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to an Edenville Township location for a single-vehicle traffic crash. The driver and passenger sustained minor injuries and were treated at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland ER. 2:38 p.m. Deputies responded to a vehicle crash in Jerome Township. 1:46 p.m. Deputies received a report of an unwanted 33-year-old Harrison man at a Warren Township residence. The deputies made contact with the 79-year-old male homeowner, who said the 33-year-old had left prior to their arrival. Deputies later made contact with the Harrison man, and he was advised that he was no longer allowed at the residence. 12:45 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash on Eastman Avenue near the on ramp of westbound U.S.-10. 11:04 a.m. Officers responded to a domestic assault in the 2300 block of Jefferson Avenue. 1:30 a.m. Officers responded to a weapons violation in the 4000 block of Whiting Drive. Saturday, Jan. 23 10:30 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Porter Township residence in reference to a 17-year-old female taking an unknown pill. The teen was transported by EMS to the MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland. 10:30 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Jerome Township residence in reference to a 41-year-old man reporting his 36-year-old male neighbor shot his dog with a pellet gun. The complainant wished not to press charges, but to have the incident documented. 9:50 p.m. Officers performed a traffic stop on an intoxicated driver in the area of U.S.-10 near Waldo Road. 8:07 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Mills Township. 7:07 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash causing injuries 6:45 p.m. Officers responded to vehicle crash in the area of Salzburg Street and Waldo Avenue. 2:57 p.m. Deputies responded to a report of subjects shooting guns in Midland Township. Deputy made contact with the 35-year-old homeowner they had a safe backstop consisting of railroad ties and sand. 2:23 p.m. A Michigan State Police trooper handled a missing person complaint in Edenville Township. 2:19 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 1900 block of Airport Road. HOLYOKE Mayor Alex B. Morse shifted $950,000 in federal CARES Act funding to provide HEPA or high-grade air filters for all Holyoke Public Schools classrooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The City of Holyoke and the school district will buy 449 Carrier OptiClean air filtration machines. According to the manufacturer, the standalone units scrub the air of microscopic particles and discharge clean air back into a room. In a statement, the district noted the HEPA filters improves air quality for students and teachers and mitigate the risk of airborne transmission of COVID-19. So far, 385 OptiClean units have been installed in classrooms, cafeterias, gyms, and other spaces throughout the district. The filters also cut down on particulates that trigger asthma, as Holyoke has one of Massachusettss highest rates. School Receiver Alberto Vazquez Matos thanked Morse and City Hall for allocated CARES Act funding to improve air quality in schools, especially as the public schools shift to a hybrid-learning model, a mix of online and in-person instruction. This has provided the opportunity for us to upgrade our existing HVAC systems, bringing them into the 21st century, Vazquez Matos stated. We are grateful to have these HEPA air filtration machines. He added that Joseph Allen, a Harvard University professor and co-author of Health Buildings, recommends school districts invest in air filtration units. We appreciate Mayor Morse and City Halls continued support as we work together to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff, Vazquez Matos stated. Besides schools, Morse said the City of Holyoke bought 52 OptiClean units for municipal offices. We have taken advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity to invest in our students and educators, Morse stated. This investment through CARES Act funding outfits every classroom in the district with advanced HEPA air filtration units, which supplements a lot of the proactive and preventative modifications that have already been made to improve indoor air quality in our schools. Chicago police officers arrived at the bank in the 3300 block of West North Avenue and found Flores still at the counter, wearing a dark jacket with the hood pulled over his head, a surgical mask and work gloves, the charges alleged. A knife was found in his jacket pocket after his arrest, according to the complaint. Sourav Ganguly again admitted to Apollo hospital after chest pain India oi-Deepika S Kolkata, Jan 27: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has been admitted to Apollo Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday after he complained of uneasiness and experienced mind chest pain this afternoon. The development comes weeks after Sourav underwent coronary angioplasty at the Woodlands hospital after experiencing a sudden blackout and chest pain. On January 2, the BCCI president was admitted to Woodlands Hospital after he complained of chest pain. He spent about five days in hospital before being finally discharged on January 7. After getting discharged, the former Indian skipper had thanked the medical team of Woodlands Hospital for looking after him and doing the needful procedures. "I thank the doctors at the hospital for the treatment. I am absolutely fine. Hopefully, I will be ready to fly soon," Ganguly had told reporters. On January 6, Dr Rupali Basu, MD and CEO of Woodlands Hospital, had said that the former captain would be monitored at home on a daily basis after being discharged. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News The 48-year-old would be ready for the next course of procedures or medical intervention after about 2-3 weeks, Dr Basu had explained while informing the reporters about the health of the former India captain. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Staten Island St. Patricks Parade 2020 served as the last such large-scale event before the pandemic cancelled such gatherings. The Forest Avenue tradition will not see its 57th year, say organizers. Former grand marshal and Doc Hennigans owner Dr. Craig Campbell said, The COVID-19 situation prevents us from continuing as we have in the past. And the city is not giving out parade permits. At the moment, state limits on events of any kinds are still 50 people. A spokesman for the mayors office confirmed no permits were being issued at this time. The tavern owner said that the parade would have been scheduled for Sunday, March 7. He added that functions and fundraisers leading up to that date the 300 Club Raffle, fundraiser at Sacred Heart School, West Brighton, and Hibernian Ball have also been suspended. Staten Island St. Patrick's Parade. March 1, 2020. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel) Campbell said a virtual celebration was under consideration. In the meantime, he announced the grand marshal for 2021 Kathleen Gorman of Annadale, a long-time volunteer for the parade and the boroughs Irish festivals. Her friend Margaret Del Bagno of West Brighton said Gorman would make an appearance on Forest Avenue on March 7. Shell probably be in a car going down Forest Avenue, said Del Bagno. Shes very honored to be named Grand Marshal. Its the honor of a lifetime. From left to right: Ann Clark, the 2021 Grand Marshal Kathleen Gorman, Maryann Callahan and Brianna Shane as pictured at the 2015 Irish Fair. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)Staff-Shot Dr. Bob Griswold served as the lead of last years fete. Jack King was 2019 Grand Marshal. The 2018 title went to Ann Clark. The parade is a massive boon for restaurants along the route that most years has run from Hart Boulevard to Jewett Avenue. But bar owners like Campbell hope that Staten Islanders keep their former favorite Forest Avenue watering holes and Irish pubs in mind for pickup and delivery on or around Parade Day. There will still be corned beef and cabbage in restaurants and bakeries will still be making their signature Irish soda bread, said Campbell. Beer and booze are allowed for transport from an establishment at the moment, he points out. Corned beef platters are served with an Irish soda bread roll option at Duffys in West Brighton. (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)Staff-Shot Terence Haggerty of Jodys Club Forest said, Im so numb now to losing big days. So its no surprise to me that were losing the parade. His West Brighton tavern is the unofficial kickoff point of the day, typically. Haggerty added, Losing Thanksgiving Eve, losing an entire year of business...its horrible. Mike Regan of ONeills in Port Richmond said, Its a shame the great tradition of celebrating Irish heritage will be cancelled for 2021. While it is a hardship for certain businesses which rely on the even for a much-needed shot in the arm, the more important factor is public health. Regan said he hopes that the city and state with figure out a competent vaccine rollout and added, Hopefully the parade will be back bigger and better! Flashback to 2011: Grand Marshall Dr. Craig Campbell waved to the crowd along the route. (Staten Island Advance File Photo)Staten Island Advance ROOTS IN THE BOROUGH Staten Islands St. Patricks parade started 56 years ago on Richmond Terrace. The route wove along the shoreline and continued up Westervelt Avenue for decades. The procession eventually found its new home on Forest Avenue with step-off in West Brighton and end-point in Port Richmond. In the early 1990s, Griswold and long-time parade collaborator Charles (Chip) McClean set it on the calendar for first Sunday in March. The choice of date, said Griswold, was so as not to compete with other marching bands in the region. Flashback to 1984: "Brandy," an Irish setter dressed for the day, doesn't seem to notice the group of fife players marching down the parade route. (Staten Island Advance File Photo)Staten Island Advance In 2011 when podiatrist Dr. Craig Campbell served as grand marshal the parade was shortened by a quarter of a mile due to budget cuts. And since then it has ended at Jewett Avenue. Last years parade drew national attention when LGBTQ groups were banned, the only of the five boroughs to maintain such a policy. According to Advance news reports, organizers banned all pageant winners from marching, including Miss Staten Island 2020, Madison LInsalata, who announced publicly in March 2020 shes bisexual. The Bayside, Queens parade also was cancelled for 2021. Pamela Silvestri is Advance Food Editor. She can be reached at silvestri@saidvance.com. (Newser) Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman has signed with one of the world's biggest modeling agencies, meaning she's "literally putting the model in role model," as the Los Angeles Times puts it. The first National Youth Poet Laureate completed a deal with IMG Models, the talent agency representing supermodels Kate Moss and Gisele Bundchen, on Monday, per CNN. The deal will see the 22-year-old Harvard graduate "expand her personal brand" through fashion and beauty endorsements and "editorial opportunities," the Times reports. Gorman's fashion was on point at last week's inaugurationthe Prada coat and headband she wore have both sold out, per the Timesbut so was her poem, "The Hill We Climb." story continues below Gorman's Instagram account went from 50,000 to 2.9 million followers in 48 hours, reports WWD, while three of Gorman's books have since become Amazon best-sellers. Ellen DeGeneres even endorsed Gorman for president. While she'll be busy with modeling and editorial work for awhile, Gorman told DeGeneres she's dreamed of running for president in 2036, when she's eligible, since the sixth grade. In fact, Gorman's twin sister won't post any party photos on social media in case it were to cause a political scandal later, Gorman said. "We're behind you 100%, DeGeneres told Gorman on Tuesday's episode of Ellen DeGeneres Show while revealing some "Amanda Gorman for president" swag. (Read more poet laureate stories.) Zhang Shichun decided to raise cattle seven years ago only so the herd would consume the corn stalks left on his farmland. Now The cattle have become a cash cow ZHENGZHOU (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Zhang Shichun decided to raise cattle seven years ago only so the herd would consume the corn stalks left on his farmland. Now The cattle have become a cash cow. Zhang, a former migrant worker, currently has 10 cattle in stock, bringing home 100,000 Yuan (about 15,480 U.S. Dollars) a year at his hometown in Biyang County, central China's Henan Province. By raising cattle at home, Zhang has supported his children in school and taken care of his family. "Dealers come every year to purchase cattle. I have not had any sales problems," he said. Biyang County is the birthplace of Xianan cattle, one of China's self-developed beef cattle breeds. It was successfully created in 2007 through crossbreeding of French Charolais cattle and Nanyang cattle, a fine variety primarily used as a draft animal in China. Lin Fengpeng, a member of the research team that developed the breed, said that a Xianan cattle can reach over 750 kg in seven to eight months after birth. "The cattle are strong, and provide more high-quality beef," he said. According to Lin, each Xianan cattle can bring an additional 2,000 to 3,000 yuan to farmers compared with traditional breeds. "We aimed to develop the breed into a brand to help expand the local economy," said Qi Xinglei, leader of the research team. The team is on the course of developing a new variety of Xianan cattle, temporarily named "hornless Xianan cattle," whose longer body can yield more high-quality beef, according to Qi. In a bid to further complete the industry chain, the local government in 2017 introduced Hondo Beef, a leading beef processing enterprise in China. The company drove the development of local second and tertiary industries and the establishment of a national modern agricultural industrial park in Biyang County. The industry chain of Xianan cattle currently involves research and development, farming, slaughtering, meat processing and sales as well as manure processing in the county, where 395,000 cattle are raised. LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- UbiQD, Inc., a New Mexico-based advanced materials company, announced today that it has published the groundbreaking results of the first phase of its NASA-funded plant trials in the open-access Nature Research journal, "Communications Biology." The study validates the use of quantum dots for optimized crop growth on space missions. The collaborative research and development project with the University of Arizona's Controlled Environment Agriculture Center (UA-CEAC) demonstrated a 13% biomass improvement for red romaine lettuce using UbiQD's orange-emitting, luminescent greenhouse product UbiGro, and a 9% increase for a new red-emitting film. Artists rendition of UbiQDs quantum dot-enabled greenhouse film, UbiGro, installed in a lunar greenhouse growing tomatoes. Photo credit: UbiQD, Inc. (PRNewsfoto/UbiQD, Inc.) The plant trial was designed to maintain all growth parameters except spectrum, and showed improved photosynthetic efficiency under the film treatments compared to the unmodified control case. These results demonstrate the importance of light color on plant growth, and how this technology can improve crop productivity, both on Earth and in Space. "We are grateful for the opportunity to develop an understanding of quantum dot capabilities to improve crop production," said Gene Giacomelli, a professor of Biosystems Engineering at University of Arizona, who leads the work at UA-CEAC. "Ultimately, UbiQD's technology is about the betterment of crop production, and will lead to new strategies for optimizing production in greenhouses." In late 2018, UbiQD was awarded the phase I contract as part of NASA's strategic mission to advance capabilities for food production in space. In 2020, NASA awarded UbiQD a phase II contract for exploring new light recipes, and the company also received a matching award from the New Mexico Economic Development Department to further commercialization. Read the full research study here. About UbiQD, Inc. UbiQD is an advanced materials company powering product innovations in agriculture, clean energy, and security. Our quantum dots enable industry leaders to harness the power of light. Our first product, UbiGro, is a layer of light that uses fluorescence to create a more optimal greenhouse spectrum for crops. Headquartered in Los Alamos, New Mexico, the company is licensing technology developed at leading research institutions, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and MIT. To learn more, please visit: http://www.ubiqd.com and http://www.ubigro.com. MEDIA CONTACT [email protected] 505.310.6767 SOURCE UbiQD, Inc. MGB-BP-3 now Phase 3 Ready GLASGOW, Scotland, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing MGB-BP-3, a novel antibacterial, for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile (CDI), today announces the successful completion of its End-of-Phase 2 (EOP2) meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), an important milestone for the company and its lead product. The EOP2 Meeting is a formal step at which companies seek confirmation that their product is considered safe to proceed to broader clinical studies, and to explore any additional studies that may be required before entering into Phase 3. At the meeting, the US FDA confirmed that the design and the endpoints of our two prospective Phase 3 studies were appropriate. The Phase 3 studies, which are expected to recruit approximately 900 patients, will include superiority of MGB-BP-3 against vancomycin in the critical measure of sustained clinical response as one of their endpoints. Dr Miroslav Ravic, CEO of MGB Biopharma, said, "The successful completion of the End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA marks the culmination of solid scientific and clinical endeavour by the Company. The positive Phase 2 data showed that MGB-BP-3 provides high rates of Sustained Cure from CDI, a devastating disease. We are very pleased with the guidance received from FDA on key elements of the Phase 3 program that will support the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA). "The global pandemic caused by COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of being adequately prepared for infectious diseases. CDI's ongoing high mortality reminds us that this is a disease with significant unmet medical need for which new treatments are urgently required. MGB-BP-3, with its unique mode of action, is perfectly positioned to meet the need and provide confidence to patients and clinicians that more effective treatments are just round the corner." Professor Thomas Louie, clinical professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Calgary (Canada) and Principal Investigator said, "I am most pleased to have contributed to the success of the Phase 2 clinical study of MGB-BP-3. There is a real need for new agents to address CDI and it is gratifying to see this agent progressing onto its next phase of study. CDI represents a major burden to the Canadian and US healthcare systems. A novel antibiotic that is able to kill this deadly pathogen before it is able to sporulate offers hope to patients and their families who suffer the pain and misery caused by this disease." MGB Biopharma is considering strategic options for the business and has engaged JMP Securities as its exclusive financial advisor. About MGB-BP-3 MGB-BP-3 is a novel antibiotic which belongs to the Minor Groove Binder group, discovered at the University of Strathclyde, with a unique rapid bactericidal activity against Clostridioides difficile (CDI), a feature shared by no other treatment available. A recently completed Phase 2 clinical study in 33 CDI patients using three sequential ascending doses of MGB-BP-3 showed a high initial average cure of 94% in all dosages, a high average sustained cure of 95% in the 2 lower dosages and preservation of the gut microbiota with the lower dosages. There were correspondingly low recurrence rates of less than 5% for the first two doses. MGB-BP-3 was shown to be safe and well tolerated with no serious adverse events in either of the Phase 1 or 2 clinical studies. CDI is a serious and life-threatening infection of the large intestine and is the most frequent cause of diarrhoea in hospitals and care homes. In the US alone, there are almost half a million cases every year associated with around 30,000 deaths; three people die of uncontrolled CDI each hour. CDI has been recognised as an urgent threat pathogen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US and is a common consequence of antibiotic treatment in hospitalised patients. About MGB Biopharma MGB Biopharma is a clinical stage company developing a novel class of anti-infectives. Its lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, is an antibacterial which is active against a broad range of important multi-resistant and susceptible Gram-positive pathogens. The Company is developing an oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 for the treatment of Clostridioides difficile Infection (CDI). In addition to its C. difficile programme, MGB Biopharma has a pipeline of early preclinical compounds against Gram-positive, Gram-negative, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-parasitic pathogens. MGB Biopharma acquired rights to the proprietary minor groove binder (MGB) platform, developed at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with exclusive worldwide licensing rights for all anti-infective fields. This platform provides an opportunity to develop various compounds with a completely new mode of action which are distinct from the antimicrobial drugs used in clinical practice today. As a result, many MGB-based drugs could have the potential to offer significant advantages over existing anti-infectives. The Company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, is backed by Scottish investors including Archangel Investors Limited, Barwell, TRICAPITAL, Syndicate Room and the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise. The company also received significant support for its clinical programme from Innovate UK. For more information, please visit www.mgb-biopharma.com For further information, please contact: MGB Biopharma Chris Wardhaugh, Chief Business Officer [email protected] +44 (0) 1698 464224 Citigate Dewe Rogerson David Dible, Sylvie Berrebi [email protected] [email protected] +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 / +44 (0) 7714 306525 SOURCE MGB Biopharma Related Links http://www.mgb-biopharma.com Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. China's adorable giant panda painting art exhibition opened in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, on Monday afternoon, attracting scores of visitors. Held at the Chinese Culture House, the 10-day event displayed dozens of giant panda paintings and sculptures that depicted the graceful life of the rare animal. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Zuo Wenxing, political counselor of the Chinese embassy to Cambodia, said giant pandas, a national treasure in China, symbolized friendship and peace. "The giant panda is a cross-border messenger who helps promote Chinese culture to the world," she said. "I believe that the exhibition will further promote cultural exchanges between China and Cambodia, enhance mutual understanding and profound friendship between the two peoples, and inject a fresh impetus into the cultural cooperation between the two countries," Zuo added. Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts Secretary of State Minh Kosny said the event would contribute further to enhancing people-to-people bonds between the two countries. "The exhibition is vital to help visitors to further understand about the giant panda, which is the national treasure in China," she said. Adored around the world, the giant panda is perhaps the most powerful symbol in the world when it comes to species conservation, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said, adding that the species remains one of the rarest and most endangered bears in the world. Ngov Thaylong, a 22-year-old visitor, said the exhibition showed China's efforts to conserve this rare species, and it would help visitors to better understand about Chinese culture. "This is the first time I see the giant panda painting art show," he told Xinhua. "These paintings are so beautiful and vivid. The painters are really professional and talented." "I like giant pandas because they look so cute," said another visitor Sok Heng, 17. "I hope this exhibition will help raise awareness of the conservation of this globally endangered species," she added. Even after accounting for differences in income, education, caregiver support, special education services and parental reports of misbehavior and family conflict, elementary school-age Black children are 3.5 times more likely to be suspended or placed in detention than their white peers, a new study finds. The results were unsettling even to the researchers themselves, who were familiar with previous research into racial disparities in school discipline. Previous studies primarily used school records, but this study was able to use a nationwide self-reported dataset, with data collected as part of a long-term investigation into how the brain develops through the preteen and teen years into early adulthood. Because they had so much data on the participants, the researchers could do what previous studies could not and control for factors that are thought to account for discipline problems, like socioeconomic status and levels of family conflict. And, in fact, those factors did even out the discipline disparities between white and Hispanic children; however, they couldn't account for the discipline disparities between white and Black children. Among study participants, before factoring in those controls, 3% of white children and 15.2% of Black children received a detention or suspension in the past year. "We were alarmed about how strong the findings were," said co-first author Matthew Fadus, M.D. "Even when we controlled for many of these predictors of school discipline such as family income and education, the disparities remained." "With all of those factors controlled for, there has to be something else accounting for the differences in discipline rates," Fadus said. He said that racism or unconscious bias is likely at the root of the higher discipline rates for Black children. In their paper, the researchers note that the problem goes beyond individuals' actions. "We believe that the findings of this study as a whole are not reflective of individual behaviors and responsibility from youth, but instead are the result of a long history of societal inequities and systemic racism," they said. Fadus, now with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-first author Emilio Valadez, Ph.D., now with the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park, were both working as trainees at the Medical University of South Carolina with co-senior author Lindsay Squeglia, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, when they began developing the report. Squeglia is a principal site investigator on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, or ABCD, study. Conducted at 21 sites across the United States, the ABCD study recruited more than 11,000 children, ages 9 and 10, with the expectation of conducting brain scans, in-depth interviews, psychological tests and cognitive tasks over the course of 10 years to chart typical brain development. The anonymized data is then available to researchers around the world to use to explore social, psychological, neurological and biological questions. Only a few years into the study, the first batches of data have already yielded insights into the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, parental depression and neighborhood poverty. Prior studies that considered racial disparities in school discipline examined school records, and those studies found that Black children were more likely to receive detentions and suspensions. Those previous studies' detractors, however, said the disparities were probably the result of differences in student behavior. The ABCD study contains a wealth of data unavailable in school records, allowing the researchers to control for factors that often are associated with school discipline, like family income and education, as well as special education services and caregiver reports of behavior and conflict at home. As part of the ABCD study, parents also complete the Child Behavior Checklist, a widely used questionnaire about children's behavior. The checklist includes questions about things like whether the child disobeys at home or school or gets in fights - indicators that allow researchers to benchmark a child's "externalizing behaviors." A certain amount of externalizing behavior is expected for all adolescents, Valadez said. Further, the rates of these behaviors in the ABCD study participants matched the general population, Squeglia said, meaning the ABCD study participants are not an unusually disruptive bunch. "Children often communicate with behaviors more so than words," Fadus said, "and for this reason, the authors of the study hope that educators will pause for a moment before imposing detention or suspension and instead work to understand more the purposes and meaning of student behaviors." The authors advocated using restorative practices, which they noted emphasize "belonging, social engagement and accountability rather than control and punishment." "Suspensions and detentions don't work. This is not a practice that is helping kids," Squeglia added. "These are kids. These are 9- and 10-year-olds. We're using practices that we know don't work, but we keep doing this, with these huge disparities in who's getting affected." This is also a pivotal age, when children can develop negative attitudes about themselves or about school, Fadus said. Not only are suspensions ineffective, but they especially burden single-parent households when a parent must take time off work to stay home with a suspended child, Squeglia said. Because the ABCD study follows participants until they are 19 or 20 years old, future research could compare suspension and detention rates once the children enter middle and high school. Only 5% of children overall in the study received a detention or suspension, but that figure would be expected to grow as the children enter their teen years, Squeglia said, which would then allow researchers to make more detailed comparisons. For example, because of the relatively small number of suspensions and detentions in this first study, the researchers couldn't categorize the rates of discipline for subjective versus objective reasons - subjective reasons being things like talking back and objective reasons being quantifiable violations like bringing drugs or a weapon to school. And because they're looking at the same individuals over time, researchers could also see whether receiving such discipline at age 9 or 10 alters a child's likelihood of future behavioral or legal problems or leads to worse mental health outcomes, Valadez said. In their paper, the researchers call for more research into the psychological, social and economic consequences of this type of discipline. "Unless clinicians, educators, and legislators broadly address racist policies in areas such as education, public benefits, housing opportunities, and the justice system, the findings in this study will likely persist," they said. ### About the Medical University of South Carolina Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state's only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state's leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu. As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians' practice plan and nearly 325 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org. MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care. The Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), a Non-Governmental Organization has procured and installed three Public Address Systems in three markets in the Upper East Region as part of a sensitization drive against the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The equipment procured with support from the Plan International Ghana and the Global Affairs Canada under the Women Voice and Leadership project were installed at Pelungu and Kongo markets, both in the Nabdam District and Zuarungu market in the Bolgatanga East District. Apart from recorded songs, messages and drama on coronavirus spread, symptoms and prevention among others, the Public Address Systems also have radio sets embedded in them. At short ceremonies at separate functions to hand over and install the equipment at the market, Ms Patricia Ayichuru, the Project Officer, WOM, explained that the upsurge of the COVID-19 cases in the country continued sensitization among the public. She noted that before the installation of the Public Address Systems in the market, a baseline survey was conducted and it revealed that almost everybody contacted had knowledge of the outbreak of the virus. She said however, that many people did not practise the recommended protocols and the recommendations indicated inadequate knowledge and needed a wider platform for sensitization. Ms Ayichuru noted that the survey further revealed many of the people especially those in the rural communities had information on COVID-19 from listening to radio programmes and discussion and that informed WOM and its partners to install the Public Address Systems with radio sets connected to them. The Project Officer indicated that the District Assemblies, traditional authorities and traders of the beneficiary districts were consulted and the markets selected. She said installation of the Public Address Systems was to ensure that the right information was transmitted to larger population within a short period that could make an impact. Ms Ayichuru explained that most of the market women did not have the time to sit at home and listen to education on COVID-19 and install the information transmitting equipment in their place of work was appropriate to ensure compliance. Many people travel from far places to the markets, so it is our belief that these people will take the information back to their various communities and homes and spread it. Our objective is to educate people to practise the necessary COVID-19 protocols to help fight against the spread of the virus, she said. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video WASHINGTON Easing off a stalemate, the Senate moved forward Tuesday with a power-sharing agreement in the evenly-split chamber after Republican leader Mitch McConnell backed off his demand that Senate Democrats preserve the procedural tool known as the filibuster. The standoff between McConnell and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had all but ground the Senate to a halt in the early days of the Democratic majority and threatened President Joe Biden's agenda. Schumer refused to meet McConnell's demands. "I'm glad we're finally able to get the Senate up and running," Schumer said Tuesday as he opened the chamber. "My only regret is it took so long because we have a great deal we need to accomplish." While the crisis appeared to have resolved, for now, the debate over the filibuster the procedural tool that requires a 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation is far from over. Progressive Democrats see the tool as an outdated relic that can be used by the minority Republican Party under McConnell to derail Biden's agenda, and they want to do away with it. They point to the way the filibuster was wielded during the 20th century to stall civil rights legislation, and warn of a repeat. Democrats control 50 votes in the split chamber, with Vice President Kamala Harris as a tie-breaking vote, and Biden's allies would typically need Republican senators to reach the 60-vote threshold to advance Democratic priorities on COVID-19 relief, immigration or other issues. Even as he dropped his demand, McConnell warned Tuesday of all the ways the Senate business could still be tied in knots if Democrats try to press on with plans to pursue changes to the filibuster. "They would guarantee themselves immediate chaos," McConnell warned. "Destroying the filibuster would drain comity and consent from this body to a degree that would be unparalleled in living memory." Usually a routine matter, the organizing resolution for the chamber became a power play by McConnell once Democrats swept to control after the Jan. 5 special election in Georgia and the new senators took the oath of office after Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20. McConnell had been holding up the organizing agreement, which divides up committee assignments and other resources, as he tried to extract a promise from Schumer of no changes to the filibuster. Schumer would not meet the Republican leader's demands, but McConnell said late Monday he had essentially accomplished his goal after two Democratic senators said they would not agree to end the filibuster. Without their votes, Schumer would be unable to change the rules. "With these assurances, I look forward to moving ahead with a power-sharing agreement modeled on that precedent," McConnell said in a statement. He was referring to West Virginia's Joe Manchin and Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema, who have expressed reservations about doing away with the tool. Schumer's office said the Republican leader had no choice but to set aside his demands. "We're glad Sen. McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand," said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for the Democratic leader. "We look forward to organizing the Senate under Democratic control and start getting big, bold things done for the American people." But the debate over the filibuster, which has increasingly become weaponized as a tool to thwart the opposite party's agenda, is far from over. A decade ago, then-Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid ended the 60-vote threshold to confirm some judicial and executive branch nominees during the Obama administration that were being blocked by Republicans. Reid told The Associated Press recently that Biden should waste little time testing Republican's willingness to work with him before eliminating the filibuster. He gave it three weeks. McConnell during the last administration upped the ante, and did away with the 60-vote threshold to confirm President Donald Trump's three nominees to the Supreme Court. He wanted to prevent Schumer from taking it to the next level and ending the filibuster for legislation. The details of the rest of the organizing resolution are expected to proceed largely as they did the last time the Senate was evenly divided, in 2001, with any immediate changes to the filibuster, at this stage, appearing to be off the table. Actress Youn Yuh-jung in a scene from the film "Minari" / Courtesy of PAN CINEMA By Kwak Yeon-soo Youn Yuh-jung won the best supporting actress from the National Board of Review (NBR) for her work in "Minari," while writer-director Lee Isaac Chung earned the best original screenplay title. Established in 1909, NBR recognizes superlative filmmakers and actors, and acts as a strong indicator as to whether winners will garner Oscar nods. Also winning the best supporting actress from the New York Film Critics Online on Tuesday (local time), the 73-year-old actress has nabbed a total of 20 trophies this season by far. "Minari" follows a Korean immigrant family relocating and adjusting to life on a remote farm in Arkansas in the 1980s. The film title refers to a Korean herb that "comes in the pockets of immigrants, dies in the first year, thrives in the second and purifies the water and the soil around it." The film, since premiering at the Sundance Film Festival January last year, has been acclaimed by critics in the country and overseas with its resonating story about the "American dream." Winning multiple trophies from film critics associations and festivals, including the Sunset Film Circle Awards and Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award, Youn is considered to be frontrunner in the Oscar race. Anticipation is high for Youn on whether she could become the first Korean actor to receive an Academy Award. Earlier this week, "Minari" was named one of the 10 movies of the year by the American Film Institute. The film has also been nominated in five categories, including best picture and best supporting actor, at the Film Independent Spirit Awards set for April. TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Westmount Park Investments Inc ("Westmount Park") is excited to announce it entered into an agreement with Jack Nathan Medical Corp. (TSXV:JNH) ("Jack Nathan Health" or the "Company") to support the Company's strategic acquisition plan. Under the agreement, Westmount Park will be responsible for assessing target companies for suitability, negotiating terms, and conducting due diligence. A focused acquisitions strategy is an important aspect of Jack Nathan Health's aggressive growth, which also includes further organic growth through Walmart expansion and new stand-alone clinic opportunities. The Company's aim is to provide combined access to primary care physicians, specialists and lifestyle health care practitioners, nationally and internationally, thereby creating a holistic health care experience. Romeo DiBattista, CEO and Chairman of Westmount Park Investments stated: "Westmount Park is excited to have this opportunity to contribute to the execution of Jack Nathan Health's expansion giving patients accessible high quality health care services, both in-person and through connected technologies. Westmount Park is working synergistically with Jack Nathan's leadership team to complete targeted acquisitions with a defined value proposition for patients and shareholders alike." About Westmount Park Westmount Park is a modern family office built on a foundation of nearly 50-years of successfully owning, running, and investing in businesses across several industries. Westmount Park offers an evolution in family office structuring, while tapping into an expansive network of wealth including families of new Canadians. The company capitalizes on a strong management team and capable partners to provide a full spectrum of services to source, assess and execute on investment opportunities to enhance business value and returns. www.westmountpark.com About Jack Nathan Health Jack Nathan Medical Corp., operating as Jack Nathan Health, is one of Canada's largest health care networks. Jack Nathan Health is an innovative health care company that is improving access for millions of patients by co-locating physician and ancillary medical services conveniently located inside Walmart stores. Jack Nathan Health provides an exceptional level of patient care, made possible through patient-centric physicians, a variety of medical services, technology and programs, designed to put patients first. Our mission is to provide everyone access to the finest quality retail medical centres, with both in-clinic physicians and digital telemedicine, so you and your loved ones can "Live Your Best Life". Jack Nathan Health was established in 2006 and continues to expand its international footprint, delivering exceptional, state-of-the-art, turn-key medical centres in 76 Walmart locations across Canada including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, as well as six locations in Mexico. For more information, visit www.jacknathanhealth.com or www.sedar.com SOURCE Westmount Parks Investments Inc. Jared Leto clearly remembers the night that he won the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in 2013s Dallas Buyers Club. When it comes to what he did with his trophy, not so much. You know, I found out that it's been missing for, like three years, and I didn't know that, Leto said Tuesday on The Late Late Show With James Corden. I dont think anyone wanted to tell me. But I had moved houses in L.A. and then when we moved, it somehow just magically kind of disappeared. Leto added that he hopes the statuette is being handled with care wherever it is. I think its a possibility [that someone else has it], Leto said. Its not the sort of thing someone accidentally throws in the trash. Though it seems unlikely that a star would be separated from their Oscar, the scenario has played out many times since the Academy Awards ceremony was first held in 1929. Like Leto, Jennifer Lawrence and Matt Damon lost track of their trophies. Angelina Jolie, who won for her 1999 supporting actress turn in Girl, Interrupted, reportedly said as early as 2009 that she hadnt seen hers. Meanwhile, the late Marlon Brando didnt have either of the two Oscars he won by the time he wrote his 1994 autobiography, Songs My Mother Taught Me. He included a photo of himself holding the first, which he won at the 1955 ceremony for On the Waterfront, and wrote that it somehow ended up at a London auction house. Brando also didnt have the second, which he won for 1973s The Godfather and Sacheen Littlefeather famously rejected on his behalf. I dont know what happened to that Oscar, he wrote in his book. The Motion Picture Academy may have sent it to me, but if it did I dont know where it is now. Sacheen Littlefeather refuses Marlon Brando's best actor Oscar, in protest of the treatment of native Americans, at the 1973 Academy Awards. (Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images) A few other recipients lost their gold to theft, at least temporarily. Thats what happened to Hattie McDaniel the first Black person ever to be nominated for an Oscar after she clinched the best actress win for playing Mammy in Gone With the Wind. McDaniel donated the award to Howard University near the end of her life. (She died in 1952.) Then, in the 1960s or 70s, it vanished from the universitys fine arts center. No ones sure if its just been misplaced, because the accolade was a plaque in those days, or if it was an intentional theft, perhaps by someone unhappy with the controversial role McDaniel played as a servant. Story continues In 1989, Olympia Dukakis the previous years best supporting actress winner for Moonstruck was away from home when someone broke in and took only her Oscar. Surprisingly, the thief left the nameplate. He then tried to sell the rest of it back to her, but she ended up buying a new one from the academy for about $78 instead. Whoopi Goldberg held onto the trophy she took home for best supporting actress in 1990s Ghost for more than a decade. The problem occurred when she sent it back to the Academy for maintenance. Oddly, the box Goldberg sent arrived at its destination empty, and someone found the trophy in the trash near the location where she had mailed it. The theory was that the thief hadnt realized that each Oscar has a serial number, so it would be tough to pawn. Whoopi Goldberg holds her Oscar while posing with presenter Denzel Washington at the 1991 Academy Awards. (Photo: Time Life Pictures/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images) Then, there was that incident at the 2018 Oscars, in which Frances McDormand won her second Oscar, for her portrayal of a grieving mother in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. It went missing during the official afterparty, the Governors Ball. A man named Terry Bryant, who had a ticket to the event, was captured on video posted on social media holding it and declaring that hed won it himself. Who wants to tell me congratulations? he said. While Bryant was arrested that very night, the charge of felony theft eventually brought against him was dropped in August 2019. McDormands treasure was immediately returned to her. This years Academy Awards are scheduled for April 25, which is later than usual, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas enters 2021 as the world's ninth largest economy, proof of the success of a long-term strategy to make Texas the best place to start or relocate a business, said Robert Allen, President and CEO of the Texas Economic Development Corporation. "This is more than just a statistic," Allen said. "The fact that our state, if it were a nation, would be the world's ninth largest economy shows that Texas is well positioned to outperform economically, regardless of the challenges that may lie ahead." TxEDC is an independently funded non-profit organization in partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Tourism charged with marketing Texas as a premier business location, the cornerstone of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's economic development agenda. "While 2020 brought unique challenges, Texas continued to shine as a beacon of hope and opportunity," Abbott said. "Texas' ranking as the world's ninth largest economy is because of the hardworking men and women of the Lone Star State, our commitment to economic freedom, our state-of-the-art infrastructure and business climate. As we cultivate an environment of growth and opportunity, Texas will continue to build an even brighter future for all Texans." Since 2015, Texas has been recognized as the world's 10th largest economy ahead of Canada and South Korea and behind Brazil. Texas's economy overtook Brazil's to become the ninth largest economy in the world, according to 2019 GDP data from the International Monetary Fund. Gross Domestic Product is a measurement of the size and strength of an economy. As of 2019, the United States has a GDP of $21.4 trillion, making it the world's largest economy, followed by China, Japan and Germany, according to the IMF. Texas has a GDP of $1.9 trillion. Italy, with a GDP of $2 trillion, is in eighth place, and Brazil, with a GDP of $1.8 trillion, is 10th, according to the IMF ranking of global economies. Texas is ranked first in the nation for its growth prospects, "thanks to strong employment and income growth forecasts for the next five years," says a recent Forbes report. In 2020, Amazon, CBRE, Tesla, HP and Oracle moved to or expanded their operations in Texas, which has further bolstered the strength and size of Texas's economy. This trend is expected to continue in 2021, Allen said. "Why come to Texas from other states? Our highly competitive tax climate, world-class infrastructure, a skilled workforce of 14 million people, business-friendly economic policies and abundant quality of life," Allen said. "Texas obviously has a lot to offer. Our standing as the world's ninth largest economy and our long-term expansion shows that Texas also offers rock-solid stability to companies that want to locate here." The Texas Economic Development Corporation (TxEDC) is an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to economic development, business recruitment and job creation in the state of Texas. The public-private partnership of TxEDC and the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Tourism markets Texas as a premier business destination to let corporate decision- makers and site selection consultants know that they can Go Big in Texas. For more information about TxEDC, visit www.GoBigInTexas.com. SOURCE Texas Economic Development Corporation Related Links http://www.GoBigInTexas.com Former Acting General Secretary of the Convention People's Party (CPP), James Kwabena Bomfeh has paid tribute to the the first President of Ghana under the Fourth Republic, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings. The late former President Jerry John Rawlings went home today, January 27. He was buried at the new Military Cemetery at Burma Camp in the Greater Accra Region. The Military led a procession carrying his mortal remains to the cemetery. James Kwabena Bomfeh touted the good leadership of Mr. Rawlings citing some of his legacies to be the rural electrification in the country, major improvement and adjustments to the education system and his transition from an autocratic rule to democracy.c Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" programme, James Kwabena Bomfeh reminisced about the historic accounts of the late former President from his Military rule to constitutional government and his handing over to the next government. Kabila called on the nation to honor the late President by drawing good lessons from his death. "Let's draw good lessons from his death and also realize that death awaits all of us," he said. One significant lesson that Kabila wants to be drawn is for Ghana not to return to the unconstitutional rule. "The best tribute we can give to Mr. Rawlings is to say never again to that legacy that he overthrew a constitutionally elected government for it not to happen again. No matter how bad a constitutionally elected government may be, we should prefer that to the best Military dictatorship," he exclaimed. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video CLEVELAND, Ohio Two suspects wanted in connection with the September shooting death of a woman in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood were taken into custody Tuesday by federal agents. Jannie Pace, 26, was arrested by members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at a residence on the 12400 block of Guardian Avenue on Clevelands West Side. Toriano Williams, 28, was arrested on the 3100 block of East 135th Street. Federal authorities say Pace and Williams are suspects in the shooting death of Porscha Woods, 33. The shooting happened about 5:20 a.m. on Sept. 23 on East 140th Street, north of Union Avenue. Woods argued with another woman earlier in the night, according to police. She called 911 and reported someone was threatening her with a gun, according to police. She told 911 dispatchers that three people pulled a gun on her earlier in the night and that they were standing outside her door. The dispatcher wrote in records that arguing could be heard in the background, followed by loud noises. The line then disconnected, according to police reports. Officers arrived and found Woods apartment door kicked in and Woods dead of a gunshot to the head. More crime-related content on cleveland.com: Parma police releases footage of officer being pulled and led on high speed chase by Clevelands Mayor Frank Jacksons grandson You look like one: downtown Clevelander sues police, says he was profiled as May 30 rioter while picking up groceries North Olmsted man suspected of stealing Shop With A Cop checks Wickliffe business owners charged with bribing former Cleveland demolitions official Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. (Newser) Christina Lords has gone to bat for the newsroom staff of the Idaho Statesman before. The paper no longer has an office, making it difficult to receive and distribute personal protection equipment during the pandemic. So the editor recently drove around Boise to hand out N95 masks to employees. The staff wasn't surprised when Lords complained last week on Twitter, the Washington Post reports, that a new reporter had been denied access to Microsoft Excel by the Statesman's parent company. "Support your local newspapers, people," Lords posted. "Get a digital subscription. This is genuinely what we are up against." On Monday, McClatchy, which owns the Statesman, fired her. Lords, who held the job for two years, said she was dismissed for violating the paper's social media policy. The tweet has since been deleted. story continues below McClatchy told the Post that "the full facts of the situation are not accurately represented on social media." The reporter later did receive access to the software program, though McClatchy had dropped Microsoft Office subscriptions for new employees. Among the advocates for Lord is the Idaho News Guild, which has demanded the firing be rescinded. "We always knew she was going to fight for us if we needed anything," said a newsroom steward. "When thats what gets her fired, its a pretty chilling message to send to your employees." Another reporter said: "Thats the thing about Christina. She will advocate for her reporters." An interim editor has been named, per the Statesman, and a search is beginning for a permanent replacement. Lords was back on Twitter on Monday, per KTVB. "I'll start this day like I started Friday, and like I'll start tomorrow and the day after that: Subscribe to the Idaho Statesman," she posted, adding: "I'm a subscriber. That will never, ever change." (Read more Idaho Statesman stories.) WASHINGTON - More than three years ago, Jessica Rosenworcel could only react in horror as her Republican counterparts on the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the U.S. government's net neutrality rules. "There is no shortage of people who believe Washington is not listening to their concerns, their fears and their desires," Rosenworcel, a Democratic member of the FCC, said in a speech at the time. "Add this agency to the list." Now, Rosenworcel controls the very commission she once criticized for failing to heed the public's outcry. And her stewardship - along with Democrats' broader resurgence in Washington - has brought new, sky-high expectations that the party deliver on its past promises, restore open-Internet protections and resolve one of the most intractable policy battles in the digital age. For more than two decades, Democrats and Republicans have warred over net neutrality, the idea that Internet providers should treat all Web traffic equally. At a time when the pandemic has forced Americans to learn and work online, Democrats see the Internet as an indispensable utility and stress that in some cases, it should be regulated like one. Republicans generally balk at that approach, siding with telecom giants including AT&T, Comcast and Verizon that say they believe in the principles of Internet openness - but oppose stiff federal rules to enforce them. The fight has outlasted Democratic and Republican presidents, spawned a seemingly never-ending series of court challenges and garnered the sort of national attention that might seem unlikely in a wonky policy war. Fearful about slow speeds and other online disruptions, millions of Americans directly pleaded with the FCC to preserve its rules before the agency under President Donald Trump ultimately voted to repeal them in 2017. Reinstating those protections may prove difficult for Rosenworcel and her Democratic peers, at least at first. The FCC, with two Democrats and two Republicans, is politically deadlocked, lacking a fifth member, and Congress is otherwise distracted in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The fiercest advocates for net neutrality, however, say they plan to press the issue - and push newly powerful Democrats under President Biden to act as soon as they can. The FCC declined to comment for this story. For Democrats, net neutrality has long been counted among their signature tech policy priorities. The party's past presidential candidates, including Biden, have endorsed open-Internet rules, and Democrats' official platform in 2020 once again included a commitment to penalize "broadband providers who violate net neutrality principles." The U.S. government imposed its toughest-ever open-Internet protections under President Barack Obama, aiming to ensure that Internet providers could not block or slow down their customers' ability to access even the most data-intensive sites and services. But the rules proved short lived: Trump's election in 2016 resulted in their repeal, as the FCC under GOP Chairman Ajit Pai argued that the regulations had prevented telecom giants from investing fully in their networks. Democrats soon embarked on a wave of largely ill-fated efforts to restore the digital safeguards. Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, joined net neutrality advocates in filing a lawsuit to unwind the Republican FCC's repeal - only to have a federal court rule largely in Pai's favor. Democratic policymakers, meanwhile, set about trying to codify net neutrality protections into their states' laws nationwide. But the Trump administration sought to block these local efforts, even filing a lawsuit to stop a potent net neutrality law from taking effect in California. Federal lawmakers in Congress took small steps toward undoing Pai's work yet fared no better in crafting their own lasting solution to the fight. But the outcome of the 2020 election - sending Democrats to the White House and majorities in Congress - has injected new optimism into these long-stalled efforts. At the FCC, supporters say they have gained a powerful leader in Rosenworcel, whom Biden named as acting chairwoman last week. The president is expected to select her or another fervent net neutrality advocate to lead the agency on a permanent basis in the coming months. The process of naming that fifth member of the FCC, either a new Democratic chair or commissioner, is likely to span months - preventing Rosenworcel from forging ahead as interim leader for the time being. Advocates said that in the meantime, they plan to dial up the pressure, aiming to ensure Biden makes a pick who supports their cause and Senate Democrats act quickly to return the commission to its full strength. "It should be clear to Democrats they have absolutely no excuse to not put someone in who is a champion for Internet freedom and the public interest," said Evan Greer, the deputy director of the liberal advocacy group Fight for the Future. "We are expecting them to move on this as quickly as possible." The Biden administration could open other legal avenues for net neutrality even in the absence of a Democratic majority at the FCC. The Justice Department, for example, is expected to either withdraw its lawsuit challenging California's net neutrality protections or switch sides in the case, according to two people with knowledge of the agency's thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations with Biden's team. That could allow California to forge ahead once again on net neutrality - and perhaps inspire other states to do the same. "California is not alone," said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, which promotes open-Internet policies. "If the Biden administration pulls out, that will send a clear signal to other states we're good with this. You're still going to have to fight against the cable companies, but I think it will breathe new life into other state efforts." A dozen House Democrats earlier this month asked the Department of Justice and Biden's pick for attorney general, Merrick Garland, to pull the lawsuit. The Justice Department declined to comment. A judge is set to hold a status conference on the case next month. California's telecom regulators separately asked a federal appeals court earlier in January to throw out a critical portion of Pai's net neutrality repeal. The short petition filed by the California Public Utilities Commission said that Pai had acted in an "arbitrary, capricious" manner in the way he scrapped open-Internet protections. The state agency declined to comment on the filing. In seeking to restore tough net neutrality rules, however, the Democratic Party's leaders in Washington threaten to reopen a war with the telecom industry. AT&T, Charter, Comcast and Verizon each contend they do not block, throttle or otherwise interfere with Web traffic even in the absence of regulation. Net neutrality supporters feared a slow, patchy Web would emerge in the three years after Pai's repeal - but the industry's foremost advocates say the worst predictions never came true. "What has the last year told us? The Internet is open, and our broadband networks are strong, resilient and up to the job of providing the streaming, Zooming, telehealth and increased connectivity needs brought about by the pandemic," said Jonathan Spalter, president of the trade group USTelecom. Spalter added in a statement that policymakers should focus instead on boosting Internet access even further - and not "restart this divisive, and frankly outdated, battle" over net neutrality. There still have been scattered incidents seen as net neutrality violations in recent years - Verizon, for instance, imposed wireless data restrictions on California firefighters battling an inferno in 2018, prompting the company to later apologize. Otherwise, open-Internet supporters argue that the digital-doomsday scenarios never arrived precisely because of their continued political pressure and sustained public advocacy on the telecom industry. "They were on their best behavior because they knew any action to confirm the concerns would precipitate further action," said Ashley Boyd, the vice president for advocacy and engagement at Mozilla. She said that open-Internet advocates served as their own "watchdog" at a time when the FCC had been absent. "We need to focus on net neutrality," she added about the fight to come, "and get it secured because of how fundamental it is." Senate Chair Anca Dragu draws attention to the fact that the Holocaust is a tragedy that "did not spare" the Romanian nation and that we ought to know about in order to pay it "deserved respects." "Holocaust Remembrance Day. A tragedy that did not spare our people and that we ought to know about to pay it respects. Anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism are neither forgivable nor tolerable. We are directly responsible for making sure that such phenomena will no longer have the opportunity to manifest themselves around us," Dragu wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Metallurgical testing at Dixie to date suggest similar gold recovery process can be used at both the Dixie Limb and Hinge zones Metallurgical tests from the Dixie Limb zone recovered 88 to 97.5 % of head grade gold values from conventional cyanidation bottle roll leach tests Ltd ( ) (OTCQX:GTBAF) (FRA:0G6A) reported up to 97% gold recoveries from samples taken from its flagship Dixie project in Red Lake, Ontario. The tests confirmed the high gold recoveries with very little impact from accessory sulphides or argillite host rock that is often present in the Dixie Limb zone. Metallurgical testing at Dixie to date suggest similar gold recovery process can be used at both the Dixie Limb and Hinge zones, the Vancouver-based company told shareholders. Gold recoveries were very high for all four of the high accessory sulphide samples tested, showing similarities to Dixies Hinge zone low-sulphide samples. Gold mineralized argillite is present at the Dixie Limb zone but not in the other gold zones at Dixie, the company said. Six gold mineralized argillite samples were also tested using the same metallurgical processes applied to the Hinge zone and the high sulphide Dixie Limb zone samples, and gold recoveries in all conditions were very high, similar to non-argillite Hinge and Dixie Limb zone samples. Great Bear CEO Chris Taylor told shareholders that metallurgical tests from the Dixie Limb zone recovered 88 to 97.5 % of head grade gold values from conventional cyanidation bottle roll leach tests. These results confirm gold mineralization at the Dixie Limb yields similar very high gold recoveries to those previously reported from the Hinge zone, Taylor said in a statement. Over the coming months we will periodically release gold recovery results from representative samples originating from all of our gold zones including the LP Fault." Great Bears Dixie project hosts two principal styles of mineralization: high-grade gold in quartz veins and silica-sulphide replacement zones found in the Dixie Limb, Hinge and Arrow zones, and high-grade disseminated gold with broad moderate to lower grade envelopes in the LP Fault. The company added it will begin gravity circuit gold recovery tests on samples from all gold zones in 2021. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas A new treatment may offer hope for blood cancer patients whose disease has spread to their brains or spines. Researchers say that an intensive combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy may double the remission time for these patients. Blood cancer is a condition that affects around 40,000 people in the UK every year. The team hopes the findings could help in changing the international guidelines on how to treat patients after their cancer spreads. Blood cancer is a condition that affects around 40,000 people in the UK every year, but now a new study may offer hope for patients whose cancer has spread to their brain or spine HOW CAN CANCER SPREAD THROUGH THE BLOOD? Cancerous tumours are made up of living cells which multiply uncontrollably. While most of these new, dangerous, cells stick to the original tumour, some are released and can travel round the body through the bloodstream. Moving cancer cells can, if they survive the journey, become lodged in another part of the body and start one of their own tumours called a satellite tumour. These metastatic tumours are typically the most dangerous and form secondary cancers which are harder and sometimes impossible to cure. However, only a few of the thousands of moving cancer cells in the blood will survive. They can be destroyed by the immune system or smashed up by other blood cells. But some may be able to stick to platelets clotting ingredients to form clumps which, if stuck in the blood vessel, might buy time for the cancer cell to travel out of the blood and into the body. Scientists are looking into ways of measuring circulating cancer cells as a way of testing different types of cancer and working out which treatments might work best. Source: Cancer Research UK Advertisement In a study part-funded by Cancer Research UK, researchers have found the treatment regime was more effective in patients who had lymphoma a type of blood cancer where the disease had already spread when first diagnosed. This was when compared with those who had previously been treated for lymphoma and the disease had spread after their cancer had returned. The researchers said their findings, published in the journal Lancet Haematology, could help in changing the international guidelines on how to treat patients after their lymphoma spreads to their brain or spine, known as secondary central nervous system lymphoma. While secondary central nervous system lymphoma is rare, it can potentially be lethal. A team of researchers led by Dr Kate Cwynarski from University College London Hospital in the UK, and Professor Andres Ferreri in Milan, Italy, assessed 75 patients across four countries. Known as the Marietta study, it is thought to be the largest clinical trial ever to look at secondary central nervous system lymphoma. Patients on the trial received a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs in treatment regimens, known as Matrix and Rice. It included three courses of Matrix followed by three courses of Rice, before a stem cell transplant using cells taken from the patients themselves. Of the 75 patients assessed, 32 were initially diagnosed when their lymphoma had already spread to their brain or spine and had not received treatment, and 43 had previously been treated for lymphoma and the disease had spread after their cancer came back. The researchers said the intensive Matrix/Rice treatment prevented the cancer from worsening in 42 (58%) of the patients for at least a year after registering to take part in the trial. Researchers say that an intensive combination treatment of chemotherapy and immunotherapy may double the remission time for these patients (stock image) Patients whose lymphoma had spread to the brain or spine when first diagnosed were found to respond to the combination treatment far better than those who had been treated for lymphoma already. In those patients, two-year progression-free survival was reported to be 71%, which, the researchers said, has never been achieved before. They said the results are 'extremely impressive' because they are similar to those who have lymphoma that has not spread to the brain or spine. According to the researchers, their findings suggest the Matrix/Rice treatment could 'dramatically improve survival for patients with secondary central nervous system lymphoma'. Dr Cwynarski said: 'The Marietta trial has meant patients who may have had just months to live are alive and living well years after being diagnosed. 'It is incredible to be able to sign DVLA forms for many of my patients treated with this approach, as you can't drive until you have been clear of treatment for two years and are well, which really brought home the impact this study has had.' Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Suburban street life gets tougher when even pets succumb to the ubiquitous drug trade. Here's the latest update on the fate of this stoner mutt . . . Nancy Pelosi's laptop which was stolen during the Capitol siege has not yet been recovered, a lawyer has revealed. Prosecutors say Speaker Pelosi's HP computer was lifted from her office by 22-year-old Trump fan Riley Williams during the deadly riot on January 6. But Williams' lawyer said Tuesday that searches of her client's home and car in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had not yielded the laptop. It was Williams' ex-boyfriend who alerted the FBI that there was footage of her stealing the device. He claimed Williams tried to flog it to Russian spies. Riley Williams, 22, in a brown trench coat and glasses, was seen inside the Capitol on January 6 Williams has been out on bail since Thursday and is confined to her mother's apartment Prosecutors have published this still from a video which they believe was taken from Williams' phone She 'intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia, who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia's foreign intelligence service,' court papers said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky said during a hearing in Washington yesterday that she was reluctant to say more about what she described as an ongoing and fluid investigation. 'I'm very uncomfortable discussing the facts of the case at this stage,' Sedky said. 'I'm concerned that talking about what we do and don't know and what we're running down could jeopardize the investigation.' Williams was arrested last Monday Williams is on house arrest and wearing an electronic tag while she awaits trial for aiding and abetting theft, along with obstruction, trespassing and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Sedky told the judge there is evidence Williams has directed others to delete data after the attack. U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui restricted Williams' internet access while she awaits trial. Her lawyers say the ex-boyfriend's claims about Williams hoping to sell the laptop to Russian intelligence are overstated. Williams was arrested in Pennsylvania last Monday. The care worker had traveled to the Trump rally with her father from. Williams became separated from her father and the pair didn't reunite until the evening for the journey home. Documents filed by the prosecution include a screenshot of a four-second video found on a cell phone, which they obtained last week. In the clip, prosecutors say, the person holding the cell phone camera is standing, angling the camera down toward a wooden desk with an HP laptop. Prosecutors believe Williams is holding the phone. The FBI special agent investigating Williams' case said that the voiceover for the clip matched that of Williams, as seen in footage from Britain's ITV News. The agent stated: 'A female voice that I believe to be WILLIAMS' based on my review of the ITV YouTube video described above can be heard saying, 'Dude, put on gloves.' Williams, seen leaving the Dauphin County Prison on Thursday with attorney Bryan McQuillan, allegedly wanted to sell Pelosi's laptop to the Russians Investigators with the FBI said that Williams was clearly identifiable at the riots on January 6 'Next, what appears to be a man's arm then reaches toward the laptop, with a black glove covering his hand, and begins to lift the laptop off the table. 'There is text across the video clip that reads: 'they got the laptop.'' Messages which prosecutors say were from Williams read: 'I stole s*** from Nancy Polesi (sic).' Another read: 'I domt care I took Nancy Polesis hard drives I dont care kill me.' Pelosi's deputy chief of staff, Drew Hammill, tweeted two days after the attack that a laptop stolen was from a conference room that was used for presentations. In video footage captured by ITV, Williams can be seen inside the Capitol, wearing a green T-shirt and brown trench coat, holding a zebra-print bag In the clip she is heard repeatedly yelling: 'Upstairs, upstairs, upstairs,' and can be seen physically directing other intruders to proceed up a staircase. She had traveled to Washington DC with her father from her Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, home Williams became increasingly supportive of Trump and posed with a rifle on social media The staircase in question leads to the office of Pelosi, the FBI said. Her mother told police that she recognized her daughter in the video footage inside the Capitol and that her daughter had recently taken a sudden interest in Trump's politics and 'far-right message boards.' Prior to her capture, the FBI said that Williams has changed her phone number and deleted her accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Telegram and Parler. She then ran away from home. Jan 27, 1981 School director Genova fatally shot in parking lot Scranton School Director Thomas Genova died Jan. 26 after being fatally shot in the back after getting out of his car in the Scranton School District Administration Building parking lot. Genova, a father of four, was ambushed as he was arriving for the bi-monthly school board meeting that was taking place inside the administration building. Reading supervisor Michael Sheridan discovered Genova and rushed to the meeting room and called for district Superintendent Peter Flynn to leave the meeting. Down in the parking lot, school nurse Eleanor Walsh tended to Genova with assistance from Joan Roskos and student Billy King. Fellow school Director Hazel Price held a flashlight for the group helping Genova. Genova was taken to Scranton State General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. Dr. Edward Gombar, a member of the hospital staff, announced Genova died at 10:40 p.m. Hours after the shooting, Scranton Police Deputy Chief Frank Karam confirmed the department asked for assistance from the state police and the FBI because of the nature of the crime. Karam said the investigation would be intensive and police had already started conducting interviews with witnesses at the scene and friends and associates of Genova. Scranton Police Superintendent Paul Durkin said everyone inside the administration building and who were in the area of the building wou;d be interviewed. Genova, who was an independent refuse contractor, was elected to the school board in November 1975 to a six-year term. Genova left behind his wife, the former Mary Lou DAmico; three daughters, Jill, Lori and Maria and a son, Thomas Jr.; his mother, Mary; three brothers, Joseph and Philip Genova, Nazzareno Singaliese; three sisters, Mrs. Lillian Martin, Mrs. Susie Burti and Mrs. Mary Sharr. Brian Fulton, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribunes expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140. Agencies can leverage Oracle Cloud Marketplace to quickly find and deploy new applications in the cloud to improve operations and better serve constituents AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oracle Cloud Marketplace is now available for U.S. government customers, empowering agencies to fully automate the deployment of certified solutions directly on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Government customers can now easily deploy applications from a growing library of Oracle and third-party independent software vendors (ISVs) to help support their organizational goals and serve the needs of constituents. Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a centralized repository of enterprise applications available in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Government Cloud. Customers looking to move or extend workloads from on-premises to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure can easily discover and deploy solutions offered in Oracle Cloud Marketplace. Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a one-stop shop for Oracle customers seeking trusted business applications offering unique business solutions, including those that extend Oracle Cloud Applications. Customers can connect and extend their data center network, as well as protect their workloads beyond Oracle Cloud native security options, without requiring significant configuration, integration, or business process changes. "Government customers rely on Oracle Cloud to run application workloads in highly available hosted environments," said Scott Twaddle, vice president, regulated markets, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. "The availability of Oracle Cloud Marketplace allows government customers to automate the provisioning of Oracle applications and databases as well as third-party software. This simplifies migrations from on-premises environments to the cloud, dramatically reducing deployment times to hours, instead of days or weeks." Oracle Cloud Marketplace has obtained authorization from the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the government program that sets the standard for assessing, authorizing, and monitoring cloud systems' security. The certification assures government customers that Oracle Cloud Marketplace meets the highest standards of security and compliance. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure has also achieved FedRAMP JAB P-ATO Accreditation for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Compute Service, Object Storage Service, Block Storage Service, Database Cloud Service, Exadata Cloud Service, Key Management Service, Virtual Cloud Networks, FastConnect, Load Balancing as a Service, Identity and Access Management, and Auditing. What Oracle PartnerNetwork members are saying about Oracle Cloud Marketplace "More and more state and local governments are shifting their critical production workloads to cloud platforms like Oracle. Those same entities are turning to Fortinet to help protect their applications and data in the Oracle Cloud, further enhancing the cloud native security provided by Oracle's platform," said Jim Richberg, public sector field CISO, Fortinet. "Our expansion with Oracle Cloud Marketplace allows government customers to fully automate the deployment of multilayer security for their cloud-based applications." "Check Point is thrilled to bring over 25 years of prevention experience to Oracle Cloud Marketplace customers, providing critical building blocks to achieve the highest levels of federal cybersecurity hygiene and TCO," said Erez Yarkoni, VP WW Sales, Telco and Cloud, Check Point Software Technologies. "With evolving cyber threats facing the public sector, agencies can depend on Check Point to meet their federal security needs." "CIS is pleased to expand upon our partnership with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and now offer CIS Hardened Images in Oracle Government Cloud Marketplace regions. CIS Hardened Images are a key component to help meet compliance with industry standards such as FedRAMP, DoD Cloud Computing SRG, and DISA STIGs," said Curtis Dukes, CIS Executive Vice President & General Manager, Security Best Practices. "CIS Hardened Images, built to CIS Benchmark recommendations, provide pre-configured security to help government entities meet a portion of these requirements and establish a valuable baseline for compliance." "Government entities around the globe rely on RackWare solutions for business continuity. RackWare provides DR capability with push-button testing that reduces time and labor costs by 80%," said Bryan Gobbett, CEO, RackWare. "Maintaining business continuity and ensuring IT resiliency is increasingly a top priority for Government IT leaders today. RackWare is proud to offer our solutions on Oracle Cloud Marketplace." "Our customers in both the public and private sector are combining human ingenuity, intelligent automation in the cloud, and systems to solve complex challenges and opportunities on a large scale," said Bruce Mazza, vice president, Technology Alliance Program, Blue Prism. "Our expanded relationship with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and our new government marketplace listing extends Blue Prism on Oracle cloud to government and public sector agencies with a proven, enterprise-grade intelligent automation solution that can easily scale to meet demand, quickly migrate data between applications, and add AI and related technologies from our Digital Exchange to any process." Additional Resources Oracle Cloud is an enterprise cloud that delivers massive, non-variable performance and next generation security across a comprehensive portfolio of services including SaaS, application development, application hosting, and business analytics. Customers get access to leading compute, storage, data management, security, integration, HPC, artificial intelligence (AI), and Blockchain services to augment and modernize their critical workloads. Oracle Cloud runs Oracle Autonomous Database, the industry's first and only self-driving database. To learn more about Oracle Cloud, click here. To learn more about the availability and benefits of Oracle Cloud Marketplace, click here. About Oracle Oracle offers suites of integrated applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at oracle.com. Trademarks Oracle and Java are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. SOURCE Oracle Related Links www.oracle.com Education New Zealand (ENZ) and New Zealand Consulate-General on January 26 presented the Global Competence Certificate (GCC) to 25 Vietnamese students from the IGC Groups schools. This initiative is led by ENZ in cooperation with various partners in New Zealand and Vietnam, aiming at equipping young people with skills for the future while strengthening educational ties between the two countries, despite the distance and travel limitations caused by the pandemic. In 2018, New Zealand launched the 2018-2030 International Education Strategy that sets out developing global citizens as one of the three overarching goals. Not only focuses on developing skills for local and international students in New Zealand, the government and New Zealand institutions are also making efforts to promote knowledge and cultural exchange between future global citizens from New Zealand and other countries. Accordingly, ENZ has offered scholarships to 25 outstanding Vietnamese students in grade 9 and 10 to participate in the Global Competence Certificate (GCC) a credible online program provided by AFS - a global not-for-profit network. Scholarship winners were selected based on their academic performance and English proficiency level (above IELTS 5.0), passion for researching global issues and exploring different cultures, and interest in participating in knowledge exchange and self-development activities. This program is designed as a four-week online course, including 18 self-learning online modules, in various formats such as quizzes, animated videos, assignments, interactive games, and 4 interactive discussion sessions between Vietnamese and New Zealand students instructed by facilitators from Massey University and supported by local teachers. Through this, 25 Vietnamese students and 26 New Zealand students from 5 Manawatu schools studied together and formed strong connections amidst the international travel restrictions. Structured around four main themes including Self-Awareness, Awareness about others, Emotional Intelligence and Bridges to others, the GCC has opened up a new horizon for the learners, assisting them to grow a set of skills that New Zealand education targets - that is, an openminded-mindset, the ability to embrace change and think outside the box, critical thinking, and readiness to solve difficult life problems. Ms. Karlene Davis, the New Zealand Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City highly said: These 25 students are the first group of students in Vietnam being awarded scholarships to join the GCC course with our students in New Zealand." "Our New Zealand teachers and students have sincerely complimented them all and expressed their hope to meet them personally one day. When it is safe to travel internationally, I hope we can run this kind of skills-for-the-future programme on site with Vietnamese students visiting New Zealand and vice versa. We need global citizens so that we can tackle global issues of the 21st century, such as sustainability, globalization and climate change. New Zealand and Vietnam have had a long-term partnership in education, starting with the Colombo Plan in 1960. Throughout the 45 years of bilateral collaboration, the two countries have achieved noticeable milestones, particularly: the Collaboration Arrangement signed between ENZ and the Ho Chi Minh City DOET (January 2019), and the Hanoi DOET (October 2019), as well as the Renewed Strategic Engagement Plan with Viet Nams Ministry of Education and Training signed on July 2020. For the past few years, New Zealands education system has been ranked first among English-speaking countries and third in the world for delivering a future-focused education, according to the Worldwide Educating for the Future Index by Economic Intelligence Unit. New Zealand has become a preferred study abroad destination for international students including Vietnam. Until the end of 2019, there were 3,040 Vietnamese students in New Zealand, an increase of 10 per cent compared to the previous year, with 28 per cent students studying in schools and 35 per cent in universities. Mai Lan New Zealand media: Vietnam - the time has come Vietnam has started to emerge as the latest Asian nation with a strengthening position in the region, and a future high potential for economic growth, Mumbai: Yes Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor on Wednesday (January 27) was remanded to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody till January 30. The Central probe agency has arrested Kapoor in a fresh money laundering case of over Rs 200 crore. The 63-year-old Kapoor is in jail under judicial custody since March last year after being arrested by the ED in a case pertaining to sanctioning loans to certain firms allegedly against kickbacks. The ED sought his custody after formally placing him under arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday in the new case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Notably, the fresh case has been registered against Rana is in relation to Mauritius-based joint venture company Macstar, a sister concern of HDIL (Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd). Live TV The Central probe agency told the special PMLA court that HDIL promoters, Sarang and Rakesh Wadhawan, who had a minority stake in Macstar, mortgaged property of the company and obtained a loan of Rs 203 crore from Yes Bank. According to ED counsel Hiten Venegaokar, after the loan was sanctioned and credited into the account of Macstar, it was siphoned off and transferred into the HDIL account. The amount was later used for payment of certain loans which the Wadhawan had taken from Yes Bank, Venegaokar told the court. Accepting ED submissions, special court judge A A Nandgaonkar remanded Kapoor in the central agency's custody till January 30. This is the second time Kapoor has been arrested in less than 10 months. HDIL's Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, who are also prime accused in the PMC Bank scam, held a stake in Mack Star which is under the ED scanner for Rs 200 crore loan given by Yes Bank for renovating its premises. In that case, with its tentacles spreading to the Viva Group of Palghar, the ED had arrested Mehul Thakur and another director Madan Chaturvedi, who are also in its custody till January 30. In previous cases, among other things, the central probe agency is investigating Rs 600 crore received by a company allegedly controlled by Kapoor, his wife, and three daughters from an entity linked to the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL). Kapoor and his family members allegedly got benefits worth Rs 4,300 crore through the companies controlled by them as kickbacks for sanctioning huge loans, the ED has alleged. Kapoor is also accused of receiving bribes for going easy on the recovery of loans given to some big corporate groups, which had turned into non-performing assets (NPAs), when he headed the lender. The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected his bail plea. (With Agency Inputs) (Natural News) In addition to making his first moves to destroy American energy independence by canceling pipelines and safe drilling on federal (taxpayer) lands, President Joe Biden also demonstrated he is intent on making our country less safe. Late last week following a report from Fox News Tucker Carlson that the Biden regime had ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel to release thousands of illegal aliens in their custody the vast majority of them criminals for reasons other than sneaking into our country the state of Texas filed suit in federal court to have the insidious and dangerous order stopped. Texas sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday after the agency issued a memo that ordered immigration agencies to stop most deportations, The Daily Caller reported, citing pushback from state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who called the outrageous order unconstitutional. Specifically, Paxton said that the order, which amounted to a 100-day moratorium on all deportations, was in violation of a mutually beneficial agreement in which the Department of Homeland Security is required to give Texas a 180-day advance notification of major policy changes that affect enforcement actions. The Epoch Times adds: U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 26, blocking Bidens policy nationwide for 14 days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged it in court. The order is a setback to the Biden administration, which has proposed far-reaching changes, including a plan to legalize about 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States illegally. Last week, the administration also issued an order that halts all U.S.Mexico border wall construction. Paxton took to Twitter to tout the ruling. VICTORY. Texas is the FIRST state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden Admin. AND WE WON. Within 6 days of Bidens inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze. *This* was a seditious left-wing insurrection. And my team and I stopped it. Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) January 26, 2021 VICTORY. Texas is the FIRST state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden Admin. AND WE WON, Paxton wrote. Within 6 days of Bidens inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze. *This* was a seditious left-wing insurrection. And my team and I stopped it. (Related: Biden gets right to work dismantling the Trump legacy using executive orders to destroy the economy, reopen borders and make America weak again.) The legal action came after David Pekoske, acting Homeland Security secretary, fired off a memorandum saying that the deportation freeze would give DHS time to ensure that its resources are dedicated to responding to the most pressing challenges that the United States faces. Included were the immediate operational challenges at the southwest border in the midst of the most serious global public health crisis in a century. Then, in typical Democrat Orwellian fashion, Pekoske added: Throughout this interim period, DHS will continue to enforce our immigration laws. Yes, except those requiring the deportation of people in our country illegally. Stephen Miller, a former policy adviser to President Trump, told Fox News Tucker Carlson Monday night just how extensive the Biden regimes order really is. This is the most extreme directive, I would argue, really in the history of modern law enforcement that has ever been issued, he said. Acting Secretary [David] Pekoske issued a memorandum on the evening of January 20th, the day of the inauguration, putting into place a 100-day deportation moratorium. Theres very narrow exceptions in that memorandum that would apply to only a handful of people in a given year. It would be terrorists and spies, really extraordinary cases. Continuing, Miller noted that of the 180,000 people removed from the U.S. last year, 92 percent of them were criminals beyond just illegally sneaking into the country. What it means Tucker, is that the work of ICE officers will grind to a halt beginning February 1st. Why February 1st? Because that is the date by which ICE has to come up with implementing guidance for the memo, Miller continued. And so, every sheriffs office, every police department, every correctional facility in the country, that for years has been handing over illegal aliens to ICE to pick them up and take them home, which is the bread and butter of ICEs work; all of those people will not get picked up anymore, he said. The order has been halted for now. Bidens regime will appeal. And then, maybe, the case will get to the Supreme Court that Donald Trump built. See more reporting like this at InvasionUSA.news. Sources include: PJMedia.com TheEpochTimes.com OpenBorders.news COLUMBIA South Carolinas ninth largest school district will no longer cut its livestream feed during the public comment section of meetings, reversing a longstanding policy that was brought to light by The Post and Courier. Richland One board chairman Aaron Bishop said Tuesday all speakers will be granted three minutes to have their remarks read into the record, with responses presented to them by district officials within 10 days. The board urges and cordially invites all persons to participate through established procedures, Bishop read from a prepared statement ahead of comments from five people being accepted. The board is committed to compliance with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, as well as other federal and state laws pertaining to board policy. For years, the 24,000-student district has excised from its recorded and live-streamed meetings the public participation period, despite being part of the open session. The Post and Courier reported on the issue twice since December, and members of the South Carolina Press Association said such a practice runs afoul of the states public records law. Commissioner Cheryl Harris reminded colleagues that the board isnt obligated to take public input during meetings, which is true. Our constituents have the opportunity to approach us at any given time, whether it's a phone call, whether it's an email. I don't believe there is a law out there that mandates that public comments should be viewed publicly, Harris said. But experts disagree with her when it comes to blacking out portions of a public meeting. Its the district breaking the law and hurting their public image, state Press Association President Bill Rogers said in December. Thats an important part of the meeting that should be open. These are tough times, but the public has a right to hear these meetings in their entirety. Richland Ones stance deviates from other major capital region school districts, including Richland Two and Lexington-Richland 5, where public comments are aired as part of their broadcasts. Both have also been slammed by residents in recent weeks over COVID-19 reentry policies in footage carried live. Richland One officials temporarily suspended the inclusion of public comment as part of their meetings beginning in March, when they stared being conducted virtually, but added the portion back in October. That followed a recommendation by the state association of school boards to limit public participation so long as social distancing guidelines are in place. Frank Goad Clement, at the age of 10, allegedly made the statement to his Dickson classmates that he would sometime lead the State of Tennessee. Another version recently related by one of his three sons, former Congressman Bob Clement, was that at 16 years old, he told his friends that Im going to be governor of Tennessee. At the young age of 32 in 1957 he fulfilled that boast by becoming the youngest governor in the state which earned him the title in some circles as the Boy Wonder Governor. Clement would have to be the last of the great orators in politics in our state as the 30-second television commercials can send a political message to many more listeners than those who attend a courthouse speech in the hot sun. Frank Goad Clement was born on June 2, 1920 in Room #5 in the Hotel Halbrook in Dickson, Tennessee. Said hotel was built in 1913, and is one of the few remaining examples of a railroad hotel in a small Tennessee town. It functioned as a hotel for railroad workers and travelers until 1954. His father, Robert Clement, a local attorney and politician, and his mother, Maybell Goad Clement, rented and operated the hotel. One of the individuals who probably had the greatest impact on young Frank was his Aunt Dockie Weems who was a speech leader and taught the future governor many of his rhetorical skills. It was those skills in the pre-television era that allowed him to develop into one of the most effective speakers in the country. A combination of his exceptional speaking ability, passion for politics and his desire for helping people of all races, religions or creeds helped get him elected to Tennessees highest office in 1952. Frank Clement's political and personal life has been portrayed by Dr. Lee S. Smiths biography of the Dickson native in Frank Clement, Lead Me On, published by the University of Tennessee Press in 1982. The high point or low point of his oratory career depends upon who you speak to about his keynote speech at the Democratic Convention in 1956. He is best remembered for his repeated use of the phrase How long, Oh Lord how long? in criticism of the Eisenhower- Nixon administration but was not the success Clement had hoped for and probably eliminated any chance he might have had for being selected as the vice president running mate of Adlai Stevenson. Other sources say that the oft repeated phrase was How long, America O how long? Supporters of Frank Clement point to his creation of the Department of Mental Health, free textbooks for students, an ambitious road building program, his stand as the first governor in the South to veto a segregation bill passed by the legislature and who sent in National Guard troops to protect the 12 black students chosen to integrate Clinton High School as the major accomplishments while in public office. His various wins and losses in politics are well documented in the history of Tennessee. In addition, the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville contain the gubernatorial papers of his first two terms as Governor in 1953-1959, a two-year term in 1954-1955 and the first four year term in 1956-1959. The collection which can be viewed by the public is contained in 321 boxes of materials that consist of correspondence, subject files, extraditions and renditions, speeches, financial records, clippings, photographs, scrapbooks and press releases. The Clement Railroad Museum housed in the Hotel Halbrook State Historic Site in Dickson, Tennessee opened on June 2, 2009 and it is owned by the State of Tennessee. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On the first floor the Clement family rooms are furnished to represent the early 1920s when they occupied the managerial suite of rooms. The room in which Frank was born is furnished with several pieces of the Clements family furniture. Occupying the second floor of the museum is the story of Franks personal and political career including the 1952, 1954 and 1962 gubernatorial elections. Another interesting exhibit at the museum is a history of railroading in the area that includes many artifacts including original equipment and exhibits pertaining to the railroad and Clement family. A permanent accurate display of model trains, landscaping and buildings created by the Dickson Model Railroad club is maintained by volunteer engineers and the facility recreates the history of railroading in the Dickson Railyard during the 1920s and 1930s. Frank Clement died in an automobile accident on November 4, 1969 in Nashville at the age of 49. His political career was at a twilight at this time. He accomplished much for the citizens of Tennessee during that period of time. His premature death foreclosed the question of whether he could resurrect his political career for a last hurrah. A trip to the Clement Railroad Hotel Museum in Dickson gives the public a chance to observe further the life of the proverbial Boy Wonder and museum bearing his family name. * * * Jerry Summers (If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com) (Newser) A school resource officer seen slamming a female high school student to the ground so forcefully that she appears to lose consciousness will be investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the local sheriff says. In a video circulated on social media, the deputy can been seen body-slamming the Black student onto a concrete walkway at Liberty High School in Kissimmee, CBS reports. As other students cry out, he then handcuffs the motionless student. Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez said Wednesday that Deputy Ethan Fournier will be placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, per the AP. He said Fournier has no record of misconduct other than "minor damage to property." story continues below There will be "zero tolerance of any type of police misconduct," said the sheriff. He said his office has decided to pass the case on to state investigators in the interest of "utmost trust," the Orlando Sentinel reports. "We remove this burden off us and pass it on to a higher authority to ensure that no one can say that were looking out for our own," Lopez said. He said he has contacted the student's family and "the juvenile is fine." In a news release, the sheriff's office said the officer had been "in the process of trying to stop the student from fighting another student in the hallway when the deputy took her into custody." The Central Florida Jobs with Justice advocacy group called for the sheriff's office to ban Fournier from working as a school resource officer again and to reassign all SROs with a history of complaints. (Read more Florida stories.) Cui Tiankai: China hopes new U.S. govt will show rationality, sincerity on bilateral ties Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, addresses the 15th anniversary and Chinese Lunar New Year gala of China General Chamber of Commerce-U.S.A. in New York, the United States, Jan. 8, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) China hopes that the new U.S. administration can show not only patience but also rationality and sincerity on Sino-U.S. relations, said Cui Tiankai, Chinese ambassador to the U.S., on Tuesday. Cui made the remarks during a China Media Group interview about White House spokesperson Jen Psaki's remarks on U.S. relations with China. U.S. President Joe Biden wants to approach relations with Beijing with "strategic patience," Psaki said on Monday. China hopes the U.S. can review and rethink its China policy in recent years and find a positive and realistic way to treat Sino-U.S. relations, Cui said. The ambassador also called on the U.S. to understand China and the bilateral ties objectively, with "patience." On the trade friction between the two countries, Cui reiterated that, as two major economies, China and the U.S. shoulder responsibilities on global economic development. Cui expressed his belief that the two countries can cooperate through consultations and negotiations. In a congratulatory tweet to President Joe Biden on Thursday, Cui said China looks forward to working with the Biden administration. "Congratulations to President Biden on his inauguration! China looks forward to working with the new administration to promote sound & steady development of China-U.S. relations and jointly address global challenges in public health, climate change & growth," Cui tweeted. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Gunnel Lindblom, a Swedish actress who worked with Ingmar Bergman in his early classic films and on decades of stage productions, died on Sunday in Brottby, Sweden, a small community north of Stockholm. She was 89. The death was announced by her family. In The Seventh Seal (1957), Bergmans portrait of a knight (played by Max von Sydow) returning from the Crusades to find his village devastated by plague, Ms. Lindblom was an unnamed mute girl. At the films end, her character finally speaks, announcing biblically, It is finished. In Wild Strawberries (1957), about an elderly professor reflecting on life and loneliness, she was the mans beautiful and kind sister in turn-of-the-century flashbacks. In The Virgin Spring (1960), Bergmans tale of Christianity and revenge in medieval Sweden, Ms. Lindblom was a young, sullen, accidentally pregnant, Odin-worshiping servant girl of a wealthy landowner (also played by Mr. von Sydow). She witnesses the rape and brutal murder of his daughter, her spoiled but naive teenage mistress. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The police union is demanding the Victorian government dramatically cut the number of officers working at border checkpoints after police stations were forced to close over the weekend due to widespread staffing shortages. Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt said the sheer number of officers deployed to the coronavirus response had led to sporadic closures of stations. He said police could be better used fighting crime now that cases of coronavirus had plummeted. The strain on police resources was amplified in recent days, with more than 1600 police officers remaining split between border checkpoints and hotel quarantine, and about another 800 deployed to Invasion Day rallies on Tuesday. Victorian Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt. Credit:Paul Rovere Five superintendents, 23 inspectors, 41 senior sergeants, 36 sergeants and 610 other officers were deployed to the Australia Day demonstrations. Two policemen were killed and at least five other people wounded as four separate bombs exploded in Kabul on Wednesday, police said, continuing a recent streak of attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Two policemen were killed and at least five other people wounded as four separate bombs exploded in Kabul on Wednesday, police said, continuing a recent streak of attacks in the Afghan capital. In recent months, Kabul has been plagued by "sticky bombs" -- explosives attached to vehicles that usually go off in morning rush hour traffic. The two officers were killed by one such bomb in an eastern district of the city, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz told reporters. Two other policemen were wounded in a separate morning attack when a bomb attached to their vehicle blew up in the city's north. Later in the evening two more bombs exploded, including one attached to a civilian vehicle that wounded three passengers, Faramarz said. The fourth bomb, placed in a flower pot on a pavement in central Kabul, did not cause any casualties. No group had claimed responsibility for the attacks on Wednesday. Kabul has also recently seen a string of targeted killings of prominent Afghans, including journalists, activists, judges and politicians. Afghan officials have blamed the Taliban for the murders, though the militant group has denied they are responsible. Violence has surged across Afghanistan despite peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government that began in September in the Qatari capital, aimed at ending the long running conflict between the two sides. The talks have so far failed to achieve any major breakthrough. With the State Ports Authority forecast to earn $100 million this fiscal year, why are none of those dollars being used to build road and bridge infrastructure needed to transport containers in and out of the area? Anyone traveling along Interstate 526 is aware of the need for an additional truck lane, road and bridge improvements as well as additional resources to enforce speed and reckless driving laws. GENEVIEVE NARDOZZI Moss Bluff Mount Pleasant IOP parking costs I am responding to a Jan. 22 letter to the editor about free parking on the Isle of Palms. I, too, am a Lowcountry native who has been blessed with being able to afford a home on the Isle of Palms. I dont know anyone on IOP who wants a private beach. We simply want everyone who comes here to contribute to the cleanup, law enforcement and other affiliated costs that are incurred from nonresidents when they come to use the public beach. MICHAEL SHEPARD 27th Avenue Isle of Palms Better way to help Want to make life better for unskilled workers? Raising the minimum wage will not help. Many people, including a Jan. 22 letter writer, assume the number of unskilled worker jobs is fixed. It is not. Instead, employers figure out how many unskilled workers they need based on worker cost. The higher the wage, the more attractive labor substitutes become. Labor-saving machines are just one example of a substitute for unskilled workers. It is the relative cost of those machines, compared to the cost of workers, that determines how many unskilled jobs are available. Raising the minimum wage causes the demand curve for labor saving machines to increase. As a result, the number of jobs available for unskilled workers falls. The promise of $15 an hour is little comfort to the unskilled worker who is laid off, cant find work and has little hope of gaining job experience. Do you want to truly help unskilled workers? The best way to do it is to make them more attractive to employers. Job training and reliable transportation to and from work seem like good ideas. Im sure there are others. With job skills, work experience and initiative, these workers can quickly earn above the minimum wage. I dont doubt the good intentions of those calling for a raise in the minimum wage. But good intentions are not enough. ARNOLD HITE Seaboard Way Johns Island Early education Sign up for our opinion newsletter Get a weekly recap of South Carolina opinion and analysis from The Post and Courier in your inbox on Monday evenings. Email Sign Up! My daughter and I own an early learning center serving young children and their families. Centers like ours provide so much more than just child care: We are building young minds and nurturing young hearts for a lifetime of learning. Being a retired public school principal, I understand the crucial importance of the first five years of life in setting up each child to fail or succeed. As our state lawmakers work through their legislative session, I remind them that investments in early care and education pay incredible dividends in both economic and humanitarian value. As we seek to rebuild families and communities after the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Henry McMaster has called for an expanded investment in publicly funded 4-year-old kindergarten making 4K available for all low-income children in South Carolina regardless of where they live. As a volunteer advocate with Save the Children Action Network, I ask the public to join me in urging our legislators to support the governors budget request so that we can get our children ready for school, allow parents to get back to work and rebuild our workforce and economy. Lets move forward together building back stronger than before. MICHELLE A. GREEN Whippoorwill Road Orangeburg Stop cancel culture Help me understand something. Gen. Robert E. Lees statue was removed from Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol, but the hymn Amazing Grace, written by John Newton, a former slave trader, was sung at President Joe Bidens inauguration ceremony. In our nations popular cancel culture, perhaps we should recognize that we would all be canceled if the truth be known. MARTHA VETTER Phillips Park Drive Mount Pleasant Take care of eyesore When I recently drove past a vacant business at 7575 Rivers Ave., I was shocked at the eyesore that is in plain sight. The business has been shut down at least since April. There was much trash accumulating in the parking lot. I wonder if the North Charleston City Council cares about these eyesores that are so noticeable to visitors. I do care about things like this, but its out of my hands to solve. DENNIS COMPTON Filly Court North Charleston Where are shots? According to a Jan. 25 Post and Courier article, DHEC reports that half the total vaccinations the state received have been administered. About three-fourths of the supply of Pfizer shots and only one-quarter of the Moderna shots are in peoples arms. Where are the rest? MARY COY Marsh Flower Lane Charleston Ely Gold Retains 3% NSR with 100% Option to Navy Resources Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Ely Gold Royalties Inc. (TSXV: ELY) (OTCQX: ELYGF) (FSE: I4U) ("Ely Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nevada Select Royalty Inc ("Nevada Select"), it has entered into an option agreement (the "Agreement") with Navy Resources ("Navy"), whereby Navy will have the option to purchase 100% of the Spanish Moon Project ("Spanish Moon" or the "Property") with Ely Gold retaining a 3% Net Smelter Royalty ("NSR"). The Spanish Moon Project is located approximately 13 km SE of the active Round Mountain mine that has produced over 15 million ounces of gold (see Figure 1). Closing of the Agreement (the "Effective Date") is subject to final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). The Property Spanish Moon is in Nye County, Nevada and includes seventy (70) unpatented mining claims (the "Nevada Select Claims") which are approximately 97 km north-northeast of the town of Tonopah, Nevada and thus has proximal infrastructure and is easily accessible, being withhin 1.5 hours drive to Tonopah. The Nevada Select Claims are situated between two intrusions that provide the heat, structural preparation and fluid flow required for Carlin-type deposits. The later emplaced calderas in the area can provide the additional heat and fluids in preferred host rock, which are delineated as silty limestone across the property package, capable of producing large Carlin style systems. The consolidation of the Spanish Moon District also includes a lease/option for the acquisition of 87.25% of two patented mining claims (the "Barcelona Claims") negotiated by Navy and Nevada Select. The Agreement allows Nevada Select a right of first refusal ("ROFR") for the Barcelona Claims should Navy terminate the Agreement. Jerry Baughman, President of Nevada Select commented, "Ely Gold's consolidation of the patented and unpatented claim groups in the Spanish Moon District represents the first time that this district will be explored as a single project. This is exactly the kind of high-quality, under-explored property that Ely Gold continues to generate and option to exceptional exploration partners. Navy intends to explore a number of target-ready zones that have been identified at Spanish Moon. We look forward to a long relationship with this seasoned group of geologists on this important Property." The Agreement Navy will have the option to purchase 100% of the Property for the total purchase price of US$750,000 and 750,000 common shares of Navy (the "Navy Shares") payable as follows: USD$50,000 Cash Payment upon entering into the Ely Agreement (on the "Effective Date"); The issue of 150,000 Navy Shares within 5 business days of the Effective Date; USD$75,000 Cash Payment and 150,000 Navy Shares on or before the first anniversary of the Effective Date; USD$125,000 Cash Payment and 200,000 Navy Shares on or before the second anniversary of the Effective Date; USD$250,000 Cash Payment and 250,000 Navy Shares on or before the third anniversary of the Effective Date; and USD$250,000 Cash Payment on or before the fourth anniversary of the Effective Date, upon which the Option Exercise will be complete. Ely Gold will retain a NSR of 3% on the Nevada Select Claims and the Barcelona Claims. Navy may reduce the 3% NSR to a 2% NSR for a one-time payment of $1,000,000. The Agreement provides for an area of interest as outlined in Figure 1. Navy is responsible for all Property holding costs and payments related to the Barcelona Claims during the term of the Agreement. Navy has also reimbursed Nevada Select for its 2020 staking costs. Qualified Person Stephen Kenwood, P. Geo, is director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. Kenwood has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. About Ely Gold Royalties Inc. Ely Gold Royalties Inc. is a Nevada focused gold royalty company. Its current portfolio includes royalties at Jerritt Canyon, Goldstrike and Marigold, three of Nevada's largest gold mines, as well as the Fenelon mine in Quebec, operated by Wallbridge Mining. The Company continues to actively seek opportunities to purchase producing or near-term producing royalties. Ely Gold also generates development royalties through property sales on projects that are located at or near producing mines. Management believes that due to the Company's ability to locate and purchase third-party royalties, its strategy of organically creating royalties and its gold focus, Ely Gold offers shareholders a favourable leverage to gold prices and low-cost access to long-term gold royalties in safe mining jurisdictions. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Signed "Trey Wasser" Trey Wasser, President & CEO For further information, please contact: Trey Wasser, President & CEO trey@elygoldinc.com 972-803-3087 Joanne Jobin, Investor Relations Officer jjobin@elygoldinc.com 647 964 0292 FORWARD-LOOKING CAUTIONS: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including, but not limited to, statements regarding completion of the Transaction. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the Company's inability to control whether the buy-down right will ever be exercised, and whether the right of first refusal will ever be triggered, uncertainty as to whether any mining will occur on the property covered by the Probe Royalty such that the Company will receive any payment therefrom, and the general risks and uncertainties relating to the mineral exploration, development and production business. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effect. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Figure 1. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4181/72914_5b0597122442a823_001full.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72914 The ministry has already turned to Google and Duolingo to integrate the Crimean Tatar language into their technological platforms. The Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine has developed a draft concept for developing and popularizing the Crimean Tatar language for the period until 2032. The draft concept was penned following rounds of consultations with the authorities, experts with the National Academy of Sciences, teachers, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, media, NGOs, and experts, including in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the ministry wrote on Facebook. The draft has now been made brought for public debate. After being revised by and agreed with the central and local authorities in accordance with the established procedure, it will be submitted as a political proposal to be considered by the Cabinet before the relevant government act is adopted. "The need to enhance state policy in the field of supporting the language of the indigenous people is caused by the deterioration of its position to a critical low as a result of the temporary occupation by Russia of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, where the vast majority of native speakers live, restrictions on the scope of the Crimean Tatar language on the temporarily occupied territories, in particular, by curbing opportunities for citizens to receive education in their native language," the ministry says. Read alsoUkraine's Foreign Ministry asks BBC News not to promote Russian false narrativesAlso, it is noted that since 2014, in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the reports of the UN Secretary General, deep concern has been repeatedly voiced about the limitations on preserving the identity and culture and receiving education in the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages in temporarily occupied Crimea. "We tried to approach the Crimean Tatar language not only from the perspective of the need to preserve a unique heritage, but as a living speech that should be passed on from generation to generation and solve communication issues of the modern world. The Ministry of Reintegration has already turned to Google and Duolingo with a request to integrate the Crimean Tatar language into their technological platforms. In this regard, it is logical to support the development of the Crimean Tatar language based on the Latin script, which is absolutely consistent with international trends. This work will be carried out within the framework of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, during 2022-2032," said Ihor Yaremenko, Deputy Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine. Read alsoUkraine needs no Russian advice on language issue NSDC secretaryRussian occupation of Crimea Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea in March 2014 after its troops had occupied the peninsula. An illegal referendum was held for Crimeans to decide on accession to Russia. De-facto Crimean authorities reported that allegedly 96.77% of the Crimean population had voted for joining Russia. On March 18, 2014, the so-called agreement on the accession of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol to Russia was signed in the Kremlin. The West did not recognize the annexation in response to which sanctions against Russia were introduced. Ukraine's parliament voted to designate February 20, 2014, as the official date when the temporary occupation of Crimea began. Reporting by UNIAN Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Close COVID-19 variants are spreading around the world, which led countries like New Zealand to close their borders to prevent community transmission. This COVID-19 variant includes the B.1.1.7 that was first detected in the United Kingdom, while another COVID-19 variant is also detected in South Africa and Brazil. Many fear that this might make the newly developed vaccines obsolete, but experts said that genetic mutations in the viruses like the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, occur all the time. Still, most of these do not significantly affect the transmission rate or the severity of the infection. However, mutations in the virus leave a signature in its genetic code, which allows for tracing the origin of the virus's transmission. The WHO said that variants, like B.1.1.7, are more transmissible than the original variant that means it is easily spread among individuals. Fortunately, they do not cause a more severe form of the illness or cause higher fatality rates than the original strain. But it is still dangerous as it spreads quickly that could result in more hospitalizations. Why COVID-19 Variants that Spread More Quickly Are More Dangerous? According to ZME Science, the R number of people infected with COVID-19 transmitted the virus to others is between 40% to 70% higher than the B.1.1.7 variant. The study's findings suggest that the COVID-19 variant like B.1.17 has a higher transmission rate that is more dangerous than a higher fatality rate. A 50% increase in cases due to a higher transmissibility rate could cause 25 times more cases in a couple of months if left unchecked, compared to a 50% increase in the fatality rates that cause 50% more deaths. Therefore, higher transmissibility rates could cause more deaths at the original mortality rate. ALSO READ: New COVID-19 Mutations: Here's What We Know About the Strain So Far Researchers in the UK found out that a person with a COVID-19 variant with a higher transmissible rate can infect 56% more people on average than the people infected with the original variant. Additionally, data from contact tracing revealed that close contacts of the person infected with the new variant are more likely to test positive. Also, people infected with the new variant carry more of the virus, supporting the claim of 40%-70% transmissibility of the new variant. Variants from South Africa and Brazil have similar mutations with that of the variant in the UK, although further research is recommended as there are lesser available data about them. How to Spread the Further Spread of the New Variants of COVID-19? The original variant of COVID-19 wreaked havoc in 2020, and the new variants of the virus have the same transmission mode. They are transmitted via droplets between people, especially in closed and crowded places. That means the available vaccines and health protocols in place still work on the new variants. These include testing, contact tracing, wearing of face masks, physical distancing, and proper handwashing. Like the original strain, the only way to control an outbreak is by bringing down the R number under 1 and using more tools to achieve this. RELATED STORY: COVID-19 South African Variant May Not Be as Vulnerable To Vaccines, Experts Say Check out more news and information on COVID-19 on Science Times. China is opening its markets to Central Asias fledgling food exporters, embarking on a new phase of economic engagement with the region, Eurasianet reports in its article China gradually opens its markets to Central Asia. For decades, China had an appetite for Central Asian oil and gas and a few commodities, but little else. Beijing is now encouraging more industries to send it their goods. It has signed phytosanitary agreements approving a growing range of Central Asian foodstuffs while helping firms secure export licenses and learn the ins and outs of Chinese e-commerce. This is designed to make the region more economically stable, provide opportunities for Chinese companies and boost Beijings political influence more than debt-for-infrastructure programs ever could. Because its directly linked to jobs and foreign currency, market access offers powerful leverage; when Beijing punishes Korea and Australia, for example, it blocks access to its markets. Governments in Central Asia are vocal about their desire for job-creating export industries, especially in agriculture. During a visit to Beijing in 2019, Kazakhstans President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev proposed to triple wheat sales to China and enthused about the possibilities: We are ready to export dairy products, poultry, beef, lamb, pork, flour, cereals, legumes, and oilseeds to the Chinese market. We plan to increase the production and export of organic food to China. This past September, Uzbekistans president said he plans to grow food exports by a factor of five. Beijings strategy is twofold. It is offering access to 1.4 billion consumers, while financing export-oriented businesses keen on the cutthroat Chinese market. This a long-term project. According to Kazakhstans government investment office, five meat-processing plants worth $127 million are currently under construction, including a $26 million project in Almaty region backed by Russian and Chinese capital. Kazakh officials regularly boast of their countrys potential as a global food hub. In October, Trade Minister Bakhyt Sultanov told journalists his office is digitizing distribution systems to ensure that the entire hierarchy of agricultural producers have guaranteed sales and income growth and to help 100 local firms enter foreign markets each year. Its still early days, but Kazakhstan has modestly increased its non-hydrocarbon/metal exports since the mid-2010s after a long slide, while Uzbekistan has been pushing up its non-hydrocarbon/cotton exports. But these remain minuscule compared to GDP about $180 billion in Kazakhstan and $58 billion in Uzbekistan. (Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have registered no discernible increase in exports to China, a reflection of their poor export performance more generally.) Despite relatively high levels of Sinophobia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are eager to engage Chinese investors. Kyrgyzstan stands apart. Chinese businesses there have been consistently targeted with shakedowns and violence. Last February a $280 million industrial, trade and logistics center project at At-Bashi was scrapped after protests a missed chance to diversify an economy so dependent on Russian remittances. Producers face two major hurdles. First, China is one of the most competitive markets in the world. Major exporters from all over the globe have mature businesses in most market segments. Beijing is aware of this and is training Central Asian exporters on the various channels for moving goods into Chinese shops. Chinese money is also modernizing many of Central Asias production methods. And, of course, these exporters do not need to dominate the Chinese market. A tiny slice of a few sectors would be huge windfall for the region. The second challenge is logistics. Overland and air links to major population centers on Chinas east coast are not as developed or cheap as Chinas sea and air links to countries far further afield. Once again, governments on both sides the border recognize the problem and are seeking to expedite cross-border logistics. But as the cancelled project at At-Bashi shows, this is a tough barrier to overcome. Children are assisted by their mother as they navigate online learning resources during the CCP virus lockdown in Huddersfield, England, on March 23, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images) Real Danger UK Schools Remain Closed into Summer: Childrens Commissioner There is a real danger that schools could remain closed into the summer due to a failure of planning, the UK Childrens Commissioner has warned. Unfortunately it is a lot easier to close schools than to reopen them, commissioner Anne Longfield wrote in the Roadmap to Reopening Schools report published on Jan. 26. Everyone recognizes the necessity of reopening schools as soon as possible, but hope alone will not make it happen, she wrote. What is lacking is a clear roadmap towards this. There is a real danger that schools will remain closed until Easter at the earliest, or even into the summernot because the virus makes this inevitable, but because of a lack of planning. With the official death toll from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, in the UK passing the 100,000 mark on Tuesday, and with current deaths the highest per capita in the world, the government has come under pressure for past and present handling of the pandemic. In the meantime, the government is under pressure from some quarters, including a group of backbench Tory MPs, to provide a route out of lockdown, with opening schools as the top priority. In a reception classroom, children sit apart from each other at Brambles Primary Academy in Huddersfield, England, on June 4, 2020. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images) Longfield set out various options for the government to use as roadmap to re-opening. Her suggestions include: opening some classes with half-sizes; a staggered return of different year groups; opening secondary schools later, but giving priority to exam years; and alternating classes, with pupils in each year group taking turns. Longfield also said that it may not be possible for all schools to open across the country at the same time. However, she said that the government should set out the criteria and scale of local re-opening. For example, For each X% reduction in infections or the R rate, a commensurate Y% increase in days attended by younger children (or Z% increase in days attended by older children) becomes possible. She said that the plan needed to be clear and transparently communicated, saying, We need to see an end to information being briefed out to weekend newspapers. Longfield echoed teachers unions in calling for teachers to be vaccinated. She also said that there needed to be high-frequency lateral flow testing in schools to identify asymptomatic carriers of the virus. The government has already set up a system of bi-weekly testing for those pupils who currently remain at school. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday said that the government would be looking at regional and staggered options. We are working as hard as we can to get things open. We really wanted to keep schools open, and we will want to reopen them, but we must do it in a way that is safe, he said during a Jan. 26 Downing Street briefing. The Welsh government will introduce a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) designation across the whole of Wales in a move that has angered farming groups. It comes as agricultural pollution incidents 'remain very high' in Wales, according to the Welsh government, averaging over three per week in the last three years. It said some of these had led to the contamination of drinking water sources and the destruction of plant and aquatic life in parts of waterways. NVZs are areas within Wales that contain surface water or groundwater susceptible to nitrate pollution from agricultural activities. They are designed to improve water quality in rivers and lakes, but it would mean tougher restrictions on fertiliser and manure spreading. But numerous farming groups in the country believe the all-Wales proposal would not be effective in delivering water quality improvements. However, the Welsh government announced on Wednesday (27 January) that the industry had the past four years to address the issue. Support worth 1.5 million will aim to help farmers improve water quality and 11.5m of capital funding will help improve nutrient management infrastructure. The Minister for Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said: "Agricultural pollution has affected water bodies across Wales for far too long and I am determined to act to protect the Welsh countryside, while supporting our farmers that want to do the right thing. "We continue to face a rate of more than three agricultural pollution incidents per week, and against such a backdrop, we are bound to do all we can protect the public and the environment. "This also provides an opportunity for farmers to uphold exceptional standards that in turn will bolster the image of Wales agricultural industry." Industry groups have reacted with concern with the announcement, particularly given the gravity of the current Covid-19 pandemic. NFU Cymru said an all-Wales NVZ would be 'indiscriminate and punitive' as it would 'affect every farmer, every sector and every area of Wales'. The union said the designation would bring 'draconian record keeping, complex restrictions on the day-to-day running of their businesses and, for many, exorbitant costs.' President John Davies said: We can only conclude that, in taking this decision, government continues to have absolutely no comprehension of the impacts of these regulations. "The levels of investment committed to help farmers adapt to these new conditions is, frankly, woefully inadequate when you consider the capital investment support given to farmers in other countries where similar approaches to water quality have been adopted. "We are extremely disappointed that Welsh government appears to remain oblivious to the significant limitations and damaging impacts of the NVZ approach." Initial 'good practice requirements' for the NVZ roll-out will be introduced from 1 April 2021, the Welsh government confirmed. Islamabad, Jan 27 : As India, Brazil, Germany and Japan put forward efforts to reform the 15-member body of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and add seats of new permanent members, Pakistan has opposed the idea, stating that it would "kill the consensus-based process to make it more effective, representative and accountable." "Any attempt to undermine or derail the Inter-Government Negotiations (IGN) process will prove counterproductive," urged Munir Akram, Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the UN. "The Inter-Government Negotiations (IGN) remains the only credible platform for a comprehensive reform of the Security Council," he added. He criticised the G-4 members (India, Brazil, Germany, Japan) for trying to create fear of losing the opportunity and need for reform unless their "procedural moves to short circuit the process were endorsed." Akram tweeted: "At the 1st meeting of the IGN today, I reiterated Pakistan's principled position for a comprehensive ?#UNSCreform. We are prepared to breathe new life in the IGN process but some want to kill it." A general agreement to enlarge the Council has been in place since February 2009, when full-scale negotiations to reform the Security Council began in the General Assembly. Since the start of the negotiations, member states have remained divided over the details. The G-4 states have suggested to expand the Security Council by at least 10 seats (six additional permanent and four non-permanent members). While Uniting For Consensus (UFC) group, comprising of Italy and Pakistan, opposes any addition to the list of permanent members. "It would make the Council less representative, less effective and more divided and will diminish the right of the vast majority of the UN membership to serve to the Council," the UFC maintained. UFC has proposed a new category of members - non-permanent members with longer duration in terms and possibility to get re-elected. "UFC proposal to add 11 new non-permanent seats would redress the deficit of equitable representation in the Security Council, as it accommodates the interests of all groups," said Akram. "In 1945, there was one non-permanent seat for 8 member states, today there is one non-permanent seat for 19 member states. A third of the UN members have never served on the Council. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, for example, is only the second Small Island Developing State (SIDS) to ever serve on the Council," Akram added. The Security Council is currently composed of five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years. Lamar University is expanding their degree offerings this year to include a masters in Geospatial Science starting in the Spring of 2021. Reda Amer, an assistant professor and the director of the universitys geospatial center, said there is a growing need for workers trained in geospatial sciences, such as GIS administrators, developers and managers. The masters program in geospatial sciences addresses the immediate and growing need to train a workforce for the rapidly expanding local geospatial industry in Texas, Amer said. Graduates of this program will be able to convey to potential employers the comprehensiveness of their training at Lamar University and readiness to implement their knowledge obtained during the program through research projects and in the classroom, which is often not self-evident in the job application and interview process. Amer cited the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics in highlighting the need for qualified individuals, with jobs in the field of the geospatial disciplines expected to grow nationally by approximately 19% between 2016 and 2026 28.3% in Texas. Many students interested in the program have had the option to be exposed to Geographic Information Systems through a certificate program Amer developed last year. One of those students is Michael Mouton, a senior studying geology. The certificate was really fun actually, Mouton told The Enterprise. We use a program called ArcGIS where we can input data and make a map like most cartographers use, and we can get really specific and add topographic maps, gravity data or even water movement through a certain area. Those skills can be used to aid in a wide variety of industries like mining, but also in the study of earth sciences and protecting the environment. Mouton said his eventual goal is to work for the U.S. Geological Survey, an agency that studies the landscape of the U.S. and the hazards that threaten it. That work is similar to a project Amer and students have started, where they are conducting a year-long analysis of how extensive erosion from recent tropical events have affected McFaddin beach, including where the most vulnerable areas are. They are using a state-of-the-art drone to survey the area. Related: LU drones survey hurricane damage at beach Mouton plans to join this study; which is important, he says, to ensure the beach is properly rehabilitated. We are trying to help set back that erosion and then add more land, he said. It is really important because (this region) is affected by hurricanes every year, and these wetlands are good for stopping the hurricanes from doing damage, because the more land it has to go through, the less flooding we are going to get. The program will include a 30-credit hour thesis-based option or a 36-credit hour non-thesis option, and is designed to train individuals to work in any sector of geospatial sciences, according to a press release from the university. Students in the program will receive hands-on training using drones and other technology to study current issues impacting the Southeast Texas community. Students will be given substantial practical experience in the application of state-of-the- art geospatial-based systems to a wide range of real-world applications, Amer said. Mouton said working in the field is one of the perks of the program. Sometimes you spend hours at a computer, sitting there, not really doing much, he said. But there are also times where we go out in the field of the survey and just kind of get to be outside for a whole day, doing something that we know is important. Mouton and Amer both stressed the increased employability that is made possible through the masters program. It makes us look better, Mouton said. Just having one class is cool, but this is going to give us important experience and a better salary when we get out. Students who wish to pursue a masters in Geospatial Sciences at Lamar University must have a bachelors degree from an accredited institution and must meet the admission standards of the College of Graduate Studies. isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes Gardai have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions after a large crowd gathered at a house in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford following a funeral on Monday. Enniscorthy currently has the second highest infection rate of Covid-19 in the country, with 3,291 cases per 100,000 of the population. It comes as the Government today warned about the impact of funerals on the rate of transmission after concerning reports of significant numbers at funerals. On Monday, gardai put in place a policing plan for a funeral in Gorey and it is understood a number of people gathered at a house in Enniscorthy later that evening. Gardai attended the incident and a number of persons were identified to be in breach of the Health Act, a garda spokesperson told the Irish Independent. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Garda sources said there were up to 200 people at the gathering in Enniscorthy. Gardai also engaged with a number of individuals at the funeral who werent social distancing or wearing face masks. These individuals then complied with public health regulations, the spokesperson said. Regulation 8(2) of the Health Act provides restrictions on funerals. Regulation 8(2) is not a penal regulation. Under Level 5 restrictions, only 10 mourners can attend a funeral and household visits and gatherings are banned. Read More According to Liz Canavan, a spokesperson for the department of the Taoiseach, there have been reports of significant numbers of people congregating at funeral homes, churches and graveyards before and after services. In this third wave, we now sadly see a significant increase in the number of funerals. Concerns are being raised regarding the dangers of dropping our guard at funerals when we are at this critical time, she said. Reports of significant numbers of people congregating in the homes of bereaved persons and at funeral homes, or at churches and graveyards before and after services, are concerning. She said that mourners are seeking shelter due to cold weather, which leads to congregations. The weather we have this time of year can also result in those lining funeral rooms at times, congregating in doorways at churches and other areas along the route to seek shelter. She encouraged those who want to pay their condolences, despite natural emotions, to do so through social media or by sending a card. Every contact increases the risk of transmission of this highly contagious virus. Those wishing to express condolences should do so through social media, online websites, text or card. It is vital, despite our natural emotions and desire to be close to and to hug other people, to respect the situation we find ourselves in as we try to convey our sympathies to bereaved families, Ms Canavan said. There was a large gathering at a funeral in Ramsgrange, Co Wexford last month. There was also a huge outbreak of Covid-19 in the New Ross electoral area. Gardai launched an investigation into the incident, which was described as a superspreader event. Irelands Covid-19 death toll passed the 3,000 mark yesterday after 90 further deaths. Yandal Resources Ltd (ASX:YRL) has made strong progress in the December quarter on its exploration programs at its portfolio of highly prospective gold projects in the Yandal and Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belts in Western Australia, thus setting the stage for an exciting year in 2021. During the quarter, the company intersected gold mineralisation at several prospects in its gold projects within the Yandal and Norseman-Wiluna Greenstone Belts, and is now looking to complete feasibility studies to expand resources at Yandal Belt projects. Drilling programs to start late January Yandal Resources managing director Lorry Hughes said: The December quarter was very positive for the company as excellent exploration results were returned from several prospects and good progress was made on feasibility study activities. The strike length of bedrock mineralisation at Gordons Dam has been doubled to around 1.5 kilometres and we are increasing our knowledge of the controls to high-grade mineralisation. Large expansion drilling programs are planned to commence in late January. In the Yandal Belt once final 1 metre results are returned from 2020 RC drilling we will assess the potential to compile up to five new Mineral Resource Estimates at the Quarter Moon, Oblique, Sims Find, Success and Challenger prospects. Exploration activities in March quarter Key exploration and development activities planned during the March quarter include; Receiving 1metre sample results from reverse circulation (RC) drilling at the Sims Find prospect and from multiple prospects within the Ironstone Well project; Receiving 1-metre sample results from 26 RC holes from the Mt McClure project; Receiving and assessing results of a pit optimisation study at the Flushing Meadows prospect; Completing a feasibility level metallurgical test work on a diamond core from Flushing Meadows; Restarting AC and RC drilling to expand existing Resources at Yandal Belt projects; Sample and receive assays from the remainder of diamond holes YRLDD006 and YRLDD007 and implement a follow-up RC program; and Plans to complete 20,000 metres combined of AC and RC drilling across the Gordons project and compile a maiden mineral resource estimate for Gordons Dam for pit optimisation and technical activities. Developments during the December quarter As part of a 6,200 metres AC and RC drilling program, a total of 57 RC holes for 3,877 metres was completed at the Sims Find, Copan, Barty Bullseye, Rosewall, Woolshed Well, Flinders Park, Quarter Moon and Oblique prospects during the December quarter. Initial results from the first batch of 4 metres composite samples were received and reported in December 2020. A key purpose of the program is to confirm and expand historic mineralisation and if successful design new expansion RC programs for completion throughout the remainder of 2021. Flinders Park Prospect Ironstone Well Gold Project A total of three angled RC holes for 198 metres were completed to test for new shallow oxide mineralisation within an area interpreted to be influenced by the regionally important Barwidgee Shear Zone. All holes returned significant intercepts with the highest grades occurring in consecutive holes on the same section. Highlights from the three-hole program include high-grade results: 4 metres at 14.98g/t gold within 12 metres at 5.46g/t gold from 36 metres; and 4 metres at 14.22g/t within 16 metres at .68g/t from 44 metres. Sims Find Prospect Barwidgee Gold Project A total of 38 angled RC holes for 2,440 metres were drilled to a maximum depth of 102m along strike from and in areas adjacent to historic underground workings. The drilling was completed over an approximate 400m of interpreted strike length on sections 50 metres apart to evaluate the Resource potential. Highlights from the first nine holes of the program include high-grade results; 4 metres at 42.67g/t gold within 8 metres at 27.76g/t from 12 metres; and 4 metres at 3.75g/t within 36 metres at 0.56g/t from 8 metres Similarly, best results from Gordons Dam include: 1 metre at 52.81g/t gold within 51 metres at 1.41g/t from 35 metres; and 1.68 metres at 11.94g/t within 4 metres at 6.65g/t from 60.32 metres. Other important activities during the quarter Up to 97.5% gold recovery from conventional gravity and cyanide leach processing of primary RC drill samples from Gordons Dam. Flushing Meadows gold deposit resource increased by 40% to 268,000 ounces and feasibility study activities progressed with metallurgical testing and pit optimisation study workstreams underway. Assay results pending from RC drilling at multiple resource targets within the Ironstone Well, Barwidgee and Mt McClure projects. The company raised around $6 million via a strategic share placement to and Regal Funds Management ensuring the company is well funded to accelerate exploration at its priority prospects in 2021. Press Release January 27, 2021 PRC TARGETS NATIONWIDE SALIVA TEST ROLL OUT BY FEB. 1 Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, disclosed that they are targeting a nationwide roll out by February 1 of the saliva RT-PCR test that the Department of Health gave the green light to last week. Following the DOH's approval of the use of saliva as an alternative specimen to the nasopharyngeal swab for RT-PCR testing in PRC's laboratories, the PRC officially launched the new system last Monday. "Our goal is to go nationwide by Feb. 1. Today, we opened our machines in Manila and Mandaluyong for saliva test," the PRC chief said. Gordon also cautioned that testing is still very important even when the national vaccination program is rolled out since an inoculated person could still be a carrier and could be infectious. "You cannot do away with testing. Kahit na meron ka ng vaccine, kailangang magte-test ka. Kailangan may proteksyon ka pa ding face mask, kailangan may proteksyon ka din ng hugas kamay at distancing because even if you get the vaccine, you could still be a carrier. Pangalagaan natin ang mga sarili natin para hindi tayo makakasakit ng ating mga mahal sa buhay," he stressed. Medical experts said studies have shown that the COVID vaccine inhibits progression to a severe case of the disease for an inoculated individual. However, there is no evidence that it could inhibit transmission to another individual. Gordon said it is also convenient because the patient can even collect the specimen sample while at home and send it to the PRC laboratory. Patients can also call PRC's COVID hotline - 1158 to make reservations or book online at https://book.redcross1158.com/. The Philippine Red Cross saliva RT-PCR test uses the same system as the system previously used with the nasopharyngeal swab samples, the only difference being the method of collection of the sample specimen. Instead of having a swab inserted into one's nostrils and throat, one may now simply deposit 1.5 ml to 2 ml of saliva through a straw into a container. The specimen then undergoes testing in the RT-PCR machines. The new saliva collected system has the advantage of being far more comfortable than the swab system, which most patients find painful. It is also more cost efficient, making more affordable for the population. Additionally, processing of the sample in the testing machine takes less time, allowing for release of results in approximately 6 to 12 hours. To date, only the Red Cross saliva RT-PCR test has been approved by the DOH as a saliva based test. Press Release 27 January 2021 Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into franchise agreements with Story Hotels Holding AB to bring three hotels in Sweden under the JDV Hotel brand, helping to grow Hyatt's independent collection brand in Europe. The three boutique hotels - Story Hotel Riddargatan and Story Hotel Signalfabriken in Stockholm, as well as Story Hotel Studio Malmo, Sweden - will all retain their individual hotel names and unique identities. The three Story Hotels will be available for reservation through Hyatt's booking channels and for World of Hyatt members to earn and redeem points for stays starting April 15, 2021. Advertisements Hyatt's independent collection portfolio is a collection of brands that not only embrace the locations in which each hotel resides, but serve as a gateway to some of the most sought-after destinations worldwide. Each property brings a sense of place to the guest experience in new and unforgettable ways. "We are very excited to bring these three Story Hotels in Europe under Hyatt's JDV Hotel brand portfolio and at the same time grow the Hyatt hotel footprint in Sweden ," said Briana Swift, director of development Europe and Southwest Asia at Hyatt.. "We are focused on thoughtful growth in locations that meet our guests and members needs, and the upcoming addition of three Story Hotels help us fuel this growth in markets like Scandinavia, as we collaborate with owners who want to maintain each property's unique identity. With their strong design focus and neighborhood feel, Story Hotels will be the perfect representation of Hyatt's independent collection in Europe." Story Hotel Riddargatan, Story Hotel Signalfabriken and Story Hotel Studio Malmo are ideally located at the heart of their destinations and each will celebrate the unique neighborhoods in which the properties reside. With modern, Scandinavian design that reflects the edgy nature of both cities, the hotels will offer amenities for both business and leisure travelers. "It was clear at an early stage that Hyatt and Story Hotels had a very similar vision of how modern upscale living should look and feel," said Staffan Akerlind, CEO Story Hotels. "We are thrilled to introduce the JDV Hotel brand to Europe and Scandinavia and, we are proud to be working with such an experienced, international hospitality company like Hyatt. We look forward to leveraging their experience to offer excellent service to our guests and benefit from their global scale and distribution platform." All three hotels will feature individually designed boutique guestrooms, vibrant public spaces and food and beverage offerings popular with both visitors and locals alike. Boutique in size as a reflection of their urban locations, each hotel will offer complimentary access to local gyms during their stay. Story Hotel Riddargatan, Stockholm An 83-room property widely believed to be one of Stockholm's original boutique hotels, the Story Hotel Riddargatan will have an industrial design to represent the building's former life as an apartment complex, barber shop and garage. The property is centrally located in the Ostermalm area with easy access to vibrant neighborhood restaurants, cafes and bars as well as the high-end shopping district. The hotel will also feature a restaurant, Ling Long, specializing in Southeast Asian cuisine, and one indoor and one outdoor bar. Story Hotel Signalfabriken, Stockholm Story Hotel Signalfabriken will feature 83 individually designed guestrooms and a vibrant bar and restaurant, which will host regular DJ performances. Formerly a fire station and town hall, this listed property in Sundyberg's Torg neighborhood will attract budiness travelers with meetings in the surrounding areas of Solna, Bromma and Kista. Leisure guests will enjoy the small town feel and abundance of restaurants nearby with quick access to Stockholm's city center in less than ten minutes via the nearby tram, bus and subway lines. Story Hotel Studio Malmo Story Hotel Studio Malmo will feature 95 unique guestrooms, all creative and playful in their design to reflect the young and vibrant population of the city. Situated on the top floors of a high-rise building, the hotel offers spectacular views overlooking the city and water. The hotel is part of the mixed-use STUDIO building, which also houses conference and meeting facilities, corporate offices, retail outlets, several restaurants and a cafe. With its unique waterside location at Universitetsholmen, and close proximity to Malmo's central station, guests can easily explore the city, and nearby Copenhagen via a 35-minute train ride. The hotel's restaurant and cocktail bar, Kasai in the Sky, will deliver food and drink on Malmo's highest outdoor terrace with views of the ocean and city skyline. Story Hotel Riddargatan, Story Hotel Signalfabriken and Story Hotel Studio Malmo are expected to increase the number of Hyatt hotels in Sweden to four, following the 2020 opening of Stockholm's Hotell Reisen, which is part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt brand. Fueled by guests' growing desire for unique, differentiated experiences that foster genuine connections with people and cultures, Hyatt recently announced its intention to grow by more than 30 percent in Europe, with a significant focus on developing the footprint of its lifestyle brands. For more information, please visit www.jdvhotels.com. Guided by its purpose of care, Hyatt's multi-layered Global Care & Cleanliness Commitment further enhances its operational guidance and resources around colleague and guest safety and peace of mind. More information on Hyatt's commitment can be found here: hyatt.com/care-and-cleanliness. PHOENIX, Ore. Phoenix High Schools class of 2025 will get to start the next school year on a brand-new campus. Superintendent Brent Barry says one of the most notable features in the two-story building is the natural light, something the previous building was lacking. Most of the classrooms did not have windows, Barry said Like less than 30% of the classrooms actually had windows. So, it was just literally cinderblock classrooms and not the most enriching learning environment. This has natural light coming from every direction and beautiful views. The building also has a kitchen, broadcast lab and metal shop for career education. Barry says this years seniors will get a chance to enjoy the space before they graduate. You know, we just didn't know if that would be possible not too long ago, Barry said. It's not going to be the same traditional experience in the spring as it would be for a senior, but they will be able to enjoy the new space and be the first graduating class out of this new building. The district has about 700 high school students enrolled, but the building is designed to accommodate 1,100. After last years September wildfires, Barry says the new high school will provide hope to the community. When the time comes to celebrate this new space and really have community events to where we can gather, it's going to be kind of a landmark and something that's here for many years to come for this community, Barry said. Barry says they started planning the new high school about five years ago. The community approved a school bond to fund the project in November 2017. Barry says construction crews are working on the finishing touches and the high school is expected to be finished this summer. Actress Samantha Akkineni has opened up facing social media trolling during a Ask Me Anything session on Instagram. When a social media user asked her, "How can you handle social media trolls so easy?" Sam said, "They don't affect me anymore. They used to give me sleepless nights but now I laugh actually. That just shows how much I have grown as a person. On being asked, "What made you to be this attached to fitness?" Sam said, "Do you know why I started going to the gym? to check out Chay (Naga Chaitanya) cause he used to go to the gym and I joined so that..." Sam even blushes on this reply. Samantha Akkineni Says 'The Family Man 2' Role is Her Favourite by Far Sam and Naga tied the knot in a ceremony in 2017 in Goa. They later hosted a wedding reception in Hyderabad. On the work front, Samantha will be seen in The Family Man 2 next, releasing February 12 on Amazon Prime Video. She has joined the action thriller web series, created by Raj and DK, in season two, as an antagonist. A day after the violence broke out during a tractor rally in various parts of the capital, security has been heightened at the Singhu border (Delhi-Haryana border), where farmers have been protesting against agricultural laws for over two months. A large number of security forces has been deployed at the protest site. Speaking to ANI, Wazir Singh, a farmer from Punjab's Amritsar, said that the farmers' tractor rally was successful and he will return back to his home after the withdrawal of farm laws. "Our tractor rally was successful except for minor incidents of violence at some places. We are here to protest against farm laws. We are not protesting for Punjab only, but for the whole country. We are not here under any pressure. We will go home, once these laws are withdrawn by the government," Singh told ANI. Elaborate security arrangements have been made near the where a group of protestors climbed to the ramparts of the fort and unfurled flags yesterday. On Tuesday, farmers broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism across several parts of the capital during their Kisan tractor rally organised to protest against the new farm laws. 83 police personnel were injured, with several public and private properties being damaged in this act of vandalism by the rioting mob, said the in a release. As per sources, 15 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence during farmers' tractor rally yesterday. So far, 5 FIRs have been lodged in the Eastern Range.Yesterday, the DMRC had closed the entry and exit gates of all stations of the Grey Line, as clashes between the farmers and intensified during protests against the Centre's three new farm laws. Protesting farmers did not follow the marked route for their tractor march on Republic Day and forcibly entered central Delhi by removing police barricades. They clashed with police and also entered the and unfurled their flags from its ramparts. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the commanding general of the Philippine Army, will soon take over the helm of the armed forces, Malacanang said Wednesday. President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen Sobejana to succeed Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gilbert Gapay, who will retire on February 4. The Palace has yet to release a copy of Sobejanas appointment paper, but confirmed the news in a statement. "We are confident that General Sobejana will continue to modernize our military and undertake reform initiatives to make the Armed Forces truly professional in its mandate as the protector of the people and the State, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. Gapay served the post for six months, while Sobejana replaced him as head of the militarys Western Mindanao Command. Sobejana will lead the AFP for nearly six months or until July 31, the day he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will give Duterte another chance to appoint the countrys top soldier. Sobejana, a member of the PMA Hinirang Class of 1987, is a recipient of the highest military award, the Medal of Valor, for leading troops in a deadly clash with over a hundred Abu Sayyaf fighters in 1995. He is the first Medal of Valor awardee to be named AFP chief in more than seven decades. Sobejana has received several other accolades in his more than 30 years of service. In 2019, Duterte awarded him the prestigious Philippine Legion of Honor for his public service. CNN Philippines' David Santos contributed to this report. Li Jinbin, Party chief of Anhui province, delivers a speech. (Photo by Liu Yucai) Zhang Changer, chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, delivers a work report on behalf of the standing committee of the 12th Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC. (Photo by Liu Yucai) The 4th Session of the 12th Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opened on Wednesday, in Hefei, capital of East Chinas Anhui province. Political advisers from around the province attended the session. Li Jinbin, Party chief of Anhui province, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. Governor Li Guoying and other major officials were present at the session extending congratulations. Zhang Changer, chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, delivered a work report from the standing committee covering the past year. Zheng Yongfei, vice chairman of the CPPCC Anhui Provincial Committee, delivered a report on how proposals from political advisers were handled after the previous session. Liu Li, vice chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, chairs the opening ceremony. (Photo by Liu Yucai) Zheng Yongfei, vice chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, delivers a report on how proposals from political advisers are handled after the previous session. (Photo by Liu Yucai) The 4th Session of the 12th Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) opens on January 27, 2021 in Hefei, capital of East Chinas Anhui province. (Photo by Liu Yucai) Members of the Anhui Provincial Committee of the CPPCC listen to a report. (Photo by Liu Yucai) Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, wife of late former President Jerry John Rawlings, Wednesday, bid farewell to her husband at the Black Star Square in Accra. "You were for Ghana and then for me," Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings stated in a tribute read on her behalf by one of their daughters, Amina Agyeman-Rawlings at a state funeral of the former President. "We started on a journey. One that was free and easy in spirit. I was innocent and you were streetwise. There was so much I did not know and understand about real life outside the wings and home of Mr and Mrs J.O.T. Agyeman, since I had lived a protected life under their roofvery strict parents." She said she had to learn to understand how to be streetwise, move along with the flow of her husband's friends and acquaintances but it still did not sit well with her, stating that she went against all the upbringing she received under the roof of her parents. "After several trials, I decided that a leopard never changed its spots. I was who I was, based on family values. I decided I could not change for love sake. You finally understood to take me as I am; I was who I was and there was nothing I could do about it." Mrs Agyeman-Rawlings, who gave vivid accounts of their journey into marriage, their marital and family life till death, said from 1983 to 1992, she worked assiduously on empowering the Ghanaian woman. "Jerry, I know that God created us for each other, and together we made a formidable team, notwithstanding the ups and down of life," she said. "We believed each other and in our dream of making Ghana a country we could all be proud of, one to set the pace for our sub-region and the continent. I daresay, we did not do a bad job!" "As you worked assiduously on state matters, I concentrated on empowering the women and improving the quality of life for them irrespective of their origins or creed. "We were a team, fighting to transform a collapsed state into one of potential prosperity for all. "You did your best and I played my part in my own way. You always said you did not need titles to define you, so you remained Flight Lieutenant J.J. Rawlings. "You also said you did not need political titles to influence a party to do what is right and honest for Ghana, so for most, you remained Chairman. "To me, you were and always will be Jerry, My love, my life partner, my friend, you were for Ghana and then for me." Dignitaries at the state funeral service, include; President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his wife Rebecca and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and his wife Samira. The rest were; Mr Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament; Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah, former Presidents: John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama, senior government officials, representatives of African governments, members of the diplomatic community and Ghanaians from across the country. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video CINCINNATI, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial Gravity Companies Inc. (OTCQB: FGCO), announced their Tax Master Network (TMN) subsidiary has begun gearing up for new client demand for core tax-planning services. "President Joe Biden has consistently called for significant tax hikes as part of his campaign platform. Democratic victories in this month's Georgia Senate races give him the chance to implement those increases," said TMN CEO Ed Lyon. "This will set off another round of the cat-and-mouse game where taxes go up and advisors work to minimize the blow, creating explosive demand for planning." Higher taxes stimulate demand for every one of Financial Gravity's core services. Business owners and high-net-worth investors will look for concepts and strategies to avoid the new taxes. This will drive new members to the TMN planning platform. Implementing those strategies will drive demand for Financial Gravity's broker-dealer, insurance, and turnkey asset management provider arms. TMN provides a platform for CPAs, EAs, and financial advisors to use proactive tax planning to protect their clients from the brunt of higher taxes. Members enjoy several SAAS-based planning and client contact tools, plus a comprehensive suite of marketing, sales, and technical tax training resources. The network helps members transform from typical volume-based businesses into more-profitable margin-based business. Interested professionals can visit www.TaxMasterNetwork.com to learn more. About Financial Gravity Companies, Inc. Financial Gravity Companies is a parent company of financial services companies including brokerage, wealth management, estate planning, family office services, risk management, business and personal tax planning, business consulting, and financial advisor services. Financial Gravity's mission is to synergistically bring together companies that create symbiotic advantages to each other in order to bring a complete financial experience to our clients. www.financialgravity.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from the current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect Financial Gravity's business, and Financial Gravity undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Financial Gravity Companies, Inc. Related Links http://financialgravity.com The National Institutes of Health is supporting a Wayne State University School of Medicine physician-researcher's work at preventing and treating cerebral palsy in the form of two new five-year R01 grants worth a collective $5.59 million. The principal investigator on both projects is Sidhartha Tan, M.D., professor and co-division chief of Neonatology in the Department of Pediatrics. Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect a person's ability to move and maintain balance and posture. CP is the most common motor disability in childhood, caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain that affects a person's ability to control his or her muscles. Dr. Tan obtained his first R01 last May for "Potent Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase Inhibition for Prevention of Cerebral Palsy," which will provide $2,393,590 over the half-decade award period to test new, promising drugs aimed at a preventive cure for the condition. These are new drugs aimed at brain condition called neuronal nitric oxide synthase. New information about how these drugs act, how they affect brain cells and how effective they are in an animal model of cerebral palsy will be very valuable for future translation to clinical use in humans throughout the world." Sidhartha Tan, M.D, Professor and Principal Investigator, Co-Division Chief of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University His second, a multiple principal investigator award launched Dec. 15, is "Probing Role of Tetrahydrobiopterin in Cerebral Palsy by Using Transgenic Rabbits." The grant will provide $3,197,644 in funding over five years to explore whether an essential enzyme co-factor is involved in brain injury before birth. The cellular and genetic basis of brain regional injury will be investigated using an animal model in which genes have been altered by genetic engineering methods, as well as advanced methods of magnetic resonance imaging. Dr. Tan will work with Jie Xu, Ph.D., at the University of Michigan and Jeannette Vasquez Vivar, Ph.D., at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who are his co-investigators on the project. "The studies will lead to a better understanding of how treatment with the same co-factor can reverse the movement disorders caused by insults to the fetal brain before birth," Dr. Tan added. A public health nurse prepares dilutant for the COVID-19 vaccine in the COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg on Dec. 16, 2020. (John Woods/The Canadian Press) China Blocked COVID-19 Vaccine Shipment to Canada Days After Agreement The federal government learned that China had blocked a COVID-19 vaccine shipment meant for clinical trials in Canada, after a collaboration plan between the two countries was just announced, new documents reveal. On May 12, 2020, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) announced plans to work with CanSino Biologics Inc., a Chinese company with connections with the Chinese military, to produce the Ad5-nCOV vaccine against COVID-19. CanSino would have been the first company to undertake clinical trials for a COVID-19 candidate vaccine in Canada. On May 19, 2020, the federal government learned that the shipments of the vaccine candidate were blocked by Chinas General Administration of Customs, according to documents tabled in the House of Commons on Jan. 25, reported iPolitics. But the Liberal government waited three months before making public that the partnership with CanSino was over, according to the latest NRC document tabled. Under this agreement, CanSino was to provide candidate vaccine doses and transfer their vaccine technology, free of charge, for Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in Canada, and grant the NRC a non-exclusive right to use, produce, and reproduce the vaccine for emergency pandemic use, the NRC said in response to a question from Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner. Garner questioned the federal governments ability to secure COVID-19 vaccines for Canadians during a Health Committee meeting on Monday. We are facing a monumental challenge in this country, and we do need to have answers on why we have a vaccine shortage, and more importantly, what the government is going to do to fix it, because that is only hope we can offer Canadians, Garner said. While the Chinese State Council refused to approve shipment to Canada, China allowed the vaccine candidate to be shipped to other countries for clinical trials under agreements similar to the one with NRC. New clinical trial data emerged as China continued to block shipment of the CanSino vaccines. On Aug. 5, 2020, Canadas Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced that the Vaccine Task Force had entered into agreements with Pfizer and Moderna. Due to lengthy delays in the shipment of the vaccine doses to Canada, the fact that CanSinos candidate had already entered advanced testing in other countries, and the new clinical trial data that had emerged from other jurisdictions, it was decided in late August that the opportunity to conduct clinical trials in Canada for Ad5-nCoV had passed and the government decided to focus on more promising candidates, the NRC said on Monday. Conservative Leader Erin OToole had criticized the federal governments decision to prioritize partnering with CanSino Biologics, which has been considered a national security threat. CSIS [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] had been flagging CanSino as a national security threat for years, but the Liberals turned a blind eye to our Canadian experts, OToole wrote in a December 2020 commentary in the National Post. After undoubtedly extracting useful Canadian vaccine research, China broke off relations and refused to ship samples. Canadas former Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the delay of the CanSino vaccine was not necessarily linked to the rift between Canada and China. The two countries relationship went downhill after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Chinese telecom company Huawei, in December 2018. Meng was arrested based on a U.S. extradition warrant on charges of bank fraud; she was soon released and has been under house arrest in Vancouver since. Soon after Mengs arrest, Beijing detained two CanadiansMichael Spavor and Michael Kovrigwho are still being held in Chinese prisons. LG has added more features to the Wing with its latest software update. Currently rolling out in South Korea, V11b-Jan-19-2021 adds dedicated scroll functionality to the second screen's touchpad, among other changes. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker LG is yet to upgrade any device to Android 11, but it does continue to add features to the Wing, which we dubbed one of the most unusual smartphones of 2020 when we reviewed it earlier this month. As usual, LG is delivering new features to the South Korean version of the Wing first; it may take a few months before LG brings European and US variants up to speed. Nonetheless, the January update for the Wing improves its touchpad functionality. In our experience, the touchpad has proven useful when using the Wing one-handed. Two-finger scrolling remains possible, but LG has now added panels for scrolling horizontally and vertically with one finger. LG has not explained why it has introduced this feature, although it cannot be disabled. However, we have found that the new panels make it more comfortable when scrolling with the touchpad while holding the Wing in one hand. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) questions Gina Raimondo, nominee for secretary of commerce, during her Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/POOL) Bidens Commerce Secretary Nominee Open to Some Section 230 Reforms President Joe Bidens pick for commerce secretary said on Tuesday that she is willing to work with Congress to amend a federal law that grants Big Tech companies protection from legal liability for users content. Gov. Gina Raimondo (D-R.I.), who has been tapped to lead the Commerce Department, was asked during her confirmation hearing about reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has been made a focal point amidst a sparring match between the federal government and social media companies over censorship and accountability. I would agree that we need some reform in Section 230 and I would look forward to working with you on that, Raimondo told Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has been vocal about reforming the law. She added that, if confirmed, she would use resources at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency housed in the Commerce Department, to convene stakeholders and engage with Congress members to discuss potential Section 230 reforms. The NTIA is principally responsible for advising the president on telecommunications and information policy issues. Some of the agencys activities include managing the federal use of frequency spectrum and identifying additional spectrum for commercial use; administering grant programs that help expand broadband use in America; and developing policy on issues related to the Internet economy, including online privacy, copyright protection, cybersecurity, and the global free flow of information online, according to its website. In July 2020, the NTIA filed a petition (pdf) with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), asking it to issue rules that would clarify the operation of Section 230. Former FCC Chair Ajit Pai announced in October last year that the agency would move forward with the rulemaking, but earlier this month he dropped the task, saying that there was not enough time left in the Trump administration to proceed. Former President Donald Trump and his administration had repeatedly urged Congress to roll back legal protections for companies that have engaged in censoring or political conduct. Trump and conservatives have criticized Big Tech companies for their unbalanced policing of user content on social media platforms. Critics claim that the companies are engaging in conduct that limits conservative viewpoints and stifles free speech. Biden and his allies have also criticized Section 230 but for different reasons. Democrats argue that Internet companies are not doing enough to combat misinformation and the spread of hate speech by their users on their platforms. They want companies to play a bigger role in removing content and curating public discourse. Facebook, Google, and Twitter logos are seen in this combination photograph. (Reuters) Section 230 rose to new prominence after the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol breach, which saw Big Tech companies ramp up policing of user content that they said was harmful. Twitter on Jan. 8 permanently removed Trumps account and justified its censorship by saying the president had violated its Glorification of Violence Policy. Many other platforms followed suit. Meanwhile, Twitter and other companies also suspended or restricted accounts from other conservative commentators and groups. The reasoning for Raimondos displeasure with Big Tech companies follows the same line of argument as other Democrats. I think platform accountability is important. Ive seen in my own state that misinformation hurts peoplemisinformation posted anonymously or otherwise can hurt people, Raimondo told lawmakers. So we have to hold these companies accountable, we need platform accountability, but of course that reform would have to be balanced with the fact that these businesses rely upon user-generated content for their innovation and created many thousands of jobs. Twitters Policing Trump was policed by Twitter for months prior to his accounts permanent suspension. Leading up to and after the November general election, Twitter also increased its policing of posts by the president and other users over claims of voter fraud. In a Nov. 12 update, the social media company said it had applied labels, warnings, and other restrictions to about 300,000 posts from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11 for content that it classified as disputed and potentially misleading. This number represents about 0.2 percent of all U.S. election-related posts published in that time period. Twitter is going wild with their flags, trying hard to suppress even the truth. Just shows how dangerous they are, purposely stifling free speech. Very dangerous for our Country. Does Congress know that this is how Communism starts? Trump said in a Twitter post on Christmas Eve. The social media company also suppressed a series of exposes by the New York Post last year about the alleged business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of President Biden. Twitters removal of Trumps account has received widespread scrutiny. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley likened Twitters move to conduct by the Chinese communist regime. The push to remove Section 230 protections has received push back from technology groups. The first documented case of COVID-19 infection in the United States occurred on Jan. 20, 2020, although there is strong evidence of undetected cases in prior months. That means the country has now had one year of experience with the virus that has caused the worst pandemic since the Spanish flu 100 years ago. While we still dont understand many things about COVID-19, in the past year we have acquired valuable knowledge about viral transmission, COVID testing, management of the critically ill, and keeping schools open. We also have vaccines a pipe dream a year ago. Here are some things we know today that we did not know when the first patient presented to a hospital in Washington state last January. It was originally believed that people caught the virus by touching contaminated surfaces and through particle droplets transmitted through speaking, coughing and singing. Now we realize, that besides those two mechanisms inhalation of smaller particles aerosols are an opportunistic form of transmission, a potential problem in overcrowded spaces with poor ventilation. Masks confer a good level of protection but are not an absolute defense; hand washing and social distancing remain important adjuncts to masks. This is especially true with new virus strains that may be more contagious. Every pullback of mitigation effort when case numbers fell has been followed by epidemic resurgence. The current status of COVID testing is far more sophisticated than a year ago, with different tests for different situations. The best test for diagnosing symptomatic patients is different from one identifying potential asymptomatic carriers who might transmit the virus. To diagnose a patient who has symptoms, a PCR assay on a nasal swab is the most practical and effective test. To ascertain who may be actively contagious, such as for those concerned before family gatherings or travel, the rapid antigen test from saliva or nasal swab can detect high loads of virus in respiratory secretions. This test, although not as reliable as the gold-standard PCR test, can be performed anywhere, is inexpensive, does not require expensive equipment or special training, and provides results in under an hour. Speed and the ability to re-test generally outweigh reduced accuracy in these situations. Positive results with the rapid antigen test should be verified with the more accurate PCR-based test. Soon, even simpler tests will be available to the public along the lines of the home pregnancy testing. Finally, there are blood antibody tests for those who want to know if they have been previously infected. In the early phase of the pandemic, thousands of people died because they were placed on ventilators to support their virus-damaged lungs. We have discovered that the virus causes different types of lung damage. In certain patients, ventilators increase that damage. In these cases when oxygen levels become low, patients are better treated by being placed in a prone position on the stomach and receiving high levels of oxygen by nasal cannula. This does not work for everyone and there are still many patients who can and should be treated with ventilators, contrary to some press reports. Just not all patients. In addition, there are currently at least three therapeutics available. Dexamethasone and remdesivir are available for hospitalized patients. For mildly symptomatic outpatients, monoclonal antibodies are effective (and are underused). Owing to fear of COVID transmission, many schools closed early in the pandemic. But CDC data show that children in schools have a lower risk of being infected with COVID-19 than those not attending school. Moreover, children are probably less likely to transmit the virus than adults are. Children, especially younger children, need in-person learning, social contacts, meals that schools provide, and the support structure teachers create. Many schools have opened without incident, and reopening of schools must be a top priority, even before the whole country is vaccinated. Besides adequate numbers of masks, and plenty of surface sanitizers and hand soaps, schools should have ample supplies of rapid antigen testing materials to ascertain who might be contagious, along with special areas (trailers or tents) to conduct testing. Reopening of schools may require changes in school routines: teachers rather than children moving between rooms for classes; staggered class times to minimize crowded hallways; and reconfiguration of hallways, classrooms and cafeterias to maximize personal separation. Windows should remain open when possible. Fans should be used to increase air circulation. In general, the need for special ventilation has proved unnecessary. Hospitals have learned that if feasible, COVID patients should be separated from non-COVID patients. Current infection control strategies and activities allow many hospitals to continue the necessary care of non-COVID patients, including elective surgery and other essential diagnostic and therapeutic care. One year ago, we didnt have a vaccine against COVID. Now, we have two, with several others in the pipeline. The best vaccine is the one that you take. But vaccination of our entire country will take several months. Deployment of vaccines needs an urgent overhaul, with the goal of vaccinating as many as possible, as quickly as possible, starting with the most fragile and at-risk individuals. During this ramp up, we must continue our mitigation strategies face masks, social distancing, and hand hygiene. The more people vaccinated and the better our mitigation efforts, the sooner all of society can reopen and put the nightmare of the past year behind us. Dr. Robert A Weinstein is an infectious disease specialist at Rush University Medical Center and former chief of infectious diseases at Cook County Hospital. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. A day after thousands of farmers stormed the national capital, laid siege to the Red Fort, and violently clashed with the Delhi police injuring over 100 security personnel, two farmer unions withdrew from the protests on Wednesday. The Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan and the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu), which had publicly denounced the Republic Day violence, pulled out of the ongoing protests against the three contentious farm laws that the farmers claim will benefit only big corporates and not growers. We can't carry forward a protest with someone whose direction is something else. So, I wish them the best but VM Singh and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan are withdrawing from this protest right away, ANI quoted RKMS national convener VM Singh as saying. Singh also blamed BKUs Rakesh Tikait for pressuring the farmers to take a different route than the one designated for the tractor rally on Republic Day. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatever happened during the tractor parade, adding his union was ending its protest being staged at the Chilla border. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag on the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Hundreds of protestors descended on Noida roads on Tuesday to participate in the tractor parade as part of their demonstration against the new farm laws. They laid siege to the Red Fort, damaged public property and even clashed with the police injuring over 100 security personnel. Six Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and five police vehicles were damaged in the violence, according to an FIR registered in connection with the incident. It also claimed that 70 iron barricades damaged when over 10,000 protesting farmers on nearly 600 tractors stormed the area. Press Release January 27, 2021 POE PANEL TO REVIEW TELCO-IMPOSED CELLPHONE LOAD EXPIRATION The Senate committee on public services headed by Sen. Grace Poe will scrutinize the policy of telecommunications companies imposing expiry dates on call, text and data cards and forfeiting load credits. Poe said she will create a technical working group that will examine the details of the bills seeking removal of the load expiration and take into account the position of the telcos and other stakeholders to come up with a balanced solution. "We want to address the situation where the money used by mobile subscribers to purchase their prepaid credits are not being utilized in its entirety, to the detriment of the consuming public. In short, sa kasalukuyang set-up, nalulugi ang mga Pilipino," Poe said on Wednesday's hearing conducted jointly with the trade, commerce and entrepreneurship panel. "It is very good for the consumers to have assurance that their load will not expire. But, we should also consider that it might be untenable later on to manage a database full of registered numbers, including those that have been inactive," she added. Senate Bill Nos. 25, 109, 176, 236, 340, 388 and 693 on the mandatory registration of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards and Senate Bill Nos. 365 and 1880 on non-expiration of load credits and data have been referred to Poe's panel. "Ang bagal at ang mahal na nga ng internet, nag-e-expire pa. We heard of instances when the data allocation of many subscribers expires in just one or three days," Poe added. The senator said consumers who have paid in advance for their cellphone load should have the leeway when to consume it to give them the full value for their money. Senate Bill No. 1880 requires a rollover data system for the subscribers of all internet service providers. The unused data allocation will not expire but will carry over to the succeeding months until the year's end. Despite being one of the slowest, a 2020 World Bank report found that telcos in the country are charging the fourth highest cost in ASEAN at around P315 per 500 megabytes of prepaid mobile connection - close to the internet cost in Singapore and Thailand where speeds are faster. The public hearing also focused on bills seeking the mandatory registration of SIM cards as a way to curb crime proliferation in the country. Citing the 2019 National ICT Household Survey of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Poe said that out of the 32,915 respondents all over the country, a total of 6,840 individuals have said they have been victimized by text scams or fraud by unregistered mobile numbers. "Kung susumahin, isa sa limang tao ang nabibiktima gamit ang SIM cards dito sa ating bansa. Ito marahil ang dahilan kung bakit 155 bansa sa buong mundo ang may SIM card registration laws," she stressed. Representatives from the government, telecommunications companies and consumer groups present in the hearing gave their position on the pending bills. Poe asked the stakeholders to submit formal position papers on the SIM card registration proposal to aid the panel in coming up with recommendations. Poe pointed out the need to strike a balance between protecting the individual's privacy and ensuring safety against attempts to abuse the technology. "There are more SIM card registrants than voters. The repository of information will be crucial to the success of the implementation should we have one," Poe said. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Emory College 2020 graduate Mary Bohn has been named a Thomas Pickering Fellow by the U.S. State Department. She plans to make the foreign service her career and credits Emory with encouraging the critical thinking and service needed for the work. Emory Photo/Video Emorys previous Pickering Fellows Bryan Cronan Jr., 2019 Tammy Crittenden-Kenyatta, 2004 Marc Shaw, 1998 Learn more about scholarships and fellowships Students interested in learning more about the Pickering Fellowship and other prestigious awards should contact Megan Friddle in Emorys National Scholarships and Fellowships Program. Find more information or schedule an appointment through the National Scholarships and Fellowships Program website. Recent Emory College graduate Mary Bohn, who sought global study before and during her time at Emory, has been named a Thomas R. Pickering Fellow with the U.S. State Department. The fellowship funds two years of graduate study Bohn plans to pursue a masters degree in international development or public policy followed by a five-year commitment to the U.S. Foreign Service. That puts Bohn on the career path she hoped for when she arrived at Emory having studied in South Korea in high school as part of the State Departments National Security Language Initiative for Youth. She graduated with highest honors in East Asian studies last May and credits Emorys focus on critical thinking and servant leadership with helping achieve her dream job. The academic rigor at Emory, the push to think beyond obvious answers, has truly prepared me to be a lifelong learner, Bohn says. I get paid to learn my whole life and have a chance to make a real, on-the-ground difference in the world. I am so grateful to Emory and the State Department for that. Bohn is Emorys fourth recipient of the highly competitive fellowship, which includes two summer internships, mentoring within the Foreign Service and other professional development opportunities. The State Department had previously selected Bohn for the 2020 Fulbright U.S. Student Program, to teach English in Indonesia. Due to public health concerns and travel difficulties from the pandemic, her assistantship has been pushed to this year, and she may be placed to another country. She will begin her Pickering Fellowship in fall 2022. Mary consistently demonstrated thoughtful leadership, empathy and cultural awareness, making the Emory community a more welcoming place for students from all backgrounds, says Megan Friddle, director of Emorys National Scholarships and Fellowships Program. We were thrilled to support her application to the Pickering program, and by extension her aspirations for a career in the Foreign Service. In the future, we hope to share these opportunities with more Emory students and alumni who are called to public service careers, Friddle adds. Growing up in a low-income family near Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bohn was long fascinated with the world beyond her hometown, especially in how different places coped with development and poverty. She selected Emory because of its academic rigor and opportunity to travel. She spent nearly half of her college tenure abroad, mostly in Cambodia, China and South Korea. Bohns fellowship in South Korea with the Halle Institute for Global Learning/Fox Center for Humanistic Inquiry, where she researched scholarly findings on collective identity and interviewed North Korean refugees on their experiences, led to her honors thesis. Challenging coursework and volunteering to teach English with Project SHINE, Emorys signature engagement program with Atlantas refugee and immigrant communities, sharpened her Korean and French language skills and helped her develop fluency in Mandarin. It also deepened her interest in human rights as the arena where her interests and skills could have the most impact. Shes fearless, says Julia Bullock, professor and chair of the Department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures and Bohns thesis adviser. I cant think of a better ambassador for American idealism and the practical mindset of getting things done than Mary, because she truly cares about people, she says. She is generally interested in the whole world. Since graduating, Bohn has satisfied her curiosity by working with two Atlanta-area nonprofits. As director of planning and development with Re'Generation Movement in Clarkston, she developed a leadership and global citizenship curriculum and mentorship program for the agency that empowers refugee and immigrant children through education and advocacy. She also is an AmeriCorps Service Member at the Global Village Project in Decatur, where she redesigned the mentorship program for 250 students and mentors and served as co-instructor in English and literacy classes for recently arrived refugee students. Serving in the Foreign Service will incorporate those job experiences and Bohns training into a job she has dreamed about for years. Every Foreign Service officer Ive ever met has been such a remarkable person and so passionate about promoting the best American values of liberty, prosperity and peace, Bohn says. It is the coolest job out there, and I am so very happy to have this opportunity to do it. Advertisement With four days left in the month, January has already proven to be the deadliest month of the pandemic in the US to date, as White House officials warn another 90,000 people could die within the next 24 days. More than 79,200 Americans have lost their lives to COVID-19 this month so far, breaking the previous monthly death toll record of 77,400 in December, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It comes almost exactly one year since the first US case was identified on January 20, 2020. Twelve months on, the US is now the worst-hit country in the world, with more than 25.5 million confirmed cases and 428,654 deaths. On Wednesday, another 152,000 infections were reported across the nation with 4,077 new deaths, according to The COVID Tracking Project. At least 107,444 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, with 20,497 of those patients in the ICU. But even as the death toll mounts, overall figures show severe COVID-19 infections are beginning to abate in many parts of the US, signaling an end to the pandemic's post-holiday surge and prompting some states to ease public health restrictions. The CDC predicts that the US COVID-19 death toll could climb as high as 514,000 within the next four weeks (bottom left). Some of the models it bases its predictions off of suggested there were be another 30,000 deaths by February 20, while others made more modest predictions of fewer than 5,000 deaths in the coming month The seven-day average for coronavirus infections is the lowest since November 30 and has fallen by more than 30 per cent from its peak on January 12, according to the data. Hospitalizations rates are also falling in every major US region. Federal health officials however, have warned that the pandemic may worsen again in the weeks to come. The Biden administration launched its new level-with-America health briefings Wednesday with a projection that as many as 90,000 more in the US will die from the coronavirus in the next four weeks a sobering warning as the government strains to improve delivery and injection of vaccines. The tone of the hourlong briefing was in line with President Biden's promise to be straight with the nation about the state of the outbreak - a sharp contrast to the previous administration. The deaths projection wasn't much different from what Biden himself has said, but nonetheless served as a stark reminder of the brutal road ahead. Dr Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the COVID-19 death toll is set to rise as high as 514,000 by February 20, meaning that an average of 3,697 people will die a day between now and then. Dr Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the COVID-19 death toll is set to rise as high as 514,000 by February 20, meaning that an average of 3,697 people will die a day between now and then In this image from video, Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator, appear on screen during a White House briefing on the Biden administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday She added that cases, hospitalizations and deaths were all down last week compared to the previous week. Already, the US death toll tops 425,000. On Tuesday alone, 3,990 more Americans died of COVID-19, leaving the 7-day rolling average of daily deaths at 3,287. The new briefings, set for three times a week, are part of Bidens attempt to rebuild trust and mobilize Americans to follow health guidance on the coronavirus and to break down public resistance to the vaccine. Wednesday's briefing was conducted virtually, with no shortage of technical glitches and audio gaps. Administration officials appeared on Zoom from separate locations, in keeping with the Biden administration's efforts to model best practices for safe work habits in the pandemic. 'This is not the news we want to hear but it's something we must say so we are all aware,' sad Dr Walensky, urging Americans that now is not the time to let their guard down, despite continued evidence that the US crisis might be plateauing. She said that the average number of new daily cases declined 21 percent from the the week of January 12 to the week of January 19. Daily cases have declined another 14 percent since then, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. Dr Walensky also noted that average daily deaths fell by 4.4 percent last week compared to the previous week, and hospitalizations were down 15 percent this week. There were 108,957 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to COVID Tracking Project data. 'We are encouraged by these trends, but our case rates are still very high,' said Dr Walensky during the virtual briefing. Persistently high case rates are concerning for two reasons. Just six percent of the US population as had at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and only one percent have had their second, according to Bloomberg data. That leaves 311 million Americans totally unvaccinated, and all but about three million with just partial protection. There are also at least 310 people with the UK's B117 'super-covid' variant in at least 25 states, and at least one person in Minnesota with the Brazilian variant that may evade vaccines. Dr Walensky said that the US is stepping up efforts to the viral genomes from people who test positive for COVID-19 in search of variants, but declined to say how many samples are currently being tested for significant mutations. That search has thus far been scattershot. The hour-long briefing Wednesday by the team charged by President Joe Biden with ending the pandemic, was meant to deliver on his promise of 'leveling' with the American people about the state of the outbreak that has already claimed more than 425,000 US. lives. It marked a sharp contrast from what had become the Trump show, in the last administration, when public health officials were repeatedly undermined by a president who shared his unproven ideas without hesitation. The striking deaths projection wasn't much different from what Biden himself has said, but nonetheless served as a stark reminder of the brutal road ahead. Wednesday's briefing was conducted virtually, rather than in person at the White House, to allow for questions from health journalists and to maintain a set timing no matter the situation in the West Wing. But it was not without technical glitches. It featured Jeff Zients, the Biden administrations coordinator for pandemic response; his deputy, Andy Slavitt; Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert; Dr Marcella Nunez-Smith, the chair of Bidens COVID-19 equality task force, and Dr Rochelle Walensky, Biden's new CDC director. 'The White House respects and will follow the science, and the scientists will speak independently,' said Slavitt. New cases have been on the decline over the past week in 42 states, according to COVID Tracking Project data. New cases have been on the decline over the past week in 42 states (green), according to COVID Tracking Project data. Cases are stable everywhere else, with the exception of the territory of the Northern Mariana Islands, where cases are rising (red) Hospitalizations have declined significantly, but in California (pictured) there is still zero ICU bed availability in both the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California regions COVID Tracking Project shows no increases in the number of cases in other states. Johns Hopkins University data shows an increase only in Rhode Island. CDC's forecast does not specify which states, but says that death rates are declining and projectected to continue to trend downward in 10 jurisdictions. In some states, things are going so well that governments are beginning to lift restrictions for the first time in months. Chicago lifted its tough restrictions barring even outdoor dining and drinking over the weekend, after Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she'd rather people gather outside where they can be seen and subject to some enforcement of rules. Stay-at-home orders in California were lifted this week after more than a month of lockdowns for much of the state - even though at least two regions have no ICU beds available. Michigan residents will get to dine and drink indoors for the first time since October with restaurants and bars reopening at 25 percent capacity beginning February 1. However, the presence of variants threatens to undermine that progress, as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is well aware. 'We're in a stronger position because we've taken this pause,' Whitmer said. 'But we are also very mindful of the fact that this variant is now here in Michigan. It poses a real threat.' Michigan has at least 17 known cases of the UK 'super-covid' variant. The UK 's B117 variant could become dominant in the US by March, despite the currently low case rate, CDC said last week. But it is the least of America's variant worries, Dr Fauci said. Dr Fauci told reporters there was reason to be concerned about the impact of some coronavirus mutations on vaccines, but that scientists have plenty of options for adjustments to maintain the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments. Dr Fauci said there was particular concern about the so-called South African variant, because lab tests have shown that it can diminish the protective power of the vaccines approved to date. Dr Rochelle Walensky warned that while the current trends are good, COVID-19 deaths could surpasse 514,000 next month (left). Dr Anthony Fauci said the South African variant is concerning, but that data from Johnson & Johnson's vaccine trials in South Africa should soon give an indication of how well vaccines will work against the new variant (right) In this Jan. 26, 2021, photo, President Joe Biden holds his face mask as he speaks on COVID-19, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Biden is dispatching the nation's top scientists and public health experts to regularly brief the American public about the pandemic. Beginning Jan. 27, the experts will host briefings three times a week on the state of the outbreak and efforts to control it. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) He stressed that the level of protection provided was still well within what he called the 'cushion' of vaccine effectiveness, but added that the government was working with pharmaceutical companies on potential 'booster' shots for the new variants. Zients, who previously ran the Obama administration's efforts to salvage the rollout of HealthCare.gov, used to sign up for Affordable Care Act insurance exchanges, repeated that the federal government no longer has a stockpile of vaccines to distribute. He added that the Biden administration was examining additional ways of speeding vaccine production, a day after the president announced the U.S. plans to have delivered enough doses for 300 million Americans by the end of summer. But injecting them in arms is a different matter. 'Most states are getting better at putting needles in arms,' Zients said, called on Congress to swiftly act to pass Biden's 'American Rescue Plan.'' The $1.9 trillion bill includes $400 billion for measures specifically aimed at controlling the virus, including dramatically increasing the pace of vaccinations and building out an infrastructure for widespread testing. Zients added that the federal Department of Health and Human Services acted Wednesday to make more professionals available to administer vaccinations. The government will authorize nurses and doctors who have retired to administer vaccines, and professionals licensed in one state will also be able to give shots in other states. Such measures are fairly standard in health emergencies. The new thrice-a-week briefings, beginning just a week into Bidens tenure, are meant as an explicit rejection of Donald Trump's approach to the coronavirus outbreak. 'We're bringing back the pros to talk about COVID in an unvarnished way,' Biden told reporters Tuesday, ahead of the briefing from his COVID-19 response team. 'Any questions you have, thats how well handle them because were letting science speak again.' Trump claimed center stage and muddled the message of the nations top public health experts in the critical early days of the virus and eventually largely muzzled them as the pandemic's mortal toll grew steeper. The new briefings are part of Bidens attempt to rebuild public confidence in institutions, particularly the federal government, with a commitment to share the bad news with the good. 'I'll always level with you about the state of affairs,' he said Tuesday, repeating a central pledge of his inaugural address. It's a message that helped carry Biden to the White House. As a candidate he warned that the nation faced a surge of coronavirus cases in what would be a 'dark winter'; Trump, for his part, falsely claimed the worst of the virus was over. .An increasing number of COVID-19 vaccination sites around the US, including in hard-hit New York (pictured) are canceling appointments because of vaccine shortages in a rollout so rife with confusion and unexplained bottlenecks Dr David Hamer, a professor of global health and medicine at Boston University's School of Public Health, said having briefings from health officials that are 'based on serious science' would go a long way toward improving public perceptions of the vaccine. 'There's a certain amount of vaccine hesitancy, and so educating people about the vaccine, how it works, how safe it is and how it can protect against the disease but also slow transmission is really important,' he said. The stakes for Biden, whose presidency hinges on his handling of the pandemic and the largest vaccination campaign in global history, could hardly be higher. Biden is pushing a weary populace to recommit to social distancing measures and mask-wearing, pointing to scientific models that suggest the practices could save 50,000 lives over the coming months. He has insisted members of his administration model best behaviors for the country. Those messages found few champions in the former administration, as Trump openly flouted science-based guidance from his own administration. Face coverings were sparse at his reelection rallies and social distancing nearly nonexistent. In the weeks leading up to Biden's inauguration, the U.S. set records in new cases and reported deaths almost by the day, as many states reimposed costly restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. Even so, Trump restricted media appearances by his top scientists and public health officials and continued to spread misinformation. Asked by CNN last week if the lack of candor from the Trump administration about the virus had cost lives, Fauci replied, 'You know, it very likely did.' The Trump administration ended the practice of regular scientific briefings early in the pandemic, after Trump expressed anger over dire warnings about the virus by Dr Nancy Messonnier, the CDC's immunization and respiratory director who is leading the agency's COVID-19 efforts. [January 26, 2021] Budget Direct Insurance unveils new 24-hour emergency assistance app for motorists and travellers SINGAPORE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Singapore's award-winning online insurer has launched a 24/7 emergency web app that makes it faster and easier for motorists and travellers to seek assistance. ? Available at no extra cost to all Budget Direct Insurance customers, the app connects motorists and travellers to an emergency assistance expert if they should need help in Singapore or when overseas. Budget Direct Insurance says it will be an invaluable tool for motorists and motorcyclists who have had an accident, a vehicle breakdown or even a flat tyre and need roadside assistance including requesting a tow truck. It will also provide extra peace of mind for motorists outside of Singapore when travelling in West Malaysia and Southern Thailand. A key feature of the app is its GPS capability which enables responders to easily locate callers. The online insurance company says real-time status updates can help alleviate much of the stress experienced by callers whilst waiting for help to arrive on the scene. Simon Birch, Budget Direct Insurance CEO, said: "We are really leased to be offering our customers this free 24/7 emergency assistance app that makes it faster and easier to seek help. It gives our customers an additional channel for contacting our emergency service provider and gives them more peace of mind when seeking help."? He added: "We are always keen to make life easier for our customers, whether it's getting a quote and buying insurance super-fast or seeking emergency assistance quickly and easily. We want to make the insurance experience as smooth and hassle-free as we possibly can."? As well as being able to handle emergency calls, the app offers a 24/7 live chat option. In both instances, customers will liaise directly with an emergency assistance expert. Accessed on any browser via a link on the Budget Direct Insurance website, the web app requires no download and can be used instead of an emergency hotline number, giving customers an additional option when it comes to seeking help. An added bonus, says the digital insurer, is that overseas callers won't have to incur potentially hefty phone roaming charges. The insurer says the app provides a smooth and hassle-free customer verification process too, making it faster for customers to seek help. It will also enable callers to make direct contact with Budget Direct's emergency assistance team multiple times without having to repeat their identification details.? The app was created and designed by Across Asia Assist, an emergency assistance service provider for Budget Direct Insurance. Justin Lai, Chief Technology Officer for Across Asia Assist, said: "Our app allows customers to get an immediate response without having to go through the conventional way of contacting the call centre and possibly being put on hold. Whether it's for an emergency or non-emergency request for assistance or advice, it serves to attend to every little roadside or travel assistance inquiry at any time." The emergency assistance app is a boon to the online insurer which prides itself on being an industry leader when it comes to implementing digital solutions. It has been at the forefront of offering customers the opportunity to use SingPass when getting a quote and buying insurance. It also provides instant policy cancellations and claim payouts to its customers via PayNow. Plus, the online insurance company for car, motorcycle and travel offers one of the fastest online quotes in Singapore. About Budget Direct Insurance Budget Direct Insurance is an award-winning online digital insurance company. An independent consumer research study found that Budget Direct offers the cheapest comprehensive car insurance plans in Singapore. It is part of an international group which provides insurance solutions for millions of policyholders worldwide. Their brands include Compare the Market in the UK, Budget Direct in Australia and Telesure in South Africa. Across Asia Assist (AAA) is a digital assistance company. AAA is a Core Partner of International Assistance Group (IAG), the largest alliance of independent assistance companies and providers in the world. SOURCE Budget Direct Insurance Singapore [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Supreme Court and the Indian Constitution allow peaceful protests, but the visuals from the tractor protests, which turned violent, are shameful. We saw the protesting farmers entering the Red Fort and deviating from the planned route on the Republic Day, followed by unfurling of the Kesari flag. The protesters did not realize that apart from insulting the iconic ramparts of the Red Fort, they have also desecrated the holy and revered Kesari flag (Nishan Sahib). This is not the way farmers protest and is not representative of all the farmers. Out of hundreds of farm associations, only 40 are participating and some were formed only in June 2020. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and the Consortium of Farmers Associations and hundreds of other farmers associations representing vast majority of farmers are supporting the farm laws. So, the reality is different from the fiction of farm protests. The protests have been on for almost three months over the three farm acts. The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 expands the area of trade. The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 defines dispute resolution among other things. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 removes stockholding limits on select items among other things. The farmers have been demanding that the laws be repealed without being able to pinpoint what is wrong with them. The Narendra Modi government defined them as much-awaited reforms and also agreed upon finding a solution. Incidentally, all parties had promised to make the very same laws that are being opposed now. But the farmers and their leaders rejected participation in the committee appointed by the Supreme Court or any other committee. After multiple rounds, the talks were bound to fail due to the rigidity of the so-called farm leaders. The protests and the tractor rally that led to violence and mayhem in Delhi were led by people who by no stretch of imagination were farmers. ALSO READ| OPINION | Democracy Has Been Scarred Today by Farmers' Mobocracy at Red Fort Is this the way farmers behave? My experience and interactions with them show otherwise. The people we are seeing as leaders of the protests are not farmers but millionaires or ideologically motivated. How do you explain the presence of Yogendra Yadav, he is not a farmer, or Darshan Pal Singh? The armed protesters riding on brand-new tractors and using foul language could be anyone but farmers. Everything that transpired between the police and the farmers shows this has nothing to do with the farm acts. I believe that farmers dont vandalize public property. They dont use the kind of abusive language they used on Tuesday. This is an attempt to defame the country at the global level. Congress leader Rahul Gandhis video went viral ahead of the protests, wherein he is instigating the farmers and labourers by telling them that they can take on China, by implication the police force. This requires investigation. He says the farmers can handle China and we dont need the Army. This is a couched and veiled instigation. The protest has lost whatever little sanctity it had. The farmers forgot that the government was open for dialogue. With the vandalism, they might not have a chance to negotiate with the government which had started giving concessions and rethinking changes in the acts. The talks are now bound to fail. I am also suspicious why some farmers would protest the idea of getting a direct benefit through electricity subsidy. This reeks of corruption. In our democracy, the government cannot withdraw the law. It is Parliament that can repeal it; the government is just the executing agency. All one can do, in case you dont not like the government, is not vote for them in the next election. Now, the so-called farmer leaders have to worry about how to resume talks with the government that was open to negotiation. ALSO READ| Antisocial Elements Behind Violence, Barricades Put on Pre-decided Routes During Rally: Rakesh Tikait The law on protest is very clearif a protest turns violent, the leaders who called the protest will be held accountable and any loss to public and private property can be recovered from them as arrears of land revenue apart from criminal prosecution. The hypocrisy of the opposition parties has been unmaskedthey are responsible for the violence even as they hold Tiranga in one hand and the Constitution in another. None of them seriously condemned the violence. Now is the time for all political parties to send a clear message that violence and mayhem cannot be tolerated and mobocracy cannot be allowed to defeat democracy. Rise above narrow selfish interests as nation is first and supreme. Every citizens duty is to be the guardian of the worlds largest democracy. We have to see violence of this kind is not repeated. MASON CITY, Iowa A Tuesday traffic stop leads to a multi-agency search and three arrests. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office says it stopped Angela Marie Rasmussen, 42 of Mason City, driving in a stolen car after leaving a home in the 300 block of 24th Street SW in Mason City just before 3:30 pm. That led to a search warrant being issued for the home and the arrest of two men, Rusty Lewis Kopps, 32 of Mason City, and Mark Edward Torres, 46 of Mason City. Rasmussen is charged with operating a motor vehicle without owners consent, possession of methamphetamine, driving under suspension, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Kopps was picked up on a parole violation. Torres is facing charges of possession of meth and possession of drug paraphernalia. All three were booked into the county jail. The Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office says other people were found at the home on 24th Street and more charges and pending. The North Central Iowa Narcotics Task Force, Clear Lake Police Department, Mason City Police Department, Mason City Fire Department, and Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement assisted with this investigation. Guwahati, Jan 27 : Assam's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday announced that it would contest the upcoming Assembly polls in alliance with its new ally, the United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), instead of existing ally Bodoland People's Front (BPF). The BJP fought against the BPF in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) polls in December despite ruling Assam together since 2016 along with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). BPF has three ministers in the Sarbananda Sonowal government. Addressing a gathering in Udalguri, bordering Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh, senior BJP leader and state Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that his party has decided to fight the Assembly polls in coalition with UPPL. "We would announce seat sharing with UPPL in February," Sarma told the rally, organised to celebrate the first anniversary of the signing of the Bodo peace accord with the Central government on January 27, 2020 in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. "It is 100 per cent certain that the BJP and UPPL would contest the assembly polls together. In BTC areas, BJP would contest the assembly election under the leadership of UPPL," said Sarma, who is also the convener of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) alliance of regional parties. The BJP on Wednesday also flagged off mobile vans to seek public views for the party manifesto. Chief Minister Sonowal flagged off the vans in presence of state party President Ranjeet Kumar Dass, Sarma and Guwahati MP Queen Oja. Party sources said that 50 vans would travel all 126 Assembly constituencies to seek public inputs. Addressing the gathering, Sonowal told the party workers to create awareness of the good work being done by the state government. Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry are expected in April-May. The consequences of the SARS2 coronavirus pandemic and its management have been enormous. Over 400,000 American deaths have been attributed to the virus; more will certainly follow. Even after almost a year, the pandemic still paralyzes our country. Despite all efforts, there has been an undeniable failure to stop cases from rapidly escalating and preventing hospitalizations and death. Heres the reality -- almost all states and major cities, with a handful of exceptions, have implemented severe restrictions for many months, including closures of businesses and in-person school, mobility restrictions and curfews, quarantines, limits on group gatherings, and mask mandates dating back to at least the summer. These measures did not significantly change the typical pattern or damage from the SARS2 virus. President Biden openly admitted as much in his speech to the nation on Jan. 22, when he said there is nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months. Instead of rethinking the results of implemented policies, many want to blame those who opposed lockdowns and mandates for the failure of the very lockdowns and mandates that were widely implemented. Ironically, all new policies will coincide with a decrease in cases, because that decrease is already evident across the United States. Hospitalizations in every age group, by CDC data, as well as deaths, have begun to decline. Confirming that trend is the marked drop in symptomatic COVID-19 patients coming to emergency rooms, down 40% from its peak almost a month ago to become lower than that seen before Thanksgiving. Despite that reality, is there any doubt how most of the American media will portray this in their analysis of the administrations First 100 Days? And lets be clear about behavior -- social mobility tracking of Americans and data from Gallup, YouGov, the COVID-19 Consortium, and the CDC have shown significant reductions of movement as well as a consistently high percentage of mask wearing since the late summer similar to Western European countries and approaching that in Asia. America has an internal comparison. Florida, a large, diverse, highly populated state, stands out as having one of the highest percentages of vulnerable elderly in the entire nation, one of only two states with more than 20% over 65 years of age. Florida widely opened schools and businesses months ago, discarded most mobility restrictions, and ended mandates. Florida did not eliminate cases, hospitalizations, or deaths, but Florida has outperformed many states during the recent surge, including those with warm climates, like California, that implemented longstanding lockdowns. Floridas deaths per capita has also beaten half the country as well as the national average. Even if Floridians on their own behaved similarly to people under mandates, why is that not a subject of open discussion and highlighted by the media? Separate from their limited value in containing the virus -- efficacy that has often been grossly exaggerated in published papers -- lockdown policies have been extraordinarily harmful. The harms to children of closing in-person schooling are dramatic, including poor learning, school dropouts, social isolation, and suicidal ideation, most of which are far worse for lower income groups. A recent study confirms that up to 78% of cancers were never detected due to missed screening over three months. If one extrapolates to the entire country, where about 150,000 new cancers are diagnosed per month, three-fourths to over a million new cases over nine months will have gone undetected. That health disaster adds to missed critical surgeries, delayed presentations of pediatric illnesses, heart attack and stroke patients too afraid to call emergency services, and others all well documented. Beyond hospital care, CDC reported four-fold increases in depression, three-fold increases in anxiety symptoms, and a doubling of suicidal ideation, particularly among young adults after the first few months of lockdowns, echoing the AMA reports of drug overdoses and suicides. Domestic abuse and child abuse have been skyrocketing due to the isolation and specifically to the loss of jobs, particularly in the strictest lockdowns. Given that many in-person schools have been closed, hundreds of thousands of abuse cases are never reported, since schools are the number one agency where abuse is noticed. Finally, the unemployment shock from lockdowns, according to a new NBER study, will generate a 3% increase in mortality rate and a 0.5% drop in life expectancy over the next 15 years, disproportionately affecting African Americans and women. That translates into what they called a staggering 890,000 additional U.S. deaths from the lockdowns. We know we have not yet seen the full extent of the damage from lockdowns, because it will last for decades. Perhaps that is why lockdowns were not recommended in previous pandemic analyses, even for infections with far higher death rates. To determine the best path forward, shouldnt policymakers objectively consider both the data and the totality of impact of policies to date? Thats the importance of health policy experts with a broader scope of expertise than that of epidemiologists and basic scientists. That necessarily means admitting that social lockdowns and significant restrictions on individuals are deadly and extraordinarily harmful, especially on the working class and poor. Optimistically, we are seeing the light at the end of the long tunnel with the rollout of vaccines, now at 1.5 million per day. On the other hand, using logic that would put Alice in Wonderlands Mad Hatter to shame, the new vaccines have been more frequently administered first to healthier, younger people instead of those at risk to die. Few states at the time of this writing have administered most of their vaccinations to people over 65; many have given more than 80% to low-risk age groups. And why is the fact that tens of millions already have biological protection after being infected with the virus -- so they should not be immediate priorities -- not even acknowledged? Just as in Galileos time, another problem is the vested academic interests. Many universities have overtly intimidated views contrary to their own, seemingly for political motives, leaving many afraid to speak up. Perhaps university mottos like Harvards truth, Stanfords the winds of freedom blow, and Yales light and truth need revision. Social media has piled on with a heavy hand to eliminate discussion of conflicting evidence. Without permitting, indeed encouraging, open debate and admission of errors, we might never solve any future crisis. America is now a country where differing interpretations of science in order to seek the truth is the new anathema. I fear that the science has been seriously damaged, and many have simply become fatigued by the arguments. That is even worse, because fatigue will allow fallacy to triumph over truth. Perhaps Harvard Medical School Professor Martin Kulldorff was correct when he lamented, After 300 years, the Age of Enlightenment has ended. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE Even before schools reopen, New Mexico lawmakers are mapping out how to help students catch up next year after a lack of in-person learning over the past 10 months. One possibility began moving through the Capitol on Wednesday a $139 million plan requiring schools to extend the next academic year by either 10 or 25 days, depending on which program they opt into and the age of the students. Teachers would be paid for the extra work, and districts would decide when to add the days. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, said its critical to give students more instructional time a strategy with a proven record, she said, of boosting academic achievement. This bill is designed to be as flexible as possible, Stewart told a committee hearing Wednesday, but we have to deal with learning loss. Her proposal, Senate Bill 40, divided school districts and boards some of whom said the state should let local educators decide whether to extend the school year. At least one teachers union also raised concern about the legislation. We just continually mandate everything from Santa Fe, said Senate Minority Whip Craig Brandt, R-Rio Rancho. We just continue to take away local control. The proposal, he said, might lead to teachers leaving the state. Senate Bill 40, nonetheless, picked up bipartisan support and advanced past the Senate Education Committee on a 7-1 vote. It heads next to the Senate Finance Committee. The legislation would require public schools, including charter schools, to provide either the K-5 Plus program which calls for elementary schools to add 25 days to the school year or participate in extended learning time programs, which add 10 days and require after-school programming and 80 hours of professional development for teachers. We think those two programs are evidence-based have really proven themselves, Stewart said. Elementary schools could choose either option. Other schools would have to participate in extended learning time. Theres one exception: The requirement wouldnt apply if in-person learning is prohibited either because of a statewide executive order or a local resolution. This bill really looks at students and getting them back in person and getting them more instruction, Stewart said. Paying for the extra time would come out of a school reform fund. Teachers take-home pay increases about 14% when they participate in K-5 Plus and about 6% for extended learning time programs, according to state estimates. The proposal drew support from school districts in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho and Las Cruces, although some of them also suggested making the requirement more flexible by allowing districts to add extra time to each day rather than extend the school year. Other district officials said flatly that the whole program should be optional. Local educators know best how to meet the needs of their communities, they said, and some parents and teachers object to changing the school calendar. The mandate runs afoul of our guiding principle our platform that calls for local decision-making, said Dennis Roch, superintendent of Logan schools and president of the state superintendents association. He is a former state representative, a Republican who served for 10 years, through 2018. Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, supported the bill Wednesday but said she wants to address some questions before final passage. She feared the proposal would have the effect of penalizing districts that return to in-person learning, and some districts, she said, may already have enacted longer school years. Im really torn on this bill, Kernan said. In a report to lawmakers, legislative analysts said most research shows students will begin next school year behind because of pandemic-related disruptions to their classroom learning since March. A report by McKinsey & Co. found that students may lose five to nine months of learning by the end of this school year, with students of color disproportionately harmed, perhaps losing as much as 12 months of learning, according to analysts for the Legislative Finance Committee. Reports issued by the LFC last year also found that New Mexicos middle and high school students were failing remote classes at high rates, teachers could not find or reach approximately one in five students, and social isolation posed serious mental health risk to students and families. The state also faces litigation over the qualify of its schools. In 2018, a state district judge ruled that New Mexico was violating the constitutional rights of some students by failing to provide a sufficient education. New Mexico students remained behind national proficiency rates in math and reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2019. Amanda Aragon, executive director of NewMexicoKidsCAN, an education advocacy group, told lawmakers that its essential to increase students time in the classroom. She testified in favor of the bill. After the year weve had, Aragon said, we are going to have to look at pretty remarkable plans to get out of the learning loss we experienced this year. The requirements in Senate Bill 40 would be temporary, applying only to the 2021-22 school year. The $139 million in funding for K-5 Plus and extending learning time would flow to schools through the states education funding formula. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has launched a new high-level global commission that will examine ways to ensure people are at the centre of clean energy transitions around the world. The commission, which will be headed by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, will provide key recommendations based on its work ahead of COP26 in November. The new initiative Our Inclusive Energy Future: The Global Commission on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions was convened by Dr Fatih Birol, the IEAs Executive Director, and will be chaired by Dan Jrgensen, Denmarks Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities. Prime Minister Frederiksen will be the honorary patron. As countries seek to advance their shifts to clean energy technologies, the success of these efforts will rest on enabling citizens to benefit from the opportunities and navigate the disruptions. This includes social and economic impacts on individuals and communities, as well as issues of affordability and fairness. The new commission will explore these questions in depth, taking into account the need to see people as active participants in clean energy transitions in collective decision-making and through individual actions and behaviours. Equity and inclusion issues will also be examined, including gender equality. Clean energy transitions are gaining significant momentum around the world, and it is essential to their success that they be inclusive and centred around people, said Dr Birol. Many countries are now focusing on this issue and seeking opportunities to exchange ideas and advice. The high-level members of our Global Commission on People-Centred Clean Energy Transitions will lead a global dialogue to share experiences and enhance best practice. I am very pleased to see that the IEA, under the leadership of Dr Fatih Birol, has been strengthening its focus on green energy transition and now on just transition. Therefore, I am proud to lead the work in this new global commission and thereby help to ensure a just transition to more renewable energy around the world. International collaboration as well as social fairness is at the heart of the Danish government, said Mr Jrgensen. This new commission is an important contribution to secure an inclusive global energy system and putting people at the heart of clean energy transitions. We have to act now to fight the climate changes, but we will only succeed if we are able to inspire and include people in a socially balanced way, Jrgensen added. TradeArabia News Service Gov. Charlie Baker will hold a news conference Monday morning to give an update on the upcoming winter storm. LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Britishvolt, the UK's foremost investor in battery technologies, is further boosting the expertise of its leadership team with the appointment of three new members to its Strategic Advisory Board. Jon Sigurdsen, Chief Investment Officer of UCVO AS, formerly Portfolio Manager for DNB Asset Management in Norway and an expert in renewable energy investment has been recruited to the Advisory Board. He is joined by global banking expert Sebastiaan Welling, who is in senior management at the Commercial Bank of Dubai, and Sacha Dench, a world-renowned biologist, conservationist and Ambassador for the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species. Orral Nadjari, CEO Britishvolt "Jon, Sebastiaan and Sacha represent key appointments for us. They are joining our growing team of world class experts dedicated to putting Britishvolt at the forefront of the British battery industry. We are making excellent headway in our mission to build the UK's first battery gigaplant and are firmly on track. The expertise and experience that Jon, Sebastiaan and Sacha bring will be crucial in helping us meet our objectives." Jon Sigurdsen "I am honoured to be joining Britishvolt's Advisory Board and look forward to working with Orral Nadjari and the rest of the board. There is a clear lack of high energy density batteries in the industry and by building the UK's first gigaplant there's no doubt that Britishvolt will be a leader in the British battery industry. It will also be playing a crucial role in the future of the UK automotive industry, benefitting the entire UK economy." Sebastiaan Welling "This is an exciting opportunity. I am looking forward to supporting Britishvolt's board as the business rapidly matures and stands at the vanguard of enormous industrial and societal change. The timing of Britishvolt building the UK's first battery gigaplant could not be better. It's an essential component of change as we move to an electrified future." Sacha Dench "I am honoured to have been invited to join Britishvolt, to bring a combined voice for nature conservation and climate change to the Advisory Board. Providing large-scale battery manufacturing in Britain will not only cut emissions and support the UK economy, it will create jobs and help drive a rapid and just transition. "There are exciting challenges ahead and conservationists will need to work more closely with industry to drive the change we all need." Britishvolt's Advisory Board advises on all aspects of business growth, investment and strategy on the company's mission to build the UK's first battery gigaplant at a specially selected site in Blyth, Northumberland. Production of Britishvolt's world-leading lithium-ion batteries for the automotive industry will commence at the end of 2023. SAFE HARBOR Certain statements in this press release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements regarding our future business expectation intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the U.S. Private Securities Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, competition including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, equipment procurement, wage increases, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time contracts or time and material construction contracts, customer concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage international operations, reduced demand, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages related to battery service agreements, the success of the companies in which Britishvolt has made strategic partnerships, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies and unauthorised use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry. In addition, please note any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions we believe to be reasonable as of the date of this press release. About Britishvolt Britishvolt is Britain's foremost investor in battery technologies. It is dedicated to supporting the future of electrified transportation and sustainable energy storage, producing world-leading lithium-ion battery technologies. Britishvolt's aim is to establish the UK as the leading force in battery technology. It is working with leading partners and suppliers to achieve this because it is of paramount importance to the future of the UK automotive industry and the overall economic and industrial health of the UK. The company believes that the UK is the right place for its investments because of the strength of its automotive and energy industry, its expertise and history of industrial and academic battery research and development. Quarter four of 2023 has been targeted as the start of production in Britain's first gigaplant in Blyth, Northumberland. SOURCE Britishvolt A police officer speaks to youths on scooters at a roadblock in Amsterdam during a nationwide curfew (Peter Dejong/AP) Dutch police have said the fourth night of the Netherlands coronavirus curfew passed more peacefully than the previous three nights, which were marred by rioting. Even so, officers arrested 131 people, mainly for public order offences and incitement. It was calmer around the curfew on Tuesday night than the days before, police said in a statement. Underscoring the role of young people, who have been forced to stay home from school for weeks due to the countrys tough lockdown, police said that most suspects arrested for inciting riots using social media were aged under 18. Expand Close A man cleans up broken glass from the smashed windows in a fast-food restaurant in Rotterdam (Peter Dejong/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man cleans up broken glass from the smashed windows in a fast-food restaurant in Rotterdam (Peter Dejong/AP) The rioting has rocked the Netherlands, which has a caretaker government after Prime Minister Mark Ruttes ruling coalition resigned earlier this month over a scandal involving child welfare benefit fraud investigations. The pandemic is expected to be a key campaign issue before a general election scheduled for March 17. Neighbouring Belgium has expressed fears that the unrest could spread, with calls for protests against the countrys tough lockdown and its 9pm curfew mounting on social media. The Dutch curfew, which began on Saturday, also begins at 9pm. The violent demonstrations that degenerated in the Netherlands have apparently incited certain people to call, also in our country, for demonstrations against the health measures, Belgian interior minister Annelies Verlindens office said. Belgium, host of the headquarters for the 27-nation EU, has had one of Europes worst outbreaks. The nation of 11 million has seen more than 20,800 confirmed virus deaths. The Dutch confirmed death toll is approaching 14,000. "We've eagerly waited for this day. It was a proud moment to board our newest 737 aircraft and fly it home," said Alaska Airlines President Ben Minicucci. "This plane is a significant part of our future. We believe in it, we believe in Boeing and we believe in our employees who will spend the next five weeks in training to ensure we're ready to safely fly our guests." Alaska's first 737-9 is scheduled to enter passenger service on March 1 with daily roundtrip flights between Seattle and San Diego, and Seattle and Los Angeles. The airline's second 737-9 is expected to enter service later in March. Teams from across various divisions at Alaska will now follow a strict readiness timeline that guides the actions that must be taken before the start of passenger flights. The process involving rigorous rounds of test flying, verifying and specific preparations will take five weeks: Maintenance technicians will undergo training to become even more acquainted with the new aircraft. They will receive at least 40 hours of "differences training," which distinguishes the variations between the new MAX and the airline's existing 737 NG fleet. Certain technicians will receive up to 40 additional hours of specialized training focused on the plane's engines and avionics systems. Alaska's pilots will put the 737-9 through its paces, flying it more than 50 flight hours and roughly 19,000 miles around the country, including to Alaska and Hawaii . These "proving flights" are conducted to confirm our safety assessments and those of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and to ensure a full understanding of the plane's capabilities in different climates and terrain. pilots will put the 737-9 through its paces, flying it more than 50 flight hours and roughly 19,000 miles around the country, including to and . These "proving flights" are conducted to confirm our safety assessments and those of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and to ensure a full understanding of the plane's capabilities in different climates and terrain. Our pilots will receive eight hours of MAX-specific, computer-based training prior to flying the aircraft over the course of two days, which includes at least two hours of training in Alaska's own certified, state-of-the-art MAX flight simulator. That's where they fly several maneuvers specific to the aircraft and better understand the improvements that have been made to the plane. "Our pilots are the best trained in the industry. With the 737-9, we're going above and beyond with our training program, even more than what the FAA is requesting," said John Ladner, an Alaska 737 captain and vice president of flight operations. "We have high confidence in this aircraft. It's a tremendous addition to our fleet, and we're ready to start flying it in March." Deliveries of Alaska's 737-9 aircraft by Boeing will be flown with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which helps the aviation industry reduce CO2 emissions on a life-cycle basis. The SAF will be used on all MAX aircraft deliveries and will be supplied by Epic Fuels. Alaska announced a restructured order agreement with Boeing in December 2020 to receive a total of 68 737-9 MAX aircraft in the next four years, with options for an additional 52 planes. The airline is scheduled to receive 13 planes this year; 30 in 2022; 13 in 2023; and 12 in 2024. The agreement incorporates Alaska's announcement last November to lease 13 737-9 aircraft as part of a separate transaction. These 68 aircraft will largely replace Alaska's Airbus fleet and move the airline substantially toward a single, mainline fleet that's more efficient, profitable and environmentally friendly. The 737-9 will enhance the guest experience and support the company's growth. Learn more about Alaska's confidence in the safety and certification of the MAX at alaskaair.com/737MAX. Editor's Note: Broadcast quality video of the delivery flight and interviews with Minicucci; pilot Capt. Chris Kipp; and Constance von Muehlen, SVP of maintenance and engineering, along with high resolution photographs of the flight, can be downloaded for use. About Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines and its regional partners serve more than 115 destinations across the United States and North America. The airline provides essential air service for our guests along with moving crucial cargo shipments, while emphasizing Next-Level Care. Alaska is known for low fares, award-winning customer service and sustainability efforts. Guests can earn and redeem miles on flights to more than 800 destinations worldwide with Alaska and its Global Partners. On March 31, 2021, Alaska will officially become a member of the oneworld global alliance. Learn more about Alaska at newsroom.alaskaair.com and blog.alaskaair.com. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK). SOURCE Alaska Airlines Related Links http://www.alaskaair.com Loading the player... Johnson & Johnson likely to report COVID-19 vaccine data next week Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said it expected to report eagerly-awaited data on its Covid-19 vaccine early next week, and that it would be able to meet the delivery target for doses to countries with which it had signed supply agreements. Public health officials are increasingly counting on single-dose options like the one being tested by J&J to simplify and boost inoculations Economies must fight inequality, it's only way out of COVID-19 pandemic: Macron French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised on the need for an economy that fights inequality as the means to move out of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the virtual Davos Agenda Summit on Tuesday, Macron urged companies to play an active role in reducing inequality within society. Farmers stick to core demands; say no plans to abandon march to Parliament on Budget day Disassociating themselves from Tuesday's violence, farmers' unions have expressed their determination that they will continue with their protests themselves. The unions said there are no plans to abandon the march to Parliament on Budget Day. Union leaders have not given up their core demands--repeal of laws and legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP). Budget 2021: Icra warns against fiscal tightening, pegs fiscal deficit at 5% Calling for a growth-oriented Budget, rating agency Icra on Monday warned against sharp fiscal tightening by the Centre and the states as it would temper the economic recovery, and projected a 5 per cent fiscal deficit for the next financial year. For the current financial year 2020-21, it forecasts a 7.5 per cent fiscal gap for the Centre and 4.7 per cent for the states, totalling the combined fiscal deficits at 12.2 per cent. IMF sees Indian economy growing 11.5% in 2021 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday revised upwards the growth forecast for Indian economy to 11.5 per cent in 2021, making it the only major economy expected to register a double-digit growth amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. In its World Economic Outlook Update, the IMF revised higher the forecast for India's growth in 2021 by 2.7 percentage points, "reflecting carryover from a stronger-than-expected recovery in 2020 after lockdowns were eased". However, it warned about surge in coronavirus infections, and said strong multilateral cooperation is required to bring the pandemic under control everywhere After containment zones, Google Maps will now show when and where to get COVID-19 vaccine Google, in October 2020, rolled out a feature that enables users to see containment zones on Google Maps, to make travelling convenient for users. Now, Google is rolling out a feature on Google Maps and Search that will give users more information on vaccination sites near them. As of now, the feature is being rolled out in the US and will roll out in the rest of the countries later. Engine No. 1, the new activist investor firm seeking long-term policy changes at Exxon, said on Wednesday it had formally nominated four independent director candidates to the supermajors board, continuing shareholder pressure on the biggest U.S. oil and gas firm to start thinking of its business in the energy transition. Investors increasingly want to see companies focused on the long-term and ExxonMobil is no exception. We believe that ExxonMobils Board needs new members who have proven success positioning energy companies for today as well as tomorrow, and who are sufficiently independent from the current Board to ensure a clean break from a strategy and mindset that have led to years of value destruction and poorly positioned the Company for the future, Engine No. 1 said. The investor firm sent a letter to Exxon last month demanding that the supermajor reinvent itself for much-needed change. The activist investorwhich has the backing of California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), the second-largest U.S. pension fund and owner of over $300 million in value of Exxon stock - seeks greater long-term discipline in capital allocation, as well as a sustainable plan for value creation in the changing world. Related: Why Gazprom Cut Gas Supply To Europe Amid Rising Prices Days after the investor firm demanded changes and announced it would be nominating candidates for independent directors, Exxon said it plans to reduce the intensity of the greenhouse gas emissions from its operated upstream assets by 15 to 20 percent by 2025, in support of the Paris Agreement. Earlier this month, the supermajor also released an Energy and Carbon Summary that, for the first time in the companys history, makes public the amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced across its value chainso-called Scope 3 emissions. While recently ExxonMobil has taken incremental steps in the face of financial and shareholder pressure, we believe a reactive short-term approach is no substitute for a proactive long-term strategy that addresses the threats and opportunities facing the Company in a changing world, Engine No. 1 said today. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:25:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's economy is projected to rebound by four percent in 2021 after experiencing a sharp contraction of minus 3.1 percent last year due to the impact of COVID-19, Economy and Finance Ministry's standing secretary of state Vongsey Vissoth said here on Wednesday. The Southeast Asian country's economy is mainly driven by garment and footwear exports, tourism, construction, and agriculture. "Growth in all sectors is forecast to bounce back this year after experiencing a recession last year due to the COVID-19," he said at a forum on Cambodia's economic outlook. Vissoth said the recently-signed Cambodia-China Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) free trade deal will be a key contributor to reboot the kingdom's economic growth. "These pacts will provide us greater market access when they enter into force," he said. Meanwhile, he unveiled that the government had prepared a stimulus package of nearly 700 million U.S. dollars to address the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 in 2021. Speaking of the economic growth in 2021, Chheang Vannarith, director general of the General Department of Policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the industrial sector, mainly garment and construction, was projected to grow by 5.9 percent, service sector (tourism, transport and telecom, trade and real estate) was expected to increase by 3.4 percent and agriculture was predicted to rise by 1.3 percent. He said downside risks to the growth included ongoing spread of the COVID-19, rising protectionism, and uncertainty in trade preferences, among others. David Freedman, the country economist for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Cambodia, said the ADB forecasts better growth for Cambodia in 2021, saying that the kingdom's growth would expand by 5.9 percent. "For Cambodia, careful lifting of travel restrictions will help to revive tourism and related services," he told Xinhua. "Although the time frames for re-opening remain somewhat uncertain, the recent progress on vaccines approvals internationally is very encouraging." In the manufacturing sector, he said the ADB is optimistic about the prospects for a continued recovery in the production of garments, footwear, and apparel, and further growth in the production of travel goods. "We are also expected to see further growth of agricultural production," Freedman said. Enditem NORTHFIELD, Ill., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) today announced the appointment of Lorinda Burgess as a director of the Company, effective on January 27, 2021. Ms. Burgess currently serves as Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Americas Region of Medtronic Inc. In her over 20-year career with Medtronic, Ms. Burgess has held multiple financial leadership positions covering a range of geographies. Prior to joining Medtronic, Ms. Burgess held key finance and investor relations positions with Marshall Field's Corporation and BET Holdings Inc. Ms. Burgess earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from The Ohio State University. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Hamline University. "Lorinda is a seasoned finance professional who brings broad operational and strategic experience to our Board of Directors," said F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Stepan Company. "We are pleased to add Lorinda's valuable financial expertise to the Board and we look forward to working with her." Corporate Profile Stepan Company is a major manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in a broad range of industries. Stepan is a leading merchant producer of surfactants, which are the key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning and disinfection products and in agricultural and oilfield solutions. The Company is also a leading supplier of polyurethane polyols used in the expanding thermal insulation market, and CASE (Coatings, Adhesives, Sealants, and Elastomers) industries. Headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, Stepan utilizes a network of modern production facilities located in North and South America, Europe and Asia. The Company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol SCL. For more information about Stepan Company please visit the Company online at www.stepan.com More information about Stepan's sustainability program can be found on the Sustainability page at www.stepan.com Contact: Luis E. Rojo 847-446-7500 SOURCE Stepan Company Related Links https://www.stepan.com The Red Sox have signed right-handed pitcher Matt Carasiti to a minor-league deal with an invite to major-league spring training, according to WEEIs Rob Bradford. Carasiti, a Connecticut native, underwent Tommy John surgery last March after signing with the Giants and threw a showcase for interested teams last week. Nine teams attended the bullpen, according to Bradford, with the Red Sox ultimately winning the bidding for the 29-year-old. A sixth-round pick of the Rockies out of St. Johns University in 2012, Carasiti debuted with Colorado in 2016 and appeared in 19 games before being traded to the Cubs in June 2017. He made 11 big-league appearances (five starts) with Seattle in 2019 and owns a career 7.46 ERA in 25 major-league innings. Carasiti is the latest pitcher with big-league experience to be invited to spring training with the Red Sox, joining Zac Grotz, Kevin McCarthy and Daniel Gossett. The club also re-signed Stephen Gonsalves, Seth Blair and Caleb Simpson and invited them to big-league camp, so there will be a series of arms in camp when it opens in a few weeks. Red Sox add Lopez, Adames The Red Sox have signed two other minor-league free agents: infielder Jack Lopez and right-handed pitcher Jose Adames. Its unclear if either will be in big-league camp. Lopez, a 28-year-old native of Puerto Rico, last appeared in affiliated ball in 2019, when he hit .273 with 12 home runs in 96 games for the Braves Triple-A affiliate. A former 16th-round pick of the Royals, Lopez has played 227 career games at Triple-A since 2017 for Kansas City and Atlanta and will provide depth for the Red Sox at second base, shortstop and third base. Adames, 28, has never pitched at a level higher than High-A, spending seven years in the Marlins organization before signing with Cincinnati in March 2018. He hit 100 mph in a spring training game last March while pitching for the Reds and pitched in the Dominican Republic this winter. Adames has undergone Tommy John surgery twice, and most recently in June 2018. Related links: Boston Red Sox sign Daniel Gossett to minor-league deal; former Athletics starter missed 2 years after Tommy John surgery Boston Red Sox invite nine minor leaguers, including depth starter Stephen Gonsalves, to 2021 big league spring training camp Boston Red Sox sign Kevin McCarthy to minor-league deal; reliever spent last 5 years with Royals (report) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 MONTREAL, QC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Alphinat Inc. (TSXV:NPA) announces a profit of $27,509 for the quarter ended November 30, 2020 During the quarter under review, Alphinat has focused its efforts on improving its operating cashflow and on increasing solution sales including its pipeline of professional services working on delivering a number of showcase projects to de-risk the purchase decision of clients and to re-enforce the sales pipeline. We have also continued to work on expanding our distribution channels and on diversifying our offerings including security and automation features. In order to accelerate future growth, Alphinat has focused on four main areas of solution development: 1) SmartGuide Portal Edition for Dynamics 3651, has optimized the way that clients can now create and deploy online services on top of Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM solutions. This offering is available in SaaS mode as well as on-premises; 2) SmartGuide GreenHouse Gas Registry is a green fintech solution allowing governments and industry to work together in reducing the harmful effects of greenhouse gases; 3) SmartGuide Municipal Cloud aims at offering unparalleled productivity to municipalities. Municipalities will be able to choose from a catalogue of pre-built applications, further accelerating the speed at which they can deploy citizen-centric services. These services include service requests, permitting and licensing as well as numerous other citizen-facing services and internal applications. 4) SmartGuide CIVIC Portal for Amanda2 is a derivative of the Municipal Cloud solution front ending a partner solution for an improved user experience for both the client cities and their citizens be it on-premises on in a secure-cloud offering. The company pursues its commercialization efforts with partners at various departments and agencies of G7 governments being federal, state and municipalities levels. Furthermore, the company continues to be involved in supporting its partners delivering solutions to government clients. Alphinat is evolvinging its partnership strategy with consulting firms and systems integrators to promote and ensure resale and delivery of SmartGuide, as well as with independent software vendors for OEM agreements and with other partners for SaaS services. Management believes that these agreements will help continue to reduce the sales cycle of the company's products while giving it additional exposure to new potential clients. For the 3-month period ended November 30, 2020, the Company recorded total revenue of $316,594 compared to $240,706 for the same period ended November 30, 2019. The net income for the 3 month period ended November 30, 2020 amounted to $27,509 or $0.0004 per outstanding common share compared to earnings of $40,064 or $$0.001 per outstanding common share for the 3-month period ended November 30, 2019. Alphinat's financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended November 30, 2020 can be found on SEDAR, at www.sedar.com. "SmartGuide is designed to be compatible with leading cloud providers, enabling clients to deploy multiple application solutions on the same instance while taking full advantage of the dynamic provision for work loads needed." says Denis Michaud, Alphinat Chief Solutions and Security Officer "The SmartGuide platform is designed to allow for enterprise-level security and control over the applications it creates, including compatibility with features such as, AI, blockchain, encryption and two+ factor authentication that are specifically designed to thwart information and identity theft" he adds The company announces that subsequent to the period ending November 30, 2020 it has been retained on a Government of Canada project in the automation of audit processes to better enhance interoperability and digital services for a department and the company continues to work with two of its partners for several submissions for the municipal market. As at January 26th, 2021 the Board of Directors has issued 1,975,000 share purchase options to employees and directors of the company under the company's Stock Option Plan. These options have a expire in three years have a strike price of $0.12. They have been issued as a non-cash encentive, long term retention and compensations for their successes and efforts. The company continues to engage in assisting its project delivery partners with the Canadian federal governments and the company has applied for and received a loan of $ 20,000 under the CEBA program. About Alphinat At Alphinat, we are driven by the passion to make interoperable application development easy for everyone. It always struck us as odd that the people with the vision of how a finished application should look and behave would only be involved at the start of the process. After all, what better way to ensure a favourable outcome than to provide those closest to an application's end-users with a vested interest in its success throughout its development? That's why we bring you new ways to empower the right people at the right time in the application development process. At the same time, we're constantly working to reduce the need to code in order to make digital service development and maintenance simpler and less error prone. So, whether you choose to develop your applications with the help of our low-code platform SmartGuide, kickstart your project using one of our pre-built apps solutions or engage us or one of our partners to do the work for you, we're here to help you deploy better applications in record time. Visit https://www.alphinat.com for more information. We look forward to hearing from you. Forward-looking statements Certain statements in this document, including those which express management's expectations or estimations with regards to the Company's future performance, constitute "forward-looking statements" as understood by applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are, of necessity, based on a certain number of estimates and hypotheses; while management considers these to be accurate at the time they are expressed, they are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and risks on the commercial, economic and competitive levels. We advise readers that these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other known and unknown factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. A number of factors could cause significant differences between actual results and those described in forward-looking statements. These include, but are not limited to, the Company's capacity to increase acceptance of its products on the market, and to penetrate new markets; the potential existence of defects or undetected problems in the Company's products; the Company's ability to manage its growth; the Company's ability to compete with others; potential commitments; maintaining the Company's intellectual property rights and defending against litigation putting those rights in question; the Company's reliance on the knowledge of its key personnel; and the Company's access to sufficient capital to finance its future needs. This is a partial and non-exhaustive list of factors that could bear on any of our forward-looking statements. Investors are advised to not rely unduly on the forward-looking statements. This advisory applies to all forward-looking statements, whether expressed orally or in writing, attributed to Alphinat or to any individual expressing them in the name of the Company. The Company is under no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether to reflect new information, future events, or other circumstances. Risks and uncertainties that bear on the Company are described in greater detail in the Company's Annual Report. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For further information please contact: Mr. Curtis Page Chief Executive Officer Alphinat Inc. (514) 398-9799 ext 225 1 Dynamics 365 is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation 2 Amanda is a registered trademark of Calytera Systems Inc. SOURCE: Alphinat Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626287/Alphinat-Announces-a-Net-Profit-of-27509-for-the-Quarter-Ended-November-30-2020 Sanjay said all parties need to come forward to help out in case of any danger to the Hindu community. ANI Hyderabad: BJP state president Bandi Sanjay said the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was following the ideology of Dr B.R. Ambedkar in its working. After hoisting the National Flag as part of the Republic Day celebrations at the BJP office, Sanjay alleged that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was indulging in corruption and taking commissions in a manner no other CM had done. He alleged that the state government was working for only one family. If Dr Ambedkar were alive he would have felt troubled by Chandrashekar Raos administration. Sanjay said all parties need to come forward to help out in case of any danger to the Hindu community. Those who are not interested in clearly stating that have no right to ask to ask the Hindus for votes. When a Muslim can say he is a Muslim, why cant a Hindu say that he belongs is a Hindu, Sanjay asked. He claimed that 3 lakh kar sevaks had sacrificed their lives for the construction of the Ram mandir in Ayodhya. Sanjay said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted every family to be involved in the construction of the Ram mandir. BJP workers had sacrificed their lives for the construction of the temple, while none of workers other parties had come forward to demand the Ram Mandir reconstruction. A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday gave a local man capital punishment for stabbing a female bus attendant, whom he had had affections for, to death last year. Nguyen Van Guong, 58, residing in the citys Cu Chi District, had developed feelings for L.T.M.T., a female attendant on a bus route between Cu Chi Bus Station and An Nhon Tay Bus Station in the same district, according to court documents. In late 2019, Guong started suspecting T. had a romantic relationship with N.V.D., the bus driver who was T.s only other co-worker, and regularly traveled on D.and T.s bus to spy on the pair. On March 31, 2020, Guong concealed a knife on his body with the intention of stabbing D. over jealousy. Guong took the 3:00 pm bus ride driven by D. and assisted by T. When the bus was running on the section of Provincial Highway 7 through Go Noi Village in An Nhon Tay Commune, the jealous man went to T.s seat and knifed her several times in her abdomen and chest. D. put on the brakes when he heard T.s screams, before opening the door for passengers to get off while Guong continued stabbing the female bus attendant. D. threw a plastic basket at Guong, who then rushed to stab D., but the knife only nicked D.s eyebrow. Not stopping, Guong stabbed his own stomach before going on to stab T. The man was only put under control by D. and onlookers after he got off the bus. He was then handed over to local police while T. died on her way to the hospital. At Tuesdays court, T.s family denied any romantic relationship between T. and Guong. The panel of judges concluded that the relationship between Guong and the victim was merely as acquaintances. As Guong committed a drastic, thug-like offense, the panel decided to apply the highest punishment -- a death sentence -- to set a deterrent example to others. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) heads to the floor of the Senate in Washington, on Jan. 26, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) McConnell Urges Biden Admin to Continue Whole-of-Government Efforts to Countering Beijing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Jan. 27 called on the Biden administration to continue building a whole-of-government approach to countering the Chinese regime. McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor, implored the new government to build upon the Trump administrations tough-on-China approach, a posture that has bipartisan support. The Trump administration helped bring about a long-overdue American awakening to the reality that we are in a strategic competition with the PRC [Peoples Republic of China], he said. These challenges demand fast and serious action from the U.S. and our friends, he added. The senator said the Biden administration must keep working with Congress to continue building a whole-of-government, whole-of-economy approach to checking China. The Senate in the last week has confirmed Bidens picks for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, and Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, all of whom issued tough rhetoric on China in their confirmation hearings. Blinken said that while he agreed with Trumps tougher approach to China, the United States should work more with allies to confront the regime. McConnell urged Blinken to keep clarifying the China threat to our allies and European partners; to focus on contesting their growing influence in Africa and the Middle East; and to hold Beijing accountable for its unacceptable repression in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong and hostility toward Taiwan. Under the Trump administration, the state department launched a range of initiatives to convince allies of the threats posed by the regime and Chinese technology. This included the Clean Network campaign to boot Huawei and other Chinese telcos from 5G networks around the world. So far, about 60 countries, representing more than two-thirds of the worlds economy, and 200 telecom companies have joined the alliance. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also slapped sanctions on many Chinese Communist Party and Hong Kong officials over rights abuses in the region of Xinjiang and Hong Kong. To defend against Chinese military aggression, McConnell said Austin should keep focus on modernizing our forces; deterring Chinese threats, from the Indo-Pacific to space and cyberspace; sustaining robust defense funding; and investing in defense partnerships across the world. We need Secretary Yellen to keep focused on the coercive manipulation the PRC uses to ensnare the developing world in its orbit, McConnell said, apparently referring to the regimes Belt and Road Initiative that pours billions of dollars in loans into low-income countries to help build massive infrastructure projects. The project has been criticized as debt-trap diplomacy aimed at saddling countries with unsustainable debt levels while furthering the regimes influence in these areas. At 53 actor Erik Thomson is ready to take a few more risks in his work. Best known for he genial parent roles in both Packed to the Rafters and 800 Words, and as Dr. Mitch Stevens in All Saints, hes about to unleash in ABCs anarchic new comedy, Aftertaste. Thomson plays disgraced celebrity chef Easton West (yes, really) who returns to his hometown of Adelaide after his latest public incident lands him in hot water. Thomson is also a producer on the series and tells TV Tonight he was ready to discard his nice guy image for one that may even leave viewers with a sour taste. It was always going to be risky. But I was at this stage of my career, I was really up for that risk. I guess well find out. The feedback Ive had so far is its one of those characters that people are prepared to love to hate, he explains. With any series, sometimes youve only got 5 minutes, maybe 10 if youre lucky, to state your intentions, before people jump onto something else. Youve got to come out with a really strong attitude, and a clear decision about what you want to make. So yes, that comes that comes with a risk. With commercial network television they just try and play it too safe. But I think if you try and play it safe these days, youre over before you start. People just dont forgive that. With commercial network television, it happens because they just try and play it too safe. I think those days are gone, personally. The series has had a lengthy gestation. In 2018 Thomson asked his agent if any writers they represented had any projects that may suit him? A treatment of Yes Chef was pitched to ABCs Rick Kalowski with Adelaide-based Closer Productions (The Hunting, F***ing Adelaide) coming on board to produce. The result is Aftertaste with Easton returning to the dysfunctional family he abandoned 30 years earlier. Across six episodes, juxtaposed with an anger management problem and skeletons of the past, Easton will be forced to face his flaws. It was a very rigorous, time-consuming process. A lot of things came up, and then we threw them out. We really had to work very hard to try and find the diamond in the rough and get the tone right. One of the things we realised early on was once you stop telling the gags about the chef, what are you left with? he asks. We were writing it at the time of Times Up and the Weinstein thing We needed to have deeper themes. So the character of his niece Diana (Natalie Abbott) became the foil to Easton. We were writing it at the time of Times Up and the Weinstein thing, looking at gender politics and the end of the age of the angry white male. Hopefully theres enough redeeming features to keep people through and then it turns into redemption. I dont think we ever try to excuse or justify the way that Easton responds to life. But we do look at how he was formed and the relationships with his family. But while the zeitgeist elicited lots of inspiration, no single celebrity chef is behind Eastons short temper. Gordon Ramsay is probably the one that you think about the most Gordon Ramsay is probably the one that you think about the most or Marco Pierre White the French influence on chefs, a kind of hierarchy of abuse. Were all fans of Chefs Table on Netflix, a fantastic series about how the food is an expression of the person. these men who are basically artists with food, but they come with an artists emotional make up. He denies Pete Evans was a touchstone but notes, maybe hell be the inspiration for Series 2. Also featuring are Rachel Griffiths (also an Executive Producer), Remy Hii, Peter Carroll, Susan Prior, Wayne Blair, Kavitha Anandasivam and Justin Amankwah -many of whom were forced to quarantine in Adelaide. Pre-production was halted amid COVID restrictions before filming resumed 10 weeks later. We just knew that we had to drive through, not only having to satisfy our investors that we could finish it, but I think the industry needed a couple of shows in the can to prove that we can still do it in a COVID world. If we failed we would have been in a much different situation than we are, with production. Thomson is particularly excited for the screen debut of Natalie Abbott (Muriels Wedding The Musical) as aspiring pastry cook, Diana. The two forge an old / new dynamic which challenges Easton at every turn. She just took to it like a duck to water We had a lot of fun. She just took to it like a duck to water. We had a very big search for that character and we saw her early on. Every time she came back she was better and better and just made it pretty obvious that she was the right choice for the role. She does a fantastic job. If the series succeeds, Thomson assures there are plenty more storylines to explore with the characters and, following from his Associate Producer role on 800 Words, he is keen to produce more television. I find it a lot more satisfying than just getting sent a script, learning my lines and turning up, he insists. Its an area that I want to continue to work in, into the future. Im getting a bit older and have 30 years experience in the industry, so I see it as a fairly obvious move. Its been a big learning curve with this one because we build it from the ground up. Its been great, but its been tough too. Aftertaste premieres 9pm Wednesday on ABC. Related ESA and NASAs Solar Orbiter took these images of Venus, Earth, and Mars on Nov. 18, 2020. Credit: ESA/NASA/NRL/Solar Orbiter/SolOHI Though they focus on the star at the center of our solar system, three of NASA's Sun-watching spacecraft have captured unique views of the planets throughout the last several months. Using instruments that look not at the Sun itself, but at the constant outflow of solar material from the Sun, the missionsESA and NASA's Solar Orbiter, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, and NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatoryhave sent home images from their distinct vantage points across the inner solar system. All three missions carry instruments to study the Sun and its influence on space, including cameras that look out the sides of the spacecraft to study the Sun's outer atmosphere, the solar wind, and the dust in the inner solar system. It's these instruments that, at various points in 2020, saw several planets pass through their fields of view. Each of the three missions has a distinct orbit, so their perspectives are different from both ours here on Earth and from each other. This is reflected in each spacecraft's view of the planets, which show the bodies in different positions than what would have been seen from Earth and from the other spacecraft on those dates. Looking back towards home from about 155.7 million miles (250.6 million kilometers) away, the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager, or SoloHI, aboard ESA and NASA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft captured Venus, Earth, and Mars together on Nov. 18, 2020. The Sun is located on the right, outside the image frame. Launched in February 2020, Solar Orbiter returned its first images in July 2020, including the closest-ever view of the Sun. SoloHI, one of ten instruments on the spacecraft and the only heliospheric imager, looks off to the side of the Sun to capture the solar wind and dust that fills the space between the planets. (Left) This graphic illustrates Parker Solar Probes position and view of the solar system on June 7, 2020. The inset shows the spacecraft and its orientation, as well as the location of the WISPR instrument on the spacecraft and the fields of view of its inner and outer telescopes. The slightly brighter region between the two fields of view is the telescopes overlapping views. The green loops overlapping the inner planets mark Parker Solar Probes path around the Sun. (Right) This graphic illustrates the position of NASAs Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory on June 7, 2020, when it saw most of the solar systems planets in one image. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Yanping Guo; NASA/STEREO/HI As Parker Solar Probe wheeled around the Sun on June 7, 2020, its Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe instrument, or WISPR, snapped two image frames that captured six of our solar system's planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. WISPR captures images of the solar corona and inner heliosphere in visible light, along with images of the solar wind and other structures as they approach and pass the spacecraft. The spacecraft was approximately 11.6 million miles (18.7 million kilometers) from the Sun, and about 98.3 million miles (158 million kilometers) from Earth, when WISPR gathered the images. NASA's Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, captured this view of most of our solar system's planets on June 7, 2020. Though this image was taken around the same time as Parker Solar Probe's, STEREO's position in the solar system gave it a different perspective on the planets. This image is from one of the Heliospheric Imagers on STEREO, which views the outer atmosphere of the Sun, the corona, and the solar wind, allowing scientists to study how solar material travels out into the solar system. The dark columns in the image are related to saturation on the instrument's detector, caused by the brightness of the planets combined with the long exposure time. Explore further Parker Solar Probe spies newly discovered comet NEOWISE Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, Brother of Michael Flynn, Tapped to Lead U.S. Army Pacific Pentagon officials announced that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the younger sibling of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, is being assigned to head U.S. Army Pacific. The chief of staff of the Army made the announcement as part of a range of general officer assignments, according to a Jan. 25 statement from the Department of Defense. Flynn, who was previously approved for promotion to four-star general, has been serving as deputy chief of staff, G-3/5/7, U.S. Army. Under the new assignment, Flynn will be posted at the headquarters of the U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, where he will serve as commanding general. The U.S. Army Pacific is the Army component unit of the U.S. IndoPacific Command and provides oversight and control of Army operations in its area of responsibility, with the exception of the Korean Peninsula. In recent years, Flynn commanded the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, after which he became deputy command general of the U.S. Army Pacific Command, according to his biography. Flynn is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College, where he earned masters degrees in national security and strategic studies. He also obtained a masters degree in joint campaign planning at the National Defense University. His awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal. Flynn, along with other Pentagon staff, faced scrutiny in recent days over the deployment of National Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol as a mob breached the building on Jan. 6. Washington city officials and the Capitol Police have claimed that the Pentagon was slow in responding to a request for help from the National Guard in quelling the violence. Flynn told The Washington Post he was in the room for several minutes during a call when local officials made the request for National Guard support. Then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who has since resigned, told The Washington Post in a Jan. 10 interview that a top Army official on the call, later identified as Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, the director of Army staff, said, I dont like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background. Piatt, in a follow-up statement to The Washington Post, denied making that statement during the call, while other Pentagon officials also denied that Piatt had expressed reservations about deploying the National Guard, members of which arrived several hours after the call to help secure the Capitol. I did not make the statement or any comments similar to what was attributed to me by Chief Sund in The Washington Post articlebut would note that even in his telling he makes it clear that neither I, nor anyone else from [the Pentagon], denied the deployment of requested personnel, Piatt told The Washington Post in the statement. Flynn told The Washington Post he left the room before the meeting was over, expecting that then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy would soon order the National Guard to be deployed. I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending as I believed a decision was imminent from the Secretary and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision, Flynn told the outlet. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has called for a major overhaul in the Coalition arrangement with the Liberals, again undermining his successor Michael McCormack ahead of a new parliamentary year. Mr Joyce, who said he does not want to return to the top job, said the junior Coalition party was being short-changed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison around the cabinet table. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The former deputy prime minister also fired a warning shot over climate change, saying the Nationals will not accept a 2050 net zero emissions target. We need a fairer deal from the marriage, Mr Joyce told Sky News Australia on Wednesday evening. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Thursday release December numbers for retail sales, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Sales are expected to sink 0.4 percent on year after rising 0.7 percent in November. Australia will see Q4 data for import and export prices. Import prices are tipped to fall 2.4 percent on quarter after sinking 3.5 percent in Q3. Export prices are expected to slip 1.3 percent on quarter after dropping 5.1 percent in the three months prior. The Philippines will provide Q4 data for gross domestic product; in Q3, GDP was up 8.0 percent on quarter and down 11.5 percent on year. New Zealand will see December figures for imports, exports and trade balance. In November, imports were worth NZ$4.95 billion and exports were at NZ$5.2 billion for a trade surplus of NZ$252 million. Singapore will release preliminary Q4 numbers for unemployment; in Q3, the jobless rate was 3.6 percent. Finally, the markets in Malaysia are closed on Thursday in observance of Thaipusam and will re-open on Friday. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. ROME, JAN 27 - Health Undersecretary Sandra Zampa said Wednesday that the government hopes to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19 in the autumn. "The aim we have set ourselves as the government is September-October," Zampa told Affaritaliani.it when asked about herd immunity to the coronavirus. "It has not changed and we are convinced we can achieve it. "To get to herd immunity, 70% of Italian citizens and foreigners who live in our country, and who have the same right to protection, must be vaccinated". (ANSA). The new coronavirus variant linked to some recent Bay Area outbreaks is one of several circulating in the U.S. and around the world that are worrying experts amid the race to vaccinate enough people to stem the pandemic. Concerns were heightened when the CDC warned in mid-January that the more transmissible B117 variant first reported in the United Kingdom is projected to be the dominant strain in the U.S. by March. On Feb. 9, San Francisco acting health officer Dr. Susan Philip said we should assume the variant is circulating in the Bay Area and that people should continue to follow public health measures. The less virus that is circulating and transmitting, the less chance we have for random mutations to emerge, she said. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Feb. 10 that two cases of the variant from South Africa, which reduces the effectiveness of some vaccines, were discovered in Alameda and Santa Clara counties. In late January, scientists at Stanford Universitys Clinical Virology Lab confirmed that the U.K. variant and the one from Brazil had been found in the Bay Area, including six confirmed or suspected cases in Alameda County. President Biden extended travel restrictions on Brazil and most of Europe, and banned travel for non-citizens from South Africa due to another variant circulating there. There are actually thousands of coronavirus variants out there, but a handful in particular are causing concern because they are more transmissible, and some may even be able to evade antibodies produced by vaccines. Many may be wondering how the Bay Area variant differs from the others. Heres what we know so far about the most discussed variants. California variants: B.1.429 and B.1.427 The California Department of Public Health calls these variants B.1.429 and B.1.427, but theyre also known as CAL.20C or sometimes referred to by a single mutation, L452R. The B.1.429 variant was detected by UCSF in January as making up a very high proportion of cases in several counties in the Bay Area and other parts of the state. Its related to the B.1.427 variant, which was detected mostly in Southern California. In early February, the state reported 767 confirmed cases of B.1.429, and 290 infections linked to the B.1.427 variant. Two studies from UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub released Monday analyzed hundreds of January cases out of San Franciscos Mission District, and found that the so-called California variant is more infectious. The team at UCSF found that people infected with the variant were more likely to be hospitalized or die. But experts say it doesnt seem to be as aggressive as the variant from the U.K., and more studies need to be done. The B.1.429 variant is linked to a major outbreak at Kaiser San Jose that led to more than 90 cases and at least one death. Scientists dont yet know if these variants are more transmissible than others or whether vaccines will be less effective against them. Original variant: D614G D614G is a variant of the original virus first identified in Wuhan, China, one year ago that emerged in Europe and spread to New York, and quickly became the dominant variant around the world. Current vaccines have been developed to fight this particular variant. In the U.S., the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been shown to be 95% effective against the variant. Variant from U.K.: B117 This variant was first discovered in the county of Kent near London in September, and the World Health Organization first received news about the strain from U.K. officials on Dec. 14. It has spread rapidly in the U.K., making up a quarter of cases in November, and ramping up to two-thirds by December. Studies have found that it is more infectious in both children and adults, thought to be 50% more transmissible than the original virus, and is probably 30% to 70% more deadly. Californias first confirmed B117 case, in San Diego, was widely reported in late December, though officials believed the variant was already spreading in the community. According to the CDC, there are currently 932 cases with the B117 lineage identified in the U.S. across 34 states, including 156 in California. These represent cases found through sampling, and not the total number of B117 cases across the country. Studies show that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines appear to be effective against this variant. Variant from South Africa: 501Y.V2 or B1.351 In mid-December, officials in South Africa announced the discovery of the new variant that seemed to be infecting more young people than the original strain. It has been found in more than 20 countries including now the U.S., where it was most recently identified in the Bay Area and Illinois, as well as Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina. The variant shares similarities to B117 in that it carries a mutation that could make it more transmissible. It also has a mutation known as an escape mutant because it might be able to avoid some vaccine antibodies. South African health officials on Feb. 7 halted distribution of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine after a study suggested it was minimally effective against the variant. The country will instead start giving out the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which has a lower efficacy in South Africa but shows better protection to severe disease after time. Moderna and Pfizer have said they believe their vaccines will protect against the variant, but they could prove to be less effective. Moderna is developing a two-shot booster while Pfizer has plans to create one too. Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Novavax are all planning for additinal shots aimed at fighting emerging variants. Variant from Brazil: P.1 This variant was discovered in Manaus, Brazil, and has led to an alarming surge in the state of Amazonas. It was reported by Japanese officials on Jan. 2 after it was detected in travelers from the Amazonas region. It was detected in samples from Manaus, the Amazonas state capital, in mid-December, and researchers published their findings in mid-January. The P.1 variant is particularly concerning because it contains two mutations: one also found in the B117 variant that could make it more infectious, and one also found in the B1.351 variant that could result in an individual becoming infected twice. Some scientists think it could even evade antibodies produced by a vaccine. It is unknown if the vaccines will protect against P.1, but Moderna and Pfizer expect they will have a similar outcome to the South African variant, which was effective but less so against the primary variant. On Jan. 25, Minnesota state officials announced the first case of the variant in the U.S. in a resident who had recently traveled to Brazil. It has also been detected in several other countries including Germany, South Korea and Peru. Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang Seguin, Texas (78155) Today Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 68F. Winds ESE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. London: Russian President Vladimir Putin says the world risks spiralling into all against all conflict, as he faces fresh pressure over the attempted assassination and imprisonment of his main political rival. Speaking to the World Economic Forum, Putin warned the coronavirus pandemic and widening economic inequality had created parallels to the 1930s and said a failure to deal with those tensions helped spark World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wanted to improve relations with Europe. Credit:AP Nowadays such a heated conflict is not possible. I hope it is not possible in principle because it would mean the end of our civilisation, Putin said. However the situation might develop unpredictably and uncontrollably if we sit on our hands doing nothing to avoid it. The minimum support price (MSP) for two variants of copra or dried coconut was increased by the central government on January 27. The MSP was revised by 52 to 55 percent over production cost. The move will benefit farmers in 12 coastal states, the government said. The MSP for milling copra was increased by 52 percent over and above the cost of production to Rs 10,335 from Rs 9,960. The cost of production is Rs 6,800. For ball copra, the MSP has been increased by 55 percent over and above the cost of production by Rs 300. MSP for ball copra is now Rs 10,600, whereas, the cost of production is same as milling copra. Also read: India's new agri laws have potential to raise farm income: IMF's Gita Gopinath The hike in MSP comes amidst the ongoing farmers protest against the new agriculture reform laws. Over 30 major agrarian unions are protesting on the outskirts of Delhi over the last two months, seeking repeal of the laws that were passed by the Parliament in September. The laws, which allow the farmers to bypass the mandis and directly sell their produce to private players, are being seen as a ploy to dilute the MSP regie by dismantling the agriculture produce marketing committees (APMCs). The Centre, in the past week, offered to keep the laws on hold for 18 months to allow the Supreme Court-appointed panel to submit its report. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the amalgam of unions leading the stir, rejected the offer and reiterated its demand for complete rollback of the new laws. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has reassured the general public of the efficacy of face masks, hand sanitisers and other PPEs that the Authority has approved for use by the public. Chief Executive Officer of the FDA, Mrs Delese Mimi Darko, cautioned suppliers to ensure strict adherence to the approved standards for these products, adding, that random inspections will be carried out by the staff of the Authority as part of its market surveillance activities to ensure compliance. She also urged the general public to observe the COVID-19 protocols of wearing face masks, regular hand washing and social distancing in the fight against the pandemic. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA issued a 48-hour directive to enable the processing of COVID-19 related products in due time. Indeed, statistics from the FDA revealed a sharp rise in approvals for cosmetic products from 98 products approved in 2018, to 1825 products approved in 2020. This increase is as a result of the growth in the number of companies that began to produce household chemical substances like antiseptics, disinfectants and hand sanitisers locally thereby contributing to increased employment opportunities. Outlining key activities for 2021, Mrs Darko indicated that the Authority is working assiduously on the approval of a COVID-19 vaccine. Once a vaccine is approved for use in Ghana, the Ministry of Health will issue a national policy on its deployment and use. The Authoritys Progressive Licensing Scheme (PLS) certification initiative which focused on the food industry last year, targeted 500 enterprises. Out of the target number, 56 SMEs being 11.2% have received certification in the ongoing process. The Authority indicates that in 2021, the Scheme will be extended to the local cosmetics industry given the quick wins achieved from the PLS for the food industry. The FDA anticipates that SMEs in these sectors will leverage on initiatives like the governments 1D1F programme and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) to expand their reach beyond our borders. To further increase the number of registered products namely-food, drugs, cosmetics, household chemicals, medical devices etc on the market, the FDA as part of its plans for 2021, has reduced its registration fees by 80-90 per cent since the beginning of last year. Companies are therefore expected to take advantage of this window to comply with registration requirements. The FDA also seeks to collaborate with GRA Customs and the Ghana Integrated Customs Management Systems (ICUMS) to provide protection for importers whose registration numbers might be used by other importers illegally to process FDA registration requirements. Additionally, the Authority reiterates that it will continue the 'Take Back of Unwanted Medicine (TBUM) Project with the aim of taking or retrieving unused and expired medicines from consumers and dispose of them safely as enshrined in the Public Health Act 2012, Act 851. The scope of this project, according to Mrs Darko, is expected to be extended to other regions. As part of efforts to win public confidence, the Authority has launched a customer survey platform, to obtain feedback from consumers and clients that will help in streamlining and improving on its service delivery system. To this end, the CEO, Mrs Darko, charged staff of the FDA to discharge their duties with professionalism underpinned by the Authoritys core values of Integrity, Accountability and Teamwork. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A man has rushed to take off an Australian flag displayed across his back after he stumbled across an 'Invasion Day' gathering in Byron Bay. The man was filmed standing in the playground at Apex Park, near Main Beach, on Tuesday, as the nation marked January 26 with both protests and celebrations. An Instagram story showed the man - who was wearing a black cap, white shirt and board shorts - hastily remove the blue, red and white flag tied around his neck. The camera then spun to the left, where protesters had gathered around a flag pole which displayed the Aboriginal flag. A man has rushed to take off an Australian flag displayed across his back (pictured) after he stumbled across an Invasion Day gathering in Byron Bay 'This kid is brave,' the Instagram story read. The man was then snapped sitting on the crunched up flag at a nearby picnic bench as he ate his lunch. 'Took it off, got embarrassed,' the additional story said. He was later filmed walking away from the bench with the flag in his hand. The stories were reshared by Lords of Byron Bay, an Instagram account dedicated to documenting the famous tourist town in northern New South Wales. Thousands of people across the country marked Australia Day on Tuesday by attending Invasion Day rallies. An Instagram story showed the man - who was wearing a black cap, white shirt and board shorts - hastily remove the Australian flag tied around his neck. The camera then spun to the left, where protesters had gathered around a flag pole which displayed the Aboriginal flag (pictured) The man was then snapped sitting on the crunched up flag at a nearby picnic bench as he ate his lunch Protesters are calling for the national public holiday to be moved out of respect for Indigenous Australians. Five people were arrested in Sydney out of a crowd of about 3000 people, who had congregated in small groups in the Domain to protest in a socially distanced and masked fashion. Conservative lobby group Advance Australia paid for the letters 'Aus Day' to be written in the sky above Sydney to counter the Invasion Day rally. Australia Day in the city began at dawn with the Sydney Opera House sails lit with Indigenous art, with the Aboriginal flag later raised alongside the Australian flag on the Harbour Bridge. At the protest in Melbourne about 5000 people separated into groups of 100 to abide by coronavirus restrictions. Thousands of people across the country marked Australia Day on Tuesday by attending Invasion Day rallies. Pictured: Protesters are seen at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne Scores of people attended rallies in Brisbane, Hobart and Perth, while a huge crowd in Canberra marched from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy to Parliament House to call on Australia Day to be moved. Nearby, Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered a keynote address at a flag-raising and citizenship ceremony on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, attended by the governor-general and other dignitaries. Mr Morrison argues Australia Day should be on January 26 as it marks the date the nation changed forever. 'There is no escaping or cancelling that fact, for better or worse,' he said. Mr Morrison said January 26, the day Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack and proclaimed British sovereignty in 1788, marked the beginning of modern Australia. 'Our stories since that day have been of sorrow and of joy, of loss and redemption, of failure and of success,' he said. 'We are now a nation of more than 25 million stories. All important, all unique, and all to be respected.' Driven by video conferencing platform Teams, more than 200 million students and educators worldwide now rely on products for remote learning, CEO has stressed. Speaking to analysts during the company's Q2 2021 earnings call, Nadella said that in AI, the company offers the most comprehensive portfolio of tools, frameworks and infrastructure. "We built Teams that brings together multiple capabilities. It brings together chat. It brings together meetings, collaboration as well as business process workflow, all into one scaffolding," Nadella said on Tuesday. "Whether it's SAP, ServiceNow and even Salesforce, all of these applications are getting integrated into Teams very rapidly and so that's the power of Teams as a platform capability, not just just knowledge workers collaborating," The CEO stressed. He said that the pandemic has shown the importance of empowering the two billion frontline workers around the world with the right technology and Teams is at the forefront. Teams reached more that 115 million daily users by the end of 2020. Nadella said recently that Microsoft Teams could soon be as significant as the Internet browsers and operating systems. Last week, enterprise application software provider SAP and Microsoft announced to integrate video conference and collaboration platform Teams with SAPs intelligent suite of solutions. "The case for digital transformation has never been more urgent," said Nadella. --IANS na/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A gay teacher has become a single father by choice after using a surrogate and anonymous egg donor. David Watkins, 42, from Southampton, Hampshire, is one of the first single men in the UK to have a surrogate baby after a law change in January 2019. He welcomed his son Miles, now six months old, into the world on July 19 2020. David met his surrogate Faye Spreadbury, 37, from Leicester, East Midlands, at a social event. They clicked and Faye, who is a mother-of-two, reached out to David and volunteered to carry Miles. David chose an anonymous egg donor who had similar characteristics to himself such as Caucasian background and blue eyes. Previously, only couples were able to apply for a parental order, which transfers parentage from the surrogate to the intended parents after the baby is born. This meant that single parents were unable to get a parental order and, theoretically, the surrogate could reclaim the child at any time. Fortunately for David, the law changed in 2019 to allow single parents to also apply for the order to become the child's legal parent. The teacher, who works with deaf students, said he was 'elated' when the law changed as he didn't want to wait to find a partner before becoming a father. Teacher David Watkins, 42, holding his now six-month-old son Miles. He is one of the UK's first single fathers by surrogate David chose an anonymous egg donor who had similar characteristics to himself such as Caucasian background and blue eyes He met Faye Spreadbury, 37, from Leicester, East Midlands, at a social event. Faye, who is a mother-of-two, reached out to David and eventually became his surrogate Previously, only couples were able to become parents of children born by surrogate. This changed in 2019 He said: 'I have always wanted to be a dad. I am a teacher and love being an educator and role model. 'I used to envy dads who came to pick their children up at the end of a school day and put their kid on their shoulders. 'I became completely struck with the thought of becoming a dad but never met a man who shared the same desire. 'As I approached 40, I started looking into how I could do it alone. 'I didn't want to waste time meeting someone for it to possibly not work out. How has the law for single parents by surrogate changed? When a baby is born by surrogate parental rights do not immediately transfer to the intended parents. Instead, the parents have to apply for a parental order which transfers rights from the surrogate mother to them. This process can take several months and can only begin after a child is born. Previously, only couples could apply for a parental order. This meant that single parents by surrogacy could theoretically see their child or children taken back by the surrogate at any time. In 2016, the government conceded that the law discriminated against single parents when the president of the family division of the court declared it incompatible with human rights legislation In 2019, the law changed to allow single parents to apply for a parental order. The Human Fertilisation & Embryology Act 2008 (Remedial) Order 2018 came into force in January 2019. Advertisement 'But I thought it may not be possible as it was very expensive for a surrogate abroad and I didn't want to fake a relationship to have my name on the birth certificate. 'I was elated when the law changed for single people and immediately started my journey to fatherhood. 'It is hard being a single parent but I wouldn't have it any other way. 'Being a single dad is quite liberating as I can raise him exactly how I want.' Speaking about his meeting with Faye, he added: 'Faye and I met in July 2019 and we instantly clicked. 'She didn't want to have any more children of her own but wanted to help others. 'I was so grateful that she approached me and wanted to help as she was amazing. 'I connected with her husband Lee, who is a musician, as I am a writer by heart so we shared a creative passion. 'I don't think it would have worked if her whole family wasn't on board.' After three months of getting to know one another, the pair began the embryo transfer process in October 2019. David had four embryos 'ready and waiting' at CRGH fertility clinic in London. A pregnancy test revealed two lines in November 2019. David said: 'They found a donor pretty quickly. I was extremely lucky as there can be waits of many many months for egg donors in the UK. 'I wanted to match the donor's characteristics to mine. At the time I felt it important my baby looked like me. I had this need to be instantly recognisable as his father. 'Having that clear biological connection was one of the reasons I choose surrogacy instead of fostering or adoption. But, now he's here, these things matter less and less.' David and Faye kept in regular contact and visited one another's hometowns during the pregnancy. He also left voice recordings for her to play to Miles whilst in the womb. David said: 'I have always wanted to be a dad. I am a teacher and love being an educator and role model' David planned to stay in Faye's hometown two weeks before and after the due date but on the day after he arrived, she went into labour David had four embryos 'ready and waiting' at CRGH fertility clinic in London before Miles' birth He said: 'It was quite strange describing my day to my unborn child but I think it definitely provided us, father and son, 1:1 time to bond. 'I will always remember the first time I felt him kick inside Faye - it was amazing. She was so chilled out and I never felt like she would change her mind. 'It was obvious she was just looking after him for me. It is like an extreme form of babysitting.' David planned to stay in Faye's hometown two weeks before and after the due date but on the day after he arrived, she went into labour. He said: 'He definitely knew my voice which might have prompted him to come early. 'I was in the pool when she gave birth and he came straight into my arms. I instantly felt a connection. 'I first noticed how curly his hair was - I was like 'wow that doesn't come from me'.' David and Faye kept in regular contact and visited one another's hometowns during the pregnancy When he was born Miles weighed a healthy 7lb 8oz. David says he has already told him about how he was born Surrogate Faye Spreadbury, 37 (centre), with David Watkins (right) and her husband Lee (left) at the 20 week scan David and Miles (centre) with the Spreadbury family. Father Lee with son Eugene, seven (left) and mother Faye with son Vinny, six (right) Miles weighed a healthy 7lb 8oz. Now, six months on, the proud father couldn't imagine his life without his little bundle of joy, though, he admits it can be tough without a partner. He said: 'It is exhausting and there have been times I've wished for someone to help with the night feeds. 'I am grateful to have supportive parents who help me. We FaceTime the Spreadburys to keep in contact. They will always be in our lives. 'I have already told Miles about how he got here - I am very open. 'My mother created a book for him with pictures of all the important people in his life so far. The Spreadburys are there and I go through the pages with him explaining his special journey. 'I've had a very positive experience and I want other single men to know they can do it too.' Trump's Unpardonable Pardons Another disgraceful performance from Israels president By Philip Girald January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - One keeps hearing that former President Donald Trump will be judged well by the history books because he was the only American head of state in recent memory who did not start any new wars. Well, the claim is itself questionable as Jimmy Carter, for all his faults, managed to avoid entering into any new armed conflict, and Trump can hardly be described as a president who eschewed throwing his weight around, both literally and figuratively. He attacked Syria on two occasions based on fabricated intelligence, assassinated an Iranian general, withdrew from several arms and proliferation agreements, and has been waging economic warfare against Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Iraq. He has sanctioned individuals and organizations in both China and Russia and has declared Iranian government components and Yemeni Houthi rebels to be terrorists. He has occupied Syrias oil producing region to protect it from terrorists and has generally exerted maximum pressure against his enemies in the Middle East. So no, Donald Trump is no antiwar activist. But Trumps most pervasive foreign policy initiatives have involved Israel, encouraging the Jewish states attacks on Palestinian, Iranian, Lebanese and Syrian targets with impunity, killing thousands of civilians on his watch. Trump has given Israel everything it could possibly ask for, with no consideration for what the U.S. interests might actually be. The only thing he did not do for the Jewish state was to attack and destroy Iran, and even there, reports suggest that he sought to do just that in the waning days of his administration but was talked out of it by his cabinet. Trumps pander to Israel started out with withdrawing from the nuclear monitoring agreement with Iran, followed by his shutting down the Palestinian offices in the United States, halting U.S. contributions for Palestinian humanitarian relief, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Syrian Golan Heights, giving a green light for Israel to do whatever it wishes on the formerly Palestinian West Bank, and, finally permitting paroled former Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to go home to Israel where he received a heros welcome. Trump, to be sure, was aided in his disloyalty to his own country by former bankruptcy lawyer Ambassador David Friedman in place in Israel, an ardent Zionist and a cheerleader for whatever atrocities Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to commit. Couple that with a Congress that gives billions of dollars to Israel annually while bleating that the Jewish state has a right to defend itself and a media that self-censors all the human rights violations and war crimes that Netanyahu unleashes, and you have a perfect love fest for Israel expressed daily throughout the United States. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter But even given all that, Trump the panderer clearly wanted to give one last gift to Israel, and he saved it for his last day in office, when he issued more than 140 pardons and commutations. Though other presidents have issued controversial pardons, no other head of state has so abused the clemency authority to benefit not only friends and acquaintances but also celebrity defendants including rappers, some advocated by the likes of the Kardashians, and also those promoted by monied interests. Most of the pardons went to cronies and to supplicants who were willing to pay in cash or in kind to be set free. It was suggested that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was engaged in the selection process and money was often a key element. Some might describe that as corruption. Those of us in the actual antiwar plus anti-surveillance-state movement had been hoping that Trump would actually do something good at no cost to himself, pardoning whistleblowers Edward Snowden, John Kiriakou, Reality Winner, and Chelsea Manning as well as journalist Julian Assange. Kiriakou has reported that when he petitioned for a pardon through one of Trump lawyer Rudi Giulianis aides, he was told that such an arrangement would cost $2 million. Bribes for pardons aside, it would have cost Trump nothing to pardon the whistleblowers and it would be a vindication of those who had put themselves at risk to attack the machinations of the Deep State, which Trump had blamed for the coordinated attacks against himself. This was his relatively cost-free chance to get revenge. Admittedly, there is speculation that Senator Mitch McConnell may have warned Trump against pardoning Julian Assange in particular, threatening to come up with enough GOP votes to convict him in his upcoming impeachment trial if he were to do so. Be that as it may, not a single whistleblower was pardoned though there was room on the ship for plenty of heinous white collar criminals. Former Dr. Salomon Melgen, for example, had his sentence commuted. Melgen, a close friend of the seriously corrupt Senator from New Jersey Robert Menendez got into trouble in 2009 when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) discovered that he had overbilled Medicare for $8.9 million for a drug called Lucentis. Two years later Melgens business was hit with a $11 million lien from the IRS and four years after that he was charged and convicted over more than 76 counts of health care fraud and making false statements. Some of those pardoned had Jewish organizations going to bat for them. Elliott Broidy, former finance chair of the Republican National Committee, had no less than five Rabbis vouching for him. Last year Broidy had pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent, part of a larger investigation into the Malaysian 1MDB Scandal in which Prime Minister Najib Razak stole more than $700 million dollars from his countrys state-run 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Broidy worked on behalf of Razak and was offered $75 million if he could get the U.S. Justice Department to drop its own investigation into the scandal. Another clemency beneficiary who exploited his Jewish links was Philip Esformes, a former nursing home executive who executed one of the biggest Medicare frauds in U.S. history. Just days after being released after serving four years of his 20-year sentence, Esformes celebrated his daughters wedding in a lavish party held at his multi-million dollar Florida home. He benefited from a lobbying campaign by the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch Aleph Institute, a group advised by the ubiquitous former Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz. The movement reportedly has connections to Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Another person pardoned by Trump was Sholam Weiss, a Hasidic businessman from New York who was sentenced to more than 800 years in prison in 2000 for racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering connected to a huge fraud scheme that stole $125 million from the National Heritage Life Insurance Company, leading to its bankruptcy. He fled the country but was subsequently arrested in Austria and extradited to the United States. Weiss had reportedly received the endorsement of from Dershowitz, who also recently has been involved in the Jeffrey Epstein/Ghislaine Maxwell espionage case. And, of course, there was also the Israel factor. For no plausible reason whatsoever and contrary to actual American interests, Trump gave a full pardon to Aviem Sella, a seventy-five year old former Israeli Air Force officer, who was indicted in the U.S. in 1987 for espionage in relation to the Jonathan Pollard spy case. Sella fled to Israel days before Pollard was arrested outside the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. and the Israeli government refused to extradite him. Sella, at the time doing a degree course at New York University, was Pollards initial contact. He had started working part-time for the Mossad intelligence agency in the early 1980s and received some of the classified top-secret documents provided by Pollard in exchange for money and jewelry. Sella had passed on the Pollard contact to Mossads agent handler Rafi Eitan, who continued to run Pollard until he was arrested. Sellas indictment was essentially meaningless theater, as is generally true of nearly all Israeli spy cases in the U.S., as Tel Aviv refused to extradite him to the United States and the Justice Department made no attempt to arrest him when he was traveling outside Israel. Trumps pardon for Sella as a favor to Netanyahu sends yet another signal that Israel can spy against the U.S. with impunity. The request to Trump for clemency came from the Israeli government itself and was reportedly endorsed by Netanyahu, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer, the United States Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and Miriam Adelson. According to the White House statement on the pardon, The state of Israel has issued what a full and unequivocal apology, and has requested the pardon in order to close this unfortunate chapter in U.S.-Israel relations. Was it a gift or merely a pander? Note particularly the inclusion of David Friedman, who as U.S. Ambassador to Israel is supposed to defend the interests of the United States but never does so. Once upon a time it was considered a potential conflict of interest to send a Jewish Ambassador to Israel. Now it seems to be a requirement and the Ambassador is apparently supposed to be an advocate for Israel as part of his or her mission. Friedman will no doubt be replaced by a Democratic version to deliver more of the same. And then there is Miriam Adelson. Good old Sheldon is hardly cold on the ground and his wife has taken up the mantle of manipulating players in Washington on behalf of the Jewish state. Money talks and so the drama in Washington continues to play out. Trump manages to make himself look even worse with his last round of pardons and commutations on his ultimate day in office. No one who deserved clemency got it and a lot of well-connected rogues who were willing to fork over money in exchange for mercy benefited. Business as usual delivered by the so-called Leader of the Free World. Two Spanish regions on Monday announced tough new restrictions on mobility as coronavirus infections continued to climb to new highs. On Monday afternoon the Health Ministry reported 84,287 new infections since Friday, the biggest weekend increase since the beginning of the pandemic. In the southern region of Andalusia, all provincial capitals except for Seville and Jaen will be under a perimetral lockdown. This adds to a growing list of municipalities under severe restrictions due to a 14-day cumulative incidence rate of over 500 cases per 100,000 people, considered an extreme risk scenario. In locations where the incidence rate is above 1,000, all non-essential businesses are also being forced to close. Starting on Wednesday, a total of 326 Andalusian municipalities will be sealed and residents will only be allowed out on essential trips, said the news agency Europa Press, citing regional health department figures. Of these, 144 will also see all non-essential businesses shut down. On Monday, the city of Malaga and seven other major locations in the same-name province had an incidence of over 500. These include the popular destinations of Benalmadena, Mijas, Fuengirola, Estepona and Marbella, which also stand to be placed under a perimetral lockdown, the regional daily Diario Sur reported. The move has yet to be published in the regional official gazette, the BOJA. The restrictions are due to go into effect on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday and last at least 14 days. Until Friday, Almeria was the only provincial capital with an incidence rate of over 500. But Andalusias rate has doubled in just one week to reach a regional average of over 625 cases per 100,000. Contagions in Andalusia, Spain and the rest of the world have multiplied at an alarming rate, said Andalusian premier Juanma Moreno, of the Popular Party (PP), at a news conference on Friday. Castilla-La Mancha confinements A shuttered store on Toledo's Ancha street in early January. ismael Herrero / EFE The government of Castilla-La Mancha, a large central region that includes the province of Toledo, announced that every one of its more than 900 municipalities is being confined, and residents may only exit or enter on essential business. Additionally, the overnight curfew will now start at 10pm, and social venues are shutting down, including bars and restaurants, day centers, shopping centers, betting parlors, social clubs, gyms, museums, theaters and cinemas. The restrictions will remain in place for at least 10 days, said government officials. These decisions are not easy or pretty. They are bitter, said Castilla-La Mancha premier Emiliano Garcia-Page, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), at a news conference where he also urged the central government to take action rather than leave all coronavirus policy in the hands of the regions. The advantage of having a single strategy in Spain is greater than any ideology or distribution of power. Citizens of Spain need to know that the same measures are applying everywhere, he said. A unified message is a determining factor in fighting the virus. As for the stringent new measures announced in the region, Garcia-Page said that we want mobility to be reduced to the bare minimum: work, school, essential services. We need to deliver an electric shock to the virus. Our hospitals are not at the breaking point, but we are starting to feel the pressure. New legal tools On Monday afternoon, Murcia authorities were the latest to ask for changes to the wording of the state of alarm approved by parliament in late October and due to expire in May. Like other regions before it, Murcia wants to be allowed to start the overnight curfew earlier than the current established window of 10pm to midnight, and it also wishes to issue stay-at-home orders in municipalities or larger areas with very high incidence rates. Faced with growing complaints by regional governments, central authorities said they are willing to discuss an earlier curfew at an upcoming meeting of health officials on Wednesday. The issue has already led to a legal standoff with the government of Castilla y Leon, which has unilaterally decreed an 8pm curfew in a region that includes major cities such as Segovia, Avila, Burgos and Valladolid. English version by Susana Urra. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, yesterday received the Commander of the United States Central Command, General Kenneth F McKenzie at the Riffa Palace. During the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister stressed that continued defence coordination and collaboration represents a cornerstone of the strategic partnership between Bahrain and the US. His Royal Highness noted the role of the US in promoting international peace and stability and reiterated Bahrains commitment to work with allies such as the US to further strengthen bilateral relations and safeguard regional security. Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa and Bahrain Defence Force Chief-of-Staff Lieutenant-General Dhiyab bin Saqr Al Nuaimi were also in attendance. ADVERTISEMENT Zambian President, Edgar Lungu has removed 246 inmates who were on death row and commuted their sentences to life sentences, a government official said on Wednesday. Minister of Home Affairs, Stephen Kampyongo, said that among the inmates includes 225 males and 21 females. He announced the commuting of the sentences during an event held at Mukobeko Maximum Prison in central Zambias Kabwe town which was streamed live on Facebook. Mr Kampyongo said this made the clemency of death to life sentences over 500 after 332 inmates had their sentences commuted in 2015. ALSO READ: 65 illegal immigrants arrested in Zambian capital He said the commutation of sentences of inmates would help to congest the section of condemned inmates at the prison which was meant for 50 people but now has over 400 inmates. The move, he said, was also meant to protect inmates from contracting COVID-19. In spite of the death penalty being on the countrys statutes, Zambia has not carried any execution since 1997. (Xinhua/NAN) EDWARDSVILLE People have plenty of questions about the vaccination process for COVID-19, and Dr. Lowell Sensintaffar has many of the answers. Sensintaffar, a family physician for HSHS Medical Group in Shiloh, has put together a list of frequently asked questions, entitled COVID Vaccine Concerns, that he has made available to patients and colleagues. Sooner or later, each of you will have the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination series, Sensintaffar said in the introduction to the FAQ list. I would like to address some of the concerns and reservations that have been posed to me in recent weeks so you can make an informed decision. Here are some of the questions on Sensintaffars list, along with answers and commentary by Sensinstaffar. For this story, additional commentary is provided by Dr. Paul Malcharek, an internal medicine physician and associate medical director at HSHS Medical Group in Maryville and a member of the Madison County Health Advisory Committee; and Dr. Loren Hughes, a family physician, and former healthcare executive from Edwardsville, and another member of the Madison County Health Advisory Committee. COVID vaccine development was much too rapid. I am concerned corners were cut. It is still experimental, isnt it? I understand the concern but allow me to allay some of that concern, said Sensintaffar, a retired Air Force colonel who joined HSHS Medical Group after retiring from the military in July 2014. Yes, the vaccine was developed in record time. Prior to COVID, the record time from lab bench to licensed clinical use had been four years for the mumps vaccine. What factors allowed the R&D to progress at such a rapid rate? There were several factors at play. Among those factors is the history of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine, which includes all of the COVID-19 vaccines. The technology for mRNA vaccine has been around for more than a decade, and mRNA vaccines against influenza, cytomegalovirus, rabies and Zika have already been studied in human subjects, Sensintaffar said. Furthermore, there has already been extensive study on the SARS-CoV-1 virus vaccine (SARS virus). They did not start out at square one in January. Sensinstaffar also notes that historically, the slow pace of vaccine development was due, in large part, to financial caution on the part of vaccine developers. They proceed very cautiously until they are certain they have a product that is scientifically, medically and commercially viable, Sensintaffar said. Governments, including the US and European Union countries, fronted many billions of dollars and euros, buying COVID vaccines far in advance, not knowing even if the vaccines would work. They underwrote much of the financial risk allowing the study timeline to be compressed significantly. Sensintaffar also pointed out that the cooperation between governments, academia and industry was unprecedented. You give money to smart people and let them do the research without restrictions, it allows for a smooth and rapid development, Malcharek said. Another factor was that recruiting subjects for Phase 3 vaccine studies was not the long, drawn-out affair that it typically is. Its really easy to sign people up for trials during a pandemic because everybody is wanting to participate to end it, Malcharek said. Last week Pfizer opened up their trials to teenagers, ages 12 to 18, and they filled all of their spots for the studies in three or four days. What about side effects and safety? Sensintaffar can speak from personal experience to answer this question, as he has received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine. His left upper arm was sore for a few days after each vaccination. I experienced the most common reaction to the vaccine, a localized reaction, Sensintaffar said. Other common reactions include mild flu-like symptoms (low-grade fever, muscle aches, headaches) for 24-48 hours after vaccination. These are to be expected, even desired. Localized reactions and mild flu-like symptoms are evidence of reactogenicity, the body mounting an immune defense to the vaccine. This is a good thing. Malcharek, likewise, has had both of his vaccine shots, as has almost all of his staff. A lot of my patients are surprised that Ive already received both vaccine shots, and I did fine with it, and I dont know anyone that has had a severe reaction to it, Malcharek said. Most of my office has received it and nobody has missed a day of work because of it. But are we 100% confident all safety concerns have been addressed? Of course not, but 100 percent assurance of safety in terms of very rare side effects or long-term side effects is absolutely 100 percent unobtainable, Sensintaffar said. Most medications, household products, cosmetics, and other things we use confidently every day are in the same boat. On the balance, weighing benefit and risk, the scales tip convincingly in support of receiving the vaccine. When the vaccine becomes available to you, please consider getting it. Im young (or older but have no chronic diseases that put me at increased risk). Why should I get the vaccine? Wouldnt it be better just to get COVID and get it over with? Sensintaffar notes that people who are asking this question are likely low in priority to get the vaccine and have time to think it over before they would even be offered the vaccine. He offers several reasons that people should receive the vaccine, including: Even though your risk of dying from COVID may be very low, the theoretical risk of the vaccine is even lower. The vaccine is safer than the natural infection, even for those at least risk. Most of those high-risk people who become infected contracted the infection from a younger, healthier friend, coworker or family member. While it is critical that higher-risk people get vaccinated, and you being vaccinated adds another layer of protection for these vulnerable people. No one wants to be a viral assassin. Be a good neighbor. Hughes, meanwhile, cautions that people should not let their guard down even after being vaccinated. Many people think that once they get the vaccine, they can stop wearing masks and not worry about exposure to COVID, Hughes said. But we now know that exposure to someone with COVID, even though immunized, requires the same quarantine period since a person can still carry and potentially shed the virus while their immune system is gearing up to kill it. Masking and distancing are still key. To compile its most recent top 10 list, Money said it reviewed cities with populations above 25,000, eliminating any location that had more than double the national crime rate, less than 85% of its states median household income or a lack of racial diversity. Also rejected were cities with a median home sale price that exceeded $615,000. Is Brussels really up to the job of providing Covid-19 vaccines for 450 million citizens across 27 member states? Taoiseach Micheal Martin reasonably insists Ireland would pay more for less by going it alone in a devil take the hindmost global Covid-19 vaccine market. It is hard to argue with Mr Martin on that one in the current climate, with a clear analogy between world vaccine distribution and Irish citizens more generally clinging to their health insurance policy details, rather than brave the awfulness that is out there without some kind of fallback. But amid impatience at EU vaccine approvals, some member states doing unilateral side deals and now fears about quantity and speed of supply, doubts are emerging about Brussels role. Earlier this week, Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher asked why the European Medicines Agency (EMA), based in Amsterdam, could not combine with counterparts across the globe to deliver swifter vaccine authorisation. Kelleher was talking about the USAs Food and Drug Administration and equivalents in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. He did not say the UK approved the first vaccine three weeks after the US and that we are still waiting until Friday before the vastly more user-friendly AstraZeneca/Oxford jab is cleared by the EMA. The EMA has an interesting criss-cross relationship with Ireland. In the mid-1990s, when a whole raft of EU supervisory agencies were being set up, Ireland strongly but unsuccessfully bid to host this one as something which could boost the impetus of the growing pharmaceutical industry here. Read More After Brexit, Dublin sought again without success to get the EMA when it was exiting London post-Brexit. It is now based in Amsterdam but for the past year it has been headed by Irish scientist Emer Cooke, who is the first woman to hold that post. Away from that digression, an EMA approval time-lag of some weeks is not something that will be remembered much if the EU successfully gets the vaccine supplies in quantities to its member governments in a timely fashion from next month on. And that is where the real rub occurs. Kelleher was somewhat ahead of the curve at the weekend asking about contract complications with the AstraZeneca vaccine just before this issue blew up into a major row yesterday. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it very clear vaccine suppliers must honour their contracts as infections are surging and many hospitals are overwhelmed. Amid an evident degradation of trust, the EU accused AstraZeneca of failing to guarantee vaccine deliveries without a valid explanation. Europe invested billions to help develop the worlds first Covid-19 vaccines. And now the companies must deliver. They must honour their obligations, von der Leyen said. The EU has invested 2.7bn in vaccine research and production for the drug companies, and the EU Commission president is adamant that she means business. The EU has committed to buying 300 million AstraZeneca doses with an option on another 100 million extra shots. But late last week, the company said it was planning to reduce a first contingent of 80 million down to 31 million. German Health Minister Jens Spahn backed Ms von der Leyen, saying it was about the EU getting its fair share. But from London came the gloating noise of a Brexit grudge rematch as Boris Johnsons government finally got its act together on vaccination. Now a Brexit re-match will help absolutely nobody. William & Mary receives record number of applications for Class of 2025 Despite the unprecedented challenges that come with managing admissions during a pandemic, this years applicant pool for William & Marys Class of 2025 is 23% higher than last years, totaling approximately 17,400 applications compared to 14,200 last year. It is the first time applications for the undergraduate class has topped 15,000. It is also the first time admission programs for the new class, including tours and student interviews, were largely conducted virtually. COVID-19 forced Undergraduate Admission to completely reimagine its outreach, communications and recruitment efforts. As a result of the pandemic, this year brought with it unprecedented challenges and uncertainty, said Tim Wolfe, associate vice president for enrollment and dean of admission. Despite this, I am pleased to see that not only are our overall application numbers up but that they appear to be up somewhat consistently across the board. In addition to an overall increase, applications from first-generation students and students of color are also up by more than 20%, Wolfe said. To see such an exceptional, record-breaking applicant pool ensures that the Class of 2025 will be incredibly strong and diverse, Wolfe said. An unparalleled application cycle Wolfe noted several internal and external influences that likely contributed to the growth in applications, including that William & Mary offered a test-optional application process for the first time this year. Additionally, he said it is possible with the pandemic and fewer opportunities for on-campus visits and tours that students simply submitted applications to more schools this year. Also of potential influence, Wolfe added, was a deliberate and strategic approach by the Admission Office to expand digital outreach to high school seniors. He also noted that his team reimagined admission campaigns this year to convey a strong sense of place for students who could not travel to Williamsburg. This included working closely with a newly formed campus-wide team focused on enrollment marketing projects such as a new admission publication and an enhanced virtual tour experience. Additional recent initiatives for the admission office include waiving application fees for all first-generation and all Pell-eligible applicants this year, a new partnership with the Posse Foundation that will make W&M the first university to be working with Posse in Virginia high schools, and the second year of fall pathway programs for waitlisted students seeking to enroll at W&M in the spring. These pathway programs include the option to enroll at a two-year college for the fall or pursue a credit-bearing international trip through Verto Education. Our focus is always to find students with the best potential to thrive here and strengthen the William & Mary community, Wolfe said. That doesnt change even in this unparalleled application cycle. Pivoting during the pandemic The pandemic definitely presented challenges, Wolfe said, noting that historically on-campus visits and in-person interviews have been central to William & Marys recruitment efforts. No question things were different this year, Wolfe said. We had to pivot. But we were able to implement some highly adapted online programming virtual panels, virtual tours and information sessions that enabled us to not only reach more prospective applicants but also more highly tailor that virtual experience for them. Admission offers for new students will go out in late March or early April for an anticipated entering class of just under 1,600 students. Given the added number of applications, well be doing a lot of reading in the coming weeks with some extremely difficult decisions to make, but its a good problem to have, Wolfe said. The Palestinian Authority plans to buy 100,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 in February, the Interfax news agency cited the Palestinian Authority's envoy in Moscow as saying on Wednesday. Abdel Hafiz Nofal, the Authority's ambassador to Russia, said Moscow would provide 10,000 free doses of the vaccine. Short link: Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kobe Digital , a Los Angeles-based marketing agency, announced today the launch of the company's rebrand and accompanying new website. Kobe Digital has pursued this full rebrand and site launch in an effort to reflect the change and growth that the company has undergone in the last five years. With the mission to better serve their existing clients and a growing list of new clients, including most recently Yale University , the company wanted to reexamine their image and approach to the work. "We are always trying to grow and strive to deliver great results for our clients," said Arya Bina, CEO of Kobe Digital. "To reach those high standards we set with our clients, we have to be great ourselves. The Kobe Digital team has been working on a brand that highlights the strengths of our solutions, our growth through the years, and our continued commitment to helping our clients grow their reach and define themselves as a brand." Kobe Digital's relaunch includes a visual overhaul of its entire brand identity, in addition to a full restructuring of its organization and offerings with the creation of three distinct business units: Kobe Media, its performance marketing group; Kobe Design, its design and development group; and Kobe Studios, its video production group. "We are incredibly proud of the work our team has put into this rebrand," said Samir Mohandes, COO of Kobe Digital. "We feel that our team, our solutions, and our brand are stronger and better positioned than ever to continue to help our clients drive growth in key areas." ABOUT KOBE DIGITAL: Kobe Digital is a unified team of performance marketing, design, and video production experts that employs customized digital experiences and strategies to connect growth-focused brands with their target audiences. Based in Los Angeles, California, its growing client base includes such brands as Penske Media Corporation, LF Stores, Leica Camera, Yale University, TeleSign Corp., and HJC Helmets. Contact: Kevin Braunschweig 9257197063 [email protected] SOURCE Kobe Digital Related Links www.kobedigital.com Quanto Agro, a Mumbai-based AgriTech firm, is empowering local farmers in India by assisting their transition into profitable commercial-scale lemongrass farming, apart from expediting the creation of super crops such as corn, rice and wheat. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, India remains a predominantly agrarian nation, both culturally and economically. The agro sector contributes nearly 16% of the nations GDP, while over 70% of its population is associated with farming, either directly or indirectly. In general, Indias primary commercial crops comprise rice, wheat, sugarcane, and so on. However, the traditional methods employed in farming these crops, especially since the Green Revolution, have been majorly fertiliser-intensive and non-sustainable. Consequently, there have been severe impacts on the lands, livelihoods, and lives of farmers across India. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a dual shift in the global scenario around farming, in sync with the broader social changes. On the one hand, the focus on sustainable methods and the overall climate consciousness has increased, while on the other, there is a growing market for organic products such as immunity-boosting tea, natural mosquito repellants and oil extracts, among others. As a potent raw material for each of these product classes, lemongrass farmers around the world are witnessing a strengthening global market for their harvest and derived consumables. So much so, that farmers shifting to lemongrass cultivation are experiencing three to four folds increase in yearly income. Incubated under the Aroma Mission and aligned with the Grow Local, Think Global principle, Quanto Agro amassed INR 7 crores in initial investments, allocated to the development of the nations growing AgriTech sector. Within two years from its inception, the startup formed ties with over 1500 farmers, cultivating over 450 acres of land. Quanto Agro strives to be a holistic enterprise in its domain, and therefore, caters to a 360-degree upliftment of its beneficiariesfrom soil testing to a native e-commerce platform - QuantoAgro.com, through infrastructural training, the startup touches almost every aspect of the farmers life, alongside enhancing their income and standard of living. E-commerce portals act as an important tool to connect rural farming products to urban consumers. Mr Surendra AgarwalQuanto Agros co-founder and a serial entrepreneursays, Around the world, lemongrass farming has helped hundreds of farmers in getting stable incomes and better living standards. Working with this realisation, our mission is to empower Indian farmers with training and provide them with resources such as seed, infrastructure, and technology. As a whole, this enables them to achieve greater productivity from their land. He further added, Besides supporting the Government of Indias Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India, and Aroma Mission initiatives, we are strengthening the nations holistic efforts in productive and sustainable farming. After lemongrass, we plan to invest in the cultivation of Super Crops, aimed at mitigating Indias crisis of malnutrition. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Market chatter is that Budget 2021 may offer some roadmap to address the problem of bad loans in the banking system. Nearly 8 percent of the total loans have gone bad (overdue more than 90 days) at this stage. How can banks speed up bad asset resolution? Among options, the most favoured idea is the creation of a bad bank--a long-pending proposal in the Indian banking industry. What is a bad bank? A 'bad bank' is a bank set up to buy the bad loans and other illiquid holdings of another financial institution. Once toxic assets are transferred to this entity, attempts for an early resolution by experts begins while originating banks can focus on their business. Banks can transfer NPAs to a bad bank at a discount. The price discovery can happen at a later stage. To be sure, the idea of a bad bank itself is not new. In 2018, the government announced a plan for PSBs called 'Project Sashakt', which had a five-point plan for bad loan resolution in public sector banks. The government then spoke of a model, with the guiding principles of an Asset Management Company (AMC) resolution approach, under which an independent AMC would be set up to focus on asset turnaround, job creation and protection. The functions of this new company will be aligned with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) process and IBC laws, the government had said. The government did not call it a bad bank then and made it clear that it won't get involved in the bad asset resolution process and the process will be led by banks. Why the timing of a bad bank is right? There are five reasons why the timing could be apt for government to look at the creation of a bad bank. One, NPAs are likely to escalate post-Covid: The existing stock of bad loans is a big worry for banks. At the end of September last year, the total gross NPAs of the banking system was 7.5 percent of the overall industry loan book. This is expected to shoot up to 13.5 percent by March-September this year, according to the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) projection. That is a base case scenario. In a worst-case scenario, the bad loans are likely to rise up to 15 percent of the total loans. This will be a big shock to banks as they will require significantly higher capital to cover the impact of bad loans. Moving the existing stock to a separate entity at the earliest could be an escape route. Two, it is a less costly exercise now. Thats because the net value of NPA assets with banks have fallen dramatically. A bad bank was not created before because the net book value of NPAs was very high. Transfer of these assets would have been much costlier. But today, the net book value of NPAs is very lowhardly 15 percent in many cases. Banks have made significant provisions already. The point is if there are people specialising on resolution and if all NPAs are brought to one place, bank managements can focus on the rest of the business. Three, COVID-19 has been an extra jolt on the bank balance sheets. The pandemic has impacted the overall economic activity significantly, inflicting pain on the balance sheets of banks. The six-month loan moratorium gave temporary relief to companies. But after the moratorium period, some of these accounts have been restructured by banks. Going by the numbers indicated by banks so far, the weaker banks have been impacted more. To give an example, Yes Bank, which has one-third of its loans under the stressed category has restructured around 5 percent of the loan book. Analysts expect overall restructuring in the industry (on account of COVID-19 to be around 3 percent of the loan book. A lot will depend on economic recovery going ahead. Four, banks can focus on fresh business. Once the large chunk of existing bad loans is transferred to the new company, banks can aggressively focus on new productive lending. The fear of future loans defaults is holding back from banks from taking additional exposure to industries. This, coupled with subdued demand, has slowed the flow of credit to productive sectors. Overall credit growth has slowed to less than 6 per cent on a year-on-year basis, with credit growth to industry actually contracting to several segments. Freeing up banks from the burden of bad loans could help push credit growth. Five, Slow pace of bad asset resolution: Slow resolution of sticky assets remains a big problem for Indian banks. With no recovery in sight, banks have resorted to massive loan write-offs in the recent past. Currently, if there is a large corporate NPA, one needs to go to 10-15 banks for resolution. Hence, banks are resorting to large scale write -offs. To get a perspective. Consider these numbers: In the last decade alone, Indian banks have written off loans worth around Rs 883,168 crore, a significant chunk of which came from government-owned banks, the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India shows. Of this, public sector banks (PSBs) alone wrote off Rs 667,345 crore worth loans since 2010. This is about 76 percent of the total written-off loans in the decade, while private banks wrote off loans worth Rs 193,033 crore constituting about 21 percent of the total chunk. Foreign banks wrote off Rs 22,790 crore loans or 3 percent of the total write-off, the RBI data showed. In the financial year 2019-2020 alone, banks wrote off a total of Rs 2,37,206 crore or about a quarter of the total loan write-offs in the last one decade. Of this, Rs 1,78 lakh crore was by PSBs and Rs53, 949 crore by private banks. These figures do not take into account the loans written off by small finance banks, which is a relatively smaller portion. The recovery through debt recovery tribunals and Insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) mechanism has been limited to only a few large cases. A bad bank could help in better bad loan resolution through an ARC (asset reconstruction company) model. Will the idea take off finally in this budget? There is an expectation that the idea of a bad bank may get a push in this budget. The big hurdle will be on the funding side. In May last year, when the IBA submitted its proposal, it had requested the government to put in an initial capital of Rs 10,000 crore. Today, the net book value of NPAs is very lowhardly 15 per cent in many cases. The point is if there are people specialising on resolution and if all NPAs are brought to one place, bank managements can focus on the rest of the business, former SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar told Moneycontrol in a recent interview. PSBs own 60 percent of the banking system. We cant transfer (bad loans) to any other entity other than a government-owned company. This is the logic (of saying government has to fund the project), said Kumar. Over to FM Nirmala Sitharaman now. Why are resident Indians overjoyed about Kamala Harris becoming vice president and 20 US Indians being appointed by Biden? In the same way, among the 20 American Indians who have been appointed for key positions in Biden administration, most of them have left India long back and next generation of people belonging to their families may not know anything about India at all. However, many resident Indians seem to imagine that Indians are in charge of part of Biden administration! The issue is not about Indians migrating abroad and becoming citizens of the country to which they have migrated. The point that need attention is the way that most of the Indian media and resident Indians celebrate the success stories of American Indians , as if the Indians have got the prestigious positions, which is not so. They are full fledged Americans and not Indians. After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, it would seem, he is treating the Indians who migrated to other countries, including those who have become citizens of other countries, with greater attention. Indeed, every time Modi goes abroad, he has makes it a point to address the gathering of diaspora and talk to them. Most of them are not Indian citizens anymore and have become the citizens of other countries to which they have migrated. The government has even offered a sort of dual citizenship to the Indian migrants abroad who are citizens of other countries, providing them best of both the worlds. Watching the above scenario, a discerning observer in India cannot but wonder as to whether the resident Indians suffer from inferiority complex vis-a-vis those who were once Indians and now become American citizens. Are resident Indians view them as glorified Indians? The second generation of American Indians would certainly be surprised to see the glamorous attention that they get in India, though they may not have even seen India. They would find it difficult to understand the mindset of the resident Indians towards them. --- *Nandini Voice for The Deprived, Chennai While Indians claim that the country of origin of Kamala Harris is India, Jamaicans claim that the country of origin of Kamala Harris is Jamaica. In several of her earlier pronouncements, Kamala Harris always said that she is an American Jamaican, though in the recent election campaign she claimed that her country of origin is India and her mother was born in India, to impress the American Indian voters and get their votes in her favour.In the same way, among the 20 American Indians who have been appointed for key positions in Biden administration, most of them have left India long back and next generation of people belonging to their families may not know anything about India at all. However, many resident Indians seem to imagine that Indians are in charge of part of Biden administration!The issue is not about Indians migrating abroad and becoming citizens of the country to which they have migrated.The point that need attention is the way that most of the Indian media and resident Indians celebrate the success stories of American Indians , as if the Indians have got the prestigious positions, which is not so. They are full fledged Americans and not Indians.After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, it would seem, he is treating the Indians who migrated to other countries, including those who have become citizens of other countries, with greater attention. Indeed, every time Modi goes abroad, he has makes it a point to address the gathering of diaspora and talk to them. From time immemorial, people have been migrating from one country to another. When India was ruled by British, thousands of poor Indians were taken to African countries, Caribbean countries, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and other places to work in plantations, construction activities etc.Most of the Indians agreed to go to serve the British masters, as they were living in deep poverty conditions in India or due to coercion or temptation by middle men. Most of them did not return back and finally settled down in the countries to which they migrated and after a few generations, the descendants do not have any empathy for India and perhaps, they do not even recognize India as their original motherland.However, in recent decades, Indians have been migrating abroad not due to coercion or compulsion or poverty conditions but out of their own will to seek greener pastures. Number of them have reasonable level of skills and therefore, find it easy to get jobs abroad. There are also quite a number of students who go abroad for higher studies and finally settle down there.How should the resident Indians who still live in India view those migrating abroad, give up their Indian citizenship and willingly become citizens of other countries?Should they be viewed as self-centred people seeking fortunes for themselves elsewhere, with least regard for the interests of their own motherland? Or should they be viewed as persons who feel that they are not getting adequate opportunity in the motherland or feel unhappy about the government policies and conditions in the society and go abroad? Or is it possible that quite a number of them have gone abroad thinking that this could be a status symbol and working abroad would be a matter of pride for them?The ground reality is that most of the Indians who migrate abroad and become citizens of other countries do not have particularly great interest about happenings and problems faced by India, except some sort of cursory interest from time to time.This question has particularly arisen now, after seeing the way that the resident Indians are overjoyed about Kamala Harris becoming the Vice President of USA and around 20 American Indians being appointed for top and key positions in Biden administration.Kamala Harris is a case study to analyse the scenario.Her mother was originally an Indian who migrated to USA long back at the age of 19 and married a Jamaican and they were the parents for Kamala Harris. Should Kamala Harris be described now as an American Indian or American Jamaican?The fact is that Kamala Harris is no more an Indian and her loyalty and priority is for American interests. She does not even know any Indian language.However, when she became the Vice President of USA, the people living in the village, where her ancestors once lived in Tamil Nadu several decades back , celebrated the event with great fanfare. Special prayers were offered in temples by the people, though Kamala Harris does not claim that she is a Hindu and though her mother is a Brahmin.Section of media in India published the photographs prominently of the villagers celebrating the event as if it is of national importance. True to the statue culture of Tamil Nadu, one need not be surprised if some one would erect a statue for her in the village in the course of time! Manchester Center, VT (05254) Today Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, say goodbye to law and order Joe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices E.U. Vaccine Shortages Snowball Into a Crisis As the U.S.s new virus team holds its first briefing, Biden advisers urge passage of a relief bill. New York City restaurants may reopen for limited indoor dining. Tomorrow our fridges will be empty, one European health official says as vaccines dwindle. Nurses preparing vaccines at a nursing home in Spain last week. Credit... Manu Brabo/Getty Images The European Union has been besieged by problems since it approved its first coronavirus vaccine in December and rushed to begin a vast immunization campaign, but now its woes have snowballed into a full-blown crisis. With the pain of supply shortages being felt across Europe, Spain on Wednesday became the first E.U. country to partly suspend immunizations for lack of doses. It announced that it would suspend the vaccination program in Madrid for two weeks, and warned that Catalonia may follow suit. Tomorrow our fridges will be empty, said Josep Maria Argimon, a regional health official in Catalonia, referring to the dwindling supplies of vaccine. Tensions were also raised by an escalating dispute with AstraZeneca over the drugmakers announcement that it would slash deliveries of its vaccine by 60 percent because of production shortfalls. When the European Union approved its first vaccine, made by Pfizer and BioNTech, in December, it was already weeks behind rich nations like the United States and Britain. While it is flush with cash, influence and negotiating heft, the bloc of 27 nations has found itself behind not just the U.S. and Britain, but also other countries like Israel, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. Across the world, many countries, particularly poorer ones, are struggling to secure any vaccine at all. Last week, the E.U.s executive branch, the European Commission, set a goal of having 70 percent of its population inoculated by this summer. Four days later the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, pronounced that difficult. By this week, a mere 2 percent of E.U. citizens had received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to numbers collected by Our World in Data. That figure was around 40 percent for Israel, 11 percent for Britain and just over 6 percent for the United States. The vaccine shortages in the European Union come against a backdrop of crisis. The second wave of the virus is still raging second wave of the coronavirus amid prolonged lockdowns in most member countries and anxiety over the spread of at least two highly infectious variants of the virus that are bringing national health systems to their knees yet again. In a rare bit of good news, the French drugmaker Sanofi said Wednesday that it would help produce more than 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, starting this summer, but those doses will most likely come too late to salvage vaccination plans for the first half of 2021. Some critics have blamed the European Commission for the mess. The commission struck deals on behalf of the member states to secure a total of 2.3 billion vaccine doses from several companies. But some of its agreements lagged behind those struck by the United States and Britain by weeks. AstraZeneca and some European opposition politicians say the delay put the bloc at the back of the line for deliveries. The commission disagrees. We reject the logic of first-come first-served, the blocs heath commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, said at a news conference Wednesday. That may work at the neighborhood butcher, but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements. Matina Stevis-Gridneff and Virus advisers warn the U.S. will remain vulnerable without the quick passage of a relief bill by Congress. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:15 - 0:00 transcript White House Covid-19 Team Warns of Virus Variants Members of President Bidens coronavirus response team said they are increasing surveillance of potentially dangerous Covid-19 mutations. The variants have been identified recently, seem to spread more easily. Theyre more transmissible, which can lead to increased number of cases and increased stress on our already taxed health care system. In the United States, 308 cases of the 117 variant that originated from the U.K. have been confirmed in 26 states as of Jan. 26. We also identified this week, our first case of the P1 variant in the United States in Minnesota. To date, no cases of of the B1351 variant that was first detected in South Africa has been identified in the U.S. C.D.C. is committed to working with international and state and local partners, and increasing surveillance to monitor the situation and share as soon as we learn more. The N.I.H. will be collaborating with the C.D.C. in looking at what the functional characteristics of these are. For example, we will be monitoring in real time the effect of antibodies that we induced with the current vaccines and with future vaccines as to what impact they have on the ability to neutralize these mutants. Members of President Bidens coronavirus response team said they are increasing surveillance of potentially dangerous Covid-19 mutations. Credit Credit... Doug Mills/The New York Times The United States is 43rd in the world in its ability to track potentially dangerous new mutations of the coronavirus, according to President Bidens coronavirus czar, who used the White Houses first public health briefing to issue a stark warning that the United States will remain vulnerable to the deadly pandemic unless Congress quickly passes a coronavirus relief bill. We are 43rd in the world in genomic sequencing totally unacceptable, said Jeffrey D. Zients, Mr. Bidens Covid-19 response coordinator, citing December data from the GISAID Initiative, which provides a global database of coronavirus genomes. In a brief interview later, he corrected himself, saying he had since learned that the United States was now behind 31 other nations. At the briefing, he also warned that the federal government still faces shortages of personal protective gear and other essential supplies that it will not be able to buy if Congress does not pass Mr. Bidens $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue plan. Scientists have warned that, with no robust system to identify genetic variations of the coronavirus, the United States is woefully ill-equipped to track dangerous new mutants, leaving health officials blind as they try to combat the grave threat. Dr. Anthony. S. Fauci, the presidents senior adviser for Covid-19, who also spoke during the briefing, said the National Institutes of Health is now working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on research aimed at adapting vaccines so that they have on the ability to neutralize these mutants. The virtual meeting, which Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the new C.D.C. director, attended along with other officials, was laden with scientific details, clearly an effort by the new administration to make good on the presidents pledge to be more transparent than his predecessor about the administrations response. During the briefing, Dr. Walensky also pleaded with Congress for additional money, saying scientists really need to have access to those resources to do the amount of sequencing and surveillance that we need in order to detect things when they first start to emerge. One variant, which has surged in Britain and burdened its hospitals with cases, has been increasingly detected in the United States. Federal health officials have warned that the variant, which is more contagious, could become the dominant source of infection in the United States by March, and would likely lead to a wrenching surge in cases and deaths that would further overwhelm hospitals. Other variants spreading in South Africa and Brazil have also caused concern. I look at the data form the U.K. and how quickly it got really bad in terms of its contagiousness and how much it could cause a spike and I am really worried about that, said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, in an interview Tuesday. Its also widespread across the U.S. 20 some odd states have already identified it. That is the big one that I worry about. Some experts say the United States is now in a race between the vaccine and the new variants. If the virus is not replicating, they say, it cannot mutate. Mr. Biden has vowed to get 100 million shots in the arms of the American people, by his 100th day in office, a plan that some say is not ambitious enough. On Monday, the drug makers Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech reported that their vaccines were effective against variants discovered in Britain and South Africa. But they are slightly less protective against the variant in South Africa, which may be more adept at dodging antibodies in the bloodstream. On Wednesday, Mr. Zients said that the Department of Health and Human Services would use the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, a law passed in 2005 that gives the health secretary emergency powers, to allow retired doctors and nurses to administer vaccines and give doctors and nurses the right to vaccinate people across state lines. And he said the presidents 100 million-shot commitment does not depend on Congress passing legislation. But he ticked off a list of other priorities that require Congress to act: In order to get all Americans vaccinated, we need Congress to provide funds for vaccination. We still do too little testing in this country. We need to ramp up testing significantly. We need Congress to fund more testing in order to reopen schools and businesses and take care of people in congregate settings. Furthermore, believe it or not, we still have shortages of P.P.E. and other critical materials. We need emergency funds in order to make sure that we have those materials. The briefing comes as Mr. Biden is under intense pressure to speed up the pace of coronavirus vaccinations. A C.D.C. advisory committee met on Wednesday to discuss vaccine safety, as well as a new vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca. The C.D.C. said Wednesday that about 20.7 million people have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and that about 3.8 million people have been fully vaccinated. More than a million people a day, on average, have received a shot to help protect them against Covid-19 in the United States over the last week. As the vaccine rollout accelerates, the number of daily new cases in the United States, which has the worst outbreak in the world, has been on the decline in recent weeks. U.S. deaths, though, remain high, numbering more than 3,000 per day on average in recent days. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Britain requires citizens flying home from 22 countries to quarantine at hotels. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:21 - 0:00 transcript Britain Cracks Down on International Travel Hoping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus variant, Britain announced on Wednesday it will require citizens arriving home from high-risk countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. And today, I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures that we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow. Firstly, the police have stepped up checks, and are carrying out more physical checks at addresses to ensure that people are complying with the self isolation rules. Second, we will continue to refuse entry to non-U.K. residents from Red List countries which are already subject to the U.K. travel ban. Third, as the prime minister has said, we will introduce a new managed isolation process in hotels for those who cannot be refused entry, including those arriving home from countries where we have already imposed international travel bans. We will increase police presence at ports and at airports. Finding those in breach of the stay-at-home regulations anyone who does not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home or they will face a fine. These are crucial new measures to protect us all. But also to complement the robust action we have consistently taken at the border. And while these new measures are being operationalized, I would just like to remind anyone seeking to enter our country to comply with the rules. Hoping to reduce the spread of the coronavirus variant, Britain announced on Wednesday it will require citizens arriving home from high-risk countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. Credit Credit... Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images Swamped by a fast-spreading coronavirus variant and desperate to keep other mutations out of the country, Britain tightened its international travel restrictions on Wednesday. British citizens arriving from any of 22 high-risk countries will now be required to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. The new policy edges Britain closer to the strict hotel quarantines imposed by Australia and several Asian countries. But it falls short of a blanket requirement, drawing criticism that it will not seal off the country from dangerous new variants, even as it inflicts more harm on the already wounded travel and aviation industries. There are still too many people coming in and out of our country every day, Priti Patel, the home secretary, said in Parliament as she announced the new measures, which are also intended to deter Britons from going abroad. People should not be traveling without a valid reason, she said, and going on holiday is not a valid reason. For now, the restrictions will apply only to countries already deemed high-risk because of the emergence of more contagious virus variants, like South Africa, Portugal and Brazil. But Ms. Patel said the government could expand the list to include other countries where the virus is highly prevalent. Under the new rules, arriving passengers would be taken from the airport to nearby hotels, where they would be required to stay in their rooms for 10 days at their own expense. With a few exceptions, non-British citizens from the 22 high-risk countries are already banned from entering the country. Public health experts said the plan had too many loopholes and could be evaded by traveling first to an unaffected country and then to Britain from there. It wont be effective, because people will just connect in other countries to avoid quarantine, said Devi Sridhar, head of the global public health program at the University of Edinburgh. Cuomo says state officials are looking at bringing back N.Y.C. indoor dining soon at 25 percent capacity. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:02 - 0:00 transcript Hypercautious in New York City: Cuomo Addresses Indoor Dining Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said officials were assessing whether indoor dining could soon return in some capacity to New York City. New York City, obviously is in a different situation, given the density, given crowding and were hypercautious in New York City, but still following the data. Were going to be talking to all the health officials we have been already. Well be talking to them during this week, well be talking to the officials, elected officials. Ill be talking to the mayor. Ill be talking to the relevant local electeds, and the restaurant community, from a planning point of view. And by the end of the week, well have a plan on New York City restaurants. I fully understand how difficult it is that they are closed, not just for the restaurants, but all the people who are employed there. On the flip side is how fast this virus can take off. But well have a plan for the New York City restaurants by the end of the week. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said officials were assessing whether indoor dining could soon return in some capacity to New York City. Credit Credit... Ryan Christopher Jones for The New York Times Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced on Wednesday that officials were assessing whether indoor dining could soon return with limited capacity in New York City, after he barred it last month. He also eased coronavirus-related restrictions on nonessential businesses and restaurants in several areas across the state, including parts of the city. The citys restaurant industry, however, has been hit particularly hard during the pandemic, relegated mostly to outdoor dining for months, and Mr. Cuomo said officials were looking at going back to the 25 percent capacity limit that was set citywide when indoor dining briefly restarted in September. He did not specify additional details, but said that a plan would come by the end of the week. I fully understand how difficult it is that theyre closed, not just for the restaurants, but all the people who are employed there, Mr. Cuomo said. On the flip side is how fast this virus can take off, but well have a plan. It was a stark difference in tone from remarks made by Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City on Tuesday, when he expressed concerns at a news conference over restarting indoor dining because of the high number of virus cases and the potential spread of new variants of the virus. I want to see indoor dining reopened when its safe, Mr. de Blasio said on Tuesday. So, when the numbers come down, and were confident that theyre staying down, that is a great time to do it. But obviously were not seeing that yet. On Wednesday, across New York City, 45 ZIP codes had a seven-day average positive test rate at or over 10 percent, according to city data. At the same time, some public health experts expressed concern that too much focus had been placed on vaccinations as opposed to limiting the spread of the virus. Restaurant owners across the state have also asked officials to push back their state-mandated 10 p.m. closing time to midnight. Mr. Cuomo said Wednesday that the state was looking at those requests, but would not be changing the hours at this time. Months ago, Mr. Cuomo pledged he would largely lock down areas where positive test rates consistently topped 4 percent, closing indoor dining and curbing other high-risk activities. But few communities have faced new rules in recent weeks following changes to how areas of the state are divided into three color-coded zones, red, orange and yellow, that specify what measures apply in each place. Outside of areas with zoned restrictions and New York City, indoor dining at restaurants has been permitted at 50 percent capacity statewide. On Wednesday, Mr. Cuomo said that, statewide, all orange zone designations would be lifted, allowing activities like retail businesses operating at 50 percent capacity, in six places including Staten Island, Erie County and Westchester County. Brooklyn, Nassau County and Suffolk County were among 16 areas where Mr. Cuomo said the less-stringent yellow zone rules will be eliminated. The only areas still under yellow zone restrictions are the Kew Gardens and Forest Hills areas of Queens, two parts of the Bronx, Washington Heights in Manhattan and Newburgh in Orange County, he added. Elsewhere, general precautions will still limit gyms to 33 percent capacity and residential gatherings to 10 people, among other broader safety measures. Were not going to wait six to nine months to start to reopen the economy, Mr. Cuomo said. Were not waiting because the future is what we make it. Key data of the day Here is why U.S. deaths remain near record highs while new cases are declining. It usually takes several weeks for a coronavirus infection to develop into severe illness. Credit... John Moore/Getty Images How is it that Covid-19 cases and deaths in the U.S. arent moving in the same direction? As President Bidens new coronavirus team held its first public briefing on Wednesday, trends in the two closely watched metrics were painting a confusing picture. Average daily reports of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. have decreased 33 percent over the last two weeks, but reported deaths in the same period have remained near record highs. One key common-sense factor goes a long way to clear the confusion. The people whose deaths are being reported now were probably infected and then reported as new cases weeks or even months ago. So their number mainly reflects the spread of the virus in November and December, when it was surging in most of the country. Deaths are lagged by at least three weeks after case reports, Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said Wednesday. There are other factors that could contribute to a disconnect between the case and death trends, like a shift in how many especially vulnerable people were becoming infected. But Dr. Nuzzo said she did not think that was the case now. So if the overall case counts continue to decline, she said, I think its more likely that we will see the deaths start to come down. Even with the recent new-case declines, the daily pandemic statistics in the U.S. remain troubling. On Tuesday, the country logged 151,616 new cases, and 4,205 deaths close to the peak of 4,406 on Jan. 12. As of Tuesday, the seven-day average for new reported deaths stood at 3,341. Overall, more than 25 million people have tested positive in the country, and more than 425,000 people have died, since the pandemic began. The U.S. saw significant spikes in new reported cases after Thanksgiving and during the December holidays, most likely the result of increased travel and social gatherings. Now, experts like Dr. Nuzzo are concerned that cases will be driven up again by the new and more infectious variants of the virus that are circulating. President Biden said this week that his administration would soon reach deals to purchase 200 million additional vaccine doses, which he said could allow 300 million Americans to be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer. But experts worry that the new variants could cause significant damage in the meantime. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Researchers found more evidence that the variant from South Africa can evade antibodies. Vials of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals antibody treatment Credit... Regeneron, via Associated Press The monoclonal antibody treatment made by Eli Lilly is powerless against a variant of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa, according to a new study posted online on Tuesday. In addition, one of two monoclonal antibodies in a cocktail treatment made by Regeneron also is significantly less effective against that variant, although the combination still works, researchers at Columbia University reported. The findings underscore growing concerns that because of new mutations in its genetic material, this variant, called B.1.351, may be able to resist antibodies contained in these treatments and perhaps those created by the body following vaccination. Dr. David Ho, an infectious disease expert at Columbia University, and his colleagues also tested the monoclonal antibody therapies against the coronavirus variant discovered in Britain. The therapies were reported to be just as effective as they had been against earlier versions of the virus. But the variant in South Africa was a different story. Activity of the monoclonal antibody made by Eli Lilly, and one of the two made by Regeneron, was completely or markedly abolished when tested against the variant, Dr. Ho and his colleagues found. A third variant identified in Brazil shares many mutations with B.1.351 and is expected to behave similarly, Dr. Ho said. Over the past week, several teams of scientists have sounded the alarm that the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines seem to be slightly less potent against the variant in South Africa, although they still successfully neutralized the virus. The vaccines were just as effective against the variant identified in Britain as against previous forms of the virus. Dr. Hos study confirmed those findings. It has not yet been peer-reviewed for publication, and was posted to the online server BioRxiv. The new research does not have an immediate effect in the United States, because neither of those variants is known to be widespread in the country, Dr. Ho said. Just one infection with the variant from Brazil has been found, in Minnesota, and no cases of the variant from South Africa have been identified. But the United States analyzes too few viral samples to be absolutely certain the variants are not already circulating here, Dr. Ho said. In the future, new versions of the virus, including some that evade vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, will undoubtedly emerge, he added. Weve got to expect more of this, because so many people are infected with this virus, he said. The virus has so many chances to mutate. A C.D.C. study in rural Wisconsin shows little in-school transmission. Elementary students in Wausau, Wis. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in one rural Wisconsin county showed that the rate of transmission in Wood County schools was well below the countys rate of infection. Credit... Jenn Ackerman for The New York Times Rigorous scientific studies tracing the transmission of coronavirus in schools have been few and far between during the pandemic. But on Tuesday, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention published a study of 17 rural schools in Wisconsin that found there was little in-school transmission, even though the virus was raging in the surrounding communities. Experts and advocates have pointed to the study as evidence that it is possible to keep schools open safely even when community transmission is high, provided that mitigation measures including strongly enforced requirements to wear masks and keeping students in stable groups are used. Among 5,530 students and staff members in Wood County, Wis., there were 191 coronavirus cases reported during the study, from Aug. 31 to Nov. 29. Only seven cases were attributed to in-school transmission, all among students. There was no surveillance testing, so some asymptomatic cases might have been missed. Overall, the rate of infection among students and staff was about one-third lower than in the county as a whole. The studys senior author, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, a sports medicine physician with a doctorate in epidemiology, said the fact that no teachers or other staff members appeared to have been infected in school was very, very reassuring. But others, including allies of teachers unions who oppose reopening before educators have been vaccinated, are already arguing that the studys findings should not be widely applied. The study setting was rural, and the students in the schools were mostly white. But it wasnt obvious that the conditions in the schools were very different than those in urban districts. Students ate and attended classes indoors. The students, who ranged from kindergartners to 12th graders, were in small, stable groupings of 11 to 20 students. Not all districts that have reopened created such small class settings. But in most urban districts that have reopened, only a fraction of students have returned in person, so class sizes are generally small 9 to 12 students in New York City, for instance. On CNN on Tuesday night, President Bidens chief of staff, Ron Klain, said the studys take-home message was that schools could open safely when they had an infusion of money to do so. Mr. Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion package, which needs Congressional approval, that includes funding for reopening schools. The president is a close ally of teachers unions, which have been calling for major government investments in making schools safer. The Wisconsin districts received a $150,000 grant to purchase cloth masks for all students. Mr. Klain suggested the grant had underwritten more safety measures. He also twice understated the size of the student settings in the schools, saying they were classes of about 11 or 12, and later, classrooms of 12 on average. What that study in Wisconsin from the C.D.C. showed, Mr. Klain said, was that 17 schools that got a sizable grant from a private foundation to put in the kinds of safety measures they needed students in very small pods, classes of about 11 or 12, distanced, in a rural area they could go to school safely. Asked by the CNN anchor, Erin Burnett, why teachers unions were ignoring the scientific evidence in opposing reopening, Mr. Klain disagreed. I think what youre seeing is schools that havent made the investments to keep the students safe, he said. Survivors get a vaccine on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Krystyna Budnicka, a Holocaust survivor and member of the Children of the Holocaust Association, at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw on Wednesday. Credit... Omar Marques/Getty Images Hundreds of survivors of the Holocaust are set to be vaccinated this week in Austria and Slovakia as part of vaccine drives organized in observance of the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, a day known as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. More than seven decades after one of the darkest periods in human history, the generation that endured the Nazi death camps is aging and especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. Jewish leaders have long pushed to prioritize their inoculations. Some 400 people aged 85 and older, many of them Holocaust survivors, were being vaccinated in Vienna on Wednesday, according to the Jewish Community of Vienna, which helped organize the program in cooperation with the Austrian Ministry of Health. About 12 doctors were administering vaccinations, according to Erika Jakubovits, executive director of the Jewish Community of Vienna, who helped organize the event. I think we owe it to our parents and grandparents to take care of these Holocaust survivors, Ms. Jakubovits said on Wednesday, speaking by phone from a vaccine center. A similar program was underway in Bratislava, Slovakia, according to The Associated Press. People are very happy, Ms. Jakubovits said. I think these are our most vulnerable members of society, and we have to treat them accordingly and to try to do everything for them. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, this week called on European leaders to ensure that Holocaust survivors, who like other people of advanced age are extremely vulnerable to the virus, were given access to the vaccine. The organization estimates that approximately 20,000 Holocaust survivors are still living in Europe today. Throughout their lives, they have shown mighty strength of spirit, but in the current crisis, many have sadly died alone and in pain, or are now fighting for their lives, and many others are suffering from extreme isolation, Dr. Kantor said, speaking during an International Holocaust Remembrance Day event held online this week. We have a duty to ensure that Holocaust survivors are able to live their last years in dignity and in the company of their loved ones. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Global Roundup South Korea races to tamp down an outbreak in schools, and other news from around the world. Disinfecting a missionary training school in Gwangju, South Korea, on Wednesday. Religious groups in South Korea have driven several coronavirus outbreaks. Credit... Yonhap/EPA, via Shutterstock The South Korean health authorities said on Wednesday that they were conducting mandatory testing of dozens of religious schools, as the country struggled to tackle a wave of cases linked to a Christian missionary society. South Korea reported 559 new cases on Wednesday, including 100 linked to a school in the southern city of Gwangju. That school is one of six operated by International Mission, a Christian missionary society, that have collectively reported more than 300 infections this month. Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health official, told reporters on Wednesday that the health authorities were conducting mandatory or recommended testing of people at 32 of International Missions facilities. The group is based in the based in the central city of Daejeon and operates schools across the country. International Mission apologized on Monday, saying in a statement that it thought the infections could have been influenza, not the coronavirus. Religious groups in South Korea have driven several coronavirus outbreaks, including one linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus last winter in the southeastern city of Daegu. An antigovernment demonstration led by a Christian church in Seoul last summer also contributed to a sharp rise in cases, forcing the government to implement tighter social distancing restrictions. In other news from around the world: Madrid will suspend its vaccination program for two weeks because of a supply shortage, the authorities in Spains capital region said on Wednesday. The deputy head of Madrids regional government, Ignacio Aguado, told a news conference that priority needed to be given to administering second doses of the vaccine, particularly to frontline health care workers and residents of nursing homes. Mr. Aguado urged the central government of Spain to urgently demand extra supplies from the European Union. Separately, the regional government of the northeastern region of Catalonia, also warned on Wednesday that a supply shortage was affecting its rollout program. Tomorrow our fridges will be empty, one regional health official, Josep Maria Argimon, said. Hong Kong on Wednesday lifted a lockdown on a cluster of buildings after 11 hours, part of a new campaign to impose targeted restrictions on neighborhoods with coronavirus outbreaks. The lockdown in the densely populated, working-class Yau Ma Tei neighborhood is the second that the government has imposed during the pandemic. The first came into effect on Saturday amid concerns that the virus was spreading rapidly in tenement apartments. It was lifted about 48 hours later, after officials found 13 new infections among the roughly 7,000 residents they had tested. The Chinese territorys leader, Carrie Lam, called the operation a success and promised ambush-style lockdowns in the future. Officials said on Wednesday that they had discovered one infection during the second lockdown, out of about 300 residents tested. South Africa has given emergency approval to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is reviewing applications by rival manufacturers, the countrys medicines regulator said on Wednesday. Helen Rees, the chairwoman of the regulator, the South African Health Products board, announced the decision during a news briefing and said that the minister of health would share more details on the countrys next steps later in the day. President Joko Widodo of Indonesia received on Wednesday his second shot of a vaccine made by the Chinese company Sinovac, a day after the country of 270 million people surpassed one million reported infections. Mr. Joko said that 250,000 health workers in Indonesia had already received their first shot. About 50,000 people are now being vaccinated each day, he said, adding that he hoped to raise that number to one million. Nepal on Wednesday began the first phase of a nationwide vaccination campaign for health care workers and other frontline personnel, including cleaners, security guards, and ambulance and hearse drivers. Nepal is one of several countries in South and Southeast Asia to have received donated doses from India of Covishield, a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. But the Covishield shipment to Nepal was for one million doses, and the government has not yet explained how it plans to execute its plan of vaccinating 72 percent of its 30 million people. Youmi Kim , Vivian Wang, Richard C. Paddock, Bhadra Sharma and Enrollment in N.Y.C. schools drops sharply, especially among preschool-age children. Children arrive for class on the first day of school reopening in December in Brooklyn. Credit... Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse Getty Images New York Citys school enrollment fell sharply this year, the latest sign that students across the country have left the public school system temporarily or even perhaps permanently during the coronavirus pandemic. Enrollment in the nations largest public school system, with nearly 1 million students, fell by about 4 percent, or roughly 43,000 students, from the previous year, according to data released by the city on Wednesday. Most of the enrollment drop was concentrated in early grades, especially prekindergarten classes for 3- and-4-year-olds. The decline reflects how some parents are delaying enrollment because of the limitations of remote learning, which are particularly acute for young children, while others are opting for home-schooling, either short-term or indefinitely. The decline in enrollment is sobering news for the school district, which has partially reopened its classrooms while many other large urban school systems have struggled to do so. The new numbers could affect state aid to the citys public school system, though it is not yet entirely clear how. Still, enrollment in New York City has been declining at lower rates for years, as many students have left traditional district schools for charter schools, which now enroll over 100,000 children. Public school enrollment has also declined in states across the country in recent months, including Massachusetts, Montana and Missouri. In one fight over scarce vaccines, its Britain versus the European Union. A patient receiving an injection of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine on Tuesday in Brighton, Britain. Credit... Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse Getty Images For months, wealthy countries have been clearing the worlds shelves of coronavirus vaccines, leaving poorer nations with little hope of exiting the pandemic in 2021. But a fresh skirmish this week has pitted the rich against the rich Britain versus the European Union in the scramble for vials, opening an unabashedly nationalist competition that could poison relations and set back collective efforts to end the pandemic. The European Union, stung by its slow progress on vaccinations, threatened this week to tighten rules on the shipment of Belgian-made shots to Britain. British lawmakers, in turn, have accused their European counterparts of a blackmail campaign that could embitter relations for a generation. And poorer countries, already at the back of the line for vaccines, could face even longer waits if the intense squabbling among rich countries drives up prices for everyone else. At the core of the problem are production delays at separate factories in Belgium that make the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the one developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. With a new and more contagious coronavirus variant fueling a surge of cases in several European countries, those delays have undermined efforts to get shots into millions of peoples arms, ratcheting up the global competition. But the manufacturing of vaccines is only part of the problem. Public health experts say the entire global system of buying doses, pitting one country against another with little regard for equity, is unfit to the task of ending a pandemic that respects no borders. For the European Union, problems with its vaccination campaigns have reinforced criticism of the blocs bureaucracy. Unable to speed up vaccine makers, the blocs leaders have instead resorted to threats about the export process, a sign of the severe pressure facing them as the European Union falls far behind Britain and the United States, which made advanced purchases of vaccines earlier, and have been quicker to authorize the shots and get people inoculated. Britain has given vaccines to 10 percent of its people so far, compared to about 2 percent in the European Union. Britain was the first country to authorize a fully tested coronavirus vaccine, and the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson has trumpeted its successes. Benjamin Mueller and Advertisement Continue reading the main story Biden plans to reopen Obamacare exchanges in many states. President Biden spoke about his plans for the Affordable Care Act in November. Credit... Amr Alfiky/The New York Times The Biden administration plans to reopen enrollment in many of the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, both to help those who may have lost health insurance during the pandemic and to offer coverage to those who did not have any and now want it. The move will be announced on Thursday as part of an executive order describing administration policies on shoring up health insurance coverage, according to three people familiar with the details. The so-called special enrollment period is intended to help people who have lost coverage in the past year, but it will be open to those who want health insurance for any reason, in the 36 states that use Healthcare.gov. The decision was reported earlier by The Washington Post. Typically, Americans without a special circumstance can buy Obamacare insurance only during a six-week period in the fall, a restriction meant to encourage people to hold coverage even when they are healthy. The sign-up period for this years coverage ended in mid-December, with enrollments only slightly higher than they were last year. But the Trump administration did little to advertise it. The Biden administration plans to have a large marketing campaign to announce the new opportunity and encourage people to enroll in health plans, two of the people said. The insurance industry, which usually supports tight limits on insurance enrollments, is backing the extra enrollment period now. Around 15 million Americans are uninsured and eligible for marketplace coverage, according to a recent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most would qualify for some form of financial assistance if they bought such coverage and about four million could sign up for a high-deductible plan that would cost them nothing in premiums. For the four million people who could be getting free coverage who are instead uninsured that, to me, is screaming out for outreach, said Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the foundation and a co-author of the analysis. It remains unclear how many people lost health insurance last year because of the pandemic, but most working-age Americans receive coverage through their employers, and millions have lost jobs. Enrollment in Medicaid, the public health insurance program for the poor and disabled, has grown substantially during the pandemic. And consumer advocates say there are also many Americans who were uninsured before but might want coverage now because of the public health crisis. Several states that run their own marketplaces established special enrollment periods last year and saw increased sign-ups. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American The boss of the world's biggest fund manager has said Covid-19 could finally convince people to take climate change seriously. Larry Fink, whose company Blackrock looks after 6.3trillion of savers' money, said the pandemic has 'exacted a horrific human toll and transformed the way we live, work, learn, access medicine and more'. In his annual letter to the management of companies across the world, noting there had been signs of hope, Fink said: 'The pandemic has presented such an existential crisis that it has driven us to confront the threat of climate change more forcefully and consider how, like the pandemic, it will alter our lives. Climate rant: BlackRock boss Larry Fink said Covid has 'both exacted a horrific human toll and transformed the way we live - the way we work, learn, access medicine, and much more' 'It has reminded us how the biggest crises, whether medical or environmental, demand a global and ambitious response.' Fink warned the companies it invests in they will need to show a game plan for surviving in a world aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The focus on net-zero strategies comes as policymakers and campaigners push asset managers to do more to hold firms to account over their climate plans, ahead of global climate talks in Scotland this year. Blackrock has a significant stake in most large US corporations and in many in other countries, giving it much influence. Fink added: 'We believe all must begin to address the transition to net zero today.' ADVERTISEMENT The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has tested positive for COVID-19. Mr Ortom confirmed his positive status of the viral infection on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday. This is to confirm that the result of my last COVID-19 test returned positive, he wrote. The Governor said though he has not shown any symptoms, he has already commenced treatment. He advised those who have come in contact with him in the last couple of days to go for COVID-19 test. It is equally important that those who came in contact with other persons who have tested positive for the virus should go for test to ascertain their COVID-19 status. I urge Benue people and other Nigerians to continue to observe the protocol for the prevention of the virus, Mr Ortom said. The governor encouraged the people not to be afraid of going for COVID-19 test as only doing so would help in containing the spread of the disease. PREMIUM TIMES reported how the governor had gone into self-isolation last year after his wife, Eunice, son and some personal staff tested positive for the virus. Early this year, this newspaper reported again how the governor tested negative for the virus after coming in contact with those who had contracted it. Nigeria is currently battling a second wave of the infection with a new strain said to be in circulation by health experts. Although the country has no vaccine yet against the virus, authorities have continued to advise Nigerians to comply with all safety protocols meant to curtail its spread even as the number of infections and fatality continue to increase. The president of moderna has warned the global fight against Covid could last for a number of years. Dr Stephen Hoge said during a conference call this week that the virus will continue to mutate and create new strains despite vaccines being rolled out. It comes as Moderna, which produces one of the vaccines approved in many countries around the world including the US and the UK, said its shots could offer protection against the prominent British and South African Covid strains. The president of Moderna Dr Stephen Hoge has warned the global fight against Covid could last for a number of years Dr Hoge said, according to CNN: 'The virus is going to evolve as long as it's infecting. 'The key thing we need to do is to stop it from infecting. We need to break that transmission and, secondly, stop those infections from lasting a very long time.' He said this process will continue for years as scientists continue to analyze the changing virus. He added: 'I think as we look at the efficacy of any of these vaccines, we should hope and assume that they're going to work across them, but we need to prove that case, time and time again. 'Now, usually, probably just with measuring the vaccine's ability to provide neutralizing antibodies in the blood, but in some cases over time we may need to go look at whether or not we're actually protecting in the real world against some of these new strains. 'Until we've got this thing sort of fully suppressed and in control, and people are broadly vaccinated or seropositive and protected against it, it's going to be an ongoing battle for the next couple of years.' Moderna said its shots could offer protection against the prominent British and South African Covid strains His comments come as Moderna announced it had found no reduction in the antibody response against the Covid variant found in Britain. Against the South African variant, it found a reduced response but still believed its two-dose regimen would provide protection. The emergence of new variants in Britain, South Africa and Brazil has created some concern that mutations in the virus may make vaccines less effective. Moderna said it is looking at whether a booster shot - either of its existing vaccine or of a new shot designed to protect against the South African variant - could be made available in future if evidence were to emerge that protection declined. 'The virus isn't going to stand still,' Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call. 'It's important that we remain vigilant and develop potential tools and countermeasures that would allow us to continue to beat back the pandemic.' Moderna said it expects its current vaccine will remain protective for at least a year after completing the two-dose course. It does not expect to test a third dose until at least six months after that course is finished. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a research note it was encouraging that the antibody response of the Moderna vaccine to the South African variant was still above the levels that provide protection. Yee also said the speed with which Moderna was able to design a new booster shot candidate was proof of the flexibility of the new mRNA technology upon which it is based. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel, said he was only mildly concerned the vaccine would not be protective against the variants. A map based on genome sequences shows have different strains of coronavirus have spread around the world, with at least eight strains being tracked 'It is a little worrisome that you see a lesser neutralizing antibody response, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are unprotected,' he said, noting that even these lower levels may still be enough to protect against serious infections. 'The goal of this vaccine is to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you out of the morgue. If you get a symptomatic infection or mildly symptomatic infection that is not a burden to the healthcare system,' Offit said. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have also said tests showed their vaccine is effective against the variant found in Britain, but have not yet disclosed results against the South African variant. That variant first found in Britain has caused a massive surge in cases there and has also been found in more than a dozen U.S. states. US public health officials expect it to be the dominant variant in the United States within six weeks. ADVERTISEMENT At least 15 people died as a result of COVID-19 complications in Nigeria on Tuesday, raising the death toll from the disease to 1,522 in total. The 15 deaths were significantly higher than the three deaths recorded on Monday. Nigeria on Tuesday also logged 1,303 new infections, according to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC. The figure which indicated a marginal decrease from the 1,430 infections recorded on Tuesday took the total number of infections in the country to 124, 299. Of the over 124,000 cases, a total of 99,276 patients have recovered across the country. Meanwhile, there are over 20,000 patients still receiving treatments in isolation centres. Specifics The 1,303 new cases were reported from 26 states Lagos (478), FCT (211), Nasarawa (83), Rivers (72), Kwara (42), Edo 36), Ondo (34), Benue (32), Kaduna (32), Katsina (26), Plateau (26), Kano (25), Taraba (25), Osun (22), Delta (21), Oyo (21), Niger (19), Sokoto (18), Ebonyi (17), Ekiti (14), Gombe (13), Ogun (12), Bauchi (11), Zamfara (8), Borno (4) and Jigawa (1). Lagos, Nigerias COVID-19 epicentre, led on Tuesday with 478 new cases; followed by Abuja, the second most impacted city with 211 new infections. Nigerian authorities few days ago said the COVID-19 vaccines much expected this month will no longer arrive until February. Nigeria, a country of about 200 million people, has conducted over 1.2 million tests for the virus. "Last year, we took great strides to redesign the entire digital advertising supply chain with SOURCE, while focusing internally on building a diverse leadership team at every level to navigate a transformative time in our industry's evolution," said Joe Zawadzki, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of MediaMath. "Ashwini has been an agent of change throughout her career, bringing a global-first perspective and deep knowledge of the agency, senior marketer, and ecosystem audiences. She provides a powerful dose of vision, domain and operational expertise to the Board. We are honored to have her." Acknowledged as one of the most powerful women in mobile advertising, Ashwini brings a breadth of agency experience to MediaMath to help guide the company's agency strategies and partnerships. As Global President at Dentsu, she launched, scaled, and operated Amnet (Dentsu Aegis Network's global programmatic group) in more than 50 markets, leading the group to exceptional consistency and profitability on a global scale. Additionally, during her time at Dentsu, Ashwini led Navegg and Accordant Media's acquisitions, which resulted in new products and revenue opportunities. "MediaMath leads the digital advertising ecosystem with a focus on delivering addressability, accountability and alignment through the SOURCE framework and its unique and all-encompassing identity solution architecture," said Ashwini Karandikar. "Its commitment to delivering on innovative solutions that will work for brands, agencies, publishers and technology providers alike is why I joined, and I'm excited to help make it happen." Working Committees MediaMath's Working Committee board architecture is designed to leverage its members' strengths with relevant management and external experts to help drive the company's strategic direction and serve as active participants in key areas. For 2021, the following committees and their respective chairs include: Financial Capital : Vice Chairman of the Board, Dan MacKeigan , Spring Lake Equity Partners : Vice Chairman of the Board, , Spring Lake Equity Partners Industry and Strategy : Allie Kline , Founding Principal of LEO DIX and former CMO of Verizon Media : , Founding Principal of and former CMO of Verizon Media Human Capital : Nigel Morris , Co-Founder and Managing Partner of QED Investors and former Founder and COO of CapitalOne : , Co-Founder and Managing Partner of QED Investors and former Founder and COO of CapitalOne Nomination and Governance: Jeffrey Rayport , Faculty Member in Entrepreneurial Management at Harvard Business School , whose work helps inform the design of the Working Committees These announcements come on the heels of a transformative year for the company as it delivered on its SOURCE mission to build a 100-percent accountable, addressable and aligned digital media supply chain. In December, MediaMath announced the global availability of SOURCE , providing a redesigned ecosystem to lead the industry into its next phase of ad media that is safe for brands and respectful of consumers. Coupled with innovations in the company's UX, ability to natively transact across the emerging identity landscape, and increased breadth and depth of TV access, brands and agencies benefit from a step-function improvement in scale, simplicity and bottom-line business impact. About MediaMath MediaMath helps the world's top brands deliver personalized digital advertising across all connected touchpoints. Over 9,500 marketers in 42 countries use our demand-side platform every day to launch, analyze, and optimize their digital advertising campaigns across display, native, mobile, video, audio, digital out of home, and advanced TV formats. Founded in 2007 as a pioneer in "programmatic" advertising, MediaMath is recognized as a Leader in the Gartner 2020 Magic Quadrant for Ad Tech and has won Best Account Support by a Technology Company for two years in a row in the AdExchanger Awards. MediaMath initiated an industry-wide effort to create a 100% accountable, addressable and aligned supply chain through the SOURCE ecosystem. SOURCE by MediaMath is a technical and commercial framework for agencies, brands, tech companies, and content owners designed to provide long-term sustainable solutions for a transparent and trusted digital media supply chain. MediaMath has offices in 15 cities worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. To learn more about how MediaMath helps innovative marketers delight their customers and drive real business outcomes, follow us at @mediamath or visit www.mediamath.com Contact: Masha Krylova, [email protected] SOURCE MediaMath Related Links http://www.mediamath.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Photo taken in Berlin, Germany, on Jan. 26, 2021 shows a screen displaying German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivering a speech at the virtual World Economic Forum (WEF). Merkel on Tuesday called for a "fair" and rapid distribution of coronavirus vaccines across the world, including the poorer countries. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday called for a "fair" and rapid distribution of coronavirus vaccines across the world, including the poorer countries. "Here it is about a fair distribution, and not about the question of money," Merkel said on Tuesday in her address at this year's virtual World Economic Forum (WEF), adding that she welcomed the fact that the international coronavirus vaccination initiative COVAX had signed the first contracts. "We will of course do everything we can to ensure that distribution can begin quickly," said Merkel. She also spoke out against nationalism in relation to mass vaccinations as a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Merkel emphasized that 12 months into the pandemic, there were promising vaccines and vaccine candidates, but the world is facing the challenge of vaccine shortages. There is a way out of the pandemic, she said, even if it will still be laborious and not as short as some would have hoped. Merkel invoked close global cooperation as central to the fight against the pandemic. "It is the hour of multilateralism," said Merkel, warning that "a foreclosure approach will not help us solve the problems." Merkel announced increased efforts in development cooperation and called for the United Nations to pursue its sustainability goals with greater emphasis. "The great danger now after the pandemic is that we will all concentrate on ourselves first," said Merkel, referring to the industrialized countries. The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) will from Monday, February 1 this year, commence an eviction exercise to clear traders and hawkers from pavements in the Central Business District (CBD). According to the Assembly, selling on the pavement, which is illegality, was the major contributory factor to congestion at the CBD, and the management was not going to allow such illegality to continue. A statement signed by Ms Henrietta Afia Konadu Aboagye, Public Relations Officer of the Assembly and issued in Kumasi, said the traders had up to the end of January to relocate to the approved trading areas. This, he said, would help ease congestion and bring sanity in the conduct of commercial activities in Ghanas second-largest city. The Assembly wishes to inform all such traders to voluntarily leave the unauthorized premises by January 30 to avoid any punitive measures against them, it said. The exercise, according to the statement, was also necessitated by the upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the country. Under an agreement between the Assembly and leadership of the Petty Traders Association, the traders before the Christmas festivities were permitted to do business on the pavements. The statement reminded the traders that the grace period to voluntarily leave the pavements elapsed on January 15, and, therefore, they should comply with the directive in their interest. Most pavements at the CBD have almost been choked as traders conduct their businesses, making pedestrian movement extremely difficult. The practice has also led to excessive generation of waste, adding up to the KMAs waste generation burden of 1, 500 tonnes per day. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Oscar-nominated star Elliot Page, who came out as transgender and non-binary in December 2020, has filed for divorce from wife Emma Portner. Elliot Page, formerly known as Ellen Page, had come out as gay in 2014 and had tied the knot with Emma Portner in 2018. The actor also released a statement that said that they had separated in the summer of 2020, but wished to remain close friends. The report shared by Hollywood Reporter said, "After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce following our separation last summer. We have the utmost respect for each other and remain close friends." Elliot Page had come out as trans and non-binary through an Instagram post, and expressed "overwhelming gratitude" for those who have supported him. He started the heart-warming post on Instagram saying, "I can't begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self. I've been endlessly inspired by so many in the trans community." "Thank you for your courage, your generosity and ceaselessly working to make this world a more inclusive and compassionate place. I will offer whatever support I can and continue to strive for a more loving and equal society," Page had added. Take a look at the post; Page's wife, Emma, had shown immense support for his decision to come out. Taking to her Instagram account she had shared, "I am so proud of @elliotpage. Trans, queer and non-binary people are a gift to this world. I also ask for patience and privacy but that you join me in the fervent support of trans life every single day. Elliot's existence is a gift in and of itself. Shine on sweet E. Love you so much." Talking about work, Elliot had received international acclaim for starring as a pregnant teenager in the 2007 film Juno, then credited as Ellen Page After starring in Inception and the X-Men series, Page is currently playing the role of Vanya Hargreeves in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy. According to reports, he will continue to play Vanya in the series and the streaming platform is working on updating Page's name in all the titles he has been a part of. ALSO READ: Umbrella Academy Star Elliot Page Formerly Known As Ellen Page, Comes Out As Transgender ALSO READ: Ellen Page out of Drag Me to Hell Chinas envoy to the European Union on Wednesday urged the 27-nation bloc to deepen its ties with his country even further and said that he hoped the EUs desire for strategic autonomy will guide its foreign policy in the future. The EU is Chinas biggest trading partner, but they are also economic competitors, and as Beijing has become more assertive in recent years the bloc has struggled to balance its commercial interests with a country that it sees as a systemic rival and has human rights concerns about. The two sealed a major investment agreement in December, but the EU also expressed concerns about freedom of expression, the intimidation of journalists, as well as the detention of human rights defenders, lawyers, and intellectuals in China China and the EU are comprehensive and strategic partners with 45 years of diplomatic ties. The China-EU relationship has stood the test of time and has a solid basis and a value of its own. Its not attached to any other major country relations, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Ming said. Speaking at a Friends of Europe think-tank event, Zhang said the EU is a strong advocate for strategic autonomy and open cooperation. Hopefully such a spirit will continue to guide the EUs foreign policy and contribute to world stability and development. As the Trump administration abandoned international agreements and organizations, raising tensions with its allies at NATO, French President Emmanuel Macron underlined the need for Europe to have strategic autonomy and better manage its own security needs. The term has sown confusion about Europe's intentions, with some countries seeing it as a by-word for acting independently from the United States, others for greater trade protectionism, or even for breaking away from the NATO military alliance. EU foreign ministers are still trying to establish exactly what it means. Critics say the investment deal, which will give European businesses about the same level of market access in China as those from the United States, risks raising tensions with President Joe Biden s administration after the EU proposed a trans-Atlantic dialogue to address the strategic challenge presented by Chinas growing international assertiveness. Zhang welcomed Bidens decision to return the United States to the Paris climate change agreement and the World Health Organization, and said he hoped that Biden will help to bring China-U.S. relations back to a sound and steady track. Confrontation will lead us to a dead end. In addressing the current crises and building back better, the whole of mankind must work together in solidarity, he said. Zhang also said that he hopes Beijings European friends can take a closer look at his countrys culture, history and realities and see China in an objective, rational and respectful light; bear in mind the importance of EU-China cooperation for the two sides and the world. It is totally unacceptable to attack and discredit China by lying for political and personal gains, he said. White House and Kremlin statements about phone calls between the U.S. and Russian leaders often differ substantially, and the readouts that followed President Joe Biden's first conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin were far from an exception. Here's a look at how the U.S. and Russian statements about the January 26 call differed -- and why. Glory Days One issue that the Kremlin and White House both mentioned high up in their readouts was the intention of the two countries to extend New START, the 2010 pact limiting the long-range nuclear arsenals of the former Cold War rivals, by five years. And both pledged to work to get it done before the treaty expires on February 5. Prominent attention to this issue may be natural, given the approaching deadline and the fact that it is one of the very few things Moscow and Washington seem to agree upon at this point. But highlighting it is also a no-brainer for the Kremlin, because Russia's nuclear weapons are by far the most prominent reminder of Moscow's Cold War-era superpower status and remain the strongest argument that the United States and other global powers must continue to reckon with Russia. Before getting to New START, the Kremlin began its readout with wording that appeared aimed to depict the United States and Russia as equals sharing a place at the top. With phrasing it has employed countless times, the Kremlin said Putin told Biden that "the normalization of relations between Russia and the United States would be in the interests of both countries and -- considering their special responsibility for supporting security and stability in the world -- of the entire international community." The White House steered clear of such wording, seeming careful to separate the issue of New START -- as well as plans to "explore" discussions on broader arms-control and security issues -- from the context of bilateral relations as a whole and from any specific aspects of those ties. Sending Signals The apparent message: The extension of New START does not mean there's a sea change in our outlook on Russia, which is colored by concerns about Moscow's conduct and intentions in an array of areas, from human rights and freedoms at home to various forms of interference abroad. Biden laid out some of those concerns, according to the White House. For one thing, it said, he "reaffirmed the United States' firm support for Ukraine's sovereignty" -- an allusion to U.S. opposition to Russia's forceful takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and concern about the situation in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed militants hold parts of two provinces and their nearly seven-year war against Kyiv's forces has killed more than 13,000 people. The Kremlin readout also said that Biden and Putin discussed Ukraine, but its wording was vastly different. While the White House devoted a separate sentence to Ukraine, and mentioned it before turning to other concerns, Putin's office lumped it together with other matters in a two-word reference to what it called "internal Ukrainian" settlement efforts. Such wording is frequently used by the Kremlin, and its purpose seems clear: to suggest, despite voluminous and undeniable evidence to the contrary, that Russia has little or nothing to do with the separatists and that the war in the Donbas is a domestic Ukrainian issue. To portray Moscow, in other words, as an arbiter in the conflict and not a party to it. It is not unusual for public statements from U.S. and Russian officials about the same meeting, conversation, or negotiation to differ in the way they describe it. A pointed U.S. statement about a specific human rights issue, for example, might be rendered by a Russian official as a discussion on "the theme of human rights." What To Leave In, What To Leave Out This time, though, the White House mentioned four issues that the Kremlin kept out of its statement altogether: A recent large-scale hacking of U.S. government agencies, which the U.S. government has said Russia was probably behind; reports that Russian intelligence offered financial rewards for Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops; alleged Russian interference in the 2020 election that Biden won; and the poisoning of Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny. Listing those as "other matters of concern" after the mention of U.S. support for Ukrainian sovereignty, the statement said Biden "made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies." Again, this seems to signal that the United States -- while pursuing agreements it deems to serve its security interests, such as the New START extension -- will not sacrifice one interest in pursuit of another. To put it more succinctly: No grand bargains, please. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did acknowledge the day after the call that Putin and Biden had discussed Navalny, who was jailed shortly after returning to Russia on January 17 from Germany, where he had been treated after the August nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on Putin and the Federal Security Service. Navalny is now in the global spotlight, his fate an unavoidable factor in U.S.-Russian relations: Three days after Biden's inauguration, Russian police cracked down hard as tens of thousands of Russians protested nationwide over his jailing, detaining more than 3,700 people and drawing condemnation from Washington and the West. Russian officials, meanwhile, have baselessly asserted that Navalny is a Western agent and, without evidence, have accused the United States of fomenting the protests. Still Seeking Summit In skirting any mention of Navalny in its readout of the call, Putin's administration may simply have been seeking to suggest that the issue is not a major concern -- a reflexive move, perhaps, as analysts say the Russian state has only increased his potential power as an opponent by allegedly poisoning him and then putting him in jail. The Kremlin statement also mentioned several specific matters that the White House readout did not. Two of them were agreements from which the United States withdrew under former President Donald Trump: the Open Skies Treaty and the 2015 deal between global powers and Iran, which curbed Tehran's controversial nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. That sounded like a reminder of the challenges that the Biden administration faces as a result of his predecessor's actions -- and a challenge to the administration to address them. In addition, the Kremlin statement mentioned Moscow's calls for a summit of the permanent members of the UN Security Council, a body that gives Russia and its other four members -- the United States, Britain, France, and China -- a stronger voice than the rest in global affairs. Putin first proposed the summit a year ago. But it never took shape, as the coronavirus took hold and Kremlin critics in the West worried that the forum would provide Moscow with an elevated platform Putin might use to try to blunt unity in response to Russia's actions beyond its borders. The White House readout did not mention the idea. A cheap 15 minute finger prick Covid test could be rolled out in Australian airports and hotels by September, giving millions the chance to return to overseas holidays. New Zealand medical company Orbis Diagnostics and French augmented reality firm IDEMIA said they were in talks with Australian health ministers. The test can tell whether someone is able to fight coronavirus because they have been vaccinated or have built up antibodies from a previous infection. But some scientists fear such tests, already deployed in the UK and across Europe, give out false positive results. A high volume and low cost 15 minute finger prick Covid test (pictured) could be rolled out in Australian airports and hotels by September The test (pictured) would tell whether a person is immune to coronavirus after receiving a vaccine or because they were previously infected The test could help governments ease travel restrictions, allowing immunised Australians to travel internationally more easily - with the test given out at airport arrivals and departures. 'Rapid point-of-need testing for immunity can enable a return to safe and quarantine-free international travel', said Orbis co-founder Professor Cather Simpson. Orbis said the test could be operated by non-technically qualified staff in airports, hospitals and other key entry points. Some researchers have warned the rapid finger-prick testing may not be wholly accurate. A study published in the British Medical Journal claimed similar tests often brought up false positive results. Despite this, the tests have already been rolled out in the UK and Europe for many months. 'We expect the tests to be used first in quarantine facilities in one or several states in Australia before then moving into the airports,' IDEMIA managing director in Australia and NZ Xavier Assouad told the Australian. 'We expect this to be used not just on arrivals for inbound passengers but also on departures.' The test, which draws a small prick of blood, can produce results within five to 15 minutes. The test could help governments ease travel restrictions, allowing immunised Australians to travel internationally more easily - with the test given out at airport arrivals and departures (stock). Approval for the test would have to go through Australia's national cabinet. IDEMIA and Orbis said they were in talks with several state health ministers and had contacted Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly. Orbis said the companies had also submitted a plan to the New Zealand government to undergo a testing program. Australians have been warned they may be robbed of overseas holidays until the majority of the country has been vaccinated - which could take as long as a year, with not a single jab yet given out. Rapid airport tests would allow the government to be assured that any arrival into the country was vaccinated - a stipulation of entry previously flagged by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The international borders have been closed since March 20 to stop the deadly respiratory virus being imported in from overseas. New Zealand medical company Orbis Diagnostics and French augmented reality firm IDEMIA, which is developing an app to go with the test (pictured), said they were in talks with Australian health ministers In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo, an iPhone displays the Facebook app in New Orleans. Users across the northeast U.S. reported widespread internet outages Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. Verizon reported a fiber cut in Brooklyn via Twitter, although it's not clear if that issue is responsible for the entire outage. According to DownDetector and user reports on Twitter, the problem appears to extend from Washington to Boston, and is affecting internet and cloud providers as well as a number of Google services, Facebook and other major sites. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File) Internet users across the northeast U.S. experienced widespread outages for several hours Tuesday, interrupting work and school because of an unspecified Verizon network issue. "An internet issue impacting the quality of our Fios service throughout the Northeast has been resolved," said spokesman Rich Young in an emailed statement Tuesday afternoon. He said service levels "are returning to normal" and the company is investigating what happened. The service interruptions were unrelated to a cut fiber in Brooklyn, New York, which caused problems for people in the area. There are about 6.5 million Fios internet customers. People posting on Twitter reported having issues connecting with various online services in the region stretching from Washington, D.C., to Boston. That densely populated area includes key U.S. government services as well as major financial companies such as Fidelity Investments. Disruptions to internet services are always a hassle, but have become even more excruciating as the pandemic forces millions of people to work from home and students to attend school remotely. Diana Gaspar's daughter in New York couldn't connect to her online classroom because their home internet was spotty for a couple of hours in the afternoon, although her daughter was able to log in with Gaspar's phone. "We didn't see it as a major issue," Gaspar said. "The only inconvenience was me not having my phone." For the Fairfax County Public Schools in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, teachers and students found workarounds, such as switching to another instruction platform if one wasn't working, said spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell. When her third-grade daughter's teacher couldn't log on to the education software they were using, a gym teacher came on to tell kids to do independent learning instead, said Fairfax parent Tracy Compton. "My daughter came to me and I had to stop working and I had to work with her to do the assignment," Compton said, nothing that frustrating tech issues are not unusual with remote learning. At Galvin Middle School in Wakefield, Massachusetts, a suburb north of Boston, teachers sent students pen-and-paper assignments if there were internet problems, said Trish Dellanno, reached at the school by phone. "Teachers have been able to keep on moving. They're going old school." The outage affected internet and cloud providers as well as major sites such as Google and Facebook. Amazon, whose web services division powers a wide ranges of online services, indicated its network wasn't the cause of the problem and that connectivity issues for its Amazon Web Services customers were resolved around 12:45 p.m., after an hour and a half. Google said it also had not found issues with its own services and was investigating. The East Coast outages began at 11:25 a.m. local time and recovery began at 12:37 p.m, according to Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik, a network monitoring company. He reported a 12% drop in traffic volume to Verizon. Madory said he did not yet know if other carriers were impacted. Comcast, another major internet service provider, said it had not observed problems with its network Tuesday. AT&T said it does not supply home internet in the northeast and customers were not affected. Cary Wiedemann, a network engineer who had connectivity problems at his home in Northern Virginia, said that some online services could have been disrupted even if your home internet still worked, if the issue was with the backbone of Verizon's network. "If Outlook works but YouTube doesn't, whose fault is it? Verizon's fault. But that's not obvious from the onset," he said. Explore further Massive outage hits Google services worldwide 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. A University of Pennsylvania professor has retired after he used rhetoric and a hand gesture associated with the Nazis during a virtual academic conference earlier this month. Robert Schuyler was an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Museum curator. His retirement from the schools faculty became effective Monday, Steven Fluharty, dean of Penns School of Arts and Sciences, quietly announced in an updated statement this week. The move comes after Schuylers classes at the university were canceled as the incident drew ire. In video of the controversial exchange during a Society for Historical Archaeology virtual discussion on Jan. 6, Schuyler interjects following speaker Liz Quinlan, a researcher and doctoral student at the University of York, to bring up concerns on society membership. When Quinlan told Schuyler, a society donor, that it was not the place to address the matter, he cited freedom of speech. As Quinlan responded, he said, Sieg Heil to you and raised his hand forward. Quinlan later shared her discontentment with society officials in a letter, in which she called for Schuyler to be censured and barred from upcoming meetings. To not only be interrupted, but to be spoken to with such vitriol and anger by a senior researcher in my field is demoralizing, embarrassing, and deeply upsetting, the letter read. The apparent inclusion of a Nazi salute and reference to a Nazi victory cry, whether done in jest or otherwise, is both enormously offensive and abhorrent. READ MORE: Prompted by complaints, Temple taps law firm to probe education college leadership A portion of the exchange became widely shared on social media, leading to calls for his firing and many entities tied to Schuyler to issue statements scorning the behavior. An online petition urging his ouster has amassed more than 1,900 signatures. Such behavior has no place in our academic discourse, which aims to celebrate the open exchange of ideas in an environment that promotes civility, respect, and inclusion, Fluharty said in a statement directly following the incident. Nazi symbols are antithetical to our values as an institution. The fact that this behavior comes during a period of deep social division in our nation, when too many others are invoking such symbols in their expressions of hate, makes this incident even more painful for our community. Kathleen Morrison, Penns department of anthropology chair, quickly condemned Schuylers behavior as traction grew online and swiftly shared news of Schuylers retirement on Twitter Monday. The Daily Pennsylvanian was first to report the decision. READ MORE: A byproduct of the pandemic? Colleges see soaring interest in health fields. Schuyler is listed as professor emeritus of anthropology and former associate curator-in-charge at Penn Museum on Penns website. Prior courses taught include historical archaeology, African American archaeology, and themes in historical archaeology. Its not clear if Schuyler cited the incident upon informing Penn of his retirement. Neither returned a request for comment. VIJAYAWADA: Finding no wrong in holding of unanimous elections, state election commissioner (SEC) N. Ramesh Kumar, however, instructed officials to keep a close watch on them. Take appropriate decision in case the number of such unanimous elections is high, he observed. Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, the election commissioner underlined that unanimous elections have been an age-old practice, where villagers elected only elders, whom they trusted for their capability and efficiency. He ruled out any wrong in case some ward members and sarpanches are elected unanimously in the ensuing gram panchayat polls get in Andhra Pradesh. Referring to objections raised by certain political parties on state government incentivising unanimous elections, the SEC said their apprehensions have been taken into consideration. Accordingly, officials have been instructed to ensure due diligence in case of unanimous elections if their number went up beyond reason. The election commissioner took a critical view of advertisements encouraging unanimous elections in a section of the media. He maintained that the commission has not been consulted in this regard. Following this, he has called for an explanation from commissioners of information and panchayat raj departments. The SEC sounded confident of holding gram panchayat polls as scheduled peacefully, as the chief secretary and director general of police are extending all cooperation. On adverse reactions from a section of employees fearing safety for their lives, he expressed optimism that the commission would get their support in holding of the polls. Explaining his requisition for enrolling himself as voter at his native village Duggirala in Guntur district though he was not residing locally, Ramesh Kumar said with an expectation of exercising his vote in ensuing gram panchayat polls, he had surrendered his vote in Hyderabad. He said he is disappointed that his request for enrolling as voter in Duggirala has been rejected. However, he said he would apply to the district collector to register him as a voter. He cautioned that if he failed to become a voter, he would not hesitate to move the judiciary. Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict on PR polls, which eased the tense situation in AP with regard to panchayat elections, the SEC cautioned that if there are any violations in conduct of polls, the commission would certainly move judiciary. A Message From The Editor just-style gives you the widest apparel and textile market coverage. Paid just-style members have unlimited access to all our exclusive content - including 21 years of archives. I am so confident you will love complete access to our content that today I can offer you 30 days access for 1*. Its our best ever membership offer just for you. Leonie Barrie, editor of just-style Leonie's offer to you * plus VAT if applicable Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-26 22:54:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close GENEVA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's new Davos speech was pivotal to boosting multilateral cooperation, leaders of international organizations, business executives and economists have said, stressing China's role as a growth engine in supporting global economic recovery. Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Monday, Xi called on the world to abandon ideological prejudice and jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. "Difference in itself is no cause for alarm. What does ring the alarm is arrogance, prejudice and hatred," Xi said. No global problem can be solved by any one country alone, and there must be global action, global response and global cooperation, Xi stressed. International Labor Organization Director-General Guy Ryder said he is pleased that the emphasis of Xi's speech was on international cooperation. "We need much more international cooperation so that everybody can apply the necessary policies. Multilateralism, international cooperation in vaccine policy but also in employment and financial policy needs to be on top of the policy agenda as we start this new year," he told Xinhua in an interview. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Relatives of Wuhan's coronavirus dead on Wednesday said Chinese authorities have deleted their social media group and are pressuring them to keep quiet while a World Health Organization team is in the city to investigate the pandemic's origins. Scores of relatives have banded together online in a shared quest for accountability from Wuhan officials who they blame for mishandling the outbreak that tore through the city one year ago. The effort has thus far been thwarted by official obstruction, monitoring of social media groups and intimidation, say next-of-kin. But pressure has escalated in recent days, apparently to muzzle any criticism and avoid embarrassment during the highly sensitive WHO investigation. A group on social media platform WeChat used by 80 to 100 family members over the past year was suddenly deleted without explanation about 10 days ago, said Zhang Hai, a group member and a vocal critic of the outbreak's handling. "This shows that (Chinese authorities) are very nervous. They are afraid that these families will get in touch with the WHO experts," said Zhang, 51, whose father died early in the pandemic of suspected Covid-19. The WHO experts arrived in Wuhan on January 14 and are due to emerge from a 14-day quarantine on Thursday. "When the WHO arrived in Wuhan, (authorities) forcibly demolished (the group). As a result we have lost contact with many members," Zhang added. Other next-of-kin confirmed the group's deletion. WeChat is operated by Chinese digital giant Tencent. Popular platforms routinely censor content deemed objectionable by the government. - 'Same old tune' - Relatives accuse the Wuhan and Hubei provincial governments of allowing Covid-19 to explode out of control by trying to conceal the outbreak when it first emerged in the city in December 2019, then failing to alert the public and bungling the response. According to official Chinese figures, it killed nearly 3,900 in Wuhan, accounting for the vast majority of the 4,636 dead China has reported. Story continues Many next-of-kin distrust those numbers, saying the scarcity of testing in the outbreak's chaotic early days meant many are likely to have died without being confirmed as having the disease. More than two million people have died so far globally. While China has broadly controlled the pandemic on its soil, it has frustrated independent attempts to trace its origins. Instead, it has sought to deflect blame for the horrific worldwide human and economic toll by suggesting, without proof, that it emerged elsewhere. A team of WHO virus experts were finally allowed into Wuhan a fortnight ago. Their highly watched probe into the virus origins is due to start on Thursday, under tight security. Another family member, a retiree who says her adult daughter died of the virus last January, told AFP she was summoned last week by authorities and warned not to "speak to media or be used by others". Authorities came to her door on Tuesday "and sang the same old tune and gave me 5,000 yuan ($775) in a 'condolence payment'", she added, requesting anonymity. - Official obstruction - The Communist Party government smothers anything that reflects its governance in a poor light, and the early days of the outbreak remain among the most sensitive topics in China today. Several Wuhan relatives have tried to file lawsuits seeking compensation and punishment of officials, but say courts have refused to accept them. The Wuhan government has repeatedly failed to reply to AFP queries regarding the families and their demands. Zhang called on the WHO experts to "bravely" meet with next-of-kin, saying the investigators are likely to be misled or obstructed by Chinese authorities. He said the families' hard-earned knowledge of how the virus played out could aid the investigation, though he acknowledges such a meeting is highly unlikely. The virus is believed to have emerged from bats and to have initially spread from a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals were sold as food. But little else is known. Another theory, amplified by former US President Donald Trump, is that it leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan where researchers were studying coronaviruses. burs-dma/apj/je Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. Though it does have its positives, the guru-shishya tradition unfortunately stops us from moving towards a more progressive and open community, where constructive discussions can take place without fearing consequences. The obvious takeaway from the discussion surrounding #MeToo in the Indian classical music and dance community has been the lack of awareness people have about the subject, the lack of initiatives being taken by organisations and artistes to raise their voices, and the clear existence of a power imbalance that has led to a community of enablers. The deafening silence of artistes in this matter has been a cause for concern and has led to multiple questions being raised about the age-old tradition of the guru-shishya parampara. The power imbalance that stems from this relationship is not just limited to the guru (teacher) and the shishya (student); it also applies to the relationships between artistes both established and emerging and the organisers who are all inter-related, given the smallness of the ecosystem that the Indian classical arts operate in. People who occupy positions of power have often used the guru-shishya parampara as a weapon to intimidate and silence disciples when it comes to issues such as molestation and abuse, which in turn has led to the grooming of artistes with a dearth of personality, curiosity and individuality. As a result, students in the Indian classical music and dance community have been taught not to question their gurus or seniors, and have been putting them on pedestals that wrongly keep them away from the consequences of their actions, resulting in them becoming enablers. Also read on Firstpost Sexual harassment in the Indian classical arts: Recent cases re-indict complicity of enablers and those staying silent The guru-shishya parampara is known for the personalised training it involves. In many cases the student is told to surrender to the guru in order to achieve depth in ones artistic abilities. In the world of dance, this is all too familiar, as the possibility of physical proximity between the teacher and student is more likely. But inappropriate behaviour does not always take a physical form. The dialogue between the guru and the shishya is also important to decipher. In Kathak, abhinaya is an integral part of the repertoire. It is also an element that takes a dancer many years to perfect, as it involves expressing mature emotions through movement and expression. These emotions often involve expressing love, desire, and the torment of waiting for the beloved to come home. Commonly in the Kathak community, students are told that in order to be able to manifest these complex emotions, it is important to also experience them in real life, otherwise, it is not possible to convey them with the depth that is required. As Kathak exponent Nisha Mahajan said to Indian Express, "There was this notion that in order to be able to present bhaav or abhinaya, if you dont go through certain experiences, it does not work. This was considered part of the mentorship, of course informallyThere was this aura of hero-worship...either the students gave in, some others who really wanted to dance were willing to make the compromise. Then there were others who just left. For some, leaving is just not an option, even now. In the Indian classical music community, once the disciple has learnt a specific raga and the technicalities of the art form, it allows them to explore the art with the taalim they have received from their gurus and to venture out and create their own individual style of music. In dance, however, especially in Kathak, there are now just a handful of gurus who are training their disciples to become solo dancers, individual artistic thinkers and spontaneous artistes. The focus has been on group productions which limit the artistes freedom to build on the taalim imparted to them by their gurus. These group productions tend to promote the gurus work more than the different abilities of each dancer. As a result of this, the demand for solo Kathak dancers or dancers with their own identity has decreased, and has meant that disciples are over-dependent on their gurus for professional opportunities of any kind. This over-dependence, coupled with the weaponisation of the guru-shishya parampara, has lead to the silencing of many Kathak dancers who wish to make this a profession and realise that they cannot do so without being dependent on their guru. The normalisation of such notions has resulted in many voices being unheard or suppressed in the dance community. Those who do pluck up the courage to come out with their stories are met with responses such as, This has been happening for many years now, there is nothing new in it, it is just how it works here." This leads to students believing that if they do not accept the status quo, they may not be able to advance in their careers or even pursue them. Using nuances of the art itself to accentuate the power imbalance, which then leads to sexual misconduct is, unfortunately, a very real part of the guru-shishya experience as it stands. The recent arrest of pakhawaj player Ravi Shankar Upadhyay, who was a guru at the Kathak Kendra, and the silence that followed within the Kathak community did not come as a surprise. Most seniors and juniors alike chose not to speak up about the incident. Everyone should appreciate the courage of this girl who has come forward and spoken out. Most girls dont speak out because of pressure from their families or the overwhelming love for the art itself. At least the ex-students and teachers of Kathak Kendra who have privately shared their experiences should now speak out and show solidarity," said Kathak exponent Uma Dogra in light of the Kathak Kendra case. In this world of guru-worship, scratching each other's backs for personal gain, and silencing the voices of those affected by sexual misconduct, the Indian classical music and dance community has created enablers at all levels of the spectrum. The idea that an artiste with an opinion and a voice is an artiste who is less involved in their music, has been inculcated in us. An environment has been created in which questioning is looked down upon and being subservient is seen as the ultimate quality. Though it does have its positives, the guru-shishya tradition unfortunately stops us from moving towards a more progressive and open community, where constructive discussions can take place without fearing consequences. Being a professional Kathak dancer for over 18 years and living in London, it has come to my notice that the method of marketing of Kathak in the West has massively affected how the guru-shishya parampara is perceived. Although this marketing method may be targeted at the West, the effects are evident just as much in India. Ever since Indian culture has entered the Western world, words such as mysticism, spiritualism, devotion and submission have attracted Westerners to what they believe is the Indian way of living. Indian classical musicians and dancers alike have used this thought process to market Indian classical arts to the West, which has promoted the idea of an all-knowing guru to whom one must surrender unequivocally. The concept of a guru is comparatively new in the West and has garnered great curiosity and attention. Many gurus have been using this notion of a leader guiding their unsuspecting devotees into the path of meditation, peace and spirituality, to gain students in the field of Indian classical arts. Though the popularity of the Indian classical arts in the West has provided financial stability to many artistes, it has also, unfortunately, laid the ground for those who wish to sell Indian classical arts as a strict disciplinary art form that involves complete surrender, submission and service to the guru. What started off as curiosity towards an art form that does in its purest form endorse peace and a spiritual way of life, has become a tool for those who want to fulfil their carnal needs. One wonders why there has not yet been a single statement condemning the actions of the perpetrators from any Indian classical dance organisations and institutions in the past five months or, even a step to create some sort of space for discussion. UK-based organisation Darbar had recently organised a panel discussion on 'MeToo in the Indian Classical Tradition', which tackled topics such as what is considered to be sexual misconduct and what steps organisations can take to create a safe working environment, as well as invited questions from their live Facebook audience. The discussion, comprising of esteemed panelists such as Sangeeta Sivakumar, Swarna Rajagopalan, TM Krishna, Devina Dutt, Shubha Mudgal and Sandeep Virdee (Artistic Director of Darbar) moderated by Charu Shahane, was the need of the hour. Soon after the panel discussion, Darbar removed videos of the Gundechas and Ravi Shankar Upadhyay from their YouTube channel. When asked about this step, Sandeep Virdee said, Pending the outcome of investigations, we feel it is only right to remove this content and to put the musicians on our block list for future live concerts. It is regrettable to see that in many such discussions where sexual assault has been addressed, representation from the Kathak community has been missing. Dance institutions have done very little to build forums for dialogue and to have necessary legal structures in place that will encourage survivors to come forward with their stories. Kathak Kendra, an organisation established in 1964 by Sangeet Natak Akademi, has only just formed an ICC (Internal Complaints Committee) following the recent case of Ravi Shankar Upadhyay. Perhaps the reason for the silence within the Kathak community is the flawed structure of dependency, vulnerability and conformity that originates from the guru-shishya parampara which is further encouraged by dance institutions. The author is a professional Kathak dancer and musician based in London. She writes blogs on her website to raise awareness about issues within the Indian classical arts community. A new study has found strong support from U.S. businesses for a national paid leave policy after months of navigating the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing recession. Researchers found that 75% of U.S. companies and U.K.-based companies with U.S. operations said they support a government leave plan to help cope with future public health and economic crises. So far during the COVID-19 outbreak, 1-in-5 U.S. workers have taken a leave of some kind. More than 40 companies of various sizes were surveyed in the study conducted by the nonprofit groups Promundo and Paid Leave for the U.S., which promote gender equity and paid leave policies, respectively. The United States is alone among 41 industrialized countries in not guaranteeing paid sick or parental leave, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. President Joe Biden has introduced a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill featuring temporary paid leave amid signs that support is on the rise on Capitol Hill and in corporate America for paid leave legislation. "We're beginning to see is a real demand for a permanent public policy solution," said Annie Sartor, senior director of business partnerships at Paid Leave for the U.S. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed at the onset of the pandemic included two weeks of paid sick leave and as much as 10 weeks of paid family or medical leave for employers with fewer than 500 employees. It expired in December. Bidens current proposal includes provisions for as much as 14 weeks of paid sick, family, and medical leave and a significant expansion of eligibility. The plan could reach as many as 106 million more Americans than the last emergency bill, expanding coverage to workers at companies with fewer than 50 employees. Biden's rescue plan is "a first step" toward permanent legislation, said Michelle McGrain, director of congressional relations at the National Partnership for Women & Families. "The lack of paid leave in this country was a huge crisis," she said. "That crisis has continued throughout the pandemic and will continue to exist if big, structural changes are not engaged." Almost 45% of companies said more than half of the employees who took leave were women, who often bear the brunt of household and caregiving responsibilities. Gary Barker, chief executive officer and founder of Promundo, said companies with leave programs cut their job losses, especially for women. In December, women accounted for all of the net jobs lost in the U.S., with 156,000, while men gained 16,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "It points to the importance of making leave normal for women and men, and for us to achieve the equality in salaries that women deserve," Barker said. Barker said companies in nations with mandatory leave have built a workplace culture that doesn't penalize taking time off. Workers worry about taking it, particularly in the U.S., Barker said. European countries, because theyve been doing this for a very long time, youre not considered a slacker because you take leave. Name: Julie Gibb Company: Sim Local Job title: CTO Date started current role: August 2017 Location: Dublin, Ireland Julie Gibb joined Sim Local as Chief Technology Officer in 2017, at a pivotal point in the companys technology journey. She leads a team responsible for the technology services that underpin Sim Locals retail business and retail channels across the globe. Gibb has played a crucial role in the development of the next generation UNITE platform, which leverages Sim Locals retail business insights and cloud native to offer a digital eSIM technology solution for various enterprises. What was your first job? I worked as a Project Manager at Nortel Networks straight out of university in 1995, where I was responsible for the phased expansion of International Operators fixed line networks across Europe. My first graduate role was a great introduction to the world of working within a multinational and taught me about working with multi-cultural teams across geographies. I was lucky to have entered the telecoms sector at a time of deregulation and was exposed to US operators expanding into Europe as well as a fast paced, results focused working environment. Those formative years gave me the foundations of a work ethic that still drives me today. Did you always want to work in IT? Effectively yes. I researched different degree courses when I was at school and kept finding myself drawn to technology orientated degrees and I eventually settled on one that combined technology acumen with a business acumen. We had an early model Apple computer at home when I was a child and I used to spend hours typing in programming code just to see a little stick man run across the screen and throw a javelin when I hit the enter button. The anticipation of the magic the computer screen was going to deliver to me was more thrilling than the actual result! What was your education? Do you hold any certifications? What are they? I studied at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and graduated in 1995 with a B.A (Mod) in Management Science and Industrial Systems Studies. After graduating, I delved into the working world whilst also completing a qualification in Project Management. A number of years later I decided to go to night school to complete an MBA from University College Dublin Smurfit School of Business. Explain your career path. Did you take any detours? If so, discuss. Since starting my career in telecommunications over 20 years ago, I knew I had found my calling. I have worked for a variety of companies, from Telefonica, to Meteor and Nortel, and have been immersed in the telecoms evolution, which has been a fascinating journey. The speed with which innovation has occurred, new companies have emerged and taken the lead, coupled with seeing the resulting influences on the ordinary persons day to day life has been a joy to be a part of. The early part of my career was steeped in multi nationals, which allowed me to act boldly with a support structure around me. Later in my career I worked with local communication service providers in Ireland. The population of Ireland is small compared to most in Europe, and local service providers tend to be smaller than in the U.K. or Spain, so you get to see how the whole business needs to work together in order to succeed. In larger organisations you often only get exposure to your own division which makes it hard to understand how the company engine needs to have cogs that work in unison to become a well-oiled machine. That insight has been of huge benefit to me in my current role as CTO of Sim Local, where leading technology innovation and being successful in innovation depends on the sum of all parts working together. What type of CTO are you? Ive always been a performance and results driven manager, and that didnt change when I stepped into my new role as CTO at Sim Local. Im a passionate leader and enjoy working with a talented team delivering business and technology advances. Working in technology means you need to be able to embrace change and I try to embed this style into my teams way of working. Being agile, trying new ideas and failing fast are at the heart of what we do. My mantra is to lead by example, and I encourage boldness, continuous learning, and the satisfaction of personal achievement on the job. Which emerging technology are you most excited about the prospect of? In terms of emerging technology, I really am most excited about the rise of eSIM over the coming years, which has already started to revolutionise the mobile and telecoms industry. This digital disruption will offer new business opportunities for mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), as well as a new world of choice for consumers. Are there any technologies which you think are overhyped? Why? Artificial Intelligence is a curiosity for me. I respect the depth of scientific thought behind Artificial Intelligence innovation and the concept of making machines think. I can see the place it holds in areas such as robotics, however I have yet to be convinced that its use in marketing, online advertising and sales engagement, particularly for social media and search engines has a societal benefit. What is one unique initiative that youve employed over the last 12 months that youre really proud of? Personally, Im really proud of the UNITE platform we created. We worked on it for many years and developed it to provide the core capability mobile operators need to offer eSIM services to their customers. We wanted to create a platform for operators and partners worldwide, which allows customers to purchase, activate, download, and install eSIM subscriptions onto their mobile devices. The platform uses the latest in web technologies in conjunction with a cloud & microservices architecture to bring a best-in-class capability into an operators eSIM ecosystem this solves a problem for operators who are time and, or resource constrained where we can deliver to them a complete eSIM solution in just a matter of weeks. Are you leading a digital transformation? If so, does it emphasise customer experience and revenue growth or operational efficiency? If both, how do you balance the two? eSIM technology is an industry-wide digital disruption. The technology allows the customer to install many eSIM profiles in their device and select between these subscriptions at will via a software menu (although only one profile can be active at any given time). This changes the relationship between the customer and operator in that they may no longer have a long-term relationship with just one mobile provider. With Dual SIM technology, many customers will have both a primary and one or more secondary subscriptions, possibly from a variety of operators. It is these additional secondary subscriptions that represent the new revenue opportunities for operators and business risk for those operators that choose not to engage. Sim Local recognised this early and began work to protect its future and prepare for an eSIM world. A number of years later, via a multimillion Euro investment, we developed an eSIM platform called UNITE. We not only solved the problem of getting eSIM profiles in the hands of the customer directly, but are also able to provide our technology to telecoms operators as a complete eSIM solution. What is the biggest issue that youre helping customers with at the moment? We are helping our customers shift from a physical SIM card to a digital eSIM download. eSIM has been a silent revolution but MNOs really need to be prepared as this technology looks to disrupt their day-to-day business. We believe eSIM will be a standard feature for most smartphone devices worldwide by 2023. How do you align your technology use to meet business goals? At Sim Local we are very clear about our strategic direction and business goals. Keeping one eye on where we want to be as a company allows me as the CTO to set the direction of our technology strategy. Sim Local is both technology and business led. The wider business strategy needs to ensure investment in the direction of where our technology needs to be in the near and long-term future. At the end of the day for any company, investment in technology needs to provide a return. Do you have any trouble matching product/service strategy with tech strategy? The benefit of being an entrepreneurially minded company means we can be agile about reacting to the opportunities that present themselves. We have a very strong and closely knit team at Sim Local and aligning our product and service strategy with technology is part of our DNA. Its part of our daily conversations. Given eSIM technology is new, and the disruption is industry wide, having a technology strategy that can allow our products and services team react to the opportunities that might arise is one of our core strengths. What makes an effective tech strategy? There are many components to what makes an effective tech strategy, but I believe it needs to centre on how we deliver the end-to-end product to customers. Its not just merely focusing on the tech behind the product, it needs to be multi-functional. What predictions do you have for the role of the CTO in the future? I believe that no two CTO roles are the same, therefore, the role is constantly changing, especially as new technologies develop. All businesses are trying to keep up with the constant digital transformation that is happening around us. As CTOs we will certainly have to keep finding solutions to innovate and stay ahead of the curve in order to be strategic in the way we operate and deliver products to our customers. What has been your greatest career achievement? Being able to recognise the opportunity within innovation and steering strategic decisions to make best use of innovation comes with the experience of seeing technologies come and go and being able to recognise the ones that will pass the test of time. Looking back with 20:20 hindsight, what would you have done differently? Taken a gap year in my twenties, but I will aspire to do so in my retirement years! I might give the bungee jump a miss though. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment On this day 76 years ago, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp where Nazi forces murdered more than 1.1 million people, the vast majority of them Jews. Greeted by starving prisoners rejoicing at their arrival, piles of corpses, and unthinkable living conditions, unknowing Soviet troops were horrified by what they saw. As more became known about its extermination center (Auschwitz-Birkenau), Auschwitz came to represent what may be the greatest anti-humanitarian crime in history: the systematic effort to destroy the Jewish people wherever they could be found on the globe. Accordingly, January 27th is commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This commemoration is about that crime against one people in a specific place and time the Jews who fell under Nazi control before May 10, 1945. As we recall the tireless Nazi effort to destroy the Jewish people, it is imperative that we also not overlook the current resurgence of Jew-hatred around the globe. The anxiety and social strain of the current pandemic has served as an occasion for some to deploy modernized themes of ancient Jew-hatred. Abhorrent conspiracy theories simmered online, especially in Europe, during the pandemic. Hate-filled comments accused Jews of creating and spreading COVID-19 or, alternatively, asserting that the virus was simply a hoax concocted by Jews. Such absurd competing accusations demonstrate how antisemitism often manifests itself in expressions of irrational sentiment and bigotry. Hatred toward Jews does not merely fester secretly online. In many Western countries, it thrives out in the open under the socially acceptable rubric of anti-Zionism. By claiming that the only Jewish state is inherently racist, akin to the South African apartheid regime, anti-Zionism denies the Jewish people their right to self-determination in a state and land of their own. It is particularly active on American university campuses, where the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement singles out Israel for economic punishment. According to UN Watch, Israel has received 96 condemnatory resolutions from the UN General Assembly, many times more that notorious human rights abusers like North Korea, Myanmar, and Syria. This widely disproportionate targeting of the Jewish state indicates a prevalent anti-Jewish sentiment among world leaders. In its annual report in 2020, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom expressed serious concern over the rise of antisemitism in the world, especially in Europe. It cited examples including a 27% increase in antisemitic acts in France in 2019, a 7% increase in antisemitic incidents in the United Kingdom in 2019, and a pattern of antisemitic bullying in Sweden. As the situation has grown more perilous for Jews in Europe, a 2019 survey found that 41% of young Jewish Europeans have considered emigrating from their native lands out of concern for their safety. Many Jews are now making plans to leave for Israel as many European governments have lost control of the situation with antisemitism becoming more widespread and violent. This reality would have been unimaginable twenty years ago. In the Middle East, animus towards Jews runs hot and is ubiquitous. Iran stands apart as a country that espouses and promulgates the most vicious Jew-hatred. It continues to be the only government in the world that denies the Holocaust as a matter of state policy. Former U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr has called Iran the worlds chief trafficker in antisemitism. Justifying its aggressive foreign policy denying Israels right to exist, Iranian leaders spread of antisemitic conspiracy theories while referring to Israel as a cancerous tumor. Even the United States has seen the emergence of antisemitism. This is most true on college campuses where the political left and venomous antisemitic organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine have come to dominate the political debate. There the antisemitism is masked, as it is in many places, as anti-Zionism, but that covering is only a thin veneer. There is also a violent strand of American Jew-hatred that has its roots in the political fringe-right. Recent attacks at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and the Chabad synagogue in Poway, California, have born this out. Simultaneously, those acts of murder disabused Americans of any notion that Jewish houses of worship were safe in the United States. Unfortunately, studies show declining knowledge about the Holocaust among younger Americans. One survey found that 63% of American millennials and Generation Z did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and over half of those thought the death toll was fewer than 2 million. Another article tells us that two-thirds of millennials do not know what Auschwitz stands for and what took place there. Many cannot place the Holocaust within the framework of World War II. This is a disastrous place for our nation to be. On this day, we commemorate the millions of innocent Jews who were cruelly imprisoned, tortured, and murdered on an industrial scale. Remembrance must also incorporate a commitment that such evil must never again take place. Jews know that this hatred has manifested itself against them in many places over millennia. Whether it be in Queen Esthers biblical Persia, Judeas destruction by the Romans, or fifteenth century Spain this is a recurring evil that knows no parallel human history. Therefore, it is necessary that we set aside this day each year to remember the Holocaust. We must use this annual occasion to recommit ourselves to protect the Jewish people as fellow human beings. But they must also be defended as a persecuted minority that stands for a set of unique religious and cultural beliefs that make them distinct. Tyrants, like Hitler, have raged that Jews answer to a higher authority and will not yield. On this point, we must stand with the Jews every day of the year. Democrats arent ready to nuke the filibuster. Not now. And possibly not ever, depending how serious you think Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema were when they announced this week that they would oppose any effort to blow up their chambers antiquated, obviously destructive 60-vote threshold. Practically speaking, this means that if Democrats want to enact most of their agenda, they will have to rely on the somewhat byzantine and widely misunderstood process known as budget reconciliation, which prevents filibusters on certain kinds of legislation. Party leaders have already signaled that they will use it to move President Joe Bidens big coronavirus relief package if enough Republicans cant be convinced to back it, as well as infrastructure and climate legislation. Democrats are also looking for creative ways to stretch reconciliations rules in order to pass priorities like a $15 minimum wage. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given that the fate of the Biden presidency likely hangs on the ins and outs of this parliamentary procedure (which, to be clear, is objectively absurd), you probably have a few questions about how reconciliation works. Here, as briefly as possible, is what you need to know. What exactly is this budget reconciliation thing I keep hearing about? Its a process that allows the Senate to pass tax and spending legislation with a bare majority vote. Reconciliation bills cannot be filibustered, so Democrats can use it to scoot around Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnells tendency toward obstructionism. So what youre saying is that Democrats can definitely send me another coronavirus check, even if Sen. Gamera doesnt want them to? Advertisement Yes. Thats what Im saying. Awesome. How many bills could Democrats pass this way? The conventional wisdom is that they could pass at least three of them before the 2022 midterms. In order to write a reconciliation bill, Congress first has to enact an annual budget resolution. Since the Senate never got around to adopting a budget for this current year, Democrats could cue up resolutions for 2021, 2022, and 2023 before they face voters, giving them a trio of big honking packages they can use to deliver their agenda. Advertisement There is a theory floating around that Democrats might be able to pass more than three reconciliation bills, based on a rule that allows them to revise each budget resolution, but that maneuver has never been tried before, which makes it a bit speculative. Advertisement If the Senate loves the filibuster so much, why does this process even exist? Not unlike the filibuster itself, reconciliation is basically an accident of history that has been largely divorced from its original purpose. As former Senate Parliamentarian Robert Dove once explained in a surprisingly delightful panel appearance, Congress created reconciliation in the 1970s as a minor tool to smooth out kinks in the annual budget process. But crafty senators soon realized they could use it speed their bills past the chambers many procedural hurdles, even though that had never been the intention behind it. How often does Congress use reconciliation? Lets put it this way: Some of the most famous pieces of legislation of the past 40 years were brought to us, for better or worse, by reconciliation. The Senate relied on it to push through Ronald Reagans first-term economic agenda, enact welfare reform under Bill Clinton, and pass George W. Bushs tax cuts. Democrats used reconciliation to put the finishing touches on Obamacare, while in 2017 Republicans relied on it to pass Donald Trumps marquee tax bill. Advertisement Advertisement Its a powerful tool that can be utilized to end programs or create entirely new ones from scratch, rejigger tax brackets, increase safety net spending, and much more. Sounds great. Whats the catch? There are a bunch. Like what? For starters, Democrats probably cant use it to pass some of the most important items on their to-do list. When it comes to reconciliation, the basic rule of thumb is that lawmakers can use it to tinker with the tax code or make changes to spending programs other than Social Security. But they cannot use it to enact purely regulatory reforms. The whole process is governed by a statute known as the Byrd Rulenamed after the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrdwhich sets out a six-part test for what can and cant be included in a reconciliation bill. In order to be deemed kosher, a provision must change the governments revenue or spending levels, and the effect cannot be merely incidental to the nonbudget impact. Advertisement The upshot is that Democrats can almost certainly use reconciliation to throw money at coronavirus relief, health care reform, or a giant renewable energy push. They could remake vast swaths of the welfare state, or create a carbon tax if they so pleased. They can certainly mail checks until their hearts are content. But priorities like voting rights or gun-control legislation are probably off-limits, because everyone recognizes that they are not primarily about the budget. Advertisement Oh. Thats disappionting. Yes. It is extremely frustrating that Democrats are currently planning to govern using a tool that will not allow them to make the fundamental reforms necessary to salvage our democracy, which we are only days out from a majority of Republicans in the House trying to torch. You cant always get what you wantor what you need. Advertisement But who actually decides if a bill is eligible for reconciliation? Traditionally, that would be the Senate parliamentarian, a role currently filled by one Elizabeth MacDonough. She exercises most of her power during an informal process known as the Byrd Bathget the pun?where she rules on whether different parts of a bill meet the requirements for reconciliation. If she gives something a thumbs down, lawmakers typically rewrite or strip it entirely from the legislation before bringing the bill up for a vote. Otherwise, a senator opposed to the section could try to strike it by raising a point of order from the floor. I read somewhere, possibly in the intro to this article, that Democrats are trying to get creative about how they can use reconciliation. Advertisement They are. At the moment, theres essentially an all-out push by different corners of the Democratic Party to figure out ways they could optimize parts of their agenda for reconciliation purposes, even if they dont fit what we typically think of as taxes and spending. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who now leads the Budget Committee, is arguing that a $15 minimum wage should qualify for reconciliation because it would affect tax revenues and safety spending indirectly by raising workers pay. Others are looking at whether its possible to do immigration reform via reconciliation, since giving undocumented immigrants citizenship could generate substantial revenue from new taxes and application fees. Wonks are working overtime on ways to make a renewable-energy standard that would force electric utilities to drop fossil fuels reconciliation-ready. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Do you think any of these ideas will work? I have no idea, and nor does anybody else, really. But I will say this: MacDonough was the parliamentarian back when Republicans tried, and failed, to repeal Obamacare using the reconciliation process, and she was fairly strict about her rulings. For instance, she decided that Republicans could not use reconciliation to repeal the entire individual mandate, the requirement that Americans buy health insurance or pay a fine, even though the Congressional Budget Office thought it had massive budget implications. Thats why the GOP resorted to a workaround that lowered the tax penalty to $0 while leaving the mandate nominally in place. I wouldnt assume that shes going to be any looser with the Democrats. Advertisement Could Democrats just ignore the parliamentarian? In theory, yes, they could. The parliamentarian isnt all-powerful. Technically, she can only offers advice. If a lawmaker tries to challenge a provision on the grounds that it violates the Byrd Rule, the final decision on whether its stays or goes actually lies the presiding officer of the Senate. On a big day when Democrats need every one of their votes, that would probably be Vice President Kamala Harris. And Harris could indeed choose to ignore the parliamentarian and wave through whatever bill she wants. In fact, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz argued that Republicans should do just that back in 2015 when he was pushing for Obamacare repeal. At the end of the day, the Senate parliamentarian is an employee of the Senate. Virtually every Republican campaigned promising full repeal, he said. Advertisement Advertisement But I wouldnt get overly attached to that plan. Its not clear that moderates like Manchin and Sinema would support nuking the formal reconciliation process if they refuse to nuke the filibuster, and their votes would still be needed to pass a final piece of legislation. So Democrats may have to just play by the rules? Thats just my hunch. Personally, I dont see any reason why they couldnt just try to replace the parliamentarian now with someone a little more sympathetic to cutting-edge interpretations of the rulebook before she starts shooting down their ideas. But what do I know? Can reconciliation bills increase the deficit? Yes, actually. But like everything else about this process, Smokey, there are rules. Advertisement A reconciliation bill is allowed to increase the budget deficit over the years covered by the budget, which typically lasts a decade, but not in the period after it. Thats led to some weird-looking policy choices in the past; for instance, under both the George W. Bush and Trump administrations, Republicans gamed reconciliations deficit rules by having many of their tax cuts expire before the budget window expired, with the hope that Congress would simply extend them later on. Advertisement As far as Democrats are concerned, all of this means they can probably borrow to pay for temporary spending like coronavirus relief or economic stimulus, but they will need to finance permanent programs, such as a health care expansion or a child allowance, with higher taxes on the wealthy. Advertisement Theres another catch to consider, which is that if Democrats add to the near-term deficit through reconciliation, it will likely trigger automatic budget cuts under statutory pay-as-you-go rules that nobody ever thinks about. (And which, to make things a bit more confusing, are separate from the PAYGO rules that govern the House and Senate). But those may be avoidable, and the issue is basically fodder for a whole other explainer. It seems like it would be simpler to just get rid of the filibuster. Yes. But being able to govern through a frustrating, arcane, and limiting process is better at least than not being able to govern at all. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. UofSCs budget request prioritizes students, South Carolinians The University of South Carolinas state budget request focuses on building a new state-of-the-art medical school and research campus dedicated to improving healthcare across the state while also holding firm on a tuition freeze for in-state students. UofSC President Bob Caslen outlined the plan during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Wednesday (Jan. 27). The state fiscal year 2021-22 request focuses on allocations that will benefit students by keeping attendance affordable and also meeting the universitys mission of service to the entire state. Details include: $10.15 million for tuition mitigation at all of UofSCs eight system institutions, allowing more students to attend without incurring additional debt. UofSC has not raised tuition on the Columbia campus since 2019 when it increased by 0.6 percent; $35 million for new health sciences facilities, tentatively planned adjacent to Prisma Health in Columbia. The project will start with a building to replace the existing leased School of Medicine campus in southeast Columbia; and $928,000 for technology upgrades, safety initiatives and other campus improvements at UofSC system institutions. Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on key state priorities, such as increasing access and affordability to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while holding down tuition costs for students systemwide, Caslen said. Caslen also thanked state lawmakers for supporting higher education by reversing a decade-long trend of declining funding with new allocations for the past two budget cycles. In October 2020, President Caslen announced a tuition freeze to further universitys goal to increase accessibility and affordability of higher education in South Carolina. Our budget request allows the entire university system to focus on key state priorities, such as increasing access and affordability to higher education for the people of South Carolina, while holding down tuition costs for students systemwide. UofSC President Bob Caslen The development of a new medical school facility and health sciences campus tentatively adjacent to Prisma Health will aid the university in educating South Carolinas health professionals. The ongoing health crisis of COVID-19 has exposed longstanding issues of health disparities and poor overall population health in the Palmetto State. The new campus will help attract top health sciences students from across the nation. The UofSC School of Medicine will continue to partner with Prisma Health, establishing the region as a hub of biomedical technology development and preventive health research. Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and its Rare Action Network (RAN) published the 6th Edition of the State Report Card, the annual report rating each state and Washington, DC on the most important issues directly affecting more than 25 million Americans living with rare diseases. Despite a year marked by devastating impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Report Card demonstrates that progress was made in many states on newborn screening, step therapy, Rare Disease Advisory Councils and other key policies. The report also notes the need for states to take additional steps to address out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for rare disease patients and to protect patient access to affordable, comprehensive health care services. "The State Report Card provides insight into the advances being made at the state level in supporting Americans living with rare diseases, and identifies where we still need to focus attention," said NORD President and CEO, Peter L. Saltonstall. "For almost 40 years, NORD has served as the voice of the rare disease community, and we are committed to fighting for rare disease patients and policy changes that will make a difference in their lives. Our hope is that patients, advocates and policymakers find the new State Report Card site a useful tool in their work on policies to best meet the needs of rare patients and families." The 6th Edition of the State Report Card, compiled using data current as of November 2020, is presented in a new digital format, giving improved accessibility to the information contained in previous editions, as well as additional resources. The report provides detailed analysis across eight major policies, grading each state on its performance in those areas. Takeaways from the new report include: Newborn screening : Many states increased the number of heritable conditions for which they screen in 2020. Across the country, more families were able to receive a diagnosis for their child as early as possible and grant other families peace of mind about their child's health. NORD advocates for robust, well-funded newborn screening programs in every state. : Many states increased the number of heritable conditions for which they screen in 2020. Across the country, more families were able to receive a diagnosis for their child as early as possible and grant other families peace of mind about their child's health. Rare Disease Advisory Councils (RDACs) : Massachusetts , New York , Ohio , Tennessee , Utah and West Virginia successfully enacted Rare Disease Advisory Council legislation to elevate the rare disease community's voice in state government, bringing the total number of RDACs to 16. NORD launched Project RDAC in November 2020 with a goal of optimizing the existing 16 RDACs and helping more states to enact RDAC legislation. : , , , , and successfully enacted Rare Disease Advisory Council legislation to elevate the rare disease community's voice in state government, bringing the total number of RDACs to 16. Project RDAC Medicaid : In 2020, Oklahoma and Missouri moved to expand eligibility for their state Medicaid programs, joining 39 states (including Washington DC ) that have opted to extend access to this vital safety net. However, several states also pursued harmful policies that could inhibit the ability of rare disease patients to access care, such as the elimination of retroactive eligibility or limits to prescription drug coverage. NORD supports the ability of eligible rare disease patients to receive Medicaid services without unnecessary and harmful barriers. : In 2020, and moved to expand eligibility for their state Medicaid programs, joining 39 states (including ) that have opted to extend access to this vital safety net. However, several states also pursued harmful policies that could inhibit the ability of rare disease patients to access care, such as the elimination of retroactive eligibility or limits to prescription drug coverage. Step Therapy : Louisiana , North Carolina and South Dakota passed new patient protections for step therapy protocols in 2020, adding to the growing list of 31 states with comprehensive step therapy protections. NORD supports policies to reform step therapy and protect patients by requiring that protocols are based on clinical criteria, clear exceptions processes exist, and certain automatic exceptions are outlined and respected. : , and passed new patient protections for step therapy protocols in 2020, adding to the growing list of 31 states with comprehensive step therapy protections. Out-of-Pockets Costs: Two states took action in 2020 to help protect patients from rising out-of-pocket costs. New Jersey successfully capped out-of- pocket costs for patients at $150 per month per drug and Georgia banned copay accumulator programs. Still, more than half of states received a failing grade in this crucial policy area. NORD recognizes the direct impact high drug costs have on patients and advocates for policies to lower patient out-of-pocket expenses and maximize access to needed therapies. For more information and to view the state-by-state report cards, maps, patient stories, resources and to download a full copy of the State Report Card, visit: http://bit.ly/State-Report-Cards. To learn more about NORD's policy work, visit: http://bit.ly/Policy-Issues. About the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) is the leading independent advocacy organization representing all patients and families affected by rare diseases in the United States. NORD began as a small group of patient advocates that formed a coalition to unify and mobilize support to pass the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. Since then, the organization has led the way in voicing the needs of the rare disease community, driving supportive policies, furthering education, advancing medical research and providing patient and family services for those who need them most. Together with over 330 disease-specific member organizations, more than 15,000 Rare Action Network advocates across all 50 states, and national and global partners, NORD delivers on its mission to improve the lives of those impacted by rare diseases. Visit rarediseases.org. SOURCE National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) Related Links http://www.rarediseases.org Casket bearing remains of Fon Blaise paraded in Bamenda Reserved Navy Captain Atonfack Geumo Cyrille Serge, Head of Communication Division, Cameroons Ministry of Defence says four children killed by security forces in Bamenda on Saturday, January 23, 2021, were terrorists. In a press release Wednesday, January 27, 2021, Atonfack said elements of the 5th Gendarmerie Region carried out Saturdays killings at Meta Quarters in Bamenda. The Ministry of Defence hereby informs: in the afternoon of Saturday 23 January 2021 at about 2:00 pm, and following some information received from the population, elements of the 5th Gendarmerie Region carried out a preventive control operation in the Meta Quarter neighbourhood in Bamenda II subdivision, Mezam Division of the North West Region, Atonfack wrote. The objective of this operation was to capture a group of terrorists gathered in an abandoned building on the orders of the nicknamed General Tiger who were planning an assault on the T-Junction Police Post, the military spokesperson furthered. As military vehicles approached, these armed individuals who were busy consuming hard drugs were taken by surprise, and immediately opened fire on the elements of the Defence Forces, who provided an energetic and appropriate response. Atonfack said, The confrontation led to 04 terrorists neutralized, several others injured and on the run, while tens of M21 S and FAL type weapons were retrieved. Investigations carried out by local authorities reveal that the abandoned building which was the epicenter of the skirmish was regularly used by the terrorist group as a confinement centre for kidnapped persons before their transfer to fortified camps located in the forest. Locals say those killed were not separatist fighters On Tuesday, the mortal remains of 18-year-old Fon Blaise, one of the four teenagers killed by security forces in Meta Quarter, was paraded along the streets of Bamenda. The young people bearing the casket said their peers killed had nothing to do with the separatist movement. Fon Blaise who lived in Meta Quarter was killed along with Ngalim Alucious, Ntakah Nelly Mbah, and Sale Sadam from Old Town in Saturday's raid. Local reports however confirm that the quartet was smoking weed in an abandoned building usually used by armed separatist fighters. Informed of the presence of separatist fighters in the said building, soldiers reportedly arrived when the outlaws had fled leaving behind the four killed. However, the armed fighters, two in number as reported by eyewitnesses in the vicinity seemed to have been tipped of the coming of the military into Meta Quarter. As they were running away from the abandoned building, they fired two shots into the air, confirming their presence in the area. It would appear the military received the gunshots as a red light and decided to fire at whoever was in the building or around it, journalists Sah Terence reported. A popular petrol seller who goes by the name Tanyi and keeps his fuel somewhere in the abandoned house was almost shot by the military as he went on his knees with hands up shouting in French je suis venu pour prendre mon petrol he was searched and noticed to be telling the truth and asked to get away. Soldiers however shot and killed those who were met smoking weed in the abandoned building. Although locals say those killed were civilians, the military maintains they were armed separatists. Genedata Biologics enables data-driven decisions. With outstanding capabilities for sequence annotation and sample traceability, error-prone manual processes can be eliminated, which greatly facilitates our laboratory operations. Genedata, the leading provider of enterprise software solutions for biopharmaceutical R&D, today announced that Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc., a multinational pharmaceutical company developing high-quality generics and specialty medicines, has broadened the usage and applications of Genedata Biologics to advance operational excellence in Tevas R&D organization. After integrating the Genedata platform with Tevas laboratory instruments and automation systems, Teva scientists are now using the Genedata platform to drive automation and further accelerate discovery operations. By capturing the increasing amounts of biologics R&D data and compiling this information across our R&D workflows in a centralized location, Genedata Biologics enables data-driven decisions and allows us to gain deeper insights into our data so we can identify the most promising drug candidates. With outstanding capabilities for sequence annotation and sample traceability, error-prone manual processes can be eliminated, which greatly facilitates our laboratory operations, said Sachin Surade, Ph.D., Director, Antibody Generation, of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Genedata Biologics aids informed decision-making to help get the best biopharma lead candidates faster to the clinic. The Genedata platform is Tevas backbone system for capturing and consolidating records of all antibody candidates so that every team member can systematically trace complete information on any molecule or sample to gain insight and guide decision-making. The Genedata platform has also been configured for Teva-specific workflows, which has helped to establish standardized processes for enhanced reproducibility and data comparability at Teva, a critical pre-requisite to enable informed decisions based on complex, large R&D datasets. Genedata Biologics integrates and digitalizes Tevas biopharma R&D workflows, significantly enhancing efficiency and quality of biopharma R&D processes. To facilitate and automate data capture, it has been directly integrated with lab automation platforms to generate, process, and test huge numbers of samples and molecules, enabling true high-throughput R&D operations. Genedata Biologics compares data for candidates resulting from a variety of discovery technologies, such as for B-cells, hybridoma, or library display workflows. The biopharma industry is currently undergoing a dramatic change as companies around the globe are pushing for the industrialization of their R&D processes. Workflow automation is a key element in this transformation, and we are proud to support Teva by automating their biopharma R&D processes, said Othmar Pfannes, Ph.D., CEO of Genedata. We are committed to driving efficiencies in biopharma discovery and development, which helps our customers develop better therapies faster. About Genedata Genedata transforms data into intelligence with innovative software solutions and domain-specific consulting services that automate complex, large-scale experimental processes and enable organizations to maximize the ROI in their R&D, spanning early discovery all the way to the clinic. Founded in 1997, Genedata is headquartered in Switzerland with additional offices in Germany, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the US. http://www.genedata.com LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube Contact Miles Fisher-Pollard Genedata Public Relations Phone: +41 61 511 85 61 pr@genedata.com Disclaimer The statements in this press release that relate to future plans, events or performance are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with uncertainties related to contract cancellations, developing risks, competitive factors, uncertainties pertaining to customer orders, demand for products and services, development of markets for the Company's products and services. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. New Delhi, Jan 27 : A day after some protesting farmers hoisted a pennant at the Red Fort, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) - the Congress' student wing - on Wednesday demanded registration of a case against Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu over the violence in Delhi. NSUI General Secretary Nagesh Kariyappa and NSUI National Secretary Hussain Sultania filed a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava and demanded appropriate action against Sidhu. They also wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding action against Sidhu. In their complaint to the police commissioner, Kariyappa said it was wrong and shameful to carry out such a well-planned conspiracy by "anti-social elements" like Sidhu. "Such incidents send the wrong message in the country and society. Therefore, the administration should take appropriate action on this and prevent such incidents from happening in future, so that India's democratic system remains intact," Kariyappa said. He said that for the last two months the farmers were protesting peacefully on the outskirts of the national capital. He also emphasised that despite 11 round of meetings remaining inconclusive with the government, the farmer protests remained largely peaceful. Kariyappa alleged, "Sidhu campaigned for BJP's Sunny Deol in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The incident which happened yesterday at Red Fort is a conspiracy planned by the BJP government to disrupt the farmers' protest." He also said that entering a place like Red Fort with such high security is not a joke and that too on Republic Day. He also accused the government of playing with the sentiments of the nation and trying all "dirty means" to end the farmers' protests. "Sidhu is identified for inciting violence yet no complaint or action has been taken against him. BJP government was fully aware of his plan and favoured him to create the disturbance. Even the men with swords were planted by them," the NSUI leader claimed. The Pentagon Inspector General has announced plans to evaluate how well U.S. Central Command and Special Operations Command are following rules aimed at preventing war crimes. In a memo issued Monday, the IG said that the investigation will focus on the commands efforts to carry out Defense Department directives aimed at reducing "potential law of war violations when conducting operations." The evaluation would also determine whether the two commands reported alleged war crimes in accordance with DoD policy, the IG said. Read Next: Norway Cancels Big Military Exercise After 1,000 US Marines Arrive in Country The memo, first reported by Task & Purpose, did not state what prompted the evaluation or whether it would be expanded to other commands. It gave no timeframe for when it would be completed. However, the initial contacts listed by the IG for the evaluation suggest that the focus will be on the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. The evaluation will begin with CENTCOM and SOCOM at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida; U.S. Forces-Afghanistan; and Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria. "We may identify additional organizations and locations during the evaluation," the IG said. The DoD's handling of war crimes cases under the Uniform Code of Military Justice came under scrutiny amid a series of pardons and commutations issued by President Donald Trump. Three Army soldiers -- 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, convicted of ordering troops to open fire on two unarmed Afghan civilians; Maj. Matthew Golsteyn, charged with killing a suspected bomb maker in Afghanistan; and 1st Lt. Michael Behenna, convicted of killing an Iraqi prisoner -- were among those who were either pardoned or had their sentences commuted by Trump. He also intervened in the case of Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted at a court-martial of killing an Iraqi prisoner. Trump reversed the Navy's decision to demote Gallagher. In July, the DoD issued guidance on responsibilities for implementing its Law of War Program and set up a working group to ensure compliance. The DoD directive requires all commands "to act consistent with the Law of War's fundamental principles and rules," including compliance with the Geneva Conventions against torture and observing "the principles of military necessity, humanity, distinction, proportionality, and honor." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Trump Pardons Vietnam Ace, TOPGUN Navy Legend Who Took Bribes When the Phillipsburg-based charity Brothers Before Others was told there were tactical medical kits that could be made available to local police officers, Mike Burke thought first about providing them to the town department. But it already had them, said Burke, who is a retired NYPD officer and the founder and president of the charity that was started in 2014 to provide flowers to the families of every officer in the country killed in the line of duty. Easton police officer Diego Santiago is a member of the charity, which began as a Facebook group and soon after became a 501C-3 nonprofit. When asked, Santiago made arrangements with Easton police Chief Carl Scalzo for the equipment to go to the department on the west side of the Delaware River, Burke said. The gift is valued at more than $10,000, Burke said. Another charity called Cops Direct provides the money for the kits and Tactical Medical Solutions makes them and sells them at a discount to that charity, Burke said. A member of Brothers Before Others, retired NYPD officer George Sichler, works for Tactical Medical Solutions, Burke said. Sichler reached out to Burke to say the kits were available and explained that Cops Direct would pay the bill if Brothers Before Others could find departments that needed the equipment. The Easton gift was made publicly on Tuesday afternoon at the Downtown station. More of the equipment will be delivered later this week to a department in South Jersey, Burke said. Scalzo said he is very appreciative of Santiago making the department aware of the program and acting as an intermediary. Scalzo said he is also thankful to the charities and the company for providing what will be life-saving equipment and for the opportunity to point out how important such organizations are to local police departments. Every Easton officer will have access to a kit, Burke added. And, while they are already trained in the use of tourniquets and quick-clotting materials, Scalzo said that teaching will be refreshed to deal with what is in the new kits. The contents are geared toward active shooter situations where there could be several victims and limited immediate access to emergency medical personnel. But Scalzo said they may come in handy at any point on the street when a short-term solution is needed in an emergency, seconds seem like an eternity, people are at their most vulnerable and officers are able to save lives of the public or fellow police personnel. Brothers Before Others has a few thousand members who are either current or retired law enforcement, Burke said. Eighty percent of the money raised by the charity comes from its members, he said. The other 20% is from outside funding sources, including website solicitations via PayPal, he said. Everything we do is hands on, Burke said of the organization that has recently moved into the old Coca-Cola building on North Main Street. We are not a check-in-the-mail charity. Brothers Before Others is very selective when it comes to its members, he said. They are like-minded and charity minded, he said. Without driven people, we would fail, he added. The nationwide charity has done numerous things in Phillipsburg, including bringing donated Christmas presents to hundreds of children. But its also given a truckload of water to Flint, Michigan, for police to use and distribute during the water crisis there, he said. It as well raised and delivered money for the family after Robert Godwin was shot and killed in 2017 on a Cleveland sidewalk, Burke said. The charity continues its flower service, which costs up to $70,000 a year, said Burke, who lives in Monroe County, but resided for several years in Phillipsburg after retiring from the New York force due to line of duty injuries in 2002. The name itself could be off-putting, Burke admitted. It comes from when air masks drop down in a plane and parents are told to put their masks on first before helping their children secure theirs. It also uses the more charitable-sounding hashtag #brothershelpingothers, he said. We feel if we take care of each other first, we are better suited to go into the community and help them, Burke said. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription. Tony Rhodin can be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. South Africa: Condolences for dedicated public servant The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has paid tribute to Donald Maphiri for being a dedicated public servant. As Chief Director at the National Treasury, he worked closely with the DPSA and was instrumental in government, in particular for his close working relationship with employer and labour parties at the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council The entire management and staff of the DPSA are deeply saddened to learn of Maphiris sudden and unexpected death. He was highly respected by his colleagues and peers in the public service and the collective bargaining environment, the department said on Wednesday. The department said Maphiri was regarded as diligent, precise and an astute individual by those who worked with him. His technical expertise and opinion on matters of remuneration and wage matters was greatly respected by all colleagues and his selfless contributions to supporting the State during complex and tough negotiations will not be forgotten. As the DPSA, we are indeed grateful that we had the opportunity to know and work with him. He was not just a colleague but a friend to many," the department said. In the past year, Maphiri worked closely with the DPSA on critical matters such as the management of the Wage Bill. He played a very critical role in supporting Executive engagement at the level of the Committee of Ministers with regard to these matters. We have no doubt that the gap he has left is not only professional but also personal and emotional to many of his colleagues and friends in the National Treasury, the DPSA and government as a whole. This gap will be felt the most during the upcoming round of wage negotiations where his contribution would have been immeasurable, the department said. The DPSA has conveyed condolences to Maphiris family. Our prayers and thoughts are with you during this challenging time, the department said. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Perpetual Lockdown Is No Answer to CCP Virus Pandemic: Boris Johnson British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that perpetual lockdown is no answer to the CCP virus pandemic, as he came under pressure from the opposition over the UKs rapidly growing death toll, which has exceeded 100,000. When you have a new virus and indeed when you have a new variant of that virus of the kind that we have in this country, when you have dilemmas as hard and as heavy as this government has had to face over the last year, he said in Parliament, there are no easy answers and perpetual lockdown is no answer. Johnson announced on Tuesday that the UK death toll from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic had surpassed 100,000. On Jan. 6, Johnsons government put the whole of England under the third lockdown since the pandemic started, saying it was necessary to stem the spread of a new variant of the CCP virus which was first detected in southeast England and had a higher rate of transmission than the old variant. But opposition politicians have accused the government of being too slow to act. Earlier on Wednesday, the main opposition Labour party blamed the surging death toll on the governments monumental mistakes in its handling of the pandemic. Speaking at the Prime Ministers Questions in Parliament, Johnson said he would take full responsibility for all the actions he had taken to fight the pandemic. He said there will be a time to reflect on the lessons that should be learned, but when we are in the throes of fighting this wave of the new variant, as 37,000 people are struggling with COVID in our hospitals, I think what the country wants is for us to come together as a Parliament and as politicians and to work to keep the virus under control. But Labour party leader Keir Starmer said Johnson had been consistently slow in his response and still hasnt learned that lesson. The prime minister was slow into the first lockdown last March, he was slow in getting protective equipment to the frontline, slow to protect our care homes, slow on testing and tracing, slow into the second lockdown in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown, delaying days from the Dec. 22 before implementing it, he said. He also accused the government of failing to prevent new variants from entering the country, saying everybody coming into the country from anywhere in the world should be tested and subject to quarantine in a hotel. Johnson responded by saying that the UK has put in place one of the toughest regimes in the world, requiring those entering the country to get a negative test result within 72 hours before they fly, and ordering them to quarantine for 10 days. He said Home Secretary Priti Patel will set out later even tougher measures for those red-list countries where we are particularly concerned about new variants. Those looking to grab a quick bite at the new eatery in town were likely met with a long line of other customers that had the same idea. Tuesday marked the grand opening of the new Braums Ice Cream and Dairy location in Plainview, which is located at 3605 Olton Rd. off of I-27. Store operation hours are 6 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. with the menu switching over to lunch and dinner options after that. A long line of cars surrounded the building waiting in the drive-thru just before 11 a.m. The restaurant was fully staffed with employees all working to try to get drive-thru orders out as quickly as possible while learning the system of their new job. The drive-thru line continued to grow within a half-hour stay in the area, though the cars also moved at a relatively quick pace. Inside, customers enjoyed being able to sit down for their meals and avoiding the cold temps outside. The fresh market includes mostly Braums brand items, including four full rows of ice cream in a wide variety of flavors almost too many to name. Theres also steaks and other meats, fresh fruits and veggies, gallon jugs of drinks such as sweet tea, milk and fruit punch. The wait for food in the drive thru was likely a few minutes longer than getting food inside. This reporters order a Bag O Burgers, add the cheese and no pickles, with a large fry and small candy bar sundae with Reeses peanut butter cup and fudge topping took only a few minutes from the time it was ordered to the time it made it out. The order was inspired by recommendations sought from others on Twitter (@NathanGiese, if youre interested) and did not disappoint. Plainviews Ice Cream & Dairy location is Braums 291st store. The chain broke into the Lubbock market in 2019. Plainviews location is one of six including five in the city of Lubbock and Wolfforth to open south of Amarillo. Bill and Mary Braum opened the first store location in 1968 and the company continues to be family-owned and operated. It now has store locations across Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. For everyone interested in the new Galaxy S21 you should know it is missing a useful feature. Googles seamless updates on Galaxy S21 is not supported. Now, this may not seem like its a huge deal, and in the grand scheme of things, it isnt. New owners of Samsungs latest device will get updates, but not supporting this just makes things less efficient. According to Android Central back in July of 2020, it seemed like Google would make seamless updates mandatory on all Android 11 phones. However, Samsungs new flagships do not support this feature. The feature is intended to make updates more seamless for users, and allow them to continue using their phones while the phone updates. Treble Info and Treble Check suggest the new devices do not support seamless updates. Treble was introduced by Google as a way for making updates easier. Advertisement The seamless update feature uses A/B partitions to install updates in the background. As a result, users will be able to have the ability to update their devices while still using them. Basically, the update is installed on the partition that is not currently being used by the user. Once complete the update is installed in the background. Googles seamless update on Galaxy S21 non-existent. In addition, there is also a lower risk of data corruption thanks to the seamless update process. It seems like Google decided to change its mind on making seamless updates a mandatory inclusion. Some users may think that the exclusion of seamless updates may not be a huge problem, and again in the larger scheme, it isnt. However, for anyone who lives on their phone, it can definitely be a useful feature. As many users know the process of updating a device without seamless updates can be a pain. Advertisement After downloading the new update a user must reset their device. After resetting the device begins the process of installing the new update. Depending on the size of the update a users device can be down for a long time while updating. Again, this may not seem like a lot. But for a flagship device, you would think it would be included. The Samsung Galaxy S21 may have all of the highest-end specs like the Snapdragon 888, 120Hz refresh rate, and amazing cameras. But Googles seamless updates on Galaxy S21 is still not supported. Hopefully, Samsung will bring this to their future devices to save users from having to stare at the Android while the update installs. Advertisement Prime Minister will address the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda Summit on Thursday during which he will be speaking on a wide range of subjects, including India's reform trajectory and increased usage of technology. The Davos Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the World Economic Forum's great reset initiative in the post-COVID-19 world. Prime Minister Modi will address the World Economic Forum's Davos Dialogue on January 28 via video conferencing, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. More than 400 top industry leaders from across the globe will attend the session, wherein the prime minister will be speaking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution-using technology for the good of humanity. The prime minister will also be interacting with CEOs during the event. "Will be addressing the @wef's #DavosAgenda at 5:30 PM tomorrow, 28th January," Modi tweeted. Looking forward to speaking on a wide range of subjects relating to India's reform trajectory, increased usage of technology and other issues, he said. The ongoing online summit has been addressed so far by Chinese President Xi Jinping, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, among other global leaders. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Herreid Legion to remember 400 Campbell County area veterans Monday The Herreid American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion work together to recognize veterans on Memorial Day. Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. FRISCO, Texas., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PrimeVOX Communications, a Texas-based telecommunications company, announces it has recently taken additional steps through a third-party organization to verify ongoing compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21st of the same year. HIPAA can be mystifying to most organizations and the full regulation goes far beyond what companies servicing the healthcare industry must worry about. However, Title II of HIPAA, known as the Administrative Simplification (AS) provisions, required the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. This is where the impact to many PrimeVOX customers comes into play, as a large portion of their electronic transactions must meet the strict guidelines set forth in the act. Non-compliance comes at a cost; companies can face penalties up to $1.5 million per year and imprisonment of up to 10 years for individuals who knowingly break the law. It is no longer enough for organizations to study HIPAA and feel confident they have taken the necessary steps towards compliance. There are now professional third-party organizations, dedicated to ensuring businesses are in full compliance, through audits, employee testing, and formalized documentation known to be acceptable to the US Department of Health and Human Services. PrimeVOX recently contracted Compliancy Group, one of America's top third-party HIPAA compliance organizations to verify they are in 100% compliance, giving peace of mind to all PrimeVOX customers who demand verifiable HIPAA compliance from their service vendors. "We made this critical investment in our infrastructure because we wanted to give our customers in the medical industry additional peace of mind during the very challenging times they are facing with the pandemic. Hospitals, labs, insurance companies, and medical offices are being forced to have employees work from home, multiple new locations, or staggered hours between additional employees, and each one of these can bring a unique set of challenges when it comes to properly protecting data and communications." George Mayfield, Chief of Operations, PrimeVOX Communications. For more in-depth information regarding PrimeVOX's HIPAA compliance please visit the following link: https://www.primevox.net/regulatory_hipaa.php Contact: Ryan Scheib 972-600-1150 [email protected] SOURCE PrimeVOX Communications Related Links https://www.primevox.net Marie Ariel is a politically involved book lover, former librarian, and co-chair of the Boston Workers Circle (BWC) Book Discussion Group. The Workers Circle for Jewish Culture and Social Justice is a 120-year-old, progressive, secular, multigenerational community, as well as an arts and culture center where Jewish identity is rooted in cultural heritage and the pursuit of a better world. This book group has flourished during the pandemic. How long have you been involved with the Boston Workers Circle Book Discussion Group? I joined in 2003 because at the time I questioned why I considered myself Jewish since I wasnt at all religious. Since then, in the monthly (except for July & August) book group Ive read 10 books a year about the Jewish experience; those 170 books have answered my question. How are books selected for this group? Its an open group with about 14 longstanding regulars but always welcoming to new members. Whoever is at a meeting can propose a book for the following month. We alternate fiction and nonfiction. Two rules: the person who recommends a book must have read it (see last question), and there have to be at least six print copies in our local library system. What kinds of books does the group read? Books we read must deal with the Jewish experience in some way and/or be by Jewish authors. There is a tremendous amount of latitude in our choices in terms of era, geography, and tone. Two examples of novels weve read are Amerika: The Missing Person by Franz Kafka (PRH), who was Jewish but whose book has no explicit Jewish theme, and Kaddish by Nathan Englander (Vintage), which has a very strong Jewish theme. A couple of nonfiction examples are Dear Zealots: Letters from a Divided Land by Amos Oz (HMH) and The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari (Random House). Can you characterize the kinds of books that, in your experience, work well as discussion books? Well-written books, meaning those that have some complexity and that raise questions for the group work the best. The better the writing, the better the discussion. A good recent example is Tell Me a Riddle by Tillie Olsen (Rutgers). With nonfiction, coherent writing that tells us either something were not likely to have known or something we should know, like Learning From the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil by Susan Neiman (FSG) or Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America's Most Important Newspaper by Laurel Leff (Cambridge). What do you most enjoy about the group? The people are friendly and serious about books and reading. They come with strong opinions, usually grounded in the text, and they raise good questions. Has the book group changed over the years? If so, how? And during the pandemic? We may have become more discriminating about our choices. And we have focused more on finding books that go beyond the Eastern European and German Jewish experience, for example, those that look at the experiences of Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews historically and currently. Without meeting in person to share bagels and coffee as well as books, how has the group kept up its cohesion? Perhaps surprisingly, Zoom has been terrific for our meetings. Do you have a particularly funny or unexpected experience with the group that youd like to share? One time we got badly burned by good reviews! The authors depth of knowledge was considerable but the presentation was terrible. Thats when we decided to make our first commandment that in order to nominate a book, you must have read it. Betsy Groban has worked for decades in book publishing, public broadcasting, and arts advocacy. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. English Norwegian (Oslo, Norway January 27, 2021) Statkraft, Europes largest renewable energy producer, Aker Offshore Wind and Aker Horizons have signed a cooperation agreement to explore offshore wind project opportunities in Norway. The companies will combine their strong, complementary skills and expertise to work together to explore the possibility to develop, operate and deliver power from commercial scale offshore wind facilities in Norway. Last year, the Norwegian government announced it will open for applications for licenses for the development of wind power in two areas in the North Sea, namely Utsira Nord and Srlige Nordsj II. The cooperation will explore the opportunity for bottom-fixed offshore wind at Srlige Nordsj II (SN2), for which the companies will establish an integrated project team, 50/50 split between Aker Offshore Wind and Statkraft, for joint preparation and submission of an acreage application and further development activities. Statkrafts ambition is to be a world leader in renewable energy and as part of this, is building out a significant presence as a wind and solar developer. The company sees an opportunity to build on these existing skills and explore offshore wind possibilities in Norway together with Aker Offshore Wind and Aker Horizons. The opportunity is driven by falling investment costs, the location of SN2 project facilitating export of the power produced offshore to other European markets and the electrification of Norwegian oil & gas installations. By entering a cooperation with Aker Horizons and Aker Offshore Wind, we are exploring a value-creative opportunity in Norway. We have expertise in the development and operations of wind power and have previously been engaged in offshore wind in the UK. Strong growth, falling technology costs and a changed competitor landscape indicates that offshore wind will take a larger role in the European energy transition; therefore, we see the cooperation with Aker as an opportunity for substantial value creation and accelerate Europes green transition, says Statkraft Chief Executive Officer Christian Rynning-Tnnesen. Statkraft has been making clean energy possible for over a century. A partnership that couples Europes largest renewable energy producer with Akers 180-year track record and industrial expertise, especially on the NCS, has the potential to redefine Norway as an energy nation. Norways leading offshore industry, including a strong supplier industry, means we already have the building blocks and capabilities in place to be at the forefront of the energy transition. We look forward to working with Statkraft to develop the offshore wind industry further, reducing emissions and creating new jobs for the future, says yvind Eriksen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aker ASA and Chairman of Aker Horizons. About Statkraft Statkraft is a leading company in hydropower internationally and Europes largest generator of renewable energy. The Group produces hydropower, wind power, solar power, gas-fired power and supplies district heating. Statkraft is a global company in energy market operations. Statkraft has 4,000 employees in 17 countries. About Aker Aker ASA (Aker) is an industrial investment company with ownership interests concentrated in oil and gas, renewable energy and green technologies, maritime assets, marine biotechnology, and industrial software. Aker exercises active ownership to create values, combining industrial expertise with financial strength and capital market expertise. Through its board positions, Aker helps to develop and strengthen each portfolio company by driving strategy developments, operational improvements, financing, restructurings and transactions. Aker is the largest shareholder, directly or indirectly, in 11 companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. About Aker Offshore Wind Aker Offshore Wind is an offshore wind developer headquartered in Norway with focus on assets in deep waters. With global operations, the current portfolio consists of development projects and prospects located in Asia, North America and Europe. Aker Offshore Wind effectively deploys cost effective technologies from decades of offshore energy development. The company is majority-owned by Aker Horizons, an investment company dedicated to creating value and reducing emissions from renewable energy and decarbonization technologies. Aker Offshore Wind [AOW-ME] is listed on Euronext Growth in Oslo, Norway. About Aker Horizons Aker Horizons is an investment company dedicated to developing companies that solve fundamental challenges to sustainable existence on our planet or planet-positive investing. The company invests in and develops companies within renewable energy sectors and other technologies that make material contributions to reducing emissions or promote sustainable living. Aker Horizons leverages the significant industrial and financial capabilities of the Aker group to identify and develop portfolio companies. For further information, please contact: Media: Lars Magnus Gunther, Press spokesperson, Statkraft AS Phone: +47 912 41 636 E-mail: lars.gunther@statkraft.com Debt Capital Markets: Stephan Skaane, Funding manager, Statkraft AS Tel: +47 905 13 652 E-mail: stephan.skaane@statkraft.com With the planned closure of the Mary Lane Outpatient Center in coming years, several dozen employees will be impacted, though they likely will remain within the Baystate Health system. In a virtual press conference with reporters Tuesday, Dr. Mark A. Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, and Molly Gray, president of Baystate Healths Eastern Region, confirmed plans to phase out the Ware facility by 2023. The majority of services will be shifted to Baystate Wing Hospital in Palmer, which is located about nine miles away, and some cancer care will be provided at the DAmour Center for Cancer Care in Springfield, which offers more specialized care. The plan is subject to approval by state health officials. About 80 employees at Mary Lane will be impacted. The majority of these employees also work at Baystate Wing - rotating between the two campuses - and employment opportunities are expected to be offered at the Palmer campus as services shift from Mary Lane. Because were planning to relocate, the impact to employees is going to be very small, Gray said. Hospital officials will work one-on-one with staff, Gray said, adding that the demand for health care workers is expected to continue in coming months. The decision to close the outpatient center was made not as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic but due to ongoing assessments of community need, Keroack said. Keroack, whose parents were both born at the Ware hospital and who saw patients there earlier in his career, said he understood the attachment the community has to the facility. But he emphasized that Baystate is not seeing people go there when theyre sick. Low demand for care is reflected in numbers released by the hospital. About half of the centers capacity is unused during the day and overnight the unused capacity rises to 90%. Recent figures show the Ware emergency facility saw about 28 patients on average a day, a majority children under the age of 18 presenting with common, minor conditions, Gray said, such as sprains or cold and flu symptoms. Inpatient care was ended at Mary Lane several years ago after a merger between the Ware facility and Wing were approved. With the shift, those who visit Mary Lane and need to be admitted are transferred to either Wing or Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Baystate, the largest health provider in Western Massachusetts, operates five hospitals and multiple urgent care, primary care and other outpatient facilities. Proud Boys leader Henry "Enrique" Tarrio was once a prolific cooperator with FBI and local law enforcement in South Florida, according to court records from a 2012 fraud case in which he pleaded guilty to helping sell stolen goods. Tarrio is under intense law enforcement scrutiny since the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, in which members of the Proud Boys have been charged with some of the most destructive and aggressive acts around the building, according to people familiar with the FBI's ongoing investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the case. The Proud Boys is a male chauvinist group with ties to white nationalism. Last year, President Donald Trump famously told the group to "stand back and stand by" when asked during a debate to condemn white supremacists and the Proud Boys in particular. The moment emboldened the group and others like it that viewed Trump's comment as indicating that they had presidential support. The Proud Boys have led numerous pro-Trump demonstrations, but since Jan. 6, Tarrio has called for a halt on participating in marches. Even before the riot, he was the subject of a law enforcement investigation and was arrested in early January for allegedly burning a Black Lives Matter banner torn down from a historic church during a previous rally in Washington. Tarrio has pleaded not guilty. Tarrio, who has denied that the Proud Boys organized any violence at the Capitol, did not respond to a text message and phone call seeking comment about his past cooperation with law enforcement, which was first reported Wednesday by Reuters. He told the news service that he had no recollection of assisting law enforcement despite being identified in the court documents. In a screed posted online later in the day, Tarrio criticized the government and the media for disclosing his past activities and argued that his cooperation was done with the full knowledge and participation of his co-defendants. Tarrio said in the post that by reporting the contents of a public court hearing, "they have proven that if you cooperate with the US government they will hang you out to dry... So my question is... is it worth it? That I leave up to y'all to decide." It is unclear how his record as a cooperator will be received by the members of his group, which proclaims to be pro-law enforcement, although its members have clashed openly with police officers in recent rallies, including at the Capitol. At a 2014 hearing in his case, then-prosecutor Vanessa Johannes described Tarrio as "probably the most cooperative from day one. From day one, he was the one who wanted to talk to law enforcement, wanted to clear his name, wanted to straighten this out so that he could move on with his life." The prosecutor told the court that Tarrio's cooperation helped federal agents prosecute 13 others and aided local police with a number of undercover drug investigations. Jeffrey Feiler, Tarrio's defense attorney at the time, said Tarrio's broad cooperation allowed law enforcement to successfully raid multiple marijuana grow houses and seize 100 pounds of the drug. He said Tarrio also "worked in an undercover capacity in a case involving information pertaining to an illegal immigrant smuggling ring and, again at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country." The prosecutor, though, said nothing came of that case. Feiler said that in addition to the cooperation Tarrio provided that produced indictments or other tangible results, Tarrio also made 10 attempts that did not ultimately work, sometimes because the local police department involved just did not have the manpower. Those cases involved steroids, cocaine, ecstasy and credit card theft, Feiler said. At the 2014 hearing, Feiler argued that Tarrio's cooperation had earned him a reduction of his prison sentence by 18 months, while the prosecutor argued for a 10-month cut. The judge ultimately reduced his sentence nearly in half, from 30 months to 16 months. Feiler said in an interview with The Washington Post on Wednesday that he had limited memory of the case and was unsure whether Tarrio's work with law enforcement extended further in any sort of paid or other capacity. "Typically what will happen is a defendant or cooperator will run the gamut of everything they hope to accomplish, and then there will come a point where they've done all they can do," Feiler said. Emotions and unfounded suspicions are a significant obstacle to the development of relations between Ukraine and Hungary, and they have to be removed, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. He said this at a joint press conference with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in Kyiv on Wednesday, January 27, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "There is one significant obstacle to the development of bilateral relations - emotions and suspicions. Peter and I talked about this separately today. We agreed that we need to keep a cool head and a warm heart in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations," Kuleba said. He said he categorically condemned any disrespect for the Hungarian community in Ukraine and considered any anti-Ukrainian rhetoric coming from certain circles in Hungary to be unacceptable. "There is no reason to believe that Ukrainian Hungarians are prone to separatism. Just as there is no reason to believe that the Ukrainian state wants to do any harm to Ukrainian Hungarians. We are one country, one society and we will always be one," Kuleba said. Szijjarto is on a working visit to Ukraine on January 27 at Kuleba's invitation. op New Delhi: India , Japan and Russia have identified energy, coal mining, transport and logistics, maritime connectivity, diamond processing, pharmaceuticals and healthcare among areas of potential cooperation in the Russian Far East, a statement after talks among the three countries said on Wednesday. The talks among representatives of the three countries, that took place last week, happened for the first time, the statement said adding that it was at the Track II or semi official level. It may be seen as an attempt by India and Japan both part of the grouping loosely known as the Quad along with the US and Australia -- to engage Russia. Russia and China who have developed strong ties in recent years are opposed to the Quad seen as a US led initiative and aimed at containing Beijing. The first round of the India-Japan-Russia was hosted by the Indian government backed Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) think tank with Japans Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia (ERINA) and Russias Far East Investment and Export Agency (FEIEA) attending as co-partners. The focus of the first dialogue was on the exchange of views and information among the three sides on their respective outlook on the economic opportunities in the Russian Far East," the statement said. The participants agreed that it is in the three countries' shared interest to promote the trilateral framework to harness economic opportunities in the Russian Far East for mutual benefit," it said. The three identified energy, coal mining, transport and logistics, maritime connectivity, diamond processing, agro-industry, forestry, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, high technology, scientific research, capacity building, tourism, humanitarian fields as potential areas of trilateral cooperation, it said. All three countries welcomed their growing links in the Arctic, recognising the inter-connected nature of regional development alongside the Russian Far East," it said. It was suggested to explore the potential for trilateral partnership in the development of the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route through the promotion of investment and trade linkages," the statement said. The three countries agreed that their business communities were important to identify areas and concrete projects for trilateral cooperation and sought the appointment of representatives to carry forward the economic dialogue, it added. The talks on cooperation in the Russia Far East come little more than a year after after Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the region in September 2019. During the visit, Modi pledged $1 billion dollars for the development of the Russian Far East a vast region comprising roughly a third of Russias territory and rich in natural resources including minerals, hydrocarbons, timber and fish but economically under developed. A harsh climate, sparse population, increasing migration from the area, poor infrastructure and lack of connectivity are seen as some of the factors contributing to the region remaining underdeveloped. In recent years, China too has shown an interest in the region which borders it and is rich in minerals. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Queen 'is much livelier in private than what the public sees,' and has 'self-deprecating humour,' her biographer has claimed. Speaking to People Magazine, Sally Bedell Smith, author of Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, said Her Majesty also described her own expression as her 'Miss Piggy face' and says she has 'the ability to laugh at herself,'. The author noted a source in Sandringham saying: 'You can hear her laugh throughout that big house. She has a big laugh!' The Queen 'is much livelier in private than what the public sees,' and has 'self-deprecating humour,' her biographer has claimed. She is pictured in December She also revealed that the 94-year-old has a down-to-earth sense of humour, telling a tale of a time not long after Prince Charles' 1981 wedding to Princess Diana. While a rerun of the ceremony was playing on TV during a party the royal was attending in London, Sally says the Queen pointed herself out and said: "Oh, there's my Miss Piggy face,". Angela Kelley, the Queen's dressemaker, also recalled a time where the Queen took a break from her usual formality during a photoshoot. During a portrait session to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, Her Majesty broke out in a series of poses 'slipping her hands in and out of her pockets and placing them on to her hips, and mimicking the stances of a professional model' she recalled. Sally also recalled a time where the Queen took a break from her usual formality during a photoshoot. She is pictured in June 2012 'They stood in disbelief. The Queen was a natural,' Angela added to People. 'Barry [the photgrapher] and I felt we were experiencing something really special: a moment never to be repeated.' It comes as it was revealed Royal Household staff are going to enjoy the benefits of 'flexible working' even after the pandemic. Like organisations across the country, the Queen's staff have been forced to adapt to Covid-19 restrictions and has introduced flexible working options for its 1,200 members of staff who work at royal residences across the UK. The Royal Household are advertising for a Senior Employee Communications Assistant to keep internal digital platforms updated as employees continue remote working A job advert for a Senior Employee Communications Assistant, responsible for keeping internal digital platforms updated, hints there are plans to continue remote working even once restrictions lift. The posting for the 27,000-a-year role, based at Buckingham Palace, reads: 'Working as part of our professional and supportive HR team, you'll underpin all aspects of our employee communications and will join at an interesting and important time. 'With c.1200 employees spanning a diverse range of roles, our internal digital platforms are currently more important than ever; ensuring everyone is informed, connected, engaged and able to work effectively regardless of their location. 'And as we look ahead, more flexible ways of working is likely to continue post pandemic, making your role key to our future.' The successful candidate will create posts and videos to keep staff and potential job applicants up-to-date with the latest goings on, the posting continues. The posting adds: 'No two days will be the same. And as you support others, you'll have exceptional opportunities to grow your own career. January 30 is the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who is known as the Father of the Nation. The day is marked as Martyr's Day in India. This year the nation will be observing Gandhi's 73rd death anniversary on January 30, 2021. Martyr's Day or 'Shaheed Diwas' is remembered to pay tribute to the great freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives for the country's Independence. Gandhi's Assassination Shocked The World Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead on 30 January 1948, at the age of 78 by Nathuram Godse. Gandhi was assassinated when he was getting up from the evening prayer meeting at Birla House in Delhi. Godse shot Gandhi in his chest three times and killed him. The incident shocked the entire world. Later Godse got arrested and had been sentenced to death. He alleged that Gandhi was responsible for the partition of the country. Freedom Movements Led By Gandhi Born on 2nd October 1869, as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in Gujarat's Porbandar, Mahatma Gandhi completed his education from Gujarat and Bombay. Later he went to London to practice as barrister. In 1893, when Gandhiji went to South Africa, he faced discrimination against Indians there. In 1916, Gandhi returned to India to lead the freedom struggle against British rule. Gandhi organised many movements including the 'Champaran Movement', Noncooperation Movement', 'Civil Disobedience Movement', and 'Quit India Movement'. Among all, the 'Quit India Movement' was one of the biggest and successful movements to set India free from British rule. He also introduced "Ahimsa" to India and organised non-violent protests against the British. India finally gained independence on 15th August 1947, under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Also Read: Netaji's 125th Birth Anniversary: Facts You Should Know About Subhas Chandra Bose What Happens On Martyr's Day? On Martyr's Day or the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the President, Vice President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and the Service Chiefs of India pay tribute to 'Bapu' at Rajghat in Delhi. The armed forces give a salute to Indian soldiers and a two-minute silence is observed in memory of Mahatma Gandhi and soldiers who selflessly sacrificed their lives for the nation during the freedom struggle. Some Famous Quotes By Mahatma Gandhi "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." "If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children." "An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind." "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." "The future depends on what we do in the present." "A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes." "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." "Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served." "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." Also Read: Do You Know Why India Celebrates Republic Day? Abortion is a "moral evil like slavery" according to North Carolina's Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson during the annual March for Life Rally held last Jan. 16. Christian Headlines reported that Robinson compared abortion to moral slavery and pro-lifers to the abolitionists who ended slavery in the 19th century. "Years ago, there were some other folks who stood where you're standing--understood that a nation that believes that all men were created equal could not stand and say those words and allow slavery to be on our shores. It is the same way with us today," he said. "We cannot say we believe in equality, we cannot say that black lives matter, or all lives matter, or blue lives matter, until we say that unborn lives matter. Because that is where we all started," he said. "If we do not purge abortion from our shores for the cause of life the same way we purged slavery for the cause of liberty, this nation will not continue to stand," he stressed. Robinson is the first black lieutenant that ever took seat as governor in the history of North Carolina, winning in the last elections by 51% of the vote as per Christian Headlines. Renowned for his outspoken nature, Robinson revealed that the nation's abortion rate is not to be blamed on pregnant women but to those "who are marching in the streets, calling wrong right, promoting the idea that it's okay to kill your children in the womb." "God Almighty is watching them," he warned, referring to pro-choice activists whom he says he prays for "their hearts would be touched, their minds would be turned, and they would come to know that what they are doing is against humanity and is against our Father in heaven." Christian Headlines said that the March for Life Rally was held a week after Robinson took office. Simultaneous to the March For Life Rally in North Carolina, pro-lifers in different states held theirs as well. In San Francisco, thousands gathered for the rally amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Life News said that participants included pro-life Republicans and Democrats, Christians, and even atheists. "I believe in the progressive values of equality, non-violence and non-discrimination. None of those are compatible with abortion," Democrats for Life of America's Terrisa Bukovinac said in an interview with KPIX News 5. According to Angelus, organizers of the 17th Annual Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco were surprised as thousands showed up to the event. "I guess by now I should know better than to sell the commitment of pro-lifers short," Walk For Life Co-chair Eva Muntean remarked on the volume of attendees. "I've never been so happy to be wrong!" Angelus said the event began with the celebration of the Holy Mass led by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone at the St. Mary's Cathedral. A dozen other priests joined the Archbishop together with roughly 480 people inside the Cathedral. The rest of the attendees participated in the plaza outside the church. The participants walked to the Civic Center Plaza after the Holy Mass where talks were given including a tribute to the late Chicago Pro-Life Action League Founder Joe Scheidler who passed away at age 93 last Jan. 18. Other Catholic dioceses held their March for Life event online such as that of Los Angeles. The United States on Wednesday amended its restrictions on investments in certain Chinese military companies, saying they also to apply subsidiaries, while allowing purchases through May of companies with names similar to those that have been banned. In a statement posted on the US Treasury Department website, the Biden administration said most investments in companies "whose name closely matches, but does not exactly match, the name of a Communist Chinese military company" would be allowed until May 27. The order does not authorize securities transactions with ... Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks during a news conference at UN headquarters in Manhattan, New York, on Sept. 20, 2018. (Jeenah Moon/Reuters) Halting Keystone Pipeline Is Good for Russia: Nikki Haley Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Wednesday that the Biden administrations axing of the Keystone XL oil pipeline project and what she said were moves to ban fracking both play into Russias hands. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has to be pretty ecstatic right now, Haley told Fox News on Wednesday. One of the things that bothered him the most was how energy independent we had become. The United States under the Trump administration became the worlds top producer of oil and maintained its position as the top global producer of natural gas. The country in 2019 became a net exporter of petroleum (crude oil and refined) products for the first time since 1949, and is now in its fifth consecutive year as a net exporter of natural gas. Bidens early steps after taking office represent a sharp break from the Trump administrations efforts to maximize fossil fuel production. On his first day in office, Biden moved to rejoin the Paris Agreement on climate change and revoked a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The pipeline was first proposed in 2008 but reached a snag under the Obama administration. Former President Donald Trump revived the project and was one of its chief advocates. Haley said that Bidens shutting down of the Keystone pipeline and what she said were his administrations moves to ban fracking both make his first seven days in office a good first week for Russia. Last week, the Biden administration imposed a 60-day suspension of new permits for oil and gas leasing, drilling, and fracking on federal lands. According to multiple media reports, Biden is expected to go a step further on Wednesday and impose a moratorium on such permits, although the freeze would not impact existing leases and would not apply to private land, which accounts for more than three quarters of total U.S. oil production and even more for natural gas. During his campaign, Biden said he would block new federal land drilling leases but that he opposed a nationwide ban on fracking, although the Trump campaign repeatedly suggested otherwise. At a September rally in Pennsylvania, Trump said that Biden would be pressured by the radical left to go further on fracking bans, saying they wont let him get away with it. And Im all for fracking. Haley, in her interview with Fox News, complained that Biden is more interested in reversing everything President Trump did rather than looking forward. The death has occurred of Matthew (Matt) Brereton Pagestown, Kilcloon, Meath / Coill Dubh, Kildare In the loving care of his family at his home. Matt, predeceased by his wife Christina and infant son Alan. Deeply regretted by his children Paul, Lorraine and Matthew, son-in-law Anthony, daughters-in-law Lorraine and Helen, grandchildren Noah, Maddox, Lillian, Sophie, Conor, Katie and Ava, brother-in-law Martin, sister-in-law Celia, sisters Elizabeth and Ellen, brothers Kit, Patrick, Andrew, Vincent, Ian and Noel, extended family, friends and neighbours. May He In Rest In Peace. Due to government advice regarding public gatherings a private Funeral Mass will take place for family in Kilcloon on Friday 29th at 11:00am. Those who would have liked to attend, but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave a personal message in the 'Condolences' section below. Matthew's funeral cortege will travel from his home to Kilcloon church. Friends and neighbours are very welcome to line that route in a safe and socially distanced manner as a mark of respect. -- The death has occurred of Nancy Connolly (nee McCourt) Oakwood Avenue, Finglas, Dublin / Kildare Town, Kildare Formerly of Chapel Hill, Kildare Town. Peacefully in the loving care of the staff at First Care Nursing Home, Finglas. Predeceased by her husband Joseph (Joe), brother Tom and sister in law Peg. Sadly missed by her loving sisters Lucy, Betty and Kate. Brother in law John, nephews, nieces, neighbours and friends. May Nancy Rest In Peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place, with a maximum of 10 people to attend the church. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Removal on Thursday to arrive at St. Brigid's Parish Church, Kildare Town, for Requiem Mass at 1 o'clock. Burial afterwards in St. Conleth's Cemetery, Kildare Town. Funeral Mass can be viewed at mcnmedia.tv on Thursday from 1 o'clock. The death has occurred of Catherine (Frances) Kelly (nee MacNamara) Prague House, Kildare Town, Kildare / Kildysart, Clare Formerly of Kildysart, Co. Clare peacefully in the wonderful care of the staff at Beechpark Nursing Home, Kildare Town. Wife of the late Peter. Sadly missed by her loving sons and daughters, Adrian, Deirdre, Gabriel, Brenda, Maeve and Jeanette, sons-in-law Martin, Jasbir and Howard, daughter-in-law Helen, and all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces, nephews, relatives, neighbours and friends. May she rest in peace Due to current government guidelines regarding public gatherings, a private family funeral will take place, with a maximum of 10 people to attend the church. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please feel free to leave a message in the condolence page below. Removal on Wednesday evening to arrive at the Carmelite Church, Kildare Town at 5 o'clock. Funeral Mass on Thursday at 11 o'clock. Burial afterwards in St. Conleth's Cemetery, Kildare Town. Funeral Mass can be viewed at The Carmelites Church, Kildare Town Facebook page. Ar Dheis De go raibh a h-anam Dilis The death has occurred of Ronald (Ronnie) Lynch Kill, Rathangan, Kildare / Tuam, Galway / Rathangan, Offaly Formerly of Kilconly, Tuam County Galway. Peacefully after a short illness at Tallaght Hospital, Dublin. Sadly missed by his loving wife Catherine, daughter Elizabeth, son-in-law Aidan, grandsons Sean, Aaron, Daragh and Glen, brothers Cyril, Kenneth, Desmond, Charlie, Ivan and Geoffrey, sisters Olive, Irene and Adrienne, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and friends. "AT REST" Due to the Covid 19 restrictions A Private Family Funeral will take place. Removal from his residence on Friday at 1:20pm (travelling via Coolelan Cross) arriving The Parish Church Rathangan for Funeral Service at 2pm. Funeral afterwards to Cooleghegan Cemetery (travelling via Kill Cross). People are welcome to stand along the route, in the vicinity of the church and in the cemetery with Strict Social Distancing in place. You can leave your condolences on the Online Condolence Book below. The family would like to thank you for your help and understanding at this sad and difficult time. Ronnie's Funeral Service will be streamed live on https://www.youtube.com/laoisfuneralslive/live "Safe In The Arms Of Jesus" The death has occurred of John Miller Glenbawn, Athy, Kildare Husband of the late Mary and brother of the late Martin. Deeply regretted by his loving son John, daughter Catherine, brothers Fran, Gerry and Tony, sisters Catherine, Statia, Agnes and Bernie, daughter-in-law Yoomi , son-in-law Damian, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, grandchildren Leona and Kayla, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Rest in Peace Due to government restrictions a private family Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Thursday morning (28th January) in St. Michael's Parish Church, Athy, limited to 10 people. The Mass will be livestreamed, see www.parishofathy.ie. Burial afterwards in St. Michael's New Cemetery, Athy. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral but cannot due to current restrictions may leave a message in the 'Condolences' section below. The death has occurred of Catherine (Kay) Ryan (nee Stubbs) Templeogue, Dublin / Kilkenny / Curragh, Kildare Ryan (nee Stubbs), Catherine (Kay) (Templeogue, Dublin 6W, late of Kilkenny and formerly of Curragh, Co. Kildare), January 25th, 2021 peacefully in the tender care of Tallaght Hospital surrounded by her loving family, after a long illness bravely borne. Beloved wife of Danny and loving mother of Danny, Anita, Sinead and Liam. Sadly missed by her heartbroken family, 10 adored grandchildren Kate, Ben, Anna, Emma, Olivia, Michael, Julia, Liam, Luke and Naoise, daughter-in-law Aoife, son-in-law Keith, brothers Liam, Seamus and Michael, sister Maly, sisters-in-law Anne, Monica and Marian, brother-in-law Noel, nieces, nephews, relatives and large circle of friends. Rest in Peace. A private family funeral will take place due to Government advice regarding public gatherings. In compliance with the current HSE guidelines, the funeral will be limited to 10 people. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but due to current restrictions cannot, please leave your personal message in the section below Condolences. Catherine's Funeral Mass can be viewed on Friday morning, January 29th, 2021, at 11am on the following link https://churchmedia.tv/camera/st-jude-the-apostle-templeogue and afterwards Committal in Newlands Cross Crematorium https://www.mcnmedia.tv/camera/newslands-cross-cemetery-crematorium. Family flowers only please. All enquiries to Fanagans Funeral Directors, Tallaght Village 01 451 6701. The death has occurred of Ann Seale (nee McGarry) Oakvale, Stradbally, Laois / Athy, Kildare Passed to her eternal reward on Tuesday, 26th January in Cloverlodge Nursing Home, Athy. She was predeceased by her husband Jack, sisters Mary and Margaret and brother James. Ann will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered by her daughters Mary, Bessie and Bridie, her sons Bill, Jim and Fran, her son-in-law, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. Ni imithe uainn ata si ach imithe romhainn Requiem Mass will take place at 11am on Wednesday morning (27th January) in The Church of the Sacred Heart, Stradbally, limited to 10 people. The mass will be livestreamed , see www.streamlive.ie. Burial afterwards in St. Fintan's Cemetery, Mountrath. In line with government advice and to ensure everybodys safety Ann's funeral will take place with family only, please. We ask that everybody that knew Ann would say a prayer in her memory. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral but cannot due to current restrictions may leave a message in the 'Condolences' section below. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. [January 26, 2021] "KISS THE GROUND: FOR SCHOOLS" Available to Schools and Teachers for Free Beginning January 28th Acclaimed directors Josh Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell (Oscar short list for "Fuel," Official Selection Cannes Film Festival for "The Big Fix") will release KISS THE GROUND: FOR SCHOOLS, a 45-minute-long educational version of their latest critically lauded eco-documentary, KISS THE GROUND. Beginning January 21st, the new version is free to all schools, students, teachers, and community educators via KissTheGroundMovie.com. KISS THE GROUND: FOR SCHOOLS has new scenes not in the feature film including a series of person-on-street interviews with Rosario Dawson and a scene in which Tony Tenfingers, a Lakota Elder, describes the importance of the once-prevalent buffalo for Native American peoples. KISS THE GROUND: FOR SCHOOLS is also available with subtitles in 18 languages including English Closed Captions, Spanish, Mandarin, and Hindi. To ensure the success of this unprecedented educational release, Big Picture Ranch has partnered with ro*co films, a leading distributor of documentary films with proven expertise within the academic market. "As a mission-driven documentary distribution company, we are honored to play a role in bringing this powerful film and resource to all schools, without the financial barriers that too-often limit what students get to experience in the classroom," said Annie Roney, founder and CEO of ro*co films. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006131/en/ "KISS THE GROUND: FOR SCHOOLS" AVAILABLE TO SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS FOR FREE BEGINNING JANUARY 28th. (Photo: Business Wire) In addition, the film has partnered with the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) to bring free, NGSS-aligned science lesson plans and student activity sheets to educators and students nationwide. The new, classroom-ready materials will explore regeneration topics and will be available in late March, in time for Earth Month, taking place in April. Educators interested in receiving the materials can pre-register at nsta.org/kisstheground. A DVD version, which includes both the 45-minute education cut and the original 84-minunte version, is also available free to schools at KissTheGroundMovie.com. In addition, the filmmakers have partnered with the National Science Teaching Association, which is creating and distributing follow-up curriculum to be released for free on Earth Day, April 22nd. "Rebecca and I are proud to present this new version of 'Kiss The Ground' for free and make it widely available online to 114,000 U.S. schools and to over 35 million students nationally and millions more internationally," said Josh Tickell. "One of the key messages in our film is today's youth are the best positioned leaders to implement the practices of regeneration and climate change reversal." "'Kiss the Ground: For Schools' represents a watershed moment for our contry's educational system," said Rebecca Tickell. "This is the first time that climate change reversal through regeneration and drawdown will be taught in classrooms - both online and in person. The new version of the film for schools and the forthcoming curricula will provide powerful new tools to students everywhere." The winner of over 40 U.S. and international film festival prizes, KISS THE GROUND is narrated by Woody Harrelson and unveils a game-changer: We can reverse global warming and the Earth's soil is the solution. By regenerating earth, we can completely and rapidly stabilize our planet's climate, restore lost ecosystems, and create abundant food supplies. With epic footage shot on five continents, striking visuals from NASA and NOAA, and stunning animation, the documentary conveys this critical message through the voices of leading scientists, ecologists, and experts including Nobel Laureates in climate, members of the International Panel on Climate Change, top scientists at the National Oceanic (News - Alert) and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), as well as environmental activists such as Gisele Bundchen, Tom Brady, Jason Mraz, Ian Somerhalder, Patricia Arquette, and Rosario Dawson. As an urgent call to action in addressing the world's climate crisis, KISS THE GROUND artfully illustrates an accessible, relatively simple solution to humanity's greatest challenge. Originally intended for a world premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival followed by a theatrical release, KISS THE GROUND is currently playing on Netflix and Vimeo on Demand. "INSPIRES A RARE FEELING OF HOPE" - The New York Times "DIRECTORS JOSH TICKELL AND REBECCA TICKELL GIVE YOU A GLIMPSE OF HOPE DURING A DARK TIME." - Los Angeles Times "A POWERFUL SOLUTION TO THE GROWING EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE" - Civil Eats KISSTHEGROUNDMOVIE.COM Trailer: YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook Instagram: @kissthegroundmovie Facebook (News - Alert) : facebook.com/kissthegroundmovie Twitter (News - Alert) : @kissthegroundoc Instagram: @kissthegroundmovie Facebook: facebook.com/rebeccatickell, facebook.com/ecodude (for Josh Tickell) Instagram: @joshtickell, @beccatickell NSTA.ORG/KISSTHEGROUND ABOUT BIG PICTURE RANCH Nested in the Los Padres National Forest in Ojai, California sits Big Picture Ranch - an organic avocado farm which also operates 24/7 as a soup-to-nuts film studio. Founders Josh and Rebecca Tickell are Sundance Award-Winning documentarians. Big Picture Ranch creates content that changes the global narrative around important environmental issues. Filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell won the Audience (News - Alert) Award at the Sundance Film Festival with their first film FUEL, premiered their oil spill documentary THE BIG FIX as an official selection at Cannes, and are launching their first scripted feature film, HEARTLAND soon. ABOUT ro*co FILMS Founded in 2000, ro*co has distributed exceptional documentaries to the global and educational markets including eighteen Oscar-nominated feature documentaries and festival award-winners, such as Born Into Brothels, Hoop Dreams, Jesus Camp, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, Gunner Palace, The Weather Underground, Promises, Street Fight, No End in Sight, The Devil Came on Horseback, How to Survive a Plague, The Invisible War, Blood Brother, Particle Fever, After Tiller, The Internet's Own Boy, E-Team, The Case Against 8, Inequality for All, Girl Rising, Miss Representation, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Cartel Land, The Hunting Ground, Life Animated, DOLORES, Knife Skills, Human Flow, An Inconvenient Sequel, Charm City, The Fourth Estate, Angels Are Made of Light and RBG. ABOUT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHING ASSOCIATION Founded in 1944, the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) is the largest organization in the world dedicated to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all. A vibrant community of 40,000 science educators and professionals, NSTA is committed to best practices in teaching science and its impact on student learning. NSTA offers high quality science resources and continuous learning so that science educators grow professionally and excel in their career. For new and experienced teachers alike, the NSTA community offers the opportunity to network with like-minded peers at the national level, connect with mentors and leading researchers, and learn from the best in the field. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006131/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Even, the responsible earned wage access platform, today announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). The memorandum of understanding reflects the California agency's proactive approach to oversight, which seeks to both protect consumers and foster innovation in financial services. Even's responsible earned wage access platform is provided as a benefit by forward-thinking employers who want to improve the financial health of their employees and boost productivity and retention. It combines the convenience and flexibility of on-demand pay, which helps employees cover unexpected expenses and bills that might be due before payday, with a suite of proven tools for planning, budgeting, and saving. As part of the memorandum of understanding with the DFPI, Even will continue to embrace policies that protect consumers and share data about the impact of Even's on-demand pay platform on the individuals who use it. "There are so many different business models and approaches to on-demand pay," said Even General Counsel Priya Pai. "We applaud the DFPI's desire to understand how different models affect consumers so they can ensure people benefit from on-demand pay." The California Consumer Financial Protection Law (CCFPL), which went into effect Jan. 1, 2021, allows the DFPI to oversee previously unregulated financial products and services and enforce laws prohibiting financial service providers from using unlawful, unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices. About Even Even's mission is to help companies reimagine the role of pay so people can create the lives they want. Even's earned wage access platform takes a responsible approach to on-demand pay, pairing it with budgeting, automated savings, and visibility into daily earnings so users can safely resolve cashflow emergencies today while building financial resilience for the future. The result is stability and opportunity for employees, which is proven to result in more engaged and loyal workforces for employers. Even serves more than 600,000 active members and is the most popular opt-in employer benefit offered by Walmart, behind only healthcare and 401k. Headquartered in Oakland, California with offices in Raleigh, NC, the company was founded in 2015. SOURCE Even Related Links http://www.even.com Lausanne, Jan 27 : The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged the teams competing in the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games, scheduled to be held later in the year in Tokyo, to be vaccinated against novel coronavirus. According to a news release on IOC website, IOC president Thomas Bach last Friday consulted National Olympic Committees (NOCs) as well as the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the preparations for the Tokyo Games and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games enter the final stretch. The IOC said a toolbox of Covid-19 countermeasures has been developed, which includes immigration procedures, quarantine measures, testing, personal protective equipment, contact tracing and also vaccinations. "Vaccines are one of many tools available in the toolbox, to be used at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. The IOC continues to strongly support the priority of vaccinating vulnerable groups, nurses, medical doctors and everyone who is keeping our societies safe," it said. In order to get a full picture about the vaccination situation for the 206 NOCs, the IOC will send a letter to the NOCs asking them to actively engage with their respective governments on this matter and to report back to the IOC in early February. "In all these conversations and initiatives, the IOC is guided by four principles: firstly, to organise Olympic Games in a safe environment for everyone. Secondly, vaccination priority should be given to vulnerable groups, nurses, medical doctors and everyone who is keeping our societies safe," said Bach. "Thirdly, we encourage all the Olympic and Paralympic participants who are offered vaccination to accept it, also as an act of solidarity with the Japanese hosts and their fellow participants. Fourthly, vaccination will not be obligatory," he added. The Tokyo Olympics, which were slated to be held in July-August last year, had to be postponed to summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. By Benjamin Jumbe President Museveni has revealed that Uganda does not need United Nations to defend it. This remark was made by President Museveni at the launch of Ugandas first clinical trial of the Covid 19 UBV -01N treatment drug at Mulago. He says while the rest of the African countries are defended by the UN, Uganda is self-sufficient in defense. Meanwhile, the President said Africans should stop the slave mentality of waiting for Europeans to find solutions to their problems and diseases. The senior presidential advisor on epidemics and pandemics Dr Monica Musenero as the ministry of health launched the first clinical trial of the COVID 19 UBV-01N therapeutic drug says Uganda has significant research infrastructure but it has not been coordinated to give the country products. Dr Musenero says a study carried out in the process shows that while the country has highly skilled scientists, they lacked orientation to product development. She now says through the presidential scientific initiative on epidemics, they have started developing a breed of scientists focusing on product development. The former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh alleged that some sections of the AP Police ere conniving with the ruling YSR Congress. ANI Vijayawada: Telugu Desam Chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday expressed concern over the manner in which the YSRC covernment was undermining the Constitution without realising its harmful consequences for the future of the state. He stressed the need for creating awareness among the public as to how the AP government was attacking the four pillars of democracy -- the legislature, judiciary, executive and media. In this process, the ruling party is blackmailing officials, employees and all others with its terror tactics like filing of false cases and effecting arrests on false pretexts. Naidu hoisted the Tricolour at the party central office in Mangalagiri and paid rich tributes to the freedom fighters. Former ministers, party senior leaders and cadres attended the event. He said the Jagan dispensation is refusing to change its adamant attitude even after repeated strictures from courts against its unconstitutional decisions. The Jagan government goes undermining institutions like the State Election Commission and continuing harassment of the Opposition. No efforts were made to prevent the attacks and atrocities on the SCs, STs, BCs and Muslim Minorities. He alleged that some sections of the AP Police ere conniving with the ruling party. It now is the 'Jagan Reddy Penal Code' and not the 'Indian Penal Code' that is being implemented in AP. A sort of Police Raj was going on to perpetrate the YSRC mafia rule with special interest in the sand, liquor, mining, government contracts segments. A Jungle Raj is prevailing with the citizens being deprived of their fundamental rights and there are frequent violations of human rights by the government in AP, he alleged. MADISON, Wis., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, a top five nationwide mortgage lender, announced it helped nearly 2,200 families in Utah with their home financing needs last year. "In 2020, we were incredibly pleased to see our 118 employees in Utah help the local residents achieve their home financing needs, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic," said Steve Jacobson, CEO of Fairway Independent Mortgage. "Our team in Utah is really tied to the community. They know the residents, the real estate agents and the homebuilders. This is a great example of 'Utah serving Utah.'" Sharla Ellis, Fairway branch manager and senior loan advisor in Salt Lake City, said: "It's so rewarding to be seen as a trusted advisor in the communities we serve. Fairway really opens doors for us to help our neighbors achieve their goals. It's clear that Fairway loves and cares for our Utah borrowers." One of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, Fairway produced nearly $66 billion in mortgages last year. Fairway Independent Mortgage is known for its wide selection of mortgage loans, competitive rates, fast turnaround times, personalized service and a supportive environment. Last year, Fairway topped National Mortgage News' Best Mortgage Companies to Work For list for the entire country. "It's a pleasure to work for a company so dedicated to serving borrowers and the community," said Nick Smith, Fairway branch manager in Draper, "We work with all types of borrowers in Utah, from families looking for a vacation home near Utah's beautiful slopes to veterans to first-time homebuyers to retirees looking to downsize, as well as those seeking to refinance, and we treat every customer like family." A video about how Fairway helps the people of Utah with home financing may be viewed here. About Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation (NMLS #2289) is a full-service mortgage lender with a wide array of innovative products that help make homeownership more affordable with the speed and service its clients deserve. Fairway is dedicated to finding great mortgage options and providing some of the fastest turn times for its borrowers. We strive to exceed expectations, guarantee satisfaction and earn trust. SOURCE Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation Related Links http://www.fairwayindependentmc.com The day after a Harris County grand jury indicted several Houston police officers for lying to pad their overtime pay, Chief Art Acevedo informed officers he was opening an administrative investigation into the matter. I want to reiterate the importance of paying attention to details and being accurate on all government records, Acevedo wrote, in a Tuesday night email to his officers obtained by the Chronicle. He noted that a number of the indictments related to overtime issues and arose from the Harris County district attorneys investigation. We will be initiating a separate administrative investigation into this matter and will take the appropriate action upon the conclusion of our review, the email said. On Monday, District Attorney Kim Ogg announced that grand jurors had handed down indictments against six officers: a murder charge against veteran officer Felipe Gallegos in connection with the of killing Dennis Tuttle during the Harding Street drug raid in January 2019, and first and second degree felonies against five officers for lying and colluding about overtime hours to inflate their pay. The department first came under security after the January 2019 raid of Tuttles house on Harding Street, when Squad 15 narcotics officers, using a no-knock warrant, burst into the house looking for drugs. Gunfire erupted, ending with the deaths of Tuttle and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, and four officers shot. After the raid, police investigators announced that Goines was under investigation for lying about buying drugs from the home. WRONG DOOR: Botched Houston drug raid was not the first The scandal resulted in multiple investigations, and state and federal charges against Goines, and his partner, Steven Bryant. Goines now faces felony murder charges in state court, and civil rights violations and tampering charges in federal court. Bryant faces tampering charges in state and federal court. More than a year after the raid, Ogg charged Goines, Bryant, several supervisors, and one of Goines old partners with other crimes, including tampering with government records, aggregate overtime theft and misapplication of fiduciary responsibility. At the time, Ogg said evidence showed graft and greed at every step in the process, with the potential to literally rot an institution from the inside out. Said DA spokesman Dane Schiller: We follow evidence, apply the law and prosecute crimes, but we have no hand in any police agencys administrative reviews. The list of officers accused with paperwork crimes includes Goines, Bryant, former Lt. Robert Gonzales, former sergeants Clemente Reyna and Thomas Wood, former officers Griff Maxwell, Cedell Lovings, and Hodgie Armstrong, and officers Frank Medina, Nadeem Ashraf, and Oscar Pardo. The indictments announced Monday are the latest indications of concerns about sloppiness or lack of oversight of HPD officers that go back many years. In 2012, four officers were suspended for listing one another as witnesses on traffic tickets to help themselves accrue more overtime pay for testifying in court.Then-Chief Charles A. McClelland suspended the officers for 20 days to 45 days off without pay. Discipline records obtained by the Chronicle show numerous instances when officers were disciplined for overtime or payroll irregularities: In February 2018, an officer in major offenders was suspended for seven days for requesting overtime pay for shifts he never worked. In April of that year, an auto theft lieutenant received a five-day suspension for failing to properly supervise a sergeant who failed to report for duty 26 times. A month later, Acevedo handed down a 40-day suspension to an officer who left work early 40 times in 2017, and in July, the chief fired another officer who routinely didnt show up for work. And then in December 2018, a gang officer received a 20-day suspension for routinely failing to work full days. A Chronicle investigation in March 2020 showed sloppiness in several of the departments undercover divisions controls of confidential informant funds. QUESTIONABLE CASES: Key Houston police narcotics officers at center of fatal Harding Street drug raid tallied few arrests, low-level busts An audit of the narcotics division raised similar concerns in July. The audit ordered up after the Harding Street raid found that officers in street level narcotics squads made unauthorized informant payments, failed to complete offense reports, and made hundreds of other errors. The audit also found overwhelmingly the need to improve administrative procedures, specifically, supervisory review of case files and case tracking. In response to questions from the Chronicle, Acevedo explained that Oggs past charges related to former employees while the newer charges pertain to current employees. The grand jury indicted active employees on OT, which we are investigating, he said, in a text message. We were aware DA was criminally investigating beyond (officer involved shooting) related issues, and now that the investigation is complete we are initiating our internal investigation. We are working with DAs team to obtain information on the facts and evidence. Previously, Acevedo has credited his officers investigation for leading to charges against Goines and Bryant. But police critics and civil rights activists questioned the timing of Acevedos latest probe. This is not the first time this issue has come to light with HPD doing strange things, and overstating their working hours to create additional pay, said Houston NAACP president James Douglas, pointing to sloppy paperwork raised by the narcotics audit. I would have thought the chief would have moved forward to deal with it (in July) but he did not, Douglas said. Representatives of rank-and-file officers, however, have criticized Oggs prosecution, saying it is a politically motivated effort. On Tuesday, Houston Police Officers Union President Douglas Griffith described the allegations as irregularities in overtime slips, which could easily be explained, and said Ogg had overreached. It is nothing more than TV justice at its best to go out and charge our officers, he said. And I see them coming back to work one day, after all these cases are dismissed, and being productive members of our organization. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. On Wednesday night I sat in front of the news, watching the inauguration of the 46th president of the USA. Truthfully, I only had half an eye on it. Then 22-year-old Amanda Gorman stepped up to the microphone and read her stunning poem The Hill We Climb. I was captivated. Thats when the texts came in. My group chats kicked off. I love it when this happens, when poetry gets a good and proper showcase and people think: Better text Cecilia. I dont often speak about poetry to my mates. Im usually either reading or writing on my own, trying to pitch to a group of year nines why poetry is so great, or Im tucking myself away with other die-hard poetry fans during my Monday night writing group (which my boyfriend affectionately calls Geek Fest.) The point Im making is that on Wednesday night, people were reminded of poetrys power. Poetry, so often kept on a dusty shelf, came screaming into the spotlight saying, look at me! Look at what I am capable of! Im the current Young Peoples Laureate for London. My job, over this next year, is to raise the visibility of poetry for young people. Its something Ive always been extremely focussed on, having had my life transformed by my introduction to creative writing. Raising the visibility of poetry is exactly what Gorman, the former National Youth Poet Laureate of the USA, did on Wednesday. She showed the power of poetry and what it can do. How it can respond to and challenge the world around us, protest and resist. How it can distil a feeling that is impossible to capture with our normal language or with political rhetoric. How it can help us to figure out ourselves and our moment, breed empathy for the lives of others, show what connects us and inspire hope. Gorman achieved all this as a young black woman centre stage in front of a sea of mostly white, much older politicians delivering a charged, tightly-crafted, musical, vivid, accessible and unifying message; a message appealing for change, in front of millions, during a pandemic and a time of intense division. To say it is an achievement is an understatement. Gorman models what poetry can do, but most importantly, she models that young people, and young black people, or young people from single parent families can do it. That poetry is a space they are entitled to; a space for them to discover themselves and their world, to have their say in their own voice. Seeing someone like yourself on stage, alongside popstars and politicians having your voice and story valued thats empowering. We need more of this so that more young people can experience the benefits of poetry and crucially, the world can hear their stories. Sadly, Ive seen on Twitter a somewhat sneering response from some to Gormans poem. Some say its not a proper poem but this only leads me to wonder what a proper poem is, and who gets to police if it meets that standard? Who created that standard in the first place, and why should young poets have to adhere to that? It strikes me that Gormans poem is absolutely perfect for its context; both accessible to a wide audience, as well as beautiful and well-crafted. It may not be difficult, in the formally poetic sense, but it employed one of poetrys key faculties: to move. Who says that something has to be oblique to be considered worthy, to have integrity? Im not saying poetry needs to be dumbed down for the masses, I dont think Gorman did that. But she pitched it well, given it was going out to millions, moving away from the niche and towards a well-executed universality. What do we gain from a negative critique of her poem? I cant help but feel that if we shrink poetry back down to just one standardised acceptance of what is good, we will lose a huge amount. After all, poetry is not just one thing, and varying styles and approaches can definitely co-exist. This poem is a poem of the moment and has lasting value. It may not be to some peoples taste, but to reduce it to being not a poem, is wrong, snobbish and arguably, full of prejudice. The world of poetry was opened up to me by watching and hearing it online in a way I felt included in. This led to a lifelong love of poetry in its many forms, whether thats a spoken word theatre show or a poem more at home on the page And if Gormans poem inspires young people whove felt excluded from poetry before to engage with poetry, or even pick up a pen, then Im all for it. Its rare for poetry to get this platform, this chance to shine. Lets celebrate it, and the power of the arts. It warms my January heart, like Bernies lovely mittens. Cecilia Knapp is the current Young People's Laureate for London PARIS and BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shift Technology , a provider of AI-driven decision automation and optimization solutions for the global insurance industry, today announced availability of both new products and upgrades to existing solutions within the Shift Insurance Suite ( Shift Technology Automates and Optimizes Decision Making Across the Policy Lifecycle ). The Shift Insurance Suite is a set of cloud-based AI solutions which support improved decision making by insurance employees across departments. Shift pioneered the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help insurers not only better spot potential fraud in the claims process but also make more informed decisions about how best to respond to these suspicious claims. The ability to quickly determine if a claim should be investigated and if so, identify the optimal investigative approach injects significant efficiency and accuracy into the overall claims process. The company built on its success in fraud detection to address the insurance industry's desire to remove friction from the claims process and move toward low-touch, no-touch, and fully automated claims settlement from first notice of loss (FNOL) through to payment. Today, Shift Claims Automation and Shift Claims Fraud Detection are the flagship products in the Shift Insurance Suite. "AI is ideally suited to help insurance professionals make the best decisions possible in support of their customers and their business," stated Marcel Gordon, vice president, Product, Shift Technology. "The ability to ingest and organize massive amounts of structured and unstructured data, understand relationships and connections between individuals, and then do sophisticated analysis enables Shift to provide insurers with a new generation of tools. Shift is putting AI in the hands of operational teams at insurers around the globe." With the announcement of the Shift Insurance Suite, the company is building on its success in fraud detection and claims automation with the introduction of new products targeting additional processes in claims and across the policy lifecycle. To help employees more quickly and accurately identify opportunities for subrogation, the company is now offering Shift Subrogation Detection. Outside of claims, Shift Underwriting Fraud Detection is designed to provide critical information useful in deciding whether to provide insurance coverage to an individual or business. The company's new Financial Crime Detection product supports anti-money laundering, employee fraud detection, and other compliance initiatives. Shift's products are specifically designed to integrate with, and add value to, existing core claims management systems. "Insurance is a business of decisions, and making the optimal decision can drive incredible benefits," explained Eric Sibony, chief scientific officer and co-founder, Shift Technology. "Through our work with some of the leading insurance companies in the world we have been able to demonstrate the exceptional power of AI to both optimize and fully automate some of the most important insurance decisions, driving significant value for carriers and their policyholders." To address the decision optimization and automation requirements of the global insurance industry, Shift has built its solutions around a powerful AI decision engine that is able to analyze multiple types of structured and unstructured data provided by the insurer, the insured, and/or external third parties. This may include claims data, including claims handlers' notes, photographs and other scanned images, and original documents, to name only a few. Shift has consistently demonstrated its solutions outperform rules-based only approaches that cannot match the accuracy and efficiency provided by insurance-specific AI. At press time, the company has insurers at various stages of deployment for each of its decision automatization and optimization products. The Shift Insurance Suite is comprised of: Shift Claims Fraud Detection: This award-winning technology is in use by more than 80 of the world's leading insurance companies including CSAA Insurance Group and MS & AD Insurance Group to name only a few. On top of the proven capability to detect fraud using data and documents, new capabilities introduced with the launch of the Shift Insurance Suite put the power of Shift's rich insurance data model, with all of the insurer's data denoised, reconstructed and linked together, in the hands of investigators. There is expanded support for the use of images and documents in the detection of fraud, as well as visual exploration of data using a network graph and the ability to search and browse through the complete data model. Shift Claims Automation: Available in two deployment models - Digital Journey and Augmented Adjustment - this solution uses AI to automate the claims process from FNOL through to final settlement. Digital Journey empowers policyholders directly, delivering a self-service claims experience - FNOL, tracking and settlement - with AI decision-making built in. The claims experience is customized to each insurer to match their claims process, handling policies and branding. Augmented Adjustment integrates AI-supported decision making directly into the Claims Management System, decreasing turnaround time and optimizing claims handlers' time during the claims process. Through its application of advanced OCR technology, Shift Claims Automation is particularly focused on removing the need for manual document review throughout the claims process. Shift Subrogation Detection: This new addition to the Shift Insurance Suite uses AI to quickly and accurately discover opportunities to recover costs from third parties. The technology not only finds those claims for which subrogation is possible but also generates actionable cases supported by concrete evidence. Shift Subrogation Detection improves on manual and simple rules-based subrogation identification processes by focusing on coverage (reviewing every single claim), consistency (checking against known subrogation scenarios) and precision (leveraging internal and external data, from police reports to recall lists, using AI). The result includes reduced claim loss and improved deductible recovery, while freeing the claims team to focus on resolving claims. Shift Underwriting Fraud Detection: Designed to optimize decision making at the point of sale, Shift Underwriting Fraud Detection applies AI to the policy underwriting process to detect inaccurate or non-compliant policies. Actionable alerts help to minimize fraudulent policies, avoid undesired risks, and assign appropriate premiums. Shift Underwriting Fraud Detection leverages Shift's rich data model, sophisticated data analysis and deep insurance expertise to give the Underwriting team a complete view of the policy, policyholder and risk while highlighting anomalies. First Central has adopted Shift Underwriting Fraud Detection to support the carrier's auto line of business. Shift Financial Crime Detection: Insurance is a critical part of the financial system, resulting in significant scrutiny from regulators. Shift Financial Crime detection enables insurers to better understand the status of all participants in its ecosystem, including employees, to identify and investigate potential criminal behavior, including money laundering. Shift Financial Crime Detection addresses these challenges for insurers, who have little transaction data to rely upon, by making maximal use of internal and external data about all participants in the insurance process. Used together with Shift's fraud solutions, Shift Financial Crime Detection enables insurers to build an overall picture of - and response to - risk from bad actors across their business. About Shift Technology Shift Technology delivers the only AI-native decision automation and optimization solutions built specifically for the global insurance industry. Addressing several critical processes across the insurance policy lifecycle, the Shift Insurance Suite helps insurers achieve faster, more accurate claims and policy resolutions. Shift has analyzed billions of insurance transactions to date and was presented Frost & Sullivan's 2020 Global Claims Solutions for Insurance Market Leadership Award. For more information, please visit www.shift-technology.com . Contacts: Rob Morton Corporate Communications Shift Technology +1.617.416.9216 [email protected] SOURCE Shift Technology Related Links https://www.shift-technology.com Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning By Mohammad Javad Zarif January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - As a candidate for president in 2016, Donald Trump pledged to stop wasting American blood and treasure on wars in West Asia. During his time in office, Trump instead further trapped the United States in the region and inflamed divisions to the point where a minor incident might quickly spiral out of control and lead to a major war. The new administration in Washington has a fundamental choice to make. It can embrace the failed policies of the Trump administration and continue down the path of disdain for international cooperation and international lawa contempt powerfully evident in the United States decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, that had been signed by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union just three years earlier. Or the new administration can shed the failed assumptions of the past and seek to promote peace and comity in the region. U.S. President Joe Biden can choose a better path by ending Trumps failed policy of maximum pressure and returning to the deal his predecessor abandoned. If he does, Iran will likewise return to full implementation of our commitments under the nuclear deal. But if Washington instead insists on extracting concessions, then this opportunity will be lost. Some Western policymakers and analysts continue to speak of containing Iran. But they would do well to remember that as a powerful player in the region, Iran has legitimate security concerns, rights, and interestsjust as any other nation does. They must recognize those concerns rather than subscribe to the tired delusion that Iran should not enjoy the same rights as every other sovereign nation. We have always made it abundantly clear that we will respond positively to any initiative for regional dialogue advanced in good faith. To us, goodwill begets goodwill. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter IN SEARCH OF A NEW PARADIGM The last two decades of U.S. military involvement in our region have caused untold damage while achieving little. According to the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the wars that followed the 9/11 attacks have directly claimed at least 800,000 livesand indirectly, many more. Since 2001, at least 37 million people in the region have been forced from their homes. Thanks to U.S. invasions and arms sales, Irans neighborhood has become the most militarized region in the world. Saudi Arabia, a country with a native population of only 27 million, is the worlds top arms importer, mainly buying from the United States. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), another leading purchaser of U.S. weapons, has no more than 1.5 million citizens but is the eighth-largest arms buyer on the planet. These countries have used the weapons they have bought to rain death and destruction on civilians in Yemen, and the White House gave them first a green light, under President Barack Obama, and then carte blanche, under Trump, to do so. During the Trump presidency, Washington took its predilection for conflict directly to Irans door. Last January, the United States assassinated General Qasem Soleimani, making an already fraught situation in a region plagued by terrorist violence all the more unstable. The murder removed a leading commander in the fight to push the so-called Islamic State (or ISIS) and other militant groups back from Iraq and Syriaand it added an unforgivable crime to the already long register of U.S. transgressions against Iran. Pressure against Iran has time and again produced the exact opposite of its intended result. The United States cannot easily undo the damage its actions have caused. But a new administration can address one major blunder of its predecessor, and that is Trumps withdrawal in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal. The U.S. president tried to torpedo a major multilateral diplomatic achievement and then initiated a campaign of blunt economic warfare targeting the Iranian people, in effect punishing Iran for its adherence to a UN-endorsed agreement. The sanctions that the Trump administration imposed and reimposed have made it nearly impossible for Iran to import even the items required to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. But these hardships have not forced us to surrender, nor have they collapsed our economy or changed our strategic calculus. Rather, pressure against Iran has time and again producedand will always producethe exact opposite of its intended result. In 2005, for instance, the United States and its allies demanded that Iran relinquish the right to enrich uranium and unjustly imposed sanctions through the UN Security Council. Despite that economic pressure, between 2005 and 2012, Iran increased its number of centrifuges from 200 to 20,000 and produced more than 17,000 pounds of enriched uranium of 3.67 percent concentration and more than 440 pounds of 20 percent enriched uranium. Similarly, the Trump administrations campaign of maximum pressure has coincided with the expansion of our stockpile of low-enriched uranium from 660 to 8,800 pounds and the upgrading of our centrifuges from the older IR-1 models to the far more powerful IR-6. The United States jettisoning of the nuclear deal did prove one thingthat the signature of Irans foreign minister carries more weight than that of the all-powerful U.S. president. Even Obama failed to prevent the U.S. Congress from passing a ten-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act, in clear violation of the very deal his administration negotiated. Trumps disregard for U.S. obligationsflouting not just the nuclear deal but a UN Security Council resolution endorsing the dealreinforced the impression that the United States is an unreliable partner. So yes, Iran has significantly increased its nuclear capabilities since May 2019but it has done so in full conformity with paragraph 36 of the nuclear agreement, which allows Iran to cease performing its commitments under the deal should another signatory stop performing its own. If the new U.S. administration hopes to alter the current trajectory, it needs to promptly change course. WHAT SHOULD COME NEXT The incoming Biden administration can still salvage the nuclear agreement, but only if it can muster the genuine political will in Washington to demonstrate that the United States is ready to be a real partner in collective efforts. The administration should begin by unconditionally removing, with full effect, all sanctions imposed, reimposed, or relabeled since Trump took office. In turn, Iran would reverse all the remedial measures it has taken in the wake of Trumps withdrawal from the nuclear deal. The remaining signatories to the deal would then decide whether the United States should be allowed to reclaim the seat at the table that it abandoned in 2018. International agreements are not revolving doors, after all, and it is not an automatic right to return to a negotiated agreementand enjoy its privilegesafter one simply leaves on a whim. That return to the table will be jeopardized if Washington or its EU allies demand new terms for a deal that was already carefully constructed through years of negotiations. Let us be clear on this point: all the parties to the nuclear agreement (including the United States) agreed to limit its scope to nuclear issues for very pragmatic reasons. We carefully negotiated timelines for the restrictions the deal imposed, and Iran agreed to forego many economic benefits resulting from the deal because of those timelines. Irans defense and regional policies were not up for discussion, because the West was not prepared to abandon its interference in our region, which has caused such turmoil for decades; nor was the United Statesor France or the United Kingdom, for that matterready to limit its lucrative arms sales, which have fueled conflict and drained the resources of our region. As part of the nuclear negotiations, Iran accepted five- and eight-year limitations on defense and missile procurements respectively. The bargainsand indeed sacrificeswe made to secure the deal cannot be undone; not now, not ever. There cannot be any renegotiations. The United States cannot insist that whats mine is mine and whats yours is negotiable and expect to have its way with Iran. Separate from the nuclear issue, Iran has always been willing to discuss the problems plaguing our region. But the peoples of the region, not outsiders, must resolve these issues. Neither the United States nor its European allies have the prerogative to lead or sponsor future talks. Rather, the Persian Gulf region needs an inclusive regional mechanism to encourage diplomacy and cooperation and to lower the risk of miscalculation and conflict. Iran has long advocated creating a forum for regional dialoguefrom the time of UN Security Council Resolution 598 in 1987 to the Hormuz Peace Endeavor, also known as HOPE, which Iran presented to the UN General Assembly in 2019. Within such a forum, countries can address anxieties with confidence-building measures, resolve grievances through dialogue, and engage in mutually beneficial efforts to solve shared problems and safeguard collective interests. HOPE is not a blueprint for the futureany permanent arrangement has to be arrived at collectively by all regional powers. But the proposal reflects Irans aspiration for a strong, stable, peaceful, and prosperous community of countries, free from the impositions of regional or global hegemony. The United States cannot insist that whats mine is mine and whats yours is negotiable and expect to have its way with Iran. HOPEs framework is built upon universally recognized principles. These include respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. The participating states would pledge to show respect for one anothers historical, religious, and national symbols and to avoid intervening in one anothers internal or external affairs. Within what we have dubbed the Hormuz Community, states would commit to settling disputes peacefully and eschew participating in coalitions or alliances against one another. In October 2019, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote letters to all the Hormuz Community statesBahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAEto officially invite them to join the initiative. That invitation is still on the table. For HOPE or indeed any similar endeavor to succeed, regional statesand outside powersmust accept certain realities. These begin with the fact that the regions future can and must be decided only by its peoples. Any other approach is bound to produce failure. To this end, the West should abandon its policy of patronage and blind support for the bad behavior of regional clients in the name of contending with an illusory Iranian threat. All littoral states of the Persian Gulf, without exception, must be included in any regional endeavor, and both regional and outside actors must recognize and respect the legitimate national rights, interests, and security concerns of all. Westerners, and especially Americans, need to modify their understanding of Iran and the region if they are to avoid the mistakes they have made chronically in the past. They must observe and respect the sensitivities of the peoples of the region, particularly regarding their national dignity, independence, and achievements. We in the region are capable of addressing our own problems, provided that outsiders do not act as spoilers for short-term dividends or to abet the agendas of unscrupulous clients. During the past four years, we have, sadly, come very close to catastrophe several times. Iran has exhibited strategic restraint throughout this period. But Iranians are running out of patience, as legislation our parliament passed in December clearly indicates: the new law requires Iran to boost uranium enrichment and limit UN inspections if sanctions are not removed by February. The window of opportunity for the new U.S. administration will not be open forever. The initiative squarely rests with Washington. The Biden administrations first step ought to be to seek to redressrather than attempt to exploitTrumps dangerous legacy of maximum failure. It can begin by removing all sanctions imposed since Trump assumed office and seek to reenter and abide by the 2015 nuclear deal without altering its painstakingly negotiated terms. Doing so will open new possibilities for peace and stability in our region. Roger Sauerhaft As Marine One lifted off from the South Lawn of the White House last Wednesday morningcarrying President Trump away for the final timeI let escape an involuntary sigh of relief. At long last, Trumps nativist leanings wouldnt be in position to guide the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Whats more, I relished the prospect of retiring the obligatory slides within strategy decks that address how clients should respond in case of a presidential tweetstorm. Goodbye to all that, I thought. But a sense of foreboding loomed. The Trump Administration coincided with a welcome renaissance for many of Americas most venerable news organizations. At the same time, Americans became more engaged and more aware of current events. Civics went from relic to buzzword. More people voted in the 2020 election than ever before, including strong turnout from first-time votersthanks to easier voting procedures for surebut also driven by heightened awareness via blanket media coverage. All of this civic engagement wasand isextremely positive. Whats more, I believe these trends afforded members of our industry the opportunity to shine and be truly indispensable. I question, however, how enduring these shifts really are. Were they overly dependent on the daily drumbeat of bombast and braggadocio that emanated from the West Wing under President Trump? Im concerned that our progress rests on a flimsy foundation. Its nearly impossible to overlook how sharp of a turn the media landscape took after Trump announced his candidacy in June 2015. At that time, many of the most storied media organizations had fallen on hard times as they grappled with the loss of ad dollars and sought to evolve their products and business models. Some of my first and most lasting professional memories happened to come from those tough times. Namely, in 2009, I landed a summer internship in editorial at Conde Nast Portfolioa business monthly with a star-studded mastheadonly for the magazine to shut down just prior to my joining, which changed my path. Digitally native publications, meanwhile, were having a moment, awash in venture capital funding and fragmenting the landscape while repeatedly poaching star journalists from established publications. It all felt like economic upheaval at the timesome might even say creative destructionand I certainly worried about the future of the PR industry as part of this. Then, Trumps first Republican primary debate broke all previous ratings records for debates, ranking at the time as the ninth-most viewed cable program ever. A Trump Bump occurred within news media. Subscriptions to top outlets boomed and the New York Times even wrote, [t]here is little doubt that Donald J. Trumps presidency has helped lift The Timess subscription business. Similar uplift occurred in TV as cable news ratings skyrocketed despite cord-cutting, and new entrants such as Newsmax TV and One America News Network established a foothold on the right side of the aisle that previously was the exclusive domain of Fox News. At the same time, top talent followed media consumption trends by flocking back to legacy outlets. Trumps significance to the media business is also difficult to overstate. The New York Times concession that the Trump Administration helped drive subscriptions is troubling given how central subscriptions have become to the company. Today, the New York Times earns between double and triple from readers what it earns from advertisers. You heard that right its from their latest earnings release. Columbia Journalism Review also reported that in 2018, Trump was the fourth most-commonly used word in the New York Times for the entire year and lamented the campaign-level attention on Trump for four years straight now. Given the doubling down on subscriptions happening broadly in media, and the role of Trump in subscription growth, its easy to worry that his departure could have more serious business implications today than it would have in the more ad supported days of 2015. Twitter, for example, had previously struggled to continue its early growth trajectory, but it then became President Trumps preferred platform. One estimate suggested at the time that Trump was worth $2 billion to Twitter as it suddenly righted its financial path. Recently, the company lost $5 billion from its market cap when it banned Trump permanently. Finally, Trumps own media worldview had an effect that swung toward legacy outlets during his presidency. His open hostility toward the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, and even The Atlantic undoubtedly served as a form of advertising for them. As we thankfully move on from the chaos that characterized the news cycle over the past five yearswhen the presidents name would inevitably surface multiple times on corporate earnings callsI cant help but wonder if the positive forces at play today are too closely hitched to Trump. Could less frequent must-read or must-watch stories lead to less consumption of news? Could less consumption of news mean less engagement, and less voting? I tend to believe the answer to these questions is yes, and that headwinds in media could carry over to the PR industry. A colleague remarked to me that for the first time in a very long time, she had to scroll on most sites to find Trump. She was not being wistful. Still, I hope that as rage-reading (and viewing) wanes, theres a thoughtful plan in place for the Fourth Estate to continue to prosper and draw subscriptions after the collective Trump caffeine high wears off. Thankfully, given all the talent that entered top news organizations in recent years, I do think the media is well-positionedespecially relative to its position in 2015to fortify the foundation of progress now that Trump has lost the ability to drive the entire country to the TV with a single tweet. But the model might again have to evolve significantly, and no matter how things play out, it seems like a safe bet that 2021 will bring a new kind of post-Trump reckoning to the media landscape. *** Roger Sauerhaft is a senior vice president at Sloane & Company, focusing on corporate communications and issues management. A mother is so obsessed with the Mr Men franchise she has a memorabilia collection insured for 35,000 and drags her groaning children along to fan events. Michelle Martinez, 48, was hooked on the books from a young age and has tried forcing her own passion for them on to daughter Sophie, 19, and son Jake, 14. Her love of Mr Men has infiltrated every part of their lives and their semi-detached home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, contains toys, books and collectibles. They even went on a family holiday to Butlins especially so Ms Martinez could have her photo taken with Mr Bump. Michelle Martinez, 48, was hooked on the books from a young age, and continues to go to fan events Her semi-detached home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, is crammed with toys, books and collectibles A friend of Michelle poses in a Mr Men costume at her 40th birthday party with unimpressed son Jake and partner Stephen She has tried forcing her own passion for the books on to daughter Sophie, 19, son Jake, 14, and partner Stephen Jake describes his mother's fixation with the franchise as 'childish' - but the children's reluctance to embrace Mr Men has not dampened Ms Martinez' enthusiasm. She said: 'I have dragged them up to shopping centres for book signings. When the Mr Men magazine was relaunched, I took them to London to meet Adam Hargreaves [son of creator Roger] at a book signing. 'I think he was horrified that this 40-year-old woman or something was so excited to see him. The mother often has to recruit her children to accompany her so she has the guise of going as a parent - rather than a fan in herself. She once heard that Little Miss Sunshine was appearing in Asda and took Jake along under the ruse it was a routine shopping trip. 'It was only because I wanted a photograph of Little Miss Sunshine,' she said. 'I even dragged them to Butlins as well for a holiday as Mr Men were there and I had my photo taken with Mr Bump.' Ms Martinez, who is a carer and lives at her home with adults with learning difficulties, owns a collection of Mr Men memorabilia she has had insured for 35,000. It includes a rare china tea set, two coin-operated fairground rides she bought for 500 each, a Links of London bracelet with a Mr Men charm, light switches, nightdress cases, cuddly toys and the original books. Jake said: 'I think mum collecting the Mr Men Little Miss memorabilia can be a bit childish, but it's cool to have collected so much.' She once heard that Little Miss Sunshine was appearing in Asda and took Jake along under the ruse it was a routine shopping trip Jake has his photograph taken with Little Miss Sunshine. He described his mother's obsession as 'childish' His mother said: 'The kids don't think I'm cool. They've never liked it. They have loved every other thing, growing up, apart from Mr Men. 'They knew I had it all and they weren't allowed to touch stuff, because they knew if they broke it, I'd be very unhappy. 'My poor children have endured it. They have been forced to wear Mr Men clothes as children. 'If I bought a T-shirt for my collection but it was for a child, they would have had to wear it. They have had to wear these clothes even on holiday. I remember my son in a Mr Bump T-shirt for instance. 'They've been taken everywhere. They've been taken to Mr Men stage shows in theatres.' The mum has collected items all her life after becoming fixated with the book series as a child. Her own mother bought the Mr Tickle book in 1971 - the year of its release - when she was pregnant with Ms Martinez as a gift her daughter could keep forever. 'Once I could understand what my parents were reading to me, I became fixated with them as a child,' she said. 'Both my parents worked so I liked the moments when we could be together and they'd read to me. 'The obsession grew. Children today are obsessed with Paw Patrol and things like that, but mine was Mr Men. 'For every birthday and every Christmas since, there has been something Mr Men related. Ms Martinez with Adam Hargreaves, son of Mr Men creator Roger Hargreaves, at a book signing Ms Martinez's collection amassed and continued in her childhood. She's taken the 2,000 items with her to the three houses she's lived in since moving out her childhood home 'My favourite treat was going to Woolworths on Saturday mornings with my pocket money and picking up a Mr Men book. 'I had Mr Men wallpaper when I was 12. I still have a roll of that now, which on eBay would cost something like 40 per roll nowadays. 'I have had Mr Men birthday cakes made and all sorts of things.' Ms Martinez's collection amassed and continued in her childhood. She's taken the 2,000 items with her to the three houses she's lived in since moving out her childhood home. She celebrated her 40th birthday in 2012 with a Mr Men-themed party to which all her family and friends - her kids included - dressed as characters. 'When I counted my items recently, I lost the will to live. I hit 2,000 but just couldn't carry on. There were lots more, some even in storage,' the carer continued. 'So I think I have got a problem. I should have collected stamps instead.' The three wise Mr Men: The family had a franchise-themed Christmas The mother's cake on her 40th birthday. She said: 'The kids don't think I'm cool. They've never liked it. They have loved every other thing, growing up, apart from Mr Men' Mr Men is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. So, for the first time ever, the brand is inviting fans to choose two new characters to join the iconic family. Fans can go online and choose from; Mr Calm, Little Miss Brave, Mr Brilliant, Little Miss Energy and Little Miss Kind. Ms Martinez is keen on Mr Calm and Little Miss Kind - even though she's not a huge fan of the Little Misses, which were an addition in 1981. 'Mr Strong is my favourite character. He is quite a popular character and the first Mr Men cuddly toy my mum got for me was a Mr Strong cuddly toy. 'I have never really hooked onto the Little Miss ones. They came quite sometime later and I have got memorabilia of Little Miss but, generally, I would choose the Mr Men stuff. I just had a thing for them and never really became interested in the Little Miss ones. 'Both Mr Calm and Little Miss Kind are great. I'd choose either of those and that decision has largely been influenced by the pandemic. Everyone needs to be like Mr Calm right now and remain calm, and don't stress. 'We should also think of others and not just yourself and be like how Little Miss Kind might be. Her background is she doesn't just think of herself, she thinks of other people. 'She believes what is right and is just very, very kind to others. Everyone should be doing that. I can't choose between her and Mr Calm.' Roger Hargreaves, the original creator, died after a stroke aged 53 in 1988, by which time his series had sold millions of copies around the world. Mr Tickle was the first character, a round orange figure with long, bendy arms and who was inspired by Roger's son Adam. Adam, who began writing the books after his dad died, said today: 'It's amazing to see people are still connecting to the books after 50 years, they have always been about getting people to relate with the unique characters and identify the different traits of their own personalities, so it's great to involve the fans and let them help shape the next 50 years of Mr Men. The shortlist for this year's RTE Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the Year 2020, in association with IMRO & IRMA, was announced today on RTE 2FMs Tracy Clifford Show and Limerick's Denise Chaila has been nominated for her track 'Chaila' The rising star is joined on the list by some of the World's top names such as Dermot Kennedy, Gavin James and Niall Horan. To vote for the RTE Choice Music Prize, Irish Song of the Year 2020, click here Votes are limited to one per person per day. Only votes cast in the Republic of Ireland will be counted. Voting closes at midnight on Sunday 28th February. The shortlist is as follows: Denise Chaila Chaila (Narolane) Gemma Dunleavy Up De Flats (Up De Flats) Fontaines D.C. Televised Mind (Rough Trade) Niall Horan No Judgement (Capitol Records) Jafaris Haunted (Jafaris) Gavin James Boxes (GS Believe) Dermot Kennedy Giants (Island Records) Picture This Winona Ryder (Universal Music) Pillow Queens Holy Show (Pillow Queens Records) True Tides Survive (Temple Records) The Irish Album and Song of the Year 2020 will be announced live on RTE 2FM in a special Tracy Clifford Show from 12-3pm on Thursday 4th March and broadcast live on RTE Player. The show will feature live performances from some of the shortlisted acts and further details on the line-up will be announced soon. A special RTE Choice Music Prize highlights programme will be broadcast on RTE2 television the following week. The 16th annual RTE Choice Music Prize will once again celebrate the best in Irish recorded music. The Prize has become one of the music-industry highlights of the year since its inception in 2005. The Irish Album of the Year award is chosen from a shortlist of ten albums by a panel of eleven Irish music media professionals and industry experts. The full shortlist, as well as the list of judges, are available on http://www.choicemusicprize.ie The winning act of the album of the year will receive 10,000, a prize fund which has been provided by The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). All shortlisted acts will receive a specially commissioned award. RAAP and Minding Creative Minds are also official project partners of the RTE Choice Music Prize as are Culture Ireland and First Music Contact (FMC). Through its funding of FMCs Music From Ireland programme, Culture Ireland support of the RTE Choice Music Prize will be directed towards participant artists, as well as assisting the online RTE Choice Music Prize Conversations. #rtechoiceprize The Roberta Place Long Term Care and Retirement home is shown in Barrie, Ont. on Monday, January 18, 2021. A group of over 200 doctors, researchers, and advocates say Ontario must take urgent action to address the rising number of deaths due to COVID-19 in long-term care. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. said he filed a diplomatic protest with China over its new law authorizing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels. "After reflection I fired a diplomatic protest," Locsin announced on his official Twitter page on Wednesday, an apparent change of mind from what he posted early this week. Locsin on Monday said, "It's none of our business; it is China's business what laws it passes; so please a little self-restraint." WATCH: PH Senators alarmed, DFA Chief unfazed by new Chinese law In his latest tweet, Locsin explained, "While enacting law is a sovereign prerogative, this onegiven the area involved or for that matter the open South China Seais a verbal threat of war to any country that defies the law; which, if unchallenged, is submission to it." According to the Chinese military's news website, the legislation passed last week "empowers the Chinese Coast Guard to take action, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon or threatened by foreign organizations or individuals at sea." The measure also states that the Chinese Coast Guard has the power to order foreign organizations and individuals to stop the construction of buildings, structures, and deployment of floating devices in the waters and islands of China. "For those who do not stop the illegal activities or refuse to make rectifications within a time limit, the coast guard may forcibly dismantle [buildings and structures] in accordance with law," the law states, according to state-run China Global Television Network. Both websites quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying as citing China's dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. While they made no mention of the South China Sea, the law was seen as a source of confrontation among parties claiming parts of the global waterway, including the Philippines. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting an arbitral ruling that recognized Manila's sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone that Beijing contests. President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to set aside the landmark decision to make way for areas of cooperation, including the joint oil and gas exploration in disputed areas. In a press briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque reminded China to refrain from any use of force that could spark tension, and instead adhere to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. While China is a signatory to this international treaty, it refuses to recognize the decision of the tribunal constituted under UNCLOS and backed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China are negotiating for a Code of Conduct that will determine the only allowable actions parties can take in the South China Sea. The Philippines is country coordinator for the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations. Even if the unfolding vaccination effort against COVID-19 has the desired effect of suppressing the pandemic, Pennsylvania still faces another public health emergency. The scope of the COVID-19 emergency has worsened the opioid addiction crisis. It persists despite its disappearance from the headlines once the coronavirus seemed to take over last March. Pennsylvania is one of the states most heavily affected by the addiction crisis. To the state governments credit, it had reacted aggressively to the challenge. The Wolf administration enacted a series of emergency measures to expand access to the lifesaving antidote nalaxone. That measure, the Legislature and the medical community worked together to quickly reform prescribing standards for opioids and establish a statewide tracking system to prevent doctor-shopping and excess prescriptions. It is likely, however, that much of the progress that had been made has been lost because of COVID-19. Its clear that the state government must reinvigorate its efforts on opioids as COVID-19 recedes. That should begin with one important business to which the government did not attend before COVID-19 arrived. Drug treatment operations are regulated heavily by the state, but recovery homes, where many people suffering from addiction seek aid before or after treatment, are not regulated. Due to the lack of regulation, some recovery homes serve as advertised, keeping people off the street and helping them prepare for formal treatment or helping them to continue their progress after receiving treatment. Others simply have taken advantage of residents for their own profit. A 2019 statewide grand jury report, for example, revealed a scheme by a now-defunct recovery home company that repeatedly cycled clients through the treatment process to maximize billing. Due to multiple problems with unregulated recovery homes around the state, the Legislature passed a law in 2017 requiring the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to develop regulations and a licensing and certification program by June 2020. But the administration missed the deadline. To be sure, the COVID-19 emergency took precedence over other state programs. Now that there at least is a game plan in place to finally get the upper hand on COVID-19, however, the administration should expedite the care home issue and prepare to again accelerate the fight against opioid addiction. (This article is part of the California Today newsletter. Sign up to get it delivered to your inbox.) Good morning. As if we didnt have enough to worry about, the coronavirus is mutating. While scientists say that its not surprising that the pathogen is evolving, theyve said its doing so more quickly than previously thought. And some of the variants that have been found around the world, like the one first identified in Britain, could fuel major increases in cases, because theyre more contagious, federal health officials have warned. One of the new variants was found in California, by researchers in both Los Angeles and in the Bay Area, where it was linked to several large outbreaks in Santa Clara County. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. Mr. Davidson, too, had ties to the Trump administration: His longtime lawyer was part of a team that represented Donald Trump Jr. in recent years. But of the 143 people granted clemency by the president last week, he was one of few who had been convicted in a violent crime case and the only one who had been connected with a murder. The White Houses announcement noted that while in prison, Mr. Davidson mentored and tutored over 1,000 prisoners to help them achieve their GED certificates and earned praise from prison officials for his dedication to helping others. It is unclear exactly what ultimately swayed Mr. Trump to grant clemency in a case that starkly differs both from most others he took on and his own tough-on-crime persona. But the unexpected decision was likely the product of several forces, including the influential advocacy of a former pardon recipient who retained close ties to Mr. Trump. Image Wallie Howard Jr., a Syracuse Police investigator, was shot to death in October 1990. Credit... United States Department of Justice Thirty-one years ago, Mr. Howard was working undercover when he was fatally shot during an attempted robbery. The gunman and another suspect were quickly arrested, but Mr. Davidson was separately charged and later convicted in federal court after prosecutors argued that he led a cocaine ring in Syracuse and had concocted plans for the robbery. Because Mr. Howard was killed during the commission of the robbery and in service of the drug ring, Mr. Davidson was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Davidson, who was not accused of being present at the scene of the shooting, has maintained his innocence. Mr. Howards family could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. But in 2014, when a judge reduced the sentence of Robert Lawrence, the man who shot Mr. Howard, the officers mother and sister pleaded in court that it be reconsidered. This acquisition is another strategic step toward expanding our services and offerings to provide top-level capabilities for our clients, said Eric J. Bertrand, CEO, Mod Op. Mod Op, a marketing communications agency with offices across the U.S. and an office in Latin America, has acquired Minneapolis-based studio, Microgigantic. This acquisition is the third in two years for the agency and expands Mod Ops presence in the upper Midwest. This acquisition is another strategic step toward expanding our services and offerings to provide top-level capabilities for our clients, said Eric J. Bertrand, CEO, Mod Op. With the acquisition of MCC and Sage, and now Microgigantic, we hope to keep this momentum going as we continue to grow our agency and expertise. With more than nine years of experience working with clients on branded experiences, digital signage, environmental video installations and corporate video, Microgigantics capabilities provide Mod Op with the opportunity to expand the agencys offerings to current and future clients. Fifteen years ago, when I partnered with Mod Op CCO Limore Shur on some amazing Target Art for All projects, I knew one day wed find a way to work together again, said Mark Bennett, former CEO and founder, Microgigantic. What the Mod Op team has built is incredible, and Im very excited to become part of this talented group and to be able to offer a full suite of services to our new and existing clients. Microgigantic will become Mod Ops new Minneapolis presence. As part of the transition, former Microgigantic CEO and founder, Mark Bennett, will join the Mod Op Client Services department as an executive vice president. Based in Miami, and with offices in Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Portland, New York and Panama City, Panama, Mod Op delivers creative and strategic solutions for well-known brands like Texas Instruments, John Deere, Microsoft, Marriott, ExxonMobil, Hudson Pacific Properties, Visit Florida, Baha Mar, LVMH, Warner Brothers, ViacomCBS, NBC Universal, Nike and many others. For more information about Mod Op, visit: http://www.modop.com. ### About Mod Op Mod Op is a full-service marketing communications agency focused on using the right methods to help our clients capitalize on their opportunities. Mod Op services for both B2C and B2B markets include brand strategy, advertising, digital marketing and public relations. In addition, through the agencys technology group, Mod Op offers web and app UX/UI, development and maintenance. With offices in New York, Dallas, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Portland, Minneapolis and Panama City, Panama, Mod Op pairs data and innovation with expertise to best serve clients across the U.S. and Latin America. For additional information, please visit Mod Ops website. Media Contact: Elizabeth Byrd PR & Social Media Manager Elizabeth.byrd@modop.com Four Syrian journalists professional groups, including IFJ affiliate, the Syrian Journalists Association (SJA) launched a campaign on January 25 to protest against security chaos in northern Syria, where crimes against journalists are on the rise. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) stands in solidarity with Syrian media workers and supports the association's call on the authorities to tackle journalists' insecurity. The Who is to blame? campaign was launched as a response to increasing insecurity facing journalists' in regions in the north of the country under the control of Syrian armed groups backed by the Turkish army, where the authorities have failed to establish security and where bombings, explosions, and arbitrary arrests are reported daily. Journalists were targeted when the regime was in control, and then when the Islamic State (IS) took over the region. Today, journalists face many risks, the least of which is detention by the factions, if the journalist speaks out against them", a media worker told local media. The campaign, which has a strong presence on Facebook, has seen several activists edit their profile picture by adding Who is to blame? with an image of broken glass pierced by a bullet. The move was agreed at a meeting of the newly-established Syrian Media Council. Alongside SJA, the Syrian Media Council was founded on 29 November by the Journalists Association of Eastern Ghouta, the Aleppo and Countryside Media Union, and the Syrian Journalists Club. The launch was announced on SJAs Facebook profile. In a statement, the organizations said that following the challenges and changes facing the Syrian media sector, there is a necessity to organize this sector, to protect journalists, defend their rights and freedoms, provide support and care for them, and empower them to help improve their professional level. The campaign was triggered by the murder attempt of Syria TV journalist Bahaa Al-Halabi, who was shot by two unidentified men wielding machine guns on 8 January in the city of Al-Bab, located in Aleppo, while he was leaving home. Despite bullet wounds in his hands, shoulders and legs, Al-Halabi survived the attack. After leaving hospital a few days later, he told the media that the regions security is very bad and that there is no real intention to control it. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: We congratulate our affiliate, the SJA. This campaign is necessary to help stop the violence against our colleagues. Right now, Syria is the worlds fourth most deadly country for journalists in the world. We call for the protection of journalists. At the end of 2020, Syria ranked fourth for the most killed journalists in the world. Tanzania's President John Magufuli has warned health officials against acquiring Covid-19 vaccines saying - without giving evidence - that they could harm the population. "The ministry of health should be careful, they should not hurry to try these vaccines without doing research, not every vaccine is important to us, we should be careful. We should not be used as guinea pigs'," Mr Magufuli said. Vaccinations are dangerous. If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, he should have found a vaccination for Aids, cancer and TB by now. BBC health reporter Philippa Roxby says vaccines are rigorously tested in trials involving thousands of people before being assessed by regulators, who look at all the data on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines before approving them for use on a wider population. The aim of vaccines is to save lives by protecting people from deadly diseases, she says. President Magufuli urged Tanzanians to continue taking precautions, saying prayers and traditional medicine, including steam inhalation, were the way to deal with coronavirus. Many countries have lockdown, but in Tanzania there are no plan of lockdown and well never introduce lockdown because our God is alive and he will continue to protects us. The president, a devout Catholic who last year declared the country free of Covid-19, did not comment on the Catholic Church's concern about the recent spike in deaths in its urban parishes. After successfully containing the spread of the virus last year, Tanzania was now facing a new wave of the virus spread, the church said in a statement on Tuesday. Our country is not an island. We have every reason to take precautions and pray to God so that we can be saved from this pandemic. Over the weekend, Bishop Yuda Thadei Ruwaichi of Dar es Salaam said: "Covid is not finished, Covid is still here. Let's not be reckless, we need to protect ourselves, wash your hands with soap and water. We also have to go back to wearing masks. The president also failed to address reports from Denmark that two of its citizens - who had visited Tanzania - had tested positive for the new Covid-19 strain from South Africa. He instead blamed citizens who travel out of the country for "importing a new weird corona". Tanzania stopped publishing official data about coronavirus in June last year. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, the US Senates senior-most member and president pro tempore, was taken to a hospital out of an abundance of caution after he began feeling ill on Tuesday. The 80-year-old senator from Vermont, set to preside over the second impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump, was not feeling well at his office at the US Capitol on Tuesday, according to a statement. Out of an abundance of caution, the Attending Physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where is now, and where he is being evaluated, the statement said. Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden administration The senator is third in the presidential line of succession behind Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On Tuesday, Senator Leahy swore in all members of the Senate to act as jurors in the upcoming trial following Mr Trumps impeachment for his role in inciting the riot at the Capitol on 6 January. Senator Rand Paul failed to pass a motion to rule the former presidents trial as unconstitutional because he is no longer in office. The vote to table the measure passed by 55-45. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was among those who supported Senator Pauls effort. Just five Republican senators Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Pat Toomey were among the votes to table the measure. US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts presided over Mr Trumps first trial in January 2020, and he was acquitted on 5 February. The Senate president pro tempore has typically presided over impeachment proceedings for non-presidents. Mr Trump is the first president to face an impeachment trial after leaving office. In a statement announcing Senator Leahys role in the trial, he said: When I preside over the impeachment of former president Donald Trump, I will not waiver from my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial with fairness, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. A trial is set to begin on the week of 8 February. The man who police say was pepper-sprayed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler after aggressively confronting him is a partner at a local law firm and an heir to Alpenrose Dairy. Cary Randall Cadonau, 48, is the person authorities believe accosted the mayor with a cell phone camera as he left a Southwest Portland pub Sunday night, according to an updated police report released Tuesday. Cadonau did not did not return a phone call seeking comment. Wheeler told the police that the man who confronted him and former Mayor Sam Adams outside the McMenamins Hillsdale Brewery & Public House on Southwest Sunset Boulevard was not wearing a mask, shouted at him from less than two feet away and refused to back off when asked. That is when Wheeler blasted him in the face with pepper spray, the mayor said. Police said they identified Cadonau after he returned to the pub Monday and asked a manager for security video footage and a copy of Wheelers restaurant tab. The manager declined to provide those but Cadonau gave him his full name and contact information, according to the police report. Cary Cadonau, 48, is a partner at Brownstein Rask, a prominent midsize law firm in downtown Portland. His practice includes real estate law, personal injury and criminal defense, according to the firms website. (Brownstein Rask LLP) A police officer interviewed Cadonau on Monday afternoon. He told the officer he was an attorney and was hesitant to discuss the matter involving the mayor, the report said. Cadonau told the officer he believed Wheeler should be held accountable for the incident, but when the officer asked why, Cadonau declined to say. I asked him multiple times if he wanted to talk about the incident, share his video footage or provide his side of the story, but he respectfully declined to say anymore, wrote Officer Matt Miller in the report. Mara Woloshin, who is representing Cadonau, said she and her client will meet Wednesday to discuss the episode and review the video Cadonau captured on his phone. Theres a lot I dont know at this point, Woloshin told The Oregonian/OregonLive. Both Ted Wheeler and Cary are longtime Southwest Portland residents. Both come from old families. This isnt two boys in a playground. These are grownups, we hope. Wheeler, who worked in finance before entering politics, inherited an Oregon timber fortune. Cadonau is a partner at Brownstein Rask, a prominent midsize law firm in downtown Portland. His practice includes real estate law, personal injury and criminal defense, according to the firms website. Cary enjoys working to achieve creative resolutions to disputes, his company bio reads. Cadonau, a great-great-grandchild of the founder of Alpenrose Dairy in Southwest Portland, was also one of the companys heirs who had been locked in a bitter legal dispute with fellow family members. He and siblings Carl Cadonau III and Tracey Cadonau McKinnon sued their aunts and cousins in 2019 to block the sale of the dairy. A judge, however, declined to block the sale with an injunction, saying the three werent likely to win their case at trial. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. The U.S. Capitol Police knew before the Jan. 6 rally by supporters of former President Donald Trump that the event could turn violent, but the department didnt sufficiently prepare, the acting police chief said Tuesday. In a closed-door Congressional hearing, acting Police Chief Yogananda D. Pittman said that by Jan. 4 the Capitol Police saw that the rally carried strong potential for violence," with extremists likely to attend. We knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would be attending," Ms. Pittman told the House Committee on Appropriations, according to a copy of her testimony. We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target." Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic Ms. Pittman said on Jan. 4 her predecessor, Steven Sund, requested the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the department, declare a state of emergency and authorize a request for the National Guard to support the departments officers. The board denied the request, she said, and instead told Mr. Sund to contact the D.C. National Guard, which she said he did. Mr. Sund also coordinated with acting Police Chief Robert Contee at the Metropolitan Police Department, she said. Mr. Sund resigned in the aftermath of the deadly riot as did two other members of the boardthe sergeants-at-arms of the House and Senate. Mr. Sund couldnt immediately be reached for comment on Ms. Pittmans testimony. The departments representative didnt immediately respond to a request for comment on behalf of the board. J. Brett Blanton, the architect of the Capitol and a board member, disputed some of Ms. Pittmanns testimony, saying in a statement that his office was not aware of any Capitol Police requests (verbal or written) being submitted to the board requesting additional support prior to January 6, 2021." Ms. Pittmans testimony sheds additional light on why the Capitol Police seemed ill-prepared when the thousands of Trump supporters left the Jan. 6 rally and descended on the Capitol. Following the hearing, the House committee chairwoman, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D., Conn.), chided law-enforcement agencies for failing to act on intelligence ahead of the Jan. 6 riot and for troubling lapses in coordination," slowing their response. It is now obvious that intelligence agencies had ample evidence an angry mob would descend on Washington, with Congress meeting to certify the presidential election as the intended target," Ms. DeLauro said in a statement. The law-enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the Capitol did not act on this intelligence or adequately prepare for the looming threat." Ms. Pittman offered the House committee her sincerest apologies" on the security failures. Capitol Police are responsible for the security of the Capitol, members of Congress and related facilities and grounds. The department had more than 1,200 officers on site during the attack, no match for the tens of thousands of insurrectionists (many armed)," Ms. Pittman said. The officers were equipped with pepper spray and batons and were backed up by platoons deploying pepper balls and other chemical munitions," she said. More chemical munitions should have been staged ahead of time for easy access, she said. Instead, additional personnel had to bring officers more munitions. The day of the attack, Mr. Sund requested the board allow in National Guard reinforcements, an authorization that took over an hour, she said. Ms. Pittmans account accords with that given by some of the other agencies involved in security that day. The Defense Department, which approves the deployment of the National Guard in the capital, has previously said that it conferred with the Capitol Police on Jan. 3 and 4 about Guard support and was told it wasnt needed. Following the attack, Ms. Pittman said, many of the departments officers are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in part due to the deaths of two officers. One officer died after he was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher during the attack and another died by suicide in the days after. Four protesters died, including one shot by Capitol Police. The Houses acting sergeant at arms, Timothy P. Blodgett, told the committee that the departments communications need improvement. Our current communications structure is too rigid to appropriately adapt to the multiple varying crises that unfolded that daymultiple bombs, a breach of the Capitol and a riot. The different crises strained the ability to communicate fast, accurate and pertinent information," he said. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. A variety of high-resolution images of the show are available at this link. Photo credit: Tennessee State Photography. Nashville, Tenn. January 27, 2021 Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right Vote, the Tennessee State Museums exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, originally scheduled to close this spring, will be extended through September 26, 2021. The extension will allow visitors who have been unable to visit the museum extra time to explore Tennessees historic role in the ratification of the 19th amendment, said Ashley Howell, Tennessee State Museum executive director. Our COVID safety measures remain in place during this time, and well continue to follow CDC and local and state health official guidance as we move into the spring and summer months. I hope is that everyone who has wanted to see the show will have had that opportunity by the fall of 2021. The stories of Tennesseans roles within the womens suffrage movement culminating with Tennessees ratification of the 19th amendment 100 years ago are at the heart of the 8,000 square-foot, two-gallery exhibition, which has received notice in the past year in The New York Times, the Associated Press, USAToday, AAALiving, TN Home and Farm, Tennessee Crossroads, Talk of the Town and more, and was a Writers Poll winner for Best Historical Exhibition in the Nashville Scene. Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote explores the story of womens suffrage throughout the entire state of Tennessee in the decades leading up to the pivotal vote and its impact on the century that followed. The ratification of the 19th Amendment was a major step forward in recognizing women as equal participants in American democracy and public life, said curator Dr. Miranda Fraley-Rhodes at the launch of the exhibition. For Tennessee women, this was especially important. They continued to face discriminatory laws that limited their rights to their children and prohibited them from activities like serving on juries. With the power of the vote, women gained a critical tool to demand change from state and local governments. It was a milestone in American and Tennessean womens ongoing search for equality. Together with the stories of those women who represented the movement on the national stage, like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth and Susan B. Anthony in its earliest days, and Ida B. Wells, Carrie Chapman Catt and Alice Paul later, the exhibition highlights the stories of suffragists throughout Tennessee. Visitors will learn about the activities of the Maryville College Equal Suffrage Club, the Tullahoma Equal Suffrage League, and a suffrage parade in McKenzie that included a column of young boys and girls afoot, waving balloons and banners Across the state in cities, towns, and rural communities, women like Abby Crawford Milton of Chattanooga, Juno Frankie Pierce and Anne Dallas Dudley of Nashville, and Lillian Perrine Davis of Lexington, among many others, worked to further the cause, despite much opposition. The exhibition also highlights women who served in public offices after ratification, including Willa McCord Blake Eslick the first woman from Tennessee to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1932. Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote is told through six major sections that include Womens Search for Political Rights, Why Women Want the Vote, Tennessee Suffragists, Women Gain the Vote, Changing the Political System. A final section provides an opportunity for visitors to watch a film culled from the Nashville Public Television (NPT) documentary, By One Vote: Woman Suffrage in the South, and reflect on the history of the suffrage movement. The exhibition uses artifacts, documents, archival photos, large-scale graphics, and additional videos from the NPT film to share the stories of the Tennesseans who came to have decisive roles in American womens struggle to gain voting rights. Further information about the exhibition and archived videos of virtual events are available at the Museums website at TNMuseum.org. Ratified! Statewide!, a companion online exhibition highlighting the womens suffrage movement in every county in the Tennessee, is available at http://tnmuseum.org/ratified-statewide. Ratified! merchandise, including a variety of T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, tote bags, posters and more, remain on sale at the Museum Store adjacent to the Grand Hall. About Tennessee State Museum The Tennessee State Museum, on the corner of Rosa L Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, is home.to 13,000 years of Tennessee art and history. Through six permanent exhibitions titled Natural History, First Peoples, Forging a Nation, The Civil War and Reconstruction, Change and Challenge and Tennessee Transforms, the Museum takes visitors on a journey through artifacts, films, interactive displays, events and educational and digital programing from the states geological beginnings to the present day. Additional temporary exhibitions, including Ratified! Tennessee Women and the Right to Vote, explore significant periods and individuals in history, along with art and cultural movements. The Museum is free and open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. 5 p.m.. and Sundays from 1 p.m. 5 p.m. For more information on exhibitions and events, please visit tnmuseum.org. # # # A variety of high-resolution images of the show are available at this link. Photo credit: Tennessee State Photography. # # # Advertisement Parts of Britain are braced for a washout this weekend with temperatures dropping as low as -9C (16F) - disappointing those hoping to enjoy some outdoor exercise during the third coronavirus lockdown. The gloomy outlook for 'extensive' downpours across the whole of southern England on Saturday carries through to Sunday, although the rain will then be more confined to the South West. The Met Office said there is also a chance of some snow on the moors of Devon and Somerset and the Brecon Beacons in South Wales. It comes after snow warnings were issued for tomorrow and into Friday morning across parts of Scotland and northern England, with forecasters saying heavy snow could fall over hills in those regions. The Met Office said up to 1ft (30cm) of snow is expected across areas of high ground, while a yellow warning of rain has also been issued for the whole of tomorrow for the North West of England. Forecasters say bands of wet weather between today and Friday could bring up to 2in (50mm) more rain, especially in the West. The Environment Agency has 44 flood alerts and 12 warnings in place for England. In Scotland, bitter winds straight from the Arctic will see Scotland freeze, with temperatures plunging as low as -9C (16F) in Glasgow this weekend. The Met Office say the wide band of snow pushing north-east across the country will become 'slow-moving', allowing accumulations up to 1ft (30cm) in depth over higher ground. The A1101 remains flooded through the Welney Causeway in Norfolk today amid high levels of the River Ouse Artist Ed Elliott who is known for his 'Guardian Angel' sculptures has moulded a masterpiece out of snow on the Malvern Hills A 4x4 attempts to cross the A1101 in Welney in Norfolk this afternoon, with more rain on the way over the next few days Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge told MailOnline there would be 'quite extensive rain across southern England' from Saturday morning. He added - still speaking of Saturday: 'We believe there is a fairly low probability - 20 per cent or less - of snow reaching the Midlands. Snow on the moors of Devon and Somerset and the Brecon Beacons is more likely.' Looking at snowfall over the next few days, forecaster Nicola Maxey said: 'Some of those snowfall amounts can build up, so we could see a significant, prolonged snowfall throughout Thursday, with the potential of 15 to 30cm accumulating over some of the highest areas.' The Met Office weather warnings in place for tomorrow This could cause travel disruption to trains on high routes, while motorists may also be faced with delays. It comes after the Met Office said the UK had experienced its snowiest spell over the weekend since late January 2019, when 20 weather stations in England recorded accumulations of 5cm or more for three days consecutively. 'We're looking at 20 to 30 centimetres of rain quite widely in that warning area, and 50 to 60 centimetres over the hills,' Ms Maxey added. 'Although over that time it's perhaps not impactful rain, but because it's falling on already wet ground, there is a potential it could have some impacts.' Ms Maxey added: 'What we are seeing on Wednesday into Thursday with this weather front is it's rain as it comes into the UK, and as it pushes north-east it bumps up against the cold air, and that's when the rain turns to snow.' Temperatures are set to plummet going into the weekend, she added, which will be more settled with drier, sunnier weather for much of the UK. Oli Claydon, a Met Office spokesman, added: 'The theme is for the weather to get more unsettled due to Atlantic air arriving. Most places will see a noticeable change.' Mr Claydon said bands of wet weather between today and Friday could bring as much as 2in (50mm) more rain, especially in the west. Rain is affecting the South West of England and Wales today although temperatures are reaching double digits in some areas Heavy rain will sweep over much of Britain tomorrow with snow also on the way (left) before more downpours on Friday (right) Heavy downpours are expected for much of southern England and South Wales both on Saturday (left) and Sunday (right) Dog walkers braving the chilly weather for a stroll in the mist at Clayfield Copse in Berkshire this morning Drivers make their way through mist in Horwich, Greater Manchester, this morning Walkers make their way through mist at Wilderswood in Rivington, Greater Manchester, this morning A man walks his dog along Fleetwood Beach as the fog rolls in across the Irish Sea today 'There is no indication there will be any more significant totals but with lots of saturated ground and snow melt, more rain is not welcome,' Mr Claydon said. The rain is due to be accompanied by strong winds, especially in South West England and Wales. Mr Claydon said that colder air may return for the weekend, bringing the chance of overnight frosts. But there is unlikely to be at lengthy respite from the wind - expected to reach speeds of about 50mph - and rain. Into the beginning of February, the Met Office said: 'Unsettled conditions look likely to dominate for this period, with low pressure across the UK. Therefore, this should bring changeable weather to most of the country, with periods of rain, showers, and strong winds at times.' In Scotland, winds will turn rain coming up from England into snow, leading to what forecasters predict will be 'significant' travel disruption tomorrow. The Met Office say the wide band of snow pushing North-east across the country will become 'slow-moving' during the day, allowing accumulations up to a foot (30cm) in depth over higher ground. As a result, the yellow 'be aware' warning lasts fully 30 hours, from midnight tonight until at least 6am on Friday. Warning areas include Central, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, Highlands and Islands, south-west Scotland, Lothian and Borders and parts of Strathclyde. Included in the warning zone are the two major routes to the Highlands, the A82 and the A9 as well as the motorway link to the South, the M74. Officials at Transport Scotland hope the Queensferry Crossing over the Forth will not be hit by ice 'accretion', which forced its closure earlier this month. For a long time, many actors and actresses indulged in promoting skin lightening products and earned a huge chunk of moolah for the same. Priyanka Chopra is no different. When Priyanka became a household name in India, the actress endorsed fairness creams. However, when she moved to Hollywood, she realised how wrong she was to do that. In her recent tete-a-tete with Marie Claire magazine, Priyanka confessed that she still regrets endorsing fairness creams and revealed that how it is still a normal practice in South Asia. The Bajirao Mastani actress said, "[Skin lightening] was so normalized in South Asia; it's such a large industry that everyone was doing it. In fact, doing it is still a check [mark] when you are a female actor, but it's awful. And it was awful for me, for a little girl who used to put talcum-powder cream on my face because I believed that dark skin was not pretty." In 2015 also, while speaking to journalist Barkha Dutt, Priyanka Chopra had admitted to feeling bad about endorsing fairness creams and said, "I felt really bad about it, that's why I stopped doing it. All my cousins are gora-chitta (fair) I was the one who turned out dusky because my dad is dusky. Just for fun, my Punjabi family would call me 'kaali, kaali, kaali'. At 13, I wanted to put fairness creams and wanted my complexion changed." ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra Recalls Facing Racist Bullying In High School; Says 'My Confidence Was Stripped' Meanwhile, Priyanka is gung-ho about her book Unfinished, which chronicles her journey from facing racism during her teenage years in the US to expanding her horizon in Hollywood. "Bullying happens to kids and adults. It happens with positions of power, and we've all seen that abused in multiple ways," asserted Priyanka, while speaking to Marie Claire. For the unversed, Unfinished will be out on February 9, 2021. ALSO READ: Priyanka Chopra Appears On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Says Nick Jonas Is Super Fancy And A Lot Neater Than Her [January 27, 2021] SyncFab Partners with Swissmem to Streamline Swiss Trans-Atlantic and Pan-European Industrial Supply Chains with Blockchain SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SyncFab, the first Manufacturing Blockchain solution for parts suppliers and buyers, has announced a strategic partnership with Swissmem. The new relationship will grant access to SyncFab's advanced manufacturing blockchain platform to over 1,200 of its members across Switzerland. Swissmem has been the national representative of the mechanical and electrical engineering industries in Switzerland for over 130 years. Its members combine traditional manufacturing expertise with innovative, future-oriented technologies. Their companies operate in the traditional areas of mechanical engineering and metalworking, electrical engineering and electronics, as well as the precision instruments sector. In addition, they develop new solutions in dynamic technology fields such as sensor technology, photonics, robotics, additive manufacturing or industrial IT. As new SyncFab users, they will be able to build from an extensive parts library where all previously ordered parts are available for fast and easy re-ordering. SyncFabs unique solution utilizes blockchain smart contracts and data-driven smart manufacturing to optimize the external supply chain available to OEM Buyers in the European Union and the United States. The platform can work as a matchmaker between OEMs and SMEs where both benefit from secure, low-cost bids. At the same time, it gives SMEs the opportunity to compete as long-term suppliers to international companies. This solution has already helped mechanical engineering and electronics firms in the United States supply for large OEMs in electronics, aerospace, automobile, medical technology, and renewable energy. Initially, the SyncFab-Swissmem partnership will aid Swiss SMEs in supplying for the offset transaction requiements of the Swiss Armed Forces and air defence system. These offsets represent 60 and 100 percent of the respective investments for their upcoming Project Air2030. SyncFabs solution will then be open to the entire Swiss MEM industry after this initial testbed phase. "SyncFab is honored to have Swissmem as a new partner. Our strategic partnership expands our global manufacturing supply chain blockchain application to include the European Market at the same time allowing Swissmem and EU OEM primes to benefit from our experience working with large US Space, Aerospace and Defense primes, said SyncFab founder and CEO Jeremy Goodwin. The goals of the partnership include integrating the surplus capacity and capabilities of Swissmem suppliers with our manufacturing blockchain solution for MFG incentivized RFQs, part traceability, compliance and data security offering a uniquely agile supply chain solution for international OEM program management with dynamic supply chain planning requirements following recent COVID19 challenges. These goals are achievable thanks to SyncFabs blockchain-secured distributed manufacturing platform [that] streamlines SME supplier access to larger OEM programs in compliance with their manufacturing and data security requirements. Adding that working together, Swissmem and SyncFab will digitally transform the Swiss ASD, Auto and Medical Manufacturing Supply Chain with improved trans-atlantic and pan-european OEM program accessibility and sustainability." Dr. Stefan Brupbachder, CEO of Swissmem, corroborated Goodwins explanation. "We are really excited about our new partnership with SyncFab. Having access to SyncFab's advanced blockchain platform for manufacturing is a great benefit for our members and subsequently for the entire MEM industry in Switzerland. SyncFab provides SMEs in particular with a simple, efficient and more secure way to qualify as a supplier to large, internationally active OEMs." About SyncFab SyncFab is a distributed manufacturing platform founded and headquartered near Silicon Valley that streamlines the way OEM hardware supply chain buyers procure, manage, and track precision parts production securely using blockchain technology. Learn more about how SyncFab benefits manufacturers. About Swissmem Swissmem is the leading association for SMEs and large companies in Switzerland's mechanical and electrical engineering industries (MEM industries) and related technology-oriented sectors. Swissmem enhances the competitiveness of its 1,200 or so member companies both at home and abroad by effectively representing their interests and providing needs-based services, targeted networking and market-oriented basic and advanced training for MEM industry employees. Media contact: Robert Penington Robert@thronepr.com This news has been published for the above source. SyncFab [ID=16666] Disclaimer: The information does not constitute advice or an offer to buy. Any purchase made from this story is made at your own risk. Consult an expert advisor/health professional before any such purchase. Any purchase made from this link is subject to the final terms and conditions of the website's selling. The content publisher and its distribution partners do not take any responsibility directly or indirectly. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the company this news is about. Attachment SyncFab Partners with Swissmem [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] HANOI (Reuters) - Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's ruling Communist Party chief, has been nominated for a rare third term, a Party official said, according to several state media articles that were published on Wednesday then subsequently amended, removing the comments. On Monday, more than 1,600 delegates began nine days of mostly closed-doors meetings at the Party's five-yearly Congress, during which a new leadership team will be picked to bolster Vietnam's ongoing economic success - and the legitimacy of the Party's rule. Trong, 76, who is also Vietnam's president and architect of its anti-corruption campaign, had been widely tipped to continue as party chief despite health issues and old age - which should technically disqualify him for the position, although "special case" exceptions are granted. The articles all quoted delegate Hau A Lenh, a member of the party's Central Committee, and were published and later amended to remove references to Trong's nomination. The Communist Party retains tight control over media in Vietnam and candidates for leadership posts were last month officially declared top secret. Lenh was quoted by the state-run Tien Phong newspaper as saying there were age limits of 60 and 65 for re-elected members of the Central Committee and Politburo respectively. "The General Secretary and President is one of the over-age nominees and a special case," Lenh said, in comments later removed by Tien Phong and other state media outlets. It was not immediately clear whether there were other nominations for the General Secretary post and the Party has made no official announcement. Reuters could not immediately reach Lenh. Two party officials declined to comment when asked about Trong's reported nomination. Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by four 'pillars': the chief of its Communist Party, a president, a prime minister and the National Assembly chair. Story continues While ascent to the highest levels of Vietnamese politics is governed by Party regulations, in reality the highly secretive process revolves around building consensus and vying for control of the powerful, decision-making Politburo. That means exceptions can be granted - especially if consensus on the top candidates cannot be reached. Since coming to power in 2011, Trong has become one of Vietnam's most powerful figures after emerging on top in a power struggle against a former prime minister at the last congress in 2016. His crackdown on corruption has seen dozens of high level officials - including one politburo member - sentenced to lengthy jail terms. In his original comments, party delegate Lenh said discussions surrounding top party positions would begin on Thursday and last for three days, with a vote and announcement on the General Secretary on Sunday. The rest of the politburo and other top three leadership posts would be voted on by delegates on Monday, he said in remarks later removed. (Reporting by James Pearson; Editing by Martin Petty and Kenneth Maxwell) Struggling Pennsylvania restaurant owners Wednesday stressed a dire need for relief or thousands of restaurants could be in jeopardy of closing. Representatives of the industry made their concerns clear during a state House Commerce Committee hearing. Amid stories of laid-off employees, financial losses and constant constraints, they asked lawmakers for reforms and financial help. Unless you know what its like to lose everything you built, to lose your livelihood and have to turn your employees away and not provide for your family, I dont think you can really understand, said Chris Sirianni, owner of the Brewerie at Union Station in Erie. The hearing comes at a time when restaurants and bars in the state are operating under restrictions imposed by Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Restaurants are operating at 50% indoor capacity, no bar seating, an 11 p.m. booze sales cutoff and required sale of food with alcoholic beverage purchases. Across the nation, other states such as Ohio and New York are operating under measures including 10 p.m. curfews. Many cities such as Chicago have recently lifted dining bans as the number of COVID cases decreases. READ MORE: John Longstreet, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association, emphasized the industry has been the hardest hit in the nation. He said Pennsylvania restaurants face some of the most draconian mitigation efforts. In a recent survey of Pennsylvanias restaurants, Longstreet noted about 45% of owners indicated it is unlikely they will still be in business in 60 days if there is no relief in sight. Longstreet noted with 26,000 establishments in operation in the state, nearly 12,000 might not come back. We have to do our part, weve got to get involved. Weve got to take ownership and weve got to take responsibility, said Rep. John Galloway, Democratic committee chair from Bucks County. Galloway recognized restaurant owners have been hurt and are facing an extremely difficult time dealing with regulations and changes in order to remain open. Since the start of the pandemic, restaurants have made dozens of pleas for help and hosted rallies. Early on, many restaurants took advantage of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans but that money is no longer available. However, as Sirianni pointed out no state or federal funds have been made available since then. A year and not a dime from the folks in Harrisburg who have kept us shutdown. That is incredibly frustrating, he said. In December, Wolf announced the transfer of $145 million from a Workers Compensation Security Fund at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department to be set aside by the legislature for grants for businesses adversely affected by the pandemic. Earlier this month, Wolf urged lawmakers to use that money and begin distributing it to restaurants. The governor has also taken other actions such as waiving liquor license fees for restaurants. More relief could be on the way. Earlier this week, state Sen. Pat Stefano, a Republican from Fayette County, proposed establishing a $145 million Hospitality Industry Recovery Program to assist restaurants and taverns. In the meantime, a handful of lawmakers have rolled out proposals, ranging from sales tax relief to grants, that would inject a lifeline to restaurants, bars, catering halls and banquet halls crippled by the pandemic. During Wednesdays hearing, restaurant owners touched on a lack of financial assistance and grants, insurance issues, difficulties in hiring and recruiting new employees and dissatisfaction with capacity limits. Jen Fertenbaugh, co-owner of Cafe Fresco Center City and Level 2 in Harrisburg, expressed frustration over last-minute shutdown announcements by Wolf that have cost her restaurant thousands of dollars in food and alcohol losses. In December, Wolf announced on Dec. 10 a temporary indoor dining ban would take effect two days later on Dec. 12. Fertenbaugh said they threw away nearly $12,000 in food ahead of the ban and also could not return more than $30,000 in alcohol purchases to the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board made ahead of the holiday season. She hinted at the idea of reform, saying: If I had been able to sell them at state store liquor prices I could have turned that back into cash I could have used to pay the employees. So much product, Sirianni said, is tied up in food and alcohol and it is devastating. We need notice, we need ample notice, he said. In addition, Sirianni noted that his brewerys proximity to the New York and Ohio state lines, puts him at a disadvantage as residents cross the border to Ohio, where they have similar restrictions minus capacity limits based on fire codes. Fifty percent is an arbitrary number when you have different layouts, different footprints for your restaurants. A fire code doesnt adequately mean safe seating or a lack of safe seating, he said. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Beijing: As part of a massive expansion to become a global naval power, China's Navy on Tuesday launched its biggest new generation destroyer weighing 10,000 tonnes. The Navy's new destroyer, a domestically designed and produced vessel, was launched at the Jiangnan Shipyard (Group), Shanghai. The vessel is the first of China's new generation of destroyers. It is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The vessel marks a milestone in improving the nation's Navy armament system and building a strong and modern Navy. According to the plan, tests will be carried on the vessel, including equipment operation, berthing and sailing. Read more: China justifies construction of road in Sikkim sector The biggest naval destroyer was an addition to two aircraft carriers which China is in the process of deploying to compete with other naval powers liked the US and India, specially in the India Ocean. The Chinese Navy is currently trying to form battle groups that accompany the aircraft carriers when they set out on missions far from shores. The first aircraft carrier Liaoning has left with a flotilla of Chinese naval ships on June 25 on "routine training mission" from Qingdao in east China. The naval formation includes destroyers Jinan and Yinchuan, frigate Yantai and a squadron of J-15 fighter jets and helicopters, a Chinese defence ministry statement said. The training mission, like the previous ones, is expected to strengthen coordination among the vessels and improve the skills of crew and pilots in different marine region. This is the first exercise being carried out by Liaoning, a refurbished aircraft carrier, built from the hull of a Soviet ship bought from Ukraine after China had launched a home-made carrier in April this year. Read more: China accuses India of 'crossing boundary' in Sikkim sector The new aircraft carrier was expected to be operational by 2019. Liaoning has earlier carried out exercises in the disputed South China Sea as well as East China Sea along with its battle formation group. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Oyo State government is set to deploy 200 additional operatives of Amotekun Corps to Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun areas to curb kidnapping and banditry there. Governor Seyi Makinde announced this in Ibadan on Wednesday at the end of a meeting held with representatives of the communities and security stakeholders. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Ngozi Onadeko, was also present at the meeting. The Amotekun operatives will launch missions to rid forests in the areas of criminals. The operatives will be presenting daily reports of their activities to the governor in the short run and periodic reports in the long run. The government will continue to enforce the Oyo State Open Rearing and Grazing Regulation Law, 2019, as the law also regulates the activities of herdsmen in Oyo State. The authorities have directed the Amotekun Corps to continue collaborating with other security operatives and local vigilance groups in enforcing this law. You will recall that in the security meeting of southwest governors and other stakeholders two days ago, it was agreed that open grazing be banned in the entire southwest zone, the governor said. The state governments move came amidst the increased insecurity in the Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa communities in the state. Last week, some of the communities resorted to self-help, with a self-titled Yoruba warrior, Sunday Adeyemo (popularly known as Sunday Igboho), leading the charge to expel herdsmen from their domain. At a meeting between the six south-west governors and Miyetti Allah cattle breeders on Monday, the groups agreed to take measures aimed at tackling the insecurity in the region. On Wednesday, Mr Makinde stated that his administration would adopt continuous dialogue, as one of the measures aimed at ending insecurity in Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun axis. In the next few weeks, the government will hold town hall meetings and community outreaches so as to bring together residents and security agencies to talk about security issues of immediate concerns. The meetings will also examine how those security issues of immediate concerns can be resolved through dialogue and more effective community policing, he stated. The governor added that the state government would ensure the documentation of foreigners resident in the state as one of the strategies to combat crime. He said the documentation would ensure that only foreigners who had legitimate interests in Oyo State remained in the state. Another measure contained in the security strategy was the decision to further collaborate with federal security agencies operating in the state. Gov Makinde stated that his administration was aware of how some farmers had been killed while others lost their means of livelihoods to criminal trespass and damage by pastoralists. ADVERTISEMENT He said the state government was considering the possibility of paying compensation to families of victims or victims of such criminality who could prove their claims. He declared that the state government had started the process of prosecuting all suspects arrested over criminal activities in Ibarapa and the Oke-Ogun, especially in connection with the ongoing tensions in the area. Mr Makinde thanked residents of Oyo State who complied with the directive to remain peaceful and called on them to stay vigilant and always contact security agencies empowered by law to deal with security issues. (NAN) Franklin Templeton Case: SC Says Objection to E-voting Contentious, Will Deal First The Supreme Court on Monday said it will first deal with the 'contentious' issue of the objection to the e-voting process for winding up Franklin Templeton's six mutual fund schemes and of distribution of money to the unitholders. A bench comprising Justices SA Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna orally observed that objections around e-voting is a contentious issue. It scheduled the matter for hearing on 1st February after one of the lawyers cited a media report which claimed a group of investors of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF) have moved the top court with a plea to declare the recent e-voting conducted by fund house as illegal. The bench noted: "We will first examine the question of objection to e-voting and disbursal of funds." It also permitted the counsel in the matter to file an application within three days and the response to it should be filed three days after. The counsel reiterated that it appears that FTMF did not carry out proper voting. After a brief hearing in the matter, the top court adjourned the matter. The top court had earlier asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to appoint an observer to overseeing the e-voting process. This voting took place in the last week of December and it was approved by the majority of unit-holders. The court had also directed that the SEBI should file a copy of the final forensic audit report before it in a sealed cover. The top court, on 18th January, had granted three days for filing objections to the e-voting on winding up of six mutual fund schemes of the fund house. The court had also asked fund house's counsel if an order could be passed to allow distribution of money to the unit-holders. In an earlier order, the top court had said: "SEBI shall appoint an observer regarding the e-voting of unit holders which is scheduled between December 26 to December 29, 2020. The result of the e-voting would not be announced and would be produced before us in a sealed cover along with the report of the observer appointed by the SEBI." FTMF had filed an appeal in the top court challenging the Karnataka High Court order which stopped it from winding up its debt fund schemes without prior consent of the investors. Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article. Hyderabad, Jan 27 : Government employees in Telangana took to streets on Wednesday to lodge their protest against the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) report, which recommended 7.5 per cent salary hike over basic pay. Furious over the meagre hike recommended by the panel, the employees and pensioners made it clear that nothing less than 43 per cent fitment (salary hike) will be acceptable to them. Raising slogans against the government, the employees came out on streets in Hyderabad and other parts of the state and set afire the copies of PRC report. Leaders of the employees' unions termed PRC "Pay Reduction Commission", saying it came as a huge disappointment to them. Expressing their unhappiness over PRC report, a delegation of employees' leaders met the committee headed by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar. They warned that if their demands were not met they will have no option but to go on strike. The leaders said they had huge expectations and were hoping that the first PRC in Telangana state will enhance their self-respect. Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers' Association (TNGO) President M. Rajender said PRC recommendation for 7.5 per cent fitment is unacceptable. "The employees had thought that after formation of Telangana state, they will get reasonable salaries but PRC report has come as a huge disappointment to over nine lakh employees," he said. They said when the state was facing financial problems during Covid, the employees extended all the help and claimed that the state's economy is now doing well. Pointing out that in the past the government had given 43 per cent fitment, they demanded that the same should be provided now Recalling that the employees' unions participated in the movement for Telangana state, Rajender said that the TNGO is ready for another fight for their demands. What further angered the employees was PRC recommendation to cut down HRA. PRC recommended a minimum pay scale of Rs 19,000 while employees' union were demanding Rs 25,000. The only positive recommendation for employees was increasing retirement age from 58 to 60. Leaders of United Teachers' Federation (UTF) staged the protest near state secretariat. They tore the PRC report and raised slogans against the government. Police detained the protestors. Leaders of opposition Congress were also detained by the police as they tried to stage the protest near the Secretariat. Party leader Vamshi Chand Reddy demanded that the government immediately hold talks with the employees and announce revised fitment. Pensioners also slammed the PRC report. Leaders of Pensioners' Association said they waited for the report for 32 months and were expecting 60 per cent fitment. The opposition parties hit out at TRS government for PRC report. BJP state President Bandi Sanjay termed PRC report as a drama, and alleged that the Chief Minister betrayed the farmers. He sought to know if the three-member committee was allowed to function independently. Meanwhile, the government said that on the direction of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the three member committee headed by the Chief Secretary met office bearers of the Telangana Gazetted Officers Association, the Telangana Non-gazetted Officers Association and the Telangana Secretariat Association. "The three member committee heard the views of the three employees associations, one by one regarding their views and representations with regard to PRC recommendations and other issues. Chief Secretary has responded positively on employees issues pertaining to PRC recommendations and other related matters which will be brought to the notice of Hon'ble Chief Minister," said a government statement. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. [January 27, 2021] Universal Technical Institute's Seventh Welding Technology Program to Launch at Bloomfield, New Jersey Campus PHOENIX, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (NYSE: UTI), the nation's leading provider of transportation technician training, announced the expansion of its Welding Technology program to its Bloomfield, New Jersey campus. Students will be able to enroll starting March 1 and classes will start in July. Simultaneously, UTI confirmed that the welding program at its Lisle, Illinois campus will launch on February 22, with strong interest and enrollments from new students. "With each new welding program launch, we see consistent interest from both students and employer partners. Welders are the backbone of our country's economy and will be critical to our economic recovery," said Sherrell Smith, Executive Vice President of Campus Operations. "Even in the midst of record national unemployment, welders are needed across essential industries such as energy, manufacturing and transportation. Our 36-week program trains students on the skills employers require and can be a fast track to a new job and a fulfilling career." $42,490 . By 2028, more than 488,000 welding jobs are projected. The Lisle and Bloomfield campus programs will be the sixth and seventh welding programs offered at UTI campuses across the country. They will build on successful welding programs at UTI campuses in Rancho Cucamonga and Long Beach, Calif., Avondale, Ariz., and Dallas and Houston, Texas. The company plans to expand the program to two additional campuses in fiscal year 2022, with locations and launch timing to be announced at a later date. With the launch of two welding programs in fiscal year 2020, in aggregate the company has started over 200 new welding students in each of the last two quarters. About Universal Technical Institute, Inc. With more than 220,000 graduates in its 55-year history, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. is the nation's leading provider of technical training for automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians, and offers welding technology and computer numerical control (CNC) machining programs. The Company has built partnerships with industry leaders, outfits its state-of-the-industry facilities with current technology, and delivers training that is aligned with employer needs. Through its network of 12 campuses nationwide, UTI offers post-secondary programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). The Company is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit www.uti.edu . Like UTI on www.facebook.com/UTI or follow UTI on Twitter @UTITweet, @MMITweet, and @NASCARTechUTI. Media Contact: Jody Kent VP, Communications and Public Affairs Universal Technical Institute jkent@uti.edu (623) 445-0872 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-technical-institutes-seventh-welding-technology-program-to-launch-at-bloomfield-new-jersey-campus-301216048.html SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tribute after tribute at the State Burial Service of Former President Jerry John Rawlings has invariably recounted how much he touched the lives of many a Ghanaian and his profound contribution to the overall growth of the country. The tributes capture his early life, political career, family life, international relations, philanthropic work, among other spheres of the man largely described as an enigma. I believe that history, on balance, will be kind to him, and will render him a positive verdict on his contribution to the evolution of our nation, and the entrenchment of its democratic institutions and culture, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo, summed it up for the man, who presided for over Ghanas affairs for 19 years. President Akufo-Addo praised his many initiatives and achievements during the different eras he entered the national political arena: 15th May, 1979 Uprising; June 4, 1979 Revolution; 31st December 1982 Revolution and 7th January, 1993 Fourth Republic, saying the latter was the most significant and enduring. Thus, making January 7, a national holiday to celebrate the stability of the Fourth Republic, which has seen eight consecutive successful democratic elections and transfer of power, the President emphasised, was the greatest tribute to him, as the founder of the Fourth Republic. Your kind is rare, and we are proud that we have benefited from your wisdom, said the National Democratic Congress, which he founded in 1992, and signed the Partys first manifesto with his blood. The Party extolled his commitment to the cause of social justice, transparency, probity and accountability in public administration. His four children - Zanetor, Yaa Asantewaa, Amina and Kimathi say of him: You raised us to challenge the ordinary. You were always a man of the people and You will always be our warrior. Jerry, I know that God created us for each other, his childhood sweetheart and beloved widow, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, shared. You made me the eyes and ears of what was going on in the country. You were passionate and open hearted. You took pride in your fatherly duty. For the Ghana Armed Forces, the distinguished Air Force pilot raised the bar of institutional discipline. You will be remembered as the longest serving Head of State you shaped our national destiny and you can now rest in peace. Former President Rawlings, credited with laying the foundation for Ghanas economic growth with far reaching economic recovery programmes in the 1980s and 1990s, rural development infrastructure and participatory democracy, died on Thursday, November 12, 2020, after a short illness. He was 73. He will be interred at the new Military cemetery at Burma Camp, with full military honours, following a funeral cortege through some principal streets in Accra. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Genius dogs learn new words after hearing them just four times, a study has found making them as quick on the uptake as three-year-old children. Dogs that have a talent for remembering verbal cues can rapidly expand their vocabulary simply by playing with their owners, according to the research. Whisky (4), a female border collie from Norway, and Vicky Nina (9), a female Yorkshire terrier from Brazil, were able to fetch the correct toy after being shown the object and told its name four times despite no formal training. Scientists say these intuitive dogs are able to learn new words at the same speed as toddlers aged two and three. Whisky and Vicky Nina were selected for the study as they had previously demonstrated knowledge of the names of many different toys. Whisky, in particular, is known on social media for being able to recognise and fetch dozens of different objects. Dr Claudia Fugazza, from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary, said: We wanted to know under which conditions the gifted dogs may learn novel words. To test this, we exposed Whisky and Vicky Nina to the new words in two different conditions, during an exclusion-based task and in a social playful context with their owners. The exclusion-based task involved the dogs being faced with seven toys that they were familiar with, plus a new toy that they had not encountered before. They were both able to fetch the new toy when their owner used its name, suggesting that they had used a process of elimination to identify the unfamiliar object. The social task involved the owner saying the name of a new toy while using it to play with their dog. Whisky fetched the correct toy in 70pc of cases. Vicky Nina did even better with 75pc, said the study in the journal Scientific Reports. Importantly, in both conditions the dogs heard the name of the new toy only four times, said Dr Fugazza. To test whether most dogs would be as successful as Whisky and Vicky Nina at learning new words, 20 others were tested but none understood the new toy names. This confirms that only very few dogs that are especially gifted are able to learn words quickly in the absence of formal training, the scientists concluded. Pevious research in the US has suggested that women have a special role in building bonds with dogs. Humans were more likely to regard dogs as a type of person if the dogs had a special relationship with women, said Jaime Chambers, from Washington State University. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Boeing test pilot Jim Webb gives a thumbs-up from the cockpit of a 737 MAX 7 at Boeing Field, on March 16, 2018 in Seattle, Washington, after completing the plane's first flight. The aircraft is the shortest variant of fuel efficient MAX family. Stephen Brashear/Getty Images The Boeing 737 Max has flown over 2,700 passenger flights across 5,500 hours since November 2020. Five airlines currently fly passengers on the Max in the US, Canada, Brazil, Panama, and Mexico. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency approved the Max to fly passengers on Wednesday. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Boeing has put a considerable amount of distance between the 20-month grounding of its 737 Max and now to the tune of more than 2,700 flights and around 5,500 flight hours, the manufacturer announced on Wednesday. "We made significant progress on the 737 program this quarter," Dave Calhoun, Boeing's chief executive officer, said. "This is the culmination of a comprehensive effort including roughly 400,000 engineering hours, 1,400 test and check, and over 3,000 flight hours completed on the airplane." The Federal Aviation Administration cleared the Max to fly again on November 18, with regulators in Latin America, Canada, and most recently, the European Union following suit. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency gave Boeing's troubled aircraft the green light on Wednesday, allowing airlines like Ryanair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, and Icelandair, among others, to finally resume Max flights. Middle Eastern, African, and Asian-Pacific countries remain the most notable outliers in resuming Max flights, with China, in particular, continuing to wait on the recertification. Calhoun said that any outstanding approvals from foreign regulators should come in the first half of 2021. And despite the aircraft's infamous reputation, airlines are reporting that flight loads remain in line with other aircraft, indicating that flyers aren't actively avoiding the Max. Anticipated passenger skepticism over flying on the Max prompted airlines to offer flexible change policies that allow flyers to change off the aircraft. Read more: The 16 most outrageous things Boeing employees said about the company, 737 Max program, and each other in released internal emails Story continues The first priority for Boeing is to get the already-delivered Max aircraft flying again. Only five airlines have resumed flying their Max planes again and new regulatory approvals will mean more will be doing so in the upcoming weeks and months. "Every airline has different operational considerations for returning planes to revenue service and timelines for training their pilots," Calhoun said. "We're supporting each of them as they go through their process." Gol Linhas Aereas was the first airline to resume Max flights in early December, soon followed by Aeromexico on December 21 and American Airlines on December 29. American, despite its late start, is proving to be the primary driver of Max flights as it continues to grow its route network with the aircraft. In March, American's 737 Max aircraft will be flying as far west as San Diego, California, as far north as Boston, and as far south as Manaus, Brazil, according to Cirium data. United Airlines will resume Max flights on February 11 from Denver and Houston while Southwest Airlines will launch its first Max flights sometime in March, the latest of any US airline that flew the Max before its March 2019 grounding. Simultaneously, Boeing will continue to deliver new Max aircraft to airlines as new-builds been sitting idle at airports across the country and in Seattle-area parking lots. Deliveries of the 450-aircraft backlog resumed in December and more than 40 aircraft have been delivered since then. "Prior to delivery, teams are performing all the necessary tests and ensuring each airplane receives customized care and rolls into a delivery stall ready for customer acceptance and FAA review," Calhoun said. Alaska Airlines just took delivery of its first Max on January 23, the fourth and final US airline to receive the Max for now, with plans for a March 1 debut. The Seattle-Los Angeles and Seattle-San Diego routes will be the first to see the aircraft on its launch day. Boeing lost hundreds of Max orders due to the aircraft's grounding and the COVID-19 pandemic but new orders continue to come in. Since the ungrounding, Ireland's Ryanair placed a 75-aircraft Max order, Alaska grew its firm Max order to 68 airplanes, and Canada's Flair Airlines just leased 13 Max aircraft. Billions, however, remain to be paid in compensation to customers due to the protracted grounding. "Cumulatively, we've accrued a $9.6 billion liability for the estimated potential concessions and other considerations," Gregory Smith, Boeing's chief financial officer, said on the 737 Max. "To date, we've made $3.7 billion in payments to customers in cash and other forms of compensation, including $600 million we paid this quarter." But the largest hurdle to Boeing's comeback following two fatal crashes with the Max has been overcome as the aircraft is once again back in the skies and as a result, deliveries have resumed and orders are once again coming in. "Following one of the most rigorous certification efforts in aviation history, we're confident in the safety of our airplane," Calhoun said. Read the original article on Business Insider At its business meeting of Jan. 17, the Lehigh Valley Quaker Meeting approved a minute, or resolution, endorsing the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNR) and urging the mayors and councils of the Lehigh Valley to sign on in support of the treaty. The minute reads in part, Since the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago, countries throughout the world have advocated a ban on nuclear weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work convincing 122 nations of the world to sign on to the treaty. With 50 countries now ratifying the treaty, Jan. 22, 2021, is the effective date on which nuclear weapons can be banned. The minute reflects the long Quaker tradition of advocating the nonviolent resolution of human conflict. Ted Morgan Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting Bethlehem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Egypts Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Minister Nabila Makram has called on Egyptians abroad to participate in rehabilitating the poorest villages in Egypt under the presidential Decent Life initiative. The minister praised US-based New Egypt Group, which was established by several Egyptians abroad to contribute to providing technical and financial support for achieving sustainable development in Egypt. Makram said the government will be intensifying its efforts to raise awareness among the youth living in the poorest villages about the dangers of illegal migration, which involves the allocation of EGP 250 million from the 2020/21 budget to combat the phenomenon in 70 villages nationwide. The announcements are part of the National Project for the Development of Egyptian Villages, which is part of the larger Decent Life initiative. The initiative, launched by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in early 2019, aims to provide better living conditions for the neediest rural villages in Egypt. In December, El-Sisi launched the second stage of the Decent Life Initiative to provide better living conditions for the neediest villages in Egypt. The president has said that the second stage of the initiative, launched in December, targets a total of 1,500 villages inhabited by 18 million citizens. Earlier this week, Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Kabbaj said that the initiative is within the framework of plans to develop all Egyptian villages within three years in order to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and basic services. Sanitation for rural areas Meanwhile, during a meeting with officials on Wednesday, Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar followed up on preparations to provide sanitation services to rural villages under the initiative. El-Gazzar discussed non-traditional methods that would be implemented to deliver sanitation services, and called on officials to provide a count of the sewage treatment plants and equipment needed to execute the projects. Short link: A new international study, led by Dr. Sonny Dhanani of the CHEO Research Institute, and published in the January 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, documents the physiology of the dying process. Working closely with the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, the research team asked over 600 families to allow their loved ones in the ICU to have their vital signs monitored during the dying process. This is the largest international study of its kind. Why is a study like this important? For families to choose organ donation when a loved one has died, they must be able to trust that death has really happened and that it is irreversible. Trust allows people to decide to donate at a time of grief and allows the medical community to feel comfortable opening a dialogue about donation. For donation after circulatory-determined death to be medically possible, death must be declared within a window of time after life sustaining measures are withdrawn. Yet, stories persist about people "coming back to life" following a declaration of death, and there was little evidence to inform the medical understanding of dying. What did the study find? Dr. Dhanani and his team found that the classic "flatline" of death is not so straightforward. The study showed that cardiac activity often stops and re-starts several times during the dying process before it finally stops completely - but no one regained sustained circulation or consciousness. The study provides evidence to support the current standard to wait for 5 minutes after the heart stops before determining death and proceeding to organ donation. How do you ask a family whose loved one is dying in the ICU to participate in a research study on organ donation? DePPaRT was empowered by the support and perspectives of a family partner, Ms. Heather Talbot, a woman whose son became a donor after dying in a car accident. The Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program's Patient, Family and Donor Partnership Platform connected Heather with the DePPaRT team in 2015, and she took on the emotional challenges of joining as a consultant. Heather provided feedback from a family's perspective, contributing ideas on how to appropriately approach families of dying patients. Her ability to reflect on her experiences and apply them to the study was pivotal for the project's success. Her contributions helped achieve a family consent rate of 93% and dampened the team's fears of overstepping boundaries. Her son's gift of organ donation saved at least four lives and her involvement in DePPaRT is multiplying those gifts. What is the take away for the public? Families and health care teams can trust that when death is determined, it is safe to begin the organ donation process. DePPaRT study data can now be used to inform policy and guidelines for determining death for organ donation both nationally and internationally. Further work using the study data will allow donation and transplant teams to predict how long it will take patients to die after removing life-sustaining measures. Predicting a time of death would be immensely useful to coordinate a donation and improve how organs are allocated. ### Who funded this study? This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research as part of the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, the CHEO Research Institute, and Karel Pavlik Foundation. Further background: CDTRP Fast Facts on Death Determination https:/ / cdtrp. ca/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2021/ 01/ Fast-Facts-Death-Determination-FEB2021. pdf Quotes: "To do this, we had to go into ICUs and monitor people as they were dying. This is a very personal experience. And here we were collecting data, sending it to a server, downloading it and having people review the vital signs ... how things stopped and if they restarted. People were worried. Some physicians didn't want to do it. Some researchers felt uncomfortable. But we knew we should keep going when we met Heather." -Dr. Sonny Dhanani, MD DePPaRT Study Lead Investigator, CHEO Research Institute Chief Critical Care, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Associate Professor, University of Ottawa "This is an outstanding example of the powerful impact that a national framework for collaborative team science can achieve. Through the Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program, we have brought together different research communities, patient, family and donor partners, stakeholder organizations, and health care professionals who take non-traditional paths to doing research. This has created new synergies and new knowledge that will help more Canadians become donors and more patients receive transplants." -Dr. Lori West, MD, DPhil Canada Research Chair in Cardiac Transplantation, University of Alberta Director, Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program Officer of the Order of Canada (2020) "On behalf of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), I would like to congratulate CDTRP and the DePPaRT team on the publication of this important study. CIHR is very pleased to be supporting a national network like CDTRP that has been able to bring together multiple stakeholders in the transplant area. This study is an example of the impactful work collaborations such as this one can achieve that will lead to improved outcomes for Canadians waiting for transplants." -Dr. Charu Kaushic, MSc, PhD Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity Embargo Period Interview Opportunities Live Zoom Media Q&A - Tuesday January 26, 2021, 4:00 pm -5:00 pm ET: Dr. Sonny Dhanani and Dr. Lori West will be available to answer questions. Due to the embargo Zoom details cannot be pubic. To join the Q&A please contact Patricia Gongal, pgongal@cdtrp.ca to receive connection details. Audio/Video footage of this Q&A can be used in your stories. Recorded Zoom Media Q&A The above session will be recorded and made available upon request. The audio/video footage of this Q&A can be used in your stories. Please contact Patricia Gongal, pgongal@cdtrp.ca to receive a link to the recording in .MP4 format. 1 On 1 Interviews If you are not able to attend the Live Q&A, Dr. Sonny Dhanani will be available for interviews. To schedule a 1 on 1 interview, please contact Stayci Keetch Skeetch@CHEO.on.ca Talk or text 1-613-697-0969 For further information from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Media Relations Canadian Institutes of Health Research 613-941-4563 mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca Reports of new COVID-19 cases jumped sharply statewide and across the region as Lackawanna and Luzerne counties recorded at least 10 deaths each, according to the latest state Department of Health statistics. It is unknown if the rise in cases and deaths begins a new trend or represents just a temporary bump caused by a lag in reporting or other factors. State health officials regularly caution against reading too much into what happens on one day and prefer looking at one- or two-week trends. The 5,874 new cases reported Wednesday up from 4,628 on Tuesday raised the total to 818,369 statewide, but the two-week total in cases dropped by almost 2,100 to 76,980. The same wasnt true across Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties. Another 760 cases the fourth most in a single day during the pandemic increased the two-week total to 5,743, more than 200 higher than Tuesday. Luzerne fueled most of the daily increase with more than 450 new cases. Deaths over the last two weeks statewide dropped by more than 100 to 2,676 with the state reporting another 222 deaths for a total of 21,105. Again, the region defied the state trend. Luzerne, with 12 deaths, and Lackawanna, with 10, led the way with the region seeing its third largest single-day increase in deaths. The 27 new deaths increase the regional death toll to 1,360 and raised the 14-day total to 191, seven more than Tuesday. The regional two-week death toll has risen four straight days. Locally: Lackawanna added 149 cases for 12,120 total, including 1,637 probable. The new deaths raised the county total to 350. Luzerne added 468 cases for 22,285 total, including 1,573 probable. The new deaths raised the county total to 598. Monroe added 82 cases for 8,340 total, including 183 probable. Two new deaths raised the county total to 242. Pike added 21 cases for 2,063 total, including 151 probable, One new death raised the county total to 43. Susquehanna added eight cases for 1,468 total, including 140 probable, and remained at 49 deaths. Wayne added 22 cases for 2,600 total, including 218 probable. Two new deaths raised the county total to 42. Wyoming added 10 cases for 1,031 total, including 171 probable, and remained at 36 deaths. An Australian student has revealed five things that baffle her about life in America, from the nation's obsession with Starbucks coffee to why nobody owns a kettle. Kaila Smith, 19, discussed the cultural differences between Australia and the US in a recent TikTok video. The art student from Adelaide, SA, has never travelled to America but based her observations on friends' experiences and research she has done online. Ms Smith said she finds it odd that Americans behave as if they come from 'the only country in the world', and can't understand compulsory tipping or why all paper currency is the same forest green colour. Scroll down for video Australian arts student Kaila Smith (pictured) is confused by many aspects of life in America Her opinions, which have racked up 8,996 'likes' since they were uploaded online on January 18, have sparked some amusing responses. 'Even our Nescafe blend instant coffee is better than Starbucks,' one viewer replied. 'Also, why do they write dates like month/date/year,' added a second. Dates are written using the day-month-year format (7 July 2020) in Australia and most other countries, and in month-day-year format (July 7 2020) in the US. A third said Ms Smith was right about the US superiority complex, writing: 'The fact that someone else notices that Americans constantly tell everyone they're the best is amazing.' Despite the differences, Ms Smith told Daily Mail Australia she would 'definitely still like to visit' the US. 1. Green money Ms Smith said she can't understand why American bills are exclusively green, having grown up in a country where every note is a different colour. 'Why do you guys have money that's all the same colour? I feel like that would be hard to organise,' Ms Smith said. Australian denominations make up a rainbow of shades, with pink and purple $5 bills, blue $10 bills, reddish orange $20 bills and yellow $50 bills. 2. No kettles Ms Smith said she finds it bizarre that hardly anyone in the US owns an electric kettle. She told Daily Mail Australia she has observed many Americans on social media who have no idea what a kettle is. 'I did some research and asked people, and they said that American has low voltage [electrical systems] so it takes a long time to use an electric kettle,' she said. 'They either use the microwave or a stove top kettle.' Stove top kettles are more common in the US, according to a Junkee report from December 2020, because homes generally run off 100 to 127 volts. That's compared to places like Australia and the UK where houses run off between 220 and 240 volts. Ms Smith (pictured with boyfriend Adynn) said she finds it bizarre that hardly anyone in the US owns an electric kettle 3. Tipping, taxes and minimum wages Ms Smith said she can't wrap her head around American tipping culture, which is legally voluntary but always customary. Walking out of a restaurant without leaving a gratuity of 15 to 25 percent of the pre-tax bill is socially frowned upon in the US. 'I don't understand the whole tipping thing, and minimum wages are so low for some reason, I just don't understand that,' she said. In America, tipping is often the primary source of income for those working in service and hospitality industries, where basic pay can be as low as $2.13 (USD) an hour. That's the minimum an employer is required to pay a 'tipped' employee in direct wages if $2.13 combined with tips equals the federal minimum wage of $7.25 (USD) per hour, according to the US Department of Labor. Ms Smith (pictured) said she cant wrap her head around American taxation or tipping culture Waiters and other restaurant staff can earn three to four times more from tips than wages, USA Today reported in 2015. In Australia, where the federal minimum wage is $740.80 per week which equates to roughly $19.49 (AUD) an hour, tipping is optional and the exception as opposed to the rule. Ms Smith said she also wonders why taxes are not included in the ticket price marked on food and other products. This is due to America's complex and highly convoluted taxation system, which has roughly 10,000 separate jurisdictions across 50 states. While most other countries apply value added tax (VAT), the US has a sales tax which varies dramatically between jurisdictions. Ms Smith said she can't understand why American bills are exclusively green, having grown up in a country where every note is a different colour (stock image) 4. The national obsession with Starbucks In a nation long regarded as the most powerful in the world, Ms Smith said she can't understand the widespread devotion to Starbucks coffee. 'Why is Starbucks the best thing ever in America? Nobody drinks that in Australia,' she said. Dozens of Reddit threads reveal support for her opinion, including one titled: 'I'm from Australia and found Starbucks to be nearly undrinkable.' Independent cafes and takeaway coffee vans enjoy huge popularity across Australia, where local brands generally draw greater crowds than global chains. Ms Smith said she can't understand America's national devotion to Starbucks coffee (pictured) 5. Superiority complex and public toilets Ms Smith blasted the stereotypical American superiority complex which ranks the US above every other nation on earth. 'You guys act as if there's no other country in the world apart from yours, which is kinda funny, but kinda not,' she said. Ms Smith also said public toilets in the US appear to have such wide gaps above and beneath the doors that others could easily see into the cubicle. AstraZeneca can only deliver half of the doses promised for the first quarter but officials said the explanations were insufficient PLC ( ) said reports on low COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in the elderly are "completely incorrect" based on trial results published in the previous months. German papers Handelsblatt and Bild published stories that suggested the jab's efficacy was as low as 8% in adults over 65 years. "In the UK, the JCVI supported use in this population and MHRA included this group without dose adjustment in the authorisation for emergency supply," a spokesperson told Proactive. "In November, we published data in The Lancet demonstrating that older adults showed strong immune responses to the vaccine, with 100% of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose. The German health ministry also said the claims were unfounded, the Independent reported. Row over supplies Meanwhile, the EU warned it will tighten exports of COVID-19 vaccines to non-member countries, such as the UK, amid a row with . The drugmaker was meant to provide 80mln doses of the jab in the first quarter of 2021 but informed the bloc on Friday that there would be significant shortfalls on the schedule and it would be able to deliver around half of the agreed quantities. Discussions with @AstraZeneca today resulted in dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity and insufficient explanations. EU Member States are united: vaccine developers have societal and contractual responsibilities they need to uphold. Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) January 25, 2021 On Monday, commission president Ursula von der Leyen told the FTSE 100 firms chief executive Pascal Soriot the company must meet its contractual obligations. She made it clear that she expects to deliver on the contractual arrangements foreseen in the advance purchasing agreement, a spokesperson told The Guardian. Of course, production issues can appear with the complex vaccine, but we expect the company to find solutions and to exploit all possible flexibilities to deliver swiftly. The two parties are meeting again on Wednesday to continue discussion while the European Medicines Agency is expected to approve the inoculation later this week. The row comes amid a fall in supplies of the /BioNTech vaccine too, which are slowing down the European rollout. Nonetheless, vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi said he is confident the UK will meet its target of administering the first dose of a jab to 15mln people in the top priority groups by mid-February. "Supplies are tight It's lumpy and bumpy, it gets better and stabilises and improves going forward," he told the BBC. However, he declined to say whether manufacturers have guaranteed they will supply the number of doses previously agreed. Analysts at UBS said the explanation offered by seems credible because vaccine manufacturing is a complex process especially when it comes to new technologies and yield drops can happen. Batches need to be released one by one by authorities and it is possible that manufacturing variabilities lead to batches being rejected, they noted. AZN claims it is able to produce up to 3bn doses in 2021 via a decentralised network. Roughly half of the volume is being produced by collaborators like the Serum Institute in India. We don't have any detail on the specifics per manufacturing sites but hopefully this strategy means the yield drops in one location do not have ramifications more broadly. The lack of buffer inventory and fixed cycle times, however, likely means there is little slack in the network that could capture drops in yields and make up for lost volume. Shares in the pharma giant were trading 1% higher at 7,996p on Tuesday morning. --Adds details on German media reports-- Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Carrie Myers Carrie Myers, professor of adult and higher education in the Department of Education, has won the Provosts Award for Graduate Research/Creative Mentoring, which recognizes a faculty member who engages graduate students. The award comes with a $2,000 honorarium. Since joining the MSU faculty in 2006, Myers has been an active and accomplished researcher, with 21 peer-reviewed publications and one invited article, one peer-reviewed book chapter, 25 technical reports, 42 peer-reviewed professional presentations and 22 invited presentations. In addition, she has been involved in grant-funded work, with internal and external grants totaling more than $3.3 million. Her research focuses broadly on faculty and higher education, education trajectories and the sociology of education. Much of Myers disseminated work involves her graduate students. In total, she has included students in six peer-reviewed publications, 25 peer-reviewed presentations and nine invited presentations. Myers has chaired or advised a total of 40 adult and higher education graduate students who have completed their Ph.D., Ed.D. or masters degree in education. In addition, she has served on the committees of 64 other graduate students who completed their degrees. She currently chairs seven committees and serves as a committee member for 16 additional graduate students. She has also advised five students who received fellowships through Montana INBRE, the American Educational Research Association or the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education. One of Myers achievements in graduate student mentoring is the development and stewardship of the College Teaching Certificate, which the Department of Education began offering in 2012. To date, 37 students have completed the program, and Myers currently advises six students in the program. Each year, one can see the accomplishments of those who have completed the program at an annual research symposium that Myers has organized. The symposium has since become a student research celebration for the College of Education, Health and Human Development. Students consistently give Myers high scores in their evaluations, and they say that her courses are demanding and rigorous, according to Alison Harmon, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development, who nominated Myers for the award. Students also report that they are supported by constructive feedback and that Myers is always approachable and caring. One of the ways to assess Myers impact is to examine the career paths of her graduates, Harmon noted. Her students, who often aspire to work in the administrations of high education institutions, have gone on to careers at various institutions, including MSU, Montana Tech, MSU Billings and Carroll College, as well as many out-of-state schools such as Washington State University and New Mexico State University. It is not difficult to imagine how the impact of Dr. Myers mentoring will ripple throughout Montana State University for decades to come, Harmon wrote. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal will table a resolution during an Assembly session on Thursday, demanding the withdrawal of new farm laws. The two-day Assembly session will begin on January 27 and the resolution will be tabled under Rule 169 on January 28, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said. After Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Delhi, West Bengal will be the sixth state to pass a resolution against the new farm laws. Earlier in December last year, Chief Minister called for a 3-day protest in Kolkata in support of farmers against the new farm laws. Meanwhile, the violence broke out during a tractor rally on Tuesday in various parts of the capital. Farmers broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism during their Kisan tractor rally organised to protest against the Centre's three new farm laws. Over 100 police personnel were injured, with several public and private properties being damaged in acts of vandalism by the rioting mob, said the Delhi Police sources. As per Delhi Police, at least 22 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence during the farmers' tractor rally yesterday. Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the capital since November 26 against the newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) According to Credit Agricole exchange rate analysts, the Australian dollar is vulnerable to a correction on positioning grounds. The bank also sees significant reasons for a correction lower on fundamentals grounds. Adding to these above factors, there are several macroeconomic factors in the coming month(s) that could lead to a downward correction in the AUD. The bank suggests selling the Australian Dollar-to-US dollar rate (AUD/USD) at 0.7736 with a target of 0.7400. There also is likely to be scope for Pound-to-Australian dollar gains. Iron ore prices liable to weaken Iron ore prices are beginning to weaken into the Lunar New Year period when Chinese steel production slows. There has also been a slide in profit margins for Chinese steelmakers which will tend to exert downward pressure on iron ore prices. These exports are very important for the economy and the Australian dollar is correlated with move in iron ore prices. Credit Agricole also expresses concerns over coronavirus developments surrounding the Asian new-year. There is a risk that infection rates will increase, especially given the extent of travel, and damage the Asian economy. A spike in Covid-19 cases in Asia would weigh on general risk sentiment as well as iron ore prices. Above: AUD valuation chart Yield trends likely to be less supportive The bank also considers that the markets have over-estimated the potential for a reduction in Reserve Bank monetary support. At its first meeting of the year next week, the RBA is likely to indicate that the halting or even tapering of its QE programme is a while off. A less hawkish tone would tend to undermine the Australian dollar. The bank also expects that higher US yields will limit demand for the Australian dollar and will limit Australian dollar support unless there is a clear commitment from the Fed to control yields. Credit Agricole also notes that Australia is only just starting a vaccination programme. AUD/USD traded at 0.7730 on Tuesday and the Pound-to-Australian Dollar rate (GBP/AUD) has strengthened to 3-week highs around 1.7775. Above: GBP/AUD exchange rate chart If the Credit Agricole analysis is correct, the Pound-to-Dollar rate is also liable to move lower, but with scope for net GBP/AUD gains at least to the 1.8000 area. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... DALLAS A Texas man accused of taking part in the attack on the U.S. Capitol earlier this month while wearing a shirt with a message that stood for murder the media was arrested Tuesday, the FBI said. Nicholas DeCarlo, 30, was charged with obstructing an official proceeding, entering a restricted building and parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators say DeCarlo, of Burleson, Texas, was seen in photos smoking a cigarette inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. He also claimed to work for MT Media News, which stands for Murder the Media News. In some photos, DeCarlo was seen with Nicholas Ochs, one of the founders of Hawaiis chapter of the Proud Boys, neofascist group. The pair was also seen in a photo standing in front of a door inside the Capitol that had the words MURDER THE MEDIA, which appear to have been carved into the wood. DeCarlo was wearing a shirt and hat that said MT Media with his thumbs up, according to the FBI. Ochs was also arrested and accused of unlawful entry into restricted buildings or grounds. Another Texas man, Garret Miller from Richardson, who stormed the Capitol was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Rebecca Rutherford on Monday to remain in federal custody without bond until his trial. Miller, 34, was arrested last week after participating in the riot, posting violent threats on social media, including calling for the assassination of Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the FBI said. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Clint Broden, Millers attorney, said Miller had no interest in politics but became radicalized by Donald Trump and his claims on a stolen election. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Magliolo said Millers racist threats on social media about hanging a Black Capitol police officer with a rope were concerning. He is exceedingly dangerous. Please, please detain this man, Magliolo told the judge. The FBI said Miller became fixated on the death of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot and killed by police inside the building during the Jan. 6 attack, and wanted revenge. You were hunting a Capitol Police officer, Rutherford said. I dont see any remorse. Vlatka Agnetta, M.D., has joined the team of medical providers at Skin Cancer & Cosmetic Dermatology Centers, bringing dermatology experience with a special focus on Mohs Micrographic Surgery, a method for removing cancerous tissue. Dr. Agnetta, who started her career in emergency medicine, pursued a specialization in dermatology when she saw the need in her community for genuine compassion in that field. After completing the Dermatology Residency program at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Ca., Dr. Agnetta went on to pursue a fellowship in Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology from the University of Florida College of Medicine, equipping her to serve the skin cancer community. Recent research on skin cancer treatments has enabled us to increase the cure rate in skin cancer, giving those patients peace of mind they may not have experienced in months or, in some cases, years, said Dr. Agnetta. To be part of the community of providers moving this research forward and performing the procedures that result in cancer remission is an incredible honor, she added. "Dr. Agnetta is a known expert in her field, helping to further the knowledge of other physicians providing similar services,' officials said. Her published works include topics such as metastatic melanoma, carcinomas treated with Micrographic surgery and more. Dr. Agnettas expertise and compassion will be a true gift to our patients. Weve seen great success with Mohs Micrographic Surgery in our patients, and adding another gifted Mohs physician to our medical team will enable us to provide this life-saving procedure to even more people in our community who are suffering from skin cancer, said Dr. John Chung, board certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and president & CEO at Skin Cancer & Cosmetic Dermatology Centers. A native of Croatia, Dr. Agnetta moved to the United States for the educational opportunities available at American medical schools. In an effort to give back, Dr. Agnetta also dedicates her time and expertise to community events like skin cancer screenings and health fairs. More information is available by calling 423-521-2210. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 COVID-19: Be alert about any symptoms in children, Uddhav Thackeray to parents Maharashtra Lockdown-like Covid curbs to continue beyond June 1, unlocking to be in phased manner Declare Marathi-speaking Karnataka-Maharashtra border areas as UT: Uddhav India oi-Deepika S Mumbai, Jan 27: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said areas dominated by Marathi- speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the issue. Speaking at the launch of a book on the boundary dispute between the two states, Thackeray lashed out at the Karnataka government over alleged atrocities on Marathi- speaking population in those areas, and said there is a need to fight to win the case for their inclusion in Maharashtra. Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belgaum, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending the majority of population in these areas is Marathi-speaking. The case over the dispute between the two states is pending before the Supreme Court for many years. Thackeray said, "When the case is being heard in the Supreme Court, the Karnataka government renames Belgaum, declares it as its second capital, constructs a Legislature building and holds one legislature session there." Serum Institute fire accident, vaccine safe: Uddhav Thackeray "Isn't this contempt of court?" Thackeray asked. He said the "Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking areas should be declared as a Union Territory" till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict. "We have to learn from past experiences and fight to win. The Karnataka-occupied Marathi-speaking areas will be included in Maharashtra," he asserted. The chief minister also targeted the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) for allegedly disintegrating and weakening the Marathi cause for selfish political interests. "Earlier, the MES won half-a-dozen MLAs, Belgaum mayor used to be a Marathi-speaking person. The Shiv Sena never entered the political fray in Belgaum because it did not want to weaken the MES," he said. Thackeray, whose party formed a Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with the NCP and Congress to form government in 2019, said a time-bound action plan needs to be charted out to win the legal battle and ensure the Marathi- speaking leadership and people in those areas of Karnataka remain united. "Let's take a pledge that we will not rest till we win. If the long pending issue is not resolved during this (MVA) government's tenure, it will never be," he said. "In Karnataka, whichever political party's government or chief minister take charge, they have one thing in common - atrocities against Marathi people and language," he charged. Marathi people should also unite, he said, adding that "let us be determined to win". Speaking on the occasion, NCP president Sharad Pawar said the Mahajan Commission was set up (by the Centre in 1960s) to study and arrive at a conclusion when (Maharashtra leader) Senapati Bapat began his hunger strike. "The then Maharashtra chief minister Vasantrao Naik accepted the commission and agreed that its findings will be binding on the state. But, the commission was 100 per cent against Maharashtra," Pawar said. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News "We (Maharashtra) rejected the commission's findings. Barrister A R Antulay, the former CM, wrote a book dismissing the Mahajan Commission's report. This book should find a mention in the new book (released on Wednesday)," he said. Pawar said the Supreme Court is the "last weapon for the state" and Maharashtra should use all its legal acumen to win the case. "We have to fight to win. There is no other option. It is good that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is taking a lead in this direction. Maharashtra needs to sink its political differences and show more unity in this case," he said. The new 530-page book, 'Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Aani Sankalp' (Maharashtra-Karnataka boundary dispute: struggle and pledge), compiled and edited by Deepak Pawar, an OSD in the state government's boundary dispute cell, gives a detailed account of issue. Deepak Pawar said he has travelled from Bidar to Karwar (in Karnataka) and found that love for Marathi language and culture binds people from the border areas to Maharashtra. "The need of the hour is to assure them that the state of Maharashtra is firmly behind them, and the MES should also be united to carry on the struggle," he said. Maharashtra General Administration Department's principal secretary Shrikant Deshpande said the boundary dispute is a fight for the "Marathi asmita (pride)". The book, comprising articles and cartoons chronicalling the issue over the last 64 years, will help create an awareness about the issue among the new generation and bridge the disconnect between Marathi-speaking locals and other people in Maharashtra, Deshpande said. "Political and social mobilisation is the need of the hour to ensure Marathi language and culture thrive in these areas," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa recently slammed Thackeray's comments wherein the latter said his government is committed towards incorporating into Maharashtra the areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority. Arnab Goswami made a special announcement earlier this month, wherein Republic Media Network launched the Republic-Aatmanirbhar Bharat Initiative as a part of their national service to promote Indian glocal organizations. As part of the initiative, the network has announced editorial partnerships with Koo and Mitron. Republic Media Network, Indias no.1 news network, was conceived with one laser pointed vision Nation First, No Compromise. Over the last 3 years, the network has lived up to the motto and has been pro-nation, pro local. Taking the Prime Ministers vision ahead and doing their bit as the leading news network in the country, Arnab Goswami, Managing Director and Editor-in-chief, Republic Media Network announced the Republic-Aatmanirbhar Bharat Initiative where the organization will work with, support and ensure that proudly Indian, homegrown, glocal brands shine and beam, especially the ones from the Tech Media space. Following this mega announcement, the network has been flooded with promising endeavours from innovators across the country. As a deliverance on the promise, Republic has proudly announced two mega editorial partnerships under the initiative, with two homegrown brands Koo and Mitron. Koo was founded in March 2020, as an inclusive micro-blogging platform in Indian languages where people from across different regions in India can express themselves in their mother tongue. Just 10% of India speaks English. 90% prefer Indian languages. Theres no place on the internet for them to express themselves in their native language and discover others from the same community. Koo provides a voice to Indians who prefer Indian languages. This is how Koo has become a game-changer that is available in multiple languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, etc. The journey of Mitron started in April 2020, with a belief to build a homegrown app for Indian users in compliance with Indian community standards and laws. The app provides an easy and seamless interface for users to create, edit and share their videos, and at the same time browse through a library of top videos across the globe. Going forward, the company envisages developing a deeply integrated social media and e-commerce platform, where people not only spend time watching videos but interact with videos to create their social assets and are able to buy products featured in videos. This announcement comes as a first of many endeavours that will be undertaken as a part of Republic-AatmaNirbhar Bharat Initiative. Republic Bharat will collaborate with these two brands editorially and seamlessly integrate their content. On this endeavour, Arnab Goswami, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media Network said, It is a phenomenal start to the Republic-Aatmanirbhar Bharat Initiative. Aprameya, Mayank (of Koo), Shivank, Anish (of Mitron), are rock-solid examples of the nations AatmaNirbhar Bharat beacon call. What these young entrepreneurs have created is truly remarkable. These are brilliant initiatives developed by the whizz-kids of India. This is only the beginning. We vow to support, encourage and give a platform to the bright minds, ideators, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are rooted in this great nation and take pride in India. Vikas Khanchandani, Group CEO of Republic Media Network said, The network has been clear about its objective since inception; hence the Republic AatmaNirbhar Bharat initiative came to us naturally. We are extremely excited about this unique enterprise that we are launching with two phenomenal local brands - Koo and Mitron. Our endeavour is to utilise this opportunity and give the platforms a national level push which they rightly deserve. The talent and vision of both the apps must be celebrated and that is what we as a network are doing through this strategic initiative. Koo and Mitron news partnerships will be seen on Republic Bharat starting Republic Day, 26th January 2021 More deets about the aftermath of a losing drug war given that weed is now easier to get than bubble gum, BBQ or cold & flue medice . . . . Check-it: Prairie Village considering decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. - Some marijuana laws in one Johnson County, Kansas, suburb may fade into smoke. City leaders in Prairie Village are considering decriminalizing possession of small amounts of cannabis, an effort to mirror laws in nearby communities. Members of Prairie Village's city council have suggested taking penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana off the books. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Edo State have confirmed the release of the abducted spokesperson of the Nigeria Immigration Service in the state, Bridget Esene. The police spokesperson in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, said Mrs Esene was released at about 4p.m. on Tuesday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). The police, however, declined to say if ransom was paid or not for her release. PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mrs Esene was abducted by gunmen on Sunday, while she was on her way to the church. The gunmen reportedly trailed her to Iqueniro area, off Agbor Road, in the state capital, dragged her out of her car and took her into their waiting vehicle. Her car was later recovered at the Agbor Road by-pass area. (NAN) Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Cibolo area church leaders gathered on Main Street in Cibolo outside St. Pauls Evangelical Church to pray for people driving by, in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a day set aside in his honor. Cibolo Mayor Stosh Boyle helped bring together spiritual leaders from St. Pauls, Everyday Christian Fellowship, and Refuge Church of San Antonio in Cibolo to offer a drive-by prayer service on Jan. 18. Tables with boxes of doughnuts were set up, neon cardboard signs were drawn, and a half-dozen church members stood by, inviting passing motorists to pull over to be prayed upon. We wanted to do something in light of MLK Day and honor Dr. Martin Luther King. We wanted to honor our residents, to bring folks together, Boyle said. From 7-9:30 a.m., and again from 3:30-6 p.m., Boyle and the church members stood by, ready to offer prayer and words of comfort for anyone driving past. Motorists honked, many waved, and some stopped to chat with the group on their way to or home from work. Several pulled over, exited their vehicles, and joined the pastors curbside for a word of prayer and encouragement. Refuge Church pastor Terrin Phillips and two members of his congregation stood on the sidewalk that afternoon in front of St. Pauls, just across the street from Cibolo City Hall, where Boyle and the citys council members meet to manage and direct the citys affairs for its citizens. But this day would be focused on Cibolos residents in a different light. Representatives from different churches in the community stepped in and donated time and were just trying to reach as many people as we can, Boyle said. We want to set the tone right for 2021 and make sure we do our best to bring the community together. Phillips, whose congregation meets at the Cibolo Family YMCA, said he happily responded to Boyles request. So many people in our community are hurting. This is about a group of guys churches coming together and saying, Look people, its not about the things we disagree on, were going to put that stuff aside and were going to pray, Phillips said. Every car that comes by, Im praying for them whether they stop, or they dont. We all need it, were all a little messed up during this time, Phillips added. He is one of the founders of Refuge Church, formed 7 years ago. He was joined that afternoon by Refuge Church childrens pastor Sarah Uhlhorn, and church member Omar Rivera, who held signs announcing the drive-up prayer effort. Also on hand that Monday afternoon was Cibolo City Councilman Joel Hicks. The common denominator between all of us out here now is Jesus Christ, Phillips said. And to me, thats the most important thing, the pastor said. Phillips told of how the people he meets and the congregants he talks with have spoken of the hardships and personal strife suffered during the past year, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect peoples lives, and livelihoods. Our world can go to hell in a hand basket, and it seems sometimes like it is, he said. In the world that we live right now, you can love people, even people who see things differently than you. You can love them; you dont have to be so contrary with people. I just keep my eyes focused on Him, the pastor added. Hes helped me and, whether people like to admit it or not, hes can change peoples lives. Boyle said the days gathering would likely become a monthly event, a Cibolo Drive-Up Prayer Service, to be staged at different points throughout the city. With something new like this its all trial and error. But the recipes been good so far, Boyle said. jflinn@express-news.net Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. In the middle of the night, in a misty rain and fog, a deputy dove in a canal to punch out the window of a truck sinking in the water and pull a mother and her two children to safety, Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre said. Webre said it appeared that the woman driving the truck veered off the right side of George Lambert Road near St. Amant, then overcorrected, spinning out and sending the truck backward into New River Canal. The crash occurred about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday. A passenger, another woman, was able to get out of the sinking truck and sit on its roof to call 911, Webre said. Deputies helped the passenger to safety, but the driver and her two children were still in the truck. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Webre said deputies Daniel Haydel and Jamie Wolfe were at the scene, along with two Sorrento firefighters. "They could hear crying and moaning. "Out of brute strength, Deputy Haydel dove into the water and broke the truck window and was able to pull the mother and the two children, ages 3 and 4, to safety," Webre said. The mother and one of the children were taken to a hospital in critical condition, Webre said. Haydel was checked out at the hospital for what he thought might be a broken wrist, but it appears his injury is a sprain, the sheriff said. Trooper Taylor Scrantz, spokesman for State Police Troop A, said Wednesday night that it's not known whether the driver was speeding or whether anyone was not wearing a seatbelt, but alcohol does appear to be a factor. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID A British lawmaker said HSBC is aiding a crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong during a virtual hearing by the UK Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. "Do you understand how it might seem to a lot of British people who have bank accounts with you that you're affectively aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world?" MP Chris Bryant was questioning HSBC CEO Noel Quinn over the bank's freezing of Hong Kong democrats' bank accounts. They include former lawmaker Ted Hui, who has had his local accounts blocked. But Quinn has told Hui in a letter that he was complying with a police request. And the CEO told lawmakers Tuesday his bank was quote 'not in a position to judge the motives' of Hong Kong police. "I can't cherry-pick what laws to follow and what law not to follow as the CEO of a financial institution," he said. "My motive is 100% about helping the people of Hong Kong recover from the challenges that they face and I have to work within the legal framework that I'm given in Hong Kong to do that." When pressed by lawmakers whether HSBC would ever deny police requests on ethical grounds, Quinn said he was not considering this in Hong Kong. "I can't cherry-pick what laws to follow and what law not to follow as the CEO of a financial institution " The grilling from British lawmakers saw HSBC yet again dragged into the political battle between Hong Kong's pro-Beijing and democratic factions. Founded in the Asian city but headquartered in Britain, HSBC has historically tried to remain politically neutral. Recently however it has shown support for Beijing. Most notably last June when its top executive in Asia signed a petition supporting a sweeping national security law, imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. Video Transcript - A British lawmaker said HSBC is aiding a crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong during a virtual hearing by the UK Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday. CHRIS BRYANT: Do you understand how it might seem to a lot of British people who have bank accounts with you, that you're effectively aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world? Story continues - MP Chris Bryant was questioning HSBC CEO Noel Quinn over the bank's freezing of Hong Kong democrats' bank accounts. They include former lawmaker Ted Hui, who has had his local accounts blocked. But Quinn had told Hui in a letter that he was complying with a police request. And the CEO told lawmakers Tuesday his bank was, quote, "not in a position to judge the motives of Hong Kong police." - I can't cherry-pick what law to follow and what law not to follow as a CEO of a financial institution. My motive is 100% about helping the people of Hong Kong recover from the challenges that they face. And I have to work within the legal framework that I am given in Hong Kong to do that. - When pressed by lawmakers whether HSBC would ever deny police requests on ethical grounds, Quinn said he was not considering this in Hong Kong. The grilling from British lawmakers saw HSBC yet again dragged into the political battle between Hong Kong's pro-Beijing and democratic factions. Founded in the Asian city but headquartered in Britain, HSBC has historically tried to remain politically neutral. Recently, however, it has shown support for Beijing. Most notably last June, when its top executive in Asia signed a petition supporting a sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong. The company has continued to advance its growth strategy within its consolidated Halls Creek regional tenure, which now covers over 1,000 square kilometres and encompasses three of the five significant historical mining centres in the region. Drilling in 2021 will focus on Perseverance East and continue to assess the other identified targets ( ) (FRA:RKN) has received first-pass drilling results at the Halls Creek Project in Western Australias East Kimberley region, all returning ore-grade mineralisation from three new prospects. The company has continued to advance its growth strategy within its consolidated Halls Creek regional tenure, which now covers over 1,000 square kilometres and encompasses three of the five significant historical mining centres in the region. A short but highly successful drilling program was completed in mid-December 2020 at Nicolsons, Grants Creek and Mary River Project areas. The results highlight the potential for discovery of new ore bodies in previously untested targets and extend the current mineralisation at the Mary River Project. There are multiple targets which remain to be tested within the exploration package in addition to the follow up drilling at these prospects. It is anticipated that drilling will recommence after the current wet season in April-May. Potential for ongoing discovery Managing director Paul Cmrlec said: These new results highlight the potential for ongoing discovery within our Halls Creek Project. Nicolsons mine has now been in operation for six years, and Pantoro has consistently replaced and grown mineral resources and ore reserves. Unfortunately, the 2020 field season was impacted by restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however the results from the short program completed demonstrate how little exploration was completed in the region prior to Pantoros involvement. We look forward to expanding the drilling footprint at these exciting new prospects following the current wet season. Results from previously untested targets Notable results from the Slattery (Nicholsons) prospect include: 2 metres at 6.80 g/t gold; 2 metres at 6.06 g/t; 2 metres at 4.24 g/t; and 2 metres at 3.46 g/t. Given the positive results follow-up drilling is planned in the 2021 program which will also test for potential blind N-S oriented lodes related to the splay orientation as seen elsewhere in the main Nicolsons Find Shear Zone (NFZ). At Perseverance East (Grants Creek) the company intersected 8 metres at 3.94 g/t gold, including 6 metres at 5 g/t and 11 metres at 2.42 g/t. Drilling in 2021 will focus on Perseverance East and continue to assess the other identified targets with the areas of historic activity and regional exploration and mapping on the broader tenement package. Mary River A short 16-hole 1,300 metre program was completed at the Reform prospect, designed to continue to extend the strike of the mineralised shear to the South. Significant results include 7 metres at 1.22 g/t gold, 8 metres at 1.06 g/t, 5 metres at 0.99 g/t and 3 metres at 1.11 g/t. The program will target the northern end of the Shear Zone at Blue Bar, where groundwork around extensive historic alluvial and hard rock workings have confirmed similarities to the Reform prospect geology and gold anomalism from sampling around old workings. This EIS drilling will include diamond and RC and are planned for the 2021 field season. Additional extensional programs at the Reform prospect will also be undertaken. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In-depth analysis and data-driven insights on the impact of COVID-19 included in this global hearing aids market report. The hearing aids market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4% during the period 2020-2026. Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Hearing loss affects millions of people and is the fourth highest cause of disability worldwide, with an estimated annual expenditure of around USD 750 billion on hearing care. The global hearing aids market continues to grow, driven by long-term socio-economic forces and favorable patient demographics. The absolute increase in the number of people with hearing loss has resulted in an increased demand for hearing aids and will witness an incremental growth of around USD 1.6 billion during the forecast period. RITE hearing aids segment is likely to grow at a faster rate compared to other hearing aid product types and will witness an absolute growth of around 30% during the forecast period. Sonova, Demant, WS Audiology, GN Store Nord, and Starkey Hearing Solutions dominated the global hearing aids market owing to their diverse product offerings, established relationships with retailers, and wider geographic presence. The US dominates the global hearing aids market and accounted for a share of over 34% in 2020. The country is likely to witness an incremental growth of around USD 550 million , which is the highest compared to the combined incremental growth of all other major countries globally. The introduction of wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, electromagnetic compatibility (telecoil), automatic functionality, and frequency modulation features has led to the emergence of connected and interactive smart hearing aids. Vendors such as Sonova, Demant, Starkey Hearing Technologies, WS Audiology, and GN Store Nord introduced innovative smart hearing aids due to their increasing popularity. Key Offerings: Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 2020-2026 Market Dynamics - Leading trends, growth drivers, restraints, and investment opportunities Market Segmentation - A detailed analysis by product, hearing loss, technology, patient group, technology, distribution, and geography Competitive Landscape - 5 key vendors and 15 other vendors Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/hearing-aids-market-analysis-2024 Hearing Aids Market - Segmentation The prevalence of hearing loss across the globe is a major factor contributing to the growth of behind the ear (BTE) segment. These devices offer durability and can easily fit with thin tubing, leaving the ear canal open to natural sounds. Therefore, these models offer a wide range of safety, efficacy, and flexibility to users with mild, moderate, and major hearing loss, which is increasing adoption. The growth in the sensorineural hearing loss patient population and the availability of a wide range of advanced BTE and ITE hearing aids are increasing the prevalence of hearing aids across the globe. With the growth in the aging population, which is at a high risk of developing sensorineural hearing loss, the segment is expected to grow steadily during the forecast period. Digital hearing devices hold sway in the global hearing aids market. These devices constitute over 90% of the market share and are expected to dominate during the forecast period. Owing to the increasing demand for invisible, advanced features, and aesthetically appealing devices as well as the rising need for the advanced and enhanced listening experience, major market players are focusing on introducing technologically advanced digital hearing aids. Hearing Aids Market by Product Behind-the-Ear (BTE) Receiver-in-the-Ear (RITE)/ Receiver-in-the-canal (RIC) In-the-Ear (ITE) In-the-Canal (ITC) Completely-in-Canal (CIC) Invisible-in-Canal (IIC) Hearing Aids Market by Hearing Loss Sensorineural Conductive Mixed Hearing Aids Market by Technology Digital Analog Hearing Aids Market by Patient Group Adult Pediatric Hearing Aids Market by Distribution Retailers Independent Practices Buying Groups/Networks Government Purchases/Public Organizations Hearing Aids Market - Dynamics Vendors, especially global players, are increasingly focusing on pursuing inorganic growth strategies such as mergers and acquisitions to improve their expertise in the market. Such inorganic initiatives will complement vendors' organic growth strategies, thereby gaining traction among end-users in the market. Most of the acquisitions provide significant opportunities to both the parties involved in terms of innovations in the respective product portfolio, market expansion and penetration in existing and new markets. This, in turn, helps them to quickly gain market share. The global hearing aids market is experiencing a trend of M&As, where global players are acquiring other key competitors, medium, and emerging companies to further strengthen their market position in the highly competitive market. For instance, in 2019, Widex and Sivantos merged to form WS Audiology. Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth: Growing Demand for Wireless & Smart Hearing Aids Increasing Focus of Market Players on Hearing Aids Retail Business Increasing Availability of Advanced Hearing Aids New Product Approvals/Launches Hearing Aids Market - Geography The major revenue contributors in the APAC region were Japan, China, Australia, South Korea, and India. The low treatment-seeking population, mainly due to social stigma in selected counties, low awareness and comparatively less access to healthcare services, especially in developing countries, are few factors that limit hearing aids to gain utmost potential in this region. However, factors such as high disease prevalence with the growing geriatric population, improvement in healthcare spending, increase in awareness for the latest treatment option are projected to fuel the growth of the hearing aids market in the region. Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/hearing-aids-market-analysis-2024 Hearing Aids Market by Geography North America US Canada Europe UK Germany France Italy Spain APAC China Japan South Korea Australia India Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia South Africa Turkey UAE Major Vendors Sonova WS Audiology Demant GN Store Nord Starkey Other Prominent Vendors Arphi Electronics Audina Hearing Instruments Century Hearing Aids Eartechnic Eargo ExSilent Horentek IN4 Technology InnerScope Hearing Technologies IntriCon Loreca Hearing Aid NewSound Hearing Aids RION SeboTek Hearing Systems Zounds Hearing Explore our healthcare & lifesciences profile to know more about the industry. Read some of the top-selling reports: IV and Oral Iron Drugs Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 Erectile Dysfunction Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 Antimicrobial Wound Dressings Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 Anesthesia Face Masks Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 About Arizton: Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services. We offer comprehensive market research reports on industries such as consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, and life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals and materials, IT and media, logistics and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts. Arizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports. Mail: enquiry@arizton.com Call: +1-312-235-2040 +1 302 469 0707 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg Tallinn: Estonia needs to restore its reputation after two years with a far-right party in its government, incoming Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. Taking over after the previous government resigned in a corruption scandal, the 43-year-old has refused to keep the far-right EKRE in her cabinet. Breaking from the previous government, Kallas also pledged not to spend any more public money to support Estonias fossil fuel industry, and end oil shale mining by 2040. Kaja Kallas, 43, is the new Prime Minister of Estonia. Credit:AP We have to attract investment [in the shale region] to employ the people working there, in order to prevent social-economic crisis, Kallas said. Kaine Floats Alternative to Trump Impeachment Trial, but Schumer Holds Firm Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is working to get support to avoid an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump but the bodys top Democrat said in a message Wednesday that a trial will definitely take place. Tuesdays vote on a point of order declaring the trial unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office drew support from 45 Republicans, showing clearly the difficulty Democrats would have in trying to convince 17 to join them to vote to convict the former president. Kaine said the vote was completely clarifying that were not going to get near 67 votes. To do a trial knowing youll get 55 votes at the max seems to me to be not the right prioritization of our time right now, he added, telling reporters at the Capitol that hes trying to drum up support for a bipartisan proposal that is reportedly a censure and thereby potentially avoid the trial. Some senators professed interest in the proposal, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). Id be interested in looking at the language of the censure might be, Murkowski said. Then-President Donald Trump hosts the Greek Independence Day Celebration in the East Room of the White House in Washington on March 22, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Other Democrats acknowledged Tuesdays vote signaled the likelihood Trump will be acquitted. I think yesterdays vote is a strong indication that it will be an uphill climb for President Trump to be convicted, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told reporters. It will be very difficult to get to the 67 votes, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said. But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor in a message to the body: Make no mistake. There will be a trial, and the evidence against the former president will be presented in living color for the nation and for every one of us to see. We will all watch what happened, we will listen to what happened, and then we will vote. We will pass judgement, as our solemn duty under the Constitution demands, he said. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, argued on the floor that we now have a responsibility to go forward with this impeachment trial. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) talks to reporters during a press conference in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Senate Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) called the censure proposal hypothetical at this point, telling reporters that Democrats are very intent on going through the impeachment process. A slim possibility remains that the threshold for conviction is met in the trial. At least 17 Republican senators have said theyll listen to evidence before deciding how to vote, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Five others havent stated their stances. Forty Democrats have said theyd vote to convict Trump. Nine said theyll wait to hear evidence while Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) hasnt outlined her position. Still, many of the Republicans who said the trial is unconstitutional plan to vote against conviction. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) told reporters that the country needs to move forward and focus on more important matters. When people woke up this morning, the first thing they thought about was, am I going to have a job next week? How am I going to pay my bills at the end of this month? Will my business be able to survive another month in these conditions? Thats what we should be focused on, he said. The first chance I get to end this trial, Ill vote for it, he added. Malian and French forces killed around 100 jihadists and took another 20 captives in a joint operation this January in central Mali, the West African nation's army said in a statement on Tuesday. It said the campaign lasted from Jan. 2 to Jan. 20 and targeted areas bordering Burkina Faso, where militant groups with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State control large tracts of the remote desert and regularly carry out raids on the army and civilians. "The purpose of this operation was to force the enemy out of its areas of refuge," the army said. France has more than 5,100 military personnel based in the West African Sahel region to help counter the militants, an involvement that is facing increased opposition at home and from some quarters in Mali. The principal activity of Greatland Gold plc is to explore for and develop natural resources, with a focus on gold. The Company was established in London during 2005 and admitted to AIM in July 2006. Power Metal Resources option for Australian copper-gold acquisition in the Paterson Province Power Metal Resources (CVE:PWM) (OTCMKTS:PWRMF) (FRA:OAA1) has secured an exclusive 60-day option for the potential new acquisition of copper-gold focused exploration interests in the Paterson Province in the eastern Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The company has signed an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in First Development Resources PTY Ltd (FDR), an Australian private company holding the Wallal Project and an option to acquire the Ripon Hills Project. The option agreement fee of 30,000 will be satisfied through the issue of one million Power Metal new ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the company at an issue price of 3 pence per share. Should Power Metal exercise the option for the acquisition of FDR, the company will pay initial consideration of A$50,000 in cash (around 28,304) and 150,000 payable through issue of 5 million new ordinary shares at 3.0 pence per share. "Building Australian exposure" Power Metal chief executive officer Paul Johnson said: "Power Metal is keen to build its exposure to Australian base and precious metals exploration where there is, in our view, the potential for large scale metal discoveries in a secure and stable operating environment. "Through our joint venture in the Victoria Goldfields, and subject to due diligence, through this acquisition, we will have operating interests in two of the major centres for exploration activity in Australia." New Delhi, Jan 27 : Three Rafale combat aircraft landed in India on Wednesday night after flying non-stop from France, an Indian Air Force official said. The three fighter jets will add to the current fleet of eight Rafale aircraft. "The third batch of three Rafale aircraft landed at an Indian Air Force base a short while ago. They flew over 7,000 km with in-flight refuelling. The aircraft got airborne earlier in the day from the Istres air base in France," the Indian Air Force official said. The Rafale combat aircraft is manufactured by French company Dassault Aviation. Earlier on Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in France had tweeted that three more Rafale jets have taken off from Istres for a non-stop flight to India with mid-air refuelling. "Adding more strength to India's air power. Wishing our amazing pilots a smooth flight and safe landing with superb fighter jets," the Indian Embassy said. With three more aircraft, the IAF will now have 11 Rafale jets in service. Further, Indian Air Force pilots are being trained in batches at the Saint-Dizier air base in France. India received the first batch of five Rafale aircraft on July 29, 2020 which were inducted into the 17 'Golden Arrows' Squadron on September 10 at the Ambala Air Base. Second batch of three Rafale combat aircraft arrived in India on November 4, 2020 after flying non-stop from France. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft and has the latest weapons, superior sensors and fully integrated architecture. It is an omni-role aircraft which means it can carry out at least four missions in one sortie. The fighter jet has HAMMER missiles. It will also be armed with beyond visual range missiles like Meteor, SCALP and MICA, increasing its ability to take on incoming targets from a distance. MONTREAL - In a move it blames on tighter restrictions imposed by Ottawa, Transat A.T. Inc. is halting all flights out of Toronto and some from Montreal for the remainder of the winter travel season. Air Transat aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - In a move it blames on tighter restrictions imposed by Ottawa, Transat A.T. Inc. is halting all flights out of Toronto and some from Montreal for the remainder of the winter travel season. The route cuts will begin Thursday and last until April 30, Transat spokeswoman Debbie Cabana said. "Continued travel restrictions and the numerous measures imposed by the federal government, including the requirement to present a negative COVID-19 test and to quarantine upon return to Canada, have had a significant impact on our bookings," she said. The cancelled routes in Toronto include flights to Cancun, Mexico, Holguin, Cuba, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Varadero, Cuba, Porto, Portugal and Lisbon, Portugal, Cabana said. In addition to those flights, Cabana added that Transat is cancelling its flights from Montreal to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Varadero. The airline notified travel agents of the cancellations in a memo Wednesday, which was obtained by The Canadian Press. Passengers who paid for their flight or vacation package with cash or credit card will receive a full refund. Passengers currently at their destinations will be rebooked on flights returning to Canada, the memo says. Transat's cancellations come just two weeks after Air Canada announced it would lay off 1,700 workers and cut more routes amid a challenging business environment for the aviation industry. The extent of the cuts are an indication that the expected recovery in demand for air travel in 2021 may take hold later in the year than many airlines had hoped, even as the COVID-19 vaccine rolls out nationwide. The federal government has cracked down on international travel in recent weeks, implementing a new requirement in January that all travellers seeking to enter Canada provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said the federal government is contemplating further restrictions, prompted by the arrival of more contagious strains of COVID-19 in Canada from abroad. Trudeau this past weekend repeated his call for Canadians to cancel any vacations they may have booked, warning that people who travel abroad could face difficulties returning home. Quebec Premier Francois Legault has called on Ottawa to go further by banning non-essential travel completely or requiring that new entrants to Canada quarantine in a hotel at their own expense. Similarly, Ontario Premier Doug Ford has called for a temporary ban on flights to Canada from destinations where new variants of COVID-19 have been discovered. Canada's airlines have criticized the government's travel restrictions since the start of the pandemic, arguing that the mandatory 14-day quarantine is overly strict and should be replaced with a testing program at airports. The airlines have also said the restrictions were rolled out without co-ordination with the industry, leading to confusion and difficulties for passengers. Since the COVID-19 testing mandate went into effect on Jan. 7, airlines have prevented hundreds of Canadians from boarding flights abroad because they did not produce an acceptable test result. Allison St-Jean, a spokeswoman for Transport Canada, reiterated that Ottawa is committed to assisting airlines and noted that the government is still in negotiations with airlines to develop a financial aid package. "We are closely following the difficult and unprecedented situation that has unfolded from the heath crisis we are all living through, and that is having a particular impact on this critical sector of the Canadian economy," St-Jean said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2021. Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ; TSX:AC) Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated the time frame of the Toronto flight cancellations. Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 45F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Tomorrow Partly cloudy skies in the morning will give way to cloudy skies during the afternoon. High 66F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. One of the most successful Slovak tech startups changes hands The Exponea company has been purchased by US firm Bloomreach. Font size: A - | A + A change that could alter the digital business is how Peter Irikovsky has described the purchase of a majority stock of his Exponea company by US firm Bloomreach. Im really excited to announce that Exponea has been acquired by Bloomreach, the leader in commerce experience, Irikovsky announced on his companys website. Bloomreach powers more than 25 percent of the western worlds commerce with its search, merchandising, and content management products. Bloomreach, an API company that helps eCommerce customers with website creation, says that the acquisition of one of the most successful Slovak tech startups will give them a marketing automation component it had been missing, as the Techcrunch.com website reported. The companies did not reveal the acquisition price. Up until now, the owner of HB Reavis Ivan Chrenko controlled the majority in Exponea. video //www.youtube.com/embed/cQvFYWUmO4M Benefits for both Related article Multinational giant purchases Slovak Slido Read more With the acquisition, Bloomreach will add 200 additional employees to its 300-member staff. It will also gain 250 net new customers, giving it a total of 750, according to Techcrunch.com. Moreover, Exponea will give the company more of a complete platform of services, allowing marketers to target and personalise their marketing messages across multiple channels. The two companies had similar missions and are a good fit, according to Bloomreach CEO and co-Founder Raj De Datta. We have a common vision and common sort of product direction. [] Both companies are data-driven optimisation technologies [] and both are entrepreneurial product-driven companies, he told Techcrunch.com. Irikovsky stressed that no one has better data about products than Bloomreach. Related article Slovakia takes innovative approach to mobility as well as green business Read more Along those same lines, no one has better data on customers than Exponea, he continued. The combination of Bloomreach and Exponea will offer the worlds first completely-integrated commerce and marketing experience. Integration to happen next year The two firms had partnered up six months prior to the sale. Exponea was founded in 2016 in Slovakia and has raised over $57 million, according to Pitchbook data. The plan is to leave Exponea as a stand-alone product while finding ways to integrate it more smoothly with the other components in the Bloomreach platform. They expect the integration will happen over the next year, according to Techcrunch.com. Related story: Related story: Investment Guide: Well-arranged information about the economy, labour market, investor support, legislation, and real estate as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. Read more 27. Jan 2021 at 17:23 | Compiled by Spectator staff Regulatory News: FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE (Paris:ALFOC) (FR0012419307 ALFOC), a leading French actor in the video games industry, announces today the implementation of a plan to grant free performance shares to its 34 key managers, following the one implemented for four members of the Executive Committee1. On 26 January 2021, the Supervisory Board of Focus Home Interactive authorised the Group's Management Board to set up a free performance share allocation plan for a maximum of 69,375 shares in accordance with the authorisation to allocate a maximum number of 200,000 shares voted at the last Shareholders' Meeting. Following on from what was implemented for the four members of the Executive Committee in December 2020, 34 key managers of the Company will benefit from a free allocation of a maximum of 36,750 performance shares over a period of four years, subject to presence and performance conditions (depending on the level of EBIT and share price). Meanwhile, 26 of them have today acquired Focus Home Interactive shares from the Company at a price of 53.80 euros per share, corresponding to the closing price on 25 January 2021. They have undertaken to retain these shares for a period of four to six years. Following this acquisition of shares and this commitment to retain them, these 26 managers were granted a maximum of 32,625 additional performance shares free of charge. Following this decision, Mr. Christophe Nobileau, CEO declared: "Extending the free performance share plan to key managers was an important decision that will enable us to support our best talents and share equally in the creation of value with them, and thus build on a solid foundation to accelerate our growth in the years to come. This operation demonstrates the confidence that the Company's management team has in the future and its ability to create an integrated Group that brings together talent and is a key player in the video game sector. About Focus Home Interactive FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE is a leading French actor of the video games industry. Its vocation is to support leading international studios in the development, production monitoring, marketing, sales and financing of their projects. As a publisher of strong brands such as The Surge, Vampyr, Mudrunner, and A Plague Tale: Innocence, the Group generated revenues of 143 million in 2019/20, up 13% compared to the previous comparable period. FOCUS HOME INTERACTIVE generates more than 90% of its sales internationally. For additional information, visit www.focus-home.com For more information follow us on: Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Facebook 1 See Focus Home Interactive press release of December 17 2020 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005832/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations FTI Consulting Cosme Julien-Madoni Arnaud de Cheffontaines Tel: 33 (0) 1 47 03 68 10 Mail: fhi@fticonsulting.com Press Relations FTI Consulting Emily Oliver Remi Salvador Tel: 33 (0) 1 47 03 68 10 Mail: fhi@fticonsulting.com About 83% of Americans live in urban areas, according to the University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems. Yet U.S. Senate Republicans have clung to the contradictory notion that the United States effectively can overcome the vast economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic without providing aid to those cities. Their reasoning, a canard, is that cities a large majority of which are governed by Democrats (64 of the nations 100 largest cities have Democratic mayors) simply are mismanaged rather than suffering from the pandemics economic fallout. As evident by the population concentration, cities bear a heavy service burden even in normal times. That stress has vastly increased due to pandemic-driven unemployment, at the same time that rising unemployment has driven down wage-tax revenue and inhibited the ability of people to pay other local taxes on time, if at all. The same problem faces state governments, which have taken on the massive costs of emergency management and vaccine distribution even as the pandemic has driven down tax revenue tied to economic activity. Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti has joined five of her colleagues from Pennsylvania Jim Kenney of Philadelphia, Bill Peduto of Pittsburgh, Robert Donchez of Bethlehem, Salvatore J. Panto Jr. of Easton, and Matthew Shorraw of Monessen and 284 others nationwide, in urging Congress to adopt the city- and state-related portion of the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief proposal that President Joe Biden has submitted to Congress. That proposal includes $350 billion for states and cities to maintain important public services and preserve the public sector jobs responsible for those services. It isnt simply about making life easier for local and state politicians. Its about putting the nation in a position to recover quickly when, ideally, the distribution of new vaccines finally subdues the coronavirus. State and city governments are crucial components of American economic life, part of the baseline, and the proposed relief should be included in the next recovery package. PARLAMENTUL REPUBLICII MOLDOVA 2010 The Moldovan Parliaments website design was supported by the Democracy Support Programme in Moldova" an initiative financed by the European Union and implemented by the Council of Europe 01/25/2021 By Ed Brennen Dealing with the emotional toll of climate change and reducing the environmental footprint of plastics are among the topics that will be covered in a new spring seminar series hosted by UMass Lowells Climate Change Initiative ( CCI ).Assoc. Prof. of Plastics Engineeringwill kick off the virtual series on Monday, Feb. 1, with a talk on Living with Plastics: Problems and Solutions . Sobkowicz-Kline, who serves as the Francis College of Engineerings liaison to the CCI, will discuss the basic issues in plastics sustainability, her research groups recent highlights, and steps being taken by her department to lower its environmental footprint.The CCI is partnering with the Environmental, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences ( EEAS ) Department and the Rist Institute for Sustainability and Energy ( RISE ) to host the series, which is free and open to the UML community and general public.While we certainly miss gathering with students and colleagues in person, the virtual format of our seminar series will make these important conversations about climate change more accessible to people across the university and our broader community, says CCI Director and EEAS Prof. Juliette Rooney-Varga , who hopes that the discussions will serve as a catalyst for learning about and acting on climate change and sustainability in Lowell and beyond.On Feb. 22,Jennifer Atkinson, an associate professor of environmental humanities at the University of Washington, will explore the emotional toll of climate change and offer strategies for navigating anxiety, grief, guilt, fear and apathy. Atkinson hosts a podcast exploring the emotional impact of climate disruption called Facing It, and her seminar on Climate Anxiety and Eco-Grief was one of the first college courses of its kind in the country.Talks will be held on Mondays at 5 p.m. periodically throughout the spring. Future speakers will be announced on the CCIsand are expected to include: Sheila Tripathy, research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; Eric Friedman, director of the Leading By Example Program in the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources; and Inke Forbich, research scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Rowley, Massachusetts.CCI Program Associate Carolyn McCarthy says theres something in this series for everyone.Due to the virtual format, we were able to engage both national and regional experts to help our campus and community reckon with various dimensions of climate change and sustainability, McCarthy says. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Selbyville, Delaware, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Market Insights, Inc. has recently added a new report on the travel insurance market which estimates the industry valuation of travel insurance will cross US$ 45 billion by 2027. Expanding the tourism industry globally will spur the demand for sophisticated travel insurance packages. Business professionals travel to international destinations several times a year for corporate deals or meetings. This encourages them to undertake travel insurance policies launched for multiple trips. Multi-trip insurance eliminates the hassle of getting a separate plan for every trip, offering enhanced flexibility. These insurance plans cover expenses incurred from last-minute trip cancellations. They also cover medical expenses and costs incurred from lost luggage. Multi-trip insurance plan offered by American Express ensures cashless claim settlement worldwide with a global medical network of preferred hospitals. Several players are offering multi-trip insurance policies for frequent travelers to gain a higher market share in the travel insurance industry. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/4908 There is a high demand for a single travel insurance plan that covers the entire family. This eliminates the need to buy separate plans for every family member, ensuring financial security on foreign trips. A family travel insurance plan safeguards the customers from probable uncertainties and risks that may occur during the travel period at an international destination. These insurance plans protect against loss from ticket cancellations, medical costs, luggage loss, theft, or hotel cancellations. As climate change during international trips can have an adverse impact on the health of children, travel medical insurance covers the costs incurred during such medical emergencies. The travel insurance market in North America was worth over USD 5 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow rapidly from 2021 to 2027. The growth can be attributed to the strong tourism industry in the region attracting several international travelers every year. The government of Canada is also focusing on expanding the tourism market for economic growth. This will boost the demand for travel protection plans that ensure financial security to visitors. There is also a rise in the demand for travel insurance from students relocating to the U.S. for higher education. Some major findings of the travel insurance market report are: Improving economic conditions in several countries have boosted the number of international travelers, propelling the travel insurance market growth. As businesses expand their market presence internationally, there is a rise in the number of professionals undertaking foreign trips for corporate deals. This will upsurge the demand for travel insurance packages from corporate employees. Government organizations launching initiatives to boost international tourism will also fuel the demand for affordable travel insurance plans from travelers. The market will gain traction, with travelers adopting plans for reimbursements in cases of unanticipated events such as flight cancellations, delays or baggage loss. Rise in the number of students pursuing higher education abroad will spur the demand for travel insurance policies launched specifically for the requirements of students. Several insurance companies are introducing travel insurance plans for senior citizens to cover expenses associated with medical emergencies or repatriation in the worst-case scenario of death. Rise in the number of travelers undertaking trips for adventure purposes, such as scuba diving, snorkeling or hiking, will upsurge the demand for sophisticated travel medical insurance plans. Request for customization of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/roc/4908 Partial chapters from the report table of contents (TOC): Chapter 2 Executive Summary 2.1 Travel insurance industry 360 synopsis, 2017 2027 2.1.1 Business trends 2.1.2 Regional trends 2.1.3 Type trends 2.1.4 Trip trends 2.1.5 Provider trends 2.1.6 End-use trends Chapter 3 Travel Insurance Industry Insights 3.1 Industry segmentation 3.2 Impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic 3.2.1 Global outlook 3.2.2 Regional outlook 3.2.2.1 North America 3.2.2.2 Europe 3.2.2.3 Asia Pacific 3.2.2.4 Latin America 3.2.2.5 MEA 3.2.3 Industry value chain 3.2.3.1 Research and development 3.2.3.2 Marketing 3.2.3.3 Supply 3.2.4 Competitive landscape 3.2.4.1 Strategy 3.2.4.2 Distribution network 3.2.4.3 Business growth 3.3 Industry ecosystem analysis 3.3.1 License provider 3.3.2 Travel insurance provider 3.3.3 Technology provider 3.3.4 Service provider 3.3.5 Third party payment issuers/provider 3.3.6 Advertising & marketing 3.3.7 Service provider 3.3.8 Distribution channel analysis 3.3.9 End-use landscape 3.3.10 Vendor matrix 3.4 Technological & innovation landscape 3.4.1 IoT, AI and machine learning 3.4.2 Geo-location and GPS 3.4.3 Data analytics 3.5 Regulatory landscape 3.5.1 North America 3.5.2 Europe 3.5.3 Asia Pacific 3.5.4 South America 3.5.5 MEA 3.6 Industry impact forces 3.6.1 Growth drivers 3.6.1.1 Increasing spending on travel protection plans in North America 3.6.1.2 Mandatory travel insurance policies in North America & Europe 3.6.1.3 Development of international trade and overseas business expansion in Asia Pacific 3.6.1.4 Growth in tourism industry in Latin America & MEA 3.6.1.5 Flourishing travel & tourism industry in the MEA 3.6.2 Industry pitfalls & challenges 3.6.2.1 Decline in international travelling activities due to coronavirus pandemics 3.6.2.2 Lack of consumer experiences in terms of its coverages and premium rates 3.7 Growth potential analysis 3.8 Porters analysis 3.8.1 Supplier power 3.8.2 Buyer power 3.8.3 Threat of new entrants 3.8.4 Threat of substitutes 3.8.5 Internal rivalry 3.9 PESTEL analysis About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Thousands of health workers lined up across Nepal to get the coronavirus vaccine Wednesday as the Himalayan nation began its campaign to get the population vaccinated within three months. Nepal received 1 million doses of the vaccine formulated by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured under license by Serum Institute of India as a gift from neighbouring India and plans to vaccinate 430,000 health workers in the next 10 days before expanding the campaign. Nepal is working to get more vaccine doses and hopes to vaccinate the population within three months. Vaccines will be free for Nepalese citizens. The government began vaccinating doctors, nurses, custodians, ambulance drivers and other health workers in 120 centres across Nepal on Wednesday, but the number of centres will double in the next few days, according to the country's Health Minister, Hridayesh Tripathi. He said 12,000 health-related workers would be vaccinated on Wednesday and the daily number would increase in the next few days. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) A Belfast man was today accused of killing his wife in a vicious attack five months ago. Gary Alexander Baird (61) did not appear at Newtownards Magistrates Court however as he is still detained under the Mental Health Order. Baird, with an address at a secure mental health unit at Belfast City Hospital on the Lisburn Road, was charged with the murder of Susan Baird on 16 August last year. The 60-year-old mum-of-four, who was an office administrator for Orangefield Presbyterian Church on Castlereagh Road, was killed at the marital home in a cul-de-sac at Windermere Road in the Four Winds area. Her husband was arrested at the time and the court heard today, that Baird has been detained under the Mental Health Order since that time. Giving evidence to the court, Detective Sergeant Wilson said she believed she could connect Baird to the charge, adding that in normal circumstances, she would be objecting to bail given the vicious and totally unpredictable nature of the offences which give rise to serious concerns about the risk not just to himself but to the public". Read More Defence solicitor Ciaran Toner told the court that since the killing, Baird has been detained under the mental health order and that he was released into police custody on Tuesday evening to be interviewed about the murder, adding that he has since been returned to the hospital unit. The consultant psychiatrist treating Baird, said the solicitor, was of the view that he is not fit for custody in a prison". DS Wilson highlighted however she was concerned about where Baird would go once it was deemed that he no longer needed psychiatric treatment. District Judge Mark Hamill granted bail in the sum of 400 but ordered that Baird must reside at the secure mental health unit or another address approved by police". I have not come across this before so thats the best I can do on an ad hoc basis, said the judge who adjourned the case to 24 February. The Oklahoma Department of Health is still trying to unload a stockpile of hydroxychloroquine an antimalarial drug touted by former President Donald J. Trump as a miracle cure for Covid-19 despite a lack of evidence that it effectively treats the disease that it purchased for $2 million last spring. Mike Hunter, the states attorney general, has been brought on to assist the health department in selling back the drug, Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for Mr. Hunter, said on Tuesday. The state is attempting to sell the stockpile back to the company it purchased it from, FFF Enterprises, a California-based health care distributor, or to find another buyer, Mr. Gerszewski said. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Oklahoma has been trying to unload the stockpile for months. In July, the state health department told News 9, a local TV news station, that it was working to sell it. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 13:52:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NEW DELHI -- India's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,689,527 on Wednesday even as 12,689 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the federal health ministry. According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 153,724 as 137 COVID-19 patients died since Tuesday morning. (India-COVID-19) - - - - GABORONE -- Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) has confirmed the presence of the COVID-19 new variant 501Y.V2 first detected in neighbouring country South Africa. The BITRI said on Tuesday that it confirmed the new variant in collaboration with the National Health Laboratory through nanopore whole genome sequencing technology. (Botswana-COVID-19 Variant) - - - - WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday rescinded Former President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" border policy, which had lead to the separations of thousands of undocumented migrant families. According to a memo issued Tuesday by Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson, federal prosecutors were directed to return to the previous policy of deciding whether to pursue individual cases. "Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding -- effective immediately -- the policy directive," Wilkinson wrote. (US-Politics-Border) - - - - ADDIS ABABA -- The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Tuesday reaffirmed the east African country's commitment to resolving its border dispute with Sudan peacefully. Dina Mufti, spokesperson for MoFA, said Ethiopia gives priority to solving its border dispute with Sudan through peaceful means. (Ethiopia-Sudan-Border Dispute) Enditem She is set to welcome her first child with her husband, Chandler Powell, in the coming months. And on Wednesday, Bindi Irwin shared a sweet message of gratitude on Instagram as the couple prepare for the arrival of their baby daughter. The 22-year-old wildlife conservationist thanked her fans, friends and family for all their support throughout her pregnancy. Thoughtful: On Wednesday, Bindi Irwin shared a sweet message of gratitude on Instagram as she and her husband, Chandler Powell, prepare for the arrival of their baby daughter 'Sharing our deepest gratitude to YOU reading this message as we get ready for our daughter to arrive,' she began her post. 'The support we have received from your kind comments, Chandler's family in Florida, mine in Oregon, friends across the globe, our amazing Australia Zoo family - it means the world to us.' She continued: 'Baby Wildlife Warrior is already so loved and we are eternally grateful. With all my heart, thank you.' Starting a family: The 22-year-old wildlife conservationist thanked her fans, friends and family for all their support throughout her pregnancy. Pictured with her husband, Chandler Alongside her message, the daughter of the late 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin shared a photo of herself cradling her tummy as she posed in her daughter's nursery. Bindi and Chandler announced they were expecting their first child together in August last year, and revealed a month later they were having a girl. Last week, Bindi thrilled fans on Instagram when she showed off her bare baby bump for the first time. Bumping along: Last week, Bindi thrilled fans on Instagram when she showed off her bare baby bump for the first time Bindi shared a photo of her husband, Chandler, kissing her belly. She also included a throwback snap of her parents, Steve and Terri Irwin, striking a similar pose when they were expecting her brother, Robert, in 2003. 'Recreating a very special moment. Third trimester love,' she captioned the post. Industrial land rents will repeat last years upward trend as multinationals continue to relocate their factories to Vietnam, a new report says. The industrial real estate sector is recording the highest growth in decades despite pandemic impacts. Last year, rents rose 7.9 percent year-on-year, and this is likely to be repeated this year, according to a report by real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). Leading brokerage firm SSI Securities Corporation (SSI) also expected industrial rents to rise 7-8 percent in the southern region and 5-6 percent in the north this year. Vietnams real estate rents are still lower than other countries in the Southeast Asia, which is an advantage for growth, the SSI report said. Rents are 25-30 percent lower than Indonesia and Thailand, which are Vietnams rivals in competing for foreign direct investment (FDI), it noted. The growth in rent is set to benefit industrial real estate developers who saw their stock prices rise by an average of 69.7 percent last year as Vietnam reaped the benefits of being one of the few countries that tackled the Covid-19 pandemic effectively. Demand for industrial land had been rising because of the manufacturing shift from China to Vietnam and the pandemic just hastened it, and the pace could pick up further post-pandemic, SSI said. The report noted that in the first quarter of this year Chinas Oppo plans to rent 62.7 hectares of land in the northern province of Bac Ninh, while Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Pegatron is eyeing a similar move in the port town of Hai Phong. Ho Chi Minh City records the highest rents nationwide at $160 per square meter per term, according to real estate consultancy Colliers International. Other southern localities like Long An Province are also seeing rents rising as they emerge as rivals in attracting FDI flows. Su Ngoc Khuong, senior director of real estate service firm Savills Vietnam, said that one factor that will contribute to industrial rents growth this year is the government has ordered localities to expand industrial zones to meet foreign investors demand. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Scranton, PA (18503) Today Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 52F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Cloudy in the evening, then off and on rain showers after midnight. Low 44F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. El Salvadorian pastor leaves NC church sanctuary for first time in 3 years after Biden executive order Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Jose Chicas spent the last three years hiding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a Durham, North Carolina, church. He left the building on Jan. 22 after President Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting all deportations of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States before Nov. 1, 2020, except for national security reasons. God gave the victory today, he told a crowd outside the church. Then he returned home for the first time in over 1,300 days. On Inauguration Day, Biden took several actions related to immigration, including a reversal of former President Donald Trump's executive order that called for stricter immigration enforcement. Homeland Security also issued a memo to pause certain deportations for 100 days. During that time, the department has been directed to review policies and practices concerning immigration enforcement. Before he took refuge in St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church on June 27, 2017, Chicas had lived in the U.S. for 32 years. In 1985, Chicas and his wife fled a violent civil war in El Salvador. After arriving in the U.S., he skipped an asylum hearing after receiving bad legal advice, according to his website. His action led to a deportation order. However, he managed to stay in America because of another approved application for asylum and repeated stays of removal. In the 1990s, he pled guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and domestic abuse, his website says. Chicas became a Christian along with his family in 2002. He became a pastor and reconciled with his wife. Chicas situation with the government also seemed to improve. He checked in with ICE on a monthly basis during his time living in North Carolina. He got a work permit, drivers license and social security number. He also paid taxes. However, at a routine checkup in 2017, ICE officials told Chicas he had to buy a one-way plane ticket back to El Salvador and never come back. Three of Chicas four children are citizens, and the fourth is eligible for work in the U.S. under President Barrack Obamas Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive order. When he came home with the news of his deportation, the Chicas family decided that such a permanent separation between husband and wife, father and children (not to mention between pastor and church community), was not an option, his website states. He suspected ICE suddenly demanded his deportation because of his criminal record from before the 1990s. Pastor Chicas hypothesizes that it was this record, part of the full and difficult life that transformed him into the man he is today, that caused his name to come up for deportation once the new political regime came into power in 2017." To avoid deportation, he left his house and took sanctuary in a church. On weekdays, he washed cars in the church parking lot to support his family. This is jail, you know, because I cant go outside, he told local news outlet WRAL. ICE can arrest illegal immigrants anywhere in the U.S. with a warrant. Its also illegal for anyone to knowingly harbor an illegal immigrant. However, ICE almost never makes arrests in churches. For publicity reasons, immigration enforcement does not like to go into churches, immigration law professor Stephen Yale-Loehr told CNN. ICE designs its policy to ensure that illegal immigrants in need can get help and practice their religious freedom without hesitation. Churches and other places that can help illegal immigrants are sensitive locations with special rules. Enforcement actions at sensitive locations should generally be avoided, and require either prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action, ICEs website says. DHS is committed to ensuring that people seeking to participate in activities or utilize services provided at any sensitive location are free to do so without fear or hesitation. ICEs policy does not address using churches as a long-term shelter from deportation. However, 800 American churches have told Christian group World Church Service that they will act as sanctuaries for illegal immigrants if requested. Approximately 38 people across the U.S. are currently hiding from ICE inside churches. Benchmark indices ended in the red for the fourth consecutive session on January 27 on the back of selling seen in the bank, auto, metal and pharma stocks. At close, the Sensex was down 937.66 points or 1.94% at 47,409.93, and the Nifty was down 271.40 points or 1.91% at 13,967.50. Here are 10 stocks that moved the most: Hindustan Unilever | CMP: Rs 2,403 | The stock ended in the green on January 27. The FMCG major posted a 19 percent year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 1,921 crore for the quarter ended December 2020 backed by strong revenue growth and operating income. The profit in corresponding period was at Rs 1,616 crore. Consolidated revenue from operations grew by 21 percent to Rs 11,872 crore in Q3FY21 compared to Rs 9,808 crore reported in the same period last year. Bank of Baroda | CMP: Rs 72.80 | The stock ended in the red. The bank's net profit was at Rs 1,061.1 crore in the quarter ended December 2020 against loss of Rs 1,407 crore in the same quarter last year. It net interest income (NII) was up 8.6 percent at Rs 7,749 crore versus Rs 7,132 crore, reported CNBC TV18. Its gross NPA was at 8.48 percent against 9.14 percent and net NPA was at 2.39 percent versus 2.51 percent, QoQ. Marico | CMP: Rs 414 | The stock price added a percent after the FMCG firm reported a 13.04 percent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 312 crore for the quarter ended December 2020. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 276 crore in the October-December quarter a year ago. Revenue from operations of the company went up by 16.33 per cent to Rs 2,122 crore during the quarter under review as compared to Rs 1,824 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, Marico said in a BSE filing. Canara Bank | CMP: Rs 130.40 | The share price was down over 2 percent after the bank's net interest income (NII) was down 3.4 percent at Rs 6,081 crore against Rs 6,296.5 crore. It however posted 56.6 percent jump in its Q3 net profit Rs 696.1 crore against Rs 444.4 crore in the quarter ended September 2020. Sterling & Wilson Solar | CMP: Rs 239 | The stock ended in the green after the company successfully commissioned its second project in Oman. The 25 MW solar project was awarded to the company by global energy company Shell. SWSL commissioned this project on time with more than 300,000 safe manhours during the pandemic by following all the necessary safety protocols and measures set by the local authorities. Emami | CMP: Rs 485 | The company reported 44.6 percent YoY jump in its Q3 net profit at Rs 208.9 crore against Rs 144.4 crore in a year ago period. Revenue of the company was up 14.9 percent at Rs 933.6 crore against Rs 812.6 crore. Auto stocks end in the red | Share price of auto companies ended in the red on January 27 despite the government approving scrappage policy. Government vehicles older than 15 years will also be scrapped as per the vehicle scrappage policy approved on January 25, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' (MoRTH) has confirmed. Tejas Networks | CMP: Rs 139 | The stock added over a percent after the company signed a multi-year contract with Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a leading independent private company providing Telecommunications infrastructure, managed & engineering services across Afghanistan, as per company release. Chennai Petroleum | CMP: Rs 95.70 | The stock tumbled 20 percent after the company reported a Rs 556.44 crore loss in the December quarter due to lower refinery run and tax expenses. CPCL had reported a Rs 290.58 crore profit in the same period a year ago. Revenue from operations fell to Rs 11,458.32 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 11,965.01 crore in the previous quarter of the last fiscal. Her father Steve Irwin tragically died in September 2006 at the age of 44, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland. And several years after his death, his daughter Bindi, 22, revealed how she really felt about the creature responsible for his death. In a resurfaced interview with the late Larry King, the Wildlife Warrior admitted that she holds no resentments towards stingrays. Revealed: Several years after Steve Irwin's death, his daughter Bindi, 22, revealed how she really feels about the animal responsible 'I don't, I honestly don't It was just a crazy accident that happened,' she said. 'Stingrays are really beautiful animals. Dad loved them, we love them and they are important to our environment. And I know dad would be the first person to say "I love stingrays".' However, When Larry asked if there was an animal that Bindi doesn't like, the brunette gave quite a surprising response. Heartbreaking: Steve Irwin tragically died in September 2006 at the age of 44, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary in Batt Reef, Queensland Speaking on behalf of his sister, brother Robert said: 'There is one animal Bindi really dislikes but this animal is interesting because you wouldnt expect it.' Bindi chimed in: 'I like them, I just struggle with them.' When Larry asked what it was, Bindi admitted she fears bees and wasps adding: 'I always seem to be stung by them'. Revelation: However, When Larry asked if there was an animal that Bindi doesn't like, the brunette gave quite a surprising response. The young Wildlife Warrior said she wasn't a fan of bees. Pictured with her brother Robert Bindi is prepared to welcome her first child, a daughter, with husband Chandler Powell in the coming months. And on Wednesday, the wildlife conservationist thanked her fans, friends and family for all their support throughout her pregnancy in a sweet Instagram post. 'Sharing our deepest gratitude to YOU reading this message as we get ready for our daughter to arrive,' she began her post. Thoughtful: On Wednesday, Bindi Irwin shared a sweet message of gratitude on Instagram as she and her husband, Chandler Powell, prepare for the arrival of their baby daughter 'The support we have received from your kind comments, Chandler's family in Florida, mine in Oregon, friends across the globe, our amazing Australia Zoo family - it means the world to us.' She continued: 'Baby Wildlife Warrior is already so loved and we are eternally grateful. With all my heart, thank you.' Bindi and Chandler announced they were expecting their first child together in August last year, and revealed a month later they were having a girl. Paul has produced nine feature films and strives for equality and diversity throughout his company both on-set and in his screenplays. Multi-award-winning Film producer and writer Paul G. Andrews, CEO of GlobalWatch Films, started his TV career-making business films, producing over 300 in five years, before moving into feature films. Paul tells us more about interviewing world leaders, how he got started in film production, and his favourite projects to date. Also about working with great writers, his future projects such as 'The Great Hunger', 'Gorger', talking about the winning Best Film award at the Cardiff International Film Festival and how he's gained focus during the pandemic. Film production beginnings Sabina: How did you get started in film production? Paul: I used to run a television production company that produced documentaries and corporate videos for many industries, predominantly financial institutions. I interviewed many high-profile leaders, including former Russian deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov, the then president of Ethiopia, Girma Wolde-Giorgis, and Nigeria's ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo. One day, one of my contractors came to me with several of his screenplays, and I decided to produce one of them. Since I was a child, I've loved films, so the opportunity to get involved in the industry was exciting. After that, I wanted to get more experience in the field, so I executive-produced several feature films before writing and co-writing more screenplays of my own. Best projects to date Sabina: What are your favourite projects to date? Paul: I would have to say our Anglo-Indian film 'Boogie Man', as it's a fun family film with some great actors, great music and an even better story. We won the Best Film award at the Cardiff International Film Festival, which was an incredible achievement, and the film has now won over 53 awards at international film festivals. Upcoming projects Sabina: Tell us more about your upcoming projects. Paul: We have three big projects coming up. The first, 'The Great Hunger', is a historical epic about the Irish famine. It's co-written by Thomas Keneally, Roland Joffe (who is also directing it), award-winning novelist Meg Keneally and myself. We're in the process of attaching an A-list cast, so watch this space! The third film we're working on is 'Gorger', a gritty revenge thriller I wrote about a career criminal who teams up with a warring gypsy community after an old underworld colleague murders his son. All three projects have won numerous Best Screenplay awards at international film festivals, so we're looking forward to making them into award-winning movies. . Erik Thomson describes his culinary repertoire as rustic. When the actor-producer gets busy in the kitchen of his South Australian home, he says, Im not a fine-dining cook and I dont have a huge array of recipes. What I think I do quite well is the Jamie Oliver-esque stuff, beef bourguignons, shepherds pies. I love cooking in winter because I love hearty food. Maybe its my Scottish heritage. In the new six-part comedy Aftertaste, Thomsons character is less genial Jamie Oliver than volatile Gordon Ramsay. His Michelin-starred restaurateur Easton (formerly Jimmy) West has the kind of volcanic temper indelibly associated with the Scotland-born chef. Trained in the classical French tradition, Eastons worked his way through the ranks from dish-pig to international renown. However, as the series begins, a meltdown in his new eatery a response to criticism that sees him hurling profanities, punches and a pig carcass ruins his reputation, shatters his empire and sends him back to his South Australian hometown of Uraidla. Erik Thomson plays angry chef Easton West in the new ABC drama Aftertaste. Credit:ABC Thomson concedes that some of the fancy knife skills seen on screen might not be him. But while he cant julienne vegetables like a maestro, he has become one of the best-known faces on Australian TV following his time as Dr Mitch on the hospital drama All Saints, a stint as Australias favourite dad, sparkie Dave Rafter, on Packed to the Rafters, and widowed father George Turner in 800 Words. Over the past year, as the industry has been afflicted by shutdowns, hes been busy with culinary comedy and shooting a sequel, Back to the Rafters, for Amazon Prime. Actors are probably like cockroaches, he chuckles, modestly understating how highly sought he is. Were survivors because this is normal for us: having work taken away from us, not knowing whats going to happen next week. Some Philadelphia public school students will be eligible to return to classrooms in late February, nearly a full year after COVID-19 shut buildings but before teachers are fully vaccinated. About 9,000 prekindergarten through second-grade students can come back two days a week beginning Feb. 22, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Wednesday. Their teachers are expected to report Feb. 8 to begin preparations for in-person learning. Many of Philadelphias 120,000 students are low-income, have special needs, are English-language learners, or vulnerable in other ways, and the pandemic has hit them especially hard, meaning a safe return to school is imperative, Hite said. Escalating violence and feelings of isolation are all tragic consequences of the pandemic, further threatening the health and well-being of our young people, he said. Resuming in-person learning opportunities is a crucial step to help restore a much-needed sense of familiarity, community, and connectedness for students and families. READ MORE: Get Phillys kids back in classrooms as soon as possible, Kenney and City Council tell School District It will be the districts third attempt at a return to buildings. Over the summer, Hite said the school year would begin with students eligible to spend two days in school if their families chose that option; that plan was scrapped after intense pushback from parents and teachers. Then, a return was scheduled for Nov. 30, but a COVID-19 surge halted that restart. There are no guarantees this time, either. Reaction to the new plan was swift and mixed. Teachers were largely wary. Some parents are upset they cant send their young children back because they opted for a full virtual model and are locked into that choice for now. And others are eager for children to return as soon as possible. Lynn Watson, whose son attends AMY Northwest, is disappointed Semaj, a sixth grader, cant return in February. Its his first year at the middle school, and hes never met most of his classmates or any of his teachers. Some kids need more hands-on learning, said Watson. My son cooperates better when hes in school. Parents were asked in the fall about returning their kids to school. At the time, two-thirds of eligible families chose to keep their children learning at home. At most schools, kids opting for the hybrid model will attend school either Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday. All students will be fully remote on Wednesdays. The return only applies to students whose families opted for in-person learning in the fall, when the district intended to return kids to buildings in late November. Parents who wanted to keep their students fully remote in the fall but have changed their minds will have to wait until more children are phased in to switch from virtual to hybrid learning, the district said. The superintendent has said he will prioritize students with special needs, young people in career and technical education programs, and kids learning English as more students are brought back to classrooms, but no dates have been announced for when those children might return. Determinations will be made based on lessons learned from the prekindergarten through second grade reopening, he said. Hites timetable and a widespread COVID-19 vaccine shortage mean teachers will be asked to return before they have received a single dose of the vaccine. Officials said this week they will work with a health-care partner to make vaccines available to Philadelphia teachers regardless of where they live, but those plans are not firm, and the vaccine wont be available to them for weeks. Employees who work directly with prekindergarten through second grade, about 9,000 workers in all, will be prioritized in those inoculations. We will continue to advocate for district staff to have access to the vaccine as soon as possible, Hite said. While taking the vaccine will not be mandatory for staff, we hope as many people as possible choose to get vaccinated when they are able to, as an extra layer of safety for themselves and others around them. Hite and Gail Carter-Hamilton, pediatric resource manager with the Philadelphia Department of Health, stressed that mitigation protocols will be in place to keep those in schools safe masking, frequent handwashing, extra cleaning, health screenings. We believe it is safe for children to return to school, said Carter-Hamilton. She said that of the 200 city private and parochial schools that have returned to in-person instruction, there have been 19 cases of in-school spread. The plans are further complicated by the districts significant environmental issues. Some Philadelphia schools have no mechanical ventilation at all. Opened windows and fans will be used to circulate air in some cases. District leaders said no room or school will be used if its not safe. Make no mistake: Reopening will likely have hiccups, Hite said. Classrooms, isolated schools, or the entire system may have to close again if outbreaks occur. Our school leaders have planned ahead for these circumstances and are ready to support smooth transitions between hybrid and digital learning models when needed, added Hite. We must all be prepared for and expect these changing realities, and be flexible and patient with one another as we navigate them together. Several members of City Council attended Wednesdays virtual news conference, a week after many publicly called for the district to bring students back. Councilmember Maria Quinones-Sanchez said although this is not going to be easy, school is the safest place for students, and Hite had made the right call. Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Wednesday he has serious concerns about the February return and does not have enough information about building conditions to definitively tell his members its safe to return to work in school buildings. I need assurances that schools are safe, and I dont have them yet, Jordan said. Our goal is for kids to be able to go back and for staff to be able to go back, but they need to go back to schools that are safe. Jordan declined to say what would happen if Hite insisted on a return to school before teachers are vaccinated. In Chicago, the teachers union has told its members to stay home, defying a district order to report to work, in a standoff over building conditions. The school system there has suspended in-person classes over the dispute, and a strike is possible. Jordan also wants teachers to be fully vaccinated before returning to buildings. Classes have been remote for nearly a year, Jordan said, and teachers have established routines. Why not keep them in place a little bit longer, until we can get the vaccine and resolve all of the questions regarding building conditions? Hite said that if all teachers and school staff were to be fully vaccinated or offered vaccinations before returning to school 19,000 employees in all reopening might not happen at all this school year. Eric Hitchner, who works at Building 21, a district high school, doesnt yet have a return-to-work date. But the idea of going back to school without a vaccine is worrisome, he said. The new strain has got me pretty freaked out, and were this close to getting a vaccine, said Hitchner. It strikes me as a bad time to go back. READ MORE: The wait for a vaccine is frustrating teachers and adding uncertainty to school reopening plans (Natural News) An investigation into the origin of covid-19 has uncovered a final trail of evidence that directly links Dr. Anthony Fauci and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to get unethical gain-of-function research on coronaviruses. The gain-of-function research that was conducted at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China was intended to engineer highly contagious viruses to learn about treatments and vaccines to understand how to respond to an actual outbreak. The team that made this research possible was Americas very own public health experts at the NIAID, led by none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci, the number one expert in infectious diseases and leader of the federal coronavirus task force. Fauci continued gain of function coronavirus research by secretly subcontracting it The original gain-of-function research goes back ten years, with a Netherlands study that involved ferrets. The researchers wanted to see if coronaviruses could be genetically manipulated so they could be transferred through the air. After demonstrating airborne transmission with ferrets, the researchers wanted to replicate contagion in humans. This opened up an entirely new, controversial science that involved manipulation in the genetic code of viruses. It was Dr. Fauci and the NIAID who funded the first ferret study. Ten years ago, Fauci co-wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post praising the research as a risk worth taking. He wrote, Important information and insight can come from generating a potentially dangerous virus in the laboratory The Wuhan virologists found that they could force an influenza virus to mutate and spread via aerosol droplets by injecting the virus from one ferret to another. By engineering the most lethal viruses in a laboratory setting, researchers believed they could better understand how to invent treatments and vaccines in the case of a real outbreak. The Obama Administration put a halt on gain-of-function virology research in 2014, for fear of viruses leaking from the laboratory. This opened up an opportunity for Dr. Anthony Fauci to subcontract gain-of-function research on coronaviruses. Fauci concealed ongoing research through New Yorks Eco Health Alliance. Dr. Fauci funded a project there to learn about the risk of new coronaviruses, and how they could emerge from wild animals to rapidly infect humans. Dr. Fauci used the cover of EcoHealth Alliance to subcontract the research to Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology. In order to continue receiving money, the head of the Wuhan lab, Dr. Shi Zhengli, reported back to Fauci on the progress they were making on coronaviruses. Fauci, and the criminal network behind covid-19 Fauci commissioned Eco Health to find out what viruses could infect both animals and humans, using experimental genetic studies and virus infection experiments across a range of cell cultures from different species and humanized mice. Fauci commissioned and funded Peter Daszak, the zoologist who first discovered the bat origin of SARS ten years ago. Daszak off-shored a key part of the research to the Wuhan Institute of Virology under lab director Shi Zhengli, who was responsible for collecting bat samples. Fauci ordered the institute to collect several samples of bat feces in caves. After isolating several coronaviruses from the bat feces, the Chinese virologists analyzed and sequenced their genetic information. Finally, they built genetically engineered viruses, or chimeras, and they went on to infect human cells, showing how the man-made viruses replicated. These genetic changes unlocked a unique doorway that allowed the virus to infect human cells with ease. The virus is known to attach to human cells ten to twenty times tighter than the first SARS virus. Until now, the only reporting of Dr. Faucis role in all of this has been his funding of the Wuhan lab in general, said Steve Hilton, Fox News journalist. But tonight we can go further thanks to this paper. We can see the specific activity that Dr. Fauci funded and it is terrifying so terrifying that after we reached out to NIH this paper was mysteriously taken off-line on Friday for a while. But we downloaded it weeks ago. Hilton is calling on Fauci to step down from his role as chief science advisor to the Biden administration until Americans can learn more about Faucis role in the covid-19 pandemic. Fauci must be held to account for off-shoring and guiding unethical, banned gain-of-function virus research. Sources include: BizPacReview.com PubMed.gov NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov FoxNews.com ProjectReporter.NIH.gov Scottish diversified farming businesses have warned that proposed regulations for short-term let accommodation could have 'disastrous consequences' for the rural economy. The regulations would create a new licensing system, and are devised to tackle anti-social behaviour and lack of housing in primarily urban areas. But rural businesses fear that if accepted, they could have 'unintended consequences' for self-caterers, B&Bs, and small firms in rural areas. The regulations are being analysed by the Scottish Parliaments Local Government and Communities Committee, and are due for consideration in early February. With the tourism sector in the grip of economic crisis caused by the pandemic, Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has urged the committee to vote against them as they 'put jobs and livelihoods at risk'. Under the plans, huts, glamping pods, wooden lodges and yurts deemed essential to Scotlands rural economy would face 'unnecessary and costly regulations'. All short-term let operators could be asked to pay a licence fee of potentially 1,000 every year, plus an annual monitoring fee and possibly further planning fees. Gavin Mowat, policy adviser for the rural business group, said businesses based in the countryside 'needed support, not further uncertainty'. Livelihoods of many in the sector are already hanging by a thread due to the Covid crisis," Mr Mowat said. "If, and when cash flows return to normal, rural businesses from self-catering cottages to yurt or glamping pod operators will have to plan for a future in which operating costs increase without any real benefit." He added that the proposals would introduce new red tape for B&Bs: "Bureaucracy that would prove not only an inconvenience, but which could cost operators up to 5,000 in upgrades to meet the required licensing standards. Forcing unwelcome and unnecessary regulations on small rural businesses, the lifeblood of our communities, will not solve problems with anti-social behaviour or lack of residential housing in Edinburgh " Greater care should have been taken to tackle the root causes of these issues without impacting our important rural tourism sector. We strongly urge the committee to vote against these regulations, Mr Mowat said. Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE For years, minor party candidates in New Mexico have been largely relegated to afterthought status, only rarely affecting high-profile state races. But that could change under a legislative proposal to bring back fusion voting, which would allow minor parties there are five such parties in New Mexico to nominate a major partys nominee for the general election ballot. Eric Griego, a former state senator, said the system is already used by several other states and provides more information to voters about candidates values since they could, in theory, be nominated by several parties for the same election. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ If the law had been in place for the 2020 election cycle, for instance, minor parties could have also nominated Joe Biden or Donald Trump as their candidate of choice for the presidential election. Thats not allowable under New Mexicos current election laws, which force candidates to choose and voters to choose, said Griego, who is the state director of New Mexico Working Families, a progressive-leaning minor political party with progressive views. This years legislation, Senate Bill 100, is sponsored by Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque, and is awaiting its first committee hearing. Under the bill, candidates would get all the votes cast for them, but vote results would be broken down by political party. In addition, a candidate would be able to decline a minor partys endorsement, Griego said. The idea of fusion voting holds appeal to young voters such as Samuel Nevarez, a 27-year-old student at Central New Mexico Community College, who said many younger New Mexicans feel disillusioned by whats essentially a two-party system. I just feel like this would be a good step in the direction of having young voters feel like their voices are heard, Nevarez told the Journal. As of December, there were nearly 1.4 million registered voters in New Mexico. Of that amount, 293,151 or 21.6% of all voters were independent voters who declined to state a party affiliation. And many of those independent voters are younger, according to New Mexico voter registration data. The five minor parties in New Mexico are the Green Party, the Better for America Party, the Constitution Party, the New Mexico Working Families Party and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The three major parties for the 2020 election cycle were the Republican Party, Democratic Party and Libertarian Party, which was elevated to major party status in 2018. I do believe Democrats were caught off guard by McConnells willingness to make a fight over the filibuster essentially the first order of business. They were celebrating their election wins and return to power, and wham, their nemesis was standing in their way again. It was classic McConnell, using a moment of maximum leverage to try to extract something from Democrats. But Chuck Schumer, the new majority leader, knew he could not cave to McConnell at the start. Once McConnell saw that Democrats were not going to budge, he began looking for a way out and seized on promises by two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, to not support any effort to get rid of the filibuster. They had been saying it for months, but it provided an exit and an end to the impasse for the Republicans. Definitely a defeat for McConnell. Ending the filibuster remains a possible weapon for the Democrats. How are Democrats responding? Is there a degree to which McConnells decision could backfire, by making even moderate Democrats worried that he will grind things to a halt if they keep the filibuster in place? Democrats are definitely happy they can move on. Many have been waiting for years to chair committees, so this is a very big deal for them. But this fight is far from over. Democratic strategists think McConnell overreached and just put more focus on the filibuster and the likelihood that Republicans will try to block many of the new administrations initiatives. Progressive groups that want to get rid of the filibuster so Democrats can do things like expand the Supreme Court and make the District of Columbia a state say they are going to keep up their drive. The Democratic votes are not there at the moment to overturn the filibuster. But a concerted campaign by Republicans to block big Biden moves on the pandemic, immigration and climate change could change some minds. This will probably take months, if not longer, to play out. A Bethlehem man pleaded guilty Wednesday in Northampton County Court to kidnapping an 84-year-old woman hed just seen win at a casino slot machine, and robbing her of $7. Hykeem Sessoms, 39, was immediately sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison under the terms of a negotiated plea deal, District Attorney Terry Houcks office announced. Sessoms had been scheduled to face trial in March in the 2019 crime. Members of the victims family were in court for Wednesdays plea and sentencing, according to the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Julianne Danchak. Judge Samuel Murray sentenced Sessoms to consecutive terms of six to 12 years on each count of kidnapping and robbery. Sessoms was also ordered to pay $91.02 in restitution to the victim for the medical treatment she received as a result of the incident, according to the prosecutors office. To anyone contemplating taking advantage of our senior citizens, let this serve as an example of the swift and immense consequences you will face as a result, Danchak told lehighvalleylive.com. We will stop at nothing to protect our vulnerable populations. Sessoms in a brief statement before the court apologized for his actions, which he attributed to substance abuse issues, according to Danchak. He also voiced hope that during his incarceration he will be able to receive treatment for mental health and substance abuse problems, she said. A call for comment to Sessons public defender was not immediately returned. The crime occurred Dec. 11, 2019, after the victim went to Wind Creek Bethlehem for senior day, where senior citizens are entered into a raffle to receive $500 of free slots play, the district attorneys office said in a news release. Around 2 p.m., the victim won a sum of money at a slot machine she was playing and immediately went to cash out. Unknown to her, Sessoms had been watching her and followed her, standing behind her as she collected her winnings, the release states. He followed her as she left through the lobby of the Southside Bethlehem casino and entered the third floor of the parking garage. As she was walking to her car, she was approached from behind by the Defendant who told her that he had a gun, that he would kill her, and demanded her money, the release states. When she refused, he kicked her in the shin causing her to fall into her car. He immediately entered her vehicle and ordered her to get in and to drive. As the victim drove out of the casino, Sessoms pulled the hood on her jacket over her head and repeatedly struck her in the side of the head while continuing to demand her money, the release states. Sessoms, who was living in the 1800 block of Watkins Street in Bethlehem, told the woman where to drive before grabbing her purse and removing seven $1 bills. Around Easton Avenue and Jennings Street in Northeast Bethlehem, Sessoms threw her car into park and fled with her $7. The manhunt that followed led to lock-ins and dismissal delays at Bethlehem schools before he was taken into custody. Sessoms has been incarcerated since the incident. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. BANGKOK (AP) An 80-year-old writer accused of defaming Thailand's monarchy in 2015 because of comments he made at a public seminar about the constitution was acquitted Tuesday by the Criminal Court. The court ruled that Bundit Aneeya had not violated the lese majeste law because he had not specifically referred to royalty and had not used rude language. The punishment for violating the law is three to 15 years imprisonment on each count. The court last week gave a record sentence of 43 1/2 years under the law to a woman arrested six years ago who posted audio clips online deemed critical of the monarchy. The former civil servant had her nominal sentence of 87 years halved because she pleaded guilty. In the past two months, the authorities have pursued lese majeste cases against at least 54 people, according to the legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. They acted after growing public criticism of the monarchy, once virtually unknown, by a youth-led pro-democracy movement. The protest movement seeks reform of the monarchy, which it says is unaccountable and has excessive power in what is supposed to be a democratic constitutional monarchy. After King Maha Vajralongkorn took the throne in 2016 following his fathers death, he informed the government that he did not wish to see the lese majeste law used. But as the protests grew last year and criticism of the monarchy got harsher, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha warned a line had been crossed and the law would be used. Bundit was prosecuted for saying at a seminar at Bangkoks Thammasat University that Human value and dignity of Thais must be higher than dust under someones feet. By tradition, Thai citizens who see themselves as subjects of the king refer to themselves as the dust under your feet when formally addressing the monarch. The seminar was convened by an activist group opposed to the junta that took power in a 2014 military coup, and solicited public comments on a draft constitution to replace the one nullified in the army takeover. Story continues Police and military agents monitored the meeting and took Bundit into custody as soon as he made a proposal for five principles that should be enshrined in the charter, including human dignity. He was formally accused only in 2017, when a military prosecutor alleged that his remark was a derogatory reference to the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The lese majeste law is supposed to cover the king, his immediate family and any regent, but has sometimes been applied more broadly. It was the third lese majeste case filed against Bundit, who is in poor health. He was convicted in one previous case, for which he received a suspended sentence, and acquitted in the other. The idea that crude oil could ever again hit three-digit price levels may sound ridiculous at a time when slack demand amid a pandemic has oil stuck in the $50s. Yet one thing any market is not is static, and many expect vaccines to boost demand before this years end. In fact, some are warning about a looming oil deficit. And Big Oil is slashing exploration activities. Reuters reported this week, citing data from Rystad Energy, that new onshore and offshore lease acquisitions by the worlds top five oil companies fell to the lowest in at least five years in 2020. Of course, much of this decline was caused by the pandemic, but it is also the pandemic that is spurring a potentially permanent change in the agenda of Big Oil. BP has decimated its oil and gas exploration team, another report by Reuters, citing company sources, also revealed this week. From more than 700 a few years ago, there were now fewer than 100 people in this team, with the rest either laid off or moved to low-carbon energy divisionsBPs top priority for the future. The winds have turned very chilly in the exploration team since Looneys arrival. This is happening incredibly fast, Reuters quoted one company employee from the exploration team as saying. Perhaps the reduction in exploration activities is fully justified by the change in priorities for BP and its peers. Big Oil is all about renewable energy, EV charging, and energy storage now. All European supermajors have some plan or other for an oil production reduction over the long term. BP eyes a cut of 1 million bpd by 2030, for example. Related: The Surprising Rise And Fall Of A Shale Superstar The change in priorities for the European supermajors is largely driven by the European push for an energy transition that aims to dethrone oiland later gasfrom their top spot as energy sources in favor of solar and wind. Asian economies also have ambitious plans in this direction, which must have helped Big Oils motivation. Yet, there is a small chance they may have overestimated the pace of the energy transition. Recently, a German think tank rejoiced about Europes latest achievement in the transition: renewable energy accounted for a bigger portion of Europes power generation than fossil fuels for the first time. At 38 percent, wind, solar, and hydro beat oil, coal, and gas by a percentage point. And yet, it may be fair to mention the overall energy demand slump the pandemic caused last year, which may have well played a part in Europes energy supply situation change. We saw evidence of this very recently: earlier this month, a typical winter cold spell in Europe pushed natural gas prices to multi-year highs as wind power generation declined. Solar is generally not at its best during the winter. Regarding oil, practically every bank and energy consultancy forecasts a rebound in demand as soon as enough people are vaccinated for life to begin to return to normal. That strong oil demand is still part of the normal should be telling enough: the energy transition will not happen as fast as many may hope, including some Big Oil supermajors. The bullish oil demand forecasts have given rise to warnings about a possible deficit coming as soon as this year. This may or may not happen, but such warnings do hint at the possibility that Big Oil, with its fast shedding of new oil and gas exploration, might just be putting the cart in front of the horse on the whole energy transition issue. Even with the EUs intentions to discourage investments in oil and gas production globally. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: On nights leading up to a full moon, people go to bed later and sleep for shorter periods of time, a new study reveals. US researchers observed the same variations in both the time of sleep onset and the duration of sleep among indigenous people living in rural settings and college students in urban settings. Sleep cycles generally oscillated during the 29.5-day lunar cycle, during which time the moon gradually goes from being effectively invisible (a new moon), to a full bright, gleaming sphere (full moon), and back again. Nights leading up to the full moon resulted in less sleep and going to sleep later, the experts found, while nights leading to the new moon led to longer sleeps and earlier turn-ins. The experts say evenings leading up to the full moon have more natural moonlight available after dusk, acting as something of a surrogate for sunlight but this can be disturbed by our access to electricity. The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth, but the lunar phase cycle (from new Moon to new Moon) is 29.5 days 'We see a clear lunar modulation of sleep, with sleep decreasing and a later onset of sleep in the days preceding a full moon,' said study author Horacio de la Iglesia at the University of Washington. 'Although the effect is more robust in communities without access to electricity, the effect is present in communities with electricity, including undergraduates at the University of Washington.' During the 29.5-day lunar cycle, humans on Earth observe a new moon, a waxing moon (when the amount of illumination on the moon is increasing), a full moon and then a waning moon (when its visible surface area is getting smaller). The waxing moon is increasingly brighter as it progresses toward a full moon, and generally rises in the late afternoon or early evening, placing it high in the sky during the evening after sunset. The latter half of the full moon phase and waning moons also give off significant light in the middle of the night, as the moon rises so late in the evening at those points in the lunar cycle. Images show the new moon, waxing moon, full moon and waning moon as they look during the 29.5-day lunar cycle 'We hypothesise that the patterns we observed are an innate adaptation that allowed our ancestors to take advantage of this natural source of evening light that occurred at a specific time during the lunar cycle,' said lead author Leandro Casiraghi, a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Biology. For their study, research tracked both indigenous communities in northern Argentina to University of Washington college students in Seattle, the US. Using wrist monitors, the team firstly tracked sleep patterns among 98 individuals living in three Toba-Qom Indigenous communities in the Argentine province of Formosa. Using wrist monitors to collect sleep data, as opposed to user-reported sleep diaries or other methods, would mean more reliable data to analyse. The three communities differed in their access to electricity during the study period the first was a rural community that had no electricity access. The second was another rural community, which had only limited access to electricity (such as a single source of artificial light in dwellings). Lastly, the third community was located in an urban setting and had full access to electricity. Research shows that on nights before a full moon, people sleep less and go to bed later on average. The pattern's ubiquity, which was observed in urban and rural settings, may indicate that our natural circadian rhythms are somehow synchronised with the phases of the lunar cycle For nearly three-quarters of the Toba-Qom participants, researchers collected sleep data for one to two whole lunar cycles. Past studies by de la Iglesia's team and other research groups have shown that access to electricity impacts sleep, which the researchers also observed in their study. Study participants in all three communities also showed the same sleep oscillations as the moon progressed through its 29.5-day cycle. Depending on the community, the total amount of sleep varied across the lunar cycle by an average of 46 to 58 minutes, and bedtimes by around 30 minutes. For all three communities, on average, people had the latest bedtimes and the shortest amount of sleep during the three to five nights leading up to a full moon. When they discovered this pattern among the Toba-Qom participants, the team analysed sleep-monitor data from 464 Seattle-area college students that had been collected for a separate study and found the same oscillations. The variations were less pronounced in individuals living in urban environments, however. 'Certain subtleties of the lunar rhythms that seem to fade away or diminish with increasing level of access to electricity,' Casiraghi told MailOnline. Whether the moon affects our sleep has been a controversial issue among scientists many consider the idea that we are in some way innately connected to the moon as pseudoscience. Some studies also hint at lunar effects only to be contradicted by others. Regardless, this study showed a clear pattern that will impact sleep research moving forward, according to researchers. 'In general, there has been a lot of suspicion on the idea that the phases of the moon could affect a behaviour such as sleep,' said Casiraghi. 'Even though in urban settings with high amounts of light pollution, you may not know what the moon phase is unless you go outside or look out the window. 'Future research should focus on: Is it acting through our innate circadian clock? Or other signals that affect the timing of sleep? There is a lot to understand about this effect.' The findings may also explain why access to electricity causes such pronounced changes to our sleep patterns. Generally, humans don't use artificial light to 'advance' the morning, like we do to prolong the evenings. "In general, artificial light disrupts our innate circadian clocks in specific ways it makes us go to sleep later in the evening, it makes us sleep less,' said de la Iglesia. 'Those are the same patterns we observed here with the phases of the moon.' The research has been published in Science Advances. Following a successful launch of its Automated Drive Series last year, ADAS and automated driving research firm VSI Labs is partnering with the American Center for Mobility (ACM) to debut a new initiative, Destination ACM. Destination ACM will consist of a quarterly long-distance drive utilizing VSIs research vehicles throughout 2021. Each drive will launch from VSIs Minneapolis headquarters, following various driving routes to ACM, where a day of testing and demonstration will be conducted at the 500+ acre facility. Located in Southeast Michigan, ACM is a mobility hub with a smart mobility test center supporting innovative research, testing and validation of mobility products and technologies. VSI has leveraged ACMs facilities and expertise extensively over the past two years. Were looking forward to enhancing our partnership through this new series, said Phil Magney, Founder & President of VSI. Industry professionals will be invited to attend and experience the on-site testing and demonstrations at open-house style events. Others who are not present can watch a live vehicle feed online, broadcasted via VSIs telemetry visualizer - a full sensor broadcast with telemetry data, classifications, and free space detections based on precise positioning, lidar, radar, and cameras. Those in attendance will be able to learn more about ACMs full suite of testing capabilities including simulation tools, physical facilities and test equipment, engineering services, and more about VSI and the proof of concept testing they conduct. ACM is the premiere destination for leading automotive and technology companies looking to test and validate their ADAS and automated driving technologies, and this project is a great demonstration of that. We are thrilled to host VSI and showcase the kind of important and highly scientific work that can be done at ACM to help move mobility technologies forward, said Reuben Sarkar, President & CEO of ACM. While these events will be largely in-person, the health and safety of all involved are top-of-mind. All face-to-face engagements will comply with CDC guidelines in a safe, socially distanced way, and guests will be staggered to limit large gatherings. In fact, the intimate, hands-on nature of these events may be even more valuable to guests than a traditional conference, because what they can see and learn about is so tangible. Destination ACM will kick off in the Spring of 2021. Those interested in following along can follow VSI and ACM on LinkedIn, or learn more at https://vsi-labs.com/destination-acm/. About VSI Labs: Established in 2014 by Phil Magney, VSI Labs is one of the industrys top advisors on AV technologies, supporting major automotive companies and suppliers worldwide. VSIs research and lab activities have fostered a comprehensive breakdown of the AV ecosystem through hands-on development of its own automated vehicle platform. VSI also conducts functional validation of critical enablers including sensors, domain controllers, and AV software development kits. Learn more about VSI Labs at https://vsi-labs.com/. About American Center for Mobility: American Center for Mobility is a collaborative effort comprised of government, industry, and academic organizations. ACM is focused on accelerating the mobility industry through research, testing, standards development, and educational workforce programming. Located in Southeast Michigan on over 500-acres at the historic Willow Run site, the ACM offers a global smart mobility test center providing a safe platform for the integration and testing of emerging vehicle and mobility technologies, environments for showcasing vehicle technologies and convening industry activities, and an innovation technology campus for the co-location of mobility companies. For more information, visit https://acmwillowrun.org. Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has briefed the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Susanna Terstal on the efforts exerted by Egypt to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. According to an official statement by the foreign ministry on Wednesday, Shoukry briefed Terstal on Cairos communications with the Palestinian and Israeli sides and other international frameworks, the latest being a quartet meeting earlier this month with regional and international counterparts. Earlier this month, Cairo hosted a quartet meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers of Germany, Jordan and France to discuss coordination and consultation to push the Middle East peace process forward. Cairo supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as the only way to reach a just solution to the Palestinian issue. Shoukry also discussed with the EU representative efforts by Cairo to facilitate Palestinian reconciliation, stressing the necessity of translating the current positive climate into practice. He expressed his confidence in continued European support to the Palestinian cause on all levels, including under the framework of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Terstal briefed Shoukry on the outcome of her talks with various concerned parties, and presented the European vision for reviving negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. She praised Egypts role in supporting the peace process in the Middle East and the level of the current coordination with the EU. Short link: Indian markets fell sharply today to end at one-month low, with BSE Sensex closing 937 points lower at 47,409 in its biggest one-day selloff since December 21. In just four sessions, Sensex has lost about 2,400 points, giving up all the gains of this year. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell nearly 2% to finish at 13,967. Here are 10 updates about Indian markets: 1) "We had two consecutive days of FII selling in the market. It appears that the market is a bit apprehensive of some budget tax proposals which may not be market-friendly. We don't know. So it makes sense to wait for the budget and then take a call on investment strategy," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 2) Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth 765.30 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data. On Friday, they had sold over 600 crore. 3) However, Vijayakumar of Geojit Financial Services noted that IMF revising global GDP growth upwards and India's growth to 11.5% in 2021 is "good news. The sharp turnaround in growth will ensure that the current trend of impressive corporate results will sustain. L&T's results, particularly the order book, bodes well not only for the company but also for the economy." 5) "The market valuations have become stretched and most of the positives are factored in the price. The upcoming budget will be a tight rope walk for the government and negative surprises of higher taxation, that could impact consumption, which cannot be ruled out," said Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities. "Needless to say, the market has become jittery ahead of this major event. Investors should build for a defensive portfolio and also hold cash, as there will be good buying opportunities in the future." 6) In a note, HDFC Securities said: "Pre Budget nervousness has resulted in some unloading. Locking up of large sums in the recent IPOs have also led to this sell-off." 7) Poor advance decline ratio hints at broader profit-taking, the brokerage added. The BSE midcap index was today down about 1.4%. 8) Asian markets were mixed today ahead of outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting which wraps up later in the day. 9) Global markets have meandered since last week as investors weighed solid corporate earnings results against renewed worries that troubles with COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and the spread of new variants of coronavirus might delay a recovery from the pandemic. 10) Investors are also concerned about a possible delay in rollout of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. (With Agency Inputs) Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) proposes, in the alternative budget for 2021, the establishment of a fund of 4 billion lei to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the PSD deputy Alexandru Rafila announced on Wednesday. "We tried to think of a healthcare financing in Romania so that sustainability is ensured, and what will happen in the next period, including from the point of view of the evolution of this pandemic, because it is unpredictable - you see this happening in entire Europe and all over the world - so Romania cannot be out of this evolution. Then we are trying to create the mechanisms by which the shocks that may continue to occur can be absorbed and people can still have equitable access to healthcare services", Rafila told the press conference in which PSD presented the "alternative" state budget for 2021. According to him, the "alternative" budget includes a separate chapter for combating the COVID-19 pandemic of 4 billion lei, consisting of 2.5 billion lei from the national budget and 1.5 billion lei from European funds.According to him, the PSD proposes a budget for Healthcare of 61.8 billion lei and investments in the field of 1.2 billion euros, intended to assess the needs of medical services and to start the construction of 800 community healthcare centers."The proposal we have is to introduce the elements of compensation or gratuity, of course depending on the age category, not only for medicines, but also for the vaccine, because vaccines are an element of prevention that leads to lower costs for healthcare services in short or medium term," he said. Advertisement Coronavirus could kill another 50,000 Britons before the UK's crisis is brought under control, SAGE scientists warned today after the UK crossed the grim milestone of 100,000 fatalities on Tuesday. The experts claimed Boris Johnson could have saved tens of thousands of lives if he hadn't been so slow in locking down in the spring and in autumn, when the second wave was taking off. Professor Calum Semple, an infectious disease expert at Liverpool University who sits on SAGE, warned it 'really would not surprise me if we're looking at another 40-50,000 deaths before this burns out'. His comments echoed a warning from Professor Chris Whitty at last night's Downing Street press conference, when he said fatalities will remain high over the next few weeks and only decline slowly. The experts say the huge numbers of people infected in December and January, combined with the super-infectious Kent variant, means the country will be grappling with lots of deaths until the vaccines can be rolled out to the most vulnerable. Professor Neil Ferguson, who was sacked by SAGE in spring after breaking social distancing rules to meet his married lover, blamed the high death toll on the Government being too slow to react to the rising infections in autumn. In September and October, SAGE begged ministers to impose a circuit breaker during the half-term break to halt the second wave in its tracks. Professor Ferguson, dubbed 'Professor Lockdown' after his terrifying modelling spooked No10 into the lockdown in spring, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'Had we acted earlier and with greater stringency back in September when we first saw case numbers going up, and had a policy of keeping case numbers at a reasonably low level, then I think a lot of deaths we've seen - not all by any means - but a lot of the deaths that we've seen in the last four or five months, could have been avoided. Department of Health statistics showed a further 1,631 deaths from the virus were recorded yesterday, taking the national tally to 100,162 which is the fifth highest in the world. Professor Neil Ferguson (left), who triggered the first lockdown, said a mixture of bad luck, taking measures too slowly and the new variant was to blame for the high death toll. Professor Calum Semple, from Sage, (right) said decades of under-funding the NHS had led to the grim tally being reached Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick Medical School, told MailOnline he 'didn't buy' that the mutant strain was to blame for the rising numbers of deaths. 'We've been in this because Test and Trace wasn't working properly - even now it is not working - and we didn't control our borders,' he said. Test and Trace has rarely met its threshold of tracking down 80 per cent of close contacts and isolating them since it launched in May last year. COUNTRIES BY CORONAVIRUS DEATHS Top ten in Europe: Country United Kingdom Italy France Spain Germany Poland Ukraine Belgium Romania Czech Republic Coivd-19 deaths 100,162 86,422 74,106 56,799 54,390 35,665 22,202 20,879 17,938 15,791 And in the World: Country United States Brazil India Mexico United Kingdom Italy France Russia Iran Spain Covid-19 deaths 435,452 218,918 153,751 152,016 100,162 86,422 74,106 71,076 57,560 56,799 Advertisement 'The issue with variants is that you're generating new ones all the time and if you don't put the lid on it then you'll generate more variants all the time. 'A lot of this is a consequence of having enormous levels of infection in the community and that not being fully controlled. 'The new variant is very transmissible but it stops if you use normal restrictions - if you test, trace, isolate and you provide support.' Asked what he thought the turning point in the pandemic that led to 100,000 deaths was, he said 'taking our eye off the ball over the summer and letting people travel in and out of the country' was to blame. 'Most of the introductions were from Europe,' he added. 'We were too relaxed and too complacent.' Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth accused the Government of a 'litany of errors' in a round of interviews this morning, but was forced to beat back criticism the party had only called for harsher measures when they thought the Government was about to declare them. The Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick insisted today the Government had done 'everything that we could to protect people's lives', but admitted some things could have been done differently 'with the benefit of hindsight'. Boris Johnson offered his 'deepest condolences' to all those who have lost loved ones to the virus at a Downing Street press conference yesterday, and promised a national memorial to them after the pandemic. Ministers have promised that an enquiry into their decisions will also be held once the virus has receded, which is expected to pick over decisions to learn from their mistakes. The vaccination drive offers the biggest hope for driving down fatalities, but it isn't expected to start impacting the bleak figures for weeks because it takes at least two weeks to trigger immunity after a first dose. Professor Semple, who is also an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, accused 'decades of under-investment in our NHS' for the high tally but said he felt scientists could not have done much more to stop it rolling over into six-figures. 'Theres been some bad luck with evolution of this more-transmissible new strain, but weve also had decades of under-investment in our NHS so it is left with no stretch capacity and a public health authority thats been eroded as well,' he told BBC Newsnight. 'That probably has had some impact on where we are today. But could we have done much to change [the number of deaths]? Im not sure we could have.' Professor Ferguson, an epidemiologist at Imperial College London, also told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that the more infectious variant of the virus was partially blame for the spike in deaths. 'The acceleration that we've seen since then in the UK just in the last four to six weeks has been in the presence of quite a lot of controls and is really attributable to that new variant. So I think it's partly bad luck in the end,' he said. He also pinned some of the blame on the failure to get the Test and Trace system functioning. Commenting on the toll, he added: 'The mid-point of this epidemic in terms of deaths was early November,' he said. 'And the last third of deaths - the last 33,000 - have unfortunately accumulated just in the last six weeks, which is about the same time actually slightly faster than the first third accumulated back in March last year.' Virus cases in Europe have remained stubbornly high throughout winter despite tougher restrictions being introduced, with many countries now considering new national shutdowns - if they have not been imposed already Professor Linda Bauld told BBC Breakfast: 'Unfortunately the number of people dying is not going to decline quickly, and even then it will remain for a while at a really high rate so were absolutely not out of it. 'I think where we are now is a legacy of poor decisions that were taken when we eased restrictions earlier in the year particularly around travel etc and then of course the variant has created extra pressure.' Mr Ashworth told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We're roughly 12 months on from the first case being identified in the United Kingdom, to think that we've lost 100,000 people in the past 12 months is horrendous. 'We talk about statistics but every individual would have had families, friends, who are grieving and will be grieving particularly today I suspect, and of course within that cohort of people we've lost thousands who were in care homes and I'm afraid were left exposed and unprotected.' He added: 'It's just horrendous on every front... I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I just do not believe that Boris Johnson did everything we could, I just can't accept that. 'We all accept these are challenging times for any government, this is a virus which has swept across the world with speed and severity and it continues to spread ferociously... But monumental mistakes have been made, we have had a litany of errors in the last 12 months, and he didn't have to make these mistakes.' Mr Ashworth said it was not fair to say Labour had pushed for measures only when they were about to happen, telling the programme it had called for a circuit-breaker lockdown in the autumn. Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, has warned there will be many more deaths from the virus recorded over the coming weeks because of previous infections. It can take at least three weeks for someone who has been infected with the virus to suffer symptoms severe enough to need hospitalisation, and then sadly succumb to the disease. It comes as Mr Johnson today publishes a list of up to 30 'high risk' Covid countries where returning travellers will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days - but Labour have said it is not tough enough. The Prime Minister last night met with officials to put the finishing touches to the Australian-style scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignored a plea from Home Secretary Priti Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons today that the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining people from 30 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, claims that all travellers will also be asked by airlines and border officials if their journey is essential. Airlines will be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly, he said. The 30 'high risk' countries, due to be published later today along with a start date, are expected to include Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, much of South America and southern Africa. These areas have been chosen because of dangerous variants that have emerged there - or because they have rocketing infection and death rates. The government is also considering dumping its 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation. This would ensure anyone arriving in Britain would have to self-isolate for ten days. Priti Patel, who was calling for a blanket hotel quarantine policy for all travellers, will set out the details in the Commons after the Prime Minister gives a statement on Covid today. The company commenced a review of historical data at its Canadian projects with the aim of determining new drill targets. The company also made a strategic investment in a private exploration company in Queensland. ( ) increased its exposure in Queensland during the December quarter, making a strategic investment in private exploration company Red , investing $600,000 to become a 40% shareholder. The company is also well funded leading into 2021, having recently completed a placement to raise around $820,000 to fund exploration at its Alotta and Lorraine Projects in Quebec, Canada. Notably, Chase gained a new substantial holder in Syracuse Capital Pty Ltd during the quarter, which now holds 5.76% of the company. Perth-based Syracuse attained this status after acquiring 18,375,010 ordinary shares in the company between October 2, 2020, and January 8, 2021. Red The Queensland-based explorer has a copper-gold ( cobalt), high-grade gold and silver-lead-zinc focus, with seven wholly owned granted tenements (EPMs) covering 900 square kilometres in two highly mineralised districts: Mt Isa/Cloncurry and Georgetown. Red Fox has a pipeline of targets for discovery of an Ernest Henry style IOCG copper-gold (Tick Hill style high grade gold) and large Century and Broken Hill style zinc-lead-silver deposits. Under the terms of the investment, Chase has the right to appoint a director to Red Foxs board and a pre-emptive right over any further shares issued by Red Fox. Accordingly, executive chairman Leon Pretorius has been appointed as a non-executive director of Red Fox. Canadian projects During the quarter Chase commenced a desktop review of historical drilling and other exploration data within the greater Alotta, Delphi and Zullo (ADZ) claim area at the Alotta Project. This will continue in the first quarter 2021 and include Canadian consultants to potentially outline new drill targets. In October, the company reported that all gold assays from the six targeted deep diamond holes drilled at its Lorraine Project were received but failed to validate the historically reported high-grade gold mineralisation from the mines 6th level (around 300 metres vertical depth) development drives. Chase has also commenced a desktop review of historical drilling and other exploration data within the greater Lorraine claim area which will continue in the first quarter 2021. Placement to fund exploration Subsequent to the quarter end, the company received firm commitments to raise around A$821,000 through a placement to sophisticated investors and directors at A$0.016 per share. Proceeds of the placement will be used to carry out additional preparatory desktop and fieldwork at its Canadian projects prior to possible further drilling on targets generated and for working capital. Placement shares, excluding shares with a total value of $56,000 to be issued to directors, will be issued without shareholder approval, with the directors commitment subject to shareholder approval, which will be sought shortly. Covaxin has similar efficacy and generates immune response against both the UK coronavirus strain and the one found in India, according to a paper published by scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and The scientists performed a plaque reduction neutralisation test, which measures the concentration of antibodies of a virus, on 26 recipients of Covaxin against the UK-variant and the heterologous strain. Sera the fluid part of the blood called serum that also contains antibodies generated against any pathogen collected from these 26 people was used to see if it worked against the UK strain of the virus. The genome of the UK-variant has 17 mutations, eight of those were in the spike protein domain. Therefore, it appeared that the majority of the vaccine candidates, specifically targeting the spike sequence, might not be able to generate an efficient immune response against the new variants, the researchers said. The study authored by 10 scientists including Director General Balram Bhargava, scientist Nivedita Gupta and Raches Ella of Bharat Biotech, said that it was reassuring from the data generated in the laboratory that Covaxin could be expected to work against the new UK variant. It is unlikely that the mutation will be able to dampen the potential benefits of Covaxin, the researchers noted. Samiran Panda, head of epidemiology and communicable division, ICMR, said that since the sero-conversion with neutralising antibodies following vaccination with Covaxin was 99.6 per cent, the vaccine can be expected to be equally effective against the UK strain. Sera collected from 38 vaccine recipients of Covaxin in the phase 2 trials had equivalent neutralising antibody titers to the India strain. The comparison showed similar efficiency of the vaccine against both the strains. The paper said that the findings dispel the uncertainty of possible neutralisation escape. So far more than 150 Covid patients in India have been identified to have the UK strain. The researchers had successfully isolated and characterised the UK strain of the virus from UK returnees in India with all signature mutations of that variant. The inactivated whole-virion SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BBV152, called Covaxin, has shown neutralising antibody response in phase I clinical trial against the Indian strain and two heterologous strains from the unclassified cluster. The financial support for this study was provided by the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. The research paper was published in bioRxiv, a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. Whether its a fancy stuffed crust or a simple thin base, pizza is one of the nations best-loved meals. But it seems these days we prefer things spicy as pepperoni has overtaken the classic margherita as our favourite topping, a poll has found. The simple Neapolitan dish made with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil was knocked down to third place, with BBQ chicken the second most popular. Those surveyed in the poll were given a list of types of pizza and could choose multiple options. Pepperoni has overtaken the classic margherita as our favourite topping, a poll has found The spicy American sausage was the top choice with 30 per cent of voters. The margherita, chosen by 23 per cent, was first created by Neapolitan pizza maker Raffaele Esposito in 1889 to honour the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. The dish is traditionally garnished with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil to represent the colours of the Italian flag. The modern pizza became popular in the 18th century and is thought to have evolved from flatbreads in Naples. In fourth place was the classic Hawaiian of ham and pineapple, followed by meatball, then the quattro formaggio, or four cheeses. Other popular toppings included prosciutto as well as spinach and egg, known as a fiorentina. When it comes to how we like our pizza base, 40 per cent appreciate a cheese-stuffed crust, with the traditional stone-baked, thin base the second most popular. The survey by Goodfellas Pizza found 19 per cent enjoy a Chicago-style deep dish pizza and 14 per cent like a sourdough base. But the nation appears divided over what to add to it, with a quarter of those polled saying that putting pineapple on pizza is a crime. Nearly one in ten of the 2,000 Britons surveyed said toppings such as chicken tikka or BBQ chicken are just wrong. While some 26 per cent said it is acceptable to eat leftover cold pizza for breakfast. A spokesman for Goodfellas Pizza said: Our research indicates that the perfect pizza continues to be an important area of discussion for Brits. A few days ago, we had reported that Sandalwood superstar Kichcha Sudeep began shooting for the promos of Bigg Boss Kannada season 8. Interestingly, the show is creating a solid buzz amongst the masses, and viewers are very excited to know the contestants of this season. Amidst all, a latest report published in IBTimes India suggests that KGF star Yash's mother, is likely to enter Bigg Boss Kannada 8 house as a contestant. Yash's mother Pushpa was last seen in a cookery show hosted by Sihi Kahi Chandru. Her presence in the show caught everyone's attention. Hence, Colors Kannada has reportedly initiated the talks about Bigg Boss Kannada with her. On the other hand, sources from the industry are finding it tough to believe this story, as her participation in Bigg Boss Kannada 8 might hamper Yash's stardom. Notably, neither Pushpa nor Colors Kannada has confirmed her presence in the show yet. Last week, the Business head of Colors Kannada, Parameshwar Gundkal informed fans on Facebook about the next season of Bigg Boss. He wrote, "Bigg Boss Kannada to launch in Feb..." Let us tell you that he has not yet confirmed the time and date of the show. Talking about the tentative list of contestants, the makers have reportedly approached actor Anirudh Jakaar, newsreader Heeregowdar, Divya, Tik Tok queen Sonu Gowda, Drone Prathap, Bindu Gowda and others for the eighth season of Bigg Boss Kannada. The house will be set at the Innovative Film City in Bidadi with a fresh look and theme. Now, let's wait for the official announcement of Bigg Boss Kannada 8's grand premiere. Also Read : Bigg Boss Kannada Season 8: Here's The Tentative List Of Contestants Also Read : Yash Doubles His Remuneration For KGF Chapter 2; Becomes The Highest Paid Actor Of Kannada Cinema? Four young children and their mother were killed in a house fire Jan. 27, 2021, in the 700 block of West Oakton Street in Des Plaines. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Phuket resort owners arrested for cheating We Travel Together tourism campaign PHUKET: Police have arrested 14 people in Phuket, including three resort owners, for defrauding the government by cheating the government-subsidised We Travel Together domestic tourism campaign. tourismcrimeeconomics By The Phuket News Wednesday 27 January 2021, 06:49PM National Police Chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk announced the news at a press conference held at the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok today (Jan 27). The 14 people were arrested in Phuket this morning, as officers arrested some 50 people in total, including in other provinces throughout the country, for cheating the scheme, Gen Suwat explained. In total, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers raided 55 places nationwide, he said. Gen Suwat made specific mention that one of the big places was the Thara Patong Beach Resort & Spa, and other relevant places in Phuket, noted a report by state news broadcaster MCOT. Of the 14 people arrested in Phuket, three were hotel owners, two were shop owners, five were people who facilitated the scam, and four were people who were hired for booking hotels. There were about 800 people involved in this cheating in Phuket, Gen Suwat remarked. Gen Suwat explained that specifically with the Thara Patong Beach Resort & Spa, the resort had greatly increased its room rates in order to benefit from the government subsidies received. A room at the resort costs about B1,000-1,200 per night, but the hotel owner increased the price to B7,500 per night, he said. The suspect had various methods to conduct the cheating. For example, hotel owners cooperated with tour operators to create a three-day hotel and tour package to attract people to book holidays through the campaign, but they did not stay at the hotel presented on the package, he said. Other deceptions included tour operators ordering their customers to use the vouchers given by the hotel only at the restaurants and shops that they [the tour operators] had already made a deal with, Gen Suwat explained. CSD Deputy Chief Col Anek Taosuphap explained that some of the suspects had a group of people go out to find people who had registered to be able to book discounted holidays through the campaign, and pay them B400-500 to be able to use their privilege to book government-subsidised holidays through the We Travel together web portal. After some of the privilege holders [sic] agreed with the offer, they [the facilitators] ordered them to install the Pao Tang app and use it for booking hotel rooms, he said. Some privilege holders were asked for their ID card information and their SIM cards which they had used to register for the campaign. Then the facilitators sold the information and SIM cards for B800-1000 to other people who wanted to be able to book the discounted holidays, Col Anek added. The deception was well organised, Col Anek noted. One group made the bookings and another group of people were responsible for taking care of their banking, he said. NATIONAL EFFORT More suspects were arrested in coordinated raids in Chaiyaphum, Gen Suwat also reported today. The riads there targeted the Natchaya Resort and related parties in Chaiyaphum Province and nearby, he said. The raids involved 41 arrest warrants, with 36 people arrested, including hotel owners, shop owners and facilitators, he added, noting that the fraud in that operation involved people and venues scattered throughout the provinces of Chaiyaphum, Loei, Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, Phetchabun and Sisaket. The number of bookings made were not consistent with the small resort having only 10 rooms, he said. It was found that over 99% of bookings had one person book 10 rooms every time, adn the check-in and check-out times did not correlate, Gen Suwat said. The fraud by the resort itself amounted to B14 million, and involved 101 shops and venues that jointly cheated the scheme through fake claims of customers using the vouchers entitled through the campaign, altogether raising the total damage of the fraud to about B87mn, he added. In concluding the press conference, Gen Suwat said, We will keep investigating and further charge more relevant people, such as those who bought the tourism campaign privileges second-hand [sic]. We expect this to involve about 9,000 people throughout the country, Gen Suwat said. We are preparing documents to call them to report themselves to local police, he added. We also found 900 other places that committed similar scams, in both major provinces and minor provinces, which are still under investigation, Gen Suwat said. SPRINGFIELD - Mayor Domenic Sarno and Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood on Wednesday reacted with disdain after a firearms suspect who was arrested for cutting off his GPS tracking device was released from custody on the condition that he wear a GPS tracking device. This makes no sense, said Clapprood. You got to be kidding me, said Sarno. What the hell does it take to hold a repeat violent offender? Sarno and Clapprood have for the past year have repeatedly criticized judges for setting low bails and even allowing the release of people charged with firearms or violent crimes. Their criticism on Wednesday in prepared statements to the press following the release of Alfonzo Dixon, 57, of Springfield, is along the same lines. In this case, Dixon, facing trial following his arrest in December for illegal firearms and narcotics possession, was arrested on Jan. 19 at his home for violating the terms of his probation. Specifically, he cut off the GPS tracking device the court ordered him to wear as condition of his release. At his December arraignment for the firearms and drug charges, he entered an innocent plea. He was released on $5,000 bail and ordered to wear a GPS tracking device. Sometime after his release, he cut the device off, which violated his terms of his release and led to his arrest by Springfield police last week. At his arraignment on the new charges in Springfield District Court, prosecutors argued that Dixon should have his bail revoked and he should be held at the Hampden County Correctional Center until his trial on the gun charges in April. Instead, he was released but on the condition he wear a GPS device. This guy is laughing at the judge and our court system as he walks right back out on the streets and into our neighborhoods, Sarno said. Ive been saying for some time and it has been proven time and time again that GPS ankle bracelets are not a deterrent and should not be used for individuals facing firearms charges, Clapprood said. In this case the suspect removed his court-ordered ankle bracelet and is rewarded by being released again with the same conditions. The office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni could not be reached for comment. Related content All of a sudden, Democrats are discovering a downside to federal district court judges issuing nationwide injunctions blocking presidential initiatives. What goes around comes around. CNN ruefully reports: A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked the Biden administration's pause on deportations Tuesday, delivering a blow to one of the administration's first immigration actions. The early defeat, even if temporary, demonstrates the limits of President Joe Biden's executive actions, which are expected to be challenged in court. Tuesday's order stems from a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenging the 100-day pause on deportations, which took effect Friday. The complaint cited in part an agreement signed between the Department of Homeland Security and Texas in the waning days of the Trump presidency that required the department to consult the state before changing or modifying policies. Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas, however, said the temporary restraining order was appropriate under the Administrative Procedure Act. Tipton blocked the Biden administration from executing its deportation pause for 14 days. Tipton, appointed by President Donald Trump, also found that Texas could be harmed if the moratorium were to continue. "In light of the foregoing, the Court finds that the threat of injury to Texas outweighs any potential harm to Defendants and the public interest is served and protected by the issuance of this TRO," he wrote. Texas AG Ken Paxton. Photo credit: Alice Linahan Voices Empower CC BY-SA 2.0 license. I consider this injunction the first installment in payback for the many nationwide injunctions issued by district court judges against President Trump's initiatives. The very same formula that Democrats exploited can be used. Find a plaintiff located somewhere where a sympathetic federal judge can be found, allege harm, and ask for an injunction. In this case, the Texas A.G. brought suit and found a Trump appointee who bought the argument enough to issue a temporary injunction. Now comes the part about delaying proceedings while Biden, or whoever is doing his thinking for him, fumes. Retaliation is the only argument that ever would persuade Democrats to drop their obnoxious tactics. They are in for a heaping helping of injunctions against Biden's moves. Wellington, Jan 27 : The New Zealand China Council has welcomed the signing of the New Zealand-China free trade agreement (FTA) upgrade as positive news for New Zealand exporters amid the ongoing global uncertainty. Chairman of the New Zealand China Council Don McKinnon said the upgraded agreement will contribute strongly to New Zealand's economic recovery from Covid-19 and highlighted the value of the country's steady and constructive relationship with China. "New Zealand exporters of services will enjoy new market access in sectors such as audio visual and environmental services, and many who are already exporting to China will receive expanded access to the market," he said. "The elimination of tariffs on key wood and paper products will be a significant boost to our 3 billion New Zealand dollars' worth of trade in these exports, and is good news for the forestry industry which employs large numbers of people in the rural regions," said McKinnon. More broadly, New Zealand exporters will benefit from reduced trade barriers including simplified customs procedures, greater transparency and less red tape to facilitate and improve the overall flow of trade in goods, according to the upgrade agreement. "The upgraded agreement will ensure New Zealand remains agile and competitive in our largest and most important trading market. It reflects modern ways of doing business and places New Zealand on a strong footing in an increasingly competitive global trading environment," said the Chairman of the New Zealand China Council. It is understood that the upgraded FTA will also create new opportunities for cooperation in e-commerce, the environment, competition policy and other areas and allow for greater dialogue between New Zealand and China on issues of mutual importance. "The signing of the agreement upgrade demonstrates the commitment that New Zealand and China share to an open and rules based trading system, and delivers greater confidence and certainty for exporters as our economy continues to recover from Covid-19," said McKinnon. Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and his New Zealand counterpart Damien O'Connor signed the protocol to upgrade their 12-year-old FTA via video link on Tuesday. LESSONS FROM THE PAST 15: Corner Office, Now Not Permanent! In the 1960s and earlier, the arrival in the corner office, was the final achievement. And one stayed there till retirementwhether within five years or 20 years of arrival. In Glaxo, in my time, the managing director was appointed by the head office in the UK and he came to India as the master of all he surveyed. He had a very large, impressive office, a separate entrance and elevator from the car park, so you never saw him enter or exitand never saw him, unless he called you. It was The Harriot eraand he went on to occupy the corner office till he was recalled to the UKand then to another assignment! Later, I met a chief executive officer (CEO) 2, who had joined the company as a typist, then became a steno, and by dint of hard work, combined with a brilliant mind and a photographic memory, rose to become the CEO of the same company in just 15 years (in the 60s) leaving all the other contestants far behind, who were much better qualified in academics! Unfortunately, the others could not keep up his pace as they went along, and he finally left the company to become the CEO of another multinationalgoing from one corner office to another! Still later, I met yet another CEO 3 of a multinational, who got into the corner office more by circumstance than by design. The expat managing director had gone to Singapore and he died suddenly on the way back. The company did not have a succession plan ready. Caught unawares, they decided to promote the chief accountanta trusted employee of 20 years in the company. They did not realise that his skills did not go too far beyond numerals. He just could not dictate a letter. If it was an important matter which concerned the Europe HQ or the government department, then he would call upon a group of senior managers to sit with him for half a day, and draft the letter, with corrections and corrections of corrections (wasting everyones time); and all this time the secretary would be sitting comfortably at her table, doing crochet and waiting for this letter to finally emerge as a final draft to be typed, signed, and dispatched. The company paid a heavy price for such a disability but it did not know this at that time. This was far different from CEO 2, who not only dictated cogently and fast, but also looked over at the script written by the secretary, with an occasional commentNo, Margaret, that is the wrong stroke you have used. What I said was .. He had not forgotten his shorthand, even after 15 years, much to the dismay of his secretary! Still later, I met a CEO 4, who spent 18 hours of the day being the CEO. He had achieved his lifes ambition and he was not going to risk it until his dying day. He had no hobbies. He worked till 8pm every day, and spent much of Saturday at the office. He expected his senior managers to do likewise. If some left on time on weekdays and/or did not come in at least for a few hours on Saturdays, this was a big minus mark for the annual appraisal. And, of course, CEO 4 could not stand any competition. If anyone among the senior managers showed promise of being a CEO in future, he had better watch out. CEO 4 would ensure that he is hounded out before he even begins to be an obvious threat. The result? When the CEO was transferred to the HQs in Europe (which he very much wanted, to earn money beyond Indian rupees) but at a lower level in the hierarchy, he ensured that one of his 'yes men' lackeys was promoted to CEO and he spent the next five years running the India operation from Europe, in addition to doing whatever job he was assigned. In effect, he remained CEO in India till he retired. However, times have changed. The corner office is no longer a secure place till you retire. Non-performance even for a few years and pressure will build up from stakeholders that the CEO should quit (gracefully) or be terminated if he does not (disgracefully). There is the example of the founder-chairman of Housing.com in India who was asked by the board to resign. There was the other founder, Steve Jobs, who was forced to resign from the company he founded (though he returned to save the company later). In 2018 / 19, there were about 158 chairmen who quit, or were asked to quit, out of the Fortune 500 companies. In 2020/21, the situation may not be much better, especially after the COVID-19 shock. Unlike in the past the Corner Office is no longer a permanent office for the CEO. The elevator from here sometimes goes down much faster than it comes up! It said the citizens of these countries would be able to travel to Russia by plane. Russians would also be allowed to fly to these countries. The move came only more than a week after the Russian anti-coronavirus crisis center made a decision to resume reciprocal international air routes between the Russian capital of Moscow and Hanoi, New Delhi, Helsinki and Doha from January 27. The decision was made based on announced criteria: not more than 40 new cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 of the population per fortnight; not more than 1 percent of a single-day rise of new cases for 14 days; and reproduction number of coronavirus at below one for seven days. It was also based on reciprocity principles. Russia had initially introduced the travel restrictions on March 16, 2020 to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading. The country registered fewer than 20,000 new Covid-19 daily cases for the first time since Nov. 11, its coronavirus crisis response center said on Monday. Vietnam has been successful in containing the pandemic with strict quarantine and tracking measures. It has only had 1,549 infections and 35 deaths so far, and has not reported any community transmission for the last 54 days. The ongoing Apple vs Epic battle has revealed quite a bit about just how careful Apple was when it came to deciding the App Store fees. One of the emails dating back to 2011 has now revealed how Apple handled the subscription fees via Apple TV and how it did not want to leave money on the table. The email highlighted by The Verge features Eddy Cue, Apples SVP of Internet Software and Services, discussing the commission that Apple should charge for subscriptions via Apple TV in 2011. The company considered charging a 40% one-time cut, a 30% one-time cut, a 30% recurring fee, or strike individual deals with different providers. Ultimately, Apples team decided to stick to the same 30% fees as the App Store. One of the emails clearly states that Apple was not interested in doing any deals where we get less than 30%. The company was also fine with a one-time bounty but it had to be careful to ensure this did not spill over to the App Store. The thread then discusses how fees should work when Apple refers a new subscriber. Should the company insist on 30 percent of the initial subscription? 30 percent of the first year? Just insist that all subscription applications funnel subscribers through the App Store? Concerns are raised that Hulu Plus might not be able to afford that kind of cost. Cue responds that Apple should ask for 40 percent of the first year, but that it may need to work out a few deals first. The most important thing to note here is that Apple executives were having this discussion back in 2011 when tvOS did not have an App Store of its own. The company just wanted to maximize its profits and did not really have a clear approach towards the platform. So much for Apple always thinking about the ecosystem. [Via The Verge Australias eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has urged social media companies to take more responsibility for the content on their platforms as the government moves to bolster her offices powers to identify the people behind troll accounts. The recent bans imposed by Facebook and Twitter on former US president Donald Trump following an attempted insurrection on the US Capitol have prompted widespread calls for tougher regulations on social media companies, and Ms Inman Grant has added her voice to the chorus. The Capitol riots in the US may prompt change in the way social media companies police content. Credit:AP Theres more that they can do in terms of their intellectual capability, their access to advanced technology, their vast financial resources, to come up with better systems to identify whos on their platforms and violating their terms of service, Ms Inman Grant said. And even beyond that they need to do a better job at enforcing their own policies. Theyre the only entities that can see all the signals, in terms of who might be being targeted at scale or whether an account setup was done simply for the purposes of trolling. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Others argue there are benefits to legalization. Opening a pathway to citizenship for nearly 11 million people, seven to eight million of whom participate in the labor force, is tantamount to an economic stimulus, according to Giovanni Peri, an economics professor at the University of California, Davis. Between 2005 and 2015, new immigrants accounted for nearly half of the growth in the working-age population, and in the next two decades, immigrants will be key to replacing retirees. Demographers say a shortage of blue-collar workers highlights the need for immigrants, in ever larger numbers, to perform low-skilled jobs. About five million of them work in jobs designated as essential by the government. Among the biggest backers of the Biden initiative are employers who rely on immigrants. Through the years, dairies, packing plants and other worksites have been caught up in immigration raids targeting unauthorized workers. The Reagan-era amnesty in 1986 caused only a temporary drop in the number of undocumented immigrants because it was not accompanied by a robust system for legally bringing in low-skilled workers. Employers faced fines for knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants but were not responsible for vetting documents presented by job applicants, spawning a huge industry of fake Social Security numbers. The principle is simple: If you carry out a broad legalization, it doesnt freeze undocumented migration flows as long as labor demand persists, said Wayne Cornelius, director emeritus of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the University of California, San Diego. The illegal influx began to swell again in the early 1990s. Economic imperatives prevailed, driving illegal immigration up year after year. A building boom in Sun Belt states drew hundreds of thousands of undocumented construction workers. And as farm workers who had benefited from the amnesty aged and exited the fields, young undocumented labor arrived to replace them. From 1986 to 2008 the countrys undocumented population swelled to 12 million from three million despite an exponential increase in funding for border security, including boots on the ground. The militarization did not reduce illegal entries. Instead, it turned a seasonal migration of mainly men who returned home each year to Mexico into a settled population of families. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The sound of dogs barking is being heard in the White House again following the arrival of President Joe Biden's dogs Champ and Major, making the pair of German shepherds the first pets to live at the executive mansion since the Obama administration. The dogs were moved into the White House on Sunday, following Biden's inauguration last week and pool cameras caught the two frolickings on the South Lawn Monday moments after President Joe Biden signed an executive order. Major burst onto the national scene late last year after Biden, then president-elect, broke his right foot while playing with Major at his home in Wilmington, Delaware. The Biden's adopted Major in 2018 from the Delaware Human Association. Champ joined the family after the 2008 presidential election that made Joe Biden vice president. The Bidens had promised to bring the dogs with them to the White House. They plan to add a cat, though no update on the feline's arrival was shared Monday. Last week, the Delaware Humane Association co-sponsored an "indoguration" virtual fundraiser to celebrate Major's journey from shelter pup to the first dog. More than $200,000 was raised. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, a self-described germaphobe, does not own any pets and had none with him at the White House. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. The popular Monarch butterflies know for their bright colours and wide wings are dwindling in population according to recent data by entomologists. Pexels Entomologists found only around 1,194 monarch butterflies on the coast of California during November and December. Compared this to data from three years ago, the number was close to 200,000. This is according to the data collected by non-profit organization Xerces Society, who have been tallying the number of butterflies of this particular species every fall since the year 1997. Western monarchs are known to fly thousands of miles from the Pacific Northwest to central and southern California and are known to return to the same site, in many cases even the same tree during the winters. Areas like Pismo Beach and Natural Bridges which are known to be hotspots for monarch butterflies have reported the population of only a few hundred, according to the data recorded by the society. Pacific Grove which is also commonly known as Butterfly Town due to its abundance of butterfly population found around the areas Monterey pine and eucalyptus trees reported no monarch butterflies this year, at all. In the year 2017, the population of Monarch butterflies was in hundreds of thousands. However, according to a population viability model developed by researchers at the Washington State University predicted the fall of population of monarch butterflies in the area to around 30,000 and this number was already broken in 2018. The current numbers revealed a 99 percent decline in the population of the monarchs since the 1980s. Getty Images Sarina Jepsen, the Xerces Society's director of endangered species explains, Their absence this year was heartbreaking for volunteers and visitors flocking to these locales hoping to catch a glimpse of the awe-inspiring clusters of monarch butterflies. The research group further added, We may be witnessing the collapse of the western migration of monarch butterflies. A migration of millions of monarchs reduced to two thousand in a few decades. An offer of celebration during the pandemic has been refused by way of silence. To be fair, the newspaper penned a throwaway rebuke but for the most part it's certain that Cass County won't earn any kind of official Chiefs party despite a clever offer. To be fair, the invitation deserves consideration if only because it reveals that this year's Super Bowl festivities seem empty and lifeless given that the fans have been taken out of the equation. Local politicos and authorities have mostly served to scold Kansas City for any sign of unregulated enthusiasm and the football "dynasty" seems devoid of any real connection with the community that hosts the team. Hyderbad, Jan 27 : Global healthcare company GSK, non-profit agency working to end health inequity PATH, and vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Wednesday announced the signing of a product transfer agreement for malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01E1. The agreement includes the transfer of manufacturing of the RTS,S antigen part of the vaccine and the grant of a license on all rights pertaining to the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine to Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL). GSK will retain the production of the adjuvant of the vaccine (AS01E) and will supply it to Bharat Biotech. BBIL was selected through a comprehensive, competitive process undertaken by GSK and PATH, working in consultation with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the vaccine maker said in a statement here. The RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine, developed by GSK for more than 30 years, and in partnership with PATH since 2001, is currently being piloted in regions of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi under the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP). Ministries of Health concerned are leading the implementation of the vaccine, which is being given to young children through the three countries' routine immunisation programmes, with WHO providing technical and scientific leadership, playing a coordinating role, and working in collaboration with GSK, PATH, and a range of other partners. RTS,S/AS01E is the first, and to date, the only malaria vaccine to have received a positive review by regulatory authorities (positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency and approval by the regulatory authorities of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi for use in the MVIP). The first dose of the vaccine has reached more than 500,000 children since the pilots were initiated by Ministries of Health in the three participating countries in 2019. This agreement with BBIL is the result of efforts by GSK, PATH, and WHO to help ensure long-term sustainable vaccine supply, in the event of a WHO policy recommendation for broader use and a commitment of sustained funding. This builds on existing GSK commitments to donate up to 10 million RTS,S/AS01E doses for use in the pilot, and to supply up to 15 million doses annually until 2028 if the product is recommended for wider use by WHO. It is expected that by 2029, at the latest, BBIL will be the sole supplier of the vaccine, with GSK supplying the adjuvant AS01E to them. "With a child still dying of malaria every two minutes, helping secure the long-term future of the only vaccine available by working with an established leader like Bharat Biotech is vital for the continued fight against this devastating disease. GSK is delighted to sign this agreement with Bharat Biotech," said Thomas Breuer, GSK Vaccines Chief Medical Officer and Vaccines Global Health lead. "We at PATH are proud to be a part of this remarkable effort -- together with partners across Africa, GSK, and WHO -- to get to this point. Now, with the signing of this agreement with Bharat Biotech, we have an additional, new partner to help ensure that this vaccine can be more widely available for use in Africa, alongside other malaria interventions, in the years to come," said John Bawa, Africa Lead, Vaccine Implementation, PATH. "We salute the commitment by GSK, PATH, and partners, in developing a novel vaccine against malaria, a dreaded disease with more than 200 million cases worldwide. We are truly honoured to support this partnership and to provide global access to RTS,S/AS01E. With prior expertise in malaria research, WHO prequalified vaccines, supplied to more than 70 countries, Bharat Biotech is geared up for large-scale manufacturing, and to provide continuous long-term supply of this life-saving vaccine," Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Krishna M. Ella said. FP Trending Poco X2 users in India are now receiving the Android 11 update. The latest software update MIUI 12.1 brings the security patch level to January, 2021. As is the norm, the MIUI 12.1 has been rolled out in an incremental fashion and thus can take up to a few days to reach all the Poco X2 (review) users in the country. As per screenshots shared by users on Twitter, the update is of 2.4 GB. According to the changelog of the update, certain enhancements have been introduced in the system of the smartphone. The update fixes an issue where users heard a noise even after the screen was turned off. Also, system security has been improved by rolling out the latest security patch which brings the updated level to January, 2021. It is important to note here that the stable version of the MIUI is being given out. However, the update has not been smooth for several users. People took to social media to complain of lags and bugs in the latest update. One user wrote, the Android 11 update for Poco X2 was full of bugs and his device had become laggy. There were issues with the Bluetooth, gesture feature, the status bar among other features on his smartphone. He also said that some of the features promised were not accessible to him. Poco soon reached out to the user and assisted him with further action. Miui 12.1.2 android 11 update for #POCOX2 is full of bugs my device has become Laggy and facing many bugs like Bluetooth,gesture,status bar, and many more and same features are missing please keep your promise properly @cmanmohan @IndiaPOCO @POCOSupport @POCOGlobal Rajat chauhan (@Rajatbmw500) January 26, 2021 It is advisable for users to wait for a few days before updating their software. Poco X2 had debuted in India early last year, going on sale in the country in February. It was the first launch of Poco as an independent brand and the product was priced at Rs 15,999 for the 6 GB RAM and 64 GB storage variant. Stena Lines newest addition to its fleet, the brand-new Stena Embla in Belfast. Ireland's direct export access to the Continent via ferries to France risks being disrupted from tonight because the Government does not have Covid testing at ports up and running. Hauliers say they cant guarantee Irish exports will reach continental Europe from tomorrow because of new testing requirements in France. Direct sailings to France have been a lifeline for hauliers looking to go around the chaos at UK port since Brexit. However, from 11pm on Wednesday drivers transporting goods by ship from Ireland to France will have to provide a negative Covid test before travelling. But Eugene Drennan, president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, says the government has so far failed to get Covid testing centres up and running at Irish ports. He said it's not clear if hauliers travelling on this evenings sailings will be allowed to enter French ports. What direction do you give people who are going to load meat tomorrow in a factory? Mr Drennan told the Irish Independent. Have you to tell the fishermen, who are now at sea, dont come in with your catch, the driver may not be able to get on the boat? It's outrageous that we're not ready. The Department of Transport said it was working extensively to finalise the opening of free antigen testing facilities near Dublin and Rosslare ports. Mr Drennan said he was told tests would only begin at 7am on Thursday. Drivers can also use private testing facilities but the cost wont be covered by the state, the Department said. But hauliers say private testing centres and the government's own sites dont have the capacity for heavy goods vehicles. At the weekend when all the ships are sailing the volumes will be too big, Mr Drennan said. And if they think that somebody with a booked time can overtake all the vehicles that are in the queue to get the test, he said, there will be chaos. He said Brexit-related delays at Dublin Port are adding to the complications, with drivers coming from the UK having no guarantee on how long it will take to clear customs. Not alone have we got chaos and a slowness in our imports, and a lot of trouble with systems and other factors on the import side, were now going to affect our exports, he said. No operator, because of the trouble at Dublin Port, can book a test tomorrow, he said. We cannot just arrive to suit the booking time of the antigen test. Mr Drennan said he raised these issues with the government back in December, when the French government first announced restrictions on drivers coming from the UK. This is yet another own-goal of slow responsiveness, not being ready, and just not fit for purpose, Mr Drennan said. The Department of Transport said it has had very good and close engagement with the French government throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. The French government announced on Sunday that hauliers travelling from Ireland must provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test before travelling. That could include a lab-based PCR test taken in Ireland within 72 hours of travelling or a rapid antigen test. The French government first announced travel restrictions on UK and EU travellers in December but hauliers were exempt. Last week the travel restrictions were extended to non-EU hauliers. The latest measures cover EU hauliers from Covid hotspots, and kick in from 11pm Irish time on Wednesday. The global hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market will grow by 5.94 million units during 2020-2024. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market registered a YOY growth of -9.13% in 2020. However, the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of about 30% during the forecast period. The report offers a detailed analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market in optimistic, probable, and pessimistic forecast scenarios. Get Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005425/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Improvements in power capacity of on-board AC chargers to drive growth On-board chargers have a low power transfer capability of less than 20 KW, which increases the charging time. Also, since they are installed inside vehicles, it increases the overall weight of the vehicle, thereby reducing efficiency. To overcome such challenges, vendors in the market are integrating high-power electronics in a single and compact device to increase the effective use of on-board chargers in EVs. This has positively impacted on-board electric charging infrastructure that can charge EVs of any size in less than one hour. Many such developments are influencing the growth of the global hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market. Is there any relief during this COVID pandemic? Click to know As per Technavio, the increasing demand for HEVs and EVs will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Increasing demand for HEVs and EVs Countries across the world are enforcing stricter regulations to control GHG emissions in the atmosphere. For instance, according to EU norms of 2009, the CO2 emission level for new passenger cars cannot exceed 130g/Km. In 2020, the target reached 95g/Km. Such targets can only be achieved with the use of hybrid or electric vehicles. In addition, several governments are introducing fiscal incentives, subsidies, and tax benefits to encourage the sales of HEVs and EVs. These factors are increasing the demand for on-board chargers, which is driving the growth of the market. "Rise in the adoption of BEVs and PHEVs and increasing crude oil prices will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Major Vendors The report covers details on the market's competitive landscape and offers information on the products offered by various companies, including: Bel Fuse Inc. Continental AG DEFA AS EVolve Electrics Ltd. Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market by Type (XLPE foam and Non-XLPE foam) and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America). The APAC region led the hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market in 2020, followed by Europe, North America, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the high sales of EVs in China. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and Gain competitive intelligence about market players. Track key industry trends, opportunities, and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy, and market development. Request a free sample report Related Reports on Consumer Discretionary Include: Global Electric Vehicle Charger Market Global electric vehicle charger market is segmented by end-user (residential and commercial), type (slow charger and fast charger), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, and ROW). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global EV Charging Adapter Market Global EV charging adapter market is segmented by type of charger (AC and DC) and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Share by Competitors Market Challenges Market Drivers Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005425/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ The McNay is bringing back a popular artists to its halls with Limitless! Five Women Reshape Contemporary Art, coming this March 4. With Limitless!, the museum will host another installation from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. This time it is 2016's "All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins," composed of wood, mirrors, plastic, acrylic, and LED lights. "We have a serious commitment of exhibiting women artists, having been founded by a woman," said the McNay's head of curatorial, Rene Barilleaux. "We wanted to showcase the limitless possibilities in the contemporary art of these artists." RELATED: Pins and Needles: How San Antonio's Sarah Fox is creating art and finding calm during COVID-19 The exhibit will feature four other women artists in a multigenerational scope there's a 60 year age span between the artists with Martine Gutierrez in her early 30s and Kusama in her 90s. Works by Letitia Huckaby, Sandy Skoglund and Jennifer Steinkamp will join those of Gutierrez and Kusama. "We kept thinking of San Antonio as a place for strong women. We have our founder, Marion Koogler McNay, Linda Pace of Artpace and Ruby City fame, Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Spurs, we wanted to celebrate women both locally and globally," Barilleaux said. Huckaby's wall installation along the McNay's AT&T Lobby will lead the way, with Gutierrez's video installation "Clubbing" following it with an exploration of different aspects of film, fashion and music. Skoglund's The Cocktail Party, part of the McNay's collection, a 10-by-16-foot Cheez Doodle-laden piece will give join her latest, Winter, as the latter makes it way to San Antonio after closing in New York during the early days of the pandemic. Kusama drew big crowds to the museum during their Immersed exhibit in 2018, which led to extended hours for the McNay in order to accommodate those clamoring to experience the piece, "Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity." Due to COVID-19 precautions, the McNay is currently operating at 75 percent capacity. READ MORE: Fixer Upper is TV Xanax and I'm ready for my next dose with the new season trailer Those hoping to experience "All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins" will be required to make reservations online. The innovative reservation queue will help with capacity and keeping lines short to adhere to social distancing protocols throughout the exhibition. Capacity in the Kusama room will be up to two people at a time, per 45 second time slot. Limitless opens March 4 and runs through Sept. 19. The McNay is located at 6000 N. New Braunfels Ave. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda and delivers a special address via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) No global problem can be solved by any one country alone, and there must be global action, global response and global cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said. GENEVA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's new Davos speech was pivotal to boosting multilateral cooperation, leaders of international organizations, business executives and economists have said, stressing China's role as a growth engine in supporting global economic recovery. Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Monday, Xi called on the world to abandon ideological prejudice and jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. "Difference in itself is no cause for alarm. What does ring the alarm is arrogance, prejudice and hatred," Xi said. No global problem can be solved by any one country alone, and there must be global action, global response and global cooperation, Xi stressed. This photo shows a screen displaying World Economic Forum (WEF) Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab delivering a welcome address. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng) "The speech of President Xi Jinping was historic. Four years after he made a famous speech in Davos, in 2017, where he emphasized the need for the world to embrace multilateralism, he came back to this proposal and notion of multilateralism at a very crucial time in the history of humankind," said WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab. "After four years of confrontation, we have now the opportunity to reset the pace of global cooperation and to enter into an age of cooperation," Schwab said in a video message sent to Xinhua. International Labor Organization Director-General Guy Ryder said he is pleased that the emphasis of Xi's speech was on international cooperation. Aerial photo taken on Jan. 14, 2021 shows the container terminal of Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) "We need much more international cooperation so that everybody can apply the necessary policies. Multilateralism, international cooperation in vaccine policy but also in employment and financial policy needs to be on top of the policy agenda as we start this new year," he told Xinhua in an interview. Adriano Lucatelli, co-founder and managing director of Zurich-based Descartes Finance, said he expects China to continue to push for multilateralism to find global solutions for a post-COVID world. "I wish China to take a leading role in fostering global cooperation as President Xi already explained at his 2017 speech at the WEF in Davos," Lucatelli said. In his speech, Xi also called for jointly promoting strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of the world economy. Xi's remarks have demonstrated "China's firm determination to continue facilitating opening up and economic globalization," Qualcomm China Chairman Frank Meng told Xinhua in a written interview. Rudolf Minsch, chief economist at Swiss national business federation Economiesuisse, said while the COVID-19 crisis has led to more protectionism in many countries, "China has an important role in convincing other countries to abandon trade barriers, setting a good example." "The me-first-strategy is dangerous for the future of global trade and would hurt all countries in the long run," he stressed. Tourists enjoy their time in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, on Oct. 5, 2020, the fifth day of National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) "China will act as a growth locomotive for the world economy," Minsch said, adding that the Chinese economy "will support the recovery in other markets" in 2021. China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.3 percent year on year in 2020, data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics showed last week, making it likely the only major economy to grow last year. Francois Savary, chief investment officer at the Geneva-based investment management and consulting company Prime Partners, said that China's contribution to the global recovery will be significant, especially in the first half of this year. "The prospects are good and 2021 should be marked by strong growth in China. However, there should be a normalization in the growth rate overtime, converging towards 5.5 percent in a two to three year framework," he said. "Economically, China is going from strength to strength. With its growing influence comes greater international responsibility, an important step in this direction could be helping vaccination efforts in developing countries to help bolster their social and economic recoveries," said Patrick Odier, chairman of the board of directors at Bank Lombard Odier. An elderly woman receives a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua) Xi said on Monday in a telephone conversation with Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit that China will continue supporting developing countries in their fights against COVID-19 and contribute to making vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to all. China has joined the COVAX initiative led by the World Health Organization aimed at ensuring equitable global access to vaccines. "The pandemic is far from over," Xi said in his latest speech to Davos, adding that "there is no doubt that humanity will prevail over the virus and emerge even stronger from this disaster." "China will continue to share its experience with other countries, do its best to assist countries and regions that are less prepared for the pandemic, and work for greater accessibility and affordability of COVID vaccines in developing countries," Xi said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) - Doomscrolling about the COVID-19 pandemic might have left another health crisis unnoticed - the chronic diseases linked to sedentary lifestyles such as hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes. "Diabetes is a global emergency," said Sanofi Country Lead, Dr. Amal Makhloufi, who did not mince words during her appearance in CNN Philippines' MedTalk HealthTalk. "Especially here in the Philippines, it is one of the leading causes of deaths," she said citing that among the nearly 4 million Filipinos living with diabetes, only three out of 10 are diagnosed, and more than 8 out of 10 not reaching their ideal blood sugar level. "This is why people with diabetes are at higher risk (of getting COVID-19)," she said. Makhloufi affirmed that people living with these so-called "lifestyle diseases" are more vulnerable to COVID-19. "They are associated with a higher risk for COVID infection since the poor human response is seen in these individuals. And on top of that, the lockdown prevents them from connecting with their doctors in person, which means it makes it more challenging to manage their conditions," the doctor added. The future of people with chronic disease is not all bleak. Makhloufi said it should start at home, with their families in making sure the patients eat healthily, exercise regularly, and control their blood sugar. Having regular check-ups is also important. But because of mobility restrictions and the threat of the COVID-19 itself, others opt not to go out and visit their doctors. Fortunately, Sanofi has digital solutions to that. "During this pandemic, we launched 'We Health', which is a system that empowers you to get the care you deserve, from coughs and colds to chronic diseases such as diabetes or hypertension," she said. With We Health, everyone can get their medicines with their healthcare partners, have medicines delivered straight to their homes, and receive online e-health education anytime, anywhere they need it. "Quality care is just a few taps away with We Health," Makhloufi added. The healthcare solutions provider also invited everyone to pledge that Filipino families will lead a healthy lifestyle this 2021. Sanofi aims to provide holistic care through programs that go "beyond medicine" such as WeHealth, Empower, #PanatangSanofi health awareness campaign, and Step up for Diabetes. Sanofi believes that each patient has control over their own diabetes by "writing their story" through proper lifestyle and treatment. This is supported by Sanofi's improved access and affordability of its products and services. "This year, we are celebrating the 100th year of insulin. We are working together with all of our partners to make sure that people with chronic diseases are supported, and Filipinos get access to our medicines, to our newest insulin in an affordable way, accessible way. We are looking for partners who will help us in making this happen," she said. For more information on Sanofi's programs such as We Health, visit www.sanofi.ph. Dakar, Senegal (PANA) - The African Union has yet to set up a Trust Fund to compensate victims of the former Chadian president Hissene Habre, four years after his historic conviction in Senegal, a coalition of international and regional human rights organizations has said Credit: CC0 Public Domain Travel into Finland slowed to a near standstill on Wednesday as new entry restrictions designed to protect the country against new coronavirus strains came into force. The Nordic country closed its entry points to all but essential travel at midnight Tuesday into Wednesday after the health minister warned that more infectious British and South African variants meant "harder times are ahead". Finland has been spared the worst of the virus registering just 655 deathsamong the lowest rates in Europe. Most tourists had already been banned from Finland but the new measures will hit the large Estonian workforce, many of whom make regular trips home, and will in addition suspend free movement for the communities living along the northern Swedish and Norwegian borders. "Based on the government's decision all work-related travel must now be essential for the functioning of society or for security of supply," Deputy Commander Mikko Simola of the Gulf of Finland Coastguard District told AFP. On Wednesday, just 1,000 ferry passengers were expected at the port of Helsinki, Simola said, suggesting the weekly total will fall well short of last week's 20,000. Arrivals at Helsinki airport, already 90 percent down from pre-virus levels, "will most probably also decrease further", he said. "Although Finland has seen a lower prevalence of the coronavirus than elsewhere in Europe, there is a significant risk that the situation will quickly worsen," health minister Krista Kiuru told a press conference on Monday. The government warned that a rise in cases could mean a return to last March's state of emergency, when businesses and schools were largely shut and travel in and out of the capital region was prohibited. Finnish society has remained comparatively open since last May, as a testing regime and widespread compliance with quarantine and distancing rules have stopped the health system from being overwhelmed. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" 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Previous work by the Wahl Group (Rudolf Wahl and Mike Dorval) led to the discovery of the Madonna Diamondiferous dike. Diamonds were first located on the Property in 2006 when Dianor Resources Inc. had Kennecott Canada Exploration Inc.'s Minerals Processing Laboratory complete dense media separation of a 1205.8 kilogram sample of the dike. The sample produced 66 micro diamonds. Subsequent to the recovery of the diamonds the claimholder completed a diamond drill program that intersected the Madonna dike and another dike thought to be genetically related. Brigadier as an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Property, which consists of forty-six (46) cell claims units located in Killala Lake, Foxtrap Lake Area Townships, Thunder Bay Mining District, Ontario, subject to reservation of royalties in favor of the Wahl Group. The results of the drone survey have produced interesting magnetic features that will be assessed in the spring by prospecting, sampling and possible stripping. The Property has potential to host additional diamond bearing dikes. The continued exploration of the Madonna dike and other dikes will provide insight on the diamond content, petrography, and minerology occurrences. National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure The technical information in this press release has been reviewed by Mr. Garry Clark, P.Geo, a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Debt Settlement The Company also announces that it plans to complete a debt settlement with one creditor (the "Debt Settlement") to preserve its cash. The Debt Settlement will result in an aggregate of $100,000.00 of indebtedness being retired in consideration for the issuance of a maximum of 454,545 common shares at a price of $0.22 per share. The indebtedness is held by an arm's length party and will not result in the creation of a new insider or a new control person. The Debt Settlement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. The securities to be issued under the Debt Settlement will be subject to a four-month resale restriction. About Brigadier Gold Limited Brigadier was formed to leverage the next major bull market in the natural resource sector, particularly precious metals. Our mandate is to acquire undervalued and overlooked projects with demonstrable potential for advancement. Led by a management team with decades of experience in mineral exploration and capital markets development, we are focused on advanced exploration opportunities in politically stable jurisdictions. For further information, please contact: Brigadier Gold Limited www.brigadiergold.ca Ranjeet Sundher, Chief Executive Officer corporate@brigadiergold.ca Leah Hodges, Corporate Secretary (604) 377-0403 Reader Advisory This news release may contain statements which constitute "forward-looking information", including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "plan", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Company's future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Brigadier Gold Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626440/Brigadier-Completes-Drone-Magnetic-Survey-on-Killala-Lake-Diamond-Property The Mumbai Local trains will be resuming its normal service from Friday. This comes after a review meeting was chaired by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray which was attended by government, railway and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials. The Western Railway is planning to open local trains for all from Friday. A letter has been sent to all the station masters by the Traffic Control Department of the Mumbai Central Division of Western Railway regarding the same. As reported by the Mumbai Mirror, the station masters have been notified that they have to run a full schedule from Friday, January 29. Currently, the Western and Central lines are open only for commuters who provide essential services. During off-peak hours, women are freely allowed to use train services. After the current decision, everyone will be able to access the local train services. Speaking about the development, officials from the Central Railway said that they have started working on full resumption of the services. However, they said that no official orders have been received in this regard, reported Mumbai Mirror. The report also says that as per the officials, various models are being discussed in order to resume the services fully. An official said that perhaps full services will be resumed only during the non-peak hours initially. Before the Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, as many as 80 lakh passengers used the local train services in Mumbai. Currently, there are 20 lakh passengers and if experts are to be believed then the number may not touch 80 lakh again anytime soon. This is because of the reason that many people are working from home now. The Western Railway has 1,201 train services running currently but from Friday, the number will go up to 1,367. As many as 1,580 services a day are run by the Central Railway but from January 29, 1,774 trains will be operated. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine says he is working on a potential resolution to censure former President Donald Trump, after a huge majority of Senate Republicans backed a motion challenging the constitutionality of a post-presidency impeachment. 'I've drafted something. I haven't filed it yet, because I'm trying to get other people's ideas about what should be in it,' Kaine told reporters Wednesday. 'But I'm hoping that we might find it and it could be an alternative,' he added. His move comes after Tuesday's vote increased the chances that Trump would manage to pull off a second acquittal despite initial outrage from lawmakers from both parties after a MAGA mob stormed the Capitol, smashing windows and occupying offices, with some chanting threats to lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence. Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, says he is considering introducing a bipartisan resolution that would censure former president Donald Trump over the deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 The GOP signal of support for Trump came after Republicans wouldn't go along with impeaching the president in his final days in office after the January 6 riot but before the end of his term. The Senate had been in recess at the time. Democrats began talking about impeachment as the riot was still unfolding, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called him a 'clear and present danger' during his last days in office. Kane told CNN Wednesday the resolution will declare that the Jan. 6 riot 'was an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States.' It also will state the finding that Trump 'gave aid and comfort to those who carried out the insurrection by repeatedly lying about the election, slandering election officials,' and pressuring people to come to Washington during the electoral count. He took the language from the 14th Amendment, which states that those who have engaged in insurrection will be barred from holding office in the future. 'This is an alternative that would impose in my view a similar consequence, but it does not require a trial and it does not require a two-thirds vote,' he said. Following Tuesday's action, he said, 'Once you voted that its unconstitutional to try a former officeholder, the evidence is unlikely to change anyones mind.' He said the finding of insurrection 'possibly bars him from holding office.' He has said previously the resolution would likely need to clear a 60-vote filibuster threshold, meaning it may need 10 Republican supporters to prevail. Trump on Wednesday looked increasingly likely to dodge conviction after the vote. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has said if Trump is convicted the Senate will also vote on prohibiting him from holding future office. Republicans and Democrats alike were considering a censure resolution as an alternative, after Tuesday's motion challenging the constitutionality of trying a former president on a charge stemming from his impeachment drew the support of 45 out of 50 Senate Republicans. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called it 'extraordinarily unlikely that the President will be convicted. Just do the math' The House impeached Trump on a charge of 'incitement of insurrection' A MAGA mob stormed the Capitol after Trump's speech Voting with the vast majority of his caucus was Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said he didn't know how he will vote on impeachment, but denounced Trump on the floor of the Senate for having provoked the mob. That motion failed, and the trial in which Trump faces a charge of 'incitement of insurrection' will begin on February 9. But with just five Republicans joining all 50 Democrats in agreeing that the trial should go forward, it appeared unlikely that 17 Republicans would vote against Trump, the minimum number needed to reach the two-thirds threshold for conviction. Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2016, acknowledged Wednesday that a Trump acquittal was highly likely, saying he was instead putting together a bipartisan resolution censuring the ex-president. Donald Trump was acquitted in a Senate trial in February 2020, and the likelihood is high that the Senate will reach the same result in its trial of the former US president that is set to begin on February 9, 2021 He was believed to be working with moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine on the language of a censure. 'I think it's pretty obvious from the vote today that it is extraordinarily unlikely that the President will be convicted. Just do the math,' Collins said Tuesday. She is one of five Republicans to join with Democrats on the motion. A censure would be less severe than expulsion but is a formal statement of disapproval. Only one US president has been censured by the Senate: Andrew Jackson in 1834. It would still need 10 Republicans to go along in order to overcome any blocking tactics set out by Trump loyalists. - 'Listen to the evidence' - While a conviction would lead to a simple-majority vote on whether to bar Trump from holding any future public office, a censure resolution carries no such trigger. That would leave the door open for Trump to run again in 2024, a prospect that a significant portion of Republicans now support. Some 56 percent of Republican voters believe Trump either should probably or definitely run for president again in 2024, versus just over a third of Republican voters (36 percent) who think he probably or definitely should not, according to the latest poll from Politico and Morning Consult. Republican lawmakers who may be furious with Trump's behavior, including his efforts to overturn the election results and his repeated baseless accusations of massive voter fraud, are also deeply mindful of Trump's base. Publicly breaking with Trump, who still retains a massive hold on the party, could find them on the wrong side of a primary challenge in 2022 or 2024, especially if Trump intervenes and urges someone to run against a sitting Republican who wronged him. Republican Mitch McConnell, the powerful Senate minority leader, broke with Trump in December and declared Joe Biden the duly elected next president. One week after the pro-Trump mob attacked Congress on January 6, McConnell said he was not ruling out convicting the then-president, and according to reports he privately has said he believes Trump's conduct was impeachable. But on Tuesday McConnell was among the Republicans who voted against proceeding with the trial, a significant potential harbinger. Asked Wednesday whether his vote meant he will not seek to convict Trump, McConnell was equivocal. 'Well, the trial hasn't started yet,' he told reporters. 'I intend to participate in that and I'll listen to the evidence.' Many Democrats have spoken out saying the case is open and shut. 'The American people were witness to what happened. We all were witness to what happened,' Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday regarding Trump whipping up his supporters and the resulting riot. 'To me what Trump did was the most despicable thing any president has ever done. I believe he should be convicted.' Biden, eager to put Trump in the rear-view mirror and make progress in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and reviving the economy, has taken a hands-off approach to the impeachment trial. But the president and longtime former senator told CNN late Monday: 'I think it has to happen.' Community members looking to improve their health and wellbeing can look forward to ongoing efforts this year as part of Midland's Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). On Wednesday morning, community members met virtually to discuss updates to the CHIP, presented by the Midland Area community Foundation and the Midland County Health and Human Services Council. The plan, launched in 2016, focuses on four areas: healthy weight, later life quality, mental health and substance use disorder. Various community leaders discussed these four areas and the progress that has been made in the last year, as well as whats to come this year. Healthy weight In 2019, the Prescription for Health program, which educates people with chronic diseases on healthy eating and shopping at the farmers market, was piloted. Then in 2020, the program was expanded, said Tara Roberson, community nutrition director with Michigan State University Extension. The program had a 94% graduation rate, and in 2021, MSU Extension will provide a class for deaf participants. We did see an outcome of very positive behavior changes through this program, which is really great to see, particularly an increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables of participants, Roberson said. In addition, Roberson explained that in 2020, they developed nutritional recipe handouts that included food items commonly found at food distribution sites and handed out more than 2,000 of those at giveaways. They created Lou E. Loon exercise posters that were posted at local elementary schools as well. This year, the focus will be on continuing efforts to educate students and others in the community on nutritional eating, and to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Roberson said they want to have a food navigator on site at the Midland Area Farmers Market to assist residents with shopping and using food assistance benefits. Later life quality The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for everyone, especially older adults who are already vulnerable to elder abuse, food insecurity and loneliness, said Charlie Schwedler, executive director of Midland County Senior Services. So, last year, the focus was on innovating to reach and help older adults amid flooding and the COVID-19 pandemic. Working to support vulnerable adults, especially you know, financial abuse and those kind of things of vulnerable adults, has been extremely difficult during this time because of the inability to visit with folks ...but weve still been able to do that, Schwedler said. Weve found unique ways to do that. And to address food insecurity, theyve continued Meals on Wheels and hosted various curbside meal pickups. The Bridge to Belonging partnership was implemented also, with 2-1-1 Northeast Michigan and MidMichigan Health, in which the focus is on connecting older adults to programs to avoid loneliness and isolation. We have seen results; we have seen people get connected that we believe would not normally have been connected to different programs, Senior Services being one of them, Schwedler said. So, weve been really happy with that. This year, the focus will be to continue work with health care providers to care for older adults after they leave the hospital or rehabilitation. Substance use disorder As Kathryn Tate, CEO and president of The Legacy Center, explained, the recovery community was just happy to have still served clients dealing with substance use disorder in 2020. We did the best that we could and honestly, our successes in 2020 were that we adapted our services so we continued offering substance use prevention, treatment and recovery throughout the pandemic, Tate said. Counseling services and group meetings were hosted virtually and they worked with community partners to disseminate Narcan, which treats narcotic overdoses, instead of hosting their typical Narcan trainings. Looking to 2021, Tate said they simply hope to continue offering services amid the uncertainty of the pandemic and are committed to remaining nimble. We dont know what this year is going to bring, she said. Mental health In 2020, a mental health court was implemented in Midland County, in which personnel from the court system work with community partners who offer mental health services such as Partners in Change and Community Mental Health for Central Michigan to help support people whose main motivating factor behind their criminal behavior is a mental illness. In addition, the free MyStrength app was introduced to the community, which is a personalized digital tool for residents to manage depression, improve sleep, reduce stress, track goals and more. Use the code "CMHCMCares" to login to the app. This year, Kathy Dollard, director of behavioral health at MidMichigan Health, said they want to develop an enhanced mental health crisis response plan, and work to enhance mental wellbeing among students in Midland schools. She said raising awareness on suicide prevention using the Peer2Peer program will also be a priority. "We have some bold plans for the coming year," she said. Public Accommodations Laws A number of states have yet to pass laws forbidding LGBTQ discrimintation in public accommodations. (Map: HRC) Half of all Americans live in states that lack statutory protections for LGBTQ citizens, according to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). The civil rights organization has just released its seventh annual State Equality Index (SEI), assessing state efforts to prevent LGBTQ discrimination.HRC researchers tracked 379 pro-equality bills and 185 anti-LGBTQ bills during the 2020 legislative season, says attorney Sarah Warbelow, legal director for HRC. The highlight, she says was a bill passed in Virginia that made it the first state in the South to enact comprehensive protection for LGBTQ citizens against discrimination in housing, employment, public spaces and credit applications.Many states in the Old South did not take civil rights protections seriously, says Warbelow. This law really brought Virginia into the modern era.The Virginia Values Act may be the most sweeping civil rights bill ever passed in Virginia, says Senator Adam Ebbin, the sponsor of the legislation. It encompasses an array of categories, not just sexual orientation and gender identity, but also things like national origin, race, gender, status as a veteran, he says. We did not have any public accommodations law prior to its passage.Among the 2020 bills HRC identified as bad are those that restrict the ability of transgender youth to access health-care services related to their decisions about sexual orientation, services that can include counseling as well as hormone blockers or other intervention. An Idaho bill bars residents from updating their gender marker on their birth certificate, says Warbelow, preventing them from having it reflect their sense of who they are and how they are living their lives.New laws in the good category include those in New Jersey and Washington state that banned LGBTQ panic defenses and laws in five states that require questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to be included in efforts to collect COVID-19 demographic data.The SEI uses a scorecard based on review of laws and policies in each state that affect the lives of LGBTQ citizens and their families to rank state progress toward non-discrimination. In the 2020 scorecard , 25 states are in its lowest category, High Priority to Achieve Basic Equality.Recent events have the potential to catalyze change. A 2020 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County established that prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act apply to LGBTQ people. Building on this, President Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office stating that it is the policy of his administration to fully enforce Title VII and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.While this is encouraging, says Warbelow, its not a given that states will follow suit. Weve often seen backlash to progress at the federal level, she says. During the Obama administration we saw some of that, certain state legislators who wanted to voice their disapproval and take it out on LGBTQ folks.The pandemic has increased the urgency for legislation that could help break down remaining barriers to equal access to housing, employment and health care for the LGBTQ community. A report published in late 2020 summarized responses from LGBTQ participants in a series of polls conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to determine the impact of COVID-19 on households in the U.S.Two-thirds of LGBTQ households reported serious financial problems, as compared to 44 percent of non-LGBTQ households, with 64 percent experiencing employment loss, compared to 45 percent of non-LGBTQ households. Twice as many households (38 percent) had difficulty getting medical care for a serious health problem.In addition to breaking down legislative efforts in 2020, the HRC report provides maps that show where states currently stand in regard to legislation in areas that include school bullying, hate crimes, conversion therapy, second parent adoption , transgender health care and data collection.We really hope that the State of Equality Index can be a resource for officials as they think about ways to improve the lives of LGBTQ people in their jurisdictions, says HRCs Warbelow. Sorry! This content is not available in your region Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Construction of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has been delayed amid spiraling costs. The cost of getting the nuclear power station built in Bridgwater, Somerset, has been hiked by 500million and the site now looks set to open in June 2026, instead of the end of 2025. Developer EDF Energy, which is owned by the French state, said 'significant progress' had been made on the construction site, but admitted costs looked set to reach up to 23billion, rather than previous estimates of 22.5billion. Delays: Construction of the new Hinkley Point C nuclear power station has been delayed To date, the estimated costs involved in getting Hinkley Point C up and running are 5billion higher than five years ago, and the site will only start producing electricity nearly a decade after the originally planned launch date of December 2017. Back in 2007, Vincent de Rivaz, the then boss of EDF, said: 'EDF will turn on its first nuclear plant in Britain before Christmas 2017 because it will be the right time.' He added: 'It is the moment of the power crunch. Without it the lights will go out.' Today, EDF said the latest delay and costs hike meant the expected rate of return from its investment would drop from between 7.6 per cent and 7.8 per cent to between 7.1 per cent and 7.2 per cent. It added that a delay of nine to 15 months for Units 1 and 2 would cost around 700million and knock the rate of return by a further 0.3 per cent. The group said the pandemic and sporadic lockdowns had pushed construction at the site back by three months, with the same period of delays expected this year. The pandemic led to a number of changes on the Hinkley site, including reducing the number of workers to enable social distancing, and concentrating on the most critical areas of construction. Where social distancing is not possible, workers have been using extra protective equipment. In a video message to staff, Stuart Crooks, managing director of Hinkley Point C, said: 'Ten months after it began, we are still facing the full force of the pandemic.' The 400-acre site, which had around 5,000 workers on it before the pandemic struck, remains constrained by social distancing requirements. Mr Crooks said he still had to 'limit the number of people we can safely have on site at any one time.' He added that none of the higher costs involved in getting the site built would end up being passed on to consumers. EDF said in a statement: 'Despite being affected by the COVID-19 health crisis, Hinkley Point C has made significant progress in 2020 on site, in the design execution plans and on the manufacturing of equipment.' The project has been marred by rows over the cost to energy bill-payers and whether new nuclear should even be part of the country's green energy network in future. But, some business groups, like the Confederation of British Industry, have argued that sites like Hinkley Point C are essential as Britain cannot realistically look to solely rely on renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The CBI has also thrown its weight behind EDF's ambition to build the planned Sizewell C site in Suffolk, which is a replica of Hinkley Point C aimed at keeping costs down while other projects fall by the wayside. The Government sees new nuclear as crucial to Britain's mix of energy production. Once completed, Hinkley Point C will generate electricity for around six million, or 7 per cent, of the country's homes. The Hinkley site reached a major milestone last summer, with EDF completing the 49,000-tonne base for the second reactor on schedule. This came less than a year after completion of the first reactor's base in June 2019. Recent figures show Hinkley Point C beat its plan to spend 1.5billion with regional businesses five years ahead of target. Tech & Science, Local News, Business & Finance By Ls Cohen Published: January 27 2021 This would be the first offshore wind farm in New York State. A proposal to build a 15-turbine wind farm in federal waters 30 miles east of Montauk Point came closer to fruition when the East Hampton Town Board approved two agreements with South Fork Wind, LLC. A press release issued by theTown says that the project would be the first offshore wind farm in New York State. The turbines will produce enough clean, renewable energy every year to power 70,000 homes, according to a fact sheet available on South Fork Winds website. South Fork Wind is a joint venture between rsted, a multinational power company based in Denmark, and Eversource, a national energy leader with homegrown expertise in regional energy transmission. Recently, the partners purchased a facility inResearch Way in East Setauket to serve as their local base of operations. There are also plans to make Port Jefferson harbor the home port of the first-ever American-flagged Service Operations Vessel (SOV) to support the project and others planned for the area. It represents a significant step for East Hampton Town toward its goal of meeting 100% of communitywide electricity consumption with renewable energy sources, the statement said. The agreement between East Hampton Town and South Fork Wind (formerly known as Deepwater Wind) will allow the underground installation in town rights-of-way of the onshore portion of a 132-megawatt electrical transmission cable, from the proposed cable landing site at Beach Lane in Wainscott to a PSEG-LI/ Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) substation at Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton. South Fork Wind will pay $29 million in payments over 25 years to the Town and the East Hampton Town Trustees to benefit the community and residents. No mention of what the money will specifically be used for was made in the statement. Both agreements will take effect only upon approval of the project by the New York State Public Service Commission and federal reviewing agencies. Today, by approving these agreements, I vote yes to advancing our commitment to renewable energy and continuing East Hamptons long tradition of leadership in protecting the environment, said East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc. Van Scoyoc said that the project has undergone an extremely robust review and discussion by more than 70 parties organizations, community groups, and individuals to the Public Service Commission review and settlement proceedings. The project has also been the subject of two dozen public Town Board and East Hampton Town Trustees meetings over more than four years. We need urgent action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and speed the shift to renewable energies like solar and wind, said East Hampton Town Councilwoman Kathee BurkeGonzalez. The Town will remain involved in the ongoing reviews of the project, including by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and will represent the concerns of East Hamptons fisheries industry. A number of agencies and environmental organizations, including the NYS Department of State, Department of Environmental Conservation, and the state Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, along with groups such as the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Group for the East End, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, and Citizens Campaign for the Environment, have voiced support for the wind farm, a joint project of the Danish company Orsted, and Eversource Energy, based in Boston. I believe that offshore wind, commercial fisheries, and other ocean users are capable of coexisting, said Councilman David Lys. We need to come together as a whole to protect East Hamptons future, and the environment of the planet. Fernando Alonso may be returning to Formula 1 this year, but he is hoping the sport becomes significantly better in 2022. The two-time world champion, who has been on sabbatical for two years, is referring to the sweeping new regulations that have been delayed until 2022 due to the pandemic. "I think the 2022 regulations will be a step in the right direction," the 39-year-old Spaniard told Italian radio Rai. "I hope it is a competition with the cars closer together, with more overtaking and less predictable results. Now, we all know more or less what the result will be before the grand prix starts," Alonso added. "That takes away the excitement," said the 2021 Alpine driver. "We have a budget ceiling coming into effect from this year, so the big teams can no longer always have an advantage by spending unlimitedly. The ideas are good. We'll see if the results are good too." Fellow Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari, who walked away from motor racing completely when he lost his Red Bull backing in 2011, said he already felt alienated from Formula 1 a decade ago. "It has changed so much even since then," he told Radio Marca. "It is not for me. I do not understand good drivers having to pay to race, or the very high cost for the teams. "I cannot contemplate that there are parents of the drivers who own the teams. The values of the sport are not what I understood," the 30-year-old added. (GMM) Federal Department of Finance Bern, 27.01.2021 - At a virtual meeting on 27 January 2021, the finance ministers of Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK) agreed the next steps for negotiations on a mutual recognition agreement in the financial sector. In addition, Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak agreed on a normalisation in the area of stock exchange equivalence from 3 February 2021. In June 2020, finance ministers Ueli Maurer and Rishi Sunak had already issued a joint statement expressing their intention to conclude a financial services agreement between the two countries. This should enable cross-border market access for a wide range of financial services in the areas of insurance, banking, asset management and capital market infrastructure. At the virtual meeting via videoconference on 27 January 2021, the two ministers gave a positive assessment of the exploratory talks held so far. They agreed on the further steps for concrete negotiations on the individual topics in the coming months. The agreement sought by Switzerland and the UK is to be based on the principle of mutual recognition of the applicable financial market regulation and the relevant supervisory framework. In addition, Ueli Maurer and Rishi Sunak exchanged views on the UK's recognition of Swiss stock exchanges under the share trading obligation and the associated measure to protect Swiss stock exchange infrastructure, which is still in place. Both ministers confirmed that progress has been made to normalise Swiss-UK relations for stock exchanges. The corresponding regulation granting equivalence to Switzerland's stock exchanges is being considered by the UK Parliament and is expected to be approved and come into force on 3 February 2021. Immediately thereafter, the measures taken by Switzerland to protect the Swiss stock exchange infrastructure will cease to apply to the UK. With a financial services agreement, Switzerland and the UK want to reaffirm their commitment to the importance of open financial markets and international financial stability, as well as consolidate their position as the world's leading international financial centres in Europe. Both sides are committed to protecting investors and consumers, as well as maintaining market integrity and financial stability, while adhering to the highest regulatory standards. Address for enquiries Peter Minder, Head of FDF Communications +41 58 462 63 01, peter.minder@gs-efd.admin.ch Publisher Federal Department of Finance https://www.efd.admin.ch/efd/en/home.html Fight or flight: An Airbus employee works on a jet's wing. A row over state aid to Airbus and its US rival Boeing sparked the trade war. Photo: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg The EU says it is determined to solve a trade dispute with the US that has caught Irish whiskey, butter and pork in its net. EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said the bloc is reaching out to the new US administration to try to resolve the row, which stems from state subsidies to aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus and Trump-era steel and aluminium tariffs. We are reaching out to the Biden administration and we hope for a more cooperative approach which would allow us to resolve these disputes, Mr Dombrovskis said on Tuesday. We are determined to find a solution with the Biden administration to resolve this dispute and to remove those tariffs, Mr Dombrovskis added. The tariffs war began 2018 and has been stepped up repeatedly. Just this month, the US hit French and German aircraft, wine and spirit makers with further sanctions. Tariffs on the Irish dairy sector alone amount to 40m. Read More On Monday, a coalition of 72 EU and US trade bodies called for an end to retaliatory tariffs on sectors not related to aircraft manufacturing, steel and aluminium. Last October, the EU proposed to suspend the tariffs on both sides if the US does the same. A week into US President Joe Bidens term in office, Mr Dombrovskis said he hopes for a fresh and positive start in trade relations with the US. But the surprise signing of an EU-China investment deal at the end of December has thrown a potential spanner in the works where it is seen by some in the US as a breach of a common transatlantic approach. We do not see that it in any way hinders our engagement with US as regards our work on China, Mr Dombrovskis said of the deal. The EU hopes its trade deal will open up Chinese energy, computing and private healthcare markets. He said it was important for Europe to catch up a year after the US signed its so-called Phase One deal to boost its exports of soybeans and other goods to China. He also said the EU would engage constructively with the US following President Bidens Made in America order on Monday, which instructs state agencies to prefer American suppliers in federal public procurement contracts. The EU is currently negotiating an international procurement instrument to end discrimination against EU companies. It would allow the bloc to penalise foreign companies in EU tenders, as a last resort. Canadian high pressure gradually builds into our area this holiday weekend. This will bring our area drier air and much cooler daytime high and overnight low temperatures. Radar Temperatures Severe Weather Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The CENTURY 21 Relentless Agent Awards were established in 2018 to recognize those affiliated real estate professionals who have exemplified the brand's mission to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences. Century 21 Real Estate recognizes that a truly relentless agent generates more than just sales results - they also focus on creating memorable interactions that reinforce the true value of their role in the real estate journey. Using third-party customer ratings and testimonials, the brand identifies the most standout agents and elevates their unique stories onto a national stage with this program. Only two years as a real estate agent, Roberts has already made an impact on the lives of home buyers and sellers in her Clarksville community. With a large share of her client base stemming from the nearby Fort Campbell military base, Jenna has become a resource for local and incoming military families, both in real estate and beyond. As a military wife herself, she understands first-hand the stresses they deal with when it comes to frequent, and oftentimes, last-minute relocations. Serving as an advocate for military spouses, Roberts meets with families to educate them, answer questions about the local area and address their concerns about the transition process. "For these families, I'm Jenna first and a real estate agent second," said Roberts. "So much guidance is provided for those serving with very little often relayed to their spouses. I want to make them feel like they're part of the journey versus just sitting on the sidelines." "The ability to put yourself in your clients' shoes, understand their needs as they make one of the biggest financial decisions of their life and then do whatever it takes to deliver on that is what makes an agent truly relentless," said Mike Miedler, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. "Jenna's commitment to making this experience as seamless as possible for her clients especially those families serving our country has made her a standout member of the CENTURY 21 team and we're excited to watch her continue to grow in her career." Jenna's passion for real estate began as a child working alongside her mother as they bought and restored old farmhouses. She got to see what it was like to take a house and turn it into a home. Building her career in different facets of the industry before becoming an agent, she was inspired by seeing others achieve the dream of homeownership. "Watching people fight so hard for what they want and, as an agent, getting to be a small part of that journey that's what truly drives me," added Roberts. "Everyone should be able to celebrate that accomplishment without worrying about the stress of the process. My job is so much more than just processing the paperwork, it's eliminating that stress for my clients and giving them the space to enjoy the experience." Learn more about what drives Jenna and her approach to extraordinary client service at century21.com/real-estate-blog/walk-a-mile-in-their-shoes/. For additional details on the Relentless Agent Awards program and to meet the rest of 2020's deserving honorees, please visit century21.com/relentless-agents/. About Century 21 Real Estate LLC The approximately 146,000 independent sales professionals in approximately 13,000 offices spanning 85 countries and territories in the CENTURY 21 System live their mission every day: to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences. By consistently chasing excellence, giving 121% and always elevating, the CENTURY 21 brand is helping its affiliated brokers/agents to be the first choice for real estate consumers and industry professionals worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate has numerous websites to help answer specific consumer needs. They are century21.com, century21.com/global, century21.com/commercial, century21.com/finehomes, and century21.com/espanol. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY), a global leader in real estate franchising and provider of real estate brokerage, relocation and settlement services. 2021 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21, the CENTURY 21 Logo and C21 are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated. Erin Siegel Senior Director, Public Relations & Executive Communications M: 201.913.1432 E: [email protected] SOURCE Century 21 Real Estate LLC Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 ADVERTISEMENT The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has congratulated the President, Muhammadu Buhari for appointment of new service chiefs, describing it as a promise kept. A statement from Sen. Chris Ngige Media Office in Abuja said the appointment is a befitting new year gift to Nigerians, and thanked the President for harkening to calls by well-meaning Nigerians. Unknown to many, the President confided in few Nigerians that he would bring in new service chiefs by the turn of the new year. He has kept that promise and leaves no doubt he is a listening President. But the new appointment means a lot to the Igbos in a special way. The New Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Leo Irabor is from Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State and of Niger Delta Igbo ethnic stock. The President has again by this very act, debunked the propaganda and insinuation that he is an Igbo hater, the statement said. The appointment therefore goes down as a clear testimony that the President chooses his team from the best available in any part of the country. Recall that Mr Ngige had while representing President Buhari at the burial of late Catholic Bishop of Orlu Diocese, Gregory Ochiagha, on Monday, Jan 11, 2021, told the congregation that the President had promised to rejig the security apparatus in the new year. Mr Ngige was responding to a quest by the President of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria , Augustine Akubueze, who in his speech, had called for an urgent action on the security situation in the country. SOURCE: NGIGE MEDIA OFFICE Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A production listing has sparked rumors season three of The Mandalorian may begin filming in April 2021. A post for the show on the Film & Television Industry Alliance website indicates season three will start shooting on April 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Creator Jon Favreau is listed under the cast and crew, however Disney has yet to comment on the post. Lights, camera, action? A production listing has sparked rumors season three of The Mandalorian may begin filming in April 2021 The news would come as a delight to fans, after Favreau suggested filming season three may be delayed amid a pileup of Star Wars-linked projects. The Disney+ show, for its first two seasons, debuted in the autumn TV lineup, but Favreau told Good Morning America last month that he's going to be working on a show called The Book of Boba Fett prior to focusing on the The Mandalorian's third season. 'So, this is actually separate from The Mandalorian Season 3, but what we didn't say in that announcement is that the next show coming up, [Lucasfilm President Katherine Kennedy] said the next chapter, and that's going to be The Book of Boba Fett,' Favreau said on the ABC show in a remote interview. Once The Book of Boba Fett is complete, 'then we go into production right after that on Season 3 of The Mandalorian,' Favreau said, calling into question the potential timeline The Mandalorian's third season will air. interview. More to come: A post for the show on the Film & Television Industry Alliance website indicates season three will start shooting on April 5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California Timelines shifting? The news would come as a delight to fans, after Favreau suggested filming season three may be delayed amid a pileup of Star Wars-linked projects The showrunner/director delved into additional detail about The Book of Boba Fett, a standalone spin-off series set to star Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand, with acclaimed filmmaker Robert Rodriguez as executive producer. 'We didn't want to spoil the surprise during the big Disney announcement of all the shows, so they let me keep this one a secret,' he said. 'And then we go into production right after that on The Mandalorian, back with the main character that we all know and love... pretty soon following that. Favreau added that 'there's a lot of Star Wars content coming out' in the near future with the enduring success of the George Lucas sci-fi franchise. 'I think they announced 10 projects, I think this will be 11,' he said. Favreau said that set of spinoffs include Ahsoka, which will star Rosario Dawson; and The Rangers of the New Republic, both occurring in the same timeline as The Mandalorian. Republicans need to flip just one seat next year to win back the Senate majority. But retirements are already complicating their path back to power. Two of the three toughest GOP defensive states on the 2022 Senate map, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, are already open seats, with GOP Sens. Pat Toomey and Richard Burr not planning to run again. That leaves Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson as the most vulnerable Republican up for reelection, but Johnson hasnt even decided to run for a third term after previously pledging to serve just two. And he said Tuesday hes in no hurry to decide. There are some that want me to run, some that dont, Johnson said of Republican entreaties to recruit him to run for a third term. From my standpoint, I dont feel under pressure that I have to decide really quick. The effort to retain Republicans who have won races in tough states came into focus on Monday when Sen. Rob Portman surprised Republicans by announcing he wont seek a third term in Ohio. Republicans will still be favored in the Buckeye State but will now have to contend with a primary that already looks crowded, with a laundry list of Republicans considering or already taking steps towards running. And theres already concern that more could join him in running to the exits as the GOP prepares to serve in the minority for the first time since 2013. Next year's Senate map has enough swing states that Republicans could retake the majority but they could just as easily lose more seats. So senior Republicans hope if anyone else is planning to bow out, they announce it soon like Portman did this year, and not like former Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe did in 2012 when she retired two weeks before the filing deadline. Its harder when you have open seats than when you have incumbents up, so I hope we dont have any more, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who ran his partys campaign arm in 2010 and 2012. If they are going to retire, I think its the right thing to do to do it early to give other people a chance to get in. Story continues Yet Johnson and other undecided senators dont seem to be in a rush. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is 87, said to check in with him several months from now. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the No. 4 GOP leader, said he didnt have a particular timetable on when to make an official decision. Missouri is a red state, and Republicans would be favored there, though Blunt only narrowly won in 2016. Im still planning to run. But that will become official when I announce a campaign. And Im not doing that yet, Blunt said. I really have not been thinking much about it to tell you the truth. ... I keep thinking there will be a little breathing space, so far its not happening. Republican strategists and advisers said the concern about a wave of retirements stems from the party losing the majority unexpectedly in Georgia earlier this month, with senators who were poised for two more years in power suddenly relegated to minority status, and the Capitol besieged by a violent mob the following day. Moreover, the GOP is settling in for its second impeachment trial and just spent the better part of five years answering questions about Trumps combative rhetoric, erratic policy decisions and occasional broadsides against members of his own party. After the riot and four years of Trump, what GOP senator up in 2022 hasnt thought about leaving? said T.J. Petrizzo, a Republican lobbyist and donor. For now, much of the focus is on Johnson, whom new National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott (R-Fla.) started trying to convince to run again in the fall of last year. Bill McCoshen, a veteran GOP strategist in Wisconsin, said Republican grassroots in the state are hoping he seeks a third term and viewed some of his recent comments about the 50-50 split in the chamber as positive signs. The grassroots wants to see him run again, and they think he's starting to make a pivot towards doing that, McCoshen said. I think he understands the importance of his seat for Republicans hopes of regaining the majority in 2022, and the grassroots hopes he's reconsidering not running. Other senators on the retirement watch list include 80-year-old Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has served since 1975 and just became the Senate president pro tempore for the second time. Leahy was hospitalized Tuesday after feeling ill on the advice of the Senate's attending physician, according to a statement from his office. On the Republican side, 86-year-old Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) is seen as a possible retirement, though his seat would be safely Republican. Shelby said he will address his future after the impeachment trial. Grassley, who would be in his 90s for much of a potential eighth term, doesnt understand what all the fuss is about: Ive done it seven times. Its no different than other times, he said Tuesday. Grassleys grandson, Pat Grassley, is the Iowa state House speaker and could succeed him. The House Republican caucus was also plagued by a wave of retirements in 2018 that ultimately contributed to losing the chamber. But with Democrats only controlling a 50-50 Senate and facing a midterm election with a Democrat in the White House, Republicans straightforward path back to the majority probably prevents a wider rush to the exits. The big change here is going from the majority to the minority, said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP operative and former top political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It's no fun being in the minority as the ranking member. You lose all your power. Reed, however, downplayed any concerns about the effect retirements could have on their prospects in 2022. I don't think this is cause for panic, at all, he said. Chris Hartline, a spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also dismissed the notion that retirements would be an issue. We are confident that well get strong candidates in all of these states, and they will present a clear alternative to the Democrats radical agenda to fundamentally change America, Hartline said in a statement. And were confident that well hold these seats and win back the majority. In some ways the 2022 election will be unlike any other. Trump has indicated he will continue to play in primaries and tank the prospects of those who have defied him. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) was the only GOP senator up for reelection that voted against dismissing Trumps second trial as unconstitutional. She reiterated shes running for reelection on Tuesday: How come everyones asking me this today? An impeachment doesnt come about at a convenient time for peoples campaign schedules, Murkowski said of whether her vote will hurt her prospects in Alaska. She won reelection in 2010, even after losing her primary to a right-wing candidate and being forced to run a write-in campaign in the general election. Republicans are hopeful that despite all that Trump has done to change the party, the approaching midterms will be conventional. Theyre already indicating theyre running against Bidens agenda and banking on 2022 following precedent, with the party out of power making gains. After all, the GOP only needs to pick up one seat for a majority and has opportunities in Nevada, Arizona, New Hampshire and Georgia, among others. I think its going to be a good term for us because were in the middle of a Democratic presidents term, one who is bent on destroying the economy. I think well have the momentum, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). Cramer said he's not overly concerned about retirements but conceded: Its easy for me to say. John Hoevens running in North Dakota. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday announced a comprehensive framework aimed at strengthening the grievance redress mechanism in banks and nudge lenders address the customer complaints in a time bound manner. The central banks action follows an increase in customer complaints in the banking industry in the recent years. "Effective grievance redress should be an integral part of the business strategy of the banks. It is, however, evident from the increasing number of complaints received in the Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs), that greater attention by banks to this area is warranted," the RBI said. The new framework mandates banks to have enhanced disclosures on complaints. Also, it talks about recovery of the cost of redress of maintainable complaints from the banks against whom the number of complaints received in the Offices of Banking Ombudsman (OBOs) are in excess of their peer group averages. RBI's proposed digital currency project and what it means for you Besides, the framework also includes an intensive review by RBI of the grievance redress mechanism of banks, having persisting issues in their redress mechanism has been issued today, the RBI said in a statement. The redress of complaints will continue to be cost-free for the customers of banks and members of public, the RBI said. This is a kind of monetary disincentive to banks to address the customer complaints effectively. The framework intends to, inter-alia, provide greater insight into the volume and nature of complaints received by the banks as also the quality and turnaround time of redressal, promote satisfactory customer outcomes and improved customer confidence, and identify remedial steps to be taken by the banks having persisting issues in grievance redress mechanism, the RBI said. The framework will come into effect from the date of the circular, the central bank said. The RBI had first announced about this plan in the December 4 monetary policy where the central bank said it will put in place a comprehensive framework comprising enhanced disclosures on customer complaints, a monetary disincentive in the form of recovery of cost of redress of complaints from banks and undertaking intensive review of grievance redress mechanism and supervisory action against banks that fail to improve their redress mechanism in a time bound manner. Over years, the RBI has taken various initiatives for improving customer service and grievance redress mechanism in banks. As part of this, the Banking Ombudsman Scheme was introduced in 1995 to serve as an alternate grievance redress mechanism for customer complaints against banks. In 2019, Reserve Bank also introduced the Complaint Management System (CMS), a fully automated process-flow based platform, available 24x7 for customers to lodge their complaints with the Banking Ombudsman (BO). As part of the disclosure initiative, banks were advised to disclose in their annual reports, summary information regarding the complaints handled by them and certain disclosures were also being made in the Annual Report of the Ombudsman Schemes published by the Reserve Bank, the central bank said. Also, to further strengthen grievance redress mechanisms, banks were mandated to appoint an Internal Ombudsman (IO) to function as an independent and objective authority at the apex of their grievance redress mechanism. The Chicago Teachers Union is preparing to go on their second strike in less than two years, readying members to hit the picket lines if Chicago Public Schools locks them out of their online teaching platforms for refusing to comply with the districts reopening plan. In response, CPS said it is halting in-person classes at least on Wednesday for students who have already returned but is still aiming to reach a deal to bring elementary students back to schools on Monday. So its come to this, the union wrote members. Short of some late-breaking change, *all* CTU members will begin working remotely tomorrow... and if CPS retaliates against members for exercising their right to a safe workplace, *all* CTU members will stop working on Thursday and set up picket lines at their schools. While union leaders told members to stay tuned, CPS officials issued a warning. Despite CTUs actions, and in accordance with our prior notices, we expect all pre-k, cluster program, and kindergarten through 8th grade teachers and staff to report for in-person work at their schools on January 27 unless they have been granted an accommodation to work remotely, states an email from CPS to all staff. At the same time, the district is asking students who have already returned to in-person learning to stay home Wednesday, when CTU members are expected to do the same. The district has no choice but to ask parents to keep your children home tomorrow, according to an email to families. For the past three weeks, thousands of CPS students have been safely learning in person, and the unions action will prevent these students from receiving the classroom support their parents needed and chose. The district also released an updated proposal to the union, including expanding surveillance testing by doubling the frequency from once to twice a month for school-based staff and starting to offer monthly tests for students attending schools in zip codes with the highest positivity rates. Story continues The proposal also prioritizes vaccines for in-person staff in high-positivity areas and broadens the districts approach to remote-work accommodations. It states that a school would go back to remote learning for two weeks if transmission occurs across three different learning pods and contact tracing cannot attribute it to an isolated incident, and that the entire district could go back online if its surveillance test positivity rate hits 3% and a joint committee determines that closing al schools is the best action. CTU has asked to close schools if the positivity rate citywide is 3%. The union is, once again, asking CPS to agree to enlist an independent mediator to help with broken negotiations over plans to reopen schools before educators can all get COVID-19 vaccines. CTU leaders have proposed a few compromises, such as pairing educators who volunteer to return in person with the small number of students who have signed up to do so and prioritizing vaccines for the first group back. Our discussions with CTU continue to address important topics, including the understandable hesitation and anxiety of teachers and staff, states the CPS email. Union leadership has unfortunately continued to make demands that simply dont align with local, state, or federal public health guidance. CTU leadership is now demanding that in order for CPS to return to in-person learning, their members must be vaccinated ahead of other city residents, including the elderly, first responders, grocery store employees, and other school staff members who have been in schools regularly since the pandemic began, the email continued. We have successfully advocated for our teachers to be prioritized, but the limited vaccine supply from the federal government is impacting our ability to rapidly vaccinate staff, and city leaders cannot cast aside an equitable vaccination plan and deprioritize the needs of other deserving community members who are at greater risk and performed essential work throughout the closure. Since prekindergarten and some special education teachers were called back to schools Jan. 4 for students who returned the following week, teach-outs in front of school buildings have become common forms of protest among educators who dont feel safe working inside but wish to continue remote instruction. This is a developing story. Check back for more details. In a rather unusual incident, a woman stabbed her husband after she assumed that he had an affair with another woman. The confusion happened when she saw photos of him with a woman on his phone. What made the entire situation even more strange is the fact that the woman in the snap was none other than the wifes younger self. According to a report in Yucatan Magazine, Leonora N has been arrested by the police for the act. Her husband, Juan N has claimed that the photo his wife saw was from the time when the two of them were dating. He also added that back in time, they looked different as they were both "young" and "slim". As per the report, the police officials found Leonora with the knife which she used to attack her husband. Juan informed the police in Sonora, Mexico, that he managed to save his life after he was able to snatch the knife from her. Moreover, the husband has apparently convinced her that he had gotten the old photos of the two of them digitalised and what she saw was one of those. The incident has garnered all kinds of reaction on social media platform, Reddit. One person commented on the post, recalling his days of working with an AIDS hotline. He stated how he had to deal with a situation where a man was adamant on assuming that his wife was cheating on him. The person mentioned that when he used to work with an AIDS hotline in the 80s, there was an older man who called and insisted that his wife was cheating. The man felt sorry for the wife and told the caller, "Well, no wonder she's depressed, being married to you!" Another user, who had earlier encountered a couple going through the same situation, said, I had this happen when I was doing legal work for a husband whose wife had advanced dementia. He mentioned that though the story was sad, the whole family looked at the bright side of the dark humour when the woman always asked saw her younger self and asked her husband, "Are you stepping out on me?! A different person expressed how his friends wifes reaction to the exact same situation was entirely different from that of Lenoras. He mentioned that when the couple first started dating, the woman wouldnt talk to the guy because she had a dream that he was cheating. The user also mentioned that when he has such dreams of cheating on his wife and he tells her, she is cool about it and just asks about the woman in her dream. Housing activists shut down the Santa Clara County downtown courthouse for hours Wednesday morning in a protest aimed at stalling scheduled eviction proceedings while calling attention to the plight of people being thrown out of their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. About 100 protesters from the Regional Tenant Organizing Project gathered in front of Santa Clara County Superior Court on North First Street in San Jose carrying colorful banners and signs Stop evictions, save lives, read one beating drums, making speeches and chanting, The court is closed. A small number of protesters who sat, arms entwined, in front of the courthouse entrance were arrested after they refused to move. Sheriffs deputies eventually pushed the crowd out of the plaza to the sidewalk at about 11 a.m., three hours after the protesters first blocked the entrance, forming a wall of banners and people. Attorneys and others with court appointments were turned away by deputies, who had them wait off to the side. Protesters, who came from all over the Bay Area, said they chose Santa Clara County because it leads Bay Area counties in the number of evictions and because Sheriff Laurie Smith continues to enforce eviction orders and lock people out of their homes. We dont understand why, during the middle of a pandemic, when everyone needs to shelter in place, we are still having evictions, said Tony Samara of Urban Habitat, a spokesman for the tenant group. Now Playing: Video: Gabrielle Lurie, Michael Cabanatuan A recent analysis by KQED showed that Santa Clara County has had more evictions during the pandemic than any other Bay Area county. From March 19 through Dec. 31, 145 households were evicted in Santa Clara County, with 135 in Contra Costa County and far fewer in other counties, including San Francisco with 17 evictions and Alameda County with eight. The group also called on Gov. Gavin Newsom and state and local lawmakers to adopt stiffer limits on evictions during the pandemic. Samara said negotiations with state and local politicians have been genial but havent produced the kind of eviction protections advocates believe are necessary. This week, Newsom and state legislative leaders agreed to extend Californias partial eviction moratorium by five more months, a deal the Legislature could vote on as soon as Thursday. The extension as written still permits Ellis Act evictions, which allow landlords to evict tenants if they plan to go out of the rental business. Were in one of the worst crises in the last 100 years, and we have to fight tooth and nail for the leanest of protections, Samara said. Santa Clara County Superior Court officials and county spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment. Sheriffs officials could not immediately say how many protesters had been arrested. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan (Natural News) A physician at the Boston Medical Center (BMC) suffered an allergic reaction after receiving the much-talked about Moderna vaccine. The incident, which occurred on Dec. 24, involved Dr. Hossein Sadrzadeh, a geriatric oncologist with a severe allergy to shellfish. Sadrzadeh reported symptoms of anaphylaxis similar to what he experiences with shellfish almost immediately after receiving the Moderna shot. According to The New York Times, this is the first report of an adverse reaction linked to the Moderna vaccine, which rolled out across the United States a week before the incident. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating similar reports of allergic reaction to Pfizers vaccine, which was distributed a week earlier than Modernas. What happened and what may have triggered it In a statement, BMC spokesman David Kibbe confirmed that Sadrzadeh was inoculated with Modernas vaccine at 3:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Within minutes of receiving the shot, the doctor, who has serious allergies, had a severe reaction that required him to use his EpiPen an auto-injectable device containing epinephrine thats used in emergency situations to treat severe allergic reactions, or anaphylaxis. Sadrzadeh was then taken to the emergency room where he was evaluated, treated, observed and discharged four hours later. Sadrzadeh later recounted his experience in an interview and likened it to the anaphylactic reaction triggered in him by shellfish. Besides feeling dizzy and faint, he said that his heart rate had spiked to 150 beats per minute and that his tongue had prickled and gone numb. Sadrzadeh also said that his blood pressure plummeted and that his immune system was in revolt. According to a record of his visit to the ER, Sadrzadeh was given several medications, including steroids and Benadryl, to calm his immune reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. The doctor gave a personal report of his experience to Moderna and a national vaccine safety surveillance system run by the FDA and the CDC. Modernas vaccine is one of only two COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized by the FDA for emergency use during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 14, healthcare workers have received top priority for immunization. Unlike the vaccines developed for other diseases, these two vaccines are a new type of injectable medication. Called messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, they are made with genetic material copied from the coronavirus instead of a weakened or inactivated version of the pathogen. The goal of mRNA vaccines, according to CDC, is to instruct cells to produce a harmless piece of a viral protein in this case, the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to infect cells. This innocuous protein then triggers an immune response and allows the body to build a suitable defense against the COVID-19 virus. This, theoretically, would give whoever receives the vaccine protection against COVID-19 without having to risk getting sick with the viral disease. (Related: Moderna admits that some components of mRNA tech used in vaccines can cause significant adverse events.) However, despite repeated assurances by both Pfizer and Moderna that their vaccines are safe, several experts have raised concerns about a particular ingredient used in mRNA vaccines. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a compound derived from petroleum and is used in various industrial products. In the form of tiny spheres, PEG is used to protect the mRNA in Pfizer and Modernas vaccines and help it penetrate cells. But according to Dr. Peter Marks, the director of the FDAs Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, this compound may be the culprit behind the anaphylactic reactions associated with the vaccines. PEG has never been used before in any approved vaccine, mainly because there is no need for it. But there have been reports of certain drugs containing PEG occasionally causing anaphylaxis symptoms, such as rashes, shortness of breath, plummeting blood pressure and palpitations. Experts have also raised the possibility of people previously exposed to the compound having high levels of antibodies against it. This potentially puts them at great risk of a severe allergic reaction should they receive either one of the approved vaccines. Pfizers vaccine is also causing allergic reactions Just days after the distribution of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine began in the U.S., reports emerged of recipients suffering multiple allergic reactions. At a press conference held that same week, a total of five cases in more than one state were confirmed by the FDA, two of which occurred in the same hospital in Alaska. According to The New York Times, one of the workers who was rushed to the emergency room developed a rash over her face and torso, experienced shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate symptoms similar to what Sadrzadeh later experienced after receiving Modernas vaccine. The other recipient, meanwhile, complained of lightheadedness and a scratchy throat and developed eye puffiness 10 minutes after receiving the shot. But unlike the first recipient, who had to spend the night in the intensive care unit, the second recipient recovered quickly and was released within an hour. The FDA immediately issued a warning for Americans who have a history of severe allergic reactions but insisted that the vaccine is still safe. Some experts, however, noted the similarities between the reported allergic reactions and those seen in the United Kingdom. Britain began administering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Dec. 8. On the first day of the countrys mass vaccination program, two cases of allergic reactions were reported and confirmed, prompting the U.K. medical regulator to issue a public warning for those with a history of serious allergic reactions. While Pfizer and BioNTech reported finding no serious safety concerns in late-stage trials of their vaccine, a review of the documents published by the two companies revealed that people with serious allergies were excluded from the trials. The FDA is currently working with the CDC to investigate the reported adverse reactions. The two agencies and the three companies behind the approved vaccines still maintain that the COVID-19 shots are safe. As of Dec. 31, as many as 10 people in the U.S. have experienced anaphylaxis after receiving shots. Sources include: TheBlaze.com 1 TheBlaze.com 2 AtlantaAllergy.com NYTimes.com Aljazeera.com CDC.gov SnackSafely.com ScienceMag.org APNews.com LiveMint.com Tuesday was not a good day for former New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius for two reasons. One, he saw fellow shortstops Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons come off the market. With Semien signing with the Toronto Blue Jays and Simmons going to the Minnesota Twins, Gregorius is running out of potential landing spots. Two, each player took a one-year deal. Semien agreed to $18 million while Simmons got $10.5 million. Gregorius, who played 2020 on a one-year, $14 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, was hoping for a multi-year contract this time around. But with the precedent set for one-year deals this winter, Gregorius may strike out in securing a long-term contract. Introducing Yankees Insider: Get exclusive news, behind-the-scenes observations and the ability to text message directly with beat writers And thats a problem because things wont look any better next winter. Semien and Simmons will re-enter the market, as will Javier Baez, Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story and Corey Seager. The market will be flooded with shortstops one year from now and Gregorius once again could be out of luck. As for this year, the Phillies remain interested in a reunion with Gregorius, according to MLB.coms Mark Feinsand and Todd Zolecki. The Phillies took care of their top offseason priority on Tuesday, signing free-agent catcher J.T. Realmuto to a five-year, $115.5 million contract. Get Yankees text messages: Cut through the clutter of social media and text during games with beat writers and columnists. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. ADVERTISEMENT An Ikeja High Court on Wednesday acquitted a lawyer, Yetunde Sousa, accused of stealing N50.2Million from Dominos Stores and Ozone Cinemas. Delivering judgment, Raliat Adebiyi, held that the state failed to establish a prima facie against the defendant as there was no nexus linking the defendant to the allegations. The judge said held that Ms Sousa only acted in her professional capacities in the lease of the property in question. NAN reports that the Lagos State Government charged Ms Sousa with theft. The state alleged that the lawyer committed the offence between May and December 2011 at the Dominos Stores, Alagomeji, Lagos. The offence, the state added, contravened the provisions of Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap C17, Vol. 2 of Lagos State 2003. The lead state prosecutor, Rotimi Odutola, alleged that the N50.2Million, which belonged to the supermarket and cinema, was given to her by Michael Murray-Bruce. The allegedly stolen funds was for the renewal of the lease of a property situated at No. 1 Habour Road, Apapa, Lagos, which belonged to NFS Food and Cold Storage Ltd. During the trial, three witnesses testified on behalf of the prosecution. Three witnesses, including the defendant, also testified for the defence. (NAN) We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Algiers, Jan 27, 2021 (SPS) - The African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, Mr. Ismail Chargui, declared on Tuesday that the conflict between the Sahrawi Republic and Morocco threatens regional stability, calling for the acceleration of the process for the organization of a referendum of self-determination for the Saharawi people . In statements to Sputnik, Mr. Chargui said the escalation between the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Morocco may threaten regional stability and that we are seeking a quick solution that will help to put an end to the confrontations and to embady the peace plan into practice by organizing a self-determination referendum. In this sense, the president of the AU Peace and Security Council recalled that the president of the AU, Cyril Ramaphosa, had called on UN to appoint an envoy as soon as possible, since he has been vacant since the Horst Kohler resigns in May 2019, to help resolve the conflict . SPS 125/090/tra Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain It was welcome news to see vaccination efforts against the COVID-19 virus begin in Ontario in December, and that the first recipient was a personal support worker from a long-term care home, Anita Quidangen. However, a successful vaccination campaign will not end the crisis in long-term care. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in catastrophic levels of illness and death: 81 percent of the total COVID-19 deaths that occurred in Canada during the first wave were in long-term care homes, which is almost twice as high as other countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Long-term care homes have also been hit with devastating outbreaks during the second wave of the pandemic. The age of frail residents and their complex co-morbidities are not the only reasons for the vulnerability in this sector. Crisis in care homes is rooted in precarious work The novel coronavirus is an occupational disease, which is a hazard that spreads rapidly at work. The crisis in the long-term care sector as well as many other susceptible workplaces reflects long-standing precarious conditions consisting of a predominantly racialized, immigrant and female workforce, combined with a novel viral pandemic, which results in presenteeismin other words, continuing to work despite exposure to or falling ill from COVID-19. As echoed in previous research, not only do precarious employees work at multiple sites, but there are significant financial consequences for workers if they call in sick. These workers are often employed in low-income jobs such as ancillary workers or support staff in the health-care sector, gig-economy employees, taxi drivers and temporary, contract or agency workers. They face financial penalties for missing work. Although federal employment insurance sickness benefits offer qualifying workers a portion of their wages, the maximum benefit is only 55 percent of wages. In addition, there are waiting periods that may serve as disincentives. Similarly, the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit offers income support for workers with COVID-19, but it's only $450 a week after taxes. In addition, workers can only apply after missing 50 percent of their work week, meaning they cannot use it to stay home when sick on the first day of symptoms. All of this means that precariously employed, low-wage workers have little incentive to be away from work when sick if they are already struggling to make ends meet on their full salaries. Indeed, recent research suggests that in the long-term care sector, workers did not earn enough to adequately provide for their families. Income inequalities combined with racism have also been reported. So while the COVID-19 vaccine seems promising, an important question is: How does one vaccinate against precarious work? Paid sick days for all amount to health equity Addressing the current crisis requires both a vaccine against the coronavirus and policies that support precarious workers, such as paid sick days. The Decent Work and Health Network has been advocating for paid sick days for years. As the network explained in its recent report, paid sick days are crucial for public health and for achieving equity. The report notes that groups who are in most urgent need of paid sick daysthose who have experienced higher rates of COVID-19 and greater economic repercussions during the pandemicare the low-wage racialized workers who are among the least likely to have these benefits: "Like vaccines, paid sick days must be universal in order to protect the most vulnerable. The crisis in long-term care illustrates how precarious work and gaps in paid sick days expose the most vulnerable." Dr. Teresa Tam, the chief public health officer of Canada, has called for paid sick days, both to counter the current pandemic and to make society healthier and more equitable. As she describes in her Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2020, the long-term care crisis is rooted in long-term precarious work. She identifies several factors that were significant for personal support workers in long-term care: " these disadvantages include economic and employment insecurity, a lack of paid sick leave, and the need to work multiple jobs to make ends meet." Among the specific actions she calls for are minimum staffing levels and quality full-time jobs with benefits that include paid sick leave. The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table's new report on COVID-19 and Ontario's Long-Term Care Homes has evidence-based measures to reduce outbreaks and deaths both with and without the COVID-19 vaccine. These include improved working conditions and guaranteed paid sick leave. The need to address precarious work has never been so urgent, and the call for paid sick days has never been so widespreadfrom nurse and physician associations to mayors and chief medical officers of health. Address the conditions that nurtured outbreaks Addressing the effects of the pandemic requires both vaccinating against the virus and improving the working conditions that nurtured it, especially those of low-wage immigrant, racialized and female groups working in long-term care. Paid sick days are an essential complement to the vaccine, and part of returning to a new, healthier normal. We need to vaccinate against COVID-19 but also inoculate society against precarious work by following the advice in Dr. Tam's report and supporting "full-time quality jobs with benefits such as paid sick leave." Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Random coronavirus testing at four Capital Region school districts and one private school has so far uncovered few positive cases, bolstering the theory that schools are not drivers of infection rates in the larger community. Watervliet, Bethlehem, Albany, and North Colonie school districts are all located in communities that have seen a high concentration of coronavirus infections in recent weeks. Each district is using rapid-testing kits provided by the state to screen hundreds of asymptomatic on-site students and staff per week. While the state has not mandated in-school testing, some districts are proactively utilizing their supply to screen from 10 to 20 percent of the population. Watervliet Central Schools began testing 10 percent of on-site students and staff last week. Of 125 tests, there were no positives, but the district will continue testing 10 percent of the population each week until it runs out of kits. Watervliet Superintendent Lori Caplan said she expected those results and hopes the continued testing will reassure parents and the community that schools are safe. "I'd be really surprised (if the tests produced positive cases) because we are so vigilant about mask-wearing and pods for the kids and hand sanitizing," she said. "To the credit of the teachers and the students, we've only had one week of virtual learning and it was strictly because of a staff shortage." North Colonie nurses began testing 10 percent of the district's in-school population for grades K-6 on Jan. 20. So far, 261 tests have resulted in no positive cases. Testing for selected students and staff in grades 7-12 will begin the week of Feb. 8. "This testing is not mandated by the state, and we do not believe there is a huge spread of COVID-19 in our buildings, but this testing will help support that belief," school officials wrote in a letter to parents. The City School District of Albany has tested 295 in-person employees and students roughly 10 percent of its on-site population since Jan. 11 with no positive results. The district will begin a second two-week voluntary testing period this week, testing another 10 percent of students and staff. Bethlehem Central Schools tested teachers and staff only at six of its seven school buildings, with 102 tests uncovering one positive case. "We plan to begin some testing of students next week, but first I have been hosting question and answer sessions with parents to address any concerns before we move forward," Bethlehem Superintendent Jody Monroe said in an emailed statement. The private Albany Academies tested 100 percent of its on-campus population before resuming in-person classes earlier this month in response to a post-Thanksgiving outbreak and the school plans to continue the surveillance testing on a weekly basis. The schools used a Maryland-based lab to conduct pool testing. More than 600 tests turned up just three positives. School districts across the region for weeks had prepared for surveillance testing in anticipation of a potential yellow or orange "microcluster" designation from the state. Rapid tests provided by the state Department of Health involve a swab wiggled in the tip of the nose. Districts trained nurses, stocked up on rapid tests, and obtained consent forms from students and staff and licenses from local health departments. In some cases, school districts formed partnerships with outside organizations to conduct and process the coronavirus tests. As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations soared in every part of the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo then abandoned the microcluster strategy that required schools in areas where positivity rates stayed elevated above 3 percent to begin the testing or close their doors. The governor has pointed to evidence that businesses and schools that follow social distancing and masking protocols are not major drivers of coronavirus spread. Instead, state health officials are focused on managing hospital bed and intensive care bed capacity in COVID-19 hotspots. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control published an article Tuesday outlining examples from across the country and abroad that further support the idea that schools are unlikely to be the source of coronavirus transmission. The preponderance of available evidence from the fall school semester has been reassuring, three CDC researchers wrote in a viewpoint piece published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. There has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. The CDC paper referenced its own study on 17 rural K-12 schools in Wisconsin and found just seven out of 191 coronavirus cases were believed to have resulted from in-school exposure. Students and staff in these schools wore masks nearly all of the time, researchers note. However, the authors caution against resuming indoor athletic activities, citing outbreaks that have been associated with high school sports. "Even though high school athletics are highly valued by many students and parents, indoor practice or competition and school-related social gatherings with limited adherence to physical distancing and other mitigation strategies could jeopardize the safe operation of in-person education," they wrote. Source: Reuters The plan to internationalise Indian higher education institutes by allowing them to set up campuses abroad could see the United States as the first destination, with President Joe Biden having indicated a willingness to expand the education system. One of the proposals in the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, was allowing Indian educational institutes (Institutes of Eminence or IoE) to set up campuses abroad. Here, the Education Ministry has sought international campus plans from the IoEs, including Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, Indian Institute of Science (IIsc) Bangalore, Jadavpur University Kolkata, IIT Bombay and IIT Madras. There are 16 IoEs including those named above, along with IIT Madras, Delhi University, Vellore Institute of Technology, Shiv Nadar University and Banaras Hindu University and others. Sources said that while the United States was chosen as a destination to expand campuses, it was felt that the former US government under Donald Trump would not agree to the proposal. President Joe Biden is more receptive to expansion of the higher education sector in the US and in fact has also stated that education is on the top agenda under his government. Hence, the US is being reconsidered as a priority destination, said the director of an IoE. As a starter, the IoEs that set up campuses in the US could also provide some special exchange programmes between India and the United States. Further, students of colour would also be given special scholarships during admissions. While the programme structures are still at a discussion stage, the idea is that the campuses set up by Indian institutes in the US should be attractive enough. So, the fee will be lower than the traditional institutes there and students will also get a chance to visit India and other Asian markets as part of their practical training, said the vice chancellor of an IoE. Under the Education Ministrys plan, IoEs will have the freedom to fix and charge fees from foreign students without restriction. Being an IoE would give these institutes the freedom to have their own transparent, merit-based system for admissions. Tie-ups may be another route. For example, National University of Singapore has tied up with Yale University for a Yale NUS campus. Similarly, France-headquartered INSEAD also has a campus in North America. President Joe Biden has stated that he plans to increase grants for new and existing higher education institutes to improve graduation rates and reduce income disparities. Here, any educational institute helping improve career outcomes for low-income students, students of colour, first-generation students, and students with disabilities will be provided funding. He had said that as President, he would establish an innovation competitive grant fund for higher institutions, giving them additional funds to invest in increasing graduation rates and closing ethnic, racial, and income disparities. Other destinations Apart from the United States, where the Indian institutes will target NRIs and local students, West Asia is another destination on the list. Setting up campuses in West Asia will offer us an opportunity to cater to the Indian diaspora in the region. Areas like engineering and medicine have a lot of scope for employment opportunities there, so students would be able to get access to skilled courses from reputed institutes like IITs locally, said the professor and head of international relations at an IIT. IoEs that are government-funded will get additional funding up to Rs 1,000 crore. These funds could be used for international expansion or to set up a temporary campus. Advertisement Britons holidaying in Portugal this winter have vowed to skip Boris Johnson's hotel quarantine diktat by travelling home to the UK via the EU, MailOnline can reveal today. Mr Johnson's plans to forcibly confine travellers from up to 30 'high risk' countries was branded 'another omnishambles' amid claims it can easily be bypassed by flying home via Spain or Ireland, or driving to Calais to cross the Channel. MailOnline has previously revealed that travellers from South Africa, where a mutant strain of Covid was found before Christmas, were flowing into the UK via Paris and Amsterdam after direct flights were scrapped. Portugal, visited by 2million Britons each year before the pandemic, is expected to be among the 30 'high risk' states on the list because of rocketing infection and death rates as well as its links to Covid-ravaged Brazil. But some Britons, many of whom have second homes on the Algarve, are already planning to bypass the rules. There are currently no direct flights between the UK and Portugal. Ken Browne tweeted: 'If you want to escape highly expensive hotel quarantine, just cross from Portugal into Spain and travel from there. It's another omnishambles'. Paul Snape wrote: Won't everyone just go via a different country? U could drive from Portugal into Spain, get on a flight and get into the country without quarantine'. Tahir Habib said: 'I know friends planning to come from Portugal via France! You either quarantine everyone coming into the UK from all countries or no one. Plenty of alternative routes back'. One BBC listener told Radio 2 today they planned to travel back to the UK by flying to Dublin and then to Stansted to avoid paying 1,500 for ten days in a hotel. Travel agents have told MailOnline the uncertainty for customers is killing their businesses. Karen Slater, from Inspire Me Travel, said sales jumped 70 per cent after the vaccines were approved in December, but have turned off like a tap after the Government urged people not to book foreign holidays and mooted the quarantine plans in recent days. She said: 'If the Government apply Quarantine hotels for all arrivals with no end date, and the end date is the key, then we will not survive as people are fed up with their bookings being constantly cancelled and nobody is going to book a holiday and then have to stay in a hotel in London for 1,500 per person'. 'We all want the numbers and the death rates to keep coming down, that's what we want more than anything but some of the restrictions put in place have, as we read so often, no scientific basis and are causing more ongoing destruction', she added. Plans to add Portugal to the quarantine list due to its high infection rates and links to Brazil will be bypassed, Britons have said Portugal will be among the 30 'high risk' states on the list because of rocketing infection and death rates. Its beaches, including Carcavelos Beach near Lisbon, are hugely popular with Brits who also flock to the Algarve Thousands of hotel rooms are going to be used to house travellers - including many at Heathrow (pictured) These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries that could be on the UK quarantine list Heathrow passengers returning to the UK from Brazil reveal desperate scramble home via France to avoid 10-day hotel quarantine Passengers arriving in Heathrow from Brazil today revealed how they made a desperate scramble home through France to avoid having to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Travellers entering England from Brazil, where a new mutant strain of Covid is running rampant, will be forced to self isolate, possibly at the cost of up to 1,500, according to new plans to be revealed this week. Georgina Masullo Brazil, 39, and her 16-year-old son Pedro arrived at Heathrow Terminal Two this morning from Sao Paulo via Paris. Ms Masullo, who is originally from Brazil but now lives in Hammersmith in West London, said she had been trying to fly back to the UK for the last three weeks having flown out in November. She said: 'My son and I decided to get the first available flight from France and so flew ten hours to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and got a flight to Heathrow from there. 'I'm so glad we've come back now and not in a few days time because the last thing we would've wanted to do after a ten hour flight is to be whisked to an airport hotel and have to spend the next ten days cooped up there in a small room. 'We'd flown to Sao Paulo in November to see family over Christmas. The virus is bad over there but so is the situation here and there are more restrictions in the UK. 'Our home is just 15-miles from Heathrow. We are going to self-isolate there in much better comfort than a hotel. 'I've spent hundreds of pounds travelling, I don't want to spend hundreds more having to quarantine in some strange place.' Julia Santos, 27, landed at Heathrow this afternoon having also caught a connecting flight from Paris. She has spent the last five months in Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil and flew to the French capital overnight from Rio de Janeiro to head home to Finchley, North London. She said: 'There were a number of passengers on the Paris flight who had transferred from Brazil and other South American countries. We were all pulled aside at customs and asked for proof of residence as the UK isn't currently allowing visitors from those countries. 'It's of course to do with the Coronavirus but I think situation here is every bit as dire as it is in Brazil - perhaps more so as Britain has the highest death rate per capita in the world. 'As we passed through security and customs, they were telling us that we are among the last travellers from Brazil to avoid having to self isolate in a local hotel. 'I wouldn't want to do that, for one it's really expensive and not particularly very nice to spend ten days stuck in a hotel unable to come out of your room.' Advertisement A spokesman for ABTA, an association of British travel agents, told MailOnline: 'We understand the Government's need to introduce temporary additional restrictions in response to emerging new strains of the virus, but this needs to come with support for the jobs and businesses affected and a clear roadmap forward for travel. 'It is now 12 months since the travel industry started to be affected by coronavirus, yet the Government has still not provided any tailored financial support to the sector. Jobs are being lost at an alarming rate and longstanding businesses have gone to the wall. The lack of financial support targeted at addressing the consequences for businesses of international travel restrictions needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. 'The introduction of quarantine hotels for 'red list countries' builds on a mountain of existing measures for travel, and we need to see a clear plan for how these will be lifted. 'The Government needs to work with the industry to develop a route forward for reopening travel, reviewing all of the existing measures and coordinating with overseas governments. 'While the vaccine rollout is positive, the industry cannot wait for the whole UK adult population to be vaccinated before travel restarts and businesses cannot afford to lose another summer. We also know that many people have a desire to get back to experiences that they value highly and have missed dearly, including travel to visit family and friends abroad.' Boris Johnson today revealed travellers to the UK 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Mr Johnson also announced that Britons will be sent home from airports if they fail to prove their trip abroad is 'essential'. Airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. Home Secretary Priti Patel said later that more police are being sent to airports and ports to check travellers' journeys and fine them if they are breaking the rules. The Prime Minister told the Commons that passengers will be 'met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine'. A travel industry source told the PA news agency that the list of destinations this will apply to includes all of South America, southern Africa and Portugal. The Prime Minister is introducing an Australian-style quarantine scheme following concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignored a plea from Priti Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons today that the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from up to 30 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. The 30 'high risk' countries, due to be published later today by the Home Secretary along with a start date, are expected to include Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, much of South America and southern Africa. These areas have been chosen because of dangerous variants that have emerged there - or because they have rocketing infection and death rates. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Boris Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' Home Secretary Priti Patel outlined the new rules for the border - but failed to reveal the list or the timings. She told the Commons: 'Firstly, the police have stepped up checks and are carrying out more physical checks at addresses to ensure that people are complying with the self-isolation rules. 'Second, we will continue to refuse entry to non-UK residents from red-list countries which are already subject to the UK travel ban. 'Third, as the Prime Minister has said, we will introduce a new managed isolation process in hotels for those who cannot be refused entry, including those arriving home from countries where we have already imposed international travel bans. 'They will be required to isolate for 10 days without exception and the Department for Health and Social Care will set out further details on this approach next week.' The government is also considering dumping its 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation. This would ensure anyone arriving in Britain would have to self-isolate for ten days. Government sources have told MailOnline that the United Arab Emirates, where many social media stars have jetted off during lockdown, will not appear on the list. Scores of influencers and millionaires have fled to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels during lockdown. Laura Anderson, Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins, Amber Davies, Georgia Harrison and Kady McDermott were among those to jet off before the third national lockdown. Expats working in Dubai and following the rules have accused them of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and risking spreading the virus by partying and flouting social distancing. MailOnline has also been inundated with emails from people in Spain, the USA, Canada, Pakistan and South America worried that they may be caught up in the new quarantine scheme and admitting they may rush home to avoid it. Yesterday it was revealed private flights into a Dubai airport soared by 78% at the end of last year compared to 2019, as travellers, including Love Island stars, rushed to escape lockdown and spend Christmas there. The imminent quarantine plans split the cabinet with Home Secretary Priti Patel backing a total travel ban that would close Britain's borders. Ms Patel, thought to be supported by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, had hoped blanket quarantine for all arrivals would stop new variants of coronavirus entering Britain. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have been arguing strongly for any decision on whether to widen the list to be delayed. Boris Johnson (pictured today) will impose Australian-style quarantine scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer says limiting it to arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Reality stars who fled to Dubai before England's third lockdown began look set to be returning to 10-day compulsory quarantine stay at hotels near Britain's airports. Kady McDermott (left) and Maura Higgins (right) were among the stars to travel to the UAE before lockdown began Flagged Camps Bay beach in Cape Town, South Africa, a country certain to be on the list after a dangerous variant emrged before Christmas A deserted Praia da Rocha Beach in Portugal yesterday where the travel industry has been decimated by Covid and will now be added to a quarantine list by the UK, one of its biggest markets Ministers will outline plans today to force British travellers to quarantine in airport hotels, despite warnings from airline chiefs that the sector faces ruin. Pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow Airport yesterday Angry expats tell MailOnline: British influencers in Dubai to dodge lockdown are 'taking the f***ing p***' Expats in Dubai have told MailOnline they are furious about the number of celebrity influencers coming to the city 'for work'. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. One expat told MailOnline: 'They're taking the f***ing p***'. Lauren Morgan, who moved to the city with her husband in January 2020, said: 'All the 'influencers' coming out to Dubai for 'work' has made me so angry, using loop holes to holiday and potentially spreading the virus. Especially as they're all partying in ridiculous circumstances where social distancing isn't being observed and rules are not being followed by people from the UK (and I'm sure many others) who have not had to follow the same strict rules as we have in Dubai since March 2020 and is now a way of life to wear a mask and keep your distance and minimise socialising/large group gatherings'. Home Secretary Priti Patel said 'going on holiday is not a valid reason' to ignore the stay-at-home rules. She told the Commons: 'For those travelling out of the UK we will also be enhancing and stepping up enforcement rules. 'Because despite the stay-at-home regulations we are still seeing people not complying with these rules. The rules are clear, people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave. 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason, so we will introduce a new requirement so that people wishing to travel must first make a declaration as to why they need to travel. 'This reason for travel will be checked by carriers prior to departure and this approach effectively mirrors the checks on arrivals that are already in place with the passenger locator form.' Advertisement The impending quarantine rules came as: Boris Johnson said he was 'deeply sorry for every life lost' last night as the UK went past 100,000 coronavirus deaths as the PM insisted the Government 'did all we could'; England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty believes the country has reached the peak of the latest - and most serious - wave of the pandemic; People infected with Kent coronavirus variant are MORE likely to get symptoms than those who catch older strains, ONS report reveals but they are less likely to lose smell and taste; Cases are falling fast - down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000 yesterday. The figure is the lowest it has been since December. But another 1,631 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test yesterday, taking the total to 100,162; On Tuesday the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Covid operations committee which includes participants from the Home Office, the Department of Transport and the Foreign Office to put the seal on the decision. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. An agent, whose client had travelled to Dubai, told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We manage their social media accounts and I've seen a number of death threats in direct messages. 'It's been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it's a terrible look, but they ignored it.' Travel chiefs warned quarantine hotels could 'decimate' the beleaguered sector. Airline bosses wrote to Mr Johnson warning firms could go bust and tens of thousands of jobs lost if summer holidays are cancelled for a second year. The letter was signed by easyJet chief Johan Lundgren, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss, British Airways boss Sean Doyle, Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy and David Burling, CEO of markets and airlines for package holiday giant Tui. They called for an 'urgent roadmap for the reopening of air travel' as vaccines are rolled out and life begins returning to normal. They said Britain already has 'some of the toughest border restrictions on international arrivals anywhere in the world'. And they hit out at ministers for failing to share any 'compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced'. The letter follows a string of announcements on restrictions at borders, including passengers needing proof of a pre-flight negative Covid-19 test and the scrapping of the 'travel corridor' safe list of countries. Who will be forced to quarantine and can I upgrade my hotel room? We answer the vital questions about the Government's new Australia-style isolation for travellers Who will be forced to quarantine in hotels? As a first step, British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as Brazil and South Africa, will be forced to isolate for ten days in airport hotels. Foreign nationals are already banned from entering the UK from these places. The Government is looking at widening the hotel quarantine requirement to all arrivals at airports and ports from everywhere around the world, but wants to pilot the process with a smaller group of people first. Boris Johnson yesterday gathered ministers to sign off on the plans with a decision expected today. What will happen on arrival? Travellers who face enforced quarantine will be taken by bus to a hotel where they will have to remain for ten days. Officials have begun talks with hotel groups about block-booking rooms that can be used for isolating. In Australia, people are required to stay in their room the entire time with security guards patrolling the corridors. Hotel staff are forbidden from cleaning the rooms during a person's stay. British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected must isolate for ten days in airport hotels Can you upgrade your hotel? Travellers will not get a choice of hotel. In Australia, people do not know in advance where they will be staying and are warned there is no guarantee of access to a balcony or open window. What are you supposed to do all day? In Australia, exercise outside is not allowed so guests are encouraged to do stretches or yoga in their room. A guide given to travellers to help prepare for hotel isolation suggests planning different activities to break up the day. Examples given include getting in contact with different friends and family, learning a foreign language on a mobile phone app, trying out a new hobby such as knitting and calligraphy, and catching up on 'life admin'. The advice recommends planning 'rewards' to look forward to such as a phone call with a loved one or the delivery of a treat. People sharing rooms with partners and family members are encouraged to set ground rules for the stays such as scheduling a time each day when everyone does a 'quiet' activity to help avoid disagreements. Last summer an outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne was blamed on security guards having sex with guests at one of the quarantine hotels. Who pays the hotel bill? The Government will arrange transport for travellers to their accommodation, but they will have to cover the cost of their hotel room, estimated to be about 1,500. The cost of 14 days in a quarantine hotel is 1,692 for an adult in Australia, 1,630 in New Zealand and 642 in Thailand. Advertisement There is also a complete ban on travel into the UK from 22 countries, including the whole of South America and southern Africa. The ban does not include British and Irish nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival. The airline chiefs pointed out that the aviation industry supports about 1.56million jobs and contributes 88.8billion to the economy, or about 4.5 per cent of UK GDP. They added: 'With each day the UK is isolated from the world, causing untold economic damage, both to the UK's essential aviation infrastructure its airlines, airports and ground handlers but also to those businesses that depend on the UK's connectivity within a global economy.' The industry is calling for a 'bespoke support package', saying measures up until now have been inadequate. They say business rates relief can currently amount to as little as 4 per cent for larger operators such as Heathrow. Separately, the World Travel and Tourism Council warned shutting down UK borders further could wipe out more than 548million from the UK economy every day. The travel industry is ending its worst January on record in terms of forward bookings. It comes as a government source told MailOnline the decisions on the quarnantine plan will 'go down to the wire', adding: 'The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money ... you can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller.' It came as Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was 'too early' to book a summer holiday abroad - but some anxious Britons took to social media to admit the warning came too late, with some having bought flights for as early as the half-term holidays in mid-February. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel company The PC Agency, said: 'This is destroying confidence among holidaymakers. People are not booking summer holidays because they don't believe there is an end game which will see these blanket measures removed. 'This is a sure-fire way of destroying Britain's aviation and travel industries. The Government needs to signal that they will withdraw the hotel quarantine rules by the end of March and return to a system of quarantining arrivals from high-risk areas only.' In a joint statement, the Airport Operators Association and Airlines UK insisted the country already has 'some of the highest levels of restrictions in the world' and that introducing tougher rules would be 'catastrophic'. ABTA has urged all its travel agent members to lobby MPs in a bid to convince Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to agree a multi-billion pound cash bailout for the industry. A small number of Britons say they are now stuck in Spain and the Canary Islands, where the usually bustling beaches and promenades were largely deserted, as experts fear Mr Johnson's quarantine plan could bankrupt Britain's already ailing tourism industry. And photographs from some of Europe's most popular resorts, including Benidorm, show its beaches are deserted with bar and restaurant owners telling MailOnline they will go bust if the Brits don't visit this year. Stuey Lee Lewis, 70, owner of the Geordie Bar Tat in Benidorm's Rincon area, said: 'Things are really bad. We had locals in but we can't survive on locals, we need the Brits. I know they're missing our home-cooked chips, a cold beer and our sun terrace'. Expat Terence Burgess, 74, told MailOnline: 'I was in Benidorm last week and there wasn't a soul about. It was very sad to see. I went to my favourite karaoke bar to sing and I was the only one in there'. The quarantine measures will lead to a slew of cancellations and people will not book summer breaks in yet another economic hammer blow to holiday firms and airlines, particularly if, as feared, the travel restrictions stretch into the peak season. Industry leaders have called for a better sector-specific bailout package from the Chancellor. But the Prime Minister last night said he wanted 'maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad' to prevent new coronavirus variants jeopardising the vaccination programme. At a meeting of the Covid-O committee at 6pm this evening, Cabinet ministers will consider making it compulsory for all travellers to quarantine at hotels, regardless of their nationality and where they come from. A formal announcement on the agreed scheme may not come until tomorrow. One government source told MailOnline the decisions on the detail will 'go down to the wire'. The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' Sheridan Mordew, 24, from Sunderland, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Pictured: Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei in Dubai A health worker standing next to an ambulance at Santa Maria Hospital Lisbon as the pandemic in Portugal worsened Arrivals from South America, Portugal and many countries in southern Africa areas affected by deadly new strains are expected to be told to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports (pictured: The Best Western hotel at Heathrow) Government sources say people will have to pay for the cost of their stay perhaps as much as 1,500. Pictured: The Holiday Inn at Heathrow Private flights to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH) in Dubai soared by 78% in the last three months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019 Change your own bed sheets and meals dropped by your door: Best Western chief reveals grim Covid protocols faced by travellers forced to quarantine in airport hotels for up to 1,500 A large room at the Best Western - Chiswick Palace Hotel British travellers arriving back from high-risk coronavirus hotspots will be made to change their own bed sheets and eat meals in their rooms in an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience' as they are forced to quarantine in airport hotels. Boris Johnson yesterday signed off on plans to toughen border controls by putting new arrivals into isolation, at their own expense - with a ten-day stay costing up to 1,500. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the industry was ready to assist protocols of quarantining international arrivals, which would see guests confined to their rooms, with three meals delivered each day to their doors. He said the franchise could mobilise hotels for quarantining travellers returning to the UK, with 5,000 rooms ready 'within 24 to 48 hours' and said it would be an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience'. He told BBC Radio 5 Live hotels will operate a one-way system, with travellers checking in via a contactless system before being escorted to their room by a staff member in PPE. They then remain there for ten days, with CCTV cameras in corridors to ensure no one breaks the rules. 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high', he said. Advertisement They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money... You can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller,' the source said. Passengers arriving into Heathrow Airport have faced chaos for days as they were forced to queue for hours to get through passport control. Pictures of crowds at passport control have become common, raising fears that the lack of social distancing could easily spread Covid. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi warned that the country needs to be 'very careful' as new strains emerge, and said an announcement on the quarantine plans would be made later. He told Sky News on Tuesday: 'There will be an announcement on this issue later on today, so I can only say to you that it is the right thing to do, because I am the Vaccines Minister, that as we vaccinate more of the adult population, if there are new variants like the South African or the Brazilian variants, we need to be very careful. 'We acted on those very quickly and of course dealt with travel from those countries, and from Portugal and elsewhere, rapidly so it is important we continue to review our border policy and an announcement will be made when a decision has been taken. 'And of course the industry itself will be engaged with heavily, including (Health Secretary) Matt Hancock engaging with the industry to explain the decision making at health, as well as of course the business department with the Business Secretary.' Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the proposals might need to go further than applying only to those arriving from countries where new variants of Covid-19 have been discovered. Pressed on whether he supports a universal approach to quarantining international arrivals, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think it is a big logistical exercise to do that and it is not going to be possible to do it overnight anyway. 'But I think the real question is buying us enough time, and we don't know which countries these variants are arising in. We have much better genomic sequencing in this country than in most other countries - in fact, any other country - so we are better at tracing these things than other places. 'But I think we just have to be very cautious, because if we can get this vaccine distribution up to sufficient levels, we can really cut down the transmission in this country and transform the battle against the virus. 'If we do have to go further, I hope it would only have to be for a temporary period.' The Government has reportedly held talks with Marriott and Holiday Inn about using their hotels while Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. Who could be exempt from hotel quarantine? Under the Government's current border rules some people do not have to adhere to self-isolation requirements. It is not yet clear if these exemptions would be carried over should ministers press ahead with hotel quarantine. The current exemptions include: Aerospace engineers who need to take a test but do not have to self-isolate. Aircraft pilots and crew who do not need to take a test and do not have to self-isolate. BBC broadcasters who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. A blanket exemption for all journalists ceased on January 18. Medicine workers who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. Crown servants or government contractors who do not need to self-isolate if they are travelling for essential work. Drivers of goods vehicles who do not need to present a negative test prior to departure and who do not need to self-isolate. Elite sportspersons who do have to have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. None of the above exemptions are valid for travel from countries which are currently subject to a travel ban. Advertisement Describing what life will be like for guests paying around 100-a-night: 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high'. He added: 'There are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front'. The quarantine scheme is already used around the world including in Australia, Singapore and Norway, where some guests have described being stuck in dirty rooms for almost a fortnight being fed disgusting food. Others who have been through the process abroad have suggested that guests must fill their suitcases with a 'survival kit' of healthy snacks, decent coffee and tea, their own crockery and cutlery as well as washing up liquid, detergent for clothes and a laptop packed with downloaded boxsets - or face pure misery. Arrivals will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards. Government sources last night said the enforced quarantine regime will be introduced for British nationals returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as South Africa and Brazil. Foreign nationals are already barred from entering the UK from these countries. Ministers will then look to widen the compulsory hotel quarantine requirement to cover more travellers. Officials warned it will be 'logistically challenging' to put the system in place and it could take as long as three weeks to get it up and running. Concerns have been raised that there are only 10,000 hotel rooms close to London's Heathrow airport. About 8,000 people are still arriving there every day, although this number would be expected to plummet once the new restrictions are introduced. The plan to require arrivals to go into isolation at airport hotels is modelled on Australia, where the cost of 14 days in quarantine is 1,692. It is estimated that travellers entering the UK could be charged about 1,500 for a ten-night stay. The travel industry has warned that the added cost would destroy holiday plans. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. A deserted Levante beach in Benidorm on Tuesday as the Government urged Britons not to book summer holidays in yet another blow for struggling airlines and holiday companies The beautiful Playa de Amadores in Grand Canaria was also similarly quiet this morning The sunny strip in Benidorm on Spain's Mediterranean coast is hugely popular but was empty of tourists on Tuesday morning Beaches in Lanzerote (left) and Fuerteventura (right) were also deserted yesterday as Brits usually packing out the sand on holiday are set to stay away beyond the summer The beach in Santa Cruz in Tenerife was also quiet on Tuesday afternoon Travellers have cancelled their foreign holidays - or had it done for them - as the new quarantine rules are set to be imposed Arrivals, such as those at Heathrow (pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow) will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards People infected with Kent coronavirus variant are MORE likely to get symptoms than those who catch older strains, ONS report reveals but they are less likely to lose smell and taste People infected with the Kent coronavirus variant are more likely to get symptoms than those who have caught older strains but are less likely to lose their smell and taste, according to the Office for National Statistics. Data from the ONS revealed today that 53 per cent of people in England who tested positive with the variant reported Covid-19 symptoms such as cough, fatigue and fever, compared to 48 per cent of people with other variants. The number-crunching body found that the largest differences in reported symptoms between the new variant and older stains were cough, sore throat, fatigue and muscle ache myalgia which is caused by a viral infection. All symptoms were equally or more likely among people with the Kent variant except for a loss of taste and smell, which is considered to be one of the tell-tale signs of the virus. The ONS report also found that there was no significant difference in people experiencing shortness of breath, nausea vomiting or headaches between people who had tested positive with the mutation or novel strain. Figures showed that 19 per cent of those who tested positive with the UK variant had a loss of smell and taste in comparison to other strains, among which it was 22 per cent. The Government last week revealed that scientists think the Kent variant may be more deadlier than the previous dominant version of the virus, and it is already known to be more infectious by around 30 to 70 per cent. The Kent strain now makes up around 60 per cent of all cases in England, according to separate ONS testing figures. Advertisement He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, while he had not held conversations with ministers about the proposals, the sector was 'familiar and accustomed to managing Covid-positive customers in our hotels'. Mr Paterson added: 'From the hotels' perspective, we would have to treat each of these customers as Covid-positive, so we would have to have strong infection control and protocols around security in the hotel to ensure we can deliver safely.' Asked whether the protocols would see guests confined to their rooms, he replied: 'Yes, it does. And that is exactly how our protocols work today. We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high. 'Hotels stand ready to support the authorities on the strategy and I guess it is the authorities' responsibility and their burden to present the evidence and the practicalities behind the strategy. 'But from a practical point of view at the hotels, there are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front.' Heathrow said a blanket requirement for travellers to quarantine in hotels would effectively be 'the closure of our borders' and lead to 'huge ramifications for Britain and its aviation sector'. A spokesman for the airport said the industry was 'already on its knees', adding: 'The Chancellor must finally deliver on his promise of a comprehensive financial support package for UK aviation, made some ten months ago. 'It is completely unacceptable that an industry worst hit has watched on as others, fortunate to experience a boom in profits and no restrictions, have been afforded unnecessary financial support as we remain ignored.' Heathrow is calling for measures including business rates relief for airports. The Airport Operators' Association and Airlines UK warned an enforced quarantine regime would be 'catastrophic' and demanded an exit strategy. Shares in airlines fell sharply yesterday. In a joint statement, the industry bodies said: 'We have fully supported the Government to do what is right in the face of this pandemic, but policy should be based on evidence and there must be a roadmap out of these restrictions as soon as it is safe.' Ministers in Northern Ireland are expected to discuss the issue of quarantine at a Stormont Executive meeting on Tuesday. There is no direct route into Wales for international travellers at present, but a Welsh Government spokesman said they expected to discuss the plans with the UK Government in more detail. Direct flights to the UK from South Africa, Brazil and Portugal have already been suspended, but British residents have been permitted to return through indirect routes and then self-isolate at home. Australia became one of the first countries to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine in March, while the practice is also observed in China, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Qatar and Thailand. A man accused of committing a slew of crimes in Boston was busted by local, state and federal law enforcement Tuesday with a handgun and more than 10 grams of crack cocaine, according to police. Authorities recently started searching for Dwayne Rogers-Flonory after discovering he was wanted on multiple outstanding warrants in Boston, charging him with illegally carrying a gun and ammunition, attempted assault and battery with a firearm, breaking and entering in the nighttime and other offenses, Massachusetts State Police said in a statement. The ensuing investigation by state polices violent fugitive apprehension unit turned up several possible locations for the 29-year-old man. Early Tuesday, troopers received information indicating the suspect was likely at an apartment complex in Foxborough, according to the statement. Local police, state troopers, officers from the Massachusetts Parole Department, deputy U.S. marshals and members of a U.S. Marshals task force - all of whom were on the arrest team, officials noted - were surveilling in and around the complex on Foxborough Boulevard when they saw a vehicle linked to Rogers-Flonory, the statement said. Those on the arrest team saw the suspect walk toward the vehicle around 8:20 a.m. Troopers and officers then moved in to apprehend him, according to state police. However, Rogers-Flonory is accused of running away and scaling a 6-foot fence. Authorities said he tried to jump over another fence when he was caught by law enforcement. The suspect is accused of carrying a Glock .45 caliber handgun with one round in the chamber and eight rounds in the magazine at the time of his arrest. He also allegedly had roughly 13 grams of crack cocaine in his possession. He was taken to the state police Foxborough barracks, where he was booked on three outstanding warrants as well as new charges stemming from Tuesdays arrest, according to officials. Among his new charges, state police said, were carrying a loaded firearm, a second or subsequent offense of illegally carrying a gun, being a felon in possession of a firearm, crack and cocaine possession with intent to distribute, committing a gun violation while having two prior convictions for violent/drug crimes and resisting arrest. At the time of his arrest Tuesday, Rogers-Flonory was out on bail set for a prior gun-related arrest. That bail is expected to be revoked by the court in light of his new charges. He was taken to Wrentham District Court for arraignment Tuesday morning, according to law enforcement. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM), operator of financial markets for 11,000 U.S. and global securities, today announced Lonestar Resources US Inc. (OTCQX: LONE), an oil and gas company, has qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market. Following its successful restructuring and emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Lonestar Resources US Inc. begins trading today on OTCQX under the symbol "LONE." U.S. investors can find current financial disclosure and Real-Time Level 2 quotes for the company on www.otcmarkets.com. Trading on the OTCQX Market offers companies efficient, cost-effective access to the U.S. capital markets. Streamlined market requirements for OTCQX are designed to help companies lower the cost and complexity of being publicly traded, while providing transparent trading for their investors. To qualify for OTCQX, companies must meet high financial standards, follow best practice corporate governance, and demonstrate compliance with applicable securities laws. Lonestar's Chief Executive Officer, Frank D. Bracken, III commented, "Lonestar is pleased to re-establish its status as a publicly-traded company. Further, Lonestar has emerged with substantially lower long-term obligations, and in 2021, we are excited to build on our 2020 well results, which were the best in the Company's history. Lonestar's capital program is designed to generate high rates of return while generating meaningful free cash flow, which will initially be directed toward further reductions in long-term debt." Northland Securities, Inc. acted as the company's OTCQX sponsor. About Lonestar Resources US Inc. Lonestar Resources, Inc. is an oil and gas company based in Fort Worth, Texas. Our focus is the acquisition, development and production of unconventional resources in the United Resources. The Company's operations are focused onshore with primary activity in the Eagle Ford Shale. The Company is active in sourcing other assets in proven producing areas. About OTC Markets Group Inc. OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX Best Market, the OTCQB Venture Market and the Pink Open Market for 11,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker-dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com. OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Subscribe to the OTC Markets RSS Feed Media Contact: OTC Markets Group Inc., +1 (212) 896-4428, [email protected] SOURCE OTC Markets Group Inc. Related Links http://www.otcmarkets.com State health officials confirmed another 2,215 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the number of active statewide cases to 85,395. Thats based on 49,701 new molecular tests, according to the Department of Public Health. Officials also announced another 41 COVID-related fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 13,930 since the pandemic began. There are 1,951 Massachusetts residents hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, including 431 in intensive care, 278 of whom are currently intubated, data shows. The percent positivity is currently 4.77%. Massachusetts has seen a decline in new cases and hospitalizations over the last two weeks, but officials continue to urge that residents abide by health and safety protocols: wear a mask and socially distance. Federal health officials project that the state could see 15,000 COVID deaths by mid-February. On Tuesday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the city will be moving into the first step of the third phase of the states reopening plan on Feb. 1 after extending restrictions on certain businesses through January. City officials say the positive test rate has declined, and that COVID activity in hospitals has begun to trend downward. Were encouraged by seeing these numbers go down a bit, Walsh said during a press conference on Tuesday. Moderna on Monday said the COVID vaccine is still protective against the new strains of the virus, but less effective against the South African variant. The company said it is developing a booster for its shot to help increase the number of neutralizing antibodies to protect against the South African strain, called B.1.351. State health officials on Monday said that there have been roughly 448,892 doses of vaccine administered during Phase 1 of the rollout, which includes frontline health care workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, as well as inmates and homeless people in shelters, among others. Total COVID cases by county: Barnstable County: 8,303 Berkshire County: 4,363 Bristol County: 48,475 Dukes County: 734 Essex County: 75,335 Franklin County: 1,709 Hampden County: 35,812 Hampshire County: 5,408 Middlesex County: 98,828 Nantucket County: 1,049 Norfolk County: 38,697 Plymouth County: 34,562 Suffolk County: 69,480 Worcester County: 57,421 Related Content: UK deaths attributed to virus rose to more than 100,000 yesterday Astra says delays to the EU are because it ordered later than Britain has agreed to source supplies of its Covid-19 vaccine from French group Sanofi to ease shortages of jabs within the European Union. Sanofi said because of the slow progress of its own vaccine, which is being developed in partnership with ( ), it has spare capacity. The French pharma said it will give BionTech, the German company that developed the vaccine with , access to a plant in Frankfurt that will produce 125mln doses of the vaccine for use across the EU. We had a slight delay on one of our vaccine candidates and decided to use that time to mobilise our production capacities to help with the Pfizer one, Olivier Bogillot, the head of Sanofis French operations said in a radio interview. Its the first time a drugmaker will work to help make a rivals vaccine, he said. The lack of vaccines available in the EU this week sparked a war of words between Brussels and the Anglo-Swedish pharma PLC ( ), which has cut supplies to the union. The UK pharma had agreed to provide 80mln doses of the jab it has developed with Oxford University in the first quarter of 2021, but informed the bloc on Friday that it would only be able to deliver around half of the agreed quantities. In retaliation, the EU warned it will tighten exports of COVID-19 vaccines, such as the one made by Pfizer/BioNTech to non-member countries. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica today, Astra chief Pascal Soriot defended the companys position and said the fact that the EU had signed a contract for the vaccine three months after the UK had added to the delays. There had been teething problems in manufacturing, he said, but the UK had had an extra three months to sort them out. Britain is way ahead of the EU in terms of the numbers of people vaccinated and, in the interview, Soriot said that the UK target to inoculate the most vulnerable and key workers by mid-February was achievable. All people aged over 50 should have received their first jab by the end of March, he added. So far, more than 6.8mln Britons have received either the Pfizer or Astra vaccine and getting more people inoculated is key to the governments strategy to tackle Covid-19. UK deaths attributed to virus rose to more than 100,000 yesterday with Boris Johnson and his government receiving heavy criticism for the scale of fatalities. Vaccination programmes in Europe and the US look set to get another boost early next week when is expected to release results of a phase III trial of its candidate. J&Js study involved 45,000 people across 80 countries and approval for the vaccine might be granted as soon as two weeks after the results. The J&J vaccine uses a genetic coding methodology,like those developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, but a delivery mechanism similar to Astra/Oxford's vaccine that makes it easier to store and distribute with, crucially, just one dose required. Britain has ordered 30mln doses of the J&J vaccine with an option over a further 22mln, while 200mln does have been earmarked for the EU. Killarney volunteers Mary OConnor and Johnny McGuire with council workers Johnny Sheehan (in the sweeper truck) and Peter Moynihan, after Killarney finished second in the national IBAL competition. They are pictured next to the jarvey stand which was highly praised. Photo by Michele Cooper Galvin The judges for this year's annual Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) report have praised Killarney for its high standard, particularly given the current pandemic which has seen many towns slide down the rankings. Killarney has again taken second place, in the annual IBAL survey, out of 37 towns, with Kilkenny topping the rankings for the fifth year in a row. The second survey of 2020 by IBAL shows litter levels rose in 24 of the 37 towns and cities inspected by An Taisce at the end of 2020, resulting in only 17 being judged to be clean - a fall of over 25% on last summer and in sharp contrast to just three years ago, when 80% were clean. PPE equipment and masks were blamed for much of this. Killarney now hope to stop the Cats' winning streak with calls for the community to row in like never before and use the coming months of lock-down to maintain their local area. "It is great credit to the local authority, traders and residents that the high standards of cleanliness have been maintained in these trying times," the report stated. Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism have echoed that praise and said maintaining such a high standard is down to a huge community effort. IBAL representative with Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, Johnny Maguire, said everyone played a part in this week's success. "I am a business man actively involved in Tidy Towns. We encourage the business community to be proactive and it is paying off. We also acknowledge the role played by the staff and management of Kerry County Council and we acknowledge the ongoing volunteerism that has been harnessed in the town. "People have adopted their own area and are looking after it all year around." The success of such community spirit is evident by a Grade A for the Killarney to Tralee Road, previously criticised by judges, and which has now been praised. The effort to improve this road was led by the business community and volunteers in Farranfore which include Mike and Margaret Moriarty of Centra Farranfore. The report praised the Bottle Bank in the car park on Plunkett Street as "exceptionally clean and freshly presented" while other top-ranking sites included Knockreer Playground and Deenagh Woodland Trail, High Street / Main Street and the Dr Hans Liebherr Road. The Jarvey Parking and surrounds were also given high praise. Mr Maguire is now urging everyone to use lockdown to help Killarney come out on top in the next IBAL ranking. "The judging for the next IBAL survey will be in the first six months of this year. Now that we have all the time in the world the business and the wider community could come together and do something for mental health and pick up litter and knock 'The Cats' off the stand." New Delhi: A day after the national capital witnessed massive violence, Delhi Police on Wednesday (January 27, 2021) booked several leaders for the ruckus during the farmers' tractor march in Delhi. According to ANI, Delhi Police has filed an FIR against farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha for breach of the NOC issued regarding farmers' tractor rally. "FIR also mentions the name of BKU spox Rakesh Tikait," ANI quoted Delhi Police as saying. Yogendra Yadav has also been reportedly booked. This comes hours after Delhi Police said that it has detained 200 people in connection with violence during farmers' tractor rally in the city on Tuesday. Those detained will be arrested soon, the Delhi Police said, adding that 22 FIRs have been registered in connection with Tuesdays violence and chaos in Delhi. Delhi Police said that it has registered FIR under IPC sections 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and other sections, regarding violence in Delhi on January 26. The rioters have reportedly robbed many artefacts that were kept inside Red Fort. Thousands of farmers breached barriers to storm Delhi on Tuesday during their tractor parade. Farmers also hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort. According to Delhi Police, over 300 policemen sustained injuries. This is to be noted that the permission to hold the rally was given on specific routes and after the Republic Day 2021 celebrations conclude at the Rajpath, but Delhi Police PRO Eish Singhal told PTI news agency that the protesters violated conditions fixed for the rally. "The farmers began tractor rally before the scheduled time, they also resorted to violence and vandalism," PTI quoted Singhal as saying. He added, "We followed all conditions as promised and did our due diligence but the protest led to extensive damage to public property. Many policemen were also injured during the protest." The violence also led the Centre to snap the internet services temporarily in some parts of Delhi. The government's order said that the suspension of services was necessary for maintaining public safety and averting a public emergency. Live TV Srinagar: Eid-ul-Fitr was on Monday celebrated across Kashmir as people thronged mosques, shrines and Eidgahs for special prayers but a few incident of stone-pelting and clashes between protestors and security forces were reported in the Valley. Muslims from all walks of life started making a beeline to Eidgahs (prayer ground) or mosques for offering Eid prayers as a thanksgiving for the month-long fasting of Ramazan. The biggest gathering was witnessed at Hazratbal shrine where more than 50,000 faithful offered prayers, officials said. They said the second largest gathering was held at the Eidgah in the old city in which more than 40,000 people participated. Read | Eid-ul-Fitr 2017: Prayers offered at Eidgah Ground in Moradabad, greetings exchanged Big gatherings were also reported from Sonawar and Soura Shrines in the heart of the city, they said, adding that similar gatherings were held at all districts headquarters and major towns of the Valley. Barring a few incidents of stone-pelting after the prayers, the situation in the Valley remained peaceful. Clashes between protestors and law enforcing agencies were reported from Sopore, Anantnag, Rajpora, Shopian towns and Safakadal area of the city. There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in these clashes. The authorities have placed top separatist leaders, including Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, under house arrest, fearing that their presence at large Eid gatherings could spark violence, the officials said. JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik has been taken into preventive custody and lodged at Central Jail, Srinagar. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- GTIS Partners LP ("GTIS"), a real asset investment and development firm headquartered in New York City, with offices in Sao Paulo, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Paris and Munich, along with Hopewell Development LP ("Hopewell"), a development company based in Calgary, today announced closing on the development of Champions Circle Business Park, a 361k square foot class-A industrial park located in Dallas Fort Worth, Texas. The site includes 21-acres of land located in Alliance, Texas which is a part of the wider Dallas Fort Worth ("DFW") industrial market and the North Fort Worth ("NFW") industrial submarket. Alliance is an 18,000-acre master-planned mixed-use community which includes office, industrial, retail, and residential components. Alliance has grown substantially, reaching 45M SF of developed space, over $9.7 billion of investment, over 61,600 employees, and is now home to more than 500 companies. Once completed, the project will total 361k square feet of class-A warehouse space. Located just south of the Texas Motor Speedway, the site has easy access to major interstate highways (I-35W, I-820 and SH-81). The DFW industrial market has benefited from both high-quality infrastructure and its central location, consolidating its position as a major U.S. logistics hub for local and regional distribution. The market currently ranks as the fifth largest in the nation by total inventory. The DFW industrial market has also benefitted from the region's strong population growth, supported by its business-friendly environment, diversified economy, strong amenity profile, and affordability. GTIS has developed 5.4M square feet of industrial/logistics space in the Americas. In addition, GTIS has significant experience in the DFW real-estate market as a residential investor, having built, sold, owned, or planned over 1,500 multi-family or single-family rental units, over 660 homes and over 570 homebuilding lots. Hopewell is an experienced full-service development company headquartered in Calgary with offices in Toronto and Phoenix. The firm has more than 25 years' experience in the North American Real Estate sector, with its presence in the US going back to 2010. "We are very excited to announce this partnership with a talented and experienced firm like Hopewell to develop a unique offering in the well-established DFW industrial market," said David Pahl, Managing Director, US Income Investments at GTIS. "We have long viewed the industrial/logistics sector in DFW as attractive and are pleased to have made our entry into the market with an asset like Champions Circle." Stephen Tanenbaum, Managing Director and Head of Industrial/Logistics at GTIS, added, "GTIS' growing industrial/logistics platform is largely a continuation of GTIS' long track record as a diversified real estate developer and investor in the US. We feel the Champions Circle asset is a strong addition to our portfolio and will benefit from a number of long-standing tailwinds supporting market fundamentals." Kevin Pshebniski, CEO of Hopewell, stated that "Hopewell is looking forward to our new partnership with GTIS, an industry leader in providing capital to the industrial real estate sector. We are pleased to kick off our expansion into the Dallas Fort Worth market with our new 3 building, amenity rich, Champions Circle Business Park. At Hopewell we are confident the project will be well received and satisfy the growing tenant demand for well located, best in class industrial product in the expanding Alliance marketplace." About GTIS Partners GTIS Partners is a leading real asset investment and development firm headquartered in New York with offices in Sao Paulo, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Paris and Munich. The firm was founded in 2005 by Tom Shapiro and is managed by President Tom Shapiro and Senior Managing Directors Amy Boyle, Joao Teixeira, Josh Pristaw, Rob Vahradian and Thomas Feldstein. The firm manages over $4 billion in gross assets and is active across a wide range of real estate sectors including single family and multifamily housing, office, industrial/logistics and hospitality as well as renewable energy infrastructure and opportunity zone investments. The firm invests at various points in the capital structure including credit, common equity and structured equity. In the US, GTIS has invested in over 130 assets across 40 unique markets including growth areas such as Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, Tampa and Charlotte. In Brazil, GTIS is among the largest real assets private equity firms with holdings including office, residential, logistics, hospitality and renewable energy investments. Marquee assets in Sao Paulo include the Infinity office building and Palacio Tangara, a five-star resort style hotel. About Hopewell Hopewell is the industrial and retail development division of the Hopewell Group of Companies, a Calgary-based firm with a proven track record in all aspects of commercial and residential real estate development nationwide. For almost 20 years, businesses of all sizes and in all industries have trusted Hopewell as one of North America's leading developers, to deliver intelligent and highly personalized commercial real estate solutions. To date, Hopewell has developed and sold more than 15 million square feet of industrial and retail space in the Greater Toronto Area, southwestern Ontario and all major centers across Western Canada. Hopewell's current land development portfolio exceeds 800 acres and represents over 12,000,000 square feet of future development. The firm's experience in the US dates back to 2010. Since 2010, the firm has been involved in the development of 12 industrial projects across the Phoenix and Las Vegas MSAs. Media Contacts Steve Bruce / Mary Beth Grover ASC Advisors (203) 992-1230 [email protected] / [email protected] SOURCE GTIS Partners said Tuesday it is close to granting approval for Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, despite the fact that little public data is available. The approval process described by Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico's assistant health secretary, sounded like a Cold War spy thriller, and may not foment confidence in the shot. Lopez-Gatell said a Mexican technical committee on new medications has recommended approving the vaccine, adding only some details were lacking for COFEPRIS, the government medical safety commission, to give the final go-ahead. The technical part, the main part of COFEPRIS, particularly the committee on new medications, has given a favorable recommendation to authorize, that is to say, the crucial part has been solved, Lopez-Gatell said. But he also said that despite weeks of conversations with Russian officials, he could not get his hands on the results of Phase 3 trials, which are normally published in international medical journals and indicate how effective the vaccine is. Russian officials have given conflicting accounts, upping the supposed effectiveness of the Sputnik vaccine to higher levels every time a US vaccine reports its results. Desperate, but with no published data, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered Lopez-Gatell to fly to Argentina, which has already approved and is using Sputnik V, to see what information he could get. The Argentines gave Lopez-Gatell a closely-guarded copy of Phase 3 trial results and other data on the Sputnik vaccine which he spirited back to and then submitted the papers to Mexican regulatory officials. has been unable to get more than about 750,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, about half the amount it needs just to inoculate just front-line health workers. Mexico and had pinned its hopes on China's CanSino vaccine. But delays in approving that shot drove Lopez Obrador to speak directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to try to get the Russian vaccine, the first doses of which are expected to arrive next week. It is unclear whether the lack of public data might affect Mexicans' willingness to get vaccinated, without knowing how effective or safe the Russian shot is. I do want vaccines, but ones that have been approved by the World Health Organisation and the international scientific community, wrote Sen. Lilly Tellez of the conservative opposition National Action Party. The Russian vaccine does not have that yet. It is the cheap vaccine, that is why the government chose it, Tellez wrote in her Twitter account. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB:VINO), a company that includes a growing collection of e-commerce platforms with a concentration on fine wines, luxury real estate, leather goods & accessories, is pleased to announce that Algodon Fine Wines' PIMA 2012 vintage has been awarded a 91 Point Rating by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Wine Enthusiast magazine utilizes a 100-point wine-scoring rating system, and considers wine ratings of 90-93 to be "Excellent." Wine Enthusiast is a magazine and website, founded in 1988 by Adam Strum, specializing in wines, spirits, food and travel. The magazine is run from its headquarters in New York and is published 14 times a year, with a readership of 800,000 consumers worldwide. The magazine's website hosts a database of wine reviews, interviews food and wine pairings, beer and spirits news, and other topics. "We are all so pleased to see our wines receive this distinction from Wine Enthusiast," said Scott Mathis, Founder and Chairman of Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc, which wholly owns and operates Algodon Fine Wines. "This recognition stands as a testament to the skill and dedication of our wine team, led by our winemaker Mauro Nosenzo. In congratulating him, we must also recognize the valuable contributions of our talented agronomist, Jorge "Coco" Arenas, because great wines cannot be made without great vines, as well as our senior wine advisor, Anthony Foster, Master of Wine, who provides welcomed guidance. We are excited about the continued roll out of Algodon wines via e-commerce in the U.S. and in South America, and support such as this only adds to our ability to reach new audiences." Algodon Fine Wines can be purchased in the U.S. at AlgodonFineWines.com, where you can save 20% on your order using Friends and Family discount code vino1234 (plus free ground shipping on orders of 6 bottles or more, or your minimum purchase of $150). Algodon Fine Wines are also available at these online and retail locations: VinPorter, Sherry-Lehmann, Spec's, Le Boutellier, and The Noble Grape. To purchase wines in Argentina, please visit AlgodonWines.com.ar Algodon Fine Wines, founded in 2007 and with vineyards dating back to 1946, is one of the most exciting and dynamic wine brands emerging from Argentina. Located in San Rafael, Mendoza, Algodon produces a full range of premium wines from land holdings that include noted parcels of pre-phylloxera vineyards dating back to the 1940s. Algodon's premium wines have received top awards and ratings from the world's foremost tasting competitions including Gold Medals from the prestigious Global Masters Wine Competition, comprised of master sommeliers. Algodon's Black Label Reserves represent the best selection from Algodon with 100% microvinified blends whose low yield produces full concentration of fruit and flavor. Algodon Fine Wines are imported to the U.S. by Seaview Imports. About Algodon Fine Wines Algodon Fine Wines are produced at Algodon Wine Estates, a boutique Mendoza winery located in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra Pintadas, in the southernmost region of Argentina's wine capital. Fed by the purest meltwater from the glacial Andes, our 325 acres of vines go back as far as 1946 and produce exceptional fruit on sandy and clay loam. Algodon wines are handcrafted by the brilliant winemaker Mauro Nosenzo, who is advised by Master of Wine, Anthony Foster. Our goal is to produce premium wines utilizing ecofriendly, organic inspired approaches, combined with the best modern winemaking technology. Brought together by Scott Mathis and his partners, Algodon Wine Estates' renowned winemakers bring decades of experience, as well as craftsmanship and tradition that have been passed down for generations. Algodon Fine Wines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. (gauchoholding.com). With a concentration on fine wines (algodonfinewines.com & algodonwines.com.ar), hospitality (algodonhotels.com) and luxury real estate (algodonwineestates.com) associated with our proprietary Algodon brand, as well as the leather goods and accessories of the fashion brand Gaucho - Buenos Aires (gauchobuenosaires.com), these are the luxury brands in which Argentina finds its contemporary expression. Media Relations: Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. Rick Stear Director of Marketing 212.739.7669 rstear@gauchoholdings.com SOURCE: Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626075/Algodon-Fine-Wines-Receives-91-Point-Rating-from-Wine-Enthusiast Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Between November to December 2020, MINISO donated a total of 10,000 high-quality protective masks to college students at The City University of New York, Carnegie Mellon University, The University of Texas at Dallas, and University of California, Irvine. The company followed this initiative with the successful donation of 1 million masks to Get Us PPE on January 20, 2021. The nation's largest nonprofit organization for donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Get Us PPE has been integral in getting masks, gloves, disinfecting wipes and more to frontline workers at nursing homes, hospitals, rural healthcare facilities, small clinics, homeless shelters, and indigenous communities. "At Get Us PPE, we get personal protective equipment to those most in need during the coronavirus pandemic," said Greg Williams, Director of Operations of Get Us PPE. "MINISO has generously donated 1 million high quality KN95 and 3 PLY disposable face masks that will help keep countless health workers safe. We could not be more thrilled to be working with MINISO to get this life-saving equipment to those who need it most." Following on from its donations to Get Us PPE and various colleges in the U.S., MINISO also donated 1 million masks and 20,000 hand sanitizers to eight non-profit organizations in Canada in January 2021. The masks and hand sanitizers also will aid in protecting front-line workers in hospital and communities, vulnerable and under-served people in Ontario and British Columbia. "Thanks to Miniso we are now able to keep our staff and clients safer by providing masks to all of our clients for free over are four different locations. We can now also provide staff and clients with their own personal hand sanitizer. Because of their very generous donation we are now stocked up on PPE for the next few months," said Laren Keays from Progressive Housing Society. MINISO has always been committed to giving back, and its latest donation is one of several initiatives the company has rolled out to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic first hit in March 2020, MINISO provided assistance to its overseas franchisees and employees to relieve the pressure caused by a shortage of materials, and aid in pandemic prevention and control efforts. Between March 20 and 25, 2020, MINISO donated approximately 250,000 pieces of PPE to countries like Russia, Thailand, Singapore, the U.K., and more. The company has also actively supported pandemic prevention activities in Egypt. On March 29, MINISO actively responded to the Egyptian Chinese Students' Association, and was responsible for assisting more than 110 international students from Tanta University. Meanwhile, on April 1, MINISO and other Egyptian businesses united at the Chinese Embassy in Egypt to present 4,500 local Chinese students with healthcare packs. These packs included vital protective equipment, including masks and hand sanitizer, as well as other daily necessities. At the same time, MINISO donated 40,000 masks to Australia in April, with a focus on those living with disabilities. Looking ahead to 2021, the company will continue to focus on public welfare in the fight against COVID-19 spreading the love from MINISO to more people around the world. For more information, please visit: https://www.instagram.com/minisounitedstates/ https://minisousaonline.com/ About MINISO MINISO (NYSE: MNSO) is a lifestyle product retailer, offering high-quality household goods, cosmetics and food at affordable prices. Since opening its first store in Guangzhou in 2013, MINISO has opened more than 4,200 stores in over 80 countries and regions in just 7 years. With a focus on sleek design and fun trends, its mission is to assure through its products that a better life has nothing to do with the price. SOURCE Miniso Group Related Links https://minisousaonline.com Vietnamese provinces, cities to reward women having two kids before turning 35 A family member helps a woman hold her new-born son at Tu Du Hospital in HCMC, January 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Le Cam. HCMC and 20 other localities which suffer from low fertility rates plan to reward women having two kids before they turn 35. A circular issued by the Ministry of Health, to take effect on March 10, said they would be rewarded with cash or gifts depending on where they live. The other 20 localities are Can Tho City and 15 provinces in the south - Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Long An, Bac Lieu, Tay Ninh, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Dong Nai, Tien Giang, Vinh Long, An Giang, Ben Tre, and Kien Giang, and Da Nang City and Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa and Binh Thuan in the central region. The circular does not specify the value of the reward. The fertility rate in the south has dropped sharply in recent years. In 2019 the rate in HCMC had dropped from 1.76 children per woman of reproductive age to 1.39 compared to 2.75-2.38 in the central provinces of Ha Tinh and Nghe An. In the southern provinces of Dong Thap, Hau Giang and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the rates were 1.34, 1.53 and 1.37. The national rate has been 2.09 for the last three years, lower than the globally agreed replacement fertility rate to sustain a population of 2.1. Vietnam is among the most rapidly aging countries in the world. It entered the aging phase in 2011 when the number of people over 60 made up 10 percent of the population. That rate climbed to 12 last year out of a population of 95 million, and is expected to rise to 17.9 percent in 2025 and to more than 20 percent in 2038. So it will take Vietnam just 30 years to transform from the aging phase to an aging country, compared to 115 years in France, 69 in the U.S. and 85 in Sweden. A decision issued in April by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc encourages people to marry before they are 30 and bear children early. Women should have their second child before 35, it suggested. The Rib King By Ladee Hubbard Amistad. 384 pp. $27.99 Reviewed by Naomi Jackson Ladee Hubbards sophomore novel, The Rib King, is a fascinating story about the intersection of ambition, race, and revenge. The book opens in 1914 in a mythic Northern city reminiscent of Chicago and follows the fortunes of the Black servants for the white Barclay family. The first section is narrated by Mr. Sitwell, a longtime groundskeeper and newly minted butler for the Barclays who later becomes the face of a popular meat sauce. Sitwells decision to settle scores after reading a fictional account of the events that orphaned him and jettisoned him from his beloved rural Florida community at just 12 years old sets the rest of the books events into motion. The Rib King upends the racial calculus that amplifies the stories of the privileged few, offering rich, lovingly rendered portraits of working-class Black people. Hubbards work underscores the legendary Toni Morrisons words in the New Yorker: You are not the work you do; you are the person you are. Hubbards novel is a powerful meditation on the way that Black womens hopes and fortunes were (and still are) constrained by racism and misogyny. Mamie Price, the Barclays cook, is a woman whose ingenuity and artistry far surpass the circumscribed opportunities available to her. Jennie Williams, another domestic worker for the Barclays, eventually discards a life marked by abuse and remakes herself into an inventor and entrepreneur, outmaneuvering gangsters, activists, and white businessmen alike. While The Rib King is set in the early 20th century, the questions it raises are deeply resonant today. Among them: What if African Americans responded to the profound violence leveled against them with vengeance instead of nonviolence? Sitwell awakens from a kind of servile slumber and heeds a call to action: I have always known I owe my people something. For a long time, I thought what I owed them was to simply survive. ... But it occurs to me that perhaps this life, this world demands more of me. Perhaps the only way to ensure that the truth is what prevails is to make sure there is no one around to tell these lies. The Rib King reminds readers that people are not always as they seem and that buried just below the surface of obsequiousness may be a thick layer of malice and an unquenched thirst for revenge. This novel is in conversation with Asali Solomons 2015 book, Disgruntled, which explores the life of the Black butler with roots in Barbados who burned down Frank Lloyd Wrights estate. The Rib King underscores the necessity of revisiting the violence that has been done to African Americans and the ways that language falls short of fully capturing its magnitude. Hubbard interweaves the macabre backstories that drive each of the Black characters up north, rendering the dark side of the Great Migration. Bart, an orphan who works in the Barclays kitchen, speaks poignantly of trying to leave his painful past behind: I remember. Just dont like talking about it. The toes are gone and talking about them is not going to bring them back. ... Its not the only mark on me, you know. Just the one youve seen. But I got plenty of marks. You want me to show them to you, all the other places I been cut up, tell you about them too? The novel also explores whether anyone is truly who they seem to be, and moreover, whether people can truly know themselves and their intentions. Hubbard's characters and their stories suggest that we are both less and more terrible than we think, and that our view of events directly correlates to our role in them. Hubbard describes Jennie's longing to know what lurks beneath the facades of her fellow city dwellers: "People laughing and singing or sulking and frowning and all of them in a hurry to get somewhere. But who were they really? Who knew what any of them were actually capable of?" Hubbard crafts unforgettable characters and masterfully builds suspense. The author also deftly deploys the frame story, putting the present narrative in conversation with the violent events of Sitwells childhood in the American South. Sitwells intense reaction to the fictional retelling of his primal loss reminds readers that history belongs to those who control its narrative, and that fiction can be as powerful, and in some cases even more influential, than fact. While there is much to enjoy in The Rib King, the ending goes off the rails a bit, with too many minor characters and plot points introduced too swiftly. Among the fascinating characters who go underexplored are the Harperites, an activist group that recalls the legacy of Marcus Garvey and the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement. The Rib King will resonate with readers who are interested in African American history and literature, and with those who want to interrogate the emblematic American myths of progress and individual uplift. The novel weighs questions that are central to human experience: how to live in traumas long shadow, the value and perils of vengeance, and the (im)possibility of ever fully knowing both others and ourselves. Jackson is the author of The Star Side of Bird Hill and an assistant professor of English at Rutgers University-Newark. She wrote this review for the Washington Post. Public officials across Louisiana posted on social media and offered heartfelt condolences as news of the death of three-term state representative Steve Carter broke Tuesday. Carter, 77, died Tuesday night from complications due to the coronavirus, a spokesperson said. Carter was hospitalized with the virus earlier this month. State lawmakers, local officials and friends spoke highly of Carter, from his tireless work in the legislature to his profound commitment to community. Steve Carter, former state representative who ran for Baton Rouge mayor, dies of coronavirus Steve Carter, a three-term state representative who frequently spoke of his love for Baton Rouge, and ran for mayor-president last year with t Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement that he will order flags flown at half-staff on the day of Carter's funeral. "I am deeply saddened to learn that former Representative Steve Carter lost his battle with COVID-19 this evening," Edwards said. "Steve served the Baton Rouge community in the Louisiana Legislature for 12 years, and I was honored to serve with him during that time." Mayor Sharon Weston Broome, his recent opponent in the 2020 election for mayor-president of East Baton Rouge Parish, called Carter a dedicated family man, public servant, and fellow neighbor who had a storied career of serving our community and offered her condolences to his family. You never saw him without a smile on his face and a hand extended to greet you, she said. Steve was a Baton Rougean through and through. I am tremendously sad to have lost yet another friend and neighbor to COVID-19. Many lawmakers both close friends and colleagues fondly recalled their time with Carter in the legislature, praising his kindness and dedication to his state. Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said in a tweet that he was saddened by the loss of my friend Steve Carter, who was a pillar in the Baton Rouge community for many years. Back in 2007, Steve defeated me in a race for State Representative by just 87 votes, yet we became fast friends after that race, he said. State Rep. Ted James, D-Baton Rouge and a former colleague of Carter issued this statement Tuesday night: The news is devastating as Steve Carter was the leader of our delegation and a dear friend. He was so passionate about young people, LSU and the Baton Rouge community. I spoke with him during his mayoral run and he was the same energetic guy and full of life. I hate to hear that this virus has taken another dedicated public servant. My prayers are with his wife and family. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up James, who is chairman-elect of the Legislative Black Caucus, was hospitalized himself last year with the coronavirus before recovering. Scott Wester, president and CEO of Our Lady of the Lake, said that Carter was a model of leadership. Carter helped to secure funding for the new Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital. The entire Our Lady of the Lake family mourns the loss of former state representative Steve Carter, our longtime friend and community servant," Wester said. "Rep. Carter cared deeply about all he served and the health of future generations." House Speaker Pro Tem Tanner Magee, R-Houma tweeted Sad news. Steve was a nice guy who loved people. I enjoyed serving with him and will miss him. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy offered prayers for one more tragedy of Covid and posted that Carter was a wonderful man who shaped and positively influenced so many lives. Former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Chuck Kleckley lauded Carter's work ethic. "Louisiana has lost a fighter and true warrior," he said. "Steves energy and love for La. was contagious. His hard work, energy and passion for improving education in Louisiana is unmatched." Carter's influence also stretched beyond the legislature. Interim LSU President Tom Galligan said in a statement that Carter was a "good friend" and "great supporter of LSU." Carter graduated from the University Lab School, served in student government during his undergraduate studies and later served as the university's tennis coach where he led their team to an SEC Championship. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Steves family and his many friends as we mourn his great loss," he said. To former Southeastern tennis camp participant Stephen Swiber, Carter was "Coach Steve," who remembers his mentor was "all about effort." "Hed always entice kids in his camp to dive for a ball," he tweeted. "He was a great person to be around and always seemed to leave a big, positive impression on people." Staff writer Will Sentell contributed to this report. This year, I wanted my silence to speak for me. I had chosen to abstain from what has become a futile annual ritual for all First Nations people: speaking out about Invasion Day, which is to say speaking out about our trauma. Instead of the obligatory Invasion Day opinion piece, I pitched running a blank column in The Sydney Morning Herald. Thats right: white space, no words. I wanted to use silence as a reflection on the futility of this annual debate, and have the empty white space be a forced reflection on that statement. A protest born of frustration. James Blackwell, Wiradjuri man and research fellow in Indigenous policy for the Centre for Social Impact at the University of NSW. However, I was told that to make the opinion pages, you needed to write something. So here I am, the day after, explaining why you did not hear from me on your public holiday, and will likely not on any future January 26. January is a traumatic month for all First Nations people in this country. Invasion Day is a gnawing hole in the calendar, sucking all else into it, if you but happen to cross its event horizon. It consumes everything, and not even light can escape. Dhadkan starring Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and Suneil Shetty directed by Dharmesh Darshan has been ruling over viewers hearts over more than two decades now. This month, Sony MAX2 is all set to take the audiences on trip down memory lane with Dhadkan, a simple & relatable romantic musical drama centred on complications in love and families.. Believe it or not, even after all these years, this film continues to be an all-time favourite of many. Be it the romantic songs or the beautiful locations, here are a few reasons that make the movie a must watch even today Its remarkably beautiful songs Dil Ne Ye Kaha Hai Dil Se by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu is a straight up one of the most romantic songs of recent times. Arabic notes being about the beauty of the song along with the undoubtedly brilliant composition, making it one of the best songs in the album. Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan Ho sung by Abhijeet is another song that leaves you overflowing with emotions. The tune of the piece is what makes it immortal. Lastly, Aksar Iss Duniya Mein sung by Alka Yagnik is another song from the album that is loved by many! Dil Ne Ye Kaha Hai Dil Se by Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu is a straight up one of the most romantic songs of recent times. Arabic notes being about the beauty of the song along with the undoubtedly brilliant composition, making it one of the best songs in the album. Tum Dil Ki Dhadkan Ho sung by Abhijeet is another song that leaves you overflowing with emotions. The tune of the piece is what makes it immortal. Lastly, Aksar Iss Duniya Mein sung by Alka Yagnik is another song from the album that is loved by many! Its unforgettable Dialogues Main tumhe bhool jaon yeh ho nahi sakta Aur tum mujhe bhool jao yeh main hone nahi doonga, Irrespective of having watched this movie or not, you would have definitely heart this dialogue! It is one of Suneil Shettys most famous dialogues. Also, how can we forget Akshay Kumars iconic, Nafrat ko sirf mohabbat se jeeta ja sakta hai, sirf mohabbat se. The movie is power packed with such well thought out dialogues that dont just stick with you for days, but years. Main tumhe bhool jaon yeh ho nahi sakta Aur tum mujhe bhool jao yeh main hone nahi doonga, Irrespective of having watched this movie or not, you would have definitely heart this dialogue! It is one of Suneil Shettys most famous dialogues. Also, how can we forget Akshay Kumars iconic, Nafrat ko sirf mohabbat se jeeta ja sakta hai, sirf mohabbat se. The movie is power packed with such well thought out dialogues that dont just stick with you for days, but years. Phenomenal acting and ever so beautiful shooting locations One big reason behind the films success is undoubtedly the performances delivered by the incredible actors. Both Shilpa Shettys and Mahima Chaudhry's performance were among their best ever. The film received 11 nominations at the 46th Filmfare Awards, including Best Film and Best Director for Dharmesh Darshan and Best supporting actress for Mahima Choudhry. It also gave the title of decades best villian to Suneil Shetty. Moreover, the film has captured the beauty of Switzerland, Italy and Germany. The locations add that extra oomph to the entire experience of the movie. Dhadkan definitely has it all, from beautiful everlasting music, power packed performances to catchy dialogues that indeed make it a must watch film even after 21 years! If you havent watched the film yet, catch it on Sony MAX2 on 28th January at 7 PM. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is how companies manage their business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society Mallen Baker, Former Politician and CSR Specialist CSR is a crucial element of The Companies Act, 2013, elaborated in its Section135. Every company having net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, or turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more or a net profit of Rs 5 crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Board, consisting of three or more directors, out of which at least one director shall be an independent director. While there are more and more companies taking keen interest, but how many of them are working towards a sustained effort to run their CSR activity without any interruption? While the pandemic disrupted the plans of many companies, there were some companies that undertook various initiatives to support their staff and the community during the tough times. While these were more tactical moves, but the commitment of pursuing long term CSR campaigns will always be a challenge due to the pandemic. How corporates plan to shift their gears and work on bringing their CSR efforts to pre-COVID-19 levels will need some out-of-the-box thinking and deep passion for CSR. CSR should go beyond media visibility Cause-related marketing or CSR activities have been deployed by many corporates and companies to strengthen their presence in the media on an ongoing basis. While some companies have been working on CSR responsibility with a lot of focus and energy, there are others who have not diverted completely towards this, but were looking at it more from leveraging media presence perspective. CSR has to come from the bottom of the heart if one is keen on promoting it. There are quite a few liquor brands that have been using CSR as a surrogate way of communicating their products given that they cannot advertise. However, this wont fall under CSR as the primary objective is to make the brand visible and not promote the CSR initiative. A true CSR initiative is one where there is a definite long-term plan and it is sustained on an ongoing basis. Brand fit very important Identifying a cause or supporting any CSR effort must focus on issues that relate to the business that the company is into. If the brand fit is relevant, consumers will also appreciate the efforts as it is important that the CSR activity is also meaningful to them in their walk of life. Hence, it is important for companies to check the relevance of the CSR activity so that companies dont support unrelated causes, which at times the consumers may feel that the business is simply trying to benefit from the not-for-profits reputation. Many a times this might lead to consumers avoiding the companys products. Hence, it is very critical for companies to maintain good brand fit while venturing into CSR activities so that consumers also connect well with the company and also see there is an effort being displayed by the company to promote CSR with more purpose. Impact and Policy changes due to COVID-19 Three policy changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had an effect on the quantum and nature of CSR spending. The first policy change was to allow spending of CSR funds on COVID-19-related activities. Apart from contribution to the PM Cares Fund and to the State Disaster Management Authority, expenditure incurred on preventive healthcare and sanitation, ex-gratia to temporary/ casual workers over and above daily wages, providing quarantine facilities to those affected, amongst others, could be considered as CSR spends. The second policy change was to allow all donations for COVID-19-related efforts to be eligible for 100 per cent tax deduction. And the third is to allow companies who contribute over and above the minimum prescribed amount to later offset the excess against the CSR obligation arising in the subsequent years, if they so desire. Substantial amounts have been donated to various government funds. According to one report, India Inc spent 7,537 crore as CSR obligations in two months on COVID-19-related concerns. This included 4,316 crore in donations to the PM Cares Fund. The remaining 3,221 crore was spent on other relief funds, food and ration donation, masks, sanitisers and protective gear kits. Adgully spoke to leading corporates and NGOs to understand how they have navigated their activities on CSR during Covid and what are their plans going forward. As a brand, Duroflex is committed to CSR activities. As informed by Smita Murarka, Vice President, Marketing and E-commerce, Duroflex, As a sleep solutions brand, we at Duroflex are committed to helping India sleep better and encourage people to live better, healthier lives. As part of our CSR initiatives, earlier in 2020, as the country was fighting against the pandemic, we took the initiative to support frontline medical workers and hospitals to deal with the increase in COVID-19 cases by supplying them with quality mattresses, bedsheet, and pillows which were in dire need. In 2021, to kick-start the new year on a positive note, Duroflex announced the Gift of Sleep initiative and donated high-quality mattresses and pillows to unprivileged children, an essential requirement for their healthy growth and development. Both these initiatives are in line with Duroflexs brand value and the brand promise of gifting good sleep. We will continue to focus on our CSR efforts of improving Indias quality of sleep and fostering health and immunity through it, Murarka added. Rajesh Sahay, Senior VP & HR Head, Wipro, remarked, Undoubtedly, the pandemic brought into urgent focus global social and environmental issues, while providing businesses with an opportunity to provide the necessary assistance towards primary health care and hygiene. At Wipro Consumer Care, it is our conviction that the engagement with social issues must be deep, meaningful and formed on the bedrock of long-term commitment. This is also reflective of the fact that such an approach serves both, enlightened business interest and social good. Following the companys conviction for social good even during the lockdown, Wipro joined hands with the local ecosystem of administration, hospitals, NGOs, and police personnel to provide them with hygiene products and kits for their personal protection, which has become a daily life essential, which included Rs 23 million to government hospitals and testing institutes. In most states, Wipro worked with the police force to provide hygiene kits to the personnel. Our focus in terms of CSR activities ranges from Education, Disaster relief and rehabilitation, Community healthcare, Business sustainability, and Ecology. We at Wipro have sustainability as a core value of the business and it continues to be a part of our DNA even in the new year, Sahay added. Somedutta Chatterjee, Head - Corporate Partnerships, GiveIndia, noted that the pandemic got its due attention from Corporate Inc. and GiveIndia witnessed the majority of the CSR funds allocated towards COVID-19 relief programs. Chatterjee further said, The NGO ecosystem also showed resilience and agility to change their operating style and move to new projects to support in COVID-19 relief efforts like helping migrant workers, employment, mid-day meals for kids, fight against women abuse, healthcare, and other humanitarian aids. During these times the non-COVID-19 projects suffered a bit as available funds were channelised towards COVID-19 relief efforts. In 2021, while we embrace the new normal, there will be efforts to go back to older ways of operating. It will surely be a year where Corporate Inc will get back to supporting the regular causes and the trend is already here. At GiveIndia, we plan to continue working with our corporate partners to extend end to end support to their CSR lifecycle right from identifying and vetting credible projects to strategising, overseeing implementation, monitoring and evaluation, Chatterjee added. On a different note, Akanksha Sharma, Global Head Social Impact & Sustainability, STL (Sterlite Technologies), highlighted how the pandemic brought to the forefront the glaring gaps in the social sector. According to Sharma, Lack of technology and data-driven programs in this sector has been one of the main reasons. In 2021, the focus will definitely be on reviving stalled programs. But more importantly, the focus would be on financial and social inclusion driven through agile and tech-driven programs that can withstand disruptions such as this pandemic. Sharma further added that STL has always leveraged its expertise in technology and innovation to drive high impact social programs. And this is what helped the company ensure continuity even amidst the pandemic. While there were challenges, considering the huge digital divide in the country, development was not stalled. We transitioned to digital means of conducting our programs. In 2021, we have designed resilient programs that can factor in such situations. We are forging strategic partnerships to ensure that education, healthcare, empowerment, and environmental programs thrive with the use of technology and innovation, to facilitate a cleaner, greener, and more inclusive future, she added. Meanwhile, Kartik Johari, Vice President, Nobel Hygiene, felt that CSR activities on the whole will drop down as there is tremendous financial stress on a majority of businesses. When there is no profit to speak of, where will the CSR spends come from? he asked, adding, Additionally, due to the pandemic, wherever people have a chance to help, we have seen that they are doing so in their localities giving funds to support the needy, donating essentials, etc. For us personally, we will continue to support education of children. Hong Kong: CE reports to state leaders Chief Executive Carrie Lam was arranged to conduct the annual reporting of work to President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang separately via video conferencing today, during which she reported to them the latest economic, social and political situation in Hong Kong. Mrs Lam expressed gratitude to the state leaders for fully acknowledging the work of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in the past year, and for the care and support from the central government to Hong Kong on the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, economic development and improvement of people's livelihoods. She pointed out that Hong Kong experienced a challenging year in which the city's economy and livelihoods were hard hit by the epidemic, but that it essentially functioned normally with the financial system remaining stable. Mrs Lam said the Hong Kong SAR Government's top priority at present is to curb the epidemic to protect people's health and restore economic activities. She reported to the state leaders that since the implementation of the National Security Law, street violence has significantly subsided and calm has been restored in society, and that the Hong Kong SAR Government will fully implement the National Security Law to prevent and stop acts that endanger national security. The Chief Executive also thanked President Xi for his warm regards to her and other Hong Kong SAR Government officials who have been sanctioned by the US Government unreasonably. Mrs Lam, on behalf of each of the Hong Kong SAR Government officials, reiterated that they will continue to discharge their duty to safeguard national security without fear. She also reported on the series of measures involving the central government's support as set out in the 2020 Policy Address. The Chief Executive noted that in the opening year of the country's 14th Five-Year Plan, she will lead her team to leverage Hong Kong's unique advantages to better integrate into the nation's overall development through its participation in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, thereby advancing the economy and improving livelihoods. This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the Congress at the National Convention Centre in Hanoi on January 27, Hoang Binh Quan, head of the Party Central Committees Commission for External Relations, said Vietnam will make efforts to make its bilateral relations more substantive and effective, focusing on increasing political trust. Currently, the CPV has a resolution to enhance Vietnam's multilateral relations in a spirit that the country will both actively and proactively engage in multilateral mechanisms and initiatives, he said. This is a development step in the foreign policy of the Party and Government of Vietnam in the coming term, he noted. Regarding the effectiveness of Vietnams foreign policy, Quan said that Vietnam has joined nearly 20 free trade agreements, which means the countrys trade and investment space is very large. For a country like Vietnam, with its current level of development, this is a great international integration effort, he affirmed. The task for Vietnam now is to better its policy system and infrastructure, especially digital facilities, so that it can participate in the worlds playgrounds more confidently and practically, he went on. Vietnam will make every effort to effectively and responsibly implement its international commitments as well as those to multilateral institutions, he said, adding that the country will promote international integration with higher quality to take advantage of international cooperation and support for its renewal cause. Burkina Faso: Missing priest found dead in jihadist hotspot Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The body of a priest who went missing in Burkina Faso was found dead in the western African countrys southwest forest, an area riddled with jihadist presence and activity. Two days after Father Rodrigue Sanon disappeared in Burkina Fasos southwestern region, his body was discovered in a nearby forest, the bishop of the Diocese of Banfora announced in a statement shared by Vatican News. It is with deep sorrow that I bring to everyones attention that the lifeless body of Fr. Rodrigue Sanon was found on Jan. 21, 2021, in the protected forest of Toumousseni, about 20 kilometers from Banfora, Bishop Lucas Kalfa Sanou said. According to Catholic News Agency, Sanon, a priest from Notre Dame de Soubaganyedougou, disappeared Tuesday on his way to Banfora to meet the bishop. The priest never arrived, and his car was found abandoned. Despite the circumstances surrounding the priest's murder, the bishop urged believers to stay the course and remain confident in the merciful love of God. By the Mercy of God, may the soul of His servant Rodrigue Sanon rest in peace! the bishop said. While the details surrounding the bishops murder and the assailants' identities remain unknown, for the last five years, Burkina Faso has been marked by religious violence at the hands of Islamist militant groups. These jihadist extremists include the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, and Ansarul Islam. The violence has left over 1 million people displaced and nearly 1,100 dead since 2015, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. State Department. Burkina Faso is ranked No. 32 on persecution watchdog Open Doors USAs World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution. Open Doors estimates there are over 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Burkina Faso, and many are Christians, as extremist attacks have driven believers from their homes and villages, with many being forced into refugee camps. In June 2020, at least 58 people, including children, were killed in northern Burkina Faso in three separate attacks by armed Islamic militants who were targeting Christians. In December 2019, at least 14 people were killed when gunmen stormed a Protestant church service in the town of Hantoukoura near the border with Niger. In April, gunmen killed a Protestant pastor and five other Christians who were leaving a worship service in Silgadji. Last year, bishops in Burkina Faso issued a statement calling the increase in religious violence more worrying than ever and urged authorities to extend more support to marginalized communities. The role of the Defense and Security Forces remains paramount, said the bishops, adding that security forces in the country must produce and guarantee a secure environment conducive to the conduct of the electoral process with the full participation of all citizens. For the pastors in this part of Burkina Faso as elsewhere in the regions ... it is a great suffering to no longer be able to reach the faithful in some places, or to see them fleeing from terrorist attacks without any guarantee of security, they said. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. editor's pick Just 1 Question: Who will you be thinking about on International Holocaust Remembrance Day? Dr Ian Pringle explains why Cobalt Blues' anticipated co-production of 300,000 tonnes per year of elemental sulphur could be an invigorating growth catalyst for a spectrum of Australian industries. ( ) ( ) is developing the Broken Hill Cobalt Project (BHCP) in far west New South Wales as an exciting new advance for ethical investment and a positive environmental and principled supply solution for cobalt, a metal integral to the worlds sustainable future. The companys consulting geologist Dr Ian Pringle explains why the BHCPs anticipated co-production of 300,000 tonnes per year of elemental sulphur could be an invigorating growth catalyst for a spectrum of Australian industries and will form an important complement to the projects planned annual production of ~4,000 tonnes of battery grade cobalt. Whats so good about sulphur? Sulphur, coffee and life Consumed at a rate of ten million tonnes of beans each year, coffee is one of the most imbibed beverages worldwide. Coffee is not only cherished for its invigorating properties, but also for its agreeable and penetrating aromas and flavors. These qualities are provided by several (mainly volatile) sulphur-containing compounds. Sulphur has a plethora of biological properties. It is an ingredient in numerous remedies which include; cancer medications, allergy cures, cholesterol reduction, unclogging arteries, menopause medicines, acne ointments and treatments for respiratory tract infections like the common cold. Sulphur is present in all living tissues and after calcium and phosphorous, it is the third most abundant mineral in the human body. Worlds leading industrial chemical Sulphur and its hydroxyl compound, sulphuric acid (H2SO4) are the most widely used chemicals globally. In fact 90% of sulphur production goes towards the manufacture of sulphuric acid and 180 million tonnes of sulphuric acid is produced each year. Few manufacturing industries do not employ sulphuric acid somewhere in their process chain and many are dependent on reliable acid supply. Sulphuric acid is the world's leading industrial chemical by volume. Among other things, it is used to manufacture detergents, cellophane, rayon fiber, rubber, phosphate fertilizers, pesticides, and lithium-sulphur batteries. It is a major ingredient in numerous mineral recovery and metallurgical processes. Oil and gas production Sulphur accumulates occur in various salt domes and on some active volcanoes but sulphur is not commercially mined. Instead it is mostly produced as a by-product in the petrochemicals industry. Sulphur is generated during petroleum refining. Although conventional oil and gas reservoirs are between 1% to 5% sulphur, recent oil and gas exploration has tapped unconventional reservoirs filled with high sulphur hydrocarbons. The oil from tar sands in Alberta, Canada, is about 20% sulphur and some new fields in the Middle East produce oil that contains as much as 40% sulphur. Removal of almost all sulphur from hydrocarbon sources is a prerequisite for lower levels of air pollution by internal combustion engines. Acid rainfall, an environmental scourge, is commonly caused by burning fossil fuels containing sulphur gases and nitrogen oxides which combine with atmospheric water to form acids. As electric vehicles supersede internal combustion motors and coal burning electricity production is replaced by renewable energy projects, less hydrocarbons will be processed and sulphur stocks will diminish. Australian sulphur and acid imports Australias annual consumption of sulphuric acid is estimated to be over five million tonnes. Imported sulphuric acid is mostly from South Korea where it is produced as a byproduct of metal refining. Sulphuric acid imports to Australia in 2019 were US$13.8m up 39% on 2018. More than one million tonnes of elemental sulphur is imported each year and this is used mostly for fertilizer/feedstock (55%) and metallurgical consumption (43%). Almost all recent sulphur imports are from Vancouver and in 2019 these amounted to US$68.7million. Dangerous transport, expensive storage Sulphuric acid with a minimum concentration of 77% is carried and stored in purposely constructed stainless steel tanks. Transport, handling and storage of sulphuric acid is high-risk and requires sophisticated and expensive containers and complex operating procedures. Contact between water and sulphuric acid can generate a violent reaction and even the smallest spillage is dangerous to human health and the environment. BHCP to produce elemental sulphur as prills Cobalt Blue is planning a ground-breaking undertaking which will produce cobalt together with elemental sulphur co-product instead of corrosive sulphuric acid. Capital costs for elemental sulphur recovery compare favorably with the much larger capital requirements of sulfide roasting and an associated acid making plant. Importantly, hazardous gas leak risks familiar to pyrometallurgical processing will be avoided in the planned BHCP development. In order to enhance transport and marketing options a Canadian company, Enersul, recently used powdered sulphur produced from BHCPs bench-scale trials to generate sulphur prills (refer photo). The prills are of high purity with more than 99% sulphur content. Prill size and shape ensure that they have the smallest possible contact surface area and high bulk density. In bulk, prills behave like a fluid which is beneficial for transport, storage and further processing. The spherical and granular form enhances pouring/flowing qualities for distribution and handling. Choosing to produce elemental sulphur has many advantages over acid. The movement, storage and handling of elemental sulphur prills is relatively straightforward, hence permitting and approval applications are simplified and distribution by road and rail has lower costs and is environmentally sensible. Clearly, dependence on overseas supply and costs of both sulphur and acid are important commercial concerns for most industries and the BHCP will be well placed to address these to become a reliable domestic supplier. Mitsubishi Corporation, a sizable global sulphur and sulphuric acid market trader, is supporting Cobalt Blue by undertaking market research. Australian sulphur and acid market opportunities Australia has vast undeveloped mineral deposits which could benefit from sulphuric acid processing and because it is adjacent to a main trunk rail line and state highway the BHCP is well located to supply these with sulphur. Vast undeveloped phosphate deposits in central Australia such as the Verdant Minerals Ammaroo Project and Aveniras Wonarah Project will access the Adelaide to Darwin rail line to target export markets in India and Asia and both could upgrade their phosphate ore to superphosphate and other fertilizer products using sulphuric acid processing. Similarly, Australian metal deposits including many nickel, copper, rare earth and uranium projects require vast amounts of sulphuric acid for metal recovery and concentration. These are typically found in areas where liquid acid supply logistics are likely to be cost prohibitive. BHCP elemental sulphur prills could be a game changer for many remote projects and a catalyst to future development of some. Recent developments and future plans Cobalt Blue is in the final stages of completing a pilot plant to produce more than 100 kilograms of cobalt battery chemicals as well as sulphur co-product. Commissioning is expected in early 2021. Final products will be tested by Cobalt Blues commercial partners prior to construction of a larger scale demonstration plant and the undertaking of engineering and other technical studies in parallel with gaining approvals for BHCP development. The project is undertaking State Significant Development Status and this will help streamline intended 2021 feasibility studies and subsequent project development. Sulphur prills have similar shape and handling characteristics to coffee beans and both have distinctive tastes provided by sulphur compounds. Like coffees invigorating properties, sulphur will provide positive support for the project. Staff members pose for a photo at a vaccine production base of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, April 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) - Two Chinese-made vaccines, produced by Sinopharm and Sinovac respectively, are currently under WHO evaluation. - "So there is engagement by the WHO and we will also look forward to reviewing those data through the policy process," said a top WHO expert. GENEVA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) commends China for submitting data of its COVID-19 vaccines to the WHO for the Emergency Use Listing procedure, a top WHO expert said on Tuesday. There are two Chinese-made vaccines, produced by Sinopharm and Sinovac respectively, currently under WHO evaluation, said Katherine O'Brien, director of WHO's Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals. The data of the vaccines have been submitted to the WHO, but inspectors on the ground are still in quarantine waiting to go to the manufacturing sites for evaluation, she added. "So there is engagement by the WHO and we will also look forward to reviewing those data through the policy process," she said, referring to the policy review by the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, which is a separate process from the regulatory assessment and provides recommendations on how to use the vaccines. COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products are seen at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) According to the latest WHO files, the Sinopharm vaccine is now in progress of assessment, while the Sinovac vaccine submitted its data for inspection in mid-January with more dossiers expected for submission by the end of this month. Anticipated decisions from the WHO on both vaccines are expected in March. China has been contributing to the world's fight against COVID-19 as it is endeavoring to make its vaccines global public goods. "We know that a number of the vaccines that are moving forward in China have been submitted for prequalification to the WHO, which is an important part, and we continue to have a conversation with them," said Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Recalling Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the World Economic Forum Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Monday, Berkley said that Xi has been a champion of COVID-19 vaccines development and equitable access to them. Simon Institute at SIU to host Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian Edward Larson by Pete Rosenbery CARBONDALE, Ill. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and law professor Edward J. Larson will discuss his academic and writing career and the nations uneasy relationship with science during a virtual discussion next week hosted by Southern Illinois University Carbondales Paul Simon Public Policy Institute. The discussion, part of the institutes Understanding Our New World series via Zoom, is at noon Monday, Feb. 1. Larson is the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and a university professor of history at Pepperdine University. He is the author or co-author of 14 books and more than 100 published articles. He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History for Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and Americas Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. Larson has also appeared numerous times on C-SPAN, most recently last year in connection with his book Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership. A Renaissance man John T. Shaw, Simon Institute director, noted Larsons vast expertise and knowledge. Larson can talk fluently about exploring Antarctica, the complexity of geoengineering, the tension between religion and science, and the accomplishments of Americas founding generation, Shaw said. Larson will discuss why Americans have historically been so ambivalent about science and about the stellar leadership of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, Shaw said. Registration is open Registration for the free Zoom meeting is available in advance. After completing registration, participants will receive an email confirmation with information about joining the meeting, along with the meeting ID and password. Participants can submit a question to Larson by email at paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu or by including it in the Questions and Comments section on the registration form. More information on the Simon Institutes events is available at paulsimoninstitute.siu.edu/event-information/. A screen capture of posts on the online community Ilbe Storage, in which a man shows he has passed the Gyeonggi Province civil service exam. Korea Times file By Bahk Eun-ji Gyeonggi Provincial Government said Wednesday that it has decided not to hire a person who passed the civil service exam for the local administration after discovering his online posts suggesting sex crimes and abusive language directed at women and the disabled. The provincial government conducted an investigation after an online petition was filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Dec. 30, calling for the man's qualification to work as a public servant for Gyeonggi Province to be cancelled. The petitioner said the man posted photos showing he had passed the province's civil service exam on Ilbe Storage, an online community infamous for misogynic and abusive posts by its users, and found he had previously posted photos of women and the disabled, taken secretly, mocking them with abusive words. "He also wrote he bought sex from underage girls, and posted photos of him having sex on at least five occasions with different girls each time as if he was showing off his behavior," the petitioner wrote. As of Wednesday, the petition had attracted more than 100,000 signatures. In response, the provincial government formed a personnel affairs committee to review his qualifications. It allowed the man to attend the committee meeting to make statements in order to guarantee his right to defend himself. He reportedly denied all the allegations, saying he was only bluffing on the community. But the committee did not accept his claim. "He greatly damaged the dignity of the office as a would-be civil servant by posting a number of photos and malicious comments against women and disabled people on the internet community where anyone could see them," the committee said. "We judged that he was not qualified to serve the citizens of the province as a public relations official," it added. Separately from the hiring cancellation, the provincial government requested the police to investigate the allegations that he bought sex from minors. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging a Bombay High Court judgment acquitting a person under POCSO, after he pressed a girl's breast over the dress stating there was no skin-to-skin contact. The AG submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde that the judgment is "disturbing and it would set a dangerous precedent". After a brief hearing in the matter, the top court stayed the January 19 order of the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court, which acquitted the accused under Section 8 of Protection of Children against Sexual Offences (POCSO). The bench also issued notice to the accused and allowed the AG to file a special leave petition challenging the High Court order. "The AG has brought to notice a judgment of Bombay HIgh Court Nagpur bench dated 19.1. 2021 in which the High Court has acquitted the accused under 8 section of POCSO on the ground that the accused had no sexual intent in committing offence...and there was no direct physical contact (skin to skin contact)" said the top court. The AG submitted that the order in question is unpredicted and is likely to set a dangerous precedent. "In these circumstances, we permit the AG to file a appropriate petition against the said order. In the meanwhile we stay the acquittal of the accused so far as offence under section 8 of the POCSO. Issue notice to the accused returnable two weeks," said the top court. The Chief Justice cited that the AG would remember that a judge had ordered public hanging of an accused and the AG had moved the court. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Updated: Here is the ONList website. Syracuse, N.Y. -- Onondaga County on Thursday will launch ONList, a new way for people 65 and older to get on a Covid-19 vaccine waiting list, County Executive Ryan McMahon said today. Kinney Drugs, which is administering the vaccine for seniors, will randomly select from the waiting list to make appointments for seniors at 16 stores in the county. The goal, McMahon said, is to help get the vaccine to seniors, many of whom have been at a disadvantage because most appointments are accessible through the internet only. We think its a solution to a complicated problem, McMahon said. Some seniors have missed out on the technology for the appointments. ONList is still an online system -- but a much more simplified one. The ONList internet link will go live at noon on Thursday, McMahon said. Instead of searching for a specific appointment, this website will collect basic information from each senior. Then, those people will go onto a waiting list and will be randomly selected and assigned appointments. The first lottery drawing from the ONList for vaccines will be next week, McMahon said. Also, Kinney Drugs is setting up a one-time vaccine clinic at the Oncenter on Sunday. Appointments for that clinic will open up online on Thursday, according to John Marraffa of Kinney Drugs. That Sunday clinic will have 993 appointments. These appointments will go live around noon on Thursday on Kinney Drugs website, Marraffa said. This is just the most emotional part of this whole process with the pandemic, McMahon said. Emotional because people are so happy when they get the shot, the sense of relief that they get their lives back. And they get that second shot, and theyre talking about seeing their grandchildren for the first time. Thats a rewarding experience. But the problem is the anxiety to get that shot, he added. Both of these opportunities -- ONList and the Sunday clinic -- are for Onondaga County seniors only, McMahon and Marraffa said. The ONList is meant to be for seniors who have difficulty making online appointments, Marraffa said. All seniors can still use any option to get a vaccination appointment. To start, ONList will pre-register up to 10,000 seniors, McMahon said. Kinney has agreed each week to randomly select individuals off of ONList for the vaccine, McMahon said. The county will also use some of its vaccine supplies to pull from the ONList wait list, he said. At the same time, seniors can use Kinneys vaccine website to make appointments themselves, Marraffa said. McMahon said he hopes the program will expand to other vaccine sites, including state-run ones like at the New York State Fairgrounds. Its possible Kinney might expand this kind of wait list for seniors to more of the 75 pharmacies doing vaccinations in New York, Marraffa said. McMahon added the state is watching the new system as well. This new system does not preclude anyone from trying other ways to get appointments, McMahon said. McMahon said hes also working with Syracuse University to set up a phone banking system to help seniors navigate the online registrations. The vaccine supply remains extremely limited, McMahon said. He estimates about 70,000 county residents now qualify for the vaccine. Onondaga County is dispensing 1,000 shots on Friday. Appointments for those vaccinations open at noon on Thursday. Theres a lot of desperation, Marraffa said. And what we ask is really for is for patients to be patient, to understand that as soon as vaccine is available, the idea is to put vaccine in arms. Got a story idea or news tip youd like to share? Please contact me through email, Twitter, Facebook or at 315-470-2274. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) A bomb blast in Cotabato province killed two people and wounded six others, local authorities said Wednesday. Tulunan Mayor Michael Limbungan said the explosive was in a ticket booth in front of a commercial bank in Barangay Sibsib. A bus was in the area picking up passengers when the bomb exploded past 12 p.m. He said one of the victims was killed on the spot, the other due to cardiac arrest. Authorities are pursuing the culprits, the mayor said. As per our information the perpetrators are going to Ligwasan Marsh heading to Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Limbungan in an interview. He added investigators are looking into a possible extortion angle. Philippine National Police Spokesperson PBGen Ildebrandi Usana later explained it was because an extortionist group is known to have conducted operations near the area. Usana said they are also not discounting the possibility that communist rebels may have been involved in the attack since the town has been earlier infiltrated by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army. The charitys role is controversial because it is led by Benjamin Koppel, the president of the Adass Israel Congregation, part of a small ultra-orthodox group of about 150 families based in Elsternwick and Ripponlea where Ms Leifer worked. The Age has confirmed Ms Leifer will be offered support from the charity Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria, a group contracted by Corrections Victoria to assist every Jewish person in the states system and support prisoners to observe and grow while in prison. A Jewish charity will offer chaplaincy services to alleged paedophile Malka Leifer when she returns to Australia, a decision that has angered some members of the religious community. Mr Koppel was president of the Adass Israel Congregation when Ms Leifer left Australia in 2008, 24 hours after she was accused of sexually molesting some of the students and sacked by the board. He was questioned in the Supreme Court in 2015 about the decision to hire Ms Leifer amid allegations she travelled to Israel with the assistance of the Adass board. However, there is no evidence or allegations to suggest Mr Koppel helped Ms Leifer, or knew about plans to help her leave for Israel. After years of resisting extradition to Australia, Ms Leifer was expected to arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday evening following a ruling by Israels Supreme Court that the 52-year-old return to Australia to face prosecution. She will face court in Melbourne on Thursday. A government spokeswoman told The Age that Ms Leifer would come under the custody of Victoria Police upon arrival and be taken to a police quarantine facility until her first court appearance via video link. Following that court appearance, in the case Ms Leifer is remanded to face court again, she would be taken to a prison isolation facility where she will serve a 14-day quarantine period. A board member of Jewish Prison Chaplaincy Victoria told The Age they had received calls from frustrated members of the community this week who believed a group linked to the Adass group should not support Ms Leifer considering the seriousness of the allegations. Tran Thai Binh and Dao Manh Toan, lawyers at LNT & Partners According to Section I, Item 3.2 of the letter, the target company receiving capital contribution or selling shares and contributed capital instead of the foreign investor itself as regulated in the Law on Investment 2014 and the 2020 version shall submit one dossier applying for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) approval to the investment registration authority. However, the form used for the M&A approval procedure must be signed by both the foreign investor and the target company, and so we therefore opine that either or both of them could still submit the dossier in reality. According to the letter, the dossier applying for the M&A approval currently requires more information and documents in comparison with the former regulations. This first consists of a written request for the M&A approval which includes specific information such as enterprise registration details of the target company, including name, enterprise code, enterprise form, head office address, business lines, charter capital, and current foreign investor if applicable. This written request also requires information on founding shareholders, if any, and land use right certificate of the target company (if it uses land located in island, border, or coastal areas); the holding ratio of the foreign investor before and after making the investment; the transaction value; and information on the investment project of the target company (if any), which is new in comparison with the former regulations. The second part of applying for approval consists of a valid copy of legal identity documents of both the foreign investor and the target company. Third is a written agreement on capital contribution, purchase of shares, and contributed capital between the foreign investor and the target company, which is also new. Of note, from a practical aspect, the M&A approval must be obtained before the investor executes any capital contribution, purchase of shares and contributed capital. Therefore, this requirement may create confusion for both the foreign investor and the target company on whether they should submit the draft written agreement or the signed one to the investment registration authority. In addition, if the foreign investor makes investment by way of contributing additional capital (not purchasing any shares or contributed capital from any current shareholder or member), it would be uncertain which kind of written agreement is required for submission. The fourth and final part of this process is a written declaration on land use right certificate if the target company uses land located in island, border, or coastal areas. However, the letter does not provide any form or further guidance for this declaration so it is still uncertain whether the target company shall declare on the basis self-declaration and self-responsibility, or with confirmation/certification by a competent authority. In terms of business lines and market access conditions applied for foreign investors, those investors shall be treated equally with local ones with respect to market access conditions, save for specific cases provided in the list of business lines restricted to foreign investors which will be issued by the government. However, it is still uncertain when such a list will be issued by the government. In the list, the restricted sectors should comprise business lines that are not allowed, and conditional business lines for market access. The government will elaborate the market access conditions applied for the foreign investor in each sector in compliance with the applicable laws, resolutions, ordinances, decrees, and international treaties to which Vietnam is a signatory. Before the application of the Law on Investment 2020, all valid dossiers submitted to the investment registration authorities shall be processed in accordance with the 2014 law. However, the 2020 version has already taken effect and replaced the previous one. Hence, the letter offers two circumstances under which the dossier shall be processed: Firstly, if the deadline is overdue but there is still no result returned to the applicant, such a dossier shall be continuously processed pursuant to the Law on Investment 2014 and relevant regulations. Alternatively, if the deadline is after January 1, 2021 the investment registration authority shall instruct the applicant to supplement missing required documents (if any) or amend the submitted dossiers for compliance with the Law on Investment 2020, and the procedure shall be conducted pursuant to the correspondent laws. For the sake of implementation, the letter is issued together with application forms used for investment registration procedures. However, the letter is provisional guidance to ensure implementation of investment registration procedures in accordance with the Law on Investment 2020 from January 1, 2021 until an official decree guiding the same is issued by the government. (Natural News) After accepting $356 million in taxpayer money from the Trump administration to develop a fast-tracked Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine under Operation Warp Speed, Merck & Co. has reportedly decided to throw in the towel and move on to other endeavors. Two different vaccine candidates that Merck had been working on both failed, generating very little, if any, immune response in test patients. Consequently, both projects were scrapped. Rather than attempt to develop any more potential vaccine candidates, Merck will now focus on two other types of treatments for the novel virus that as of now have not been approved by federal regulators. Last fall, Merck announced that early-stage trials had been launched for a potential Chinese virus vaccine that would have required only one injection dose. The Chinese virus vaccines currently being administered by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna both require two doses and Moderna is now saying that it will have to develop a third dose in order to increase the efficacy of the first two. Modernas vaccine drive in California recently had to be halted after a disturbing number of those injected developed severe reactions after getting jabbed. Why get vaccinated when vitamin C cures viruses naturally? Both the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech jabs received emergency approval late last year from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Several other potential candidates, including a single-dose jab from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), could soon receive similar approval once trial results are published. Some 22 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have already been administered since their official release back in December. Nearly six percent of the U.S. population has now received at least one dose of one of the vaccines, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reporting. Roughly 3.2 million people, or one percent of the population, are said to have received both doses of one or the other vaccine, completing their vaccination process as recommended by Anthony Fauci and the vaccines manufacturers. Even though all potential Merck vaccines are now defunct, the FDA could still grant emergency approval for other treatments being developed by the company. As many as 100,000 doses of Mercks alternative remedies could be available for distribution by June 30. Mercks MK-7110 treatment candidate is said to have the potential to minimize the damaging effects of an overactive immune response to the Chinese virus, also known as a cytokine storm. Such an immune response can complicate the lifesaving efforts of doctors and nurses caring for Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) patients at hospitals. Nick Kartsonis, senior vice president of clinical research for infectious diseases and vaccines at Merck Research Laboratories, said the results thus far with all of the companys potential remedies have been disappointing and a bit of a surprise. Both shots generated fewer neutralizing antibodies than other vaccines and produced inferior immune responses compared with people who had naturally contracted the coronavirus, reports Zero Hedge, quoting Kartsonis who admitted that the company didnt have what [it] needed to be able to move forward. News of the vaccine failures sent Mercks shares plummeting nearly two percent. Mercks approach to vaccine development under Operation Warp Speed utilized a more traditional approach, borrowing from its deadly measles vaccine. Its V590 candidate, as one example, is based on technology that is already used in Mercks Ebola vaccine. As pointed out by numerous Zero Hedge commenters, there is already a cure for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), and all other viruses, for that matter: vitamin C. Vitamin C is cheap and easily made and it cures 100 percent of the time, one of them wrote. More of the latest news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) can be found at Pandemic.news. Sources for this article include: ChicagoTribune.com ZeroHedge.com Politico.com NaturalNews.com NaturalNews.com The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Two starving children who were allegedly forced to eat stray dogs to survive have been rescued from their cockroach-infested home in Ukraine. Neglected four-year-old Masha and her two-year-old brother were found surrounded by piles of rubbish and taken away by police officers after they raided the filthy flat in the city of Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine. Their mother, Lilia Granenko, 30, is said to have killed stray dogs in the area and used their meat to feed the starving children. The children were reportedly surrounded by their own excrement after their toilet broke at the rat-infested home, where cockroaches would 'drop from the ceiling'. The children were reportedly found surrounded by piles of rubbish and their own excrement after their toilet broke at the rat-infested home, where cockroaches would 'drop from the ceiling' Four-year-old Masha (left) and her brother, two, (right) who were allegedly forced to eat stray dogs to survive have been rescued from their cockroach-infested home in Ukraine Their mother, Lilia Granenko, 30, is said to have killed stray dogs in the area and used their meat to feed the starving children. Officers made their way through mounds of rubbish before carrying the youngsters away while their mother is heard expressing discontent about the situation The children were reportedly surrounded by their own excrement after their toilet broke at the rat-infested home, where cockroaches would 'drop from the ceiling'. The children, who allegedly never went outside, also lived with their grandmother, whose name has not been disclosed. The women reportedly stuffed their home with waste from rubbish bins which they collected for years, leaving the flat infested with rats and cockroaches. 'Cockroaches fall down from the ceiling in there and the stench makes you retch with disgust', a neighbour said. The toilet in the flat is out of order and water supply was cut off long ago for unpaid bills, according to reports. Masha, four, (centre, left) and her brother, two, (centre) allegedly never went outside and also lived with their grandmother, whose name has not been disclosed. Their mother and grandmother reportedly stuffed their home with waste from rubbish bins (pictured) which they collected for years, leaving the flat infested with rats and cockroaches Officers making their way through mounds of rubbish before carrying the youngsters away while their mother is heard expressing discontent about the situation Granenko was arrested after police received a call from neighbours and raided the family home. The mother now faces five years in prison if convicted of neglect. Volunteer Yevgeny Zub, who filmed the police operation said: 'The mother, grandmother and the children relieve themselves right on the floor. 'I've seen a lot but never something like that.' Police raided the family home in the city of Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine, after receiving a call from neighbours. The boy, 2, had to be carried out wearing only a reused nappy because 'he did not have any clothes', witnesses said. Eventually, the toddler was wrapped in a blanket and handed to officers by a kind local resident A video shows officers making their way through mounds of rubbish before carrying the youngsters away while their mother is heard expressing discontent about the situation. The boy had to be carried out wearing only a reused nappy because 'he did not have any clothes', witnesses said. Eventually, the toddler was wrapped in a blanket and handed to officers by a kind local resident. Both children were taken to hospital for examinations. Animal rights activists also arrived at the scene after receiving a tip-off that 'the mother catches stray dogs and uses their meat to feed her children'. Animal rights activists also arrived at the scene after receiving a tip-off that 'the mother catches stray dogs and uses their meat to feed her children'. Pictured: One of the four dogs found locked in the property Four canines were found locked in one of the rooms and rescued by the activists. Pictured: One of the rescued dogs Mr Zub said: 'The pooches are being killed in the apartment then cooked and eaten by the family.' Four canines were found locked in one of the rooms and rescued by the activists. Law enforcement spokesman Oleksandr Salo commented: 'A criminal case for malicious non-compliance with child-rearing obligations has been initiated against the mother.' Granenko, who has five children from different men, was previously deprived of parental rights. She lost custody of her oldest child to the father. Two of her other older children were placed into an orphanage by the court. The rescued siblings are to be placed in an orphanage as well until the court decides their further fate. The mother faces up to five years in prison if convicted. The investigation continues. As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to on February 1 when the Budget would be presented. The decision by farmer unions came a day after massive violence during their tractor parade in the capital that left nearly 400 police personnel injured. The farmer leaders, however, alleged that there was a conspiracy behind Tuesday's incidents and demanded a probe. They said their agitation against the farm laws will continue and public meetings and hunger strikes will be held across the country on January 30. "The tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy. Deep Sidhu is an RSS man. Police let him go after he hoisted a religious flag at Red Fort," farmer leader Darshan Pal, who has been accused by police of making inflammatory speeches, alleged at a press conference. Sidhu is a former aide of actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu in December after he supported the farmers' agitation. "We have cancelled our plan for a march to on budget day on February 1. But our agitation will continue and there will be public meetings and hunger strike across the country on January 30, " Pal said. Another farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal claimed that over two lakh tractors and lakhs of people participated in Tuesday's parade and "99.9 percent of the protesters were peaceful". Even as the farmer unions continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation against the farm laws, Tuesday's incidents that have been widely condemned started taking a toll with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee withdrawing from the protests on the Delhi's borders. Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, who has been supporting the farmers' agitation, said, "We regret the Red Fort incident and accept its moral responsibility. The incident should be probed. There is a conspiracy behind it" Responding to a question on farmer leaders being named in FIR, Yadav said, "FIR, jail and torture are rewards of movements". "We have video clippings and we will expose how a conspiracy was hatched to defame our movement," Shivkumar Kakka said. As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in an FIR in connection with the violence during the tractor parade. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort during the Republic Day. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Frankfurt am Main. Developmental biologist Professor Elvira Mass, Ph.D. from the Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES) at the University of Bonn, receives the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers, which is endowed with 60,000. The award ceremony in Paulskirche, which is traditionally held on March 14th, Paul Ehrlich's birthday, has been canceled this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Elvira Mass will be honored next year together with the award winners of 2022. For organs to stay healthy and functional, they must be constantly surveilled for abnormalities. Until a few years ago, it was believed that this task is performed by immune cells originating from the bone marrow. In a series of elegant genetic labelling experiments, Mass has shown that these cells are mainly yolk sac-derived progenitor cells that migrate to the developing organs, where they immediately differentiate and self-maintain for a lifetime. The reason for their longevity is still a mystery. These immune cells are referred to as tissue-resident macrophages and belong to our innate immune system. Their primary job is to scavenge anything that does not belong to a healthy organ. However, they also produce a broad range of bioactive molecules and growth factors, ensuring that tissues are not only 'tidy' but grow, develop, and function. "The special achievement of Elvira Mass is to have contributed to an important change in perspective when looking at the function of organs," writes the Scientific Council, chaired by Professor Thomas Boehm, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, in substantiating its decision. "In order to understand how organs develop and what keeps them healthy, one no longer only looks at the bone marrow, but also at the yolk sac and thus at a completely different population of macrophages. This observation has important implications for medicine, because organ-specific defects might be associated with malfunctioning tissue-resident macrophages originally derived from the yolk sac". Mass has provided evidence for the health-promoting function of resident macrophages in the mouse brain. Her attempt to manipulate microglia, as the brain-specific macrophages are called, were stimulated by the findings in patients suffering from a rare form of cancer called histiocytosis. This cancer arises from mutated macrophages, which multiply out of control. Many patients suffering from histiocytoses eventually develop neurodegenerative symptoms or behavioural deficits. Mass introduced the mutation typical for histiocytosis specifically into yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages of mice and followed the development of the animals. She found that the mutated microglia cells no longer carried out their traditional tasks but instead attacked and eliminated neurons in their vicinity. Eventually, this led to paralysis demonstrating that mutated microglia can cause neurodegeneration in mice. With funding recently awarded by the European Research Council, Mass will investigate which environmental factors change the epigenetic imprinting of the yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages and how these changes affect the health of organs. To this end, she will, among other things, examine the influence of nanoplastics on macrophages. Particles that are smaller than 500 nanometers enter the embryo's blood via the placenta and could potentially damage the supporting function of the tissue-resident macrophages. Short biography of Professor Dr. Elvira Mass Elvira Mass (34) studied biology at the University of Bonn and did her Ph.D thesis at the Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES) in Bonn. In 2014, she moved to Frederic Geissmann's laboratory at King's College in London and followed him a few months later to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. From there she returned to the LIMES Institute in 2017 as a group leader. In 2019, she became W2 Professor for "Integrated Immunology" at the University of Erlangen-Nuernberg. In 2020, she switched to a W2 / W3 professorship at the LIMES Institute. Mass has received several awards, including the Heinz Maier Leibnitz Prize in 2020, which is considered the most important award for young scientists in Germany. Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers The Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers, awarded for the first time in 2006, is conferred once a year by the Paul Ehrlich Foundation on a young investigator working in Germany for his or her outstanding achievements in the field of biomedical research. The prize money must be used for research purposes. University faculty members and leading scientists at German research institutions are eligible for nomination. The selection of the prizewinner is made by the Scientific Council on a proposal by the eight-person selection committee. The Paul Ehrlich Foundation The Paul Ehrlich Foundation is a legally dependent foundation which is managed in a fiduciary capacity by the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, Frankfurt. The Honorary Chairman of the Foundation, which was established by Hedwig Ehrlich in 1929, is Professor Dr. Katja Becker, president of the German Research Foundation, who also appoints the elected members of the Scientific Council and the Board of Trustees. The Chairman of the Scientific Council is Professor Thomas Boehm, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, the Chair of the Board of Trustees is Professor Dr. Jochen Maas, Head of Research and Development and Member of the Management Board, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH. Professor Wilhelm Bender, in his function as Chair of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Goethe University, is Member of the Scientific Council. The President of the Goethe University is at the same time a member of the Board of Trustees. Further information You can obtain selected publications, the list of publications and a photograph of the prizewinner from Dr. Hildegard Kaulen, phone: +49 (0) 6122/52718, e-mail: h.k@kaulen-wissenschaft.de and at http://www. paul-ehrlich-stiftung. de . Background on the award of the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers to Professor Elvira Mass, Ph.D Conductors from the yolk sac Immune cells from the yolk sac help embryos to develop properly. After an egg cell has been fertilized, every step in the development of an embryo must be well coordinated. Heart, lung, liver, and the other organs have to follow their developmental trajectories and all organ-specific cells must follow their respective fate. This year's recipient of the 2021 Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize for Young Researchers Professor Elvira Mass has shown that this mission is accompanied by specialized immune cells, so-called macrophages that are derived from the yolk sac of the early embryo. Like law enforcement officers, they spring into action when the developmental steps are not on schedule or flawed. Later in life, they contribute to organ health; hence, if these macrophages fail to execute their function, organs might fail too. Most of the time, new research expands existing knowledge, but sometimes new research results in rewriting the textbooks. Developmental biologist Elvira Mass from the Life and Medical Sciences Institute (LIMES) in Bonn is one of those scientists who has turned existing knowledge on its head. The award winner has revised our understanding of organ development in early mouse embryos. She discovered that most of the macrophages that colonize all growing tissues of the embryo derive from a yolk sac precursor; once in place, they mature together with their organ of residence. For decades, scientists were firmly convinced that tissue-resident macrophages are exclusively derived from haematopoietic stem cells in the bone marrow. Mass has shown that yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages make a life-long contribution to the health of organs; when they don't live up to expectations, organ functions may fail. More than a cleaning crew Macrophages belong to the innate immune system of mammals. They are part of their permanently active surveillance system that, like a radar, constantly scans the body for threats. If the innate immune system encounters a problem, it sounds the alarm and calls the specialized immune system with its tailor-made antibodies and killer cells to the scene. Macrophages work as a cleaning force, remove cell debris and scavenge dead or damaged cells. However, they are more than just phagocytes. Macrophages also produce a large range of bioactive molecules and growth factors. In doing so, they ensure that tissues are not only tidied up, but are also provided with essential support for their morphogenesis. To achieve this feat, each organ has its own set of tissue-resident macrophages. These cells are called microglia in the brain, Kupffer cells in the liver and Langerhans cells in the skin, to name just three examples. Mass created a map for the differentiation and migration of macrophages in the mouse embryo as the cells progress from their immature stage in the yolk sac to fully developed tissue-resident macrophages in the organs where they live on to adulthood. Apart from phagocytosis, one of their main tasks is in sculpturing tissues and supporting their functions. If indeed these macrophages are so important for the development and health of an organ, the question arises as to what happens when they or their progenitor cells in the yolk sac are mutated or damaged. Observations in patients suffering from tumours in which the tissue-resident macrophages proliferate in an uncontrolled manner helped Mass in answering this question. Often, these so-called histiocytoses exhibit a specific mutation. Mass introduced this mutation in yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages in mice and monitored the development of these genetically manipulated animals. The ill effects of the mutation were particularly evident in brain microglia, which shifted from a homeostatic to a pro-inflammatory phenotype and began to eliminate neighbouring neurons. Eventually, all mice showed damage to the brain that led to paralysis, indicating that mutated microglia caused neurodegeneration. This finding mirrors the clinical phenotype of patients with histiocytosis who often also develop signs of neurodegeneration or behavioural deficits. New approach to neurodegeneration "These experiments show that macrophages with certain molecular changes may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases," says Mass about her results. "Even though our results currently only pertain to mice, we ask ourselves what these findings mean for the development of neurodegeneration in humans, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. In the light of our findings, it is possible that malfunction of microglia, due to mutation or faulty epigenetic imprinting, may contribute to neurodegeneration. I am firmly convinced that, when looking at the development of diseases, we have to pay much more attention to possible malfunctions of the tissue-resident macrophages than before. " Mass was also interested in the role of macrophages in other tissues, such as osteoclasts in bones. In healthy bones, bone formation and bone loss are in balance. So-called osteoblasts are responsible for building bones, whereas osteoclasts are breaking them down. Mass was able to show that a defect in the growth and differentiation programme of the yolk sac-derived precursors specifically in osteoclasts impairs their function. This leads to an imbalance between bone formation and bone loss, osteoblasts gain the upper hand and harden the bone. In response, mice with a defect in osteoclast formation recruit new macrophages from the bone marrow, a situation that is not possible in patients, in whom germ-line mutations affect all cells in the body, including the haematopoietic stem cells which give rise to an alternative lineage of macrophages. However, a blood transfusion from healthy donors may represent a therapeutic option for these patients, soon be tested in clinical studies. What could harm macrophages? In the future, Mass plans to investigate which environmental factors change the epigenetic imprinting of yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages and how these changes influence their function. "I am firmly convinced that many diseases are caused by such changes," says Mass about her research. For example, she wants to study the influence of maternal obesity in mice. Mass speculates that the offspring of overweight mice develop a fatty liver disease due to malfunctioning Kupffer cells. With financial support from the European Union, she will also investigate the influence of nanoplastics on macrophages. Particles smaller than 500 nanometers can pass the human placenta and would therefore be able to damage the support function of yolk sac-derived tissue-resident macrophages during organ development. ### Further information TUV leader Jim Allister has described the Northern Ireland Protocol as a "perilous" threat to the Union and called on the DUP and UUP to take immediate action to disrupt it. He described the protocol as "evil genuis" and outlined proposals including ending north/south cooperation and vetoing the adoption of laws in the Assembly on the protocol. He also said DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots should stop his officials working on Irish Sea border checks. Together these actions would bring matters to a head and demonstrate that unionists will not be willing participants in the destruction of the Union," he said. The Northern Ireland Protocol allows the free movement of goods between Northern Ireland and the Republic but introduced the need for customs checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In days after the EU and UK severed ties at the start of the year, supermarkets have struggled to fill shelves and retailers forced to restrict deliveries to Northern Ireland. Read More The North Antrim MLA criticised the 'cosy' relationship that existed between other unionist politicians and Prime Minister, Boris Johnston. He challenged the DUP and the UUP to stop all co-operation and participation in North/South bodies. Speaking on the BBC Radio Ulster Nolan Show, Mr Allister said: "It wasn't me that lauded the present British Prime Minister as a friend of the Union and drank champagne with him or anything else. "That might have been the mistakes of others. Unionism was done over and not for the first time by the Conservative Prime Minister. "All that is tragic. I believe a calculated decision was made that unionism was an easier push over than nationalism and therefore let's go for the soft touch." He said his proposals would not necessarily solve the issues. "A suite of actions is required," he said, "but it would be a start and signify a resolution to stand up for what matters most of all - the Union. "It would also dispel a perception that those unionists in power care more for their positions than they do for the principles at stake. Across the unionist community there is a significant loss of morale which requires evidence of a fight back. We cannot go on as we are, as if nothing has happened. I, therefore, appeal to the DUP and UUP to act, before it is too late. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 02:57:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ROME, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Preserving the memory of the victims of nazism and fascism was a civic duty, and a necessary tool to avoid similar tragedies to ever happen again, Italian President Sergio Mattarella stressed on Wednesday. Mattarella led the main ceremony held in Rome to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day -- known in Italy as the Day of Memory -- that falls every year on Jan. 27, the date in 1945 when the largest Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz in occupied Poland, was liberated by Soviet troops. At least 1.1 million people were killed there. "Totalitarianism in the first half of the twentieth century, and the ideologies that inspired them, interrupted the wheel of civilization, plunging a large part of the world... into a dense darkness of barbarism," Mattarella said in his address. "Remembering and making everyone remember the sacrifice of millions of innocent victims... is therefore a duty of humanity and civilization." He spoke at the Quirinale presidential palace before a restricted public of national officials, including resigning Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) Noemi Di Segni, and at least one holocaust survival. Due to anti-COVID-19 restrictions, many guests and speakers joined in virtual mode of the ceremony, which was live-streamed online and on state-run RAI TV. Mattarella recalled the victims of the holocaust were largely Jews, but also "Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, political opponents, and disabled people." "It would be a serious insult to those men, women, and children who died in the gas chambers, if we considered that deadly season just as an accident in history... shutting our eyes to its origins and dynamics," he warned. Before the official ceremony, the head of state had awarded the winners of a specific competition -- "The youth remembering the Shoah" -- annually promoted by the Education Ministry among Italian secondary schools. Similar events to commemorate the Holocaust Remembrance Day were held in almost every city and town across Italy on Wednesday. Some museums held their own ceremonies, including renowned Uffizi Galleries in Florence, which just reopened to visitors last week after over two months of closure due to the pandemic. From early 1942 to late 1944, transport trains delivered Jewish people, Roma people, and political opponents to the gas chambers at Auschwitz from all over Nazi-occupied Europe. Almost 1.1 million men, women and children were killed there, according to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum website. The vast majority of over 8,500 Jewish people deported from Italy -- under Mussolini fascist regime and after its fall -- were sent to Auschwitz. Enditem He has nothing to say because there really isnt anything to say you guys. He has nothing to say because hes paid to do this, she said, complaining that he got to speak with senators and was covered by the news media while she didnt get to talk to any senators and didnt get any media coverage. I had zero. Guess what, Im a gun owner. Im an American citizen and I have nothing. But this guy with his George Soros funding and his major liberal funding has got everything. I want you to think about that thats where we are and hes a coward he cant say one word. NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu to bring back samples ends as the spacecraft begins its return to Earth. NASAs Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) rocket bid farewell to Bennu after gathering more samples than originally required of the missions 2 ounces (60 grams), according to a NASA press release. MARS TINY HELICOPTER: Here's what we know about NASA's 'small but mighty' Mars Helicopter Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, expressed his thoughts on the departure from the asteroid. Leaving Bennus vicinity in May puts us in the sweet spot, when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecrafts onboard fuel, Moreau said. Nevertheless, with over 593 miles per hour (265 meters per second) of velocity change, this will be the largest propulsive maneuver conducted by OSIRIS-REx since the approach to Bennu in October 2018. The OSIRIS-REx team is also planning an additional maneuver in the form of a final flyby of Bennu. According to NASA, the flyby will take place in early April and allow a final observation of the sample site called Nightingale, to observe how the surface of Bennu was altered by the interaction of the spacecraft with the sample site. The flyby will allow OSIRIS-REx to capture high-resolution images of the Bennu's northern and southern hemispheres and equatorial region, NASA said. "OSIRIS-REx has already provided incredible science, Lori Glaze, NASA's director of planetary science said. "We're really excited the mission is planning one more observation flyby of asteroid Bennu to provide new information about how the asteroid responded to TAG and to render a proper farewell. The trip back will take OSIRIS-REx two years to return to Earth. The explorer will land in a parachute in Utah on Sept. 24, 2023, NASA said in a tweet. Once recovered, the spacecraft will be transported to the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the samples distributed to laboratories worldwide, according to NASA. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 The number of new print magazines started in the U.S. fell by more than half in 2020 to 60, compared t Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. This is the dramatic moment a surfer was crushed beneath the force of a 62-ft wave in Hawaii, before he deployed a breathing technique to prevent water flooding his lungs. Rafael Kroeff, 38, from Brazil, was surfing on Maui's north coast, in an area known as Peahi, on January 16 when he was caught out by a 62ft-tall wave. After letting go of the rope of the jet ski that had been towing him, Rafael was left in a dangerous position and felt 'pounded' by the wall of water. Shocking footage, captured by photographer Marcus Rodrigues, shows the moment Rafael disappears from view when the giant wave crashes down onto him and pushes him beneath the water's surface. Rafael Kroeff, 38, (circled) and windsurfer Adam Warchol were caught out by a monster 62-ft wave off the north coast of Maui on January 16 It was only thanks to his experience in the water and breathing techniques he had learned that Rafael was able to survive the incident. Speaking about being crushed by the wave, he described it as 'the craziest moment' of his life. He said: 'So I was trying to paddle over the first wave on a tow board, somehow I made it on the first one but the second wave got me pretty bad, I decided to hold my board to protect the windsurfer, I was worried that my board might hit him. 'I've been working with breathing for over 20 years using yoga and functional training to train surfers. Rafael (pictured) said that he was able to stay alive in this time thanks to the training he had provided others with to help hold their breath 'I created my own training program five years ago mixing all that with the foundation on mindfulness of breathing. 'The wave pushed me down super hard and I had to use the breathing protocols that I developed to survive in that situation.' The force of the water crashing on top of him kept him pinned beneath the waves for over a minute. Rafael said that he was able to stay alive in this time thanks to the training he had provided others with to help hold their breath. He said: 'I used a manoeuvre we use to close the glottis [valve between lungs and mouth] so you don't drink water and sink, I was aware of everything and never lost my consciousness.' 'I felt the pressure on my ears because I was super deep but super quickly, I had equalised my ears. 'I was very focused on being calm but it was the longest ever time underwater for me.' Eventually, Rafael was rescued by a team of 12 jet skis, who even helped him keep hold of his surfboard. Windsurfer Adam Warchol was also caught out by the wave and although he survived the ordeal, he lost of all of his equipment. Rafael said: 'He got super pounded also, losing all his gear, but he's ok. Following the incident, Rafael plunged himself into an ice bath (pictured) to help him begin his recovery. Despite his lucky escape, he said he is keen to get back into the water 'My neck got stiff and my throat was kind of blocked for 24hours, but I'm 100% now. 'I never took medicine or went to the hospital, got back home to Oahu and went straight to my ice bath, and after that I was 80%.' Not put off by his lucky escape, Raphael is already keen to get back in the water and said: 'For sure I'll surf again on a swell like that, those are the days we live for, I feel more alive than ever now. 'The whole surf community is sending me love messages. 'It's been very emotional after the whole thing.' The clip of Rafael and Adam being smashes by the large waves have been viewed more than 18,000 times so far, with one person describing the incident as surreal enough to be a cartoon, while another labelled the footage 'wipeout of the year'. She's the popular host of Australia's most-watched breakfast show, Sunrise. But despite being loved by viewers from coast to coast, Sam Armytage is said to be thinking seriously about her future at Channel Seven and the possibility of taking a step back from her television career. After getting married to businessman Richard Lavender on New Year's Eve, the 44-year-old is apparently considering walking off into the sunset, Woman's Day reported earlier this month. When will the queen of Sunrise walk off into the sunset? Sam Armytage is said to be thinking seriously about her future at Seven and the possibility of taking a step back from her TV career 'It's clear Sam has a new life and the writing is on the wall that times are changing,' a source told the magazine. The insider added that Sam 'just wants to be with her new husband and live a quiet life' in the NSW Southern Highlands, where they both spend their weekends. 'There's no denying she's blissfully happy with married life, so maybe now is the time to switch off the alarm clock and enjoy brand new beginnings,' they concluded. Retirement: After getting married to Richard Lavender on New Year's Eve, the 44-year-old is apparently considering walking off into the sunset, Woman's Day reported earlier this month. Pictured: Sam and Richard on their wedding day in the Southern Highlands The Woman's Day report resurfaced on Wednesday after Sam revealed on The Kyle and Jackie O Show that early retirement had crossed her mind since getting married. She said that while she was 'very happy' in her job - and still under contract at Seven - she hadn't ruled out giving up her TV career for a more relaxed life in the country. Sam made the admission while discussing her wedding to millionaire horse breeder Richard, which took place at his $2million estate in Berrima. Radio host Jackie 'O' Henderson observed: 'I get the feeling, Sam, that you're going to give this up next contract or something.' Speaking out: The Woman's Day report resurfaced on Wednesday after Sam (left, with David 'Kochie' Koch) revealed that early retirement had crossed her mind since getting married She then asked: 'Do you ever see yourself doing that [retiring to the country]?' Sam replied: 'Oh yeah, I think down the track I could, easily.' When asked if she would miss working in TV, Sam offered a thoughtful response. 'I do wonder... there's a lot of adrenaline in television. Anything that's live there's a lot of adrenaline. Sometimes I wonder... but by the same token you don't want that adrenaline all the time,' she said. Sea change: She told The Kyle and Jackie O Show she was 'very happy' in her job but could 'easily' see herself embracing country life 'down the track'. Pictured during Sunrise's coverage of the presidential inauguration with guest commentator Megyn Kelly (right) 'And you know, I've been a journo for 22 years. I'm very old.' 'If I were in your shoes, it's something I would think about,' Jackie said. This prompted Jackie's co-host Kyle Sandilands to say: 'Why are you trying to push her out of TV? You want to move over to Sam's job?' Women's intuition? Radio host Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) observed: 'I get the feeling, Sam, that you're going to give this up next contract or something' This isn't the first time Sam has been the subject of rumours she's considering an exit from Sunrise, which she has co-hosted with David 'Kochie' Koch since 2013. Before she wed Richard, 61, last month, Sam's future at Seven was the subject of an article by journalist Andrew Hornery in the Nine-owned Sun-Herald newspaper. Mr Hornery's column noted that 'a question mark hangs over' Sam's future at Seven, with 2021 perhaps being the year when her priorities shift from her career to 'marriage and starting a family' with Richard. Partnership: Sam has co-anchored Sunrise with David 'Kochie' Koch (right) since 2013 Sam strongly denied the allegations at the time and accused the reporter of doing a hatchet job on her because Sunrise had beaten Nine's Today show in the ratings. She tweeted: 'Another Sunday morning... another dumb story from a newspaper. Good one, Channel Nine. If you can't beat Sunrise in the ratings, invent a (bitchy) column for some Christmas "cheer". What a grot that Hornery is...' A spokesperson for Nine Newspapers said: 'We stand by Andrew Hornery's story.' Meanwhile, Seven has denied there are plans to change the Sunrise line-up in 2021. Craig McPherson, Seven's Director of News and Current Affairs, told industry website TV Tonight last month: 'Everyones back next year, no changes flagged there.' Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel Seven for further comment. Denial: Last month, Sam furiously hit back at a report in a Nine-owned newspaper which claimed her position at Seven was 'one of the biggest question marks of 2021' Sam and Richard tied the knot at his 40-hectare property in the picturesque Southern Highlands on New Year's Eve. They exchanged vows at his home shortly before midday, then moved to a luncheon at the Centennial Vineyards Restaurant in Bowral. Sam looked stunning on her special day in a white long-sleeve dress by Carla Zampatti with a matching ribbon in her hair. The intimate ceremony only featured a small number of guests due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with Richard's daughters, Sasha and Grace, believed to be in attendance. Sam's father, Mac, was seated at the head of the table at the reception, while her younger brother, Charlie, sat nearby. Options: Sam and Richard tied the knot at his 40-hectare property in the picturesque Southern Highlands on New Year's Eve. They exchanged vows at his home shortly before midday, then moved to a luncheon at the Centennial Vineyards Restaurant in Bowral A source told Daily Mail Australia of the nuptials: 'Champagne was flowing, and at one point they had several waiters attending to their every need. 'However, they didn't get any VIP treatment, and while they were away from other guests, they were sitting among locals and tourists.' The Lavenders started dating in April 2019 after meeting at a mutual friend's party, and announced their engagement in June last year. Professional money managers are warning retail investors the Reddit-fuelled rush into unloved tech stocks such as GameStop will end in tears, amid fresh signs the euphoria that has lifted share prices to stratospheric levels is spreading to Australia. Shares in GameStop, the NYSE-listed video games retailer, surged 92.7 per cent in Tuesdays session as day traders on the Reddit forum Wallstreetbets continued their quest to inflate the stock, fuelled by attention from prominent entrepreneurs including Elon Musk. US regulators are likely to scrutinise the quadrupling of GameStop Corp.s shares over the past two weeks. Credit:AP Momentum has continued to build over the past month as online punters egg each other on to pump up stocks that are traditionally favoured by short-sellers, in whats being billed as a revenge play on hedge funds and their short positions. But fund managers warned Australian retail investors should tread carefully because share prices will inevitably come back down to earth. As much as anything its just important to realise this is unusual behaviour and unlikely to end well, said technology portfolio manager at Platinum Asset Management, Cameron Robertson. Boris Johnson has rejected a Labour demand to vaccinate all teachers and school staff during February half-term to allow classrooms to reopen. The demand came as Sir Keir Starmer went on the attack over the governments record on coronavirus in the House of Commons, calling for all 6.2m key workers to be moved up the priority list for vaccination. But the prime minister blasted the plan, warning that it risked delaying our route out of lockdown by diverting vaccines away from some of those most likely to need hospital treatment or die. At the first prime ministers questions since the UK passed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, the Labour leader demanded an explanation from Mr Johnson for why Britain has the worst fatality rate in Europe. He accused the prime minister of being slow into the first lockdown last March, slow getting protective equipment to the frontline, slow to protect our care homes, slow on testing and tracing, slow into the second lockdown in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown. As Mr Johnson confirmed that home secretary Priti Patel will later today announce mandatory quarantine in airport hotels for arrivals from high-risk countries only, Sir Keir repeated Labours demand for the rule to be applied to all those coming from overseas. And he called on Mr Johnson to speed the return of schools in England by making plans to vaccinate every teacher and school staff member during the week-long half-term holiday beginning on 15 February. But Mr Johnson said only that teachers would receive jabs if they fall into the nine priority groups identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which covers over-50s, health and care workers and those with underlying health conditions. In a later debate, the prime minister told MPs: "The JCVI list is designed by experts, by clinicians, to priorities those groups who are most likely to die or to suffer from coronavirus. By trying to change that and saying he wants now to bring in other groups - to be decided by politicians rather than the JCVI - he has to explain which vaccines he would take from which vulnerable groups. Responding to Sir Keirs demand for an explanation for the UKs death rate from Covid, the prime minister replied: When you have a new virus - and indeed when you have a new variant of that virus of the kind that we have in this country - when you have dilemmas as hard and as heavy as this government has had to face over the last year there are no easy answers. Boris Johnson refuses to say why he thinks UK has highest death toll in Europe Mr Johnson said that perpetual lockdown is no answer to the pandemic. And he said that he hopes to set out an exit plan from the pandemic within the next few weeks. The PM said that some 6.9m people had now received vaccinations and the government was on target to deliver first doses of vaccine to the 15m people in the most vulnerable groups by 15 February as planned. Labour said that all key workers in critical professions should be added to the next phase of the vaccination programme, covering people aged 50-70 and those with certain health conditions, which is due to get under way after the first for priority groups are completed in mid-February. Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said those to be offered early jabs should include police officers, teachers, fire fighters and transport workers. The NHS rightly deserve congratulations for their impressive and speedy roll out of vaccinations, said Mr Ashworth. But now we need to go further and faster. Not only will vaccination acceleration save lives, it will help us to carefully and responsibly reopen our economy and crucially ensure children are back in school as transmission reduces. Ministers must bring forward plans to vaccinate key workers as soon as possible. Police officers, teachers, fire fighters and transport workers are just some of the key workers who have kept society functioning through this pandemic and are more exposed to the virus. We cannot afford to slow our vaccination efforts now. The general secretary of teaching union NASUWT, Dr Patrick Roach, said: We want to see all teachers and education staff made a priority for vaccination. Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register Healthcare executives participating in this year's JP Morgan Healthcare Conference are making plans and investments for after COVID Combine consumer demand with regulatory support and expanding competitive pressures, and it becomes clear that providers who hope to compete in the post-COVID healthcare marketplace must be prepared to step up. - Kevin Fleming, CEO, Loyale Healthcare About one year ago, before the COVID-19 crisis became the most disruptive, transformative event in the history of modern healthcare, we published analysis titled J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2020 Innovation, Efficiency & the Consumer. In that analysis, we shared highlights of the years conference as documented by Dan Michelson, the CEO of Strata Decision Technology, for Beckers Hospital Review. We added a Loyale point of view to Mr. Michelsons perspectives, based on the experiences of the large healthcare system clients that have partnered with Loyale to improve their patients financial experiences. This years summary is titled The No. 1 lesson from the 2021 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference: Healthcare is too vital to fail. And, as you might expect, conference attendees - which include providers, payers, pharmaceutical companies, tech companies, medical device and supply companies, bankers, and venture capital and private equity firms all brought the lessons they have learned over the last 12-months to a changed vision for the future of healthcare in America. Noting that, There has never been a more important time to listen to the lessons from healthcare providers, Mr. Michelson distills the comments of executives from some of the most prestigious and most well-respected health systems in the world to list 10 Moves Healthcare Providers are Making to Stay Vital After-COVID. These moves are: 1.) Take Care of Your Team and Theyll Take Care of You; 2.) Focus on Health Equity, Not Just Healthcare Care; 3.) Take the Lead in Public Health the Message is the Medicine; 4.) Make the Home and Everywhere a Venue of Care; 5.) Bury Your Budget and Pivot to Planning; 6.) Get Your M&A Machine in Motion; 7.) Hey, You, Get into the Cloud; 8.) Make Price Transparency a Key Differentiator; 9.) Make Care More Affordable; and 10.) Scale = Survival. From our perspective three of the strategic imperatives outlined by healthcare executives fall directly in our area of expertise "Getting into the Cloud, Make Price Transparency a Key Differentiator, and Make Care More Affordable". Two others - "Take Care of Your Team, and Make the Home and Everywhere a Venue of Care" are indirectly affected by strategies to improve patients financial experiences across the healthcare enterprise. Getting into the Cloud In the broader context, Michelson notes the importance of being able to bring clinical, operational and financial data together to enable advanced analytics. Acknowledging that the focus over the last decade has been on the clinical, he goes on to point out that it is now shifting to 'digitizing operations' with a focus on finance and operations to automate, gather insight, manage and predict." Concluding that It is clear that the cloud has moved from a curiosity to a necessity for health systems, making this one of the biggest areas of investment for every health system over the next decade. But the advantages of cloud-based systems go beyond data analytics and AI applications. Loyale Healthcares suite of patient financial engagement solutions operates on a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. And, while our systems enable robust analytics and dashboards, they also aggregate and standardize data from multiple, disparate systems to power interactive management and patient portals and communications. These digital resources make it possible for health systems to deliver their employees, patients and prospective patients the kinds of seamless, intuitive experiences they have come to expect from a trusted provider in any industry. As nearly anyone who has accessed healthcare knows, financial information can be hard to find and even harder to understand. That may be why, according to one late 2019 survey, 76% of healthcare consumers considered their billing experience when selecting a provider. But tackling the complexities of a health systems financial systems is no easy task. It requires the ability to integrate data from multiple different Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and practice management systems, payment sources, providers and billers to present information in a clear, concise way that people can understand and use. One Loyale client, a health system in the eastern part of the country, was determined to provide its patients with a One-Bed, One-Bill experience. That meant that every patient would have access to a single, standard statement that consolidated all of their bills regardless of where in the system the care was delivered or who was doing the billing (the hospital, physician, therapist, etc.). The end result was a financial experience that provided patients with the information they needed to understand and act on their bills. Just as important, the platform continues to empower hospital staff with intelligent workflows and a provider portal with same-view patient support, giving employees the additional bandwidth they need for higher-value activities. Make Price Transparency a Key Differentiator We have published frequently on this topic, as recently as last summer in COVID-19 and the Growing Demand for Healthcare Transparency. In it, we noted that The coronavirus has not dampened the call for radically improved transparency. Consumers, regulators and the administration are all demanding more and better information about the cost and quality of care. The new price transparency rules from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2021 are only one small step in the right direction, as we pointed out in late 2019 in analysis titled Medicares Price Transparency Rules Alone Dont Deliver What Patients Need. A Patient-First Approach Does. Our position aligns with Mr. Michelsons observations that While many health systems are skeptical of the value of price transparency requirements, those that have a deep understanding of both their true cost of care and margins are using this as an opportunity to prove their value and accelerate their strategy to become consumer-centric. Pointing out that no business has ever been unsuccessful because they made their product easier to understand and access, price transparency is seen as a way for providers to build trust by being easy to do business with. Michelson acknowledges that this may be tough sledding for some as this isnt something health care providers are known for, but concludes by pointing out the competitive disadvantages of not getting it done. We believe thats especially true today, with new providers (Walmart, Walgreens, CVS) and new care delivery channels (Amazon) bringing their customer-first models to the primary care marketplace. Make Care More Affordable Here at Loyale, weve been beating this drum from the beginning, most recently in Healthcare Affordability is More than a Problem. Its a Crisis. Michelson considers this the biggest challenge for hospitals and health systems as they ultimately need to be on the right side of this issue or the trust that they have will disappear and they will remain very vulnerable to outside players. He goes on to state that The incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services has a strong belief regarding the accountability of health systems to be consumer centric. He goes on to say, The health systems that understand this are working to get ahead of this issue as it is likely one of their most significant threats (or opportunities) over the next decade. We know very well that patient-centered price transparency isnt easy, but we also know the rewards. The health systems we work with to enable robust price transparency use it to earn the confidence of patients and their physicians. More often than not, when a patient has access to what their procedure or treatment is likely to cost, and is presented with ways to make that expense a part of their household budget, there is a much higher probability that theyll get the care they need and, importantly, pay for it. For hospitals, health systems and other care providers, patients drive a large and growing percentage of provider top-line revenue. And patient choice is increasingly influencing payments from commercial and government payers. Combine consumer demand with regulatory support and expanding competitive pressures, and it becomes clear that providers who hope to compete in the post-COVID healthcare marketplace must be prepared to step up. Healthcares New Normal Michelson concludes his summary with some provider projections for a return to pre-COVID volumes and revenues. But he also shares a quote from Bert Zimmerli, CFO of Intermountain Healthcare, who said, Normal wasnt ever nearly good enough in healthcare. We applaud Mr. Zimmerlis commitment to using the lessons learned during the COVID crisis to accelerate healthcares transformation toward affordability and equity. Were privileged to be a part of that effort. Kevin Fleming is the CEO of Loyale Healthcare About Loyale Loyale Patient Financial Manager is a comprehensive patient financial engagement technology platform leveraging a suite of configurable solution components including predictive analytics, intelligent workflows, multiple patient financing vehicles, communications, payments, digital front doors and other key capabilities. Loyale Healthcare is committed to a mission of turning patient responsibility into lasting loyalty for its healthcare provider customers. Based in Lafayette, California, Loyale and its leadership team bring 27 years of expertise delivering leading financial engagement solutions for complex business environments. Loyale currently serves approximately 12,000 healthcare providers across 48 states. Loyale is proud to have an enterprise-level strategic partnership with Parallon which includes the deployment of Loyales industry leading technology at all HCA hospitals and Physician Groups. [January 27, 2021] TCSA's Solution Won Wide Recognition at Central Banking Data Management Webinar SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ -- Thousand Cities Strategic Algorithms Cloud Technology (TCSA), an international consultancy specialized in serving governments and central banks in the digitalization of national economic governance, participated as a key panelist in the global webinar on improving central bank data management hosted by Central Banking, the authoritative journal in the central banking world, on January 21st, 2021. Over 100 financial experts and high-ranking central bank officials attended the webinar and raised constructive questions to the panelists. Together with experts from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Canada, TCSA shared unique insights on data management and unveiled an innovative solution the National Data Brain, which won recognition not only from central bankers but aso their financial counterparts. During the webinar, Mr. Howard Chang, the VP of Global Affairs at TCSA, investigated the problems standing in the way of international economic development, including the diminishing efficacy of monetary policies worldwide as well as the lack of hard value anchor in among major currencies. Especially since the profound aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis and the current Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Howard Chang indicated that central banks ought to step up and play an essential role in the new era of data-driven policymaking. According to Mr. Chang, the National Data Brain organizes data into a standardized package, which helps synchronize, aggregate and process massive amounts of data nationwide. Furthermore, the National Data Brain is built upon the existing central bank systems, enabling the real-time collection of the most ubiquitous source of information - monetary transaction data. Mr. Per Nymand Anderson from ECB and experts from other financial authorities spoke highly of the concepts behind TCSA's National Data Brain, especially regarding national-scale data collection and standardization, as well as the importance of data integration in dealing with existing data silos. Various central bank representatives attending the webinar also raised diverse questions towards TCSA's solution, asked for detailed information, and proposed their intention for further discussion and collaboration after the meeting. As the leading information source of the banking industry, Central Banking has a great reputation among global central banks and financial institutions in delivering real-time information and in-depth analysis in the domain. Publication and commentaries on its website are an invaluable resource for references for central banks and monetary authorities.About TCSA: https://tcsa.cloud/ View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tcsas-solution-won-wide-recognition-at-central-banking-data-management-webinar-301216186.html SOURCE TCSA [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Flash Participants to an online international forum starting Tuesday urged China and the United States to seek common ground to push their relations back on track and make joint contribution to resolving major global challenges. The two countries should jointly build relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability, said Zeng Peiyan, chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), when addressing the three-day forum on China-U.S. relations. The event was co-organized by the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) and the CCIEE. Different social systems of the two countries do not necessarily lead to confrontation, and coexistence and mutual progress are absolutely possible, Zeng said, stressing that China is a participant and contributor of the current international order, bringing opportunities, rather than threats, to the world. Zeng called on the United States to meet China halfway, avoid confrontation, and achieve mutual benefits. China and the United States should restart dialogues, reshape economic and trade ties, improve mutual trust and expand cooperation, Zeng said. Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the CUSEF, said the two countries, despite disputes in trade and economic policies, had managed to expand cooperation in multiple areas, including tackling global financial crises. China and the United States should open a new chapter, refocus on cooperation and jointly meet challenges, Tung said. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam lamented the so-called sanctions imposed by the United States on Hong Kong and expressed the hope that the new U.S. administration will view the national security law in Hong Kong in a fair manner. Nearly 1,300 U.S. companies are operating in Hong Kong and 85,000 U.S. citizens are living in Hong Kong, Lam said, adding that Hong Kong hopes to play a constructive role in leveraging its unique advantages under "one country, two systems" and continue to serve as a commercial bridge connecting the two major economies. Other forum participants said in the post-pandemic era, China and the United States should promote dialogue and communication as well as strengthen cooperation on global issues, which will not only benefit the two countries but also have a positive and far-reaching impact on global development. Jean Chretien, former prime minister of Canada, said China-U.S. relations play a key role in helping the world rise above the shadows of the pandemic. Yasuo Fukuda, former prime minister of Japan, said that the resolution of many global issues, including climate change, requires joint efforts of the two countries. Carlos Gutierrez, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, said the two economies rely much on each other and can not "decouple," calling on the two sides to avoid a "cold war" in technology and not to politicize business issues. Klondike gold discovery commemorated in 5-9s pure gold and Ukrainian art of Pysanka shines on an egg-shaped coin OTTAWA, ON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Canadian Mint has launched two new gold coins that mark important chapters in Canadian history and shine a bright light on homegrown innovation. The newest addition to the Mint's long line of 1 oz., 99.999% pure gold bullion coins inaugurates a new series dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the famous Klondike gold rush, while the latest Ukrainian Easter egg-inspired collector coin features a meticulously engraved design celebrating the eternal renewal of the spring season. The 2021 $200 1 oz. 99.999% Pure Gold Coin - Klondike Gold Rush: Panning for Gold In August 1896, Keish (Skookum Jim Mason), his nephew Kaa Goox (Dawson Charlie), Shaaw Tlaa (Kate Carmack), and her husband, George Carmack, discovered gold nuggets in Rabbit (Bonanza) Creek, in Canada'sYukon Territory. This amazing find sparked a three-year stampede of prospectors seeking riches in the far northern wilderness. The mining boom it produced put Canada on the map as a leading gold producer and spurred Yukon's entry into Confederation. It even accelerated the creation of the Royal Canadian Mint's Ottawa facility and its world-class gold refinery. The gold rush also had devastating consequences on the local environment and for the communities of original Indigenous inhabitants of the Klondike region. They were displaced and their traditional way of life undermined - a legacy Canada is still grappling with today. The reverse of this coin features the artwork of accomplished coin designer Steve Hepburn. His illustration of a miner's hands holding a gold pan is one of the most enduring symbols of the Gold Rush. The gravel inside the pan and the water shimmering within it as the material is rinsed to reveal precious gold flecks are engraved in exquisite details. Water pouring out of the pan over the coin's security mark also brings the scene to life. The coin bears the signature radial lines of all Mint bullion coins, as well as a micro-engraved maple leaf mark showing the number 21 to correspond to its year of issue. It is presented in credit card-style packaging that includes a certificate of purity signed by the Mint's Chief Assayer. The 2021 $250 Pure Gold Pysanka Coin There are more than three million Canadians of Ukrainian heritage and the time-honoured folk tradition of pysanka, derived from the verb pysaty (to write), still flourishes in Western Canada, and part of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. It is a spring time ritual where eggs are decorated with intricate designs and patterns using a written-wax batik method. While there are thousands of possible motifs, designs frequently feature geometric and plant themes. This egg-shaped coin, crafted from nearly two troy ounces of 99.99% pure gold, features a pysanka design by Canadian artist Dave Melnychuk. The central motif of a rooster is a well-known symbol of fertility and reawakening. Its tail feathers are adorned with beautiful sunflowers and each flower has eight petals, a number that is symbolic of eternity and equilibrium. The rooster is surrounded by an Eternal Band ("bezkonechnyk"), with radiating sunbursts that represent good fortune and growth. Each element of this intricate pysanka is engraved in minute detail. The obverse of the coin features the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by Susanna Blunt. Images of these new coins are available here. About the Royal Canadian Mint The Royal Canadian Mint is the Crown corporation responsible for the minting and distribution of Canada's circulation coins and provides fully-integrated precious metals services. The Mint is one of the largest and most versatile mints in the world, offering a wide range of specialized, high quality coinage products and related services on an international scale. For more information on the Mint, its products and services, visit www.mint.ca. Follow the Mint on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1428078/Royal_Canadian_Mint_Canada_s_History_and_Diverse_Culture_Capture.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1428080/Royal_Canadian_Mint_Canada_s_History_and_Diverse_Culture_Capture.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1428121/Royal_Canadian_Mint_Canada_s_History_and_Diverse_Culture_Capture.jpg Sinovac Biotech vaccines, one of 11 Chinese companies approved to carry out clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, are displayed at a press conference in Beijing, China, on Sept. 24, 2020. (WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images) Doctors and Residents in Beijing Reject Chinese-made COVID-19 Vaccines The Chinese regime has been implementing mass vaccination since the start of this year and has mandated millions to be injected with homegrown COVID-19 vaccines. Beijings municipal government is pushing for the second round of inoculations. However, some doctors and residents told The Epoch Times that they dont trust the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines as they question the governments fervent promotion of these products. The efficacy and safety of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines have been questioned, due to the governments lack of transparency in providing the necessary clinical datas. CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by Beijing-based drugmaker Sinovac Biotech, has been tested by the Brazilian Butantan Institute and found that its effective rate is only 50.4 percent, far lower than the 78 percent effective rate claimed by the Chinese manufacturer. A nurse shows a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech at the Sao Lucas Hospital in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on Aug. 8, 2020. (Silvio Avila/AFP via Getty Images) In recent years, a series of vaccine scandals in China have been widely reported by the media worldwide. According to state-run media Xinhua, the first dose of Chinese vaccines were administered to more than 1.9 million residents in Beijing earlier this month; and the second round of vaccinations began on Jan. 22, and is scheduled to be completed before Feb. 8. Dr. Wang, a resident of Beijing, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 25 that Chinese-made vaccines are dangerous and he and his family will definitely not get inoculated with it. He noticed that in other countries, elderly people who are high-risk are given priority to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; while in mainland China, young people get vaccinated first. Dr. Wang pointed out that Chinese authorities had changed the COVID-19 vaccine restrictions. In the early days, children at several kindergartens received vaccination. And later it was announced that people under 18 and over 59, and people who have other diseases should not be vaccinated for the time being. Why did the authorities make such changes? He believes that authorities are just trying to get more people vaccinated by targeting certain age groups. Maybe because they are afraid that if the elderly people have adverse reactions after the vaccination, then people around them will be reluctant to get vaccinated. So, they first administer the vaccines to the age groups that are less likely to have bad reactions. This shows that the safety of the Chinese vaccines is problematic. The authorities themselves do not have confidence in the vaccines. Dr. Wang added, [The Chinese regime] does not disclose trial data and covers up everything. This government is the kind that has done too many bad things. It must be well prepared [to cover things up]. In other countries if there are problems with vaccines, the media will report and third-party agencies will investigate. The problems occurring in mainland China will not be reported. As soon as you post it online, it [the government] will delete it, and the control of speech has become stricter. A retired doctor surnamed Xia from Chaoyang district of Beijing told The Epoch Times that none of the doctors she knew would get vaccinated with homegrown vaccines. I definitely will not be injected with these vaccines, she stressed. Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine by Sinovac has already been in use. It has not been approved. The approval code on its package shows TBA. December 2020. (The Epoch Times) A resident surnamed Zhao of Shijingshan district of Beijing, told the publication that he learned from an insider within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s system that the regime requires 90 percent of people to be vaccinated. He expressed his distrust towards the mass vaccination and the Chinese regime. Whats behind the vaccination is questionable. I think it is very, very scary and unpredictable. It is scary whether the [Chinese] vaccine is real or fake. [If it is a real vaccine] they [the CCP] pushed it out very quickly. It means that it was researched and developed before the epidemic broke out, and it is an action pre-arranged systematically. If the vaccines are fake, its also terrifying, how many people will be harmed [by it]? Anyway, our society is a terrifying one. Zhao heard that some people have refused to be vaccinated. His advice for everyone in the mainland is to avoid being vaccinated as much as possible. Zhao also mentioned that there have been many incidents of faulty Chinese vaccines involving children in mainland China. He has been in contact with some of the victims parents who have been petitioning to get justice for their children. However, he believes that the Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines are likely to have defects, and they are much more dangerous [than the faulty vaccines injected into those children]. Hong Ning and Zhang Yujie contributed to this report. The Joint Forces have returned fire. The Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces has reported one wounded in action (WIA) amid five violations of the latest ceasefire agreement committed by Russia-controlled armed groups in the Donbas warzone on Tuesday, January 26. "In the past day, January 26, five ceasefire violations were recorded in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) zone," the press center of the Ukrainian JFO Command said on Facebook in an update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on January 27, 2021. In particular, the Russian Federation's armed formations fired automatic grenade launchers, a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, a heavy machine gun, automatic and sniper rifles near the village of Novo-Oleksandrivka. Read alsoEast Human Rights Group says 164,340 Ukrainians in Donbas have Russian passports"A serviceman with the Joint Forces was wounded as a result of the shelling. He was rushed to the hospital where he received medical assistance," the report says. Also, the enemy fired an automatic grenade launcher near the village of Novozvanivka. The Russian occupation troops fired an anti-tank grenade launcher and a heavy machine gun near the town of Avdiyivka, as well as sniper rifles near the town of Maryinka. The Joint Forces have returned fire. The violations were reported to OSCE representatives through the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in Donbas. Since midnight, enemy forces have not attacked Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian Army Command says the situation remains fully controlled. Donbas ceasefire: Background Participants in the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine, Russia, and the OSCE) on the peace settlement in Donbas on July 22 agreed on a full and comprehensive ceasefire along the contact line from 00:01 on Monday, July 27. On the very first day of the newly-agreed truce, Russia's hybrid military forces mounted three attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. Reporting by UNIAN Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to spend a significant portion of her State of the State address Wednesday night speaking about her plans to help Michigans economic recovery, but she cant do that without also addressing the states efforts to contain COVID-19. I mean, they are completely intertwined, Whitmer said in a Tuesday interview with MLive. ... You cant fix the economic crisis without fixing the health crisis and so the plan to recover has got to have strategy on both fronts. And I think thats why this moment and this recovery plan is so important, and its also why Im hopeful that we can find common ground, and that this will transcend the usual partisan arguments, Whitmer said. Last week, Whitmer unveiled a plan that would send $5.6 billion in mostly federal money to COVID-19 and economic recovery efforts in Michigan. Those are things shell bring up again in her speech. Related: Whitmer unveils $5.6B plan to fund coronavirus response, economic recovery Shell add to that a Michigan Back to Work program, which will include initiatives to protect and grow jobs in areas like technology, mobility, manufacturing, clean energy and road construction. Whitmer expects to announce the initiative over the next year. So we are, I think, going to have a high, sharp focus on ensuring that were working across state government to retain, to grow, to bring jobs into Michigan. This is going to be an all hands on deck effort, Whitmer said. The state government will work with the private sector and local governments on the economic development initiatives, something Whitmer hopes leads to different types of investments in Michigan. Whitmer said her team did a lot of incredible things in her first year in office, 2019, and 2020 was consumed by COVID. In 2021, We want to get back in the business of really pushing forward in our economy and growing good-paying jobs here in Michigan, she said. Economists interviewed by MLive last week said the vaccine was a key part of the states economic recovery. As Mitch Bean of Great Lakes Economic Consulting put it, What it takes to get this economy going, primarily, is to get shots in arms. Related: One thing Whitmer has to address in Wednesdays State of the State? The state of Michigans economy. Whitmers COVID-19 recovery plan includes directing $90 million in federal spending toward vaccine distribution. The money she has proposed -- which the legislature would need to sign off on -- would help local health departments procure additional staff, equipment and supplies. Aside from the money, though, Whitmer has steadfastly called for more doses of the lifesaving vaccine from the federal government. She was scheduled for a call on Tuesday afternoon with the National Governors Association and the White House, and was hopeful to get good news; The Washington Post reported a White House official was poised to announce a 16% increase in vaccine doses flowing to states. Theres no question in my mind that we could do 50,000 shots a day, if we got the vaccines. So, a 16% increase -- and that will increase and that will increase -- really can make a big difference, Whitmer said. Here are the some other areas Whitmer is proposing spending on as part of her COVID-19 recovery plan: - $225 million to small businesses for three new Michigan Economic Development Corporation programs - $574.8 million for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing - $660.9 million for emergency rental assistance - $2 billion for additional food assistance - $1.66 billion for schools from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund From the federal money that is already available Whitmer is proposing to spend, to the federal government increasing vaccine distribution to states to future aid packages to any future aid, Whitmer is looking forward to a good working relationship with the White House. I think one of the real opportunities for us in this year is a great relationship with the Biden White House, and across federal government, Whitmer said. Whitmer has been tapped to help Biden in various capacities, including as a national campaign co-chair and as a member of the inauguration committee. Her speech will stream live here at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27. It takes place virtually, this year, and Republican legislative leaders are expected to deliver a response the next day. More on MLive: One thing Whitmer has to address in Wednesdays State of the State? The state of Michigans economy. Whitmer unveils $5.6B plan to fund coronavirus response, economic recovery Read Whitmers $5.6B plan to fund coronavirus recovery for Michigan schools, economy For hair-tearing, home-schooling parents, it wasnt quite a champagne moment, but it was at least cause to uncork a half-decent bottle of reserva. Boris Johnson had just announced plans, barring any snags, to reopen schools in March. On top of that, he was putting aside a 300 million kitty to fund summer schools. A whole summer without the kids! On second thoughts, perhaps it was an evening for a chilled glass of blanc de blancs. Boris Johnson, pictured, had to face Sir Keir Starmer twice yesterday before fronting the Downing Street press conference Sir Keir Starmer, pictured, is self-isolating at home for the third time in four months after being pinged by the NHS Test and Trace App For the second day running, the Prime Minister was hosting the Downing Street press conference, cutting a perkier prospect than the sackcloth-and-ashes figure we saw the previous night. He looked peppier, less shell-shocked. The pinkness had returned to his gills. His only flash of irritation came when a reporter mentioned the dreaded Dominic Cummings, at which Boriss eyeballs did a theatrical 360 degrees. Like Banquo murdered by his former friend Macbeth I fear the Cummings spectre looks likely to haunt Downing Street corridors for a while yet. Joining Boris was Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Jonathan Van Tam, the one who looks as cuddly as a cactus but is actually rather a sweetie. JVT was sporting a neatly shaved scalp and thankfully had given the extended metaphors the night off. Boris at one point called him James. Oh well. Its been a long week. Earlier the PM endured a double dose of Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons, first at PMQs, then during a ministerial statement. Labours Sir Keir is self-isolating for the third time in four months in an Ikea showroom, apparently after being pinged by the Governments Test and Trace gadget. I trust Matt Hancocks not doing it on purpose. The ex-prosecutor repeatedly asked why our death toll was the highest in Europe. Boris said there would be plenty of time for all that but now really wasnt the moment. No, insisted Sir Keir. The question would be answered NOW. Here was Starmer at his most unctuously opportunistic. A Bryclreemed finger-pointer, wreathed in lawyerly righteousness. At one point he attacked the Government for ignoring scientific advice. Moments later, he was ordering Boris to ignore those same scientists and promote teachers up the vaccine batting order. Boris Johnson, pictured, also fronted last night's press conference at Number 10 where he announced schools might reopen on March 8, 2021 Boris accused Sir Keir of trying to score political points. Sir Keirs face almost popped out of the screen. Me? Never! An hour later, the pair were back at it when Boris returned to announce plans to protect the UK from these nasty new foreign strains of the virus. We learned that those flying in from Covid hot zones would be frog-marched off to hotels to quarantine for ten days. Which hostelries wasnt disclosed, but I suspect our guests wont be sipping dry martinis in the Ritz. Most likely theyll be holed up somewhere boasting tea-making facilities and singing the virtues of the Corby trouser press available in the vestibule. Up flashed Sir Keirs face on the TVs. Reminded me of one of those bossy flight-safety instruction videos you get before take-off. He was still intent on raking over the coals of the past 12 months. For what seemed an age, he railed at the Government for failing to learn from its mistakes. On and on he droned. A dinner party bore whod stayed well beyond their welcome. Sir Lindsay Hoyle eventually hopped up to let Sir Keir know hed delighted us enough. Nor did we hear little by way of constructiveness from Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey. He was cross Boris still hadnt committed to a date for an inquiry into the pandemic. Davey proudly keeps boasting hes been promised one. Will he at least tell the country that he will launch this inquiry, he asked, voice slow and patronising as a Jackanory presenter. Oh, for heavens sake. In 12 months, more than 100,000 have perished and the economy has been decimated while the public has faced the greatest impingement on its civil liberties since Oliver Cromwell. Of course theres going to be a ruddy enquiry, Sir Edward. Were not China. Please, lets just get on with defeating the virus. Residents in The Woodlands will be treated to some flower graffiti this week after a local floral design team planted three temporary flower art installations across the township. Taylor Handfelt, owner of Piney Rose Flowers & Decor in The Woodlands, said the art exhibits in the Village of Panther Creek, Hughes Landing and Town Green Park are part of the Feb. 10 return of Artfeel, an artistic night of whimsy hosted by The Woodlands Arts Council at Market Street. The Artfeel events have been on hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. On HoustonChronicle.com: Woodlands group shifts to a virtual tour of public artwork It is a fun opportunity to spread joy and positivity. It is almost like graffiti, but with flowers, Handfelt said of the displays. It is only up for a very short amount of time because flowers die fast. Handfelt said the art form is based off the pioneering work of New York City artist Lewis Miller, who in 2016 began the trend of pop-up flower art often referred to as flower flash. On his website, Miller explains the basis behind the project, saying, Our goal is to create a positive, emotional response through flowers. Seeing peoples reactions to our Flower Flashes emphasizes the basic goodness in all people and prioritizes compassion. Handfelt led three teams of flower artists in installing the three separate exhibits Tuesday morning. The flowers are located near the Dreamer statue located in the median on The Woodlands Parkway at the traffic signal at West Panther Creek Drive; at The Woodlands Wind-O art bench in Hughes Landing; and the You are Loved art bench, at the lower end of Town Green Park near the turning basin on The Woodlands Waterway. On HoustonChronicle.com: Woodlands Arts Council announces 4 new art benches The three installations set up on Tuesday are only the beginning, Handfelt noted, saying plans are ni the works for something much bigger in the future. Other flower art may be placed at various art benches around the township which are installed by The Woodlands Arts Council. There will also be flower art installed within the boundaries of Market Street The Woodlands, the massive outdoor shopping venue where Artfeel is hosted, Handfelt added. We really care a lot about our community, and we are always thinking of ways we can give back. With these installations, we hope we can bring positivity and show our community that we love them and are grateful for their support of Piney Rose, Handfelt said in a press release about the event. Art efforts aim to unite The surge in public art projects is part of a wider effort from artists in The Woodlands to unite the community and lift spirits amid the uncertain times, said Jenny Carattini-Wright, executive director of The Woodlands Arts Council in a December interview. Carattini-Wright also said officials are already planning for the 2021 The Waterway Arts Festival and they want the public to attend the first in-person Artfeel slated for Feb. 10. We are scheduled to host our next live show at 7 p.m. Feb. 10, back on the outdoor Market Street stage with social distancing in place. In the spotlight will be one of The Woodlands Art Councils new art benches, You Are Loved, Carattini-Wright explained in December. Nickole Kerner Bobley, a local arts guru who helps coordinate community efforts and used to write an Artfeel column said the Feb. 10 Artfeel live show is in the planning stages with an exciting line-up of contributors. The premise of Artfeel events is to allow the public to express how they feel about works of art via dancing, spoken word or other methods of communication. We have a fun line-up of performers and well do our best to try this masked, socially distanced love fest if the virus numbers and weather behave, Kerner Bobley said. The Feb. 10 Artfeel is set for 7 p.m. in the Central Park outdoor event space in Market Street. The shopping venue and Artfeel organizers are asking attendees to follow CDC safety protocols, wearing faces masks or coverings, social distancing, washing hands as needed and also to limit interactions with people not living in a persons immediate household. jeff.forward@chron.com Venezuela said Monday that two Guyanese fishing vessels captured by its navy last week were caught "red handed" fishing illegally in Venezuelan waters, a claim rejected by its smaller neighbor. The standoff is the latest episode in a century-old territorial dispute between the two South American countries, which has heated up since US oil giant ExxonMobile discovered crude oil in the region in 2015. Guyana said the two boats were unlawfully seized in its own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) last Thursday. It claimed in a statement over the weekend that the vessels were intercepted by the Comandante Hugo Chavez, a naval vessel named after the late Venezuelan president. "The Venezuelan vessel was illegally maneuvering within Guyana's EEZ and Contiguous Zone when it intercepted, boarded and commandeered the Guyanese fishing vessels. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently seeking to ascertain the status and welfare of the crew members," Georgetown said. Guyana condemned what it termed a "wanton act of aggression by the Venezuelan armed forces." But Caracas on Monday dismissed Guyana's "defamation." In a statement, the foreign ministry said the vessels were carrying out "illegal fishing in waters under the full sovereignty and jurisdiction of Venezuela, and without any legal documentation." In December, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, decreed "a new marine territory" that, according to Guyana, extends into its marine and land territory west of the Essequibo River. Guyana condemned the decree as a violation of its sovereignty, and of the fundamental rules of international law. Caracas has been pressing a historic claim to Guyana's Essequibo region -- almost two-thirds of the former British colony in total -- after the recent discovery of oil. Guyana maintains valid land borders were set in 1899 by an arbitration court decision in Paris, a decision Venezuela does not recognize. Caracas, for its part, says a 1966 treaty with Britain ahead of Guyanese independence annulled the earlier agreement. Last month, the UN's top court ruled it had jurisdiction in a case brought by Guyana, asking it to confirm the validity of the 1899 border. The court has yet to set a date for public hearings in the case, a process that could take years. According to a court document, Venezuela contests the ICJ's jurisdiction and has said it would not participate in proceedings. In recent years, the Venezuelan Navy has intercepted seismic research vessels collecting data for ExxonMobil and another American oil company, Anadarko Petroleum. Caracas has condemned Guyanese oil exploration in the contested waters, as well as recent joint US-Guyana military exercises in the area. The global automotive industry took a significant hit last year on the back of a Covid-19-related slump in activity. However, a more positive global outlook is set to boost demand, boding well for automotive manufacturers in emerging markets. The automotive industry was one of the manufacturing segments most affected by the pandemic: coronavirus-related disruptions to trade and travel, along with the associated economic fallout, badly affected vehicle demand around the world. According to analysis from Moodys, global light vehicle sales fell by 16% in 2020, with the total number of units sold dropping from 90.3m to 75.8m. The figures differ considerably from region to region, however. Total sales were estimated to have fallen by 25.2% in Western Europe and 15.2% in North America, but by just 1.9% in China. While not as severe as the 27% reduction in sales seen in the first half of the year, the year-end result was still significantly worse than the 9% drop resulting from the global financial crisis of 2008. However, amid an improving economic outlook with the IMF forecasting global growth of 5.2% this year most analysts have predicted a significant rebound in sales. Related: Why Gazprom Cut Gas Supply To Europe Amid Rising Prices For example, Moodys expects global light vehicle demand to increase by 7.7% and IHS Markit has forecast a 9% gain, while Standard & Poors anticipates vehicle sales will rebound by 7-9%. Recovery to support EMs The forecast is welcome news for emerging markets such as Mexico, Thailand, and Morocco, all of which have significant automotive industries. Mexico, the worlds sixth-largest vehicle producer before the pandemic, suffered a 21% fall in output last year, with the number of units manufactured dropping from 3.8m to 3m. This included a dramatic year-on-year contraction of 98.8% in April, during the early stages of the outbreak, when production fell from 300,100 to just 3700 vehicles. Similarly, in Thailand the worlds 11th-largest carmaker automotive production fell by 30%, from 2m to 1.4m. Given that vehicles are Mexicos largest industrial export product, and that auto manufacturing makes up 10% of Thailands GDP, a rebound in production would provide a substantial fillip to both economies. The increase in demand is expected to be particularly pronounced in Western Europe and North America, with Moodys predicting spikes of 12.2% and 5.8%, respectively, in these regions. This should help stimulate activity in Morocco, where around 90% of the vehicles produced are for export, and Mexico, which benefits from its position as a signatory of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. On top of the anticipated increase in global vehicle demand, these countries may also benefit from additional investments from multinational carmakers. In a process known as nearshoring, multinational companies are increasingly looking to bolster industrial capacity in countries close to their home or target markets. This strategy is in part a reaction to the widespread disruptions to supply chains that accompanied the initial outbreak of Covid-19 in China where a significant portion of global production is based. Despite the projected improvement, the global automotive industry is expected to feel the lingering effects of the pandemic for some time to come. For example, Moodys does not expect global vehicle sales to reach pre-coronavirus levels until at least 2023, while some have warned that a delay in the rollout of vaccines or a fresh outbreak could negatively affect the industrys outlook. EVs to shape future market Another significant factor that will shape the sector is the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). With many countries or blocs the EU foremost among them implementing more stringent emissions standards, the demand for EVs is expected to surge in the coming years. This trend was demonstrated by the success of US electric car giant Tesla, which registered a 38.7% increase in vehicle production last year, despite the fall in global automotive activity. Related: Oil Majors Poised To Make Biggest Geothermal Investments In 30 Years There is a concern that carmakers operating in emerging markets could fall behind market leaders if they do not adapt to growing EV demand and update their industrial infrastructure. To this end, in November Thailands government announced a series of incentives designed to stimulate EV investment in the country and position it as a center for battery-powered vehicles in the region. The measures include a three-year tax holiday for plug-in hybrid vehicle manufacturers and an eight-year tax waiver for those producing battery-powered EVs. Elsewhere in South-east Asia, Indonesia is aiming to become a central part of the global EV supply chain, supported by its plentiful supplies of nickel, which is widely used in EV batteries. In late 2020 Indonesia's government announced plans to create a state-owned battery holding company, which is expected to develop an end-to-end domestic supply chain for EV batteries, To support the growth of this nascent ecosystem, Indonesian policymakers are also seeking to entice more multinational vehicle manufacturers to enter the market a goal supported by the 2020 passage of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, which cuts red tape and improves the ease of doing business. By establishing themselves as a key component of this global sunrise industry, emerging markets should reap the benefits of long-term, sustainable growth in a sector that promises environmental as well as economic benefits. By Oxford Business Group More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Removing a vestibular schwannoma -; a slow-growing, benign tumor that develops in the nerves connecting the inner ear to the brain -; is a delicate procedure. Surgeons must differentiate the tumor from nearby nerves, arteries, and other intracranial structures. Research by scientists at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine has shown that sodium fluorescein, a sodium salt and organic fluorescent dye that makes vestibular schwannoma tumors glow neon green, may help surgeons achieve that differentiation. Their findings, which demonstrate that sodium fluorescein may thus improve the safety and outcomes of an otherwise complicated brain surgery, were recently published in the journal Otology & Neurotology. Vestibular schwannomas originate from the cochleovestibular nerves, which can affect hearing and balance. These skull base tumors occur in the general population but are particularly devastating when they occur in people with a genetic syndrome called Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). In NF2 patients, vestibular schwannomas can cause deafness in both ears. Doctors may monitor vestibular schwannomas that are small and asymptomatic. These tumors can also be treated with radiation, depending on their size. In special circumstances, NF2 patients are treated with off-label chemotherapy with the hope of preventing further tumor growth. Surgeons may also remove vestibular schwannomas, especially if they are large, symptomatic, and putting pressure on the brainstem, according to Fred F. Telischi, M.E.E., M.D., the James R. Chandler Chair in Otolaryngology, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology, and professor of neurological surgery and biomedical engineering. A surgical challenge "In some cases, it can be difficult to remove all the tumor without causing a neurological deficit like facial paralysis or hearing loss because the tumors can distort the normal anatomy," said Michael Ivan, M.D., assistant professor of neurological surgery. "The surgery is a delicate operation especially when patients have large tumors, have failed radiation, or have NF2 because these tumors can adhere to the brainstem and surrounding vessels and nerves." Miller School researchers are taking the tumors they remove in the operating room and studying them in the laboratory. We want to understand what makes vestibular schwannomas grow and resist treatments. We are investigating many aspects of vestibular schwannoma, particularly ways to improve surgery in challenging cases." Christine Dinh, M.D., Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Director, Schwannoma Laboratory, Miller School Sodium fluorescein is also used in ophthalmology to look at blood flow to the retina and in neurosurgery to detect glioblastoma, a brain cancer. Miller School researchers wanted to test whether sodium fluorescein could help surgeons visualize vestibular schwannomas and help them distinguish tumor from normal structures nearby. In an in vitro study, sodium fluorescein accumulated preferentially in vestibular schwannoma cells, causing them to glow neon green when stimulated with blue light. Miller School researchers collaborated with University of Central Florida researcher Cristina Fernandez-Valle, Ph.D., a professor of neuroscience. Clinical trials begin soon In the recently published paper, Dr. Dinh, its senior author, and colleagues described how they administered sodium fluorescein intravenously, causing vestibular schwannomas to become fluorescent green when blue light was directed toward the tumor. The researchers are ready to take the next step and will soon begin clinical trials with sodium fluorescein in patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma surgery, according to Dr. Dinh. "We were amazed at the initial results and will be starting a clinical trial to help us determine the best dosage, timing, and fluorescent filters to better visualize the tumors, protect neurovascular structures, and improve patient surgical outcomes," Dr. Ivan said. Thirty years from now, what will historians consider the most consequential event of January 2021 the storming of the U.S. Capitol by an insurrectionist mob, or Alexei Navalnys heroic return to Moscow, followed by his immediate arrest? In a broad sense, the two events are about the same thing: the future of freedom. In one version of the future, the assault on the Capitol marks the point at which the forces of illiberalism, mob violence and disinformation, much of it stoked and financed by the Russian government, reached critical mass in the West. In another version, the assault will be remembered as a historical anomaly when compared with the recovery of freedom in places where it once seemed lost not just Russia but also China, Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. How can President Joe Biden move history toward the second version? By pursuing a foreign policy that puts dissidents first. A common view of dissidents is that they are a humanitarian problem, but one that gets in the way of more important issues. Hillary Clinton gave voice to this view when, on her way to Beijing as secretary of state in 2009, she insisted that human rights questions cant interfere with the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis. This isnt cynicism, but rather a version of the utilitarian idea that doing the greatest good for the greatest number always takes precedence over the immediate interests of a handful of people. But thats wrong, and not just philosophically. Dissidents matter to the U.S. strategically. The dictatorships that most threaten the free world are too powerful to be brought down militarily. Nor are they likely to moderate their behavior thanks to economic prosperity or reformers working within the system. Anyone in doubt on this score need only look at Chinas recent trajectory as an ever richer and ever more repressive regime. What can bring dictatorships down is a credible domestic opposition that galvanizes public indignation through acts of exposure, mockery and heroic defiance. That defiance highlights the hypocrisies of the regime while demonstrating the possibilities of challenging it. International pressure alone was not sufficient to bring down the apartheid government in South Africa. It took Nelson Mandela. Economic decay alone was not sufficient to bring down the communist regimes in Poland and Czechoslovakia. It took Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel. The Soviet Union might be standing today had it not been for Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov and Natan Sharansky. What is happening to Navalny is of a piece with that history. After barely surviving a brazen assassination attempt in August, Navalny duped one of his alleged would-be killers and extracted an unwitting confession. He followed up with an investigative video on the lavish lifestyle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, complete with a billion-dollar palace on the Black Sea, thats been viewed north of 70 million times. That Putin felt compelled to publicly deny owning the palace while facing nationwide protests over Navalnys arrest is a reminder of how much more he has to fear from one man with courage than from any other form of pressure. A dissident is to a dictatorship what a bald fact is to an edifice of lies, the revelation of which causes the whole thing to crumble. Whats true of Navalny in Russia is true of Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong in Hong Kong. Its true of Ilham Tohti and Xu Zhiyong in mainland China. Its true of Nasrin Sotoudeh and Alireza Alinejad in Iran. Its true of Jose Daniel Ferrer in Cuba and Leopoldo Lopez of Venezuela. Those, among many others, are names that should mean something to any reader of The Times who cares about the recovery of freedom in the world. These should also be names that Biden, his secretary of state nominee, Antony Blinken; and his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, should make inextricable parts of American statecraft. Should China want U.S. tariffs eased? Negotiable but not while Lai faces trial and Tohti is in prison. Would Russia like to see U.S. sanctions eased on Kremlin-favored oligarchs like Oleg Deripaska? Conceivable but not while Navalny is under arrest and has to fear for his life. Would Iran like to resume nuclear negotiations? Then let Sotoudeh, Alinejad and every other political case in Evin Prison go. In that connection, it beggars belief that the White House is reportedly considering former diplomat Robert Malley as a special envoy for Iran. Malley is widely seen as one of Tehrans premier apologists in Washington; in November 2019 he went so far as to suggest that massive public protests in Iran justified Tehrans paranoia about an Israeli-Saudi-U.S. plot. A Malley appointment would signal that, on the things that matter most, Bidens foreign policy will be coldly transactional. It neednt be that way. A dissidents-first foreign policy would immediately revive Americas moral leadership after its squandering under Donald Trump. It would force our adversaries to choose between their material interests and their habits of repression. And it would provide a margin of safety and maneuver for the dissidents wed one day like to see in power. As foreign policy doctrines go, its more than decent. Its smart. Stephens is a columnist for the New York Times. Bharat Biotech to produce antigen for worlds first vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria GSK, PATH, and Bharat Biotech (BBIL) have announced the signing of a product transfer agreement for the malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01E 1. The agreement includes the transfer of manufacturing of the RTS,S antigen part of the vaccine and the grant of a license on all rights pertaining to the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine to BBIL. GSK will retain the production of the adjuvant of the vaccine (AS01E) and will supply it to BBIL. The RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine, developed by GSK for more than 30 years, and in partnership with PATH since 2001, is currently being piloted in regions of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi under the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP). Ministries of health are leading the implementation of the vaccine, which is being given to young children through the three countries routine immunisation programmes, with WHO providing technical and scientific leadership, playing a coordinating role, and working in collaboration with GSK, PATH, and a range of other partners. RTS,S/AS01E is the first, and to date, the only malaria vaccine to have received a positive review by regulatory authorities (positive scientific opinion from the European Medicines Agency and approval by the regulatory authorities of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi for use in the MVIP). The first dose of the vaccine has reached more than 500,000 children since the pilots were initiated by ministries of health in the three participating countries in 2019. This agreement with BBIL is the result of efforts by GSK, PATH, and WHO to help ensure long-term sustainable vaccine supply, in the event of a WHO policy recommendation for broader use and a commitment of sustained funding. This builds on existing GSK commitments to donate up to 10 million RTS,S/AS01E doses for use in the pilot, and to supply up to 15 million doses annually until 2028 if the product is recommended for wider use by WHO. It is expected that by 2029, at the latest, BBIL will be the sole supplier of the vaccine, with GSK supplying the adjuvant AS01E to them. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has informed banks about the risks of cooperation with Ukrainian citizens who have recently been sanctioned by the United States, including Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky. This is stated in a letter from the NBU on the inclusion of individuals and legal entities from Ukraine in the U.S. sanctions list, which was sent to Ukrainian banks, the Independent Association of Ukrainian Banks, the Association of Ukrainian Banks, and the Financial Services Markets Association. "According to information received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the United States on January 11, 2021 included seven citizens of Ukraine and four media organizations registered in Ukraine in the U.S. Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (OFAC SDN List) in accordance with Executive Order 13848 of September 12, 2018 issued by the President of the United States 'Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Interference in a United States Election States'," the letter reads. In this regard, the NBU drew attention to the risks associated with financial transactions with persons who were included in the OFAC SDN List, and invited financial institutions to take appropriate precautions to manage such risks. On January 11, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took additional action against seven individuals and four entities that are part of a "Russia-linked foreign influence network" associated with Andrii Derkach. U.S. sanctions have been imposed on former Ukrainian government officials Kostiantyn Kulyk, Oleksandr Onyshchenko, Andriy Telizhenko, and current Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, who released the so-called "Derkach's tapes." In addition, the "blacklist" includes members of Derkach's team - Petro Zhuravel, Dmytro Kovalchuk and Anton Symonenko. Restrictions have also been imposed against NabuLeaks, Era-Media TOV, Only News and Skeptik TOV. In May 2020, MP Andrii Derkach released audio recordings that may indicate the alleged influence of former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. The recordings date back to 2015-2016. According to Derkach, he received the "tapes" from investigative journalists, and Poroshenko personally recorded the conversations. On September 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated four Russia-linked individuals, including Derkach, for attempting to influence the U.S. electoral process. op A Taiwanese businessman, who recently returned from China, has been fined one million New Taiwan Dollars (US$35,700) for violating his quarantine seven times within three days. The man, whose whereabouts have not been revealed, was put under house quarantine following his return from the Chinese mainland, CNN reported citing local media. However, after landing back in Taichung on January 21, he flouted his 14-day mandatory isolation and was seen going out several times. According to reports, the man left his apartment building to run a variety of errands including getting his car fixed, going shopping amongst other things. In addendum, he also got in a brawl with his neighbours after they stopped him from violating the quarantine. Read: China: Military Drills 'a Warning' To Taiwan Read: China: Military Flights Warn Against Interference In Taiwan 'Man deserves severe punishment ' Speaking about the violation, Lu Shiow-yen the mayor of Taichung, stressed that the man deserved severe punishment for what he termed as a serious offence". Addressing media reporters, Show-yen said that along with the heavy fine, the rule breaker would also have to 3,000 NTD (USD 107) per day for the cost of his quarantine. The mayor also reminded the residents of a previous case wherein a worker was fined a whopping amount of 100,000 Taiwanese dollars for leaving his room for merely a few seconds. According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the Filipino migrant worker was quarantined in his hotel room in Taiwans Kaohsiung city. However, on November 19, he left his room for eight seconds without taking permission from the authorities. As per the authorities, the workers stepped out to give something to his friend in the adjacent room. Regardless, Taiwan has been one of the biggest success stories in the world when it comes to containing the coronavirus. The self-governed island closed its border early on, implemented mass testing and contact tracing and has strictly enforced quarantines. Last week, thousands of Hong Kong residents have been put under strict lockdown in a move the curb the spread of coronavirus. The new rules came into effect on January 24 and restricted thousands of people living Jordan, Kowloon Peninsula to their homes. All the residents were also subjected to mandatory testing, which authorities aim to complete under the time frame of 48 hours. Read: Taiwan: Foreign Worker Slapped With $3,500 Fine For A 8-second Quarantine Breach Read: COVID-19: Hong Kong Places Residents Under 48-hour Lockdown, Initiated Testing Image credits: Associated Press Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. A Washington DC police officer who responded to the January 6 Capitol siege committed suicide days later, the force's police chief has revealed. Jeffrey Smith, a 12-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, died on January 15, nine days after the violent insurrection where a Donald Trump-inspired mob stormed the US Capitol building. Smith was assigned to patrol the 2nd District, which includes the neighborhoods of Chevy Chase and Georgetown, the Metropolitan Police Department shared with DailyMail.com. Hes the second police officer who was present at the Capitol on January 6 to take their own life. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood, a 15-year veteran of the force, died on January 9. In the riot five people died, including Capitol Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was injured in the clashes with protesters. Acting DC Police chief Robert J. Contee III revealed for the first time that Smith had committed suicide on Tuesday during his opening statement before a closed session of the House Appropriations Committee. Washington DC police officer Jeffrey Smith died by suicide on January 15, nine days after he responded to the January 6 Capitol siege Smith, a 12-year veteran of the Metropolitan Police Department, was assigned to patrol the 2nd District, which includes the neighborhoods of Chevy Chase and Georgetown A view of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the US Capitol on January 6 above 'Tragically, two officers who were at the Capitol on January 6th, one each from the Capitol Police and MPD, took their own lives in the aftermath of that battle. We honor the service and sacrifices of Officers Brian Sicknick, Howard Liebengood, and Jeffrey Smith, and offer condolences to all the grieving families,' Contee said. 'The costs for this insurrection both human and monetary will be steep,' he added, describing January 6 as a 'dark day for our country.' Metropolitan Police Department declined to offer further comment on Smith's passing. Liebengood, 51, who went by 'Howie,' had been an officer guarding the Capitol since 2005. A spokesman for the family confirmed that he had died by suicide and was on duty during the Capitol siege. 'His death is a tragedy that has deprived all of us a dedicated public servant,' Barry Pollack, a lawyer representing the Liebengood family said to the Post. 'His family has suffered a devastating loss and asks that they be given space to grieve in private.' He is survived by his wife and siblings. Contee was one of several witnesses to speak before the committee in whats likely to be a long series of inquiries into the riot. Acting DC Police chief Robert J. Contee III revealed for the first time that Smith had committed suicide on Tuesday during his opening statement before a closed session of the House Appropriations Committee. Contee pictured above January 4 California Congressman Ted Lieu offered condolences for the family of Officer Jeffrey Smith after it was revealed he committed suicide following the riot California Rep. Jimmy Panetta also offered a tribute to Officer Smith Smith is the second police officer who was present at the Capitol on January 6 to take their own life. Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood (above), a 15-year veteran of the force, died on January 9 Liebengood (right in 2008) had been with the UCSP since April 2005 and was assigned to the Senate Division He revealed DC police sent about 850 officers, nearly one quarter of its force, to help to take back the Capitol after a MAGA mob swarmed into the building. Brian Sicknick (pictured), died on January 7 from injuries sustained during the Capitol riot on January 6 The DC Police Department estimated it cost the District $8.8million to secure the downtown during the week the riot took place and took up to eight hours to clear the building on January 6. In his testimony Contee said 65 DC police officers sustained injuries that have been documented in injury reports. He said 'many more sustained injuries from the assault - scratches, bruises, eyes burning from bear mace that they did not even bother to report.' On Wednesday the Capitol Police Union released a scathing statement voicing their outrage after Acting Chief Pittman Yogananda D. Pittman testified before Congress Tuesday and revealed the department failed to act on intelligence warning of violence at the Capitol on January 6. On Wednesday the Capitol Police Union released a scathing statement voicing their outrage after Acting Chief Pittman Yogananda D. Pittman testified before Congress Tuesday and revealed the department failed to act on intelligence warning of violence at the Capitol on January 6 On Wednesday the Capitol Police Union released a statement saying between Metro Police and Capitol Police nearly 140 officers were injured in the January 6 siege Acting Police Chief Pittman (above) apologized before lawmakers Tuesday, acknowledging that the department knew there was 'strong potential for violence' but failed to prevent the siege, which she described as a 'terrorist attack' Pittman apologized before lawmakers Tuesday, acknowledging that the department knew there was 'strong potential for violence' but failed to prevent the siege, which she described as a 'terrorist attack'. The union responded saying: 'This is a startling admission by Acting Chief Pittman, and a disclosure that has angered and shocked the rank-and-file officers of the Capitol Police.' Union Chairman Gus Papathanasiou slammed the lack of preparation as 'unconscionable', saying it resulted in nearly 140 injuries and the death of two officers. 'We have one officer who lost his life as a direct result of the insurrection. Another officer has tragically taken his own life,' he said. The Capitol Police Union released a scathing statement voicing their outrage after Acting Chief Pittman Yogananda D. Pittman testified before Congress Tuesday and revealed the department failed to act on intelligence warning of violence at the Capitol on January 6 A view of Pro-Trump protesters clashing with police officers during the January 6 insurrection 'Between USCP and our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Department, we have almost 140 officers injured. I have officers who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who have sustained brain injuries. One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs. One officer is going to lose his eye, and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake,' he explained. In Pittmans statement she said the department knew that militia groups and white supremacists would be attending and were intending to bring weapons. 'The fact they did not relay this information to the officers on duty prior to the insurrection is inexcusable,' Papathanasiou said. If you or a loved one is feeling distressed, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The crisis center provides free and confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to civilians and veterans. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (tel:18002738255). Or text HOME to 741-741 (Crisis Text Line) The video game retailer's bullish run has become something of a battleground between professional short-sellers and an online community of retail traders A retail investor-inspired surge in the shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp ( ) has left several short-sellers licking their wounds in what could be described as an unlikely victory for the little guys of the stock market over the institutions. At the end of Tuesdays session in the US, shares in the firm surged to a record high of around US$148, despite the absence of any major news, while in pre-market trading on Wednesday the share have continued to climb and at time of writing are at around US$245, a 1,320% increase in value so far this month. Instead, the bull run seems to have originated on Reddit site r/wallstreetbets, which serves as an online hub for retail traders looking to exploit stock momentum to cash in. However, in contrast to the old days of the market, which would often see retail collectives quickly swept aside by the larger firepower of institutional funds and established short-sellers, retail traders now have much better access to the market, swelling their numbers and by extension their ability to move prices. The pile on also attracted the notice of several influential commentators yesterday, with ( ) boss Elon Musk, who seemingly tweeted his support for the retail day traders of Reddit by proclaiming Gamestonk!! and linking to the r/wallstreetbets forum last night. OANDAs Edward Moya pointed out on Tuesday that this new army of retail traders are not focused on valuations, but rather by momentum opportunities they see from Reddits Wall Street Bets, Youtubers, [social media app] TikTok, or Robinhood, and thus present a new factor for research houses to account for when estimating how a stock will perform. GameStop does not deserve a valuation over US$90, but that might not matter if influencers keep retail traders buying, he added. However, the emergence of what some would call a mob of retail investors has been a painful one for the short-sellers, with the rally in GameStop shares having cost them around US$3.3bn in lost bets so far this year, with US$1.6bn lost last Friday alone. The resultant squeeze on the bears is also likely to have created a feedback loop for the rally, as those looking to cut their losses will have offloaded their stakes at market prices, thus bolstering the bull run. The incident also showed a dark side to the retail investor phenomenon, with short-sellers such as Andrew Left of Citron Research saying he will no longer comment on GameStop after incurring the wrath of the community by saying the shares would drop to US$20 while also criticising the bullish buying activity. Left also accused the online trading mob of harassment and attempting to hack his Twitter account. However, the mob also appears to be winning, with short-seller Melvin Capital reported to have closed out its short position on GameStop, which in turn may have also driven the ongoing rally. Spreading to the UK? As Wednesday dawned, it also seemed that the flurry of retail trading activity originating from r/wallstreetbets was spreading to some of the London markets most heavily shorted stocks. In late-morning trading, shares in Cineworld PLC ( ), ( ) and ( ), all of which have large short positions against them, were all seeing strong upticks in value, rising 9.7% to 80.2p, 9.4% to 832.6p and 3.3% to 259.7p respectively. However, Markets.coms Neil Wilson says these jumps may be less about the Reddit mob finding new targets to short sellers looking to close out their positions pre-emptively. It [the rally] is likely down to short covering as hedge funds back out of their positions in light of what has happened to heavily shorted stocks like GME. This is very much about managing risk. Given the situation across the pond vis-a-vis [Melvin Capital], I would think all hedge funds are taking a good hard look at all their short positions and deciding whether they are worth it, Wilson said. Shorting can result in potentially infinite losses, so the risk management is always against you if the flows are there from buyers. As a result of the short covering, or rather in anticipation of it, some traders (maybe some on Reddit, who knows?) may be front-running and contributing to the pump, he added. --Updates share prices, adds Musk and analyst commentary-- Professor Yossi Yovel, Associate Professor of Zoology at Tel Aviv University (TAU), is one of three Laureates to be awarded 2021 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel by the Blavatnik Family Foundation, the New York Academy of Sciences, and the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Professor Yovel was recognized for his work in the area of Life Sciences and will receive $100,000. Professor Yovel is working to bridge the gap between two of the most influential fields in biology -- ecology (the study of animals in their environment) and neuroscience (the study of how the brain controls actions). He has helped to establish the new field of neuroecology, the study of how the brain controls behavior in a rapidly changing natural environment. He is a leading expert on the use of bats in scientific research and studies their use of echolocation to perceive and navigate through the world as a model for how the brain integrates sensory information to guide behavior. This work provides broader insight into group behaviors, integration of sensory information in the brain, and real-time decision making. The 2021 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in Israel will be conferred, as pandemic restrictions allow, at a ceremony held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on August 1, 2021. This year's Laureates also include Professor Ido Kaminer of Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the Physical Sciences & Engineering Laureate; and Professor Rafal Klajn of the Weizmann Institute of Science, the Chemistry Laureate. The Blavatnik Awards recognize outstanding, innovative scientists at the early stages of their careers for both their extraordinary achievements and their promise for future discoveries. The prizes are awarded to researchers aged 42 and younger for groundbreaking work in the disciplines of Life Sciences, Chemistry, and Physical Sciences & Engineering. The Blavatnik Awards in Israel sit alongside their international counterparts, the Blavatnik National Awards and Blavatnik Regional Awards in the United States, and the Blavatnik Awards in the United Kingdom. The Laureates will join a cadre of young scientists from across Israel who have been honored by the Blavatnik Awards in Israel since their launch in 2017. In addition, the Laureates will become part of the international Blavatnik Science Scholars community, which, by the close of 2021, will total 350 young scientists from around the world. Each summer the Laureates are invited to attend the annual Blavatnik Science Symposium in New York City at the New York Academy of Sciences, where past and present Blavatnik Awards honorees from around the world come together to share new ideas and forge collaborations for novel, cross-disciplinary research. Judge rejects Tony Spell's request to quash criminal charges for violating COVID-19 restrictions Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A judge in Louisiana has rejected a motion filed by controversial Pastor Tony Spell to quash six misdemeanor charges filed against him for holding church services in violation of state orders aimed at mitigating the spread of the coronavirus. Judge Eboni Johnson-Rose of Louisianas 19th Judicial District Court denied Spells motion Monday, ruling that the constitutionality of Gov. John Bel Edwards has already been confirmed by courts. Spell, the leader of Life Tabernacle Church in Central who made national headlines last year by holding large in-person worship gatherings in defiance of Bells pandemic measures, had argued that government limits on gatherings at the church violated the congregations First Amendment rights. Spell did not attend the hearing because he has refused to wear a face mask inside the courthouse. Instead, Spell along with members of his church were present outside the courthouse. Spell expressed his disapproval of the ruling. You just ruled against God, the Pentecostal pastor said, according to WVLA-TV. Get ready for the judgment of God. Spell could face up to $3,000 in fines and jail time if convicted of the charges. According to WAFB, Spell said that Johnson-Roses goes against religious liberties in America. They ruled against civil liberties in America, Spell was quoted as saying. A lose for us today is a lose for America. A loss for us today is a loss for all religion in America and not just religion but people with civil liberties. Inside the courtroom, Spells lawyer, Jeff Wittenbrink, argued that the states gathering restrictions unfairly targeted houses of worship on grounds that big-box stores were allowed to stay open with many customers inside. Meanwhile, an attorney who was brought in by the prosecuting attorney to handle Spells case contended that the governors orders were applied neutrally. According to WAFB, the attorney, Darrell Papillion, went as far as saying: you cannot decide on a given day that our God, our church, our beliefs are bigger than the law. Papillion also argued that religious freedom does not give them the right to expose the community to communicable disease. After the judges denial Monday, Spell will likely appeal to the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals. According to the states COVID-19 tracking website, over 8,500 people in Louisiana have died from COVID-19. The state has seen over 339,000 confirmed cases of the virus. In an interview with The Advocate, Spell did not hold back in accusing the governor, who is Catholic, of being a tyrant. The governor hates Christians. If he says anything different, hes a liar, Spell claimed. He says all these people behind me are lawbreakers, and were not. The law-breakers right over there in the governors mansion. In a statement, Edwards, a Democrat, praised the judges decision. My Christian Catholic faith teaches me that we should be good neighbors to one another and that includes doing what we can to protect each other from this terrible virus," Edwards said, according to The Advocate. "The vaccine is not available to everyone at this time but masks are. The best and easiest thing that we can all do is wear one to help get us back to where we all want to be." The ruling comes after the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito rejected a request for the nations high court to grant Spells plea for emergency relief from the criminal charges in November. In November, the Supreme Court also ruled to temporarily suspend New Yorks COVID-19 restrictions limiting the size of worship gatherings in the Empire State. However, Johnson-Rose sided with the Louisiana attorneys argument that there are differences between Louisianas restrictions and the New York restrictions that the Supreme Court struck down in November. In April, Spell was arrested for aggravated assault after he allegedly backed up a church bus dangerously toward a protester demonstrating against his church services outside the church property. Spells lawyer claimed at the time that Spell did not try to run over the protester. The European Union's joint consumer program has urged an investigation into the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift issue after it received almost 25,000 complaints from across the continent. Drift occurs when the Joy-Cons don't communicate properly with the console or when they start to register inputs by themselves, such as a character moving without a player touching a thumbstick. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said that 88 percent of respondents from across the EU claimed their Joy-Cons broke within the first two years of use. The body has submitted complaints to the European Commission (the EU's executive branch) and national consumer protection agencies, claiming that Nintendo continues to sell products that fail prematurely, which is harming consumers and the environment. The BEUC urged Nintendo to tell users that the controllers, as things stand, have a "limited lifespan" and to repair them for free. The company has fixed Joy-Cons in the past at no cost to consumers. The Joy-Con drift problem has been widely reported since the Switch arrived almost four years ago. Nintendo has faced numerous class-action lawsuits over the matter and Engadget's readers have flagged problems with the controllers. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa apologized last June for "any inconvenience caused to our customers regarding Joy-Con" without explicitly mentioning drift. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Vietnam will continue its active participation in international efforts to combat climate change, so as to transform climate-induced challenges into opportunities for the sustainable development for all, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc told the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021. In his remarks delivered to the international summit, held online on January 25 and 26, the PM said Vietnam is one of the countries worst affected by climate change. He affirmed that in response, apart from restructuring its economy towards a low-carbon model and reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, Vietnam pledges to strengthen the resilience and adaptation of communities, economic stakeholders and the ecosystem. We will step up disaster risk reduction and mitigation of climate-related damage. Climate adaptation will be further mainstreamed into our national strategies and planning. We will also invest more in human resources, scientific research, and development and application of advanced technologies, the Government leader elaborated. Despite such efforts, our economy may only meet around 30 percent of our climate adaptation demand, and Vietnam needs an additional 35 billion USD between 2021 and 2030, he said. Phuc then took the occasion to ask for further cooperation and support from the international community toward Vietnams efforts. At international level, he said he believes there is a need to bolster the adaptation of communities, the participation of the people, and the resilience of all industries and sectors against the adverse impacts of climate change. Climate adaptation should go hand-in-hand with sustainable development, gender equality, and poverty eradication, with no one being left behind. The PM said greater financial and technological support should be provided to developing countries in climate adaptation. We should promote multi-stakeholder partnerships for climate adaptation, and engage businesses, scientists, communities and non-governmental organisations in climate adaptation activities, Phuc noted. The CAS 2021 was held online on January 25 and 26 to discuss urgent measures in response to increasing climate change impacts worldwide. At the event, leaders of participating developed nations pledged their commitments to prioritising climate-change assistance in their aid granted for developing countries. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Jonathan Scott celebrated his Scottish heritage with a festive dinner with his family and girlfriend Zooey Deschanel. Scott, 42, who, along with his twin brother Drew are sons of a Scottish immigrant, celebrated Robert Burns Day with a virtual dinner with family. Deschanel, 41, shared some of the fun festivities on both her Instagram and Instagram story with new photos. All smiles: Jonathan Scott celebrated his Scottish heritage with a festive dinner with his family and girlfriend Zooey Deschanel Deschanel was all smiles wearing an earth tone floral print dress with frilly shoulders as her auburn locks flowed past her shoulders. She was seen getting close with Scott, who she's been dating since August 2019, after they met during a segment of Carpool Karaoke. The Property Brothers star was decked out in full Scottish dress regalia, including a unique suit coat, bowtie and plaid kilt. Family affair: Zooey and Jonathan were joined by Drew Scott and his wife Linda Phan, as they Zoomed with the Property Brothers' parents, Jim and Joanne, plus their older brother J.D. and his wife Annalee Belle Dunn Zooey and Jonathan were joined by Drew Scott and his wife Linda Phan, as they Zoomed with the Property Brothers' parents, Jim and Joanne, plus their older brother J.D. and his wife Annalee Belle Dunn. Zooey also shared the same snap on her Instagram story, which was captioned, 'Virtual Robbie Burns dinner with the Scott fam.' She also shared a sweet caption on her Instagram photos, hinting at an accident that happened at last year's dinner. Instagram story: Zooey also shared the same snap on her Instagram story, which was captioned, 'Virtual Robbie Burns dinner with the Scott fam' 'Robert Burns night 2021: A zoom celebration and vegan haggis. No soup was spilled! So nice to spend time with my sweet handsome gentleman and wonderful family!' Deschanel said. Scott also responded to her heartfelt post and added, 'The most delicious vegan haggis ever!!! Yer a sweet lass.' He also shared the same two photos on his own Instagram, while revealing the 'accident' that happened last year. Sweet lass: Scott also responded to her heartfelt post and added, 'The most delicious vegan haggis ever!!! Yer a sweet lass' 'First time we celebrated Rabbie Burns Day via Zoom and it was excellent. Mainly because drew didnt accidentally dump soup on Zooey like last year,' Jonathan said. Scottish families have been celebrating this day, Burns' birthday, for hundreds of years, with the first Burns supper believed to have taken place in 1802. Scott's father Jim immigrated from Scotland to Canada as a teenager, with Scott and his brothers born in Vancouver. Perth, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2021) - Tempus Resources Ltd. (ASX: TMR) (TSXV: TMRR) ("Tempus" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jonathan Shellabear as a Non-Executive Director following the resignation Mr. Brendan Borg (see Tempus ASX announcement of 8 January 2021). Chairman, Alexander Molyneux commented, "Jonathan has a great mix of executive management experience in the gold space, and corporate finance experience from his prior career in the finance industry. He's very well known for his energetic leadership in the industry and we look forward to his contributions to Tempus' ongoing development." Mr. Jonathan Shellabear has over thirty years' experience in the mining and financial services industries having worked as a geologist, resources analyst, corporate executive and investment banker with NM Rothschild & Sons, Deutsche Bank and Resource Finance Corporation. Mr. Shellabear was previously the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Dominion Mining Limited, which was acquired by Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd in February 2011 to create, at that time, the second largest Australian listed gold company by market capitalisation. He has also held senior corporate roles with Portman Limited (now Cliffs Natural Resources) as General Manager, Business Development and Heron Resources as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Capricorn Metals Limited. Mr. Shellabear has extensive capital markets and advisory experience and has advised on numerous public market transactions to companies. Furthermore, he is an accomplished and respected gold industry senior executive with extensive knowledge across technical, commercial and financial disciplines. Mr. Shellabear holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Geology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Western Australia. The effective date of Mr. Shellabear's appointment and the cessation of Mr. Borg's directorship will be 1 February 2021. Subject to shareholder approval, the Company proposes to award Mr. Shellabear 200,000 performance rights with the terms and conditions outlined in Appendix 1. This announcement has been authorised by the Board of Directors of Tempus Resources Ltd. For further information, please contact: Melanie Ross - Director/Company Secretary P: +61 8 6188 8181 E: info@tempusresources.com.au www.tempusresources.com.au APPENDIX 1 Appointment of Mr. Jonathan Shellabear as Non-Executive Director of Tempus As part of Mr. Shellabear's appointment, it is proposed to issue Mr. Shellabear 200,000 Performance Rights, with milestones required to be met for vesting as follows: 100,000 Performance Rights will be issued to the Non-Executive Director (or its nominee) and will vest upon completion of a Mineral Resource estimate (conforming to the JORC Code 2012 Edition or any such subsequent JORC Code) equivalent to 500,000 oz at a minimum grade of 1g/tonne Au on any mineral deposit in Canada that is validly owned by the Company or its Related Bodies Corporate within 2 years from the date of issue; and 100,000 Performance Rights will be issued to the Non-Executive Director (or its nominee) and will vest upon completion of an economic prefeasibility study or higher in relation any project in Canada that is validly owned by the Company or its Related Bodies Corporate within 2 years from the date of issue. Forward-Looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Tempus's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward- looking statements contained herein may include, but are not limited to, the ability of Tempus to successfully achieve business objectives, and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Tempus to control or predict, that may cause Tempus' actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Tempus believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Tempus does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Tempus or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72924 This week, Nevens Irish Seafood Trails leads him north east along the County Louth coastline to the historic town of Carlingford, where oysters have been farmed for centuries. He calls in at the Carlingford Oyster Company situated beside Carlingford Lough, and as the oyster beds are 1km from the shore, Neven takes a trip out to the bay to meet owner Kian Louet Feisser. Neven learns how Kians father Peter sailed into Carlingford in the 1960s in a wooden yacht he built himself, and established the farm which specialises in Pacific oysters. Kian explains how the oysters take three years to grow and have a distinctive tear-drop shape and a flavour unique to their Carlingford Lough environment, and Neven enjoys an oyster tasting. Louth is celebrated for its seafood, and the county has a new seafood tourism initiative called Sea Louth - a visitor trail comprising restaurants and seafood producers. One of the restaurants on the Sea Louth trail is the Bay Tree in Carlingford, where Neven meets chef-proprietor Conor Woods who shares a delicious seafood recipe with Neven, a Trio Of Hake, Prawn and Scallop served with Herb Veloute. No visit to Carlingford would be complete without a boat trip on Carlingford Lough. Neven heads down to the harbour to meet Shane Reenan of Louth Adventures for a tour on board the Brienne, a restored 1940s Dutch tugboat. Out on the lough the scenery is stunning, and highlights include King Johns Castle, the Cooley Mountains, the Mourne Mountains, Carlingford Marina and the new Carlingford to Omeath Greenway. Neven even tries steering the Brienne himself, and turns out to be a surprisingly good sailor. Following the coastline south, Neven visits the seaside village of Annagassan which overlooks Dundalk Bay. In the year 841 Annagassan was invaded by Vikings who founded one of the largest Viking settlements in Europe, believed to have 5,000 inhabitants. Neven calls in at The Glyde Inn where Managing Director Conor ONeill has created a Virtual Reality Viking experience for visitors which culminates in eating a real life, local seafood platter. The Glyde Inns head chef Tony Smith treats Neven to Annagassan Lobster Tail with Clogherhead Hake, Sea Kale, and an intriguing Secret Sauce. Nevens Irish Seafood Trails is broadcast on RTE One at 8:30pm on Wednesday nights, with the fifth episode which features his events in Louth due to air on January 27th. Republican Senator Tom Cotton said Wednesday there is no justifiable reason why thousands of National Guard members were ordered to remain in Washington, D.C. until mid-March as Republican lawmakers step up demands for their troops to return home. 'With the inauguration complete and threats receding, now it's time, yes, to send home the troops,' Cotton, a retired Army captain, wrote in an op/ed published to Fox News. 'I sit on the Intelligence Committee, but I'm aware of no specific, credible threat reportingas distinguished from aspirational, uncoordinated bluster on the internetthat justifies this continued troop presence,' Cotton continued. 'Thus, I believe the rest of these soldiers should also go home to their families and civilian jobs.' His public opposition to the continued military presence in the nation's capital comes as Republican governors and lawmakers say it's time for the troops to return to their respective states. A letter from 11 GOP congressmen and women on Wednesday demands a briefing from Acting Secretary of the Army John Whitley on any intelligence leading to the decision to keep 5,000 National Guards members in Washington for at least another month-and-a-half. Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a retired Army Captain and member of the Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday there is 'no specific, credible threat' to justify the continued military presence in Washington D.C. Reports over the weekend revealed at least 5,000 National Guard troops will remain in the nation's capital until mid-March Cotton's comments come as a group of 11 Republican representatives penned a letter demanding a briefing on any prevailing threats and justification for troops remaining in D.C. 'Our intention is for the briefing to cover the ongoing threats to the Capitol, justification for the decision for a significant troop presence through mid-March, and plans for troop utilization during that period,' the lawmakers wrote in the letter. The letter to Whitley and Chairman of the National Guard Bureau Daniel Hokanson was penned and signed by Representatives Michael Waltz of Florida, a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel; William Timmons of South Carolina; Greg Murphy of North Carolina; Elise Stefanik of New York; Chris Stewart of Utah; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Lance Gooden and Chip Roy of Texas; Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota; Dusty Johnson of South Dakota; and Russ Fulcher of Idaho. Cotton claimed that the Capitol storming on January 6, which left five dead and delayed certifying the election for Joe Biden by six hours, was the result of inadequate standing protocol and protection. 'The lesson of the Capitol riot is not that we should quarter a standing army at the Capitol just in case, but rather that our security measures should be calibrated to the actual threats,' Cotton wrote. 'The senior leaders of the Capitol security forces failed to do so in the days leading up to January 6.' 'Despite threats of violence on social media, the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms rejected a request for National Guard backup in the days before the riot,' he continued. Cotton said no such persistent threat is present now. 'Rather than drawing the right lesson from these failuresthat security measures should be calibrated to actual threatsHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Capitol Hill security overreacted, egged on by excitable cable news pundits and Democratic partisans eager to portray President Donald Trump's 74 million voters as 'domestic terrorists,' he penned. 'Virtually overnight, the Capitol and National Mall transformed into a so-called 'Green Zone' protected by no-scale fencing, razor wire, and 26,000 soldiers,' Cotton claimed. 'These security measures were plainly disproportionate to the threatindeed, they would have been disproportionate even if another violent mob had in fact attempted to disrupt the inauguration.' 'With the inauguration behind us, the Capitol should return to normalcy.' Following the attack earlier this month, more than 26,000 National Guardsmen and women were deployed to Washington to protect the Capitol and patrol the streets in the days surrounding Biden's inauguration. After the swearing-in on January 20, which was largely virtual and included no security threats or breaches, there was a mass exodus of troops with more than half that force returning back to their respective states to resume civilian life. Ahead of inauguration, more than 26,000 troops were deployed to Washington, D.C. after the January 6 Capitol storming that left five dead and forced Congress into lockdown in the middle of certifying the election for Joe Biden The day after inauguration, there was a mass exodus of troops from D.C. with more than half returning to their respective states as Republican governors demanded they be sent home Reports over the weekend, however, revealed that at least 5,000 troops will remain in Washington, D.C. until mid-March to maintain a military presence. 'As we continue to work to meet the final post-inauguration requirements, the National Guard has been requested to continue supporting federal law enforcement agencies with 7,000 members and will draw down to 5,000 through mid-March,' National Guard Bureau spokesperson Major Matt Murphy revealed on Saturday. He continued: 'We are providing assistance such as security, communications, medical evacuation, logistics, and safety support to state, district, and federal agencies.' A D.C. homeland security official, Christopher Rodfriguez, claimed over the weekend there are still threats that require a military presence in the district. '[W]e do anticipate that there will be another National Special Security Event occurring in the joint session of Congress,' he said. As thousands were sent home on Thursday, the bureau said: 'Some agencies are requesting continuity of operations, additional support, and recuperation time for their forces to regroup. Approximately 7,000 National Guard personnel are anticipated to provide that assistance through the end of the month.' Governors have also lashed out at their troops remaining deployed to the Capitol for several more weeks. Since Inauguration, Republican Governors Chris Sununu from New Hampshire; Ron DeSantis from Florida; Greg Gianforte of Montana; and Greg Abbott of Texas all announced they are bringing their troops home from Washington. 'I've ordered the immediate return of all New Hampshire National Guard from Washington D.C.,' Sununu said in a tweet. 'They did an outstanding job serving our nation's capital in a time of strife and should be graciously praised, not subject to substandard conditions.' Abbott said on Twitter on Thursday: 'I have instructed General Norris to order the return of the Texas National Guard to our state.' DeSantis said in a tweet Friday night: 'Last night, I ordered our Adjutant General to bring Florida National Guard soldiers home from the National Capital Region.' The Florida governor has echoed the disenchantment of other state leaders with how the FBI vetted all troops brought into Washington, which resulted in at least 12 being removed. He told 'Fox & Friends' it was time for troops to leave the 'half-cocked mission.' Legislators expressed outrage earlier in the week with how their reservists were being treated while deployed in the nation's capital. Pictures emerged early on showing members sleeping on the floors of Congress and more recently it was revealed they were now ordered to spend their time resting in the middle of 12 hour shifts in a parking garage. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Question Everything! Purpose and Intent of this website: Xi reads multilateral riot act to virtual Davos Xi shows the contrast between Asia's relative serenity and the chaos engulfing the Wests top power centers By Pepe Escobar January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - The virtual Davos Agenda is finally on, from Monday to Friday this week, promoted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). No, this is not The Great Reset. At least not yet. The Agenda is the aperitivo towards the Great Reset apotheosis at the WEFs Special Annual Meeting, which will take place this coming spring in Singapore. The Agendas theme for 2021 is "A Crucial Year to Rebuild Trust." Oops. Davos, we got a problem: trust is always earned, never built. Trust, anyway, in Davos speak, must always lead towards what else the Great Reset, introduced here in a Tik Tok-ready clip crammed with catchy slogans such as a new dashboard for the new economy or right people, right place, right time. The message clincher is tune in, turn on, get involved, borrowing shamelessly from 1960s Timothy Leary (but ditching drop out). It obviously escaped the clips producers that their P.R. opus indirectly admits to rigged elections and blanket censorship on social media. The Agendas P.R. blitz must have a hard time dismissing the predominant perception this is all about Davos Man and Woman losing their sleep over global wealth inequality while enthusiastically applauded by a bunch of glitterati sociopaths. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Onwards with the sessions. Heres your new social contract On day one, a Leadership Panel examined how to restore growth , advising the public and private sectors on how to build a new economic agenda. Sleep-inducing platitudes were the norm. WEFs Agenda sessions cannot possibly address the iron imperative: the implosion of the old economic order under a Green camouflage, conducted by self-appointed, sub-Platonic sages which belong to the worlds wealthiest, will only benefit this 0.0001%. The Great Reset is not an organic grassroots movement coordinated and benefitting the over 99%. It will lead, inevitably, to techno-feudalism , as I previously argued. Herr Schwab, the Oracle of Ravensburg and Davos supremo, insists in his writings you will own nothing. A WEF graph - Top Ten Most Likely Fall Out for the World - should in fact be interpreted as The Great Resets ultimate targets. This is not a warning: its the road map ahead. A session on advancing the new social contract neatly merged with a discussion about "stakeholder capitalism" . Thats a clever P.R. advertisement what else - for Herr Schwabs new book: Stakeholder Capitalism , which advances a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive global economy and argues for what else a clearly defined social contract which will allow governments, business and individuals to produce the most optimal outcomes. So here's how it works. You dont earn trust: you rebuild it (italics mine). This trust metastasizes into the social contract which is absolutely necessary for The Great Reset. Selling this new social contract is a matter of rebranding turbo-capitalism globally as stakeholer capitalism, or capitalism with a human face. Not a peep about the Great Reset as a mechanism of unbridled expansion of mega-corporate power, hermetically securing/serving the 0.0001%, which are not, and will never be, suffering The Great Depression. Stripped to the bone, thats also one of the key themes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: consolidating, crushing and shepherding the working class masses into the unstable gig economy, commanded by emotionally intelligent leaders. The Who nailed it half a century ago: meet the new boss, same as the old boss. A realpolitik stunner Its still unclear what China, Russia and Iran the real Three Sovereigns in this Brave New World, and the key nodes of progressive Eurasia integration will counter-propose when faced with the Great Reset. Into this toxic mix steps in none other than President Xi Jinping, the leader of the global superpower in the making. Instead of Reset platitudes, his Davos Agenda address was quite a realpolitik stunner. Xi stressed, "to build small circles or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to willfully impose decoupling, supply disruptions or sanctions, and to create isolation or estrangement will only push the world into division and even confrontation () We cannot tackle common challenges in a divided world, and confrontation will lead us to a dead end." Xi might be interpreted as aligning with Herr Schwab. Not really. Xi stressed solutions to our current plight must be multilateral; but the key is how to implement them geopolitically. Its unclear how the new dispensation in the US humanitarian imperialists, Dem oligarchs, Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Media will react to Xis call: "The misguided approach of antagonism and confrontation, be it in the form of a Cold War, hot war, trade war or tech war, would eventually hurt all countries' interests () "Difference in itself is no cause for alarm. What is alarming are arrogance, prejudice and hatred." Xi emphasized a straight to the point definition of multilateralism as having international affairs addressed through consultation and the future of the world decided by everyone working together () To beggar thy neighbor, to go it alone, and to slip into arrogant isolation will always fail." What Xi has made it crystal clear, once again, is the acute contrast between relative Asian serenity and stability and the volcanic chaos engulfing the Wests top power centers. How this intertwines in realpolitik terms with Her Schwabs Brave New World will be a work in progress. For the moment, Xi has just read the Multilateral Riot Act at Davos. The whole Global South is paying attention. Pepe Escobar is correspondent-a t-large at Asia Times. His latest book is 2030. Follow him on Facebook.-- " Source " - Post your comment below Registration is necessary to post comments. We ask only that you do not use obscene or offensive language. Please be respectful of others. See also This year's NSA Scotsheep event which was due to take place in late May has been cancelled because of the 'uncertainties and restrictions' caused by Covid-19. The National Sheep Association's (NSA) Scottish executive committee announced that the event will now be rescheduled to 1 June 2022. Organisers believe that restrictions on social distancing and mass gatherings will still be in force for 'the considerable future'. Jennifer Craig, NSA Scotland chair said: We are really disappointed to have to postpone NSA Scotsheep until next June, as plans for the event were well advanced. "With no signs of restrictions easing and cases still rising, our main priority is the health and wellbeing of our visitors, exhibitors and those involved in the running of the event." Ms Craig also explained that postponing this year's NSA Scotsheep would have a 'severe impact' on NSA Scotland financially. "However, through the continued support of our many sponsors and trade exhibitors, we hope to deliver a full-scale event for the sheep industry in Scotland and further afield. NSA Scotsheep will take place on Wednesday June 1 2022 by permission of Robert and Hazel McNee, Over Finlarg, Tealing, Dundee. Numerous prominent agricultural shows have been cancelled for a second year in a row due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions. It was like so many perfect bayside summer evenings, a slight breeze cooling the days heat with barely a cloud in the dusk sky. About the same time the day before, a young couple expectant parents had been walking their dogs at this very spot. On Wednesday night, it was a very different scene, with hundreds of locals gathered to mourn the loss of three of their own. Mourners paying their respect at the site of the crash on Wednesday night. Credit:Toby Crockford Katherine Leadbetter, 31, and Matthew Field, 37, were killed about 5.30pm as they crossed the road at the intersection of Finucane and Vienna roads in Alexandra Hills on Australia Day. The U.S. Army announced a $1.1 billion deal with a private management firm to provide private funds to improve housing conditions for thousands of soldiers and their families at six of the service's installations. The service approved the Jan. 5 deal with Lendlease, a company that has partnered with it to own and operate housing on multiple bases, according to an Army news release. The private-sector funding will allow Lendlease to accelerate its previously planned sustainment program at Army installations by more than 10 years. The deal is the latest effort to improve housing after a 2018 scandal revealed that many military families experienced dangerous living conditions -- including mold, lead paint, faulty wiring and vermin problems -- in privately managed military homes. Read Next: Army Testing 'Iron Man' Suit Component for Next-Gen Squad Weapon "Under the guidance of Army senior leaders to ensure readiness of our force and quality of life for soldiers and their families, we have reached an extraordinary milestone with Lendlease," Gen. Ed Daly, head of Army Materiel Command, said in the release. "This additional investment will go a long way in improving the quality of homes for soldiers and their families." Lendlease owns and operates a large number of military housing units, including more than 26,000 Army homes, and is one of the Army's seven major private housing partners, according to the release. The deal will accelerate "significant improvements" to 12,000 existing homes on Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; Fort Drum, New York; and Army housing on Oahu, Hawaii. But a "significant portion" of the total investment will be given to Fort Hood, Texas, one of the Army's largest installations, according to the release. The deal will also pay for the construction of more than 1,200 new homes on Hood, Campbell, Knox and Wainwright, the release adds. The Army has already approved the efforts of other privatized housing companies to attract additional private-sector funding for the renovation of more than 3,500 homes and total replacement of more than 800 other homes, according to the release. "We are getting in front of housing issues," Daly said. "Commanders at all levels are engaged. Our leaders and housing staffs continue to address problems quickly ... and we are seeing significant results." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Army Finalizes Incentive Plan for Companies to Fix Base Housing Problems Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:08:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday heard a work report delivered via video link by Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam on the HKSAR government's work in 2020, its COVID-19 response and other situations. "On major issues such as national security, you have taken a firm stand and assumed responsibilities, demonstrating your love of and deep sense of responsibility to the motherland and Hong Kong," Xi told Lam. "The central authorities fully acknowledge your performance and the performance of the HKSAR government in fulfilling duties," Xi said. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Its a duty but also a responsibility, one we inherit from those who lived through the horrors of the Shoah, whose voices are gradually disappearing, Steinmeier said. The greatest danger for all of us begins with forgetting. With no longer remembering what we inflict upon one another when we tolerate anti-Semitism and racism in our midst. Hyderabad: A serial killer who robbed and murdered 18 women in past 20 years has been arrested by the North Zone Task Force on Tuesday. He had been given life sentence by a court after he was found guilty of 16 murders and thefts and killed two more while he was out on bail in the last few months, police said. Forty-year-old Maina Ramulu, a stone-cutter, was caught by police during investigation into a woman missing case under Mulugu police station limits. The Siddipet and Ghatkesar police of Rachakonda effected the arrest, said Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar. Police said he had been arrested several times in the past in connection with 21 cases, including 16 of murder and robbery, four property offences and one case of escaping from custody while being admitted at a mental institution. Police said he was a life convict and on bail following an appeal he made to the high court. The arrest was made after a complaint came to the Jubilee Hills police that resident Kavala Venkatamma 50, was missing. Her body was found near the railway track of Ankushapur village in Ghatkesar after a week of her disappearance. To detect the case, the North Zone Task Force team along with Ghatkesar Police verified approximately 500 CCTV footages from the Yousufguda toddy shop compound to the Ankushapur railway track. The cops verified the modus operandi of the accused and identified the culprit as Ramulu. As he was a habitual offender with a criminal history, he was detained for questioning. He confessed to have killed the missing woman and also another woman. The second woman is yet to be identified. The man confessed that he took the woman with him after they met at a toddy outlet to a secluded place, strangled her to death and fled with her valuables, said the commissioner. In 2016, when Satyajit Rays son went to the Bhowanipore area in Kolkata, he was distraught to see two iconic cinema halls that once featured his maestro fathers classics, shut down forever. A newspaper quoted him as saying he was `heartbroken. But if cinema halls faced an uncertain future then, stampeded by the arrival of fancy multiplexes, the threat of COVID-19 is an altogether different proposition. India has already seen closure of about 1,000 theatres in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic. To save the rest from disintegration, harried cinema owners are seeking relief measures from the government in the upcoming Budget. Manoj Desai, Executive Director of G7 Multiplex, which is also known as Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir, a single screen theatre, told Moneycontrol said that the 50 percent capacity inside the halls is 'killing the exhibition space.' COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Siddharth Anand Kumar, Vice-President Films and Events, Saregama, piled on his woes. He believes that the Centre should let state governments decide whether they are comfortable in letting theatres operate at 100 percent capacity or not. "While content production is continuing, the problem is with distribution. The issue here is that there are four to five platforms who buy content as other mediums are struggling. Power is getting concentrated in the hands of few, which will hurt the entire industry as prices (of content) will come down," he told Moneycontrol. When theatres had shut shop for as long as seven months last year, many films were directly released on video streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, among others. Even big star releases like Akshay Kumar's Laxmii and Alia Bhatt's Sadak 2 premiered first on the over the top (OTT) platform. Analysts also point out that OTTs paying premiums for direct to digital releases is not sustainable. Unhappily, Desai narrates the struggle that he currently faces. "In the last 10 months, there is hardly a picture that has worked. We see not more than 10 to 20 people coming to theatres every day. After the Coronavirus outbreak, only 10 percent public is coming to theatres. The number of shows has come down. I run only two shows currently. I am yet to see any profits and don't know how to handle the theatre and the staff," he points out. Desais only hope, he adds, is if "We can see some recovery in the next six months only if there are good films and no 50 percent restriction." Content regulation Another exhibitor, Vishek Chauhan, who runs a single screen cinema in Bihar, said that he is also expecting the government to introduce uniform censorship for all platforms, including theatre, television, and OTT platforms. Even Saregamas Kumar said that a clear set of laws will make things easier for filmmakers. "Content makers are entrepreneurs. They will adopt and adapt. So, it should be clearly stated what is allowed and what isn't," he explained. Hoping for less tax troubles Chauhan also listed relief measures like GST waiver, soft loans and the central government taking care of Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) for at least a year for single screen cinemas. Movie tickets exceeding Rs 100 attract a GST of 18 percent and those up to Rs 100 fall in the 12 percent tax bracket. In addition to the above-mentioned relief measures, Desai is also hoping that the government will waive off taxes to help the theatre space. "We hope that theatre owners are not charged property tax and water tax for the period cinemas were not functioning. Even minimum electricity bill should be done away with for the period theatres were shut," he suggests, hopefully. While electricity charges are a state subject, a delegation from the film industry, which recently met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, requested the Centre to waive off these charges ahead of the Union Budget 2021. Sharing similar sentiments, veteran producer Anand Pandit said: "We are waiting for the governments decision to let multiplexes and cinemas operate at full capacity. A downward revision of GST rates will go a long way in helping the cinema space along with steps like a license fee waiver, fast tax refunds, lowered electricity rates and interest free loans." Support to content creators When it comes to content creators, Kumar expects that there should be schemes for smaller filmmakers. Earlier, the government supported filmmakers to the tune of 50 percent of their budgets and for the rest, help would be taken from private players, he said. "Also, the process of filmmakers getting subsidy is neither transparent nor centralized," Kumar adds. For better skilling of more Indians, every state needs a film institute. Scheduled to hit Europe this March with a price tag of over US$8,850, the Sony Alpha 1 features a new 50.1 MP full-frame stacked Exmor RS CMOS sensor, an upgraded BIONZ XZ imaging processing engine, world's first anti-flicker shooting with both mechanical and electronic shutter, 8K video recording, and much more. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Earlier today, Sony has unveiled a new full-frame mirrorless camera that comes with a few innovations, as well as various improvements over the cameras released so far by the Japanese brand. According to the official press release, the Sony Alpha 1 is a groundbreaking camera that "marks a new era in professional imaging" and, as we will see in the end, it will also come with a price that matches its capabilities. Without further ado, these are the highlights of the Sony Alpha 1: Full-frame stacked 50.1 MP Exmor RS CMOS sensor. Upgraded BIONZ XR imaging processing engine. 30 fps blackout-free continuous shooting. Bright and large OLED Quad-XGA electronic viewfinger with 240 fps refresh rate. Anti-flicker shooting with mechanical and electronic shutter. Improved real-time autofocus for humans and animals, as well as real-time tracking for maintaining accurate focus. 5-axis optical in-body image stabilization. S-Cinetone color matrix as seen in FX9 and FX6. Multiple connectivity options: Wi-Fi, SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps, 100 BASE-T Ethernet, and more. In addition to the above, the Sony Alpha 1 also comes with 8K 30p 10-bit 4:2:0 XAVC HS recording, as well as 4K video shooting at up to 120 fps. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday that gyms and fitness clubs can soon allow customers back inside, but limited the number of people in a facility to no more than six clients. Update: The governors office originally said indoor facilities would be limited to six people total. The office said Wednesday that it will allow six people, excluding staff. Its a very modest change to what some gym owners had considered draconian restrictions, and an association of club owners called the slightly relaxed rules completely unreasonable. Gyms, theaters and other indoor activities in counties categorized as extreme risk have been under closure orders since November, when Gov. Kate Brown implemented a freeze order in reaction to a sharp rise in COVID-19 infections. The governor subsequently modified some elements of that order, and allowed gyms to reopen for outdoor activities, but indoor fitness remained off-limits at gyms for most Oregonians including those who work out in the Portland area. The new rules allow theaters to open in extreme risk risk areas, too, but with the six-person restriction. Indoor dining remains off limits in those areas. Over the past 11 days, though, the number of new infections identified each day has fallen sharply. The number of hospitalizations are down considerably, too. We have seen over the last several weeks that Oregonians have largely complied with risk levels to the point that we have not seen a surge in hospitalizations that would have jeopardized hospital capacity, Brown said in a statement Tuesday. This means we are able to make these adjustments for Extreme Risk counties, which should assist both businesses and Oregonians as we continue to work to stop the spread of COVID-19. The changes take effect Friday. They allow six people in spaces of at least 500 square feet, and individual personal training in smaller spaces. The Oregon Health & Fitness Alliance, which formed last fall to lobby against the governors closure order for gyms, said it is extremely disappointed with Browns new framework. The organization said most gyms require 10 to 15 staff to operate. Unfortunately, this means that most of Oregons well-known health and fitness clubs, which serve so many vulnerable and elderly Oregonians who need access to the unique health and wellness services these facilities provide, will not be allowed to reopen under these extreme, irrational and unworkable limitations, the alliance said. The safety of indoor workouts is hotly contested. Fitness centers have noted that few COVID-19 cases have been traced back to gyms, but contract tracing is notoriously incomplete in Oregon and most other states. A widely cited November study found gyms had been among the most likely places to contract the coronavirus, but those findings were based on data from last spring. Mask wearing and other precautions adopted since then may have reduced risk. Update: -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain New Zealand confirmed two new cases of the more virulent South African COVID-19 strain in the community Thursday, as investigators scrambled to determine how the virus breached border controls. Health officials said the pair, an adult and child, caught the virus in the same quarantine facility as a woman who tested positive over the weekend, ending a run of more than two months with no cases in the community. They said the facilitythe Pullman Hotel in Aucklandwas allowing no quarantine arrivals or departures as teams examine how the infection spread. "It does suggest that something's happened in the Pullman where these people have potentially come into contact with each other, that investigation will continue," Minister for COVID-19 Response Chris Hipkins told Newstalk ZB. Hipkins said all close contacts linked to the three cases had so far tested negative and he was hopeful the outbreak had been contained. "I'm fairly optimistic but you never know with these things," he said. "The first 48 hours is in any of these investigations tells you a lot." New Zealand demands all overseas arrivals undergo two weeks' quarantine and test negative before entering the community. The new cases passed all the requirements but tested positive after leaving the managed isolation facility. Coronavirus alert levels in New Zealand have not been raised as a result, with few restrictions meaning domestic life in the country of five million remains near normal. However, the cases have prompted long queues at testing stations in Auckland, where a second-wave virus outbreak forced a two-week lockdown last August. The South African coronavirus variant is more contagious than previous strains, although the World Health Organization has said there is no clear evidence it leads to more severe disease or a higher death rate. New Zealand has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic, recording just 25 coronavirus deaths and less than 2,000 confirmed cases in a population of around five million. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Three Plead Not Guilty to Robbery, Drug Charges By West Kentucky Star Staff BENTON - Three men facing multiple charges appeared in Marshall County court on Tuesday.Records show Dalton Brown, Devin Brown and Ethan Harrison entered not guilty pleas before Judge James Jamison. All three men face charges of robbery, possession of meth, possession of marijuana, and fleeing or evading police. The Browns also face a charge each of wanton endangerment, and Harrison faces a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.A status hearing on these cases has been set for March 23.The charges stem from an October 14 pursuit that began in a business parking lot after Marshall County Sheriff's Deputies responded to a call about an attempted armed robbery. The suspects drove through yards and along city streets, almost striking another vehicle, before jumping from the vehicle and attempting to flee on foot. Deputies say they recovered guns and drugs during a search.On the Net: A patient receives a drive-up COVID-19 vaccination in the US state of Washington as the country tries to get on top of its massive virus outbreak More than 100 million COVID-19 cases have now been recorded worldwide, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday, as newly-inaugurated President Joe Biden pledged to ramp up the United States's struggling vaccine program. The number of cases, compiled from data provided by national health agencies, represents just a fraction of the real infections as the coronavirus has spread around the globe. The United States, which passed 25 million confirmed cases last weekend, remains the country with the largest outbreakand the largest death toll of over 420,000. Biden is seeking to turn around the fight against the virus, which took a ferocious grip on the country during Donald Trump's presidency when the risks were downplayed and officials gave mixed messages on mask-wearing other safety measures. Biden said vaccinating the entire US population was a daunting challenge, and the program inherited from the Trump administration "was in worse shape than we anticipated or expected." "This is a war-time undertaking. It's not hyperbole," he said, announcing the US was buying an additional 200 million doses and will have enough to vaccinate 300 million Americansvirtually the entire populationby early fall. In another day of grim milestones, Britain surged past 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, and other European nations looked to tighten their borders, hoping to keep out new, more transmissible virus strains. Police officers patrol the streets of Rotterdam a day after clashes with demonstrators protesting against new Covid-19 restrictions Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was "hard to compute" the loss felt by British families after his country became the first European country to surpass 100,000 COVID-19 deaths. But he said his government, which faced criticism over its initial response to the outbreak, "did everything that we could to minimize suffering and minimize loss of life." 'Drastic measures' According to the London Times, the UK government will announce Wednesday that British travellers must quarantine in hotels near airports for 10 days after returning from 30 high-risk countries, mostly in South America and Southern Africa. Neighboring Ireland said Tuesday it would enact mandatory travel quarantines for the first time, as well extending its third national lockdown until March 5. Among other European nations looking to strengthen border controls was Germany, which said it is considering almost completely halting flights into the country. "The danger from the numerous virus mutations forces us to consider drastic measures," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the Bild newspaper. Distribution of Covid-19 cases by world region since the start of the pandemic Iceland meanwhile started to issue vaccination certificates to ease travel for those who have had both required doses. The new measures came as anger rises over grinding anti-coronavirus restrictions, with the Netherlands rocked by nightly riots since it imposed a curfew on Saturday. More than 400 people were arrested after the worst unrest to hit the country in four decades, but the Dutch government said it would not back down. "You don't capitulate to people who smash shop windows," Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra said, calling the rioters "scum." Israeli police also clashed with protesters, arresting 14 people after ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated against lockdown measures. With the global death toll at 2.1 million, the world has looked to vaccines to break the gloom, but bickering over access to doses has intensified. Tensions have in particular mounted between the European Union and pharmaceutical firms over delays to deliveries. "Europe invested billions to help develop the world's first COVID-19 vaccines," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen told the virtual World Economic Forum (WEF). "And now, the companies must deliver. They must honor their obligations." A nurse in Athens takes a swab from a homeless man for an antigenic test as Greece faces a new wave of Covid-19 infections 'Vaccine nationalism' Europe's vaccination campaign stumbled after British-Swedish drugs company AstraZeneca warned it would not be able to meet promised targets on EU shipmentsa week after US group Pfizer said it was also delaying delivery volumes. AstraZeneca's CEO insisted Tuesday that the company was not selling vaccines ordered by the EU to other countries at a profit. The widening gap for vaccine supplies between rich and poor countries led both South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to lash out at "vaccine nationalism." Ramaphosa told the WEF that low- and middle-income countries were being shouldered aside by wealthier nations able to acquire "up to four times what their population needs." The row over access to vaccines at the WEFnormally held at the Swiss ski resort of Davoscomes as the pandemic compounds economic inequality. Despite Lebanon being under one of the world's strictest lockdowns, father-of-six Omar Qarhani told AFP he was still selling vegetables on the side of a road in Tripoli because he is desperate to support his family. The widening gap for vaccine supplies between rich and poor countries has led to accusations of "vaccine nationalism" "I'm not scared of coronawhat scares me is being in need and poverty," he said. The IMF now predicts a "cumulative output loss" of $22 trillionthe equivalent of the entire US economyover 2020-25. Nevertheless, optimism that vaccines will bring the pandemic under control and allow economic activity to resume, coupled with stimulus in major economies, boosted the IMF's growth forecast this year to 5.5 percent. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Yves here. This story on relocalizing food production is a counterpoint to our other Covid post today, which illustrated the cant do reflexes that are hindering Covid responses. I particularly like the small scale chicken farms idea. I never realized chickens were canopy birds. My sister in law had a go with them, and they all wound up as prey for hawks or coyotes. By April M. Short, an editor, journalist and documentary editor and producer. She is a writing fellow at Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Previously, she served as a managing editor at AlterNet as well as an award-winning senior staff writer for Santa Cruz, Californias weekly newspaper. Her work has been published with the San Francisco Chronicle, In These Times, Salon and many others. Produced by Local Peace Economy, a project of the Independent Media Institute The U.S. was once a haven for small-scale, family farmers. Today, food giants have gobbled up most of those family farms, creating the monstrous and unsustainable food industry known as Big Ag. The extent to which this massive, industrialized, global food system falls short became especially unmistakable in 2020. The current food system is fraying. It relies on the horrendous treatment of laborers, a wasteful allocation of resources, worldwide environmental devastationand in a pinch, can quickly devolve into near-collapse of the entire system, as evidenced by the delays, shortages and pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the deepening hunger crisis in America. Among the many necessary systemic changes 2020 has illuminated is the need to majorly restructure the way we cultivate and access food in our communities. Faced with the shortcomings of the current food systems, food producers across the Pacific Northwest have been innovating ways to reestablish locally sourced, regional food systems. In the process of localizing the food supply chain, they aim to establish food security for their communities, create local jobs and support the surrounding ecosystems. During a free, online event called Festival of What Works, which took place in November 2020, entrepreneurs from an array of backgrounds shared their success stories to demonstrate how it is possible to build and scale local food production across geography as well as institutions and create more food-secure communities. The festival was a project of a newly launched eco-trust network called Salmon Nation. It gathered a collection of voices from various cultures and focuses, to showcase solution-oriented projects from Northern California through Alaska (a region called Salmon Nation by many of the areas Indigenous people) that offer place-based responses to the current political, economic and climate realities. Here are three examples of localized food projects successfully challenging the current systemall of which lend themselves to replication in other areas. 1. Localizing Flour Mills Across a Region When food giants wiped out family farmers, mills were no exception. Just about 120 years ago there were 24,000 mills in the United States. Today there are only 180. In recent years, both Indigenous groups and small-scale, independent farmers in the Pacific Northwest have started to bring back regional grain farms and flour mills. These mills process non-commodity grains that are meant to grow within the specific regions where they are cultivated, and a regionally oriented food supply chain is beginning to reemerge around flour produced by the mills. Kevin Morse, the founder of the regionally sourced and operated Cairnspring Mills flour mill in the Skagit Valley in Washington, says he founded the company as a way to bring back small-scale, local flour milling and respond to the ecological problems and issues of climate resilience associated with large-scale production. The Cairnspring Mills sources from grain farmers across the region between Northern California and Northern Washington. [Regional food supply chains will be key into the future] when it comes to climate resilience because were going to have food deserts and food shortages, Morse says. By bringing back local supply chains and local production capacity to turn that crop into food, we automatically make the community more resilient because were not relying on imports. A video on the companys website details how Cairnspring Mills was instrumental in keeping flour in production in the region during the COVID-19 outbreak. When many food supply chains were interrupted and grocery aisles sat empty, many of them without flour for months, Cairnspring stayed in operation and supported other local businesses in the process. Our supply chain is local, our grain storage is local, so we never skipped a beat on production [during the pandemic], Morse says. We were able to keep people employed and were able to help businesses that relied on flour to stay in operation. We were [also] able to keep the farmers farming and give them contracts so that they could go to the bank and get their financing. [Having a local mill] really brings back control [and] resilience. During the Food Democracy at Scale panel discussion on November 16, 2020, at the Festival of What Works, speaking about Cairnspring, Morse said that it is the first craft mill in this country, and currently operates at a similar scale to some of the early craft beer companies and small coffee roasters. He said the mill is doing for flour what Starbucks did for coffee and Sierra Nevada did for craft beer. The mill has the capacity to make about 7 million pounds of flour per year, and it sells its flour to the surrounding community via commercial customers and craft bakeriesboth locally and down the West Coast region into Northern California. In comparison, a single mill belonging to the large-scale milling companies in operation today can make the same amount of flour his mill produces in a year, in just two days, he says. He, however, pointed out in the panel discussion that the flour produced by these large-scale milling companies is a very different flour What they have brought us, unfortunately, is grain thats not healthy. What they have brought us is grain thats oftentimes polluted with chemicals or grown in monocrop environments, which are contributing to other issues we have with water quality and disease resistance They can source grain from Kazakhstan, Canada and Kansas, and that could all be in that white bag on your shelf. He says Cairnspring is doing the exact opposite by sourcing from farmers and paying them premiums above commodity pricing so that they can stay economically viable while being incentivized to steward the land. Theyve helped provide a market for regionally viable grains that have long been used as a financially unsustainable rotation crop. And, theyre focused on producing a quality, flavorful craft product rather than driving down prices with mass production. Morse says when the pandemic hit, more people began to understand the importance of local food systems for community resilience and in the six months since March, the business has raised $2 million. Theres been a shift in consciousnessnot only of people seeing the need for this, but more people are seeing that its just a better product and it has real market potential, he says. Morse has a background in farming, economic development and conservation ecology. Prior to founding the mill, he worked for a decade with the Nature Conservancy and was director of the Puget Sound Working Lands Program. It was his job, he says, to find ways to align conservation and farming, to achieve conservation outcomes on private land. After working in various fields for 35 years, he came to see that all of the things he cared aboutfrom regenerative and sustainable farming to conservationwere in response to a food system that wasnt serving us well. He explains that as the food system was centralized, local communities lost their access to local food processors. This, in turn, forced farmers into the commodities system, or into single-buyer markets, making them more vulnerable to market changes, and pricing out the majority of small-scale farmers. He came to realize that many of the environmental issues he came across in his worklike issues with water quality or wildlife habitatstem from that commodity system. Modern farming and chemical agriculture were destroying habitat and not giving farmers an alternative market to take care of their lands, he says. Ive never met a farmer that says, Id really love to use more chemicals on my land, or I really dont want to see any wildlife on my land. He came to realize that in order to rebuild local food systems, there was a need to rebuild local processing infrastructure. He also realized farmers would need to get a higher premium for their higher-value, better-tasting, more nutritious products. Thankfully, were at a time where the consumers are demanding cleaner food and they have more awareness of the challenges with some of our modern agriculture, Morse says. The idea to create a local mill came out of community interest in adding value to local grains, which were seen as a crop that farmers have lost money on for a hundred years, but theyve used in cereal grain rotations as a way to break disease cycles and add organic matter to the soil to maintain a high quality in their other cash crops like potatoes or brassicas, Morse adds. At the time Morse had the idea for the mill, the Washington State University Bread Lab as well as port officials at the Port of Skagit, farmers and other interested stakeholders were already looking into better ways to utilize the grains grown in the region. The mill now provides a local, resilient model of producing flour using those undervalued regional grainsand the model encourages ecologically supportive farming practices. [Farmers] have a market incentive to improve their stewardship of the land for healthy soils, water conservation, carbon sequestration, he says. Theyre incentivized to implement those best practices instead of pushing them to the side because they cant afford them in the current commodity system. Looking at the next five years or so, Morse says the company is considering expanding to bring small, locally operated mills with similar models into other regionsbut not before the current mill is well established. Were looking at a half-dozen places around the West, maybe one or two on the East Coast that are prime for partnerships and collaboration with new communities to build new mills. 2. A Regenerative Way to Farm Chickens An innovative chicken farming model in British Columbia could help pave the way for a new standard of poultry farming that is regenerative and solar-powered. The system is referred to as poultry-centered regenerative agriculture (PCRA), and Skeena Energy Solutions (SES), a project started by the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC), is putting it into action. It has 1,500 chickens living in sustainably built, solar-powered coops, with free range to wander during the day under a low canopy of brush, which encourages increased egg production and healthier birds while also fertilizing and replenishing the soil where the birds graze. Canopy is really important as we discovered because chickens are jungle fowl, [not pasture animals], says Kesia Nagata, energy coordinator for SWCC. She notes that even if poultry farms are free-range, but the range does not have a covering canopy to allow chickens to hide from potential predators, chickens wandering range will stay limited. The regenerative poultry model gives the birds free access to rotating, fenced grazing areas. Rotating the area where the birds graze allows chickens to fertilize and nourish the soil while avoiding damage to the land by overuse, Nagata explains. The chickens are given locally grown feed from small-scale producers, and the project has hired local workers, the majority of them Indigenous people, who are paid living wages. One of the big incentives for SWCC to explore the regenerative chicken farm concept is that it models a potential way for communities to stimulate their local farming economies. Ideally, it provides a method of raising 1,500 healthy, productive chickens at once on plots of land that are two acres or smaller, which keeps the cost of entry low. With this set-up on 1.5 to 2.5 acres, a single farmer can work three hours a day to produce 4,500 four-pound, free-range chickens in nine months, along with thousands of pounds of nuts, berries, and other cash crops [translating] to over $80,000 (meat) or $250,000 (eggs) gross income per year, per single plot, states an article by BC Local News while quoting a description of the project provided by SES. The idea behind the pilot chicken farm program was to demonstrate a sustainable, land-based, inclusive, ecologically and socially viable way of farming, Nagata says. She says the idea to incorporate a chicken farming model for an organization like SWCC, which is usually focused on salmon, was inspired by a similar regenerative farming project in Minnesota that works to pair Indigenous and immigrant farmers with small land plots. The focus of [SWCC] is to look at community economic development as a basis for salmon conservation, and its all holistic. If you dont have communities that are healthy and wealthy and connected, they dont have the privilege to protect the land that they depend on, she says. The pandemic, intense weather and other unforeseen hiccups delayed certain aspects of the project as it was getting set up through 2020, and Nagata says one of the goals for SWCC is to work through all the potential kinks so that they can eventually offer a streamlined, regenerative chicken farming model that small-scale farmers might be able to replicate across the region. We wouldnt expect a small-scale, low-income farmer to be able to do all of the research and take all the losses that we are taking, she says. Our hope is that we can iron out those details to make it a lot more accessible to people and potentially have a working business plan and a template for how to get loans and grants and so on for this type of project. Because its so adaptable. The whole thing can be scaled. Nagata says while the projects first months have illuminated the challenges inherent to straying from the current food system, they also ended up stimulating the local economy in some unexpected ways. Ive been really humbled by how hard it is to make such a tiny little dent in such a huge problemas well as having to be part of the problem in some ways in order to make it workbut I get excited about the fact that one project like this has inspired so many people to think about how else they can tag onto it, she says. Supportive jobs, businesses, and products can be created around this one ideaand thats where the real economic development part is for me. Like, okay, great, there are some chickens. But theres also a chicken soup and a chicken pie company. There are also local grain growers. Weve got the local feed store interested in helping out. There are also all the administrative jobs involved in running things. Theres also the potential for pet foodand whatever else. Theres so much potential for change from a single project like this. 3. Sustainable Livestock Ranching The American meat industry is unsustainable, and beef alone carries a significant carbon footprint. During the Food Democracy at Scale panel discussion at the Festival of What Works, Cory Carman, a fourth-generation cattle rancher, shared how and why she operates Carman Ranch, which is spread across 5,000 acres, as a sustainable, grass-fed, locally oriented meat business. Carman Ranch, located in Northeast Oregon, is a century-old family business that raises grass-fed cows on an open pasture. The main focus of their business is on building healthy, carbon-sequestering soil while producing beef that is more nutritious and healthier than many of the mass-produced options. The ranch recently began to partner with other family ranch producers across the greater region in order to stay afloat in a meat industry saturated by major conglomerates. Carman said as she took charge of the family ranch and looked at what the fourth generation of the farm would need to look like into the future, she realized partnerships with other producers would be key. Individuals doing their own thing is not how you create change, she said in the panel. I started marketing grass-fed beef from our ranch and added additional producers from our region. Now we work with eight to ten producers in the Northwest, from Montana into Idaho, Washington and Northern California, to provide a year-round supply of grass-fed beef. The operations of Carman Ranch are also unique in that they ship cattle directly from the farm where they are raised to the meat-processing plant. From there, the meat goes directly to wholesale, or directly to the customerand all of these steps happen within the local region. These steps are highly uncommon in the meat industry. Carman said in the panel that the ranch produces 20,000 to 30,000 pounds of meat per week, on average. This is far less than what industrial cattle farms produce, and Carman said the biggest meat players can produce in a single day or even half a day what their ranch produces in a year. What they do provide, bolstered by regional partnerships, is enough to meet the demand for their product, which remains niche, and has a dedicated customer base. [Our customers] share our vision [about] what the food system could look like and the values the food system could deliver, she said during the panel discussion. And, through the COVID-19 pandemic, theyve already proven more resilient than the large-scale meat industry. When it comes to food security, with the huge processing [plants] shut down [due to COVID], we werent impacted at all, she said in the panel. We have been a family-owned, smaller-scale processing facility, and a smaller crew that could take much more precautions Nothing about our supply chain was impacted at all through COVID. Rather than focusing on expanding or scaling up their production to drive down costs, the company is focused on carving out a space in the market with their present setup, and investing the time to develop a successful long-term alternative to the unrealistic mainstream model. There is absolutely a vision toward changing the whole food system, she said. My biggest hope is if we have some success it will only make it easier for other people who want to do that same type of work. Their ultimate goal is to serve as a model or learning laboratory for sustainable meat production that future farms can pick up and replicate, Carman said. And, according to her, Carman Ranch is in a unique position to explore what does and doesnt work well, as they have investors who support their larger vision of a more sustainable future for meat. We have a really distinct theory of change, [which] is that the food system of the future will be more distributed, more regional, and it will be scaled to ecological realities, not processing realities, she said in the panel. In that, we think about something like livestock production, we think about the places where it makes sense to [raise] livestock and how different regional companies could be connected to each other. In our vision of the future, there are a lot of regional grass-fed beef companies and they collaborate to potentially trade cuts, to do things like value-added co-packing that would benefit from aggregating products, maybe they do marketing together. She said that collaboration with other regional producers is what keeps the larger vision alive and inspired. The biggest breakthrough moments and things that bring me joy, they have to do with our alignment as a group around things like regenerative agriculture, soil health principles, carbon sequestration, animal welfare, she said. All these disparate producers are aligned; were doing things like nutrition testing on our beef to help us internally understand what the relationship is between the soil health and nutritional density of the beef. Those are really esoteric things for the customers, but that sort of foundation of all of us working together, around these shared goals and vision is the success that we feel every day. New Delhi: Donald Trump's former counselor Kellyanne Conway got it all wrong on social media recently. She 'accidentally' posted a topless picture of her daughter Claudia Conway on Twitter but was quick to delete it. However, netizens were faster than her to take screenshots of the post which went viral on social media. Claudia, 16 took to TikTok and posted a video confirming that the viral picture was hers. But the video was later deleted. She stated that her mom's Twitter account was allegedly hacked. Reports of trouble between the mother and daughter surfaced sometime back when latter posted some TikTok videos against her mom Kellyanne accusing her of abuse. According to NJ.com, in one her videos, Claudia said, "Social media is a really dark place and instead of shining light on the situation, hate and violence were incited, and that was never ever my intention, nor my moms." After this faux pas on social media, several users thronged Twitter and expressed their displeasure over the incident. Netizens showed support towards Claudia Conway and even ran online campaign seeking justice for the teen with hashtag #JusticeForClaudiaConway. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Advertisement Astronauts were outside the International Space Station installing a British-built terminal that allows them to beam data from scientific experiments back to Earth at broadband speeds. NASA's Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins started the six hour and 56 minute mission at 11:28 GMT, just over half an hour earlier than the originally projected 12:05 GMT start time. Over the course of the mission they mounted a suitcase-sized broadband terminal to the outside of the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus module. The Columbus Ka-band Terminal (ColKa) will 'revolutionise scientists' ability to access the results of space-based experiments', according to the UK Space Agency. ColKa is the UK's first major industrial contribution to the ISS and will help scientists monitor their experiments remotely from Earth and get results more quickly. Over the course of the mission mounted a suitcase-sized broadband terminal to the outside of the European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus module NASA 's Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins started the 6.5 hour mission at 11:28 GMT, just over half an hour earlier than the originally projected 12:05 GMT start time Hopkins and Glover worked on completing cable and antenna rigging for the wider science payload platform outside the Columbus module. Tethered to the ISS by a retractable steel cable, the astronauts faced challenging conditions as they worked to install the terminal, orbiting 250 miles above the Earth. While floating in the dark abyss of space, Glover attached a foot restrain to the end of the ISS's robot arm and was carried to the ESA's Columbus module by the craft's space crane - and the pair installed the Ka-band data relay antenna. The duo then routed cables to connect the Barolomeo experiment platform to the Columbus model, but only four of the six were able to properly connect. After attempting to connect the other two and failing, Hopkins capped the two cables and tied down them down to hold them in place. The spacewalk finished at 1:24pm ET, pushing the mission over its 6.5 hour slot by 25 minutes. Both astronauts went without food for hours as they worked in the harsh thermal vacuum of space, where the temperature can be as hot as 248F (120C) in the sunlight, down to -256F (-160C) when the sun is out of sight. ColKa is the UK's first major industrial contribution to the ISS and will help scientists monitor their experiments remotely from Earth and get results more quickly The results of experiments on the Columbus module are already helping researchers understand how muscles age, illnesses like Parkinson's and even potential space mining techniques - the new antenna and terminal will speed up the findings The new Ka-band terminal, built by British firm MDA, will bring high-bandwidth communications to European ground stations - independent of NASA infrastructure. The results of experiments on the Columbus module are already helping researchers understand how muscles age, illnesses like Parkinson's and even potential space mining techniques - the new antenna and terminal will speed up the findings. Currently, results are returned to earth on a hard drive, which could take months to receive, with data sometimes being lost in transit. The new terminal will allow results to be delivered to scientists just a day or two after the data is recorded. This will allow scientists to process information much more quickly and adjust experiments if they see any problems with the data, such as an unclear image. Science minister Amanda Solloway said the mission 'exemplifies how government backing is helping our most innovative companies push the boundaries of what we can achieve in space as well as back home on Earth.' 'Strengthening the speed at which data can be transmitted from space will bring enormous benefits to scientists and researchers across Europe,' she said. This will help them 'progress vital research faster, while opening up numerous commercial opportunities for UK firms as we build back better.' The Columbus Ka-band Terminal (ColKa) will 'revolutionise scientists' ability to access the results of space-based experiments', according to the UK Space Agency The data will be transmitted to a ground station at Harwell, Oxfordshire, near ESA's European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications. From there it will be transferred to the Columbus Control Centre and a range of other user centres across Europe. Columbus was conceived and designed more 20 years ago, when the internet was in its infancy, launched to the Station in 2008 and uses the Station's network and NASA infrastructure for communications with the Columbus Control Centre. David Kenyon, managing director at MDA UK based in Harwell, which designed and built ColKa using the RAL Space clean rooms on the Harwell Campus, said: 'We are extremely excited that ColKa is being brought into service. ColKa is the UK's first major industrial contribution to the ISS and will help scientists monitor their experiments remotely from Earth and get results more quickly 'This system is our first flight system developed through MDA UK, and we now have equipment for another seven flight missions, including four lunar systems, under development in Harwell. 'ColKa will bring tremendous benefit to all our ESA astronauts, scientists and projects.' To date, UK scientists have been involved in 17 experiments that have taken place on the ISS and 33 others that are currently being developed and readied for flight. In total, more than 2,700 investigations from researchers in 108 countries have been accomplished aboard the orbiting facility. Bachelorette star Elly Miles has issues a public apology for attending an Australia Day pool party just hours after attending a change the date protest. The influencer received backlash after delivering a sombre speech about how painful Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, shortly before downing shots at a boozy backyard bash. Addressing the furore in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the 26-year-old wrote: 'To answer people's comments from yesterday, there is nothing else I can say in this situation other than "I am sorry". 'I am sorry': Bachelorette star Elly Miles has issues a public apology for attending an Australia Day pool party just hours after attending a change the date protest 'I had a complete lapse of judgment and have a lot of regret for my actions. I sincerely apologise for upsetting anyone,' she added. 'I stand by my attendance at the Change the Date protest and feel that it is an incredibly important issue. I truly wasn't being insincere with my attendance. 'I know how it looks, we all make mistakes - I made one yesterday and all I can say once again, from the bottom of my heart, is that I truly am sorry.' Remorseful: Addressing the furore in an Instagram post on Wednesday, the 26-year-old issued an emotional apology 'I had a complete lapse of judgment and have a lot of regret for my actions. I sincerely apologise for upsetting anyone,' she wrote On Tuesday morning, the Bondi influencer uploaded a video of herself delivering a sombre speech about how painful Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, before sharing a photo of herself attending an 'Invasion Day' protest in Sydney. Just hours later, however, the nurse raised eyebrows by documenting herself attending a boozy Australia Day pool party. The rather tone-deaf sequence of events wasn't lost on Elly's Instagram followers, many of whom accused her of being a hypocrite. 'Beyond tone deaf': Elly was slammed for sharing an 'Invasion Day' message on Instagram (left) - just hours before attending a wild Australia Day pool party (right) One fan wrote: 'Just a little contradicting and confusing to be posting about your support with changing the date and then heading to what one can assume would be an Australia Day party... as it's a party on Australia Day? 'I hope you acknowledge this. I'll be eager to see your reasoning.' Another commented on Elly's Instagram page: 'It is very upsetting to see you post a change the date post on this day of mourning, yet you go to an Australia Day party the same day. This is so disappointing and beyond tone deaf.' 'Be the change': On Tuesday morning, the Bondi influencer, 26, uploaded a video of herself delivering a sombre speech about how painful Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, before sharing a photo of herself attending an 'Invasion Day' protest in Sydney (pictured) Other followers accused Elly of feigning empathy for Indigenous people to improve her public image as an influencer. 'Your manager must have reminded you to give some lip service and a quick pic and then off to get blind and party. Performative influencers,' one fan grumbled. Another agreed: 'I feel like these influencers say something about it just to say they did. Maybe because they'll cop s**t if they don't?' In her speech on Tuesday morning, Elly told fans 'it would just be so good if we could change the date' and insisted she would love 'everybody in Australia to celebrate Australia on a day that isn't severely traumatic and awful for our Indigenous cultures'. Not a care in the world! That afternoon, Elly shared a far more upbeat video of herself attending a backyard pool party She even said she had gone out of her way to start 'conversations' with her 'Indigenous friends' about what Invasion Day means to them. 'If you feel like you don't know enough, have a conversation. Like start a conversation, that's how my view has changed,' she said. 'Because growing up I had celebrated Australia Day but I just didn't know any better. And it took me to have conversations with some Indigenous friends and work colleagues for me to truly understand the meaning of the day for Indigenous culture, and it's not good,' she added. 'Just a little contradicting and confusing': The rather tone-deaf sequence of events wasn't lost on Elly's Instagram followers, many of whom accused her of being a hypocrite A few hours after this thoughtful speech, Elly shared a far more upbeat video of herself attending a backyard pool party. 'Get me to the pool,' Elly wrote as she posed in a bathrobe and snakeskin bikini. Throughout the festivities, Elly was seen drinking with pals, taking shots of tequila and posing for busty mirror selfies. India signed a strategic partnership framework on Wednesday with the International Energy Agency (IEA), the worlds premier energy monitor, further bolstering the countrys energy security and its cleaner fuel transition plans. The development comes at a time when international energy markets have been volatile and amid rising tensions between China and India, the worlds second- and third-largest crude oil importers. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic The Strategic Partnership Framework represents a new phase in the relationship between the IEA and India, the worlds third-largest energy consumer, making it the first IEA Association country to take a formal step to further advance ties with the Agency," IEA said in a statement. IEAs 30-member countries also hold 1.55 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks. In addition, 650 million barrels are held by industry under government obligations and can be released as needed. The MoU was signed by Indias power secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai and Dr. Fatih Birol, IEAs executive director. This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of the IEA," the power ministry said. The Paris-based agency is keen on India becoming a member as Indias entry will boost the global energy security apparatus and add heft to its dealings with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)-plus grouping. Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil producer has recently cut production, leading to price volatility. Opec makes up about 40% of global output and 83% of Indias oil imports. The contents of the strategic partnership will be jointly decided by the IEA members and India, including a phased increase in benefits and responsibilities for India as an IEA strategic partner, and building on existing areas of work within Association and the Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP), such as energy security, clean and sustainable energy, energy efficiency, enhancing petroleum storage capacity in India, expansion of gas-based economy in India etc.," the statement said. This marks a major milestone in global energy governance that could lead to eventual IEA membership for India," the statement added. Eligibility criteria for becoming a member includes maintaining emergency oil reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports. India stores 10 days of the countrys crude oil requirements currently, with domestic refiners also maintaining 65 days of crude storage. In addition, the government is building strategic crude oil reserves to support another 12 days of crude oil needs. The partnership with IEA also comes at a time when US President Joe Biden has recommitted to the Paris Agreement. Some of the strategies adopted to meet the objective of energy security and energy transition by India include a faster clean energy trajectory. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. GREENVILLE Veteran educator Mary Nell Anthony has been looking for cues from news reports and state agencies on when the school she leads, Greenville Technical Charter High School, might expect to receive doses of the coronavirus vaccine for staff and teachers. South Carolina remains in the earliest phase of what will be a monthslong rollout of vaccinations, so it was a pleasant surprise when the principal received notification last week that a team of pharmacists would set up a Moderna vaccine clinic at her school on Friday morning. "It all came about very quickly," Anthony told The Post and Courier on Tuesday. Turns out it was a mistake, albeit one educators agreed unanimously was a fortunate one. With vaccinations already underway at the charter school Friday, the pharmacists realized they should not be there. "They'd already opened the packages and started, and so they, we, kept going," Anthony said. "The decision was made to fulfill the commitment." Anthony said about 35 of the 43 teachers and support staff who work at her school received vaccines on Friday and are lined up to receive the second shot in about a month. She did not disclose which pharmacy chain had come to her school for the clinic. CVS and Walgreens have been holding Moderna clinics at long-term care facilities since late December as part of a contract with the federal government. The Post and Courier reviewed state records, last updated on Monday, and Greenville Tech was not listed among facilities that have received Moderna vaccine allocations. Anthony said she did not want to get anyone in trouble and that the mistake was an honest one. The person who organized her school's clinic last week is coordinating vaccinations for several states, she said. "There's been lots of difficulties with getting definitive answers and what order it's going in and who's doing what," Anthony said. "You know, 'Who's on first?' " General confusion The mix-up underscores ongoing confusion as states across the country undertake varying strategies for rolling out vaccines and agencies within South Carolina handle vaccinations independent of each other. Health systems across the state are receiving their own allocations of the Pfizer vaccine. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is getting additional doses, which it allocates to areas of the state that do not have the infrastructure for the Pfizer vaccine's deep cold storage. The big-chain pharmacies are coordinating their rollout with the federal government. DHEC receives pharmacy reports after the fact. Meanwhile, charter schools operate with their own boards, independent of each other and local school districts. Anthony was on her own. She said she never heard from DHEC. Greenville Tech's charter school is on a remote learning schedule, Anthony said, in keeping with her board's decision to keep students and teachers out of the building when coronavirus spread in Greenville County is high. The charter school, she said, is following attendance recommendations issued last summer from a state advisory board AccelerateED "to the letter." "Most of the studies that say kids don't pass the virus as well as adults are referencing elementary-age children and not high schoolers," Anthony said. "When you are 14 and 15 and up, you are transmitting it at the same rates as adults, and so that makes a difference." Greenville Tech's charter high school, located on the campus of the community college just off Cleveland Street, has 450 students in grades nine through 12. By contrast, about 35,000 elementary and middle school students are attending classes in person five days a week in Greenville County public schools, and high school students are at 75 percent in-person attendance. Thousands of Greenville-area public school parents have signed a petition in recent weeks objecting to the near full-attendance strategy, and teachers have quietly expressed their worries to local media. The school district has also grappled with a vocal segment of the community one that helped three new school board members get elected in November that has argued the academic and social risks to students not being in school far outweigh the health risks of having them there. Sign up for our Greenville weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Upstate. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Greenville news staff. Email Sign Up! Calling it a "happy accident," Greenville County schools parent Carmela Epright, a medical ethicist at Furman, said she doesn't begrudge the charter school employees getting vaccinated, but said she wishes a school at full attendance had stumbled upon the vaccines. Teachers, she said, are "essential workers for essential workers" in a community where parents cannot afford to stay home with their kids. "Of course the one vaccination clinic happens for the teachers who are not at risk," Epright said. "How does that happen?" With teachers vaccinated and other safety precautions now in place air purifiers and plexiglass Anthony said she anticipates having students back in classrooms by March. South Carolina Department of Education spokesman Ryan Brown first learned of the charter school's good fortune when a reporter called him Tuesday for comment. "I'm glad to hear that some teachers at a random charter school happened to get vaccinated," Brown said. He called it the best news he'd heard all day. Greenville County schools spokesman Tim Waller echoed Brown's congratulations to the charter school. "When we heard, we looked into it immediately to see what was going on to make sure we hadn't missed something," Waller said. "Then when we learned about the circumstances in which the vaccinations were given, we understood, it made sense." Teacher vaccinations As for when all the state's other teachers will get vaccinated, that is likely months away. A pair of statewide education advocacy groups the Palmetto State Teachers Association and the South Carolina Education Association posted a letter to the governor on Friday asking that teachers get a higher priority for vaccination. Teachers are currently slated for Phase 1B in the rollout. South Carolina remains in Phase 1A and, according to recent state testimony, is hundreds of thousands of inoculations short of reaching the nearly 1 million people in that first group. A New York Times report on Tuesday ranked South Carolina 39th out of 50 states in its vaccine rollout. Brown said his agency is in the process now of tallying precisely how many teachers and eligible support staff at every public school in the state can and want to be vaccinated. The Education Department will forward this data to the governor's office and DHEC to better inform them as they prepare the Phase 1B strategy. "For 11 months we've been told just how essential teachers are to South Carolina's economy," Waller said Tuesday. "So we believe that educators should be among the first in that 1B category to receive the COVID-19 vaccine." The Greenville County school district alone employs about 10,000 people, 6,000 of whom are teachers. "I am sure there are some very deserving teachers in Greenville and, well, in every school district across the state, that are working face-to-face that would have loved to have gotten vaccinated," Brown said. Waller said Prisma Health will administer vaccinations for the school district when the time comes. "We have not heard directly from Prisma Health in a couple of weeks," Waller said, "but they have promised to update us as soon as they hear from DHEC on the vaccine rollout for teachers." Anthony said she has mixed feelings about her employees accidentally jumping the line. Her teachers commented, she said, that this was the "first step back toward normal." "I feel guilty because the fact it isn't open to everybody," Anthony said. "Like I said, I misunderstood, too. I'm so grateful and excited for my staff and my people." In her first year on the job, Ms. Katz has established a review unit for potential wrongful convictions in the borough, supported a total of four exonerations and stopped heavily prosecuting several categories of low-level, nonviolent crimes. She has garnered support from those who say that she has begun to usher in changes in an office that was long committed to a tough-on-crime philosophy. Still, some defense lawyers in the borough said, Ms. Katz has not moved forcefully enough. The offices historically lax approach to handling misconduct and its reluctance to discipline prosecutors may still linger, they say. The inflection point in Queens arrives amid a fraught national conversation about the fundamental fairness of the nations criminal justice system. That debate has played out in protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd that focused largely on policing. But it has also led district attorneys across the country to adopt a wave of changes including efforts to limit cash bail and halt prosecutions for minor crimes that are aimed at lowering racial disparities in criminal justice. With violent crime surging in New York City during the pandemic, Ms. Katz, who was cast by progressives as the establishment-backed candidate in the race she won by just 60 votes, finds herself wedged between calls to upend the office and apprehension over the shifting approach to crime and punishment in the borough and across the country. In Brooklyn, the district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, created a policy that makes an effort to tailor prosecutions to avoid the deportation or detention of immigrants charged with certain crimes. In Philadelphia, Larry Krasner relaunched a unit to take on both wrongful convictions and past sentencing errors. And in Los Angeles, George Gascon was elected to the office last year on vows to reopen old police shooting cases that the incumbent had declined to prosecute. 18+ FOR.kg search news service (news aggregator, media aggregator) Read first Agreement on the use of the FOR.kg search site When using materials from the FOR.kg - reference to the source is required For all questions please contact customer support Advertisement Pamela Anderson has married her bodyguard after falling in love during the coronavirus lockdown, DailyMail.com can reveal. The former Baywatch beauty tied the knot for the fourth time with Dan Hayhurst, a builder from her small hometown, in an intimate ceremony on the grounds of her home on Vancouver Island, Canada on Christmas Eve. And in a world exclusive interview Anderson told DailyMailTV: 'I'm exactly where I need to be - in the arms of a man who truly loves me.' The star has also shared her stunning wedding photos and video, sharing an exclusive intimate look at her special day. Pamela Anderson has married her bodyguard Dan Hayhurst after the pair fell in love during the coronavirus lockdown, DailyMailTV can reveal DailyMailTV can reveal the couple tied the knot in an intimate Christmas Eve ceremony on the grounds of Anderson's home on Vancouver Island, Canada. The traditional wedding was held in the backyard of the sprawling countryside property Anderson bought from her grandparents in Ladysmith, on the east side of Vancouver Island 'I'm exactly where I need to be - in the arms of a man who truly loves me,' Canadian-born Anderson tells DailyMailTV in an exclusive interview. Anderson, originally from Canada, beams in the snaps of the nuptials conducted by a local pastor, during which the couple read traditional vows The Baywatch star shared stunning wedding photos and videos showing her elegant white gown, long 'Princess Diana veil' dragging in the mud and Hunter rain boots underneath her dress Anderson, originally from Canada, beams in the snaps of the nuptials conducted by a local pastor, during which the couple read traditional vows. Gentle drums played throughout the ceremony which was blessed by Canadian First Nation. Qiyupelenexw from Snuneymuxw First Nation acted as a witness and sang the Paddle Song, which signifies a new journey, while the couple and their property were blessed in a traditional 'cedar brushing' ceremony. The traditional wedding was held in the backyard of the sprawling countryside property Anderson bought from her grandparents in Ladysmith, on the east side of Vancouver Island. Pamela was born in Ladysmith, a remote fishing village in British Columbia, in 1967. She was raised in the area until Playboy moved her to Los Angeles. The ethereal beauty dazzled in a stunning white vintage wedding dress with structured sleeves and a long trailing bridal veil. Carrying a small bouquet of pink and white roses, Anderson was effortlessly elegant in the simple gown, while the groom dressed more casually in black trousers and a white shirt. Anderson met Hayhurst, who lived locally on Vancouver Island, at the beginning of lockdown last year. Since then, the pair have been together 24/7. 'This one year together has felt like seven like dog years', Anderson jokes. Anderson adds that they fell head over heels with each other and it was a 'natural fit'. Anderson met Hayhurst, who lived locally on Vancouver Island, at the beginning of lockdown last year. Since then, the pair have been together 24/7. Anderson wore a Cinderella blue bridal skirt and cream corseted ensemble styled by Janet Ross Underneath her wedding dress Anderson says she wore a pair of sturdy Hunter rain boots while standing on the muddy ground during the nuptials The bridal bouquet was loosely wrapped in dusty blue tulle to match the dress and included a blue hydrangea, echoing the ocean and symbolizing the water element of emotion The vegan double vanilla, triple coconut cake made especially for Anderson was topped with an antique handblown glass deer ornament to represent her love of animals and a snowy white carnation which symbolizes 'pure love' 'I was married on the property I bought from my grandparents 25 years ago, this is where my parents were married and they are still together. I feel like I've come full circle,' Anderson said Of their special day, the model and actress gushed: 'I am in love. We were married Christmas Eve with both our families' blessing, everyone we know is happy for us. 'I was married on the property I bought from my grandparents 25 years ago, this is where my parents were married and they are still together. I feel like I've come full circle.' Anderson wore a Cinderella blue bridal skirt and cream corseted ensemble styled by Janet Ross. She wore an antique 1940s Satin slip and soft blue silk ribbon corset from Lace Embrace with a tulle skirt by Joanna Delaney Bridal and her veil was by Valentino. 'I think this romantic property has a lot of healing energy, I'm at peace here. It's a big property but a few people passing by could see the fairytale gown with the long Princess Diana veil dragging in the mud. Heaven.' Underneath her wedding dress Anderson says she wore a pair of sturdy Hunter rain boots while standing on the muddy ground. 'It's the Canadian girl in me,' she said. Anderson and Hayhurst chose to have a simple, intimate wedding with no family or friends present. The coronavirus pandemic limited who they could invite to the nuptials, but Anderson admitted: 'We prefer to be ourselves.' Hayhurst didn't have a best man and Anderson chose not to have any bridesmaids. Of their special day, the model and actress gushed: 'I am in love. We were married Christmas Eve with both our families' blessing, everyone we know is happy for us' She wore an antique 1940s Satin slip and soft blue silk ribbon corset from Lace Embrace with a tulle skirt by Joanna Delaney Bridal and her veil was by Valentino The bridal bouquet was loosely wrapped in dusty blue tulle to match the dress and included a blue hydrangea, echoing the ocean and symbolizing the water element of emotion She wore an antique 1940s Satin slip and soft blue silk ribbon corset from Lace Embrace with a tulle skirt by Joanna Delaney Bridal and her veil was by Valentino 'I think this romantic property has a lot of healing energy, I'm at peace here. It's a big property but a few people passing by could see the fairytale gown with the long Princess Diana veil dragging in the mud. Heaven' The star, known for her elaborate outfits, also kept it simple by wearing no jewelry and 'no diamonds' on her wedding ring. After the nuptials Hayhurst kissed his beautiful bride and scooped her up in his arms. The bride and groom's cake was a simple two-tiered homemade vegan cake with a glass stag, pine tree and glittery heart on top. The vegan double vanilla, triple coconut cake made especially for Anderson was topped with an antique handblown glass deer ornament to represent her love of animals and a snowy white carnation which symbolizes 'pure love.' The bridal bouquet was loosely wrapped in dusty blue tulle to match the dress and included a blue hydrangea, echoing the ocean and symbolizing the water element of emotion. An olive branch was included for peace, roses for romantic love, babies breath for new beginnings, eucalyptus for purifying energies, the exotic orchid for passion, plus a pine bough which speaks to coastal ancestral roots from the property and mother earth. The cake, bridal bouquet and flowers were by Heather Ross/Natural Eclectic. Some wedding photos adhered to the vintage feel of the wedding while others were shot in an urban setting over the water in Vancouver. In one gritty yet elegant shot Anderson lies on the sidewalk in front of the OK Boot Corral, a boutique boot, hat and belt store in historic Gastown, in downtown Vancouver. In other photos she posed against a brick wall and a black security fence in stunning black and white shots. As to whether the newlyweds plan to take a honeymoon once travel restrictions are lifted, Anderson said wistfully: 'Every day is our honeymoon.' Some of Anderson's wedding photos adhered to the vintage feel of the wedding while others were shot in an urban setting over the water in Vancouver Anderson has been living in Ladysmith, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, since July 1, 2019. Since returning to her roots, she has invested $1million in the property she owns, renovating it to her tastes, and now says she's settling there with her new husband In other photos Anderson is seen posed against a brick wall and a black security fence in stunning black and white shots In one gritty yet elegant shot, Anderson lies on the sidewalk in front of the OK Boot Corral, a boutique boot, hat and belt store in historic Gastown, in downtown Vancouver Anderson has been living in Ladysmith, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, since July 1, 2019. Since returning to her roots, she has invested $1million in the property she owns, renovating it to her tastes. Bodyguard Dan has been helping her with the renovations. 'The property has a special energy. It's full of deer, bears, raccoons, eagles,' Anderson said. 'The trees have known me my whole life, and to be surrounded by the nature I knew since birth on my wedding day was very powerful.' The couple has also put much of their time into helping a local animal sanctuary, called RASTA Sanctuary. According to recent Instagram posts made by the organization Anderson and Hayhurst have been an 'incredibly generous and most kind and thoughtful couple.' It says Hayhurst, a builder by trade, has donated his time to help them with building a new barn for the animals and Anderson made a generous donation to the project. 'Yesterday Pamela surprised us all with an early Christmas gift by most generously covering the cost of the cement for the footings in the construction of our new barn and we truly couldn't be more grateful.' The post added: 'Her very hardworking partner Dan is our builder and he's doing a fantastic job both coordinating the project as well as getting down and dirty to get the work done.' The RASTA Sanctuary, which provides a 'forever home' to rescued farm animals on Vancouver Island posted several photos of Anderson and her new husband on the building site and a video of Anderson feeding some cows. Under a photo of Hayhurst doing some building work, Anderson gushed: 'Great job baby.' Anderson is also the face of a billboard campaign for the sanctuary with the tagline, 'Compassion is Always Sexy'. The RASTA Sanctuary, which provides a 'forever home' to rescued farm animals on Vancouver Island posted several photos of Anderson and her new husband on the building site and a video of Anderson feeding some cows According to recent Instagram posts made by the organization Anderson and Hayhurst have been an 'incredibly generous and most kind and thoughtful couple.' It says Hayhurst has been helping them with building a new barn for the animals and Anderson made a generous donation to the project A friend of Anderson's said the newlyweds are smitten. 'Pamela fell in love with the boy next door. This is who she would have ended up with if she never left Vancouver Island. 'It proves she's the same little girl that might have lived there all along. It's like everything else was just a dream. 'Pamela and Dan are doing wonderful things together. 'He is donating his time to build a barn for a local animal sanctuary 'They are very involved in helping their community, including helping to find ways to positively support First Nations vulnerable children. 'Dan and Pam have huge hearts. And their small town of Ladysmith has fallen head over heels for this homegrown love story. 'Dan married the girl of his dreams and is so proud of Pamela's accomplishments. He supports her every move.' It's technically Anderson's fifth wedding to four different guys. She was previously married to Tommy Lee, with whom she shares sons Brandon, 23, and Dylan, 22. The two were married from 1995 to 1998. Anderson is the face of a billboard campaign for the RASTA sanctuary with the tagline, 'Compassion is Always Sexy' The actress later married and divorced Kid Rock in 2006. Then she married producer Rick Solomon twice in 2007 and 2013. The first ended in annulment. It was widely reported that Anderson married businessman Jon Peters, 74, on January 20, 2020 at Shutters Hotel in Santa Monica, California. Anderson had returned from a spiritual cleanse in India. But according to Anderson they only had a mock ceremony, not an official wedding. She told DailyMailTV cuttingly: 'We were never married. He is a movie maker and... I guess he just needed a little attention?' In a tweet about the 12-day union from her official account, it read: 'Pamela Anderson was never legally married to Jon Peters (lifelong family friend) no hard feelings no Marriage, no Divorce... just a bizarre theatrical lunch Pamela has a good sense of humor about it (sic).' Romanticizing about her new love, Anderson summed up her feelings by quoting famed Cuban American author Anais Nin: 'Do not seek the because. In love there is no because. No reason. No explanation. No solutions.' ADVERTISEMENT The federal government has approved N204 million for the design and deployment of a web-based management systems for highway. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the contract for N203,845,332.50 during its 31st meeting on Wednesday. The technology will help provide efficiency on the project and improve service delivery. He said some federal roads are so long that they require five contractors during construction, saying the deployment of ICT will help monitor ongoing projects. This is an information and communication technology device being procured by the ministry in order to improve its capacity to monitor not only contract performance, but also maintenance of its roads and to empower not only its 36 controllers in each of the state of the federation but also, the six zonal directors to improve our service delivery, Mr Fashola told journalists at the State House. The importance of deploy ICT now perhaps would be better appreciated when it is understood that we have over 13,000 kilometers of road networks at different stages of construction or rehabilitation as at the close of December 2020. And those 13,000 plus kilometers are manifest in over 700 different contracts. I continue to explain this that some of our roads are so long that we have five different contractors. Like the Kano-Maiduguri road for example, we have five different contractors there, Benin to Lokoja, we have five different contractors there and so on and so forth. ALSO READ: FEC approves N117 billion for rehabilitation of major roads across Nigeria So we have different contacts to manage and so we are deploying ICT there. Upon full deployment, one of the things you will see is that, citizens will be expected to become army of reporters providing us with information so that we can respond more quickly. Because, this will be a web based reporting and monitoring system, Mr Fashola said. Also, the council approved the ratification of the emergency roads repair done in Zamfara State in 2016 caused by a heavy rainfall. He said the contract was awarded under the Public Procurement Act in emergency situations as provisional contracts. So we had to go through procurement process, file reports of completion and then come to seek ratification. So, the work had since been completed but the paper work has now led us here. And the ratification was granted today by FEC for N7,923,706,078.86, the minister said. A man was detained late Tuesday after shooting a Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy who responded to a report of a suspicious person in the Fallbrook area, officials said. The deputy, a 35-year-old man only identified by his last name, Barragan, was in stable condition at Houston Northwest Hospital. He suffered at least four gunshot wounds but is expected to survive, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. No other deputies were injured. The suspect, Moises Martinez, 38, could face at least one first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault against a public servant, the sheriff's office said. He also had two outstanding felony warrants, one of which is related to a robbery, Gonzalez said. Gonzalez said he did not know what prompted the suspicious person call at 4:12 p.m. in the 1200 block of Forestburg in northwest Harris County. Two deputies, including Barragan, encountered Martinez when they arrived on the scene. Martinez pulled out a gun and began firing, grazing Barragan's neck and striking his hands and back. The other responding deputy returned fire but is not believed to have shot Martinez. Barragan was rushed to the hospital and was in good spirits late Tuesday, Gonzalez said. He said the deputy's bulletproof vest likely saved his life. After the shooting, the suspect was seen running on foot down Veterans Memorial. Multiple Harris County law enforcement agencies, including the Pct. 1 and Pct. 4 constable's offices, established a wide perimeter during the roughly three-hour manhunt. Gonzalez said he did not know where Martinez was detained. Barragan has worked for the sheriff's office for 18 months but previously served at another local agency for six years, Gonzalez said. Barragan had been assigned to the sheriff's office contract deputy program. Nicole Hensley contributed to this report. julian.gill@chron.com Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. (Newser) Sen. Patrick Leahy, who's presiding over the impeachment trial of former President Trump, was taken to a hospital Tuesday evening after saying he didn't feel well. After an evaluation, including tests, Leahy went home, the Hill reports. The Capitol physician had conducted a brief exam of his own, then recommended that Leahy be checked out at a hospital, a spokesperson for the senator said. Leahy, 80, a Democrat from Vermont, is the Senate's president pro tempore and its longest-serving member, per the New York Times. He's third in line for the presidency and has been in the Senate since 1975. The senator has had both coronavirus vaccine shots. story continues below Leahy was sworn in to preside over the impeachment trial hours before going to the hospital, a role that Chief Justice John Roberts passed on. The senator then swore in his colleagues. Leahy's aides didn't say whether the schedule for the trial will be affected or what Leahy's symptoms were. The impeachment proceeding effectively is on hold for two weeks, per CNN, while lawyers for both sides prepare and exchange briefs. Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said, after speaking to Leahy's wife, Marcelle, who's a nurse, that he thought Leahy could be back in the Senate on Wednesday. "He looks forward to getting back to work," a spokesperson for Leahy said. (A vote Tuesday made conviction of Trump appear unlikely.) Three members of a private crew will each pay $55 million to spend eight days on the International Space Station, thanks to a Houston company that secured their ride into space and is planning their mission. Axiom Space announced Tuesday that its first group includes American real estate and technology entrepreneur Larry Connor, 71, Canadian investor Mark Pathy, 51, and Israeli impact investor Eytan Stibbe, 63. Their commander will be former NASA astronaut and Axiom vice president Michael Lopez-Alegria, 62. The private crew could launch in January 2022 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. Connor will become the second-oldest person to fly in space, according to the Associated Press. John Glenn flew on the space shuttle in 1998 at 77 years old. New headquarters: With Axiom, Houston Spaceport gets commercial space station tenant And these microgravity travelers wont just do somersaults and look out the window. All three are planning research and philanthropic projects. Their plan is to be productive and do serious research, said Derek Hassmann, director of operations and training for Axiom Space. Axiom Mission 1, Ax-1, will be an early step in Axioms plans for low-Earth orbit. The company, founded in 2016, is building a commercial space station and it plans to develop this station from a 14-acre headquarters campus at the Houston Spaceport. The campus is expected to be functional in 2023. A segment of the public will look at this and see the $55 million price tag and think, Oh, its a rich persons game. Its a stunt. Oh, Im never going to be able to do this, Hassmann said. But for us at Axiom, we see this as the first step into accessing space for a much larger segment of the population. The men have already received physical and psychological exams. Training will start roughly seven months before launch when Lopez-Alegria and Connor, commander and pilot, respectively, travel to the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, Calif., to train in the Crew Dragon simulator. Connor has flown more than 16 different aircraft, including an F-5 fighter jet, but his ride into space will be autonomous. Then about five months before launch, Pathy and Stibbe join the training sessions. The four men will split their time between Hawthorne and NASAs Johnson Space Center. The training in Houston will largely focus on living and working in microgravity: preparing food, using the bathroom, etc. It will also provide emergency training. In these unlikely scenarios, such as a fire, the crew must follow certain procedures to get into their spacecraft. The travelers will also fly in a zero-g aircraft to experience microgravity. And theyll do centrifuge runs, where they experience g-forces similar to launch and reentry, at a private facility in Ohio. I would say its not as bad necessarily or as stressful as its made out in the movies, Hassmann said. Its a good training experience that prepares them for what theyre going to see when they fly. Axiom is a full-service provider for this mission. In addition to training, Axiom contracted with SpaceX to get this crew into space, is planning their mission and will provide services such as medical support throughout their time in microgravity. Axiom is also offering research services to help its clients conduct projects while on orbit. Connor will collaborate with Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic on research projects. He is also planning to work with students at Dayton Early College Academy in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio, according to the Axiom news release. Pathy is collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency and the Montreal Childrens Hospital. Stibbe, Israels second astronaut, plans to conduct scientific experiments of Israeli researchers and entrepreneurs, which are being coordinated by the Ramon Foundation and the Israel Space Agency at the Ministry of Science and Technology. He will also conduct educational activities to inspire Israeli children and educators. Looking forward: What happens when NASA retires the International Space Station? I am excited to dedicate my time in space to Israeli researchers and our young people and entrepreneurs, to advance our shared goals of having an impact on improved quality of life today and for generations to come, Stibbe said in a news release. Most of all, I hope this journey will inspire children and youth around the world to learn and cultivate their passions in all fields of exploration. Seven wealthy individuals have previously flown to the International Space Station on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. But Axiom hopes to significantly expand that market, offering up to two flights a year for private astronauts and professional astronauts from other countries. John Spencer, an outer-space architect and founder of the Space Tourism Society, said Axiom has the technical confidence and financial wherewithal to build a sustainable business that sends a large number of people into space. Many Axiom employees previously worked at NASA, including its CEO Michael Suffredini, who was the space station program manager at Johnson Space Center from 2005 to 2015. Its really going to open up a whole new generation of private space travelers and access to space, Spencer said. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder In 2013, USA Today ranked the state of Iowa as No. 6 for schools with the most student debt, with the 2013 average student loan debt piling up to nearly $30,000. About 72 percent of college students in the state of Iowa take out student loans. Tuna vessels with ties to China arrested in Vanuatu, accused of illegal fishing by Mark Godfrey January 27,2021 | Source: SeafoodSource Two tuna-fishing vessels have been seized in Vanuatu after being accused of engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The Dong Gang Xing 13 and Dong Gang Xing 16 both built by a major Chinese tuna firm in 2018 and currently registered to the Zhuhai, China-based company Zhuhai Donggangxing Ocean Fishing have been remanded into custody after being found allegedly fishing illegally in Vanuatus northern waters near the remote Torres Islands. In a sign of the increased attention and international cooperation being applied to illegal fishing in the region, Vanuatus naval authorities received assistance from a French naval reconnaissance plane from the French territory of New Caledonia before the vessels were detained by a Vanuatu patrol boat. The crew on the fishing vessels is currently in COVID-19-related quarantine in Port Vila, Vanuatu, and will be subject to interrogation as part of an investigation by the Vanuatu Fisheries Department, according to an announcement by the Vanuatu Police Department. In recent years, several Chinese fishing companies have upped their presence in Vanuatu. In 2018, Zhuhai Dong Gang Xing Long Distance Fishing Co, a firm based in Zhuhai, China a city of 1.5 million residents bordering Macau and Hong Kong announced it would send 10 new vessels to Vanuatu, where it said it also planned to build a wharf. In December 2020, another Pacific island nation, Palau, detained a Chinese-flagged vessel and six auxiliary boats allegedly found to be harvesting sea cucumber illegally. Palaus new president, Surangel Whipps Jr., said Chinese authorities had not been responsive to the nations efforts to bring the matter to their attention. They dont seem to care and that is unacceptable, he told the Guardian. They should take responsibility for their people, and it is like they encouraged them by ignoring them. Its not good. At the end of last year, China Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her country was a responsible fishing country, with zero tolerance for violations of relevant laws and regulations committed by distant fishing vessels. We have strengthened international cooperation, and done a great deal of fruitful work in jointly combating illegal fishing and promoting the sustainable development of fishery resources with other countries, Hua said at a press conference. Whipps Jr. said he is committed to securing his countrys maritime borders. lllegal fishing has to stop, he said. As countries, we should also be responsible to our people and tell them not to go to other countries and do these kinds of things. 2021 Diversified Communications. All rights reserved. Theme(s): Fishing Craft, Gear and Fishing Methods. Members of the medical staff of Abu Khalifa Quarantine Hospital in Ismailia governorate were the first to get the Covid-19 vaccine in Egypt. The vaccine is produced by the China National Pharmaceutical Group Sinopharm. Hala Zayed, the minister of health and population, on Monday witnessed the vaccination of 87 doctors out of 200 in the hospital. The following day, the Chinese vaccine was distributed to all the countrys public hospitals and those affiliated to the military and the police. Doctors and medical staff dealing with Covid-19 patients will top the list of those getting the vaccine during the coming period and will be getting it for free, Zayed said during a press conference at Abu Khalifa Hospital. This will be followed by other patients, people with chronic or immune diseases and the elderly. The cost of the two-dose vaccine will be LE200 whereas those who cannot afford it will get it for free. All those who receive financial aid from the Social Solidarity Ministry will take the vaccine free of charge. Others who cannot afford the vaccine and do not receive any financial aid from the government will have to register at their nearest public hospital to get it for free if they are proven eligible, said Zayed. Our target is to vaccinate at least 20 per cent of the countrys 100 million citizens, she added. Youths less than 18 and pregnant women will not be vaccinated by the Sinopharm vaccine until after it is deemed safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The current 50,000 available doses of the vaccine will be sufficient for 25,000 people. Meanwhile, the government has agreed to buy around 100 million doses of the vaccine by various producers that would be enough for 50 million people, Khaled Megahed, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Population, pointed out. According to Zayed, the government has already secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, enough for 20 million people and a further 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The delivery timeline remains unclear because of high global demand, Zayed said. Being vaccinated is not compulsory even for doctors and healthcare workers. Two weeks ago, the ministry distributed an application to those who are eligible for the vaccine to decide whether to take it or not, said Megahed. The vaccine is 100 per cent safe, as clinical trials have proven its effectiveness in producing antibodies. It is between 89 per cent and 99 per cent effective in protecting from infection, and provides 100 per cent protection against the diseases aggressive and critical symptoms, he added. Megahed noted that Egypt received the first batch of the Sinopharm vaccine during the first week of December. During the same month, the vaccine, which has been registered at the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA), was licensed for emergency use after undergoing four tests by the authority. More vaccines will be registered as soon as they reach the country, he added. Soon, citizens can start registering on the ministrys website http://mohpegypt.com/ or at their nearest hospital to get the jab. People will be able to receive the vaccine via 27 centres nationwide. As soon as citizens register, they will take their turn. But you cannot set a timeframe for when this will happen, and even the countries that have set a timeframe have not been able to fulfil it, not because they have a problem but because of the global production issue, Zayed said. Egypt has reported more than 161,140 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including 8,902 deaths. However, the actual numbers are thought to be far higher, in part due to limited testing. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: It is no secret that former presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor had a frosty relationship. While they both tried in the public space do downplay suggestions of some hostility between them, their public statements were more than enough to convey such thoughts to Ghanaians. This deep-seated spite between Rawlings and Kufuor who were the first and second presidents of the fourth republic respectively was allegedly birthed by what the late former president thought to be a persecution of his appointees by the Kufuor administration and a withdrawal of his courtesies. Records show that the late president at any given opportunity boomed at his successor who though silent often, on few occasions fired back. Death, they say helps put things in perspective and reminds humans of the essence of love, unity and peace. This effect that death supposedly has on human beings appears to have caught up with former President Kufuor who despite not being in the best of conditions showed up at his funeral ceremony. John Agyekum Kufuor showed up in a wheelchair to pay his last respect to his predecessor who will be laid to rest on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Source: KOFI TV Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Four iTV Network journalists were threatened and attacked by unidentified anti-social elements while covering the protests. NBF has strongly condemned the attack and urged the authorities to immediately initiate strict action against the miscreants. The Republic Day Tractor Rally by Farmer Unions witnessed an overturn after a section of the protestors entered Delhi and attempts were made to create a situation of chaos. Amid the violence that ensued, not only some of the protestors and police personnel suffered injuries, but journalists were also threatened, beaten and stopped from simply doing their duty. Four NewsX and India News journalists, namely Aishwarya Jain, Ajit Shrivastava, Priya Singh and Aditya Nair were threatened and attacked by unidentified anti-social elements while covering the protests. In a video message, Aishwarya can be seen saying the situation outside is not in control because stone pelting is happening inside Red Fort premise and the people who threatened them are also following them. They are constantly coming and telling us to leave from the spot. NBF has strongly condemned the attack on ITV Network journalists and urged the authorities to immediately initiate strict action against the miscreants. The federation has also called upon the authorities to ensure the safety and security of journalists covering on-ground news events. ITV Network appeals the authorities to identify the accused persons at the earliest and take stern action to ensure free, fair and fearless journalism thrives in India and no journalist is threatened and intimidated for simply doing their duty. [January 27, 2021] Annaly Capital Management, Inc. Included in Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for Fourth Consecutive Year Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE:NLY) ("Annaly", or the "Company") today announced that it is one of 380 companies across 11 sectors included in the 2021 Bloomberg (News - Alert) Gender-Equality Index ("GEI"). The GEI expanded in 2021 to represent 44 countries and regions, including firms headquartered in Indonesia and Bermuda for the first time. Companies range from a variety of industries, including automotive, banking, consumer services, engineering and construction, and retail. Annaly has been named to the index each year of its eligibility. "We are honored to be included in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year," stated David Finkelstein, Annaly's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer. "Gender diversity has always been a business imperative at Annaly and a hallmark of our strong culture of inclusion. We were pleased to publish our inaugural Corporate Responsibility Report in 2020, which includes enhanced disclosure related to our gender diversity and human capital initiatives. We are continuously striving to improve these disclosures and believe our commitment to diversity allows us to generate stronger returns for our shareholders." "Annaly has been committed to promoting an environment that champions diversity and inclusion since our founding," remarked Wellington J. Denahan, Annaly's Co-Founder, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Risk Committee. "We are proud to have all Board Committees chaired by women for the first time and are committed to continuing to seek out diverse candidates to bring new and distinctive perspectives to the Board." The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly listed companies increasing the breadth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data available to investors. The comprehensive, transparent GEI scoring methodology allows investors to assess company performance and compare across industry peer groups. The referece index measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. The 2020 GEI included 325 companies headquartered across 42 countries and regions. Annaly was also included in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 GEI. "The companies included in the 2021 GEI are expanding the ESG data universe to include gender-related data that investors are demanding today," said Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. "Their commitment to disclosure is making the business case for inclusion, and driving transparency in the markets." Through disclosure of gender-related metrics using the GEI framework, the firms included in the 2021 GEI have committed to providing a comprehensive look at their investment in workplace gender equality and the communities in which they operate, raising the bar of what should be expected from other companies within the same industry. Annaly was included in this year's index for scoring at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the framework's five pillars. With 50% of total employees in 2020 identifying as either female or racially diverse, Annaly is driven by the belief that having a diverse group of employees supports the continued long-term growth of the Company. Annaly further bolstered its diversity and human capital initiatives in 2020 by appointing its first ever Head of Inclusion and establishing an Inclusion Support Committee of Executive Sponsors. Additionally, all Committees of Annaly's Board of Directors are currently chaired by women and the Board amended its Corporate Governance Guidelines in 2020 to formalize its commitment to seeking out highly qualified candidates of diverse gender and race. Lastly, as part of our focus on community engagement - a pillar of our diversity and inclusion initiative - we hosted interns this past summer through our ongoing partnership with Girls Who Invest, helping to foster a gender diverse talent pipeline in the asset management industry. To learn more about Annaly's human capital and corporate responsibility initiatives and to view the inaugural Corporate Responsibility Report, please visit www.annaly.com/our-responsibility. About Annaly Annaly is a leading diversified capital manager that invests in and finances residential and commercial assets. Annaly's principal business objective is to generate net income for distribution to its stockholders and to optimize its returns through prudent management of its diversified investment strategies. Annaly is internally managed and has elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for federal income tax purposes. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005176/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The World Socialist Web Site, Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Youth & Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) have received an outpouring of support internationally following the announcement on Friday that Facebook had deleted the accounts of leading members of the SEP and shut down the page of the IYSSE at the University of Michigan. The widespread supportincluding letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, statements on the WSWS, thousands of likes and shares on social mediafrom workers, young people, journalists and professionals were a critical factor in the decision by Facebook to restore the IYSSE page and SEP accounts. The Facebook app sign-in screen (pxfuel.com) As we reported yesterday, Facebook restored the accounts and claimed unconvincingly that the politically motivated purge of the socialists from its platform two days earlier was the result of a technical glitch. As WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explained to the Financial Times in a front-page story on Monday, Even though this particular ban has been [reversed], its a warning we dont know what might come next. The reports about the attempt by Facebook to suppress socialist and left-wing views on its platform were read by tens of thousands of people over the weekend, many of them coming from links shared by other Facebook users. A post by WSWS writer and editor Andre Damon on Twitter announcing that the University of Michigan IYSSE page and the accounts of the administrators had been permanently suspended were liked and retweeted thousands of times. This tweet was also retweeted and commented on by journalists Glenn Greenwald, Katie Halper and Matt Taibbi. Among the letters sent to Facebooks Zuckerberg denouncing the purging of the IYSSE and SEP accounts were the following: John D. Short of Philtrum Publishing Federation: For some time, I have watched your social media server censor numerous content that exposes the destruction incurred on the peoples of Yemen, Syria and elsewhere, largely by services like the World Socialist Web Site, and other left-wing, anti-war platforms. ... This has to stop, tolerating fiction and censoring truth can only be dangerous. Emanuele Saccarelli, Department of Political Science Professor at San Diego State University: I heard you recently and abruptly eliminated the account of a socialist student organization, as well as the private accounts of several of its leading members. A few days later you proceeded to inform them that this was simply the result of an automation error. What a relief! And to think they initially regarded this as a deliberate act of political censorship carried out by an Orwellian corporate conglomerate. Nothing to see here then, but a clumsy blunder carried out with surgical political precision by anonymous algorithms. ... Ingrid Schreiner, Australia: I am writing in protest against the censorship of members of the Socialist Equality Party and other pages including personal pages of members of Socialist movements. How have these people violated Facebooks terms and conditions? They have not promoted hate or violence in any way? Why have they been censored? Facebook is a platform to express our views and to share. To see this happen is an attack on our freedom of speech and shines a light on Facebook as unjust and biased. Which brings to the surface agendas of social control and manipulation by Facebook? I demand an immediate reversal of your actions. Roger Tinkoff: ... I may be a pretty well-taken-care-of Bay Area software engineer, but my first job as a teenager was in a grocery store in Massachusetts where we all had union representation, and as a result of that experience I do and will always identify as a worker. Workers are the people who the WSWS/SEP are out there every day fighting for, genuinely and courageously, and their efforts need to be supported and their ability to organize through social media is crucial. Facebook no doubt employs thousands of people just like me, and by silencing the voices of the WSWS/SEP the company is taking hostile action against them too. Kerby Miller: By taking down the accounts of members of the World Socialist Web Site and the IYSSE, and of individuals associated with those organizations, Facebook is acting as if it were an arm of the capitalist ruling class, engaging in censorship, and suppressing the exercise of free speech, which is an absolute cornerstone of a democratic government. You are facilitating a new McCarthyism and the drive toward a totalitarian government and society, where certain viewpointsmost definitely left-wing and socialistare not accorded the same rights as others. ... By censoring leftist and socialist groups, you only announce to the world that US democracy is so fragile that it cannot deal with honest, radical criticism. Dr. Andrew Linder: ... I am a long-time follower of Socialist Equality Party and avid reader of the World Socialist Web Site. I spend my day as a researcher and freelance writer trolling the net. I know for certain that the WSWS site draws ever-greater readership for the calm clarity and consistently profound quality of its analysis. I am old enough to remember when the United States did not tolerate dissent, not only from the left, but god help us from comic books, folk music and rock and roll. ... I do hope that a wave of letters arrives on your desk from more prominent voices than mine. I add my name. Carolyn Zaremba: ... Facebook can censor socialist viewpoints at its whim, yes, but you cannot censor the objective social and economic conditions that working people face all over the world. It is these conditions that are driving working people into struggle against capitalism: an economic system that has repeatedly proved its incapacity to meet humanitys needs and in fact is the root cause of war between nation states. Your act of censorship does nothing to improve conditions of life for the majority of humanity and cannot prevent the working class from realizing that it is capitalism that is the source of their problems. ... Judith Jackson: Having disabled the group account for the University of Michigan IYSSE account, and those of its admins and leading members of the Socialist Equality Party, Facebook restored these accounts on Monday. While an apology was made, there has not been a satisfactory explanation given as to why these accounts were targeted, other than it was an automation error. Given that Facebook employs several thousand personnel to monitor accounts, I for one do not take this explanation at face value. ... Others sent their statements of support to the World Socialist Web Site and also explained that they had been censored by Facebook: James Crump: Im a key worker in mental health in the UK and would like to express my solidarity for you in this time of politically motivated censorship by Facebook, with its purging of left-wing accounts, especially those of SEP members. The WSWS is the only consistent and regular source of analysis from a revolutionary socialist perspective, and such, is playing an essential, inexpungeable role in helping to educate a new generation of socialists, myself included, not only but especially in this time of crisis. Dr. Laurie Cestnick: ... In November 2020, the personal pages of all 3 administrators of the page were shut down all on the same day within minutes of each other. None of us ever spams and we run a very clean and respectful page ... there was no reason for it. Once my personal page was back, a message popped up stating You are not allowed to create any more groups until February 2021 ... I hadnt created a group since 2015my progressive group, so this was extremely odd. I STILL cannot even post on my OWN group wall (link above) and all other admins are still off of FB. Thankfully a couple of moderators were left to man the page but we still get threats from FB to shut us down with no explanation. Not only can I not post on my own group wall, but I am a neuroscientist and neuropsychologist/psychologist and cannot even post on my own page that I created to help children with autism, dyslexia etc. After reading the report of the Facebook purge of left-wing accounts, a supporter of the Rank-and-File Safety Committee at the Faurecia Gladstone plant in Columbus, Indiana said, Any way you interpret that it denies the right to free speech. I dont see how they thought that would fly. That is another way they are trying to silence the working class. We are fed up with this situation with COVID-19, and the WSWS is telling the truth. The ruling elite has every right to be fearful of the working class. They know that if we band together it will spell the end of their system. They went after the IYSSE because they know that if the youth get involved with the working class their future is on shaky ground. That is what they are worried about. The working class and the youth are pulling together. OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Strawhecker Group (TSG) is pleased to recognize a selection of payment gateways for their exceptional performance across several key areas, critical to a successful payment platform. Powered by TSG's Gateway Enterprise Metrics (GEM) platform, GEM uses pings and real transactions to monitor each gateway's performance from over 20 different global locations 24/7/365. All transaction metrics are calculated by utilizing real TSG cards, at real TSG merchants, to complete transactions. TSG recently noted in its Payments in Motion report that 2021 will continue the upward trend of eCommerce spending as consumers seek to "add to their cart" from home. As such, the role of payment gateways is as crucial as ever. "A high functioning and efficient gateway is the backbone of each transaction and performance must be monitored closely going forward as payment gateways facilitate a higher amount of volume," said Mike Strawhecker, President of TSG. GEM helps gateways improve their platforms and integrations to ensure merchants and consumers do not experience issues." See below for the winners, as well as runners-ups in each category. Performance data was assessed across more than twenty industry leading payments providers for six consecutive months (July to December 2020) to determine the Real Transaction Metrics Awards. TSG will be announcing the year's leading payment gateway APIs in April. Real Transaction Metrics Awards Best Performing Gateway FIS (U.S. eCom Platform) The Best Performing Gateway award is based on the GEM Index, an overall scorecard for gateway metrics based on five key areas (gateway minute outage, gateway uptime, transaction speed, transaction success rate, and authorization rate). FIS' U.S. eCom Platform is receiving this award for the second year in a row due to exceptional performance across transaction and gateway check benchmarks. Runner-Ups: FIS (Express) / JPMorgan (Orbital) Fastest Transactions Elavon (Fusebox) GEM measures the time it takes for a transaction authorization to complete using a real signature debit card, just as a consumer would experience at the merchant. Elavon's Fusebox is receiving this award for the third year in a row for having the fastest average transaction speed. Runner-Ups: FIS (Express) / JPMorgan (Orbital) Highest Authorization Rate FIS (Access Worldpay) GEM tracks the percentage of authorization failures a gateway experiences each day that are unrelated to the issuer, network, or cardholder. FIS' Access Worldpay received this award for having the highest rate of successful authorizations. Runner-Up: North American Bancard (Electronic Payment Exchange) Gateway Uptime FIS (Access Worldpay) GEM pings gateways every minute from over 20 different global locations (31,680 pings a day per gateway) to uncover uptime issues. FIS' Access Worldpay received this award due to having the highest uptime percentage. Runner-Up: FIS (U.S. eCom Platform) Gateway Minute Outage JPMorgan (Orbital) In addition to Uptime, GEM uses pings at multiple locations to determine minute outages. If at least 33% of location checks fail at the same time, an outage is recorded. JPMorgan's Orbital Gateway received this award due to having the fewest minute outages. Runner-Ups: CSG Forte / FIS (Access Worldpay) TSG's GEM platform annually honors leading payment providers. Past winners have included companies such as BluePay (Fiserv), Braintree (A PayPal Company), Square, and Shopify. Companies and/or products considered for any TSG awards may or may not include clients of TSG and does not necessarily represent all companies or products in the market. This analysis is based upon information we consider reliable, but its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Information provided is not all inclusive. All information listed is as available from July 5, 2020 to January 2, 2021. The Strawhecker Group (TSG) is not and/or may not be endorsed, sponsored by, or in any other way affiliated with the any companies or their logos illustrated in this presentation. The trademarks shown are registered and their own. This document has not been prepared by any entity displayed. About TSG The Strawhecker Group (TSG) is the largest analytics and consulting firm focused on the payments acceptance industry. TSG serves the entire payments ecosystem and has experience in working on large-scale projects for the world's biggest payment players. The firm has worked with all card networks, nine of the top ten merchant acquirers in the U.S., as well as leading private equity firms and investment banks. The firm's 50-person workforce is primarily in Omaha with satellite offices in Sacramento, Denver, and London. For more information please visit www.TheStrawGroup.com. CONTACT: Andrew Nuss, [email protected] SOURCE The Strawhecker Group Related Links thestrawgroup.com YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan chaired a consultation today in the government dedicated to the draft Economic response program with the preliminary action plan, the PMs Office told Armenpress. The program relates to the points 9th and 10th of the roadmap published by Pashinyan on November 18, 2020. Point 9th is about the overcoming of the coronavirus pandemic and eliminating its consequences, whereas point 10th concerns restoring the economic activity environment. Pashinyan told the consultation participants that the government in practice is adopting various decisions every week connected with the fulfillment of that roadmap. Today as well during the Cabinet meeting we adopted another such decision. Today we must discuss the draft action plan which will enable to restore the economic activity environment and will allow us to set new economic tasks and solve them, he said. It was reported that the program envisages targeted, significant and visible actions aimed at boosting the economic activity. The program has been developed taking into account the current challenges and problems. Different proposals and recommendations were made over the action plan during the meeting. Summing up the consultation, PM Pashinyan tasked the responsible officials to amend the draft based on the proposals made and submit it for the governments approval. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan 21 runners killed during mountain race in northwestern province of Gansu; Indian variant of Covid-19 found in Guangzhou; Beijing willing to arrange for vaccines to be sent to Taiwan May 28, 2021 08:15 PM China Sought Animal, Human Samples in CCP Virus Origin Probe: Leaked Documents Since the CCP virus first emerged from Wuhan city in late 2019, the Chinese regime has been reluctant to share information about its research on the origin of the virus, or allow outside investigators to conduct their probes. The Epoch Times obtained leaked documents that show the Chinese regime sought to investigate the source of the virus via testing animal and human biological samples. Said investigation and its results have not been previously disclosed to the international community. This comes to light as the Chinese regime faces criticism for its lack of transparency and delaying the arrival of international experts into China to investigate the viruss origins. Collecting Samples Chinas National Health Commission issued a notice on Feb. 25, 2020, to the health commissions of all Chinese provinces, regions, and municipalities, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a CCP-run paramilitary organization with jurisdiction over some cities and land in far-western Xinjiang. The notice called for cooperation in virus tracing by testing wild animals, the humans who came into contact with them, and the animals environment or habitat. The sampling of close human contacts included throat swabs and blood samples, and those of animals included throat and anal swabs, the notice stated. Chinas National Health Commission issues a notice for all provinces and regions to collect samples from wild animals, and humans who came into contact with them, in an attempt to investigate the source of the CCP virus. (Provided to The Epoch Times) Blood samples were to be sent to local Chinese centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) for safekeeping until they could be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. Other samples were to be tested using COVID-19 nucleic acid testing by local laboratories, and the results would be sent to local police bureaus. The notice was labeled not to be disclosed. In another document, dated Feb. 26, 2020, the Hebei Province Health Commission forwarded the notice from the National Health Commission to the health departments of all cities within its jurisdiction, as well as the Hebei CDC, and gave instructions on how to execute the national authoritys directive. The Hebei Health Commission put local health departments and police bureaus in charge of collecting the samples from human contacts. Sample collection and testing of wild animals and their environment were delegated to local forestry and agriculture departments. Hebei Province issues a directive to local agencies to carry out national authorities investigation into the source of the CCP virus. (Provided to The Epoch Times) A third document shows that Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei Province, forwarded the instructions to the citys county health departments as well as the citys CDC on Feb. 29, 2020, telling them to execute the provincial directive. Shijiazhuang city instructs all county health departments as well as the local CDC to carry out the Hebei provincial directive. (Provided to The Epoch Times) Chinas National Health Commission didnt respond to a request for comment by press time. The Epoch Times previously reviewed a leaked document from Chinas national CDC that contained detailed testing data of samples taken from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, a live animal and seafood market in Wuhan, where authorities initially suspected the outbreak began. The CDC also took samples from farms that supplied the animals sold at the market. In the internal investigative report dated Jan. 22, 2020, the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention at Chinas CDC reported that 33 of the 585 samples taken from items and floor surfaces in the seafood market tested positive for the CCP virus. The report stated that 31 of the 33 samples that tested positive were from the western section of the market, which was found to have wild animal trading. A total of 139 samples were taken from bamboo rats, porcupines, turkeys, rabbits, and other animals at the breeding farms, as well as the farm environment, which all tested negative through nucleic acid testing, according to the report. Chinas CDC previously announced on Jan. 26 last year that it had picked up animal samples from the Huanan market between Jan. 1 and Jan. 12 for an investigation, but never announced the test results. The CDC didnt mention the animal testing in the internal report. Lack of Transparency From CCP Though most experts say the virus is likely to have originated in animals, its still unclear how and when exactly the virus jumped to humans. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, China has been withholding information on the virus from the international scientific community. Chen Wen, minister of the Chinese embassy in the UK, told the BBC in April 2020 that demands for an independent international investigation into the origin of the virus were politically motivated and claimed that a probe would divert attention and resources from dealing with the pandemic. While blocking outside investigations, the regime also required that any research on the virus conducted by Chinese scientific professionals must receive approval from a government task force before publication, according to a leaked March 2020 notice obtained by The Associated Press. China has also pushed conspiracy theories about the origin of the virus, alleging that it came from outside of China. Last March, Zhao Lijian, a spokesman of Chinas foreign ministry, first suggested on Twitter that the virus was introduced by the U.S. Army into Wuhan. Throughout 2020, Chinese state media blamed imported frozen food packaging as the cause of local outbreaks. In January 2021, the Chinese regime finally agreed to allow a team of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) into the country to investigate the virus origins. The team of experts arrived in Wuhan on Jan. 14, more than a year after the initial outbreak in the city. On the first day of an annual meeting of the WHO Executive Board on Jan. 18, the head of the U.S. delegation to the WHO, Garrett Grigsby, urged China to share data from studies it had conducted on the virus. Grigsby pointed out that it had been eight months since WHO member states adopted Resolution WHA73.1, which called for continued investigations into the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population. The resolution also stated that it was crucial that Chinese authorities give the team of WHO experts access to all analysis of animal, human, and environment samples taken in Wuhan as well as caregivers, former patients, and lab workers for interviews. Asked about the internal documents about Chinas investigation, the WHO said in an email: We will provide more info on the work of the team once we have it. T he FTSE 100 Index was set to fall today as investors in Europe feared further Covid lockdowns that would hold back economies and company profits in the region. As Portugal became the worlds most infected country per capita with the virus, investors are waking up to the horrific implications of the new Kent variant, having seen it trigger huge case surges in the UK and then Ireland. Scenes of rioting in Holland over lockdowns have given further fuel to the bears on European equities, leading shares across the UK and the EU set for a muted start to trading. The FTSE -100 was being called down 20 points at 6640 by IG Index traders with similar falls registered on CMC Markets. The latter were calling the Dax in Germany down 11 at 13860 and Frances CAC-40 up 5 at 5528. Such small moves could always veer into positive or negative territory by the time trading starts but were clear indications of investor caution. Yesterday saw markets gain after three straight declines. Wall Street had a fairly flat session - meaning it remained near record highs. After the market closed, Microsoft issued blockbuster profit figures, smashing expectations on Wall Street as its Intelligent Cloud AI technologies and its web hosting software Azure saw a big rise in revenues from businesses. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said that raises the bar for Apple and Facebooks earnings later today. Asia was lifted by Microsofts mood this morning but Europes Covid troubles seem likely to outweigh that. The question on many peoples minds is whether the US tech stock rampage can continue at current levels. Fuelled by a surge in retail investors, as well as fundamentals such as the Federal Reserves super-easy monetary policy, markets there are soaring. There are concerns that they are underplaying drastically the impact of Covid in the nation. While case numbers are falling currently, new cases of the aggressive Kent version of the virus have been found in multiple states. Given the chaos it reaped in the UK, Ireland and now Portugal, and the fear it has wrought on the rest of Europe, bears are concerned the US could be in for a far harder few months ahead than the markets are bargaining for. Today sees the first Federal Reserve meeting of 2021, with all investors waiting for news on the monetary policy makers views on the US outlook. At the last meeting, they were slightly more upbeat about US GDP and unemployment in the medium term although concerns remained about the nearer outlook. Since the December meeting, some members appear to have turned more hawkish, which has left some economists fearing a premature move to end the easy monetary policy that has kept businesses afloat during the pandemic. Memories of the last time they attempted to tighten will doubtless be part of the conversation - the so called taper tantrum that smashed markets - is likely to stave off such a move. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot last night addressed convincingly some EU policymakers more absurd complaints about rollout of the Oxford vaccine last night. Soriot slapped down talk that Astra was profiteering by denying the EU of its due vaccines, reminding the world that it is operating on a not-for-profit basis. He said delays in the production of the vaccine for the EU were simply because the bloc had been three months later than the UK in ordering it. In that time, it had ironed out potential hiccups to the supply chain in the UK, he insisted. He also repeated Astras strenuous denial of the German newspaper reports claiming the vaccine had only 8% efficacy in older patients. The story is plainly wrong, and providing dangerous fuel to anti-vaxxers, but the paper, Handelsblatt appears to be refusing to climb down. CEO Alan Carter told investors the identification of outcropping high-grade quartz-sulphide mineralization at the target is further evidence that numerous high-grade veins occur within the Cuiu Cuiu district Highlights from the results include an outcropping vein structure where channel sampling returned 0.9m at 35.5 g/t gold ( ) (OTCPINK:CBGZF) (FRA:C3J) reported new sample results from the Jerimum Meio (JM) target on the Cuiu Cuiu gold project in Brazil that show numerous high-grade gold mineralization exposed at surface. Highlights from the results include an outcropping vein structure where channel sampling returned 0.9 metres (m) at 35.5 grams per ton (g/t) gold, and surface grab samples of 23.7, 42.6, 126.4, 145.8, 162.2 and 700.2 g/t gold. The JM structure has never been previously drill-tested and will be included in the reconnaissance drill program, Cabral said in a statement. CEO Alan Carter told investors that the identification of outcropping high-grade quartz-sulphide mineralization at the target is further evidence that numerous high-grade veins occur within the Cuiu Cuiu district. Unlike other recently identified targets in the eastern part of the district, the high-grade gold mineralization at JM is exposed on surface, which allows us to much more confidently predict the location and orientation of the mineralized structure at depth at this previously undrilled target, Carter said. Drilling at the target, originally planned for early February, will likely be delayed until mid-late February after a recent outbreak of COVID-19 at the companys reconnaissance drill camp, Carter said, adding that all of the affected personnel are exhibiting only mild symptoms. Follow-up drilling is however continuing at the Machichie NE target. immediately north of the MG gold deposit. A previous hole drilled at Machichie NE in 2019 returned 15.9m at 1.7 g/t gold, including 0.5m at 21.3 g/t gold. Cabral has a 100% interest in the Cuiu Cuiu gold district, in the Tapajos Region, within the state of Para in northern Brazil. Two gold deposits have so far been defined at Cuiu Cuiu and contain 43-101 compliant Indicated resources of 5.9 million tons at 0.9 g/t for 200,000 ounces of gold and Inferred resources of 19.5 million tons at 1.2 g/t for 800,000 ounces. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas Cats and dogs could be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the future, a group of scientists said. Scientists claims vaccination of domestic animals is possible in the future Scientists said transmission from animals to humans poses a 'significant long-term risk' as domesticated animals can become infected with coronavirus, and it could continuously evolve in them as well. In an editorial for the journal Virulence, experts from the University of East Anglia, the Earlham Institute in Norwich, and the University of Minnesota wrote, "It is not unthinkable that vaccination of some domesticated animal species might ... be necessary to curb the spread of the infection." Last year, hundreds of COVID-19 cases were caused by variants linked with farmed mink in Denmark, leading to millions of animals being culled, Daily Mail reported. Cock van Oosterhout, one of the authors and professor of evolutionary genetics at UEA, said that it has a sense of developing vaccines for pets, which people need to be prepared for any 'eventuality.' One of the authors, Cock van Oosterhout, professor of evolutionary genetics at UEA, said: 'It makes sense to develop vaccines for pets ... We really need to be prepared for any 'eventuality.' Oosterhaut pointed out that Russia started developing COVID-19 vaccine for pets. Meanwhile, editor-in-chief of Virulence Kevin Tyler said cats are asymptomatic. However, they are infected by the virus, and they can transmit the virus to humans. Tyler added the risk is as long as there are reservoirs that start to pass the virus as it did in mink from animal to animal. Therefore, it starts to evolve animal-specific strains. But they can transmit the virus to the human population and end up with a new COVID-19 variant related to what causes the whole thing all over again. While mink were culled in Denmark, then thinking about domestic animals or pets, you might think that they can be vaccinated to stop the animals-to-human transmission of COVID-19 from happening. But Tyler claims that the scenario is not an obvious risk yet. Like the COVID-19 UK variant, they said that more transmissible virus strains require people to be vaccinated to keep COVID-19 under control. Scientists wrote that vaccination against a viral pathogen with high prevalence worldwide does not have precedent, "and we, therefore, have found ourselves in uncharted waters." Scientists urged governments to consider the continued implementation of strict control measures such as wearing masks and social distancing as the only way to decrease the development and spread of new COVID-19 variants. Why we may need to consider vaccinating pets against Covid-19 Domestic animals, companions, or pets, such as cats and dogs, could be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to curb the virus' spread, as per scientists. There are fears mutated forms of the coronavirus could be passed to humans in the future, although there is no evidence that COVID-19 has passed to humans from animals, according to Chronicle Live. Demand for dogs and cats surges Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Germans discover their love of animals. According to DW via MSN, the traditional favorite animals; cats and dogs, are in particular in demand. Before the pandemic started, one in four German households had a cat, and one in five had a dog. In times of restrictions and lockdowns, people became lonely, and many who work from home or in furlough had time to look after a pet. The requests are surging massively. About 20% more dogs were bought in 2020 than in previous years, based on the German Kennel Club (VDH) report. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A middle-aged man has been charged with assault after he allegedly stabbed his estranged wife during a row over custody of their three-year-old child. Boniface Kongo, 27, is reported to have stabbed Faith Shitangale on the neck and left ear at her employers house in Kilimani, Nairobi on January 18. He was charged with causing her grievous bodily harm. The prosecution told the court Kongo had traveled from Naivasha to Nairobi to see his child. His ex-wife, however, told him that she had taken the child to live with her sister in Nakuru because her employer would not allow her to bring the child with her. Kongo then traveled to Nakuru but soon realised that he had been duped; he was informed that the child was taken to Faiths rural home in Kakamega. An agitated Kongo returned to Nairobi and confronted his ex-wife for taking him round in circles. An argument ensued during which the suspect picked a kitchen knife and stabbed Faith twice. He appeared before senior principal magistrate Esther Bhoke of Kibera law courts and denied the charges. He was released on a Sh200,000 bond and an alternative cash bail of Sh60,000. The case will be mentioned on February 8. By Finian Cunningham January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - Blinken does not seem to have repented from his fundamentalist belief in American imperial goodness, notwithstanding his appeal for humility. Barring an earthquake in Washington, Antony Blinken is set to become the new U.S. Secretary of State and Americas top diplomat. The youthful and telegenic Blinken (58) takes over from Mike Pompeo who was Americas representative to the world under the last Trump administration. The contrast could not be more stark. In place of Pompeos thuggish, rough-edged style, Blinken has the appearance of consummate diplomat. Hes fluent in French owing to a European education, hes urbane and sophisticated and comes from a family which has diplomacy in its genes. His father was an ambassador to Hungary and an advisor to President John F Kennedy. An uncle was ambassador to Belgium. Blinken has Hungarian and Russian Jewish ancestry. His mother remarried a Polish-American Jewish survivor of the Nazi holocaust. During his confirmation hearing in the Senate this week, Blinken told the story of how his stepfather escaped from a Nazi death march in Bavaria and was eventually rescued by an American tank driven by an African-American officer. That story has shaped Blinkens worldview of Americas prestige and international role. Hes a proponent of U.S. military interventionism with a presumption of moral duty. Hes an advocate of America working with European allies and upholding the transatlantic alliance in contrast to Trumps boorish America First sloganeering. Understandably, Blinken is imbued with an unshakable belief in American exceptionalism and manifest destiny as a world leader. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter The Senators at his confirmation hearing this week swooned as Blinken spoke. Hes certain to be confirmed as the new Secretary of State in the coming days. Thats because he is seen to be perfect for the task of restoring Americas international image which has been so badly tarnished under Trump and his grumpy gofer Pompeo. The Europeans will lap up Blinken and his transatlantic romanticism. Blinken has said that Americas foreign policy must be conducted with humility and confidence, which may sound refreshingly modest. But its not. Underlying this quiet American is the same old arrogance about U.S. imperial might-is-right and Washingtons presumed privilege of appointing itself as the worlds policeman. If Blinkens record is anything to go on, his future role as Americas top diplomat is foreboding. Previously, he was a senior member in the Obama administrations serving as national security advisor to both the president and Joe Biden who was then vice-president. Blinken rose to become deputy Secretary of State in the final years of the second Obama administration. In those roles he was a key player in a series of foreign interventions which turned out to be utterly disastrous. He was a big proponent of U.S. military intervention in Libya in 2011 which led to the toppling and murder of Muammar Gaddafi. That intervention along with other NATO powers has left a ruinous legacy not only for Libya but for North Africa, the Mediterranean and Europe. Blinken was also a point-man in Obamas intervention in Syria where the U.S. (and other NATO powers) supplied weapons to anti-government militants. The so-called rebels were in fact myriad terrorist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and other extremist Islamists. Up to half a million people have been killed in the decade-long Syrian war and much of that blood is on Americas hands from its de facto support for terror gangs. Maybe Blinken genuinely thought he was supporting pro-democracy rebels. But even if we give him the benefit of doubt, the upshot is still a disaster of American interventionism. Another catastrophic consequence of Blinkens policymaking is Yemen. Under his direction, the Obama administration backed the Saudi war on its southern neighbor beginning in March 2015 and continuing to this day. Yemen has become the worst humanitarian crisis in the world with millions facing starvation amid Saudi aerial bombardment carried out with U.S. warplanes and logistics. The new Biden administration has indicated it will withdraw military support for Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen. But that doesnt absolve the U.S., and Blinken in particular, for having created the horrendous quagmire from which it is belatedly trying to extricate itself from. Whats rather perplexing, however, is that Blinken does not seem to have repented from his fundamentalist belief in American imperial goodness, notwithstanding his appeal for humility. During his Senate hearings, he showed little regret about Americas illegal bombing of Libya and its arming of jihadists in Syria. He described the world with the conventional brainwashed American ideology as being a place where China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are enemies that must be confronted. He also told Senators he was in favor of increasing supplies of lethal weaponry to the Ukraine and its rabidly anti-Russian regime in Kiev. Recall that it was the Obama administration which instigated a coup detat in Kiev against an elected president in February 2014. The new regime was and is dominated by far-right nationalists who laud past links to Nazi Germany. If Blinken has his way the war against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine will escalate and could ignite a bigger confrontation between Russia and the U.S. One of the hallmarks of the U.S.-backed regime in Kiev is its espousal of Neo-Nazi traditions and in particular antisemitic hatred. Given Antony Blinkens own Jewish ancestry and his own intimate connection to the Nazi holocaust, you do have to question his competence if he becomes Americas foreign policy leader. His boss President Joe Biden has fondly lionized Blinken as a superstar of diplomacy. Superficially perhaps, he has finesse and intelligence. But in much the same basic way of adhering to American imperialism, Blinken is as crude and thuggish as his predecessor Pompeo. He just projects a more plausible look and sound, which is most desirable as a moral cover for Americas criminal imperialism. Blinken is known to self-deprecate his insatiable habit for making up bad puns. For example, on one occasion when he was addressing an audience on policy regarding the Arctic, he began by joking he would be breaking the ice. Given his ability to pursue destructive dead-end policies, he might therefore appreciate the moniker Secretary of State Tony Blinkered. Two teenage boys were rushed to hospital after a violent brawl kicked off at an Australia Day beach party - with horrifying footage showing one boy being repeatedly stomped on his head. Around 200 teenagers had reportedly been celebrating the national holiday at City Beach in Perth on Tuesday night when a smaller gang of youths confronted them. The gang, which consisted of around a dozen young males, then allegedly began bashing the teens before stealing their phones and wallets. Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were so badly assaulted they was taken to hospital with severe facial injuries while a young girl was also allegedly attacked in the brawl. Disturbing footage obtained by 6PR Radio has since surfaced showing the unprovoked and violent attack. One boy who had been kicked to the ground is seen shielding his head with his hands while being repeatedly stomped on by up to five other boys. Others were seen throwing punches at some of the teenagers' heads while the group yelled out 'get him!'. Tony, a father of one of the teens at the party said the violent attack came out of nowhere. 'Ten or so kids from another area have come down and bashed about 20 kids, sending one to hospital, stealing mobile phones, and bashing a girl ... apparently ripping tops off girls,' he said. He said his son had been threatened in the melee. 'The kid came up to him with an empty bottle of wine and raised it, swung it over his head and said if you don't give me your phone and your f**king passcode to unlock it, I am going to crack you with this,' Tony said. One boy is seen being repeatedly stomped on the head by the youths at City Beach on Tuesday night The usually idyllic beach in Perth (pictured) was left in chaos after the wild brawl broke out A 16-year-old girl who was also at the beach said she thought someone had been stabbed. 'I don't think anyone knew who they were, and all of a sudden they just started hitting people who weren't even doing anything,' she said. 'I knew a few of the people who were getting mobbed by the group and I didn't know what to do. 'Obviously, I'm a girl I couldn't just jump in and stop the fight.' Western Australia Police are investigating the incident and say multiple robberies took place. They are urging anybody with footage of the fight to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Men (representatives) of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs, may, by intrigue, by corruption, or by other means, first obtain the suffrages (votes), and then betray the interests, of the people - James Madison We purportedly live in a representative democracy, where citizens elect officials who represent citizen interests, ideas, and concerns in the exercise of political power. That sounds really great, empowering even. But how is that truly holding up in local municipalities like Madison? Lets start with the suffrages. In the fall, Madison citizens voted a district council representative (also council president) out of office in favor of a different type of leadership for the city. Yet promptly to follow, the mayor appointed that individual as city administrator. Wait, what!?! Is that honoring the citizens wishes, or is that flipping the proverbial middle finger at them and the new council member they chose? Is it simply coincidence that suffrage means both vote and prayer? In December I reached out to my own district council representative about concerns that citizens were being redirected to the mayors office and staff, under a rumored one voice policy that dissuaded council members from responding themselves to constituents. Ironically, she referred me to the mayor. Madison citizens elected council members to serve roles that are distinct from that of the mayor, with separate responsibilities and sometimes divergent perspectives (like Congress and the White House). Each elected representative has a legal, moral, and ethical obligation to speak with their own voice when fulfilling these functions. Council members who defer their independence defeat the purpose of our representative form of government. To their credit, several council members proactively communicate with constituents via newsletters, blogs, social media, and even phone calls beyond simply posting the mayors updates on their own sites. Contrarily, one has notoriously gone dormant since the election, reportedly not even responding to emails from his district members let alone actively updating them. Another has gone to the other extreme and allegedly used false identities to gain access to private social media groups. Their actions suggest that some city leaders believe citizens should have only a temporary role in representative democracy, in which citizen voices matter only once every four years. Transparency was a platform priority for most challengers during the election, but not for a single incumbent. The mayor has observed that council members have multiple one-on-one and small group meetings with Department Heads, and the city cant be any more transparent than that. Im left pondering how closed-door meetings and manicured one voice communications provide any degree of transparency for the public. In recent council meetings regarding property rezonings, council members stated that they had done their due diligence prior to the public hearings and made their decisions before the public even had a chance to comment. Yet this predetermination is in direct conflict with Alabama statute, which requires public hearings for rezoning ordinances and states, citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. In the Alabama Municipal Journal, General Counsel Lori Lein notes that the purpose of a public hearing is to allow the public to speak and to gather input and comments from the public, adding that public input and testimony may help support the basis for the Councils decision. Wouldnt it follow that if council members unlawfully predetermine their votes on a rezoning ordinance that the votes would therefore be unlawful and invalidate the decision? Public hearings and comments serve a significant governmental interest. Madison citizens have provided council not only public opinion but expertise and facts to counterbalance input from vested parties that has at times been misleading or false. Yet there has been occasion where city leaders have publicly and righteously rebuked citizens for making false statements on critical matters, even though records and subject matter experts validated the citizens comments as wholly accurate. No citizen wants to feel as though their investment of research, knowledge, and talent is wasted on a council that dismisses facts and predetermines votes. People communicate to entertain, inform, or influence. Citizens are not at public hearings to entertain council, and their input to such council decisions is not a courtesy but a right. Madisons elected officials have expressed flowery appreciation for the swell of active citizen participation in council meetings and opinions on important city decisions. Yet in the same breath certain officials reproach the citizens for not participating in the process earlier than the public hearings (meaning at some unknown point before council votes are predetermined). These certain council members mistakenly presume that citizens are even aware of the issues in advance, even though council members themselves arent notifying their constituents and agendas are only posted one business day prior. And though state statute requires advance publication of public hearings (for rezoning ordinances, three consecutive weeks in the county), council members themselves dont know where the information is published. Unsurprisingly, publication regarding the subject rezonings did not even occur in their respective county. Wouldnt it follow that if publication did not occur in the affected county, as required by statute, that the adopted ordinance would not be lawful? Wouldnt it follow that if council members themselves dont even know when and where proposed ordinance schedulings are communicated, they cant expect their constituents to know? To be clear, the public does not have a legal right to speak at every council session. But the council has the right to invite public comment if it deems that input to be of value. On 20 January, council held a work session ostensibly to discuss how to improve communication with the public. It was a lost opportunity when it turned instead to a staff briefing and excluded public comment, in addition to being limited to Zoom and not livestreamed on television or the citys YouTube channel. In balance, Madison is a magnificent community, in large due to the extraordinary work of our elected officials (along with amazingly capable and committed city professionals). Our representatives make weighty and complex decisions that will impact our citys future in perpetuity, with responsibilities that include transparency and responsiveness to constituents they could never, never please in full, despite their best efforts. Yet open governance and adherence to the principles of a representative democracy both cultivate the trust of constituents and serve as an azimuth check for critical decisions. We dont live in an aristocracy. And we dont live in a direct democracy, where citizens decide every matter. We live in a democracy where representatives exercise the political power granted them by citizens to advance the interests, ideas, and concerns of those very citizens. We dont need full-time citizen overwatch of our capable elected officials. But they are representatives and should grant citizens due consideration in their decision making process. After all, one cant promote public interests without public. Several public interest groups help increase public awareness and foster participatory democracy. These include I Vote Madison (www.ivotemadison.com) a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative promoting accessible information that notes, Engaging in local politics doesnt just happen on election day, and its I Am Madison citizens coalition. These also include social media groups like Madison City Government Transparency (NextDoor) and Madison Past, Present, Future (Facebook). The citys transparency site also contains links to helpful information (www.madisonal.gov/1188/Transparency-101). Consider encouraging your elected officials to take the Pro-Truth Pledge at www.protruthpledge.org. Michael Sheehy is a resident of Madison An upcoming Portland boutique hotel backed by a Los Angeles-based hotel brand will feature two new restaurants from Submarine Hospitality, the group behind popular local restaurants Ava Genes and Tusk, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned. Finishing work was underway Monday afternoon at the former Shleifer Furniture building at 509 S.E. Grand Ave., a site most recently home to a temporary homeless shelter. The new hotel, Hotel Grand Stark, comes from the Los Angeles-based Palisociety hotel brand, which is in the middle of a major domestic expansion jump-started in 2019 with the first non-California Palihotel in a historic building near Seattles Pike Place Market. The Portland hotel will open in May, according to a spokesperson. That Seattle hotel featured a second location of The Hart & The Hunter, a critically acclaimed southern restaurant found at a Los Angeles Palihotel. But Hotel Grand Stark looks to be getting a pair of concepts all its own. Submarine Hospitality, which underwent a restructuring last summer after the group and co-founder Joshua McFadden received criticism from former employees on social media, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. But a recent liquor license application and, before the content was removed Tuesday, the hotels website, shed some light of both the hotel and its two separate concepts, Grand Stark Deli and Bar Chamberlain. Heres what we know so far. Hotel Grand Stark The new hotel falls under Palisocietys independent collection, which also includes Los Angeles Silver Lake Pool & Inn, and attempts to represent an elevated reflection of the creative movements and quirky spirit of Portland, and beyond, according to the hotels website. Hotel Grand Stark will have 57 rooms. Restoration of the century-old masonry building, which operated as a hotel into the 1970s, was overseen through a partnership between Beam Development and Urban Development and Partners working with Works Progress Architecture. Grand Stark Deli The hotels in-house deli will serve an approachable all-day menu, according to the hotel website, with fresh baked English muffins, assorted schmears, house-cured salmon gravlax, breakfast sandwiches as well as deli soups, salads and sandwiches with thinly sliced meats piled high. Bar Chamberlain This classic hotel bar will feature expertly crafted cocktails a largely natural wine list and throwback hotel restaurant dishes such as burgers, roasted chicken, steak au poivre, crispy oysters, shrimp cocktails and towering Caesar salads to be eaten with your hands, the hotel website said. Palisociety took the website down, but here are the two restaurant descriptions from this morning: pic.twitter.com/K5ArMzhldS Michael Russell (@tdmrussell) January 26, 2021 Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell Refinery live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Chennai Petroleum Corporation share price tumbled 16 percent intraday on January 27 after the company reported its Q3 numbers. The company reported a Rs 556.44 crore loss in the December quarter due to lower refinery run and tax expenses. CPCL had reported a Rs 290.58 crore profit in the same period a year ago. Revenue from operations fell to Rs 11,458.32 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 11,965.01 crore in the previous quarter of the last fiscal. While fall in international oil prices meant the cost of materials consumed fell by over 35 percent to Rs 5,470.08 crore, CPCLs excise duty payout almost doubled to Rs 5,578.39 crore. "The demand for fuel products was lower during the first half-year due to COVID related lockdown, resulting in lower crude thruput (refinery run). The capacity utilisation gradually improved during the current quarter (October-December), the firm said in notes to the accounts. The stock was trading at Rs 100.25, down Rs 19.20, or 16.07 percent. It touched an intraday high of Rs 104.40 and an intraday low of Rs 97.35. The scrip witnessed a spurt in volume of more than 1.44 times and was trading with volumes of 184,355 shares, compared to its five day average of 101,426 shares, an increase of 81.76 percent. According to Moneycontrol SWOT Analysis powered by Trendlyne, the company has high debt. The book value per share has been deteriorating from the last two years. MFs have decreased their shareholding last quarter. The company is also inefficient in using shareholder funds with ROE declining in the last 2 years. However, Moneycontrol technical rating is neutral with moving averages and technical indicators being bearish. : The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. President Joe Biden will escalate appeals for Congress to back his top priority, $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief, seeking to overcome Republican opposition to the plan as he enters his first full week in office. Biden's top economic adviser, Brian Deese, spent more than an hour on Sunday discussing the proposal with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Some asked the White House to further justify what would be the second-largest emergency spending measure in U.S. history and expressed interest in a much narrower bill focused on accelerating coronavirus vaccine distribution, according to Senator Angus King of Maine and people familiar with the matter. Deese and other officials provided details and context in response to the senators' questions, according to an administration official. Senior White House aides plan to keep talking with lawmakers in both parties this week to hear their concerns but also press for urgent action, the official said. As the president's team began its work with key lawmakers, Biden is moving forward with another round of executive actions, following on a series of orders signed soon after he took office. On Monday, he will sign an order directing federal agencies to buy more American-made products and is expected to take other actions on criminal justice, climate, health care and immigration. The new orders will add to roughly two dozen actions Biden has signed since Inauguration Day in an effort to address the coronavirus pandemic, reverse former President Donald Trump's agenda and point the nation in a new direction. While girding for what may be prolonged negotiations with Republicans, Biden received welcome news with the Senate's decision to delay the start of Trump's second impeachment trial. The president had urged lawmakers to spend more time filling Cabinet posts and working on his agenda. The Senate this week is expected to take up the nomination of Janet Yellen to lead the Treasury Department, which would fill a key vacancy at a critical moment for the economy. But agreement has been hard to come by in the 50-50 Senate, where Democratic and Republican leaders have yet to reach a power-sharing deal -- much less come to terms on the White House's stimulus proposal. Taken together, the developments show the honeymoon period of Biden's presidency could be coming to a close mere days after he took office. The challenges raise questions about whether Biden can keep his pledge to unify the country while pushing forward with an ambitious policy agenda that addresses thorny issues. Biden's aides have expressed optimism. "By and large, we've seen a lot of progress on this front," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The coming days will also test Biden's personal relationships with members of Congress, which his team said would help him get big things done in a divided Washington. For now, his lieutenants are taking the lead in trying to build some support for his stimulus and immigration bills. Deese on Sunday spoke to a bipartisan group of 16 senators, including moderate Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, all of whom have expressed reservations about the price tag for Biden's virus relief proposal. Before the call, Romney described the $1.9 trillion cost "shocking," considering a $900 billion stimulus Congress passed in late December. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Romney called for targeted relief measures focused on ending the pandemic rather than another major stimulus package. King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the White House should provide hard figures to show why such a large package is needed on the heels of December's stimulus law. "Part of what we're asking for is more data -- where did you get the number?" said King, who participated in Deese's call. A Democrat on the call, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, said that lawmakers need more information on how the last stimulus was used. "I think that case can be better made when we get more transparency and better numbers about how the last $900 billion - much of which has started to go out - but I think the administration needs to be very transparent about how those dollars have been delivered," Warner said in an interview on NPR. Facing pressure from liberals for quick action, the White House has brushed aside the idea of cutting off bipartisan talks by using a maneuver called "budget reconciliation," which would conceivably allow much of the legislation to pass through the Senate with only Democratic votes. Under normal rules, major legislation often needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, meaning Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to advance Biden's relief plan. Yet Biden's team has also resisted making changes favored by Republicans, such as reducing the package's size, breaking it into smaller pieces or removing controversial items like a minimum wage increase. "We were going to move fast and we're going to move bipartisan," Klain said. "I don't think bipartisanship and speed are enemies of one another. The need is urgent. Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, are dying. Kids' schools that take care of both Democratic and Republican kids are closed. People are on unemployment. People are in food lines. That's not a party issue." In the meantime, the president plans to spend part of each day next week signing executive actions. Monday's order will start the process of strengthening requirements for federal agencies to buy U.S.-made goods and services, according to administration officials. It will also tighten standards for how much of a product needs to be manufactured in the U.S. in order to be considered American-made. Another batch of orders are expected to be aimed at racial justice. Among them are directives to create a federal commission on police reform, limit the transfer of military equipment to police and wind down the use of private prisons. Biden also plans to sign actions that elevate climate change as a national security and regulatory priority and convene a summit of world leaders on April 22 to discuss the issue. The president is also expected to rescind a controversial rule blocking U.S. funding for foreign groups that provide abortions, known as the Mexico City policy, and sign an order bolstering Medicaid and Obamacare. On immigration, Biden plans to sign actions that restore the U.S. asylum and refugee systems that largely ground to a halt under Trump. He's expected to direct a review of a Trump-era rule that tightened criteria for refusing entry to potential immigrants on the grounds they would become dependent on government assistance. Biden also plans to form a task force to reunite migrant children with guardians separated from them under Trump's border policies. Disgraced school principal Malka Leifer will face a court on Thursday after landing back on Australian soil 13 years on from allegedly fleeing to Israel. Leifer was escorted by Victoria Police and completed the final leg of her extradition from Israel on Wednesday night. The 52-year-old touched down at Melbourne airport aboard a commercial flight from Singapore at 8.44pm and was taken into 14-day quarantine. Malka Leifer (pictured right) is facing 74 rape and child sex abuse charges from her time as a principal at Melbourne's ultra-Orthodox Addas Israel School Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter noted her arrival marked the end of a long and complicated legal battle. 'The arrival of Ms Leifer in Australia will bring relief to alleged victims who have waited many years for this moment,' he said. 'It is now important that the legal processes are allowed to proceed in Victoria without commentary which could affect that process.' Leifer will face Melbourne Magistrates Court via a video link on Thursday for her first appearance. A Victorian police can is seen leaving Melbourne airport, believed to be transporting Leifer (pictured) Members of the Victorian Police wait for the arrival of former school principal Malka Leifer at the International Terminal (pictured) It is expected 74 charges of child rape and sexual abuse stemming from her years as principal of Elsternwick's Orthodox Adass Israel School will be formalised during the hearing. Leifer has previously denied all allegations. An exact time is yet to be set for the hearing. Wednesday's flight was the final leg of Leifer's extradition, long-awaited by sisters and former students Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper, who filed police reports in 2011. Her journey began with a Frankfurt-bound plane at Tel Aviv on Monday, just hours before the closure of Israel's airports due to the coronavirus pandemic. A person believed to be former Jewish school principal Malka Leifer, walks off a plane at Melbourne Airport (pictured) Pictures showed Leifer about to board the flight wearing handcuffs and legcuffs. Israel's Supreme Court approved her extradition order in December and Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn approved the order the following day. Leifer's final failed appeal followed 74 hearings in Israeli courts, which were drawn out by her claims of mental illness - which were eventually rejected. Allegations against her first surfaced in 2008 when a former pupil confessed the abuse to her therapist, prompting others to come forward. Leifer was summoned to a meeting to discuss allegations made by eight separate girls at the school, which she denied. Sisters Elly Sapir, Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer (pictured above) are alleged victims of Malka Leifer After fleeing Australia in 2008 with her husband and eight children, she was first arrested in Israel in 2014 only to be freed from house arrest on the condition she undertook psychiatric assessments. An independent undercover investigation proved Leifer was feigning mental illness and she was re-arrested in 2018. In December, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected her lawyers' final appeal against extradition in a strongly-worded judgement. 'More than six years have passed since a request was filed in the Jerusalem district court to declare the appellant extradited to Australia,' it wrote. AstraZeneca has pulled out of a meeting with the European Union to discuss delayed vaccine commitments, according to an EU official. How soon the over-70s will get the Covid-19 vaccine is now increasingly uncertain. They make up around 500,000 of the population and have been promised the roll-out for them will start next month but this is now going to take longer than expected. There are one million doses needed to ensure they are fully protected. Much of their fate was dependent on a row between the makers of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the European Commission, where senior officials are fuming that promised deliveries will be much lower than promised. What does this mean for the fight against the virus? Read More Fair share A major dispute has arisen between the EU and the makers of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine over its failure to deliver the expected number of doses which had been agreed. This vaccine is due to be approved for use on Friday and Ireland has been anxiously waiting for the green light, terming this vaccine the game changer. It can be kept at a regular temperatures and administered by GPs. It was also due to be relatively plentiful with around 600,000 doses here in the first quarter of the year. It now seems this will reduced to 200,000 doses 30,000 fewer than expected. Just 100,000 doses are due in March. In August the EU entered a deal for 300 million doses of the jab with the option of another 100 million. Now it seems supplies could be 50 million lower. That in turn means a much smaller share-out here. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the deliveries here next month will be at the lower end of the expected range and will be considerably lower in March. The discussions between the European Commission and the drug company in recent days have been robust and officials are fuming. Read More Missing doses So where are all of those vaccine doses which were destined for Ireland the other member states? The accusation was that the beneficiary was non-EU Britain this has been rejected by AstraZeneca which blames manufacturing problems. Effectiveness A committee of experts in the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will make a final decision on Friday on whether to approve the vaccine for use. However, the head of the EMA said yesterday only a small number of elderly people were involved in trials. How this might influence the decision of the committee and possibly lead to it being recommended for younger age groups remains to be seen. Expand Close Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. Photo: Frank McGrath / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. Photo: Frank McGrath Waiting game Irelands roll-out is set to come under greater scrutiny and its time for more investigation of figures on how many are getting the vaccine, who they are and who has still not received even a first dose. Nobody seems to be in overall charge despite having a taskforce, HSE officials and Department of Health civil servants involved in the operation. What we do know is that, up to January 24, 143,000 doses have been administered. It has been roughly split between residents aged over 65 and staff in long-term care homes and frontline health workers. The two doses are given 28 days apart. This week, around 70,000 healthcare workers as well as some residents and staff in long-term care facilities get their second dose. Due to outbreaks of Covid-19, four long-term care facilities were not included in this first series of vaccinations on public health advice. Another 120 are not completed due to active outbreaks and will need revisiting. Roll-out plans must be flexible to accommodate unforeseen events and to operate in what is an evolving and fluid situation internationally. In the queue There are thousands of healthcare staff who still have not received a first dose. It emerged yesterday that all mental health services which provide care for people over 65 in long-stay accommodation have still not received their vaccinations. The HSE said that due to limitations of vaccine supply it is not possible to administer vaccine to all staff at this time. Staff who do not receive the vaccine in the coming week will be included in the programme in February. New Delhi, May 28: The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man. Congress and other Opposition ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. "It is one thing to rush to say - do this, it will benefit the common man. But when the technical, fitment and law committees go into the details, you realise that that could have collateral impact on many others," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "I am not talking about the revenue generation aspect, but how many other items will get included in it as a result of which how you are going to implement it," she added. Briefing reporters after the 43rd meeting of the GST Council, the finance minister said a ministerial panel will be constituted to decide on the rates on the vaccines and medical supplies. The panel will submit its report by June 8. "When actually these benefits, because they are going to manufacturers or intermediaries, (will) be passed over to the end user, the patients, on that there were different views. "And therefore I suggested that a GoM (Group of Ministers) go into details and take a call. As a Council, we are responsible to see how it reaches the common man... the GoM will come back to us and we will take a final call," Sitharaman said. Currently, 5 per cent GST is levied on domestically manufactured vaccines, while it is 12 per cent for COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators. "The interest of the Centre and all states/UTs is to ensure that Indians get vaccinated in time and that states get due share of revenue in time, a balanced view is maintained, as witnessed in today''s meeting," Sitharaman said. She added that import of Amphotericin-B -- a medicine used for treatment of black fungus -- would be exempted from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The Council also decided that import of COVID-related goods such as medical oxygen and vaccines will be exempted from GST till August 31, even if they are imported on payment basis or free of cost for donating to the government or a state-approved agency. The Council also decided that the Centre will borrow Rs 1.58 lakh crore and pass it on to the states as back-to-back loans to make up for the shortfall in their revenues from the implementation of the GST. "On compensation cess, the same formula as last year will be adopted this year too. Rough estimate is that Centre would have to borrow Rs 1.58 lakh crore and pass it on as back-to-back loans to the states," Sitharaman said. A special session of the Council will be held soon to consider extending the five-year GST shortfall compensation period to states beyond 2022. The Council provided relief to small GST taxpayers through an amnesty scheme for late return filers. To provide relief to taxpayers, late fee for non-furnishing of GSTR-3B for July 2017 to April 2021 has been capped at Rs 500 per return for those taxpayers who did not have any tax liability. For those with tax liability, a maximum Rs 1,000 per return late fees would be charged, provided such returns are filed by August 31. Besides, filing of annual returns for 2020-21 fiscal for taxpayers with aggregate turnover of up to Rs 2 crore has been made optional. Meanwhile, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal tweeted that GST COVID-19 relief was put on hold due to "lack of compassion" by the Centre. "GST compensation needs a primary maths teacher; Central Government reduces proposed compensation by nearly 33 per cent amidst faking revenues," Badal added. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Diana Vondra The meme of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and his viral hand-knit mittens continues to make splashes across the Internet. You can now find the meme crocheted on a bollard, vertical posts used to control traffic and mark boundaries, at Port Aransas beach. Diana Vondra, an organizer of the Yarn Bombing & Bollard Buddies in Port A, said it took four days to crochet Sanders. On Tuesday, she added the piece to her more than 200 yarn bomb collection currently spread across bollards at the beach. States with paid maternity leave policies have had a 20% reduction in female employees leaving their jobs after the birth of a child. Some states require paid maternity leave, while federal law requires 12 weeks of unpaid leave for employers with 50 or more employees. When creating your maternity leave policy, be specific on who is eligible, determine if you will offer paid leave, and ensure you are compliant with state and federal laws. This article is for small business owners who want to learn what maternity leave is and how to create a maternity leave policy. If you don't offer your employees some form of maternity leave, it could cost you in the long run. While many businesses may consider maternity leave to be an added expense, research from the Institute for Women's Policy Research shows that states with paid maternity leave policies saw a 20% reduction in the number of female employees leaving their jobs within a year of giving birth. In the end, the added expense of paid maternity leave can benefit your company by boosting retention, productivity and company loyalty. To avoid losing quality employees, you need to have a clear understanding of what maternity leave is, what your responsibilities as an employer are, and how you can develop a maternity leave policy. What is maternity leave? Maternity leave is the period of time during which a new mother leaves her job following the birth of a child. Maternity leave may also begin before the child is born upon the mother's request. Maternity leave can also be referred to as "parental leave," as parents of all genders may require time off to care for a newborn or recently adopted child. Depending on state laws and your business's own policy, maternity leave can be paid or unpaid. [Read related article: Retain Employees With Family-Friendly Workplace Policies] Key takeaway: Maternity or parental leave is the period of time during which a new parent leaves their job following the birth or adoption of a child. Is it mandatory to provide maternity leave? Whether it is mandatory to offer parental leave to your employees depends on the size of your company and the state you operate in. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), all employees of companies with at least 50 employees are eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year for things like serious illness, the birth of a child, or caring for a family member. State policies differ on eligibility, length of leave, and whether the leave is paid or unpaid. Many states allow pregnancy and childbirth as qualifiers for short-term disability benefits. This chart from Paycor breaks down maternity leave laws by state. "Providing maternity leave increases employee morale, productivity and employee retention," said Elissa Jessup, HR knowledge advisor at the Society for Human Resource Management. "Reducing the high cost of turnover and the associated training costs for new hires are another benefit of an employer providing maternity leave. It can also be used as a recruitment tool to attract and retain quality employees, which can differentiate an employer apart from other competitors who do not provide maternity leave." Key takeaway: Maternity leave laws vary by state, but the federal FMLA laws require companies with more than 50 employees to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave. What laws apply to maternity leave? Both federal and state laws apply to maternity leave. Here are three laws that you need to know about. Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 is a federal law that protects pregnant employees from discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Under this act: Employers cannot refuse to hire a candidate based on pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions. Employers cannot require pregnant employees to undergo procedures to determine their ability to perform certain job duties, unless the same procedures apply to all employees. If a pregnant employee does have trouble performing their job duties, the employer must offer reasonable accommodations, as they would for any other temporarily disabled employee. Employers may not prohibit pregnant employees from working or prevent them from returning to work after giving birth. Employee health insurance plans must treat pregnancy-related conditions the same as other conditions. Employers cannot require pregnant employees to pay higher insurance deductibles than non-pregnant employees. Family and Medical Leave Act The FMLA provides all new parents including fathers and adoptive parents with 12 weeks of unpaid leave. FMLA is different from a business's maternity leave policy, which is typically six to eight weeks and can be paid or unpaid. However, the six to eight weeks of maternity leave is part of the 12 weeks from the FMLA in other words, an employee cannot take six weeks of maternity leave and then start their 12 weeks of FMLA. [Read related article: How to Comply With FMLA Regulations as a Small Business] The FMLA applies to employees of any a company that has 50 or more employees who have been employed there for at least a year. Under the FMLA, businesses are required to: Provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn or adopted child. Continue the employee's health insurance coverage. Allow the employee to return to their same job, or a job with equivalent salary and benefits. Four states currently offer paid family and medical leave: New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and California. These states offer about 60% coverage of an employee's salary during their time off. State laws Currently, six states as well as Washington, D.C., have Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) programs: California Massachusetts New Jersey New York Rhode Island Washington Much like the FMLA, these states require employers to give employees time off for parental and medical leave, but unlike the FMLA, they require this leave to be paid time off. PFML programs have eligibility requirements, like working a certain number of hours, and each state has its own contribution rates and distribution amounts. Employers in states with PFML programs must contribute or withhold money from their employees' wages to allow for paid maternity leave. [Make sure you are up to date on all of the sick leave laws your business should know.] Key takeaway: Two main federal laws apply to maternity leave the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 and the FMLA. There are also various state laws. How to develop a maternity leave policy Besides helping your company avoid discrimination lawsuits, a good maternity leave policy is key for attracting and retaining strong talent. Here are six things to do when creating your maternity or parental leave policy. 1. Follow state and federal laws. When you construct your policy, the most important thing is to ensure you are complying with both state and federal laws. Federally, the most important laws to consider are the Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the FMLA. State laws depend on where your business is located, but if you operate in one of the states that have PFML programs, you are required to provide paid parental leave. 2. Make your policy applicable to all parents. It is no longer just mothers who might require leave to care for a child; fathers, adoptive parents and other caregivers also benefit from leave policies. "Employers should have a policy not just for moms, but for all new parents, including dads, non-birth moms, and parents through adoption and foster care," said Missy Narula, founder of Exhale Parent. By making your policy inclusive, you help all of your employees who might have a child come into their lives feel supported and protected. [Are you considering offering paternity leave? Check out our story on the benefits of doing so.] 3. Invite feedback from multiple sources. When you're creating your policy, it's a good idea to gather input and feedback from a variety of sources, including your HR team, legal representatives, and employees who are expecting or have children. Ask your staff what aspects of a parental leave policy would benefit and help them most, what areas they need support in, and what you can do to make the policy the best it can be. 4. Determine who is eligible. Your policy must be clear and specific on who is eligible for parental leave. You can use the FMLA as a guide under the FMLA, employees must have worked for their organization for at least 12 months or 1,250 hours to qualify for 12 weeks of leave. You can adjust the eligibility requirements as you see fit, and you can also incorporate state guidelines. 5. Clarify the different types of leave you offer. There are three forms of parental leave you can offer: Intermittent. This covers one-time things like doctor appointments and small emergencies. This covers one-time things like doctor appointments and small emergencies. Reduced schedule. You can reduce an employee's schedule or workload if their normal workload becomes too much. You can reduce an employee's schedule or workload if their normal workload becomes too much. Block of time. This is an extended period of time off that is typically granted after the employee has given birth, or if there are health complications preceding the birth that require the employee to take time off. 6. Determine if you will offer paid leave. The FMLA does not require employers to offer paid leave, but doing so can help you retain valuable employees. Paid leave is a major benefit that many job seekers value highly. There are a few ways you can offer paid leave: Employer-paid leave. This option, where you pay the employee's entire salary while they're out on leave, is costly, but it's very valuable to the employee. To save money, you could consider offering a portion of the employee's pay while they are away from work. This option, where you pay the employee's entire salary while they're out on leave, is costly, but it's very valuable to the employee. To save money, you could consider offering a portion of the employee's pay while they are away from work. Disability leave. You can include disability leave as part of your insurance plan, so their paid leave doesn't come directly out of your pocket. You can include disability leave as part of your insurance plan, so their paid leave doesn't come directly out of your pocket. Vacation/sick leave. Some employers allow employees to use their PTO for parental leave, though this can also be a costly option for you. Key takeaway: When creating a maternity policy, talk to multiple sources, be clear on who is eligible, and make your policy inclusive of all parents. A recent poll by Statnet, a research and polling institute specializing in the Arab sector, asked what party Arabs would vote for if the Joint List split into its four constituent parties: Hadash, Raam, Balad and Taal. The results, which were released last week, had one particularly curious finding. They showed that 25.% of respondents would vote for a Jewish party rather than one of the Arab parties that make up the Joint List. While the finding is, undoubtedly intriguing, it should come as no surprise to anyone who follows Arab society in Israel, especially the developments of the last few months, since the rotation government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz was formed one that turned out to be all Netanyahu in everything but name. The polls question was completely theoretical. It is fairly safe to assume that the Joint List will not break up into its constituent parties, if only because of the high electoral threshold of 3.25%. Talks are now taking place in the home of Mohammad Barakeh, chairman of the steering committee, to ensure that the parties run together again. Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore the fact that a quarter of the respondents answered that they would vote for a Jewish party after the Joint Party won a 15-seat record in the March 2020 election. However, in April 2019, when the parties ran as two separate lists (Hadash-Taal and Raam-Balad), 28.4% of Arab voters cast their ballots for Jewish parties, particularly Meretz (8.7%) and the Blue and White Party (8.1%). In the September 2019 election, 20% of Arab voters cast their ballots for Jewish parties. It should be emphasized that Arab voters do not like supporting parties that cannot pass the electoral threshold. The unprecedented 15 seats that the Joint List won in March 2020 was mainly the result of high voter turnout (64.7%) in the Arab sector. It was the highest turnout since 1999, when it reached 75%. The sector voted almost unanimously in the Arab towns and villages. All told, almost 88% of Arabs voted for the Joint List. In other words, one of the great achievements of the Joint List was that only 12% of Arab voters supported Jewish parties. For years, Arab parties found limited success in their efforts to dominate the Arab street. Then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the center-left parties came along. Netanyahu waged a longstanding campaign of incitement against the Arab population in the last three campaigns. His goal was to delegitimize the Arab vote and reduce Arab turnout. Meanwhile, the center-left parties played right into Netanyahus hands, distancing themselves from Arab society by refusing to include Christian or Muslim candidates in realistic positions on their party lists. What changed this time? Yesh Atid Knesset member Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, who announced that she would not run in the next election, told Al-Monitor, It is important to see that a quarter of Israels Arab citizens are considering voting for Zionist parties. This is evidence of a genuine desire to participate in political and diplomatic activity as players wielding influence. More important, however, is the fact that this obligates the Zionist parties and their leader to engage in a real revision of their attitudes, agenda and vision. They must work toward the full and equal integration of Arab citizens of Israel and take real measures on their behalf. The truth is that there is more than one reason for this figure, including a desire among Arabs to integrate into the political game and wield influence, having realized that they cannot do so through the Joint List, no matter how many seats it wins. The situation is compounded by internecine fighting between the parties making up the Joint List, which is a private club of sorts whose doors are shut to certain sectors of the Arab community. Furthermore, the Jewish parties have been courting Arab votes. Take Netanyahus visits to Tira, Umm al-Fahm and Nazareth, and the inclusion of Arab candidates in the various party lists. Examples include Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi and Esawi Frej in Meretz, Alean El-Krenawi in the new Economy Party headed by Yaron Zalika, and the Likud and Yesh Atid may well also include Arab candidates. As someone who lives and breathes polls, there is no way Netanyahu would miss an opportunity to scrape away votes when he sees signs that Arab society is ready. He even initiated meetings with the heads of local Arab councils to discussing reining in violence and crime in the Arab sector. How do Arab analysts explain the surprising poll? Jamal Majadli, a former deputy mayor of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, explained to Al-Monitor, Arab voters are very disappointed. They do not feel comfortable about the way the parties that make up the Joint List are squabbling. They havent done anything and they are fighting among themselves. Its such a pity! Mohammad Khalaily, who lectures in civics and sociology at Oranim College, told Al-Monitor, I am not surprised. When there was no Joint List, the percentage of Arabs voting for Jewish parties grew so that in the April 2019 election, it reached as high as 28%. All the recent studies show that there is a faction in Arab society that offers vocal support to voting for Jewish parties. It is important to remember that Arabs feel quite disappointed with the performance of the Joint List, especially when considering the promises made by its representatives to bring about change. They said that they would take part in forming a government to depose Netanyahu, and in the end, that did not happen. IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Half of all passengers arriving into Ireland on one day this week were returning from holiday destinations, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said. Speaking to the Fianna Fail parliamentary party, the Taoiseach said 800 people travelled into the country on Tuesday and 397 of them were returning from holidays. Mr Martin also noted that 542 of the travellers recorded were Irish citizens. The Government is planning a new 500 fine for people who breach travel restrictions by making non-essential journeys abroad. Read More As fears grow about variant strains of Covid-19, in addition to cancelling visa-free travel from Brazil and South Africa, tonight it has emerged that visa-free travel is being cancelled for people travelling from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay as of midnight. The Taoiseachs remarks came as he detailed the Governments plan to introduce mandatory quarantine for people travelling into Ireland from certain countries. Passengers from Brazil and South Africa will face two weeks of quarantine on arrival once the new system is established. However, the Taoiseach told the meeting he expects other countries will be added to the quarantine list. He said the new regulations will involve mandatory quarantine in hotels and in homes. He said legislation on new travel restrictions and penalties for breaches of the rules are being drafted. Mr Martin also said there will be increased Garda check points at port and airports Separately, he said half of all health workers received the vaccine and the rest are being prioritised. He said under the National Vaccination Plan the over-70s are next on the list to be vaccinated. The Fianna Fail leader said he expected the vaccine programme to pick up from April onwards. He also said the country will reopen in time but the Government is focused on suppressing the virus and ensuring a critical mass of the population is vaccinated before they consider any major easing of restrictions. He said there has been a decline in the spread of the virus but insisted more suppression was needed to ease the pressure on health service workers, especially those working in hospitals and nursing homes. A 26-year-old woman who pushed for legal changes so she could speak out about being a survivor of sexual abuse has been named Australian of the Year for her advocacy work on behalf of abuse survivors. Grace Tame was presented with the award at a ceremony in Canberra on Monday, marking a huge shift in perception when it came to the country and community's approach toward sexual abuse. Who is Grace Tame? Tame became the first woman in Tasmania state to win the right to publicly name herself as a sexual abuse survivor, allowing her to speak about the abuse she went through as a 15-year-old at the hands of a math teacher. Prior to her legal victory, Tame was barred from speaking publicly about the crimes in which she was a victim, while her abuser who was jailed was legally able to tell his story. Why was Tame's case landmark? As per Tasmanias Evidence Act, victims of sexual assault were prohibited from speaking about the case even though perpetrators, as well as the media, were allowed to. Any Tasmanian news pulication carrying the name of a rape survivor was fined $20,000 Tasmanian newspapers was fined $20,000 for publishing the name of a rape victim in 2012, even if they consented to having their named published. Such laws were often designed to protect victims of assault by keeping their identities secret but didnt account for those who wanted to speak out. After advocacy from Tame and Nina Funnell, who started the campaign #Let Her Speak, Tasmanias laws preventing survivors from speaking out were overturned. Why did Tame dedicate her award to survivors? Tame has been using her experiences to groom young women and survivors of rape and other forms of sexual abuse and violence to get back on their feet and speak up against such incidents. While accepting the award, Tame dedicated it to all survivors of child sexual abuse. This is for us, she said. I remember him towering over me, blocking the door. I remember him saying Dont tell anybody.' I remember him saying Dont make a sound,'" Tame said. Well hear me now using my voice against a growing chorus of voices that will not be silenced. Tame said she wants a greater focus on education and prevention of child sexual assault. She said grooming and psychological manipulation by abusers is a big problem. They thrive when we fight amongst ourselves and weaponize all our vulnerabilities, Tame said. This year and beyond, my focus is on empowering survivors and education as a primary means of prevention. Who were the other women to get top awards? Other top awards went to three other women. Aboriginal elder Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann was named Senior Australian of the Year. The 73-year-old activist, educator and artist became Northern Territory state's first qualified Aboriginal teacher in 1975. Kenyan refugee Rosemary Kariuki was named Australias Local Hero for her work helping female migrants combat loneliness and the unknown as they settle into their new communities. And the title of Young Australian of the Year went to Adelaide student and social entrepreneur Isobel Marshall, who co-founded a menstrual product company TABOO in high school, with the goal of reducing stigma around periods and helping women access products. (With inputs from Associated Press) The 2020 election will go down as arguably the greatest fraud in world history. The tremendously popular incumbent candidate, President Trump, was easily winning the race on election night in a landslide and then suddenly multiple states took a break, quit counting, and by the end of the week the election was flipped to Joe Biden. (Natural News) (Article by Joe Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) Then, as the President and his team attempted to address the fraud and alleged abnormalities, the courts refused in any case evidence to be brought before a court of law. Weve heard over and over from Big Media that President Trump and his team lost numerous court cases linked to the 2020 election. But this is not accurate. Heres what we identified from our research of an accurate and updated list of court cases: There are 81 court cases to date based on the 2020 election In 45 cases President Trump was the plaintiff In 34 cases President Trump is not the plaintiff In 2 cases President Trump is the defendant In 72 cases illegal voting is alleged In ZERO of the 72 cases where illegal voting is alleged has evidence been allowed to be presented 30 cases remain active Here is a link to the list of cases. Notice this file is updated on an ad hoc basis so numbers may change. 2020 Election Court Cases by Jim Hoft on Scribd In the 2020 election: Thousands of instances of fraud were alleged Multiple states changed laws to provide for absentee ballots and the remedy is alleged to be not legal The FBI to date has done nothing to review the alleged fraud The DOJ denied any alleged material instances of fraud The Democrats are accused of the alleged election fraud The state legislatures certified their results with millions of ballots in question The US Congress accepted these certified results which ignored the thousands of instances of election fraud VP Mike Pence accepted the results despite state legislatures asking him to examine the results And now we know the courts didnt allow a single instance of evidence of fraud to be presented to date. Americans are livid with the actions that took place in the 2020 election and believe the election was stolen. There are numerous reasons for this. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com and VoteFraud.news. The mother of the two girls who were killed as part of an occult ritual in Andhra Pradesh's Madanapalli was found to be in a trance when police arrived their home on Sunday night. While the father, V Purushottam Naidu, came out of the trance, the mother continued to dance and shout around the bodies, police said. According to a report in the Times of India, Padmaja, the girls' mother on Sunday, shouted that the novel coronavirus had not originated in China but was instead created by gods to get rid of the "bad elements" of kalyuga. When she was asked to get an RT-PCR test, she said ,"Corona did not come from China...it came from Shiva. I am Shiva and corona will be gone by March," quoted Indian Express. According to the report, the police said that the entire family, including the deceased daughters, were involved in some extreme religious belief. The killings were discovered on Sunday night after the police were tipped off by a colleague of the father. The elder sister Alekhya was found with her head smashed in using a dumbbell, while the younger Sai Divya was stabbed with a trident. Police said that the parents held the belief that they could bring their daughters back from the dead. The couple had told the police they received signals from heaven and that theirs was a house of miracles. They told us that a miracle was about to happen which we had been spoiled by us entering the house. They told us that the morning after the magic that would occur would be spoken about by the whole world, the DSP Ravi Mohana Chary said. The couple were followers of Mehar Baba, Sai Baba and Rajaneesh or Osho. At the crime scene, a picture of Mehar Baba was found and the recent posts of Alekya on social media confirmed her spiritual inclination, police had previously said. Padmaja is the correspondent and Principal of a corporate school in Chittoor and Purushotham is an associate professor from the Chemistry department in Government Degree College in Madanapalli. Their elder daughter Alekya was a student of the Indian Institute of Forest Management and Sai Divya was a BBA graduate. President Barack Obama greets Alya Dorelien Bitar, the 1-year-old daughter of Maher Bitar, the outgoing National Security Council Director for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs, and his wife, Astrid Dorelien, during a family photo in the Oval Office, on Sept. 21, 2015. (White House/Pete Souza) Biden Appoints Former Obama Official to Key Role in National Security Council President Joe Biden has appointed lawyer Maher Bitar to be the National Security Councils senior director for intelligence programs. Bitar has served as general counsel to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and as a top legal adviser to its chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) since 2017. I am thrilled to see him in his new post, though we will certainly miss him on the committee, Schiff told Politico. I cant think of anyone more suited to the role than Maher. In 2020, Bitar played a major role during then-President Donald Trumps first impeachment, serving as a senior member in the Democrats House impeachment team. The Senate ultimately voted to acquit Trump on two articles of impeachment. Bitars latest appointment by Biden marks his return to the NSC. He previously served as the NSC director for Israeli and Palestinian affairs during the presidency of Barack Obama. Before that, he was a deputy to Samantha Power while she was at the NSC as the director for multilateral affairs and human rights, and later when she was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. On detail from the Department of State, he was the foreign affairs officer in the Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. Bitar previously worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia and the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Jerusalem. He graduated with a doctorate in law from Georgetown University in 2012, and previously graduated from Georgetown Universitys Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service in 2006. He had also received a Master of Science in Forced Migration from Oxford Universitys Refugee Studies Centre while on a scholarship. In a report published by FrontPageMag on Jan. 26, investigative journalist Daniel Greenfield noted multiple indications that Bitar has held anti-Israel views. Bitar was on the executive board of Georgetown Universitys Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group, a pro-Palestinian college organization that has been accused of being a far-left hate group that espouses anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiments, Greenfield noted. The SJP group was among the main organizers of a Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM) conference in 2006 at the university, he wrote, accusing PSM of being an anti-Israel propaganda group. The Jewish Virtual Library calls PSM an umbrella organization that brings together university-affiliated anti-Israel groups with a goal to portray the Palestinian cause as a struggle for justice against the racist state of Israel. At the 2006 conference, Bitar ran a session that described how to portray Israel as being detrimental to the Christian population, Greenfield wrote. Separately, Greenfield noted that a photo in a Georgetown Universitys yearbook in 2006 (pdf) appears to show Bitar dancing in front of a banner reading Divest from Israel Apartheid. Bitar in one paper for Oxford University (pdf) wrote that Israels political existence as a state is the cause for Palestinian dispossession and statelessnessof ultimate responsibility toward the refugees. Israels rejection of their right to return remains the main obstacle to finding a durable solution. Greenfield wrote: The job of Senior Director for Intelligence at the National Security Council is supposed to go to an intelligence professional. How did an anti-Israel activist go from helping host a conference for an organization whose speakers have supported Islamic terrorism to a top intelligence job? Michael Ellis, former Republican political operative, previously held the position of NSC senior director for intelligence programs. The role involves overseeing the coordination and communications between the White House and the intelligence community, including the director of national intelligence, on multiple issues. The NSC serves to advise and assist the president to coordinate national security matters among federal government agencies. The agency and the White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times on Bitars appointment. The sight of a prowling shark is normally a scary sight, but the fear factor was diminished when a picture was taken of one in Florida when it was compared to Donald Trump. Underwater photographer and videographer Tanner Mansell, 27, from Jupiter, Florida, captured the image of the nine-ft lemon shark with a striking resemblance to the former president while on a dive off the coats of his home town. The incredible photo shows the shark from a side angle, just underneath the surface of the water. The marine predator has it's mouth open, displaying rows of razor-sharp teeth, as if ready to tear a bite out of an unsuspecting victim. This image of a nine-ft lemon shark, taken by underwater photographer Tanner Mansell, 27, from Jupiter, Florida, has drawn comparisons to former president Donald Trump The striking image of the shark captures the moment the lemon shark bares its teeth and opens its jaws wide. The image has been compared to former president Donald Trump The striking image was originally taken in December back in 2019, but Tanner recently shared it on social media. Within a few days the image has already been liked more than 31,000 times. Part of the picture's popularity comes from the striking resemblance the shark shares with former president Donald Trump. Responding to the images, one person said: 'I wanna apologise in advance to the shark but he looks like Trump.' Tanner Mansell, 27, (pictured) from Jupiter, Florida, captured the image while on a dive off the coats of his home town While another said: 'Looks like Donald Trump Shark.' With a third person saying: 'Am I alone to see a trump hair shape?' Tanner said he was shocked by the response his pictures received from people on social media and he said that he hadn't noticed the Trump comparison when he originally took the photo. He said: 'When I first posted the photo, it completely blew up. I was surprised to see the number of comments it got regarding Trump. 'I didn't see it at first but I can see what people are saying. That was always the top comment with many people agreeing. 'I think it's funny and unique. I have never heard of anybody comparing a shark to a human.' Tanner, who said he is 'truly happiest' when taking pictures underwater, explained that the reason the shark was baring its teeth is because it was doing something known as 'gaping'. He said: 'After a meal, sometimes the ligaments and tendons can become stressed and out of place, so the sharks will open their jaws as wide as they can to re-align everything, and extend their jaws from the head. 'Kind of like they will do before chomping down on a big meal. I had been trying to get a photo of the 'jaw gaping' for over a year, I had seen them do it so many times but they were always too far away, facing the wrong direction, and I never had the opportunity to photograph it. The striking image was originally taken in December back in 2019, but Tanner recently shared it on social media. Within a few days the image has already been liked more than 31,000 times Tanner said he was shocked by the response his pictures received from people on social media and he said that he hadn't noticed the Trump comparison when he originally took the photo 'On this day everything worked out and I got the photo.' Speaking about his work and love of sharks, Tanner added: I work with companies here and there for content but more importantly I take photos of guests with sharks to help inspire the world to love them and in turn protect them. I work for Florida Shark Diving, we run three charters a day, three boats seven days a week (weather depending) to go see sharks and it is my job to capture these moments for people. I have never loved anything more. LJUBLJANA (dpa-AFX) - Slovakia's producer prices continued to decline in December, figures from the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic showed on Wednesday. The producer price index fell 0.4 percent year-on-year in December, following a 0.8 percent decline in November. Prices fell for the ninth consecutive month. The domestic market prices rose 0.4 percent annually in December, after a 0.1 percent decrease in the previous month. Prices for mining and quarrying grew 1.8 percent yearly in December, while those of manufacturing fell 2.6 percent. Prices for electricity, gas, steam and air-condition supply grew 5.1 percent and those of water supply gained 3.2 percent. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose 0.6 percent in December, after a 0.4 percent increase in the preceding month. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Emer Cooke, head of the EMA, to decide on approval of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for older-age groups. Photo: Naoise Culhane The Covid-19 vaccination roll-out, particularly to the over-70s, will suffer a serious setback as the HSE looks set to get only around 300,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine in February and March. This is around half the anticipated amount after the drug company said initial deliveries to the European Union would fall short of the targeted volumes because of a production glitch. In addition, AstraZeneca has pulled out of a meeting with the EU to discuss its delayed vaccine commitments, according to an EU official. The setback has infuriated European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Read More There are also concerns that when an expert committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) meets on Friday to decide on approval of the vaccine for member states, it could exclude its use in some older-age groups. Emer Cooke, head of the EMA, said yesterday that trials carried out on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine involved only a very small number of the elderly population. Ms Cooke said she would not prejudge any decision and the committee of experts would look at the trial results on the age groups studied and the implications these might have for other cohorts. They would look at the totality of the data, she said. The Government is pinning its hopes on this being the main vaccine for the over-70s because it is easy to handle by GPs. If it is not approved for all older-age groups, it would cause a new set of problems on top of the difficulties already faced with the reduced supply. Asked about the problems with supply, which mean the expected deliveries of the vaccine to Europe could be 50 million doses lower than anticipated, she said her organisation was confined in its role. The EMA can work with companies to make sure their manufacturing sites get under way. We will do everything we can to facilitate extra production from a regulatory or scientific point of view. However, commercial agreements are a matter for the European Commission. The European Commission will finalise a proposal by the end of the week to require pharmaceutical firms to register their vaccine exports from the EU, but says it has no plans to impose an export ban. EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the aim was merely to increase transparency. There were suspicions raised that some of the doses destined for EU member states went to the UK. However, a spokesman for AstraZeneca in Dublin said yesterday: We have not diverted any supply from the Europe supply chain to countries outside the EU. While there is no scheduled delay to the start of shipments of our vaccine should we receive approval in Europe, initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain. We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, as we continue to ramp up production volumes. More data will continue to accumulate across all age groups and diversity, and additional analyses will be conducted, refining the efficacy findings across a broader age range and over a longer period of time. Meanwhile, the HSE confirmed 22 vials of Covid-19 vaccine that were delivered to a nursing home in the Midlands Louth/Meath Community Healthcare Organisation had to be discarded after they were stored incorrectly. As the vials which contain around six doses each, enough to give 132 people a first or second dose were incorrectly stored as the appropriate cold chain was not in place. Unfortunately, the vials cannot now be used, said a spokeswoman. The HSE said it was disappointing for all concerned, residents and staff. We are sorry that this incident has taken place. However, 49 residents and staff were successfully vaccinated at the facility, it said. "The Community Healthcare Organisation will now work with national colleagues to undertake the remaining vaccinations at the facility as soon as possible. Elsewhere, the Mental Health Commission said it was concerned vaccinations were being delayed for many centres providing services for residents aged 65 and over. As of Friday, there were 269 resident and staff cases, a 44pc increase in a week. The watchdog said it was notified of the deaths of a further three residents in two centres. A lack of vaccine also means that staff working in residential centres for people with a disability cannot be vaccinated now. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Cyprus announced Wednesday a cautious easing from February 1 of its national lockdown following a decline in the spread of COVID-19 infections that peaked after Christmas. The Mediterranean island went into lockdown on January 10 for the second time since last March after daily cases hit a record 907 on December 29. Health Minister Constantinos Ioannou said the government has been relying on testing, restrictions and vaccinations to keep the pandemic in check. "We are in the third week of lockdown and an improvement of the epidemiological picture allows us to begin the gradual de-escalation of restrictive measures," he told reporters. "De-escalation will be very slow, coordinated and controlled," he added. Between February 1 and 8, retail shops, malls, primary schools and hairdressers will open, while up to 50 percent of employees will be able to return to their workplace provided they are regularly tested. Ioannou said the government will make free antigen rapid tests available. But a night-time 9 pm to 5 am curfew to tame the pandemic remains in place as does a ban on restaurants and bars apart from deliveries and takeout. And Cypriots who leave home for exercise, shopping or an emergency still need to receive official approval by text messages, with outings restricted to twice a day. A ban on household visits is being eased next month. But all social and public gatherings remain banned, as are grassroots sporting activities and gyms. New COVID-19 cases have subsided to under 200 daily while hospital admissions have eased. Coronavirus infections in December broke new ground, registering 12,000 more than the previous nine months combined. January is already one of the deadliest months on record with 65 of the 190 coronavirus deaths recorded nationwide since the outbreak. The health ministry registered 109 new virus cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of recorded infections to 30,252. Cyprus had largely kept a lid on the pandemic by introducing an early lockdown in March that was gradually eased from early May. Face masks are mandatory indoors and outdoors, except at home. Cyprus has begun rolling out a vaccination programme against COVID-19 with over 17,000 people already inoculated. The second wave of coronavirus has hit Cyprus hard especially with the new variant found in the UK also reaching the holiday island. "Despite the delay in the supply of vaccines, we are optimistic that we will cover lost ground because we have ordered many more vaccines than the population of Cyprus," the minister said. Cyprus has ordered around 3.5 million vaccine doses, some three times more than its population, through the European Union. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP A video has resurfaced showing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene confront Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg over gun rights in March 2019, calling him a 'coward' - after she was put on the House Education Committee. Hogg demanded Wednesday that Greene be stripped of her committee placements by Republican leadership amid a furious backlash at her bizarre beliefs and conspiracy theories. Greene - who touts her belief in the bizarre QAnon theory that Washington DC is run by a 'deep state' cabal of Satanist pedophiles - approached Hogg as he met with senators in Washington D.C. and accused him of 'attacking our second amendment' by 'using kids'. She also accused Hogg, who was only 18 years old when the confrontation took place, of being funded by George Soros and claimed that no student would have died if the 'resource officer at Parkland had done his job'. The video emerged as Democrats furiously demanded action against Greene, including Hillary Clinton who said she should 'be on a watchlist.' Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy has only said he would 'have a conversation with her,' further angering Democrats. Clinton was directly caught up in Greene's conspiracy theories: one the Republican endorsed on Facebook was a horrific allegation that Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin skinned a child's face then used it to terrify the dying young girl so she would produce 'adrenochrome,' and then organized the death of a New York police officer when it came to light. Greene, 46, originally posted the 2.47-minute video of her confronting the Parkland survivor to her YouTube account in January 2020 when she explained that she had run into him twice as he lobbied for gun law reform the previous March. The video has now reemerged just a week after the families of victims who died in the February 2018 Parkland school shooting demanded that the Georgia congresswoman resign because she was found to have spread the conspiracy theory that the massacre was staged. It also comes just one day after it was revealed that Greene's Twitter account 'liked' posts calling for the execution of former president Barack Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi other prominent Democratic politicians in the years before she was elected to Congress. Scroll down for video A video of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, 46, confronting a then 18-year-old David Hoggs about gun reform in Washington D.C. in March 2019, hs emerged Reaction: David Hogg tweeted this message to Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, who has the power to remove Taylor Greene from House committees Greene approached Hogg as he met with senators in Washington D.C. and accused him of 'attacking our second amendment' by 'using kids', as well as branding him a coward What is frazzledrip? Found in the most extreme fringes of QAnon and conspiracy theorists, comes frazzledrip. The sick, and truly insane, theory claims the existence of a video showing Hillary Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin raping, mutilating and murdering a young girl. It originated on conspiracy site YourNewsWire (now known as News Punch) in April 2018. The theory claims the existence of a video which they say came from the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the former Democratic congressman married to Abedin, who was jailed in 2017 for sexting a minor. Theorists say that the video, named 'frazzledrip' was found in the laptop's hard drive in a folder named life insurance, and began circulating on the dark web. QAnon supporter believe the video shows Clinton and Abedin cutting off and wearing the young girl's face, to increase her fear and raise her adrenochrome. QAnon believe elites and Democrats harvest Adrenochrome, formed by the oxidation of adrenaline, from children in Satanic style rituals. The video then shows Clinton and Abedin drink the girl's blood as she bleeds to death. Conspiracy nuts also spread the theory that the NYPD were in on the video and had made the deaths look like suicides. Obviously, the video is not real and the claims are completely baseless. Advertisement Greene, who now represents Georgia's 14th Congressional District, repeatedly posted debunked conspiracy theories and liked posts from far-right extremists in 2018 and 2019, according to a CNN KFile review of hundreds of posts on Greene's Facebook. She reportedly liked a comment in January 2019 that said 'a bullet to the head would be quicker' to remove Pelosi from her role as House Speaker. Greene also appeared to like comments that mentioned executing FBI agents because they were a part of the 'deep state' that was working against Trump. Greene is also a believer of a conspiracy theory found in the most extreme fringes of QAnon; frazzledrip. The bizarre and completely unfounded theory claims the existence of a video showing Hillary Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin raping, mutilating and murdering a young girl. On Facebook in 2018, endorsed a frazzledrip believer's post that suggested Clinton ordered a hit on a police officer to cover up the Satanic child murder. In the rediscovered video on YouTube, where Greene has more than 4,000 subscribers, she begins to chase down the teenage Hogg as he moves between meetings at the Senate. 'David why are you supporting the red flag laws,' she shouts after him. 'If Scot Peterson [the former Broward Sheriff's Deputy], the resource officer at Parkland had done his job, then Nikolas Cruz wouldn't have killed anybody in your high school or at least protected them,' she continues as Hogg, accompanied by two women, walks away. 'Why are you supporting red flag gun laws that attack our second amendment right and why are you using kids as a barrier? Do you not know how to defend your stance? 'Look, I'm an American citizen. I'm a gun owner. I own a conceal carry permit. I carry a gun for protection or myself and you are using your lobby and the kids to try to take away my second amendment rights,' she tells him. Greene, the first openly QAnon supporter to become a member of Congress, then questioned how Hogg managed to get meetings with 30 senators while she was able to meet with none, again accusing him of 'using kids' as part of his lobby. 'If school zones were protected with security guards with guns, there would be no mass shootings at schools. Did you know that?' she claims. 'The way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun. You're attacking our second amendment and you have nothing to say. No words.' The congresswoman is then seen giving up on chasing Hogg, who has not responded to her once while she followed him with her accusations. Greene is seen in the video tracking Hoggs as she hits him with accusations Greene eventually allows Hogg to walk ahead but continues to fume to the camera She alleges that Hogg is being paid by George Soros to fight for gun reform She stops to talk directly to the camera claiming: 'He's got nothing to say, it's sad.' 'He has nothing to say because he's paid to do this. He's got the Walk Away March, he's got the Women's March, Everytown USA and they're funding all this stuff. 'He had media coverage all over the place, I had zero. Guess what, I'm a gun owner. I'm an American citizen and I have nothing. But this guy, and his George Soros funding and his major liberal funding, has got everything. 'I want you to think about that. That's where we are and he's a coward. He can't say one word to defend his stance because there is no defense for taking away guns, there is no defense for gun confiscation, zero,' she concludes. Greene had reshared the video as part of her campaign for Congress in January 2020 in which she claimed she had 'also been an innocent student locked in a classroom when my classmate brought guns to school'. 'I want to defend our gun rights not throw them away like Hogg,' she wrote in a Facebook post. This isn't the first time that Greene has dismissed the suffering of mass shooting victims in favor of wild conspiracy theories. Greene previously wrote on social media in 2018 'that is all true' on a post claiming that Sandy Hook and Parkland shootings, as well as 9/11, were staged. That same year, Greene claimed on Facebook that Democrats had made up the devastating school shootings as a excuse to bring in stricter gun laws. She wrote 'I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that 'we need another school shooting' in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.' Hogg hit back as the March 2019 video reemerged on Wednesday, pictured After the video was shared on Wednesday, Hogg took to social media to comment on the incident, stating that it was 'just 1/10 of 1% of the harassment advocates for gun control have to deal with'. 'You think we want to be doing this?' he added, tagging Greene. 'I'd much rather be able to be a college student but I & others can't & you know why? Bc corrupt politicians like you have made it so it's on the survivors of Gun violence to end gun violence bc you can't do your damn job 'Every day we are forced to act and fight through all our trauma to fight for those that can't because they were killed due to people like you refusing to do your job and protect kids not guns. 'Also, the thousands I've had to spend on of therapy due the trauma from the shooting and due to harassment and threats like this but also so much worse is absolutely ridiculous. 'I've never gotten a dime from Soros,' Hogg hit back to her claims that he is paid by lobby groups. 'Could someone PLEASE tell me where the 'millions' I've been 'paid' by Soros is? I'd love to have the rest of college and if I go- grad or law school paid for, a nice place for my parents and therapy paid for the rest of my life.' Hogg also called on President Joe Biden to act, stating this is 'silence on gun violence prevention since being elected has been so frustrating'. 'I know we have other stuff going on- but we've fought so hard and we need POTUS to act people are still dying.' Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime died in the Parkland shooting, also hit out Fred Guttenberg (pictured right), father of Jaime Guttenberg, age 14 (pictured left), who was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, called on Greene to speak to him Greene was also called out by Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime died in the Parkland shooting. '@mtgreenee , is this you harassing @davidhogg111 weeks after the Parkland shooting, that my daughter was killed in & he was in?' he wrote in a tweet. 'Calling him a coward for ignoring your insanity. I will answer all of your questions in person. Get ready to record again.' Hogg had been among those who called for Greene's resignation last week after her 2018 Facebook remarks on the Parkland shooting were unearthed. The watchdog Media Matters for America dug them out on January 20 before they were deleted. Greene posted in May 2018 a story about disgraced Broward County sheriff's deputy Scot Peterson - who ran away when the Valentine's Day shooting began - receiving a retirement pension. In the comments section, someone wrote: 'It's called a payoff to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag planned shooting.' Greene replied: 'Exactly.' Another commenter wrote: 'Kick back for going along with the evil plan. You know it's not for doing a good job.' Greene responded: 'My thoughts exactly!! Paid to do what he did and keep his mouth shut!' Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the first open supporter of QAnon in Congress In May 2018 Taylor Greene posted an article about the security guard who ran from the shooting instead of protecting the students and staff. One commentator said the February 2018 attack was a 'false flag planned shooting', and Taylor Greene replied: 'Exactly' Taylor Greene also accused Peterson of being a paid actor who participated in the 'show' 'Apologize Now or continue to spread these conspiracies and we will be sure to make the next 2 years of your life not only your last in Congress but a living hell as well,' Hogg said on Friday in response to Greene's previous comments. He added they would 'also accept your resignation in place of an apology.' March For Our Lives, the activist group born from the shooting to try and enact gun control, tweeted: '@mtaylorgreene, the shooting at our school was real. Real kids died and our community is still grieving today. 'You should be ashamed of yourself and resign from congress. 'Conspiracy theorists don't deserve a seat in the people's house.' Gun rights activists frequently claim that school shootings are 'false flag' events, orchestrated by Democrats with paid actors, rather than real victims. They believe the scenarios are staged to spur gun control. Survivors and the victims' families in Parkland and Sandy Hook have been targeted and harassed by conspiracy theorists who believe the shootings were faked. After the Parkland shooting, Greene wrote that the incident showed that there should be more guns in schools. 'Gun-free' school zones are a FAILURE,' she said. 'Laws that prevent legal ownership of firearms turn schools into targets,' she wrote, promising to introduce legislation to repeal gun-free school zones. She did not offer any kind of explanation for her comments about Stoneman Douglas shooting, or an apology. It was also revealed this week that in 2018, Greene endorsed a conspiracy theory that former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had partipacted in a satanic child murder. The theory claimed that Clinton had hired a hit on a police officer to cover it up. It was also revealed this week that in 2018, Greene endorsed a conspiracy theory that former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had partipacted in a satanic child murder, pictured Hogg had called for Green to resign just last week over her 2018 comments March For Our Lives had also called for her resignation Greene issued a statement amid the controversy, insisting that more guns were needed in schools to protect the students and staff but issued no apology, pictured above The future of Tivoli World in Benalmadena on Spains Costa del Sol could be viable, although this would require taking on a high debt and making major investments. That is the main conclusion that the bankruptcy administrator of the park, Juan Carlos Sanchez, who confirms that the situation is "very serious, but not irreversible". According to the administrator, during the months that Tivoli was open in 2020 (July and August), the park was able to recoup 50 per cent of the takings of the previous year; a figure that made it possible to pay all current expenses. Sanchez concludes, therefore, that if in a complex moment with the practical absence of tourist activity - due to the pandemic - the park is capable of not losing money, in a normal situation it would be viable. He recognises that for this to happen the new owners would need to undertake major investments that have been postponed for too long. However, that is the only positive part of the report. The debt currently amounts to 11 million euros. According to the administrator, nine million correspond to public debt (tax and social security), while the rest is split between the Benalmadena town hall, various banks and other providers. Tivoli World has been centre of court battles over the ownership of the park for several years with a dispute between Rafael Gomez, who acquired the park in 2004, and sold it through his company Arenal 2000 to Tremon in 2007. Gomez later claimed that he never received the agreed money from them. The matter is still pending to be resolved and bankruptcy administrator Juan Carlos Sanchez maintains that, although the business is viable, the future of Tivoli will depend on how this dispute is resolved. "From there we will see," said the administrator. Emblematic brand Given the information in the new report, the mayor of Benalmadena, Victor Navas, said, We have received both good and bad news: the bad news is that Tivoli has debts that today weigh down its business development, and more in the current context of pandemic; but the good news is that the report shows that the park is viable." "We have been working for some time to find investors who could guarantee the viability of the park. Tivoli is an iconic brand for Benalmadena and the rest of the Andalusian community: it is the first and only amusement park on the Costa del Sol, and from the council we have full confidence in its commercial possibilities," said the mayor. Riding a sales surge amid a global pandemic, Tesla on Wednesday (US time) reported that it posted its first annual net profit in 2020. In a year that saw its stock soar to make it the worlds most valuable automaker, Tesla earned $US721 million ($941 million), capped by a $US270 million profit in the fourth quarter. It was the companys sixth straight quarterly net profit after years of mostly losses. "All of these margins are going to look pretty comically small when you factor in autonomy," Mr Musk told analysts. Credit:Bloomberg A year earlier, Tesla lost $US862 million. Data provider FactSet says that was at the end of a string of annual red ink that began in 2006. Once again the company needed regulatory credits purchased by other automakers in order to make a profit. Without $US1.3 billion in credits for the year, Tesla would have lost money. Other automakers buy the credits when they cant meet emissions and fuel economy standards. [January 27, 2021] MetLife CEO and CFO to Speak at Bank of America 2021 Virtual Insurance Conference MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that Michel Khalaf, president and CEO, and John McCallion, executive vice president and chief financial officer, will participate in a fireside chat at the Bank of America 2021 Virtual Insurance Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, beginning at 10:40 a.m. (ET). A live audio webcast of the presentation will be available over the internet at https://www.veracast.com/webcasts/ofa/insurance2021/idP21623.cfm. Those who want to listen should go to the website at least 15 minutes prior to the presentation to download and install any necessary software. A replay of the presentation will be available until Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. (ET) at the same website beginning one hour after the presentation concludes. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005154/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has announced a new partnership with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support media freedom in nine countries across Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels Media Ethics and Credibility Report handed over to SANEF The report of the commission of inquiry into ethical challenges facing South African journalism has officially been handed over to the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF)... Assess their approach to safety, offering training and direct assistance to strengthen journalists knowledge and preparedness as well as organisational responses to threats; Strengthen and build media-led advocacy networks and campaign on media freedom issues relevant to local journalists; Tailor support to editorial and business development through training and mentoring; Provide micro-grants to finance public interest reporting WAN-IFRA will work with print and digital media organisations in Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe to improve the safety of journalists and the security of newsrooms, increase media-led advocacy around press freedom and gender-related issues, provide high-level business and editorial management support, and offer financial assistance to strengthen public interest reporting.The partnership builds on a previous three-year strategic engagement with the Ministry (2015-2018) and complements WAN-IFRAs existing programme engagements on the African continent through long-term collaborations with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the ground-breaking Women In News programme, as well as the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.We are delighted to renew our partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and to start work on this important new project with our colleagues across Africa, said WAN-IFRA CEO, Vincent Peyregne.The last 12 months have exacerbated an already difficult situation for media globally, and African newsrooms are no exception. Many are struggling to successfully transition towards a digital future, innovate their products to remain appealing to audiences, or strengthen their business and editorial competencies under such harsh financial conditions. Added to this, the safety of journalists and persistent threats to press freedom make supporting colleagues across the continent an urgent priority.Over the coming months, WAN-IFRA will identify newsrooms and media partners who will be invited to participate in this new initiative. Drawing on its Women in News network, the organisations Media Freedom Committees in Africa, and a growing membership community, up to 25 organisations will be selected to benefit from the resources and opportunities provided by this new programme.Over the course of the three-year project, WAN-IFRA will work with media partners to:It is an important year for media freedom in Africa, with the 30th anniversary of UNESCOs pivotal Windhoek Declaration providing a necessary point of reflection to judge successes and understand the work still required to ensure a strong, independent press can flourish, said WAN-IFRA Press Freedom executive director, Andrew Heslop.This timely new project strengthens WAN-IFRAs engagement with media across Africa, giving us the opportunity to build on our support to long-term partners who have been on the front lines of defending press freedom for many years, but also crucially the chance to welcome exciting new media voices whose vision for Africa is essential to include. [January 27, 2021] Southern Glazer's Proof eCommerce Platform Transforms Hospitality Industry Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer's)-the world's preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol-today announced its industry-leading B2B eCommerce platform, Proof, has generated more than $1 billion in revenue and is now serving more than 100,000 customers since its launch in 2019. The Proof platform, which is now live in 28 U.S. markets (27 states, plus Washington, D.C.), is transforming the way Southern Glazer's sales team connects with and assists its customers, while also enabling restaurants, bars, retail stores and other beverage-focused organizations to purchase products, make payments, check on their orders, and manage their business in a safe, contactless way. "We launched Proof in 2019 as part of our digital strategy to provide the tools and experiences our front-line heroes, our customers and our suppliers expect, and need, to be successful," said John Wittig, Chief Commercial Officer, Southern Glazer's. "Being a first mover in this space helped us quickly pivot to the 'new normal' created by the pandemic and provide contactless solutions for our employees and extended family. Throughout the last year, our approach has been to be flexible and innovative in the services we provide. The success of the Proof platform is a testament to that commitment." "We want to elp our industry not only survive current business conditions, but thrive once we're through it," said Carlos Vigil, Vice President, Digital Transformation. "Proof is about building the business for the future - one that leverages technology to elevate everyone and unleash their potential. For our sales team, for example, Proof facilitates the easy exchange of ideas between them and their customers - new products and promotions, for example - making our front-line heroes even better partners to their customers now and in the years to come." Added Rob Howl, Vice President, Digital Strategy & e-Commerce, "We aren't resting on our laurels. Our team continues to invest in industry-leading functionality making it easier than ever to discover new products, quickly replenish inventory, and efficiently manage key account tasks on any device, any time. As the hospitality industry and beleaguered on-premise businesses across the country begin to recover, our sales teams are armed with best-in-class data and technology to boost our customers' businesses. We are committed to ensuring SGProof.com remains a best-in-class platform that strengthens the bond between Southern Glazer's, our customers and suppliers." Below are some of the new features recently introduced on Proof. Deal Discovery - Search and discover the best deals across Southern Glazer's portfolio with this fully custom, industry-first search engine. - Search and discover the best deals across Southern Glazer's portfolio with this fully custom, industry-first search engine. Enhanced Search - Fine-tune and filter results more efficiently than ever with expandable, collapsible, searchable facets and filters. - Fine-tune and filter results more efficiently than ever with expandable, collapsible, searchable facets and filters. Previously Purchased, Ready to Reorder Lists - Save time and quickly reorder inventory with customized lists. - Save time and quickly reorder inventory with customized lists. Custom Proposals - Receive, view and order from proposals created by your Southern Glazer's Sales Consultant, available in select markets with more launching soon. - Receive, view and order from proposals created by your Southern Glazer's Sales Consultant, available in select markets with more launching soon. Where's My Truck - Track orders scheduled for delivery that day, available in select markets with more launching soon. - Track orders scheduled for delivery that day, available in select markets with more launching soon. Invoice PDFs - Stay organized with 24 months of invoice summary data and download PDFs of signed delivery documents, available in select markets with more launching soon. - Stay organized with 24 months of invoice summary data and download PDFs of signed delivery documents, available in select markets with more launching soon. More Payment Options - Pay via ACH bank transfer, and in select markets, credit card payments and pre-payment functionality are available. About Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is the world's pre-eminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Southern Glazer's urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly. For more information visit www.southernglazers.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) and Instagram @sgwinespirits and on Facebook at Facebook.com/SouthernGlazers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005001/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Details aside, lets focus on what our local restaurants mean to us and what we as patrons can do to support them right now. Youll be hearing about St. Helena Restaurant Week at the beginning of February. The goal is to mob one restaurant per day with as much business as it can handle. Your budget permitting, try to make a point of participating at least one or two days, if not more. Restaurateurs and their staffs will be grateful. Marquez thanked the community for supporting Brasswood and said the local dining industry is driven by a heartfelt desire to meet our needs. In these times, he said, that extends not just to satisfying our appetites, but also to keeping us safe by meticulously observing health protocols and investing in the most effective cleaning methods. That commitment demonstrates that supporting our cherished restaurants and controlling the spread of COVID-19 neednt be mutually exclusive. So think back to that last good meal. Remember the service. Remember the smiles. Remember the terrific food. Remember how satisfied you felt as you and a loved one clinked glasses. Now order takeout or treat your loved one to an outdoor meal at that same restaurant. Do the best you can to recreate that moment, and look forward to the day hopefully not too far in the future when our restaurants are once again packed with customers, food and good old St. Helena hospitality. The Star editorial board consists of Director of News Content Sean Scully and community volunteers Norma Ferriz, Shannon Kuleto, Bonnie Long, Peter McCrea, Chuck Meibeyer, Gail Showley and Dave Yewell. The space department and are learnt to have agreed to vacate spectrum valued at around Rs 61,000 crore for 5G services, according to official sources. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had recommended auction of 300 Mhz spectrum in 3300-3600 megahertz frequency band for 5G services at a base price of Rs 492 per Mhz on a pan-India basis. However, Indian Navy was using 100 megahertz of spectrum for a radar related service and Indian Space Research Organisation had made claims on 25 megahertz in the 3300-3600 Mhz band, leaving only 175 MHz of frequencies for telecom services. "ISRO has agreed to leave 25 Mhz spectrum in 3300-3600 Mhz band but they have sought protection for satellite services from 5G. "The Navy has agreed to use 100 Mhz in a lower frequency band. Now, the entire 300 Mhz will be available for telecom operators," one of the official sources told PTI. This was the first set of radiowaves identified by the government for enabling 5G services in the country. Telecom operators have been demanding 100 Mhz of spectrum in the 3300-3600 band for 5G services but at lower prices. However, due to claims of the Navy and ISRO, the DoT could not make it available for the auction, which is scheduled to start from March 1. Bharti Airtel had categorically denied buying 5G spectrum at the recommended price as an entity it will have to shell out around Rs 50,000 crore only for the radiowaves. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China Insider: Chinese Suffer Starvation Under Draconian Lockdown Suihua City of Heilongjiang Province is currently one of the six areas designated in China as high-risk for pandemic control. Heilongjiang is a northeastern province bordering Russia, and as China battles a resurgence of the CCP virus this winter, the people living there are being hit particularly hard. President Muhammadu Buhari has charged the newly appointed service chiefs to be patriotic and serve Nigeria wholeheartedly Mr Buhari stated this at a meeting with the new appointees at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday. The appointees are the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, a major general; Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, a major general, Chief of Naval Staff, Auwal Gambo, a rear admiral and Chief of Air Staff Isiaka Amao, an air vice-marshal. It was the presidents first meeting with the service chiefs who were appointed on Tuesday. They were led to the meeting, which was held behind closed doors, by the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, a retired major general. According to a statement by presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, the president urged the new appointees to be loyal to the country, adding that the country was in a state of emergency. Were in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country, Mr Buhari said. The statement further said Mr Buhari congratulated them on their new roles and pledged his support to the armed forces. He was quoted as saying, Theres nothing I can tell you about the service, because you are in it. I was also in it, and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done, so that the people will appreciate your efforts. You know the stage we were in 2015, you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made. We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress. The president emphasised the need to boost the morale of soldiers. He also pledged to do more in the aspects of equipment and logistics, adding that soldiers should be made to feel physically and professionally secure. Below is the full statement: STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT BUHARI CHARGES NEW SERVICE CHIEFS President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday afternoon met with the newly appointed Service Chiefs, charging them to be patriotic, and serve the country well. His words: Were in a state of emergency. Be patriotic, serve the country well, as your loyalty is to the country. The President congratulated the Service Chiefs on heading their various services, adding: Theres nothing I can tell you about the service, because you are in it. I was also in it, and I will pray for you. I also assure you that whatever I can do as Commander-in-Chief will be done, so that the people will appreciate your efforts. You know the stage we were in 2015, you know the stage we are now, and the undertakings we made. We promised to secure the country, revive the economy, and fight corruption. None has been easy, but we have certainly made progress. President Buhari also charged the Service Chiefs to be concerned about the morale of their officers and men, saying they should be made to feel physically and professionally secure. He pledged that Government would do its best in terms of equipment and logistics. ADVERTISEMENT The Service Chiefs, who were led to the meeting by the Minister of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (retd), are: Major-General LEO Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff; Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff; Rear Admiral AZ Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff; and Air Vice-Marshal IO Amao, Chief of Air Staff. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) January 27, 2021 A potentially life-saving treatment for his COVID-19-stricken mother is the only gift a South Texas teen is hoping to receive in time for his 15th birthday. Emilian Sosa, a 14-year-old from McAllen, told Gov. Greg Abbott in a letter that the only family he has left is his mom, and she's "hanging on for dear life" after spending the last month battling COVID-19. Erika Calderon, the teen's mom, is the Emilian's go-to for guidance, he wrote. Now, he's watching her health deteriorate via Zoom. With no other options, Sosa is asking Abbott to help his mom receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. RELATED: Popular UTSA-area bar cited twice in two days for violating COVID-19 orders Sosa's painful letter to Abbott was shared on Twitter by Naxi Lopez, a reporter for The Monitor in the Rio Grande Valley, on Tuesday. Since the RGV does not have a hospital equipped to perform ECMO, Sosa is asking for help to transport Calderon to a larger city, like San Antonio, Houston or Dallas for a better chance at survival. "Her lungs have not been able to recover because the virus damaged them too severely," the teen wrote. "At this very moment, she is on a ventilator, hanging on for dear life, at the DHR Health COVID Unit in Edinburg, Texas." He said the treatment is her "only hope." ECMO adds oxygen to a patient's blood in order to give damaged lungs time to rest. "My mother has worked diligently all her life to raise me," Sosa wrote. "She is a hard-working single mother, and she is the only family I have left." Sosa is relying on Zoom calls to help keep his mom motivated by playing hymns and violin, but he is watching her condition worsen, he wrote. READ MORE: S.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: One shot COVID-19 vaccine gives Gov. Abbott hope Neither Sosa nor Abbott's press office were immediately available to comment, but Lopez tweeted that she was in communication with both Tuesday night. Twitter users keyed into the story asked how they could help Sosa. She pointed to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign which is just $500 shy of the $20,000 goal to airlift Calderon to a larger city. The funds were raised in less than 24 hours. Lopez updated Twitter again on Tuesday, saying she spoke to the governor's office and Sosa "might just get the help it needs." San Antonio, the closest option to Sosa and his mom, has seen a decline in hospitalization rates recently. Though the number of admitted patients are decreasing, more people are hospitalized now than they were during the summer surge. During these spikes, already highly limited resources like ECMO are stretched thin. Patients must qualify and an ECMO machine must be available. The high-risk therapy is typically reserved for patients who have the highest chance of survival, San Antonio Express-News reporter Lauren Caruba told mySA.com. Caruba pointed to a case of a 42-year-old woman who was unable to receive ECMO treatment because of unavailability during the summer surge. That patient died. Despite the hurdles, Sosa is giving his all to fight for his mom to survive. He pleaded with Abbott to make his request a reality by his birthday on Feb. 1. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for the House of Commons for the weekly Prime Ministers Questions in London, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Britain's official death toll in the coronavirus pandemic has passed 100,000. The unwanted milestone was reached Tuesday as the government considered imposing hotel quarantines on international travelers to stop new virus variants reaching the country. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated Wednesday that the coronavirus lockdown in England will remain in place until at least March 8 as he ruled out any imminent return to school for most students. In a statement to lawmakers, Johnson also confirmed new restrictions for travelers arriving in England from countries where the government thinks there is a risk of known variants of the coronavirus. He said the U.K. remains in a "perilous situation" with more than 37,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, nearly double the number during the country's previous peak in April. While dashing hopes of a return to classrooms after a mid-February school break, Johnson cautioned that the March 8 target is an aspiration dependent on progress on the vaccination front and ongoing reductions in the prevalence of the virus in the community. He said a "roadmap" for the "gradual and phased" easing of the lockdown will be unveiled in the week commencing Feb. 22. "The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms," he said. England's schools are closed to all students bar those deemed to be vulnerable and children of key workers, such as doctors and delivery drivers. The same applies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street for the House of Commons for the weekly Prime Ministers Questions in London, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Britain's official death toll in the coronavirus pandemic has passed 100,000. The unwanted milestone was reached Tuesday as the government considered imposing hotel quarantines on international travelers to stop new virus variants reaching the country. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) Johnson said he hoped that by Feb. 15, the four most vulnerable groups, including those over the age of 70 and nursing home residents, will have gotten a first vaccine jab that would give them a level of immunity within three weeks. "We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday, March 8 with other economic and social restrictions being removed thereafter as and when the data permits " he said. Johnson's announcement points to shops selling non-essential items and pubs and restaurants remaining closed until well into March at least. Johnson also toughened border rules to limit the chances of new variants of the coronavirus being seeded in England. He confirmed plans for a 10-day quarantine in hotels or other government-provided accommodation for anyone arriving from 22 hotspot countries, including South Africa, Portugal and all in South America. Given travel bans are already in place for these countries, the quarantine measures will largely apply to British residents, who will also have to pay for their hotel stays. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, leaves 10 Downing Street for the House of Commons for the weekly Prime Ministers Questions in London, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Britain's official death toll in the coronavirus pandemic has passed 100,000. The unwanted milestone was reached Tuesday as the government considered imposing hotel quarantines on international travelers to stop new virus variants reaching the country. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) "They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine," he said. In addition, he said anyone leaving England will be asked the reasons behind their trip and will be instructed to go home if they do not have a valid reason. Under lockdown restrictions, holidays abroad are not allowed. He said discussions are taking place so the rules apply across the U.K. Further details will be unveiled next week. Critics are saying the government should be mandating quarantines for every arrival. On Tuesday, the U.K. became the fifth country to record more than 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths. The U.K. is the smallest to breach that threshold, and has one of the world's worst COVID-19-related mortality rates. Johnson has come under renewed fire for his handling of the pandemic, specifically for consistently being too slow in making tough decisions. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gives a COVID-19 briefing from Downing Street in London, Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. Johnson commented on various aspects of the coronavirus including schools reopening and the provision of vaccines for vulnerable people. (Geoff Pugh/Pool via AP) Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, pointed to a series of missteps by Johnson that he says represent a "damning indictment of how the government has handled this pandemic." For one, Johnson is being criticized for delaying the latest lockdown after scientists had informed him on Dec. 18 that a new variant of the virus first identified in London and the southeast of England was up to 70% more infectious than the original coronavirus strain. The lockdown only came into force on Jan. 5, a delay that critics say fueled the rapid increase in new coronavirus infections around the turn of the year, and the subsequent acute pressure on hospitals and deaths. Though there's evidence the lockdown has lowered cases, infections are still running at relatively high levels and are liable to rise sharply again if restrictions are relaxed too soon and too much. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2021) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") reports that DRILLEX CHILE SPA has been hired to conduct the Phase I - 5,000m drilling campaign. The GoldHaven crew has been preparing the site at Rio Loa, and selecting the drill targets for the imminent start of the drill-campaign. Daniel Schieber GoldHaven's CEO stated "Thanks to Pat Burns and his deep connections in Chile, GOH has been able to secure a value-add drilling contract. Pat Secured this contract in an environment of growing demand for drillers due to rising commodity prices and an increase exploration activity in Chile. Mr. Jimmy Toler Jr. the principal of DRILLEX CHILE SPA has 40 years of experience in exploration and resource-definition drilling. Also part of the team are Mr. William Ricciardi (Titeline Drilling Australia), Mr. Nigel Smith and Mr. Ryan Wall partners of Exploration Drill Masters out of Santiago, Chile. GOH's world-class geological team is now supported by an experienced and reasonably priced drilling company. To unlock the potential on our 251 square km's land position in the Maricunga belt, the company needs the right exploration team and the right drill-contractor. Phase I drilling will take about 5-6 weeks to complete and management plans to provide results to shareholders as the program progresses. The GOH story has evolved from an asset acquisition story in 2020, to a fully funded and drill ready exploration play in 2021." GOH to attend Virtual Mining Conferences in February - March 2021 Management of GoldHaven plans to present at 121 Mining Investment - Conference 1st - 3rd of February. This conference is primarily tailored for European, Asian, and African investors. In addition to this conference GoldHaven management will be attending the upcoming PDAC Conference on March 8th - 10th . About GoldHaven Resources Corp. GoldHaven Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company active in the Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile. The Maricunga measures 150 km north-south and 30 km east-west and is host to discoveries in the last ten years of 100M oz gold, 450M oz silver and 13 billion lbs copper. The Company has agreements in place to acquire seven high priority exploration targets as identified by geological studies. GoldHaven has identified four of these seven properties as being "High Priority" targets and, will commence a drilling program beginning during the first quarter of 2021. The four priority targets include Coya located approximately 16 km northeast of the La Coipa mine where Kinross has extracted over 6.2 million oz.; the second is Rio Loa, a project located 25 km south of Gold Field's Salares Norte deposit (5.2 M oz. AuEq); the third and fourth projects are Alicia and Roma which are approximately 35 km south of the Salares Norte deposit. These priority targets have been designated as High Priority owing to the extensive pervasive alteration, favourable geology and highly anomalous rock geochemistry results as well as their relative proximity to existing deposits. We Seek Safe Harbor. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Daniel Schieber For further information, please contact: Daniel Schieber CEO & Director #2300 - 1177 West Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. V6K 2E3 www.goldhavenresources.com Office Direct: (604) 638-5938 Cell Direct: (604) 722-5798 Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Offering and the Assignment, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Offering, the inability of the Company to enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Letters of Intent which are the subject of the Assignment, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72917 The TD Bank branch on Main Street will close in April. TD Bank, Citizens Bank Closing in North Adams NORTH ADAMS, Mass. The city is losing two bank branches in the next couple of months. The TD Bank branch on Main Street will close in April and the Citizens Bank branch in Stop & Shop will be replaced by an automated kiosk in February. TD Bank informed its customers by letters dated Jan. 21 that the bank will close on April 23. The Spring Street location in Williamstown and the two branches in Pittsfield will remain open. TD Bank, in a statement to iBerkshires on Tuesday, said the decision to close the branch at 90 Main St. was done "after a thorough review." "In reaching a decision to close a specific TD Bank store, we consider many business factors, including the number of Customers visiting our stores, transaction volumes, the location's proximity to other TD Bank stores and the number of Customers who use multiple store locations. We have already begun notifying impacted customers. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for them," bank officials said in the statement. The letter to customers was brief, stating that "we're moving in with our TD Bank neighbors close by" and reminding them of the app and online avenues for transactions. "Our stores remain an important pillar of our strategy and we are committed to reinvesting across our footprint which could include Store renovations, new store locations, or the expansion of our ATM Network, while continuing to make further investments in our digital and mobile platforms in response to evolving Customer preferences," according to the statement. Mayor Thomas Bernard, speaking at Tuesday's City Council meeting, said he was just learning about the letters TD sent to customers and that he was trying to get more information. "I have a number of concerns about that, first of all for the well-being of the employees who may be able to find positions with other branches but some who may be looking for other positions," he said. "This is a tough time for anybody to be facing that. ... I'm finding it hard to understand why you would close a prominent downtown branch that has a drive-up and ATM." He said he was also concerned about a population that may not find it easy to travel to Williamstown or use online banking over a prominent, downtown bank. "If the message is, well if you can't get to Williamstown or Pittsfield branch for transportation reasons or because public transit doesn't doesn't help you, just bank online," he said. "That's not necessarily the service that everybody's going to be looking for ... We talk a lot about the importance of supporting local businesses, and as concerned as I am about the loss of this business we do have other local institutions that continue to serve. "Nobody likes the prospect and the process of changing a bank account or a prescription or or any kind of any kind of paperwork, but hopefully if people choose to do that, our institutions will make that as easy as possible for them." There has been a bank in that area of Main Street for more than a century. The site had been the former North Adams National Bank that was demolished in 1963 along with its marble lobby. The bank had earlier merged with what was then Hoosac Savings Bank across the street. First Agricultural Bank, which had offices next door, purchased the former bank building and another property and razed both, the first buildings taken down for urban renewal. The current 6,900-square-foot building was constructed by First Agricultural as its new offices. The bank was later First Massachusetts/Banknorth and has been TD Bank since a merger in 2005. TD Bank did not provide any information on what will become of the property and if all the employees will be transferred. TD Bank closed two other branches , in Adams and Dalton, in 2013. Citizens Bank announced in November that it would be closing 26 branches in Stop & Shop supermarkets in Masssachusetts including the local one. Most of the closures are in the eastern part of the state but two in Springfield at Cooley Street and Boston Road and one on Riverdale Road in West Springfield will also close. Another 14 branches in other states are also expected to close. Citizens' spokesman Rory Sheehan told Boston 25 News last month that "in-store branches remain part of our overall strategy to help customers bank when, where and how they prefer, but these reformats are part of our ongoing effort to review customer patterns, optimize branch locations, and make adjustments as appropriate." The kiosks will allow customers to make deposits and withdrawals. The North Adams branch is set to close Feb. 11. Citizens has ATMs at the Cumberland Farms on Ashland Street and Hodges Cross Road, and the convenience stores in Adams and Williamstown; the nearest branch location is the Stop & Shop on Merrill Road in Pittsfield. There is also bank on Main Street in Bennington, Vt. 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Ambroncius Nababan posted a photo on Facebook of Natalius Pigai, a former member of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), next to one of a gorilla along with a caption that read: Brother, our vaccine is not Sinovac/Pfizer. Our vaccine is one for rabies. The post was in response to remarks by Pigai in a YouTube interview that he would refuse to receive a vaccine from Chinas Sinovac Biotech and that vaccinations should be voluntary. In another Facebook post commenting on an article about Pigais avowed refusal to be vaccinated, Nababan wrote: Im very sorry, but the Sinovac vaccine is made for humans, not for gorillas. Nababan was summoned for questioning and named a suspect on Tuesday after police received a complaint from a Papuan youth group. National police spokesman Rusdi Hartono said investigators had sufficient evidence to detain Nababan, a Hanura Party politician and member of the ruling coalition. (Nababan) is strongly suspected of having committed a criminal offense and has been detained, Rusdi told reporters on Wednesday. The politician could face five years in prison if convicted of violating a 2008 law to eliminate racism and discrimination, he said. The national police investigators will pursue this case in a professional and accountable manner, Rusdi said, responding to concerns that Nababan could escape prosecution because of his political connections. Nababan, who has been photographed with President Joko Jokowi Widodo and other officials, said he was sorry if people were offended by his posts, but denied any wrongdoing. I just copied and pasted the pictures, Nababan said at the national police headquarters. I had no racist intent. I was just criticizing Mr. Pigai that if he objects to Sinovac, thats fine, everyone can disagree, but dont make it public, he said. I sincerely apologize to all the people of Papua. Please let there be no misunderstanding and miscommunication and I hope people understand and forgive, he said. Previously, Nababan said it was inconceivable for him to be racist toward Papuans. I was a candidate for the House of Representatives from a Papuan electoral district in the 2019 general elections, he said. Meanwhile, a community leader, Samuel Tabuni, said the posts upset Papuans. It is true that Papuans are angry. We have made a petition to demand that the person be punished in accordance with Indonesian law, he said in a statement. Racist statements that denigrate Papuans have been rampant. Its not about Mr. Natalius Pigai, hes just a symbol, he said. In my opinion, the law must be enforced to show that this country does not allow things like that to happen. John Nasion Robby Gobay said Papuans often have been subjected to racist abuse while offenders faced no consequences. Gobay, the second secretary of the Papuan Customary Council, urged people to remain calm and trust police to handle the case. I remind you that this was the action of an individual, Ambroncius, not of the Batak people, he said, referring to Nababans North Sumatra tribe. 2019 protests Anger over Nababans posts raised fears of widespread protests in Papua similar to those in 2019 triggered by perceived racism involving security forces targeting Papuan students on Java island. Two weeks of violence left more than 40 people dead. The unrest prompted the government to send as many as 3,000 police and military troops to the Papua region and to block the internet for three weeks. The central government in Jakarta blamed the separatist United Liberation Movement of West Papua and the West Papua National Committee for the uprising that saw thousands of people join protests calling for a vote on self-determination for the Indonesian half of New Guinea island. Papuan activists and their supporters, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, went on social media in 2020 using the hashtag PapuanLivesMatter to denounce what they see as racist treatment across Indonesia of Papuans. A low-level separatist conflict has simmered since the 1960s in Papua, a region at the far eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. The region declared its independence from Dutch colonial rule on Dec. 1, 1961. But that was rejected by the Netherlands and later by Indonesia. In 1963, Indonesian forces invaded the region and annexed it. Six years later, the region held a referendum in which security forces selected slightly more than 1,000 people to agree to Papuas formal absorption into the nation, according to human rights advocacy groups. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The four men then were seen on surveillance video running from the scene back toward 23rd and Washtenaw, with Chavez and the gunman running into a gangway, prosecutors said. An officer saw Chavez and the gunman run into a house in the 2600 block of West 23rd Place, and when he realized they were wanted in the killing, police staked out the building, leading to what police at the time described as a SWAT standoff. Chavez was arrested as he tried to run from the house, but the gunman hasnt been arrested, prosecutors said, As dawn broke on July 14, 2015, and after intensive and lengthy diplomatic talks, the final details of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action better known as the Iran nuclear deal were finalized. All parties to the accord were hopeful. Javad Zarif, my countrys foreign minister, tweeted: #IranDeal is not a ceiling, but a solid foundation. We must now begin to build on it. This deal was considered by many across the world as an agreement that could change the dynamics in the Middle East. For its part, Iran fulfilled all of its obligations for almost three and a half years from when the deal went into effect in January 2016. The United States, however, has been less reliable. Even during the last months of the Obama administration, the United States was not as faithful a partner as we hoped. But then came Donald Trump. Mr. Trump campaigned on promises to dismantle the agreement. His 2016 electoral victory did indeed change the dynamics in the Middle East for the worse. Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders in the region renewed their hopes of harassing and marginalizing Iran. Then, in May 2018, Mr. Trumps government withdrew the United States from the accord. (Iran, at the request of the remaining participants in the deal, however, continued to comply with the restrictions on its nuclear program for one full year.) As if the withdrawal wasnt enough, the Trump administration repeatedly pushed the region to the brink of a catastrophic war. The assassination of Qassim Suleimani, a top Iranian military commander, in January 2020 was the most important of these provocations, to which was added the brazen assassination of our eminent scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November. The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest against the Chinese government after Beijing passed a new law giving its coast guard authority to fire upon foreign vessels in the contested South China Sea, Manilas top diplomat said Wednesday. The move by Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. reversed a stand that he took on Monday when he said it was none of our business what laws China passes. After reflection I filed a diplomatic protest, Locsin said in comments posted via Twitter. While enacting law is a sovereign prerogative, this one given the area involved or for that matter the open South China Sea is a verbal threat of war to any country that defies the law; which, if unchallenged, is submission to it. The law, which the National Peoples Congress approved on Jan. 22 and that is scheduled to take effect on Feb. 1, placed the China Coast Guard under military command. It also empowered the coast guard to take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons when national sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals at sea. The next day, the U.S. Navy announced that the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group had entered the South China Sea to conduct routine operations including maritime strike exercises and coordinated tactical training between surface and air units. Locsin did not say what prompted his change of heart. But it came a day after local broadcast network GMA Television reported that China Coast Guard ships had recently blocked Filipino fishermen from Pag-asa Island as they tried to enter fishing grounds in the disputed area. Pag-asa, known internationally as Thitu Island, is one of about nine islands and atolls occupied by Manila in the Spratly chain in the South China Sea. The Philippine military has been refurbishing the islands port and repairing the runway of its small airstrip. On Monday, Locsin had said it was Chinas business what laws it wanted passed as he called on critics of Beijing to have a little self-restraint. Ships carrying construction materials are docked at the new beach ramp on the Philippine-claimed island of Pag-asa, internationally known as Thitu, in the disputed South China Sea, June 9, 2020. [Philippine Department of National Defense via AP] China should stop its bullying tactics On Wednesday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who is among public figures in the Philippines who have criticized Beijing, called on President Rodrigo Duterte to denounce Chinas bullying immediately. After China passed its Coast Guard Law, our own fisher folk are asking the administration to condemn this, she said in a statement. Let us stand up to China, and for once back our fishermen. This is the arrogance of a country that still considers itself the Middle Kingdom and an empire. This is an unacceptable encounter, the senator from the opposition said. Hontiveros had previously warned about the new Chinese measures and urged the countrys defense establishment to immediately create a strategy to deal with the possibility of the Chinese coast guard using force to thwart Filipino fishermen in contested waters. The law will be passed in February. The next thing we know, Chinese coast guards might not only block, but also shoot at our own boats, she said. She also called on fellow member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to reach a consensus and to take multilateral action to stop Chinas incessant adventurism. Beijings plan, she noted, appeared to be to isolate and divide countries in an effort to deal with them individually through bilateral talks rather than multilateral negotiations. China should stop its bullying tactics. ASEAN member-states should band together and show China that we will not be bullied into deference, she said. China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan. While Indonesia does not regard itself as party to the South China Sea dispute, Beijing claims historic rights to parts of that sea overlapping Indonesia's exclusive economic zone as well. Chinas efforts go against an international arbitral tribunal ruling in July 2016 that went in favor of the Philippines and dismissed Beijings expansive claims to the potentially mineral-rich sea region. President Rodrigo Duterte, who took office just days before the ruling, had not sought to enforce it and instead appeased China in exchange for what he said were much-needed investments. Last September, Duterte shifted gears in declaring that the ruling was beyond compromise. China has promised its neighbors that like them, it wanted to finish a code of conduct in the maritime region, but Beijing has continued to expand territories it occupies in the South China Sea. ASEAN members and China have been negotiating for a code to manage tensions in the South China Sea, but Beijings lack of enthusiasm for a multilateral solution to the disputes has hindered these talks. On Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment regarding Locsins latest statement. Speaking in Vietnam on Jan. 27, at the 13th Communist Party Congress, army chief deputy minister of defense and Senior Lieutenant General Phan Van Giang meanwhile said that Vietnam's military has responded in a "firm and timely" manner to challenges to its sovereignty in areas it claims in the South China Sea, called the East Sea by Vietnam. Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Additional reporting by RFA's Vietnamese Service. A senior judge has said Ireland had an "astonishing reluctance" to comply with EU environmental laws. Judge Anthony Collins also said Ireland needed to improve access to the courts for activists and remove key barriers on legal costs. His comments come as the Government is considering making it harder to bring legal challenges. Judge Collins sits at the European Court of Justice, where Ireland has been summoned repeatedly for breaches of environmental legislation. The former Dublin-based barrister has previously represented the State in environmental court cases and he lectures on the subject at University College Cork - for which he recorded a podcast. He said he made his comments in a personal capacity but did not believe he was revealing secrets about official attitudes to green laws. Judge Collins said Ireland would have had no effective environmental laws if the EU had not brought them in. Even when EU directives became European law officially then Ireland fought against implementing them. A prime early example was the failure to address illegal dumps, which the State argued for years was down to the actions of individuals. Other examples included the State's failure to apply and enforce laws on septic tanks, habitats, pollutants such as nitrates and phosphates, urban wastewater as well as environmental assessments. Astonishing "The list of non-compliance by Ireland of its environmental law obligations at EU level is incredibly long," Judge Collins said. He added Ireland seemed to pay attention only when taken to court by the European Commission and fined, as in the Derrybrien wind farm case in Co Galway where 8m in penalties has been paid and fines of 15,000 a day are still totting up. "It was only at that stage that the law was being taken seriously by the State," he said. "I think it's fair to say there would have been a certain reluctance towards the idea of even applying some of these rules on the part of the State. "That's fairly evident from the defences that were put forward - an astonishing reluctance to comply with rules which the State signed up to. "The State willingly went along with all of them and yet when it came to implementing and applying them dragged its heels." He said citizens had been left to become "private law enforcers", going to court to make the State apply the laws "often at considerable risk to their own financial safety". "Access to justice is a major issue in Ireland," he said. He said the bar was low for a court in deciding whether to allow legal challenges to the State but it could be raised. However once an applicant met that threshold then they should be indemnified against paying costs if they lost, he said in the podcast. Environment Minister Eamon Ryan accepted Ireland's record had been poor. But he said the Government was working hard on issues such as climate, air quality, water quality and a reduction in waste. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-26 22:08:43|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Orderly delivery and distribution of supplies for residents who are required to self-quarantine at home in Daxing District of Beijing have been ensured by joint efforts of local volunteers and supermarket suppliers since Wednesday. The district will enforce stringent lockdown management in five residential compounds in the Tiangongyuan sub-district, where two new cases were detected. Over 24,000 residents of five compounds are now required to self-quarantine in their homes. The Bureau of Commerce in Daxing District have been coordinating between markets and transports to send about a hundred of trucks delivering fresh vegetables and daily necessities to people's doors. Quarantined residents can make orders online in the Tiangongyuan sub-district and over 300 volunteers have been assisting the distribution and delivery of supplies. Beijing reported two new locally transmitted confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday, the municipal health commission said on Tuesday. Both cases were reported in Daxing District, according to the commission. Health authorities in Beijing previously said that they had identified the novel coronavirus behind the recent COVID-19 cases in Daxing as the mutant strain first found in Britain. HAMPDEN When MGM Resorts International first laid its chips on the table about building a Springfield casino, surrounding communities sought funding to mitigate its impact. While some were approved to eventually be allocated such funds, Hampdens Select Board members at the time walked away empty-handed or so they thought. More than four years later, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission reached out to the towns Select Board and asked what the community had planned for its $100,000 worth of mitigation funds, said Select Board Chair Donald Davenport. Apparently, they neglected to notify us, said Davenport. The community mitigation funds may be used to compensate for impact costs related to the casino, like public safety operational costs, transportation planning or transportation construction costs. According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, communities that received approval for the 2015/2016 reserves do not need to re-apply. However, applications are due to the commission by Jan. 31, 2021. We drew the wheel around Springfield and we were the only slice that was left out, said Select Board member John Flynn at a Dec. 14 meeting. We were a little chagrin. Flynn, who was a member of the Select Board at the time of the initial proposal, had said that much like Longmeadows argument, he felt that Hampden would be used as a cross-through. As such, he reasserted that the casino funds be used to benefit the towns seniors, especially residents of Centennial Commons, by installing a pedestrian crosswalk on Somers Road at Village Mart. At Mondays Select Board meeting, Interim Town Administrator Bob Markel explained that Administrative Assistant Pam Courtney had sent messages to administrators in central and Western Massachusetts asking if the individual communities had installed crosswalks or flashing lights and could provide additional information. Two communities that responded were Great Barrington in Southern Berkshire County and Middleborough in Plymouth County. To install a solar-powered flashing light that would indicate when to cross with a push of a button with a crosswalk, costs would be about $16,000, said Markel. Digital radar speed monitoring devices tend to be more expensive, he added, but noted that a crosswalk, radar and flashing light would cost somewhere between $30,000 to $31,000. The recently resigned Police Chief Jeff Farnsworth had also recommended acquiring several speed monitoring devices on wheels as it not only acts as a way to monitor speed in the area, but deters people from speeding as well. One estimate from Brockton-based safety equipment supplier Perma-Line Corp., which included a digital radar speed monitoring device, would be approximately $19,000 and could be installed over the winter season. Perma-Line took the lead on Middleboroughs crosswalk installation project. There was some question as to if part of the road was owned by the state or not, but Markel said he would look into the matter further. If you are agreeable to a system like this, Ill take the next steps to be in touch with Miss (Mary) Thurlow (program director for the Massachusetts Gaming Commision) and also the state to see if they have any concerns, said Markel. In other town-related news, board members agreed to post the police chief job opening this week to internal applicants. Retired Longmeadow Police Chief Richard Marchese was appointed as the interim police chief on Thursday, Jan. 7 to temporarily assume the helm from Farnsworth, who recently resigned to take on a new role at the state Executive Office of Public Safety. Markel said he has already received three letters of interest in applying for the chief position from members of the Hampden Police Department. He recommended searching internally for a candidate. My feeling is that if you have a department that has bad culture or needs significant change, typically, I would hire someone from the outside. If you have a department thats functioning well, and I have to tell you that having been here since September of 2019, I have not received a single complaint about a member of the Hampden Police Department, so I can say with some certainty that the culture is not of the negative side and hiring from within would be appropriate, said Markel. While the draft proposal indicated that the board would prefer a candidate with training via the Massachusetts Police Academy or command experience at the level of sergeant or above, Marchese suggested that with a smaller department like Hampdens, the board may consider accepting anyone with five years on the job. He suggested only opening up the search to external candidates if the board was not satisfied with the internal candidates. Youve got some good people in this department, said Marchese. I think theyre worth a look. Like many, lying in a treatment room while a skilled professional massages your aching muscles with beautifully-fragranced oil is probably high on your post-lockdown fantasy list. Given going to the dentist seems like a treat right now, the idea of booking a manicure or wax seems positively self-indulgent. But just because the professionals arent allowed to get their hands on you, theres no reason why you shouldnt give some of these treatments a go yourself. In the second of our three-part guide to staying glossy in lockdown, we asked some of Britains most renowned beauty experts how to buff your body from top to toe. POLISH AND SHINE Noella Gabriel, one of the founders of much-loved British spa brand, Elemis, says if youre only going to do one thing to boost your body, it should be body brushing. Its particularly effective when cold weather has you feeling sluggish. Some of Britain's most renowned beauty experts share their advice for buffing yourself in lockdown - including Noella Gabriel (pictured) who is one of the founders of Elemis A daily dry body brush helps stimulate lymph [the bodys waste disposal system] and blood circulation for the removal of impurities from under the skins surface, says Noella. It can change the total health of your whole body, boosting circulation, improving skin texture as well as giving your energy levels, and your immune system, a kickstart. She suggests brushing before you shower in the morning. Dont get obsessed with technique, and theres no need to exert pressure, just let the bristles do the work. Begin at the soles of the feet and work up the front and back of the legs and across the stomach and bottom, in an upward direction towards the heart. Then do the same on the arms, working from fingertips to shoulders. Pictured left: Almond Supple Skin Oil, from 6.50, uk.loccitane.com. Pictured right: Coffee & Cacao Body Scrub, 14.99, upcirclebeauty.com A brisk body brush doesnt mean you wont also benefit from a good scrub. Body scrubs are a great way to exfoliate dead cells which can dull the skin, and encourage new cell growth for healthy radiant looking skin, says Noella. Regular exfoliation, twice a week, will keep skin functioning at its peak and stop it looking dry and depleted. And, after you brush or scrub, dont forget to slather on an oil or body cream to nourish your skin. KIT: Body Detox Skin Brush, 21, uk.elemis.com Body Detox Skin Brush, 21, uk.elemis.com Coffee & Cacao Body Scrub, 14.99, upcirclebeauty.com Almond Supple Skin Oil, from 6.50, uk.loccitane.com GIVE YOUR FEET A TREAT Margaret Dabbs is a celebrity podiatrist who tends the feet of models, musicians, politicians and many more. While nothing beats a proper pedicure, she admits, you can keep feet in shape with an at-home treatment. Her two top tips are to use a foot cream every night before bed, and to remove hard skin on a weekly basis. The one indispensable tool everyone needs is a foot file, she says. But you should only ever use it on dry skin. This is because you can take off too much and cause damage if used on wet, soft skin. Margaret Dabbs (pictured) who is a celebrity podiatrist, recommends reducing hard skin with a foot file and then using a treatment balm specifically for cracked heels If you suffer from cracked heels, a file can help prevent this in the first place. These deep, painful cracks are the result of thickened skin that becomes dehydrated. They can become infected, warns Margaret. Reduce the hard skin with a foot file, then use a treatment balm specifically for cracked heels to help instantly seal, relieve and repair persistent cracks in the skin. For fungal skin conditions, such as athletes foot, which are unsightly and can cause itching and broken skin between the toes, she recommends an antibacterial and anti-fungal cream used regularly at night. It will also help discoloured, damaged, crumbling and unhealthy-looking toenails affected by fungal infections. Finally if youre suffering with corns on the toes, these can be safely reduced with a file. This eases the pressure and relieves the associated pain. Just dont be tempted to attack them with a razor blade like a professional might. Pictured left to right: Flexitol Heel Balm, 5.09, superdrug.com, Professional Foot File, 24, margaretdabbs.co.uk, Scholl Athletes Foot Cream Advance Antifungal Treatment, 5.99, superdrug.com Look to take preventative action. If you experience regular corns, review what you are wearing on your feet. Dont be deceived by footwear that you are living in. If shoes are over- worn, they can exacerbate bad foot habits. Take away the cause, and the pain will go with it, says Margaret. KIT: Professional Foot File, 24, margaretdabbs.co.uk Professional Foot File, 24, margaretdabbs.co.uk Flexitol Heel Balm, 5.09, superdrug.com Scholl Athletes Foot Cream Advance Antifungal Treatment, 5.99, superdrug.com NAIL YOUR MANICURE Whether youre stuck with Shellac flaking off your fingernails, or want to brighten things up with a dash of colour, nail expert Marian Newman, founder and chair of the Federation of Nail Professionals (the-fnp.com) and a woman who has manicured everyone from Naomi Campbell to Angelina Jolie and Helen Mirren, has the answers. Acetone nail polish remover is the quickest and most efficient way of taking off gel nails that have grown out, says Marian. It can be drying, so put an oil or barrier cream on the skin around the nail to protect it. Nail expert Marian Newman (pictured) who is founder and chair of the Federation of Nail Professionals, recommends using polishes that promise gel-style finishes instead of doing your own gel manicures Take a very light buffer to the top coat, as thats solvent resistant, then either soak your nails in a bowl with enough acetone to cover them, or put a small amount of acetone on some cotton wool and place it on the nail. Wrap the entire tip of your finger in foil to keep the cotton pad in place. Leave for 15 minutes then check it. The polish should peel off by itself. If not, soak for a little longer or use an acetone-dipped cotton pad to wipe it off. Never scrape your nails as theyll be soft and you might damage them. As for whether you should be trying to do your own gel manicures at home with one of the many kits out there, its a categoric no from the professionals, and that is not just protectionism. The products used in gel manicures can contain allergens. In the hands of the professionals, where theyre less likely to be in contact with skin, this isnt a problem. But if youre doing your own nails, youre more likely to get it on the skin, says Marian. Instead, try one of the number of polishes out there that promise gel-style finishes such as CND Vinylux, 8.95, nailpolish direct.co.uk or Maybelline SuperStay 7 Days Gel Nail Polish, 4.50, Sainsburys. For a home manicure, forget everything you think you know no soaking in bowls of warm water and no cutting the skin around the nail. Soaking makes the nail plate soften and expand and if you apply polish to it and it dries and contracts, the polish can peel, explains Marian. Pictured left to right: Essie Treat Love & Colour polish, left, 8.99, superdrug.com, Artificial Nail Remover, 2.99, superdrug.com, CND SolarOil, 6.95, nailpolishdirect.co.uk Instead, she advises putting on a nail oil, and while its soaking in, gently filing your nails. Use a very fine emery board and angle it so its slightly under the nail, that way its okay to go backwards and forwards, you dont have to use the file in just one direction. As for nipping away at every rag tag bit of skin around each nail, go easy. If youve got a hang nail, snip it off, but remember, the more you cut that frame of skin around the nail, the thicker it will grow to protect itself, so instead massage oil into the skin daily. Pick one with jojoba, avocado or squalane. These are the only oils that can penetrate the nail and lubricate the layers inside so nails arent brittle. After youve oiled, use acetone or a nail polish without any conditioners (they can stop polish adhering) to clean the nail. Then use a base coat to prevent staining, two thin colour coats, and a top coat. Remember to seal the very tip edge of the nail to prevent peeling. If youve got weak nails and want to protect them, add another colour and topcoat layer a few days later. The nail doesnt need to breathe. It needs oil, but you can apply that from the base. KIT: CND SolarOil, 6.95, nailpolishdirect.co.uk CND SolarOil, 6.95, nailpolishdirect.co.uk Artificial Nail Remover, 2.99, superdrug.com Essie Treat Love & Colour polish, left, 8.99, superdrug.com HASSLE-FREE HAIR REMOVAL Whether you cream, wax, shave, epilate or zap, de-fuzzing is all down to preference. Its important to find a routine that makes your skin look and feel nourished, nurtured and smooth, says Arezoo Kaviani, renowned for her Brazilian wax technique and A-list clientele. You may want to use several types of hair removal methods depending on the area you are treating. The key is to practise and perfect your technique. Arezoo Kaviani (pictured) who is renowned for her Brazilian wax technique, said the hair removal method used should depend on the area you are treating If you want to try a depilatory cream, she says its vital you carry out a patch test 48-72 hours before using it to make sure you dont get a reaction. When using it, spread the cream evenly to fully coat the hair. Depilatory creams dissolve the hair right from the root so you can use it even on short hair and it will be effective. For those who fancy waxing, she recommends using strips (more precision) and a bit of prep. Dont use a moisturiser on the day, but make sure you moisturise 24 hours beforehand as dehydrated skin is more sensitive to wax. Before starting, ensure you have plenty of time and good light. Apply ice to the area and pat dry to make skin cool and dry so its easier to wax. Warm the strip by rubbing it between your hands so it is properly sticky, then hold the skin taut and smooth the strip on in the direction of the hair growth. Pull it off working against the hair. When youve finished, use baby oil to remove any excess wax then apply ice again it cools the skin and reduces the chances of irritation. Arezoo recommends practising on legs before attempting the bikini line. Pictured left: Nair Tough Hair Removal Cream, 6.19, superdrug.com Pictured right: Veet Easy Grip Wax Strips, 6.99, superdrug.com Winter lockdown is the perfect time to embark on a course of at-home IPL hair removal, a light-based technique that works on the contrast between the skin and the hair to deliver heat to the root and kill it. (As a result, its not suitable for white, grey, light blonde or red hair, or for those with very dark skin.) Brands arent allowed to claim permanent hair removal, but when it works its definitely long-term. The key to success is following a regular regime. Used weekly for eight weeks, this is highly effective. Look for a product that has proven results and offers a money back guarantee. The Philips Lumea (349.99, philips.co.uk) claims 92 per cent hair reduction after three treatments and offers a 100-day money back guarantee. Venture just a little down the road from The Woodlands and you'll find the quiet lakeside town of Conroe, Texas. What you might not know, however, is that this small town gem was among the top places in America to move to in 2020, according to U-Haul. The rental van company ranked Conroe No. 24 on its list of "Top 25 Growth Cities" of 2020. U-Haul based its rankings on company data tracking customers' migration patterns over the previous year. According to a U-Haul press release, the number of people with one-way truck rentals heading to Conroe in 2020 increased 17 percent over the previous year. This increase accounts for the number of one-way rentals leaving Conroe, U-Haul notes. Conroe residents might not be surprised by this news. The city was crowned one of the "fastest-growing cities in the country" by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2017, and there's been a solid uptick of interest in moving to this Texas lake community. OFF THE GRID: Where Americans want to travel to in 2021 "Absolutely, we're seeing a boom in Conroe," Boulevard Realty owner Billy Baldwin told Chron. "It's cheaper in the suburbs for the most part and the schools are considered as good." According to Baldwin, one of the factors driving the boom is the perception that people now have the freedom to work remotely during the pandemic. He added the price point of home loans with a 2.5 percent mortgage rate have attracted many to making that jump to the 'burbs. "In the suburbs, there's the perception that they might not have to commute," Baldwin said. "They believe they will work remote in some fashion. Also, there's the sheer perception of being near green space. Lake Conroe is a huge bidding war right now. The 2.5 percent rate is making the price point very attractive. Baldwin said that the pandemic changed everything in terms of perception about living in the 'burbs. "They're moving to areas that they would not have considered before the pandemic," Baldwin said. "Some may even switch careers so they can work remotely." When you break it down, 13 of the top 25 growth cities on U-Haul's list are in the Southeast, with five in Florida and Tennessee. The only other Texas town that made the list was Tyler, Texas, ranked at No. 10. Tyler earned the ranking with a 21-percent increase in arrivals over 2019. Yes, Texas saw its share of folks coming into the state in 2020, as it was the second-most-popular state in terms of growth for incoming U-Haul movers in the country. Here are the top 25 "growth cities" in 2020, according to U-Haul: A fire-destroyed property registered to Gabriel Wortman at 200 Portapique Beach Road is seen in Portapique, N.S. on May 8, 2020. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press) Three People Expected to Be Arraigned for Alleged Ammunition Transfer to N.S. Shooter HALIFAXThree people who allegedly supplied ammunition to the gunman who murdered 22 people in the April 18-19 mass shooting in Nova Scotia are scheduled for court hearings today. RCMP have charged Lisa Banfield, the 52-year-old spouse of the killer, with unlawfully transferring ammunition, specifically .223-calibre Remington cartridges and .40-calibre Smith and Wesson cartridges. Police have laid the same charges against 52-year-old James Blair Banfield and 60-year-old Brian Brewster. The offences are alleged to have occurred between March 17 and April 18 last year. When the charges were announced on Dec. 4, police said the three had no prior knowledge of the actions of the gunman, who was killed by an RCMP officer on April 19. A spokeswoman for the Crown says the arraignments are expected to occur via teleconference in Dartmouth provincial court. The RCMP has said that on the night of April 18, Banfield was handcuffed by the gunman, Gabriel Wortman, but managed to escape into nearby woods in Portapique, N.S. She emerged the next morning and told police at 6:30 a.m. that Wortman was driving a police replica vehicle. Chartered financial analyst Nathalie Han has over two decades of experience in investment management, deal structuring and financing Han was also an Investment Analyst at Capital International CDPQ in Montreal - one of the largest Canadian public pension funds ( ) ( )(FRA:20Q) has bolstered its board with the appointment of an experienced investment and financing executive as a director. Chartered financial analyst Nathalie Han has over two decades of experience in investment management, deal structuring, financing, especially in clean energy, oil and gas, and natural resources. She has been managing director and founder of La Paix Capital AG based in Zurich since 2016, while in Canada, she was Principal at OMERS Capital Markets in Toronto, one of the largest public pension funds. She was also an Investment Analyst at Capital International CDPQ in Montreal - one of the largest Canadian public pension funds. "We are delighted to have Nathalie join our board," said Aurania CEO Dr Keith Barron in a statement. "She brings a wealth of deal-making and financing experience to our company, and we welcome her addition to our board." Aurania is on the hunt for precious metals and copper in South America. Its Lost Cities-Cutucu project lies in the Jurassic Metallogenic Belt in the eastern foothills of the Andes mountain range of southeastern Ecuador. Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com ADVERTISEMENT The Police in Anambra State said they have uncovered a baby factory where young pregnant women are kept and their babies sold by human traffickers. The police spokesperson in the state, Haruna Mohammed, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Awka, said 10 suspects were arrested and five newborn babies rescued. Mr Haruna, a chief superintendent of police, said three other children have been rescued in a house, in a coordinated raid, at Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area of the state. On January 26, at about 7 a.m., following an intelligence report, police operatives attached to the SIB and Area Command, Oraifite, coordinated by the Area Commander, ACP Afolabi Wilfred raided the house. The house, which belonged to one Melvina Uju Uba, is located opposite Nnamdi Azikiwe Orthopedic Teaching Hospital Oba in Idemili South LGA of Anambra state, he said. The police spokesperson listed the arrested suspects as Edna Nnadi, 37, Ujunwa Nweke, 25, Izuchukwu Uba, 24, Chinasa Ibeh, 19, Peace Effiong, 25, Gift Collins, 20, and Chimkaso Kingsley, 25. Others are Happiness Monday, 18, Chioma Okonkwo, 25, and Uchechukwu Nwankwo, 18. Five of the suspects, according to him, were heavily pregnant. The rescued children would be handed over to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Children and Women Affairs for proper care, he said. He said the police were intensifying effort to apprehend other accomplices in order to bring them to justice. (NAN) WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) U.S. challenger American Magic returned its racing yacht Patriot to the water Wednesday just 10 days after a dramatic capsize threatened to ends its involvement in the Americas Cup in New Zealand. Patriot was slowly lowered into the water at the team's Auckland base and was expected to sail later in the day to begin systems checks the first step to a full return to racing. On its relaunch, Patriot had a new emblem over the area of the bow which had been holed crossed band aids bearing the Italian, British and New Zealand flags and the message: thankyou." American Magic tweeted a picture of the new emblem and said after 9 days of round-the-clock effort, and the massive support of so many here in Auckland, back home and around the world, PATRIOT is back in her natural element. The Prada Cup racecourse awaits her on Friday. An American Magic spokesperson told reporters "the band-aid graphic with the three flags that covers the repair is an acknowledgement from all of us within the American Magic team of the invaluable assistance received from each of the other three syndicates. The 75-foot Patriot has to pass inspection by the Cup measurement committee late Wednesday in order to race against Italian challenger Luna Rossa in the best-of-seven race challenger series semifinals which begin Friday. The winner of the series will progress to the Prada Cup final where it will meet Britians INEOS Team UK. The loser will be out of the regatta. American Magics shore team, assisted by boat builders from Americas Cup-holder Team New Zealand, have been working around the clock since the capsize occurred to repair extensive damage, including a big hole at the bow. The U.S. yacht sustained internal and external damage and its complex electronic systems have had to be replaced. Patriots hydraulics are sealed and avoided the worst of the damage. The achievement of American Magic in repairing Patriot on such a tight deadline has amazed rival teams and sailing experts. Patriot came close to sinking and was only saved by the swift response of the U.S. team and rivals who rushed to its assistance. Story continues Ben Ainslie, skipper of the British team, wrote in a weekly newspaper column that he doubted his team could have overcome such a setback. I asked one of our senior engineers whether we would have been able to make it back for the semifinals had the same thing happened to us and he said no chance," Ainslie said. American Magic mainsail trimmer Paul Goodison told New Zealand media organization NZME the U.S. team hopes to carry on where we left off as Patriot is re-launched. Were reassured by (designer) Silvio (Arrivabene) and the guys that the boat will be in a similar state, Goodison said. ___ More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Multimedia Specialist Anthony Zilis is a multimedia specialist at The News-Gazette. His email is azilis@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@adzilis). Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams on Tuesday asked the judge overseeing his tax fraud case to toss his indictment because of a shortage of Black jurors for the pending trial. Piggybacking on motions filed in an unrelated case, Williams and his co-defendant and law partner, Nicole Burdett, allege that the jury pool in the federal Eastern District of Louisiana violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law on jury selection. They point to data showing that while the population of the 13-parish Eastern District is 64% White and 31% Black, the current wheel of qualified jurors is only 19% Black. Here's how federal court in New Orleans aims to address shortage of Black jurors. Is it enough? Faced with data showing that federal jury pools in the New Orleans area steeply underrepresent its Black population, the judges of the Eastern The federal court is making changes meant to bring more Black jurors to the courthouse, such as drawing names from drivers license records in addition to voter rolls. But the lawyer in the separate case argues that those changes should force the government to seek a new indictment with a more reflective jury pool. The challenges don't rest on the race of the defendant. Williams is Black, and Burdett is White. In the other case, appellate lawyer Richard Bourke has asked a federal judge to toss the 2017 indictment against Louis Age Jr., whos accused in a murder-for-hire plot. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up +3 Federal judge sets November trial date for Jason Williams' tax fraud case Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has a new trial date in his federal tax fraud case -- and it gives him much more time to settl Williams isn't the only defendant who's seized on Bourke's challenge, which could have ripple effects throughout the courthouse. Michael Magner, the attorney representing Burdett, has filed a similar motion in the criminal case related to First NBC Bank and another against the co-owners of the Brothers Food Mart chain. Williams previously challenged his indictment over the makeup of the grand jury that charged him. Only 25% of the potential grand jurors and only 17% of those selected were Black, according to his motion. U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman ruled against Williams' motion, although he said Williams could raise the issue again. The latest motion filed by Williams and Burdetts legal team asks Feldman to hold off on their challenge to the jury selection process until Judge Barry Ashe rules on Ages request. Similar challenges based on jury race data elsewhere have often failed. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. The Police on Wednesday arraigned a 45-year-old man, Ibironke Peter, before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates Court, Ibadan, for allegedly defr... The Police on Wednesday arraigned a 45-year-old man, Ibironke Peter, before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates Court, Ibadan, for allegedly defrauding a man of more than N4.1 million. NAN reports that the defendant of no fixed address is standing trial on a two-count charge of obtaining by false pretence and stealing. The Prosecutor, ASP Amos Adewale, told the court that Ibironke had on March 5, 2020, at Dugbe area in Ibadan, allegedly obtained the sum of N4, 187, 000 from one Afolabi Abayomi. Adewale said, the defendant was alleged to have obtained the sum of money under the pretence of converting the money to Russian Rubbuis which he refused to do. Ibironke was alleged to have stolen the sum of N4,187, 000 property of one Mr Afolabi, Adewale said. He said the offences contravened sections 390 (9) and 419 of the Criminal Code of Oyo State, 2000. The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The Chief Magistrate, Mr Emmanuel Idowu, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the matter until March 9, for hearing.You Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. YEREVAN, JANAURY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Government of Armenia extended for another 6 months the ban on cement imports from non-Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) countries, aimed at protecting the domestic market and production of the material deemed of strategic importance. The temporary ban had expired on January 1, 2021. The move is expected to ensure the further development of Armenian cement production. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Imperial Brands Plc on Wednesday laid out a five-year plan under its new chief executive that will focus on the company's top five cigarette markets, invest in more high-growth areas for its next-generation products and build out its sales ranks. The maker of Kool and Winston cigarettes said it was also "resetting" its next-generation products (NGP) strategy, focusing its investments behind heated tobacco products in Europe and e-cigarettes in the United States. The announcement is the culmination of a six-month review by Stefan Bomhard, who joined as chief ... Bengaluru: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was formally released from prison after serving 4-year jail-term on Wednesday. She was released after the jail officials completed the formalities. The procedures for her release were done at the Victoria Hospital, where she is presently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 infection, which she had contracted a week ago, along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi. "Sasikala has been officially released as on 11 AM today. She was shifted to Victoria Hospital on 21st Jan and was tested positive. As per protocol, she will be discharged on 10th day if she is asymptomatic and free of oxygen support for at least 3 days," Bangalore Medical College authorities said. Sasikala has been officially released as on 11 am today. She was shifted to Victoria Hospital on 21st Jan and was tested positive. As per protocol, she will be discharged on 10th day if she is asymptomatic and free of oxygen support for at least 3 days: Bangalore Medical College pic.twitter.com/vObvMiLxh1 ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 Confirming the development, Raja Senthoor Pandian, the advocate of Sasikala, said, "All formalities have been completed. She is set free from all legal formalities. She will remain at the hospital as per medical advice.'' All formalities have been completed. She is set free from all legal formalities. She will remain at the hospital as per medical advice: Raja Senthoor Pandian, advocate of Sasikala https://t.co/YbhqEThgB4 pic.twitter.com/2SZCUUJZU1 ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 The close aide of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was in the Central Jail in Parappana Agrahara here for four years since February 2017 in connection with the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case. A huge crowd of Sasikala supporters lined up outside the Victoria Hospital, raising slogans in her favour and distributed sweets in celebration. Live TV The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) in the Ahafo Region recorded a total of 136 fire cases within ten months last year. Giving the breakdown, Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO), Mr Frederick Ohemeng, the Regional Fire Officer, said his outfit recorded 54 bush fires, 42 domestic, eight commercial, 12 industrial, 14 vehicular, two institutional, three refuse dump and one electrical installation fires. Speaking with the Ghanaian Times here at Goaso in the region, he said the GNFS, from March to December, 2020, helped to protect lives and properties through education and proactive approaches. Mr Ohemeng noted that the region had five stations at Goaso, Hwediem, Kenyasi, Duayaw-Nkwanta and Bechem, adding, plans were far advanced to open new stations at Kukuom and Mim to boost efforts to combat fire. He said the GNFS initiated a house-to-house approach to educate residents directly about precautionary measures, explaining, it was piloted at Goaso and the response was positive. We embarked on a radio tour across the region to sensitise residents on preventive measures and how to manage small fires in households and workplaces before the GNFS could intervene, the fire officer said. ACFO Ohemeng attributed the low numbers of bushfires to the formation of the Anti-Bushfire Squad (ABS) in the local communities, elaborating that members of ABS were farmers and were mandated to protect forests and farmlands against fire. He observed that most of the fire cases were caused by fake cables and shoddy work of unprofessional electricians, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) leakages, and electrical faults, with some of them spreading or intensifying due to lack of fire extinguishers. Others were the activities of rodents in households and workplaces, sawmill operators, charcoal burners, palm-wine tappers, smokers, loggers and farmers among others. He implored residents to strictly adhere to all fire safety protocols as the harmattan intensified; fix fire extinguishers; use Energy Commission-certified electricians; do routine maintenance of vehicles; and replace worn-out electrical materials. ACFO appealed to residents to understand and forgive the GNFS on the unfortunate incident which happened at Acherensua, where their fire engines water pump developed a fault on an arrival at a fire scene, saying we work with machines and anything could happen anytime. He assured of the readiness of GNFS to help combat fire in 2021 and solicited support from stakeholders in the region to collaborate with the service. Source: The Ghanaian Times Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Message From The Editor just-style gives you the widest apparel and textile market coverage. Paid just-style members have unlimited access to all our exclusive content - including 21 years of archives. I am so confident you will love complete access to our content that today I can offer you 30 days access for 1*. Its our best ever membership offer just for you. Leonie Barrie, editor of just-style Leonie's offer to you * plus VAT if applicable CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on investing in middle market companies in the healthcare, education, and financial services sectors, today announced the appointment of Mary DaSilva to the role of Chief Talent Officer as well as the additions of Ashley Edwards, Andrea Poldoian and Nithin Kuchibhotla as Vice Presidents, and (Nicole) Soo Hee Choi as the firm's director of tax and compliance. These additions continue a period of rapid growth for the firm, which has raised over $3.3 billion across its funds and co-investment vehicles since 2013. Vistria has invested in 27 platforms across its funds and, with the addition of these recent hires, employs 38 professionals. "Since our founding we have focused on having the most diverse group of talented professionals in our industry and this group is another example of hitting our objective. The Vistria culture is defined by its excellence and mission orientation. These individuals embody that ethos," said Marty Nesbitt, co-CEO and Senior Partner at Vistria. Kip Kirkpatrick, co-CEO and Senior Partner at Vistria added: "Our firm is nothing without its people because it's our people who drive our success day-in and day-out. The quality of our people has allowed us to produce for our limited partners strong investment returns by partnering with world-class management teams and proactively identifying attractive investment niches." As Vistria's Chief Talent Officer, Mary DaSilva is responsible for leading the firm's internal and external talent strategy. Ms. DaSilva joins Vistria after 14 years at Madison Dearborn Partners, where she most recently served as Director and Head of Human Resources. Ms. DaSilva has a Bachelor of Science from DePaul University and a J.D. from Loyola University School of Law. Vistria has also expanded its investment and operational expertise with the addition of three vice presidents. Ashley Edwards joined Vistria in November as a vice president on the firm's healthcare team. Ms. Edwards was most recently a vice president at One Equity Partners. Prior to that, Ms. Edwards earned her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and held roles at J.P. Morgan and Victory Park Capital Advisors. Andrea Poldoian has been hired as a vice president on Vistria's education team. Ms. Poldoian was previously a vice president at Winona Capital Management, where she focused on investments in both the consumer products and education services spaces. Ms. Poldoian earned her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and held previous positions with Harris Williams, Kinsale Capital Partners and Hyde Park Angels. Nithin Kuchibhotla joins the firm as Vice President of Portfolio Resources, where he will lead and advise on strategic, operational, and financial engagements across the firm's portfolio companies. Mr. Kuchibhotla comes to Vistria with more than six-and-a-half years of consulting experience, the bulk of which were spent at Boston Consulting Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Virginia Tech and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Nicole Choi has been hired as Director of Tax and Compliance. Before joining Vistria, Ms. Choi spent fourteen years in EY's Wealth and Asset Management practice, most recently as a senior manager. In that role, she focused on clients in the financial services sector. Ms. Choi holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Science in taxation from DePaul University. About The Vistria Group The Vistria Group is a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on investing in middle market companies in the healthcare, education, and financial services sectors. Vistria's team is comprised of highly experienced operating partners and private equity executives with proven track records of working with management teams in building innovative, market-leading companies. For more information, please visit www.vistria.com. SOURCE The Vistria Group Related Links http://www.vistria.com Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James, the brother of Jesus, didnt have a global pandemic in mind when he wrote these words in the opening chapter of his biblical epistle to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. But as the coronavirus closed churches worldwide, a global survey of more than 14,000 people has found that few lost faith while many of the most faithful gained. Today, the Pew Research Center released a study on how COVID-19 affected levels of religious faith this past summer in 14 countries with advanced economies: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 11 of 14 countries surveyed, the share who say their religious faith has strengthened is higher than the share who say it has weakened, noted Pew researchers. But generally, people in developed countries dont see much change in their own religious faith as a result of the pandemic. Overall, a median of 4 out of 5 of each countrys citizens said their faith was more or less unchanged. But leading the pack in strengthened faith: the United States. And leading the pack in weakened faith: South Korea. Americans were three times more likely to report their religious faith had become stronger due to the pandemic: 28 percent, vs. a global median of 10 percent. Next came Spaniards (16%) and Italians (15%), whose nations were two of the worst hit during the coronaviruss deadly outbreak in the spring. About 1 in 10 Canadians, French, Australians, Brits, Koreans, and Belgians said the same. Meanwhile, Koreans were three times more likely to report their religious faith had become weaker due to the pandemic: 9 percent, vs. a global median of 3 percent. Next came Spaniards (5%), followed by a tie between Americans, Brits, Belgians, and the Dutch (4%). However, among only respondents who said religion was very important in their lives, a far larger share reported strengthened faith. This included 49 percent of faithful Spaniards, 45 percent of Americans, 44 percent of Italians, and 40 percent of Canadians. The global median was 33 percent. Once again, South Korea reported the most lost faith. Among Koreans who said religion was very important in their lives, 14 percent said their faith had become weakerabout three times the global median of 5 percent. They were followed by the French (8%), Brits (7%), then a tie between Spaniards, Dutch, and Swedes (5%). Among respondents who said religion was not important or only somewhat important in their lives, 1 in 10 Americans reported strengthened faith (11%), followed by Spaniards and Koreans (6%). (The United States remains an outlier on religiosity: 49 percent of Americans told Pew that religion is very important in their lives, vs. 24 percent of Spaniards and 17 percent of Koreans.) Pew found no significant differences between men and women overall, but two exceptional cases were Italy and South Korea. In Italy, 20 percent of women say their faith has strengthened vs. only 10 percent of men. In South Korea, 13 percent of women say their faith has strengthened vs. only 8 percent of men. Pew also asked respondents to assess the pandemics impact on the faith of their nation as a whole. Once again, Americans led the way with 3 in 10 saying faith in the US had become stronger. In most countries, people were more likely to say the religious faith of their fellow citizens had become stronger (global median: 15%) than to say the same about their own faith (global median: 10%). Significantly, in the Netherlands only 7 percent of the Dutch say their own faith is stronger, but 17 percent say the faith of other Dutch is stronger. The same significant spread was found among Swedes (3% vs. 15%) and Danes (2% vs. 10%). Meanwhile, Koreans were most likely to say that religious faith in their nation has weakened (17%), followed by Americans (14%) then by Italians, Belgians, and Germans (10%). Others matched or fell below the global median (8%). In the US, white evangelicals were the most likely to say their faith had become stronger (49%), followed by Catholics (35%), white non-evangelical Protestants (21%) and the unaffiliated (5%). This was a modest increase from April, when Pew found a strengthened faith reported by 41% of white evangelicals, 27% of Catholics, 19% of white non-evangelical Protestants, and 7% of the unaffiliated. Pews summer survey did not have enough black Protestants to break out, but in the April survey they led all American faith groups, with 54 percent saying their faith had been strengthened. Among all Americans, 24 percent said their faith had been strengthened in April, compared to the 28 percent in the summer. About a third of Americans believe the pandemic offers a lesson for humanity sent by God (35%), according to a prior Pew survey. A similar share (37%) believe there is a lesson to learn but it was not sent by God. Pew surveyed 14,276 adults by telephone from June 10 to August 3 in the 14 countries, selected for being advanced economies. Pew noted that all of the countries surveyed were under social distancing and/or national lockdown orders due to COVID-19, however not all countries have experienced the disease in the same way and the pandemic situation has changed substantially since the survey was conducted. During the fielding period, Australia, Japan, and the United States had rising numbers of infections, while Italy and some other European countries had started to recover from the large number of cases reported in April and May. Nearly all countries surveyed experienced significant spikes in infections and deaths in the fall and winter. Pew also found a third of respondents said their familys relationship had strengthened as a result of the pandemic (global median: 32%). About 4 in 10 Spaniards, Italians, Americans, Brits, and Canadians reported this, as did 3 in 10 Belgians, French, Australians, and Swedes. Germans led the way among those who said family relationships had weakened (13%), followed by Belgians (11%) and Koreans (10%). Yong J. Cho, outgoing general secretary of the Korea World Missions Association, told CT he saw two interpretations of Pews findings among Koreans. First, it reflects that South Korea is a strong group-oriented society. The whole country has been affected as a group. General media were very critical of the Christian church and her responses to the pandemic, Cho, a pastor and PhD who this week became the new president of Global Hope, told CT. During the survey period, there was very strong anti-government demonstrations among the conservative churches. The current government is generally against evangelical or conservative Christianity in Korea. That is one reason why people think that religious faith in Korea has weakened. Second, Korean churches place a high value on in-person communal worship. Christianity and other religions in Korea have emphasized the physical presence as an essential element of worship, he said. Because of COVID-19, the very restricted physical gathering of the churches has weakened the passion of faith. The findings in Italy were not surprising, said Leonardo de Chirico, vice chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance. Though churches were closed for about three months, the majority Roman Catholic Church encouraged both positive thinking and traditional practices such as indulgences and Marian rosaries, including one led by Pope Francis himself on national TV. What kind of faith is it? Is it wishful thinking? Is it a self-empowerment mantra? Is it a hope that all will go well and that we will soon go back to normal? the pastor of Romes Breccia di Roma church told CT. But where is God, where is the gospel? Chirico said evangelical churches in Italy also faced the unprecedented challenge of living in community, evangelizing, and caring for the elderly and the vulnerableall at a public health-mandated distance. The presence [of churches] on the internet has exploded quantitatively, but it does not mean that we have succeeded to manage it well, he said. The long-term consequences are still to be envisaged, let alone tackled. Will real community relationships resume? Will participation and involvement be a feature of future church life? We walk step by step, but its not clear where we are going in terms of the overall gospel dynamic. It is sobering, and it should lead us on our knees to pray. This post will be updated. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. SEBI headquarters (Representative image) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indias capital and commodity markets regulator is in talks to cut down the minimum application size for IPOs from Rs 15,000 to Rs 7,500 in an attempt to provide higher subscriptions to retail investors. Sebi has received several complaints from retail investor associations that retail investors are unable to get IPO subscription in most of the good IPOs, a source, who is close to the discussions being held by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, told Moneycontrol. A second source said, Sebi is in talks to reduce the minimum application size from Rs 15,000 to Rs 7,500-8,000. If the lot size is decreased, then the number of subscriptions will increase, which is helpful to retail investors. The last year saw a host of successful IPOs where the number of retail investor applications was very high. In the Happiest Minds Technologies IPO, which was subscribed 150 times, retail investors subscription was 70.94 times. Similarly, in the case of Mrs. Bectors Food Specialities, the retail subscription was 68 times. For the Mazagon Dock and IRCTC offerings, retail investor subscription was around 36 times and 15 times respectively. All these IPOs opened at a premium but retail investors were allotted fewer shares as compared with their applications. A market expert told Moneycontrol: Sebi has limited scope to accommodate retail investors in the IPO segment. The regulator has already given 35 percent special allotment for retail investors for companies which are profitable, and for loss-making companies allotment is fixed at 10 percent of total IPO size. Sonam Kapoor, Managing Partner at KS Legal and Associates, said, A common problem most retail investors face is the inability to get their hands onto good IPOs. However, a probable amendment which aims to bring down the minimum subscription lot size to Rs 7,000-8,000 is likely to benefit retail investors and propel a higher number of subscriptions. Although trading volumes may not be impacted at large, the amendment of norms will inevitably benefit retail investors in the long run, but to a limited extent. If Sebi is pushing retail investors towards mutual funds, then it need not worry about retail participation in IPOs. If, however, they believe that retail investors should participate directly in the market through investing in individual stocks, then this measure is helpful, said Amit Tandon, managing director of IIAS proxy advisory service. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the commanding general of the Philippine Army, will soon take over the helm of the armed forces, Malacanang said Wednesday. President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen Sobejana to succeed Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Gilbert Gapay, who will retire on February 4. The Palace has yet to release a copy of Sobejanas appointment paper, but confirmed the news in a statement. "We are confident that General Sobejana will continue to modernize our military and undertake reform initiatives to make the Armed Forces truly professional in its mandate as the protector of the people and the State, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said. Gapay served the post for six months, while Sobejana replaced him as head of the militarys Western Mindanao Command. Sobejana will lead the AFP for nearly six months or until July 31, the day he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. This will give Duterte another chance to appoint the countrys top soldier. Sobejana, a member of the PMA Hinirang Class of 1987, is a recipient of the highest military award, the Medal of Valor, for leading troops in a deadly clash with over a hundred Abu Sayyaf fighters in 1995. He is the first Medal of Valor awardee to be named AFP chief in more than seven decades. Sobejana has received several other accolades in his more than 30 years of service. In 2019, Duterte awarded him the prestigious Philippine Legion of Honor for his public service. CNN Philippines' David Santos contributed to this report. (CNN) -- TikTok has been forced to lay off some of its workers in India as the country doubles down on what was already a monthslong ban on the app in the country. The popular short video app announced Wednesday that it will cut workers in India after it had "not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated." "It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, did not say how many workers would be affected, and it did not immediately respond to a request for comment for more detail. TikTok made its decision public days after Indian media reported that the country plans to make permanent a ban on 59 Chinese apps that were blocked last June, including TikTok, Tencent's WeChat and Alibaba's UC Browser. Indian regulators at the time claimed that the apps posed a "threat to sovereignty and integrity." The ban was a huge blow to TikTok, which had an estimated 120 million users in India. And though TikTok said this week that it has "worked steadfastly to comply with" authorities in the country, such efforts appear to have had little effect. A source in the Ministry of Electronics and IT told CNN Business on Wednesday that the government decided this week to make the ban permanent because it was unsatisfied with how the Chinese companies had addressed concerns about data collection and security. "We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations, and do our best to address any concerns they have," the TikTok spokesperson said. "It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated." The spokesperson added that the company hopes the app will someday be allowed to return. High-running tensions Tensions between China and India have been escalating since last summer, when a bloody clash along a disputed border in the Himalayas left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. India has banned dozens of Chinese apps since then, and reportedly moved to block Huawei from participating in India's 5G telecommunications network. And many Indians have called for a boycott of Chinese goods and services. The business impact may be limited for some companies, including Alibaba, which already scaled back in India following the ban. Last August, CEO Daniel Zhang announced that the company had "decided to stop the operations" of UC Browser, a web browsing app, and other initiatives in India. "We do not expect it to have a material impact on the group's overall financial performance," he told analysts during an earnings call, citing an "extensive review of the business." A UC Browser spokesperson declined to comment. Tencent has not yet outlined its plans. "Tencent complies with all applicable orders and regulations, and continues to adhere to applicable laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We look forward to continuing to focus on our core markets and providing valuable services for our users," a spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business. The company declined to provide further details. Ji Rong, a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, on Wednesday reiterated China's opposition to the ban. "Since last year, the Indian side has repeatedly used national security as an excuse to prohibit some mobile apps with Chinese background. These moves [are] in violation of WTO non-discriminatory principles," she said. Geopolitical tensions between India and China, meanwhile, have continued to simmer. On Monday, the Indian Army disclosed that there had been a "minor" face-off between Indian soldiers and China's People's Liberation Army. The incident took place last Wednesday near a disputed border high in the Himalayas, and "was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols," the Indian Army said in a statement. Vedika Sud, Steven Jiang, Rishi Iyengar and Manveena Suri contributed to this report. Angel Solis of the Bronx was 18 when he first voted, excited to participate in the 2004 election. At the time a registered Republican, having been raised in a conservative household everybody hated me in the Bronx he recalled Solis said he voted for then-President George W. Bush and that it was fun to see his candidate emerge victorious. I got to see democracy in action from a very young age, Solis said. It was my first taste of being a citizen. Not long after, Solis went to prison on burglary charges, where he would spend the majority of the next 15 years of his life. Now 34 and a Democrat, Solis said when he was released in 2016 he didnt feel much like a citizen anymore. As someone convicted of a felony and on parole, he had lost his right to vote. I'm trying to be a citizen, I'm trying to do everything I'm supposed to, Solis said. Yet I can't participate in the most important thing that we Americans hold dear, I can't vote. It was especially painful for him to watch the turbulent 2016 election cycle that ushered in President Donald Trump, and not be able to participate. It made me feel, I guess, for the first time, not American. Solis who is still on parole regained his right to vote, along with tens of thousands of other formerly incarcerated people on parole after a felony conviction, thanks to a 2018 executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Now, Cuomo issues conditional pardons to recently released inmates on parole, returning their voting rights. Since then, nearly 64,000 people on supervised release have regained their voting rights, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, but Solis would still like to see a statutory change. Im ever-grateful to Cuomo for this (executive order), Solis said. But its my opinion that it should definitely be enshrined in the law. While voting rights and criminal justice advocates applaud Cuomos 2018 executive order, they say the state still needs to pass legislation that would automatically return someones right to vote when they are released from prison, without needing proactive action from the governor. With legislative leaders once again committing to passing voting and election reforms in the new legislative session, activists are pushing for this bill to be one of their priorities. Legislation would change the state law, which still technically says that people on parole are not allowed to vote, and make Cuomos executive order permanent, so that it can not be revoked by future governors. It needs to be something that's permanent on the statute books, said Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Alliance of Families for Justice, a support and advocacy group for people impacted by the criminal justice system. The right to vote should never be held in the hands of an individual. When Cuomo signed the executive order, Republicans controlled the state Senate. Among the many voting and criminal justice reform bills that languished under their rule was legislation to return the franchise to people on parole. First introduced in 2009, the bill never made it out of committee in the upper chamber. Like other progressive reforms that failed to move under Republican control, including discrimination protections for transgender people, Cuomo used his authority to enact change that bypassed the state Legislature. He did what he could do to fix the problem, Nick Encalada-Malinowski, civil rights campaign director at VOCAL-NY, a progressive advocacy organization, said. Lawmakers typically have not treated executive orders as a reason not to pass legislation. For example, after Democrats gained control of the state Senate in 2019, they still passed the landmark Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, which protects people against discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression, despite the governors order. Voting rights and criminal justice reform advocates said the fact that the law hasnt been changed can lead to confusion for people upon release from prison. Making it automatic on release takes the ambiguity out of the process, makes it a clear simple rule that when youre out in the community, you can vote, Perry Grossman, a senior staff attorney at the Voting Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said. He added that right now, people on parole are the only citizens in New York who dont have the right to vote other than those still in prison. For example, people on probation, those in county jails and anyone with criminal histories not on post-release supervision can vote. Formerly incarcerated people must also wait for confirmation that they have received their conditional pardon. Although the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision could not provide an estimate for the average wait time, advocates have said it can take weeks. This is not only an inconvenience when coming up against a deadline to register for an upcoming election: Attempting to register to vote before that pardon comes through is a crime and a parole violation, which could send people back to prison. I recognized that if I tried to vote and this was fake, I was going back to jail, Solis said of when he received his conditional pardon in the mail. When youre on post-release supervision, everything you do in life, you do it with fear because anything can get you thrown in jail. Frantz Michel, 50, of Brooklyn spent 15 years in prison when he wasnt able to vote. He said he came to realize how broken the criminal justice system is during his incarceration when he saw that nearly everyone was Black or brown, including him. Once you get to start to understand that, the only way that that could be repaired is if you exercise your right to vote, Michel said. You exercise your right to try to make a difference and try to make a change. But when he was first released in 2016, he couldnt do that, preventing him from trying to effect change that would reform a system that had so negatively impacted him and others like him. Michels and Solis excitement about engaging civically upon their release is common among formerly incarcerated people. People texted me, Julio man, Ive voted for the first time while they were on parole its a good feeling, Julio Medina, executive director of Exodus Transitional Community, a reentry support organization, said of people regaining their voting rights. And then the text messages with everyone, kind of on a loop, like Hey, did you vote? Hey, did you vote? But even now, many people arent aware of their rights and advocates charge that the state does not do enough to ensure that once people are released from prison, they have the resources they need to register. Every single time we (did) outdoor voter registration, we encountered countless people who thought they couldn't register to vote because they had a previous conviction, or that they were on parole, Elijah said. She and other activists hope that changing the law will make it crystal clear that anyone who is a citizen and not in prison is allowed to vote, clearing up any lasting confusion. The bill returning voting rights to people on parole also includes education requirements for the state, as well as requirements that incarcerated people are not only made aware of their rights both before and after their sentence, but that they are provided with the materials to register to vote. According to a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, parole officers are currently required to provide a copy of the pardon certificate from the governor as well as voter registration forms. The law that prevents people on parole from voting has roots in the Jim Crow era, when the state approved a constitutional amendment requiring that the state Legislature pass laws to prevent people with criminal convictions from voting. This happened in 1874, and according to a 2010 report from the Brennan Center for Justice, little has changed in the state since that amendment the state constitution still contained the same language, people in prison still couldnt vote and the law still disenfranchised people on parole. That continues to be true a decade after that report came out. When you think about the origins of the denial of the right to vote in the first place, which were the vestiges of attempts to disenfranchise people of African descent who were enslaved in this country, there's no reason to continue to bolster any vestiges of that system, Elijah said. State lawmakers and legislative leaders have expressed a commitment to passing new election and voting reform measures to continue building on the work they started in 2019. A package of election reform bills was one of the first pieces of business the state Senate took up at the start of the new session this year. Encalada-Malinowski said he was hoping to see legislation reenfranchising people on parole passed as part of that first package, and that he finds it disappointing that it still hasnt passed even after two years of Democratic control. It's confounding to me that as we spend so much time talking about civics and voting and democracy, it's hypocritical to say that those things are important while intentionally disenfranchising people, Encalada-Malinowski said. That initial package of election reforms were focused entirely on absentee and mail-in voting without touching on other reforms lawmakers have spoken about like making changes to early voting. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Senate majority said the chamber will certainly be doing more voting legislation soon. And Grossman expressed optimism that 2021 will be the year the legislation finally moves. I think that there's a heightened awareness of the racial justice implications of this, Grossman said. We've heard good things coming out of the legislators we've talked to, so I'm hoping it moves in the next month or two. Right now, the bill has been reintroduced by state Sen. Leroy Comrie of Queens in his chamber. I think I think we're in a good position to get it passed this year, Comrie said. The Assembly version sponsored by Assembly Member Danny ODonnell from Manhattan is still awaiting a bill number, according to a spokesperson, who said the bill is a top priority for him this year as well. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. From 17 May, international travel has been given the official go-ahead in England by the Global Travel Taskforce, subject to a traffic light system. The new rules mean each country or region will be classified as red, amber or green. There will also be a green watchlist, which is a measure that the government will use as a way to identify the countries most at risk of moving from green to amber. But which countries are high risk and what are the rules? Heres everything you need to know. Which countries are high risk? The government has mandated hotel quarantine plans for Britons returning from high-risk or red list countries to stop new coronavirus variants entering England. According to transport secretary Grant Shapps, red list countries are those which should not be visited except in the most extreme of circumstances. The countries are mainly located in South America and southern Africa. Heres the full list. Angola Argentina Bangladesh Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burundi Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini Ethiopia French Guiana Guyana India Kenya Lesotho Malawi Maldives Mozambique Namibia Nepal Oman Pakistan Panama Paraguay Peru Philippines Qatar Rwanda Seychelles Somalia South Africa Suriname Tanzania Turkey Uruguay United Arab Emirates Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe The list was originally 30 countries long. Additional countries have since been added, and the full list is now comprised of 43 destinations. Hotel quarantine first came into effect on 15 February. India was added to the red list on 23 April, over concerns of its new variant. The most recent additions are the Maldives, Turkey and Nepal on 7 May. What determines whether a country is high risk? As the move to use quarantine hotels is primarily in response to new variants of Covid-19, its likely that a country will be deemed high risk if one of the new variants has been identified there. As well as the UKs own variant, named B.1.1.7, other mutations have been found in South Africa (1.351), Brazil (P.1) and India (B.1.617.2). This last contains a set of additional mutations that may affect its ability to be recognised by antibodies, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more: Who pays for hotel quarantine and how long will it last? It adds: These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of Covid-19. Currently, there is no evidence that these variants cause more severe illness or increased risk of death. According to the second Global Travel Taskforce report, published on 9 April, the key factors in assessing a countrys risk factor will be its rate of infection, the prevalence of variants of concern and the progress of its vaccination programme. International travel hubs, such as the UAE, are also deemed to be high risk due to the number of passengers catching connecting flights from all over the world. 22 countries on quarantine hotel list, Boris Johnson announces Where will high risk travellers stay and how will they get there? According to health secretary Matt Hancock, 16 hotels, with a total of 4,600 rooms, have been contracted. Bath Road, which runs parallel to the runway at London Heathrow airport, has been dubbed Isolation Row. Recommended Airline industry fury at hotel quarantine plans Travellers will be privately escorted to their quarantine hotel upon arrival. Fines of up to 10,000 will apply to arrivals who fails to undergo the stipulated hotel quarantine, while people who misrepresent their travel history on the passenger locator forms face up to 10 years in prison. Travellers will have to finance the quarantine themselves, at a cost of 1,750 per person for those travelling alone, which includes 10 days' (11 nights') room and board. Additional people in the same hotel room will pay significantly less. The second will pay only 650, with further discounts for children: 325 each. A family of four will pay 3,050. How long is quarantine? The current quarantine for all arrivals into the UK is 10 days and 11 nights. This will remain the same for any arrivals from countries on the red list once the traffic light system comes into effect, which will be no earlier than 17 May. What about all other arrivals? When the new traffic light system is in place, travellers from countries on the amber list will need to self-isolate for 10 days at home, with the chance of early release in England if you pay for another test after five days. For travellers returning from countries on the green list, there will be no need to quarantine on return, but a pre-booked post-arrival PCR test will be needed. It must be taken on the day of arrival (day zero), the day after or the following day (day two). James Jim Conyers, a scholar, professor and longtime director of the University of Houstons African American studies program, died Monday at age 59. The cause of death has not been reported, according to a UH spokesman. While our community is mourning the loss, we have been blessed to know such an impactful activist and scholar, Dr. Daniel P. OConnor, interim dean of the college of liberal arts and social sciences, said in a written statement. His commitment to racial justice and helping those in need, which he put into action by personally endowing the William Alexander Lawson Social Justice Scholarship for African American studies majors, will endure on our campus and in our community for generations to come, the statement continued. Conyers, who began his career at UH in 2002 as a professor, has been credited with shaping and transforming the African American studies program. Established in 1969 after student protests, the program is the states oldest and just one of two African American studies programs in Texas to offer a bachelors degree. (The University of Texas at Austin offers a bachelors and a doctorate in African American studies.) UH colleagues described Conyers as a prolific scholar and author, a humble researcher and a down-to-earth, selfless academic who was not afraid to collaborate with others. He was the embodiment of African American studies, said Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores professor of history and African American studies at UH. Its difficult to see how the (program) will continue without him. On HoustonChronicle.com: Rice launches new center for African, African-American studies In a past interview, Conyers noted African American studies is relevant in this day and time because it requires interdisciplinary reading and writing of scholars. Conyers also emphasized that Black studies is not far removed from areas in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM disciplines, and that universities are exceedingly interested in finding scholars who are well-versed and can teach in a range of topics. Theres a collective value in such programs, Conyers said. Dr. Billy Hawkins, interim chair and professor for UHs department of health and human performance, said Conyers also served as a mentor for students and faculty at UH and endowed a scholarship program for incoming students in African American studies with his own money, a move that Horne described as unusual for academics. Conyers also unselfishly welcomed collaboration with other academics, Hawkins said. The two worked on several writing projects together, including Conyers upcoming book project on the late former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, which is slated for release in April, according to publisher Anthem Press. When you think about the ideal professor and academic, thats what he represented, Hawkins said. He was just a cutting-edge, innovative thinker. Conyers received his bachelors degree in communication arts at Ramapo College of New Jersey in 1983 and his masters in Africana studies in 1984, according to his university biography. He studied Kiswahili, the Swahili language, at Cornell University in 1991 and completed his doctorate in African American studies at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1992. His work took him to the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast in the early 2000s for archival and oral history research. Before working at UH, Conyers launched his teaching career as a professor of history at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1999 and taught Black studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha starting in 2000. A private ceremony will be held for Conyers. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested memorial contributions to the William Alexander Lawson Social Justice Scholarship Endowment, which Conyers established. brittany.britto@chron.com Union activists and supporters rally against the Supreme Court's ruling in the Janus v. AFSCME case, in Foley Square in New York City on June 27, 2018. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Supreme Court Wont Make Government Unions Give Back Unconstitutional Dues While Mark Janus won a landmark legal victory in 2018 outlawing public-sector unions collection of forced agency fees from nonmembers, the Supreme Court has denied his follow-up request to have his money reimbursed, without granting him a hearing. The new ruling in which the high court refused to consider the petition for certiorari in Janus v. AFSCME, which bears the same title of proceeding as the landmark ruling, came on Jan. 25. The court didnt explain why it acted. No justices indicated they dissented from the decision. The ruling, which leaves in place a decision by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, is a victory for the labor movement. It came after the Supreme Court overturned Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977) in Januss earlier lawsuit in 2018, holding that public-sector unions couldnt collect forced agency fees from nonmembers to finance their collective bargaining activities without infringing the First and 14th Amendments. Janus sought damages from AFSCME for the agency fees it unconstitutionally extracted from him but a U.S. district court ruled against him, finding that the union enjoyed a so-called good faith defense that shielded it from damages when it acted under the Illinois agency-fee statute that at the time was considered valid, according to a summary in the petition. The 7th Circuit affirmed the trial court and held that under appropriate circumstances, a private party that acts under color of law may defend on the ground that it proceeded in good faith and acted reasonably based on established law. Apart from Illinois-based Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the respondents were Simone McNeil, in her official capacity as acting director of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat. We are pleased with the courts decision, Annie Thompson, senior press secretary for Raoul, told The Epoch Times. But the National Right to Work Foundation, which, along with Liberty Justice Center of Chicago, represents Janus, was disappointed by the ruling. Leaving the lower court decisions in place allows union officials to profit from their wide-scale violation of rank-and-file government employees First Amendment rights, National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens told The Epoch Times in a statement. While we are disappointed the Supreme Court declined to take up this issue we will continue to stand with workers across the country who simply want the freedom to choose for themselves whether or not to fund union activities with their hard-earned money. However, Mondays orders dont stop the over a dozen other ongoing cases brought by Foundation staff attorneys seeking well over $100 million in refunds for public workers who were forced to fund union activities prior to Janus. The fact that some of those cases present distinguishing facts and that the Supreme Court often agrees to hear cases even after previously declining to hear cases presenting similar issues, suggests that the justices could still rule on this issue in the future. And of course, these refund cases are only a small part of the Foundations Janus enforcement efforts, as Foundation staff attorneys are also litigating over a dozen cases challenging current union schemes to restrict workers from stopping union dues in violation of the Janus precedent. At the same time, the Supreme Court dismissed other cases also seeking the refund of forced agency fees from unions, among them, Mooney v. Illinois Education Association, Danielson v. Inslee, Ogle v. Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, Lee v. Ohio Education Association, and Casanova v. International Association of Machinists. The Epoch Times previously reported on one of those cases, Danielson v. Inslee, which came from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Writing for a unanimous three-judge panel in a 20-page decision, Obama appointee Jacqueline H. Nguyen determined the union had collected the agency fees in good faith and shouldnt have to return them. The union is not required to forecast changing winds at the Supreme Court, she wrote. It is true that, under current law, the employees suffered a constitutional wrong for which they may have no viable means of compensation if the good faith defense prevails, Nguyen wrote. Nonetheless, it would not be equitable to order the transfer of funds from one innocent actor to another, particularly where the latter received a benefit from the exchange. Haryana government on Wednesday extended the suspension of internet and SMS services in Sonipat, Palwal, and Jhajjar districts till 5 pm tomorrow to check misinformation. Internet services were snapped in the state till 5 pm today, earlier. The order will remain in effect till 5 pm of January 28 and covers internet services (2G/ 3G/4G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS services (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and "all dongle services etc provided on mobile networks except voice calls in territorial jurisdiction of district Sonipat, Palwal and Jhajjar of Haryana State." The extension on mobile internet ban comes amid farmers' protests and tractor rally violence witnessed in the national capital against Centre's three farm laws recently introduced. On Tuesday, during post tractor rally in Delhi, Haryana was put on high alert on and mobile internet services were suspended in three districts of Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal. In the wake of the events which unfolded in the national capital, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a special meeting of his cabinet and appealed to all farmers to return to their homes. The DGP said a high alert has been sounded in the state in view of the violent incidents in several areas during the farmers' tractor parade in Delhi. He directed all district police chiefs to be extremely vigilant. Haryana Roadways bus services to Delhi were also affected in the wake of the events in the national capital, with a senior Transport Department official saying they were assessing the situation. The order was issued in view of the potential law and order situation on account of events in the national capital and to prevent any kind of spread of disinformation and rumours through various social media platforms, an official said ear The three Haryana districts lie adjoining the national capital. With agency inputs Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The domestic benchmark indices not only extended their losing run to the fourth day on Wednesday but also turned negative for 2021. Both Sensex and Nifty closed nearly 2 per cent lower on the back of weak global cues and FII outflows. Meanwhile, investors also chose to book profits ahead of the Union Budget on Monday, February 1. Analysts said high valuations also spurred profit taking but believe that such profit-taking is healthy and desirable. While the Q3 earnings season has been largely in line with expectations, analysts believe this was priced in and going ahead, they are concerned about lower margins. The BSE barometer Sensex plunged 938 points to 47,410 while its NSE counterpart Nifty slipped below the 14,000 mark to end at 13,968, down 271 points. The volatility remained elevated ahead of the January F&O expiry on Thursday. India VIX jumped 4.93 per cent to 24.39 level. In the 30-pack Sensex, only six stocks ended in the green. Axis Bank fell over 4 per cent ahead of its December quarter numbers and was the top index loser, followed by Titan, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddy's that shed 4 per cent each. on the other hand, Tech Mahindra and ITC were the top gainers. The broader market trend was mixed with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty 500 indices down 1.58 per cent and 1.68 per cent, respectively, while Nifty Smallcap index added 0.15 per cent. Sectorally, only the Nifty FMCG index rose while all other indices ended in the red, with private banks and financials leading the losers. In stock-specific developments, shares of Reliance Industries fell for the third day today, down over 2 per cent. In the three days, it has shed 10 per cent. While RIL's Q3 PAT jumped 12.5 per cent yearly, analysts were concerned about the lack of transparency levels across businesses. Meanwhile, shares of Rane (Madras) rallied 14 per cent after a solid performance in the December quarter. The firm reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5.50 crore in the December quarter on the back of strong revenue growth against a loss of Rs 7.20 crore in the same period last year. Meanwhile, in other news, an ICMR study on Covaxin showed a comparable neutralization activity of the vaccinated individuals against UK-variant strain. Lastly, an update on the global markets Europe's share indexes opened lower on Wednesday, while investors focused on the U.S Federal Reserve meeting and US tech giants' earnings. The STOXX 600 was down around 0.3% while London's FTSE 100 was down 0.2%. Germany's DAX was down 0.5%. In the Asian session, shares were hurt by some profit-taking, as investors grew wary of stretched valuations. Futures on the S&P 500 Index decreased 0.2%, indicating a flat-to-negative start for Wall Street indices. London: The CEO of HSBC has been accused of aiding and abetting one of Chinas biggest crackdowns on democracy by backing the security law imposed on Hong Kong. Group chief executive Noel Quinn was also accused of turning a blind eye to allegations of hundreds of senior staff belonging to the Chinese Communist party. Quinn was grilled by British MPs at a hearing of the Commons Foreign Affairs select committee on Wednesday morning (AEDT). In the thick of it: A HSBC Holdings bank branch in Hong Kong, China, Credit:Bloomberg The head of the London-headquartered bank was questioned about why HSBC had frozen the account of the exiled democracy campaigner Ted Hui and why senior director Peter Wong had publicly backed the imposition of the security law on the Chinese social media platform WeChat. A day after the tractor parade which was meant to highlight the demands of the protesting farmer unions dissolved into anarchy on the streets of Delhi, the Union Cabinet has scheduled a meeting on Wednesday via video conferencing. An official informed ANI sources that the Union Cabinet meeting will take place at 10:30 am. READ | PM Narendra Modi Greets Nation On Harvest Festivals Union Cabinet to hold a meeting This comes after thousands of protestors in the national capital on Republic Day broke through barricades, clashed with police, brandished swords and sticks, overturned vehicles, hoisted communal flags from the ramparts of the iconic Red Forts. In the last meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30, 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved the export of Akash Missile System aiming to achieve the target of USD 5 billion of defence export and improve strategic relations with friendly foreign countries. The Union Cabinet had also approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of the Republic of India and the Royal Government of Bhutan on Cooperation in the peaceful users of outer space signed on November 19, 2020, by both sides at Bangalore/Thimpu and exchanged. The Union Cabinet had also approved the opening of 3 Indian Missions in Estonia, Paraguay and Dominican Republic in 2021. READ | Amit Shah Hails Union Cabinets landmark Decision To Export Akash Missile System Farmers' Rally Violence: 83 Delhi Police personnel injured On Tuesday, the Delhi Police revealed 83 of its personnel were injured in the violence during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital against the agrarian laws. As per sources, this includes 34 personnel injured in East Delhi and 41 others injured at the Red Fort. Speaking to the media, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava appealed to the protesters to maintain peace and return to the borders through the designated routes. Moreover, sources informed Republic TV that the police is likely to register 4 FIRs against the protesters. Delhi violence The Delhi Police had permitted farmers to take out the tractor rally on three routes emanating from the Singhu border, the Tikri border and the Ghazipur border covering 62 km, 60 km and 46 km respectively. Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha were asked to coordinate with the police during the rally. Additionally, the Police mandated that a maximum of 5000 persons with 5000 tractors can participate in the Republic Day rally from noon to 5 pm. However, the rally took a violent turn after groups of farmers broke police barricades at the Delhi border to enter the national capital before the allocated time. READ | PM Narendra Modi To Dedicate Rewari-Madar Freight Section Corridor To Nation In a statement issued earlier, the Delhi Police stated, "The Delhi Police showed considerable restraint till the end, but the protesting farmers defied the conditions and started their march well ahead of schedule and they chose the path of violence and sabotage. In view of this, the Delhi Police took necessary steps with restraint to maintain law and order. This movement has caused great damage to public property and many police personnel have also been injured". As per visuals, some of the protesters vandalised a DTC bus and drove tractors to deliberately run over the police personnel at ITO in central Delhi. In a clear violation of the conditions laid down by the police, farmers were seen carrying sticks and riding horses. Thereafter, the anti-farm laws protesters entered the premises of the Red Fort and unfurled their own flags from its ramparts. In wake of the current situation, the internet services have been temporarily suspended in the areas of Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi and their adjoining areas till 11.59 pm on January 26. READ | Jai Hind!: PM Narendra Modi Extends Greetings To Nation On 72nd Republic Day (With ANI inputs) A court in Iran has sentenced the brother of the Vice President to two years in prison on corruption charges. Gholamhossein Esmaili, spokesman of the Iranian judiciary, The New Arab reports, indicated that Mahdi Jahangiri, the brother of Eshaq Jahangiri is accused of professional currency smuggling in the amounts of 607,100 euros and $108,000. Mahdi also, according to the verdict, must return the funds and was fined four times the amounts in question. The ruling is final and not to be appealed, Esmaili noted. Mahdi, a former board member of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and the founder of the private Gardeshgari Bank, was arrested in October 2017 and released on bail in March 2018, pending trial, The New Arab reports. His brother Eshaq Jahangiri reportedly refused to interfere with the trial and demanded a fair trial. Hossein Fereidoun, brother of President Hassan Rouhani, was handed five years in prison sentence in October 2019 on financial misconduct charges dating back to 2016. Rouhanis critics, hard-liners who control the judiciary, brought up the case. Investigators involved in the Capitol attack have also focused their attention on the chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio. Mr. Tarrio, who lives in Miami, was scheduled to attend the march in Washington but was thrown out of the city by a judge the day before it happened. When he was arrested on Jan. 4 in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been torn from a historic Black church during a different round of violent protests last month, police officers found he was carrying two high-capacity rifle magazines emblazoned with the Proud Boys chicken logo. Prosecutors have noted in documents attached to Mr. Biggss case that Mr. Tarrio first began encouraging the Proud Boys to go to Washington for the Stop the Steal march in late December, when he posted a message on the social media app Parler announcing that members of the group would turn out in record numbers. In the run-up to the rally, Mr. Tarrio also used Parler to urge his members to avoid wearing their traditional black-and-yellow polo shirts but instead to go incognito and move about the city in smaller teams, prosecutors say. In an interview with The New York Times one week after the siege, Mr. Tarrio, who took over the Proud Boys from its founder Gavin McInnes, said that the attack on the Capitol was misguided and that anyone who broke windows or took part in the nearly 140 assaults on police officers should be prosecuted. He tried to minimize the role that the Proud Boys played in the attack even though, among the 150 people charged so far, prosecutors have brought charges against Nicholas Ochs, the leader of the groups Hawaii chapter, and Nicholas DeCarlo, one of its top media figures. Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boy from Rochester, N.Y., was in the first wave of rioters to breach the Capitol, prosecutors say, and stands accused of shattering a window with a plastic police riot shield. Obviously, they didnt help our cause, Mr. Tarrio said. Investigators are continuing to sift through online posts and messages by Mr. Tarrio and Mr. Biggs in an effort to determine if they showed any attempt at coordination or planning, the federal law enforcement official said. On the day of the attack, Mr. Tarrio took to Parler, calling members of the Proud Boys who took part in it revolutionaries and urging them not to leave. For now, Im enjoying the show, he wrote, adding, Do what must be done. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. WOOD RIVER The Madison County Health Department on Tuesday reported that it had provided 9,965 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during Jan. 18-25. The next step, officials said, is the innoculation of more than 50,000 Madison County residents during the Phase 1B of the state program. Starting next week, the health department will launch an Online Appointment Scheduler for eligible people to receive the vaccine. The department will also launch a phone number for people who do not have access to a computer or do not use a computer. It will take several weeks, if not months, to vaccinate the people in Phase 1B, county health officials said in a released statement. Continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. People eligible for vaccinations in Phase 1B include those 65 and older and frontline essential works, including law enforcement, food workers, postal workers, grocery store workers, public transportation workers, manufacturing workers and people in education. The department also announced that Madison County now has recorded 25,080 COVID-19 confirmed and probable cases, including 110 reported Tuesday. The county recorded 1,239 tests Tuesday, for a total to date of 229,139. Late Tuesday, the county health department reported five new COVID-19 related deaths a woman in her 80s and four men in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s bringing the total to 428. As of Tuesday there were 51 COVID-19 patients in Madison County hospitals, four on ventilators. The three-day positivity rate in the county was 11.65%. The seven-day rate was 11.01% and the 10-day rate was 11.02%. On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 81 additional COVID-19 deaths, including four in Madison County: a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s. More Information COVID-19 cases by county Madison - 25,080 (428 deaths) Jersey - 2,317 (44 deaths) Calhoun - 462 (4 deaths) Greene - 1,228 (42 deaths) Macoupin - 4,222 (99 deaths) Montgomery - 3,198 (55 deaths) St. Clair - 23,296 (419 deaths) Clinton - 5,247 (79 deaths) Bond - 1,795 (20 deaths) Monroe - 3,733 (71 deaths) Randolph - 3,826 (72 deaths) Washington - 1,511 (20 deaths) Source: IDPH & Madison, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin and Calhoun county health departments See More Collapse There are sometimes discrepancies in the number of cases and deaths reported at the state and local levels, in part because of the volume of cases, and also as each local department forwards the information and it is verified. Local health officials have said the cases eventually reconcile as the reporting catches up. The IDPH on Wednesday reported 3,751 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois. To date, the IDPH has reported 1,112,181 cases, including 18,964. As of Tuesday night, 3,931 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 591 were intensive care unit patients and 300 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests Jan. 20-26 was 4.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity for the same period was 5.6%. Additional cases also were reported Thursday by the IDPH in Jersey, Greene, Macoupin, Calhoun, Montgomery, St. Clair, Clinton, Bond, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties. Additional deaths were reported in Montgomery and St. Clair counties. On Wednesday, the IDPH reported 1,253,300 doses of vaccine had been delivered to providers in Illinois. About 537,050 doses have been allocated to the federal governments Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,790,350. The IDPH on Wednesday reported a total of 773,623 vaccines administered, including 117,983 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 33,698 doses. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday toured a vaccine site in Lake County, saying he was encouraged by President Joe Bidens efforts to escalate vaccine production nationwide. The Biden administration announced an increase in weekly allocations to states starting next week, from about 8.6 million doses total to a minimum of 10 million doses over the next three weeks, according to USA Today. Biden also secured a deal with drug companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the summer. Still, Pritzker said there is no guarantee every Illinois resident will be vaccinated by the summer. A 16 percent increase (in vaccine dose delivery) isnt enough, but its a lot better than we were getting from the previous administration and its an indicator that this administration really is listening to the governors and understanding that there arent enough vaccine doses for people who need them and want them right now, Pritzker said. The New York Times compiled data that shows what percentage of state populations have been vaccinatedAs of Wednesday, Illinois ranked 44th at 4.7 percent of people having received the first dose of the vaccine. The data also shows that Illinois has only used 48 percent of the doses of the vaccine it has received. On Wednesday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported staffed bed hospital capacity was at 82% and the intensive care units were at 82% of their total staffed bed capacity. The data were the combined figures from the four major health systems BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Lukes Hospital that are part of the task force. For the latest information about COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit www.madisonchd.org or Facebook @madisonchd. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us or Facebook @madisoncountyil for more vaccination news and daily updates. Local and statewide information also is available at www.dph.illinois.gov. Click the coronavirus banner. For health-related questions about COVID-19, people also can call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - MAX RESOURCE CORP. (TSXV: MXR) (OTC: MXROF) (FSE: M1D2) ("Max" or the "Company") is pleased to report the newly acquired CESAR West, encompassing approximately 2,000 square kilometres of highly prospective areas for copper-silver mineralization, at the Company's wholly owned CESAR project, North Eastern Colombia (refer to Figure 1). "CESAR West was identified through surface structural mapping, interpretation of available seismic sections and drill core review. The Max in-country field crew have commenced sampling and mapping for Jurassic host rock and copper-silver mineralization along this new continuous 140-kilometre-long landholding," commented Max CEO, Brett Matich. "Max has achieved a major milestone, expanding its landholdings in the CESAR Basin by over 300%. The newly discovered area lies along the central-western part of the CESAR Basin, and, together with the recent copper discovery at depth, supports the regional scale potential of the CESAR project," he concluded. Figure 1. CESAR West, 140-km of highly prospective areas for copper-silver mineralization. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3834/72952_c4931c55b473bb1d_001full.jpg or https://www.maxresource.com/images/news/MXR_2021-01-27_EN_Fig1.jpg Max believes that the stratabound mineralized system in the CESAR Basin is analogous to the Kupferschiefer Basin in Poland. The Kupferschiefer deposits, Europe's largest copper source, produced 3MT of copper in 2018 and 40 million ounces of silver in 2019 from an orebody 0.5 to 5.5-metres thick, grading 1.49% copper and 48.6 g/t silver. This silver yield is almost twice the production of the world's second largest silver mine. Source: World Silver Survey 2020 and Kupferschiefer Deposits & Prospects in SW Poland, September 27, 2019. Max cautions investors that the presence of copper-silver mineralization at Kupferschiefer is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization at CESAR. CESAR COPPER-SILVER PROJECT IN COLOMBIA The CESAR project in North Eastern Colombia covers the major portion of over 200-km long Cesar Basin with identified statabound sediment-hosted copper-silver mineralization. This region enjoys major infrastructure as a result of oil & gas and mining operations, including Cerrejon, the largest coal mine in Latin America, jointly owned by global miners BHP Billiton, XStrata and Anglo American (refer to Figure 1). Max has entered into three non-exclusive confidentiality agreements regarding the CESAR project: one with one of the world's leading copper producers; a second with a global mining company and a third with a mid-tier copper explorer. The exploration priorities for the CESAR project are: regional geochemical sampling, structural modelling interpretation of seismic data, analysis of oil & gas drill cores and expansion of landholdings. Max has initiated its fully funded 2021 exploration campaign: Regional Mapping: sampling and mapping for Jurassic host rock and copper-silver mineralization along this new continuous 140-kilometre-long landholding; Advanced Analysis of Drill Core: XRF analysis of core from historic drilling of the Cesar Basin to identify the presence of copper at depth (January 7, 2021); Geochemical and Mineralogical: research programs by the University of Science and Technology ("AGH") of Krakow, Poland. AGH bring their extensive knowledge of KGHM's world renowned Kupferschiefer sediment-hosted copper-silver deposits in Poland to the CESAR project; Geophysics: Fathom Geophysics interpreting geophysical data funded by the Company in collaboration with one of the world's leading copper producers; Structural Modelling: drill core and seismic analysis is being conducted by Ingenieria Geologica Universidad Nacional de Colombia ("IGUN") in Medellin, and the Max team. CESAR WEST ACQUISITION The Company has secured 20 mineral applications from an arm's-length vendor by agreeing to pay USD $175,000. The Vendor retains a 3% NSR with the Company having the exclusive right to purchase 100% of the 3% NSR for USD $4,000,000, any time prior to production. ABOUT MAX RESOURCE CORP. Max Resource Corp. is advancing both its stratabound Kupferschiefer type CESAR copper-silver project in Colombia and the newly acquired RT Gold project in Peru. Both projects have potential for the discovery of large-scale copper and precious metals deposits. Tim Henneberry, P Geo (British Columbia), a member of the Max Resource Advisory Board, is the Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the Company. For more information visit: https://www.maxresource.com/ For additional information contact: Max Resource Corp. Tim McNulty E: info@maxresource.com T: (604) 290-8100 Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the TSXV. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Company's control. There are no assurances that the commercialization plans for Max Resources Corp. described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Company's filings with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at www.sedar.com. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72952 A man who attempted to set a Trenton Police car on fire during a protest that turned into a riot following the death of George Floyd last year pleaded guilty Tuesday, authorities said. Killian F. Melecio, 20, of Columbus, Burlington County, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to obstruct, impede, or interfere with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder affecting commerce, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said in a statement. Melecio, and another man, Kadeem A. Dockery, of Trenton, were originally charged with attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle owned or possessed by an institution receiving federal financial assistance and one count of attempting to damage or destroy by fire a vehicle used in and affecting interstate commerce, federal prosecutors said. The riot, which followed a peaceful demonstration earlier in the day, happened on May 31 as group of people proceeded down East State Street in downtown Trenton and began to smash store fronts, loot stores, and attack multiple marked Trenton Police Department vehicles parked on the 100 Block of East State Street, officials said. A city street camera and other video footage taken by a person on the street showed Dockery light an explosive device and throw it through the open front drivers side window of the police car, according to the statement. Dockery then took off his shirt and handed it to Melecio, who tried to stuff it in the gas tank of the vehicle and ignite it, authorities said. Melecio was aided by another South Plainfield man, Justin Spry, in attempting to set fire to the car, authorities said. Police arrested Spry at the scene, but Melecio and Dockery ran away, authorities said. They were later identified through an examination of the footage and were arrested on Aug. 5, officials said. Melecio was scheduled to be sentenced on May 26. The status of the cases against Dockery and Spry were not immediately clear Tuesday evening. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. 01/27/2021 Photo (c) Halfpoint Images - Getty Images The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has given a return to school classrooms the green light. In an article in JAMA published on Tuesday, agency officials said a preponderance of available evidence shows that in-person learning can be carried out safely as long as students and teachers mask-up and maintain social distancing. The key word in the CDCs clearance is classrooms -- not gyms, group sports, or cafeterias. The agency said that school administrators must bridle activities that could be risky. Its not going to be safe to have a pizza party with a group of students, Margaret Honein, a member of the C.D.C.s COVID-19 emergency response team and one of the articles writers, told the New York Times. But outdoor cross-country, where distance can be maintained, might be fine to continue. Benefits outweigh the downsides As many parents know, tele-education has proven to be stressful for everyone involved. However, CDC officials said there wasnt really a safe option during the early stages of the pandemic. Planning for the 2020/2021 school year included much uncertainty about the risk of transmission in school settings. While the benefits of in-person school attendance were well understood, the appropriate evaluation of its risks vs benefits was hampered by limited information about transmission risk in classroom settings, the CDC officials wrote. Closing schools could adversely affect students academic progress, mental health, and access to essential services; however, if SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spread in classrooms, opening schools might accelerate community transmission of the virus. There were no simple decisions for parents, teachers, administrators, or public officials. The proof speaks for itself Now that the world is starting to understand COVID-19 better, vaccines are being distributed, and theres research to back up the CDCs guidance, schools are able to reopen with more safety than before. While there have been some actual school-related cases of COVID-19 reported, the officials say there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. In fact, being inside of a classroom has proven to be safer than being in a circle of friends and family. Citing a controlled study in Mississippi with children aged 0 through 18 years, the study showed that attending gatherings and social functions outside the home, as well as having visitors in the home, was associated with increased risk of infection; however, in-person school attendance during the 14 days prior to diagnosis was not. The success of the Mississippi study was also repeated in rural Wisconsin and 11 school districts in North Carolina. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich has lashed out against against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling her the 'most destructive Speaker' in history. Gingrich, who served as the 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999, was speaking on Fox News to Laura Ingraham on Tuesday night. Ingraham asked Gingrich to explain his position on Pelosi, 'You said Nancy Pelosi is the most destructive speaker ever. Really quickly, why?' she asked. Newt Gingrich slammed Nancy Pelosi as 'the most dangerous speaker of the House we've had probably in American history.' 'First off, she keeps violating the Constitution,' Gingrich claimed. 'The latest impeachment is just a simple example. She uses her power ruthlessly and she has really pushed through the most radical positions ever taken by an American Speaker, including abolishing mother and father and uncle and aunt and son and daughter as words, literally trying to strip out any gender reference from the House of Representatives. I think she's very dangerous.' 'But she is an ardent practicing Catholic, so you cannot criticize her,' Ingraham responded, tongue firmly in cheek. Gingrich made similar claims during another interview on Fox at the weekend where he further elaborated his views on Pelosi. Gingrich who was Speaker of the House between 1995 and 1999 described Pelosi as being 'dangerous' for 'using power ruthlessly' 'She lives in an enclave that is guarded in San Francisco,' Gingrich said. 'She is surrounded by left-wing looney tunes who think that it's OK to live in a city where ... there's a map you can go to on the internet that shows you where feces were. They don't distinguish dog and human, but they'll show you the feces count that day around San Francisco.' 'This is the same problem with Vice President Kamala Harris,' Gingrich continued. 'They come from the center of left-wing nuttiness, and all their friends at the local country club or all their friends when they go to a cocktail party, think this craziness makes sense. Nancy Pelosi, 80, was recently reelected to a fourth term as Speaker of the House 'Pelosi has been in politics so long that she operates like a genuine machine politician of the old order. And she doesn't mind abusing power. She doesn't mind running over people ... she's so willing to break the rules and to, frankly, just say things that are totally untrue,' Gingrich said in a bitter outburst. Gingrich, a former Republican Georgia congressman was first elected to the House in 1978. In 1995, he stepped up to be speaker of the House, ending a long Democratic monopoly. He ended up resigning in 1999 after a Congressional ethics probe found he lied about violating tax law. Ultimately, he was the first-ever Speaker punished by the House for ethics violations. Gingrich finally resigned from his position in 1999 after it became clear he couldn't win another term as speaker. Pelosi, meanwhile, has been instrumental in securing a second impeachment of former President Donald Trump. Speaking last week, she justified the process stating it would be 'harmful to unity' to forget that 'people died here on January the 6th, the attempt to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution.' Republicans have criticized the impeachment for failing to live up to Biden's 'unity' theme. But Pelosi said: 'Joe Biden said it beautifully: 'If you're going to unite, you must remember.'' She added: 'Just because he's gone now, thank God, you don't say to a president 'do whatever you want in the last months of your administration.' 'People think we should make nice-nice and forget that people died here, that the then-president to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution.' Five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died in the mayhem, and the House impeached the outgoing president a week later with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in support. However, it may all come to nothing. A majority of Republicans voted on Tuesday that Donald Trump's second impeachment is unconstitutional in a sign the former president will likely be acquitted in his upcoming trial which is due to begin February 8. More than 400,000 Americans are dead from covid-19 in the 11 months since the first confirmed U.S. fatality from the disease. Current models predict an additional 200,000 could be dead by late spring. Intensive care units nationwide are nearly 80 percent full. Vaccination is going far more slowly than necessary to keep up with the epidemic. There have been no substantial advances with new antivirals, and remdesivir, a drug approved for use in hospitalized patients, has had only a modest effect in curbing bad outcomes. We are in desperate need of safe, oral medications to treat early cases of covid-19 to prevent hospitalization and death. Unfortunately, the debacle with hydroxychloroquine in the summer, touted by the former charlatan in chief as a cure-all for SARS-CoV-2 infection, further poisoned the well of repurposing old and generally safe medications for treating the new disease. But potentially reliable medications are available already - and it's time to start trying to use them, even if that means loosening the standards for deciding whether a drug works to use off-label to treat the coronavirus. Ivermectin, a widely available, inexpensive medication used to treat parasitic infections in both humans and animals, was found to have antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, prompting study by investigators. The results have been conflicting, leading the National Institutes of Health Covid-19 Treatment Guidelines group not to advise for or against routine use and recommending only further study. Ivermectin, however, is increasingly being tried both in the United States and internationally, with reports of widespread use. On Wednesday, the South African Medicines Control Council approved it for compassionate use. Last week, the Montreal Heart Institute issued a news release sharing encouraging findings from a study of the anti-inflammatory medication colchicine in reducing covid-19-related hospitalizations or deaths. Colchicine is a an inexpensive and safe medication that had been on the World Health Organization list of essential medications for the treatment of gout until 2005, when it was replaced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen. While the news release suggested a 21% reduction in death or hospitalizations, the actual number of those events was very small (fewer than 10, total), resulting in findings that are statistically fragile. In the United States, a randomized-controlled study, the type of study design believed to produce the highest, unbiased quality of evidence, demonstrated that the drug fluvoxamine, a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat depression more than 25 years ago, significantly reduced clinical deterioration - including preventing 100 percent of hospitalizations - in patients newly diagnosed with covid-19. An observational study just reported by its research sponsor last week, and conducted during a covid-19 outbreak among employees at a racetrack in California, replicated those findings - a 100 percent reduction in hospitalization or death - from 6 hospitalizations or death among untreated patients compared with none among fluvoxamine-treated patients. At least 1,000 patients have died every day of covid-19 since mid-November. With the ongoing devastation and the burden on hospitals, families and medical personnel, what evidence is needed before we can conclude that the benefits of a medication outweigh its risks? How much certainty is needed if the alternative - no treatment - guarantees hospitalization in 10 to 20 percent of known cases and deaths in 2 percent? The 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in December 2016, includes Section 3022, which requires such institutions as the FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and NIH to consider "real world" evidence in assessing medications. As I have learned and studied the mechanisms of fluvoxamine action in cellular, animal and clinical research studies, as an infectious-disease physician and public health expert, I have struggled with the questions of "how much evidence is enough" and what is "real world evidence." To further understand a way forward, last week, I invited a select group of clinical, pharmacology and statistical experts from academic, public health and U.S. governmental research institutions to review and discuss the data on fluvoxamine. I asked them to consider the question: In the absence of the most robust evidence, are we ready for a process sometimes called "shared-decision making" between a physician and patient? That would involve the physician providing the patient with the pros and cons of an intervention to enable the patient to make their own informed choice. In the case of fluvoxamine, there is a safe and promising oral medication that might prevent hospitalization and death. But it hasn't yet passed the rigor of the highest bar of scientific evidence for efficacy - a large, rigorous randomized-controlled trial. I was surprised to learn that among the 20 respondents, 11 supported "shared decision-making," while only five opposed it and four neither opposed nor supported it. But perhaps that should be expected, given the increasing shift toward patient autonomy and the severity and extent of the epidemic. So where does that leave us? From the physician perspective, with the overarching ethic for our profession being "Do no harm," the use of a safe drug for 10 days is unlikely to be harmful for an individual and may have substantial benefit. The choice seems easy: Give it a try. From the public health perspective, we might be recommending the use of a drug with no benefit to hundreds of thousands of scared individuals. It would be wasteful and misleading, at best, undermining the foundation of trust on which the field is built. For me, personally, as one who is both an academic public health expert and physician, I am not ready to see fluvoxamine recommended in national treatment guidelines just yet. But I am ready to try it with individual patients who are at increased risk of bad outcomes. That's the balance we'll have to strike, one treatment at a time, as we try to find our way out of this pandemic. - - - Klausner is a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a professor in the division of infectious diseases and the program in global health at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Keystone XL pipeline facilities are seen in Hardisty, Alta., in a file photo. The now-cancelled pipeline would have carried oilsands crude from Hardisty to the U.S. Gulf Coast. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh) Keystone XL Cancellation: Retaliate, Demand Compensation, or Move On? The decision by the Biden administration to cancel the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline continues to make waves, with the premiers of Alberta and Saskatchewan calling for retaliatory measures and holding out hope, while Canadas ambassador to the United States says its time to move on. U.S. President Joe Biden cancelled the US$8 billion project on his first day in office, fulfilling a campaign promise to rescind Donald Trumps permit for Keystone XL, which would have linked Albertas oilsands with refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. While the move was applauded by the environmental movement, it dealt a gut punch to Alberta and follows in the wake of several other pipeline projects that have been cancelled in recent years. Elmira Aliakbari, associate director of natural resource studies at the Fraser Institute, says the cancellation will have considerable economic consequences while doing virtually nothing to reduce emissions. Clearly, this is a major blow to the energy sector that has suffered for years from the lack of adequate pipeline capacity, Aliakbari said in an interview. The cancellation will result in billions in lost revenue for Canadian governments in the form of lower corporate income taxes and royalties, she said, noting that the Alberta government has invested at least $1.5 billion in the project. Aliakbari argues that by scrapping Keystone, the United States will have to increase its reliance on oil produced by unsavoury regimes, while harming relations with Canada and gaining little on the environmental front. Ironically, this cancellation will do little or nothing for the environment because it doesnt lesson U.S. oil dependency. It is likely that U.S. refineries in the Gulf Coast will increase their reliance on other countries such as Venezuela and Russia for oil imports, she says. In response to the Biden administrations move, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has expressed his frustration with both Washington and Ottawa, calling the cancellation disrespectful to Canada and accusing the Trudeau government of abandoning the oil and gas sector. He has called on Ottawa to either impose economic sanctions on the United States or demand compensation from Washington for Keystone owner Calgary-based TC Energy and the Alberta government. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, whose province a portion of the project would have crossed through, has said that despite the action taken by Washington, the project shouldnt be considered dead yet and that economic sanctions as a retaliatory measure should be on the table. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Biden by phone on Jan. 22, during which he expressed his disappointment at the move and emphasized the importance of the bilateral relations between Canada and the United States and their mutual concerns over economic and energy security. Its not always going to be perfect alignment with the United States; thats the case with any given president, Trudeau told reporters the same day. Though some commentary has suggested that this move by Washington has potential to do noteworthy harm to an already-fractured relationship, Kenneth Green, a senior fellow with the Pacific Research Institute, says he doesnt think that will happen given how significant the ties between the two countries are. He also notes that, ideologically, the Trudeau government is more likely to be onside with the pipeline cancellation and the Biden administrations broader environmental and economic agenda. The Trudeau government is quite left-leaning, so even if Prime Minister Trudeau expresses some regrets, the fact is he never wanted to see Keystone XL approved, or any pipeline at all for that matter. He is on record since he first became PM as saying that the oilsands were to be phased out, Green told The Epoch Times. There may be some ruffled feathers over the timing of the Biden admins announcementI gather that the Trudeau admin was expecting to have a more delicate process that would give them time to appear to fight for the pipelinebut that wont be a serious obstacle to the relations between the [U.S. and Canadian] governments. Responding to the frustration over Bidens executive order, Canadas ambassador to the United States said that its time to move on from Keystone XL. The president will not reverse his decision, said Kirsten Hillman, and the focus should now be on moving forward and working with the administration on matters of mutual interest. Stephen Blank, a specialist on North American economic integration and co-operation and a senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, more or less agrees, saying that getting into a dispute with the United States over the issue would be quite unwinnable. Blank says that, due to the changing economic landscape, it may be time to focus on deeper integration and innovation and move beyond an emphasis on natural resources. The real issue to me is if well see basic structures of integration evolve in electronics and the automobile industry as new tech emerges, and if Canadians are well equipped to deal with it, he says. At one point, Canadians were on the cutting edge of aircraft and thats no longer the case. In terms of cellphones, Canadians at one point stayed at the forefront of innovation but Im unsure if theyre able to keep up now. Canadian companies do well, but theyre often too small, notes Blank. Canadians have to be good enough so that America and other big players have a staying desire to integrate with them, he adds. Canada needs to innovate in terms of its product and thats why it needs integration. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a research report "Infrared Thermometer Market by Type (Fixed, Portable), Component (Optical, Display & Interface Units), Application (Medical, Non-Medical), End-Use (Residential, Commercial, Industrial), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the Infrared Thermometer Market is projected to reach USD 3.6 billion by 2025 from USD 2.3 billion in 2020; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% from 2020 to 2025. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=191167475 The major factors driving the market's growth include the increasing number of COVID-19 patients and the rising adoption of infrared thermometers across the manufacturing sector and construction applications drive the growth of the infrared thermometer market. Opportunities for 2nd generation of infrared thermometers, rising R&D investments by companies, and capital firms, to develop innovative thermal scanning solutions and infrared thermometers, rising adoption of infrared thermometers in HVAC and refrigeration applications provide significant opportunities for the infrared thermometer market. Based on types, the portable segment of the infrared thermometers market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 and 2025. Based on types, the portable segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate in the infrared thermometer market. One factor for the high adoption of portable infrared thermometers is their use in industrial and commercial end uses. Handheld infrared thermometers are noncontact, inexpensive, easy to use devices that help in rapid temperature measurement. Due to COVID-19, handheld infrared thermometers are being widely used for temperature screening at various commercial places, as high body temperature is one of the symptoms of COVID-19. Based on components, the optical components segment of the infrared thermometers market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 and 2025. By component, the optical components segment is expected to grow at the highest rate in the infrared thermometer market. Optical components, including detectors, are used to detect the reflected infrared energy, focus the radiation energy onto the IR detector, and filter out radiation outside the desired wavelength band. Based on application, the medical segment of the infrared thermometers market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 and 2025. By application, the medical segment is expected to grow at the highest rate in the infrared thermometer market. The major factors for the growth of the medical application are the lower cost, higher accuracy, and rising adoption of infrared thermometers for temperature screening due to COVID-19. The handheld medical thermometers are expected to be widely adopted in the commercial end use segment. On the other hand, non-medical infrared thermometers are mainly used in the industrial end use segment. Browse in-depth TOC on "Infrared Thermometer Market" 90 - Tables 53 - Figures 180 - Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=191167475 Based on end-use, the commercial segment of the infrared thermometers market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 and 2025. By end-use, the commercial segment is expected to grow at the highest rate in the infrared thermometer market. The commercial segment is expected to grow primarily due to the significant adoption in commercial segments such as hospitals and healthcare facilities, banks and financial institutions, retail, government, and hospitality sectors. The infrared thermometer market in APAC is projected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2020 to 2025. The infrared thermometer market has been studied for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and the Rest of the World (RoW). The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2020 and 2025. The market in APAC is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, and the region is expected to dominate the global market by 2025. The growth of the market in APAC is mainly due to the higher adoption of medical thermometers in commercial, industrial, and residential end use segments. Factors such as price-competitive market, availability of low-cost products, presence of local manufacturers, population growth, and investments in healthcare would also boost the market growth in APAC during the forecast period. Fluke (US), FLIR (US), Testo (Germany), Omron (Japan), Microlife (Taiwan), Hill-Rom (US), Omega Engineering (US), PCE Instruments (UK), Chino Corporation (Japan), and AMETEK Land (UK) are some of the key players operating in the infrared thermometer market. Related Reports: Infrared Detector Market by Type (MCT, InGaAs, Pyroelectric, Thermopile, Microbolometer, and Others), Technology (Cooled and Uncooled), Wavelength (NIR & SWIR, MWIR, and LWIR), Application, Vertical, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2025 Thermal Scanners Market by Wavelength (LWIR, MWIR, SWIR), Application (Thermography, Security & Surveillance, Search & Rescue), Vertical (Industrial, Commercial, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Healthcare), Technology, Region - Global Forecast to 2025 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. 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Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/infrared-thermometer-market.asp Visit Our Web Site: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/infrared-thermometer.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg Press Release January 27, 2021 Bong Go confirms EO imposing price ceilings on pork, chicken may be issued soon; assures public that gov't will balance interests of consumers and traders In an effort to immediately address rising prices of food products and strengthen the country's food security, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go confirmed that the Office of the President is currently reviewing the proposed Executive Order imposing price ceilings on pork and chicken which President Rodrigo Duterte may issue soon. "Parati ko itong pina-follow up din po sa ating Executive Department at inaasahan natin itong mapirmahan po ng Pangulo," Go said during an ambush interview right after he personally provided assistance to fire victims in Brgy. 46, Pasay City on Tuesday, January 26. Go also assured stakeholders that the government will always balance the interests of consumers and traders. "'Yun nga po ang pinag-aaralan ngayon ng Executive (Department). Binabalanse naman po nila ang lahat consumers, ordinaryong mamamayan and, of course, 'yung traders din po na alam naman nating talagang apektado rin po ang kanilang pagnenegosyo," assured Go. Various groups of hog raisers and poultry farmers have recently raised concerns on the proposal to impose price ceilings on pork and chicken. "Sisiguraduhin po ng ating Pangulo na babalansehin niya po ang kapakanan po ng karamihan," he added. The Senator also shared that he has discussed with Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar the increasing of the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) for pork imports to augment local pork supply and to stabilize the meat prices in the country. "Nakausap ko rin po si Sec. Dar... isa po ito sa kanyang ipo-propose kay Pangulong Duterte, increasing the MAV para po bumaba 'yung presyo dahil talagang kulang 'yung supply," Go said. He, then, appealed to traders not to stop their operations and assured them that the government will help them throughout these difficult times. To address the issues on African Swine Fever, President Rodrigo Duterte has already issued Executive Order No. 105 which created the National Task Force on Animal-Borne Diseases. This seeks to undertake activities to prevent the entry of animal-borne diseases, control their spread, and address other related concerns. Earlier, Go also lauded President Duterte for signing Executive Order No. 123, modifying the rates of import duty on certain agricultural products under Section 1611 of Republic Act No. 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. As a way to address hunger and prevent prices from going up, the EO will further maintain the reduced tariff rates on Mechanically Deboned Meat of chicken and turkey until the end of next year. MDM is a major ingredient of low-priced meat products largely consumed by ordinary Filipinos. Go emphasized that the issue of rising prices must be addressed given the economic ramifications of the current pandemic and their effects on the lives of ordinary Filipinos. "Kailangan natin itong solusyonan. Lalong-lalo na sa panahon ngayon na marami pong mga kababayan natin ang nawalan ng trabaho. Walang pambili ng pagkain ang mga 'yan. Tataas pa ang presyo. Mas lalong mahihirapan ang mga kababayan natin," he said. New York: Economic profiteering and money-laundering is fuelling the catastrophe in Yemen, where a six-year war has involved attacks on civilians, forced disappearances and other violations of human rights and international law, United Nations experts said in a new report. The experts estimate Houthi rebels diverted at least $US1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) in 2019 that was supposed to go to the government to pay salaries and provide basic services to citizens. The monitors said Saudi Arabia deposited $US2 billion with the Central Bank of Yemen in January 2018 under a development and reconstruction program. The money was intended to fund credit to buy commodities - such as rice, sugar, milk and flour - to strengthen food security and stabilise domestic prices. A Houthi supporter holds his weapon during a demonstration against the United States over its decision to designate the Houthis a foreign terrorist organisation in Sanaa, Yemen, on Monday. Credit:AP Their investigation found the Central Bank broke its foreign exchange rules, manipulated the foreign exchange market and laundered a substantial part of the Saudi deposit in a sophisticated money-laundering scheme that saw traders receive a $US423-million windfall. A former Kansas City newsman turned blogger mistakenly searches for some kind of nationalistic spirituality within the new administration. We understand his error given the nearly religious fervor against the former Prez. However, as a public service, we remind TKC readers that people who put their faith in politicians will ALWAYS be disappointed. Read more . . . Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 21:47:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian parliament on Wednesday ratified President Vladimir Putin's bill on a five-year extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). At a plenary session on Wednesday, the State Duma, or the lower house of parliament, approved the bill submitted by Putin on Tuesday on the extension of the significant arms control pact between Russia and the United States. The New START reached by the world's two largest nuclear powers cannot be "overestimated" and it is of great significance for the whole world, said State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin. Shortly after that, the Federation Council, or the upper house of parliament, also greenlighted the bill. "The New START is being extended for five years without any additional conditions. This is our stance and this is our success!" said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council. Russia and the United States have started expert-level work on the extension of the New START, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Monday. Also on Monday, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held a phone conversation to discuss the extension of the New START and Russian-U.S. cooperation in the field of security. In 2010, Washington and Moscow signed the New START, which stipulates limits to the numbers of deployed nuclear warheads and strategic delivery systems by both. The key pact, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty in force between the two nuclear superpowers, will expire on Feb. 5. Enditem Should Banks Be Permitted To Freeze a Running Bank Account, for KYC? It is over a decade now that, we, Indians have been putting up with the harassment, humiliation and mental agony of banks arrogantly freezing savings and current accounts for technical reasons, the most common one being non-compliance with frequent updation of know-your-customer (KYC) documents mandated by the government. Banks blame it on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). RBI washes its hands off any responsibility by pointing to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) and the rules for maintenance of records framed in 2005. Logically, if the government genuinely has reason to suspect that the money in a bank account or lockers represents the fruit of criminal activity, money laundering or tax avoided income, it can demand explanations and ask banks to freeze the account. But there is something drastically wrong when the power to freeze money, deposited in trust with a bank, is delegated to branch-level staff, who can wreak havoc with the lives and livelihoods of people based on technicalities or wrong understanding of rules. Freezing a bank account often amounts to inflicting financial death of an individual or entity, with a lot of other consequences. Such drastic action (even partially freezing a bank account) should be permitted only after a court order and that too when there are reasonable grounds to suspect criminal activity or tax evasion. Instead, this draconian action is routinely inflicted on ordinary, law-abiding people and long-running bank accounts for routine business activities when there is absolutely no suspicious activity. It is almost always for technicalities, often wrongly interpreted and arbitrarily implemented. At the same time, real cheats seem to dodge the rules with impunity. In the past couple of years, one notorious family alonethe Wadhawanshas inflicted losses running into thousands of crores of rupees on innocent depositors and investors without RBI or the financial intelligence unit of the Union finance ministry having a clue. Dewan Housing and Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) was able to keep a whole set of accounts (the infamous Bandra Books) hidden from statutory auditors, while the Wadhawans of HDIL (Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd) managed to bankrupt Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC Bank). But ordinary people, with genuine issues, are put through untold hardship and nobody cares. Here are three examples which probably represent tens of thousands of sufferers. A retired central excise officer in his 80s, living alone in Bengaluru, had his account with a top private bank frozen because his biometrics could not be read. His son was able to get it restored because he knows the senior-most officials at the bank. Fortunately, mandatory Aadhaar linkage has been put on hold. In the middle of the pandemic, a UK-based non-resident Indian (NRI) doctor received a notification to update his KYC with just four weeks for compliance. When he asked for the basis for this, RBI asked him to refer to Master Directions of RBI which are frequently In the middle of the pandemic, a UK-based non-resident Indian (NRI) doctor received a notification to update his KYC with just four weeks for compliance. When he asked for the basis for this, RBI asked him to refer to Master Directions of RBI which are frequently updated and provide little clarity for individual cases. In this case, the NRI did comply, to the best of his ability, by providing scanned copies of KYC documents, but the bank insisted on self-attested documents. One can imagine the hardship this would cause to senior citizens who are not net-savvy, in the middle of a global pandemic and worldwide lock-down. This NRI wrote to RBIs customer services department (CSD) about how the bank was refusing to process documents without attestation while holding out the threat of suspension. CSD merely informed him that his queries had been forwarded to the concerned regulatory department without going into his grievance about the unfairness of the banks demand. The third case was that of Moneylife itself. Despite our knowledge and activism on depositor issues, just four days before salaries were to be paid, Axis Bank froze our main bank account (operational since 2009) at the end of September 2020 because one of our shareholders had not submitted a beneficial ownership declaration. Worse, the requirement itself was wrongly understood and demanded by the Bank. The action was preceded by a long correspondence over Axis Banks faulty understanding of who was a beneficial owner (in this case, the person lives abroad and is neither a director nor a signatory to the account). But repeated emails and messages to the Banks customer service department, public relations team, head of retail as well as the managing director and CEO did not elicit any response, until we escalated the matter to the central bank. Most banks operate on the principle that the customer is always wrong or trying to dodge the rules. Despite core banking software and extensive use of technology, nobody at the Bank paused to consider that this account existed for over a decade; we have six other accounts at the same branch and we were in the middle of a pandemic, with limited access to staff. One official at the Bank refused to touch the resubmitted papers or discuss the issue, while the branch-head used to summon our accounts manager and give him vague oral instructions, refusing to put things in writing. If this happens to a media organisation (which usually get a response), one can only imagine what happens to customers with no access. But more on this later. The issue is serious, because unilaterally freezing an account would have a series of consequences on standing instructions, for loan repayments, credit card payments or utilities bill payments which may get cancelled or bounce. A senior citizen living on a pension may be made helpless for no fault. Or an organisation, like ours, could have defaulted on paying salaries without any reason, in turn, impacting payments by employees. Surely, there ought to be consequences to inflicting such damage on law-abiding people? As an activist organisation, involved in financial literacy, we decided to find out the circumstances in which banks are allowed to freeze legitimate accounts and how many accounts had been frozen by Indian banks so far. My colleague, Yogesh Sapkale, filed an application under Right to Information (RTI) Act asking RBI for specific regulations or guidelines with regard to freezing customer accounts by banks. The answer: We have not issued any specific instructions in this regard. It, however, directed us to the Master Directions issued in 2016 and amended repeatedly, including partial freezing and payment of interest available on its website He also asked RBI for the total number of accounts and deposit balances, bank-wise, of accounts frozen by all nationalised banks and private banks from 2017 until end-2020. The answer: We do not have any specific information in this regard. In a nutshell, RBI is clueless about the havoc caused by its master directions and couldnt be bothered to collate any data on the hardship caused or extent of money blocked and the implications of these on ordinary, law-abiding people. This is done in the name of preventing money laundering which seems to continue with impunity. Our Resolution In our case, I, finally, connected with someone very senior at RBI who cant be named. I explained that Axis Banks understanding of beneficial ownership was not shared by a larger bank with which also we had an account. I was also at pains to explain that we were not avoiding compliance, but complying with Axis Banks faulty demand; the Bank was forcing a wrong declaration from us. Gratifyingly, I was heard and things began to move rapidly after that. Multiple calls from Axis Bank followed, even at 10pm and the account was unfrozen in a couple of days. Once it was done, we followed the policy that Moneylife had always advocatedto vote with our feet when an organisation is so callous about customer service. We closed all six of our accounts with Axis Bank, since it was clear that going all the way to the top was also useless and we cannot always ask RBI to intervene. Closing a bank account in India and opening a new one is a long and tedious process that took nearly three months to complete. Bank account portability is possible today; but is not being implemented, to help banks. However, that is the subject of a separate column. Ideally, aggrieved customers should be in a position to demand compensation for such harassment; but this involves expensive litigation which gives banks a huge advantage in a judicial system that neither awards exemplary damages nor allows lawyers to handle cases on a contingency-fee basis. (@ChaudhryMAli88) People infected with the UK strain of coronavirus are less likely to experience loss of smell or taste as a symptom, a survey published Wednesday by the UK's official statistics bureau found MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) People infected with the UK strain of coronavirus are less likely to experience loss of smell or taste as a symptom, a survey published Wednesday by the UK's official statistics bureau found. Symptoms such as coughing, sore throat, fatigue and fever are more likely among those afflicted with the new variant, the survey by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found. "People testing positive compatible with the new UK variant were more likely to report any symptoms and the classic symptoms, but were less likely to report loss of taste and smell. There was no evidence of difference in the percentages reporting gastrointestinal symptoms," the ONS said. The study also indicated that people testing positive with the new variant were also less likely to have an asymptomatic infection. The findings come as part of a months-long continuous survey by the ONS studying an array of aspects related to the social impact of the pandemic. The new variant was first found in the southwest of England in September and became widespread in the UK by December. It was found to be up to 70 percent more easily transmissible and recent statement from UK authorities suggest that the variant may be deadlier than earlier versions. Dozens of nations suspended flights with the UK in late December after the new variant was announced. Other variants have been confirmed in South Africa and Brazil. Charleston will tackle the "existential" threat of flooding driven by climate change on several fronts in 2021, Mayor John Tecklenburg said in his State of the City speech Tuesday. Tecklenburg has used the annual address to speak on the topic before, notably in 2018 when he gave a detailed list of all the projects the city had embarked on to tackle flooding. This year he spoke more generally about the issue but also hinted at broader partnership with the federal government to address longstanding drainage problems. Charleston will have to make key choices in the coming months on an Army Corps of Engineers proposal to put an 8-mile storm surge wall around much of downtown, a plan that was first unveiled last April. But the Corps could also become a partner on a second initiative to help with drainage, Tecklenburg said, a key concern for a city that has long been swamped during heavy rains. With a second study, "We would once again have the opportunity to unlock federal matching funds for our long-term flooding and drainage needs," Tecklenburg said. The difference, however, is that Charleston would have to pay half the cost of a second Corps study, to the tune of about $1.5 million, Chief Resilience Officer Mark Wilbert said. The wall proposal grew out of an initiative to protect the city from hurricane surge. The current feasibility study that is refining the wall plan is fully covered by the feds, though the city would pay part of the $1.75 billion construction costs down the road. City officials have also said the wall could be used to fend off rising tides as climate change pushes the waters of Charleston Harbor higher. "At this point we all understand the threat our city faces from flooding," Tecklenburg said. "And we know that without bold action, the future can only be one of surrender and retreat." A warming planet, and the water it brings, will also figure prominently into two other initiatives: a comprehensive plan that will put flooding concerns at the center of future land-use decisions, and a new Climate Action Plan, Tecklenburg said. Unlike the wall or drainage projects, which address the symptoms of global warming, the Climate Action Plan is meant to address the causes: planet-warming gases that come from fossil fuels and other sources. A task force and five subgroups are working on the plan now. It will address the environmental footprint of city facilities and emissions from elsewhere in town, said Katie McKain, Charleston's director of sustainability. Tecklenburg said he expects the plan to come before City Council this year. The challenges to the city don't stop there. Charleston is also confronted by a pandemic, an affordable housing crisis and racial justice issues, Tecklenburg said in the speech. Racial justice "From our founding in April of 1670 to this very day in January of 2021, the problems of racial oppression and injustice have torn at our citys soul," the mayor said. "And we know that to heal that breach, we must finally and fully eliminate the systemic barriers that continue to make the dream of racial equity a dream deferred." Tecklenburg said that in the more than five years since a racist gunman massacred nine Black worshippers at Emanuel AME Church, the city and its residents have come together to "think deeply about the issue of racial justice, and to press for structural change in our city and its institutions." He cited the city's apology for its role in slavery, the recent removal of the John C. Calhoun memorial statue that towered over Marion Square, a racial bias audit of the police department and the ongoing Commission on Equity, Diversity and Racial Conciliation that will make recommendations to City Council. He noted that the International African American Museum is expected to open in 2022. Affordable housing Addressing Charleston's affordable housing crisis, Tecklenburg said that without decisive action Charleston could one day "become less a city, and more a fleeting pleasure for well-to-do visitors, out-of-state students, and part-time second-home owners." He said Charleston is taking such action through a combination of $50 million in direct investments by the city, and through development regulations. Those regulations require all large-scale mixed-use projects to either make 20 percent of their apartments affordable generally at below-market prices middle-income renters can afford or make an equivalent payment to the city's housing fund. The city is also working with partners on a countywide affordable-housing plan, and a regional housing trust. "And to ensure that no one is left behind," the mayor said, "weve given our Housing Authority the go-ahead to work with the federal government to replace or rehabilitate every public housing project in the city an initiative that will both increase overall housing supply and give our public-housing residents a safer, cleaner, better place to live." The pandemic Tecklenburg praised the city's health providers "the heroes of this pandemic" and said that with vaccines in hand the path ahead is clear. The city, he said, will continue to work with businesses and heath care providers, preparing for the day when large amounts of vaccine are available for distribution. Until then, the mayor urged residents to redouble efforts to following the rules, wash hands, keep at a safe distance and wear a mask. If the city's residents stay vigilant in social distancing in hygiene, he said, Charleston can "look forward to the simple pleasures of hugging a friend, visiting an older relative, or enjoying a show well before this year is out." By 2025, Cipla plans to achieve carbon and water neutrality, zero-waste to landfill, anti-microbial resistance stewardship and green chemistry Cipla Limited announced that it has set up a 30 MW solar group captive project in Tuljapur, Maharashtra. Spread across 115 acres, the solar project has been commissioned in partnership with AMP Energy India, and is one of the largest solar open access projects in the state set up by a corporate. This is in line with the companys Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives aimed at developing a holistic sustainability road map for the future. By 2025, Cipla plans to achieve carbon and water neutrality, zero-waste to landfill, anti-microbial resistance stewardship and green chemistry. The project will support the companys green energy requirements for its manufacturing units at Kurkumbh and Patalganga in Maharashtra. It will also help the Company avoid carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 35,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) annually over its project life of 25 years. Speaking on the occasion, Kedar Upadhye, President and Global CFO, Cipla, said, This project is testament to our relentless commitment to use cleaner and renewable sources of energy. Geena Malhotra, President and Global Head Manufacturing Operations, Cipla, commented, The project aims to reduce our environmental footprint and create a positive social impact. We endeavour to continue growing the share of renewable energy across our sites with an aim to contribute to Indias agenda of increasing energy generation from non-fossil fuel sources to 40% by 2030. Tom Felton saw his character on screen for the first time in 20 years. t22felton/Instagram; Warner Bros. Tom Felton is rewatching "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" alongside fans via Instagram Live. He took viewers behind the magic, offering fun tidbits about how they brought the film to life. The actor also didn't hold back in his opinions of Draco Malfoy. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. On Tuesday, Tom Felton delighted fans when he continued rewatching "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" via Instagram Live. In early December, he started rewatching the film for the first time in 20 years. In two separate livestreams, he viewed the first 33 minutes of the movie, and almost immediately got emotional. The Draco Malfoy actor continued to offer his own commentary as he embarked on the next 22 minutes of the magical film and saw his peroxide-blond character on screen for the first time. Felton had some choice words to share about Draco Malfoy Upon watching Draco's first on-screen appearance - the scene where the first-year students exit the Hogwarts Express - Felton laughed and said, "There I am in the background the little cocky s---." But it was clear from his facial expressions and tone that the actor has a fondness for his on-screen character, despite Malfoy's shortcomings. Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy. Warner Bros. After calling himself a "little s---" once again, he continued his critique while watching the defining scene where Harry rejects Malfoy's offer of friendship. Siding with his on-screen nemesis, the actor added, "I'm not sure who I want to defend there. Screw you, Potter! But no, screw you, Malfoy. He's a real d---." Felton was just as excited to see his costars on screen The British actor seemed to be filled with fond memories every time one of his costars came on screen. He almost missed Hermione Granger's introductory scene while checking in on the Instagram Live chat, but when he glanced over and saw her, he yelled, "Oh young Emma!" and rewound it to appreciate her full entrance. Story continues "She's fantastic," he added. "Bravo!" Later, when he spotted Neville, he said, "Matthew Lewis, how different do you look now? Crikey." When Felton saw Devon Murray, who played Seamus Finnigan, during the Great Hall scene he yelled that his costar was "smashing it!" The actor took viewers behind the magic, sharing fun facts about the film Susan Bones was played by the director's daughter. Warner Bros. Alongside his self-deprecating commentary, Felton also shared behind-the-scenes secrets about how the magic of "Harry Potter" was brought to the big screen. As he watched the first years making their way across the lake to Hogwarts, he said, "Leavesden Studios, just ruining all the magic for you, aren't I?" before adding, "Should keep my mouth shut, really." The actor then shattered the illusion of the enchanted night sky in the Great Hall, pointing out that "the candles are on fishing strings." In another entertaining moment, Felton appeared to be surprised as he spotted his real-life grandfather serving as an extra in the Great Hall. "That's my grandfather on the far right, right now, not Dumbledore ... ," he said. "Good lord, I had no idea." Finally, when McGonagall called Susan Bones up to the Sorting Hat, Felton shared that the actress who played the young witch was actually director Chris Columbus' daughter, Eleanor. Felton used the online event as a way to support an organization close to his heart Tom Felton has a dog named Willow. Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP During the watch along, the actor raised awareness for the Best Friends Animal Society, and the fans watching helped him raise over $3,000 for the organization by the end of the stream. Felton is known for his love of animals, and his beloved black Labrador, Willow, is a regular fixture on his Instagram. Read More: Read the original article on Insider ROME, JAN 27 - A COVID vaccine developed by the Italian company ReiThera will be available from September, Italian drugs agency AIFA said Wednesday. A few million doses of the ReiThera jab may be administered starting in that month, AIFA President Giorgio Palu told Sky TG24. Health Minister Roberto Speranza said the Italian state would put public money into ReiThera, which is based at Castel Romano on the outskirts of Rome. "It is a right and important choice," he said. "We must emerge from this crisis stronger to guarantee people's health today and tomorrow". Italy has vaccinated more people than any other EU member but has been hit by delays in the delivery of the Pfizer jab. AstraZeneca vaccine has also said its vaccine deliveries will fall far shorter than expectations. (ANSA). MasterChef Australia star Laura Sharrad shared shocking images of the Adelaide Hills bushfires that were raging in South Australia over the weekend. The Back To Win runner-up posted a photo on her Instagram Story of how close the fire came to her family's property, on Sunday. The image showed plumes of smoke rising from nearby bushland near her family's rural home. 'A very scary night': MasterChef Australia runner-up Laura Sharrad [pictured] shared a worrying photo of the Adelaide Hills bushfires near her family home on Sunday She wrote in the caption: 'A very scary night ahead for a lot of people tonight. This is my parents place in the Adelaide Hills. 'They are ok and watching things very closely. Thinking of everyone who's right in the middle of this,' the chef added. The Adelaide Hills fire began on Sunday, and more than 2500 hectares of land went up in flames. CFS incident controller Scott Turner said five separate fires had converged into one. The fire has since been contained, according to a report by The Adelaide Advertiser, on Monday. Concerned: The image showed her parents home on a rural and the plumes of smoke rising from a nearby forest. She wrote: 'They are ok and watching things very closely. Thinking of everyone who's right in the middle of this' Sweltering conditions: Adelaide's heatwave over the weekend also affected fellow MasterChef star Poh Ling Yeow, who runs a successful food stand - Jamface - at Adelaide Farmers' Market Thankfully no lives were lost, but two homes, 17 outbuildings and two cars went up in flames, The West Australian reported. In addition to the bushfires, Adelaide sweltered through a heatwave, with temperatures as high as 41C on Sunday. This also affected fellow MasterChef star Poh Ling Yeow, who runs a successful food stand - Jamface - at Adelaide Farmers' Market. She took to her Instagram Story to announce that she would not be setting up her stall because of the weather. 'Sorry Jamfacers, on account of the hot weather and wilting cakes Jamface is not at @adelfarmmarket today. Keep cool we'll see you next week,' she said in her post. 'Keep cool!': She took to her Instagram Story to announce to that she would not be setting up her stall because of the weather Co-stars: Laura and Poh competed on last year's season of MasterChef Australia Laura and Poh competed on last year's season of MasterChef Australia, featuring new judges Andy Allen, Jock Zonfrillo and Melissa Leong. The revived series was a runaway hit for Channel 10 and also proved to be a success around the world after it was voted 2020's most popular reality series in the world by the Global TV Demand Awards. Channel 10's Head of Drama and Executive Production Rick Maier told TV Tonight: 'This is a thrilling reward and acknowledgement for a terrific series of MasterChef Australia. 'Its international appeal has always been a source of great pride for Marty Benson, his hard-working team at Endemol Shine Australia and Network 10 showcasing Australian produce, talent and inclusivity to the world,' he added. Loading Biden has also created a new office of domestic climate policy to co-ordinate climate policy across key government agencies. In his first appearance at the White House briefing room, Kerry said: The stakes on climate change just simply couldnt be any higher than they are right now [...] This is an issue where failure, literally, is not an option. Speaking earlier at the World Economic Forum, Kerry said he had read an article over Christmas that ought to stop every single one of us in our tracks. Headlined Watching Earth Burn, the story by New York Times writer Michael Benson pieced together satellite images of the Australian bushfire emergency. You could see huge plumes of smoke when you saw these pictures of Australias fires with, and I quote Michael, flame vortexes spiralling 200 feet into the air passing New Zealand and stretching thousands of miles into the cobalt Pacific, Kerry said. He continued to quote details in Bensons article, including the razing of an estimated 46 million acres, loss of dozens of lives, destruction of nearly 6000 buildings and potential extinction of some species. Benson summed it up, Kerry said. With shocking iconographic precision, that unfurling banner of smoke said: The war has started. Were losing. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Kerry did not directly criticise Australias climate change policies but earlier this week said he would push the worlds largest emitters to sign up to deeper cuts. Australia has a goal of cutting emissions by 26-28 per cent by 2030. It has not signed up to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 but Morrisons language has shifted recently and many Liberal MPs believe he will take the pledge at the Glasgow summit. So we are here now, at this moment, not just because we understand the urgency or the moral imperative, were here because we know we cant afford to lose any longer and action is the one moral, economic and scientific imperative worth contemplating, Kerry said. He emphasised the need to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees but warned the world was on track to hit 4.1 or 4.5 degrees of warming. The Glasgow meeting was the last best chance to arrest the trajectory, Kerry said. But even if we did everything that was promised in Paris, folks, temperatures are going to rise to 3.7 degrees [of warming]. And thats just because the conglomeration of all the things people were willing to do didnt add up to what we need to do. Kerry estimated the world had to phase out coal five times faster than current rates, ramp up renewable energy six times faster and transition to electric vehicles 22 times faster. Loading In a panel discussion after Kerrys speech, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said companies knew they would have to reduce the supply of oil, gas and coal but said a careful transition was needed. Kerry responded: The problem with gas is if we build out a huge infrastructure for gas now and continue to use it as the bridge fuel when we havent really exhausted the other possibilities, were going to be stuck with stranded assets in 10, 20, 30 years. And gas is primarily methane. The fact is methane is 20 times [more] damaging, if not more, than fossil fuels. His views on gas are significant because the Morrison government has flagged the resource as a transition fuel for the coming decades. SHOWS February 22, 2021 10.00 am Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Treasurers Office is launching the next phase of a new program meant to spur private investment for jobs training, addiction treatment and other social causes. State Treasurer Robert Sprague on Wednesday announced his office had given its stamp of approval to five programs run by private nonprofits -- two in Cincinnati, one in Columbus, one in Dayton and one statewide -- for what hes calling his ResultsOhio program. The program is an example of a Pay for Success a funding model that solicits private investment for social programs usually funded by government or charitable organizations. The idea is to try to spur innovative solutions for public policy problems by attracting private investors while not risking government money on unproven ideas. Under ResultsOhio, the state evaluates potential programs and then helps raise private and public money to fund them. If the program is successful, including hitting specific metrics, the state will pay the investors back plus a profit. If it fails to meet its goals, the investors dont get their money back. To actually get off the ground, the projects still would need to get private and state funding. The treasurers office couldnt provide a specific timetable on when that may occur, although the programs generally are designed to last for four or five years. The treasurers offices approval is meant to help lend legitimacy to the programs as they seek funding. The key to this program is data, Sprague said in an interview. Data drives all the decisions. Theres no place for losing ideas here. Theres no room for the passion project of the day... Here, you have to prove your program through data, and we will only pay if and only if you can prove success. The programs green-lighted by Spragues office are: Cincinnati Works and Columbus Works, nonprofits that will focus on jobs training and providing counseling to help low-income people become self sufficient Every Child Succeeds, a Cincinnati non-profit that supports new and expectant mothers with a goal of improving infant mortality, especially by Black mothers A program through the Ohio Department of Higher Education that will aim to help Ohio National Guard scholarship students maximize their military benefits and graduate on time OneFifteen Recovery, a Dayton nonprofit that focuses on addiction treatment The ResultsOhio program was created through House Bill 166, last years state budget bill. Sprague, a Republican, while running for state treasurer in 2018 campaigned on the idea of setting up a Pay for Success program. Similar Pay for Success programs in Cuyahoga County, one meant to clean up lead paint in older homes and another that aimed to reduce the time children stay in foster care, failed to meet their financial goals. But in the foster care program, organizers said they learned lessons that could be used to reunite more African American children in foster care with their parents. Sprague said failure is a risk of trying to come up with innovative programs. I would argue one of the most successful aspects of the Cuyahoga County Pay for Success program was that the taxpayers didnt have to pay for a program that didnt pan out, he said. And they tried something brand new that they thought would work. And during that process, interestingly enough, in this policy laboratory they had they actually discovered something else along the way that did work. San Francisco, Jan 27 : Apple has launched a limited-edition Watch for the 'Black History Month, with a unique band and a new face. Available from February 1, the new hardware is part of what the company is calling the Black Unity Collection, a group of products designed to "celebrate and acknowledge Black history and Black culture." Apple says the limited-edition Watch will be available in "over 38 countries and regions." It hasn't yet confirmed international prices, but the $399 Watch starts at 379 pounds or AU$599. The band will also be available separately for $49. Apple Watch users can participate in a new 'Unity Activity Challenge' and earn the limited-edition award by closing their Move ring seven days in a row during February. As part of this effort, Apple is supporting six global organisations to help advance their missions in promoting and achieving equality and civil rights in the US and around the world: Black Lives Matter Support Fund via the Tides Foundation; European Network Against Racism; International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights; Leadership Conference Education Fund; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Souls Grown Deep. In addition, Apple announced a number of other initiatives for Black History Month this year. There will be a hub in the App Store highlighting Black-owned businesses and developers; Apple Music will get "curated playlists, essays, original videos" and other content highlighting Black artists; and Apple Maps is getting curated recommendations from EatOkra, which highlights Black-owned restaurants. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Biosenta realized its first purchase order and payment from the supply and purchase agreement with SANITIZATION 360. The Purchase Order is for an initial order of 145 drums (30,160 litres) of TRUE disinfectant and continued monthly orders. This marks a milestone for Biosenta of achieving record revenues as it continues to implement its strategic plan to position the company to be a leader in the growing disinfectant market in North America. The agreement with SANITIZATION 360 is a perfect fit for Biosentas growth plans and aligns itself with a company that sells leading edge disinfectants products. About SANITIZATION 360 SANITIZATION 360 is a Canadian sanitization and disinfectant company with leading-edge products to combat viruses and bacteria. About Biosenta Biosenta develops and manufactures a range of wet and dry anti-microbial chemical compounds for household and industrial applications using active material, and advanced encapsulated nanotechnology. Disclaimer In no way, the CSE has passed upon the contents of this news release and further has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the CSE) accepts responsibility for this release's adequacy or accuracy. Biosenta Digital channel: https://www.Biosenta.com Contact Information: Am Gill President and CEO T: 416-410-2019 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is seen in Washington on Jan. 15, 2021. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Lawyer: Speaker Pelosis Laptop Hasnt Been Recovered From Suspect The laptop computer taken from the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hasnt been recovered, a lawyer representing a woman accused of helping steal it said Tuesday. A video that appeared to show Riley June Williams, 22, speaking near a HP laptop in Pelosis office on Jan. 6 was included in an amended criminal complaint against her. But FBI agents searched Williamss home or apartment and did not find the computer, her public defender, A.J. Kramer, told the court on Tuesday. Theyve searched everywhere and she does not have the computer, he told U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Prosecutors noted during the hearing that Williams had only been charged for aiding and abetting the theft, not stealing the computer herself. The video showed a hand reaching for the computer that was not Williamss. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mona Sedky told Faruqui that the investigation is ongoing. Im very uncomfortable discussing the facts of the case at this stage, she said. Im concerned that talking about what we do and dont know and what were running down could jeopardize the investigation. Also included in the amended complaint were screenshots of messages allegedly sent by Williams on Discord bragging that she took Pelosis hard drives. Attempts to reach Williams havent been successful. Her friend told The Epoch Times that the primary tipster feeding police information is her abusive ex-boyfriend. A lawyer said during an earlier hearing that the accusations from the former romantic partner were overstated. The coronavirus vaccine has boosted demand for cruise trips at over-50s firm Saga. It said pent-up demand fuelled a surge from 69 per cent to 86 per cent in people rebooking rather than taking a refund, after it put its travel operations on ice amid the pandemic. It still has 140million of bookings under its belt as of last Saturday but is in talks with banks to secure breathing space as its travel arm burns around 6million a month. All aboard: Saga said pent-up demand fuelled a surge from 69 per cent to 86 per cent in people rebooking rather than taking a refund Euan Sutherland, Saga chief executive, said: 'We know [customers] are ready to travel in great numbers and live their lives to the full as the vaccine programme is rolled out.' Last week Saga was the first tour operator to insist that all customers must be fully vaccinated. It is poised to restart its services in May, depending on restrictions, but faces hurdles after vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi advised Britons not to book a holiday yet. Travel analyst Andreas van Embden, at Peel Hunt, cautioned: 'It seems unlikely that many destinations will be ready to receive travellers this side of the summer, even if Saga has vaccinated travellers ready to go.' Sasikala to return on Feb 7, Dhinakaran sees changes in TN ahead of arrival AIADMK goes to police again against Sasikala, alleges conspiracy to unleash violence in TN Sasikala released from jail after serving 4 years imprisonment in DA case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Bengaluru, Jan 27: Expelled AIADMK leader V K Sasikala who spent four years in jail after being convicted in a corruption case has been released from jail. Sasikala freed after 4 years in jail | Hospital discharge soon | Oneindia News The prison formalities were completed at the Victoria Hospital this morning, where she has been admitted. She would either remain in Victoria or be moved to a private hospital in the city. Prison authorities said on Tuesday that the former aide of late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, will be formally released today. Sasikala is conscious, alert and well oriented: Bangaluru Hospital Sasikala had contracted the virus on January 20 and was admitted to the Bowring hospital initially before being shifted to the dedicated COVID-19 centre at the Victoria hospital. Independent legislator Dhinakaran, Sasikala's nephew and founder of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) had on Monday said a decision on the discharge of her aunt from the hospital would be taken after consulting the doctors. Sasikala was sentenced to four years imprisonment in February 2017 in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and Jayalalithaa''s foster son V N Sudhakaran. According to a hospital bulletin, Sasikala is now doing well. "She is asymptomatic, conscious, alert and well oriented. She is being continuously monitored," the hospital said in the bulletin. Authorities at the Victoria hospital said as per COVID-19 protocol she may have to spend 10 days at the facility. But, if her family wishes to shift her to a private hospital they are allowed to, they added. On the other hand, Ilavarasi, who too had contracted coronavirus is asymptomatic. She will be free in the first week of February. (Newser) Health officials say evidence continues to mount that it's generally safe to have in-person schooling, if US schools require mask wearing and other precautions. The latest study, published online Tuesday by a CDC journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, looked at schools in rural Wisconsin and found cases linked to in-school transmission were very low, even while infections were common in the same communities, per the AP. "Data has really accumulated over the last few months that with good prevention efforts ... we can keep transmission in schools quite low," says the CDC's Margaret Honein. The study focused on 17 schools in Wood County in central Wisconsin and found cases were diagnosed at a rate 37% lower than that reported in the county overall. story continues below In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Honein and other CDC scientists say it's reassuring that the kind of spread seen in nursing homes and other places hasn't been noted in schools with prevention measures. However, they say some extracurricular school-related activities, such as sports, have triggered coronavirus spread in some places. "It's not going to be safe to have a pizza party with a group of students," Honein tells the New York Times. "But outdoor cross-country, where distance can be maintained, might be fine to continue." The CDC's findings align with the opinion of some educators and public health experts that schools "should be the last to close and the first to open when shutdowns are necessary," per the Times. (Read more coronavirus stories.) Cancer June 22-July 22 You may force a situation or outcome by instigating some kind of confrontation, most likely regarding joint resources or the future of your partnership. Although it may seem like a bad development it will have productive repercussions and transform your life in a positive way. Take the plunge and dont settle for less than you deserve. Leo July 23-August 22 Blessed with great leadership skills you are very comfortable and confident taking the helm. Today though youll be more than happy on your role of team player. Share your ideas but lend your support and listen to others. If someone looks as though they want a shot at the captains chair help them on their ascent. Virgo August 23-September 22 Youre not shy but nor are you big on making the first move. Today though, with Venus visiting your sector of passion, attached Virgos will enjoy being playful and initiating romance. Singles, cash in on your charisma and dazzle potential suitors. Taking risks and stepping out of your comfort zone will pay off, especially professionally. Libra September 23-October 22 As the people pleaser of the zodiac you usually put the needs of others before your own but today its all about looking after number one! Focus on your own desires for a change and do what you want, when you want - you deserve it! A digital detox will also do you the world of good. Scorpio October 23 November 22 Old habits die hard. Today the stars may challenge you with destructive behaviour patterns that you thought were dead and buried. Dont let them rear their ugly head and resist the urge to lapse. Its very important that you also get to the source of what triggers these impulses so that you know how best to handle them in future. Sagittarius November 23-December 20 Saggies are infamous for not having any filters and blurting out what others only dare to think. Today though your words could inadvertently be potential weapons. Unfortunately for you, you dont have a rewind button or time machine at your disposal, so its wise to choose your sentences carefully because the result will be irreversible. Capricorn December 21-January 19 Feisty star action, namely red-hot Mars, in your sector of passion is giving your love life a volatile, yet sexy and productive edge. Resist the urge to pick fights with your partner and you can work through niggling problems and make great progress. With your creativity at its peak jot down your golden ideas and pitch away! Aquarius January 20-February 18 Youre on a mission to improve your personal and professional standards, as well as appearance, love life and finances. This may sound like a tall order but with the dynamic Sun, clever Mercury, abundant Jupiter and disciplined Saturn all in your sign youll be able to accomplish absolutely anything you set your tenacious and brilliant mind to! Pisces China created 11.86 million jobs in urban areas last year, exceeding its annual goal of adding 9 million jobs, an official said on Jan. 26. The countrys employment situation improved quarter by quarter in 2020, ensuring stability and outperforming expectations, said Zhang Ying, director of the Employment Promotion Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS), during a press conference. People attend a job fair at the Hongshan Gymnasium in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Dec. 2, 2020. A national colleage graduates employment and entrepreneurship promotion fair kicked off here on Wednesday. Over 500,000 jobs vacancies were offered to applicants. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu) Chinas job creation maintained steady growth, the unemployment rate steadily dropped and the employment of key groups kept a good momentum of steady growth. In 2020, the countrys surveyed urban unemployment rate dropped from the record high of 6.2 percent in February to 5.2 percent in December, unchanged from the same period in 2019. The MHRSS took multifaceted measures, including reducing corporate burdens, keeping the payroll stable, and creating more jobs, to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on employment, Zhang said. From February to the end of 2020, China cut 1.54 trillion yuan ($238.4 billion) in social insurance contributions related to old-age, unemployment and work-related injuries for employers and employees. To support enterprises in stabilizing job posts, the country refunded 104.2 billion yuan to 6.08 million enterprises last year and allocated 100 billion yuan of subsidies and special awards to secure employment. China also provided vocational skill training to improve workers professional skills. In 2020, over 2.7 million free online vocational skill opportunities were provided for workers from poverty-stricken households, setting a new record. Employees are being persuaded to spend the Spring Festival holiday in places they work to curb the spread of COVID-19, Zhang said, noting that the ministry has worked with relevant departments to stabilize employment so enterprises can resume production and migrant workers can secure jobs after the holiday. The official added that the MHRSS would launch a campaign to guide employees, including rural migrant workers, to return to work after the holiday and would spare no effort to ensure an overall stable employment situation. Elliot Page has been replaced by Ruby Rose in the upcoming comedy 1Up. The film is currently in production in Toronto, and follows a young woman named Valerie Lee who quits her college esports team and forms her own in order to maintain her scholarship, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke the news of Page's replacement. Ruby will be playing the professor who helps Valerie assemble the new team, whereas Valerie will be played by Paris Berelc. Off the fillm: Elliot Page has been replaced by Ruby Rose in the upcoming comedy 1Up New role: Rose, pictured 2019 in New York, will now be playing the professor who helps a student assemble her new esports team in 1Up The news comes just one day after it emerged Page had filed for divorce from their wife Emma Portner, less than two months after the Umbrella Academy actor publicly coming out as trans and non-binary and received a public show of support from their spouse. Elliot, 33, filed legal documentation with a court in Manhattan seeking to dissolve their three-year marriage to the 26-year-old professional dancer, who 'proudly' supported her partner's decision to come out as transgender back in December. In a statement made to DailyMail.com, Elliot and Emma revealed that they actually 'separated last summer', before the actor came out as transgender, and have now decided to make the split official. 'After much thought and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to divorce following our separation last summer,' the statement said. 'We have the utmost respect for each other and remain close friends.' Game on: The film follows a young woman who decides to quits her esports team and decides to form her own in order to keep her scholarship (pictured 2019) Before releasing a statement, Emma and Elliot removed all images of one another from their respective Instagram accounts in what appeared to be a very clear message about the future of their marriage. Elliot and Emma are still following one another on the social media app however. Broadway Dance Center trainer Emma has only just returned to Instagram after temporarily deleting her account in the wake of Elliot's coming out. Shortly before disappearing form the app, she made a public plea for 'patience and privacy', and noted that her own 'gender identity, pronouns, and sexuality' are 'private and not up for debate'. Elliot last addressed the public in a statement shared on their Instagram account on December 20, when the actor thanked their fans for their support over their decision to come out. Split: Meanwhile, news of the new role comes amid Page's divorce from wife Emma Portner (pictured 2019 in New York) 'From the bottom of my heart, thank you,' Elliot wrote, while sharing an image of themselves posing in a black hoodie and wire-framed glasses. 'Your love and support has been the greatest gift. Stay safe. Be there for each other.' Emma has shared a handful of posts on her account since reactivating it early in the new year, however she has not addressed her relationship with Elliot, instead sharing two dance videos, and two tongue-in-cheek selfies that see her posing with a potato. Despite removing images of Elliot from her Instagram, Emma still has a copy of the actor's coming out statement posted on her account, along with the statement of support and pride she shared at the time it was released. In the post, she wrote: 'I am so proud of @elliotpage. Trans, queer and non-binary people are a gift to this world. 'I also ask for patience & privacy [and] that you join me in the fervent support of trans life every single day. Elliots existence is a gift in and of itself. Shine on sweet E. Love you so much.' She also commented on Elliot's Instagram post, writing: 'Love you so much elliot.' A source told DailyMail.com that Emma chose to delete her Instagram account in the days after Elliot came out, after becoming overwhelmed with the influx of hateful comments targeted at the Juno actor in the wake of their statement. Elliot and Emma have been together since 2017, and they wed in a secret ceremony in early 2018. MISSOULA University of Montana student Haley VonGoedert is busy making lists. The UM senior from Seattle is cataloguing the food and personal items needed for spending four months in a remote Alaskan fishing village. The goods will be delivered by floatplane the first week of January. Like a good Grizzly, she knows packing less and light is best, and shell make do with whats there after arriving. On the heels of completing required coursework in UMs Phyllis J. Washington College of Education, the elementary education major has selected a small school in the mostly Indigenous community of Newhalen, Alaska home of the Yupik people for her required student teaching experience and final semester of her bachelors degree. Accessible only by seaplane or ocean ferry, the community of 160 people sits in the heart of southwest Alaskas vast territory at the mouth of the Newhalen River on Iliamna Lake. On her list is a new phone, as cell coverage is about as a scarce as traffic or commercial shopping. I understand there actually isnt really cell phone coverage, she said. The school is the only place in town with Wi-Fi. Making sure to list a parka and hiking boots, VonGoedert will live about 20 steps from the school after looking really closely on Google maps, she said. UM Education students must complete a student teaching practicum for a semester before becoming certified teachers. In Newhalen, VonGoedert will teach elementary students in a school where the entire K-12 population is 80 students. Its not close to home, thats for sure, VonGoedert said. The pandemic has taken so much away, so Im thrilled to be able to even have this opportunity. At UM, the Davidson Honors College student combined her teacher education curriculum with the Wilderness and Civilization Program in UMs W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. VonGoedert said training in elementary education and studying the ways people interact with land and wilderness provided her a unique background as she prepares for the role of teacher. One of the things UM does so well is offer a lot of tracks that complement the education major, she said. Im really interested in sustainability and the environment and the ways those subjects are presented in the classroom. Having a foot in teacher education, combined with really meaningful wilderness experiences in the College of Forestry, will make me a better teacher and learner especially in a community like Newhalen. VonGoedert credits UM-affiliated backcountry camping experiences and forestry classes for developing her deep appreciation of land ethics. She said her UM education was probably spent equally indoors as outside. As she prepares to join a community where the primary residents are Alaska Natives, she also praises her education classes and faculty for their commitment to emphasize cultural diversity in the classroom. She said many of her education classes were steeped in the training and tenets of Montanas Indian Education For All, a state constitutional requirement to learn about the distinct and unique heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive manner. Theres no way you come out of UMs teacher education program without a commitment to teaching to and being responsive to a culturally diverse curriculum, she said. Thats something Im really proud of, and I think that focus is distinct to UM. VonGoedert said she wants to observe the cultural values of the Newhalen community and and try to enhance that in beneficial ways in the classroom, which might eventually look like a service-learning project, she said. For the inevitable moments on hard days, VonGoedert will be supported and mentored by staff in UMs Teacher Education Services office. Maygan Lenz, assistant director of the Office of Field Experiences, a former teacher herself, said she considers every UM student in field placement like one of her own children. On any given year, Lenz and staff help place anywhere from 400 to 600 UM students for teacher practicums all over Montana, country and as far as New Zealand. Weve had this partnership with Alaskas Lake and Peninsula School District for some time, she said. But, not every student is interested in an experience like this for their student teaching. Haley, however, is an adventurous person and a terrific fit. The last UM student who chose Newhalen for their student teaching experience was in 2018, and is still teaching in Alaska, Lenz said. Mentoring students and working alongside them to select the best field practicum is what she loves most about her job, Lenz said. Most of the staff in the department is either a former teacher or alumni of UMs teacher education program, she said, which provides a rich understanding of what future teachers are going through, and their anxieties and hopes. Above all, we want each and every student coming through our office to be successful, Lenz said, and that starts with helping them select the right student teaching placement and supporting them the entire way through. It also includes a pipeline of communication and support from UMs Education Building, no matter how far a school district is from Missoula. Haley will be in a different time zone, but at any moment, we are here for her, Lenz said. All of our students know that, and thats why student teaching is such an important experience, because it helps young teachers understand that to be successful, you must rely on, and engage with, your community. ### Contact: Maygan Lenz, assistant director, UM Office of Field Experiences, 406-243-4908, maygan.lenz@umontana.edu. Former Married At First Sight star Sam Ball has spoken about his time on the controversial show and dropped a series of behind-the-scenes bombshells. In a series of videos posted to Instagram Stories, the 28-year-old army recruit described how producers allegedly 'manipulate' participants and set up scenarios. He also spoke about the infamous 'fat-shaming' incident on his MAFS wedding day, saying he had never judged ex-'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff because of her weight. Speaking out: Former Married At First Sight star Sam Ball has spoken about his time on the controversial show and dropped a series of behind-the-scenes bombshells Sam went on to insist he had never slept with anyone on the show, despite making headlines in 2019 for his on-screen 'affair' with co-star Ines Basic. 'I was in a contract for a long time so kept my mouth shut. Hope you guys in the UK are enjoying the show, because I'm about to ruin it for you,' Sam began. He then claimed the producers, not the experts, are the ones who pick the couples. Claims: In a series of videos posted to Instagram Stories, the 28-year-old Army recruit described how producers allegedly 'manipulate' participants and set up scenarios Clarification: Sam went on to insist he'd never slept with anyone on the show, despite making headlines in 2019 for his on-screen 'affair' with co-star Ines Basic (pictured) He claimed that after the weddings, producers ask you about your new 'spouse' and then manipulate your responses. 'Producers ask you and hit you up about your new partner,' he said. 'They go off track, manipulate you and tell you what to say and ask questions until you answer it they want you to answer it... I thought Lizzie was a lovely girl, I was trying to give her positive compliments until they told me to say what was said, so that's what happened,' he added of the 'fat-shaming' incident. 'Lizzie got out of the f**king limo and says, "Oh, my God, look how chunky tubby is." She fat-shamed me and I said she's bigger than the girl I usually dated, meaning height and stuff like that.' Stitched up: Sam claimed that after the weddings, producers ask you about your new 'spouse' and then manipulate your responses. Pictured with ex-'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff Sam went on to suggest that producers 'fat-shamed' Elizabeth in front of him. 'I didn't want to fat-shame her at all, that's not what my intentions were. They were the ones who said, "Sam, she's a big girl mate, what are you doing?!" That's messed up, they shouldn't do it, it's all bulls**t,' he said. He also spoke about his 'affair' with Ines and said he was 'asked' to do it - and he did so because he has done 'acting' in the past. 'I didn't sleep with anyone on the show, mark my words,' Sam insisted. 'Bulls**t': Sam went on to suggest that producers 'fat-shamed' Elizabeth in front of him He sensationally claimed the show's 'relationship experts' are actually actors. 'They don't talk to you, they're getting told things through an earpiece. They're just actors,' he said. Sam said that when he left to go to a funeral in New Zealand, producers were threatening 'to sue him for leaving'. 'I knew Lizzie for 10 minutes, the funeral was the priority,' he said. He also spoke about how he didn't turn up for the finale because he had a girlfriend at the time who was 'going crazy' about the situation. Dishing the details: He also spoke about how he didn't turn up for the finale because he had a girlfriend at the time who was 'going crazy' about the situation In March last year, Lizzie admitted to NW Magazine that she still felt traumatised by her 'wedding' to Sam. 'I felt like I had a form of PTSD after last year's marriage,' she said. 'Because last year I was having things said to my face and other actions were happening behind my back that I was completely unaware of, so this time around my walls were sky-high.' Lizzie failed to find love with Sam, who came under fire for fat-shaming her on their wedding day. Fans were outraged when he remarked that he had never 'dated girls as big' as Elizabeth before. 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth to be honest. It's obviously a topic that's troubled her in the past,' he said. Struggles: In March last year, Lizzie admitted to NW Magazine that she felt traumatised by her 'wedding' to Sam. Lizzie went on to find love with Seb Guilhaus (right) on the show last year, but the pair have since split Sam also sparked outrage after revealing his plans to help Elizabeth lose weight after their televised nuptials. 'She's got a beautiful face... Maybe I'll get her running in the mornings... but she'll be right. We'll get her going,' he said. Lizzie went on to find love with Seb Guilhaus on Married At First Sight last year, but the pair have since split. Daily Mail Australia has contacted Nine for comment, in relation to this article. More information is coming in about the deadly tornado that hit northern Jefferson County late Monday night. The National Weather Service in Birmingham spent much of Tuesday surveying storm damage after the tornado roared through the Fultondale and Center Point areas around 11 p.m. Monday, killing a teenager and injuring up to 30 others. The weather service now believes that damage was consistent with an EF-3-caliber tornado with winds up to 150 mph. NEW: The Fultondale tornado has been given a rating of EF-3 w/ peak winds around 150 mph. Keep in mind that intensity & width varied along its path. The EF-3 damage was focused near Lykes Blvd to New Castle Rd. We will continue to review, but don't anticipate a change in rating. pic.twitter.com/VXZmQY1cG1 NWS Birmingham (@NWSBirmingham) January 27, 2021 The weather service earlier on Tuesday released a preliminary update that said the damage was at least a high-end EF-2 but amended that after surveying significant damage along Lykes Boulevard and New Castle Road. More information released late Tuesday: The tornado was on the ground for an estimated 9.5 miles and was 500 yards wide at its peak. It had maximum winds of 150 mph, but the weather service noted that the storms intensity varied along its path. See the preliminary storm report from the National Weather Service here. The storm that spawned the Fultondale tornado formed in central Mississippi, moved into Alabama and intensified as it moved into Jefferson County. The tornado lifted near Center Point but as it crossed the state prompted another tornado warning near the Alabama-Georgia border. The storm was one of only a handful on Monday that produced severe weather. It is also the first tornado of 2021 in Alabama. Image: Gabrielle Clare Marano/Unsplash While Americans have been caught in a whirlwind of conspiracy theories the last several months, many pastors say they hear such unfounded claims from their church members. Image: Lifeway Research A new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research finds 49% of U.S. Protestant pastors say they frequently hear members of their congregation repeating conspiracy theories they have heard about why something is happening in our country. Around 1 in 8 (13%) strongly agree their congregants are sharing conspiracy theories, defined by Merriam-Webster as a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators. Another 47% disagree, including 26% who strongly disagree, saying they do not often hear church members sharing such ideas. One in 20 (5%) are not sure. Christian churches resolve to be places focused on the truth, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. Yet, half of pastors hear the spread of assumptions about plots often. This is a startling disconnect. Pastors of churches with more than 250 in attendance are the most likely to agree (61%). White pastors are also more likely than African American pastors to say they frequently hear their church members repeating conspiracy theories (50% to 36%). Pastors 65 and older are the most likely to disagree that they hear those ideas in their church (59%) and the least likely to agree (34%). While conspiracy theories may be embraced by a minority of churchgoers, the larger the church the more minds and mouths exist to be misled, said McConnell. At this time, it appears more of the theories are traveling in politically conservative circles which corresponds to the higher percentages in the churches led by white Protestant pastors. For Christian apologist Mary Jo Sharp, the widespread sharing of conspiracy theories within churches is a worrisome trend, as it can reinforce negative stereotypes about Christians and hamper efforts to share the gospel. Irresponsibility with information unravels the impact of a Christians witness to those in their community, and, with social media, to the broader world, she said. The non-Christian may begin to believe or become further ingrained in the culturally popular belief that Christians are anti-intellectual, including anti-science. Sharp, author of Living in Truth: Confident Conversations in a Conflicted Culture, said, Christians should always be gospel-forward in how they live their public lives. They are representatives of the kingdom of God. Because of this status, she said that before Christians share anything in person or on social media, they should first ask: How will this affect my ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ? The Apostle Paul tells us that, Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). I am supposed to delight in knowing, and, therefore, in sharing what is true, said Sharp. That is a high calling, but it is the one Christians are called to as followers of The Truth (John 14:6). We are not called to perfection, but to take seriously our representation of Jesus, and the truth of His salvation. While half of pastors note they frequently hear their church members sharing conspiracy theories, a previous study found church members may not be sharing the gospel that frequently. In a 2019 Lifeway Research study, most Protestant churchgoers (55%) said they had not shared with anyone how to become a Christian in the past six months. Before returning to heaven, Jesus appealed to His followers to share what they had seen and heard, said McConnell. Passing along these eye-witness accounts of Jesus teaching and His death, burial and resurrection is the mission of the church. Instead, many church members are sharing things that might be, could happen or sound possible. One is a firm message of hope, and the other a shaky message of fear. Sylvia Jeffreys and Peter Stefanovic will soon welcome their second child. And on Monday, the couple enjoyed their last few months as a family of three while taking adorable son Oscar, 11 months, to the beach. The trio lapped up the warmer weather together as they strolled along a Sydney beach, before their young son enjoyed a splash with his father. Family day out: Sylvia Jeffreys, 34, flaunted her blossoming baby bump in a chic tan frock as she and husband Peter Stefanovic took son Oscar, 11 months, to the beach on Monday Pregnant Sylvia kept a watchful eye from the shore as the father-son duo enjoyed their playful splash session. Sylvia flaunted her baby bump in a chic loose-fitting tan-hued frock. She complimented the look with Birkenstock sandals. The beauty also kept sun smart by wearing a pair of designer shades. Radiant: Sylvia flaunted her baby bump in a chic loose-fitting tan-hued frock. She complimented the look with Birkenstock sandals She wore minimal makeup and had her signature blonde tresses in a low pony. Husband Peter stripped down to just a pair of tight green swim shorts for the day out. Son Oscar was also fitted in a colourful sun smart outfit. Oscar will be the big brother to the family's newest addition, who is due in April. Splash! Peter was every inch the doting father while taking Oscar for a dip in the water Water baby: Little Oscar appeared to be a confident little fellow as he took steps in the water The couple announced they were expecting their second child together in October - eight months on from welcoming Oscar into the world. 'Oscar's little brother due in April next year. We are so lucky,' Sylvia told her Instagram fans at the time. Peter and Sylvia married in 2017 in the idyllic Kangaroo Valley, in NSW. MakeMyTrip Sets Off On A Journey Of Discovering Indias Beautiful Hidden Spots And Youre Invited Have you ever heard of a lake created because of a meteorite collision 50,000 years ago thats now used to study the moon and Mars in Maharashtra? Or witnessed stunning rock-cut structural temples from the shores of Agastya lake in Karnataka that was once the capital of the Early Chalukyas? Have you been awestruck at the view of more than 40 Himalayan peaks seen from a small village in Uttarakhand? Most of us would have already visited the top tourist spots in India. With so many great places to visit already, it can be easy to forget that India has a wealth of undiscovered places that dont necessarily come with a tourist tag. This year, while we wait for international travel to resume, lets pledge to visit some of these extraordinary destinations that await you. Those of us bitten by the travel bug know what it means to travel outside and forge new experiences on our journeys. Thankfully, MakeMyTrip has come up with a brilliant answer to feed our wanderlust while we wait for the world to open her arms to us once again. THE PLAN Whats the plan you ask? Well, MakeMyTrip has curated a list of offbeat and hidden places across the country that they want to encourage you to travel to. These arent your usual run-of-the-mill tourist brochure inspired places. Instead, the list will open your eyes, and hopefully your travel boots, to explore the hidden corners that are almost as beautiful as popular places Indians visit otherwise, if not more so. Far away from tourist hotspots of India is an India that is waiting to showcase her beauty, if only you know where to look. Thats where MakeMyTrip comes in. The online travel booking giant has made a list of these hidden gems that they plan to bring to you. From Lonar in Maharashtra to Chopta in Uttarakhand and Badami in Karnataka and many more exciting places, this one needs to go to your to-do list rather than your bucket list. For a country as big and diverse as ours, MakeMyTrip has come up with a launch plan thats as grand as their list of places. THE IDEA Starting today, that is January 26, 2021, over the next 45 days, MakeMyTrip will release details of the list of places through 36 influencers representing different Indian states from different arenas such as travel, photography and lifestyle, such as Shenaz Treasurywala, Gaurav Taneja, Savi and Vid from Bruised Passports and many more. Each of these influencers will reach out to their followers and amplify the campaign, making it reach the right target audience in the next few weeks. Think along the lines of Ajinkya Rahane, Virender Sehwag, Mary Kom, Sunil Chhetri, Saina Nehwal, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Guru Randhawa, Pankaj Tripathi and Suresh Raina among others to get an idea about some of the sportspersons, celebrities and influencers roped in for the campaign. THE DISCOVERY On January 26, the campaign will be launched by MakeMyTrip through a video that will encourage you to rediscover India and its beauty. With a voiceover by Vijay Raaz, the video will exhort you to look beyond the obvious tourist attractions in the country. This will soon be followed by Indias first online travel parade on Instagram Stories where the 36 influencers will be seen talking about their state and its beautiful corners. This will be followed by the influencers who will travel and discover these amazing places for their followers in a bid to inspire them to explore their own country. Were enthused by this idea of travelling and seeking beauty in our own land and falling in love with it all over again. Indias sheer diversity means that you can experience almost any type of travel youre looking for and MakeMyTrips initiative is sure to trigger wanderlust and set you off on a new journey soon were sure. Heres to more adventures and new experiences in India over the next few months, courtesy MakeMyTrip. This is a partnered post. Jeffrey Epstein was a sexual predator who died in jail while awaiting trial on charges of serial offences against underage girls. But when Leon Black first met him in the 1990s, he saw a different side of the elusive businessman, according to a report this week, viewing him as someone who was very intelligent and knowledgeable regarding . . . estate planning and taxation. Mr Black is one of the most successful financiers of his generation, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, a group that ranks among the most powerful on Wall Street. Yet the billionaire attributes a sizeable part of his family wealth to Epstein, estimating that as much as $2bn in benefits can be traced back to the late paedophiles financial acumen. By comparison, Forbes magazine estimated Mr Black was worth $7.7bn at the time of Epsteins 2019 suicide. On Monday, lawyers for Apollo pointed to that professional relationship to explain why its founder had paid $158m to Epstein over a five-year period ending in 2017 during which the disgraced businessman served as Mr Blacks high-priced adviser on issues ranging from audits by the tax authorities, management of his yacht and private plane, and a dispute over the ownership of a sculpture by Pablo Picasso. Over two decades, Mr Black confided in Epstein regarding personal matters, leaned on him as an architect of, and strict taskmaster for, the private office that managed his investments. The men socialised or held meetings at Epsteins Caribbean island and his other properties in New York, Paris, Florida and New Mexico. The public reckoning over Mr Blacks ties to a convicted sex offender marks a humiliating coda to a relationship that began to sour years before Epsteins shocking death in federal custody. There has been a virtual tsunami in the press on this subject, Mr Black said in 2019. It seems to be the gift that never stops giving . . . Its salacious, it involves elements of politics, of Me Too, of rich and powerful people. And my guess is it will continue for a while. Last October, after new revelations of Mr Blacks payments to Epstein prompted a number of top pension funds to freeze further investments with Apollo, Mr Black asked his company to commission an investigation from Dechert, the international law firm. Let me be clear, there has never been an allegation by anyone that I engaged in any wrongdoing because I did not, Mr Black said then. Any suggestion of blackmail or any other connection to Epsteins reprehensible conduct is categorically untrue. The pair last spoke in 2018, after Epstein sent emails that made what Dechert called unsubstantiated assertions about the work he had performed and demanding more cash. Mr Black refused to pay anything more. As their relationship deteriorated, Epstein was not above invoking his friendship with Black in an attempt to extract more money. According to the report by Apollos lawyers, he did so by referencing personal matters that Black had shared with Epstein in confidence. Their report added: There is no evidence that those matters had any relationship to any of Epsteins criminal activity or to any of Blacks payments to Epstein. Second chances The Apollo founder had known Epstein for roughly a decade when Epstein was convicted in 2008 of soliciting sex from a minor, in a plea bargain that resulted in a 13-month prison sentence. Black viewed Epstein as a confirmed bachelor with eclectic tastes, who often employed attractive women, according to the Dechert report, but he had no recollection of ever seeing Epstein with an underage woman at any time. Rather than severing the relationship after the conviction, the Apollo founder began to formally employ Epstein as an adviser in 2012. Mr Black has characterised himself as someone who believes in . . . giving people second chances, according to the Dechert report. That is in keeping, the lawyers added, with relationships Mr Black has maintained with his former mentor Michael Milken, who served time in prison for securities violations committed at the failed investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Martha Stewart, who was convicted in 2004 of making false statements and obstruction of justice in relation to a stock trade. Moreover, Mr Black believed that the severity of Epsteins offences was limited to a single instance of soliciting a 17-year-old prostitute that Black believed Epstein had mistakenly understood was older, the Dechert report said. Leon Black kept relationships with other convicted felons including Martha Stewart Getty Images . . . and his early-career mentor at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Michael Milken AP A matter of trusts Epsteins first and most valuable assignment, people familiar with his work told Dechert, was to rectify defects in a trust structure that had been designed to allow Mr Black to transfer some assets to his heirs without paying estate or gift tax. The structure dated from 2006, and had been created by lawyers recommended by Epstein. But the way they had implemented it meant that, without further action, the trust would carry a future risk of a large estate tax assessment. Epstein had a unique solution to the problem, which [he] asserted was proprietary, and which another of Mr Blacks lawyers called a grand slam [that] met all of Blacks financial and estate planning goals. Decherts witnesses put the tax savings from the plan at between $500m and $1bn. Some of Epsteins ideas were uniquely creative and useful, people familiar with his work told the Dechert lawyers. In particular, he could motivate Black to concentrate on certain family office issues in a way that others could not. But some of his ideas were unremarkable or not viable, the report said, and he had a habit of taking credit for other peoples work. Some witnesses described a toxic and destructive work environment under Epstein, the Dechert lawyers wrote, although others agreed that the pressure that Epstein exerted . . . did [improve] their performance. Mr Black on Monday said the Dechert report confirmed the key facts I have previously disclosed concerning my relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, including that I was completely unaware of Mr Epsteins abhorrent misconduct that came to light in late 2018. He added that he would step down as Apollos chief executive by July 31, as part of a package of reforms that will hand more power to Apollos public shareholders while allowing him to remain as chairman. In a letter sent to Apollo investors in 2019, Mr Black insisted that he had never promoted Epstein to his top colleagues at the company. That statement was not false, the Dechert report said, although Mr Black did positively comment on the substantial value of Epsteins services. Despite that recommendation from Apollos billionaire founder, the lawyers added, it is clear that no Apollo employee other than Black ever seriously considered hiring Epstein. Though mask recommendations have shifted repeatedly during the pandemic, one piece of advice has stayed relatively consistent: Both the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization have repeatedly recommended that surgical-grade (FFP1) and N95 masks (FFP2) are reserved for healthcare workers, while cloth masks and gaiters are to be worn by everyday citizens going about their normal lives. That may not be the case for much longer. The German government began requiring all people to wear FFP1 or FFP2 masks while on public transport, in workplaces, and in shops starting Tuesday, Jan. 19. France followed later that week, mandating that both FFP1 and FFP2 are required in public places. Austrias FFP2 mandate began on Sunday, Jan. 24. WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks for $0.29 at WellBefore WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks - Individually Wrapped - wellbefore.com 0.29 Shop Now The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommends face masks in indoor and outdoor situations to help prevent the spread of new variations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. While they dont specify the type of mask, both the WHO and the CDC recommend that FFP1 and FFP2 masks, which have been in short supply for the duration of the pandemic, be reserved for healthcare workers. This isnt the first major shift in mask recommendations. In the early days of the pandemic, understanding of the virus was minimal and surgical masks and N95s were both in short supply. The CDC advised against wearing masks at all, reversing course about a month into the viruss spread across the globe. The change in recommendations come down to the masks efficacy. Study after study has confirmed that the N95 mask (FFP2) provides the greatest protection possible aside from social distancing and simply staying home, with three-layer surgical masks (FFP1) coming in a distant second. Cloth face masks, folded bandanas and gaiters were all found to be significantly less effective. It's important to note that in all but a few highly specific situations, face coverings are still far safer than going maskless. Harley NIOSH N95 Masks for $3.99 at WellBefore Harley N95 NIOSH - L-188 Folding Mask - wellbefore.com 3.99 Shop Now The CDC recommends that gaiters be worn in two layers. Reports that mask gaiters were worse than no mask were later contradicted by experts. The effectiveness of face shields is not currently known. As scientists have gained a greater understanding of COVID-19 and mask supplies have caught up with demand, and as new variants of the disease have emerged, health experts and world leaders have seen more incentive to increase precautions. Whether or not masks are the best way to accomplish that is the subject of controversy. The better the quality of mask you can wear, the more effective that will be at stopping transmission, but you need to put affordability and accessibility into that as well, Jimmy Whitworth, a public health professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Bloomberg. Writing for The Washington Post, associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University Joseph G. Allen said, "theres no reason any essential worker and, really, everyone in the country should go without (N95) masks that filter 95 percent (of pathogens) ... heres my cheat sheet: If you can find an N95, go for it. These are certified in the United States. Barring that, Id go for the certified mask used in South Korea, the KF94. Next Id choose KN95s." Shoppers looking for N95 masks in particular should be wary of the spread of counterfeit N95s. Read our guide on detecting and avoiding them. Speaking to journalists in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her own citizens and other governments to take the new regulations seriously so as to prevent a third wave. A woman wears a mask as she enters a building where the Employment Development Department (EDD) has its offices in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 4, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) California Officials Say the States Unemployment Benefits Fraud Could Top $11 Billion California may have sent out as much as $11 billion in pandemic unemployment benefits to fraudsters, officials said Monday. According to a press release (pdf), Californias Employment Development Department (EDD) has processed 19.5 million claims and paid out $114 billion in unemployment benefits since March 2020, when the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic hit the Golden State. An estimated 10 percent of those payments, or $11.4 billion, has been confirmed to be made to fraudulent claims. In addition, another 17 percent of those unemployment claims is under investigation after being flagged as suspicious. EDD is now working with some of the countrys most successful fraud prevention businesses and law enforcement agencies to protect the states unemployment benefit system, said Julie Su, secretary to Californias Labor and Workforce Development Agency. We know that many Californians are waiting on payments, and EDD is working quickly to validate their claims and get their benefits to them. Nationally, 35 percent of unemployment applications are fraudulent, according to ID.me, a Virginia-based security company hired by 21 states to investigate and combat the fraud. Currently, ID.me is blocking about $1B in fraud per week across the states we serve, said Blake Hall, founder and chief executive of the company. The fraud rate for new claims is at least 35 percent and over ten times what we see at federal agencies. California should be commended for also moving early to screen high-risk claims filed prior to ID.mes introduction, preventing further loss to taxpayers. Unionized hospitality workers wait in line in a basement garage to apply for unemployment benefits at the Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 13, 2020. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo) Earlier this month, Hall warned that a lot of Californias defrauded funds went to foreign crime organizations, which filed unemployment claims with stolen identity information, and used money mules in the United States to pick up benefit debit cards. When the Russians and the Nigerians and the Chinese are the players on the field, they are going to put up some points, Hall told Los Angeles Times. This is a very sophisticated cyberattack thats being run at scale. It was previously estimated that the EDD paid up to $4 billion to fraudsters, including a former EDD employee who collected $21,000 in unemployment benefits using the name and Social Security number of Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The scam wasnt exposed until Bank of America, which administers the EDDs benefit debit cards, flagged the unemployment claims made in the senators name. Moreover, hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits went to prison and jail inmates, many of whom werent held in California, according to a law enforcement task force led by district attorneys. The volume of fraud as well as the types of inmates involved is staggering, the district attorneys wrote in a letter (pdf) to Gov. Gavin Newsom. They added that inmates on death row, those serving life sentences and life without possibility of parole, rapists, child molesters, human traffickers, and other violent criminals, were receiving unemployment checks, and that many of those checks were sent out of state. According to a December analysis obtained by LA Times, more than 2,000 claims deemed to be at high or moderate risk of fraud were from inmates of the Florida Department of Corrections or county jails in that state. Overall, the report estimates that some $42 million in claims went to out-of-state prison and jail inmates. (Alliance News) - Imperial Brands PLC on Wednesday unveiled a new strategy to transform the company, with a "revitalised tobacco business" at the centre of value creation. Shares in Imperial were down 4.9% at 1,545.50 pence in London in afternoon trading. The new strategy and five-year plan has been developed following a strategic review and has three main pillars. These are a focus on priority combustible markets, driving value from its boarder market portfolio, and building a targeted next generation products business. FTSE 100-listed tobacco firm Imperial, which owns the Winston cigarette and blu e-cigarette brands, will concentrate its investment and resources round the US, Germany, UK, Spain, and Australia - those being its five most important markets and representing 72% of combustible operating profit. Additionally, it has identified opportunities within its broader market portfolio for diving future growth and "efficiencies in how we operate these markets", with some investment and some exits. "Although these markets are smaller, they benefit from attractive margins and relatively limited investment requirements. We will selectively build those where we have attractive leadership positions, such as Africa and other European markets, and will selectively exit a small number of others where we have a relatively weaker presence," said Imperial. Further, Imperial plans to reset its NGP strategy, taking a "significantly different approach" and focusing investment on heated tobacco opportunities in Europe as well as "selective market opportunities in vapour", especially in the US. Oral nicotine is to remain focused on exiting markets in Europe with any investment in NGP to be "disciplined and based on detailed market testing". Additionally, Imperial will improve ways of working, investing to support a consistent approach to consumer insight as it acknowledged that "decisions in the past have not been sufficiently informed by consumer insights and data". It will also embed a "performance-based culture" through rewards and incentives that reinforce performance and delivery of company objectives. Senior monthly performance reviews are already taking place to reinforce this. Moreover, it is simplifying its operations and increasing efficiency, combining its NGP operations under a "unified, entrepreneurial business unit" while finance and human resources will be aligned with supporting this new strategy and efficient resource allocation. Given all of these changes, Imperial plans to increase its core capabilities investment, such as in sales and marketing, by around GBP50 million to GBP60 million a year, funded by efficiency savings from reorganising and simplifying the company. Annualised savings are expected to be between around GBP100 million and GBP150 million by its financial year ending September 2023. The cash costs of its initiatives are forecast at between approximately GBP245 million and GBP275 million, mostly spent in financial 2022. Associated non-cash restructuring charges are expected at around GBP150 million. "This programme is necessary to reshape the business and support delivery of the strategy. As a one-off and time-bound programme, we intend to treat the costs as an adjusting item to aid comparison of performance over time. Any additional restructuring charges beyond [financial 2022] will not be treated as an adjusting item," said Imperial. For financial 2021, Imperial's outlook is still in line with what was provided at the time of its November preliminary results, with no further update on current trading. Its new plan is predicted to deliver a gradually improving net revenue trajectory for the next five years with a compound annual growth rate of around 1% to 2% for financial 2020 to financial 2025. No major reset to operating profit will be needed for the first two years of Imperial's plan, given it will be funded through cost savings and resource reallocation. Adjusted operating profit is expected to improve, delivering a mid-single digit organic CAGR for the three year period for financial 2023 to financial 2025. Debt reduction will remain a priority as Imperial seeks to deliver its target for the lower end of its net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation range of 2 to 2.5 timrs. Its dividend will grow annually from the current rebased level and surplus capital returned to shareholders once target leverage is achieved. Chief Executive Stefan Bomhard said: "We have undertaken a comprehensive strategic review, examining all opportunities for unlocking value. This process has reinforced my view that the group has solid foundations on which we can build a better and stronger business. "Our new detailed five-year plan sets out clear strategic priorities, which will drive targeted investment behind those markets and brands with the greatest opportunities for value creation. We have put the consumer at the centre of everything we do and are beginning to reshape our culture to support the new strategy. This will improve our ways of working and create an agile, collaborative and performance-based business that will deliver a stronger, more consistent performance." By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. The Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office has identified the cause of death for an oil heir found dead in San Antonio. John Gilbert Getty, 52, the grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, died on Nov. 20. The cause was cardiomyopathy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, complicated by fentanyl toxicity, officials said Wednesday. The manner of death was an accident. Getty was found at 136 E. Grayson Street, the address of Hotel Emma, a luxury hotel within the Pearl district. "John was a talented musician who loved rock and roll," a representative for the family said in November. "He will be deeply missed." John's daughter, Ivy, shared a tribute to her father on Instagram, writing, "My father was awesome-coolest man to ever land on this planet and I will forever be the proudest daughter." She added that San Antonio was one of his favorite American cities. John was predeceased by his mother, Ann, and brother, Andrew. Ann, a publisher and arts patron, died in September after suffering a heart attack. Andrew, 47, was found dead in 2015 at his Los Angeles home. J. Paul Getty, John's grandfather, was a wildcatter who built an empire in the United States and struck an oil deal with Saudi Arabia in the 1960s. His son Gordon, John's father, sold Getty Oil to Texaco for $10 billion in 1984. In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated the Getty family fortune at $5.4 billion. Is this why Biden booted Churchill from the Oval Office? Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Once again Sir Winston Churchill has been booted from the Oval Office. The bust of the old bulldog whose steely focus was on Donald Trump for the last four years is notably absent, to paraphrase a Washington Post report. Getting booted is nothing new to Sir Winston. As a child he was a poor student, sparking outright derision from his father who dreamt of a glorious career for his offspring. Lord Randolph Churchill did not live long enough to see his son become prime minister, but he did see the young lad fail in his schoolwork. Winstons morally wayward and shockingly neglectful father also saw his son twice fail entrance exams to Sandhurst, Britains noted military academy, finally to succeed only to get in at the lowest level. The Admiralty (British Navy command) needed a scapegoat for a disastrous battle off the coasts of Turkey in 1914 and fired Winston Churchill from his lofty role as Lord of the Admiralty. Churchill volunteered to be sent to the bloody trenches of Flanders as a somewhat common soldier. Following that period of service, Churchill returned to government as Secretary of State, only to get booted from that job. Finally, on May 10, 1940, King George VI summoned Churchill, then a member of Parliament, to the palace and asked him to take on the immense task of serving as wartime prime minister and minister of defense. Churchill, as history shows, was hugely successful in that role. After leading Britain to near-impossible victory he and almost everyone else were certain a grateful electorate would waft him back into office. But in 1945 the British people voted him out. Churchill, like Donald Trump flying back home to Mar-a-Lago perhaps in a daze, chugged back home to Chartwell in disappointment and shock. Thus, the booted bust has had a journey somewhat like the man it represents. The sculpture was loaned to the White House and President George W. Bush in 2001 and had a fairly long residency there. Then, in 2016, newly elected Barack Obama booted the bust. Despite rumors, it stayed in the White House, just outside the Treaty Room. This prompted mild indignation from across the Atlantic, as then-London Mayor Boris Johnson pronounced Obamas move a snub to Britain. President Donald Trump brought Sir Winstons head and shoulder-sculpture back to the Oval Office in 2017. Joe Biden booted Churchill one more time on January 20. The press got its first glimpse of President Joe Bidens Oval Office on Wednesday, showing in a matter of hours the office has been transformed in both dramatic and subtle ways to reflect the taste and politics of the officeholder, CNN reported. What did the removal of the Churchill bust say about Bidens politics? Why would conservative occupants of the Oval Office keep it and those more to the left banish it? There is a clue in a speech Churchill made to the American people on October 16, 1938, when the future prime minister said: Since the dawn of the Christian era a certain way of life has slowly been shaping itself among the Western peoples, and certain standards of conduct and government have come to be esteemed. After many miseries and prolonged confusion, there arose into the broad light of day the conception of the right of the individual; his right to be consulted in the government of his country; his right to invoke the law even against the State itself. However, Churchill lamented that under the then-growing Hitler-Nazi movement, the lights are going out. Churchill added comments that are eerily suggestive of our times: We are confronted with another theme. It is not a new theme; it leaps upon us from the Dark Ages racial persecution, religious intolerance, deprivation of free speech, the conception of the citizen as a mere soulless fraction of the State. To this has been added the cult of war. Children are ... taught (this idea) in their earliest schooling... Churchill predicted that the Battle of Britain would soon begin, and dared to say that, Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Churchills words replayed in our times violate the very heart and soul of political correctness. To many on the left today, Christian civilization needed to go. In its larger expression as Western Civilization they believe it is the source of staggering evils. Mr. Obama understandably wanted a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in his office, and who knows the full motive of Joe Biden in removing the Churchill bust? But to many on the left today most residing politically among Bidens Democrats Churchills defense of the British Empire and his passion for Christian Civilization make him and his memory unacceptable, something to be cancelled. I can attest that Churchills passion was genuine, and not just a political ploy. In 2015 I co-authored with Churchills great grandson, Jonathan Sandys, God and Churchill (Tyndale House) a spiritual biography of Sir Winston. Jonathan sadly is now deceased, but I can still hear his words that we included in our book: Great-grandpapa was serious in his mention of Christianity! We recalled Churchills own words when he said he might not have been a pillar of the church, but that he was a flying buttress. And that Sir Winston was. He saw himself as defending the Judeo-Christian worldview against the raw paganism of Hitler and the Nazis. Jonathan told Churchills official biographer, Sir Martin Gilbert, about our book. Sir Martin, himself a Jew, encouraged us on, telling Jonathan that there was much unreported evidence about the Churchills spiritual views and history. Is this among the dramatic and subtle reasons the left disdains Churchill, and Joe Biden booted Churchills bust? The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. FULTON, Miss. (WTVA) - The Mississippi Highway Patrol (MHP) and Itawamba Community College (ICC) signed an agreement on Tuesday for a new education program. The agreement will create the preferred candidate program, which will give students a leg-up on becoming a state trooper. MHP Col. Randy Ginn (left) and ICC President Dr. Jay Allen signed the agreement on Jan. 26, 2021. MHP Col. Randy Ginn (left) and ICC President Dr. Jay Allen signed the agreement on Jan. 26, 2021. ICC President Dr. Jay Allen and MHP Col. Randy Ginn signed the paperwork during a ceremony Tuesday morning. The program is expected to begin in the fall. Once students graduate from the program, they will have express admissions into the MHP trooper candidate school, Allen explained. Currently, MHP patrols the states highways with just over 500 troopers. The agency is funded for 650 troopers. Open this link to learn more about the curriculum. A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a district judges order for a full environmental impact review of the Dakota Access pipeline, but declined to shut down the line while the review is completed. Following a complaint by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in April that a more extensive review was necessary than the environmental assessment conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile pipeline crosses beneath the Missouri River, just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota line. The tribe, which draws its water from the river, says it fears pollution. The pipeline has been pumping about 560,000 barrels of oil through Morgan, Scott, Brown and Pike counties every day on average since becoming operational in 2017. We are pleased that the D.C. Circuit affirmed the necessity of a full environmental review, and we look forward to showing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers why this pipeline is too dangerous to operate, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Mike Faith said in a statement. Officials with the Corps and Energy Transfer, which owns the pipeline, have not responded to phone messages left by The Associated Press seeking comment. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruling does not require the pipeline to stop operating or be emptied of oil, as Boasberg initially ruled. The appellate court blocked that order last summer. EarthJustice, an environmental group that opposes the pipeline, said Dakota Access should not be allowed to operate until the Corps decides whether to reissue a federal permit granting easement for the pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe. The group said President Joe Biden has the discretion to shut the pipeline down; last week, leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Oglala Sioux and Yankton Sioux tribes wrote to the president asking him to do so. Craig Stevens, spokesman for the GAIN Coalition, a group that supports large infrastructure projects, touted the decision to keep oil flowing and said the pipeline has safely operated for more than three and a half years, after its developers worked closely with state and federal regulators to meet all permitting requirements. The Dakota Access pipeline was the subject of months of sometimes violent protests in 2016 and 2017 during its construction. The Standing Rock Sioux continued to press legal challenges against the pipeline even after it began carrying oil from North Dakota across South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois in June 2017. The Obama administration originally rejected permits for the project, and the Corps prepared to conduct a full environmental review. In February 2017, after President Donald Trump took office, the agency scrapped the review and granted permits, concluding that running the pipeline under the Missouri River posed no significant environmental issues. Boasberg later ruled that the Corps had largely complied with environmental law when permitting the pipeline but ordered more review because the agency did not adequately consider how an oil spill under the Missouri River might affect Standing Rocks fishing and hunting rights, or whether it might disproportionately affect the tribal community. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Kanye West found himself in the billionaires club last year, mostly thanks to his footwear brand Yeezy. The 21-time Grammy winner has since dropped the brand's most controversial shoe yet, with the surprise release of the Foam RNNR in June. He appears to be working on a new Foam RNNR, as a Yeezy employee was spotted spray-painting a prototype of the sneaker Monday in the parking lot of their Calabasas office. New kicks: Kanye West appears to be working on a new Foam RNNR, as a Yeezy employee was spotted spray-painting a prototype of the sneaker Monday in the parking lot of their Calabasas office Mark down: The new version could be much cheaper, as Kanye told Joe Rogan in October: 'So for me, I'm gonna make this shoe be $20. Money isn't real, so the world should eventually be free' (pictured in November, 2019) The employee covered what appeared to be a new version of the style in silver paint, before spraying another deconstructed shoe in orange. Kanye, 43, surprise dropped the first Foam RNNR back in June, releasing the shoe in a white or 'Ararat' colorway. Made from harvested algae and EVA materials, it features an aerodynamic silhouette with ridges in holes, which has drawn comparisons to Crocs. Although widely ridiculed online, the shoe first dropped for $75 and his since been spotted on the feet of several celebs, while going on the resale market for as much as $800. Splash of color: The employee covered what appeared to be a new version of the style in silver paint, before spraying another deconstructed shoe in orange Familiar look: Made from harvested algae and EVA materials, it features an aerodynamic silhouette with ridges in holes, which has drawn comparisons to Crocs Surprise drop: Kanye, 43, surprise dropped the first Foam RNNR back in June, releasing the shoe in a white or 'Ararat' colorway The new version could be much cheaper, as Kanye told Joe Rogan in October: 'So for me, I'm gonna make this shoe be $20. Money isn't real, so the world should eventually be free.' Kanye was spotted for the first time in months this weekend, as he deplaned Sunday at the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles, after holing up at his Cody, Wyoming ranch. It comes amid multiple reports that wife Kim Kardashian, 40, has been meeting with divorce lawyer Laura Wasser in recent weeks, as a source tells People of Kanye: 'He is talking to divorce lawyers this week.' He and the SKIMS mogul have been living separately, as their relationship has become 'downright toxic' after months of therapy. A source recently told Us Weekly of their divorce: 'Kim and Kanye had no option but to live apart in the end because the communication between them had gotten so downright toxic. Lawyering up: It comes amid multiple reports that wife Kim Kardashian, 40, has been meeting with divorce lawyer Laura Wasser in recent weeks, as a source tells People of Kanye: 'He is talking to divorce lawyers this week' (pictured in September, 2015) Downright toxic: He and the SKIMS mogul have been living separately, as their relationship has become 'downright toxic' after months of therapy (pictured in May, 2013) Boiling point: A source recently told Us Weekly of their divorce: 'It reached the point where the bickering turned to nasty blowups and confrontations, and since neither of them wanted the kids exposed to that type of hostility, they [stayed] apart' (pictured in November, 2019) New co-parents: Kim and Kanye married in Florence, Italy back in May of 2014, and they share daughters North, seven, Chicago, three, sons Saint, five, and Psalm, one 'They went into the latter part of 2020 with the very best of intentions and wanted to find a way to get along when they spent time together. 'But it reached the point where the bickering turned to nasty blowups and confrontations, and since neither of them wanted the kids exposed to that type of hostility, they [stayed] apart.' Kim and Kanye married in Florence, Italy back in May of 2014, and they share daughters North, seven, Chicago, three, sons Saint, five, and Psalm, one. Another insider told Us Weekly: 'Kanye is jealous of the amount of time Kim has dedicated to prison reform and the kids. 'Kanye wanted the family to move to Wyoming full-time. It's where he sees this direction of his life going. Kim just doesn't see their lives full-time in Wyoming.' Jealous spouse: Another insider told Us Weekly: 'Kanye is jealous of the amount of time Kim has dedicated to prison reform and the kids. Kanye wanted the family to move to Wyoming full-time. It's where he sees this direction of his life going. Kim just doesn't see their lives full-time in Wyoming' (pictured in June, 2018) Making it work: They also said that although the couple has been working on their marriage in counseling, they 'havent had a joint session together in a while' (pictured in May, 2012) They also said that although the couple has been working on their marriage in counseling, they 'havent had a joint session together in a while.' 'Kim has continued to meet with their marriage counselor in solo sessions. Kim's singular focus is about how this will impact the kids, and Kanye has been receptive to engaging in those discussions.' Meanwhile, Page Six reported that Kanye's failed presidential run was 'the final straw' for Kim, amid their struggle to make the marriage work. A source said that the SKIMS mogul 'needed to end the marriage for the sake of her kids and her own sanity.' Things seemingly came to a head in July, when Kanye revealed that they almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with North, ultimately sparking rumors of a divorce. Beautiful friendships often have small beginnings and it was a trip by Donald Trump to a New York discount electrical shop to buy televisions more than 40 years ago that laid the seeds of the most shocking relationship of his career. That relationship was with the Kremlin and eventually with Vladimir Putin, a man who as Russian President Trump repeatedly went out of his way to please. These are the bombshell claims in investigative reporter Craig Ungers new book that alleges the KGB began grooming a young and malleable Trump at least four decades ago, repeatedly saving him from financial ruin. There was a quid pro quo for arguably the most successful intelligence operation in history President Trump became, intentionally or unwittingly, everything Putin wanted. In American Kompromat: How The KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, And Related Tales Of Sex, Greed, Power, And Treachery, Unger also claims that the future U.S. president established tawdry links with the Putin camp through his 15-year friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Investigative reporter Craig Ungers new book alleges the KGB began grooming a young and malleable Donald Trump in 1980, repeatedly saving him from financial ruin, helping him to forge a relationship with Vladimir Putin, a man Trump went out of his way to please Such is the tangled web woven by Unger, who has written a string of bestselling books including House Of Bush, House Of Saud and House Of Trump, House Of Putin about the unsavoury connections of the worlds elites. He says his book is based on extensive interviews with dozens of high-level intelligence and government sources but in particular a former KGB major, Yuri Shvets, who provides the first account by anyone inside the Soviet intelligence agency of Trumps alleged relationship with the Kremlin. Craig Ungers claims which have yet to draw any response from Trump certainly address the most intriguing question that still hangs over the Trump presidency: why was he so chummy towards Vladimir Putin? He not only pulled U.S. troops out of Syria and cut the U.S. military presence in Germany both goals of Putin but also ignored reports that Russia was offering bounties to Afghans for killing U.S. soldiers. And, at a 2018 Helsinki summit with Putin, he accepted the autocrats word over the FBIs, that Russia didnt interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. The explanation, says Yuri Shvets, goes back to the early 1980s, when the KGB began cultivating Trump as a prospective asset who might conceivably one day be of use to Moscow. When people start talking about Trumps ties to the KGB or Russian intelligence, some are looking for this super-sophisticated masterplan, which was designed decades ago and finally climaxed with Trumps election as president of the United States, Shvets told Unger. The book cites sources including a former KGB major, Yuri Shvets, who provides the first account by anyone inside the Soviet intelligence agency of Trumps alleged relationship with the Kremlin The reality, says Unger, was that Trump fell into Russias orbit more gradually, over several decades. The KGB is very patient. It can work a case for years, explains Shvets. The various dubious business relationships that Trump has established in Russia over the years including his ties to various oligarchs and mobsters, as well as the promoters of the Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013 must be viewed as part of a long, ongoing Russian intelligence operation. says Unger. None of it happened without the Kremlins say-so, he insists. And it started in 1980, its alleged, when Trump opened Manhattans Grand Hyatt hotel his first big property development. Trump needed hundreds of television sets for the hotel and went to Joy-Lud Electronics, a small discount electrical store on Fifth Avenue owned by two Jewish emigres from the Soviet Union. The shop had carved out a lucrative business supplying visiting Soviet officials with electrical equipment that would work back in Russia. According to Shvets, the shop was a front for the KGB who used it to ensure their officials didnt buy bugged equipment and to spot potential recruits among other customers. Trump, pictured with ex-wife Ivana in St Petersburg in 1987, is said to have first met with the KGB in 1980 after he visited a discount electrical store in New York to purchase TVs for the Grand Hyatt hotel in Manhattan Shvets says he is 99 per cent sure that Trump first came on the KGBs radar when, as a matter of form, the shops owners passed on his details to their bureau handlers. Trump, under the KGBs classification, eventually became a special unofficial contact which was a rare variation of trusted contact that was applied to high-level KGB intelligence assets, says the new book. Its author believes Trumps most appealing quality to the Soviets was that he had a personality that was vain, narcissistic, highly susceptible to flattery, and greed. Unger adds: It was unclear whether time invested in developing him would pay off, but thats the way the KGB sometimes operated. It was like throwing spaghetti against the wall and seeing what would stick. Shvets echoed that assessment, telling the author: Trump was a dream for KGB officers looking to develop an asset. Everybody has weaknesses. But with Trump it wasnt just weakness. Everything was excessive. His vanity, excessive. Narcissism, excessive. Greed, excessive. Ignorance, excessive. Unger says U.S. intelligence sources he consulted said the same, including ex-CIA agent Glenn Carle, who described the future president as incredibly vulnerable to the Russians. The book relates how rich Russians linked to the leadership repeatedly helped Trump financially over subsequent decades, making him worryingly beholden to them. It has already been widely reported that Putin-linked mobsters were able to launder money by buying luxury flats, or condos, in Trump developments. According to a 2018 investigation by Buzzfeed News, more than 1,300 Trump-branded condos in the U.S. were reportedly sold in secretive, all-cash transactions that enable buyers to avoid legal scrutiny by shielding their finances and identities. Given that those condos were worth an average $1.2 million, Unger estimates that they added some $1.5 billion to Trump coffers, of which Russians were responsible for a significant proportion. And that was only in the U.S. and didnt include myriad other Trump properties around the world. Some deals go back decades, such as the one with Russian emigre David Bogatin, who in 1984 paid $6 million (about $15 million today) for five condos in New Yorks Trump Tower the properties would later be seized by authorities as part of a money-laundering investigation and Bogatin was convicted of mob-related offences. American Kompromat: How The KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, And Related Tales Of Sex, Greed, Power, And Treachery, Unger also claims that the future U.S. president established tawdry links with the Putin camp through his 15-year friendship with Jeffrey Epstein They werent the only Russians helping him financially. One of the partners of Joy-Lud electronics, Tamir Sapir who lived in Trump Tower until his death in 2014 allegedly helped bail out Trump by funding his ill-fated Trump SoHo development in New York. In the 2000s, the book notes, Trump became wealthy again thanks to his partnership with a property developer which brought in hundreds of millions of dollars of Russian money to finance and develop buildings franchised under Trumps name. Later, long after he took up residence in the White House, people asked again and again what the Russians had on Trump, writes Unger. And in a way, its really quite simple: they owned him. Meanwhile, the KGBs interest in Trump grew as he became more famous. The Soviets were particularly encouraged that he could be useful through his calls for nuclear disarmament, says Unger. Trump has claimed he first established links with the Kremlin perfectly innocently after finding himself sitting next to Yuri Dubinin, Soviet ambassador to the UN, at a business conference in 1986. It was a meeting, he claimed, that led to him partnering with the Soviet government to build a hotel opposite the Kremlin. According to ex-KGB insider Yuri Shvets, however, Trump was actually approached by Dubinins attractive young daughter, Natalia Dubinina, who was working at the UN. It was she who engineered Trumps first visit to Russia with his first wife Ivana in 1987. Once Trump was in Moscow, the author adds, the Soviet spooks made sure he was royally feted and introduced to people who flattered his ego, while plying him with the Kremlin line on world affairs although Unger admits theres no evidence that Trump was aware the trip involved the KGB. His new book also claims that Trump was connected to Putin-associated Russians through his friend Jeffrey Epstein, the late paedophile financier. During Epsteins 1990s heyday, says Unger, Trump fit right in to his world of gorgeous young women, bespoke private planes, and spectacular residences. Trumps name has 16 phone numbers beside it in Epsteins black book of contacts. Unger also notes that Epstein relied on Russian pimps to supply him with many of the girls he abused and that those same pimps also supplied Putin-linked oligarchs. Trump and Epstein knew some of the same young women, including a Russian model and beauty pageant contestant, Anna Malova, as well as another beauty, Svetlana Pozhidaeva, says Unger. The latter, he claims, has links to the Putin regime. Unger believes that the FSB the KGBs successor may well have acquired kompromat, or blackmail material, from the many videos and photos that Epstein reportedly recorded of his famous friends with the girls. And that kompromat, he speculates, could well include embarassing images of Trump. The writer says hed been told that, after the two men fell out over a property row, Epstein enjoyed showing people photos of two girls at an Epstein party giggling at a stain on Trumps trousers, and other pictures of Trump alongside topless girls. The ex-president has yet to comment on the books jaw-dropping claims. One thing is clear even out of the White House, Donald Trump will continue to make considerable waves. A Bethlehem burglars quick change wasnt quick enough, as the thief was caught in stolen merchandise that still had the price tags attached, police said. Luis Martinez-Matias, 49, was arrested Wednesday and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and possession of cocaine. Martinez-Matias was sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $10,000 bail. Bethlehem police were called at 3:39 a.m. Wednesday for a burglary alarm at the Villa store, 1 W. Fourth St. Officers found damage that suggested there may have been a burglary. The Bethlehem Service Center looked at video surveillance in the area and saw a man leaving the store shortly before police arrived. Martinez-Matias was spotted a few blocks away, and he matched the description of the suspect in the surveillance video, police said. Martinez-Matias was wearing merchandise from the store that still had the price tags attached, worth about $600 total, police said. He also had $600 in cash that police said was taken from the stores register. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 20:34:47|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japan held the first COVID-19 vaccination simulation in the city of Kawasaki near Tokyo on Wednesday, as the country prepares to begin the vaccination process by late February. About 60 people, including doctors, nurses and local government staff, participated in the simulation, in an effort to assess how long it will take to vaccinate and how big the system needs to be. Japan's vaccination process is slated to begin with medical workers, then people aged 65 or older from late March, followed by people with preexisting conditions and those caring for the elderly. Around 10,000 medical workers are in line to get the free inoculations first, followed by 50 million most at-risk people, according to government officials. Government sources have said that the general public is expected to become eligible for vaccinations from around May. Taro Kono, administrative reform minister who was appointed to lead the vaccination efforts, has pledged to ensure the swift distribution of doses nationwide. However, a latest poll conducted by Kyodo News showed that 38, or 80 percent of the country's 47 prefectural capitals are unsure whether they have enough doctors and nurses to do the job. Enditem WASHINGTON President Joe Biden said Tuesday he will increase the amount of COVID-19 vaccine sent to states by 15 percent and will send federal staff to states including Connecticut, to help set up vaccination sites. Biden said he had placed more orders with Pfizer and Moderna, a move that will bring more doses to Connecticut at a time state officials have said the supply levels have been problematic. Connecticut will receive 53,700 doses next week, the state Department of Health confirmed, while shipments have averaged about 46,000 doses over the past several weeks although last weeks total was over 90,000 in a one-time bump-up. Nationwide, the federal government will oversee the shipment of 10 million vaccine doses next week, up from 8.6 million. The United States has now ordered 600 million doses, enough to fully vaccinate 300 million Americans, by the end of summer or early fall, Biden said in a speech. Both the Pfizer and Moderna shots require two doses multiple weeks apart for full efficacy. The changes are part of Bidens goal of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days in office. He also activated a war-time law, the Defense Production Act, to order manufacturers to produce more gloves, masks, syringes and other supplies need to administer the vaccine, he said. Connecticut has been among the top states as measured by the percent of population inoculated and the percent of doses received that have been shot into arms. Weve been saying all along we have the infrastructure ready to handle more doses across the state as demand continues to far outpace supply, Gov. Ned Lamonts Communication Director Max Reiss said. This increase is a significant first step toward getting as many Connecticut residents vaccinated as possible. Numerous providers, including Yale New Haven Health and Community Health Center Inc., have said they have more capacity to administer vaccines than they have vaccine doses over the last few weeks. Considering that, its unclear how federal assistance in setting up vaccination sites would help the state speed up the process. Biden directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set up federally run mass vaccination centers around the country to assist with administering the shots. Locations for these centers have not been announced yet. But FEMA has alerted Connecticut that the agency will send support staff to the state to erect vaccine sites and for logistics, Reiss said. White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients and other senior administration officials held a call with governors Tuesday afternoon to discuss the vaccine distribution process. Biden promised that states will now have a three-week reliable forecast of how much vaccine they will receive and a receptive ear at the White House to coordinate distribution efforts. Biden also announced that the federal government will cover the cost of governors using the National Guard to assist with vaccine distribution in their states. Connecticut has used the National Guard to help set up and direct patients at its first mega-vaccine site on an old runway at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, run by Community Health Center. We anticipate using the guard throughout to stand up additional vaccination sites, Reiss said. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Connecticut has received 515,675 vaccine doses and administered about 66 percent of those doses. Only a handful of other states have been able to administer more of the vaccines doses they receive more quickly. For example, West Virginia is leading in this metric, having administered 76 percent of doses received. Connecticut has vaccinated health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents. The state is now scheduling vaccine appointments for individuals 75 years and older. In Connecticut, 291,257 people have received one or more vaccine doses, while 45,190 people have received two doses, CDC data shows. emilie.munson@hearstdc.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson (Newser) Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio said Tuesday that he "doesn't recall" being an informant for federal and state law enforcementbut a former federal prosecutor and court records obtained by Reuters might jog his memory. Vanessa Singh Johannes, the former prosecutor, says that after a 2012 arrest in a fraud case, Tarrio "cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes." Tarrio is the national leader of the far-right group. He was arrested and banned from Washington, DC, days before the Capitol riot. Prosecutors say he burned a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a church during a previous DC protest. story continues below In a 2014 hearing, a prosecutor and Tarrio's lawyer asked for leniency after he pleaded guilty to a fraud case involving stolen diabetes test kits. The lawyer, Jeffery Feiler, described Tarrio as a "prolific" cooperator with law enforcement who had worked undercover in several investigations, including one involving a human-smuggling ring. An FBI agent testified that Tarrio had been a "key component" in drug investigations. Several Proud Boys members have been arrested for their involvement in the Capitol riot. Johannes says she was surprised to find out Tarrio had a major role in the organization. "I knew that he was a fraudster, but had no reason to know that he was also a domestic terrorist," she tells Reuters. (Read more Proud Boys stories.) Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American The Wisconsin pharmacist who pulled dozens of COVID-19 vaccine vials from a hospital refrigerator, agreed to plead guilty in federal court of attempting to tamper with the vaccine, a review by sister station WISN 12 News of the plea agreement determined. The agreement, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, allowed Steven Brandenburg, of Grafton, to avoid an indictment by a federal grand jury and plea to two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, the records show. According to the deal, Brandenburg, 46, admitted to pulling the same box of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine out of the refrigerator at Aurora Medical Center - Grafton on consecutive days late last month. The Moderna vaccine needs to be stored at specific temperatures to remain effective. "Recklessly disregarding his knowledge of the applicable storage specifications and the associated risks, Brandenburg, on two successive shifts that began on the evenings of December 24 and December 25, 2020, removed the same box of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine from the refrigerator in the pharmacy at the Grafton Facility, for periods of multiple hours, intending to render that same vaccine inert or ineffective," the plea document noted. During the investigation, it was determined 57 people had received doses of the vaccine from the vials in the box Brandenburg handled. According to the plea agreement, he believed in various "conspiracy theories," subscribed to notions of "alternative history" and was skeptical of vaccines in general and the Moderna vaccine specifically. "Distributing the COVID-19 vaccine is critical to overcoming this pandemic, which continues to end lives and upend our economy," United States Attorney Matthew Krueger said in a news release. "As these charges show, the Justice Department will pursue anyone and especially any medical professional who tampers with the vaccine." When asked about the plea deal, Brandenburg's attorney told WISN 12 News, "No comment." Brandenburg agreed to plead guilty to the charges, which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. A Justice Department official said the judge has complete discretion to go higher. Brandenburg agreed to pay restitution and will be sentenced at a later date. Brandenburg faces one misdemeanor charge of attempted criminal damage to property in Oazukee County Court. He pleaded not guilty to that count. Brandenburg was scheduled to be back in Ozaukee County Court on March 18. Two weeks ago, a state review board suspended Brandenburg's pharmacy license. The hospital also fired Brandenburg. In a court document filed five days after the last sabotage attempt, Brandenburg's wife told a divorce judge she feared for their children's safety. Brandenburg's wife, Gretchen, relayed what she claimed their youngest daughter told her after a weekend stay with her dad. "This is not our home, Heaven is our home," the mother said the 6-year-old told her. "Based on these statements, I am concerned that the children are in imminent harm, specially that Steven would take the children to heaven, the wife told the judge. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Statue of Our Lay Mary outside the Good Shepherd Catholic Church on the Ormeau Road in Belfast (Liam McBurney/PA) A number of religious organisations have apologised for their role in operating the Mother and Baby Homes. A research report into operation of the institutions, published on Tuesday, examined eight mother and baby homes, a number of former workhouses and four Magdalene laundries. Some of those investigated were operated by the Presbyterian Church. In any forthcoming inquiry, or process, we will certainly co-operate as far as we are able Right Rev Dr David Bruce Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Right Rev Dr David Bruce said: We deeply regret and unreservedly apologise for the damaging effects of institutional care, in which the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, or its members, played a part. We pray that those who still live with the memories of those days will know and experience the peace of God which may only be found in Christs love. Rev Bruce said the facts uncovered in the newly-published report make for deeply uncomfortable reading. He added: The terrible cost to every mother and child who suffered in such institutions is upsetting for all of us in society. The report sheds much-needed light on a dark era in Northern Irelands history and speaks more of the inhumanity shown to mothers and their babies and their wider families at that time, than the Christian care and compassion they deserved. In any forthcoming inquiry, or process, we will certainly co-operate as far as we are able. Expand Close Judith Gillespie, chairwoman of the inter-departmental working group on mother and baby homes, speaking to the media at Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Judith Gillespie, chairwoman of the inter-departmental working group on mother and baby homes, speaking to the media at Stormont (Liam McBurney/PA) A Church of Ireland spokesperson said the publication of the research report on Mother and Baby Homes and Magdalene laundries in Northern Ireland sheds further light on the suffering of women and children in relation to their experiences in these homes. The Church of Ireland will be giving the report further careful consideration, as it has done with the recent report in the Republic of Ireland, they said. The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd have said they will provide their fullest co-operation with the investigation arising from the Mother and Baby Homes report. The Order of nuns said they deeply regret that we could not and did not always meet the multi-faceted needs of these women who entered their homes. The Order ran a number of homes in Derry, Belfast and Newry. In a statement, they said: This was not a good experience for everyone and we wish that we could have done more for the women in our care at such a critical time in their lives. We deeply regret that we could not and did not always meet the multi-faceted needs of these women. We will need more time to review the contents of the report in detail and we will affording the independent investigation, announced this evening, our fullest co-operation. Expand Close Good Shepherd Catholic Church on the Ormeau Road in Belfast which shared the site with Magdalen Asylum ran by Roman Catholic Good Shepherd Sisters from 1867 with the Laundry closing in 1977 (Liam McBurney/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Good Shepherd Catholic Church on the Ormeau Road in Belfast which shared the site with Magdalen Asylum ran by Roman Catholic Good Shepherd Sisters from 1867 with the Laundry closing in 1977 (Liam McBurney/PA) More than 10,500 women entered mother and baby homes over a 68-year period from 1922. In Tuesdays report, women claimed they were subjected to labour like scrubbing floors during the final stages of pregnancy and were described as fallen and stigmatised. A number were the victims of sexual crime, including rape and incest. Around 4% of babies were either stillborn or died shortly after birth across the entire period. An estimated 32% of infants were sent to baby homes following separation from their birth mother. Research was undertaken by a team of academics from Queens University Belfast and Ulster University. January 26, 2021 Blockchain isnt bitcoin. Blockchain was the first widely known cryptocurrency that was designed on blockchain technology. And the blockchain is kind of distributed ledger technology. So, if anybody says blockchain is bitcoin and bitcoin is blockchain, make them correct. Apart from this, there are still many misconceptions about bitcoins and blockchain. In this blog, we will address some misconceptions so that you can hopefully move forward and can make good investment decisions. If you want to invest in bitcoin, then we advise you to use a carry trade strategy. It is one of the easiest trading strategies for currency trading that exists. A trader uses this strategy when he wants to buy high-interest currency against a low-interest. It helps him to capture the difference between the rates. Here we have outlined the interesting things about bitcoins and blockchain. 1.Bitcoin is not a digital coin or a file that you send from one computer to another The bitcoin symbol is only a symbol, and pretty confusing. Bitcoin is simply an entry in a distributed ledger. No file, no coin. The coined term, which is used in Bitcoin, is a metaphor. 2.Your crypto wallet doesnt hold any bitcoin Just like a public-private key-pair that identifies a wallet holder and grants access to your funds that are saved on the blockchain, a record of transactions that lives on multiple-copies on a P2P network of the computer. 3.Decentralized database Blockchain is called because here data is stored in linear containers. These blocks form a chain known as the blockchain. This technology is most simply defined as a decentralized system that records a prevalence of digital assets. Its a promising technology because it helps reduce risk, fraud and brings transparency at a high level. 4.Bitcoin was never hacked As blockchain is constantly reviewed by the users, it has never been hacked. Bitcoin users are assigned private keys, which enables them to access their bitcoins. If somebody hacked your private key then only you would become a financial theft victim. So, never share your private key with anyone. So, if you lose your bitcoin private key, you will lose your bitcoins. In November 2013, there was an IT guy who lost his 7,500 bitcoins. Until this point, it is estimated 25% of all bitcoins have been forever lost. 5.The government cannot shut down the bitcoin Since bitcoin is a distributed network of computers, so it requires a worldwide internet outage to shutdown. In case, if this happens for an hour or a few weeks, the network automatically syncs again and will be functional. To operate worldwide, bitcoins only need a few nodes online. Although the government can limit access to use bitcoin by making strict KYC policies. 6.Countries that have banned cryptocurrency Few countries dont allow their citizens to invest in bitcoins. Heres the list. Algeria. Nepal. Bangladesh. Cambodia. Ecuador. Bolivia. 7.You can buy a lot of stuff with bitcoins Many people ask where we spend our bitcoins. Here are the few things you can buy with bitcoins- Coffee at premium restaurants. Grocery items in the US. Order food. E-commerce shopping. Book flight tickets. Book car. 8.Cryptocurrency is extremely volatile Just like other market investment, investing in bitcoins is also associated with risk. The rates of the cryptocurrency swing dramatically. But, if you use an excellent cryptocurrency strategy like carry trade, you can make money. It is a strategy that involves borrowing from a low rate interest currency and to fund purchasing a currency that provides a rate. Some other interesting information about bitcoin and blockchain Bitcoin is a pioneered money exchange system with 8 million active accounts. In a very small time, it has grown by 100% per year. Only 0.5% of the worlds population is using blockchain technology today. IBM and Microsoft (News - Alert) are the significant-tech giants that have invested in blockchain technology. IBM dedicates $200 million and 1000 employees to blockchain-powered investment. The global blockchain market is expected to be worth $20 billion by 2024. Final Say: We hope this comprehensive guide on blockchain and bitcoins has given you significant knowledge about the cryptocurrency world. If you are thinking forward to invest in crypto exchange then read everything about it, mainly its strategies like carry trade. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp ( ATACH ) announced the formation of ATACH's Cannabis Beverage Council. The Council will bring together the most established cannabis and beverage leaders focused on expanding the cannabis beverage market. The canna-drink market doubled over the past two years according to cannabis-industry analytics firm Headset's 2019 cannabis beverage report. BDSA Analytics cites the canna-beverage market as making up 5 percent of overall cannabis sales in the United States and 23 percent in Canada, suggesting further U.S. growth. "The Council is where cannabis industry leaders and beverage companies convene and forge a new beverage market by harmonizing canna-beverage policies across the country," said ATACH President Michael Bronstein. Following are quotes from Council members: David Klein, Canopy Growth CEO and ATACH's "Beverage Executive of the Year" "Traditional players in wine, beer, and spirits are seeing the trajectory of cannabis and its potential as a beverage category today through the introduction of cannabis-infused drinks. Regulatory guidance and standardization of pro-business policy across states will be essential for the industry as we grow this category. The Council will provide leadership to help advance the industry as our companies seek to meet growing consumer demand." Adolphus Busch V, founder of ABV Cannabis Co. "I know what the end of prohibition looks like for cannabis, my family helped shape it in the alcohol industry. I am convinced that ATACH's work on professionalizing outreach and creating advocacy for the cannabis beverage category is how it will get done." Scott Coors, business entrepreneur and Board of Directors, SeroVita Holding Corp. "At the repeal of alcohol prohibition in the 1930s, the industry came together to create an industry effort and agree on responsible consumption, policies, and best practices. ATACH's new Council for cannabis beverages is modeled after this concept, which is why I am a part of this historic moment." Christy Zhou, Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs at Organigram "The maturing cannabis consumer and even traditional alcohol consumers may explore cannabis-infused drinks and drink mixes as an alternative consumption option. These beverage products can differ from traditional solid edibles in their format and effects, and as such, should be approached thoughtfully from a regulatory perspective. As early adopters, it is our duty to help shape regulations such that they encourage the development of responsible and innovative beverage products." In a video compilation, founding members speak to the goals and vision of the Council which can be viewed here. Other founding members: Erik Knutson, CEO and Co-founder of Keef Brands, Bill Silver, President of New Markets at Cannacraft, Chuck Smith, CEO of BellRock Brands, Koji Pupo, Vice President of Business Development, Columbia Distributing, Gary Kaminsky, Director of Legal Compliance, Acreage Holdings, Jake Bullock, Co-founder CANN, and Josh Lizotte, CEO of Rebel Coast, with more to be announced. ATACH: The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp (ATACH) is the leading United States 501(c)(6) cannabis industry trade organization promoting the expansion and protection of legal sales of cannabis and hemp for industrial, medical, and adult use. Contact: Monica McCafferty [email protected] 303.903.3394 SOURCE ATACH Related Links https://atach.org/ BEIRUT (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2021) The Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it had sent letters to the UN secretary general and the Security Council demanding that measures be taken in connection with the US military's continued illegal activities in the country's northeast. "The Syrian Arab Republic firmly condemns the hostile daily actions of the US forces in the occupied territories in northeastern Syria ... In recent years, there has been an increase in hostilities, including the theft of natural resources and crops. There is also an almost daily deployment of military equipment, weapons and vehicles to the country from Iraq," the letters read. The ministry noted that the US military's activities violated the UN Security Council resolutions, which call for respect for Syria's sovereignty, independence and integrity. In the letters, Damascus drew the international community's attention to the fact that the hostilities continued under watch of the outgoing Trump administration, which "acted to destabilize the situation and fuel the conflict in Syria." The Syrian Foreign Ministry stressed that Damascus demanded an end to the US aggression and condemned the occupation of Syrian lands. The US military is stationed in the provinces of Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor without consent from Damascus, controlling the territories with the largest oil and gas fields. The Syrian authorities have repeatedly stated that the presence of the US contingent in the country violated the country's sovereignty and international law and aimed at gaining access to the fields. MountainOne Elects New Board Members PITTSFIELD, Mass. MountainOne Chair Daniel Bosley announced the election of two new Trustees to the board of MountainOne Financial, MHC. Antony Haynes and Karen Zink were elected to fill vacant positions on the Board of Trustees, and were also simultaneously elected as Directors of MountainOne Financial, Inc. and MountainOne Bank. "The entire Board looks forward to working with Antony and Karen," Bosley said. "Their excellent reputations and deep histories of professional service and community engagement will be extremely beneficial to MountainOne." MountainOne President & CEO Robert Fraser noted, "I am thrilled to welcome Antony and Karen to the MountainOne family. I look forward to their strategic oversight and contributions to the future of MountainOne." Since 2015 Antony Haynes has been Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Assistant Professor of Law; Director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Law at Albany Law School. In this role, Mr. Haynes has been responsible for developing the law school's cyber-security curriculum and its on-line academic program. He is also an experienced litigator focusing on intellectual property, securities, and criminal defense. Mr. Haynes grew up in the West Palm Beach, Fla. area and graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in Computer Science. He subsequently earned a Master of Science Degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In addition to graduating from the USAF Academy, Mr. Haynes taught courses there in programming, developed the Academy's Information Assurance curriculum and created the intercollegiate Cyber Defense Exercise. He also earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Haynes and his wife, Leticia S.E. Haynes, live in Williamstown with their children. Karen Zink has been an active member of the MountainOne Berkshire Community Advisory Committee since 2019. Ms. Zink spent 37 years with Berkshire Gas, most recently as President & COO from 2004 until her retirement in December 2018. In this role she effectively led the organization through numerous changes, including three mergers, a 17-year performance based rate plan, 100 percent achievement of exceptional service quality results, a 13-month labor dispute, a complex moratorium of the Company's so-called Eastern Division, and much more. Prior to her retirement, she led Berkshire Gas to reach a Settlement Agreement with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, resulting in a new multi-year rate plan that created value for the customers and the Company. Ms. Zink holds an MBA from Western New England University and graduated with a degree in Finance from Central Connecticut State University. She is active in the community and has previously been a board member of 1Berkshire and the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council. Karen is currently the board chair of Berkshire Film & Media Collaborative and is a board member of Berkshire Business & Professional Women, where she also serves as Co-Chair of its Mentoring Committee. She lives in Pittsfield with her husband, Rich, and has two grown children. The Supreme Court stayed a recent Bombay High Court order which said that groping a minor's breast without "skin to skin contact" cannot be termed as sexual assault. A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde and Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stayed the high court order after Attorney General K K Venugopal mentioned the matter. PTI The top court also issued notice to the Maharashtra government and permitted the AG to file an appeal against the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court which acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the above-mentioned observations. The Bombay HC had said that since the man groped the child without removing her clothes the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault but it does constitute the offence of outraging a woman's modesty under IPC section 354. The high court had modified the order of a sessions court, which had sentenced a 39-year-old man to three years of imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl. File Photo It held that mere groping will not fall under the definition of sexual assault. Order caused massive outrage The order, however, had caused outrage and many had questioned the logic behind the court's conclusion. The case dates back to December 2016, when the accused, identified as Satish took a minor girl to his house in Nagpur on the pretext of giving her something to eat. Once there, he gripped her breast and attempted to remove her clothes. The sessions court had sentenced the accused to three years of imprisonment for the offences under the POCSO Act as also under IPC section 354. The high court, however, acquitted him under the POCSO Act while upholding his conviction under IPC section 354. Unsplash However the high court modified the conviction and held that since he groped her without removing her clothes, the offence cannot be termed as sexual assault and, instead, constitutes the offence of outraging a woman's modesty under IPC section 354. "Considering the stringent nature of punishment provided for the offence (under POCSO), in the opinion of this court, stricter proof and serious allegations are required," the high court said. "The act of pressing of breast of the child aged 12 years, in the absence of any specific detail as to whether the top was removed or whether he inserted his hand inside the top and pressed her breast, would not fall in the definition of sexual assault," it said. AFP It further said that "the act of pressing breast can be a criminal force to a woman/ girl with the intention to outrage her modesty". The court, in its verdict, had held that this "physical contact" mentioned in the definition of sexual assault must be "skin to skin" or direct physical contact. "Admittedly, it is not the case of the prosecution that the appellant removed her top and pressed her breast. As such, there is no direct physical contact i.e. skin to skin with sexual intent without penetration," the High Court had said. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. will purchase 2 to 3 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from its Indian manufacturing company Serum Institute of India during the next two days, a top Sri Lankan official said here on Wednesday. Lalith Weeratunga, the advisor to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that purchasing from India will follow Thursday's arrival of India's free vaccines to He said the Indian Covishield vaccine is to arrive tomorrow and the consignment will be accepted by President Rajapaksa at the Colombo international airport. A total of 250,000 people, mostly health frontline workers, members of the security forces and police and the vulnerable aged, will get the vaccine on a priority basis. The vaccination programme for which dry runs were made over the weekend will commence on Friday. Weeratunga added that 300,000 free vaccines from China are also due and the government would be requesting Russia also for the vaccine. has recorded a near 60,000 cases till January 26, with 288 deaths from the pandemic since it was found in the island nation in mid March last year. India is one of the world's biggest drug makers and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the vaccines. In the last few days, India has sent consignments of domestically produced vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Mauritius and Seychelles. It is also undertaking commercial supplies of the doses to a number of countries, including Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and Morocco. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As a major consumer of electricity and therefore a contributor to global emissions, the data center sector faces the prospect of regulation to reduce its impact on the planet, said Rick Einhorn, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at EYPMCF. Leading consulting engineering firms EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc. (EYPMCF) and i3 Solutions Group have announced a collaboration to offer a response to the climate crisis through Green House Gas (GHG) reduction initiatives for the data center sector, including a practical roadmap of progressive GHG abatement for existing data centers and net-zero GHG data centers by 2030. As a major consumer of electricity and therefore a contributor to global emissions, the data center sector faces the prospect of regulation to reduce its impact on the planet, said Rick Einhorn, Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner at EYPMCF. Im pleased to announce this initiative by EYPMCF and i3 Solutions Group which brings together a respected team of data center MEP design engineers and operational consultants to offer thought leadership in data center emissions and carbon reduction, efficiency and sustainability. Ed Ansett, Founder and Chairman of i3 Solutions Group said, While the future of data center sustainability undoubtedly has a 100% renewable face, we are a long way from that end point. However, there are opportunities for large data center operators in hyperscale, wholesale, colocation and other sectors to engage in GHG abatement. This requires a paradigm shift, but the good news is, we can evolve from a GHG intensive, inefficient infrastructure to a reduced or even net-zero GHG asset with new revenue generating opportunities. For that to happen requires the inspiration of specialist data center design and strategy. Those designing, building and operating data centers need to assimilate the technical considerations across a range of on-site power generation and energy storage solutions that practically address GHG abatement, evolving regulatory requirements and end-user performance requirements, at the same time taking full advantage of renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies. Accordingly, the collaboration between EYPMCF and i3 is developing objective material covering the following subjects: A practical roadmap toward GHG abatement and carbon net-zero data centers by 2030 Low GHG energy trading opportunities for large scale data centers Demand side frequency and sag response, primary operation, and operating reserve opportunities for data center embedded generation and storage systems GHG reduction with blended hydrogen and natural gas generation for data centers Reliability implications of primary and standby embedded generation and energy storage systems for data centers ==ends== For more details please contact David Eisenband (deisenband@eypmcfinc.com) or Kerry Neville (kerry.neville@i3.solutions) Press Agency: Charlotte Wood Spa Communications cwood@spacomms.com About EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc. - https://www.eypmcfinc.com EYP Mission Critical Facilities Inc., (EYPMCF) is a pioneering consultancy in the data center and critical facilities industry with over two decades of experience assisting its clients plan, design, test and efficiently operate their facilities. With client across many verticals, from enterprise to institutional, colocation and hyperscale, EYPMCF has unmatched experience and the capabilities to deliver projects of any size. With a global presence and projects in over 40 countries, it continues to drive new solutions and thought leading concepts to market that benefit its diverse customer base. About i3 Solutions Group - http://i3.solutions i3 Solutions Group is a specialist data center MEP consulting engineering firm. The company is globally recognized for its design expertise, future thinking and innovative approach exemplified by work such as Adaptable Redundant Power, High-Rise Green Data Center, and the Singapore Government Green Data Center Technology Roadmap. i3 Solutions Group provides mission critical design and consulting services across wholesale, colocation, cloud, telecom, financial and public sectors for data center clients. (Natural News) Students at Cornell University can use their status as a person of color to be exempt from the universitys flu vaccine requirement. (Article by Benjamin Zeisloft republished from CampusReform.org) Students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color (BIPOC) may have personal concerns about fulfilling the Compact requirements based on historical injustices and current events, explains Cornell Healths vaccine requirement FAQ. Students can send a private message to Cornell Health in order to request a non-medical or non-religious exemption for the immunization. For more information, the FAQ links to a page especially for students of color, which is meant to help minority students concerned about the flu vaccine requirement. We recognize that, due to longstanding systemic racism and health inequities in this country, individuals from some marginalized communities may have concerns about needing to agree to such requirements, explains the page. For example, historically, the bodies of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) have been mistreated, and used by people in power, sometimes for profit or medical gain. The university, therefore, considers it understandable that the current Compact requirements may feel suspect or even exploitative to some BIPOC members of the Cornell community. Nevertheless, Cornell strongly encourages minority students to receive immunizations. Away from campus community, BIPOC individuals are not as likely to have access to preventive services or quality health care, continues the page. The systems, services, and policies being implemented at Cornell seek to address these inequalities as well as the differential impacts. One Cornell undergraduate, who spoke to Campus Reform on the condition of anonymity, said that all students deserve equal treatment regarding what healthcare choices they are allowed to make at Cornell. Because students of all identities may have personal concerns about taking a mandatory vaccine, having a policy statement that singles out BIPOC students for requesting an exemption is unfair for other students. Campus Reform contacted Cornell University for more information and will update this article accordingly. Read more at: CampusReform.org and Immunization.news. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning As the spread of more infectious and dangerous variants of the coronavirus strain French hospitals, the Macron government is doubling down on its efforts to keep schools open. His policy is driven by the interests of the capitalist class, which is demanding that schools be kept open as holding pens for children so that their parents can continue to work. On Monday night, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer gave an interview to LCI in an effort to win support for the governments policy. Despite his personal oversight of attacks on school funding in the 2018 high school reforms and the elimination of 2,650 public school positions in 2019, he feigned concern for the toll of school closures on childrens mental health. Keeping schools open is my deepest conviction, he said. Being deprived of school can be very serious for children on the educational, social, psychological and even health levels. Dismissing the deaths resulting from this policy, he boasted, France is the country that has experienced the most school days in 2020. A family watches French President Emmanuel Macron's televised speech, Monday April 13, 2020, in Lyon, central France. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani) Blanquer stated, I am not convinced at this stage that this solution [closing schools] could reduce the contamination. This is a bald-faced lie that contradicts international scientific studies showing that schools act as transmission vectors for the virus. Earlier on Monday, Eric Caumes, the head of infectious diseases at the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, stated on RMC, Its circulating in schools, theres no reason why France should be the only country in the world where its not circulating in schools theres a cost that were going to have to pay. Later in Blanquers interview, he attempted to shift blame from his governments murderous herd immunity policy onto school children and their parents. Dismissing suggestions of extending the February vacation, he claimed that vacations can be more contaminating than school periods. Yesterday, 3,041 individuals were treated for COVID-19 in hospital intensive care units in France. The figure has risen by over 1,000 in the last two days alone. This is the first time that ICU occupancy has exceeded 3,000 since November. On Monday, another 445 people died from the virus, and the seven-day average for new infections reached a two-week high of 20,447. Since the premature reopening of schools in September, over 40,000 people have died from the virus in France. Reports indicate that the UK and South African variants may pose even greater risks to children and youth than the previously dominant strains. Last month Imperial College London virologist Wendy Barclay suggested that it may put children on a more level playing-field. In Israel, 40 percent of positive cases of the UK variant have been amongst school age children. Last week Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem opened a pediatric COVID-19 ICU to treat very sick children. In an interview on Monday, a South African health care worker told LCI, It [the South African variant] is serious. A lot of people are dying. Even children are dying now. Both variants are present and spreading in France. A report from the National Health and Medical Research Institute last week stated that the UK variant could become dominant in France between the end of February and mid-March. Variants first identified in California and Brazil, the effects of which are currently unknown, have also been detected in France. On Monday, the president of the governments scientific council, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, warned, These variants are the equivalent of a second pandemic. And I am weighing my words. The immediate closure of schools and all nonessential workplaces is a question of life and death for tens of thousands. The Macron government is pursuing a policy that has caused and knows it will cause mass death. A January 22 article by RTL cited the statements of Prime Minister Jean Castex and Health Minister Olivier Veran stating that we will not escape being overwhelmed by the new strain of the virus. Yet the government has refused any serious measures to stop the its spread. Blanquers lies are only an extension of the governments criminal tactics to conceal the true extent of the outbreak in schools. Teachers and parents in schools throughout the country have exposed cases of schools remaining open despite outbreaks. On January 18, a school in Oise remained open despite recording 26 positive cases following an outbreak amongst students. On January 25, a school in Roise-en-Brie received 12 positive test results but nonetheless remained open. In a farcical episode, the Jean-Zay nursery in Cherbourg-en-Contentin had its entire staff infected but was shortly reopened on January 18 with a full team of replacements. This new team immediately contracted the virus, presumably from five toddlers who later tested positive, forcing the nursery to close again. Yesterday, the government announced that Macron, who had been due to announce some form of heightened restrictions this evening, will not speak until at least Saturday. The governments policy runs against popular sentiment. On January 13, a BFMTV survey found that 75 percent were in favor of a new lockdown. Despite mass anger toward Macrons herd immunity policy and its refusal to take any meaningful measures to stem the deadly spread of the virus, the unions and left political parties have refused to mobilize teachers and workers against the governments herd immunity policy. On Tuesday, the education unions called a one-day strike for education funding, making no mention of closing schools in response to the virus. To prevent thousands of lives being lost to the Macron governments policy, a mass action of teachers and the wider working class is required. Earlier this month, the UK government was forced to close schools only due to mass abstention by teachers and parents on January 4. The action took place due to the initiative of rank-and-file teachers and parents, not the union apparatuses. Rank-and-file committees independent of the unions must be formed in every school and workplace. These would provide the basis for the organization of a general strike in France and across Europe, for the full closure of schools and nonessential workplaces. Full incomes must be provided to the entire population throughout the crisis, with small businesses adequately compensated. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. [January 27, 2021] Offensive Security Launches New Course and Certification for Exploit Development and Reverse Engineering Offensive Security, the leading provider of hands-on cybersecurity training and certifications, today announced the launch of Windows User Mode Exploit Development (EXP-301), a new course focused on exploit development and reverse engineering techniques. EXP-301 teaches the fundamentals of exploit development, and emphasizes the techniques that security researchers must learn to understand and attack standard Windows protections. "Security today requires constantly staying one step ahead of attackers, and this necessitates a creative, curious, adversarial mindset," said Ning Wang, CEO, Offensive Security. "Defenders must not only understand all the defense techniques that enterprises employ, but also be able to take the next step and infer from there how attackers work to bypass these defenses. At OffSec we are committed to continually updating our training offerings with new courses like EXP-301 to keep our students thinking adversarially." The EXP-301 course gives students a firm command of the techniques needed to bypass popular Windows defenses such as Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR). The course also emphasizes techniques for reverse engineering binary applications and identifying security weaknesses. Students who complete the new course are eligible to sit for their EXP-301 exam and earn the new Offensive Security Exploit Development (OSED) certification, demonstrating their ability to create custom exploits. Obtaining the OSED certification puts students on the path to acquiring the new Offensive Security Certified Expert - Three (OSCE3) designation. By passing the relevant exams for EXP-301, PEN-300, and WEB-300 (AWAE) a student is automatically granted their OSCE3, demonstrating expertise in Offensive Security's three primary learning paths: Penetration Testing, Web Application Attacks, and Exploit Development. A pure exploit development and reverse engineering course geared for the intermediate level that expands on concepts covered in the recently retired Cracking the Perimeter (CTP) course, EXP-301 emphasizes important offensive security techniques and begins to prepare students for the notorious Advanced Windows Exploitation (AWE) course and the Offensive Security Exploitation Expert (OSEE) certification. EXP-301 teaches the skills necessary to bypass DEP and ASLR security mitigations, create advanced custom Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) chains, reverse-engineer a network protocol and even create read and write primitives by exploiting format string specifiers. For more information on EXP-301 visit www.offensive-security.com or follow Offensive Security on Twitter (News - Alert) @offsectraining and LinkedIn. About Offensive Security Offensive Security is the leading provider of online penetration testing training and certification for information security professionals. Created by the community for the community, Offensive Security's one-of-a-kind mix of practical, hands-on training and certification programs, virtual labs and open source projects provide practitioners with the highly-desired offensive skills required to advance their careers and better protect their organizations. Offensive Security is committed to funding and growing Kali Linux, the leading operating system for penetration testing, ethical hacking and network security assessments. For more information, visit www.offensive-security.com/ and follow @offsectraining and@kalilinux. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005155/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] After his previous successful projects, Taecyeon will be returning on the small screen to portray a new challenging role. Taecyeon will be working with prominent actor Song Joong Ki and actress Jeon Yeo Bin in tvN's newest drama, "Vincenzo". The story is about an Italian mafia and a lawyer named Vincenzo Cassano, who will be played by "Descendants of The Sun" star Song Joong Ki. After he faced difficult times and had a conflict with his previous Italian organization, Vincenzo decided to fly back to Korea's hometown. In an unexpected event, he will meet the fearless and brilliant lawyer Hong Cha Young portrayed by actress Jeon Yeo Bin. As people who work in the same industry and aim to take down criminals, the two will work for hand in hand to get rid of villains untouchable by the law. Their tandem is now gaining a buzz, and viewers are looking forward to their new chemistry. Meanwhile, in the much-awaited drama "Vincenzo" 2PM member Taecyeon will be playing Jang Joon Woo, a law intern in Woosang, one of the best law firms in Korea. He has the advantage of learning fast because he studied abroad. Joon Woo is a brilliant and confident student who can quickly adapt to any situation. Sometimes he may look playful and amateur, but Jang Joon Woo is very determined and sincere about his work. Aside from his notable skills, he also has charming visuals that can capture the attention of many. He dreamt of becoming like "James Bond" to his senior colleague Hong Cha Young (played by Jeon Yeo Bin), showing that he has a hidden feelings for Hong Cha Young. It also means that he is ready to compete with Vincenzo Cassano. According to Taecyeon, he enjoyed reading the script and is already excited for the drama to be aired. He also added that despite the tension between the characters getting into different situations, Taecyeon found out the genuine bond and humor among the cast with various goals to aim. The actor also shared that he decided to go for a new hairstyle for his character as Jang Joon Woo to give something new about him returning on the small screen. Taecyeon expressed his gratitude towards the upcoming drama and hoping that the fans and viewers will support and watch it. "Vincenzo" will start to air on February 20, at 9 PM (KST) What can you say about Taecyeon's character transformation? Share your comments with us! For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Written by Shai Collins. tech2 News Staff Flipkart is hosting a Mobile Bonanza sale online that will end on 29 January. The e-commerce platform is also offering an instant discount of 10 percent on ICICI Bank credit and debit cards. During the ongoing sale, Poco M2 Pro (Review) base model is now selling at Rs 11,999, down from Rs 13,999. Realme X3 is now selling at Rs 21,999, down from Rs 24,999. iPhone 11 (Review) is now selling at a starting price of Rs 48,999. It was previously priced at Rs 54,900 in India. In addition to these smartphones, Moto G 5G (Review) is selling at a discount of Rs 2,000 during this sale. The base model will cost you Rs 18,999. Realme C12 is also selling at a starting price of Rs 8,499, down from 9,999. Realme Narzo 20 Pro (Review) is now available at Rs 13,999, down by Rs 1,000. Galaxy F41 was launched at a starting price of Rs 16,999 (6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant and it is now available at Rs 15,499. Launched at Rs 19,990, Oppo F15 (Review) will now cost you Rs 14,990. During the sale, Samsung Galaxy S20+ (Review) is available at a starting price point of Rs 44,999, down from Rs 73,999. Africas richest man, Alike Dangote, has told a U.S. court that his former American girlfriend, who exposed a part of his body via a social media post, is trying to extort $5 million from him. PREMIUM TIMES exclusively obtained the documents of a civil suit he filed under a pseudonym against the lady identified as Autumn Spikes at a Miami-Dade County Court in Florida, United States of America. The wealthy businessman used the pseudonym, John Doe, with AD, that stands for the acronym for his name, Aliko Dangote, as his alias. He seeks excess of $30,000 in damages against Ms Spikes. One of the court documents filed by the plaintiff on January 22, is titled, Complaint petition for declaratory judgment complaint for extortion petition for injunctive relief. The document, among others, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, accused Ms Spikes of libel, defamation, cyberstalking and a breach of agreement to keep their relationship private and off the social media. It stated that Mr Dangotes business acumen has made him a target for coercion by the defendant, adding that Ms Spikes demanded meritless claims of $5 million in the nature of palimony to which she is not legally entitled. Palimony is an amount of money a law court orders someone to pay regularly to a former partner whom they were living with but were not married to. Autumn Spikes has made a demand that the plaintiff pay her five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) as shown in Exhibit 1, Mr Dangotes court document states. How it began The affair between Mr Dangote and Ms Spikes first came to public knowledge on January 1, when the lad,y using the Instagram handle, Allarounda1, posted a video clip showing herself seated and Mr Dangote stretched on a couch. The images, which went viral on social media, appeared to have been captured during their good times together. It showed most of Mr Dangotes body covered in an orange blanket but with his buttocks exposed while he fiddled with his phone. Ms Spikes also shared other images of the billionaire but later deleted them. In later updates, she said she did not make her affairs public on social media to acquire fame. She also claimed her action was aimed at helping Mr Dangote to clear his name of the embarrassment caused by another ex-mistress of the businessman, Bea Lewis, exposing their intimate affairs on social media. Ex-mistress demands $5 million Mr Dangote had tried to quickly end his relationship with Ms Spikes. In addition to ending the relationship, he asked Ms Spikes for a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) on their affair. ADVERTISEMENT Ms Spikes then demanded $5 million, through her representatives, in exchange for the NDA. The demand was followed by an email by Mr Dangotes lawyer, Mr Fleisher, to Ms Spikes lawyer, Paul Petruzzi, on January 13, asking for the basis of Ms Spikes demand. Responding to Mr Fleishers email, Mr Petruzzi described the affair between his client and the billionaire as an ongoing intimate relationship for nearly the entire past decade since she was pretty young. Mr Petruzzi added in the email that the relationship was quite involved and pretty interesting and insisted that Mr Dangote must pay his client the sum of $5 million in exchange for the NDA. He stated, For whatever reason, your client broke off the relationship as soon as one of his other conquests broke her silence. Your client now wants my client to sign an NDA and, through his representatives, offered her money to do so. While I appreciate your clients desire to continue to exercise his control over mine, she will only agree to the NDA proposed by your client in exchange for the lump sum of 5 million dollars. Mr Dangote filed the email exchange as Exhibit 1 along with his suit, stating, Autumn Spikes anded from plaintiffs counsel Bruce Fleisher through her counsel, Paul Petruzzi, on January 13, 2021, $5,00,000.00, insisting that an ongoing relationship was broken off and blatantly warns of social media and/or talk show exposure. Good relationship turns sour The wealthy man noted in his suit that Ms Spikes had in the past requested financial assistance from him to start up a business. He said he agreed to grant her the assistance on the condition that it would remain confidential. His court document read in part, Autumn Spikes demanded from the plaintiff assistance as an entrepreneur in a start-up business when there was no loan commitment, nor oral or written promise. The plaintiff once announced an oral willingness to provide entrepreneurial assistance to Autumn Spikes on the condition that it be confidential and private. He said he later started seeing social media posts and planned media talk shows done to expose him and make his life miserable if he fails to comply with the demand for $5,000,000. John Does generosity toward Autumn Spikes, if any, has been breached by Autumn Spikes exposure and solicitations to talk show media if he fails to pay her meritless demands, he added. Mr Dangote said his generosity toward Autumn Spikes, if any, has been breached by Autumn Spikes exposure and solicitations to media talk shows if he fails to pay her meritless demands. He maintained that he had the right to stop being generous to her and demand a refund of the funds he had given her to assist her business in the past. Meritless demands The businessman, who described Ms Spikes alleged demands as meritless extortive demands said such are not protected by First Amendment freedom of speech and are barred by Fla. Stat. 771 01 et. Seq. He alleged that Ms Spikes continued her illegal demands and threatened that should he fail to pay her the money she would subject him to nasty and untrue publicity. He said she also threatened to take the matter to social media, including, Facebook and Instagram. He stated, Autumn Spikes continues illegal demands for a plaintiff to pay her what he does not owe her, under threat he will be a victim of nasty and/or untrue publicity in order to induce payment of support, in the form of alimony, and as if she was married to the plaintiff. Defendant has threatened communications on social media, Facebook, Instagram, and otherwise. John Doe has a right to terminate his generosity and to obtain from Autumn Spikes a refund of the monies he had given her to assist her in starting up business. Dangotes complaints, prayers Mr Dangote said the alleged demand by Ms Spike is embarrassing and upsetting adding that she demands support in lieu of marriage or alienation of affection when she is not entitled to the same. He also accused her of cyberstalking and making demands for money in exchange of release of private information if he does not pay the proverbial ransom described above. Among his prayers are a non-jury trial, damages, an award of refund of all of those monies she claims plaintiff paid her, court costs and such remedies as available under the law. The plaintiff insists that Ms Spikes had proposed to expose her relationship with him if he failed to compensate her with $5 million, support her or marry her. He added that her media posting violates the plaintiffs agreement with the defendant that their relationship was private and not subject of social media or talk shows. He wants the defendant restrained from demanding payment in exchange for non-disclosure of their relationship. Pseudonym Mr Dangotes lawyers described him in the court document as a wealthy entrepreneur whose business acumen has made a target for coercion by the defendant. The lawyers said their client used a pseudonym to institute the case to avoid unnecessary media attention and avert coercion to pay the money demanded by Ms Spikes. The plaintiff, John Doe, also known as AD, is a foreigner and for the purpose of this action employs the pseudonym John Doe in order to avoid unnecessary publicity designed to impair his right to privacy and to coerce his payment of money he does not owe Autumn Spikes, the document read in part. BALLSTON SPA The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors health committee went into executive session Wednesday when small town supervisors began aggressively questioning why they were told to pick residents to receive COVID-19 vaccinations from a limited supply of 400 doses. Im not God. I cant pick out 10 people, Providence Supervisor Sandra Winney said. Galway Supervisor Michael Smith said the notification by email from Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston telling the supervisors to provide information was not fair. And not providing names on short notice, Smith said forcefully resulted in Too bad youre out. As Winney, then Smith began questioning the emails they received about selecting residents at least 65-years-old for the limited vaccinations, the suggestion came to take the committee into executive session to discuss the matter rather than address the supervisors' issues in the committees public session. The Health and Human Services Committee members voted unanimously to go behind closed doors as the meeting became heated. The county attorney said they could go into the private session due to it being a public safety matter, and that there were state and county orders of emergency issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The supervisors went back into public session two hours later. Gaston said earlier during the meeting she had sent out the emails to the supervisors. An official familiar who reviewed the emails, but asked not to be identified, said supervisors were asked to identify residents who would be eligible to receive shots from a special state allotment of 400 doses for senior citizens, even though the municipalities dont track this information. The supervisors were told that the COVID-19 vaccinations would be made Saturday but were not told where, according to the individual. It was unclear why Gaston contacted the other supervisors, or how the available vaccine doses were to be allocated among the countys 19 towns and two cities. Board of Supervisors Chairman Todd Kusnierz, the Moreau supervisor, was at the meeting. The Republican-run county has splintered into large-town and small-town factions as the big towns and cities took control of the board at its organizational meeting in January. This led to a change in the countys day-to-day administration. Before the committee went into executive session, Dr. Daniel Kuhles reported that as of Tuesday 18,502 residents had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 3,584 had received the second shot. Claire Bryan contributed to this report Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. Former US President is likely to be acquitted in his trial as the Democrats failed to garner enough support required from Republican Senators. The Democrats who have impeached Trump in the House charging him with "incitement of insurrection," needs two-thirds of the vote for the Senate Currently both the Democrats and the Republicans have 50 members each in the 100-seat Senate. The Democrats need the support of at least 17 Republican Senators to reach the two-thirds majority mark. Trump is the first US president who facing an trial after he left the presidency. This is for the second time in about a year that Trump is likely to be acquitted by the Senate. I can't see how you get 17. I think that was a test vote, Republican Senator John Boozman said after 45 of the 50 Republican Senators voted for the motion that the impeachment trial of Trump after he left the presidency is unconstitutional. The article of impeachment was delivered by the House to the Senate Monday night. The next step, as you all have reported and people watching at home know, is for the Senate to proceed with their trial. He's going to allow them to move forward at the pace and manner that the leaders in the Senate determine. And I can promise you that we will leave the vote counting to leaders in the Senate from now on, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference. Republican Senator Kevin Cramer said the Senate should not be wasting its time holding another impeachment trial. We do not have solid constitutional standing to impeach a former president, and even if we did, this is not the time to use it. As I have said repeatedly, President Trump's comments on January 6 were rash and ill-advised but I do not believe they meet the constitutional standard for impeachment, he said. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued that Trump can be impeached even after he left the office and this he said is constitutional. The theory that the impeachment of a former official is unconstitutional is flat-out wrong by every frame of analysis: constitutional text, historical practice, precedent, and basic common sense. It has been completely debunked by constitutional scholars from all across the political spectrum, he said. Former President Trump committed, in the view of many, including myself, the gravest offense ever committed by a president of the United States. The Senate will conduct a trial of the former president and Senators will render judgment on his conduct, Schumer said. Republican Senator Rob Portman who sided with the Democrats said he voted for allowing debate on this issue and against tabling this important discussion. As the trial moves forward, I will listen to the evidence presented by both sides and then make a judgment based on the Constitution and what I believe is in the best interests of the country, he said. Impeaching President Trump is a mistake, Senator Roger Wicker said. The effort to remove a president who is no longer in office raises serious constitutional questions and threatens to delay national healing. This article of impeachment was rushed through the House of Representatives shortly after the Capitol riot without hearings or any careful consideration of evidence or precedent, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Health chiefs in the mid-west have urged people not to let their guard down despite a decline in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the region. The Department of Public Health Mid-West, UL Hospitals Group, and HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare have urged people in Limerick, Clare and north Tipperary to not get distracted by the gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases and to continue following public health measures. Due to public compliance to level 5 restrictions, there has been a considerable decrease in daily infections across the Mid-West. The cases have dropped from 238 on January 12 to 70 on January 25 across the region. However, due to close contacts not being tested at this time, the health chiefs say it is important for people to understand that the current daily figures do not present a full picture, and advise that people should consider everyone they meet a positive case. Dr Mai Mannix, Director of Public Health Mid-West, said: The current trend of decreasing infection levels is a welcome one, and helps our team manage complex clusters and outbreaks when they do arise. However, previous experience has shown that where is there is a noticeable drop in cases, there can be a shift in behaviours whereby some members of the public relax their efforts, which then leads to more cases and outbreaks in the community. Dr Mannix says the people of the Mid-West have a responsibility to help decrease the regions infection levels: Our baseline of cases is far too high at present for us to drop the guard, and we now have a collective responsibility to suppress the spread of the virus in the community, as our healthcare services continue to treat a significant number of very ill patients with Covid-19. Read More Stephen Donnelly rows back on vow to have country vaccinated by September While the number of Covid-positive inpatients in UHL has decreased this week, much of this relates to the delisting of patients as Covid-positive rather than recovered patients being discharged from hospital. UL Hospitals Group CEO Colette Cowan, said: While patients may no longer be considered actively infectious and may be treated on a post-Covid or non-Covid ward, many patients will require ongoing care and rehabilitation before they are well enough to be discharged. These patients often require a longer stay in hospital. "There are also very unwell patients receiving respiratory support on our medical wards who may, unfortunately, require to be admitted to ICU. And more work is required of all of us to further reduce community transmission. HSE Mid-West Community Healthcare chief officer Maria Bridgeman has reiterated the importance of following public health guidelines to protect the most vulnerable in Ireland. Our battle with Covid-19 has been inhibited by many challenges including staffing so it is vital the public continue to play their part to save lives, please adhere to the public measures, please stay at home and please limit your contacts as every effort and sacrifice you make really does count. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Dutch towns and cities were noticeably quieter on Tuesday as the fourth day of a nationwide curfew to combat coronavirus came into effect. Previous days had been marred by violence and police clashes with protesters across The Netherlands, many of whom object to the 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew. On Tuesday evening police barricaded access to Schilederswijk, a problematic district of The Hague, with authorities checking documents of the people on the streets after 9 p.m.. Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus said earlier Tuesday that riots would quickly be brought before the courts and face possible prison terms if convicted. A total of 184 people were arrested in Monday night's unrest and authorities ticketed more than 1,700 people for breaching the curfew. Image: AP (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon took a 7.3million pay cut as the bank finally tried to move on from a corruption scandal in Malaysia. Solomon, a part-time DJ who performs as 'D-Sol', was not 'involved in or aware of the firm's participation in any illicit activity at the time' when Goldman helped to milk billions from the 1MDB fund meant for Malaysia's development. It said the scandal was an 'institutional failure, inconsistent with the high expectations it has for the firm'. Solomon still took home 12.8million last year. Goldman Sachs chief exec David Solomon, a part-time DJ who performs as 'D-Sol', took a 7.3m pay cut as the bank finally tried to move on from a corruption scandal in Malaysia The board said his performance last year was 'outstanding', as it generated its highest revenues in more than a decade. Goldman bankers were accused of helping Jho Low, a Malaysian financier who is still on the run, funnel billions of dollars out of the 1MDB fund. It pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to bribe officials with 1.2billion from the fund between 2009 and 2014. It was fined 2.2billion by regulators in the US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore, and had already agreed to stump up 2.9billion to make amends in Malaysia. NAPLES, Italy, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- While one can meander through the streets of Naples and enjoy many pizzerias, some even world famous, it may lead a bit off the beaten path to get to the "core" of Neapolitan Pizzas unlike ever before. THE NEO-NEAPOLITAN Le Sorelle Bandiera Pizzeria located in Naples Underground (Napoli Sotterranea) founded and run by Vincenzo Albertini Le Sorelle Bandiera Pizzeria located in Naples Underground (Napoli Sotterranea) founded and run by Vincenzo Albertini This long, eye-opening walk through the heart of the ancient center of Naples, is led by mastermind geologist Vincenzo Albertini, president of Naples Underground (Napoli Sotterranea). The association has facilitated mind-blowing and awe-inspiring excursions for the past 30 years through the bowels of a unique city, characterized by incredible feats of engineering, in the making over the past 2400 years or so. Many would have thought that by now, Neapolitan Pizza makers would be honored with life-long service and offered life-preservation, as theirs is a skill that is an artefact in itself, coming from centuries-old tradition. However, the surprising present-day reality reveals that this tradition hasn't remained in the centuries of old, it's actually been constantly evolving and is now in a new incarnation. This new incarnation, though not so new indeed, involves the return to the ancient practices of leavening and cooking pizza in both preparation environments and ovens built with the integral, unique material - Neapolitan yellow tuff. THE YELLOW SECRET This "geothermal" pizza is created specifically inside of tuffaceous leavening rooms. These rooms are located in the convent of the Theatines, behind the church of S. Paolo Maggiore. It is here, deep beneath the city, that exists quarries of a yellowish stone, which makes for excellent thermal insulation and humidity control. This is what allows the dough to achieve complete maturation which gives the pizza higher organoleptic and digestibility properties. Going further into the scientific characteristics of the yellow tuff, Enzo Albertini explains that there are specific minerals in the tuffs which are able to absorb and release water molecules making the tuff cold during hot periods and hot during cold periods. It is this property specifically, that allows them to maintain average constant values of temperature and humidity which favor the leavening process of the pizza dough as the dough rises between the walls of tuff from 24 to 48 hours and then the pizza is cooked in ovens made with the same stone. In short, this ancient yellow stone favors the ideal chemical-physical balances useful for yeasts, so that the final product remains extraordinarily light. THE UNDERGROUND COMES TO THE SURFACE Thanks to Enzo Albertini's initiative, today, these novelty pizzas while prepared in optimal geothermal conditions underground, are served on the streets of Naples, among the tables of the Sorelle Bandiera pizzeria, which is located inside the ancient Roman theater, not far from Piazza San Gaetano which forms the entrance to Naples Underground (Napoli Sotterranea). All that remains is a hearty appetite and sense of awe and wonder, as this Neapolitan pizza delight offers a new interpretation to the concept of time travel. Media Contact: Xoe Sazzle +44 (0) 7570 82 0089 [email protected] SOURCE Naples Underground [January 27, 2021] Almost 6 Million Unit Growth in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market During 2020-2024 | Forecast, Analysis, and Evolving Opportunities in APAC | Technavio Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market registered a YOY growth of -9.13% in 2020. However, the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of about 30% during the forecast period. The report offers a detailed analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market in optimistic, probable, and pessimistic forecast scenarios. - Get Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005425/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Improvements in power capacity of on-board AC chargers to drive growth On-board chargers have a low power transfer capability of less than 20 KW, which increases the charging time. Also, since they are installed inside vehicles, it increases the overall weight of the vehicle, thereby reducing efficiency. To overcome such challenges, vendors in the market are integrating high-power electronics in a single and compact device to increase the effective use of on-board chargers in EVs. This has positively impacted on-board electric charging infrastructure that can charge EVs of any size in less than one hour. Many such developments are influencing the growth of the global hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market. Is there any relief during this COVID pandemic? Click to know As per Technavio, the increasing demand for HEVs and EVs will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Increasing demand for HEVs and EVs Countries across the world are enforcing stricter regulations to control GHG emissions in the atmosphere. For instance, according to EU norms of 2009, the CO2 emission level for ne passenger cars cannot exceed 130g/Km. In 2020, the target reached 95g/Km. Such targets can only be achieved with the use of hybrid or electric vehicles. In addition, several governments are introducing fiscal incentives, subsidies, and tax benefits to encourage the sales of HEVs and EVs. These factors are increasing the demand for on-board chargers, which is driving the growth of the market. "Rise in the adoption of BEVs and PHEVs and increasing crude oil prices will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Major Vendors The report covers details on the market's competitive landscape and offers information on the products offered by various companies, including: Bel Fuse (News - Alert) Inc. Continental AG DEFA AS EVolve Electrics Ltd. Hyundai Mobis Co. Ltd. Hybrid and Electric Vehicle On-Board Charger Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market by Type (XLPE foam and Non-XLPE foam) and Geography (APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America). The APAC region led the hybrid and electric vehicle on-board charger market in 2020, followed by Europe, North America, MEA, and South America respectively. During the forecast period, the APAC region is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the high sales of EVs in China. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and Gain competitive intelligence about market players. Track key industry trends, opportunities, and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy, and market development. Request a free sample report Related Reports on Consumer Discretionary Include: Global Electric Vehicle Charger Market - Global electric vehicle charger market is segmented by end-user (residential and commercial), type (slow charger and fast charger), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, and ROW). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global EV Charging Adapter Market - Global EV charging adapter market is segmented by type of charger (AC and DC) and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Share by Competitors Market Challenges Market Drivers Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005425/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. [January 27, 2021] John Parke Wright IV Joins CEA's Advisory Board CEA Group ("CEA") announced today John Parke Wright IV, a renowned global expert and entrepreneur has joined CEA's Advisory Board as Senior Advisor - International. Mr. Wright is a 6th generation Floridian whose ancestors pioneered trade between, Scotland, Spain, Cuba and the United States from the 1850s onwards. He is one of the great-great grandsons of Dr. H.T. Lykes, who, with Captain James McKay established the trade of cattle and general cargo from Tampa to Havana. This trade flourished and led to the formation of the Lykes Bros (lykes.com), a steamship company, which expanded to all of the other U.S. Gulf ports and around the world. Mr. Wright joined Jardine, Matheson & Company of Hong Kong and China in 1972 and is credited with re-opening shipping for Lykes Lines and trade between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China. In 1981 he returned to the U.S. to join Lykes Bros. Inc. of Tampa as Vice President for Corporate Planning. He also became Chairman of the Northeast Bank of Clearwater at the time, one of several banks that became the then First Florida Bank Group, and now Bank of America. From 19982002, Mr. Wright served as The Florida Representative of Rockefeller & Co., Inc., serving high net wealth families and philanthropy. Today in Saudi Arabia, Parke Wright is Managing Director of the Royal Palm Group, which is an investment company engaged in joint ventures in the industrial and agricultural sectors. The Royal Palm Group is also partnered with Fahad Abunayyan Group (fahad-abunayyan.com) also active in business development in the construction, oil & gas and water drilling, marketing and new business development. Mr. Wright is a partner with Darktrace (darktrace.com), a world-leading Cybersecurity company. His team efforts with Darktrace are focused on the United States, United Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Mr. Wright is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, with a degree in Philosophy and Chinese Studies. He works on several philanthropic efforts to build economic prosperity, conservation and world peace. Mr. Wright is a member of Leadership Tampa Alumni of the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce, and supports the Parke Wright III Leadership Award, plus scholarship awards for MacDill Air Force Base participation in Leadership Tampa each year. CEA Chairman and Founder Rick Michaels stated, "I am very pleased to have my longtime colleague and friend, Parke Wright, join our Advisory Board. Parke brings a wealth of knowledge and lifetime accomplishments, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where we are already cooperating on several projects. His international perspective and experience on a host of intricate projects are invaluable assets to our firm and we look forward to successful collaborations with Parke." About CEA Group Founded in 1973, CEA is a leading provider of investment banking services. With a team of experienced personnel worldwide, CEA has an unequaled depth and breadth of industry knowledge, expertise and long-standing industry relationships. CEA has completed over 900 transactions totaling $45 billion in 60 countries. CEA's reputation and track record of success are built on delivering innovative, value-added solutions and services to clients worldwide. CEA Atlantic Advisors, LLC is a FINRA Registered Broker-Dealer and a member of SIPC. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005125/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Retired doctors and nurses are being called to the front lines of the U.S. coronavirus vaccination effort, the White House COVID-19 Response team announced Wednesday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is amending its rules to allow retired health professionals to administer COVID-19 vaccine shots, said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 Response coordinator. The rules, drafted under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, will also be adapted to allow licensed doctors, nurses and health practitioners to administer shots across state lines, Zients said. "We need to increase the number of places where people can get vaccinated, and also at the same time increase the number of vaccinators," Zients said. "This action by HHS today will help get more vaccinators in the field." The team also went over other strategies being implemented to increase vaccination rates across the United States, including: Planning the launch of 100 community vaccination centers across the country during February. Arranging to supply vaccines directly to pharmacies. Standing up mobile vaccination clinics to reach under-served communities. Speeding up the production of low-dead-space syringes that can squeeze an extra sixth dose out of Pfizer vaccine vials. "I want to level with the public. We are facing two constraining factors," said Andrew Slavitt, senior advisor to the White House COVID-19 Response team. "The first is getting enough supply quickly enough, and the second is the ability to administer the vaccines quickly once they're produced and sent out to the sites," he explained. "We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity, but even so it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one," Slavitt noted. The Biden administration has committed to a 16% increase in vaccine supply flowing to states every week for the next three weeks, at a minimum of 10 million doses per week, Slavitt said. The United States needs well over 500 million doses of vaccine to provide a two-dose regimen for every American over age 16, Slavitt said. Slavitt emphasized that the plans discussed Wednesday do not take into account vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca that have not yet been approved in the United States. "We are not counting on things that are not in existence today," Slavitt said. "Our plan will be to make sure that we prepare for as many contingencies as exist." The good news is that the two COVID-19 vaccines now on the market still appear capable of heading off illness from the new mutant variants of coronavirus that have been surfacing, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and President Joe Biden's chief medical advisor. The United Kingdom variant has a "very slight, if at all, impact on vaccine-induced antibodies," Fauci said. The South African variant, which has yet to be spotted on American soil, is a "bit more problematic" because it appears to respond less well to the vaccine, Fauci said. "However, and this is an important however, it still is well within the cushion of protection," Fauci said. "You could diminish the vaccine-induced antibody efficacy by a few-fold and still be within the protective range of the vaccine." The United States is on track to meet Biden's promise to deliver 100 million shots of vaccine during the first 100 days of his administration, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 23.5 million doses have already been administered, and 3.4 million Americans already have received their second dose, Walensky said. During the past week, COVID-19 vaccinations increased to 1.6 million doses per day, she added. Although infection, hospitalization and death rates have recently trended downward, the United States had its deadliest day of the pandemic on Jan. 20, when 4,383 people died of COVID-19, Walensky said. Based on the current trajectory, the United States will see between 479,000 and 514,000 COVID-19 deaths by Feb. 20, she noted. Walensky emphasized that the vaccine is safe, with recent data indicating 2.1 cases of anaphylactic shock per million doses for the Moderna vaccine and 6.2 cases per million for the Pfizer vaccine. By comparison, 16,500 Americans will die for every one million diagnosed with COVID-19, Walensky said. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control has more about The U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control has more about COVID-19 Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved. [January 27, 2021] BlueCross Foundation Opens RFP for COVID-19 Vaccine Campaign Funding The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation is set to award multiple grants, totaling up to $1.7 million, to help Tennessee communities promote and support COVID-19 vaccinations. The program is designed to provide funding to leverage local knowledge, expertise, resources and relationships to increase vaccinations within communities. Civic organizations, governmental entities and non-profits can submit proposals for funding immediately. Applications will be reviewed and qualifying grants awarded on a rolling basis until available funds have been allocated. "Heightened hygiene protocols, such as social distancing and wearing masks, play an important role in the fight against coronavirus, but adding the protection of the COVID-19 vaccine will help us win the fight," said Dr. Andrea Willis, chief medical officer for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. "As it becomes more widely available, it will be critical that Tennesseans get vaccinated as efficiently as possible." The Foundation will prioritize proposals that involve: Community coalitions and regional partnerships, including local governments, regional cooperatives, non-profit organizations, civic service organizations, etc. with an identified lead organization and dedicated fiduciary agent, Strategic plans to augment foundation funding with local matching funds and/or in-kind support, Specific outreach to commnities of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19 to address health disparities, and Detailed information about programming, collaboration and sustainable funding in support of community vaccination efforts. Research-based insights used in developing the campaign or program Clear and detailed projected outcomes and measurements to be reported to BlueCross Foundation staff periodically while project is in progress and when the project is completed Non-discrimination policy in place and enforced Recognition for BlueCross Foundation funding For additional information and to apply, visit BCBSTUpdates.com/COVID-RFP. About BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Inc. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is a taxpaying, not-for-profit health plan serving more than 3.5 million members in Tennessee and around the country. The Chattanooga-based company was founded in 1945 and recently celebrated its 75th anniversary of bringing peace of mind to its members and local communities. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. is an independent licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association. For more information, visit the company's news center at bcbstnews.com. About BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation, Inc. The BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation organized to promote the philanthropic mission of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. It has awarded $120 million in grants since 2005. The foundation provides funding for the BlueCross Healthy Place program, which creates active, healthy spaces across Tennessee. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005809/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Earlier this week, police had to intervene at the Arima to Port of Spain taxi stand on Henry Street, as some drivers were reported to be flouting the regulations. So let me get this one straight. Any number of influencers, from Kim Kardashian to our own Maura Higgins, can strip down to their smalls (or less), post a photo of it, and be commended for breaking the internet with their gestures of female empowerment. And when Liz Hurley does it, shes thirsty, desperate, an outrage, and, in the words of Piers Morgan, needs to put her clothes back on. Im not one to rely on Piers Morgan as a seat of wisdom or common sense, but several others seem to, and have echoed this weirdly paternalistic sentiment online. Liz Hurley, at 55, needs to put her clothes back on. (Morgan, incidentally, is also 55. Perhaps he is secretly perturbed that one of them appears to be ageing a little better than the other. Who knows?) On the face of it, the reaction to Lizs recent Instagram post, in which she wears an oversized cardigan, bikini bottoms and the delighted air of a woman who has basically defied all laws of gravity and corporeal ageing, is intriguing. Women I greatly respect described Hurley as a creep or a weirdo after she posted the photos. What is she DOING? others cried. Noticing the snowy tableau behind her, others again resorted to an old reliable: faux-concern (Youll catch your death in that rig-out, and so on). And of course many assumed that her 19-year-old son Damian, who has snapped several bikini shots of his mum in the past, was the person behind the lens. It wasnt; it was Lizs 80-year-old mum, Angela. Incidentally, I dont get creeped out by the Damian Element. He, a fashion model, is taking a shot of his mother, who is a model, and no doubt his gaze rests on the side of style/fashion, as opposed to sleaze. Read More Lets all just relax on this one, shall we? There are no two ways about it: Hurley looks sensational by anyones yardstick. This image has stirred a mixture of envy and admiration in me. But outrage? Distaste? Nope. Attention-seeking? Well, thats what celebrities do. Its their profession. In the absence of film premieres and paparazzi shots, a sultry selfie is a perfectly reasonable way to stay in the public eye. Lets not go baloobas when one celebrity does it, especially when other celebs leaving even less to the imagination barely elicit more than a shrug. The act your age reaction is telling, isnt it? It also begs the question: how is someone of Hurleys age meant to act? Wearing a hairnet, reading the Radio Times and waiting for Corrie to come on the telly? Be modest? Invisible? Or that most loaded of things, classy? Hurley clearly has much more confidence than she did in her twenties, and this seems to stick in the craw for many. Women who love and are proud of their own bodies really irritate some people. Doubly so for women of a certain age. Hurley, some reckon, has no shortage of notions, when at 55 she should really have no right to have any. I find it fascinating that in the year 2021, we are still getting a bit queasy about human nudity. Specifically, we are still in a place where boobs are Ground Zero when it comes to a little outrage. Until last month, Instagram didnt allow photos of women breastfeeding their children on the platform as part of its anti-nudity policy. People were outraged at the ban, and rightly so. Which makes the blowback on Liz Hurleys decidedly un-freed nipples all the more confusing. Wouldnt it be lovely if we could all agree on one thing? Having breasts, or even having a vagina, is not much different to having a knee, chin or elbow if youre a woman. Theyre just there. Its so strange to think of them as having such power to cause cultural explosions and moral panic. In a just world, a nude photo shouldnt have the power to damage someones reputation, or end a career, or even cause embarrassment. Just admiration, and a little envy. Its A Sin is a powerful reminder of how the victims of the AIDS pandemic were stigmatised When Nigella Lawson tweeted that she had been poleaxed after watching Channel 4s new drama Its A Sin, I could totally relate. If you havent yet had the pleasure (or, indeed, the emotional lynching), Its A Sin follows the lives of four young gay men and one young woman as they attempt to get their professional and personal lives off the ground in vibrant 80s London. Hovering in the background is the devastating spectre of AIDS until, tragically, it takes centre stage in their lives. Expand Close It's A Sin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp It's A Sin Impeccably written by Russell T Davies and with a supremely talented cast, Its A Sin is being roundly hailed as one of the most authentic and touching explorations of gay life for some time, with jubilation, joy and, occasionally, cruelty and pain. We have come a long way in the fight against AIDS since the 80s. Still, one look at the public outpouring of emotions since Its A Sins premiere last weekend reminds us of the emotional rawness that several LGBT people feel to this day (also, the parallels with modern-day transphobia are hard to ignore). Ruth Coker Burkss devastating memoir All The Young Men, in which she details looking after young men dying of AIDS in 80s Arkansas, is a brilliant companion piece to Its A Sin. Together, they have the power to open up a vital conversation. The victims of the AIDS pandemic have often been ignored and overlooked, and the stigma still remains. Perhaps now is their moment. Paul Mescal needs to rethink his take on 'acting' in sex scenes Expand Close Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People Paul Mescal admitted earlier this week that he didnt have to act much opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones during those famous sex scenes in Normal People. I knew when I was with Daisy that it felt natural, that there wasnt a huge amount of acting going on, he said. When you have that chemistry it makes it so much fun! Yet not everyone feels this way about the job Keira Knightley this week noted how uncomfortable sex scenes are for her. For the sake of his future co-stars, it might be best for Paul to realise that acting is very much involved. Read More The Romanian Investor Relations Association (ARIR) published for the VEKTOR indicator for the second time, for the companies listed in the Regulated Market within the Bucharest Stock Exchanges (BVB)'s website. According to ARIR, VEKTOR is the communication indicator with investors for the companies listed in the stock exchange and is calculated based on a methodology which includes 15 criteria, in line with the best international practices in relation with the investors (IR). 77 companies were noted as receiving a score from 0 (reduced communication) to 10 (excellent communication). The companies which obtained the highest VEKTOR indicator were present during an online event. The 15 companies that received a over 9 rating are: Antibiotice, Banca Transilvania, Nuclearelectrica, Purcari, Teraplast, ALRO, Electrica SA, Farmaceutica Remedia, OMV Petrom, Romgaz, Bucharest Stock Exchange, BRK Financial Group, Propriety Fund, Medlife and Transgaz. The VEKTOR indicator was calculated by ARIR for the first time in 2019. "The analysis and evaluation of available public information, of the website and the investor's relationship section (IR) were done by ARIR and a project committee, made up of 10 people (corporate governance analysts, IR professionals, the academic sector, non-financial reporting consultants) during the period of November 21 and December 15, 2020," the ARIR representatives say. Furthermore, the evaluation process was audited in January by Mazars, with an experience of over 25 years in the Romanian market. ARIR is a non-governmental and non-profit organization which was founded with the purpose of offering current and potential issuers a platform for the professionals' development in their relation with the investors (IR) and contribute to the implementation and best practices in communication with the investors and also in the corporate governance. The organization was founded in 2018 and has among its members listed companies, companies with a potential of becoming listed companies, fund administrators, professionals in the relation with investors, as well as consultants. The Tennessee Valley Authority joins the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, as a principal partner in the Tennessee RiverLine, North Americas next great regional trail system. TVAs elevated commitment of a $1.2 million investment will accelerate the progress of this regional initiative, which was founded in the UT College of Architecture and Designs School of Landscape Architecture in 2016.With its transformational financial support, TVA not only elevates its leadership in the project but also strengthens its partnership with UT to invest in the economic development, healthy lifestyles, and environmental stewardship of our regionareas the organization has prioritized throughout its history.TVA strives to invest in what we like to call power partnerships, those alliances that reflect our 1933 mandate from Congress to make life better for the people of the Tennessee Valley, said TVA Vice President of River and Resources Stewardship David Bowling.Eighty-eight years ago, when TVA went to work building dams that made the Tennessee River navigable, provided flood control and created electricity, the dream of a 652-mile regional trail system would have been unthinkable, but today, that vision is coming to fruition.It is one that TVA is proud to support financially and with the expertise of team members who manage the river and its 11,000 miles of shoreline on a daily basis.Soon after establishment of the Tennessee RiverLine in 2016, TVA began investing financial support and other resources to ensure its initial success. Together, UT and TVA will help sustain the momentum and continue growing the initiatives influence on communities across the region.Our university and all those who carry the Volunteer spirit remain committed to our land-grant mission and to inspiring the communities of our state and region who look to us for leadership in the pursuit of health and prosperitybenefits that will be achieved through the Tennessee RiverLine, said Scott Poole, dean of the college. UT is committed to investing in and advocating for our region, the people who call it home, and our treasured natural resources so they can be enjoyed for generations to come.The Tennessee RiverLine is a vision for a 652-mile continuous system of paddle, hike, and bike trail experiences along the entire length of the Tennessee River, from Knoxville to Paducah, Kentucky. The initiative transforms the way Tennessee River communities and more than 2.4 million residents relate to, experience, and understand the river.Since 2016, the Tennessee RiverLine has involved more than 60 UT students in trail system planning, amenity design and programming for river communities, and conducting research with a pilot group of five river communities that in turn have formed project leadership teams, offered new river experiences and amenities, and applied for state and federal funding. The initiative recently welcomed 15 communities, representing 35 cities and counties and 836,000 citizens, as members of the inaugural Tennessee RiverTowns Program cohort. In 2020 the initiative earned national, regional, and state awards and released its first comprehensive research findings and recommendations.As principal partners, UT and TVA take a leadership role in ensuring the Tennessee RiverLine becomes an engine for resilient economies and an infrastructure of public health for generations of residents, eco-tourists, and adventure seekers.We are honored that TVA has joined UT in providing essential sustained leadership, advocacy, and investment in the Tennessee RiverLine, said Brad Collett, associate professor of landscape architecture and director of the initiative. This partnership enables critical progress toward the Tennessee RiverLines vision and its economic development, public health, and environmental stewardship imperatives that unite our two missions to the benefit of the constituencies we serve.The Tennessee RiverLine is administrated by the Tennessee RiverLine Partnership, a diverse group that includes UT; TVA; the National Park Services Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance Program; and several other organizations and agencies. Celebrity Best Home Cook Rating: Secret Safari: Into The Wild Rating: Funny how life turns out. If Labour had won the General Election in 2015, Ed Balls would have been Chancellor and might conceivably be Prime Minister by now. Instead, hes making a lasagne on Celebrity Best Home Cook (BBC1), with the sister of the actual PM among his rivals. If politics is a greasy pole, Eds goes all the way down to the depths of hell. Funny how life turns out. If Labour had won the General Election in 2015, Ed Balls (pictured) would have been Chancellor and might conceivably be Prime Minister by now In the past few years, for travelogues and reality shows, hes tried his hand as a trawlerman in the North Sea and a wrestler in the American South . . . not to mention that eye-popping display on Strictly Come Dancing. As he scrapes a living in the land of the Z-listers, he seems relaxed and humble about the indignity of it all not visibly thrilled, but quietly resigned to his fate. You have to wonder, though, whether at 3am he has to stuff a pillow over his face to muffle his howls of anguish. Others embrace the life. Former rugby international Gareth Thomas pops up everywhere you look. In the past few weeks, he has stripped naked in The Full Monty On Ice and solved puzzles on The Crystal Maze. Tom (sixth from the left) is the agony uncle from E4s Celebs Go Dating, and he speaks in a mannered impersonation of Joyce Grenfell He got a taste for the starry limelight on shows including Celebrity Big Brother and The Jump, and is such a reality TV pro that he hadnt been in the kitchen four minutes before he was in tears reading aloud a note from his husband. Thats how you make sure the camera is trained on you. Novice celebs such as Tom Read Wilson could only watch and learn. ODD BEHAVIOUR OF THE NIGHT When one of her gangster lovers executed another in Marcella (ITV), Anna Friel was spattered with blood. But her only reaction was to take off her high heels. That made about as much sense as anything else in this demented thriller. Advertisement Tom is the agony uncle from E4s Celebs Go Dating, and he speaks in a mannered impersonation of Joyce Grenfell. As he wiped sweat from his brow, complaining that the heat in the studio made him look like the Wreck of the Hesperus, he made Mary Berry sound common. Dame Mary was there, quite literally looking down on them all: social distancing regulations meant she and her fellow judges were perched on a balcony. But cookery shows usually take place with everyone stationed well apart, so the only person who wasnt coping well was presenter Claudia Winkleman, who kept wailing that she just wanted to hug people. Gareth, its so hard not to squeeze you, she moaned, as the former fullback got all teary again over his Glamorgan sausages. Of all the many celebrity shows graced by Ed and Gareth, you wont find one more frothy and trivial than Celebrity Best Home Cook. But right now, frothy and trivial is exactly what we all need. If you tuned in to Secret Safari: Into The Wild (C4) expecting a lightweight hour of animal trivia on the African savannah, however, you got a jolt. This documentary turned unexpectedly red in tooth and claw. If you tuned in to Secret Safari: Into The Wild (C4) expecting a lightweight hour of animal trivia on the African savannah, however, you got a jolt. Pictured, Abraham Njenga It started innocuously, in Kenyas Ol Pejeta conservation park, with a pride of lions lazing in the sun before setting off on a half-hearted hunt for zebra, losing interest and going back to sleep. Then we met an adorable baby rhino called Lottie, just 12 hours old, whose mother Lola had been bottle-fed as a calf by ranger James. After that, things turned messy. The lions caught a warthog, and one of the lionesses was found badly mauled. Worse, poor baby Lottie was killed, beheaded and devoured by a lone male lion, with her hapless mum unable to protect her. The cameras didnt flinch from the carcass. This is an important series, depicting the crucial work of Kenyas wildlife rangers, but it could put you right off your celebrity lasagne. The Allstate Corp. is selling Allstate Life Insurance Co. to entities managed by investment firm Blackstone for $2.8 billion. Explaining the move from Allstates perspective, Allstate CEO Tom Wilson referred to a strategy to grow market share in personal lines property/casualty and the need to unlock deployable capital to support property/casualty insurance business. That is the same strategy Wilson cited last July in announcing Allstate was acquiring auto insurer National General for $4 billion. Allstate is deploying capital out of lower growth and return businesses while continuing to execute our strategy to grow market share in personal property-liability and expand protection solutions for customers, Wilson said in announcing the life insurance unit deal. According to transaction details, the sale of ALIC does not include Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York. The New York company has $5 billion of GAAP reserves, and Allstate said it is pursuing alternatives to sell or otherwise transfer risk to a third party. Not only will deployable capital increase as a result of the deal with Blackstone but also the sale gives increased transparency to the industry-leading returns of our core protection businesses, Wilson said. Moving in the opposite direction, two other personal lines insurers, Progressive and InsurTech Lemonade, are pursuing strategies to move into the life insurance arena. ALIC holds approximately 80 percent, or $23 billion, of Allstates life and annuity reserves. The life insurance company generated net income of $467 million in 2019 and a net loss of $23 million in the first nine months of 2020. Gilles Dellaert, global head of Blackstone Insurance Solutions, said Blackstone is continuing to grow its insurance business. We believe our teams extensive experience in the insurance sector and world-class asset origination capabilities will deliver significant benefits to policyholders and investors over the long term, Dellaert said. All statutory earnings of the life insurance business being sold to Blackstone will be retained by Allstate from Mar. 31, 2020 through closing. The transaction will reduce Allstates GAAP reserves by $23 billion. Blackstone will enter into an asset management agreement for ALICs $28 billion of investments. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval with an expected closing in the second half of 2021. J.P. Morgan Securities, Ardea Partners and Lazard acted as financial advisers and Willkie Farr & Gallagher was the legal adviser to Allstate. Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse Securities acted as financial advisers and Debevoise & Plimpton was legal adviser to Blackstone. Topics Carriers Property Casualty Despite violence at tractor rally, farmers refuse to call off protest march to Parliament on Budget Day India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Jan 27: Undeterred by the tractor rally that turned violent at Red Fort on Republic Day, the farmer unions have said that they had no plans of delaying or abandoning their march to the Parliament on Budget day. Day after #TractorRally: 22 FIRs, 2 cops in ICU, 150 hurt | Oneindia News The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital leaving over 100 policemen injured. Farmers' Protest: More than 80 Police personnel injured in violence during tractor rally Additional PRO (Delhi Police), Anil Mittal, said 22 FIRs have been so far registered in connection with Tuesday's violence. More than 100 policemen have been injured in the incident, he said. The Sayunkt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which comprises various farmer organisations, had proposed a "Kisan Tractor Rally" on Republic Day. The SKM had held several rounds of meetings with the Delhi Police in connection with their tractor parade. They had given an undertaking to the police to take out a peaceful rally as per the proposed plans on four agreed upon routes. However, on Tuesday around 8.30 am, 6,000 to 7,000 tractors assembled at the Singhu border, police said. Instead of going on the pre-decided route, they insisted upon going towards central Delhi and despite repeated requests, the farmers, led by Nihangs on their horses and equipped with swords, kirpans and fursas, had charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades, which were erected between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar, the police had said. Similar incidents were reported from Gazipur and Tikri borders. Meanwhile, some farmers also indulged in vandalism and attacked policemen. Later, they changed their plans and moved towards Red Fort, it said. At Red Fort, they broke the gates and entered its wells. A section of the crowd also managed to climb atop the rampart of the Red Fort where they hoisted their organisation's flag, the statement had said. Police had managed to remove the crowd from the rampart. MURRAY, Utah, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shoppers looking for the perfect in-home massage chair don't have to guess if it will work in their living space anymore now they can see it instantly in their room. Zarifa USA recently rolled out a new augmented reality (AR) feature for all their massage chairs. Customers can now view each chair in their own home using their mobile device by simply visiting the product page on the Zarifa USA website and clicking View in Your Space. "Here at Zarifa USA , we are always searching for new ways to help our customers live pain-free. With the addition of our augmented reality room tools, our customers can see exactly what our massage chairs will look like in their home and they get an even more immersive shopping experience from the comfort of their own home, or on the go," Yama Mustafawi, CEO, said about the new feature. Zarifa USA has the only massage chair you can buy with your HSA or FSA. Their smart massage chairs provide the ultimate relaxation experience. Offering a full body massage that gets those stubborn and tense areas, twisted seat functions, adjustable leg extensions, and zero gravity, the massage chairs give a full-body massage without leaving the comfort of home. The new AR feature eliminates the hassle of ordering a massage chair, only to discover that it doesn't quite work in your home. And the best part? View in Your Space does not require any special apps or hardware to useit is available right on any smartphone by simply clicking the link on Zarifa USA's website. About Zarifa USA With the increasing statistic of 100 million Americans that suffer from chronic pain each year, Zarifa USA aims to assist and provide relief to all we can without the use of addictive substances such as opioids. Zarifa USA is committed to helping customers find pain relief through easily accessible products that deliver positive medical results. Zarifa USA's aim is to support pain sufferers through their difficult times and provide a positive drug-free massage therapy experience. Media Contact: Kacy O'Connell Email: [email protected] Phone: 517-712-0469 Website: https://www.zarifausa.com SOURCE Zarifa USA Related Links http://www.zarifausa.com The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Monty Waldin in the Italian Wine Podcast booth highlighting Italian producers and their unique stories 2021 is shaping up to be another exceptional year for the Italian Wine Podcast with series planned that will not only educate but also entertain, and continue to expose the audience to a broad range of voices within the wine industry. First airing in March 2017, the Italian Wine Podcast has now entered its fourth year of broadcasting and is set to publish its 500th episode on February 9th, 2021. Originally conceived as a series of interviews with Italian wine producers at the OperaWine event in Verona, Italy, the program has since expanded its range to include key players in the wine industry from around the world. In 2020 Italian Wine Podcast took the decision to move to publishing five episodes a week allowing it to showcase more content and reach a wider audience with diverse topics. New concepts initiated in 2020 included a series of video interviews (vlogs) connecting Italian wine professionals during Lockdown, and the first regular content in Italian; question and answer sessions with vine geneticist Professor Attilio Scienza, which are accompanied by transcripts in English. Another format that has proved particularly popular to listeners is the audiobook, with the podcast offering two ongoing narrated podcasts a week, for example, Lets Get US Market Ready, a book by Steve Raye that was successfully launched as an audiobook; giving wine professionals concise and clear insight into how to gain traction in the US Market. It has proved that listeners are looking not only for personal insights into the lives of producers and professionals, but also clear instructional content to aid their business. That said, the #iobevoacasa LOCKDOWN SERIES in partnership with Colangelo & Partners, gave glimpses into the more personal aspects of life in Lockdown, it provided some lighthearted content that gave fans an unprecedented look into the lives of industry leaders. Similarly, the Everybody Needs a Bit of Scienza Friday series (ongoing) not only touches on serious scientific and genetic questions submitted by the community, but also features the often-hilarious rapport between Professor Scienza and Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International. Although conducted in Italian, translations are then provided thanks to the VIA community, and these are collected in a series of guest blog posts on the Italian Wine podcast website (http://www.italianwinepodcast.com). These different series demonstrate how the Italian Wine Podcast has kept listeners engaged and diversified to cover more aspects of the wine industry, a tactic that has worked as proven by the 454,000 listens across 50 markets in 2020. The question is, where does the Italian Wine Podcast go from here? Regular host Monty Waldin will return to his roots and present a series dedicated to Organic and Biodynamic wine production, shining a spotlight on Italian producers using these methods. The broader industry focus will come in the form of a new series hosted by Dr. Rebecca Lawrence that will feature interviews with a wide range of people from the wine world, at the heart of which will be issues of inclusion, diversity and female leadership. This year will also see the Italian Wine Podcast partnering with Colangelo & Partners once again, this time to create a series dedicated to wine business. Topics such as marketing, technology, retail solutions, importation and the like will be presented by host Juliana Colangelo as she interviews key guests using her wine industry know-how and millennial friendly voice. Prof. Scienza and Stevie Kim will continue to provide listeners with Italian content that tackles the geekier (or funnier!) side of the Italian wine world, and the audiobooks will remain a stalwart, with How To Get US Market Ready continuing, and new content being provided in partnership with the Jumbo Shrimp Guides, this time with a focus on international grape varieties, giving readers exclusive and early access to new Positive Press Publication, the Jumbo Shrimp Guide to International Grape Varieties in Italy. 2021 is shaping up to be another exceptional year for the Italian Wine Podcast with series planned that will not only educate but also entertain, and continue to expose the audience to a broad range of voices within the wine industry. About: the Italian Wine Podcast: Cin Cin with Italian Wine People! is a podcast project dedicated exclusively to the Italian wine world. The program uncovers the unique world of Italian wine in conversation with some of its key protagonists from all over the world. Italian Wine Podcast aims to inform, educate, and entertain listeners with content for wine professionals and casual listeners alike. Content includes interviews by organic and biodynamic wine writer Monty Waldin; interviews focused on women in the wine industry, hosted by Rebecca Lawrence DipWSET; chats between influencers, educators, and entrepreneurs in the wine world; deep examinations of individual grape varieties; a guest blog; Q&A sessions with vine geneticist Prof. Attilio Scienza, and audiobooks. Italian Wine Podcast is available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, XimalayaFM (for China), and on the official website. It now boasts almost 500 recorded episodes with a growing online following. Listeners interested in providing feedback about the show are encouraged to access a demographic survey on the podcast website. Donations to the show are welcomed and help fund a portion of the shows equipment, production, and publication costs. To advertise on the show, please request a prospectus and/or customized advertising plan from info@italianwinepodcast.com. Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night. The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid. Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February. The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more. If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK's arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages. Pfizer's and AstraZeneca's are the only ones currently being rolled out in the UK and have accounted for the nearly 7million doses given out already. Another jab, made by US firm Moderna and approved by the British regular, won't be delivered until March because the UK was late to get its order in. The promising news on Johnson & Johnson comes amid a blazing row between the EU and vaccine manufacturers over supply delays which appear to be hitting Europe harder than they are affecting Britain, which is steaming ahead in the race to immunise. Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunisation plans. The 30million doses already ordered by the UK could be enough to reach almost half of the population. HOW DOES THE J&J VACCINE WORK? Johnson and Johnson's vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The team have modified the adenovirus so it can enter cells but cant replicate inside them or cause illness. Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers). After the J&J vaccine is injected into a persons arm, the adenoviruses enter human cells and travel to their nuclei, the chamber where the cells DNA is stored. The vaccine are programmed to carry the genetic code of the coronavirus's 'spike protein', which Sars-CoV-2 uses to invade the body. Iit uses this genetic code to trick the body into mounting an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if the real virus infects the body. Advertisement Researchers are now combing through their latest data and could, if it shows the vaccine is effective, file it for approval from UK, US and EU regulators in the coming weeks. The chief financial officer of the company, Joseph Wolk, told CNN: 'We're looking by early next week. 'The scientific team is going through the final stages of a very robust 45,000-individual study that covered three continents, eight countries. 'Some of those countries include South Africa and Brazil so as we hear about new strains that presents an opportunity where maybe we'll gain some insights on some of these new strains once the sequencing is done. 'We're looking at no later than early next week.' Mr Wolk said the company would then seek emergency use authorisation in the same way that other countries including Pfizer, also based in the US, have done, but wouldn't be drawn on when people might start to receive the jabs. Johnson and Johnson has previously said it is ready to ship doses from its factories in Europe as soon as it gets the seal of approval. The US firm launched a separate trial of the jab in November to see if it was even better and lasts longer when administered in two doses. That trial is involving 30,000 volunteers around the world, including 6,000 Brits. Sir John Bell, regius professor at Oxford University and an adviser to the UK's Vaccine Taskforce, said earlier this month the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will 'work well' and become available in time for the mid-February target. He told The Telegraph: 'I think they will have supplies available for the UK in a time frame that would allow it just to catch the mid-February target of getting the numbers up. 'I think it may well have a material impact on what we can do in the UK to get more people vaccinated.' The UK is vaccinating its population at one of the fastest rates in the world, and has jabbed more than any other country in Europe - leading to heavy criticism of the EU's jab roll-out and accusations of vaccine theft from Brussels The approval and delivery of Johnson & Johnson's jab could speed up Britain's vaccination programme, which has had a mixed start. It delivered a record 493,000 doses on Saturday but this has since dropped by half to fewer than 300,000 per day on Sunday and Monday. UK 'IS ON COURSE TO VACCINATE ALL OVER-50s BY MARCH', SAYS JAB MAKER Britain is 'comfortably' on target to vaccinate all over-50s by March and '30million people in weeks', the boss of AstraZeneca has said. Pascal Soriot backed the government's decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine and predicted it would allow the inoculation of huge numbers in just weeks. Mr Soriot also slammed an 'emotional' European Union over a jabs war that saw Eurocrats accuse the UK of hijacking doses meant for the continent. It came as Boris Johnson warned the EU he expected it to honour government contracts for vaccines as a diplomatic row saw senior Brussels figures accused the UK of stealing jabs destined for other countries. The UK and the EU were in a tense stand-off last night as continental figures attempted to shift blame for its slovenly rollout of the inoculations in comparison to Britain. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed to make firms declare what vaccines they are exporting to the UK as she scrambled to contain the backlash. The commission president said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies. But the boss of British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca fired back at EU health chiefs, insisting Brussels was late with its vaccine order. Mr Soriot told La Repubblica: 'I have no doubt that the UK has made the right choice thus maximizing the number of people vaccinated, which will reach 28-30million by March.' The figure is double the government's current pledge to vaccinate the 15million most vulnerable by February 15 - and would enable the inoculation of almost everyone aged over 50. He also told the Italian newspaper that the European Union has only itself to blame for its shambolic vaccine rollout. He said the EU deal was struck so late AstraZeneca could only offer to make its 'best efforts' to meet supply targets, rather than a firm guarantee. 'The reason why we said that is because Europe wanted to be supplied more or less at the same time as the UK, even though the contract was signed three months later. So we said 'OK, we're going to do our best, we're going to try, but we cannot commit contractually because we are three months behind the UK'. Advertisement To hit its target of 15million people immunised by the middle of February, the UK must be consistently vaccinating at least 400,000 people per day. Government ministers have insisted that the country is on track to hit this target and that vaccinations will speed up in February when supply is boosted. Health Secretary Matt Hancock admitted in a Downing Street press conference on Monday that supply is 'tight' at the moment and manufacturing capacity is the 'limiting' factor on the UK's vaccinations. A row has erupted this week over vaccine supplies to Europe and the UK after the EU threatened to block export of the Pfizer jab after it emerged Britain was getting preferential treatment from AstraZeneca. German media today rounded on the EU over Europe's vaccine debacle - calling it 'the best advert for Brexit' while blaming chief Ursula von der Leyen for a three-month delay in ordering jabs compared to the UK. The EU is acting 'slowly, bureaucratically and protectionist... and if something goes wrong, it's everyone else's fault' fumed a front-page editorial in Die Zeit, one of Germany's best-respected broadsheets. Meanwhile Bild tore apart Von Der Leyen's explanation of the vaccine delays and threat to stop supplies heading to the UK line by line, accusing her of placing 'junk' orders for vaccines three months behind Britain. 'She says: "We know that there is no time to lose in a pandemic," but what she means is: "We may have wasted time. But we will NEVER admit that"', the paper said. Meanwhile 'Brexit Brits continue to receive full supplies.' Both reports quoted an employee for vaccine-maker AstraZeneca, who said: 'I understand Brexit a bit better now.' Britain signed a contract for 300million doses of vaccine in mid-May, he revealed, but it took the EU until August to put pen to paper on the same deal. Embarrassingly for the bloc, it appears that Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy had originally been looking to do a deal with AstraZeneca in May alongside the UK - but were blocked by the EU, which insisted it take over negotiations. According to ITV's Robert Peston: 'The extra talks with the European Commission led to no material changes to the contract, but wasted time on making arrangements to make the vaccine with partner sites.' The delays in producing the vaccine are now thought to be due to under-production at one of those sites, located in Belgium. Explaining the delay in more detail, Soriot said the process involves pumping the virus into large vats of live cultures which then generate the vaccine. Because the process involves living things and many variables, the exact quantity of product is difficult to predict ahead of time - some vats will produce more, some less, and it takes time and a lot of tweaking to get all of them running at full capacity. 'A very efficient vaccine factory can produce up to three times the same as a less efficient factory... as happened at one of our European sites,' Soriot added. These set of graphs show the number of vaccines ordered by the UK and the EU. The EU has also ordered a number of other vaccines, including 300million Sanofi-GSK doses and 405million CureVac doses Faced with growing public anger over the failings, Italy has threatened to sue to get its vaccine doses while Von Der Leyen has ordered AstraZeneca to 'meet your obligations.' But, according to Soriot, the company is meeting its obligations because it only signed a 'best effort' deal with the EU - promising to try and achieve 300million vaccines, but with both sides acknowledging that the process might be hit by delays. 'We are two months behind schedule,' Soriot admitted. 'But we are working to solve these problems.' [January 27, 2021] Infosys Expands Relationship with Snowflake to Become Elite Service Partner NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it has achieved Elite Status in the Snowflake Partner Network. Along with Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, Infosys will offer transformational solutions for enterprises, built on Snowflake's Data Cloud, which include a hyper data economy for enterprises, proven industry and business solutions and managed cloud consumption solutions from the Infosys Cobalt portfolio. Infosys' POV on hyper data economy opens up new possibilities for businesses to connect unconnected data, across industry boundaries, while monetizing their own data to draw richer actionable business insights, explore new business models, build new solutions and create connected customer experience. Snowflake enables secure data exchange with strong yet flexible processes for operations ranging from data consumption to monetization. Infosys industry and business solutions will bring together a growing portfolio of ready-to-launch, cloud-first applications with an ecosystem of data intelligence partners to unlock value across siloed data lifecycles and transform processes and functions for enterprises across industry verticals. Infosys will also partner with enterprises to co-create new solutions that combine the power of AI, cloud and data analytics and amplify the value of their business investments on Snowflake's Data Cloud. Infosys managed cloud consumption solutions for Snowflake can bring the governance and cost management capabilities that enterprises need to maximize the efficiency of their cloud consumption on Snowflake. This can significantly lower the TCO of their Snowflake investments, improve ROI and enable them to realize value faster. We want to enable our clients to build businesses so sentient that their organizations, across layers and functions, can sense and respond to their customers. Our Elite service partnership with Snowflake enables us to unlock the expansive data capabilities that our lients need," said Ravi Kumar S, President, Infosys. "This, along with leverage from Infosys applied AI cloud and Infosys Cobalt cloud offerings, can help them drive faster innovation and greater business resilience." "Snowflake's Data Cloud enables organizations to mobilize their data, including partner and third-party data sources, with near-unlimited scale, concurrency and performance," Snowflake Chief Revenue Officer, Chris Degnan said. "Our partnership with Infosys can help joint customers transform data into insights for potential new revenue streams and industry specific solutions to drive their businesses forward." About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infosys-expands-relationship-with-snowflake-to-become-elite-service-partner-301216420.html SOURCE Infosys [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hauliers are warning of significant new disruption at the Irish Sea and Channel ports that will likely lead to more delays into and from Ireland of foodstuffs and parcels after the French government imposed mandatory Covid-19 testing for Irish truckers travelling into the country for the first time. Aidan Flynn, general manager of business group the Freight Transport Association Ireland, said the new testing effectively destroys the EU's initiative known as the "green lane", under which truckers were deemed essential workers and didn't require testing for Covid-19. The move will lead to more uncertainty on top of the disruption at Channel and Irish ports caused by Brexit. He said the supply chain of foodstuffs and parcels from the continent will face even more uncertainty and warned that "on some days you could get delays to deliveries and on other days you could be Ok". The French had moved because of the prevalence of the English variant of Covid-19 in Ireland, which means that even Irish essential workers from Thursday have to show a negative test taken 72 hours before arrival to enter France, Mr Flynn said. The Department of Transport here has launched its emergency planning to set up free testing centres to cover the two major UK landbridge ports in the Republic, including for Rosslare, of which Mr Flynn said the industry had concerns because of its location some distance from the port. A car park at Dublin Airport will be the major testing centre truckers for Dublin Port. "It is good that the State is covering the costs of the antigen tests and it has been a bit of challenge to get them secured" because they had not been approved by the Irish health authorities, he said. "The concern for the industry is if it is happening here and in France and in Holland, and with Britain as a third country that there will there be new requirements at the Irish Sea. It is a genuine concern because to do an antigen test will eat into drivers' regulated working hours," Mr Flynn said. Even the direct sea routes to France from the Republic will be required to have truckers' tested, the hauliers' group said. The French government imposed mandatory Covid-19 testing for Irish truckers travelling into the country for the first time because of the prevalence of the English variant of Covid-19 in Ireland. Picture : Domnick Walsh Eye Focus LTD The Department of Transport said in a statement that "following the decision of the French Government, all commercial vehicle drivers travelling from Ireland to France from Thursday, 28th January, will be required to have evidence of a negative Covid -19 test result". "The Department of Transport, in conjunction with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and Wexford County Council, is working extensively to finalise the opening of State-supported antigen testing facilities for hauliers," it said. "These tests will be made available free of charge at dedicated testing sites near the ports of Dublin and Rosslare. Tests will only be provided to hauliers who are travelling to France or other countries where a negative Covid-19 test is required for entry," the department said. It said drivers could get tested at private facilities, but that the costs would not be covered by the Government. "The Department of Transport is liaising closely with the haulage industry and shipping sector with regard to the introduction of these new testing requirements for commercial vehicle drivers," it said. "The department will be issuing guidance directly to the haulage representative organisations and ferry operators and to all international licensed haulage operators," the department said. Antony Blinken was confirmed as secretary of State on Tuesday, taking the reins of U.S. foreign policy amid major global challenges and following years of turmoil at the State Department. Blinken won bipartisan approval in the Senate, with a vote of 78-22, Politico reported. Blinken, a longtime aide to President Joe Biden, is a strong proponent of turning to international alliances to further U.S. interests. His resume includes having served as both deputy national security adviser and deputy secretary of State during the Obama administration. Blinken becomes the chief U.S. diplomat as the U.S. faces tests on multiple fronts, including: a pandemic that has killed 2.1 million people worldwide and ravaged economies; a rising and increasingly aggressive China; a Middle East riven by tensions between Iran and its neighbors; and an increasing exhaustion among Americans with the war in Afghanistan. He has pledged to make humility and confidence the twin cornerstones of his approach to the job, a reflection of the Biden teams view of how America should conduct itself in a world where Washington, D.C., is not the only power center. [January 27, 2021] PINE Advisor Solutions Quadruples Client Base, Expands Staff to Support Growth PINE Advisor Solutions, a boutique, Denver-based provider of outsourced non-investment related services for the asset management industry, saw its client base quadruple last year, as investment managers looked to PINE for support launching new products. The new clients include open and closed-end mutual funds, alternative asset firms and an exchange-traded fund trust. PINE has added five industry professionals and doubled its office space to meet growing demand for its outsourced accounting and compliance services. "PINE experienced significant growth in 2020 despite a challenging environment for many firms," said PINE Co-Founder JB Blue. "The most rewarding aspect for PINE is watching our clients grow by adding new people, strategies and funds." PINE serves as an extension of its clients' staff, specializing in institutional-quality Chief Financial Officer (CF0), regulatory compliance, fund/advisor launch, and operations support services that an asset manager may not have in-house. With its leadership team averaging more than 15 years' experience, PINE provides highly-skilld support, saving its clients the expense of hiring and training new employees and allowing them to focus on investing, generating returns and raising capital. PINE worked with Denver-based Bow River Capital to launch a first of its kind registered private equity fund last year, serving as both the Fund Treasurer and Chief Compliance Officer for the fund. The fund, Bow River Capital Evergreen Fund, converted to a registered fund on December 31, 2020. "PINE is absolutely essential to what we do. Their deep industry knowledge -- coupled with personalized, high-touch service -- is a rare combination, providing a cost-effective way for us to concentrate on what we do best, which is private equity investing," said Jeremy Held, Bow River Capital Managing Director. With increasing consolidation in the outsourced CFO and compliance space, PINE plans to carve a niche as an employee-owned firm offering customized solutions, experienced and dedicated staff with the ability to adapt to the needs of its clients faster than larger, less nimble firms. "While the mergers we are seeing among our competitors may result in higher fees and reduced service levels, we remain committed to serving as a one-stop shop for the non-investment components needed to manage a successful fund and investment adviser," said Derek Mullins, PINE Co-Founder and Managing Partner. For more information visit www.pineadvisorsolutions.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005296/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Boston police officers and FBI agents took to a Mattapan home Tuesday afternoon to execute a search warrant on the target of an investigation and found a significant cache of guns, drugs and cash, according to authorities. Among the firearms discovered in the home on Cummins Highway: a .357 magnum Smith & Wesson revolver with an obliterated serial number, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun with a high-capacity magazine and a .380 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun that had been reported stolen in South Carolina, police said in a statement. Among the drugs: 10 grams of fentanyl, 147 grams of cocaine and more than a pound of marijuana, according to police. Officers also seized $16,586 in U.S. cash from the home, the Boston Police Department noted in its statement. The search warrants were executed in the middle of the day, around 12:30 p.m., and were issued out of Dorchester District Court for the target of the investigation, 36-year-old Christopher Rowell, and his home, according to authorities. The effort was coordinated among members of the District B-3 drug control unit, the departments citywide drug control unit and the Federal Bureau of Investigations metro Boston gang task force, officials said. Rowell was arrested without incident and will appear in Dorchester District Court on three counts of unlawfully possessing a firearm, four counts of illegally carrying ammunition, possessing a gun with an obliterated serial number, carrying a large-capacity feeding device, trafficking Class A and B drugs and receiving stolen property. The recent exchange of detainees between Kyiv and the "DPR"/"LPR" took place on April 16, 2020. Representatives of the Russian Federation and two Russia-controlled self-proclaimed republics, the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR") and "Luhansk People's Republic" ("LPR"), have blocked the swap of prisoners since September 2020. This was announced by head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbas Leonid Kravchuk in a comment to journalists, according to the news outlet Novosti Donbassa. "At every meeting, Ukraine would ask 'DPR'/'LPR' to submit the lists [of detainees]. They have blocked [this process], using different pretexts," he said. "In the end, they have turned it into a game that looks very gloomy, as they are starting to trade in human beings," Kravchuk said in a comment on "DPR"/"LPR" plans to transfer some Ukrainian citizens to Viktor Medvedchuk, MP from the Opposition Platform - For Life Party and Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest ally in Ukraine, bypassing the established prisoner swap procedure. Read alsoTorture desk and cells: Photos released of occupied Donetsk's secret prison The recent exchange of detainees between Kyiv and the "DPR"/"LPR" took place on April 16, 2020. Twenty people returned to the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. The self-proclaimed republics received 14 persons in exchange, four more refused to go to the Russia-occupied territory. Other related news reports Reporting by UNIAN Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. NOTES AND THOUGHTS ON WWE'S MOVING THE NETWORK TO PEACOCK Below are the basic notes from my hotline yesterday looking at WWE moving the network to Peacock. There is more depth on the hotline but this will give you an idea as to what was talked about. Signing with Peacock is a huge win for WWE. WWE has grossed about $141M in the first 9 months of 2020. If they maintained that pace, they will gross $188M for the year. That is for the entire world. In selling the rights to Peacock, its a huge win for WWE. *If the Wall Street Journal report is correct, they will gross more next year AND maintain the Worldwide rights to The Network. They will increase the overall revenue for The Network. Even if they keep creating the same amount of content that they do now, they will bring in more money. And, costs will be reduced greatly with NBCU paying for many of the aspects that WWE pays for now. Their net will definitely increase. *FOX pays $205M for 104 hours of Smackdown yearly. That is 8.7 hours of programming a month. Most months, The WWE Network doesnt do 8.7 hours of live programming (PPVs, Takeovers and Supershows). Those are the real draws of the Network, so WWE has gotten a comparable deal to what they have sold to FOX. *They get protection if interest in the product continues to lag. The ratings have slid over the past year and interest in PPVs tends to slip when that happens. They protect themselves by getting a significant, locked in payment. *By being on Peacock, they will get access to more eyeballs which could grow interest in the product (and of course NBCU is hoping that the PPVs bring eyeballs to their product. Someone who may not pay $9.99 for a PPV may pay $4.99. And we have a choice to pay less if we choose, plus if you use Comcast for internet you get Peacock for free. *By doing this deal with NBCU, it strengthens their position in the Comcast universe. As they shut down NBCSN, more properties will move to USA (and Peacock). Cross promotion with the NHL, NASCAR and the EPL will become part of the synergy, much like with saw with Booker T on FOX yesterday. What does it mean for the stock? *I think its a kind of positive, if that makes sense. Guggenheim raised their target price today from $66 to $72. I think that is fair because the stock, which already pays a solid dividend, has become even more cash strong. Instead of wondering what the Network subscribers and revenue will be, they now have a number that they can count on, quarter in and quarter out. Add that with the TV deals and for the next three plus years, we know where probably 95% of the revenue is coming from and exactly what it will be. That is a big positive. *The reason that I say kind of is there isnt a lot of room for growth now. The main assets that WWE has have been monetized. They will sell tickets and more merchandise again when they start running their events in front of crowds, but that is more of a steady source. As David Baldini suggested when we did The Business of Wrestling a few weeks back, the best way to bring in new revenue sources is to sell more super shows, like they have to Saudi Arabia and Australia. I know WWE President Nick Khan said they will run house shows again, but if they do, they need to change how they do it. I will get into that later. *Beyond that, I think WWE has monetized its assets as best as they can but that isnt a bad thing. They will still generate strong revenue and the shareholders will get a decent dividend while the stock price will be backed up by financials. What does it mean for WWE? *They are a TV company now. Anyone who is still clinging to the old model can forget it. TV IS what will be served by WWE. *House shows. For years they have dwindled. They dont bring in much revenue and when expenses are added in, they dont generate much profit. I think it would be best to get rid of all of the smaller markets, especially given no one knows when people will feel comfortable going to event when the pandemic finally ends. Super shows, that bring in a huge amount of money? Great idea. A loop through sparsely populated areas? Not so much. If WWE is going to continue house shows, this is how they should do it. They run two shows a week on non-PPV weekends, Saturday and Sunday. They have four matches from each brand. The Smackdown group works Friday, Saturday and Sunday while Raw works Saturday, Sunday and Monday. They start by running big cities, like Boston and New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC, etc. *For those wondering, I dont think it affects FOX at all. They already have been cross promoting. Like WWE business, TV has changed as well. If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here! BOLOGNA, JAN 27 - League leader Matteo Salvini said Wednesday he had been vindicated after the parents of a boy whose intercom he buzzed in what was decried as an electoral stunt in Bologna a year ago were arrested on suspicion of pushing drugs in the Emilian capital. Surrounded by a film crew and a crowd of supporters for his campaign in the Emilia Romagna elections, the nationalist leader buzzed the intercom of the 17-year-old Tunisian boy in a working-class district in January 2020 and asked if a pusher was living there. A police officer reportedly put Salvini in touch with a woman in the Pilastro district whose son had died of drugs and who led the former hardline anti-migrant interior minister to the boy's home. The boy sued the opposition leader, who went on to narrowly lose the regional elections. Salvini's opponents decried the stunt while the Tunisian ambassador called it an unacceptable breach of privacy. Facebook took down a video Salvini had posted of the "raid", which had enthused his supporters. On Wednesday the boy's parents, a 59-year-old Tunisian man and a 58-year-old Swiss national, both naturalised Italians, were arrested on suspicion of distributing and possessing drugs with the intent to distribute, as well as possessing counterfeit money and weapons. Salvini said he had been vindicated, tweeting: "Anti-drugs raid in Bologna. Time is a gentleman. Drugs are bad for you". (ANSA). Advertisement The UK gave out 312,770 Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, official figures show, which marks the third consecutive day that it has missed the 400,000-a-day target needed to reach 15 million people by mid-February. The Department of Health figures showed that 312,770 vaccines were administered across the UK on January 26 - of which 311,060 were given to people receiving their first dose. Figures published today by NHS England revealed of the 260,307 jabs administered across the country yesterday, 259,306 were given to people receiving their first dose. A further 24,698 were given out in Scotland. The UK needs to be vaccinating at least 400,000 people every day for the next three weeks to fulfil Number 10's promise of immunising all 15million of the most vulnerable Brits by February 15. For each day that passes without the target being hit it becomes slightly higher. And Prime Minister Boris Johnson today announced that the national lockdown will last until at least March 8, or until three weeks after this most vulnerable group has been completed. This means the prospect of lifting tough social distancing rules that have already been in place for three weeks is reliant entirely on the vaccine programme getting up to speed. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this week said supply is 'tight' and manufacturing is the 'limiting' factor holding back the rollout. AstraZeneca, set to supply the majority of the vaccines over the next month, is embroiled a vicious row with the EU for prioritising its doses for Britain, where it was developed. Figures showed as of Monday about 6.8million Brits have received at least one dose of either the Oxford University/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, which leaves 8.1million still to be inoculated. The NHS England data, from December 8 to yesterday, revealed that the highest number of first doses were given in the Midlands with 1,166,017 jabs administered followed by the North East and Yorkshire with 999,991. Figures also showed that from December 8 690,726 people had received the first dose in London with an additional 56,311 having received the second jab. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said at Downing Street press conference this afternoon that the NHS was 'straining every sinew' to get vaccines rolled out as 'quickly and efficiently as they can'. Figures published today by NHS England revealed of the 260,307 jabs administered across the country yesterday - 259,306 were given to people receiving their first dose. Pictured: Nurse Hannah Flynn administers the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to a patient in Doncaster Prime Minister Boris Johnson added: 'Don't forget that these are vaccines that have only just been invented. The batches are only just being approved. 'I think one of the things we said at the beginning was that there would be bumps, there would be ups and downs, particularly in these early phases as production gets under way.' Data from the Scottish Government revealed 24,192 people had received the first dose of the vaccine on Tuesday with 506 having their second dose of the jab. How many first doses of a Covid vaccine have been given out in each UK country as of January 26 According to Department of Health Data, a total of 7.2 million people across the UK have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Here is a breakdown of each country: England First dose: 6,221,850 Second dose: 444,011 Scotland First dose: 462,092 Second dose: 6,596 Wales First dose: 312,305 Second dose: 639 Northern Ireland First dose: 168,144 Second dose: 22,910 UK total First dose: 7,164,387 Second dose: 474,156 Advertisement It comes after figures from the Department of Health revealed only 281,725 were administered on Monday and 221,067 on Sunday across the UK, down by more than half on the record high of 493,013 on Saturday. However Britain remains ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. The figures came after Boris Johnson today declared that schools will not reopen until at least March 8 as he tried to quell rising Tory anger by pledging a 'road map' out of lockdown in the coming weeks. The PM delivered the grim news for millions of children and struggling parents in a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon, saying he knew how 'frustrated' they will be. He made clear there is no hope of any lockdown easing for another three weeks after the mid-February review date - finally ruling out the idea that some more pupils could return to classrooms after half-term. Currently only the offspring of key workers are in schools, with everyone else remote learning. Mr Johnson said fast progress was being made on vaccinations with doses given to more than 6.8million people - 13 per cent of the adult population - and the NHS is on track to hit the goal of covering the four most vulnerable groups by February 15. The jabs should give them full protection three weeks after that, he insisted. 'We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday 8 March,' the premier said - while warning that even that is contingent on pressure on the health service easing. The announcement that March 8 is the earliest possible timeline for a relaxation came after the UK's death toll hit the grim milestone of 100,000, with scientists claiming the victims could have been reduced by tougher government action. In the House, Mr Johnson admitted that 'perpetual lockdown is no answer'. But he also confirmed that borders are being tightened, with enforced 10-day stays in 'quarantine hotels' for countries on a 'red list' with high infection rates. 'We will not persist for a day longer than necessary, but not will we relax too soon,' he said. 'The overall picture should be clearer by mid-February.' He added: 'Reopening schools will be our first priority.' Mr Johnson has already said that he hopes to reopen schools and return to the 'tiered' restrictions when possible. News that work on the exit strategy is under way came after Prof Chris Whitty said he believed the UK had reached the peak of the latest wave. The chief medic said cases were falling fast - down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000 yesterday, while the vaccine rollout is gathering speed. However, deaths are still high as they lag behind infections - with some scientists suggesting another 50,000 could fall victim before the crisis 'burns out'. Professor Neil Ferguson told the BBC that if action had been taken 'earlier and with greater stringency back in September' then the 60,000 deaths over the past 'four or five months' could have been significantly reduced. Tory MPs today urged the PM to focus on whether the NHS can cope, rather than the grim death total or high infection levels, when deciding what areas of lockdown can be eased. Senior backbenchers pointed to the wider balance of 'lives saved now versus lives saved later', pointing out that 'poverty kills' as well as the virus. It comes after Priti Patel today revealed Britons returning from more than 20 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. The Home Secretary also announced that Britons will be sent home from airports if they fail to prove their trip abroad is 'essential', as she vowed police will ramp up enforcement on travel restrictions. She insisted the measures would help prevent mutant Covid strains getting into the country - but they are far milder than were originally mooted. Ms Patel herself is believed to have been pushing for a much tougher regime. Labour said the government was 'once again behind the curve', while Nicola Sturgeon has threatened to impose her own more brutal curbs in Scotland, and Wales says they do not go far enough. But making the case for the government in a Commons statement, Ms Patel said: 'It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. 'And today I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme.' These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries that could be on the UK quarantine list Under the push to clamp down on travel, airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel,' Ms Patel said. What countries are on the 'red list' for new quarantine rules? Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignored a plea from Ms Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons today that the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. The 22 'high risk' countries, due to be published later today by the Home Secretary along with a start date, are expected to include Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, much of South America and southern Africa. These areas have been chosen because of dangerous variants that have emerged there - or because they have rocketing infection and death rates. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Boris Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' Meanwhile on Monday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted that Britain was 'on track' to reach the most vulnerable groups by the middle of February. He said that 6.6million people had now received a jab, more than one in nine of the adult population, and in the last week 2.5million got a vaccine, which was equal to a rate of more than 250 people per minute. And, he said, 78.7 per cent of over-80s have received a jab. The race to deliver the vaccine comes after care home residents have accounted for almost a third of the total number of coronavirus deaths in England and Wales. As of January 15 2021, a total of 30,851 residents had been killed by the virus. Separate damning ONS figures show weekly fatalities among care home residents in England alone have almost tripled in the last fortnight, as the virus makes a deadly resurgence in the sector. The number-crunching body said there were 1,705 deaths in English care homes reported to the Care Quality Commission in the seven days to January 2, up from 661 a fortnight ago. EU officials have brazenly demanded that UK-made Covid vaccines be exported to Europe to make up for shortfalls in their roll-out - just a day after Ursula Von Der Leyen threatened to stop doses made on the continent from coming the other way. In a stunning piece of hypocrisy, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said that AstraZeneca vaccines made in Britain should be used to make up for a 60 per cent reduction in jabs to the continent that the company said was due to low production at a factory in Belgium. EU officials have today demanded that Covid vaccines made in the UK be exported to Europe to help plug shortfalls in its own jabs roll-out, which is among the slowest in the world and is lagging well behind Britain 'UK factories are part of our advanced purchase agreement and that is why they have to deliver,' Kyriakides said, noting that two of the four factories involved in the EU's contract with AstraZeneca are in Britain. Another official added: 'Are we expecting the UK plants to deliver doses? The answer is yes.' The bloc is currently engaged in a war-of-words with AstraZeneca in a desperate bid to pin blame for its painfully-slow jabs roll-out on the drug-maker, despite boss Pascal Soriot explaining that the hold-up is due to the fact that the EU ordered its jabs three months later than the UK, meaning supply chains are not running at full capacity. But Eurocrats flatly rejected that line of argument today, telling German media: 'We reject... the idea that manufacturing facilities in the UK are reserved for deliveries to the UK. 'If there is a problem in one plant in Belgium, we have capacity in other plants in Europe and the UK.' In a sign of deepening tensions, EU officials also accused AstraZeneca of cancelling a meeting to discuss the crisis last-minute - only for the company to deny the rumours and say it was still going ahead. The brazen demand comes just a day after Ursula Von Der Leyen, EU commission president, threatened to stop jabs from leaving the continent by introducing a 'transparency system' that would include export permits Panic was sparked in Brussels after German media slammed the EU for holding up its vaccine drive with needless bureaucracy, with one newspaper calling it 'an advert for Brexit'. Meanwhile MEPs revealed that they have not been given a full copy of the contract signed with AstraZeneca and called for the Commission to make it public so it can be properly scrutinized. 'So far we have seen redacted designs. I don't think it can do (...) that we basically get no information at all,' Parliament Vice-President Nicola Beer said. In an attempt to calm tensions, Soriot said that vaccines meant for the EU were produced in four plants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy - one of which had experienced technical problems which meant it was able to produce fewer doses of vaccine than anticipated. But EU Commission officials said on Wednesday that under the contract, the company had also committed to providing vaccines from two factories in Britain. They added the firm had not provided sufficient explanations on why doses could not be shipped from stocks at factories which experienced no production problem, like the UK's. The EU has not yet approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use, though its medical regulator is expected to give the go-ahead on Friday - with ministers anticipating an initial delivery of some 80million doses which has now been cut to 31million. That means the already-struggling EU vaccine programme will be hit by further delays. Spain has warned that it will run out of jabs in the badly-hit Catalonia region by the end of the week - a gap that could have been filled using the AstraZeneca jabs. Johnson & Johnson's one-shot Covid vaccine could soon be added to Britain's arsenal Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night. The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid. Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February. The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more. If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK's arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages. A fourth jab, made my US firm Moderna, sealed approval earlier this month but doses won't arrive until March because of an exclusive deal with the American Government. Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunisation plans. The 30million doses already ordered by the UK could be enough to reach almost half of the population. Advertisement Pressure on the EU over the vaccine roll-out also ramped up today after German newspapers rounded on officials, calling the shambles 'the best advert for Brexit' while blaming chief Ursula von der Leyen for the delays. The EU is acting 'slowly, bureaucratically and protectionist... and if something goes wrong, it's everyone else's fault' fumed a front-page editorial in Die Zeit, one of Germany's best-respected broadsheets. Meanwhile Bild tore apart Von Der Leyen's explanation of the vaccine delays and threat to stop supplies heading to the UK line by line, accusing her of placing 'junk' orders for vaccines three months late. 'She says: 'We know that there is no time to lose in a pandemic,' but what she means is: 'We may have wasted time. But we will NEVER admit that'', the paper said, before adding that 'Brexit Brits continue to receive full supplies.' Both reports quoted an employee for AstraZeneca, who said: 'I understand Brexit a bit better now.' Meanwhile Brexiteer MPs in the UK seized on the chaos to claim it proves they were right to split from the bloc and calling the delay in EU vaccine orders 'absurd'. Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK Party, said the vaccines situation proved the EU is a 'bad project, run by bad people' and added: 'Brexit was the right thing to do.' Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline: 'Do you remember the criticism we faced for not joining the EU vaccination programme? 'We made the right call as an independent nation and it is clear it was a benefit to us not being tied to the bureaucracy of the EU. 'A three month delay is absurd. It is clearly an advantage to not be part of the EU and it is really good for us but sad obviously for the people of the countries of the EU.' Adding to the criticism over the other side of the Channel, Bild newspaper wrote: 'Von Der Leyen said: 'Few suspected [in 2020] that this was the beginning of a pandemic that would still be with us a year later.' 'What she means is: 'Unfortunately, we are not one of the smart few...' The paper concludes: '[Von Der Leyen] is responsible for EU junk orders. 'Also for the fact that the EU only reached an agreement with AstraZeneca in August, not in June - as [German health minister] Jens Spahn wanted but was not allowed to. Valuable preparation time passed. 'Von der Leyen cannot do anything for the current audacity of AstraZeneca. The criticism is justified. But there must also be self-criticism.' Meanwhile, Die Zeit added: 'In the UK, the government's independent and swift vaccination policy is seen as evidence that the EU is too bureaucratic and slow - and is now left behind.' Amid the war-of-words, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot, a Frenchman, spoke out to defend himself late Tuesday - also pointing the finger of blame at Brussels. Asked why supplies were being cut to the EU but not the recently-departed UK, he said it had nothing to do with national favoritism and everything to do with the fact that the EU placed its vaccine order late. 'We had problems in the UK too,' he told a trio of European newspapers including Italy's Repubblica on Tuesday. 'But the contract with the British government was signed three months before the one with the EU, therefore we had time to prepare and resolve similar issues. 'The UK and the EU have two different production chains and at the moment the British ones are more efficient because they started earlier.' Die Zeit, one of Germany's best-respected broadsheets, ran with the headline 'the best advert for Brexit' while accusing the EU of being 'slow and bureaucratic' Britain signed a contract for 300million doses of vaccine in mid-May, he revealed, but it took the EU until August to put pen to paper on the same deal. Embarrassingly for the bloc, it appears that Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy had originally been looking to do a deal with AstraZeneca in May alongside the UK - but were blocked by the EU, which insisted it take over negotiations. According to ITV's Robert Peston: 'The extra talks with the European Commission led to no material changes to the contract, but wasted time on making arrangements to make the vaccine with partner sites.' The delays in producing the vaccine are now thought to be due to under-production at one of those sites, located in Belgium. Meanwhile Bild newspaper accused Von Der Leyen of shirking blame and wasting time, while adding that 'Brexit Brits' have escaped the crisis Explaining the delay in more detail, Soriot said the manufacturing process involves pumping the virus into large vats of live cultures which then generate the vaccine. Because the process involves living things and many variables, the exact quantity of product is difficult to predict ahead of time - vats in the EU have been less productive while vats in the UK have been more productive, he said. 'A very efficient vaccine factory can produce up to three times the same as a less efficient factory... as happened at one of our European sites,' Soriot added. It will take time and some adjustments to get all vats running at the same capacity, which is what is causing the delays to Europe's vaccine shipment. Pascal Soriot, the chief of vaccine-maker AstraZeneca, accused the EU of being 'emotional' over the delay to its jabs while also pointing the finger of blame at a three-month delay in ordering vaccines Faced with growing public anger over the failings, Italy has threatened to sue to get its vaccine doses while Von Der Leyen has ordered AstraZeneca to 'meet your obligations.' But, according to Soriot, the company is meeting its obligations because it only signed a 'best effort' deal with the EU - promising to try and achieve 300million vaccines, but with both sides acknowledging that the process might be hit by delays. 'We are two months behind schedule,' Soriot admitted. 'But we are working to solve these problems.' As the row intensified, EU officials challenged Soriot to make the full contract they signed public - saying the 'best effort' clause that he had disclosed was confidential and taken out of context. An official added that the best-effort clause was standard in contracts with manufacturers of products that are in development. Matt Hancock reveals nearly 80% of UK over-80s have now had a Covid vaccine as NHS rollout reaches 6.6MILLION people Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night announced that 78.7 per cent of Britons over the age of 80 have had a Covid vaccine as he confirmed 6.6million people have received their first dose. That means nearly one in 10 people across the country has had at least one dose that could protect them against deadly Covid-19, and the Government is nearly halfway through its drive to hit 15million by mid-February. Britain is ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. But a Sunday slowdown meant that only 221,067 people received vaccines, down from a record high of 493,013 people on Saturday. Department of Health figures showed 220,249 first doses and 818 second doses were administered across the country on January 24. The Sunday slowdown is thought to have been triggered by fewer doctors and nurses being on shift on the last day of the working week, meaning fewer Britons could receive their jabs. The smallest number of cases and deaths is also generally recorded on Sundays, when more staff are off work and unavailable to tick off reports. It comes as ministers battle to vaccinate the most vulnerable to the virus by mid-February. This includes the over-70s, vulnerable, care home residents and NHS frontline staff. But the NHS appears to have already missed its internal target of reaching all care home residents by January 24. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last Thursday they had already vaccinated 63 per cent of care home residents - leaving another 154,660 out of an estimated 420,000 residents waiting for their jabs. But ministers are yet to say whether the NHS target has been hit. Britain last night recorded another 22,195 infections with the virus, a 41 per cent drop on last week, and a further 592 deaths, down one per cent on the same time last week. Advertisement 'Best effort is a completely standard clause when you are signing a contract with a company for a product that does not yet exist,' the official said. 'Obviously you cannot put a completely legal obligation' under these conditions. The official said that best effort meant that the company had to show an 'overall' effort to develop and deliver vaccines. As the row escalated, EU officials claimed on that AstraZeneca had cancelled a meeting due to take place later on Wednesday to discuss the shortfalls - only for the company to deny the rumour and say the meeting was going ahead as planned. AstraZeneca added: 'Each supply chain was developed with input and investment from specific countries or international organisations based on the supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission. 'As each supply chain has been set up to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain is dedicated to the relevant countries or regions and makes use of local manufacturing wherever possible.' In his interview, Soriot also put paid to rumours circulated by German ministers - and printed in two newspapers - that his vaccine barely works in old people as 'nonsense'. 'I don't know where that figure comes from. It's totally wrong,' he said. 'Political maneuvers? I don't know. 'Of course, like tests and masks, vaccines have also become a political tool. But bogus reconstructions like these are shameful because they only swell the Anti-Vax movement and confuse people. At the moment we should all be united.' As a final note, he said the vaccine is being distributed on a not-for-profit basis, meaning any allegations that countries have paid to skip the queue are untrue. At least for now, it appears the EU has little choice but to sit and wait as the UK and US vaccine programmes ramp up while its own effort trails behind. Overall, the 27-nation EU, a collection of many of the richest countries in the world - most with a universal health care system to boot - is not faring well in comparison to countries like Israel and the United Kingdom. Even the United States, whose response to the pandemic has been widely criticized and where tens of thousands of appointments for shots have been canceled because of vaccine shortages, appears to be moving faster. While Israel has given at least one shot of a two-dose vaccine to over 40% of its population and that figure in Britain is 10%, the EU total stands at just over 2%. Criticism is also coming from many nations that had been promised surplus doses from the EU, which - like most rich countries - bought enough jabs to vaccine their populations several times over. But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who had been promised some of those vaccines, revealed on Wednesday that the EU has so-far given him none - while China has shipped 1million doses. These set of graphs show the number of vaccines ordered by the UK and the EU. The EU has also ordered a number of other vaccines, including 300million Sanofi-GSK doses and 405million CureVac doses It is a big turnaround from only a month ago when the EU's future looked pretty bright. It had just inked a last-minute trade deal with the United Kingdom, clinched a massive 1.8 trillion-euro pandemic recovery and overall budget deal and started rolling out its first COVID-19 vaccines. 'This is a very good way to end this difficult year, and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,' EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time. By this past weekend, though, her attitude soured as it became clear that the bloc would be getting vaccines at a slower rate than agreed upon for its 450 million people. AstraZeneca has told the EU that of its initial batch of 80 million, only 31 million would immediately materialize once its vaccine got approved, likely on Friday. That came on the heels of a smaller glitch in the deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Both companies say they are facing operational issues at plants that are temporarily delaying the rollout. Italy is threatening to take legal action against both over the delay. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had been boasting that the country's rollout was a huge success, especially when the millionth dose was given on Jan. 15. But after Pfizer announced the temporary supply reduction, Italy slowed from administering about 80,000 doses a day to fewer than 30,000. Bulgaria has also criticized the drug companies, and some there have called for the government to turn to Russia and China for vaccines. Germany denies claim AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work for OAPs The German health ministry says the claim that the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine doesn't work in elderly people was untrue and there is 'no data' to support it Scientists slammed the spurious claim overnight after it was published by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which said government sources had warned the jab only appeared to be eight per cent effective but didn't publish any data to prove it. Oxford University rubbished the report, saying there was 'no basis' for the allegation, and that their data has already been 'released transparently'. AstraZeneca, manufacturing the jab on behalf of Oxford, said it was 'completely incorrect'. And scientists added they had 'no idea' where the figure has come from, adding that it was not proved by research on the vaccine. Germany has now confirmed there is no data to suggest the effectiveness of the vaccine is that low and that the European Medicines Agency will decide whether to approve the jab on Friday. It is not clear where the eight per cent figure emerged, with a political correspondent at the German paper saying senior sources in the government had given it to him without scientific data. Advertisement Hungary is already doing so. 'If vaccines aren't coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere. One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines,' Prime Minister Viktor Orban said. 'It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.' But supply isn't the only thing holding up the EU's campaign. The problem is partially that the EU Commission bet on the wrong horse - and didn't get enough doses of the early success vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech. The commission notes there was no way of knowing which vaccines would succeed - and which would be first - and so it had to spread its orders out over several companies. The EU rollout was also slowed because the European Medicines Agency took more time than the U.S. or U.K. regulators to authorize its first vaccine. That was by design as it made sure that the member nations could not be held liable in case of problems and in order to give people more confidence that the shot was safe. But individual countries also share in the blame. Germany, Europe's cliche of an organized and orderly nation, was found sorely wanting, with its rollout marred by chaotic bureaucracy and technological failures, such as those seen Monday when thousands of people over 80 in the country's biggest state were told they would have to wait until Feb. 8 to get their first shots, even as vast vaccine centers set up before Christmas languished empty. 'The speed of our action leaves a lot to be desired,' Chancellor Angela Merkel said. 'Processes have often become very bureaucratic and take a long time, so we have to work on that.' It is no different in France, where there is a Kafkaesque maze of rules to get consent for vaccinating the elderly. In the Netherlands, which banked on the easy-to-handle AstraZeneca vaccine being the first available, authorities had to scramble to make new plans for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, whose ultracold storage requirements make it more complicated. 'We were proven to be insufficiently flexible to make the change,' said Health Minister Hugo de Jonge. The Dutch have been particularly criticized since they were the last in the EU to begin vaccinations, more than a week after the first shots were given in the bloc, and they have been especially slow to roll doses out to elderly people living at home. The Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), India's leading 'Navaratna' company under the Ministry of Defence, has called for applications in a prescribed format from eligible and interested Indian nationals for filling Twenty-Six (26) vacancies to the post of Project Engineers-I in BEL through direct recruitment to be posted at BEL's Hyderabad unit in Telangana, India on a fulltime basis. The offline application process towards the same started on January 27, 2021 and closes on February 18, 2021. CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Project Engineers-I in BEL Organisation Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) Educational Qualification B.E/B.Tech/M.Sc in Electronics, Electronics and Communication, E&T, Telecommunication, Mechanical, Computer Science engineering disciplines Experience Two years in the concerned area Job Responsibilities null Skills Required null Job Location Hyderabad Salary Scale As per the BEL Recruitment norms Industry Ministry of Defence Application Start Date January 27, 2021 Application End Date February 18, 2021 BEL Recruitment 2021: Age Criteria And Fees Candidates interested in applying for BEL Project Engineer Jobs 2021 through BEL Recruitment 2021 must not have exceeded 28 years of age as on February 1, 2021 with relaxation (upper age limit) up to 3 years (OBC) and 5 years (SC/ST) respectively as specified in the BEL Recruitment 2021 Notification. Candidates must pay a prescribed amount of Rs. 500 as application fee for BEL Project Engineer Jobs 2021 under BEL Recruitment 2021 through SBI Collect either through online mode or through SBI Branch. However, SC/ST and PWD candidates are exempted from paying the application fee as mentioned in the BEL Recruitment 2021 Notification given at the end of the article. Also Read: West Bengal Police Recruitment 2021 For 8,632 Constables And Lady Constables, Apply Online Before February 20 BEL Recruitment 2021 Vacancy Details Project Engineer I (Electronics): 22 Project Engineer I (Mechanical) 02 Project Engineer I - 02 Total - 26 BEL Recruitment 2021: Education And Eligibility Desirous candidates applying for BEL Project Engineers through BEL Recruitment 2021 must possess a B.E/B.Tech/M.Sc in Electronics, Electronics and Communication, E&T, Telecommunication, Mechanical and Computer Science engineering disciplines from a recognised University/Institute with minimum two years' experience in the concerned area as detailed in the BEL Recruitment Notification 2021. BEL Recruitment 2021: Selection And Pay Scale The selection of candidates to BEL Project Engineers through BEL Recruitment 2021 will be done based on the candidates' Qualification, Work Experience and Interview for the shortlisted candidates (Video - Based) as notified in the BEL Recruitment Notification 2021. Candidates selected as BEL Project Engineers Jobs 2021 through BEL Recruitment 2021 will be paid emolument as per the BEL Recruitment norms. Also Read: IAF Recruitment 2021 For Airmen In Group 'X' And Group 'Y' Trades, Apply Online Before February 7. See Details BEL Recruitment 2021: How To Apply Candidates applying for BEL Project Engineers Jobs 2021 through BEL Recruitment 2021 must fill the application form post-download from the official BEL website and send the same to the "Dy. General Manager (HR), Bharat Electronics Limited, I.E.Nacharam, Hyderabad- 500076, Telangana State" along with relevant supporting documents on or before February 18, 2021. Download BEL Recruitment 2021 PDF Application Form Download BEL Recruitment 2021 Notification for Project Engineers-I posts Emily Atack put on a leggy display on Wednesday as she teased a new project. The actress, 31, posted snaps to Instagram looking glam, captioning them: 'BACK AT IT! Filming begins for brand new show. Excited to release details soon!' She looked lovely in a leather mini-dress in black, showing off her toned pins. Pins for days: Emily Atack put on a leggy display on Wednesday as she teased a new project Emily added a floral blouse to the look with a bow detailing at the collar. She completed the ensemble with tan ankle boots. She wore her golden locks loosely around her features, keeping make-up honeyed with a slick of nude lip gloss and smokey eyes. Emily is said to have split from her model boyfriend of three months Charlie Edwards due to the difficulties of starting a relationship in lockdown. The actress, 31, posted snaps to Instagram looking glam, captioning them: 'BACK AT IT! Filming begins for brand new show. Excited to release details soon!' Filming: Emily has also been busy filming with Strictly's Bill Bailey And she was certainly pining for sunnier climes as she took to her Instagram stories on Tuesday to post a throwback holiday snap in a yellow and pink swimsuit. The TV star told her followers she was missing sipping a beer on a beach before sharing a mirror selfie flashing her toned abs. Emily looked every inch the beach babe in the throwback holiday snap as she sat on a purple towel making the most of the sunshine. But the star had to make do with showing off her figure in the mirror of her London flat. Emily raised her arm to flaunt her toned stomach in a black crop top and flared pinstripe trousers, which the actress said she 'loved'. Throwback: Emily was certainly pining for sunnier climes as she took to her Instagram stories on Tuesday to post a throwback holiday snap in a yellow and pink swimsuit Toned: The TV star told her followers she was missing sipping a beer on a beach before sharing a mirror selfie flashing her toned abs It comes amid reports Emily has parted ways with her model boyfriend of three months Charlie after the ongoing coronavirus pandemic put pressure on the pair's budding romance. The comedian is said to have split from the model, who is nine years her junior, after her hectic work schedule and Covid-19 rules made it difficult for them to see each other. It was first revealed that the pair were an item back in October, but the couple have now ended their romance after just three months, according to The Sun. A source told the publication: 'Emily's work schedule has been busy lately and she's had to really focus on making that work. 'She was really into Charlie, who is obviously very handsome, and there was a good spark there, but it's definitely over.' Parted ways: It was revealed that Emily and Charlie were an item back in October, but the couple have now ended their romance after just three months The source, who is said to be 'close' to the actress, also added that Emily and Charlie tried to make it work, but found it 'impossible' due to coronavirus regulations. Emily's representatives declined to comment when approached by MailOnline. The Celebrity Juice star was said to have been 'totally taken with' the tattooed model after they met through mutual friends. A friend previously told the publication: 'Emily seems totally taken with Charlie and he's really into her. They met through a mutual friend.' Their romance was revealed in October after they were spotted packing on the PDA during a night out in London. Dating: Emily dipped her toe into the dating pond since she split from film producer Rob Jowers in September 2019 after just six months of romance (pictured in May 2019) Friends told The Sun at the time that the Inbetweeners star was wooed by Charlie, who also works as a tattoo artist, on Instagram before they started dating. Her romance with Charlie came after reports that Emily was linked to Missguided social media executive Joe Caro, after they were seen on a boozy date in early July. Emily split from film producer Rob Jowers in September 2019 after just six months of romance. The pair became an item after they met at Jack Whitehall's BRITs after-party and he offered to buy her a drink. Representative image (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan) Reports have emerged that China has increased its troop strength along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh breaking its agreement made at the sixth round of talks on September 21. In December, videos emerged of Chinese civilian vehicles transgressing into the Demchok area also in Ladakh. Meanwhile, the Indian Army referred to a confrontation on January 20 between Indian and Chinese troops in the wake of a transgression by the latter at Naku La in northern Sikkim, as a minor face-off. Essentially, what we are seeing since the Galwan clash in June, is the steady normalisation of confrontations and tensions along the LAC as well as of fruitless bilateral talks. This was predicted in an earlier article for Moneycontrol. Nevertheless, the Indian press release of the latest and ninth round of military commander-level meetings claimed that there was a good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, even as it continued calls for early disengagement of the frontline troops and for effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops. Clearly, one or the other part of the press release is true, both cannot be true at the same time. It should be obvious to all but the most ignorant of Chinas domestic politics and its external behaviour that it is highly unlikely that China will ever withdraw its troops unless forced to. Neither Indian military commanders nor policymakers with experience of dealing with China fall in this category. Why then does the Indian government continue to put out statements that both tie itself up in knots and mislead the public? What is the way forward? The Chinese view of structural realities with respect to India suggests to them that a Right-wing nationalist government in power in New Delhi with a strong majority in Parliament is unlikely to seek peaceful ties with China in many ways, this view reflects also the Communist Party of Chinas own zero-sum view of the world. In the same spirit, according to Beijing, it is inevitable that New Delhi will hitch its fortunes to those of the United States, which the Chinese see as their principal global rival. Therefore, India is seen as an unfriendly power talk of civilisational ties, Wuhan Spirit or Chennai Connect are only so much blather. Deals with India are seen as only temporary and to be violated with impunity when the moment presents itself. Under such circumstances, India would not be wrong to shift from only reacting to acting more proactively to change the status quo on the LAC. Neither the gap in military capability with China nor the difficulties of logistics and terrain that India faces are about to disappear soon, but after nearly a year of investment and preparation, India should not again be caught wanting come summer and when PLA transgressions on the LAC restart. It is time now for the Indian Army to bring out of the closet and implement its vaunted plans against Chinese bad behaviour, to show the results of years worth of discussions in military think-tanks on how to respond to Chinas local wars under informatized conditions. If the fear is of wider conflagration along the LAC or of a two-front war, then these are overblown. If the Chinese want to widen the conflict, there is still nothing to stop them from doing so at a time of their choosing, certainly not the ongoing military commander-level talks. Neither these talks nor waiting for the Chinese to make the next move is any way to prepare the Indian public for such an eventuality. A firm, punitive Indian military response to the events of 2020, will delay, if not reduce, the possibility that the Chinese will try anything new again at the LAC. It would likely turn the PLA to other countries along Chinas long boundaries where it might come away with less opposition or have less trouble spinning its actions into victories. A two-front war is a theoretical possibility but as much as the Pakistanis might be interested, the Chinese, for a variety of reasons, should want to go it alone. First, what does it say of the fighting mettle of the PLA that it must want a smaller army to come to its help? Second, the actual level of coordination between the Chinese and Pakistani armed forces remains limited. Third, Pakistani involvement could conceivably also loosen any Indian restraints against China. Just three reasons out of many more why the Chinese would hesitate to involve the Pakistanis. While militaries tend to plan for worst-case scenarios, it is also important for the Indian Army to prevent such planning from paralysing all action. Look at how the PLA itself has opened up multiple fronts despite US pressure and despite COVID-19 and still seems to get the better of its opponents. Finances are an important consideration as also the military power differential, but the longer the Indian Army waits to send a clear and appropriate response to the PLA for its actions of 2020, the more it risks degrading its resources and capabilities as well as morale within the ranks. India can no longer afford to play a waiting game in the face of evidence as clear as daylight that the Chinese do not intend to keep any of their promises, let alone return to status quo ante. If anything, the polite thing for the Indian military to do would be to remind the PLA by actions not words of their commander-in-chiefs injunction at the World Economic Forum earlier this week that The strong should not bully the weak . DETROIT (AP) One of six men charged in an alleged plot to snatch Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to plead guilty to a kidnapping conspiracy, according to a court document filed Wednesday. The filing was made by prosecutors ahead of Ty Garbin's appearance in federal court in Grand Rapids. The plea agreement signed by Garbin indicates that he will fully cooperate with investigators. There is no agreement on his sentencing guidelines. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap the Democratic governor by anti-government extremists upset over her coronavirus restrictions. Six people were charged in federal court while eight others were charged in state court with aiding the alleged scheme. Garbin's guilty plea would be a swift resolution for prosecutors, just nearly four months after the arrests. His attorney, Mark Satawa, last fall said Garbin had no intention to carry out a kidnapping, no matter what he might have said in recorded or online conversations. A big talk defense had emerged as a defense strategy. Saying things like, I hate the governor, the governor is tyrannical ... is not illegal, even if youre holding a gun and running around the woods when you do it, Satawa said in October. The other defendants are Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. A trial has been scheduled for March 23. Moscow banned the entry of visitors from many foreign countries last spring as part of its efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. It subsequently allowed citizens of some countries, including all other members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) except Armenia, to visit Russia. The ban directly affected tens of thousands of Armenian migrant workers earning a living in Russia on a seasonal or permanent basis. Many of them had to return to Armenia following lockdown restrictions imposed across Russia in March. Most migrant workers have had trouble finding jobs in Armenia. The Armenian economy contracted by an estimated 8.5 percent in 2020 due to the pandemic and the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian government has pressed Moscow to lift the ban since the summer, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian repeatedly raising the matter during virtual EEU summits. Pashinian announced the lifting of the ban on Wednesday at the start of a weekly session of his cabinet. He said that Armenian citizens testing negative for COVID-19 will be allowed to enter Russia by air from February 1 to March 1. He expressed confidence that the permission will be extended beyond March 1. Health Minister Anahit Avanesian specified that travellers will have to download and use a special mobile phone application certifying the negative results of their coronavirus tests taken shortly before their departure from Armenia. The Russian Embassy in Yerevan confirmed the information in a statement. It also released a list of 20 Russian international airports that will be allowed to handle regular flights to and from Armenia. They include Moscows three main airports. Russian and Armenian airlines carried out as many as a dozen flights a day between Moscow and Yerevan before the pandemic. This is a very important program and I want to thank our partners from the Eurasian Economic Union, the government of the Russian Federation, all participants of the program for their active and productive cooperation, said Pashinian. This was the initiative of the Armenian government backed our partners. Pashinian emphasized the socioeconomic significance of the provisional lifting of the Russian ban. As you know, many of our compatriots went to Russia as migrant workers, he said. Advertisement Britain today recorded another 25,308 coronavirus infections as the second wave continues to run out of steam during the third national lockdown but it was the second deadliest day of the pandemic. Department of Health statistics show the number of new cases is 35 per cent below last Wednesday, when 38,905 were recorded. It also marks an 88 per cent fall on the 47,525 infections announced two weeks ago. Another 1,725 Covid-19 deaths were recorded today, the second highest death toll since the crisis began. But they are down five per cent on last Wednesday's record 1,820 victims. Covid deaths lag by about three weeks behind trends in case rates, due to the time it takes for infected patients to fall seriously ill. Experts hope deaths will start to drop quite significantly this week or next. Britain has now recorded a grisly 101,887 Covid fatalities in the 10 months since the pandemic began, after reaching six figures yesterday. It came as Britain banned entry from 30 countries as it clamps down on foreign travel in a bid to shut out worrying variants from hampering the country's vaccine drive. Arrivals from nations including Brazil and South Africa will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. Home Secretary Priti Patel also cranked up the pressure on holidaymaking Brits who have continued to fly to places like Dubai despite the lockdown, warning people trying to leave the UK would be turned back at airports. MailOnline understands that hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms, where they will have to stay for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500 - although ministers hope the numbers will 'fall through the floor' as people avoid coming to the UK. In a statement to MPs, Ms Patel also announced that Britons will be sent home from ports and airports if they fail to prove their trip abroad is 'essential', as she vowed police will ramp up enforcement on travel restrictions. She insisted the measures would help prevent mutant Covid strains getting into the country - but they are far milder than were originally mooted. Boris Johnson today announced schools would not reopen until at least March 8 as he extended the lockdown measures in England for another three weeks, amid mounting Tory anger over the restrictions. BORIS JOHNSON EXTENDS ENGLAND'S LOCKDOWN BY THREE WEEKS Boris Johnson today declared that schools will not reopen until at least March 8 as he extended lockdown by another three weeks, but tried to quell rising Tory anger by pledging a 'road map' out of the coronavirus crisis. The PM delivered the grim news for millions of children and struggling parents in a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon, saying he knew how 'frustrated' they will be. He made clear there is no hope of any lockdown easing until well after the mid-February review date - finally ruling out the idea that some more pupils could return to classrooms after half-term. Currently only the offspring of key workers are in schools, with everyone else remote learning. Mr Johnson said fast progress was being made on vaccinations with doses given to more than 6.8million people - 13 per cent of the adult population - and the NHS is on track to hit the goal of covering the four most vulnerable groups by February 15. The jabs should give them full protection three weeks after that, he insisted. 'We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday 8 March,' the premier said - while warning that even that is contingent on pressure on the health service easing. The announcement - which means many children face missing at least 111 days of school - came after the UK's death toll hit the grim milestone of 100,000, with scientists claiming the victims could have been reduced by tougher Government action. In the Commons, Mr Johnson admitted that 'perpetual lockdown is no answer'. But he also confirmed that borders are being tightened, with enforced 10-day stays in 'quarantine hotels' for arrivals from countries on a 'red list' with high infection rates. 'We will not persist for a day longer than necessary, but nor will we relax too soon,' he said. 'Reopening schools will be our first priority.' Pleading for the public to stick with his strategy, Mr Johnson said: 'Our goal now must be to buy the extra weeks we need to immunise the most vulnerable and get this virus under control, so that together we can defeat this most wretched disease, reclaim our lives once and for all.' Advertisement It comes as in another day of coronavirus news: Production of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is suspended after factory was evacuated following discovery of suspicious package; Nicola Sturgeon says the Prime Minister should keep out of Scotland under her Covid travel ban; Teaching unions push for an even longer schools closure as they warn mooted opening time is too early; Brussels demands Covid jabs made in Britain are sent to the continent as furious MEPs call for AstraZeneca's contract to be made public; Public Health England reveals it has found 90 cases of the South African variant of the virus in the UK. It comes as Ms Patel made the case for the government in a Commons statement, Ms Patel said: 'It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. 'And today I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme.' Under the push to clamp down on travel, airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis,' Ms Patel said. 'We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world they are in... 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel.' The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignores a plea from Ms Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Confusingly, Boris Johnson told the House earlier that 22 countries will be on the quarantine list - but in fact the current 'red list' of countries from where only British nationals can come to the UK is much wider than that. Ms Patel did not give a full roll call of the states included when she addressed MPs. She said the government does have estimates for how many people will need to quarantine in hotels, but refused to give them. Sources said the numbers of arrivals going into the accommodation is likely to be in the hundreds to start with, but should fall quickly. And although she suggested there is an 'immediate' crackdown the start date for the enforced quarantine is not clear. At PMQs this afternoon, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Boris Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' The 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation, cannot be used for countries on the 'red list', so is unaffected by the changes. The vaccine rollout in San Francisco hit a new hurdle this week: weather. More than 250 vaccine appointments were rescheduled at the City College mass vaccination site due to concern high winds and heavy rain could put staff and patients at risk. NBC Bay Area reported the line at the site was long Tuesday morning, but UCSF, which is helping run the site, said they expected to reschedule some afternoon visits due to an incoming storm. On Wednesday, 250 appointments had been scheduled and all were rescheduled due to weather, according to UCSF. Appointments are not scheduled for later in the week due to lack of supply. A testing site on Potrero Hill is also closed through Friday due to weather and the Embarcadero testing center closed early at 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to NBC Bay Area. The City College site opened in partnership with UCSF on Jan. 22 with an initial goal of vaccinating up to 600 people a day. On Tuesday, 539 vaccinations were scheduled, according to UCSF. "We plan to scale up to 3,000 appointments per day, starting with patients aged 75 and over," Dr. Josh Adler, UCSF's chief clinical officer, wrote in a vaccine update posted online. City College is the first of three high-volume sites in S.F. Mayor London Breed announced Tuesday the city is moving forward with a site at Moscone Center, followed by another in the Bayview. Moscone will have the capacity to administer up to 5,000 doses a day. Breed gave an update on the rollout Tuesday, sharing the city has received a total of 144,000 doses. "Over 80,000 (60%) have already been administered," she wrote on Twitter. "Of the remaining doses, almost all of them are set to be given as a second dose. 98% of our vaccines are administered or scheduled for a second dose." Breed said the city has the infrastructure to administer 10,000 shots a day, but there's not enough supply. The city is focused on vaccinating health care workers and individuals 65 and over. " To fully vaccinate them, we'd need 420,000 doses," Breed said. "As of today, we've received 144,000." WASHINGTON - The new acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday offered House lawmakers a wide-ranging apology for the "failings" that allowed rioters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, saying the department should have been better prepared for the attack and did not do enough to protect those inside. Acting chief Yogananda Pittman cited a lack of manpower, an insufficient supply of "less-lethal" weapons, confused and garbled communications, and a possible failure in lockdown procedures for leaving the Capitol and its occupants exposed to the marauding crowds that pressed their way into the building. "We fully expect to answer to you and the American people for our failings on January 6th," she told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting of the House Appropriations Committee, according to a prepared statement of her remarks obtained by The Washington Post. She also warned lawmakers that to prevent a similar incursion in the future, lawmakers will have to sacrifice public access to the building to bolster security measures. "In my experience, I do not believe there was any preparations that would have allowed for an open campus in which lawful protesters could exercise their First Amendment right to free speech and at the same time prevented the attack on Capital grounds that day," Pittman said. The hearing is the beginning of what are expected to be extensive congressional inquiries into the failures in planning and security that led to the Capitol breach. Among those who testified Tuesday were former Army secretary Ryan McCarthy, acting District of Columbia police chief Robert Contee, Maj. Gen. William Walker of the D.C. National Guard, and representatives from the Secret Service, the FBI, the Justice Department, the D.C. U.S. attorney's office and the Park Police. Participants in the briefing, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the closed-door sessions, said law enforcement officials appeared to still be grappling with the extent of the peril that faced lawmakers that day. Among the new details discussed in the meeting: that lawmakers being evacuated from the House chamber were first directed to the wrong room on Capitol grounds, instead of to the secure room where members were gathering, according to a person familiar with the briefing. Lawmakers were particularly perturbed by the testimony of acting House sergeant at arms Timothy Blodgett, who touted the fact that "every Member and House staff went home without death or serious injury," crediting that to the performance of both his office and the Capitol Police. After the briefing, Rep. Mike Quigley, D-Ill., a committee member, said in an interview that having no dead or maimed lawmakers was "a pretty low bar," adding, "I firmly believe that is due to the courage of Capitol Police officers and blind luck." Pittman admitted that the Capitol police force was distracted and underprepared that day. She told lawmakers that the department had more than 1,200 officers on site when the attack began. The force has about 1,850 sworn officers, according to people briefed on the numbers. That was "was no match for the tens of thousands of insurrectionists (many armed) attacking the Capitol and refusing to comply with lawful orders," according to her prepared remarks. Making matters worse, she said, was that as the riot was unfolding, officers were sent to respond to reports of pipe bombs sent to the nearby headquarters of the Republican and Democratic national parties, as well as "a vehicle with explosive chemicals and a firearm in plain view parked on the same block" as one of those bomb threats. In comparison, Contee told lawmakers that all of his 3,700 uniformed officers in the D.C. police force had been put on duty, working 12-hour shifts, in anticipation of the Jan. 6 demonstrations, according to his prepared remarks. The D.C. police had also requested help from sister agencies in Maryland and Virginia, putting them on standby, as well as 300 members of the National Guard. "However, these resources were barely enough to counter an event that had never happened in the history of the United States: a mob of thousands launching a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol," Contee said, according to his prepared remarks. It would take seven hours to restore order to Congress, Contee noted. "The costs for this insurrection - both human and monetary - will be steep," Contee said, estimating that the approximately 850 D.C. police officers deployed to the Capitol and 250 assigned to the surrounding area cost the city about $8.8 million in the week after the insurrection. He said the attack "exposed weaknesses in the security of the most secure city in the country." The acting D.C. police chief said he was "stunned at the tepid response from Department of the Army, which was reluctant to send the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol" that day. Pentagon officials have rejected that notion, saying that they sought to move quickly and that Capitol Police did not make a formal request for assistance before the expected protests that day. In his opening statement to the committee, McCarthy underscored that the Army, which oversees the D.C. Guard, does not collect domestic intelligence and cannot plan for contingencies without a request from a federal or local agency or law enforcement. McCarthy said that the Justice Department was the "lead agency" before Jan. 6 and that the Defense Department played a supporting role. He said the Army was given no indication by federal or local law enforcement agencies that the protests on Jan. 6 would be any different in size, composition or threat than previous pro-Trump protests in late 2020. "The response time and effectiveness could be greatly improved with a clear, predetermined command and control structure, authorities, rehearsals and integrated plans, and a shared understanding of intelligence assessments of the threat," McCarthy said. "This country has the talent and resources to do anything." In the hearing, Pittman backed up the account of former Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, who told The Washington Post this month that two days before the riot, he appealed to the three-member police board to issue an emergency declaration and authorize a request for backup to the National Guard. Pittman said that request was denied, echoing Sund's description. Last week, The Post reported that one of the three members of the police board, then-House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving, had denied the request because he believed lawmakers would not be happy with the show of force. Another member of the board, Architect of the Capitol Brett Blanton, issued a statement Tuesday after the committee briefing, saying his office had "no record of a request for an emergency declaration by then-Chief Sund," that "there was no Board meeting" that took place on Sund's timeline, and that he was "not aware of an USCP requests (verbal or written) being submitted to the Board requesting additional support prior to January 6, 2021," the day of the riots. Pittman, who was appointed to take over leadership of the Capitol Police less than a week after the insurrection, tried to balance her capitulations to lawmakers with entreaties for their support in making improvements to security across the Capitol campus. "As the Acting Chief, I take responsibility for the mistakes that were made by the Department, and I pledge to this Committee, the Congress, the American people, and my USCP colleagues, that we will do better going forward," Pittman said, "but we need to make changes." Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there has been constant tension over striking the right balance between Capitol security and protecting the public's access to the building colloquially known as the People's House. At least some of the "nonscalable" fencing, road closures and National Guard deployments that were put in place in the wake of this month's Capitol riot are expected to remain in place through early February. Some lawmakers bristled at the idea that protecting the Capitol from rioters would require turning the Capitol into a partial fortress. "It is now obvious that intelligence agencies had ample evidence an angry mob would descend on Washington, with Congress' meeting to certify the presidential election as the intended target," Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said in a statement after the briefing. "The law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the Capitol did not act on this intelligence or adequately prepare for the looming threat." But others said there will soon be a "new reality" when it comes to Capitol security. "We're just starting to get into what is the Capitol going to look like," said Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, whose subcommittee has financial oversight of the Capitol Police. Ryan said that in the short term, he supported keeping thousands of National Guard troops stationed at the building because Capitol Police needs time to recover. Pittman testified that many are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and Ryan said most of the force has continued working 12-hour shifts since the attack, leading to overall fatigue among the rank-and-file. In the long term, Ryan said he expects that even after fencing comes down, the security perimeter around the Capitol will need to be widened - possibly to encircle the House and Senate office buildings. Before the riot, the area around the Capitol building was closed to cars, but open to bikes and pedestrians; it was also possible for cars to drive up to at least one entrance of each of the office buildings. Ryan said that while the post-9/11 security measures had been focused on vehicular threats, the Jan. 6 riot proved that a large gathering on foot could be just as dangerous. "You want to people to have some level of access to their government but at the same time feel protected," Ryan said. The new Capitol security profile, he said, "will basically be that next step, past the 9/11 adjustments that were made . . . now, we're a little bit beyond just the car bombs." - - - The Washington Post's Paul Sonne contributed to this report. Bharat Biotech, UK drug giant GSK and US-based non-profit PATH on January 27 announced the signing of a product transfer agreement for the malaria vaccine. As per the agreement, GSK will transfer the manufacturing technology of the RTS,S antigens of the vaccine and will grant license on all rights pertaining to the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine to Bharat Biotech. GSK will retain the production of the adjuvant of the vaccine (AS01E) and supply it to Bharat Biotech. The RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine, developed by GSK for more than 30 years, and in partnership with PATH since 2001, is currently being piloted in regions of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi under the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP). "Ministries of health are leading the implementation of the vaccine, which is being given to young children through the three countries routine immunisation programmes, with WHO providing technical and scientific leadership, playing a coordinating role, and working in collaboration with GSK, PATH, and a range of other partners," Bharat Biotech said in a statement. RTS,S/AS01E is the first, and to date, the only malaria vaccine to have received approval by the regulatory authorities of Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi for use in the Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme (MVIP) countries. The vaccine has also received positive review by regulatory authorities from the European Medicines Agency. GSK has existing commitments of donating up to 10 million RTS,S/AS01E doses for use in the pilot, and to supply up to 15 million doses annually until 2028 if the product is recommended for wider use by WHO. It is expected that by 2029, at the latest, Bharat Biotech will be the sole supplier of the vaccine, with GSK supplying the adjuvant. Bharat Biotech said the first dose of the vaccine has reached more than 500,000 children since the pilots were initiated by ministries of health in the three participating countries in 2019. The timing of the new agreement will help ensure the maintenance of long-term vaccine supply, given the time required for a successful technology transfer. GSK has strong expertise in transferring vaccine manufacturing technologies to partners, with more than 20 technology transfers currently ongoing. This expertise, with support from BBIL and PATH, will now be applied to deliver a successful transfer of production of the RTS,S antigen to BBIL. With prior expertise in malaria research, WHO prequalified vaccines, supplied to more than 70 countries, Bharat Biotech is geared up for large-scale manufacturing, and to provide a continuous long-term supply of this life-saving vaccine, said Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Biotech. Ella said every year more than 200 million cases of malaria are reported. Malaria is caused by a parasite that's been spread by mosquitoes. Our 30- year and ongoing commitment to RTS,S/AS01E represents significant leadership and investment in global health vaccines, but also a huge scientific achievement in the fight against malaria," said Thomas Breuer, GSK Vaccines Chief Medical Officer and Vaccines Global Health lead "With a child still dying of malaria every two minutes, helping secure the long-term future of the only vaccine available by working with an established leader like Bharat Biotech is vital for the continued fight against this devastating disease, Breuer said. "Thanks to the pilot programme, children in some of the areas hardest hit by malariahere in Ghana, and in Kenya and Malawihave been receiving this vaccine through routine immunisation programmes for more than one year. Now, with the signing of this agreement with Bharat Biotech, we have an additional, new partner to help ensure that this vaccine can be more widely available for use in Africa, alongside other malaria interventions, in the years to come, said John Bawa, Africa Lead, Vaccine Implementation, PATH. Partnering the Faculty of Medicine to enhance telemedicine technology efficiency and provide timely treatment to stroke patients at the Siriraj Mobile Stroke Unit NTT Ltd., a world-leading global technology services provider, has partnered with Cisco to help Siriraj Hospital, Thailands oldest and largest hospital to use telemedicine to enable rapid treatment for stroke patients. Known as the Siriraj Mobile Stroke Unit, this special ambulance connects the first responders in the ambulance to the experts at the hospital. This allows doctors to provide immediate attention, medical treatment, and diagnosis to patients during their transfer to the hospital. Sutas Kongdumrongkiat, CEO of NTT Ltd. in Thailand said, NTT believes in using technology for good and we are honoured to help Siriraj Hospital provide better care to patients. We understand the importance of timely treatments in stroke patients, which can sometimes be difficult with Bangkoks frequent traffic congestions. We have already installed these technologies in the first mobile stroke unit and are set to extend Siriraj Hospitals fleet of mobile stroke units by five this year. Equipped with Medical Image Transfer with a high-speed multicellular router and essential medical equipment such as CT scanner, the Mobile Stroke Unit facilitates the medical team to scan the patients brain and send high-resolution images from the ambulance to the doctors for rapid diagnosis. Cisco Telepresence video conferencing system was integrated to enable doctors to fully assess the patients condition and provide remote advice to the first responders allowing them to prepare the best treatment possible. Cisco WebEx on the other hand, facilitates the mobile and hospital-based teams to collaborate and work seamlessly for the optimal outcome. In service since 2018, the Siriraj Mobile Stroke Unit has helped 380 stroke patients receive emergency medical treatment in Thailand so far. The successful outcome was a result from the utilization of telemedicine technology and communication system that helps Sirirajs medical teams expand the reach of its medical care thus significantly saving precious time and lowering the risk of death and disabilities to the stroke patients. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Lima, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan, 2021 ) :Peru on Tuesday deployed armored vehicles along its border with Ecuador, the military said, in a bid to stop an influx of undocumented migrants from further north. The Joint Command of the Peruvian Armed Forces said on Twitter that after a meeting with the Ecuadorian military, it decided to "strengthen control measures" in the coming days for "blocking the entry of illegal immigrants." The city of Tumbes in northern Peru is the main point of entry for migrants from Venezuela who cross Colombia and Ecuador trying to get to countries further south on the continent. Local press have distributed images of a column of armored vehicles rolling down the streets of Tumbes, amid reports that groups of undocumented immigrants had pelted Peruvian police with stones. The border between Peru and Ecuador is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. But since earlier this month, the two countries' militaries have detected and destroyed 11 routes used by caravans of illegal migrants and contraband vehicles. The United Nations estimates more than five million Venezuelans have left the country since the end of 2015 in the hopes of making a better life elsewhere. An estimated 1.4 million have gone to Colombia and 860,000 to Peru, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Peru has borders with Ecuador and Colombia. Many countries in South America, like in the rest of the world, are battling a second, violent wave of coronavirus infections, with restrictions on migration a key tool for combating virus spread. Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 10:58 am The suspect involved in a Jan. 13 pursuit that ended in gunfire has been identified as 25-year-old Victor Hugo Ortiz Bucio. According to a news release posted Wednesday by the Mason County Sheriffs Office, the agency overseeing the investigation of the incident, Ortiz Bucio was released from the hospital on Monday and was booked into Thurston County Jail. Hes currently being held at the jail on four counts of second-degree assault and attempting to elude. According to the jail roster, Ortiz Bucio also faces third-degree rape and second-degree child molestation charges. The Thurston County Prosecutors Office is expected to handle the criminal case against Ortiz Bucio. The investigation unit led by Mason County thats looking into the officer-involved shooting says it has been busy over the past week conducting interviews with officers involved in the shooting, processing evidence, booking the suspect and compiling reports. The Mason County Prosecutors Office is also expected to lead an independent review of the officers use of force, according to the news release. While the suspect was reported to have a weapon during the time of the pursuit, its not known if he fired the weapon. Five Thurston County Sheriffs Office deputies and one Washington State Patrol trooper were placed on administrative leave following the incident. The incident originally occurred on the evening of Jan. 13 in Tumwater. A Thurston County deputy was attempting a traffic stop near Cleveland Avenue and Harman Court when the vehicle fled, leading to a pursuit. Thurston County deputies requested assistance from Washington State Patrol sometime during the 15-minute chase. The pursuit ended near milepost 88 on Interstate 5, where Ortiz Bucio reportedly drew a weapon. Multiple officers allegedly opened fire at the man, injuring him. K9 Arlo, of the Thurston County Sheriffs Office, was reportedly shot two times. The Mason County Sheriff's Office confirmed Wednesday he was struck by friendly fire. The 3-year-old German Shepherds recovery has been heavily documented by the department and its deputies over the last several weeks. Arlo has returned home after successful surgery at Oregon State University. Aside from notice that Ortiz Bucio had checked out of the hospital, few details have been released on his condition, the extent of his injuries and what led the police to draw multiple weapons against the suspect. Montreal, January 27, 2021 - Taking cannabidiol, a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant, isn't an effective way to reduce your dependence on cocaine, researchers at the CHUM Research Centre find. In North America, close to 5.5 million people use cocaine regularly, and nearly one in five becomes addicted, developing cocaine use disorder, for which there is no clinical treatment. One solution has been touted, however: treatment with cannabidiol. Better known as CBD, it's a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant known for its protective effects on the brain and liver. But there is very little scientific evidence to support its use as a treatment for addiction. In fact, in a study published this month in the journal Addiction, a Canadian scientific team at the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) shows that the therapeutic virtues of CBD are largely non-existent. As a way to help coke addicts kick the habit, CBD simply doesn't work, according to the scientists, led by Universite de Montreal psychiatry professor Didier Jutras-Aswad: it doesn't make addicts want cocaine less, nor does it reduce their risk of relapse into addiction. 78 addicts tested In a clinical trial, Jutras-Aswad and his team recruited 78 coke addicts, average age 46, most of them with severe cocaine use disorder, and randomly divided the participants into two groups: one receiving cannabidiol (800 mg per day), the other a placebo. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment was administered. Following 10 days in hospital to detox, the participants were sent home and for the next three months received weekly check-ups. "In our study, the use of CBD was not more effective than a placebo in treating cocaine use disorder," said Violaine Mongeau-Perusse, first author of the study and a PhD student in the Jutras-Aswad's lab. "Although it is safe and produces only mild side effects, CBD reduces neither the craving to use cocaine nor the risk of a user's relapse after detoxification," she said. More studies needed Calling their results conclusive, the UdeM researchers hope their study will help orient medical guidelines on the therapeutic use of CBD, which has seen growing popularity in Canada and elsewhere in the world. There are over 19 million cocaine users globally, according to recent estimates. Other studies will be needed to continue to sort out the conditions under which CBD may be helpful or not, said Mongeau-Perusse, but for now the evidence is in: if you want to beat your coke habit, cannabis isn't a good choice. ### This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Further reading: "Cannabidiol as a treatment for craving and relapse in individuals with cocaine use disorder: a randomized placebo controlled trial," by Violaine Mongeau-Perusse et al., was published Jan. 19, 2021, in Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/add.15417 About the CRCHUM The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) is one of North America's leading hospital research centres. It strives to improve adult health through a research continuum covering such disciplines as the fundamental sciences, clinical research and public health. Over 1,850 people work at the CRCHUM, including more than 550 researchers and more than 460 graduate students. chumontreal.qc.ca/crchum @CRCHUM About Universite de Montreal Deeply rooted in Montreal and dedicated to its international mission, Universite de Montreal is one of the top universities in the French-speaking world. Founded in 1878, Universite de Montreal today has 13 faculties and schools, and together with its two affiliated schools, HEC Montreal and Polytechnique Montreal, constitutes the largest centre of higher education and research in Quebec and one of the major centres in North America. It brings together 2,400 professors and researchers and has more than 67,000 students. umontreal.ca Russian President Vladimir Putin warned today that the 'end of civilization' is possible due to a combination of coronavirus, global rivalries and worsening international tensions. Speaking by video link during a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Putin pointed at growing inequality and unemployment and a rise of populism as potential triggers for new conflicts that he said could plunge the world into a 'dark anti-Utopia.' 'The pandemic has exacerbated the problems and disbalances that have been accumulating,' the Russian leader said. 'International institutions are weakening, regional conflicts are multiplying and the global security is degrading.' Putin hailed the decision by Russia and the United States to extend their last nuclear arms control pact as a positive move, but he added that spiraling tensions have come to resemble the situation before World War II. Vladimir Putin watches a session of the virtual Davos summit today where he warned that the world risks sliding deeper into instability as the coronavirus pandemic combines with global rivalries and other international tensions Putin hailed the decision by Russia and the United States to extend their last nuclear arms control pact as a positive move, but he added that spiraling tensions have come to resemble the situation before World War II. Pictured: Russian strategic ballistic missile Topol launching vehicle Big tech giants are 'competing with states', Putin warns after Russia tells internet firms to delete posts backing Navalny protests Vladimir Putin today sounded a warning about the influence of global tech giants which he said were 'competing' with national governments, after Russia told internet firms to take down posts that had fuelled Alexei Navalny-inspired protests. Putin told the virtual Davos summit that tech companies were 'not just economic giants... in some areas they are already de facto competing with the state'. 'We just saw it all in the United States,' he added, referring to the Capitol riot incited by Donald Trump which led to the then-president being banned from Twitter - a move which has caused disquiet in several European countries. Putin's comments come as Russia ramps up pressure on the activities of foreign tech giants, which are not subject to the same state censorship as most media outlets. Moscow earlier this week accused US tech platforms of interfering in Russia's internal affairs during the anti-government protests egged on by Navalny. Ahead of the Navalny rallies, Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor ordered several online platforms, including YouTube and Instagram, to delete posts by users calling for protesters to attend demonstrations. The chairman of the Russian parliament's foreign interference committee, Vasily Piskaryov, said today that the head of TikTok's Russian branch had been invited in for a conversation. Piskaryov was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying that 'questions had piled up' about the China-based video-sharing service. In recent months, TikTok has emerged as a popular platform for young Russians to express their political views. Hashtags dedicated to Navalny have been trending on TikTok, garnering more than 1.5billion views, after the anti-corruption campaigner was jailed on his return to Russia from Germany. Putin said today it was unclear where the line is between a 'successful global business' and 'attempts to crudely, at their own discretion, control society'. His comments echo those of European leaders including Angela Merkel who voiced concern about Trump's Twitter ban and the power it gave to US tech giants. Trump's Twitter account was permanently suspended earlier this month after he caused the riot at the Capitol and continued to use Twitter to spread his spurious claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Merkel's spokesman said she viewed Trump's ban as 'problematic', saying that freedom of opinion was a 'fundamental right of elementary importance'. 'This fundamental right can be interfered with, but through the law and within the framework defined by the legislature, not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms,' her spokesman said. EU governments have frequently clashed with US internet giants whom they accuse of holding too much power. Poland recently moved to curb the power of Facebook and Twitter by drawing up plans for a 'freedom of speech council' which could overrule their decisions. Social media sites would only be allowed to ban users for breaking Polish law under the plans unveiled by Warsaw earlier this month. Putin himself signed new legislation last month allowing Russia to block or restrict access to sites that 'discriminate' against its media, raising fears that the Kremlin is seeking to introduce China-style controls. Twitter currently labels some Russian media 'state-affiliated media', a move decried by Moscow. Another introduces hefty fines of up to 20 per cent of their previous years Russia-based turnover for sites that repeatedly fail to remove banned content. Advertisement 'I strongly hope that such 'hot' global conflict is impossible now. It would mean the end of civilization,' he said. 'But the situation may become unpredictable and spin out of control. 'There is a real danger that we will face a downturn in global development fraught with an all-out fight, attempts to solve contradictions by searching for internal and foreign enemies, and the destruction of basic traditional values.' Putin attributed the worsening economic situation to a Western liberal economic model that he said 'foments social, racial and ethnic intolerance with tensions erupting even in countries with seemingly long-established civil and democratic institutions.' The Russian leader pointed to what he described as the negative role of technology companies that run top social networks, charging that they have abused their position and tried to 'control the society, replace legitimate democratic institutions and usurp an individual's right to decide how to live and what views to express.' He added that tech companies were 'not just economic giants... in some areas they are already de facto competing with the state'. 'We have seen it all in the United States,' Putin said, referring to the Capitol riot incited by Donald Trump which led to the then-president being banned from Twitter - a move which has caused disquiet in several European countries. Putin's comments come as Russia ramps up pressure on the activities of foreign tech giants, which are not subject to the same state censorship as most media outlets. Moscow earlier this week accused US tech platforms of interfering in Russia's internal affairs during the anti-government protests egged on by the arrested Alexei Navalny - who is currently serving a 30-day jail sentence. Ahead of the Navalny rallies, Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor ordered several online platforms, including YouTube and Instagram, to delete posts by users calling for protesters to attend demonstrations. But Russia angrily accused Facebook and other US tech giants of failing to remove what it called fake information about the demonstrations at the weekend. Putin also claimed in the virtual Davos Summit that there has been 'increasingly aggressive pressure on those countries that disagree with a role of obedient satellites, the use of trade barriers, illegitimate sanctions, restrictions in the financial, technological and information spheres.' Relations between Russia and the West have sunk to post-Cold War lows after Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, Russia's meddling in the U.S. elections and recently, the poisoning and the subsequent arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. 'The era marked by attempts to create a centralized unipolar global order is over now,' Putin said in an apparent reference to the perceived global domination of the U.S. Putin has been under pressure in recent months amid high-profile leaks of information about his health and private life, now compounded by the return to Russia of arch-rival Navalny. The charismatic 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner had been in Germany recovering from what western governments said was an attempted assassination using Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent. Navalny accuses Putin of ordering his death at the hands of an FSB hit-squad. Russian denies the allegations. Upon arrival back in Russia, Navalny was immediately arrested by Russia's prison service and marched into a trial, where a judge ordered him to be detained for 30 days on suspicion of violating the terms of an early suspended sentence. Navalny is then due to face a second trial on those charges, where he could be jailed for another three-and-a-half years. As he was marched off to jail, Navalny used social media to call for mass protests across the country which took place at the weekend. Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters took part in demonstrations across 70 cities on Saturday in a show of defiance against Putin. His wife Yulia Navalnaya, 44, was among around 3,400 people detained by officers. She posted a selfie following her arrest, captioned: 'Apologies for the poor quality. Very bad light in the police van.' Demonstrators were dragged off by riot officers to police buses and detention trucks, while some activists were beaten with police batons. The violent scenes from police drew condemnation from both the United States and the European Union, whose foreign policy chief said he deplored the 'widespread arrests' and the 'disproportionate use of force'. The 44-year-old politician Alexei Navalny was recently poisoned with chemical nerve agent Novichok and has been jailed in Russia A man is arrested by Russian police during a protest rally inspired by jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Saturday, during a wave of demonstrations which has led Moscow to accuse internet companies of interference in its affairs Similarly, the United States called on Russian authorities to release protesters and journalists detained, and condemned what it called 'harsh tactics' used against them. Throughout the day and into the early hours of Sunday morning, people were seen holding signs that read 'Russia will be free' and chanting 'Putin is a thief.' Some then marched towards the Kremlin, while others blocked Tverskaya Street, the capital's main thoroughfare. Law enforcement officers clash with participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow Reuters reporters estimated at least 40,000 people had gathered in central Moscow for one of the biggest unauthorised rallies for years, but authorities claimed a mere 4,000 people had shown up. 'The United States strongly condemns the use of harsh tactics against protesters and journalists this weekend in cities throughout Russia,' State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a post on Twitter that he deplored the authorities 'disproportionate use of force', while Britain's foreign minister, Dominic Raab, condemned the 'use of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists'. Navalny being taken into custody and the arrests of his supporters were 'troubling indications of further restrictions on civil society and fundamental freedoms,' he added. When Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers addressed attendees at the Dairy Business Associations Dairy Strong virtual conference, he started by recognizing the diligence of dairy farmers. Thank you for the work that everyone in the dairy and agriculture workforce has been doing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. The pandemic has highlighted and even heightened the difficulties that our rural communities and agriculture industries were already facing, Evers continued. Nevertheless, you worked hard and tirelessly to ensure Wisconsinites and Americans across our country have food on the table. That is why you have been and will continue to be essential to our state. The Badger State governor recognized that this year has not been easy for farmers, and he said that is why they directed federal funding to be put to good use within agriculture. This included $50 million as direct aid to 15,000 farmers across the state and $25 million to strengthen ties between food insecurity nonprofits and food producers. Our dairy farmers and dairy industry were already in a tight spot even before we knew what 2020 had in store, Evers noted. And now, in 2021, its time to not only work on our immediate recovery from the pandemic but to look beyond the pandemic and how we can move the state forward to ensure prosperity for farmers, rural communities, and our industries. In his State of the State address a few days earlier, he had announced that 2021 will be considered the year of broadband access. This includes nearly quadruple the investment in broadband internet across the state. High-speed internet is a necessity these days. We have to make sure it is reliable, affordable, and accessible for everyone, Evers explained. He shared a conversation he had with a dairy farmer who was selling his own products online but at times faced internet connection challenges. In 2021, frankly that is unacceptable, Evers emphasized. He also touched on future efforts to address pollution and climate change in the state, and he commented on the importance of working with agriculture industries to make progress. I said all along that farmers and producers are some of the most avid supporters we have as it relates to clean land, clean air, and clean water because you know the value of our states natural resources firsthand. Evers acknowledged that there is a lot of work to be done in the year ahead, and dairy is on his radar. I look forward to growing and expanding Wisconsins dairy industry because a strong dairy industry means a strong Wisconsin economy, strong communities, and a strong future for our people and our state. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2021 January 25, 2021 You are here: China Law-enforcement authorities from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand joined forces on Tuesday for the 101st Mekong River joint patrol. According to the Yunnan Provincial Public Security Department, the vessels will navigate over 600 km over four days and three nights. Before the patrol, the four countries' law-enforcement authorities held a video conference to discuss the river's security situation. They agreed to clamp down on illegal activities jointly. The officers from the four countries have seized 11.85 tonnes of drugs and busted 11 criminal gangs since December 2011. The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who has followed the QAnon extremist ideology and has called deadly school shootings in Connecticut and Florida "false-flag" operations by gun-control supporters, is joining the House Education and Labor Committee. House Republicans who thought it was acceptable to put on the education committee someone who is driven by fact-free conspiracy theories are also assigning to the panel Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. He addressed President Donald Trump's Jan. 6 rally, falsely claiming that Trump had won the November elections, before a mob of Trump supporters staged an attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Greene, who has repeatedly made racist comments, tweeted about her new assignment, saying: "Very excited to join Ranking Member @virginiafoxx and others on the House Education and Labor Committee! Let's get to work!" (She was referring to the ranking Republican on the committee, who announced new members this week.) The committee is headed by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va. His office did not immediately respond to a query about Greene's assignment to it. Neither did the offices of the Republican leadership in Congress. Asked about her past comments about school shootings and QAnon, her press secretary, Nick Dyer, said in an email to Education Week, which first reported on the committee assignments, and then to The Washington Post: "Congresswoman Greene is excited to join the House Education and Labor Committee. Rep. Greene is ready to get to work to reopen every school in America, expand school choice, protect homeschooling, champion religious freedom for student and teachers, and prevent men and boys from unfairly competing with women and girls in sports." Dyer did not respond to emails asking about Greene's support for QAnon, a sprawling set of false claims that have coalesced into an extremist ideology that has radicalized its followers who allege that Trump has been secretly working to expose an elite cabal of child sexual abusers - including prominent political figures in Washington - that has been concealed by America's intelligence agencies and other "deep state" actors. Greene also expressed support for conspiracy theories about school shootings being fake and/or staged by gun-control advocates trying to drum up support for their cause. They include the deadly 2012 assault at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut - which left 26 people dead, including 20 children - and the 2018 attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida in 2018, which left 17 people dead. - - - Here's the list of the 11 new Republican members on the House education committee: Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah Rep. Bob Good, R-Va. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill. Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday criticized the country's hard-liner dominated judiciary over last week's prosecution of the country's telecommunications minister. Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was released on bail after he was summoned for prosecution. Judiciary officials cited his refusal to block Instagram and impose limitations on the bandwidth of other foreign social media and messaging systems. Speaking in a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Rouhani said improving the bandwidth of the Internet was done on his orders. "If you want to try someone, try me. It was my order," he said. Under pressure from hard-liners, the Iranian government has long blocked access to many websites and social media platforms, from YouTube and Facebook to Twitter and Telegram. The relatively moderate Rouhani said increasing bandwidth would help improve business and an anti-corruption campaign. However he said both a "lack of control on content" as well as "closure" of social media are wrong. The move to prosecute Jahromi is part of a political struggle between moderates and conservative hard-liners ahead of June elections. Jahromi is seen as a possible candidate who has the support of younger Iranians. Hard-liners in the country's parliament and other powerful bodies have long viewed social messaging services as part of "soft war" by the West against the Islamic Republic. Many Iranians, mostly youth, access social media through VPNs and proxies. Instagram and WhatsApp remain unblocked. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) today (January 27) called on Minister Eamon Ryan to initiate an urgent review of national energy policy and to guarantee the continued operation of Edenderry Power Station, amid fears that a shortage of peat fuel could jeopardise the plants generation capacity and undermine Irelands energy security. Following the recent decision by Bord na Mona to cease all peat harvesting, unions have expressed fears that insufficient stocks of peat could jeopardise the continued running of the Edenderry power plant and precipitate further job losses within Bord na Mona itself. ICTU said the Congress Energy Sector Group - comprising unions across the energy generation sector - is now demanding that the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications initiates an urgent review of policy to ensure energy security and to prevent additional job losses in the sector, in the context of reaching our climate action objectives. The Congress Group is calling for a planned, managed and agreed Just Transition that helps maximise jobs and guarantees energy security, which Ireland signed up to under the terms of the Paris Agreement and the 2018 Silesia Declaration." The Congress call also follows the closure of the Shannonbridge and Lough Ree power stations last month along with warnings of potential power cuts, as demand threatened to outpace supply on the National Grid on at least four occasions over recent months. ICTU said the Bord na Mona owned and operated power station at Edenderry, County Offaly, is a key part of the National Grid with an installed capacity of up to 128 megawatts of electricity. It will continue to burn a mix of peat and biomass fuel until the end of 2023, when it is hoped to switch to 100% biomass. Similar plans to convert the Shannonbridge plant to biomass were refused, partly because of an insufficient supply of indigenous biomass to fuel the plant. Bord na Mona has insisted that existing peat stocks will be adequate to maintain supply to Edenderry until 2023, and also to the companys briquette making factory in Derrinlough, Offaly, and its horticulture operation in Kilberry, Kildare. However, in a recent letter to management, the Bord na Mona Group of Unions stated members believe that there are insufficient stocks of appropriate peat to guarantee supplies to Edenderry Station, the briquette plant, and the horticulture operations. The Group of Unions has called on the company to quantify the volumes of peat it has available to meet the needs of all three. Unions across the sector fear any shortfall could impact on Edenderrys power output and also result in further job losses within Bord na Mona. ICTU said that on January 6 last, the Single Electricity Market Operator (SEMO) issued an amber alert over the low levels of power available on the National Grid as demand threatened to overwhelm existing supply. It was the fourth alert in recent months. Meanwhile, horticulture companies have already warned of possible closures and job losses in the sector over the loss of peat supplies and the difficulties in importing the product from the Baltic states or Malaysia, in a post-Brexit trading environment. Chair of the Congress Energy Sector Group Jim Dullaghan said: Just Transition is about creating and protecting jobs and guaranteeing energy security, particularly in a post-Brexit environment. Unfortunately, official policy currently appears to be having the opposite effect and may be undermining both. In terms of meeting our climate action objectives, the Minister needs to initiate this review as a matter of urgency as we appear to be sleepwalking into potentially serious energy and employment problems, in the midst of a major pandemic. Chair of the Bord na Mona Group of Unions, Willie Noone said: Bord na Mona must now come clean on the level of peat supplies available as this has major implications for jobs and energy security. Given the current crisis, it is a mystery why they have chosen to close profitable enterprises and force other businesses to import supplies from abroad. That makes no economic or political sense. I think it is time we heard the voices of local, Midlands TDs on this critical issue. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee approved the draft resolution, in which it recommends to confirm the Russian delegations mandate, challenged under Ukraines request in the beginning of the session, Russian delegation head, State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy said. "The [Committee] meeting went well. A resolution was approved that confirms the mandate of our delegation," he said. "No conditions put before us are acceptable, no restrictions of our delegation will pass. The Committee supported no amendments," Tolstoy added, commenting on Ukrainian delegations attempts to introduce amendments that restrict the Russian delegations authority. The initiative to challenge the Russian delegations mandate was put forth by the Ukrainian delegation head, the Servant of the People political party deputy Maria Mezentseva. Her requests was supported by 38 participants from at least five different national delegations, which was enough to hand the request over to the PACE Monitoring Committee. Meanwhile, 61 representative voted against the initiative, TASS reported. The Monitoring Committee was ordered to prepare a report on this issue. The report was presented by Stefan Schennach, who presented a similar report in 2014. Now, the adopted bill will be discussed during the debate Thursday, which will be followed by final approval vote. New Delhi: Suspense continued on Tuesday over the participation of the Congress in the June 30 midnight meeting in Parliament to coincide with the launch of GST, with the main opposition party likely to decide on the issue on Wednesday. According to a senior Congress leader, the party would discuss the issue at a meeting slated in the evening tomorrow to arrive at a decision on whether to participate in the event. Sources said the Congress leaders are divided on the issue, as a group within feels that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was the partys brainchild which has been now taken over by the ruling BJP. Therefore, they feel, the party should attend the special meeting convened in the central hall of Parliament to launch the GST. However, some leaders feel that the GST is being implemented in a haste and all aspects have not been taken into consideration leading to harassment of small traders and businessmen and thus, the party should abstain. At the AICC briefing, party spokesperson Shaktisinh Gohil said the Modi government is using GST to spread tax terrorism, whereas the Congress conceptualised the move to simplify the tax regime for small traders and businessmen. Our leaders are talking to experts, businessmen and common people and are examining the issue. We will talk to all and discuss with experts and then take a final decision, Gohil said. Businessmen from Modis home state of Gujarat who were earlier his loyalists feel that GST will lead to tax terrorism. The prime minister should at least hear them out, he said. Apart from holding its meeting tomorrow, the Congress is also seeking views of other like-minded parties on the issue and is also likely to hold consultations with them. Other opposition parties, including the Left parties, are also yet to decide on whether to participate in the event. As per earlier reports, former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda are expected to share the dais with incumbent Narendra Modi. The historic Central Hall of Parliament will host a midnight function on June 30 to launch the sweeping tax reform measure, reminiscent of Indias tryst with destiny on the midnight of August 15, 1947. The government will use the circular-shaped Central Hall, perhaps for the first time, to launch a new taxation system that is set to dramatically re-shape the over USD 2 trillion economy. A gong will be sounded at midnight to signify that GST has arrived. Modi will be the key speaker at the function. President Pranab Mukherjee is also likely to attend the function. The GST Bill was originally piloted by Mukherjee when he was the finance minister in the previous UPA regime. Also read: GST roll out on July 1: Heres how your movie time will be affected and what B-town has to say about this impact Also read: GST rollout on July 1: Take a look at history of indirect taxes in India For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Delhi police made a shocking revelation that over 300 Twitter handles were created from Pakistan from January 13 to 18 to disturb the farmers' tractor rally. According to sources, these Pakistani handles were created to create panic by giving false information. As Farmers Tractor Rally turned violent and protesters marched to the Red Fort, Delhi police made a shocking revelation that over 300 Twitter handles were created from Pakistan from January 13 to 18 to disturb the farmers tractor rally. According to sources, these Pakistani handles were created to create panic by giving false information and cause much more mayhem and chaos. Delhi police Cyber team has been closely keeping strict checks on social media to track miscreants who were trying to create panic. Farmers protest intensifies as groups of farmers were seen indulging in vandalism of public property and targeting police personnel deployed for Republic Day security. In the visuals coming in, the protestors can be seen raising yellow flags at the Red fort. Considering the chaos in the National Capital, the Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered to suspend Internet services in some parts of Delhi-NCR. Over 308 Twitter handles were generated from Pakistan prior to the tractor rally in the National Capital on the same day of Indias 72nd Republic Day to create confusion. The Delhi Police feared that Pakistan-based terror groups were aiming to create trouble and disrupt the farmers tractor rally. The tractor rally had been marred by violence and questions regarding funding have been raised throughout the start of the agitation as similar protests have occurred in major American and Canadian cities. It is feared many outside forces are using this opportunity to flag anti-India slogans and create their own vested agenda. #WATCH: Broken shards of glass, scattered pieces of paper and vandalised ticket counter seen at the Red Fort in Delhi. A group of protestors climbed to the ramparts of the fort and unfurled flags on January 26. pic.twitter.com/myCOU9QrJK ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 Also Read: iTV Network journalists attacked during farmer stir: NBF condemns attack Also Read: As violence marks farmers tractor rally; time to probe foreign funding angle & vested interests Nose mask sellers in Kumasi Central Business District are making good sales, following the resurgence of the spread of the coronavirus and re-opening of schools by the government. They told the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi that demand for the item had gone up, making their business attractive. A visit to the Kejetia market saw a multitude of crammed nose masks vendors, with many people buying in packs. Madam Eunice Oduro, a nose mask trader, told the GNA that people were buying the nose masks due to the reopening of schools and said most of the people who bought the masks were mainly students preparing to go back to school and parents who were preparing their kids for school. Students are the people purchasing the nose masks because of the school reopening, also parents who had kids in the lower primary. Initially, the demand was low but since school reopened, there has been improvement in sales, she added. Madam Oduro added that the increase of COVID-19 cases in the country had also fuelled the demand for the nose mask, which was identified as the only equipment to reduce the risk of infection. The GNA observed that though there was an increase in demand of the nose masks in the market, most of the market women were not wearing the masks. Mrs Faustina Adoma, also a nose mask trader, said she could not understand why most traders in the market and other people who had bought the nose marks were not wearing them. She said it was important for the people to adhere to the preventive protocols laid down by the government to help curb the spread of the virus in recent times. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Can people with allergies receive the COVID-19 vaccine made by biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer? DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Wednesday said individuals who have food and drug allergies can still get the Pfizer vaccine provided they have a certification from their doctors saying they can receive the shot. But the vaccine is not recommended for people who have suffered severe allergic reactions to other types of vaccines and to any ingredient of Pfizer's vaccine. This was after some people experienced life-threatening allergies after being inoculated with the Pfizer jab. However, these serious allergic reactions are said to be rare. Side effects are usually mild similar to common vaccine reactions. "Sa mga taong naka-experience ng severe allergic reactions noong sila ay nabakunahan ng kahit anong bakuna, kailangan pong hindi muna bigyan ang tao ito at ma-assess siya ng doktor," Vergeire noted, citing recommendations from the World Health Organization. [Translation: Those who have experienced severe allergic reactions to any type of vaccine should not be given the COVID-19 vaccine and must be assessed by a doctor.] Meanwhile, a person who previously contracted COVID-19 still has to be vaccinated, the official said, adding it should be administered three months from the time they had the disease. "According to experts and the WHO, the possibility of being re-infected is there so we are advised to receive the vaccine still," Vergeire noted, referring to people who had a history of COVID-19. Pfizer is the only COVID-19 vaccine that has been cleared for emergency use in the Philippines so far. The applications for Emergency Use Authorization of COVID-19 vaccines made by India-based Bharat Biotech, British firm AstraZeneca, Russian company Gamaleya Research Institute, and Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech are pending at the Food and Drug Administration. The country aims to start its COVID-19 vaccine rollout by next month. Officials have said initial doses of Pfizer's vaccine will arrive as early as the first quarter of 2021 through the COVAX facility. COVAX is a global initiative led by the World Health Organization with the vaccine alliance Gavi and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations that aims to ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines. Jane Fonda and Ted Danson are arrested during the "Fire Drill Friday" Climate Change Protest in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 25, 2019. (Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images) Ted Danson says Jane Fonda changed his life. The Mr. Mayor star, 73, spoke on Wednesdays Ellen DeGeneres Show about getting arrested in Oct. 2019 while participating in Fondas Fire Drill Fridays protests. It led into the actor praising Fonda for her climate change activism with Greenpeace and saying it inspired him step up his game. You can see it was kind of an exciting moment that I delighted in, Danson said as a photo of him in zip ties appeared on the screen, before adding, Mostly because I was with Jane Fonda, a lifelong activist, now 83, who moved to Washington, D.C. for several months to spearhead the protests. Continuing to talk about the amazing Fonda, who was arrested five times during the fire drills, he said, Shes turned into being one of my real inspirations in life. At the rally the day Danson was arrested, he introduced himself to the crowd as Jane Fondas new trainee. Fonda rallied many other celebrities to join her efforts, including Martin Sheen, Joaquin Phoenix and Sam Waterston. Ted Danson and Jane Fonda at the Oceana Partners Award Gala in 2013. (Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage) Danson has been a longtime activist in ocean conservation, but told DeGeneres that Fondas drive inspired him to up his game. What it did for me is I think that I had been kind of hiding behind, Oh, I work on ocean issues. I have for 30 years. Im saving the oceans kind of thing, he said. I think that arrest made me want to double down on climate change. It meant a lot to meet her. It changed my life. Danson has actually known Fonda, whose activism has also seen her support the Civil Rights Movement and womens rights and opposed the Vietnam and Iraq wars, since at least the early 1990s. They both attended the United Nations First Annual Earth Day International Awards in 1993. His wife, Mary Steenburgen, starred in Book Club with Fonda in 2018. Ted Danson, musician Don Henley of The Eagles and Jane Fonda at the United Nations First Annual Earth Day International Awards in 1993. (Photo: Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images) Danson also spoke to DeGeneres about marking his 25th wedding anniversary with Steenburgen in October. He said their families including kids and grandkids got COVID tested and came together for a celebration that included a lot of hugging. He called it a great little celebration. Story continues And he talked about his proposal to Steenburgen after meeting on the set of 1994s Pontiac Moon. He joked about being lame, which is not news as he carried around the ring for two months while he practiced proposing. He finally flew to Houston, where she was filming a movie, and popped the question. I knew from the day we met that I didnt want to be with anybody else but her, he said. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Border Patrol agents have aliens remove their shoelaces and belongings before loading them in a van for transport in Hidalgo County, Texas, on May 26, 2017. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times) Biden Administration Order Would Suspend 85 Percent of All Criminal Alien Deportations: Analysis The memorandum from President Joe Bidens administration halting most deportations for 100 days affects 85 percent of all criminal alien deportations, according to a new analysis. While a federal judge in Texas on Jan. 26 blocked the order from going into effect, if it does ultimately survive court challenges, it would stop immigration officers from deporting about 85 percent of illegal immigrants, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) found. Sex offenders, domestic abusers, and fraud criminals would be among those avoiding removal from the United States. Essentially, this memo is an attempt to abolish immigration enforcement, Jessica Vaughan, who performed the CISs analysis, told The Epoch Times. The memo directs immigration enforcement agencies to focus on people who recently crossed into the United States illegally, who are suspected of terrorism or espionage, or who were convicted of an aggravated felony. Vaughan said the percentage of criminal aliens who actually will be targeted will, in reality, be less than 15 percent because of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that limit their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The order, signed by Acting Department of Homeland Secretary David Pekoske, will result in a very sharp decrease of deportations compared to those under former Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama, according to Vaughan. Migrants return to Mexico using the Puerta Mexico bridge that crosses the Rio Grande river in Matamoros, Mexico, on the border with Brownsville, Texas, on July 31, 2019. (Emilio Espejel/AP Photo) I was surprised at how far he decided to go because he had been talking as if he wanted to pursue a moderate course, obviously different policies, but claimed to not want to in a radical way, she added. But this is really a reckless and extreme order. The Biden administration didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a Trump appointee, blocked the policy from going into effect for two weeks, after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged it in court. The judge said Bidens administration didnt give any concrete, reasonable justification for a 100-day pause on deportations. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week that the order halting deportations for some immigrants will allow the administration to review and reset enforcement policies and ensure that resources are dedicated to the most pressing challenges, and that we have a fair and effective enforcement system rooted in responsibly managing the border and protecting our national security and public safety. In another briefing on Jan. 25, Psaki said the message to migrants at the border is that this is not the right time to come. GENEVA - In order to boost the protection of thousands of African migrants who cross the Mediterranean on rickety boats to reach Europe, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has asked for 100 million dollars. "The absolute priority - according to a statement published by UNHCR - is to offer safe and viable alternatives to these dangerous trips characterized by abuses and deaths". In 2020 alone, the UN agency recalled, there were 1,064 victims in the Mediterranean Sea. UNHCR expressed "deep concern" for the escalation of conflicts and the entity of the displaced in Sahel, so far 2.9 million people. In the absence of a perspective of peace and stability in the region, "it is highly likely that there will be more movements of populations and that many will attempt the dangerous crossing towards Europe", UNHCR warned. The appeal of UNHCR for new funds comes from the organization's 2021 Strategic action plan that vies to increase access, identification and assistance for refugees during their journey and to improve access to education and livelihoods in host countries. The craft of producing incense practiced by the Nung ethnic minority in the northern province of Cao Bang has been passed down from generation to generation. With incense sticks used in special occasions, locals are now busy preparing for the Lunar New Year festival (Tet). Residing in Phia Thap Hamlet at the foot of Pha Hung mountain, the Nung ethnic minority people are renowned for producing agarwood incense sticks. For several hundreds of years, members of the Nung ethnic group follow their traditional craft of making incense sticks from agarwood trees. Their incense sticks are made of natural materials, with artificial chemicals free. Each piece is soaked four times in a flour mixture of sawdust and agarwood powder in order to create beautiful incense sticks. Producing these items requires great skills, including eye movement, from makers. Generations of the Nung community have passed the tradition down to younger members. The craft is closely associated with the Vietnamese custom of burning incense on the first or 30th days of every lunar month and other special occasions, such as the ancestors death anniversary. The most time-consuming stage of the process is drying the incense. Locals often dry them at midday as it is the hottest part of the day. If the weather is sunny, the process may take a single day, if not then locals must spend up to three days trying to dry the incense. Sometimes locals dry the incense in the kitchen in order to have the product ready for use at customers request. A tourist feels interesting when learning how to make incense in the locality. Incense in Phia Thap Hamlet is famous for good quality with a clear origin. It is the favourite with people, not only in Cao Bang Province but also in neighbouring localities. VOV Phia Thap incense village in Cao Bang The incense craft of the Nung ethnic minority people in Phia Thap Village, Quoc Dan Commune, Quang Uyen District, Cao Bang Province is contributing to the preservation of a traditional spiritual culture. The teen was detained in December, and was the youngest terror suspect to be held under the countrys Internal Security Act, it added. The teen, an ethnic Indian Christian who wasnt named as he is underage, was self-radicalised, motivated by a strong antipathy towards Islam and a fascination with violence, the department said in a statement on Wednesday, local time. The Internal Security Department said the Singaporean teen was inspired by an Australian gunman who killed 51 worshippers at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019. Singapore: Authorities in Singapore say they have detained without trial a 16-year-old student who made detailed plans and preparations to launch terrorist attacks on two mosques with a machete. The department said its investigation had found that the boy was working alone and had planned to strike two mosques near his home on March 15, the second anniversary of the Christchurch attack. The student had mapped out his route and chosen two mosques near his home in northern Singapore. He bought a flak jacket and had plans to buy a machete online, according to the department. Initially, the student wanted to procure a gun while exploring the feasibility of making a bomb, and mimicking the Christchurch gunmans plan of setting fire to the mosques with gasoline. He eventually gave up on all these ideas when he realised Singapore had strict gun-control laws and the decision was partly driven by logistical and personal safety concerns. Just like the gunman in that attack, he planned to live-stream his act by strapping mobile phones to a vest, the statement said. It said he also prepared two statements to be distributed just before the attack. Law and Home Affairs Minister K.Shanmugam was quoted by local media as saying that authorities did not intend to charge the teen as he was underage and hadnt carried out the act. But he said it was worrying as it marked the first case of right-wing extremists targeting Muslims in the tiny Southeast Asian nation. The fifth round of the Constitutional Committee is underway, but has been plagued by disagreements, stalling tactics and intransigence writes Baladi News. On Tuesday, the Syrian Constitutional Committee resumed the fifth round of discussions in Geneva, with the delegations of the Syrian regime, the opposition delegation, and the civil society delegation present. Discussions are scheduled to continue until Jan. 29, 2021. Todays discussions centered around the basic principles of the new draft of the Syrian constitution, which is part of the constitutional reform process, informed sources told Baladi News. According to the sources, the co-chair of the Constitutional Committee for the Syrian Negotiations Committee, Hadi al-Bahra, stressed during Tuesdays round that the session is important, for it will reveal to the international community the positions of all parties towards the constitutional process as a whole. Bahra mentioned those who have been hindering the process and creating obstacles to prevent it from exercising its mandate and accomplishing its mission as quickly as possible. He said that no negotiation process can succeed without there being two sides who come together to reach a solution that would eventually lead to the absolute and strict implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Bahra said that it is impossible for the work of the committee to continue if it cannot start exercising its competencies and achieve tangible results within a short period of time. During the meeting, Bahra stressed the willingness of the representatives of the Negotiations Committee to do the impossible to save the Syrian people refugees, the displaced, and detainees and said that the futile handling of the demands of the Syrian people cannot go on. According to Baladi News sources, Bahra demanded, during the meeting, to find alternative ways to enable the Constitutional Committee to accomplish its mission within a maximum of a few months and to activate the political process and agree on other issues, the first of which is the establishment of credible and comprehensive governance for all Syrians, away from sectarianism. He called on the states sponsoring the political process and the UN Security Council to find the proper solutions, and said, Our people are waiting for results, not empty promises. The regimes demands Sources confirmed to Baladi News that the delegation of the Syrian regime focused on, the danger that occupations create, the exit of foreign forces from Syria, and the lifting of unilateral sanctions. According to sources, the regime asked the delegations to share their views on the constitution so it can test the waters before starting to draft the constitution. The sources added that the regimes delegation missed the three sessions during which generalities were discussed, amid a dismissal by the regimes delegation for the majority of the interventions by opposition members and the oppositions civil society delegation. The regimes delegation also worked to buy time, without disrupting or changing the tours agenda, so that the delegations would spend time discussing visions and perceptions, without reaching any solutions. The regime has been gathering insights, based on which, it plans on drafting the constitution. Conflicting narratives Sources revealed to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA) that the Adana Agreement an agreement that the Syrian regime signed with Turkey was discussed during the meetings. The sources claimed that Negotiations Committee members were the ones who raised the issue first. Discussions centered around the Adana Agreement and whether it is considered a treaty or an agreement. The civil society delegation, which is close to the regime, also made interventions that talked about Arabism as a factor that strengthens national identity. Sources revealed to Enab Baladi that the delegation of the Syrian regime was the one who brought up the Adana Agreement, in an attempt to waste even more time, in addition to its attempt to create contentions and provoke the opposition delegation so it responds. The sources confirmed that the regimes delegation discussed the Adana Agreement and demanded to know whether it can be classified as an international treaty or a security agreement, whether it is public or secret, and the legal differences between agreements and treaties. On Monday, the Syrian Constitutional Committee began its meetings, with the fifth round of negotiations, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. On Sunday, the Negotiations Committee, headed by Bahra, held a meeting with the UN Special Envoy, Geir Pedersen, ahead of the fifth round. Bahra focused on the need to accelerate the constitutional reform process and reach the stage of drafting a new constitution for Syria. Bahra noted that the only way to put an end to the suffering and pain of the Syrians is to release the detainees, know the fate of the disappeared, and allow for the dignified and voluntary return of the displaced and refugees. Bahra emphasized the serious engagement and readiness of Negotiations Committee representatives to be positive and put in the effort to accomplish the committees mission, which is entrusted to it by its mandate, as a contribution to the political process and for a step towards the full and uncompromising implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254. Demonstrations in rural Idleb and Aleppo According to reporting by Etihad Press, many demonstrations took place in various areas of Aleppo and the Idleb countryside against the Constitutional Committee. Dozens of people took to the streets in Maarrat al-Numan, Azaz, Afrin, and Idleb, carrying flags and holding banners that read, The Constitutional Committee does not represent us and will not represent us, and demanded the release of detainees in the prisons of the Syrian authorities. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Back in 2020, a Nokia executive teased a partnership between the company and the latest James Bond film to show off the latest Nokia smartphone of its time, which was 2019. The 007 film No Time to Die was originally set to be released in theaters in April of 2019 until the departure of the films original director and co-writer Danny Boyle caused delays, further pushed back after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was set to be released in April of 2021 until a more recent delay was announced. A report from The Sun cited industry insiders who were aware of the at least some of the reasoning for the films latest delay. Its reported that the brand deals struck up by brands for the film, which was partly filmed in 2019 going into 2020, would feature tech and products that would be far outdated by the time it was to be released in 2021. But by the time the movie comes out now it will look like Daniel Craig and all of the other cast members are carrying something that has been out for ages. That isnt really the point of these deals[] The big tech firms want the stars to have all the new up-and-coming products to help promote them and sell them to fans [] It means some of the scenes are going to have to be very carefully edited and looked at to bring things up to date. film industry insider Nokias 8.3 5G smartphone was to be featured in the film, but this items placement, along with others from Adidas footwear, Bollinger champagne, and Omega watches would all have outdated products featured in the film. The Nokia 8.3 would go on sale in October of 2020, which is already too outdated, even for James Bond. We can imagine that film sponsors brands whose products are featured in the film would much prefer to see their products appear on huge screens in cinemas. Its contracts like this that give brands power to delay films over the sponsors main purpose: to show their newest products throughout the film. We wonder which Nokia device will update the Nokia 8.3 that was originally set to be featured in the film. Nokia's 7.2 smartphone (released in September 2019 and pictured below) made an appearance in the film's official trailer. The films delays have upset fans of the franchise. No Time to Die is actor Daniel Craigs final Bond film, and before fans can find out who will be cast as the next James Bond, the current film needs to be released first. In the meantime, products placed throughout the film need to be carefully retouched, reshot, or reedited with newer products from brand deals for the films now October 2021 release date. Source A man has been knocked unconscious by two men who savagely beat him in the toilet of a restaurant. The victim, a 56-year-old man, left a restaurant in Melbournes Southgate at around 6.30pm on January 16 and went to a restroom inside the complex. It was there the middle-aged man got involved in a verbal dispute with two other men he did not know. A 56-year-old man has been beaten and left unconscious by two men (pictured) in a public restroom in Melbourne CCTV footage obtained by 7News shows the victim trying to leave the bathroom but being pushed down the corridor before on tried to put him in a headlock. When he tried to leave, the men then pushed the victim against the wall causing him to fall to the ground. He cracked the back of his head as a result and became unconscious, and did not wake up until his attackers had left. The victim had gotten into an argument with the two men (pictured) who then forced him down a corridor when the 56-year-old tried to leave Victorian Police released photos of two men they want to speak with to help with the investigation. One is a white male in his 30s, about 182cm tall with a solid build and brown hair, and was wearing a red or pink short-sleeved button-up shirt. Other man is in his 30s, about 173cm tall with a slim build with brown hair, and was wearing a pale blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans. Police urged anyone with information to contact them. One of Britain's oldest identical twins has paid tribute to her sister after her death from coronavirus. Lilian Cox, 96, and her sister Doris Hobday, from Tipton, West Midlands, both tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month. The twins, who live in neighbouring flats, were both admitted to hospital but Doris sadly died on January 5. Lilian had spoken to her sister over the phone, begging her to 'fight for her life', but was utterly heartbroken after learning of Doris's death. The surviving twin appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain today with her great-grandson Brayden Clarke, and she paid tribute to her sister, saying she was 'the only one I ever had'. Lilian Cox appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain today with her great-grandson Brayden Clarke, and she paid tribute to her sister, saying she was 'the only one I ever had' She told presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid: 'Well you've got to make the best of it haven't you... [there's] no bringing her back.' Lilian added: 'Well there was only me and her for how many years.' Great-grandson Brayden said it had been 'very hard' and 'very emotional' for the family, but in a way it helped bring them together to remember what's important. Lilian said Doris was 'the only one I ever had', adding that 'thousands' had gone through what she had gone through amid the pandemic. She said that some people had not been taking the virus seriously enough, and people 'don't really notice until you've got it yourself'. Piers Morgan offered his condolences for Lilian's loss, saying everyone at Good Morning Britain was 'just so sorry about Doris'. Lilian Cox and her sister Doris Hobday, from Tipton, West Midlands, both fell ill a few days into the New Year, when each tested positive for Covid-19. Doris (right) died on January 5 Lilian did manage to speak to Doris by phone and beg her to 'fight for her life', but was left devastated weeks later when he learnt that her twin had died. Pictured: Doris Hobday with her husband Ray Tragically just two days after her death, Doris's vaccine appointment letter arrived in the post. Lilian had said earlier this week that if the nationwide lockdown had been enforced earlier, 'then there would not have been half as many deaths'. 'These things happen for a reason but it's not fair. We came into the world together,' Lilian told the Sunday People. She added: 'The nurses and doctors were fantastic but Boris is a bloody w*****.' Doris, who had no children, was admitted to hospital for the first time in her life after contracting coronavirus. The family said that Lilian had endured the 'fight of her life' for two weeks but recovered enough to be discharged, when she was strong enough to be told of her sister's death. The sisters were close throughout their lives and lived in Tipton for 94 years. Lilian had five children but raised them mainly as a single mum. She has 13 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren. The blow has left the nonagenarian 'in shock' but also angry at Prime Minister Boris Johnson for his handling of the pandemic They became social media stars - followed by almost 25,000 people on Facebook - after a series of uproarious press and television interviews following their 95th birthday celebrations They became social media stars - followed by almost 25,000 people on Facebook - after a series of uproarious press and television interviews following their 95th birthday celebrations. These included one appearance on Good Morning Britain early in the pandemic where Lilian told host Piers Morgan their longevity was down to 'plenty of sex'. In a statement, relatives of the sisters - dubbed the Tipton Twins after the Black Country town where they lived for nearly all of their lives - said they were 'totally heartbroken to lose Doris in this way'. Lilian's granddaughter Kerry Clarke, 35, said her grandmother was 'in shock' over her sibling's death. 'She can't believe it because she's okay and Doris didn't make it,' Mrs Clarke told the Mirror. 'It's heartbreaking, she keeps looking up at the sky.' Mrs Clarke, from Hagley, Worcestershire, appealed for the public to have a blood finger oximeter in their home, saying the family didn't realise until Doris was admitted to hospital that her oxygen levels were deteriorating. 'If Doris had gone into hospital a week before she might have had a chance,' she added. The sisters have lived next door to each other ever since and were stunned to have contracted the virus as they had shielded at home over the Christmas period. Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27 (ANI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday accused the Karnataka government of deliberately changing the name of the disputed Belagavi district to 'Belgaum' while the matter is in court, and threatened to make it a part of Maharashtra. "Despite the matter being in court, the Karnataka government deliberately changed the name of the disputed region to Belgaum. They made Belgaum the second capital where they also held an assembly session. Here, we think about the law but Karnataka does not. We will bring that part in Maharashtra for sure if we all come together," said Thackeray today, after a meeting with the High Power Committee constituted for the border dispute with Karnataka. He further said that looking at the atrocities of Marathi-speaking people in disputed border areas, his government will request the Supreme Court to declare the disputed part as a union territory, as long as the matter is in court. "This matter is in the Supreme Court and this is our last option. When we have one option left then we have to prepare for it very well, and we have to win it. If this is not done now, then I don't think it will happen anytime," said Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, while speaking on the matter after today's meeting. This comes in the backdrop of Karnataka and Maharashtra having been at loggerheads for decades over areas along their border in districts like Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani. The issue of the disputed border area has been pending in the Supreme Court for several years. Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani are a part of Karnataka and have Marathi-speaking people. Right from the beginning, Maharashtra has asserted its claim over these districts while the Karnataka government has opposed the assertion. (ANI) SPRINGFIELD A Macoupin County Board member is among eight people being considered for appointment to complete the term of former state Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill. Manar resigned his state senate seat to take a senior advisors post with Gov. J.B. Pritzker. The 48th Legislative District asked for applications to succeed Manar and, on Tuesday, announced eight finalists. Q. I am a 59-year-old male, retired and receiving a New Jersey public pension. I was married for 15 years and divorced 20 years ago. She is now 57. I have very few quarters paid into Social Security from working part-time in grocery stores during high school and college. The career I retired from didnt take Social Security deductions. When I turn 65, I planned to sign up for Medicare for the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program. I would get reimbursed for the premiums from my former government employer. Can I apply for Social Security benefits and Medicare through my ex-wife? Do I have to wait until she is age eligible or when I turn 62? How does the windfall penalty work? Hoping Im eligible A. A divorced spouse may be able to receive benefits from both Social Security and Medicare if they meet the eligibility criteria. Lets take the government-sponsored programs one at a time. In order to apply for benefits as a divorced spouse, you must have been married for 10 years or more, divorced for two years, have reached age 62, remain unmarried and be entitled to receive Social Security retirement or disability benefits yourself, said Claudia Mott, a certified financial planner with Epona Financial Solutions in Basking Ridge. She said the amount you are eligible to receive 50% of the value of your ex-spouses benefit must be greater than what you would receive on your own retirement record, she said. Divorced spouses are eligible to file for benefits at age 62 regardless of whether their ex-spouse has reached retirement age, she said. However, Social Security will be reduced permanently for every month that someone files prior to full retirement age. Mott said as a former government employee, it is very likely that any benefit you might be entitled to would be subject to the Government Pension Offset (GPO) rule which affects the amount paid to spouses, ex-spouses and widows or widowers. When you receive a government pension, two-thirds of the value will be deducted from the spousal benefit amount youd be entitled to receive, she said. This reduction could cause the remaining amount to be less that what you are receiving now. As an example, lets say your pension is $1,800, the GPO would deduct $1,200 from the value of your divorced spouse benefit. If the divorced spouse benefit was greater than $1,200, youd receive the difference, but if it were less than $1,200, you would receive nothing at all, she said. The Windfall Elimination provision (WEP) is used to determine the Social Security benefit for an individual who worked for an employer that did not withhold FICA taxes, Mott said. However, the individual must qualify to receive Social Security in order for this provision to be applied and it is not used with survivor benefits, she said. Medicare is a health insurance program that is provided by the U.S. government. Most individuals apply for Medicare just before turning age 65, she said. Part A covers hospital insurance while Part B includes many preventive services, outpatient care, medical supplies and doctors visits. The prescription coverage portion of Medicare is known as Part D. The basic qualifications for Medicare include U.S. citizenship and eligibility to receive Social Security or a railroad retirement benefit, she said. It is possible to apply for and obtain benefits based on a spouse or ex-spouses work record and receive premium-free Part A coverage, Mott said. All Medicare recipients pay the Part B premiums which are $148.50 per month, but can be higher if your income exceeds certain limits, she said. Part D plans come with their own premium which will vary depending on the plan selected. You are fortunate that you are able to get reimbursement for your premiums through the New Jersey State Health Benefits Program. Plan. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter. A teenager charged with two counts of murder after allegedly running a red light in a stolen 4WD and killing a Brisbane bayside couple could face further charges over the death of their unborn child. About 150 locals gathered at the scene, at the corner of Vienna and Finucane roads in Alexandra Hills, on Wednesday night to pay tribute to Katherine Leadbetter, 31, and Matthew Field, 37, whose deaths on Australia Day left friends and family absolutely heartbroken. The 17-year-old male accused of being behind the wheel of the Toyota Landcruiser, allegedly stolen from a Cleveland home, had clipped another vehicle, causing the 4WD to roll before it struck the couple, who were walking their dogs at the time. He then allegedly fled what Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd described as a catastrophic scene on foot about 5.30pm before he was accused of attempting to steal another car from a nearby garage. The German government said it will not abandon the Nord Stream 2 project, despite US sanctions and calls by the European Parliament to impose EU measures against the Russian-backed gas pipeline project over the Navalny case, Euractiv reports in its article German government, businesses come forward in support of Nord Stream 2. There is no direct connection between the Navalny case and Nord Stream 2, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin on Monday (25 January), adding that the attitude of the government to the project has not changed. Berlin condemns the harsh, disproportionate actions of the Russian security forces against peaceful demonstrators and continues to demand the immediate investigation of the chemical weapons attack on Alexei Navalny, Seibert added. The German government took note of the European Parliaments resolution demanding the suspension of Nord Stream 2, but this has not changed its position regarding the pipeline project, Seibert said. Despite US sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the pipeline, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last week she would not abandon the project and will discuss it with the new Biden administration. The new leader of Germanys ruling Christian Democrats, Armin Laschet, said on Monday he would not reconsider his support for the Russian-backed pipeline, despite US and European opposition to its completion. Laschet, whose election as CDU leader this month places him in pole position to succeed Merkel as chancellor, urged Russia to release Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. But when pressed on domestic energy supply, he said Germany decides. Asked if he would be prepared to think again about the pipeline, Laschet replied: No. Germany and Russia, he added, have maintained academic and business ties even at the height of the Cold War. The pipeline is creating a headache for the German Social Democrats too as it will touch down on German soil in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pommerania, which is governed by Manuela Schwesig (SPD). Her local government established the Foundation for Climate and Environment protection, which has been stacked with 200,000, with an added 60 million donated from Nord Stream 2 AG, owned by Gazprom. Besides supporting environmental projects, the foundation was also set up to counteract the announced US sanctions against Nord Stream 2. The foundation shall enable the continued construction of Nord Stream 2, should this be necessary after talks between the government and the new US administration, according to a statement on the website of Schwesigs local SPD. German Greens took offence at what they called greenwashing, while anti-Russia hawks in the liberal FDP party have condemned the foundation as a vehicle for the Kremlins geopolitical interests. Environmental NGOs refused a seat on the foundations board. Meanwhile, EU lawmakers passed a resolution on Thursday (21 January) calling on the EU to block the completion of Nord Stream 2 in response to the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Sanctions are there to induce a government to behave in a certain way. So its about leverage and our possibilities of influencing the government in Moscow, regardless of the content, said MEP Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens), who helped draft the resolution. According to its proponents, Nord Stream 2 will bring money and stability, but only at the expense of human rights, solidarity with neighbouring states and transparency, he told EURACTIV. In view of the ongoing tensions with Russia, businesses must be aware of the risk, added MEP Michael Gahler, spokesman on foreign policy for the centre-right European Peoples Party (EPP). Any company that gets involved with Russia needs to know that things can go wrong, he said, rejecting the argument that Nord Stream 2 is necessary for security of supply in the EU. This pipeline is not necessary for the supply. We have many reference points for gas, including from countries that do not threaten us politically, he told EURACTIV. Business sticks with Nord Stream Last week, the US administration followed up on its threats and announced first sanctions against the pipeline so far, limited to one Russian construction ship. Sources from German business circles told EURACTIV Germany that as of now, there is no concrete worry of negative economic impacts caused by the US sanctions. The decision on the pipeline construction was made many years ago. It is close to completion and received permits in accordance with principles of the rule of law, said Svenja Schulze, Germanys environment minister. If we stop the project now, we will inflict a great deal of harm, casting a doubt on reliability of decisions made on the basis of principles of the rule of law and would probably face court proceedings, Schulze told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). German business groups tend to support that view. The US sanctions put a strain on the restart of transatlantic relations at a time when the new Biden administration offers hope for renewal, said Oliver Hermes, CEO of the Wilo Group and chairman of the German Eastern Business Association. Regarding the political calls to halt the project, he insisted that investment safety is a crucial achievement of the single market and should not be questioned, pointing towards the various European companies who invested into North Stream 2. Nord Stream 2 is a step in the right direction for Europe in order to guarantee energy supply in the long term, added Ludwig Mohring, from the German Federal Association for Natural Gas, Petroleum and Geoenergy (BVEC). We need it due to the declining natural gas production in Western Europe, Mohring told EURACTIV, not because it is being forced on Europeans. Mohring rejected the notion that the new pipeline will make Europe more dependent on Russia. The pipeline does not mean that we will no longer have a choice in the future, but only that we will secure our supply at competitive prices in the long term, Mohring told EURACTIV. Calls to stop the project will ultimately not help the EU, Mohring said. Even though the relationship between the EU and Russia is going through difficult times, Europe and Russia have an interest in living in a good neighbourhood in the long term. In the beginning, from 1789 to 1806, debate in the Senate could be ended at any time by majority vote. In 1806, the Senate abolished that rule, leaving no way to cut off debate. This decision gave birth to the filibuster to delay or block legislative action. This involved a senator holding the floor continuously, as Mr. Smith did (not easy), or to act in carefully choreographed relays with like-minded colleagues (also not easy) and prevent a vote on the merits. Still, a few successful filibusters were maintained, most notoriously to block anti-lynching and other civil rights legislation, but only when opposition was so passionate that senators were willing to endure the physical and logistical rigors of seizing the Senate floor and refusing to let go. In 1917, opponents of the United States entry into World War I were able to sustain such a speaking filibuster, blocking widely supported legislation that would have enabled merchant vessels to arm themselves. An angry Senate reacted by adopting formal rules that allowed an end to debate by a vote by two-thirds of the senators present on the floor. From 1917 to 1975, with tweaks in 1949 and 1959, the Senate operated under the two-thirds rule, but the real constraints on filibustering were three self-limiting aspects of the 1917 rule. First, a motion to end debate (known as cloture) froze the Senate, forcing the body to vote on the motion before proceeding with any other business. Second, maintaining a speaking filibuster required a senator to hold the floor, individually or in relays. Third, supporters of the filibuster needed more than one-third of the Senate as allies to be present on the Senate floor to head off a surprise cloture vote. Once again, if opposition was passionate enough, successful filibusters were maintained, especially of civil rights legislation, but the difficulties of mounting a filibuster placed a lid on the number of times one could be successfully sustained. Beginning in 1975, though, the original speaking filibuster was transformed into the modern version. First, Southern senators agreed to confine the filibuster to a short period in the morning session, allowing the Senate to move on to other business in the afternoon. Then they agreed to a reduction of the cloture number to a fixed 60 votes, from two-thirds present and voting, or 67 votes if the entire Senate was present. All of a sudden, the self-limiting factors that had kept the filibuster in check since 1806 disappeared. There was no longer an institutional cost since the Senate could conduct business as usual during most of the day. A filibustering senator no longer had to hold the floor speaking for long periods of time. And most important, supporters of the filibuster no longer had to worry about being in the Senate chamber because it was the job of opponents to marshal the fixed 60 votes to end debate. Supporters of the filibuster could stay home in bed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A former National Australia Bank executive who took $5.4 million worth of kickbacks as part of a scheme to defraud the bank has been jailed for at least four years and nine months. Rosemary Rogers became so used to 'enjoying the benefits of her fraud' that she was unable to stop over a four-year period, judge Paul Conlon of the NSW District Court said on Wednesday. The 45-year-old chief of staff to two NAB chief executives was found guilty of accepting kickbacks from event management company Human Group in return for ensuring that the bank maintained its lucrative contract with that firm. Human Group received more than $44 million of business from NAB from 2013 to 2018, and contracts with the bank represented 97 per cent of the event management company's revenue at one point. Former NAB executive, Rosemary Rogers (pictured), has been jailed for at least four years and nine months after pleading guilty to numerous offences The scheme to defraud the bank involved Rogers approving payment on false or highly inflated invoices from Human Group director Helen Rosamond (pictured) Rogers received a significant discount on her sentence for pleading guilty to numerous offences - including 27 counts of being an agent corruptly receiving a benefit and for dishonestly obtaining a financial advance by deception - and for completely co-operating with authorities. The scheme to defraud the bank involved Rogers approving payment on false or highly inflated invoices from Human Group director Helen Rosamond, and Rogers then received kickbacks in return. Ms Rosamond denies her charges and is facing trial in July for her alleged role in the offending. Rogers used the money on an extravagant lifestyle, purchasing her 'dream home' in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown, plus a new BMW, a boat, a caravan, home renovations and cash to splash through pre-paid credit cards. Ms Rogers (pictured outside court) has pleaded guilty to 27 counts of being an agent corruptly receiving a benefit and for dishonestly obtaining a financial advance by deception Ms Rosamond denies her charges and is facing trial in July for her alleged role in the offending Overseas holidays with extended family included lavish trips to a privately owned Fijian island, Europe and the United States which involved the use of private helicopters and luxury yacht cruises. The Crown argued that Ms Rogers, despite her high salary, was motivated by greed, personal gain, and self-gratification. Text messages between the two women referred to each other as 'bestie' and 'sister from another mother', who were so close at one point Rosamond altered her will to include Rogers, facts from the case state. Judge Conlon said Ms Rogers abused her position of trust and tarnished the reputation of the bank that had employed her for 25 years, but also said the bank should have been more vigilant in monitoring the spending. 'I find it absolutely staggering that those frauds were not detected by some appropriate system of internal auditing,' the judge said. Between 2013 and 2017 Rogers (pictured left) would approve false or highly inflated invoices made out by Human Group director Helen Rosamond (pictured right), who would then pay Rogers 'kickbacks' for showing her events and human resources company special favour Ms Rosamond denies her charges and is facing trial in July for her alleged role in the offending The 'utterly reckless' spending was only uncovered after an anonymous whistleblower sent a letter to the NAB board saying 'Rose' had been receiving gifts and a $1 million cheque. After the tip-off, panicked communication between the pair including a phone call where Rogers was recorded telling Rosamond 'what the f*** are we going to do?' Rogers handed herself into authorities. She has since shown remorse and profound guilt for her conduct, the court found. Her defence argued onerous working hours and responsibilities meant she felt guilty for neglecting her family and sought to make amends through the expensive holidays and gifts. In a statement following the verdictm NAB chief legal counsel Sharon Cook thanked the whistleblower for coming forward and said the bank had zero tolerance for criminal activity. 'Since becoming aware of the issue, we have made changes to strengthen controls in our organisation, including changing delegations and introducing additional checks on expenses,' she said. Rogers, who has been sentenced to a maximum prison term of eight years, has so far repaid more than $4 million. Miscreants shoot Bihar BJP spokesperson amid opposition criticism over rising crime India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Patna, Jan 27: Bihar unit BJP spokesperson Azfar Shamsi was shot at by a group of unidentified miscreants in Jamalpur on Wednesday. The police said Shamsi, who is also an Associate Professor, was attacked near Jamalpur College after a dispute with another professor. The BJP leader has been admitted to a hospital and his statement has also been recorded by the police, said Munger Superintendent of Police. Republic Day voilence: Security tightened at Red Fort after clashes with farmers "We were informed that Azfar Shamsi (also an Associate Professor) was shot by two to three men while he was going to his chamber. He is under treatment. His statement has been recorded. He had a dispute with another professor of the college whom we have arrested, he will be questioned," the Munger SP said. The incident comes at a time when the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has been facing flak from the opposition over law and order situation in the state. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News The state government has come under sharp criticism over a high-profile murder case of IndiGo's airport manager Rupesh Kumar Singh in the state capital earlier this month. The official of the private airlines was gunned down outside his residence in the city on January 12. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 14:57 [IST] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Taiheiyo signs capital investment agreement in Solusi Bangun Indonesia ICR Newsroom By 27 January 2021 PT Solusi Bangun Indonesia Tbk (SMCB), PT Semen Indonesia Industri Bangunan and Japan-based Taiheiyo Cement Corp signed a capital transfer and inclusion agreement and cement sale and purchase master agreement (offtake agreement) on 26 January. The transfer and capital participation agreement reflects the planned capital investment by Taiheiyo in the former Holcim subsidiary through the issuance of new shares with the right to pre-order securities (HMETD) or rights issue. "The implementation of SSA [Signing of Assignment and Subscription Agreement] and issuance of new shares with HMETD will be implemented in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations," said Aulia Mulki Oemar, president Director of Bangun Solutions. Along with the Taiheiyo investment plan, the company also signed an offtake agreement with the Japanese cement producer to increase cement plant utilisation. "With the signing of the SSA and the Offtake Agreement, it is expected to strengthen the capital structure and position of the Company in carrying out its business activities," Mr Oemar said. Currently, 7.5bn shares or 98.307 per cent of SMCB are held by Semen Indonesia via PT Semen Indonesia Industri Bangunan. The remaining 129.75m or 1.69 per cent shares are owned by public investors, or have not met the minimum public stock requirements (free float). Semen Indonesias Secretary, Vita Mahreyni, said the company together with SBI and TCC signed a partnership agreement on 8 December 2020. "This [agreement] is a realisation of the initial agreement to conduct strategic cooperation between the parties through a partnership agreement with TCC," Mr Vita wrote. News of Taiheiyo's entry to SMCB started on 21 April 2020. At that time, SMCB had received positive sentiment after Japanese investor Taiheiyo planned to inject US$220m in capital into SMCB, reported CNBC Indonesia. The Japanese company will own at least 15 per cent of the shares in SBI after the transaction. Published under Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a member of Wisconsin's Electoral College, casts his vote for the presidential election at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., on Dec. 14, 2020. (Morry Gash-Pool/Getty Images) Wisconsin Senate Votes to Repeal Governors Statewide Mask Mandate The GOP-controlled Wisconsin Senate on Jan. 26 voted to repeal the statewide mask mandate put in place by Gov. Tony Evers as part of measures to curb the transmission of the CCP virus. In a 18-13 vote, the Senate voted in favor of repealing the emergency declaration that allowed Evers, a Democrat, to issue the statewide mask mandate. GOP Sens. Dale Kooyenga and Robert Cowles, alongside their Democratic colleagues, voted in opposition to the joint resolution to throw out the mandate, which had been cosponsored by more than two dozen Republicans in the state. Both legislative chambers have to pass the resolution in order to overturn the mask mandate in the state. The governors approval is not required to overturn the measure, which he had put in place statewide until at least March 20. If successful, it would effectively remove the only remaining measure implemented statewide as part of efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The Assembly, controlled 58-30 by Republicans, scheduled it for a vote Thursday. Robin Vos, the speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, did not say Tuesday how much support the measure to repeal the mask mandate has in the chamber. It hasnt been sponsored by Republican leaders in the Assembly. The vote followed hours of debate between Democrat and Republican senators, as members of the health care community statewide warned that removing the mandate would impair efforts to combat the CCP virus pandemic. We ask all of our government leaders to support physicians and other front-line health care workers by promoting mask-wearing as an effective tool against COVID-19, CEO Bud Chumbley, MD for the Wisconsin Medical Society said in a statement. Richs Barber Shop in Waukesha, Wis., on May 14, 2020. (Morry Gash/AP Photo) No groups registered their support backing removal of the governors mandate. According to the National Academy for State Health Policy, 41 U.S. states have a mask mandate in place. COVID-19 can be contracted from people who are or arent wearing masks, but mask proponents have repeatedly portrayed transmission as more likely if people arent wearing masks. Authors of a study published by the Heritage Foundation in December last year suggests that there may be more effective interventions to control the spread of the CCP virus in the United States and elsewhere than government-ordered mask mandates. The 25 U.S. counties with the highest number of officially reported CCP virus cases have rigorous mask mandates in place, as do 97 of the top 100, according to the study. The study was based on data supplied by USA Facts, a nonpartisan data compiler used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), among other federal agencies. The studys authors claimed that these findings do not deny the efficacy of mask-wearing per se. Nor should they discourage the practice. Instead, they point to the inadequacy of public health strategies that rely predominantly on lockdowns and mask mandates. Governments should undertake more effective interventions. These include adopting better measures to protect nursing home residents, enabling nationwide screening through the widespread use of rapid self-tests, and establishing voluntary isolation centers where infected people can recover, rather than exposing their families to infection. Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu said in a statement that the chamber on Tuesday took a stand for liberty and the rule of law. Governor Evers has abused his limited authority for far too long by repeatedly issuing unlawful orders beyond his 60-day emergency powers, he said. The Senate voted to end the executive overreach and restore our constituents voice in the legislative process. Sen. Stephen Nass, a Republican who authored the joint resolution, said overturning the mandate is not about whether face masks are good or bad. This is about repeatedly issuing emergency orders contrary to what the law allows. Its about the rule of law, Nass said. The governors administration has backed issuing multiple emergency orders to extend the states mask mandate as necessary to adjust to the ongoing pandemic. Mark Tapscott contributed to this report. Jennifer Dorsey is chief copy editor and Business section coordinator. She worked in Washington, D.C., and Chicago before moving to the Tetons. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more important to our business than our culture, said Jonathan Sacks, chief executive officer of PUSH. Our core values drive our culture. It is by design not default." The PUSH Agency, an Arizona-based staffing company that plans and executes talent staffing strategies from many of the worlds most recognized brands and leading experiential marketing campaigns, has been awarded a Glassdoor Employees Choice Award in the U.S. small and medium company category and was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in 2021. PUSH was ranked No. 1 in Arizona and No. 11 in the U.S. The Employees Choice Award, now in its 13th year, is based solely on the input of employees who elect to provide anonymous feedback by completing a company review about their job, work environment, and employer on Glassdoor, the worldwide leader in insights on jobs and companies. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is more important to our business than our culture, said Jonathan Sacks, chief executive officer of PUSH. Our core values drive our culture. It is by design not default. We consider it our secret sauce and without it, we would not have been able to attract and retain the unbelievable talent we have at PUSH. Furthermore, we certainly would not have been able to survive and thrive inside 2020. 2020 was an extremely difficult year for industries and companies everywhere, and PUSH was no exception. PUSH had to completely reimagine its business model when events, festivals and conferences were shut down. Overnight the experiential marketing and event staffing business came to a halt. COVID-19 is in the drivers seat and every employer has been impacted. This years winning employers have proven, according to employees, that even during extraordinary times, theyll rise to the challenge to support their people, said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor chief executive officer. A mission-driven culture, transparent leadership, and career opportunities are always hallmarks of Best Places to Work winners. This year, we also see exceptional employers who have prioritized the health, safety, and well-being of their employees. My congratulations go to all of this years outstanding Employees Choice Award winners. On Glassdoor, current and former employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by sharing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic inside look at what a specific job may be like at a particular company. When sharing a company review on Glassdoor, employees are asked to rate their satisfaction with the company overall, and key workplace factors like career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, and work/life balance. In addition, employees are asked to describe the best reasons to work at their companies as well as any downsides. Glassdoors Best Places to Work were determined using company reviews shared by U.S.-based employees between October 22, 2019, and October 19, 2020. To be considered for the U.S. small and medium company category, a company must have had fewer than 1,000 employees and have received at least 30 ratings across each of the eight workplace attributes (overall company rating, career opportunities, compensation and benefits, culture and values, senior management, work-life balance, recommend to a friend and six-month business outlook) from U.S.-based employees during the period of eligibility. The final list is compiled using Glassdoors proprietary algorithm, led by its Economic Research Team, and takes into account the quantity, quality, and consistency of reviews. Complete awards methodology can be found here: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/index.htm For the complete list of the Glassdoor Best Places to Work winners in 2021, please visit: https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/Best-Small-and-Medium-Companies-to-Work-For-LST_KQ0,43.htm ### About The PUSH Agency While other Event Staffing Companies attempt to emulate our company from the sidelines, PUSH is dominating the field planning and executing talent staffing strategies from many of the worlds most recognized brands and leading experiential marketing campaigns. PUSH is known for having the largest database in north America, with more than 140 thousand brand ambassadors. Within our Arizona corporate office, we are powered by an incredibly well-oiled machine featuring the most creative and innovative Program Managers and Booking Agents. As the event marketing industry evolves so do we. Our innovative technologies and proprietary process constantly improve and every single individual on our team receives ongoing training led by veteran industry leaders. Not to mention they get to be part of the best company culture you can dream of. About Glassdoor Glassdoor combines all the latest jobs with millions of reviews and insights to make it easy for people everywhere to find a job and company they love. As a result, Glassdoor helps employers hire truly informed candidates at scale through effective recruiting solutions like employer branding and employee insights products. Launched in 2008, Glassdoor now has reviews and insights for more than 1.3 million companies located in more than 190 countries. For more information, visit glassdoor.com. Copyright 2008-2020, Glassdoor, Inc. "Glassdoor" and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. She announced the birth of her daughter Mint last month. And Romee Strijd gave fans a glimpse of her post-partum physique in a lingerie-clad snap on Tuesday. The Dutch model, 25, told fans that she's 'not focused' on losing her baby weight as she's still breastfeeding her daughter, but 'couldn't be more proud' of her body since giving birth. Gorgeous: Romee Strijd, 25, gave fans a glimpse of her post-partum physique in a lingerie-clad snap on Tuesday as she told fans she's 'not focused' on losing her baby weight Romee shared the black and white image on Instagram Stories as part of the True or False Instagram challenge, after a fan asked whether she'd share a picture of her post-partum body. The former Victoria's Secret star posted the snap alongside a caption explaining she's in no rush to slim down since giving birth. She wrote: 'Many of you asked about my weight gain and if I'm back in my old shape. I'm not, and I'm proud of my body... more than I've ever been to be honest! 'I look forward to going back to the gym because that has always been something that gives me lots of energy but I'm not planning to focus too much on weight loss since I'm breastfeeding.' Happy: The Dutch model told fans she's 'more proud of her body than ever' since giving birth to her daughter and is now breastfeeding the newborn Last month Romee revealed she and husband Laurens Van Leeuwen had welcomed their first child together as shared a sweet breastfeeding picture of the newborn. The Victoria's Secret Angel wrote: 'Mint van Leeuwen ~ feeling so blessed to finally hold you in my arms. We are so in love with you!!' Romee's happy news comes after she revealed the couple tried to get pregnant for two years while she was unknowingly battling polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The beauty announced back in May that she and Laurens, 29, whom she married in October 2019 after eight years together, were expecting their first child. Welcome! Last month Romee announced she'd given birth to her daughter Mint van Leeuwen after trying to get pregnant for two years Covering Vogue Netherlands' Motherhood Issue, the Dutch supermodel spoke candidly about her journey, revealing she hopes her battle will inspire other women struggling to conceive. Romee said that complications from her PCOS, and a strict lifestyle, also meant the Victoria's Secret model didn't have a period for seven years. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. Symptoms include menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity. In lighter news, although the winter storm Monday didnt live up to originally forecast expectations, the storm did drop snow across the Chicago area. Use our map here to see how much it snowed in your area. And, if you want to share photos of your snowy day, or look at what other readers submitted, check out our photo gallery. [January 27, 2021] Blue Canyon Technologies Provides Microsats for NASA Pioneers Missions Leading small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider Blue Canyon Technologies, LLC. ("BCT" or "Blue Canyon") today announced it is providing the microsatellites for NASA's Pioneers Aspera (News - Alert) and Pandora missions - small-scale astrophysics missions. "We are providing high-performance microsats capable of supporting astrophysics missions at a price point never before possible," said George Stafford, CEO of Blue Canyon. "The missions will demonstrate our ability to be a mission-enabler in the areas of exoplanet characterization and the intergalactic medium." BCT will build a Mercury-class microsat to support the Aspera mission from the University of Arizona, which will examine hot gas in the space between galaxies, otherwise known as the intergalactic medium. While the intergalactic medium is a major component of the universe, it remains poorly measured, which Aspera aims to address. BCT also provided a Venus-class Microsat - part of the X-SAT product line to support Pandora (News - Alert) , a mission from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center. This small satellite will study 20 stars and their 39 exoplanets in visible and infrared light, with the mission to disentangle the signals from stars and planetary atmospheres. Understanding how starlight changes can affect measurements of exoplanets is an outstanding problem in the search for habitable planets beyond the solar system. About Blue Canyon Technologies Blue Canyon Technologies, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raytheon (News - Alert) Technologies, offers a diverse portfolio of innovative, reliable and affordable spacecraft that enable a broad range of missions and technological advancements for the new space ecoomy, reducing the barriers of space entry. BCT is currently supporting nearly 50 unique missions with over 90 spacecraft, all in production at their newly developed 80,000-square-foot facility in Lafayette, Colorado. BCT has supported missions for the U.S. Air Force, NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and provided the Attitude Control Systems for the first interplanetary CubeSats, which successfully traveled to Mars. The company has been recognized with awards from Inc. Magazine's 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies, Best in Biz award, ColoradoBiz Made in Colorado Emerging Manufacturer Winner and the 2020 Tibbetts Award. For the latest news on Blue Canyon Technologies and for other company information, please visit www.bluecanyontech.com. You can follow the company on Instagram here or Twitter (News - Alert) here. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005017/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University has received a nearly $700,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide software tools for investors interested in starting aquaculture businesses in Oregon. Researchers from several Oregon State entities - including the College of Agricultural Sciences, Oregon Sea Grant, the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, the Institute for Natural Resources, and OSU Libraries and Press - will work closely with the nonprofit Oregon Aquaculture Association on the three-year grant from NOAA's National Sea Grant Office. "We expect the investment and educational tools we are developing will advance the rate of aquaculture investment in Oregon and along the West Coast and serve as a model for other states," said Gil Sylvia, a marine resource economist at Oregon State and the principal investigator on the grant. Aquaculture is the fastest growing animal protein industry in the world, according to the Food and Agriculture Association of the United Nations. Global commercial fisheries production has plateaued, and aquaculture products are expected to account for more than 70% of seafood consumption by 2050. The United States suffers from a seafood trade deficit and imported aquaculture products represent a major component of the trade imbalance. As a result, the United States' government is targeting aquaculture as a potential growth industry. In Oregon, sales from private aquaculture businesses account for less than $13 million, far less than other western states such as Washington, California and Idaho. Oregon's aquaculture operations have traditionally focused on oysters on the coast and inland hatcheries that produce salmon and trout. "Oregon is blessed with abundant fresh and marine waters, a mild climate, inexpensive and renewable energy, university research capacity, diverse geography, a local-food ethos and existing seafood and food processing," Sylvia said. "These attributes create the foundation and potential for an innovative and diverse aquaculture sector." But to be successful, aquaculture investors, particularly small- to mid-sized firms, need to understand species options, production methods, land and water resources, markets, and other conditions unique to Oregon. "Aquaculture is a challenging and diverse industry, in many ways as challenging and diverse as traditional agriculture," Sylvia said. "The software we developed helps to untangle those challenges." Called the Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform, the software is a customized version of the Oregon Explorer, a natural resources digital library previously developed by OSU Libraries and Press and the Institute for Natural Resources. The Oregon Aquaculture Explorer Platform provides more than 100 layers of data, including everything from water quality to energy costs to seasonal temperature variations. Investors and other stakeholders can use the platform to produce a specific report on aquaculture potential for any particular site in the state. The research team started developing the software in 2018 after receiving a $450,000 grant from Business Oregon, a state agency that promotes investment in areas considered to have high potential for growth. The Business Oregon grant also funded the creation of investment models for three aquaculture business scenarios: tilapia in recirculating tank systems; sturgeon in recirculating tanks; and hybrid striped bass in ponds - three of the most frequently raised among more than 600 aquaculture crop options. "These are intended to help potential investors kick start their thinking on the viability of an operation in a particular location," Sylvia said. The new funding from NOAA will allow the team to create additional investment models that include species that live in oceans or estuaries. They haven't decided on which species to focus on, Sylvia said, but possibilities include: shellfish, such as mussels, abalone, sea urchin and scallops; seaweed, such as dulse; and other freshwater finfish, such as walleye, yellow perch and trout. The funding will also support new partnerships with state agencies and aquaculture industry associations in California and Washington; development of financial training in aquaculture classes at Oregon State; and outreach, including workshops and conferences targeting aquaculture investors. ### GroGuru InSites delivers a simple, intuitive user interface to farmers and agronomic consultants that they can access on their computer, tablet or mobile device. GroGuru, an innovator in precision agriculture and site-specific soil monitoring, announced today that it has launched GroGuru InSites, its hardware and telemetry independent Software as a Service (SaaS) for strategic irrigation management. GroGuru InSites uses machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and a variety of moisture sensors to bring farmers and agronomic consultants a simple yet powerful irrigation decision support platform. GroGuru InSites supports a variety of soil moisture sensors and telemetry systems which ultimately helps farmers more efficiently manage irrigation while saving energy, and optimally using labor to make more money by maximizing crop yield. Key inputs used by GroGuru InSites include, but are not limited to, soil moisture, stage of crop growth, weather forecast, and predicted crop water use to bring together a full irrigation scheduling suite. "GroGuru InSites delivers a simple, intuitive user interface to farmers and agronomic consultants that they can access on their computer, tablet or mobile device, said Patrick Henry, President and CEO at GroGuru. When coupled with the GroGuru WUGS [Wireless Underground System] solution, GroGuru InSites provides predictive, actionable, year-round strategic irrigation management decisions to maximize crop yield and quality, even in annual field crops, while optimizing input costs. In all instances, the power of the GroGuru InSites platform puts tremendous power at a farmers fingertips. GroGuru is building an ecosystem of partners to support crop modeling, weather forecasts, and a variety of sensor solutions. Ecosystem partners will provide agronomic inputs that will enable farmers and agronomic consultants to make the most educated decisions about irrigation management. Farmers and agronomic consultants agree about the value of GroGuru InSites: "GroGuru InSites make moisture management fast, easy, and reliable," said Grant Norwood, owner and operator of Norwood Farms. "The GroGuru InSites App allows me to see in real time field moisture and instantly advises me on actions needed. GroGuru InSites is as easy to understand as a traffic light using Green, Yellow, and Red to indicate available water to the crop. Water management decisions are quick and easy without the guess work using the GroGuru InSite app." As an agronomic consultant, GroGuru InSites allows me to manage several farms remotely and gives me a very simple and scalable way to manage the recommendations to my farmer clients, said Nich Kenny, P.E., Agricultural Engineer at NPK Ag. When coupled with permanently installed soil moisture probes, like the GroGuru WUGS system, I can manage soil moisture information to support pre-water, pre-plant, and early crop decisions, manage all the way through harvest, and compare season-to-season water use within the field. Over the course of the last two seasons, the savings in installation costs make the permanent probe less expensive as well. Permanent probes are the preferred tool for soil moisture management, especially in broad acre row crops. "We see true value in GroGuru InSites because it offers us the ability to integrate multiple data sources like soil moisture, rainfall, and pivot data on one platform to make grower-centric irrigation decisions in real time while offering predictions into the future. It is simple, intuitive, and designed to meet grower's needs," said Eric Burton, agronomist at Better Harvest, a business unit of Deveron UAS. GroGurus focus is on site specific crop management, and the GroGuru InSites solution will address the high-volume annual field crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, potatoes, and cotton along with specialty crops including fruit and nut trees, vineyards, and vegetables. GroGuru InSites is compatible with all types of irrigation systems including drip, sprinkler and center-pivot irrigation systems. GroGuru InSites can also be easily integrated into a complete farm management platform software solutions via API (Application Programming Interface). ### About GroGuru GroGuru, Inc. is a privately held company based in San Diego, CA, which supplies precision soil and irrigation monitoring and management systems to the commercial agriculture industry. GroGuru is all about strategic irrigation management, helping farmers make more money by increasing crop yield and more efficiently using water in a sustainable way. GroGuru has a patented wireless underground system (WUGS) for soil monitoring, an AI-based recommendation engine in the Cloud, and an intuitive farmer-friendly user interface that farmers can access on their tablet, computer or mobile device. GroGuru sells an innovative hardware-enabled subscription-based solution to farmers that enables optimal irrigation, as well as a software as a service (SaaS) product marketed as GroGuru InSites. GroGurus patented WUGS technology enables a permanent installation of soil sensors, even in annual field crops. GroGuru has been a part of the OCTANE LaunchPad, EvoNexus, AgLaunch, the Yield Lab, SVG-Thrive and Plug & Play AgTech accelerator programs. ROME, JAN 27 - Italy's exports to non-EU countries fell by 9.9% in 2020 compared with the previous year, the biggest drop since 2009, ISTAT said on Wednesday. The national statistics agency said imports from non-EU counties plunged even more, by 15.3%. Farmers' association Coldiretti said the big fall in exports was linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, US tariffs and Brexit-linked tension affecting trade. (ANSA). Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra believes that businesses can derive biggest growth opportunities from serving people at the bottom of the pyramid and companies need to stop seeing environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics as a "trade-off". While speaking at a panel discussion on 'Implementing Stakeholder Capitalism' at the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda Summit, the Mumbai-based business magnate said it is in everyone's interest to grow businesses in a sustainable manner. Mahindra said, "As a businessman, it benefits to create a business that promotes the economic prospects of as many people as possible. Businesses need to find a purpose that is transcending." He added, "The biggest growth opportunity for companies comes from serving the bottom of the pyramid. We need to stop seeing ESG as a trade-off-- it's not a box-ticking exercise. It is how we serve the needs of a rising population." In the same discussion, WEF founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab said he believes 2021 will be a historic year in changing business philosophy. Schwab said businesses will increasingly recognise the need for stakeholder capitalism in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He added although just the first step, the crisis will move stakeholder capitalism on from just being a concept to actually walking the talk. The WEF's International Business Council (IBC) has proposed a set of universally applicable ESG metrics known as Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics (SCM). Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics (SCM) is a set of environmental, social and governance metrics and disclosures released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and its International Business Council (IBC). The Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, which are considered as most critical for business, society and the planet, have been derived from existing voluntary standards that offer a set of 21 universal and comparable disclosures focused on people, planet, prosperity and principles of governance. The SCM not only measures the long-term enterprise value creation for stakeholders involved but also bolsters the ability of companies and investors to gauge progress on matters of sustainability. Companies like Mahindra, Sony, Nestle, Unilever and Dow have committed to the SCM metrics. With PTI inputs; by Mehak Agarwal Also read: Anand Mahindra to gift Thar SUVs to six debutants after India's historic win in Australia Also read: RIL, Mahindra join global giants in committing to stakeholder capitalism metrics Wreaths Across America honors The Four Chaplains On Wednesday, Feb. 3, Wreaths Across America will honor the American heroes known as The Four Chaplains, with a Facebook live event at noon EST, from the Balsam Valley Chapel and tip lands located in Downeast, Maine. On Jan. 23, 1943, the U.S.A.T. Dorchester left New York harbor for Greenland carrying over 900 officers, servicemen and civilian workers. The ship was in the Labrador Sea when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat on Feb. 3, 1943. The ship sank and 675 people on board lost their lives. Four chaplains guided soldiers trapped below deck to escape hatches and gave away their life jackets, saving 230 lives in the process, before going down with the ship. In this ceremony, participants will hear messages and stories about Lt. George L. Fox (Methodist) from Pennsylvania, Lt. Alexander D. Goode (Jewish) from New York, Lt. Clark V. Poling (Dutch Reformed) from Ohio, and Lt. John P. Washington (Roman Catholic) from Kearny. To connect to the live ceremony, go to facebook.com/events/170854841480684. Free COVID tests Mountaintop Church of God in Christ is offering free COVID-19 testing to the public on Saturday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Feb. 20, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tests are free to the public, symptoms or no symptoms, and no insurance needed. Saliva testing is organized by the Hudson County Board of Health and will be administered by Medical Professionals. Do not eat or drink anything 30 minutes before the test. Mountaintop Church of God in Christ is located at 7 Pollock Ave., Jersey City. The church can be reached by phone at 201-520-1177. Blood donations urged amid pandemic The Red Cross is urging healthy individuals to make an appointment to give blood or platelets this month. In Hudson County, blood drives are taking place at the Bayonne Masonic Lodge, 888 Ave. C, Bayonne, from 3 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 9; and the Hoboken Multi Service Center, 124 Grand St., Hoboken, from 11 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 12. As a thank-you for helping ensure a stable blood supply, those who come to give in February will receive a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card via email, courtesy of Amazon. Make your appointment to give blood, platelets or plasma with the Red Cross by downloading the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device. Also, the Hoboken Community Blood Drive will take place at the Hoboken Multi Service Center on Friday, Feb. 5, from noon to 6 p.m. You can make an appointment at donor.cbsblood.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/53716. New childrens club from Chabad of Bayonne Chabad of Bayonne has introduced a new initiative for kids as they look for ways to make Judaism and Jewish practice meaningful and engaging. Ckids, the Chabad Childrens Club, is designed to engage and entertain children of diverse ages, backgrounds and needs while giving them a sense of belonging. The program includes lessons, songs and games and participation in the synagogue service will be included. The first CKids event will take place on Sunday, Jan. 31: The Tu BShvat Gummy Shoppe, a holiday club that celebrates fruit. Children will use fruit juices with vitamins to infuse homemade gummies, then decorate a family diary with custom art as they train to become Doodle Masters. The $10 gummy kit includes all the supplies needed: silicone gummy mold, gelatin, liquid dropper, honey, fruit juiced, gusset bag, family doodle art diary and a graphite pencil. The program runs from 3 to 4 p.m. You can RSVP here. BISHKEK -- In the space of a single month, three Kyrgyz women from different walks of life killed themselves in the northeastern Issyk-Kul region in separate cases linked to domestic violence. Among them was Aruuzat, a 33-year-old schoolteacher from the city of Karakol who died in the hospital on December 29 after consuming a fatal dose of vinegar. In a WhatsApp message sent from her deathbed, Aruuzat told her colleagues that she had decided to end her life because her family wanted her to reconcile with her abusive husband despite being beaten by him. Aruuzat, a mother of three, also sent photos of what she said was her bruised body after the latest abuse at the hands of her spouse. They dont get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end." Her colleagues told RFE/RL they had been aware of her situation but that she didnt want them to report her husband to the police. She had told us about the beatings. She said if she ran away, her husband would find her using the phone geolocation and torture her even more, Aruuzats colleague and friend, Nazira, told RFE/RL. She was terrified of her husband. It was only after Aruuzats death that her colleagues reported to police about the domestic abuse she had suffered. Despite that, Aruuzats mother, siblings, and other relatives still remain silent on the subject. Its a long-standing tradition for abuse to be quietly accepted in Kyrgyzstan -- a country where divorce is shunned and women are encouraged to keep their marriages intact at almost any cost. Impunity often remains a norm for domestic violence in the Central Asian country, where some women -- like Aruuzat -- end up paying the ultimate price. But the Kyrgyz parliament is finally taking a decisive step to prevent families from putting pressure on the victims of domestic violence and to reconcile with their abusive spouses. In an unprecedented move, the parliament passed a bill that bans such reconciliation if one of the parties in the marriage subjects his or her spouse to physical or mental abuse. The bill also calls for harsher punishments for domestic violence. Initiated by lawmaker Iskhaq Pirmatov, the amendments to the law on domestic violence were approved by parliament on the second reading on January 20. Domestic violence has always been a hot topic in Kyrgyzstan, where police record thousands of cases every year. Thousands of other incidents of abuse go unreported. In 2020, Kyrgyz police recorded 9,025 cases of domestic violence, a 65 percent rise compared to previous years. But only about 940 of the cases were sent to courts, authorities say. In all other cases, the victims -- the majority of them women -- withdrew their complaints, telling police they had changed their minds. 'Crime Shouldn't Go Unpunished' There are many cases in which the victim opts for reconciliation under the pressure of the family. As a result, the case doesnt go to court, while the victim still remains unprotected, lawmaker Natalia Nikitenko said during the parliamentary debate. Now, the bill introduces new standards that prohibit the reconciliation of the parties if it puts one of the parties in harms way, or in cases in which one of the parties has already been subjected to violence, Nikitenko said. Current law states that if the victim withdraws a complaint, the police can drop the case. Under the new bill, however, police are required to launch a probe into suspected domestic violence even if the alleged victim takes back his or her initial complaint. According to Nikitenko, It will no longer be possible to hide [the crime] in the name of reconciliation. Some lawmakers spoke against the bill, arguing that marriage is a complex and delicate issue and that the best option for all sides is to save the union. Anything can happen in a family, said lawmaker Kamchybek Zholdoshbaev, who advocated reconciliation at all costs. Maybe we need to look for other solutions? For example, the [couple's] elders should be consulted, or a representative of the local councils should get involved. But parliamentarian Pirmatov insisted the victims cannot be protected if the perpetrators know they can get away with a crime under the pretext of reconciliation. Criminal behavior will continue if there is no punishment, Pirmatov said. The bill must pass a third reading and be signed by President Sadyr Japarov for the bill to become law. Helping The Victims Isn't Always Easy Just days after Aruuzats death in Karakol, another womans life was cut short by domestic violence in the nearby Tyup district. Issyk-Kul regional police confirmed that 40-year-old housewife Gulmairam Taqtashova was strangled to death by her husband at home in the village of Dolon on January 9. Her husband, Aibek, had been drinking a lot lately, Taqtashovas sister told RFE/RL. When Gulmairam got upset and moved to our parents home, Aibek begged her to come back. They reconciled, but soon after he killed her. Taqtashovas husband subsequently committed suicide, leaving the couples four children without parents. On January 12, another woman in Karakol killed herself amid allegations of domestic abuse. The 29-year-old mother of three worked at a local television station. Police said they were unable to open a criminal probe as there were no witnesses, no reports of a crime, and no complaints. Womens rights advocates in Kyrgyzstan have welcomed the latest legislation, but they say more is needed to protect domestic violence victims. They are urging the government to set up special crisis centers where abuse victims can seek help with counseling and rehabilitation to recover from the abuse and rebuild their lives. Some of the victims are in desperate need of shelter and employment. There are only 17 crisis centers for women in a country of some 6.5 million people. In reality, helping the victims is not always as straightforward as it might seem, said Marina Lichanyu, the coordinator of Karakols Center for Rehabilitation and Support, who has extensive experience working with domestic violence victims. About 80 percent of the women who approached our center for help dont have adequate education," Lichanyu told RFE/RL. "Most of them were married young or ended up in marriage through the bride-kidnapping tradition." Its difficult to find them jobs and create favorable conditions in which they could independently support themselves and raise their children. They dont get any support from their relatives, and they also fear disgrace in society. Therefore, most of them go back to their abusive husbands in the end, she added. There have also been several dozen cases of men reporting abuse and cruel treatment at the hands of their wives. Kyrgyz authorities say they are committed to helping the victims. This week, the government launched a hotline -- free phone line 117 -- for victims of domestic abuse to report a crime and seek help. Co-founder Carl Pei on Wednesday launched a new London-based consumer technology company called "Nothing" that will release its first smart devices in the first half of this year. The announcement came shortly after a $7 million round in seed financing in December that included tech leaders and investors such as Tony Fadell, Casey Neistat, Kevin Lin, Steve Huffman and Josh Buckley. Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED, has also invested in "Nothing" although the amount has not been disclosed yet. "It's been a while since anything interesting happened in tech. It is time for a fresh breeze of change," said Pei, CEO and founder of 'Nothing'. "Nothing's mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future. We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use. When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing," he said in a statement. The company aims to inspire people to believe in the positive potential of technology, and will set the pace starting in 2021. "Consumer tech is a tidal wave of limitless potential. Nothing will be the brand at the forefront and I can't wait for the world to experience its products," said Casey Neistat, YouTuber and an investor in "Nothing". The Swedish tech entrepreneur co-founded in 2013 at the age of 24. After nearly seven years, Pei made the "difficult decision" of leaving the company in October 2020. Shah has invested in multiple sectors through his career and this investment is in his personal capacity. He founded members-only credit card management and bill payments platform CRED in 2018. "Shah is one of the sharpest people I know. I am proud and glad to have him as a friend, advisor and now also an investor," said Pei. --IANS na/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ALBANY Following a surge in COVID-19 cases over the winter holidays, the rates have declined sufficiently to reduce restrictions imposed on certain areas of New York, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Wednesday. That holiday surge is over, Cuomo said. We will then adjust the valve to those facts, Cuomo said, referring to government restrictions imposed to hinder the virus' spread. Extra restrictions imposed on coronavirus clusters in Erie, Onondaga, Chemung, Oneida and several other counties will be lifted. The regulations will remain in place in several yellow zones,'' including New York City as well as the city of Newburgh in Orange County. The yellow zones will continue to face extra school testing requirements, and limits on indoor and outdoor dining, worship services and public gatherings. Cuomo said that by the end of the week, hell offer a plan for reopening financially struggling New York City restaurants. The governor cautioned, however, that with infection rates increasing of the more contagious virus variants could alter the reopening strategy. "The facts may change," Cuomo said. "The variant may be a dominant strain in March. ... If the facts change, our plan has to change." Concerning vaccination of residents, Cuomo welcomed a move by President Joseph R. Biden to increase New Yorks supply of vaccine from 250,000 doses a week to about 290,000. That increase in supply from the federal government will last for at least three weeks, which will add some predictability for state and local governments attempting to schedule vaccination appointments, the governor said. At the current pace that the federal government is supplying the vaccine to New York, Cuomo said, it will take about 21 weeks to vaccinate the more than 7 million people currently eligible for the shots. At nursing homes, Cuomo said all residents in New York have been offered the vaccine, and 72 percent have taken it. Meanwhile, 44 percent of nursing and long-term care facility staff members have been vaccinated and all will be offered the vaccine by Feb. 7, Cuomo said. President Donald Trump announced via Telegram Monday that he will keep championing the American people through the newly launched Office of the Former President based in his West Florida resort. "Today, the 45th President of the United states, Donald J. Trump, formally opened the Office of the Former President," Trump announced in a statement. The statement, which received hearts from more than 71,000 followers and viewed 818,100 times, explained the intention and function of the said office. "The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump's correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to carry on the agenda of the of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing, and public activism," Trump said in the statement. The Gateway Pundit reported that this is Trump's first action since he left Washington D.C. on the day Joseph Biden, Jr. was inaugurated. During his sendoff, Trump promised he'd be "back in some form" during his speech while at Joint Base Andrews. The former president revealed last Friday his future plans to a reporter that "something is coming." Through the newly launched Office of the Former President, Trump assured his supporters that he "will always and forever be a champion of the American People." News Channel 8 said that Trump's announcement came on the same day the Senate received the articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives. The Senate has scheduled the start of the impeachment trial on the now-civilian Trump on Feb. 9 on charges of "inciting insurrection in a speech to supporters" during the Save America Rally even though rioters were already in the U.S. Capitol last Jan. 6. Setting up a new office is customary for former presidents of the United States, especially since they are funded to do so as part of their benefit after holding the highest post in the land, ABC News reported. The benefits, as per ABC News, include "access to classified briefings, Secret Service protection and even the use of a Presidential Townhouse in Washington D.C.", as well as, "several financial benefits." Trump, as with past U.S. presidents, will receive funding for "the costs of leaving office under the Presidential Transition Act" for seven months, "money needed to run and set up a new office," funding for staff for another 30 months through the Former Presidents Act, an "annual basic compensation for staff assistance of $150,000, and a lifetime pension of "$219,000 a year." ABC News said it may be likely for Trump to forego these financial benefits in the same way that he did his salary when he was still the president of the United States, which he donated. ABC News cited a total of $4.75 million was spent on former presidents' expenses by the U.S. General Service Administration in 2018, which included spending for former "presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter" who all had setup offices or foundations after they left the White House. Besides announcing the establishment of his new office, Trump has been using his Telegram account to continue his activities such as giving an endorsement for Sarah Huckabee Sanders as governor for Arkansas and asking supporters to join "popular conservative voices on Telegram." Trump's Telegram account currently has 840,000 followers. Toronto, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cority, the global enterprise EHS software provider that empowers those who transform the way the world works, today announced it has been named a Leader in the 2021 Green Quadrant for EHS Software. This is the fourth consecutive year Cority has been recognized as a Leader in this benchmark report by independent research firm Verdantix. The Green Quadrant EHS Software 2021 provides a detailed fact-based comparison of the 22 most prominent EHS software vendors in the industry. Based on the proprietary Verdantix Green Quadrant methodology, Cority made a significant move up the Leaders quadrant, strengthening its position as a robust, integrated platform encompassing each functional area of EHS. Cority placed among the top two vendor scores for software Application Capabilities and earned the highest overall score for Market Momentum. Cority has established a comprehensive, end-to-end enterprise EHSQ platform, with strong market momentum, said Yaowen Ma, Principal Analyst, Verdantix. Cority is well-suited to buyers seeking an integrated EHSQ platform to support enterprise-wide initiatives. EHS executives looking to strengthen their connected worker ecosystem of solutions can also look to Coritys open-architecture platform and established partnerships. Verdantix recognized the strengths of Coritys integrated, true SaaS platform and powerful mobile applications with high scores in the following areas: Application & Data Centre Security, Master Data Management, Business Intelligence, Configurability, and Mobile Solutions. High scores across all EHS and Quality software domains demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Cority platform. Environmental Verdantix noted Coritys strengths in Environmental Management solutions with robust capabilities for firms seeking to build a solid foundation for environmental compliance information management. Cority achieved among the highest scores for its robust functionality in Air Emissions Compliance Management, GHG Emissions Management, Waste Management, and Chemicals Management. Health Cority earned the highest scores in Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene and among the highest scores in Ergonomics. Safety Cority demonstrated strong leadership in the Safety domain with high scores for Incident Management, Safety Programme Management, and Contractor Safety Management. Quality Verdantix also noted Coritys strength in Quality Management, citing that Coritys Quality solution helps firms conduct product defect and non-conformance reporting, initiate failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), manage production part approval process (PPAP), and assess the cost of poor quality related to individual suppliers or manufacturers. We are honored to be recognized for our industry leadership in EHS and Quality, said Mark Wallace, President, and CEO, Cority. This validation from Verdantix and our industry-leading market momentum, show that our consistent approach to investing in practical innovation that solves real customer challenges, and strong focus on empowering our customers to have better EHS performance, is a winning formula. To reserve your copy of the Green Quadrant: EHS Software 2021, visit: https://go.cority.com/green-quadrant-ehs-software-2021/ About Cority Cority is the global enterprise EHS software provider that empowers those who transform the way the world works. For over 35 years, Cority has been powered by a spirit of innovation, deep domain expertise, and a commitment to integrity that enables our customers to achieve higher levels of operational and sustainable performance. With the most comprehensive, human-centered, and secure SaaS platform, Cority helps people and businesses thrive around the world. The company enjoys the industrys highest levels of client satisfaction and has received many awards for its strong employee culture and outstanding business performance. To learn more, visit www.cority.com (Newser) Former President Trump's impeachment trial begins Feb. 9, but a vote Tuesday in the Senate revealed a mostly partisan split over the validity of having the trial in the first place. It was a win for the Democrats, only in that they, and five Republicans who joined them, quashed an objection by Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who insisted impeaching an ex-president would violate the Constitution. The vote that killed Paul's objection was 55-45, but it's a vote count the Washington Post says signals a "likely acquittal" of Trump, as 67 senators would need to agree to convict him. If a conviction does come to pass, Trump could be banned from future office with a second vote by a simple majority. The five Republican senators who joined their Democratic colleagues in the vote: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, and Pat Toomey. Reaction: Agreed: Mark Meadows, the White House's former chief of staff, aligns with the notion that this vote is a signifier of the bigger picture, per the Hill. "If today's Senate vote is any sign, the Democrats' ridiculous impeachment of former President Trump will failagainby a long shot. Dead on arrival," he tweeted Tuesday. story continues below Constitutionality: That's the issue many Republicans are citing, and some of them met Tuesday before the vote with law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified for the GOP during Trump's first impeachment trial. At the luncheon, per the Wall Street Journal, Turley pushed the idea that it's unconstitutional to try a former president, and that Trump "might be best served by simply not participating in the trial." That's the issue many Republicans are citing, and some of them met Tuesday before the vote with law professor Jonathan Turley, who testified for the GOP during Trump's first impeachment trial. At the luncheon, per the Wall Street Journal, Turley pushed the idea that it's unconstitutional to try a former president, and that Trump "might be best served by simply not participating in the trial." Top Dem pushes back: "The theory that the Senate can't try former officials would amount to a constitutional 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for any president who commits an impeachable offense," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in response, per NPR. "The theory that the Senate can't try former officials would amount to a constitutional 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for any president who commits an impeachable offense," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in response, per NPR. And another: Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who's serving as one of the impeachment managers for the trial, concurs: "If we had a rule that you can't be tried for anything that you did in your last three or four or five weeks in office, that would basically be sending an extremely dangerous signal to future presidents that they could try to incite or execute a coup or an armed insurrection against the government and say, 'La-di-da, it's too late to prosecute me." Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, who's serving as one of the impeachment managers for the trial, concurs: "If we had a rule that you can't be tried for anything that you did in your last three or four or five weeks in office, that would basically be sending an extremely dangerous signal to future presidents that they could try to incite or execute a coup or an armed insurrection against the government and say, 'La-di-da, it's too late to prosecute me." Historical precedence: The New York Times offers an example of when this type of impeachment trial has happened beforein 1876, when William Belknap, the secretary of war under Ulysses Grant, resigned "in tears," but was impeached by the House soon after anyway. The Senate in that case agreed it had the jurisdiction to hear Belknap's case, though it ended up acquitting him. The New York Times offers an example of when this type of impeachment trial has happened beforein 1876, when William Belknap, the secretary of war under Ulysses Grant, resigned "in tears," but was impeached by the House soon after anyway. The Senate in that case agreed it had the jurisdiction to hear Belknap's case, though it ended up acquitting him. A crack in the firmament? An acquittal isn't completely out of reach. GOP Sen. John Thune tells CNN, "I don't think [this vote] binds anybody once the trial starts." Sen. Rob Portman, meanwhile, who recently announced he won't run for reelection, says he just wants a debate on the matter, but is similarly open: "I've not made my mind up. I'm a juror." (Read more Trump impeachment stories.) Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. Skardu, Jan 27 : After his party's victory in the elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's government plans to open a Special Economic Zone in the region to facilitate the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur has confirmed that the government is putting its efforts to set up a special economic zone in Gilgit-Baltistan. "Federal government had acquired land for setting up a special economic zone in Gilgit-Baltistan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project. Efforts are afoot to start development work on the special economic zone," he said. Gandapur has been engaging with Gilgit-Baltistan ministers including wildlife and forests, excise and taxation, tourism, and health ministers and others for "extensive efforts to fulfil a huge mandate, given by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the recent elections." Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had bagged at least 22 out of 33 seats of the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly. "Both federal and Gilgit-Baltistan governments would follow an all-inclusive strategy to achieve sustainable development in the area. More focus would be given to major sectors including education, tourism, health and hydel power," said Gandapur. "It would eventually lay down the foundation of a prosperous Gilgit-Baltistan," he added. Gandapur claimed that the federal government had allocated massive funds for the uplift of Gilgit-Baltistan as it would create "massive job opportunities in the area" and would help provide basic amenities to the people. "Collaborative strategy would transform Gilgit-Baltistan into an economic hub of the country," he said. The move comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced forming Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of Pakistan, a move that has irked India, which claims that no such decision can be taken as Gilgit-Baltistan is part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). However, Pakistan seems adamant to announce Gilgit-Baltistan as its province, a decision it maintains is being taken as per the desires and aspirations of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. President Joe Biden tied his climate initiatives to job growth on Wednesday, touting the economic growth behind his measures to increase conservation as the oil and gas industry complained about lost employment. 'Today is climate day at the White House, which means today is jobs day at the White House,' Biden said in the State Dining Room before he signed his latest round of executive orders. 'It's a future of enormous hope and opportunity.' His plan includes a number of policy changes including ending drilling on federal land, doubling wind energy, and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies - all after he canceled the controversial billion-dollar Keystone XL pipeline. Social justice initiatives also play a large role in his climate proposal, which he called a national security issue. 'When I think of climate change, when I think of the answers to it - I think of jobs,' the president said, promising a 'whole of government' approach to environmental problems. 'Climate change will be the center of our national security and foreign policy.' Biden argued his administration's plan will result in 1 million jobs in the American auto industry and more than a quarter million jobs to clean up after the oil and gas industry as part of his $2 trillion program to slow global warming. President Joe Biden signed a host of initiatives to combat climate change and tied his plans to job and economic growth President Joe Biden signs an executive order on climate change in the State Dining Room of the White House as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and National Climate Adviser Gina McCarthy, right, look on President Biden greets his Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry; Biden created the climate czar position and gave it to the man he calls his 'best buddy' President Biden also vowed not to forget energy workers who have lost jobs in the shift to more renewable, environmental fuel sources. 'We're never going to forget the men and women who dug the coal and built the nation. We're going to do right by them, make sure they have opportunities to keep building the nation and their own communities and getting paid well,' he said. Biden Climate Plan Make climate change a national security priority Pause new oil and natural gas leases on federal lands or offshore waters Double renewable energy production from offshore wind by 2030 Direct government to conserve 30% of all federal land and water by 2030 Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law Establishment of a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative to create jobs Create a National Climate Task Force to assemble a government-wide action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions Establishes a White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council and White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council President Biden will host a Leaders' Climate Summit on Earth Day, April 22 Advertisement The orders kick off Biden's drive to combat climate change, an issue area young Democratic voters and progressive activists pressed him on during the presidential campaign. It was one of the four areas he vowed to tackle at the start of his presidency along with COVID, the economy, and social injustice. In his plan, Biden rejected the Green New Deal branding pushed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among others but his measures are certain to be attacked by Republicans as over-reach and he's been accused of putting jobs at risk. 'We will do everything we can to fight this executive order,' Mike Sommers, the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, told CNN Business. 'We will pursue every action at our disposal to push back, including legal options, if appropriate.' Republicans called the plana job killer. 'Pie-in-the-sky government mandates and directives that restrict our mining, oil, and gas industries adversely impact our energy security and independence,'' GOP Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee ,said. 'At a time when millions are struggling due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last thing Americans need is big government destroying jobs, while costing the economy billions of dollars,'' she said. But Biden's initiatives do parallel some of main points of the Green New Deal, mainly tackling climate change while addressing economic and racial injustice. 'It's almost as if we helped shape the platform,' Ocasio-Cortez quipped on Twitter of Biden's plan. She was part of a task force the merged Biden's middle of the road policies with the wishes of progressives. Among the provisions in the executive orders is a directive to the secretary of the Interior to pause new oil and natural gas leases on federal lands or offshore waters. It also directs the secretary to double renewable energy production from offshore wind by 2030. The orders are meant to fulfill Biden's campaign promise to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and put the United States on an irreversible path to a net-zero economy by 2050. Biden also directed federal agencies to 'eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law,' according to a White House fact sheet. It's unclear though which subsidies will be affected as tax breaks are a matter for Congress. The oil and gas industry already noted their concern about Biden administration 's plans. 'The first few days are giving us an indication of what the next four years could look like, and that's elicited some real concern, within the industry and broadly, outside the industry,' Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute told The Washington Post. 'We're going to communicate how impactful such a policy would be, to both the administration and on Capitol Hill.' Biden's climate plans also strengthen measures to protect poor and minority neighborhoods from pollution. 'With this executive order, environmental justice will be at the center of all we do addressing the disproportionate health and environmental and economic impacts on communities of color, so called fenceline communities, especially those communities, brown, black Native American poor whites,' Biden noted. He pointed out poor air quality is increasing the risk of COVID. 'It's not just a pandemic that keeps people inside is poor air quality. Multiple studies have shown that air pollution is associated with an increased risk of death from COVID-19,' the president said. And the orders direct the government to conserve 30 percent of all federal land and water by 2030; create a National Climate Task Force to assemble a government-wide action plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; establish a White House interagency council on environmental justice; establish a Civilian Climate Corps Initiative 'to put a new generation of Americans to work'; and make climate change a national security priority. 'Our plans are ambitious. But we are America. We're bold and are unwavering in the pursuit of jobs and innovation and science and discovery. We can do this, we must do this and we will do this,' Biden said. White House Climate Czar John Kerry and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy argued Biden's climate plans will result in jobs Among the orders is a directive to the secretary of the Interior to pause new oil and natural gas leases on federal lands or offshore waters Biden is focusing attention on how the poorest communities are often hardest hit by environmental issues from industry, landfill or climate change Ahead of the signing, White House Climate Czar John Kerry and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy previewed the president's argument that the climate plan will result in jobs. 'It is now cheaper to deal with the crisis of climate than destroy it,' Kerry said of why the administration was pushing this now as it combats COVID and tries to improve the economy. He argued there were jobs for workers in the solar and wind energy - positions that could be filled by oil and gas workers who lost their jobs. 'Unfortunately workers have been fed a false narrative, no surprise, for the last four years' about the shift to clean energy, Kerry said. 'They've been fed that somehow dealing with climate is coming at their expense. No, it's not.' He and McCarthy, who joined Wednesday's White House press briefing, repeatedly pushed the job message as they advocated for tougher environmental policies. 'When we say climate change eventually, people are going to think jobs just like President Biden, when he hears the words climate change,' McCarthy said. 'In terms of the job issue, we're explicitly doing this because right now our economy is stagnant,' she noted. Biden already has taken a series of actions to combat climate change - a dramatic reversal from the policies under former President Donald Trump. On his first day as president, he signed the papers for the United States to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord after Trump removed the country from the climate agreement. He also revoked a key cross-border presidential permit needed to finish the controversial Keystone XL pipeline - a move that angered Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and ended the $8 billion pipeline. Biden also created a climate czar position - adding it to the National Security Council - that is held by John Kerry. Biden will also host a Leaders' Climate Summit on Earth Day, April 22, 2021. Some Democrats said Biden should do more, including Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who called on the president to declare a national emergency. 'President Biden should consider the declaration of a national emergency on climate change,' Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday morning. 'It would allow President Biden to tap additional resources,' he pointed out. Biden already enacted a series of climate initiatives - including returning the United States to the Paris Climate Accord and ending construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline President Biden made climate change a national security issue; he talks about his plans in the State Dining Room of the White House as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, left, and Vice President Kamala Harris listen Biden stopped short of endorsing the controversial Green New Deal - a set of progressive ideas that called for trillions of dollars in spending on green initiatives and for the elimination of greenhouse gas pollution by 2015. Instead, he came with his own plan - a more central approach that had some liberals grumbling it wasn't enough while garnering fire from the oil and gas industry, who complained his plan would result in lost jobs and revenue. He brought his climate team in the administration, although he did nominate Rep. Deb Haaland to lead the Interior Department. She was a co-sponsor of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's Green New Deal. Biden's campaign climate plan infuriated the oil industry and became a battle cry in the key swing state of Pennsylvania, where fracking is a major industry. Biden ultimately won the state but Donald Trump repeatedly criticized him on the issue during the campaign in one of his more effective tactics against Biden. Wednesday's plan does not ban fracking but does halt any new leases. Federal land accounts for less than a quarter of total U.S. oil production and much less for natural gas. 'And let me be clear because I know it's always comes up. We're not going to ban fracking. We will protect jobs and grow jobs, including through stronger standards like controls from methane leaks and union workers and willing to install the changes,' Biden said in announcing his climate plans. The top three House Republicans, joined by 17 others, sent a letter to Biden on Tuesday warning him against suspending federal oil and gas auctions. Taking such a step 'would be as extreme as it is radical, and it would only further divide the country. It would put Americans with good-paying jobs in the energy industry out of work. And, it would seem to conflict directly with federal law.' As he prepared to head to Washington to attend President Donald Trumps Jan. 6 Save America rally, Kenneth Grayson made his intentions clear to friends and followers on Facebook. IF TRUMP TELLS US TO STORM THE F N CAPITAL [sic], IMA DO THAT THEN! he wrote, adding later: Im with a group going to fight, not hang out. On Tuesday, FBI agents arrested him at his home in Bridgeville in the Pittsburgh suburbs, three weeks after they say he followed through on that threat. Prosecutors say Grayson, 51, joined the throng of pro-Trump insurrectionists who invaded the Capitol that day, donning a Pittsburgh Pirates hat and a hoodie emblazoned with American flag and QAnon patches. He livestreamed his exploits on Facebook, according to investigators even as friends and family members chimed in with advice in real time. Kenny, get the hell out of there, one viewer wrote, according to court filings in his case. Its a federal offense to be in there. Another cheered him on, writing: Kenny, theyre in the Senate chamber! Can you get in anywhere?? TAKE PHOTOS!!! TAKE DOCUMENTS!! Grayson is just one of the 135 Capitol rioters that the FBI has tracked down through the evidence they left on their social media accounts. And like many of the others who have also been arrested, it was his friends, coworkers, and in some cases family members who alerted the FBI. According to the arrest affidavit filed in Graysons case, at least four people some of them former classmates contacted the FBI after seeing his livestream. They warned that Grayson was an avid devotee of QAnon, the baseless far-right conspiracy theory that holds Trump is in an epic battle against a cabal of Satan-worshipping, child-trafficking celebrities and Democratic Party officials who secretly run the world. They shared messages Grayson had sent from earlier trips to attend Trump rallies in Washington, including a Nov. 16 protest that saw violent clashes between pro-Trump Proud Boys and counterdemonstrators. I was beating commies with a flagpole I picked up, he boasted in one message quoted in court filings. I left one unconscious, so I did my little part. And they flagged a photo Grayson had posted of himself in front of the Washington Monument just hours before the Capitol attack, holding a Gadsden flag with its recognizable image of a coiled snake and the slogan Dont Tread on Me, popular with right-wing groups. But ultimately it was the footage Grayson shot on his phone as he dragged that flag through the Capitol Rotunda and the crypt beneath it that led to his arrest. During his first court appearance in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Grayson told a judge that despite his Facebook posts, he lives a pretty basic humdrum life consisting of work and caring for his 76-year-old father, a retired police officer, and 74-year-old mother. He will remain in federal custody pending a bail hearing set for Thursday. Like the eight other Pennsylvania residents who have been federally charged with crimes connected to the riot, Graysons case will play out in Washington. Read the FBIs affidavit: Florida humanist gives first secular invocation at Brevard County meeting after yearslong legal battle Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Florida county that previously prohibited secular invocations at public meetings had its first non-religious invocation Tuesday following a yearslong court battle. The Brevard County Board of Commissioners meeting held Tuesday morning opened with a secular invocation given by local humanist David Williamson. As we begin the day in service together, we remember the solemn responsibility we have to our shared community, said Williamson in his invocation. Knowing that our words, our decisions, and our actions directly impact so many others, we strive to make compassion the foundation for our important work here today and that we serve with integrity and kindness toward one another and to all those you serve as representatives in local government. Williamson closed his statement by calling on all to incline our ears toward reason, apply our heart to understanding, and seek knowledge we can use to find common ground among the citizens for the betterment of the county. In 2014, David Williamson of the Central Florida Freethought Community asked the Brevard County Commissioners to do a secular invocation at the start of an official meeting. In response to the request, Brevard commissioners unanimously approved a measure prohibiting atheist invocations, but they agreed to allow them during the public comments portion of public meetings. "The prayer is delivered during the ceremonial portion of the county's meeting, and typically invokes guidance for the County Commission from the highest spiritual authority, a higher authority which a substantial body of Brevard constituents believe to exist," wrote Brevard County Chair Mary Bolin Lewis to Williamson in 2014. "The invocation is also meant to lend gravity to the occasion, to reflect values long part of the county's heritage, and to acknowledge the place religion holds in the lives of many private citizens in Brevard County." Williamson and others sued the county over the ban in 2015, being represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and the American Civil Liberties Union. In September 2017, a district court ruled against the county and in July 2019, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit unanimously upheld the decision. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus wrote the panel's opinion, arguing that while the county was allowed to have sectarian invocations at public meetings, they cannot exclude certain groups. Brevard County has selected invocation speakers in a way that favors certain monotheistic religions and categorically excludes from consideration other religions solely based on their belief systems. Brevard Countys process of selecting invocation speakers thus runs afoul of the Establishment Clause, wrote Judge Marcus. Secular humanists are far from the only group viewed with disfavor some of the Commissioners and former Commissioners have testified unambiguously that they would not allow deists, Wiccans, Rastafarians, or, for that matter, polytheists to deliver prayers, and that they would have to think long and hard before inviting a Hindu, a Sikh, or a follower of a Native American religion. In February 2020, the county agreed to a settlement allowing secular invocations and paying $430,000 in court costs and legal fees, as well as $60,000 in damages to the plaintiffs. Alex J. Luchenitser, associate legal director for Americans United who helped represent the plaintiffs, expressed support for the settlement in a statement released at the time. This settlement protects the religious freedom of everyone in Brevard County. No one should be excluded from participating in local government because of their beliefs about religion, said Luchenitser. The worlds two richest men are duking it out before US regulators over celestial real estate for their fleets. Elon Musks has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to operate Starlink communications satellites at a lower orbit than first planned. Elon Musk Jeff Bezoss com Inc. says the move would risk interference and collisions with its planned Kuiper satellites, which like Starlink are designed to beam internet service from space. A dispute that would normally be confined to regulatory filings is spilling into public view, in a spat that showcases the large personalities involved as billionaires chase dreams in the sky. It is SpaceXs proposed changes that would hamstring competition among systems, tweeted Tuesday from its official news account. It is clearly in SpaceXs interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the publics interest. The statement followed a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an system that is at best several years away from operation, Musk said in a tweeted reply to coverage by CNBC journalist Michael Sheetz. Musks Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and is signing up early customers in the US, UK and Canada. Amazon last year won FCC permission for a fleet of 3,236 satellites and has yet to launch any. Amazon earlier urged the FCC to reject SpaceXs request for lower orbits. It said the change would put satellites in the midst of the Kuiper System orbits, according to filings at the agency. pushed back in calls to the FCC, saying its plans wouldnt increase interference for what it termed Amazons still nascent plans. A lower orbit allows quicker internet service because the signal doesnt travel as far. SpaceX told the FCC that having the satellites closer to Earth lessens the risk of space debris because they would fall out of orbit more quickly than higher spacecraft. SpaceX eventually plans to operate some 12,000 satellites and has won FCC authorisation for about 4,400 birds, including 1,584 at 550 kilometers -- where its satellites currently orbit. The company is seeking permission to stage another 2,824 satellites at the same approximate altitude, rather than twice as high as originally proposed. Christian Abraham / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT A West Haven man in custody since last March while awaiting trial on child pornography charges has died with COVID-19, his lawyer confirmed Tuesday. Harold Alling, 53, charged with two counts of possession of child pornography in the third degree, was being held in lieu of bond. One of Le Dinh Kinhs sons is suffering from a medical condition while on death row. A man believed to be a plainclothes officer monitors an event to honor slain activist Le Dinh Kinh at his tomb outside of Hanoi, Jan. 27, 2021. Supporters on Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Vietnamese activist Le Dinh Kinh, who was shot and killed by authorities during a deadly land-rights clash, as plainclothes police loitered about keeping close tabs on the gathering, according to the slain activists family member. Dong Tam village elder Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was killed during the early-morning Jan. 9 raid on the village by 3,000 security officers intervening in a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of the capital, Hanoi. Les granddaughter-in-law, Nguyen Thi Duyen, told RFAs Vietnamese Service plainclothes officers hung back, taking photos of the nearly three-quarters of Dong Tam villagers who came to burn incense and pay their respects to the deceased land campaigner. Tens of plainclothes police kept a close watch and took photos of those who came to our home, she said. They didnt threaten anyonethey were only keeping watch at the village gate, in front of my house, and at Le Dinh Kinhs tomb from yesterday until today. When we went to our grandfathers tomb to burn incense, they also followed us to take photos, she added. Les sons, Le Dinh Chuc and Le Dinh Cong, were both sentenced to death Sept. 14 for murder in connection with the deaths of three police officers who were killed in last years clash when they were attacked with petrol bombs and fell into a concrete shaft while running between two houses. They were among a group of 29 villagers tried for their roles in the incident. Other punishments handed out by the court included a life sentence and other sentences ranging from six years to 15-months probation. Defendants in Vietnam's Dong Tam trial stand to hear their sentences in a court in Hanoi, Sept. 14, 2020. State media Medical condition in jail On Wednesday, Duyen told RFA that defense attorney Le Van Hoa visited her father-in-law Le Dinh Cong in prison three days ago and said that he was suffering from atopic dermatitis, or eczema, and had developed a fungal infection on his scalp and abdomen but had yet to receive effective treatment from prison officials. Le Van Hoa said the death row inmate had requested medicine from his family members. Despite his medical condition, Duyen said that her father-in-law is in good spirits and had told Hoa he plans to fight until the end. Five of the groups membersthe brothers, Le Dinh Doanh, Bui Viet Hieu and Nguyen Quoc Tienhave appealed the ruling, saying the sentences were too harsh for first time offenders. Court officials have yet to set a date for the review of their cases or provide any updates to their legal team and family members. Four others who had raised their concern online and with foreign governments were arrested. Among them were Can Thi Theu and her two sons Trinh Ba Tu and Trinh Ba Phuong, three publishers of a citizen journalist report on the Dong Tam clash that came out a month after the incident and contradicted the official view. While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to farming families displaced by development. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Through a YouTube channel, he shares his insights and tries to spread awareness on the proper usage of rainwater and provides tips for rainwater harvesting Governments and the non-government organisations are pooling in their resources to battle the water crisis, which poses a major threat to future generations. There is a large percentage of population that still does not have drinking water facility in their premises and this is not just limited to the rural areas. One of the countrys top tier cities, Bengaluru, despite possessing advanced infrastructure, roads and a top tech hub, struggles with the acute shortage of water, especially during the summer season. A report by Niti Aayog had underlined the severity of the matter saying the city will soon run out of water. At a time as worrying as this, Vishwanath Srikantaiah, a water activist who runs a Bengaluru-based NGO named Rainwater Club, is working tirelessly to conserve the water resources. Srikantaiah, who gets massive support from the local communities and well-diggers, has been successful in reviving 10,000 wells and aims to recharge 1 million wells in future. Popularly known as ZenRainMan, Srikantaiah possesses the credentials of a Civil Engineer and an urban planner, who worked for Housing and Urban Development Corporation for about 14 years before dedicating to the cause of water conservation. Besides recharging wells, Srikantaiah has also designed rooftop rainwater harvesting structures for several households and factories across Karnataka. He has started a YouTube channel, ZenRainMan, through which he shares his insights and tries to spread awareness on the proper usage of rainwater and provides tips for rainwater harvesting. He has divided the videos into separate playlists that tell about Harvesting Rain Water, Groundwater and Sustainable Sanitation techniques. The activist has also posted discussions, seminars and demonstrations he has participated in to spread awareness on the issue. Like the Rainwater Club, there are many other organisations and entities working on the issue of water conservation. One such initiative is the Mission Paani undertaken by News18 in association with Harpic. Mission Paani was launched on a nationwide scale in which several lawmakers, celebrities, activists and other prominent personalities have joined hands to do their bit for the cause. It is working towards saving water and sustaining water resources for the generations to come. The aim of the campaign is to bring about a behavioural change in the society in order to improve water use efficiency. The goal of Mission Paani is that every Indian will have clean water and sanitation, when every Indian pledges to conserve water and promote hygiene. You can contribute to the cause by taking a Jal Pratigya. Visit www.news18.com/mission-paani Watch the Waterthon LIVE here. An animal rights group has voiced concerns about a proposal to reintroduce dingoes into the Grampians, warning the native predators would be at risk of being poisoned or shot if found on private property. A 15-year draft plan created by Parks Victoria and three groups of traditional owners to guide the management of the Grampians was released in November and contained a proposal to restore locally extinct and culturally significant wildlife such as the dingo and the quoll. The proposal to reintroduce dingoes into the Grampians National Park has been fiercely opposed by local farmers. Credit:Neil Newitt It outlined a proposal to investigate, with farmers and academic institutions, whether the reintroduction of the native predator could restore missing ecological processes and control pest species as well as overabundant populations of kangaroos and wallabies. Dingoes are an important species to the local Indigenous groups who refer to the area as Gariwerd and have for thousands of years had a symbiotic relationship as semi-wild companions to Aboriginal people, the draft plan says. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. STATEN ISLAND. N.Y. Peter J. Cea , Sr., of Emerson Hill passed away peacefully on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. He was 83. Born Jan. 2, 1938 in the Bronx, he was the son of the late Jack and Grace Cea. He was the devoted and loving husband of Dr. Christine Cea (nee Capobianco), who represents Staten Island on the NYS Board of Regents. We were married for 57 wonderful years, said Dr. Cea. Mr. Cea proudly served his country in the United States Army and was honorably discharged in October of 1966. His wife described him as a strong and quiet man who loved his family, travels to Europe, and took pride in taking care of his home and family. Mr. Cea was a devoted and loving father to his children, Peter Jr. and Stephanie, who has special needs. In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Peter is survived by Peter Jr.s wife, Monica, and his brother Maurice Cea. He was predeceased by his sister Julia. He was a kind and quiet man who lived for his family a wonderful father and a devoted husband who took pride in supporting me in work and my accomplishments, said Dr. Cea of her husband. He lived and provided well for all of us and took pleasure in his home and family. We shall miss him greatly. In this 2008 photo, Dr. Christine Cea, at left, with former President George Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush, and her husband, Peter Cea, who was presented with the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, aboard the Intrepid Museum. (Family photo) PRESIDENTS VOLUNTEER SERVICE AWARD In 2008, President George W. Bush presented the Presidents Volunteer Service Award to Peter Cea during his visit aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in Manhattan. Cea was a volunteer with the museum. To thank volunteers for making a difference in the lives of others, President Bush honored a deserving individual when he travelled throughout the United States. Cea was one of the honorees. For two years, the former USS Intrepid underwent extensive renovations while berthed in Staten Island. During that time, Cea volunteered with the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museums Aircraft Restoration Department in preparation for the museums re-opening and return to New York City on Nov. 8, 2008. He assisted with repairing and painting aircraft and auxiliary equipment on public display at the museum. Cea logged more than 700 volunteer hours and directly contributed to the refurbishment of nine different aircraft. In addition, Cea served as a board member for the Friends of the College of Staten Island where he was instrumental in raising funds for student scholarships. Cea was also a volunteer with the Staten Island Special Olympics. The Cea family, left to right: Peter Jr, Monica, Dr. Cea, Stephanie, and Mr. Peter Cea. (Family photo) FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, at John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals, Inc., 28 Eltingville Blvd, Staten Island, New York. Arrangements include private cremation. Memorial contributions in memory of Peter may be sent to 3450 Community Resources Victory Blvd, an agency serving people with disabilities, Staten Island NY 10314, c/o Barbara Devaney. Please be mindful due to the current state mandate that a mask must be worn at all times in the funeral home and social distancing requirements must be followed during the services. Due to the current pandemic a strict 30 person in room policy is in effect. Please adhere to this policy and allow others to pay their respects as well. An Indian Army soldier was martyred and three others injured on Wednesday in a terrorist attack in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first terrorist attack of 2021 in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement, the Indian Army said that one of them is critically injured in the attack that took place in Shamshipura area of Khanabal in the district. All the injured soldiers have been admitted to Srinagar's 92 Base Hospital for treatment. "Terrorists lobbed a grenade on Army's Road Opening Party (ROP) during the sanitisation drill at 1015 hours today in general area Shamshipura, Khanabal, Kulgam. Four soldiers sustained splinter injuries. Provided first aid and have been evacuated to 92 Base Hospital. Details follow," read the statement. At first, four soldiers were injured and later police official confirmed that one among the four injured soldiers succumbed to his injuries. "Yes, its very sad one soldier have succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital. The area is under cordon and we are conducting searches jointly in the area," said the police official. "It seems it was an IED planted in the abandoned school building adjacent to Jammu and Kashmir national highway. When the party searched the abandoned building IED blast happened and it seems that it was triggered in Subhanpora locality of Shamsipora on Srinagar-Jammu highway in Kulgam district. However there is no official confirmation of IED blast yet," police sources told Zee News. The school building has also been damaged due to the blast. Soon after the attack, a massive search operation was launched to trace the attackers. Its the first such type of attack by terrorists in 2021. KALISPELl, Mont., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ClassOne Technology, global supplier of high-performance semiconductor electroplating and surface preparation systems, announced the sale of its Solstice S8 system to South Korean chip manufacturer, Point Engineering Co. The eight-chambered Solstice plating tool will be installed at Point Engineering's manufacturing facility in Asan City, South Korea. The announcement was made by ClassOne's CEO, Byron Exarcos, and PEC's CEO, Bum-Mo Ahn. ClassOne Solstice S8 Semiconductor Electroplating System "Our products call for unique manufacturing approaches," said Bum-Mo. "In addition to copper, we require plating of palladium cobalt alloy into highly variant features; and this plating is done on a proprietary substrate. We needed a volume-manufacturing platform that has the necessary flexibility without sacrificing reliability. The Solstice S8 covers these needs very well, and it also has a compact footprint to conserve fab space." Exarcos pointed out that Point Engineering's new Solstice configuration includes a CopperMax processing chamber, a ClassOne-proprietary feature specifically designed to optimize copper plating. The chamber enables consistent high-quality, high-rate copper plating, while maximizing uptime and dramatically reducing bottom-line operating costs. "Point Engineering has gained considerable respect in the industry for its semiconductor parts, which frequently go into probe pins and micro power inductors," said Exarcos. "In today's semiconductor industry, we're seeing that new product categories often drive the need for novel approaches in manufacturing. Point Engineering's groundbreaking new products demand a process-experienced equipment provider and a flexible platform. We're gratified that Point Engineering has chosen ClassOne and Solstice to partner with them on their next-generation products." The Solstice S8 is an 8-chambered system designed and built by ClassOne for high-performance, fully-automated electroplating and surface preparation, specifically for 200mm semiconductor wafer processing. The Solstice series also includes the S4, which provides up to four processing chambers, and the LT, with up to three chambers. In addition to electroplating, Solstice systems also provide Plating-Plus surface preparation capabilities, including wafer cleaning, high-pressure metal lift-off, resist strip, UBM etch and more. This multi-processing flexibility allows users to streamline wafer production and increase cost efficiencies by reducing the number of different processing tools required in the fab. About ClassOne Technology ClassOne Technology ( classone.com ) headquartered in Kalispell, Montana, designs and delivers high-performance electroplating and surface processing tools specifically for users of 200mm semiconductor wafers. In addition to its Solstice S8, S4 and LT electroplating and surface preparation systems, the company also provides complementary wet processing equipment, including spin rinse dryers (SRDs), spray solvent tools (SSTs) and more. ClassOne is known for providing new, highly cost-efficient processing tools to compound semiconductor manufacturers and other emerging markets who use 200mm and smaller wafers. In the past, these users have been underserved by the larger equipment makers. ClassOne Technology systems are designed and built by engineers with deep experience in the semiconductor industry. ClassOne Technology is a sister company to ClassOne Equipment, the industry's premier provider of refurbished name-brand processing tools, with over 2,500 systems installed worldwide. About Point Engineering info Point Engineering Co., Ltd., (http://www.pointeng.co.kr/eng/) with headquarters in Asan, South Korea, manufactures and distributes electronics components globally. The Company produces liquid crystal display parts, semiconductor parts, power device parts, and other related products. Point Engineering is also expanding its business to include UV LED packages, guide plates, molds for MEMS pins, Micro LED transfer, and AAO materials. The company's advanced technologies have secured multiple important patents and increased its edge in the global market. In 2018, Point Engineering received the Industrial Technology Award from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy. For more information, contact: Byron Exarcos ClassOne Technology 109 Cooperative Way Kalispell, MT 59901 +1 (406) 407-7814 [email protected] Solstice and CopperMax are trademarks of ClassOne Technology. SOURCE ClassOne Technology Female soldiers can let their hair down, and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. But male soldiers will still have to shave. Army leaders announced on Tuesday that they are loosening restrictions on various grooming and hairstyle rules, as service leaders try to address longstanding complaints, particularly from women. The changes, which also expand allowances for earrings and hair highlights and dyes, are particularly responsive to women of various ethnicities, and will allow greater flexibility for braids, twists, cornrows and other styles more natural for their hair. The new regulations take effect in late February and come after months of study, in the wake of a directive by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who ordered a new review of military hairstyle and grooming policies last July. The Pentagon has announced that female soldiers will be able to color their nails, don earrings and grow their hair long -- as opposed to in the past, when women with longer hair had to tie it in buns, which many said was uncomfortable The review was part of a broader order to expand diversity within the military and reduce what had been called prejudice in the wake of widespread protests about racial inequality last summer. 'These aren't about male and female,' said Sgt. Maj. Michael Grinston, the Army's top enlisted leader during a Facebook Live presentation on Tuesday about the latest changes. 'This is about an Army standard and how we move forward with the Army, and being a more diverse, inclusive team.' The Army announcement has been long-planned, but it came just days after the Pentagon's first Black defense secretary - Lloyd Austin - took over. Joe Biden appointee Austin has vowed to try to root out racism and extremism in the ranks and foster what he says is more inclusion. Esper and many of the service leaders have also been taking steps to make the military more diverse, particularly in the higher ranks. Biden on Monday in another example of the push for a more open armed forces reversed Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military when he signed an executive order to that effect. Biden signed the order as met with Austin in the Oval Office at the White House ahead of Austin's ceremonial swearing-in. But not all Republicans were on board with the new policy on transgender people serving. Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas, a member of the GOP leadership, questioned Biden's commitment to unity with the order. Starting in February female soldiers will be permitted to style their hair in up to two braids or a single, narrow ponytail. In addition, womens bangs may now touch their eyebrows, but not cover their eyes The Army released a whole host of guidelines detailing what is now acceptable Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Army Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders told reporters that the panel recommending the new grooming changes considered a variety of factors, including cultural, health and safety issues. He said the tight hair buns previously required by the Army can trigger hair loss and other scalp problems for some women. And larger buns needed to accommodate thick or longer hair, can make a combat helmet fit badly and potentially impair good vision. Esper last summer ordered that service members photos no longer be provided to promotion boards. Officials said studies showed that when photos are not included 'the outcomes for minorities and women improved.' At the same time, he said that changes, like allowing women in combat uniforms to wear earrings such as small gold, silver and diamond studs, let them 'feel like a woman inside and outside of uniform.' Changes were made after bosses received feedback from women enlistees who said the tight hair buns often resulted in migraine headaches, hair loss, and breakage He added, 'At the end of the day, our women are mothers, they're spouses, they're sisters, they definitely want to be able to maintain their identity and thats what we want to get after.' In many cases - such as the earrings - the changes simply let female soldiers wear jewelry or hairstyles that are already allowed in more formal, dress uniforms, but were not allowed in their daily combat uniforms. Army leaders said women will now be able to wear their hair in a long ponytail or braid and tuck it under their shirt. Sanders said that allowing that gives female soldiers, particularly pilots or troops at a firing range, greater ability to turn their head quickly, without the restraints that the buns created. The new regulations also allow the exact opposite. Female soldiers going through Ranger or special operations training get their heads shaved, like male soldiers do. But when they leave training, their hair is too short, based on the Army's previous minimum length requirements. Now there will be no minimum length rules. Female soldiers can let their hair down and flash a little nail color under new rules being approved by the Army. But male soldiers will still have to shave For men, however, the perennial request to allow beards is still a no-go. Grinston's answer to the question from the online audience was short and direct: 'No.' He noted that the Army already makes exceptions for medical and religious reasons. Also, male soldiers still can't wear earrings. The new lipstick and nail polish rules, however, allow men to wear clear polish, and allow colors for women, but prohibit 'extreme' shades, such as purple, blue, black and 'fire engine' red. Men will also be able to dye their hair, but the colors for both genders are limited to 'natural' shades. Prohibited colors include blue, purple, pink, green, orange or neon. In another sign of the times, the new rules state that soldiers will now automatically receive black and coyote-colored face masks. They are also permitted to wear camouflage colored masks, but have to buy those themselves. The Army also is taking steps to change wording in the regulations to remove racist or insensitive descriptions. References to 'Fu Manchu' mustache and 'Mohawk' hairstyle have been removed, and replaced with more detailed descriptions of the still-banned styles. The patter of paws is being heard in the White House again following the arrival of US President Joe Bidens dogs Champ and Major. The two German shepherds are the first pets to live at the executive mansion since the Obama administration. Major burst onto the national scene late last year after Mr Biden, then president-elect, broke his right foot while playing with the dog at their home in Wilmington, Delaware. The Bidens adopted Major in 2018 from the Delaware Humane Association, and Champ joined the family after the 2008 presidential election that made Joe Biden vice president. Letas put dogs back in the White House. pic.twitter.com/7pBihksfXT Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 1, 2020 The dogs moved into the White House on Sunday, following Mr Bidens inauguration last week. Michael LaRosa, spokesperson for first lady Jill Biden, said: The first family wanted to get settled before bringing the dogs down to Washington from Delaware. Champ is enjoying his new dog bed by the fireplace and Major loved running around on the South Lawn. The dogs were heard barking outside near the Oval Office on Monday as Mr Biden signed an executive order lifting the previous administrations ban on transgender people serving in the military. Last week, the Delaware Humane Association cosponsored an indoguration virtual fundraiser to celebrate Majors journey from shelter pup to first dog with more than 200,000 dollars (146,000). Major is the first shelter dog to ever live in the White House and barking proof that every dog can live the American dream, the association said. Jennifer Pickens, author of a book about pets at the White House, said: Pets have played an important role in the White House throughout the decades, not only by providing companionship to the presidents and their families, but also by humanising and softening their political images. Champ and Major follow in a long line of presidential pets, with Theodore Roosevelt having Skip, who is described by the White House Historical Association as a short-legged Black and Tan mongrel terrier brought home from a Colorado bear hunt. Warren G. Harding had Laddie Boy, who sat in on meetings and had his own Cabinet chair and Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his beloved terrier Fala. When he declared victory in the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama told his daughters: You have earned the new puppy thats coming with us to the White House. Several months later, Bo joined the family, a gift from Senator Ted Kennedy. By Lee Gyu-lee A man has been detained in northern Seoul on suspicion of murdering his father. According to Nowon Police Station, Tuesday, the suspect, 47, was taken into custody and questioned after allegedly killing his father, 79, at their house in Nowon District. A neighbor called the police at 4:47 a.m., saying he heard a man screaming "a person is dead!" When officers arrived they found the body of the victim covered in blood. The suspect has denied the crime, claiming that one of two men who broke into their house killed his father, and that he found him already dead after returning from fighting off the other intruder. Offices said there were no signs of forcible entry, and that they were assessing the evidence before deciding whether to ask prosecutors to request an arrest warrant. Police can hold criminal suspects for up to 48 hours before getting a court-issued warrant through the prosecution for additional detention. Oti Mabuse has heartbreakingly detailed her experience of losing someone close to her through the coronavirus pandemic. The Strictly champion, 30, appeared on Wednesday's episode of Steph's Packed Lunch where she discussed how Covid-19 had impacted her friends and family. Oti said: 'My family's back in South Africa so because of the travel bans I haven't been able to see them in a couple of years. It hurts, it's really sad. We talk as much as we can on Zoom but it's when you lose someone that it becomes real. Tragic: Oti Mabuse has heartbreakingly detailed her experience of losing someone close to her through the coronavirus pandemic 'My best friend, closest to my heart, he lost his mum over Christmas We couldn't go back to South Africa because their borders are closed, and he couldn't leave America. He's alone, no friends, no family, he went there just for work' An emotional Oti continued: 'What was worse was that we then had to attend her funeral and because we can't travel, that had to be over YouTube. 'Now YouTube is a place we go to to learn, to have fun, to dance, never in a million years do you think you have to say goodbye to your mum, the queen of your heart it makes me so emotional over YouTube. Honest: The Strictly champion, 30, appeared on Wednesday's episode of Steph's Packed Lunch where she discussed how Covid-19 had impacted her friends and family Oti went on to explain how her friend struggled with the loss of his mother alone due to being stranded in the U.S. at the time of her death. 'He didn't have a way to pay his respects he was by himself in a completely different continent. It just made it real. 'A lot of the times we hear that people get it, they're fine, they get through it, but when it hits home and it's someone you know, it's tough. 'It becomes real and it's harsh. It doesn't give you time to say goodbye, you can't see them and it hurts you don't expect it to be that quick.' Last week, Oti revealed the tough separation she has faced from her family during the global coronavirus pandemic. Separated: Earlier this week, Oti revealed the tough separation she has faced from her family during the global coronavirus pandemic The professional dancer spoke to Lorraine, revealing she didn't see her older sister Motsi, a judge on Strictly, for almost a year until Strictly reunited them. She explained that before the 2020 series of the BBC dance competition began last Autumn, she hadn't seen Motsi since the final of the 2019 series thanks to travel restrictions. Oti lives in the UK with her husband Marius Iepure, while Motsi is based in Germany with her husband Evgenij Voznyuk and their young daughter. After Motsi flew home following the 2019 Strictly finale, the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 meant the two sisters were separated until the 2020 series. Tough: The Strictly pro spoke to Lorraine, revealing that she didn't see Motsi, a judge on Strictly, for almost a year until the show reunited them 'Actually the last time I had seen my sister was the Strictly final in 2019 and because of the travel bans I couldn't go over to see her on her birthday,' Oti explained to Lorraine. 'We usually celebrate together so because of Strictly that was the only family member that I could actually see.' Oti is also missing her family back home in South Africa, explaining: 'I havent seen my family in about two years because theyre from South Africa and it's currently not great in South Africa as well.' 'So to have Strictly is another thing that Im grateful for, even though we were in separate bubbles it was nice that I could actually see her and she was there.' Oti added that the lack of travel has actually allowed her to connect with her extended family though, as she explained: 'Theres opportunity to make new connections, to bond I know during the first lockdown we started Zooming weekly with the extended family, so first second and third cousins.' Apart: After Motsi flew home following the 2019 Strictly finale, the coronavirus outbreak in early 2020 meant the two sisters were separated until the 2020 series (pictured) 'Everyone got to know each other, all the children. Christmas was also spent on Zoom, it was the entire family so it gave us the opportunity to make more connections and deeper ones.' Oti has also used technology to connect with her fans over the past year, leading online dance classes with her husband. 'Honestly I havent done a lot of exercise so doing these dances helps me to do exercise,' she laughed. 'Its about doing things that make you feel good in lockdown whether that's dancing or projects, its really important whenever we are at home to do something you love.' Relying on Zoom: Oti is also missing her family back home in South Africa, explaining: 'I havent seen my family in about two years' and adding they catch up on weekly Zoom calls 'I am the kind of person who will eat crisps and watch Bridgeton, I think Ive watched it maybe three times.' Oti capped off 2020 with her second Strictly Come Dancing win in a row, picking up the Glitterball trophy with her celeb partner, comedian Bill Bailey. 'I love how restrained he was and determined to do well. hes doing my dance classes as well, which is amazing,' she gushed of her partner. But when Lorraine asked if she was aiming for a third win on the BBC show in 2021, she was modest, insisting: 6'I dont know, I honestly never go for them I just focus on my celeb for that week. you made my heart pump there!' Tune into Stephs Packed Lunch at 12.30pm on Channel 4. SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) today reported results for the fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 25, 2020. First Quarter Highlights Net sales were $3.5 billion , up 11% on a reported basis, and 6% on an organic basis year over year. , up 11% on a reported basis, and 6% on an organic basis year over year. Orders of approximately $4 billion , up 25% year over year. , up 25% year over year. GAAP earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations were $1.13 , and adjusted EPS were $1.47 , up 21% year over year. , and adjusted EPS were , up 21% year over year. Cash flow from continuing operating activities was $640 million and free cash flow was $529 million , with $286 million returned to shareholders. "Our strong first quarter performance reflects our global team's ability to adapt to ongoing dynamic market conditions to deliver double-digit sales and EPS growth that exceeded our expectations," said TE Connectivity CEO Terrence Curtin. "These results demonstrate the strength and resilience of our portfolio, our employees' commitment to our customers and the benefit of our leadership position in long-term global growth trends. In particular, our Transportation segment continued to outperform the market due to content growth driven by electric vehicles, along with data connectivity and autonomy trends. Our Communications segment also exhibited strength due to demand in high-speed cloud applications and growth in the appliances market. As we are seeing continued signs of improvement in the majority of our end markets, we expect to deliver continued sales and earnings growth in the second quarter." Second Quarter FY21 Outlook For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, the company expects net sales of approximately $3.5 billion, reflecting an approximate 10% increase on a reported basis and an increase of mid-single digits on an organic basis year over year. GAAP EPS from continuing operations are expected to be approximately $1.38 with adjusted EPS of approximately $1.47, up 14% year over year. Information about TE Connectivity's use of non-GAAP financial measures is provided below. For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures, see the attached tables. Conference Call and Webcast The company will hold a conference call today beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET. The dial-in information is provided here: At TE Connectivity's website: investors.te.com By telephone: For both "listen-only" participants and those participants who wish to take part in the question-and-answer portion of the call, the dial-in number in the United States is (866) 211-4092, and for international callers, the dial-in number is (647) 689-6620. is (866) 211-4092, and for international callers, the dial-in number is (647) 689-6620. A replay of the conference call will be available on TE Connectivity's investor website at investors.te.com at 11:30 a.m. ET on Jan. 27, 2021 . About TE Connectivity TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE: TEL) is a global industrial technology leader creating a safer, sustainable, productive, and connected future. Our broad range of connectivity and sensor solutions, proven in the harshest environments, enable advancements in transportation, industrial applications, medical technology, energy, data communications, and the home. With approximately 80,000 employees, including more than 7,500 engineers, working alongside customers in approximately 140 countries, TE ensures that EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS. Learn more at www.te.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, WeChat and Twitter. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We present non-GAAP performance and liquidity measures as we believe it is appropriate for investors to consider adjusted financial measures in addition to results in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP"). These non-GAAP financial measures provide supplemental information and should not be considered replacements for results in accordance with GAAP. Management uses non-GAAP financial measures internally for planning and forecasting purposes and in its decision-making processes related to the operations of our company. We believe these measures provide meaningful information to us and investors because they enhance the understanding of our operating performance, ability to generate cash, and the trends of our business. Additionally, we believe that investors benefit from having access to the same financial measures that management uses in evaluating our operations. The primary limitation of these measures is that they exclude the financial impact of items that would otherwise either increase or decrease our reported results. This limitation is best addressed by using these non-GAAP financial measures in combination with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in order to better understand the amounts, character, and impact of any increase or decrease in reported amounts. These non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures reported by other companies. The following provides additional information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures: Organic Net Sales Growth (Decline) represents net sales growth (decline) (the most comparable GAAP financial measure) excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rates, and acquisitions and divestitures that occurred in the preceding twelve months, if any. Organic Net Sales Growth (Decline) is a useful measure of our performance because it excludes items that are not completely under management's control, such as the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, and items that do not reflect the underlying growth of the company, such as acquisition and divestiture activity. This measure is a significant component in our incentive compensation plans. Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) and Adjusted Operating Margin represent operating income (loss) and operating margin, respectively, (the most comparable GAAP financial measures) before special items including restructuring and other charges, acquisition-related charges, impairment of goodwill, and other income or charges, if any. We utilize these adjusted measures in combination with operating income (loss) and operating margin to assess segment level operating performance and to provide insight to management in evaluating segment operating plan execution and market conditions. Adjusted Operating Income (Loss) is a significant component in our incentive compensation plans. Adjusted Other Income (Expense), Net represents net other income (expense) (the most comparable GAAP financial measure) before special items including tax sharing income related to adjustments to prior period tax returns and other items, if any. Adjusted Income Tax (Expense) Benefit and Adjusted Effective Tax Rate represent income tax (expense) benefit and effective tax rate, respectively, (the most comparable GAAP financial measures) after adjusting for the tax effect of special items including restructuring and other charges, acquisition-related charges, impairment of goodwill, other income or charges, and certain significant tax items, if any. Adjusted Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations represents income (loss) from continuing operations (the most comparable GAAP financial measure) before special items including restructuring and other charges, acquisition-related charges, impairment of goodwill, tax sharing income related to adjustments to prior period tax returns and other tax items, other income or charges, and certain significant tax items, if any, and, if applicable, the related tax effects. Adjusted Earnings (Loss) Per Share represents diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations (the most comparable GAAP financial measure) before special items including restructuring and other charges, acquisition-related charges, impairment of goodwill, tax sharing income related to adjustments to prior period tax returns and other tax items, other income or charges, and certain significant tax items, if any, and, if applicable, the related tax effects. This measure is a significant component in our incentive compensation plans. Free Cash Flow (FCF) is a useful measure of our ability to generate cash. The difference between net cash provided by continuing operating activities (the most comparable GAAP financial measure) and Free Cash Flow consists mainly of significant cash outflows and inflows that we believe are useful to identify. We believe Free Cash Flow provides useful information to investors as it provides insight into the primary cash flow metric used by management to monitor and evaluate cash flows generated from our operations. Free Cash Flow is defined as net cash provided by continuing operating activities excluding voluntary pension contributions and the cash impact of special items, if any, minus net capital expenditures. Voluntary pension contributions are excluded from the GAAP financial measure because this activity is driven by economic financing decisions rather than operating activity. Certain special items, including net payments related to pre-separation tax matters and cash paid (collected) pursuant to collateral requirements related to cross-currency swap contracts, are also excluded by management in evaluating Free Cash Flow. Net capital expenditures consist of capital expenditures less proceeds from the sale of property, plant, and equipment. These items are subtracted because they represent long-term commitments. In the calculation of Free Cash Flow, we subtract certain cash items that are ultimately within management's and the Board of Directors' discretion to direct and may imply that there is less or more cash available for our programs than the most comparable GAAP financial measure indicates. It should not be inferred that the entire Free Cash Flow amount is available for future discretionary expenditures, as our definition of Free Cash Flow does not consider certain non-discretionary expenditures, such as debt payments. In addition, we may have other discretionary expenditures, such as discretionary dividends, share repurchases, and business acquisitions, that are not considered in the calculation of Free Cash Flow. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainty and changes in circumstances, which may cause actual results, performance, financial condition or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, financial condition or achievements. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking and the words "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," and similar expressions are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have no intention and are under no obligation to update or alter (and expressly disclaim any such intention or obligation to do so) our forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by law. The forward-looking statements in this release include statements addressing our future financial condition and operating results, and the impact on our operations resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"). Examples of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the extent, severity and duration of COVID-19 negatively affecting our business operations; business, economic, competitive and regulatory risks, such as conditions affecting demand for products in the automotive and other industries we serve; competition and pricing pressure; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and commodity prices; natural disasters and political, economic and military instability in countries in which we operate; developments in the credit markets; future goodwill impairment; compliance with current and future environmental and other laws and regulations; and the possible effects on us of changes in tax laws, tax treaties and other legislation, including the effects of Swiss tax reform. In addition, the extent to which COVID-19 will impact our business and our financial results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. Such developments may include the geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the virus, the duration of the outbreak, the impact on our suppliers' and customers' supply chains, the actions that may be taken by various governmental authorities in response to the outbreak in jurisdictions in which we operate, and the possible impact on the global economy and local economies in which we operate. More detailed information about these and other factors is set forth in TE Connectivity Ltd.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Sept. 25, 2020 as well as in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other reports filed by us with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) For the Quarters Ended December 25, December 27, 2020 2019 (in millions, except per share data) Net sales $ 3,522 $ 3,168 Cost of sales 2,376 2,138 Gross margin 1,146 1,030 Selling, general, and administrative expenses 361 367 Research, development, and engineering expenses 162 161 Acquisition and integration costs 8 7 Restructuring and other charges, net 167 24 Operating income 448 471 Interest income 3 6 Interest expense (15) (12) Other income (expense), net (1) 5 Income from continuing operations before income taxes 435 470 Income tax expense (60) (447) Income from continuing operations 375 23 Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes 6 3 Net income $ 381 $ 26 Basic earnings per share: Income from continuing operations $ 1.13 $ 0.07 Income from discontinued operations 0.02 0.01 Net income 1.15 0.08 Diluted earnings per share: Income from continuing operations $ 1.13 $ 0.07 Income from discontinued operations 0.02 0.01 Net income 1.14 0.08 Weighted-average number of shares outstanding: Basic 331 335 Diluted 333 337 TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) December 25, September 25, 2020 2020 (in millions, except share data) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 1,098 $ 945 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts of $33 and $29, respectively 2,640 2,377 Inventories 2,066 1,950 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 677 512 Total current assets 6,481 5,784 Property, plant, and equipment, net 3,768 3,650 Goodwill 5,387 5,224 Intangible assets, net 1,613 1,593 Deferred income taxes 2,198 2,178 Other assets 819 813 Total assets $ 20,266 $ 19,242 Liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and shareholders' equity Current liabilities: Short-term debt $ 685 $ 694 Accounts payable 1,629 1,276 Accrued and other current liabilities 1,769 1,720 Total current liabilities 4,083 3,690 Long-term debt 3,516 3,452 Long-term pension and postretirement liabilities 1,329 1,336 Deferred income taxes 144 143 Income taxes 266 252 Other liabilities 949 874 Total liabilities 10,287 9,747 Commitments and contingencies Redeemable noncontrolling interests 118 112 Shareholders' equity: Common shares, CHF 0.57 par value, 338,953,381 shares authorized and issued, respectively 149 149 Accumulated earnings 10,672 10,348 Treasury shares, at cost, 7,836,597 and 8,295,878 shares, respectively (655) (669) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (305) (445) Total shareholders' equity 9,861 9,383 Total liabilities, redeemable noncontrolling interests, and shareholders' equity $ 20,266 $ 19,242 TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) For the Quarters Ended December 25, December 27, 2020 2019 (in millions) Cash flows from operating activities: Net income $ 381 $ 26 Income from discontinued operations, net of income taxes (6) (3) Income from continuing operations 375 23 Adjustments to reconcile income from continuing operations to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 187 174 Deferred income taxes (42) 394 Non-cash lease cost 30 27 Provision for losses on accounts receivable and inventories 6 20 Share-based compensation expense 19 22 Other 21 10 Changes in assets and liabilities, net of the effects of acquisitions and divestitures: Accounts receivable, net (299) (24) Inventories (145) (176) Prepaid expenses and other current assets (87) (23) Accounts payable 349 94 Accrued and other current liabilities 88 (185) Income taxes 17 10 Other 121 45 Net cash provided by operating activities 640 411 Cash flows from investing activities: Capital expenditures (142) (176) Proceeds from sale of property, plant, and equipment 1 2 Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired (107) (115) Other 2 Net cash used in investing activities (246) (289) Cash flows from financing activities: Net decrease in commercial paper (9) Repayment of debt (30) Proceeds from exercise of share options 75 14 Repurchase of common shares (119) (139) Payment of common share dividends to shareholders (159) (154) Other (19) (26) Net cash used in financing activities (252) (314) Effect of currency translation on cash 11 7 Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash 153 (185) Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period 945 927 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period $ 1,098 $ 742 Supplemental cash flow information: Interest paid on debt, net $ 4 $ 4 Income taxes paid, net of refunds 85 43 TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF FREE CASH FLOW (UNAUDITED) For the Quarters Ended December 25, December 27, 2020 2019 (in millions) Net cash provided by continuing operating activities $ 640 $ 411 Excluding: Cash paid pursuant to collateral requirements related to cross-currency swap contracts 30 6 Capital expenditures, net (141) (174) Free cash flow (1) $ 529 $ 243 (1) Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure. See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. CONSOLIDATED SEGMENT DATA (UNAUDITED) For the Quarters Ended December 25, December 27, 2020 2019 ($ in millions) Net Sales Net Sales Transportation Solutions $ 2,224 $ 1,868 Industrial Solutions 873 927 Communications Solutions 425 373 Total $ 3,522 $ 3,168 Operating Operating Operating Operating Income Margin Income Margin Transportation Solutions $ 308 13.8 % $ 316 16.9 % Industrial Solutions 76 8.7 115 12.4 Communications Solutions 64 15.1 40 10.7 Total $ 448 12.7 % $ 471 14.9 % Adjusted Adjusted Adjusted Adjusted Operating Operating Operating Operating Income (1) Margin (1) Income (1) Margin (1) Transportation Solutions $ 431 19.4 % $ 325 17.4 % Industrial Solutions 118 13.5 132 14.2 Communications Solutions 75 17.6 45 12.1 Total $ 624 17.7 % $ 502 15.8 % (1) Adjusted operating income and adjusted operating margin are non-GAAP financial measures. See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NET SALES GROWTH (DECLINE) (UNAUDITED) Change in Net Sales for the Quarter Ended December 25, 2020 versus Net Sales for the Quarter Ended December 27, 2019 Net Sales Organic Net Sales Growth (Decline) Growth (Decline) (1) Translation (2) Acquisitions ($ in millions) Transportation Solutions (3): Automotive $ 224 15.9 % $ 161 11.3 % $ 63 $ Commercial transportation 73 28.3 65 24.9 8 Sensors 59 28.8 7 3.2 5 47 Total 356 19.1 233 12.3 76 47 Industrial Solutions (3): Aerospace, defense, oil, and gas (59) (19.1) (68) (22.0) 6 3 Industrial equipment 32 12.2 21 7.7 11 Medical (23) (12.8) (24) (13.4) 1 Energy (4) (2.3) (7) (3.7) 3 Total (54) (5.8) (78) (8.4) 21 3 Communications Solutions (3): Data and devices 15 6.8 10 4.7 5 Appliances 37 24.0 33 21.1 4 Total 52 13.9 43 11.5 9 Total $ 354 11.2 % $ 198 6.2 % $ 106 $ 50 (1) Organic net sales growth (decline) is a non-GAAP financial measure. See description of non-GAAP financial measures. (2) Represents the change in net sales resulting from changes in foreign currency exchange rates. (3) Industry end market information is presented consistently with our internal management reporting and may be periodically revised as management deems necessary. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES For the Quarter Ended December 25, 2020 (UNAUDITED) Adjustments Acquisition- Restructuring Related and Other Adjusted U.S. GAAP Charges (1) Charges, Net (1) Tax Items (2) (Non-GAAP) (3) ($ in millions, except per share data) Operating income: Transportation Solutions $ 308 $ 5 $ 118 $ $ 431 Industrial Solutions 76 4 38 118 Communications Solutions 64 11 75 Total $ 448 $ 9 $ 167 $ $ 624 Operating margin 12.7 % 17.7 % Other expense, net $ (1) $ $ $ $ (1) Income tax expense $ (60) $ (2) $ (32) $ (29) $ (123) Effective tax rate 13.8 % 20.1 % Income from continuing operations $ 375 $ 7 $ 135 $ (29) $ 488 Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 1.13 $ 0.02 $ 0.41 $ (0.09) $ 1.47 (1) The tax effect of each non-GAAP adjustment is calculated based on the jurisdictions in which the expense (income) is incurred and the tax laws in effect for each such jurisdiction. (2) Income tax benefits related to an Internal Revenue Service approved change in the tax method of depreciating or amortizing certain assets. (3) See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES For the Quarter Ended December 27, 2019 (UNAUDITED) Adjustments Acquisition- Restructuring Related and Other Adjusted U.S. GAAP Charges (1) Charges, Net (1) Tax Items (2) (Non-GAAP) (3) ($ in millions, except per share data) Operating income: Transportation Solutions $ 316 $ 5 $ 4 $ $ 325 Industrial Solutions 115 2 15 132 Communications Solutions 40 5 45 Total $ 471 $ 7 $ 24 $ $ 502 Operating margin 14.9 % 15.8 % Other income, net $ 5 $ $ $ $ 5 Income tax expense $ (447) $ (1) $ $ 355 $ (93) Effective tax rate 95.1 % 18.6 % Income from continuing operations $ 23 $ 6 $ 24 $ 355 $ 408 Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 0.07 $ 0.02 $ 0.07 $ 1.05 $ 1.21 (1) The tax effect of each non-GAAP adjustment is calculated based on the jurisdictions in which the expense (income) is incurred and the tax laws in effect for each such jurisdiction. (2) Income tax expense related to the tax impacts of certain measures of Swiss tax reform. (3) See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES For the Quarter Ended March 27, 2020 (UNAUDITED) Adjustments Acquisition- Restructuring Related and Other Impairment Adjusted U.S. GAAP Charges (1) Charges, Net (1) of Goodwill (1) Tax Items (2) (Non-GAAP) (4) ($ in millions, except per share data) Operating income (loss): Transportation Solutions $ (606) $ 10 $ 18 $ 900 $ $ 322 Industrial Solutions 142 2 1 145 Communications Solutions 49 3 52 Total $ (415) $ 12 $ 22 $ 900 $ $ 519 Operating margin (13.0) % 16.2 % Other income, net $ 11 $ $ $ $ (8) $ 3 Income tax expense $ (42) $ (2) $ (4) $ (4) $ (31) $ (83) Effective tax rate (10.2) % 16.1 % Income (loss) from continuing operations $ (452) $ 10 $ 18 $ 896 $ (39) $ 433 Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations (3) $ (1.35) $ 0.03 $ 0.05 $ 2.67 $ (0.12) $ 1.29 (1) The tax effect of each non-GAAP adjustment is calculated based on the jurisdictions in which the expense (income) is incurred and the tax laws in effect for each such jurisdiction. (2) Includes an income tax benefit related to pre-separation tax matters and the termination of the tax sharing agreement with Tyco International and Covidien, as well as the related impact to net other income. (3) U.S. GAAP diluted shares excludes one million of nonvested share awards and options outstanding as the inclusion of these securities would have been antidilutive because of our loss during the period. Such amounts are included in adjusted (non-GAAP) diluted shares. (4) See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES For the Year Ended September 25, 2020 (UNAUDITED) Adjustments Acquisition- Restructuring Related and Other Impairment Adjusted U.S. GAAP Charges (1) Charges, Net (1) of Goodwill (1) Tax Items (2) (Non-GAAP) (4) ($ in millions, except per share data) Operating income (loss): Transportation Solutions $ (93) $ 32 $ 113 $ 900 $ $ 952 Industrial Solutions 412 8 102 522 Communications Solutions 218 42 260 Total $ 537 $ 40 $ 257 $ 900 $ $ 1,734 Operating margin 4.4 % 14.2 % Other income, net $ 20 $ $ $ $ (8) $ 12 Income tax expense $ (783) $ (8) $ (46) $ (4) $ 550 $ (291) Effective tax rate 149.4 % 17.0 % Income (loss) from continuing operations $ (259) $ 32 $ 211 $ 896 $ 542 $ 1,422 Diluted earnings (loss) per share from continuing operations (3) $ (0.78) $ 0.10 $ 0.63 $ 2.68 $ 1.62 $ 4.26 (1) The tax effect of each non-GAAP adjustment is calculated based on the jurisdictions in which the expense (income) is incurred and the tax laws in effect for each such jurisdiction. (2) Includes $355 million of income tax expense related to the tax impacts of certain measures of Swiss tax reform and $226 million of income tax expense related to increases to the valuation allowance for certain deferred tax assets, partially offset by a $31 million income tax benefit related to pre-separation tax matters and the termination of the tax sharing agreement with Tyco International and Covidien. (3) U.S. GAAP diluted shares excludes two million of nonvested share awards and options outstanding as the inclusion of these securities would have been antidilutive because of our loss during the period. Such amounts are included in adjusted (non-GAAP) diluted shares. (4) See description of non-GAAP financial measures. TE CONNECTIVITY LTD. RECONCILIATION OF FORWARD-LOOKING NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO FORWARD-LOOKING GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES As of January 27, 2021 (UNAUDITED) Outlook for Quarter Ending March 26, 2021 Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations $ 1.38 Restructuring and other charges, net 0.07 Acquisition-related charges 0.02 Adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations (1) $ 1.47 (1)See description of non-GAAP financial measures. SOURCE TE Connectivity Ltd. Related Links http://www.te.com Israel: When residents and staff at an assisted-living facility received their first shots of Pfizer Inc.s Covid-19 vaccine last month, they threw a spontaneous dance party and shook their hips, while remaining six feet apart from one another. Now, all of the 110 elderly residents and 45 staff members at the Bayit Balev retirement home in a city east of Tel Aviv have received both shots of the vaccine, but the mood is less jubilant. As Israel remains under lockdown, and infections spread across the country, a return to normal still seems far off. We dont know when its going to be over," said 89-year old Elaine Aber, who has 23 grandchildren she hasnt been able to hug in months. Thats the feeling now." Israels citizens are at the forefront of the worlds most aggressive vaccination campaign. With more than 30% of its population having received the first dose of the vaccine and 14% having had the second, the countrys residents offer an early glimpse of what life might be like as vaccinations become the norm in society. The answer: Not much different to now, public-health restrictions remain in place and new variants of the virus are on the loose. The war is still ahead of us," Chezi Levy, director-general of Israels health ministry, told Radio Kan on Monday. If we dont know how to behave according to the regulations weve made, we wont beat this sickness. The vaccines alone wont be enough." In about two weeks, Israel is expected to have given 2.5 million of its approximately nine million people both their first and second shots. Israeli officials are eyeing a full reopening of the economy if they can control the new variants in the coming weeks. Israel imposed a third lockdown in December and said Sunday that it would shut its only international airport until at least the end of the month to halt the spread of new coronavirus variants in the country. New cases in recent weeks hovered at about 9,000 a day but have come down over the past few days to around 7,000. As Israelis consider going back to normal, they remain under a strict lockdown. Enforcement has been particularly challenging in Israels ultra-Orthodox communities, where rabbis have resisted shutting schools, large-scale gatherings have continued and police have been reluctant to enforce the rules. The ultra-Orthodox are protesting a proposal to increase fines for violations. Health officials suspect the highly contagious U.K. variant of Covid-19 sparked the recent surge in cases. Pfizer says it is still testing its shot against new variants. Early Israeli studies of the virus are offering hope. Maccabi Healthcare Services research arm said it saw a 60% reduction in coronavirus infections two days after the second dose was administered to its patients aged over 60, as well as a 60% drop in hospitalizations among people over 60 two days after the second shot. It also found that of 128,600 people who received both doses, just 20 people contracted Covid-19 more than one week after the second dose. Half of those people suffer from chronic illnesses, they said. Early data from Clalit, Israels largest health-care provider, suggests Covid-19 infection rates began to decrease among a group of vaccine recipients two weeks after they received the first shot. For those who have received both injections, Israels health ministry is issuing certificates as the basis for a so-called green passport. Holders would be allowed to go to restaurants, stadiums and other public places that were closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Only now are people in Israel beginning to explore what they might do with the stronger immunity brought about by the vaccines. Harriet Bark, 76, said she recently visited a friends apartment at Bayit Balev and did something unthinkable just a few days beforeshe ripped off her mask and placed it on the table. Her friend did the same. Mrs. Bark, who with her husband moved to the facility in November 2019, wanted to see the full faces of their new neighbors. Some are warming up after a frosty reception. People are not afraid to sit next to each other anymore," said Mrs. Bark, who wore workout clothes with a lime-green stripe and a matching lime-green fanny pack. Before, they used to push you away." After almost a year being locked indoors, residents of Bayit Balevwhich in Hebrew means home in the heartsaid many of the barriers back to normal are psychological. Although she is confident of her immunity from Covid-19 after her vaccinations, 80-year-old Nina Kantor wont dine out just yet. Maybe in Petah Tikvah but not in Tel Aviv, the crowded nearby citywho knows what kind of virus variants are circulating there, she said. Her friend, Mrs. Aber, wont even order takeout. You dont know who is preparing it or what they have," she said. Some Israelis who have been vaccinated are starting to think about international travel. Gabriel Salzman, who lives in Herzliya and received his second shot on Thursday, said he and his wife used to take four international trips a year. A cruise to Alaska last summer was canceled, said the 73-year-old retiree, but he has no fear about resuming his globe-trotting. When the world will be ready for us, we are ready," said Mr. Salzman. Israel Shafir, who lives on a farm in Beit Uziel, said one of the things he misses most about pre-Covid-19 life is a literary club. His book club migrated to Zoom almost a year ago. But while many of his fellow members are vaccinated, they arent getting together just yet because they arent sure whether the virus can be passed to those who havent had the shot. In order for this to have a social effect, well need to really see that people who are vaccinated didnt catch the Covid," the 68-year-old Mr. Shafir said. We need a little more affirmation for people to feel freer to associate." This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A coastal South Carolina county says hackers broke into its computer network over the weekend. A statement from Georgetown Countys local government Monday said the countys computer network suffered a major infrastructure breach over the weekend. Most of the countys electronic systems, including emails, were impacted. The countys 911 system and jail operations were not affected, according to the statement. The county said it does not know when its electronic systems will be up and running again. According to the statement, the county has insurance against cyber attacks and is working with cybersecurity experts to find out what information may have been compromised in the attacks. About 60,000 people live in Georgetown County. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Cyber South Carolina Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Australians have been urged to boycott certain coconut products sold at Coles and Woolworths over allegations their farms use monkey labour. Animal cruelty organisation PETA claims farms that supply Thai companies Chaokoh and PCC have been using monkeys to pick coconuts for their cream, water and milk. PETA investigators found cruelty to monkeys at the farms and facilities of the food company. 'When not being forced to pick coconuts or perform in circus-style shows for tourists, the animals were kept tethered, chained to old tires, or confined to cages barely larger than their bodies,' the organisation said in a statement. PETA investigators visited eight farms where monkeys are forced to pick coconuts-including those for Thailand's major coconut milk producers 'One coconut farmer confirmed that when monkeys are terrified and try to defend themselves, handlers may have their teeth pulled out.' PETA said it visited eight farms 'where monkeys are forced to pick coconuts-including those for one of Thailand's major coconut milk producers, Chaokoh, as well as several monkey-training facilities and a coconut-picking competition. At each one, they documented that these sensitive animals were abused and exploited.' PETA is calling on Australians to avoid coconut products made in Thailand, where monkey labour is commonplace. 'If consumers can steer away from Thai products, and particularly Chaokoh and PCC labelled products that are sold in Australia, then that will go a long way to sending the message that things need to change,' PETA spokesperson Emily Rice said. Woolworths stocks the Chaokoh coconut gel in syrup and the sweet canned corn, while Coles sells the company's natural coconut water cans. In July last year, Chaokoh denied the allegations and said their farms don't use monkey labour. Woolworths stocks the Chaokoh coconut gel in syrup and the sweet canned corn, while Coles sells the company's natural coconut water cans In the US, Target and Costco have stopped purchasing Chaokoh coconut milk after the allegations came to light. Ms Rice said monkeys are usually captured in the wild as babies before being put in cages so small that they 'can barely turn around'. 'Video footage shows them chewing their own limbs. They can even sometimes have their teeth removed to stop them from defending themselves,' she said. The PETA report stated 64 farms out of 817 had been randomly selected and 'did not find the use of monkey for coconut harvesting.' Ms Rice said monkeys are usually captured in the wild as babies before being put in cages so small that they 'can barely turn around' PETA said it visited eight farms 'where monkeys are forced to pick coconuts-including those for one of Thailand's major coconut milk producers, Chaokoh Thailand last year produced more than 806,000 tonnes of coconut and exported coconut milk worth nearly $400 million. Last year the Thai government claimed 'using monkeys for the coconut industry is almost non-existent'. Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said human labour had long ago replaced monkeys. 'But there may still be the pictures of monkey collecting coconuts for tourism on video clips, which created a misunderstanding,' Jurin said. A spokesperson categorically confirmed that Coles do not sell any products from farms using monkeys in their supply chain. 'At Coles we support the highest standards of animal welfare and believe any mistreatment of animals is unacceptable,' they said. 'We have investigated allegations surrounding the use and mistreatment of monkeys in Thailand to harvest coconuts and can confirm that none of our Thai coconut suppliers use monkeys in this manner.' Woolworths also responded to the allegations from PETA. 'At Woolworths, animal welfare standards are fundamental to our customers, suppliers and business and we treat any allegations of mistreatment seriously,' a company spokesperson said in a statement. 'We have previously been given assurances from our suppliers that they dont engage in these practices within their supply chains, but will follow up the specifics of these claims.' PathFactory Hires Silicon Valley Veteran Bhanu Mohanty As Chief Technology Officer The enterprise architecture expertise Bhanu brings to the table will be critical to PathFactory growing from hundreds of B2B customers to thousands, and from millions of content asset views to billions, in the coming years." Today PathFactory, the Intelligent Content Platform, announced that it has appointed Bhanu Mohanty to the newly-created role of Chief Technology Officer, leading the companys global software engineering, infrastructure, QA, and project management teams. As CTO, Mohanty will scale the companys big data and AI-based offerings to continue to drive value for the enterprise and mid-market B2B companies using PathFactory to deliver a more relevant, personalized journey for every prospect and customer. The enterprise architecture expertise Bhanu brings to the table will be critical to PathFactory growing from hundreds of B2B customers to thousands, and from millions of content asset views to billions, in the coming years, said Dev Ganesan, President and CEO of PathFactory. Im thrilled to welcome Bhanu to PathFactory and to be working with him again. Mohanty has held senior technical leadership roles at software companies in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly two decades, including as Vice President, Engineering at SAP, Chief Technology Officer at Fishbowl, and most recently Vice President and Chief Architect at Punchh, a leading loyalty and engagement platform for restaurants and retailers. He also holds four patents related to security, business rules management, and analytics. PathFactorys Intelligent Content Platform is a key piece of the martech stack at hundreds of the largest and most innovative companies in the world. Im excited to join and collaborate with such a talented team, and support the next phase of the companys growth, said Mohanty. Executive Vice President of Innovation Dan Ng will work closely with co-founder and Chief Product Officer Nick Edouard, shifting his focus toward strategic innovation, managing the product roadmap, and delivering greater value to PathFactory customers through integrations, incorporating customer feedback, and insights derived from content engagement data. As one of our earliest employees, Dan has proven himself invaluable to the company, and his greatest strength is bridging the gap between our customers, our partners, and our Intelligent Content Platform. As PathFactory grows, we need to continue listening to and sharing insights with our customers more than ever before, and Dan is uniquely positioned to lead this critical function within the company, said Edouard. About PathFactory Leading enterprise and mid-market B2B companies use PathFactorys Intelligent Content Platform to accelerate nurture, improve win rates, and understand content performance by delivering intelligent content experiences and virtual events across the buyers journey. PathFactory was recently named the inaugural Visionary CX ISV Partner of the Year award winner in the 2020 Oracle Markie Awards, recognized by Deloitte as one of North Americas Technology Fast 500, and ranked #13 on the 2020 Growth List of Canada's fastest-growing companies. It was also named a Winter 2021 Content Experience Leader by G2, the 2020 Top-Rated Content Marketing Software by TrustRadius, and a 2019 Cool Vendor in Technology Marketing by Gartner. Visit PathFactory.com to learn more. Outraged over costly delays, Scottish shellfish exporters blockaded the Parliament in London in protest. A truck load of chips destined for a supermarket in Northern Ireland was held up for two days as the truck company sought to prove the origin of the potatoes they were made with, according to a British lawmaker. And more than 600 truck drivers have been fined for breaking a rule designed to prevent congestion that requires them to have a permit to approach Britains busiest port, Dover in Kent. Under the new rules, truckers must log their consignments with the authorities before reaching ports. Relatively few arrive without the paperwork just 7 percent at Holyhead, according to the port. But that is because many are stuck elsewhere awaiting papers. The new system has also raised questions about the future of one of Europes busiest trade routes, between Ireland, which remains part of the European Union, and continental Europe. The quickest route for trucks is generally via a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, then east to Dover on Englands coast, and from there a short ferry trip to Calais in France. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Poland: Council of Europe, Warsaw should back off on justice Strasbourg Assembly condemns the intimidation of judges (ANSA) - TRIESTE, 26 GEN - STRASBOURG, JANUARY 26 - Poland must reverse the course undertaken with the justice reform that began at the end of 2015, which caused "legal chaos" in the country. The assembly of the Council of Europe calls on the government to 'back off', through the Italian rapporteur Andrea Orlando, MP of the Democratic Party. "The judges in Poland and Moldova must remain independent," he recommended. Through this document, the assembly also condemns "the intimidation campaign launched by the political authorities against the judges who were critical of the reform. This behavior - the assembly underlined - is unworthy of a democratic country and the rule of law." Mentioning that Poland is the only EU state subject to the assembly's monitoring procedure "precisely because of the justice reform, but also the rulings of the EU Court of Justice, the Council of Europe asks Warsaw to amend the changes made to the functioning of the Constitutional Court and the ordinary judicial system, in particular those regarding the election of judges and the composition of the disciplinary chamber. Moreover, the assembly asks the local authorities not to enforce the law of December 20, 2019, because "this law would prevent magistrates from exercising their right to freedom of expression and association." (ANSA). Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved Quick status report on the plague cure that hasn't really appeared yet despite surprising demand. Take a look . . . Developing . . . Right now, Alaska and West Virginia lead the country per capita in getting vaccinations into people's arms. So what's the holdup locally?Demand for the COVID-19 vaccine heavily outweighs supply. The federal government has given Kansas and Missouri 29% of the vaccines they need for the 3.5 million people currently eligible."We requested large shipments, and they significantly reduced their actual shipments. The death rate for people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Pennsylvania during the early months of the pandemic was 16.3%. Thats far more than the 3% death rate for people hospitalized with regular flu in recent years, according to new research from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. The PHC4 looked at COVID-19 hospitalizations in Pennsylvania from March through June of 2020. About 19,100 people were hospitalized during that time, which covered the peak of Pennsylvanias first wave of COVID-19 infections. More than 3,100 of the patients died. The PHC4 compares the death rates of the COVID-19 patients with those of regular flu patients from 2017 to 2020. About three percent of the flu patients died in each of those years. The highest number of flu hospitalizations, 17,686, took place in 2018. About 513 of those patients died. RELATED: Gov. Wolf acknowledges Pa. in middle of pack for COVID-19 vaccination, says its not good enough Pennsylvania saw a second surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths beginning last fall and continuing into 2021. The second surge has been much more severe, with more illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths. The PHC4 research only looks at the first surge. The general thinking is that, over the course of the pandemic, people have become less likely to die of COVID-19, for reasons including better treatments and knowledge of how to best care for them. As of Tuesday, 20,883 people had died of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. The PHC4 found that, during the earlier surge: COVID-19 patients spent an average of 8.8 days in the hospital, with about 17% being hospitalized two weeks or more; About 16% required a ventilator Of the 19,177 people who were hospitalized: 2,614 were 85 or older, with about 28% dying; 3,420 were 75-84, with about 25% dying; 4,045 were 65-74, about 20% dying; 3,860 were 55-64, with about 12% dying; 2,373 were 45-54, about 8% dying; 1,384 were 35-44, with 3% dying; 956 were 25-34, with 1.4% dying; 330 were 18-24, with no death rate calculated because of the low volume; 194 were less than 18, with no death rate calculated. The full report can be read at www.PHC4.com. The trial of four men accused of abducting and assaulting Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH) director Kevin Lunney will not now proceed at the Special Criminal Court before March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding at the three-judge court, this morning said that he has been told by the president of the High Court Ms Justice Mary Irvine that "following meetings at a higher level", the 12-week trial would not be able to start before March 1 and this date was "subject to developments". The case, which was in for mention today before the three-judge court, had originally been fixed for trial on January 11 at the non-jury court. However on January 5, Mr Justice Hunt said that the trial would be delayed as "the position seemed to be that it would be undesirable and imprudent to proceed to start this case on schedule considering the public health situation". The judge remarked at the time that it was "absolutely our intention" for the trial to proceed on February 1. Luke O'Reilly (66), from Mullahoran Lower, Kilcogy, Co Cavan; Darren Redmond (25), from Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin 3; and Alan O'Brien (38) of Shelmalier Road, East Wall, Dublin 1, are all charged with false imprisonment and assault causing serious harm to Mr Lunney (50) at Drumbrade, Ballinagh, Co Cavan on September 17, 2019. Another male, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is also charged with the same offences at the same date and location. Father-of-six Mr Lunney (50), had his leg broken, was doused in bleach and had the letters QIH carved into his chest before he was dumped on a roadside in Co Cavan. Mr Justice Hunt said today that remote hearings were taking place in the courts but pointed out that the trial of the four accused men did not "fall into that category". Sean Guerin SC, on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), asked Mr Justice Hunt if there was "any merit" in reviewing the commencement date on an interim basis. Mr Justice Hunt said he would list the case for February 24 as matters are being "reviewed upstream" on the previous day. "I hope to say on February 24 that we will be proceeding on March 1 or whatever date and we will also work out the modus operandi," he added. At this morning's brief hearing, Mr Justice Hunt provisionally fixed March 1 for the trial to commence and listed the case for mention on February 24. The court had previously been told that there are over 50,000 documents involved in the case that needed to be digitally rendered and that there had been issues with disclosure. In December, the three-judge court dismissed a bid to halt the trial over a ruling expected from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on data retention. Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC, for the unnamed man, argued that the law on the retention and accessing of mobile phone data was in "a state of significant uncertainty" in Ireland and that the trial should not proceed until the matter was resolved. However, Mr Justice Hunt said that it was not enough to justify an adjournment. The judge also found the fact that a Renault Kangoo van went on fire while in the possession of gardai was "immutable" and was also not a sufficient basis to adjourn. One of the four men has complained to the Garda ombudsman alleging that DNA was planted on the van, allegedly used in the abduction, so it would not be made available to the defence. It had been also unsuccessfully argued by defence counsel that the trial should not go on until the ombudsman's investigation is completed. [January 27, 2021] $ 20.59 Billion Growth in Smart Security Market During 2020-2024 | 42% Growth to Come from North America | Technavio Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the global smart security market registered a YOY growth of 13.11% in 2020 and the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of over 16% during the forecast period. The report offers a detailed analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market in optimistic, probable, and pessimistic forecast scenarios. - Get Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005526/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Smart Security Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Smart Security Market: Increasing number of smart cities worldwide to drive growth Governments across the world are undertaking various initiatives to develop smart cities and curb terrorist and criminal activities, such as intrusion, murder, robbery, and theft. Developed countries such as the US and the UK are making significant investments to deploy smart city solutions. Some governments across the world have even imposed stringent regulations that make the installation of smart security solutions mandatory in public places, such as hypermarkets, hospitals, airports, and other places to prevent criminal activities. Therefore, the increasing deployment of smart city solutions is expected to fuel the growth of the smart security market during the forecast period. Is there any relief during this COVID pandemic? Click to know As per Technavio, the increasing applications of smart security in residential and commercial sectors will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Smart Security Market: Increasing Applications of Smart Security in Residential and Commercial Sectors The deployment of smart security solutions in commercial and residential establishments allows operators to manage their security using a single, centralized, and flexible system cost-effectively. Besides, it helps establishment owners reduce false liability claims and enable efficient assembly-lie production. For instance, in the banking sector, the deployment of security systems in ATMs enable banks to strengthen physical security and surveillance and to increase the efficiency of incident response. Thus, the growing applications of security systems across various industries is expected to positively influence the growth of the market during the forecast period. "Increasing demand from the retail sector and the implementation of smart parking management solutions will further boost market growth during the forecast period", says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Smart Security Market: Major Vendors The report covers details on the market's competitive landscape and offers information on the products offered by various companies, including: Anixter International Inc. Axis (News - Alert) Communications AB AxxonSoft Inc. Cisco Systems Inc. FLIR Systems Inc. Smart Security Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the smart security market by product (surveillance systems, intruder alarms, and access control systems), end-user (commercial, residential, utility infrastructure, and others), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). The North America region led the smart security market in 2020, followed by Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA respectively. During the forecast period, North America is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to factors such as the rising investments in smart city projects, the growth of the retail sector, increasing penetration of smart homes, growing disposable incomes of households, and increasing property and motor vehicle thefts. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and Gain competitive intelligence about market players. Track key industry trends, opportunities, and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy, and market development. Request a free sample report Related Reports on Information Technology Include: Global Data Security Market - Global data security market is segmented by deployment (on-premises and cloud-based) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Network Security Market - Global network security market is segmented by type (hardware and software) and geographic landscape (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Share by Competitors Market Challenges Market Drivers Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005526/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] President Volodymyr Zelensky, who unveiled the new monument, said "Today's ceremony signals the beginning of our eightieth anniversary commemorations for the tragedy of the Babyn Yar massacre. It is our national and moral duty to remember the victims of the Holocaust who were murdered here in Ukraine and in Eastern Europe. The monument which I unveiled today and the wider construction of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center is an essential part of this. Babyn Yar represents a dark moment in Ukraine's history, but by commemorating it in this way, we create light and hope for the future." At today's ceremony, messages were broadcast from a number of global dignitaries including Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, who thanked Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and Natan Sharansky (Chair of the Supervisory Board at BYHMC) for their contribution towards commemorating the tragedy. He said "There has been no crueler, no more concentrated instance of mass killing than that of Babyn Yar. Thirty-three thousand seven hundred and seventy-one Jews, including infants, children, women and the elderly, were slaughtered for two days in the valley of killing at Babyn Yar. This land in the suburbs of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, cried silently. Never in the history of Europe has there been such a large-scale, effective extermination operation carried out in such a short time.We must not partake in the sin of forgetfulness and denial. I thank you, those who stand guard over memory and do everything possible to make sure nobody forgets. Let the memory of our brothers and sisters who were slaughtered at Babyn Yar, and at other extermination sites, be engraved in our hearts forever." Additional messages were sent by Natan Sharansky, Chair of the Supervisory Board at BYHMC, Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Jack Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress and Mark B. Levin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry. Today's ceremony was the first of a series of commemorative events to mark the eightieth year since the Babyn Yar massacre. 33,771 Jewish victims were shot at the Babyn Yar ravine by the Nazis during just two days, 29 and 30 September 1941. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Roma, mentally ill and others were shot thereafter at Babyn Yar throughout the Nazi occupation of Kyiv. It was also confirmed today that President Zelensky has approved the establishment of a committee to oversee the eightieth anniversary commemorations. The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal and the Head of the Presidential Administration, Andrii Yermak were appointed as co-chairmen of the committee, whose full title is the "Organizing Committee for the Holocaust Memorial to the Babyn Yar tragedy and strategic development of the historic Babyn Yar area in Kyiv". The committee of around 60 members so far, is comprised of academics, communal leaders and other dignitaries from Ukraine and across the world. At today's ceremony, Head of the Presidential Administration Andrii Yermak commented "The establishment of this committee is another important milestone towards developing a fitting commemoration of the Babyn Yar tragedy and its victims. I thank the impressive list of prominent figures on the committee for their involvement. For too long, the story of Babyn Yar has evaded the historical record and the collective public memory. With the leadership and help of this committee, the upcoming 80th anniversary will be a significant step towards correcting this." In a parallel development marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a European Parliament Working Group ("Babyn Yar Memory for the Future") called for "our colleagues, members of the European Parliament and Members of National Parliaments to commemorate" the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar massacre during 2021. Co-Chair of the Working Group and Member of the European Parliament, Monika Benova said, "I believe this should be a common effort shared between Europeans and Ukrainians." About the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center The Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Centre is a non-governmental charity whose purpose is to preserve and cultivate the memory of the Holocaust and the Babyn Yar tragedy in Ukraine by turning the Babyn Yar area into a place of remembrance. The Foundation's mission is to worthily honour the memory of the victims of the tragedy and to contribute to the humanization of society through preserving and studying the history of the Holocaust. In September 2020, Ukraine's government represented by the Minister of Culture Oleksandr Tkachenko, under the auspices of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with BYHMC, represented by Supervisory Board member Ronald S. Lauder, to promote the construction of a fitting memorial to the Babyn Yar tragedy. A series of commemorations during 2021 will mark the eightieth anniversary of the Babyn Yar tragedy. Video - https://youtu.be/Slknb6lpyrM Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427947/Andrii_Yermak_President_Volodymyr_Zelensky.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427950/A_Glimpse_into_the_Past_monument.jpg SOURCE Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center AFL great Billy Brownless' model daughter has revealed how the once fractured family came together for a Christmas dinner, five years after her parents split and mother Nicky began a new relationship with Billy's former best mate and Footy Show co-host Garry Lyon. The marriage break-up that shocked the AFL world had caused what seemed an irreparable rift between Brownless and Lyon, but time had apparently healed the wound sufficiently for the three of them, plus children, to break bread together at Christmas. In 2016, Lyon left his wife and started a relationship with Brownless' wife of 18 years, Nicky. Both men's marriages had ended before Nicky and Lyon announced they were a couple, but Brownless still felt betrayed because they had assured him they were nothing more than 'just good friends'. Billy Brownless spent Christmas Day with his children, ex wife and her new partner - his former best mate Garry Lyon - five years after the relationship destroyed the duo's friendship (Pictured clockwise around the table from bottom left, Max, Lucy, Nicky, Garry, Jan Smith, Ruby, Billy, Oscar) After five years of bad blood, Brownless and Lyon (pictured, second from left and third from right) seemed to have reconciled earlier in 2020, with Brownless saying they were in a 'good spot' Brownless posed with his four children Ruby, Lucy, Max and Oscar in Geelong on Christmas Day (pictured, the four kids with their dad, centre) After five years of bad blood, Brownless and Lyon began steps toward reconciliation earlier this year when Brownless said they were in a 'good spot', before spending Christmas Day together. Brownless' daughter Lucy described the lunch between the blended families as 'really special'. 'It worked really well and that was all very positive. We're all happy and happy to be all together. It was a great day. We were all really excited about that,' she told the Herald Sun. Also at the Christmas Day celebration was Lucy's siblings Ruby, Oscar and Max, who she spent lockdown with last year. 'We really enjoyed it and made the most of it. My grandma was with us, Oscar was in Queensland with Geelong for the footy and Ruby and Max and I got that time together which was really nice,' Lucy said. Brownless' daughter Lucy described Christmas Day lunch between the blended families as 'really special' Lyon was also featured in some of the happy snaps from the lunch in Geelong, illustrating that the men really have seemed to bury the hatchet - years after he quit the Footy Show when the scandal erupted. Brownless, 53, addressed the issue with fellow AFL greats Sam Newman and Don Scott on an episode of the pair's You Cannot Be Serious podcast back in September. 'You know I'm going to ask you this - people want to know how you and Garry Lyon are going on,' Newman said at the tail end of the podcast. 'At the time you go through all different emotions of course,' Brownless responded. ''Why me?' and a bit of hatred. 'But now mate, it's been four or five years, I've come around and everyone is in a good spot to be honest. Garry and Nicky are - that's fine - and the kids are. 'That was the other big problem. Young Maxy was about 10, Oscar was about 14, the girls [Lucy and Ruby] were 16, 17.' Billy Brownless and Nicky Brownless (left) with Garry Lyon and Melissa Lyon (right) in 2012. Lyon famously started a relationship with Nicky - Billy Brownless' wife of 18 years Brownless with his daughters Lucy and Ruby at Flemington Racecourse in 2017. Brownless said in a podcast the break-up had been more difficult by the young age of his children. 'Young Maxy was about 10, Oscar was about 14, the girls were 16, 17,' he said Brownless conceded though he had not fully regained the friendship with Lyon they once had - saying the pair 'might be' able to be mates like before at some point. 'There's no Christmas cards yet but we have spoken a couple of times,' he said. 'The kids live with Garry and Nicky and things like that.' When probed on how long it had taken for him to move on from the split, Brownless said two years was too short, but five years may be more accurate. 'There's no problems, we're in a good space, he's in a good space, Nicky is, the kids are and so am I. But that has taken time. It has,' Brownless said. [January 27, 2021] SAP to Acquire Business Process Intelligence Company Signavio WALLDORF, Germany, and BERLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) and Signavio GmbH today announced that SAP has entered into an agreement to acquire Signavio, a leader in the enterprise business process intelligence and process management space. Combining Signavio with the Business Process Intelligence unit of SAP will strengthen SAP's capacity to help companies quickly understand, improve, transform and manage their business processes at scale. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory approval. "In today's dynamic world, companies of all sizes need the ability to rapidly adapt their business processes to fast-changing market conditions," said Luka Mucic, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. "I cannot overstress the importance for companies to be able to design, benchmark, improve and transform business processes across the enterprise to support new capabilities and business models. The combination of business process intelligence from SAP and Signavio creates a leading end-to-end business process transformation suite to help our customers achieve the requirements needed to gain a competitive edge. SAP and Signavio are a great cultural fit and share the same values, and we are excited about joining forces with them to deliver on our Intelligent Enterprise strategy." Business Process Intelligence is a key part of SAP's new offering, the RISE with SAP package. The offering helps companies perform a holistic business transformation that makes them resilient, agile and intelligent. It includes support for an accelerated move of core ERP processes to the cloud. Signavio's integrated cloud-native process management suite perfectly complements existing business process intelligence software from SAP. With the addition of Signavio, SAP can now provide a holistic suite of flexible process transformation solutions for customers to transform their business processes end to end. That includes business process design, benchmarking, gap analysis, improvement and process change management. The suite will also allow customers to monitor the long-run success of these process changes. "Signavio's capabilities in making business processes intelligent are highly complementary with our own," said Rouven Morato, General Manager, Business Process Intelligence, SAP. "While we are providing insights using our deep understanding of business processes running in our applications and based on that can provide unmatched benchmarking capabilities, Signavio's approach to transformation is process modelcentric. Signavio's process modeling and management functionalities, and its process governance and collaboration solution, are among the market leaders in the industry and are the missing component for providing our customers an end-to-end process transformation suite." The combination of SAP and Signavio will bring together standardized process KPIs, broad benchmarking data, process mining, user behavior mining and customer experience analysis to give customers a 360-degree view of every business process. It will also povide tools to fully understand and transform the processes. "By joining SAP, we tap into the broadest business application software portfolio in the market, running the processes of the world," said Dr. Gero Decker, Co-founder and CEO, Signavio. "Considering the positioning of SAP, its geographical coverage and financial muscle, SAP is the biggest and best platform to bring process intelligence to every organization. For us, it's a massive jump start and a major opportunity to help SAP become a key player in the business process management and intelligence space." SAP and Signavio agreed not to disclose the purchase price or other financial details of this transaction. Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews. About Signavio Over one million users in more than 2,000 organizations worldwide rely on Signavio's unique offering to make process part of their DNA. With its powerful mining, modelling and automation capabilities, Signavio's Business Transformation Suite is a cloud-based management platform that enables midsize and large organizations to understand, improve and transform all of their business processes faster than ever and at scale, providing new levels of business process speed and real-time intelligence. Its intelligent decision-making tools address digital transformation, operational excellence and customer centricity, placing them at the heart of the world's leading organizations. Headquartered in Berlin, with offices in the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, Singapore, Japan, India and Australia, Signavio has helped optimize over two million processes across the globe. The company is backed by Apax Digital, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP) and Summit Partners. For more information, visit www.signavio.com. About SAP SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com . Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. 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View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sap-to-acquire-business-process-intelligence-company-signavio-301216350.html SOURCE SAP SE [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - In a quick reverse to the downward trend, coronavirus deaths surged past the 4000 mark in the United States on Tuesday. This is the fourth time that more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths were recorded in a single day since the pandemic broke out in the country a year ago. With 4087 additional fatalities reporting in the last 24 hours, the total U.S. death toll from the deadly disease rose to 425216, as per latest data from the Johns Hopkins University. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 cases is falling nearly everywhere in the country. COVID-19 hospitalizations in the country fell to the lowest figure in 43 days. 108,957 people are currently admitted in U.S. hospitals with coronavirus infection, which is the fewest since December 14, according to the latest data by COVID Tracking Project. Out of this, 20,573 patients are admitted in Intensive Care Units. The numbers reached a peak of 132,474 on January 6. While cases and hospitalizations are falling, the 7-day average for deaths jumped up Tuesday. After many dark weeks, the situation in California is improving. Tuesday's reported case count in the state - 17028 - is the lowest since December 1. Hospitalizations have fallen to levels last seen before Christmas. However, reported deaths remain at record levels. The test positivity rate remained steady at 9.08 percent. 44.3 million anti-covid vaccine doses were distributed and 23.5 million people were vaccinated on Tuesday, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration has issued a nationwide 'import alert' for all alcohol-based hand sanitizers imported from Mexico pending the agency's product safety review. 'Over the course of the ongoing pandemic, the agency has seen a sharp increase in hand sanitizer products from Mexico that were labelled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but tested positive for methanol contamination,' says a FDA press release. With the pandemic showing no sign of easing, the confirmed cases of the coronavirus crossed 100 million globally. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that Covid-19 has killed 100,000 people in the U.K., making it the country with the highest number of confirmed deaths in the world, proportionate to population. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de A Scottish influencer has been praised for proving that you can create 'inspiring content' in the UK rather than flying to Dubai during the pandemic. Lauren Faulkner, 22, last night donated treats to a food van in Edinburgh run by non-profit Steps to Hope, which helps the homeless and those suffering with addiction. During her visit she attended a meeting with those who have been helped by the charity, and has since arranged a raffle for her Instagram followers to raise money for the organisation. She received floods of comments on social media, hailing the influencer 'amazing', and saying her work proves that going abroad is not the only way to make quality content during the pandemic. Lauren, who boasts 48,400 followers on Instagram and 61,900 followers on Twitter and also has an OnlyFans account and a YouTube channel, Trans Life & Wife, where she and her partner Charlie Allan, a transgender man, answer questions about their relationship. It comes after swathes of Influencers were criticised for flying from the UK to Dubai to escape the third lockdown - with Sheridan Mordew, 24, from Sunderland becoming the latest to be criticised following a This Morning appearance yesterday. Lauren Faulkner, 22, (pictured) has been praised for creating 'inspiring content' in the UK rather than flying to Dubai during the pandemic Last night the influencer donated some non-essential treats to a food van in Edinburgh run by non-profit Steps to Hope. Pictured, Lauren with her partner and Richard Roncero of Steps to Hope She was praised by Twitter users who said her work proves that going abroad is not the only way to make quality content during the pandemic Sharing photos of herself and Charlie in front of the van, Lauren penned: 'I wanted to go along to the Monday munchies food van Steps to Hope run and take along a few non-essential treats for everyone. 'I got there at 5 oclock and saw a huge queue of people waiting by the food van. I then found out they werent open for another half an hour or so but the queue was already that long. 'I was lucky enough to be invited to a support group meetings and got to meet some of the addicts Steps to Hope work with. I sat in awe the whole meeting listening to these incredible ladies and gentlemen talk about how Steps to Hope have turned their lives around. Two of them even moved into accommodation that day. 'After the meeting we stayed and chatted to people at the food van, listened to them sing, saw them enjoy a hot meal (for many it was their first of the day) and learnt and listened about peoples stories.' In a lengthy post, the influencer wrote: 'This past year has been so hard for everyone but the majority of us have had the luxury of staying home and staying safe but many people dont have that option!' Personal trainer Sheridan Mordew, 24, from Sunderland, was criticised on This Morning after claiming she had travelled to Dubai only for business (pictured in Dubai) After discovering that the charity has no government funding, Lauren started selling 2 raffle tickets to win various of beauty products, clothes and tech, with all the proceeds going to Steps to Hope. 'This past year has been so hard for everyone but the majority of us have had the luxury of staying home and staying safe but many people dont have that option! Please help support them,' Lauren wrote. Sharing the post on Twitter, one user wrote: 'Solid proof that as an influencer, you dont have to go to Dubai to create content that inspires.' One Instagram user said: 'So so proud!! Love you two! Sweetest darlings ever' 'Amazing work', another commented. Lauren last year starred in BBC Scotland documentary 'Not Your Average Influencers'. During her visit she attended a meeting with those who have been helped by the charity, which helps the homeless and those suffering with addiction After discovering that the charity has no government funding, Lauren started selling 2 raffle tickets to win various of beauty products, clothes and tech, with all the proceeds going to Steps to Hope After posting a lengthy statement about her visit, Lauren received floods of comments on social media, hailing the influencer 'amazing' Her partner is Charlie Allan, a transgender man, who speaks on about his journey on their YouTube channel Trans Life & Wife. The documentary detailed Charlie's transitioning from female to male, including the struggles of dealing with long NHS waiting lists and delayed treatment. Last year Charlie launched an online Go Fund Me page to raise money to remove his breasts and within four days reached over 6,000 with the help of his followers. The documentary also revealed how Lauren is dealing with deeply debilitating OCD and emetophobia, a fear of vomiting, which has caused a dangerous addiction to anti-sickness pills. Unable to work a normal nine-to-five job, Lauren revealed on the documentary how she has entered the world of online sex work, and currently runs an OnlyFans account selling risque pictures online for up to 3,000. Her partner is Charlie Allan, (pictured right) a transgender man, who speaks on about his journey on their YouTube channel Trans Life & Wife The pair met through social media over a year ago when Lauren decided to direct message Charlie, 22, on Twitter, with the pair exchanging flirty messages that soon blossomed into a relationship. The couple, who were named Best Newcomer at the Cosmopolitan Influencer of the Year awards in 2020, have grown a following of 59,500 on YouTube answering questions about their relationship. 'We talk about subjects that a lot of people might be a little bit scared to talk about or might be a little bit hesitant to talk about, said Lauren told Insider. 'And we're also answering all the questions that people are too scared to ask but we're doing it in an informative, funny, safe environment.' With gyms, bars, restaurants and clubs remaining open, Dubai has attracted a number of British influencers wanting to escape the national lockdown and take advantage of its opportunities to sell products in places that remain closed back home. Lauren revealed on the documentary how she entered the world of online sex work, and currently runs an Only Fans account selling risque pictures online for up to 3000 'Essential work trips' have enabled people to travel from the UK, but social media stars using that as justification for their trip have attracted some backlash from those in lockdown. Yesterday, personal trainer Sheridan came under fire for sharing glamorous, sunshine-filled content with her Instagram followers as she enjoys relaxed restrictions in the United Arab Emirates. The influencer, who has since made her Instagram account private, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown, in order to film live workouts to inspire her clients back home in the UK. Sheridan travelled while Sunderland and the rest of the North East entered Tier 4 on January 1, meaning people were told to stay at home and avoid all non-essential travel, unless the person was legally permitted to do so. Sheridan has shared snaps of her lavish holiday in Dubai on her Instagram page and claims it is lifting other people's spirits During an appearance on ITV's This Morning, she said: 'The reason I came to Dubai was purely for business.' A cynical Phillip Schofield told Sheridan: 'A lot of the fitness stuff, this could be in your garage in Bolton, you don't have to be in Dubai to do that.' The influencer claimed she had travelled to the United Arab Emirates because she was struggling with her mental health, adding that 'clients depend on me to bring them happiness'. She said her thought process was: 'The only way I'm gonna get out of this is to find an opportunity to get out of here on a plane to Dubai.' Her segment was not well received online, where people vented their frustration on Twitter and branded her 'selfish, disgraceful and heartless'. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- National nonprofit organization the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) announced today that 60 financial institutions with over 28,000 branches across the entire country now offer accounts certified as meeting newly updated Bank On National Account Standards (2021-2022). These bank and credit union accounts support local Bank On coalition efforts to expand access to safe and appropriate financial products and services to the almost 36 million people outside of the mainstream financial system. These low cost, no-overdraft, no-surprise-fee bank and credit union accounts have been highlighted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other federal agencies in connecting people to claiming or depositing their Economic Impact (stimulus) and other emergency payments, and were recently embraced by the American Bankers Association, which publicly urged all its members to offer a Bank On certified product to their customers. Consumer financial products certified as meeting these national Standards are already available in 99 of the largest 100 metro markets, and in 50 states and Washington, DC, at banks and credit unions that range in size from 2 branches to 5,500 branches; financial institutions with Bank On certified accounts already comprise over 45% of the national deposit market share. Additionally, the CFE Fund announced the certification of an account from its first digital bank partner, Discover Bank. The CFE Fund is also working with nearly all of the country's core banking service providers, who have also pledged to connect their customer financial institution clients to be able to offer Bank On accounts, and dozens of additional bank and credit union accounts are in the pipeline heading toward certification. "Mainstream banking isn't a luxury, and we cannot afford for it to be seen as one. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the financial and health importance of an affordable bank or credit union account to receive emergency payments, pay bills, and manage money safely. Vulnerable consumers, struggling with the financial impact of the pandemic, need an affordable, secure, and productive account and Bank On partners across the country are stepping up to meet this need," said Jonathan Mintz, President and CEO, Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund. "With the country's largest and smallest banks and credit unions offering Bank On certified accounts that can be opened anywhere in the country including adding our first digital bank partner to those with branches our almost 80 Bank On coalitions across the country have powerful tools to support their local work connecting those outside of the financial mainstream to critically stabilizing products and services." Bank On works to ensure that everyone has access to safe and affordable financial products and services. The Bank On National Account Standards identify critical product features for appropriate bank or credit union accounts, making it easier for local coalitions across the country to connect consumers to accounts that meet their needs. Core account features include low costs, no overdraft fees, robust transaction capabilities such as a debit or prepaid card, and online bill pay. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' Bank On National Data Hub found that 75% of consumers opening Bank On certified accounts at reporting institutions were new banking customers. First released in 2015, notable changes in the 2021 2022 Standards include disallowing activation and early closure fees while promoting greater access to out-of-network ATMs. The CFE Fund now certifies 60 account products meeting the Bank On National Account Standards; the full list of certified accounts can be found at www.joinbankon.org/accounts/. "We are proud to be a longstanding supporter of Bank On, including the effort to have accounts with common standards that give more people access to banking. Having access to an affordable bank account like Chase Secure Banking can make a meaningful difference in people's lives. It helps them access their money quickly-- with options to visit thousands of branches and ATMs without incurring additional charges--, allows them to receive deposits and make payments from their mobile account, and makes it possible for more people to fully participate in the banking system," said Lawrence Bailey, head of Community Banking and consumer financial health at JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase has long been the seed funder of the CFE Fund's national Bank On initiative. "My vision of One Atlanta amplifies the need for economic mobility for all Atlantans. A safe and affordable bank, or credit union account, is a critical building block for financial success," said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. "Bank On Atlanta is proud to be part of the national Bank On movement and we are grateful to see the growing list of financial institutions with accounts that meet the CFE Fund's Bank On National Account Standards." "Now more than ever with so many people facing financial challenges, having a safe and affordable bank account to keep your money secure is critical," said Rafael Carbajal, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. "As the coordinator of the Bank On Los Angeles County program, we have seen directly how access to a mainstream bank can empower consumers. As we've witnessed during the pandemic, having a bank account is essential to promptly and reliably receiving government benefits and other forms of COVID relief. We applaud the CFE Fund for their continual work to secure additional bank and credit union partners and provide safe financial products to so many people and families in need." "More banks offering Bank On-certified accounts means greater access to the banking system and the economic opportunities that come with a bank account," said ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols. "Our announcement urging banks to join this important movement has led to an impressive increase in the number of banks pursuing Bank On certification, and we will continue to work with institutions across the country to help them offer these accounts in their communities." "Being the first digital bank that meets Bank On's certification standards reinforces Discover's commitment to providing no-fee, easy to use and understand financial products for everyone. Cashback Debit from Discover not only has zero fees but rewards customers with cashback on eligible purchases for their everyday spending, allowing them to keep more of what they earn and save," said Carlos Minetti, president of consumer banking at Discover. "Being digital means customers can sign up and access their accounts whenever and wherever they are while knowing they always have 24/7 access to our award-winning, U.S.-based customer service." "PNC Bank is pleased to join the Bank On team as a certified partner," said Bonnie Wikert, executive vice president and head of Retail Segments and Deposit Products at PNC. "We are committed to providing inclusive banking services for customers who may not have access to traditional checking or savings accounts. Our Smart Access prepaid debit card product is designed to help those customers conduct their banking in a safe and convenient manner." "River City FCU is dedicated to helping our community thrive and that includes making sure that people have access to safe and affordable financial products, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," said River City Federal Credit Union President and CEO Jeff Ivey. "We're excited to continue to offer Bexar County residents an account that meets the CFE Fund's Bank On National Account Standards, and look forward to helping more people build their financial stability through the Fresh Start Checking account." Made up of local government and community leaders, financial institutions, regulators, and advocates, Bank On coalitions create programmatic opportunities to connect unbanked consumers to certified accounts. Coalition leaders also work with financial institutions serving their communities to encourage them to offer Bank On certified accounts. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the critical importance of Bank On coalitions' efforts; in addition to serving as financial security experts in their communities, coalitions continued to negotiate with financial institutions to offer certified accounts, explore virtual and pandemic-related programmatic banking integrations, and emphasize the importance of online account opening functionality. Coalitions also supported residents through emphasizing the importance of banking access, especially given the surge of unemployment benefits and the distribution of federal Economic Impact Payments, and highlighting banking access resources. The number of institutions with certified accounts continues to grow, including through a partnership with industry leaders. In late 2020, the American Bankers Association urged their members to offer a product that meets the CFE Fund's Bank On National Account Standards. As part of this announcement, ABA worked with nearly all of the nation's core-service providers to make it easier than ever for thousands of banks to offer Bank On-certified accounts. Banks and credit unions can submit online for validation, at no charge, accounts that they believe meet the Bank On National Account Standards. Validation is conducted by a third-party validator partner, the National Consumer Law Center. The CFE Fund leads the national Bank On movement, supporting dozens of local coalitions working to connect individuals and families to the financial mainstream through partnerships between local governments, financial institutions, and community organizations. The CFE Fund offers grant resources and technical assistance to support local coalitions' efforts, including the Bank On Coalition Playbook. To learn more about Bank On and the National Account Standards click here, or follow the conversation on Twitter @CFEfund #BankOn. About the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) The CFE Fund supports municipal efforts to improve the financial stability of households by leveraging opportunities unique to local government. By translating cutting edge experience with large scale programs, research, and policy in cities of all sizes, the CFE Fund assists mayors and other local leaders in over 100 cities and counties to identify, develop, fund, implement, and research pilots and programs that help families build assets and make the most of their financial resources. For more information, please visit www.cfefund.org or follow us on Twitter at @CFEFund. Media Contact: Rachel Stand [email protected] SOURCE Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund Related Links http://www.cfefund.org No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13). People often quote this verse to encourage those who are going through trials or difficult circumstances, but the true context is in relation to temptation. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, a church that allowed immoral behaviors to continue among the body and failed to hold their brothers and sisters accountable for open sin. His letter is a strong rebuke to a carnal and spiritually immature body who struggled with separating themselves from the pagan culture around them. 1 Corinthians 10 is a blueprint for Christ-followers who want to walk in faithful obedience to Gods commands and avoid falling into sin when temptations come. Paul takes us back to a time period in Israels history that they would rather forget when he revisits the rebellious children of God in the wilderness. He begins by recounting their spiritual heritage. All the children of Israel experienced Gods miraculous rescue across the Red Sea; all ate the manna; all saw God provide water from a rock; all were protected by the presence of God in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased, for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved (1 Corinthians 10:5-6). All believers have access to the same spiritual resources found in Christ if we have been saved. Yet, it is our individual choices that determine how successfully we navigate the temptations of life, because faith is a personal experience. Paul describes four actions or attitudes that tempted the Israelites to stumble and fall into sin. Each begins with the letter I, which is appropriate because just as faith is personal, sin is personal. Photo credit: Getty Images/ra2studio Colombian Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo died Tuesday of coronavirus complications, the country's president announced. He was 69. Trujillo is one of about a dozen sitting cabinet ministers worldwide to have succumbed to the virus that has killed at least 2.1 million people since the outbreak began in China in December 2019. He was hospitalized in Bogota on January 11 and admitted to intensive care four days later after suffering "acute lung function deterioration," according to the defense ministry. Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Twitter that Trujillo had died at dawn from complications due to Covid-19. "Thank you, friend; thank you, partner; thank you, minister, thank you @CarlosHolmesTru. Your life was the purest reflection of vocation and public service," Duque wrote. Several top politicians around the world have survived coronavirus infection, including former US president Donald Trump, Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro, Emmanuel Macron of France and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In December, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini of Eswatini -- formerly Swaziland -- became the first sitting leader to die, joining ex-leaders such as former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, Swiss ex-president Flavio Cotti and Burundi's former head of state Pierre Buyoya. Born in Cali in Colombia's southwest, Trujillo has served in government under six presidents since 1990 -- as interior and education minister, and several times as an ambassador. - 'A great gentleman' - After a frustrated bid for the presidency, he was appointed foreign minister in Duque's government in 2018. He then took over the defense portfolio after the resignation in 2019 of Guillermo Botero, accused of having tried to cover up the deaths of children in a military air strike on a drug gang. In his last role, Trujillo was faced with the worst attacks committed in Colombia since the signing of a peace agreement with the armed guerilla group FARC in 2016. According to the Indepaz independent observatory, Colombia in 2020 witnessed 91 massacres -- described as attacks resulting in three or more deaths. Trujillo said these crimes were motivated by the expansion of drug trafficking during the government of Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018). "Despite our differences lately, he was always a great gentleman," Santos said on Twitter. Fernando Navarro, the head of the Colombian armed forces, acted as defense minister during Trujillo's hospitalization. Colombia has reported more than two million Covid-19 cases, according to official figures, and almost 52,000 deaths. The South American nation has kept its land and river borders closed for nearly a year and will keep them shut until at least March 1. Nigerias trade report for two quarters of 2020 has given an insight into the items the country spent most of its foreign exchange on as COVID-19 hammered the nations economy and shut businesses. The report by the National Trade Negotiation Office shows that for the second and third quarters of last year, the country imported mostly identical items, suggesting the trend continued for the entire year. Nigeria relies heavily on importation, and buys a reasonable amount of even food from other countries. It exports mostly crude oil and gas. Second Quarter The value of Nigeria merchandise trade in the second quarter stood at N6.2 trillion, lower by 27.30 per cent than what was achieved between January and March when COVID-19 lockdown had not taken a hold. Of that figure, Nigeria only exported goods worth N2.2 trillion, almost half of what it sold the previous quarter, leaving a trade deficit of N1.8 trillion. The country imported the most from China, United States and India in the second quarter of 2020. Others are India, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Italy. For the second quarter, between April and June, here are the 10 most imported items: 1. Used vehicles 2. Durum wheat 3. Motorcycles 4. Motor spirit ordinary 5. Herbicides and anti-sprouting products 6. Machines or the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images 7. Milk and cream in powder 8. Cane sugar meant for sugars refinery 9. Antibiotics 10. Flat/hot rolled iron/steel in coil Third Quarter The third quarter, between July and September, saw mostly the same items, but with some climbing the table. ADVERTISEMENT Herbicides and anti-sprouting products, machines or the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images, antibiotics and flat/hot rolled iron/steel in coil did not make the first 10 this time. Plumbing items like taps, valves made the list, bringing the total number of items to 11. Here is the list for Q3. 1. Motor spirit ordinary 2. Durum Wheat 3. Used vehicles 4. Cane sugar 5. Motorcycles 6. Gas oil 7. Milk and cream powder 8. Plumbing parts like taps, valves With the aim of tackling the impacts of climate change, the UK has launched a new international coalition in partnership with Egypt and other countries. The coalition was announced by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Netherlands-hosted Climate Adaptation Summit held from 25 to 26 January. The initiative was developed by the UK in partnership with Egypt, Bangladesh, Malawi, the Netherlands, Saint Lucia and the United Nations. Addressing the gathering, Johnson said, "It is undeniable that climate change is already upon us and is already devastating lives and economies. We must adapt to our changing climate, and we must do so now. Ill be making the need for a resilient recovery a priority of the UKs G7 presidency this year," he added. "To make sure we get not just warm words but real change, I am today launching an all-new Adaptation Action Coalition to set the agenda ahead of COP26. Lets work together to adapt, to become more resilient, and to save lives and livelihoods all around the world, he added. COP26 is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference that is scheduled for 1-12 November in Glasgow, Scotland under the presidency of the UK. The new coalition will work to turn international political commitments made through the United Nations Call for Action on Adaptation and Resilience into on-the-ground support for vulnerable communities, the PM said. The UK, which is currently experiencing more high rainfall events as a result of climate change, has committed an additional 5.2 billion to new flood and coastal defence schemes, he added. Alok Sharma, a former UK minister who will preside over COP26, called on all countries to come forward with ambitious adaptation plans. "This important new coalition will crucially focus minds around the world to accelerate adaptation delivery in the areas most in need," he added during his speech at the event. He noted that the coalition will draw on the expertise of scientists, businesses, civil society and more, and will act as a forum for developed and developing countries to share knowledge and best practice on local, regional and global solutions to deal with climate change. Short link: Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Schaumburg, IL, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEIDENHAIN is proud to introduce a new high accuracy motion feedback encoder that can now be used for absolute positioning in machines in the semiconductor, metrology and robotic industries. This new LIC 3100 absolute kit encoder is an additional offering that fits between HEIDENHAINs already successful LIC 4100 and 2100 series. It is expected to be of special interest to users since it is also especially tolerant to contamination and has very loose mounting tolerances. It is important to note that the graduation of the new LIC 3100 encoder is carried by a sturdy stainless-steel tape. This steel tape scale has a 2-track graduation resulting in a period of 80 microns. The tape scale is offered in rolls at 3m, 5m, and 10m lengths and can be inserted into an aluminum extrusion for better thermal growth behavior or can be mounted directly to the motion axis surface with an adhesive backing on the steel tape. The reader head of the LIC 3100 can output a measuring step of just 10 nanometers and maintain a velocity of 10 meters per second. It is offered with the well-known EnDat 2.2 high speed serial electrical interface as well as five others, making it plug-and-play compatible with motion controllers. The interpolation error, or cyclical error, is merely +/- 100 nanometers, allowing the encoder to provide smooth constant velocity and allow linear motors to function more efficiently. Mounting of the reader head to the scale is fast and simple due to forgiving mounting tolerances and easy-to-use handheld diagnostic tools like HEIDENHAINs PWT 101. A zero-datum position can be programmed anywhere along the scale length. About HEIDENHAIN DR. JOHANNES HEIDENHAIN GmbH, headquartered in Traunreut, Germany, develops and supports motion control feedback solutions for the machine tool, semiconductor, electronics assembly and test, metrology, automation, medical, energy, biotechnology and other global markets. HEIDENHAIN employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide in its core business activities. The North American subsidiary is HEIDENHAIN CORPORATION, headquartered in Schaumburg, IL, and San Jose, CA, and has been serving the U.S. industry for over 50 years. Here nine company brands are represented. More information at: www.heidenhain.us/about-us # High-resolution image available at: https://www.heidenhain.us/addl-materials/pr/2021/LIC31xx_g_mM_de.jpg Product contact: Kevin Kaufenberg, HEIDENHAIN Business Development Manager, Electronics kkaufenberg@heidenhain.com or 847-490-0387 Attachment Howell Police Chief Andrew Kudrick wasnt going to take a chance. When New Jersey made law enforcement members eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, he got his. And he anticipated most of his officers would too. But less than half only 60 of the 165 employees in his department have received it as of Monday night. Theres skepticism, Kudrick explained, and he understands why. Some want to see what happens to their colleagues before they get inoculated. Kudrick has encouraged his officers to get the vaccine. He trusts the science behind it, he said. And even though hes not in an at-risk category hes a healthy and fit 47-year-old man he fears the unknown if he were to be infected. I just dont want to be admitted to the hospital and discover that I have an underlying condition, he said. Howell Chief of Police Andrew Kudrick Jr., right, is interviewed for TV news after a huge tree crashed into a house in Howell on July 23, 2019. Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Like Kudrick, police and fire officials around the state are encouraging the rank-and-file to get vaccinated. Theyve been the first in the chair to get inoculated, leading by example. Still, plenty of reluctance remains. In Jersey City, for example, roughly 200 firefighters in the 660-member paid fire department were vaccinated, Chief Steven McGill said. (McGill added that almost 200 members have already had COVID-19 and are thought to carry antibodies.) Enthusiasm among law enforcement to get the vaccine seems slightly lower than the general public. A state Department of Health survey found that 78% of the 2,712 respondents said they would likely get the vaccine when its available. Only 10% said theyre not interested, according to the poll conducted from Jan. 17-23. Pat Colligan, president of the state Police Benevolent Association, said he believes about 65% of the 33,000 members he represents have gotten vaccinated. Ed Donnelly, president of the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association which represents just over 5,000 active and retired career firefighters said a large majority of his membership has gotten the vaccine. A lot of our members, once we got moved into the queue, took advantage of it, Donnelly said. Howell Police Lt. John Yurgel was eagerly awaiting the green light from the state to get vaccinated. Police officers are in constant contact with the public. And for that reason, Yurgel explained, his decision to get the vaccine was a no-brainer. As soon as it came available, I was going to get it, the 49-year-old father of four said. I had confidence in the companies putting it out that they werent going to put something out that was harmful. At least 13 police officers in New Jersey have died from the coronavirus, Colligan said. In Newark, one of the states largest police forces, seven officers have succumbed to the virus, according to police officials. The most recent was earlier this month longtime officer Hector Moya, 55. Lt. James Bryan, a 53-year-old retired New Jersey State Police trooper, also died recently from the virus. About 10 to 15 officers in Howell have contracted COVID-19, but no one has died. Kudrick has tried to incentivize inoculation. His officers can get it on company time. Hes reduced the return-to-work requirements for those who have traveled outside New Jersey. And if they suffer side effects, they wouldnt have to burn a sick day. One thing he will not do is mandate COVID-19 vaccines, he said. Theres no way Im going down that path, mandating putting something in someones body, Kudrick said. So whats stopping those in law enforcement who havent gotten it? Police officers, Colligan explained, have a history of distrust in government dating back to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I understand the trepidation, he said. We had a past governor who told us that the air was safe at Ground Zero, and we have 1,200-1,300 dead cops, firefighters and construction workers. (Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman was the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency during 9/11 and said the air at the site was safe to breathe. She has since conceded it was not. Hundreds of Ground Zero workers have since died of 9/11-related illnesses.) Kudrick said some officers believe that the vaccine was rushed without proper oversight, a concern he said is not a valid one. In Paterson the states third-most populous city Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale was one of the first law enforcement officials to get the vaccine. I did it solely so they wouldnt have the fear, Speziale said. Im willing to take that on because I believe that its something worthwhile and will help us combat this. Speziale said a number of his officers have gotten it. The department has been rattled by the wrath of the virus. Early in the pandemic, a 34-year-old patrol officer died from complications related to COVID-19. And a captain in the department who worked out daily contracted the disease and almost had to be placed on a ventilator. I think they recognize the dangers, seeing a slew of people who got it very violently, Speziale said. Especially now, you read the news and see theres a new variant. Like I said, Im ready to get whatever I have to put in my arm. Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Can data from traffic stops end disparities in policing? The Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) launched a contact data collection program to capture demographic and other information related to traffic stops that will then be analyzed for patterns of racial and ethnic disparities. Started Jan. 1, the program involves troopers collecting information during self-initiated traffic stops that then goes to researchers led by criminal justice professor Robin Engel at the University of Cincinnati (UC). Engel will study the data and make recommendations on changes to PSP policy or training based on her teams results. Troopers take an oath to enforce the law without any consideration of class, color, creed or condition and collecting this data will help us ensure that we are upholding that oath, Capt. Sean Georgia, director of the Radio and Information Services Division of PSPs Bureau of Communications and Information Services, wrote in email responses to GCN. We believe this program will not only inform future decisions on training and department policy, but also build trust and legitimacy within the communities we serve by demonstrating our departments commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. The contact data reports (CDRs) have more than 30 fields, including driver and passenger age, ethnicity, gender, race and reason for the stop. Several fields are automatically populated, such as the troopers employee number and the county name and municipality code, based on location selection. Others can be entered manually or from drop-down menus. Troopers also note how long the stop took, whether they searched the vehicle and the result of any such search. CDRs are integrated into PSPs existing records management system (RMS) and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. The Traffic and Criminal Software (TraCS) application -- which troopers use to create enforcement forms, such as traffic citations, non-traffic citations and police warning notices from the patrol vehicle -- securely communicates with RMS and other PSP databases. Data from those databases can be auto populated into enforcement forms and the CDR, Georgia said. Additionally, TraCS, RMS and CAD have allowed PSP to create a ruleset that requires a CDR whenever troopers conduct a self-initiated traffic stop, he said. PSP ran a similar CDR program from 2002 through 2011, and UC researchers analyzed that, too. To complete reports at that time, troopers had to complete a separate paper report by filling in bubbles on a scantron sheet, Georgia said. A supervisor reviewed the forms and mailed them to UC, where researchers entered the data into a database. Technology advances will benefit the new system, according to the program's announcement. For instance, the auto population feature for most required CDR fields is new. It saves troopers time and makes their reporting more accurate, Georgia said. If a trooper were not to complete the CDR at the time of the traffic stop, the CDR still auto populates based upon linkage rules between the various databases a trooper accesses and PSPs internal RMS, he said. Additionally, if a trooper fails to complete the CDR within three days, they receive an auto-generated email reminder. After five days, the troopers supervisor receives an auto-generated email reminder. Whats more, aggregated data from the reports goes to UC on a biweekly basis using a secure file-transfer process, he added. There, Engel, who is also director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police/University of Cincinnati Center for Police Research and Policy, and her team will compare the data against benchmarks theyve developed using multivariate data analyses of post-stop outcomes, such as arrests, citations, citizen complaints, searches, seizures, uses of force and warnings. They will conduct these studies at the area, troop and station levels and make recommendations on changes to PSP policy or training based on their results. The program runs through the end of the year. The UC team will provide regular reports in that time and a final statistical analysis in April 2022. PSP will likely continue the collection and analysis of CDRs in the future, officials said. Fairfield, MT (59436) Today Mainly clear skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 35F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 35F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. A damning report into Google's market power over the Australian advertisement market will be released on Thursday. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has raised concerns about the dominance the search giant has when it comes to advertising. The report will show whether or not Google is operating competitively and will call for more transparency. 'Due to Google's presence across the ad tech supply chain, its strong position in the supply of certain services, and the opacity of the supply chain, Google is likely to have the ability and incentive to favour its own related business interests (self preferencing),' a draft report read. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has raised concerns about the dominance the search giant has when it comes to advertising (stock) Google's digital display advertising, made up a massive 37 per cent of the total advertising in the 2019-20 financial year which is around $3.4b (stock) Google's digital display advertising made up a massive 37 per cent of the total advertising in the 2019-20 financial year, which is around $3.4b. What should we know about Google? Estimated worth is A$1.29 trillion 94.4% of search traffic goes through google in Australia 19 million Australians use it Also owns YouTube Google news shut down in Spain since 2014 Recently agreed to pay French news publishers A$1.68billion over 3 years Advertisement The search engine's technology also controls the real time auction of display ads which are personalised to individual users. The user will then see the ads on multiple sites which represents Google's control on the advertising supply chain, The Australian reported. ACCC accused Google of taking advantage of its power and their 'ability and incentive to favour its own related business interests'. The Australian government is battling Google and Facebook over plans to force the companies to pay news publishers for their content. Google says the news bargaining code, which is being examined by a Senate committee before a vote in parliament early this year, will damage its business. The government is preparing to introduce a voluntary code of conduct in relation to online disinformation, pushing companies like Facebook and Google to be more transparent and accountable about policing their content. In response, Google launched a fresh bid to tackle a federal government move to make it pay for news content, offering a $1.3 billion program to support journalism. ACCC accused Google of taking advantage of its power and their 'ability and incentive to favour its own related business interests' (stock) Facebook and Google are so unhappy about a proposed new law requiring they negotiate with publishers to pay to link to news articles that they are threatening to withdraw services for Australian users The world-first news media bargaining code is currently being scrutinised by a Senate committee which is due to report on February 12, before the laws are voted on in parliament. The government says the code will ensure digital platforms like Google share the benefit they obtain from using Australian-sourced news content with the news media businesses who create that content. Agreements are encouraged to be struck outside of the code, but 'final offer arbitration' will be applied if bargaining between the parties does not succeed, with penalties for bad faith action. Google Australia managing director Mel Silva (pictured) said some changes were made to the code but 'the law still threatens to fundamentally damage Google Search' Google Australia managing director Mel Silva said in an open letter published on January 6 while some changes had been made to the code 'the law still threatens to fundamentally damage Google Search'. Alternatives to a Google search Bing - the default search engine for the Microsoft Edge browser is the next biggest after Google, but still only has 3.74% of web traffic in Australia despite being around for 11 years - the default search engine for the Microsoft Edge browser is the next biggest after Google, but still only has 3.74% of web traffic in Australia despite being around for 11 years DuckDuckGo - considered the 'anti-google', this search engine doesn't collect personal data and claims to use 400 sources to return search results - considered the 'anti-google', this search engine doesn't collect personal data and claims to use 400 sources to return search results Swisscows - family friendly search engine, launched in 2014, that filters out pornographic and violent search results. Also does not store personal data - family friendly search engine, launched in 2014, that filters out pornographic and violent search results. Also does not store personal data Ecosia - plants trees to offset internet use. It claims: 'each search with Ecosia actually removes 1 kg of CO2 from the air.' Launched in 2009 and donates 80% of profits to non-profit organisations - plants trees to offset internet use. It claims: 'each search with Ecosia actually removes 1 kg of CO2 from the air.' Launched in 2009 and donates 80% of profits to non-profit organisations Yelp - Australian search engine which specialises in locating local businesses such as restaurants, doctors, beauty salons and bars Advertisement 'If the code became law today, it would break the way Google Search works undermining the benefits of the internet for millions of Australians, from small business owners across the country, to literally anyone trying to find information online,' she said. Search engines are built on the ability to link someone to a website for free. Currently no website or search engine in Australia pays to connect people to other sites through links. 'This law would change that, making Google pay to provide links for the first time in our history,' Ms Silva said. 'The code's rules would dismantle a free and open service that's been built to serve everyone, and replace it with one where links come at a price, and where the government would give a handful of news businesses an advantage over everybody else. 'That puts Google's business in Australia -- and the services we provide more than 20 million Australians -- at enormous risk.' She said Google did not object to the principle of paying to support journalists. 'We're proposing to reach deals to pay publishers through Google News Showcase, a program we'll invest $1.3 billion in globally over the next three years,' she said. 'It will help news businesses publish and promote their stories online, paying for their editorial expertise and beyond-the-paywall access to their journalism, rather than for links.' She said it offered a fair and practical way to meet the original goals of the law. DETROIT A woman is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly taking up a sword during an argument with her husband and slashing him with it several times. Robert Joiner, 35, of Detroit, is recovering in a local hospital while Reanetta Moore, 44, of Detroit is lodged in jail, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutors Office. The incident occurred around 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 24, at the couples home on the 9100 block of Montrose Street in Detroit, the release said. Authorities believe the couple was having a verbal argument when Moore allegedly grabbed a sword and used it to inflict several serious, slashing cuts on Joiner. When police arrived on scene, they found Joiner lying on the living room floor, bleeding from cuts to his left side and the back of his neck, the release said. A bloody sword was found in the dining room; it was confiscated by police. Joiner was transported to a hospital while Moore was arrested at the scene. Moore is charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, felonious assault and aggravated assault, the release said. Her bond is set at $1 million cash. Moores probable cause hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3. READ MORE: 2 men charged after allegedly firing nearly 40 rounds in shooting deaths of young women Michigan school district warns parents of online suicide games gaining popularity How Michigan compares to other states on COVID-19 cases, deaths, hospitalizations, testing, vaccinations From bars to basketball, experts re-rank 32 activities by coronavirus risk level with latest science Suspected home intruder fatally shot by resident Panasonic AI-driven cameras empower an expanding vision of new uses Imagine a world where video cameras are not just watching and reporting for security, but have an even wider positive impact on our lives. Imagine that cameras control street and building lights, as people come and go, that traffic jams are predicted and vehicles are automatically rerouted, and more tills are opened, just before a queue starts to form. Cameras with AI capabilities Cameras in stores can show us how we might look in the latest outfit as we browse. Thats the vision from Panasonic about current and future uses for their cameras that provide artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities at the edge. Panasonic feels that these types of intelligent camera applications are also the basis for automation and introduction of Industry 4.0, in which processes are automated, monitored and controlled by AI-driven systems. 4K network security cameras The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications Panasonics 4K network security cameras have built-in AI capabilities suitable for this next generation of intelligent applications in business and society. The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications. The AI engine is directly embedded into the camera, thus reducing costs and Panasonics image quality ensures the accuracy of the analytics outcome. FacePRO facial recognition technology Panasonic began advancing AI technology on the server side with FacePRO, the in-house facial recognition application, which uses AI deep learning capabilities. Moving ahead, they transitioned their knowledge of AI from the server side to the edge, introducing i-PRO security cameras with built-in AI capabilities last summer, alongside their own in-house analytics. Moreover, in line with the Panasonic approach to focus more on collaboration with specialist AI software developers, a partnership with Italian software company, A.I. Tech followed in September, with a range of intelligent applications, partially based on deep learning. Additional collaborations are already in place with more than 10 other developers, across the European Union, working on more future applications. i-PRO AI-capable security cameras Open systems are an important part of Panasonics current approach. The companys i-PRO AI-capable cameras are an open platform and designed for third-party application development, therefore, applications can be built or tailored to the needs of an individual customer. Panasonic use to be a company that developed everything in-house, including all the analytics and applications. However, now we have turned around our strategy by making our i-PRO security cameras open to integrate applications and analytics from third-party companies, says Gerard Figols, Head of Security Solutions at Panasonic Business Europe. Flexible and adapting to specific customer needs This new approach allows the company to be more flexible and adaptable to customers needs. At the same time, we can be quicker and much more tailored to the market trend, said Gerard Figols. He adds, For example, in the retail space, enabling retailers to enhance the customer experience, in smart cities for traffic monitoring and smart parking, and by event organisers and transport hubs to monitor and ensure safety. Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems Edge-based analytics Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems. On one hand, there are monetary benefits - a cost reduction results from the decreased amount of more powerful hardware required on the server side to process the data, on top of reduction in the infrastructure costs, as not all the full video stream needs to be sent for analysis, we can work solely with the metadata. On the other hand, there are also advantages of flexibility, as well as reliability. Each camera can have its own individual analytic setup and in case of any issue on the communication or server side, the camera can keep running the analysis at the edge, thereby making sure the CCTV system is still fully operational. Most importantly, systems can keep the same high level of accuracy. Explosion of AI camera applications We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications" We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications, said Gerard Figols, adding However, it doesnt mean the hardware is not important anymore, as I believe its more important than ever. Working with poor picture quality or if the hardware is not reliable, and works 24/7, software cannot run or deliver the outcome it has been designed for. As hardware specialists, Figols believes that Panasonic seeks to focus on what they do best - Building long-lasting, open network cameras, which are capable of capturing the highest quality images that are required for the latest AI applications, while software developers can concentrate on bringing specialist applications to the market. Same as for smartphones, AI applications will proliferate based on market demand and succeed or fail, based on the value that they deliver. Facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line technologies Panasonic has been in the forefront in developing essential AI applications for CCTV, such as facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line. However, with the market developing so rapidly and the potential applications of AI-driven camera systems being so varied and widespread, Panasonic quickly realised that the future of their network cameras was going to be in open systems, which allow specialist developers and their customers to use their sector expertise to develop their own applications for specific vertical market applications, while using i-PRO hardware. Metadata for detection and recognition Regarding privacy, consider that the use of AI in cameras is about generating metadata for the detection and recognition of patterns, rather than identifying individual identities. However, there are legitimate privacy concerns, but I firmly believe that attitudes will change quickly when people see the incredible benefits that this technology can deliver, said Gerard Figols, adding I hope that we will be able to redefine our view of cameras and AI, not just as insurance, but as life advancing and enhancing. i-PRO AI Privacy Guard One of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard Seeking to understand and appreciate privacy concerns, one of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard that generates data without capturing individual identities, following European privacy regulations that are among the strictest in the world. Gerard Fogils said, The combination of artificial intelligence and the latest generation open camera technology will change the worlds perceptions from Big Brother to Big Benefits. New applications will emerge as the existing generation of cameras is updated to the new open and intelligent next generation devices, and the existing role of the security camera will also continue. Future scope of AI and cameras He adds, Not just relying on the security cameras for evidence when things have gone wrong, end users will increasingly be able to use AI and the cameras with much higher accuracy to prevent false alarms and in a proactive way to prevent incidents." Gerard Figols concludes, That could be monitoring and alerting when health and safety guidelines are being breached or spotting and flagging patterns of suspicious behaviour before incidents occur. Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results Batelco and Wanclouds have signed a partnership to deliver Multi-Cloud Migration solutions, which is being introduced to Bahrain for the first time. Wanclouds, an American software company located in Silicon Valley, offers products and services to automate and solve cloud migrations AND networking challenges. Its customer base includes leading international companies in the enterprise and cloud domain, a statement said. It is common practice for businesses to use multiple infrastructures to suit their specific business requirements, as it enables them to host their computing resources across more than one platform to minimise the risk of downtime and data loss. Therefore, cloud migration, the process of moving on-premises data, applications, or other business elements to a cloud computing environment, is growing in demand as a business solution. Cloud migrations are typically time-consuming, complicated, and costly when done through the traditional approaches, which require the hands-on support of a technical team. However, Wanclouds has re-imagined cloud migrations by automating the process for a seamless, quicker, and more cost-effective approach through eliminating the manual steps from the migration experience, said the statement. Batelco General Manager Enterprise Division Abderrahmane Mounir said Batelco is pleased to launch this innovative solution in partnership with Wanclouds. The Multi-Cloud Migration solution is particularly well suited in meeting the needs of medium and large enterprise customers. The service we offer is a fully managed service that takes the burden of migration away from the customer. Wanclouds automation suite along with their services achieves a simplified, automated way to move infrastructure, servers, storage, and databases which supports us in meeting our customers needs. The process is also cost effective to implement and offers flexible options to allow for either specific workloads to be migrated, or the whole organizational infrastructure, he added. Wanclouds CEO Faiz Khan said: We are very excited to partner with Batelco and bring our innovative offerings to help customers in Bahrain and across the region and accelerate cloud migrations and cloud managed services. Our migration as a service is the result of years of experience in dealing with cloud migrations. At the heart of this approach is our Automation & Migration Suite called VPC+ which creates a seamless and hassle-free migration experience, enabling users to easily and seamlessly retain, shift, manage upload and store their information in a safe and secure manner, he added. Business customers worldwide are rapidly adopting public cloud offerings for their IT services and solutions; with this need having been further fuelled by the current global pandemic. TradeArabia News Service Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Logan, WV (25601) Today Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. WASHINGTON U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held their first phone conversation as counterparts Tuesday in a phone call that underscored troubled relations and the delicate balance between the former Cold War foes. According to the White House, Biden raised concerns about the arrest of opposition figure Alexei Navalny, Russias alleged involvement in a massive cyber espionage campaign and reports of Russian bounties on American troops in Afghanistan. The Kremlin, meanwhile, focused on Putins response to Bidens proposal to extend the last remaining U.S.-Russia arms control treaty. While the readouts from the two capitals emphasized different elements, they both suggested that U.S-Russia relations will be guided, at least at the beginning of the Biden administration, by a desire to do no harm but also no urgency to repair existing damage. The two presidents agreed to have their teams work urgently to complete a five-year extension of the New START nuclear weapons treaty that expires next month. Former President Donald Trumps administration had withdrawn from two arms control treaties with Russia and had been prepared to let New START lapse. Unlike his immediate predecessors, including Trump who was enamored of Putin and frequently undercut his own administrations tough stance on Russia, Biden has not held out hope for a reset in relations. Instead he hes indicated he wants to manage differences without necessarily resolving them or improving ties. And, with a heavy domestic agenda and looming decisions needed on Iran and China, a direct confrontation with Russia is not likely something he seeks. Although the leaders agreed to work together to extend New START before it expires on Feb. 5 and to look at other areas of potential strategic cooperation, the White House said Biden was firm on U.S. support for Ukraines sovereignty, while Russia is supporting separatists in the countrys east. Biden also raised the SolarWinds cyberhack, which has been attributed to Russia. reports of Russian bounties on American soldiers in Afghanistan, interference in the 2020 U.S. election, the poisoning of Navalny and the weekend crackdown on Navalnys supporters. President Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defense of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies, the White House said. Biden told Putin in the phone call, first reported by The Associated Press, that the U.S, would defend itself and take action, which could include further sanctions, to ensure that Moscow does not act with impunity, officials said. Moscow had reached out last week to request the call, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly. Biden agreed, but he wanted first to prepare with his staff and speak with European allies, including the a leaders of Britain, France and Germany, which he did. Before he spoke to Putin, Biden also called NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to pledge U.S. commitment to the decades-old alliance founded as a bulwark against Russian aggression. The Kremlins readout of the call did not address the most contentious issues between the countries, though it said the leaders also discussed other acute issues on the bilateral and international agenda. It described the talk as frank and businesslike often a diplomatic way of referring to tense discussions. It also said Putin congratulated Biden on becoming president and noted that normalization of ties between Russia and the United States would serve the interests of both countries. Among the issues the Kremlin said were discussed were the coronavirus pandemic, the Iran nuclear agreement, Ukraine and issues related to trade and the economy. The call came as Putin considers the aftermath of pro-Navalny protests that took place in more than 100 Russian cities over the weekend. Bidens team has already reacted strongly to the crackdown on the protests, in which more than 3,700 people were arrested across Russia, including more than 1,400 in Moscow. More protests are planned for the coming weekend. Navalny, an anti-corruption campaigner and Putins best-known critic, was arrested Jan. 17 as he returned to Russia from Germany, where he had spent nearly five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Biden has previously condemned the use of chemical weapons. Russian authorities deny the accusations. Just from the public accounts, Bidens discussion with Putin appeared diametrically opposed to Trumps. Trump had seemed to seek Putins approval, frequently casting doubt on Russian interference in the 2016 elections, including when he stood next to Putin at their 2018 summit in Helsinki. He also downplayed Russias involvement in the hack of federal government agencies last year and the allegations that Russia offered the Taliban bounties. Still, despite that conciliatory approach, Trumps administration toed a tough line against Moscow, imposing sanctions on the country, Russian companies and business leaders for issues ranging from Ukraine to energy supplies and attacks on dissidents. Biden, in his call with Putin, broke sharply with Trump by declaring that he knew that Russia attempted to interfere with both the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections. --The Associated Press India won't tolerate insult to Tricolour at Red Fort, says Prakash Javadekar India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 28: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday accused the Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi of provoking the farmers to create ruckus in the national capital on the Republic Day. A day after violence broke out in the Capital after a section of protesting farmers marched to the Red Fort, Javadekar said,''Rahul Gandhi wasn't only supporting protest but also instigating. It was the same during CAA, Congress holds rallies, they instigate people to take to streets & agitation begins next day. It happened during this agitation too. They instigated farmers.'' ''The manner in which there was violence in Delhi yesterday, the more it is condemned, the less it is. Action should be against all of those who instigated others. India won't tolerate the manner in which the Tricolour was insulted at the Red Fort," Javadekar said, citing the incident where the protesting farmers who managed to get inside the Red Fort hoisted a Sikh religious flag. Tractor rally violence in Delhi: Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan, BKU (Bhanu) quit farmers protests ''Congress constantly tried to instigate farmers' agitation. When some farmer leaders had said on 26th that it's final match, then Punjab govt should have monitored the tractors leaving from the state & made preventive arrests of habitual criminals,'' he added. Javadekar also blamed Congress for wanting to create a "situation of unrest" in the country and said,''Congress is desperate, they are losing elections. Communists are in the same condition, so they are looking for new friendships in Bengal. They want to stoke disturbance in the country anyhow.'' The Congress, however, pinned the blame for the violence on the BJP. Addressing the media, party spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said it was a conspiracy to malign farmers and discredit them. "The facts (that) have unfolded over the last 24 hours, a concerted conspiracy, aided and abetted by the Modi Government took place to malign the entire farmers' movement. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, January 28, 2021, 0:26 [IST] Anthony Watts has set up a new website for climate disinformers and wilful deniers. (H/t CJ in the comments here at HotWhopper.) His disinformation website is called Everything Climate. Translating its stated aim from denier-speak, it is to hook people who aren't yet knowledgeable about climate to recruit them as conspiracy theorists for the climate disinformation cult. Questionable claims from the outset Anthony Watts is known in climate science denier circles as a climate science disinformer and conspiracy theorist. True to form, he made a number of questionable claims in his introductory article. He wrote "We have four categories at the moment, and a few dozen sub-titles covering specific claims/arguments that are commonly in the news and are contentious." The bit about "a few dozen sub-titles" is weird, because I can only see 23 articles. I've no idea what the "few dozen sub-titles" relate to. As for the topics he claims are all contentious, some of them are so well-established they are indisputable, some are the topic of active scientific research, and some are strawmen (i.e. the Everything Climate topic is not a claim or argument in scientific circles). Anthony claimed he "wanted a site that was entirely a factual website", and has failed badly right from the word go. Apparently it took himself and (probably mostly) Charles Rotter "months" to get it up and running. I guess they must have had too many other things going on over the past year because that's a helluva long time to get such a piddly little website up and running. Driven by jealousy? Competing with his employer, the Heartland Institute? His decision months ago was probably because he was peeved at how a teenage denier from Germany stole his thunder at the Heartland Institute. (She reportedly only lasted there around 3 months before disappearing, deciding to not renew her three month contract with Heartland.) Anthony is going head to head in competition with his recent employer, the Heartland Institute. His new disinformation website is modeled on that teenage deniers website, which was ostensibly set up by her in the short time she was employed by Heartland. It's a lookalike. WUWT's Everything Climate doesn't cover anything near the amount of science denial put up on the Heartland website, though. It's a pale imitation. WUWT is taking tips from Skeptical Science. Will it backfire? His Everything Climate website has also taken tips from Skeptical Science. To wit: the "familiarity backfire effect" is when people hear a falsehood so often they accept it as fact. This is from from Skeptical Science, on how to overcome that effect: There are several simple techniques to avoid the familiarity backfire effect. First, put the emphasis on the facts rather than the myth. Lead with the science you wish to communicate rather than the myth. Unfortunately, most debunking articles take the worst possible approach: repeat the myth in the headline. Second, provide an explicit warning before mentioning the myth. This puts people cognitively on guard so theyre less likely to be influenced by the myth. An explicit warning can be as simple as A common myth is. Third, explain the fallacy that the myth uses to distort the facts. This gives people the ability to reconcile the facts with the myth. A useful framework for identifying fallacies is the five characteristics of science denial (which includes a number of characteristics, particularly under logical fallacies): Pulling this all together, if you debunk misinformation with an article, presentation or even in casual conversation, try to lead with a sticky fact. Before you mention the myth, warn people that youre about to mention a myth. Then explain the fallacy that the myth uses to distort the facts. What Anthony has picked up from Skeptical Science is to emphasise the false claim right up front to try to get it embedded in readers' minds. He does this through sub-headings. For example, everyone knows by now (or should know) that it's the greenhouse effect that keeps our planet at a liveable temperature. By increasing greenhouse gases at an alarming rate, we're making the planet much, much hotter. Anthony Watts and Charles Rotter don't want you to believe this well-known fact, so to try to get readers to wrongly think the greenhouse effect isn't real, they wrote "Most Observed Warming is Natural" as a sub-heading. It's ridiculous and hardly pushed by even the most ardent of deniers anymore. Their myth barely rates at Skeptical Science these days. The popularity among deniers of their "it's natural" argument is now way down the scale at number 56. No-one but a Climate Disinformer would make that false claim and no-one except a Wilful Denier would "believe" them. On the other hand, if you go to the topic detail, he puts what he terms the "pro" case first, which he took from science sources, followed by the big Con (ha ha) which is the conspiracy theorist version. So maybe he wasn't paying attention after all. Everything climate disinformation has already been debunked His new website doesn't allow comments or discussion on the site itself, so you'll need to go elsewhere to find out the real situation. I won't bother going through each bit of disinformation for now. If you haven't come across a topic at "Everything Climate" before I suggest you look at denier myths at Skeptical Science. You can also use the search bar here at HotWhopper (up on the right in the sidebar). Although I've not published much these past few months, from what I can see, Anthony Watts' Everything Climate disinformation website is just a rehash of tired old debunked memes so the chances are, if you look up a topic, you'll find I've written something about it. References and further reading [January 27, 2021] Nintex Named a Leader in The Aragon Research Globe for Digital Transaction Management, 2021 BELLEVUE, Wash., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nintex, the global standard for process management and automation, today announced it has been named a leader in The Aragon Research Globe for Digital Transaction Management, 2021 based on a review by the independent research and advisory firm of 21 major providers in the market. To download the report, visit https://www.nintex.com/resources/aragon-globe-dtm-report-2021/ Aragon believes that "organizations that have deployed DTM continue to outperform their competitors." Within this year's analysis, Aragon recognizes that COVID-19 has been and continues to be a key driver accelerating digital transformation initiatives across every industry. According to the firm, "the pandemic has created a situation in which paper can no longer be relied upon as a safe medium" while employees work remotely. Aragon also believes that "organizations that have deployed DTM continue to outperform their competitors" by providing streamlined and modern digital experiences. "At Nintex, we recognize that every business and government leader is facing increasing pressure to meet (and ideally exceed) the ever-increasing digital demands of their customers, employees and constituents," said Nintex CEO Eric Johnson. "We appreciate being named a Leader with our easy-to-use and affordable platform for powerful automation solutions that turn manual, paper-based and repetitive processes into fully digital experiences for more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500 and in over 10,000 organizations worldwide today." Aragon Research examines the complete capabilities of the Nintex Process Platform to eliminate paper within the report. With Nintex, customers can automate the assemby and digital distribution of documents by leveraging the platform's integrated eSignature and document automation capabilities, including Nintex Drawloop DocGen which is an app available within Salesforce AppExchange. The firm also notes the Nintex Process Platform offers advanced process management capabilities including easy-to-use visual process mapping with Nintex Promapp, and its built-in Nintex Workflow Generator capability, to create workflow scenarios including document generation with nearly touchless automation design work. Industry leaders like Amazon, AstraZeneca, and Zoom, as well as government agencies and municipalities like the City and County of Denver and the City of Garland, Texas, all report significant results and customer/stakeholder satisfaction leveraging Nintex to easily manage, automate and optimize simple to complex business processes and workflows. To re-imagine your own business processes and put automation to work - from workflow to document or robotic process automation (RPA) - within your organization, request a Nintex demo at www.nintex.com/request-demo. Media Contact Kristin Treat Nintex kristin.treat@nintex.com cell: (215) 317-9091 About Nintex Nintex is the global standard for process management and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organizations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimizing business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA). Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Aragon Disclaimer Aragon Research does not endorse vendors, or their products or services that are referenced in its research publications, and does not advise users to select those vendors that are rated the highest. Aragon Research publications consist of the opinions of Aragon Research and Advisory Services organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Aragon Research provides its research publications and the information contained in them "AS IS," without warranty of any kind. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nintex-named-a-leader-in-the-aragon-research-globe-for-digital-transaction-management-2021-301215896.html SOURCE Nintex [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Burma Residents Refuse to Move for Australia-Myanmar Joint Venture Mine The Bawdwin mine in 2015. / The Irrawaddy Yangon Residents living near the Bawdwin mine which was once one of the globes largest sources of lead and an important source of silver and zinc have refused to move to make way for more mining. The Bawdwin Joint Venture (BJV) Co Ltd is planning to resume operations at Bawdin, about 22 km from Namtu in northern Shan State. The joint venture includes two domestic companies EAP Global Mining Co Ltd and Win Myint Mo Industries Co Ltd which have a 24.5 percent of stake each and Australias Myanmar Metals Limited with a 51 percent stake. Between around 1412 and 1850, the Chinese controlled the Bawdwin region and mined silver before British colonialists arrived and took the land. In the early 1890s, Bawdwin was developed into the worlds largest source of lead under Herbert Hoover, then a mining engineer who later became the 31st president of the United States in the late 1920s. Hoover, while searching for mineral deposits, reportedly found the footprints of a tiger close to the source of what would become a massive mine, descending 12 levels and 300 meters underground. The place became known as Kya Sa Khan, meaning tiger camp. Coffey-Valentis, which is conducting environmental and social impact assessments of the mine, met residents last week, saying that they might have to relocate when operations are approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission. This is our ancestral home and we dont want to move. But it seems that we have to relocate if there are orders from the authorities, said U Aung Kyaw Win, a Bawdwin village-tract administrator. BJV was established in 2018. Win Myint Mo is mining in the area with a valid license. U Aung Kyaw Win said representatives of BJV held meeting with villagers in 2019, 2020 and last week. BJV reportedly said 350 Bawdwin residents would have to relocate when the project begins, without providing details of the relocation plan. We dont want to move. But if it will serve the interests of the people, government and companies, we will move. But they will have to provide us with houses, said resident U Myint Oo. U Eaindasara, an abbot in Bawdwin, said his monastery will be relocated. We have been here for 40 years. We are sorry that we have to move. The company said there are mineral deposits beneath the village and villagers have been informed that they would have to move by 2023, said the monk. Lower House lawmaker Nan Kham Aye of Namtu Township said representatives of BJV had met her three times. She has asked the company to pay for the relocation, provide sources of livelihood and take responsibility for the possible impacts of mining on air and water quality. According to the BJV website, it will seek government approval and invite tenders for preparation, design and construction work during the 2021-22 financial year, relocation of residents and developing infrastructure in 2022-23 and start extracting around the end of 2023. BJV will have a mining concession for 13 years, operating open-pit mines across 3,800 hectares. The Irrawaddy was unable to contact the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation for a comment. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko Louth TD Peter Fitzpatrick has said a decision needs to be made by the Government on the future of the Leaving Cert exams by the end of the month. The Dundalk TD called on the Department of Education to give students clarity as to whether the State exams could go ahead or whether they would be cancelled and replaced by calculated grades. Deputy Fitzpatrick said Education Minister Norma Foley has the opinion that the Leaving Cert must go ahead at all costs but he insisted it is the wrong message to send out and alternatives need to be put in place in case it is not safe for the exams to take place due to Covid-19. Deputy Fitzpatrick, speaking in the Dail last week, said: We have sixth year students who do not know if the leaving certificate is going to go ahead at all. This is completely unfair not only to them but also to the teaching staff. There is no point in saying something one day and then something completely different a few days later. The bottom line is that a firm decision needs to be made now. There is no point in dragging this on for weeks on end and creating uncertainty among students and staff. The very latest date for a firm decision is the end of January as to whether the leaving certificate is going to go ahead or not. From her comments, I know the Minister is of the opinion that the leaving certificate must go ahead at all costs. This is the wrong message to send out. If it is not safe to hold the leaving certificate, then alternatives must be provided. There is no point in waiting until the last minute to decide. Deputy Fitzpatrick, who said he has been inundated with concerns from students, parents and staff, urged Minister Foley to give clarity on the situation by the end of January at the very latest. The Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Minister Foley have said repeatedly that it is their intention to hold the traditional Leaving Cert in June, as the calculated grades process resulted in errors caused by incorrect code in the standardisation algorithm. However, a vast majority of students want to be given the option to choose between a Leaving Cert exam and calculated grades, a survey revealed recently. More than 81 per cent of students want a choice between calculated grades or sitting exams in person in June, according to a report by the Irish-Second Level Students Union (ISSU). [January 26, 2021] Jon Zacharias Releases Guide on How to Gauge Return on Investment in SEO LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, Jon Zacharias , recently authored a guide on his blog site detailing how businesses employing search engine optimization (SEO) can gauge their return on investment. As a leader and co-founder of GR0 , one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the country, Zacharias is acutely aware that return on investment for SEO marketing can sometimes seem nebulous to clients without the proper frame of reference. In the November blog post entitled, The 7 Best ways to Gauge ROI for SEO Efforts , Zacharias outlines tangible ways in which businesses can gauge the benefits reaped from their investment in SEO efforts. The first benchmark of a successful SEO campaign outlined in the post is key word strategy payoffs. Zacharias describes keywords as the "most sought-after" factor that plays into SEO success. Numerous tools exist that portray how a brand is performing on certain keyword searches, and some tools can give an even deeper insight into how keywords are affecting a brand's page performance in organic searches. The insights gained from the latter are particularly important when it comes to avoiding ineffective methods like keyword stuffing and may also alert brands to technical missteps in their SEO efforts. Zacharias also notes that in today's digital space, branded and non-branded keywords are of equal importance according to market research from VWO. A running theme Zacharias emphsizes is that SEO efforts, in order to have maximum impact, must begin with the traditional bedrock of any solid marketing campaign. No matter how well-coordinated and deployed, SEO marketing will fall short without relevant and high-quality brand content. Quality content plays a critical role in several of the return on investment gauges described by Zacharias. Google features such as snippets, carousels, and long-tail answer boxes are an excellent opportunity for smaller brands to stand out. These features are particularly important given the reality that the largest brands with the deepest pockets receive ? of the clicks on most result pages. To effectively utilize these features, Zacharias writes that "marketers should create content that answers common questions directly and efficiently" while also analyzing original data and insights to distinguish themselves in a saturated field of competitors. Similarly, backlinks, a long established and verifiably effective asset in the digital marketing tool box, are increasingly dependent on the quality and relevance of content. Past practices such as spamming, buying links, and trying to navigate around the rules are ineffective as Google is increasingly discerning when it comes to the quality and relevance of backlinks. Zacharias expresses his opinion on appropriate backlinks strategy in 2021, writing: "Be honest it may be time to abandon some of the outdated approaches to backlink building that still exists from marketing departments of the past. Adopt a "slow and steady" strategy that focuses on earning links the right way, with quality content and smart networking." Two interrelated gauges for SEO return on investment that directly correlate with the quality of brand content are likes and shares on social media and the success of referrals and brand promotions. Zacharias highlights how word-of-mouth promotion remains a critical component of digital marketing, particularly with many brands' reliance on referrals and promotions to attract new audiences and keep existing audiences engaged. In terms of gauging return on investment, he encourages brands to track their sales while running promotion and referral programs. When it comes to the effectiveness of SEO efforts and social media, quality content is inherently critical. Stated simply, people are not going to share and repost brand content they find uninteresting. While gauging SEO return on investment with social media efforts is not straightforward, Zacharias suggests brands track click backs to their site and evaluate the content users like and share the most. The final two gauges Zacharias offers as effective metrics for SEO return on investment are the customer acquisition process and locally targeted SEO campaigns. He encourages brands to track how their web pages rank for various keyword combinations, including, business type, city and neighborhood location, as well as other niche long-tail keywords that users may be searching for on the go. Regarding the customer acquisition process, Zacharias says brands should closely monitor customer journey patterns to see which web pages and assets outperform the rest. Zacharias firmly believes that these seven metrics are essential for brands when evaluating the impact of their investment in SEO. Interested readers can explore more of Zacharias' blog posts and expert takes on the world of digital marketing at Blog - Jon Zacharias . Media Contact: Gerald Lombardo Email: gerald@gr0.com Website: https://gr0.com/ View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jon-zacharias-releases-guide-on-how-to-gauge-return-on-investment-in-seo-301215754.html SOURCE GR0.com LLC [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A recent spate of positive wastewater test results across Queensland may be making residents nervous, but experts say the system is doing exactly what it is meant to be doing. Viral fragments of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been found in 31 samples from wastewater treatment plants along the coast in the past fortnight alone. Queensland has recorded a spate of positive wastewater tests in recent days. (File image) Credit:Jonathan Ng The positive tests came as Queensland got on top of the recent cluster linked to Brisbanes Hotel Grand Chancellor, which was contained to just six cases. It also came as health authorities urged people who travelled from New Zealand since January 14 to get tested, after a fresh outbreak across the Tasman Sea. Almost 60% of Laois residents are staying within 10km of their homes during the current Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The CSOs Staying Local Indicator (SLI) provides estimated percentages of county populations that have stayed within 10km of their homes, based on the statistical analysis of mobile phone activity. The figures show that almost 60% of Laois residents have stayed within a 10km radius in the first two weeks of January, while the amount of Laois people moving beyond 10km from home increased slightly by 0.7% compared to the first week of the month. Gardai can fine you 100 if you stray outside the 5km limit of movement during Level 5. The most compliant county is Dublin, possibly reflecting the bigger concentration of nearby shops and supermarkets and larger garda presence. Source: CSO Overall, an estimated 66.2% of the population stayed local (within 10k of home) during the week ending 15 January 2021 according to the Staying Local Indicator (SLI), a seven-day rolling average. The SLI increased each day from an annual low on Christmas Eve (51.7%) 2020 to 07 January 2021 (68.6%) before appearing to stabilise at or around 15 January 2021 (66.2%). Dublin continues to be the county with the highest percentage of the population staying local (78.8%) on week ending 15 January 2021, reflecting its urbanised nature with respect to other counties With the exception of Mayo, which showed no week on week change, all counties saw modest SLI decreases from week ending 08 January 2021 to week ending 15 January 2021, ranging from 0.2 percentage points (Clare) to 2.3 percentage points (Monaghan), indicating some relaxation of mobility behaviour This is the second in an insight series on mobility produced by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The Staying Local Indicator (SLI) provides daily estimated percentages of county populations that have stayed within 10km of home, averaged over the preceding seven days. The CSO said the Staying Local Indicator is based on statistical analysis of anonymised, aggregated, mobile phone activity records. Data from Three Ireland is collated from anonymised data sets at a macro scale, aggregated at Electoral Division and provided to the Department of Health. The scope of the arrangement between Three Ireland and the Department of Health is limited to informing the Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic only. This data feeds into wider selection of data used as part of the Covid-19 response. Only aggregated statistical data is provided to the Department of Health. No personal data is provided. The CSO receives and manages this data on behalf of the Department of Health. Only aggregate data is provided by Three Ireland and at no time do either the Department of Health or the Central Statistics Office have access to personal data or individuals movements. The outputs from this analysis provide important insights for decision makers and the public in the midst of a global pandemic. The Staying Local Indicator (SLI) provides daily estimated percentages of county populations that have stayed local i.e. within 10km of their usual place of residence, averaged over the preceding seven days. The CSO said that the SLI is not an exact measure, but a general indication of what percentage of the population is staying local. The CSO added: "With 2.4 million users as of August 2020, Three Ireland estimates that it commands a 35% market share. The SLI is premised on the assumption that mobility patterns extracted from the anonymised data of Three Ireland mobile users are broadly representative of those of the wider population. Three Ireland incorporate detailed population statistics from the CSO as part of this process. "The statistical aggregates are provided to the CSO with the permission of the Department of Health and under the terms of their agreement with Three Ireland. Only aggregated statistical data is provided to the Department of Health. No personal data is provided. "The scope of the arrangement between Three Ireland and the Department of Health is limited to informing the Government response to the COVID-19 pandemic only. This data feeds into wider selection of data used as part of the COVID-19 response." The CSO receives and manages the data on behalf of the Department of Health. The data is deposited by Three Ireland on secure CSO servers. Goose Creek, SC (29445) Today Cloudy in the morning, then thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 63F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. To the Editor: Operation Northern Comfort has just delivered desk No. 600 to a kid. When we started this project in October, we were not sure of the demand, so we aimed at 500 as our goal. With the help of many partners, partner agencies and volunteers, we did it and more! Most of our desks have gone to Syracuse, but weve also delivered to Phoenix, Canastota, Oneida, Parish, and more. Maybe well hit 1,000, because the requests and the donations keep coming in. Most of all, there are 60+ people out there who have organized, designed, purchased materials, constructed and delivered desks to needy kids. Thank you! Were going to continue until everyone who needs and wants a desk gets one. If you know a kid who needs a desk, or if you want to help www.operationnc.org. Norm Andrzejewski Liverpool New Delhi: Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session of Parliament, in New Delhi on Feb 3, 2020. (Photo: IANS) Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 27 : Congress leaders on Wednesday questioned the police action against the farmers leaders after the clashes on Tuesday between the farmers and the police during the tractor rally in New Delhi. Punjab Congress MP Jasbir Singh Gill Dimpa, who is protesting against the farm laws said, "Has anybody noticed any case being registered against Deep Sidhu or Lakha Sidhana." It is alleged that Deep Sidhu was among the group of farmers who entered the Red Fort in New Delhi and unfurled the pennant there, while violent clashes erupted in several areas of the national capital. Hundreds of farmers riding their tractors, motorcycles and cars entered the premises of Red Fort on Tuesday afternoon with the national flag, a pennant and farmer union flags in their hands. As many as 22 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police so far in connection with the violence witnessed during the farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day, officials said on Wednesday. The FIRs were registered under sections dealing with rioting, damage to public property and assault on public servants with deadly weapons. Another senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh blamed the Modi government for the violence. He said,"More than 15 persons have been handed over by farmers to the police who started the violence, and they were found possessing government identity cards, you can now understand who is in the government. This was an act of concerted conspiracy to malign a peaceful movement." Singh questioned why the police placed barricades despite fixing the routes. The Congress has been pressing for withdrawal of the farm laws and had hit out at the Modi government for the "collision" with the people over the contentious farm laws and demanded their immediate repeal. Congress General Secretary Randeep Surjewala in a statement said there is no place for violence in a democracy and it is good that the agitating farmers have distanced themselves from those who have indulged in hooliganism. US President Joe Biden's administration has temporarily frozen for review a massive package of F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates and arms to Saudi Arabia, officials said Wednesday. The nearly week-old administration has already signaled it plans to end support for the Saudi-led, UAE-backed offensive in Yemen, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe. A State Department spokesperson said the administration is "temporarily pausing the implementation" of a number of defense sales "to allow incoming leadership an opportunity to review." "This is a routine administrative action typical to most any transition, and demonstrates the administration's commitment to transparency and good governance," the spokesperson said. The move is also aimed at "ensuring US arms sales meet our strategic objectives of building stronger, interoperable and more capable security partners." The most high-profile sale is a $23 billion package of top-of-the-line F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates. Former president Donald Trump's administration agreed to the sale -- the first of the stealth-capable planes to an Arab nation -- after the United Arab Emirates agreed to recognize Israel. A potential halt to the sale could raise questions about whether the United Arab Emirates will continue its normalization with Israel, which Trump saw as a key foreign policy achievement. Lawmakers of Biden's Democratic Party had voiced misgivings over the deal, fearing it would set off an arms race, but failed in the Senate to block the sale while Trump was in office. The package to the United Arab Emirates also included unarmed drones, while the United States has been preparing major sales of munitions to Saudi Arabia. Trump had explicitly backed arms sales on commercial grounds, saying that the Saudis were creating US jobs by buying from US manufacturers. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his confirmation hearing that the Saudi offensive against Yemen's Huthi rebels, who are backed by Iran, has contributed to the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. sct/ec The on Wednesday alleged the BJP planted its "stooge", actor Deep Sidhu, to create "chaos" during farmers' tractor parade in Delhi on Republic Day. The Delhi BJP, on the other hand, alleged that one Amrik Singh Micky, who was present at the Red Fort and later posted his picture with provocative slogan in Facebook, was an AAP leader. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal the three new agriculture laws descended into anarchy as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Clashes broke out in multiple places, leading to violence in well-known landmarks of Delhi and its suburbs, amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the Republic Day. Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu has been blamed by the farmer union leaders and politicians for inciting violence during the tractor rally. At a press conference, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha, while questioning the connection between Sidhu and BJP, showed several photos purportedly of the actor with various BJP leaders. "The BJP planted their stooge Deep Sidhu to create chaos in farmers' tractor parade," Chadha said, adding, "BJP agent Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta are defaming the AAP in a very planned manner." Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has alleged, "Amrik Singh Micky joined the AAP before 2020 Delhi Assembly elections at hands of MP Sanjay Singh and vocally campaigned for AAP candidate from Tilak Nagar Jarnail Singh in 2020 and since then close to AAP's Punjab MP Bhagwant Maan too." Amrik Singh is actively involved in the AAP's organisational activities, he claimed. About the BJP's allegation, Chadha said, "With all responsibilities, the person has no connection with the AAP. He is neither a member nor an office-bearer of the AAP." "The AAP condemns the witch hunt against the farmer leaders by the Delhi Police. It also demands that the Delhi police immediately arrest the people behind yesterday's violence and not to harass the farmer leaders," Chadha said. The AAP believes that the farmer leaders have no role in the violence but the "BJP sleeper cell people" were involved with this incident, he alleged. Deep Sidhu was among protesters at the Red Fort where flags were put up. He was an aide of Deol when the latter contested from the Gurdaspur seat in Punjab during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Deol, who is now a BJP MP, had distanced himself from Sidhu in December last year after he joined the farmers'' agitation. Amid a massive outrage over protesters hoisting a religious flag at the Red Fort during the tractor rally on Republic Day, Sidhu defended their action, saying they did not remove the flag and had put up the ''Nishan Sahib'' as a symbolic protest. The 'Nishan Sahib' flag, a symbol of Sikh religion, is seen at all gurdwara complexes. In a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening, Sidhu had claimed that it was not a planned move and that they should not be given any communal colour or dubbed as fundamentalists or hardliners. He had also stated that the flag was not removed from the flagpole at the Red Fort and that nobody raised a question over the country's unity and integrity. Sidhu, who had been associated with the farmers'' agitation for the last many months, said "anger flares up" in a mass movement like this when the genuine rights of people are ignored. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SC rules for women joining Army, says created by males for males Armys road opening in Kulgam attacked by terrorists India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Jammu, Jan 27: A road opening party of the Indian Army was attacked by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam on Wednesday. The attack took place on a highway at Shamsipora, which falls in the police district of Kulgam. The police control room in Kulgam said that it appeared to be a grenade attack. Reports also said that two to three jawans have sustained injuries in the attack. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News The injured soldiers have been provided first aid and have been evacuated to the 92 Base Hospital. KEY HIGHLIGHTS Xiaomi recaptures pole position in smartphone segment in Q4 with 26% share ahead of Samsung at 20% For calendar year 2020 also, Xiaomi is ahead with 26% share while Samsung is behind at 21% India's smartphone shipments showed strong resilience to decline by only 4% at over 150 million units in a pandemic hit year Overall handset sales declined by 9% as feature phone sales declined by a much steeper 20% during the year 5G smartphone shipments cross 4 million units in 2020, expected to grow more than 9 times to 38 million units in 2021 In what could be attributed to waning of the anti-China sentiment that had gripped consumers in the middle of last year, Chinese smartphone major Xiaomi has reclaimed its number 1 position in the domestic smartphone market in the last quarter of 2020 with 26 per cent share, ahead of Korean electronics giant Samsung's 20 per cent. In the third quarter of 2020, Xiaomi had lost its leadership position in the market with a 3 percentage point fall in market share at 23 per cent which saw Samsung nudge ahead at 24 per cent. That was the first time in 2 years that the South Korean firm had managed to pull one over Xiaomi but the lead lasted for only a quarter. On the back of strong demand for its phones like the Redmi 9 and Redmi Note 9 series, Xiaomi reported a strong 13 per cent growth year on year during the last quarter. Samsung too registered a strong 30 per cent growth year on year but it managed to increase its market share only by 1 percentage point. That was however, enough for it to wrest the number 2 spot, which it had lost to another Chinese company Vivo in Q4 of 2019. Xiaomi also stayed ahead of Samsung for the full year 2020 with a 26 per cent share, a 1 percentage point drop over 2019 while Samsung remained static at 21 percent. The next three slots in the top 5 were all occupied by Chinese brands - Vivo (16 per cent), Realme (13 per cent) and Oppo (10 per cent), indicating that despite a wobble in the third quarter when anti-China sentiments were at the peak, the stranglehold of Chinese brands in the Indian smartphone market remains as strong as ever. "The anti-China sentiments largely subsided by the end of the year with Chinese brands holding 75% market share in 2020. During the year, we saw innovative channel strategies from leading brands due to changed consumer behavior in the wake of COVID-19," said Shilpi Jain, research analyst, Counterpoint Research. "Offline-centric brands such as Samsung, vivo and OPPO increased their online presence. Samsung increased its online presence with the Galaxy M-series on Amazon while launching the Galaxy F-series on Flipkart. Xiaomi launched 'Mi on Wheels' to drive its sales on offline channels and in remote areas. Brands also launched innovative promotions and loyalty programs such as 'Smart Upgrade' to retain as well as increase their user base. At the end of the year, we witnessed the return of Indian brands with Micromax announcing its IN-series smartphones. Indian brands are looking to expand their market share by leveraging the PLI scheme." Even though 2020 was a pandemic hit year, the smartphone segment showed strong resilience and ended up with only a 4 per cent drop in overall shipment at over 150 million units. High consumer demand post-lockdown, as well as strong promotions on online channels and new uses cases like e-learning and work from home, drove the smartphone market during the year. Feature phones however saw a much sharper 20 per cent decline in sales, which brought the decline for the overall handset market at 9 per cent. The market leader here too was another Chinese brand Itel, which grew 26 per cent year on year. "The Indian smartphone market maintained its momentum in Q4 2020 after a record-breaking third quarter. As Diwali was in mid-November this year, we witnessed high shipments during October as well. The overall market crossed 150 million units in 2020 driven by high consumer demand post-lockdown," said Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh. "Multiple new use cases such as online education, as well as increased content consumption, were the major factors for the high consumer demand. Going forward, we believe that this demand will grow further as more people transition from feature phones to smartphones and feature-rich devices, diffusing towards lower price tiers." The year also saw the re-entry of homegrown brands like Micromax looking to cash in on the anti China sentiment. With its newly launched IN-series smartphones, Micromax has reached its highest market share in six quarters. "With Indian brands revamping their portfolios, and Jio coming up with an entry-level 4G smartphone, 2021 will be a significant year for Indian brands and we expect their share to increase," Jain said. Share of 5G smartphones in the premium segment also went up during the year at over 4 million units driven largely by two brands - OnePlus, the only brand with a 100% 5G portfolio, and Apple, which launched the iPhone 12 series with 5G connectivity. This year, 5G smartphone shipments are expected to increase by more than nine times to reach 38 million units. Also read: 1.5% remission on duties, taxes can make India top electronic exporter by 2025 Also read: Tesla incorporates firm in Bengaluru with 3 directors, scouts for land [January 27, 2021] MetLife Named to the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) today announced that it has been named to the Bloomberg (News - Alert) Gender-Equality Index for the sixth year in a row, in recognition of its efforts to support gender parity through employee policies, representation, and transparency. Bloomberg measures publicly traded companies across five dimensions: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. "Gender equity is central to MetLife's purpose and serves as a driver of innovation, collaboration, and business results," said MetLife President and CEO Michel Khalaf. "We're proud of this recognition and committed to further accelerating the advancement of women in the workplace and society." Through its Gender Equity Initiative, MetLife is building a sustainable, diverse, equitable and inclusive company by addressing gender diversity in four focus areas: leadership, workplace, marketplace and community. The initiative includes an ongoing assessment of gender diversity data, provides inclusion and bias-mitigation learning, and offers women a variety of career development programs, workplace policies, and benefits that support flexibility and work-life integration. MetLife also aims to reduce barriers and drive growth for women-owned businesses through its Supplier Inclusion and Development progra, which supports innovation in the company's supply chain and provides mentorship that helps expand the pool of qualified diverse suppliers. In addition, MetLife Foundation works to expand opportunities for low-income women across the world through its partnership with groups such as Change Machine, Hot Bread Kitchen, SwissContact, and Laboratoria. MetLife was the first U.S-based insurer to sign the U.N. Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and works with other external initiatives such as the U.N. Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change, Catalyst's Gender and Diversity KPI Alliance (GDKA) and CEO Champions for Change, and CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion. For more information on MetLife's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, visit MetLife.com. More details on the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index can be found here. About MetLife MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the world's leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 markets globally and holds leading positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005191/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] When a Concordia University student went to email his professor recently, he found out something startling. HI EXCUSE ME, I just found out the the prof for this online course Im taking *died in 2019* and hes technically still giving classes since hes *literally my prof for this course* and Im learning from lectures recorded before his passing. In a follow-up tweet, he wrote, I mean, I guess I technically read texts written by people whove passed all the time, but its the fact that I looked up his email to send him a question and PULLED UP HIS MEMORIAM INSTEAD that just THREW ME OFF A LITTLE. Advertisement In a statement from Concordia, the university confirmed that Francois-Marc Gagnon, a longtime lecturer in the Department of Art History and prominent scholar with a large body of written work, created the lectures as part of Concordias online course catalog, eConcordia. In other words, Gagnons lectures are from a pre-COVID-19 era and were intended for a dedicated online class, not the in-person-designed courses that have moved online as a result of the pandemic. Technically, Marco Deyasi is now listed as the instructor of record, along with two teaching assistants who also interact with students and grade their work. Gagnons lectures continue on as a teaching tool, according to the Concordia spokesperson. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement All around us, the dead perform postmortem work. In the past, Ive written about the ways peoples likenesses or creative materials may live on beyond them, perhaps allowing corporations, platforms, or other institutions to profit. Thanks to digital technologies, dead celebrities can appear in ads, dead musicians can play at live shows, and individuals social data can manifest as chatbots. In addition to journal articles and syllabi, college professors like me might have a collection of video lectures and recorded talks that could potentially outlive us, perhaps instructing students and captivating audiences after we die. Does the university really have the right to profit from the lectures of a dead person? Or to charge students full tuition when they cannot access their professor except through a spirit medium? Advertisement This case may be particularly egregious, but it intersects with larger questions about copyright and control over faculty members online course materials and the various ways faculty labor within higher education is degraded and devalued. During the pandemics first days, contingent and tenured faculty members alike quickly adapted their syllabi and moved their course materials online, offering remote classes so instruction could safely continue. As weary professors have lamented, teaching online is, in many respects, more labor-intensive than being there in person: It involves recording, uploading, and transcribing video lectures; responding to asynchronous discussion posts; and fielding more questions from confused students. The pandemic has also brought new challenges, with faculty teaching from cramped quarters and caring for young children at home. Additional workload expectations are even more of a problem for part-time faculty members, who are expected to perform this additional work without more compensation. Despite increased workloads, some universities are cutting faculty positions, especially adjunct and other contingent positions, and reducing faculty pay. With an abundance of curated class materials uploaded to university drives, critics have flagged problems related to intellectual property rights and the repurposing of recorded lectures: Will faculty essentially automate away their own jobs by recording lectures that can be recycled year after year? Advertisement Advertisement The fact that the dead can literally replace living faculty members, and that the work of grading can be carried out by TAs, is a perfect metaphor for what is happening across the sector. TAs standing in for a dead renowned professor is a different form of what researchers Mary L. Gray and Siddharth Suri refer to as ghost work, or the globalized and precarious underclass that allows the web to function. In some ways, higher education is already a scam. Tenured faculty might teach a few classes, but student work is often graded by underpaid graduate student teaching assistants or graders. At prestigious research universities, discussion sections are also led by graduate students. Many more classes are taught by part-time faculty, who are cobbling together a living, or other short-term contracted faculty, like visiting assistant professors or postdocs. Digital technologies like recorded video lectures allow for the appearance of continued traditional instruction while cutting costs. Advertisement Meanwhile, faculty are being asked to fill in for sick or dead colleagues. Many schools, including mine, have instated a new mandatory buddy system in which you name an understudy, a colleague who can take over your classes if you fall ill, become incapacitated, or die of COVID-19. The stories of faculty members who continue to teach while ill and even die on camera, such as Paola De Simone, a professor in Buenos Aires who died from COVID-19 complications while in the middle of Zoom teaching, are part of this devaluing of academic labor and life. Not to mention the fact that in many places, faculty are forced to teach in-person classes despite the risk to themselves, their families, and their students. Some graduate students I have spoken to say they have been told they should sacrifice themselves and teach in-person classes since they are, at least in theory, young and healthy. In other cases, graduate students are also asked to fill in as instructors for tenured faculty members who get sick or die. Advertisement Advertisement These COVID-related developments are indicative of an ongoing relationship between academic precarity and death. Non-tenure track faculty are disproportionately women and people of color. Often, contingent and more junior faculty are the first to be laid off, erasing recent gains in diversifying faculty. Stories abound about adjuncts living on food stamps or sleeping in their cars. As I have argued elsewhere, contingent academic labor is akin to platform-based gig work. Thea Hunter was a Black woman adjunct professor in New York who died from health problems exacerbated by the stress of precarity and left untreated because of her lack of insurance. A brilliant scholar, she had a Ph.D. from Columbia University and had at one point been on the tenure track, but institutional racism conspired against her. Several years prior to Hunters death, Margaret Mary Vojtko, an adjunct professor of French at Duquesne University, died destitute at 83 while undergoing radiation therapy for cancer and living without stable housing. Such stories received a lot of shares and gained traction in the news at the time but did little to change the system. Advertisement Many classes are taught by part-time faculty, who are cobbling together a living, or other short-term contracted faculty, like visiting assistant professors or postdocs. And its a system that doesnt just fail its instructorsit also fails the students. Teaching is more than the sum of lectures, syllabi, and other course content. Pedagogy is more than grading. Education relies on informal relationships and networks: letters of recommendation, serendipitous introductions, moments of encouragement, and conversations during office hours, whether in a physical office, a coffee shop, or a Zoom room. As the person who posted the original Concordia tweet noted, students appreciate talking to faculty and developing long-standing relationships with them. Advertisement To be sure, online classes bring education to people with unpredictable schedules, disabled people, international students, and lower-income students. Not so long ago, massive open online courses offered a glimpse of more accessible, cheaper forms of education, although the hype quickly faded because students often failed to complete such courses and the rhetoric around democratization mostly unrealized. But MOOCS are quite different from emergency-prompted remote learning scenarios or other dedicated online classes. A Zoom class can emulate many features of the in-person classroom, including breakout rooms, seminar-style discussion, virtual guest speakers, and remote film screenings. Academic labor advocates suspect that the once-dim prospect of MOOCs looks more feasible when most or all instruction takes place over Zoom. To make more money, universities could decide to release large-scale version of their existing classes, targeting wider demographics. They could repurpose all of the previous digital lectures and online content that faculty have created. Advertisement Some universities have already made moves in this direction. Purdue University, for example, adopted a new IP model that makes it possible for the university to maintain rights to courseware designed for distance or e-learning, even if the faculty member leaves Purdue. While online classes and recorded lectures predate the pandemic, more and more faculty at all kinds of institutions are now creating video lectures for their asynchronous classes. Asynchronous class offerings are crucial for a variety of reasons, especially during the pandemic. Students are in a variety of time zones and have different learning needs. Some may miss official Zoom class time because of problems with connectivity or other issues related to their living situations. Asynchronous lectures and online class materials can also be more accessible for students with disabilities or students who fall ill. But the growth of asynchronous classes during the pandemic has raised new concerns. Who controls and owns all of the content that faculty are putting online? With Zoom and other proprietary software becoming more central to university education than ever, there are additional worries over platform-based surveillance of both students and facultyparticularly with respect to creepy remote proctoring toolsas well as censorship. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Given this moment where academic labor rights and expectations are in flux, academic labor unions should address not only the health of their members but also the intellectual property produced by faculty as part of their university positions. Traditionally, faculty get to maintain control of their syllabi and other course materials, but the line is fuzzy when it comes to online materials such as recorded lectures. I was taken aback while reading over a book contract and seeing that if I died, the press could enlist someone to finish the book on my behalf. That struck me as morbid, and also unlikely: Could someone really take over my writing after my death? Would they find someone in my field to sort through my messy Word documents and writing fragments on Google Drive, or would they have someone close to me do that labor for free? Other digital assets that persist after death may be tied to workplaces, like email addresses, shared file drives, and LinkedIn profiles. If I die, I would prefer that my recorded lectures and other artifacts related to my job go to my next of kin, not my employer. I have no desire to be a zombie instructor. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! THE Great Southern Greenway is to be renamed as the Limerick Greenway ahead of its reopening this summer. Details of the change were confirmed in an update which was delivered to members of Limerick City and County Council at a virtual meeting earlier this week. The council has also announced the appointment of consultants to lead a new marketing and promotion campaign around the opening of the Greenway once upgrade works are completed. Springboard and Totem have been tasked with devising a suite of promotional material for the upgraded greenway and will assist the Council on stepping up marketing and promotion ahead of its official opening. With the hospitality and tourism sectors badly affected by the pandemic, the local authority has also announced that a Greenway Destination Development Programme will be undertaken in 2021 in partnership with West Limerick Resources. "This will be a capacity-building programme to support communities and businesses situated along the route of the greenway in Limerick and North Kerry to capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the investment in the project. Once completed this year, the upgraded greenway will be an important new tourism product for both Limerick and the wider region, said Gordon Daly, Director of Services for Community Development, Limerick City and County Council. Kerry County Council has indicated that the section of the Greenway within its functional area will also be renamed as either the Kerry or North Kerry Greenway. Works to upgrade the Greenway - between Rathlkeale and Abbeyfeale - is temporarily stopped due to the shutdown of all non-essential construction arising from Covid-19. The multimillion euro contract, awarded to Roadbridge in June 2020, involves the upgrade of the entire 40 kilometres of the greenway to a three-metre wide macadam surface; bringing the route to the highest national standard. Completing the upgrade of the greenway by summer 2021 remains the target but this is going to be a challenge based on current Covid-19 related stoppages, Mr Daly acknowledged. However, he added that there is significant potential of the Limerick Greenway as a tourism product and that they council is planning a campaign to officially launch it later in the year. At the end of December 2020, a 9km section of the greenway between Rathkeale and Ardagh was opened for local use and the next section to be completed will be between Ardagh Newcastle West. The local authority has also confirmed it will open a greenway carpark at the old Ardagh Stationhouse site during the summer as soon as it completes stabilisation works on the building, which was acquired last year. Members of the public are being reminded of the current public health guidelines which mean only those living within 5km of the Greenway should use it. The worlds two richest men are duking it out before U.S. regulators over celestial real estate for their satellite fleets. Elon Musks SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to operate Starlink communications satellites at a lower orbit than first planned. Jeff Bezoss Amazon.com Inc. says the move would risk interference and collisions with its planned Kuiper satellites, which like Starlink are designed to beam internet service from space. A dispute that would normally be confined to regulatory filings is spilling into public view, in a spat that showcases the large personalities involved as billionaires chase dreams in the sky. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic It is SpaceXs proposed changes that would hamstring competition among satellite systems," Amazon tweeted Tuesday from its official news account. It is clearly in SpaceXs interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the publics interest." The statement followed a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation," Musk said in a tweeted reply to coverage by CNBC journalist Michael Sheetz. Musks Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and is signing up early customers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Amazon last year won FCC permission for a fleet of 3,236 satellites and has yet to launch any. Amazon earlier urged the FCC to reject SpaceXs request for lower orbits. It said the change would put SpaceX satellites in the midst of the Kuiper System orbits, according to filings at the agency. SpaceX pushed back in calls to the FCC, saying its plans wouldnt increase interference for what it termed Amazons still nascent plans." A lower orbit allows quicker internet service because the signal doesnt travel as far. SpaceX told the FCC that having the satellites closer to Earth lessens the risk of space debris because they would fall out of orbit more quickly than higher spacecraft. SpaceX eventually plans to operate some 12,000 satellites and has won FCC authorization for about 4,400 birds, including 1,584 at 550 kilometers -- where its satellites currently orbit. The company is seeking permission to stage another 2,824 satellites at the same approximate altitude, rather than twice as high as originally proposed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Pubs, restaurants and cafes have never been coronavirus hotspots, local public health directors claimed today. Despite hospitality venues facing hugely damaging restrictions, there has never been a 'terribly big risk' of someone catching the disease in them, they said. Greg Fell, director of public health in Sheffield, and Dr Richard Harling, his counterpart in Staffordshire, said the bulk of transmission has always been in people's homes. The hospitality industry has been crippled financially during the Covid crisis and heavily penalised under almost all lockdown tiers. Under the current national shutdown, venues have been forced to close for everything except takeaways. In Tier 3 areas the rules were just as tough, and in Tier 2 alcohol could only be served with 'substantial meals', pubs and bars were forced to close unless operating as restaurants and last orders were at 10pm. Mr Fell and Dr Harling made the comments at a virtual House of Commons Science and Technology Committee today, where they were quizzed about the failings of NHS Test and Trace. They claimed Britain's Covid crisis would be 'in a better place' now if the centralised system used local contact tracers sooner instead of focusing on call centres. Mr Fell described the relationship between local health officials and the national system earlier in the year as 'fundamentally broken' and, although it has improved, it still 'has a long way to go'. Dr Harling warned he expects to be 'dealing with cases of coronavirus throughout the 2020s and into the 2030s' and that test and trace measures will be needed for decades as the country learns to live with the virus which may be around forever. Greg Fell, director of public health in Sheffield, and Dr Richard Harling, his counterpart in Staffordshire, said pubs, restaurants and cafes have never been coronavirus hotspots Despite hospitality venues facing hugely damaging restrictions, there has never been a 'terribly big risk' of someone catching the disease in them, they said Asked about the risk of transmission in hospitality venues, Mr Fell told MPs on the Commons committee: 'Most of the transmission events are households, within households, or household to household transmission. 'Hospitality doesnt crop up as a terribly big risk on our risk radar. 'Certainly when we look at the common exposure dataset, hospitality certainly isnt a huge risk. 'There will have been transmission in hospitality, but its certainly nowhere near the top of my risk radar.' Dr Harling added: 'Back in the summer and autumn, once you put transmission between household members aside, the next most important one was transmission between different households. Hospitality did feature but much lower down the list. At the moment, with hospitality closed, our main one now is other businesses, other workplaces.' The pair were brought before the Science and Technology Committee to discuss the successes and failings of NHS Test and Trace. The system has come under huge fire for struggling to meet its target of isolating 80 per cent of close contacts of infected patients for most of 2020. Mr Fell said the UK would 'probably be in better place' if local officials had been 'consulted earlier'. When Test and Trace launched last May it relied solely on call centres to track down Covid carriers and their close contacts. Local public health officials were eventually brought on board in autumn and physical contact tracers were deployed when performance dipped. Dr Harling echoed Mr Fell's comments, adding: 'Our staff are invested in this, if they are successful in isolating contacts it affects them directly. Its their community and their families. That's not quite true with the remote system.' Asked about the relationship between local health officials and the NHS Test and Trace scheme, Mr Fell said it was 'improving', but 'still has a long way to go'. 'It's not as fundamentally broken as it was six to eight months ago,' he added. Dr Harling added: 'It has improved but it's still relatively remote.' He said queries with Test and Trace have a 'long chain of command' and it often takes too long to get a reponse. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Adaptiva Posts Record Growth as Company Rises To Solve Enterprise Challenges Adaptiva, a leading, global provider of endpoint management and security solutions for enterprise customers, today announced strong financial results for 2020. The company achieved 57% revenue growth over 2019, despite the challenges of doing business amid a global pandemic. Adaptiva has been able to excel across all aspects of its business by focusing on clear customer needs. "I am proud of the Adaptiva team for responding so quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic - creating our pathbreaking Adaptiva OneSite Cloud product in just three months and enabling our customers to adapt to the new normal," said Adaptiva CEO and Founder Deepak Kumar. "Business agility and digital transformation are no longer buzzwords; they have become central to business continuity, and Adaptiva is well positioned to be the leading innovator at the forefront of these technologies." Product Innovation Drives Growth Over the past year, Adaptiva introduced two new products, OneSite Intune Edition and OneSite Cloud. These products were developed in response to the IT demands placed on systems when enterprises rapidly shifted to remote work and looked to accelerate digital transformation. Adaptiva's OneSite Intune Edition helps enterprises overcome content delivery challenges by integrating its award-winning peer-to-peer software distribution engine with Microsoft (News - Alert) Intune. With its release, Adaptiva became the first and only third-party software delivery system that enables Intune to rapidly and securely scale to hundreds of thousands of endpoints. OneSite Cloud enables enterprises to receive software and other content updates at unprecedented speed and scale without overwhelming the corporate VPN and WAN/SD-WAN links or compromising network performance - only an internet connection is required. OneSite Cloud effectively extends the boundaries of the enterprise network to cover the entire internet, allowing total visibility and control over all endpoints, regardless of where they are - in the office, at home or at a coffee shop. OneSite Cloud delivers content from ConfigMgr, Microsoft Intune and VMware Workspace ONE almost instantly to work in any IT environment. OneSite Cloud includes OneSite Intune Edition as well as OneSite VMware Edition to support companies at any phase of their digital transformation. Additionally, Adaptiva expanded its Endpoint Health (previously Client Health) product, which automates endpoint health checks and remediates issues for clients and servers. The new Endpoint Health runs 111 health checks enterprise-wide within minutes. This includes several health checks devoted to patching, security and Windows 10 maintenance. The latest checks were created based on customer requests for an even wider range of specific, automated activities that can maximize service availability while reducing the inflow of support tickets. People and Partners Expand Product Adoption To get Adaptiva's solutions into more enterprise IT departments worldwide, Adaptiva ramped up its channel program. The company secured a number of strategic channel partnerships that will increase Adaptiva's global reach. Existing channel and MSP partnerships played a significant role in Adaptiva's revenue growth. Adaptiva also hired key sales personnel to handle increased demand. This includes Yong Kok Kee, who is leding the company's expansion into Asia. Yong is based in Singapore, where Adaptiva has established a strong presence. The company also brought on government contracts expert Ryan Oliaee, as Adaptiva products gain traction within the federal government. Additionally, Adaptiva solutions and support leaders Dan Richings, James Pitcher and Mark Dickson were rewarded for their outstanding work. Richings was promoted to senior vice president of product management, while Pitcher was named vice president of customer success, and Dickson moved from his post as senior solutions engineer to director of product management after this talented team achieved 100% customer satisfaction ratings every month for the past two years. A Recognized Leader 2020 was also marked by several product and team awards. OneSite Cloud received a BIG Innovation Award and is currently on the shortlist of the Cloud Awards for Best Hybrid Cloud Solution. OneSite Cloud also claimed silver in the Golden Bridge Awards for Best New Product or Service. Adaptiva's OneSite VMware Edition won an IT World Award for Best Product: Enterprise Mobility Management, and the company's Evolve VM solution won a Cyber Defense Magazine InfoSec Award for Endpoint Security. The customer solutions team also received recognition for its outstanding customer service. It took away a Stevie Award, an IT World Award, an American Business Award, and a Customer Sales & Service World Award. The company itself received an American Business Award for Achievement in Growth, underscoring that innovative products developed, sold and supported by industry experts leads to growth, regardless of the business climate. To learn more about Adaptiva and experience why customers are so satisfied with its products and support, please visit https://adaptiva.com/. About Adaptiva Adaptiva is a leading, global provider of endpoint management and security solutions. The company's products, including OneSite Cloud, Endpoint Health and Evolve VM, empower enterprises to manage and secure endpoints at unparalleled speed and massive scale using the power of peer-to-peer technology. Leading global Fortune 1000 organizations, including T-Mobile (News - Alert) , Nokia, HSBC, Walgreens, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, use Adaptiva products to eliminate the need for a vast IT infrastructure and automate countless endpoint management and security tasks. Learn more at https://adaptiva.com/, and follow the company at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. OneSite and Evolve VM are trademarks of Adaptive Protocols, Inc. All other brand names and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Tags: Adaptiva, endpoint security, endpoint management, peer-to-peer technology, customer support, digital transformation, cloud, security, OneSite Cloud, Microsoft Intune, VMware, Endpoint Health, Evolve VM View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005229/en/ Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning WASHINGTON, D.C. - Ohios Senior U.S. Senator, Cleveland Democrat Sherrod Brown, told reporters on Wednesday that Champaign Countys Jim Jordan would be last on my list of people hed like to see replace Republican U.S. Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who announced that hell retire when his term expires in two years. He said Jordan continued to put out there that last years presidential election was rigged, which is a total lie. Brown said the Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill happened because of politicians who incited violence, who continue to propagate this lie that this election wasnt legitimate. People like that shouldnt serve in public office, continued Brown, who collaborates regularly with Portman. One of them just got defeated and is now a private citizen as of a week ago. Jordan is an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump who led efforts on the House of Representatives floor on the day of the riot to question the validity of President Joe Bidens victory over Trump. Jordan, who also participated in Stop the Steal rallies in Pennsylvania, is considered a likely frontrunner in any Republican primary to succeed Portman. Jordan has not indicated whether he plans to run for Senate, telling television interviewers who asked him directly: Well see, Jordan also says hes focused on the upcoming U.S. Senate trial to impeach Trump, and his responsibilities as the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee. Jordans press spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on Browns remarks. Brown also told reporters that hes talked to several prospective candidates who are interested in seeking the job, and hasnt asked anybody to run at this point. Im just kind of talking them through what being a candidate for the Senate is like, said Brown. And I am talking a lot about the state and what this state needs to do. He said a Twitter posting from his wife, Connie Schultz, that said Imagine Dr. Amy Acton as Ohios next U.S. senator. I sure can, should not necessarily be characterized as an endorsement from Schultz. Cleveland.com reported Tuesday that Acton is considering a Senate run. She likes Amy, Brown said of Schultz. Shes talked to Amy. ... When I talked to Connie, she told me she did that last night. I didnt certainly tell her to or ask her to ... My wife does have a mind of her own, in case you guys didnt know that. Read more: Sen. Rob Portman backs measure to question constitutionality of impeaching former President Donald Trump Rob Portman talks about his future plans and whats ahead for the Republican Party Sen. Rob Portman announces he wont seek re-election U.S. Capitol riot prompts Democrat Jeff Sites to seek Rep. Jim Jordans congressional seat Ohio Congress members at President Joe Bidens inauguration hope for new era of cooperation Several Ohio Congress members will skip Joe Bidens inauguration amid unprecedented security measures Rep. Bob Gibbs and other Ohio Republican Congress members object to metal detectors to access House floor Rocky River Republican Anthony Gonzalez votes to impeach President Donald Trump House votes to impeach President Trump after last weeks U.S. Capitol riot, with all Ohio Democrats and one Ohio Republican in the majority What Ohios Jim Jordan said as he led President Trumps impeachment defense on the House floor Sen. Rob Portman urges President Trump to address the nation to explicitly urge that his supporters refrain from violence, or bear responsibility Ohios Sherrod Brown plans to take on corporations as chair of Senate Banking Committee U.S. Capitol Police officers are being disciplined for cooperating with rioters, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan says You are here: China Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua on Tuesday called for continued efforts on poverty alleviation work and improving the livelihood of residents who have shaken off poverty. The country should consolidate and expand its poverty alleviation achievements, keep current poverty-relief policies stable, and prevent people from falling back into poverty, Hu said at a meeting. The vice premier urged efforts to strengthen the top-level design on promoting rural vitalization and make policies more targeted and effective. China has decided to set a five-year transition period for counties that have shaken off poverty and gradually shift the policy focus toward comprehensively promoting rural vitalization. A 30-year-old soldier accused of having sex on multiple occasions with a 14-year-old girl at Burma Camp, Accra has been admitted to bail by an Accra Circuit Court. Corporal Offei Richard Okyere was admitted to bail in the sum of GH100,000.00 with two sureties, who are to be public servants earning not less than GH2,000.00. The Court presided over by Mrs. Christiana Cann indicated that the complainant had written to the court to withdraw the matter. Prosecuting Detective Sergeant Opoku Aniagyie said he had seen the withdrawal letter but the Police were going to pursue the case. When the matter was called, the complainant was not in court. The court therefore ordered the complainant to appear in court at the next adjourned to explain the withdrawal letter. The matter has been adjourned to February 3. Cpl Okyere who has been charged with defilement, has pleaded not guilty. The facts as presented by Detective Sergeant Aniagyei are that; the complainant is a 53-year-old labourer of the Ghana Military Police residing at Burma Camp, Accra. The Prosecution said the victim was a 14-year-old Junior High School student, residing with the father who was the complainant in the case. Detective Sergeant Aniagyei said Okyere was also residing at Burma Camp and that the complainant and Okyere worked in the same Regiment and were very good friends. The Prosecution said between July and September last year, Okyere took advantage of the friendship between him and the complainant and paid visits to the complainants house. He said whiles the complainant was away, Okyere lured the victim into their room and had sexual intercourse with the victim in a sofa chair. The prosecution said on another occasion, Okyere had sex with the victim on the complainants bed. He said not satisfied with the sexual advances, Okyere took the victim to a nearby bush about 200 meters away from the victims house and had sex with her. The prosecution said on December 15, last year, the victims elder sister questioned whether she was a virgin and the victim denied being one. This, the prosecution said made the complainant suspicious and he asked the victim who broke her virginity and she mentioned Okyere as the one who had been having sexual intercourse with her. He said on December 16, last year, the complainant reported the matter to one Military Police Officer and they arrested Okyere who was detained in a guardroom. The Prosecution said the Military Police issued a medical form to the complainant to seek treatment for the victim at any government hospital. The prosecution said a medical report was submitted on the victim after medical examination on January 2, this year. He said later, the complainant, the victim and Okyere were brought to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Accra by the Military Police. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2021) - GoldHaven Resources Corp. (CSE: GOH) (OTCQB: GHVNF) (FSE: 4QS) ("GoldHaven" or the "Company") reports that DRILLEX CHILE SPA has been hired to conduct the Phase I - 5,000m drilling campaign. The GoldHaven crew has been preparing the site at Rio Loa, and selecting the drill targets for the imminent start of the drill-campaign. Daniel Schieber GoldHaven's CEO stated "Thanks to Pat Burns and his deep connections in Chile, GOH has been able to secure a value-add drilling contract. Pat Secured this contract in an environment of growing demand for drillers due to rising commodity prices and an increase exploration activity in Chile. Mr. Jimmy Toler Jr. the principal of DRILLEX CHILE SPA has 40 years of experience in exploration and resource-definition drilling. Also part of the team are Mr. William Ricciardi (Titeline Drilling Australia), Mr. Nigel Smith and Mr. Ryan Wall partners of Exploration Drill Masters out of Santiago, Chile. GOH's world-class geological team is now supported by an experienced and reasonably priced drilling company. To unlock the potential on our 251 square km's land position in the Maricunga belt, the company needs the right exploration team and the right drill-contractor. Phase I drilling will take about 5-6 weeks to complete and management plans to provide results to shareholders as the program progresses. The GOH story has evolved from an asset acquisition story in 2020, to a fully funded and drill ready exploration play in 2021." GOH to attend Virtual Mining Conferences in February - March 2021 Management of GoldHaven plans to present at 121 Mining Investment - Conference 1st - 3rd of February. This conference is primarily tailored for European, Asian, and African investors. In addition to this conference GoldHaven management will be attending the upcoming PDAC Conference on March 8th - 10th . About GoldHaven Resources Corp. Story continues GoldHaven Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior exploration company active in the Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile. The Maricunga measures 150 km north-south and 30 km east-west and is host to discoveries in the last ten years of 100M oz gold, 450M oz silver and 13 billion lbs copper. The Company has agreements in place to acquire seven high priority exploration targets as identified by geological studies. GoldHaven has identified four of these seven properties as being "High Priority" targets and, will commence a drilling program beginning during the first quarter of 2021. The four priority targets include Coya located approximately 16 km northeast of the La Coipa mine where Kinross has extracted over 6.2 million oz.; the second is Rio Loa, a project located 25 km south of Gold Field's Salares Norte deposit (5.2 M oz. AuEq); the third and fourth projects are Alicia and Roma which are approximately 35 km south of the Salares Norte deposit. These priority targets have been designated as High Priority owing to the extensive pervasive alteration, favourable geology and highly anomalous rock geochemistry results as well as their relative proximity to existing deposits. We Seek Safe Harbor. On Behalf of the Board of Directors Daniel Schieber For further information, please contact: Daniel Schieber CEO & Director #2300 - 1177 West Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. V6K 2E3 www.goldhavenresources.com Office Direct: (604) 638-5938 Cell Direct: (604) 722-5798 Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE- Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, the intended use of the proceeds received from the Offering, the possible acquisition of the Projects, the Company's expectation that it will be successful in enacting its business plans, and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "will", "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "potential", "scheduled", or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that investor interest will be sufficient to close the Offering, and the receipt of any necessary regulatory or corporate approvals in connection with the Offering and the Assignment, that there will be investor interest in future financings, market fundamentals will result in sustained precious metals demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals in connection with the future exploration and development of the Company's projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the exploration and development of the Company's projects and the Company's ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities, actual results of exploration activities, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the inability of the Company to obtain the necessary financing required to conduct its business and affairs, as currently contemplated, the inability to close the Offering, the inability of the Company to enter into definitive agreements in respect of the Letters of Intent which are the subject of the Assignment, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, lack of investor interest in future financings, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents, approvals or authorizations, including by the Exchange, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management's Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72917 Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. But Puppets are in big demand More proof that, No President Need Apply! Americas government definitely does not need a president and does not care if they have a president. Yet, they present a facade of a president to appease the visually excited masses So as you can see why I say that all and any USA presidents for many years are nothing but puppets on strings! The US is flailing again and striking at anything and everything. The lies are running amok against Russia and China, plus a few others to salt the wounds. It is as if there are people who cannot live one day without turmoil and they are all in charge and or employed it seems by the USA Gov We get over going through the whitewash process of spending a unbelievable fortune on political smoke and screens and vote in another puppet. The puppet (Biden) is not even had time to warm the White House Office Chair and the rats are running around trying to start crap with the world The United States notes with concern the pattern of ongoing PRC attempts to intimidate its neighbors, including Taiwan. We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwans democratically elected representatives..We will stand with friends and allies to advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Indo-Pacific region and that includes deepening our ties with democratic Taiwan. https://www.state.gov/prc-military-pressure-against-taiwan-threatens-regional-peace-and-stability/ Taiwan is to China as Guam or Puerto Rico is to the US. There cannot be an incursion of Chinese bombers in Taiwan. Anyone who applies for a visa to Taiwan knows the stamp is for The Peoples Republic of China. As even the Taiwan website has that exclamation in the header In other words the US desires to start a fight with China by using Taiwan as their pasties. The citizens of Taiwan will literally be used as human shields in the beginning salvos. It is so comical that the USA gets into a huff about PRC flying aircraft around in its own neighborhood yet continues to send ships and spy planes way outside its own territorial airspace and waters, then complains when PRC sends its assets to chase them away. Eventually it will come to an exchange of fire, then listen to the USA squeal like stuck piglet. That seems to be the modus agendi to cause trouble and then point fingers and blame everyone around you. As the USA keeps lashing out hurting so many. What the hell are we even over, around China and such poking at none of our business things? Just like the US has flagrantly just exposed herself in Russia: This is how you start wars.by interfering in other countries politics and illegally inciting and stirring trouble through underhanded means within other countries Why do we do it? Cultural, Moral and Value Renaissance (not war **) is needed by the USA and cronies! What people dont seem to realize in America, that there are a couple + of completely different internal governments running each of the USAs differing internal/external policies at any given time. Sometimes there are dozens of different policies fighting each other at the same time. It truly is a, Barrel of Monkeys! And many of these Monkeys are hell bent on war! It excites them, they want war and they live for war. Just look at who Trump and now Biden surround(ed) themselves with as experts and specialists to help them with being president! The Monkeys in that barrel want to attack Russia.over in that barrel, they want to attack China.forget Chin and Russia, that barrel in the corner hates Iran.No No, says the monkey, Syria must die, so I can put a pipeline through! You must understand that Monkeys love that barrel! Like all policies in the US: One policy for intelligence or maybe two or three policies for intelligence, (NSA, DOD) One or more policies for foreign policy, (State Department, CIA) and one or more for domestic policy, (Congress, FBI), etc And they do not function or work together at all. In fact, they work against each other quite frequently. As Im sure you non-Americans reading this know how visible this issue is? The world sees a much different side of the USA than the ones trapped inside her borders Is it bad? I dont know if you think it is bad? You should! It is just how it is in the USA.Yes, I think it is a bad way to run a country The US has multiple factions that want another excuse to have another war. But as we know thats all the USA does around the world, instead of sorting its own problems out within our country More proof that, No President Need Apply! If China prevails? As it will because, as we all know inside ourselves, the USA financial system is extremely corrupted and chaotic! Thus its the USA that is going to go down sooner than we comprehend. Once that happens, the stretched and propped up production/financial system of the West will disappear and with it the West will disappear as we know it. Yet instead of trying to work with others, we do as Empires do, bully and bully, because we are number one in our eyes Now we watch the USA trying (again and again) to change the government in China & Russia. It will not succeed So what is left is to contemplate how the wealth is transferred from our lazy/indolent western countries to the hard labor Asian countries, something which we have watched happen since the Japanese and Koreans woke up and joined the party with China. It cannot be stopped short of all out war. If we/us western people want to be successful? We have to lead a, Cultural, Moral and Value Renaissance ** during the next century, not a military attempt to avoid the unavoidable. War never works, except for the few (10% or so) and those few always chose war, death and destruction over peace and harmony. It is their way and yet, we allow them always to be having their way To contemplate the future of the West you only have to compare Asian youth with Western youth. Asian Values with Western Values. Asian vs Western? Check it out with an open mind WtR ** Renaissance is a French word meaning rebirth. Cibolo area church leaders gathered on Main Street in Cibolo outside St. Pauls Evangelical Church to pray for people driving by, in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on a day set aside in his honor. Cibolo Mayor Stosh Boyle helped bring together spiritual leaders from St. Pauls, Everyday Christian Fellowship, and Refuge Church of San Antonio in Cibolo to offer a drive-by prayer service on Jan. 18. Tables with boxes of doughnuts were set up, neon cardboard signs were drawn, and a half-dozen church members stood by, inviting passing motorists to pull over to be prayed upon. We wanted to do something in light of MLK Day and honor Dr. Martin Luther King. We wanted to honor our residents, to bring folks together, Boyle said. From 7-9:30 a.m., and again from 3:30-6 p.m., Boyle and the church members stood by, ready to offer prayer and words of comfort for anyone driving past. Motorists honked, many waved, and some stopped to chat with the group on their way to or home from work. Several pulled over, exited their vehicles, and joined the pastors curbside for a word of prayer and encouragement. Refuge Church pastor Terrin Phillips and two members of his congregation stood on the sidewalk that afternoon in front of St. Pauls, just across the street from Cibolo City Hall, where Boyle and the citys council members meet to manage and direct the citys affairs for its citizens. But this day would be focused on Cibolos residents in a different light. Representatives from different churches in the community stepped in and donated time and were just trying to reach as many people as we can, Boyle said. We want to set the tone right for 2021 and make sure we do our best to bring the community together. Phillips, whose congregation meets at the Cibolo Family YMCA, said he happily responded to Boyles request. So many people in our community are hurting. This is about a group of guys churches coming together and saying, Look people, its not about the things we disagree on, were going to put that stuff aside and were going to pray, Phillips said. Every car that comes by, Im praying for them whether they stop, or they dont. We all need it, were all a little messed up during this time, Phillips added. He is one of the founders of Refuge Church, formed 7 years ago. He was joined that afternoon by Refuge Church childrens pastor Sarah Uhlhorn, and church member Omar Rivera, who held signs announcing the drive-up prayer effort. Also on hand that Monday afternoon was Cibolo City Councilman Joel Hicks. The common denominator between all of us out here now is Jesus Christ, Phillips said. And to me, thats the most important thing, the pastor said. Phillips told of how the people he meets and the congregants he talks with have spoken of the hardships and personal strife suffered during the past year, when the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect peoples lives, and livelihoods. Our world can go to hell in a hand basket, and it seems sometimes like it is, he said. In the world that we live right now, you can love people, even people who see things differently than you. You can love them; you dont have to be so contrary with people. I just keep my eyes focused on Him, the pastor added. Hes helped me and, whether people like to admit it or not, hes can change peoples lives. Boyle said the days gathering would likely become a monthly event, a Cibolo Drive-Up Prayer Service, to be staged at different points throughout the city. With something new like this its all trial and error. But the recipes been good so far, Boyle said. jflinn@express-news.net China and Sri Lanka enjoy historical friendship and have always been strongly supporting each other including the joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Responding to recent request by the Sri Lankan government, China has decided to donate 300k coronavirus vaccine doses to Sri Lanka to jointly fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, although the production capacity of the vaccine is still limited compared with the huge domestic and international demand, the Chinese embassy in Colombo said in a press statement. The vaccine doses are expected to be handed over to Sri Lankan side in mid-February after the due procedures in both ends are completed. The vaccine is manufactured by the China National Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd (Sinopharm), a leading vaccine manufacturer in the world with a revenue of nearly RMB yuan 400 billion (US dollar 62 billion) in 2018. The Sinopharm vaccine has already passed the phase three trials in several countries with 79-86% effective at preventing COVID-19 infection, 99.52% neutralizing antibodies and 100% preventing severe and moderate disease. As an inactivated vaccine, it better ensures the safety of vaccines, and could be easily stored and transported at a regular fridge temperature (2-8 degrees Celsius). The vaccine has received approval for public use in the UAE, Serbia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Pakistan and China etc. By 26th January, over 20 million Sinopharm doses have been administered across the world with no reports of serious adverse reactions. Foreign state leaders including the Seychelles President, Bahrain Prime Minister, Jordan Prime Minister, the UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, and Serbian Health Minister etc have received the jabs. "The Embassy would like to take this opportunity to extend our most sincere solidarity and best wishes to the Sri Lankan people, and reiterate Chinas commitment to jointly build a community of shared future for mankind," the press statement further noted. It's the last tolerated prejudice. But Femail's had enough. It's time we called out those day-to-day moments when we're patronised for no longer being young... It's very much under the radar, but the debate continues to simmer. Actually, it's already erupted in Italy, where a 103-year-old Italian, a war hero who escaped from the Nazis, has been getting torrents of abuse for being one of the first in line to get the vaccine. We had as measured a talk as we could about the issue around the supper table with my 23-year-old son and his girlfriend last night. In a sense I understand their point. All those pictures of 80-plussers offering their wrinkly arms up for the jab only to toddle back home and live on their pensions. Wouldn't it be better, as they argue, to vaccinate the young and fit so they can get out there and at least contribute to the economy? Christa D'Souza (pictured) discusses which age groups should get the Covid vaccine first Look, it is bad for the young, there are fewer jobs than there used to be and, in fact, being young and fit is turning out not to be such a guarantee of sailing through Covid as they previously thought. But what are they saying? That old people are going to die soon anyway so why waste it on them? Everyone is allowed to think what they want, but take it a step further and it all starts getting a little Orwellian. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The Promise by Eva Schloss & Barbara Powers (2006) Another moving first-hand account of life in World War II, Eva Schloss was a young Jewish girl who lived in Vienna before the Nazis invaded. Schloss and her family fled to Belgium, and then to Amsterdam where they spent the next two years separated and in hiding. Sadly, the family were betrayed and sent to Auschwitz. Eva and her mother survived, however her father and brother Heinz perished just weeks before the liberation. Once freed, Eva and her mother returned to the house Heinz and her father had been living in. There they recovered 30 of Heinzs beautiful paintings he had hidden beneath the floorboards. A reminder of what Eva's father had once promised: all the good things you accomplish will make a difference to someone, and your achievements will be carried on. Recommended reading age: 11-14 years old Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics Market report offers a comprehensive analysis of current trends and future opportunities. This report is responsible for quantitative estimation and foreseen future for upcoming years based on the recent companies strategic moves and historical data. Further, the market report is categorized into different segments, regions, and countries level. This report also provides competitor analysis with its market share and developments. The final report will cover the impact of COVID-19 on this industry. The global High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics market report presents a complete research-based study of the industry including details such as company shares, forecast data, in-depth analysis and an outlook of the market on a worldwide platform. The report further highlights the market drivers, restraints and the top manufacturers at the global and regional levels. For a thorough understanding, the report also offers market segmentation and regional analysis for the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31409 According to this study, over the next five years, the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach $ xx million by 2025, from $ xx million in 2020. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics business, shared in Chapter 3. This High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics market report also splits the market by regions: Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil), APAC (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain), Middle East & Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries). This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Toray Polyplastics DIC Celanese Kureha Solvay Sumitomo Chemical SK Chemical SABIC Tosoh Evonik Chongqing Glion Zhejiang NHU Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31409 This study considers the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.7. Polyphenylene Sulfide (PPS) Polyimide (PI) Polysulfone (PSU) Liquid-Crystal Polymer (LCP) Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) Others Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.8. Automotive Electrical and Electronic Aerospace & Defense Machinery & Equipment Medical Devices Others In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, challenges, and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development. Purchase the Complete Global High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31409 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2015 to 2019, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics manufacturers, to define, describe, and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in the next few years. To analyze the High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). To project the consumption of High Heat Resistant Engineering Plastics submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. About Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research report provider, enriching decision-makers, and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research reports, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 90 28 057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ Reference Source: https://www.topnewscorner.com/high-heat-resistant-engineering-plastics-market-2020-analysis-by-latest-trends-growth-opportunities-with-potential-impact-of-covid-19/ Chinese police film workers demolishing a group of buildings. Local residents claim the land belonged to their community and was were illegally built upon by a property company, in Beijing on May 31, 2010. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinese Professor Found Dead After Local Authorities Forcibly Demolished His Properties A professor at Sichuan Normal University was found dead on the schools campus in mid-January. Although local authorities have ruled out foul play, those who were close to the victim believe that his death is related to the recent forced demolition of his properties. The local police and the university have confirmed Tuos death on Jan. 18. A statement released by the university said that local authorities have ruled out criminal activity and the incident is still under investigation. Tuo Jiguang, 50, has been a professor at Sichuan Normal University since December 2010. His research was mainly focused on communication studies, and he has published over 200 journals. Tuos wife, Li Ying, told Chinese media Jiemian News that Tuo fell off from the 10th floor of the Tianjiabing Building on the university campus at 8:14 a.m. on Jan. 18. Tuos family and friends believe his death is related to the forced demolition of his properties by local authorities. They wanted to use the land for a redevelopment project. In October 2020, Tuo filed a complaint against the mayor of Chenghua city, Pu Fayou, alleging that he abused his authority in carrying out orders to forcibly demolish Tuos properties. Chinese scholar Zhan Jiang shared Tuos complaint letter on Chinese web portal Sina on Oct., 24, 2020. According to the file, Tuo and his family own two properties in Chenghua district. Since 2011, a demolition team has been ordered by the district to coerce Tuo into giving up his properties and signing them over to the local authorities. They used various intimidation tactics on Tuo, including threats, and getting his workplace to apply pressure on him, according to the complaint. Despite Tuos efforts, Pu went ahead and ordered the two properties to be demolished without compensation or a resettlement agreement. Pu did not notify Tuo and his family in advance. According to Chinese law, the property can only be demolished after the evictees signed the agreement and the compensation was paid. Under communist rule in China, all land is owned by the state. When Chinese citizens buy a home, they are only leased for a certain period. Over the years, this has resulted in millions of Chinese losing their homes through forced demolitions and forced relocations of villages and towns when local governments decided to reclaim the land for more profitable use. According to a report by Chinese media Yangtze River Daily, Li said that her husband, who is a postdoctoral researcher in journalism and law, was depressed after the forced demolition. Tuo told his wife, We studied law, studied journalism, but we cannot defend our rights. Before teaching at Sichuan Normal University, Tuo was a reporter and editor at two of the largest local newspapers, West China Metropolis Daily and Chengdu Economic Daily, according to a report by Radio Free Asia (RFA). A media worker and former colleague of Tuo, surnamed Chen, told RFA that Tuo holds two post-doc titles. He believes that Tuos tragic death is a reminder of the Chinese regimes oppression. From Tuos experiences, we can see how crafty the government is. On the one hand, they reason with you, and on the other hand, they use gangsters to get what they want. Many citizens have attempted to appeal to authorities about their forced evictions and illegal land grabs, but they have little bargaining power in China. Tang Fuzhen, a resident in Jinniu district of Chengdu, died of self-immolation in protest over the forced demolition of her home in 2009. With the COVID-19 graph in Kerala continuing its upward trend, the LDF government on Wednesday decided to impose stringent restrictions, making wearing of masks and ensuring social distancing mandatory and increasing testing to bring down the numbers by mid-February. A high-level Covid evaluation meeting chaired byChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan felt that the situation would worsen if such a step was not taken, as there was a general lack of alertness among people after relaxation of restrictions. Kerala on Wednesday recorded 5,659 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total caseload to over nine lakh. The government also said COVID guidelines should be strictly followed while organising public functions. It decided to utilize the services of police personnel to implement the restrictions, along withsectoral magistrates, who are now entrusted with surveillance duties, a press release from the Chief Minister's Office said. In containment zones, the restrictions will be further stregthened. The government's effort is to bring down the cases by mid February. In marriages also, the guidelines should be strictly followed and it should be ensured that not more than 100 people attend such gatherings, the release said. The government has also decided to conduct one lakh tests Covid tests daily, 75 per cent of which would be RT PCR. More tests would be conducted in camps of guest workers and factories like cashew, where the employees sit close together while at work. As per a study by the Community Medicine department of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical college hospital, 56 per cent of people get infected from inside their homes. Those coming home from outside infect family members and 20 per cent of people get infected from markets, malls and restaurants, it said. At least 65 per cent of infected people failed to observe social distancing norms and 45 per cent are those who do not wear masks. While five per cent of the children get infected from schools, 47 per cent were infected from their homes, the study pointed out. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 32-year-old woman from Hai Duong province has tested positive for the new coronavirus variant upon her arrival in Japan. Mr. Pham Duy Tuyen, Director of Hai Duong Province Centre for Disease Control (CDC), said the womans positive test result was available on January 17 at Japan's airport where COVID-19 screening tests are done for all arrivals, but only yesterday did local authorities were informed of the situation. According to Mr. Tuyen, the woman, named N.T.G, is a worker at POUL, a company based in Cong Hoa Industrial Park in Chi Linh City, Hai Duong and was sent to Japan on an overseas labour agreement on a flight departing from Hanoi and transiting through Singapore on January 17. Genomic sequencing results on January 26 indicates that the woman was infected with the coronavirus variant first reported in the UK, which was considered to be much more transmissible though not necessarily resulting in more serious disease. Hung Dao Commune in Chi Linh City, where the woman was living, said they only received the information on Tuesday, and have identified 16 close contacts of the suspected case mostly her relatives. The 16 people who had close contacts with the woman have been moved to centralised quarantine facilities for isolation and will be tested for COVID-19. Their places of residences have also been disinfected. The management of Cong Hoa Industrial Park is also tracking people she had close contact with. Further epidemiologic investigation is ongoing, communes authorities said. The woman took part in a Japanese language training course in Hanoi, and returned to her hometown and worked in Hai Duong since August last year. On January 16, she left for Hanoi to do pre-flight procedures and her COVID-19 test returns negative. She then came back to Hai Duong to have a farewell party. On January 17, her family rented a car, with eight on board, to leave for Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi. Nguyen Thu Hang Looking back on one year fighting COVID-19 in Vietnam January 23 marks the one-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case in Vietnam. On this day, a man visiting from China tested positive for coronavirus. San Antonio Costco members, it looks like a new store is coming to the far West Side. Costco Wholesale Corp. purchased land between a Walmart Supercenter at the corner of Loop 1604 and Potranco Road and the Shops at Dove Creek, according to an article from the San Antonio Express-News. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Despite winter conditions fruit and vegetable merchants in Toronto help with physical distancing by setting much of the produce outside on the sidewalk on Wednesday January 27, 2021. The City of Toronto is debating the start date today when to allow restaurants to set up tables on curbside street lanes. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Professor Cathryn Newton studies Middle Devonian marine faunas (such as these brachiopods from 380-390 million years ago), whose fossils are lodged in a unit of bedrock in Central New York. Credit: Syracuse University Members of Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences are shining new light on an enduring mysteryone that is millions of years in the making. A team of paleontologists led by Professor Cathryn Newton has increased scientists' understanding of whether Devonian marine faunas, whose fossils are lodged in a unit of bedrock in Central New York known as the Hamilton Group, were stable for millions of years before succumbing to waves of extinctions. Drawing on 15 years of quantitative analysis with fellow professor Jim Brower (who died in 2018), Newton has continued to probe the structure of these ancient fossil communities, among the most renowned on Earth. The group's findings, reported by the Geological Society of America (GSA), provide critical new evidence for the unusual, long-term stability of these Devonian period communities. Such persistence, Newton says, is a longstanding scientific enigma. She and her colleagues tested the hypothesis that these ancient communities displayed coordinated stasisa theory that attempts to explain the emergence and disappearance of species across geologic time. Newton and Brower, along with their student Willis Newman G'93, found that Devonian marine communities vary more in species composition than the theory predicts. Newton points out that they sought not to disprove coordinated stasis but rather to gain a more sophisticated understanding of when it is applicable. "Discovering more about the dynamics of these apparently stable Devonian communities is critical," she says. "Such knowledge has immediate significance for marine community changes in our rapidly warming seas." Since geologist James Hall Jr. first published a series of volumes on the region's Devonian fossils and strata in the 1840s, the Hamilton Group has become a magnet for research scientists and amateur collectors alike. Today, Central New York is frequently used to test new ideas about large-scale changes in Earth's organisms and environments. During Middle Devonian time (approximately 380-390 million years ago), the faunal composition of the region changed little over 4-6 million years. "It's a significant amount for marine invertebrate communities to remain stable, or 'locked,'" explains Newton, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She, Brower and student researchers spent years examining eight communities of animals that once dwelled in a warm, shallow sea on the northern rim of the Appalachian Basin (which, eons ago, lay south of the equator). When the organisms died, sediment from the seafloor began covering their shells and exoskeletons. Minerals from the sediment gradually seeped into their remains, causing them to fossilize. The process also preserved many of them in living position, conserving original shell materials at some sites. These fossils currently populate exposed bedrock throughout Central New York, ranging from soft, dark, deep-water shale to hard, species-rich, shelf siltstone. "Communities near the top of the bedrock exhibit more taxonomic and ecological diversity than those at the bottom," Newton says. "We can compare the community types and composition through time. They are remarkable sites." Coordinated stasis has been a source of contention since 1995, when it was introduced. At the center of the dispute are two model-based explanations: environmental tracking and ecological locking. Environmental tracking suggests that faunas follow their environment. "Here, periods of relative stasis are flanked by coordinated extinctions or regional disappearances. When the environment changes, so do marine faunas," says Newton, also Professor of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Dean Emerita of Arts and Sciences. Ecological locking, in contrast, views marine faunas as tightly structured communities, resistant to large-scale taxonomic change. Traditionally, this model has been used to describe the stability of lower Hamilton faunas. Newton and her colleagues analyzed more than 80 sample sites, each containing some 300 specimens. Special emphasis was placed on the Cardiff and Pecksport Members, two rock formations in the Finger Lakes region that are part of the ancient Marcellus subgroup, famed for its natural gas reserves. "We found that lower Hamilton faunas, with two exceptions, do not have clear counterparts among upper ones. Therefore, our quantitative tests do not support the ecological locking model as an explanation for community stability in these faunas," she continues. Newton considers this project a final tribute to Newman, a professor of biology at the State University of New York at Cortland, who died in 2014, and Brower, who fell seriously ill while the manuscript was being finalized. "Jim knew that he likely would not live to see its publication," says Newton, adding that Brower died as the paper was submitted to GSA. She says this new work extends and, in some ways, completes the team's earlier research by further analyzing community structures in the Marcellus subgroup. "It has the potential to change how scientists view long-term stability in ecological communities." Explore further Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a simplified state More information: Cathryn R. Newton et al, Quantitative paleoecology of marine faunas in the lower Hamilton Group (Middle Devonian, central New York): Significance for probing models of long-term community stability hor(s), Geological Society of America DOI: Cathryn R. Newton et al, Quantitative paleoecology of marine faunas in the lower Hamilton Group (Middle Devonian, central New York): Significance for probing models of long-term community stability hor(s), Geological Society of America DOI: doi.org/10.1130/2020.2545(09 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A vial and syringe are seen in front of a displayed AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken Jan. 11, 2021. Reuters AstraZeneca denied on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine is not very effective for people over 65, after German media reports said officials fear the vaccine may not be approved in the European Union for use in the elderly. German daily papers Handelsblatt and Bild said in separate reports the vaccine - co-developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University - had an efficacy of 8% or less than 10%, respectively, in those over 65. German officials were concerned that the vaccine may not receive approval from the EU's medicines authority EMA for use in those over 65, Bild said in its online edition. The reports mark another potential issue for AstraZeneca, which told the EU on Friday it could not meet agreed supply targets up to the end of March after running into vaccine production problems. Frustration was already growing among European countries because Pfizer and partner BioNTech announced a temporary slowdown in vaccine supplies earlier in January. In a written response, AstraZeneca described the German media reports saying its COVID-19 vaccine was shown to have a very low efficacy in the elderly as "completely incorrect". It said Britain's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation supported the vaccine's use in the elderly. It also said that a strong immune responses to the vaccine had been shown in blood analysis of elderly trial participants. Britain on Dec. 30 became the first country to approve the two-shot vaccine and did not impose an upper age limit. It has so far focused on the elderly and healthcare workers for its immunisation campaign. AstraZeneca's main trial in Britain started testing on adults no older than 55 because it initially focused on healthcare personnel and frontline workers in active duty. Elderly trial participants were recruited later so that infections, which are needed to arrive at reliable efficacy data, were also coming in later. Researchers at Oxford University said in a paper published in medical journal The Lancet on Dec. 8, when details of key vaccine trials held in Britain and Brazil were released, that efficacy data based on infections in the elderly were still limited. "Efficacy data in these cohorts are currently limited by the small number of (infection) cases, but additional data will be available in future analyses," they said in the paper. (Reuters) Welcome to Wine of the Week, a new series in which Chronicle wine critic Esther Mobley recommends a delicious bottle that you should be drinking right now. Last week, she highlighted a crowd-pleasing Central Coast Chenin Blanc. Check for a new installment every Wednesday. No wine holds as many contradictions as Muscat. Its a white wine that is both timeless and passe. Even when its made with no residual sugar, it tastes kind of sweet, reminiscent of fruit candy. In the canon of grape varieties, Muscat has a certain nobility: It was cultivated in antiquity, and it is the progenitor of many grape varieties that arrived later in history such as the now-in-vogue Mission, the Greek grape Aleatico and the Italian Grillo. But many modern Muscat incarnations are often derided (not always fairly) as cheap and gross, especially those that go by its Italian synonym, Moscato. Most beguiling of all, Muscat has this strange ability to taste so good that it can actually taste bad. It is probably the most delicious wine grape for eating plucking a berry off the vine is like biting into a little bursting ball of honeysuckle nectar. Yet sometimes, when translated to wine, those delicious flavors can go into excessive overdrive, making a wine taste cloying and saccharine. All of these qualities made me very eager to taste the dry Muscat from winemaker Michael Cruse, who has a penchant for unfashionable grape varieties. Its this ancient grape, probably one of the oldest we still use, he said. And yet nobody thinks about it. Nobody has a collection of Muscat. The most reputable styles of Muscat are sweet wines, including the viscous dessert Muscats made in southern France and the spritzy, low-alcohol Moscatos made in Italy. Possibly the best-known variation is Moscato dAsti, from Piedmont. But Cruse, who makes wine in Petaluma under his Cruse Wine Co. and Ultramarine labels, wasnt interested in making a sweet wine. He believes that dry Muscat, if done correctly, can be a really useful grape in food culture. In Frances Alsace region, dry Muscat is often served before dinner, filling the appetite-whetting role elsewhere assigned to Champagne or a martini. Ive always just thought it was a nice way to start a meal, he said. Peter DaSilva / Special to The Chronicle 2016 There are several big challenges in making Muscat, starting with the fact that the grapes naturally have low acidity. Thats part of the reason that sweet Moscatos took off in the mainstream wine market a few years ago: That lack of an acidic bite, when coupled with a lot of sugar and not very much alcohol, makes it basically taste like fruit syrup. But the bigger problem for Cruse was that he didnt want his Muscat to taste too Muscat-y. If youve had Muscat, you know what he means that set of over-the-top aromas of lychee candy and orange blossoms. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. He wasnt able to avoid the Muscat-y Muscat fate entirely and thats a good thing. His 2018 Cruse Wine Co. Muscat, whose grapes come from the Rorick Heritage Vineyard in the Sierra foothills, does taste and smell like Muscat. The aromas and flavors remind me of my grandmothers perfume: musky, effusively floral, strangely comforting. While there is no sugar in this wine, it does have some of those characteristically sweet-tasting flavors; I get a whiff of Pez candy. Although I wouldnt be angry if someone served this Muscat to be alongside soft cheeses fresh chevre sounds pretty good I agree with Cruse that the wines best use is probably sans food, during aperitivo hour. It might be the vinous equivalent of a chilled glass of light, floral Lillet with an orange twist in it. Buy it from Cruse Wine Co. or at Tofino/Tomorrows Wine. (Note: Some merchants are now carrying the 2019 vintage.) Cruse Wine Co. Muscat Rorick Vineyards Sierra Foothills 2018 ($25, 14%) Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley The Duchess of Cambridge was visibly moved as she spoke to two Holocaust survivors who told her of the horrors they experienced. Kates video call with friends Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg, who met in a concentration camp in 1944, was organised to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today and highlighted the importance of remembering the atrocities of Hitlers Nazi regime. The call was organised by the Holocaust Educational Trust, for which the two men are ambassadors, teaching young people about the Holocaust. As young boys, Mr Shipper and Mr Goldberg, who were speaking to the duchess again after first meeting her in 2017, both spent time in ghettos and forced labour and concentration camps, including Stutthof near Danzig (now Gdansk), where they met. Kates video call with friends Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg, who met in a concentration camp in 1944, was organised to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today / Kensington Palce People. Fashion. Power. Delivered weekly. Email Sign up Sign up I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice {{message}} {{permutiveUid}} {{message}} Of the 110,000 men, women and children who were imprisoned in the camp during the Holocaust, as many as 65,000 died, including 28,000 Jews. Mr Goldberg, 90, who was born in Germany, was 11 when he was sent to the camps along with his mother and younger brother Herman, seven, who was nine when murdered by the Nazis. Just so young, Kate exclaimed, horrible. The duchess learnt how the rest of the family survived and came to live in England after the liberation of the camps to live with Mr Goldbergs father, who had escaped Germany before they were captured and spent six years not knowing their fate. Mr Shipper, 91, originally from Poland, told how he had lived in a ghetto with his grandmother after his father had fled to Russia believing only young Jewish men were at risk from the Nazis. As a boy he was told his mother, who was divorced from his father, was dead. In 1944 he was sent to Auschwitz. He described the horror of seeing people shot in front of him. His life was spared when he was sent to Danzig. He came to the UK after the war after his mother, who was actually alive and living in the UK, tracked him down and he was identified by a scar on his wrist. Kate said: The stories that you have both shared with me again today and your dedication in educating the next generation about your experiences and the horrors of the Holocaust shows extreme strength and such bravery, its so important and so inspirational. Scientists have resolved a key climate change mystery, showing that the annual global temperature today is the warmest of the past 10,000 years - contrary to recent research, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Nature. The long-standing mystery is called the "Holocene temperature conundrum," with some skeptics contending that climate model predictions of future warming must be wrong. The scientists say their findings will challenge long-held views on the temperature history in the Holocene era, which began about 12,000 years ago. "Our reconstruction shows that the first half of the Holocene was colder than in industrial times due to the cooling effects of remnant ice sheets from the previous glacial period - contrary to previous reconstructions of global temperatures," said lead author Samantha Bova, a postdoctoral researcher associate in the lab of co-author Yair Rosenthal, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "The late Holocene warming was indeed caused by the increase in greenhouse gases, as predicted by climate models, and that eliminates any doubts about the key role of carbon dioxide in global warming." Scientists used marine calcareous (calcium carbonate-containing) fossils from foraminifers - single-celled organisms that live at the ocean surface - to reconstruct the temperature histories of the two most recent warm intervals on Earth. They are the Last Interglacial period from 128,000 to 115,000 years ago and the Holocene. To get the fossils, the scientists collected a core of bottom sediments near the mouth of the Sepik River off northern Papua New Guinea during the Rutgers-led Expedition 363 of the International Ocean Discovery Program. The core features rapidly accumulating sediments that allowed the scientists to recreate the temperature history of the western Pacific warm pool, which closely tracks changes in global temperatures. How temperature evolved during the Last Interglacial and Holocene eras is controversial. Some data suggest that the average annual global temperature during modern times does not exceed the warmth in the Holocene's early warm period, called the "Holocene thermal maximum," which was followed by global cooling. Meanwhile, climate models strongly suggest that global temperatures have risen throughout the past 10,000 years. "The apparent discrepancy between climate models and data has cast doubts among skeptics about the role of greenhouse gases in climate change during the Holocene and possibly in the future," Rosenthal said. "We found that post-industrial warming has indeed accelerated the long and steady trend of warming throughout the past 10,000 years. Our study also underscores the importance of seasonal changes, specifically Northern Hemisphere summers, in driving many climate systems. Our method can, for the first time, use seasonal temperatures to come up with annual averages." ### Rutgers-affiliated co-authors include Shital P. Godad, a former Rutgers researcher now at National Taiwan University. Scientists at The Ohio State University and Nanjing Normal University contributed to the study. A top public health specialist has warned Australians to be 'realistic' about the supposed health risks of coronavirus vaccines. Epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, said it was possible there may be some side effects from the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines on rare occasions but it's important for Australians roll up their sleeves. He said the government will need to offer 'a lot of reassurance and a lot of realism' after 33 patients in Scandinavia died after getting the jab. 'The situation in Norway, that was probably just elderly people that were likely to succumb anyway because they're late in their life,' Prof Blakey told ABC. A top public health specialist has warned Australians to be 'more realistic' about the roll out of coronavirus vaccines as a public ad campaign is launched on Wednesday. Pictured: A woman receives the Covid-19 Pfizer vaccine Hungary 'But honesty really matters here as well as promoting it. There are going to be side effects from time to time.' The Norwegian Medicines Agency said after the deaths earlier this month that everyone who received the Pfizer vaccine was aged over 75 and had serious underlying illnesses. Their deaths stoked vaccine anxieties and conspiracy theories, but the agency's medical director Steinar Madsen said there was no need to be alarmed. 'Clearly Covid is far more dangerous to most patients than vaccination,' he told Bloomberg. The rollout of Covid vaccines in Australia will underway from mid-February. To get Australians on board the government launched a $23.9 million advertising campaign set to hit TV screens on Wednesday. Prof Blakely, said recent modelling suggests the uptake of the AstraZeneca (pictured left) and Pfizer vaccine (pictured right) will be about 80 per cent in Australia 'We need to be very transparent and provide the information they are looking for to have confidence in the vaccine program that we are about to start,' Professor McMillan told the Today show. 'We know that people, if provided the right information, will make the choice that is best for them. That is our intent here, to provide the information so people can make a decision for themselves.' Prof Blakely said recent modelling suggests the uptake of the vaccine will be about 80 per cent, but could be even higher. 'I hope it would be high and I expect it could be above 80 per cent, maybe even 90 per cent, but we'll just have to wait and see,' he said. Indonesia has registered more than one million confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the first coronavirus infection was confirmed in the country in March last year, amid the current vaccination drive. On Tuesday, the COVID-19 cases in the world's fourth most populous country rose by 13,094 in the past 24 hours to 1,012,350, the country's Health Ministry reported. To date, more than 28,000 people have died and around 820,000 have recovered from the coronavirus epidemic, showed the official data. Indonesia posts the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the Southeast Asia region. The virus has spread to all the country's 34 provinces with Jakarta being the hardest hit, and East Java the highest death toll. Across the country, a massive COVID-19 vaccination program was launched on Jan. 14 with healthcare workers being the first group to received the vaccine. The mass vaccination began one day after President Joko Widodo took the first shot of a vaccine developed by China's biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, in a move to convince the public of the vaccine's safety. The president was reportedly scheduled to receive the second jab on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus have been distributed by Indonesia's state-run pharmaceutical company Bio Farma to all the provinces since early January. The government was targeting to deliver 5.8 million doses of the vaccine this month, 10.45 million doses in February again to those regions, and 13.3 million doses in March. The Sinovac vaccine was approved for emergency use by Indonesia's Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM) following interim results of its late-stage trials in the country. As many as 18 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac have been delivered to Indonesia. President Widodo recently said that the government had ordered a total of 426 million doses of vaccines from four pharmaceutical manufacturers in different countries. He also said that the government has readied 30,000 vaccinators, 10,000 community health centers (locally known as Puskesmas) and 3,000 hospitals to support the vaccination of at least 181.5 million Indonesian people, which is about 70 percent of the population. The vaccine is free of charge for all Indonesians. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin earlier said the massive vaccination goal would be reached in around 15 months. However, Widodo said at a virtual conference on Monday: "I have ordered the vaccination to be completed before the end of 2021." At present, the government is implementing a new stricter anti-coronavirus policy, locally known as PPKM, on the country's main island of Java and holiday resort island of Bali. Indonesia was recording a greater number of daily cases in recent days. The new public activity restriction requires a workplace to have 75 percent of its staff to work from home, teaching and learning activities to be continued online, shopping centers to open for limited hours, and restaurants to receive customers with no more than 25 percent of their seating capacity. Among the new measures are also more stringent health protocols for construction work activities as well as a 50 percent limit of capacity for places of worship. The policy began to work on Jan. 11 and will last through Feb. 8. (ASIA PACIFIC DAILY) Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. [January 27, 2021] Business Architecture Guild Releases New Industry Reference Models To Accelerate Business Transformation SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Business Architecture Guild, an international community of business architecture practitioners, today announced the release of new Financial Services, Government, Healthcare Provider, Insurance, Manufacturing, Transportation and Common Industry reference models. An overview of these models may be found on the Guild Industry Reference Model page. Each model represents an industry baseline for business leaders to accelerate business transformation, mitigate risk and enact agile change. For organizations just getting started or those with an established practice, industry reference models simplify the application of business architecture for successful strategy execution. Designed to meet industry needs, the newly released reference models are continuously updated by organizations across the globe to help executives lead through transformation with transparency, actionable initiatives and industry-specific models that are ready to deploy or be customized as required. From customer experience to risk and compliance management, reference models support key scenarios and modern, real-world challenges business and IT leaders must solve for to unlock and deliver value. The reference models adhere to formal principles and based on the model, include capability, value stream, stakeholder, information and organization maps that may be used to align industry requirements and executive priorities with a comprehensive plan for change. According to Ivan Blinov, VP of Information Technology at BMASTER Inc and reference model team lead, "Version 1.0 of the healthcare provider reference model establishes a working business architecture baseline for hospitals, medical centers, clinics, emergency services and other providers. The reference model team hopes to engage additional participants in the provider community to mature this model and provide formal usage scenarios for the healthcare industry." Industry reference models are available at no charge to Guild members for use in their organizations and available to non-members for a fee. About the Business Architecture Guild The Business Architecture Guild is an international, not-for-profit, member-based association that provides valuable resources to business architecture practitioners and others interested in the field. The Business Architecture Guild is the source for A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge (BIZBOK Guide) and exclusive provider of the Certified Business Architect certification program. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/business-architecture-guild-releases-new-industry-reference-models-to-accelerate-business-transformation-301216587.html SOURCE The Business Architecture Guild [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Lion Dairy & Drinks owned products Pura Milk, Farmers Union, and Dare on May 25, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia. (Darrian Traynor/Getty Images) Bega Cheese Completes $534 Million Deal Bringing Iconic Brands Back to Australia Bega Cheese has completed a multi-million takeover of Lion Dairy, bringing a suite of iconic brands back under Australian ownership. Bega Cheese paid $534 million (US$413 million) for the company from Japanese beverages giant Kirin Holdings. Begas Executive Chairman Barry Irvin confirmed the news in an investor update (pdf) on Monday. Today is a significant day in the history of Bega, the acquisition of Lion Dairy & Drinks doubles the size of the company with revenue of $3 billion and brings together great brands including Bega Cheese, Vegemite, Dare, Farmers Union, Dairy Farmers, Yoplait, B honey, Big M, Masters, Juice Brothers and Berri, Irvin said. This goal of creating a great Australian food company with the capacity to service our customers in Australia and around the world took a major step forward today, he said. Dairy farm. (RitaE/Pixabay) Lion Dairy made headlines in August after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg decided against approving a $600 million sale of the company to the scandal-ridden dairy giant China Mengniu Dairy Co. Frydenberg made the decision against the advice of the Foreign Investment Review Board which initially approved the sale. Bega Cheese came in soon after to make its own offer for Lion Dairy. Frydenbergs decision came amid heightened scrutiny of Chinese-backed entities looking to buy Australian-based assets and companies. Earlier this month, the treasurer blocked the proposed sale of Melbourne-based construction giant ProBuild to the Chinese state-owned China State Construction Engineering Corporation for $300 million. The sale was rejected on the grounds of national security, sparking a strong rebuke from Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, who claimed Australia was politicising trade and investment issues and violating market principles. It is a mistake to politicise normal commercial cooperation and seek political interference in the name of national security, he said. The Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) Military-Civil Fusion doctrine means private entities and technologies can be repurposed by the communist regime for military use. What normally should be considered private foreign investment, instead raises major geopolitical and national security concerns. It prompted warnings from Queensland Member of Parliament George Christensen who said: Quite frankly, no strategic asset or infrastructure should be owned, built, designed, or have anything to do with any company that is linked to the CCP. It is just a national security risk, full stop, he told The Epoch Times. The Justice Department on Tuesday rescinded a memo issued in 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions that established the "zero tolerance" prosecution of migrant adults, including parents traveling with children, who crossed the border without legal permission a policy that led to thousands of family separations before it was halted later that year. Acting Attorney General Monk Wilkinson issued a new directive immediately annulling Sessions' memo, which the Trump administration used to justify the policy of separating more than 2,800 migrant children from their parents in the spring of 2018. Wilkinson said the Justice Department should handle criminal prosecutions on a case-by-case basis, considering different factors, including personal circumstances, the gravity of the alleged offense, the probable sentence and the consequences of a conviction. "A policy requiring a prosecutor to charge every case referred for prosecution ... without regard for individual circumstances is inconsistent with our principles," Wilkinson wrote. "While policies may change, our mission always remains the same: to seek justice under the law," he added. While symbolic, the immediate practical impact of Wilkinson's decision is likely limited since U.S. border officials have been rapidly expelling most migrants, including families with children, from American territory under a pandemic-era policy first authorized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in March 2020. The memo rescinded on Tuesday instructed U.S. attorneys along the southern border to "adopt immediately a zero-tolerance policy" of prosecuting all cases referred to them of adult migrants who crossed the border without authorization. If prosecuted, crossing the border illegally is a misdemeanor offense. Sessions' directive in April 2018 resulted in a border-wide policy of separating migrant families. Parents were prosecuted, transferred to U.S. Marshals custody and later sent to immigration detention centers for adults, while their children were categorized as unaccompanied minors and sent to shelters and other housing facilities overseen by the U.S. refugee agency. Story continues The separation policy was halted in June 2018 after a federal judge intervened and ordered the government to reunite all separated families. Multiple internal government reports have found that the Trump administration did not have an adequate plan in place to reunite the families after the parents were prosecuted. To this day, advocates have been struggling to locate all parents. More than 600 remain "unreachable," according to recent court filings. President Biden has pledged to create a government task force to help locate them. Biden administration boosts vaccine supply to states, aims to buy 200 million doses by end of summer Eye Opener: Biden vows to increase COVID-19 vaccine supply No one elected to Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2021 The seed capital will be utilised by Quali55care to strengthen and establish tech support to enable smarter delivery by creating an AI-based recommendation engine for end-users Mumbai based vendor aggregator of durable medical equipment has raised seed funding via India Accelerators Angel Investor Network, which invests in promising start-ups. The seed capital will be utilised by Quali55care to strengthen and establish tech support to enable smarter delivery by creating an AI-based recommendation engine for end-users. Quali55Care also aims to create a larger inventory pool across various geographic locations and improve the value proposition by building an ecosystem. Harddik K Patel, Founder & CEO, Quali55Care says With a patient-centric approach, the company also has various flexi and budget-friendly plans in place for investments, to enable people to start their own small business. We are also targeting to expand their service horizons pan Maharashtra and metro cities in the near future and want the larger population to reap benefits. The company also plans to invest in tech-based logistic support. The home care space has huge growth potential and the team is absolutely committed to making patient care a comfort of the home as well as easy and affordable. This bridge round will help the team to evolve their technology to make their deliveries efficient and cost-effective. Mona Singh, Co-founder, India Accelerator. India Accelerator incubated Quali55care in their Summer Cohort Programme 2020 and has also lead this investment round through its iAngels Network. After being bootstrapped for almost two years now and achieving product-market fit, the company plans to look for funding to scale and materialize its vision with the aim to provide Simplified Recovery by all means. English French MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Opus One Gold Corporation Inc. (OOR: TSXV) (Opus One Gold or the Company), a mining exploration company focused on exploring high quality gold and base metal assets in accessible areas is pleased to announce that a drill has been mobilized on its Noyell Gold project located 25 km south of the town of Matagami, Abitibi, Quebec. The target area consists of a poorly explored portion of the Casa-Berardi-Douay-Cameron deformation zone which hosts the Casa Berardi gold mine and the Vezza Gold Mine (past producer). The Noyell property is located 10 km to the east of the Vezza gold Mine, in the same geological environment. Gold was first discovered by Cominco in 1988 on the property. Results were quite interesting, but as at that time it was a tough market for mining companies, the project was then optioned to Soquem, the mining branch of Quebec government. Soquem carried out some more drilling in the mid-90s and also obtained notable results. The project was optioned to Normabec, then First Gold Exploration in 2006. A drilling program performed in 2007 again returned significant gold intervals which did not pass unnoticed by the geologist in charge of the project at the time (Pierre ODowd). In 2019, Mr. ODowd convinced Opus One Gold to acquire the Noyell project. Soon after, in 2020, drilling delivered the best interval ever cut on the property. This winters drilling program will follow-up on these excellent results. After a short delay due to warmer weather than usual in Abitibi, a drill rig was finally mobilized on the Noyell project where a 5,000 metre drilling program should be completed before the end of this winter. Eight holes will investigate the 2020 discovery area (hole NO-20-02: 7.96 g/t Au over 3.7 m) while 5 holes will test IP anomalies located from 0.5 to 3 km east of drill hole NO-20-02. These geophysical anomalies are found directly along the eastern extensions of the known gold mineralization and indicate the presence of substantial sulphide minerals (Pyrrhotite, pyrite, arsenopyrite). In known gold bearing drilling intervals, the gold is directly associated with these minerals. This portion of the Noyell property is virtually devoid of past drilling. We would like to announce Mr. Tony Brissons resignation form the board as a director of Opus One Gold Corporation. Mr. Brisson had to resign from our board, following his nomination as President and CEO of Soquem, the Quebec government mining branch. We would like to thank Mr. Brisson for his continued enthusiastic support and his expertise he generously brought to Opus One Gold Corporation. Pierre ODowd, P. Geo, [Independent Consulting geologist] acts as a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the release. For more information, please contact: Louis Morin Chief Executive Officer & Director Tel.: (514) 591-3988 Michael W. Kinley, CPA, CA President, Chief Financial Officer & Director Tel: (902) 826-1579 info@OpusOneGold.com Visit Opus Ones website: www.OpusOneGold.com Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0c00a5f9-6c0c-4bcb-8ce1-b9538e2a8c7f https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/006b2865-548d-4dc9-a63e-a906635c5e30 New Delhi, Jan 27 : Anti-social elements like actor-turned-farmer activist Deep Sidhu and others, along with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee played a role like a "torpedo" to sabotage the farmers' agitation, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Wednesday. Making the announcement after an emergency meeting at the Singhu border here -- the centre of the farmers' protest -- the SKM or 'Joint Farmers Front', including 32 organisations, said, "It was a deep rooted conspiracy to damage the peaceful and strong farmers' struggle." Condemning the violent incidents during the tractor rally on Republic Day that left a farmer dead and many others injured, the organisations appealed to the farmers to "stay at the protest venues and continue a peaceful protest". "Yesterday's events exposed and isolated the anti-farmer forces clearly," the Union said while marking itself as a "struggling organisation". The meeting where the representatives of the 32 farmers unions took part also chalked out the future course of action considering the ongoing farmers' protest which entered the 63rd day on Wednesday. All the farmers leaders, including Balbir Singh Rajewal and Jagjeet Singh Dallewal, said,"When the farmer organisations declared 'Kisan Parade' on January 26, anti-social elements like Deep Sidhu and others, along with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee attempted like a torpedo to damage the farmers' agitation." "Under this conspiracy, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and other persons announced that they would march on the Ring Road and unfurl a flag at the Red Fort." As a "corollary of conspiracy", the SKM leaders said the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee started marching on the Ring Road, two hours before the scheduled march time of the organisations. "All the constituents of Samyukt Kisan Morcha strongly condemned this incident," said the leaders of the union, appealing to the farmers to stay at the protest venues and continue a peaceful protest. The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Balbir Singh Rajewal, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) President who was holding talks with the Central government. The Union said a dirty conspiracy was hatched by the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others against the peaceful struggle alleging that the group had set up their own separate protest site after 15 days of the farmers' agitation. "They were not part of the organisations which jointly undertook the struggle." The farmer organisations resolved not to allow the government and other forces inimical to the peaceful movement to harm their struggle. The 'Joint Farmer Unions' representatives conveyed their sincere appreciation to the struggling farmers for their unprecedented response to the Kisan Republic Day Parade. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. MG Ramachandran, aka MGR, the matinee idol and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, continues to be an irresistible presence in Tamil Nadus political space. The 104th birth anniversary of MGR, who died in 1987 and was fondly called Puratchi Thalaivar or Revolutionary Leader by many, was celebrated across the state on January 17. It was also an opportunity for many politicians from different parties to cherish and flaunt their memories and proximity with the late actor-turned-politician, who was probably one of the most influential film stars of South Asia as well as the only actor whose political career continues to survive even after three decades. President of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MK Stalin has always been careful in his remarks about MGR, the arch rival of his late father M Karunanidhi. It was MGRs tussle with Karunanidhi that forced the former to create a new party, AIADMK, in 1972. Even as Stalin would fondly recall his personal connection with MGR, he would be extra cautious when it comes to MGRs governance or schemes. In a meeting held at Dharmapuri a few days ago, Stalin said, "I am a great fan of MGR. I used to miss classes to watch his films. It was Karunanidhi who brought MGR into films. MGR used to make sure that nobody would call Karunanidhi by his name; that is the kind of respect he had for Kalaignar. Kamal Haasan, another film star who entered politics recently, has been claiming the legacy of MGR ever since he floated his party. Haasans party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, having contested on almost all seats in the state during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, gained about a 2% vote share. While it remains a fact that it is not easy for film stars to convert their fame into votes, aspiring politicians or chief ministers like 66-year-old Haasan are also seen by the public as personalities who entered politics as a post-retirement plan, after completing decades in acting. Haasan has memories with MGR to cherish, like how he grew up on the legend's lap and was very close to him though not involved in politics along with him. His political slogan "Naalai Namadhe" is inspired by the title of an MGR film, he would say. Recently, Haasan accused the AIADMK of forgetting MGR and his ideals. After releasing the documentary 'Kaalathai Vendravan' at MGR's residence at Ramapuram in Chennai, he said, "MGR's photographs in ADMK posters are becoming smaller day by day. I share MGR's dreams and goals and so I can claim his legacy." The AIADMK has been vehemently resisting anyone who tries to appropriate MGR's legacy, be it alliance partner BJP or principal opposition DMK. MGR and Jayalalithaa are two icons of AIADMK who formed successive governments in Tamil Nadu. While no one is claiming Jayalalithaa's legacy, every party now wants to associate itself with MGR's name and politics. It was only Jayalalithaa's image which was prominent in the party until her death. After that, the party has been facing an identity crisis and the elections ahead are not going to be easy for it. While the AIADMK is partially pleased at the way everyone is praising its founder MGR, it is concerned that this could bring political gains for rivals. Chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami, while speaking at one of the events held in Chennai as part of MGR 's 104th birth anniversary celebrations, said, "It is a fact that even people launching new parties have to use MGR's name." Last month, while paying homage at MGR's memorial in Chennai on his death anniversary, he pledged not to allow opponents to appropriate MGR's legacy. When the BJP used pictures of MGR in its campaign videos, juxtaposing them with Modi and party state president L Murugan, AIADMK minister Jayakumar was quick to react. He said, "Use pictures of your own leaders. Why do you use our leader's? MGR was the founder of AIADMK and he would always want only AIADMK to be in power." Arunan, author of 'MGR- History of actors becoming chief minister', observed, "Appropriating MGR's image helps in anti-DMK politics. MGR termed Karunanidhi an 'evil force' to build a negative image around him. So BJP, Kamal Haasan, whoever wants to take on DMK uses MGR's image. DMK understands that it will gain nothing by criticising a leader who is dead. Therefore, they talk only about the warm and cozy relationship that Karunanidhi and MGR shared in the early days. It is ADMK who is in a fix now, so it is trying to bring back its founder leader." A former small-town mayor, Mr. Vilsack knows where rural Americas future lies. His evangelization of regenerative agriculture using diverse crop rotations, grass plantings and grazing with dramatically lower fertilizer and herbicide use is an affront to the seed and chemical conglomerates, and he will need all the Republican help he can get. This type of agriculture sequesters carbon, prevents pollution and increases farm profit. By nurturing a more diverse economy revolving around regional food systems, it could help rebuild rural communities, something the Farm Bureau on the right and the Farmers Union on the left agree on. Biomass stoking hydrogen fuel production or electricity could supplant the 40 percent of corn acres planted for ethanol and farmers could fetch five times as much. Technical jobs in wind and solar energy can replace fracking jobs in West Virginia and Ohio. New energy jobs in Iowa could quadruple in a decade, paying twice as much as the packinghouse. These are the conclusions of a team of Princeton energy experts, who describe what it will take to get to net-zero emissions. Mr. Biden has embraced these dazzling opportunities with his $2 trillion climate plan. Looking ahead two years to the new farm bill, Mr. Vilsack said the Agriculture Department will help create carbon markets in which polluters essentially pay farmers to plant grass or trees instead of corn or soybeans. He will use his authority to greatly expand payments to farmers for conservation stewardship. In our recent conversation, Mr. Vilsack noted that agribusiness including companies like General Mills, Kellogg and Cargill is changing its attitude about climate, adopting more sustainable practices and pledging to go chemical free. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, he added, supports the production of hemp, one of the most efficient energy crops. Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, fancies himself the father of the wind energy tax credit and will support renewable energy expansion. Redirecting investment in battery production from Asia to the United States could put Youngstown, Ohio, a shadow of its auto-industry heyday, back on the map. Farmers lost tens of thousands of acres to flooding wrought by extreme weather in 2019. Mr. Biden witnessed it with his own eyes. A derecho with winds of up to 140 miles per hour swept through Iowa and Illinois last summer, destroying more than 14 million acres of crops. Now scientists with the Goddard Space Institute report that the Great Plains and Southwest are in the throes of a multidecade drought unlike anything else seen in more than a millennium. Farmers get it. And so do Mr. Biden and Mr. Vilsack. They understand there is no time to waste. Art Cullen, the editor of The Storm Lake Times in northwestern Iowa, is the author of Storm Lake: Change, Resilience, and Hope in Americas Heartland. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Hundreds of anti-government protesters faced off against riot police outside the Tunisian parliament Tuesday as lawmakers inside confirmed a cabinet reshuffle amid growing unrest. Mired in a political and economic crisis worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, the North African country has been rocked by a wave of anger at a political class seen as obsessed with power struggles and disconnected from the suffering of ordinary people. Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi told the assembly that by naming 11 new ministers to the interior, justice, health and other key portfolios, he aimed to create a "more effective" reform team. He faced opposition from President Kais Saied, however, who said he was not consulted. Saied charged that one of the proposed ministers was involved in a corruption case and that three others were suspected of conflicts of interest. Mechichi said the new cabinet would listen to the demands of the protesters. Security forces have carried out mass arrests during more than a week of night-time riots and daytime protests against police repression, poverty, inequality and corruption. Tunisia has often been praised for its democratic transition after the Arab Spring regional uprisings sparked by its 2011 revolution. But many Tunisians are angered by a political class seen as disconnected from the suffering of the poor, amid high unemployment and spiralling prices. "Poverty is growing, hunger is growing," read one sign carried by the protesters, while another demanded "Dignity and freedom for working-class neighbourhoods". 'Threat of the baton' The session came a day after protesters clashed with police in the town of Sbeitla, in Tunisia's marginalised centre, after a young man hit by a tear gas canister last week died in hospital. Some chanted slogans against the government and Ennahdha, the biggest party in parliament. But police forces stopped demonstrators from gathering at the usual square in front of the parliament. "The politicians are producing the same strategies that until now have only led to failure," said Yosra Frawes, head of the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women. "They must change their governance model or step down." Some lawmakers criticised the heavy security deployment around the assembly and called for further dialogue. One complained of a vote held "under police siege" and said: "All that's missing is to vote under the threat of the baton." Some members of the opposition held up pictures of the young man who was killed. An AFP correspondent said there were clashes between police and demonstrators on Tuesday on the sidelines of his funeral. Protests have been held in defiance of a coronavirus-related ban on gatherings and a night-time curfew recently extended until February 14. The virus has killed more than 6,000 people in Tunisia and wreaked havoc on an already struggling economy. Fragile alliances Tunisia's politics have also been turbulent and seen a deepening rift between the prime minister and head of state. President Saied -- an independent academic who has criticised parliamentary democracy -- has been seeking to reposition himself at the centre of an unstable political scene. The task of forming a government has become more difficult since elections in October 2019 resulted in a parliament split among myriad parties and fragile alliances. Islamist-inspired Ennahdha came top in the polls but fell far short of a majority and eventually agreed to join a coalition government. Mechichi's outgoing cabinet was sworn in in September after the previous executive, the second since the polls, resigned in July. Mechichi had initially put together a team including civil servants and academics, some close to the president. But he gradually moved away from Saied, and made changes with the support of Ennahdha, which is allied with the liberal Qalb Tounes party and Islamist group Karama. Saied has threatened to block the swearing-in of some new ministers, a move that could aggravate animosities that have paralysed political action. Short link: Checkout No resources available in your cart Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. [January 27, 2021] Lenskart forays into Middle East market, commits USD$50 million towards expansion in the UAE Leading eyewear portal from India aims to build a USD $250 million business in the next 3-4 years across the region MUMBAI, India, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lenskart, the largest eyewear retailer of India, has announced its foray into the Middle East market and plans to open its first retail store in Dubai soon. The company has committed $50 million (around AED185 million) towards the expansion in the UAE market. The eyewear specialist has launched its operations in the UAE through online offerings at its website ae.lenskart.com with free delivery across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The UAE is a very active market for premium fashion eyewear and colour contact lenses, and Lenskart will be launching its brands - John Jacobs and Aqualens - along with lenskart, which has already disrupted the markets in India and Singapore. Within the year, the company plans to provide eyewear through its onlineand offline stores across the Middle East, similar to its current practice in Singapore and India. The move to venture into the Middle East, follows its success and popularity in Singapore where Lenskart is looking to do $30 million revenue in 2021 and achieving the No: 1 position. In the Middle East, Lenskart aims to do the same by building a $250 million business over the next 3-4 years. Peyush Bansal, Co-Founder, LensKart, said, "At Lenskart, we understand the UAE millennial buyers and believe that we have the most stylish and high-quality products that are supported by innovative technology and a strong supply chain to deliver a surprising customer experience. We envision to grow exponentially in the coming 3-4 years and build a robust consumer base for our brand in the Middle East. Our prime objective remains enthusiastic customer satisfaction." The Company keeps customer experience and technology at the forefront of its servicing. It provides a unique offering of AR (Augmented Reality) technology for virtual try-on. The indigenously-developed technology enables customers to try eyewear virtually and makes intelligent recommendations as per their facial analysis. Lenskart's new production facility is under development in Delhi-NCR region of India with an investment of over $100 million and it is going to be the largest eyewear facility in the world with supply capacity of over 150,000 glasses per day. Lenskart has 5,000 employees and an in house data and technology team of over 300 engineers. Amit Chaudhary and Ramneek Khurana who are the other co-founders dedicatedly oversee to all technology initiatives across the company. Lenskart shipped 7 million pairs of eyewear last year which is largest among all eyewear startups founded globally in the last decade. About Lenskart: Omni-channel eyewear company Lenskart is India's largest eyewear retailer reaching out to more than 400,000 customers on a monthly basis. Incepted in 2010, Lenskart.com operates across 700 stores online, home-service and accounts for a market share of 30% in India's organised eyewear market. Lenskart is funded by Softbank, Kedaara Capital, TPG, IFC, Premji Invest and other marquee investors. In Dec 2019, the company raised approximately 275 Million Dollars from Softbank and Kedaara Capital. Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1427804/Lenskart.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] On the day Premier Brian Pallister announced a 14-day self-isolation rule for travellers to Manitoba, he revealed one of his MLAs had been disciplined for violating public health advice by travelling in Western Canada over the holidays. On the day Premier Brian Pallister announced a 14-day self-isolation rule for travellers to Manitoba, he revealed one of his MLAs had been disciplined for violating public health advice by travelling in Western Canada over the holidays. Radisson MLA James Teitsma took his family on a road trip to Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. from Dec. 21 to 30, during the time the government had urged Manitobans to stay home. "His decision to leave the province isn't something I support, but he's not a cabinet member," the premier told a Jan. 5 news conference. "And I'm not going to be taking any disciplinary action against him. I can't remove him from a cabinet he's not a member of," he said on the day he shuffled his cabinet. Although Teitsma didn't get named to cabinet that day, he did get reappointed to the powerful Treasury Board and another legislature committee. At the time, Pallister said he wasn't pleased with Teitsma's decision to disobey public health advice, but that he respected the backbencher. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister said today that Radisson MLA James Teitsma had been disciplined for violating public health advice.. "He's a loving father. He has, I think, more kids than there are weeks in the year, and he has to spend some time with his family periodically." On Tuesday, after warning Manitobans about the deadly threat posed by COVID-19 variants that could arrive here via infected travellers from out of province, Pallister indicated he'd changed his mind about punishing Teitsma. "Yes, he has faced disciplinary action," the premier said at a press conference, without explaining what action was taken regarding Teitsma. A spokeswoman for Pallister later confirmed that "an additional committee appointment (in conjunction with the cabinet shuffle) was revoked once the premier was made aware of MLA Teitsma's non-essential, out-of-province travel." Teitsma will, however, remain on Treasury Board, she said. "Not only was he not disciplined by Mr. Pallister, but Mr. Pallister actually reappointed him on the same day they had their cabinet shuffle," NDP Leader Wab Kinew told reporters Tuesday. "He reappointed Mr. Teitsma to one of the most powerful cabinet committees in the entire government," Kinew said. FACEBOOK PHOTO James Teitsma travelled in Western Canada over the holidays "Not only did he not get disciplined, this guy got a reward. It seems to me there should be some accountability, particularly on a day when you are asking Manitobans to make a greater sacrifice around travel restrictions," Kinew said. "You should demonstrate that by holding your caucus member who broke the rules accountable," he said. On Tuesday, the premier said Teitsma wasn't the only MLA guilty of travelling out of the province. "Yes, he did as did three NDP MLAs which has yet to be reported by your paper." On two occasions in the past month, the Free Press has reported that no NDP MLA had travelled out of the province over the holidays or since code-red restrictions took effect on Nov. 12. More than once, the premier has accused the NDP of out-of-province travel, but he has never provided details to back up the accusation. "What the premier said is a lie about the NDP," Kinew said Tuesday. carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca On September 8, six days after Germanys chancellor publicly accused Russia of nearly killing Aleksei Navalny with a powerful Soviet-era nerve agent, two U.S. lawmakers wrote to President Donald Trump. This request triggers a required 60-day evaluation period, the top Democrat and top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote, and then, if a determination is made that chemical weapons were used, a sanctions process is laid out under the Act -- a reference to a 1991 law informally known as the Chemical and Biological Weapons (CBW) Act. If the Russian government is once again determined to have used a chemical weapon against one of its own nationals, additional sanctions should be imposed, they wrote. Is Russia in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention? Hell, yes. On November 8, the day that the 60-day window expired, there was silence from the U.S. government. A month later, a follow-up letter was sent by the same lawmakers. As of January 20, when Trumps presidency ended, there was still no word from the U.S. government about compliance with the law. The question about what the Trump administration did -- or did not do -- regarding an event that many U.S. and European experts say constituted an attack with a secret chemical weapon is one of the less-examined mysteries of the administrations waning days. Current and former officials, arms control experts, and congressional officials point to a variety of explanations -- ranging from negligence to interagency bureaucratic wrangling to distraction due to the bitter U.S. presidential election campaign. Others offer a more troublesome theory: The Trump White House did not want to upset the Kremlin. SPECIAL REPORT: Poisons, Patents, Phone Logs: Records Reveal Russian Scientists' Ties To Military Intelligence Moreover, the inaction came even as the Trump administration in its final weeks levied new sanctions against China, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Tanzania. Asked if the administrations failure to notify Congress one way or another constituted a violation of the law, one congressional aide told RFE/RL: Basically, yes. On January 22, two days after President Joe Biden took office, the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee invoked the CBW Act for a third time, accusing the Trump administration of violating the law. The United States, under the previous Administrationfailed to comply with the CBW Act and ignored prior requests to report to Congress on the information the executive branch possess on the poisoning, they wrote. Christopher Ford, a former assistant secretary of state who ran the State Department bureau overseeing chemical weapons sanctions and similar arms control policies, said he had no information to support the allegation that political considerations related to Russia were the reason behind the administrations inaction. The holdup was most likely one of Oval Office distraction, since at that point after the presidential election, election-related issues were sucking all the oxygen out of the room there, said Ford, who resigned on January 8. It was probably just a question of bandwidth, he told RFE/RL. 'Beyond A Doubt' The question of the U.S. response to Navalnys poisoning is back on the front burner, thanks in part to his arrest 10 days ago by Russian authorities and the protests that erupted a week later. Navalny fell ill in Siberia in late August and was put in an induced coma and evacuated to Berlin. Within days, German doctors and military scientists determined he had been targeted with a substance related to Novichok, a powerful military-grade nerve agent first developed by the Soviet Union. On September 2, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the attempted murder with a nerve agent" of Navalny was beyond a doubt. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons -- the treaty agency of which Germany, the United States, and Russia are members -- confirmed the German conclusions about a month later. In recent months, investigations by the open-source research group Bellingcat, Navalnys own organization, and RFE/RLs Russian Service have all unearthed evidence pointing to the possibility of a secret Russian chemical-weapons program, and an intelligence agency hit squad that specialized in targeting people with sophisticated poisons. The Kremlin has made multiple, strenuous denials: of having a secret chemical-weapons program; of having ordered intelligence agents to poison Navalny; and of the Novichok poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in March 2018. A British woman who accidentally came into contact with the nerve agent died that July. Navalny spent nearly five months in treatment and recuperation in Germany before flying back on January 17 to Moscow, where he was immediately arrested. Before being ordered to serve 30 days in pretrial detention, he called on his supporters to take to the streets, which they did a week later, in the largest political protests that Russia has seen in years. This wasnt the first time that the U.S. government was faced with a major policy decision involving a chemical weapon. In March 2018, three weeks after Skripal and his daughter Yulia nearly died in England, the Trump administration kicked 60 Russian diplomats out, joining other European allies. And in August, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Russia had used a banned chemical weapon against Skripal, triggering several rounds of sanctions under the CBW Act. Prior to the Skripal incident, the CBW sanctions had been invoked two times previously: in 2013, against Syria, and early 2018, against North Korea. On September 4, however, Trump was asked by reporters about the German findings on Navalny. I dont know exactly what happened. I think its -- its tragic. Its terrible. It shouldnt happen. We havent had any proof yet, but I will take a look, he said. 'If Those Reports Prove Accurate' Passed in 1991, the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act was sparked by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's decision to use mustard gas and other chemical agents against the country's restive Kurdish population three years earlier. It was also aimed in part to address concerns that some of the materials used in the Soviet Union's vast chemical- or biological-weapons programs might be smuggled out and end up being used by third countries, rogue groups, or terrorists. Once a determination is made that a country has used a chemical weapon, the law requires the U.S. government to begin instituting sanctions, including things like financial asset freezes or ending foreign assistance or arms sales. The law is a valuable piece of legislation that gives the Biden administration a credible pathway to formally investigate the Navalny incident and to share the findings of its investigation with international partners, said Julia Masterson, a nonproliferation researcher at the Arms Control Association, a Washington think tank. But the Trump administration made no formal determination that a chemical weapon had been used against Navalny. Nor did it respond to the congressional notifications. In a statement on August 25, Pompeo said the United States was deeply concerned by reported preliminary conclusions from German medical experts that Navalny was poisoned. He said that Washington would support EU calls for an investigation and be ready to assist if the reports prove accurate, a condition that indicated the United States would take no immediate action. When the German conclusions were later corroborated by France and Sweden, there was no new statement from the State Department or White House. I think fundamentally that Trump didnt care to take any action." It is notable how quiet the White House and State Department under Trump have been on Navalny's poisoning and arrest, said Gregory Koblentz, director of the Biodefense Graduate Program at George Mason University outside of Washington, D.C. The failure of President Trump to impose additional sanctions on Russia for the Navalny poisoning is consistent with the past pattern of the Trump administration refusing to confront Russia on key issues ranging from chemical-weapons use to election interference to cyberattacks, he told RFE/RL. Sanctions Applied 'Forthwith' The letter sent to the White House on September 8, co-authored by the then-Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, and the committees top Republican, Michael McCaul, was a formal legal trigger under the CBW, according to experts on both chemical weapons and the law itself. A similar letter was sent by the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about three weeks later. According to experts familiar with the law, a report in response to the two congressional requests should have been filed by the Trump administration. And that report would have resulted in a formal determination as to whether or not a chemical weapon had been used. If so, the law requires sanctions to be applied forthwith. So why didnt the Trump administration impose the full range of sanctions on Russia, as it had previously, and as stipulated in the 1991 law? Why didnt it even bother responding to the congressional letters? I tried to get an answer to this question for weeks, said Andrea Stricker, a researcher at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, another Washington think tank, and it seemed that because President Trump did not make it a priority, there was cabinet-level drift on making the [legal] determination for Navalny's poisoning. Adding further to the mystery: Two U.S. government officials -- the top State Department official for proliferation issues and the U.S. ambassador to the chemical-weapons watchdog -- publicly accused Russia of having an undeclared chemical-weapons program, in two separate speeches given in the second half of November. "I think fundamentally that Trump didnt care to take any action. They were tremendously late in imposing CBW sanctions over Skripal and did the bare minimum required by law then," said Brian O'Toole, a former senior adviser at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the agency of the Treasury Department that enforces sanctions. SPECIAL REPORT: Everything You Need To Know About Novichok O'Toole, who is now a fellow at the Washington-based Atlantic Council, said the Trump administration could potentially have argued that its conduct was in line with the CBW law since it had already imposed sanctions on Russia for the Skripal poisoning and the process would essentially be "a do-over." "It's a cop-out of course, but logically justifiable," he told RFE/RL, adding that "its still just another Trump policy failure on Russia -- to do nothing." Ford, the former assistant secretary of state, told RFE/RL that sanctions were definitely in order against Russia for the Navalny poisoning. Is Russia in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention? Ford said. Hell, yes. "The breathtaking range of Russia's bad acts in recent yearsmakes it very hard to imagine how Biden will be able to move forward with the kind of Russia 'reset' that most new administrations try to have, he said. Unless and until the Kremlin's behavior improves a lot, we're probably pretty stuck in a tough period of ugly competitive rivalry." Biden's Intentions Multiple State Department and other Biden administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told RFE/RL that the Biden White House aims to make the two issues -- arms control and Navalny -- priorities for its policy toward Russia. In fact, less than two hours after Navalny was arrested at Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport on January 17, Bidens incoming national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, posted a statement of support for the Russian activist -- a statement that even beat the State Departments own official condemnations of Navalnys arrest. The State Department did not respond directly to questions from RFE/RL about why the United States hasnt responded to the congressional inquiries and imposed sanctions within the allotted time frame. The Treasury Department did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment. A State Department spokesman also directed an RFE/RL reporter to a statement issued by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on January 21 that referenced not only Navalny but also the massive cyberhack of U.S. government agencies and reports that Russian intelligence had helped pay for Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops. On January 26, Biden spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since Bidens election in November. The Kremlin issued a statement that highlighted plans to extend the New START nuclear arms-control treaty, which is due to expire on February 5. The White House statement mentioned New START and broader arms-control issues but also said Biden had raised matters of concern, including Ukrainian sovereignty, the cyberhack, election interference, and the Afghan bounties issue. And the poisoning of Aleksei Navalny. With reporting by Mike Eckel from Prague and by Todd Prince from Washington NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Krane Funds Advisors, LLC, (" KraneShares "), a global asset management firm known for its China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and innovative China investment strategies, today announced the launch of the KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF (Ticker: KSTR) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). KSTR tracks the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Science and Technology Innovation Board 50 Index. The Index comprises the 50 largest securities listed on SSE Science and Technology Innovation Board (STAR Market) as determined by market capitalization and liquidity. As China has quickly become a world leader in innovation, the Shanghai Stock Exchange developed the STAR Market to promote China's high growth publicly-listed science and technology companies. The STAR Market includes companies from industries such as new-generation information technology, biomedicine, new energy, and environmental protection. Since its establishment in July 2019, the STAR Market has become one of the largest IPO markets globally and a premier listing venue for prominent Chinese "unicorns" privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion. In just over a year, the STAR Market facilitated 200 companies to raise $44 billion.1 The increase in fund-raising activity on Chinese exchanges last year is mainly attributable to new STAR Market listings, which accounted for 47% of capital raised across China's Mainland A-Share market in 2020.2 "KSTR is the first ETF listed in the United States that offers investors direct access to STAR Market-listed companies3," said Jonathan Krane, CEO of KraneShares. "KraneShares is privileged to work with SSE and NYSE to bring this unique investment opportunity to global investors. We believe KSTR represents companies that are China's future leaders across industries powering the growth engine of China for decades to come." "The listing of the KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF (Ticker: KSTR) on the NYSE is the first SSE STAR Market-based ETF listed in overseas markets," said Harry FU Hao, Managing Director of Global Business Development Department at the Shanghai Stock Exchange. "We are happy to work with the NYSE and KraneShares to provide overseas investors access to the SSE STAR Market, where star companies from China's high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries cluster." "The NYSE is committed to bringing new investment opportunities to the public by expanding the ETF ecosystem," said Douglas Yones, Head of Exchange Traded Products at the New York Stock Exchange. "Today's launch of KSTR on NYSE Arca continues that mandate, giving investors access to China's STAR Market for the first time." For more information about KSTR, visit kraneshares.com/kstr, or talk to your financial advisor. About KraneShares Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is the investment manager for KraneShares ETFs. The firm is focused on providing investors with strategies to capture China's importance as an essential element of a well-designed investment portfolio. KraneShares ETFs represent innovative, first-to-market strategies developed based on the firm and its partners' in-depth knowledge of investing. These strategies allow investors to stay current on global market trends and provide meaningful diversification. Krane Funds Advisors, LLC is majority-owned by China International Capital Corporation (CICC). CNBC, " China's experimental stock board gains 200th IPO just over a year after launching", December 6, 2020 . The Asset, "A bumper IPO year despite Covid-19", December 14, 2020 . Data from Bloomberg, according to Bloomberg's list of all US-listed China ETFs, retrieved 12/14/2020. Carefully consider the Funds' investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses before investing. This and additional information can be found in the Funds' full and summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting www.kraneshares.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing. Risk Disclosures: Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. There can be no assurance that a Fund will achieve its stated objectives. The Funds are subject to political, social or economic instability within China which may cause decline in value. Fluctuations in currency of foreign countries may have an adverse effect to domestic currency values. Emerging markets involve heightened risk related to the same factors as well as increase volatility and lower trading volume. The Fund may invest in derivatives, which are often more volatile than other investments and may magnify the Fund's gains or losses. Narrowly focused investments may be subject to higher volatility. The Fund's assets are expected to be concentrated in an industry or group of industries to the extent that the Underlying Index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries. The securities of companies in an industry or group of industries could react similarly to market developments. Thus, the Fund is subject to loss due to adverse occurrences that affect one industry or group of industries or sector. The Fund is non-diversified. The Fund may invest in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Securities issued in IPOs have no trading history, and information about the companies may be available for very limited periods. In addition, the prices of securities sold in IPOs may be highly volatile. In addition, as the Fund increases in size, the impact of IPOs on the Fund's performance will generally decrease. Diversification does not ensure a profit or guarantee against a loss. The KraneShares ETFs are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Company (SIDCO), which is not affiliated with Krane Funds Advisors, LLC, the Investment Adviser for the Fund. [R_US_KS_SEI] SOURCE Krane Funds Advisors, LLC Related Links http://kraneshares.com For the past year, the shuttered San Francisco schools have been schools in name only, so perhaps its fitting that the school board has taken to occupying itself by tinkering with their names. The members of the citys Board of Education, having largely quit the education business and rebranded themselves as amateur historians, found much of history unfit for the honor of association with their empty classrooms. The school board voted late Tuesday to rename 44 schools in what is no mere correction of anachronistic monuments to racists and conquistadors. The cleansing extends to fully a third of the districts campuses, sparing no name that, according to the internet research of the board and its emissaries, significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as a board resolution put it. Never mind that the name of the man from whom the board borrowed that phrase, Thomas Jefferson, was deemed no longer suitable for attachment to one of the citys elementary schools. In fact, nine of the 10 presidents who lent their names to city schools fell short of the school boards stringent standards, up to and including George Washington. There may have been some confusion over which Roosevelt was the namesake of a middle school, but no matter: The School Names Advisory Committee judged both of them offensive. While most of the country is rightly engaged in removing racist monuments to the Confederacy, only in San Francisco must the heroes of the Union be toppled: The boards list includes Lincoln, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, and the abolitionist poet and editor James Russell Lowell. The list goes on, wending its way into truly obscure offenses to the school boards sensibilities: Sen. Dianne Feinsteins role in a controversy over a Civic Center Plaza flag display that included the Confederate banner; Paul Reveres participation in a Revolutionary War campaign connected to the colonization of the Penobscot tribe. One school was found to be named after a street that was named after a South Carolina county that was named after an English politician who was impeached by the House of Commons in the 17th century. Granted, a few San Francisco schools are named after bigots and conquerors who dont deserve the modest honor. Some of our Founding Fathers furthered such wrongs as slavery and genocide. And even the Great Emancipator was, like the average San Francisco school board member, imperfect though he actually intervened to moderate the crimes against Native Americans cited in stripping his name from a high school. The trouble is that the school board and its emissaries, especially given their nominal dedication to public education, have treated great and minor figures and sins identically based on cursory research and still thinner analysis. The board had years to turn back from or refine this project but ultimately left the committees conclusions largely undisturbed. The lone dissenter, Kevine Boggess, argued against naming schools after people in general a good point, though the board bowdlerized places and things, too, among them Presidio and Mission. The greatest folly of this frivolous exercise, as Mayor London Breed has noted, is that it was undertaken by a school board that is not currently operating schools despite ample evidence that it could do so safely and must for the sake of its students. That failure, which didnt make the boards agenda, is doing far more harm to historically disadvantaged students and families than Paul Reveres misadventures in Maine. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. [January 27, 2021] South Korean Medical AI Provider and PACS Leader Enters Indonesian Market, to Help COVID-19 Screening and Diagnosis SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lunit, a South Korean medical AI software company, announced a partnership with a leading PACS provider INFINITT Healthcare to accelerate its global expansion. Lunit and INFINITT Healthcare recently entered into a global software distribution and licensing partnership. Implemented in the INFINITT PACS system, Lunit AI will be distributed in the global market and expand its market presence. INFINITT Healthcare is a dominant player in the South Korean PACS market, globally recognized for its technology. As the first step, the two companies signed their first commercial sales contract with Leuwiliang General Hospital in span >Indonesia. Leuwiliang General Hospital is one of the leading healthcare institutions of West Java Indonesia that provide diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients. West Java is also known as the region with the second most cases following Jakarta. The number of COVID-19 cases have rapidly increased in Indonesia since the end of last year, with more than one million new cases confirmed everyday. Radiologists of Leuwiliang General Hospital will use 'Lunit INSIGHT CXR', an AI software for detecting chest abnormalities, and INFINITT's latest PACS system, 'INFINITT PACS G7' for more accurate diagnosis of COVID-19. A recent study published in a peer-reviewed journal 'Plos One' indicated that when using Lunit INSIGHT CXR for COVID-19 screening, it can detect the symptoms with over 95% of sensitivity. Dr. Suci Syamsiah Ramdhini, a radiologist at Leuwiliang General Hospital stated, "Thanks to Lunit INSIGHT CXR, abnormal lesions such as pneumonia and cardiomegaly were found clearly in complicated lung cases". Experts say that chest x-rays compress and represent three-dimensional human lungs into a two-dimensional, so there may be lesions that are easily missed by radiologists. "Lunit INSIGHT CXR brings value to medical professionals and patients in not only difficult circumstances such as the current pandemic crisis but in routine clinical settings as well," said Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit. "We look forward to providing enhanced medical services in more countries with our global partner INFINITT Healthcare." Lunit INSIGHT CXR is now supporting medical professionals to diagnose COVID-19 in more than 10 countries and has an accuracy of 97 to 99% in detecting 10 major chest diseases such as lung nodules and pneumothorax. It is CE marked and clinically available in Europe, Middle East, Latin America, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. SOURCE Lunit [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] There is now increasing pressure for shipowners to sharpen their environmental performance, driven by an IMO target to halve greenhouse gas emissions from shipping by 2050, regional regulations and market pull from charterers, banks and investors. This represents a whole new ball game for the industry. Optimisation of ship operations has traditionally been dictated by the efficiency of delivery around the globe that has typically meant being able to sail at full speed, thereby burning more fuel, to minimise costs for the charterer. It has been driven by money, not emissions, says DNV GLs Performance Advisory head Bjorn Berger. The adoption of new digital technologies is seen by DNV GL as vital to achieve decarbonisation goals for the shipping industry as the global green agenda shifts the business playing field for shipowners. But the new green regime dictates that shipowners must minimise emissions from their operations and efficiency will be defined by their ability to reduce their environmental footprint, which will be a key differentiating factor in future competition for charter contracts. Furthermore, he says failure to comply with new environmental rules will pose a huge business risk as vessels that do not meet emissions requirements will be unable to trade, though not all shipowners have fully realised this. As such, digitalisation of ship operations, in tandem with the use of alternative fuels, will be a key enabler to optimise the energy efficiency of fleets to meet low-carbon standards. Lagging behind However, much of the maritime sector is lagging behind other industries such as aviation and automotive - in which digitalisation has been widely applied for decades - as well as offshore where concepts such as data sensors on equipment, digital twins, artificial intelligence and remote operations are now rapidly gaining ground, according to Berger. He believes there is massive untapped potential for the shipping industry to improve its efficiency through harnessing data flows from operations that can have a positive impact on commercial, environmental and safety performance. Digitalisation facilitates the automation of processes and functions, and combining data streams from multiple sources allows the maritime industry to make better-informed decisions more quickly, creating more efficient and responsive organisations, according to DNV GL. Ships are increasingly being fitted with advanced sensors to monitor fuel consumption and energy efficiency, providing real-time data that can be integrated into an overall fleet management system for continuous learning and optimisation of operations. According to Berger, there are several examples of shipowners installing a fuel monitoring device on the bridge and testing out different operational measures to check how this affected fuel consumption. In many cases, minor differences in operational behaviour reduced fuel consumption by 10%. When such data monitoring is aligned with centralisation of fleet operations from an onshore control room, this gives the shipowner insight and transparency for better decision-making to assimilate best practices and thereby operate the fleet in the most cost and fuel-efficient way, Berger explains. Digital navigation Norway-based navigation software provider NAVTOR is already onboard this trend with its so-called e-navigation system offering seamless transfer of data from ship to shore that covers route planning so any deviation from the passage plan can be rectified in co-ordination with the crew. As such, NAVTOR is pointing the way for smart shipping with a software suite that includes nautical charts, weather information, navigational warnings and performance analysis tools as part of an integrated ecosystem already serving nearly 7000 vessels worldwide. Its system incorporates interpretation, validation and instant notification of data, as well as manual input and analysis, and assistance in compliance with regulations for different ports and jurisdictions. NAVTORs head of business development Arild Risholm Saether says: Shipowners can use the digital tools available to take actions to reduce emissions. The add-on, of course, is you will have more profit and will be more attractive in the market for charterers and other types of customers. One major advantage of digitalisation is the ability to optimise maintenance through continuous condition monitoring of engines, the hull and other equipment and structures using data sensors, as has been demonstrated on oil and gas platforms in the offshore industry. Wider application of digitalisation will have a beneficial impact on the efficiency of the overall logistical chain covering source to delivery in which the vessel is only one of several forms of transport being used, with automated port handling of cargo being one example. Commercial benefits Berger highlights clear commercial, as well as environmental, benefits from the use of digital technology as being lower operating and fuel costs, efficiency gains, improved decision-making, improved operational and technical performance, as well as enhanced safety from transparency and real-time data allied with improved data analytics capabilities. At the same time, digitalisation is transforming organisations from being reactive to proactive in areas such as maintenance. Digitalisation represents a major competitive advantage and those that fail to adopt such technology will be quickly outmanoeuvred by more progressive players, Berger warns. But only a handful of ship operators, notably in the containership and cruise sectors, have moved proactively on the digital front to realise the commercial benefits of centralised operations based on digitalisation that offer significant economies of scale in management of large fleets. Application of digital technologies throughout a vessels life-cycle - from newbuild design and construction to operations - as well as within the shipowners administrative and logistical organisation will be key to optimising ship operations as the industry navigates a course into a low-carbon future. These can serve to evaluate a range of greenhouse gas abatement technologies, such as systems for waste-heat recovery and battery-hybrid solutions, as well as to determine the optimal configuration of machinery and propulsion systems in relation to alternative fuels for which DNV GL uses state-of-the-art data simulation techniques. Berger reveals that offshore companies are now also considering the use of digital twins for operational systems onboard ships to provide instant feedback on actions such as dynamic positioning. Future-proofing Such digital tools are necessary in the newbuild phase to ensure a ship is designed and built to be as future-proof as possible with maximum fuel efficiency and a low environmental footprint so that it can remain competitive over its lifetime. In the operations phases, DNV GL has found that digitally enabled operational and managerial measures can achieve 10% to 20% greater energy efficiency, and thus improved emissions performance. These include voyage planning and execution, improved fleet performance and management, speed management, hull and propeller maintenance, optimised use of generators and power consumers, trim optimisation and increased use of remote functions. Moreover, monitoring and reporting of key performance data such as carbon-intensity measurements will be required in relation to greenhouse gas ratings for regulators, charterers, ports, banks and finance institutions, making this a rite of passage for shipowners in future. Berger believes digitalisation can result in a shift whereby charterers increasingly may take over the role as shipowner to include vessel operations within the entire logistical chain in order to meet environmental requirements, citing online retail giant Amazon as a possible candidate. This trend is already evident in Norway where grocery supplier Asko is developing an autonomous and electrically powered vessel to cross the Oslo fjord to cut the need for more pollutive truck delivery over long distances. This is part of the countrys so-called Green Shipping research programme initiated by DNV GL that is engaged in similar projects including development of electrified ferries using digital technology, mirroring that used on electric road vehicles. Unlike self-driving cars, remote operations for maritime vessels are still a long way off as investments in this area are nowhere near that of the automotive industry where there are enormous data centres carrying out millions of simulations, Berger says. Cyber-security Nonetheless, new cloud-based technologies such as big data platforms and digital twin technologies are starting to have a dramatic effect on how the industry manages information and how vessels and their components are designed, built and tested, according to DNV GL. The advent of more digitalised ship operations does though present an increased cyber-security risk for fleet assets as a vessels legacy computer systems are more vulnerable to hacking when hooked up to a wider network. While the breach of a companys administrative IT system can have a reputational and financial impact, a data attack on onboard operation and control (OT) systems can endanger the safety of a vessel and its crew, for example by exposing it to piracy. A disturbing increase in such OT incidents in recent years - including notable attacks on Cosco and Maersk - has given rise to new IMO regulations on cyber-security effective from this year, with DNV GL extending its services to cover control systems, software, data procedures and human factors to ensure compliance with the code.--TradeArabia News Service Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A federal judge temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's attempt to impose a 100-day moratorium on deportations. Texas judge blocks Biden's 100-day deportation moratorium A federal judge in Texas ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) not to enforce Biden's 100-day deportation moratorium through a restraining order. The administration would be violating an agreement with the DHS, Texas' lawsuit claims. Besides, the moratorium needs at least 180 days' notice and consultation before it can be implemented, changing immigration policy. According to Fox News, it is unclear if those terms are enforceable. However, similar agreements were struck with different states under the former administration. The U.S. district judge implemented an injunction nationwide as a geographically-limited order would not protect Texas' interests because of illegal aliens' "free flow of movement" from other states. Over the weekend, an email was sent to ICE officers urging to stop "all removals" and to "release the undocumented immigrants, immediately," Fox News exclusively reported. As Biden's administration changed its approach to U.S. immigration, the President has pledged to move forward with a moratorium on deportations following the change in administration. Read also: Woman Faces Federal Charges for Stealing Pelosi's Laptop, Covers Tracks Online ICE began implementing a 100-day moratorium on deportations On Friday, the U.S. immigration authorities started a 100-day deportation moratorium implementation to certain immigrants already in the country due to a shift in immigration enforcement policy under the Biden administration. During the campaign, Biden pledged to make the freeze that will temporarily protect most immigrants who face deportation from being removed from the country until May as long as they have entered the U.S. before November 1, 2020, as per CBS News. Those immigrants suspected of terrorism and deemed to pose a threat to national security would not benefit from the deportation moratorium, which was authorized by a signed memorandum by David Pekoske, acting Homeland Security Secretary. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement head could also decide to make an exception to the deportation freeze. Additionally, immigrants can volunteer to be deported if they request to. Read also: Trump's New Office Opens, Returns to Continue His Administration Agenda What to know about Biden's Deportation Moratorium While undergoing a complete review of immigration enforcement policies, President Biden had instructed DHS to stop deportations for 100 days. However, the temporary restraining order will last for 14 days while Judge Drew B. Tipton reviewed a broader motion for a preliminary injunction. The decision taken in place of the other changes to immigration enforcement Biden's first day in office has been made, including new enforcement priorities effective on February 1. The decision clarifies that the decision of whether to deport someone from the U.S.lies with the executive branch. According to Immigration Impact, formally revoking the 2017 executive order that made all undocumented immigrants a priority for enforcement was one of Biden's first moves as a newly-elected President. Besides, the President's new executive order called for a review of "any agency developed actions" under the previous executive order. In response, the acting DHS Secretary released a memo the same night calling on DHS to impose 100 days "coordinating a Department-wide review of practices and policies concerning immigration enforcement." Read also: How President Joe Biden Conquers Stuttering, Fulfills American Dream @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A federal judge Tuesday tightened the restrictions on a Harrisburg woman accused of stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosis laptop during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after agreeing she is too much of a cyber risk to be allowed free access to the internet. As a new condition of allowing her to remain out of prison pending trial, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui ordered 22-year-old Riley June Williams to stay off the internet except for conversations with her lawyer. And even in those instances Williams on-line use- and even her TV viewing - is to be monitored by her mother, with whom she is living as a condition of her pretrial release, Faruqui said following a 90-minute hearing that was conducted virtually in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. I think we have to have limitations on her internet access, the judge said. He made that call at the urging of prosecutors, who said Williams might have deleted social media postings that contained evidence against her and had encouraged others to do so as well. Prosecutor Mona Sedky said the investigation of Williams case is ongoing and fairly fluid. Im very uncomfortable discussing the facts of this case at this stage, Sedky said. Faruqui said what he already knows about the case is very shocking and nothing like anything Ive seen so far in the other riot cases. Prosecutors claim Williams actively participated in the riot and even directed others in the pro-Trump mob on where to go inside the Capitol. She also faces an accusation that she tried to arrange for Pelosis stolen computer to be sold to the Russian intelligence service. At one point, Faruqui compared the very frightening scenario of the Williams case to the TV series The Americans, which featured deep-cover Soviet spies posing as a middle class American family. Williams was released to the custody of her mother following a court hearing in Harrisburg last week. Sedky said during Tuesdays hearing that she would seek to have Williams confined to prison pending trial if her internet access wasnt either tightly restricted or cut off entirely. She has a documented history of with the click of a button deleting her (online) accounts, the prosecutor said. Federal Public Defender A.J. Kramer opposed a complete ban on internet access, saying that is not practical in a world that depends on the World Wide Web. Sedky countered that Williams wouldnt have any internet access if she was in prison. Investigators already have seized all of Wiilliams electronic devices, Kramer said. She doesnt have a phone or a computer at this point, Kramer said. Williams, who is jobless, cant afford to buy a computer, he said. Kramer insisted there is no evidence Williams has made any attempt, online or otherwise, to obstruct the investigation of her case since her arrest. In opting to cap her internet access, Faruqui said he is trusting Williams and her mother to comply with the deal. The alternative is catastrophic, the judge said, since prison would be Williams destination for any violation. The internet restrictions triggered the removal of a prior requirement that Williams seek a job since it is nearly impossible these days to find employment that doesnt include some kind of online function. Faruqui kept in place another demand that Williams seek a mental health evaluation. He scheduled her next court hearing for March. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Lady po-po will but cut from the payroll following a tragic mistake. Read more . . . The Jackson County Sheriff's Deputy who shot a woman in the back and pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree assault will be fired. Deputy Lauren Michael pleaded guilty Monday in connection to a first-degree assault charge for shooting a woman four times in the back two summers ago. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 South Africa's health products regulator on Wednesday approved the "controlled" use of anti-parasitic agent ivermectin on humans, reversing a decision to ban the drug last month over unproven claims that it can treat COVID-19. Ivermectin is one of a string of generic medications tested as a potential cure for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. The prophylaxis is mainly used to kill parasites such as head lice on both animals and people, and has been widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1990s to treat river blindness. Scientists say there is not yet enough evidence to promote the drug as a remedy for coronavirus, leaving governments undecided over whether or not to limit its consumption amid surging demand. South Africawhere ivermectin is usually registered for veterinary use but not forbidden for humans saw its national health products regulator (SAHPRA) block imports of the anti-parasitic in December over "lack of clinical evidence". The ban sparked outrage among doctors and lobby groups, who accused the government of barring urgently needed research into potential remedies. SAHPRA back-tracked on Wednesday, announcing plans to "facilitate a controlled, compassionate access programme for ivermectin" due to rising coronavirus cases. "We are in the second wave. We are seeing lives being lost and we have many medical practitioners that have reached out to us," SAHPRA head Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela said during a virtual press briefing. "We are in a pandemic with limited options available," she added, noting that the regulator remained concerned over lack of data on the risks and benefits of using ivermectin. Prominent rights group AfriForum, which teamed up with a group of doctors to file an urgent court application against SAHPRA and the health ministry this month, said the move was welcome but insufficient. "SAHPRA's announcement is a step in the right direction, but still does not provide the necessary relief and certainty that we urgently need," AfriForum head of research Bared Uys said in a statement. "Every day people die while a medicine exists that may probably save their lives." The case is scheduled to be heard in court next week. South Africa is grappling with an unprecedented coronavirus resurgence widely attributed to a more infectious, local variant of the virus. The country is Africa's hardest-hit, with over 1.4 million cases and 41,000 deaths reported to date. An ambitious vaccination campaign is expected to begin this month, with the aim of inoculating two thirds of the 60 million-strong population by the end of 2021. Explore further Battling COVID-19, South Africa prepares for first vaccines 2021 AFP Getty The Biden administration is desperate to ramp up the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. But officials working with the White Houses coronavirus task force are running into a major problem: The data they need to track the delivery of doses is incomplete, often late, and sometimes even contradictory. Without a reliable accounting system, the administration is essentially flying blind, relying instead on hundreds of local anecdotes about issues with supply and low vaccination rates, according to three officials working with the White Houses COVID-19 task force. That makes it much more difficult to piece together a cohesive picture of a national problem with life-or-death consequences. Some vaccine vials lost in the system could hold as many as six or seven doses. And there are millions of doses unaccounted for, officials say. Right now, what we have is anecdotal stories, stories of people who are online and can't get it because there's not enough vaccine, places where you have vaccine in the refrigerator but you don't have enough people to administer it. We need to get an organized approach to find out exactly what is going on at the local level and try and fix it, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Bidens chief medical officer, in an interview with The Daily Beast. In an interview earlier this week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told Fox News she did not know how many vaccine doses were available for use. I cant tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I cant tell it to you, then I cant tell it to the governors, and I cant tell it to the state health officials, she said. Fauci noted that Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator under the Trump administration, spent the last several months of her tenure traveling across the country, meeting with local health officials in an attempt to bridge the communication gap between the federal government and states. It didnt work. Story continues Deb knocked herself out trying to do that. And you're one person. You can't just be going around, you know, with their roller bag in their hand, trying to fix the problems. She should be totally commended for the effort. But you got to have a much more organized, multi-faceted approach rather than a single person, Fauci said. You need to try to figure out what is going on at the local level. And how can we strengthen the interaction between the federal government and the locals to figure out what the issue is? Part of the problem, according to volunteers who have worked for New York Citys distribution hub, is that the state is relying on people with very little or no existing public health background to run massive vaccination centers. Volunteers, some of whom hail from various city agencies, said theyve shown up for work only to receive little instruction on how to do their assigned jobs. One individual said they were handed a binder with hundreds of pages on how the team should run the show but that they didnt have time to read it. Another volunteer said they had to figure out on the fly how to design the flow of patients streaming into the center, whether and how to check for identification, and how to account for the doses administered. We were given very few details of what we would be asked to do, that volunteer said. And then the next day a new team comes in and its like Did you work yesterday? No? Do you know what were supposed to do? So every day people have to reinvent the wheel. Millions of Vaccine Doses Are M.I.A.and Feds Arent Sure Why If the New York City public health department had relatively the same resources as my hospital, wed been in a much better position, said Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, one of the countrys most prestigious academic medical centers. Finances arent everything, but they are huge in terms of building capacity. We will find a way to brutishly push out the vaccine in these communities. But what were doing now isnt working. This is not the best way to do this. Without a comprehensive data collection and analysis platform, officials said, they cant fully understand whether the bottlenecks in one state, for example, are the result of the same issues as the bottlenecks in another. Second doses badly lag first jabs in several states that The Daily Beast reviewed, while others, such as Californiawhich did not respond to requests for further informationhave struggled to administer initial shots. The Biden team also doesnt have a full grasp on how many vaccine doses are already available to states, whether some have either been set aside for second doses or for the federal long-term-care vaccination program or if some are simply sitting somewhere in the distribution system, perhaps in warehouses or distribution hub fridges. The CDCs vaccination tracker shows a wide gap between the number of doses distributed to states and the number states have administered. For example, in Kentucky, where Gov. Andy Beshear has said the state does not have enough supply to meet the demand for the vaccine, the CDC says the federal government has distributed 557,975 doses but that the state has administered just 312,192 of them. On the Kentucky governments vaccination dashboard, however, the state says its only received 466,700 doses from the fedsrepresenting nearly 90,000 fewer shots than whats in the CDC tally. That could be because the state has not received and logged the latest shipment from the federal government, but both federal and state officials say they are not exactly sure why the gap exists. Either way, the state appears to have more than 100,000 doses it has not administered, some of which are earmarked for the federally run long-term care vaccination program. Beshear has also said the state is holding back some of the doses it receives for second-dose shots. Although vaccination rates have improved in recent dates, several states are reporting similar situations to Kentucky's and are struggling to quickly get the vaccine out to those eligible. The most immediate impact to all of this is that this virus is going to keep infecting people. When you get to a critical mass vaccinated, you see a dramatic decline in new COVID cases, said Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency medicine doctor at Brown University in Rhode Island. In a press conference with reporters Wednesday, Walensky attempted to explain the data discrepancies. She said her team is working to understand the divergence in the federal data vaccination tracker and the state vaccination distribution dashboards. In doing that, she said, the federal government is hoping to understand where in the distribution system vaccine is located and how many doses have been put into peoples arms. Not all vaccine that is allocated or delivered is available for inserting into peoples arms. Where in the pipeline that is varies by the day of the week and whether it is available that singular day, Walensky said. We are working very hard in ensuring where exactly the vaccine is on any given day. The reporting of the data is actually also behind. Were getting [information on] when vaccines are reported rather than when they are actually administered. According to the CDCs vaccination tracker, the federal government has distributed about 44 million doses but only 23 million have been administered by states. State officials say the CDC tracker paints a misleading picture of the reality on the groundthat they are administering more doses than the federal government reflects in its data. Several officials who spoke with The Daily Beast said they fear the federal government, in viewing those numbers, will decide to curtail the number of doses their jurisdiction receives over the following weeks. Bidens team has explicitly said they will not prioritize certain states over others and will instead distribute the vaccine equitably across the country. On a call with the nations governors Tuesdayhosted by Walensky, Jeff Zients, the White Houses task force coordinator, and Gen. Gustave Perna, who oversees Operation Warp Speedstate leaders raised concern over the way the federal government tracks the vaccine, saying it was confusing an already chaotic distribution process, according to two individuals who were on the call. Heres Why It Will Be Hard to Ramp Up COVID Vaxx Production I can tell you that Missouri is not alone in our frustration on how vaccination data is being reported by the CDC," Missouri Gov. Michael Parson said in a statement after the call. "I and many other governors expressed concern that vaccination data from the CDC is being misrepresented and does not fully reflect the situations we are seeing at the state level." At present, federal figures show Missouri has injected just 335,695 of 661,400 doses shipped to it. The state numbers show 374,742 inoculations in total, though only 84,000 people have gotten the crucial second dose. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been among the most vocal governors complaining about his states allotment of doses. An official in the Democrats office pointed to the drop-off in the federal allocation following the second week of the vaccine's availability. Albany's figures show the Empire State received 392,025 doses between Dec. 21 and 27, but only 201,500 between Dec. 28 and Jan. 3and just 160,050 the week after that. Thats more than a 50 percent drop in two weeks. Based on calls with the Trump administration prior to the vaccines release, the Cuomo team said it had expected a slow rollout in the first week, but not such a decline in availability after the second. The ration has increased somewhat since then but has never approached the 392,025 level set in December. Cuomos office has repeatedly said that New York now has a vaccine shortage, insisting the state could inoculate 100,000 people or more daily if given greater supply. As evidence, it noted New York has injected 93 percent of the first doses it has received. However, the latest state figures show that less than than 30 percent of the second shots the feds have sent New York have made it into peoples arms. Cuomo defended this sore point on a call with the CDC Monday, according to individuals on the call who spoke with The Daily Beast. He asserted that some states have used second dose shipments to give the completely unvaccinated their initial prick, while New York is reserving the second doses for those who have already gotten the first shotwhich is more logistically challenging. Meanwhile, the CDC reports having shipped more than 2.4 million total doses to New York, even though the states dashboard only shows it receiving around 1.87 millionleaving more than half a million doses seemingly unaccounted for. But the source in Cuomo's office shared numbers with The Daily Beast showing that roughly 450,000 of those missing shots were in fact set aside for the federal program to vaccinate long-term care facilities, which come out of the states allocation but dont show up on its tracker. This, combined with different reporting schedules and structures, accounts for much of the divergence in state and federal figures, the official said. Asked why there were widespread discrepancies between its federal tracker and state data, CDC officials said the agency has to pull data from several different places, which can take time to analyze and update. The CDC is sent vaccination data from pharmacies, federal agencies that receive the vaccine directly, and the Vaccine Administration Management System, which supports temporary, mobile, and satellite clinics, and state and local information systems. The Biden administration plans on leaning more heavily on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help streamline how counties, cities, and states track distribution and administration. What FEMA should be doing is integrating into the state emergency management departments, said Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. They should be asking, What are Pfizer and Moderna saying they have shipped? And for each state, FEMA should ask, What do you have and where is the gap? Often in situations like this, you do a 50-state data call. You send an email out at night and you ask states to provide their numbers by the next day. You can do this every day. This is what you do in disasters. Dr. Fauci Shoots Down Fox News Host Bill Hemmers Trump Questions Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. ROME, JAN 27 - Emilia-Romagna Governor Stefano Bonaccini is under investigation for alleged abuse of office, daily newspaper il Resto del Carlino reported on Wednesday. The case stems from a complaint filed a year ago by the mayor of the town of Paolo Pezzolato. The complaint was backed up by a recording of a telephone conversation between the centre-left governor and the first citizen, according to the report. Pezzolato alleged that Bonaccini applied pressure so that other municipalities in the area would refuse to share employees with Jolanda di Savoia after his deputy mayor, Elisa Trombin, backed the governor's opponent in regional elections, the report said. (ANSA). As many as 20 recruits undergoing selection for the SAS have died while on gruelling marches across the Brecon Beacons, newly released figures have shown. A friend of one soldier who passed away while undergoing selection requested information about the number of deaths on the rugged course with a view of creating a memorial on the route. The MoD confirmed that 20 servicemen died on the Brecon Beacons since January 1, 1984. Corporal James Dunsby, pictured, was one of three Army reservists who died undergoing SAS selection in the Brecon Beacons in 2013 Corporal Edward Maher, left, and Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, right, also died on the SAS selection march in 2013. The Army runs two such marches a year The person wrote: 'I've had some discussions with local councillors and politicians about a memorial for service people that lost their life in the Brecon Beacons. 'I lost a close friend and colleague there whilst he was training for special forces selection some years ago, so it's a topic close to my heart. 'To feed in to the proposal I wanted to include an accurate figure of how many service men and women have died in the Brecon Beacons whilst serving (on and off duty) in modern records (Your input on a realistic date to go back to is welcome).' In response, the MoD said 20 UK armed forces personnel have died 'in the area encompassed by the Brecon Beacons National park'. According to the MoD, the figure includes all tri-Service regular personnel who died 'on or off duty' and 'on duty reserves'. 'The figure is also for all causes of death: Accidents, natural causes, assaults, coroner confirmed suicide or open verdicts and cause not known.' A number of recruits undergoing selection for the SAS have died while marching on the Brecon Beacons. In 2013, Corporal James Dunby, 31, Lance Corporal Edward Maher, 31, and Lance Corporal Craig Roberts, 24, all died on the march. Recruits are expected to carry a 45lb pack and their rifle on a 16-mile course. Another soldier to have died on the march was Corporal Joshua Hoole in July 2016. An inquest into his death found 'very serious; training and planning failings at every level during what was a hot day. Soldiers undergoing selection have to carry a 45lb pack on the 16-mile endurance march as well as carrying their rifle Cpl Hoole, described as 'fit, capable and determined', died within an hour of collapsing 400m from the end of an annual fitness test (AFT) at Brecon in Wales on July 19 2016. The death of 26-year-old Cpl Hoole, from Ecclefechan, near Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, came three years after three Army reservists suffered fatal heat illness during an SAS selection march in the Brecon Beacons. He had previously deployed to Afghanistan and was serving with 1 Rifles. An inquest into Cpl Hoole's death heard that soldiers were aware it was to be 'the hottest day of the year' and the march time at Dering Lines was brought forward as a result. Of the 41 soldiers taking part in the march, 18 dropped out, collapsed or were withdrawn a rate of 42 per cent. The drop-outs included two who went down with suspected heat injuries, well before Cpl Hoole collapsed. Rules governing the AFT meant that the exercise should have been stopped once heat illness was suspected and had they done so, the coroner found Cpl Hoole would have lived. A former SAS soldier told The Mirror: 'A stone cairn with no names may be the way ahead. Anyone who dies is remembered. 'A named memorial may attract the wrong attention.' The MoD added: 'Our deepest sympathies remain with the families and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives. 'The health and safety of our personnel is a priority and we continually review training environments and methods to ensure they are as safe as possible.' Trevor Hall, solicitor at Thompsons Solicitors, who has dealt with more than 100 cases against the Ministry of Defence, said: 'One death is one too many. If this was a civilian employer, the injury rate would be front page news. 'Yet as we see, time and again, in the cases we pursue for those who are injured or who have sadly lost their lives in training, the MOD never learns. 'The commitment we all have to our armed forces must not blind us to the needless risks they take and a macho culture that leaves the lives of numerous young men and women and their families blighted forever.' A woman whose son was taken from her at one of Irelands mother and baby homes has said any Stormont apology must be sincere (Maria Arbuckle/PA) A woman whose son was taken from her at one of Irelands mother and baby homes after she was transferred across the border has said any Stormont apology must be sincere. Maria Arbuckle, 58, from Londonderry, was 18 when she had her child, Paul, and he was removed for adoption soon after his birth in Dublin. She has not seen him since. It was like someone pulling your heart out while you are still alive Maria Arbuckle Almost 40 years later, Ms Arbuckle said: It was like someone pulling your heart out while you are still alive. She had been abandoned by her own parents, she was told by social workers, and grew up in care. She spent time at St Josephs training school in Middleton, Co Armagh, before being transferred to St Patricks in Navan Road, Dublin, in January 1981 to have her baby. She said her only choice had been to put Paul up for adoption, adding: To this day I do not know him. They sent me to sign the papers in the social workers office. They brought the baby to see me for one last time. I signed the papers and I walked out of the door and tried to commit suicide Maria Arbuckle I signed the papers and I walked out of the door and tried to commit suicide. Former residents of mother and baby homes have come forward to tell researchers their stories of being transferred across the border from Northern Ireland to the Republic. Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill met Irish Childrens Minister Roderic OGorman earlier this month to discuss the sharing of information. Ms Arbuckle said: I feel like I am in limbo, because all the southern survivors are all from the south that went into the homes. I seem to be on my own, where I was transferred from north to south. St Josephs was run by the St Louis order of Catholic nuns. There was a convent in the grounds and a small chapel. Ms Arbuckle said the home consisted of four blocks and the girls were locked inside at night. They were given two outfits for summer and two for winter, if they had no family to provide extra supplies. She recalled: You were forced to eat food that you did not like. Other than that, you were kept warm and fed. They need to realise that, as children, we were not treated good Maria Arbuckle Punishments involved being locked in an office or being rapped with keys by the nuns. There was a lot of bullying between the girls, Ms Arbuckle remembered. She now lives in Lincolnshire in the East Midlands. She said she hopes Stormont ministers take her concerns seriously. They need to realise that, as children, we were not treated good. Some of us probably were better off, or feel better off, in homes and in childrens homes than at home, but then others suffered a lot more in childrens homes than they would have done at home. They need to apologise. She said Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martins words of apology earlier this month were not enough. They do not know how we feel, they did not have children taken off them. They do not know what it is like to carry a baby for nine months and give birth then have him taken off you. Though mask recommendations have shifted repeatedly during the pandemic, one piece of advice has stayed relatively consistent: Both the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization have repeatedly recommended that surgical-grade (FFP1) and N95 masks (FFP2) are reserved for healthcare workers, while cloth masks and gaiters are to be worn by everyday citizens going about their normal lives. That may not be the case for much longer. The German government began requiring all people to wear FFP1 or FFP2 masks while on public transport, in workplaces, and in shops starting Tuesday, Jan. 19. France followed later that week, mandating that both FFP1 and FFP2 are required in public places. Austrias FFP2 mandate began on Sunday, Jan. 24. WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks for $0.29 at WellBefore WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks - Individually Wrapped - wellbefore.com 0.29 Shop Now The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommends face masks in indoor and outdoor situations to help prevent the spread of new variations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. While they dont specify the type of mask, both the WHO and the CDC recommend that FFP1 and FFP2 masks, which have been in short supply for the duration of the pandemic, be reserved for healthcare workers. This isnt the first major shift in mask recommendations. In the early days of the pandemic, understanding of the virus was minimal and surgical masks and N95s were both in short supply. The CDC advised against wearing masks at all, reversing course about a month into the viruss spread across the globe. The change in recommendations come down to the masks efficacy. Study after study has confirmed that the N95 mask (FFP2) provides the greatest protection possible aside from social distancing and simply staying home, with three-layer surgical masks (FFP1) coming in a distant second. Cloth face masks, folded bandanas and gaiters were all found to be significantly less effective. It's important to note that in all but a few highly specific situations, face coverings are still far safer than going maskless. Harley NIOSH N95 Masks for $3.99 at WellBefore Harley N95 NIOSH - L-188 Folding Mask - wellbefore.com 3.99 Shop Now The CDC recommends that gaiters be worn in two layers. Reports that mask gaiters were worse than no mask were later contradicted by experts. The effectiveness of face shields is not currently known. As scientists have gained a greater understanding of COVID-19 and mask supplies have caught up with demand, and as new variants of the disease have emerged, health experts and world leaders have seen more incentive to increase precautions. Whether or not masks are the best way to accomplish that is the subject of controversy. The better the quality of mask you can wear, the more effective that will be at stopping transmission, but you need to put affordability and accessibility into that as well, Jimmy Whitworth, a public health professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Bloomberg. Writing for The Washington Post, associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University Joseph G. Allen said, "theres no reason any essential worker and, really, everyone in the country should go without (N95) masks that filter 95 percent (of pathogens) ... heres my cheat sheet: If you can find an N95, go for it. These are certified in the United States. Barring that, Id go for the certified mask used in South Korea, the KF94. Next Id choose KN95s." Shoppers looking for N95 masks in particular should be wary of the spread of counterfeit N95s. Read our guide on detecting and avoiding them. Speaking to journalists in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her own citizens and other governments to take the new regulations seriously so as to prevent a third wave. In the wake of violence and clashes between farmers and police in India, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it is important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence. Tuesday's tractor parade in New Delhi, which was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws, dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade, leaving over 300 policemen injured. One person died in the incident. Secretary-General Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, in his response to a question on the violence in New Delhi during his daily press briefing on Tuesday, said: As we say in many of these cases, I think it's important to respect peaceful protests, freedom of assembly and non-violence. The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi. The Kisan Morcha has disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade and alleged that some "antisocial elements" infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. It has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the capital. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nearly half of US pastors frequently hear congregants repeat conspiracy theories, poll finds Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A new study released Tuesday has found that nearly half of Protestant pastors in the United States say they hear members of their congregations repeating conspiracy theories a worrisome trend researchers warn damages the impact of a Christians witness to those in their community. A new study by the Nashville-based Lifeway Research of 1,007 U.S. Protestant pastors with a sampling error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points found that 49% of church leaders agreed with the phrase, I frequently hear members of my congregation repeating conspiracy theories they have heard about why something is happening in our country. Additionally, around 1 in 8 (13%) of Protestant pastors strongly agree their congregants are sharing conspiracy theories. The study was conducted in the months before last Novembers presidential election, Sept. 2 through Oct. 1. Merriam-Webster defines conspiracy theories as a theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators. Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, said the statistics represented a startling disconnect between Christian churches which resolve to be places focused on truth and the spread of assumptions about plots. Before returning to Heaven, Jesus appealed to His followers to share what they had seen and heard, said McConnell. Passing along these eye-witness accounts of Jesus teaching and His death, burial and resurrection is the mission of the church. Instead, many church members are sharing things that might be, could happen or sound possible. One is a firm message of hope, and the other a shaky message of fear. Interestingly, pastors of churches with more than 250 in attendance are the most likely to agree (61%) with the statement. White pastors are also more likely than African American pastors to say they frequently hear their church members repeating conspiracy theories (50% to 36%). Age also affected responses. Pastors 65 and older are the most likely to disagree that they hear those ideas in their church (59%) and the least likely to agree (34%). While a minority of churchgoers may embrace conspiracy theories, the larger the church the more minds and mouths exist to be misled, said McConnell. At this time, it appears more of the theories are traveling in politically conservative circles which corresponds to the higher percentages in the churches led by white Protestant pastors. Christian apologist and author Mary Jo Sharp, founder of director of the nonprofit apologetics ministry Confident Christianity, Inc., warned in a statement shared by LifeWay Research that irresponsibility with information unravels the impact of a Christians witness to those in their community, and, with social media, to the broader world. The non-Christian may begin to believe or become further ingrained in the culturally popular belief that Christians are anti-intellectual, including anti-science, she said. She added that Christians should always be Gospel-forward in how they live their public lives because they are representatives of the kingdom of God. Before sharing anything in person or on social media, Sharp said Christians should first ask: How will this affect my ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ? The Apostle Paul tells us that, Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6). I am supposed to delight in knowing, and, therefore, in sharing what is true, said Sharp. That is a high calling, but it is the one Christians are called to as followers of The Truth (John 14:6). We are not called to perfection, but to take seriously our representation of Jesus, and the truth of His salvation. Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore recently emphasized at the Ethics and Public Policy Centers Faith Angle Forum the need for pastors and Christian leaders to speak the truth in the face of conspiracy theories. I talk to pastors every single day who are having to deal with crazy conspiracy theories related to vaccines or related to whatever in their communities, the head of SBCs Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said. And after a certain point, many people just become exhausted by this. We cant be exhausted. We have to be the people who recognize reality and have the integrity to call reality what it is, which means having mouths that line up with our hearts, as Jesus taught us to do. Moore said hed had conversations with people frustrated by family members who buy into conspiracies and feel like theyve failed as a result. And what Ive had to say to all of them is, you cant fix this and correct it in the time of a day, he stated. Part of that is the sense that the way that I protect myself is by joining myself to a herd, adopting everything that that herd believes or says as a shibboleth and then projecting a kind of swagger. And its killing us. Its killing us as a society. Its killing us as communities. Its killing us as churches. In an op-ed for The Christian Post, author and retired law professor F. LaGard Smith contemplated why Christians are fascinated by conspiracy theories. He urged believers to focus instead on being passionately loving to others. Ever noticed how believers can be among those most easily drawn to conspiracy theories? Not exactly the greatest testimony to faith and trust! he wrote. Yet, for all their negative connotations, there are more-benign conspiracies, as with a triune God saying in creative accord, Let us make man in our own image. If we believers could but tap into the power of that divine conspiracy conspiring to be passionately loving to each and every fellow image-bearer it would be one conspiracy theory that even non-believers would find irresistible. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Wednesday said Mumbai should be made part of the state and urged the Centre to declare it a Union Territory until then, as he hit back at Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray for raking up the border issue with a similar demand. "We condemn the Maharashtra CM's statement. The Mahajan report is final. We are confident that things will be in our favour in the Supreme Court too. The demand of the people of our region is that we have been part of Mumbai-Karnataka (region), so we too have our right on Mumbai," Savadi told reporters. From now on, he said the people would start demanding that Mumbai should be made part of Karnataka as they too had a share in it. "Until it (Mumbai) is made part of Karnataka, I urge the central government to make it an union territory,"the DCM said in response to a question on repeated raking up of the border issue. "With us now demanding Mumbai, things may get fine," he said. Earlier in the day Thackeray had said that areas dominated by Marathi speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the issue. Ramesh Jarkiholi,Minister in-charge of Belagavi district, which borders Maharashtra, said Thackeray had raked up the border issue to divert public attention from the 'failures' of his government. "Don't give much importance to what he says. Uddhav Thackeray has failed at all levels. So he is trying to rake up the emotive border issue and trying to divert public attention," he said. Minister for Women and Child Development Shashikala Jolle, who also hails from the Belagavi district, said Thackeray has no right to speak about Belagavi. "We are not sitting quiet here with our hands tied. We are people of Karnatakathe soil of Kannada has nurtured usif the issue is raked up repeatedly, we will give a befitting reply," she said. The Minister pointed out that Belagavi is the land where Kittur Rani Chennamma had led an armed rebellion against the British for freedom. Thackeray had on January 17 too said his government is committed towards incorporating into the state the areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority. Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending the majority of population in these areas is Marathi-speaking. On its part, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modeled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where the legislature session is held once a year. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Northern Ireland's Department of Health has reported another 16 deaths and 527 new cases of coronavirus. Latest figures show 12 deaths occurred in the 24 hours up to 10am on Wednesday, while another four happened previously. The death toll has risen to 1,779. In terms of testing, 4,246 have contracted the virus in the past seven days, that is down from 6,944 the previous week. Read More In total over 766,000 people have been tested and nearly 102,000 found positive. Hospital bed occupancy is at 95pc. There are 775 people in hospital with Covid and 68 are in intensive care. There are 126 care homes dealing with an outbreak. The latest figures come as First Minister Arlene Foster backed the approach of the South Eastern Trust after an email emerged offering family and friends of staff the chance to get the vaccine. The trust said it was ensuring supplies were not wasted. Sinn Fein has called for Education Minister Peter Weir to provide "clarity" on if school closures will be extended in Northern Ireland. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that he hoped it would be safe to begin the reopening of England's schools from March 8. "The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms. I know how parents and teachers need as much certainty as possible including two weeks' notice of the return of face-to-face teaching," he said. Meanwhile, it was confirmed that weekly Covid-19 testing for pupils and staff at Northern Ireland's special schools is to be introduced from the start of next month. Special schools have remained open during the latest lockdown to care for pupils with complex needs. It is hoped the new testing programme, delivered by Queen's University, will identify cases of Covid-19 early among those without symptoms, reducing the risk of spreading the virus throughout the school. Much of the states general fund revenue loss in the budget year that ended June 30 was due to extending the income tax filing deadline into July, and well over half of that revenue loss has been recouped, said Kenneth Kriz, director of the Institute for Illinois Public Finance at the University of Illinois at Springfield and the studys lead author. In a bid to boost confidence in air travel as well as prioritise health and safety, Cebu Pacific has introduced Covid Protect, its newest add-on to CEB Travelsure, which provides coverage for Covid-19-related hospitalisation and treatments. This newest top-up provides passengers who test positive for Covid-19 up to AED76,459 ($20,813.2) coverage for hospitalisation and medical expenses. With the extensive benefits and coverage this add-on provides, travellersspecifically those flying from Manila to Dubaihave peace of mind when flying with CEB, while at the same time able to have the opportunity to protect their loved ones in the Philippines. This upgrade to the airlines comprehensive travel insurance plan may be availed by all passengers flying to and from all CEBs domestic destinations, as well as to its international network for as low as AED21 ($5.7). This includes non-Filipinos, provided they are legal residents of the Philippines. Coverage begins on the date of departure from origin destination and ends two hours upon arrival back at origin, with a maximum duration of 30 consecutive travel days. CEB Travelsure Covid Protect is supported by Insurance Company of North America under Chubb, the worlds largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. Candice Iyog, CEB Vice President for Marketing and Customer Experience, said: We are very pleased to launch the CEB Travelsure CovidProtect in line with our commitment to restart travel and tourism safely and sustainably. With Covid Protect, guests will be able to travel more confidently as they are assured of coverage, especially if they have essential travel scheduled. Passengers can easily avail of this insurance add-on when booking flights on the CEB website, while existing CEB Travelsure insured passengers can simply purchase the Covid Protect add-on up to two hours prior their flight via the airlines Manage Booking portal. Chubb also offers a 24/7 Emergency Hotline, while claims may be filed online. CEB TravelSure is the airlines comprehensive travel insurance plan which provides extensive trip protection with coverage of costs related to having injuries, illnesses, loss of personal belongings, trip cancellations, emergency assistance, and other unforeseen travel circumstances (subject to the full terms and conditions of the Group Policy). - TradeArabia News Service Like every other organization these days, Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) held its annual meeting on Tuesday remotely. Like every other organization these days, Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) held its annual meeting on Tuesday remotely. And while in many respects the production year was relatively successful, speakers at the day-long event pointed out the many challenges that still have to be faced. For instance, KAP continues to lobby the federal government for an exemption on the carbon tax for fuel used by farmers for drying grain and heating and cooling barns, arguing that since greenhouses get such an exemption, Prairie farmers should as well. KAP president Bill Campbell said his members have appreciated the financial support they have received though the pandemic and are still hoping to see changes to the income stabilization AgriStabililty program proposed by the federal government. That program is cost shared 60-40 between the federal and provincial governments. The federal proposal is to increase the AgriStability compensation rate from 70 per cent to 80 per cent of losses which would end up being a 50 per cent increase to the amount paid out to farmers through the program. AgriStability is a business risk management program designed to help farm operations that face large margin declines caused by anything from production losses, unexpected increased costs or disruptions in market conditions. Coverage is calculated on a personalized basis using historical information, based on income tax and other supplementary information. Marie-Claude Bibeau, agriculture and Agri-Food Canada minister, proposed enhancing coverage after Novembers federal-provincial-territorial ministers of agriculture conference. Appearing (remotely) at the KAP annual meeting on Tuesday, Bibeau pointed out that to make the changes there must be agreement from two-thirds of the provinces weighted relative to the level of participation of the farmers from each province. As such, two of the three Prairie provinces need to agree. Bibeau said on Tuesday that her office has yet to receive a formal decision from any of the Prairie provinces. Manitobas Minister of Agriculture, Blaine Pedersen has been reluctant to agree to the changes, worrying that it will add costs or reduce benefits in other areas. On Tuesday, his office said, "Supporting the growth and resiliency of Manitobas agricultural sector is a priority for the Department of Agriculture and Resource Development and the Government of Manitoba. The AgriStability program changes that the federal government are proposing are still being considered by Manitoba." MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS files KAP president Bill Campbell said his members have appreciated the financial support they have received though the pandemic and are still hoping to see changes to the income stabilization AgriStabililty program proposed by Ottawa. But time is running out. Bibeau said for the changes to be retroactive to the 2020 growing season, she needs confirmation from the provinces by the end of this month. "Im still very hopeful the provinces will recognize how important it is for farmers but the longer we wait it will come to a point we wont be able to make it retroactive to 2020," she said. Campbell said the foot dragging on the part of Pedersen and the province is discouraging and disappointing. "Producers and farm groups have sent a unanimous message of support for the proposal and need to know what Manitoba has decided," he said. The thought of leaving millions of dollars on the table would "represent a failure to protect producers and jeopardize the agriculture industry into the future," he said. KAP has continually called on the provincial and federal governments to strengthen business risk-management programming for producers. The federal proposal would eliminate the complex reference margin limit that makes it difficult for farmers to predict if they will get a payment or not. "Removing the reference-margin limit will help simplify the program and effectively lower the payment trigger for lower-cost operations," Campbell said. "By increasing the compensation rate from 70 per cent to 80 per cent, AgriStability will be more effective for those who suffer a significant loss." Bibeau bristled at the suggestion the feds intend to make cuts elsewhere after beefing up AgriStability. "I have never made any suggestion cutting other programs," she said. But she did say that in improving the benefits in the short term there will be a closer look taken at all the programs for the next five-year cycle of federal-provincial program starting in 2023. KAP along with other Manitoba farm groups recently sent a letter to the province encouraging the government of Manitoba to ratify the changes proposed by the federal government. "While this proposal is not a comprehensive solution, it represents a positive step to support producers and a bridge forward to the next Canadian Agricultural Partnership framework," said Campbell. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Prez Biden signs Executive Order "to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities" in the federal prison system | Main | "Prosecuting Misdemeanors" January 27, 2021 Vera Institute reports on "People in Jail and Prison in 2020" and finds US total now well below two million The Vera Institute of Justice has been taking on the challenging task of collecting data on the number of people in state and federal prisons and jails to provide more timely information on incarceration that the Bureau of Justice Statistics releases in its annual reports. Impressively, Vera has already produced this great new report, titled "People in Jail and Prison in 2020," with the latest nationwide prison and population headcounts. Here his part of the start of the report (with a few sentences I have emphasized): The United States saw an unprecedented drop in total incarceration between 2019 and 2020. Triggered by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and pressure from advocates to reduce incarceration, local jails drove the initial decline, although prisons also made reductions. From summer to fall 2020, prison populations declined further, but jails began to refill, showing the fragility of decarceration. Jails in rural counties saw the biggest initial drops, but still incarcerate people at double the rate of urban and suburban areas. Despite the historic drop in the number of people incarcerated, the decrease was neither substantial nor sustained enough to be considered an adequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and incarceration in the United States remains a global aberration. Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) researchers collected data on the number of people in local jails and state and federal prisons at both midyear and fall 2020 to provide timely information on how incarceration is changing in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vera researchers estimated the national jail population using a sample of 1,558 jail jurisdictions and the national prison population based on a sample of 49 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.... Generally, jails and prisons do not make race and gender data available. However, preliminary results from other studies suggest that race inequity in incarceration may be worsening during the pandemic. The number of people incarcerated in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States dropped from around 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.8 million by mid-2020 a 14 percent decrease. This decline held through the fall. This represents a 21 percent decline from a peak of 2.3 million people in prison and jail in 2008. State and federal prisons held an estimated 1,311,100 people at midyear 2020 down 124,400, or 9 percent, from 2019. Prisons declined by an additional 61,800 people in late 2020, bringing the total prison population to 1,249,300 people, a 13 percent decline from 2019 to late 2020 (the end of September or beginning of October). Local jails had steeper population declines than prisons in the first part of 2020. From June 2019 to June 2020, the jail population decreased by 182,900 people, or 24 percent. However, from June to September, jail populations increased substantially, growing 10 percent in just three months. By late 2020, there were 633,200 people in local jails, up from an estimated 575,500 people at midyear. In total, the national jail population declined 17 percent from midyear 2019 to late 2020, with jail incarceration trending upward in recent months. The national jail population counts hide stark divergence across the urban-to-rural continuum. In the past year, the largest and most sustained jail population declines were in rural areas, where the jail population dropped by 60,400 (33 percent) between midyear 2019 and midyear 2020, and subsequently grew by 10,600 (9 percent) between midyear 2020 and late 2020. Urban areas and small and midsized metro areas had smaller incarceration declines followed by slightly higher subsequent growth from June to September 2020. Even with dramatic declines, rural areas still have the highest incarceration rates by far. Three out of five people incarcerated in local jails are in smaller cities and rural communities. This four-page fact sheet goes with the report and provides a lot of its highlights and includes recommendations for policy-makers. January 27, 2021 at 10:59 AM | Permalink Comments Not only are police officers and Federal agents arresting fewer people and prisons placing people on home confinement or releasing them early, but this head count reduction is also being fueled by a staffing shortage of guards in jails and prisons, which are high risk environments for contracting the Coronavirus! Although it is not generally known, here in Kentucky the Department of Corrections is in some cases covering its staffing shortage by requiring Probation and Parole Officers to work mandatory overtime as guards in prisons! Posted by: Jim Gormley | Jan 27, 2021 12:07:08 PM Post a comment RTHK: UN rights chief calls for Sri Lanka sanctions UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called on states on Wednesday to impose "targeted sanctions" on former Sri Lankan military commanders implicated in alleged war crimes during the last years of a 26-year civil war that ended in 2009. Bachelet voiced concern that since last year, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had put at least 28 serving or retired military and intelligence personnel in key administrative posts, including some "implicated in United Nations reports in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the final years of the conflict". "States can consider targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators of grave human rights violations and abuses," she said in a report to the UN Human Rights Council ahead of a February session. Her report, whose findings were quickly rejected as baseless by Sri Lankan authorities, named current army chief Shavendra Silva and defence secretary Kamal Gunaratne, whom it said commanded forces that battled Tamil Tigers separatist rebels. "They respectively commanded the 58th and 53rd Divisions, which were credibly alleged to have committed grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law during the armed conflict," it said. When Silva was appointed in August 2019, a Foreign Ministry statement said that raising allegations against him was "regrettable" and that the decision was a sovereign one. In Colombo, a senior Sri Lankan official swiftly rejected the report. "Unsubstantiated accusations against government officers are wrong. If they have something they have to follow an internationally accepted procedure," retired Admiral Jayanath Colombage, a Foreign Ministry state secretary, told Reuters. The Sri Lankan president said in November that he had delivered on a key election promise to rebuild the South Asian island nation's intelligence network in the year since assuming office. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Note to readers: Media reports of startups in India are typically focussed on the founders and investors. Little is known about other leaders who are doing important work. Startup Sages is a series of articles that will profile key personalities from the world of startups who are driving change, building interesting products or pursuing vital projects. You can see why Rohit Agarwal was a successful investment banker. A bankers job is to convince an investor that this is the founder you should back; and convince the founder that this is the investor you should raise money from. Agarwal speaks in a slow, measured tone. Theres a hint of an American accent, accentuating his speech. Indians have a reputation for talking fast, almost spitting out words before they are ready. Agarwal is the opposite. Before every sentence, or even between sentences, he pauses. A couple of times you wonder whether your questions are too vexing. They arent, and his answers tell you so. That voice can certainly convince a lot of people about a lot of things. And it has. Agarwal was a software investment banker for 12 years with Credit Suisse, UBS and most recently, Avendus. Raising funds for software-as-a-service startups. A lot of flights, a lot of trips to San Francisco. Then he decided to leave that industry. I started software banking in 2011, around the time the seminal essay from Andreessen Horowitz dropped, Agarwal says. He refers to Software is Eating The World, an article by Marc Andreessen, one of the worlds leading venture capitalists and founder of Netscape, the worlds preeminent computer browser. Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm founded by Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The essay is today seen as the definitive indicator of how important software services and technology will be, and that every company should be a software company. The industry was very different back then. Today, the world (and India) has dozens of SaaS startups and unicorns, vertical and horizontal, using artificial intelligence, machine learning and enterprises relying on apps for day to day functions. See the first SaaS wave was Microsoft, SAP and Oracle with their desktop-based solutions. The next was the cloud wave, which Salesforce pioneered. That was a massive shift from desktop-based products, he says. Increasingly, even software firms became like consumer internet companies, in terms of a growth mindset, relying on network effects, running a marketplace, and how that creates business value. Amazon Web Services, for example, offers products from other SaaS firms besides its own core service. Youre selling a core software and you are creating a whole marketplace around it. Some firms also have data or knowledge as a core product. So, the more data you get, the more valuable it becomes, he says. Agarwal has worked on fundraises, acquisitions and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), including SAPs acquisition of cloud tech firm Fieldglass for a billion dollars, Wibmos acquisition by Naspers-PayU, Flipkart acquiring Israel-based Upstream Commerce, and the listing of enterprise security firm Proofpoint. He has worked on deals aggregating to over $20 billion. From serial dating to marriage And as Agarwal speaks about the evolution of the software industry, there are hints of what hell do next. It was eventually a smaller $50 million deal that changed his career. At Avendus, Agarwal was raising a Series C round for Zenoti, which provides software for salons and spas in a dozen countries. Founded in 2011, it was only in 2019 that Zenoti really kicked into high gear. The Series C started that journey when Tiger Global, along with Accel and Norwest Venture Partners, led a $50 million round in May 2019. In advising Zenoti, Agarwal realised that the company, the SaaS industry and he were at an interesting juncture. While doing Zenotis Series C, I got to know the company really well, and it aligned with my thesis on where software is going. It was very clear that there is no real or incumbent leader in this space. This was one of the rare industries that hadnt been hit by the SaaS wave yet, he recounts. Startup Sages And so Agarwal decided to take the plunge. For the last 15 months, he has been the Senior Vice President of Finance and Business Development at Zenoti. He oversees fundraising and acquisitions, as well as finance and planning. Investment bankers becoming operators falls in that odd space that isnt mainstream, but isnt unheard of either. Bankers often join companies where fundraising and acquisitions/deal making is constant. So, instead of doing the same thing for multiple companies, youre doing it for one company. Thats not the case at Zenoti. But moving from fundraising for many companies and having a birds eyeview of the industry to tying ones fortunes to a single company was akin to going from serial dating to marriage. As a banker you can potentially pick any company and decide I will bank this one. You are allowed to think about that company. Here, Zenoti is all I have to think about. It goes from a very macro lens to a very micro lens. Am I ready to think about one and only one company 24/7? He decided he was. But 37-year-old Agarwal joining Zenoti has much more to it than regular fundraising. His assuming charge of the finance role is key to Zenotis future: an IPO. But were looking too far ahead. Tactical focus Last month, Zenoti became a unicorn valued at a billion dollars when private equity firm Advent International led a $160 million round. Being a unicorn brings its fair share of expectations, hype, pressure and potential. And managing this is also part of Agarwals job. Earlier, as a banker, 20 percent of my time went into tactical stuff on particular deals that I was working on. Ten percent was on management of the business. And 70 percent was strategic stuff: thinking about fundraising, growth, big-picture things, Now, all of a sudden, strategy and corporate development (mergers etc) is taking 25-30 percent of my time. The remaining 70 percent is tactical. That is a huge change. There are a lot of things people are waiting for approval, waiting for guidance. How one customer will behave and what we should do. Thats not something I have ever had to worry about before, he says. And the finance aspect is where it really feels more like a career change than simply changing jobs. Agarwal is in charge of defining Zenotis metrics, reporting it to the management and board of directors, accounting, budget planning, analysis, taxation and auditing. All the things that he learnt during his MBA from IBS Business School, Hyderabad, and his BCom from Rajasthan University, but hadnt really applied thereafter. Finance provides me with the biggest learning. It is still going on. It is a full discipline of its own. You need to be very open and candid with the team on what you bring to the table and what they bring to the table, he says. People management is another learning for him. At Avendus he did manage a small team of four software bankers, but at Zenoti, 35 people report to him a sea change in relative terms. His biggest learning at Zenoti has been about people. Different people have different things that motivate them. Being in touch with team members, creating a true personal equation I want to be the first person people air their grievances to rather than sitting on it and feeling sad or bad about it. And thats even more important when we are all working remotely, he said. Some startups are also very founder-driven companies. On paper they may have appointed a leadership team and have various CXO roles, but in practice, everything runs via the founder. This also stems from large multi-billion-dollar companies having the chaos of a startup. At Zenoti, however, founder and CEO Sudheer Koneru is relatively hands off, according to Agarwal and two others Moneycontrol spoke to. Sudheer picks his battles. Hes sort of like: Im available to everyone. I am focusing on this thing, but if you need me to focus on something else, I am here, Agarwal says. Preparing for an IPO And now, Agarwal has a very clear objective for Zenoti. Getting it ready for an IPO. Thats different from actually going for an IPO, he stresses. I want to prepare for an IPO. To go for an IPO or not is a separate matter altogether. If a company is prepared for an IPO, that's when value maximisation happens. Investors have to give a premium for it (Zenoti) to not go to public markets. His CEO Konerus view on the matter is strikingly similar. In an interview with Moneycontrol on December 21, Koneru had said they would consider an IPO in 2-3 years. If we definitely grow 100 percent each of the next two years, we will be within striking distance of preparing for a listing. We also have to still innovate our products and have more mature technology. It is about maintaining the velocity we are seeing in the market today, he said. Agarwal recognises that being the CFO of a software company will also be a different feather in his hat. But no matter how far ahead he looks, Agarwal says that whatever his next role is investor, operator or something else software is likely to play a part in it. Except if he goes to a farmhouse, lists his platform on Airbnb and relaxes, he jokes. Technically, though, software is involved there as well. Meritage Homes Meritage Homes has acquired 40 acres in Texas City, south of Houston, for the development of the Central Park Square community. The company plans to build 169 homes priced from the mid $200,000s. Sizes will range from 1,831 to 2,991 square feet. Planned amenities include a playground, splash pad and pavilion. Every nursing home across Ireland will get a collection of photographs taken from the worldwide travels of a Dublin explorer. Vincent Butler is behind the Sixty Photographs for Simon collection, an initiative to raise money for homeless charity the Simon Community. The collection of photographs were taken from the explorers global voyages when he worked as a lecturer aboard the expedition cruise ship National Geographic Explorer, and as a leader with Across the Divide, a company that specialises in expeditions to remote locations. Twenty-five countries are represented in a broad geographical sweep in the collection of pictures, from the Arctic to the Sahara, to the Antarctic. The book was originally published in 2018 and is now being sent to more than 400 nursing homes across the country, and also to schools following a recent fundraising initiative to support the Simon Community. In the lead-up to Christmas, Mr Butler launched a fundraiser, whereby every 10 donation received would result in a copy of the book being sent to a nursing home or a school. He ultimately raised more than 12,000. Expand Close A penguin from the Antarctic with explorer and photographer Vincent Butler. Photo: Vincent Butler/PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A penguin from the Antarctic with explorer and photographer Vincent Butler. Photo: Vincent Butler/PA The initiative is supported by An Posts freepost service for parcels being delivered into nursing homes. My travels provided me with an opportunity to explore some of the most diverse locations in the world and to capture different geographies, wildlife, natural history and heritage, Mr Butler said. "My camera was my companion to capture these special experiences and the book picks out the finest pictures and most memorable of these. I hope it gives people in our nursing homes and schools an insight into the different countries and cultures I was very fortunate to get to know. To support the initiative, you can visit his website at vincentbutlerheritage.ie where you can donate on Vincents Simon Community page. The founding shareholders of Red Sea Gateway Terminal Limited (RSGT), a privately-owned independent terminal operating company, have signed separate share purchase agreements with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and with Cosco Shipping Ports Limited (CSPL) through its wholly-owned subsidiary Sound Joyce Enterprises Limited, for the sale of 40% equity interest in RSGT (with 20% each). The total sale consideration is SAR1,050 million / $280 million. The two transactions imply an enterprise value for RSGT of SAR3,300 million / $880 million, said a statement. The completion of both transactions is subject to the approval of the Saudi Arabian Ports Authority (Mawani), as well as other customary approvals, it said. Having commenced operation in 2009, RSGT was founded by leading Saudi and international investors (founding shareholders), including Saudi Industrial Services Company (SISCO), Xenel Industries, and City Island Holding Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of MMC Corporation Berhad (Malaysian conglomerate with extensive port operations). Upon completion of both transactions, PIF and CSPL will become shareholders of RSGT (with 20% shareholding each), while the founding shareholders will retain the remaining 60% shareholding in RSGT. RSGT will remain an independent terminal operator, focused on servicing its existing and future customers in the global logistics chain. The company signed a new 30-year build, operate and transfer agreement with Mawani in December 2019 (the BOT Agreement), which envisages the investment of $1.7 billion in automation, infrastructure, and equipment through 2050, in order to reach an annual throughput capacity of approximately 9 million TEU. Under the new BOT Agreement, in April 2020 RSGT significantly expanded its handling capacity having assumed the operations of the northern section of Jeddah Islamic Port (previously known as the North Container Terminal or NCT). As a result, RSGTs annual throughput capacity increased from 2.5 million TEU in 2019 to 5.2 million TEU. "Adding PIF and CSPL as shareholders will accelerate RSGTs domestic and international growth plans. As the largest terminal operator on the Red Sea and in Saudi Arabia, we are committed to serving the growing requirements of international cargo and container services throughout the global logistics chain and to fulfilling our customers' needs and the goals of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 program for infrastructure and port development. The transactions highlight the strong commercial proposition and service excellence of RSGT [whereas the new shareholders are expected to further strengthen our customer value proposition]. As an independent terminal operator, we thank all our customers for their trust, and we will continue tailoring our services to meet their current and future needs," said RSGTs CEO Jens O Floe. As the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, PIF is the economic engine of Vision 2030, with a clear strategy to drive the diversification of the Kingdoms economy and become a global investment partner of choice. The development of RSGT into both regional and global logistics hub supports PIFs mission of unlocking new economic opportunities across the Kingdom and deploying patient capital to support emerging sectors with significant long-term growth potential. RSGT will play a significant role in achieving these objectives, capitalising on the country's strategic location along the main Red Sea shipping routes. TradeArabia News Service Deputy charge nurse, Katie McIntosh administers the first of two Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine jabs at the Western General Hospital on December 8, 2020 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Andrew Milligan - Pool / Getty Images) New Ad Campaign to Promote Vaccination to All Aussies A new advertising campaign is being rolled out to encourage Australians to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The $24 million campaign will run across traditional and social media and provide information about the safety, efficacy and availability of vaccines. It details how vaccines will be rolled out to priority groups including the elderly, disabled Australians and frontline workers. Dosage requirements are also explained. The campaign comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine as the first to be used in Australia. The vaccine rollout is expected to start in late February. Health Minister Greg Hunt described Australia as a vaccine nation, saying the country had one of the highest jab take-up rates in the world. I am confident, given Australias high vaccination coverage rates, that Australians will take up a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine in equally high numbers, he said on Jan. 27. This campaign will help every Australian to understand how the vaccine works and how it will keep them and their family safe. Meanwhile, quarantine-free travel from New Zealand will remain suspended until at least Thursday, prompting a rebuke from Kiwi leader Jacinda Ardern. Ardern has told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that she is disappointed by the decision. If we are to enter into a trans-Tasman bubble we will need to give people confidence that we wont see closures at the border that happen with very short notice over incidents we believe can be well managed domestically, she told reporters. The travel bubble was burst after a woman in New Zealand tested positive for a highly contagious virus strain found in South Africa. It was the first local case in New Zealand in more than two months. Australia has recorded several days of zero locally acquired coronavirus cases, with a trickle of new cases in hotel quarantine. Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd has warned coronavirus vaccines will not trigger wholesale changes to restrictions when the rollout ramps up in coming months. Daniel McCulloch, Hannah Ryan in Canberra Colombia's Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo, 69, died in the hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19. President Ivan Duque had a televised address on Tuesday announcing the death of the defense minister. "Colombia has lost one of its best men," Pres. Duque said, according to BBC. Carlos Holmes Trujillo was Colombia's most recognized conservative politicians, reported The Associated Press. He was also a long-serving politician, working as a key figure in Colombia's struggle to combat organized crime. Before his stint as defense minister in November 2019, Trujillo first served as foreign minister and became mayor of Cali's city from 1988 to 1990. Though unsuccessful, Trujillo also ran for president in 2019 when Duque defeated him. He also held several ministerial and diplomatic positions during his decades-long political career. For Duque, Trujillo's life was a "reflection of vocation for public service." Read also: Biden Faces Criticism After Halting Border Wall Construction He fell ill during his visit to the coastal city of Barranquilla and was transferred to a hospital on January 11. Trujillo was taken to a military hospital in Bogota earlier this month for COVID-19. And he was put on intensive care and later on developed viral pneumonia. Carlos Holmes Trujillo Backed Efforts to Force Venezuelan President Maduro Out of Office During his time as foreign minister, Trujillo backed the U.S. in its effort to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. He supported Maduro's rival Juan Guaido. He was also a key figure in Colombia's response to an influx of refugees from Venezuela. At the time, he managed to develop programs that facilitated temporary residency for thousands of refugees. Carlos Holmes Trujillo also delivered commendable work as defense minister. He led the country's efforts to tackle its rapidly growing cocaine production since 2013, which stabilized over the last two years. He argued that the country's government came up with cleaner ways to fumigate coca crops after an aerial fumigation of the crops was suspended in 2015 over environmental and health concerns. His 30-year career covered some of Colombia's most violent periods, like the government's conflict with the armed rebel group, Farc. Carlos Holmes Trujillo's Brother, U.S. Defense Secretary Pay Tribute Jose Renan Trujillo, the defense minister's brother, paid a tribute on Twitter, writing: "It is with great pain that I hear my brother has died. He fought for his convictions and he died defending them." U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also released a statement on Trujillo's death, saying the people of Colombia will "always remember the powerful legacy that his dedicated service and leadership leaves behind." He also extended condolences to Trujillo's family and said they would be in his thoughts during "this period of mourning." Related story: Mexico's President Lopez Obrador Tests Positive for COVID-19 Several senior Colombian politicians have also been infected with the coronavirus, like indigenous leader Luis Fernando Arias, who fell gravely ill after getting infected. Since the start of the pandemic, Colombia reported more than two million cases related to the coronavirus, and almost 52,000 people have already died from it. Other influential men in Latin America also tested positive for COVID-19, like the region's richest man, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. A Grenfell cladding boss has bowed to pressure to give evidence to the public inquiry into the tragedy. Claude Schmidt, an executive at the firm that made the panels involved in the deadly tower block blaze, previously said he would only take the witness stand if he could dictate the line of questioning he would face. But the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people in 2017, confirmed yesterday that the Frenchman would now be appearing when remote hearings resume next month. However, several former employees of Arconic, manufacturers of the flammable cladding panels that the inquiry found were the main cause of the blaze, are still refusing to give evidence. They have been accused of hiding behind a French statute that prevents the disclosure of commercial information to foreign proceedings. Claude Schmidt, a French Grenfell cladding boss, has bowed to pressure to give evidence to the public inquiry into the tragedy. Pictured: A sign in remembrance of the tragic fire A spokesman for the public inquiry said: 'Claude Schmidt has now agreed to attend to give oral evidence.' Campaign group Grenfell United said: 'We continue to call for all Arconic witnesses to attend 72 people lost their lives and they are forever in our hearts. The truth must come out.' Building safety minister Stephen Greenhalgh has called on the witnesses to 'step up to the plate' rather than 'hide behind' the statute. Before Christmas, Grenfell survivors drove an electronic billboard to the French embassy in Knightsbridge, London, urging the French government to tell the witnesses to give evidence. A fire which spread rapidly through cladding at the Grenfell tower block killed 72 people in 2017 [File photo] The Guardian quoted a French official source last month as saying: 'We have informed the inquiry and the UK Foreign Office of our position. [The purpose of the blocking statute] isn't to obstruct the emergence of the truth or to guarantee immunity for French nationals. 'This is not a way to evade responsibility.' Earlier this month, the Guardian reported Mr Schmidt would only give evidence if 'certain conditions', which have not been made public, were met, but that the inquiry deemed them 'largely unacceptable'. Proceedings are due to resume remotely on February 8. Mr Schmidt's evidence is due to be given through a French language interpreter and could take up to four days. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Anticipation over the second season of The Family Man is running high, and lead actor Manoj Bajpayee promises the upcoming chapter will be an experience that is bigger and different. Bajpayee returns as NIA agent Srikant Tiwari on season two. He struggles to balance personal and professional lives while fighting against a new nemesis, Raji, played by South star Samantha Akkineni. "At times I reserve comments (about my work) because you start sounding flamboyant. All I would say is that it is going to be far bigger and far more different than before," Bajpayee told IANS. "It is going to be an experience that you will not forget easily," he promised. Besides Bajpayee, the show will bring back Priyamani, Sharib Hashmi, and Sharad Kelkar from season one. Created, directed and produced by Raj and DK, the show also features Darshan Kumar, Sunny Hinduja, Shreya Dhanwantary, Shahab Ali, Vedant Sinha, Mahek Thakur and Seema Biswas. The series will see actors from the Tamil film world including Mime Gopi, Ravindra Vijay, Devadarshini Chetan, Anandsami and N. Alagamperumal in the cast too, when it comes drops on February 12. Meanwhile, the actor hopes the advent of content-driven projects, triggered by OTT, continues to draw focus towards talent. Asked about the change he would want to see in the industry, Bajpayee replied: "I just want this industry to focus on talent." "Just focus on new talent that is coming in, with so ideas, integrity and passion. I think we should give priority to that," said the actor, who recently joined stars like Saif Ali Khan, Samantha Akkineni, Tisca Chopra and Divya Dutta to discuss the future of the industry through Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films Evening discussions. -- Syndicated from IANS Stradballys Christmas lights were proof of the uplifting results that can be achieved when public representatives work together with a community. Cllr Aisling Moran praised all involved in the efforts made in the town this year. It was very uplifting and a boost to morale. This proof of when we all work together of what we can do, she told the Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District meeting. All six councillors agreed to put funding in for that with Laois County Council and together we have boosted that town, said the Fine Gael councillor. Cllr Moran said it was a pleasure to drive through during Christmas. I would just like to say thanks to everyone. It shows what can be done when we work together. The only time we should be against each other is an election, she said at the December meeting. Cllr Paschal McEvoy endorsed the remarks and thanked all the councillors for making the decision quickly on behalf of the committee. He said the funding approved by councillors and Laois County Council's Director of Services Gerry Murphy allowed the organisers to be more ambitious with the lights. It makes such a difference, said the Fianna Fail representative. Cllr McEvoy said the lights gave the people a huge lift after a very hard year. Meanwhile, representatives for the same Municipal District sent a letter to their colleague Cllr Tom Mulhall wishing him well at Christmas. Cllr Paschal McEvoys proposal was supported by fellow members, Cllr Padraig Fleming, Cllr Aidan Mullins, Cllr Ben Brennan and Cllr Moran at the Districts December meeting. (Newser) Washington, DC, police disclosed for the first time Tuesday that a DC officer who responded to the Capitol riot took his own life days later. Acting Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told House lawmakers that Jeffery Smith, a 12-year veteran of the force, died by suicide on Jan. 15, nine days after the Jan. 6 riot, reports the Washington Post. Howard Liebengood, a Capitol Police officer who was on duty during the attack, took his own life on Jan. 9. Brian Sicknick, another Capitol officer, was fatally injured in the attack. Contee told lawmakers that 850 DC officers responded to the riot and at least 65 suffered documented injuries, Politico reports. story continues below "Many more sustained injuries from the assaultscratches, bruises, eyes burning from bear macethat they did not even bother to report," Contee said. "The costs for this insurrectionboth human and monetarywill be steep," he added. CNN reports that the president of the union representing rank-and-file Capitol officers said it was "unconscionable" that leaders knew about the potential for violence but failed to prepare, as Acting US Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman admitted Tuesday. Gus Papathanasiou said around 140 Capitol officers were injured on Jan 6. "I have officers who were not issued helmets prior to the attack who have sustained brain injuries," the union president said. "One officer has two cracked ribs and two smashed spinal discs. One officer is going to lose his eye, and another was stabbed with a metal fence stake." (Read more Capitol attack stories.) A former chief of staff to National Australia Bank CEOs will spend more than four years behind bars after fraudulently approving inflated invoices in return for kickbacks worth more than $5 million. Between 2013 and 2017, Rosemary Rogers accepted payments from Human Group chief executive Helen Rosamond bankrolling lavish domestic and international holidays for herself and her extended family, along with the purchase and renovation of a holiday home, plus two boats and a luxury car. She pleaded guilty last year to multiple charges of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and being an agent corruptly receiving a benefit. Rosemary Rogers arrives for sentencing on Wednesday. Credit:Nick Moir In the NSW District Court on Wednesday, Rogers was sentenced to a maximum of eight years in jail, with a non-parole period of four years and nine months, after what acting Judge Paul Conlon described as a particularly difficult sentencing exercise. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is demanding answers and will absolutely strengthen laws, if needed, after a Brisbane bayside couple died when they were struck by a 4WD allegedly stolen and with an intoxicated teenager at the wheel. A 17-year-old male was accused of driving a stolen Toyota Landcruiser, which clipped a vehicle before rolling and hitting Kate Leadbetter and Matthew Field as the pair were crossing the road while walking their dogs. Matty Field, 37, and Kate Leadbetter, 31, both Alexandra Hills locals, were hit and died at the scene. Credit:Facebook The teen, from Waterford West, faces a string of charges over the incident in Alexandra Hills on Australia Day, including two counts of murder and dangerous operation of a vehicle while affected by an intoxicating substance. He appeared in the Brisbane Childrens Court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody to reappear on March 24. For legal reasons, he cannot be named. As far back as the early 1980s, Brazils national oil company Petrobras as well as the government were aware of the vast untapped oil wealth trapped under the pre-salt layers in the Atlantic Ocean. The considerable technological and operational hurdles associated with ultra-deep-water petroleum extraction and tapping the thick pre-salt crust prevented those oil resources from being commercially exploited. By 2005, Petrobas had renewed its focus on Brazils pre-salt offshore oil basins and started making significant oil discoveries in the Santos Basin. Even then, the technical difficulties and high operating expenses made many analysts doubt the pre-salt discoveries would eventually drive the flourishing oil boom now being witnessed. Brazils emergence as a major global petroleum-producing nation is another challenge for an OPEC oil cartel, which since the 1980s has watched its influence over oil prices and geopolitical power steadily decline. OPECs market share has declined substantially in recent years, despite global petroleum production expanding at a solid clip and Saudi Arabia is no longer the worlds preeminent oil producer. The U.S. assumed that mantel in 2018 as onshore oil production exploded because of the shale oil boom. Brazils massive pre-salt oil discoveries substantially boosted its oil reserves and production while allowing Latin Americas largest economy to declare energy self-sufficiency in 2006. Since then, despite the naysayers, Brazils thriving oil boom continues to steadily expand. The Latin American country is now the regions leading oil producer and the eighth largest globally behind Iraq and the United Arab Emirates but ahead of Iran and Kuwait. Brazil pumped on average (Portuguese) over 2.9 million barrels of crude oil daily during 2020 of which 69%, or roughly 2.6 million barrels, came from its offshore ultra-deep-water pre-salt oilfields. The International Energy Agency in its March 2020 report projected global crude oil production capacity will expand by 5.9 million barrels of oil equivalent daily by 2025, with 76% of that coming from non-OPEC countries. The most prominent is the U.S. because of the shale oil boom, followed by Brazil and Guyana. In fact, the IEA expects Brazil to deliver impressive gains over the next four years. Those numbers illustrate just how significantly OPECs market share is expected to decline, further eroding its ability to control oil prices and hence geopolitical power. The sharp decline in the cartels ability to manipulate oil prices is highlighted by the increasing influence exerted by the White House over OPEC and crude oil prices, notably since 2018. It appears that there is little that can stop Brazils petroleum boom. The COVID-19 pandemic has had little if any material impact on production nor has sharply weaker oil prices. This is underscored by national oil company Petrobras reporting record oil output of 2.28 million barrels daily for 2020. A key reason is the favorable economics of Brazils pre-salt oilfields. Breakeven prices, despite the significant technological and operational hurdles associated with ultra-deep-water drilling, are lower than for U.S. shale, which the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimates average $46 to $52 per barrel. Some analysts have projected that operations in offshore Brazil break even at below $35 per barrel, while Petrobras claims its pre-salt operations have a prospective breakeven price of an extremely low $19 a barrel. This makes those assets profitable even with Brent trading at around $55 per barrel, bolstering their attractiveness for Petrobras and other global energy majors. That is further enhanced by the growing popularity of the sweet medium grade crude oil produced from Brazils pre-salt oilfields. Related: Oil Majors Are Eyeing A Suriname Offshore Boom Surging demand from Asian refiners saw Brazils market share in China soar, to the detriment of several OPEC members. From January to November 2020, Brazils oil exports to China grew 8% year over year to just over 40 million tonnes of crude oil, making Latin Americas largest oil producer the fourth-largest crude oil supplier behind Iraq and ahead of Angola. Soaring demand from China for Brazils sweet medium grade pre-salt crude oil grades, Lula and Buzios, saw them sell at a premium to Brent in Asia. China is responsible for accepting 70% of Brazils oil exports, and those numbers will keep growing. The impact of IMO2020, which substantially limits the sulfur content of marine bunker fuel, coupled with Chinas position as a global shipping hub and the worlds largest exporter means demand for low sulfur Brazilian crude oil will remain strong. The global push to extremely low sulfur content fuels will weigh on demand for Saudi crude oil. The Arab light variety, which according to the U.S. EIA makes up roughly 70% of Saudi oil production is, like most of the Kingdoms crude oil grades, particularly sour with a high sulfur content of 1.77%. That makes it more costly and difficult to process into high quality extremely low sulfur content fuels than Brazils Lula and Buzios crude oil varieties. Riyadhs decision to slash export prices, as part of its campaign to regain market share, was responsible for a November 2020 surge in oil exports to China which saw Saudi Arabia regain the top spot as Chinas largest supplier of crude oil. Riyadhs surprise one million barrels per day production cut is creating a hole in the market that has forced Asian refiners to scramble for other supply sources. It is Brazil, because of its growing IMO compatible sweet crude oil production, which is ideally placed to fill the gap thereby providing further momentum to its burgeoning oil boom. The latest OPEC Plus meeting highlighted the mounting rifts between members and allies Russia and Kazakhstan over cutting oil production. As a gesture of goodwill, Saudi Arabia elected to shoulder most of the burden by slashing one million barrels a day from its oil output to offset higher production from Russian and Kazakhstan to buoy oil prices. Those developments underscore OPECs mounting impotence to control crude oil prices without losing market share in face of rapidly growing non-OPEC oil supply. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Ulan Bator, Jan 27 : Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene was on Wednesday appointed as Mongolia's new Prime Minister at the proposal of the ruling Mongolian People's Party (MPP). Oyun-Erdene's appointment was approved by a vote of 87.9 per cent in the country's 76-seat unicameral parliament, or the State Great Khural. Oyun-Erdene, Chief Cabinet Secretary, replaced Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, who resigned and dissolved his entire government at his own request last week after two ministers announced their withdrawal amid social pressure and public protests, Xinhua reported. Mass public protests were triggered in the capital city of Ulan Bator last Wednesday after TV footage showed a coronavirus patient who had just given birth being transferred from a maternity hospital to a quarantine facility wearing only hospital pajamas and plastic slippers in freezing weather together with her newborn baby. Oyun-Erdene, a member of the MPP, has served as a member of parliament since 2016. The 41-year-old became one of the country's youngest Prime Ministers. Ghanaians of various political orientations have eulogised the late former President Jerry John Rawlings for his supreme charisma. Mourners at the state funeral of the First President of the Fourth Republic told the Ghana News Agency that the late former Presidents ability to appeal to people from all ethnic backgrounds was a rare trait worthy of admiration. Philip Kwame Osei Safo, a photographer, said: I met him in 1983 when on one occasion I had gathered a group of young people to construct a road. He was travelling by then and bumped into us; he alighted and held a brief conversation with us. He then invited me over to his abode and asked me to be his photographer. Papa J took good care of me and helped me. He always stood for the truth and wanted the right thing to be done at all times. Mr David Agbee, the Executive Director of the Ghana Institute of Governance and Security, said the youth, who did not experience the era of military rule, should be appreciative of the late former President for being the reason for the fresh air of peace being enjoyed in the country. I wrote my MPhil in Political Science on him, as such, I know him both theoretically and academically. He has achieved so much for Ghana and I suggest that a day should be set aside to honour him just as it has been done for Nelson Mandela of South Africa. I regard him as the father of democracy. His emergence in the eighties brought about accountability to the nation and flushed out corruption. He was a humble man and ready to associate himself with everyone, a middle-aged man, draped in mourning attire, said. His absence will be greatly felt because we will lack the presence of someone who constantly shared his views on national issues and put political leaders in check. Madam Christiana Williams, a retired educationist, said: Rawlings was down to earth and mingled with everyone. He was hard working and on certain occasions he even joined citizens to clean gutters and do other menial jobs. When his mother died, I was at the funeral and so I was shocked to hear soon after that he had also kicked the bucket. We thank God for giving him to the family, and the country as a blessing. The late former President Rawlings will be buried on Wednesday, January 27, at the Military Cemetery, after a burial service at the Black Star Square in Accra. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Members of Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences are shining new light on an enduring mystery--one that is millions of years in the making. A team of paleontologists led by Professor Cathryn Newton has increased scientists' understanding of whether Devonian marine faunas, whose fossils are lodged in a unit of bedrock in Central New York known as the Hamilton Group, were stable for millions of years before succumbing to waves of extinctions. Drawing on 15 years of quantitative analysis with fellow professor Jim Brower (who died in 2018), Newton has continued to probe the structure of these ancient fossil communities, among the most renowned on Earth. The group's findings, reported by the Geological Society of America (GSA), provide critical new evidence for the unusual, long-term stability of these Devonian period communities. Such persistence, Newton says, is a longstanding scientific enigma. She and her colleagues tested the hypothesis that these ancient communities displayed coordinated stasis--a theory that attempts to explain the emergence and disappearance of species across geologic time. Newton and Brower, along with their student Willis Newman G'93, found that Devonian marine communities vary more in species composition than the theory predicts. Newton points out that they sought not to disprove coordinated stasis but rather to gain a more sophisticated understanding of when it is applicable. "Discovering more about the dynamics of these apparently stable Devonian communities is critical," she says. "Such knowledge has immediate significance for marine community changes in our rapidly warming seas." Since geologist James Hall Jr. first published a series of volumes on the region's Devonian fossils and strata in the 1840s, the Hamilton Group has become a magnet for research scientists and amateur collectors alike. Today, Central New York is frequently used to test new ideas about large-scale changes in Earth's organisms and environments. During Middle Devonian time (approximately 380-390 million years ago), the faunal composition of the region changed little over 4-6 million years. "It's a significant amount for marine invertebrate communities to remain stable, or 'locked,'" explains Newton, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. She, Brower and student researchers spent years examining eight communities of animals that once dwelled in a warm, shallow sea on the northern rim of the Appalachian Basin (which, eons ago, lay south of the equator). When the organisms died, sediment from the seafloor began covering their shells and exoskeletons. Minerals from the sediment gradually seeped into their remains, causing them to fossilize. The process also preserved many of them in living position, conserving original shell materials at some sites. These fossils currently populate exposed bedrock throughout Central New York, ranging from soft, dark, deep-water shale to hard, species-rich, shelf siltstone. "Communities near the top of the bedrock exhibit more taxonomic and ecological diversity than those at the bottom," Newton says. "We can compare the community types and composition through time. They are remarkable sites." Coordinated stasis has been a source of contention since 1995, when it was introduced. At the center of the dispute are two model-based explanations: environmental tracking and ecological locking. Environmental tracking suggests that faunas follow their environment. "Here, periods of relative stasis are flanked by coordinated extinctions or regional disappearances. When the environment changes, so do marine faunas," says Newton, also Professor of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Dean Emerita of Arts and Sciences. Ecological locking, in contrast, views marine faunas as tightly structured communities, resistant to large-scale taxonomic change. Traditionally, this model has been used to describe the stability of lower Hamilton faunas. Newton and her colleagues analyzed more than 80 sample sites, each containing some 300 specimens. Special emphasis was placed on the Cardiff and Pecksport Members, two rock formations in the Finger Lakes region that are part of the ancient Marcellus subgroup, famed for its natural gas reserves. "We found that lower Hamilton faunas, with two exceptions, do not have clear counterparts among upper ones. Therefore, our quantitative tests do not support the ecological locking model as an explanation for community stability in these faunas," she continues. Newton considers this project a final tribute to Newman, a professor of biology at the State University of New York at Cortland, who died in 2014, and Brower, who fell seriously ill while the manuscript was being finalized. "Jim knew that he likely would not live to see its publication," says Newton, adding that Brower died as the paper was submitted to GSA. She says this new work extends and, in some ways, completes the team's earlier research by further analyzing community structures in the Marcellus subgroup. "It has the potential to change how scientists view long-term stability in ecological communities." ### Beijing: China on Wednesday said that the construction of road in Sikkim sector is legitimate as the territory neither belongs to India nor Bhutan. China has justified the construction of a road in the Sikkim sector, saying the area "undoubtedly" is located on its side of the border as per the 1890 Sino-British Treaty. "According to the treaty, 'zhe' is the ancient name of Sikkim," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement. "As per this treaty, the area over which the Indian Army has raised objection is undoubtedly located on the Chinese side of the border," he said on Tuesday. The statement came a day after the Chinese military accused the Indian army of stopping the construction of the road in what it claims to be China's "sovereign territory" in the Sikkim section of the India-China border. Lu said the Sikkim segment of the China-India border was recognised by both China and India. "Indian leaders, the Indian government-related documents, the Indian side in the Sino-Indian boundary issue Special Representatives meeting confirmed that the two sides signed the treaty in 1890, the 'Sino-British treaty' and the China-India boundary of Sikkim to have the direction of a consensus," he said. "Compliance with these treaties and documents is an international obligation that not to be shirked by the Indian side," he added. ALSO READ | China blames India for Sikkim trouble; accuses Indian troops of crossing boundary A Chinese foreign ministry statement, issued on Monday night, said "the Indian border guards crossed the boundary in the Sikkim section of the China-India border and entered the territory of China and obstructed normal activities of the Chinese frontier forces in the Donglang area recently, and the Chinese side has taken counter-measures." Lu, earlier yesterday, said China lodged a diplomatic protest with India accusing Indian troops of "crossing the boundary" in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal. He also asserted that China has shut the Nathu La pass entry for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar because of the border standoff. Also a hard-hitting article posted on the website of the state-run Global Times tonight on the issue said, "Indian troops' provocation brings disgrace to themselves" and they should be forced to retreat "by all necessary means". "The Indian government made no objection to the Sikkim section of the China-India border. Allegations of intrusions along the western section of the China-India border often emerge, but face-offs in the Sikkim section are rare. The Nathu La pass in Sikkim was reopened in 2006, because there is no border dispute between China and India over this area," it said. "It remains unclear whether this flare-up is the fault of low-level Indian troops or a tentative strategic move made by the Indian government," it said. ALSO READ | India-US alliance to counter China can lead to catastrophic results: Chinese media "Whatever the motive is, China must stick to its bottom line. It must force the Indian troops to retreat to the Indian side by all means necessary and China's road construction mustn't be stopped," the article said. As the China-India borderline has not been demarcated completely and the two countries have a different understanding about the Line of Actual Control, troops from both sides often stray across in some areas, it noted. "However, almost all frictions are fed to the Indian media by the Indian military which they hype time and again". "China avoids making an issue of the border disputes, which has indulged India's unruly provocations. This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules," the article said. "India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues. It lags far behind China in terms of national strength and the so-called strategic support for it from the US is superficial," the article said, adding that China has no desire to confront India. "Maintaining friendly ties with New Delhi is Beijing's basic policy. But this must be based on mutual respect. It's not time for India to display arrogance toward China," it said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. It was pretty terrifying at that point. I told them I was a tourist and wasnt filming them, he says. Luke Baker also called the police and was contacted by a force intelligence officer. Luke says he feared for the local Indigenous children and teenagers in town. They have a right to feel safe, he says. Tom Sewell of the Lads Society. Credit:YouTube On Monday, six police officers from Stawell confronted the group, whose members filmed them and later posted their police identification name tags online. On Tuesday morning, two uniformed officers collected surveillance vision from Halls Gap stores. The decision of Halls Gap locals to call the police and the immediate law enforcement response is indicative of a change in the way authorities, and many in the general public, are viewing extreme right-wing groups. They were once widely dismissed as little more than disorganised attention-seeking misfits spruiking racist political manifestos, but Australias policing and security agencies are increasingly concerned about the capacity of a group adherent or lone wolf feeding off social media posts to commit an act of domestic terrorism. There were 40 white males, many with skinheads, some chanting white power. That is intimidating for anyone. Halls Gap resident James The 2019 terror attack by an Australian on a mosque in New Zealand that left 51 dead served as an ideological rallying point for some far-right groups, and a reminder of the potential consequences of underplaying the potential threat. ASIO recently revealed that 40 per cent of its priority case load involved right-wing extremist groups. ASIOs deputy director-general, Heather Cook, told a parliamentary committee last year the COVID-19 pandemic was fuelling a surge in radicalisation because of the amount of time individuals are spending in isolation, working from home or not in school. The Canadian Parliament is now debating a move to declare the far-right group the Proud Boys a terrorism entity. In Melbourne last November, a lone-wolf extremist on the fringe of local far-right groups, Philip Galea, was jailed for 12 years for planning a terrorist attack on Trades Hall, the Socialist Alliances Melbourne headquarters, and the Melbourne Anarchist Club. The mainstay ideology of Australian far-right groups remains viciously racist and incoherent, experts and police say. The danger in reporting on them is that it risks feeding their craving for attention as they trawl for fresh members and resources. According to one policing intelligence official, who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak with the media, some of the groups are attempting to shed their history of being disorganised and fracturing. In other words, they are getting organised. In doing so, they potentially pose fresh and difficult policy challenges for state and federal governments, some of which will be canvassed in a recently launched federal parliamentary committee inquiry into far-right extremism. According to extremist experts, two right-wing groups, the Lads Society and Antipodean Resistance, recently helped form a new Australian extremist outfit, the National Socialist Network, which in turn helped organise the 38 young white men to assemble in the Grampians over the Australia Day weekend. The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have identified some of the key organisers and participants of the Grampians gathering. Some show the faces of young men who would prefer to stay in the shadows posing in their own online posts with faces covered. The organisers include the Lads leader Tom Sewell, raised in the middle-class suburb of Balwyn in Melbourne. The Lads have also been accused of a failed attempt to branch-stack the NSW Young Nationals in 2018. Alleged members of the group were seen visiting a general store, meeting and camping at Halls Gap. Mr Sewell has claimed in a social media post that the Grampians event was aimed at providing content for a new neo-Nazi group, the European Australian Movement. He has the hallmarks of some far-right activists in the US, including those who stormed the Capitol three weeks ago, a move which Mr Sewell said in one online message had lessons for Australian extremists. His posts indicate that he is a racist conspiracy theorist appealing to marginalised, underemployed young Australians on the fringes of society. He is also ex-Australian Army. Several in his Grampians group may have also been ex-military. Photos show some wearing army-issued boots and packs. Mr Sewell is shunning mainstream social media sites, which are increasingly seeking to ban extremist content, and instead posting on new online platforms popular with extremists. On one site, he has posted videos of the name tags of the police that approached his group in Halls Gap on Monday, along with audio in which he belligerently challenges a policeman to Google me, mate. Key questions for the parliamentary committee and legislators will be how to regulate these online sites, as well as whether to proscribe far-right groups as terrorist organisations. Extremist expert Lydia Khalil of the Lowy Institute says that while the proscription debate is important, it faces several legal and political hurdles and should not be viewed as a catch-all solution. She says early prevention is critical and that government agencies having belatedly expanded their focus from programs targeting would-be jihadists to right-wing extremists must concentrate on tailoring interventions to far-right groups. But this, too, was no easy task, given such organisations are more diverse than some jihadist groups. Khalil says anti-terror agencies successfully worked with the Muslim community to deradicalise at-risk youths but there are far fewer levers to target Australians drawn to neo-Nazism, extreme patriotism or other far-right ideologies. You are dealing with a small, discrete threat that resides within the larger Anglo majority, she says. That makes it much harder for policymakers to not only tailor, but given the polarised political environment, justify these interventions. Mr Sewell spews a mix of anti-government and anti-society comments, patriotism and white supremacy in his calls for action. He is also virulently anti-Semitic. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's parliament on Wednesday approved a five-year extension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, which a senior official said had been agreed on Moscow's terms at the eleventh hour before it expires next week. Signed in 2010, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a cornerstone of global arms control and limits the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers that Russia and the United States can deploy. The White House did not immediately confirm a Kremlin announcement on Tuesday of a deal to extend the treaty but said new President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the issue by telephone and agreed that their teams work urgently to complete the pact by Feb. 5, the expiry date. Both Russia's lower and upper houses of parliament, the State Duma and Federation Council, rushed through votes on Wednesday to approve the extension of the last major pact of its kind between the two nuclear powers. "The essence of the agreement is to extend it for five years, as it was signed, without any changes," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Duma. The next step is expected to be President Vladimir Putin signing the legislation. Ryabkov said the treaty would be formally extended once Russia and the United States had exchanged diplomatic notes after completing all their respective domestic procedures. He said the extension had been agreed "on our terms", the TASS news agency reported. Moscow and Washington had failed to agree an extension under former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration had wanted to attach conditions to a renewal that Moscow rejected. Addressing a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Putin cast the extension as "a step in the right direction" - at a time when U.S.-Russian relations are strained in other areas. Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee of the Federation Council, described it as a good treaty that ensured Russia's national security. "If the treaty had not been extended, ceilings and quantitative limits would have disappeared, which would open the opportunity for an arms race," he said. (Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy, Darya Korsunskaya, Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Mark Heinrich) President Donald Trump, next to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, speaks to reporters upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Sept. 3, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Former Trump Chief of Staff Dismisses Role of Trump Speech in Capitol Riot Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows dismissed former President Donald Trumps speech amid the violence at the Capitol earlier this month. During an appearance on Fox & Friends, Meadowswho served as Trumps final chief of staffdownplayed the remarks Trump gave to a group of supporters on Jan. 6. Trump himself said that he believes his remarks were fine and did not incite violence. When we start looking at the rally, were focused more on that than we are really about what we need to be focused on today, Meadows said on Wednesday morning. When we start to look at America, it needs to be about what is important to people on Main Street and thats what the president did. He put America first hopefully well get beyond this. Although Trump told supporters to march to the Capitol, he did not tell them to use violent means. A riot ensued and forced the evacuation of the House and Senate, triggering a House vote to impeach the president. The Senate, however, likely will not convict the former president after the vast majority of GOP senators voted against holding the impeachment trial in a procedural vote on Tuesday night. There was a vote yesterday in the senate that suggested that 45 senators said that it was unconstitutional, Meadows said, referring to the procedural vote that was introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). Lets get on and be focused on what is important to the American people. Meadows and other Republicans have dismissed the second impeachment trial as dead on arrival. If todays Senate vote is any sign, the Democrats ridiculous impeachment of former President Trump will failagainby a long shot. Dead on arrival, Meadows wrote on Twitter. Good for [Rand Paul] and the 45 GOP Senators for standing up. The GOP senators said that it goes against the Constitution to convict a former president in an impeachment trial, while arguing that it will not serve to unify the United States. Trumps second impeachment trial is slated to start in early February. For his part, Trump has issued few statements since Jan. 20s inauguration but told the Washington Examiner last week: Well be back in some form. He also set up the Office of the Former President website. Separately, Meadows was hired by the Conservative Partnership Institute on Wednesday. The group is a conservative networking firm headed by former Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.). Mark is one of the most widely respected conservative leaders in [the] country, and we couldnt be more excited for him to join our team to support and build the conservative movement, DeMint said in a statement on its website. Joshua Colon, 31, was detained after he allegedly forged vaccine screening and consent forms for missing Moderna vaccines that were designated for firefighters A Florida man who was named Polk County's Paramedic of the Year in 2020 was arrested Monday for stealing three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine - but claims he was set up by his supervisor. Joshua Colon, 31, was detained after he allegedly forged vaccine screening and consent forms for missing moderna vaccines that were designated for firefighters, according to a press release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The affidavit for his arrest states that the Polk County Fire Rescue paramedic told authorities that he had forged the forms at the direction of his supervisor. Colon, who was just celebrated by the fire department in a January 13 Facebook post, resigned on January 22. According to Colon's arrest affidavit, the training officer and other members of the Polk County Fire Rescue had been directed to administer Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to first responders. In addition to each vaccine recipient being added to an extensive database log, each first responder is required to sign a Florida Health COVID-19 Vaccine Screening and Consent Form for each recipient. Colon received three vials that contained a total of 30 vaccines and was ordered to administer them to first responders who responded to Station 38 in Davenport to obtain the vaccine. Colon, who was just celebrated by the fire department in a January 13 Facebook post, resigned on January 22 At the completion of the day, Colon initially reported that he administered 28 vaccines, while two were disposed for normal reasons. He then clarified that he administered 27 vaccines, while three were waste. When asked to provide the forms on repeated occasions, the paramedic only gave 21 completed forms and the log, according to the affidavit. But the log contained 23 vaccine recipients, which did not add up to the number of forms returned. When compared to the log, it was determined that two forms were noticed as missing and one was noticed as missing a date of birth. Colon is said to have given the names of two firefighters and a third person when asked to complete the information for the forms. An investigation determined that while the third person did not exist, the first two firefighters had not yet received the vaccine. Colon received three vials that contained a total of 30 vaccines and was ordered to administer them to first responders who responded to Station 38 in Davenport (pictured) to obtain the vaccine In an interview with deputies on Jan. 25, Colon is said to have admitted to creating and signing the three forms himself. Colon admitted that the information given on the forms was fictitious, according to the affidavit. Colon is said to have told deputies that on the day of the incident, his supervisor - who was not named - joked that Colon should get some vaccines for the supervisor's mother. Syringes are filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Colon told deputies he refused to provide the vaccine to his supervisor, who then threatened to tell higher ups that the paramedic was selling vaccines outside of work. Colon claimed that he was then ordered to take a lunch break, only to return and discover that three vaccines were missing, While he said that he was immediately suspicious of his supervisor, Colon did not initially report their absence. When later asked for documents, Colon told deputies that he created the fake information. Colon was charged with four counts of forgery, four counts uttering forged instrument, four counts falsifying medical records, one count official misconduct, one count criminal use of personal ID and two counts creating fictional personal D. He has since been released after posting bond while an investigation into the supervisor and the incident is ongoing. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Albany, N.Y. For weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been warning of the dangers presented by new strains of Covid-19 emerging across the globe and he did so again today. Why, then, did Cuomo lift nearly all of New Yorks Covid cluster zones when the zones and the extra rules that went with them have been the states main weapon against the coronavirus since the fall? We make decisions on the facts we have today, Cuomo said during a press conference in Albany. And youre talking about livelihoods and the economy and billions of dollars. Were not back to where we were, but nobodys back to where they were and I dont believe anyones going back to where they were until that vaccine kicks in on the other side. On the facts today, as presented, I believe these measures are justified. Over 20 cluster zones have been lifted as of today, including orange and yellow zones in Onondaga County. Just five yellow zones remain and all of them are located in Downstate New York. The more restrictive virus rules that went along with the zones are gone where they have been lifted, although other statewide Covid mandates remain. That includes capacity limits and social distancing requirements, among other things. Cuomo has compared new strains of the virus to Russian roulette and said they could lead New Yorks hospitals to become overwhelmed. He even predicted a vaccine-resistant strain is likely to emerge at some point. But that doesnt mean the state can remain paralyzed and its economy hobbled, he said. An expected holiday-related surge in Covid cases and hospitalizations is easing. And the situation within cluster zones themselves has improved dramatically, Cuomo said. If things get worse in a few months, the state will change course again. All I can tell you is, we watch and we adapt, Cuomo said. If the facts change, I have no problem looking the people of this state in the eye and saying the facts changed, our plan has to change. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Covid vaccines for Central NY teachers, school staff: Could they be forced to get a shot? Cuomo lifts nearly all Covid cluster zones, including those in Central NY NYs changing Covid rules: Some pool halls reopen. Ax throwing now closed. What? Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 She is one of the world's most famous supermodels. And Naomi Campbell proved she's still got it as she hit the catwalk for Fendi's Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week show, held at the Palais Brongniart on Tuesday. The 50-year-old, who was joined by the likes of Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss on the catwalk, commanded attention in a metallic marble print dress which came complete with a dramatic cape. Catwalk queen: Naomi Campbell lived up to her supermodel status as she hit the catwalk for Fendi's Haute Couture Paris Fashion Week show, held at the Palais Brongniart on Tuesday The couture piece sheathed over Naomi's slender fame and was made of a satin-type material. Her hair was slicked back into a tight bun, with the catwalk queen sporting an elaborate headpiece which cascaded down her neck. Naomi appeared in her element as she strutted down the runway for Kim Jones' debut collection for the Italian fashion house. Wow: The 50-year-old, who was joined by the likes of Cara Delevingne and Kate Moss on the catwalk, commanded attention in a metallic marble print dress Goddess: Naomi looked sensational in silver as she showcased her supermodel credentials Fashion designer Kim, who is Kate Moss' best friend, became the artistic director of womens wear for Fendi, after he took over from the late Karl Lagerfeld. Karl was Fendi's artistic director for 54 years. The New York Times report the show is inspired by 'Orlando' and the whole Bloomsbury set. He told the publication: 'Couture is very personal. It is, after all, about garments made to order, for a single person. Orlando was demonstrably very personal to him. Hence couture equals Orlando.' Arrival: Earlier in the day, Naomi was spotted arriving at the venue for the show Gorgeous: The fashionista looked every inch the style icon as she arrived in a navy patterned maxi dress and a leather aviator jacket Trendy: Naomi layered the dress, which had a handkerchief hemline, atop of black joggers and Nike trainers After the show: Upon leaving Naomi was joined by Christy Turlington Bit close! The pair broke social distancing measures as they posed for a photo Earlier in the day, Naomi was spotted arriving at the venue for the show. The fashionista looked every inch the style icon as she arrived in a navy patterned maxi dress and a leather aviator jacket. Naomi layered the dress, which had a handkerchief hemline, atop of black joggers and Nike trainers. She wore her glossy tresses in a sleek straight centre-parting and finished off her outfit with an oversized pair of sunglasses. Naomi is one of a few models who have managed to gain a coveted invite to the virtual fashion week. Supportive: Fashion designer Kim, who is Kate Moss' (pictured) best friend, became the artistic director of womens wear for Fendi, after he took over from the late Karl Lagerfeld That's fashion: Cara Delevingne was also on the catwalk Naomi's arrival in Paris comes after the supermodel revealed swimming in the sea has helped her keep up New Year's resolution of quitting smoking. She said that she quit on New Year's Eve, and swimming has helped 'clear her lungs' as she pushed to kick the habit. According to The Mirror, she said: 'I stopped on New Year's Eve. Every afternoon I swim in the ocean for an hour or two and I just sit in the ocean. 'It helps clear my lungs because it takes 21 days to get the nicotine out of your system.' Naomi has struggled to quit smoking, and has reportedly tried hypnotism and nicotine patches to help. Advertisement The supply of coronavirus vaccines to the North West of England could be cut by a third next month so doses can be diverted to parts of the country further behind in their rollout to the over-80s. NHS England figures reveal the North West had vaccinated the second-highest proportion of its over-80s, reaching two thirds of the group who are among those most at risk if they catch the virus. Only the North East is ahead of it and supplies are expected to be limited there, too. And NHS sources say the region - which includes Manchester, Liverpool, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria - will see supplies cut in the first week of February, according to the Health Service Journal. A senior member of the health service, who was not named, told the specialist news website: 'It means that, having stepped up a lot of services, you're then only using half that capability. I don't think anyone's complaining, but it's going to be a significant step back just as capability has been ramped up.' It comes amid reports ministers are redirecting supplies from areas steaming ahead in the rollout to those lagging behind - such as London and East Anglia - to ensure all priority groups are vaccinated quickly. Confusion was sparked last week after No10 refused to deny Covid-19 jabs could be redistributed to even out a postcode lottery, despite the vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi claiming none were being sent away from areas leading the drive. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has previously stated ministers will reroute stocks to areas where the fewest number of over-80s and other priority groups have received their first dose. The Government is scrambling to vaccinate 15million people in the groups most vulnerable to the virus - including NHS staff, over-70s, care home residents and the vulnerable - before its deadline in mid-February. But the latest vaccination figures show the scheme failed to hit its target of getting jabs into the arms of 400,000 Britons every 24 hours for the second day in a row, trailing behind at 279,757 doses. Above are the proportion of over-80s vaccinated in all regions of England alongside Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland up to January 21, the latest date for which data by age is available NHS England vaccination figures show more than 60 per cent of over-80s in the North East and Yorkshire and the North West had been given their first dose by January 21, the latest date figures by age are available. They were followed by the South West, Midlands and South East, where more than 55 per cent had been vaccinated. ASTRAZENECA BOSS SAYS UK IS ON TARGET TO VACCINATE ALL OVER-50S BY MARCH Britain is 'comfortably' on target to vaccinate all over-50s by March and '30million people in weeks', the boss of AstraZeneca has said. Pascal Soriot backed the government's decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine and predicted it would allow the inoculation of huge numbers in just weeks. Mr Soriot also slammed an 'emotional' European Union over a jabs war that saw Eurocrats accuse the UK of hijacking doses meant for the continent. Mr Soriot told La Repubblica: 'I have no doubt that the UK has made the right choice thus maximizing the number of people vaccinated, which will reach 28-30million by March.' The figure is double the government's current pledge to vaccinate the 15million most vulnerable by February 15 - and would enable the inoculation of almost everyone aged over 50. He also told the Italian newspaper that the European Union has only itself to blame for its shambolic vaccine rollout. He said the EU deal was struck so late AstraZeneca could only offer to make its 'best efforts' to meet supply targets, rather than a firm guarantee. 'The reason why we said that is because Europe wanted to be supplied more or less at the same time as the UK, even though the contract was signed three months later. So we said 'OK, we're going to do our best, we're going to try, but we cannot commit contractually because we are three months behind the UK'. He added: 'There are a lot of emotions running in this process right now, and I can understand it people want the vaccine. I want the vaccine too, I want it today. But, at the end of the day, it's a complicated process. We are getting there.' Advertisement The drive in London, however, lagged at the back at 48 per cent, and was 50.9 per cent in East Anglia. And in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland vaccination schemes were even further behind with 44.6 per cent, 23.9 per cent and 13.1 per cent of over-80s receiving their jabs respectively. The Department of Health told the HSJ it was making 'targeted deliveries' to areas where more people in priority groups were waiting for their first dose. A spokesman said: 'We are in close contact with all of our vaccine suppliers and remain on track to offer first vaccinations to the top four priority groups by mid-February. 'As weve said, supply is the limiting factor and as the public would expect were prioritising those most at risk from this disease across the country. Our approach so far has ensured weve vaccinated more people than any country in Europe.' An NHS North West spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The North West is being fully supplied with all the vaccinations needed to offer vaccination to everyone across the region aged 70 and above, as well as clinically extremely vulnerable patients, and health and social care staff. 'Our job is to get them vaccinated by mid-February so targeted deliveries are being made to areas where there are more people left to vaccinate in the priority cohorts.' The Prime Minister's rollout was mired in confusion last week after No10 refused to rule out plans to transfer Covid-19 stocks to other regions. Asked to comment on the reports, a spokesman said: 'We will continue to ensure that all areas and regions of the UK receive the vaccine to ensure we can protect the most vulnerable in society. 'I would point to what Matt Hancock said yesterday where he said we have got to make sure vaccination is fair across the UK and some parts of the country, including parts of the North East and Yorkshire, have gone fast early on. 'He also said why we're putting more vaccine into areas that haven't made as much progress, so everyone in the top four groups can receive the offer of a vaccine by February 15. 'We've always said that we will prioritise those first four cohorts, which is why we set the mid-February target. But it remains the case that areas of the UK will continue to receive doses of the vaccine.' It came after Mr Zahawi denied the reports that morning, challenging a Labour MP who had said Yorkshire was being punished for reaching its most elderly residents fastest. The vaccine rollout has had a mixed start to its ambitious aim of reaching a quarter of the country's population, with a stellar performance at the end of last week giving way to a wobbly two days on Sunday and Monday. England and Scotland gave out only 280,000 Covid vaccines on Monday, official figures show, meaning Britain missed its daily uptake target for the second day in a row. Figures published by the Department of Health reveal there were 281,725 jabs administered across the UK yesterday - of which 279,757 were given to people receiving their first dose. The UK needs to be vaccinating at least 400,000 people every day for the next three weeks to fulfil Number 10's lofty promise of immunising all 15million of the most vulnerable Brits by mid-February. Figures show about 6.8million Brits have received at least one dose of either the Oxford University/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, which leaves 8.1million still to be inoculated. It comes after only 221,067 vaccines were administered on Sunday, down by more than half on the record high of 493,013 on Saturday. However Britain remains ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. The figures came as Boris Johnson last night warned the European Union that he expected it to honour government contracts for coronavirus vaccines as a deepening diplomatic row saw senior Brussels figures accused the UK of stealing jabs destined for countries in the bloc. The UK and the EU were in a tense stand-off as continental figures attempted to shift blame for its slovenly rollout of the inoculations in comparison to Britain. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed to make firms declare what vaccines they are exporting to the UK as she scrambled to contain the backlash. The commission president said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted that the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies. And in a sign of Brussels' desperation an unnamed source told the Telegraph there were suspicions that AstraZeneca jabs earmarked 'to be delivered to the EU after market authorisation have actually ended up in Britain.' But fronting a Downing Street press conference on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said he had 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines. And in a warning shot at the EU he added: 'All I would say is obviously we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts. 'And we continue to work with friends and partners in the EU, and indeed around the world, because the delivery of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, the creation of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, and the delivery of the vaccine is multinational as well, because the virus knows no borders,' he said. (Natural News) An expert on Chinese affairs urged the U.S. to cut all ties with Beijing. Conservative commentator Gordon Chang made the call to sever ties with China during a Jan. 17 online webinar. He remarked that the communist nation uses all of its [American] contacts to try to overthrow our government. Chang acknowledged that law enforcement and governments at the federal and state levels are being overwhelmed because of Chinas actions. Chang explained that cutting ties with China is not just limited to severing supply chain links. Rather, this should further extend to ending technological partnerships and cultural exchanges, removing Chinese media from circulation and deporting Chinese diplomats and journalists back to their home country. The commentator remarked that Chinas form of communism is unreformable and its leaders both arrogant and insecure at the same time. Were dealing with evil, he stated. Its very difficult for people in democratic societies to understand evil, and theres no perfect way to deal with [it.] We may screw up dealing with evil, but we better deal with it now while we still have a chance. As part of the webinar, Chang discussed things China made use of to subvert the U.S. China allowed the Wuhan coronavirus to spread unchecked According to Chang, Beijing tapped the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic to undermine America and other countries. He called the pandemic a deliberate release of the disease from China itself. Chang pointed out that Chinese President Xi Jinping knew that lockdowns were effective in curbing the spread of the virus. This means that Xi knew that by pressuring countries to not impose [lockdown] measures, he was spreading the disease. The China expert cited a publication from the Chinese PLA National Defense University that discussed specific ethnic genetic attacks a new form of biological warfare. China is designing pathogens that will leave the Chinese alone, but will sicken everybody in the world. There is evidence that theyre actually working on diseases like this, Chang warned. This is not the last pathogen that will be generated from Chinese soil. And we can suspect that the next disease will be worse than COVID-19. (Related: Chinese journalist jailed for 4 years for speaking the truth about coronavirus pandemic.) China undermined the U.S. using online means Chang also mentioned Chinas use of social media platforms to attack the U.S. He cited an instance back in March 2020, when Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian suggested that the pandemic began in America. It might be [the] U.S. Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan, Zhao said in a tweet. Zhao also slammed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for allegedly covering up the actual number of COVID-19 cases. He called for the public health body to be transparent and make its data public in the same tweet. Chang also claimed that the regime also made use of the TikTok video-sharing app to undermine the U.S. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, the regime used a sophisticated algorithm to get Americans hooked on the app. It then tapped big data and artificial intelligence to identify users who would likely join the protests. These users then received TikTok videos on how to riot, further goading them to attend the demonstrations and cause trouble. This is more than just subversion. This is indeed an act of war, Chang remarked. China ramped up its rhetoric in preparation for full-blown conflict Back in May 2019, the Chinese state-run newspaper Peoples Daily ran a piece declaring a peoples war against the U.S. According to Chang, Beijings narrative is that the U.S. is trying to safeguard its top position as the world hegemony and prevent China from taking that spot. In reality, the U.S. is protecting the international system currently in place. (RELATED: China preparing for what it claims is a morally justified war with US, Taiwan over sovereignty.) Unfortunately, we have a China that doesnt want to live within the current international system. It wants to overthrow it altogether, he remarked. Chang continued that the Chinese regime has adopted a Wolf Warrior diplomacy. The communist country had threatened its smaller neighbor Taiwan had provoked Southeast Asian countries in its territorial waters and had invaded India through the Himalayan border. The expert put forward two possible reasons for Chinas increasing provocation. First, Xi appears to be bolstering the military as his main core of support. Second, China itself is beset with numerous problems such as an uneasy population, a stagnant economy, lack of worldwide support and more. Without prosperity, the [Chinese regimes] only remaining basis of legitimacy is nationalism which practically meant military misadventure abroad, Chang commented. Chan has also expert aired out his concern with how President Joe Bidens administration will deal with the communist country. According to Chang, Bidens senior advisers have remarked their intention to strengthen the U.S. instead of imposing costs on China. You cant strengthen American technology or economy when China is stealing somewhere between $500 billion to $600 billion [yearly.] Its just not possible, he commented. Chang concluded by saying: We should not be allowing an enemy to exploit the openness of our system to overthrow our form of government. Head over to CommunistChina.news to find out how the communist regime threatens the U.S. and the world. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Twitter.com NYPost.com Children in classrooms across America watched that morning in 1986 as Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, carried with her the hopes and dreams of 11,000 educators she had successfully competed against for a spot on the Challenger space shuttle. Its such a quantum leap from what my life has been like, the 37-year-old mother of two told The New York Times weeks before the Challenger was set to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rockets are going to go off and Im going to be 200 miles up in space. It was not to be. Those children instead watched in horror 35 years ago this week as the Challenger disintegrated at 10:39 a.m. CST on Jan. 28, 1986. McAuliffe died along with six other crew members, 73 seconds into the shuttles flight. Watching along with a generation of children marked by the tragedy were two Alabama teachers who had signed up, along with more than 100 others across the state, to compete a year earlier as part of NASAs Teacher in Space program, launched in 1984 by President Reagan. Pam Grayson Baugh, then a teacher at Minor High School in Adamsville, and Sophia Ann Clifford, from Erwin High School in Birmingham, were Alabamas finalists. They, along with more than 100 other national finalists out of the 11,000 who had competed, were nearly in the seat where McAuliffe sat that icy morning. From the more than 100 teachers across Alabama who had hoped to go into space, Baugh and Clifford were selected as a group of 10 semi-finalists. Schell was a semifinalist in the NASA Teacher in Space program. He is looking skyward, holding a model of a space shuttle. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group The others were: Jacqueline Brown, an 8th grade teacher at Nelson Adams Middle School in Saraland; Danny Culp, 4th grade teacher at Pinecrest Elementary in Sylacauga; Nancy Kennemer; 4th grade teacher at Irondale Junior High; Robert Kirchner, a physics teacher at Randolph School in Huntsville; Dianne Martin, 6th grade teacher at Mobiles Meadowlake Elementary; Abigail McKinnon, gifted program teacher at Pinson Elementary; John Clarence Schell, science teacher at Washington County High; and Anne Shumaker, who taught biology, English and Spanish at Cherokee County High School. Shumaker was an alternate for Baugh and Clifford. I couldnt believe it, Clifford said in a 1986 Montgomery Advertiser interview, recalling a conversation shed had with astronaut Michael J. Smith at a banquet. He said, If youre going to worry ... worry about the first two minutes when the solid fuel rockets are going. Smith was one of the seven who died on the Challenger. Left to right: Robert D. Kirchner, Randolph School in Huntsville; Pamela Grayson, Minor High School in Birmingham; Sophia Clifford, Erwin High School in Birmingham; and Anne W. Shumaker, Cherokee County High School in Centre. Out of ten candidates, Clifford and Grayson were chosen as finalists for the state. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group My dad didnt want me to go because he was afraid of this, Brown said in that article. My first reaction was not for myself - it was that (McAuliffes) sons class is down there, third graders watching this happen, Keenemer told a reporter. Sooner or later, people had to get killed, Kirchner told the Advertiser. We shouldnt let the danger deter us. Id go on the next one up. While Baugh and Clifford left Cape Canaveral before the doomed launch because of multiple delays, Isabelle Thomasson, a state school board member who oversaw their selection, stayed behind and witnessed the explosion. People were just stunned. There was no conversation, no anything, she told a reporter in 1986. Kirchner taught at Randolph School in Huntsville. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group Clifford died in 2019 at age 87. I thought I was the only one that wanted desperately to be on the space shuttle, and then when I got to Washington and met other candidates from the other states, I thought, they want it just as much as I do, Clifford told WBRC in 2016. Clifford told the station she kept a postcard from McAuliffe, on which she said a group was making lessons plans to share from the shuttle, and she asked Clifford for input. McAuliffe was so genuine and kind and enthusiastic and I think they certainly wanted someone enthusiastic and they wanted someone, as she said, to demystify space, Clifford said. Part of the plan was when she got up there was to teach several lessons on the shuttle and school children were to interact and ask questions about it. Baugh in 2016 discussed the experience with AL.com. It was kind of like the golden ticket with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Baugh said then. I was extremely proud to be considered. I have a lot of confidence in our government, Baugh said. I thought they had chosen a very good person (in McAuliffe). I trusted the process. Baugh said she had thought of the possibility that she could have been on that shuttle. Its not something I dwell on, but Ive thought about it, said Baugh. There have been a lot of near misses in my life, and that was one of them. On a personal level, I came to deeply understand that what I want and need are not the same thing. Baugh, who retired from Mountain Brook Elementary School, used her experience in the program and the lessons learned after the tragedy during her teaching career. Front row, left to right: John Clarence Schell, Washington County High School in Chatom; Nancy Kennemer, Irondale Junior High School in Irondale; Jacqueline Brown, Adams Middle School in Saraland; Danny Culp, Pinecrest Elementary School in Sylacauga; and Robert D. Kirchner, Randolph School in Huntsville. Back row, left to right: Abigail McKinnon, Pinson Elementary School in Pinson; Sophia Clifford, Erwin High School in Birmingham; Dianne Martin, Meadowlake Elementary School in Mobile; Pamela Grayson, Minor High School in Birmingham; and Anne W. Shumaker, Cherokee County High School in Centre. Clifford and Grayson were chosen as the two finalists for the state. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group Baugh said in 2016 she still appreciated the importance of space exploration and curiosity, and she believed the legacy of the Teacher in Space program, which was canceled in 1990, was much greater than the death of its only participant. (President Reagan) wanted to pick someone whose career would be able to touch other people, Baugh said. The idea was that everybody had a teacher and loved a teacher and that people could become excited about space that way. That goal was absolutely accomplished, though it wasnt the way they had intended. Baugh said NASAs work is important. She said she became a teacher to inspire young people to be curious, to dream of the future - something that the concept of space exploration naturally does. She wants todays children to be excited for NASAs possible Mars explorations. In 2016, Baugh and her husband Robert Baugh, who live in Mountain Brook, were in Cape Canaveral for a memorial service at the Kennedy Space Center. All finalists of the 1985 Teacher in Space program were invited. Im proud to have been involved in a part of history people remember so clearly, Baugh said. For me, it truly was an honor to have even been considered. It was good to try. I tried, I loved my experience. Farmer violence: Twitter suspends 550 accounts from its platform India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 27: Twitter has suspended over 550 accounts from its platform in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in Delhi on January 26. A Twitter spokesperson told ANI that the platform has also labelled tweets which were found to be in violation of its "synthetic and manipulated media policy". "We have taken strong enforcement action to protect the conversation on the service from attempts to incite violence, abuse, and threats that could trigger the risk of offline harm by blocking certain terms that violate our rules for trends. "Using a combination of technology and human review, Twitter worked at scale and took action on hundreds of accounts and Tweets that have been in violation of the Twitter Rules, and suspended more than 550 accounts engaged in spam and platform manipulation," the spokesperson also said. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News "We are monitoring the situation closely and remain vigilant, and strongly encourage those on the service to report anything they believe is in violation of the rules," the Twitter spokesperson also told the news agency. The exodus from San Francisco began swiftly after the 1906 fire and earthquake. With most of downtown still smoldering, thousands of citizens bought one-way tickets to any city that wasnt San Francisco. But barely two months later, The Chronicle reported, they were coming back in droves. The city was, in fact, not over. A large majority of (return ticket requests) are from men who left in such a mad haste at the first sound of alarm, The Chronicle reported on June 20, 1906, interviewing railway officials. They are complaining that the conditions are much worse in the East than they are out here. Today, San Francisco is in the middle of its latest exodus, with rents dropping, office vacancy rates rising and now-remote tech workers fleeing for Miami or Austin, Texas. Some high-profile Elon Musk types have taken to loudly announcing their leave, in some cases ignoring any role the Bay Area played in their success, while turning anti-San Francisco tantrums into a form of identity on the way out. Meanwhile, whatever Google alerts the East Coast media sets to write about the demise of San Francisco we even created a scientific matrix to measure the genre have been going off twice as fast during the pandemic. With the latest news coverage of an alarming mass emigration from San Francisco, we decided to look back at all the times people have fled the city, why they left and whether, in fact, the citys very soul departed with them. Is a eulogy in order for San Francisco? Or is it possible that a cycle of change, rebirth and bitching-on-the-way-out has perpetually kept our Golden Age in the rearview mirror even as we move on to greater things? The MacKay Collection, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The years: 1853-1857 The reason: End of the Gold Rush. The exodus: After the Gold Rush peaked in 1852, young men poured into the city just as the gold yield dropped by 50%. Meanwhile, a growing mining industry centered in the mountains made it harder for the journeyman miner to find success. With prospects failing, and less disposable income to blow in expensive San Francisco, aspiring miners fled to pursue agriculture opportunities in the Sonoma and Napa valleys. Was San Francisco over? No, it was not. Chronicle archives The year: 1906 The reason: Earthquake and fire. The exodus: Two days after the 1906 earthquake, The Chronicle reported, there was a wild desire on the part of a great many persons to put as many miles as possible between them and the scene of the catastrophe. Nearby cities including San Mateo and Walnut Creek advertised safe housing for the tens of thousands displaced by fires. But the city rebounded quickly. By June, the paper reported the evacuees were coming back, and with them a throng of newcomers. Was San Francisco over? Despite appearances, not even close to over. Aaron Rubino / The Chronicle 1948 The years: 1945-1948 The reason: Rising housing prices and traffic. The exodus: The end of World War II caused a huge rise in the citys population, exposing infrastructure shortcomings while creating housing price spikes and rental housing shortages. (Sound familiar?) Traffic was horrible, and city leaders were forced to confront San Franciscos space limitations. Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote in The San Francisco Book in 1948, Compared to the complexity of todays problems, the task of rebuilding a city after an earthquake and fire seems comparatively simple. Was San Francisco over? Whats the opposite of over? That was San Francisco in 1948. Chronicle archives The years: 1967-1969 The reason: The Summer of Love actually kind of sucked. Peter Breinig / The Chronicle 1967 The exodus: After the counterculture movement in the Haight-Ashbury started strong in 1966, it quickly devolved into crime, overcrowding and police overreaction. By October 1967, hippies had held a funeral for the Summer of Love (complete with coffin), and by the end of 1968, most artists and counterculture leaders associated with the scene including members of the Grateful Dead had moved to Marin County or rural South Bay cities. Was San Francisco over? As Jerry sang, The grass aint greener/ The wine aint sweeter/ Either side of the hill. Eric Risberg / Associated Press The years: 1972-1978 The reason: Surging violent crime. The exodus: San Francisco reached modern records for homicides for four consecutive years in the 1970s, peaking with 142 in 1977. (By comparison, there were 45 in S.F. in 2020.) The Zodiac Killer, the assassination of George Moscone and Harvey Milk, and Hollywood portrayals such as Dirty Harry in 1971 added to the belief that Bay Area suburbs were safer. Was San Francisco over? In reality, crime was rising in the suburbs too, sometimes at a greater rate. Definitely not over. Paul Sakuma / Associated Press 1996 The years: 1985-1990 The reason: Tech and other business growth outside San Francisco. The exodus: Perhaps the most forgotten San Francisco is dead moment reflects the current one: a predicted exodus because business was moving outside the city. Look at Silicon Valley, Walnut Creek, Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, Hacienda Business Park in Pleasanton, UC Berkeley Professor Robert Cervero told The Chronicle in 1989. These are mammoth projects where in some cases not too long ago there was pastureland. Was San Francisco over? Have you ever been to or even thought about Bishop Ranch in San Ramon? (S.F. was not over.) Associated Press The years: early 2000s The reason: The first dot-com bust. The exodus: After more than three years of venture capital money flooding San Francisco (remember Webvan and Pets.com?), it all seemed to disappear at once, suggesting that the citys strength as a technology hub was a cruel illusion. Commercial vacancies rose to 20% in 2001, used office furniture was never less expensive, and young people moved out in droves. Was San Francisco over? A similar tech boom began in S.F. less than a decade later. So not over. Chronicle archives The years: 2000-2005 The reason: A baby boom. The exodus: The country experienced a mini-baby boom between 2000 and 2004. With rising housing prices, many San Francisco families moved to the suburbs including 31,000 S.F. residents who relocated to San Mateo County and 26,642 who headed to Alameda County between 2000 and 2005. The middle-class flight outside San Francisco continued through the decade and beyond. Was San Francisco over? How many different ways can we say this? N-O-T. O-V-E-R. Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle 2020 The years: 2020-2021 The reason: High taxes, crime, alleged $15 burritos. The exodus: Bleak economic data suggested San Francisco was getting hit harder by the pandemic than other big cities, with a 20% drop in apartment rents, moving trucks rented in record numbers, and a few high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneurs loudly and rudely making noise on their way to Florida or Texas. Californians-in-exile Facebook support groups were formed, and the recently departed shared tales of the low prices of Mexican food on the other side. Was San Francisco over? To be determined. (But really liking our chances that S.F. is not over.) Peter Hartlaub is The San Francisco Chronicles culture critic. Email: phartlaub@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @PeterHartlaub Geojit's report on Agri Picks The government has provided financial aid of 2,000 rupees each to around 94.2 mln farmers so far as the third instalment under the Centre's flagship Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, a government official said. Area under rabi maize fell 2.1% on year to 1.6 mln ha as of Thursday, farm ministry data showed. Farmers in the country have sown mustard across 7.4 mln ha, 7.3% higher on year, in the 2020-21 (Jul-Jun) season so far, data from the farm ministry showed. India's rabi field pea area fell 2.7% on year to 1.06 mln ha as of Wednesday, data from the farm ministry showed. Farmers have sown wheat across 34.5 mln ha, up over 3% on year, as of Thursday, farm ministry data showed. The government has procured 58.3 mln tn paddy so far in the 2020-21 (Oct-Sep) kharif marketing season, up 20.5% on year, it said in a release. Paddy is India's largest-grown kharif crop. For all commodities report, click here Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by investment experts/broking houses/rating agencies on moneycontrol.com are their own, and not that of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Read More The Department of Homeland Security has issued a federal alert for the first time in a year to warn of a heightened domestic terrorist threat in the weeks following President Joe Biden's inauguration. Acting Secretary of Homeland Security David Pekoske issued the threat bulletin Wednesday citing increased risk of domestic terrorism from 'ideologically-motivated extremists' who have been 'fueled by false narratives'. It warned lawmakers and government buildings, the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, and ethnic minority groups are among those at most risk of being targeted, while citing COVID-19 conspiracy theories as one motivator behind potential terrorist attacks. The agency did not detail any specific terrorist plots or threats or if certain parts of the US are at greater risk of attack. The warning comes in the wake of the riot at the US Capitol that left five dead - including a Capitol cop who was hit over the head with a fire extinguisher - after Donald Trump supporters stormed the building, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives. DC police announced Tuesday that a second cop who worked to defend the seat of American democracy from the mob on January 6 committed suicide in the days that followed. Across the sea of MAGA mob rioters that day, paraphernalia and flags promoting several far-right extremist groups including white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Proud Boys were clearly visible. Others rioters spewed the QAnon conspiracy theory - the debunked extreme right wing theory that claims Satan-worshipping pedophiles are plotting against Donald Trump and are running a global child sex trafficking ring. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul D Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael C Stenger all resigned after the riot and the acting Capitol Police chief this week admitted the agency was completely unprepared for the riot despite knowing there was a 'strong potential for violence' days before. More than 25,000 National Guard troops were drafted in from all 50 states and a Baghdad-style 'Green Zone' perimeter was set up in the heart of DC to prevent a repeat attack on inauguration day. While the day passed without significant issue, army officials have confirmed more than 5,000 National Guard troops will remain in Washington DC through mid-March amid concerns that the threat of domestic violent extremism will linger for some time. Just over 48 hours after Biden took office, the White House announced he had directed law enforcement and intelligence officials to carry out a 'comprehensive threat assessment' on the growing threat of extremism on US soil. The Department of Homeland Security has issued a federal alert for the first time in a year to warn of a heightened domestic terrorist threat in the weeks following the President Joe Biden's inauguration. Pictured the January 6 Capitol riot The warning comes in the wake of the riot at the US Capitol that left five dead - including a Capitol cop who was hit over the head with a fire extinguisher - after Donald Trump supporters stormed the building, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives The DHS' threat warning cited people who harbor anti-government views, are unhappy with the White House transition or are motivated by false narratives as a particular threat. 'The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration,' the department said in the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin. 'Information suggests that some ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.' There was no information on a specific credible plot or of specific states or areas at most risk of attack. However, the warning of the dangers of 'false narratives' comes after Trump pushed unfounded claims of widespread election fraud when he lost the White House race. He continued to refuse to concede and insisted the election was 'stolen' from him - despite dozens of courts finding no merits for lawsuits, several recounts coming up with the same outcome and his own administration saying the election was fair and legal. The warning cited lawmakers and government buildings, the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, and ethnic minority groups among those at most risk of being targeted Acting Secretary of Homeland Security David Pekoske issued the threat bulletin Wednesday citing increased risk of domestic terrorism from 'ideologically-motivated extremists' who have been 'fueled by false narratives' President Biden orders review of domestic terrorist threats Just over 48 hours after Biden took office, he had directed law enforcement and intelligence officials to carry out a 'comprehensive threat assessment' on the growing threat of extremism on US soil. The White House announced Friday the review coordinated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. It will be used as a foundation to develop policy, the White House said. The National Security Council will do its own policy review to see how information about the problem can be better shared across the government. 'The January 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we all know: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said when announcing the review. Advertisement MAGA supporters were then egged on by Trump to 'fight' the election result in a rally just moments before the mob stormed the Capitol in the violent insurrection back on January 6. The DHS advisory outlined details of potential threats saying that, over the course of the last year, extremists had targeted people while they were exercising their First Amendment rights to protest peacefully. 'Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity,' it read. It also said DVEs were motivated by issues including anger over COVID-19 restrictions and police use of force. 'DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities,' it said. The advisory also cited 'long-standing racial and ethnic tension-including opposition to immigration' as drivers of domestic violence attacks, such as the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 23 people. The agency said some DVEs will be 'emboldened' to target lawmakers and government buildings as well as critical infrastructure, including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors. Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 were also cited as another driver for violent extremism. 'DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities,' the advisory said. National Guard members outside Capitol Hill on Tuesday as more than 5,000 stay behind to defend DC A total of 5,000 will continue supporting Capitol Police, 500 will support the US Park Police, 550 the Metropolitan Police Department and 600 the US Secret Service as threats continue after inauguration day 'Threats of violence against critical infrastructure, including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, increased in 2020 with violent extremists citing misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 for their actions.' The agency warned that so called Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) are being 'inspired' by foreign terrorist groups, 'who committed three attacks targeting government officials in 2020'. The DHS said it is concerned such threats will continue through early 2021. The last time the federal alert system was used to send a threat warning to the public was a year ago, when it issued a bulletin warning of potential retaliation by Iran for the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq on January 3 ordered by then-President Trump and Iran vowed 'severe revenge' for those behind the attack. Before that, the last time the bulletin was issued was for a warning about foreign terrorist groups like ISIS or Al-Qaeda. This is the first time in years that the threat is related to potential home grown insurgents. Washington DC went into lockdown and several blocks around the Capitol were cordoned off to prevent a repeat of the chaos seen on January 6 Much of the security apparatus around Washington set up after the riot and ahead of Biden's inauguration is no longer in place. Anti-climb steel fencing (above) erected around the Capitol building, however, remains in place Capitol Police admits it was completely unprepared for MAGA riots The head of the Capitol Police apologized to Congress for stunning security failures during the MAGA riots on January 6 and acknowledged that the agency had been forewarned of a 'strong potential for violence' but failed to take adequate steps to prevent it. Acting Chief Yogananda D Pittman made the extraordinary admissions in a statement before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, nearly three weeks after a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to block the certification of Joe Biden's election victory. 'On January 6th, in the face of a terrorist attack by tens of thousands of insurrectionists determined to stop the certification of Electoral College votes, the Department failed to meet its own high standards as well as yours,' Pittman told the committee, which oversees funding for USCP, in a statement obtained by DailyMail.com. 'Although the Department fulfilled its mission of protecting Members and democracy ultimately prevailed, the insurrectionists' actions and the Department's inability to immediately secure the U.S. Capitol emboldened the insurrectionists and horrified millions of Americans.' 'Let me be clear: the Department should have been more prepared for this attack,' she continued. 'By January 4th, the Department knew that the January 6th event would not be like any of the previous protests held in 2020. 'We knew that militia groups and white supremacists organizations would be attending. We also knew that some of these participants were intending to bring firearms and other weapons to the event. We knew that there was a strong potential for violence and that Congress was the target.' 'The Department prepared in order to meet these challenges, but we did not do enough.' Pittman confirmed for the first time that the Capitol Police Board had denied a January 4 request from Sund to declare a state of emergency and authorize the deployment of National Guard troops for support. Once the violence began to unfold, the Board delayed sending in troops for an hour after receiving a second request from Sund. Describing the few preparations that were made beforehand, Pittman said the USCP required all available officers to be on call, activated its SWAT team and increased the number of Civil Disturbance Units scheduled to work that day. But she said the more than 1,200 officers stationed at the Capitol were 'no match for the tens of thousands of insurrectionists (many armed) attacking the Capitol and refusing to comply with lawful orders'. Advertisement With the ongoing threat of attack, around one fifth of the National Guard troops drafted in to protect the Capitol in the aftermath of the MAGA mob riot are staying in DC until at least mid-March while Biden has launched a review into domestic terrorism on US soil. Army officials announced Monday that 7,000 troops will stay until the end of this week and 5,600 to mid-March. A total of 5,000 will continue supporting Capitol Police, 500 will support the US Park Police, 550 the Metropolitan Police Department and 600 the US Secret Service. 'There are several upcoming events - we don't know what they are - over the next several weeks, and they're concerned that there could be situations where there are lawful protests, First Amendment-protected protests, that could either be used by malicious actors, or other problems that could emerge,' acting Secretary of the Army John Whitley said in a press briefing. Nearly 26,000 troops from all 50 states poured into DC ahead of Biden's inauguration in response to escalating security threats and fears of more rioting. The city was plunged into lockdown and several blocks around the Capitol were cordoned off to prevent a repeat of the chaos seen on January 6. The Secret Service restricted access plan included a 'Green Zone' - the same name given to the heavily-fortified area in Baghdad during the Iraq War drawing parallels to the high-security zone in Iraq. Much of the security apparatus around Washington set up after the riot and ahead of Biden's inauguration has since been taken down but anti-climb steel fencing remains in place around the Capitol building. Not all lawmakers believe there is a need for the ongoing heightened security, with Republican Senator Tom Cotton saying Wednesday there is no justifiable reason for National Guard members to remain in DC. 'With the inauguration complete and threats receding, now it's time, yes, to send home the troops,' Cotton, a retired Army captain, wrote in an op/ed published to Fox News. 'I sit on the Intelligence Committee, but I'm aware of no specific, credible threat reporting - as distinguished from aspirational, uncoordinated bluster on the internet - that justifies this continued troop presence,' Cotton continued. 'Thus, I believe the rest of these soldiers should also go home to their families and civilian jobs.' His public opposition to the continued military presence in the nation's capital comes as 11 GOP congressmen and women demanded their troops return to their respective states. But the concerns of lingering domestic violent extremism has gone to the highest levels, with Biden ordering a study of threats on his second full day in office. The White House announced Friday Biden had launched a 'comprehensive threat assessment' of domestic violent extremism coordinated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The review will be used as a foundation to develop policy, the White House said. The National Security Council will do its own policy review to see how information about the problem can be better shared across the government. 'The January 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we all know: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said when announcing the review. She told reporters 'more needs to be done' - a sentiment echoed by the Democratic chair of the House Intelligence Committee Adam Schiff who said it was 'critical' the new administration tackles the threat of extremism on home soil. Proud Boys making the okay sign, now regarded as a white supremist symbol, and holding Trump 2020 and the Gadsden flags just before the riot at the US Capitol A rioter wears a 'Camp Auschwitz' sweater inside the Capitol building as it was stormed by pro-Trump rioters 'In particular, far-right, white supremacist extremism, nurtured on online platforms, has become one of the most dangerous threats to our nation,' Schiff said. Counter-terrorism experts including retired Army General Stanley McChrystal warned in the days that followed the January 6 riot that violent extremist movements are on the rise in the US. McChrystal, the former commander of American troops in Afghanistan, compared the MAGA riot to the evolution of Al-Qaeda saying in both instances people followed a 'powerful leader' who 'justified their violence', as he warned America is headed for a homegrown insurgency in an interview with Yahoo News. He said there are terrifying parallels between the birth of the terrorist group responsible for the September 11 terrorist attacks and the violent siege on the US Capitol last week that left five dead and sent shockwaves around the world. 'I did see a similar dynamic in the evolution of al-Qaida in Iraq, where a whole generation of angry Arab youth with very poor prospects followed a powerful leader who promised to take them back in time to a better place, and he led them to embrace an ideology that justified their violence,' McChrystal said. 'This is now happening in America.' He warned that the problem is already much deeper than people realize: 'I think we're much further along in this radicalization process, and facing a much deeper problem as a country, than most Americans realize.' Car accidents are responsible for approximately a million deaths each year globally. Among the many causes, driving at night, when vision is most limited, leads to accidents with higher mortality rates than accidents during the day. Therefore, improving visibility during night driving is critical for reducing the number of fatal car accidents. An adaptive driving beam (ADB) can help to some extent. This advanced drive-assist technology for vehicle headlights can automatically adjust the driver's visibility based on the car speed and traffic environment. ADB systems that exist commercially are a marked improvement over manually controlled headlights, but they suffer from limited controllability. Whereas spatial light modulators, like liquid crystal pixels or digital micromirrors, can alleviate this problem, they are often expensive to implement and lead to heat loss from unutilized light power. In a recent study published in the Journal of Optical Microsystems, researchers from Japan have come up with an alternative to conventional ADB systems: a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) optical scanner that relies on the piezoelectric effect of electrically induced mechanical vibrations. This design consists of a thin film of lead-zirconate-titanate oxide (or PZT), which induces mechanical vibrations in the scanner in synchronization with a laser diode. The optical scanner spatially steers the laser beam to form structured light on the phosphor plate, where it is converted into bright white light. The light intensity is, in turn, modulated by the ADB controller based on the traffic, steering wheel angle, and vehicle cruising speed. University of Tokyo researcher Hiroshi Toshiyoshi, one of the authors on the paper, explains, "What is unique about this setup is that the laser beam is converted into white light at high efficiency, which reduces heating of the ADB system." The researchers designed the optical scanner on a single chip consisting of a bonded silicon-on-insulator wafer with the PZT layer grown on it and laminated with metal to form piezoelectric actuators. They arranged the actuators as suspensions to allow for large-angle horizontal and vertical deflections of the scanner. This, in turn, enabled two-dimensional scanning of the headlight beam. Further, they designed the modes so that they don't react to low-frequency noise, such as from other vehicles. Their ADB system also accounts for temperature variations. Finally, they mounted the module on a vehicle and evaluated its performance for actual driving. The researchers found that the ADB with a MEMS scanner provided the driver with better visibility, especially when it comes to seeing pedestrians. It could also reduce the glare from oncoming vehicles and reconfigure the illumination area depending on the cruising speed of the vehicle. While this technology certainly advances drive-assist technology, it also has other potential applications in light detection and range finding, as well as inter-vehicle optical communication links, which means that the system could find use in self-driving technology of intelligent traffic systems in the future, taking us another step toward risk-free driving. ### Read the original Gold Open Access article: T. Asari et al., "Adaptive driving beam system with MEMS optical scanner for reconfigurable vehicle headlight," J. Opt. Microsys. 1(1), 014501 (2021), doi: 10.1117/1.JOM.1.1.014501 Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey at a press conference in the lobby of the Confederation Building in St. Johns, Canada, on Jan. 15, 2021. (Paul Daly/The Canadian Press) NL Premier Resumes Campaign After Man With Knives Arrested Outside Election Office Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey resumed the campaign trail Wednesday after a man driving a truck with a large quantity of various knives was arrested outside his office building following a police chase. The Liberal leader was in Newfoundlands Great Northern Peninsula on Wednesday to resume his campaign as his team recovers from the shock of the possible attack likely targeting the premier. This is a traumatic incident, for everyone working and volunteering in Newfoundland and Labradors election, Fureys campaign said in a statement on Jan. 26. We have been advised this incident was likely targeted towards Premier Furey. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said they were notified Tuesday morning of a man behaving unusually, talking about firearms and headed to Deer Lake, a town in western Newfoundland, to stop the election that would take place on Feb. 13. Deer Lake is in the Humber-Gros Morne electoral district where Furey runs his campaign, though premier spokeswoman Meghan McCabe confirmed the premier wasnt present at the time of the incident. The police said once they located the man in his truck on Route 430, north of Cormack, they tried to stop him. But he sped off, and drove dangerously fast toward Deer Lake. A high-speed pursuit ensued as the man drove through the community and finally stopped in a parking lot at a local business, which contained the office of a current political candidate, said the police. The man was removed from the vehicle and was arrested in the parking lot. Officers located and seized a large quantity of various knives inside the vehicle, the RCMP said in a statement. The truck was seized and impounded. Police said there is no concern for public safety. As for Fureys team, they said they were connecting with the leadership of the other political parties and connecting with team members on the ground in Deer Lake to offer support. Following the incident, Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Leader Alison Coffin extended her best wishes to Furey and his team, calling the incident very troubling and that violence or threats of violence have no place in our province. The police said the investigation is ongoing, and they anticipate that the suspect will be charged with a number of criminal and traffic offences. (Newser) One of six men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against the other five suspects. Ty Garbin, a 25-year-old aircraft mechanic, will be sentenced July 8 on a federal charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The AP reports the plea deal contains no agreement on his sentencing. As part of the plea deal, Garbin agreed to "fully cooperate" with federal and state investigators, the Detroit News reports. "It might mean some day you are called to the courtroom and obligated to tell the truth even if it ends up hurting people you know. Do you think you could do that?" US District Judge Robert Jonke asked Garbin. He replied: "I could, your honor." story continues below Garbin, a member of the Wolverine Watchmen, also agreed to testify against eight suspects facing terrorism-related state charges. The FBI says the extremists, angered by Michigan's coronavirus restrictions, plotted to kidnap the Democratic governor from her vacation home in northern Michigan and either put her on trial for treason or abandon her in a boat on Lake Michigan, the New York Times reports. According to court documents, the men trained at Garbin's rural property, constructing a "shoot house" to practice attacking Whitmer's home. Garbin said they also visited Antrim County to carry out surveillance on the vacation home and the surrounding area. In a text message to fellow plotters, he suggested blowing up a bridge to hinder law enforcement. (Investigators say the initial plan was to storm the state Capitol and execute officials.) Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler suggested this week he wants to delay a proposed city tax on major greenhouse gas producers and air polluters as the coronavirus pandemic continues to batter businesses big and small. The proposed tax, unveiled in November by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, would be used to fund an array of local climate change initiatives and would be the first of its kind in the nation. Large manufacturers, hospitals and colleges and universities would pay most of the proposed tax, documents show. City officials estimate it would raise more than $10 million a year. Wheeler has previously announced his support for the plan. But the mayor voiced concern Monday that some of the employers it targets have already taken a financial hit from the pandemic, now in its 11th month. Im still 100% committed to clean air. Im still 100% committed to an air quality program, Wheeler said during a press conference. But it may make sense for us to hold off on the increased fee, at least in the near term, until we get through some of the economic fallout from COVID. The mayor did not specify a timeline for when he thought the City Council should take up the proposal, which city officials had initially hoped would be enacted by the end of last year. Neither did Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who was assigned the planning and sustainability bureau when she assumed office this month. City officials have yet to release a final version of the tax plan, an indication that a vote by the City Council was not on the immediate horizon even before the mayor made his recent remarks. I know there is a significant amount of interest in this proposal, Rubio said in a statement Tuesday. My staff and I are communicating with stakeholders and working with BPS to ensure a thorough process. Under a draft proposal of the plan, facilities in Portland that produce 2,500 metric tons or more of carbon a year would be required to pay a fee of $25 per carbon ton annually beginning as early as this month. The base fee would be $62,500. Additionally, the city would impose an annual surcharge ranging from $15,000 to $40,000 on entities that are identified as major sources of air pollution under the Clean Air Act or required to obtain air contaminant permits from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Health care facilities that fall under either category, however, would be exempt from paying such fees until April 2023 due to the financial strain they face from the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. Based on those criteria, the city estimates the plan would ultimately generate $11.3 million a year from about 88 businesses, hospitals and colleges in Portland. That money would flow into a pair of newly created funds dedicated to reducing fossil fuel emissions and improving air quality. City officials received hundreds of responses from Portlanders about the proposed tax during a public comment period that ended Jan. 8. Most of them were in support of the measure. Portlands business community, however, has come out forcefully against it, criticizing not only the prospect of a new local tax but also what it says was a hasty attempt to craft the plan without consulting industries first. This predictably resulted in one of the worst pieces of proposed policy by any city of Portland bureau in years, a coalition of business groups wrote to the mayor and city commissioners in a Jan. 6 letter. Among them were the Portland Business Alliance, Central Eastside Industrial Council and Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs. The business community has made it very clear of its concerns about any new taxes and fees during the economic downturn, Amy Lewin, a spokeswoman with the Portland Business Alliance, said Tuesday. Its a relief to learn that the mayor shares those concerns. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh; 503-294-7632 Email at skavanaugh@oregonian.com Follow on Twitter @shanedkavanaugh Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American ROCHESTER, Minn. - Governor Tim Walz announced a $52.4 billion COVID-19 state recovery budget proposal Tuesday. The governor says his plan focuses on education, small businesses, and supporting working families. The proposal is the Governor's opening offer to state lawmakers as they work to negotiate Minnesota's next two year budget. Governor Walz's proposed budget includes free summer school programs for students four years and older this year, a $750 cash payment to 32,000 low-income families, and an increase in the Child Tax Credit of $160 per year for most Minnesota families. "We know when workers are supported, when children are supported , when quality of life is supported it creates an economic environment where things thrive," Walz said. The governor's plan also calls for the use of $1 billion for state reserves, and $1.6 billion in new tax revenue. The new taxes would include raising income tax rates for Minnesotans earning over $1 million per year by 1.5%, as well as increases to the capitol gains tax, the corporate tax rate, and a reinstatement of the estate tax exclusion at $2.7 million. Democratic State Representative Tina Liebling says she's pleased the governor is focused on helping Minnesotans build back from the historic challenges of the pandemic. "It's time that we really focus on making sure that we put everybody in a good position to go forward from here. And to come out of this and to go forward together as a state in the best possible shape, so I'm pretty please with what I've seen," says Representative Liebling. KIMT News 3 also received a statement from Republican State Senator Carla Nelson. "The Governor and I likely share many of the same goals, like closing the budget gap, reviving our economic engines, and ensuring a great education for every student. But the Governor's $1.6 billion in tax increases misses the mark. The federal government has already sent billions of dollars to Minnesota for COVID response and recovery. Instead of increasing taxes we must look to responsible effective spending to protect critical services like roads, bridges, high quality education, patient-centered healthcare. I look forward to working with the Governor to reach our shared objectives without increasing tax burdens on hard-working pandemic stressed Minnesotans," says Senator Nelson. In order to make these investments, the Governor suggests raising taxes on the wealthiest Minnesotans and big corporations. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. As the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened, families and inexperienced hikers have fled large metropolitan areas they would usually spend their free time in and have literally ran for the hills. As state park visitation skyrocketed at some Texas parks over 2020, rescues of hikers also increased. At Big Bend State Park, the largest park in the state, staff reported 23 rescues last year, more than double the 11 recorded in 2019 before the pandemic, as reported by Texas Monthly Magazine. Their story opens with the rescue of a 45-year-old San Antonio man, whose rescue called for four hours from 13 crew members and lots of equipment. Hong Kong: Police probes strictly follow law The Security Bureau today said that to crack down on illegal activities, Police have to conduct investigations according to the law and where necessary, collect evidence and request information from relevant organisations. In a statement, it noted that some people made biased remarks to mislead the public by saying that collection of evidence could only be conducted legally with the consent of suspects concerned, attempting to create an illusion of injustice on the part of Police. Moreover, some foreign politicians exerted pressure on institutions which have been fulfilling their obligations. The bureau seriously condemns these misleading remarks and political manipulation. It emphasised Police conduct their operations and investigations strictly according to the relevant laws and regulations. Under prevailing legislation, Police have statutory duties to take lawful measures for preventing and detecting crimes and illegal acts. The law also provides Police the legal power to make application to the magistrate for a warrant to collect evidence. In their investigation of a case, Police will make a request for information related to a crime investigation from relevant people or organisations if necessary. This is the statutory duty of Police and must be performed in accordance with the law. On the other hand, while local financial institutions have been complying with the laws of Hong Kong and fulfilling their responsibilities regarding the handling of funds from suspected money laundering activities in accordance with the law, some foreign politicians attempted to exert pressure on them. The bureau pointed out that the acts by such politicians disregarded the rule of law and were purely politically motivated. On anti-money laundering, the intergovernmental organisation Financial Action Task Force requires competent authorities to be able to obtain all relevant documents and information for money laundering investigations, prosecutions, and related actions, including to require financial institutions to produce customer records to the competent authorities. The bureau noted the laws of Hong Kong comply with the relevant requirements, adding that Hong Kong is a society that upholds the rule of law, and law enforcement agencies are duty-bound to take action against all unlawful acts. The Government affirms and supports the financial institutions' rightful fulfilment of their legal obligations in assisting in police investigations, it added. This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Amanda Gorman confirmed that she hopes to be at another inauguration sometime in the future but as the president taking the oath of office. The 23-year-old poet shared her ambitions during a virtual chat on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday, where she admitted that she has dreamed of running for president for years. Gorman previously became the youngest inaugural poet in American history after she recited her poem The Hill We Climb to mark Joe Biden's swearing in as the 46th president of the United States. High hopes: Amanda Gorman, 23, said Tuesday on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that she hopes to run for president of the United States in the future She was pictured in front of a home library full of seemingly color-coordinated books while she added a splash of color herself with a mosaic-style outfit and a canary yellow headband. DeGeneres got on the topic after asking Gorman if she had 'always wanted to be president of the United States.' 'This was a dream that I think came into existence around 6th grade,' she explained. She got the idea after one of her math teachers jokingly suggested she run for president because she was a 'very passionate, feisty girl.' An honor: Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in American history after she recited her poem The Hill We Climb to mark Joe Biden's swearing in as the 46th president; seen on January 20 Running with it: 'This was a dream that I think came into existence around 6th grade' after her math teacher joking said she should run for president, she explained In it to win it: Her twin sister took her plans so seriously that she wouldn't let herself be photographed at a college party. '"Don't get a photo of me. My sister is running for president 25 years from now. I can't have an image coming up then,"' Gorman quoted 'You know what? That tracks,' she said to laughter from the host. 'Let's put that on the bulletin board for the future.' It helped that she had early buy-in from her family members. 'And it's something that my family takes very seriously because when I say something, I mean business,' she added. Her twin sister Gabrielle was serious enough about Amanda's ambitions that she was cautious about even being included in photos at college parties. 'She'd say, "Don't get a photo of me. My sister is running for president 25 years from now. I can't have an image coming up then." 'So we really all hold ourselves accountable to the dream,' the writer and activist continued. Endorsement: DeGeneres was seemingly inspired and said 'We're 100 percent behind you' as one of her assistants brought out a fake campaign memorabilia, including 'Amanda Gorman for President' shirts Not too far away: Gorman has previously said she wanted to run in 2036, so that was the year DeGeneres chose for the shirts and smaller campaign items DeGeneres was seemingly inspired and said 'We're 100 percent behind you' as one of her assistants brought out a fake campaign memorabilia, including 'Amanda Gorman for President' shirts. Although her sister though she might run for president in 25 years, Gorman has previously said she wanted to run in 2036, so that was the year DeGeneres chose for the shirts and smaller campaign items. Gorman was originally chose to recite her poem The Hill We Climb but Joe Biden's wife Dr. Jill Biden, though she amended the final text in the wake of the deadly storming of the Capitol Building by a pro-Trump mob that left five people dead, including a Capitol Hill police officer who was allegedly hit in the head with a fire extinguisher. NORTH CHARLESTON Surging demand for watercraft during the COVID-19 pandemic will buoy sales at the annual Charleston Boat Show over the weekend and into the rest of the year. But a limited inventory of watercraft means buyers shouldn't expect their play toys immediately from what will be a sales-only event without a lot of the extras from past years such as experts offering fishing tips. "We are going about it like any other show, except we are selling boats that are not at the show, for the most part, for the future," said Chris Butler, owner of Butler Marine and president of the Tri County Marine Trade Association. "We will have the information available for buyers about a boat and a model, how many we have and when they are coming," he said. Butler called sales the best he's seen in his 20 years in business. "I think most dealers would say that, too," he said. "Sales have been on fire." Butler doesn't see a let up in demand, pointing to people not traveling for business and pleasure and deciding to buy a boat as a way of enjoying the outdoors away from large crowds. "No one has a lot of inventory right now," Butler said. "If you want a boat in March or April or May, you need to get that now so that you can secure that boat in time to have it when you want it." Show attendees will still find plenty of vendors for boats and aquatic-themed products. More than two dozen dealers representing 70 brands will be set up in and around the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston along with several other marine-related companies in outdoor booths. The difference this year, in the era of social distancing and face masks, is the show will focus solely on boats to limit crowds from gathering in any one location, said Jacqui McGuinness, president of JBM & Associates, the event's producer. "This years Charleston Boat Show will be run as a retail sales venue only, without any special events like fishing seminars or interactive displays," she said. Boat sales across the U.S. skyrocketed 12 percent in 2020 to 310,000 units to levels not seen since before the Great Recession started in 2007, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association. Before the pandemic, the trade group predicted powerboat sales last year would grow about 2 percent. Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email Sign Up! "2020 was an extraordinary year for new powerboat sales as more Americans took to the water to escape pandemic stress and enjoy the outdoors safely," said Frank Hugelmeyer, the trade group's president. "For the first time in more than a decade, we saw an increase in first-time boat buyers, who helped spur growth of versatile, smaller boats less than 26 feet that are often towed to local waterways and provide a variety of boating experiences, from fishing to watersports," he said. Last year's sales of boats, marine products and services are estimated at $47 billion in the U.S., up 9 percent over 2019. Boat sales are expected to remain at historic levels in 2021 as manufacturers continue to fill a backlog of orders from 2020. Pandemic-related supply chain constraints curbed powerboat production and shipments for several months in 2020, which are expected to subside and restore marine manufacturing to normal levels this year, the trade group said. "Additionally, social distancing measures are likely to continue well into the latter months of 2021, spurring additional interest in safe outdoor recreation activities, including boating," according to the national organization. As for safety, McGuinness said she produced a similar event in Wilmington, N.C., in October, under COVID-19 guidelines. She believes the Charleston show will meet the health standards as well. The indoors portion of the show will adhere to occupancy limits of 50 percent. The displays outdoors will be more spread out than in past years, and a large tent will provide room for social distancing. "We have eliminated a great deal of booths inside and have dramatically increased outdoor space," McGuinness said. All exhibitors, staff and attendees will be required to wear masks, stay six feet apart and wash their hands. Staff and exhibitors will have daily temperature checks. Additional staff has been hired to continuously clean and disinfect all areas of the show to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. "The convention center has successfully run events throughout the pandemic and know what they are doing," McGuinness said. The typical array of interactive events and seminars will return after the pandemic, she said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Parliament Speaker Hanafi Gibali has described his agreement with Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli that all 31 cabinet ministers should come to parliament to deliver statements on the role of their ministries in implementing the Egypt Kicks Off programme as an obligation, and not an optional outing. It is an obligation, whats more, that some members of cabinet will likely regret having to undertake. In a plenary meeting on 21 January it was the turn of Minister of Public Enterprise Hisham Tawfik to face MPs. He was promptly accused of unwarrantedly liquidating public sector companies, including the iconic Egyptian Iron and Steel Company (EISC). Tawfik told MPs that both privatisation and liquidation were a last resort to which the government only made recourse after the financial losses of public sector companies hit billions of pounds. EISC, he said, had lost LE15.6 billion over the last 20 years, and though we tried our best to stem the losses we failed because the company suffers from a host of chronic problems, including massively outdated technology. According to Tawfik, of Egypts 120 public sector companies 48 are currently loss making and though plans are in the pipeline to reform some loss-making companies. There is no realistic expectation that others can be turned around. The government, he said, has already invested LE1.5 billion in updating spinning and weaving companies and the sector is now showing signs of recovery. The government, he added, expects the sector to move into profitability within the next few years. On 18 January, it was Supply and Internal Trade Minister Ali Al-Moselhi who MPs singled out for criticism, accusing him of stripping millions of citizens of ration cards. Al-Moselhi denied that the number of ration card holders had fallen. What we did was to correct the database of beneficiaries and as a result the number of citizens eligible to receive subsidised bread fell from 81 million to 71 million, said Al-Moselhi. He then explained that the correction involved ensuring that each family had a single, rather than multiple, ration card. On 24 April Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati faced questions from MPs who wanted to know why negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) had repeatedly failed to reach an agreement. The answer was simple, said Abdel-Ati, it was the fault of Ethiopias intransigence. He elaborated: Even when the African Union took charge of the GERD negotiations and Sudans Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok pushed for a new initiative, Ethiopia acted only to disrupt technical and legal agreements that had been reached in Washington. Four meetings have so far been held under the supervision of the African Union, and the Ministers of Irrigation and Foreign Affairs of the three countries have met five times and no progress has been made because of Addis Ababacs stubbornness. It is essential that GERD does not impact negatively on Egypts quota of Nile water, so essential, indeed, that this is the most important file for all state authorities in Egypt right now, said Abdel-Ati. While the Ministry of Irrigation is working on the technical aspects of any deal, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is addressing the political and legal dimensions of the GERD file. The GERD negotiations were also the focus of a statement delivered by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri to parliament on 26 January. Shoukri accused Ethiopia of acting unilaterally in the GERD dispute, and said Egypts strategy remained to press for a technically and legally binding agreement. According to Shoukri, Egyptian diplomacy is seeking a just and balanced agreement over GERD that allows Ethiopia to achieve its development goals while preserving Egypt and Sudans rights to Nile water. The Nile can never be the monopoly of a single country. All Nile states have the right to benefit from the river, said Shoukri. Shoukri also addressed Egyptian-American relations in Tuesdays statement to MPs. He argued that Egyptian-American relations were sufficiently solid to withstand the vagaries of US party politics, and that Cairo remained keen to reinforce its strategic partnership with the US in the economic, commercial and military fields. Shoukri also stressed the two countries mutual interest in fighting terrorism. Deputy Speaker Mohamed Abul-Enein criticised what he called repeated attempts by some US Congressmen to interfere in Egypts internal affairs. There is a bloc inside the US Congress that seeks to use the issue of human rights as a pretext to intervene in Egyptian internal affairs, said Abul-Enein. They ignore the efforts being exerted by the Egyptian state in the area of respect for public freedoms and civil rights. We need to send a message to US Congress that Egypt respects human rights and the state is doing its best to improve the economic and social conditions of its citizens. On the same note Ashraf Rashad, the leader of the majority Mostaqbal Watan party, berated foreign parliamentarians who use the issue of human rights to interfere in Egypts domestic affairs. It is unacceptable that these people use terms like detention and forced disappearance as a way to intervene in our domestic matters, said Rashad. US Congress should devote its energies to taking better care of America's own affairs. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: Tavistock gender clinic rated as 'inadequate' by UK gov't health commission Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The United Kingdom's National Health Service's Care Quality Commission has rated a much-scrutinized gender clinic as "inadequate," the lowest possible rating. The CQC enforced action against Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in November upon completion of an inspection and found that the facility had "overwhelming caseloads, deficient record-keeping and poor leadership," according to The Guardian. Amid whistleblower advocacy and concerned former staff who have spoken out about how young patients were being rushed into medicalized gender-transitioning, the Tavistock clinic has faced heightened scrutiny in recent years, particularly as skyrocketing rates of minor girls have been referred to the service. Staff did not fully record the reasons for their clinical decisions in case notes. There were significant variations in the clinical approach of professionals in the team and it was not possible to clearly understand from the records why these decisions had been made," the CQC report said. Government inspectors also found that clinic staff "did not always feel respected, supported and valued. Some said they felt unable to raise concerns without fear of retribution, and that the service was not consistently well-led. In its report, the commission further found that those using the Gender Identity Development Service in both its London and Leeds locations were subjected to long wait times. Kevin Cleary, CQCs deputy chief inspector of hospitals, said: In addition vulnerable, young people were not having their needs met as they were waiting too long for treatment. The action we took was one way of ensuring the trust was tackling these issues in a way which allowed other healthcare partners to support if necessary. A Tavistock spokesperson issued an apology for the long wait times. Above all, we remain focused on providing a high quality service to children and young people in our care and supporting our staff who, despite the challenging context they have been working in, have been praised by the CQC for their understanding, compassion and kindness. Patient feedback was reported as overwhelmingly positive and we will involve both patient and staff as we build on these strengths, the statement said. The long wait times come as skyrocketing numbers of young people, particularly girls, have been referred to the service in recent years. In September 2018, the U.K. government launched an investigation into the clinic to examine why, in the course of less than a decade, referrals of youth increased by over 4000%. For those who were being seen by the clinic, Kirsty Entwistle, who had been a staff psychologist at GIDS-Leeds until October 2018, wrote in an open letter to the director of the Tavistock clinic, that the young people were being rushed into experimental gender treatments without having explored or addressed their early adverse experiences. The CQC report emerged one day after the trust was given leave to appeal a court decision against the clinic last year. The U.K. High Court of Justice ruled against Tavistock in a judicial review brought by Keira Bell, a 23-year-old woman who underwent medicalized gender-transition at the facility during her teen years. Bell said that she was making "brash" decisions at the time and was not capable of giving informed consent to the experimental practices. The high court also held that under the Gillick test the relevant legal standard in the U.K. by which minors are allowed to consent to medicine under-16s are not mature enough to choose to take drugs to suppress puberty. It is highly unlikely that a child aged 13 or under would be competent to give consent to the administration of puberty blockers, the judges agreed in the ruling. It is doubtful that a child aged 14 or 15 could understand and weigh the long-term risks and consequences of the administration of puberty blockers. Given the long-term consequences of the clinical interventions at issue in this case, and given that the treatment is as yet innovative and experimental, we recognize that clinicians may well regard these as cases where the authorization of the court should be sought prior to commencing the clinical treatment. The ruling also noted that the court asked the clinic for statistics on the number of youth referred to GIDS for puberty blockers who had been diagnosed with autism. However, the clinic did not provide the court with that data from its patient records. Transgender activists have argued that chemical puberty blockers are a pause button that buy gender-confused children more time to decide. Chung Eui-yong, right, the nominee for foreign minister, talks with then-U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton at the White House in Washington, D.C., April 11, 2019. / Korea Times file By Kang Seung-woo The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) is exploring ways to invite former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify at a confirmation hearing of Foreign Minister nominee Chung Eui-yong next month. Should Bolton attend the hearing, which is slated for Feb. 5 and will be held virtually, he is likely to be questioned about Chung's role in arranging summits between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which the American harshly denounced as a "strategic mistake." Chung was President Moon Jae-in's national security advisor when the summits were held. He was also a special envoy to Pyongyang before the summits. Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the PPP said, Tuesday, he had asked whether Bolton would participate in the hearing. "Chung has been involved in the process of summits between South and North Korea and between the United States and North Korea, so we want to hear from Bolton about discussions between them about the summits," Kim said. Chung and Bolton have hard feelings about each other due to the former U.S. official's memoir, published last June, about his 17-month tenure at the White House. In the book, Bolton claimed the U.S.-North summit in Singapore in June 2018 was the brainchild of Chung and not the North Korean leader. Chung strongly struck back at his former counterpart, saying a considerable portion of the book was distorted. In addition, Bolton repeatedly recounted sensitive diplomatic discussions with Chung on Pyongyang. Denouncing the memoir as a violation of the basic principle of diplomacy, Chung also urged the U.S. government at the time to take appropriate measures to prevent such a dangerous case from recurring. Bolton's testimony before the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, however, is highly unlikely. "It would be great if he testifies, but there is little chance of it actually happening as it is unprecedented that a former foreign government official participates in a parliamentary hearing and testifies," a PPP official said. In addition, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea is likely to refuse to invite Bolton. A parliamentary committee cannot summon a witness if more than half of its members object. The PPP is preparing a Plan B by emailing questions to Bolton. "We are also considering asking questions to him about parts of his book regarding the summit and making his reply public at the hearing," Kim said. Earlier this month, President Moon nominated Chung to replace Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha in an apparent bid to push his Korean Peninsula "peace process," which has been deadlocked since the failure of the Hanoi summit between the North and the U.S. in February 2019. Chung is the architect of the peace initiative. A set of 10 hand-drawn, 16th century maps showing the progress of the Spanish Armada that attacked England in 1588, an event that shaped national identity, will remain in the country after a museum raised 600,000 pounds ($824,000) to buy them. The ink and watercolour maps, thought to be the earliest surviving images of the battles between the fleets of Queen Elizabeth I of England and of Philip II of Spain, had been at risk of export after a private sale last year. The government placed an export bar on the maps in July, citing the "totemic place in English history" held by the events of 1588, when an armada sent by Spain, the dominant European power of the era, was held off by English ships and destroyed by storms. The National Museum of the Royal Navy in the southern port city of Portsmouth said it had raised the funds necessary to acquire the maps in eight weeks. "It was an amazing response from our funding partners and the public, who dug deep in extremely difficult times to save these treasures," said Dominic Tweddle, the museum's director general, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic. The maps were made by an unknown draughtsman, possibly from the Netherlands, and are undated, but are thought to be from the years immediately after 1588. The voyage of the Spanish Armada stemmed from a confrontation between Catholic Spain, which then ruled much of western Europe and vast territories in the Americas, and Protestant England. Philip was angered by Elizabeth's support for Dutch rebels against Spanish power, by her decision to have the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots executed in 1587, and by English privateers attacking Spanish ships bringing treasure from the Americas. Philip decided to send a fleet to the Netherlands to pick up 30,000 Spanish troops to attack England, but the plan was thwarted by an English attack on the port of Cadiz and another on the fleet itself off the coast of France. The armada was eventually destroyed by storms while sailing around Scotland. The true impact of those events is a matter of debate, with modern historians disputing a traditional view that they heralded the start of Spain's decline and England's rise. Regardless, they did much to forge the idea of England as a plucky island nation with ships that "ruled the waves". Colin Dowland, headmaster of Woodridge Primary School in North Finchley, London, revealed that parents had been writing in to question teachers' competence and tell them 'how to do their jobs' An angry headmaster has hit out at 'highly critical' parents in an acid-tongued letter are sent them a UCAS link to apply to become teachers. Colin Dowland, headmaster of Woodridge Primary School in North Finchley, London, revealed that parents had been writing in to question teachers' competence and tell them 'how to do their jobs'. All schools in Britain are now closed except for the children of key workers - with the majority of the country's pupils now learning from home through online classes. In an update on remote learning Mr Dowland turned his wrath on critical parents, saying those who are unhappy and consider themselves to be 'educational experts' should consider signing up for teacher training themselves. Mr Dowland said parents can now message teachers directly, watch pre-recorded lessons, and comment on live lessons. He added: 'I hope you have found this unprecedented access to teachers helpful. 'However, a number of parents have taken advantage of this new access to send highly critical messages of advice to teachers about how to do their jobs and questioning their training, skills and competence. 'Can I encourage all those particular parents, who now consider themselves to be educational experts, to sign up for teacher training at their earliest convenience. 'There are never enough teachers and I suspect many will be leaving the profession after this year.' In an update on home learning Mr Dowland turned his wrath on critical parents, saying those unhappy parents who considered themselves to be 'educational experts' should consider signing up for teacher training themselves Mr Dowland said he knew it was an 'exceptionally difficult time' for parents with home learning still relatively new for everyone involved. 'There are now a number of different access routes into teaching and I have included the UCAS link below which explains all the options,' he wrote. 'I will also update you if we have any teaching vacancies at Woodridge over the next few weeks, which if such messages continue, I am thoroughly expecting.' The letter was leaked on Twitter by a fellow headteacher, where social media users congratulated Mr Dowland for taking a strong stand. Teresa Ellis said: 'Heartbreaking to read that your staff are under a constant Ofsted-style monitoring from families. 'The stress on you and your teachers must be appalling. 'You educated my children at your previous school and I still have a copy of the book you published.' Susie Haslam Lund commented: 'Crikey! You can feel the emotion coming from this headteacher can't you? 'He's made his point very well. 'It must be so utterly frustrating to have parents criticising his hard working staff. 'Good on him.' Celia Cross said: 'Love it ! I'm saddened that in these times parents aren't more supportive of teachers who are doing their absolute best under the circumstances. 'Good for the author of the letter to make a stan.' And a fellow headteacher in the North East commented: 'Absolutely agree. 'Why should our profession bend over backwards to be 'nice' when we are not afforded the same. 'We should not have to worry about complaints or, heaven forbid, Ofsted shopping!' Mr Dowland responded to the reaction on Twitter, saying: 'I think this might have struck a chord. 'I'm getting such lovely messages from colleagues from all over the country in my school inbox. 'Clearly a national issue.' Mr Dowland's letter comes after another headteacher became an internet hit after she penned a heartfelt note telling parents they would 'get through this together' during the third lockdown. Sarah White, 40, was so moved by a conversation with a parent who had had a 'really tough' time during lockdown she decided to write the letter to say that it was 'okay'. The mother-of-two had only intended for her words to be read by parents at Coates Lane Primary school in Barnoldswick, Lancashire, but it has touched hearts across the country. Sarah told parents how she was also a mother struggling under the current circumstances, and wrote: 'If your child has had lots of microwave meals, stayed up too late, played too much on the Xbox and not finished all their school work - that's okay. 'We know our pupils are safe, loved and cared for and that is the most important thing at the moment. 'We know that we've got high expectations here and we've set a lot of work each week.' China rolls out anal swab coronavirus tests, saying its more accurate than throat method https://t.co/TZoA17mgbM The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 27, 2021 Reply Thread Link NO TY. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, no thanks. Reply Parent Thread Link nussy to thrussy back to bussy Reply Parent Thread Link This might be my favorite comment Ive ever read on ONTD lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Nnnn starting to think this virus did come from a lab Reply Parent Thread Link This will lead to follow up stories such as people dont wipe properly! And ONTD will have known that too for years. Reply Parent Thread Link Drive thru testing about to get hella interesting lol Reply Parent Thread Link pics or it didn't happen Reply Parent Thread Link I mean doctors do this a lot for gay men to test for STIs. Many of them are localized in areas where you can into contact with the bacteria so throat and anal swabs are more accurate. It's not that deep but some people need a lil something in their bussy Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Can't really do drive thru testing for that! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Really glad Trump wasnt president when this news broke cause I dont know what he would have tweeted. Reply Parent Thread Link I mean they've been checking sewage around the US so it makes sense but erm...'tis invasive Reply Parent Thread Link ugh, is it friday yet? Reply Thread Link omg I was like nothing is happening then I saw it. LMAOOOO Reply Parent Thread Link tbf it looks pink to me so i guess im cool Reply Parent Thread Link Lmaooooo it got me Reply Parent Thread Link I hate myself for falling for it Reply Parent Thread Link this gamestop stuff is so exciting Reply Thread Link you in there? Hoping to make some money tbh Reply Parent Thread Link no, just witnessing it is really interesting Reply Parent Thread Link Got like 60 bucks of AMC today, now it's down 3 dollars since I purchased Reply Parent Thread Link It's cracking me up how srs financial people are like "this is BAD stock market manipulation!! not the regular kind, which is fine apparently!!" Reply Parent Thread Link I got one stock at 80 yesterday and it rose to 300. Im about to ask my dad to give me some money for more lol. Reply Parent Thread Link I love how much it reveals that the 'value' of companies is based on hunches and vibes more then anything else. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link we riding it to $1000! I have spent all of this week tracking thr price and the reddit comments. CNBC AINT SHIT Reply Parent Thread Link How high do they think it will go!? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link My AMC stock went from 4.02 to like 34$$ rolling in the dough tbh Reply Parent Thread Expand Link my grandma now has more money than she's ever had in her entire 75 years of life Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Anyone watch Letterkenny? Reply Thread Link Yes?! I havent seen the latest season tho. Reply Parent Thread Link Im on s2. I am really not into comedy but everyone was raving about it so I gave it a chance and now I love them abd say pitter-patter regularly Reply Parent Thread Link That's a Texas sized 10-4 good buddy Reply Parent Thread Expand Link yep watched all nine seasons. Pitter Patter Reply Parent Thread Link i love forgetting about this cause every time it comes in my life it BOPS!! like the first time Reply Thread Link When the violins hit Reply Parent Thread Link I was OBSESSED with this song for ages. Through like a year where I had a shit ton of weddings and heard it so much through each event. It is still so good. (and a chance to show off my icon) Reply Parent Thread Link I love your icon!!! Im still so obsessed with it. I was at a wedding a couple of years ago and things were starting to calm down but then they played this song and everyone went fucking crazy lmao Reply Parent Thread Link I just saw Chamath Palihapitiya on CNBC and he totally bitch slapped the stupid ass host over and over and over and it was so amazing to watch. If I lived in California I would vote for him as governor just based on this interview. Reply Thread Link he's a piece of shit, we don't need a venture capitalist as governor Reply Parent Thread Link idk if he should be governor but he really handed that "reporter" his ass lol Reply Parent Thread Link She took off and ran at least three blocks in heels! https://t.co/i2tHTJhuWt Rex Chapman (@RexChapman) January 26, 2021 a trump/maga terrorist ran 3 blocks when confronted about her terrorism Reply Thread Link I feel like terrorists are either supposed to go down with the ship, or at least own their actions, these people can't even do that right. Reply Parent Thread Link they don't even have the courage of their convictions! Reply Parent Thread Link impressive running tbh Reply Parent Thread Link It annoys me that this woman would probably survive the zombie apocalypse. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Lmao. This could be avoided in many ways, she could have just say no comment or even better not storm the capital Reply Parent Thread Link I can picture her as a bitch at a gym class tbh Reply Parent Thread Link So if youve been following my saga of IT blocking a web site I needed for work, Im now debating if I should say anything about it. We always get a customer satisfaction survey when we make an IT help desk ticket, and I may just say that I dont think it was handled in a professional manner. Im also debating talking to the head of my department about it. If you missed it, Im working on a project that involves seeing the effect of vibrator use on female sexual and physical health and the web site of the company supplying the devices was blocked. I asked IT to unblock it and they were weird about it. Reply Thread Link I think you should definitely do that. That dude was super unprofessional and he had no right to place his bullshit on you at work Reply Parent Thread Link Not sure what type of company you work for, but I would say something. To me, they are discrediting your work by not helping you with it. IT is an admin job. They are there to support business functions. I say this as an accountant with the same purpose. Reply Parent Thread Link I think you should comment. It isnt like you are going to be unprofessional about it just because they were. Its worth mentioning imo Reply Parent Thread Link I'd ask your boss or whoever manages IT to speak to whoever the IT client manager is (if they're a vendor... if not, whoever the boss is). Reply Parent Thread Link yep, this Reply Parent Thread Link I think you should - even if it doesnt end up in immediate change now it will be a proof point of shit like that happens again. You end up creating a pattern of behaviour/issues that someone has to deal with eventually. All for playing the long game. Reply Parent Thread Link As someone in IT - do it. A lot of my peers are shitheads with a superiority complex bc they use Microsoft management console. Were here to make things run, no matter their legal use. Reply Parent Thread Link Woke up and saw the rest of the comments from the DOGUS post. Ive thought a lot of about the vibe that was stirring and I just kind of want to say something. Its not the longest thing Ive ever written but I have feeeeeelliinnggs so its under a cut. [ Spoiler (click to open) ] For a majority of users and lurkers, ONTD is an escape. You may come here to avoid work, family, a relationship, loud neighbors, financial trouble, heartache, anger. Whatever the case, big or small, most of us come here to take our minds off things for a while. Theres a sense of community where we can give each other advice, provide support, and debate. While the topics here range from the shallow to the deeply troubling, theres a sense that ONTD is a collective of people trying to do the best they can with the cards theyve been dealt. I think its fair to say that this is the general consensus of what ONTD currently is. Escape is different for different people. My version of escape is different than yours. And thats okay. When the post appeared that Major and Champ Biden arrived at the WH, I was excited because to me that meant a dog post. I follow r/aww and just freaking love dogs. I miss my dog back home who I havent seen since September. Dogs are an escape. So I saw the post and thought yes, people will post pictures of their puppies! Its an excuse to post cute pictures! However, for others that post was not an escape. If anything, it was a reminder of the pandering and propaganda from the Biden administration. Instead of escaping the bullshit for a while, here it is on the front page with people cooing over these dogs. Why is ONTD falling for the propaganda that it is? And it is totally understandable why people feel that way. If I was on ontd/poliltics or a political subreddit and saw the post, I would likely think the same. This isnt politics, theyre dogs. And the pictures of these dogs are being used to shape a narrative that has nothing to do with legislation. But this is not a political website. Its a celebrity gossip blog. This is a site where we post pictures of Ben Affleck getting Dunkin Donuts. This is a site where we have live viewing posts of The Bachelor. This is a site where we talk about our favorite junk foods. So when I see posts of the first dogs in the White House, I am able to separate my feelings for the current admin and my love of dogs and think cool, this is just an excuse to talk about dogs on ONTD. I can enjoy the obvious pandering but not fall for the nonsense. Hurray! Its fine if you cant do that. There are certain things that I cant separate and no longer enjoy because I just cant see one without seeing the other. That is fine. Whats not fine is to project and think thats all or nothing: if you enjoy one thing, you must agree with the other. That if people are enjoying pictures of dogs that theyre falling for the propaganda. But just because you cant, doesnt mean that others cant. My point is, enjoy what you enjoy. And if you see something here you dont agree with and know that itll make you upset, scroll past. Because at the end of the day, this is a celebrity gossip site and you deserve to use it as an escape. Go into posts that make you happy and stay away from the ones that will be triggering. Do it for your mental health because ONTD isnt worth getting upset over. In conclusion, take care of yourselves. Edited at 2021-01-27 06:07 pm (UTC) It is Wednesday my dudes.Woke up and saw the rest of the comments from the DOGUS post. Ive thought a lot of about the vibe that was stirring and I just kind of want to say something. Its not the longest thing Ive ever written but I have feeeeeelliinnggs so its under a cut. Reply Thread Link The users who were doing the most are the usual suspects who I generally ignore in any political posts and don't reply to if they reply to a comment of mine. anyone who was like "wow how dare you like pictures of dogs. this clearly means you agree with everything Biden has ever done and ever will do" shut upppppppppppp let me enjoy pictures of doggggs and like speak up when Biden does something I disagree with! Reply Parent Thread Link It's all just become a competition to show who is the most enlightened and wokest of them all. This is celebrity gossip site that debates whether male actors are hot or just tall lol Nobody is expecting an in depth discussion of political theory and discourse but it makes some people feel better to be antagonistic on a livejournal community in 2021 lol Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't even bother to go into posts that are even remotely politically tinged even in the slightest anymore lol It's useless Reply Parent Thread Link Some people aren't happy unless they're miserable. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I missed it but how can you be negative about dogs. There is so little joy in life right now. I need something Reply Parent Thread Link I debated even putting the politics tag on it because my intention was just a fun dog post. But this is a really good comment and I am sorry if it really upset anyone. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Some people are always at an 11, about everything. The ones who see fit to police others and shame and condemn them at every turn are the most exhausting. "If you do or don't do xyz in precisely this manner, you are a bad person!!!" Yeah, no. Stop. Reply Parent Thread Link There will always be a lot to criticize with Biden/every US presidential administration but it's kind of exhausting to not be able to celebrate small victories or to have hope. You can appreciate good while still acknowledging the bad. I'm just mentally and emotionally drained, and I get wanting to just look at puppies or feel some relief that Biden is trying to take COVID seriously or have hope for things to get better. I still recognize where his platform is lacking or anti-progressive, but it should still be okay to appreciate some things where we can. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Yeah ita. I know it can be triggering for some people after reading the post, but not everything is so black and white as it's always taken? IDK Reply Parent Thread Link Ive largely stayed out of these posts because of certain bad faith actors trying to out-woke everyone else and I and others have been attacked by them when trying to engage in civil discussion. Until something is done about those people, I and I know others wont feel safe in those posts. Reply Parent Thread Link I tend to avoid political posts in general cause it's very "there's no point in having hope" and a lot of those political comments were lowkey bringing down the site during the initial entry of the pandemic. Reply Parent Thread Link i hate the comparison to reddit. this isnt reddit. go to r/awww if you want to uwu over dogs. Reply Parent Thread Link I spent ALL morning yesterday catching up at my library after having no power for a week. I was also hurrying because we were being told to evacuate ahead of the storm so I sent out 21 packages and 188 books. And my hips really hurt now. It's also just...gloomy now. I cancelled all my appointments for the rest of the week for this. It's supposed to start raining in a bit though and not stop until tomorrow evening? Reply Thread Link 21 packages and 188 books?! You are a library superstar, tbh! Reply Parent Thread Link Still havent gotten an answer about whats going on with my study abroad.... guess Ill send a follow up. Ugh Im all bloated and cramp-y today. Im in a zoom info meeting for a scholarship (luckily Im on mute and my camera isnt on). Then I might study Japanese. Reply Thread Link are you going to japan? Reply Parent Thread Link Lays came out with game day chili chips and honestly they taste like BBQ mixed with crab chips. Reply Thread Link She's the multi-millionaire skincare mogul who recently hit Australia's rich list. And Zoe Foster Blake took some time out of her busy schedule on Saturday to kick back at Sydney's Nielsen Park beach. The 40-year-old businesswoman showed off her fit physique in a pink bandeau bikini top and red bottoms. Fun in the sun! Millionaire skincare mogul Zoe Foster Blake took some time out of her busy schedule on Saturday to kick back at Sydney's Nielsen Park beach The Go-To founder's hair was wet and slicked back after her dip in the ocean. She later covered up with an oversized towel, and donned sunglasses and a bucket hat. Zoe and her husband, comedian and TV presenter Hamish Blake, recently bought a new family home in Sydney's eastern suburbs. The high-profile couple dropped $8.925million on a property in Vaucluse. Work it: The 40-year-old businesswoman showed off her fit physique in a pink bandeau bikini top and red bottoms The five-bedroom, six-bathroom estate measures 885 square metres and features two sets of garages. The four-level home does not have ocean or harbour views, but is considered architecturally noteworthy and was featured on Grand Designs Australia in 2013. Zoe and Hamish, 39, inspected a number of properties across Sydney's east before finally settling on their house in Vaucluse. Golden girl: The skincare queen had a natural bronzed glow about her The address in the affluent suburb is just a short drive from Zoe's Go-To beauty company's head office in Surry Hills. The move comes after Zoe made her debut on Australia's 2020 Young Rich List. She is worth an estimated $36million after her skincare company enjoyed a boom in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. In August, Go-To's peach-packaged facial oil named Face Hero was crowned the number one skincare product in Australia. Covered up: She later covered up in a large oversized towel, sunglasses, and a bucket hat Zoe launched Go-To six years ago and the brand made its U.S. debut at Sephora in 2018. The company has since expanded into both men's and children's skincare. The AFR Young Rich List ranks the richest Australians under the age of 40 and has been published every year since 2003. Two boys, 13 and 15 years old, crashed a stolen car and were arrested early Monday morning, 24 hours after a 17-year-old was nabbed in a stolen car, police said. Police were conducting a traffic stop after 1:30 a.m. Monday when the 13-year-old driver sped off, Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said. A short time later the vehicle crashed into a utility pole on Garfield Avenue between Union and Carteret avenues, and the two juveniles fled on foot. Officers gave chase and caught the boys, who were evaluated at a local hospital. The 15-year-old, of Jersey City, was charged with knowingly riding in an unlawfully taken vehicle, while the 13-year-old, of Plainfield, was charged with two counts of eluding a law enforcement officer and receiving stolen property. A police cruiser that was responding as backup crashed into a fence at Garfield and Union avenues, with two officers suffering minor injuries, according to a police crash report. The officers said the crash occurred when the driver slammed on the brakes to avoid two people running toward the cruiser as it came out of a curve, the crash report said. Early Sunday morning, a 17-year-old and four others, including a 15-year-old girl, were taken into custody after they were found inside a stolen car in Journal Square. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : The second edition of International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE-II) would be held from February 11 to 13, Health, Social Justice and Women and Child Development Minister KK Shailaja said on Wednesday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the IGCE-II as well as a 'Gender Park' in Kozhikode. On the opening day, he will lay the foundation stone of International Women's Trade and Research Centre that envisages a secure and sustained ecosystem for women entrepreneurs and a space for them to market products. The valedictory ceremony will be inaugurated by Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac. It would see the announcement of a policy draft based on the highlights of the sessions at ICGE-II. A Gender Museum, Gender Library, Convention Centre and an Amphitheatre will be part of the first phase of the 'Gender Park' project, which aims towards gender equality in the state, Shailaja told the media here. The 'Gender Park' is not only the first of its kind in the country, but also the world, Shailaja said. The Rs 300-crore 'Gender Park' will comprise three towers and the project has been handed over to Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society, India's oldest worker cooperative founded in 1925. "Already we have allotted Rs 26 crore for the 'Gender Park' and another Rs 15 crore for the next financial year," the Minister said. The government has also approved an administrative sanction of Rs 172 crore." A total of 100 delegates, besides 50 speakers, will hold nine plenary sessions and as many parallel sessions during the ICGE-II amid Covid-19 protocols. They will include policymakers, academics, professionals and domain experts, besides Ministers and diplomats from 30 countries. Legislators A Pradeep Kumar and Purushan Kadalundi, besides 'Gender Park' CEO PTM Sunish were present at the press conference addressed by Shailaja. The first edition of the ICGE was held at Kovalam near Thiruvananthapuram in 2015 on the theme of 'Gender, Governance and Inclusion'. It saw the release of Kerala State Policy for Transgenders. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Warning: This article includes graphic details of violence and sexual assault. A woman incarcerated in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility said she was beaten and sexually assaulted by a corrections officer earlier this month while other officers allegedly punched and kicked multiple women in what she called a revenge attack. In a phone interview from prison Tuesday night, Ajila Nelson, 30, described a horrific chain of events in which she alleges a group of officers beat and punched her, stripped off her clothes, and one male officer grabbed her breast and put his fingers into my vagina. Nelson, who is serving time for assault and forgery charges, said she was one of several women who were physically beaten by staff in the early hours of Jan. 11. Other prisoners told family and advocates that multiple women were hurt, although the total number is still unknown. Thirty staff members have since been suspended. State officials have confirmed there is an ongoing criminal investigation into the incident, but have provided few details. Multiple lawmakers have called for the prison commissioner to step aside during the investigation. A spokesman for Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday called the reports of beatings extremely disturbing but said the governor stood by Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks reform efforts. NJ Advance Media does not typically name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Nelson said she wanted to come forward so the public is aware of the alleged attack on her and the other women. She said she also wanted to speak out because other women have been abused at the prison over the years. The organization is not identifying the officer who Nelson said sexually assaulted her because it could not confirm his identity or status. Nelson said around 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 11 a group of more than two dozen correctional officers and staff members, including Sean St. Paul, the top administrator at the prison who has since been suspended, showed up in the Restrictive Housing Unit, where women are held for disciplinary reasons. They were dressed in full body armor, she said. They were armored up because they knew what they were coming to do, Nelson said. It is unclear what prompted the attack, but Nelson said she believes correctional officers were seeking retaliation for a number of complaints inmates made against them. In a message to her sister Jan. 8, three days before the alleged attack, Nelson said one officer threatened to make our lives hell if we write him up or report him. When the officers arrived, Nelson said she thought it was going to be a standard cell search. The officers asked the women to put their hands through the slotted door to be handcuffed and Nelson complied, she said. After the women were handcuffed, the cell doors slid open, Nelson said, and a group of officers barged into each one and allegedly began kicking and punching the women. Nelson said she was also maced and spit on. She broke the ulna bone in her arm during the alleged attack, she said. They started throwing punches, throwing punches, Nelson said about the attack. I am cuffed so I cant defend myself. I cant stop the punches from coming. All I know is they got me to the floor and they started stomping my head. I started getting dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. Then they grabbed my arm and bent my arm back. I heard it crack and I felt it crack. I tried to look up and look at my arm. As soon as I looked up, I got kicked in my face with a boot. My whole sight went out. As Nelson was losing consciousness, she said officers both men and women dragged her by her hair into a shower, where they began ripping off her clothes. She was then dragged back out of the shower, Nelson said, without her pants on and put into a cell as they continued to rip the rest of her clothes off. A male officer was on top of her, she said. Nelson said he was choking her and had his knee on her back. She said she couldnt breath. He allegedly began to grab her breast. Once I looked at him, he grabbed my head back, like Stay f---ing still, Nelson explained. Then he moved his hands from my breast to my vagina. He put fingers into my vagina. I am trying to move away. They finally got all my clothes off and he snatches his hand out. When he snatches his hand out, he scratches me on my vagina. He was like forcing himself on me, she added. I was screaming for help. As Nelson said she was being attacked, a handful of other women were also reportedly being beaten. Two women, including a transgender woman, were injured so badly they required wheelchairs to get around in the following days, Nelson said. Another woman had her eye socket broken, she said. One womans mother told NJ Advance Media that her daughter was dragged out of her cell in just underwear and a bra before being punched, kicked and maced by officers. The mother asked that she and her daughter not be identified to protect against retaliation. The woman was handcuffed during it, she told her mom. She said, Mom, they beat so bad. Im in so much pain, said the mother. She was in so much pain. Her daughter may have a broken arm as well, the mother said, adding that her daughter told her she was covered in bruises after she said she was attacked. Nelson said she received no medical help until Jan. 14, three days later, and only after her sister called prison officials and the ombudsman, an independent prison watchdog. I walked around here for three days without any medical attention, Nelson said. My arm is dangling. Nelson said the next day some of the officers who participated in the alleged attack were laughing at the injured inmates. They thought it was funny, she said. Other family members told NJ Advance Media that Nelson described the same details to them. The first thing Nelson told her twin sister when they spoke was that she was sexually assaulted during the attack, Aisha Nelson said. What she said was: The officers beat her, jumped her, pulled her clothes off and sexually assaulted her, the sister said. Ajila Nelson said she was eventually given a rape kit and an X-ray on her arm at the prisons infirmary. On Jan. 15 she said she was interviewed by a Hunterdon County Prosecutors Office official and detailed the alleged physical and sexual assault to the person. Her uncle Rodney ONeail said he learned of the incident from another inmate. He said prison officials never called the family or returned his phone calls. It hurt really bad. It really hurt, ONeail said about being left in the dark. For people to be treated like that and you dont get a response from anybody? I was feeling helpless, really helpless. A spokesman for the prosecutors office directed questions to the state attorney generals office. Both agencies previously confirmed they were looking into the accusations but did not provide more information. Liz Velez, a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections, declined to comment on the sexual allegations. Its important to note that the Department proactively engaged Hunterdon County Prosecutors office to open a criminal investigation on this matter and are ensuring this incident and all related allegations are being thoroughly reviewed, Velez said Wednesday. Nelson said investigators were at the prison Tuesday and that she is scheduled to be interviewed by the attorney generals office Wednesday. State Sen. Loretta Weinberg has called on Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks to step down as the state's top prison official during the ongoing criminal investigation into an alleged attack at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility earlier this month.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media The prison has been under intense public scrutiny in recent years after a U.S. Department of Justice report found that sexual abuse of inmates at the prison was an open secret. This is not the first report that shows that the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility is out of control, improperly managed, and clearly an abusive danger to the women locked up behind its walls, state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, and Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex, wrote in a letter to the governor earlier this week. Velez, the DOC spokeswoman, said previously that the agency was fully aware of the allegations of use of force, and will not tolerate such behavior. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. DGAP-News: Mogo Finance S.A. / Key word(s): Bond Mogo Finance EUR 2022 bondholders approve amendments to terms and conditions - Bondholders' meeting secures greater financial flexibility in COVID crisis 27.01.2021 / 15:15 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Mogo Finance EUR 2022 bondholders approve amendments to terms and conditions Bondholders' meeting secures greater financial flexibility in COVID crisis Riga, Latvia, 27 January 2021. Mogo Finance and its group companies (the "Group"), specialized in used car financing, has received broad approval from bondholders to amend the terms and conditions of its EUR 2022 bonds. At today's bondholders meeting, all proposed amendments were resolved. The proposals included the replacement of the bondholders' representative (Proposal 1), the amendment of financial conditions (Proposal 2) and the amendment of the definition of permitted debt (Proposal 3). The minutes of the meeting will be published on the Group's website later today. Proxies were given to a single proxyholder in accordance with Luxembourg laws on bondholders' meetings. The tabulation agent confirmed that proxies were received from over 450 investors holding EUR bonds in a total nominal value of approximately EUR 75.5 million. With the resulting participation of 75.5% of outstanding bonds, the quorum threshold of 50% was duly satisfied. Of the participants, at least 96% voted in favor of each of the resolutions, thereby also duly satisfying the majority thresholds. The terms and conditions of the EUR 2022 bonds are expected to be formally amended in the coming days. Subsequently, the updated terms and conditions will be published on the website of Mogo and the amendment fees will be paid to the relevant investors. Modestas Sudnius, CEO of Mogo Finance, commented: "The bondholders' consent to the amendment of the terms and conditions is a great vote of confidence in Mogo Finance. We greatly appreciate the support of our investors as we navigate the COVID crisis." CFO Maris Kreics added: "The approvals in relation to the interest coverage ratio, the equity ratio and the permitted debt clause will strengthen the growth and profitability prospects of the Group. With the resulting greater financial flexibility in the economic environment of the COVID crisis, we can continue to focus on optimizing business performance." Aalto Capital acted as financial advisor to Mogo Finance. The full documentation is available on the Group's website at https://mogo.finance/bonds/. Contact: Mogo Finance Maris Kreics, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Email: maris.kreics@mogofinance.com Aalto Capital Sven Pauly, Investor Relations (IR) Email: sven.pauly@aaltocapital.com About Mogo Finance: Mogo Finance is one of the leading and fastest-growing used car secured financing companies on a global scale. In selective markets, the Company also utilizes consumer lending as a strategic capital allocation vehicle to leverage its performance and customer base. Recognizing the niche underserved by traditional lenders, Mogo Finance provides financial inclusion and disruptively changes the used car and consumer financing industry across 14 countries. Up to date the Company has issued over EUR 585 million secured loans and running a net loan and used car rent portfolio of over EUR 192 million. Mogo offers secured loans up to EUR 15,000 with a maximum tenor of 84 months making used car financing process convenient, both for its customers and partners. Wide geographical presence and diversified revenue streams grant Mogo with unique scale and pace unmatched by its rivals. Mogo Finance operates a multi-channel fintech approach through its own branch network, more than 2,000 partner locations and a strong online presence. Physical footprint enriched with excellent customer journey makes Mogo Finance top of mind brand in its industry. A state-of-the-art car portal supports cross-selling potential from re-possessed cars to leasing and vice versa. Established in 2012, with headquarters in Riga, Latvia, Mogo Finance operates in Baltics and Europe with a strong focus on GDP-dynamic countries in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. Operating regions also include the Near East, the Caucasus and Central Asia as well as Eastern Africa. www.mogofinance.com IMPORTANT INFORMATION The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa or any other countries or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, the bonds in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Persons into whose possession this announcement may come are required to inform themselves of and observe all such restrictions. This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The bonds have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act. This announcement does not constitute a prospectus for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (the "Prospectus Directive") and does not constitute a public offer of securities in any member state of the European Economic Area (the "EEA"). This announcement does not constitute an offer of bonds to the public in the United Kingdom. No prospectus has been or will be approved in the United Kingdom in respect of the bonds. Accordingly, this announcement is not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of this announcement as a financial promotion may only be distributed to and is only directed at (i) persons who are outside the United Kingdom or (ii) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the "Order") or (iii) high net worth companies, and other persons to whom it may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons in (i), (ii) and (iii) above together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). Any invitation, offer or agreement to subscribe, purchase or otherwise acquire such securities will be engaged in only with, Relevant Persons. Any person who is not a Relevant Person should not act or rely on this announcement or any of its contents. PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS ONLY - Manufacturer target market (MIFID II product governance) is eligible counterparties and professional clients only (all distribution channels). No PRIIPs key information document (KID) has been prepared as the bonds do not constitute packaged products and will be offered to eligible counterparties and professional clients only. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! New Delhi, Jan 27 : "Choosing a garment means deciding the identity of our future dreams, in connection with the world and the people who inhabit it," says Vidur Adlakha, Co-founder La Fuori. Brainchild of designers Adlakha from India and Riccardo Benedini from Italy, La Fuori focuses on organic and sustainable clothing. It recently launched its latest collection 'Stories of Sapa' in India after being successful in the US. IANSlife spoke to Adlakha to know what affect the pandemic has had on their business and why slow fashion is sustainable fashion. Read excerpts: Q: How has the pandemic affected your business and the designs? A: La Fuori with its strong brigade of women employees, is marching steadily towards its endeavor to empower as many underprivileged women and artisans. We bring you closer to the artisan's community across the world. 30 per cent of all our collections are hand embellished ensembles curate by the women of various regions and tribes, carefully tailored into perfection. We've been resolute to ensure the artisans get the recognition and appreciation they rightly deserve. 10 per cent of each purchase at La Fuori is directed towards these women artisans and their livelihood. Our artisans are mothers who create the fabric of life, tenacious dreamers and advocates of their own destiny. We understand the present conditions, and pledge continuous support to our artisans and their livelihoods. Our artisans are paid 20 per cent higher than the regular wage rate. We share 10 per cent of our profits directly with the weavers, embroiderers and all the people we collaborate with on our path; the distribution of profits is in addition to the salaries for the creation of our products. Q: Tell us about the latest collection and the inspiration behind it. A: The new collection 'Stories of Sapa' explores innovative textures on Vietnamese inflorescence, blending the art of hand-weaving organic silk with a palette of vibrant colors, inspired by the heights of the Sapa plateau. The latest collection, "Stories of Sapa", took us to the Sapa plateau, in Vietnam, with the women of the Hmong community. It has allowed us to reconcile two very different realities. In fact, we immersed ourselves in the unspoiled nature of northern Vietnam, after having been overwhelmed, a few months earlier, by the desert villages of the town of Barmer, in India. Our primary intent is always to connect our travels and the people we meet along the way; in this case, women of the desert who converse with women of the mountains. Q: The fashion industry contributes the most to pollution. How important is it to adopt sustainable fashion? A: We want to sensitize women to wear their clothes responsibly. Choosing a garment means deciding the identity of our future dreams, in connection with the world and the people who inhabit it. We therefore want to create a community active in the enhancement, dissemination and safeguarding of local cultures, which allows artisan women around the world to connect with other women who, in other parts of the planet, wear their creations. Q: How is your brand being a sustainable one? A: Working towards our goals on sustainability and love for the environment, we envision ourselves working hands on with organic fabrics, dyes and elements to make this world a better place. Crafting our own long journey in the sustainable lifestyle space, we believe in the beauty of slow living; the importance of naturally sourced produce over synthetically manufactured. We respect the divide between modern automation and irrefutable subtleties of hand-made precision. We aspire to stay true to our core eco-friendly values whilst focusing on the customer and the artisan in equal sense. Fundamental to this lifestyle brand is the choice of materials as well as the use of entirely sustainable products and resources. The fabrics are made from organic fibers and are always combined with ecological prints and colors. Furthermore, no polyester and non-biodegradable products are used. The packaging is also sustainable and reusable in order to reduce water and environmental pollution. Q: How feasible do you think it is for people to choose sustainable clothing options? A: The textile cultures around the world and their artisans, with their own life stories, offer us this beauty. This is why we leave and go knocking on their doors. Our design is a cultural encounter. Thanks to the support of local artisans, we get to know textile cultures and traditions at risk of extinction and we establish a new creative dialogue with them, aimed at developing, within the artisan community itself, a greater awareness of the value and role that their own products have on the modern market. We therefore encourage each individual to protect the eco system. Slow fashion is a way to environment safety, and safeguarding our traditional textiles and cultures. We urge our clients to understand the value of the garment through our experiences and artisans, therefore we bring lesser known art forms to life through our designs. (Puja Gupta can be contacted at puja.g@ians.in) In a cellphone video taken by her husband, Folasada Butler lays in a hospital bed after giving birth to twins. The doctor who delivered them, Lynne Lightfoote, holds a newborn in each arm. Butler and Lightfoote are wearing protective masks, but you can hear their muffled expressions of awe. "Oh my God," they say, again and again. That's how childbirth is supposed to be. A blessed event. For too many women, though, it's a death sentence. Maternal and infant mortality rates in the United States are the highest among developed nations. And the racial disparities are stunning, with Black women three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than White women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "As I prayed for myself during my pregnancy, I prayed for Dr. Lightfoote and her team," Butler wrote on Instagram after the Sept. 29 birth. "In this time where #BlackMaternalHealth is experiencing major losses and tragedies, my level of gratitude for Dr. Lightfoote is at an all time high!" I recently spoke with Butler and Lightfoote, checked up on the twins, and found out more about the teamwork that led to that happy birthday. Now four months old, the girl named Majesty and the boy named Royal are doing fine. Butler and Lightfoot stay in touch because complications related to a pregnancy can sometimes show up six months to a year later. Butler is quite pleased with her doctor - a relationship made stronger by their shared experience of being Black women. "She not only gives wise advice about pregnancy and gynecological care, but we can also talk about my overall well-being - my weight, how I'm feeling about the racial unrest, concerns about the covid pandemic, the racial disparities with that," said Butler, who also has two older children. "Dr. Lightfoote is like a big sister." Lightfoote, a District of Columbia native, has been an OB/GYN since 2001. She graduated from Wellesley College and the University of Virginia Medical School. Her mother, Marilyn Madry Lightfoote, was a renowned molecular immunologist at the National Institutes of Health, and her father, William Lightfoote, was a neurologist at Greater Southeast Community Hospital. Lynne Lightfoote works at Foxhall OB/GYN Associates in Northwest Washington, and she delivered the Butler twins at nearby Sibley Memorial Hospital. Physicians with such pedigree are sometimes referred to as "country club doctors." Lightfoote is definitely known for giving her patients five-star treatment, but she's very down to earth. Butler recalled her first appointment with Lightfoote 15 years ago. "My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, came with me and she put him out - or maybe I should say invited him to leave the room - so she and I could make a connection," Butler said. Lightfoote will hold a patient's hand while explaining a medical condition or procedure and not let go until she's sure the patient understands. Gentle, but also tough. "If you say you can't make an appointment for a checkup and then show up later with a new hairdo, I'll call you out on it," Lightfoote said. "But I'll do it out of love. I'm not trying to get the most 'likes' on social media. I'm trying to save the lives of mothers and their babies." She's not alone. Efforts to reduce Black maternal and infant deaths include legislation, such as the Anti-Racism in Public Health Act under consideration in Congress. There are also state initiatives, such as the "Black agenda," unveiled earlier this month by Maryland House Speaker Adrienne Jones. Both measures are aimed at attacking systemic racial inequalities. And they reflect a growing awareness that disparities arise from the cumulative effects of centuries of racial oppression, in which unequal access to education, employment and health care were enshrined in law. Dismantling the structures are essential but will take decades if not centuries to achieve. The timetable for human development is much tighter. Nine months from conception to birth. In the end, success will probably look a lot like Butler in consultation with Lightfoote. Access to more affordable, high-quality health-care facilities. Morehighly skilled doctors aware of the dangers Black women and their babies face - and willing to listen to Black women when they tell them something is wrong. We need more doctors who, like Lightfoote, talk to their patients, not at them. Linda Green, an OB/GYN in Coral Springs, Fla., who is Black, told me that female patients who are Black often come to her after having unpleasant encounters with male physicians, Black and White. "They'd say things like, 'It just didn't feel right when I was talking to him,' " she said. "Or, 'He wouldn't look me in the eye when I had a question; he didn't respect my intelligence.' And, 'He just didn't seem to care.' " In the February 2021 issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, the lead commentary addressed those issues: "Women of color must be listened to with empathy and solidarity, so that care and treatment responses can be appropriate; this requires a more racially and ethnically diverse workforce, anti-racist education at every level of clinical training, and increased inclusion of doulas and other patient advocates in maternal care," it read. "This requires cultural humility, mindfulness, transparency, and acknowledgment of the historical injustices that have occurred and a commitment to relegate them to history." Do that and there will be a lot more births ending in awe and celebration. A relieved, if somewhat exhausted mother, like Butler. A proud dad - her husband, Brandon - steadying his hand while trying to focus a cellphone camera. A doctor pacing joyfully with healthy twins in her arms. That's what a delivery room is supposed to look like. Full of life, not like a morgue. NHS staff receive the coronavirus vaccine in Scotland. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Much of the European Union has been devastated by COVID-19 for almost a year. Now, the 27-country bloc is struggling to administer the vaccine to its populations in a timely manner, resulting in bureaucratic infighting between the E.U. and the U.K., which just left the alliance for good. Compared to the U.S. and the U.K., which have had their own problems with vaccine distribution, the E.U. is a notable laggard. The slow pace in countries like Germany and Italy were already a source of consternation for E.U. citizens and officials, especially as a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus has raged through the U.K. Graphic: Our World in Data Things came to a head this week, after the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca drastically reduced the number of vaccine doses it would make available to the E.U. over the coming months, down to 31 million doses from the 80 million the bloc had hoped for by March. Pfizer also reported a delay at its Belgian plant, which will affect rollout to neighboring countries. In response, the E.U. says that AstraZeneca, which was given funding by the bloc, must now provide warning before it sends its vaccines to non-E.U. countries, with the E.U. health commissioner promising to take any action required to protect its citizens. Multiple countries in the bloc are considering legal action against the company if it does not cooperate. AstraZeneca claims that the doses were not guaranteed, and that the U.K. simply ordered up more doses before the E.U., making the company legally bound to deliver them first. The E.U. did get a boost when Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical company, pledged to help produce 125 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine by the end of the summer. But that hardly solves the near-term problems facing the member states. The U.K., which was the first country to approve the Pfizer and AstraZeneca candidates, and whose vaccination program has sped up in recent weeks, is none too happy with the prospect that the E.U. will curtail future doses to its citizens; the countrys vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi warned about the dead end of vaccine nationalism. As long as supply shortages remain, the two sides, already split over the U.K.s drawn-out exit from the E.U., are likely to remain even more at odds. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Due to the major developments in the situation around LAC and LOC in the past year, the defence budget for 2021 is expected to go up. Year 2020 saw a remarkable beginning with the 11th edition of Defence Expo at Lucknow from 5-8 February 2020. Over 200 partnerships involving the signing of memorandum of understandings (MoUs), transfer of technology and product launches took place on the third day of DefExpo-2020 at a ceremony called Bandhan. Among those MoUs signed, 23 of them were by Uttar Pradesh government. The Bandhan ceremony witnessed more than 13 product launches, 124 MoUs between DPSUs, private and global defence manufacturing companies. Given Indias geopolitical situation, the expectations from the Defence Budget for FY 2020-21 were quite high. However, it was a routine allocation of Rs 3,37,553 crore (excluding Defence Pension). Out of Rs 3,37,553 crore, Rs 2,18,998 crore is for the Revenue (Net) expenditure and Rs 1,18,555 crore is for capital expenditure for the Defence Services and the organisations/departments under the Ministry of Defence. With the outbreak of the pandemic, several countries went under national lockdown. India, too, was under a nationwide lockdown from 24 March till 14 April 2020. Though lockdown restrictions continued to ease with each phase, it impacted the economy adversely. As a result, the Ministry of Finance on 8 April 2020 released an order listing spending and cash flow management of each ministry. For the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the order put a cap of 20 percent to defence capital, defence services and defence pensions. Such measures further solidified the understanding that in a post-COVID world, self-reliance will be a necessity. Hence, on 12 May 2020, the Government of India (GoI) gave a clarion call of Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India. As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Rozgar Yojna, the GoI announced several reforms in eight sectors as part of the stimulus package. These sectors are defence production, space, civil aviation, power, atomic energy, coal, minerals and social infrastructure. Reforms announced under defence production are as follows: Increase of FDI cap to up to 74 percent under automatic route: The formal revision of FDI cap as per press note 4 (2020 series) was issued by the DPIIT on 17 September 2020. Setting up of Project Management Unit (PMU): The DAP 2020 mandates setting up of a PMU to support contract management so as to usher in faster decision making and time-bound defence acquisition process. Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB): The GoI has begun the process of the corporatisation of OFB. Creation of a Capital Budget for domestic procurement: In August 2020, it was announced that the MoD has bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. A separate budget head has been created with an outlay of nearly Rs 52,000 crore for domestic capital procurement in the current financial year. Creation of a negative list of import: A list of 101 items has been notified on which there would be an embargo on the import beyond the timeline indicated against them. Due to the major developments in the situation around LAC and LOC in the past year, the defence budget for 2021 is expected to go up. Since the release of import embargo list, more funds are expected to the focused towards indigenous procurements to make India self-reliant in defence sector. Today, self-reliance has become a strategic requirement of the nation. It is crucial to develop an industrial ecosystem for long term indigenous support to Indian armed forces. With major programmes in the pipeline, such as 114 fighters for the air force, P 75I class submarines for Indian Navy, carrier-based fighters, armed UAVs, artillery modernisation for the army, the defence budget is expected to cater to such crucial requirements of the armed forces. The Centre increased the defence budget by approximately 6 percent and the total defence budget stood at Rs 4.7 lakh crore last year and the same or more is expected to be the hike this year. The writer is Director-Aerospace and Defence, EY India; and Indian Army veteran [January 27, 2021] RMI, Energy Transitions Commission, We Mean Business, and World Economic Forum Co-Launch Mission Possible Partnership to Help Transform Heavy Industry and Transport GENEVA, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP), launched today at the Davos Agenda, is a new coalition formed by the Energy Transitions Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute, We Mean Business coalition, and the World Economic Forum. Backed by funding from the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and Breakthrough Energy, MPP will accelerate the decarbonization of industries representing 30 percent of global emissions. The MPP builds on the success of the Mission Possible Platform, which launched at the United Nations Secretary General's Climate Action Summit in 2019 and has grown from 30 companies in 2019 to 400. All of these companies are committed to working on concrete actions towards a net-zero future. MPP is centered on the idea that the Paris Agreement alone will not generate the solutions necessary to transition global supply chains and industrial processes. Country-centric strategies need to be complemented by action from global industries. MPP will help to mobilize resources, align cross a greater number of organizations, and accelerate the Race to Zero. "The number of country commitments to net-zero emissions targets by 2050 has grown during 2020 and is significant," said Christoph Wolff, head of mobility, World Economic Forum. "Public, private cooperation across the transport and heavy industry sectors is crucial for the next phrase of action. The launch of the Mission Possible Partnership at the Davos Agenda will accelerate these efforts in the run-up to COP26 in November." MPP is supported by the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, Ceres, the Climate Champions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Maritime Forum, SYSTEMIQ, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The International Energy Agency will provide guidance and input on various aspects of MPP's work, including engagement with governments and energy modelling. In late 2021, the Partnership will aim to showcase net-zero agreement breakthroughs in shipping, aviation, and steel. Within three years, it plans to help companies complete climate action agreements in these sectors as well as trucking, chemicals, cement, and aluminium. Within five years, the Partnership aims for clear shifts in investment patterns across these sectors and will be pursuing net-zero climate action agreements in additional sectors. Learn more: https://missionpossiblepartnership.org/ Media inquiries: Alexandra Chin +1 9732620002 media@rmi.org SOURCE Rocky Mountain Institute [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Texas Lawmakers Proposal Would Let State Residents Vote on Secession A lawmaker in Texas this week introduced a measure that would allow state residents to discuss, debate, and vote on independence from the United States. State Rep. Kyle Biedermann, a Republican, filed House Bill 1359, also known as the Texas Independence Referendum Act. Voters would choose in a referendum on Nov. 2, 2021, whether the state should leave the United States and establish an independent republic, the act states (pdf). If voters say yes, a committee would be formed to study the matter and make recommendations regarding the best way to break away from the rest of the country, including advice on how to amend the state Constitution to accommodate the proposed nation and recommendations for issues that would have to be negotiated with the U.S. government such as a common travel agreement. This Act simply Lets Texans Vote. This decision is too big to be monopolized solely by the power brokers in our Capitol. We need to let Texans voices be heard! Biedermann said in a statement. Voters of all political persuasions in Texas can agree on one thing, Washington D.C. is and has been broken. Our federal government continuously fails our working families, seniors, taxpayers, veterans, and small business owners. For decades, the promises of America and our individual liberties have been eroding. It is now time that the People of Texas are allowed the right to decide their own future. This is not a left or right political issue. Let Texans Vote! The lawmaker said the state Constitution allows Texas to remove itself from the United States. Specifically, Article 1, Section 2 states: All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient. The Texas Nationalist Movement noted the filing, saying it would give Texans an opportunity to head to the polls in November of 2021 and start the process of reasserting our status as an independent nation. Texas seceded from the United States in 1861, joining the Confederacy, and rejoined the United States after the Civil War. A number of movements in the past few decades have attempted to secede. In 2009, then-Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, referenced the idea when he told reporters: Weve got a great union. There is absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that? Even if voters decide to secede, succession may not be allowed. The Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that a state may not secede unless it has the consent of other states, or through revolution. And then-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, a Reagan appointee, said in a letter in 2006 that there is no right to secede. With complaints mounting in the Philadelphia area and across the country about shortages so severe that coronavirus vaccine appointments come with long wait times or have been canceled, the Biden administration announced a wartime effort to boost shipments and to aim for inoculating 300 million Americans during the next several months. Along with increasing distributions to the states 16% in the next three weeks, Biden said the government would be purchasing an additional 100 million doses of each of the two approved coronavirus vaccines. Biden said, This is enough vaccine to vaccinate 300 million Americans by end of summer, early fall. Tens of thousands of vaccine appointments across the country have been canceled because of supply shortages. Philadelphia officials advised Tuesday that it could take several months to vaccinate essential workers and the 90,000 people over 75, in addition to those who have underlying health issues. READ MORE: Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine in the Philly area? Use our lookup tool. But suggesting that supplies werent the only problem, Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that Pennsylvania must improve its vaccine distribution process and officials are mulling ways to get more shots in arms. We recognize that we need to do a better job, Wolf said. Pennsylvania ranks 41st out of the 50 states in terms of the percentage of people given at least one shot, according to the New York Times vaccine rollout tracker. While Pennsylvania has no plans for a centralized scheduling system or phone hotline, like the one New Jersey opened Monday, Wolf said the commonwealth would consider establishing one if it determined a hotline would speed up the process. Wolfs comments came on a day that the state announced 219 additional coronavirus-related deaths. Fatalities have increased in the last two months in Pennsylvania, compared with summer and fall. Across the river, Camden County said that the last 30 days have been the deadliest since the pandemic took hold, with 167 fatalities in that period. Camden School Superintendent Katrina McCombs said Tuesday that the district has delayed reopening schools for in-person learning until at least April 12. In-person classes had been scheduled to resume Monday. More than 1,100 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported this month in Philadelphia and its seven neighboring counties, according to an Inquirer analysis. However, confirmed-case numbers have been trending better in both states, officials said. In New Jersey, 4,117 cases were reported Tuesday, part of a continued downward trend. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations continued to decline in Pennsylvania, said acting Health Secretary Alison Beam in her first news briefing since taking over for Rachel Levine, who has been nominated to join the Biden administration. Philadelphia also has seen a drop in positive tests. The city had an average of 401 new cases per day in the week that ended Saturday, said Health Commissioner Thomas Farley, compared with 518 in the previous week. Deaths also have decreased, from 85 during the week of Jan. 3 to 61 deaths the following week. READ MORE: The wait for a vaccine is frustrating teachers and adding uncertainty to school reopening plans Philadelphia School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. was expected to announce plans on Wednesday to move to a hybrid learning model for the citys schools, although the city says it is weeks away from vaccinating all its teachers. Farley said the city was doing all it can to get people vaccinated. Overall we are making progress, but we still have to manage the problem of a low number of doses, he said. We know this is a very frustrating period for people. Its very frustrating for everyone. As of Tuesday, the city had administered 90,600 first doses of the vaccine and 24,600 second doses, said Caroline Johnson, the deputy health commissioner. Farley said the health department has been overwhelmed with emails and phone calls from frustrated residents who want to know how or when they can get vaccinated. On Monday, the city abruptly ended its partnership with Philly Fighting COVID, a group overseeing the citys largest vaccination site, after it said the organization failed to disclose that the personal information residents entered into the groups preregistration portal could be sold. READ MORE: City Council wants answers as questions build over Philly Fighting COVID partnership, handling of vaccines The city strongly recommends that any Philadelphia resident interested in receiving the vaccine register with the citys portal, said Health Department spokesperson James Garrow. In the meantime, Farley said that despite recently encouraging numbers, our case counts are very high because our case counts were very high. Farley advised resident to eschew indoor social gatherings. No indoor Super Bowl watch parties, he said. Those can be just as dangerous as Thanksgiving. Inquirer staff writers Kristen A. Graham and Melanie Burney, and the Associated Press contributed to this article. [January 27, 2021] CommerceHub Signs Three-year, Exclusive Partnership with BJ's Wholesale Club ALBANY, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CommerceHub, a leading ecommerce enablement platform of over 15,000 retailers, brands and suppliers, signed a three-year, exclusive agreement with BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ). CommerceHub provides online order fulfillment and delivery accuracy solutions in support of the company's drop-ship program. "With online order volumes at new highs, the order fulfillment and delivery operations have to be well-executed to keep the supply chain moving and ensure a great customer experience," said Tom Barone, Chief Revenue Officer, CommerceHub. "We look forward to continuing our collaboration with BJ's and helping them accelerate their digital priorities to further extend their drop-ship network and grow their online business." BJ's has made significant progress in expanding its omnichannel offerings and rolling out new digital services, including the launch of curbside pickup in August 2020. In recent years, the company has also launched an improved website, mobile app, digital coupons, buy online, pick-up in club, same-day delivery and more. "We help our members save time and money with our convenient shopping options and unbeatable value," said Monica Schwartz, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, BJ's Wholesale Club. "We're excited to continue to enhance our drop-ship program with CommerceHub to help members find everything they need in a convenient, one-stop shop on BJs.com." About BJ's Wholesale Club Headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts, BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. is a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States. The company currently operates 219 clubs and 150 BJ's Gas locations in 17 states. The Company's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BJ). About CommerceHub CommerceHub is a leading ecommerce enablement platform connecting supply, demand and delivery that helps retailers and brands increase sales by expanding product assortments, promoting products on the channels that perform, and enabling rapid, on-time customer delivery. CommerceHub helps its robust network of thousands of retailers, brands, and distributors achieve over $30 billion in Gross Merchandise Value annually. Visit commercehub.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/commercehub-signs-three-year-exclusive-partnership-with-bjs-wholesale-club-301216115.html SOURCE CommerceHub [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Travelers flying to the U.S. from abroad now have to show proof of negative Covid-19 tests before boarding their flight. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said preflight testing is necessary as Covid-19 cases continue to soar and more-contagious strains of the virus emerge around the world. President Biden signed an executive order on Jan. 21 affirming the new testing requirements and directing agencies to consider additional travel-safety measures. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic Here is what you need to know about the new protocols before you take a trip. Who does it affect? The order applies to everyone traveling to the U.S. on international flights, including U.S. citizens. You will need to show negative test results even if you are flying on a private jet or charter flight. There are exceptions for children under age 2, airline crews and federal law-enforcement agents and members of the military traveling for duty. What countries are covered? All of them. Passengers need to show proof of a negative test when traveling to the U.S. from any country, including Mexico and the Caribbean. The CDC wont be granting any temporary waivers for countries where testing capacity is lacking, as it had originally planned: With the U.S. already in surge status, the testing requirement for all air passengers will help slow the spread of the virus as we work to vaccinate the American public," the agency said. The universal testing requirement went into effect Jan. 26. People arriving from the U.K. had already been subject to similar testing requirements that went into effect in December, following the emergence of a new coronavirus strain there. Airline executives have said they expect some short-term hiccups as the new policy goes into effect but say they believe testing will help restore confidence in travel in the long run. United Airlines Holdings Inc., for example, has said it is working with partners to increase the supply of tests in places like Mexico, where the new requirements have put a damper on appetite for trips to beach resorts. We are going to work really, really hard to make sure its really, really easy to travel with United even with the new testing requirements," Toby Enqvist, Uniteds chief customer officer, said. What kind of test will I need, and when? What happens if I dont have my results? U.S.-bound air travelers must get tested no more than three days before flying and bring written or electronic proof of the results. Airlines can accept both PCR and rapid antigen tests. The CDC has said home diagnostic kits that are analyzed in a lab should qualify, if the kits have been approved by national health authorities. If you dont have the documentation with you, airlines wont allow you to board, according to the CDCs order. Finding a test is your responsibility, and lack of supply wont be an excuse. The rules are strict, and exceptions will be rare. The CDC says passengers who cant find tests in the country they are flying from might need to arrange to travel to a second country to be tested before heading to the U.S. Embassies also wont be providing tests, the State Department says. Hotels and resorts are starting to offer tests on-site, and airlines are also looking to help customers find out where to get tested. United is adding information about local testing options to a digital hub on its website and app. In the coming weeks and months, United said its customers will be able to use that tool to book tests at sites around the world. Delta Air Lines Inc. has also launched a website where customers can find approved testing sites in cities where the airline flies. To streamline the verification process, airlines including United and American Airlines Group Inc. are launching health passports where passengers can upload documents such as negative Covid-19 test results. What if my test is positive? If you test positive for Covid-19 while you are abroad, get ready to extend your trip. Some carriers have said they will let passengers rebook only after 14 days, and will require proof of recovery. Government officials are warning travelers to think through how to handle work and child care if this happens. The costs of finding a place to stay and obtaining medical care will fall to you. Some hotels and resorts are offering complimentary space to quarantine, but make sure to check. If you cannot easily access a Covid-19 test or if you test positive, you will end up overseas for much longer than you planned," said Ian Brownlee, acting assistant secretary of the State Departments Bureau of Consular Affairs. All travelers should have a Plan B." What if I have been vaccinated? Even if you have been vaccinated for Covid-19, you still will need to show proof of a negative test. What if I recently had Covid-19 and got better? If you have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past three months but no longer have symptoms, the CDC doesnt recommend getting tested again. If you are in this group and have met the criteria to end isolation, the CDC says you can travel as long as you have written permission from a health-care provider or public-health official. Bring your positive test result and the doctors letter to show the airline in lieu of a negative test result. Does this mean the U.S. has lifted bans on most travel from Europe, the U.K. and other countries? No. Mr. Biden rejected a last-minute effort by former President Donald Trump to lift those travel restrictions on Jan. 26, citing the worsening pandemic and more-contagious variants of the virus emerging around the world. That means people who arent U.S. citizens or permanent residents generally cant come to the U.S. from most of Europe, the U.K., Brazil, China and Iran, with a few exceptions. South Africa is also being added to that list due to concerns about how a new coronavirus variant discovered there will respond to vaccines. Likewise, many countries dont allow travelers to enter from the U.S. or continue to impose lengthy quarantine requirements on arrival. What if I need to change my travel plans now? Airlines already have done away with most international change fees and are adding more flexibility for people who need to adjust their plans in light of the new testing requirements. Do I need to get tested again or quarantine when I get back to the U.S.? The CDC recommends people get a second test three to five days after travel and stay home for seven days (or 10 days without a second test). Testing on its own isnt a substitute for social distancing and wearing face masks, CDC officials said. President Biden has said he believes people arriving from abroad should be required to self-quarantine; his executive order says air travelers will be required to follow the CDCs guidelines, including self-isolation recommendations, to the extent feasible." It isnt yet clear how that might be enforced, and the order doesnt specify. The order also directs federal agencies to develop a plan for ensuring compliance with CDC guidelines and to consider other public-health measures, including consideration of additional testing immediately before departure. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. If you listen to social media chatter, you may have heard the rumor that Miami is going to replace San Francisco as Americas tech hub. Bay Area residents are (and may already have been) flocking there in droves, seeking the absence of income tax, better weather and a lower cost of living. While it's largely conjecture, new data from Initialized Capital, a San Francisco venture capital firm, shows that in a survey of its portfolio companies, if most of them were founding a company today, it wouldnt be in San Francisco. Of the more than 90 companies that typically respond to this survey each year, 42.1% said a distributed workforce would be the most beneficial way to start it in the interest of the companys long-term success. Thats a big change from last year, when only 6% said they would start a company remote. In 2020, the Bay Area was still the big winner, with 41.6% of respondents saying they would headquarter a company there, while only 28.4% said the same in 2021. Initialized Capital Initialized Capital partner Kim-Mai Cutler said this isnt surprising since the number of companies theyve invested in that are setting up in the Bay Area has been declining for seven years. 2014 had the strongest concentration of Bay Area headquartered companies for their portfolio, with three-quarters of the fund centralized there. From a tax base and economic perspective, [I think San Francisco] would be concerned because in previous cycles people have talked about company flight and I do think it's much more real than it was a few years ago since we can actually see it happening, she said. For companies grappling with these decisions, it doesnt necessarily mean theyll move their Bay Area headquarters, but instead, it could affect where their next hires will be based. Zumper, a rental marketplace company headquartered in San Francisco, plans to hire 100 people in 2021 and CEO Anthemos Georgiades said he is unsure of whether those hires will be made locally, at one of their other U.S. offices or at an entirely new office location altogether. When he heard Miami was heating up, he sent a tweet directed at the Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, asking to learn more about his plans for transforming the city into a tech hub. Suarez replied within a few hours and the duo have a meeting to discuss the prospect of opening a Miami office soon. While Georgiades is not the only entrepreneur with an eye on Miami, Cutler thinks the enthusiasm and promises may be a bit overblown. Theyre also not novel. The late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee essentially did the same thing Suarez is attempting to do now, she notes, as Lee actively recruited companies to move north from Silicon Valleys historical base on the peninsula ten years ago. A lot of people are praising this mayor like, 'Oh, he's going out of his way to attract companies,' but Ed Lee did that years ago. Ed Lee changed the whole business tax system of the city... specifically to attract more tech employees in San Francisco, Cutler said. Georgiades has also asked for a meeting with Mayor London Breed via Twitter, though he said he thinks he only got a response since hes a tech CEO and many people were following his tweets. He said hes looking forward to their scheduled meeting and mentioned several times hes not trying to pit her against Suarez in a competition for who gets Zumpers next 100 employees. Instead, he said over the last six months hes had growing concerns from his employees about the safety of San Francisco, as more of his workers have had to deal with instances of crime in their neighborhoods. As a concerned resident himself, he said the death of the two women on New Years Day was a real tipping point for him and hes increasingly concerned about the rate of crime in the city. The amount of companies allowing their employees to work at least a few days from home is also projected to grow post-pandemic, with only 10% of companies that responded saying theyd require employees to come into the office five days a week. More than one-third of the companies surveyed will be moving to a fully remote or decentralized model in 2021. For companies with an office, a two to three day office work week was the most common answer, with 70% choosing that option. Initialized Capital While companies like Facebook and Slack have announced it will adjust compensation if employees opt to work elsewhere, 61.1% of the companies surveyed do not plan to make salary adjustments based on the local cost of living. More for you Real Estate 15 non-toxic cleaning and disinfecting products As the CEO of an apartment rental marketplace, Georgiades believes San Francisco will truly see what its new normal will be in the summer, when more people are widely vaccinated and people will come flooding back to San Francisco or not. People really love San Francisco and they want to build there, but there's a lot of competition of where to build now and this conversation reflects that, he said. I have decided to join the ranks of Australia Day award recipients who are handing back their awards in response to the upgrading of Margaret Courts Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) to the highest award of Companion (AC). As an avid sports fan, I celebrated the awarding of an AO to Mrs Court, a suitable recognition of her outstanding sporting achievements. Margaret Court in action on December 22, 1974. Credit:Staff photographer I question, however, why it was deemed appropriate by the committee to upgrade her award. Her public comments in relation to LGBTI people I wont repeat them here are damaging to significant parts of our community, and by no means represent the views of many Christians. I was awarded an AO in 2017 for contributions to church and community. Hence, I feel compelled to take this action as a Christian leader. Brexiteers have seized on the EU's vaccine chaos and claimed it proves the UK was right to split from the bloc as the chief executive of AstraZeneca revealed Brussels ordered its jabs three months after Britain. The European Commission has threatened to block vaccine exports amid growing criticism of a slow rollout on the continent. European health commissioner Stella Kyriakides accused AstraZeneca, which works with Oxford University on its vaccine, of failing to give a valid explanation for failing to deliver doses to the bloc. But AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot hit back and claimed the EU was being 'emotional'. He said 'the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal' which meant there had been an 'extra three months to fix all the glitches' in Britain while for Europe 'we are three months behind in fixing those glitches'. Eurosceptics said the EU delay on agreeing a contract was 'absurd' and evidence the UK is better off as an independent nation. Boris Johnson said he has 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines after the EU threatened to impose controls on the export of jabs Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK Party, said: 'Once vaccines were approved, the British government were very, very quick to act. 'In contrast the EU dithered and delayed. Why? Well, of course, it is a bureaucratic process, a grinding machine that can't do anything quickly and they are always obsessed with something called the precautionary principle which makes it very difficult to get anything new out to consumers. 'Fast forward to where we are now since the UK made that decision and I am pleased to say that 10 per cent of the population have now been vaccinated, hopefully we are going to be on target to get the vaccinated by the time Valentine's Day comes along. 'So 10 per cent of the UK has been vaccinated. In the EU the figure is two per cent and that is leading to huge criticism of the European Commission. They are the ones that really make the big decisions.' Mr Farage said the vaccines situation proved the EU is a 'bad project, run by bad people' and added: 'Brexit was the right thing to do.' Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline: 'Do you remember the criticism we faced for not joining the EU vaccination programme? 'We made the right call as an independent nation and it is clear it was a benefit to us not being tied to the bureaucracy of the EU. 'A three month delay is absurd. It is clearly an advantage to not be part of the EU and it is really good for us but sad obviously for the people of the countries of the EU.' Mr Soriot said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there had been 'teething issues' in the rollout of the vaccine both in the UK and on the continent. He said: 'But the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal. 'So with the UK we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced. 'As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches. Would I like to do better? Of course. But, you know, if we deliver in February what we are planning to deliver, it's not a small volume. We are planning to deliver millions of doses to Europe, it is not small.' Mr Soriot said the UK had got a 'head start' on its vaccine deal because the Government was already working with Oxford University. He also dismissed suggestions the firm was selling jabs to other countries to make more money as he said 'we make no profit everywhere'. He said all governments 'are under pressure' because of the coronavirus crisis and 'everybody is getting kind of a bit, you know, aggravated or emotional about those things'. A senior EU official hit back at Mr Soriot's comments this morning, telling AFP that 'we contest many of the things in the interview, including the idea that the factories in the UK are reserved for UK deliveries'. AstraZeneca has a deal with the European Commission to supply 400 million doses of its vaccine. But the company has said a production shortfall in its European plants means it will miss its target while still meeting its contract with the UK. Boris Johnson has said he has 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines after the EU threatened to impose controls on the export of jabs. The Pfizer vaccine is manufactured in Europe but the bulk of the AstraZeneca jab meant for the UK is manufactured on British soil - it is made in Oxford and Staffordshire and put into vials in Wrexham. Pfizer has confirmed its projected supply for the UK remains unchanged. Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference last night that 'we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts'. Mr Soriot said that by March the UK will have vaccinated 'maybe 28 or 30 million people' and he expects the Government to hit its goal of having vaccinated the 15 million most vulnerable people by the middle of February. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi yesterday said he believes the UK will continue to receive its deliveries of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. Asked whether the EU could prevent Pfizer vials leaving its borders, Mr Zahawi told Sky News: 'No, I'm confident that the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered. 'Pfizer have made sure that they have always delivered for us, they will continue to do so.' On Monday night, Ms Kyriakides said conversations with AstraZeneca had resulted in 'dissatisfaction' and the EU 'will take any action required to protect its citizens and rights'. She said in a broadcast address that an 'export transparency mechanism' will be installed 'as soon as possible'. 'In the future, all companies producing vaccines against Covid-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries,' she said. Narrow River Management (Narrow River) today announced the formation and completion of a Series A financing for two new companies River 2 Renal Corp. (R2R) and River 3 Renal Corp. (R3R). Each company raised a total of $40 million in Series A financing for the development of novel therapies targeting orphan diseases in the renal space. Both will be managed by the Narrow River team. These companies represent the second and third companies formed by Narrow River, the first of which was River Vision Development Corp. (River Vision), which developed teprotumumab -- trade named Tepezza -- before selling it to Horizon Therapeutics. Tepezza was approved by FDA in January of 2020 and has been used to treat thousands of patients with Thyroid Eye Disease, for which it demonstrated remarkable efficacy in more that 80% of patients treated. In its first year after approval, Tepezza recorded more than $800 million in revenue. Leading the investment in R2R and R3R were SR One and Bain Capital Life Sciences (BCLS). SR One was one of the lead investors in River Vision and has been working with Narrow River to identify and license promising molecules for development. We are delighted to be working with the Narrow River team once again on these exciting new programs, remarked Simeon George, M.D., CEO of SR One. It is an important part of our strategy to develop relationships with effective management teams and to back them in successive ventures. The programs in development in R2R and R3R have the potential to address the unmet need in several kidney diseases by further improving the standard of care. We are excited to be working with Narrow River on these promising programs commented Nicholas Downing, M.D., Principal at BCLS. Completing the syndicate for R2R and R3R are HBM Healthcare Investments and Pureos Bioventures, with Chandra P. Leo and Anja Harmeier joining the companies Boards of Directors. About Narrow River Management Narrow River seeks to identify and license promising molecules that have been deprioritized by pharmaceutical companies and to develop them in indications with high medical need for which the current standard of care is inadequate. Staffed by experienced pharma and biotech clinicians, scientists and executives, Narrow River forms and manages the special purpose companies into which the compounds have been licensed. About SR One SR One Capital Management is a leading trans-Atlantic biotech venture capital firm that partners with top entrepreneurs, scientists and investment partners to seek to build elite biotechnology companies. Our mission is to translate ground-breaking technologies into next generation medicines to benefit patients with significant unmet medical needs. The firm was recently spun out of GSK where it was founded in 1985, and has offices in San Francisco, CA, Philadelphia, PA and London, UK. For more information, please visit http://www.srone.com. About Bain Capital Life Sciences Bain Capital Life Sciences (http://www.baincapitallifesciences.com) pursues investments in biopharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics and enabling life science technology companies globally. The team focuses on companies that both drive medical innovation across the value chain and enable that innovation to improve the lives of patients with unmet medical needs. Since 1984, Bain Capital has developed global reach, deep expertise and a proven track record in life sciences industries across its Private Equity, Credit, Public Equity, Venture and Real Estate business units. About HBM Healthcare Investments HBM Healthcare Investments was founded in 2001 and invests in the healthcare sector. The Company holds and manages an international portfolio of promising companies in the human medicine, biotechnology, medical technology and diagnostics sectors and related areas. Many of these companies have their lead products already available on the market or at an advanced stage of development. The portfolio companies are closely tracked and actively guided in their strategic direction. This is what makes HBM Healthcare Investments an interesting alternative to investments in big pharma and biotechnology companies. HBM Healthcare Investments has an international shareholder base and is listed on SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker: HBMN). About Pureos Bioventures Pureos Bioventures is a newly formed venture capital fund, advised by Bellevue Asset Management. Pureos invests exclusively in private innovative drug development companies, with a special emphasis on the next generation of biological drugs and drug formats. The funds portfolio companies are built on scientific excellence to develop therapies across a broad indication spectrum including oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, rare diseases, and neuroscience. Pureos has built a team with deep investment, operating, and clinical expertise, that strives to impact patients lives by advancing innovative treatments for devastating diseases. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Terminal, a company that builds world-class remote engineering teams for high growth tech companies, today announced the findings of The State of Remote Engineering: The 2021 Edition. The research, commissioned by Terminal, aims to benchmark and uncover the perspectives of engineers in the United States, Canada and Latin America with an aim to deliver leaders insights on how to recruit and build high-performing engineering teams. The report highlighted the seismic shift of 86% of software engineers now working entirely remote, compared to only 19% of engineers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects: Engineers are embracing remote: nearly 80% of engineers surveyed want to work remote 60%-100% of the time even after the pandemic is over. nearly 80% of engineers surveyed want to work remote 60%-100% of the time even after the pandemic is over. Location limitations removed: Nearly half (46%) say working remotely has made them consider leaving the city they are currently living in. Nearly half (46%) say working remotely has made them consider leaving the city they are currently living in. The rise of the hybrid work week: The majority of engineers surveyed (83%) want options in the future for both working from home and the office. The majority of engineers surveyed (83%) want options in the future for both working from home and the office. Mental health: 38% of engineers say mental health has gotten worse since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. "The rise of the remote work movement, fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic's stay-at-home orders, has established a new era of engineer expectations," said Clay Kellogg, CEO of Terminal. "Our findings show that overall, engineers love the flexibility and benefits that remote work offers and aren't going back to the old ways. Business leaders risk widening the tech talent shortage at their companies if they don't build a long-term remote work strategy that focuses on mental health, flexible schedules and team-building." Engineers Making Moves, but not Coming to America Nearly half of engineers say working remotely has increased their interest in moving, but it's not necessarily to move to be closer to a job - especially one in the United States. Findings from the study indicate that the United States isn't viewed as the land of opportunity that it once was and US-based companies risk losing out on talent if they don't establish a remote recruiting strategy: Nearly 40% of Canadian and Latin American engineers said they didn't want to work in the United States . More Canadian engineers said they did not want to move to the United States (49%) compared to Latin American engineers (18%). . More Canadian engineers said they did not want to move to (49%) compared to Latin American engineers (18%). Three out of four (74%) of engineers who are currently uninterested in working in the United States say they still won't be interested in moving to the United States even after the pandemic is over. say they still won't be interested in moving to even after the pandemic is over. Although the study showed engineers don't want to move to the United States even after the pandemic, 67% of engineers say they still want to work for companies located in major United States tech hubs,) showing signs of increasing demand for engineers looking for remote work. even after the pandemic, 67% of engineers say they still want to work for companies located in major tech hubs,) showing signs of increasing demand for engineers looking for remote work. The top reasons engineers said they didn't want to move to the United States were related to their perceptions about US politics being too crazy (56%), gun violence and lack of safety (55%), the Coronavirus pandemic not handled well (51%), poor race relations/racism (47%) and the cost of living is too high (32%). The United States is losing its standing as a launch pad for upward mobility and US-based companies risk losing access to talent if they limit themselves to only hiring engineers who live in the United States . Moving to the U.S. Would Require Major Salary Increase from Employers Engineers would require huge pay increases to move to the United States and no amount of money would convince some. Among those who are not interested in working in the United States, 15% of engineers say they wouldn't move to the United States no matter how high the pay raise, 27% would require double their current salary, and 24% would want more than double their salary. Almost twice as many engineers in Latin America (83%) would require at least double the salary or more, compared to Canadian engineers (46%). Better Work-Life Balance, But Loneliness Increase Too According to the survey, engineers say the top benefits of working remote span not needing to commute (74%), better work-life balance (61%), more autonomy (52%), more productivity (46%), less stress (37%), greater equality between on-site and off-site employees (25%), and more proactive communication by teams (22%). Although work-life balance and less stress were cited among the top benefits of working remotely, more engineers reported feeling isolated, less collaborative, and lonely compared to last year: Lack of day to day interaction 58% in 2020, nearly a 15 point jump from last year Harder to collaborate or feel part of a team39%, a 5 point increase compared to 2019 Loneliness or feelings of isolation 39%, up 17 points compared to 2019 Engineers Feel the Pain of the Tech Talent Shortage The same amount of engineers as last year (64%) say there's a need for more software engineers at their company, but the study revealed that engineers perceive the ramifications as far more dire for both the company and personal growth this year compared to last year: Holds back technical development65% in 2020 vs. 56% in 2019 Overworks engineers61% in 2020 vs. 49% in 2019 Limits ability to grow55% in 2020 vs. 46% in 2019 Stunts innovation35% in 2020 vs. 24% in 2019 Engineers' Views on Remote Work Salaries and Benefits Nearly three out of four (74%) engineers said their company adapted well to remote work during the pandemic, and collaboration and productivity have remained high. As companies adapt to working remotely, companies shifted their benefits to address the new needs of engineers working remotely: The top remote work benefits that companies offered this past year spanned flexible work hours (55%), remote learning and development (32%), technology and productivity tools (36%), mental health services and subscriptions (31%), and utilities, internet or other home office stipend (26%). When asked which remote-specific benefits would be most helpful to them, engineers were most likely to pick utilities, internet or other home office stipend as their top choice, showing an opportunity for employers to better tailor their benefits to engineers' needs. Methodology Terminal conducted this study among 1,108 software engineers sourced from Terminal's database of contacts and partner organizations. These respondents were primarily from Canada, Mexico, and Latin America, with representation from the United States, Europe and Asia as well. Responses were collected from December 17, 2020 to January 6, 2021. SOURCE Terminal Police officers detain a demonstrator protesting against restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Jan. 26, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters) Calm Returns to Dutch Cities After Riots, With Police out in Force AMSTERDAMWith shops boarded up and riot police out in force, it was relatively calm in Dutch cities on Tuesday night after three days of violence during which nearly 500 people were detained. In several cities, including the capital Amsterdam, some businesses closed early and emergency ordinances were in place to give law enforcement greater powers to respond to the rioting, which was prompted by a nighttime curfew to curb the spread of the coronavirus. On Tuesday when the 9 p.m. curfew went into effect, rowdy crowds of youths gathered in Amsterdam and Hilversum, but were broken up without incident. In Rotterdam, 17 people were detained for violating social distancing regulations. That was in stark contrast to Monday night, when rioting rocked cities across the country and more than 180 people were arrested for burning vehicles, stone throwing, and widespread looting. This was truly a different picture to yesterday, National Police chief Willem Woelders told Dutch public television. We did not need to use the riot police or other forces. But he cautioned that one night of quiet did not mean they could let down their guard. We have to remain alert, Woelders said. The Netherlands first curfew since World War Two was imposed on Saturday despite weeks of falling infections, after the National Institute for Health (RIVM) said a faster-spreading variant first found in England was causing a third of cases. A hospital in Rotterdam had warned visitors of patients to stay away, after rioters tried to attack hospitals in various cities. A nationwide appeal issued by law enforcement on Tuesday evening called on parents to keep teenagers indoors, warning they could end up with a criminal record and forced to pay for damage to cars, shops, or property. In Amsterdam on Monday, groups of youths threw fireworks, broke store windows, and attacked a police truck, but were broken up by a massive police presence. Ten police officers were injured in Rotterdam, where 60 rioters were detained overnight after widespread looting and destruction in the city center, a police spokeswoman said. Supermarkets in the port city were emptied, while bins and vehicles were set ablaze. Two photographers were hurt after being targeted by rock-throwing gangs, one in Amsterdam and another in the nearby town of Haarlem, police said. Coronavirus infections have been falling in recent weeks, with the number of new cases down by 8 percent over the past week. A little under 4,000 new infections were reported on Tuesday, the smallest daily increase since Nov. 24. But the RIVM said the situation in the Netherlands was still very serious as a result of the more contagious variant that has caused a massive surge in cases in Britain. Schools and non-essential shops across the Netherlands have been shut since mid-December. Bars and restaurants were closed two months earlier. The countrys death toll stands at 13,664, with 956,867 infections to date. By Toby Sterling Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : The single member commission for labour reforms constituted by the Union government and led by retired chief secretary of Kerala, CV Anandabose, recommended the creation of a notional or virtual constituencies for NRI's to elect representatives to legislative bodies including assembly and parliament from the country of their domicile. The recommendation has been submitted to the Union government and is under active consideration. CV Anandabose told IANS said, "Some of the recommendations submitted to the government have already been implemented. If this recommendation for creating virtual constituencies is executed, it will create six to eight MP's additionally and this is being discussed and debated among the expatriates with enthusiasm." "This is the recommendation of the commission and to take it forward government may have to bring in legislations. The point is there are 2.5 crore NRIs across the globe and if we consider 30 lakh people as one constituency, there will be six to eight constituencies. However, everything depends on the concerned countries, some countries wont allow any agitations or even meetings but there are way out for all these," the retired bureaucrat said. The commission has also suggested registration, skill mapping, re-skilling and multi-skilling of returning expatriates. "We also recommended creating a special purpose vehicle (SPV), for expats to encourage them to invest them in new enterprises," said Anandabose. The recommendations also called upon the Central government to facilitate the secure transfer of remittances of migrants through mobile banking and banking correspondents. The recommendations also said that migrant workers have the right to access to vote through a postal ballot or a similar system and a national constituency may be created to serve NRIs. The suggestion said that the Indian embassies and consulates in foreign countries must conduct elections to offer the migrant workers a chance to vote. The commission has recommended setting up of a Labour Authority of India as the nodal agency for all issues concerning to the labourers. Anandabose said, "The commission have also recommended the merger of labour and employment ministries with the department of industry under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry". "We have already submitted the report on comprehensive labour policy and are in the process of submitting two more reports, one on India's soft power and the other on our fisheries sector. They are ready for submission," he said. The commission has contacted 3,630 people for preparing the reports on their opinion. Anandabose said " The country has a workforce of 46.5 crore people including agriculture labourers and labourers from other sectors. We have taken into consideration the opinions from all these sections of the population before bringing out a report." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. HuffPost blaming Christian curriculum for Capitol riots is slanderous Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Recently the Huffington Post ran an article that was extremely hostile to Christian education here in the United States. The overall implication of the article was that the January 6 rioting at the Capitol building was directly tied to the government allowing and possibly funding conservative Christian education in the US. Specific curricula were cited and quoted (specifically, A-Beka, Bob Jones and Accelerated Christian Education) and blame was explicitly and carelessly lobbied at these schools and curriculum. Their religion-centered, anti-Democrat, anti-science, anti-multicultural message mirrors the Christian nationalism seen at the U.S. Capitol riot.[1] Such brash and unfair bias cannot go unanswered. The overwhelming majority of schools using these curricula are highly civic-minded American patriots. They love God and their country and deplore violence of any kind. Painting an entire demographic with a wide brush based on hear-say alone is slanderous. It is also disingenuous. The year 2020 was filled with leftist progressives rioting and looting all over the country in response to their own perceived inequities, yet none of that is alluded to in the Huffington Post article. If the author was seeking to be equitable, would she not have to acknowledge the possibility that government schools and their curriculum might bear some blame for those riots? Indeed the article concludes with just the opposite reaction. The following statement from the article claims to have intellectual authority but is severely lacking in credulity. Scholars say textbooks like these, with their alternate versions of history and emphasis on Christian national identity, represent one small part of the conditions that lead to events like last weeks riot at the U.S. Capitol, an episode that was permeated with the symbols of Christian nationalism.[2] Exactly who are these scholars that the author is referring to? There are no footnotes or cited sources for this particular example, and of the three scholars quoted within this article, only one implies this thought process. Therefore, the readers only recourse is to give full trust to the statements of the author or practice intellectual independence and question the statements and opinions as presented. We choose the latter. Linking terrorism to Christian education and its biblical worldview being communicated is grossly misleading. Consider Franklin Graham and the work of Samaritans Purse, which has helped countless suffering and needy people in the US and abroad. It is the same worldview that these schools and curricula seek to advance. American students using the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum annually donate to the BLESS outreach, which sponsors literacy programs in third-world countries, giving thousands of children the opportunity for advancement through education. Consider a very large Florida Christian school that utilizes A Beka and Bob Jones curricula, and funnels all the profit from that school and a thrift shop to help to fund a completely free medical clinic, two homeless shelters, and a food pantry. These are only a few examples. Conservative Christians and their churches and schools are not promoting or involved in riotous activity, but rather in activities that fulfill the Greatest Commandment to love God and neighbor. Students are taught to be contributing members of society who work for the common good of the nation around them. This is an accurate representation of conservative Christian education in America. A Clash of Worldviews At its core this article is about a clash of worldviews. The author is a committed progressive and is defending her ideology. She feels that conservative Christian schools are seeking to undermine evolution and far-left progressive policies and therefore attempts to expose them as such. And this we have in common with her because Christians feel the same exact way. Why? Because it is true. This is the clash of worldviews that the apostle Paul so brilliantly contrasts in 1 Corinthians 2:14. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Conservative Christians can and most certainly have gone through the curriculum of the government schools and point out all the issues that we have with the worldview being presented. Whether it be evolutionary history[3], radical revisions of history (i.e., the 1619 Project), sex-education curriculum developed by Planned Parenthood, transgender and homosexual ideology, etc., etc., etc. But that would be a relatively futile tit-for-tat approach. The most fundamental issue at stake is that progressives are now openly contending that one worldview is dangerous and are laying a foundation for the ostracization of the religious freedoms of anyone who disagrees. Freedom of Speech First Requires Freedom of Thought Those Christians that believe they have a responsibility to educate their child with a biblical worldview cannot consider public education a valid option. The courts have been clear over the years that there is no freedom of religion in a public school, nor is there freedom of speech for students or teachers regarding content that contradicts their sincerely held religious beliefs. Here are just some examples from the past 30 years. 1990 Webster v. New Lennox School District (7th Circuit Court of Appeals). School districts may prohibit a teacher from teaching creation science. It further states that this is not a violation of a teachers freedom of speech. 2000 - Minnesota State Court rules that there is no right for a teacher to present evidence both for and against the theory of evolution. This means that teachers are not allowed to question evolution in their own classroom. 2005 - US District Court refused to allow a school district to put disclaimer labels on textbooks regarding evolution being a theory and that other theories existed, including intelligent design and creation. It was appealed. The appeal resulted in the schools agreeing not to denigrate evolution either orally or in written form. 2005 - US Court ruled that schools could not maintain an Intelligent Design policy. Judge stated that Intelligent Design is not science and cannot be adjudged a valid, accepted scientific theory as it has failed to publish in peer-reviewed journals, engage in research and testing, and gain acceptance in the scientific community. It is of great concern that the Huffington Post (and they are not alone in this sentiment) considers the worldview of conservative Christians as dangerous and worthy of suppression. The tone of the article is clear that Christian education in the United States is a danger to our democracy. For example, a previous student of a Christian school was interviewed and the following summation was offered: Last weeks insurrectionists could have been her classmates, her teachers, her pastors. She felt a wave of recognition as she watched the pictures on social media.[4] One of the grossest misrepresentations is embodied in this quote: That whole belief system revolves around the idea that you want the rest of the world to think like you, said Garman, who is now a social worker. Its a the ends justify the means type of thing.[5] But isnt the whole point of the article that the author takes issue with the way conservative Christian educators think? That their worldview is inferior and dangerous? Doesnt she intimate that allowing this thinking to continue is dangerous to our society? Its the same old progressive logical fallacy tolerance is only extended to those that agree with them. Perhaps the greatest danger to our first amendment right of free speech are the intellectual chains that are being forged around minds. If there is not freedom of thought then there cannot really be any freedom of speech. Consider these words from Richard Dawkins, arguably one of the secularists most staunch apologists: How much do we regard children as being the property of their parents? Its one thing to say people should be free to believe whatever they like, but should they be free to impose their beliefs on their children? Is there something to be said for society stepping in? What about bringing up children to believe manifest falsehoods? Isnt it always a form of child abuse to label children as possessors of beliefs that they are too young to have thought out? [6] Do Christian parents still have freedom of thought and speech to impart those beliefs to their children? So long as America is a free nation they do, but it is quite clear that the secular, progressive worldview would like to eliminate those freedoms. The Real Threat Christian education is not a threat to the safety and well-being of our democracy nor is it a driver of terrorist threats. The real threat of Christian education is that it provides a viable alternative to the progressive worldview, and that terrifies the left. Their philosophies, which are built upon the sand of humanism, are so fragile that they cannot allow anyone to counter them. So how should Christian education respond? In faith that which overcomes the world. Hebrews 11 reminds us that we can obtain a good testimony in this world through faith. The examples presented in Scripture are the basis of our worldview and must set the example for our response. We continue in the course set before us, teaching what we know to be right. We continue to set the example that we believe in a Sovereign God to preserve our thoughts and belief, regardless of opposition. We continue to teach by example our love for fellow man, kindness for those around us, compassion for the hurting. We respond with the faith that brought us to this place, believing that God can do the work we cannot. We continue to believe that the Bible is not just a book, but the very Word of God. We cant fight the powers of progressivism through words and legislation; they are not our weapons. We have the same power of prayer and faith that we started with. Opposition is not new. Christian education must stay faithful to the mission of communicating a Biblical worldview to the next generation. Because if the real threat to humanism is the Truth we believe in, it is all we have. [1] Klein, R. (2021). These Textbooks In Thousands Of K-12 Schools Echo Trumps Talking Points. Huffington Post. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/christian-textbooks-trump-capitol-riot_n_6000bce3c5b62c0057bb711f [2] IBID [3] See Evolution Exposed: Biology from Answers in Genesis: https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/evolution-exposed-biology/?sku=10-2-261& [4] Klein, R. (2021) [5] IBID [6] Cited by Ken Ham and Greg Hall, Already Compromised, Master Books, June 2011; Richard Dawkins, The God Delusions (Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 2006, 2008), p. 315 Premier John Horgan had some strong words for those who've tried to jump their place in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, a Vancouver couple made international headlines after they chartered a private jet and flew to Beaver Creek, Yukon, posed as a local workers, and received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine. During a media availability Wednesday afternoon, Horgan said there is nothing more un-Canadian than going to another jurisdiction to jump the line because you have the means to do so. That was profoundly disappointing for me on a number of levels. You can't measure the contempt British Columbians have for that individual taking those steps, Horgan said. He noted that the vast majority of British Columbians have been doing their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19. When asked about increasing the province's punishment for breaching COVID public health orders, Horgan said his government is taking steps to do what we can. While the fines are substantial for regular people, they're not even a rounding error for millionaires who can charter jets to bump Indigenous elders off the list, he acknowledged. For those who disregard the rules, we're going to be taking steps to do what we can to make sure that they feel the pain of trying to get outside the box that all of us have been in. Horgan also said the province has appropriate mechanisms in place to enforce public health orders. A Kelowna church that has refused to cancel in-person services has been handed two $2,300 fines, while the organizer of a local protest against COVID measures has been hit with three of the large fines. Pope Francis has warned that warped ideologies can pave the way to another genocide as he marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday. Speaking at his weekly general audience, the Pope urged people to be vigilant of extremism because 'these things can happen again'. He gave the speech today to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, where Nazis killed more than one million Jews and others. Pope Francis (pictured at his weekly general audience on Wednesday) has warned that warped ideologies can pave the way to another genocide as he marked Holocaust Remembrance Day GERMANY: A rose was left in tribute this morning on one of the blocks that make up the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, officially the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators. The Argentine pope insisted on the need to remember, saying it was a sign of humanity and a condition for a peaceful future. He warned that the Holocaust began that way, opening 'this path of death, extermination and brutality'. 'To remember is an expression of humanity. To remember is a sign of civility. To remember is a condition for a better future of peace and fraternity,' he said. 'To remember also means being careful because these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that claim to want to save a people but end up destroying a people and humanity.' Auschwitz, pictured in 1945, was liberated by Soviet troops 76 years ago on Wednesday after around 1.1million people were murdered at the Nazi extermination camp POLAND: A mass grave at a military cemetery in Warsaw is seen this morning as the world marks a virtual Holocaust Memorial Day due to the pandemic Francis spoke off the cuff at the end of his weekly general audience, held in his private library because of coronavirus restrictions. Francis prayed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial during his 2016 visit to Poland. It comes as the world is marking Holocaust Memorial Day in the midst of the pandemic today as memorial events take place online and vulnerable survivors shield from the coronavirus on the 76th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation. The Auschwitz museum is holding a virtual event emphasising the fate of the 200,000 children who were murdered at the Nazi death camp, where only 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. The survivors who were young then are now among the most vulnerable to a disease that preys on the elderly, especially because many of them suffer medical problems caused by their inhuman treatment at German hands. German chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at an online event with the UN-secretary general, while parliament is meeting for an in-person commemoration in Berlin where Hitler's regime oversaw the genocide of six million Jews. Gabbard: Biden Should Denounce His Administrations Effort to Take Away Civil Liberties Former Democratic presidential candidate and former representative for Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard said in a series of tweets on Tuesday that John Brennans, the Adam Schiffs, and the oligarchs in Big Tech who take away civil liberties are also domestic enemies and much more powerful. She called on President Joe Biden and all members of Congress from both parties to denounce the effort. The mob who stormed the capitol to try to stop Congress from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities were behaving like domestic enemies of our country, the former congresswoman said. But let us be clear, the John Brennans, Adam Schiffs and the oligarchs in Big Tech who are trying to undermine our constitutionally-protected rights and turn our country into a police state with KGB-style surveillance are also domestic enemiesand much more powerful, and therefore dangerous, than the mob which stormed the capitol, she said. The Biden administration initiated a federal agency level campaign 2 days after taking the office, to investigate domestic terrorism in the United States. White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Jan. 22 connected that investigation to the Jan. 6 protest at the Capitol. The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known: The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat, Psaki said. Gabbard called on Biden and all the Congress members to denounce these efforts and said that the United States will be in great danger if people do not stand up to them. President Biden, I call upon you and all of Congress from both parties to denounce efforts by Brennan and others to take away our civil liberties endowed to us by our Creator, and guaranteed in our Constitution. If you dont stand up to them now, then our country will be in great peril, she said in the video posted to Twitter. In the video, Gabbard included a segment of an interview by former CIA Director John Brennan by MSNBC on Jan. 20. I know looking forward that the members of the Biden team, who have been nominated or have been appointed, are now moving in laser-like fashion to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that weve seen overseas, Brennan said. Where they germinate in different parts of the country, and they gain strength, and it brings together an unholy alliance, frequently, of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativistseven libertarians. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba congratulated Tony Blinken on his appointment as U.S. Secretary of State and expressed hope for strengthening the Ukrainian-U.S. strategic partnership. "Congratulations to Antony Blinken as he assumes the office of U.S. Secretary of State. Looking forward to further strengthening the Ukraine-U.S. strategic partnership for the benefit of our nations. Let our alliance bring a great chord in Transatlantic unity & resilience," Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening. As reported, on January 26, the U.S. Senate approved the candidacy of Antony Blinken for the post of head of the U.S. Department of State proposed by U.S. President Joe Biden. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Blinken acted as the unofficial spokesman for presidential candidate Biden, covering his views on foreign policy issues to the media. Blinken's acquaintance with Biden dates back to the period 2002-2008, when he began to lead the apparatus of the Democratic faction of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, one of the chairmen of which was Senator Biden. In the first administration of ex-President Barack Obama (2009-2013), Blinken served as National Security Advisor to Biden, who was vice president then. In 2013-2015, Blinken served as Deputy National Security Advisor to the President of the United States, in 2015-2017 as Deputy Secretary of State of the United States. Blinken, as law graduate from Harvard and Columbia Universities, began his civil service career during the presidency of Bill Clinton (1994-2001), for whom he prepared speeches on foreign policy issues. Blinken also served in the staff of the U.S. National Security Council, was a special assistant to the president, and was tasked with the issues of the U.S. relations with Europe. On Tuesday, George Conway (Kellyanne Conways husband and Claudias father) tweeted a TikTok video of Claudia saying, This isnt forced. This is coming completely from me, Claudia. I have faith, and I know that my mother would never put something like that on the internet as well as me. We would never do that. ... Please do not incite hate or violence on my family. Please, no threats, no calls to authorities. I love my mom and she loves me. A federal judge ordered an Alabama man to remain in custody after his arrest for the U.S. Capitol riots. The judge's order in Joshua Matthew Black's case comes after his detention hearing last week. The judge found that the Leeds man is a danger to the community. Black was seen on the U.S. Senate floor after he and other rioters entered the Capitol Jan. 6. He is charged for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Restricted building or grounds. Read more about Black's case here. Read more about a North Alabama man arrested for involvement in the Capitol riots here. Cheated savers who were sold bad investments are now losing almost half of their compensation money to claims firms. Money Mail today reports how mis-selling victims are being charged 'astronomical' sums for claims they can make themselves at no cost. It comes as regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announces plans to force firms to charge no more than 30 per cent in a move that could save customers 9.6 million a year. Rip-off fees: Mis-selling victims are being charged 'astronomical' sums for claims they can make themselves at no cost Market leader Goodwin Barrett is thought to bring four in every five claims against banks, and takes 48 per cent of any compensation. The firm has won back 120 million since 2008. Yet mis-sold savers can win compensation free of charge by complaining to the investment provider or the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FCA's consultation on the plans will last until April and rules could be set by autumn. Campaigners say the watchdog needs to act quickly to protect savers. Martyn James, of complaints site Resolver, says: 'The percentages are astronomical and the fact that they have got away with it for so long is absolutely unacceptable.' Goodwin Barrett - which advertises on television and radio - specialises in claims against major banks which sold investment products to savers who could not afford to take risks. The type of products mis-sold include stocks and shares Isas, investment bonds and unit trusts. Goodwin Barrett says a fee cap would mean it could not heavily advertise to raise awareness of mis-selling - meaning victims miss out on millions in compensation and let banks off the hook. Other claims firms in the market include the Consumer Savings Network, which charges 36 per cent and says it has won back more than 30 million. It is Your Money asks for 42 per cent, while Expert Pensions Claims charges 36 per cent, and FinancialClaims.com charges 24 per cent. Financial adviser Neil Liversidge told Money Mail that charging so much could not be justified. He says his firm charged 1,500 (2.5 per cent) to win back 60,000 for a customer. Former pensions minister Baroness Altmann says: 'There should be much tighter control on the amount permitted to charge, and companies need to prove what they have done for the money.' The PPI mis-selling scandal saw banks pay out more than 40 billion after they were flooded with complaints - many of them coming via claims management firms. Fees for PPI claims were capped at 20 per cent in 2018. Responding to an earlier FCA consultation on fees, Goodwin Barrett said that even a cap of 30 per cent would mean it would be forced out of business denying consumers around 12 million a year in compensation. Rich pickings: Predatory firms are now syphoning off millions of pounds from compensation owed to savers urged to put money into unsuitable investments It wrote: 'It is down to Goodwin Barrett to advertise heavily to make the wider public aware of this area of mis-selling and that is a massive outlay.' However, Andrew Johnson, money expert at the Money and Pensions Service, says you are just as likely to win compensation if you make a complaint to the ombudsman yourself. He says: 'Don't rush into using a claims management company without making sure you understand their charges and what they'll actually do for you.' Savers who felt ripped off by Goodwin Barrett have not been able to win their money back from the ombudsman. One couple, who had to pay more than 27,000 out of their 56,446 compensation, said the company had been 'underhand' and 'clearly taken advantage of two vulnerable people'. But the ombudsman disagreed and said the firm had been clear about its fees and had explained that they could make a complaint themselves at no cost. Another saver complained after the firm took almost half of his 36,000 pension, which had been lost in a risky investment. But the ombudsman again said the fees were clear. Goodwin Barrett says there was 'systematic mis-selling' of investment products over 20 years. It expects claims to rise this year. A spokesman says: 'Most people have no idea they may be able to make a claim for the losses they suffered due to unsuitable advice. 'We make it very clear to customers that they can make a claim to their bank for free and use the ombudsman if unsuccessful. 'We take our regulatory obligations very seriously and give customers a clear choice - you can do it yourself for free or use the experience and expertise of Goodwin Barrett to make a claim on your behalf, subject to our fee.' Adam French, consumer rights expert at lobby group Which?, says the FCA should also require the firms who mis-sold products to pay the costs of the claims management companies (CMCs). He says this would encourage finance firms to handle their customer claims directly, and allow mis-selling victims to keep all of their compensation. Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, says: 'When working well, CMCs can provide useful services for consumers. 'However, consumers can experience harm when they do not understand the nature of the service CMCs provide and where they are charged excessive fees.' b.wilkinson@dailymail.co.uk Participants at the press conference (Photo: VNA) Bangkok - Vietnam is still a destination for foreign investment, including Thailand because it is a large and growing market, Tanee Sangrat, Director General of the Department of Information and Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Thailand, has said. Addressing at a press conference themed Golden opportunity for Thai investors in Vietnam jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand, the Thailand-Vietnam Business Council (TVBC) and Amata Vietnam Public Company Limited on January 26, Tannee Sangrat, who is also former Thai Ambassador to Vietnam, affirmed that Vietnam has been one of Thailand's most important foreign investment markets since its first investment in Vietnam after the countrys policy of doi moi (renewal). Thai businesses entering Vietnam are growing stronger and their investment is expanding and gaining success, he said. He highly valued Vietnam's efforts to improve competitiveness and investment and business environment to attract FDI, saying that the success of Thai investors in Vietnam in the next few years will largely depend on continuation of the current investment policy and the support of the Vietnamese Government, and the countrys economic growth. Meanwhile, Chairman of the TVBC Sanan Angubolkul mentioned a number of reasons for Thai businesses to invest in Vietnam, including political stability, successful control of the COVID-19 epidemic, abundant and quality workforce, and attractive investment incentives, potential domestic market with large purchasing power, and open investment environment. Vietnam has joined 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 55 countries, and new generation FTAs such as the European Union - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), have helped create new opportunities for Vietnamese exports, he said. Thai businesses need to take advantage of these to set up manufacturing factories in Vietnam for export, he added. Ambassador Phan Chi Thanh briefed participants on Vietnams economic achievements in recent times and its socio-economic development goals in the next ten years. Vietnam needs to mobilise about 200-300 billion USD of foreign investment in the 2021 - 2030 period, he said. He spoke highly of success of Thai business operating in Vietnam, describing it as a vivid manifestation of long-term cooperation between the two countries. According to Thanh, Thailand currently ranks the 9th biggest investment partner of Vietnam with 603 FDI projects worth 13 billion USD, and investment flows from Thailand to Vietnam is expected to strongly increase in the coming time. He affirmed that Vietnam is a successful and safe destination for foreign investors, especially in the context of supply chain disruptions due to trade tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Somhatai Panichewa - General Director and Chief Executive Officer of Amata Vietnam Plc (AMATAV), said in the perspective of an industrial estate developer in Vietnam, the company believes in the growth of Vietnam. The Thai firm has so far operated six projects with a total investment of about 840 million USD in Vietnam. Through the global business disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam was among very few countries in the world enjoyed positive economic growth (GDP) of 2.91 percent in 2020. The countrys economic outlook for 2021 is bright with GDP of 6.5-7 percent as expected by international financial organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monety Fund and ASEAN Development Bank. New Delhi, Jan 27 : OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei on Wednesday launched a new London-based consumer technology company called "Nothing" that will release its first smart devices in the first half of this year. The announcement came shortly after a $7 million round in seed financing in December that included tech leaders and investors such as Tony Fadell, Casey Neistat, Kevin Lin, Steve Huffman and Josh Buckley. Kunal Shah, Founder, CRED, has also invested in "Nothing" although the amount has not been disclosed yet. "It's been a while since anything interesting happened in tech. It is time for a fresh breeze of change," said Pei, CEO and founder of 'Nothing'. "Nothing's mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future. We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use. When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing," he said in a statement. The company aims to inspire people to believe in the positive potential of technology, and will set the pace starting in 2021. "Consumer tech is a tidal wave of limitless potential. Nothing will be the brand at the forefront and I can't wait for the world to experience its products," said Casey Neistat, YouTuber and an investor in "Nothing". The Swedish tech entrepreneur co-founded OnePlus in 2013 at the age of 24. After nearly seven years, Pei made the "difficult decision" of leaving the company in October 2020. Shah has invested in multiple sectors through his career and this investment is in his personal capacity. He founded members-only credit card management and bill payments platform CRED in 2018. "Shah is one of the sharpest people I know. I am proud and glad to have him as a friend, advisor and now also an investor," said Pei. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Rahul Gandhi demands withdrawal of new regulations in Lakshadweep; Writes to PM Modi Mamata arrives 30 minutes late for Cyclone Yaas review meet with PM Modi, leaves after handing over documents PM Modi to address WEFs Davos Dialogue today India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 27: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the World Economic Forum's Davos Dialogue on 28th January, 2021 via video conferencing. More than 400 top industry leaders from across the globe will attend the session, wherein the Prime Minister will be speaking on the Fourth Industrial Revolution - using technology for the good of humanity. Republic Day 2021: The special turban PM Modi sported is a gift from Jamnagar royal family Prime Minister will also be interacting with the CEOs during the event. The Davos Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the World Economic Forum's Great Reset Initiative in the post COVID world. If you wanted to compile a list of the most absurd moments in the history of the U.S. Senate, heres one for your consideration. In early 1971, with a Capitol Hill consensus in favor of loosening the Senates stringent filibuster rule (which, at the time, required a 2/3 vote to stop that parliamentary maneuver), a group of senators launched a filibuster to prevent a vote on the filibuster rule. You couldnt have a more perfect demonstration of the Senates chronic procedural dysfunction. Reformers who hoped to change an obstructionist rule couldnt vote on that rule because obstructionists were keeping the issue off the Senate floor. Seven weeks passed. Four votes to end the filibuster-within-a-filibuster all fell short. Finally, Majority Leader Mike Mansfield gave up. This is the United States Senate. Nothing gets done, no big issues get addressed, and the legislative constipation is sold to us as a virtue. The filibuster, after all, is a tradition, so it mustnt be tampered with. Segregation was a tradition in the South for a full century after the Civil War. Did that make it justified? While were contemplating the prospects for the new administration of Joe Biden, we should direct all of our attention to the Senates filibuster rule. Even though Bidens Democratic Party holds a majority in both houses of Congress, without a change in the filibuster rule, he will be reduced to a signer of executive orders (which can just as quickly be repealed by a successor) and the face of U.S. foreign policy. For many Republicans, that sounds like a good thing. But the filibuster is an arbitrary weapon that has been wielded by and against both major parties. Its loyalty extends only to the cause of gridlock. Keep in mind that Donald Trump, the Republican who moved out of the White House a week ago, advocated during his presidency for the elimination of the filibuster. With the ridiculous Filibuster Rule in the Senate, Republicans need 60 votes to pass legislation, rather than 51, Trump tweeted on September 15, 2017. Cant get votes, END NOW! Trump was right. Filibuster defenders will argue that the Senate was devised by our founding fathers as a place where the coffee cup cools; a legislative body where the heated passions of the House give way to careful deliberation. Even so, our constitutional framers didnt call for the creation of a Senate filibuster. They viewed the inherent makeup of the Senate with equal representation for every state as a sufficient impediment to rash legislative blunders. No law or resolution can now be passed without the concurrence, first, of a majority of the people, and then, of a majority of the States, James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers. Notice his emphasis on the word majority? Under the rules of the Senate, a majority is worthless, unless a 60-vote super-majority can overcome a filibuster. For decades, the filibuster was the tool employed by Southern segregationists to stymie civil rights legislation. Even in 1964, when then-President Lyndon Johnson muscled through the historic Civil Rights Act, he had to overcome a 60-day filibuster to do it. In 2013, with this country reeling from an elementary school shooting that took the lives of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Conn., national polls showed 90 percent support for tougher background checks on firearms sales. A solid majority of senators supported a background-check bill, but a filibuster destroyed it. Adam Jentleson, a former Senate aide whose new book, Kill Switch, examines the history of the filibuster, recently told NPR that the episode was just so, so profoundly misaligned with how we think our government is supposed to operate. Up until 1917, the Senate had no mechanism for stopping a filibuster. That year, President Woodrow Wilson successfully prodded the Senate to allow a two-thirds super-majority to shut down a filibuster. The 1958 midterm elections ushered in 16 new U.S. senators, 13 of whom supported the loosening of the filibuster rule. Clair Engle, a California Democrat, put it this way: There is no sense in tying up the Senate body with one set of vocal cords. John F. Kennedy, after getting elected to the presidency in 1960, came out in favor of curbing the filibuster. But nothing happened until 1975, when the Senate lowered the threshold from 2/3 to 3/5. In recent years, weve seen Democrats eliminate the filibuster for federal court appointments and Republicans do away with it for Supreme Court confirmations. Given all these changes, how can anyone make a case for the sanctity of the filibuster tradition? Besides, filibusters arent even filibusters anymore. One senator simply can submit an email objection and the gears come grinding to a halt. Biden and his fellow Democrats likely will have a two-year window to achieve substantive legislative change. If they allow themselves to be blocked by a nonsensical procedural rule, they deserve whatever the voters hand them in 2022. Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal tied the knot in an intimate ceremony on January 24 amidst their close family and friends at the Mansion House resort in Alibaug. The couple was on the receiving end of several congratulatory messages by their industry friends and fans. Now, Varun Dhawan has taken to his social media to thank everyone who has bestowed him and his wife with so much love. Varun Dhawan stated how he along with Natasha have received immense love and positivity for the last few days. He further thanked everyone for their wishes on the occasion of his wedding. Take a look at this tweet. The last few days me and natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart VarunDhawan (@Varun_dvn) January 27, 2021 Varun Dhawan also thanked his wedding planning team, Shaadi Squad for making their lovely wedding ceremony take place in a beautiful manner. He also shared a picture of himself and Natasha along with the wedding planning team. Take a look at the same. Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal returned from their wedding venue yesterday. The couple was captured by the shutterbugs and made way for happy newlyweds. They are rumoured to be heading off to Turkey for a week-long honeymoon. Also Read: Manish Malhotra Shares How He Got Emotional During Varun Dhawan's Wedding; See Post Also Read: Varun Dhawan-Natasha Dalal's Wedding: Actor Hits The Dance Floor Post Nuptials; Read On The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent a striking message on Tuesday: Children should return to classrooms because its safe for them to do so. The agency said the preponderance of available evidence indicated that in-person instruction could be carried out safely as long as mask-wearing and social distancing were maintained. Its researchers found little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission when proper safety precautions were followed. One important caveat: Local officials also must be willing to impose limits on other settings like indoor dining, bars or poorly ventilated gyms in order to keep infection rates low in the community at large. In one example, researchers looked at 17 elementary and secondary schools in rural Wisconsin where mask-wearing was routine, and the incidence of infection was lower in schools than in the community at large. During 13 weeks in the fall of 2020, there were 191 infections among staff and students and only seven came from in-school transmission. COVID-19 PANDEMIC = GLOBAL MURDEROUS FRAUD January 26, 2021 by Limin Wang I will begin with an excerpt from my Dec. 29, 2020 post, The Pursuit of Justice --- Please NO COVID-19 Shroud On Serious Injuries: "Lets have a little discuss of COVID-19 symptoms here, since the perpetrators try to utilize COVID-19 on me. The main-stream media propagandaed COVID-19 symptoms ALL existed for injuries or illnesses BEFORE the COVID-19 was even coined in 2020! The trend-lines of the reported COVID-19 test positives and COVID-19 mortality in the U.S.A. or in the world did NOT correlate for many consecutive months until recently the systematic murderous fraudsters have known the serious doubt brought up by serious doubters and have then tried to make the lines correlate! Tens of millions of people worldwide die each and every year due to causes, and the mortality lines worldwide are practically STRAIGHT lines. The mortality in countries adopting herd immunity does not see a spike in 2020. In my personal life experience, I have witnessed or known medical clinics like NYCMNO or NYMDC stay OPEN throughout the so-called COVID-19 pandemic. From my understanding, non-respiratory clinics stay OPEN to MAKE MONEY in the first place, and that medical professionals themselves do not get harm or death from COVID-19 is mostly because COVID-19 is actually not terrible at all. If airborne COV-2 were deadly, medical professionals are only money-making humans too, although with some specialty knowledge and special resource, and they would have died in piles too. Particularly on NYCMNO during my visits in 2020, I witnessed some medical providers there were coughing, frequently or not, really or fakely, and they took their masks off when I was the only patient left in NYCMNO! It is what it is, and they are what they are. I did not have a complaint about their hazardous or hostile behavior then. NOBODY in my interacting or witnessing sphere even showed with COVID-19. Plus, a family member living with me was being tested frequently for COVID-19 because of the external demand, and the test results were all negative, and I told this to NYCMNO during the argument on 12/22/2020. Judge who is the psychiatric! About my constant pain on the whole front chest wall and the lungs from the 01/16/2018 fall, Dr. Martin B. Gillman, a Jewish chiropractor, at NYMDC gave me his business card as Dr. Martin B. Stillman and suddenly sprayed some kind of powder to my chest and face area when I was following him to the X-ray room at the their basement floor on February 15, 2018, the very first day I visited NYMDC because of BCFs referral. I had moments ago told Dr. Martin B. Stillman I dont like X-ray and I need to go Manhattan for the afternoon brain MRI. AT LEAST AN OBLONG METALLIC PARTICLE WAS SHOWN ON MY THROATS INNER SURFACE ON THE 02/15/2018 X-RAY IMAGES AND SUCH A PARTICLE IN MY LUNGS ON THE MARCH 08, 2018 X-RAY IMAGES, BOTH TIME DONE AT NYMDC. I complained to NYS WCB and then, as instructed, to NYS DOH Office of Professional Medical Conducts about NYMDCs DENIAL & DISTORTION of the OPEN-MOUTH view X-ray images, these NYS government agencies again and again showed MALFEASANCE and CORRUPTION." I would like to add a little here about the CONSPIRACY THEORY and the MURDEROUS FRAUD SYSTEM. About the time some COVID-19 vaccines made in the U.S.A. were about to be announced available, the main-stream media STARTED to BULLHORN the existence of VARIANTS and their POTENCY from many corners of the world. Of course, it would be the best for the continuation of GLOBAL MURDEROUS FRAUD that a potent variant is reported from a developed country and best ally, UK. If UK can not do much about it, then it's NORMAL for the U.S. not able to do much about it. The "explanation" of vaccines probably not working has been laid out: viral strains of variation. President Trump did not lose to the COVID-19, but President Trump did lose to the COVID-19 FRAUD. What the fuss of being test positive of "COV-2" (not COVID-19)? If the UNSCRUPULOUS MURDEROUS FRAUD SYSTEM of insurances, lawyers, medical professionals, government agencies like those I have met in my injury case in New York State were to be accused of liability for COVID-19, then COVID-19 would NOT even exist because such a SYSTEM would have been EASILY wiped it out CLEAN AND CLEAR, because such HUMAN SCUMS are in the POWER position. Now, a news from the Peculiar-Colored CCP's China announced a sentence of one-year-jail-time on a China-Born-American woman because she reportedly "successfully" travelled from Boston, U.S.A. to Beijing, China. She was reportedly hiding about her symptoms while boarding, but honest while arriving. Allegedly, some sixty people were tested COV-2 positive because of this "immoral" or "illegal" woman. So what? is this a story of RULE OF LAW? I think it's more of a sick joke. It's also reportedly that woman was fired because of this. What's the PCCCP's "treatment" of COVID-19? By RULE OF LAW. The similar sick joke has been happening in the U.S. The positivity of COV-2 test administered by such a SYSTEM does NOT equal COVID- 19 illness or even death. All these positives in that Beijing legal case of COVID-19 were luckily NOT murdered or murder- attempted to serious mortality or morbidity yet. Iceland has long had some of the toughest travel restrictions in Europe, with all passengers obliged to pre-register, take two Covid-19 tests after arrival, and quarantine between them. Travellers from the EEA and Switzerland who can prove they have been vaccinated, however, are now exempted from both testing and quarantine requirements. Such passengers need to show an approved digital or paper vaccination certificate in Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or English. It must show where, when and what vaccines were received, as well as the manufacturer and batch lot, and will be examined by Border Control officials. At present, only vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) are accepted - i.e. the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, both of which require two doses. Both doses must have been completed to avail of the exemptions, says the Icelandic Directorate of Health. "If a passenger presents a document that is deemed invalid, i.e. if any of the necessary requirements are missing, the passenger must, as other arrival passengers, undergo double testing with quarantine in between," it adds. Covid-19 vaccinations registered in the WHO's International Certificate of Vaccination (the Carte Jaune or Yellow Card) are not acceptable. The Seychelles has also announced that vaccinated travellers can bypass its quarantine requirements, though they must still test negative. Romania will also exempt people who have been vaccinated from its quarantine regime, so long as at least 10 days have passed from the second dose, according to its National Committee for Emergency Situations. Cyprus has flagged that it may go a similar route from March 1, according to the Cyprus Mail, as part of a general plan for rebooting air travel and tourism. The moves provide tantalising clues as to how travel might recover, raising the prospect of vaccinations as a golden ticket to get moving again. As vaccination programmes begin to roll out around the world, however - many of them plagued by early delays - debates are growing as to whether so-called 'vaccine passports' should be a requirement for travel. It remains unclear whether vaccinations prevent transmission of the virus, how any 'passport' system may be co-ordinated, and whether it would discriminate against those who cannot, or choose not, to be vaccinated. Ireland further tightened its travel regulations yesterday, and is seeking to establish quarantine hotels for some arrivals, but has no imminent plans to introduce exemptions for vaccinated travellers. Iceland's travel rules currently require one test at the border, and a second five days later. The quarantine is lifted when a negative result (virus not detected) is obtained from the second testing. Certificates of vaccinations do not exempt people from local travel restrictions on the ground, however, and the new rules do not apply to travellers from outside of the EEA and Switzerland. Researcher Matthew Fadus knew of previous studies showing racial disparities in school discipline but was still alarmed at how strong the findings were in this study. Credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via Unsplash. Even after accounting for differences in income, education, caregiver support, special education services and parental reports of misbehavior and family conflict, elementary school-age Black children are 3.5 times more likely to be suspended or placed in detention than their white peers, a new study finds. The results were unsettling even to the researchers themselves, who were familiar with previous research into racial disparities in school discipline. Previous studies primarily used school records, but this study was able to use a nationwide self-reported dataset, with data collected as part of a long-term investigation into how the brain develops through the preteen and teen years into early adulthood. Because they had so much data on the participants, the researchers could do what previous studies could not and control for factors that are thought to account for discipline problems, like socioeconomic status and levels of family conflict. And, in fact, those factors did even out the discipline disparities between white and Hispanic children; however, they couldn't account for the discipline disparities between white and Black children. Among study participants, before factoring in those controls, 3% of white children and 15.2% of Black children received a detention or suspension in the past year. "We were alarmed about how strong the findings were," said co-first author Matthew Fadus, M.D. "Even when we controlled for many of these predictors of school discipline such as family income and education, the disparities remained." "With all of those factors controlled for, there has to be something else accounting for the differences in discipline rates," Fadus said. He said that racism or unconscious bias is likely at the root of the higher discipline rates for Black children. In their paper, the researchers note that the problem goes beyond individuals' actions. "We believe that the findings of this study as a whole are not reflective of individual behaviors and responsibility from youth, but instead are the result of a long history of societal inequities and systemic racism," they said. Fadus, now with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-first author Emilio Valadez, Ph.D., now with the Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology at the University of Maryland, College Park, were both working as trainees at the Medical University of South Carolina with co-senior author Lindsay Squeglia, Ph.D., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, when they began developing the report. Squeglia is a principal site investigator on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, or ABCD, study. Conducted at 21 sites across the United States, the ABCD study recruited more than 11,000 children, ages 9 and 10, with the expectation of conducting brain scans, in-depth interviews, psychological tests and cognitive tasks over the course of 10 years to chart typical brain development. The anonymized data is then available to researchers around the world to use to explore social, psychological, neurological and biological questions. Only a few years into the study, the first batches of data have already yielded insights into the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, parental depression and neighborhood poverty. Prior studies that considered racial disparities in school discipline examined school records, and those studies found that Black children were more likely to receive detentions and suspensions. Those previous studies' detractors, however, said the disparities were probably the result of differences in student behavior. The ABCD study contains a wealth of data unavailable in school records, allowing the researchers to control for factors that often are associated with school discipline, like family income and education, as well as special education services and caregiver reports of behavior and conflict at home. As part of the ABCD study, parents also complete the Child Behavior Checklist, a widely used questionnaire about children's behavior. The checklist includes questions about things like whether the child disobeys at home or school or gets in fightsindicators that allow researchers to benchmark a child's "externalizing behaviors." A certain amount of externalizing behavior is expected for all adolescents, Valadez said. Further, the rates of these behaviors in the ABCD study participants matched the general population, Squeglia said, meaning the ABCD study participants are not an unusually disruptive bunch. "Children often communicate with behaviors more so than words," Fadus said, "and for this reason, the authors of the study hope that educators will pause for a moment before imposing detention or suspension and instead work to understand more the purposes and meaning of student behaviors." The authors advocated using restorative practices, which they noted emphasize "belonging, social engagement and accountability rather than control and punishment." "Suspensions and detentions don't work. This is not a practice that is helping kids," Squeglia added. "These are kids. These are 9- and 10-year-olds. We're using practices that we know don't work, but we keep doing this, with these huge disparities in who's getting affected." This is also a pivotal age, when children can develop negative attitudes about themselves or about school, Fadus said. Not only are suspensions ineffective, but they especially burden single-parent households when a parent must take time off work to stay home with a suspended child, Squeglia said. Because the ABCD study follows participants until they are 19 or 20 years old, future research could compare suspension and detention rates once the children enter middle and high school. Only 5% of children overall in the study received a detention or suspension, but that figure would be expected to grow as the children enter their teen years, Squeglia said, which would then allow researchers to make more detailed comparisons. For example, because of the relatively small number of suspensions and detentions in this first study, the researchers couldn't categorize the rates of discipline for subjective versus objective reasonssubjective reasons being things like talking back and objective reasons being quantifiable violations like bringing drugs or a weapon to school. And because they're looking at the same individuals over time, researchers could also see whether receiving such discipline at age 9 or 10 alters a child's likelihood of future behavioral or legal problems or leads to worse mental health outcomes, Valadez said. In their paper, the researchers call for more research into the psychological, social and economic consequences of this type of discipline. "Unless clinicians, educators, and legislators broadly address racist policies in areas such as education, public benefits, housing opportunities, and the justice system, the findings in this study will likely persist," they said. Explore further Black children subjected to higher discipline rates than peers More information: Matthew C. Fadus et al, Racial Disparities in Elementary School Disciplinary Actions: Findings From the ABCD Study, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2020). Journal information: Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Matthew C. Fadus et al, Racial Disparities in Elementary School Disciplinary Actions: Findings From the ABCD Study,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2020.11.017 Traffic continued to remain affected at ITO on Wednesday due to a protest called by retired personnel against the violence which broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the city. The protesters are demanding proper action against the people who were involved in the violence. According to the Delhi Traffic Police, the road going towards Connaught Place from Minto Road is closed and the road leading towards India Gate from ITO has also been closed. Ghazipur market, NH-9 and NH-24 have been closed. Commuters going to Ghaziabad from Delhi are advised to take Shahdara and DND, it said. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Additional PRO (Delhi Police) Anil Mittal said 22 FIRs have been so far registered in connection with Tuesday's violence. More than 300 policemen have been injured in the incident, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Pfizer and BioNTech have started work on developing booster shots that can protect against various coronavirus mutations, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Every time a new variant comes up we should be able to test whether or not [our vaccine] is effective," Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said. "Once we discover something that it is not as effective, we will very, very quickly be able to produce a booster dose that will be a small variation to the current vaccine," he added. Also Read | The Indian-Americans driving Bidens agenda Bourlas comments follow news that Moderna is working on a similar booster shot. On Monday, Moderna said its vaccine will protect against two known coronavirus variants, but it plans to start human studies of a booster shot for a strain from South Africa that may cause immunity to wane more quickly. Moderna said it expects that its booster shotwhether for the original vaccine or one targeting the variant first identified in South Africacould be given in combination with vaccines from other companies. The coronavirus variant in South Africa has several mutations in its so-called spike protein, which is found on the surface of the virus. Modernas vaccine and most others are designed around the spike protein or its genetic code as a way to induce an immune response to the virus; and so, mutations in the protein have the potential to hurt the performance of a vaccine. The modified vaccine Moderna is developing is designed to trigger the production of the spike protein specific to the South African variant, which in turn induces an immune response. Modernas move points to the potential that Covid-19 vaccines will have to be modifiedand possibly given to people as repeat dosesto address a changing virus. We may have to begin thinking about this like influenza vaccines and start rolling out regular annual vaccinations" with modified vaccines that target different strains, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccinewhich uses a gene-based technology like that of Modernas shotappeared to be protective against the UK virus strain, based on lab studies. With inputs from agencies. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Cabinet of Ministers proposes the Verkhovna Rada to establish an annual indexation of pensions no later than March 1 starting from 2022, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said. "The government proposes to establish an annual indexation of pensions no later than March 1 starting from 2022. Today we approved a relevant bill aimed at improving pension legislation and, accordingly, increasing the pension provision of citizens," Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel on Wednesday. "This issue should no longer be an element of political manipulation. We propose to do everything transparently and set clear deadlines for when indexation should take place," the head of government said in a statement. It is noted that the bill also proposes to settle the issue of indexation of pensions of certain categories of citizens, whose pensions have not been indexed before. According to the press service of the Ministry of Social Policy, the amendments are also proposed to carry out an annual indexation of pensions for military personnel, civil servants and other categories of pensioners on general terms from 2022. In addition, it is proposed to pay old-age pensions in one and a half years before reaching retirement age to persons whose employment contract has been terminated due to changes in the organization of production and other conditions. It is proposed to set up early pensions to mothers and fathers of children with severe, rare diseases who have not been identified as disabled. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Mumbai: Nearly 200 Byculla Jail inmates, including Indrani Mukerjea, the prime accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, have been booked for rioting and other offences following the death of a woman convict. Manju Govind Shette (45), a convict, died at the government-run J J Hospital on Friday night after allegedly being beaten up by a woman prison official. Subsequently, six jail staffers were placed under suspension and yesterday police registered a case under IPC section 302 (punishment for murder) against them. Following Shettes death, over 200 women inmates of the jail were up in arms since Saturday morning. Some inmates on Saturday climbed atop the roof of the jail while newspapers were torched inside, a police official earlier said. The inmates alleged that Shette was beaten up by a woman prison official. They wanted to present the issue before the media which is not permissible under prison rules, he said. Indrani, who is lodged in the Byculla prison, is among the 200 inmates against whom a case was yesterday registered for rioting, unlawful assembly, assault on public servant and other relevant sections under the Indian Penal Code, a police official said on Monday. The jail houses around 251 women prisoners. Indrani, her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and ex-driver Shyamvar Rai are accused of strangling 24-year-old Sheena Indranis daughter from a previous relationship - on April 24, 2012. Sheenas burnt body was dumped in a bag at a forest in Raigad district near Mumbai. Suggested read: New audio clips reveal how Peter Mukerjea, Indrani misled Rahul; CBI includes tapes in probe For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Regional lawmaker fined for organizing unauthorized January 23 rally shlosberg.ru 13:13 27/01/2021 ST. PETERSBURG, January 27 (RAPSI, Mikhail Telekhov) - Lev Shlosberg, a lawmaker of the Pskov Regional Assembly, has been fined 20,000 rubles (about $300) for organizing an illegal rally held on January 23, the United press service of the regional courts reports. Another defendant, who was found guilty along Shlosberg, Alexey Drozzhin has been ordered to the 5-day administrative detention. According to case papers, the unauthorized walkout in support of Alexey Navalny was held in the centre of Pskov on Saturday. India has informed the UN Security Council that it will gradually supply vaccines to the COVAX facility of the World Health Organisation and undertake contractual supplies to various countries in a phased manner, as more than six million doses have been airlifted to nine countries under New Delhis vaccine diplomacy. As the largest vaccine-producing country of the world, we are fulfilling our commitment to make our vaccine production and delivery capacity available for the benefit of the entire humanity, Indias Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said on Monday. Speaking at the UN Security Council briefing on Maintenance of international peace and security : Follow-up on the implementation of resolution 2532, Naidu said two vaccines have already been granted approval for emergency use in India and the country plans to vaccinate about 300 million citizens in the first six months. Resolution 2532 (2020), adopted in July 2020, expressed support for the Secretary-Generals appeal for a global ceasefire to help unite efforts to fight COVID-19 in the worlds most vulnerable countries. We have already airlifted more than 6 million doses to nine countries in Phase-I as grant assistance. Contractual supplies to various countries are also being undertaken in a phased manner. We will also gradually supply to the COVAX facility of the WHO, Naidu said, adding that India has also provided training to several partner countries to strengthen their clinical capabilities, as well as to enhance their capacities for vaccine administration. COVAX is the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level. Last week, COVAX had announced that, pending WHO emergency use listings, nearly 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate are anticipated to be available in the first quarter of 2021, via existing agreements with the Serum Institute of India (SII) and AstraZeneca. Naidu told the Council that India has assisted more than 150 countries through urgent health and medical supplies. New Delhi has pledged 15 million dollars for GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and operationalised the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for its neighbours with an initial contribution of 10 million dollars. In the spirit of South-South cooperation, through the USD 150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund, we have responded to member states requests for COVID-19 related assistance, Naidu said. Naidu underscored that while the pandemic continues to rage across the world, 2021 has started on a positive note with many countries having initiated the vaccination process. He, however, cautioned that no one is safe, till everyone is safe. Our endeavor should be to work towards making the vaccine accessible on a universal, equitable and affordable basis. Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives have received Indias COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance in sync with its Neighbourhood First policy. India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country. Last week, Bangladesh and Nepal received COVID-19 vaccines from India. India sent 150,000 doses of Covisheild vaccines to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives, while over 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were provided to Bangladesh, about one million doses to Nepal. Myanmar received over one million doses and Sri Lanka 500,000. On Friday, India began commercial exports of COVID-19 vaccines and sent two million doses each to Brazil and Morocco. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has thanked India for supplying COVID-19 vaccines to his country and shared on social media an illustration of Lord Hanuman bringing 'Sanjivani booti' from India to Brazil. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had replied through a tweet that The honour is ours, President @jairbolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare. In keeping with Indias stated commitment to use Indias vaccine production and delivery capacity to help all of humanity fight the COVID pandemic, supplies under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles began from January 20 under the initiative termed Vaccine Maitri. The MEA said that in an ongoing effort, India will continue to supply countries all over the world with vaccines. This will be calibrated against domestic requirements and international demand and obligations, including under GAVIs Covax facility to developing countries, the MEA had said in a statement. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) A cheesemaker in Co Armagh will supply brie to supermarkets all over Ireland as Brexit bestows a blessing. Dean Wright, owner of Ballylisk near Portadown, said he's also in talks with cheesemakers in the Republic to operate a hub in NI which could potentially ease their market access to Great Britain. The fifth-generation farmer revealed he's signed up to sell a new brie, Rokeby, to a supermarket with stores on both sides of the border. And the new opportunities could off-set the losses in restaurants, a major customer within the foodservice sector before Covid-19 hit. But he's not just in demand with the supermarket. "There are also a lot of cheesemakers in the south who are ringing me every day to say: 'Can you help us here, can you help us get product into the UK - the gates are closed.' "There are retailers ringing me at the moment so it's a very buoyant time just at the moment in our business. We have struggles, we have worries about foodservice here in NI, but I do believe the slack will be picked up in other markets. "There's been a huge amount of enquiries in the last week to 10 days. "We knew there were going to be difficulties but I don't think the retailers saw the difficulties that would be coming down the track and that's where they're saying they cannot get in European product like cheeses and they are looking more at quality home-produced product. "My view is there's opportunity in every ill wind." He said he had foreseen post-Brexit problems with shipping goods from Europe. "Most of brie coming into UK or Ireland comes in from France. Two years ago I took the view to start developing a brie of our own. Sure enough there have been three retailers actually ring us in the last week or 10 days to say they'd like to use ours instead of the French bries." His business already makes The Triple Rose soft cheese and diversified into milk deliveries during lockdown. However, Mr Wright said finding upsides in 2021 had followed a traumatic 2020. On March 23, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the first full lockdown, he said 70% of its business had been lost in 24 hours. "It was a horrible day. Our business was one week from closure and when you sleep with one eye open for four or five nights you come up with some very novel ideas. Failure was never an option though it came very close." While NI remains effectively in the single market for goods, he said there were still complications getting goods from continental Europe. "There are certain slips between cup and lip and we have to cross the English Channel, and we have to cross the Irish Sea so the problem is getting the product out of the UK into Ireland." Wilma Finlay, owner of The Ethical Diary in Scotland, said escalating costs of doing business meant she had been forced to withdraw from supplying NI with her organic cheese. To send a pack of cheeses here under the NI Protocol, set up to avoid a harder border on the island of Ireland, she requires an animal health certificate, as well as export documents and a certificate from an organic body stating that it's compliant with EU organic standards. She said the company was sorry to be saying goodbye to its NI customers. "NI is only about 2% of our business but there are people who have been with us right from the very start two and a half years ago." But while Mr Wright was creaming off a Brexit benefit, another artisan cheesemaker here said it had curdled only his blood. "I'm Brexit-exhausted and I get angry when I think about it so we are just getting on with it." Cornyn, Cruz, against Trump trial Cruz Cornyn A group of U.S. House members that includes Texas Democrat Joaquin Castro transmitted its article of impeachment against former President Donald Trump to the U.S. Senate on Monday evening, setting the stage for a trial over Trumps role in inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. But there hasnt been much indication that the two Texas Republicans in the Senate will be willing to convict. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz called the impeachment trial vindictive and punitive when he spoke to reporters in Capitol Hill last week, adding that congressional Democrats seem obsessed with their hatred for Donald Trump. And U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has expressed skepticism at the idea of a trial. In recent days, he has argued on Twitter that the trial would entice Republicans to impeach former Democratic presidents in the future, and he shared a Wall Street Journal opinion article authored by Alan Dershowitz that argues Trump cant be tried because hes now a private citizen. Like Cruz, Cornyn also called the impeachment trial vindictive in a recent interview with KHOU. But he did recently echo Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnells, R-Kentucky, call for a vote of conscience in the case. Ive heard people talk about a vote of conscience, and I think thats a good way to put it, Cornyn said last Tuesday, according to CNN. Trump was impeached for a historic second time Jan. 13, one week after his supporters stormed the Capitol and interrupted Congress certification of Joe Bidens presidential election victory. Prior to that, Trump repeatedly made false claims of election fraud and claimed the election had been stolen from him, despite no credible evidence of fraud on a level that would have affected the result. Every House Democrat along with 10 Republicans voted to impeach Trump the most bipartisan impeachment vote in American history, Politifact confirmed. A two-thirds Senate vote would be needed to convict Trump. Congressional Democrats have also called to bar Trump from holding future office, which would be a separate vote that would only require a simple majority. But, under the Constitution, that vote can only take place if Trump is convicted. The Senate is split 50-50 among Republicans and senators who caucus with the Democrats, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the deciding vote in the event of a tie. But proponents of barring Trump from holding future office must overcome the hurdle of convicting him with two-thirds of the Senate. Neither Cruz nor Cornyn have explicitly stated how theyll vote in the impeachment trial. Cornyn told KHOU that he will reserve judgment until after the impeachment managers present the case. GOP Sens. Joni Ernst, Tim Scott and Tom Cotton have spoken out against even holding a trial in the first place either by questioning the constitutionality of trying Trump as a former president or by claiming the trial would further divide the country. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, shot down their claims of unconstitutionality during a Senate floor speech Friday, while also reaffirming that there will be an impeachment trial despite Republican cries against it. It makes no sense whatsoever that a president or any official could commit a heinous crime against our country, then be permitted to resign in order to avoid accountability and a vote to disbar them from future office, Schumer said. So far, there have only been a handful of GOP senators who have publicly denounced Trump in some form for his role in inciting the U.S. Capitol riot, including Sens. Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. However, many GOP senators have pledged to carefully consider all of the evidence that will be presented during the impeachment trial. In response to Cornyns tweet that trying Trump would only prompt congressional Republicans to do the same to former Democratic presidents, Castro, D-San Antonio, one of the nine impeachment managers, told NPR that any president, Republican or Democrat who incites an insurrection to overturn an election should be impeached and should be convicted. I also believe that as the days go on, more and more evidence comes out about the presidents involvement in the incitement of this insurrection, the incitement of this riot and also his dereliction of duty once it was going on, Castro said. So Im confident that weve got a strong case and that we can convince those senators. The trial comes as Cruz is still under fire for promoting Trumps unfounded claims of voter fraud. Lawmakers were debating his objection to certifying the results when the Jan. 6 riot began. Seven Democrats filed a complaint with the Senate Committee on Ethics last week arguing that Cruz and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri, lent legitimacy to Trumps conspiracy theories. Cornyn voted against Cruzs objection. But he defended the two Republicans in a Fox News interview Monday. Its not uncommon its actually frequent where Senators have different points of view, he said. And I might think the point of view of my opponent is wrong and Im right, but that doesnt mean its unethical or improper for them to make the argument, as long as we abide the judgment of the body of the Senate and follow the law as was done when it came to the certification of these votes. to be truthful I've been out to the clerb less than 5 times in my adult life - just never my thing but when my friends and I are at a convention together it's a natural thing to do on a free night - and after this panorama I doubt I'll pick it up but oddly I found myself actually being ready/wanting to go out in early march last year (maybe find a man, IDK) only for covid to say 'LOL, stay your ass home girl!' so here I am Reply Thread Link Lol same here, i started to feel like "im ready to put myself out there!" and well....the parmesan starts Reply Parent Thread Link FR!!! I had LITERALLY talked to my therapist the week before this panini popped off about actually making a step to go out at night and not be afraid of ubers then BAM Reply Parent Thread Link Yea, I was ready to go out more and started dating again right before lolllllll Reply Parent Thread Link I decided in Dic 2019 to start traveling, my first trip was supposed to be NY for my birthday and then bam! Reply Parent Thread Link Omg this is me to a T. I was like (back in Jan 2020) okay Im actually going to put myself out there and be more sociable!! But miss rona had other plans Reply Parent Thread Link same girl, i was doing so well in 2020. I had gone on like 9 dates in those first 8 weeks of the year and then the pandy fucked with my shit Reply Parent Thread Link lmao I finally started getting my life back on track at the beginning of 2020 after being stuck in a rut for years and now I am forcibly back in that rut. It's so demoralising. Reply Parent Thread Link i can't see how we are going to get a handle on it tbh just have to hope enough people get vaccinated and the virus mutates itself out of existence because nothing b*ris and his cabinet of cunts are doing seems to be working i can't see how we are going to get a handle on it tbhjust have to hope enough people get vaccinated and the virus mutates itself out of existence because nothing b*ris and his cabinet of cunts are doing seems to be working Reply Thread Link As trash as the U.S. has been, even if I were in Australia, I ain't going into an indoor crowd until the vaccination levels are high. Covid-19 hasn't gone anywhere. So I'm willing and happy to stay my gay Yankee ass indoors, thank you very much, lol. Reply Thread Link ikr, I think this is going to stick with people for a while I think I'll be willing to go to Marlins games, but only because no one ever goes to Marlins games rofl Reply Parent Thread Link as someone in australia, Im with you. I would not be game enough to go dancing rn Reply Parent Thread Link doesnt the vaccine not prevent you from getting it though? It just minimizes spread? Reply Parent Thread Link Vaccines are meant to prevent you from getting the disease but it isnt a permanent thing considering new strains of this will happen every year probably. Reply Parent Thread Link Sort of. It can do both, just at different degrees of efficacy. It can prevent infection, but not at nearly as high a rate as the touted 95% prevention of the disease. So yes, vaccinated people can still be asymptomatic carriers. And maybe spread the infection. Maybe. They don't know yet if vaccinated people who get infected are very, if at all, contagious. Regardless, it still does prevent over half the risk of infection (I think 67%, but don't quote me), possibly makes the virus less contagious, and definitely slows the spread substantially. Reply Parent Thread Link I think in this case its the other way around, at least thats whats being reported by the media here Edited at 2021-01-27 07:46 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I'm in Melbourne and I still get anxious in shopping centres, even when people are pretty spread out Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah, my region was at zero (on and off) for awhile and we still had physical distancing measures in place. Thankfully. We spiked in cases in November, it could have been worse. Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly even if I was In a place that was covid free I still would feel extremely hesitant going to a club or anywhere where people are crowded and packed together. So many places still arent covid free, so many dont have the vaccine, and with all Of the new strains popping up...idk I just couldnt risk it yet Reply Thread Link its really interesting here in Aus, because we haven't had a huge number of infections/deaths people seem pretty nonchalant about it? Though i think we see whats happening in the US and UK and realise how lucky we are to have governments that impose strict lockdowns Reply Parent Thread Link how, though. tell us your secrets racist aussies or tell biden your secrets so he can go fucking implement some legislation or something i'm tired and cabin fever's hitting like a mofo Reply Thread Link I mean were racist too so like Why are our numbers higher Reply Parent Thread Link true true loads more of us here, we're a divisive as fuck mess and overall the issue is that even though the president presides over the country, state vs. federal governments will always clash and that's why we'll never have a blanket ban or mandate on things. some hillbilly ass governor from arkansas or some shit will sue to stop that shit Reply Parent Thread Expand Link My city is featured in the clip and we had a second wave after COVID leaked out of hotel quarentine due to government mismanagement. We were in lockdown for the second time to try to elimanate the virus and I was only allowed to leave the house for groceries and 1 hour of exercise (in a 5km radius). Hard lockdown was in place for 110 days. I have really mixed feelings about the whole thing. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hard lockdowns and closed state borders. Quarantining from interstate and overseas people done in hospitals and hotels with high amounts of security (repeated leaks from quarantine hospitals caused issues in Victoria and NSW). There's also punitive measures if you break rules. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hard lockdowns at the start, closing borders and when cases leak out of quarrantine, hard contacting tracing. It hasnt got to a point where its overwhelmed the tracers. (Excluding Melbournes first wave) I havent seen my family in over a year, no idea when. But my life is normal here. Im in the office every fortnight, Im playing sport, going out and living my life. Reply Parent Thread Link I really miss going to bars. I miss clubs too but I miss even standing outside of a bar and just people watching with my girls or grabbing a drink with a guy and walking around. Reply Thread Link Shes probably inadvertently dropped whatever that place is in the shit because as far as I know Victoria has a one-person-per-4-square-metres rule for dance floors and that is not happening there. Reply Thread Link Its 4square metres for the club total. So if theyre allowed 100 people in that club, they dont have to be in squares dancing by themselves. That looks way less crowded than the before times in a club. Reply Parent Thread Link I think they already got into trouble Reply Parent Thread Link *911 transition plays* Reply Thread Link I go to the club when vaccination rates are at like 70 percent. Reply Thread Link no i will not be in a club in 2023 due to the fact that i will be very old. maybe a bar with a dj who will play cupid shuffle for me. i guess thatd be brunch? Reply Thread Link TBH I've already planned to avoid most events and public gatherings for 6 months to a year after restrictions are lifted. People will go fucking crazy with their newfound freedom and be outside ALL the time, which is a totally normal reaction to being cooped up, but it will likely make me claustrophobic so no ty. I gotta ease back into regular public life at my own pace. Reply Thread Link My friend and I are already planning a Vegas girls trip for September 2022 tbh, I need something to dream about Reply Thread Link looks like a nightmare to me. Reply Thread Link I Hate clubs so I have not gone, but it's very strange to be in a state (Western Australia) which is going ten months without community spread but I know if something goes wrong, things will go absolutely horribly because people just do not care anymore. Reply Thread Link WA contact tracing is probably not up to standard either. Reply Parent Thread Link Most likely not. We have to 'check in' every time we go to an event or to a food place or get hairdressing or makeup done, but you don't check out which I find very strange plus people just do not check in. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link If a case gets out well be going into lockdown immeaditly. Both SA and QLD didnt have cases when they got their community transmissions and were on top of it. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link oh man....my family are in Perth and i actually managed to get over there at Christmas before they shut the border again. then they told us we needed to get COVID tests, and it was a shambles. they didn't warn the hospitals, staff didn't even know until people started rocking up and then the queues were so big people ended up being turned away. after being told they had 24 hours to get tested. ngl, it didn't inspire a lot of confidence about how it would be handled if the shit did hit the fan again :/ Reply Parent Thread Link I saw the post on Greggy Bennetts insta and was like I WANT TO HAVE THAT Reply Thread Link The Egyptian government needs to extend more incentives to encourage individuals to convert their fuel-run vehicles to become eco-friendly, said Rebecca Payne, senior product manager of safety and insurance at Uber. Paynes comments came as an answer to Ahram Onlines question on the actions that Egypt needs to take to catalyse citizens into adopting eco-friendly vehicles in light of the recent initiative launched by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi that aims to convert fuel-run vehicles to natural gas-ones. This came during the Uber Ignite virtual event that Uber launched on Tuesday to discuss using technology in transport safety. The Uber Ignite series is a new series of talks that brings together thought leaders, regulators, corporates, start-ups, and innovators to collectively address a number of urban challenges in the MENA region. She added that COVID-19 pushed all businesses to adopt new solutions using technology and digital instruments, adding that tapping these technologies to reduce road accidents is a crucial action that needs to be taken in all countries to save lives. Meanwhile, Ali El-Atrash, co-founder and COO of Trella a digital trucking marketplace that connects shippers to carriers across the Middle East and Africa said that 10 percent of road accidents are caused by heavy-trucks, adding that 6 percent of these accidents lead to 10 percent of deaths. He added that 90 percent of road accidents are a result of a human error. In this regard, Ali asserted that adopting new technologies like hyperloops and other solutions will help eliminate or, at least, decrease road accidents and save lives. For Egypt, Ali revealed that 95 percent of goods in the country are transported using heavy trucks, which reflects the danger that vehicles and their drivers face daily. Naif T. Bin Hwail, the general manager for safety and service monitoring at the Transport General Authority in Saudi Arabia, affirmed that there is great room for the private sector to play a role in this regard through injecting investments in transport safety technologies. Bin Hwail added that the ongoing coronavirus crisis has also alerted investors to new investment and venture opportunities that can serve people and benefit investors businesses as well. Short link: GEORGETOWN COUNTY The Georgetown County School Board held a public brainstorming session to discuss the needs of county schools in terms of the 2021-2022 fiscal budget on Tuesday evening, though no budget was proposed at this time. Superintendent Keith Price began the meeting by asking board members to take two minutes to write down ideas on sticky notes for how to improve county schools in the coming year, and when the two minutes were up, revealed broad categories for board members to place the sticky notes under. "Things that are important to you as we craft the budget, these are things we either need to protect or exploit," Price said. Broad categories included class sizes, teacher retention, increasing salary for employees, classroom safety, student intervention, increased professional development, new academic programs, increased funding for career technology education (CTE), technology enhancements for remote learning, and diversity and sensitivity training. The topics of student safety in terms of COVID-19 and intervention for struggling students were discussed heavily, and Pat Delone said she has been receiving emails from teachers asking about vaccinations for themselves and students, and has been working with foster students who are struggling with online learning. "We have so many children behind," Delone said. Dr. Arthur Lance Jr. countered by saying he didn't think the gap between students who are struggling versus students who are doing fine will be significant once they come back into the classrooms. Price said that the district is looking into after school and summer intervention for students who are falling behind at no cost to the students' families, and hopes eventually to hire personnel with new funding to be in-school interventionists for those students who are struggling and falling behind in curriculum. Sign up for our Myrtle Beach weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff. Email Sign Up! Lynne Ford talked about the importance of mental health considerations for students, and said that there are many students she has heard of who are falling behind because of anxiety and depression. When discussing diversity and inclusion efforts, Ford also said that there should be a zero tolerance policy for teachers to discriminate against students based on race and other factors. You would think in this day and age we shouldn't have to train teachers how to treat students, but we do," Ford said. Randy Walker expressed concern for deep cleaning of classrooms and the plexiglass that was installed in each elementary and intermediate classroom, wanting to ensure that cleaning was actually happening and not something that was just being said. After this activity, Price asked board members to rank the importance of these issues to them on a scale of 1 to 7 in order to prioritize specific concerns, and in the future, all the individual rankings will be averaged out to form a board-wide priority list. From fiscal year 2019-2020 into 2020-2021, GCSD's budget stayed consistent at $91,560,428. According to Ray White, the GCSD public information officer, this unchanging budget is due to COVID-19. According to the district's website, the superintendent and board start preparing the budget each September for the following year, and prior to adoption of the budget, the board holds a public hearing before June 25 each year. By June 30, the annual budget is given a final adoption, and upon adoption, information such as salaries for the superintendent, administrators and staff, revenues for the previous year and anticipated revenues for the coming year are made available. Price did not say specifically when the 2021-2022 budget will be presented, but the next board meeting is Feb. 2 according to the GCSD website calendar. According to the study, traffic deaths have spiked during the current health crisis, and this new report seeks to examine the correlation between speeding and teen driving accidents. Based on research, GHSA and Ford believe that speeding plays a significant role in teen driver fatalities.Apparently, for the studied period of 2015 to 2019, young drivers (aged 16 to 19) have unfortunately accounted for a greater proportion of speeding-related fatalities (43%) than all other age groups (30%).That means theres a need for authorities and other parties to get more involved to identify tools, technology, education, and training that would be useful to mitigate these risky driving practices.The report , which is embedded below as a PDF file, is titled Teens and Speeding: Breaking the Deadly Cycle. Research scientists describe it as a first look in recent years at the role speeding plays in teen driver deaths and incorporates recently released data that includes state-by-state statistics.The analysis found out that during the studied period, which includes data through 2019, no less than 4,930 teen drivers and passengers lost their lives in speeding-related traffic accidents , unfortunately.In addition, the report highlights interesting finds, such as that in speeding-related fatal crashes involving teens the driver is more likely to be male, have run off the road or rolled the vehicle, and be unbuckled.These sad findings are also compounded by the conclusion that teens driving with friends are at a higher risk of getting involved in a speeding-related fatal accident, as the risk of a crash rises exponentially with each additional passenger. And this comes right after finding out that overall traffic crashes have surged during the current health crisis.Fortunately, there are some safeguarding measures that can be taken to mitigate the risk of teen driver accidents. The GHSA and Ford report identified a range of real-world practical tools to rein down on risky driving behavior. These are best served along with the latest technology such as tracking apps on the teens phone or in-vehicle features that allow parents to limit a vehicles maximum speed. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:13:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian forward Odion Ighalo has returned to Chinese Super League's Shanghai Greenland Shenhua after his loan to Manchester United ended, confirmed the English Premier League side on Wednesday. Odion, 31, joined the Reds Devils on loan in January 2020. The deal initially ended at the end of last May but then was extended to this month. He scored five goals for the team in a total of 23 appearances. "It's so hard to see this dream come to an end," Odion wrote on social media. "To the manager I say thank you for trusting and believing in me when many did not. To my amazing team-mates I will miss you guys, it was always fun and a time I look forward to training and spending time with all of you. And I pray we win the league and FA Cup this year." Manchester United is second in the Premier League table, one point behind Manchester City after 19 games. Enditem Conservatives have generally praised those rare leaders who put principle over political self-interest. Their decisions typically earn them few friends at the time, but history has a way of vindicating their courage. Edmund Burkes warnings about the French Revolution flouted the spirit of the age but proved prophetic when the Reign of Terror descended across France. Winston Churchills resolve to carry on the struggle over the opposition of the majority of his party saved the Allied war effort and rallied the West against Hitler. Next to these examples, Rep. Liz Cheneys vote to impeach a president of her own party appears rather more prosaic. But the reaction from her fellow Republicans is still instructive: Over 100 GOP members of Congress want her removed from her position in leadership. A Wyoming state senator has already announced his intention to challenge her in a primary. And her putative ally, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, says she has a lot of questions she has to answer to the conference. This is the antithesis of leadership, and the Republican Party and conservative movement will pay dearly if they continue down this path. Any honest evaluation of Rep. Cheneys record shows she is a true conservative in every sense of the term. On taxes and spending, on defense and security, on cancel culture and social issues on essentially any issue a Republican voter might care about, she has always been a forceful defender of freedom and a fearless proponent of conservative views. Shes also brave and tough, and has proven herself to be one of the partys most effective messengers against Nancy Pelosi. From the speakers handling of the COVID-19 stimulus legislation to her views on China, Rep. Cheney has never shied away from confronting the Democratic leader and challenging her partys positions. Given all this, the idea that some Republicans with a fraction of her record want Rep. Cheney punished for a single vote of conscience is almost laughable and certainly counterproductive since this conflict will hurt the conservative cause and, consequently, the American people. The longer the Republican Party stays divided, the greater the chance the progressives in Congress can expand upon their gains and enact their agenda. Even in the minority, a united conservative opposition could steer policy in a more productive direction, increasing economic freedom and strengthening American security in the process. But a divided GOP more interested in purging one another from its ranks than legislating on behalf of the country will cede any influence they might have to the most strident members of the Democratic caucus. This will not only make Americans worse off in the short term, it will also cripple any chance conservatives have of regaining power over the next four years. While President Trump won more votes than any previous Republican candidate, he was also the first president to lose the White House and both houses of Congress in a single term since Herbert Hoover. Republicans hoping to win elections going forward will need Trump voters support, but they will also need to win back the voters Trump alienated with his actions, rhetoric, and some of his policies. Anyone who thinks excommunicating principled leaders like Rep. Cheney will help in that effort is delusional. The GOPs recent defeats in Georgia and Arizona prove this point. In 2016, Donald Trump carried the Peach State by five percentage points and the Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson won his race by nearly three times that margin. This election cycle, with President Trump and his most loyal supporters at war with their own partys elected officials, both GOP senators lost. Meanwhile, in Arizona, despite the GOP sweeping the state in 2016, the voters have since elected two Democratic senators and supported a Democrat for president for the first time since 1996. The message for Republicans should be clear: Trump alone is not enough. If conservatives want to build a governing coalition that can win elections, the self-destructive attacks on Rep. Cheney need to stop. If they continue, the same people responsible for the Republicans losing the Senate this time around will ensure further progressive victories in the years ahead and bear responsibility for the policies that will inevitably result. Advertisement The Arctic Circle and areas in the Southern Hemisphere are deemed the best spots to view auroras on Earth, but a team of astronauts found an even better place outer space. The Expedition 64 crew currently living on the International Space Station captured a number of stunning images of the natural phenomenon while orbiting more than 250 miles above the surface. The images were shot over different areas of our planet including the North Atlantic, Romania and Russia, showing the stunning lights hanging over cities, oceans and other land areas. Auroras, also called Earths airglow, are caused by cosmic rays interact with gasses in the upper atmosphere, which blankets the horizon with electric colored lights. NASA describes the event as a spectacular sign that our planet is electrically connected to the sun. The Expedition 64 crew currently living on the International Space Station captured a number of stunning images of the natural phenomenon while orbiting more than 250 miles above the surface. One of the images, taken on January 18, was shot while the International Space Station (ISS) was orbiting 264 miles above the North Atlantic (pictured) The images where shared by astronauts to the officials International Space Station Twitter account. The station's orbit takes it as high 51.6 above the equator offering awe-inspiring views of the Earth's aurora in between the city lights and the twinkling stars, the post reads. One of the images, taken on January 18, was shot while the International Space Station (ISS) was orbiting 264 miles above the North Atlantic. The picture shows the dark sea below with a ribbon of green light swathing above along the horizon. Auroras, also called Earths airglow, are caused by cosmic rays interact with gasses in the upper atmosphere, which blankets the horizon with electric colored lights. This picture was taken while the ISS was over Romania. The crew capture the auroras hanging over Sweden and Finland On January 13, Expedition crew 46 shared an image while soaring above Kazakhstan in Russia, which captured the citys bright lights at night and above was a curved beam of green aurora On the same day, the ISS moved over Romania to snap another breathtaking view. The International Space Station was orbiting 263 miles above Romania when this photograph was taken of the city lights of Sweden and Finland with an aurora above the Earth's horizon, reads the pictures caption. The dark area in between the two Scandinavian nations is the Baltic Sea. Auroras have also been called polar lights because they are rarely visible outside 70 degrees north and south latitudes. Auroras have also been called polar lights because they are rarely visible outside 70 degrees north and south latitudes. Pictured is another image taken 264 miles above Kazakhstan However, one of the best images was taken January 7 that shows the 74 resupply ship hanging in the darkness that is space and down below are the puffy white clouds in our atmosphere. And in the distance, the aurora australis can be shinning from the horizon The stunning show occurs when energetic particles come speeding out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It can take two to three days for the particles to reach Earth, but when they do, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light. And this results in the Northern and Southern lights. On January 13, Expedition crew 46 shared an image while soaring above Kazakhstan in Russia, which captured the citys bright lights at night and above was a curved beam of green auroras. However, one of the best images was taken January 7 that shows the 74 resupply ship hanging in the darkness that is space and down below are the puffy white clouds in our atmosphere. And in the distance, the aurora australis can be shinning from the horizon. Police cordon off an area around a residential neighborhood in Huangpu district in eastern Chinas Shanghai on Jan. 21, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Local Claims Latest CCP Virus Outbreak in Shanghai Occurred Weeks Before Authorities Reported It An employee at Shanghais subway network told The Epoch Times that he had seen several people suddenly collapse and exhibit COVID-19 symptoms in recent weeks, long before authorities announced any new local cases. Local authorities in Shanghai reported a new outbreak of COVID-19 on Jan. 21, although the city declared no more suspected cases on Jan. 2. COVID-19 is caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Numerous Sudden Collapses The Shanghai Metro employee told The Epoch Times that these cases mostly occurred in mid-January. The employee wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns. I have seen sudden collapses several times recently, sometimes on the platform, sometimes inside a subway car, he said. Some were seniors and some were young people, and the frequency was relatively high. We have also seen someone vomiting on the platform several days in a row, and they explained that they had a fever and felt dizzy. Our subway station manager then called the 120 emergency line to have the person taken to the hospital. Two such incidents were caught on videoone occurred in northeastern Heilongjiang Province in December, and the other in northern Hebei Province earlier this month. The first part of the video shows a man who suddenly fell to the ground outside a police security post in Wangkui county of Heilongjiang, on Dec. 25, 2020. Because there were no reports of local COVID-19 cases at the time, onlookers did not associate the incident with the CCP virus. Two weeks later, on Jan. 9, numerous cases of the CCP virus began to erupt in Wangkui, making the county one of Chinas hotspots for COVID-19. The second half of the video shows three medical workers in white protective suits performing CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) on a person who collapsed at a COVID-19 test site in Langfang city, Hebei, on Jan. 11. Pandemic Control Measures Resumed Starting on Jan. 23, Shanghai authorities mandated that all subway passengers must wear masks and have their body temperature checked at the entrance. The subway employee who spoke to the publication said that working for Shanghai Metro is now considered a dangerous job, as the risk of becoming infected could be high. Many employees who come into contact with passengers have decided to resign because they are afraid that if we contract the virus, our immediate family members will get infected as well, he said. Moreover, our salary is very low, so this job is not worth keeping. Questioning Official Data As of Jan. 23, Shanghai reported nine domestic cases, and designated three neighborhoods as medium risk for the CCP virus. However, it is difficult to assess the true scale of the current CCP virus outbreak due to Chinese authorities past record of underreporting infections and covering up information. As a local resident, the subway employee felt that the outbreak started earlier and is on a much larger scale than announced. Right now, many companies in Shanghai require their employees to take their body temperature as well as present their itinerary code and health barcode as soon as they arrive at work. Supermarkets and shopping centers have the same requirements for employees, he explained. He also revealed that Shanghai authorities strictly prohibit local netizens from sharing pandemic information on social media. A friend of his went missing and had his WeChat account suspended after he posted pictures of medical workers in a commercial district. Shanghai residents seem to have felt that the danger has increased, even though the authorities only reported nine new cases. In the past several days, subway traffic has fallen by more than 50 percent. A colleague who works at the platform area told me that there are very few passengers on the trains, he said. Gu Xiaohua and Gu Qinger contributed to this report. MIDDLETON, Mass., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, a global strategic research and advisory firm has ranked Asseco Business Solutions as the top performer and technology leader in the SPARK Matrix analysis of the global Retail Execution Platform (REP) market by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions. The Quadrant Knowledge Solutions SPARK Matrix includes a detailed analysis of global retail execution market dynamics, major trends, vendor landscape, and competitive positioning. The study provides a competitive analysis and ranking of the leading retail execution vendors in the form of its SPARK Matrix, providing strategic information for users to evaluate different vendor capabilities, competitive differentiation, and market position. Driven by the impact of Covid-19 on the global economy, businesses across the spectrum - especially retailers are required to alter their existing operational business process models on an urgent basis. In order to account for the business operations for effective last-mile connectivity and to factor in for the spike in the consumer demand, especially in the times of the work-from-home and stay-at-home pandemic conditions, effective upgrades in the retail execution platform offerings would ensure a streamlined operational cycle. Covid-19 has impacted the market for overall digital transformation and enterprise software. However, Quadrant analysts believe that technology investments in the retail execution platform market will rise again from the year 2021 onwards, driven mainly by the increasing demand for retail & groceries, and the ease of convenience & access associated with the same, causing an economic recovery of the key markets across the geographical regions. Asseco has been positioned in the Leader's Quadrant since it offers a robust technology proposition with comprehensive retail execution platform capabilities including native solutions support for both iOS & Android platform, and built-in integration & communication capabilities as well. A retail execution platform assists in managing the entire set of store activities within the FMCG sector, assisting these companies in increasing their profits, along with bringing in efficiency in the sales operations. In this regard, Asseco with its Mobile Touch by Asseco - a retail execution solution, which is a constituent of the Omnichannel for FMCG by Asseco Platform range, supports numerous consumer goods sales processes, for sustainable & resilient business operations. "Asseco's sophisticated Mobile Touch platform offering comprehensive functional capabilities, including sales force automation (SFA) fundamentals and retail activity optimization (RAO), in addition to possessing built-in image recognition & augmented reality capabilities with an AI-driven platform layout, has received strong ratings across the parameters of technology excellence and customer impact. Thus, we expect Asseco to continuously build on its Retail Execution Platform leadership, moving forward," said Akshaysingh Chandel, Analyst, Quadrant Knowledge Solutions. "The company's Mobile Touch Retail Activity Optimization (RAO) - an intelligent command center for sales representatives enabling the implementation of smarter sales strategies and Mobile Touch Perfect Store which helps consumer goods brands in boosting sales by focusing on In-Store Excellence - further ensures the provision of a holistic & leveraged retail experience streamlining the store operations and delivering an exceptional brand experience to their customers. With growing advancements across the retail space, the retail execution platform market is expected to grow exponentially in the next five years. Hence, we expect Asseco to continue being the market front runner for the near future," adds Akshaysingh. "We are very proud of being ranked very high by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, which is an industry influencer and a strategic knowledge partner of many consumer goods companies. This exceptional distinction is a confirmation for our mission to develop valuable Retail Execution solutions for FMCG and expand them globally. More than that, we are all the time thinking on how to help our FMCG business partners secure more sales and ensure domination at the shelf in the rapidly changing consumer goods eco-system. We are not afraid to realise our vision of the Future of Sales and propose our users continuously new ways of selling." - says Andreas Enders, International Sales & Implementations at Asseco Business Solutions. Additional Resources: For more information about Asseco retail execution: Link About Asseco Business Solutions: Asseco Business Solutions offers the FMCG industry a set of comprehensive Omnichannel solutions for Sales Excellence. These include Sales Force Automation, Customer Portals, e-Commerce B2B & B2C, Data Integration and Data Intelligence. The company supports both multinational and local consumer goods organisations operating in sectors, like food, beverages, cosmetics, healthcare, OTC and others. Asseco Business Solutions has installations in more than 50 countries and on six continents. Its Data Centres operate across the globe, including EMEA, Russia, APAC and the Americas. Selected customers are, for instance, Bacardi, Barilla, Beiersdorf, Dr. Oetker, Heineken, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal and McCormick. About Quadrant Knowledge Solutions: Quadrant Knowledge Solutions is a global advisory and consulting firm focused on helping clients in achieving business transformation goals with Strategic Business and Growth advisory services. At Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, our vision is to become an integral part of our client's business as a strategic knowledge partner. Our research and consulting deliverables are designed to provide comprehensive information and strategic insights for helping clients formulate growth strategies to survive and thrive in ever-changing business environments. For more available research, please visit https://quadrant-solutions.com/market-research/ Media Contacts Asseco Media Contact Agata Kurto Marketing Communication Coordinator mobile: +48 697 078 721 e-mail: agata.kurto@assecobs.com linkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agatakurto/ web: omnichannel-fmcg.com Quadrant Knowledge Solutions Media Contact Riya Mehar RMehar@quadrant-solutions.com LOGO: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/746706/Quadrant_Knowledge_Solutions_Logo.jpg To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. SutiSoft Inc., a leading provider of web-based and mobile business management solutions, announces today of the updates to the Time Management, Training, and Organization modules within SutiHR. The latest included features of the software help businesses easily set employee time rules, manage overtime, and training seamlessly. Built with an intuitive user interface, SutiHRs Time Management module enhances employee experiences and helps ensure employees are paid accurately, on-time and in accordance with local regulations. The latest features include: Carry Over Expiration dates for Time Off Balances: When creating a new time off type, HR Administrators can now define a carryover expiration date. The solution will restrict employees from applying carry over leave after the specified date. Time Off Accrual Start and Eligible Dates: HR Administrators can assign time off accrual start and eligible date for a specific time off type for a group of employees at once. The time off balance will be accrued from the specified dates. New Time Off Accrual Rule: When creating a new time off type, HR Administrators can now set that the time off balance should be accrued by employees at the beginning of every half year. Adjustable Time Off: HR Administrators can easily adjust the timings of time off which has already been approved or taken. Edit Timesheet Privileges for Managers: HR Administrators can assign privileges to managers in order to edit timesheets of their team members. Set Visibility for Company Events: When creating a new event, HR Administrators can now specify whom (Department/Employees/Reporting Persons) the event should be visible to on the company calendar. Schedule Training on Holidays: The solution now allows HR Administrators to schedule training on holidays. Add Materials to Course Schedules: The solution now allows HR Administrators to add course materials to training course schedules which were already created. For more information, please visit: https://www.sutihr.com or call us at 650-969-SUTI. About SutiSoft SutiSoft provides a comprehensive suite of cloud-based business platforms and solutions for companies of all sizes. These platforms include scalable and easy-to-use solutions for HR, Employee Travel & Expense, Wireless Spend Management, CRM, Document Management, Business Data Analytics, and Electronic signature. Our platforms and solutions enable small, mid-size, and large enterprise customers to control costs, save time, and assist in making smart business decisions. Headquartered in Los Altos, California, SutiSoft also has regional offices in Germany, India, and Japan. For additional information, visit our website at http://www.sutisoft.com. Catholic builders Eamon Fox (left) and Gary Convie were murdered in 1994 as they ate lunch in their car. A man is facing prosecution on charges of murdering two Catholic workmen in Belfast nearly 27 years ago, it emerged on Wednesday. James Smyth, 54, appeared at the city's Magistrates Court over his alleged involvement in the double killing of Gary Convie and Eamon Fox. Mr Convie, 24, and Mr Fox, 44, were shot dead by loyalist paramilitaries as they ate lunch at a building site on North Queen Street in May 1994. Smyth, of Forthriver Link in Belfast, and co-accused Mark Campbell had previously been jointly charged with their murders. But in 2015 criminal proceedings against both of them were withdrawn on a without prejudice basis. North Belfast man Campbell, 45, died suddenly months later. The case against Smyth has now been resurrected by the alternative process of an indictable summons. He appeared remotely from his solicitor John Greer's offices for a scheduled preliminary enquiry into the case against him. Smyth is to be charged with the two workmen's murders and the attempted murder of a third individual - identified only as Witness A - on the same date. He also faces further counts of possessing a Sten submachine gun and ammunition with intent to endanger life, and belonging to a proscribed organisation, namely the Ulster Volunteer Force. However, defence barrister Paul Bacon told the court more time was needed to examine a "voluminous" amount of material which has just been received. According to a legal source the decision to charge Smyth again was taken up to three years ago. Granting an adjournment requested by the defence, District Judge Fiona Bagnall listed the case for a review in April. ends Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Flash Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has met with President Sergio Mattarella to hand in his resignation, the Italian government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Conte "has expressed ... his intention to ... submit his resignation", the statement said. Mattarella has confirmed Conte's resignation. "Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has offered his resignation," Mattarella's office said in a statement. "The President of the Republic has reserved the right to decide and has invited the government to remain in office for the time being to take care of day-to-day business," the statement said. It is now up to Mattarella to sound out Italy's political forces in order to form a new government to guide the country through the end of the current legislature's natural five-year term in March 2023. Mattarella's statement said he will begin consultations with Italy's various political leaders on Jan. 27. If Mattarella's efforts fail and no new governing coalition can be found, Italian voters will be called to a snap general election. Italy's last general election was held in March 2018. Conte last week requested and won two confidence votes in both houses of parliament after a junior member of his ruling coalition, the Italia Viva party led by former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, withdrew its backing earlier this month. has vaccinated 82 per cent of its population and is targeting at least 95 per cent at the earliest, Israeli Prime Minister said on Wednesday, while cautioning that a race is underway between and mutation of the coronavirus. In a special address at the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda Summit, Netanyahu said, "We have to race as fast as we can to vaccinate the at-risk groups in the population, and then everyone else in order to give immunity." Thereafter, the vaccine makers can be expected to modify their vaccines to accommodate the mutations that are not covered currently, and then we will have to purchase them, he added. is in the midst of pursuing one of the fastest drives in the world against COVID-19. "We have vaccinated 82 per cent of our people, but it's not enough. We have to vaccinate at least 95 per cent, which is still a big task, but that is about the residual of those who really oppose vaccines -- about 5 per cent." Talking about the challenges, Netanyahu said, "We are in an arms race. Except it's not an arms race, it's a race between and mutation."He said there is the British mutation, but there will be more and mutations in future. "That's going to be our life for the coming years. I don't think that war (is) going to evade that. But we can overcome it," he noted. The Israeli leader further said the reason his country has done well is because it purchased a lot of vaccines fast. "We didn't quibble about the price. I personally got involved in it, and I said just basically to the bureaucrats, cut the whatever -- I want to be diplomatic -- but I actually said cut the nonsense," he said in a candid speech. He said he had a telephone conversation with Pfizer's leadership at 2 am to close the deal. " could serve as a world laboratory for herd immunity, or something approaching herd immunity very quickly because we have an efficient distribution system," he added. Netanyahu said he gave Pfizer the argument that they could benefit from the data that Israel could produce, and they were convinced. He said he was on phone with the Pfizer CEO 21 times, and also spoke to heads of Moderna and other companies. "I don't call them that much -- just five times a day," Netanyahu joked about how often he speaks with Pfizer executives regarding vaccine development and distribution. "I think you need personal leadership here. It's like checking on munitions in a war. You really have to make sure you're getting first of all the stock of the vaccines and then you have to make sure that they're distributed and they have to be distributed in an optimised way that keeps changing," he said. Asked whether he expects COVID-19 mutations to continue emerging in the future, he said, "Yes, I expect we will have to inoculate ourselves at least annually. That's my guess. I'm not completely sure, and if I have to guess, and I'm stocking Israel's health, so to speak, with vaccines, with that assumption." "I want to sign contracts for future purchases, based on the idea that the vaccines will alternate. For example, they're now testing for children," he added. As we proceed with either new vaccines or modified versions for mutations, and those for teenagers and children, then we have to stock and deliver them, he said. "I expect this to be exactly like the flu -- probably more so than the flu, which requires vaccination every year," he said. On the effectiveness of the vaccines against the current and new strains, Netanyahu said, "Right now, the two vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) have overcome the strains that have appeared... I don't pretend to be an expert on vaccines, but I think from what I can ascertain from talking to the people who are experts in this." He added that statistically, it is just a question of time before there is a strain that the current vaccines do not work against and for that reason, he has shut down commercial flights. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Carolina has doled out 95 percent of its allotted coronavirus vaccines, with demand now on the verge of eclipsing scheduled supply, officials said Tuesday. A new shipment of 120,000 doses is expected to arrive in the Tar Heel State on Wednesday, though officials are lobbying for a boost. The state's vaccination efforts should show the "federal government we are ready to take on more vaccine and we need those additional doses now," Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, told reporters on Tuesday. Jammu, Jan 27 : The J&K Police Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested a West Bengal resident on charge of swindling Rs 1.34 crore from the Ministry of Minority Affairs. "A team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police proceeded to West Bengal and arrested accused Selim Sekh of Tinsatabighi Berabad village in Malda district, who was wanted in many FIRs pertaining to fraudulent siphoning of government funds," a Crime Branch statement said. It said the accused in criminal conspiracy with co-accused uploaded fake application forms on the National Scholarship Portal for Merit cum Means Scholarship under the Minority Quota for Jammu and Kashmir students during 2018-19 for Kulgam district. Subsequently, fake verifications were conducted from institutes that did not exist in states mentioned in the application forms. The accused allegedly showed fake beneficiaries as residents of Kulgam district and thus got it verified by the district Social Welfare Officer through deceit and managed to transfer Rs 1.34 crore from the Ministry of Minority Affairs into accounts of 463 fake beneficiaries in branches of State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, United Bank of India (now PNB), Allahabad Bank, IDFC Bank and Bangiya Vikas Gramin Bank in different districts of West Bengal. Cemex supplies largest maintenance airport in Europe 27 January 2021 Cemex is supplying cement and concrete for the Teruel Airport Platform, the largest maintenance, repair and operations airport in Europe. Cemex has supplied 30,000t of cement required to produce 100,000Mm3 of concrete to build two new hangars, the expansion of the parking arae, a runway of around 3km and industrial zone, terminals, amongst other facilities for the Spanish airport. Published under Newly confirmed secretary of state vows to promote LGBT agenda Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The newly confirmed U.S. secretary of state has vowed to support the LGBT agenda by flying pride flags at United States embassies and resurrecting the "special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons." Antony Blinken, who was confirmed 78-22 by the United States Senate Tuesday, shared his thoughts about LGBT issues during his Senate confirmation hearing last week, which took place before President Joe Biden took office. As he questioned Blinken, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "You and President-elect Biden have indicated that you're going to support, appoint a new special envoy for human rights on LGBTI people, a position that I've been pushing to make permanent through the International Human Rights Defense Act." As a presidential candidate, Biden vowed to make LGBT activism a centerpiece of his foreign policy. "After four years of Trump administration efforts to specifically marginalize, minimize, do damage to the rights of the LGBTI people, I think it's going to be vital to appoint a seasoned expert on this issues. Are you going to move forward towards a speedy appointment towards an LGBTI envoy and would you consider raising it to an ambassadorial level?" Markey asked. Blinken answered in the affirmative: "This is a matter, I think, of some real urgency, we've seen violence directed against LGBTQI people around the world increase. We've seen, I believe, the highest number of murders of transgender people, particularly women of color, that we've seen ever and so I think the United States playing the role that it should be playing in standing up for and defending the rights of LGBTQI people is something the Department is going to take on and take on immediately." Markey also asked Blinken if he would "repudiate the findings of the report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights and reaffirm the United States' acceptance and adherence to the human rights laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and whether he would "ensure that ambassadors are able to fly the pride ... flag at our embassies around the world." "Yes to both," Blinken replied. The Commission on Unalienable Rights was created by the State Department under then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2019. In a press conference announcing the State Department Commission, the secretary of state argued that "international institutions designed and built to protect human rights have drifted from their original mission." According to Pompeo, "As human rights claims have proliferated, some claims have come into tension with one another, provoking questions about which rights are entitled to gain respect." Democrats and progressive advocacy groups quickly criticized the move to create the commission, warning that it constituted an attempt to remove LGBT rights and abortion from the consensus definition of human rights. During the Trump administration, the United States signed the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which declared that "there is no international right to abortion." During the Trump administration, U.S. embassies were told not to fly the pride flag, which consists of the rainbow colors and is designed to show support for LGBT rights. Then-Vice President Mike Pence defended the State Department's declaration that "on the flagpole of our American embassies that one flag should fly and that's the American flag," saying "I support that." As Markey explained, the special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons was "left vacant in the Trump years." The position was created during the latter part of the Obama administration. The first special envoy for the human rights of LGBTI persons was Randy Berry, who served in the position from 2015 to 2017 before former President Donald Trump appointed him to the position of United States Ambassador to Nepal. While Markey contended that "the Trump administration rolled back much of the United States' previous efforts to support and promote LGBTI rights around the world," the previous administration pushed 69 countries to decriminalize homosexuality and same-sex relationships. Blinken is the fourth member of Biden's cabinet that has been confirmed by the Senate. The others are Director of Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen. A major winter storm dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the Midwest while another system blanketed parts of the Southwest with snow, disrupting travel for a second consecutive day Tuesday and shuttering many schools. There were closures of several coronavirus testing sites on Monday and Tuesday in Nebraska and Iowa, and both states saw from 12 to 15 inches of snow in places. At least 4 inches of snow was expected through Tuesday across most of an area stretching from central Kansas northeast to Chicago and southern Michigan. National Weather Service meteorologist Taylor Nicolaisen, who is based near Omaha, Nebraska, said up to 15 inches was reported in spots between York, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa. He said its uncommon for the region to get more than a foot of snow from a single storm, and it has been decades since some cities saw this much. A lot of people tend to misremember snow events especially from when you were a kid. Everything felt like a foot of snow when you were a kid, Nicolaisen said. The snow drifts were literally higher than your head when you were a kid, but thats because you were 2 feet tall. The storm made travel treacherous in places as wind-whipped snow piled up. Interstates temporarily were closed in western Nebraska and in Wisconsin near Milwaukee because of crashes Tuesday morning, and scores of flights were canceled at airports across the region. Officials urged drivers to stay off the roads. In Wisconsin, the weather service predicted up to 10 inches of snow could fall in the Milwaukee area, with the highest totals along Lake Michigan. Wind gusts of 15 mph to 25 mph were reported across southern Wisconsin, creating drifting snow, reduced visibilities and complicating snow removal efforts, said Andy Boxell, a meteorologist with the weather services office in Sullivan, Wisconsin. Its not only snow but its pretty darn windy out there, so thats causing a lot blowing and drifting, he said. In the Chicago area, between between 3 inches and 5 inches of snow had fallen by early Tuesday. Meteorologist Bett Borchardt forecast snowfall up to 8 inches or more in northern Illinois before the storm was expected to end Tuesday evening. The last comparable snowfall hit the area in November 2018, when 8.4 inches fell. Many schools and businesses across the Midwest closed for a second day Tuesday as crews worked to dig out after the storm. The city of Omaha had all 115 of its own plows and 300 contractors out Tuesday working around the clock to clear the streets in Nebraskas biggest city, but Assistant Public Works Director Todd Pfitzer cautioned that the effort will take some time to complete. And the forecast called for Omaha and much of eastern Nebraska to get another inch or so of snow Tuesday night. We are asking for a little patience. We got 12 inches of snow, Pfitzer said. In West Des Moines, Iowa, Chris Borsberry said he needed a four-wheel drive to make it into the Fairfield Inn & Suites where he works, and it still took him twice as long as normal to get to the hotel. Once there, Borsberry said, he had to shovel the sidewalk seven times because it kept getting covered before the snow finally stopped. I got excited about that because it meant I only had one more shovel pass to do, said Borsberry, 45. In York, Nebraska, roughly 250 semi-trailers waited out the storm at the Petro truck stop alongside Interstate 80. Manager Rachael Adamson said she could see knee-high drifts. We havent had this much snow in quite a few years, Adamson said. In the South, one person was dead and at least 30 others were injured after a tornado carved a path of destruction north of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday night, leaving the area with crumpled buildings and downed trees. In the Southwest, more than a foot of snow fell in the mountains of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Icy conditions in mountains north of Los Angeles shut Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass and State Route 58 in Tehachapi Pass. A storm buried northern Arizona in snow while sending flurries to the outskirts of Las Vegas and Phoenix. Most of Nevada was bracing for another series of powerful winter storms that could bring several feet of snow to the mountains above Lake Tahoe by Thursday. Preliminary snowfall reports from the latest storm included 14.2 inches at the Flagstaff airport and 16 inches at Payson between Sunday night and late Monday, the weather service said. Another major storm was approaching the coast with the potential to bring from 7 to 10 inches of rain to central California and dump several feet of snow across the Sierra Nevada mountains. That additional rain and snow could lead to flash floods and debris flows which can carry massive boulders, trees and other objects to areas north and south of San Francisco Bay. Evacuation orders were in effect for areas of fire-scarred Santa Cruz County and evacuation warnings were issued in San Mateo County. The Library of Congress is starting an initiative to expand its collection, encourage diversity among future librarians and archivists and make it easier for members of minority groups to explore the librarys digital archives. The program will be instituted over the next four years and is funded with a $15 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, part of a shift by the foundation toward issuing art and humanities grants through what it has called a social justice lens. The library also described the move, called Of the People: Widening the Path, as part of a larger plan to help the institution by building on a commitment to collect and preserve more underrepresented perspectives and experiences, according to a news release, and inviting new generations to participate in creating and sharing vital cultural materials. In doing so, we invest in an enduring legacy of the multifaceted American story that truly is Of the People, Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, said in a statement. The co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, has reiterated the need for Nigeria to prioritise the development of its health sector rather than focusing on the COVID-19 vaccines. Speaking during an interview session with journalists on Tuesday, Mr Gates said the country should divert resources budgeted for approved COVID-19 vaccines into the development of the countrys weak health care system. There is no doubt that the impact of putting money into the health system particularly the primary healthcare system will be very high in terms of saving childrens lives. Nigeria should not divert the very limited money that it has for health into trying to pay a high price for COVID-19 vaccines, Mr Gates said. His statement was a response to a question on Nigerias plan to invest about N400 billion to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigerias population at $8 per vaccine. Nigerias health minister, Osagie Ehanire, in December 2020, told the senate that N156 billion will be needed in 2021 while N200 billion will be used for vaccination in 2022, according to a report by The Cable. But Mr Gates said Nigeria is already a beneficiary of GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private global health partnership to increase access to immunisation in poor countries. The key is that Nigeria is still eligible, and so, for a lot of those vaccines, they will come through the GAVI facility that we have raised money for, Mr Gates said. Most African countries, including Nigeria, are banking on benefitting from the COVAX facility, an initiative run by the vaccine alliance, GAVI, to ensure equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine. The World Health Organisation (WHO) backed programme, was set-up to divide a billion doses across 92 low and middle-income countries. The facility promised access to vaccines for up to 20 per cent of participating countries population with an initial supply beginning in the first quarter of the year to immunize 3 per cent of their population. Through this initiative, the Nigerian government had announced that at least 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines will arrive the country by February. It is also expecting free 42 million doses of other approved vaccines in the second phase through the COVAX facility. These vaccines will, however, cover only about 20 per cent of Nigerias over 200 million estimated population. But whether the COVAX facility is able to deliver vaccines as promised or not, African countries must sort other alternatives to vaccinate at least 50 per cent of their population to reach herd immunity. Last week, Mr Ehanire said efforts are ongoing to secure 10 million doses of the viral vector vaccines to cover an additional 50 per cent of the countrys population. Underfunded health sector Mr Gates said the Nigeria health sector is generally underfunded. He noted that investing the proposed COVID-19 vaccines funds into other health-related areas would assist to deepen vaccine coverage and save more lives. ADVERTISEMENT He said millions of lives can be saved if Nigerias primary health care system operated at a level that some other countries at the same wealth operates. Im an advocate for the government to have more resources and prioritise health. Obviously Im not a voter in Nigeria, so Nigeria can decide that independently. So my advice is that the primary health care system is what is super important and that with those finite resources, you have to prioritise expenditure. And in that case, waiting for the GAVI vaccines would be the best thing and to put into other areas so that vaccine coverage rates, that are as low as 20 per cent in some areas, get up to 80/90 per cent to save childrens lives, he said. Another pandemic Mr Gates appealed to every government to begin preparations for the next pandemic as the COVID-19 pandemic will not be the last the world would experience. He called for the dedication of more resources into public health. We have to make sure that we take the lessons from this pandemic, and make sure we are ready for the next one to come. Africa learned a lot in its fight against Ebola and polio. A lot of resources and infrastructure that was developed for those have been helpful in COVID-19. And it just points out that we need to invest in more of those, even for the times when theres not a pandemic. LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) today congratulate the winners of the 2020 Energy Champion Awards presented by the San Gabriel Valley Energy Wise Partnership (SGVEWP). Members of SGVEWP include SoCalGas, the SGVCOG, San Gabriel Valley cities, school districts, and special districts including waste, water, transportation, fire, etc., that are located within SoCalGas service territories. SGVEWP hosted the 2020 San Gabriel Valley Energy Champion Awards to recognize the San Gabriel Valley agencies' efforts in support of energy efficiency programs. A recent study by the Energy Futures Initiative found energy efficiency to be the most cost-effective approach towards meeting California's climate goals. SGVCOG The SGVEWP created the Energy Champion Awards to encourage members to implement energy efficiency measures. The awards are broken down into three categories: bronze, silver and gold. SGVCOG recognized a total of 13 cities and one school district with Gold awards and one city with a Silver award. The Energy Champion Awards recognizes municipal projects, but there are ways other customers can become more energy efficient too. SoCalGas' public sector customers located within SGVEWP cities are eligible for an additional 50% in rebates for energy efficient appliances and equipment in 2020 and 2021. To learn more about SoCalGas' rebate programs and incentives, visit https://www.socalgas.com/save-money-and-energy/rebates-and-incentives. "The San Gabriel Valley Energy Wise Partnership has been successful in reducing overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in these local communities," said Brian Prusnek, director of customer programs and assistance at SoCalGas. "Energy efficiency programs are a proven, cost-effective tool to achieve California's climate goals and we are proud to be a part of the inaugural Energy Champion Awards." "The City of San Gabriel is proud to be working with the SoCalGas team on energy efficiency projects this year. We recently completed a project at the Smith Park Pool which is estimated to save 14,074 therms of energy and thousands of dollars every year," said City of San Gabriel Mayor Denise Menchaca. "We're looking forward to collaborating with SoCalGas and San Gabriel Valley Energy Wise Partnership on more energy efficiency projects in 2021." "Our partnership with SoCalGas and SGVCOG has helped us understand the importance of long-term energy efficiency, not only for the environmental benefits offered, but also the financial savings for our city's residents," said San Dimas Mayor Emmett Badar. "We are honored to be the silver recipient of the Energy Efficiency Champion Awards. Our participation in this year's program is an indication that we are on the right path towards becoming a more energy efficient city." "Through the SGVEWP, we're able to support our cities in reduction of energy consumption and the implementation of energy efficiency actions," said Marisa Creter, executive director at SGVCOG. "Last year, the Partnership launched the San Gabriel Valley Energy Champion Awards to promote and encourage our cities to complete energy efficiency projects. We were extremely excited to recognize 15 cities and agencies for their achievements in 2020 and we look forward to continuing working with our cities to create a more sustainable San Gabriel Valley!" The cities of San Gabriel and San Dimas both implemented award-winning projects involving pool covers at municipal pools that saved a total of 34,302 therms in 2020. The full list of winners is as follows: Alhambra, Arcadia, Claremont, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, La Verne, Monrovia, Pomona, San Gabriel, South El Monte, South Pasadena, Walnut, and El Monte Union High School District all receiving Gold awards and San Dimas receiving a Silver award. Since its formation in 2009, SGVEWP members have completed over 60 energy efficiency projects, attended over 130 community events to promote energy efficiency opportunities, hosted over 30 energy efficiency workshops and conducted outreach to more than 8,000 residents. Since 2016, SGVEWP cities have partnered with SoCalGas and saved over 90,000 therms through various projects, equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power approximately 229 homes a year. Project highlights include: City of Alhambra : 2 pool heater projects for a total of 7,200 therms saved annually : 2 pool heater projects for a total of 7,200 therms saved annually City of Arcadia : A boiler project for a total of 1,562 therms saved annually : A boiler project for a total of 1,562 therms saved annually City of Covina : A pool heater and a boiler project for total of 5,654 therms saved annually : A pool heater and a boiler project for total of 5,654 therms saved annually City of Duarte : A pool cover, pool heater and a tankless water heater project with 12,998 therms saved annually : A pool cover, pool heater and a tankless water heater project with 12,998 therms saved annually City of El Monte : 2 pool cover and 2 pool heater projects for a total of 14,065 therms saved annually : 2 pool cover and 2 pool heater projects for a total of 14,065 therms saved annually City of Monterey Park : 2 pool heater and 2 boiler projects for a total of 10,103 therms saved annually : 2 pool heater and 2 boiler projects for a total of 10,103 therms saved annually City of Pomona : A boiler project for a total of 3,623 therms saved annually : A boiler project for a total of 3,623 therms saved annually City of South El Monte : A pool cover and pool heater project for a total of 5,781 therms saved annually Recipients had to meet the following criteria to receive awards: Bronze Category: Attend one Energy Work Group meeting or energy efficiency training in 2020. Undergo an Energy Star Portfolio audit to assess how on municipal facilities are performing on energy efficiency and meet with SGVCOG staff to review potential energy efficiency projects. Shared SGVEWP and SoCalGas rebate/financial incentive information on the City's website or conducted at least one energy efficiency outreach event with the Partnership in 2019 or 2020. Silver Category: Attended two Energy Work Group meetings or energy efficiency trainings in 2020. Undergo an Energy Star Portfolio audit to assess how on municipal facilities are performing on energy efficiency and meet with SGVCOG staff to review potential energy efficiency projects. Shared SGVEWP and SoCalGas rebate/financial incentive information on the City's website or conducted at least one energy efficiency outreach event with the Partnership in 2019 or 2020. 5% therm usage reduction from March 1, 2018 to March 1, 2020 or have at least one municipal facility audited from 2018 to 2020. Gold Category: Attended three Energy Work Group meetings or energy efficiency trainings in 2020. Undergo an Energy Star Portfolio audit to assess how on municipal facilities are performing on energy efficiency and meet with SGVCOG staff to review potential energy efficiency projects. Shared SGVEWP and SoCalGas rebate/financial incentive information on the City's website or conducted at least one energy efficiency outreach event with the Partnership in 2019 or 2020. 10% therm usage reduction from March 1, 2018 to March 1, 2020 or have at least two municipal facilities audited from 2018 to 2020. to or have at least two municipal facilities audited from 2018 to 2020. Hosted an energy efficiency social media campaign or a natural gas energy efficiency project at the Energy Work Group or the SGVCOG Public Works Technical Advisory Committee in 2020. About SoCalGas Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants. SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook. San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments The San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) is a regional government agency that strives to maximize the quality of life in the San Gabriel Valley. The agency is a joint powers authority made up of representatives from 31 cities, 3 Los Angeles County Supervisorial Districts, and the 3 Municipal Water Districts located in the San Gabriel Valley. Serving as a regional voice for its member agencies and works to improve the quality of life for the more than 2 million residents living in the San Gabriel Valley, the SGVCOG works on issues of importance to its member agencies, including transportation, homelessness, the environment, and water, and seeks to address these issues regionally. Learn more at www.sgvcog.org. SOURCE Southern California Gas Company Related Links http://www.socalgas.com Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 6:58 am Washington Department of Corrections Secretary Steve Sinclair will retire in May, capping a three-decade career that began as a correctional officer and ended with him running the state prison system for the past four years. Sinclair announced his planned departure in an email to DOC employees Tuesday morning, calling it a "difficult decision, but one that I believe is best for me and my family." His decision comes as DOC faces burgeoning COVID-19 infections at multiple prisons, with widespread quarantines in effect. Ten incarcerated people have died, including three this month at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen. Two correctional officers have died. In his email to employees, Sinclair said DOC was "always prepared for a pandemic" but "I am not sure any of us actually thought we would experience it on the level we have." He added: "We have experienced so much tragedy. Most importantly we lost two of our own," naming correctional officers Berisford Morse and David Christensen, who died of COVID-19. Sinclair's departure will leave Gov. Jay Inslee with a second hiring decision at a major state agency. Last week, Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine, under fire for massive unemployment fraud losses and delays in benefit payments, announced she is leaving for a job in the Biden administration. Under Sinclair's watch, DOC has faced criticism from advocates and families of inmates for shoddy medical care at state prisons, including lapses in cancer treatment, leading to deaths, lawsuits and legal settlements. Melody Simle, a longtime advocate for incarcerated people and their families, said Sinclair had "good intentions," but failed to connect enough with inmate families to improve conditions and reduce recidivism. She hopes Inslee will nominate a successor who didn't come up through the DOC ranks. "We really need some culture change at that agency," said Simle, who served for years on the DOC's Family Council. "We need a visionary." After serving in the U.S. Army, Sinclair was hired as a correctional officer at Walla Walla State Penitentiary in 1988. He worked his way up, becoming an investigator, sergeant, and eventually a prison superintendent and assistant DOC secretary. As DOC secretary, Sinclair manages a penal system with nearly 15,000 incarcerated at the state's dozen prisons, and another 20,000 people under community supervision. Inslee, who appointed Sinclair as secretary in 2017, praised him in a statement, saying he'd led on issues from reducing violence in prisons to staff retention and establishing programs to help keep people from re-offending. Sinclair, who declined an interview request Tuesday, has won plaudits from some state lawmakers for striving to fix medical-care problems, and for being willing to take on big-picture issues such as the pitfalls of mass incarceration and associated racial disparities. "He has had a very tough job and handled it very ably," said state Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, who chairs the state House Public Safety Committee, in an interview. "It's been a great pleasure to work with him." Goodman said Sinclair notified him about his retirement with a text message Tuesday and the two men followed up with a phone call. He said there was "no other reason" for the DOC leader's decision other than "finishing off a long career" and enjoying a "well-compensated retirement." State Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Law & Justice Committee, credited Sinclair with "a good faith effort to deal with an agency that is a very difficult agency to run." But, he noted, "they continue to have major issues," including the COVID-19 outbreak at multiple prisons. Padden also pointed to the former top director at Monroe Correctional Complex, who was fired in 2019 after allegations of incompetent medical care leading to several injuries and deaths. "She should never have been hired," he said. (DOC has acknowledged the doctor, Julia Barnett, lacked some stated qualifications for the position. Her medical license was suspended in November.) During a news conference Tuesday, Inslee said his office will search for Sinclair's successor, seeking someone who can ensure inmates leaving state custody have job skills and help for mental health and substance abuse "to make sure they don't re-offend." Inslee said he wants a DOC leader who can "administer the system in a fair and equitable and efficient way" and who will work with lawmakers on criminal-justice reform across the system, "so it actually is effective in reducing crime, rather than just lodging people at extraordinary expense." Seattle Times staff reporter Joseph O'Sullivan contributed to this report. ___ (c)2021 The Seattle Times Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. The November election results were a disaster for Texas Democrats. There were strong candidate recruits across the board, campaign contributions pouring in, hope for flipping the Texas House, even talk of Joe Biden winning the state all for naught. No new Democratic member of Congress, no state House gains. Now that the dust has settled, what actually happened? Texas Democrats were always going to be hard-pressed to match the expectations of surpassing their strong 2018 results. That year, they had a giant advantage in turnout, driven by Donald Trumps unpopularity, his absence from the ballot and the grassroots efforts on behalf of Beto ORourke. This time around, record early voting made it seem like a blue wave was coming, raising expectations. But the presence of Trump on the ballot in 2020 brought out a red wave of voters that matched and exceeded Democratic efforts. A closer look at the actual results, though, reveals a more complex end result. If you flip 10,784 votes in nine state House races, less than one-tenth of 1 percentage point of the total state turnout, Democrats would have taken control of the chamber. Flip 52,019 votes and Democrats take five GOP congressional seats. Their problem, in those contested seats, was that their share of the vote declined 1 percent to 2 percent from 2018. Ultimately, you cant win new seats by losing a share of the vote in districts, no matter how close the previous races had been. In hindsight, maybe this was all predictable. Republican efforts to do away with straight-ticket voting paid dividends. For example, in Fort Bend County, a county that turned blue in 2018, Democratic drop-off in 2020 from voting in down-ballot races was 7 percent to 8 percent, much greater than that for the GOP. Messaging during the summer, with nightly news images of violence in cities such as Portland, coupled with the drumbeat of Republican appeals against defunding the police and socialism, probably took a toll on Democratic candidates. Abandoning door-to-door campaigning, so crucial in 2018, didnt help. Finally, Trump also showed surprising appeal to working-class Latino and African American men. So is there any reason to think that the cycle of Democratic expectations and election letdowns will ever end? I think there is. If you look at the examples of recent states turning blue Colorado, Nevada with the efforts of the state Culinary Workers Union, Arizona in part and this years Georgia victories all of them have been built on relentless grassroots organizing. In Georgia, a decade of registering and keeping in contact with the growing rolls of Black and minority voters, led by Stacey Abrams, paid dividends in the historic January runoff wins. If Democrats want better results, they must reconnect with Mexican American Trump voters along the border. The grassroots efforts have to redouble now, not in 2022. Two years is a lifetime in politics. If Bidens administration can right the COVID-19 vaccine distribution mess and pass a stimulus plan that gets the economy going in a country weary of White House dysfunction, maybe the off-year elections will not be so bad for Democrats. If the new Texas Legislature slips back into social issue crusades in a time of a budgetary crisis, maybe the Democratic brand gets another chance. The explosion in minority population may mitigate any attempts to gerrymander districts. And as we saw in 2018, sometimes a single unexpected charismatic candidate cures many ills. Finally, remember that statewide totals are trending Democratic, with Biden closing the gap to under 6 percent and most of the Republican candidates in 2018 held to 53 percent or less. Years ago, I interviewed Karl Rove in the White House about how the Texas Republican Party rose to dominance. He talked about running strong candidates with resonating messages, but also looking for opportunities, accidents and upsets, because ultimately it was results that mattered. Those results ultimately belong to those who pick themselves up and try to do better next time. Now is no time to quit. Stekler is a professor of public affairs and radio-television-film and a documentary film maker at The University of Texas at Austin. His film Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style can be seen at https://vimeo.com/226210605. Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli speaks during the daily press briefing at Queen's Park in Toronto on June 2, 2020. (Rene Johnston - Pool/The Canadian Press) Ontario Opposes Bidens New Buy American Executive Order The Ontario government said they are opposed to the Buy American executive order signed by U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday, saying that the order would disrupt their existing relationship and cost millions of jobs on both sides of the border. We are concerned with what these measures could mean for Ontario workers, families, and businesses who rely on the U.S.-Ontario trading relationship, said Vic Fedeli, Ontarios Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade in a statement released Tuesday. This is a critically important trading relationship that supports millions of jobs on both sides of the border, and is worth approximately $400 billion CAD annually. The new executive order means mainly American manufacturers, suppliers, businesses and workers will benefit from U.S. government spending which includes approximately $600 billion a year in procurement contracts. As for Canada, waivers to the new policies would only be granted under very limited circumstances, according to Biden, a regression to the agreement struck with former president Barack Obama back in 2010 when the Conservatives were in power. Fedeli argued that if Ontario were a country, they would be the third largest partner of the United States, so Bidens move to restrict Canadian access to the U.S. procurement contracts could undermine the economy of both sides. Doubling down on already rigorous Buy American rules could drive up the cost of government projects, undermining their potential to create jobs and spur economic growth, Fedeli said, referring to the U.S. Chamber of Commerces statement on Buy American. Moreover, the new policies would disrupt existing Ontario-U.S. cross-border supply chains and erode the deep and long-standing relationships we have built over the years, he continued. We cant take these important relationships for granted, he added. Fedeli said the Ontario government will continue to call on Ottawa to ensure Canada is exempt from any Buy American provisions, and advocate for a Buy North American approach instead. On the occasion of the 72nd Republic Day, the Border Security forces (BSF) unfurled a 131-feet-high tricolour along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu district. Flying at a 131-feet-high pole measuring 30X20 feet, it is the tallest in the Jammu region which can be seen even from a distance in Pakistan, the BSF officials told PTI. With great fervour and enthusiasm, Inspector General of BSF Jammu frontier N S Jamwal hoisted one of the largest national flags along the International Border (IB) at Octroi border outpost (BoP) in the R S Pura belt. READ | Republic Day 2021: BSF's Camel Contingent Lights Up Rajpath In Delhi The IG BSF unfurled the national flag at the BSF headquarters in Jammu before hoisting the tricolour at Octroi. Because of the sponsorship provided by the Lupin Foundation, the J-K tourism and the administration, the hoisting of the flag at Octroi was possible. For the people visiting the Jammu border, inauguration of the tricolour at BoP Octroi served as an important landmark. A cultural program was organised at the post on the occasion of Republic Day. Cultural performances by artists, school children, BSF troops, regional outreach bureau, J-K tourism and Harman dance institute were held at the venue. READ | 'No Exchange Of Sweets With Pakistan On Republic Day': BSF Amid Tensions Along The Border BSF's Camel Contingent Lights Up Rajpath The Border Security Force's (BSF) iconic camel march once again lit up the Rajpath. Decked in colourful gear, the BSF Camel Contingent led by Deputy Commandant Ghanshyam Singh elegantly walked towards the India Gate, saluting President Ram Nath Kovind. The vibrant contingent's official motto is - Duty unto death. Colourful Camel Contingent of 'BSF- First Line of Defence' today proudly and smartly marching on Rajpath during march past of #RepublicDayParade2021 . - #JaiHind #FirstLineofDefence#RepublicDay2021 pic.twitter.com/7dalRNrknd BSF (@BSF_India) January 26, 2021 READ | BJP Slams TMC For 'BSF Helping Saffron Party' Claim, Says 'Mamata & Co Insulting Forces' Tricolour Unfurled At Rajpath Tricolour Unfurled At Rajpath In Presence Of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, President Ram Nath Kovind along with other cabinet leaders. #LIVE | The Tricolour unfurled at Rajpath in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 72nd Republic Day. Tune-in to watch here - https://t.co/rGQJsiKgt2 #ProudToBeIndian pic.twitter.com/yxQIYovBNI Republic (@republic) January 26, 2021 READ | BSF Dismisses TMC Neta Firhad Hakim's 'helping BJP' Allegations; Says It's Apolitical (With PTI Inputs) 2nd South Market, Idahos first food hall, has officially opened with an eclectic collection of six local eateries and a beer/wine bar. We are creating a dining experience that will be unlike any other in the state. The food hall was created with vigorous attention to historic detail and we carefully selected our collection of popular local eateries, each with its own style and menu," said Dave Buddecke, owner of 2nd South Market. 2nd South Market, Idahos first food hall, has officially opened with an eclectic collection of six local eateries and a beer/wine bar, including Idaho's award-winning The Smokey Bone BBQ, family-owned homemade ice cream shop, CloverLeaf Creamery and the first Idaho location for Poke & Sushi Hut. Located in a 94-year-old building formally occupied by the Salvation Army in the heart of Twin Falls historic warehouse district, the 13,000-square-foot space has been completely renovated, while keeping historic details including original 25-foot high-vaulted wood ceilings and displaying original windows and doors in vendor spaces. The large, open dining space includes movable seating for face-to-face or physically distanced dining. We are creating a dining experience that will be unlike any other in the state, said Dave Buddecke, owner of 2nd South Market and founder at Kelsar Properties. The food hall was created with vigorous attention to historic detail and we carefully selected our collection of popular local eateries, each with its own style and menu. Idaho Governor Brad Little notes: "It is exciting to see Idaho's economy expand and diversify. This new food hall will provide more than 80 full- and part-time local jobs in the Magic Valley. These small business owners refurbished a 94-year-old building to promote economic development in their community. We commend their initiative and contributions to the State of Idaho, Governor Little said. The new food hall is home to the following establishments: The Smokey Bone BBQ: Award-winning Texas-style barbecue. CloverLeaf Creamery: Homemade ice-cream, milk and cream from all-natural milk from registered, pedigree Holsteins. Full Steam Espresso: Local hand-crafted coffee, beverages and pastries. Poke and Sushi Hut: Poke bowls and sushi, made fresh daily on-site. Rosti Express: Specializes in rotisserie chicken, made-to-order Mexican dishes, calzones and breakfast items. Lucys Pizzeria: Specializing in authentic hand-tossed New York style pizza and cannoli. The Tap House: A bar built with repurposed original wood from the building which features Idaho craft beer and wine. Outside, a fenced 14,700-square-foot space, dubbed The Yard, will open in spring 2021. This dog-friendly outdoor space will include a stage for music, fire pits, corn hole games and a large area for additional seating, private events, weddings, receptions, and parties. During renovation of the original 1926 building, various artifacts were discovered including buried horseshoes, blacksmithing tools, and Prohibition-era whiskey bottles found in a hidden underground space. The 22- and 25-foot wood ceilings were revealed after being covered with a 10-foot white drop ceiling for decades. As developers of the new food hall, we saw an opportunity to preserve and highlight the buildings rich history, said Lisa Buddecke, owner at 2nd South Market. Our design including the materials and lighting pays tribute to the early 1900s. We think this makes this place something special. Original wood and historic items have been repurposed and are displayed throughout the buildings interior. A history wall has been created inside 2nd South Markets entrance to celebrate the heritage of the land and original structure. 2nd South Markets food hall model offers local vendors the chance to expand and generate greater revenue at a fraction of the cost of an individual full-service restaurant. This food hall concept has been in the works since 2017 and was developed by Dave and Lisa Buddecke of Kelsar Properties. Kelsar Properties discovered this building was in an Opportunity Zone and leveraged a tax credit to help offset costs associated with the project. It is the first Opportunity Zone project to be completed in Idaho. Opportunity Zones were established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investment plans for low-income urban and rural communities. Opening Idahos very first food hall has been a three-year idea, said owner Dave Buddecke. When this building was listed for sale in 2019, we knew this was the ideal place to turn our vision into reality. Were thrilled to open our doors to the community. ABOUT 2ND SOUTH MARKET 2nd South Market is an exciting new development in Twin Falls Warehouse District, the first food hall to open in Idaho. 2nd South Market is housed in a 94-year-old building, bringing a unique dining experience to Twin Falls where people can connect in an open seating concept, ideal for those diners interested in physical distancing. https://www.2ndsouthmarket.com/ Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Cindy Crawford wants to make sure her pooches look just as pretty as she does. On Tuesday the 54-year-old supermodel shared a selfie with her dog Widget as she revealed they both were fresh from the salon. Feeling rejuvenated after topping up some hair maintenance she joked, 'We both got groomed today.' Grooming day: Cindy Crawford, 54, says she and her dog Widget both enjoyed some much needed hair maintenance as she jokes 'we both got groomed today' Snuggled up on the couch with the pup on top of the cushions, she posed for a no makeup snap. A celebrity who certainly has access to the best of the best at a moment's notice, she seemed to imply that it had been a while since her last touch up. With the stay-at-home order officially lifted in California as of Monday, salons are now able to operate at 25% indoor capacity, as Cindy has said in the past that she has missed regular 'pampering.' Despite being a big proponent of life in Malibu, Crawford and her husband of over 20 years Rande Gerber, recently closed on a $10M waterfront home in Miami. Malibu memories: The couple of over 20 years are trading in their home in Malibu for a waterfront residence in Miami; pictured January 17 New zipcode: The pair snatched up the property for $10M in early January The couple who share model daughter Kaia, 19, and son Presley, 21, tried to sell their LA property but it fell through. Aside from the undesirable news, the pair have still been enjoying date nights at their home, and also boast various properties including a villa in Cabo. In a recent interview with W Magazine, she spoke about how the pandemic has affected her day to day life. 'One of the biggest challenges for me personally has been the inability to make plans or to know what's next. I'm a big planner and love a schedule. I've had to let so much of that go.' * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Logos of 5G providers at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai on June 27, 2019. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images) Former Google CEO, Execs, Call for Disentangling of US and Chinese Tech Sectors A group of tech experts is calling for some degree of bifurcation between the U.S. and Chinese tech sectors, according to a report obtained by Axios. The report, titled Asymmetric Competition: A Strategy for China & Technology, was authored by a group of 15 tech industry executives, investors, and China experts, known as China Strategy Group, that was formed in July last year. Americas technological leadership is fundamental to its security, prosperity, and democratic way of life. But this vital advantage is now at risk, with China surging to overtake the United States in critical areas, the report warned. The Group is co-chaired by Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, and Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw, a tech incubator created by Google. Other members include Elizabeth Economy, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution; and Richard Fontaine, CEO of the think tank Center for a New American Security. The report, which contains several proposals for how the United States can confront the challenges posed by the Chinese regimes ambitions for tech dominance, was being circulated in the Biden administration, according to Axios. Some degree of disentangling is both inevitable and preferable, the report stated. It warned that if bifurcation did not occur, the Chinese regime could dominate the global sector and turn it into a single digital world in which the governing standards and norms do not reflect democratic values. Although the report was critical of how the Trump administration confronted Chinas economic threats, it acknowledged that disentangling would be more favorable to U.S. interests. In any case, the pre-Trump status quo has been radically disrupted; returning to it cannot, and should not, be a goal of our policy, the report summarized. The Trump administration has targeted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)s threats with sanctions, trade blacklists, and other policies, especially to address security risks posed by Chinese technology. During the 20182019 trade war, the concept of decoupling, or separation between certain sectors of the U.S. and Chinese economies, became a much-talked-about option for the United States. Former President Donald Trump raised the idea of decoupling in September last year, when he said that the United States wouldnt lose billions of dollars, if the country had not done business with China. Similar calls for decoupling have been voiced by U.S. lawmakers recently. For instance, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), in a speech on the Senate floor on Jan. 22, said it was necessary and urgent to decouple the U.S. economy from China, following Beijings decision to sanction 28 U.S. officials under the Trump administration. The report warned that competition between the United States and China has become asymmetric. China plays by a different set of rules that allow it to benefit from corporate espionage, illiberal surveillance, and a blurry line between its public and private sector. Beijing views these asymmetries as our problem, not theirs, the report stated. It also identified a number of factors that have skewed the competition in Chinas favor, such as illegal and unfair trade and investment practices, Chinese companies having access to vast sums of state and quasi-state capital, and the theft of intellectual property. The report called for a multilateral approach, calling on the U.S government to work with like-minded countries. It suggested a new forum called the T-12 to coordinate responses to technological competition with China. T-12 would consist of countries such as Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Israel, Australia, the Netherlands, and Germany. Progress needs to play out within a multilateral framework, not in an attempt to change Chinas behavior, but to build critical mass to counter it, the report stated. Another multilateral approach recommended in the report was the creation of trust zones allowing global integration that promotes American values. In these zones, for instance, democratic countries would prioritize joint research and development and remove regulatory barriers to incentivize collective innovationin order to create competitive products. The report warned that the United States should be prepared for imminent threats from the Chinese regime. In the near term, the United States should prepare for China to go on the offensive more aggressively, deploying coercive economic measures, and lawfare, the report stated, such as arresting American citizens living in China in retaliation. China is known for engaging in so-called hostage diplomacy. Critics say that Beijing arbitrarily detains foreigners living in the country, as a form of pressure on governments it has disputes with. Notable examples include Chinas detention of two Canadian citizens, Michael Kovrig and Micahel Spavor, just days after Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, an executive at Chinese tech giant Huawei, in 2018 on behalf of U.S. authorities. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! You are here: World Flash The U.S. Senate on Tuesday voted to confirm President Joe Biden's nomination of Antony Blinken to serve as the next U.S. secretary of state. The Senate confirmed his nomination by a vote of 78-22, making him the 71st U.S. secretary of state. A total of 22 Republican senators voted against him. Republican Senator Rand Paul voiced his opposition to Blinken's nomination before the vote, citing that the veteran diplomat had always been an advocate for military intervention and regime change. During his confirmation hearing last week, Blinken proposed changes to the previous administration's foreign policy on the Middle East. He told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Biden administration would seek to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal, if Tehran returns to compliance. Blinken also voiced his support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, a policy stance that was backed by successive U.S. governments for decades but was largely abandoned by the Trump administration. The Senate panel approved Blinken's nomination by a vote of 15-3 on Monday. Blinken, 58, served as deputy national security advisor and deputy secretary of state under former President Barack Obama. As a close aide to Biden for nearly two decades, Blinken was one of Biden's first cabinet picks. Ukraine should raise the issue of involving the United States in the 'Normandy format' at the level of the U.S. Secretary of State, his deputy, or national security adviser, Managing Director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement Michael Carpenter has said. "Personally, I have doubts about the usefulness of the position of a special representative. I do not see that this institution contributed to the development of diplomatic initiatives in consultations with Moscow. I believe that it would make more sense for Ukraine in the Normandy meetings, at the level of foreign ministers or their deputies or at the level of national security advisers, to raise the issue of involving the United States in this format, but not in the person of a special representative, as an application or an observer, but somewhere at the level of the Secretary of State or his deputy, or a national security adviser who would have his place at the negotiating table so that he is not separated from the rest of the negotiators," Carpenter said in an online discussion during Kyiv Security Forum on Wednesday. In this context, it is extremely important to have an informed, professional and competent United States ambassador to Ukraine, he said. "Limiting our influence by delegating diplomatic functions to a special representative at the same time so that the ambassador only deals with internal reforms will be a disservice and will contradict what I said at the beginning that these are two sides of the same strategic medal," the expert said. Carpenter said new thinking is needed regarding the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine. "The process is stuck and remains at an impasse for many years, there is almost no development. But from a broader, strategic prospective it is important to recognize that what is happening in the Minsk diplomacy is not disconnected from what happens with processes of the internal political in Ukraine development. And this is crucial to understand. We want to achieve success in the Minsk talks or in diplomacy regarding this conflict, if it is to take on a different form, this should all be synchronized with the fight against corruption, the fight for reforms, the unification of political forces in Ukraine to support democratic institutions and rule of law, " he said. The expert said that over the last few years, the pro-Russia network of politicians and businessmen in Ukraine has become increasingly widespread and influential, both in the media and the economic sphere, and in terms of general political influence, and this significantly complicates diplomatic efforts regarding Donbas, since the growing influence of pro-Russian forces on Ukraine's policies complicates negotiating with the Kremlin from a position of strength. "I cannot say what the Biden administration will do concretely in this regard, but in my opinion, the United States should be more actively involved in the diplomacy process, this is vital," Carpenter said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 11:12:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia on Tuesday reported 437 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the national tally to 134,569, said the Health Ministry. The death toll from COVID-19 in the country reached 2,075 as of Tuesday evening, after four new deaths were reported, the ministry said. It said that 549 more recoveries were registered, taking the nationwide count to 120,748. Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement precautionary measures so as to contain the spread of the virus. Enditem A bag of cement which usually costs approximately $50 has more than tripled in price at some places since Covid-19 invaded the country in March 2020. Some people are paying as much as $150 and more for a bag of cement. (Image: AP) The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of farmers unions leading the agitation called the violent incidents on Republic Day a dirty conspiracy hatched with another farmers organisation against the peaceful struggle of farmers. After its emergency meeting, the SKM issued a statement alleging that anti-social elements such as Deep Sidhu attempted to torpedo the agitation. Most of the farmer organizations who are part of the ongoing farmers' agitation today held an appreciation was conveyed to the struggling farmers for extending an unprecedented response to the Kisan Republic Day Parade. "The concerned organisations discussed the violent incidents in New Delhi and concluded that the Union government has been severely shaken by this peasant agitation, SKM said in a statement after the meeting held under the chairmanship of Balbir Singh Rajewal. Therefore, a dirty conspiracy was hatched with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others against the peaceful struggle of other farmer organizations, who had set up their own separate protest site after 15 days of the beginning of this Farmers' agitation. They were not part of the organisations which jointly undertook the struggle, it said. The capital witnessed unprecedented scenes of chaos and violence in Delhi during the tractor march by farmers on Republic Day. Hundreds of protesters broke away from a rally on the city outskirts and stormed Red Fort on January 26, with others breaching barricades and clashing with police in other parts of the capital. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital leaving over 300 police personnel injured, officials said. When the farmer organizations declared a programme of Kisan Parade on 26 January, anti-social elements like Deep Sidhu and others, along with the said farmer organization attempted to torpedo the farmers agitation, the statement said. Under this conspiracy, the statement said, farmers organisation and other persons announced that they would march on Ring Road and unfurl a flag on the Red Fort. As a corollary of conspiracy, the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee started marching on the Ring Road, two hours before the scheduled march of the struggling organisations. It was a deep-rooted conspiracy to knock down the peaceful and strong farmers' struggle, said the statement adding that all the SKM constituents strongly condemned this incident. The protesting farmers have also announced a foot march to Parliament on February 1, when the annual Budget is presented, to press for their demands including a repeal of the three new agriculture laws. Thousands of farmers, primarily from Punjab and Haryana, have been camping at several Delhi border points for nearly two months, demanding the repeal of the laws, and a legal guarantee on minimum support prices (MSP) for their crops. Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO, TCS live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Indias largest IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) brand value grew by $1.4 billion in 2020, the highest among IT services firms globally, according to Brand Finance 2021 report. The companys brand value stood at $14,924 million in 2021 as opposed to $13,499 million in 2020. According to the Brand Finance report, the growth on brand value of $1.4 billion is the highest absolute growth among the 25 firms assessed in the IT services space. that too in a challenging year when the brand value of IT services companies collectively dropped by 3 percent. Further, at 10 percent growth over the prior year, TCS has outperformed its peers in the Top 3 category, the report said. The worlds leading brand valuation firm also ranked TCS at the third position among the top 25 IT companies globally. Though the report did not explicitly list the brands that occupied the first two places, firms in IT services space that have a higher brand value than TCS were US-based IBM at $27,428 million and Accenture at $26,028 million. IBM also has a huge focus on cloud through its Red Hat acquisition. In addition, TCS Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Gopinathan was ranked fifth in the Brand Guardianship Index 2021, which lists the top 100 CEO globally. Mukesh Ambani followed him taking the sixth position, while Ajay Banga of Mastercard topped the list. Salil Parekh, CEO, Infosys was ranked at the 17th spot. With what was a very tough 2020, led so ably by its CEO Rajesh Gopinathan, TCS has excelled itself once again. Along with 10 percent growth in its brand, its market cap also hit pole position in its industry and it is increasingly closing in on the top two in the IT services sector table," said David Haigh, Chief Executive Officer, Brand Finance, in a statement. According to the report, this was possible because of the companys ability to quickly adapt to new ways of working through the launch of its Secure Borderless Workspaces, its remote working platform and its robust financial, customer and market performance amid the pandemic. Onn January 25, 2021, the company became the most valuable IT firm in the world in market capitalisation surpassing Accenture. In the process, it also became the most valuable Indian firm in the country, overtaking Reliance Industries. Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Apart from TCS, the other key brands that featured in the Brand Finance report under Global 500 include Accenture (ranked 60). Bengaluru-based Infosys was ranked at 212 in brand value at $8,402 million, up 18.6 percent from $7,087 million last year. Cognizants brand value dipped from the rank of 219 in 2020 to 231. Other Indian IT firms HCL was ranked 353, up from 425 in 2020 and Wipro s rank rose to 457 in 2021 from 493 last year. JP Morgan is launching a digital bank in the UK America's largest lender JP Morgan is launching a digital bank in the UK to poach customers from traditional high street institutions. The Wall Street giant's bank, under its Chase brand, will be accessed through a mobile phone app. It is its first banking product in the UK for normal current account holders, and it follows in the footsteps of its major rival Goldman Sachs, which launched its Marcus bank in 2018. JP Morgan said the bank has already created 400 jobs in the UK, and it has more hires planned. Co-president Gordon Smith said: 'The UK has a vibrant and highly competitive consumer banking marketplace, which is why we've designed the bank from scratch to specifically meet the needs of customers here.' Appointment 27 January 2021 InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has announced two team appointments at Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets ahead of its scheduled 1 March, 2021 opening. Thomas Zinn as General Manager and Gabriele Pezzimenti Chef De Cuisine. This will be the first Hotel Indigo to open in Australia joining the boutique collective of 126 properties which has become a global success story for the company. With over two decades of senior leadership experience across the tourism and hospitality industry, Thomas Zinn has been appointed to the role of General Manager. Thomas has been with IHG for nearly ten years and has proven leadership expertise in operations and advancing and modernising hotels. In addition to a long list of substantial capital works he has overseen in the past, he has also been involved in various refurbishments and is excited to spearhead this new build. India will roll out a sustained and planned investment in public healthcare delivery system to develop and strengthen health systems across a continuum of care to meet challenges of current and future pandemics, union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Wednesday. He was addressing the 4th edition of the Future Investment Initiative Forum. India has rolled out a special economic and comprehensive package of Rs. 2 million Crore which is equivalent to 10% of Indias GDP under Aatma-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and in the health sector, the fund is targeted towards increased investments in Public Health and health reforms to prepare India for future obstacles," said Harsh Vardhan adding that India is duly monitoring the evolving situation of the covid-19 pandemic for expanding on the scope of this economic package on Public Health. Dr Harsh Vardhan assured the forum of Indias faster progress in improving not only ease of doing business but also ease of living. On Indias indigenous innovations and contributions in digital health tools to monitor COVID management, Dr Harsh Vardhan noted, The AarogyaSetu App is being used by over more than 160 million Indians through their smart phones. Bluetooth tracing technology is used to analyse and find COVID hotspots and alert the local administration in advance under the ITIHAS+AS patch of AarogyaSetu App." Explaining this achievement in terms of the broader vision of integrating innovation in healthcare, he continued, We have also tried at many levels to strengthen this culture through start-up challenges or Hackathons for the youth, where they experience innovation themselves. Today, a comprehensive eco-system from research and development to tech-entrepreneurship is being prepared in India." Harsh Vardhan also elaborated on how India has developed a comprehensive vision on developing skilled human resources and the steps taken by India to mitigate climate change and move towards clean fuel consumption. The Health Minister emphasised on healthcare as an important responsibility of any government and showcased the worlds largest vaccination campaign launched by India recently with two indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccines. In this regard, he also informed everyone present that SII Pvt. Ltd. Will supply Covishield to Saudi Arabia. He also mentioned about the development of the Co-WIN digital platform and Ayushman Bharat scheme, the worlds largest government healthcare programme which are shining examples of use of technology in integrating communities in the sphere of Public Health. The purpose of the Future Investment Initiative Forum being hosted in Riyadh was to find solutions on how business and government can expand access to healthcare, train healthcare workers, remove regulatory barriers and encourage investment in advanced health technologies. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) walks to the Senate Chamber on the first day of the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington on January 21, 2020. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS) Human trafficking a hidden form of exploitation and abuse secretly happens all around us. Its a common misconception that human trafficking occurs only in large cities. The sad reality is it happens right here through the use of abuse and coercion to force some type of labor, particularly sexual exploitation. Its hard to fathom, and hard to talk about but the first step in preventing human trafficking is recognizing how and where it exists. Thats why January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Michigan reports hundreds of human trafficking cases each year, ranking among the 10 worst states in the nation. More than 4,000 victims of trafficking have been identified in Michigan since 2007. Its one of the fast-growing crimes in the world, and even more shocking, it remains dramatically underreported with many victims forced into silence and suffering through intimidation and threats of violence. Human trafficking happens to people of all ages. Women are forced into the sex trade. Men are forced into labor. Children are exploited for begging, pornography and domestic servitude. One in five children will be solicited online. About half of human trafficking victims come from at-risk homes and many, many others come from comfortable neighborhoods and wealthier backgrounds. Human trafficking is more profitable than the drug trade because criminals can resell their victims to be abused multiple times each day. Big events draw human traffickers according to data compiled by the Institute for Sport and Social Justices Shut Out Trafficking program, a consistent spike in reported U.S. incidents occurs around the time of the annual Super Bowl in late January and early February. Increased numbers of visitors in host cities of large events fuel human trafficking and sex trafficking and the rings move from one event to the next, continuing the cycle. As a mother and grandmother, it is horrifying, and it should horrify all of us. Thats why Ill continue to be at the forefront of Michigans efforts to raise awareness about human trafficking and to implement aggressive policies to stop it. The Michigan Legislature has passed several reforms in recent years to crack down on human trafficking. The most recent initiative signed into law in December helps survivors protect themselves through an address confidentiality program. This program provides a substitute address such as a post office box to use in place of a physical address when required by a government public agency. This reform will make it harder for survivors of trafficking, domestic violence and other crimes to be tracked by their offenders. Our work will continue in the new 2021-22 legislative term. Within the next several weeks, I will help reintroduce a multi-faceted package cleaning up state law and making certain that victims of human trafficking are treated as just that victims, not criminals. The measures will establish an affirmative defense in court cases where an individual who committed a crime because he or she was a victim of human trafficking will be treated as the victims they truly are. Offenses committed by young victims could be expunged from their records. More types of criminal convictions would be set aside if a crime was committed by someone who is the victim of human trafficking. Court procedures for human trafficking cases would be updated and clarified. I will also continue to fight for improved services so human trafficking survivors can reclaim and rebuild their lives more quickly and comfortably. We can all play an important part in keeping our communities safer. I ask that you look for opportunities to help by supporting initiatives such as Truckers Against Trafficking, or watch a video about signs to look for from the Michigan State Police or a watchdog group. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 888-373-7888. By working together, we can bring this horrible crime affecting vulnerable women, men and children in our communities out into the open so it can be prosecuted to the full extent possible and ultimately stopped. Rep. Annette Glenn, R-Midland, represents the 98th District in the Michigan House of Representatives. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Before the state's directive, the county health department publicly announced its vaccination clinics and anyone eligible could sign up for an appointment. But because of the mandate, the health department has taken a different approach to schedule doses. Cuddy told the health board that they have held "closed clinics," meaning that they aren't open to the public. The health department communicates with employers of eligible workers to sign up people for the clinics. Last week, the health department received 200 doses to administer at these clinics. The department received another 200 doses this week. "When we have what we're calling these closed clinics, it's not because we wouldn't love to give everybody a shot," Cuddy said. "It's because we have a finite amount. The consequence of not following the rules as they are stated is that we will get no more vaccine, and we certainly don't want to be in that position." A leaked link created problems for the health department last week. A clinic was scheduled for Friday and a link was provided to employers of eligible workers. Someone with access to the link shared it with others and, according to Cuddy, there were people who live in Freeville, Geneva and Seneca Falls who signed up for the clinic. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. FCW Insider: Jan. 27 To create a better environment for all service members, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the Air Force's chief of staff said leadership will have to lay out "what our expectations are for those who are to be a part of our force." By the end of the program, almost 120,000 Thrift Savings Plan participants used CARES Act withdrawals. The Defense Department issued new policy for contractors who have had their clearances revoked. Chris DeRusha, who led information security on the Biden campaign, is the federal government's new chief information security officer. Steve Kelman discusses his pursuit of a more constructive social network. Quick Hits *** Federal unions may be waiting a while for President Joe Biden's reversal of Trump-era union policy to materialize in their bargaining agreements. Biden's executive order issued last week instructed agencies to reverse actions taken related to the 2018 orders "as soon as practicable." Officials at the American Federation of Government Employees said on a Jan. 16 call with reporters that they've voiced their readiness to returning to the bargaining table or revert to contract terms that existed before Trump implemented new policies in 2018, or work on supplemental agreements. But AFGE officials haven't heard much from agencies so far, they said at a press call on Tuesday. It may take guidance from the Office of Personnel Management to prompt agencies to return to the table, said David Cann, AFGE Field Services and Education Director. Most AFGE contracts have been affected by the Trump executive orders, and all remain in place now, Cann said. "I actually initiated conversation with the head of my agency at the [Department of Veterans Affairs] but currently it appears that there's still no negotiations going to happen until they're moved to do so. What that movement would look like I really dont know," said Linda Ward-Smith, president of AFGE Local 1224 in Las Vegas. "Right now, there is no bargaining going on at my agency." *** The General Services Agency named Amy Haseltine as acting director of the Office of Enterprise Technology Solutions at the General Services Administration. She's moving over from her role as director of the NewPay payroll shared services office at GSA. *** Ashley Tabaddor, head of the National Association of Immigration Judges (NAIJ), was picked by the Biden administration to serve as chief counsel for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Amiena Khan is taking over as the NAIJ president. The union was one of several targeted for elimination by the Trump administration. HEALTH Minister Stephen Donnelly said he had nothing to do with a message that prompted a leading doctor to quit Twitter. Dr Anthony OConnor, a consultant gastroenterologist at Tallaght Hospital, deleted his Twitter account on Tuesday after he was contacted by a person he said was close to Mr Donnelly. Dr OConnor was told by the PR consultant, who claimed to be a close confidante of the Health Minister, that his posts were undermining his reputation and clinical role. Read More This morning Minister Donnelly said the message had nothing to do with him and he has no problem clearing this up with Dr OConnor. Speaking on RTE Radio Ones Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Donnelly said: Anthony and I have spoken on several occasions, Im a big fan of Anthonys. Hes a phenomenal advocate for healthcare in a lot of different ways. When asked if he instructed someone to tell Dr OConnor to lay off, Mr Donnelly said: No, 100pc not, this was a private DM from one private citizen to another private citizen, and thats that. The Health Minister said he didnt follow up on this last night as he was thinking about quarantine, vaccines, Covid and critical care. However, he added that he can certainly clear up with Dr OConnor today that he had nothing to with the message. Meanwhile he maintained that September is still the aspiration to have all adults in Ireland vaccinated, despite saying the EU has been blind-sided by AstraZeneca. Ireland was originally due to receive 600,000 vaccines from AstraZeneca in its first batch. However, it is believed that now only half of this number will be received. The Health Minister said the EU will be asking AstraZeneca for all the details to see if supply meant for the EU went elsewhere. When questioned if it was dangerous to still give the promise of September with this shortage of vaccine supply, Minister Donnelly said: It wasnt a promise, it was heavily caveated. He added: I think people very reasonably said we know all the vaccines haven't been authorised and we know the delivery isn't certain but broadly, based on the conversations youre having, based on when you think the vaccines will be authorised, based on the schedule of advanced purchase, when do you think its likely? "So based on that I said September and September is still the aspiration. It has to be. "It's not a promise, we cant promise for all of those reasons. Its a projection based partly on vaccination that hasnt even been applied for authorisation and delivery schedules that have to be fully agreed on. The Minister then said he cant say it is likely all adults in Ireland will be vaccinated by September. When told he did use the word likely, he said: Let me rephrase it then, if the vaccines come through, if they are authorised and if they come in on schedule it is reasonable to think by September every adult could be vaccinated. On a Zero Covid strategy, Mr Donnelly said the big issue on why this wouldnt work is due to the North. However, he said many of the measures that will be put in place by the Government align with those implemented in a Zero Covid strategy. He said: I dont think anyone is dismissive of it...I think the more ideas on the table the better. I certainly have and Ive met some of the people who have advocated for it and there's a lot of sense to what's being said. "If you look at what we have just introduced and line it up side by side with the Zero Covid list of border controls, there's really not that much difference anymore. The big challenge that Ireland has is travel between north and south with Northern Ireland and Ive discussed this with the Zero Covid guys. Minister Donnelly added that places like Australia and New Zealand, which have implemented the strategy, are in many cases denying their own citizens. "In theory we could shut the borders and say we are shutting them for two years, no one is getting in and out, he said. But, the North and the UK government have ruled out any checks between Britain and Northern Ireland so that would be a huge problem in a zero-Covid strategy. We are not going to seal the border on the six counties, that has never been on the table. When asked why this is the case, he said it is for important political reasons. He added that in his view people living in Northern Ireland are Irish citizens and he wouldn't be standing over stopping Irish citizens from moving around this island". When it was pointed out to him that people in the Republic of Ireland cant travel more then 5km from their homes, he said: I appreciate that, and so the question is what do we do about it? Poland will today implement a near-total ban on abortion following a ruling on the matter three months ago. 'The ruling will be published today in the Journal of Laws,' the government information centre said on Twitter. Under the new legislation, abortions are only permitted in cases of rape and incest, and when the mother's life or health is endangered. The announcement is expected to spark major protests. Polish protesters hold sparklers and a rainbow flag during anti-government protests in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, December 13 An October 22 ruling by the Polish constitutional court to ban abortions of foetuses with congenital defects, even when the foetus has no chance of survival at birth, sparked protests in December 2020 In October, the Constitutional Court said terminating pregnancies due to foetal defects should be illegal, ruling against the main exception for legal abortions in the largely Roman Catholic country. Conservative values have taken a more prominent role in public life since the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party took power in 2015. Access to abortion has declined even without the legislative curbs as some doctors refuse to perform the procedure on religious grounds. Opponents of PiS have accused the party of influencing the court in its ruling, a charge the conservatives deny. Polish protesters attend an anti-government protest in Warsaw, Poland, on December 13 Poland, a predominantly Catholic country, already has one of Europe's most restrictive laws on abortion. There are fewer than 2,000 legal abortions every year and women's groups estimate that an additional 200,000 women abort either illegally or abroad. 'No law-abiding government should respect this ruling,' Borys Budka, leader of Poland's largest opposition party, the centrist Civic Platform, told reporters. The October 22 ruling by the Polish constitutional court to ban abortions of foetuses with congenital defects, even when the foetus has no chance of survival at birth, sparked major protests late last year. Thousands marched in Warsaw and other Polish cities to protest the country's right-wing government after a high court ruled to tighten the country's already restrictive abortion law. Mass crowds - most of them women - also rallied in the cities of Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz, and Rzeszow, and in dozens of traditionally more conservative towns. Some of the protesters targeted Catholic churches across the country. Protesters, brandishing placards bearing expletives and others saying 'I wish I could abort my government', clashed with police and supporters of the ban outside a landmark church in central Warsaw in late October. Local media also ran pictures of graffiti on church walls in various cities and towns reading 'Women's hell' - the main slogan of the protests. Many Poles accused the government of acting more and more like that authoritarian regime by disregarding the civil liberties of citizens. The weeks of protests morphed into the largest protest movement in Poland since communism fell three decades ago. A protester holds a sign that reads: 'PisExit,' with PiS being the acronym in Polish for the ruling right-wing party, Law and Justice, in Warsaw on December 13, 2020 Many carried European Union and rainbow flags to show their support for liberal Western values. One protesters was dressed as a human-sized tear gas canister. Due to a ban on gatherings of more than five people amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the marches in December were organised as 'spontaneous walks' and the slogan was: 'We are going for freedom. We are going for everything!' The protests were organised by the Women's Strike, a group behind recent mass nationwide protests. Others also joined in, including farmers and entrepreneurs angry at the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In Warsaw, police announced on loudspeakers that the protest was illegal, saying 'we have an epidemic.' October's abortion verdict drew condemnation from several human rights groups in Europe and the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights organisation, with Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic calling it 'a sad day for #WomensRights'. Donald Tusk, a Pole who currently leads the European People's Party after presiding the European Council, called the timing of the abortion issue 'political wickedness'. 'Throwing the topic of abortion and a ruling by a pseudo-court into the middle of a raging pandemic is more than cynical,' he tweeted at the time. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Supreme Court voids lower court ruling that allowed temporary abortion ban in Texas Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The United States Supreme Court has reversed a lower court decision that upheld a temporary ban on nearly all abortions in Texas, asking the appellate court to dismiss the case as moot. The Supreme Court granted the petition of Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinics to reverse a ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld an executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, banning most abortions in an effort to free up hospital space for coronavirus patients. The Fifth Circuit's ruling itself reversed a judge's ruling at the district court level. Abbott's executive order came in March 2020, a time when most U.S. states had implemented shutdowns of varying intensity in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. According to the petition, Abbott's executive order, referred to as GA-09, "effectively banned" medication abortions and surgical abortions despite the fact that "medication abortion utilized no PPE, and procedural abortion required only minimal PPE." The stated purpose of GA-09 was to "conserve hospital beds and personal protective equipment." Petitioners accused Abbott and other state officials of "attempting to wield GA-09 as a blanket ban on nearly all pregnancy terminations." The executive order banned "all surgeries and procedures" that were "not immediately medically necessary." Surgeries and procedures that did not require the use of personal protective equipment, which was in short supply at the time, were exempted from the executive order. The abortion clinics asserted that they should have fallen into that category. Gov. Abbott issued a new executive order in April 2020 to replace his previous executive order, which was set to expire April 21. The new executive order "permitted surgeries and procedures in facilities that certified they would reserve at least 25% of their hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients and would not request PPE from a public source during the COVID-19 disaster." Following Abbott's issuance of the second executive order, referred to as GA-15, "providers advised the district court and court of appeals that they expected to qualify for GA-15's new exception and be able to resume abortion services." Petitioners alleged that state officials initially "refused to confirm whether they agreed the exception to GA-15 applied to providers." After acknowledging that state officials "made clear their view that providers could resume providing abortions under GA-15" and that "providers have resumed providing abortions, and Governor Abbott has not issued further executive orders restricting their ability to do so," petitioners admitted that the issues at hand "became moot before providers could seek this Court's review." "When, as here, an appeal becomes moot 'while on its way' on the way to this Court, this Court's 'established practice' is to 'vacate the judgment below and remand with a direction to dismiss,'" they wrote. The petitioners expressed a desire for the Supreme Court to do just that, which it did in its Monday ruling. The plaintiffs cited disagreements among four appellate courts on "the appropriate standard for reviewing constitutional challenges adopted in response to a public health disaster" as one of several reasons why the court should vacate the judgment. The petition cited several cases that came before appellate courts throughout the pandemic challenging restrictions on in-person worship services. The petition was written in September, two months before the Supreme Court's decision in Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, which blocked coronavirus worship restrictions in New York State. Since the November decision, lower courts have ordered cases challenging worship restrictions to be reheard of in light of the ruling. Abortion advocacy groups see the right to abortion as equivalent to the freedom of worship guaranteed by the First Amendment. Petitioners contended that appellate court rulings finding that restrictions on in-person worship services violated the First Amendment were at odds with the Fifth Circuit's ruling upholding Abbott's executive order, which maintained that the state had broad power to impose restrictions on "any individual right" during a public health emergency. They explained that guidance from the Supreme Court was "warranted to ensure that broad precedent is not immune from review because of mooting events in which providers played no role." Disassociating themselves from Tuesday's violence, farmers' unions have expressed their determination that they will continue with their protests themselves. The unions said there are no plans to abandon the march to Parliament on Budget Day. Union leaders have not given up their core demands--repeal of laws and legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP). The farm unions, which have received favourable notice so far, are being questioned over the manner in which their rally spun out of control and resulted in chaos in Delhi on Republic Day. The protesters are no more restricted to just Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. The unions said they had mobilised some organisations in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal to intensify the agitations. Apart from these states, Assam and Manipur also held a rally on Tuesday. Kavitha Kuruganti of Mahila Adhikar Manch, who represented farmers in talks with the government, condemned the violence. She said the farmers' protests are not weakened yet, but it is those elements, who broke the norms and separated themselves from the collective spirits of farmers, have isolated themselves. Another farmer P Krishna Prasad pf All India Kisan Sabha and Avik Saha of Jai Kisan Andolan stated that Tuesday's incident has not weakened the movement. He said farmers' protest has now become a mass movement and will eventually spread pan-India. "Masses are now leading the struggle. They are not being led by farmers' unions anymore," Prasad told Times of India. On asking about whether violence would not defeat the purpose, Saha said, "Only one group short-circuited it and created panic by its unacceptable act, which we all condemned. We will review and take a collective decision." He added: "We are bound by the common mission and we are determined to achieve it through further intensifying the protests across the country". Also read: 50 million subscribers hit by blocked internet in NCR Also read: Farmers' protest: 86 police personnel injured in tractor parade violence (Alliance News) - Construction of a Covid-19 testing megalab is to be halted, the UK Government has announced. In November, the government announced that a new megalab was being constructed in Scotland, with an expectation that it would be operational in early 2021. The lab was expected to add 300,000 to the UK's daily testing capacity of coronavirus tests. However, on Tuesday the government announced that construction on the Scottish lab was to stop while it assessed the long-term demand for the lab. A Department of Health & Social Care spokesperson said: "Since the start of the pandemic, the UK has increased the capacity of our laboratories by more than tenfold, as well as setting up an entirely new nationwide network of lighthouse labs and partner laboratories to process Covid-19 swab samples. "With the vaccine rollout under way across the UK, development of one of the planned very high throughput labs has been paused until the impact of the vaccine on the long-term demand for PCR testing can be assessed. "Substantial testing capacity remains in place and this will not prevent anyone from getting a test." source: PA Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. TORONTO, ON and NANCY, FRANCE / ACCESSWIRE /?January 27, ?2021?/?Toronto based CO2 GRO Inc. ("GROW") (TSXV:GROW)(OTCQB:BLONF)(Frankfurt:4021) is pleased to announce its first commercial feasibility in the EU with France based Plant Advanced Technologies PAT ("PAT") (EURONEXT GROWTH Paris ISIN: FR0010785790 ALPAT). It is also the first partnership with its UK based Marketing Partner Rika Biotech ("Rika") that is exclusively representing CO2 Delivery Solutions in the UK, the Netherlands and Belgium greenhouse markets. The commercial feasibility is on medicinal plants and is the first on such plants other than Cannabis and hemp. PAT contacted GROW directly concerning CO2 Delivery Solutions. While Rika is exclusive to certain EU countries, their experience in many other EU countries is valuable to help execute successful projects on a non-exclusive basis. PAT extracts medicinal, nutraceuticals, cosmetical and plant-protection compounds from various wild plant biomass and roots. Their 7.5 acres Nancy, France based greenhouse (30,000 m) does not employ CO2 gassing. The commercial feasibility will run for 6 months in a small section of their greenhouse. Jean-Paul Fevre, CEO of PAT commented, "We are excited to test the CO2 Delivery Solutions technology. I came across CO2 GRO online a few months back. Since our greenhouse does not currently use CO2 gassing, we believe our yields are lower than they could be. We grow a variety of medicinal plants for extracting compounds primarily from the roots. Previous data has shown enhanced biomass with added CO2 and we hope to achieve the same results on our plants." Gregory Krupnikovs, Director at Rika Biotech commented, "We are delighted to support GROW and PAT execute the first commercial feasibility in Europe. This is a key milestone as Rika develops the market for GROW's exciting technology in our exclusive markets and other non-exclusive countries in Europe. Applying this technology to the fast-growing market for greenhouse produced medicinal plants shows just how flexible the system is; bringing the benefits of CO2 enrichment with vastly reduced CO2 usage to any type of covered crop." Aaron Archibald, VP Sales & Strategic Alliances commented, "We are very excited to be working with PAT given their unique focus on growing very high value medicinal plant varieties. Success could lead to working with growers of other very high value plants such as biopharming grown for human drugs and vaccines. We continue to see significant interest from greenhouse growers in many diverse market segments. Our global recognition continues to gain increasing momentum thanks to ongoing marketing initiatives, our online presence, sales and marketing efforts and the work of our valued regional partners like Rika Biotech who enable us to manage these international clients successfully." About Plant Advanced Technologies PAT - plantadvanced.com Plant Advanced Technologies PAT is specialized in the identification, optimization and production of rare new active plant compounds for cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceutical and agrochemical markets. Since its creation, the company has developed unique worldwide patented technologies for fast discovery of active molecules and their industrial production while preserving plant biodiversity (Target Binding and PAT Plant Milking). Contact Us: PAT - Investor relations department +33 6 20 64 32 86 investisseur@plantadvanced.com FIN'EXTENS - Relation presse +33 6 17 38 61 78 - i.aprile@finextenso.fr Plant Advanced Technologies PAT is registered on Euronext Growth - Paris ISN: FR0010785790 - Mnemonic: ALPT Reuters ALPAT:PA - Bloomberg: ALPAT:PA Visit www.co2delivery.ca for more information on CO2 Delivery Solutions or watch this video. To see a CO2 Delivery Solutions VCO2 system installation, watch this video. About CO2 GRO Inc. GROW's 2021 target market is the 50 billion square feet of greenhouses and covered cultivation facilities globally (USDA). 80% of these facilities cannot use CO2 gassing due to heat venting, porosity or CO2 usage cost. For decades, CO2 gassing has only been used in expensive indoor sealed greenhouses that achieve up to 30% more plant yield. These enhanced yields are only possible if over 1000 ppm CO2 levels are maintained throughout the year. Even expensive sealed greenhouses struggle to maintain these levels consistently throughout the year as up to 50% of the augmented CO2 gas escapes the greenhouse naturally and even more escapes when the greenhouse is vented in warmer months, leaving room for yield improvement. GROW's CO2 Delivery Solutions helps all greenhouses achieve up to 30% more plant yield consistently throughout the year. In addition, aqueous CO2 misting offers pathogen Perimeter Protection for plants by slowing the spread of micro pathogens such as E. coli and powdery mildew. CO2 gassing does not offer that plant protection. GROW naturally and safely dissolves CO2 gas into water without bubbles or pressure. This creates an aqueous CO2 solution which is then misted directly onto the plant's leaves and shoots. The aqueous CO2 solution's micro droplets create a micro film on the leaf surface, isolating the leaf from the atmosphere. The diffusion gradient created favors CO2 transport into the leaf, regardless of the stomata. CO2 Delivery Solutions has been demonstrated on crops including Cannabis, hemp, lettuce, kale, microgreens, peppers, strawberries, orchids and other flowers. Greenhouse growers everywhere that cannot use CO2 gas can now add CO2 to their crops using CO2 Delivery Solutions, increasing plant yields and profits. As carbon taxes rise, sealed greenhouse growers that gas CO2 will have to pay more for their emissions. CO2 Delivery Solutions offers these greenhouses the ability to supplement their plants with CO2 consistently throughout the year without emitting CO2 gas to the atmosphere and using up to 95% less CO2 through aqueous CO2 misting. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements which constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities. Forward- looking information is often identified by the words "may," "would," "could," "should," "will," "intend," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" or similar expressions and include information regarding: statements regarding the future direction of the Company; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business and financial objectives; plans for expansion and the ability of the Company to obtain, develop and foster its business relationships; and expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect the Company's management's expectations, estimates or projections concerning the business of the Company's future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates that management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Such assumptions include but are not limited to: general business and economic conditions; the Company's ability to successfully execute its plans and intentions; the availability of financing on reasonable terms; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; market competition; the products and technology offered by the Company's competitors; and that good relationships with business partners will be maintained. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information are the following: changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; in particular, in the ability of the Company to raise debt and equity capital in the amounts and at the costs that it expects; adverse changes in applicable laws or adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws; the biotechnology industry and the greenhouse growers market are highly competitive, and technical advances in the industry will impact the success of the Company, and other risks described in the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com . Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For more information, please visit www.co2gro.ca or contact Michael O'Connor, Investor Relations Manager at 604-317-6197 or michael.oconnor@co2gro.ca SOURCE: CO2 Gro Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626284/CO2-GRO-Inc-Announces-a-Commercial-Feasibility-with-Plant-Advanced-Technologies-PAT-in-France-in-Conjunction-with-Marketing-Partner-Rika-Biotech Farmers breaking their commitment to a peaceful rally on the outskirts of the capital and rioting in the capital may have sealed the fate of their cause with this unacceptable breach of protocol on Republic Day. They may need to introspect on their endgame now, the top edit says. Agri-market reforms are inevitable, if not now then some years down the line. Yet the ultimate responsibility for this tragic impasse lies with the government. The laws were passed without sufficient democratic discussion in Parliament, the edit points out. Read it here Meanwhile, the urgent ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor On Monday evening, Democratic House managers officially presented an article of impeachment to the Senate, formally initiating the trial of Donald Trump on charges of inciting the fascist mob that overran the US Capitol on January 6. The next day, Senate Republicans made clear their contempt for constitutional norms and democratic rights by voting overwhelmingly to back Trump in a procedural motion put forward by far-right Kentucky Republican Rand Paul. Trump talks to members of the press [Official White House Photo by Joyce N. Boghosian] Among those voting for Pauls motion seeking to scuttle the impeachment trial as unconstitutional was Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the object of lavish praise in recent days from President Joe Biden for his supposed fidelity to constitutional principles. In reality, McConnell, then the Senate Majority leader, played a central role in Trumps conspiracy to overturn the results of the presidential election, refusing for weeks after Bidens substantial victory in both the popular and Electoral College vote to oppose Trumps bogus claims of a stolen election. Joining McConnell were 44 other Republican senators, leaving only five Republicans voting in favor of holding the trial, along with all 50 Democrats. Paul, a right-wing libertarian, argued that the impeachment trial was unconstitutional because Trump was no longer president. After the vote, which made clear that the Democrats would fall far short of the 17 Republican votes needed to convict Trump and set the stage for barring him from holding public office in the future, Paul declared the impeachment trial dead on arrival. Substantive proceedings in the trial are set to begin on February 9, but the procedural vote already shows that the Democrats are heading for yet another impeachment debacle. Bidens ceaseless appeals for unity and healing, which began two days after the January 6 coup attempt when he argued for maintaining a strong Republican Party, have emboldened the fascistic forces promoted by the Republican Party and Trump, who, though out of office, remains the dominant figure in the GOP. Republican leaders and officials at the federal and state levels know they have nothing to fear from the new administration. They and their co-conspirators in the military, the police, the intelligence agencies and the corporate-financial oligarchy, who were part of the plot organized from the White House, know they will not be held accountable and can continue their efforts to develop a fascist movement directed against the working class. A total of 147 Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate voted to overturn the election results in the hours following the January 6 attack on Congress. The fascist insurrectionists mobilized by Trump came within minutes of taking hostages and likely killing House and Senate members, and even Trumps former ally Vice President Mike Pence, in order to block the certification by Congress of the November 3 vote and, in one way or another, overturn the election. The same Republicans who provided the political cover for the fascist mob would have undoubtedly supported its demands on the Democrats, in the name of saving lives. And the Democrats would have undoubtedly made enormous concessions. Only 10 of the 211 House Republicans voted in favor of the article of impeachment passed by the House on January 13. That article, now before the Senate, charges Trump with knowingly inciting the mob during his speech at the Ellipse to attack Congress and carry out sedition. Those voting for Pauls resolution include Republicans who led the effort to block congressional certification of Bidens win, including senators Josh Hawley (Missouri), Ted Cruz (Texas) and Tommy Tuberville (Alabama). House Republicans who backed the White House plot include Ohios Jim Jordan, prominent #StopTheSteal organizers Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar from Arizona, and Alabama Representative Mo Brooks, as well as open proponents of the fascist QAnon conspiracy theory, Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert and Georgias Marjorie Taylor Greene. On Tuesday, CNN reported that Greene had posted multiple comments on her personal Facebook page in 2018 and 2019 supporting the execution of Democratic politicians. In one January 2019 post, Greene liked a comment that called for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get a bullet to the head. Biden and the Democrats have already made it clear that the Senate trial will be a hollow and token exercise. He has repeatedly refused, even when prompted by reporters, to give his opinion on whether Trump should be convicted, declaring that to be a matter for Congress to decide. He did not mention the impeachment trial at a press conference on Monday, his first since his inauguration. On Monday evening, after the House managers had presented the article of impeachment to the Senate, Biden told CNN he thought the trial has to happen, but the Democrats were unlikely to obtain the 17 Republican votes needed to convict. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer has stated that the trial will be brief and has refused to say whether the Democrats will even bother to call witnesses. Biden and the Democrats are engaged in a massive coverup of the fascist attack on the Capitol, an event without any precedent in US history, and the months-long attempt to subvert the election results in order to install Trump as dictator. The Democrats coverup and Republican defiance coincides with new revelations that underscore the vast scale of the conspiracy and the involvement of critical agencies of the state and high-ranking officials. They make clear that this was not just a right-wing mob that got out of control but a coordinated operation directed from the White House. The coup attempt was well funded, with the Center for Responsive Politics reporting that the Trump campaign paid more than $2.7 million to entities responsible for organizing the January 6 rally on the Ellipse, where Trump urged his followers to walk to the Capitol and fight like hell. A Washington Post report published Tuesday pointed to high-level coordination between the Pentagon and Trump in carrying out the attempted coup. In a stunning interview, D.C. National Guard Commander General William J. Walker revealed that the Pentagon on January 5 stripped him of his authority to dispatch troops to secure the Capitol. All military commanders normally have immediate response authority to protect property, life, and, in my case, federal functionsfederal property and life. But in this instance, I did not have that authority, Walker told the Post. Instead, Walker had to wait for approval from Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, as well as recently appointed acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller. Miller, a far-right former Special Operations commander, who participated in the invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, was installed by Trump as part of a wide-ranging purge of civilian leaders in the Pentagon following Trumps defeat in the November 3 election. Among those removed was Mark Esper, the secretary of defense who had opposed Trumps attempt to mobilize active duty troops in June to crush the protests against police violence. In his interview with the Post, Walker made clear that his Pentagon superiors prevented him from dispatching forces to protect the Capitol for hours. This revelation comes on top of a recent New York Times report which revealed that Trump was seeking to oust Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen after Rosen refused to pressure the Georgia state legislature to reverse the certification of the November 3 election and award the states electoral votes to Trump. Trump was set to appoint Rosens subordinate, Jeffery Clark, in his stead, but the prospect of mass resignations within the department scuttled the plot. These revelations follow further reports of members of the military and police participating in the fascist insurrection. An ongoing tally compiled by the Appeal has identified at least 39 law enforcement officials who participated in the rally, one of whom has been charged with threatening to kill Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. What is driving Biden and the Democratic Partys refusal to hold Trump and his co-conspirators accountable? The fact is both parties are beholden to the same financial oligarchy, which is in the grips of an immense economic, social and political crisis, intensified by its homicidal herd immunity policy in response to the pandemic. Both parties look with well-founded fear at the prospect of a massive growth of working class opposition, as indicated by strike actions taken by produce workers at Hunts Point in New York and teachers in Chicago and Montgomery,Alabama. When Biden calls for unity in order to build back better, he is actually calling for unity within the ruling class and the capitalist state in order to take on the working class. A policy of unity with the Republicans stands diametrically opposed to any serious investigation of the coup. Both parties are aware that any genuine public accounting and exposure of the factsincluding texts, emails and communications between the police, Wall Street, the Pentagon and the White Housewould undermine the Republican Party and radicalize large sections of the working class and youth, fueling social and political opposition. This is what the Democrats fear, far more than the threat of fascism or dictatorship. No confidence can be placed in the Democratic Party, the Biden administration or any faction of the ruling elite and its political representatives to hold accountable the criminals responsible for the events of January 6. It is not just a question of a Senate conviction of Trump, which in the end would have little practical impact. Trump and his co-conspirators must be removed from office, arrested, criminally prosecuted and put in prison. This can come about only through the mass, independent intervention of the working class, fighting to defend democratic rights on the basis of a socialist program. This fight must be linked to the demand for a full and open investigation into Trumps conspiracy and the January 6 coup attempt, with televised and live-streamed hearings, in which names are named and the political motives and financial backers of the conspirators exposed. This will strengthen the working class in the struggle against the Biden administration, the fascist menace and the capitalist system which gives rise to military-police dictatorship. The UN human rights chief has called for an International Criminal Court investigation into Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict and sanctions on military officials accused of war crimes, according to a report obtained by AFP Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :The UN human rights chief has called for an International Criminal Court investigation into Sri Lanka's Tamil separatist conflict and sanctions on military officials accused of war crimes, according to a report obtained by AFP. Michelle Bachelet accused Sri Lanka of reneging on promises to ensure justice for thousands of civilians killed in the final stages of the 37-year separatist war that ended a decade ago. "Domestic initiatives for accountability and reconciliation have repeatedly failed to produce results, more deeply entrenching impunity, and exacerbating victims' distrust in the system," she said in the report obtained ahead of its official release. The government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has reversed some advances made under previous administrations in protecting human rights, the report said. Surveillance of rights activists and dissidents has increased and a climate of self-censorship has emerged, it added. Rajapaksa won a 2019 presidential election on a nationalist agenda which included a promise that troops who crushed Tamil rebels would not be prosecuted. Rajapaksa was the top defence official when government forces crushed the guerrillas in a military campaign that ended in May 2009. His brother Mahinda was president then and is currently prime minister. - 'Asset freezes' - UN reports have accused Sri Lankan troops of shelling hospitals and indiscriminate aerial bombardments, executing surrendering rebels and causing the disappearance of thousands of minority Tamils. At least 100,000 people were killed in the war and allegations were made that 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final onslaught. The president, a retired army lieutenant colonel, threatened last year to withdraw from the UN rights council if it pursued allegations against his troops. Sri Lanka has not signed up to the ICC, and so it is outside its jurisdiction. But while another state cannot refer a non-signatory to the ICC, the UN can. In her latest assessment, Bachelet recommended for the first time that the ICC look into Sri Lanka's case, and said action should be taken against war criminals, including Tamil rebels. "Member states can actively pursue investigation and prosecution of international crimes committed by all parties in Sri Lanka before their own national courts," she said. The 17-page report also calls for possible targeted sanctions "such as asset freezes and travel bans against credibly alleged perpetrators" of rights violations. Bachelet expressed concern at General Shavendra Silva's elevation as army chief and General Kamal Gunaratne's appointment as defence secretary. UN reports have implicated them in alleged war crimes. Silva, who was a field commander at the height of the separatist war, already faces a US travel ban. Sri Lanka has resisted repeated calls for an independent investigation and the Rajapaksa brothers had previously denied any war crimes were committed. However, ahead of next month's UN Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, President Rajapaksa last week did a U-turn and said Sri Lanka would investigate some allegations. He gave a commission of inquiry six months to look into previous inquiries into allegations of "human rights violations, serious violations of international humanitarian law". The UN rights body said that, since returning to power, the president had undermined previous police investigations and may have contributed to the destruction of evidence. Bachelet called on member states to take action to preserve evidence from key cases such as the killing of 17 aid workers from a French charity in August 2006 and the 2009 assassination of newspaper editor Lasantha Wickrematunge. The UN rights chief said several top police officers involved in high-profile cases had been penalised or arrested to stifle investigations. She also criticised President Rajapaksa for granting a pardon in 2020 to an army officer convicted and jailed for killing eight Tamil civilians, including four children, in April 2000. ROME - Italy on Wednesday set up a consortium of research groups to study the genetic make-up of the COVID-19 virus. The aim of the consortium is to follow the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and monitor immune response to vaccination, a press conference at the health ministry in Rome heard. It aims to identify variants of the virus and prepare for future pandemics. The president of Italian drugs agency AIFA, Giorgio Palu, said "this is only one of the first pandemics we are going to see because other pandemics will come from the animal world. "We cannot miss this opportunity". Palu said surveillance of the virus had to be coordinated, at the request of the World Health Organization and the EU. He said the coordination would be led by Italy's Higher Health Institute (ISS). Voicing the hope that the government would provide adequate funding, Palu said "I believe this can be a possibility for our country, not only to relaunch a scientific project but also to be able to create opportunities for activities in Italy". Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri said the consortium "will enable us to work in a network, at a European level too, and it will also serve the economy, because we will have a long period of living with virus ahead of us". [January 27, 2021] TekSynap Welcomes Chief Growth Officer TekSynap is proud to announce and welcome Pete Brady as Chief Growth Officer. Pete brings 35+ years of proven leadership and innovation success in military operations, growth, business development, capture, PTW, planning, integration, transformation and management of Enterprise IT, Cyber, C5 Mission Systems and Operations Planning solutions world-wide supporting the US Government. Pete's in-depth experience managing large multi-faceted organizations combined with a unique mix of skills directed at building winning teams brings the right ingredients and expertise to achieve even greater success and growth for TekSynap. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005539/en/ Pete Brady (Photo: Business Wire) Pete served in the US Army as a military officer with multiple combat tours spanning wars on three continents. Prior to joining TekSynap he was the Chief Growth Officer at BlueWater Federal leading the growth strategy that culminated in their acquisition by Tetra Tech. Pete holds a BS from the University of New Hampshire and a MS in Telecom Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. About TekSynap TekSynap understands both the pace of technology today and the need to have a comprehensive well planned information management environment. Technology moving at the speed of thought embodies these principles - the need to nimbly utilize the best that information technology offers to meet the business needs of our Federal Government customers. The TekSynap founders have worked together for over a decade, supporting customers ranging from small departmental operations & maintenance efforts to leading broad nationwide deployment efforts for agencies such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This core management team has operated in leading companies such as SIGNAL Corporation and managed business sectors of over 100M in annual revenue in industry leading companies such as General Dynamics (News - Alert) . View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005539/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The sudden and untimely death of actor Chadwick Boseman in 2020 left a lot of questions about where the Black Panther franchise will go. Michael B. Jordan, who starred as the film's villain, Killmonger, revealed to People Magazine that he's open to reprising the role in future films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 33-year-old star also opened up about the loss of his friend and former co-star and said that he is still mourning. Options: Michael B. Jordan, who starred as Killmonger in Black Panther, revealed to People Magazine that he's open to reprising the role in future films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe When asked about Boseman's passing at the age of 44, Jordan was candid about how difficult it's been to deal. 'That's something that is very, very near and dear to my heart for a lot of obvious reasons,' he said. '[I] had a really tough year losing somebody close to me. And what that means for that franchise is it was devastating.' 'But being in that world in a character that I loved playing, and working with [writer/director Ryan Coogler] and all that good stuff, it's family. We created a family over there,' Jordan explained. Adding: 'So to be able to be in that world again is something that, I think, will always be on the table in some capacity.' 'That's something that is very, very near and dear to my heart for a lot of obvious reasons,' he said. '[I] had a really tough year losing somebody close to me. And what that means for that franchise is it was devastating.' Boseman passed away from Stage IV colon cancer in August, which was first diagnosed back in 2016 though it was never publicly disclosed until after his death. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said that they will not use a CG Chadwick Boseman, or re-cast another actor as King T'challa. As for Jordan's Killmonger, there is no plan for him to return but rumors suggest it is a possibility. The Creed actor spoke to People while promoting his new partnership with the International WELL Building Institute on their WELL Health-Safety Rating which will provide a COVID safety rating for businesses. 'But being in that world in a character that I loved playing, and working with [writer/director Ryan Coogler] and all that good stuff, it's family. We created a family over there,' Jordan explained. 'So to be able to be in that world again is something that, I think, will always be on the table in some capacity.' Meanwhile, the Sexiest Man Alive has been making headlines recently about his personal life and new relationship with Lori Harvey. The duo have been dating for a few months and were seen traveling together just days before Thanksgiving. Clearly smitten, the pair were looking more serious not long after as they rang in New Year's Eve together. Later, Michael and Lori - who've nicknamed each other 'Turtle' and 'Nugget' - went Instagram official on January 10. Joe Biden gained a massive Twitter following as a result of Big Tech's effort to make him look adored by many Americans, reports say. Thousands of fake accounts are reportedly being made on Twitter, The Gateway Pundit reported.These fake accounts are an attempt to manipulate people into believing that Biden's popularity made him win 81 million votes from Americans against former President Donald Trump. As of Jan. 27, Biden has over 26.7 million followers, in comparison to Donald Trump's 88.7 million followers before his account got suspended from the said platform. "Joe's been getting 100,000 followers on Twitter every day! Except they're ALL FAKE!!" claimed Twitter user Bre Wylde. She watched Biden's followers go up by hundreds of thousands every day but she said that "If you go to Joe Biden's followers, I'd say at least 70 percent of them all joined [Twitter] in January and have zero followers," she continued. Aside from Twitter another social media platform, YouTube, also makes an effort to make Biden look good in the eyes of many. Almost all of the White House's videos on the platform have more dislikes than likes after Biden's inauguration. A specific video from his inauguration day was uploaded on youtube and garnered over 43 thousand dislikes. Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, held her first press conference on Wednesday swearing to Biden's recently signed executive orders. American citizens were quick to dislike the uploaded video of Psaki's speech. Big Tech came to the rescue again and deleted over 7 thousand downvotes by 7 p.m. A Gab user named @TexasVet shared screenshots of Psaki's press briefing on YouTube, one taken during the afternoon and another taken at night. By 3:11 p.m., the YouTube video already had more than 10,000 downvotes. By 7:31 p.m., the number of downvotes was significantly reduced to about 3,100. "YouTube caught redhanded removing dislikes from the White House YT videos," Gab user TexasVet said in the post. The White House YouTube page also disabled their comment section to prevent American citizens from leaving unwanted remarks. As tech giants defend Joe Biden against harsh critiques, Donald Trump, on the other hand, is prohibited from blocking people on his Twitter account even when others are mocking him. Trump used his account to post updates and conduct government business which means he can not stop Americans from reading his posts, even if he is not in favor of what they have to say against him. The ruling was one of the most controversial court decisions and it emphasizes what the first amendment means in a time when social media is being used as a channel for political expression: the first amendment prohibits any public official who uses social media for government purposes from blocking people in an open online dialogue. "This debate, as uncomfortable and as unpleasant as it frequently may be, is nonetheless a good thing," the judge wrote. "In resolving this appeal, we remind the litigants and the public that if the First Amendment means anything, it means that the best response to a disfavored speech on matters of public concern is more speech, not less." he continued. All that said, it's quite ironic how Twitter censored President Trump since 2018 but did not censor Biden at all. It's also worth noting how Big Tech is now censoring those who supported Trump. It's also interesting how Twitter launched "Birdwatch," a community-driven anti "misinformation" tool after the Left called for "citizen detectives" who will monitor Trump's supporters. (@ChaudhryMAli88) LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) The leader of the UK Labour Party, Keir Starmer, on Wednesday demanded that Prime Minister Boris Johnson explain why the United Kingdom has recorded over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in Europe. "The question on everyone's lips is why," Starmer asked Johnson during the prime minister's questions in parliament. As he did on Tuesday after the Department of Health Social Care announced the grim milestone, Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday that he mourns every death in this pandemic and that his government takes full responsibility for what has happened, but his answer did not please the leader of the opposition. "The prime minister was slow into the first lockdown last March, he was slowly getting protective equipment to the frontline, slow to protect our borders, slow on testing and tracing, slow to the second lockdown in the autumn, slow to change the Christmas mixing rules, slow again into this third lockdown," Starmer stressed. Johnson claimed, however, that "there are no easy answers" and the "perpetual lockdown" was not one of them either. Criticized by the delay in imposing hotel quarantines for passengers arriving in the UK, he added that the government will announce tougher measures for countries where new coronavirus variants have been identified. The prime minister is also scheduled to brief parliament on school reopening and the COVID-19 situation later on Wednesday. US spirits agency Infinium Spirits is to launch the brands it represents in a number of new markets, including the Caribbean, in a distribution deal with Webb Banks. Infinium Spirits represents Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey The California-based company, which handles independent spirits brands including Skrewball Peanut Butter whiskey, Templeton Rye American whiskey and Tears of Llorona Tequila, is to launch its full stable across the Caribbean through Webb Banks, the companies announced today. Americas Travel Retail, cruise lines and selected Central American markets are also included in the distribution arrangement. A spokesperson for Infinium told just-drinks that outside of some minor distribution for Zaya Rum and Templeton Rye in Puerto Rico, the agreement marks the debut launch of the Infinium-represented brands in these regions. According to the company, the move represents "a major milestone" in its global expansion plans. Last month, Infinium secured Canadian distribution for Skrewball. Sustainability decisions will shape the post-pandemic recovery - Sustainability Spotlight CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Playhouse Square traditionally hosts in-person events for Black History Month, but due to the pandemic, the performing arts center will offer a pair of virtual performances instead. The first is Step Afrika!s Stono, premiering Feb. 1 and running through Feb. 14. Stono was created as a streaming performance, and I tuned in for the world premiere online on September 9, 2020 the anniversary of the historic Stono Rebellion, says Playhouse Square Vice President of Community Engagement & Education Daniel Hahn. Step Afrika! takes this important but too-little-known moment of history and retells it as only this world-class company of energizing dancers can. The performance tells the story of the 1739 slave rebellion on the banks of the Stono River in South Carolina. Though the uprising is a relatively little known event in history and was ultimately unsuccessful, it gave birth to the percussive movement, which would change African American life and culture forever. "Rhapsody in Black" was written and performed by LeLand Gantt and developed at NYCs Actors Studio with Estelle Parsons. Next up is Rhapsody in Black, available to stream Feb. 22-28. LeLand Gantt stars in this one-man show that, Hahn says, profoundly and personally explores the issues of contemporary racial issues in America. In the piece, Gantt recounts his personal journey growing up poor and Black in the ghettos of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, eventually rising to a successful acting career only to experience instances of racism again as he is looked at as the perpetual other. Following the shows online run, Gantt will appear for a live Q&A on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. The virtual performances, presented in partnership with University Hospitals, are free to watch, though registration is required. Visit playhousesquare.org for more information. Welcome to the new passenger terminal at the Bahrain International Airport! Welcome to the new passenger terminal at the Bahrain International Airport! TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Bahrain International Airports (BIA) new passenger terminal will begin operations today, in line with the directive of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) announced that all the airports facilities are ready, and preparations to welcome passengers are complete. The transfer to the new facility marks the dawn of a new era for the Kingdom of Bahrains aviation sector. Transportation and Telecommunications Minister and BAC Chairman, Eng. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, noted that the transfer marks a major step for the Kingdom under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. With a focus on safety, luxury, and environmental sustainability, the new airport adheres to international aviation guidelines. It will also help to attract well-known brands that will enhance travellers shopping experiences. The new terminal is four times the size of the old one and designed to deliver a more personal, Bahraini feel. Equipped with the latest technologies in the market and supported by new infrastructure, it will increase the airports capacity to 14 million passengers per year, delivering a hassle-free airport experience and the highest standards of luxury. The Minister praised HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Ministers contributions to the project and thanked him for his guidance, highlighting his contributions towards the Kingdoms many outstanding achievements in pursuit of its Economic Vision 2030, and bringing the Airport Modernization Program (AMP) closer to completion. Launched in February 2016, the AMP is the largest investment in Bahrains aviation sector to date and one of the most important national projects in the Kingdoms history. Minister Mohammed also expressed his satisfaction with the progress made during the first phase of the new terminals development, and the Team Bahrain spirit that has characterised everyone involved in this project since its inception. Minister Mohammed said: I would like to thank our strategic partners, contractors, all companies working in Bahrain International Airport, and all parties involved for their strong support for this national project. We are very grateful for their assistance and contributions throughout, which were vital to the smooth and successful launch of the airports new infrastructure. Their contributions helped to ensure the projects on schedule and on budget completion, without disrupting operations at the legacy airport, which has served the Kingdom efficiently for decades. BAC Chief Executive Officer Mohamed Yousif Al Binfalah said: This milestone is the culmination of years of careful planning and hard work. It marks the start of an exciting new chapter in the Kingdoms rich aviation history and positions BIA as the most modern boutique airport in the region. At a footwear factory in Vietnam (Photo: haiquanonline.com.vn) Hanoi - Vietnams footwear sector is now beginning to see positive signs after export revenue for footwear and handbags fell 11 percent year-on-year to 19.5 billion USD in 2020, making it one of the sectors hardest hit by COVID-19. Vietnamese companies have proved their capacity in research and development (R&D) and design, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) Nguyen Duc Thuan. Signs show that Vietnam is further penetrating into the leather-footwear supply chain, he said, as the design and R&D processes rake in high added value for products. The domestic supply of materials for the sector now represents 60 percent. Local businesses can take the initiative in producing soles and moulds, as well as packaging and labelling. This is attributable to their activeness in manufacturing materials locally, Thuan added. In particular, the Gia Dinh Footwear JSC has set up industrial clusters to attract investment in material production and workshops serving the industry. Its CEO Nguyen Chi Trung said orders for the footwear sector have been on an upward trend since the end of 2020. As order numbers have recovered and are even on the rise, all workers have been able to return to production. Shortages are likely, though, as there will be high demand for workers in April and May, Trung said. Other businesses in the sector are also hoping that 2021 will see a surge in both orders and revenue thanks to advantages held post-pandemic. Of particular note, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement offers a major opportunity for Vietnam to bolster exports to the EU. Footwear companies have been advised to pay due regard to sustainable development, most notably in environmental and labour issues, to devise suitable strategies. Thuan noted that the sector has set a target of earning more than 20 billion USD in exports this year, to offset losses posted in 2020. Though China still accounts for half of the global footwear production, Vietnams exports to its northern neighbour surged 15 percent for the first time last year, he noted. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Parks Superintendent Walter Lenckos and Prosecutor Gary Germann ultimately received all and part of what they asked for, respectively, but not without a lot of questions from a council concerned about requests for additional funding, regardless of where it was coming from, at the first full regular meeting of the year. Chief of the General Staff of Israeli Defense Forces Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi has described the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a deal that is unacceptable to both on the strategic and operational levels. itself is not party to the nuclear deal. "If the 2015 nuclear deal came through, Iran would eventually be able to move towards getting a nuclear bomb, because the agreement did not include restrictions that could ultimately prevent it. Anything that looks like the current agreement or an improved version of it is bad and should not be allowed," Kohavi said in a lecture delivered at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. The Israeli military said he had ordered for operational measures to prevent any such deal, contending that "the return to the 2015 agreement or even an improved version of its would be a bad deal from the operational and strategic points of view." The JCPOA was signed in 2015 by Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, stipulating the removal of sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear program. In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Tehran responded by gradually abandoning its own commitments. This past December, the Iranian government passed a law aimed at achieving a full removal of sanctions via a boost of nuclear activities, specifically by increasing the levels of uranium enrichment and limiting the access of the Atomic Energy Agency to its facilities. Last week, US State Secretary then-nominee Antony Blinken said that the United States would reciprocate Iran's resumed compliance with the nuclear deal, but would seek a broader agreement that also covers its missile program. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif responded by ruling out any revisions to the original deal and insisting that Washington remove sanctions first. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Albany, N.Y. Nearly all of New Yorks Covid-19 cluster zones and the extra restrictions that go with them have been lifted. That includes the yellow and orange zones in Onondaga County and a yellow zone in Oneida County. It also applies to zones in the Buffalo and Rochester areas and other parts of Upstate New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the move today during a press conference in Albany. The state launched the cluster zone strategy in the fall in an effort to control the coronavirus in areas seeing spikes. It includes varying levels of restrictions red, orange and yellow based on the severity of an outbreak in an area. Cuomo is leaving five yellow zones in place. Four are in New York City and one is in Newburgh. READ MORE: Color-coded Covid zones lifted in CNY: What that means for restaurants The other zones are being lifted because the situation has improved, Cuomo said. In the Onondaga County orange zone, for example, the percentage of people testing positive for the virus dropped from a peak of 8.89% to 4.47%. In the countys yellow zone, the positive rate fell to 4.78% from a high of 8.56%. Hospitals throughout the state have enough beds and staff to keep battling the pandemic, Cuomo said. No facilities are currently in danger of being overwhelmed. In addition, the spike in virus cases and hospitalizations the state saw around the holidays is easing, Cuomo said. Hospitalizations have declined since reaching over 9,000 earlier this month. The statewide positive rate was down to 5.44% yesterday after it was over 8% at points earlier in January. I think at this point its safe to say the holiday surge was anticipated, the holiday surge did happen, but the holiday surge is over, Cuomo said. Officials are reviewing the statewide mandate that bars and restaurants must close at 10 p.m., but that rule remains in place for now. When you keep the restaurants open late, that tends to be more problematic, Cuomo said. There tends to be more crowding. There tends to be more drinking. And with restaurants, were trying to keep it to actual eating as opposed to the restaurant turning into a bar. Other statewide Covid rules that exist outside the cluster zones also remain. Retail and personal care businesses are still limited to 50% capacity and gyms to 33%. Gatherings in homes can have no more than 10 people and nonresidential gatherings are limited to 50. Restaurants can have no more than 10 people at a table. Appropriate social distancing and masks are required at all businesses. Since November, most of Syracuse and portions of some close suburbs had been locked in an orange zone. Other parts of Onondaga County have been living under yellow zone restrictions. Previously, orange zones banned gyms, hair salons and barbers from opening at all. Schools in orange zones were initially required to switch to remote learning and restaurants were barred from offering indoor dining. But the state has slowly been tweaking the rules. It first allowed schools to resume in-person learning with extra testing and then allowed gyms, barbers and salons to open with some extra rules in place. Earlier this month, orange zone restaurants everywhere, except New York City, were allowed to restart indoor dining. The state gave permission for the restart after a judge ruled in favor of restaurants that sued over the matter in Erie County. Restaurants in yellow and orange zones had been limited to a maximum of just four people per table. The zones also included restrictions on gatherings and houses of worship. Restaurants in the Onondaga County orange zone pushed hard for the indoor dining restart. They got support from Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and County Executive Ryan McMahon. Cuomo himself acknowledged earlier this month that the cluster zones are problematic because people can simply drive a few miles outside them to avoid the extra restrictions. There have been no red zones anywhere in the state recently, although some areas had them previously. Red zone restrictions include the mandatory closure of all nonessential businesses. They also bar gatherings completely. New red zones remain possible if hospitals in any area near the point where they would be overwhelmed, Cuomo said. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Covid vaccines for Central NY teachers, school staff: Could they be forced to get a shot? NY vaccine plan excludes many people with developmental disabilities vulnerable to Covid NYs changing Covid rules: Some pool halls reopen. Ax throwing now closed. What? Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Ambassador of Slovakia calls on Ukrainian authorities to promote right protection of Slovak investors in Ukraine Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Ukraine Marek Shafin calls on the Ukrainian authorities to help protect the rights of Slovak investors in Ukraine. "At the moment there is a possibility of a repeated violation of the rights of citizens of the Slovak Republic, someone is again trying to take away an object in which foreign citizens have invested. In this regard, I want to appeal to the competent Ukrainian authorities to help protect the rights of Slovak investors in Ukraine," the ambassador said at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday. He said that this is important for all citizens of Slovakia who intend to invest in Ukraine. In addition, the ambassador expressed gratitude to the temporary special commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the protection of investors' rights for taking control of the violation of the rights of Slovak investors, as well as to the Justice Ministry for a timely response. At a press conference, the investor's lawyer spoke about the situation that had developed due to the allegedly illegal actions of a financial company of Ukrainian origin around one of the facilities in which the citizens of Slovakia invested. As protests by farmers in Delhi grew violent, additional forces were deployed in sensitive areas and the police began monitoring social media for misleading or provocative posts Chandigarh: Haryana was put on high alert on Tuesday and mobile internet services were suspended in three districts of Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal until 5 pm Wednesday, the state government said, as violent farmers' protest rocked neighbouring Delhi. In the wake of the events which unfolded in the national capital, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a special meeting of his cabinet and appealed to all farmers to return to their homes. The need of the hour is to together defeat the designs of antisocial elements, said Khattar. He also chaired a high level meeting with senior officials including Chief Secretary Vijai Vardhan, Home Secretary Rajeev Arora and Director General of Police Manoj Yadava in the evening to take stock of the situation. The DGP said a high alert has been sounded in the state in view of the violent incidents in several areas during the farmers' tractor parade in Delhi. He directed all district police chiefs to be extremely vigilant. Haryana Roadways bus services to Delhi were also affected in the wake of the events in the national capital, with a senior Transport Department official saying they were assessing the situation. Home Secretary Rajeev Arora said the order to suspend mobile internet services in three districts - Palwal, Sonipat and Jhajjar - was taken to prevent any disturbance of peace and public order in the districts. The order will remain in effect till 5 pm of 27 January, he said. He said the order covers internet services (2G/ 3G/4G/CDMA/GPRS), all SMS services (excluding banking and mobile recharge) and "all dongle services etc provided on mobile networks except voice calls in territorial jurisdiction of district Sonipat, Palwal and Jhajjar of Haryana State". The order was issued in view of the potential law and order situation on account of events in the national capital and to prevent any kind of spread of disinformation and rumours through various social media platforms, he said. The three Haryana districts lie adjoining the national capital. The Chief Minister later directed all Deputy Commissioners, Commissioners of Police, and Superintendents of Police to remain on 'high alert' so as to ensure the law and order situation in the state is not disturbed, an official statement said. Earlier during his Republic Day address in Panchkula, Khattar in an apparent reference to the farmers' stir against the Centre's new farm laws, said one has the freedom to agitate, but not to spread anarchy. Khattar described as "most unfortunate" the incident of a protesting farmer hoisting a flag at the Red Fort, Delhi. He said hoisting any flag on the Red Fort other than the tricolour was an insult to the freedom fighters and martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the nation. In a statement, DGP Yadava said all Commissioners of Police, Range ADGP/IGs and district Superintendents of Police have been asked to be on a high alert to deal strictly with rioters and miscreants. Additional force has also been deployed in sensitive areas. Besides, the intelligence wing of the police is also monitoring the entire situation, he said. The DGP warned that the police will not allow anyone to disturb law and order in the state. He also said anyone found instigating riot through any kind of rumour will be strictly dealt with as per the law. Police are also keeping a close eye on social media. Strict action will be taken if any kind of misleading, provocative, provoking and anarchic post is shared or forwarded on social media. People should not pay attention to the rumours and follow the Haryana Police website and Twitter handle for the latest updates," the DGP added. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- As the world marked 100 million global COVID-19 caseload early Wednesday, the human race should take the new grim milestone as a moment of awakening, put on a spurt and bring about a turning point in its arduous battle against the deadly pathogen. The pandemic has now infected one in every 78 people worldwide and killed over 2 million, an acutely heartrending situation perhaps few in the world could have ever anticipated in the early days of the outbreak. With the already appalling COVID caseload and death tally continuing to snowball, the danger of people turning ever numb to the virus is far more menacing than the virus itself. Scientific studies are already sounding the alarm against growing pandemic fatigue and the rising phenomenon of "psychic numbing." To flatten the global curve and start to tip the war against the disease in humankind's favor as soon as possible, all countries have no other choice but to buck up and do the right things together. The first priority is to make the most of the vaccines. With vaccination programs rolling out in many parts of the globe, it is still plausible for the world community to embrace a new spring with slower infections and fewer deaths. How effective vaccines can be is closely associated with how many people can get vaccinated. Therefore, countries worldwide should inoculate as many of their people as possible to form a protective netting against the raging onslaught of the cunning virus. It is natural for the public to be wary of potential risks brought by new-born vaccines, but the benefits are undeniable, and do outweigh concerns. Thus, governments and health communities around the world should play their guiding roles in addressing the concerns of the vaccine-hesitant and turn more people into adopters. Then comes the issue of equitable vaccine distribution within national boundaries and across the world. As some nations are witnessing chaotic roll-out and social outrage over queue-jumping of the privileged, governments should optimize the vaccines' allocation and distribution systems, so that the most deserving people, such as front-line health care and essential workers, can get protected in time. Inequitable access to vaccines appears even more acute and heart-wrenching on the world stage. Some rich economies have been hoarding doses, while companies compete for a bigger financial piece of the vaccine pie. As of last week, while nearly 40 million vaccine doses have been administered in 50 countries, an African nation only received 25 doses. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the world is "on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure." Countries and international organizations should push for such global initiative as COVAX to ensure fair availability of vaccines to countries, both rich and poor, so that global efforts will not be undermined to prolong the Odyssean battle. Vaccines, of course, are not omnipotent. People must resist the impractical thinking that vaccines alone can bring about the final victory. While vaccinating their populations, countries should press on with proven preventive measures like lockdowns, mask-wearing and social distancing. Most importantly, many months of the bitter battle with the virus have exposed some of the flaws of the humankind. Chief among them is a lack of awareness that the wellbeing of all human beings is connected together in this age of globalization. The free movement of people and goods across the planet, made possible by global air travels and maritime voyages, has enabled the virus to spread to even the most remote corner of the world. That is unlikely in ancient times. However, while the human race is basking in the benefits of modern technologies, it is not sobering enough of the accompanying risks, let alone what it means to be a citizen of the global village. The raging pandemic offers a moment of awakening. To be more specific, individuals should start learning to realize and fulfill their collective obligations as a member of the human race. That is an indispensible part of the equation for the world community to stamp out the virus or tackle climate change. "For the first time in world history, people around the world are being forced to acknowledge that we all face a shared threat that no country can overcome by itself," Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, wrote in an opinion piece last month. "If the world's peoples join together, under compulsion, to defeat COVID-19 ... they may become motivated to join together, under compulsion, to combat climate change, resource depletion, and inequality," he pondered. Things get worse before they get better. It is hoped that after all the infections and deaths, things with the pandemic can start to get better any time soon, and the better angels of the human nature can be awakened for future crises of global proportions. A Brooklyn man who was stripped naked and beaten as soon as he got off a bus from Atlanta was a gangbanger who had been targeted in the assault, police say. The 26-year-old, who has an extensive criminal history, had been just exiting the bus near Canal street in Manhattan on Friday when the group pounced on him. While he escaped serious injury, the victim - who has not been identified - did get slashed in the torso, head and hand. Police sources describe him as being affiliated with the Mac Baller Brims gang, the New York Post reports. The group was once designated as one of the most dangerous gangs in New York City. A shocking attack in Chinatown, New York shows a man running for his life in the bike lane Eventually, the suspects catch up to the man and begin beating him up on the street The victim has 43 arrests on his record and has served a three-year stint at Fishkill Correctional Facility in Upstate New York on a robbery conviction He was released in 2017. Sources familiar with the victim shared that as recently as Jan. 5, he was shot in the leg outside his Brownsville home. Police are looking for a group of suspects after a shocking attack in the Chinatown district of New York City. The NYPD released a video on Saturday afternoon showing an attack in which a dozen suspects beat, stripped and robbed a 26-year-old man around 11.30am on Friday after he got off a bus from Atlanta. The beating took place near the intersection of Canal and Allen streets in Chinatown As the four primary suspects begin the attack, others witness and some join in the beating The beginning of the video shows surveillance shots of several of the suspects calmly walking down the sidewalk. Then, the video shows the suspects running towards a man seemingly fleeing in the bike lane near a crosswalk. The suspects eventually catch up to the victim, whose face is blurred, and can be seen kicking and beating him. Other people run towards the fray, though it's unclear if they are trying to diffuse the situation or join in the beating. A different surveillance camera also appears to show the victim stripped of his clothes by the end of the video. The beating continued for some time before the suspects escaped in several vehicles In addition to beating the victim, the suspects also robbed him of his phone and clothing CBSNewYork reports the attack took place near Canal and Allen streets, and that the victim was cut by an unknown object during the attack. The victim's phone, pants, underwear, and shoes were robbed from him during the attack, with the suspects fleeing the scene in different vehicles. There were around 12 suspects involved in the attack in total. The victim was ultimately taken to a local hospital with injuries to his head, hands, and torso. He was listed in stable condition. Pictured: Two of the suspects in the beating caught on surveillance video Pictured: One of the suspects in the beating caught on surveillance video Pictured: One of the suspects in the beating caught on surveillance video 'They attacked him as soon as he got off the bus from Atlanta,' a police source told the New York Post. The man is originally from Brooklyn. New York City faced a significant crime wave in 2020, most notably a surge in shootings and murders. So far, there have been 515 robberies and 843 felony assaults in the city in 2021, through January 17. That's down 29.8 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, from a year ago. DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for comment. NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Two men have been extradited from Australia to the United States on charges of bilking hundreds of thousands of Americans out of more than $50 million in unwanted text messaging services, the US Justice Department said in a news release. Michael Pearse, an Australian national, and Yongchao Liu, a Chinese national also known as Kevin Liu and residing in Australia, arrived in the United States on Monday, the release said on Tuesday. The men "victimized hundreds of thousands of mobile phone customers to the tune of more than $50 million", sending them unsolicited text messages through a practice called "auto-subscribing," the release added. According to the complaint, Pearse and Liu worked for a company called Bullroarer, which was affiliated with another entity called Tatto that was involved in the racket. To carry out their scheme, they "purchased" large numbers of mobile phone numbers from co-conspirators at US-based Mobile Messenger. "Pearse, Liu and their co-conspirators then worked to have unsolicited text messages sent to these and other mobile phone numbers and to enroll those customers in premium text messaging services without their knowledge or consent," the release said, adding that the messages covered topics like horoscopes, celebrity gossip and trivia facts. If convicted, the two could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the release. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Against the backdrop of mounting vacancies in higher judiciary across the country, the Supreme Court on Wednesday deliberated on bottlenecks in the appointments of judges and sought a roadmap on filling the vacant posts. A bench headed by Chief Justice S. A. Bobde and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Surya Kant made sharp observations on the delay on the government's part on recommendations made by the top court Collegium and stressed that it is a matter of great concern. During the hearing, the Chief Justice said: "We get a spate of complaints if the name (of the judge recommended) is mentioned in public." He added that there is no lack of transparency either on judicial or administrative side. Senior advocate Vikas Singh said there are vacancies in the Delhi High Court, yet there is no recommendation. Why should the process of appointment should be completed just before the retirement of a judge, he asked. At this, the Chief Justice pointed out: "The kind of pressure when names are considered by the Collegium is incredible." The bench told Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, representing the Centre, to develop a timeline and apprise the court as to how long would it take to respond to the recommendations made by the High Court seeking appointment of judges. "If you do not give comments for five months on Collegium recommendation, then it is a matter of great concern," Justice Kaul told the AG. Justice Surya Kant queried development on the recommendations sent by High Courts last year in April, May and June. "You cite pending IB reports, some CM has not given opinion etc... how much time will the government take," the bench queried the AG. Justice Kaul stressed that the bench is trying to set an order in place. Citing the pendency of 189 proposals, the top court urged the government to remove bottlenecks in the appointment of judges. Venugopal submitted that pendency of recommendations has been brought down from 150 to 104 last December, though many are pending for a long time. Justice Kaul cited a chart which gave details on the pendency of close to 200 proposals pending with the government and the Collegium. Justice Kaul added that in 5 months, the Collegium cleared 9 judges, where names of 6 judges are pending with government. Four out of 6 are government counsel, he said. The top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing after two weeks. The top court made remarks during the hearing of the transfer plea of PLR Projects Pvt Ltd originating in 2019 from Odisha. In this matter, lawyers were on strike in several districts demanding circuit benches of High Court in other parts of the state. Previously, the Centre had told the top court that usually government takes 127 days for clearing the recommendations sent to it for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary, and the top court Collegium takes 119 days to deal with it. Broward County Public Schools can require all teachers and other employees working remotely to return to their in-person assignments, but the district must provide the teachers union all information on how decisions on allowing or denying virtual assignments are made, a court-appointed arbitrator ruled Monday. The ruling was in response to a Jan. 7 lawsuit filed by the Broward Teachers Union against the district over its return-to-class mandate for staffers whove been working remotely. The union argues the teachers and staff who are working remotely have underlying health conditions that make contracting COVID-19 life threatening. Arbitrator Roger I. Abrams made his decision following a three-day hearing that ended Saturday. Since the district sent a letter in mid-December ordering everyone back to brick-and-mortar assignments, the union has been arguing that the move is unnecessary because only about 35% of the systems roughly 240,000 students have returned to the classroom for the spring semester. In the meantime, the district faces a new challenge as a result of the conflict with its teachers. Since December, more than 100 staff members, mostly teachers, decided to either resign or retire rather than return to campus. Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie has been urging teachers to come back because he wants them in the classroom to encourage more students to return to in-person learning, noting that nearly a third of the districts students are in danger of not making adequate academic progress during the pandemic. When Broward reopened its schools to in-person learning Oct. 9, the administration granted about 1,700 employees requests to continue working remotely. More than 600 have not returned, or about one-third. Its not immediately known how many employees the district will require to report for work in person following the arbitrators ruling. The decision will be made based on the operational needs of schools, the district said in a press release. Story continues In a statement this week, Runcie called Abrams ruling a win for our students. We recognize the health concerns of our teachers and will continue to balance their needs with the needs of students who are struggling and must be back in a safe and healthy school for face-to-face learning, he said. Anna Fusco, BTU president, said she also considered the ruling a victory for her membership because the union has been asking the district to hand over its information on staffing requirements since the summer. We got what we asked for, Fusco said Tuesday. Fusco is angry, however, that during the hearing, lawyers for the district showed social media posts by several of the teachers whove maintained their health is too compromised to return to school traveling, at parties and at political rallies. The South Florida Sun Sentinel was first to report on the posts. Fusco said the district broke the trust of the teachers by naming them during the hearings and exposing their ailments. Its the most deplorable thing Ive ever seen them do, Fusco said. They named people with severe illnesses and put it out to the public. Keyla Concepcion, a Broward schools spokeswoman, said the districts legal team gathered the information to support its argument. And, she said, the employees made the information public by posting it on social media. In any litigation, research is routinely conducted in support of a legal defense, and information shared on social media is not considered to be private, Concepcion said in an email Tuesday. Fusco, however, said most of the photos posted showed the employees outside and not around groups of people. They have underlying conditions. Theyre still not healthy enough to stand seven hours a day. Behind a mask. Breathing in the same air as everyone else, with so many of the schools with poor air quality, she said, adding that the union may take legal action against the district over showing the posts. Were going to do some action, Fusco said. Were working on it with our attorneys. An earlier version of this story contained a sentence from district spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion explaining why the district collected information from teachers social media posts. The sentence said the district collected the information to back up its legal argument that the teachers were healthy enough to return to work. That sentence was incorrectly attributed to Concepcion. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A 12-year-old Philadelphia boy has been arrested in the shooting death of his nine-year-old sister for allegedly providing a loaded gun to their five-year-old cousin, who then fired it at the girl. The boy, who has not been named, on Wednesday was arrested and charged as a juvenile with involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person for his suspected role in the death of his sister, Nyssa Davis. Nyssa, her older brother and younger cousin were home alone at the siblings' North Philadelphia home on the morning of January 20 when the five-year-old shot a round at the nine-year-old girl, which struck her in the right side of her head. Scroll down for video Nyssa Davis, nine (pictured left and right with her mother), has been identified as the Philadelphia child who was shot and killed by her five-year-old cousin on January 20. Her 12-year-old brother has been charged in her death Nyssa, her brother and their cousin was alone at the family's home on North Bouvier Street in Philadelphia (pictured) when the shooting took place The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office had already charged the brother and sister's father, 39-year-old Blake Davis, with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, of corruption of minors, recklessly endangering another person and illegal firearms violations, reported 6abc. Police said the gun used in the fatal shooting belonged to Davis. During a vigil last week, Nyssa's mother told CBS Philly that Davis loved their daughter 'to death,' adding: 'I know Blake right now is crying. He's broken on the inside.' Nyssa's father, Blake Davis, 39, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors and gun violations The mother blamed video games and 'Nerf guns' for giving children false ideas about mortality. 'My son kept thinking she [Nyssa] had another life,' the woman said at the somber event, which saw friends and family release pink and purple balloons into the sky. 'And he woke up this morning saying, "Mommy, it's going to be OK. It was an accident. She's going to come back."' The deadly shooting took place in the 2300 block of North Bouvier Street in North Philadelphia at around 11am. Nyssa's older brother called 911 and reported the shooting. The girl was rushed to Temple University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries before 2pm, reported Fox29. Police officers who responded to the scene on the block lined with boarded-up, blighted homes recovered two guns from the residence. Nyssa died after suffering a gunshot wound to the right side of her head Nyssa's mother (left), seen at a vigil last week, said her father loved their daughter 'to death' People gathered on January 22 outside Nyssa's school and released pink and purple balloons into the sky in the girl's honor According to sources talking to CBS Philadelphia, the father of the nine-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy was not legally permitted to own a gun. Patrick Flood, who described himself to Philadelphia Inquirer as a life-long friend of the father, said Nyssa was known to her loved ones as Butterfly and was 'quiet, nice, peaceful, loving.' A next-door neighbor told the newspaper that the father 'was always out in the street.' 'It's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking,' Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said. 'There are too many guns out there, and we have to do better in terms of protecting our children from gun violence of all types. And we've had enough.' Nyssa was a fourth-grader at Thomas M. Peirce School, where her legacy will live on in the form of a grant that will be awarded each year to a student who exhibits commitment to education and strength of character, reported Daily Voice. This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. Check out the news you should not miss today: Society Police in Ho Chi Minh City have recently warned people of scammers who may impersonate policemen to call and request businesses to apply for fire drill courses as well as pay for training documents. According to the southern province of Tien Giangs hydrometeorological station director Vo Van Thong, the Tien River has seen a sharp increase of saline intrusion in the past three days, with a further rise likely in the next one to two days before a slow retreat. Hundreds of firefighters in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday night spent around three hours extinguishing a fire which erupted in a fabric workshop in Hoc Mon District and burned down many assets of nearby local houses. The UN Population Fund Vietnam on Tuesday handed over 3,704 necessity kits for elderly people in the three flood-hit central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, and Quang Ngai to the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee, according to the Vietnam News Agency. The central province of Quang Tri, which has the greatest amount of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the country, is working to clear about 3,000ha of land each year to become the first Vietnamese locality to be safe from UXO accidents by 2025, the Vietnam News Agency reported on Tuesday. Lifestyle Members of Dinh Lang Viet, a group of Hanoi young men advocating promoting Vietnamese ao dai for men, has recently caught the eyes of people online and offline when the group donned the traditional costume to walk around the capital citys famous places such as the Opera House and Hoan Kiem Lake and take photos as part of their regular showcase activities. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A whale shark has been rescued by a group of swimmers and surfers after becoming stuck in shallow water at a popular Queensland tourist beach. Footage of the huge animal thrashing in the water just metres from the shore after getting stuck between two rocks was shared online on Wednesday. Carley Jane Pan was at the beach in Noosa National Park when she spotted the whale shark and jumped in the water with some locals to set the marine marvel free. Beachgoers spotted the huge whale shark in Noosa on Wednesday (pictured) The whale shark (pictured) had become stuck in shallow water at Noosa National Park in Queensland (pictured) Ms Pan told Daily Mail Australia she was quite shocked because she had never seen a whale shark in two decades of surfing at Noosa. She said a few locals including her husband and friend Tony Rapacioli rushed into the water to help the animal. 'The shark flipped over so I ran in to help too, we pulled it from the tail and managed to get it off the rocks when a wave came. It kept trying to circle back but some guys managed to steer it away back into the cove,' Ms Pan said. Whale sharks are the largest known fish species - as whales are classified as mammals - with the largest confirmed individual reaching a huge 18.8 metres in length. They are listed as endangered species and feed on plankton and small fish - posing no threat to humans. While the animals are found in most tropical waters around the world from as far north as Canada and south to Victoria, they generally stay in deeper water rarely venture close to shore. People commenting on the shark at Noosa said they were amazed to see one near the beach. 'Imagine seeing the fins out there,' one person said. 'A whale shark, how incredible,' another said. 'Don't even need to go to WA,' a third added. A group of locals rushed to help the whale shark that had become stuck in shallow water (pictured) A famous tourist activity is to swim with the whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. The reef is one of the largest in Australia and is located about halfway up the Indian Ocean coast - at about the same longitude as Noosa and the Sunshine Coast on the east. Ms Pan said a team from nearby Australia Zoo arrived and along with help from other locals managed to safely tow the animal back out into deep water. 'So happy to hear that,' a relieved Ms Pan said. (Newser) You're someone who is pretty good about keeping your recyclables from ending up in the garbage can. Peter Kalmus is in a very different league. And, perhaps, trapped in a "personal hell"one in which "I have to spend my entire life desperately trying to convince everyone NOT TO DESTROY THE F---ING EARTH?" Or so he tweeted in October. In a lengthy piece for ProPublica, Elizabeth Weil delves into what it's like to truly believe that climate disaster is nigh. He's a scientist with an astrophysics PhD from Columbia who left that field and moved into earth science "because he just couldn't stop obsessing." So what does that obsessing look like? For one, Weil recounts how after the 2006 birth of his first child, there was a blessing for the baby in which friends vocalized their wishes for the child. story continues below Kalmus voiced this hope: "that his son didnt get shot at in climate-induced barbarity and that he did not starve." It also looks like organizing protests that aren't attended, putting an end to his own air travel ("It feels like the plane is flying on ground-up babies to me," he says of the emissions), cutting emissions further by growing vegetables, sourcing unsellable food from Trader Joe's, and transitioning to a composting toilet. His wife Sharon struggled at times, especially when it came to the 1985 biodiesel Mercedes that regularly broke down in the cold. As Weil puts it, Sharon "commiserated with a friend who was married to a priest. How do you have an equal marriage with a man whos trying to save the world?" Then came a giant fight as Kalmus and his family had to evacuate their home due to California's Bobcat fire. (Read the full story for what happened next.) Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday landed at the Kozhikode airport to begin his two-day visit to Kerala, and held closed-door meetings with Congress and IUML leaders. These included former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Ramesh Chennithala, M Ramachandran, and Indian Union Muslim League leaders PK Kunhalikutty and KPA Majeed. With Assembly elections around the bend, various political parties are doing their home work to finalise seat-sharing with coalition partners. Rahul Gandhi has been insisting on promotion of new faces and women leaders in the elections to the 140-member Assembly. The state Youth Congress leadership has already submitted a list of probable candidates from among its leaders and openly demanded that they be given a fair proportion of tickets. Rahul Gandhi, a member of Parliament from Wayanad, will participate in a few functions regarding his MP Local Area Development Schemes in the constituency during his visit. The former AICC President has been discussing with Muslim League leaders the seat-sharing within the United Democratic Front. KPCC President Mullappally Ramachandran told IANS: "Rahul Gandhi has met with IUML leaders as this party is a major constituent of the UDF coalition. The Congress-IUML relations are very cordial. As far as seat-sharing is concerned, we are yet to mull the finer details and are holding broader discussions only at present." The Congress has already inducted former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor into the Manifesto Committee, sending out a clear message that he will have a major say in the UDF campaign and even during government formation in case the UDF returns to power. Both Rahul and his sister Priyanka Gandhi will remain in the coastal state during the entire campaigning period since, Congress sources said, they will be major trump cards for the party. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 As of late this town's most prolific group of activists seem emboldened after doubling up on protests at the homes of Jackson County judges . . . Turns out the group believe they have support from the new residents of the White House. Read more . . . Russias gas giant Gazprom believes that pipeline natural gas could be compatible with the global climate goals of greenhouse gas reduction and Europes commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050, according to Elena Burmistrova, Director General of Gazprom Export. So, speaking about the future of our industry, Im sure that gas is fully compatible with the most ambitious climate goals, and it can and has to take up the key role in the rational and safe energy system, Reuters quoted Burmistrova as saying at the online European Gas conference on Wednesday. According to the senior Gazprom official, pipeline natural gas emits fewer emissions than liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is competing with Russian gas on the European market. Europe, the key market for Gazproms pipeline natural gas, has recently started to see natural gas not as a solution but as a problem in the EU climate goals to become a net-zero emissions bloc by 2050. The European Union (EU) agreed last month that its Just Transition Fund (JTF) worth US$21.2 billion (17.5 billion euro) and one of the EUs key tools to support regions in the transition towards climate neutrality by 2050will not fund any investments in fossil fuels. Related: Egypt Looks To Resume LNG Exports As Prices Rise Investments related to the production, processing, transport, distribution, storage, or combustion of fossil fuels cannot be funded through the JTF, the EU has said. Last year, Frances government reportedly asked local power group Engie, in which it holds more than 20 percent, to delay the signing of a 20-year deal worth US$7-billion to buy LNG from a planned export project in Texas due to concerns over gas production emissions, Politico reported in October, quoting sources with knowledge of the issue. Just this week, the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer, said, To put it mildly, gas is over, during a conference to discuss the banks annual report. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Bloomberg Royal Dutch Shell agreed to buy a 51 percent stake in an Irish project to develop a floating wind farm in the Celtic Sea. Simply Blue Energys Kinsale venture will develop the Emerald floating wind farm, with 300 megawatts of capacity initially and the potential to scale up to 1 gigawatts. The companies didnt disclose the value of the deal. Photo: BC gov. Flickr Premier John Horgan Despite Manitoba moving to implement a 14-day quarantine rule for those entering the province, B.C. has no similar plans. Tuesday, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister announced anyone returning home to Manitoba from anywhere in Canada will be required to self-isolate for 14 days beginning Friday, but during a media availability Wednesday, B.C. Premier John Horgan said his government will not be following suit for the time being. Until such time as the public health officer advises me that there's a benefit to going down that road, we're going to leave it untraveled for the time being, Horgan said. He noted that B.C. would have a logistical challenge in putting in interprovincial travel restrictions compared to Manitoba, because there are more major roads into B.C. and more large airports. The public health evidence is not there at this time and Dr. Henry assures me that when that evidence is there, she'll present it to me, he said. If we see through public health that an increase in the number of people from outside of British Columbia is contributing significantly to an increase in the number of community outbreaks, we'll take action ... but we don't believe it's necessary at this time. Earlier this month, Horgan said his government had sought consultation on the legal issues that might come with implementing interprovincial travel restrictions, but chose not to put any of those restrictions in place. Those arriving anywhere in Canada from another country must already self-isolate for 14 days. While he discouraged anyone from travelling for non-essential purposes, Horgan did have a message for those travelling to B.C. for non-essential travel. You better behave appropriately, you better follow our public health guidelines, or we'll come down on you like a tonne of bricks, he said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that all Canadians should cancel any non-essential travel plans, both abroad or within Canada, as new restrictions are on their way. When those come, or what they might look like, remains unknown. Mumbai, Jan 27 : Lending major Axis Bank's net profit for the third quarter of 2020-21 fell 36 per cent due to higher provisioning. Accordingly, the bank's net profit fell to Rs 1,116.6 crore from Rs 1,757 crore reported during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. The bank said profit after tax for the quarter was adversely impacted to the extent of Rs 1,050 crore on account of prudent expenses and provisioning charges. However, the banking major's net interest income grew by 14 per cent to Rs 7,373 crore from Rs 6,453 crore reported during the like period of the previous fiscal. "Net interest margin (NIM) for Q3FY21 was 3.59 per cent as against 3.57 per cent for Q3FY20," the bank said in a statement. As per the statement, specific loan loss provisions for Q3FY21 were Rs 1,053 crore, compared to Rs 2,962 crore in Q3 last year. "The bank has made provisions on "90+ DPD" accounts not classified as NPA pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment, at rates that would have applied to these accounts per extant provisioning rules for NPA in the banks, amounting to Rs 3,899 crore during the quarter." "The bank holds cumulative provisions of Rs 11,856 crore at the end of Q3FY21. It is pertinent to note that this is over and above the NPA provisioning included in our PCR calculations." Notably, these cumulative provisions translate to a standard asset coverage of 2.08 per cent as on December 31, 2020. "As on 31st December 2020, the bank's reported Gross NPA and Net NPA levels were 3.44 per cent and 0.74 per cent respectively as against 4.18 per cent and 0.98 per cent as on 30th September 2020." "Absent the standstill to asset classification post August 31, 2020 pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment, the bank would have been required to report GNPA per RBI's extant IRAC norms for asset classification." Accordingly, the GNPA ratio as per said IRAC norms as on Dec 31 would have been 4.55 per cent and Net NPA ratio would have been 1.19 per cent. "This reflects decline of 45 bps and 90 bps respectively on a YoY basis and an increase of 27 bps and 16 bps on GNPA and NNPA respectively on a sequential basis." A breath of innovation: SpaceFlex r-evolution G21 S.r.l., the leading medical device manufacturer, is proud to announce the completion of its line of custom-modular spacers with the arrival of the new trials kit line: SpaceFlex r-evolution.. The year 2021 represents an even more significant year for G21 also from a symbolic point of view: the assonance with our logo that encompasses the achievements of 12 years of important work. We are therefore pleased to welcome this year and present our exclusive trials in this press release. With the SpaceFlex system and our complete line of cements, we offer the only modular mold system currently available on the market for the treatment of joint infections in orthopaedics. Trials have further enhanced our exclusive modularity studied on the patient's anatomy in order to perform guided and intuitive surgeries. Furthermore, we have optimized size selection so as to ensure proper congruence and filling, by minimizing the risk of dislocation and migration of the implant with the aid of targeted size selectionsays Filippo Foroni, Executive Vice President of G21 S.r.l. About G21 S.r. l G21 S.r.l. offers a range of products for both orthopedics and minimally invasive spine surgery. G21 S.r.l. provides bone cement for orthopedics with different levels of viscosity for the making of temporary prothesis for the treatment of infections and septic revisions. G21 S.r.l. supplies bone cement for vertebral consolidation for the performing of minimally invasive spine surgeries such as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures. From February 2021 the product is officially available on the market. The company s website for new releases and further information is http://www.g-21.it Contact Reference Mr. Filippo Foroni Executive Vice President of G21 S.r.l. Georgia state health officials reported on Tuesday there have been 142 additional deaths due to the coronavirus. The current total is 11,996.There were 5,706 new cases, as that total reached 727,752 confirmed cases of coronavirus.Hospitalizations are at 48,915, 417 more than Monday.Here are the numbers by county:Catoosa County: 4,338 cases, up 48; 46 deaths, up 1; 183 hospitalizations, up 4Chattooga County: 1,919 cases, up 9; 51 deaths; 128 hospitalizationsDade County: 922 cases, up 4; 8 deaths; 47 hospitalizationsWalker County: 4,926 cases, up 57; 63 deaths; 206 hospitalizations, up 2Whitfield County: 13,164 cases, up 47; 160 deaths, up 1; 638 hospitalizations, up 5 Upcoming City Council Agenda For Tuesday Hamilton County Has No More Coronavirus Deaths, 17 New Cases; Tennessee Has 13 More Deaths Georgia Has 32 More Coronavirus Deaths And 404 New Cases Here is the upcoming City Council agenda for Tuesday: I. Call to Order by Chairman Henderson. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Invocation (Councilwoman Coonrod). III. Special Presentation. ... (click for more) Hamilton County had 17 new coronavirus cases reported Friday, bringing the total to 45,116. There have been no more deaths from the virus, as the total remains at 499 in the county. There ... (click for more) (Natural News) Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard blasted former CIA Director John Brennan, House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), and big tech oligarchs seeking to censor fellow Americans after the January 6 Capitol riot. (Article by Kristina Wong republished from Breitbart.com) Gabbard shared a video statement online where she criticized them for trying to take away Americans constitutionally protected rights. She said in the video: The mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop Congress from carrying out its constitutional responsibilities were behaving like domestic enemies of our country. But lets be clear. The John Brennans, Adam Schiffs, and the oligarchs in big tech who are trying to undermine our constitutionally protected rights and turn our country into a police state with KGB-style surveillance are also domestic enemies, and much more powerful and therefore dangerous than the mob that stormed our Capitol. The video included a clip of Brennans remarks in a January 20 interview with MSNBC, where he said that the Biden team is now moving in laser-like fashion to uncover what looks very similar to insurgency movements that include libertarians: We are now looking forward that the members of the Biden team who have been nominated or have been appointed are now moving in laser-like fashion to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that weve seen overseas, where they germinate in different parts of the country and they gain strength and it brings together an unholy alliance frequently of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, Nativists, even libertarians. Gabbard concluded with an appeal to President Joe Biden: Now President Biden, I call upon you and all members of Congress from both parties to denounce these efforts by the likes of Brennan and others to take away our civil liberties that are endowed to us by our creator and guaranteed in our constitution. If you dont stand up to these people now, then our country will be in great peril. trying to undermine our constitutionally-protected rights and turn our country into a police state with KGB-style "surveillance" are also domestic enemiesand much more powerful, and therefore dangerous, than the mob which stormed the capitol. Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 26, 2021 President Biden, I call upon you & all of Congress from both parties to denounce efforts by Brennan & others to take away our civil liberties endowed to us by our Creator & guaranteed in our Constitution. If you dont stand up to them now, then our country will be in great peril. Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 26, 2021 Read more at: Breitbart.com German Ambassador to Bucharest Cord Meier-Klod, on Wednesday, said an initiative needs support to create a "digital monument" in memory of the victims of Nazism. "On this day when we commemorate the Holocaust, I want to urge you to donate some of your free time for a particularly important initiative called #everynamecounts. 'Every name counts' is the initiative of the Arolsen Archives in Germany to digitize the names and live stories of Holocaust victims and survivors," the diplomat said in a video message posted on the Embassy's Facebook page. He explained that the purpose of the action is to "build a digital monument in honour of those persecuted by National Socialism." "So, dear friends, please become partners in this initiative," Cord Meier-Klodt said. More details about this initiative can be found online at arolsen-archives.org. January 27, 1945, marks the release of prisoners from the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and the international commemoration of Holocaust victims. According to UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7 of 2005, states are encouraged to commemorate Holocaust victims and to develop educational programmes on the Holocaust. (Natural News) Has there been an increase in church burnings over the last year? I can think of historic churches being set afire recently the Gothic cathedral in France, the Spanish mission in California, the church across from the White House but its hard to tell if they represent a trend. But, in general, when the media goes nuts, they often inspire real nuts to do their thing, which sometimes involve setting churches on fire. (Article by Steve Sailer republished from Unz.com) Heres a local police blotter item from a week ago in Toledo, Ohio: According to Toledo Municipal Court documents, a warrant was issued for Harris for spray painting Jesus is black and black multiple times on Rosary Cathedral on Collingwood Boulevard on Monday morning. He is also accused of pouring a flammable liquid on the doors of the cathedral and lighting it. There was damage to the doors but not the inside of the cathedral. The cops went to arrest Harris, at which point he murdered a young white policeman named Brandon Stalker. This lurid series of events is considered Not National News for reasons. Read more at: Unz.com By Lambert Strether of Corrente. Bird Song of the Day At the suggestion of SomeGuyinAZ, the Gray Catbird. #COVID19 Lambert here, last Friday: Well, I said If these declines continue through the end of the week, Im gonna have to conclude were looking at a genuine fall in the numbers not the current narrative, I might add and that we are not looking at a reporting effect from the long weekend. So I have to conclude were looking at a genuine fall in the numbers. We are also not seeing an explosion from travel over the holidays, now well in the rear-view mirror. We might get a spike in ten days or so, if people were partying on MLK day, but with luck it will be small. Of course, there are those worrisome variants, so a mood of sunny optimism is not warranted. Amplifying the variants issue: I am looking at aggregated regional and national data. That doesnt preclude the idea that there are individual hot spots that are doing very badly. And if those hot spots are due to the new variants, and one or more of the variants is either resistant to the vaccine, or eludes current treatment protocols, we could see another rendition of the stair step pattern that weve already seen in cases. Unfortunately, our data collection is so bad that we have no way of tracing viral lineage in anything like near-real time, so we cant tell where the variants are hitting. (Cities with direct flights to the UK or South Africa would be places to check the sewage.) We might keep in the back of our minds that the first sign of a tsunami is water withdrawing from the shore like the decline we are seeing now. It never hurts to have an extra mask or two around the house, or sacks of rice and beans, say I. * * * At reader request, Ive added this daily chart from 91-DIVOC. The data is the Johns Hopkins CSSE data. Here is the site. I feel Im engaging in a macabre form of tape-watching. (A reader asked the source of the data: Johns Hopkins CSSE. DIVOC-91 does allow other data sets to be used, like Our World in Data and The Atlantic, and where they provide visualizations similar to those below, a cursory comparison shows that the shape of the curves is the same.) Vaccination by region: Case count by United States region: Big states (New York, Florida, Texas, California): Test positivity: Nowhere near 3%, anywhere. Hospitalization: Note: The increase in hospitalizations, due to a slight uptick in the West, and a leap in the Northeast. But look back at the Northeast, and youll see a similarly-sized leap, followed by a fall. Of course, the pessimistic scenario is that the Northeast is Boston, and Boston is flights from Ireland, infecting families with B117. Something to watch. Hospitalization is discretionary; they may also be reducing their admissions rate relative to cases we cannot see in this data! to preserve future capacity; or because hospitals have figured out how to send people home. Case fatality rate (plus deaths): * * * Cuomo Lifts Gathering Restrictions Across New York State [Bloomberg]. Governor Andrew Cuomo lifted restrictions in most hot spot areas across New York state, saying the post-holiday surge in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations is over. New York City restaurant restrictions continue. The governor said he will be speaking with local officials and will announce a plan by the end of the week for potentially easing them. Were looking at going back to the 25% would be the question, and how and when do you do that, Cuomo said Wednesday, referring to a previous limit of 25% of indoor capacity. So-called yellow zone restrictions remain in two areas of the Bronx, one in Queens, one in Washington Heights and one in Newburgh, Cuomo said. In those spots, non-residential gatherings are restricted to a maximum of 25 people, residential gatherings are limited to 10 people, houses of worship can operate at 50% capacity and indoor and outdoor dining is restricted. Cuomo reported a fifth-straight decline in daily cases. Positivity and hospitalizations are on the decline across the state, he said Wednesday at a virus press briefing. Politics But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? James Madison, Federalist 51 They had one weapon left and both knew it: treachery. Frank Herbert, Dune They had learned nothing, and forgotten nothing. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord Capitol Seizure UPDATE Exclusive: Proud Boys leader was prolific informer for law enforcement [Reuters]. Quite a scoop from Reuters, lol. Did the FBI buy Gavins moustache wax? Impeachment UPDATE To achieve unity, we need the Trump impeachment trial: OPINION [Matthew Dowd, ABC]. The staircase to unity, healing and justice starts with the steps of truth and accountability. Leaping too quickly to unity, skipping over those first few steps, will likely lead us to stumbling, falling and failing as occurred in the aftermath of the Civil War, and allow years of division to continue to tear us apart (including insurrectionists storming the Capitol, some holding Confederate flags). Conservatives, progressives and any other political persuasion must be able to come together on some fundamental values we teach our children on truth and responsibility. I wouldnt mind a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Id start with the Bush administration, because Constitutionally, I think thats when things really spun out of control. Such a Commission for the Trump Administration only is bound to fail; Dowd, as a former Bush administration official and latter-day Never Trumper, probably thinks the political universe consists of his guys and liberal Democrats. It doesnt. Transition to Biden UPDATE Bidens Inaugural Speech Was the Least Upbeat in Decades [Bloomberg]. Using the natural-language processing software LIWC (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) to analyze first inaugural speeches from Ronald Reagans onward, [social psychologist James Pennebaker] found that Bidens had more expressions of negative emotion than average, and of anger in particular. Biden talked less about money or work than Trump or any president since the 1970s, andnot surprisingly during a pandemicmore about death, asking Americans to join him in a silent prayer for those lost to the coronavirus. An analysis provided to Bloomberg using another tool, Diction, created by Roderick Hart, finds Biden favored personal language (I, mine) and everyday words (highway, groceries). Trump and Biden used simpler language in their addresses than other recent presidents. Trumps corresponded to a 10th-grade reading level on the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale; Bidens to an eighth-grade level. Wall Street, financial firms go on lobbying hiring spree as Democrats take control of Washington [CNBC]. Wall Street and financial firms across the country are hiring a legion of lobbyists as Democrats prepare to rein in their industry with tighter regulations and increased scrutiny. These companies include private equity juggernaut Blackstone, credit card and banking company Discover, consumer credit reporting giant Equifax, and tech-driven stock exchange Members Exchange. UPDATE Read My Lips: $2,000 Now [The Daily Poster]. Late last year, at the urging of Bernie Sanders and House progressives, Democrats were forced to break from their proclivity for complexity and issue a simple read my lips-esque promise to deliver $2,000 survival checks. Even though the proposal was itself means tested, it was still nearly universal and so straightforward that it helped Democrats win two Senate seats in Georgia, a longtime Republican stronghold. And yet, despite the fact that the $2,000 checks proposal is enormously popular, the party has almost immediately reverted back to form, slowly but surely trying to complicate the idea to the point where its becoming unrecognizable, complex and a proof point for those who believe Democrats refuse to just do what they promise. On Monday, Biden declared that the once simple proposal is now all a bit of a moving target in terms of the precision with which this goes, adding: Theres legitimate reason for people to say, Do you have the lines drawn the exact right way? Should it go to anybody making over X number of dollars or Y? The most exquisitely crafted well, actually arguments from Washington know-it-alls, academic experts, smug pundits and emoji-wielding Twitter mobs will not save Democrats from a voter backlash if they fail to deliver on their simple promise just like George Bushs technocratic arguments about budgets and taxes didnt save him from a voter backlash after he issued his simple read my lips pledge and then violated it. Which is what Biden did, and its ridiculously obvious. Warnock ran, and won, on an actual image of a $2,000 (Two Thousand Dollar) check: Do liberal Democrats really believe people dont notice these things? Democrats en Deshabille UPDATE The Democrats Civil War Over the Filibuster Has Barely Begun [Eric Levitz, New York Magazine]. [I]f the outlook for filibuster abolition looks dim, Blue Americas civil war over the issue is far from over. For the Democratic Party as an institution, the stakes of enacting major reforms over the next two years are nearly existential. And its leadership appears to understand this, even if its marginal senators do not (and/or care not for their partys fate). The basic problem facing the Democratic Party is simple: Barring an extraordinary change to Americas political landscape, it will lose control of Congress in 2022 and have a difficult time regaining control for a decade thereafter. To defy political gravity, and fortify U.S. democracy against the threat of authoritarian reaction, Democrats need to either rebalance the electoral playing field through the passage of structural reforms, or attain a degree of popularity that no in-power party has achieved in modern memory. If the filibuster remains in place, doing the former will be impossible and the latter highly unlikely. [T]he Democrats existential interest in eroding the filibuster remains on a collision course with its moderate senators aversion to power. Anyone with a fondness for democracy must hope that, against all odds, the forces of partisanship will prevail. If only liberal Democrats put the same energy into figuring out how to govern that they put into screwing Sanders and his voters. Anyhow, this is really good from Levitz, worth reading in full. Nancy Pelosi Buys Tesla Calls, Stands To Benefit From New Biden EV Plan [Yahoo Finance]. he purchases by Pelosi are questionable as arguments could be made that the companies stand to benefit from new President Joe Bidens agenda. Bidens push for electric vehicles, which could include lifting the cap on sales, would give buyers tax credits again and is advantageous for Tesla. The president has also suggested a possible cash-for-clunkers program that could incentivize customers for trading in used vehicles towards the purchase of an electric vehicle. Pelosi could now have a conflict as she works to pass clean energy initiatives from which her family could profit. Could? Grifters gotta grift: Hillary, Chelsea Clinton to produce series about all-woman militias that fought Islamic State https://t.co/xMzYUswzPD pic.twitter.com/OFXEVXEj5B The Hill (@thehill) January 26, 2021 Resistance types should identify Obama Legacy Remembering Rahmbamarama, the Obama Eras Most Zealous Fan Community [Jezebel]. other comments were similarly keyed up. FAPFAPFAPFAPFAP, wrote one user. Another felt inspired to write a very brief fanfiction about Emanuel attempting to seduce House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This was welcomed, even encouraged at the Livejournal community Rahmbamarama, a place where Emanuels loudest and most ardent fans congregated during the early years of the Obama administration to talk White House news and post horny photo dumps and smutty fanfiction featuring Emanuel and other Democratic Party members and allies. Ow! My eyes!!!!! Seriously, how did I miss this at the time? (And is there anything similar happening now?) RussiaGate UPDATE You Cant Blame Russia for Trump [Foreign Policy]. However, the problem with trying to pin the events of Jan. 6 on Russia, or of trying to frame Trumps actions as directed by Russians, is that it can lead Americans away from introspection about their own systems failings, and towards blaming a larger-than-life foreign other that isnt actually as powerful as some may think. Now they tell us! Realignment and Legitimacy Trump political team disavows Patriot Party groups [Axios]. Donald Trumps still-active presidential campaign committee officially disavowed political groups affiliated with the nascent Patriot Party on Monday. Trump briefly floated the possibility of creating a new political party to compete with the GOP with him at the helm. But others have formed their own Patriot Party entities during the past week, and Trumps team wants to make clear it has nothing to do with them. When Meghan McCain makes sense I am creeped out by both of these photos and wish people would stop sending me the one the right because the last thing I hope my dad is doing in the afterlife is literally anything having to do with politics. https://t.co/U6EMqa4Py6 Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) January 26, 2021 UPDATE Wixom man pleads guilty in Whitmer kidnap plot, agrees to fully cooperate' [Detroit Free Press]. Almost three months after his arrest, a Wixom man pleaded guilty to his alleged role in the foiled plot to kidnap Gov. Gretechen Whitmer and has agreed to fully cooperate with the FBI in exchange for leniency, including testifying against his cohorts if called upon. Ty Garbin, a airline mechanic, pleaded guilty to kidnap conspiracy in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids Tuesday morning, admitting he was part of a group that sought to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation home and that he was more than a bystander. Specifically, Garbin admitted that he cased Whitmers vacation home in preparation for the kidnapping, attended training exercises and brought night binoculars to one practice exercise. Garbin, 25, faces up to life in prison on the kidnap conspiracy charge. Federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lighter sentence they did not disclose any figures in exchange for his cooperation. Garbin is one of 14 men accused of conspiring to kidnap the governor, motivated largely by anger over her lockdown orders during the pandemic. The Siege of Paris 1870-71 (podcast) [In Our Time]. Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war and the social unrest that followed, as the French capital was cut off from the rest of the country and food was scarce. When the French government surrendered Paris to the Prussians, power gravitated to the National Guard in the city and to radical socialists, and a Commune established in March 1871 with the red flag replacing the trilcoleur. The French government sent in the army and, after bloody fighting, the Communards were defeated by the end of May 1871. If you want to understand what a real insurrection is like, you could to worse than listen to Melvyn and his guests (which is an inexhaustibly great podcast anyhow). Stats Watch At reader request, I added some business stats back in. Please give Econintersect click-throughs; theyre a good, old-school blog that covers more than stats. Durable Goods: Headline Durable Goods New Orders Improved Again In December 2020 [Econintersect]. The headlines say the durable goods new orders improved for the eighth consecutive month. Our analysis shows the rolling averages improved. The data this month was within expectations and, the previous month was revised up. In the adjusted data, the improvement was again driven by defense aircraft and motor vehicles. Employment Situation: Job Growth in the South Bucks Losses in Rest of U.S. [Wall Street Journal]. The South is leading the U.S. labor markets recovery from the pandemics initial shock as the only major region with continued payroll growth at the end of last year while the rest of the country lost jobs. Southern states logged job growth across the private sector in December, including services industries, which were hit hard by the pandemic, and manufacturing, according to a Labor Department report that provides details on the job market in all 50 states. Texas and Georgia gained the most jobs in December, adding a seasonally adjusted 64,200 and 44,700 jobs, respectively. In contrast, payrolls in the Midwest, West and Northeast fell last month, when the nations total payrolls slipped by 140,000 for the first decline in seven months. In those parts of the country, a surge in virus infections, related restrictions and winter weather prompted steep job cuts in leisure and hospitality industries. * * * Tech: Artificial Intelligence Will Define Googles Future. For Now, Its a Management Challenge. [Walll Street Journal]. Alphabet Inc.s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has bet big on artificial intelligence as central to the companys future, investing billions of dollars to embed the technology in the conglomerates disparate divisions. Now, it is one of his trickiest management challenges. Over the past 18 months, Googles parent has waded through one controversy after another involving its top researchers and executives in the field. Google has said its artificial-intelligence advancements have helped create faster and more accurate search resultsas well as more relevant advertising. Oh, so its AI that crapified Google search, good job. Mr. Market: Reddit Crowd Bludgeons Melvin Capital in Warning to Industry [Bloomberg]. The explosive growth in retail day-trading, powered by platforms like the Robinhood trading app and forums like wallstreetbets, has turned the old order on its head. Melvin Capitals mistake, if it can be called that, was leaving footprints behind in the marketplace. Reddit users were able to identify stocks that Melvin was wagering against and then buy those en masse, unleashing a violent run-up in prices that turned Melvins winning bet into a loser. The shorts that were listed in Melvins regulatory filing from the third quarter all rocketed in recent weeks. Names include Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., iRobot Corp. and GSX Techedu Inc. GameStop, the stock that seemed to set off the short squeeze, soared 634% in the month through Tuesday. Melvins cash infusion was almost unheard of in hedge fund land. Griffin, his partners and the hedge funds he runs at Citadel threw in $2 billion and Cohens Point72 Capital Management, which already had about $1 billion invested in Melvin, ponied up another $750 million. Thats a damn shame. Mr. Market: In GameStop saga unfolding on Wall Street, 2 Goliaths fall [Associated Press]. The size of the losses taken by Citron and Melvin are unknown. The Wall Street frenzy over GameStop began when an army of smaller-pocketed investors on Reddit started throwing dollars and buy orders at the stock in direct opposition to a group of wealthy investors who were counting on the stock price to plunge. There is no overriding reason why GameStop has attracted those smaller investors, but there is a distinct component of revenge against Wall Street in communications online. Over the past three months, shares of GameStop Corp., which has been buffeted by a shift in gaming technology, have spiked well over 1,000%. Shares are up another 100% at the opening bell Wednesday. That has created titanic losses for major Wall Street players who have shorted the stock, which means they borrowed shares and sold them, hoping to buy them back at a cheaper price and pocket the difference. As of Tuesday, the losses had already topped $5 billion in 2021, according to S3 Partners. And the phenomenon does not appear to be fading. Mr. Market: GameStop Stock Drama Continues As Price Soars And Hedge Fund Blinks [Kotaku]. Meanwhile, the ensuing chaos caused GameStop stock trading to be temporarily halted yet again this morning and caused outages on the trading app Robinhood. Other companies like Blackberry and AMC are also seeing smaller, though still dramatic stock climbs, as Reddit traders attempt to go boost other companies massively shorted by big hedge funds. All of this is the culmination of a long game thats been brewing on the WallStreetBets subreddit for a while now as amateur day traders decided to turn the misfortunes of a floundering brick-and-mortar game seller into their cause celebre for dunking on professional investment firms. In some ways its a very complicated story driven by the weird mechanics of Wall Street, but in other ways its a familiar tale of extremely online people trying to stick it to someone, in part to make a buck, but also for the lulz. Very good, especially on the Reddit action. Then again: Its vain to imagine you can concoct a new investment strategy that wont immediately be utilized and soon dominated by financial incumbents https://t.co/MX7NYsDdIE Alice (@AliceFromQueens) January 27, 2021 Mr. Market: How R/Wallstreetbets Gamed the Stock of Gamestop [The Verge]. Day traders, such as the ones on r/WallStreetBets, are typically held in contempt by professional traders, and they are acutely aware of this. The professional short-sellers who created the possibility of a short squeeze underestimated the day traders sophistication, and r/WallStreetBets pounced. Time to troll Wall Street out of a fuckload of money! The fine people of r/WallStreetBets decided GameStop was undervalued, and the stock would go up, so they put up a bunch of posts about how they were buying GameStop options. This drove up the stock price for GameStop, as their counterparties had to load up on stock to balance, and then more stock as more people bought options and so on. The soaring stock meant some shorts had to cover, sending the stock up further. As of January 26th, short-sellers have been trolled out of about $5 billion in 2021, just from their GameStop positions alone. What does Robinhood have to do with this? Well, it makes options trading much more accessible to retail investors but theres something else. Trades on Robinhood are free! But Robinhood isnt offering free trades to be nice; the company gets paid by some big-time investors such as Citadel Securities to see what retail investors are doing. This phenomenon, which other brokerages are engaged in as well, is called payment for order flow. Citadel Securities makes its money on these orders by automatically taking the other side of the order, then returning to the market to flip the trade. It pockets the difference between the price to buy and sell, known as the spread, according to the Financial Times. So, perhaps not quite the David and Goliath story that everybodys excited about Publishing: Bracing for Another E-book Price-Fixing Case [Publishers Weekly]. The suit is being brought against Amazon on behalf of three named plaintiffs and a potential class of consumers who bought e-books published by the Big Five through a retail platform that competes with Amazon at a price inflated by Amazon and its Co-conspirator Publishers price restraint. The suit was filed by Seattle-based firm Hagens Berman, which filed the first e-book price-fixing lawsuit against Apple and five of the thenBig Six publishers in August 2011. And we remember how that turned out: with a federal antirust suit and claims from 33 states. The publishers ended up settling all claims for a total of $166 million in consumer credits. Apple lost at trial a year later and paid out a $450 million settlement. As to why this suit is happening now, suffice it to say that it feels like the Amazon antitrust train is getting ready to leave the station and Hagens Berman wants on. * * * Todays Fear & Greed Index: 46 Neutral (previous close: 55 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 65 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 27 at 1:19pm. GameStop! The Biosphere Biden Issues Dozens of Oil Drilling Permits in First Few Days [Bloomberg]. The Biden administration has issued at least 31 new drilling permits authorizing operations on federal land and coastal waters, despite an order putting political appointees in charge of the decisions. The move signals those drilling authorizations are continuing to flow, despite President Joe Bidens plan to pause oil and gas leasing and a Jan. 20 order temporarily putting decisions about oil and gas permits, mining operations, hiring and other matters in the hands of top Interior Department officials. The order provoked alarm across the oil industry, as energy companies worried they wouldnt get approval to drill new wells or swift approval to amend permits for ongoing drilling operations. So far, theres no sign of that blockade. Empty seas: Oceanic shark populations dropped 71% since 1970 [Associated Press]. Scientists have known for decades that individual shark species are declining, but a new study drawing on 57 global datasets underscores just how dramatically worldwide populations have collapsed in the past half century. Globally, the abundance of oceanic sharks and rays dropped more than 70% between 1970 and 2018, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. And 24 of the 31 species of sharks and rays are threatened with extinction, while three species oceanic whitetip sharks, scalloped hammerhead sharks and great hammerhead sharks are considered critically endangered. Health Care Chinas Zero-Tolerance Covid Tactics Now Include Anal Swabs [Bloomberg]. Oh. Our Famously Free Press Sad news [wipes tear]: Breaking: @washingtonpost editor Marty Baron announces his retirement. Note to staff: pic.twitter.com/BCa6zdfi43 Paul Farhi (@farhip) January 26, 2021 Thanks for nothing, Marty you putz. (Hilariously, Baron mentions neither Iraq WMDs nor RussiaGate. I wonder why?) Silicon Valley prepares to destroy podcasting, just as they did with blogging: the great podcast roll-up is starting https://t.co/M76de8ljnT ryan cooper (@ryanlcooper) January 26, 2021 We need some platforms. Plus, theyre easier to censor. Groves of Academe Iowa lawmakers advance bill to eliminate tenure [The Gazette]. A bill to end tenure at Iowas public universities advanced out of an education subcommittee Tuesday, despite pushback from Board of Regents lobbyists and opposition from economic and industry associations like those representing Iowas soybean, cattle, and pork producers. I worry that were going to lose the best and the brightest, Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City, told her colleagues in a House education subcommittee Tuesday, stressing potential losses from Iowas research enterprise and from its medical, veterinary, pharmaceutical and dental practitioner pool. We have some of the best in the nation, Mascher said, noting recent work on COVID-19 vaccines within UI Health Care. For us to lose that quality worries me a great deal. But Reps. John H. Wills, R-Spirit Lake, and Skyler Wheeler, R-Orange City, advanced the tenure-elimination bill, arguing Iowas publicly funded universities should be able to terminate faculty for reasons beyond what they define as just cause, program discontinuance and financial exigency per the regents current tenure policy. In the real world, if you mess up, and you mess up that bad, youre fired , Wheeler said. You get canned. Its going to be hard to get another job. So I wont get into all the different details, but Rep. Wills and I are going to pass this on.' When I hear the phrase the real world, I tend to mentally substitute my fantasy world. As here. LAffaire Joffrey Epstein Could Jeffrey Epstein Have Played Leon Black So Easily? [Bloomberg]. [T]he Wall Street tycoons inability to follow his own advice about Epstein is a curious thing. Black, 69, is worth about $10 billion and is as savvy and hard-bitten as they come. He shouldnt be easy to hoodwink If Apollos board hoped its investigation of the Black-Epstein nexus might provide closure, its wrong. The report raises as many questions as it answers, begs for more transparency, and leaves anybody who cant afford to pay $158 million to save billions which is almost everybody tuned in to the obvious: Leon Black is not the kind of guy to get so easily played. So tell us more. Class Warfare Why you should ditch follow your passion careers advice [Financial Times]. Ms Jaffe wants people to imagine a society which is not organised emotionally and temporally around work. As she writes in the book: What I believe, and want you to believe, too, is that love is too big and beautiful and grand and messy and human a thing to be wasted on a temporary fact of life like work.' I think Jaffe was work and job confused. UPDATE Neither Class Reduction nor Race Reduction: Toward a Revolutionary Left Framework on an Age-Old Debate [Black Agenda Report]. The white supremacist state cannot censor itself, nor does it have any interest in creating the economic conditions for its own dissolution. White supremacy and class are not separate phenomenon, especially in the context of the United States. Gerald Horne and Theodore Allen have both proven through historical record that white supremacy is embedded in the capitalist political economy of the United States White supremacy and class struggle must thus be taken together as parts of a whole social system rather than separate categories of oppression. White supremacy appeared in the historical development of the United States as an intentional policy meant to consolidate the rule of settler colonialism and capitalism. European settlers of all classes would be united by their racial affiliation rather than divided by contradictory class interests. Black and other non-white peoples would be terrorized by the racialization of their being, thereby enhancing class exploitation by way of chattel bondage, Jim Crow fascism, and the like.. The Capitol Hill riot was an outgrowth of a profound popular confusion that has taken hold in the United States over this basic history. Only a negation of the history of white supremacy could produce the conclusion that Medicare for All and $2,000 per month would have prevented the addle minded white Americans from storming Capitol Hill The self-described patriots who stormed Capitol Hill are the spawn of the Trump eraa period where the crisis of U.S. imperialism opened a lane for white reaction to pose as working class interests. This lane was opened primarily by the Democratic Party, which used the Trump era to promote racist conspiracies of Russian collusion and antagonize non-ruling class white Americans as deplorables. All the while, white liberals and the so-called leadership of Black Lives Matter have followed the Democrats down a race only framework which seeks inclusion within a decaying imperialist state alongside openly racist blue MAGA demagogues like Joe Biden. News of the Wired A New Way to Trace the History of Sci-Fis Made-Up Words [Wired]. The game gets played between writer and reader, for sure, but also among writers, and between all the writers and all the readers. Some words get used again and again, becoming a meta-canonical corpus as allusive as classical haiku. Its a game so complicated that itd be nice to know the rules, maybe see the shape of the pieces. Thats where a lexicographical mad scientist named Jesse Sheidlower comes in. His creation, the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction came to life online this week1,800 entries dating back to the beginning of the 20th century, with not only definitions but the earliest known uses, links to biographical information about the writers, and links to more than 1,600 scans of the original pages where the words appeared. Its a wormhole into not just one alternate universe but a lexicographic multiverse, where time-traveling canons overlap in unexpected ways with each other and with whatever universe the reader happens to be sitting in. Cool concepts from your favorite movies turn out to precede those movies by decades; science fiction gets things right before science. Its a trip, and it might just lead to some answers about what science fiction is and what it means. Ansible is there. Shifgrethor is not. Hmm. Jim Haynes: A man who invited the world over for dinner [BBC]. Jim had operated open-house policy at his home every Sunday evening for more than 40 years. Absolutely anyone was welcome to come for an informal dinner, all you had to do was phone or email and he would add your name to the list. No questions asked. Just put a donation in an envelope when you arrive. There would be a buzz in the air, as people of various nationalities locals, immigrants, travellers milled around the small, open-plan space. A pot of hearty food bubbled on the hob and servings would be dished out on to a trestle table, so you could help yourself and continue to mingle. It was for good reason that Jim was nicknamed the godfather of social networking. He led the way in connecting strangers, long before we outsourced it all to Silicon Valley. This sounds brilliant. Not for me, but Im too introverted. Maybe some reader will think this is a good thing to try, when we can reduce our social distance? * * * Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Todays plant (goingnowhereslowly): goingnowhereslowly writes: Geraniums in the snow as the noreaster came through DC yesterday. Ive been very proud of my geraniums this year and Im keeping them going as long as possible. They survived the storm quite well, just a little beat up from the rain and wind that followed the snow. * * * Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the recently concluded and thank you! successful annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldnt see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know Im on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals: Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated. If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you! In his State of the Commonwealth address, Gov. Charlie Baker took the opportunity to highlight the silver linings that came about amid the coronavirus pandemic. A restaurant owner offering meals to those in need; a woman who achieved her dream of donning a white coat; and a community coming together to salvage a wedding for a serviceman. Wedding photographers, planners and a facility operator volunteered to put together a wedding for an Army sergeant from Chicopee and his fiancee after their plans were upended by COVID, Baker said Tuesday in his prepared remarks. Victoria and Jerrod Pass spent two years planning a destination wedding to be held in April for about 60 guests. Then COVID-19 hit the United States and shutdowns ensued. Jerrod Pass, a member of the military, was barred from domestic travel. We were kind of floored and devastated, Victoria Pass told The Republican. But then we thought: You know what? They can stop the wedding, but they cant stop the marriage. She set about planning a ceremony at City Hall in Chicopee. Dani Klein-Williams, a photographer based in Northampton, heard of their story and set about contacting other wedding vendors in the area to make their planned ceremony a memorable one. Give me two hours, she recalled telling Pass. Blantyre, a popular wedding venue in the Berkshires, offered the mansion as a backdrop. Berkshire County florist Carolyn Valenti provided hundreds of dollars in floral arrangements that were to be used in since cancelled events. Tara Consolati, a wedding planner who is an ordained for in case of emergency moments for her clients, served as officiant and baker. The ceremony left the couple floored and with beautiful photos of the day captured by Klein-Williams. 5 Victoria and Jerrod Pass Related Content: The supertrawler Kirkella has left Hull for a one-off voyage to the sub-Arctic as talks continue with Norway over post-Brexit fishing rights. (UK Fisheries Ltd/PA) A supertrawler which normally catches around 10% of all the fish sold in the UKs chip shops has left port for a one-off voyage to the sub-Arctic as talks continue with Norway over post-Brexit distant waters fishing rights. Kirkella which has been described as the pride of the UKs distant-waters fishing fleet has been tied up in St Georges Dock, Hull, since returning from her last trip at the beginning of December, leaving her 100-strong crew at home. Despite much of debate on the Christmas Eve Brexit trade deal concentrating on the UK-EU fishing relationships, detailed agreements are still needed with the non-EU countries involved in the distant waters arrangements, including Norway. On Wednesday, Kirkella left Hull for a trip to the icy waters around the island of Svalbard which the vessels owner, UK Fisheries, has described as a sticking plaster. UK Fisheries says its licence means the number of fish it can catch will only allow this one trip. But this is about 10% of what it would have been allowed under the pre-Brexit regime. There are no arrangements in place for UK to fish for Arctic cod in 2021. UK government must agree continued UK fishing for Arctic Cod in bilateral deals with Norway. Norway wants zero tariff access to UK to sell fish. Needs urgent negotiations. https://t.co/fFbNbducaI pic.twitter.com/8mEdOBayCK UK Fisheries Ltd. (@UKFisheriesLtd) January 21, 2021 A spokesman said Kirkella will be back at square one when she returns in a few weeks unless there is a breakthrough in ongoing negotiations with Norway, which the Government says will be concluded as soon as practicable. UK Fisheries chief executive Jane Sandell said: Were glad to be going out fishing at last, but this is only a sticking plaster. Kirkella will be out for a few weeks but then, unless something changes very soon, well have no more work for our crews for the foreseeable future. She added: We need the Government to sit down and start talking seriously with the Norwegians so that we can have some continuity in our operations and, hopefully, start to make some plans for future investments that will benefit jobs and the wider economy in the North East. The Svalbard licence that we have represents only a fraction of what wed hope to be fishing in a decent year. Thats a bit like telling a farmer he can work his land, but only for a few days a month. We know the Government can do better than this and we urge them to get talking. The 52 million state-of-the-art Kirkella can freeze up to 780 tonnes of cod and haddock on each of its trips. Expand Close Hull East Labour MP Karl Turner has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step into the distant waters fishing negotiations (Danny Lawson/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hull East Labour MP Karl Turner has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step into the distant waters fishing negotiations (Danny Lawson/PA) Earlier this month, Hull East Labour MP Karl Turner urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step into the negotiations, saying it seems the Government is hell-bent on putting the last nail in the coffin of distant waters fishing. The Government said licences have been issued to vessels to take 2,750 tonnes of cod, and associated by-catch of haddock, from the waters around Svalbard, in line with arrangements between the UK and Norway but negotiations are continuing. A spokesman said on Tuesday evening: As an independent coastal state, the UK can now influence the management of near and distant fish stocks to best serve the interests of the British fishing industry. Part of this will be done through negotiations or through bilateral relationships. Our overriding priority in all negotiations is to agree the right deal in the best interests of the entire British fishing industry. We have published the fishing opportunities for UK vessels for the first part of this year. This includes 2,750 tonnes of cod to be fished in the waters around Svalbard, which results from arrangements between the UK and Norway. The Kirkella has been licensed to fish this Svalbard cod and we expect her to sail imminently. The voting for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining kicked off on Tuesday, Jan. 26, and weve already received more than 6,500 votes in just one day. Thanks to everyone who voted for their favorite restaurants in Michigan. Trust me, they appreciate it. We talked to several restaurant owners, as well as employees, over the last few days who are thrilled for the recognition as they battle months of business loss because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Voting in our 11 regional polls continues until 3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29. You can vote every three hours, once per email address. UPDATE: As of 7 a.m. Friday, Jan. 29, we received 16,000-plus votes for the 130 restaurants nominated for Michigans Best Restaurant. The Poll Leaders have remained about the same, but we have updated the rankings below. RELATED: Last call! Voting deadline today for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining RELATED: How to vote for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining in our 11 regional polls Our goal is to have you pick a winner in each of our regions. Once we have our poll winners, Michigans Best reporter Amy Sherman and I will make visits to several restaurants and report first-hand our dining experiences. Look for our poll winners and more stories in early February. If you missed our complete nominations list, click on the link below. RELATED: See all of the nominations for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining Who leads our polls? Some tight races have emerged on the first day of voting. Who will come out the eventual winner? Remember, the voting deadline is 3 p.m. Friday. Scroll down to see the Poll Leaders in all 11 of our regional polls. Northern Lower Peninsula - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 The Swamp II Bar & Restaurant, Frederic Hop Lot Brewing Company, Suttons Bay Dead Bear Brewing, Grayling Iron Fish Distillery, Thompsonville Faull Inn, Rose City VOTE - Best Outdoor Dining in Michigans Northern Lower Peninsula How exciting, we were nominated as one of the Upper Peninsulas best outside dining areas!!!! Please follow the link... Posted by The Up North Lodge on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Upper Peninsula - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 UP North Lodge, Gwinn Pine Stump, Newberry Keweenaw Brewing Company, Houghton Ginos Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge, Hancock VOTE - Best Outdoor Dining in the Upper Peninsula O's Pub & Grill in Auburn, Michigan has been nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of O's Pub & Grill Bay City, Saginaw, Midland - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Os Pub & Grill, Auburn Harveys Grill & Bar, Saginaw The Creek Grill, Midland Saginaw Old Town Junction, Saginaw VOTE - Best Outdoor Dining in Bay City, Saginaw and Midland region We have some new igloo availability for this upcoming week. Monday - 1/11 @ 12, 2 & 4pm. Tuesday - 2pm, Wed - 12pm.... Posted by Benstein Grille on Sunday, January 10, 2021 Detroit Metro - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Benstein Grille, Commerce Twp. Bobcat Bonnies, multiple locations - 17.06% Berkley Commons, Berkley - 13.51% White Horse Inn, Metamora - 11.66% Augies Bar & Grill, Madison Heights VOTE - Detroit Metro areas Best Outdoor Dining Pacific Rim in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of Pacific Rim Ann Arbor area - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Pacific Rim, Ann Arbor York Food & Drink, Ann Arbor The Grateful Crow, Chelsea The Beer Grotto, Dexter Knights Steakhouse, Ann Arbor (Dexter Road) VOTE - Ann Arbor areas Best Outdoor Dining Cherry Creek Cellars in Brooklyn, Michigan has been nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of Cherry Creek Cellars Jackson area - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Cherry Creek Cellars, Brooklyn Boss Cider, Leslie The Roadhouse Bar & Grill, Jackson Oak Tree Lounge, Jackson Chateau Aeronautique Winery & Blue Skies Brewery, Onsted VOTE - Jackson areas Best Outdoor Dining The NODE-Niles Outdoor Dining Experience at Main & 2nd Streets in Downtown Niles, Michigan has nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of Lisa Croteau/Niles DDA Kalamazoo and SW Michigan - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 The NODE-Niles Outdoor Dining Experience River St. Joe Bells Brewery Eccentric Cafe, Kalamazoo Jacs (Cekolas) Pizza, Portage VOTE - Kalamazoo and Southwestern Michigans Best Outdoor Dining One Twenty Three Tavern, located at Studio Park in downtown Grand Rapids, offers a twist on American cuisine. The restaurant has installed several heated outdoor tents and seating areas. (courtesy photo) Grand Rapids area - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 One Twenty Three at Studio Park, Grand Rapids Third Nature Brewing, Rockford Brass Ring, Grand Rapids Sand Bar, Middleville RORA-Rockford Outdoor Refreshment Area VOTE - Best Outdoor Dining in the Grand Rapids area Muskegon & Lakeshore area - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 The Hearthstone Bistro, Muskegon Curragh, Holland Dr. Rolfs BBQ, Muskegon RAD DADS Tacos and Tequila Bar, Muskegon VOTE - Muskegon and the Lakeshore areas Best Outdoor Dining Fabiano's Riverhouse Bar & Grill in Portland, Michigan has been nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of Fabiano's Riverhouse Bar & Grill Lansing area - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Fabianos River House Bar & Grill, Portland Lansing Brewing Company, Lansing Acapulco Mexican Grill, Charlotte Thirsty Bird Bar and Kitchen, Charlotte VOTE - Lansing areas Best Outdoor Dining Prost! Charcuterie in Frankenmuth, Michigan, has been nominated for Michigan's Best Outdoor Dining.Courtesy of Prost! Charcuterie Flint and Thumb region - Poll Leaders *As of 7 a.m. Jan. 29 Barley & Vine, Clayton Township Lake Inn, Lapeer Prost! Wine Bar & Charcuterie, Frankenmuth Xolo Latin Street Food and Tequila Bar, Flint Bird Creek Farm, Port Austin VOTE -Best Outdoor Dining in Flint and Thumb region The search for Michigans Best Outdoor Dining is sponsored in part by Warm Fitness. If you have questions, feel free to email us. Amy Sherman: asherma2@mlive.com John Gonzalez: gonzo@mlive.com Amy Sherman and John Gonzales start their Facebook livestream announcing their top ten favorite chilis, in downtown Muskegon on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019.Kayla Renie | MLive.com Follow our Michigans Best adventures on social media: @mlivemibest on Twitter @mlivemibest on Instagram Facebook at MLiveMIBest. Join in by using the hashtags #mibest, and #outdoordining. In addition: Amy Sherman is on Twitter @amyonthetrail, as well as Facebook and Instagram @amyonthetrail. John Gonzalez is on Twitter @michigangonzo, as well as Facebook and Instagram @MichiganGonzo. - Egypt News : : 22 2021 : - Egypt News : 130 2500 .. 130 2500 . ( ). (037037 - ) www.tahyamisrfund.org ( ) . https://fb.watch/5DTVtl5uf6/ ?? Pensando en la salud de todas y todos los peruanos, presentamos las nuevas disposiciones para enfrentar la emergencia sanitaria. ?? Estas medidas rigen desde el 31 de enero hasta el 14 de febrero. ?????????????? Cuidemonos entre todos! pic.twitter.com/fkORjGWaXF Updated at 11:12 a.m. ET on 2021-01-27 A proposed law legalizing abortion up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy has passed its last legislative hurdle in Thailand and could go into effect next month despite objections from advocacy groups who say the legal time frame should be twice as long. The amendment to Article 301 of the Criminal Code would allow abortions during the first trimester. A termination occurring later in a pregnancy could result in a six-month prison sentence and a fine of 10,000 baht (U.S. $334) for the woman and her doctor. Article 305 allows later abortions in cases where the pregnancy would cause harm to the woman, if the fetus is not viable or if the woman was raped. It also allows later-term abortions of up to 20 weeks in cases where women insist that they must have one after consulting with experts. The Senate must pass the legislation by Feb. 12 of this year so that this Article 301 amendment stays alive. We can amend some more, Sen. Lertrat Ratanavanich said during a session broadcast live on the parliaments Facebook page. I learned that womens right groups gathered here to demand free abortions, but I lean toward 12 weeks. The 166-7 vote by the Senate late Monday followed a 273-47 vote by the House of Representatives last week to establish a new abortion law. The legislative actions followed a Constitutional Court ruling in February 2020 that the law on the books was unconstitutional. Lawmakers voted for the amendments endorsed by the cabinet of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha in November to change the law, which outlawed abortions except in cases where the life of the woman carrying the fetus would be at risk or the pregnancy resulted from rape. The court ruled in response to a petition by a female physician, Srisamai Chueachat, who was acquitted in November on charges that she had provided abortion services. It allowed 360 days for the government to amend Article 301 and Article 305 of the criminal code. The amendments are to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court to ensure they do not breach the constitution. If passed, the King will sign them and an announcement will be made in the Royal Gazette. Heather Barr of Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Feb. 12 was an important date because, under the 2020 ruling, the old law would be automatically repealed. Protests Womens rights groups, meanwhile, said the amendments fell short of their demands. We demanded that Article 301 be totally revoked, just dont specify the pregnancy age, just fully decriminalize abortion, Kornkanok Khumta, a member of the Feminist Liberation Thailand, told BenarNews on Tuesday. She said women should not be punished and that the amended articles violate rights and liberty guaranteed under the 2017 constitution. Section 27 allows equal rights for men and women, and Section 28 allows all people to have rights over their own bodies. Matcha Phorn-in, a rights activist and executive director of the Sangsan Anakot Yawachon Development Project, called on the Senate to review the amendments carefully. Our demands are a complete abolishment of Article 301 and 305 and allow abortions up 24 weeks into pregnancies, Matcha told BenarNews. I feel disappointed that the amendment stipulates that 12 weeks of pregnancies and criminalizes and penalizes any later abortions. It creates fears among women and doctors. HRWs Barr also called on the lawmakers to change their stance. Instead of putting women on trial for exercising their reproductive rights, the Thai government should fully decriminalize abortion, she said in a news release on HRWs website. When governments restrict abortion, women still have abortions they just have more dangerous ones. United Nations figures from 2011 suggested that the unsafe abortion rate was more than four times greater in countries with restrictive abortion policies than in countries with liberal ones, she said. A Thai senator, on the other hand, questioned allowing the procedure. Woman can be pregnant with a man. But for a woman alone to go to a doctor for an abortion is immoral, unorthodox to Thai culture, Sen. Wong-siam Pengpanichpakdee told members of parliament. The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-Delhi) has plans on turning the institute into a comprehensive university which will have multiple new streams of education. For admission in these new streams, students won't have to go through the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) system which has been the regular admission process for decades. At the foundation day programme of the institution, IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao said, "Now, we have a very strong and very active Humanities and Social Sciences Department. We also have a brand-new School of Public Policy. And we have also created a Department of Design. And in fact, next year, or this year, if everything goes well, we should be admitting undergraduate students from outside the JEE Advanced examination." "A lot of changes are taking place. The goal is to scale up the IoE (institute of eminence) system, and also become more comprehensive," the Mint quoted Rao as saying. The Director further stated that IIT-Delhi has taken several steps to increase its global footprint with the aim of becoming more international. He said that the joint PhD program with the University of Queensland is getting a good response as 65 students have already joined it this year. He added that IIT-Delhi has around 3,300 PhD candidates and over 60 per cent of all students are studying at masters level. Rao explained that this means that over the years, the focus has gradually shifted towards becoming a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institute. "And we have also now significantly increased our interdisciplinary activities on the campus, whether it is between the departments and schools or with other institutions in Delhi. We have an active collaboration with the National Institute of Immunology (NII), with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and various other institutions in Delhi, including the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)," the director added. He added that the upcoming satellite campus of IIT Delhi in Jajjhar will focus on life sciences and hence it will work closely with the biotech industry. Also Read: IIT-Madras turns into COVID-19 hotspot; Tamil Nadu orders testing in all colleges New York Distilling Co, the owner of Ragtime Rye whiskey, has switched its UK distribution to Mangrove. New York Distilling Co owns the Ragtime Rye brand as well as a number of gins The Brooklyn distiller, which also produces a range of US gins, said today that Mangrove will look to expand its on-premise and independent off-premise presence in the UK. New York Distilling was previously distributed in the UK by Maverick. Financial details behind the new arrangement have not been disclosed. "We have been privileged to present our distinctive rye whiskies and gins to this discerning market and have always felt that cocktail and whiskey connoisseurs of Great Britain were a simple extension of our home market in New York City," said New York Distilling founder Allen Katz. The tie-up is good news for Mangrove, which this week said it would no longer handle the selection of Brown-Forman brands it distributes in the UK. From 1 May, Brown-Forman will take the distribution of its entire UK portfolio in-house. The move follows the dissolution of the Bacardi Brown-Forman division in the UK last year. "The longer something goes on, the more permanent it becomes" - just-drinks speaks to William Grant senior category director Ian Baines about post-COVID trends State fire officials temporarily closed a Baton Rouge night club after agents investigating an overcrowding complaint discovered more than 700 people inside the building a number far exceeding the buildings capacity limits regardless of coronavirus restrictions, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office. Officials learned about the mass gathering Saturday night at The Palace 2300, a dance club off Scenic Highway near its intersection with Choctaw Drive, after they initially planned to investigate videos on social media of large crowds at another night club called Pure. But when agents arrived at Pure, they discovered the event had been moved to The Palace. They rerouted to The Palace, where they found some 725 people packed inside, along with blocked doors and expired fire extinguishers, according to the Louisiana State Fire Marshals Office. The inspectors ordered the crowd to leave. But the Fire Marshals Office says that the action was not related to capacity caps on bars and nightclubs amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under Gov. John Bel Edwards coronavirus measures, indoor events are limited at 25% capacity or up to 75 people. Bars under the current order are capped at 50 people, or 25% occupancy. Even in the best of times, Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said The Palace would have been limited to 100 people because it did not have state approval for larger gatherings, nor did it have necessary fire-safety devices including emergency doors and fire sprinklers. Baton Rouge mayor blasts large parties violating coronavirus rules, threatens law enforcement response Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome blasted recent large gatherings that violate coronavirus restrictions, saying they were putting lives a This was not a COVID-action at all, Browning said Tuesday, adding that his office was enforcing regulations that have been in place since the 60s. Its built on a very deadly history of deadly fires in commercial buildings that kill people in situations where dance halls and barrooms were overcrowded. Torrey Lewis, the clubs owner, disputed the number of people inspectors tallied, saying it was was nowhere near that many people in an interview Tuesday. Browning said he stands by his inspectors count, adding that agents had also counted 50 people leaving before they tracked people coming out of the building. Amid a heightened level of infections in the state and Baton Rouge-area, local leaders have raised alarms that large gatherings could become a catalyst for viral spread. Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Not long after videos circulated on social media over the weekend showing long lines outside of Pure, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome blasted those gatherings, saying they put lives at risk. She vowed to send law enforcement to businesses that aren't following state and local mandates aimed at stemming the spread of the coronavirus and warned that steeper restrictions might be necessary. Public health experts, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have said crowded indoor spaces are high risk for spreading the virus, especially when people arent wearing masks. Baton Rouge club shut down after reports of 800 people inside A Baton Rouge club was shut down Saturday night by the State Fire Marshal's Office after it broke multiple fire safety regulations. The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a financial blow to bars and clubs amid forced closures. Theyve also had to operate under strict rules, including early closing times and off-and-on closures when virus cases become too high in a parish. Financial relief hasnt been enough for many small businesses and Black-owned businesses, said Lewis, the club owner. Rules allowing casinos to operate differently than clubs and bars have been unfair, he said. Lewis, who owns the building that has housed his club for more than a decade, said he could afford to stay closed. But other businesses may not be able to absorb that financial hit. A study by National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a Washington D.C. nonprofit that partnered with researchers from universities in Utah and New Jersey, found Black-owned businesses across the country had more difficulties getting federal aid than their White peers. Before being allowed to reopen and lift the states cease and desist order, the Palace will need to submit a plan to the Fire Marshals office for approval. Lewis said he plans to meet with officials later in the week. The EF-3 tornado that hit northern Jefferson County Monday night did not come without warning. The Storm Prediction Center had issued a tornado watch on Monday evening, several hours before the storm roared across the cities of Fultondale and Center Point, and the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning with several minutes of precious lead time. But things can be complicated if a storm threatens late at night, when not everyone is on high alert and paying attention. How can you make sure you get the warning in time? The first layer of protection is being aware that bad weather is a possibility, and to prepare for the worst just in case. The National Weather Service mantra is to have multiple ways to get warnings should severe weather threaten your area. Those include the gold standard: An old-school weather radio. But they also include commercial apps, Wireless Emergency Alerts and word-of-mouth warnings. Outdoor tornado sirens are also in the mix, but arent at the top of the list. Weather experts still highlight the weather radio as the No. 1 method to get severe weather warnings. Our primary is a weather radio, said Gary Goggins, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham. We have some success stories from Fultondale due to weather radio. Heres one of them, which made the rounds on Twitter this week: If you dont have a NOAA Weather Radio, get one. It may save your lifehttps://t.co/qxzl3wQphi https://t.co/7Z3mw2qew8 National Weather Service (@NWS) January 26, 2021 Its the most reliable method to still receive warnings, Goggins said. Its very old-school technology, but it works. Weather radios range in price, from inexpensive to pricey with all the bells and whistles. They can be programmed and the weather service can help with this to be tailored to your needs. Then there are commercial smartphone apps. Many are free. The modern technologies are also there as well. Any kind of weather app that you download, there are a bunch of those out there, and also Wireless Emergency Alerts that are out there now to help people receive those warnings, Goggins said. Always have multiple ways to receive warnings, and never rely on an outdoor siren to take shelter. Some people in Jefferson County didnt hear the sirens on Monday night, when the storm took aim at the Fultondale and Center Point areas in the northern part of the county around 10:30 p.m. That wasnt a mistake. The National Weather Service now uses what it calls polygon warnings. Instead of issuing a warning to cover the entire county, the warning now just covers the areas in the direct path of the storm. Some outdoor warning sirens, including those in Jefferson County, are now programmed so that they are only activated if they are in the weather services warning polygon. Not all of Alabamas 67 counties have sirens that work that way. Some still alert the entire county no matter where the storm may be. The overriding point, however, is to not rely on an outdoor siren as your primary warning method. Outdoor sirens are exactly how they are described theyre for outdoor use. So if youre outside and you hear the sirens then obviously you need to take shelter, Goggins said. But you should definitely should not rely on an outdoor siren for your primary warning mechanism to take cover. You always have to have those multiple ways to receive warnings. Some confusion may come in when it comes to weather radios. Those are still county-based and will sound the alert no matter if you are in the polygon or not, according to Goggins. So if your weather radio is programmed for Jefferson County and you live in Hoover, and we issue the warning for Fultondale your weather radio will go off, he said. Wireless Emergency Alerts are different. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are emergency messages sent by the government through your mobile carrier. They dont include just weather but also FEMA, the FCC and the Department of Homeland Security. You dont need to sign up to get them, they are sent automatically to your smartphone in an emergency and are location based. So if youre driving through an area and a warning is issued for that area, you will be alerted. Wireless Emergency Alerts are primarily used by the weather service for tornado and flash flood warnings. Read more on WEAs here. Goggins also said there are a multitude of smartphone apps that can be programmed to alert you, wherever you are, if bad weather is on the way. Another old-school but effective warning method is just word of mouth. See a bad storm approaching? Call your family and friends and let them know. The more awareness of whats going on, the better, Goggins said. So what do weather experts do when theyre off duty and the weather turns threatening? In our case if we know theres impending severe weather were just always on alert, so that may mean were up in the middle of the night just monitoring the weather, Goggins said. We would get that WEA too, and I know several staff members still have a weather radio to use in their households. So we highly recommend as always a weather radio in each household. One of the key things to remember is that your chances of survival increase dramatically if you are alert to the potential for severe weather. The main thing I want to get across it gives you a better opportunity to keep yourself and your family safe, Goggins said. Even though that was a tragic event (in Fultondale) we did have a lot of success stories of people who got the warning, who took shelter, and who survived. The main message is to always have a way to receive that warning so you can take the shelter that you need. There are a lot of times that you do everything you can, and if you have a strong enough tornado theres not a whole lot more that you can do, but at least it gives you the best chance of protecting you and your family. Thats what matters the most. The head of Jefferson Countys Emergency Management agency also took aim Wednesday at a now-removed article that incorrectly stated there was no warning before Mondays tornado in northern Jefferson County. EMA Director Jim Coker said the first warning was issued at 10:34 p.m., six minutes before the tornado struck at 10:40 p.m. A great effort is always made to protecting the public and more effort will be given,' Coker said. The article he referenced was published by Southern Living. Though it has since been removed from the publications website, it was shared multiple times on social media, Coker said. The article read, It struck by all accounts just after 10:30 last night in this, the last week of January. A violent tornado suddenly dropped from the cloud near Fultondale, Alabama, just north of Birmingham and plowed its way through Center Point about seven miles away. There was no warning. No sirens. No weather radio alerts. No television meteorologist barking, You need to get to your safe place NOW. Coker, also president of the Alabama Association of Emergency Managers, spoke in Fultondale Wednesday, shortly before Gov. Kay Ivey toured the tornado-ravaged neighborhoods there. I want to set some facts straight. After we had the horrible tornado here in Fultondale and in Center Point, an article posted to social media and the headline said there was no warning, no sirens and that is factually incorrect,' Coker said. Coker said the first tornado warning issued Monday, through the Everbridge mobile app, was sent to 50,934 contacts via cell phones, text messages or email. All warnings, whether through Everbridge or sirens, were initiated in under a minute of the National Weather Service in Birminghams alert. Fifty-nine sirens were activated within 28 seconds of the NWS warning. On behalf of every emergency manager in Alabama, every TV meteorologist, every member of the National Weather Service and every member of public safety working to save lives, lives were saved the night of the tornado,' Coker said. Unfortunately, a life was also lost. (Image: Reuters) The events of the 72nd Republic Day in Delhi and the central governments inability to sympathetically engage with peaceful protests do not augur well for the health of Indias multi-ethnic democracy. Twice in a span of 12-months, thousands of women and men have gathered in and around Delhi to peacefully protest for weeks contentious laws pushed by the government, and passed by Parliament amid stiff opposition. On both occasions, their entreaties have largely gone unheeded in a country that still honours Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as the father of the nation, and extols his method of non-violent protest, or satyagraha. Last year, the Shaheen Bagh protest lasted a hundred days. It inspired over a hundred similar protests across India from the middle of December 2019 to the third week of March. The protests were non-violent and imbued with the spirit of nationalism as participants waved the tricolour and took oaths on the copies of the Constitution. The Centre refused to engage with the protestors. The protests dissipated, even sought to be discredited, after the communal violence in northeast Delhi at the end of February, and eventually ended once COVID-19-related lockdown was imposed. The protests were against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens. If the Union government seemed in a hurry to implement the CAA and the NRC then, little has been heard on either since. Interestingly, the CAA rules were not framed even a year after Parliament had passed the law. The ongoing farmers protests started in September in Punjab against the three farm laws, which Parliament had passed that month. The farm unions, including those affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), said the government did not consult them. While the Centre has agreed to engage with farmers, the talks have meandered. Farmer unions complain the Centre is negotiating in bad faith, while it in turn has accused them of being intransigent. After protesting in Punjab for 55-days, the farmers travelled to the outskirts of Delhi on November 27. They have sat there ever since, and joined by farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Moral and material support has come from across India, even from abroad. The protesting farmers say that returning home without repealing the three farm laws is not an option. They are convinced that the implementation of the laws would eventually mean they getting dispossessed of their land. During the January 26 tractor parade, at several places the police used teargas against the farmers, or barricaded the route of their march. While much of the parade passed off peacefully, some of the farmers clashed with the police. The video clips of the scenes emanating from the Red Fort look unseemly, and could discredit the movement. There are already fears within the movement that the January 26 violence could drive a wedge among the 450-odd farmers unions supporting the movement, and weaken it. What needs to be remembered here, especially by the government and those who rush to discredit the protests, is that the protesting farmers, especially those from Punjab, have a keen appreciation of their history their running feuds with the rulers in Delhi from the time of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, to the British and also the Indira Gandhi years. As the first of the Punjabi farmers migrated to North America a century back, these protesting farmers are acutely aware of the lot of small farmers there once corporates moved into agriculture some four decades back. These protesting farmers are fighting for their lands and their way of life. They fear losing the battle might reduce them to landless migrant labours like the ones who currently come from Bihar to work on the bigger farms in the region. If the governments strategy is to tire the farmers into returning to their homes, it seems to have underestimated the trust deficit between itself and the protesting farmers. A lot of the farmers sitting at Delhis borders point to repeated promises of the government of the last six years that it will double farmers incomes, but failed to deliver. Farmers argue that a growing economy might still have persuaded them to sell their lands and settle in cities, as some of them from the region did over the last decade, since farming is arduous work with poor returns but not anymore. Many farmers believe that decisions such as demonetisation, rollout of an underprepared Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the prolonged lockdown in 2020 caused the shutdown of thousands of MSMEs, which in turn helped bigger corporates and that the farm laws would replicate that model in the agriculture sector. New Delhi should be wary of the mistakes that were made by the then rulers in the 1970s and 1980s. Punjab is a border state, and on this occasion has found support from influential sections of agriculturists from Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh as well. NEW HAVEN A city man was sentenced to nearly 2 years in prison for his role in a New Haven-based drug trafficking ring, according to federal authorities. Tyrese Stanley, also known as Scoot, 30, of New Haven, was sentenced to a total of 21 months in prison and four years of supervised release, on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, federal authorities said in a statement. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny also sentenced Stanley to serve the first three months of his supervised release in home confinement, the statement said. The case is a result of an investigation headed by the FBIs New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force and New Haven Police Department that targeted drug trafficking and related acts of violence by members, former members and associates of the Island Brothers street gang in the city, the statement said. The investigation, which included court-authorized wiretaps and controlled purchases of narcotics, also revealed that the drug trafficking organization had established a base of operation in Fitchburg, Mass., the statement said. The investigation subsequently identified a second drug trafficking network that involved the large-scale distribution of heroin. Federal authorities said that Anderson Barry Atkinson, of Hamden, was identified during the investigation as a supplier of heroin to members of the drug trafficking organization. Investigators intercepted calls between Stanley and Atkinson in which Stanley arranged for Atkinson to provide him with heroin for resale. Twenty-seven people were charged as a result of the investigation, according to federal authorities. Stanley was arrested on July 10, 2019 and has been held since then, the statement said. He pleaded guilty on Sept. 21, 2020 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute heroin, the statement said. Atkinson has pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing, the statement said. The case is being investigated by the FBIs New Haven Safe Streets/Gang Task Force, New Haven Police Department, Milford Police Department, Hamden Police Department, East Haven Police Department, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut Department of Correction and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to federal authorities. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The Santa Fe County Commission on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution asking Los Alamos National Laboratory for a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for its plutonium pit production. The resolution comes as the lab plans to increase its plutonium pit production to 30 pits per year by 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Plutonium pits are the triggering device used in nuclear weapons. The last SWEIS at LANL was performed 13 years ago. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In August, the National Nuclear Security Administration said it had determined that an updated SWEIS was not needed because there was already sufficient information. Commissioner Anna Hansen said its unconscionable that the Department of Energy and the NNSA ignore the demands of elected officials and the public for a new SWEIS. (The) county commissioners are charged with the protection of the health and safety of their citizens, she said. And doing a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement is just a basic protection of constituents, citizens of Santa Fe County, to protect them from what may or may not happen in Los Alamos. Jay Coghlan of Nuclear Watch New Mexico spoke in support of the resolution during the public comment period of Tuesdays meeting. He said the SWEIS needs to consider the safety impact wildfires have on pit production. He noted that, in the early 2000s, the Cerro Grande Fire almost destroyed 40,000 barrels of radioactive material, which could have contaminated the entire area. Its good for both the public and the lab, he said. I dont think they should be viewed as against the laboratory. Its simply following federal law. Teresa Seamster, with the Rio Grande Chapter of the Sierra Club, said its important to recognize the safety issues that LANL has had over the years. She said its so much more than just a Santa Fe issue. Other members of the public also submitted letters to the County Commission in support of the resolution. The resolution also delineates some of the safety issues LANL has experienced. For example, the NNSA reported in 2017 that the lab didnt meet critical safety expectations. That same year, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board found lab workers were possibly exposed to lethal doses of radiation. In 2014, a radioactive waste drum from LANL ruptured and closed the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad for three years. These dramatic developments remind us that a new LANL SWEIS, with full public participation, is required before any of the expansion plans are considered, Hansen said. Chertoff, who served under President George W. Bush, said in a conference call with reporters that attacks by far-right, domestic extremists are not new but that deaths attributed to them in recent years in the U.S. have exceeded those linked to jihadists such as al-Qaida. We have to be candid and face what the real risk is, he said. HARRISBURG Pennsylvanias Senate on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to distribute just over $900 million to aid schools and hospitality-related businesses hit hard by the coronavirus, as well as people struggling to pay rent or utility bills. The bill still requires approval from the state House of Representatives and Gov. Tom Wolf. Most of the $912 million being directed by the bill is federal aid approved by Congress in last month's coronavirus recovery package. Some of it, $145 million, is reserve cash from a workers compensation fund that Wolf last month had asked lawmakers to send to businesses hit hard by the pandemic. The money would be available through counties in grants of up to $50,000 for bars, restaurants and hotels. The majority of the money, $570 million, would be divided up to counties based on population to help people struggling to pay rent or utilities. Landlords and tenants would be eligible to apply. The rest of the money, $197 million, would be distributed to educational institutions that did not get a cut of the $2.2 billion in federal coronavirus aid that public schools and charter schools are receiving under last month's federal coronavirus recovery package. Most of it would go to private schools. India stood up Chinas disruptive use of technology and my way or no way attitude: CDS Next round of Indo-China talks to focus on Depsang, entire Eastern Ladakh region India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 27: During the military commander level talks between India and China held on Sunday, China's proposal on troop withdrawal was rejected and India insisted that the disengagement should be simultaneous and step-by-step. India also said that it would not agree to the proposal by the Chinese that their troops would withdraw to Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso after the Indian troops withdraw from the south bank of the lake. India also proposed that during the next meeting discussions must be held on the withdrawal by Chinese troops from Depsang Plains. Sources tell OneIndia that the next round of talks will focus on Depsang and also the whole of eastern Ladakh. The discussions so far have been around the Pangong Tso, where the situation is very tense. China for resolving disputes through dialogue; Don't bully weak by showing off muscles: Xi Jinping The eighth and last round of the talks had taken place on November 6 during which both sides broadly discussed disengagement of troops from specific friction points. The seventh round of Corps Commander-level talks had taken place on October 12 where China had pressed for the withdrawal of Indian troops from a number of strategic heights around the southern bank of Pangong lake. However, India insisted that the disengagement process has to start simultaneously at all the friction points. Last month, India and China held another round of diplomatic talks under the framework of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. However, no concrete outcome emerged from the meeting. Following the sixth round of military talks, the two sides had announced a slew of decisions including not to send more troops to the frontline, refrain from unilaterally changing the situation on the ground and avoid taking any actions that may further complicate matters. This round was held with a specific agenda of exploring ways to implement a five-point agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at a meeting in Moscow on September 10 on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) conclave. India-China LAC talks 'positive', consensus on early disengagement, says Army The pact included measures like quick disengagement of troops, avoiding action that could escalate tensions, adherence to all agreements and protocols on border management and steps to restore peace along the LAC. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 8:34 [IST] Yves here. After taking a look last week at Wikipedia as a monopolist, Micheal Olenick is continuing his tour of practices that are economically harmful. With noncompetes, as in non-competitive employment agreements, businessmen havent even deigned to come up with a faux-friendly label to hide their intent of stymieing competition. From the Economic Policy Institute at the end of 2019: Noncompete agreements are employment provisions that ban workers at one company from going to work for, or starting, a competing business within a certain period of time after leaving a job. It is not difficult to see that noncompetes may be contributing to weak wage growth, given that changing jobs is how workers often get a raise. And given that noncompetes limit the ability of individuals to start businesses or take other jobs, it also is not difficult to see that noncompetes may be contributing to the declines in dynamism in the U.S. labor market. But how common are they? This report uses data from a national survey of private-sector American business establishments to investigate the extent of noncompete usage. We find: Roughly half, 49.4%, of responding establishments indicated that at least some employees in their establishment were required to enter into a noncompete agreement. Nearly a third, 31.8%, of responding establishments indicated that allemployees in their establishment were required to enter into a noncompete agreement, regardless of pay or job duties. The survey data do not allow us to determine the precise share of workers nationwide that are subject to noncompete agreements. However, we can calculate a range, and we find that somewhere between 27.8% and 46.5% of private-sector workers are subject to noncompetes. And even though, as this post explains long form, the success of most of Silicon Valleys biggest names depended on the founders being able to leave their former employers and hire key early employees, these tech titans tried to close the gate. As Mark Ames wrote in Pando in 2014: In early 2005, as demand for Silicon Valley engineers began booming, Apples Steve Jobs sealed a secret and illegal pact with Googles Eric Schmidt to artificially push their workers wages lower by agreeing not to recruit each others employees, sharing wage scale information, and punishing violators. On February 27, 2005, Bill Campbell, a member of Apples board of directors and senior advisor to Google, emailed Jobs to confirm that Eric Schmidt got directly involved and firmly stopped all efforts to recruit anyone from Apple. These secret conversations and agreements between some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley were first exposed in a Department of Justice antitrust investigation launched by the Obama Administration in 2010. That DOJ suit became the basis of a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of over 100,000 tech employees whose wages were artificially lowered an estimated $9 billion effectively stolen by the high-flying companies from their workers to pad company earnings in the second half of the 2000s. Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied attempts by Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe to have the lawsuit tossed, and gave final approval for the class action suit to go forward. A jury trial date has been set for May 27 in San Jose, before US District Court judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the Samsung-Apple patent suit. In a related but separate investigation and ongoing suit, eBay and its former CEO Meg Whitman, now CEO of HP, are being sued by both the federal government and the state of California for arranging a similar, secret wage-theft agreement with Intuit (and possibly Google as well) during the same period. The secret wage-theft agreements between Apple, Google, Intel, Adobe, Intuit, and Pixar (now owned by Disney) are described in court papers obtained by PandoDaily as an overarching conspiracy in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, and at times it reads like something lifted straight out of the robber baron era that produced those laws. Todays inequality crisis is Americas worst on record since statistics were first recorded a hundred years ago the only comparison would be to the era of the railroad tycoons in the late 19th century. The parties settled the case in 2015. Its a shame it didnt go to trial, because the documentary evidence in the filing looked awfully hard to splain away, and any damages could have been trebled. By Michael Olenick, a research fellow at INSEAD whose recent articles can be found at innowiki.org and Blue Ocean Thinking Following up on last weeks piece about Wikipedia as an overlooked monopoly, Ive written this piece about a different type of unrecognized monopoly, noncompetes. These agreements monopolize employee mobility after the employee has left an employer. Most analysis focuses on whether the agreements are legal (depends), moral (rarely), or necessary (virtually never). However, there is far too little thought about the macroeconomic effects of noncompetes on business. This follows a fallacious assumption that what senior executives want tends to be good for business, and they frequently want an ability to control former employees for life. However, much like a child who would eat candy for dinner if allowed, certain behaviors are prohibited because theyre bad for health. Noncompetes fall squarely into this category. California rarely allows the enforcement of noncompetes. Many of the largest businesses in the world would have been stifled as startups if non-compete agreements were legal in California. Part of the magic of both Silicon Valley and Hollywood is Californias near refusal to enforce these arguably anti-capitalistic economically harmful contract clauses. Some background An Insufferable Bigot The outbursts, public humiliations, and surprise lie detector tests shouldve been enough. After all, teenage Eugene Kleiner and his family hadnt fled Hitler at fifteen to take orders from a blowhard bigot. Yet that was the exact situation he was facing. A young Eugene wrote to his dad asking for advice and help. Arthur Rock was a misfit. He joined the army hoping to fight Nazis only to be deployed shortly after Hitler surrendered. Rock graduated from Syracuse University, which he attended on the G.I. Bill then, immediately after, went to Harvard Business School, also on the G.I. bill. The Jewish son of an east coast candy store owner sat elbow-to-elbow with the very gentile sons of Captains of Industry. After business school, Rock worked briefly as a securities analyst then joined the corporate finance department at Hayden, Stone & Company. He certainly wasnt a blueblood Hayden or Stone but they quickly found a quirky job for him, finding funding for young companies. Rock quickly focused on the burgeoning high-tech sector where the fast-pace of change was fun but also challenging. Besides, nobody else wanted to help startups which, at the time, were typically funded by wealthy patrons much like an art production. Kleiner Sr. circulated his sons letter where it eventually found Rock and the two connected. Along with a handful of other scientists, Kleiner had landed what he thought would be a dream job working with Nobel Prize winner William Shockley, co-inventor of the transistor. Shockleys transistors were tiny solid-state materials that did the same job as vacuum tubes though they were far smaller, more rugged, faster, and required vastly less power. Transistors could revolutionize the world, dramatically shrinking electronic technology in terms of price, size, and power usage while increasing processing power. Because transistors were far more rugged they were also suitable for military applications. After accepting the job, Kleiner found some serious problems. First, Shockley had been more of a business manager than an engineer on the transistor project. The actual scientists who invented the technology, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain, were not at all involved in Shockleys business and werent especially thrilled with Shockley after the latter tried to steal credit for the entire invention. Besides being a phony, Shockley was a verbally abusive overt racist micro-manager. The Jewish refugee was uncomfortable working with a man who advocated a Voluntary Sterilization Bonus Plan and is quoted saying things like Nature has color-coded groups of individuals so that statistically reliable predictions of their adaptability to intellectually rewarding and effective lives can easily be made and profitably be used by the pragmatic man-in-the-street. Then there were the working conditions at Shockley Semiconductor. Scientists were prohibited from talking to one another, Shockley randomly administered lie detector test, and, as if all the rest wasnt enough, many of Kleiners co-workers didnt believe Shockley would ever release a useful product. A New Industry Rock was intrigued. Hed heard about transistors and semiconductors and they sounded both exciting and commercially valuable. He hatched a plan with Kleiner to find him and his colleagues a new home. About three dozen companies returned blank stares, shaken heads, or hints of intrigue coupled with refusals to form a new group that might politically upset current employees focused on vacuum tubes. Finally, Rock found Sherman Fairchild. Shermans dad, George Winthrop, dropped out of school at 14 to apprentice as a printer. He soon purchased a newspaper and then branched into other business ventures. One promising business included employee timeclocks manufactured by the Bundy Manufacturing Company. Bundy was good at innovation and manufacturing but struggled with sales so Winthrop formed a sales organization, the International Time Record Company. In 1911, International Time merged into a new entity, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Eventually, in 1924, CTR was renamed International Business Machines IBM. Winthrop was the Chairman and Sherman his sole heir. Despite being fabulously wealthy, Winthrop was into technology and inventing. An aerial photography system did well. Rock convinced Sherman to fund a new division, Fairchild Semiconductor, then hire Eugene and the other engineers. Altogether, eight engineers left Shockley for Fairchild in 1957. Shockley was livid, branding them the Traitorous Eight. About the only thing Shockley had done well, albeit inadvertently, was move from the east coast, where technology businesses were based, to the sleepy college town of Palo Alto, California. Accustomed to life out west, the Traitorous Eight established Fairchild Semiconductorin the same area. Life was vastly better at Fairchild. One of their major technology disagreements with Shockley was what material to use for their semiconductors. Shockley favored geranium; the others favored silicon. They created a silicon semiconductor then sold lots of chips, earning piles of money for both Fairchild and themselves. Other companies were formed nearby to focus on silicon chips and the area picked up a nickname, Silicon Valley. Over time, the brainiacs became frustrated. Their stock options had vested leaving all the men relatively wealthy though money wasnt their sole quest in life. Over time, they left to form or join other companies: National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, and others. Eugene Kleiner left to help startup businesses and eventually co-founded the venerable venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins. Finally, tired of east coast bureaucracy, what was left of members of the Traitorous Eight again called Rock to help fund and form another new company, one theyd own thatd be managed on the west coast. He funded and helped form the business, naming it Intel. Two Stinky Hippies Rock kept funding companies and, eventually, moved west to help manage the new businesses. He became spectacularly wealthy but, despite the financial success, was always looking for new businesses to fund (at 94 years old hes still regularly in the office). One person he kept in touch with was a young marketing manager at Fairchild and Intel, Mike Markkula. Thanks to stock options, Markkula had retired at the age of 32 and spent his days hanging out and checking out the new companies that sprung up around Silicon Valley. Hed invested seed capital into one of them and invited Rock to visit it at a trade show. Rock described to me that trade shows were common in Silicon Valley back in the day. Businesses would show off their technology to one another, to customers, and to investors. Rock and Markkula walked through the stands, plenty of which were empty because the businesses folded before the show opened. None of the booths had more than a few people until they approached the one Markkula brought Rock to see. There was a throng of people excited about a new desktop microcomputer, one priced for and usable by ordinary people. Markkula pushed his way to the front with Rock and found, in Rocks words, two stinky hippies both named Steve. The hippie movement from up the street in San Francisco had spread south and fused with the startup culture of Silicon Valley. One of the Steves was barefoot. They were absolutely not presentable; entirely unsuitable as businessmen. Rock wasnt happy with their demeanor but couldnt ignore the mesmerized crowd. The barefoot one, Steve Jobs, did almost all the talking while the other, Steve Wozniak, seemed to have more of an engineering role. To this day, Rock remembers he didnt much care for either of these men. But the consumer interest around them was unmistakable and he thought their little computer might sell well. He invested and took a seat on their Board of Directors of their company, Apple, where his presence was a steadying and reassuring force for other investors. Noncompetes Except in rare instances, California does not allow the enforceability of non-compete agreements, contracts that prohibit an employee from competing with a business for some amount of time after the employee leaves. If the state did allow non-competes, its virtually certain Shockley wouldve insisted on them stifling the Traitorous Eight and drowning Silicon Valley when it was still a baby. Furthermore, Jobs and Wozniak both worked for Atari at one point and Wozniak worked for HP when Apple was founded; non-competes wouldve stopped those businesses. Similarly, Rock, the man who coined the term venture capital, was able to go out on his own due to an absence of noncompetes. Kleiners firm went on to fund Amazon, Google, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Sun Microsystems, America Online, and Twitter among countless others. Noncompetes allow slow, weak, and lazy businesses to continue in their ways rather than face competition from smarter, harder working, more nimble upstarts. Theyre a relic of serfdom from the days when workers were locked in guilds through aristocratic rules about who could do what. These rules were designed specifically to stifle capitalism and competition. Oftentimes, noncompetes are designed simply to harass and businesses frequently interpret the agreements well beyond their scope. For example, I was once falsely accused of breaking a non-compete when my wife took a job at a company that competed with one Id been at. As if that wasnt bad enough, the company with the non-compete had refused to hire my wife and called her useless (which is why I quit in the first place). I lived in California so rather than sue, the non-compete business started a slander campaign thwarting me in other areas (and, yes, in hindsight I shouldve sued for defamation). There is simply no legitimate reason for noncompetes. Proponents argue noncompetes protect trade secrets but that argument is bogus. Trade secrets remain protected to the point that violating a trade secret is often not only a civil issue but also a crime; nobody is advocating that employees should be able to steal proprietary information. Real studies in the use of oppressive noncompetes show how ridiculous these arguments are. For example, Jimmy Johns sandwich shop used to insist on non-competes for its sandwich makers despite they had no secrets at all. Even if sandwich-making were somehow secret a ludicrous proposition on its own Jimmy Johns sandwiches are made in plain view of customers. Jimmy Johns dropped the practice after losing several lawsuits and a flood of negative publicity. The noncompetes were useless and harmful to the business, not helpful in any way. People often wonder what the secret sauce behind Silicon Valley is. The weather is nice but there are plenty of places with nice weather. Stanford and Berkeley are great schools but, again, there are lots of Universities around the world. Lots of investment funds are available but money also flows in New York, Chicago, London, Tel Aviv, and Singapore. A creative bohemian attitude? Nothing tops Paris. One notable thing that sets Silicon Valley apart from other tech hubs is Californias refusal to enforce non-compete contracts. This is good for the economy, good for businesses that are forced to compete to keep their employees, and good for capitalism itself. This editorial ran in the Jan. 17 edition of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. The views expressed here are solely those of the editorial board. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. "The people in Germany who accept the tough restrictions expect us to protect them as best we can from an explosion in infection numbers," Seehofer said. Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to back a plan that would effectively shut down all borders, saying in new comments the government will take "certain precautions at border," according to her address before a meeting of conservative CDU/CSU bloc lawmakers. "Everyone understands that now is not the time to travel," she added. Currently Germany has had over two million COVID-19 infections and more than 52,000 deaths from the virus. A week ago Merkel announced that renewed pandemic restrictions, especially the closure of schools and 'non-essential' stores and markets, would last until at least mid-February. The proposal of shutting off borders altogether also comes as theres been widespread disappointment at the slowness of a vaccine rollout in Europe, also amid worrisome reports of severe adverse effects and even deaths among elderly patients reportedly from the shot, particularly out of Norway in the middle of this month amid the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. A ban on most or all international flights would have immediate and major repercussions for the aviation industry and global travel, given Germany remains a central international hub of flights across Europe but also the rest of the world, including to the Middle East and Africa. Dallas, Texas--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Alternet Systems, Inc. (OTC Pink: ALYI) today offered further insight into the company's cryptocurrency backed, democratized electric vehicle ecosystem strategy and anticipated ecosystem partner collaborations. Alternet Systems To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1184/72970_9c8b820b44f28bdf_001full.jpg ALYI's Revolt Electric Motorcycle is only a small part of the company's comprehensive strategy to build a far-reaching electric vehicle ecosystem. The success of any electric vehicle will depend on the simultaneous availability of an entire network of solutions necessary to support the electric vehicle. For example, the electric vehicle support network ranges from the availability of power, to charging stations where power can be accessed, to long-range batteries to make electric vehicles efficient modes of transportation, to connectivity so software updates for motor synchronization and battery optimization applications can be continuously updated along with other electric vehicle user support applications. This list represents only a handful of the network nodes that must be available within the electric vehicle ecosystem to insure the viability of any electric vehicle as a dependable mode of transportation. The most important ecosystem component is a continuous design and integration function. Clean Future To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1184/72970_9c8b820b44f28bdf_002full.jpg The electric vehicle ecosystem is being discussed by virtually everyone in the electric vehicle industry to include General Motors, Tesla and even Deloitte. While the rest of the industry discusses the electric vehicle ecosystem necessary to support their electric vehicle strategy, ALYI is focused primarily on its electric vehicle ecosystem strategy out of which electric vehicles will be just one component. We like to think we've got the horse before the cart. We have focused our efforts on the cleanest transportation slate possible. ALYI is building its electric vehicle ecosystem in a region with one of the lowest per capita transportation ratios in the world, Sub Saharan Africa. That is not to say that our electric vehicle ecosystem innovations will not be applicable all over the world. ALYI has seeded its electric vehicle ecosystem strategy with the Revolt Electric Motorcycle. Now ALYI has launched an effort to build partnerships to establish collaborators in ALYI's electric vehicle ecosystem where each collaborator brings specific, industry leading expertise. To both attract industry leading collaboration talent and provide an opportunity to prove their innovations, ALYI is launching an annual electric vehicle race in partnership with a brand name racing organization. The annual race event will be hosted simultaneously with an electric mobility symposium and expo. ALYI is setting itself apart from the rest of the electric vehicle industry not only through its horse before the cart electric vehicle ecosystem strategy, but also through its commitment to democratize the electric vehicle ecosystem. RevoltTOKEN.com To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/1184/72970_9c8b820b44f28bdf_003full.jpg ALYI's financing partner and electric vehicle ecosystem collaborator, RevoltTOKEN, has already provided key funding to advance ALYI's business plan to its current stage. RevoltTOKEN plans to democratize the ALYI electric vehicle ecosystem through the introduction of a dedicated cryptocurrency that will offer holders a participation opportunity in the ecosystem. RevoltTOKEN, the business entity, plans to offer RevoltTOKENs, a cryptocurrency, through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Next week, we plan to publish a more detailed presentation on our comprehensive electric vehicle ecosystem strategy. Starting now, we anticipate beginning to announce electric vehicle collaboration partnerships. For more information and to stay up to date on ALYI's overall latest developments, please visit www.alternetsystemsinc.com. Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that any of the companies mentioned herein will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the companies' contracts, the companies' liquidity position, the companies' ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. Alternet Systems, Inc. Contact: Randell Torno info@lithiumip.com +1-800-713-0297 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72970 Detectives investigating the report of an armed robbery of a cash in transit van at Great Victoria Street, in Belfast City Centre on Tuesday 26th January, have arrested four men and a woman. Pacemaker. Detectives investigating the report of an armed robbery of a cash in transit van at Great Victoria Street, in Belfast City Centre on Tuesday 26th January, have arrested four men and a woman. Pacemaker. Police at the scene of a crash on the Monagh bypass West Belfast. The incident happened around 11pm. Two men were arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit robbery. Picture Colm O'Reilly / Sunday Life Two men have been charged with robbery after a cash-in-transit robbery in Belfast. Four men and a woman were arrested after the armed robbery in Great Victoria Street on Tuesday. Two men aged 40 and 44 have been charged with robbery and are due to appear before Belfast Magistrates Court on Wednesday. A 52-year-old woman has been charged with possession of a class a drug and is to appear in court on February 22. As is usual procedure all charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service. Two other men, aged 40 and 41, were later released on police bail pending further investigation. The robbery happened just before 9am on Tuesday. Police said they received a report a cash in transit security officer had been assaulted by a male armed with a crow bar. A cash box was taken and the male is then believed to have made off from the area in a dark-coloured car. The security officer was not physically injured but was left badly shaken following the incident. Two of the men and the woman were arrested at a property in the Monagh Road area and two were arrested following a collision on the Monagh Bypass. Detective Inspector Keith Wilson appealed for anyone who witnessed the robbery or anyone who saw any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area of Great Victoria Street before or shortly after the robbery to contact detectives at Musgrave on the non-emergency number 101 quoting reference number 251 26/01/21. A report can also be submitted online using the non-emergency reporting form at http://www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/. You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/. Expand Close Detectives investigating the report of an armed robbery of a cash in transit van at Great Victoria Street, in Belfast City Centre on Tuesday 26th January, have arrested four men and a woman. Pacemaker. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Detectives investigating the report of an armed robbery of a cash in transit van at Great Victoria Street, in Belfast City Centre on Tuesday 26th January, have arrested four men and a woman. Pacemaker. Pharmacist Ashley Brehme reaches for a pill bottle at the pharmacy she owns in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Rural Pharmacist Cites Strain, Key Role Amid Pandemic 20 percent of Americans live in rural areas, and many rely on struggling independent pharmacies for health care MANCHESTER, IowaSince the pandemic hit in March 2020, the workload has greatly increased for the pharmacists and technicians at Brehme Drug in Manchester, a rural town of some 5,000 people in eastern Iowa. They call you up and say, Help! Explain this to me, pharmacist Cathy Lilienthal told The Epoch Times. She has worked at the store for 35 years and knows many patients by their first names. As COVID-19 vaccinations roll out across the nation, the questions most people ask her have evolved from Why do we have to wear a mask? Isnt this a flu? to Why cant we have the shots right away? The pharmacys owner, 32-year-old Ashley Brehme, told The Epoch Times, We become very much a frontline person to them, that go-to for health information, especially as local doctors reduce preventative care appointments to make time for ill patients. Pharmacist Ashley Brehme stands in the pharmacy she owns in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) Brehme Drug serves about 3,000 patients in Manchester and surrounding communities. About half of the patients have diabetes, and a majority are over 65; both groups are at relatively high risk amid the pandemic. In rural communities, where nearly 20 percent of Americans reside, independent pharmacies such as Brehme Drug are cornerstones in the delivery of health services. In some remote towns, they are often the sole access. They not only dispense medication, but also provide patient consultation, blood pressure monitoring, immunizations, and more. They will play an important role in the public distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Brehme Drug will soon provide COVID-19 vaccinations for people over age 75. But these pharmacies have suffered in recent years. Nationwide, more than 1,200 independent rural pharmacies closed between 2003 and 2018, according to the Rural Policy Research Institute. The institute says a major reason for these closures was the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which benefited Medicare patients in some ways, but paid less to pharmacies for prescriptions submitted by those patients. It also highlighted the limited negotiating power these pharmacies have with drug companies. Brehme said she is determined to persevere amid these challenges. She says the personalized care shes able to give people is especially valuable. Extra Mile Pharmacists at corporate storeseven with the best intentionsarent able to have one-on-one conversations with every single patient, because they are under pressure to fill as many prescriptions as they can, Brehme said. We see our customers not just as another prescription number, not just as whatever pills were putting in that bottle. We know them, we know their family, and we really do care about them. Brehme boldly purchased the store when the owner retired four years ago so it wouldnt close its doors or become a chain store, like so many others. Staying independent also allows her to make decisions more quickly to meet the changing needs of her community, she said. Pharmacist Cathy Lilienthal helps a customer at Brehme Drug in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) When there was a shortage of hand sanitizer, her staff hand-made some to donate to local families and law enforcement. She developed a nonprofit program to provide food and delivery services to the needy, and hosted spirit days to lighten the mood, with staff dressing up in funny costumes. The customers would just laugh, Brehme said. It was so good to see those smiles on their faces in such a rough time. The demand for delivery services has ramped up since the pandemic, and her store is one of the first pharmacies in the area to start contactless deliveries. She relies on a group of high schoolers, including 10th grader McKenna Thompson, for much of that work. Sometimes, when the requests come in after work hours, she makes the deliveries herself. About a month ago, Brehme got a call just before 4 a.m. from a parent whose 5-year-old daughter has Type 1 diabetes; the girl had just run out of insulin and her blood sugar was running high. Brehme immediately drove to her store and got the insulin. If I had not come in, probably they would have to take the child to the emergency room, Brehme said. That would have cost the parents a fortune. She often receives after-hours calls from nearby long-term care facilities; some had COVID-19 outbreaks in October 2020. I might get a phone call at an inopportune time, I might be scrubbing my floor or walking the dog, but I always had the mindset: If they were my grandparents, what would I do? Brehme said. Small-Town Advantage Brehme grew up in Dundee, Iowa, a town of 170 people southwest of Manchester. We knew everybody. Everything was so personal, Brehme said. I guess it is my theme, just that good, warm, cozy Hallmark movie feeling. As a student at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy, she interned for about five years at a Walgreens store in Cedar Rapids, the second-largest city in Iowa. That experience strengthened her resolve to work at a small-town independent pharmacy. She said there was a lot of emphasis on key performance indicators at Walgreens, such as how many prescriptions she filled every day, how many phone calls she took, and how long the patients were on hold when they called in. To provide the best patient care that I could as a pharmacist, it really entails being able to have a conversation with a patient and understand their lifestyles, beyond simply what medications theyre taking, Brehme said. Brehme Drug is seen on Main Street in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) A view of Main Street in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) A view of farmland not far from downtown Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) After graduation, she worked as a pharmacist under Bill Blakesley, the stores previous owner. She gave an example how she helped a patient better in the small, independent pharmacy by getting to know him better. The man came to Brehme with a prescription for an antibiotic that reacts with alcohol in a harmful way. One of the major responsibilities of a pharmacist is to review drug interactions for patients. Brehme knew the man had a drinking problem; she figured he was too embarrassed to tell his doctor about it. She helped him change to a different medication that wouldnt interact with the alcohol. Brehme became the head pharmacist under Blakesley. When she decided to buy the business from her retiring boss, she was still in her 20s and had hundreds of thousands in student debt. Challenges to Staying Independent That was not an easy decision. I had many, many sleepless nights, Brehme said. She borrowed a substantial sum of money for the purchase. She worried also that longtime employees loyal to Blakesley would leave with him. But, she found she had their support and didnt lose any staff. One senior technician had always said when Bill was gone, shed be gone. When Bill told everyone about the purchase, that senior technician cried. She gave me a hug and said, Im so happy. If its you, Im going to keep working. Pharmacist Cathy Lilienthal helps a customer at the drive-thru window at Brehme Drug in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) McKenna Thompson gets ready for the last delivery of the day at Brehme Drug in Manchester, Iowa, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times) With tight finances, Brehme couldnt offer insurance for her employees or offer pay comparable to that of the big chains, which led to difficulties hiring new talent. She faces a major problem experienced by many rural, independent pharmacies: her profit margin is shrinking because of limited negotiating power with pharmacy benefit managers. PBMs are the middlemen in the pharmaceutical industry that process prescription drug claims and reimburse pharmacies. We are one of the independent pharmacies that are still figuring it out, Brehme said. But she says shes determined to make it work, for herself, her staff, and her community. She hopes that one day when she retires, someone will step forward as she did to keep the store independent. I hope that someday when Im in the nursing home and I need an antibiotic on a Sunday morning, somebody is going to be willing to bring that to me. Last year, Facebook finally banned Holocaust denial content, after tacitly allowing it to fester on its site for years. And today on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the company touted efforts to connect people to credible information about the Holocaust. However, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said that Facebook is failing to enforce its own policies, leaving hateful content up after its reported, as seen by CNET. It gave the site a D along with Reddit, Steam and Discord, for how it handles Holocaust denial posts. The ADL created report cards for most major social media sites, based on criteria like whether social media sites had policies against Holocaust denial and the ease of finding such content. The ADL weighted enforcement the highest, so it reported Holocaust denial content in January to test how Facebook and the other sites responded.. Twitch received the highest grade, a B, while Twitter, YouTube, TikTok and Roblox all got Cs. The reason Twitch got a higher mark is that while both Twitch and Facebook have policies against Holocaust denial speech, Twitch took down reported posts while Facebook did not. For example, the ADL reported a video with the caption Holohoax, with comments clearly denying the Holocaust. Facebook took no action, stating The video was reviewed, and though it doesn't go against one of our specific Community Standards, we understand that it may be offensive to you and others. In recent years, content denying the Holocaust has appeared on an array of social media platforms, largely because those companies have not been nimble enough or taken the issue seriously. While some platforms have finally stepped up their efforts to stop the amplification of denial, others are still struggling to address antisemitism and Holocaust denial effectively. This is truly shameful at a time when antisemitic conspiracy theories are spreading globally, some outrageously based on the big lie that the Holocaust never happened. Story continues Facebook said it disagreed with the ADLs report card. [W]e've made major progress in fighting Holocaust denial on Facebook by implementing a new policy prohibiting it and enforcing against these hateful lies in every country around the world," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET. We've removed the content mentioned in this report and will continue working to keep Holocaust denial off of our platform. In a post that went up today, Facebook said that anyone searching for Holocaust or Holocaust denial terms will now receive a message directing them to credible genocide information. The Holocaust was the organized persecution and killing of 6 million Jewish people, alongside other targeted groups, by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II, the message states. It then directs users to visit a website with accurate Holocaust information. The ADL noted that nearly half of Americans under 40 had been exposed to Holocaust denial or distortion. While some platforms have finally stepped up their efforts to stop the amplification of denial, others are still struggling to address antisemitism and Holocaust denial effectively, said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt. This is truly shameful at a time when antisemitic conspiracy theories are spreading globally, some outrageously based on the big lie that the Holocaust never happened. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In-depth analysis and data-driven insights on the impact of COVID-19 included in this U.S. financial wellness benefits market report. The U.S. financial wellness benefits market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 13% during the period 2020-2026. Key Highlights Offered in the Report: The COVID-19 pandemic has driven the growth of financial wellness benefits such as financial planning, early wage access, and loan repayment schemes backed by employers. Players in the market are upping their offerings to cater to this situation by offering some of their services free of charge. Employees are facing issues getting their financial life together because they do not understand what their financial goals are supposed to be or think they are already doing everything necessary. Community partnerships with civic organizations and finance specialists are gaining traction, enabling expansion of financial wellness benefits to LMI workers. As the industry has evolved beyond measuring basic financial security to become more deep-seated in work culture, data analytics and technology are beginning to play an important role. Key Offerings: Market Size & Forecast by Revenue | 2020-2026 Market Dynamics - Leading trends, growth drivers, restraints, and investment opportunities Market Segmentation - A detailed analysis by program, end-user, delivery, type, industry, and geography Competitive Landscape - 5 key vendors and 36 other vendors Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/us-financial-wellness-benefits-market U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market - Segmentation The fluidity of the current pandemic-afflicted landscape has increased the importance of financial planning programs among employees. As employers increasingly realize the impact that it can have on business in terms of performance, they are onboarding financial planning advisors and asset managers, thereby boosting the growth of the segment. Large businesses are blending physical, mental, and financial programs to provide holistic support to their employees. The concept of "health meets wealth" is gaining immense traction in the market because both are largely interdependent and healthcare costs are continuing to rise as well. Although the growth rate of personalized financial wellness programs is expected to grow at the highest rate, online/digital wellness programs are not much beyond. Personalized counseling for finances is growing a rapid rate since advisers can easily adapt to the needs of the employee. U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market by Programs Financial Planning Financial Education and Counseling Services Retirement Planning Debt Management Others U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market by End-user Large Businesses Medium-sized Businesses Small-sized Businesses U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market by Delivery Type One-on-One Online/Digital Group U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market by Industry Healthcare Financial Services Education Manufacturing Public Sector Others U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market - Dynamics With data-driven decision-making becoming the need of the hour in the rest of the corporate wellness state, financial wellness is getting a start. As the industry has evolved beyond measuring basic financial security to become more deep-seated in work culture, data analytics and technology are beginning to play a role. As this trend is already penetrating the overall finance space, it is expected to leak into the wellness area as well. Several organizations are looking to invest in technologies and expanding their current HR capabilities to measure their initiatives through big data. There is an increasing use of data planning for financial wellness strategy, enabling the creation of an evidence base for workforce finance needs. Employers or financial wellness vendors are reviewing productivity data and employee information such as demographics and workforce dynamics to gather insights into what motivates behavior at a specific financial moment. Key Drivers and Trends fueling Market Growth: Democratization of Financial Wellness for Special Groups Rising Financial Wellness Incentives Financial Unease Despite Upbeat Environment Pre-COVID-19 Impact of Changing Work Paradigm Ability to Integrate and Leverage Existing Benefits U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market - Geography Employees in the US have changed the way they think about financial wellness as traditional notions of the benefits component are changing in recent years, more so in 2020. Historically, financial wellness has been attributed to having the funds to retire comfortably, and that has been the point of focus for most employers. With new generations entering the workforce, a new perspective is evolving, wherein acquiring financial stability and achieving financial wellness are equated to freedom from debts and financial stress, with being able to spend without worry while saving enough for emergencies. COVID-19 has led to new realities and advancements in the market. Pay raises in the near future have been affected as companies face unpredictable revenue streams and budgets. As employers begin to realize that monetary benefits are not the only way to retain employees, they have become more inclined to offering customized financial wellness benefits. Get your sample today! https://www.arizton.com/market-reports/us-financial-wellness-benefits-market U.S. Financial Wellness Benefits Market by Geography US Major Vendors Prudential Financial Bank of America Merrill Lynch Fidelity Investments Mercer Financial Finesse Other Prominent Vendors Aduro Ayco Beacon Health Options Best Money Moves BrightDime Brightside DHS Group Edukate Enrich Financial Wellness Even FlexWage Financial Fitness Group Financial Knowledge HealthCheck360 Holberg Financial Health Advocate LearnLux Limeade Money Starts Here PayActiv Purchasing Power Ramsey Solutions Transamerica My Secure Advantage LifeCents Origin BrightPlan Savology Sqwire FinFit Pro Financial Health FutureFuel.io Salary Finance Social Finance (SoFi) GoPlan 101 The Financial Gym Explore our health & wellness profile to know more about the industry. Read some of the top-selling reports: US Corporate Wellness Market - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 Professional Cleaning Services Market in the U.S.- Industry Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 U.S. Pharmacy Benefit Management Market - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025 Essential Oils Market in the U.S. - Industry Outlook and Forecast 2021-2026 About Arizton: Arizton Advisory and Intelligence is an innovation and quality-driven firm, which offers cutting-edge research solutions to clients across the world. We excel in providing comprehensive market intelligence reports and advisory and consulting services. We offer comprehensive market research reports on industries such as consumer goods & retail technology, automotive and mobility, smart tech, healthcare, and life sciences, industrial machinery, chemicals and materials, IT and media, logistics and packaging. These reports contain detailed industry analysis, market size, share, growth drivers, and trend forecasts. Arizton comprises a team of exuberant and well-experienced analysts who have mastered in generating incisive reports. Our specialist analysts possess exemplary skills in market research. We train our team in advanced research practices, techniques, and ethics to outperform in fabricating impregnable research reports. Mail: enquiry@arizton.com Call: +1-312-235-2040 +1 302 469 0707 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/818553/Arizton_Logo.jpg Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a booster of conspiracy theories with a track record of making racist statements, repeatedly endorsed violence against Democratic leaders and federal agents, according to a CNN review of her Facebook activity. Greene filled her feed with extremist content for years before she was elected in November, becoming the first open supporter of QAnon, an extremist ideology baed on false claims, to win a seat in Congress. In a January 2019 post, Greene "liked" a comment advocating "a bullet to the head" of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to a screenshot published by CNN's KFile. In another, from April 2018, a commenter asked, "Now do we get to hang them ??" referring to former president Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, KFile reported. In response, Greene did not denounce the suggestion of execution and instead wrote, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off." The revelations are the latest examples of Greene's far-right, conspiratorial online exploits, which also include supporting the bogus claim that the Parkland, Fla., school shooting was staged and backing a dangerous conspiracy about child abuse. Greene has also relentlessly boosted the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was rigged against President Donald Trump, even though court after court has dismissed the former president's claims and state officials across the country, including Republicans, have rejected the baseless allegations. Greene's statements have resulted in her temporary ban from Twitter and they have prompted a number of advocacy organizations to call for her resignation or expulsion from Congress - a push that intensified after CNN's Tuesday story. The offices of Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not respond to requests for comment about Greene's Facebook activity or the campaign for her removal. On Twitter, Greene characterized the KFile report as a "hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office" but did not dispute the authenticity of the posts it highlighted. Instead, Greene wrote that she has had "teams of people manage my pages." "Many posts have been liked," she said. "Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet. They are taking old Facebook posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice." But Greene's office did not respond to questions about why the posts and "likes" remained on her page if she did not agree with them. Many of the posts included in the CNN article are no longer visible. It's unclear whether Greene changed her privacy settings or Facebook removed the posts. The social media company did not respond to a request for comment. Rep. Don Beye, D-Va., was among those calling for Greene's resignation. "So you aren't denying you wrote called for the deaths of political leaders, you aren't taking responsibility, you aren't apologizing, you aren't even saying it was wrong," he wrote on Twitter, responding to Greene's statement. "You're just blaming others. Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House, and you should resign." Greene has a history of singling out Democrats - especially Pelosi - with threatening and ominous rhetoric. Before she ran for office, Greene circulated a petition to have Pelosi impeached. In February 2019, she led a group of Trump supporters into the speaker's office, where she accused Pelosi of "treason" and suggested she "shall suffer death or shall be imprisoned." In now-deleted posts, Greene "liked" one comment encouraging her to "beat Pelosi's ass" and another that advocated for Pelosi's ouster "through removal or death, doesn't matter, as long as she goes." In others, she criticized FBI agents not being sufficiently loyal to Trump. She "liked" one comment that proposed capital punishment for those law enforcement officials, reading: "Trump already said there were some great ones working with FBI but some have fallen and quite frankly need to be hung for TREASON!" And in another Facebook post, surfaced by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America and also published Tuesday, Greene endorsed the gruesome conspiracy dubbed "Frazzledrip," which involves Clinton, her aide Huma Abedin, satanic ritual and child murder. A commenter called it "another hillary hit." Greene replied: "I post things sometimes to see who knows things. Most the time people don't." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Atomoxetine HCl API Market report offers a comprehensive analysis of current trends and future opportunities. This report is responsible for quantitative estimation and foreseen future for upcoming years based on the recent companies strategic moves and historical data. Further, the market report is categorized into different segments, regions, and countries level. This report also provides competitor analysis with its market share and developments. The final report will cover the impact of COVID-19 on this industry. The global Atomoxetine HCl API market report presents a complete research-based study of the industry including details such as company shares, forecast data, in-depth analysis and an outlook of the market on a worldwide platform. The report further highlights the market drivers, restraints and the top manufacturers at the global and regional levels. For a thorough understanding, the report also offers market segmentation and regional analysis for the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Atomoxetine HCl API Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31410 According to this study, over the next five years, the Atomoxetine HCl API market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach $ xx million by 2025, from $ xx million in 2020. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in the Atomoxetine HCl API business, shared in Chapter 3. This Atomoxetine HCl API market report also splits the market by regions: Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil), APAC (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain), Middle East & Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries). This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of the Atomoxetine HCl API market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. FCDA Xian Harmonious Natural Biotechnology Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Jigs chemical Taj Pharmaceuticals Dr. Reddys Laboratories Hangzhou Keying Chem HENGTENGFU Jinan Boss Chemical Industry Hairuichem Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31410 This study considers the Atomoxetine HCl API value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.7. Min Purity Less Than 98% Min Purity 98%-99% Min Purity More Than 99% Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.8. Research Pharmaceutical In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, challenges, and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development. Purchase the Complete Global Atomoxetine HCl API Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31410 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Atomoxetine HCl API consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2015 to 2019, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of the Atomoxetine HCl API market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Atomoxetine HCl API manufacturers, to define, describe, and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in the next few years. To analyze the Atomoxetine HCl API with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). To project the consumption of Atomoxetine HCl API submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. About Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research report provider, enriching decision-makers, and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research reports, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 90 28 057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ Reference Source: https://www.topnewscorner.com/global-atomoxetine-hcl-api-market-report-analysis-by-types-applications-regional-outlook-and-forecast-to-2025/ Doctors in Japan found a wooden toothpick inside a man's rectum after he accidentally swallowed it two months earlier, causing weeks of pain. The unusual medical case was reported in this week's British Medical Journal (BMJ), which detailed how the 67-year-old man reached out to doctors after suffering from two months of pain in his right buttock and thigh. MRI scans taken initially suggested that the source of the man's pain was stenosis around his lower back - a condition where the spaces within the spine begin to narrow, which can pinch the surrounding nerves causing back pain. While a more conservative treatment of drugs and physical therapy can be used to treat stenosis, the doctors in Japan decided surgery was the best course of action. However, they were met with a surprise when a CT scan undertaken shortly before the surgery was due to begin revealed a three-inch-long wooden rod lodged in the man's rectum. Eventually, this was determined the offending object was a toothpick the man had accidentally swallowed. Doctors in Japan found a wooden toothpick inside a man's rectum after he accidentally swallowed it two months earlier, causing him months of pain. Pictured: File photo of a person using a wooden toothpick like the one found 'MRI depicted right L5/S1 lateral recess stenosis requiring surgical treatment,' an abstract of the case in the BMJ read. 'However, preoperative CT showed an approximately 7 cm long, thin, rod-shaped structure in the rectum, which was ultimately determined to be an accidentally ingested toothpick,' it said. With the pain in the man's leg quickly getting worse, doctors resolved to remove the toothpick from its unfortunately hiding place as soon as possible. Six days after the discovery, the man underwent surgery to have the foreign object removed, with the man's pain disappearing. 'The pain disappeared thereafter, and the symptoms have not recurred since,' it was reported in the journal abstract, confirming it was indeed the toothpick that had been causing the man's pain. When a foreign object in a person's rectum causes pain or discomfort, more often than not it is because it was put there intentionally - for a variety of possible reasons. However, in some cases discomfort can be caused by harder objects a person has ingested, such as animal bones, according to Gizmodo. In this unusual case, doctors theorised that sharp end of the toothpick got stuck against a particular bunch of nerves in the spinal cord, exerting enough pressure to account for the pain in the man's right buttock and leg and leading to doctors to believe it was a case of stenosis. 'The pain might have been localised to the right buttock and posterior thigh in the early stages because the fine tip of the toothpick was positioned to the right of the anterior ramus of the S2 spinal nerve,' the report said. The BMJ case study warned that while 'sacral plexus disorder caused by a rectal foreign body is extremely rare,' doctors should be 'mindful to avoid misdiagnosis'. Out of nowhere late last week, Daniel Nayeri said, he received an email from Antonio Cerna, head of marketing at Levine Querido, inviting him to participate in a Zoom conference call at 5 p.m. that afternoon to discuss some marketing ideas. The invitation very much surprised Nayeri as his latest book, Everything Sad Is Untrue (Levine Querido, Aug.) was published months ago. I just clicked OK and went back to my work day, he said. Nayeri is the publisher of Macmillan Childrens Publishing Group imprint Odd Dot. While Nayeri is a first-time American Library Association award recipient, he has written eight childrens books. Everything Sad Is Untrue is Nayeri's semi-autobiographical tale of Khosrou, a 12-year-old Iranian immigrant to the U.S. who tries to explain himself to his Oklahoma classmates by telling fantastical tales about his family and faraway homeland. As PW 's starred review noted, The text moves nimbly back and forth in time, depicting with equal vividness ancient Persian tales (a jasmine-scented village with saffron fields, courtyards, and fountains), family history (a legendary ancestral doctor), and the challenges of navigating life as an outsider in a land of concrete and weathermen. When Nayeri joined the video conference, he saw seven unfamiliar faces; at first I thought, are these new marketing people? Whats happening? Nayeri was informed that in fact, it was not a marketing meeting, that Everything Sad Is Untrue had won the Michael L. Printz Award for the best 2020 book written for teens. The seven unfamiliar faces were those of the Printz committee members. Nayeri recalls screaming for a while and his wife running into his home office to hand him a bottle of champagne that Levine Querido had arranged to be delivered exactly on time. Ive never been given a bottle of champagne before and Ive never won an award of this size, he admitted. Im sitting there holding the bubbly and Im the only person in this room where my books are and my work desk isso I started shaking it because thats what Ive seen athletes do. Thats the only context I had for such a thing. Nayeri recalled that one of the committee members warned him not to shake the bottlebut too late, because when he popped it open, the champagne flowed out all over him. The interesting thing about a champagne shower in your house is that then you have to clean it up, he said with a laugh, describing how joyful it felt to see and feel the liquid explode from the bottle like it did. I got on my hands and knees and started mopping it up, but it was 100% worth it. Fortunately, about half the champagne remained in the bottle, so he was able to drink a toast to his win. Even though he was soaked with champagne, he said, he and the committee members chatted for a little bit about the book. He laughed as he recalled thinking, when asked if he had any questions for them about the selection process: I dont want to ask any questions for you that are going to make you rethink this. Rather than asking any questions, he said, he wrote down in his notebook all of the committee members names. I dont know why, other than I just wanted to see them. I look at the list and I dont know who they are. The job they got last year was to undeniably make history by handing the medal to someone: anyone and it would still be history. They must have spent the whole year with that weight on their shoulders. And they chose this book. When asked if hed entertained any thoughts that his book might have a shot at winning a major ALA award, Nayeri confessed that he hadnt allowed himself to feel too optimistic, though he was hopeful that people would pay attention to his book. But he disclosed that after the Zoom call ended and knowing that there were a few days remaining before the official announcement, he kept worrying to himself, Theyre not going to read any more books between now and Monday morning, are they? Asked about his future plans, Nayeri noted that he is currently writing a middle grade novel, this one set in the 11th century. He described it as a comedic-adventure taking place on the fabled Silk Road trade route linking Europe with the Middle East and Asia. Other than working on that novel, he added, In my culture, every statement about the future begins with God willing because we have no idea whats going on. Writing is my dream, but I did not think this book would get as amazing a reception as it has. And I am lucky enough to be a publisher at Odd Dot. For today, I am enjoying a lot of luckand the rest is, God willing. This story has been updated with more information. The first full moon of the new year rises this week. While it wont be officially full until Thursday, it will look like it for about three days, from Wednesday night through early Saturday, according to NASAs Gordon Johnston, who does a monthly skywatch report. While last months moon was called the Wolf Moon, this months full moon often is given that name, too. Other names for Januarys full moon are derived from Native American traditions, according to the Old Farmers Almanac. They include the Cold Moon (Cree), Frost Exploding Moon (Cree), Freeze Up Moon (Algonquin), Severe Moon (Dakota), and Hard Moon (Dakota). Another fitting name for this full Moon is the Center Moon. Used by the Assiniboine people, it refers to the idea that this Moon roughly marks the middle of the winter season, almanac staff wrote. SHINING BRIGHT The full moon wont be the only thing shining in the sky this week. Johnstons NASA blog outlines a few other things skywatchers should be on the lookout for: Early Thursday morning, about 6:15 a.m., the bright star appearing closest to overhead will be Arcturus. Look for it in the south-southwest. On Thursday night, as evening twilight ends about 6:30 p.m., Mars will appear above the horizon in the south-southwest and will be the brightest object appearing close to directly overhead. Mercury will appear in the west-southwest. The bright stars of the OrionCygnus Arm of our home galaxy will appear in the southeastern sky. READ MORE 2021 meteor shower lineup, when to plan your own star party Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. President Moon Jae-in talks on the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Cheong Wa Dae, Tuesday. Yonhap Chinese president supports denuclearization of Korean Peninsula By Do Je-hae Chinese President Xi Jinping showed support for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and underlined the importance of diplomacy in nuclear issues, during his first phone call of the year with President Moon Jae-in late Tuesday, according to Cheong Wa Dae, Wednesday. "Xi said that realizing denuclearization was in line with the common interests of Korea and China, and that China highly assesses and actively supports President Moon's efforts," a presidential source said. Right after the 40-minute phone conversation during which the two leaders shared their views on the situation on the peninsula, the presidential office reiterated that Xi supported diplomacy for progress on Korean Peninsula issues, saying, "North Korea's position to the outside world is that it has not closed the door on the possibility of dialogue with the U.S. and South Korea." Xi also said he supports inter-Korean dialogue and talks between Washington and Pyongyang, according to the presidential office. The two leaders also agreed to cooperate on realizing the Korea-China-Japan summit which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the diplomatic standoff between Seoul and Tokyo following their conflict over historical issues. The phone call came as President Moon, in his last year in office, has been trying to gain the support of neighboring countries, particularly China and Japan, in resuscitating talks with North Korea under new U.S. Joe Biden administration. Since the beginning of the year, Moon has underlined the role of China in North Korea issues. But the Chinese side did not mention Xi's assessment of the Korean Peninsula situation, according to latest reports, reflecting differences between Seoul and Beijing in their diplomatic policy priorities. Some experts say the call had more to do with Beijing's strategic competition with Washington rather than bilateral issues. "From China's point of view, the call was made to neutralize South Korea before South Korea-U.S. cooperation is strengthened. With regard to the Korean Peninsula situation, Xi repeated China's existing position," Shin Beom-chul, director at the Research Institute for Economy and Society, told The Korea Times. "Therefore, China's intention was to prevent the strengthening of Korea-U.S. cooperation as it has determined that a stronger Korea-U.S. alliance under the Biden administration would result in a strategic environment unfavorable to China." "These days, amid the rivalry between the U.S. and China, China's diplomatic outreach to South Korea cannot be interpreted without China's strategic consideration of the U.S.," Lee Seong-hyon, director of the Center for Chinese Studies at the Sejong Institute, said to The Korea Times. "It's good that the Chinese leader called President Moon in the New Year. But then the fundamental reason is not because of South Korea's national strength or own work but rather China's perception of South Korea's usefulness in dealing with the U.S. as an ally of the U.S." The timing of the Moon-Xi phone talks has raised eyebrows considering it came while Cheong Wa Dae has been trying to set a date for the first phone call with new U.S. President Biden, who began holding a series of phone calls with world leaders immediately after he arrived at the White House last week. Cheong Wa Dae explained that the phone call had been planned for some time due to the need to discuss preparations for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with China in 2022, for which the two countries have launched a joint committee to implement various projects. Also Moon's office added that the phone call was to exchange New Year greetings ahead of the Lunar New Year. But some media reports have taken issue with the fact that the phone call with Xi came before Moon had a chance to talk with Biden since the new U.S. leader took office, Jan. 20. Some experts said the phone call can be seen as going against Korea's diplomatic tradition, and as its tilting toward China. "In diplomacy, symbolism is very, very important. All South Korean governments used to send an envoy to the U.S. first, respecting the traditional importance of the South Korea-U.S. alliance. This time, it is the new U.S. administration. People would have expected the South Korean president to have had a phone conversation, particularly in the New Year, with the new Biden administration," Lee added. Cheong Wa Dae has declined to comment on which side initiated the call. But the timing is raising a high level of interest as it came a day after the new U.S. administration indicated that it would continue its hardline stance on China. "I think our approach to China remains what it has been since for the last months, if not longer. We're in a serious competition with China. Strategic competition with China is a defining feature of the 21st century," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing, Jan. 25. Addressing at a press conference themed Golden opportunity for Thai investors in Vietnam jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand, the Thailand-Vietnam Business Council (TVBC) and Amata Vietnam Public Company Limited on January 26, Tannee Sangrat, who is also former Thai Ambassador to Vietnam, affirmed that Vietnam has been one of Thailand's most important foreign investment markets since its first investment in Vietnam after the countrys policy of Doi moi (Renewal). Thai businesses entering Vietnam are growing stronger and their investment is expanding and gaining success, he said. He highly valued Vietnam's efforts to improve competitiveness and investment and business environment to attract FDI, saying that the success of Thai investors in Vietnam in the next few years will largely depend on continuation of the current investment policy and the support of the Vietnamese Government, and the countrys economic growth. Meanwhile, Chairman of the TVBC Sanan Angubolkul mentioned a number of reasons for Thai businesses to invest in Vietnam, including political stability, successful control of the COVID-19 epidemic, abundant and quality workforce, and attractive investment incentives, potential domestic market with large purchasing power, and open investment environment. Vietnam has joined 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 55 countries, and new generation FTAs such as the European Union - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), have helped create new opportunities for Vietnamese exports, he said. Thai businesses need to take advantage of these to set up manufacturing factories in Vietnam for export, he added. Ambassador Phan Chi Thanh briefed participants on Vietnams economic achievements in recent times and its socio-economic development goals in the next ten years. Vietnam needs to mobilise about US$200-300 billion of foreign investment in the 2021-2030 period, he said. He spoke highly of success of Thai business operating in Vietnam, describing it as a vivid manifestation of long-term cooperation between the two countries. According to Thanh, Thailand currently ranks the 9th biggest investment partner of Vietnam with 603 FDI projects worth US$13 billion, and investment flows from Thailand to Vietnam is expected to strongly increase in the coming time. He affirmed that Vietnam is a successful and safe destination for foreign investors, especially in the context of supply chain disruptions due to trade tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. Somhatai Panichewa - General Director and Chief Executive Officer of Amata Vietnam Plc (AMATAV), said in the perspective of an industrial estate developer in Vietnam, the company believes in the growth of Vietnam. The Thai firm has so far operated six projects with a total investment of about US$840 million in Vietnam. Takeda, a global biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, has been named a Top Employer in 2021 in the Middle East for the second consecutive year by Top Employers Institute. This is also the fourth year in a row Takeda has received the prestigious global Top Employer status. Apart from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Takeda also received regional certifications for Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, with India, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Turkey also being similarly awarded. 38 Takeda local operating companies were accredited this year around the world. Dr Mahender Nayak, Area Head for ICMEA (India, CIS., Middle East, Turkey, and Africa) at Takeda said: Our team is the cornerstone of our long-term growth strategy that seeks to drive positive patient outcomes. By creating an exceptional people experience we are committed to maintain a vibrant, diverse and inclusive workplace that provides opportunities for everyone and where the health and well-being and career development of is a priority. We are delighted to be named as Top Employer in the Middle East for the second consecutive year. We credit the award to our success in embracing diversity, and fostering a culture of trust that is helping us create better health for people and a brighter future for the world. We are committed to being a patient-centric and customer-centric organization where people can thrive, grow and realize their full potential, added Rodrigo Rodriguez, General Manager at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the Middle East. Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink commented: Takeda continues to show its dedication to its employees globally and locally, and we congratulate them for the fourth year in a row of global Top Employer certification. The Top Employers Institute program certifies organisations based on the participation and results of their HR Best Practices Survey. This survey covers six HR domains consisting of 20 people-centric topics such as Career Development, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, Learning, Sustainability, Values, Well-being and Work Environment. Established 30 years ago, the Institute has certified more than 1,600 Top Employers across five continents. -TradeArabia News Service City Approves Order for School Resource Officers By West Kentucky Star Staff PADUCAH - The Paducah Board of Commissioners approved a municipal order on Tuesday which would help fund the cost of up to three additional school resource officers within the Paducah Public Schools.During their regularly scheduled meeting, the board approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Paducah and the Paducah Independent School District.In July of 2020, the City received a grant through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Program to fund the majority of the cost to hire up to three Paducah Police Officers who will serve as Resource Officers within Paducah Public Schools.Police Chief Brian Laird said the MOU, which is a requirement of the COPS grant, outlines and defines the roles and responsibilities of the program's participants, as well as the financial agreements and obligations of both the City and the school district.Laird said, Superintendent Shively and I have discussed this. We think this is a really good opportunity for a partnership between the city and the school system. But it also gives us the opportunity as a police department to provide good services for our schools. Theres a level of safety and security thats out there.Chief Laird also emphasized that the main goal is to build stronger relationships between the police department and local youth.The MOU, which expires in 2025, was approved by the Paducah Board of Education on January 11. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw sought to use tear gas during protests against police brutality last spring, even as Mayor Jim Kenney and at least one top police official expressed hesitation, according to an independent investigation commissioned by the City Controllers Office. The report released Wednesday portrays the citys actions through early June as the most aggressive Philadelphia police response to civil unrest since the 1985 MOVE bombing. Police were initially caught off guard as protests began in late May, the result of a failure of leadership by top officials, the report says. Controller Rebecca Rhynhart said Kenney failed to protect the city and its residents. The ultimate responsibility for any city response lies with the mayor and he did not exercise the leadership that was necessary throughout the unrest, Rhynhart said. This lack of leadership and planning had cascading negative consequences. READ MORE: Legal observers sue Philly police, alleging brutality at Walter Wallace Jr. protests Ballard Spahr LLP and AT-RISK International Inc. conducted the investigation, reviewing 1,700 documents and interviewing more than two dozen city officials, as well as civilians and officials on local university police forces. In a statement Wednesday, city spokesperson Mike Dunn said the Kenney administration rejects Rhynharts unsubstantiated claims that the Mayor and members of his Administration did not exercise leadership. Dunn said Rhynhart appears fixated on platitudes and attempts to cast blame for mistakes that have been acknowledged on multiple occasions. The report offered new details about internal conversations and Outlaws decision-making during three days of unrest, especially regarding the use of tear gas. Most strikingly, it revealed how she was on the scene at critical moments. Along with previous Inquirer reporting, it showed how she either observed without taking command, or left as the situation escalated. In a statement, Outlaw said the decision to use tear gas was not predetermined ahead of the initial demonstration. She said specific incidents are still under review. And she said the controllers report seems to politicize the police response, decrying comparisons to the MOVE bombing as repugnant. Authorizing tear gas Police ultimately deployed tear gas three times that weekend: on May 31 in residential areas of Kensington and West Philadelphia, and on June 1 on I-676 in Center City, where protesters were trapped in a ravine. Outlaw was in a parked SUV on a 676 overpass at the time, according to the report. City officials told investigators Outlaw also requested to use tear gas on May 30 in Center City after protests began near City Hall and devolved into unrest. That request was denied by top members of Kenneys administration. Outlaw told investigators she didnt recall making the request, but didnt deny it. The next day at about 12:30 p.m., before crowds gathered in West Philadelphia, Outlaw and top brass discussed using tear gas during a meeting with SWAT. According to the report, a senior longtime official with the Department said he was opposed to using the chemical. No officer interviewed by investigators could recall a time since MOVE when SWAT was deployed to a protest or when tear gas was used to quell civil unrest. Philadelphia police in the 1980s used aggressive tactics against MOVE, the Black liberation group, and in 1985 dropped a bomb on its West Philadelphia compound, killing 11 and destroying dozens of homes. READ MORE: 8 days of Philadelphia protest: How George Floyd changed a city 1,100 miles away During the May 31 meeting with SWAT, according to the report, Outlaw said she wasnt opposed to tear gas and was familiar with chemical irritants. She approved their use against protesters in 2018 when she was police chief in Portland, Ore., a decision that drew national scrutiny. At the end of the meeting, the report says, Outlaw, her driver, and other commanders were fitted for gas masks. Outlaw told investigators she spoke with Kenney later that day, and that while he said he was personally against using tear gas, it was up to her as commissioner. Outlaw, who was hired six months earlier, said she didnt go back to Kenney for a go-ahead, the investigators wrote. By 4:40 p.m., an officer on the ground in West Philadelphia first requested tear gas authorization there, asking over police radio for approval for a chemical dispersal of 52nd Street, just one block north of Market. A supervisor responded: Youve got the green light for that. READ MORE: I couldnt breathe: Inside the West Philly neighborhood teargassed by police That authorization was only for tear gas deployment on one block: 52nd Street between Market and Chestnut Streets, Outlaw told investigators. But SWAT officers fired dozens of canisters of tear gas along a half-mile stretch for more than two hours at protesters, agitators, and bystanders. Outlaw told investigators she tried to reach 52nd and Market Streets after she authorized using tear gas and rubber bullets. But she said she could not advance past 50th and Market Streets, where the air was thick with gas. In July, Kenney defended the use of tear gas in West Philadelphia in an interview with The Inquirer, saying he feared for the lives of officers and residents. He later apologized in a statement for my own actions and for my delay in offering a substantive comment on what occurred that day. The report was also critical of the use of tear gas and rubber bullets on I-676 the next day, when police fired at protesters who spilled onto the highway and were largely peaceful. Outlaw and Kenney initially defended the tactics, saying protesters were throwing projectiles at police, then apologized weeks later after the New York Times published a video compilation of footage from 676. Outlaw said after seeing the video that she was extremely disturbed. According to the report, Outlaw and then-deputy commissioner Dennis Wilson discussed potentially using tear gas on 676, however, she said that she directed him to call her before deploying it. But, as she did in West Philadelphia, Outlaw left, following the events from a command center in Center City. Shortly thereafter, and although she had not given explicit approval, she recalled hearing that it had been deployed on the highway, the report said. Wilson was demoted. It didnt make the police look good To her critics inside the department, Outlaws actions during the unrest are part and parcel with her tenure: a lack of leadership during critical junctures, from the pandemic, to the unrest, to the skyrocketing murder rate. According to law enforcement officials with knowledge of the response in West Philadelphia and on I-676, Outlaws failure to take command and provide definitive directions added to the confusion and chaos. She abandoned the scene and the tactical operation she was in charge of, said one high-ranking law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to discuss the matter. She gave orders and left without seeing that they were carried out as she commanded. On a phone call Tuesday with commanders, Outlaw said she didnt know what was in the comingreport, but that it would be another shot at the department, according to law enforcement sources with knowledge of the call. The report calls on police to ensure tear gas is deployed only in extreme circumstances, such as if someone is barricaded and violent, and not as general crowd control. In October, City Council banned police use of tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets during First Amendment activities. Rhynhart said she was not involved in the investigation itself. But in a briefing with reporters, she said the most important takeaway was a need for stronger leadership in charge. Since taking office in 2018, Rhynhart has frequently clashed with the Kenney administration. She is up for reelection this year, and is widely seen as a possible candidate for mayor in 2023. Kenney was not interviewed as part of the investigation. He offered to sit for an interview only if the questions were provided in advance and if follow-up questions were submitted in writing, the report said. Investigators declined to proceed under those terms. The Kenney administration released the findings of its own independent report last month, which found that police and city officials were simply not prepared for the protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Kenney said he accepted the critiques in that report, which was completed by two outside firms. I fully accept the criticisms in the report of how our administration conducted itself this past summer, Kenney said in December. READ MORE: Kenney had plans. Then the pandemic hit. Can he avoid lame-duck status and get Philly back on track? Investigators did interview former Managing Director Brian Abernathy, who resigned amid criticism of the citys response to the protests. He told investigators he did not believe there was a way for the city to plan for the unrest but investigators said the city had a blueprint for maintaining peace. Outlaw said thats not the case, and that previous protests were not of the scale seen last year. She said police have already revisited department policies and practices related to mass gatherings. The reports recommendations include that the city have an independent director of the Office of Emergency Management. Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel currently serves in that role, and told investigators that he deferred to police when deciding whether to activate the Emergency Operations Center. The police declined to do so on May 29, the day before protests began, and first activated it on May 30. The position of police inspector of homeland security had been vacant since March. That position historically had the responsibility for planning for large protests, the report said. While the investigation focused on May and June, investigators also noted the October police killing of Walter Wallace Jr., and the protests and unrest that followed, in emphasizing the need for better police training and preparedness. Until the findings in this report are addressed, investigators wrote, there is a significant concern that the city could experience the same level of unrest, destruction to property, and harm to individuals that occurred in May and June 2020. John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5, didnt single out Outlaw, but said the failed planning and response to the unrest was the result of an absence of leadership from the Managing Directors Office down to the Police Department. The bottom line is it didnt make the police look good, he said of the report. It didnt make the city look good. Below is the controllers full report: National chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu said on Wednesday that the Social Democrats had drafted a national budget proposal because they wanted the population to know the alternative to "austerity" proposed by the incumbent government. "We were asked what the purpose of this alternative budget is, why we made this effort to build it and to present it, perhaps rightly so, because we do not have the parliamentary majority at this moment to pass this budget through the Romanian Parliament. I know it sounds strange, but this is the first time in 30 years that the opposition party has come up before the media and citizens with an alternative budget proposal. We believe that citizens need to know the truth, to know what the alternative to austerity is. We believe that people have not only voted for us to criticize the incumbent government; people have voted for us to come up with solutions, and today we are putting up for public debate actual solutions to increase the living standards of the citizens. (...) We are inviting the government to plagiarise us; it would not be for the first time when it copies certain solutions from PSD, but if they are in the interest of the Romanians, they don't really bother us at all," Ciolacu told a news conference held by PSD for the unveiling of their alternative national budget for 2021. He added that, at the same time, PSD, by presenting an alternative budget, wants to dismantle the "lies" of the Government."We show them today that, if you want, if you are interested in the lives of the people you lead, not only in divvying up offices, (...) major problems facing Romania today can be overcome. (...) For the first time in the last 30 years, the budget implementation of the previous year, for 2020, was not published before January 25. The legal deadline has already been exceeded by two days by the Citu - Orban tandem. (...) The utmost priority this year remains the fight against the pandemic and the health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (...) Economic recovery is the second major goal," said Ciolacu. Production Testing Update Reid's Dome Project Brisbane, Jan 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - State Gas Limited ( ASX:GAS ) is pleased to provide an update on production testing activities underway during the Phase 2 exploration and appraisal program at its 100%-owned Reid's Dome Gas Project (PL 231) in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland.As previously advised, a primary objective of the Phase 2 program is to appraise the Nyanda area for early development following the strong performance of the Nyanda-4 Coal Seam Gas (CSG) well, producing gas at rates approaching 500,000 cubic feet per day during testing in late 2020. Accordingly, the Company has drilled two "step out" wells approximately 2.5km to the north (Nyanda-7) and south-west (Nyanda-8) of the Nyanda-4 well, to guide the delineation of an early development area. As announced on 6 January 2021 the new drilling has confirmed the widespread presence of gas-bearing coal seams and significant net coal within the Nyanda area, with all three wells intersecting good quality coals with seams of similar thicknesses and depths and evidence of open fractures.With these encouraging results the Company is embarking on production testing of the wells, commencing with the Nyanda-4 well being returned to production on 19 January 2021. Gas flows re-commenced immediately at Nyanda-4 with the resumption of dewatering. The well is expected to take some time to recover performance, however rates have been increasing steadily as water levels are slowly lowered. As at 6.00am (AEST) on 27 January the gas flow rate was 57,500 standard cubic feet per day.Nyanda-7 has now also been completed for production, and testing commenced on 25 January. The well is currently being dewatered to lower wellbore pressure and enable the gas to be produced from the coals.The Services Rig is currently operating at the most recently drilled well, Nyanda-8, to install the pump to enable dewatering for gas production. All three CSG wells in the Nyanda area are expected to be dewatering by early next week.The Phase 2 campaign at Reid's Dome also includes proposed wells in the north and central areas of the permit. As advised on 6 January, the drilling of these wells has been held over until the intensity of the current La Nina weather event has passed (the site has received more than 14 inches of rain since 1 December).Commenting on the results to date Mr Richard Cottee, Executive Chairman said: "I am very pleased with the early recommencement of gas flows at Nyanda-4, particularly as we have only just brought the fluid level in the well below the coal seams. I look forward to providing updates on production at the latest wells, Nyanda-7 and Nyanda-8, in due course.""The wet weather has been a challenge, but I am very pleased to see these wells being brought on quickly, enabling us to progress towards early development", he said.About State Gas Limited State Gas Limited (ASX:GAS) is a Queensland-based developer of the Reid's Dome gas field, originally discovered during drilling in 1955, located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. State Gas is 100%-owner of the Reid's Dome Gas Project (PL-231) a CSG and conventional gas play, which is well-located 30 kilometres southwest of Rolleston, approximately 50 kilometres from the Queensland Gas Pipeline and interconnected east coast gas network. Permian coal measures within the Reid's Dome Beds are extensive across the entire permit but the area had not been explored for coal seam gas prior to State Gas' ownership. In late 2018 State Gas drilled the first coal seam gas well in the region (Nyanda-4) into the Reid's Dome Beds and established the potential for a significant coal seam gas project in PL 231. The extension of the coal measures into the northern and central areas of the permit was confirmed in late 2019 by the Company's drilling of Aldinga East-1A (12 km north) and Serocold-1 (6 km to the north of Nyanda-4). State Gas is also the 100% holder Authority to Prospect 2062 ("Rolleston-West"), a 1,414 km2 permit (eight times larger than PL 231) that is contiguous with the Reid's Dome Gas Project. Rolleston-West contains highly prospective targets for both coal seam gas (CSG) and known conventional gas within the permit area. It is not restricted by domestic gas reservation requirements. The contiguous areas (Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West), under sole ownership by State Gas, enable integration of activities and a unified super-gasfield development, providing economies of scale, efficient operations, and optionality in marketing. State Gas is implementing its strategic plan to bring gas to market from Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West to meet near term forecast shortfalls in the east coast domestic gas market. The strategy involves progressing a phased appraisal program in parallel with permitting for an export pipeline and development facilities to facilitate the fastest possible delivery of gas to market. State Gas' current focus has been to confirm the producibility of the gas through production testing of the wells. By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Stoyan Nenov SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria started vaccinating care home patients in the capital Sofia against the new coronavirus on Wednesday as the Balkan country seeks to accelerate immunisations and catch up to European Union peers. The country of 7 million people has inoculated about 29,000 medical workers so far - putting it at the bottom in terms of vaccinated people per capita in the 27-member bloc. "This is a chance we are given and we have to grab it. There is no other way to fight this virus," said Ulyana Dumova, one of the first 15 patients in the Nadezhda care home to get the vaccine. The centre-right government has faced criticism it has ordered too few quantities of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines - the first two that have been approved for use in the EU. An updated delivery schedule showed it will be able to inoculate about 2.2 million people with Pfizer and Moderna doses by the end of the year. Sofia has bet heavily on AstraZeneca's vaccine, of which it has ordered 4.5 million doses, but reports that the company will fail to meet its obligations to the EU in the first quarter may further delay its vaccination plan. "The first quarter is quite timid, as you can see there are delays in deliveries, there are all sorts of hurdles that are beyond our control," Ventsislav Mutafchiyski, head of the national COVID task-force told private BTV channel. "But we are optimistic that deliveries will be regular in the second and third quarter," he said. Bulgaria has ordered more than 12 million vaccine shots from six producers under the EU scheme and Health Minister Kostadin Angelov has repeatedly said that every Bulgarian would be able to be inoculated. He said Bulgaria expects to receive some 260,000 shots from AstraZeneca in February alone. Many are not so positive. Popular Bulgarian rap singer, Itso the Gamble is among those to voice concern at the slow pace. "I am very worried... that by the time my turn for a jab comes ... there'll be no me," he told a popular TV talk show earlier this week. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova and Stoyan Nenov; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise) Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category LEWISTON - Are you in need of some new masks? On Thursday, January 28, head over to the Idaho Foodbank to grab some FREE face masks, courtesy of the Ford Motor Company and Ford Motor Company Fund. The distribution will take place from 10:00am - 1:00pm at the Idaho Foodbank in Lewiston, located at 3331 10th Street. You can pick up a pack of face masks while supplies last, but please note there is a limit of 20 face masks per person. The company has plans to distribute over 100 million face masks to at-risk communities across the United States in 2021. As the pandemic continues, so does the spirit, grit and dedication of our Ford team and UAW partners to step up and contribute to help our country, said Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO. Working together, were setting a goal of producing 100 million masks for families, children, individuals and communities who need them most. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Many argue if the Trump administration was effective in its methods to counter the CCP and Chinese threat. Before this administration, prior ones allowed China to take advantage of American goodwill allegedly. China is one of the most dominant countries economically, and the military is now ranked with Russia and the US. Trump broke the mold and changed the rules In many decades, the US government dealt with Chinese Communist Party full-on, countering its actions to claim domination over the world. Using all means necessary to unleash it will in China branded techno-totalitarianism, reported the Epoch Times. In the Trump era, China was not allowed to continue its deception that has infiltrated everything in America, according to China experts. Many Officials aligned with this kind of policy have called Beijing in its assault to undermine economic prosperity, national security, and freedom. The communist party of China is one of the worsts security threats since the '40s. Chinese policy is different in Donald Trump's presidency One assumption is that economic liberalization will be a path to democracy and away from communism. It turned out to be a failed assumption, and the results have turned the world upside-down. According to J. Michael Waller, a senior analyst for strategy said that the ex-president defined how China should be handled before China got kids' gloves and got away with it but not with the Trump administration. Also read: Director of National Intelligence says that Beijing a Threat to US, Free World Since 1941 The current administration is under observation to continue or change foreign policy to suit China's preferences. China's facade was revealed with an underlying agenda that is veiled in peace and mutual development. Only Trump and his allies brought it to bear on China once exposed. Pompeo spearheaded the administration's anti-China drive. One of the most vocal is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who revealed the CCP as a "Marxist-Leninist regime" with only one goal. It is to achieve global domination further, and whatever means is necessary to reach it. Even Joe Biden's incoming Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, had expressed that thought about China is the best policy. Liberals think getting tough can be done differently. Coronavirus, according to the US One of the charges against Xi and the Chinese Communist Party is they caused the COVID-19 Pandemic, which overshadowed the trade war. Soon after, more pushbacks against the communists will be followed, said Axios. Major actions against Beijing The US government launched a series of actions to combat China on several fronts: the Trade War, starving Chinese tech companies, and facing off the Chinese military in the Indo-Pacific. For a long time, China has benefited from US trade that bolstered their economy, but the US was not getting the good end of the deal. One probe, the "Section 301," discovered IT theft sanctioned by Beijing, this spiraled into a trade war. Later coincided with the banning of Huawei and Chinese tech firms. Building up American National Security One of the Trump administration triumph is protecting the US and moving into the Indo-Pacific to challenge Chinese military might, and join with Australia, India, and Japan as the Quad to counter the Chinese Threat. Building ties with allies for security and stability. Related article: Pacific Air Commander: More Hypersonic Weapons are Needed by the US Air Force @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. JACKSON, MI A judge recused himself from a sexual assault case involving a Catholic school employee. Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain recused himself in the case of Joseph Comperchio, who is facing 11 felony charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Former Jackson Catholic school teacher headed to trial on 11 sexual assault charges McBain is Catholic and knows multiple people related to Comperchio, he said during a recent court hearing. He said hes also talked about issues within the Catholic church with Father Tim MacDonald, Vicar General of Diocese of Lansing who works at Queen of the Miraculous Medal in Jackson. Im just a little too closely acquainted with members interested in this case to be a fair and impartial judge on it, McBain said. I think it would be better served for another judge to handle it. The case was returned to Jackson County District Court, where a new circuit court judge will be randomly selected. Comperchio was arrested Sept. 14 in Fort Myers, Florida and extradited to Michigan where he was arraigned Oct. 2 on his initial six counts of sexual assault. Five more charges were added Oct. 28. The arrest was part of the Michigan Attorney Generals investigation into clergy abuse. Comperchio taught drama and music at St. John Catholic School between 1974-77. The victims said the assaults happened while he was a teacher. Comperchio was not officially a teacher because he did not have a college degree at the time, defense attorney Al Brandt said during a virtual hearing Jan. 26. Comperchio is being held at the Jackson County Jail without bond, per court records. Read more from MLive: Dont let me die in the ambulance, said man shot 12 times, per testimony Hurst Foundation donates $60K to Jackson YMCA building campaign Car failing to yield hits Jackson school bus, police say $300K in grants available for redeveloping land in Jackson County United Way of Frederick Countys annual free income tax preparation program, VITA, will continue to offer free tax preparation by certified IRS tax preparers for those making $57,000 or less. Although VITA officially begins on February 1, 2021 we have now started taking appointments. Eligible individuals can call 211 or 1-866-411-6803 to book their appointment today. Appointments are required. With new and returning certified VITA tax preparers, available appointments two days a week and a convenient downtown location, we look forward to serving our Frederick County residents in a safe and responsible manner, says Malcolm Furgol, Director of Community Impact & Grants. This year, VITA will again be taking place at the Bernard W. Brown Community Center, located at 629 North Market Street, Frederick MD, 21701. Hours of operation will be Tuesday from 12:00pm 6:00 pm, Thursday from 9:00am 3:00pm and Friday from 10:00am 2:00pm for clients to complete final return signatures and pick up completed returns. In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic VITA will be operated as a 100% drop-off program. Options for doing online tax returns at home for free are available on our website. New this year is a partnership with Asian American Center of Frederick where community health workers will be promoting VITA as a means for families to claim the earned income tax credit and childrens tax credit with the goal of reducing the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in our community. VITA is a partnership between United Way of Frederick County, the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick and Asian American Center of Frederick and is supported by the Delaplaine Family Foundation, Cash Campaign for Maryland, the Ausherman Family Foundation, Frederick County Government and donors throughout Frederick County. United Way of Frederick County is dedicated to the financial stability of the Frederick community, and with the VITA program, low-income households will be able to take advantage of free tax preparation to get back their maximum refund and save more of their hard-earned money. VITA is just one of many financial stability programs provided by the Prosperity Center. For more information regarding this years VITA program, visit unitedwayfrederick.org/freetaxprep. For questions regarding the program, contact Mary Ricker atmricker@uwfrederick.org or 301-573-8898. About The Prosperity Center Using the collective impact model, the Prosperity Center uses a holistic, integrated approach to improving the financial security of Frederick County residents. We function as a one-stop hub to allow community members access to a wide range of services, including income supports, employment and education services, financial education, asset building services, and more. The Prosperity Center opened its doors in April, 2014. Located in the Bernard W. Brown Community Center on North Market Street in Frederick, it is a partnership among the United Way of Frederick County, the Housing Authority of the City of Frederick, and the Frederick Coalition for Financial Success (FCFS). Current services include the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, Prosperity Savings Accounts, free financial education classes, and access to an array of community resources. Connect with us on social media by visiting Facebook.com/ProsperityCenterFrederick. About United Way of Frederick County Since 1938, United Way of Frederick County has been fighting for health, education and financial stability for every person in the Frederick County community. United Way produces the ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) Report which shows that approximately nearly 40% of households can no longer afford to live in Frederick County. Our investments and programs are aligned to support and increase the financial stability of these households. United Way of Frederick County partners include global, national and local businesses, nonprofits, government, civic and faith-based organizations, along with educators, health providers, senior citizens, students, and others. The organization provides grants to local nonprofits, offers programs such as free tax preparation and matched savings, mobilizes volunteers, and engages in public policy advocacy. To learn more about United Way and how you can get involved, please visit UnitedWayFrederick.org. A Yakima, Wash., fruit grower and processor has been fined more than $150,000 by the Washington Department of Labor & Industries for violating COVID-19 workplace requirements designed to help keep workers safe on the job. This week, L&I notified Evans Fruit Co. Inc. its being cited for two willful serious violations for not following workplace COVID-19 mask and social distancing requirements. Its reportedly the third time in recent months that the company has been cited for COVID safety and health violations. The violations are considered willful by L&I in that the company reportedly knew employees were required to wear masks and the employer knowingly did not enforce it. Because the violations are considered willful, the penalty is 10 times larger. The violations are deemed serious due to the risk of serious illness or death from exposure to COVID-19. L&I opened the latest inspection Oct. 14, 2020 after receiving an anonymous complaint about several safety and health issues at the Cowiche worksite, including a lack of social distancing. While inspecting the Evans fruit-packing warehouse, an L&I investigator reportedly observed numerous workers in different areas not socially distanced or without physical barriers between them. There were also several workers in the warehouse and the office who were not wearing masks as required. The Evans Fruit Co. safety manager has allegedly said he would not require any worker to wear a mask. As a result, L&I issued an Order and Notice of Immediate Restraint requiring immediate COVID-19 safety and health rule compliance. The company came into compliance within a half-hour of receiving the notice. Under the governors proclamation, employees are required to wear masks and maintain a distance of six feet apart or have physical barriers in place to prevent the potential transmission of the coronavirus. Evans Fruit Co. was fined $6,600 after two inspections at separate fruit packing locations last summer, where social distancing and masking violations were found. The company told L&I the masks made fruit packers hot to the point they were passing out. In 2020, L&I inspected 422 agriculture businesses and found 517 violations, 204 of those being serious. Not following COVID-19 protocols made up 60% of the violations, according to L&I. Evans Fruit Co. has 15 working days to appeal the violations and the $156,000 penalty. They have appealed the two previous citations. Fines paid as a result of a citation go into the workers compensation supplemental pension fund, helping workers and families of those who have died on the job. Topics Washington Torque Converter Market is forecast to reach $9.40 billion by 2025, after growing at a CAGR of 5.65% during 2020-2025. The growth of the torque converter market is majorly attributed to the growth of automatic transmission vehicle market. The rapid growth in the demand of CVT passenger vehicles and automatic hydraulic transmission vehicles in the developed parts of the world is majorly anticipated to have positive impact on the growth of the market during the forecast period. Report Coverage The report: Torque Converter Market Forecast (2019-2024), by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Torque Converter Market. Request Sample Key Takeaways North America dominated the market of torque convertor, owing to the high adoption of the advanced technology. The high demand of passenger cars in the developed countries such as the U.S, Germany and Canada is contributing towards the growth of the market. The growing demand of the Duel Clutch and automatic Transmission system along with the torque convertor is contributing towards the growth of the market. Transmission Type - Segment Analysis Duel Clutch segment held the largest market share in the fuel Torque Converter Market in 2018. The growing deployment of the duel clutch in most of the vehicles (passenger vehicle/commercial vehicle) is significantly contributing towards the growth of the Torque Converter market. In 2018, Hyundai launched a new duel clutch model specifically designed for the passenger vehicles. The launch of new products is anticipated to raise the growth of the market during the forecast period. Inquiry Before Buying Vehicle Type - Segment Analysis By the type of vehicle the market is broadly categorized into two major types: Passenger Vehicles and Commercial Vehicles. These passenger vehicle is estimated to grow at a faster pace during the forecast period. According to OICA, China held 35% market share in global passenger cars sales in 2017. The growing sales of the passenger vehicles is anticipated to raise the growth of the market during the forecast period. The growing demand of the passenger cars is significantly attributed to the high penetration of the automatics in the passenger cars. The high demand of passenger cars in the regions such as North America (United States and Canada) and APAC (China, Japan, Australia) is anticipated to raise the growth of the market during the forecast period. Geography - Segment Analysis North America denominated the market of Torque Convertor with a market share more than 30%, followed by Europe in 2018. The high growth rate in these regions is mostly attributed to the technological advancement and easy adoption of the new technology in countries such as U.S, Canada, Germany, U.K., France and other regions. The high demand of the commercial vehicles in United States is significantly contributing towards the rising demand of the Torque Convertor System in the market. By the end of September 2019, the total number of passenger cars manufactured in Germany was 415,500 units, which was an increase of about 4% since previous year (2018). The growing production is attributed to the growing demand of these vehicles across the globe. The increase in production of these passenger cars is anticipated to raise the deployment of these torque converter system which is contributing towards growth of the market during the forecast period. Schedule a Call Drivers Torque Converter Market Growing demand for Passenger cars and luxurious vehicles: The growing demand of the passenger cars and luxurious vehicles in the developed parts of the globe is significantly increasing the deployment of the duel clutch and automatic transmission systems along with torque convertors in the vehicles. The deployment of these advanced systems results in effortless driving and reduces efforts over the jammed stop and go conditions. The high demand of such advanced system is driving the growth of the market. Advancements In Power Trains: One of the major factor driving the growth of the torque convertor market is the recent advancements made in the powertrain mechanism. Powertrain consists of transmission, engine to run the power to the vehicle. Such advancements are anticipated to raise the growth of the market during the forecast period. Challenges Torque Convertor Market Growing number of technical issues in the torque convertors: One of the major cause hindering the growth of the torque convertor market is the growing number of technical issues with the torque convertors. The malfunctioning of the torque convertors causes difficulty like transmission slippage and high-Stall Speed. Moreover, the high repair and replacement cost hinders the growth of the market. Buy Now Market Landscape Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Torque Convertor market. In 2018, the market of Torque Convertor has been consolidated by the top five players accounting for 41.6% of the market share. Major players in the Torque Convertor Market are Aisin, Borgwarner, Exedy, Kapec, Schaeffler, Sonnax Industries, among others. Acquisitions/Technology Launches In 2019, Ricardo launched its new high performance transverse Duel Clutch System specifically designed for the supercar transmission. The launch of new products is anticipated to raise the growth of the market during the forecast period. Intimidating texts were sent to the embassy employees ahead of Szijjarto's visit to Kyiv. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said external forces are apparently behind the threats to the staff of the Hungarian Embassy in Ukraine. Intimidating texts were sent to the embassy employees ahead of Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto's visit to the capital city, Kyiv. "Someone really needs cheap provocation ahead of Peter Szijjarto's visit. Some 'patrots of Ukraine [in Ukrainian] (original language) have sent out threats to the Hungarian Embassy," Kuleba wrote on Twitter, having published a screenshot of the message containing such threats. Read alsoHungarian Foreign Minister to visit Ukraine to resolve crisis in relationsAccording to the minister, law enforcement are already working to investigate the incident. "Obviously, the masterminds are outside of Ukraine otherwise two mistakes in the word 'Ukraine' can't be explained," he added. Ukraine-Hungary diplomacy: Recent developments Relations between Ukraine and Hungary deteriorated after the adoption of a new law on education by the Verkhovna Rada in the fall of 2017. Hungary has been blocking NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC) meetings, claiming that the rights of Hungarians living in Ukraine have been violated by provisions of the law, which determines that the official language, Ukrainian, should be the language of instruction at education institutions. In addition, during local elections in the fall of 2020, Hungarian officials, while visiting Zakarpattia region, were campaigning for Ukraine's ethnic Hungarian KMKSZ Party. Kyiv put them on the so-called stop list. Today, January 27, Szijjarto will visit Kyiv. He will hold a number of official meetings, as well as the whole range of issues will be discussed. Reporting by UNIAN Premier Mark McGowan has defended a controversial deal with two of the states wealthiest businessmen that could see the East Perth power station land sold for just $1. Works at the derelict site could begin as early as next year but details of negotiations between the government and billionaires Kerry Stokes and Andrew Forrest remain shrouded in secrecy. An artists impression of the East Perth power station redevelopment. Speaking to 6PRs Liam Bartlett on Wednesday, Mr McGowan said the $1 valuation hadnt been committed to, but would not reveal how much the businessmen would fork out for the site. This is a matter for negotiation between the government and the successful tenders, he said. The block hasnt been sold, there is no value of a lease because we havent signed a lease. Not long after his first term, Trump's new office opens to handle public affairs and public life. His civilian office's activities will be to keep the agenda alive when he was the most popular president. Donald Trump has barely been out of office, and he's getting set for the long haul, which promises his supporters he'll be there. Advocacies for the American People On Monday night, a statement was released by the new office of the ex-president. According to the press release, the office will manage all his correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities vital for US interests, reported the Livemint. One more aspect of setting up his new office is to further his administration's agenda by organizing public activism. To benefit those who support him even more out of office. Trump's new HQ, powered by Brad Parscale One of the former managers of his campaign, Parscale, will be creating a new email distribution system that will be channeled through many of the business moguls turned president's companies. One of the reasons for creating this new platform is to replace Campaign Monitor. The vendor providing the email infrastructure canceled the contract. No explanation was given why the provider cut service. Big tech accused Trump of inciting the breach Trump's new office opens to get things out in the field, and his supporters are not easy. This came about as big tech went after Parler, the free speech app, and firms like Apple, Google, and Amazon allegedly hide behind Article 230. Also read: Declassifying Crossfire Hurricane Documents, Trump Orders Their Release Before Leaving Office Trump is accused of violating Twitter, Facebook, Shopify, Twitch, and Instagram last January 6 because he allegedly instigated the violence. One more allegation is that these platforms are inconsistent with their criterion for banning. Trump's latest statement The ex-president's office issued it about an hour after the House DEMS went to the US Capitol to give the article of impeachment against the former president to the Senate. It will set the stage for the second time he will be impeached, this time as a civilian. Democrats and Republicans alleged that he incited the riot, opposite to what he expressed. A video of his statement was aired, which is the evidence according to the DEMS. Building an information system for Trump One of the lessons learned from January 6 is that Donald Trump should have a means of communication, not shut out by vendors or big media again. To this effect, a new email distribution system will go around outside vendors. According to aides, that no one will cancel or silence Trump also added his supporters. Details of the Trump office The office to be established will be at Palm Beach, right after he left before the inauguration last week. Instead, he decided to hold a previous event with his supporters till the last minutes he became Citizen Trump. The Save America leadership political action committee created after elections will endorse his former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Who will run for Arkansas governorship. For the foreseeable future, Trump's new office opens a new chapter after an incredible presidency of many achievements. It will work for the public good and forward America First principles as well. Related article: Trump Speaks Last Time as President, 'The Movement We Started Is Only Just Beginning' @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A former Massachusetts inmate was sentenced Tuesday for threatening to blow up a federal courthouse and harm federal agents. Nathan Allen Danforth, previously a federal inmate who was transferred to FMC Devens for mental health and long-term care issues, was sentenced to three years after he pleaded guilty to making threats against federal agents and threatening to cause an explosion at a federal courthouse in Florida, according to U.S. District Attorney Andrew E. Lellings office on Tuesday. This is the third time Danforth has been sentenced for making threats against government officials and buildings. While Danforth was serving a 41-month sentence at a Massachusetts federal prison for threatening violence against three presidents, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump in 2017, he attempted to send the threatening letter. Danforth wrote that Trumps home in Florida was close to where his father lives and he planned to go there once released. You asked me if [I] really want to hurt these people, Danforth told the investigators in the March 5 interview. I believe me being in prison is a good thing. According to a filing in Worcester federal court, FBI agents began investigating Danforth again for making threats. Danforth was transferred to Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens in February 2019. He was transferred to FMC Devens for mental health and long-term care issues. In July 2019, the 34-year-old was sentenced to 14 months for attempting to send a letter - while he was at FMC Devens - threatening to kill the agents who previously investigated him and cause an explosion at a federal courthouse in Florida. Danforth, according to the FBI, wrote a letter that said when he was released in May he was going to bomb the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach and an FBI building in Florida using fertilizer bombs. Ive also planned the killings of the FBI agent and the female Secret Service agent that arrested me back in 2018, the letter said. Both federal agents that I just mentioned above will die a very slow, painful death. Less than a year later, Danforth sent an email to the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General threatening that the President would die and federal buildings would be blown up. Danforth pleaded guilty on Jan. 20, 2021, to one count of making threats to murder federal law enforcement officers and one count of threats to damage or destroy a building using fire or explosives. Related Content: 2021-01-27 Maeci Seventy-six years ago, on January 27, 1945, the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camps were opened. On this symbolic date, on which the most abject of the tragedies of history gave way to the spark of hope, we keep the memory of the Shoah alive, joining the Jewish communities in Italy and around the world in the celebrations of the Day of Remembrance. Once again this year the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation intends to participate in this significant anniversary, which is felt with great intensity by all Italians, at home and abroad. Numerous commemorative events are scheduled in our diplomatic and consular offices and in the Italian Cultural Institutes: screenings, workshops and debates to provide opportunities for reflecting on those tragic events. It is believed to be a universal truth that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it. However harsh and difficult the current contingencies appear to us, as we move away from the miseries of the last century and as the direct testimonies of those who were victims of it fade away, it remains essential to renew the memory of what happened. And that never has to occur again. This is the spirit that kindles the initiatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on this day of solemn recollection, emotion and pure humanity. These are the same feelings certainly felt by those who, like me, were honoured last October, at the Citadel of Peace in Rondine, to be present at the final, moving public testimony of Senator Liliana Segre, an extraordinary woman who knew how to speak to young people about wars, hatred, and unrepeatable horrors with the frankness and sweetness of the messages she sent directly to their hearts. For that reason too, of the many initiatives taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to keep the memory of the Shoah alive, I would like to mention the release of a new documentary by Studio Azzurro "Testimoni dei Testimoni" ("Witnesses of the Witnesses"). In this project, which has been made available on the website and social media channels of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the memory of the Holocaust is perpetuated through the dialogue between those who lived it, were victims of it, and those who have only heard of it. The reminiscences of the "elderly witnesses" are therefore transmitted through the story of those young people who participated in the Journey of Remembrance to Auschwitz, thus becoming "witnesses of the witnesses". United in a pact between generations. So that we do not forget. WASHINGTON - The Biden administration said Tuesday that it will seek to buy another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States. The purchases would increase available supply by 50%, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer. Because both products - one developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech and the other by Moderna - are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people. An estimated 260 million people in the United States are considered eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, though Pfizer and Moderna have initiated trials for children as young as 12, the results of which could expand the pool. The additional supply would greatly boost President Joe Biden's chances of returning the nation to some semblance of normalcy by late summer or early fall. He said Monday that he expects the general public to gain access to shots by the spring - as he seemed to elevate his administration's goal from 1 million vaccinations a day to 1.5 million - though aides on Tuesday said that was aspirational. "Every American is not going to be eligible this spring," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the strategy, said the additional doses would be delivered this summer. Pfizer and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford Each company has agreed to deliver 200 million doses to the federal government by the end of June. Pfizer has said it can deliver 120 million of those doses by the end of March, while Moderna has pledged 100 million by then. Manufacturing has steadily ramped up, in pace with those targets. As a result, federal allocations to states and other jurisdictions will increase by about 16% next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without immediately alleviating supply problems. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's coronavirus response, informed governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to people familiar with his comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. The vaccine is distributed among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities. Senior administration officials said the increased supply will come mostly from releasing more doses of Moderna's vaccine. The stepped-up allocations will remain for three weeks, these officials said, as the Department of Health and Human Services provides estimates on that time scale. The increased allocations and the promise of better forecasts came as welcome news to state and local officials, who have implored the federal government for estimates of available supply so they can plan and set expectations for the public. Such projections were not possible in December, according to current and former federal officials, because of uncertainty about manufacturing and instability in the supply chain. The government has gained greater understanding of production schedules, especially after directing suppliers to fulfill Pfizer's needs under the Defense Production Act. Shortages are having stark consequences throughout the country. Vaccine appointments have been canceled as health officers and medical providers confront a limited supply of doses, which are being prioritized for medical workers, older people, front-line workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots. There could soon be a bright spot in the form of a third vaccine, though its efficacy is not publicly known. Health officials are awaiting data from a trial by Johnson & Johnson, which will probably arrive in the next week. That data may also suggest how a vaccine performs against one of the variants spreading throughout the world, because some of the trial was conducted in South Africa, where a more transmissible and possibly more deadly variant has been identified. The effort to buy additional doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines represents a shift in strategy as the Biden administration doubles down on two highly effective products authorized by federal regulators. The Trump administration worked to spread its risks widely over many different candidates. Once the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year showed such high efficacy - about 95% - some government vaccine experts said the administration should quickly acquire as much of those vaccines as possible, even if the result was that the United States ended up with more vaccine than it needed. At the same time, Biden and his top aides have stressed that vaccine supply is only one aspect of the challenges involved in executing the immunization campaign. The administration is seeking additional resources for state and local health departments and has vowed greater federal coordination of the efforts, including plans to augment the public health workforce and set up mass vaccination sites. The administration has also pledged to increase transparency for state and local officials overseeing ground-level planning and for members of the public waiting to be vaccinated. Biden administration officials are also seeking to have more data related to vaccination efforts posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a federal health official. Ideally, that would include data about manufacturing, supply and allocation to the states. Information about production and supply is not publicly available. The vaccine rollout has been marked by a lack of transparency about stockpiles, short-term distribution schedules and contradictory statements from government officials. Companies producing vaccines have issued broad statements about vaccine goals based on quarterly projections. - - - The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report. Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - Several African civil society organisations here Tuesday affirmed their support for "the fair and noble fight" of Guinean activists, including members jailed for several months It may seem unfair or unethical when politicians do this, but its legal, courts have held. The Rule of Three is reasonable because each question gets the attention it deserves, as opposed to getting lost among a bunch of other ballot measures, judges have decided. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Art preservation doesnt typically include hunting for dried ravioli in a very specific size, or trying to remove a Christmas cookie stain from 20-year-old paper. But when Albany Institute of History & Art curator Diane Shewchuk pulls Joan Steiners Look-Alikes dioramas out of storage for their annual showing at the museum, she sometimes finds that parts of them have literally rotted away. The works, which range from a soda fountain diorama to a "Nutcracker" scene to a miniature kitchen, are created using everyday household objects and food itemsfrom pretzels, breadsticks and Cheez Doodles to safety pins and Q-tips. Refurbishing them includes a very careful cleaning with a teeny tiny vacuum attachment, and often a trip to the supermarket. Every year, there are a few things we need to replace, so were always on the lookout for items that are the right scale, Shewchuk said. For example, the ravioli pillows on one of the sofas didnt survive, and its very hard to find that exact size of ravioli. One year, two cookies in the Nutcracker scene fell and left a butter stain on the paper floor, so we had to have an object conservator come in and create a fake Oriental carpet to cover the stain. Steiner, who lived and worked in Claverack until her death in 2010, originally created the incredibly detailed pieces not to be shown in a museum but to be photographed for her series of Look-Alikes books, the first of which was published in 1998. In fact, she often took the assemblages apart after the photo sessions and used the objects to make a new diorama. But when Shewchuk, the former director of the Columbia County Historical Society, heard that 10 of Steiners creations were sitting in a storage unit in Hudson, she petitioned the artists family to give them a home at the Institute. Theyve now become a tradition at the museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has their angel tree, the Museum of Natural History has their origami tree, and we have the Steiner Look-Alikes, Shewchuk said. Theyre not about a specific religion, theyre just a really joyful thing to offer the community, and families look forward to seeing them every year. The works are typically on display Thanksgiving weekend through the February school break, and will be up until Feb. 18 this year. (The Institute temporarily closed starting Jan. 7 in response to COVID safety recommendations from county officials, but plans to reopen this week.) Shewchuk also creates a scavenger hunt each year, listing items for visitors to search for in the densely populated scenes scattered throughout the galleries. I love to watch the interaction and the dialogue among different generations as theyre searching, she said. The kids sometimes dont know what the things are and the grandparents have to help them find things theyve never seen before, like an egg slicer or a Walkman or a badminton shuttlecock. Joans tagline was The more you look, the more you see, and its definitely true. In her studio on Warren Street in Hudson, Steiner kept color-sorted bins full of the kinds of stuff that usually ends up in junk drawerswooden spools of thread, shoe polish tins, seashells, snaps, toothbrushes, potato peelers. She built a teeny picket fence out birthday candles, transformed a pencil sharpener into a napkin dispenser and combined an egg cup and a floss container to make a perfect toilet for a tiny bathroom. Tea bags became window shades, Triscuits and dried apricots served as chair cushions and nail polish bottles morphed into table lamps. Often, Steiner says in a short video about her work made in the mid-2000s, she would spot a resemblanceever notice that cement mixers look just like mustard bottles?and then create a scene around it. The Look-Alikes series includes Look-Alikes Jr., Look-Alikes Christmas and Look-Alikes Around the World, as well as puzzles made from the photographs. Steiner also created wearable worksa set of vests, each depicting a room in her childhood home in New York City; and Manhattan Collar, a recreation of the borough with 3-D buildings, boats and bridges that sits on the wearers shoulders, matched with a pair of helicopter earrings. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:23:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Contestants take part in the tray race in Macao, south China, Sept. 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday heard a work report via video link from Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Ho Iat Seng on the Macao SAR government's work in 2020 and Macao's current situation. "While preventing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic, effective measures have been taken to restore the economy and overcome the people's difficulties. These measures have achieved positive results and promoted social harmony in Macao," Xi told Ho. "The central authorities fully acknowledge the work you and the Macao SAR government have done," Xi said. Japan ship operator starts compensation for fishermen over oil spill January 27,2021 | Source: Africanews The Japanese operator of a ship that leaked oil off the Mauritius Coast started to pay compensation to fishermen on Tuesday. A total of 25,000 US dollars will be paid to 50 fishermen, which amounts to 500 dollars each. In July the MV Wakashio ship ran aground off the coast of Mauritius and in August it leaked over 1,000 tons of oil. The pristine coastline turned black and mangroves and coral reefs have been damaged. It also killed some 50 dolphins, whales and other marine creatures. It is has affected the country's tourism which has already been sunk by the coronavirus pandemic and hit those who make a living from the coast. Thousands of locals had worked for days to try and reduce the damage and contain the oil spill and France sent a naval ship, military aircraft and advisers from the nearby island of Reunion. The company Japan P&I Club pledged over nine million dollars towards clean up efforts and for "support measures" to restore the marine environment over the course of several years. Mauritius had originally demanded 34 million dollars. The company has also already handled 3,000 individual requests. The oil spill has been described by environmental experts as a disaster for nature, which will have wide-reaching and long-lasting repercussions. Theme(s): Others. Partnership Providing Free Access to Mobile Wi-Fi for Tennessee Families Nashville, TNToday, the Tennessee Department of Education announced a new five-year partnership, T-Mobile Tech for TN Students, to provide school districts across the state with access to over 200,000 student connectivity devices, or mobile Wi-Fi hotspot device, to provide directly to families at no cost to them. Through T-Mobile's nationwide initiative, Project 10Million, the department will provide participating districts access to student connectivity devices to provide mobile Wi-Fi to households across Tennessee, with more than 40,000 devices available this year. Districts have three tiers of service to choose from, with 100GB of data per device per year available for free. "As our school districts have navigated through a global health pandemic over the past year, we know access to technology and the internet remains an issue for many students, said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. We are grateful that T-Mobile launched this nationwide initiative and that we are able to partner to open opportunities for districts to secure free Wi-Fi hotspots for their students and their families to use at home. Each year over the next five years, more than 40,000 additional devices from T-Mobile will become available statewide and will be distributed directly to districts by T-Mobile according to economic factors including amount of Title 1 schools, distressed county designations and National School Lunch Program eligibility rates. Districts interested in participating will complete an online application and contract, and student connectivity devices are CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) compliant. Through this partnership, districts that choose to participate have three tiers of service to support virtual instruction and the needs of their families: Free: Allows for up to 100GB per year per device $12 per month: Allows for 100GB per month per device $15 per month: Allows for unlimited data per device "Over the past several months, COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for families across the state, especially in rural areas where access to quality internet services is lacking. We are grateful to the department for providing access to these critical Wi-Fi devices so our students can continue to learn at home when virtual school is necessary, said Dr. Versie Hamlett, Director of Fayette County Schools. This program will allow us to bridge the connectivity gap and continue providing essential services to our students. Additional information on T-Mobile Tech for TN Students, including the online application, FAQ, and more, can be found here. Access to the internet means access to opportunity and T-Mobile believes every single child is deserving of that access, said Mike Katz, executive vice president of T-Mobile for Business. We are so proud that over the next five years Project 10Million will make free, reliable connectivity accessible to over 200,000 students all across Tennessee, including those in critically important underserved rural areas without high-speed internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has provided multiple districts with additional resources and funding related to technology, including $50 million in device funding grants and $15 million for districts to pursue connectivity options for students. Project 10Million is a nationwide initiative from T-Mobile with the goal of offering free internet access and mobile hotspots to 10 million eligible households. Learn more about the initiative here. For additional information on the departments COVID-19 and school reopening related resources, please visit https://www.tn.gov/education/health-and-safety/update-on-coronavirus/reopening-guidance.html. For additional information, For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov. ### Letter: If the past is any indication, maybe smaller is better for schools More than 25 years after filming their hit 1995 movie Boys on the Side, Matthew McConaughey and Drew Barrymore reunited, virtually. McConaughey, 51, reminisced on filming the movie in a virtual interview on Tuesday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. The Oscar-winning actor also reflected on his small role in Sex and the City, while promoting his new memoir Greenlights. Reminisced: McConaughey, 51, reminisced on filming the movie in a virtual interview on Tuesday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show Reunited: More than 25 years after filming their hit 1995 movie Boys on the Side, Matthew McConaughey and Drew Barrymore reunited, virtually Barrymore showed a photo of of her and McConaughey, along with Whoopi Goldberg from Boys on the Side, asking her guest if it, 'feels like yesterday or does it feel like a long time ago?' 'Yeah does it feel like yesterday? Does it feel like 60 years ago? But now Im looking at that, I remember where we were Tucson, Arizona,' McConaughey began. 'You would leave the set, I remember I was driving my little blue truck wed drive back to Tucson from the set. I remember you telling me how much you loved avocados back then,' he added. Old photo: Barrymore showed a photo of of her and McConaughey, along with Whoopi Goldberg from Boys on the Side, asking her guest if it, 'feels like yesterday or does it feel like a long time ago?' Remember: 'Yeah does it feel like yesterday? Does it feel like 60 years ago? But now Im looking at that, I remember where we were Tucson, Arizona,' McConaughey began His former co-star added that she would, 'like to be buried under an avocado tree, I would,' while also recalling that he liked to play the bongos a lot. 'Yes, Ive been playing the bongos, I played bongos long before I got arrested for playing bongos. The actor was referring to a now-infamous 1999 arrest when cops found him naked and playing bongos in the wee hours of the morning. Buried: His former co-star added that she would, 'like to be buried under an avocado tree, I would,' while also recalling that he liked to play the bongos a lot Arrested: 'Yes, Ive been playing the bongos, I played bongos long before I got arrested for playing bongos He was also asked about his memorable cameo as himself in a 2000 episode of Sex and the City, which was just announced will be rebooted on HBO Max. The actor admitted, 'I dont really remember what I did. I remember I made some strong choices.' Hewe did take one the Director/Producers like, Okay. So is that what you are going to do? And I was like, Press record man. Thats what I just did. Thats who I am. Thats what Im doing. Cameo: He was also asked about his memorable cameo as himself in a 2000 episode of Sex and the City, which was just announced will be rebooted on HBO Max Strong choices: The actor admitted, 'I dont really remember what I did. I remember I made some strong choices' McConaughey will return to voice Buster Moon in the upcoming animated sequel Sing 2, which is slated for release on December 22. His memoir Greenlights was published back in October, with the actor recently making headlines for a potential new career path. The actor spoke with Maria Menounos on her Better Together podcast last week, where he hinted at a career as a professional wrestler in the WWE. She jetted to Mexico earlier this month for work purposes. And Lottie Moss took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a slew of snaps of herself in lingerie behind-the-scenes of a photoshoot, after returning to LA following her trip. The model, 23, looked incredible in a hot pink bustier and matching thong before slipping into a two-piece to pose on the bed. Racy: Lottie Moss took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a slew of snaps of herself in lingerie behind-the-scenes of a photoshoot The bustier corset-style top highlighted Lottie's surgically-enhanced cleavage and slender waist, while the tiny bottoms accentuated her model legs. The sister of Kate Moss panned the camera down as she admired the lingerie in a mirror. In another snap, Lottie showed off her rid tattoos as she provocatively posed on a bed holding her thong. Turning up the heat: The model, 23, looked incredible in a hot pink bustier and matching thong before slipping into a two-piece to pose on the bed Barbie girl: Lottie also modelled a pink bodysuit with a cut out back Gorgeous: The bustier corset-style top highlighted Lottie's surgically-enhanced cleavage and slender waist, while the tiny bottoms accentuated her model legs Lottie also modelled a pink bodysuit with a cut out back and a green bikini. Despite it being a busy day modelling, the London beauty took to Instagram to share a slew of throwback shots with the caption: 'I miss my friends'. In one Lottie rocked a white crop top and matching skirt while in another she posed with two pals in a lift. Working it: The sister of Kate Moss panned the camera down as she admired the lingerie in a mirror Stunning: Lottie's hair was styled in beachy waves and she sported a glamorous make-up look Before she shared her latest sexy snaps, Lottie didn't seem fazed by the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic as she partied with her pals on a yacht during her trip to Mexico. Despite being abroad for work earlier this month, Lottie didn't seem to be stretching herself too much as she lived it up in the sunshine with her friends on the vessel. Prior to her trip, Lottie apologised for saying she was a 'coronavirus super-spreader' in December, calling herself 'young and dumb'. It comes after Lottie apologised for filming herself kissing two female friends and claiming she was a 'coronavirus super-spreader.' All eyes on her: The daring lingerie showed off her ample cleavage The clip was broadcast during an Instagram Live when London was in Tier 2 and social distancing, as well as wearing masks, was very much a requirement. The video was filmed while Lottie was out for dinner with four friends who live in the same household, a scenario justified by the model as she lives alone and can therefore join someone else's support bubble. After reflecting on the comments made during the recording, Lottie later confessed to being 'young and dumb' and often forgetting her status as a 'public figure.' In an apology posted to Instagram, she said: 'I just wanted to come on here and say I am so sorry for saying I was a super-spreader. 'Someone in the live popped up saying those words and I repeated them as a joke because I am not and would never condone spreading a virus as serious as this. Fantastic figure: Lottie also posed in a green bikini which showed off her toned abs 'I was out for dinner with four friends, three of which are in the same household and under the government guidelines as I live alone I am allowed a support bubble of four. 'I understand this has upset and offended a lot of people and I want to apologise for making such an insensitive joke. 'I am still young and dumb and learning. I sometimes forget that I am a public figure and during these crazy and uncertain times I should have been more careful with my words.' Lottie appears to be moving on from the error in judgement as she has been focusing on work during her business trip to Mexico. Homesick? Despite it being a busy day modelling, the London beauty took to Instagram to share a slew of throwback shots with the caption: 'I miss my friends' YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Iranian FM Javad Zarif emphasized during a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Ara Aivazian in Yerevan that Iran finds Armenia to be an important neighbor. In his words, the borders of Armenia and Iran have always been borders of friendship and cooperation. Iran attaches big importance to the territorial integrity of all countries, and respects and follows that all nations religious and other rights are always protected. Our red line is the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, on which weve clearly expressed ourselves, Zarif said. The Iranian FM expressed condolences over the human losses in the 2020 Artsakh War, and emphasized that work must be done to solve humanitarian issues. We are a country that has seen war and we are familiar with the pain and sorrow that the people bear during war. Iran is ready to provide any kind of humanitarian assistance to solve these issues, FM Zarif said. He added that Iran is ready to further develop relations with Armenia in the political, cultural, economic and security sectors. We have common concerns, including the presence of terrorists, he said. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Roger Alford did his homework even before he made the leap to becoming a student in Purdue University's online electrical and computer engineering master's degree program. I evaluated every online program available at the time and found Purdue to have one of the best," said Alford, who received his master's in December. "It was well established, well organized, had many excellent course offerings, and had a good selection of concentrations to choose from. These features, combined with Purdues deeply rooted reputation for engineering excellence, made it the clear choice for me. Alford, an experienced professional engineer on a team developing lifesaving medical devices, is not alone in that evaluation. As they did in 2020, Purdue's online graduate engineering programs rank third overall in U.S. News & World Report's latest ranking of the Best Online Programs in the nation. Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering all ranked No. 1 in their categories. Purdue's overall online graduate engineering programs ranked behind only Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles. U.S. News & World Report ranked 97 colleges and universities with online graduate engineering programs. The 2021 rankings were released Tuesday (Jan. 26) and can be viewed here. In the specialty online engineering graduate program rankings, Purdue ranked second in Civil Engineering and third in both online engineering programs for veterans and online engineering management programs, in addition to the first-place rankings for Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Learning is a lifelong joy that a land-grant university like Purdue can sustain through online opportunities, said Mung Chiang, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. With leadership from Gerry McCartney and Dimitri Peroulis and their teams, Purdue Engineering has been advancing online learning with excellence and scale. From affordable masters degrees to industry co-hosted badges, from global university partnerships to virtual lab pedagogy, we will continue to innovate learning for everyone. Peroulis, the Michael and Katherine Birck Head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and special advisor to the dean of engineering for online learning, said, Our faculty have created a number of high-quality programs that meet the needs of working professionals across multiple fields. We are proud of the growing learning community of our online students who work earnestly and persistently to earn the same degrees as our on-campus students. McCartney, executive vice president for Purdue Online, said, The College of Engineering is on the leading edge of Purdue's initiative to greatly expand its online presence and to serve all types of students, with a special emphasis on working professionals. These latest rankings speak to the effectiveness of Engineering's efforts, and I dont doubt that theres more where that came from. The organizers of the annual U.S. News rankings analyze data on such factors as the quality of students entering a program; online teaching practices so students stay enrolled and graduate; how the programs employ technologies to allow students flexibility and enable learning; student support services, career guidance, financial aid resources, student indebtedness; and more. Also weighed are faculty credentials and training, including the degree to which online instructors credentials mirror those of on-campus faculty and the training instructors receive to teach distance learners. In addition, U.S. News conducts a peer assessment survey of high-ranking academic officials in the case of the engineering rankings, deans of engineering schools and top online learning officials as an important element of reviewing Purdue and other institutions for ranking. Purdues College of Education graduate education programs are fifth in educational/instructional media design, 10th in curriculum and instruction programs, 11th in special education programs, 19th in administration and supervision programs, and fifth in online masters education programs for veterans. Purdue is 42nd overall in online education masters programs. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at https://purdue.edu/. Writer: Greg Kline, 765-494-8167, gkline@purdue.edu Sources: Mung Chiang, deanofengineering@purdue.edu Gerry McCartney, mccart@purdue.edu Dimitrios Peroulis, dperouli@purdue.edu Journalists visiting campus : Journalists should follow Protect Purdue protocols and the following guidelines: Ghanaian actor Eddie Nartey has reportedly lost his beloved wife, Vida Obenewah Nartey. Two years ago, on September 22, 2018, the actor got married to his beautiful bride Vida in a colorful and joyous wedding ceremony. Sadly, the actor announced Morning morning, January 25, 2021 the passing away of his wife. In a heartbreaking Instagram post, Eddie Nartey said; ''I dont know what to say, I dont know what to feel. Im just in constant pain. Rest well my Habibi. God knows Best. I pray for strength! #ripvida''. The cause of her death is yet-to-be known. Celebrities like Nana Ama Mcbrown, John Dumelo, Joselyn Dumas, Prince David Osei, Vicky Zugah, Gloria Safo, James Gardiner and a host of others including the general public have extended their condolences to the actor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by E d d i e N a r t e y (@eddienartey) Before Mr. Nartey shared this sad news with his followers and the general public, he and his late wife had granted an interview narrating their love story, journey to marriage and tackling other related issues. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Photo: Contributed Its deja vu all over again on interprovincial shipping More than a decade ago, a group of folks and various industry associations began a grass roots campaign with one goal, to open Canadas provincial borders to Canadian wine. That is, to allow a winery in, lets say, Ontario, to freely ship its Cabernet Franc to, oh, how about Newfoundland. There is still a healthy amount of confusion about which provinces allow wine in from other provinces without having a wine consumer have to ship wine to a provincial liquor board where tax gets calculated before said consumer can fetch their wine. About a decade ago, I sat down with MP Dan Albas and a colleague from the B.C. Wine Institute in a coffee shop in Penticton to inform him of this oddity in inter-provincial shipping. At the time I, and others, were preparing a bid for what was then known as the North American Wine Bloggers Conference. One of the goals I had was to have only Canadian wine at the conference, which would host several hundred wine bloggers and writers from mostly the United States. Many had never been to the Okanagan (or Canada), and their Canadian wine knowledge often began with icewine. MP Albas had a private members bill Bill C-311, An Act to Amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors (for personal use) introduced in the House of Commons. It became law in June of 2012. The bloggers came to Penticton a year later. They had almost all Okanagan wine and a great time, I might add, as it was still too challenging to get wine from other provinces here for a myriad of reasons. Thankfully, we can support local restaurants by adding booze to our delivery and takeout orders when they perhaps need that income more than ever. But here we are a decade on, and were still talking about shipping a nice case of Chardonnay to a friend across the country with no worries, penalties, or high shipping costs. Enter a new petition. Spurred on by Ron Kubek, owner of Summerlands Lightning Rock Winery, Mr. Albas is once again promoting the idea of buy, ship, and sip to break down interprovincial trade barriers and allow direct-to-consumer sales of (Canadian grown and Canadian fermented or distilled) beer, wine, and spirits across the country. The petition, which can be signed until Valentines Day, aims to have a new Bill, C-260, An Act to Amend the Canada Post Corporation Act, passed so all Canadians of legal drinking age can have wine, craft beer, and spirits shipped directly to them via Canada Post. All politics aside, this is about supporting an industry that has been built by small businesses, families, and generations of farming, and I hope Im not writing about a third bill a decade from now. As the United States re-enters the Paris Agreement and President Biden follows through on promises to implement policies aimed at decreasing domestic oil and natural gas production, it is important to reflect on where the United States currently stands with regard to emissions reductions and the countrys long-sought goal of energy independence. Given all the angst generated by former President Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, one might assume the United States current greenhouse gas emissions trajectory is spiraling out of control. But the U.S. is actually on pace to meet its original Paris commitments, having reduced energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions 21 percent since 2005. The U.S. actually leads all nations in CO2 emission reductions since 2005 and experts agree a major reason is increased use of natural gas, which has become much more abundant and affordable due to U.S. oil and natural gas industry innovation. Similarly, American oil and natural gas industry innovation can be credited with the fact that we have achieved our long-coveted goal of becoming a net petroleum exporter. By any objective measure, the United States has made tremendous strides on the environment and energy independence fronts over the past 15 years that can largely be credited to an oil and natural gas renaissance that is now under assault. These achievements were long thought to be either-or propositions, but it turns out they are not mutually exclusive and were not as far out of reach as was widely believed just a few years ago when our oil and natural gas prowess was at the meager levels Keep It In the Ground policies aim to return it to. Its easy to forget that U.S. oil production reached its lowest level in more than six decades in 2008. Applying the same logic currently being used to justify policies aimed at reducing U.S. oil and gas production, one might assume this drove down petroleum consumption and CO2 emissions as well. But the opposite actually occurred. U.S. petroleum product consumption continued to soar during this time, while CO2 emissions rose to record levels and America became seemingly permanently entrenched as the worlds top petroleum importer. Americas oil and natural gas renaissance reversed all these trends over the next decade-plus, but a repeat of the situation observed back in 2008 could occur again if Keep It In the Ground policies are successful in voluntarily ending that renaissance. On the emissions front, policies aimed at curtailing U.S. drilling will make natural gas more expensive and less plentiful, leading to a likely increase in coal use, considering intermittent renewable energy is nowhere near reliable enough to power a developed society with a modern economy. Increased coal use would lead to a reversal in downward emission trends seen since about 2005. On the petroleum consumption front, the Department of Energy projects oil to remain the United States top energy source through at least 2050. Its not difficult to see why, considering more than 55 percent of U.S. petroleum demand is non-gasoline and has no scalable substitute. Even if the 265 million gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles currently on American roadways disappeared tomorrow, we would still need a lot of oil for many years to come. Recent history shows us that declining domestic production deliberate or not will not reduce demand. Instead, it leads to soaring energy costs and reliance on the Saudi Arabias and Russias of the world for the oil our country is going to inevitably need. Fortunately, unlike the situation that developed in the 2000s when peak oil fears reigned and oil imports and emissions soared before being remedied by the shale revolution, a mere pragmatic choice rather than a miracle is needed this time around. The choice: Build on our energy independence and environmental progress. The alternative: choose become reliant on foreign energy sources while watching our emissions increase. If we look back in a year or two and see our energy independence has vanished and our emissions have stopped trending downward, its a safe bet that we chose the deeply flawed Keep It In the Ground alternative. Seth Whitehead is executive director of the Illinois Petroleum Resources Board. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Australias vaccine rollout plan is under a cloud after the European Union slapped export controls on COVID-19 vaccines produced within their territory, including the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs the Morrison government is relying on. The controls, which effectively mean vaccine producers must ask for permission before shipping vials outside the region, will at the very least slow the distribution process for countries outside Europe. The government remains confident the vaccine program will commence in late February, despite the European Union controls. Credit:AP A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt did not answer specific questions about what the European decision means for Australias vaccine rollout. Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being manufactured in Belgium. The first shipment of at least 80,000 doses is due by the end of February. The country is also expecting 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be imported into Australia from Europe as local manufacturing of that vaccine ramps up. On Monday, that number was revised down from the previously expected 3.8 million due to global supply issues. Mr Hunt remains confident Pfizer will still deliver the first lot of 80,000 vaccines at the end of February, a spokesman said. Read the full story here. The on Wednesday asked the central government why it is resisting an order of the court to translate the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in all "We do not understand why the government is resisting an order of this court for translating the draft into the languages so that everyone can understand and respond to it," the bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel said. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing on the behalf of the Centre, told the court that translating it in several languages would create a lot of "administrative problems". The ASG said, "We will file an affidavit." Following this, Chief Justice Patel slated the matter for February 25 for the Centre to place on record the difficulties faced by it in translating the draft. The Chief Justice was hearing a review petition filed by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change against an order to translate the draft notification into 22 In its June 30 judgment, the court had directed the ministry to translate the draft notification in all the 22 languages mentioned in the Constitution within 10 days of the verdict, on the application filed by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad. Tongad, in his application, had sought the court's directions to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to upload the translated versions of the draft EIA 2020 on the home page of its main website. On March 23, the ministry published a draft notification on the Environmental Impact Assessment and sought objections or suggestions from members of the public. The draft has been widely criticised for its problematic changes in rules. --IANS aka/kr (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Risteard Pierse at home with daughter Sophie-Mai (17), where the St Itas and St Josephs student is like so many special students across the country facing the huge challenge of learning without the benefit of face-to-face teacher support amid an ongoing impasse between Education Minister Norma Foley and teacher unions. Photo by Domnick Walsh Talks are continuing this week at resolving the impasse between Minister for Education Norma Foley and the unions over the re-opening of schools for special education provision. It had been intended to re-open schools for special education last Thursday, January 21, but the plan descended into chaos with claims from the unions involved that it is not safe to return to school on one side while Minister Foley publicly criticised the unions for not returning to school, on the other. It is understood that many parents also feared sending their children back to school but others say special education is vital to ensure that their children do not regress. One such parent is Risteard Pierse who wrote a strongly worded letter to the four teaching unions in the county calling on them to return to teaching to help all children with special needs. Currently talks are taking place with the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) who represent primary school teachers and Foras who represent special needs assistants (SNAs) . Secondary level teachers are represented by the ASTI and the TUI but are not part of the talks. The Tralee solicitor lays the blame firmly on the shoulders of the unions and believes they are 'obstructing' the return to school. "An injustice is being visited upon our children with special needs." Expand Close Fionn pictured at Christmas with his sister Sinead / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Fionn pictured at Christmas with his sister Sinead His daughter, Sophie Mai, is 17 and attends St Ita's and St Joeph's school in Tralee, which caters for primary and post-primary children with special needs. In the letter, which has also been sent to local TD's, Mr Pierce says the closure of schools is seriously affecting his daughter. "Sophie is non-verbal and has other issues/needs which have required various medical interventions and other supports to ensure that she may progress/ develop to achieve her optimum potential. Attending at her Special Needs Secondary School has been a most important aspect of getting Sophie such supports. The teachers and SNAs at St Ita's & St Joseph's have been most thoughtful and competent in engaging with Sophie in a professional and personable manner, tailoring class-work and homework to gradually develop her competences in a manner she is most receptive to," he said. However, he said since lock-down Sophie has been seen to regress - most noticeably in the past few weeks. "Over the past month, despite efforts at online tuition and our parental engagement with same and homework, Sophie has regressed educationally to an extent that is most disconcerting - not now recognising some basic shapes, nor spelling simple words she could easily manage a year ago," he said. He has pleaded with unions to co-operate with talks: "I wish to earnestly urge your union to engage constructively early this week in the relevant ongoing discussions so as to facilitate the re-opening of most schools who like St Ita's and St Joseph's are well positioned to deliver classroom education to special needs students in a manner that is safe for both students and teachers/SNAs alike. "Hopefully, the efforts of you and the Minister for Education and her officials will result in general consensus early this week. If not, I wish to implore your Union not to issue any blanket directive advising members against co-operating with reopening of schools to cater for students with special needs," he said. Meanwhile, Sarah Kelleher who is a treasurer with Down Syndrome Kerry and who has a son Fionn (7) with Down Syndrome believes that teachers concerns must be addressed. As a parent she too wants schools to re-open to ensure that Fionn and others like him get the education they need. "I would like to see them re-open, Fionn loves routine he thrives on routine and likes to know what is coming next. Home for him is not school and every day is a battle." "I have lots of hope for my child and it is heart-breaking to see him regress." However, she says that teachers and their unions are not being listened to and their safety concerns must be addressed to allow children with special needs to return to school. She says that the care and attention that Cullina National School has given Fionn has helped him progress and she has praised all the staff for this support. She says that Fionn needs to continue this progression, which is at jeopardy, until a solution is found to the current impasse between unions and Minister Foley. At school, Fionn receives resources hours and has SNA support but he is part of the main-stream class. Both these supports are in place for Fionn while the school is shut but is not the ideal scenario given his additional needs. "The agressiveness of this new virus need to be discussed. I think teachers feel they are not being listened to. The announcement was made prior to consultation. I would love to see Fionn back at school and attending regular hours but teachers are front-line staff and need to be listened to." Killarney principal: This is a battle against the virus, not each other Principal of St Oliver's National School in Killarney, Rory D'Arcy has called for calm in the current crisis that has arisen amid plans to return to school. "This is a battle against the virus, not each other. The focus must be on getting numbers down to get children back to school." He said there is 'no doubt' there is a link between a return to school and the number of cases and that the focus remains on the virus. The Killarney principal said that an agreement on how best to proceed must be made. "It is a time for cool heads. We must work behind the scenes to get an agreement," he added. "It must be seen within the context in the decline in cases." Mr D'Arcy said that for parents last week's announcement that schools would re-open and then didn't was 'heart-breaking' but he said it is a complex issue. "No-body is coming out of this well our job is to protect children ... It is time to be grown-ups and stand up and battle against the virus. He said schools must be allowed 'flexibility' to look after students most in need and that it is not just schools but community services that must step in too. "One size does not fit all ... We need a multi-disciplinary approach both public and private services. It is not just schools but all services in the community." RIL chief Mukesh Ambani virtually addressing FII conference. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani stressed on "price stability" as he spoke on the challenges before global energy sector at Saudi Arabias flagship investment conference that began on January 27. In his virtual address at the Future Investment Initiative (FII), Ambani said a consumer country, and he as a consumer, "would like to dream about stability in prices". The global energy industry was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Ambani said, adding that "we have not only seen a drop in consumption but also a drop in investments". According to the World Energy Outlook 2020, the global energy demand was set to drop by 5 percent in the past year, whereas, the energy investment was expected to dip by 18 percent. Despite a challenging period, Ambani expressed optimism on the future of global energy sector. "Energy for five out of eight million people is still an essential requirement. We expect this energy consumption to grow," he said. The RIL chief also batted for renewable energy, saying that the pandemic has shown that people show preference for clean energy if provided. Ambani, before speaking on the energy sector, also called for worldwide cooperation to mark the global economic recovery. Lessons should be learnt from the manner in which multiple vaccines for COVID-19 were developed in less than 12 months, he added. "If we show same urgency in achieving global recovery it can benefit entire world and we can aim to see a better future," Ambani said. Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. A California healthcare worker who said he was excited to get the COVID-19 vaccine died just two days after receiving his second dose of Pfizer jab, according to a report. Tim Zook, a 60-year-old X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, died on January 7, according to the Orange County Register. Two days earlier, after receiving his second jab on January 5, Zook wrote on Facebook: Never been so excited to get a shot before. I am now fully vaccinated after receiving my second Pfizer dose. However, within hours the father-of-three reportedly suffered an apparent adverse reaction, telling co-workers he had sharp pains in his stomach and was having difficulties breathing. After his symptoms worsened, his coworkers walked him over to the emergency room where he was placed on a ventilator four hours after arriving. Two days later, on January 7, he was transferred to the UC Irvine Medical Center and placed in a medically induced coma. His wife, Rochelle Zook, told the Register that within hours his kidneys started failing, before he was declared dead later that day. Zook's family said he had high blood pressure and was slightly overweight, but otherwise had no underlying health conditions. The Orange County coroner said Zook's cause of death is currently inconclusive and further toxicology testing will take months to complete. If there is a correlation to the vaccine, the office said it will notify the OC Health Care Agency. In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Pfizer spokesperson said the company is aware of Zooks death and is also investigating the matter. Tim Zook (above with wife Rochelle), a 60-year-old X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana died just two days after receiving his second dose of Pfizer jab Moments after he was given the vaccine, Zook wrote on Facebook: Never been excited to get a shot before. I am now fully vaccinated after receiving my second Pfizer dose' Pfizer said: Our immediate thoughts are with the bereaved family. We closely monitor all such events and collect relevant information to share with global regulatory authorities. Based on ongoing safety reviews performed by Pfizer, BioNTech and health authorities, BNT162b2 retains a positive benefit-risk profile for the prevention of COVID-19 infections. Serious adverse events, including deaths that are unrelated to the vaccine, are unfortunately likely to occur at a similar rate as they would in the general population. Rochelle Zook told the Register her family was not blaming any pharmaceutical company.' My husband loved what he did,' she said. 'He worked in hospitals for 36 1/2 years. He believed in vaccines. Im sure he would take that vaccine again, and hed want the public to take it. But when someone gets symptoms 2 1/2 hours after a vaccine, thats a reaction. What else could have happened? We would like the public to know what happened to Tim, so he didnt die in vain. Severe reactions are rare. In reality, COVID is a much more deadly force than reactions from the potential vaccine itself. The message is, be safe, take the vaccine but the officials need to do more research. We need to know the cause. The vaccines need to be as safe as possible. Every life matters. Rochelle said her husband had high blood pressure, which he had been taking medication for, for years. But she said he had never before been hospitalized, and would usually get over a cold or a flu within a matter of days. Friends and family members have described Zook as a caring man who passionately urged others to follow COVID precautions, such as wearing face masks and practicing social distancing. Matt Whaley, CEO of South Coast Global Medical Center where Zook worked, said: Our deepest condolences are with Tim Zooks family and loved ones. Tim was a part of our family, too, and we are all grieving his loss. Within hours of receiving the vaccine, the father-of-three (shown above at work) reportedly suffered an adverse reaction, telling co-workers he had sharp pains in his stomach and was having difficulties breathing. After his symptoms worsened, his coworkers at South Coast Global Medical Center (above) walked him over to the emergency room, where he was placed on a ventilator within four hours of arriving 'Perfectly Healthy' Miami doctor, 56, Dies Weeks After Getting Pfizer Jab The grieving wife of a leading Florida doctor has told DailyMail.com how her perfect husband died from a mystery blood disorder - just days after getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine. Heidi Neckelmann says obstetrician Gregory Michael, 56 - her best friend and partner of 28 years was active, healthy and had no pre-existing conditions before getting the jab on December 18. However he died from a stroke Sunday morning after suddenly developing a rare autoimmune illness that causes the body to destroy its own platelets, the tiny fragments that help blood to clot. Distraught Heidi, 58, thinks the groundbreaking Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine may have somehow been the trigger. In my mind his death was 100 percent linked to the vaccine. There is no other explanation, she told DailyMail.com, fighting back tears. He was in very good health. He didnt smoke, he drank alcohol once in a while but only socially. He worked out, we had kayaks, he was a deep sea fisherman. They tested him for everything you can imagine afterwards, even cancer, and there was absolutely nothing else wrong with him. Pfizer told DailyMail.com Wednesday that it was aware of Dr. Michael's highly unusual death and was investigating further. However a spokesman cautioned: We dont believe at this time that there is any direct connection to the vaccine. Advertisement Zooks death came within in days of a doctor in Miami dying of a mysterious blood disorder, weeks after he received the Pfizer shot. Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist in Miami Beach, suffered idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a rare immune disorder in which the blood doesnt clot normally. Family members described him as perfectly healthy, with no pre-existing conditions before getting the jab weeks earlier on December 18. He died suddenly after suffering a stroke, the cause of which is currently under investigation. Similarly, over the weekend, officials in Placer County, California, reported that a man died after shortly after receiving an unspecified COVID vaccine on January 21. The person has not yet been named, and an autopsy is currently being carried out to determine their specific cause of death. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System which experts caution is a passive surveillance system and is unverified has gathered more than 130 reports of death after vaccination in 2021, so far. A total of 1,330 adverse reactions have been reported, according to the website, while more than 23.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been administered. DailyMail.com has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services for comment on the accuracy of the listed statistics. In a statement to the Register, the department said: No prescription drug or biological product, such as a vaccine, is completely free from side effects. Vaccines protect many people from dangerous illnesses, but vaccines, like drugs, can cause side effects, a small percentage of which may be serious. About 85-90% of vaccine adverse event reports concern relatively minor events, such as fevers or redness and swelling at the injection site. The remaining reports (less than 15%) describe serious events, such as hospitalizations, life-threatening illnesses, or deaths. The statement continued: It is important to note that for any reported event, no cause and effect relationship has been established. The event may have been related to an underlying disease or condition, to medications being taken concurrently, or may have occurred by chance. Rochelle said her husband had high blood pressure, which he had been taking medication for, for years. She said he had never before been hospitalized, and would usually get over a cold or a flu within a matter of days In a statement to DailyMail.com, a Pfizer spokesperson said the company is aware of Zooks death and is investigating the matter Zooks death came within in days of the passing of Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician and gynecologist in Miami Beach, who died after suffering a mysterious blood disorder, weeks after he received the Pfizer shot Mark Ghaly, secretary of health and human services in California, said the state is also looking into Zooks death, and the other death in the state earlier this month. The details are complex and worthy of further investigation, and thats what were doing now, he said in a Monday statement. Overwhelmingly, though, weve seen so many individuals successfully, and without any significant reactions, receive both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Ghaly also assured that the results of the states investigation will be publicly shared along with the lessons learned from it, he said. The United States began vaccinations five weeks ago, however just 6.2 percent of the population have so far received their first doses of either Pfizer's or Moderna's two-dose vaccines. Currently, the US is vaccinating 1.27 million people a day on average. President Joe Biden said Monday that he wanted to increase that figure to a daily average of 1.5 million in the coming weeks. A poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday found that 47 percent of Americans want to get the COVID-19 vaccine 'as soon as possible.' Conducted just one week before Biden took office, the results shows the US is less hesitant to get the vaccine than they were back in December, when just 34 percent said they wanted it immediately. Another 31 percent say they want to wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for others. But 20 percent are more reluctant to get vaccinated, including 7 percent who will only get vaccinated if required to do so for work, school or other activities, and 13 percent who say they will definitely not get the vaccine, the survey found. It comes as the US death toll rose to 425,257, including an additional 3,990 on Tuesday. More than 25 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Encouragingly, cases, deaths and hospitalizations were all down last week compared to previous weeks, but deaths remains high with an average of 3,287 people dying a day. Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire (PANA) - African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP) to mobilize US$25 billion to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa. The bank said on Tuesday the announcement came during the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021, hosted by the government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation. AfDB President Akinwumi A. Adesina, announced the launch. The AAAP is a joint initiative between the multilateral lender and the Global Center on Adaptation. It is expected to scale up innovative and transformative actions on climate adaptation across Africa, Adesina said during the inaugural Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Action, held as part of the summit, the bank said in a press statement. Our ambition is bold: to galvanize climate resilience actions; support countries to accelerate and scale up climate adaptation and resilience; and mobilize financing at scale for climate adaptation in Africa, the Bank chief said. Adesina was joined in addressing the summit by Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 8th UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, current UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel. Others were the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, and Indias Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. World Bank president David Malpass, and IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, also spoke. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis formed a backdrop to the meeting, a fact Prime Minister Rutte acknowledged in his opening statement. The Netherlands has taken a lead role globally in harnessing the energy and entrepreneurship of the youth and developing nature-based solutions. I hope that 2021 will be a year of heightened international ambition and action on climate change, after a difficult 2020, and this conference will help achieve that goal, Rutte said. Acknowledging the huge gaps remaining in financing for adaptation in developing countries, the UN Secretary General called for 50percent of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development Banks to be allocated to adaptation and resilience in developing countries. ''The African Development Bank set the bar in 2019 by allocating over half of its climate financing to adaptation," he said. A number of speakers acknowledged Africas vulnerability to climate change, as well as Africans innovative responses to challenges. Ghanaian president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the country was working with the private sector with the assistance of the Green Climate Fund. ''To establish a multi-million-dollar green fund to support our climate adaptation interventions and our efforts to transition to renewable energy, he said. Adesina thanked Ban Ki Moon for his role in the establishment of GCAs regional office for Africa in Abidjan last year, which is hosted by the Bank. -0- PANA DJ/VAO 26Jan2021 (Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC's two UK plants making Covid-19 vaccine must share production with the EU under the contract the drugs firm signed with Brussels, officials said on Wednesday. "Are we expecting the UK plants to deliver doses? The answer is yes," one of the officials said, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity. A second official said AstraZeneca's two UK plants were the priority suppliers for the EU contract, followed by one in Belgium and another in Germany. "Let's put the sequence there so you don't have doubts. There was no secondary, or I would say backup, role for those two plants," the official said. The official added that AstraZeneca had announced a delay to dose supply to the EU amounting to just "a quarter" of what was promised. That was "unacceptable," the official said, pointing to EUR336 million in EU funds that had been allocated to the firm for the vaccine production. Explanations from the company for the delay had varied and the main one talking about a "yield problem" in one of the EU-based plants was unsatisfactory, the officials said. "We are not told what the real problem is," one of the officials said. As AstraZeneca's other plants were unaffected, "their story is slightly inconsistent". "The real issue is that we are not having clarity on the path ahead," the official said, adding: "Which plants are they going to use to fulfil the contract?" AstraZeneca shares were 2.2% lower at 7,777.00 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon. source: AFP Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. ByteDance has told its employees in India that they will be cutting jobs and reducing the size of its team in India. This comes just after the Indian government retained the ban on TikTok and other Chinese apps, according to reports. ByteDance shared the news with employees in India at 10AM today and informed them that only critical roles would be retained in the country. The company said that they were left with no choice since th Indian government has not offered any clarity about when TikTok can possibly make a return in the country, a source told TechCrunch. TikTok was banned along with more than a 100 other Chinese apps in June last year including PUBG Mobile. Also Read: India to impose permanent ban on 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok ByteDance's interim global head, Vanessa Pappas, wrote a letter to its employees informing them about the companys downsizing plans with immediate effect. As you can imagine, the magnitude of this decision is not easy. For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company. Weve cut expenses, while still paying benefits. However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational," Pappas wrote. Pappas said they were not sure when it will be allowed to resume operations in India, but remained hopeful. The letter does not mention how many people TikTok will let go out of its over 2,000 employees in India. Industry insiders told Mint that TikTok employees have been looking out for new opportunities for a while now, with homegrown short-video platforms looking to hire TikTok executives. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India, a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch. This is the latest in the line of some rather troublesome developments for ByteDances employees in India. Following the ban on TikTok late in June last year, employees in the country were asked to focus on developing other apps for the company like the productivity suite Lark thats not been banned in India. The employees were asked to not talk about these apps in public to avoid putting them at risk. The source also told TechCrunch that ByteDance stopped all marketing efforts in India to promote its other services in the country. Brother Of Iranian VP Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For 'Currency Smuggling' 01/27/21 Source: RFE/RL Iran has sentenced the brother of First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri to two years in prison on finance-related charges. Judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili said on January 26 that charges against Mehdi Jahangiri included "currency smuggling" in the amount of $847,200. Mehdi Jahangiri He was ordered to return the funds and fined four times the amount in question, Esmaili said, adding that the verdict was final and cannot be appealed. Jahangiri was on the board of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce and is also the founder of the private Gardeshgari Bank. He was arrested in October 2017 and released on bail in March 2018. At the time of his arrest, his brother wrote on Instagram that the move was "predictable" and that he hoped it was not a case of political "abuse." In October 2019, President Hassan Rohani's brother Hossein Fereidoun was sentenced to five years in prison on corruption and bribery charges. Fereidoun has denied any wrongdoing and accused hard-liners who dominate the Iranian judiciary of trying to discredit him by obtaining evidence through "illegally intercepting communications of the office of the president." Tensions between Rohani and Iranian hard-liners have escalated since the United States pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and stepped up economic sanctions on Iran. With reporting by AP/em> More fathers satisfied with time spent with their kids in pandemic: Pew Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment While the coronavirus has disrupted family life dynamics in ways that arent always positive, a new Pew Research Center analysis shows that an increased share of fathers are satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their children compared to three years ago. The data for the analysis released Monday was drawn from a survey of 10,332 randomly selected U.S. adults conducted Oct. 13 to Oct. 19, 2020. The study has a 1.6-percentage-point margin of error. According to the data, 46% of fathers reported spending the right amount of time with their kids. This marks a 10-percentage-point increase from 2017. Meanwhile, another 48% of fathers surveyed last October said they spend too little time with their kids. That figure is down significantly from 63% in 2017. In 2020, only 5% of dads said they spend too much time with their children, up from 1% in 2017. Researchers have argued in studies how important it is for children to spend time with their fathers, noting that kids who grow up with a present, engaged dad are less likely to drop out of school or end up in jail compared to children with absent fathers or no other male role model in their lives. Children who have close relationships with their fathers also tend to avoid high-risk behaviors, are less likely to have sex at a young age and are more likely to have high-paying jobs and healthy, stable relationships as adults, the online outlet Fatherly reports. They are also reportedly more likely to have higher IQ test scores by the age of 3 and suffer fewer psychological problems. When fathers are actively involved with their children, children do better, Paul Amato, a sociologist who studies parent-child relationships at Pennsylvania State University, told Fatherly in November. While fathers are more satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their children, women still share a majority of the household responsibilities, according to Pew. Among married or cohabiting adults with a working spouse or partner, men are more likely than women to be very satisfied with how their significant other manages the work-life balance, 48% to 40%. The survey also found that married or cohabiting men and women in opposite-sex relationships have differing opinions about who does more household chores across a range of activities. A majority (59%) of women reported doing more household chores than their spouse or partner, while 6% of women responded that their spouse or partner does more chores than they do. About 34% of women responded by saying that the household chores and responsibilities are shared equally. About 46% of men argue that the household responsibilities are shared equally, while 20% of men said they do more than their spouse. However, some 34% admitted that their spouse or partner does more of the household chores and responsibilities. On household finances, 50% of men said they do more than their wife or partner in this area. Meanwhile, 23% of men said their spouse or partner did more when it comes to finances. Nearly half of women (47%) reported that they handle more household finances than their spouses. Only 25% of women said their husband or partner did more in this area. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was 'prolific' police informer who helped prosecute more than a dozen people in drugs, human smuggling and gambling cases, records show. Tarrio repeatedly worked undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012 on fraud charges, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Tarrios own lawyer described his undercover work. The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. Tarrio, 36, in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others. 'I don't know any of this,' he said, when asked about the transcript. 'I don't recall any of this.' Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrios denial. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, pictured in 2020, has a past as an informer law enforcement repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, records show Enrique Tarrio, the high-profile leader of the Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the right-wing Proud Boys. As Trump supporters challenged the Republicans election loss in often violent demonstrations, Tarrio stood out for his swagger as he led crowds of mostly white Proud Boys in a series of confrontations and street brawls in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Proud Boys, founded in 2016, began as a group protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity. It grew into a group with distinctive colors of yellow and black that embraced street fighting. In September their profile soared when Trump called on them to 'Stand back and stand by.' Tarrio, based in Miami, became the national chairman of the group in 2018. In November and December, Tarrio led the Proud Boys through the streets of D.C. after Trumps loss. Video shows him on December 11 with a bullhorn in front of a large crowd. 'To the parasites both in Congress, and in that stolen White House,' he said. 'You want a war, you got one!' The crowd roared. The next day Tarrio burned the BLM banner. Advertisement In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrios case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that 'he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.' Tarrio is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the right-wing Proud Boys in their confrontations with those they believe to be Antifa, short for 'anti-fascism,' an amorphous and often violent leftist movement. The Proud Boys were involved in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol January 6. Washington police arrested Tarrio in early January when he arrived in the city two days before the Capitol Hill riot. He was charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines, and burning a Black Lives Matter banner during a December demonstration by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The D.C. Superior Court ordered him to leave the city pending a court date in June. Though Tarrio did not take part in the Capitol insurrection, at least five Proud Boys members have been charged in the riot. The FBI previously said Tarrio's earlier arrest was an effort to preempt the events of January 6. The transcript from 2014 shines a new light on Tarrios past connections to law enforcement. During the hearing, the prosecutor and Tarrios defense attorney asked a judge to reduce the prison sentence of Tarrio and two co-defendants. They had pleaded guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. The prosecutor said Tarrios information had led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and had helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring. Tarrios then-lawyer Jeffrey Feiler said in court that his client had worked undercover in numerous investigations, one involving the sale of anabolic steroids, another regarding 'wholesale prescription narcotics' and a third targeting human smuggling. He said Tarrio helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses, and was a 'prolific' cooperator. Members of the Proud Boys and other right-wing demonstrators march across the Hawthorne Bridge during a rally in Portland, Oregon in 2019. The group includes organizer Joe Biggs, in green hat, and Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio, holding megaphone The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. Tarrio, 36, center in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others WHO ARE THE PROUD BOYS? Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes started the all-male Proud Boys in 2016. McInnes and the Proud Boys have described the group as a politically incorrect men's club for 'Western chauvinists' and deny affiliations with far-right extremist groups that overtly espouse racist and anti-Semitic views. The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center designated the Proud Boys as a hate group, saying that its members often spread 'outright bigotry' and 'anti-Muslim and misogynistic rhetoric' over the internet, and have posted social media pictures of themselves with prominent Holocaust deniers, white nationalists and 'known neo-Nazis.' Current national leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, marched in the infamous Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017. Proud Boys have been involved in a series of high-profile violent clashes at political events. In New York City in October 2018, police arrested several Proud Boys members who brawled with anti-fascist protesters following a speech by McInnes at a Manhattan Republican club. Proud Boys members also have frequently clashed with counterprotesters at rallies in California and Oregon. Most recently, the group took part in the siege on the Capitol on January 6, where some members were seen breaking into the building. In February, they were designated a terrorist group by Canada. Advertisement In the smuggling case, Tarrio, 'at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country,' the lawyer said in court. In an interview, Feiler said he did not recall details about the case but added: 'The information I provided to the court was based on information provided to me by law enforcement and the prosecutor.' An FBI agent at the hearing called Tarrio a 'key component' in local police investigations involving marijuana, cocaine and MDMA, or ecstasy. The Miami FBI office declined comment. There is no evidence Tarrio has cooperated with authorities since then. In interviews with Reuters, however, he said that before rallies in various cities, he would let police departments know of the Proud Boys' plans. It is unclear if this was actually the case. He said he stopped this coordination after December 12 because the D.C. police had cracked down on the group. Tarrio on Tuesday acknowledged that his fraud sentence was reduced, from 30 months to 16 months, but insisted that leniency was provided only because he and his co-defendants helped investigators 'clear up' questions about his own case. He said he never helped investigate others. That comment contrasts with statements made in court by the prosecutor, his lawyer and the FBI. The judge in the case, Joan A. Lenard, said Tarrio 'provided substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other persons involved in criminal conduct.' As Trump supporters challenged the Republicans election loss in often violent demonstrations, Tarrio stood out for his swagger as he led crowds of mostly white Proud Boys in a series of confrontations and street brawls in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Proud Boys, founded in 2016, began as a group protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity. It grew into a group with distinctive colors of yellow and black that embraced street fighting. In September their profile soared when Trump called on them to 'Stand back and stand by.' A 'Proud Boy' adds fuel to a 'Black Lives Matter' flag on fire as leader Enrique Tarrio and other members gather in the streets following the 'Million MAGA March' on December 12 in DC Tarrio, based in Miami, became the national chairman of the group in 2018. In November and December, Tarrio led the Proud Boys through the streets of D.C. after Trumps loss. Video shows him on December 11 with a bullhorn in front of a large crowd. 'To the parasites both in Congress, and in that stolen White House,' he said. 'You want a war, you got one!' The crowd roared. The next day Tarrio burned the BLM banner. Former prosecutor Johannes said she was surprised that the defendant she prosecuted for fraud is now a key player in the violent movement that sought to halt the certification of President Joe Biden. 'I knew that he was a fraudster - but had no reason to know that he was also a domestic terrorist,' she said. By Marco Aquino LIMA (Reuters) - A volunteer in the local Peruvian trial of a coronavirus vaccine produced by China's Sinopharm Group Co Ltd has died from COVID-19-related pneumonia, the university carrying out the trial said on Tuesday. Cayetano Heredia University, which is involved with the study, said on the instructions of the Peruvian health regulator it had unblinded the volunteer's participation in the trial and determined she had received the placebo rather than the vaccine. "It is important to stipulate that the death of the participant is not related to the vaccine since she received the placebo, and we will therefore report to the relevant regulatory and ethics bodies and maintain the course of this phase three study," the university said in a statement. German Malaga, chief researcher at the Cayetano Heredia University, told Reuters by phone that the deceased volunteer had suffered from diabetes. Malaga said the trial investigators had so far issued two doses of either the vaccine or placebo to 12,000 volunteers and were now following their responses. "It is developing without any setbacks. These things can happen, COVID is a disease that causes deaths," he said. "Our message to the volunteers is to take care of themselves because we don't know if they have the vaccine or the placebo," he added. The university said in its statement that the volunteer had received "all the necessary care to treat this disease and her complications" and was "fighting for her life" for more than a week. "It is a painful loss for which we extend our condolences to her family," the statement added. In December, Peru temporarily suspended trials of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine due to a "serious adverse event" that occurred with a volunteer in the study. In Brazil, clinical trials of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine were suspended before being allowed to resume late last year due to a study subject's death that was registered in Sao Paulo as a suicide. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Leslie Adler) The Nigerian Customs Service has announced that a slash on imported vehicle duties will begin next week. The Comptroller-General of ... The Nigerian Customs Service has announced that a slash on imported vehicle duties will begin next week. The Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali made this known during an interview with newsmen on Tuesday. Ali said that the service is expecting an official communication from the Finance Ministry on the matter. According to him, the vehicle tariff reduction is contained in the 2020 Finance Act and initiated by the NCS to ease the cost of transportation in Nigeria. I have been torn apart by many people criticizing the new tariff, saying I used my connection to get it done but this is in the interest of Nigeria. However, it is now a law and we are only waiting for the finance minister to give us a formal conveyance of that Act. Once it is released, we will commence full implementation immediately. We are only hoping that by next week, it will become operational, he said. Duluth, Minnesota--A new three-year, $250,000 project led by the University of Minnesota Sea Grant program seeks to determine the potential for a sustainable food-fish aquaculture industry in Minnesota. "Potential food-fish farmers planning to enter the industry are interested in credible data that will help them decide which production strategies and species are best suited for profitability," said Amy Schrank, project lead and University of Minnesota Sea Grant fisheries and aquaculture extension educator. "Producers will need this information to apply for loans from banks and lending institutions." Food-fish or fish raised for human consumption is a relatively new and modest aquaculture industry in Minnesota and includes seafood such as shrimp and other forms of shellfish in addition to fish. Interest in food-fish aquaculture is growing in Minnesota and the Great Lakes region because consumers want to purchase local foods and are concerned about food security. The increase in worldwide demand for protein and decrease in stocks of wild-caught fish are also driving interest in food-fish aquaculture. The project team will assess Minnesota's current food-fish supply through detailed interviews with food-fish farmers and distributors. The team will also work with farmers to determine production costs of various fish species grown in Minnesota. "The information from producer assessments will be coupled with consumer demand data to identify price points so that profit margins can be estimated for the Minnesota food-fish industry," said Don Schreiner, University of Minnesota Sea Grant fisheries specialist and project member. "This information will be important to determine if Minnesota-grown fish can compete successfully with fish grown out of state." Individual consumers and restaurateurs will be surveyed to understand their preferences and willingness to pay for state aquaculture products. "Once we have results from our market study, we will develop an outreach program to share data and recommendations with the food-fish aquaculture industry, policymakers and the public," said Schrank. "We anticipate hosting several virtual and, when possible, in-person facilitated discussions among aquaculture businesses and other interested groups to discuss market priorities and best practices." An economics graduate student from the University of Minnesota will be trained in the development and analysis of project surveys used for aquaculture businesses, consumers and restaurants. The student will be mentored by project member and UMN Professor of Applied Economics Hikaru Hanawa Peterson. The number of applied economists who study aquaculture in the United States is extremely limited. Minnesota Sea Grant hopes this project will contribute to our nation's workforce development in aquaculture. "By addressing critical gaps in economic and market knowledge about food-fish, our project will help determine the potential for expansion of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in Minnesota and the Great Lakes region," said John Downing, director, University of Minnesota Sea Grant. "We hope our work will contribute to healthy food production, job creation, and local business growth while protecting our important natural fisheries." ### Contacts and project team members: Amy Schrank, fisheries and aquaculture extension educator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, aschrank@umn.edu. Donald Schreiner, fisheries and aquaculture extension educator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, schr0941@d.umn.edu John A. Downing, director, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, downing@d.umn.edu Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, professor, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, hhp@umn.edu Marie Thoms, communication manager, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, methoms@d.umn.edu. Funding Minnesota Sea Grant's project "Determining Market Potential for Food-Fish Aquaculture in Minnesota" is funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's competition "Addressing Economic and Market Needs of the U.S. Aquaculture Industry," federal funding opportunity number NOAA-OAR-SG-2020-2006331. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Wednesday that hereditary politics was responsible for the failure of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said on Wednesday that hereditary politics was responsible for the failure of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). "If politics is based on family inheritance rather than merit, then the outcome is the same as that of the PDM", he said in a tweet. Shibli Faraz said that those responsible for the collapse of this alliance were the two 'newborn political heirs' who did even not hesitate to belittle their elders. The minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would continue to build Pakistan whereas his political opponents would continue to destroy their political parties. [January 26, 2021] Hatcher+ Debuts World's Most Advanced Venture as a Service Technology (VAAST(TM)) Platform Scalable, cloud-based platform enables accelerators, venture studios, family offices, corporate VCs, and venture fund managers to automate operations, create multi-level deal origination partnerships, and access thousands of deals annually, worldwide Developed at a cost of US$10m , the Hatcher+ VAAST platform incorporates advanced AI-based predictive analytics, impact scoring, and business process automation -- and supports 18 languages and 50 currencies. The Hatcher+ VAAST platform, which incorporates over 20 leading SAAS-based technologies in addition to its proprietary code, has been used to quantify over 20,000 startups and 120 investments to date and is available free to qualifying accelerators, venture studios, family offices, and venture ecosystem partners. SINGAPORE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Hatcher+ , a leading, next-generation, data-driven venture firm, has launched VAAST, the world's first and most advanced Venture As A Service Technology Platform (VAAST). To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.prnasia.com/mnr/Hatcher_VAAST_202002.shtml Unlike previous generations of stand-alone deal management platforms, VAAST has been designed from the ground up to enable quantitative analytics and big data to play a role alongside traditional, more subjective decision-making for the first time. Through the platform, founders have easier access to capital, can share data between ecosystem partners and standardize the quantitative analysis of venture investments using advanced, AI-based predictive analytics (AI/ML). They can also manage investor communications and store and share data profiles, cap tables, pitch decks, investor documents, and KPI updates with multiple investors and stakeholders at the same time. Through its inclusion of AI/ML, deal scouting capability and predictive scoring - technologies VAAST helps VCs identify potential startup opportunities based on an investor- defined mandate. Using the Deal Scout feature, users can scout startups using Natural Language Processing and use the Hatcher+ Opportunity Score to determine which startups best fit. John Sharp, Founding Partner of Hatcher+, said, "Through our first traditional investment vehicle, Hatcher H1, we were reminded constantly of the qualitative and subjective nature of investing and how venture capital has lagged behind other asset classes in terms of technology adoption." "Since then, our mission is to de-risk, democratize and revolutionize the VC industry with new levels of intelligent automation, data sharing and analysis with Hatcher+ and VAAST". To date, partnerships with leading accelerators and data vendors worldwide have enabled Hatcher+ to build a database of 600,000 transactions spanning 20 years to support its machine learning capabilities and expects to expand its portfolio and add up to 30,000 additional profiles annually by the end of 2021. About Hatcher+ Headquartered in Singapore, Hatcher+ is a next-generation, data-driven, global venture firm. Since 2018, Hatcher+ has invested in 130 companies, bringing robust and consistent returns to investors as part of its H2 fund investment strategy. Last year alone, Hatcher+ analysed over 10,500 inbound deals on behalf of its LPs and 15 strategic co-investment partners. The company expects this number to rise to over 30,000 deals annually by the end of 2021. Visit www.hatcher.com for more information. Contact: Darren Thang Head of Marketing & Communications +65-9699-1839 darren@hatcher.com SOURCE Hatcher+ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Apple is shifting the production of its core products like the MacBooks, iPads and iPhones to India and Vietnam in an effort to diversify despite hopes that new US President Joe Biden will the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China. According to reports, sources told Nikkei Asia that Apple is going to start producing iPads in Vietnam by as early as mid-2021 and will begin producing its first 5G devices, the iPhone 12 series, in India within this quarter. This should mean that iPhones will get cheaper in India if the reports are correct, though it hasnt been verified yet. And it is not just iPads and iPhones, the production of AirPods, the HomePod mini, MacBooks too might be shifted out of China according to reports and this is a part of Apples ongoing diversification strategy. However, Apple has not responded to this report yet. The report adds that the production capacity of the HomePod mini will be expanded in Vietnam. The HomePods Mini has been produced in Vietnam since they were launched in 2020. Local production of other audio devices including the AirPods has already been increased in Vietnam. Also Read: Here's why you need to update your iPhones immediately Part production of the MacBooks will also be shifted to Vietnam this year, a source told Nikkei Asia and added that the production of the Mac mini has been shifted to Malaysia. A supply chain manager told Nikkei Asia that its not only Apple, but many other tech companies want out-of-China production for their core products, something that was almost unimaginable two years ago, but is possible now. Apples suppliers are also falling in line with the production shift to Vietnam. For example, Foxconn has invested $270 million for a subsidiary in Vietnam while Luxshare Precision Industry (who make AirPods and the HomePod mini) is also ramping production in the country, the manager added. This indicates that Apple is going to produce a significant number of devices outside China and India is, in fact, Apples second largest production base. This production shift, which began in 2020 is likely to continue in 2021. Despite hopes that Biden will ease trade tensions between the US and China, he has said that the tariff policy that was imposed by Donald Trump will not be immediately reversed. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Moscow court seizes Georgy Bedzhamovs elite London mansion RAPSI, Eugeny Varlamov 12:58 27/01/2021 MOSCOW, January 27 (RAPSI) The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow has attached one of the most luxurious real estate objects in London belonging to Georgy Bedzhamov, the former owner of Vneshprombank. The mansion is located at Belgrave Square. The freeze was put upon the application of the Russian police authority who leads a criminal case against Bedzhamov and his sister Larisa Markus. The court held that the seizure was necessary in order to ensure the execution of sentence against Bedzhamov. According to the Russian law, a prosecutor will forward this order to the UK criminal authorities via the official channels to preserve this property. Georgy Bedzhamov who fled Russia to London a few years ago after Vneshprombank went bankrupt and was closed by the state authorities, is the legal owner of a luxury estate on Belgrave Square (17 Belgrave Square and 17 Belgrave Mews West), Mayfair London, which he purchased in January 2015. In Russia, Georgy Bedzhamov is charged with embezzlement from Vneshprombank between 2009 and December 2015, when the banking license was revoked. His sister Larisa Markus served as President of the Bank at all times and after having fully admitted to the crime is now serving a custodial sentence in Russia. However, Bedzhamov is believed to be the main beneficiary of the Bank and the key mastermind behind embezzlement. He is now defending a GBP 1bn plus claim in the English courts and all of his assets have been subject to a worldwide freezing order. Once the crime was uncovered and the Banks license was revoked, Bedzhamov moved to Monaco and then to London. As soon as he arrived in London in 2016 it is alleged that he orchestrated a scheme to protect this assets from any potential creditors by creating a fictitious charge over the property in the name of Clement Glory Limited (a BVI company which continues to provide consultancy services to Bedzhamov in London). The Bank is in the process of challenging this charge, which it considers to be sham (https://glavk.net/articles/91170-beglogo_bankira_bedzhamova_obvinili_v_sozdanii_shemy_perevoda_aktivov_na_ofshor). The victim in this case, the Bank, as well as thousands of its customers and depositors, both Russian and foreign-based, believe that Bedzhamov is the main beneficiary of the fraud, as he funded his lifestyle, acquisition of two yachts (called Ester I and Ester II), private jets and luxury real estate in London, Moscow, France, Italy, Switzerland with the proceeds of this embezzlement. The authorities believe that the money which Bedzhamov used to purchase Belgrave Square property was previously stolen from the Bank and its customers. The legitimacy of the funds used to acquire this property will be subject to a thorough investigation by the English court. However, no doubt, the solicitors who assisted the former banker with the acquisition of this property in 2015 (Rokeby Johnson Baars LLP), duly carried out all their checks and compliance perspective. The distress levied by the court is an indication that the Russian prosecution is taking the criminal case against Bedzhamov seriously, using all the legal instruments they have at their disposal to pursue him both locally in Russian, as well as internationally, Andrey Guryev, Chief Legal Officer at Lex Consulting, said. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The Indian government went through with its ban on TikTok and made it permanent, and today ByteDance returned issued its response. The platform owner has announced in an internal memo, acquired by Reuters, that it will cut the size of its 2,000+ team in India. The company is unsure whether it will return to the Asian country after its app was booted for engaging in activities prejudicial the sovereignty and integrity of India. The memo stated that ByteDance hoped this situation would be short-lived, but since that has not been the case, the company simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational. Later, a statement said disappointment in the organization that the Indian government has not issued a clear direction on how and when the apps could be reinstated. The message also did not reveal how many people exactly would lose their jobs. India has been one of the biggest markets for TikTok, and ByteDance has laid out plans for $1 billion in investments in the country. Still, following a border dispute between China and India, there has been growing tension that eventually lead to blocked imported goods and over 200 banned apps. Source Meet Ngoc Lam-Mathis, a probation-officer-turned-florist who is co-owner of Floraltology in Southwest Philly. Tough as nails: Im 51 but I had a title in probation. They called me The Hammer. Im very serious with my work. Whats in a name?: The shop was supposed to be called Moonlight Flower, but once you work at probation that sounds like a strip club so I couldnt do it. Ngoc Lam-Mathis parents wanted to give her something nobody could take away an education and a chance to live her life however she wanted. After her father, a high-ranking officer in the South Vietnamese government, spent seven years in a North Vietnamese prison camp following the fall of Saigon, her parents knew all too well how everything can be taken away in an instant. So when their family of eight got the chance to immigrate to Philadelphia from Vietnam in 1995, they took it. My parents didnt want us to stay in a country where we cant do or be what we want to be, Lam-Mathis said. So they sacrificed their lives to be here for a better future. Today, after a 13-year career as a Philly probation officer working with high-risk clients, Lam-Mathis, 36, is finally where she wants to be, doing what she wants to do, as the co-owner with her brother of Floraltology in Southwest Philly. I couldnt make changes in probation, but Im making changes here, she said. Lam-Mathis was 11 when her family moved from Vietnam to Philadelphia, where one of her uncles already lived. For six months both families totaling 12 people shared a Southwest Philly rowhouse with one bathroom. The first few months was pretty chaotic for us, she said. We had to start school. We didnt understand how to use the shower and toilets. Everything was new, so we had a lot to learn. Devout Catholics, the Lam family began attending a Vietnamese community church that held services in the basement of St. Francis De Sales in West Philly. Lam-Mathis father volunteered her to create floral arrangements for Sunday services. The priest would buy a bouquet of flowers and let Lam-Mathis decorate the altar. It wasnt by choice in the beginning, she said. Over time though, she grew gifted at the craft and found peace in it, but a single event in her teens led her to pursue another career first. When Lam-Mathis was 14, a police officer pulled over her father while she was in the car. She wasnt sure why, because her dad was a cautious driver and she didnt see him do anything wrong. The police officer said we ran a red light and gave us a ticket, she said. So I said at that point I want to be a lawyer someday. After graduating from Bartram Motivation High School in 2002, Lam-Mathis attended Temple University where she majored in criminology, minored in religion, and received her certificate in floral design, all while working at a neighborhood flower shop. She decided being an attorney was not the path for her, so when a friend suggested she take the test to become a probation officer, she did, and she passed. Its not a field where a lot of Asians go into, Lam-Mathis said. They saw my name and called me in for an interview. Lam-Mathis worked in adult probation with high-risk clients, mostly men who had been convicted of sexual assault and domestic violence crimes. The 13 years she served as a probation officer shaped her world view, but it didnt sour it. I dont take people for granted. I could be on that side of the desk, easily, she said. What I learned is youll be really happy if you can change one person in your entire career in probation. Lam-Mathis hopes she changed a few. MORE WE THE PEOPLE: Jelloman is a music festival hustler and Kurt Viles brother While working in probation, Lam-Mathis obtained her graduate degree in criminology at St. Josephs University. On the side, she created floral arrangements for friends and colleagues, always dreaming of opening her own shop someday. I knew I needed to do something I enjoyed, she said. Its not like I want to be 50 talking with a 30-year-old saying Why did you smoke weed again? In March 2018, Lam-Mathis passed Flowers by Dante, a longtime staple on 63rd Street in Southwest Philly, and saw it was for sale. She wrote to the owner and told him of her dream. He agreed to sell to her instead of the buyer who wanted to turn his shop into apartments. Lam-Mathis got a few friends to lend her the money and went in as co-owners with her brother, Thi Lam, who manages the business side. On Dec. 1, 2018, Floraltology opened its doors. Fifteen months later, COVID-19 and quarantine hit, shuttering the shop for three months. Customers messaged Lam-Mathis asking if they could help in any way, or preorder flowers for the future. MORE WE THE PEOPLE: For 50 years, this foster dad has kept the heat on at one of the countrys first HBCUs Were really proud of the community support, she said. We have a lot of return customers and thats what we strive for. In September, Lam-Mathis, who is married to a probation officer, gave birth to their third child. I am fortunate enough to find contentment. I am very at ease at the flower shop, she said. I like the fact Im in control of what I do and what I create, and I get encouragement from seeing people appreciate the joy of flowers. The Governors Official Program is comprised of a wide range of constitutional and legal duties and ceremonial and community engagements. Each year, the Governor hosts thousands of visitors to Government House to take part in investiture and award ceremonies, Open Days, receptions and meetings, and travels widely throughout Queensland to support the activities of Patron groups. View a chronological record of the Governors daily program below. On Tuesday, in the morning, at the Ville Resort-Casino, Townsville, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC was interviewed, via telephone, by Breakfast Presenter, ABC North Queensland, Mr Michael Clarke. Following, at Jezzine House, Townsville, His Excellency and Mrs Kaye de Jersey attended the Australia Day Official Party morning tea. Following, at Jezzine Barracks, Townsville, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey attended the Australia Day Flag Raising Ceremony, and the Governor received the Royal Salute, reviewed the Royal Guard of Honour and the Australian Army Band, and addressed guests. In the afternoon, His Excellency and Mrs de Jersey returned to Government House following official travel to Townsville. New York, Jan 27 : Five Republicans joined Democrats to fight off a challenge to the impeachment trial of former US President Donald Trump voting down a fellow-Republican's attempt to block it, but the vote also showed that the attempt to convict him could fail. The Senate voted 55 to 45 on Tuesday in the body evenly divided between the parties to quash the attempt to stop Trump's second impeachment trial on constitutional grounds. Even though the vote was successful, it was 12 short of the 67 votes -- the two-thirds majority -- showing that Democrats may not have the votes they would need to eventually convict Trump. That will make the trial set to begin in the week of February 8 a symbolic attempt at punishing Trump for the riot by his supporters rather than convict and ban him from ever running for office as the Democrats want. Trump was acquitted at his trial last year because the Democrats couldn't get the two-thirds majority. The impeachment -- a charge sheet for a judicial-style trial by the Senate -- that was voted by the House of Representatives accuses Trump of inciting an "insurrection" when he spoke at a rally of his supporters before a section of them stormed the Capitol on January 6 while Congress was ratifying the electoral college votes electing Joe Biden as president. Republican Senator Rand Paul, who mounted the challenge, asserted that under the constitution only a person holding an office could be impeached and since Trump was now a private citizen he couldn't be. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, dismissed his argument asserting that "constitutional text, precedent and basic common sense" dictate the trial is legal. Paul said that the impeachment was "dead on arrival" because even though his attempt was defeated, the Democrats could muster only a simple majority and not two-thirds. Speaking to reporters, he ruled out any more Republicans switching sides, asking "If you voted that it was unconstitutional, how in the world would you ever vote to convict somebody for this?" Reflecting the polarisation in the nation, Paul in the Senate called the Democrats "angry, unhinged partisans, deranged." One of the five Republicans who voted with the Democrats was a former presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, with whom Trump had tangled often and insulted. If the vote to dismiss Paul's challenge had been strictly along party lines at 50-50, Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also the president of the Senate, would have had to come in to cast the tie-breaking vote. President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Patrick Leahy, who has been presiding over the impeachment trial took ill later in the evening and was hospitalised. The 80-year-old has been in the Senate for 46 years making him the longest-serving Democrat. Since Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts declined to preside over the Senate trial as he had at the first impeachment of Trump last year, Leahy was tapped for the job. Earlier on Tuesday, the senators were sworn in as jurors for the trial of Trump and summons were formally made for Trump. The nearly two-week period before the trial resumes gives Trump time to prepare his defence and for the Senate to continue with the confirmation of Biden's top officials. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin, Jr. said he filed a diplomatic protest with China over its new law authorizing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels. "After reflection I fired a diplomatic protest," Locsin announced on his official Twitter page on Wednesday, an apparent change of mind from what he posted early this week. Locsin on Monday said, "It's none of our business; it is China's business what laws it passes; so please a little self-restraint." WATCH: PH Senators alarmed, DFA Chief unfazed by new Chinese law In his latest tweet, Locsin explained, "While enacting law is a sovereign prerogative, this onegiven the area involved or for that matter the open South China Seais a verbal threat of war to any country that defies the law; which, if unchallenged, is submission to it." According to the Chinese military's news website, the legislation passed last week "empowers the Chinese Coast Guard to take action, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon or threatened by foreign organizations or individuals at sea." The measure also states that the Chinese Coast Guard has the power to order foreign organizations and individuals to stop the construction of buildings, structures, and deployment of floating devices in the waters and islands of China. "For those who do not stop the illegal activities or refuse to make rectifications within a time limit, the coast guard may forcibly dismantle [buildings and structures] in accordance with law," the law states, according to state-run China Global Television Network. Both websites quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying as citing China's dispute with Japan over the Diaoyu or Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. While they made no mention of the South China Sea, the law was seen as a source of confrontation among parties claiming parts of the global waterway, including the Philippines. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting an arbitral ruling that recognized Manila's sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone that Beijing contests. President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to set aside the landmark decision to make way for areas of cooperation, including the joint oil and gas exploration in disputed areas. In a press briefing on Monday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque reminded China to refrain from any use of force that could spark tension, and instead adhere to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. While China is a signatory to this international treaty, it refuses to recognize the decision of the tribunal constituted under UNCLOS and backed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Meanwhile, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China are negotiating for a Code of Conduct that will determine the only allowable actions parties can take in the South China Sea. The Philippines is country coordinator for the ASEAN-China Dialogue Relations. The November election results were a disaster for Texas Democrats. There were strong candidate recruits across the board, campaign contributions pouring in, hope for flipping the Texas House, even talk of Joe Biden winning the state all for naught. No new Democratic member of Congress, no state House gains. Now that the dust has settled, what actually happened? Texas Democrats were always going to be hard-pressed to match the expectations of surpassing their strong 2018 results. That year, they had a giant advantage in turnout, driven by Donald Trumps unpopularity, his absence from the ballot and the grassroots efforts on behalf of Beto ORourke. This time around, record early voting made it seem like a blue wave was coming, raising expectations. But the presence of Trump on the ballot in 2020 brought out a red wave of voters that matched and exceeded Democratic efforts. A closer look at the actual results, though, reveals a more complex end result. If you flip 10,784 votes in nine state House races, less than one-tenth of 1 percentage point of the total state turnout, Democrats would have taken control of the chamber. Flip 52,019 votes and Democrats take five GOP congressional seats. Their problem, in those contested seats, was that their share of the vote declined 1 percent to 2 percent from 2018. Ultimately, you cant win new seats by losing a share of the vote in districts, no matter how close the previous races had been. In hindsight, maybe this was all predictable. Republican efforts to do away with straight-ticket voting paid dividends. For example, in Fort Bend County, a county that turned blue in 2018, Democratic drop-off in 2020 from voting in down-ballot races was 7 percent to 8 percent, much greater than that for the GOP. Messaging during the summer, with nightly news images of violence in cities such as Portland, coupled with the drumbeat of Republican appeals against defunding the police and socialism, probably took a toll on Democratic candidates. Abandoning door-to-door campaigning, so crucial in 2018, didnt help. Finally, Trump also showed surprising appeal to working-class Latino and African American men. So is there any reason to think that the cycle of Democratic expectations and election letdowns will ever end? I think there is. If you look at the examples of recent states turning blue Colorado, Nevada with the efforts of the state Culinary Workers Union, Arizona in part and this years Georgia victories all of them have been built on relentless grassroots organizing. In Georgia, a decade of registering and keeping in contact with the growing rolls of Black and minority voters, led by Stacey Abrams, paid dividends in the historic January runoff wins. If Democrats want better results, they must reconnect with Mexican American Trump voters along the border. The grassroots efforts have to redouble now, not in 2022. Two years is a lifetime in politics. If Bidens administration can right the COVID-19 vaccine distribution mess and pass a stimulus plan that gets the economy going in a country weary of White House dysfunction, maybe the off-year elections will not be so bad for Democrats. If the new Texas Legislature slips back into social issue crusades in a time of a budgetary crisis, maybe the Democratic brand gets another chance. The explosion in minority population may mitigate any attempts to gerrymander districts. And as we saw in 2018, sometimes a single unexpected charismatic candidate cures many ills. Finally, remember that statewide totals are trending Democratic, with Biden closing the gap to under 6 percent and most of the Republican candidates in 2018 held to 53 percent or less. Years ago, I interviewed Karl Rove in the White House about how the Texas Republican Party rose to dominance. He talked about running strong candidates with resonating messages, but also looking for opportunities, accidents and upsets, because ultimately it was results that mattered. Those results ultimately belong to those who pick themselves up and try to do better next time. Now is no time to quit. Stekler is a professor of public affairs and radio-television-film and a documentary film maker at The University of Texas at Austin. His film Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style can be seen at https://vimeo.com/226210605. Jerusalem: "Wake up: the most important PM of the world is coming", is how Prime Minister Narendra Modi's forthcoming visit to Israel, the first by an Indian premier, is described in an article in one of the leading Israeli business daily. Business daily 'The Marker' in a feature story in its Hebrew edition discussing Indo-Israel ties says that Israelis had set up huge expectations from US President Donald Trump's visit to the Jewish state but "he didn't say much" while Modi, a leader of 1.25 billion people enjoying massive popularity and representing one of the fastest growing economies of the world deserves a lot of attention. Other local newspapers and news portals have also given a lot of attention to the much-publicised three-day trip of Modi with The Jerusalem Post even creating a separate link, "Modi's Visit", where it has put up stories related to India. Most of the local commentators have emphasised on Modi "skipping Ramallah" and it being a standalone visit focussing only on India's ties with Israel. "Unlike most world leaders, however, Modi, who governs the world's largest democracy and second largest nation, apparently is refusing to visit Ramallah during his Israel trip, and will not schedule meetings with Palestinian Authority (PA) chief Mahmoud Abbas or other PA leaders", Arutz Sheva said in a report. Modi met Abbas during the PA leader's trip to India in May, and senior Indian officials have visited Abbas at his Ramallah residence during their trips to Israel, it added. India related activities in Israel have also attracted far more attention in view of Modi's visit than ever before. International Yoga Day celebrations in Israel saw massive coverage by the Israeli media with some commentators talking about the "soft diplomatic power it arms New Delhi with". Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed his Indian counterpart's visit to Israel last Sunday during his opening remarks at the weekly cabinet meeting as a "very significant step" in strengthening bilateral relations that are on a "constant upswing". ALSO READ | PM Modi in US: 'GST could be studied by business schools in America' "Next week, the Indian Prime Minister, my friend, Narendra Modi will arrive in Israel. This is a historic visit to Israel. In the 70 years of the country's existence, no Indian Prime Minister has ever visited and this is further expression of the state of Israel's military, economic and diplomatic strength," Netanyahu stressed. "This is a very significant step in strengthening relations between the two countries," he added. India is a huge country with over 1.25 billion people and is one of the world's largest, growing economies. Ties between Israel and India are on a "constant upswing", the Israeli Premier said. Modi's three-day visit starting July 4 is aimed at commemorating 25 years of establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The Indian PM is scheduled to have dinner with Netanyahu following his arrival in Israel on July 4. He would be meeting the Israeli Premier again for discussions the following day. Modi would also call upon Israel's President Reuven Rivlin on July 5 and the leader of opposition, Isaac Herzog. Around 4,000 people of Indian-origin would be attending an address by Modi in the evening of July 5 in Tel Aviv. The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved major decisions to deepen Indo-Israel ties. Among the measures proposed, include the establishment of a $40 million joint fund to encourage Israeli and Indian business cooperation, agreements permitting and extending incentives to Bollywood filmmakers looking to shoot in Israel, efforts to promote growth in tourism, and a joint government project in the fields of water and agriculture. Netanyahu and Modi have already met twice on foreign soil on the sidelines of UN-related events and are said to be constantly in touch with each other over the phone. ALSO READ | PM Modi in Portugal: India is fast moving ahead, touching new heights in many fields The defence ties between India and Israel have often drawn worldwide attention and acquired strategic dimensions. It is believed that Modi's visit would further solidify security ties as Israeli defence industries have shown greater inclination towards participating in joint ventures to give a boost to NDA government's 'Make in India' campaign. Prime Minister Modi's visit has been preceded by several other high-profile visits, including the trip of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, several senior secretaries, Minister of State for Agriculture S S Ahluwalia-led 11 member multi-party parliamentary delegation and Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba's five-day visit earlier this month. All these visits have laid the ground work for several MoUs that are likely to be signed during Modi's visit. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. WoodenStreet store. Custom furniture startup WoodenStreet is all set to expand its reach by opening over 20 new stores with an investment of approximately $2 million this year. The furniture brand's expansion will raise the store count to over 50. The firm is looking at both franchisee and company-operated brick-and-mortar formats. PM Modi announces Rs 1,000-crore 'Startup India Seed Fund' "The very reason behind the expansion of our multiple stores throughout the country is to create a better connection with customers. We want people to not only just visualize, but also feel the quality of furniture that we offer. Henceforth, our aim is to offer our customers a life-changing experience by rendering the exquisite collection of handpicked products," WoodenStreet CEO Lokendra Ranawat said. Earlier in 2020, WoodenStreet had launched two new brick-and-mortar experience stores in Kolkata and Kochi amid the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show "2021 is just the beginning of a new wave of our expansion drive. In the next 36 months, we want to raise the count to 100+ stores, in terms of both franchisees and experience stores and we are all set for it. From the 20 new stores that we are planning to launch this year, we have already finalised for 7 of these in Thane Mumbai, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Chennai, Bangalore, Noida, Gurgaon, among others and it will get live in next 15-20 days, respectively," Ranawat added. WoodenStreet currently operates over 30 brick-and-mortars across India. Apart from online presence, the firm has more than 30 delivery hubs, delivering a range of over 10,000 home furniture, decor and home furnishing products. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. CPP Stalwart, James Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly called Kabila has admonished Ghanaians to heed the advice of President Nana Akufo-Addo and health experts to guard themselves against the deadly Coronavirus. Ghana's case count of the viral disease has hiked up, hence calling for rigid adherence to the protocols in order to curb the spread of the disease. The country, as at Wednesday, January 27, 2021 has recorded 616 daily cases resulting in 3,813 active cases across the nation. 377 people have unfortunately died of the disease. Due to the current numbers, the President has warned of a possible lockdown should Ghanainas refuse to wear nose masks and practice social distancing including observing all other Coronavirus health protocols. "We do not want to go back to the days of partial lockdowns, which had a negative impact on our economy and on our way of life. But should that become necessary, i.e., should the number of active cases continue to increase at the current rate, I will have no option but to re-impose these restrictions because it is better to be safe than to be sorry. So, together, let us all ensure that we respect the protocols," he cautioned. James Kwabena Bomfeh, speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', wondered why some Ghanaians have refused to comply with the safety protocols. Kabilla advised Ghanaians to practice personal hygiene and adopt a habit of taking herbs to prevent being infected with the disease. Apart from the wearing of nose masks and the known protocols, one specific thing that Kabilla wants all Ghanaians to do is to bath regularly to protect themselves against the disease. "We should practice personal hygiene. Bath regularly, wash your hands, practice social distancing...it's important. We must also take herbs to protect us," he stated. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of crazy and evil conspiracy theories that have been spreading about him on social media since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist said he has been the subject of millions of online posts and crazy conspiracy theories, and insists he would like to get to the bottom of whats behind them. The wild theories involving Gates, whose foundation has donated over a billion to coronavirus vaccine and treatment research, include unfounded claims he developed COVID-19 in a lab and wants to use the vaccine to implant microchip tracking devices into billions of people. Another leading public figure in the fight against the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has also become a target of several conspiracies, including claims he created the virus and is now blocking natural cures for it. Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories, Gates told Reuters Wednesday. Im very surprised by that. I hope it goes away. Gates' wife, Melinda Gates, also spoke out about the theories involving her husband Wednesday, telling GMA: 'Disinformation causes more death. It causes people not to do the right things. 'It's time to have more government regulation over the social platforms, so we don't get these conspiracy theories that cause more death.' Scroll down for video Bill Gates says he has been taken aback by the volume of crazy and evil conspiracy theories that have been spreading about him on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic Health professionals say vaccine misinformation could have lethal consequences if it leads people to opt for bogus cures instead Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response to the COVID-19. Since the pandemic began a year ago,conspiracies have spread over the internet, fueling misinformation about the coronavirus, its origins and the motives of those working to fight it. In the first few months of the pandemic alone, between February and April last year, conspiracy theories and misinformation linking Gates to the origins of COVID-19 were mentioned more than 1.2 million times on television and social media, according to a New York Times study. Then, in May 2020, a Yahoo News/You Gov poll found that 28 percent of US adults believed that Gates was plotting to use a potential vaccine to implant microchips into billions of people to track their movements. Meanwhile, other conspiracies gathered momentum that included claims Gates was seeking to cull 15 percent of the population with the vaccine, and he was also falsely quoted as saying the vaccine would no doubt kill 700,000 people. At Trump rallies, anti-lockdown protests, and Q-Anon drives, countless participants have been observed holding signs supporting the Gates conspiracies, that often include the tagline '#SayNoToBillGates'. The genesis of the distorted theories is believed to date back to a 2015 video, when, during a TED Talk in Vancouver, Gates issued a dire warning that, if anything kills over 10 million people over the next few decades, it is likely to be a highly infectious virus, rather than a war. Conspiracy theorists claim the premonition is proof that Gates had prior knowledge about the coronavirus. During his Wednesday interview with Reuters, Gates asked: But do people really believe that stuff? Were really going to have to get educated about this over the next year and understand... how does it change peoples behavior and how should we have minimized this? Gates' wife, Melinda Gates, also spoke out about the theories involving her husband Wednesday, telling GMA : 'Disinformation causes more death. It causes people not to do the right things. In the first few months of the pandemic alone, between February and April last year, conspiracy theories and misinformation linking Gates to the origins of COVID-19 were mentioned more than 1.2 million times During his Wednesday interview with Reuters, Gates asked: But do people really believe that stuff?' What Are Some of the Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories? The main conspiracy theory involving Gates is that he intends to use the COVID-19 vaccine to implant a microchip into the arms of billions of people to track their movements. A theory that Gates wanted to cull 15 percent of the population through the vaccine has also been peddled, as have false claims that he developed the deadly virus in a lab. Other baseless theories include: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has tested vaccines on children in Africa and India, leading to thousands of deaths and irreversible injuries. He is accused of rolling out a tetanus vaccine in Kenya that includes abortion drugs. Gates falsely accused of saying the COVID vaccine would 'no doubt' kill at least 700,000 people. Advertisement Gates offered a similar bemusement to the conspiracies during a key-note address at the World Congress of Science & Factual Producers in December. Im surprised at all the conspiracy theories people who think the vaccine is not meant to save lives. Thats all wrong, but the scale of it is a bit scary in terms of, will that prevent people from being willing to take the vaccine, and why are they looking for these simple explanations? Gates said the goal of his foundation's vaccine development work is to advance public goods for global health through technological innovation by accelerating the development and commercialization of novel vaccines and the sustainable manufacture of existing ones. Even [U.S. coronavirus expert] Dr. Fauci or myself, our basic motivation for being involved in this work has been questioned; maybe theres something malign about that, Gates said. Im hopeful that the digital tools can get the truth out, as well as its gotten these conspiracy theories out. Melinda Gates also discussed the conspiracy theories in a Wednesday morning interview with Good Morning America. When asked by host Gayle King whether she was aware of the theories, Melinda replied: 'I certainly heard many of those conspiracy theories...that disinformation causes more death. It causes people not to do the right things. 'If you take up one conspiracy theory on the internet, we now know these social media platforms will serve up many, many more. And so people start do go down those dark holes.' She continued: 'I absolutely think social media... the tech companies and platforms need to look at these issues and address them. ... It's time to have more government regulation over the social platforms, so we don't get these conspiracy theories that cause more death.' At Trump rallies, anti-lockdown protests, and Q-Anon drives, countless participants have been observed holding signs supporting the Gates conspiracies, that often read '#SayNoToBillGates' Poll Finds 47% of US Want the Vaccine 'As Soon as Possible' Nearly half of all Americans want to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they can, a new poll released Wednesday suggests. That percentage is even higher among those who know someone who has already been vaccinated. The poll, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation just before President Joe Biden took office one week ago shows Americans are far less hesitant to take the Coronavirus vaccines with 47 percent of the public wanting to get the vaccine as soon as possible or they have already been vaccinated. This is a dramatic increase from the one-third or 34 percent of the US public that wanted to be vaccinated as soon as possible in a December Kaiser poll before vaccines were cleared by regulators. Another 31 percent say they want to wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for others. But 20 percent are more reluctant to get vaccinated, including 7 percent who will only get vaccinated if required to do so for work, school or other activities, and 13 percent who say they will definitely not get the vaccine, the survey found. Advertisement Bill Gates, who is America's biggest owner of private farmland, is among the world's richest people, with only Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazons Jeff Bezos boasting deeper pockets. Prof Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami and author of books on conspiracy theories, told the BBC last year said Gates has become a voodoo doll of conspiracies simply because he is rich and famous. Conspiracy theories are about accusing powerful people of doing terrible things, he said. The theories are basically the same, just the names change. Before Bill Gates, it was George Soros and the Koch brothers and the Rothchilds and the Rockefellers. While Uscinski says the majority of conspiracy theories die on the vine, the ones that endure are those that offer big villains and address issues that people care about. It should come as no surprise that rich people and big corporations are being accused of conspiring to put chips in our necks because that is a thing we fear, he said. This has been the ammo of conspiracy theories for a long, long time. The rise of social media has also helped to propel theories such as the ones involving Gates into the public sphere. Before the internet, they were self-contained and existed only in their own echo chambers or bubbles within certain communities, but the internet allows them to travel across political lines, between communities, so I think there is much more scope to mainstream conspiracy theories than before the internet, Rory Smith, from fact-checkers First Draft News, also told the BBC. He added that conspiracy theories have particularly flourished amid the pandemic because people are more psychologically vulnerable. This crisis is unprecedented in size and scope and the advice shifts as new studies are published. There are large areas of uncertainty and humans abhor uncertainty, Smith said. We grab onto any information to inject some sort of sense and order and that is when the rumor mill starts. Conspiracy theories - and notably Bill Gates conspiracy theories - fill these informational vacuums. Looking ahead, Gates praised Dr. Fauci and Francis Collins, head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, as smart and wonderful people to Reuters on Wednesday. Gates said hes looking forward to seeing them be able to work effectively and speak the truth under the new administration of Joe Biden. During former President Donald Trumps handling of the pandemic, Gates said, it had sometimes felt like they were the only sane people in the U.S. government. Im excited about the team that Biden has picked to tackle the health crisis, Gates said. Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response to the COVID-19 The rise of social media has also helped to propel theories such as the ones involving Gates into the public sphere, as people are said to be more 'psychologically vulnerable' Gates said he was also pleased that under Biden, the United States has rejoined the World Health Organization, and that hes appointed smart people, and the fact that Dr. Fauci wont be suppressed. The United States began vaccinations five weeks ago, however just 6.2 percent of the population have so far received their first doses of either Pfizer's or Moderna's two-dose vaccines. Currently, the US is vaccinating 1.27 million people a day on average. Biden said Monday he wanted to increase that number to 1.5 million per-day, in the days ahead. A poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Wednesday found that 47 percent of Americans want to get the COVID-19 vaccine 'as soon as possible.' Conducted just one week before Biden took office, the results shows the US is less hesitant to get the vaccine than they were back in December, when just 34 percent said they wanted it immediately. Another 31 percent say they want to wait until it has been available for a while to see how it is working for others. But 20 percent are more reluctant to get vaccinated, including 7 percent who will only get vaccinated if required to do so for work, school or other activities, and 13 percent who say they will definitely not get the vaccine, the survey found. It comes as the US death toll rose to 425,257, including 3,990 on Tuesday. More than 25 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Encouragingly, cases, deaths and hospitalizations were all down last week compared to previous weeks, but deaths remains high with an average of 3,287 people dying a day. Information about George Floyd's prior arrests cannot be used at the trials of the four Minneapolis cops charged in his death, but jurors will be allowed to hear details about two previous incidents involving the officer who knelt his neck, a Minnesota judge has ruled. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill announced the ruling in an order made public on Tuesday and said he would explain his decisions at a later date. Floyd, who was black and handcuffed, died on May 25 after Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck as Floyd said he couldn't breathe. Floyd's death was captured in widely seen bystander video that set off protests, sometimes violent, that spread around the world. George Floyd's prior arrests cannot be used in the trials of former Minneapolis officers Derek Chauvin (far left) Tou Thao (second from left) J. Kueng (second from right) and Thomas Lane (far right) The judge presiding over the case however, said the jury will be allow to hear details of two previous incidents involving Chauvin (left) who is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter Chauvin and the three other officers who took part in Floyd's arrest, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao, were fired the day after his death. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Lane, Kueng, and Thao are charged with aiding and abetting those crimes. Prosecutors had asked Cahill to allow them to introduce evidence that showed Chauvin had used neck or head and upper body restraints seven times before, including four times in which prosecutors say he went too far. Cahill ruled that prosecutors can't bring up most of those prior cases during Chauvin's trial, but they can tell the jury about a June 2017 arrest in which Chauvin restrained a female by placing his knee on her neck while she was prone on the ground. Chauvin, who was seen kneeling on Floyd's neck as he pleaded for breath during his arrest, was released from custody in October The judge also ruled that prosecutors can tell jurors about an August 2015 incident in which Chauvin saw other officers place a suicidal and intoxicated male into a side-recovery position after using a stun gun on him. Prosecutors had noted that the officers received a commendation, after medical professionals said the male could have died if they had prolonged his detention. Cahill said prosecutors can mention it only if they can provide clear and convincing evidence that Chauvin was present when the medical professional made those remarks. Defense attorneys had asked for permission to bring up details about Floyd's prior arrests, including a May 2019 arrest in which they said he acted in a way that was similar to his behavior on the day of his death. In court documents, Lane's attorney described Floyd as an ex-convict, a violent defendant and a liar. The other defendants' trial is set to start in August. Pictured: Lane and Thao during a court appearance in July Cahill's order also denies the state's request to bring up prior on-the-job incidents involving Thao and Kueng (pictured during a June court hearing) but did not provide a reason They also wanted to introduce evidence of a prior armed robbery arrest in Texas. In court documents, Lane's attorney described Floyd as an ex-convict, a violent defendant and a liar. An attorney for Floyd's family had called the defense comments a character assassination. Legal experts told The Associated Press that a blame-the-victim approach is a common defense strategy and can sway public opinion outside of court, but that prior incidents can't be brought up in court simply to smear people. Cahill's order also denies the state's request to bring up prior on-the-job incidents involving Thao and Kueng, again without providing a reason. Chauvin's trial is scheduled to begin March 8. The other defendants' trial is set to start in August. PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- TRAC Intermodal today announced the appointment of Kenneth Forster as Chief Executive Officer at FYX Fleet Roadside Assistance effective February 8, 2021. FYX, a TRAC subsidiary, is a leading provider of emergency fleet services for the intermodal and over-the-road trucking industries. Forster replaces Rodney Goderwis, Vice President at FYX, who is retiring. Forster will report directly to Daniel Walsh, CEO at TRAC Intermodal. Goderwis joined the company in 1984 and has been leading FYX, formerly TRAC Interstar, as Vice President since 2000. He has worked across all facets of the organization, from operations to sales to executive management, helping establish FYX as an innovative expert in roadside assistance solutions to the trucking industry. Forster, who has a strong track record growing tech-enabled businesses, held a number of senior leadership roles at transportation companies. He was most recently Chief Operating Officer and President at MODE Transportation in Dallas. He joined MODE from SunteckTTS, a logistics provider of freight brokerage services where he served as CEO. He was previously Chief Executive Officer at Velocity Express and AirSage, both based in Atlanta. "We were impressed with Ken's strong commercial background," says Daniel Walsh, CEO at TRAC Intermodal. "He has a stellar reputation for building successful teams and leveraging his expertise in operations, business analysis and financial management. His skillset is ideal to help FYX identify and capitalize on further growth opportunities." "I'm eager for the opportunity to help FYX build on the impressive reputation it has earned for service excellence and technology leadership," says Kenneth Forster, Chief Executive Officer of FYX Fleet Roadside Assistance. "Demand in the intermodal and trucking sectors is at an all-time high, which makes this an ideal time to optimize FYX's many assets and take it to the next level." FYX, created from a rebrand of TRAC Interstar in 2019, provides emergency roadside assistance solutions supported by next-generation technology. Its FYX platform helps fleet managers and owner-operators quickly access quality repair services and receive real-time service updates. FYX is well positioned for continued growth following the company's significant investments in 24/7 operations, a nationwide provider network and a technology platform to deliver greater service capabilities and leadership in commercial road service. About FYX Fleet Roadside Assistance FYX (https://fyxfleet.com), formerly TRAC Interstar, has been providing expert roadside assistance solutions to the trucking industry for over 35 years. With 24/7 operations, an extensive vendor network of over 1,000 preferred partners and advanced road service technology designed for fleet managers and owner-operators, FYX is a one-stop solution for all fleet road service needs. About TRAC Intermodal TRAC Intermodal (www.tracintermodal.com) is North America's leading marine chassis pool manager and equipment provider, with 11 pools under management across the U.S. TRAC has the largest fleet of marine and specialty chassis in North America and operates an extensive network of facilities. TRAC's subsidiaries offer emergency fleet roadside assistance through FYX, and maintenance and repair services and other depot solutions through TRAC Services. For more information, contact: Rick Leonard RCL Communications 203.434.7734 [email protected] SOURCE TRAC Intermodal Related Links www.tracintermodal.com The victim in Tuesdays deadly shooting in Allentown has been identified as a 28-year-old resident of the city, authorities said Wednesday. Dwayne Carter was shot multiple times while inside a vehicle about 4 p.m. in the 200 block of North Jordan Street, Allentown police Capt. James Keiser said in a news release. Responding patrol officers and Allentown paramedics rendered aid and took Carter to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township. He was pronounced dead there at 4:30 p.m., according to the Lehigh County Coroners Office. Following an autopsy Wednesday, the cause of death was determined to be gunshot wounds to the body, and the death was ruled a homicide, coroners office morgue manager Richard Pender said. Allentown police, the coroners office, the Lehigh County District Attorneys Office and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force were continuing to investigate the killing. No one was immediately in custody. Investigators ask anyone with information on the incident to call Allentown detectives at 610-437-7721. Tips also may be made anonymously on the police departments tips411.com page. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com. Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. A woman has issued a heartbreaking plea for help after her pet dog named Ester escaped from a cage onboard a Spirit of Tasmania cruise ship. Holly Anderson and Ester were travelling to Melbourne on Tuesday night when Rottweiler cross Doberman disappeared. Ms Alexander said she made sure she double checked the locks on the cage after putting Ester in an onboard kennel. Holly Anderson and her Rottweiler cross Doberman were travelling to Melbourne on Tuesday night when the dog disappeared Ms Alexander was woken up at midnight by a security guard who told her Ester had escaped 'I was woken up at midnight to one of the security guards telling me that she had escaped and that had been trying to get her but had no luck,' she said. Ms Alexander said staff would only let her look for the pooch for an hour before making her wait in the bar while they continued to search. 'They couldnt find her, they didnt raise any alarms when they were trying to get people to disembark or check their cars as they seem to think that she might of jumped in the utes or trailers,' she said. 'I was there up until midday refusing to leave as they said she just vanished they check their limited cameras that they had on the dock or boat they dont have cameras facing the kennels.' Ms Alexander took to social media to call on any other passengers who may have information about Ester's whereabouts. 'We were moving from Tasmania to Tweed Heads and she is my best friend and I just want her back,' she said. 'Not knowing if shes Dead or alive is killing me. Please help.' WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and Treasury Department are monitoring the situation involving GameStop and other companies that have seen sharp gains on the stock market, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. Shares of both GameStop and AMC Entertainment Holdings more than doubled on Wednesday, forcing hedge funds to take heavy losses and sparking calls for scrutiny of anonymous stock market trading posts on social media. Psaki said the U.S. stock market was not the only measure of the health of the economy, and President Joe Biden was continuing to press for approval of a $1.9 trillion economy recovery package to aid working- and middle-class families. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper and Jeff Mason, writing by Andrea Shalal, editing by Chris Reese) Lucknow, Jan 27 : In a major breakthrough, a joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force and Mumbai Police have arrested three persons, accused of committing daylight robbery in a Mumbai jewellery showroom. The three, arrested on Wednesday from Lucknow, have been identified as Vinay Kumar, Dinesh Nishad and Shailendra Kumar. All three belong to different districts in the state. The trio were arrested from Dewa road in Chinhat. ADG, STF Amitabh Yash said that for several days, the gang was planning criminal incidents in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Mumbai Police had sought the state police's help in the robbery of S. Kumar Gold and Diamond Shop located at Mira Road, Mumbai. The robbery place on January 8. It was found in the investigation that a criminal from UP's Ghazipur is running a gang and they were planning to loot a prominent jewellery shop in Lucknow too. The STF has recovered 46 rings, four gold necklaces, ten lockets, two pairs of bracelets, precious stones, diamonds, Rs 5,27,400, 38 cartridges and two mobile phones from the accused. Priti Patel today launched a scathing attack on influencers 'showing off in sunny parts of the world' as she revealed travellers would be stopped from leaving the UK if their journey is not essential. The Home Secretary slammed reality TV stars for bragging about their holidays and people 'turning up with their skis at St Pancras Station', adding, 'Going on holiday is not an exemption.' Scores of reality TV stars 'used loop holes' to flee to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels, pose for pictures with cocktails on sun loungers and enjoy beach parties. Love Island star Laura Anderson, 31, said she had gone to Dubai as a coping mechanism to deal with Covid, adding: I felt guilty the whole time. Many influencers claim they flew more than 3,000 miles for 'unavoidable work trips' - with some even going so far as to suggest that their social media posts should make them 'essential workers'. But now expats working in Dubai have accused them of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and risking spreading the virus to residents by partying and flouting social distancing. And government sources told MailOnline people have been 'exploiting grey areas', with 'high profile people getting away with it,' adding, 'what they are claiming as work is not.' As the criticism surrounding influencers intensified today, the Prime Minister warned that Brits leaving the UK will be quizzed at the border to make sure they are not jetting off for a holiday. Hard graft: Yazmin Oukhellou told fans she was, '[In Dubai] for work purposes, for business', but added: 'Obviously we'll make the most of it while we're here as well.' Right, Laura Anderson was met with a furious backlash when she moaned about how hard it was to be an 'influencer' James Lock (pictured) and Yazmin Oukhellou have been out in Dubai with James regularly posting pictures of himself with a laptop working Love Island star Georgia Steel (pictured left) was in Dubai but has recently been posting snaps beside crystal blue waters in The Maldives. Pictured right: Molly Mae Hague posted snaps in the Maldvies, but is now back in the UK The Home Secretary slammed reality TV stars for bragging about their holidays and people 'turning up with their skis at St Pancras Station', adding, 'Going on holiday is not an exemption.' Chloe Ferry, who travelled out to Dubai at the end of last year - before lockdown measures were introduced, originally claimed she had hoped to stay for 'two months' Anton Danyluk (pictured left) shared that he was heading to Dubai on December 10. He is since thought to have lost 14,000 followers on Instagram Addressing MPs today, Boris Johnson warned: 'I want to make clear that under the stay home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes. Love Island stars 'lose THOUSANDS of fans' after flaunting their lavish Dubai work trips as fed-up Brits hit back Love Island stars who jetted to Dubai amid the coronavirus pandemic have reportedly lost thousands of Instagram fans. It is thought fed-up Brits have hit back by unfollowing the stars accounts with Anton Danyluk, 25, and Laura Anderson, 31, dropping a combined 26,000, reports The Sun. Anton, who is thought to have lost 14,000 followers, shared that he was heading to Dubai on December 10 and has since posted glimpses of his impressive hotel views and dips in the pool with his 1m fans. While Laura Anderson, who has reportedly dropped a sizeable 12,000 followers, sparked a backlash when she said it was 'really hard' to be an influencer following unimpressed comments on her Dubai snaps. Others thought to have taken a hit in the Instagram numbers include Kaz Crossley, 27, who has reportedly lost 7,000 followers since touching down in the city. While Gabby Allen is thought to have lost 2,000 and Josh Ritchie 8,000. TOWIE star James Lock, who is in Dubai with his girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou is also said to have seen 1,000 people disappear from his followers. Advertisement 'We will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel.' Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins, Amber Davies, Anton Danyluk, Georgia Harrison and Kady McDermott were among those to jet off before the third national lockdown. Laura Anderson, who appeared on Love Island in 2018, moaned about how 'hard it was to be an influencer' after she was met with a backlash about her Dubai trip. Sophia Peschisolido, 23, daughter of Tory peer Karren Brady, has also shared pictures of herself in Dubai. One influencer in Dubai sparked fury this week by claiming to be an essential worker. Sheridan Mordew, 24, who has been there since the start of January, told This Morning on ITV it was an essential work trip to provide sunny content for fans and motivate them. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Expats in Dubai have told MailOnline they are furious about the number of celebrity influencers coming to the city 'for work'. One expat told MailOnline: 'They're taking the f***ing p***'. Lauren Morgan, who moved to the city with her husband in January 2020, said: 'All the 'influencers' coming out to Dubai for 'work' has made me so angry, using loop holes to holiday and potentially spreading the virus.' Ministers are understood to have been increasingly concerned about social media 'infuencers' and other celebrities turning up in exotic destinations while the rest of the country is in lockdown. One government source told MailOnline people appeared to have been exploiting grey areas about what counts as 'essential' work trips. 'It is quite clear there are some high profile people getting away with it and what they are claiming as work is not,' they said. Reality stars who fled to Dubai before England's third lockdown began look set to be returning to 10-day compulsory quarantine stay at hotels near Britain's airports. Kady McDermott (left) and Maura Higgins (right) were among the stars to travel to the UAE before lockdown began Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Pictured: Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei in Dubai Who has gone where? The hard working 'influencers' on 'essential businesses' Scores of reality TV stars have been sharing photos from their sunny 'work' breaks, including; Kimberley Garner (she was in Barbados and is now in Miami) Lottie Moss (in Mexico) Love Island stars; Amber Davies Anton Danyluk Georgia Harrison (claiming she lives in Dubai now) Kaz Crossley Elle Brown Amber Gill Montana Brown (in Barbados) Kady McDermott who jetted to the Maldives before going to Dubai Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei Georgia Steel (was in Dubai and is now in The Maldives) The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) stars; James Lock and Yazmin Oukhellou Ella Rae Wise Some have since returned to the UK, including; Sophia Peschisolido, 23, daughter of Tory peer Karren Brady Francesca Allen Kady McDermott jetted to the Maldives before going to Dubai Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews (they flew to St Barts. late last year) Sophie Piper (it was reported she'd jetted to the Maldives apparently breaking the rules) Sam Faiers (she flew to The Maldives for her 30th earlier this month) Wes Nelson Ferne McCann Chloe Ferry Laura Anderson, recently returned to Glasgow Malin Andersson Amber Turner Tiffany and Lucy Watson (were in Barbados) Molly Mae and Tommy Fury visited early December and then squeezed in a trip to the Maldives before returning to the UK Maura Higgins and Christopher Taylor, now back in the UK Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy, who celebrated Christmas there Rochelle and Marvin Humes, who enjoyed a family winter vacation there in mid-December, before lockdown rules came into force Advertisement Ms Morgan moved to the UAE with her husband in January 2020, returning to the UK once to see her family. She added: 'I have booked a flight back to the UK at the end of April. 'With these new rules possibly coming into place, I have to choose between not going home to see my parents who are in their late 70s or going back for the three weeks and spending 10 days of those and potentially a small fortune to quarantine. 'All I want to do is go home to visit my family. 'Moving here in January 2020, this was not the deal I made with my husband, I was supposed to be able to travel home to visit family as much as I wanted to. 'People holidaying/partying is just delaying that for a lot of people from happening and it's infuriating. 'Rules are not always being followed by people from the UK (and I'm sure many others) who have not had to follow the same strict rules as we have in Dubai since March 2020 and is now a way of life to wear a mask and keep your distance and minimise socialising/large group gathering.' Love Island's Laura Anderson was forced to delete some of the comments on her bikini snaps after receiving backlash for sharing her exploits in Dubai. Insisting her job was 'hard' to do, she moaned: 'This whole thing about everyone hating influencers, I'm just like f**k.. this is what I do for a job at the minute. I don't want to feel c**p.' Yesterday, she revealed she had ordered a Covid test after suffering with a blocked nose upon returning to Glasgow where she is self isolating. And when approached by the Guardian about his so-called work trip, a publicist for Anton Danyluk - who has been in Dubai since 10 December - asked if the Love Island star would receive a fee in return for a comment. Yesterday it was revealed private flights into a Dubai airport soared by 78% at the end of last year compared to 2019, as travellers, including Love Island stars, rushed to escape lockdown and spend Christmas there. MailOnline has been inundated with emails from people in Spain, the USA, Canada, Pakistan and South America worried that they may be caught up in the new quarantine scheme and admitting they may rush home to avoid it. The Home Secretary today heralded a huge squeeze on 'non-essential' journeys as she revealed that even during lockdown individuals have been flouting the rules - including by turning up at borders carrying skis. In a statement to MPs, she said they now face being turned away, swiping: 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel.' Ms Patel also declared that Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. MailOnline understands that hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms, where they will have to stay for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500 - although ministers hope the numbers will 'fall through the floor' as people avoid coming to the UK. It will only affect British travellers, as foreign citizens who have been in the countries are already banned from entering altogether. Laura Anderson claims flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' By Laura Fox for MailOnline Laura Anderson has insisted that flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Love Island star, 31, said she 'felt guilty the whole time' she was away after claiming she'd flown to the UAE for a 'business trip' following backlash towards influencers bending travel restrictions to fly abroad. During an Instagram Q and A, after being asked whether she felt guilty about being in Dubai, she said: 'I felt guilty the whole time. I don't think anyone realised how bad the strain would get, and how quickly. So hearing people upset, I felt horrific.' Advertisement Ms Patel herself is believed to have been pushing for a much tougher regime alongside Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, but was overruled after resistance from Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps, and warnings it would 'kill' the aviation industry. The government is facing the prospect of a revolt from UK nations, with Nicola Sturgeon threatening to impose her own more brutal curbs in Scotland, and Wales saying they do not go far enough. Labour said ministers were 'behind the curve' in protecting the country's borders. But making the case for the government in a Commons statement, Ms Patel said: 'It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. 'And today I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme.' Under the push to clamp down on travel, airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis,' Ms Patel said. 'We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world they are in... 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel.' The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignores a plea from Ms Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Working hard: James Lock and his girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou posed for a recent snap while lapping up the sunshine in Dubai Confusingly, Boris Johnson told the House earlier that 22 countries will be on the quarantine list - but in fact the current 'red list' of countries from where only British nationals can come to the UK is much wider than that. Ms Patel did not give a full roll call of the states included when she addressed MPs. She said the government does have estimates for how many people will need to quarantine in hotels, but refused to give them. Sources said the numbers of arrivals going into the accommodation is likely to be in the hundreds to start with, but should fall quickly. And although she suggested there is an 'immediate' crackdown the start date for the enforced quarantine is not clear. At PMQs this afternoon, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Which influencers have defended trips abroad? Kady McDermott Former Love Island contestant has hit back at a number of followers who criticised her decision to continue posting sun-soaked snaps from the Maldives Former Love Island contestant has hit back at a number of followers who criticised her decision to continue posting sun-soaked snaps from the Maldives, while Britain is in lockdown On one of pictures, showing her stepping out of a crystal blue sea, a follower remarked: 'Breaking the rules again - don't see this as a business trip!' But Kady hit back: 'Oh so because you don't see it as a business trip it means it isn't? Oh ok lol.' Replying to another follower on a different picture, she said: 'This is how I pay my bills!' Gabby Allen Former Love Island contestant Gabby Allen moved out to Dubai on December 7 Former Love Island contestant Gabby Allen moved out to Dubai on December 7. She too faced criticism but, unlike many other influencers, she quickly set out her argument for the move - saying that her boyfriend, Brandon Myers, had a business. In a post on Instagram, she said: 'Hey guys, just to let you know, we made the decision to fly out to Dubai as my boyfriend's business is based here & luckily allows us to travel,' she wrote. 'We were both fit to travel with negative PCR tests [for COVID-19]. I wanted to come on here and acknowledge this to my followers as it was a difficult decision for me. 'I really hope you can understand that it was an opportunity I had to take.' Amber Gill Perhaps one of the more bizarre defences came from former Love Island star Amber Gill Perhaps one of the more bizarre defences came from former Love Island star Amber Gill. The former reality show winner jetted off to Dubai in December following news that London and much of the south East would be affected by the new rules. But she said she 'no idea' what she was doing and claimed she was confused by the Tier 4 rules. In a staggering Instagram post, she wrote: 'Just want to put it out there that I had no idea Tier 4 was a thing. 'The flight here was booked way before. I thought the only changes were being made on the 16th meaning I was still allowed to travel for work.' Laura Anderson Laura Anderson has insisted that flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' during the COVID-19 pandemic Laura Anderson has insisted that flying to Dubai was 'a coping mechanism' during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Love Island star, 31, said she 'felt guilty the whole time' she was away after claiming she'd flown to the UAE for a 'business trip' following backlash towards influencers bending travel restrictions to fly abroad. During an Instagram Q and A, after being asked whether she felt guilty about being in Dubai, she said: 'I felt guilty the whole time. I don't think anyone realised how bad the strain would get, and how quickly. So hearing people upset, I felt horrific.' Holly Hagan Geordie Shore's Holly Hagan - who has remained in the UK - weighed in on the widely-discussed issue of reality stars jetting to Dubai amid the coronavirus pandemic Geordie Shore's Holly Hagan - who has remained in the UK - weighed in on the widely-discussed issue of reality stars jetting to Dubai amid the coronavirus pandemic. During an Instagram Q&A on Tuesday evening, the TV personality, 28, was quizzed over her thoughts on the vast amount of celebrities, including her MTV co-stars and Love Islanders, heading to Dubai amid restrictions and rules. She was quick to defend her peers and pals, and while she admitted it is 'frustrating' for social media users to see their lavish antics, she personally would prefer 'people to be happy in Dubai than suffering at home'. Holly remained at home during the pandemic, while many of her pals - including Chloe Ferry and Sophie Kasaei - upped and left to Dubai. Sheridan Mordew The fitness influencer sparked a backlash earlier this week when she defended her decision to leave the UK for Dubai on This Morning. The 24-year-old, from Sunderland, who has a following of around 11,000 on Instagram, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown. Since then, the social media star, who runs 'Shape Up With Sher,' has been sharing glamorous, sunshine-filled content with her Instagram followers as she enjoys relaxed restrictions in the United Arab Emirates. The 24-year-old, from Sunderland, who has a following of around 11,000 on Instagram, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown But as she tried to justify her travels to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning, the influencer failed to win over viewers. They called her 'selfish' and 'disgraceful' for trying to imply her work - sharing sun-soaked selfies and outdoor fitness classes - was essential. 'The reason I came to Dubai was purely for business,' Sheridan started during a video call with the This Morning duo. A cynical Phil told Sheridan: 'A lot of the fitness stuff, this could be in your garage in Bolton, you don't have to be in Dubai to do that.' The influencer claimed she had travelled to the United Arab Emirates because she was struggling with her mental health, adding that 'clients depend on me to bring them happiness'. She said her thought process was: 'The only way I'm gonna get out of this is to find an opportunity to get out of here on a plane to Dubai. She said the travel was 'the opportunity to get good content,' and stressed she has no children and no ties 'I'm not going to get content at home watching Netflix,' she said. 'It is all about the whole aspect of content, getting clients, all that kind of stuff.' Advertisement Holiday quarantine hotel list revealed: South Africa, Brazil and Portugal will be amongst first to face 10-day 1,500 isolation as Boris Johnson unveils list of 'high risk' nations but Labour already say it isn't enough Boris Johnson will today publish a list of up to 30 'high risk' Covid countries where returning travellers will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days - but Labour have said it is not tough enough. The Prime Minister last night met with officials to put the finishing touches to the Australian-style scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignored a plea from Home Secretary Priti Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons today that the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining people from 30 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, claims that all travellers will also be asked by airlines and border officials if their journey is essential. Airlines will be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly, he said. The 30 'high risk' countries, due to be published later today along with a start date, are expected to include Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, much of South America and southern Africa. These areas have been chosen because of dangerous variants that have emerged there - or because they have rocketing infection and death rates. The government is also considering dumping its 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation. This would ensure anyone arriving in Britain would have to self-isolate for ten days. Priti Patel, who was calling for a blanket hotel quarantine policy for all travellers, will set out the details in the Commons after the Prime Minister gives a statement on Covid at 1.15pm today. But Government sources have told MailOnline that the United Arab Emirates, where many social media stars have jetted off during lockdown, is looking less likely to appear on the list. Scores of influencers and millionaires have fled to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels during lockdown. Laura Anderson, Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins, Amber Davies, Georgia Harrison and Kady McDermott were among those to jet off before the third national lockdown. Expats working in Dubai and following the rules have accused them of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and some are risking spreading the virus by partying and flouting social distancing. MailOnline has also been inundated with emails from people in Spain, the USA, Canada, Pakistan and South America worried that they may be caught up in the new quarantine scheme and admitting they may rush home to avoid it. Yesterday it was revealed private flights into a Dubai airport soared by 78% at the end of last year compared to 2019, as travellers, including Love Island stars, rushed to escape lockdown and spend Christmas there. The imminent quarantine plans split the cabinet with Home Secretary Priti Patel backing a total travel ban that would close Britain's borders. Ms Patel, thought to be supported by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, had hoped blanket quarantine for all arrivals would stop new variants of coronavirus entering Britain. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab have been arguing strongly for any decision on whether to widen the list to be delayed. The impending quarantine rules came as: Boris Johnson said he was 'deeply sorry for every life lost' last night as the UK went past 100,000 coronavirus deaths as the PM insisted the Government 'did all we could'; England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty believes the country has reached the peak of the latest - and most serious - wave of the pandemic; People infected with Kent coronavirus variant are MORE likely to get symptoms than those who catch older strains, ONS report reveals but they are less likely to lose smell and taste; Cases are falling fast - down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000 yesterday. The figure is the lowest it has been since December. But another 1,631 deaths were recorded within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test yesterday, taking the total to 100,162; These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries that could be on the UK quarantine list Flagged Camps Bay beach in Cape Town, South Africa, a country certain to be on the list after a dangerous variant emrged before Christmas A deserted Praia da Rocha Beach in Portugal yesterday where the travel industry has been decimated by Covid and will now be added to a quarantine list by the UK, one of its biggest markets Ministers will outline plans today to force British travellers to quarantine in airport hotels, despite warnings from airline chiefs that the sector faces ruin. Pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow Airport yesterday Boris Johnson (pictured) met officials yesterday to put the finishing touches to the Australian-style scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants On Tuesday the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Covid operations committee which includes participants from the Home Office, the Department of Transport and the Foreign Office to put the seal on the decision. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Who will be forced to quarantine and can I upgrade my hotel room? We answer the vital questions about the Government's new Australia-style isolation for travellers Who will be forced to quarantine in hotels? As a first step, British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as Brazil and South Africa, will be forced to isolate for ten days in airport hotels. Foreign nationals are already banned from entering the UK from these places. The Government is looking at widening the hotel quarantine requirement to all arrivals at airports and ports from everywhere around the world, but wants to pilot the process with a smaller group of people first. Boris Johnson yesterday gathered ministers to sign off on the plans with a decision expected today. What will happen on arrival? Travellers who face enforced quarantine will be taken by bus to a hotel where they will have to remain for ten days. Officials have begun talks with hotel groups about block-booking rooms that can be used for isolating. In Australia, people are required to stay in their room the entire time with security guards patrolling the corridors. Hotel staff are forbidden from cleaning the rooms during a person's stay. British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected must isolate for ten days in airport hotels Can you upgrade your hotel? Travellers will not get a choice of hotel. In Australia, people do not know in advance where they will be staying and are warned there is no guarantee of access to a balcony or open window. What are you supposed to do all day? In Australia, exercise outside is not allowed so guests are encouraged to do stretches or yoga in their room. A guide given to travellers to help prepare for hotel isolation suggests planning different activities to break up the day. Examples given include getting in contact with different friends and family, learning a foreign language on a mobile phone app, trying out a new hobby such as knitting and calligraphy, and catching up on 'life admin'. The advice recommends planning 'rewards' to look forward to such as a phone call with a loved one or the delivery of a treat. People sharing rooms with partners and family members are encouraged to set ground rules for the stays such as scheduling a time each day when everyone does a 'quiet' activity to help avoid disagreements. Last summer an outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne was blamed on security guards having sex with guests at one of the quarantine hotels. Who pays the hotel bill? The Government will arrange transport for travellers to their accommodation, but they will have to cover the cost of their hotel room, estimated to be about 1,500. The cost of 14 days in a quarantine hotel is 1,692 for an adult in Australia, 1,630 in New Zealand and 642 in Thailand. Advertisement An agent, whose client had travelled to Dubai, told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We manage their social media accounts and I've seen a number of death threats in direct messages. 'It's been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it's a terrible look, but they ignored it.' Travel chiefs warned quarantine hotels could 'decimate' the beleaguered sector. Airline bosses wrote to Mr Johnson warning firms could go bust and tens of thousands of jobs lost if summer holidays are cancelled for a second year. The letter was signed by easyJet chief Johan Lundgren, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss, British Airways boss Sean Doyle, Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy and David Burling, CEO of markets and airlines for package holiday giant Tui. They called for an 'urgent roadmap for the reopening of air travel' as vaccines are rolled out and life begins returning to normal. They said Britain already has 'some of the toughest border restrictions on international arrivals anywhere in the world'. And they hit out at ministers for failing to share any 'compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced'. The letter follows a string of announcements on restrictions at borders, including passengers needing proof of a pre-flight negative Covid-19 test and the scrapping of the 'travel corridor' safe list of countries. There is also a complete ban on travel into the UK from 30 countries, including the whole of South America and southern Africa. The ban does not include British and Irish nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival. The airline chiefs pointed out that the aviation industry supports about 1.56million jobs and contributes 88.8billion to the economy, or about 4.5 per cent of UK GDP. They added: 'With each day the UK is isolated from the world, causing untold economic damage, both to the UK's essential aviation infrastructure its airlines, airports and ground handlers but also to those businesses that depend on the UK's connectivity within a global economy.' The industry is calling for a 'bespoke support package', saying measures up until now have been inadequate. They say business rates relief can currently amount to as little as 4 per cent for larger operators such as Heathrow. Separately, the World Travel and Tourism Council warned shutting down UK borders further could wipe out more than 548million from the UK economy every day. The travel industry is ending its worst January on record in terms of forward bookings. It comes as a government source told MailOnline the decisions on the quarnantine plan will 'go down to the wire', adding: 'The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money ... you can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller.' It came as Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was 'too early' to book a summer holiday abroad - but some anxious Britons took to social media to admit the warning came too late, with some having bought flights for as early as the half-term holidays in mid-February. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel company The PC Agency, said: 'This is destroying confidence among holidaymakers. People are not booking summer holidays because they don't believe there is an end game which will see these blanket measures removed. 'This is a sure-fire way of destroying Britain's aviation and travel industries. The Government needs to signal that they will withdraw the hotel quarantine rules by the end of March and return to a system of quarantining arrivals from high-risk areas only.' In a joint statement, the Airport Operators Association and Airlines UK insisted the country already has 'some of the highest levels of restrictions in the world' and that introducing tougher rules would be 'catastrophic'. ABTA has urged all its travel agent members to lobby MPs in a bid to convince Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to agree a multi-billion pound cash bailout for the industry. A small number of Britons say they are now stuck in Spain and the Canary Islands, where the usually bustling beaches and promenades were largely deserted, as experts fear Mr Johnson's quarantine plan could bankrupt Britain's already ailing tourism industry. And photographs from some of Europe's most popular resorts, including Benidorm, show its beaches are deserted with bar and restaurant owners telling MailOnline they will go bust if the Brits don't visit this year. Stuey Lee Lewis, 70, owner of the Geordie Bar Tat in Benidorm's Rincon area, said: 'Things are really bad. We had locals in but we can't survive on locals, we need the Brits. I know they're missing our home-cooked chips, a cold beer and our sun terrace'. Expat Terence Burgess, 74, told MailOnline: 'I was in Benidorm last week and there wasn't a soul about. It was very sad to see. I went to my favourite karaoke bar to sing and I was the only one in there'. The quarantine measures will lead to a slew of cancellations and people will not book summer breaks in yet another economic hammer blow to holiday firms and airlines, particularly if, as feared, the travel restrictions stretch into the peak season. Industry leaders have called for a better sector-specific bailout package from the Chancellor. But the Prime Minister last night said he wanted 'maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad' to prevent new coronavirus variants jeopardising the vaccination programme. At a meeting of the Covid-O committee at 6pm this evening, Cabinet ministers will consider making it compulsory for all travellers to quarantine at hotels, regardless of their nationality and where they come from. A formal announcement on the agreed scheme may not come until tomorrow. One government source told MailOnline the decisions on the detail will 'go down to the wire'. The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' A health worker standing next to an ambulance at Santa Maria Hospital Lisbon as the pandemic in Portugal worsened Arrivals from South America, Portugal and many countries in southern Africa areas affected by deadly new strains are expected to be told to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports (pictured: The Best Western hotel at Heathrow) Government sources say people will have to pay for the cost of their stay perhaps as much as 1,500. Pictured: The Holiday Inn at Heathrow Private flights to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH) in Dubai soared by 78% in the last three months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019 Change your own bed sheets and meals dropped by your door: Best Western chief reveals grim Covid protocols faced by travellers forced to quarantine in airport hotels for up to 1,500 A large room at the Best Western - Chiswick Palace Hotel British travellers arriving back from high-risk coronavirus hotspots will be made to change their own bed sheets and eat meals in their rooms in an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience' as they are forced to quarantine in airport hotels. Boris Johnson yesterday signed off on plans to toughen border controls by putting new arrivals into isolation, at their own expense - with a ten-day stay costing up to 1,500. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the industry was ready to assist protocols of quarantining international arrivals, which would see guests confined to their rooms, with three meals delivered each day to their doors. He said the franchise could mobilise hotels for quarantining travellers returning to the UK, with 5,000 rooms ready 'within 24 to 48 hours' and said it would be an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience'. He told BBC Radio 5 Live hotels will operate a one-way system, with travellers checking in via a contactless system before being escorted to their room by a staff member in PPE. They then remain there for ten days, with CCTV cameras in corridors to ensure no one breaks the rules. 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high', he said. Advertisement They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money... You can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller,' the source said. Passengers arriving into Heathrow Airport have faced chaos for days as they were forced to queue for hours to get through passport control. Pictures of crowds at passport control have become common, raising fears that the lack of social distancing could easily spread Covid. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi warned that the country needs to be 'very careful' as new strains emerge, and said an announcement on the quarantine plans would be made later. He told Sky News on Tuesday: 'There will be an announcement on this issue later on today, so I can only say to you that it is the right thing to do, because I am the Vaccines Minister, that as we vaccinate more of the adult population, if there are new variants like the South African or the Brazilian variants, we need to be very careful. 'We acted on those very quickly and of course dealt with travel from those countries, and from Portugal and elsewhere, rapidly so it is important we continue to review our border policy and an announcement will be made when a decision has been taken. 'And of course the industry itself will be engaged with heavily, including (Health Secretary) Matt Hancock engaging with the industry to explain the decision making at health, as well as of course the business department with the Business Secretary.' Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the proposals might need to go further than applying only to those arriving from countries where new variants of Covid-19 have been discovered. Pressed on whether he supports a universal approach to quarantining international arrivals, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think it is a big logistical exercise to do that and it is not going to be possible to do it overnight anyway. 'But I think the real question is buying us enough time, and we don't know which countries these variants are arising in. We have much better genomic sequencing in this country than in most other countries - in fact, any other country - so we are better at tracing these things than other places. 'But I think we just have to be very cautious, because if we can get this vaccine distribution up to sufficient levels, we can really cut down the transmission in this country and transform the battle against the virus. 'If we do have to go further, I hope it would only have to be for a temporary period.' The Government has reportedly held talks with Marriott and Holiday Inn about using their hotels while Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. Who could be exempt from hotel quarantine? Under the Government's current border rules some people do not have to adhere to self-isolation requirements. It is not yet clear if these exemptions would be carried over should ministers press ahead with hotel quarantine. The current exemptions include: Aerospace engineers who need to take a test but do not have to self-isolate. Aircraft pilots and crew who do not need to take a test and do not have to self-isolate. BBC broadcasters who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. A blanket exemption for all journalists ceased on January 18. Medicine workers who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. Crown servants or government contractors who do not need to self-isolate if they are travelling for essential work. Drivers of goods vehicles who do not need to present a negative test prior to departure and who do not need to self-isolate. Elite sportspersons who do have to have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. None of the above exemptions are valid for travel from countries which are currently subject to a travel ban. Advertisement Describing what life will be like for guests paying around 100-a-night: 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high'. He added: 'There are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front'. The quarantine scheme is already used around the world including in Australia, Singapore and Norway, where some guests have described being stuck in dirty rooms for almost a fortnight being fed disgusting food. Others who have been through the process abroad have suggested that guests must fill their suitcases with a 'survival kit' of healthy snacks, decent coffee and tea, their own crockery and cutlery as well as washing up liquid, detergent for clothes and a laptop packed with downloaded boxsets - or face pure misery. Arrivals will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards. Government sources last night said the enforced quarantine regime will be introduced for British nationals returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as South Africa and Brazil. Foreign nationals are already barred from entering the UK from these countries. Ministers will then look to widen the compulsory hotel quarantine requirement to cover more travellers. Officials warned it will be 'logistically challenging' to put the system in place and it could take as long as three weeks to get it up and running. Concerns have been raised that there are only 10,000 hotel rooms close to London's Heathrow airport. About 8,000 people are still arriving there every day, although this number would be expected to plummet once the new restrictions are introduced. The plan to require arrivals to go into isolation at airport hotels is modelled on Australia, where the cost of 14 days in quarantine is 1,692. It is estimated that travellers entering the UK could be charged about 1,500 for a ten-night stay. The travel industry has warned that the added cost would destroy holiday plans. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. A deserted Levante beach in Benidorm on Tuesday as the Government urged Britons not to book summer holidays in yet another blow for struggling airlines and holiday companies The beautiful Playa de Amadores in Grand Canaria was also similarly quiet this morning The sunny strip in Benidorm on Spain's Mediterranean coast is hugely popular but was empty of tourists on Tuesday morning The beach in Santa Cruz in Tenerife was also quiet on Tuesday afternoon Travellers have cancelled their foreign holidays - or had it done for them - as the new quarantine rules are set to be imposed Arrivals, such as those at Heathrow (pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow) will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards People infected with Kent coronavirus variant are MORE likely to get symptoms than those who catch older strains, ONS report reveals but they are less likely to lose smell and taste People infected with the Kent coronavirus variant are more likely to get symptoms than those who have caught older strains but are less likely to lose their smell and taste, according to the Office for National Statistics. Data from the ONS revealed today that 53 per cent of people in England who tested positive with the variant reported Covid-19 symptoms such as cough, fatigue and fever, compared to 48 per cent of people with other variants. The number-crunching body found that the largest differences in reported symptoms between the new variant and older stains were cough, sore throat, fatigue and muscle ache myalgia which is caused by a viral infection. All symptoms were equally or more likely among people with the Kent variant except for a loss of taste and smell, which is considered to be one of the tell-tale signs of the virus. The ONS report also found that there was no significant difference in people experiencing shortness of breath, nausea vomiting or headaches between people who had tested positive with the mutation or novel strain. Figures showed that 19 per cent of those who tested positive with the UK variant had a loss of smell and taste in comparison to other strains, among which it was 22 per cent. The Government last week revealed that scientists think the Kent variant may be more deadlier than the previous dominant version of the virus, and it is already known to be more infectious by around 30 to 70 per cent. The Kent strain now makes up around 60 per cent of all cases in England, according to separate ONS testing figures. Advertisement He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, while he had not held conversations with ministers about the proposals, the sector was 'familiar and accustomed to managing Covid-positive customers in our hotels'. Mr Paterson added: 'From the hotels' perspective, we would have to treat each of these customers as Covid-positive, so we would have to have strong infection control and protocols around security in the hotel to ensure we can deliver safely.' Asked whether the protocols would see guests confined to their rooms, he replied: 'Yes, it does. And that is exactly how our protocols work today. We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high. 'Hotels stand ready to support the authorities on the strategy and I guess it is the authorities' responsibility and their burden to present the evidence and the practicalities behind the strategy. 'But from a practical point of view at the hotels, there are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front.' Heathrow said a blanket requirement for travellers to quarantine in hotels would effectively be 'the closure of our borders' and lead to 'huge ramifications for Britain and its aviation sector'. A spokesman for the airport said the industry was 'already on its knees', adding: 'The Chancellor must finally deliver on his promise of a comprehensive financial support package for UK aviation, made some ten months ago. 'It is completely unacceptable that an industry worst hit has watched on as others, fortunate to experience a boom in profits and no restrictions, have been afforded unnecessary financial support as we remain ignored.' Heathrow is calling for measures including business rates relief for airports. The Airport Operators' Association and Airlines UK warned an enforced quarantine regime would be 'catastrophic' and demanded an exit strategy. Shares in airlines fell sharply yesterday. In a joint statement, the industry bodies said: 'We have fully supported the Government to do what is right in the face of this pandemic, but policy should be based on evidence and there must be a roadmap out of these restrictions as soon as it is safe.' Ministers in Northern Ireland are expected to discuss the issue of quarantine at a Stormont Executive meeting on Tuesday. There is no direct route into Wales for international travellers at present, but a Welsh Government spokesman said they expected to discuss the plans with the UK Government in more detail. Direct flights to the UK from South Africa, Brazil and Portugal have already been suspended, but British residents have been permitted to return through indirect routes and then self-isolate at home. Australia became one of the first countries to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine in March, while the practice is also observed in China, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Qatar and Thailand. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz on January 26 claimed that the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khans government is begging its opposition for a dialogue. However, Nawaz said that the opposition has decided not to indulge in any talks with the Khan-led government and even labelled them incompetent. While attending a joint meeting of the partys parliamentary groups in the National Assembly and Senate on Tuesday, PML-N vice president reportedly said that the opposition would submit its resignations from the assemblies at an appropriate time and with a consensus within the 10-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). You will be surprised if I tell you the details as to how they [the government] are begging before te opposition for talks, Maryam said, as per ANI report, in response to a question about a meeting of the opposition leaders with the ruling government before the National Assembly session kickstarts on January 29. Resignations will be submitted and a long march will take place, she said and added that Khans incompetent government would be unsuccessful in retaining the power and declared 2021 an election year. The PML-N vice president also said that her party would not allow the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to change the accountability laws. Maryam added that the present rulers would face the same National Accountability Bureau (NAB) which was now for the opposition. Read - Pakistan Opposition Alleges 'disrespect' Shown To Karima Baloch's Body; Pak Army Panned Read - Pak PM Calls For 'equitable & Affordable Supply Of COVID Vaccines' To Debt-ridden Nations PML-N parliamentarians dismiss talks with govt Furthermore, even the PML-N parliamentarians have dismissed holding talks with the government regarding any issue while reimposing entire confidence in the leadership and narrative of their partys supreme leader Nawaz Sharif. As per local media reports, PML-N lawmakers have declared Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) proposal to move a non-trust motion against Pakistan PM Imran Khan impracticable. Later, touting the support of party members for Nawaz Sharif, PML-N vice president said on Twitter that its phenomenal and that her party has truly become an ideological party. "The party stands committed and united under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif more than ever before. The support and resolve were phenomenal. This is new, ideological PML-N Alhamdulillah," wrote Maryam Nawaz with her pictures at the PML-N meeting. Read - Group: Pakistani Baloch Dissident Buried Amid High Security Read - Pakistan's 759-acre Fatima Jinnah Park To Be Mortgaged By Imran Govt For 500 Bn PKR Loan YAKUTSK, Russia -- A shaman in the Siberian region of Yakutia who has had several attempts to march on foot to Moscow "to drive President Vladimir Putin out of the Kremlin" stopped by authorities, has been forcibly taken to a psychiatric clinic again after announcing a plan to resume his trek to the Russian capital. Aleksei Pryanishnikov, legal coordinator for the opposition group Open Russia, told RFE/RL on January 27 that police and officials at a psychiatric clinic in Yakutia's capital, Yakutsk, had detained Aleksandr Gabyshev while giving little information on the reasons. "At this point, we do not know on what grounds they detained him. I think we will get the details tomorrow," Pryanishnikov said, adding that Gabyshevs lawyers are now with him. On January 9, Gabyshev said heplanned to leave in March for the Russian capital from his native Yakutia on horseback in another attempt to try to drive Putin out of the Kremlin. His supporters were expected to follow in cars. Gabyshev first made headlines in March 2019 when he called Putin "evil" and announced that he had started a march to Moscow to drive the Russian president out of office. He then walked more than 2,000 kilometers, speaking with hundreds of Russians along the way. As his notoriety rose, videos of his conversations with people were posted on social media and attracted millions of views. In July that year, when Gabyshev reached the city of Chita, he led a 700-strong rally under the slogan "Russia without Putin!" At the time, Gabyshev said, "God told me that Putin is not human but a demon, and has ordered me to drive him out." His march was halted when he was detained in the region of Buryatia later in September. His forced stay in a clinic was equated by many with a Soviet-era practice used to muzzle dissent. Shamans have served as healers and diviners in Siberia for centuries. During the Soviet era, the mystics were harshly repressed. But in isolated parts of Siberia, they are now returning to prominence. At one field training exercise in Cambria, Wis., in July the defendants used plywood, shipping pallets and a door frame to construct a shoot house to practice breaching the Michigan Capitol or other buildings, according to the documents. Adam D. Fox, the accused leader of the group, had allegedly sought to recruit 200 men for the attack, but it was later abandoned because it was too complicated and some members of the group opposed it. In the plot to kidnap the governor, the defendants visited Ms. Whitmers vacation home in Michigan twice and planned to buy $4,000 worth of explosives to blow up a bridge to try to prevent the police from responding to their plan. The group discussed waiting until after the election, as members anticipated widespread civil unrest that might make it easier to carry out the plan, the agreement said. At a field training exercise near Luther, Mich., the men also built a shoot house to simulate an attack on the governors house and practiced attacking it with firearms, the plea agreement stated. The field training exercises also included attempts to build homemade bombs that included gunpowder, shrapnel and fireworks for ignition. Two attempts to explode such devices failed, according to court papers. Gary K. Springstead, the lead lawyer defending Mr. Garbin, said his client already faced a life sentence for the kidnapping charge, a felony. Further charges for weapons or explosives were possible as federal officials released more details about what the group had done. The plea agreement could help lower the amount of jail time for the kidnapping plot and also stave off further charges, said Mr. Springstead. During the preliminary hearings in October, Mr. Springstead and other lawyers in the case had focused on the idea that the men were practicing their First and Second Amendment rights when denigrating the governor. The fact that the men had cased the governors house made any such defense much harder, he said. There was a line that was crossed, something that you cannot undo, the lawyer said. A view from Clwyd Souths Member of Parliament This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2021 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here). Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes writes We are unlikely to forget 2020 in a hurry. Last year was a year unlike any other. After first being elected at the General Election in December 2019, I had a few months to get to grips with my role as an MP before the pandemic hit and plunged us into the first lockdown in March. Despite what was an incredibly difficult year, our communities in Clwyd South came together at a critical time to look after our most vulnerable residents. I have been deeply privileged as the MP to meet so many of our community-spirited residents, groups, businesses and organisations over the last year, and thank them for their selfless and generous work. This has, without a doubt, been the highlight of my time so far as MP for Clwyd South. Its great news that vulnerable people are now being vaccinated across the UK. As public health is devolved to the Welsh Government, it is the responsibility of Welsh Government Ministers to ensure the smooth roll-out of Coronavirus vaccines. I want to thank all the health staff in Clwyd South who are protecting us during the Covid crisis and the many other frontline workers who are keeping our public services and private businesses going during the lockdown we are all extremely grateful to you. On 12th December 2020, I was pleased to make a socially-distanced visit to the Spar in Rhos, where local children were given the opportunity to post a letter to Father Christmas and were assured of receiving a letter back from the North Pole a lovely way to bring a smile to children and families faces. On Friday 18th December, I was very pleased to join Helping Hands volunteers at the Oliver Jones Memorial Hall in Dolywern to congratulate them on the 48 Christmas hampers that they had prepared for vulnerable residents living locally. The Ceiriog Valley volunteers there are a fine example of community spirit in action. And on 27th December 2020, I was very pleased to lend a hand to volunteers at the Pant Ward Community Food Bank along with my daughter Francesca where we helped bag together food for those in need locally. The work of the volunteers there is exceptional, and I was really impressed with the dedication and commitment they have shown. As a longstanding supporter of Brexit, I was delighted by the announcement of a landmark deal on Christmas Eve. Later, on 30th December I was proud to vote in favour of the deal which will now govern the UKs trade agreement with the EU. It provides Welsh businesses with exceptional access to the EUs market and is the first time the EU has ever agreed a zero tariffs, zero quota deal. In Westminster, I was proud to highlight the vital work carried out by Armed Forces personnel in Clwyd South and across Wales during the Covid-19 pandemic during Defence Questions on 7th December. I think its extremely important to pay tribute and offer our deepest gratitude to our Armed Forces personnel for the key role they have played in the fight against this dreadful virus. I was honoured to be appointed the Conservative Partys Small Business Ambassador for Wales and, having had a small independent bookshop business before I became an MP, I am greatly looking forward to promoting and supporting small businesses across Wales. It was a great pleasure to chat with Sian Glyn-Jones on Small Business Saturday on about her wonderful shop Courtyard Books in Llangollen which has been a feature of the town for over 30 years. A very big thank you to her and Lesley, who helps her run the shop, for providing such pleasure to book lovers and for helping the Llangollen community through the difficult days of the Covid crisis. Ive recently started sending out a monthly e-newsletter so constituents can read more about my activities in Clwyd South and Westminster. If youd like to start receiving this monthly e-newsletter, you can sign up using the following link: www.simonbaynes.co.uk/sign-simons-e-newsletter. As Clwyd Souths MP, I am always here to provide advice and support. If youre a Clwyd South constituent, you can contact me and my team at any time by email on simon.baynes.mp@parliament.uk. Please dont hesitate to get in touch if theres anything I can do to help you. Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South constituency Members of Parliament and Members of the Senedd to write a monthly article with updates on their work in Parliament and the Senedd, and closer to home. (You can view an archive here). The International Federation of Journalists and Federation of African Journalists will join the leaders of the African Union, UNESCO, editors from across the continent and media freedom campaigners to launch a new digital platform to protect and promote the safety of journalists in Africa on 29 January. African Union Chairperson H.E President Cyril Ramaphosa will officiate the launch. The IFJ and FAJ worked with the UNESCO Addis Office, The African Editors Forum (TAEF), AU Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and Article 19 to create the Digital Platform for the Safety of Journalists in Africa. The aim of this platform is to improve the protection of journalists, address threats and violence, create early warning mechanisms and improve the response from African states in protecting journalists and media freedom. At the launch event the African Union Chairperson and President of the Republic of South Africa President H.E Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver a keynote address, launching the project. President of Burkina Faso Marc Roc Christian Kabore has sent a message of support for the platform. Other speakers include UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay, African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson H.E Ambassador Thomas Kwesi-Quartey and H.E Commissioner Jamesina King, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa at the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (AU- ACPHR). IFJ President Younes MJahed will speak alongside Louis Thomasi representing the Federation of African Journalists. Mr MJahed said: We are proud to have been part of developing this historic initiative which is a sign of our commitment to turning the fine words about the protection of journalists and media freedom in to action. As African journalists it is vital we make use of this platform to demand states act to tackle impunity and enhance the protection of journalists and journalism. The initiative is supported through a multi-stakeholder partnership by AU bodies, journalists unions, media networks, CSOs and UNESCO. This digital platform is critical in creating a rapid and real time response system by the African Union Member States, with a view to ending the rampant impunity in the harassment, arbitrary arrests, assault and killing of journalists in Africa. The Platform is designed to address at the continental level, sub regional and nationally, media freedom violations that are increasing at an alarming rate. This is to be achieved through real time monitoring, reporting and follow-up actions to combat impunity on the rampant crimes against journalists on the continent. Cases of arrests, torture, harassment and other media rights violations will be reported to the African Union through H.E Commissioner Jamesina King, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa at the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights (AU- ACPHR) to address the concerns based on the mandate of her office. Accused child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has offered a novel reason for dropping the charges in her case: The federal grand jury that indicted her didnt have enough black and Hispanic people. Lawyers for Maxwell, who is white, argued in court filings on Monday that because she was indicted by a grand jury in White Plains, New York, rather than Manhattan, the jury pool had a lower proportion of blacks and Hispanics than the community where she allegedly committed the crimes in question. "The fact that Ms. Maxwell herself is neither black nor Hispanic does not deprive her of standing to raise this challenge," Maxwells lawyers wrote. The Constitution requires that a grand jury be drawn from "a fair cross-section of the community." The grand jury was empaneled in White Plains because Covid-19 restrictions would have delayed proceedings in Manhattan. Maxwells lawyers speculated that prosecutors didnt want to wait because they wanted the defendant arrested on the anniversary of financier Jeffrey Epsteins indictment. "The use of a White Plains jury resulted in the systematic underrepresentation of black and Hispanic persons from the jury-selection process, in violation of Ms. Maxwells Sixth Amendment right," the lawyers wrote. Maxwell, 59, was arrested last July 2, about six days before the one-year anniversary of when child sex trafficking charges against Epstein were unsealed. Law enforcement authorities said Epstein killed himself in jail in August 2019. The circumstances of the financiers death have become a source of constant speculation, with those not buying into the official version alleging powerful people may have been incriminated by the testimony in Epsteins case if he still was alive. Prosecutors alleged that Maxwell, a British socialite who was Epsteins girlfriend, recruited three teenage girls for the pedophile to sexually abuse. She allegedly groomed the girls, one of whom was 14, and sometimes participated in the abuse. She also is accused of lying about her actions in a sworn deposition. The diversity angle was among a dozen claims that Maxwells lawyers made in the filing seeking a dismissal of the six charges against her. For instance, they said Maxwell should have immunity under a plea deal that Epstein secured in a 2008 case in Florida. The deal sought to protect Epstein and his associates from other charges related to sex trafficking after he agreed to plead guilty to state charges that required him to be registered as a sex offender. But Maxwells name was not referenced in the plea agreement. Maxwells trial is scheduled to begin in July. She made an unsuccessful bid last month to be released on bail, citing "intolerable" jail conditions. ADVERTISEMENT There will be three days of total shutdown of the Third Mainland Bridge for another round of repairs, the Federal Controller of Works Lagos, Olukayode Popoola, said on Wednesday. Mr Popoola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the telephone that the shutdown would take effect from midnight on Friday to midnight of Monday, February 1. He explained that construction works had reached the stage for casting concrete on additional three expansion joints, hence the need to stop all movements on the bridge that could cause vibrations. He said that the 72 hours closure was to ensure that the concrete sets properly during the curing process to make the rehabilitation works perfect and durable. He appealed for the understanding of Lagos residents. Messers Boroni Prono is planning to cast three number expansion joints on Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st. This will require total closure of Third Mainland bridge from 12:00 midnight of Friday 29th till midnight of Monday 1st February 2021. We are sorry for the inconveniences this may cause Lagosians, Mr Popoola said. The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, which is going through a series of repairs, had to be partially shut on July 24, last year, for rehabilitation works. The repair expected to last six months was extended by one month due to the recent #EndSARS protests in Lagos extending the completion date from January 2021 to February. The construction was initially divided into two phases of three months on each carriageway, starting with the Oworonsoki bound carriageway whose completion dragged to four months. Traffic was partially diverted on a stretch of 3.5km where construction is ongoing between Adeniji Adeniji Ramp and Ebute Meta, while different time belts were allotted for traffic diversions on the bridge. The 11.8km bridge is the longest of the three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the Mainland. The bridge starts from Oworonshoki, which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island. Constructed in 1990, the bridge was adjudged to be the longest in Africa until 1996 when the October 6 Bridge in Cairo, Egypt, was completed. (NAN) - Xilam Animation scores its fourth Netflix Original with 'Oggy Next Gen', alongside further significant international sales across each iteration - Oggy franchise reaches 100M total incomes milestone Regulatory News: Academy Award-nominated French animation studio Xilam Animation (Paris:XIL) has secured a wave of international broadcast deals across its iconic Oggy and the Cockroaches non-dialogue comedy franchise, which has celebrated international success for the last 20 years, and has now been expanded into three brands: the original classic series spanning seven seasons and 500 episodes; the Oggy Next Gen (78 x 7') reboot with a fresh design and thematic focus; and the fully CGI-animated Oggy Oggy (156x 7') spin-off for preschool audiences. These new deals demonstrate Xilam's capacity to maximise the opportunities offered by the evolving international distribution landscape, particularly by capitalising on its existing flagship brands. Xilam's significant expansion of the Oggy and the Cockroaches franchise reinforces the strength of the property as an asset for the company to ensure sustained revenue growth for the long-term. Following this approach, the Oggy and the Cockroaches franchise, which initially took 15 years to reach 50M in incomes, has now reached the 100M threshold, with over 60% of the revenue being derived from international sales, in just an additional five years. Marc du Pontavice, CEO of Xilam Animation, said: "There's never been a more exciting time for our flagship brand Oggy and the Cockroaches as we build on the property's strong legacy with fresh and modern iterations, which extend the world of Oggy and will introduce new audiences to this treasured franchise. The response from broadcasters and platforms to both Oggy Oggy and Oggy- Next Gen has been rewarding, and we look forward to sharing these new adventures with families around the world, in addition to ensuring fans can continue to enjoy the beloved original show." Oggy Next Gen will debut globally as a Netflix Branded Original, and has also been acquired by numerous broadcasters including Gulli and M6 in France, Discovery and DEA Kids in Italy, and VRT-Ketnet in Flemish Belgium. Based on the original characters created by Jean-Yves Raimbaud, Oggy Next Gen will see Oggy take on the responsibility of parenthood as his friends' daughter, a 7-year-old elephant named Piya, comes to stay. With a refreshed look and feel, this new iteration of Oggy and the Cockroaches brings a focus on emotions, tenderness and friendship. The series will be delivered in Autumn 2021. Furthermore, already credited as Netflix's first French Animated Original Series, Xilam Animation continues to score deals for Oggy Oggy with France Televisions, Discovery Italy and Super RTL in Germany. Oggy Oggy sees young Oggy freed from the ceaseless tyranny of the cockroaches and living in a fantasy world inhabited by a vibrant community of cats. The series is set to debut globally on Netflix this year. Additionally, the original Oggy and the Cockroaches series, which first launched in 1998 and spans seven seasons, has been renewed by long-term partners Gulli and M6 (France) and Discovery (Italy). Across all three iterations of the property, Xilam Animation is executing international licensing and merchandise strategies to offer a 360-degree Oggy universe, incorporating multiple product categories and activations. ENDS About Xilam A major player in animation, Xilam is an integrated studio founded in 1999 that creates, produces and distributes original programmes in more than 190 countries for both children and adult audiences. Xilam content is broadcast on television, and is also available on SVoD platforms including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon and NBC Universal, and ADVoD streaming platforms including YouTube and Facebook. With its creativity and capacity for innovation recognised worldwide, and editorial and commercial expertise at the cutting edge of its industry, Xilam is positioned as a key player in a fast-growing market. Each year, Xilam builds real successes and capitalises on its powerful historical brands including Oggy and the Cockroaches and Zig Sharko, as well as new properties such as Oggy Oggy for a preschool audience, Moka, Mr. Magoo, and Academy Award nominated adult feature film I Lost My Body. Xilam's expanding and strong catalogue now consists of over 2,200 episodes and three feature films. In 2019, Xilam acquired Cube Creative, a studio providing the company with unique expertise in 3D and computer generated images. Xilam employs more than 500 individuals, including 400 artists, across its studios in Paris, Lyon, Angouleme and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005662/en/ Contacts: For further press information, please contact Charlotte Newcombe at DDA Blueprint: +44 7726 901129 or xilam@ddapr.com .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. A man is dead and another is in the hospital after a shooting Tuesday night at a park in Southwest Albuquerque. The shooting marks the sixth person killed across the city in as many days and the thirteenth this month. Daren DeAguero, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said he did not know the injured mans condition or if he is expected to survive. He said police responded around 4:30 p.m. to a shooting at Tower Park, near Tower and Unser SW, and found one man fatally injured. DeAguero said another man was taken to the hospital. He said homicide detectives are investigating and Tower Park is closed. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 An Alabama man charged in the siege on the U.S. Capitol will remain behind bars after a federal judge deemed him a danger to society should he be released. Joshua Matthew Black, a 44-year-old man who ran a lawn service in Leeds, appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John H. England, III in a federal courtroom in Birmingham. Black was arrested two weeks ago and has been held in the custody of the U.S. Marshals in the Pickens County Jail. Englands order, issued shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said there is clear and convincing evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the safety of any other person and the community. Authorities say Black was among the crowd that forced its way into the building while the joint session of Congress was underway to certify the vote count of the Electoral College in the 2020 presidential election. Several of the protesters then made their way into the Senate chambers, video of which was captured on multiple cell phones. Black is charged with entering a restricted building or grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct. The violent entry charge is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison in which there is no parole. Joshua Matthew Black, of Leeds, was identified being in the crowd of protesters that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Federal Court Documents) In a three-hour hearing last Wednesday, FBI Special Agent Darius Hill testified about his interview with Black once Black returned to Alabama from D.C. The agent interviewed Black on at least two occasions. He told me mainly God led him there to plead the blood of Jesus in the Senate,' Hill testified. Testimony indicated that Black was shot in the face during the Capitol breach, which he said happened when he was trying to protect a police officer, or police officers, during the breach. It wasnt immediately clear whether he was shot with a shotgun pellet, or a bean bag or another kind of projectile. The purpose of the hearing was twofold: first to determine whether there was enough evidence against Black to proceed with the charges against him and secondly to determine whether he should be granted bond. Lead prosecutor Henry Cornelius argued that Black is a danger to the community and that Black had stated, The only thing that can happen now is an armed revolution,' Cornelius said. Its chilling. Public defender Kevin Roberts argued that Black should be let out on bond, pointing to roughly a half dozen others arrested in the Capitol protests who were arrested on similar charges and granted bond, including a protester who was videotaped sitting at the desk of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Black has no prior criminal arrest record, owns a home in where he has lived for at least seven years, and has family ties in the area. Roberts argued that Blacks role in the siege was passive. Video showed in court from the Senate chambers depicted Black sitting on the floor talking on a cell phone, raising his hands in prayer with other protesters and, at one point, telling another protester to get out of Vice President Mike Pences chair. Joshua Matthew Black, of Leeds, was identified being in the crowd of protesters that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Federal Court Documents) The judge on Wednesday noted that Blacks actions appeared to be passive that day, but also noted that may not always be the case. Just because he was passive in the Senate chambers, will he remain so if God tells him something else? England said. God could tell him to do something a little more violent, couldnt he? Federal probation Officer Ernest Kenty, who handles pretrial investigations, said the only criminal history he found for Black was a misdemeanor charge in Florida that was ultimately dismissed. Kenty said is report showed that Black does not have a passport and has lived in his Leeds home for seven years, and previously lived in Georgia for 15 years. The deed to his home is in Blacks name. Kenty also said Black has a recent history of smoking marijuana. He testified that his concern about Black was that while he entered the capitol because of his beliefs he has said the Holy Spirit led him to pray over the Senate chambers he did so with no regard for the law. In his mind, he was doing a good deed, but it was not the right way,' Kenty said. After watching a The New Yorker video played in court and hearing roughly three hours of testimony, Kenty was asked if he had seen or heard anything that would convince him Black should be released on bond pending trial. I havent and I looked for it,' Kenty said. I looked for some type of remorse or (that he) would think twice before doing it again. Black was seen on video and in photos wearing a red hat, camouflage jacket and yellow gloves and appeared to be bleeding from the left cheek. Two days after the riots, the complaint says, someone using the username LetUs Talk posted two videos to YouTube. Like Black in the videos shot in the Senate chambers, the man had blood on the left side of his face and said in the YouTube video he had been shot with a projectile. In that video, federal prosecutors say, Black discussed entering the Capitol and being on the Senate floor. On Jan. 7, the FBI received an anonymous call from a man admitting he was among the crowd that broke into the Capitol. The telephone number, according to the FBI, was associated with Black. Later last week, when the FBI released photos in hopes of getting the intruders identified, a tipster called the FBI National Threat Operation Center to report Black was among the rioters sought. The female caller said she knew Black 15 years ago when she lived in Alabama. On Jan. 8, the court records state, Black voluntarily met with an FBI agent in Moody. Black stated to the agent that he had recorded the YouTube video about his experience entering the Capitol and the Senate chamber. When he was hit in the face with a projectile and offered medical attention by those he believed to be law enforcement, records state, Black told them he believed they were trying to pull him behind enemy lines and said, No. Im with them. Im here to defend the constitution. Im a patriot. (Black) has stated that he was led to the Capitol by Jesus and if called to go again, he would,' according to federal court documents. After being shot in the face and spitting out a substantial amount of blood (he says his mouth filled with blood 6-7 times) and after another person at the Capitol dug out some portion of the projectile from his cheek, the defendant continued on to the Senate floor. The defendant has stated that he did not want to go to Washington at all, but that he felt the Lord wanted him to, so he went,' according to the document. The defendant poses a danger to the community. It is evident that he believes he has a duty to participate in abolishing the Government because of its crookedness and that it he is called to go again he would. England wrote in his order that there is probable cause to support the charges contained in the complaint against Black. While Black may not be a flight risk, evidence supports he is a danger to the community. While the defendant argued he should be released because conditions can be set, that other similarly situated defendants in other districts have been released, that he has no record of violence or criminal conduct, that he did not engage in any violent acts despite possessing a knife, and that he actually tried to protect a capitol police officer from harm, his participation in the forcible unauthorized entry into this nations capital while armed with a knife, his statements suggesting future violent acts combined with his using God as a justification for his actions, weigh in favor of detention,' England wrote. Particularly concerning are his statements that the only thing that could happen now was an armed revolution, that he did not want that to happen and that all his guns were legal, and he did not want to kill anyone, but he did not know what would happen next. When asked why he would have to kill anyone, he further stated well I mean if they come in here trying to take our guns or trying to turn America into slavery again, I dont want to see that. New Delhi: In the series of back to back visits by the top brass of Pakistani armed forces to Turkey, Chief of Pakistani Air Force, General Mujahid Anwar Khan travelled to the country and met Adnan Tanriverdi a close confidante of President Erdogan and his former military advisor on 15th January 2021. The Pakistani General discussed the strategies on supporting the Turkish organisation Justice Defenders Strategic Research Centre Association (ASSAM) and firm Tanriverdi-led SADAT for their operations in Pakistan. Zee News has learnt that a major objective behind the trip was to plan and coordinate a common strategy between Turkey and Pakistan to build capabilities on two fronts proxy warfare and exploiting terrorists by deploying them as mercenaries in different parts of the world. On the Pakistani side, ISI is believed to be heading the strategy, whereas Adnan Tanriverdi is coordinating from the Turkish side. According to Turkish media reports, General Mujahid Anwar reiterated his commitment to security and training by capitalising on the respective strengths of each side. Digging deeper into the past developments and exposures, highlight the actual objective between meetings of the military leadership of both the countries. Pakistani Army officers and ISI operatives have accelerated their meetings with Tanriverdi to strengthen Turkey-Pakistan cooperation in proxy warfare. Experts argue that Pakistan has an experience spanning many years in proxy warfare in Afghanistan and Kashmir and is helping Turkey out to build its capacity in this specific genre of warfare. Tanriverdi is the founder of the pro-Erdogan paramilitary force SADAT International Defence Consultancy an outfit operating as a firm that provides security services and training. Geopolitical experts and Turkish dissidents have, at multiple times, highlighted that Erdogan deploys mercenaries across the world through SADAT. Live TV It is believed that after his dismissal from the Turkish Army on charges of alignment to extremist Islamist ideology, Tanriverdi came up with the idea of the outfit to fulfil Erdogans Caliphate aspirations. The Turkish proxies Libya, and Nagorno-Karabakh are said to be directly deployed by the same Consultancy. He himself oversaw the deployment of some 5,000 to 7,000 mercenaries in Libya during his long stay in the country after 2013. Similarly, a report published by the US government in September 2020 highlighted that through SADAT, Tanriverdi had deployed around 5,000 mercenaries from Syria in Libya. In 2018, former Interior Minister of Turkey, Meral Aksener said that Sadat had been operating several terrorist training camps for pro-Erdogan terrorists near Turkey's Black Sea coast and their primary task is to curb the opponents of Erdogan and his AKP party. A number of exposes and media reports from the MENA regions have highlighted the rapid deployment of mercenaries across the world by Adnan Tanriverdi on directions of Erdogan. Tanriverdi, arguably is also the in-charge of sending Syrian mercenaries to Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. Quoting credible references, prominent news outlet of the Gulf region, Al-Arabiya, highlighted, Turkey's top military advisor has suggested that the government should establish a private military company to train mercenaries, according to the Independent's Turkey edition. His remarks came days after Turkey signed a military pact with Libya. The proposal adds to concerns about Turkey's intentions in Libya, where Ankara has proposed sending troops to fight alongside the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and a plethora of militias including extremist groups associated with Al Qaeda. On September 2020, a report published in The Telegraph termed Tanriverdi as world's most powerful gun-for-hire and an expert of all the dark arts of warfare. In the eyes of some, he is the Islamic world's most powerful gun-for-hire, a well-connected ex-general with thousands of battle-hardened Syrian mercenaries at his command. A close confidant of Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Adnan Tanriverdi claims expertise in all the dark arts of warfare, from sabotage and counter-insurgency to assassinations, it added. During the meeting of the Chief of Pakistani Air Force and Adnan Tanriverdi, the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan were also comprehensively discussed. Urging Tanriverdi for help, General Mujahid Anwar commented What India is doing in the Kashmir region is certainly tougher than he Nazi-era repressions, and the people of the region are quite victims in an economic and political sense as a result of these attitudes away from justice. He also unequivocally extended his support to Turkey on Cyprus and all other conflicts of the Ottoman country. General Mujahid Anwar also met Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, Turkish Army Chief General Yasar Guler, Chief of Turkish Air Force General Hasan Kucukakyuz, and head of Presidency of Turkish Defence Industries Dr Ismail Demir, besides several other military commanders. Besides SADAT, both discussed to intensify and expand the functioning of ASSAM as well a platform to bring together 61 Muslim nations in a single entity termed ASRICA (Asia-Africa) and bring them under the command of Turkey, led by Caliph Erdogan. It is believed that under the garb of operating the organisation, Erdogan carries out covert operations in foreign countries. During the meeting, Tanriverdi discussed the success of strategies with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on speeding up the operations of ASSAM in Pakistan. During the meeting, Tanriverdi commented that leaders of both countries share the same views". Similarly, General Mujahid Anwar stated, Pakistan and Turkey are two countries, one nation. We not only share common culture and faith but also similar interests and challenges. Observers believe that the Turkey-Pakistan collaboration on proxy warfare and deployment of mercenaries is not a new phenomenon and the recent round of meetings was an attempt to strengthen the collaboration and accelerate the ongoing activities related to these. As during the limited war between Azeri and Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, several reports proved that Pakistani mercenaries were fighting alongside the Syrian mercenaries in Karabakh region. Pakistani flags were spotted at multiple instances during the war and locals of the region came across fighters speaking in Punjabi and Pashto. The role of Tanriverdi and SADAT go well beyond the Turkish borders. There are several recorded pieces of evidence that show how SADAT is finding Gulenists across the world and attacking them. The outfit is either carrying out the attacks or assigning targets to the local or regional terrorist groups to attack them. Regarding attacks on Gulenists across Africa, the American Enterprise Institute has commented Turkish Islamist paramilitary group founded by Erdogan adviser Adnan Tanriverdi, which has provided financial and military support to Hamas, also provided training so that, in the future, Turkey will have a cadre of Islamist paramilitary soldiers on whom it can call as it supports various movements on the African continent. Even in Turkey, the SADAT is leading the attacks on Gulenists and dissidents. In this regard, Washington Examiner has put Witnesses say SADAT snipers were also responsible for shooting civilians on the night of the failed coup, an outrage which Erdogan subsequently blamed on a network loyal to ally-turned-rival Fethullah Gulen, a Pennsylvania-based theologian. SADAT is quickly becoming Turkey's equivalent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, acting in conjunction with Turkey's military, if not acting as its elite wing. The close collaboration of these countries in the areas of proxy warfare is a concerning development for Islamic nations as well as the South Asian region. It is imperative that the US and all other NATO countries ensure that the Afghan peace process is not sabotaged by the Turkey-Pakistan combine and SAARC nations shall come together to ensure that Erdogan refrains from creating further disturbance in the region in his sinister attempts to radicalise South Asian Muslims. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... LIPAN, Texas A final autopsy for a Texas man whose body was found last month in the woods determined that he died from neck injuries due to an animal attack, but wildlife experts and sheriffs officials disagree on whether that animal was a mountain lion. The Tarrant County Medical Examiners Office ruled that 28-year-old Christopher Allen Whiteleys cause of death last month was from neck injuries due to an animal attack, the Hood County sheriffs office said Tuesday. The manner of death was ruled an accident. The sheriffs office said theres still a disagreement with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on whether Whiteley was killed by a mountain lion. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department on Tuesday said that none of the evidence theyve reviewed indicates an attack by a mountain lion or other wild animal. The department said wildlife officials couldnt rule out that an animal killed Whiteley, but said the evidence indicates it wasnt a wild animal, like a mountain lion or coyote. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Lt. Johnny Rose of the Hood County sheriffs office said they believe Whiteley was killed by a mountain lion. He said the autopsy does not specify what kind of animal killed Whitely. The sheriffs office, which says there were no signs of foul play in the death, said it would be closing the case as an animal attack. Whiteleys body was found in the woods near Lipan, located 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Fort Worth. Texas wildlife officials have said that fatal mountain attacks on people are extremely rare, as are any confirmed sightings of the animals in North Texas. Last month though, wildlife officials said a deer hunter killed a mountain lion in Hunt County, located east of Dallas. Australias vaccine rollout plan is under a cloud after the European Union slapped export controls on COVID-19 vaccines produced within their territory, including the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs the Morrison government is relying on. The controls, which effectively mean vaccine producers must ask for permission before shipping vials outside the region, will at the very least slow the distribution process for countries outside Europe. The government remains confident the vaccine program will commence in late February, despite the European Union controls. Credit:AP A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt did not answer specific questions about what the European decision means for Australias vaccine rollout. Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being manufactured in Belgium. The first shipment of at least 80,000 doses is due by the end of February. The country is also expecting 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be imported into Australia from Europe as local manufacturing of that vaccine ramps up. On Monday, that number was revised down from the previously expected 3.8 million due to global supply issues. Press Release January 27, 2021 GRACE POE's TRANSCRIPT PORTIONS Sen. Grace Poe: I agree, Senator Gatchalian, I think that our resource persons present here today should be able to submit to us your position paper with regard to their concerns on the bill and how they can help us make it more effective and judicious. So from the National Privacy Commission, as Senator Villanueva mentioned earlier, it's really a balancing act between protecting our privacy and protecting our actual physical safety against those that might do us harm using this technology. So, I think now we can ask the DTI. Are you present here today, DTI Asec. Ann Claire? Your position on this, Ma'am, because you will also assume the responsibility of the distribution of the SIM cards. DTI Asec. Ann Claire Cabochan: Good morning, Madam Chair, and also to the honorable senators present this morning and all the other stakeholders who are here. On the part of DTI, I recall that in the Lower House, the DTI had submitted a position paper in support of a proposed bill on the mandatory registration of SIMs. That was in January of 2020, we are still in the process also of preparing our position paper for the Senate. But for the purpose of this hearing, I would just like to also echo that DTI always has a very delicate balancing actbalancing the interests of businesses and consumers. But in this case, I come from the consumer protection group and we are always looking at ways to safeguard consumers and all of us our consumers against text scams, misleading advertisements, fraudulent sales promos. So, we see that the registration part would help in preventing crimes and scams and other illegal acts that are prohibited under the Consumer Act. But it should always be balanced of course with the requirements under the Data Privacy law. Thank you, Madam Chair. Poe: So my question again now, Asec. Ann, would you be able to implement this properly? Will the DTI have the capability to ensure that the establishments that are carrying all of these loads will be made aware of the new law? And that you can come up with the guidelines when it comes to the registration of the SIM cards. Cabochan: Madam Chair, we, the DTI, I'm sure will be able to come out with the necessary guidelines and advisories. And also, we are very proactive in our advocacy work to ensure that, if there is a new law, it is really cascaded to the consumers. So yes, Madam Chair. Poe: Okay. My question now is this: for example, it is registered, the SIM card is registered, who will have that database? Who is going to handle the database for that? Is it the DTI? Will the telcos just have it available for present, available for it to be presented anytime government asks for it? That's actually one of the things that we need to be able to sort out. Will the DTI be able to handle the database for all of that? And if not the DTI, let's say that telcos, which I want to hear from after the DTI, how they're going to go about in the roll-out of this new regulation, if ever. Go ahead, Asec. Ann. Cabochan: Yes, Madam Chair, at this time when there are, of course, for the postpaid subscriptions, these are handled by, of course, the telcos and we work closely with the NTC for any concerns on mobile phones. So, on who is going to handle the registry, I think that DTI will have to work with the telcos and other government agencies like NTC, perhaps, in coming up with the database. But, Madam Chair, to be very candid I am not sure if it will be DTI that will handle that registry. Poe: This is something that we really need to sort out eventually. I don't know if there will be a technical working group after this so that we may be able to iron out some of the details before we can submit the committee report. But I'd like to hear from the telcos. Let's begin with Globe or Smart, it doesn't matter, or Dito. What I want to know is that if we pass this into law, how are you going to be able to implement this? Will you be able to keep a database of those that registered their SIM, that will be in the millions, maybe in a week, so that will be millions of registrations. And if the government has no capability to hold on to those names, that you should be able to present it at any time if there is a question on a particular SIM registration. Let's begin, alphabetically, with Dito. Adel Tamano: Thank you, Senator Grace, and to the honorable senators here. I am Adel Tamano, Chief Administrative Officer of Dito. Allow me to say that we have already discussed this bill with the highest levels of our leadership in Dito and we are supportive of SIM registration. We do understand that it will entail costs, however, we laud the initiative in order to protect the public. I think, what I do want to say in fairness to the other telcos, is since we are just starting up and we are setting up our system, it is going to be easier for us to be able to make SIM registration a part of our process. In fact, I have already talked with our technology team, in advance of today's hearing because we are supportive of this and we will already start figuring out how to make sim registration part of our business process. Those are my comments, Madam Senator, and your honors. Poe: Thank you for your willingness to cooperate should this pass into law. Maybe we can hear now from Globe. Ariel Tubayan: Yes, Madam Chairman, good morning po. Good morning sa mga miyembro po ng komiteng ito at sa mga kasama kong resource person. Kami naman po sa Globe, we submit to the collective wisdom of the Senate as may be tempered by the comments of the various stakeholders. Ang malaking bonus po kasi nito, ng batas na ito is 'yung digital or financial inclusiveness. 'E kung may, on top of that, makakatulong sa law enforcement siguro bonus nalang po 'yun. But gaya nga ng sinabi ni Engineer Galla, ang pinakamalaki at pinaka-successful na test case, usefulness nito ay sa financial inclusion. As to the collection of information po, malaking bagay po at buti nalang po at napasa na ang National ID system, so sa tingin po natin, kaakibat po ng implementasyon ng National ID system ay ang registration ng SIM cards. Dahil po para maging successful ang implementasyon ng SIM card registration, kailangan pong may isang database po na authentic, reliable, at credible po. Gaya po ng sabi ng Data Privacy, malaking pong bagay, there's several points of failure in the collection of subscriber information. So siguro sa technical working group, pagtutuunan natin ito kung paano ito maresolba. Kasi gaya din po ng nasabi ni Engineer Galla, meron pong mga problema about number spoofing. So, pwede pong gayahin 'yung numero because technology, magpapanggap na ang numerong 'to ay galing, kunwari sa akin pero 'yun pala ay galing sa isang scammer. So, marami pong failure points na pwede nating i-consider. Let's see how we can work on it to improve on how can this bill be effectively implemented. Pangalawa po, I think it is important that there will be ample time in the implementation of the SIM card registration dahil po alam natin na sa Pilipinas, mahigit 90 porsiyento ang prepaid SIM cards at mas malaki po ito sa number of registered voters. So kung ang COMELEC ay nahihirapan sa pagrehistro ng mga registered voter, what more with the prepaid SIM card registration. And then siguro ang ample time kaya suriin po natin ang mga panukala na realistic po timetable dahil sa pinaka-recent na implementasyon nito sa Nigeria, na inimplement noong 2011 na hanggang ngayon po ay hindi pa fully-implemented dahil sa maraming problema. So 'yun po, I think magandang tingnan po ang mga kahinaan, mga failure ng implementation ng mandatory SIM card registration tulad ng sa Mexico at sa Canada. But gaya ng nasabi ko, ang pinakamalaking challenge po nito is 'yung timetable to register. Siguro sa mechanism na biometric capture through online means, well and good that will hasten the process. Pero sa ngayon, mano-mano po talaga ngayon. And then medyo gaya ng sabi ng National Privacy Commission, pwede pong magkasabwat 'yung nagrerehistro at 'yung kumukuha ng registration. So, medyo 'yun ang malaking tignan po natin na issue kung paano natin po masolusyunan. So 'yun lamang po, at gaya ng nasabi ko, ang malaking usefulness nito ay for digital and financial inclusion. 'Yun lamang po, Madam Chair. Poe: Thank you, Mr. Tubayan. Actually, we appreciate you giving us a very realistic scenario. Oo nga naman ano, mas maraming SIM card registrants kaysa voters. At saka hindi lamang 'yun, talagang mabilis siguro, mas nagpapalit ang mga nagpaparehistro ng kanilang SIM card. So again, the repository of that information will be crucial to the success of the implementation, should we have one. ON MOBILE PORTABILITY OF NUMBERS Poe:.. I guess moving forward, I thank Engineer Galla for reminding us about the database group that was already created, the separate group that will handle the database that was created by the NTC. I think this was the law on the portability of the numbers. I would like to ask the NTC now an update on that, if they've actually implemented it. Mr. Cabarios, are you aware of this commitment by the NTC to put up that separate entity that will manage the database of information for cell numbers? Edgardo Cabarios: Yes, your honor. This is the mobile number portability implementation of the law, your honor. The three telcos, your honor, have created a joint venture in 2019, they called this 'Telecommunications Connectivity, Inc.' and this joint venture company has conducted a mobile number portability service provider, they call it the 'Syniverse'. In their submission in 2020, they said that the intra number portability, meaning to say prepaid to postpaid, postpaid to prepaid, the intra company will be implemented by the last quarter of 2020 and the full implementation is first quarter of 2021. But the latest update, your honor, because of the community quarantine that was implemented in the Philippines, they have moved the implementation, your honor. So the intra company, mobile number portability, to be implemented by the first quarter this year will be, I think, second quarter this year. And full implementation is the third quarter of the year. That means by June of this year, the intra company will be implemented. And by Sept. 30 this year, the full commercial operation, your honor, of the mobile number portability. Poe: Am I understanding this correctly? So, the government basically delegated the private sector to be the repository of that information on the cell phone numbers and the telecommunications company, formed another company called the intra company? Cabarios: It's a joint venture owned by the three telcos. Poe: Which three telcos again? Cabarios: Dito Telecommunity, Globe and Smart. Poe: Are these the only three providers of cell numbers? Cabarios: Mobile phone network providers at present, yes. Poe: I would like to hear an update, just from one company because we're running out of time and I'm hoping that the next topic will be easier because it is for the interest of the majority, but I'd like to ask Globe, what is your update on this supposed joint venture, whatever you call it among all the telcos managing the database? Okay, can we hear from Smart? Roy Ibay: Good afternoon, Madam Chair. We actually submitted an update to the NTC yesterday. The update comes from the mobile number portability consortium which is called the Telecommunications Connectivity Inc. This a consortium composed of DITO, Globe and Smart specifically to implement the mandate of the law, the Mobile Number Portability Act. And by virtue of that law, which allows us to get a mobile number portability platform providers similar to what occurred in other countries, we chose Syniverse as our platform provider. And since last year, we have been working closely with Syniverse, to implement the platform. But, of course, there are a lot of things which happened last year which undoubtedly caused some delay on the part of the three telcos and Syniverse to implement this. The original target was really June of this year, but because of the pandemic, I guess everything else got affected also. And so we submitted our revised timeline yesterday that by June we will start the interoperability testing, and the full commercial launch will probably be on September of this year. Poe: Thank you Mr. Ibay. Okay, so we have that system in place already should we pass this bill, then the registration can hopefully be absorbed by that intra company, there's a possibility that it can be done, right? Ibay: In a limited capacity, Madam Chair, because we assume that, not everyone at a certain point, will have to port and that the process will actually first, of course, take into consideration only those subscribers who will have to port. But then again, similar to when this issue on SIM registration was raised as far back as 10 years ago, as pointed out by Senator Zubiri, we've been in touch also with other carriers, like in Malaysia MCMC, what they did was they implemented this alongside their implementation of the National ID, their National ID Act. So, contemporaneous with their registration with National ID they had their SIM registration process. We don't know if that is best practice but again, maybe the devil is in the details, maybe this can be discussed adequately in a technical working group. Thank you. ON NON-EXPIRATION OF LOAD/DATA Poe: Okay. Thank you, Mr Ibay. Again, the importance of the technical working group after this because we need the honest opinion of experts who will have to implement, and the success of the bill will only really be in the implementation later on when it's a law. With that, I would like to move on to our next bill in consideration which is the non-expiration of our load, if there is a presentation from anybody in the panel. So, the non-expiration of data, up until recently all telecommunication companies are subjecting the data subscribers to an expiration period. In October of last year, however, digital telco GOMO was launched in the Philippines and offered a mobile data of up to 25 gigabytes without an expiration. GOMO is operated in the Philippines by Globe and we laud their initiative. GOMO stands for Go Out More Often. It is the first fully digital mobile service provider in the Philippines. A mobile virtual network operator or MVNO or an entity that offers services similar to a mobile network operator, MNO, such as Globe and Smart, but doesn't own any radio frequency. So MVNOs enter into a business agreement with MNOs so that they can use the latter's network for its services. It can be found in four markets: Singapore, Ireland, Thailand and the Philippines. As an introductory offer, customers may avail of GOMO's 5G ready SIM cards and 25 gigabyte no expiry data for only P199, this will increase to P299 by January 2021. ... Poe: I think there should really be a further technical discussion on this. In principle, it is very good for the consumers to have the assurance that their load will not expire. But, of course, we understand that it might be untenable later on to manage a database full of registered numbers, especially if we pass this, that has been inactive. So, there should also be a responsibility on the part of the consumers when it comes to their prepaid cards. ... CLOSING Poe: ... Please be advised that my office will keep track of the submissions that were requested by the senators as well as myself. And you will also be notified of the dates for the technical working group, all the senators are invited to attend although this is not an official hearing. So, with that this hearing is now suspended. On April 30, Delhi had reported 76 new COVID-19 cases and 59 deaths. Delhi reported 96 new COVID-19 cases on January 27 - the lowest single-day count in over nine months. A total of nine persons died of the coronavirus disease in the past 24 hours, taking Delhi's total COVID-19 death toll to 10,829. The total number of coronavirus cases in the National Capital now stands at 6,34,325. For live updates on coronavirus, click here One must note that the low case count was reported on the back of only about 30,000 coronavirus tests that were conducted on Republic Day. However, just as in the rest of the country, the citys overall positivity rate has also declined recently. At one time, during the peak of its third wave, Delhis COVID-19 positivity rate had shot to nearly 15 percent with more than 8,000 fresh cases being reported daily. That has now come down to just 0.32 percent. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show The last time Delhi reported less than 100 fresh infections within 24 hours was on April 30. Delhi close to attaining herd immunity as 50% population has COVID-19 antibodies: Sero survey On April 30, Delhi had reported 76 new COVID-19 cases and 59 deaths. At the time, Delhi's total coronavirus case tally was 3,515, while the number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 2,362. At present, Delhi's active COVID-19 case count stands at 1,501. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the National Capital, as many as 6,21,995 have been infected by the virus and recovered. India has a total coronavirus case load of 1.06 crore, with almost 12,700 fresh infections being reported in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 death toll of the country has risen to 1.53 lakh, with 137 deaths being reported in a day. Follow our coverage of the coronavirus crisis here President is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new leasing on US lands and waters, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. Two people with knowledge of Biden's plans outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public; some details remain in flux. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for US lands and waters announced last week and follows Biden's campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federally controlled land and water as part of his plan to address climate change. The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of drilling on the environment and climate. Environmental groups hailed the expected moratorium as the kind of bold, urgent action needed to slow climate change. The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. The administration's review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere,'' said Kiern Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has pushed for the drilling pause. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. "This is just the start. It will get worse,'' said Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. "Meanwhile, the laws of physics, chemistry and supply and demand remain in effect. Oil and natural gas prices are going up, and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs.'' Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas drillers in Western states, said the expected executive order is intended to delay drilling on federal lands to the point where it is no longer viable. Her group pledged to challenge the order in court. "The environmental left is leading the agenda at the White House when it comes to energy and environment issues,'' she said, noting that the moratorium would be felt most acutely in Western states such as Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota. Biden lost all three states to former President Donald Trump. The drilling moratorium is among several climate-related actions Biden will announce Wednesday. He also is likely to direct officials to conserve 30% of the country's lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years, initiate a series of regulatory actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and issue a memorandum that elevates climate change to a national security priority. He also is expected to direct all US agencies to use science and evidence-based decision-making in federal rule-making and announce a US-hosted climate leaders summit on Earth Day, April 22. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030, part of Biden's campaign pledge for a dollar 2 trillion programme to slow global warming. Under Trump, federal agencies prioritised energy development and eased environmental rules to speed up drilling permits as part of the Republican's goal to boost fossil fuel production. Trump consistently downplayed the dangers of climate change, which Biden, a Democrat, has made a top priority. On his first day in office last Wednesday, Biden signed a series of executive orders that underscored his different approach rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, revoking approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and telling agencies to immediately review dozens of Trump-era rules on science, the environment and public health. A 60-day suspension order at the Interior Department did not limit existing oil and gas operations under valid leases, meaning activity would not come to a sudden halt on the millions of acres of lands in the West and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where much drilling is concentrated. The moratorium also is unlikely to affect existing leases. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trump's final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual US production. Extracting and burning those fuels generates the equivalent of almost 550 million tons (500 million metric tons) of greenhouse gases annually, the US Geological Survey said in a 2018 study. Under Trump, Interior officials approved almost 1,400 permits on federal lands, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico, over a three-month period that included the election, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. Those permits, which remain valid, will allow companies to continue drilling for years, potentially undercutting Biden's climate agenda. The leasing moratorium could present a political dilemma for Biden in New Mexico, a Democratic-leaning state that has experienced a boom in oil production in recent years, much of it on federal land. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 26, 2021] Palma Ceia SemiDesign Names Robert Young Chief Technology Officer SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Palma Ceia SemiDesign, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in wireless connectivity solutions, announced today that Robert Young has assumed the role of chief technology officer, reporting to Roy E. Jewell, chief executive officer. "Robert's outstanding track record and keen understanding of connectivity makes him a great choice for the CTO position," Jewell said. "He brings experience that will enable us to continue our development of Wi-Fi technology which enables the latest applications for the IoT. I welcome the opportunity to work with him as we build a great semiconductor company." Young's experience includes co-founding Cambridge Silicon Radio in 1999, where he served as vice president of chip design, leading the global IC design team. CSR developed the world's first single-chip CMOS Bluetooth radio, ultimately shipping more than 2 billion Bluetooth devices. I 2011 he co-founded Neul, which developed wireless connectivity solutions for the Internet of Things market and where Young was vice president of engineering. After Neul was acquired by Huawei in 2014 Young became CTO of the Huawei UK design center. While there he played a key role in developing the NB-IoT cellular connectivity standard within 3GPP, and he led the team that developed the world's first production NB-IoT chip. Young graduated from the University of Cambridge with a first-class honors degree, with distinction, and subsequently a PhD in Digital Signal Processing. "It is a privilege to join the Palma Ceia team to help drive technology that will take full advantage of the promise of IoT," Young said. "I am excited to work with this engineering team to accelerate our technical impact and contribute to our customers' success." About Palma Ceia SemiDesign Palma Ceia SemiDesign (PCS) is a fabless semiconductor company and leading provider of communication semiconductors and IP for next-generation Wi-Fi and cellular applications. With a focus on emerging Wi-Fi and LTE standards, particularly for IoT (Internet of Things), PCS targets the design of ICs for broadband, wireless, medical and automotive applications. Palma Ceia SemiDesign solutions are differentiated by low power, high performance and ease of integration. Headquartered in the Cayman Islands, the company has design and sales support centers in Cambridge (United Kingdom), mainland China, Hong Kong, and McKinney, Texas (United States). PCS is soon expanding to provide direct support for Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Visit Palma Ceia SemiDesign on the web at www.pcsemi.com. Palma Ceia SemiDesign and the Palma Ceia SemiDesign logo are trademarks of Palma Ceia SemiDesign, a Cayman Islands corporation, and are protected by trademark laws of the United States and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Palma Ceia SemiDesign Media Contact Milan G. Lazich press@pcsemi.com +1 650-464-1132 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/738312/Palma_Ceia_SemiDesign_Logo.jpg SOURCE Palma Ceia SemiDesign [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The National Lottery Authority(NLA) would like to urge the general public, staking players, Lotto Marketing Companies, media and stakeholders to totally and wholly ignore and discredit the news publication under the headline, "National Lottery Authority fails to pay big wins since April". For the purpose of clarity and setting the records straight: 1. It is NEVER TRUE that National Lottery Authority has failed to pay big winning tickets since April last year. All outstanding prizes are being paid. Investigations, Auditing and due diligence are always conducted on all big winning tickets in order to prevent payment of fraudulent tickets due to the increasing activities of Lotto Fraudsters. 2. It is NEVER TRUE there is issue of non-payment of wins at various Banks. 3. The *959# mobile game has COME TO STAY. In fact the *959# mobile game forms part of Governments digitalization programme. The *959# would continue to operate the original 5/90 Lotto via MTN, Vodafone and AirtelTigo especially during this difficult period of Coronavirus pandemic. The *959# has been doing very well, serving as an additional revenue stream for NLA and Government. The implementation of *959# has become very critical for sustainability of the revenue generation of NLA. 4. There is no shortage of paper roll currently. Management has taken steps to address all the issues in relation to paper roll shortage. The management of National Lottery Authority therefore would like to state that the issues raised by one Mr. Jacob Odame and his Lotto Marketers Association in the Northern Region are UNTRUE and we urge everyone to completely disregard that publication. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. 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It also notifies parents at the end of the school day during the student's return trip.Parents can see the estimated number of minutes before the bus arrives.The district's transportation department began discussing use of the app in 2019 as a way to improve bus service.launched a similar program in 2018. Boris Johnson today vowed the Government is 'working flat-out' after a Covid outbreak at the DVLA headquarters. More than 500 cases have been identified at the driving agency's offices in Swansea between September and December last year, after bosses allegedly told staff with symptoms to return to work. It is thought to be Britain's biggest workplace outbreak and has increased pressure on ministers, with critics claiming they have failed to protect workers. The DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) has said claims staff with symptoms were told to work are 'categorically untrue'. The organisation also denied that staff were told to turn-off their NHS track and trace apps. More than 500 cases have been identified at the driving agency's offices in Swansea between September and December last year Mr Johnson was grilled about the issue at Prime Minister's Questions today by Carolyn Harris, the Labour MP for Swansea East. She asked: 'Given that the Prime Minister has already said today he'll take full responsibility for all the actions his Government has taken during the pandemic, will he confirm that this will include the woeful and reckless management of the Covid outbreak at the DVLA Government sites in my constituency? 'And will he also ensure that his Transport Secretary (Grant Shapps) is held accountable for the inexcusable damage and devastation that this has caused?' Mr Johnson responded: 'We've been working flat-out on the problem at the DVLA and all staff who can work from home are doing so. Measures have been taken to minimise the number of people on the site at any one time. 'And more than 2,000 tests have been carried out by the DVLA in the last fortnight alone with all the results so far coming back negative.' Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford said that people have to obey the Covid rules set out in Wales. He said: 'I've written twice in just the last couple of weeks to ministers in the UK Government expressing concerns over the stories we have been hearing from frontline workers. 'I was anxious to make sure that the UK Government understood that if you are working in Wales, it is the Welsh rules that you have to obey and only last week, we strengthened protections in the workplace further for people in light of the new variant of the virus. 'I wasn't satisfied with the first reply that I got, I felt there was a gap between what ministers were telling us and what we were hearing from people who work at the frontline in the DVLA. 'I've had a further reply, we will have to make sure that all the safeguards that the law requires in Wales are in place and that the DVLA is being organised and run in a way that puts the safety of its staff at the forefront of what it does given the public health emergency that we're living through.' Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has faced scrutiny over the Covid outbreak in Swansea DVLA chief executive Julie Lennard, along with HR director Louise White, also faced questions from MPs on Westminster's Transport Committee on the issue. A number of employees, including those classed as vulnerable, say they were still told to come into the office while millions of others stayed at home, due to the 'essential nature' of its public services. Furthermore, DVLA workers claim they were told to turn off their mobile test-and-trace apps to avoid phones pinging while in the office, the Guardian reported. The agency insists that while there have been 535 cases at the Welsh site since the start of the pandemic in March, there are currently no positive tests among its workforce at the contact centre - where hundreds of workers deal with thousands of calls from motorists every day - and just four cases across the whole estate. A large number of the positive cases are understood to have occurred just before Christmas, when transmission infection rates were high in the Swansea area, and a bleak nationwide picture forced millions to cancel their festive plans. Around 6,000 people are employed at the site, meaning some nine per cent of the workforce have been infected at one time or another. Reports also claim that Covid-related absences have been counted against employees' sick leave, with a warning triggered if that then lasts more than 10 days. Workplace safety network, The Hazards Campaign, said it was 'absolutely shocking' a government agency was responsible for what is thought to be the UK's biggest work-based outbreak, while the Public and Commercial Services Union called on Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to take action. General secretary Mark Serwotka told the Guardian: 'It is a scandal that DVLA are not doing more to reduce numbers. 'Ministers must intervene and ensure DVLA are doing their utmost to enable staff to work from home and temporarily cease non-critical services.' A DVLA spokesman said: 'Staff safety remains a priority for DVLA, as it has throughout the pandemic, and we continue to follow all relevant guidance and advice to help keep our offices Covid secure, including the latest advice from Welsh Government. 'Staff in roles that enable them to work from home are doing so and have throughout, in line with current government advice. 'However, in view of the essential nature of the public services we provide, some operational staff are required to be in the office where their role means they cannot work from home.' On the claims that staff with symptoms were told to return to work, A DVLA spokesperson added: 'There is absolutely no truth in the claims that staff with symptoms are encouraged to come into work and that staff have been told to turn off their track and trace app. 'The government guidelines are clear where a person has symptoms or is alerted by track and trace that they have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, they must self-isolate as required. We regularly remind staff of this requirement.' India started exporting coronavirus shots with a shipment to Bhutan. The ministry said "supplies under grant assistance" would be shipped to the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles, while Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius await regulatory clearances to receive the vaccines. In total 6.31 lakh healthcare workers have received Covid-19 vaccine shots through 11,660 sessions held till the evening of the fourth day of the immunisation drive. India has approved two vaccines Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Serum Institute of India's Covishield for emergency use in the country. Frontline workers and healthcare workers are being vaccinated in the first phase. Stay tuned for latest updates. Lawyers acting for the sister of one of loyalist Michael Stone's murder victims are to challenge the decision to release him on parole. An emergency judicial review has been issued which seeks to challenge the legality of the decision by the Parole Commissioners to release Stone from Maghaberry Prison on Tuesday. Read More The case will be heard in Belfast's High Court on Thursday morning. It will also challenge the decision of the commissioners not to provide reasons for Stone's release, their refusal to provide documents or information about the proceedings or allow the relatives of his victims to participate, a solicitor acting for them has said. Mr Paul Farrell, who is acting for Deborah McGuinness, the sister of Milltown Cemetery attack victim Thomas McErlean, said on Wednesday evening: "This case is of huge importance not only to the victims of Michael Stone and their families but also it will have huge ramifications with regard to the future of Parole Hearings in Northern Ireland." The release of Stone has been met with condemnation by victims' families after legal battles sought to keep him in prison until 2024. The issue under consideration was whether he would stay in jail until then, or whether his minimum tariff expired in 2018, including the six years he was freed under licence. Stone was serving a 30-year jail term but launched an appeal against efforts to keep him in prison. The court concluded that the period that the prisoner spent lawfully on licence ought to be included in the relevant part of his sentence. In 1988, Stone killed three people in a gun and grenade attack at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast and was freed early from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He was sent back six years later after attempting to attack Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont. The former UDA man was also the gunman in another three murders. Milkman Patrick Brady was murdered in south Belfast in November 1984, 12 months before joiner Kevin McPolin was shot in the head in Lisburn, Co Antrim. In May 1987 Dermott Hackett, a bread server, was found dead in his van between Drumquin and Omagh. He had been shot up to 16 times with a submachine gun. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global MRD Testing Market: Focus on Technology, Application, End User, Region and Competitive Landscape - Analysis and Forecast, 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global market for MRD testing is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 15.64% over the forecast period, 2020-2025. MRD Testing industry to be one of the most rapidly evolving and dynamic markets. The market is driven by certain factors, such as the rising incidence of hematologic malignancies, the increasing consumer awareness for tailored therapy, the increasing research funding from the National Cancer Institute, and the increasing disposable income in emerging economies. The market is favored by the developments in the field of MRD testing solutions for hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Currently, the MRD testing industry is witnessing an upsurge due to the rising incidence of hematologic malignancies, resulting in the high demand for sensitive testing solutions. Additionally, the high adoption of MRD tests among patients and the growing awareness among physicians regarding MRD testing are some of the critical factors expected to bolster the market growth. Furthermore, diagnostic companies are focusing on the development of NGS-based MRD tests for lymphoid malignancies, having higher sensitivity and low turnaround time to benefit the patients suffering from hematologic malignancies. Competitive Landscape The exponential rise in the number of cases associated with hematological malignancies has created a buzz among the diagnostic companies to further invest in the development of reliable, sensitive, and rapid MRD testing solutions to aid patients to get into remission. Due to the presence of a diverse product portfolio and intense market penetration, Invivoscribe, Inc. has been a pioneer in this field and has been a significant competitor in this market. On the basis of region, North America holds the largest share of the MRD testing market due to high infusion of funding from government organizations for conducting research on hematological malignancies, rising incidence of hematological malignancies, and high adoption of technologically advanced MRD tests, among others. Apart from this, Asia-Pacific is anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR during the forecast period, 2020-2025. Key Questions Answered in this Report: What are the major market drivers, challenges, and opportunities and their respective impacts in the global MRD testing market? What is the potential impact of biotechnological advancement in the diagnostic industry among end users, such as physicians, researchers, pathologists, and laboratory technicians? What is the current market demand along with future expected demand for the global MRD testing market? Has MRD testing penetrated major countries facing an immense burden from hematological malignancies? What are the key regulatory hurdles for industry players looking to enter this highly dynamic market? What are the key development strategies that are implemented by the major players in order to sustain in the competitive market? How is each segment of the market expected to grow during the forecast period from 2020 to 2025 based on each segment? Technology (flow cytometry, PCR, NGS, and other technologies) Application (hematological malignancy and solid tumor) End user (specialty clinics and hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, research institutions, and other end users) Region ( North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , Latin America & Middle East , and Rest-of-the-World) , , , & , and Rest-of-the-World) Which are the leading players with significant offerings to the global MRD testing market? What is the expected market dominance for each of these leading players? Which emerging companies are anticipated to be highly disruptive in the future, and what are their key strategies for sustainable growth in the global MRD testing market? Key Topics Covered: 1 Product Definition and Market Scope 2 Research Methodology 3 Market Overview 3.1 MRD Testing 3.2 MRD Testing: Solid Tumor vs Hematological Malignancies 3.3 Market Footprint 3.4 Market Size and Future Growth Potential 4 Market Dynamics 4.1 Impact Analysis 4.2 Market Drivers 4.2.1 Rising Incidence of Hematologic Malignancies 4.2.2 Increasing Consumer Awareness for Tailored Therapy 4.2.3 Increase in Research Funding from National Cancer Institute 4.2.4 Increasing Disposable Income in Emerging Economies 4.3 Market Restraints 4.3.1 False Negatives and Positives 4.3.2 Uncertain Reimbursement and Regulatory Policies 4.3.3 Lack of Trained Professionals 4.3.4 Lack of Established Treatment Protocols for High-Value Tests in Emerging Economies 4.4 Market Opportunities 4.4.1 Potential Long-Term Cost Savings 4.4.2 Increasing Market Access in Emerging Economies 4.4.3 Technological Evolution of Testing 4.4.3.1 8- and 10-Color Flow Cytometry 4.4.3.2 PCR for Gene Rearrangements 4.4.3.3 NGS and Multiplexing 5 Industry Insights 5.1 Approval Scenario 5.1.1 Approved Minimal Residual Disease Tests by Major Players 5.1.2 Launched Minimal Residual Disease Tests by Major Players 5.2 Financing Scenario 5.2.1 Key Players Stratification (as Per Raised Financing Value) 5.2.2 Key Players Financing Analysis (FY2017-2019) 5.3 Regulatory Framework 5.4 Reimbursement Scenario 5.5 Supply Chain Analysis 5.5.1 For Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs) 5.5.2 For In-Vitro Diagnostics (IVDs) 5.6 Minimal Residual Disease Testing Government Initiatives 5.6.1 Technology Consideration for Minimal Residual Disease 5.6.1.1 Considerations for Cellular Technology Platforms 5.6.1.2 Considerations for Molecular Technology Platforms 5.6.1.3 Considerations for Sample 5.7 Impact of COVID-19 on Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market 5.7.1 Considerations With Inpatients 5.7.2 Considerations With Outpatients 5.8 Price Sensitivity Analysis (Elasticity) 5.8.1 Physicians' Perception 5.8.2 Investors' Perception 5.8.3 Payors' Perception 6 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market: Competitive Insights 6.1 Overview 6.2 Synergistic Activities 6.3 Approvals 6.4 Product Launches and Updates 6.5 Other Developments 6.6 Market Share Analysis, 2018-2019 6.7 Growth Share Analysis 7 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market (by Technology), 2019-2025 7.1 Overview 7.2 Flow Cytometry 7.3 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) 7.4 Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) 7.5 Other Technologies 8 Global Minimal Residual Testing Market (by Application), 2019-2025 8.1 Overview 8.2 Hematological Malignancies 8.2.1 Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) 8.2.2 Multiple Myeloma (MM) 8.2.3 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) 8.2.4 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) 8.2.5 Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) 8.2.6 Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) 8.2.7 Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) 8.2.8 Other Leukemia 9 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market (by End User), 2019-2025 9.1 Overview 9.2 Specialty Clinics and Hospitals 9.3 Diagnostic Laboratories 9.4 Research Institutions 9.5 Other End Users 10 Global Minimal Residual Disease Testing Market (by Region), 2019-2025 10.1 Overview 11 Company Profiles Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation ArcherDX, Inc. (Part of Invitae Corporation) Arup Laboratories ASURAGEN INC. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Cergentis B.V. Guardant Health ICON plc Inivata Ltd. Invivoscribe, Inc. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Mission Bio, Inc. Natera, Inc. NeoGenomics Laboratories, Inc. Opko Health, Inc. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated Sysmex Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/8caml6 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. Half of all passengers coming into Dublin Airport on a single day this week were returning from holiday destinations, the Taoiseach has said. Micheal Martin made the comments at a meeting of the Fianna Fail parliamentary party on Wednesday night, as he outlined the Governments plans to introduce mandatory quarantine for some international travellers. The meeting heard that on Tuesday this week, of 800 people who travelled into the country, 397 were returning from holiday destinations. Of those who arrived, 542 were Irish, the Taoiseach told TDs and Senators, according to sources present at the meeting. New measures announced this week include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. Travellers arriving into Ireland without a negative test could face a fine of 2,500 euro or a six-month prison sentence. Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America is suspended until at least March 5. All passengers entering the country will be subject to mandatory quarantine, which signals a change from the policy of voluntary self-isolation. Extra gardai will patrol airports and ports and anyone who is found breaching travel restrictions will face increased fines. The current fine is 100 euro but it is set to increase to no more than 500 euro. Press Release 27 January 2021 A good night's sleep is the most important service a hotel can offer its overnight guests, according to Dr Alice Hon and Dr Clare Fung of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Analysing hotels' sleep-management strategies from the perspective of both business and leisure travellers, the researchers show how hotels can best allocate their resources to optimise guests' sleep quality. Such strategies may offer hotels a unique source of competitive advantage, enabling them to survive and even thrive in today's precarious market environment. Advertisements The chance to sleep well and deeply is important to every hotel guest. Leisure travellers wish to escape the stress and strain of everyday life, enjoy a restful sleep and wake refreshed to make the most of their holiday. Sleep quality is just as important for business travellers, whose jobs require them to be well rested and alert. As the researchers remind us, "good-quality sleep is essential for our health". It not only improves mood and concentration, but also reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Unfortunately for hoteliers, people are rarely able to sleep well in a new environment. This is known as the "first night" effect, and it is of particular concern for hotel managers. "Many tourists expect that their first night in a hotel will be less than restful", explain the researchers, "due to jet lag, sleeping in a different bed, rooms that are too hot or too cold, noise from the street or neighbours, light from the corridor, and so forth". As small changes in hotel guests' new environment can affect their sleep, the researchers stress that it is vital for managers to "identify a proper hotel environment that maximizes sleep quality". Managing external factors like this can even help hoteliers to reduce the impact of pre-existing psychological factors such as guests' stress and worry. Overall, well-rested travellers are more likely to be satisfied with their stay, and thus to return to the hotel in future. No wonder, then, that hotels have invested a lot of money in identifying strategies to give their guests a good night's sleep. Some, the researchers explain, focus on providing comfortable mattresses and bedding in cool, dark, quiet rooms. Others advertise their thick walls and sound-proof rooms. A few even offer guests warm milk and cookies at bedtime. However, according to the researchers, little is known about which such sleep-management strategies work best, or how they affect travellers' satisfaction and intention to return. Seeking to address this lack of knowledge, the researchers' first task was to find out exactly which strategies hotels should implement to maximise guests' sleep quality. They identified common problems affecting guests' sleep in luxury and budget hotels. For example, "many hotels concentrate on the quality of sleep amenities, but they seldom control the morning chatter of housekeepers or clatter of hotel guests". Rooms may be too warm or too cold, and intrusive smells such as cigarette smoke or cooking food may enter through air conditioning units. Next, the researchers identified three sleep management strategies implemented by hotels to ensure that their guests sleep well. The first is bed amenities, which must be clean and comfortable. For example, the researchers write, "hotels may offer different types of pillows (high or low), mattresses (firm or soft), or quilts (duvet or cotton)". Second, room design should be warm, welcoming and restful, with appropriate lighting and perhaps blackout curtains. Finally, hoteliers should provide a room environment conducive to sleep. Guests can use temperature and humidity controls to customise the room climate, and some may welcome relaxing bath salts, earplugs or mugs of Horlicks. Inevitably, however, guests' responses to these strategies are affected by their particular perceptions, experiences and characteristics. "There are two main types of travellers," note the researchers, "holiday and business". Although sleep quality is important to both groups, they have different purposes in travelling, and potentially also different needs. The researchers thus set out to compare the responses of business and leisure travellers to hotels' sleep management strategies. To gain in-depth insights into hotel sleep management strategies, the researchers chose a 5-star hotel in Hong Kong with more than 260 guest rooms. First, they interviewed eight members of the hotel's managerial staff, all of whom "had complete knowledge of the sleep management practices at the hotel and fully understood the importance of a good night's sleep". Next, the researchers distributed questionnaires to 202 guests as they entered one of the restaurants for breakfast. The guests who completed the questionnaires were all international travellers. The largest proportion were from Asia, followed by Europe and then North America and the Middle East. Gender and age were roughly evenly balanced, but holiday travellers outnumbered business travellers. They answered questions about their satisfaction with the hotel, their intention to return and how they felt about the hotel's sleep management practices, ranging from the choice of pillows (bed amenities), room colour and light intensity (room design) to the room temperature (room environment). Examining the hotel's sleep management from all angles - from the perspective of customers as well as managers, leisure as well as business travellers - was expected to provide holistic insights into how hotels can best give their guests a good night's sleep. Rigorous statistical analysis of the interview transcripts and questionnaires provided important theoretical and practical insights into how each of the three sleep management strategies related to guests' satisfaction and intention to return, and how business and leisure travellers reacted differently to these strategies. Using these findings, the researchers explain, "hotels can put in place a series of sleep practices in hotel rooms that may help build good sleep hygiene to improve the sleep quality of their guests". First, as expected, both groups considered comfortable bed amenities, a cosy room design with heavy curtains and an easily controllable room environment to be important for a good night's sleep. All of these strategies enhanced both their satisfaction with the hotel and their intention to return. However, there were also differences between the two groups of travellers. This, write the researchers, "explains why hotel guests give different feedback on their sleep quality under the same hotel room environment conditions". To satisfy business travellers' particular need for choice, hotel managers could offer various types of bed amenities, including soft or firm mattresses, pillows of different heights, cotton or duvet quilts, or individual sprung mattresses. To cater to the specific needs of holiday travellers, hoteliers should focus on providing clean, welcoming rooms in warm colours, with adequate control over room temperature and humidity. More generally, note the researchers, hotel managers could provide "specially designed and premium bedding, thick walls and soundproof room design, aromatherapy, and quiet zone floors for guests". The researchers acknowledge that some travellers experience personal issues that disturb their sleep, such as jet lag or insomnia. Dealing with these issues may require more personalised services. "Well-trained sleep specialists who know how to enhance sleep quality could be employed to provide training to frontline staff as sleep consultants and offer suggestions to guests", the researchers suggest. More simply, offering hot chocolate to guests could create a relaxing atmosphere conducive to sleep. "Although hotels have put many resources into creating a quality sleep environment", the researchers tell us, "their effectiveness is variable". This study offers much-needed insight into how hoteliers can best invest their resources in sleep management strategies that meet the needs of particular groups of travellers. Satisfying guests is not only beneficial to their well-being, but "essential to business success and a determinant of hotels' long-term survival". Alice H. Y. Hon and Clare P. Y. Fung (2019). A Good Night's Sleep Matters for Tourists: An Empirical Study for Hospitality Professionals. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 43, Issue 8, pp. 1153-1175. In this file photo, Antony Blinken speaks during his confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington, DC. The US Senate on Jan. 26, 2021 confirmed Blinken as secretary of state. AFP The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Antony Blinken as America's top diplomat, tasked with carrying out President Joe Biden's commitment to reverse the Trump administration's ''America First'' doctrine that weakened international alliances. Senators voted 78-22 to approve Blinken, a longtime Biden confidant, as the nation's 71st secretary of state, succeeding Mike Pompeo. The position is the most senior Cabinet position, with the secretary fourth in the line of presidential succession. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. He has pledged to be a leading force in the administration's bid to reframe the U.S. relationship with the rest of the world after four years in which President Donald Trump questioned longtime alliances. Shortly after his confirmation, Blinken took the oath of office at a private ceremony at the State Department. Blinken was sworn in by the director general of the U.S. Foreign Service in the Treaty Room on the department's 7th floor outside the corridor known as ''Mahogany Row'' where his new office will be. He is expected to start work Wednesday. ''American leadership still matters,'' Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at his Jan. 19 confirmation hearing. ''The reality is, the world simply does not organize itself. When we're not engaged, when we're not leading, then one of two things is likely to happen. Either some other country tries to take our place, but not in a way that's likely to advance our interests and values, or maybe just as bad, no one does and then you have chaos.'' CHARLOTTE, N.C. and LORTON, Va., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Summit Park, a Charlotte-based private investment firm, is pleased to announce that it has led a recapitalization of United Air Temp, Air Conditioning and Heating LLC ("UAT" or "the Company"), a leading provider of residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC") services, in partnership with Capitala Group ("Capitala"), Pareto & Company ("Pareto"), and the UAT management team. Headquartered in Lorton, Virginia, UAT provides HVAC maintenance and replacement services to residential homeowners. Its primary operations are in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area in Northern Virginia and Maryland, with additional operations in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. UAT has built a large, loyal customer base through its best-in-class service and responsiveness, as well as consistent, high quality work from its skilled technicians. Gabe Ivanescu, majority owner of UAT prior to the recapitalization, said, "Throughout our history, we have provided our customers with first-class service and been an exceptional place to work for our employees. We look forward to continuing to build on that legacy with our new partners." Summit Park targeted the home services sector due to its fragmented nature and the essential nature of the services provided. Bob Calton, co-Founding Partner of Summit Park, said, "We are excited about our partnership with Gabe Ivanescu, Mike Giordano, and the entire UAT leadership team and are eager to build upon the Company's historical success. We plan to invest significantly in the UAT platform, both through organic initiatives and add-on acquisitions, to expand the Company's geographic reach, build its marketing capabilities, and expand their service offering which is today predominantly HVAC service and repair." Mike Giordano, President of UAT, added "For UAT's next phase of growth, we were looking for partners that could not only provide additional capital and strategic resources, but also a team that shared our values and respected our unique culture. We believe that we found those partners in Summit Park, Capitala, and Pareto and that UAT is poised to capitalize on a number of exciting growth opportunities in the coming years as we execute on our shared vision for the Company." The transaction is the sixth investment in Summit Park's current fund, Summit Park III, which had a final closing in August of 2018. BMO Sponsor Finance provided the debt financing for the transaction. About Summit Park Summit Park is a Charlotte, North Carolina-based private investment firm focused exclusively on the lower middle market. The firm invests across a range of industries, including business and consumer services, light manufacturing and value-added distribution in the Eastern half of the United States. The firm's capital can be used to facilitate a change in ownership, to support expansion and growth, to provide partial liquidity to existing owners, or to support an industry consolidation plan. For more information, visit www.summitparkllc.com. CONTACT: Rachel Hannon, [email protected] SOURCE SPP Management Services Related Links https://www.summitparkllc.com Vietnam will likely have another airport as authorities in Quang Tri Province have aired their determination to kick-start the construction of one in the locality this year. The affirmation was made by provincial deputy chairman Le Duc Tien on Tuesday afternoon after the Ministry of Transport had issued a decision approving the detailed planning of the project. According to the planning, Quang Tri Domestic Airport will be constructed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model at a cost of VND8 trillion (US$346 million). The airport is supposed to cover 316 hectares, including 87 hectares for civil aviation purposes, a military aviation area of 51 hectares, and an area of more than 177 hectares for mixed use, in Gio Quang Commune, Gio Linh District, about 7km from the provincial capital city of Dong Ha. The passenger terminal is planned to serve up to one million passengers per year, while the cargo terminal will handle 3,100 metric tons of cargo and luggage per year. The Peoples Committee of Quang Tri has allowed T&T Group, a Vietnamese corporation, to survey and prepare pre-feasibility study reports for the project. We will wait for interested investors until June, before holding a bidding process to select a qualified one, Tien said. The provincial deputy chairperson affirmed that local authorities are determined to start the construction of the airport, the first of its kind in the central province, this year. Quang Tri does not currently have a civil airport. Passengers who want to travel by air to Quang Tri have to book a flight to Phu Bai International Airport in Thua Thien-Hue Province or Dong Hoi Airport in Quang Binh Province, which are both some 100km from Quang Tri. At present, Vietnam has nine international and 13 domestic airports. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Based on actions taken by lawmakers Monday, the forecast for the First Session of the 55th Legislature includes some rays of transparency shining through the clouds. A bill that would finally require lawmakers to show their hands on capital outlay projects Zoomed through a House committee meeting Monday and is headed for the House floor. House Bill 55 would require the Legislature to publish a list of capital projects approved each year with details on which legislators sponsored what projects, and how much funding they allocated to each one. Its amazing New Mexico hasnt turned on the lights of the annual Christmas Tree Bill. From 2000 through 2015, the annual pork-laden bill with something for every lawmaker averaged nearly $300 million a year, with an average of 1,500 individual projects. Yet save for the honorable few lawmakers who publish their own lists, there has never been a systematic identification of which legislator sponsored which item. The secrecy meant there was no accountability for lawmakers who basically asked taxpayers to take out a mortgage to pay for small items that might appeal to a few constituents but didnt do anything to move the state forward. Many items didnt last the 10-year term of the financing things like wrestling mats, grass seed and band uniforms. Dont taxpayers deserve to know who is sponsoring the projects their tax dollars are paying for? ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Hopefully 2021 will be the year that makes that happen. A similar bill passed the House in 2019 but stalled in the Senate. The quick start for HB 55 is promising. The bill passed its first and only House committee Monday and is headed to the full chamber for consideration. It has bipartisan support with one Republican and three Democratic co-sponsors. Thats encouraging, because when it comes to government transparency, there should be no political divisions. Transparency around government spending increases public trust and makes us more responsive and accountable to our voters, state Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Galisteo, said. Its curious the House, which seems to support the transparency in this bill, was the chamber that adopted new rules Monday criticized by transparency advocates because they allow House members to do almost all of their work online. After about 3 hours of debate, the House along largely partisan lines adopted new rules that go even further than the procedures adopted by the state Senate. The new House rules allow members to participate and vote online from their homes to protect members, staff and families from the coronavirus. Meanwhile, the Senate rules give members the option of participating in-person from the chamber or remotely from elsewhere in the Capitol, such as from their private office. Legislative leaders have promised to pause all proceedings that are interrupted by computer problems, which are inevitable with connecting 70 House members and 42 senators across the state. With the Capitol building closed to the public, lawmakers wont have to face voters, peers, the media or lobbyists in the Roundhouse like usual, which does not bode well for a public seeking to follow legislation or influence the process. Such a closed session calls for an emphasis on transparency at every corner. Lets hope the House quickly passes the capital outlay transparency bill, and that this time it moves smoothly through the Senate. Because reforming the capital outlay process would allow a permanent ray of sunshine into what has been a traditionally shrouded process. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. In his first day in the Oval Office US President Joe Biden signed an executive order reversing multiple immigration policies promoted by his predecessor in the White House, including the 2017 travel ban on people from a number of predominantly Muslim countries. The move received little attention in the Arab media which, like the regimes in the most influential Arab capitals, had made little secret of their preference for Donald Trump. It may not be a big thing but it is still an indication of where countries in the region stand and where the Biden administration stands, commented a Cairo-based Western diplomat. It shows their different priorities at least. It is clear, according to one Washington-based Arab diplomat, that the Biden administration wants to signal its commitment to liberties and non-discrimination. And the signalling extends beyond overturning Trumps travel ban on a group of Muslim majority countries to include the new presidents choice of his foreign policy team. Selecting Antony Blinken as secretary of state is significant in this respect, according to the Arab diplomat. Blinken served as deputy national security adviser from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under Barack Obama. Bidens nominee for the top diplomatic job in Washington has made his positions clear, both through tweets and then during his approval hearings. He has underlined that the US cannot turn its back on human rights and democracy; that it will have to find ways to re-engage Iran within new parameters; get its regional allies, including Turkey, to act as such, and find effective ways to put pressure on China and Russia. On Tuesday Blinkens nomination was confirmed by the US Senate. Blinken is not the only member of Bidens foreign policy team providing food for thought for governments across the Middle East. Samantha Power, Bill Burns, and Jack Sullivan, Bidens choices for USAID director, CIA director and national security advisor, are all cut from the same cloth as Blinken. For the most part they are seasoned diplomats, says an Egyptian diplomatic source. They know that when all is said and done US foreign policy in the region is designed to serve the interests of the US in this part of the world. While they might be inclined, at least initially, to prioritise a debate with Middle Eastern states on human rights, its equally likely that debate will quickly peter out. According to this diplomat, Washingtons top priority in the Middle East will continue to be security-oriented. We are talking about the security of Israel, Washingtons top ally, the security of the Gulf, host to a considerable US military presence, and the security of the Mediterranean, the southern border of NATO. On these issues there is a lot more room for agreement than disagreement. According to regional diplomatic sources, Israel and Saudi Arabia are already sending clear messages to Washington about their expectations with regards to Iran. The return signals, the same diplomats say, have been quite reassuring. The Biden administration is not looking to re-enter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal without it first being tweaked. The US will accommodate the concerns of countries in the region, especially with regards to Irans missile capacity which is particularly worrying for Gulf states. Even in the most optimistic assessments, the diplomats argue, the file will take a year to fix. And it is a year during which the US will be working on other important security files, including Libya and the situations in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Obviously, the US will not be able to overlook the role of Egypt in these files, says the Egyptian diplomat. And Cairo, he adds, has already let Washington know it is willing to work in a positive way on the relevant issues. For Egypt, the Biden administrations pursuit of security issues around the region could be an excellent opportunity for Egypt because on this front what we agree on with the US is a lot more than what we disagree on. Fixing Eastern Mediterranean security, argues the Egyptian diplomat, simply means pushing for a more rational approach from Turkey vis-a-vis the region, and more active engagement in finding a way to manage the Palestinian cause. Cairo is already working closely with Jordan, France and Germany to re-launch Palestinian-Israeli talks, and is working with Jordan to manage the differences it has with Turkey over the Eastern Mediterranean. We told the Jordanians what we expect of Turkey, especially with regard to its intervention in Libya. We think that Turkey is getting the message and if it shows a willingness to respond positively then we will reciprocate, says the diplomat. He also expects the Biden administration to put pressure on Turkey to abandon its imperial dreams. It is clear from Turkeys behaviour in the last few weeks that Ankara has got a clear message from the European Union that it needs to behave in accordance with the requirements of regional stability. We think the Biden administration, as part of its scheme to consolidate trans-Atlantic relations, will also expect Turkey, a NATO member, to act in line with the collective requirements of regional security. Saudi Arabias recent opening up to Turkey reflects the new foreign policy parameters Riyadh is adopting following the inauguration of Biden, say regional diplomats. This new opening comes with an implicit understanding that Ankara and Riyadh will reach an accommodation over a host of regional issues, including a commitment from Turkey to stop interfering in the internal affairs of Riyadhs allies. Meanwhile, says the Egyptian diplomat, Cairo expects Washington to act to curb the support Ankara offers militant Islamist groups in Libya and Syria and keep a close eye on Turkeys backing of militant Islamist groups in East Africa and the Red Sea. We are very interested to work with the US on Red Sea security, and under Biden, or any other administration for that matter, Washington has no choice but to push for a deal to end the prolonged crisis over GERD. According to the Egyptian diplomat, Cairo is well aware that Ethiopia has some inroads in the Biden foreign policy team and Ethiopia probably has more support in the US Congress today than we do but we are working on building alliances and we know we can. And the fact is Washington knows it cannot place Egypt at risk when it comes to water resources. Everybody in the US, and in the EU, understands that a severe drop in water supplies poses a direct risk to Egypts stability. Cairo-based Western diplomats agree that for the EU and the US the stability of Egypt is a crucial issue. They also agree that given the troubled situation in Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Iraq and several East African states nobody would be willing to rock the boat when it comes to Egypt. Yet even so, Cairo is busy bracing itself for an unwanted conversation on the human rights/democracy file. In all honesty we have been making some changes and I think there is a mood for improvement now that Egypt is a little more relaxed about the war on terrorism, insists the Egyptian diplomat. Human rights, he says, are, after all, a fixed element in the US foreign policy. It is just that they were overlooked by the Trump administration. We know how to take pressure and we know how to push back, and we know how to get compromises done. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under headline: Pursuing compromise Short link: Some apartment building owners are looking for ways to accommodate tenants asking for better storage options. The context Even as New York has created the largest urban bike network in the nation, with 1,375 miles of bike lanes and a thriving bike-share program, it has lagged well behind other cities in making bike parking spots widely available, transportation experts and advocates say. By comparison, London has three times as much bike parking, with more than 150,000 spaces on its streets and at least 20,000 additional spaces at Underground and rail stations. There are also more than 1,500 spaces in curbside cycle hangars, where residents leave their bikes inside a small metal container with a curved top. The precedent In New York, cycling was booming even before the pandemic, with 490,000 daily bike trips in 2017, up from 150,000 in 2000, according to a 2019 city report. Nearly 1.6 million New Yorkers are bike riders, the report said. Still, for years many cyclists have bemoaned the citys entrenched car culture, which prioritizes drivers over bike riders and pedestrians. They have pushed for more protected bike lanes and other infrastructure. Their concerns were amplified in 2019, when 28 cyclists were killed on the streets the highest number in two decades. Mayor Bill de Blasio soon announced a $58.4 million bike safety plan; it has been slowed down because of the pandemic. Twenty-five cyclists were killed in 2020, even with fewer cars on the roads, according to city data. ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 27th Jan, 2021) Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, discussed the latest political, field and humanitarian developments in Yemen and ways of reinforcing the mutual historic ties between the two friendly countries. During their remote meeting, Dr. Gargash congratulated Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak on being appointed to his new position. Both sides then discussed ways of supporting the Yemeni people, restoring their country and establishing the foundations of peace, development and stability. Dr Gargash highlighted the UAEs support for the Riyadh Agreement and its willingness to cooperate in all processes that will achieve security, stability and sustainable peace in Yemen. He also denounced the attempt to hinder the agreement and the new Yemeni government, and condemned last months attack that targeted Aden Airport, which killed several people and threatened the lives of members of the new government. Dr. Gargash and Dr. Ahmed Awad stressed that the Houthi militias are fully responsible for the dire conditions and humanitarian crises affecting the Yemeni people, affirming that the international community must exert serious pressure to achieve the aspirations of Yemenis, as well as actively and positively engage in the peace process and implement the outcomes of relevant international conferences and United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions related to the Yemeni crisis. Dr. Gargash also highlighted the importance of adopting a political settlement, under the framework of a UN programme, to end the suffering of the Yemeni people while condemning the attacks by the Houthi militias on Saudi territory and their continuous targeting of civilians. The UN should respond to these actions to end the ongoing Houthi violations of Saudi territory and airspace, he added, while expressing the need for further global monitoring of weapons smuggling in Yemen, which contravenes the UN Security Council resolutions No.2216 and No. 2231, and destabilises security and stability of the whole region. ALBANY Some local lawmakers and nonprofit organizations have seized on the coronavirus pandemic's pulse of Adirondack visitors as reason to call for more state investment and more forest rangers in New Yorks 2022 budget. The boom in public use has revealed longstanding weaknesses in the management of the Forest Preserve, Peter Bauer, executive director of Protect the Adirondacks, wrote in budget testimony submitted to state legislators. But the states $15 billion budget deficit could interfere with groups wish lists. The Adirondack Park was a source of much discussion during the start of the state Senate and Assemblys conservation budget hearing on Wednesday. Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, led by saying how more than one-third of his staff assisted with the coronavirus pandemic. That included forest rangers and environmental conservation officers. Seggos acknowledged the pressure facing rangers in the backcountry, particularly in the Adirondacks and the Catskills. Despite questions from lawmakers about whether he needed more staff, Seggos said DEC was equipped to handle the pandemic and regular responsibilities. In written testimony from the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, Region 6 Forest Ranger Peter Morehouse wrote about the challenges facing his colleagues in juggling the pandemic and standard responsibilities. A drought has increased the number of wildland fires; an increase in people going outdoors has increased search-and-rescue missions; and some rangers have tested positive for the virus. Morehouse said all of this has occurred with staff operating on 2014 salary levels. Morehouse asked that the unions compensation levels be brought up to 2018 levels to help boost morale. State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, didnt directly ask Seggos if he would fund more rangers, as several Adirondack groups did in written testimony, but he said the state owns more public land and has more people recreating than ever before. Rangers patrol and protect millions of acres of state land, including some 2.6 million acres in the Adirondacks. Last year there were 141 rangers statewide, including 45 in the DEC region that attracts the bulk of the parks visitation. If the economy improves and the states hiring freeze lifts, Seggos said, the state will look to hold a forest ranger academy in the foreseeable future. For now, however, he tipped his hat to rangers, environmental conservation officers, state police and other agencies and nonprofits helping his staff. Lawmakers pressed Seggos on how the state will address the increasing popularity of the Adirondack High Peaks region. Seggos often referred to the formation of the High Peaks Strategic Planning Advisory Group, a committee of volunteers and paid state staff who meet privately several times a month to discuss potential solutions to crowd management. That group and the DEC had promised a final report at the end of 2020, but the latest meeting notes indicate the group either submitted or will submit its report to DEC this month. While the public has yet to see the groups final recommendations, Protect the Adirondacks, Adirondack Mountain Club and Adirondack Council submitted written testimony asking the state to devote $10 million toward the Adirondack and Catskill forest preserves. Some of that funding, the groups wrote, would be used to bolster infrastructure and manage visitors. Seggos said a permit system for hiking in the High Peaks is a last resort. A version of this story was first published by AdirondackExplorer.org. Gandhinagar, Jan 27 : An automobile expo is being held offline in Ahmedabad in Gujarat for the first time in India following the Covid-19 pandemic. An Ahmedabad group will be organising the first offline luxury car expo, 'Auto de Glam', a two-day event, where cars like Aston Martin Vantage and Ferrari Portofino will be seen along with other top-of-the-line cars worth Rs 75 crores under one roof. Expecting a good financial year in the coming fiscal, the automobile industry which has been hit hard by Covid-19 and the lockdown, has restarted production and is witnessing record sales again with the gradual relaxation of the lockdown. The industry was hammered badly in 2020, but the sector is now witnessing a gradual recovery in terms of consumer footfalls in showrooms and sales volume. The gradual decrease in Covid-19 cases has seen a growing preference for personal mobility in order to observe the Covid guidelines. This has brought cheer to the automobile industry, which is expecting good sales this year. Although, having only 1.2 % of the overall market share in the automobile sector in India, the luxury car market is expected to register CAGR of over 6% during 2020-2025 in India. Looking at this potential, an Ahmedabad based group is organising the first ever luxury car show in Ahmedabad. The two-day 'Auto de Glam' will be held on January 30 and 31 where luxury car brands like Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche, Mercedes, Maserati, Range Rover, Volvo, BMW, Audi, Mini, Jaguar, and others will be on display. "In this first offline auto event in the country after Covid-19, we are expecting to have good response from the potential car buyers, where they will have a chance to talk to the company's executives. As this event is purely registration based, it will ensure that all the necessary Covid protocols, guidelines and precautions are followed," said Durgesh Agarwal from the DA group, one of the organizers of the event. "This is the first such Expo for luxury car brands in the country. We plan to make it an annual event and add more products every year. This year we are having 11 luxury car manufacturers participating. Next year, we will be adding 4 to 5 more company products," said Saurin Basu, from Aver Media, another organiser. "Our purpose for the event is to bring positivity in the economy by showcasing the aspirational brands and also support the automobile industry to recover at a faster pace," added Basu. "We are expecting around 1000 visitors during this two-day event," said Basu. As per industry estimates, 34,500 to 35,500 luxury cars were sold in the country in 2019, compared to 40,340 units sold in 2018. Compared with 13% in China and 10% in the US, the share of luxury vehicles in India accounts for less than 1.2% of the overall automobile market. India has more than 350,000 millionaires, but the market size is yet to cross 50,000 units a year. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text This post is part of a series sponsored by The Detection Group. In todays environment of online shopping and big-box building supply stores, its easy to find equipment options. Follow the path of least resistance and make do. But my Uncle Al used to say to me, Laurie, there is always the one right tool for every job. One correct piece of equipment for every function. And he was right. It applies more than ever to wireless water leak detection systems for commercial buildings. Laurie Conner President & CEO, The Detection Group I was speaking the other day with a commercial building engineer who related to me that he had recently seen a well-known, residential water leak sensor installed in a tenants space. The tenant, in an effort to meet the property managers build- out requirements, thought his choice would save money (very little money at that!) and elected to install that residential system in their new office space. The engineer did not approve the installation of that equipment for many reasons, all related to the specific needs of complex, high-rise commercial building environments versus single family homes. But his story motivated me to want to clarify some of the myths prevalent when it comes time to evaluate the choice between Commercial/Enterprise and Residential/Consumer products in general, and specifically for critically important commercial building wireless water leak detection systems. First a couple of obvious examples to set the stage and reinforce the point. Residential carpets are just as good and durable as commercial grade carpets? False: Commercial grade carpets are designed and manufactured to endure the rigors of hundreds of thousands of muddy, wet and dirty steps a year. And sustain nightly, deep cleanings of same. If you want stronger carpets for your home, consider commercial grade products. But shy away from using residential carpeting in an office environment. Commercial kitchen appliances are superior to household appliances. True: If you have ever worked in the back of the house (aka a restaurant kitchen), you will understand. Commercial appliances, pots, pans and utensils have to survive cooking thousands of meals a day at extremely high temperatures and take continuous abuse. Moms Teflon pan just is not going to make the cut. Residential and commercial smoke detectors perform to the same standards False: This answer could go either way. Yes, commercial grade and residential smoke detectors both detect smoke and generally sound an alarm or notify a local security service when smoke is evident. But commercial grade smoke detectors frequently do much more than that. They may have VESDA capability (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus) that constantly samples the surrounding air and processes it looking for smoke, as opposed to waiting for smoke to be detected, which allows for quicker evacuation in commercial settings. Now to focus on some common misunderstandings/myths comparing Residential (Consumer) and Commercial (Enterprise) water leak detection systems. A battery is a battery is a battery, so battery life will be the same. False: For example, generally, Trident wireless water leak sensors have more sophisticated, higher quality and longer lasting batteries than residential systems. In addition, Trident sensors, while always standing-by, communicate through a dedicated RF frequency only when the sensor is sending out an alert notification. Residential systems communicate via WiFi which is always on and therefore drawing more power. So even if the systems have similar quality batteries, the Trident battery will have a longer battery life. Notification protocols are typically identical in both types of systems. False: Residential water leak systems, and even many other commercial systems, do not have all the notification features that the Trident commercial system provides, namely: phone call, text and email simultaneously to as many people as desired. Residential systems send an alert only via text & email to one individual. Residential and commercial systems are both calling tree capable. False: Trident is calling tree capable, meaning if the primary recipient does not answer, it automatically continues to secondary and tertiary contacts until someone is reached. Importantly, the notification can be directed to individuals responsible for specific areas of the building. Residential systems have limited notification capability. A water leak is a water leak, whether in a single-family dwelling or high-rise building. True & False: There are vast differences between water leaks in a single-family dwelling and those in a commercial building. But it is true that both create havoc, expenses for the owners and occupants, increased insurance rates, etc. But that is where the similarity stops. Finding the leak quickly in a 30-story building is critical. So Trident sensors, unlike what I fondly refer to as residential screamers, not only provide a local audio alert, but the system will advise building management exactly what floor and where on that floor the leak is taking place, so it can be fixed immediately. In some cases, with optional Trident shut-off valves, the system will instantly shut off water supply to the leak. Time is money when it comes to fixing a leak in either type of building. But the volume of water from a leak in a 2 pipe can start as a trickle and under average pressure could escalate to produce over 7,000 gallons in an hour if the pipe breaks, nearly 10X more water volume than the 800 gallons an hour from a residential pipe break. The commercial leak sensor system must work flawlessly 365/24/7 since damage costs increase geometrically in a commercial building because the leak may be on a high floor and the damage losses cannot be contained in one area or on just on that floor. All residential and commercial wireless water leak detection systems are created equal. False: Only one wireless water leak detection system has received FM Approval as best-in-class for commercial buildings, and that is the Trident system. When you see a product or service with the FM APPROVED mark, you will know it meets FMs high property loss prevention product testing and certification standards. In many cases, building owners and insurance carriers actually specify Trident as the only brand that meets their requirements. Both commercial and residential systems have pre-alarm and zero alarm features. False: Trident has both, but residential systems do not normally have these features. The pre-alarm feature allows you to press a button to stop outbound alarm notifications within 15 seconds of an accidental spill or swipe with a wet mop. Tridents Zero alarm functionality allows you to set the pre-alarm to 0 seconds in highly sensitive areas like server and electrical rooms, which means alarm notifications are triggered immediately. Not only do residential systems not have this function, but many commercial systems dont either. Both types of systems can support any building size. False: The Trident commercial platform can support hundreds of thousands of square feet of coverage because it communicates via an RF backbone and mesh network. Residential systems cannot because they rely on WiFi communications, which are limited in range and coverage. Residential systems are just as secure as Commercial systems. False: Security can be an issue with many residential systems as they may communicate with various device manufactures via numerous entry points, which could facilitate security breaches. The Trident commercial system provides a high level of security and is less susceptible to endpoint intrusion as it does not have to communicate with Building Management Systems. And notifications are routed through cloud communications via ethernet or cellular channels, versus typically local networks for residential systems. Trident also uses a closed, secure, proprietary RF frequency band versus less secure WiFi which is the conduit found in most residential systems. Residential water detection systems offer the same functionality as commercial systems. False: Commercial systems, like the Trident wireless water leak detection system, offer management functions either not found, or which are very limited, on residential platforms. For example: Scheduling capability by time and date for different building segments capability by time and date for different building segments Self-monitoring and notification of low battery status is persistent until resolved and notification of low battery status is persistent until resolved Time Stamp for all events for all events Control console or mobile device management versus Smartphone app for residential management versus Smartphone app for residential Shut-off valve flexibility as an option versus a requirement to suit commercial needs Your home is just as important to you as the commercial building is to its owner. But each requires specialized equipment to protect it. Make sure you evaluate carefully before selecting the proper water leak sensor system for your commercial facility. Learn more at thedetectiongroup.com Sir Declan Morgan, the current Lord Chief Justice, wisely put forward a five-year plan to systematically deal with inquests arising out of killings during the Troubles. To their credit, the Government accepted the scheme and provided substantial finance for it. The Chief Justice set up a unit, whereby 56 of these legacy inquests, dealing with controversial and hugely tragic killings, would be examined systematically by senior judges. This will go some distance in addressing outstanding legacy cases. The first legacy inquest case arising out of this scheme was that of Patrick McElhone and the findings of the Coroner, Mrs Justice Keegan QC, were delivered last week. The inquest found that at 6.30pm on August 7, 1974, a 24-year-old single man called Patrick McElhone was shot without any warning by a soldier, Lance Corporal Jones, using a SLR rifle, in a field on his family's farm just outside Pomeroy, Co Tyrone. Lance Corporal Jones fired one shot that entered the young man's chest from the back, thereby lacerating the base of the heart. Death was immediate. It is an established fact that the young man was unarmed and was not acting in any threatening way. The shooting was carried out without any justification. Lance Corporal Jones was immediately identified as being responsible for the shooting. He was later arrested and charged with murder by an RUC Detective Inspector, Mr Pickard. Private Bedford, another military colleague, was asked if he was willing to assist Jones. He stated: "I shouldn't think so, because I was against him right from the start, the man had no weapon, it was murder." Another military colleague, Lance Corporal Lis stated: "He was not armed and all Jones had to do was just shout and I would have stopped him. There was no warning given to Patrick or a warning shot, just bang and that was that." Corporal Wood, another soldier colleague said, that even if the deceased was running away that might be an explanation, but it was not a reason for him being shot dead as he was unarmed. Lance Corporal Jones, according to his patrol commander, was not subject to any disciplinary investigation and was in fact promoted to Sergeant. Similar to Guardsmen Fisher and Wright, who were convicted of murdering Peter McBride in the New Lodge Road area in Belfast 1992, but were subsequently reinstated back into the Army after their release. Guardsman Fisher was promoted to Lance Corporal. Think of the moral outrage, if the Russians, or the Chinese, did such a brazen act. The sergeant who commanded the Army patrol that day, stated at the inquest, that he was clear that there was no excuse or justification whatsoever for shooting Patrick McElhone, even if he was running away. Just before the conclusion of the inquest, counsel for the MoD conceded to the coroner in the clearest terms, that this death could not be justified by the state. The coroner firmly concluded, that the shooting could not be justified by the State. Mrs Justice Keegan emphasised that this was the core finding of the inquest. Back in 1975 Lance Corporal Jones was tried and acquitted of the charge of murder. That acquittal was subsequently appealed by the Attorney General on a point of law to the House of Lords. The House of Lords upheld in law the acquittal of the soldier. But it should be borne in mind that the recent inquest heard evidence, particularly from military personnel, that would have differed substantially from the evidence heard at the original murder trial. Nonetheless, at the inquest, RUC Detective Inspector Pickard, the lead police investigator into the killing, and now retired from the police, said he still did not understand the acquittal of Lance Corporal Jones on the murder charge. This decision by the House of Lords inflicted further pain for the family of Patrick McElhone. The judicial decision around Patrick McElhone's killing inevitably created disillusionment within the nationalist community. In any democratic society, it is the courts that citizens confidently rely upon for protection, especially from the excesses of the state, and if we cannot rely on the courts for basic justice and protection, where would our society be? So, the legacy inquests have a real value in reassuring people of that protection. Happily, in this case through the definitive findings of the Coroner, Mrs Justice Keegan, the McElhone family have at last found justice and peace of mind, that their innocent relative, was judicially found to be free from any hint of wrongdoing before or during the incident that led to his untimely death. At last, after 46 years, they have found closure, having stoically suffered a deep hurt and injustice for so long, but throughout they did so with remarkable courage and nobility. In a fresh example of the tensions spawned by the Bay Areas housing crisis, UC Berkeley on Tuesday offered 42 months of subsidized rents to the remaining tenants of an eight-unit, rent-controlled apartment building near campus. The university wants to replace the structure at 1921 Walnut St. and the other small buildings on the downtown block with 14 stories of student housing a step toward its overall goal of building housing for 7,500 additional students around the campus by 2028. Several of the tenants, however, call the offer an attack on rent-controlled apartments in a perpetually expensive city. Nobody wants to be put out of their home, said Paul Wallace, a six-year resident who works in downtown San Francisco. They can give us 42 months of compensation, but that doesnt settle the long-term issue. The relocation package offered to tenants by UC includes 42 months of rent subsidies paying the difference between a tenants current rent and what theyre charged for a comparable two-bedroom apartment. If the tenant instead seeks to purchase a home in the community of your choice, the university would pay a lump sum comparable to what the tenants rent subsidy would have been. The letter sent to tenants Tuesday evening said that the earliest day anyone would need to move is Sept. 1. It also describes the package, which includes moving payments and assistance in finding another apartment, as a minimum offer. A statement from UC on Wednesday morning said the settlements, in some cases, could top $100,000. We feel a great urgency around the housing crisis, and thats whats driving us to get this done, said Dan Mogulof, a spokesman for the university. Because the university is a state institution, it is not subject to Berkeleys rent-control laws. This means that if current tenants turn down the offer, they could be evicted this fall. This building provides residential stability, and theyre going to take that away from us, said Natalie Logusch, an 11-year tenant. Students need housing, but so do other people. The apartment building at Walnut Street and Berkeley Way was built in 1909 and is part of a block that faces campus. The university purchased the structure last year and now owns the entire block. The project would include roughly 750 apartments that are intended for transfer students, according to UC. The development would be paid for by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, and net income once it opens would be used to provide financial assistance for low-income students. The proposed housing has been in the works since 2019, but until this week UC had not officially included 1921 Walnut St. in the plans. John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron Two doctors were found dead in a medical office in Austin, Texas, late Tuesday after a hostage standoff that lasted more than five hours and ended with what the authorities said they were investigating as a murder-suicide. [Related news: Former sheriffs deputy wanted in fatal shooting in Austin, Texas.] The Austin Police Department said it appeared that Dr. Bharat Narumanchi, 43, a pediatrician, shot himself after he fatally shot Dr. Lindley Dodson, 43, whom he had held hostage along with four other people. It was not immediately clear what led to the shooting, said Lt. Jeff Greenwalt of the Austin Police Department. Lieutenant Greenwalt said Dr. Narumanchi had visited the office a week or two earlier to apply for a volunteer position there and was turned down. Image Dr. Lindley Dodson The case as far as who did this is closed, Lieutenant Greenwalt said at a news conference on Wednesday morning. We really, really want to answer the question of why and provide as many facts and circumstances to the family and friends as we can. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Canuc Resources Corporation (TSXV: CDA) (OTCQB: CNUCF) ("Canuc" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the singing of purchase agreements for 5 claims in the San Javier mining and exploration camp. These newly acquired claims are contiguous with the Company's existing claims and represent an important expansion of the Company's holdings in a rapidly evolving IOCG exploration environment. Canuc began acquiring claims at San Javier in 2010. Until recently, the Company had accumulated 17 contiguous claims comprising 416.2 hectares of ground along high-bonanza grade silver veins and covering silver-mineralized stockwork and breccia zones. In 2020 an extensive silver-mineralized breccia discovery combined with intense magnetite swarms on the Company's eastern claim area resulted in an IOCG deposit potential hypothesis. The 5 most recently acquired claims, comprising 416.9 hectares, cover extensions on at least one additional IOCG target. The Company's combined ground position now covers 833.1 contiguous hectares of centrally located and highly prospective ground in a rapidly evolving mining and exploration camp. San Javier 2020 The San Javier area first came back into focus during August of 2020 when Barksdale Resources Corp. announced an earn in on 1,184 hectares of ground in the heart of the San Javier mining and exploration camp. These exploration claims are contiguous with Canuc claims to the south and east. Further interest in the San Javier area came during October 2020 when Osisko Development Corp. announced acquisition of the San Antonio claims group. The San Antonio claims acquired by Osisko Development Corp. are contiguous with both Canuc and Barksdale claims to the east. The Osisko claims cover an area of 11,338 hectares. "We are pleased to have been able to acquire important mineral claims at San Javier in advance of drilling on the IOCG targets that have recently been identified on our Company ground. The Canuc team believes that we have significant discovery potential, and that our ground position is centrally located in what is rapidly becoming a dynamic mining and exploration camp." Stated Christopher Berlet, President & CEO of Canuc Resources Corp. About Canuc Canuc is a junior resource company focusing on its San Javier Silver-Gold Project in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company generates cash flow from natural gas production at its MidTex Energy Project in Central West Texas, USA where Canuc has an interest in eight producing natural gas wells and has rights for further in field developments. Canuc also has exclusive rights, through a Partnership Agreement with Ioticiti Networks Inc., to sell Industrial IoT applications and infrastructure in the Provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada and in the State of Texas, USA. For further information please contact: Canuc Resources Corporation. (416) 525 - 6869 cberlet@canucresources.ca Forward Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information. All information, other than information of historical fact, constitute "forward-looking statements" and includes any information that addresses activities, events or developments that the Corporation believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the Corporation's strategy, plans or future financial or operating performance. When used in this news release, the words "estimate", "project", "anticipate", "expect", "intend", "believe", "hope", "may" and similar expressions, as well as "will", "shall" and other indications of future tense, are intended to identify forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is based on current expectations and applies only as of the date on which they were made. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Corporation to fund the exploration expenditures required under the Agreement. Other factors such as uncertainties regarding government regulations could also affect the results. Other risks may be set out in the Corporation's annual financial statements, MD&A and other publicly filed documents. The Corporation cautions that there can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required by law, the Corporation does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking information contained in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72885 WesternU Health launched a new ad campaign - including a billboard on Holt and Towne avenues in Pomona, Calif. - that celebrate the Universitys healers and the unique patients who seek their care. We are a family here. A hard working, complicated, loving family. Patients feel that love and connection. That is what makes WesternU Health special and that is why patients keep coming back. - WesternU Health Chief Medical Officer Stephanie White, DO, FAAFP. WesternU Health, Western University of Health Sciences cornerstone health care institution, provides comprehensive care to the Pomona Valley and its neighboring communities. WesternU launched a new advertising campaign with slogans that celebrate the Universitys healers and the unique patients who seek their care. The We Get U campaign is rooted in the belief that every patient has a story, said WesternU Health Chief Medical Officer Stephanie White, DO, FAAFP. We are each unique, powerful, vulnerable, messy, complicated, and full of both tremendous joy and tremendous pain. Healing is the art of embracing each narrative and bearing witness to times of great triumph and crushing loss. A new billboard was installed Jan. 12, 2021 on Holt and Towne avenues, less than a half-mile from WesternU Health Pomona. This billboard is accompanied by print ads telling the community We hear U, We Get U, and We partner with U. These ads appeared in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the California Senior Guide, and on iHeart Radio. WesternU Health provides high quality, empathetic, evidenced-based care while also educating future health care providers. Though WesternU has been part of the community for more than 40 years, many local residents do not know our story, White said. This campaign seeks to raise awareness of WesternUs health care team to potential patients in Pomona and the surrounding cities. I want each patient to feel welcome as they are because we practice medicine as our true selves. We show up to provide care not because we are perfect, or have the fanciest equipment or all the answers, but because we believe each patient is enough exactly as he, she or they are and deserving of our best care, White said. We are a family here. A hard working, complicated, loving family. Patients feel that love and connection. That is what makes WesternU Health special and that is why patients keep coming back. WesternU Health Pomona, at 795 E. Second St., Pomona, California, offers state-of-the-art facilities, high academic standards, access to translational research and the premier electronic health record system. The facility offers primary and specialty care, eye care, dental care, foot and ankle care, and pharmacy and travel health care. But what truly makes WesternU Health special is that the health care team cares deeply about each other. Each member of this health care team also has a story, White said. Among us are survivors, refugees, immigrants, able and disabled, straight and LGBTQ, BIPOC and white. We have suffered losses, health crises, family separation, financial struggles, abuse, bias and discrimination. Weve worked two and three jobs, weve served in the military, weve overcome learning struggles and weve buried friends from COVID like we buried our friends with AIDS. In March 2020, WesternU Healths Primary Care team entered an exclusive contract with Regal Medical Group, an affiliate of the Heritage Provider Network. This relationship specifically applies to patients with Medicare and commercial HMO insurances and does not impact Medi-Cal or PPO insured patients. In order to maintain or establish care at WesternU Health, patients must select Regal Medical Group as their Independent Physician Association (IPA). Once Regal is selected, the patient requests a primary physician within the WesternU Health team. This partnership between Regal Medical Group and WesternU Health Primary Care was based on the desire to streamline patient care, increase access for primary care patients to be seen with our specialty providers and enhance relationships between WesternU and external health care providers, White said. Previously, WesternU Health contracted with many different medical groups and each group had its own set of policies and procedures, imaging centers, labs, and formularies for medications. A large portion of each visit was spent on care coordination as each provider attempted to navigate the many unique processes. Centering one partnership reduces the complexity of patient care so providers can focus on the whole patient and not on the care logistics, White said. Regal Medical Group has been a strong partner of WesternU Health for several years and demonstrated a consistent commitment to patient satisfaction, quality, and efficiency. Regals mission to better every life we touch through the way we care aligns with WesternUs core values of patient-centered care, authenticity, and trust, White said. Since March, WesternU has deepened the communication with Regal through interdisciplinary team meetings, quality care programs and frequent communication between clinic leaders. WesternU utilizes the physician concierge program with Regal to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and arrange for faster referrals and imaging for patients. With each month our partnership strengthens with the goal of demonstrating exemplary quality while ensuring each person who chooses WesternU Health feels genuinely cared for. Visit the WesternU Health website at https://www.westernuhealth.com/ To make an appointment, call 909-706-3900. In 2015, the Irish government established the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation, after sinister revelations regarding the criminal treatment of young unmarried girls and women who became pregnant and were forced into institutions. The five-year investigation revealed the deaths of 9,000 babies between 1922 and 1998, some buried in mass, unmarked graves. Of the 57,000 babies born in the homes investigated, 15 percent died before their lives had hardly begun. The final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission Announcing the investigation in 2014, then Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny declared children born to unmarried parents were treated as "an inferior sub-species". He admitted the Dail (parliament) had records reaching back to the 1930s, and that the situation was known as far back as 1972. Kenny proposed only to probe aspects of the shameful past and avoid apportioning blame. Only 14 mother and baby institutions, which housed 56,000 mothers, run mainly by Catholic nuns, and four state run county Homes, which housed 25,000 mothers, were investigated. Groups campaigning on behalf of the women and children opposed the narrow remit, complaining that a further 182 institutions, state agencies and individuals should be investigated and calling for public hearings. From the first, the Commission intended to cover over more than it revealed, fearing further catastrophic erosion of what is left of the authority, and financial interests, of the Catholic Church. The Irish state that emerged from Ireland's brutal partition by Britain in 1921 increasingly relied on the Catholic church to systematically terrorise the entire working population on behalf of the Irish bourgeoisie. This role was recognised and sanctioned by the Irish constitution drafted under President Eamon de Valera and Fianna Fail in 1937, which overturned the previous secular approach and, while retreating from making Catholicism a state religion, assigned it an undefined "special position" alongside other religions. Catholic view of the sanctity of marriage and the family were enforced. Sexual relations outside marriage were abhorred. Contraception was illegal until 1985, and abortion only legalised in 2018. Unmarried women who became pregnant were considered sinners and punished. Their offspring were thought unworthy of burial in consecrated ground. View of the mass grave at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home, Tuam, County Galway (source: Wikimedia Commons) Although part of daily experiences, aspects of the truth hidden in the homes began to emerge in 1975, when two boys discovered child remains while playing nearby the closed Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway. The home had been run by an order of nuns, the Bon Secours Sisters, between 1925-1961. The home was a former workhouse. In 2013, local historian Catherine Corless, researching the "staggering number of children [who] lost their lives in the home, collated death certificates of 798 children. The recorded causes of death were congenital debilities, infectious diseases and malnutrition. Corless, however, could not find records of where the infants were buried. Ever since, the church, state and political establishment have been seeking to delay investigation into circumstances of the lives and death of the women and children forced through the homes. In 2017, the fifth interim report of the Commission confirmed a mass burial site in the grounds of the Tuam home, containing remains of 786 childrenfrom premature babies to three-year-old toddlers. The skeletons lay in a converted septic tank. One child died there every two weeks between the 1920s and 1960s. After the final report was published, Bon Secours Sisters belatedly issued an apology, admitting their behaviour did not live up to our Christianity. Bon Secours Health System CLG is currently the largest independent hospital provider in Ireland and one of the largest in the United States. Some 50 hospitals and "1,000 sites of care" are also operating in Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia. Another home investigated was Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork, where 900 children died. The commission report concludes that it is highly likely that hundreds of burials took place in the 200-acre estate surrounding the home. Bessborough was run until 1998 by the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. The Commission found that of 923 infants who died at the site, proper burial records exist for only 64. The building is currently slated for development into flats. The highest mortality rate was at Sean Ross Abbey (1931 to 1969), in County Tipperary, where 1,090 infants out of 6,079 died. The report cites evidence from a local carpenter asked to provide coffins for children born to daughters of "respectable" fathers. Others were buried in quick lime. The Commissions 2,865 page-long final reportbelatedly published January 12writes, The very high rate of infant mortality is probably the most disquieting feature of these institutions. The death rate among illegitimate children was always considerably higher than that among legitimate children but it was higher still in mother and baby homes: in the years 1945-46, the death rate among infants in mother and baby homes was almost twice that of the national average for illegitimate children. Infants at the homes were also the subject of illegal medical experiments. These were carried out either by the Wellcome Foundation or Glaxo Laboratories, who subsequently merged to form British owned pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Experiments included multiple trials of diphtheria, measles and various combined vaccines between 1930 and 1973. The commission found that trials carried out at seven institutions were unlicensed, unregulated and "illegal and unethical even by the standards of the time". The trials would have been found in breach of the Nuremburg Code on medical experimentation established after exposure of Nazi medical experiments in the aftermath of World War Two. Point one of the code states, "The voluntary consent of the human subject is absolutely essential." The report claims "no evidence of injury" resulted from the experiments, but survivors dispute this on the basis of there having been no follow up contact from the experimenters. The last available figures for GSK reported 9 billion profit on 33.8 billion turnover, the company operates in 95 countries. The report also documents adoption from the homes, the scale of which has been slowly emerging over the years. Sean Ross Abbey, for example, exported 134 babies for adoption as late as 1969. Only 25 children went back to their mothers. 1,638 children were placed for international adoption, of whom 1,427 went to the United States. Others went to Britain, Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia and other countries. The report found the church organised the US adoptions, even though "it had no formal legal or regulatory role in either foreign or domestic adoptions." The report found that concerns about adoptions were raised in individual circumstances as early as 1952. Numbers of women who spoke to the commission reported being forced to hand over their children for adoption. One said her son had been taken without her knowledge or consent". She remains "in a lifelong battle to discover how this came about and who was responsible. Others say they were illiterate when they supposedly signed adoption papers. The report noted mothers explaining that their most searing memory of their time in a mother and baby home was that of the screams of women looking through a window, through which she could see her child being driven away to a destination unknown; for many, there had not been a chance to say goodbye. The Commission reports witness statements of the survivors, which are harrowing as well as telling. They begin on page 2,405. As soon as an unmarried pregnancy was noticed a priest was informed, and the girl whisked away to one of the mother and baby homes. Here she endured hard physical labour, including scrubbing floors, poor food and sometimes physical abuse. Some worked in the Magdalene Laundries run first by the Protestant but later mainly the Catholic Church. These were commercial enterprises and the fallen women were unpaid. Some spent the rest of their lives there. The inhumane conditions of these workhouses, which operated until the 1980s, were graphically depicted in the 2002 film, the Magdalene Sisters . Unidentified Magdalen Laundry in Ireland, c. early 20th century. (source-Wikimedia Commons) Scanned by Eloquence* from Finnegan, F.: Do Penance or Perish. A Study of Magdalen Asylums in Ireland. Congrave Press, Ireland, Piltown, Co. Kilkenny (2001). In the homes, no contact with families or the outside world was permitted. Even when fathers turned up to marry the girls, they were turned away. Witnesses reported emotional abuse, denigration and derogatory remarks. In the Tuam home, 12 mothers died due to complications during delivery with nuns acting as midwives. The witnesses speak of childbirth without a doctor or pain relief, even during episiotomies (incisions in the perineum to widen the birth canal). The nuns said this was punishment for their sins. After childbirth, bonding between mother and child was discouraged. The new mother was instructed to feed, change, put down. Adoption was pursued relentlessly from the 1960s, with pressure placed on the mother to accept. It was not until 1973 that an unmarried mothers allowance was introduced, enabling mothers to bring up their babies in the community. Survivors tell of childhood without love or toys. Those not adopted were sent to the Industrial Schools as slave labour or worked on farms. Later, walls of silence impeded children finding parents or vice versa, as portrayed in the 2013 heart-wrenching film Philomena , starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Despite all the evidence of what was effectively church and state organised murder by neglect, kidnapping and vast psychological and physical abuse the report concludes that the main fault lay with... men. Responsibility for that harsh treatment rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families." This was merely "supported by, contributed to, and condoned by, the institutions of the State and the Churches" Issuing a formal but empty apology, current Taoiseach, Micheal Martin conceded, "The Irish State, as the main funding authority for the majority of these institutions, had the ultimate ability to exert control over these institutions, in addition to its duty of care to protect citizens with a robust regulatory and inspection regime. This authority was not exerted and the States duty of care was not upheld." In terms of further response, Martin restricted himself to accepting the report's paltry recommendations, which amounted to proposals for better access to such records as remain available and some limited financial redress, a process which will drag on for years and will only apply to women resident in the homes before 1973. The report noted that a scheme set up for victims of the Magdalene Laundries had, by September 2020 distributed just 31.95 million to 803 applicants. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Clinton firefighter was honored by the Worcester District Attorneys office on Tuesday for his quick response, which saved his neighbors life in November. Capt. Jason Burton was presented the District Attorneys Team Excellence and Merit - or TEAM - Award for providing life-saving CPR to his neighbor. DA Early Honors Clinton Firefighter for Saving a Life https://t.co/YvHIAZzg0a Joseph D. Early Jr. (@worcesterda) January 26, 2021 On Nov. 9, while off-duty, Burton heard knocking at his door after his neighbors husband stopped breathing. Burton then performed CPR on the man before an ambulance arrived, the DA said. Because of Burtons action, the DA said, the man fully recovered and returned home for the holidays. No matter the time of day, on or off-duty, the captains willingness to put others first truly speaks to his character, Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said. He saw a community member in need and did everything within his power to help. Early created the TEAM Award in 2019 to recognize public safety employees who go above and beyond the call of duty. Nominations for the award can be provided to the the Worcester District Attorneys office by calling 508-755-8601. Related Content: (Alliance News) - 88 Energy Ltd on Wednesday confirmed it has received notice from the Alaska Bureau of Land Management it is planning to sign a permit allowing the company to drill Merlin-1 well in the NPR-A region of the North Slope of Alaska. Shares in the oil producer were 25% higher in London on Wednesday morning at 0.52 pence each, hitting an intraday peak of 0.59p. Over the past 12 months, however, the stock is down 59%. 88 Energy shares had plunged on Friday last week as it noted a recently announced 60-day suspension of authority for US government offices to issue new drilling permits on Federal land. US President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on US lands, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Donald Trump's policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. The Associated Press said two sources outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced on Wednesday. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for US lands and waters announced last week and follows the new president's campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federal lands and end the leasing of publicly owned energy reserves as part of his plan to address climate change. Managing Director Dave Wall said Wednesday: "We are fortunate to have strong local support in Alaska and, as a result, will soon be back on track for the drilling of Merlin-1, commencing in late February, early March 2021." The Alaska BLM is currently reviewing the permit to drill, submitted on January 12, and has indicated that it is now "very close" to being complete with "only minor outstanding items". 88 expects the review to be complete by January 28. Field operations will now recommence in the next few days after a six-day delay, 88 noted. By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. The January 11 trilateral meeting, in Moscow, of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev focused on the unblocking and development of regional transport corridors in accordance with the Russia-brokered November 9/10 truce accord that ended the 44-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan (see EDM January 12, 2021; Kremlin.ru, January 11, 2021). As The Jamestown Foundation writes, in particular, a land route connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave (wedged between Armenia, Iran and Turkey) is central to the activation of the various underdeveloped or long-abandoned regional transport links. The route in question passes through the Meghri district of the Republic of Armenia and is regularly referred to as the Megri or Nakhchivan corridor. During the Soviet era, the route saw significant regional and international railway and motorway transportation to and from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as Iran and Turkey. However, the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict at the turn of the 1990s made those transportation lines largely unusable for three decades (see EDM December 3, 2020). The reactivation of the Nakhchivan corridor, thus, promises to shake up the transit map of the entire region (Kremlin.ru, November 10, 2020): Armenia will obtain a railway link with Russia via Azerbaijan, which in turn will be linked to Turkey via Armenia, and therefore, Russia and Turkey will eventually be joined by rail. But the Nakhchivan corridor will negatively affect Georgia and Iran, which have for years benefited as important regional transit countries. The rehabilitation of the route will benefit Russia commercially, militarily and geopolitically. Namely, the state-owned Russian Railways company, which fully took over Armenian railways in 2008 for 30 years, now stands to further gain from that earlier investment. Under the trilateral accord, Russian border troops will control the Nakhchivan corridor. Therefore, Moscow will be motivated to entice freight forwarders to use the Nakhchivan route instead of the recently-launched Azerbaijani-Georgian-Turkish BakuTbilisiKars (BTK) railway (Report.az, May 6, 2019). Armenian-Russian transit via Georgia will also be rerouted via the Nakhchivan corridor. Moreover, the resumption of the shorter Armenian-Azerbaijani transit air corridor to replace the Georgian route is another a possibility. All these developments undermine or reverse the advantages Georgia has enjoyed as the regions accidental beneficiary of the Karabakh conflict (Ekho Kavkaza, November 10, 2020). Georgian expert Emil Avdaliani voices cautious optimism that the BTK and Nakhchivan corridor could be more complementary in nature than in opposition to each other (Daily Sabah, December 9, 2020). However, the reality looks different. In 2019, Georgia objected to Russias intentions to influence the BTK railway in two ways. First, Moscow concluded an agreement with Baku and Ankara to transport freight to Turkey using the BTK. Second, it offered to build a connecting station within the Turkish segment of the BTK to replace the active one in Georgia (see EDM, May 16, 2019; Apsny.ge, May 10, 2019). Additionally, Moscow pushed for establishing a railway line to Armenia via Georgia and the latters breakaway (Russia-backed) region of Abkhazia. That project later became deadlocked (Jam-news.net, January 14, 2021; Civil.ge, February 27, 2017). But it has now been made entirely irrelevant by the Nakhchivan corridor, signifying Georgias diminished transit value and related geopolitical significance. As such, Russian leverage over Georgia has grown. While Russia still subscribes to what George Kennan once described as the logic of force, the Kremlin now tends to first try softer instruments of pressureone of the lessons it has drawn from the 2008 crisis with Georgia. It will take many years to effectively put into operation the Nakhchivan corridor. So meanwhile, Moscow will seek to use the shifting geopolitical situation to entice Georgia into economic and transit terms that are more beneficial to Russia instead of resorting to blatant coercion. That said, Moscow may still be interested in developing the north-south RussiaGeorgiaArmenia railway out of geopolitical (rather than economic) considerations, concurrently with the RussiaAzerbaijanArmenia line. In turn, Georgia will likely try to use the interim to seek ways to address potential losses from the regional transit corridor reshuffle and reposition itself in the new situation. Indeed, some Georgian and Western experts and officials have already called on Tbilisi to reinstate a friendlier inv stment climate, especially in response to the governments controversial cancelations of contracts involving the Anaklia deep-water port and Digital Silk Road projects (Parliament.uk, September 4, 2020; Jam-news.net, September 11, 2020; Caspiannews.com, September 18, 2020; Bm.ge, August 17, 2020; Interpressnews.ge, July 17, 2020; Fas.org, October 13, 2020; State.gov, June 11, 2019; State.gov, accessed January 25, 2021). Likewise, Iran also stands to lose from the Nakhchivan corridor in certain respects. Initially, Tehran hoped that the new transit route would be limited. In mid-November, Javad Hedayeti, an official with the Iranian Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, downplayed the importance of the corridor saying that it will likely accommodate just local traffic between Azerbaijan [Republic] and Nakhchivan. He also expected Armenia to block Turkeys access to the corridor. In turn, Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Iranian Association of Geopolitics, insisted on Irans unmatched geopolitical position in the world that can connect China, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and West Asia to the Mediterranean and Europe (Farsnews.ir, November 18, 2020). Nonetheless, this months trilateral Moscow meeting shattered Tehrans presumptions: the summit concluded with the creation of a task force, co-chaired by deputy prime ministers, that is tasked with quickly developing their transnational transportation infrastructure. Irans geographic location is, indeed, strategic. But the Karabakh conflict and related inactivity of the Nakhchivan corridor had long bolstered the Iranian route. Now, both Turkey and Azerbaijan aim to shrink their dependence on transit across the Islamic Republic. Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that Moscow would proceed with the development of direct Armenian-Azerbaijani transport links despite Iranian concerns about its diminishing role as a regional transit state (Mid.ru, December 12, 2020). And even prior to discussions of reopening the Nakhchivan route, Moscowfor multiple reasons and despite prior pledges to Yerevanwas unsupportive of the construction of an Armenian-Iranian railway line (the South Armenian railway project), which would have been a link in a longer corridor connecting the Gulf to the Black Sea as part of the North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC). As a result, the NSTC was rerouted via Azerbaijan (see EDM, January 30, 2017 and November 9, 2017; Avim.org.t, May 24, 2018). When the Nakhchivan corridor comes online, Irans and Georgias regional importance and benefits will shrink (see EDM, July 8, 2019, January 28, 2020, June 24, 2020). Consequently, Ankara, Baku and Moscow have sought to appease Tehran and Tbilisi by inviting them to a six-party cooperation platform initiated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Gfsis.org, January 12, 2021). That offer, however, seems unlikely to make up for those losses. The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) has selected 13 additional academic institutions to participate in the next five-year phase of its collaborative research program. These universities join MIT, Stanford and the University of Michigan which have worked with TRI over the last five years to expand the body of research into artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of amplifying the human experience. The next five-year phase includes investing more than $75 million in the academic institutions, making it one of the largest collaborative research programs by an automotive company in the world. Our first five-year program pushed the boundaries of exploratory research across multiple fields, generating 69 patent applications and nearly 650 papers. Our next five years are about pushing even further and doing so with a broader, more diverse set of stakeholders. To get to the best ideas, collaboration is critical. Our aim is to build a pipeline of new ideas from different perspectives and underrepresented voices that share our vision of using AI for human amplification and societal good. Eric Krotkov, TRI Chief Science Officer, who leads the university research program The following universities completed a comprehensive proposal submission and review process and will participate in the next phase of TRIs collaborative research program: Carnegie Mellon University Columbia University Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) Indiana University Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Princeton University Smith College Stanford University Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC) University of California, Berkeley University of Illinois University of Michigan University of Minnesota University of Pennsylvania University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Through this program, TRI will lead 35 joint research projects focused on achieving breakthroughs around difficult technological challenges in TRIs research areas: Automated Driving, Robotics and Machine Assisted Cognition (MAC). The primary objectives of the joint research projects are to: Contribute significant new knowledge and understanding to the artificial intelligence field. Demonstrate the potential to radically advance state of the art concepts into possible use cases. Promote the transfer of knowledge through the meaningful exchange of scientific and technical information between TRI researchers and academic partners. Create and share infrastructure, including data and software, to further research, promote reproducibility and support education. The first phase of the program, conducted over the last five years, sponsored 98 projects involving about 100 faculty members and more than 200 students. These projects yielded important technology advances for ongoing TRI projects, including transfer learning in computer vision, self-supervised learning on contact-rich tasks, and techniques for mimicking human behavior in various driving interactions. The projects generated several awards for published papers at leading conferences including the CVPR 2018 Best Paper, an ICRA 2019 Finalist Best Paper, the ICRA 2019 Best Paper, and the 2020 IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper Award. Additionally, the close collaborations resulted in the recruitment of several new TRI team members. This next five-year phase focuses investments in projects TRI researchers have a keen academic interest in exploring to create more value and impact for TRI. Each project features a TRI researcher as a co-investigator who will work with the university partner. This approach directly engages TRI researchers with the academic AI partners and ensures that the research contributes to the TRI mission. TRI is also offering Young Faculty Researcher (YFR) projects to form partnerships with more junior (typically pre-tenure) faculty members. Whereas joint projects have TRI pursuing a specific direction and reaching technical milestones along the way, the YFR projects are specifically designed to support promising tenure stream faculty members, enabling them to explore broadly, inquire deeply, and address higher-risk, higher-payoff ideas. In YFR projects, TRI invests in the researcher and provides them with the freedom and flexibility to pivot from one direction to another. Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday (January 27) accused the Karnataka government of deliberately changing the name of the disputed Belagavi district to `Belgaum` while the matter is in court, and threatened to make it a part of Maharashtra. "Despite the matter being in court, the Karnataka government deliberately changed the name of the disputed region to Belgaum. They made Belgaum the second capital where they also held an assembly session. Here, we think about the law but Karnataka does not. We will bring that part in Maharashtra for sure if we all come together," said Thackeray today, after a meeting with the High Power Committee constituted for the border dispute with Karnataka. He further said that looking at the atrocities of Marathi-speaking people in disputed border areas, his government will request the Supreme Court to declare the disputed part as a union territory, as long as the matter is in court. "This matter is in the Supreme Court and this is our last option. When we have one option left then we have to prepare for it very well, and we have to win it. If this is not done now, then I don`t think it will happen anytime," said Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, while speaking on the matter after today`s meeting. This comes in the backdrop of Karnataka and Maharashtra have been at loggerheads for decades over areas along their border in districts like Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani. The issue of the disputed border area has been pending in the Supreme Court for several years. Belagavi, Karwar and Nipani are a part of Karnataka and have Marathi-speaking people. Right from the beginning, Maharashtra has asserted its claim over these districts while the Karnataka government has opposed the assertion. Live TV Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Experts and the federal government are helping people understand the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19. Read the FDA fact sheet on the Moderna vaccine How safe are the vaccines? This is an incredibly safe vaccine, said Dr. Joseph McCormick, a professor of epidemiology at UTHealth School of Public Health in Brownsville. Youre going to hear about a few (allergic) reactions but otherwise, its very safe. He said the vaccine is so safe the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that pregnant or breastfeeding women may get it. Normally, it might take a little longer for vaccines to be approved for use on those women, McCormick said. He added that the risk of potential side effects from the vaccine is low. If youre going to say I wont take the vaccine because theres maybe a one in a million chance that I might die from it, that doesnt make any sense, he said. Thats like walking across the expressway at night wearing dark clothes, and your biggest worry is getting hit by lightning. Its just nonsensical. The FDA says, regarding the Moderna vaccine: The most commonly reported side effects, which typically lasted several days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, nausea and vomiting, and fever. Of note, more people experienced these side effects after the second dose than after the first dose, so it is important for vaccination providers and recipients to expect that there may be some side effects after either dose, but even more so after the second dose. How do the vaccines work? Is it different from past vaccines? The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were made with something called mRNA, or messenger RNA, technology. Scientifically, its a groundbreaking accomplishment, said Dr. Vivian Johnson, senior vice president of clinical support services at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Texas. Traditional vaccines use actual, though significantly or completely weakened, viruses to trigger an immune response, she said. That response is the result of the body learning to fight the virus. But with mRNA vaccines, the vaccine instead teaches the body how to create a protein. That protein then sets off the immune response that helps the body generate antibodies and immune cells. Those antibodies and immune cells are the defense mechanism the body uses to attack the virus. Many people have that fear ... Are (you) going to catch the disease itself from the vaccine? said Dr. Ashish Acharya, an infectious disease specialist at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center-Grapevine in Texas. Thats not even a possibility with this. The FDA says you should tell your vaccination provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: have any allergies have a fever have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner are immunocompromised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system are pregnant or plan to become pregnant are breastfeeding have received another COVID-19 vaccine Moderna Inc. says it plans to begin human studies of a booster shot for its COVID-19 vaccine to help it protect against a more-transmissible South Africa virus variant, after a lab test showed the shot may be less potent against that strain. In lab tests conducted with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Moderna says its vaccine produced six-fold lower levels of neutralizing antibodies against the South Africa variant called B.1.351 than it did against the original COVID-19 strain. Even with the lower antibody levels, its existing vaccine should still protect against people who are exposed to the South Africa strain, Moderna said in a statement. At the reduced levels, the shot produces neutralizing antibody levels that remain above levels that protect monkeys. But the study results could indicate that immunity will wane faster, the company said in a statement. Meanwhile, Moderna said there was no reduction in antibodies against the rapidly spreading U.K. variant called B.1.1.7. That variant is widespread in the U.K. and is expected the become the dominant strain. Read the FDA fact sheet for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine --Tribune News Service, Bloomberg News Credit: Public Domain For the first time, scientists have identified the individual neurons critical to human social reasoning, a cognitive process that requires us to acknowledge and predict others' hidden beliefs and thoughts. A team of neuroscientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a rare look at how individual neurons represent the beliefs of others by recording neuron activity in patients undergoing neurosurgery to alleviate symptoms of motor disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Their findings are published in Nature. The researchers were studying a very complex social cognitive process called "theory of mind." "When we interact, we must be able to form predictions about another person's unstated intentions and thoughts," says MGH neurosurgeon and the paper's senior author Ziv Williams, MD. "This ability requires us to paint a mental picture of someone's beliefs, which involves acknowledging that those beliefs may be different from our own and assessing whether they are true or false." A simple example of theory of mind: A friend appears to be sad on her birthday. I may infer she is sad because she didn't get a present or she is upset at growing older. This social reasoning process develops during early childhood and is fundamental to successful social behavior. Individuals with autism, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and traumatic brain injuries are believed to have a deficit of theory-of-mind ability. Previous research on the cognitive processes that underlie theory of mind has involved functional MRI studies, where scientists watch which parts of the brain are active as volunteers perform cognitive tasks. But the imaging studies capture the activity of many thousands of neurons. In contrast, Williams and his colleagues recorded the computations of individual neuronsa standard preparatory step for neurosurgery, but put to a new purpose: to provide a detailed picture of how neurons encode social information. "Individual neurons, even within a small area of the brain, are doing very different things, not all of which are involved in social reasoning," says Williams. "Without delving into the computations of single cells, it's very hard to build an understanding of the complex cognitive processes underlying human social behavior and how they go awry in mental disorders." For the study, 15 patients agreed to perform brief behavioral tasks before undergoing neurosurgery for placement of deep brain stimulation for motor disorders. Micro-electrodes inserted in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex recorded the behavior of individual neurons as patients listened to short narratives and answered questions about them. For example, participants were presented with this scenario to evaluate how they considered another's beliefs of reality: "You and Tom see a jar on the table. After Tom leaves, you move the jar to a cabinet. Where does Tom believe the jar to be?" The participants had to make inferences about another's beliefs after hearing each story. The experiment did not change the planned surgical approach or alter clinical care. "Our study provides evidence to support theory of mind by individual neurons," says neuroscientist and the paper's first author Mohsen Jamali, MD, Ph.D. "Until now, it wasn't clear whether or how neurons were able to perform these social cognitive computations." The investigators found that some neurons are specialized and will only respond when assessing another's belief to be false, for example. Other neurons encode information to distinguish your beliefs from another's. Still other neurons create a representation of a specific item, such as a cup or food item, mentioned in the story. Some neurons may multitask and aren't dedicated solely to social reasoning. "Each neuron is encoding different bits of information," says Jamali. "By combining the computations of all the neurons, you get a very detailed representation of the contents of another's beliefs and an accurate prediction of whether they are true or false." Now that scientists understand the basic cellular mechanism that underlies human theory of mind, they have an operational framework by which to begin investigating disorders in which social behavior is affected, adds Williams. "Understanding social reasoning is also important to many different fields, such as child development, economics and sociology, and could help in the development of more effective treatments for conditions such as autism spectrum disorder," he says. Explore further Imagining a face reactivates face-detecting neurons in humans More information: Single-neuronal predictions of others' beliefs in humans, Nature (2021). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03184-0 Journal information: Nature Single-neuronal predictions of others' beliefs in humans,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03184-0 Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Insurance defense firm, Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan , is excited to welcome John McWilliams to their team. His extensive experience handling insurance defense matters will play a crucial role in achieving successful resolutions for the firm's clients. On top of his insurance defense acumen, McWilliams is a well-seasoned brief writer. He has even assisted with appeals at the state Supreme Court level. His writing abilities will bolster an already deep talent pool at Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan. "Not only is John a phenomenal attorney, but he's also a wonderful person to be around," says Patrick Sodoro, Managing Partner of SML. "I know he'll fit right in with our culture and contribute to the success of our clients. He has known many of our attorneys for years and his great reputation in the community precedes him." McWilliams attended college at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where he also earned a post graduate degree. He is a proud alumnus of the Creighton University School of Law. "I'm looking forward to working alongside so many outstanding attorneys at Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan," says McWilliams. "I've long admired the work they do and I hope to contribute to their strong track record in insurance defense." Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan is a full-service law firm answering to the legal needs of Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. For more information, or to contact the team at Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan, go to smllawoffice.com or contact Kelsey Gazda at [email protected] or (402) 504-9346. SOURCE Sodoro + Mooney + Lenaghan Related Links http://www.smllawoffice.com Sen. John Cornyn is defending his fellow Texan senator Ted Cruz against an ethics investigation of Cruz that Democratic senators requested. Seven Democratic senators asked the chamber's ethics panel to determine whether Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley failed to put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department when they objected to certifying Arizona's electoral votes for President Joe Biden, the Houston Chronicle's Benjamin Wermund reports. TEXAS IN POLITICS: Sen. Ted Cruz reintroduces amendment imposing term limits on congressional members Cruz and Hawley's objections have been accused of encouraging a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer. Cornyn called the ethics complaint the politics of personal destruction in an interview with Fox News, the Dallas Morning News' Elizabeth Thompson reports. I dont think Senator Hawley or Senator Cruz should be penalized in any way for making an argument," Cornyn said. "Maybe it didnt carry the day, but I think they have every right to make the argument." Cruz and Hawley voted to object to certifying Arizona and Pennsylvania's election results on Jan. 6, hours after a mob breached the Capitol and delayed the certification process. Both senators have faced widespread calls to resign. The complaint filed against Cruz and Hawley alleges that their objections gave credibility to Trump's baseless claims of election fraud. By proceeding with their objections to the electors after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley lent legitimacy to the mobs cause and made future violence more likely, the senators wrote in the ethics complaint filed Thursday. The Senate has the exclusive power to determine whether these actions violated its ethics rules, to investigate further conduct of which we may not be aware that may have violated these rules, and to consider appropriate discipline. Cornyn said on Fox News that Democrats had previously objected to election results. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., objected to Ohio's Electoral College vote for former President George W. Bush in 2005, prompting an easily defeated vote in Congress. In 2017, then-Vice President Biden dismissed half a dozen House Democrats who raised objections to Trump's election without a senator's support, telling one, It is over, and earning cheers from Republicans. There were others that had previously done it, Cornyn said. Its within their right to make those objections. But its also their responsibility to accept the outcome once its been decided, and thats what we should all do, and move on. Cornyn also said in an interview with Austin's NBC affiliate KXAN that he would not call on Cruz to resign and does not believe Cruz holds any responsibility for the Capitol riot. Cruz has said he will not resign. No, I dont, Cornyn said when asked if he thinks Cruz bears any responsibility for the attack, KXAN's Josh Engel reports. Free speech gives people the right to be wrong. It gives them a right to express their strongly held views. COMPANIES backed by IDA Ireland have announced that they will create 620 jobs so far this year. The latest jobs were announced by Alter Domus, which provides solutions for the alternative investment industry. The company is creating 100 new jobs at its Centre of Excellence in Cork. Other IDA Ireland-supported businesses to announce new jobs in Ireland this month include Personio, which is creating 140 roles in Dublin, Genesys, which is increasing its headcount by 100 in Galway, Indigo Telecom with 100 roles in Limerick and Logitech, which has created 50 jobs in Cork. Alter Domus operates a European hub for global private debt, private equity, real estate and infrastructure investors and managers supporting over 1trn in assets under administration globally from its Cork office. The company, which also has a presence in Dublin, increased its headcount here to 180 from 100 people in 2020. James McEvoy, country executive Ireland at Alter Domus, said: This industry holds over $10trn (8.2trn) in assets, a growing proportion of which is invested in Europe. Ireland is going to be an increasingly important access point to these markets. Our priority is to support our clients where they need us and our focus now is to enhance our service offering to bring our specialist full-service solutions to market in support of that growth. Alter Domus said it will also continue to invest in its partnerships with third level institutions locally. This will include the enhancement of both graduate and internship programmes. Annual intake for each of these programmes is expected to double this year, the company said. Martin Shanahan CEO of IDA Ireland, said: [The] announcement to create 100 roles at its European Centre of Excellence in Cork, endorses Alter Domus confidence in the availability of a high skilled and talented workforce in the South West and demonstrates IDA Irelands continued commitment to winning investment for regional locations. Globally, Alter Domus recruited over 700 people in 2020. It is also continuing to grow by acquisitions. In December, the company acquired Boston-based fund administrator, IPS Fund Services and London-based fintech, Credit-Vision. In January the company purchased Utah-based Strata Fund Solutions. The company said it is targeting significant further organic and acquisition growth in 2021. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Baguio City Mayor and contact tracing czar Benjamin Magalong trended on Twitter after a photo showing he attended Tim Yaps birthday party in the city despite strict mass gathering rules circulated online. Magalong confirmed his attendance in a radio interview on Wednesday. The contact tracing czar said he and his wife were invited to the party and they accepted the invitation to express their gratitude to Yap, an eventologist and club owner, and his companions for promoting Baguio as a safe tourist spot amid the pandemic and buying art pieces made by their local artists before the controversial celebration was held. Pumunta po kami ng wife ko (My wife and I went to the party) to thank them, Magalong admitted. Videos and photos that went viral on social media showed Yap and other personalities were not wearing face masks and face shields during the celebration on Jan. 17. Under a Baguio City ordinance, individuals who were caught not wearing face masks in public will have to pay a fine of up to 3,000. The city government has ordered the local hotel, where the party was held, to explain why it should not be sanctioned over the breach in protocols. Netizens questioned this move, with one Twitter user calling it a joke. @MiaMagdalena posted Wednesday: What a joke! Mayor Magalong gives the hotel 72 hours to explain the party! He can do it himself. He was there! Replying to the tweet of @MiaMagdalena, @BicolanoP asked: Where is the consistency? Magalong admitted he saw some violations to the safety protocols but pointed out that most of Yaps guests were compliant. Meron pa rin (There was still a breach), the mayor said. Even my wife violated it kasi nagtanggal siya (since she took off her face mask and face shield) because of picture taking, he added, referring to the one where he and his wife were seen posing for a photo with celebrity KC Concepcion during the party. Magalong was the only one wearing a face mask and face shield in the image that circulated online. Magalong also said he has talked with Yap and assured him not to worry about the probe, noting they were considering the things the host and his friends have done for Baguio tourism. Yap has apologized for the safety protocols they violated during his party. READ: Tim Yap apologizes for health protocol breaches in viral birthday party videos Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez, Jr. later reminded local chief executives to continue restricting social gatherings especially amid the threat of new COVID-19 variants in the country. "Dapat 'yung mga mayor natin, dapat very decisive tayo [Our mayors must be very decisive]," he told reporters. "Kailangan let's go back to our precaution on really thinking na talagang irestrict natin 'yung mga social gatherings [We really need to go back to our precaution of restricting social gatherings]." After the Norwegian government canceled an international military exercise this week, the U.S. Marine Corps is determining what to do with the 1,000 Marines who arrived there earlier this month to train. Norwegian Defence Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen canceled the exercise on Tuesday, citing spikes in coronavirus cases in the country. "We must be one step ahead to try to avoid the spread of the mutated, and more contagious variant of the virus," Bakke-Jensen said. "We have weighed the arguments and our decision has been to cancel the planned allied exercise activity in Troms." Read Next: The Marines Could Be the Next Military Service to Get New Grooming Rules About 3,400 troops from Norway, the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands and Germany were scheduled to participate in the cold-weather training exercises, called Rein I and Joint Viking. All but about 500 of them had already arrived in Troms to train. Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa spokesman, said there will now be a controlled termination of the exercise in line with COVID-19 restrictions. "We are working closely with our Norwegian military counterparts to determine the next steps with our Marines who are currently deployed to Norway," Rankine-Galloway said. About 1,000 Marines arrived in Setermoen, Norway, earlier this month. Troms is about 100 miles north of Setermoen, near the Barents Sea. The waterway is considered Russia's naval backyard. Bakke-Jensen said as of Tuesday, there would be a halt in the arrival of new allied forces to Indre Troms. For those forces already in place, there will be a "well-planned departure." More than 61,000 Norwegians have been infected with COVID-19, the sometimes-fatal illness caused by the new coronavirus. More than 500 people have died of the virus there. The country has seen 14,637 new cases over the last month, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. That's close to the record-high 15,819 cases Norway recorded in November -- the highest level there since the start of the global pandemic. More than 2.1 million people have died from the virus worldwide. Medical experts are also warning about a new strain of the virus that is more contagious and possibly more deadly. Last year's iteration of Cold Response, another major NATO exercise, was also significantly scaled back due to the pandemic. Training in and around the Arctic Circle has been a priority for NATO forces to counter Russia in the region. Bakke-Jensen said some winter training could be tailored "in adherence with proper infection prevention measures until the various departure dates." "I want to thank all our allies who have shown great flexibility and understanding in a challenging situation," the defense minister said. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Related: Sailors Had Their Noses Painted by a Trident-Wielding King with Blue Hair. Here's Why Advertisement Their faces etched with fear, Jewish children and mothers carrying toddlers walk unknowingly to their horrendous fate. These innocent victims were among around 1.1million people murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz-Birkenau, near the town of Oswiecim, in what was then occupied Poland. The victims at Auschwitz were among 6million Jews who were murdered by Adolf Hitler's forces between 1941 and 1945. Their lives are commemorated today on Holocaust Memorial Day. The rare photos taken at Auschwitz by Hitler's SS guards show not only the arrival of Hungarian Jews at the camp - on rail tracks built specifically in 1944 for the extermination operation - but the long queues as they waited to walk to gas chambers. In less than three months in the summer of 1944, nearly 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in a ruthless production line system of horror. The images are revealed in upcoming book Hitler's Death Camps in Occupied Poland - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, written by military historian Ian Baxter and published by Pen & Sword. Speaking to MailOnline on what is also the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by Soviet forces in 1945, Mr Baxter branded Auschwitz a 'factory of death' and said the camp is a 'monument and a testimony to the tragedy of what happened.' 'It is a foundation to the future to warn others of what can happen,' he added. Their faces etched with fear, Jewish children and mothers carrying toddlers walk unknowingly to their horrendous fate. The above victims, from Hungary, were among 1.1million people murdered by the Nazis at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp between 1942 and late 1944. Of those, 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in the space of less than three months in the summer of 1944, the above women and children among them. They are pictured walking to the gas chambers The rare photos taken at Auschwitz by Hitler's SS guards show not only the arrival of Hungarian Jews at the camp - on rail tracks built specifically in 1944 for the extermination operation - but the long queues as they waited to walk to gas chambers. The above photo shows SS guards standing in front of a long queue of people who had been selected for death, rather than work. In less than three months in the summer of 1944, nearly 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in a ruthless production line system of horror. The above photo shows stationary trains which transported the Jews to the camp. In the foreground are SS guards. Behind them are piles of belongings. In the distance - to the left and right of the two trains - are the chimneys of the crematoria where the bodies of murdered victims were incinerated Jewish women and children who have been selected for death at Auschwitz-Birkenau stare at the camera as they walk towards the gas chambers in 1944. The building behind them is one of the crematoriums at the camp. The building in the background is Crematorium III. In May of that year, an average of 3,300 Hungarian Jews arrived each day Babo Batren, an elderly Jewish woman from Tecso labour camp, leans against the train which brought her to Auschwitz. She is waiting to be taken to the gas chambers On arrival in the camp, prisoners who were not immediately selected for death were taken to be processed. This involved having their heads shaved, being disinfected and showered and having to wear striped uniforms. The above photo shows female prisoners after leaving the camp sauna After their showers, the prisoners were taken to their designated barracks with a blanket for their bunk. The women had lost the last symbols of their individuality. They now all looked alike A group of Orthodox Jewish men - one of whom is wearing the makeshift star of David which Jews were forced to wear to distinguish them from other citizens - after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944. Soon after this picture was taken, the men would have been forced to give up their clothes, beards and hats A Jewish woman wearing a long coat looks over her shoulder as Jewish men await selection after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. One man is seen standing as an SS guard holds the lapel of his coat. Behind him, four other men wait to be inspected by the guard The images of are revealed in upcoming book Hitler's Death Camps in Occupied Poland - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, written by military historian Ian Baxter and published by Pen & Sword. Pictured: Four Jewish men stand side by side shortly after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau These Hungarian Jewish women and children are seen looking at the camera as their picture is taken. To the right, a mother can be seen smiling down at her children. In the centre of the image, a mother clutches her child's hand. These people had been selected for death, rather than work, after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau Jewish men from Hungary await selection on the ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau shortly after arriving in 1944. Those who were too old or too ill to work would have been directed towards the gas chambers. Auschwitz-Birkenau was originally used to house political prisoners but was later handed over to the infamous SS Jewish women and children from Hungary await selection after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau on freight trains. To the left, a little girl can be seen in bare feet as she stares nervously at the floor. At the front, a little boy wearing a cap is seen leaning on a wooden crutch SS guards are seen supervising the arrival of a transport of Hungarian Jews shortly after their arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Pictured far right is SS member Stefan Baretzki. He was conscripted into the SS and stationed at Auschwitz between 1942 and 1945. Author Mr Baxter said Baretzki 'participated in mass murder by making selections, and was unrestrained in his beating of prisoners' Two Jewish women wearing headscarves and coats walk gingerly in front of an SS guard shortly after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Behind them, an SS guard is seen standing at the head of a queue of Jewish men who are waiting to be inspected Those deemed fit to work were taken to be admitted into the camp, the rest were sent to be gassed A transport of Jews hold their belongings shortly after arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many of these Jews were deported from Berehovo, near Hungary's border with what is now Ukraine. This photograph was taken from the album belonging to SS officer Bernhardt Walter, who was head of the Auschwitz photographic laboratory known as Erkennungsdienst (identification Service). The album was made to be presented to camp commandant Rudolf Hoss Those selected to die at Auschwitz-Birkenau included almost all children, women with small children, the elderly and others who were deemed not to be fit for work after a brief inspection by an SS doctor. Pictured above: Hungarian Jews crowd together while awaiting selection shortly after arrival at the camp The above image shows Jewish women and children who have been judged not fit to work walking to be murdered in the gas chambers. Jewish women and children who have been selected for death walk in a line towards the gas chambers. Every year, millions of people now visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau site, which stands as evidence of the horrific crimes which were committed SS members stand guard as Hungarian Jews queue following their arrival at Auschwitz Birkenau. Mr Baxter said members of the SS had specifically chosen to work in concentration camps, rather than being posted to fight in the War. 'They thought they could be really harsh and nasty and cruel, knowing they could get away with it,' he said Hungarian Jews are seen getting off a freight train after a gruelling journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau in which they were packed tightly together. The women, children and old people in the above group will most likely have been condemned to death shortly after their arrival Women and children are seen above jumping from the freight trains shortly after their arrival at Auschwitz. Among them is a boy seen holding a younger child in his arms. In the foreground, a young man wearing a hat looks at a woman who is also holding a child These women and children still wearing the clothes they arrived in are seen standing shortly after being selected for death at Auschwitz-Birkenau Construction works are seen taking place near the main entrance to Birkenau, which was built next to Auschwitz. The image is believed to have been taken in the spring or summer of 1943. In May 1944, commandant Hoss supervised the laying of a railway line through the main entrance. It was built specifically to transport Hungarian Jews to the camp This photograph shows prisoners digging drainage ditches at Birkenau. Those who were selected to work had to endure horrific conditions in the freezing cold and were given very little food The images of are revealed in upcoming book Hitler's Death Camps in Occupied Poland - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives, written by military historian Ian Baxter and published by Pen & Sword The Nazis' concentration and extermination camps: The factories of death used to slaughter millions Auschwitz-Birkenau, near the town of Oswiecim, in what was then occupied Poland Auschwitz-Birkenau was a concentration and extermination camp used by the Nazis during World War Two. The camp, which was located in Nazi-occupied Poland, was made up of three main sites. Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a combined concentration and extermination camp and Auschwitz IIIMonowitz, a labour camp, with a further 45 satellite sites. Auschwitz, pictured in 1945, was liberated by Soviet troops 76 years ago on Wednesday after around 1.1million people were murdered at the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz was an extermination camp used by the Nazis in Poland to murder more than 1.1 million Jews Birkenau became a major part of the Nazis' 'Final Solution', where they sought to rid Europe of Jews. An estimated 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, of whom at least 1.1 million died around 90 percent of which were Jews. Since 1947, it has operated as Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which in 1979 was named a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Treblinka, near a village of the same name, outside Warsaw in Nazi-occupied Poland Unlike at other camps, where some Jews were assigned to forced labor before being killed, nearly all Jews brought to Treblinka were immediately gassed to death. Only a select few - mostly young, strong men, were spared from immediate death and assigned to maintenance work instead. Unlike at other camps, where some Jews were assigned to forced labor before being killed, nearly all Jews brought to Treblinka were immediately gassed to death The death toll at Treblinka was second only to Auschwitz. In just 15 months of operation - between July 1942 and October 1943 - between 700,000 and 900,000 Jews were murdered in its gas chambers. Exterminations stopped at the camp after an uprising which saw around 200 prisoners escape. Around half of them were killed shortly afterwards, but 70 are known to have survived until the end of the war Belzec, near the station of the same name in Nazi-occupied Poland Belzec operated from March 1942 until the end of June 1943. It was built specifically as an extermination camp as part of Operation Reinhard. Polish, German, Ukrainian and Austrian Jews were all killed there. In total, around 600,000 people were murdered. The camp was dismantled in 1943 and the site was disguised as a fake farm. Belzec operated from March 1942 until the end of June 1943. It was built specifically as an extermination camp as part of Operation Reinhard Sobibor, near the village of the same name in Nazi-occupied Poland Sobibor was named after its closest train station, at which Jews disembarked from extremely crowded carriages, unsure of their fate. Jews from Poland, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union were killed in three gas chambers fed by the deadly fumes of a large petrol engine taken from a tank. An estimated 200,000 people were killed in the camp. Some estimations put the figure at 250,000. This would place Sobibor as the fourth worst extermination camp - in terms of number of deaths - after Belzec, Treblinka and Auschwitz. Sobibor was named after its closest train station, at which Jews disembarked from extremely crowded carriages, unsure of their fate The camp was located about 50 miles from the provincial Polish capital of Brest-on-the-Bug. Its official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. Prisoners launched a heroic escape on October 14 1943 in which 600 men, women and children succeeded in crossing the camp's perimeter fence. Of those, only 50 managed to evade capture. It is unclear how many crossed into allied territory. Chelmno (also known as Kulmhof), in Nazi-occupied Poland Chelmno was the first of Nazi Germany's camps built specifically for extermination. It operated from December 1941 until April 1943 and then again from June 1944 until January 1945. Between 152,000 and 200,000 people, nearly all of whom were Jews, were killed there. Chelmno was the first of Nazi Germany's camps built specifically for extermination. It operated from December 1941 until April 1943 and then again from June 1944 until January 1945 Majdanek (also known simply as Lublin), built on outskirts of city of Lublin in Nazi-occupied Poland Majdanek was initially intended for forced labour but was converted into an extermination camp in 1942. It had seven gas chambers as well as wooden gallows where some victims were hanged. In total, it is believed that as many as 130,000 people were killed there. Majdanek (pictured in 2005) was initially intended for forced labour but was converted into an extermination camp in 1942 Advertisement The saddest of anniversaries: 76 years after Auschwitz was liberated, thousands around the world mark the day in private as Covid-19 prevents the usual large ceremonies By Tim Stickings for MailOnline The world is marking Holocaust Memorial Day in the midst of the pandemic today as memorial events take place online and vulnerable survivors shield from the coronavirus on the 76th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation. The Auschwitz museum is holding a virtual event emphasising the fate of the 200,000 children who were murdered at the Nazi death camp, where only 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. The survivors who were young then are now among the most vulnerable to a disease that preys on the elderly, especially because many of them suffer medical problems caused by their inhuman treatment at German hands. German chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at an online event later with the UN-secretary general, while parliament is meeting for an in-person commemoration in Berlin where Hitler's regime oversaw the genocide of six million Jews. Pope Francis called for remembrance today while Israel's president Reuven Rivlin will join a virtual event in a country where many Holocaust survivors have already been inoculated against Covid-19 a world-leading vaccine drive. Hundreds of surviving victims in Austria and Slovakia were also poised to get their first vaccines on Wednesday to mark the anniversary. GERMANY: A rose was left in tribute this morning on one of the blocks that make up the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, officially the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe POLAND: A mass grave at a military cemetery in Warsaw is seen this morning as the world marks a virtual Holocaust Memorial Day due to the pandemic The president of the European Jewish Congress said on Monday that some Holocaust survivors had died alone or suffered 'extreme isolation' because of the pandemic. 'Throughout their lives, they have shown mighty strength of spirit, but in the current crisis, many have sadly died alone and in pain,' Dr Moshe Kantor said. 'Therefore, I call on European leaders to ensure that Holocaust survivors have access as soon as possible to a safe and effective vaccination and with the highest priority.' He also warned that conspiracy theories and extremism had spread during the pandemic, alluding to how social and economic crisis helped bring Hitler to power and thereby unleash the Holocaust. 'The pandemic has created the social conditions where antisemitism and extremism thrive,' he warned. At Auschwitz, a memorial event will be streamed on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the museum's website later on Wednesday. The main theme will be the fate of children in Auschwitz, who made up nearly a fifth of the 1.1million people killed at the extermination camp. '200,000 children were murdered in Auschwitz. Completely innocent, good, curious about life, loving their closest ones, trusting children,' said museum director Piotr Cwyinski. 'The adult world - after all, so often unjust and cruel - has never demonstrated so much of its heartlessness, its evil. 'This cannot be justified by any ideology, reckoning or politics. This year we want to dedicate the anniversary of liberation to the youngest victims of the camp.' GERMANY: Wreaths are left at the 'Platform 17' memorial in Berlin to commemorate the deportation of Jewish victims on the German railway network GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel and president Frank-Walter Steinmeier were among the dignitaries at a special session of parliament in Berlin this morning to mark the anniversary ITALY: People pay tribute to Holocaust victims at a ceremony in Turin on Wednesday morning, in one of the few in-person events to take place on the anniversary GREECE: A woman walks past a Holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki on the 76th anniversary today While many commemorations have moved online for the first time, one constant is the drive of survivors to tell their stories as words of caution. 'We have to tell our stories so it doesn't happen again,' 91-year-old survivor Rose Schindler said on Monday from her home in California. 'It is unbelievable what we went through, and the whole world was silent as this was going on.' Friedman says she believes it is her role to 'sound the alarm' about rising anti-Semitism and other hatred in the world, otherwise 'another tragedy may happen.' That hatred, she said, was on clear view when a mob inspired by former US president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6. Some insurrectionists wore clothes with anti-Semitic messages like 'Camp Auschwitz' and '6MWE,' which stands for '6 million wasn't enough.' At the Vatican today, the Pope marked the anniversary by urging people to watch out for extremism because 'these things can happen again'. 'To remember is an expression of humanity. To remember is a sign of civility. To remember is a condition for a better future of peace and fraternity,' he said. 'To remember also means being careful because these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that claim to want to save a people but end up destroying a people and humanity.' In Germany, the government says it wants to use the digital format to 'reach more people than ever' and educate them about the Holocaust. 'Millions of people were victims of the Nazis. That makes the repeated efforts to exploit, relativise or forget that suffering for political purposes all the more unbearable,' said German culture minister Monika Gruetters. Angela Merkel will give the keynote address later at an online event organised by the UN, UNESCO and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The ceremony will be followed by a panel discussion on Holocaust denial involving a survivor of the genocide and leading historians. POLAND: The entrance to Auschwitz, with its infamous sign saying 'Arbeit Macht Frei' or 'Work sets you free', is seen on Monday ahead of the anniversary GERMANY: Flowers decorated with a ribbon in the colours of the German flag are left at the Berlin Holocaust memorial on Wednesday morning POLAND: Wreaths lie in front of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw on Wednesday IHRA chair Michaela Kuechler said: 'Remembrance plays a critical role in fighting the persistent forces of antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion. 'This is because remembrance ties us fundamentally to the facts, to what took place and the people it affected. 'When we remember, when we strive to reflect upon this suffering, we understand that as unimaginable as it is, it is just as undeniable.' Merkel and German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier were present at a special session of parliament in Berlin this morning where lawmakers were due to hear from a survivor who later became president of Germany's top Jewish organisation. In Austria, more than 400 survivors were expected to get a coronavirus vaccine at Vienna's largest vaccination centre to mark the memorial day on Wednesday. Mostly in their 80s or 90s, many of them were being brought in by shuttle or ambulance while others were escorted by their children. 'We owe this to them,' said Erika Jakubovits of the Jewish Community of Vienna. 'They have suffered so much trauma and have felt even more insecure during this pandemic.' Jakubovits organized the vaccination drive with the Austrian health ministry and officials in Vienna, where twelve Jewish doctors volunteered to give the vaccines. In a similar project to that in Vienna, the Jewish community of Bratislava in Slovakia was also set to vaccinate survivors on Wednesday. 'We're very, very grateful that the vaccinations are taking place on this symbolic day,' said Tomas Stern, the head of the Jewish community in Bratislava. Some 128 survivors were to receive their first shot at Bratislava's Jewish community center on Wednesday and another 330 across the country in the coming days. In Israel, home to many Holocaust survivors, more than 80 per cent of those over 70 have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, and nearly 60 per cent have received the second dose. Because Israel's vaccination campaign has moved so quickly, there was no need to single out Holocaust survivors. Still, about 900 Holocaust survivors died of Covid-19 in Israel last year before vaccines were available and about 5,300 survivors were infected, according to Israel's national statistics office. 'We can be the light that ensures the darkness can never return': Prince Charles leads royal family in tribute to victims on Holocaust Memorial Day as Kate Middleton and Prince William honour survivors By Harriet Johnston for MailOnline The Prince of Wales has urged people to remember Holocaust Memorial Day today as he lead the royal family in tributes to victims and survivors. In a video shared on the Clarence House Twitter page, Charles, 71, asked people to ensure survivors' stories are remembered forever amid the dwindling number of people able to bear first-hand witness to the horrors of the genocide, which saw millions of Jews and other minorities executed during the Second World War at the hands of the Nazis. The royal, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: 'This is our time when we can, each in our own way, be the light that ensures the darkness can never return.' Meanwhile Prince William, 38, and Kate Middleton, 39, also marked the day by sharing a poignant message alongside photographs as they met survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg in Poland in 2017. The tributes reflected on one of the darkest periods in human history, when 11million victims - including six million Jews - were gassed, shot and starved in Nazi death camps. The notorious train-track entrance to Auschwitz, through which over a million were taken to their deaths, was stormed by the Red Army on January 27, 1945. The Prince of Wales, 71, has urged people to remember Holocaust Memorial Day today as he lead the royal family in tributes to victims and survivors In a moving speech which is set to be broadcast at an online memorial later day, Prince Charles said people should try to 'be the light' National landmarks across Britain, including Wembley Stadium, Cardiff Castle and the Tyne Bridge, will be bathed in purple light at 8pm to mark Wednesday's memorial, while the traditional remembrance ceremony will be hosted online from 7pm due to lockdown rules. People have been urged to show their support by lighting a candle in their window following the conclusion of the hour-long ceremony. Pre-recorded messages from the likes of Premier League footballers Jordan Henderson and Bruno Fernandes, plus contributions from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, religious leaders, and celebrity adventurer Bear Grylls, will all feature in the online service. This year's theme being the light in the darkness was decided 18 months ago, but the global coronavirus pandemic which has seen deaths, ill-health, economic ruin, school closures and mental health problems means it has taken on added resonance. Kate Middleton, 39, and Prince William, 38, also shared a touching tribute post online alongside photographs as they met with survivors in 2017 In the clip, which will play at the ceremony, Charles said: 'As I speak, the last generation of living witnesses is tragically passing from this world, so the task of bearing witness falls to us. 'This is not a task for one time only, nor is it a task for one generation, or one person. It is for all people, all generations, and all time.' Meanwhile the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also shared a poignant Instagram post to mark the day. They wrote: On #HolocaustMemorialDay we commemorate and honour the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, and of recent genocides. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge shared several photographas they met Holocaust survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg 'Later today we will share a special conversation between The Duchess and Holocaust survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred Goldberg, who The Duke and Duchess met at Stutthof in 2017, and youth ambassadors from the Holocaust Educational Trust. 'As young boys, Zigi and Manfred both spent time in ghettos and a number of labour and concentration camps, including Stutthof in Poland where they met for the first time in 1944, and remain friends to this day. 'Of the 110,000 men, women and children who were imprisoned in the camp during the Holocaust, as many as 65,000 lost their lives - including 28,000 Jews.' They continued: 'Together on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp, we bear witness for those who endured genocide, and honour the survivors and all those whose lives were changed beyond recognition. We must never forget.' Later today, the royal couple will share a video clip from a conversation between Kate, Zigi and Manfred, as well as youth embassadors from the Holocaust Educational Trust Alongside the post, the couple shared photographs as they met with Zigi and Manfred in 2017, as well as a black and white photo of the men in their youth. Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET), said Holocaust survivors were the perfect inspiration for positivity. Karen said: 'There has been real distress and pain and suffering felt in this country and around the world in this pandemic. What is Holocaust Memorial Day? Every January on Holocaust Memorial Day, the world remembers the six million Jews and millions of other minorities who were killed during the genocide of World War II. As directed by Hitlers Nazi party, the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah in Hebrew, is a term to describe the genocide of Jews and other minorities during World War II. January 27, 1945 is the day the Auschwitz concentration camp in modern-day Poland was liberated by the Soviets. With the Soviets arriving nearly eight months before the war ended, many had been sent out on a death march and 7,000 sick and dying people remained. In the five years that Auschwitz was open, an estimated 1.1 million people were killed at the concentration camp. 90 percent were Jewish and the rest were a mix of Romany people, Soviets and Poles. One in six Jews killed in World War II died at Auschwitz after being brought to the camp across Europe by train. By the end of the Holocaust, six million Jewish men, women and children died in ghettos, mass-shootings, in concentration camps and extermination camps. Studies have also revealed that the true death toll could be as many as 20 million people. All over the world, commemorative events will take place to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, but also subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur are remembered to try and end racial violence once and for all. Advertisement 'But the survivors I spoke to many who are shielding are the epitome of strength and are getting on with it. 'Bearing in mind what they have experienced and suffered, they give words of wisdom to just keep going, we are going to get out of this. 'I find that pretty inspiring from 90-year-old survivors who have been through the very worst and could easily let this get on top of them. But this says a lot about them because they really are remarkable.' As young boys, Zigi and Manfred both spent time in ghettos and a number of labour and concentration camps, including Stutthof in Poland where they met for the first time in 1944 Karen said the Holocaust was important to remember because it was 'part of British history'. She said: 'A lot of people might think it happened somewhere else to someone else, but what we understand really is that the Holocaust happened to people in this country survivors living here now, or people who fled and became British citizens but also those members of the armed forces who liberated (concentration camp) Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. 'So my message to people this year is this: Hear the stories, listen to the eyewitnesses, find out about what happened to these people, and understand that when we are learning about the past, it is for the sake of learning history but it is also because we can learn from it.' Difficulties are continuing for the haulage and freight sector post-Brexit, Dundalk TD Ruairi O Murchu has said. The public, he said, in stores in Dundalk and across the State, are seeing empty sections on shelves caused by supply chain issues. Deputy O Murchu, who is also a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, said while he appreciated the work that is being done, particularly in the Department of Transport, there remains a huge number of problems for hauliers that are mainly caused by the fact that many British firms did not prepare adequately for Brexit. He said: We have heard of the difficulties with groupage. We know there are problems with the systems in that they do not talk to each other, so to speak. I refer to the manual transfer of the movement reference number, MRN. A number of these systems have only been put together. There was no time to try to test them. Sinn Feins transport spokesperson, Darren ORourke, along with the partys spokesperson on trade, Louise OReilly, and Deputy O Murchu met with head of the Freight Transport Association Ireland, Aidan Flynn last week. Speaking afterwards, the Dundalk TD said: It is clear, heading into the fourth week of Britain being out of the EU, stockpiling by retail outlets ahead of Brexit saved us from empty shelves, but many parts of supermarkets are getting barer and barer as the weeks go by. The business model for hauliers has changed utterly because of Brexit they used to be able to do pickups in Britain on their way back from the Continent, but many are bypassing Britain entirely now. Trucks have been stopped at ports, because if the Movement Reference Number, MRN is wrong on one thing it takes hours to find the problem. I have asked Revenue to see if there is anything more they can do. They have informed me that they are providing a greater level of transparency to hauliers and further streamlining of the system. We need to ensure hauliers, many based in Louth, remain in business". Three Sinn Fein politicians were among the mourners at a large funeral of a Provisional IRA man and party activist, who died of Covid-19. The latest controversy follows the furore over Mary Lou McDonalds attendance at a massive Provo funeral in Belfast last year. Potential breaches of Covid-19 regulations at the latest funeral in Derry are now being investigated. Sinn Fein says it was not involved in the organisation of the most recent Republican funeral on Monday. The party said three councillors paid their respects from the roadside of the republican funeral in Derry and they observed social distancing. Under current Covid-19 restrictions, funerals in Northern Ireland are limited to 25 people. There is no indication if the councillors attempted to ensure Covid-19 restrictions were observed by the large crowd in attendance. Assurances given to the PSNI about the conduct of the funeral were broken. Ahead of the funeral, the police contacted the family, political representatives and the local church to emphasise the need for adherence to the health regulations. Read More The deceased, Eamonn Peggy McCourt (62), died on Saturday after contracting Covid-19. Mr McCourt, who was a Sinn Fein activist in Derry and a former Provisional IRA member, was shot in 1981 when the SAS fired at a car in the Creggan area of Derry, killing Provos George McBrearty and Charles Pop Maguire. The controversy is reminiscent of the fallout from the funeral of another Provisional IRA member, Bobby Storey. The Sinn Fein leadership, including Ms McDonald, attended Mr Storeys funeral with around 2,000 others which saw a cortege pass through west Belfast. The fallout out of that funeral sparked a political crisis in Northern Ireland at a vital stage of the fight against Covid-19. The funeral for Mr McCourt had the normal trappings of Republican funerals. The coffin was draped in a tricolour and a dozen men dressed in white shirts and black ties walked beside the hearse. A large number of people gathered closely together to follow the procession. The number of people at the funeral was well in excess of the 25 allowed under the regulations. Political parties in Northern Ireland have criticised the conduct of the funeral. Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, a senior member of the party leadership, told the BBC the party was not involved in organising this funeral. Mr Kelly said two or three Sinn Fein councillors paid their respects "in a personal capacity". He said that to his knowledge no party members were part of the cortege. He said he was "fairly certain" no Sinn Fein members of the Northern Ireland assembly were present. "They are very difficult times, but any breaches of the public health regulations will and should be fully investigated," Mr Kelly told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback. Sinn Feins Derry branch held an online tribute to Mr McCourt and stated before the service that the funeral would be in line with regulations. Within the context of corporate scandals, cyber threats, new technology, transparency requirements and an ever-changing regulatory environment it has become necessary to reassess the role of the chief financial officer (CFO) - what they do and the underlying competencies and qualifications required to perform their jobs. This has highlighted the need for a more supportive network of financial executives in Africa, as well as the globalisation of the CFO role for practitioners on the continent. Africa has to reposition itself Uniformity and accountability In response to this need, countries such South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have collaborated to provide greater structure to the CFO job function in the form of an Africa association for CFOs, which will offer better support for the job function, as well as networking opportunities and shared access to information.Following this, the South African Institute of Business Accountants (Saiba) recently joined forces with similar organisations in Lesotho, Morocco and Tunisia to found a new association that represents and regulates CFOs across Africa, namely the Finance Executive Institute Africa (Feia).The collaborative effort is aimed at assisting countries without existing CFO associations to develop their own bodies, as well as to create a networking function between financial executives across Africa to share best practices and standardise codes of conduct and competency. This will ensure that companies operating in Africa will receive the same level of service and quality from CFOs throughout the continent.When African countries gained independence from colonisers, they did not automatically gain a seat at the global table and were not treated as equals. For example, when it came to applying for finance, African countries have to go through European countries.This trend continues today and has been exacerbated by the global pandemic and recent recession. Right now, we have another fight for resources on our hands and, sadly, when Africa represents itself, it often loses out to other countries. Where does this leave us? Possibly back in the 1950s when Africa had to reposition itself as truly nationalist and independent from America, Europe and Asia," says Nicolaas van Wyk, Saiba CEO.To establish independence, Africa needs to align itself not only at a political level, but at a financial level. CFOs on the continent need to become aware of the critical role they play in the bigger picture as financial professionals working in large state-owned entities, international conglomerates and private companies. Nurturing this self awareness amongst financial executives will assist Africa in representing itself at the World Bank, the United Nations or other international financial reporting boards, ensuring the continent adopts an African position that protects its economy.While this is a more philosophical reason for developing the African association for CFOs, on a more practical level, the move will enhance uniformity and accountability. There needs to be a strong feeling of Africa-first. Without this, CFOs will only continue to assist large corporations move money out of Africa and into international economies, something that needs to change if we are going to build a resilient African economy, says Van Wyk.The positioning of the African continent does not need to be defended or discussed, says Meriam Ben Boubaker, president of Tunisian Association of Management Controllers and Financial Managers (COGEREF). What we need is an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, ruled by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force on the world stage. The emergence of Africa is key to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063, which reflects the visionary approach of the African Union working to transform Africa into a world power for the future.In a turbulent world marked by increasing uncertainties and tensions on the economic level, the African continent offers itself a position of choice in terms of economic attractiveness on the international level, thanks to its assets and its dynamism of growth. It is therefore necessary to improve the institutional dynamic marked by a desire to accelerate African regional economic integration with the recent announcement of the effective launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the adoption of a single currency and positioning Africa as a significant player in the world economy," says Noureddine Elouajih, president of the Northern Financial Club in Morocco.Feia will support the growth dynamic of the continent through an anticipatory, educational and prospective approach, allowing the emergence of real African financial know-how adapted to the technical and cultural specificities of the African environment, which will better meet the growing needs of governments and economic operators. Miriam has been with Anapol Weiss for 22 years and has established herself as a preeminent, compassionate advocate for the rights of injured victims. Today the Anapol Weiss law firm announced that partner Miriam Benton Barish has been promoted to equity shareholder. Miriam has been with Anapol Weiss for 22 years and has established herself as a preeminent, compassionate advocate for the rights of injured victims. Anapol Weiss is the kind of firm that really focuses on the issues and the cases that matter the most to people who deserve justice, said Barish. Its a firm that takes women and womens rights seriously and its influence and impact is continuing to grow. Im proud to become an equity shareholder, and I am honored and humbled to be able to utilize my expertise and experience to continue to make Anapol Weiss a personal injury powerhouse. As a partner, Barish has successfully resolved numerous multi-million-dollar cases on behalf of her clients, providing them crucial compensation in the face of tragedy. Importantly, for many years, Miriams practice has emphasized protecting women who have been victims. Barish is a member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Board of Governors. Shes been selected as a Super Lawyer in Pennsylvania from 2013-2020 and has been named among the top 50 women lawyers in Pennsylvania. Her practice focuses on complex personal injury litigation, products liability, toxic torts, premise liability, dram shop cases, construction accidents, and motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Miriam will also take over Anapol Weisss Vaccine Injury Department. We could not be more pleased to add Miriam to our equity shareholder team, said equity shareholder Tom Anapol. Her experience and her insight will add an important perspective to our firms leadership team. Our firm and our clients are fortunate to have her. For more than 40 years, Anapol Weiss has stood up for individuals who have been harmed by negligence, whether its through the actions of a single individual or a multibillion-dollar corporation. The firm is committed to giving every victim a voice and ensuring that voice is heard. Zimbabwes government held burials Wednesday for two Cabinet ministers and a former prison official who died from COVID-19. The Cabinet now has lost four ministers to the coronavirus three of them this month and more than 1,000 people overall. Public health experts blame Zimbabwe's collapsed healthcare system. At the burial of the transport and foreign affairs ministers, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga urged Zimbabweans to observe social distancing, wear face masks and wash their hands to fight the coronavirus. COVID-19 has taught us an important lesson; that we are all mortals," he said. "The fight against this pandemic does not allow us to choose who to walk with, work with, or run with. It does not discriminate, between the powerful and the weak, the privileged and the deprived, the haves and the have nots. It is a ruthless juggernaut that leaves a trail of destruction and desperation. But we will eventually conquer it. We will eventually conquer it and conquer it as a people. The burials of Minister of Foreign Affairs Sibusiso Moyo, Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza and former head of Zimbabwes prisons Paradzai Zimondi all COVID-19 cases come hardly a week after President Emmerson Mnangagwa presided over the burials of a minister and a senior official of the ruling ZANU-PF party at the same national shrine. Following the deaths, the countrys government spokesman, Nick Mangwana, accused the countrys health workers of being assassins. He has since apologized following public outcry. Dr. Pamela Magande, president of Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians, says the recent surge in coronavirus cases was caused by a relaxed festive season, when people did not social distance and did not wear face masks. We know that to prevent this disease and to protect ourselves, we need to keep our masks on, we know that social distance is important and we also know that hygiene is also important... So as long as there is no actual treatment or vaccine, we have no options but to stick to these public health interventions, she said.. On Wednesday, Vice President Chiwenga, who doubles as Zimbabwes health minister, said the country was in the process of acquiring coronavirus vaccine. A health official this week told a parliamentary committee that China and Russia were among countries that had offered to supply Zimbabwe with the vaccine. Critics blame Mnangagwa and his predecessor, the late Robert Mugabe, for allowing the countrys healthcare system to decline to the point where some hospitals have no pain killers and in some cases patients are asked to bring their own water. On several occasions in the past year, health care workers have gone on strike, citing low pay and a lack of safety gear to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Blinken has been a consistent supporter of arming Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba has taken to Twitter to congratulate Anthony Blinken on assuming the post of United States Secretary of State. "Congratulations to Anthony Blinken as he assumes the post of US Secretary of State," Kuleba wrote, adding that he looks forward to "further strengthening the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States for the benefit of both our states." "May our alliance bring greater harmony to Transatlantic unity and resilience," the top diplomat tweeted. Background On January 26, the U.S. Senate endorsed Blinken's nomination for the post of U.S. Secretary of State. Blinken was a long-term advisor to Biden and during the presidency of Barack Obama served as the US Undersecretary of State and Deputy National Security Adviser to the President. Blinken's statement was supported by the majority of senators - 78. 22 voted against. On January 20, at a hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Blinken said he supported the provision of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine. Read alsoBiden administration in search of nominee for top embassy post in Ukraine KulebaHe recalled that about three years ago he had called on the Donald Trump administration to arm Ukraine. At the same time, as per CSPAN, to a notion voiced at the hearing by Senator Chris Murphy that the government in Moscow seeks to "disempower" Ukraine "economically and politically so that eventually they just give up and hand the keys back to a kremlin-friendly government," and that it is a question of giving Ukraine "political tools and economic help in order to stay sovereign and independent," Blinken responded: "Russia is a threat from without. The threat from within is corruption, the threat from within is a lack of institutions that can effectively manage the country, and we have to help the Ukrainians deal with that, too, because even if we're successful in at least helping them keep Russia at bay, if that threat from within continues, then it's going to be very difficult for them to build a viable democracy." Reporting by UNIAN YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that Russian troops are training ahead of deployment to the Russian-Turkish Joint Center which monitors the Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire. The Russian troops are now undergoing training for the joint implementation of ceasefire monitoring objectives and are preparing to depart to the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it said. During the training the servicemen are studying the joint centers structure, purpose, missions and functions, the order of organizing the work, as well as the culture, traditions and peculiarities of the country where the mission will be carried out. The personnel of the joint center will carry out monitoring of the situation and supervision of the adherence to the ceasefire with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Chinese social media firm Bytedance, which owns and Helo apps, has announced the closure of its India business following continued restrictions on its services in the country. Tiktok's global interim head Vanessa Pappas and vice president for global business solutions Blake Chandlee in a joint email to employees have communicated the decision of the company that it is reducing team size and the decision will impact all employees in India. The executives expressed uncertainty on the company's comeback to India but expressed hope to do so in times to come. "While we don't know when we will make a comeback in India, we are confident in our resilience, and desire to do so in times to come," the email said. According to a source at Bytedance, the company held a town hall on Wednesday where it communicated about the closure of India business. When contacted spokesperson said the company has worked steadfastly to comply with the government of India order issued on June 29, 2020 and continually strives to make its apps comply with local laws and regulations. "It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our over 2,000 employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. "We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India," the spokesperson said. The government had blocked Tiktok and Helo along with 59 apps in June and has further communicated to the companies that the order to block them will be continued. "We've cut expenses, while still paying benefits. However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while our apps remain un-operational. We are fully aware of the impact that this decision has for all of our employees in India, and we empathize with our team," the e-mail said. executives said that the decision to ban its app came despite the company complying with local laws and regulations. "We have done our best since then to address their (Indian government's) concerns. We regret that this was the result of a lack of clear direction from the government of India on how and when our apps could be reinstated. "Despite our efforts to communicate with them, especially since it impacts the careers and livelihoods of so many Indians, today we are forced to reduce the size of our team," the email said. The executives said that they will share severance and benefits details. Wheeler was released on $400,000 bail according to jail records Its now been confirmed that Chad Wheeler, backup offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, was arrested on charges of domestic violence and assault against his girlfriend. Saturday, the Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman was arrested and booked into the King County Jail in Seattle and on Tuesday morning he was released on $400,000 bond according to jail records. READ MORE: Black Capitol rioter denied bail while many White participants granted release (Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports) The Seattle Times obtained a report by the Kent (Washington) Police Department which states a distraught woman called 911 following a physical fight with her boyfriend claiming that she was being killed. Responding officers say they heard screaming from inside the apartment upon arrival and had to force their way into the home. They headed to the bathroom where the screaming appeared to be coming from and found Wheeler standing beside the alleged victim. Authorities say he had picked the lock of the bathroom door where the alleged victim was hiding. He was initially uncooperative when officers attempted to arrest him. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. READ MORE: What the DaniLeigh controversy reveals about the desirability hierarchy The police report also makes stunning allegations that the physical altercation first began when Wheeler who is listed as 6-foot-7 and 310 pounds asked the victim (a Black woman) to bow to him and she refused. It also speculated that the athlete had not been taking his prescribed medication for bipolar disorder and at one point threw the 145-pound woman on the bed and strangled her until she lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, a stunned Wheeler allegedly responded, Wow youre alive? and thats when she says she ran to the bathroom and locked herself in there to call 911. The victim was reportedly bleeding and suffering from the pain of a dislocated arm when police arrived. She was taken to a local hospital to have her injuries treated. Story continues The Seahawks released a short statement in response to the charges against Wheeler stating, We are aware of the situation and still gathering information. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today! The post Seahawks Chad Wheeler arrested for allegedly strangling, assaulting Black girlfriend appeared first on TheGrio. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American Protection Box produced by AmorePacific in collaboration with Off-White / Courtesy of AmorePacific By Kim Jae-heun AmorePacific, Korea's largest cosmetics company, hopes to overcome its current slump by launching a new product in collaboration with Italian luxury brand Off-White. The item, called "Protection Box," is made up of limited-edition beauty products and fashion accessories. AmorePacific is making the mask packs and lip balms that go into the box, while Off-White is producing face masks as well as the container. The container can be used as a bag with a strap, which was designed by Off-White with an emphasis on "protection" during the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time Off-White has collaborated with a Korean firm to introduce a cosmetic product. A Korean employee at the Italian fashion company's headquarters in Milan came up with the idea to test the product's potential in the Chinese market. Off-White's popularity as a luxury street brand has been growing explosively in Asian markets including China, Korea and Japan. Off-White's aim coincided with the interests of AmorePacific, whose main overseas customer base is in China. The Korean cosmetics firm had been enjoying skyrocketing sales and profits in China until 2017. But things changed after the Chinese government decided to take economic retaliation measures and regulate Korean firms operating there, while restricting Chinese tourists from visiting Korea. The move by Beijing came after Korea deployed a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system, intended to detect and shoot down incoming North Korean missiles. But China claims the system's powerful radar could be used to spy on its own airspace. AmorePacific's overseas sales declined 13 percent in the third quarter of last year and its overall revenue plummeted 23 percent. The "Yut" game kit offered in Protection Box by AmorePacific / Courtesy of AmorePacific Teton County Reporter Previously the Scene editor, Billy Arnold made the switch to the county beat where he's interested in exploring Teton County as a model for the rest of the West. When he can, he still writes about art, music and whatever else suits his fancy. Energy giant Shell has signed an agreement with Irish developer Simply Blue Energy to acquire a 51% share of their Simply Blue Energy Kinsale venture. The joint venture will see the development of the Emerald Project, a large floating wind farm off the south coast of Ireland. The project is in the early stages and aims to exploit the vast floating wind potential in the Irish part of the Celtic Sea. 300MW of installed capacity is planned initially, with the potential to scale-up to a total installed capacity of 1GW. This is equivalent to powering 800,000 Irish homes or the capacity of the Moneypoint power station, Irelands largest electricity generation station. The joint venture will be operated by Simply Blue Energy supported by Shell floating wind experts, with the project office based in the Cork City Docklands rejuvenation area. Depending on the size of the turbines selected, the first phase of the project will include between 15 and 25 turbines. Simply Blue Energy said Ireland can become a Green Gulf for wind energy. Simply Blue said the assembly, installation and deployment of these turbines could stimulate hundreds of high-quality jobs in the local supply chain. Long-term operations and maintenance of the turbines will also require local skills and services in Cork Harbour for up to 25 years. Colin Crooks, VP Offshore Wind, Shell said: At Shell, we aim to build an integrated power business spanning electricity generation, trading and supply. This project could provide green power to consumers and businesses alike and contribute towards Shells ambition to be a net-zero emissions business by 2050, or sooner." "Working alongside coastal communities to create shared value is key to success and this is why we have chosen and look forward to working with Simply Blue Energy who are rooted in the local community. Sam Roch-Perks, CEO Simply Blue Energy said: Floating wind energy is a major opportunity for Ireland to become a Green Gulf, by realising the benefits of its vast marine and offshore wind resources without negatively impacting our beautiful coastlines." "Simply Blue Energy is delighted to work with Shell to further our portfolio of floating wind projects in the Celtic Sea. Our shared vision for Emerald is to do the right thing for our stakeholders, the community and the environment. This announcement represents an important milestone in the ability of the Emerald project to ensure the government meets its climate target of 5GW of offshore wind by 2030. BY BILL OKETCH & SANTO OJOK A group of National Resistance Movement flag bearers who lost in the just concluded Local Government Council elections have formed a shadow government in Kwania District. Out of the nine seats for LC5 chairpersons in Lango, the opposition Uganda Peoples Congress (UPC) took five, including Kwania, Amolatar, Apac, Otuke, and Alebtong. The ruling NRM party won in Kole, Lira, and Oyam while the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) recaptured Dokolo District, from NRM. For LC5 council, UPC took 16 out of 18 available seats in Kwania. The NRM only won Nambieso Sub-county LC5 male councilor and Aduku Town Council LC5 male council seats. UPC won in the nine sub-counties of Chawente, Inomo, Abongomola, Akali, Atongtidi, Ayabi, Aduku, Ayabi Town Council, and Inomo Town Council. The NRM losers have now come together to form the shadow government under the Kwania District NRM Shadow Government. Marry Cyril Akullo, the defeated Aduku Town Council LC5 female councilor has been elected as the interim chairperson of the shadow government. Kwania district NRM party chairperson, Mr Sam Omara Angai, said he is not aware of the group. However, some critics said the group is just seeking relevance having lost the elections. Robson Odyomo, who lost the Akali Sub-county LC5 councilor seat, is the vice-chairperson, MacKay Ocen Obia, who lost the Ayabi Town Council LC5 councilor seat, is the speaker, and Ms Rebecca Kabasinde, the Akali/Abongomola woman councilor candidate was elected the deputy speaker. Mr Richard Egwar Abili, who lost the Inomo Town Council LC5 councilor male seat, was also appointed secretary works and technical services. Ms Fatuma Adongo, the Chawente/Atongtidi female councillor, was appointed secretary for education and health. Mr Robson Odyomo was appointed Secretary Finance and Administration. Inomo Sub-county LC5 Female councilor, Ms Juliet Lages, was appointed secretary for Community Based Services and IT Specialist. Mr George Ogwok, who lost the Abongomola LC5 male councilor seat, was appointed secretary for production, marketing, and natural resources. In an interview with Daily Monitor on Tuesday, Ms Akullo, Kwania District NRM Shadow Governments interim chairperson, said their government will play a watchdog role. According to Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, there is a danger in America that is unprecedented in 2021. These domestic enemies of the United States are everywhere, threatening the democracy and freedom of every American. Things in America have changed, and all these changes have come about after the transition of power from a Republican to a Democrat controlled government. Democracy in America is endangered Last Tuesday, the former GOP Representative warned the American people that the nation would be in danger. But she said not from any external force but from within America itself. According to The Blaze, these elements domestic enemies inside the national security community and from the Barons of Big Tech who are conspiring to set up a "police state." Miss Gabbard was the former U.S. representative from Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District; her term lasted from 2013 to 2021. A posted video on social media slammed the action of the federal government on January 6. In the video, the subject spoke about former CIA Director John Brennan and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) support for extending national security powers to persecute those against the current administration as enemies, which is against the democratic traditions of the United States. Capitol Breach as the pretext to suppress America Citing the events on January 6 when the mobs breached the Capitol building that disrupted the Joint Session in Congress, they are described as acting like the very threats against the nation, as the narrative goes. Tulsi Gabbard said that something needs to be cleared first. Mentioning Schiff and Brennan with the oligarchs of the Big tech industry is the real danger to everyone. Stating that these people in politics and tech firms are allegedly attempting to subvert the constitution and rights guaranteed. Also read: Republican Senator Moore Reintroduces Constitutional Amendment to Stop Court Packing by Biden Administration. Finally, they want to replace a Democratic Republic with a controlled state and dominate their perceived domestic enemies. People in power allowing the take over of a free America will be worse than the Capitol mobs. According to a video from MSNBC of Brennan some Biden administration members are trying to move without getting too evident they are leftists. Most of their activities are similar to how insurgents work overseas. He also said that it was no different than those who attacked the Capitol building. Big media compares the Capitol siege to 9/11 When the Capitol's chaos ensued, these events were compared by biased media to the 9/11 terror attacks, except they are blaming their own fellow Americans. This event is now part of the drive to justify besieging fellow Americans as domestic terrorists. Undermining freedom in America Considering the domestic threat that is other Americans who should be treated like extremists like ISIS and al-Qaeda overseas. A bill by one of the DEMS, Schiff wants to criminalize it. Another bill by Dick Durbin will make a new office for the FBI, DOJ, and Homeland Security to go after those deemed "domestic terrorists." Gabbard calls the war against civil liberty as it is happening in the current U.S. administration. Even some DEMS are against Durbin's repressive bill that will create a robust national security state. Tulsi Gabbard asks from those in power to uphold democracy and keep civil liberties from getting swamped. Related article: Biden Reportedly Got Funds from Unknown Sources Alleged to Be Dark Money @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Joe Biden has made it clear one of his first priorities in office is getting students back into the classroom, but after an almost year-long debate over the safety of schools during the pandemic, the new administration could face an uphill battle as the trajectory of the virus in the United States remains uncertain. During Bidens first week in office, his administration announced its strategy to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included several initiatives aimed at reopening schools and an appearance by the first lady, Jill Biden, who addressed the nations educators alongside the presidents of two teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. The president said on Monday that he believes we should make school classrooms safe and secure, adding that schools need new ventilation systems and testing for students and teachers. We need the capacity, the capacity to know that, in fact, the circumstance in the school is safe and secure for everyone, he said. PHOTO: President Joe Biden delivers remarks on racial equity, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Jan. 26, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP) And on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that indicated when schools implement strategies like mask requirements and student cohorts, there is potential for them to open safely when those certain mitigation steps are in place. The strategy put forth by the Biden administration last week relies on things like calling on Congress to provide at least $130 billion in funding specifically for schools, supporting expanded testing and screening efforts in schools and issuing updated safety guidelines for schools. His plan comes as some educators have begun to receive the vaccine in the latest push to restore normalcy. However, theres still hesitancy in many parts of the country over returning to a physical classroom full-time, following the previous administrations push to reopen with little federal guidance on how to do so. MORE: More teachers getting vaccinated in push to restore normalcy Story continues Part of the challenge he's [Biden] facing now is he realizes that, you know, without leadership from federal governments, the different states are doing different things, the NEA president, Becky Pringle, told ABC News. The Chicago Teachers Union announced on Sunday it had voted to continue teaching remote. The CTU has asked Chicago Public Schools to establish clear public health criteria and enforce safety protocols in schools, among other things, before returning to in-person learning, according to the unions list of demands. MORE: Teachers speak out after voting to teach from home, refusing district's plan for return Virginia Education Association President James Fedderman released a statement on Jan. 8 calling on the state to implement an all-virtual learning curriculum until all school staff are vaccinated. The Omaha Education Association in Nebraska is pushing back against a full return to in-person learning until all teachers are vaccinated. In our view, it is absolutely imperative that OPS educators and staff are vaccinated before we return to greeting, teaching and caring for all of our students each and every day. Without vaccinated educators and staff, every school day at every OPS school building becomes a potential virus super-spreader event, OEA President Robert Miller said in a Jan. 13 statement. MORE: How 1 Chicago school district got kids back in the classroom during COVID-19 It always goes back to following the science and involving everyone from educators and administrators to parents and health experts when deciding on the safety of returning to school, Pringle said. PHOTO: Students sit with their laptop computers at St. Joseph Catholic School in La Puente, Calif., Nov. 16, 2020, where pre-kindergarten to Second Grade students in need of special services returned to the classroom today for in-person instruction. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images, FILES) All of them need to be involved in decision making around when it is safe to go back to school, and then how are we going to build a plan so that we're thinking about equity in terms of access to opportunity to the vaccine itself, all of those things, and so his plan takes that into consideration, but youre hearing a lot of angst, Pringle said, adding that has occurred because there wasn't any leadership. As schools across the nation are at varying stages of reopening, returning to school safely doesnt necessarily mean that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before a school reopens, Randi Weingarten, the president of AFT, told ABC News. The issue is that we should be aligning vaccination with school opening. That doesn't mean every single teacher has to be vaccinated before you open one school, it means there has to be that alignment, Weingarten said. When asked if teachers should return to in-person learning, Biden on Monday said that he hopes to ensure schools have safety precautions in place, like plastic dividers, and the capacity to test for the virus. The teachers I know, they want to work, Biden said. They just want to work in a safe environment, and as safe as we can rationally make it. And we can do that. And we should be able to open up every school, kindergarten through eighth grade, if, in fact, we administer these tests. Biden administration's COVID-19 plan prioritizes schools reopening originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Egypts cabinet approved on Tuesday contract between the country's National Authority for Tunnels and the French state-owned Autonomous Parisian Transportation Administration (RATP) to manage and operate the new electric train, which aims to facilitate access to the New Administrative Capital (NAC). The a 15-year, one billion euro contract between the Egyptian and the French sides was signed in September. The new electric train will connect Cairo with various cities, including Obour, Mostaqbal, El-Shorouk, New Heliopolis, Badr, the Industrial Zone, 10th of Ramadan and the New Administrative Capital. The line, which is being built by the Chinese AVIC-CREC consortium in cooperation with Egyptian companies, is 72% complete. Egypt is expanding and upgrading the transportation network in Greater Cairo through the construction of new underground metro lines, multiple bridges, and major roads and freeways. Short link: Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A world-leading pianist and Holocaust survivor has opened up about the 'cloud of horror' she experienced when she learned her father had been murdered by the Nazis. Nelly Ben-Or, 88, grew up in occupied Poland and only narrowly escaped Auschwitz because the concentration camp was 'too full' on the day she arrived at its gates. Speaking to ITV News to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Nelly, who teaches at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama explained that she had heard 'horrific stories' about Auschwitz and experienced 'total fear' after finding out that was where she was being taken. Nelly Ben-Or, 88, (pictured) who narrowly avoided Auschwitz because it was full when she arrived, has spoken of how she 'escaped from death' during World War Two Nelly, who was born in Poland, Nelly said she had heard 'horrific stories' about Auschwitz and experienced 'total fear' after finding out that she was being taken to the camp 'We were escaping from death, literally every day and night,' she said. 'We were on a train going to Auschwitz but the word went through, they are taking us to Auschwitz. 'When I heard this, I had heard such horrific stories about Auschwitz, I will never forget the actual fear that I experienced then. It was something that was totally overwhelming, physical total fear.' However Nelly arrived at the gates to be told the camp was too full to take any more prisoners that day. Together with her mother Antonina Podhoretz, she was able to flee to a nearby town where they hid in a former pig sty. Nelly spent the rest of the war in hiding and eventually made the passage to the UK. However her father died at the hands of the Nazis at the Janowska concentration camp. Nelly said: 'I remember the whole cloud of horror, I lost my father - he was murdered in a horrific place by the Nazis.' Nelly and her mother, Antonina Podhoretz, managed to survive the rest of the war by hiding in a village and living in a former pig sty, but her father was tragically murdered by the Nazis But she never gave up her dream of becoming a pianist and has since become a professor at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she has taught the piano since 1975. Nelly learnt much of her musical skill while her family were hiding in Nazi-occupied Warsaw, with her mother risking everything to give Nelly access to the then-scarce instrument. The international concert pianist lives in London and became the first professional pianist to qualify as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, which retrains habits of posture and movement, in 1963. She is now recognised to be one of the leading experts of the technique and frequently broadcasts piano recitals for the BBC. Nelly, who speaks out frequently about her experiences during the Holocaust, was awarded an MBE last year for her services to Holocaust education. She has written a book, Ashes to Light: A Holocaust Childhood to a Life in Music, about her wartime experiences. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 15:07:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close XI'AN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Shaanxi Province saw its foreign trade grow by 7.3 percent year on year to a record high of 377.21 billion yuan (about 58.39 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, local customs authorities said Wednesday. Shaanxi's exports hit 192.96 billion yuan, up 3 percent year on year, while imports totaled 184.25 billion yuan, an annual increase of 12.2 percent, according to the customs of Xi'an, the provincial capital. The province saw a significant rise in imports of major commodities and key agricultural products last year. Its import volume of crude oil surged 60.5 percent year on year, while soybean imports registered a solid annual growth of 33.2 percent. Xi'an Customs said it has been streamlining customs clearance to promote trade growth while implementing stringent epidemic prevention and control measures. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the World Economic Forum (WEF)'s Davos Agenda on January 28 via video conferencing. The 51st World Economic Forum started on January 25, will continue till January 29. Over 400 top industry leaders from across the globe will attend the session, where the PM Modi will talk about the 'Fourth Industrial Revolution - using technology for the good of humanity'. He will also interact with the chief executive officers (CEOs) during the event, said a statement by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). WEF's virtual Davos Agenda Summit marks the launch of the World Economic Forum's Great Reset Initiative in the post-COVID world. Each day focuses on one of the five domains of the Great Reset Initiative. The entire week of the global event is focused on helping leaders choose innovative and bold solutions to stem the pandemic and drive a robust recovery over the next year. Industry leaders and public figures, under this initiative, will focus on how to accelerate public-private collaboration on critical issues, such as COVID-19 vaccination and climate change. The session on January 25 focussed on designing cohesive, sustainable, and resilient economic systems. Day 2 focussed on driving responsible industry transformation and growth. On Day 3, the panel talked on enhancing stewardship of our global commons. The January 28 session will be on harnessing the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And, on January 29, leaders will convene a discussion on advancing global and regional cooperation. Also Read: Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine works on UK strain too: study Also Read: SBI appoints Swaminathan Janakiraman, Aswini Kumar Tewari as MDs Also Read: Anti-China sentiment waning? Xiaomi reclaims No 1 position in Q4 2020, Samsung slips to second spot Irish people going on foreign holidays must stop, the Taoiseach has insisted. The warning came as Micheal Martin acknowledged the very sad figure of 3,000 deaths from Covid-19 being exceeded in the Republic of Ireland. He promised the Government would adopt no half measures in the fight against the virus. It will be a prolonged suppression of the virus, he said. But Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was astonishing the Government had not adopted universal quarantine for anyone arriving onto the island of Ireland. I think people were very shocked by the footage on the television last night of people returning home from places like Lanzarote, she said. It is clearly non-essential travel, and yet your proposal places all hope on peoples discretion to self-isolate. Read More She said representatives of An Garda Siochana were now saying that the Government had failed to consult with them. They are in disbelief at what you have announced. So this half-measure plan isn't going to work, she said. The Taoiseach said the numbers of people coming into the country had collapsed in recent times. The Government view is very clear, that people should not travel. He nonetheless said that a significant number of people were now travelling home from holidays that may have been booked over the Christmas period. That needs to stop, Mr Martin said. Very clearly, anyone who travels abroad like that (unnecessarily) is in breach of Level 5 restrictions, and that carries with it penalties. There would be consequences for such travellers in future, he said, because there would be an increase in the fine for exceeding the 5km travel limit from 100 to 500. Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats said the footage showed students among those travelling home from holidays, which she found hard to comprehend. The virus variants had not arrived in on a south-easterly wind, she said, but on a boat or a plane. Ms McDonald said people had looked to Government last night to deliver a clear and concrete plan of action. But what we got instead is a Government that is clearly at sixes and sevens, with no idea of how to proceed beyond March 5. The biggest mess from your announcement yesterday is undoubtedly your proposal on international travel because what you announced not alone goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense, she argued. It's not a system of mandatory quarantine. It is in fact one of voluntary self-isolation. And you propose to send people back to homes and other accommodation with other people people who may be going out to work, people who will go into our shops and stores, and therefore risk the spreading of this virus. That to me is absolutely crazy. She said the Governments new approach was going to take weeks, if not months, to implement, and it would still leave Irish people exposed. The right measure is for a system of complete universal mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers into our island. That's the only thing that stands a chance of helping us to achieve the maximum suppression of this virus. She said there had to be an all-Ireland approach that ensured no airport and no port on the island was left without the protection needed to stop the importation of this virus. The Taoiseach pointed out in response, however, that Sinn Fein was in Government in Northern Ireland and had not been able to deliver on what it was now calling for. He reminded Ms McDonald that she had called last September for all pubs to be opened. He said he had spoken to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on a number of occasions about alignment. Mr Martin emphasised however: I want to make it very clear that there would be no half measures from me as Taoiseach, or from Government, in ensuring a prolonged suppression of this virus. We will do whatever it takes to keep the numbers down. And we are achieving that. And the Irish people are achieving that. The new case numbers are falling very steeply as we speak. Critically, the adherence of the Irish people to those guidelines is resulting in a steep decline in numbers. There has been too much special pleading for various sectors on Covid, the Taoiseach has told the Dail. He added: I dont want anyone coming to me after March 5, making cases for exception to the rules or vaccine priorities. Read More I first met Scott Perry when I was an intern working for State Rep. Stan Saylor, one of the hardest-working and most honest Republicans I know. I have been affected by and engaged with Perrys political career ever since then, as a small business owner and as a candidate for public office in central Pennsylvania. Last week, I was ashamed but, unfortunately, not surprised to learn that Perry had betrayed our constitutional values, his oath of office that he swore to uphold, and has forever stained the history of our region and his record of public (dis)service. According to recent news reports, Perry and Jeffrey Clark, the acting chief of the civil division at the U.S. Department of Justice, discussed a plan to remove the acting attorney general with President Donald Trump an action that set off the chain of events that nearly led to the ouster of the acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen. Rosen had refused to send a letter to Georgia state lawmakers informing them of an investigation into voter fraud that could invalidate the states Electoral College results. Why did Rosen refuse? Because there was and is no evidence of any significant fraud in the Georgia election results. But Perry wouldnt stop there. He introduced and encouraged Trump to conspire with Clark to remove the acting attorney general of the United States because they did not like the results of the election, and they were on a quest to change them. READ MORE: Pa. Congressman Scott Perry acknowledges introducing Trump to lawyer at the center of election plot In plain terms: Perry conspired with the president of the United States and a member of the Justice Department to subvert the will of the American people. He followed and at times encouraged, as we now know Trump down the false and dangerous rabbit hole of conspiracy-induced abyss of untruth. My very first impression of him was that he was a braggart; he loved boasting about himself. And he has fully embraced that trait by supporting the ultimate braggart: disgraced former President Trump. Some of you reading this might have sympathy for the former president or agree with some of his policies. That is fine it is not a question of policy positions. Behavior like Perrys is simply unacceptable. Justice Department officials reported to the New York Times that, because of Perrys intervention, Trump had called Clark directly on multiple occasions and that the two had met in person without alerting Rosen. Justice Department policy stipulates that the president should initially communicate with the attorney general or the deputy attorney general on all matters, and then a lower-level official, if authorized. This is done to prevent any individual, particularly the most powerful individual on the planet, from interfering with an investigation. It is to protect the sanctity of our Constitution. READ MORE: Fact-checking false claims about Pennsylvanias presidential election by Trump and his allies Perry has been at the center of the worst of Trumps lies. He has supported the spread of conspiracy theories and actively deceived his constituents, including suggesting on Tucker Carlsons show that ISIS was responsible for the Las Vegas shooting in 2018. He has pushed baseless stories that have served to radicalize and help detach from reality many in our nation, even opposing a resolution to condemn the harmful QAnon movement. Perry is part of what is wrong with American politics today. He is part of the reason why we, as Americans as neighbors and fellow people have such a difficult time engaging with each other. None of that is what a member of the United States Congress is supposed to do. As the title of U.S. representative suggests, his job is to represent all his constituents, not just the ones who agree with and are ready to support him. He has failed, fantastically, at his job. He has brought shame to our region of Pennsylvania, making us look like coconspirators in his failed attempt to overthrow our American democracy. He must resign. If he does not, Congress should enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution: No person [who] shall be a ... Representative in Congress ..., shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. Central Pennsylvania deserves representation that respects our voters and upholds our Republic. Ryan Sanders is a former candidate for Congress in Pennsylvanias 10th Congressional District, a small business owner, and adjunct professor at the University of Delaware. It wasnt exactly a private afternoon tea in the White House Red Room on Monday, but Annie Lamont joined fellow first ladies and gentlemen from throughout the country Monday in a virtual get together with first lady Dr. Jill Biden. It was very bipartisan, said the venture-capitalist wife of Gov. Ned Lamont, an early supporter of President Joe Biden. Dr. Biden reached out to us in that spirit. The hourlong-Zoom event on Monday was set up last Friday by Bidens staff, and the theme, set by Tracey Quillen Carney, wife of Delaware Gov. John Carney, and Dawn Amano-Ige, wife of Hawaii Gov. Dan Ige, was public service. Tracey Carney gave a very heartfelt introduction, since shes close friends with the Bidens, Lamont recalled of the event. It was great. There were Republican and Democratic first ladies and gentlemen from throughout the country. Lamont said she had met several of her contemporaries in recent years at National Governors Association events, and the subtext of problem-solving was a familiar one. Dr. Biden reached out in that spirit, reminding us that you are all passionate about helping people, Lamont said. She was very inclusive. It was very positive, with a message of unity. Lamont said Susan Hutchinson, wife of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, spoke about her personal campaign against sexual abuse in children. Lamont said the event was even more impressive just a few days into the presidential term. While Lamont said she didnt speak, others who did included Lauren Baker, wife of Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, and Tammy Snyder Murphy, wife of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. Other subjects discussed included the pain of the pandemic and the mental health needs of children. Lamont expects Biden will have follow-up events of the same nature. Looking at the faces on the screen, it looks like shell have a lot of support, Lamont said. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT Reports yesterday reveal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to arrange a visit to Israel by Moroccan King Mohammed VI. Netanyahu would like the king to arrive in Israel in the coming weeks, once the nationwide coronavirus lockdown is lifted. Reportedly, officials from the prime ministers office and officials from Israels National Security Council (NSC) have been in contact recently with officials at the Dar al-Makhzen Palace to advance such a visit. Israels prime minister hopes for the visit to take place before the March 23 elections. Such a visit is expected to appeal to the tens of thousands of Israeli voters of Moroccan origin. Still, chances of the visit taking place before the elections appear slim, as the king is reluctant to assist Netanyahu in his electoral efforts. An unnamed source from Jerusalem was quoted by Yedioth Ahronot newspaper as saying "there are talks and attempts, but I find it hard to see this happening. We know that Balfour (the prime minister's official residence) and the NSC want this to happen, but it is uncertain they will manage to pull it off before the election although the king might change his mind and make a surprise visit." Another obstacle to such a visit is the condition reportedly set by the king, which is to combine a visit to Israel with a visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Former US President Donald Trump had announced on Dec. 10 that Israel and Morocco agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations. Trump had also said that the United States had agreed to recognize Moroccos claim over the disputed Western Sahara region. A joint Israeli-American delegation arrived in Rabat on Dec. 22 for a signature ceremony of several bilateral accords, cementing relations between the two countries. In its contacts with the Trump administration, Morocco originally committed to opening liaison offices rather than embassies. Still, on a Dec. 26 phone conversation with Netanyahu, the Moroccan king said he was committed to opening embassies as part of the next phase of the process, pointing out that such a move would be the "natural next step." During the conversation, the Israeli premier invited the king for a visit. A statement issued by Netanyahus office said, The leaders congratulated each other over the renewal of ties between the countries, the signing of the joint statement with the United States and the agreements between the two countries. Since then, a Moroccan delegation visited Israel to inspect the situation of the building that served some 20 years ago as the countrys liaison office. Israel did the same. David Govrin, who previously served as Israels ambassador to Egypt, opened Israels liaison office in Rabat. Govrin will run the Israeli mission in Rabat until an ambassador is appointed formally. According to reports in recent days, Netanyahu is planning to visit the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as soon as possible once the current coronavirus lockdown ends. Some reports mentioned Feb. 9 or Feb. 11 as possible dates for the visits. Plans for new Welsh-medium primary school in Wrexham backed for approval amid traffic and parking concerns This article is old - Published: Wednesday, Jan 27th, 2021 Plans to create a new Welsh-medium primary school in Wrexham have been backed for approval, despite concerns over parking and traffic issues. Wrexham Council is behind the proposals to transform the existing Borras Park Community Primary School site. It would result in the junior school building being refurbished and expanded to accommodate all pupils being taught in English. The scheme would see ten extra classrooms being built within a two-storey extension, along with a new childcare unit. The current infant school would then be completely remodelled to establish a new Welsh medium school for 210 children to meet the demand for places in the area. The application has been recommended to go ahead by a senior officer in the face of objections from neighbours and community leaders, including members of Acton Community Council. In their response, they said: Acton Community Council welcomes the proposal for a Welsh medium primary school but is of the opinion that the existing Borras Park School site is a poor choice of location as the site was not built for this type of extension and concentration of pupils and vehicles. There are several concerns: there will be an adverse impact on existing traffic congestion in the vicinity of the school particularly as the Cherry Hill Drive, Norfolk Road, Mile Barn Road, Daleside Avenue and Hinsley Drive roads are already gridlocked at the start and the end of the school day with the existing school arrangements. There appear to be insufficient mitigation measures to deal with the additional volume of traffic. The queuing and volume of idling vehicles outside the school at peak times will add to the environmental impact, air pollution and a reduction in the quality of air outside the school. The road infrastructure does not have capacity for the additional traffic that will be generated as a result of siting a second 210 place school on this site. The council originally intended to open the new Welsh school last September by creating a seed school at the former Hafod y Wern Infants School site. However, the plans were delayed after no first choice preferences were received from parents for reception places and only two for the nursery. Executive board members said there was still a need for further Welsh medium places but agreed to postpone opening the school until September this year at the Borras Park Infants site. The local authoritys chief planning officer has also voiced his support for the scheme. In a report, Lawrence Isted said: Consultees, including the community council have raised concerns in relation to potential traffic generation and congestion at peak times. This is an inevitable consequence of the way schools operate, but the problem only occurs for a short period in the morning and mid-afternoon. A series of measures will be introduced to reduce the impact upon highway network at peak times and to encourage more sustainable travel modes. These would include staggered start times for each of the schools, removing staff parking from the street and encouraging car sharing for staff and pupils. He added: I am satisfied that provided staff and visitor demand is provided for on site, the main substance of parking demand throughout the day is catered for. In this instance the additional spaces provided will accommodate for the extra teaching staff and visitors. The proposals will be discussed at a virtual meeting of the councils planning committee being held on Monday, February 1. By Liam Randall BBC Local Democracy Reporter Governor Whitmer Announces Task Force Report and Recommendations to Lower the Cost of Prescription Drugs The governor calls on the legislature to pass series of bills to make prescription drugs more accessible and affordable. This release was issued by Governor Whitmers Office. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 26, 2021 Contact: Press@michigan.gov LANSING, Mich. -- Today, Governor Whitmer announced that the Prescription Drug Task Force she announced during her 2020 State of the State address has released their report and recommendations. Housed within the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Task Force worked with bipartisan members of the legislature to recommend legislation to require transparency, hold accountable those profiting from skyrocketing prices, and help make necessary medications affordable for all Michigan families. Michigan families deserve to know that they can trust and have access to the medicine they need. No one should have to choose between filling needed prescriptions and paying rent or buying food, said Governor Whitmer. I want to thank Senators Brinks and VanderWall and Representatives Witwer, Kuppa, and former representative Vaupel for their bipartisan work on this important report. I am eager to continue to work with the legislature to pass these bipartisan policy recommendations so we can make sure families can get the critical essentials they need without sacrifices. The goal of the Task Force since day one was to find a way to lower the cost of prescriptions for Michigan families, said Elizabeth Hertel, MDHHS director. The policies being recommended today will help make it easier for families to afford necessary medications for conditions including diabetes, heart disease and many others, improving overall health and quality of life for thousands of Michiganders. The work of the Task Force will support our efforts to protect the health and financial wellness of Michiganders as we address the hardships caused by rising prescription drug costs, said Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services Director Anita Fox. Insurers, health care providers, and the pharmaceutical industry all have a role to play in ensuring Michiganders can afford necessary medications, and I look forward to our continued partnership on this important effort. The Task Force recommended the following specific policies among others: Require transparency reports from drug manufacturers, Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and hospitals Require state licensure for Pharmacy Benefit Managers Hold accountable those profiting from skyrocketing prices Help make necessary medications affordable for all Michigan families Over the past six years, the average price of drugs prescribed to treat diabetes, heart disease, depression, and other common conditions has more than doubled. To address these issues among others, the Governor announced a Prescription Drug Task Force last year to develop policy solutions to lower prescription drug costs and create more transparency surrounding prescription drug pricing. Making prescription drugs affordable remains among AARP Michigans highest priorities. We commend the Governor for making it one of Michigans top priorities. Studies show one of three Michiganders do not take all the medications they need because they cant afford it. We can have the best drugs in the world but they wont help people if they are priced out of reach, said Melissa Seifert, Government Affairs, AARP. The Task Force worked with health policy experts and stakeholders to discuss legislative and administrative solutions to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Michigan families. The report outlines key policy solutions and offers recommendations on four key areas: Transparency, Affordability, Accountability, and Accessibility. To view the full report, click the link below: Prescription Drug Task Force Report ### A teacher who faces being struck off for writing an anonymous gossip blog scorning pupils and staff has declared himself a victim of 'cancel culture by the liberal elite'. Alexander Price, 43, passed scathing judgement on everyone from the headmaster to the cleaner while working at Denbigh High School in North Wales. The design and technology teacher even wrote that school girls at prom 'look like Eastern European prostitutes and trans-human Kardashian clones'. He penned 24 blog posts between January 2016 and March 2018 until a colleague stumbled across the online diary and alerted headmaster Dr Paul Evans. Dr Evans realised that one of the articles, titled Liars, Backstabbers and Empire Builders, referred directly to a meeting he had had with Mr Price, who was swiftly suspended pending investigation. Mr Price admits writing the blogs but denies they amount to unacceptable professional conduct. Today at a hearing in Cardiff, he launched a passionate defence of his 'colourful and entertaining' blog and said he was exposing mismanagement at the school. He also doubled down on his reference to the headmaster as Grima Wormtongue, the sycophant character in Lord Of The Rings, saying: 'It was accurate.' Alexander Price, 43, offended pupils, parents and colleagues at Denbigh High School in Denbigh, North Wales, with his mystery blog called 'The Provoked Pedagogue' Headmaster Dr Paul Evans (pictured) realised that one of the articles, titled Liars, Backstabbers and Empire Builders, referred directly to a meeting he had had with Mr Price, who was swiftly suspended pending investigation Speaking at the hearing, Mr Price said: 'I would assert the absolute right to freedom of expression. 'In these times of cancel culture and the ownership of language this is one further example of the liberal elite attempting to sanitise the world with their own brand of passive-aggressive censorship and bullying.' He said: 'Teaching in Wales is in crisis, teaching at Denbigh High School was non-existent in any meaningful sense of the word, fact borne out of its inability to meet even the basic standards of competence. 'The school is run in a shameful way which negatively impacts on the lives of children and their families in one of the poorest wards of the UK. 'Paul Evans treated Denbigh High School like his own personal fiefdom, running roughshod over procedure and bullying those who did not comply with his methods. 'He blamed me directly for failings in his own management and to seek to intimidate me to complying with his unreasonable demands.' Speaking at the hearing, Dr Evans reeled off the rude descriptions given to members of his staff - including references to him as the sycophant character from Lord of the Rings (pictured), 'slithering around the school in a foul mission' Speaking earlier at the hearing, Dr Evans reeled off the rude descriptions Mr Price made about members of his staff. Dr Evans said: 'He refers to the cleaners as uneducated, having less than functional literacy and knowing enough maths to ensure he doesn't get too badly ripped off. He watches the same TV every week and does not aspire to anything more.' 'He refers to me as Grima Wormtongue and I believe this is incredibly derogatory. It's clear anyone with any context of the school would know who he is referring to. 'In one post he refers to 'slithering Grima Wormtongue' getting the job, in respect of me being appointed head teacher. 'He is accusing me of working my way into the good books of the inspector and suggesting I was pulling the wool over the eyes of the inspector.' Dr Evans said he was made aware of The Provoked Pedagogue blogs and Twitter account in February 2018 by another teacher at the school. He said: 'There was a blog with articles and a Twitter account containing tweets about the school. 'Many of the features coincided with specific training days held in school and that they were describing events within our school. 'There are a number of derogatory comments made about pupils, parents, and members of staff at the school throughout the blog posts.' Mr Price (pictured above) left the school in 2019 and now could be struck off the teaching register after being accused of unacceptable professional conduct over the blog posts Denbigh High School in North Wales. The hearing was told the 540-pupil school had been in special measures at the time of Design and Technology teacher Mr Price writing the blog The hearing was told the 540-pupil school had been in special measures at the time of Design and Technology teacher Mr Price writing the blog. Dr Evans added: 'To know that one of our colleagues was letting the world know it was a challenging situation and a lack of leadership and direction showed a lack of loyalty towards the school and what we were trying to do at the time. 'I think many staff would find it hurtful one of their colleagues was being disrespectful and pouring scorn on their efforts. 'I think it's very disrespectful to his colleagues, I think if they were to read that they would find it hurtful.' Quotes from Mr Price's gossip blog Mr Price wrote that girls often ended up looking like a cross between 'Eastern European prostitutes and trans-human Kardashian clones'. He also called prom 'a shallow, vacuous affair, about nothing more than who has spent the most on looking nice'. Mr Price described the event as 'the ugly end of society where only the rich has value and everyone else has to emulate.' He added: 'Tears are assured and will have been flowing freely, family relationships are stretched to breaking point in the quest for the perfect combination of overpriced tat that the teenager thinks they want.' In another post he made up nicknames for his former head teachers calling on 'El Supremo' and another 'Grima Wormtongue' after a character from Lord of the Rings. He described children as 'shameless chicken fillets shoved into criminally expensive and ill-fitting gowns'. Mr Price said: 'I have seen vodka-filled teens covered in their own vomit and door staff leering at underage girls and lads barely through puberty acting like Jordan Belfort or Bob Marley puffing on reefers and snorting coke at the back of poorly prepared venues. 'In reality the only thing you can actually congratulate them on is the fact that they look nice.' Advertisement Mr Price said he had 'no intention' to return to teaching whatever the panel's ruling, but asked them not to 'shoot the messenger' for exposing alleged problems at the school. He said: 'Behaviour was horrendous and unsafe. Drug use was rife. The blog had a tiny readership and was fully anonymous. 'Hundreds of pages of papers and hours and hours of time have been invested to investigate a blog which yielded zero complaints and simply told the anonymous truth. 'The articles are colourful and meant to be entertaining. While it was active I would regularly receive responses asking if I worked at their school - indicating the issues experienced were mirrored and lending strength to the efforts to anonymise the blog.' Mr Price said he hoped his misconduct hearing would 'shine a light' on the 'disgraceful behaviour' of headteacher Dr Evans. 'I hope this shines a further light on the how poorly the children of Denbigh High School are being served.' 'I hope these proceedings finally manage to drive the improvements that all the people served by the school deserve.' Mr Price asked if the panel would 'seek to shoot the messenger.' Presenting officer Ashanti-Jade Walton asked Mr Price if he was sorry about the blog posts relating to the school prom. He replied: 'I'm sorry that so many pupils are forced to do this. That's what I'm sorry about.' In one article titled 'The Problem With Prom', Mr Price called the event 'a shallow, vacuous affair, about nothing more than who has spent the most on looking nice'. The post described children as 'shameless chicken fillets shoved into criminally expensive and ill-fitting gowns'. Dr Evans said Mr Price's blog post about parents and pupils at the school prom was 'extremely hurtful'. He said: 'The pupils are not from rich backgrounds therefore could not be in a position to afford expensive prom gowns or overpriced cosmetics. 'I believe they are wholly derogatory comments about the pupils at the school, disrespectful and seeking to undermine pupils at the school. 'The comments are wholly offensive to parents whose pupils attend the school.' 'For many parents the end of year prom is the pinnacle of completing school... They celebrate their child reaching that particular moment in time. 'The event takes place at the town hall and get large crowds to watch the youngsters in their finery. 'The majority of parents see it as a very worthy event.' He said the way Mr Price described pupils at the prom was 'horrifying': 'It gives the impression there's a low level of aspiration and some of the language was extremely negative and that's not representative of the young people in that year group.' Colin Adkins, Mr Price's union representative said the comments were fair and his own 'reasonable professional opinion' and that neither the school, nor any parent or pupil was identified. Mr Adkins, of NASUWT, said: 'The contents of the blog are true and the attack on Mr Price is an attempt to cover-up the failings of the school. 'Just because these facts are inconvenient to the school should not allow the school to succeed in this cover up. 'The blogs are totally anonymised. There is not one article which mentions a pupil by name, a parent by name, or a member of staff by name.' Mr Price left the school in 2019 and now could be struck off the teaching register after being accused of unacceptable professional conduct over the blog posts. The hearing in Cardiff continues. JeffreyGroup lands BMW Group in Brazil. It will manage media, influencer and internal communications for the BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad brands. The agency will utilize its proprietary reputation management model to support and strengthen BMW Group positioning with local and regional stakeholders. JeffreyGroup has worked with BMW Group Latin America in Mexico since 2019. "As large multinationals and global brands seek transformation across Latin America, we are confident that our proven methodologies and deep understanding of local markets will help them achieve their business and reputational objectives, said JeffreyGroup CEO Brian Burlingame. Champion Management Group comes on board as PR, digital and social media agency of record for SPB Hospitality. Champion began working with several of SPB Hospitalitys brands on a project basis in 2019, including Logans Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, Rock Bottom Brewery and Gordon Biersch. SPB Hospitality operates restaurants and breweries in 39 states and the District of Columbia. As we go about the business of turning around these beloved brands and positioning them for growth, we know that Champion is the best partner for the job, said SPB Hospitality chief experience officer Josh Kern. Two by Four wins American Osteopathic Association. Two by Four will partner with the AOA to increase visibility and understanding of osteopathic medicine and the role of osteopathic physicians in the U.S. health care system. The scope includes creative, production, strategy, media, public relations and account management. We have tasked Two by Four with creating disruptive marketing that clearly communicates the distinctive value of the osteopathic profession, said American Osteopathic Assocation CEO Kevin Klauer. Grant PR signs on as agency of record for Manhattan-based commercial and residential owner/developer Hirschfield Properties. The agency will provide media relations services and writing, as well as arranging strategic alliances. The agency has also been named AOR for two other real estate companiesDynamic Star, a Connecticut-based developer that has major projects in New York City and Real Estate Group, a Southern New Jersey-based residential real estate brokerageand has added architectural firm Meltzer/Mandl and forensic accounting firm Risk Accounts to its portfolio of AOR relationships. Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. Lyons said the city had a $5 million surplus in the general fund by the end of 2020, and a cash balance overall of about $14 million more than the end of 2019. If the CARES Act relief money had not come in, the city would have had about a $6 million deficit in the general fund, which still would have had the city in a stable position, Lyons said. New Delhi: Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan married his ladylove Natasha Dalal in an intimate ceremony on January 24, 2021 at Alibaug. Newlywed Varun took to his social media to thank people for showering him and his wife with all the love and blessings. Taking to Twitter, the Coolie No. 1 actor wrote: "The last few days me and natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. The last few days me and natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart VarunDhawan (@Varun_dvn) January 27, 2021 Sharing a picture from his wedding day with Natasha and the Shaadi Squad, his wedding planners, Varun also expressed gratitude to them. Have a look at the tweet: Varun and Natasha got married in the presence of their family and close friends at The Mansion House resort in Alibaug, Maharashtra. Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Zoa Morani and Kunal Kohli were among those who attended the wedding. Posting a picture with the groom, Karan, who directed Varun in Student of the Year, penned a heartfelt note for the couple on January 25. The filmmaker wrote, I am filled with a multitude of emotions and memories as I write this post! I still remember meeting this kid in goa! Long hair, big dreams in his eyes and a swag that was waiting to explode on celluloid! A few years later he was was my Assistant on MNIK! I silently observed his determined sincerity and also how hilarious he can be ...sometimes even unintentionally! When he faced the camera for me for the first time I developed an immediately protective feeling of love and care for him..: almost assuming the role of a parent.... that feeling today came alive in abundance as I saw him walk with his loved one around the holy fire of trust and commitment... my boy is all grown up and ready for this beautiful phase in his life... congratulations my darling Natasha and Varun! My blessings and love forever ....love you. On the work front, Varun was last seen in his father David Dhawans Coolie No. 1, opposite Sara Ali Khan. He also has Jug Jugg Jeeyo and Shashank Khaitans Rannbhoomi in the pipeline. The 43-year-old suspect has been detained while an investigation is underway A doctor in China has died after he was attacked by a former patient who reportedly blamed the medic for not curing him. The 38-year-old cardiologist, Hu Shuyun, was stabbed by the knife-wielding man while doing a ward round on Tuesday morning at the Jishui County Peoples Hospital in eastern Jiangxi province. Dr Hu, who suffered critical injuries, was pronounced dead early Wednesday after all efforts had failed. The 38-year-old cardiologist, Hu Shuyun, was stabbed by the knife-wielding man while doing a ward round on Tuesday morning at the Jishui County Peoples Hospital in Jiangxi province A 43-year-old suspect, known by his surname Zeng, was detained following the attack, police said. An investigation is underway. The authorities did not specify the motive of the attack, but Chinese media reported that Mr Zeng had been treated by Dr Hu a year ago. But the patient had left the hospital without permission and refused to cooperate with the treatment prescribed by the cardiologist, a doctor at the hospital told Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper. [He] blamed the doctor after relapsing, the anonymous medic added. Footage obtained by Chinese media appears to show the aftermath of the attack as the cardiologist lying on a hospital bed while large blood splatters covered the room. Footage obtained by Chinese media appears to show the aftermath of the attack as the cardiologist lying on a hospital bed while large blood splatters covered the room According to a statement by the hospital, Dr Hu was transferred to the provincial capital of Nanchang after receiving on-site emergency care. At about 3am on Wednesday, the doctor was pronounced dead after all efforts to save him had been unsuccessful. Dr Hu was described by his wife and colleagues as a responsible and kind doctor who was passionate about his work. His partner told The Beijing News: My husband spends his day between the hospital and home. He would read and work more after he gets home and he rarely goes out. My mind is all blank right now, the woman said. The attack, highlighting the long-existing issue of violence against medics in the country, shocked the Chinese public as well as the authorities. China's National Health Commission issued a statement today, condemning the attack and expressing its deep condolences to Dr Hus family. Violence against doctors has become an increasing issue in China. Pictured, a man has blood taken for nucleic acid testing at a hospital in Xuhui district in Shanghai on June 15, 2020 The Tuesday attack came just days after three medics were injured in an explosion at a hospital in eastern city Hangzhou after a disgruntled patient placed a homemade bomb at the facility in revenge. Violence against doctors has become an increasing issue in China. According to a Chinese Medical Doctor Association survey conducted in 2016 and 2017, 66 per cent of the 146,000 doctors surveyed said they had suffered physical or verbal assaults from patients. And since 2016, at least 7,816 people have been prosecuted for the crime of intentionally injuring medical staff or inciting crowds at hospitals. Robert Ozuna pulled up a chair, received a swab, listened to brief instructions, and then swabbed his right nostril for about 10-15 seconds. Just like that, the fifth-grade teacher at Elolf Elementary School had completed a COVID-19 test and was told he would have results within 24 hours. Nearly 200 students, teachers and staff members at Elolf in the Judson Independent School District flowed through the schools library last week to conduct the self-administered COVID-19 tests, under the watchful eyes of Community Labs employees. From senior staffers and teachers to kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students, tests were administered on a voluntary basis. San Antonios Community Labs contracted with the Texas Division of Emergency Management to launch the testing program Jan. 21 in Judson, which is actually our first state-funded school that were going to be working with, said Sal Webber, Community Labs president. What were trying to do is test as many people as possible to find those silent spreaders and get them out of the population, Webber said. Community Labs began testing in the Somerset School District back in September as part of its pilot program. Somerset was done for free as a pilot program; subsequent school district efforts were achieved through philanthropic support and public funding. With Judson, well be performing 2,200 over two days of district-wide testing. Were going to do about 10,000 total across the city today, he added. Nicole Taguinod, Judson spokeswoman, said the tests were being done at all 30 district campus sites across the two-day span. Community Labs will then return every week to retest students and staff, as well as work in new students whose parents have relented and completed permission slips for the testing. Theres a 24-hour turnaround, which is our key tenet, Webber said. If someone is positive, weve got to let them know as quickly as possible. Working with schools like this, a report of a positive test would go to that principal and the school nurse as fast as possible, so they can go locate the child. Each of the districts has contract tracing protocols in place, he added. Webber said the positivity rate for schools hovers between 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent a less than 1 percent positivity rate for positive COVID-19 results and asymptomatic cases as well. Our positivity rate in schools averages out to less than 1 percent. When parents and teachers and children hear that, what weve seen in the schools is that in-person attendance starts coming up, Webber said. And when more kids show up, we dont see the positivity rate increase thats what Im saying about that trust and confidence that schools can still be safe. Taguinod said the testing will provide the district with valuable insight on making decisions about in-person learning and trying to get our kids back on campus to learn and have those experience that they deserve, that they need to be able to thrive. Webber agreed, saying the more data and feedback parents receive, the sooner they can make informed decisions about returning to school. What we provide is trust and confidence that the children are going to be safe, the staff is going to be safe, the bus drivers are going to be safe, he said. When we go into a district, we try to test everyone. We can give them the positivity rating, so people can then make the decision, is it a safe environment or not? At less than one percent, Webber said other school districts saw increased returns in the weeks that followed. The first week is always a little lighter, but that picks up each week. With Somerset, it went from 30 percent in-person attendance to over 70 percent. Each week there are new children coming in with consent forms from parents, he added. Taguinod said the district shares Webbers optimism of testing and the figures that come with the rapid response. There is certainly a hope that providing this type of testing would create a peace of mind among parents that are very hesitant and dont want to send their kids, she said. There is definitely a hope that providing this type of testing, where ... parents can see the low rate, and see that were identifying early, will (reinforce) that its a more safe environment to be able to send their student, she said. Ozuna, in his 25th year of teaching, said he had three students in class Wednesday while the rest were utilizing the extra two weeks of virtual instruction offered by the district and permitted by state regulations. He was accompanied to the Covid-19 testing by one student who presented the signed consent form to the Community Labs employees administering the tests. My student and I were little apprehensive about it, but it was very easy, he said. When we got back to the classroom, we shared with the other students that, Hey, its not that bad at all. Ozuna said JISD administration has been good about providing the campuses with up-to-to-minute information. Our school leadership and our senior leadership at central office has been on it all the time. And they are now providing this opportunity so that we dont have to traipse all over the city looking for a test, he said. I was sharing with my students, its always better to know than to not know. Community Labs will return on Wednesdays to Elolf, where Taguinod and Webber both expect to start seeing an increase in testing numbers. jflinn@express-news.net .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... DENVER Residents have launched an effort to get a measure on the November ballot that would explore a Colorado county becoming part of Wyoming. A Colorado campaign finance disclosure website showed that Christopher Richards registered political committee Weld County Wyoming last February, KDVR-TV reported. Its pushing a ballot measure that would instruct Weld County commissioners to engage and explore the annexation with Wyoming. The county just east of Fort Collins has a population of more than 324,000 people. Richards said during a November meeting that he got the idea in 2019 after reading an opinion article in The Denver Post and began pursuing the idea through a Facebook page. Were going to move a county to a different state, he said, adding that the effort would just redraw the state lines to exclude Weld County from Colorado and include it within Wyoming borders instead. Someone else at the meeting, which was posted online, said Colorado is at war with three major economic drivers for Weld County: small businesses, agriculture, and oil and gas. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Officials in Colorado pushed back on the idea. I absolutely love living in Colorado. For those that dont love living here, there are certainly less ridiculous ways of moving to Wyoming, Greeley City Council member Tommy Butler told KDVR-TV. Erie Mayor Jennifer Carroll said if the proposal makes it on the ballot, residents would have much to consider and it could be a long process. There are a lot of consideration(s) for Weld County voters if they want to secede to Wyoming: income tax, personal property tax, corporate state income tax, retirement income tax, gas tax, severance taxes on oil and gas, and water rights to name a few, Carroll said in a statement. If Weld County residents approve the ballot question, the Colorado legislature has to approve it, the Wyoming legislature has to approve it, and its possible both Colorado voters and Congress will need to approve it as well. A similar idea proposed in 2013 aimed to form a new state with several northern Colorado counties but failed. It passed in five of the 11 Colorado counties where it appeared on the ballot. Research News Expert on nanoporous materials and chemical separations joins UB By CORY NEALON An internationally recognized expert on nanoporous materials and chemical separations has joined UBs RENEW Institute and the faculty of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Miao Yu will serve as an Empire Innovation Professor in RENEW an interdisciplinary institute dedicated to research and education on globally pressing problems in energy, environment and water and in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE). His appointment was announced by RENEW Director Amit Goyal and Kemper Lewis, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who said in a joint statement that Yu will boost UB's position as a premier public research university and will significantly impact the RENEW Institute. Yus work aligns with RENEW's Next-Generation Materials & Technologies for Energy, Environment, & Water Sustainability focus area. Sustainable energy, environment, water and food, to a large extent, depend on the ability to acquire, capture and utilize small molecules of water, ammonia, carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane, ethanol and liquid hydrocarbons. Precisely designing stable, molecular-scale pores for sieving these valuable molecules either from the final product or during their production processes could be an effective way of acquiring these molecules. Considering the very small sizes less than a nanometer of these molecules and the tiny size difference from their contaminants and/or byproducts, it is challenging to design these molecular-scale pores, especially using stable and desired materials. One of the most important research directions of Yu's group is CO 2 capture and utilization. He is leading or taking part in three Department of Energy (DOE) projects on CO 2 capture from both flue gas and air, and two DOE projects on CO 2 conversion to liquid fuels. Yus long-term goals are to commercialize technologies developed from his research to impact energy, environment, water and food through the design of novel and scalable functional nanoporous materials and structures. This work is guided by deep fundamental understanding of materials synthesis and growth mechanisms, and their structure and property relationship. Prior to joining UB, Yu was an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He served as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina from 2012-17, and an assistant research professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder from 2010-12. Yu has published about 70 peer-reviewed papers two in Science and others in Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nano Letters, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, ACS Catalysis, Chemical Communications, among others. He received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2015, and has secured roughly $20 million in research funds. Yu has transferred four DOE research grants totaling more than $2 million to UB. Earlier this month, the DOE awarded approximately $2 million from its new Advanced Manufacturing Office program to E2H2Nano, Yu's startup company, to explore ammonia synthesis, with a subcontract to UB of roughly $500,000. Yu received a PhD in chemical engineering from University of Colorado, Boulder in 2007, and an MS in chemical engineering Tianjin University, China, in 2002. He was as a postdoctoral researcher at Boulder from 2007-10. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The chickens have come home to roost for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. Kenney bet around $1.5 billion of public money on a very risky prospectthe highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline. U.S. President Joe Biden, to the surprise of no one but Kenney, followed through on an election promise and canceled a key permit for the pipeline on the first day of his administration. Now the premier is scrambling for a way to recoup some of Alberta's losses, and he sees a trade agreement as offering some hope. The former North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) contained a chapter on investment that allowed foreign investors to sue governments in international arbitration. The owner of Keystone XLTC Energy (previously TransCanada)used NAFTA to launch a US$15 billion lawsuit in 2016 after President Barack Obama canceled the project. At the time, some legal experts thought the company had a reasonable chance of winning. We will never know, because the case was dropped when President Donald Trump indicated he was willing to let the project proceed. This time may be different if TC Energy chooses to proceed with a claim. NAFTA has been replaced by a new agreementthe U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Unlike NAFTA, USMCA does not permit Canadian investors to sue the U.S. government (or American investors to sue the Canadian government). Legacy claims for investments that had occurred prior to the USMCA coming into force are permitted until 2023. But TC Energy's claim may now be weaker because the permit issued by the Trump administration explicitly stated that it could be rescinded, essentially at the president's whim. Nevertheless, many investors have proceeded with claims on the basis of much weaker cases. Investors bet on positive outcomes in arbitration, as much as they bet on governments not taking action to halt catastrophic climate change. This is because the anticipated rewards, in both instances, are high. Risky business One example of an incredibly dubious investor claim is the one launched by Westmoreland Mining Holdings against Canada in 2018. Ironically, this case concerns action that the previous Alberta government took to address climate change. Alberta's 2015 Climate Leadership Plan included a provincial phaseout of coal power, which left Westmorelandan American coal mining firmwithout a future market for its coal. The company is arguing that Alberta's failure to provide Westmoreland with "transition payments," like those that power companies received, is a breach of NAFTA. The case is ongoing and outcomes of arbitration are very difficult to predict. But it demonstrates a concerning trend, as do other cases that have emerged in Europe. Fossil fuel companies have been well aware of the damage their industry causes for decades, yet they have exerted substantial efforts to try to slow climate action. They have taken bets on risky investments in the hopes that governments would continue to dither as the planet burns. Now that climate action is starting to ramp up, they want to be "compensated" for their losses. A global problem Climate activists may be tempted to dismiss the threat that investment treaties pose to action on climate change. After all, the Canadian and U.S. governments have the resources to rigorously defend themselves in arbitration and they often win. Indeed, the U.S. has never lost a case. Furthermore, governments already subsidize the industry to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars per year, so is a few more billion in "compensation" really going to make much of a difference? The problem is that climate change is a global issue and so too is the coverage of investment treaties. Many of the fossil fuel reserves that need to stay in the ground and assets that need to be stranded in order for us to remain below 1.5C of warming are in the Global South. Number and percentage of foreign-owned coal plants protected by at least one treaty with investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in place, by host state. Credit: Kyla Tienhaara and Lorenzo Cotula, Author provided For example, a large number of planned and newly operating coal-fired power plants are in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam. A recent study found that many of these plants are protected by investment treaties. These countries have fewer resources for fighting claims and a much poorer record of success in arbitration. A real concern is that even the threat of a big investor claim could be enough to dissuade one of these governments from taking action to phase out coal. A global solution We need climate action to happen everywhere, not just in the countries where governments can afford to fight legal challenges. This is one of the reasons why many are calling for radical reform or complete abolition of international investment treaties. In Europe, campaigners are making headway on efforts to remove protection for fossil fuel investments from the Energy Charter Treaty. Countries like South Africa are pushing for investment treaties to be aligned with the Paris Agreement and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Researchers have also suggested that the problems with investment treaties could be addressed with a Global Green New Deal. In the meantime, the Canadian public should make it clear to TC Energy and Jason Kenney that they should drop any plans to pursue a legal challenge, and own up to the fact that they alone are responsible for their own poor investment decisions. Explore further The fossil fuel era is coming to an end, but the lawsuits are just beginning This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban remains on the agenda of bilateral relations, and the two countries' foreign ministers are working on its effectiveness, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. He said this at a joint press conference with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in Kyiv on Wednesday, January 27, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. Kuleba noted that he and Szijjarto talked "constructively and substantively." "We have both confirmed today that the meeting between our leaders - President Zelensky and Prime Minister Orban - remains on the agenda. We will work hard to make it as effective as possible and to make sure this meeting turns over a new leaf in bilateral relations," Kuleba said. Szijjarto is on a working visit to Ukraine on January 27 at Kuleba's invitation. op New Delhi: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital. Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border, a major protest site against the three new farm laws. Tractor rally A senior farmer leader said, "The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi". The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi. After violence broke out during the tractor parade on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had called off the parade and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites. Photo The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence in several area that has left over 300 policemen injured. The Kisan Morcha had disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade, and alleged that some "antisocial elements" infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Any physician who brazenly pilfers doses of the all-too-scarce COVID-19 vaccine for their own personal use should expect to hear from local prosecutors. But theres a difference between such an outright villain and a physician who simply runs afoul of state or local guidelines during the course of efforts to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible, during this relatively early phase of the nationwide rollout. Dr. Hasan Gokal, according to many observers, is an example of the latter case. Gokal was fired earlier this month from his post at Harris County Public Health after a colleague reported that he had taken a vial of the Moderna vaccine from a county vaccination site in Humble and given the doses it contained to a number of personal contacts, including his wife. He was also charged, last week, with theft by a public servant. He abused his position to place his friends and family in line in front of people who had gone through the lawful process to be there, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a Jan. 21 statement announcing the charges. What he did was illegal and hell be held accountable under the law. Harris County Court-At-Law Judge Franklin Bynum, who dismissed the case on Monday, took a markedly different view of the situation. In a scathing ruling, he accused Oggs office of charging Gokal based on the novel theory that his administration of vaccine doses outside of the countys procedures which are not described with any detail was tantamount to theft. The Court emphatically rejects this attempted imposition of the criminal law on the professional decisions of a physician, Bynum wrote. His ruling isnt the final word on the subject; prosecutors plan to pursue the case. Right now, they anticipate presenting all the evidence to a grand jury so that a group of citizens in the community can decide if they think a criminal charge is warranted, Ogg spokesman Dane Schiller told me. The citizens who serve on that grand jury will have to grapple with some interesting questions. Gokals lawyer, Paul Doyle, says that Oggs summary omitted important context. In Doyles telling, Gokal found himself with a nearly-full vial of the Moderna vaccine at the end of his shift, and didnt want to see it go to waste; once the seal on the vial is punctured, the vaccine it contains has a shelf life of about six hours. To that end, Doyle says, Gokal scrambled to find eligible takers, first asking the health workers and law enforcement officers on site, then reaching out to someone at the health department, and eventually resorting to his own contacts. Its easy to understand how a physician could end up in such a situationand to sympathize with their desire to act. But worth noting is that while Doyles and Oggs versions of events cast Gokal in a very different light, they arent exactly in conflict. By all accounts, Gokal did appropriate nine doses of the vaccine, as the charging documents put it. Its just difficult to judge him harshly for having done so, if those doses would otherwise have gone to waste or even if Gokal was simply under the impression that would happen. Indeed, with the vaccines still in scarce supply and herd immunity as yet a far-off goal, we all have a vested interest in not seeing available doses go to waste. And the risk of that happening is real given the short shelf life of COVID-19 vaccines. In another case earlier this month, the staff at a northern California hospital scrambled to inoculate anyone available after learning that a freezer storing some 800 doses of the vaccine was on the fritz. With the clock ticking, they simply set aside the state guidelines; understandable enough. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for his part, has signaled that public health professionals in his state should have some latitude to use their judgment in such cases. The key is to make sure that, while we are enforcing the rules of the road, were arent enforcing against just common sense, Newsom said. Although Newsom has been criticized for mishandling other aspects of the pandemic response, this seems like a reasonable perspective and one our leaders should embrace. The district attorney places the entire medical community in the position of choosing between performing the public good and preserving their own careers, said Doyle, after Oggs office announced they would continue to pursue the case. Gokal, it is worth noting, has a track record in the Houston medical community. According to a 2010 Houston Chronicle article, the Pakistan native, who grew up outside New York and received his medical degree from Syracuse University, joined the staff of Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital in 2009 and served as director of emergency services. He traveled to Iraq in 2010 to help train doctors in advanced cardiac life support and critical care medicine. Guidelines are necessary, obviously, to ensure some degree of transparency and equity in the vaccine distribution process and we shouldnt turn a blind eye if public health professionals flout the parameters that have been established. But to harshly penalize a physician who is simply trying to vaccinate as many people as possible would set a similarly bad precedent. erica.grieder@chron.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In a letter to the Speaker, Chautala slammed the Centre for imposing the 'black laws' on farmers in an 'undemocratic way' and said the farming community in the entire country is opposing these legislations Indian National Lok Dal leader Abhay Singh Chautala on Wednesday tendered his resignation as MLA from the Haryana Assembly over the three new farm laws. Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said he has accepted Abhay Chautala's resignation with immediate effect. Abhay Chautala mentioned that he has resigned as farmers' demands have not been met, Gupta told reporters in Chandigarh. The 57-year-old INLD leader was the party's lone MLA in the 90-member State Assembly and represented the Ellenabad seat. Abhay Chautala, who is the younger son of INLD president and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, drove to the state assembly complex in a green tractor to submit his resignation. Earlier this month, the legislator had written to the Haryana Assembly speaker, saying if the Centre does not withdraw the three new farm laws by 26 January, then his letter may be considered as his resignation as MLA from the House. In the letter to Gupta, Abhay Chautala had slammed the Centre for imposing the "black laws" on farmers in an "undemocratic way" and said the farming community in the entire country is opposing these legislations. After Abhay Chautala's resignation, the Haryana Assembly now has 40 MLAs of BJP, 10 of ally JJP, 31 members of main opposition Congress and one MLA of Haryana Lokhit Party. Seven members are Independents, out of whom five including Power Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala support the ruling combine. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Department of Justice will be pump 4.3m into projects to tackle the massive problem of children being groomed into organised crime gangs Gardai and other State agencies will intervene in cases of suspected grooming of children for involvement in gang crime no matter how young the child is under the terms of new legislation which the Government is introducing. This was confirmed by a Department of Justice source who revealed that 4.3m will be pumped into projects to tackle the massive problem of children being groomed into organised crime gangs. The department says research indicates that over 1,000 children across the State could be involved with a criminal network. Justice Minister Helen McEntee today launched new research published by the University of Limerick and announced the start of a newly designed community intervention programme based on that research. Known as the Greentown project, researchers built a picture of the various ways children get drawn in, with many brought into the criminal world through friendships or after being groomed by mid-ranking young adults in their areas who are governed by people higher up in the pecking order. In a statement Justice Minister McEntee said :I would like to thank Dr Sean Redmond and his colleagues for authoring these reports. It is vital that we break the link between criminal gangs and the young people they try to recruit into a life of crime. We must break the cycle of criminality as early as possible and the Greentown project gives us the tools we need to stop criminal gangs persuading young people to join their networks. The research and evidence demonstrates that this is a serious issue and one which demands a serious and rapid criminal justice response. The fact that an estimated 1,000 children across the State are engaged with criminal networks illustrates the work we have to do. Our plans to outlaw the grooming of children into crime is a clear signal that we are serious about stopping the gangs from leading our young into a life of crime. Speaking about the project, Dr Sean Redmond, Adjunct Professor of Youth Justice at University of Limerick and principal investigator for the Greentown project said: This is the culmination of five years work spent trying to lift the lid on how criminal networks in Ireland exploit children to commit crime. The three case studies have dug deep into networks in Greentown, Redtown and Bluetown. In particular, we were interested in how they suck children in with promises of bling and a party lifestyle and retain them through debts, obligations and fear. The national prevalence study that we are also launching today, with huge support from Garda Juvenile Liaison Officers, gives us an idea of the size of the problem. We estimate approximately 1,000 children across the State are engaged or at risk of engagement with a criminal network. From a child protection perspective, these children are clearly being exploited by adults. From a law enforcement perspective, they appear to commit a significantly disproportionate amount of youth related crime. Ms McEntee has introduced specific legislation to attempt to tackle the massive problem head-on with offenders facing up to five years in jail if convicted of the crime. The Indian Embassy here donated books to 50 libraries and educational institutions on the occasion of India's Republic Day on Tuesday. Indian Ambassador to Nepal V M Kwatra felicitated war widows and the next of kins of deceased soldiers by disbursing 3.68 crore rupees, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy. Kwatra also hoisted the tricolour and read out the message of President Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion. A reception was also organised at the Indian Embassy which was attended by Nepal's Foreign Minister Pradip Gyawali among others. Nepal's former president Ram Baran Yadav on the occasion also launched India-Nepal Alumni Network's website samparkbharatnepal.com. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) A distraught mother who lost her toddler son in Kmart found him thanks to a clever trick she learned on TikTok. As soon as she noticed her two-year-old was missing, the woman's friend rushed to the front of the store and gave staff a description of the boy so they could prevent him from leaving either alone or with a stranger. Frantic at the thought of her son being frightened, the mum was beside herself until she remembered a video she had seen on the TikTok account of American parenting blogger, Jess Martini. If a child goes missing in a public place, Ms Martini advises mums to 'screw the stares and start calling out their description'. This alerts others to the situation and prompts them to keep an eye out for the child, while the commotion should also deter an abductor in the event of kidnapping. The woman walked around the store, shouting her son's description at the top of her lungs. 'I'm missing a little boy, he's wearing a yellow shirt and has brown hair,' she said. 'He's two years old and his name is Nathan.' She was delighted to see shoppers immediately drop their purchases to help her search for her little boy. This quick thinking paid off just minutes later when a man spotted Nathan and reunited him with his mum. The woman shared her experience in an Australian Facebook group, urging fellow parents to follow suit if their kids ever wander off. 'Today I lost my two-year-old for 10 minutes in Kmart,' the mum wrote, adding: 'It was the scariest 10 minutes of my life. She said using Ms Martini's tip for repeating her son's description prompted every adult within earshot to throw aside what they were looking at to help. 'To all parents out there, if your child goes missing, do not search in silence or just call out their name. Shout out loud and clear. Say they're missing, give a description and repeat, repeat, repeat!' she wrote. 'Everyone will be on alert, and if someone is trying to take off with your kid, it will decrease the chances of them getting away.' If a child goes missing in a public place, American parenting blogger Jess Martini says you should 'screw the stares' and start shouting their description as loud as you can (stock image) Her post drew praise from fellow mothers, with many vowing to share the hack with their friends. 'I've seen that video too and it's stuck in my head,' one woman said. 'It's amazing what we can learn off each other. I'm so glad you can give Nate the biggest cuddle and I'm sending you one as well.' 'You made the difference... You made the difference. Brilliant mum,' a second added. 'Thank you for sharing,' said a third. 'I needed this info this afternoon. I won't forget now.' Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Local attorney Jason Katims is offering Austin-area residents speeding ticket consultations to determine whether they should fight their case in court. One of Katims practice areas is representing clients in traffic violation cases. When it comes to speeding, most Texans simply opt to pay a ticket and move on, not realizing that by doing so, they are pleading guilty and taking a conviction on their driving record. An attorney can fight a ticket for a speeding violation and prevent insurance rates from increasing and points from accumulating, potentially adding up to a suspension or loss of license. Many people are unaware that they are not obligated to pay the fine for a traffic ticket. An attorney can help fight a ticket in or out of courtand many Texans are surprised that the attorneys fees are less than the fine they might have paid for their ticket. When potential clients meet with Katims to discuss their cases, he will listen to the circumstances surrounding their situation and give them a detailed explanation of what they can expect should they decide to move forward with having his firm represent them in court, including the process of fighting a ticket and the expenses involved. During these consultations, legal advice is not given, but should a client decide to move forward and hire the firm, work on the case will begin immediately. The best time to contact an attorney is immediately after a speeding ticket, but the next best time is now. About Jason A. Katims, PLLC Jason A. Katims is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Williamson County Bar Association, the Texas Independent Bar Association, and the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He founded the Law Office of Jason A Katims, PLLC in 2018. A Texas native, Katims earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Washington University in 2015. The Law Office of Jason A. Katims, PLLC is located at 608 W. 12th Street, Austin TX 78701 and can be reached by phone at 512-900-9769 or online at http://www.jasonkatims.com. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. As the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened, families and inexperienced hikers have fled large metropolitan areas they would usually spend their free time in and have literally ran for the hills. As state park visitation skyrocketed at some Texas parks over 2020, rescues of hikers also increased. At Big Bend State Park, the largest park in the state, staff reported 23 rescues last year, more than double the 11 recorded in 2019 before the pandemic, as reported by Texas Monthly Magazine. Their story opens with the rescue of a 45-year-old San Antonio man, whose rescue called for four hours from 13 crew members and lots of equipment. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers in Woodland Hills, Calif., has added Jessica James to the firm. James focuses on construction, environmental, professional liability, non-profits, cannabis and lessors risk. She has more than 21 years of experience in the industry as both a business owner and risk management professional. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers is a privately owned broker with offices throughout the country. Topics California Agencies An agreement will be signed this week, according to a report by the Zambian National Broadcasting Corp , citing President Edgar Lungu. "Glencore confirms that it is in final-stage negotiations relating to a possible sale of Carlisas 90% stake in Mopani to ZCCM," Glencore said in a statement. ... Relatives of at least 34 Yemenis alleged to have been killed in American military actions have asked an international human rights body to determine whether the deaths were unlawful, in a case that could draw attention to the human cost of overseas counterterrorism campaigns. The petition, the first of its kind to be submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, asserts that six drone strikes and one Special Operations raid targeting Yemen's al-Bayda governorate during the Obama and Trump administrations inflicted catastrophic damage on two families. Among the dead, the survivors say, were nine children and several members of Yemen's military. The filing provides new visibility into a counterterrorism campaign that has mostly been shrouded in secrecy, as American military and intelligence officials conduct an extended effort against al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and other militant threats. Since 2015, a parallel conflict between Yemen's Houthi rebels and forces backed by Saudi Arabia has made communication and media access more difficult, further thrusting the war against extremists into the shadows. The petition, submitted on behalf of a group of Yemenis by the London-based human rights group Reprieve, which has documented the aftermath of U.S. counterterrorism operations, argues that the repeated targeting of the two families, in addition to lives lost, has taken a psychological toll on survivors. "Having already suffered enormous loss, the families live in constant fear that the drones flying overhead will strike again, killing more members of their family or their extended tribe or community," Jennifer Gibson, a lawyer with Reprieve, said in one of the petition documents. A determination in favor of the Yemeni petitioners by the commission, an independent body affiliated with the Organization of American States, would not necessarily force changes in U.S. military operations or policy. But it could have symbolic importance in highlighting the unintended outcome of counterterrorism operations. "A decision from the [commission] concluding that the U.S. is responsible for a particular human rights violation carries legal and moral weight internationally. It is also an important tool in creating pressure and opportunities to engage the government on reforms," said Lisa Reinsberg, the executive director of the International Justice Resource Center. "On the flip side, a lot depends on political will at the national level," she said. Last year, the Inter-American Commission declared that the United States was responsible for torture in the case of a former inmate at the Guantanamo Bay prison. Lt. Col. Anton Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the petition but said the U.S. military sought to minimize civilian harm when planning and conducting operations. "Consistent with our mission, our authorities, and our obligations under the law of war, [U.S. Central Command] will continue to conduct military actions in Yemen when required to protect the nation and our allies and partners from al-Qaeda and [Islamic State] terror cells," he said in a statement. The filings contain new details on how rural life and counterterrorism concerns have collided in Bayda, an area of central Yemen that officials have also described as a hotbed of AQAP activity. The group was long known as one of the most virulent branches of al-Qaida, responsible for repeated plots against the United States, including an attempted airliner bombing in 2009. In the petition, a Yemeni man named Aziz al-Ameri, speaking on behalf of his family and the closely linked al-Taisy family, denies links to militants, saying those killed were mostly shepherds, farmers and their families. The military actions cited in the petition date to the Obama administration, when a U.S. drone struck a wedding convoy in December 2013 and, according to the filing, killed several members of the Ameri family and five of the Taisy family. The Yemeni government paid more than $1 million in compensation to the families of those killed and injured, money that Reprieve has suggested may have come from the United States. The other six actions occurred during the Trump administration, when the pace of counterterrorism operations accelerated in Yemen as the new president loosened operational rules and new intelligence fueled additional operations. From 2017 to 2019, the military reported more than 160 strikes, the majority of which Reprieve said were carried out in Bayda. One occurred days after Trump took office, when a raid on the village of Yaklaa resulted in a major firefight, killing a Navy SEAL and multiple civilians. After an inquiry, military leaders said that as many as 12 civilians had died. But according to the petition, the toll was far higher, with 26 people killed, including at least 10 children, including a full-term baby who was injured by a bullet in the womb and died after being delivered by Caesarean section. Abdullah al-Taisy, a Yemeni soldier who lives in Yaklaa and witnessed the raid, said none of those killed were militants. "Our houses and farmers are clear. No one is a member of any terrorist groups," he said in a phone interview from Yemen. Like the Ameri family, Taisy called for greater accountability and fair compensation. The raid, which U.S. officials said yielded significant intelligence about AQAP, produced a string of follow-on strikes in the same area. According to the petition, a September 2018 strike killed two men serving as soldiers for Yemen's internationally recognized government, which works closely with U.S. allies to battle the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. "How come they can target official military personnel who were on a military mission?" asked Ahmed al-Helou, another Yemeni colonel who worked with Abdullah al-Taisy. "They seem not to understand the difference between the local community and the militants." The Yemenis asked the commission to urge the United States to take immediate steps to prevent further loss of life while commissioners consider the petition, a process that could take years. Maryland officials have delayed the release of a draft study exploring where to build a third span for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, saying they had to postpone federally required public hearings because of the worsening pandemic. The study, which analyzed the community and environmental impacts of three potential corridors for an additional span, was scheduled to be released in the fall, said John Sales, spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority. Public hearings on the findings were scheduled for this winter. The state was on track to meet that schedule, Sales said, until coronavirus infection rates and "associated restrictions" increased. A plan to release the findings in December also was pushed back because of climbing coronavirus case numbers, he said. "Proceeding with publishing the [draft study] and scheduling public hearing would not have been a safe choice while health officials were telling Marylanders they would be safer at home," Sales said. He declined to say why the state could not publish the findings before it reschedules the hearings. The authority owns and operates the toll bridge. The delays were previously reported by the Capital Gazette newspaper. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, announced the $5 million draft environmental impact study in 2016 to explore ways to expedite cross-bay travel. Building a third span, Hogan has said, is the "only serious way" to reduce hours-long traffic backups. Some local leaders and residents on both sides of the bridge say they are concerned about the effects that a wider Route 50 and more spillover bridge traffic would have on communities and the environment. A state report released in September made clear that the Maryland was homing in on a site adjacent to the two existing spans. The authority has not released a construction time frame, a way to pay for it or a cost estimate beyond "multiple billions of dollars." A second study, which would take three to five years and has no funding, would be required before a specific alignment could be selected, Sales said. The Maryland Department of Transportation hosted four public hearings online in August and September for a similar study regarding adding toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270. Two other hearings were held in Prince George's and Montgomery counties with rules in place for crowd size and social distancing, according to MDOT's website. Sales said the Federal Highway Administration told the state that such hearings may be held virtually only if they complement other hearings held in-person. The foreign ministers of the Group of 7 (G7) countries condemned the arrest of opposition politician Alexei Navalny after his return to Russia. "We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, are united in condemning the politically motivated arrest and detention of Alexei Navalny," the ministers said in a statement. "We the G7 Foreign Ministers call upon the Russian authorities for Mr. Navalny's immediate and unconditional release." The group also condemned the detention of protestors and journalists on Saturday in nationwide protests in Russia, urging for the release of those detained. After receiving treatment in Germany for poisoning, Navalny, 44, was arrested in Moscow upon his return on January 17. Russian authorities said he had violated probation from a suspended sentence on a 2014 money laundering offense, a case Navalny says is "politically motivated." Less than 25 hours after his return, Moscow's Khimki Court ruled that he would remain in custody on a 30-day pre-trial detention. Welcome aboard Chris DeRusha, our new Federal CISO! @ciodotgov Maria Roat (@RoatMaria) January 26, 2021 Chris DeRusha, a former cybersecurity official for the Biden presidential campaign and the former chief information officer for the state of Michigan, has been named the CISO for the Office of Management and Budget.DeRusha, who also served as a former White House cybersecurity official during the Obama administration, announced his appointment on LinkedIn Monday afternoon. Acting federal CIO Maria Roat also confirmed the appointment via Twitter.DeRusha will be responsible for driving cybersecurity policy, planning and implementation efforts across the federal government, as well as coordinating cybersecurity efforts and working with government agencies to fortify their networks to prevent future cyberattacks.Prior to his recent appointment, DeRusha focused on technology strategies as part of President Bidens transition team and was CISO for his presidential campaign. Before that, he served as the CISO for the state of Michigan. He was also a cybersecurity strategist and adviser to the deputy under secretary for cybersecurity for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.News of DeRushas appointment comes as one of the many efforts the Biden administration is making to prioritize cybersecurity. As detailed in the Biden administrations $1.9 trillion stimulus proposal, $9 billion is to be allocated to modernizing technology as part of the administrations Technology Modernization Fund to fight back against potential cyberattacks. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has also requested for $200 million to be allocated to the Information Technology Oversight and Reform fund to help hire hundreds of key experts to support the federal chief information security officer and U.S. Digital Service, according to the publication Federal Computer Week.Other notable cybersecurity-related appointments within Biden's administration are speculated to include Jen Easterly as the administration's national cyber director; Robert Silvers, a former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, as the head of DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ; and Eric Goldstein, another DHS veteran, as the head of CISAs Cybersecurity Division. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Through the end 2020 property/casualty insurers have paid or reserved $7.7 billion on claims of all types in Louisiana through the end of 2020 from Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta, the state insurance department reported. This data represents the first measure of damage from all three hurricanes that struck the state in the record 2020 storm season, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Policyholders filed 290,847 claims of all types from the three storms as of Dec. 31. Of those, 161,704 claims, or 56%, were closed with collective payments reaching $5 billion. The information was generated from a data call to all authorized property/casualty insurers, including surplus lines insurers, to submit their claims data on hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta. The figures include claims from personal and commercial insurance. They do not include claims or payments from the National Flood Insurance Program, which is not regulated by the Louisiana Department of Insurance. FEMA recently reported that the NFIP has paid out more than $110 million in flood claims to 3,249 Louisiana policyholders for damage resulting from Delta and Laura alone. Laura Policyholders have filed 169,891 claims from Hurricane Laura, which struck Southwest Louisiana on August 27 as a Category 4 storm. Calcasieu, Rapides, Beauregard, Ouachita and Vernon parishes had the most claims from the storm. As of Dec. 31, 2020, insurers had closed 77% of the claims from Hurricane Laura, 59% of which were closed with payment. Total paid losses plus reserves on reported claims from all surveyed lines of insurance for Hurricane Laura at the end of 2020 were $6.6 billion, accounting for the vast majority of damage from the record 2020 hurricane season in Louisiana. Delta Policyholders have filed 71,945 claims from Hurricane Delta, which made landfall in Southwest Louisiana on October 9 as a Category 2 storm. Calcasieu, Lafayette, Acadia, East Baton Rouge and St. Landry parishes filed the most claims from the storm. At the end of 2020, insurers had closed 82% of all Delta claims, and 53% of those claims were closed with payment. Insurers have paid or reserved $556 million to cover losses from reported claims from all surveyed lines of insurance for Hurricane Delta at the end of 2020. Zeta The data call results also included the first claim figures from Hurricane Zeta, which made landfall in Terrebonne Parish on October 28 as a Category 2 storm. Policyholders have filed 49,011 claims through the end of the year. Most of the claims came from Jefferson, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Lafourche parishes. Insurers closed 79% of reported Zeta claims, and 46% of those claims were closed with payment. Total paid losses plus reserves on reported claims from all surveyed lines of insurance were $499 million for Hurricane Zeta at the end of 2020. Data for the 2020 hurricanes through Dec. 31 can be found at www.ldi.la.gov/datacallresults. The LDI will continue to collect data from property/casualty insurers to monitor the claims process. The final deadline for data is Oct. 8, 2021. Source: LDI Topics Trends Claims Louisiana CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new market research report "1-Decene Market by Derivative (Polyalphaolefins (Synthetic Lubricants, and Others), Oxo Alcohols (Plasticizer and Detergent Alcohols)), and Region - Global Forecast to 2025", published by MarketsandMarkets, the 1-Decene Market is projected to reach USD 798 million by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.7% from USD 576 million in 2020. Download PDF Brochure:https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=248837040 Browse in-depth TOC on "1-Decene Market" 189 - Tables 50 - Figures 207 - Pages View Detailed Table of Content Here:https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/1-decene-market-248837040.html The growth of the 1-Decene Market is primarily triggered by the increasing demand for PAO-based synthetic lubricants. Moreover, growing industrial activities in Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific (APAC) is another factor driving the 1-Dcene market. Polyalphaolefins (PAOs) have gained acceptance as a high-performance lubricant as they possess highly desirable characteristics, such as high viscosity index, thermal stability, oxidative stability, compatibility with mineral oils, and low toxicity. PAOs not only offer the advantages of technical performance but also preserve the environment in certain sensitive applications. PAO-based synthetic lubricants offer superior performance in offshore drilling applications, where environmental concerns are high. In addition, certain PAOs are biodegradable and thus can be used as substitutes for vegetable-based oils. The PAO-based synthetic lubricants tend to eliminate the performance errors associated with drilling operations. PAOs is the largest derivative type of 1-Decene market. The PAOs segment accounted for the largest share of the global 1-Decene Market in terms of value in 2019. This is mainly because PAOs are used in various synthetic products, such as lubricants, greases, and fluids. The demand for PAOs is majorly driven by their molecular stability and pureness. Greater oxidative stability, superior volatility, excellent low-temperature viscosities, high viscosity index, and excellent pour points drive the demand for PAOs in comparison to mineral oils. Request Sample Pages:https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=248837040 North America is estimated to be the largest market for 1-Decene during the forecast period. North America is the largest market for 1-Decene, followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. Factors contributing to the growth of North American market are the rising demand for synthetic lubricants in automotive and industrial applications. Increasing the production capacity of PAOs in the US by INEOS and Chevron Phillips, among other players, is another factor driving the demand for 1-Decene. The presence of global PAOs manufacturers such as Exxon Mobil (US) and Chevron Phillips Chemical (US) will support the growth of 1-Decene in North America. The increase in the capacity expansion of linear alpha olefins (LAO) and PAO in the region drive the 1-Decene Market. Increasing the production of oxo alcohols to meet the growing demand for detergent alcohols and plasticizer alcohols is another reason driving the demand for 1-Decene in the region. Increasing shale gas exploration in North America, i.e., ease of availability of raw material, is another factor driving the demand for 1-Decene in the region. The key market players profiled in the report include as Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands), INEOS (UK), Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (US), SABIC (Saudi Arabia), Exxon Mobil Corporation (US), Qatar Chemical Company II Ltd. (Qatar), Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. (Japan), PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim (Russia), Alfa Aesar (US), Merck Group (Germany), Toronto Chemical Industry Company Limited (Japan), Spectrum Chemical Mfg. Corp. (US), Agene Chemicals (UK), and Gelest Inc. (US), among others. Get 10% Free Customization on this Research Report:https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestCustomizationNew.asp?id=248837040 Browse Adjacent Markets: Specialty Chemicals Market Research Reports & Consulting Related Reports : Alpha Olefins Market by Type (1-Butene, 1-Hexene, 1-Octene, 1-Decene, 1-Dodecene), Application (Polyolefin Co-monomers, Surfactants and Intermediates, Lubricants, Fine Chemicals, Plasticizers, Oil Field Chemicals), and Region - Global Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/alpha-olefin-market-1282.html Plasticizers Market by Type (Low Plasticizers Market by Type (Phthalates, Non-Phthalates), Application (Flooring & Wall Covering, Wire & Cable, Coated Fabric, Consumer Goods, Film & Sheet), and Region (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America) - Global Forecast to 2022 https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/plasticizers-market-688.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com Research Insight: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/1-decene-market.asp Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/1-decene.asp Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660509/MarketsandMarkets_Logo.jpg He's set to make his debut as part of The Suicide Squad when the James Gunndirected sequel premieres later this year. But John Cena was already looking past it to his spin-off series Peacemaker while on set on Tuesday. The 43-year-old professional wrestlerturnedactor had travel north to film the series in Vancouver, Canada, a popular location for film and television projects. Back to business: John Cena, 43, was spotted on the set of his Suicide Squad spinoff Peacemaker in Vancouver on Tuesday as he filmed a scene with Robert Patrick Cena was dressed in relaxed yet rugged clothing, including a blue plaid flannel shirt and dark jeans to complement it. He kept warm with a brown jacket that matched a pair of brown loafers. The Blockers star likely had to undergo a two-week quarantine before arriving on set earlier this month, as other productions have done amid the pandemic, and he wore a pale blue respirator-style mask to help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. He was spotted on set on Tuesday during a scene with Terminator 2: Judgement Day's Robert Patrick. Low key: Cena was dressed casually in a brown coat, a blue flannel shirt and dark jeans. He was spotted on set with director James Gunn, who wrote all eight episodes of the series Also spotted on the set was the director James Gunn, who's best known for helming the Guardians Of The Galaxy series for Disney and Marvel. Gunn signed on to film the sequel to 2016's critically reviled Suicide Squad, which will be confusingly titled The Suicide Squad. The upcoming dark superhero film will see the return of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, along with Joel Kinnaman as and Rick Flag and Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. In place of previous stars Will Smith and Jared Leto will be Idris Elba as Bloodsport, Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson as Blackguard, and Peter Capaldi as Thinker. Will Smith, who played Deadshot in the first film, was originally to be replaced by Elba in the same role, but his character was later changed to Bloodsport. The boss: Gunn is directing several of the episodes after helming the upcoming sequel The Suicide Squad. He's best known for writing and directing the Guardians Of The Galaxy films New-ish cast: While stars like Margot Robbie and Joel Kinnaman will return, Will Smith's Deadshot has been replaced with Idris Elba's Bloodsport; Robbie and Smith seen in 2016 in London Cena previously described his character Peacemaker as a 'douchey Captain America,' and Gunn has said he could fit in with the vibe of a 1970s superhero series like Wonder Woman. The series will explore the origins of the ruthless killer, and the seemingly violent series will have all eight episodes written by Gunn, who will also direct several. Filming began earlier this month in Toronto, before heading west to Vancouver. Cena's next major film appearance will be his debut in the Fast And Furious franchise with F9, which will be released on May 28, 2021. RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Five nonprofit arts organizations recently were honored as 2021 Dominion Energy ArtStars for inspiring people of all ages in creative endeavors. The organizations represent five regions across Virginia with annual operating budgets under $1 million. Each received a $10,000 grant to support their winning arts or cultural education program. "These organizations show ways the creative spirit continues to thrive whether through outdoor, virtual or digital programming," said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation. "Virginia is very fortunate to have these talented organizations committed to serving their local communities and youth." The ArtStars winners were honored Jan. 26 at the Virginia Commission for the Arts' "Art Works" virtual conference: Arts for Learning ( Norfolk, Va. ) for their Take 10 digital series which provided live and recorded arts programming for students learning from home. Take 10 featured 12 different art forms from a great diversity of cultures and traditions. ( ) for their Take 10 digital series which provided live and recorded arts programming for students learning from home. Take 10 featured 12 different art forms from a great diversity of cultures and traditions. Art for the Journey ( Richmond, Va. ) for their "The Creative Corner" program. "The Creative Corner" provides a wide variety of arts education through public television and media. This innovative thinking allows Art for the Journey to reach students that do not have access to high speed internet. ( ) for their "The Creative Corner" program. "The Creative Corner" provides a wide variety of arts education through public television and media. This innovative thinking allows Art for the Journey to reach students that do not have access to high speed internet. Fairfax Symphony Orchestra ( Fairfax, Va. ) for their Link Up program and partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools. They have expanded to offer the program virtually and provide high-quality music instruction to their community. ( ) for their Link Up program and partnership with Public Schools. They have expanded to offer the program virtually and provide high-quality music instruction to their community. Halestone Foundation ( Lexington, Va. ) for providing dance education for all ages that is inclusive and student-focused. These innovative virtual and outdoor classes continue to reach their community this year. ( ) for providing dance education for all ages that is inclusive and student-focused. These innovative virtual and outdoor classes continue to reach their community this year. The Origin Project ( Big Stone Gap, Va. ) for their arts programming. The Origin Project works with schools to help students express their inner voices through the art of writing. Their curriculum highlights the value of diversity through a multitude of voices as they encourage students to discuss their origins, culture, and history of the region. Visit www.dominionenergy.com/artstars for more information. About the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation More than 7 million customers in 16 states energize their homes and businesses with electricity or natural gas from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D), headquartered in Richmond, Va. Through its Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation, as well as EnergyShare and other programs, Dominion Energy contributed over $58 million in 2020 to community causes. The Foundation supports nonprofit causes that meet basic human needs, protect the environment, promote education, and encourage community vitality. Please visit DominionEnergy.com to learn more. SOURCE Dominion Energy Related Links http://www.dominionenergy.com Who: Robbin Kizer is an outgoing and likeable woman with giving heart who always makes others laugh, said her daughter, Meighan Kizer. Not judgmental, shes the type of person others always go to for advice. The 59-year-old Hawley resident spent 20 years as a secretary for Johns Hardwood Floors in addition to raising her daughter and late son, Brendan, who died from non-Hodgkins Burkitts lymphoma in 2008 when he was just 17. After his death and until her own recent health issues, Robbin Kizer ran a nonprofit organization, One Child Too Many, A Brendan Kizer Foundation, and raised money for families with children suffering from life-threatening illnesses, enabling them to pay for gas, hospital and household bills, car repairs so they could drive their children to appointments and even Christmas gifts. Partnering with hospitals across the country, Kizer helped hundreds of families, her daughter said. What: Now, the grandmother of 8-year-old Brendan Hiller and 3-year-old Phoenix Kizer is the one who needs help. Unable to work and living off disability support because of fibromyalgia, Robbin Kizer learned in August that she had small cell lung cancer that had spread to lymph nodes outside her lungs. Kizer underwent two radiation treatments daily for 15 days and two rounds of chemotherapy in addition to using several naturopathic treatments. She needs additional chemotherapy, but doctors suspended treatment for a few weeks after Kizer suffered side effects including hair and weight loss, atrial fibrillation, radiation burns on her chest, a weakened immune system that resulted in a six-week clostridium difficile infection, and gastrointestinal issues that left her nauseated and unable to eat.Doctors planned to look into giving her nutrition via a feeding tube or other method, her daughter said.Weakness keeps Robbin Kizer confined to her bed most of the day, but she does receive physical and occupational therapies weekly in addition to twice-weeklynurse visits to receive IV fluids. A scan in December showed that Kizer did not have any cancer in her lymph nodes and that the amount of cancer in her lungs had significantly decreased. Why: Robbin Kizer has moved in with her daughter and needs help with walking, paying bills and traveling to appointments. Meighan Kizer is a single mom who took time off from her job as a caseworker for the Wayne County Office of Children and Youth to care for her mother, and she also is homeschooling Brendan and Phoenix to reduce the risk of COVID-19 entering their home. Meighan Kizers Family and Medical Leave Act coverage ends in early February, however, and its currently unknown if I will be able to return (to work) if her condition does not improve by then, she said. Therefore, any future financial stability for our family is unknown, she added. Donations will help cover Robbin Kizers gas and hotel expenses when she undergoes treatment in Philadelphia, naturopathic remedies, medical equipment insurance does not cover and any other expenses that may come up during treatment. How: People can donate through the GoFundMe page, Help my mom Robbin Kizer beat cancer; through PayPal at paypal.me/meighank; or by mail to 2977 Owego Turnpike, Hawley, PA 18428. In her own words: Support and donations would mean the world for Robbin. It would be one less thing she needs to worry about for herself and her family. At first, Robbin was very stubborn accepting any type of donation and was not fond of the GoFundMe due to her independence and worrying about others financial struggles. After a few long talks about how she has helped her community and how it is OK to now accept them wanting to give back, she is open to receiving. Meighan Kizer, daughter South Korean investors are continuing to inject billions of dollars into Vietnam, including the stock market, to seek opportunities from one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Pinetree Securities has announced its holding company - Hanwha Investment & Securities in South Korea has pumped more capital into it to raise its total capital to VND1 trillion. The move was expected as most securities companies in Vietnam have experienced a prosperous year with revenue soaring thanks to a sharp rise in the number of transactions. Reports show that in the last months of 2020, trading value reached nearly $1 billion each trading session, much higher than the VND4-6 trillion level before. The increase in charter capital allows securities companies to have more capital to expand portfolios of margin loans, an operation which can bring high profit. As such, Hanwha, the seventh largest economic group in South Korea, has taken steps to scale up its business in Vietnam. After pouring money into insurance and investment, the big player from South Korea has jumped into the field of securities with the stronger presence in Pinetree Securities. Hanwha Investment & Securities completed the 90 percent takeover of HFT securities company in May 2019. The decision to expand business to Vietnam is due to the great potential of the Vietnamese stock market. Prior to that, a number of foreign big players joined the market, such as KB Financial Group Inc which took over MSI and renamed it KBSV. A lot of other South Korean invested securities companies also appeared in Vietnam, including KIS, Mirae Asset, Shinhan Vietnam (the predecessor was Nam An Securities), and NH Securities (Woori CBV). Analysts noted that all South Korean invested securities companies are backed by large economic groups and all increased capital rapidly after taking over Vietnamese companies. In late September 2019, Mirae Asset approved a plan to increase its charter capital from VND4.3 trillion to VND5.5 trillion with capital sourced from its holding company, becoming the securities company with the biggest charter capital in Vietnam. KBSV and KIS both have increased their capital to VND1.7-1.9 trillion, among the top 10 largest companies. Yuanta Securities, in its latest report, predicted that the VN Index may reach 1,705 points in 2021, and that with cash flow from new investors, the P/E (price/earnings) index may reach the highest level in history of 22.5x. South Korean capital keeps flowing strongly into Vietnam. A lot of South Korean investment funds are here, including Korea Investment Management Co Ltd (KIM) with a portfolio of roughly $1 billion. KEB Hana Bank has spent VND20.3 trillion to acquire 15 percent of capital of BIDV, one of the big four in Vietnam. V. Ha Top 10 events of the Vietnamese securities market in 2020 The following are the top 10 events of the Vietnamese securities market in 2020, selected by the Securities Journalist Club of Vietnam. Update: Gov. Abbott tweeted Wednesday night that he spoke to Emilian Sosa. "With the help of Nim Kidd, the Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management & Dr. Zerwas, the equipment his mother needs was located. She should be in good medical care," Abbott said. Original post below. A potentially life-saving treatment for his COVID-19-stricken mother is the only gift a South Texas teen is hoping to receive in time for his 15th birthday. Emilian Sosa, a 14-year-old from McAllen, told Gov. Greg Abbott in a letter that the only family he has left is his mom, and she's "hanging on for dear life" after spending the last month battling COVID-19. Erika Calderon, the teen's mom, is the Emilian's go-to for guidance, he wrote. Now, he's watching her health deteriorate via Zoom. With no other options, Sosa is asking Abbott to help his mom receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. RELATED: Popular UTSA-area bar cited twice in two days for violating COVID-19 orders Sosa's painful letter to Abbott was shared on Twitter by Naxi Lopez, a reporter for The Monitor in the Rio Grande Valley, on Tuesday. Since the RGV does not have a hospital equipped to perform ECMO, Sosa is asking for help to transport Calderon to a larger city, like San Antonio, Houston or Dallas for a better chance at survival. "Her lungs have not been able to recover because the virus damaged them too severely," the teen wrote. "At this very moment, she is on a ventilator, hanging on for dear life, at the DHR Health COVID Unit in Edinburg, Texas." He said the treatment is her "only hope." ECMO adds oxygen to a patient's blood in order to give damaged lungs time to rest. "My mother has worked diligently all her life to raise me," Sosa wrote. "She is a hard-working single mother, and she is the only family I have left." Sosa is relying on Zoom calls to help keep his mom motivated by playing hymns and violin, but he is watching her condition worsen, he wrote. READ MORE: S.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: One shot COVID-19 vaccine gives Gov. Abbott hope Neither Sosa nor Abbott's press office were immediately available to comment, but Lopez tweeted that she was in communication with both Tuesday night. Twitter users keyed into the story asked how they could help Sosa. She pointed to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign which is just $500 shy of the $20,000 goal to airlift Calderon to a larger city. The funds were raised in less than 24 hours. Lopez updated Twitter again on Tuesday, saying she spoke to the governor's office and Sosa "might just get the help it needs." San Antonio, the closest option to Sosa and his mom, has seen a decline in hospitalization rates recently. Though the number of admitted patients are decreasing, more people are hospitalized now than they were during the summer surge. During these spikes, already highly limited resources like ECMO are stretched thin. Patients must qualify and an ECMO machine must be available. The high-risk therapy is typically reserved for patients who have the highest chance of survival, San Antonio Express-News reporter Lauren Caruba told mySA.com. Caruba pointed to a case of a 42-year-old woman who was unable to receive ECMO treatment because of unavailability during the summer surge. That patient died. Despite the hurdles, Sosa is giving his all to fight for his mom to survive. He pleaded with Abbott to make his request a reality by his birthday on Feb. 1. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - ArcWest Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AWX) ("ArcWest") is pleased to provide an update on partner funded exploration activities. Drilling has commenced at its Teeta Creek porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold project, funded by partner Teck Resources Ltd. Exploration commitments for 2021 include partner funded drilling at its Todd Creek, Oxide Peak and Eagle porphyry copper-gold projects, with potential for partner funded drilling at its NVI project. Tyler Ruks, President and CEO of ArcWest, commented, "ArcWest is pleased to announce that at least four of its British Columbia porphyry copper-gold projects will undergo partner funded drill tests in 2021. This includes a first phase drill test of our Teeta Creek porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold project, funded by partner Teck Resources Ltd., which has now commenced. The company is in advanced stage negotiations for earn-in and joint venture agreements on additional projects. If these transactions proceed to completion, it is anticipated that ArcWest will be announcing additional 2021 partner funded drill programs in the near term. ArcWest thanks its partners for persevering with existing earn-in agreements and is hopeful for a discovery in 2021. The company is actively evaluating base and precious metals exploration opportunities throughout western North America for potential acquisition." ArcWest's recently updated corporate presentation is available for download here. ArcWest's recently updated technical presentation is available for download here. Details regarding the Teeta Creek, NVI and Oxide Peak earn-in and joint venture agreements can be found in ArcWest 2019 press releases dated October 15th, December 20th and December 23rd, respectively. Details regarding the Todd Creek and Eagle earn-in and joint venture agreements can be found in ArcWest 2020 press releases dated July 9th, and October 5th, respectively. Teeta Creek Drilling has commenced at ArcWest's 100% owned Teeta Creek porphyry Cu-Mo-Au project in northern Vancouver Island, funded and operated by partner Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"). This first phase program will comprise an estimated 1,000 metres of drilling from two platforms in order to satisfy a minimum $500,000 work commitment. The program is designed to test a previously undrilled portion of the Teeta Creek porphyry copper-molybdenum-gold system. The two drill platforms are separated by 320 m, and are situated 200 m to 350 m above, and 600 m north of historical drill holes located in the valley bottom that intercepted copper mineralization over a broad area. The Teeta Creek porphyry Cu-Mo-Au and epithermal Au-Ag system has a footprint of approximately 3 by 2 kilometers and is open to the north and south. Vertically, the system extends from strongly Cu-Au mineralized porphyritic intrusions and associated breccias exposed in the valley floor to similarly mineralized but undrilled porphyritic intrusions and breccias exposed alongside logging roads at elevation. Sampling of these higher elevation roadside porphyry copper occurrences by ArcWest returned assays up to 0.47% Cu and 0.031% Mo. A zone of intense clay-pyrite alteration and associated epithermal Au-Ag mineralization overprints the porphyry system at high elevations in the system. Sampling of this area in 2019 returned assays up to up to 21.1 g/t Au. Multiple historical drill holes in the valley floor returned significant copper intercepts, including assays up to 0.35% Cu over 67.1 meters in S75-1. NVI The 2021 NVI exploration program, funded by partner Teck, will include additional mapping, sampling and a potential geophysical and drill program to explore this newly discovered porphyry copper system located approximately 16 km northeast of Teeta Creek. The 2020 NVI exploration program included mapping, sampling and geophysical modeling, and a report from Teck summarizing results of the 2020 program is pending. Todd Creek The 2021 Todd Creek exploration program, funded and operated by partner P2 Gold Inc., will include drilling, geological mapping and sampling, and additional geophysical surveys in order to satisfy an estimated $2.1 million minimum work commitment. The Todd Creek project contains one of BC's largest underexplored porphyry Cu-Au systems and is located 35 km southeast of Pretium Resources Inc.'s high grade Brucejack gold-silver mine and 45 km southeast of the giant KSM-Iron Cap porphyry copper-gold deposits, owned by Seabridge Gold Inc. The west side of the Todd Creek valley is underlain by a 12 km N-S highly gossanous corridor comprising strongly altered volcanic rocks, high level variably altered porphyritic intrusive rocks of KSM-Iron Cap age, associated breccias, and widespread, abundant Cu-Au occurrences. This large corridor is prospective for multiple porphyry Cu-Au centres, including preliminary targets in the Yellow Bowl, Ice Creek/Fall Creek and Orange Mountain areas. The Yellow Bowl porphyry Cu-Au system will form the initial focus of the 2021 program, in addition to the largely untested VMS Zone, which is located 5 km southeast of Yellow Bowl on the east side of the Todd Creek valley. Three drill holes totaling 1,027 m were drilled at Todd Creek in 2020 by partner P2 Gold, which was also operator for the program. Two of these holes (-45 inclination) were drilled at Yellow Bowl. Hole 2 at Yellow Bowl intercepted multiple quartz-sulfide veins which returned assays up to 3.03% copper, 0.20 g/t gold and 7.15 g/t silver over 3.3 m. Intense, texturally destructive quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP)/clay-pyrite alteration including local QSP altered porphyritic dikes were intercepted over broad intervals at the bottom of both holes, suggesting increasing proximity to a potential porphyry Cu-Au system. This also suggests that the large conductive body underlying the Yellow Bowl system might represent the QSP halo to a porphyry Cu-Au system, and that steeper drill holes will be required to test beneath the conductor for a potential Cu-Au mineralized potassic core. QSP related resistivity lows overlie some of the world's largest porphyry copper-gold deposits, including the giant Resolution deposit in Arizona (e.g., Witherly, 2016). A single shallow hole (-45 inclination) was drilled at VMS Zone. The hole intercepted locally barite mineralized variably altered volcanic rocks in addition to local, massive sulfide (chalcopyrite-pyrite) clast bearing tuff breccias. The presence of massive sulfide clasts suggests proximity to a nearby VMS lens. Similar massive sulfide clast bearing tuff breccias and massive sulfide occurrences with significant polymetallic grades are present 500 m to the northeast of the drill hole, demonstrating the presence of a VMS system on the east side of Todd Creek valley of significant size. Additional porphyry Cu-Au targets for follow up include multiple large areas of coincident colour, geophysical and hyperspectral (sericite) anomalies delineated in the 2020 program (Figures 1 and 2). Many of these prospective zones exceed 500 m by 500 m in area, and have never been traversed or sampled, demonstrating that vast prospective tracts of the Todd Creek property remain completely unexplored. Several zones of interest are proximal to the Orange Mountain gossan, a large area of QSP/clay-pyrite altered volcanic and porphyritic intrusive rocks. Previous explorers completed two shallow inclined drill holes at Orange Mountain which intercepted local quartz-magnetite-chalcopyrite veining hosted in strongly QSP/clay-pyrite altered lithologies, similar to other known porphyry deposits in the Golden Triangle. These veins are interpreted to be "leakage veins" from an underlying porphyry Cu-Au system. Oxide Peak The 2021 Oxide peak exploration program (funded by partner TDG Gold Corp.) will include drilling, geological mapping, sampling and potential geophysical surveys. The project is situated 34 km northwest of Centerra Gold Inc.'s advanced stage Kemess porphyry Cu-Au projects, 10 km east of Benchmark Metal's high grade Lawyers Au-Ag project and 5 km north of the former producing Baker mill and mine. Porphyry copper-gold targets in the Oxide Peak/Oxide Creek area will form the initial focus of the program. A report from TDG Gold documenting the results of the 2020 Oxide Peak program is pending. Eagle Subject to the receipt of permits, the 2021 Eagle exploration program (funded by partner Wedgemount Resources Corp.) will include drilling, geological mapping, sampling and geophysical surveys. Eagle is located 50 km west of Centerra Gold's Mt. Milligan mine. The Nighthawk Zone will form the initial focus of the program, where the depth potential of strongly Cu-Au mineralized porphyry related breccias will be tested by drilling. The 2020 Eagle VTEM survey demonstrated that strongly Cu-Au mineralized porphyry related breccias at the Nighthawk and Vector zones form readily identifiable conductive bodies. The survey identified an additional conductive body ("SE Zone"), of approximately 200 m by 200 m in dimensions, situated approximately 1.1 km southeast of Nighthawk in an area with little to no historic sample coverage. Sparse, widely spaced historic samples from the periphery of the SE Zone geophysical anomaly returned strongly anomalous Cu-Au, including assays up to 1.23% Cu and 0.4 g/t Au. Additional mapping, sampling, and potential geophysics and drilling is planned for the SE Zone in 2021. References Witherly, K.E. 2016. What Lies Beneath? A Reflection on the Porphyry Copper Exploration Model. AEGC2019 Data to Discovery. Australian Exploration Geoscience Conference. 2-5 September, 2019. Perth, Western Australia. https://www.condorconsult.com/downloads/AEGC_2020_lies%20beneath.pdf About ArcWest Exploration Inc. ArcWest Exploration is a project generator focused on porphyry copper-gold exploration opportunities throughout western North America. The company is in possession of ten 100% owned projects throughout BC's premier porphyry copper-gold districts. By conducting partner funded exploration on multiple exploration projects simultaneously, ArcWest's chances of discovery are enhanced while exposing shareholders to minimal dilution. The company is managed by an experienced technical team with a track record of discovery and a reputation for attracting well-funded senior partners, including Freeport McMoRan, Robert Friedland group companies, ITOCHU, Antofagasta and Teck. Qualified Person ArcWest's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Jeff Kyba, PGeo, VP Exploration, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101. For further information please contact: Tyler Ruks, President and CEO at +1 (604) 638 3695. Investors are cautioned that ArcWest Exploration Inc. has not verified the data from the Kemess, Lawyers, KSM-Iron Cap, Brucejack, and Mt. Milligan and deposits. Further, the presence and style of mineralization on these properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the ArcWest Exploration Inc. property. Historical assays from drill programs on its properties have not been verified by ArcWest but have been cited from sources believed to be reliable. This news release contains statements about ArcWest's expectations and are forward-looking in nature. As a result, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although ArcWest believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and ArcWest undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72930 YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Cabinet approved Armen Ghularyan as the new President of the Urban Development Committee. Ghularyan was serving as First Vice President and was in charge of the agency since the former chief Vahagn Vermishyan was sacked in February 2020 pending an investigation into bribery. Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wished good luck to Ghularyan in leading the Urban Development Committee. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Jan. 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On that day in 1945, the concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. For us this is also an occasion to reflect on our German-Jewish history. It is a rich history of more than one and a half millennia. In 321, 1,700 years ago, Emperor Constantine the Great granted the Jews of Cologne, and subsequently in all provincial towns, the right to hold public office. His edict marks the oldest document of Jewish life in Europe north of the Alps. Germans and descendants of European Jews all over the world commemorate this remarkable anniversary. We can tell an exciting and powerful story of Jewish influence and involvement in the arts and sciences, philosophy and religion, politics and economy. There were periods of great success in Jewish entrepreneurship as well as German-Jewish patriotism, resilience and vibrant Jewish life. Countless names stand for German-Jewish creativity and ingenuity, like Zedekias, who, in the ninth century, served as personal physician to the Roman Emperor Charles I; or Paul Ehrlich, who centuries later won the Nobel Prize for his scientific achievements. Many German-Jewish Nobel laureates followed him, including, of course, Albert Einstein. Caroline Herschel, a 19th-century astronomer, was the first woman to receive a salary as a scientist. The entrepreneur Emil Rathenau was crucial in developing the use of electricity on an industrial scale and his son, the liberal lawmaker Walther Rathenau, served as German foreign minister during the Weimar Republic. Indeed, Germany has been gifted with German-Jewish artists, philosophers, politicians and inventors, as well as with hundreds of thousands of ordinary citizens who, through their lives and participation, shaped Germany in a unique way. It is also true that German-Jewish history throughout the centuries was a very dark one. Jews were scapegoated and the focus of conspiracy theories, and threatened by pogroms and persecution, culminating in one of humanitys lowest points: the Holocaust. By erasing Jewish life and pretending to make Germany more German, National Socialists destroyed a huge part of German culture and identity. It took generations of reconciliation to rebuild trust. Last October, Germany celebrated the 30th anniversary of its reunification, a remarkable success story which includes the humbling fact that the unified country has become, once again, a home for Jews. Jewish life continues to bloom in so many German cities and towns. The Dusseldorf Synagogue, for instance, is one of the largest in Germany with more than 6,000 members. Berlin is home to more than 9,000 Jews who belong to the organized Jewish community and more than 10,000 Israelis who enrich a vibrant and multicultural life. Germans are grateful for this wonderful change. But those positive developments should never lead to complacency. We have to be vigilant since Germany and the United States, together with countries around the globe, are facing a rise in anti-Semitism, hate and nationalism. We are confronted by the claims of nationalists, racists and anti-Semites who want to prove their superiority by once again blaming the other, be it migrants or minorities. We cannot and will not stand idly by. We will defend our fundamental values of religious freedom, democracy and the rule of law. Europes rich Jewish history is also an ongoing obligation to assure the trust of Jewish citizens and communities, a responsibility society as a whole must uphold. Therefore, the American Jewish Committee New York Regional Office and the Consulate General of Germany collaborate to build trust in one another and jointly advocate against hate and anti-Semitism. Constantines edict is a reminder to initiate cultural, political and interreligious debates within our society. We are committed to working together in friendship, reconciliation and trust to help shape the future of the Jewish-German relationship. We are proud to be a part of this story. David Gill is the consul general of Germany in New York. Michael Schmidt is the American Jewish Committees New York regional director. Andhra Pradesh: East Godavari district ranks third in fish, prawn production in Andhra Pradesh January 27,2021 | Source: The Hans India Collector DMuralidhar Reddy said that the State government is successfully implementing the state-of-the-art priority programmes in East Godavari district with the objective of public welfare, development and higher living standards. The 72nd Republic Day celebrations in Kakinada Smart City were marked by pomp and gaiety on Tuesday. Superintendent of Police Adnan Nayeem Asmi, Joint Collectors Dr G Raja Kumari, Keerthi Chekuri, Municipal Commissioner Swapnil Dinakar Pundkar and others were present. The Republic Day celebrations by the district administration at the Police Parade grounds featured cultural programmes by the school students. Collector Muralidhar Reddy unfurled the national flag. He said that various schemes undertaken by the State government for the welfare of youth, workers, farmers, women, students and the poor are extended to to every deserving person. He said that to support farmers, the State government is providing Rs 13,500 per farmer family through the YSR Rythu Bharosa-PM Kisan scheme. He said that 4,64,229 farmers received Rs 517.57 crore in the district. The amount was deposited directly in the bank accounts. He said that 1,129 Rythu Bharosa Centres have been set up in the district to provide various services to the farmers in advance. He said that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy recently laid the foundation stone for the construction of a fishing harbour at Aminabad on the Uppada coast at a cost of Rs 420 crore. He said that the district ranks third in the State with 3 crore seven lakh tonnes of fish and prawn production. He said that Rs 726 crore has been deposited to 4,83,622 mothers who are enrolling their children under the Amma Vodi scheme. He said that 190 centers have been set up in the district for distribution of Covid-19 vaccine as per the guidelines and standards of the both Central and State governments. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has warned students in Kenya that it will be collecting and keeping records of learners involved in criminal conduct. This follows increased cases of juvenile delinquency and students unrest in various schools across the country. Apart from prosecuting students involved in criminal activities, the DCI says it will archive charges preferred against them to be produced on their police clearance certificate. This with a view to potentially ruining their chances of employment. This is to warn every student that the DCI is archiving and consolidating charges that may be preferred to each and every student involved in any crime. Let each student be informed that it will automatically be reflected on the police clearance certificate commonly referred to as Certificate of Good Conduct when such a student will apply for one, the DCI announced via Twitter. The DCI listed crimes such as armed and violent demonstrations, arson, drugs, cyber-bullying, assault, and drunkenness. The criminal profiling will apply to students from primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions. This will be a permanent criminal mark that will bar many students from achieving their goals, as no employer of worth will dare employ such characters, the DCI added. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Ecuador has cracked down on an alternative medicine center that administered pseudo-vaccines to people with COVID-19, with some 70,000 doses in total injected during its operation, El Comercio reported MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Ecuador has cracked down on an alternative medicine center that administered pseudo-vaccines to people with COVID-19, with some 70,000 doses in total injected during its operation, El Comercio reported. The medical center, located in a Quito suburb, was busted on Tuesday. According to authorities, a "course" consisted of three doses, and people paid $15 for each. Owner Lucia Penafiel alleges that the center did not give patients vaccines, but only vitamins and serums to boost immunity. Laser and infrared therapy were also offered at the facility. "I have treated about 20,000 coronavirus patients here," she argued. Patients at the center reportedly did not comply with precautionary measures: they did not wear masks and sat together while waiting for their appointment time. "We have closed an underground clinic ... They promised citizens that with three doses of a vaccine, they would become immune to COVID-19. We cannot allow these terrible actions! The only authority authorized to distribute vaccines is the Ministry of Health of Ecuador," the Quito municipality office wrote on Twitter. The Latin American country has so far confirmed over 242,000 coronavirus cases, including more than 10,000 deaths. At noon today, President Biden will have been in office for a week, and the split-screen between new and old that has defined the first days of his administration continues. It is an image of a government trying to operate on three tracks at once: enacting a new administrations agenda, staffing the new administrations agencies and trying to punish a departed president whose supporters attacked the seat of that government just three weeks ago. On Wednesday, Mr. Biden will deliver remarks about climate change and scientific integrity. But the Senate has had to spend some time focused on the last administration. On Tuesday senators voted to proceed with its impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump over the objections of Republicans who had argued that it was unconstitutional to try him after he left office. The 55-to-45 vote was a short-term victory for supporters of impeachment, but it was also a strong indication that they were unlikely to find the 17 Republicans needed to convict Mr. Trump. Several Republicans who voted to uphold the constitutional challenge, which would have effectively killed the trial, rushed after the vote to clarify that they remained open-minded about the trial, which next convenes on Feb. 9. In the same body on the same day, senators confirmed Antony J. Blinken as secretary of state by a vote of 78 to 22 and a committee heard testimony from Gov. Gina M. Raimondo of Rhode Island, Mr. Bidens nominee for commerce secretary. Vice President Kamala Harris also swore in Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary, and the presidents cabinet is taking shape. Ms. Harris will swear in Mr. Blinken at a ceremony on Wednesday morning. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American An Instagram model from Sydney has been accused of not knowing the difference between the Australian and American flags. Influencer Jessica Sanders celebrated her country's official national day on Tuesday by relaxing poolside with a female friend. She shared several photos of herself in a patriotic red, white and blue bikini - but there was something not quite right about the design. Gaffe? Sydney-based Instagram model Jessica Sanders wore an American flag bikini while celebrating Australia Day - her country's national day - on Tuesday. Her photos later went viral, with many fans assuming she didn't know the difference between the two flags Her bikini was inspired by the American flag with its distinctive stars and stripes. Many Aussie women celebrate Australia Day by wearing an Australian flag bikini featuring the Southern Cross constellation and the Union Jack. Several of Jessica's fans assumed she'd confused the two flags, and her 'gaffe' was soon picked up by Instagram account Celeb Spellcheck. Pride: Influencer Jessica (right, with a friend) shared several photos of herself in a patriotic red, white and blue bikini, which was based on the U.S. flag with its distinctive stars and stripes Tradition: Many Aussie women celebrate Australia Day by wearing an Australian flag bikini featuring the Southern Cross constellation and the Union Jack. Pictured: a woman (not Jessica Sanders) celebrating the public holiday on the Gold Coast Celeb Spellcheck explained Celeb Spellcheck began a few years ago as an account making fun of Instagram models' poor spelling, but has since become a platform for holding influencers to account for their lies and irresponsible behaviour. The profile is also a hub for user-submitted gossip about influencers. Celeb Spellcheck has attracted criticism in recent months, with the likes of Skye Wheatley and Tayla Damir accusing the page of 'bullying'. Advertisement She was mercilessly trolled in the comments section, with stunned followers writing 'Wrong on so many levels', 'Surely not!' and 'You have to be kidding me'. One fan said it was a 'bit too early for the 4th of July', referring to U.S. Independence Day, and another joked: 'The last plane out of Texas' almost gone.' This was, of course, a reference to the song Khe Sanh by Australian rock band Cold Chisel, which includes the famous lyric: 'The last plane out of Sydney's almost gone.' 'You have to be kidding me': Several of Jessica's fans assumed she'd confused the two flags, and her 'gaffe' was soon picked up by Instagram account Celeb Spellcheck (pictured) After realising she'd been featured on Celeb Spellcheck, Jessica furiously hit back on Instagram and denied any suggestion she didn't know her own country's flag. Someone had commented below one of her photos: 'Please tell me you know that's the American flag.' She responded: 'I'm not stupid, of course I do. Do you write this on everyone's pic who isn't wearing the Aussie flag on Australia Day? Or just to be a b***h. Go away.' Jessica, who has now deleted the photos of herself in the stars and stripes bikini, went on to block dozens of Instagram users who were apparently trolling her. Popular: Jessica has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram Hitting back: After realising she'd been featured on Celeb Spellcheck, Jessica furiously hit back on Instagram and denied any suggestion she didn't know her own country's flag See ya! Jessica, who has now deleted the photos of herself in the stars and stripes bikini, went on to block dozens of Instagram users who were apparently trolling her Meanwhile, the debate over Australia Day has intensified in recent years, with many Aussies saying the national day should not be celebrated on January 26 - the date when Britain's First Fleet arrived at Sydney Cove. They argue that celebrating this day is disrespectful to Indigenous Australians, as the arrival of British settlers brought violence and disease which would decimate the native population. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday the date signified when Australia was changed forever through European colonisation. 'There is no escaping or cancelling this fact,' Mr Morrison said. 'For better and worse, it was the moment where the journey to our modern nation began.' University of Alberta researchers have taken another step forward in developing an artificial intelligence tool to predict schizophrenia by analyzing brain scans. In recently published research, the tool was used to analyze functional magnetic resonance images of 57 healthy first-degree relatives (siblings or children) of schizophrenia patients. It accurately identified the 14 individuals who scored highest on a self-reported schizotypal personality trait scale. Schizophrenia, which affects 300,000 Canadians, can cause delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation, and is usually treated with a combination of drugs, psychotherapy and brain stimulation. First-degree relatives of patients have up to a 19 per cent risk of developing schizophrenia during their lifetime, compared with the general population risk of less than one per cent. Our evidence-based tool looks at the neural signature in the brain, with the potential to be more accurate than diagnosis by the subjective assessment of symptoms alone." Sunil Kalmady Vasu, Study Lead Author and Senior Machine Learning Specialist, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta Kalmady Vasu noted that the tool is designed to be a decision support tool and would not replace diagnosis by a psychiatrist. He also pointed out that while having schizotypal personality traits may cause people to be more vulnerable to psychosis, it is not certain that they will develop full-blown schizophrenia. "The goal is for the tool to help with early diagnosis, to study the disease process of schizophrenia and to help identify symptom clusters," said Kalmady Vasu, who is also a member of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute. The tool, dubbed EMPaSchiz (Ensemble algorithm with Multiple Parcellations for Schizophrenia prediction), was previously used to predict a diagnosis of schizophrenia with 87 per cent accuracy by examining patient brain scans. It was developed by a team of researchers from U of A and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in India. The team also includes three members of the U of A's Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute--computing scientist and Canada CIFAR AI Chair Russ Greiner from the Faculty of Science, and psychiatrists Andrew Greenshaw and Serdar Dursun, who are authors on the latest paper as well. Kalmady Vasu said next steps for the research will test the tool's accuracy on non-familial individuals with schizotypal traits, and to track assessed individuals over time to learn whether they develop schizophrenia later in life. Kalmady Vasu is also using the same principles to develop algorithms to predict outcomes such as mortality and readmissions for heart failure in cardiovascular patients through the Canadian VIGOUR Centre. "Severe mental illness and cardiovascular problems cause functional disability and impair quality of life," Kalmady Vasu said. "It is very important to develop objective, evidence-based tools for these complex disorders that afflict humankind." Frustrations over some lawmakers refusal to wear masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives chamber brought action to brief halt on Tuesday. House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia pointed out to House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County, that she counted over 30 members on the House floor who were unmasked. Last summer, the House approved a bipartisan-backed policy requiring face coverings on the House floor during session. Cutler, standing at the rostrum looking down over the chamber with a mask covering his face, said, Obviously I have a slightly different viewpoint being upfront, Ive seen members on both sides of the aisles not wearing their masks. I kindly encourage those who are able to do so please wear your masks or return to your offices. McClinton responded: Mr. Speaker, I didnt say whose side of the aisle unmasked people were. I dont see any on my side. At that point, Cutler put the House at ease and called McClinton to the rostrum to discuss the matter. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives' mask policy allows members, such as Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, shown here, to take off their mask when talking at the microphone or eating or drinking. Jan. 26, 2021 Screenshot from video on Pa. House YouTube channel When the session resumed about five minutes later, Cutler reminded members that there is an exception to the mask policy when members are talking at the microphone or eating or drinking. I personally observed members on both sides of the aisles not strictly adhering to the policy, Cutler said. Id encourage members to do so so we can expeditiously move the issues that are currently before the House. The mask issue has been an ongoing concern for Democratic members, many of whom participate in the House session from their offices rather than come to the House floor. It also was an issue brought up in the Senate by Democratic members at the start of the Jan. 5 Swearing-in Day that held up action until all of its members put on masks. Cutlers spokesman Mike Straub said having the speaker mention the policy from the rostrum is enforcing the policy, and he has done so multiple times, including on Tuesday. But Straub noted the Pennsylvania Constitution allows elected members to represent their districts on the floor when the House is in session. There are times when members from both sides of the aisle are not wearing masks, Straub said. If any member feels another member is in violation of the [mask] policy, they can file a complaint [with their caucus member]. That would be the appropriate action. House Republican spokesman Jason Gottesman said no GOP member has filed a complaint since this legislative session began on Jan. 5. Meanwhile, House Democratic spokesman Bill Patton said McClinton has received more than we can count from Democratic members. House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia has received many complaints from her caucus members about people violating the House's mask-wearing policy implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. Jan. 26, 2021 Screenshot from video on Pa. House YouTube channel We have expressed multiple complaints on multiple days to Republican leadership about this intolerable situation, Patton said. Rep. Margo Davidson, D-Delaware County, called it rude and obnoxious that members are not concerned not only about their own health but that of others. Its not like there hasnt been multiple members with COVID, she said. Does someone have to die to realize this is just reckless behavior. If they cant wear a mask and dont want to wear a mask, they dont have to come to the floor as opposed to endangering the health of others who are trying to stay safe. But Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, who frequently is seen without a mask around the Capitol, said the opposite is true, too. If members dont feel comfortable coming to the floor where they may encounter people not wearing masks, they can stay in their offices. He said there are legitimate medical exceptions to the mask policy and questioning members why they arent wearing masks is an invasion of their privacy. As for him, he said he doesnt force himself into the personal space of those who wear masks. I dont do that, he said. I stay away from people who arent comfortable. To date, seven Republican members and four Democrats have announced they tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, positive tests have been reported by three Republican members and one Democrat in the Senate. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. An Iranian American man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges, even though his family says his trial took place without him. The family said Emad Shargi was cleared of the charges in December 2019, but then was informed he was guilty by a court in November, The Associated Press reported. A judicial official told the news agency that Shargi was free on bail and was arrested while leaving the country for providing military information to other countries. His family, however, told the AP he was convicted without ever having attended a trial following the December 2019 ruling. The incident is the latest in a series of controversial Iranian arrests of dual citizens in recent years. The scientist Ahmadreza Djalali, a citizen of Iran and Sweden, is another high-profile prisoner. In December, Amnesty International told Al-Monitor that his execution on vague corruption on earth charges had been put on hold. There has been no news on his case since then. The Iranian British citizen Nazanian Zaghari-Ratcliffe and the Iranian French citizen Fariba Adelkhah are also in Iranian prisons. European Union governments protested their treatment to Iranian diplomats in September. In November, the Australian British professor Kylie Moore-Gilbert was released from an Iranian prison. She was convicted of espionage, but denied the charges. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, which complicates countries ability to help their citizens imprisoned there. In June, the US government, with Swiss assistance, helped secure the release of US Navy veteran Michael White in a prisoner exchange. Among dual citizens, Iranian American businessmen Siamak Namazi remains in prison while his father Baquer Namazi is under house arrest. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The disproportionately high Covid-19 infection rates observed in Black Americans could be linked to their daily commuting patterns, according to a new study published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. The research found that increased exposure to other ethnic groups, for example as a result of an individual's job or use of public transport, can result in the emergence of an "infection gap" in the population, such as the abnormally high incidence of Covid-19 recorded in Black Americans. In some areas of the US Covid-19 incidence in Black Americans can be up to three to five times higher than would be expected based on population data. Previous studies have highlighted socio-economic factors including lower income and poorer access to healthcare facilities could play a role in this infection gap but these factors alone cannot completely explain the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black Americans. In the study, researchers from Queen Mary University of London considered the impact of residential segregation, whereby different ethnic groups tend to live in the areas where the majority of people are from the same background, as well other forms of segregation individuals might experience due to their daily activities, such as commuting. To do this, they examined the relationship between 'diffusion segregation', which measures the probability for a given group of people to come into contact with groups of other ethnicities, and weekly Covid-19 incidence during the early phases of the pandemic. The research team analysed US census data collated from over 130 metropolitan areas to create two types of geographical networks. Adjacency graphs were used to map connections between bordering census areas and commuting graphs instead showed daily commuting flows across the US. They then simulated random walks over those graphs, as a way to explore different paths among census tracts and determine how long it would take for a person starting from a given census tract to encounter individuals from any another ethnic group for the first time. Using this approach the researchers showed that those areas where Black Americans were more exposed to other ethnicities, as well as the regions where they were more internally clustered, also observed a higher infection gap i.e. a larger impact of Covid-19 infections on this ethnic group. When mobility was later restricted due to lockdown measures the researchers found that public transport usage instead strongly correlated with the infection gap observed in different US regions. Aleix Bassolas, Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Queen Mary, said: "The study suggests that taking into account daily commuting patterns of a social or ethnic group can be enough to explain most of the differential incidence of Covid-19 in African American communities during the first epidemic wave last year." "For us it was surprising that quite a simple model, was able to show such a consistently high level of association between social segregation and the excessive incidence of Covid-19 observed in African Americans," added Sandro Sousa, author of the study and PhD student at Queen Mary. The researchers analysed the impact of several other socio-economic factors on the disproportionately high infection and death rates observed in Black Americans. They found that when looking at infection rates, diffusion segregation alone could explain the observed infection gap relatively well. However, other socio-economic factors, such as life expectancy or access to healthcare services, became more important when understanding the disproportionately high death rates due to Covid-19 in this ethnic group. Dr Vincenzo Nicosia, Lecturer in Networks and Data Analysis, at Queen Mary said: "Our results confirm that knowing where people have to commute to, rather than where they live, is potentially much more important to curb the spread of a non-airborne disease. Policy makers need to take into account specific mobility patterns and needs, as well as differences in the mobility and commuting habits of different ethnic and social groups, when deciding on the most effective non-pharmaceutical countermeasures against Covid-19 and similar non-airborne diseases." "We believe this type of analysis could be applied to other countries, such as the UK, however this is dependent on having access to more detailed activity and commuting data, which isn't readily available in all countries." ### Notes to editors * Research Publication: 'Diffusion segregation and the disproportionate incidence of COVID-19 in African American communities' Aleix Bassolas, Sandro Sousa and Vincenzo Nicosia, Journal of the Royal Society Interface, DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0961 * Once the embargo lifts, the paper will be available at: http://rsif. royalsocietypublishing. org/ lookup/ doi/ 10. 1098/ rsif. 2020. 0961 * For more information and a copy of the paper, please contact: Sophie McLachlan Faculty Communications Manager (Science & Engineering) Queen Mary University of London sophie.mclachlan@qmul.ac.uk Tel: 020 7882 3787 About Queen Mary Queen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university that connects minds worldwide. A member of the prestigious Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our world-leading research. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework we were ranked 5th in the country for the proportion of research outputs that were world-leading or internationally excellent. We have over 25,000 students and offer more than 240 degree programmes. Our reputation for excellent teaching was rewarded with silver in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework. Queen Mary has a proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond. Common to each of these institutions - the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew's Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College - was the vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented. Today, Queen Mary University of London remains true to that belief in opening the doors of opportunity for anyone with the potential to succeed and helping to build a future we can all be proud of. A wealthy couple hires flight to Yukon to get COVID-19 vaccine doses from the indigenous community. They were fined for their jumping the distribution of the vaccine. The couple went to the remote community of Beaver Creek to get vaccines for them. Many of the inhabitants are part of the White River First Nation. Reactions of Authorities Locals in the community were surprised by the couple who looked out of town, especially when they said they were workers at a local motel and get ahead of the coronavirus vaccines line to protect the vulnerable indigenous elders. This activity made them wary of the strangers in town, reported MSN. Authorities got wind they took a private plane to Yukon, which is very isolated, and they were identified as casino executive Rodney Baker, 55, and his wife, Ekaterina Baker, a 32-year-old actress. Ekaterina is an actress who has 2020 movies to her credit. Her husband is a successful casino magnate, outlets in Canada reported their excursion. Unfortunately, the Bakers had violated pandemic regulations like how they acquire the doses. One of them is quarantine guidelines ($900); no comment was taken from them yet. They wanted to get their shots first. According to British Columbia solicitor general Mike Farnworth remarked last Monday, they expressed entitlement and no moral compass. He gave these remarks to the Vancouver Sun. Reports say that Baker earned a hefty $10.6 million in 2019 as CEO and president of the Great Canadian Gaming Corp., which owns about 20 Canadian casinos. Still, the CEO was probed for money laundering resigning last Sunday, where he was charged by a probe. Great Canadian disavowed the CEO for suspected illegal activities. This wealthy couple hires flight to Yukon makes the probe more critical. Also read: South African COVID Variant May Have Evolved New Spike Protein to Bypass Immune System White River locals speak up Many in town think the fines given for the Bakers violations is too light; they should get harsher penalties for fooling local authorities. Saying to the Washington Post that it was a small price for the moneyed couple should be bigger. Chief Angela Demit stated that the locals weren't happy to be considered naive; they would know the couple's intentions despite being predominantly indigenous. Demit remarked that Yukon health workers made trips to Canadian rural areas and giving vaccines to people as they go. Beaver Creek and the White River First Nation are priorities because they were located in far outposts given their limited access to an elderly and high-risk population and health care. Why the Bakers were charged The couple flew in last week but is supposed to quarantine in a local hotel for two weeks in Whitehorse. Instead of following the local rules on COVID, they flew to Beaver Creek last Thursday. Shots of the Moderna vaccine were given to individuals who weren't only from rural Yukon; others were from Canada. Anyone can come in and get the immunization shot because a mobile clinic needs no papers like residency, said Minister John Streicker of the Yukon Community Services. How the Bakers were caught Representatives from the vaccination clinic asked if the Bakers were from the Motel staff and learned they weren't. They were intercepted when they checked out of the hotel and leaving for their residence. When a wealthy couple hires flight to Yukon and gets vaccines ahead of others, there should be more penalties. Related article: COVID-19: South Africa Variant Virus and What to Know About This Strain @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Delhi: Competing 100 days in office, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday released a booklet 100 din vishwaas ke while highlighting the achievements of the government. He expressed satisfaction on the state governments working. The chief minister said he has accepted the challenge despite the tenure of 100 days is not enough to implement it. Adityanath said the state government is working for poor and farmers. The chief minister said he is concerned with the issue of farmers. He said the state government has purchased four times wheat in comparison to last year. We are satisfied with the work we have done in the first 100 days of our Govt: UP CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/Mh3Opc1RTy ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 27, 2017 He informed that the state government has cleared pending bill of Rs 22, 517 crore of sugarcane farmers. The chief minister said the state government has waived off loans of 86 lakh farmers. Karz maafi ka asar vikas kaamon pe nahi pada hai, karz maafi se 86 lakh kisaano ko laabh: CM Yogi Adityanath ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 27, 2017 The state government will fulfill the promises which have been made to the people of the state. He said the government has constituted Anti-Romeo squad aiming to provide security to girls and women of the state. After the formation of anti-romeo squads, women in the state feel much safer, he said. After the formation of anti-romeo squads, women in the state feel much safer: CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/ueeWDM5fm8 ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 27, 2017 He said the state was lagging in the last 14-15 years as it got stuck in dynasty politics and family feud. Pichle 14-15 saalon se UP vikas se pichhad gaya tha, jaativaad aur parivarvaad mein ulajh ke: CM Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/gionazmo7z ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 27, 2017 He said the government will focus on each section of the society. He said each year January 24 will be celebrated as "Uttar Pradesh Diwas". #WATCH UP CM Yogi Adityanath addresses the media on 100 days of UP govt https://t.co/WAwZF20ZYF ANI (@ANI_news) June 27, 2017 Also Read | Opposition's move to select Meira Kumar as presidential candidate is to divide Dalits: Yogi Adityanath For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Those looking to grab a quick bite at the new eatery in town were likely met with a long line of other customers that had the same idea. Tuesday marked the grand opening of the new Braums Ice Cream and Dairy location in Plainview, which is located at 3605 Olton Rd. off of I-27. Store operation hours are 6 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. with the menu switching over to lunch and dinner options after that. A long line of cars surrounded the building waiting in the drive-thru just before 11 a.m. The restaurant was fully staffed with employees all working to try to get drive-thru orders out as quickly as possible while learning the system of their new job. The drive-thru line continued to grow within a half-hour stay in the area, though the cars also moved at a relatively quick pace. Inside, customers enjoyed being able to sit down for their meals and avoiding the cold temps outside. The fresh market includes mostly Braums brand items, including four full rows of ice cream in a wide variety of flavors almost too many to name. Theres also steaks and other meats, fresh fruits and veggies, gallon jugs of drinks such as sweet tea, milk and fruit punch. The wait for food in the drive thru was likely a few minutes longer than getting food inside. This reporters order a Bag O Burgers, add the cheese and no pickles, with a large fry and small candy bar sundae with Reeses peanut butter cup and fudge topping took only a few minutes from the time it was ordered to the time it made it out. The order was inspired by recommendations sought from others on Twitter (@NathanGiese, if youre interested) and did not disappoint. Plainviews Ice Cream & Dairy location is Braums 291st store. The chain broke into the Lubbock market in 2019. Plainviews location is one of six including five in the city of Lubbock and Wolfforth to open south of Amarillo. Bill and Mary Braum opened the first store location in 1968 and the company continues to be family-owned and operated. It now has store locations across Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas. [January 27, 2021] Ryan Awarded 2020 International Service Excellence Award and Chairman and CEO Named Customer Service CEO of the Year Ryan, a leading global tax services and software provider, has been awarded the 2020 International Service Excellence Award in the Customer Service Organization of the Year - Large category by the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA). Additionally, G. Brint Ryan, Ryan Chairman and CEO, has been named Customer Service CEO of the Year. The CSIA is the body delegated by the International Council of Customer Service Organizations (ICCSO) to manage the International Service Excellence Awards. These awards are recognized as one of the premier client service honors bestowed on companies and individuals across the globe. Organizations and individuals that excel in service excellence take part in various categories to earn recognition for their commitment to exceptional service experiences. "Dedicaion to delivering the best client experience is the driving force behind our continued growth and success," said G. Brint Ryan. "I am also incredibly honored to receive the Customer Service CEO of the Year award. This recognition would not be possible without our entire organization's tireless commitment to setting the industry standard for client service and results." "Year over year, Ryan has been one of our most consistent and impressive finalists for an International Service Excellence Award," said CSIA Founder and CEO Christine Churchill. "Having won an ISEA nine times over the course of 11 awards seasons, Ryan's passion and dedication to service excellence are ingrained in their culture and unwavering in focus." About the Customer Service Institute of America The Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) is the body delegated by the International Council of Customer Service Organizations (ICCSO) to manage the International Service Excellence Awards. These awards are recognized as the premier service awards around the globe. Organizations and individuals that excel in service excellence compete in a variety of categories to recognize their commitment to customer service excellence. About Ryan Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multijurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is an eight-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan's multidisciplinary team of more than 2,800 professionals and associates serves over 16,000 clients in more than 50 countries, including many of the world's most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com. "Ryan" and "Firm" refer to the global organizational network and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ryan International, each of which is a separate legal entity. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005317/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The citys top political advisory body concluded its annual session yesterday afternoon. The four-day Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference Shanghai Committee at the Expo Center passed a report on a proposal reviewing its works and some other resolutions. Dong Yunhu, chairman of the CPPCC Shanghai Committee, took the chair for the closing meeting which was also attended by Shanghai Party Secretary Li Qiang, Mayor Gong Zheng, Jiang Zhuoqing, director of Standing Committee of Shanghai Peoples Congress, and Shanghai Vice Party Secretary Yu Shaoliang. In his speech, Dong said this year the committee will take facilitating the citys growth by discussing local affairs and policies as its major work and give detailed advice. They will take the initiative to integrate into and serve the new development pattern. They will also deeply carry out key tasks, including enhancing the Four Major Functions, developing the Five Economies, constructing the Five New Towns, driving the high-level reform and opening up of the Pudong New Area, promoting the citys digital transformation and pushing forward the construction of a people-oriented city. Yu offered his congratulations over the success of the session on half of the Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China. He said during this session, the citys CPPCC members had given a series of high-quality opinions and suggestions. Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Wednesday announced termination of Avigan trial study being conducted in Kuwait that was focused on moderate to severe COVID-19 patients in a hospital setting. It was one of the studies in the overall clinical programme for Fujifilm's Avigan, an antiviral medication, spanning the spectrum of asymptomatic to severe cases of COVID-19 in both outpatient and inpatient setting, the drug major said in a statement. The Phase-III study, being conducted in an outpatient setting on patients with mild to moderate symptoms in North America by the company in partnership with Appili Therapuetics and Global Response Aid, shall continue, it added. The data from the Kuwait study involving moderate-severe COVID-19 hospitalised patients did not show statistically significant difference for the primary endpoint, the Hyderabad-based drugmaker said. The full data analysis on 353 subjects would be available by the end of February 2021, it added. Elaborating on the study, Dr Reddy's said sub-group analysis was carried out on 181 subjects in the low risk category. The sub-group analysis of the low-risk category demonstrated a three-day earlier discharge in the Avigan group compared to the placebo group for time to hospital discharge secondary endpoint, it added. "The sub-group analysis data during the initial interim analysis points towards the hypothesis with clinically significant insights from this study that an antiviral drug like Avigan may be effective as part of early treatment initiation in COVID-19 patients and not effective in the late-stage hospital treatment for moderate and severe COVID-19 patients," the drugmaker said. Lahore, Jan 27 : Over 500 students were booked for vandalism and arson during a protest outside a private university in Lahores' Johar Town on Wednesday. According to the police, at least 500 students have been named in the case registered at Nawab Town police station. The case was registered on the request submitted by the security in-charge of the private university, Geo News reported. The students have been demanding to conduct the examinations virtually after online classes. A day earlier, several private university students sustained injuries after they engaged in clashes with security guards during demonstrations against in-person examinations. Students were present outside the university located on Jinnah Road in Johar Town since morning. The students of the private university reached the educational institute's main gate where they chanted slogans against the administration. As new variants of the coronavirus have emerged recently, there have also been increased health and safety measures to avoid contracting these new variants. Scientists have warned everybody to be even more cautious than usual, as new studies are suggesting that the variant from Britain may be twice as contagious and may even be deadlier than the one first identified in Wuhan. Self-protection is now more important than ever. Even as local governments earmark budgets for vaccination, inoculation will be gradual. Pasig, for example, will prioritize health workers and senior citizens. Given this, I wonder: How can I protect myself and my relatives from an invisible killer? I dont think health insurance would be enough if, say, my entire family gets sick. None of us is a healthcare worker, a uniformed or armed personnel, nor a senior citizen. I come from a middle class family where money is not easy to come by. So, in a crisis like this pandemic, praning mode is turned on. Recently I spoke with Dr. Po-Shen Loh, the proponent of a contact tracing app, NOVID, that is all about putting up defenses higher. During that call, while Loh who, during that time, was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where NOVID is based was discussing the app with me, I was on the lawns of Greenfield in Mandaluyong where there were people walking their dogs, playing with their kids, dining, and some others playing badminton. And the first thing in my mind was, What if any of these people have COVID-19? I brought that question to Loh, who stressed the importance of his app. "NOVIDs key insight is that you should measure how 'far away' COVID is from you not in meters, but by counting how many physically close relationships separate you," he explained when I asked him how different his app is from the other available COVID-related apps. MIT Technology Review created a database of coronavirus-related apps where they included certain details and reviews of each app such as what they are, how they work, and some issues or flaws that emerged. For instance, Vietnam-based "BlueZone" is reviewed to be requiring "access to contacts and other media on mobile devices like photos," while UK-based "NHS COVID-19 App" faced criticism "for being confusing and ineffective." Qatar-based "Ehteraz," meanwhile, also requires access to photos and also "had a major security breach upon launch," while the Philippines' "StaySafe" app "has serious privacy concerns," says MIT Technology Review, "which sparked a letter demanding better protections from major organizations." The "COCOA" app in Japan "has been riddled with issues since it launched, and has been suspended at least twice." To ensure the privacy and security of users, NOVID does not use your specific location. It measures distances between smartphones without using GPS, but only by measuring the relative strength of another phones transmitter. Screencap from NOVID/OFFICIAL WEBSITE Unlike earlier apps that say when COVID strikes one relationship away from you, NOVID warns you if COVID strikes as many as 12 relationships away from you. Not only that, it lets you know if the COVID infections are striking closer and closer, to six relationships away, to four relationships away, and so on. "By telling you long before COVID strikes one relationship away, you suddenly have the warning time to do something to protect yourself before it is too late," said Loh, who is a professor of Mathematical Sciences at the Carnegie Mellon University. I tried installing the app for myself, and quite frankly, its easy to use (and, not to mention, free). It just took me a few clicks to allow my newly-installed NOVID app to access my WiFi, Bluetooth, and microphone, which are the only things that NOVID required from me. It didnt ask for my name and other personal information. On the apps interface, I would see if persons who self-reported to be COVID-19 are approaching me. They are represented by the red bars which are nearing towards me like some zombies who are slowly trying to attack. So, just like in a zombie movie, when you see a zombie is nearing towards you, the first thing you would do is to isolate and protect yourself. Thats how NOVID works. I asked Loh an internationally reputed mathematician who has been recognized by the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, an International Math Olympiad Silver Medalist, and a nominee for the World Economic Forum Young Scientist why there is a need for NOVID to use my WiFi, Bluetooth, and microphone. "When two phones running the NOVID app spend 15 minutes near each other, they figure that out using a combination of whichever of these three sensor types are available: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and sound," he said about the forecasting system, which is the invention at the heart of the app. To ensure the privacy and security of users, NOVID does not use your specific location. It measures distances between smartphones without using GPS, but only by measuring the relative strength of another phones transmitter. NOVID intentionally does this the hard way not using GPS in order to protect your privacy, because your GPS coordinates can be used to identify where you live, Loh said. This means NOVID can never know the actual location of your phone, but only estimates how far away your phone is from nearby phones. Users usually ask why there is a need to enable the microphone. Are private conversations being recorded and picked up by NOVID? "We only open the microphone for about two seconds each time we use it to measure distance from another NOVID-protected person. We use a combination of ultrasound and Bluetooth to tell how far away that person is," Loh said. Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) also conducted an independent review of NOVID's app source code in July 2020 and found that using the phone's mic reduces the false-positive rate of Bluetooth signals. GTRI also found that NOVIDs source code "follows secure software engineering practices and is generally free of obvious security concerns'' and that NOVIDs smartphone applications do not transmit personally identifiable information to their backend server or any other destination. According to the NOVID developers, the app also uses very little of your battery life. Helping Lohs team of 10 fulltime mathematicians, engineers, and designers are some few Filipinos who are involved in promoting the app: Leah Cioco, a mathematics undergrad at the University of the Philippines-Diliman and the one who first messaged me about NOVID; Bacolod-based Dhrubhagat Singh and Taguig-based Adam Zhou, who are just about to start their studies at Harvard University soon; and Hillary Andales, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They are part of the team that helps connect NOVID with local governments and organizations. As a volunteer, Cioco works with her fellow volunteers from the Philippines to spread awareness about NOVID and encourage communities to buy in. "I give intel [to NOVID team] on what's happening within the UP system, which is very keen on researching about COVID," says Cioco about one of her duties for the app. "Knowing that most UP students have difficulty with online classes and badly want to go back on campus, I'm working on getting UP to use NOVID and open up in-person classes safely ideally next school year. Cioco, a math undergrad, says she has been a YouTube subscriber of Loh even before she found out about NOVID. "I watched all interviews about NOVID I could find on YouTube, read the research paper Dr. Po and his colleagues produced about NOVID, talked to my math professor who also happens to be part of our country's COVID research team, and even went as far as meeting with Dr. Po several times now in order to truly understand the algorithms behind NOVID," shares Cioco. "What really kept me working on this despite my hectic schedule is the fact that I'd never seen any other solution to what we're now facing unlike the one that he built." The app has already been reviewed and written about elsewhere. Technology writer Ramsey Faragher, who has been covering deep tech and writing newly emerging COVID-19-related apps since last year, said in his article for Forbes in October 2020 that NOVID's approach is "critical." Faragher said that NOVID has "pioneered a much better approach to solving the coronavirus problem, by building on the same social-networking graph theory math that powers Facebook and other social networks." The writer added, "Believe it or not, most people on Earth are connected to each other by just six or fewer connections through their social network." For their part, the NOVID team should be able to use the aggregate data about how the virus moves through ones physical social networks to understand public health in the country, and prepare, perhaps for a COVID variant. "We must use this pandemic to learn how to defeat all future pandemics," Loh said. The Telegraph Imagine there was a trigger for weight which caused you to pile on the pounds on average two and a half stone heavier than you otherwise would be. Sometimes much more. Now imagine that such a trigger exists, but it is not greed, or fecklessness. Instead it is a gene, a strip of chemical coding in our DNA, which revolutionises some peoples very perception of food while leaving others untouched. Would that cause you to look at obesity differently? Or reconsider, even, what is within individual human control, and what lies beyond? These are the fundamental questions raised by research published this week. A team from the University of Cambridge has discovered that mutations in a single gene called MC4R are capable of scrambling the brains perception of food and fullness. MC4R stands for melanocortin 4 receptor; melanocortin is a vital part of the critical system that the body uses to sense and determine fat stores. MC4Rs job is to tell you to stop eating after a meal, says Sadaf Farooqi, Professor of Metabolism and Medicine at Addenbrookes Hospital. If its not working you dont get that signal. The impact on fat mass and weight of a malfunctioning MC4R are, the paper notes, detectable as early as five years old. By the time carriers of the same broken gene hit 18, they are 18kg heavier than those with a working MC4R. MC4R is the volume dial, says Farooqi. If its not working even partially people gain weight; if its not working completely people gain a lot of weight. Some of its impact, says Farooqi, is on how efficiently the body burns calories. But the vast majority of its effect is on perception. Predominantly its about how much you want to eat. That, says Dr Giles Yeo, also an author of the paper, is like a pilot having a malfunctioning altimeter. The pilot thinks and responds as if they are cruising normally at 30,000ft, when in fact they are dangerously close to the ground. So the person with the disrupted MC4R thinks they need to eat more, and feels hungry, when in fact their body requires no more food. We all have those moments when you feel hungry and wander downstairs to stare into the fridge, he says. Its that level of hunger. Except all the time. In the New York City mayoral race, where there are at least 30 declared candidates, if one of the lesser-known entrants drops out, will it make a ripple? Zach Iscol hopes so. Mr. Iscol is ending his long-shot bid for mayor, amid hopes that he can make more of an impact as a new candidate in the city comptrollers race. Mr. Iscols odds will certainly improve: Eight other comptroller candidates have filed paperwork with the city Campaign Finance Board, though one has already dropped out; of those remaining, only two Brad Lander, a Brooklyn city councilman, and Brian A. Benjamin, a state senator have met the minimum thresholds to receive matching public funds. Mr. Iscol had hoped that his moderate brand of Democratic politics and history of public service in the military and in the nonprofit world would attract a following. But he was unable to gain much traction and said he decided that he and New York might be better served if he shifted his focus to another race. Eastern Libyan authorities in Tobruk have freed 32 Egyptians kidnapped by criminal gangs reports say. The Egyptian nationals reportedly entered Libya illegal and were abducted by the alleged criminals who also blackmailed them. Egyptian media Al Youm Al Sabei citing a Libyan security source, noted that security forces arrested and are currently questioning a number of suspects allegedly connected to the kidnapping. Seven Libyans are accused of kidnapping and killing three Egyptian nationals whose bodies were found bearing signs of torture, the source told the Egyptian media. Egypt backs the Libyan eastern administration against Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) that it blames for housing terrorists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Developed by APCO members representing key osteoporosis stakeholders, and multiple medical and surgical specialities, this set of clear, concise, relevant and pragmatic clinical standards aims to support national societies, guidelines development authorities, and health care policy makers with the development of new guidelines, and to encourage the revision of existing guidelines.According to the Framework lead author, APCO Chairperson, and Director of the Osteoporosis andBone Metabolism Unit at Singapore General Hospital, Dr Manju Chandran, Singapore, APCO employed a5IQ analysis and the well-established Delphi Consensus process to analyse the 18 clinical practice guidelines currently available in the Asia Pacific region, to inform the development of The APCO Framework."Utilising a comprehensive, four-round Delphi consensus method enabled our APCO members who work in vastly different health care systems, to reach a remarkable level of consensus on a benchmark set of clinical standards for the provision of quality osteoporosis care for the Asia Pacific region."The APCO Framework offers clinicians structured, well-articulated, and readily accessible clinical practice guidelines that define:o Individuals to be identified for assessment;o Investigations required;o Relevant indications for treatment;o Appropriate selection of interventions to be made;o The guidance and information patients need for self-care;o Integration of healthcare systems for optimal provision of care; ando The need, and methods for monitoring and improving the quality of osteoporosis care.Globally, the population aged 65 years or over increased from six per cent in 1990, to nine per cent in 2019.(1)This proportion is projected to rise to 16 per cent by 2050,(1) meaning one in six people worldwide will be aged65 years or over by 2050.(1) The number of people aged 60 years and over in the Asia-Pacific region - home tomore than a third of the world's population aged 65 years and over, and to more elderly people than any other region(2) - is predicted to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching a staggering 1.3 billion people.(3)Osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations are expected to increase exponentially, not only because of the region's rapidly aging population, but also due to mounting urbanisation, and the subsequent increase in sedentary lifestyles.(4)Despite the presence of generally safe and effective treatments for osteoporosis, as many as five in six patients presenting to their primary care physician (PCP), or to a hospital with a fragility fracture, will not be assessed for osteoporosis, nor appropriately managed to prevent further fracture.(5)According to Medical Director of Osteoporosis Australia, and APCO Executive Committee member,Professor Peter Ebeling AO, Australia, as many as half of those who have sustained a hip fracture, have already experienced a previous fracture at other skeletal sites.A fragility fracture, which occurs every three seconds worldwide,(6) compromises quality of life and loss of independence.(6),(7) Concerningly, one-in-four patients who sustain a hip fracture die within a year, and less than half of those who survive, regain their previous level of function.(8),(9) In 2010, an estimated 158 million people aged50 years and above were at high risk for osteoporotic fracture - a figure which is set to double by 2040.(10)According to International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) CEO and APCO Executive Committee member, Dr Philippe Halbout, Switzerland, these alarming statistics, coupled with the anticipated, exponential rise in osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations, warrant a standardised set of minimum clinical standards for the region. "Anecdotal evidence to date reveals significant inconsistencies in osteoporosis clinical practice guidelines in the Asia Pacific region, which vary widely in scope and recommendations. This was confirmed when we analysed the 18 guidelines. "Implementation of the minimum clinical standards proposed by The APCO Framework, and reform of existing guidelines, will support clinical improvement initiatives, while also paving the way for a more holistic approach to osteoporosis care, and ultimately, greater consistency across all national and regional clinical practice guidelines in the region," Dr Halbout said. To download or access The APCO Framework, head to www.apcobonehealth.org/apco-framework To learn more, visit www.apcobonehealth.org or follow APCO on LinkedIn: asia-pacific-consortium-on-osteoporosis About APCO The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) comprises osteoporosis experts from several countries and regions in the Asia Pacific, charged with developing tangible solutions to the substantive challenges involving osteoporosis management and fracture prevention in this most populated and fastest growing part of the world. APCO's mission is to engage with relevant stakeholders, including healthcare providers, policy makers and the public, to help develop and implement country and region-specific programs for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, and its complication of fragility fractures, in the Asia Pacific. About IOF The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is the world's largest non-governmental organisation dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal diseases. IOF's mission is to promote bone and musculoskeletal health as a worldwide priority. The 5IQ exercise assessed the extent of disparity when comparing the national guidelines currently available throughout the Asia Pacific region. The Delphi technique (a structured communication technique using a systematic, interactive forecasting method reliant upon an expert panel) was employed to achieve APCO member consensus for the development of clinical standards of care.(11) EXPERTS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW Dr Manju Chandran - APCO Executive Committee Chairperson, Senior Consultant, Department of Endocrinology, Director, Osteoporosis & Bone Metabolism Unit, Singapore General Hospital, SINGAPORE Dr Philippe Halbout - Chief Executive Officer (CEO), International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), APCO Executive Committee member, SWITZERLAND Prof. Peter Ebeling AO - Medical Director, Osteoporosis Australia & APCO Executive Committee member, AUSTRALIA Dr Zhao Yanling - Obstetrician & Gynaecologist, Beijing United Family Hospital, & APCO Member, Beijing, CHINA Prof. Atsushi Suzuki - Professor & Chair, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Fujita Health University & APCO Member, JAPAN Prof. Yoon-Sok Chung - Professor, Department of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Director, Ajou Institute on Aging, Ajou University Medical Center & APCO Member, SOUTH KOREA Dr Hew Fen Lee - Consultant Endocrinologist, Puchong Medical Specialist Centre, Subang Jaya Medical Centre & APCO member, MALAYSIA Dato' Dr. Lee Joon-Kiong - Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Beacon Hospital & APCO Member, MALAYSIA Dr Nigel Gilchrist - Specialist Consultant Physician, Canterbury District Health Board & APCO ExecutiveCommittee Member, Christchurch, NEW ZEALAND Mr Paul Mitchell - Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia & APCO Executive Committee Member, Auckland, NEW ZEALAND MEDIA CONTACTS & INTERVIEWS Kirsten Bruce & Mel Kheradi, VIVA! Communications, Sydney, Australia T +61 (0)401 717 566; +61 (0)421 551 257 E: kirstenbruce@vivacommunications.com.au; mel@vivacommunications.com.au DOWNLOAD THE APCO FRAMEWORK DIGITAL MEDIA KIT: www.apcoframeworkmediakit.org References: (1) United Nations - Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Population Ageing 2019 Highlights. 2019. (2) World Bank Group, Live Long and Prosper - Aging in East Asia and Pacific. 2016. (3) United National Population Fund (UNFPA) Asia & the Pacific. Ageing. [cited Nov, 2020]; Available from: https://asiapacific.unfpa.org/en/node/15208. (4) International Osteoporosis Foundation, The Asia-Pacific Regional Audit: Epidemiology, costs & burden of osteoporosis in 2013. 2013. p. 1-128. (5) Royal Australian College of General Practitioners & Osteoporosis Australia, Osteoporosis prevention, diagnosis and management in postmenopausal women and men over 50 years of age. 2017. (6) International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF). Capture the fracture. [cited Jan, 2020]; Available from: https://www.capturethefracture.org/about. (7) Madureira, M.M., R.M. Ciconelli, and R.M.R. Pereira, Quality of life measurements in patients with osteoporosis and fractures. Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 2012. 67(11): p. 1315-1320. (8) National Osteoporosis Foundation, NOF's Clinician's Guide to Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis. (9) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Musculoskeletal fact sheet. Osteoporosis. [cited Jan, 2020]; Available from: https://bit.ly/3qQOqbi (10) Oden, A., et al., Burden of high fracture probability worldwide: secular increases 2010-2040. Osteoporos Int, 2015. 26(9): p. 2243-8. (11) Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The Delphi technique. 2005 [cited Jan, 2020]; Available from: https://bit.ly/39hWags Source: APCOIOFCopyright 2021 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Advocates representing those learning a trade are worried workers could be killed or injured on the job because of provincial changes to apprenticeship and certification regulations. Advocates representing those learning a trade are worried workers could be killed or injured on the job because of provincial changes to apprenticeship and certification regulations. The Manitoba Federation of Labour and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers say the recent changes which eliminates the requirement for one-to-one journeyperson to apprentice ratio and now allows two apprentices for every journeyperson will make workplaces less safe. "They have weakened the regulations dramatically, and they did it under the radar during COVID and during the holiday season," MFL president Kevin Rebeck said Tuesday. "It really feels they are making things worse. This is a program that keeps workers safe while they are learning a trade. "Manitobans that work in the trades are essential to our economy and they often work with potentially dangerous equipment and in situations where risks are heightened... This could lead to more injuries and accidents at workplaces throughout our province." The changes, which came into effect on Dec. 18, 2020, also allow an apprentice in their fourth year not to be counted in the ratio, but to let them do work without a journeyperson being present, as long as the journeyperson is available over the phone. Russ Shewchuk, business manager and financial secretary with IBEW Local 2085, and an electrician for more than three decades, said the government did not consult with his union whose members work on everything from electrical wiring in a new home to the Keeyask generating station under construction nor contractors. "I think this is very dangerous. Before this legislation came in the 1990s, young apprentices got electrocuted. We're now going back to that and when did we find out about it? They emailed us on Christmas Eve," Shewchuk said. Manitoba is watering down its apprenticeship and certification program just like other Conservative governments have done in Alberta and Saskatchewan, he said. "This government just doesn't care. I was livid when I heard about this." Economic Development and Jobs Minister Ralph Eichler said in a statement that workplace safety is a priority for his government, and the Workplace Safety and Health Act will enforce safe work practices of Manitobans. "Employers in Manitoba continue to be responsible for ensuring safe work conditions are met for all their employees at all times," Eichler said. "If there is a concern that apprentice safety is at risk, employers can decide to have more journeypersons on the job site to ensure that tasks are completed in a safe manner." The change was made after industry consultation, and reducing the ratio will help employers who want to expand their business through the apprenticeship system and allow more Manitobans to reach certification, he said. NDP labour critic Tom Lindsey said the changes will not only put apprentices at risk, but the long-term effect will result in a drop in the number of highly skilled, well-paid journeypersons working in trades. "It will lead to a loss of good jobs and will cheat apprentices out of the quality training they and their employers expect," the Flin Flon MLA said in a statement. "Rather than investing in Manitoba's trade industry, this government is in a race to the bottom that will only end in fewer good jobs and an exodus of skilled workers from our province." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Egyptian MP Amal Salama said she will request amending an article on battering in the Egyptian penal code to explicitly set penalties against husbands who beat their wives to up to five years in prison. The proposal is meant to protect Egyptian families and prevent domestic violence, particularly violence against women, Salama told the media on Tuesday. Wife battering specified in the draft would be defined as the act that causes permanent disability, she explained. Around 46 percent of married women aged 18 to 64 years in Egypt have experienced some form of spousal violence, whether physical, emotional or sexual in 2015, according to a survey conducted by Egypt's official statistic body the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics, the National Council of Women and the United Nations Fund for Population Agency. The Egyptian penal code, which punishes battering in general with jail sentences and fines, does not explicitly criminalise wife battering. Article 240 of the penal code sets a penalty of one year in prison and a maximum fine of EGP 200 for battering, and a maximum of five years in jail and a fine of EGP 300 for those who injure or beat others in a manner that results in injuries or permanent disability. Salama will propose an amendment that shall mandate "detention for a period of no less than three years and not more than five years" against husbands who injure or beat their wives. Salama, who won her seat in the House of Representatives as part of the Mostaqbal Watan Party-led National Unified List, said family violence extends beyond inflicting harm on the family to affect society. She added that violence against women violates Article 11 of the Egyptian constitution which ensures equality between men and women. Salama argued that Islamic Sharia, a main source of legislation in Egypt, prohibits any degradation for women. The MP said she does not mind generalising the proposed punishment to become against women and men for the sake of equality. The government and the National Council of Women have in recent years launched several initiatives to combat violence against women. Short link: (Newser) Dozens of Metropolitan Police officers had what turned out to be very expensive haircuts at a police station in east London earlier this month. The force says the 31 officers who had their hair cut while on duty at Bethnal Green station will be fined 200 pounds each, around $275, and the two officers who organized the session with a professional barber will be investigated for misconduct, CNN reports. Barbers and hairdressers are banned from operating during Britain's national lockdown, and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick recently announced that police would be cracking down on rule-breakers. story continues below The officers' commander, Detective Chief Superintendent Marcus Barnet, said it was "deeply disappointing and frustrating" that they had breached the regulations they were supposed to be enforcing. "Although officers donated money to charity as part of the haircut, this does not excuse them from what was a very poor decision. I expect a lot more of them," Barnett said, per the Guardian. "Quite rightly, the public expect police to be role models in following the regulations which are designed to prevent the spread of this deadly virus." He said he hopes the fines and misconduct investigation will prove "that police are not immune to enforcement of the rules." (Read more United Kingdom stories.) President Joe Biden will escalate appeals for Congress to back his top priority, $1.9 trillion in pandemic relief, seeking to overcome Republican opposition to the plan as he enters his first full week in office. Biden's top economic adviser, Brian Deese, spent more than an hour on Sunday discussing the proposal with a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Some asked the White House to further justify what would be the second-largest emergency spending measure in U.S. history and expressed interest in a much narrower bill focused on accelerating coronavirus vaccine distribution, according to Senator Angus King of Maine and people familiar with the matter. Deese and other officials provided details and context in response to the senators' questions, according to an administration official. Senior White House aides plan to keep talking with lawmakers in both parties this week to hear their concerns but also press for urgent action, the official said. As the president's team began its work with key lawmakers, Biden is moving forward with another round of executive actions, following on a series of orders signed soon after he took office. On Monday, he will sign an order directing federal agencies to buy more American-made products and is expected to take other actions on criminal justice, climate, health care and immigration. The new orders will add to roughly two dozen actions Biden has signed since Inauguration Day in an effort to address the coronavirus pandemic, reverse former President Donald Trump's agenda and point the nation in a new direction. While girding for what may be prolonged negotiations with Republicans, Biden received welcome news with the Senate's decision to delay the start of Trump's second impeachment trial. The president had urged lawmakers to spend more time filling Cabinet posts and working on his agenda. The Senate this week is expected to take up the nomination of Janet Yellen to lead the Treasury Department, which would fill a key vacancy at a critical moment for the economy. But agreement has been hard to come by in the 50-50 Senate, where Democratic and Republican leaders have yet to reach a power-sharing deal -- much less come to terms on the White House's stimulus proposal. Taken together, the developments show the honeymoon period of Biden's presidency could be coming to a close mere days after he took office. The challenges raise questions about whether Biden can keep his pledge to unify the country while pushing forward with an ambitious policy agenda that addresses thorny issues. Biden's aides have expressed optimism. "By and large, we've seen a lot of progress on this front," White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said on NBC's "Meet the Press." The coming days will also test Biden's personal relationships with members of Congress, which his team said would help him get big things done in a divided Washington. For now, his lieutenants are taking the lead in trying to build some support for his stimulus and immigration bills. Deese on Sunday spoke to a bipartisan group of 16 senators, including moderate Republican Senators Mitt Romney, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, all of whom have expressed reservations about the price tag for Biden's virus relief proposal. Before the call, Romney described the $1.9 trillion cost "shocking," considering a $900 billion stimulus Congress passed in late December. Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Romney called for targeted relief measures focused on ending the pandemic rather than another major stimulus package. King, a Maine independent who caucuses with Democrats, said the White House should provide hard figures to show why such a large package is needed on the heels of December's stimulus law. "Part of what we're asking for is more data -- where did you get the number?" said King, who participated in Deese's call. A Democrat on the call, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, said that lawmakers need more information on how the last stimulus was used. "I think that case can be better made when we get more transparency and better numbers about how the last $900 billion - much of which has started to go out - but I think the administration needs to be very transparent about how those dollars have been delivered," Warner said in an interview on NPR. Facing pressure from liberals for quick action, the White House has brushed aside the idea of cutting off bipartisan talks by using a maneuver called "budget reconciliation," which would conceivably allow much of the legislation to pass through the Senate with only Democratic votes. Under normal rules, major legislation often needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, meaning Democrats would need at least 10 Republicans to advance Biden's relief plan. Yet Biden's team has also resisted making changes favored by Republicans, such as reducing the package's size, breaking it into smaller pieces or removing controversial items like a minimum wage increase. "We were going to move fast and we're going to move bipartisan," Klain said. "I don't think bipartisanship and speed are enemies of one another. The need is urgent. Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, are dying. Kids' schools that take care of both Democratic and Republican kids are closed. People are on unemployment. People are in food lines. That's not a party issue." In the meantime, the president plans to spend part of each day next week signing executive actions. Monday's order will start the process of strengthening requirements for federal agencies to buy U.S.-made goods and services, according to administration officials. It will also tighten standards for how much of a product needs to be manufactured in the U.S. in order to be considered American-made. Another batch of orders are expected to be aimed at racial justice. Among them are directives to create a federal commission on police reform, limit the transfer of military equipment to police and wind down the use of private prisons. Biden also plans to sign actions that elevate climate change as a national security and regulatory priority and convene a summit of world leaders on April 22 to discuss the issue. The president is also expected to rescind a controversial rule blocking U.S. funding for foreign groups that provide abortions, known as the Mexico City policy, and sign an order bolstering Medicaid and Obamacare. On immigration, Biden plans to sign actions that restore the U.S. asylum and refugee systems that largely ground to a halt under Trump. He's expected to direct a review of a Trump-era rule that tightened criteria for refusing entry to potential immigrants on the grounds they would become dependent on government assistance. Biden also plans to form a task force to reunite migrant children with guardians separated from them under Trump's border policies. Protected by the Appalachians and far closer to the heat-retaining Atlantic Ocean than the snow-making waters of the Great Lakes, Philadelphia is not an especially snowy place. Despite those obstacles, the city can almost always count on at least some measurable snow in January, almost as surely as cars will double-park in South Philly. But for the first time in a generation, its entirely possible that January 2021 will end with no more than a trace officially. That has happened in only a handful of years in records dating to 1885, and not since 1995. Sleet, freezing rain, and some random flakes fell north and west of the city on Tuesday, and a winter weather advisory was extended until 4 a.m. Wednesday in the outer areas of Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties. READ MORE: Snow is snubbing Philly in January, and February is looking mild across the nation But, yet again, snow eluded Philadelphia, which awoke Tuesday to a generic cold rain with temperatures in the mid-30s and nary a flake sighting. And, yet again, we learned that in meteorology the term model behavior very often is no compliment. Recall that last week some were seeing a potentially significant snowfall Monday into Tuesday. Now, the model guidance says a major winter storm could affect the region Sunday into Monday. Somehow, that sounds familiar. The snow that wasnt By the time a once-powerful storm that crowned parts of the Midwest with double-digit snows came close enough to affecting the Philadelphia, it was more or less spent. Still, on Monday forecasters had been confident that the region would get its first measurable snow of the month, albeit a paltry amount, followed by some ice. READ MORE: When winter doesnt come: Here are the winners and losers of Phillys nearly snowless season However, dry air held on stubbornly overnight, said Chad Shafer, a lead meteorologist in the National Weather Services Mount Holly office, and by the time the precipitation arrived, the upper atmosphere was a touch too warm for snow. The models have just been too aggressive in bringing the precipitation from the get-go, Shafer said. Identifying the rain/snow/ice line was a tough call, said Dave Bowers, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc., as temperatures 3,000 to 6,000 feet in the atmosphere were literally hugging the freezing line. As expected, the storm did spawn a weak secondary low-pressure system off the Carolina coast. It generated weak winds from the northeast that kept temperatures near freezing well inland, prompting the weather service to extend its winter weather advisories. However, it moved out to sea and never had a chance to become a snow-making noreaster. Shafer said that in recent weeks the upper-air pattern has set up in such a way as to shunt storms to the south. Meanwhile, to the north, west-to-east winds from the Pacific have dominated, the result of the La Nina cooling of surface waters in the tropical Pacific. READ MORE: Snow squalls cross region, and Philly gets its first trace of the month Arctic air has been practically absent, said Bowers. While not Arctic level, Philadelphia will be getting quite a substantial cool-down starting Thursday, with daytime temperatures through Saturday struggling to get past freezing. On Friday morning, the forecast low is 19. That would be the first time in more than a year that the official reading in Philadelphia has dropped to the teens. Breaking the fast? Should that prospective coastal storm actually take shape Sunday, cold air would be in place, with forecast highs in the mid-30s. Shafer said the pattern that has been blocking storms from coming north is due to relax. READ MORE: Much has changed in 2020. The magic and mystery of snow persist. | Book excerpt However, it is not at all clear how much of any precipitation would fall as snow. And given the models tendency to be overanxious on arrival times, Shafer said it is uncertain whether it would get here before 12:01 a.m. Monday, which would be Feb. 1. Sunday might be precipitation-free, he said. I would not be surprised if Sunday turned out to be an oh-fer. Mumbai, Jan 27 : Just-married actor Varun Dhawan on Wednesday tweeted his thanks to all, for their love and positivity shown towards him and his wife, fashion designer Natasha Dalal. "The last few days me and Natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart," he wrote. Varun got married to his childhood sweetheart Natasha at The Mansion House resort in Alibaug on Sunday. He opted for an intimate affair, rather than a big wedding owing to the ongoing pandemic. He got married in the presence of family members and close friends. Image Source: IANS News Since Sunday, the actor has been sharing various moments from the wedding on his Instagram. He shared wedding pictures on social media, captioning the post: "Life long love just became official". In his latest post, he has shared a picture of Natasha's mehendi ceremony where the actor can be seen planting a kiss on her cheek. -- Syndicated from IANS Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 'A complete lack of Covid-19 measures' at an airport on the paradise archipelago of Zanzibar - now on the Government's 'red list' of Covid countries - has left a hygiene audit team shocked. Respected UK-based air transport rating agency Skytrax said that Abeid Amani Karume International Airport was 'failing on Covid-19 safety protocols' after it assessed measures and standards at the airport earlier this month. And the team took startling photographs showing crowds of passengers not wearing face masks. Skytrax said that face mask usage in public areas of the airport was 'disappointing', there was no encouragement of social distancing in seating areas and that terminals' cleanliness was 'unsatisfactory'. A Skytrax source said it was 'the worst to be rated' and given a two-star 'Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating' - the lowest handed out so far. Skytrax said that Abeid Amani Karume International Airport was 'failing on Covid-19 safety protocols'. In this image taken by its audit team, there isn't a face mask in sight The airport has been given a two-star 'Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating' - the lowest handed out so far by Skytrax. Pictured is congestion at the queue for immigration A picture taken by the Skytrax team showing the queue to enter the airport. Skytrax said Abeid Amani Karume International is the worst airport to be rated so far Zanzibar, pictured, is the No1 place Britons are dreaming of visiting, according to a recent study The findings are all the more shocking given Zanzibar's status as an exotic holiday-of-a-lifetime destination. Just last week Zanzibar was named as the No1 place that Britons are dreaming of visiting once lockdown ends. In the Skytrax audit of Abeid Amani Karume International, it 'used procedural efficiency checks, visual observation analysis and cleanliness checks using ATP tests [surface cleanliness analysis]' and said the consistency of standards was a 'key determinant in the final rating'. The ratings agency claimed that throughout the airport 'there are no information guidelines reflecting Covid-19 safe behaviour such as mask use or hand hygiene reminders'. It added: 'There are a few legacy physical distancing markers, and those in place are faded and damaged, and there is no encouragement for social distancing in the seating areas. The volume of passengers during the audit inspections meant that distancing is impossible.' Skytrax did point out that customer temperatures are checked on arrival and said this 'represents the only monitoring and consistently applied policy for Covid-19 at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport'. When it came to the use of face masks, Skytrax said it is not enforced among passengers and 'while many airport staff wear face masks, the level of compliance is much weaker than one observes in other global regions'. It also explained: 'If you do not have appropriate PPE with you, there is nowhere to buy such items in the terminal.' In terms of hand sanitiser provision, Skytrax said there were a few places where it was offered inside the terminal but added that the 'locations, quality and visibility of the product is so much poorer than we would expect to find in a busy international airport during the pandemic'. Skytrax described the cleanliness of the airport terminal as 'unsatisfactory' and said the overall condition of the terminal was 'very weak' Skytrax said there were a few places where hand sanitiser was offered inside the terminal but added that the 'locations, quality and visibility of the product is so much poorer than we would expect to find in a busy international airport during the pandemic' It continued: 'The airport terminal cleanliness is unsatisfactory, and maintenance staff are not seen. Aside from the lack of sanitisation facilities, the overall condition of the terminal is very weak. 'The two-star Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating is the lowest possible classification used and indicates a poor standard of airport cleanliness and/or Covid-19 safety protocols. 'The two-star rating indicates that an airport, cleaning and hygiene protocols are not meeting the required minimum standard of Covid-19 safety. Two-star rated airports might offer fair visual cleanliness and presentation, but the standards of disinfection, hygiene measures and safety protocols are poor.' In June last year, John Magufuli, the president of Tanzania, where Zanzibar is located, declared the country 'coronavirus-free' although there has been no official data on infections since April 29, 2020. The data available puts the country's total number of cases at 509 and deaths at 21. However, travellers from Tanzania have recently tested positive for the South Africa strain. Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: 'We are shocked by the poor health and safety standards at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport, which appear to reflect Tanzania's denial of Covid-19. 'New cases of the South African virus variant were confirmed in two travellers flying into Denmark on January 19 from Tanzania (Denmark Statens Serum Institut). Skytrax's Covid-19 Safety Audit was carried out three days later, which confirmed a complete lack of Covid-19 measures. Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: 'We are shocked by the poor health and safety standards at Abeid Amani Karume International Airport' 'Our audit teams have conducted Covid-19 audits at airports in most parts of the world during the past eight months, and this airport is worse than we could have ever imagined for its complete lack of Covid-19 safety protocols. 'We highlight to any travellers considering to visit Zanzibar that in the current global pandemic this is a potentially dangerous airport to travel through.' We highlight to any travellers considering to visit Zanzibar that in the current global pandemic this is a potentially dangerous airport to travel through Edward Plaisted, Skytrax Britons returning from Zanzibar will now have to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense, as Tanzania, of which the archipelago is a part, is now on the British government's 'red list' of 30 Covid countries. MailOnline understands that hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms, where they will have to stay for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500 - although ministers hope the numbers will 'fall through the floor' as people avoid coming to the UK. Assessments by Skytrax of Covid-19 safety measures adopted by airlines and in airports around the globe are ongoing. So far, it has inspected 48 airports across the world with Rome Fiumicino the first to be awarded the maximum of five stars. Others to be awarded five stars include Istanbul Airport and Bogota El Dorado Airport in Colombia. It was revealed last week that Edinburgh Airport had become the first in the UK to be awarded a four-star Covid-19 Airport Safety Rating. By comparison, Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester airports all have a three-star rating. Skytrax has also assessed 20 airlines, with Qatar Airways and Latvian carrier airBaltic receiving a maximum five-star rating. Those that have gained a four-star rating include British Airways, easyJet, Emirates, Lufthansa, Ryanair, KLM and Air France. MailOnline Travel has asked the Zanzibar Airports Authority for comment. Vietnams ride-hailing industry could reach US$4 billion by 2025 and is one of Southeast Asias fastest-growing ride-hailing markets. Multiple new entrants are challenging the market positions of established firms while the latter attempt to expand networks by entering industries such as food and package delivery, and shopping services. Vietnam recently categorized ride-hailing firms as transportation firms as opposed to their initial categorization as technology firms. This has increased compliance costs and tax incidence which significantly affect the financial relationship between firms, drivers, and consumers. Vietnams ride-hailing industry revenues could reach US$4billion by 2024, while the industry is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16 percent between 2020 and 2025. The industry has witnessed a surge in consumer demand, new entrants, and innovative products in recent years. In addition, since the industry is relatively nascent the regulatory outlook is constantly evolving. Foreign firms have a strong presence in the industry and many established firms are expanding into associated services such as food delivery, service hire, and shopping services. Ride-hailing connects consumers to drivers for the purpose of providing transportation services based on short-term contracts. While traditional taxi services offer the same value, ride-hailing operates through digital interfaces such as mobile apps. These apps reduce search costs for consumers who now spend lesser time finding a service provider and agreeing at a price. Similar to other industries in the digital economy, ride-hailing is a network-based business; firms benefit from their ability to establish and connect a network of consumers and drivers. Consumer value is created by product quality, ease of use, and innovation in digital banking. E-wallets in particular are a key component of many ride-hailing services. Key drivers Numerous factors collectively contribute to the rise of Vietnams ride-hailing industry. Of these, internet penetration and digital financial services are the most significant. In 2015, the internet access rate in the country was 45 percent; by 2019, this figure grew to 69 percent. Particularly in urban areas, a large portion of the population has access to internet services. Current growth rates indicate that by 2023 there could be 75 million internet users in the country. In addition, it is estimated that around 80 percent of the country uses smartphones, a key component of demand prospects for ride-hailing apps. Ride-hailing as an industry that is contextually placed in the wider digital economy. This means that the ability of Vietnams digital economy to offer digital banking services is key to the industrys innovative potential. Many ride hailing firms have offers and strategies that hinge on the successful operations of e-wallets such as MoMo, Moca, and ZaloPay who collectively control 90 percent of the e-wallet market. In addition, 15 million people opted for digital banking services during the COVID-19 lockdown. This indicates a shift toward cashless transactions in the economy at large and in digital industries such as ride-hailing in particular. Vietnams ride-hailing industry: 2 key structural shifts Evolving competitive landscape Given its first-mover advantage, Singapore-based Grab dominates the Vietnamese ride-hailing industry. The firm was one of the first to offer ride-hailing services to the Vietnamese market and in 2014, the firm was the first to introduce an app-based motorbike taxi. In the first six months of 2020 Grab completed 62 million rides. This represents 75 percent of the total market. This market position is particularly strong in major urban centers such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City where Grab controls 44 percent and 82 percent of the market respectively. Vietnams Be and Indonesias Gojek are other key competitors. Recently, there have been discussions surrounding the likelihood of a merger between Grab and Gojek. The most likely impact of the merger could be increased market power of the merged entity in addition to an impact on consumers and drivers if the new market position increases the firms bargaining power. Grabs previous acquisition of Ubers southeast Asian operations was viewed negatively by regulators in Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines due to its adverse impact on consumer prices, driver fees, and market competition. It is likely that the current merger plan faces similar regulatory hurdles in Vietnam. In particular, the outcome would depend on how regulators choose to interpret the impact of the merger on market competition particularly since Grab already has significant market power, which raises the spectre of market power concentration. Although both firms are foreign-owned, Vietnamese authorities can intervene so far as the outcome affects the Vietnamese market. From the firms perspective, counter-arguments for the merger are likely to be aligned with their synergies in other industries such as food delivery and digital payments in addition to assets in ride-hailing. Within the industry at large, the likelihood of increased competition in the short-term is high. Over the past two years, multiple firms both domestic and foreign-owned have entered the market for ride hailing services. For instance, Aber, FastGo, and Be Group JSC have all launched motorbike ride-hailing apps. Russias InDriver also entered the industry in 2020. Numerous Vietnamese start-ups also operate in the market. New entrants in the ride-hailing industry have focused on product differentiation and incentive schemes to attract consumers as well as drivers. For instance, FastGo provides health and theft insurance to drivers and invests in a rigorous driver training program in a bid to attract consumers based on a better consumer experience. Similarly, ViApp has based its competitive bid on discounted pricing. As the size and growth of the industry expand at an exponential rate, it is likely that new entrants will attempt to challenge the dominant position of established firms through pricing, product innovation, and network incentives. Lateral expansion of established firms The most significant strategy implemented by established firms to protect their position in the industry has been expansion into related services such as food delivery, package delivery, and shopping services. For example, in 2020 Grab Vietnam announced a shopping service as well as a driver-for-hire service. GoJek currently has 80,000 partner eateries. Vietnams rising digital economy offers lucrative opportunities for ride-hailing firms to expand into other digital industries while optimizing their investments in digital infrastructure such as apps and e-wallets. This strategy is driven by a conviction that competitive positions are determined primarily by consumer networks. Therefore, if additional products and services are offered, consumer networks are likely to be expansive. This in turn increases consumer switching costs and makes it difficult for new entrants to achieve their network targets. Regulatory outlook In Vietnam, the key question surrounding the regulation of ride-hailing is centered around firm categorization. The initial categorization of these firms as transportation companies faced a legal counter-argument which argued that since the cars were not owned by the firm and the firm had no contractual privity with users, the categorization was incorrect. Therefore, initially in 2014 and 2015 these firms operated as technology companies. This categorization narrowed the scope of legal compliance. For instance, there existed a tax discrepancy between technology firms and transportation firms arguably creating uneven competition. In 2020, a tax decree was introduced which classified ride-hailing as a transportation business. This also meant that tax liability was extended for the entire service provision as opposed to the provision of the app. In response, Grab reduced the drivers share of fees in addition to increasing user fees by 5 6 percent in an attempt to protect revenues. This sparked off protests against the firm in December 2020. GoJek also announced a similar decision when it increased its share of driver fees to 27 percent and increased user fees by 8 10 percent. Such trends have drawn opposition from both consumers and drivers Therefore, the recategorization of ride-hailing firms as transportation firms has increased the tax incidence for companies who now face a trade-off between increasing user fees or decreasing driver fees in order to protect revenues. In particular, the financial relationship between companies and drivers is now under scrutiny and the Grab example has set a powerful precedent for how these decisions are likely to impact the firms ability to attract, retain and expand driver networks. The Enfrocement Directorate (ED) has arrested Chairman and Managing Director of Mumbai-based Omkar Realtors and Developers under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Kamal Gupta, Chairman of Omkar Realtors and Developers, and Babulal Verma, Managing Director of the firm, have been arrested in connection with the alleged Rs 22,000 crore SRA scam case. The ED conducted raids in Mumbai at 10 premises of the group and its promoters since Monday on charges of misusing various permissions given under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) schemes. It was also alleged that the group diverted around Rs 450 crore taken by way of a loan from YES Bank. The raids went on for three days till Wednesday morning and by noon Verma and Gupta were brought to the ED office along with large amounts of documents, hard disks and laptops belonging to them. The agency officials conducted raid at seven residential premises and three office premises of the Omkar Group officials and company. The YES Bank loan scam is being investigated by the ED and some arrests have already been done in the case. YES Bank co-promoter Rana Kapoor (63) and scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Limited (DHFL) promoters Kapil Wadhawan and Dheeraj Wadhawan have been arrested in the case by the ED last year and they are currently in judicial custody. Kapoor, whose bail petition in the case was rejected by the Bombay High Court on Monday, was arrested in a fresh money laundering case on Wednesday in Mumbai. Meanwhile, Omkar Group has said it is a matter related to some writ petitions filed against the firm before the Bombay High Court. The business group said it has not diverted any funds and "has acted as per legal rules and regulations". "The management of Omkar Group would like to emphatically state that such baseless allegations are an attempt to create confusion and create hurdles in the implementation of SR (slum rehabilitation) schemes by approaching various authorities. All matters pertaining to scheme, for clubbing/de-clubbing purpose, are carried out as per legal norms laid out by the state government," a company spokesperson said. "The matter raised by the petitioner in regards to a Rs 450 crore loan from YES Bank is availed under banking guidelines as project loan against sale collaterals and utilised for the stated purpose only. We will like to emphatically state that there are no diversions of any project fund availed by us in any project of the company," the spokesperson further added. A petition had been filed in 2019 against the Omkar Group and one Golden Age group of Companies at the Bombay High court, alleging that the two firms had forged documents in name of slum dwellers and in collusion with the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) obtained the Letter of Intent (LoI). With this LoI, the two companies obtained various loans amounting to around Rs 22,000 crore from various banks including YES Bank for redevelopment in Jogeshwari area of North Western Mumbai. But the two companies didn't have required permission for the project from government agencies. The writ petition had also sought investigation by ED in the matter following which investigation has been launched by the agency. In the petition, Advocate Tanveer Nizam, representing the petitioner, said, "The financial controller of SRA has failed to note that Omkar Ventures Group companies have a debt more than 2 times of their paid-up capital. As per Companies Act, the company cannot have a debt-equity ratio more that 2:1. However officials at SRA have failed in their duty to look at this. The petitioner apprehends a dangerous situation like Vijay Malya, Nirav Modi, etc." One hundred coronavirus infections have been traced to another unlicensed missionary school in Gwangju. The TCS Ace International School is run by International Mission, the same evangelical outfit behind another unlicensed seminary in Daejeon, International Education Mission School, that was the source of 171 confirmed infections recently. Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop said testing of 135 TCS students, teachers and staff came back positive for 100 of them and negative for 26. The rest are still waiting for their results. The Delhi Police has named 37 farmer leaders, including Darshan Pal and Yogendra Yadav, in an FIR in connection with the violence that took place during a tractor rally by farmers, officials said on Wednesday. Police said they will investigate their role. Police have registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that left over 300 policemen injured. A total of 200 people have been detained. The FIR mentions multiple IPC sections, including 307 (attempt to murder), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 353 (assault/criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 120B (Punishment of criminal conspiracy). The national capital witnessed clashes between protesters and police during the tractor parade by farmers to press their demand of repealing three new agri laws. Meanwhile, protesting farmer leaders have postponed their foot march to Parliament on February 1 against the three farm laws in wake of the violence in the national capital during the tractor parade on Republic Day. "On Martyrs' Day, we'll hold public rallies across India on behalf of the farmers' agitation. We will also keep a one-day fast. Our March to the Parliament on February 1 stands postponed for now due to this (Tuesday's violence)," said Balbir S Rajewal of Bhartiya Kisan Union said. In what could signal a division among former unions protesting against the Centre's contentious agri laws, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan's VM Singh today said it is pulling out from the protests. Bhartiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) has also withdrawn. "We can't carry forward a protest with someone whose direction is something else. So, I wish them the best but VM Singh and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan are withdrawing from this protest right away","he said. "The protest will continue until we get MSP guarantee but the protest will not go on in this form with me. We have not come here to get people martyred or beaten up." A total of 153 police personnel were injured, with two of them in ICU, after rioting farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital on Tuesday, their tractor parade to highlight their demands dissolving into unprecedented scenes of anarchy as they fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort. Clashes broke out at multiple places, leading to violence in well-known landmarks of Delhi and its suburbs amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the day. A protester died after his tractor overturned near ITO, one of the major flashpoints of trouble. In a statement, the police said protesting farmers violated the conditions agreed on for their tractor parade. Farmers, atop tractors, on motorcycles and some on horses, broke barricades to enter the city at least two hours before they were supposed to start the tractor march at noon sanctioned by authorities. Steel and concrete barriers were broken and trailer trucks overturned as pitched battles broke out in several parts of the city. As tension spiralled, a home ministry official said additional paramilitary troops will be deployed. The exact number of additional troops was not known immediately but officials suggested it could be around 1,500 to 2,000 personnel (about 15 to 20 companies). The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Hoping to curb the violence, the ministry also decided to temporarily suspend internet services in parts of Delhi, including Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri and their adjoining areas, for 12 hours from Tuesday noon. Eclipsing the traditional show of military might at Rajpath, the farmers' tractor parade that was supposed to be peaceful led to chaos on the streets and never-before scenes the most perhaps being the sight of protesters clambering up the flagpole at the Red Fort to hoist the Nishaan Sahib', the Sikh religious flag. Farmer leaders, who have been spearheading the protest at Delhis border points to demand a repeal of the farm laws, dissociated themselves from the protests. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, formally called off the tractor parade and appealed to farmers to return to their respective protest sites. The Morcha also alleged that some antisocial elements had infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. In a statement, it also condemned and regretted the "undesirable" and "unacceptable" events as the parade turned violent after several groups of farmers deviated from the pre-decided route for the march. [January 27, 2021] Berkley Re Solutions Introduces Workplace Violence Protection Coverage Berkley Re Solutions, a Berkley Company, is proud to introduce Workplace Violence Protection, a new innovative reinsured turn-key solution to help insurance carriers immediately respond to tragic events affecting their insureds. According to OSHA, some two million American workers reported having been victims of workplace violence, and according to the Society for Human Resource Management, one in seven employees feel unsafe at work. Too often, a business is not prepared to handle the emotional and financial costs of such an event. Berkley Re Solutions has created a host of specific coverages and services that help organizations prepare for, respond to and recover from a workplace violence tragedy. As part of its development efforts, Berkley Re Solutions has partnered with experts in areas such as crisis management and mental health counseling. "Collaborating with our carrier partners was critical in the development of this solution. They helped us focus on the breadth and depth of needed coverage and services," said Greg Douglas, President, Berkley Re Solutions. "Accordingly, our program can be tailored with specific coverages and various price points. We're thankful to the insurers who helped us design this flexible service andcoverage offering. By using this collaborative approach, we're able to offer this turnkey reinsurance program that helps with this unfortunate but very real concern in today's society." Berkley Re Solutions will offer 100% reinsurance protection or welcome carrier partners to share in the risk immediately or over-time. "Having this transparent quota share flexibility in a reinsurance partner is important to carriers as they explore how to bring important solutions to their customers. Workplace violence is a tragic reality in our society and our clients can now more easily help their insureds during those times of need," says Bill Seefried, Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer. According to Christopher Ellis, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, "We've done the extensive research, product design work and have carefully chosen service partners; this reinsured program is ready immediately for carrier implementation. Agents are asking for this coverage now because few options exist via their existing insurers. Workplace violence coverage is yet another way that insurers can deliver valuable and timely solutions to their policyholders." ABOUT BERKLEY RE SOLUTIONS Our mission is to make our carrier partners more valuable to their agents and insureds by delivering casualty treaty and innovative reinsured turnkey solutions. We provide custom turnkey solutions - complete insured offerings allowing our insurance carrier partners to provide critical coverages quickly, efficiently, and with a flexible quota share approach. Reinsurance products and services may be provided by one or more insurance company subsidiaries of W. R. Berkley Corporation. Not all such products and services are available in every jurisdiction, and the precise coverage afforded by any insurer is subject to the actual terms and conditions of the policies as issued. Berkley Re Solutions is a member company of W. R. Berkley Corporation, whose insurance company subsidiaries are rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005814/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 02:09:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A girl with a face mask walks a dog in Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 26, 2021. Lebanon on Tuesday registered the highest 73 daily deaths from COVID-19, raising the total death toll to 2,447, the Health Ministry said. Meanwhile, the total coronavirus infections increased by 3,505 to 285,754, the Ministry added. (Xinhua/Liu Zongya) BEIRUT, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon on Tuesday registered the highest 73 daily deaths from COVID-19, raising the total death toll to 2,447, the Health Ministry said. Meanwhile, the total coronavirus infections increased by 3,505 to 285,754, the Ministry added. Mohammad Haidar, advisor to the Health Minister, said on Tuesday that the need for ventilators has increased tremendously in the past few days with 50 to 100 patients in need of oxygen on a daily basis. Lebanon is in contact with France in hope of securing the needed medical equipment for hospitals, he noted. Charaf Abou Charaf, head of Lebanese Order of Physicians, called on the government to provide hospitals and medical centers with ventilators as the situation has become very difficult. Lebanon is expected to receive the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines by mid-Feb. Enditem Indonesias Ministry of Communication and Information known as KemKominfo - has terminated the countrys allocation process for 2.3GHz mobile spectrum. The process commenced on 20th November 2020, with the winners announced in December that year as Hutchison 3 Indonesia, Smart Telecom (Smartfren) and Telkomsel. IndoTelko reports that this result has been overridden by the ministrys decision, with bid bonds returned to their bidders on 22nd January 2021. KemKominfo head of public relations Ferdinandus Setu said in a statement that the process had been cancelled as a precautionary and careful step from the MCI to align every part of this selection process with the provisions of laws and regulations relating to acceptance. Non-Tax State (PNBP) within the MCI, especially Government Regulation Number 80 of 2015. The ministry pledged to ensure that the 2.3GHz spectrum would provide maximum benefit for the people and nation of Indonesia, adding that it was working hard to prepare a more careful and more careful re-selection in the 2.3GHz frequency band so that cellular operators will soon have the opportunity to compete again in a selection process, although it did not give a deadline for this. As reported by CommsUpdate, the winning operators announced in December were not the only bidders, with XL Axiata and Indosat Ooredoo also applying to bid. However, the latter opted not to submit its application before the deadline, while XL Axiata failed to pass an evaluation required to receive an allocation. Haiti - DR : 300 illegal Haitians and 7 smugglers arrested in Elias Pina Agents from the Directorate General of Migration (DGM), accompanied by members of the Specialized Corps for Land Border Security (CESFRONT) arrested during a migration control operation, at a bus terminus in Elias Pina 300 Haitians (220 men, 60 women and 20 children) without papers as well as 7 migrant smugglers in possession of a large sum of money. All Haitians in an irregular migratory situation have been transferred to the reception center installed in this province, from where they will be returned to Haiti and the vehicles in which they were transported were seized. Seven people are under arrest for migrant smuggling identified as being : Nicolas Dupervir, Wilner Agustin, Ernest Antonio, Jacky, Soul Mathurin, Elner and Fauguel Sena. In addition, a large amount of money in dollars ($450) in Haitian gourdes (299,410 Gourde) and in pesos (219,550 pesos) as well as alcoholic beverages in their possession were seized. Enrique Garcia, the Director General of Migration warns that anyone who traffics illegal aliens (mostly Haitians) whoever gives them shelter or a job will be punished with all the rigor of the law. In addition, all vehicles checked with a person in an irregular migratory situation on board will be seized. S/ HaitiLibre Are you a current print subscriber? You qualify for online access to the Omak Chronicle. To receive your access, create a website account and then verify your print subscription or e-edition subscription with your subscriber number, which may be found on your bill or mailing label. West Bank: 'youth killed in cold blood yesterday', PNA 'He tried to attack soldiers', Israel (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, JANUARY 27 - The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has accused the Israeli army of "killing in cold blood" on Tuesday a Palestinian high school student, Atallah Rayan, in the West Bank town of Salfit. The PNA's education ministry said in a statement that Rayan on Tuesday had given his final exams and was going to meet his father when he was shot dead by a soldier. According to a spokesman of the Israeli army, the youth tried to stab a female soldier and an officer who were patrolling the intersection of Ariel and he was subsequently neutralized. Palestinian sources instead spoke about an "execution", urging the international community to intervene against Israel. (ANSAmed). Advertisement EU officials have brazenly demanded that UK-made Covid vaccines be exported to Europe to make up for shortfalls in their roll-out as one lab warns that banning exports will mean no more doses are made. In a stunning piece of hypocrisy, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said that AstraZeneca vaccines made in Britain should be used to make up for a 60 per cent reduction in jabs to the continent that the company said was due to low production at a factory in Belgium. 'UK factories are part of our advanced purchase agreement and that is why they have to deliver,' Kyriakides said, noting that two of the four factories involved in the EU's contract with AstraZeneca are in Britain. 'I call on AstraZeneca to engage fully to rebuild trust, to provide complete information and to live up to its contractual, societal and moral obligations,' she added at a media briefing in Brussels.' Holding out an olive-branch amid the fierce row, AstraZeneca tonight said in a statement that it had committed to 'even closer' co-ordination with EU officials. But the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant left a sting in the tail, with a reminder to European leaders of its commitment to provide millions of vaccines to people across the continent 'at no profit' during the pandemic. In a statement seen by MailOnline, a spokesperson for the firm said: Our CEO Pascal Soriot was pleased to participate in a meeting this evening with the EUs Vaccine Steering Board. 'We had a constructive and open conversation about the complexities of scaling up production of our vaccine, and the challenges we have encountered. We have committed to even closer co-ordination, to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring our vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic. Boris Johnson attempted to stay out of the growing dispute as he led a Downing Street press conference tonight. Repeatedly pressed on the EU's behaviour he said the vaccine was being produced in 'ever growing quantities in the UK', adding: 'That will accelerate, the production schedules will continue to improve.' He added: 'All I can say is we're very confident in our supplies, we're very confident in our contracts and we're going ahead on that basis.' It comes as Germany threatened export controls or even a ban on vaccine distribution, leading an anonymous vaccine production manager to say that would 'be the end of vaccine production'. The manager told Bild: 'We all have complicated production chains in which many companies in many countries outside the EU are involved. 'If the EU throws the first stone (namely to introduce controls, editor's note), all others will follow suit and no longer give out their raw products.' AstraZeneca boss Mr Soriot recently said in an interview that his company has no binding delivery quantities to the EU but only 'best efforts'. The bloc is currently engaged in a war-of-words with AstraZeneca in a desperate bid to pin blame for its painfully-slow jabs roll-out on the drug-maker, despite Pascal Soriot explaining that the hold-up is due to the fact that the EU ordered its jabs three months later than the UK, meaning supply chains are not running at full capacity. But Eurocrats flatly rejected that line of argument today, telling German media: 'We reject... the idea that manufacturing facilities in the UK are reserved for deliveries to the UK. 'If there is a problem in one plant in Belgium, we have capacity in other plants in Europe and the UK.' In a sign of deepening tensions, EU officials also accused AstraZeneca of cancelling a meeting to discuss the crisis last-minute - only for the company to deny the rumours and say it was still going ahead. Panic was sparked in Brussels after German media slammed the EU for holding up its vaccine drive with needless bureaucracy, with one newspaper calling it 'an advert for Brexit'. In another stunning development, elected MEPs revealed today that they have not been given a full copy of the AstraZeneca deal which unelected officials signed, meaning they have been unable to properly scrutinize it or hold those responsible for it to account. 'So far we have seen redacted designs. I don't think it can do (...) that we basically get no information at all,' Parliament Vice-President Nicola Beer said, adding that missing information includes the price of the drug, the date of delivery, and the number of doses ordered. EU officials have today demanded that Covid vaccines made in the UK be exported to Europe to help plug shortfalls in its own jabs roll-out, which is among the slowest in the world and is lagging well behind Britain The brazen demand comes just a day after Ursula Von Der Leyen, EU commission president, threatened to stop jabs from leaving the continent by introducing a 'transparency system' that would include export permits In an attempt to calm tensions, Soriot said that vaccines meant for the EU were produced in four plants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy - one of which had experienced technical problems which meant it was able to produce fewer doses of vaccine than anticipated. Johnson & Johnson's one-shot Covid vaccine could soon be added to Britain's arsenal Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night. The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid. Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February. The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more. If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK's arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages. A fourth jab, made my US firm Moderna, sealed approval earlier this month but doses won't arrive until March because of an exclusive deal with the American Government. Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunisation plans. The 30million doses already ordered by the UK could be enough to reach almost half of the population. Advertisement But EU Commission officials said on Wednesday that under the contract, the company had also committed to providing vaccines from two factories in Britain. They added the firm had not provided sufficient explanations on why doses could not be shipped from stocks at factories which experienced no production problem, like the UK's. The EU has not yet approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use, though its medical regulator is expected to give the go-ahead on Friday - with ministers anticipating an initial delivery of some 80million doses which has now been cut to 31million. That means the already-struggling EU vaccine programme will be hit by further delays. Spain has warned that it will run out of jabs in the badly-hit Catalonia region by the end of the week - a gap that could have been filled using the AstraZeneca jabs. Pressure on the EU over the vaccine roll-out also ramped up today after German newspapers rounded on officials, calling the shambles 'the best advert for Brexit' while blaming chief Ursula von der Leyen for the delays. The EU is acting 'slowly, bureaucratically and protectionist... and if something goes wrong, it's everyone else's fault' fumed a front-page editorial in Die Zeit, one of Germany's best-respected broadsheets. Meanwhile Bild tore apart Von Der Leyen's explanation of the vaccine delays and threat to stop supplies heading to the UK line by line, accusing her of placing 'junk' orders for vaccines three months late. 'She says: 'We know that there is no time to lose in a pandemic,' but what she means is: 'We may have wasted time. But we will NEVER admit that'', the paper said, before adding that 'Brexit Brits continue to receive full supplies.' Both reports quoted an employee for AstraZeneca, who said: 'I understand Brexit a bit better now.' Meanwhile Brexiteer MPs in the UK seized on the chaos to claim it proves they were right to split from the bloc and calling the delay in EU vaccine orders 'absurd'. Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK Party, said the vaccines situation proved the EU is a 'bad project, run by bad people' and added: 'Brexit was the right thing to do.' Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline: 'Do you remember the criticism we faced for not joining the EU vaccination programme? 'We made the right call as an independent nation and it is clear it was a benefit to us not being tied to the bureaucracy of the EU. 'A three month delay is absurd. It is clearly an advantage to not be part of the EU and it is really good for us but sad obviously for the people of the countries of the EU.' Adding to the criticism over the other side of the Channel, Bild newspaper wrote: 'Von Der Leyen said: 'Few suspected [in 2020] that this was the beginning of a pandemic that would still be with us a year later.' 'What she means is: 'Unfortunately, we are not one of the smart few...' The paper concludes: '[Von Der Leyen] is responsible for EU junk orders. 'Also for the fact that the EU only reached an agreement with AstraZeneca in August, not in June - as [German health minister] Jens Spahn wanted but was not allowed to. Valuable preparation time passed. French drug giant agrees to produce Pfizer shot after its vaccine failed French drugmaker Sanofi has announced it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, after failures with its own vaccine delayed production until at least the end of the year. The announcement came as production problems for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and a vaccine from Britain's AstraZeneca have caused political uproar across the European Union. The EU's 27-nation vaccination effort has struggled to pick up steam, while more contagious virus variants are spreading fast and COVID-19 deaths are surging anew. Sanofi's Frankfurt facilities will help with late-stage production of vaccines prepared by Germany-based BioNTech, including bottling and packaging, starting in the summer, according to a Sanofi official. Sanofi did not reveal financial details of the agreement. According to Thomas Cueni, director of the International Federation of Vaccine Manufacturers, 76% of the world's major vaccine manufacturing capacity is in Europe. The French government has pressed Sanofi to use its facilities to help make vaccines from its rivals, given the high demand and supply problems. 'We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved,' Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement. Advertisement 'Von der Leyen cannot do anything for the current audacity of AstraZeneca. The criticism is justified. But there must also be self-criticism.' Meanwhile, Die Zeit added: 'In the UK, the government's independent and swift vaccination policy is seen as evidence that the EU is too bureaucratic and slow - and is now left behind.' Amid the war-of-words, AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot, a Frenchman, spoke out to defend himself late Tuesday - also pointing the finger of blame at Brussels. Asked why supplies were being cut to the EU but not the recently-departed UK, he said it had nothing to do with national favoritism and everything to do with the fact that the EU placed its vaccine order late. 'We had problems in the UK too,' he told a trio of European newspapers including Italy's Repubblica on Tuesday. 'But the contract with the British government was signed three months before the one with the EU, therefore we had time to prepare and resolve similar issues. 'The UK and the EU have two different production chains and at the moment the British ones are more efficient because they started earlier.' Britain signed a contract for 300million doses of vaccine in mid-May, he revealed, but it took the EU until August to put pen to paper on the same deal. Embarrassingly for the bloc, it appears that Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy had originally been looking to do a deal with AstraZeneca in May alongside the UK - but were blocked by the EU, which insisted it take over negotiations. According to ITV's Robert Peston: 'The extra talks with the European Commission led to no material changes to the contract, but wasted time on making arrangements to make the vaccine with partner sites.' The delays in producing the vaccine are now thought to be due to under-production at one of those sites, located in Belgium. Explaining the delay in more detail, Soriot said the manufacturing process involves pumping the virus into large vats of live cultures which then generate the vaccine. Because the process involves living things and many variables, the exact quantity of product is difficult to predict ahead of time - vats in the EU have been less productive while vats in the UK have been more productive, he said. 'A very efficient vaccine factory can produce up to three times the same as a less efficient factory... as happened at one of our European sites,' Soriot added. It will take time and some adjustments to get all vats running at the same capacity, which is what is causing the delays to Europe's vaccine shipment. Die Zeit, one of Germany's best-respected broadsheets, ran with the headline 'the best advert for Brexit' while accusing the EU of being 'slow and bureaucratic' Meanwhile Bild newspaper accused Von Der Leyen of shirking blame and wasting time, while adding that 'Brexit Brits' have escaped the crisis Pascal Soriot, the chief of vaccine-maker AstraZeneca, accused the EU of being 'emotional' over the delay to its jabs while also pointing the finger of blame at a three-month delay in ordering vaccines Matt Hancock reveals nearly 80% of UK over-80s have now had a Covid vaccine as NHS rollout reaches 6.6MILLION people Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night announced that 78.7 per cent of Britons over the age of 80 have had a Covid vaccine as he confirmed 6.6million people have received their first dose. That means nearly one in 10 people across the country has had at least one dose that could protect them against deadly Covid-19, and the Government is nearly halfway through its drive to hit 15million by mid-February. Britain is ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. But a Sunday slowdown meant that only 221,067 people received vaccines, down from a record high of 493,013 people on Saturday. Department of Health figures showed 220,249 first doses and 818 second doses were administered across the country on January 24. The Sunday slowdown is thought to have been triggered by fewer doctors and nurses being on shift on the last day of the working week, meaning fewer Britons could receive their jabs. The smallest number of cases and deaths is also generally recorded on Sundays, when more staff are off work and unavailable to tick off reports. It comes as ministers battle to vaccinate the most vulnerable to the virus by mid-February. This includes the over-70s, vulnerable, care home residents and NHS frontline staff. But the NHS appears to have already missed its internal target of reaching all care home residents by January 24. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last Thursday they had already vaccinated 63 per cent of care home residents - leaving another 154,660 out of an estimated 420,000 residents waiting for their jabs. But ministers are yet to say whether the NHS target has been hit. Britain last night recorded another 22,195 infections with the virus, a 41 per cent drop on last week, and a further 592 deaths, down one per cent on the same time last week. Advertisement Faced with growing public anger over the failings, Italy has threatened to sue to get its vaccine doses while Von Der Leyen has ordered AstraZeneca to 'meet your obligations.' But, according to Soriot, the company is meeting its obligations because it only signed a 'best effort' deal with the EU - promising to try and achieve 300million vaccines, but with both sides acknowledging that the process might be hit by delays. 'We are two months behind schedule,' Soriot admitted. 'But we are working to solve these problems.' As the row intensified, EU officials challenged Soriot to make the full contract they signed public - saying the 'best effort' clause that he had disclosed was confidential and taken out of context. An official added that the best-effort clause was standard in contracts with manufacturers of products that are in development. 'Best effort is a completely standard clause when you are signing a contract with a company for a product that does not yet exist,' the official said. 'Obviously you cannot put a completely legal obligation' under these conditions. The official said that best effort meant that the company had to show an 'overall' effort to develop and deliver vaccines. As the row escalated, EU officials claimed on that AstraZeneca had cancelled a meeting due to take place later on Wednesday to discuss the shortfalls - only for the company to deny the rumour and say the meeting was going ahead as planned. AstraZeneca added: 'Each supply chain was developed with input and investment from specific countries or international organisations based on the supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission. 'As each supply chain has been set up to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain is dedicated to the relevant countries or regions and makes use of local manufacturing wherever possible.' In his interview, Soriot also put paid to rumours circulated by German ministers - and printed in two newspapers - that his vaccine barely works in old people as 'nonsense'. 'I don't know where that figure comes from. It's totally wrong,' he said. 'Political maneuvers? I don't know. 'Of course, like tests and masks, vaccines have also become a political tool. But bogus reconstructions like these are shameful because they only swell the Anti-Vax movement and confuse people. At the moment we should all be united.' As a final note, he said the vaccine is being distributed on a not-for-profit basis, meaning any allegations that countries have paid to skip the queue are untrue. At least for now, it appears the EU has little choice but to sit and wait as the UK and US vaccine programmes ramp up while its own effort trails behind. Overall, the 27-nation EU, a collection of many of the richest countries in the world - most with a universal health care system to boot - is not faring well in comparison to countries like Israel and the United Kingdom. Even the United States, whose response to the pandemic has been widely criticized and where tens of thousands of appointments for shots have been canceled because of vaccine shortages, appears to be moving faster. While Israel has given at least one shot of a two-dose vaccine to over 40% of its population and that figure in Britain is 10%, the EU total stands at just over 2%. Criticism is also coming from many nations that had been promised surplus doses from the EU, which - like most rich countries - bought enough jabs to vaccine their populations several times over. But Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who had been promised some of those vaccines, revealed on Wednesday that the EU has so-far given him none - while China has shipped 1million doses. It is a big turnaround from only a month ago when the EU's future looked pretty bright. It had just inked a last-minute trade deal with the United Kingdom, clinched a massive 1.8 trillion-euro pandemic recovery and overall budget deal and started rolling out its first COVID-19 vaccines. These set of graphs show the number of vaccines ordered by the UK and the EU. The EU has also ordered a number of other vaccines, including 300million Sanofi-GSK doses and 405million CureVac doses Germany denies claim AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work for OAPs The German health ministry says the claim that the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine doesn't work in elderly people was untrue and there is 'no data' to support it Scientists slammed the spurious claim overnight after it was published by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which said government sources had warned the jab only appeared to be eight per cent effective but didn't publish any data to prove it. Oxford University rubbished the report, saying there was 'no basis' for the allegation, and that their data has already been 'released transparently'. AstraZeneca, manufacturing the jab on behalf of Oxford, said it was 'completely incorrect'. And scientists added they had 'no idea' where the figure has come from, adding that it was not proved by research on the vaccine. Germany has now confirmed there is no data to suggest the effectiveness of the vaccine is that low and that the European Medicines Agency will decide whether to approve the jab on Friday. It is not clear where the eight per cent figure emerged, with a political correspondent at the German paper saying senior sources in the government had given it to him without scientific data. Advertisement 'This is a very good way to end this difficult year, and to finally start turning the page on COVID-19,' EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the time. By this past weekend, though, her attitude soured as it became clear that the bloc would be getting vaccines at a slower rate than agreed upon for its 450 million people. AstraZeneca has told the EU that of its initial batch of 80 million, only 31 million would immediately materialize once its vaccine got approved, likely on Friday. That came on the heels of a smaller glitch in the deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech shots. Both companies say they are facing operational issues at plants that are temporarily delaying the rollout. Italy is threatening to take legal action against both over the delay. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had been boasting that the country's rollout was a huge success, especially when the millionth dose was given on Jan. 15. But after Pfizer announced the temporary supply reduction, Italy slowed from administering about 80,000 doses a day to fewer than 30,000. Bulgaria has also criticized the drug companies, and some there have called for the government to turn to Russia and China for vaccines. Hungary is already doing so. 'If vaccines aren't coming from Brussels, we must obtain them from elsewhere. One cannot allow Hungarians to die simply because Brussels is too slow in procuring vaccines,' Prime Minister Viktor Orban said. 'It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice.' But supply isn't the only thing holding up the EU's campaign. The problem is partially that the EU Commission bet on the wrong horse - and didn't get enough doses of the early success vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech. The commission notes there was no way of knowing which vaccines would succeed - and which would be first - and so it had to spread its orders out over several companies. The EU rollout was also slowed because the European Medicines Agency took more time than the U.S. or U.K. regulators to authorize its first vaccine. That was by design as it made sure that the member nations could not be held liable in case of problems and in order to give people more confidence that the shot was safe. But individual countries also share in the blame. Germany, Europe's cliche of an organized and orderly nation, was found sorely wanting, with its rollout marred by chaotic bureaucracy and technological failures, such as those seen Monday when thousands of people over 80 in the country's biggest state were told they would have to wait until Feb. 8 to get their first shots, even as vast vaccine centers set up before Christmas languished empty. 'The speed of our action leaves a lot to be desired,' Chancellor Angela Merkel said. 'Processes have often become very bureaucratic and take a long time, so we have to work on that.' It is no different in France, where there is a Kafkaesque maze of rules to get consent for vaccinating the elderly. In the Netherlands, which banked on the easy-to-handle AstraZeneca vaccine being the first available, authorities had to scramble to make new plans for the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine, whose ultracold storage requirements make it more complicated. 'We were proven to be insufficiently flexible to make the change,' said Health Minister Hugo de Jonge. The Dutch have been particularly criticized since they were the last in the EU to begin vaccinations, more than a week after the first shots were given in the bloc, and they have been especially slow to roll doses out to elderly people living at home. For exmaple, Jos Bieleveldt, a 90-year-old Dutch retiree, got a coronavirus vaccine this week but blames the EU for taking too long to get it to him. 'We are dependent on what the European Commission says we can, and cannot, do. As a result, we are at the bottom of the list, it takes far too long,' he said. 'I'm already playing in injury time in terms of my age,' he added. 'But I still want to play for a few more years.' A large group of young people clash with police on Beijerlandselaan in Rotterdam on Monday night amid growing anger over lockdown measures Dutch policemen arrest a man during clashes with a large group of young people on Beijerlandselaan in Rotterdam, on January 25 'Leaving was the right thing to do': Brexiteers claim EU vaccine chaos PROVES UK made the right decision to split from the bloc as AstraZeneca boss reveals Brussels ordered jabs THREE MONTHS after the UK Brexiteers have seized on the EU's vaccine chaos and claimed it proves the UK was right to split from the bloc as the chief executive of AstraZeneca revealed Brussels ordered its jabs three months after Britain. The European Commission has threatened to block vaccine exports amid growing criticism of a slow rollout on the continent. European health commissioner Stella Kyriakides accused AstraZeneca, which works with Oxford University on its vaccine, of failing to give a valid explanation for failing to deliver doses to the bloc. But AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot hit back and claimed the EU was being 'emotional'. German media unleashed on EU bureaucrats on Wednesday over the continent's painfully-slow vaccine roll-out (pictured, a graph showing which countries are vaccinating fastest) How does the Oxford vaccine work? The vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 uses a harmless, weakened version of a common virus which causes a cold in chimpanzees. Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers). The virus is genetically modified so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans. Scientists have transferred the genetic instructions for coronavirus's specific 'spike protein' which it needs to invade cells to the vaccine. When the vaccine enters cells inside the body, it uses this genetic code to produce the surface spike protein of the coronavirus. This induces an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if it infects the body. It was 62 per cent effective if given as two doses and 90 per cent when one half dose is given followed by a further full dose. Advertisement He said 'the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal' which meant there had been an 'extra three months to fix all the glitches' in Britain while for Europe 'we are three months behind in fixing those glitches'. Eurosceptics said the EU delay on agreeing a contract was 'absurd' and evidence the UK is better off as an independent nation. Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK Party, said: 'Once vaccines were approved, the British government were very, very quick to act. 'In contrast the EU dithered and delayed. Why? Well, of course, it is a bureaucratic process, a grinding machine that can't do anything quickly and they are always obsessed with something called the precautionary principle which makes it very difficult to get anything new out to consumers. 'Fast forward to where we are now since the UK made that decision and I am pleased to say that 10 per cent of the population have now been vaccinated, hopefully we are going to be on target to get the vaccinated by the time Valentine's Day comes along. 'So 10 per cent of the UK has been vaccinated. In the EU the figure is two per cent and that is leading to huge criticism of the European Commission. They are the ones that really make the big decisions.' Mr Farage said the vaccines situation proved the EU is a 'bad project, run by bad people' and added: 'Brexit was the right thing to do.' Tory MP Peter Bone told MailOnline: 'Do you remember the criticism we faced for not joining the EU vaccination programme? 'We made the right call as an independent nation and it is clear it was a benefit to us not being tied to the bureaucracy of the EU. 'A three month delay is absurd. It is clearly an advantage to not be part of the EU and it is really good for us but sad obviously for the people of the countries of the EU.' Mr Soriot said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that there had been 'teething issues' in the rollout of the vaccine both in the UK and on the continent. He said: 'But the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal. 'So with the UK we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced. 'As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches. Would I like to do better? Of course. But, you know, if we deliver in February what we are planning to deliver, it's not a small volume. We are planning to deliver millions of doses to Europe, it is not small.' Mr Soriot said the UK had got a 'head start' on its vaccine deal because the Government was already working with Oxford University. He also dismissed suggestions the firm was selling jabs to other countries to make more money as he said 'we make no profit everywhere'. He said all governments 'are under pressure' because of the coronavirus crisis and 'everybody is getting kind of a bit, you know, aggravated or emotional about those things'. Boris Johnson has said he has 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines after the EU threatened to impose controls on the export of jabs. AstraZeneca boss says Britain is 'comfortably' on target to vaccinate ALL over-50s by March - as he slams 'emotional' EU over jabs war Britain is 'comfortably' on target to vaccinate all over-50s by March and '30million people in weeks', the boss of AstraZeneca has said. Pascal Soriot backed the government's decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine and predicted it would allow the inoculation of huge numbers in just weeks. Mr Soriot also slammed an 'emotional' European Union over a jabs war that saw Eurocrats accuse the UK of hijacking doses meant for the continent. It came as Boris Johnson warned the EU he expected it to honour government contracts for vaccines as a diplomatic row saw senior Brussels figures accused the UK of stealing jabs destined for other countries. In a warning shot at the EU Mr Johnson said: 'All I would say is obviously we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts' The UK and the EU were in a tense stand-off last night as continental figures attempted to shift blame for its slovenly rollout of the inoculations in comparison to Britain. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed to make firms declare what vaccines they are exporting to the UK as she scrambled to contain the backlash. The commission president said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies. Sombre Boris Johnson takes 'full responsibility' as UK Covid death toll tops 100,000 A downtrodden Boris Johnson last night appeared at Downing Street to say he was 'deeply sorry' as the UK's Covid-19 death toll officially rose above 100,000 for the first time. The Prime Minister appeared alongside Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, and NHS CEO Sir Simon Stevens, to say it was 'hard to compute the sorrow' Britain had been through in the past year. This Sunday will mark one year since the first two people were taken to a hospital in Newcastle after being found with coronavirus in York, and since then 375,000 people have been admitted to hospital with the illness and at least 100,162 have died. The Department of Health yesterday announced the deaths of 1,631 more people. Mr Johnson said: 'On this day, I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done. 'What I can tell you is that we truly did everything that we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very, very difficult crisis for our country, and we will continue to do that.' But in a glimmer of hope on what Professor Whitty branded a 'very sad day', the number of people testing positive for coronavirus has dropped again to just a third of the level it was at three weeks ago, with 20,089 more infections. The infection number was well below the 45,533 announced two weeks ago and a steep drop from 60,916 the Tuesday before that. Although the peak of infections now appears to have passed, the number of people in hospital is still 'incredibly high', Professor Whitty said as both he and the PM spoke to quash hopes that lockdown will be lifted soon. Deaths lag about three weeks behind cases because it takes this long for someone who has caught the virus to suffer symptoms severe enough to be admitted to hospital and die from the disease, and Professor Whitty said the daily counts would remain high for weeks to come. Advertisement But the boss of British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca fired back at EU health chiefs, insisting Brussels was late with its vaccine order. Mr Soriot told La Repubblica: 'I have no doubt that the UK has made the right choice thus maximizing the number of people vaccinated, which will reach 28-30million by March.' The figure is double the government's current pledge to vaccinate the 15million most vulnerable by February 15 - and would enable the inoculation of almost everyone aged over 50. He also told the Italian newspaper that the European Union has only itself to blame for its shambolic vaccine rollout. He said the EU deal was struck so late AstraZeneca could only offer to make its 'best efforts' to meet supply targets, rather than a firm guarantee. 'The reason why we said that is because Europe wanted to be supplied more or less at the same time as the UK, even though the contract was signed three months later. So we said 'OK, we're going to do our best, we're going to try, but we cannot commit contractually because we are three months behind the UK'. He added: 'There are a lot of emotions running in this process right now, and I can understand it people want the vaccine. I want the vaccine too, I want it today. But, at the end of the day, it's a complicated process. We are getting there.' Meanwhile, fronting a Downing Street press conference last night, Mr Johnson said he had 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines. And in a warning shot at the EU he added: 'All I would say is obviously we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts. 'And we continue to work with friends and partners in the EU, and indeed around the world, because the delivery of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, the creation of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, and the delivery of the vaccine is multinational as well, because the virus knows no borders,' he said. The sabre-rattling from Brussels, which comes amid growing chaos and protests across the continent, has incensed senior MPs, with warnings that the EU could 'poison' relations for a generation if it blocks some of the 40million Pfizer doses the UK has bought 'legally and fairly'. Mr Johnson also offered his 'deepest condolences' to those who have lost relatives to coronavirus and pledged to ensure their loved ones are remembered as the Government's figure for Covid-19 deaths passed 100,000. The PM said when the country comes through the crisis 'we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost and to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others'. NHS England chief Simon Stevens also swiped at the 'uproar' in the EU yesterday, suggesting it underlined the pressure on supplies and how Britain had done 'very well'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said protectionism was 'not the right approach', insisting that the huge push to get the four most vulnerable groups of Britons covered by mid-February will not be derailed. Concerns over vaccine supply on the continent have prompted the European Union to tell pharmaceutical companies they can only export to Britain with explicit permission from the bloc. Pictured: Jenny Holland, 86, from Mansfield receives her injection of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at a former Wickes store in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire All companies producing vaccines against COVID-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries,' EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides warned last night, as Britain prepares to receive nearly 3.5m of the Belgian-produced Pfizer (pictured: The company's production plant in Belgium) vaccine in the next three weeks For its part, Pfizer warned it was 'critical that governments do not impose export restrictions or other trade barriers' that would risk creating 'uncertainty' and disrupting supplies. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Berlin has been forced to issue a denial after two German newspapers claimed the EU's regulator could refuse to give the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab full approval, with officials anonymously briefing its efficacy for pensioners was just eight per cent. The claim was angrily rejected by the pharmaceutical company - and No10 sources told MailOnline it was 'rubbish'. It is understood the issue came up at Cabinet yesterday morning, and Boris Johnson said it was 'not correct'. Science chief Patrick Vallance told the meeting that data showed a good immune response among all older patients. He suggested the publications could have been confused between the proportion of the trial participants who were over 65, and the effectiveness. One Whitehall source told Playbook it was the kind of tactics 'you expect from the Russians'. Senator Mitt Romney has been the only GOP senator willing to openly criticise Donald Trump. (Getty Images) Republican Sen. Mitt Romney reportedly wants to keep some of the damage done during the US Capitol insurrection on 6 January. An aide to Mr Romney told NBC News correspondent Leigh Ann Caldwell that the senator thought it would be wise to maintain some of the damage done to the US Capitol on the day of the attack to keep the incident fresh in the lawmakers' minds. While many Republican lawmakers spoke out against the violence at the Capitol, Mr Romney was one of the few who directly blamed Donald Trump for inciting the attack. "We gather today due to a selfish mans injured pride and the outrage of his supporters whom he has deliberately misinformed for the past two months and stirred to action this very morning. What happened here today was an insurrection, incited by the President of the United States," Mr Romney said in a statement. He said the rioters' should be remembered for trying to overturn a legitimate election. "Those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate, democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy. They will be remembered for their role in this shameful episode in American history. That will be their legacy," he said. The attack on the Capitol prompted the House to impeach Mr Trump for a historic second time. The president's second impeachment trial is set to begin on 8 February. Some Republicans, like Sen. Tom Cotton, have called the second impeachment unconstitutional, arguing that Mr Trump is no longer in office and thus should not be eligible for impeachment. Constitutional scholars have largely disagreed with that argument, and Mr Romney added his voice to those who said impeaching Mr Trump for a second time is well within the bounds of the Constitution. Mr Romney told Fox News that the second impeachment was warranted and acceptable under the Constitution, calling it an attack on the very foundation of our democracy. Its something that has to be considered and resolved. Story continues The likelihood of Mr Trump receiving a conviction at his second impeachment trial is extremely slim. Democrats would need to convince 17 Republicans to vote to convict Mr Trump. Any Republican that votes to convict Mr Trump would be handing potential primary challengers potent ammunition with which to attack them. Mr Romney is the only Republican Senator who voted to convict Mr Trump during his first impeachment trial. Thus far, the senator has not indicated which way he will vote in Mr Trump's second trial. However, Mr Romney was one of only three Republican senators to sit in the chamber as Democrat impeachment managers delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate. Sens Mitch McConnell and Roger Marshall were also in the chamber. Numerous Republican lawmakers have complained that the impeachment would further divide the country and have insisted that if Democrats want "unity" - as Joe Biden urged during his inaugural address - they should drop the impeachment trial. Mr Romney disagreed, arguing instead that unity would only be possible through justice. If were going to have unity in our country, its important to recognize the need for accountability, for truth and justice, he said. Read More Mitt Romney hounded by Trump supporters on plane to DC Mitt Romney laments loopy and nutty end to Trump presidency Trumps Covid response has been great human tragedy, says Romney Senate sworn in as Trump impeachment jury as dozens remain undecided Biden: Trumps second impeachment has to happen despite divisiveness Trump impeachment goes to Senate, testing his sway over GOP South Africa: Police commended for stabilising Durban city centre The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has commended the joint law enforcement operations for ensuring calm and stability in the Durban city centre amid threats of illegal protests. According to a report, police were in the early hours of Tuesday morning alerted about a group of approximately 30 people, who were gathering at King Dinuzulu Park and plotting to stage an illegal march to the Durban City Hall. Police successfully dismantled the group, as this is in violation of the Disaster Management Act and the COVID-19 level 3 regulations. The acting MEC of Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Kwazi Mshengu, said it is disturbing that a few incidents, targeting shops owned by foreign nationals, were reported in the Durban city centre. One suspect was arrested and is currently in police custody. Police are investigating if there is a correlation between a mob that was planning to cause anarchy in the Durban city centre, [and] the recent threats by truck drivers, who were also threatening to embark on an illegal protest, Mshengu said. Mshengu commended police for containing the situation, ensuring a successful implementation of the security plan to stabilise the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Police have intensified law enforcement operations to deal with various elements of criminality. Joint law enforcement deployments are still in place and police remain on high alert to prevent any anarchy or disruption in our province. "At this point, we are satisfied with the successful implementation of the detailed and integrated security plan that has been developed, Mshengu said. He warned those who are hell-bent on causing anarchy that the country is still on national lockdown alert level 3 and no gatherings are allowed. Those who continue to do so will meet our law enforcement agencies on the streets and they are ready to enforce the law to its maximum limit. The acting MEC further condemned the targeting of shops owned by foreign nationals, warning that such incidents which are tantamount to xenophobic attacks, which have no place in our society. Government has created platforms of engagement with all concerned groupings in our society and those must be utilised to find amicable and meaningful solutions to resolve challenges affecting our various sectors, Mshengu said. He called on communities and crime fighting structures to work with the police to proactively deal with threats of violence and build a safer KwaZulu-Natal. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning I saw Nishan Sahabs, the Indian tricolour, flags of anti-corruption activists, but no sign of Khalistan pennants "Free entry today", someone shouted, "free entry, free entry". A couple from Amritsar posed for a selfie in front of the magnificent Lahori Gate, from where Emperors once passed in ceremonial processions from the Red Fort into the great city of Shahjehanabad. Nihangs, members of medieval Sikh martial order, performed a sword-dance on the podium on Red Forts ramparts, from where Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his first Independence Day speech, on August 16, 1947 a day after, you might not know from school textbooks, the thing itself. In the background, small groups of young men furiously tried to scale the forts walls, hoping to plant a Nishan Sahibthe ensign of the Sikh faith, a triangular flag embazoned with with a khanda, or double-edged sword, and a circular chakkar flanked by two single-edged swords Not everyone present there was impressed. Youre going to break your heads, a wizened protest organiser cautioned. Weve come here to give our blood, one young activist screamed. Go and give it at a hospital, the old man shot back, do something useful for once in your life. An exchange of Punjabi abuse followed; in some things, at least, there is no generational communication-gap. The events that followed those exchanges now lie at the centre of the increasingly partisan national conversation over what happened in Delhi on Tuesday. Excitable social media commentators and television anchors, have generated considerably more heat than light. This is excellent fodder for anyone interested in cheering one side or the other. The problem is, of course, that it tells us next to nothing about what actually happenedthe foundation, of course, of a any assessment of what it might portend. I spent most of Wednesday walking alongside the almost tidal procession of vehicles streaming in from the Singhu border, alongside Delhis Ring Road, to the Red Fort. Those who follow my work know farm issues and peasant movements arent issues I have any competence on. I was hoping, instead, to get some sense of the influence on the neo-Khalistan movement, which has embedded itself on the fringes of Punjabs youth culture. Sadly for me, given the not-inconsiderable trudge involved, there wasnt any any Khalistan culture on display. The road was awash in Nishan Sahabs, the Indian Tricolour, flags of anti-corruption activists, volunteer medical staff, a dozen farmers unions, the Shaheed Darshan Singh Pheruman Dal much easier to find on Wikipedia than in the real worldbut not one, single Khalistan flag or slogan. I didnt even spot a Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale t-shirtfashionable among Punjabs young, passionate and silly in the same way Che Guevara is among their counterparts in London and New Yorklet alone hear the chirpy rap beloved of the Khalistan Posse. For the most part, the hundreds of tractors and cars that had arrived down the Ring Road made their way up the main road in front of the fort, and then made a u-turn, returning the way theyd come. No-one made any secret of what they were doing: Even though leaders might have committed to a march route, everyone I spoke to said, they hadnt spent ten weeks camped out in the cold to go away without making sure the Government heard their voice loud and clear. Im guessingguessing, because its hard to speak to people engaged in clambering up wallsthat the young people who flew the Nishan Sahab on the Red Forts ramparts had much the same idea. Ive also no idea if Deep Singh Sidhu inspired the act or not, nor if anyone was plotting to bring down the national flag; there was just too much of a crush between where I was and those events. What I do know, for fact, is that the same gaggle of young people engaged in putting up the Nishan Sahab were also waving Indian national flags. The small police picket stationed near the Lahori Gate finally decided to act. A lathi-chargemuch gentler than most Ive had the misfortune of being near over the yearsfollowed. This enraged the crowd on the ramparts; reinforcements were called in from the main road on tractors, ploughing through their own supporters. Hopelessly outnumbered, the policewiselyfled. , to a tractor-borne ambulance station theyd brought along. Deep Sidhu was shooed away by other farmers. The Delhi Polices and armed Central Reserve Police Force personnel stationed at nearby, deserve credit for demonstrating good sense in their handling of the situation. Indian police forces have learnedthe hard waythat theres no real way of dispersing gargantuan crowds once they have assembled. Even the use of lethal force, witness Kashmir in 2016, or the Haryana caste agitation that year, often inflames the situation, rather than stilling it. For all practical purposes, the story ended there. On the walk back down the road towards Kashmiri Gate, and out towards the Ring Road, I discovered most people in the tractor parade had no idea anything had transpired in the Red Fort. *** I know, from the accounts colleagues and other eyewitnesses, that things didnt play out quite so gently elsewhere in Delhi. Theres no doubt at all that the violence that transpired at the Red Fortlike the violence of protestors at the Income Tax Office, or the Ghazipur borderis utterly indefensible. Now matter how legitimate one might think ones cause to be, storming police barricades, attempting to run over officers on duty with tractors or occupying public premises cannot be defended. The protestors committed crimes: This is not in question. Then again, Ive learned over the years that theres a very thin line between righteous indignation and pure cant. From the tone of shock that underpinned media commentary on the violence, you might imagine that the violence that happened on Tuesday is an exception. Reporters, if no-one else, might be expected to have the institutional memory to recall that violence has accompanied most mass protest in modern India, from the anti-Mandal protests of 1990, to the Ram janmabhumi movement of 1990-1993. There isnt one single political party in the country which hasnt organised protests involving overrunning police barricades and battles with the police. Even the Nirbhaya protests of 2012in which not a few of todays journalists participated, as activistsleft over 70 police officers, and equal numbers of protestors, injured; one, constable Suresh Tomar, was beaten to death. The violence, in all these cases, deserved condemnation. Even basic honesty, though, demands that we acknowledge that the supporters of these movements did not see this violence as a measure of the moral worth of their causes. It is also true, similarly, that planting a symbol of one religion on the ramparts of the Red Fort is disgraceful: The monument is, after all, a symbol of our shared nationhood and citizenship, transcending religious affiliation. Yet, if the peasants who flew the Nishaan Sahab on the Red Fort are to be condemned, we must also condemn political leaders who have injected religious symbols into our public life. A culture where Hindu religious rituals usher in the construction of the new Parliament, or Chief Ministers host Iftaar and Christmas celebrations, is not consistent with the secularist principles being invoked to condemn the farm movement. Ive no opinion on whether the farm laws are good for India, or whether they ought be withdrawnand if I did have an opinion it wouldnt be worth listening to, since I know nothing of agricultural economics or, for that matter, farming. As a student of violent movements in India, though, I do know this: Like it or not, the farmers who entered Delhi were speaking the well-established language of Indian political life, which is at some considerable distance from the Gandhian pieties leaders mouth. Threatening violence, and appealing to primordial religious or caste solidarities, is that much more likely to get a hearing from Government than reasoned argument. Tuesdays Red Fort riot might be a great occasion to outrage but the energys probably better spent on some introspection. Videos were shot by the author at Red Fort on Republic Day President Biden, acting quickly to differentiate his climate agenda from his predecessors, rolled out a slate of environmental directives Wednesday, including a far-reaching suspension of new oil and gas development on federal land and waters. The indefinite moratorium is widely viewed as a first step to halting the granting of federal drilling leases permanently, and it marks a milestone in Californias half-century fight to keep the federal government from expanding fossil fuel extraction across the state. Oil and gas companies, which operate largely off the Southern California coast and in the flatlands of Kern and Monterey counties, are already fighting the move. Environmentalists and climate activists stand behind it. The controversial freeze is designed to drive sweeping cuts in fossil fuel pollution, which is warming the planet and abetting extreme weather, drought, wildfires and sea level rise. Oil and gas extraction on federal lands is responsible for nearly a quarter of the nations emissions of carbon dioxide, the dominant planet-warming gas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Yes, were excited about it. Yes, were relieved, said Mary Creasman, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters. The Trump administration was looking to expand oil and gas drilling, especially in inland California. This isnt just a reversal of that, this is going an extra step to stop (new) drilling. Among the other executive actions taken by the president Wednesday was a call to conserve 30% of all the nations lands and ocean by 2030. The 30x30 vision is likely to translate into money and support for protecting areas at risk of fossil fuel operations and other development. The lands could include big swaths of Northern California and the Central Coast. Bidens other actions involve directing federal agencies to incorporate climate change into their day-to-day thinking and putting the issue at the center of U.S. policy-making, a dramatic change from the previous administration, which downplayed the risk of global warming. Its about coming to the moment to deal with this maximum threat facing us now, Biden said at a news conference. In my view, weve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. Wednesdays moves follow a handful of climate-oriented actions taken by the president last week. They included recommitting the United States to the Paris climate accord as well as putting a 60-day pause on federal oil and gas leasing. The new moratorium, though, takes things up a notch. Under the order, fossil fuel companies on federal lands or water can continue operating under the terms of their leases, but no new leases will be auctioned off by the federal government. Gina McCarthy, the new White House national climate adviser, said Wednesday the administration has begun reviewing the costs and benefits of drilling and will decide later whether any leasing can commence in the future. The oil and gas industry was quick to criticize the move as bad for the economy, estimating that nearly 1 million jobs and $9 billion in tax revenue would be lost nationwide by 2022. Industry officials also said the moratorium would result in a greater reliance on foreign energy. We share President Bidens goal for addressing climate change, marked by U.S. innovation and powered by American energy and skilled union workers, said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute in a statement Wednesday. Unfortunately, todays executive action to halt leasing is a step backwards both for our nations economic recovery and environmental progress. Now Playing: Video: San Francisco Chronicle Another industry group, Western Energy Alliance, filed a lawsuit in a Wyoming federal court shortly after Bidens announcement, alleging the president exceeded his authority and violated several federal laws. In California, drilling on federal lands and waters has long been a prickly issue, as different presidential administrations have taken different approaches. Three years ago, former President Donald Trump introduced an offshore drilling plan that called for an unprecedented boost in fossil fuel development at sea, including six new drilling leases off the California coast. Meanwhile, his administration opened up nearly 2 million acres of state lands to potential oil and gas leasing. Trumps offshore plan was held up in court, however, which maintained Californias streak of having no new ocean drilling since 1984. The California coast has really been hanging by a thread for a long time, said Richard Charter, senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation and a Bodega Bay resident who has spent decades fighting fossil fuel development. What a difference a new administration means for the California coast. Bidens executive orders Climate change Suspend new oil and gas leases on federal land and offshore waters. Set aside at least 30% of all U.S. lands and oceans for conservation by 2030. Create a Civilian Climate Corps to put Americans to work restoring public lands. Direct federal agencies to transition to clean energy and increase resilience to climate change. Establish climate change as a national security priority. Direct United States to exercise leadership in promoting climate action globally. Convene a Leaders' Climate Summit on Earth Day, April 22. Establish a White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and a National Climate Task Force. Scientific integrity Direct federal agencies to make science-based decisions. Protect scientists from political interference. Science advisory council Re-establish the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. See More Collapse Onshore, the Trump administration sold its first leases for new oil and gas development in California under Trumps plan last month, all in the Bakersfield area. The pause in leasing is a historical moment, said Clare Lakewood, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, whose organization has sued over federal plans to expand leasing in the San Joaquin Valley. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. While California wont see new fossil fuel extraction on federal lands and waters, the state still permits new drilling on private lands. This is where the majority of the states oil and gas development takes place. Environmental groups and climate activists have been calling for Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt the practice. I think (Newsom) needs to take a good hard look at what President Biden has done and ask why California is lagging, Lakewood said. A United Nations-sponsored report has estimated that fossil fuel development worldwide needs to drop 6% annually through 2030 for the goals of the Paris accord to be met and catastrophic warming to be avoided. Several in Congress have been pushing legislative action to halt new drilling. Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, announced Wednesday that hes reintroducing the West Coast Ocean Protection Act to make sure the moratorium on new federal leasing sticks off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is backing the legislation in the Senate. On Monday, Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, reintroduced the California Central Coast Conservation Act, which seeks to stop onshore federal leasing in central California. Many in California also are moving ahead with plans to conserve more land under the 30x30 initiative. The vision, as Biden described it Wednesday, seeks to increase the resiliency of the landscape to climate change and make us less vulnerable to fires and floods. State agencies, independent of the presidents announcement, held a public webinar Wednesday to discuss the initiative and begin developing a plan for setting aside more land for protection, from city parks to suburban wetlands to faraway forests. Supporters of the effort would like to see some of Californias recent conservation proposals pushed forward as part of 30x30. They include the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation and Working Forest Act, which targets lands around Eureka, Crescent City, Weaverville and Ukiah, and the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act, which focuses on the Central Coasts Los Padres National Forest. Were talking about protecting recreation lands, lands that are critical, like wildlife corridors, and were also talking about culturally important, sacred sites, said Drew McConville, senior managing director of government relations at the Wilderness Society. You really have to scale everything up. Its bold and ambitious. But its what the situation demands. Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander Harris talked to about 250 people for the book, he said, but there were four or five that you might called irreplaceable. Elaine May was the only person who couldve told the Chicago part of the story. What really struck me was her feeling about those years was just so immediate. Theres a place in the book when she describes a disastrous sketch she and Mike came up with. She was describing it to me, 55 years after it happened, to make a point: that they learned early on they couldnt just have a concept, but that they needed an idea of how it would actually play out on stage. Leaving your partner hanging, the awfulness of that, realizing the lighting guy was going to have to end the sketch by turning up the lights it was as if Elaine were reliving it as she was telling it. Sen. Hawley Rules out Run for President in 2024 Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Tuesday said he wont be launching a 2024 presidential bid. Im not running for president. Its a privilege to represent the state of Missouri in the United States Senate, Hawley said on Fox News Primetime. I just got elected barely two years. Theres a lot of work to do and I look forward to continuing to fight for Missouri every day that I can, he added. Hawley defeated incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in the 2018 election. He formerly served as Missouris attorney general. Speculation on who will be running in the next presidential election started even before the 2020 election took place. Potential Republican candidates include Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), former U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Former President Donald Trump is also mulling another bid, an adviser recently said. President Joe Biden is expected to run for another term but will likely face a slate of candidates. Already the oldest person to become president, Biden will be 82 when voters head to the polls in three years. For the past four years, most American corporations have tried to avoid the appearance of partisanship while also distancing themselves from the inflammatory rhetoric of former President Donald J. Trump and his supporters, walking a tightrope to keep customers and employees happy. It has been a different story for MyPillow. Mike Lindell, the companys founder and chief executive, has remained one of Mr. Trumps most fervent supporters. His sustained peddling of debunked conspiracy theories about election fraud got him barred from Twitter on Monday night. With retailers like Kohls and other major companies cutting ties with the privately held manufacturer, Mr. Lindell has managed to make his pillows partisan. It goes to my money, you know where my moneys going, Mr. Lindell said in an interview this month with a pro-Trump online channel called Right Side Broadcasting Network, offering a discount code for viewers to use on MyPillows website. Mr. Lindells baseless claims of election fraud have prompted a backlash against MyPillow in recent weeks, with several retailers deciding to stop carrying its products, an example of just how strongly his personality dominates the public perception of his company. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Hungary will continue the rehabilitation of the Ukrainian military and will take children from the East of Ukraine on vacation, Minister of Foreign Economy and Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto said during a working visit to Ukraine. "To emphasize once again our good intentions, I want to say that we will continue to provide humanitarian support to Ukraine. As for now, 2,300 Ukrainian children from the eastern territories of Ukraine had vacation in Hungary. If the situation with the epidemic allows us, this summer we will continue this program," Szijjarto said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday. Also, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said that his country provided treatment to 42 military personnel who suffered as a result of the war in eastern Ukraine. "And, of course, we are ready to continue this program. We hope that our medical capabilities (but it depends on the situation with the epidemic) will be such that we will be able to continue this program," he said. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Teaching unions today blasted Boris Johnson's decision to start reopening schools in March as they warned that coming out of the third lockdown 'too early' could ultimately lead to a fourth national squeeze. The PM told the Commons this afternoon that schools will not reopen until at least March 8, in a devastating blow for millions of children and parents struggling with balancing work and home-schooling. Though Mr Johnson also ruled out a phased reopening of schools after the February half-term, unions are calling for an even longer closure as they claim March 8 could be too soon for getting children back into classrooms without causing a spike in Covid cases. They jumped on the PM's announcement fast progress was being made on vaccinations, with doses given to nearly seven million people and the NHS being on track for covering the four most vulnerable groups by February 15 - and the jabs giving them full protection three weeks after that. Unions claimed there are 'too many unknowns, such as the effectiveness of the vaccine and the pace at which infections are falling' to set a March 8 deadline for reopening schools and suggested that Mr Johnson's 'roadmap' out of lockdown would lead to failure. They warned that the vaccination of the elderly and most vulnerable in society 'does not protect parents' and 'fails completely to recognise the role schools have played in community transmission'. And setting a date 'runs the risk of creating false hope', the unions added, as they hinted easing the shutdown too soon could lead to a fourth - and accusing the PM of being 'immune to the embarrassment of U-turns'. Teaching unions blasted Boris Johnson's decision to get schools reopened from March 8. Pictured, pupils at the King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham in September The PM told the Commons schools will not reopen until at least March 8, in a devastating blow for millions of children and parents struggling with balancing work and home-schooling The announcement came after the UK's death toll hit the grim milestone of 100,000 The announcement - which means many children face missing at least 111 days of school - came after the UK's death toll hit the grim milestone of 100,000, with scientists claiming the victims could have been reduced by tougher government action. Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said: 'If we come out too early, we will end up in lockdown again.' 'We all want schools to open, but like the Prime Minister we want them to open when it is safe to do so. This has to be done sustainably and safely,' she continued. 'We agree with Boris Johnson that this is a balancing act. He has a duty to assess the easing of lockdown according to the progress and effects of vaccination, a reduction in cases and the various other criteria he has set out. 'But in setting out a potential date of March 8, falling once again into his characteristic and too often misplaced optimism, he is pre-empting a decision that will have to be made in mid-February at the very earliest.' The NEU added: 'To suggest a date at this stage runs the risk of creating false hope. The Prime Minister may now be immune to the embarrassment of U-turns, but school leaders, teachers and support staff, not to mention families and students, are utterly exhausted by them.' In other coronavirus developments: The EU indicated it could move to restrict export of jabs and launched a bid to have British supplies diverted to Europe; Tensions between AstraZeneca and the EU over stocks of jabs have ramped up with a meeting being cancelled, after it emerged the bloc signed contracts three months later than the UK; Ministers are unveiling details of enforced 'quarantine hotels' for travellers from Covid hotspots, amid claims Priti Patel wanted a tougher border shutdown; Nicola Sturgeon has called for a 'comprehensive system of supervised quarantine' for travellers arriving in the UK and said that the government's plan 'does not go far enough'; Ms Sturgeon also questioned whether the PM's trip to Scotland this week is 'essential' as she said he has a 'duty to lead by example' and stick to the rules; Mr Johnson has condemned a Labour call for all teachers to be vaccinated over half-term and other key workers to be pushed up the priority list; Figures showed more than 30,000 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid put on their death certificate. A view of posters informing on social distancing and face coverings outside Beatrix Potter Primary School in Wandsworth, London on January 3 A view of a poster informing on coronavirus safety measures outside Floreat Wandsworth Primary School in Wandsworth, London on January 3 Mr Johnson has already said that he hopes to reopen schools and return to the 'tiered' restrictions when possible. News that work on the exit strategy is under way came after Chris Whitty said he believed the UK had reached the peak of the latest wave Boris Johnson warns Labour plan to allow teachers to jump vaccine queue could extend lockdown Labour demands to allow teachers to jump the coronavirus vaccination queue could force the extension of lockdown and leave vulnerable people exposed, Boris Johnson claimed today. The Prime Minister blasted a call by Opposition Leader Sir Keir Starmer for all school staff to get a jab at half-term to allow classrooms to open as soon as possible. Sir Keir called for educationalists to be bumped up the priority list for jabs organised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) amid anger at the continued closure, at Prime Minister's Questions. But Mr Johnson hit back in the Commons later as he officially delayed the return to school of millions of children by at least two weeks to March 8. 'I really think the right honourable gentleman should reflect on what he is saying,' he said. 'Because the JCVI priority list 1-9 is designed by experts, by clinicians, to prioritise those groups who are most likely to die or to suffer from coronavirus. 'By trying to change that and saying that he now wants to bring in other groups of public sector workers - to be decided by politicians - rather than by the JCVI, he has to explain which vaccines he would take from which vulnerable groups to make sense of his policy. 'Because that is what the Labour proposal would involve. By making it more difficult for us to vaccinate all those vulnerable groups in the fastest possible way, that Labour route would actually delay our route out of lockdown, delay our ability to get kids back into school in the way that they want.' Advertisement Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: 'It is no surprise that the full reopening of schools has been delayed given the grim toll of deaths and the huge pressure on the NHS. 'Everybody agrees that getting all children back into class is vital as soon as possible, but this clearly cannot be rushed in such desperate circumstances, and we understand the government's decision to extend the lockdown restrictions. 'What is crucial is that the government ensures that full reopening is done in a way which is safe and sustainable, and which inspires the confidence of education staff and the public. 'It must straighten out the confusion over the use of rapid turnaround coronavirus tests, review its guidance on safety measures for schools to make sure these are fit-for-purpose, and set out a timetable for the vaccination of education staff.' Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: 'The Prime Minister has stated today that the earliest the government believes it will be safe for the country to admit more pupils back to school will be March 8. 'As the PM says, it has been a challenge for families to juggle employment and home-learning. School leaders want to see pupils back in class as soon as it is safe to do so. 'What is clear from the Prime Minister's statement is that there are too many unknowns, such as the effectiveness of the vaccine and the pace at which infections are falling, to put the March 8 date firmly in the diary yet. 'The government now needs to collaborate with school leaders and their teams to make sure that there is a workable plan for lifting the lockdown. 'It is also important that the teaching workforce is prioritised for vaccinations. This would give confidence as well as providing a better chance that once lockdown measures are lifted, children's education is less likely to continue to be disrupted by staff absence and illness.' Dr Patrick Roach, general-secretary of NASUWT, The Teachers' Union, said: 'It is essential that the national lockdown restrictions are supported fully in order to reduce the rates of virus transmission in the wider community and in order to ensure that schools can reopen fully as soon as it is safe to do so whilst minimising the risks to public health. 'It is important that the majority of children and young people in all schools are now supported to stay at home and that teachers also work from home to provide support for children's learning remotely. 'Given previous experience, the announcement of arbitrary dates for schools to reopen to all pupils can be profoundly unhelpful to parents and to those working in schools.' It comes as Mr Johnson admitted that 'perpetual lockdown is no answer' but also confirmed that borders are being tightened, with enforced 10-day stays in 'quarantine hotels' for countries on a 'red list' with high infection rates. 'Dare not even tell my kids': Angry and despairing parents hit out online after Boris Johnson's announcement that schools will stay closed until at least March 8 Parents are fuming that Boris Johnson is keeping schools shut until at least March 8 - and are hunkering down for more weeks of arduous home schooling. The Prime Minister today announced that pupils will not return to classrooms after the February half-term as hoped and must continue learning online. His statement to MPs this afternoon was met with exasperation from mothers and fathers juggling the needs of their children's remote education with their own work. Claire Holt, a mother from Surrey, braced for the next few weeks: '8th of bloody March. Buckle right in with a lot of gin.' Marina Frow, from Sheffield, tweeted: 'Dare not even tell my kids the latest news... Close non essential shops and the rates will fall quicker. Is coffee more important than education?!' Mr Johnson today said he empathised with the frustrations of parents grappling with home schooling and 'the myriad other demands of their children from breakfast until bedtime'. But he reaffirmed his commitment of reopening schools as a 'national priority' and said he would aim to lift the shutdown 'when the data permits'. Mother Lucy Smith, who has been trying to tie down her pressured job while helping six-year-old Bonnie and four-year-old Raymond with Zoom lessons, was one of those dismayed. The property worker from West Hampsted, north London, told MailOnline: 'It's terrible. I'm expected to go on to Zoom at 11am every day without fail even though sometimes I have meetings.' Parents today were left counting down the minutes until the earliest possible reopening date. Chris Bell tweeted: 'Only 57,300 minutes to go till the kids go back to school!' Mother Stephanie Melrose said: 'Parents across the UK... grab the nearest pillow to scream into.' Advertisement 'We will not persist for a day longer than necessary, but not will we relax too soon,' he told the Commons. 'Reopening schools will be our first priority.' Pleading for the public to stick with his strategy, Mr Johnson said: 'Our goal now must be to buy the extra weeks we need to immunise the most vulnerable and get this virus under control, so that together we can defeat this most wretched disease, reclaim our lives once and for all.' Mr Johnson has already said that he hopes to reopen schools and return to the 'tiered' restrictions when possible. News that work on the exit strategy is under way came after Chris Whitty said he believed the UK had reached the peak of the latest wave. The chief medical officer said cases were falling fast - down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000 yesterday, while the vaccine rollout is gathering speed. However, deaths are still high as they lag behind infections - with some scientists suggesting another 50,000 could fall victim before the crisis 'burns out'. Professor Neil Ferguson told the BBC that if action had been taken 'earlier and with greater stringency back in September' then the 60,000 deaths over the past 'four or five months' could have been significantly reduced. Tory MPs today urged the PM to focus on whether the NHS can cope, rather than the grim death total or high infection levels, when deciding what areas of lockdown can be eased. Senior backbenchers pointed to the wider balance of 'lives saved now versus lives saved later', pointing out that 'poverty kills' as well as the virus. Despite the tentative signs the outbreak is improving, scientists have warned that the victims are likely to keep racking up. Professor Calum Semple, a member of SAGE, said Britons should be braced for more grim numbers for months to come. 'It would really not surprise me if we're looking at another 40,000 or 50,000 deaths before this burns out. The deaths on the way up are likely to be mirrored by the deaths on the way down,' he told BBC Newsnight. Prof Ferguson - known as Professor Lockdown - made clear his frustration at the speed of response from the government, suggesting deaths in the first wave could have been 'drastically reduced by earlier action'. On the second wave, he told the BBC last night: 'Had we acted both earlier and with greater stringency back in September when we first saw case numbers going up, and had a policy of keeping case numbers at a reasonably low level, then I think a lot of the deaths that we've seen not all by any means but a lot of the deaths that we've seen in the last four or five months, could have been avoided.' This morning Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick defended the handling of the pandemic amid criticism that Mr Johnson acted too late to lockdown at crucial moments, stressing that there was no 'textbook' to dealing with the disease and ministers did 'everything we could' based on the knowledge they had. But in a round of interviews, he admitted that in 'hindsight' there were things that could have been done differently, and accepted there will 'come a time' when the government's performance will need to be assessed. As he was battered with questions about why the UK had been hit harder than many other countries, Mr Jenrick told Sky News: 'We took the decisions that we could at the time on the basis of the information that was available to us. 'And we did everything that we could to protect people's lives and help to weather the storm, and take the country through this very challenging period. 'There is no textbook as to how to respond to a pandemic like this, but we do believe that we took the right decisions at the right time. 'And now our focus is on continuing to help the country through the remaining stages of the pandemic and focus on the vaccine rollout.' But in a blunt verdict, shadow health secretary said: 'I don't accept they did everything they could.' Although he sounded a more optimistic tone last night, Prof Whitty urged the British public not to ease-up and begin relaxing now. He warned that case numbers, particularly those in hospital, as well as Covid death figures, remained high. The Prime Minister meanwhile said the country would have time to 'learn lessons, reflect and repair' at the end of the crisis, which was now in sight thanks to the roll-out of vaccines. And he said the nation would then come together 'to remember everyone we lost, and to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others'. Parents are fuming that Boris Johnson is keeping schools shut until at least March 8 - and are hunkering down for more weeks of arduous home schooling Revealed: The 'at risk' countries - including South Africa, Brazil and Portugal - from which returning Brits will have to quarantine for 10-days in hotels and travellers will be STOPPED from leaving UK if their travel is 'non essential' What countries are on the 'red list' for quarantine? Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense, Priti Patel announced today. MailOnline understands that hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms, where they will have to stay for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500 - although ministers hope the numbers will 'fall through the floor' as people avoid coming to the UK. In a statement to MPs, the Home Secretary also announced that Britons will be sent home from ports and airports if they fail to prove their trip abroad is 'essential', as she vowed police will ramp up enforcement on travel restrictions. She insisted the measures would help prevent mutant Covid strains getting into the country - but they are far milder than were originally mooted. It will only affect British travellers, as foreign citizens who have been in the countries are already banned from entering altogether. Ms Patel herself is believed to have been pushing for a much tougher regime alongside Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, but was overruled after resistance from Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps, and warnings it would 'kill' the aviation industry. The government is facing the prospect of a revolt from UK nations, with Nicola Sturgeon threatening to impose her own more brutal curbs in Scotland, and Wales saying they do not go far enough. Labour said ministers were 'behind the curve' in protecting the country's borders. But making the case for the government in a Commons statement, Ms Patel said: 'It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. 'And today I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme.' Under the push to clamp down on travel, airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis,' Ms Patel said. 'We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world they are in... Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel.' The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignores a plea from Ms Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Confusingly, Boris Johnson told the House earlier that 22 countries will be on the quarantine list - but in fact the current 'red list' of countries from where only British nationals can come to the UK is much wider than that. Ms Patel did not give a full roll call of the states included when she addressed MPs. She said the government does have estimates for how many people will need to quarantine in hotels, but refused to give them. Sources said the numbers of arrivals going into the accommodation is likely to be in the hundreds to start with, but should fall quickly. And although she suggested there is an 'immediate' crackdown the start date for the enforced quarantine is not clear. Priti Patel today revealed Britons returning from more than 20 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries that could be on the UK quarantine list Flagged Camps Bay beach in Cape Town, South Africa, a country certain to be on the list after a dangerous variant emrged before Christmas A deserted Praia da Rocha Beach in Portugal yesterday where the travel industry has been decimated by Covid and will now be added to a quarantine list by the UK, one of its biggest markets Ministers will outline plans today to force British travellers to quarantine in airport hotels, despite warnings from airline chiefs that the sector faces ruin. Pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow Airport yesterday Holidaymakers vow to get around new quarantine rules by driving from Portugal to Spain Britons holidaying in Portugal this winter have vowed to skip Boris Johnson's hotel quarantine diktat by travelling home to the UK via the EU, MailOnline can reveal today. Mr Johnson's plans to forcibly confine travellers from 22 'high risk' countries was branded 'another omnishambles' amid claims it can easily be bypassed by flying home via Spain or Ireland, or driving to Calais to cross the Channel. MailOnline has previously revealed that travellers from South Africa, where a mutant strain of Covid was found before Christmas, were flowing into the UK via Paris and Amsterdam after direct flights were scrapped. Portugal, visited by 2million Britons each year before the pandemic, is expected to be among the 22 'high risk' states on the list because of rocketing infection and death rates as well as its links to Covid-ravaged Brazil. But Britons, many of whom have second homes on the Algarve, are already planning to bypass the rules. There are currently no direct flights between the UK and Portugal. Ken Browne tweeted: 'If you want to escape highly expensive hotel quarantine, just cross from Portugal into Spain and travel from there. It's another omnishambles'. Paul Snape wrote: Won't everyone just go via a different country? U could drive from Portugal into Spain, get on a flight and get into the country without quarantine'. Tahir Habib said: 'I know friends planning to come from Portugal via France! You either quarantine everyone coming into the UK from all countries or no one. Plenty of alternative routes back'. One BBC listener told Radio 2 today they planned to travel back to the UK by flying to Dublin and then to Stansted to avoid paying 1,500 for ten days in a hotel. Advertisement At PMQs this afternoon, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Boris Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' The 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation, cannot be used for countries on the 'red list', so is unaffected by the changes. Scores of influencers and millionaires have fled to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels during lockdown. Laura Anderson, Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins, Amber Davies, Georgia Harrison and Kady McDermott were among those to jet off before the third national lockdown. Expats working in Dubai and following the rules have accused them of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and risking spreading the virus by partying and flouting social distancing. MailOnline has also been inundated with emails from people in Spain, the USA, Canada, Pakistan and South America worried that they may be caught up in the new quarantine scheme and admitting they may rush home to avoid it. Yesterday it was revealed private flights into a Dubai airport soared by 78 per cent at the end of last year compared to 2019, as travellers, including Love Island stars, rushed to escape lockdown and spend Christmas there. The quarantine plans split the cabinet with Ms Patel backing a total travel ban that would close Britain's borders. But Mr Shapps and Mr Raab have been arguing strongly for any decision on whether to widen the list to be delayed. Angry expats tell MailOnline: British influencers in Dubai to dodge lockdown are 'taking the f***ing p***' Expats in Dubai have told MailOnline they are furious about the number of celebrity influencers coming to the city 'for work'. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. One expat told MailOnline: 'They're taking the f***ing p***'. Lauren Morgan, who moved to the city with her husband in January 2020, said: 'All the 'influencers' coming out to Dubai for 'work' has made me so angry, using loop holes to holiday and potentially spreading the virus. Especially as they're all partying in ridiculous circumstances where social distancing isn't being observed and rules are not being followed by people from the UK (and I'm sure many others) who have not had to follow the same strict rules as we have in Dubai since March 2020 and is now a way of life to wear a mask and keep your distance and minimise socialising/large group gatherings'. Advertisement Yesterday the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Covid operations committee which includes participants from the Home Office, the Department of Transport and the Foreign Office to put the seal on the decision. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. An agent, whose client had travelled to Dubai, told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We manage their social media accounts and I've seen a number of death threats in direct messages. 'It's been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it's a terrible look, but they ignored it.' Travel chiefs warned quarantine hotels could 'decimate' the beleaguered sector. Airline bosses wrote to Mr Johnson warning firms could go bust and tens of thousands of jobs lost if summer holidays are cancelled for a second year. The letter was signed by easyJet chief Johan Lundgren, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss, British Airways boss Sean Doyle, Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy and David Burling, CEO of markets and airlines for package holiday giant Tui. They called for an 'urgent roadmap for the reopening of air travel' as vaccines are rolled out and life begins returning to normal. They said Britain already has 'some of the toughest border restrictions on international arrivals anywhere in the world'. And they hit out at ministers for failing to share any 'compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced'. The letter follows a string of announcements on restrictions at borders, including passengers needing proof of a pre-flight negative Covid-19 test and the scrapping of the 'travel corridor' safe list of countries. Who will be forced to quarantine and can I upgrade my hotel room? Vital questions about the Government's new Australia-style scheme Who will be forced to quarantine in hotels? As a first step, British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as Brazil and South Africa, will be forced to isolate for ten days in airport hotels. Foreign nationals are already banned from entering the UK from these places. The Government is looking at widening the hotel quarantine requirement to all arrivals at airports and ports from everywhere around the world, but wants to pilot the process with a smaller group of people first. Boris Johnson yesterday gathered ministers to sign off on the plans with a decision expected today. What will happen on arrival? Travellers who face enforced quarantine will be taken by bus to a hotel where they will have to remain for ten days. Officials have begun talks with hotel groups about block-booking rooms that can be used for isolating. In Australia, people are required to stay in their room the entire time with security guards patrolling the corridors. Hotel staff are forbidden from cleaning the rooms during a person's stay. British travellers returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected must isolate for ten days in airport hotels Can you upgrade your hotel? Travellers will not get a choice of hotel. In Australia, people do not know in advance where they will be staying and are warned there is no guarantee of access to a balcony or open window. What are you supposed to do all day? In Australia, exercise outside is not allowed so guests are encouraged to do stretches or yoga in their room. A guide given to travellers to help prepare for hotel isolation suggests planning different activities to break up the day. Examples given include getting in contact with different friends and family, learning a foreign language on a mobile phone app, trying out a new hobby such as knitting and calligraphy, and catching up on 'life admin'. The advice recommends planning 'rewards' to look forward to such as a phone call with a loved one or the delivery of a treat. People sharing rooms with partners and family members are encouraged to set ground rules for the stays such as scheduling a time each day when everyone does a 'quiet' activity to help avoid disagreements. Last summer an outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne was blamed on security guards having sex with guests at one of the quarantine hotels. Who pays the hotel bill? The Government will arrange transport for travellers to their accommodation, but they will have to cover the cost of their hotel room, estimated to be about 1,500. The cost of 14 days in a quarantine hotel is 1,692 for an adult in Australia, 1,630 in New Zealand and 642 in Thailand. Advertisement The ban does not include British and Irish nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival. The airline chiefs pointed out that the aviation industry supports about 1.56million jobs and contributes 88.8billion to the economy, or about 4.5 per cent of UK GDP. They added: 'With each day the UK is isolated from the world, causing untold economic damage, both to the UK's essential aviation infrastructure its airlines, airports and ground handlers but also to those businesses that depend on the UK's connectivity within a global economy.' The industry is calling for a 'bespoke support package', saying measures up until now have been inadequate. They say business rates relief can currently amount to as little as 4 per cent for larger operators such as Heathrow. Separately, the World Travel and Tourism Council warned shutting down UK borders further could wipe out more than 548million from the UK economy every day. The travel industry is ending its worst January on record in terms of forward bookings. It comes as a government source told MailOnline the decisions on the quarnantine plan will 'go down to the wire', adding: 'The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money ... you can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller.' It came as Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was 'too early' to book a summer holiday abroad - but some anxious Britons took to social media to admit the warning came too late, with some having bought flights for as early as the half-term holidays in mid-February. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel company The PC Agency, said: 'This is destroying confidence among holidaymakers. People are not booking summer holidays because they don't believe there is an end game which will see these blanket measures removed. 'This is a sure-fire way of destroying Britain's aviation and travel industries. The Government needs to signal that they will withdraw the hotel quarantine rules by the end of March and return to a system of quarantining arrivals from high-risk areas only.' In a joint statement, the Airport Operators Association and Airlines UK insisted the country already has 'some of the highest levels of restrictions in the world' and that introducing tougher rules would be 'catastrophic'. ABTA has urged all its travel agent members to lobby MPs in a bid to convince Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to agree a multi-billion pound cash bailout for the industry. A small number of Britons say they are now stuck in Spain and the Canary Islands, where the usually bustling beaches and promenades were largely deserted, as experts fear Mr Johnson's quarantine plan could bankrupt Britain's already ailing tourism industry. And photographs from some of Europe's most popular resorts, including Benidorm, show its beaches are deserted with bar and restaurant owners telling MailOnline they will go bust if the Brits don't visit this year. Stuey Lee Lewis, 70, owner of the Geordie Bar Tat in Benidorm's Rincon area, said: 'Things are really bad. We had locals in but we can't survive on locals, we need the Brits. I know they're missing our home-cooked chips, a cold beer and our sun terrace'. Expat Terence Burgess, 74, told MailOnline: 'I was in Benidorm last week and there wasn't a soul about. It was very sad to see. I went to my favourite karaoke bar to sing and I was the only one in there'. The quarantine measures will lead to a slew of cancellations and people will not book summer breaks in yet another economic hammer blow to holiday firms and airlines, particularly if, as feared, the travel restrictions stretch into the peak season. Industry leaders have called for a better sector-specific bailout package from the Chancellor. But the Prime Minister last night said he wanted 'maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad' to prevent new coronavirus variants jeopardising the vaccination programme. At a meeting of the Covid-O committee at 6pm this evening, Cabinet ministers will consider making it compulsory for all travellers to quarantine at hotels, regardless of their nationality and where they come from. A formal announcement on the agreed scheme may not come until tomorrow. One government source told MailOnline the decisions on the detail would 'go down to the wire'. The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' Boris Johnson (pictured today) will impose Australian-style quarantine scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer says limiting it to arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Sheridan Mordew, 24, from Sunderland, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Pictured: Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei in Dubai A health worker standing next to an ambulance at Santa Maria Hospital Lisbon as the pandemic in Portugal worsened Arrivals from South America, Portugal and many countries in southern Africa areas affected by deadly new strains are expected to be told to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports (pictured: The Best Western hotel at Heathrow) Government sources say people will have to pay for the cost of their stay perhaps as much as 1,500. Pictured: The Holiday Inn at Heathrow Private flights to the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub (MBRAH) in Dubai soared by 78% in the last three months of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019 Change your own bed sheets and meals dropped by your door: Best Western chief reveals grim Covid protocols faced by travellers forced to quarantine in airport hotels for up to 1,500 A large room at the Best Western - Chiswick Palace Hotel British travellers arriving back from high-risk coronavirus hotspots will be made to change their own bed sheets and eat meals in their rooms in an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience' as they are forced to quarantine in airport hotels. Boris Johnson yesterday signed off on plans to toughen border controls by putting new arrivals into isolation, at their own expense - with a ten-day stay costing up to 1,500. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the industry was ready to assist protocols of quarantining international arrivals, which would see guests confined to their rooms, with three meals delivered each day to their doors. He said the franchise could mobilise hotels for quarantining travellers returning to the UK, with 5,000 rooms ready 'within 24 to 48 hours' and said it would be an 'entirely contactless and sterile experience'. He told BBC Radio 5 Live hotels will operate a one-way system, with travellers checking in via a contactless system before being escorted to their room by a staff member in PPE. They then remain there for ten days, with CCTV cameras in corridors to ensure no one breaks the rules. 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high', he said. Advertisement They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money... You can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller,' the source said. Passengers arriving into Heathrow Airport have faced chaos for days as they were forced to queue for hours to get through passport control. Pictures of crowds at passport control have become common, raising fears that the lack of social distancing could easily spread Covid. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi warned that the country needs to be 'very careful' as new strains emerge, and said an announcement on the quarantine plans would be made later. He told Sky News on Tuesday: 'There will be an announcement on this issue later on today, so I can only say to you that it is the right thing to do, because I am the Vaccines Minister, that as we vaccinate more of the adult population, if there are new variants like the South African or the Brazilian variants, we need to be very careful. 'We acted on those very quickly and of course dealt with travel from those countries, and from Portugal and elsewhere, rapidly so it is important we continue to review our border policy and an announcement will be made when a decision has been taken. 'And of course the industry itself will be engaged with heavily, including (Health Secretary) Matt Hancock engaging with the industry to explain the decision making at health, as well as of course the business department with the Business Secretary.' Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said the proposals might need to go further than applying only to those arriving from countries where new variants of Covid-19 have been discovered. Pressed on whether he supports a universal approach to quarantining international arrivals, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I think it is a big logistical exercise to do that and it is not going to be possible to do it overnight anyway. 'But I think the real question is buying us enough time, and we don't know which countries these variants are arising in. We have much better genomic sequencing in this country than in most other countries - in fact, any other country - so we are better at tracing these things than other places. 'But I think we just have to be very cautious, because if we can get this vaccine distribution up to sufficient levels, we can really cut down the transmission in this country and transform the battle against the virus. 'If we do have to go further, I hope it would only have to be for a temporary period.' The Government has reportedly held talks with Marriott and Holiday Inn about using their hotels while Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. Who could be exempt from hotel quarantine? Under the Government's current border rules some people do not have to adhere to self-isolation requirements. It is not yet clear if these exemptions would be carried over should ministers press ahead with hotel quarantine. The current exemptions include: Aerospace engineers who need to take a test but do not have to self-isolate. Aircraft pilots and crew who do not need to take a test and do not have to self-isolate. BBC broadcasters who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. A blanket exemption for all journalists ceased on January 18. Medicine workers who do have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. Crown servants or government contractors who do not need to self-isolate if they are travelling for essential work. Drivers of goods vehicles who do not need to present a negative test prior to departure and who do not need to self-isolate. Elite sportspersons who do have to have to take a test but do not need to self-isolate. None of the above exemptions are valid for travel from countries which are currently subject to a travel ban. Advertisement Describing what life will be like for guests paying around 100-a-night: 'We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high'. He added: 'There are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front'. The quarantine scheme is already used around the world including in Australia, Singapore and Norway, where some guests have described being stuck in dirty rooms for almost a fortnight being fed disgusting food. Others who have been through the process abroad have suggested that guests must fill their suitcases with a 'survival kit' of healthy snacks, decent coffee and tea, their own crockery and cutlery as well as washing up liquid, detergent for clothes and a laptop packed with downloaded boxsets - or face pure misery. Arrivals will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards. Government sources last night said the enforced quarantine regime will be introduced for British nationals returning from high-risk countries where new strains of the virus have been detected, such as South Africa and Brazil. Foreign nationals are already barred from entering the UK from these countries. Ministers will then look to widen the compulsory hotel quarantine requirement to cover more travellers. Officials warned it will be 'logistically challenging' to put the system in place and it could take as long as three weeks to get it up and running. Concerns have been raised that there are only 10,000 hotel rooms close to London's Heathrow airport. About 8,000 people are still arriving there every day, although this number would be expected to plummet once the new restrictions are introduced. The plan to require arrivals to go into isolation at airport hotels is modelled on Australia, where the cost of 14 days in quarantine is 1,692. It is estimated that travellers entering the UK could be charged about 1,500 for a ten-night stay. The travel industry has warned that the added cost would destroy holiday plans. Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. A deserted Levante beach in Benidorm on Tuesday as the Government urged Britons not to book summer holidays in yet another blow for struggling airlines and holiday companies The beautiful Playa de Amadores in Grand Canaria was also similarly quiet this morning The sunny strip in Benidorm on Spain's Mediterranean coast is hugely popular but was empty of tourists on Tuesday morning The beach in Santa Cruz in Tenerife was also quiet on Tuesday afternoon Travellers have cancelled their foreign holidays - or had it done for them - as the new quarantine rules are set to be imposed Arrivals, such as those at Heathrow (pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow) will be taken by bus to the accommodation where they stay at their own expense for ten days under the supervision of security guards People infected with Kent coronavirus variant are MORE likely to get symptoms than those who catch older strains, ONS report reveals but they are less likely to lose smell and taste People infected with the Kent coronavirus variant are more likely to get symptoms than those who have caught older strains but are less likely to lose their smell and taste, according to the Office for National Statistics. Data from the ONS revealed today that 53 per cent of people in England who tested positive with the variant reported Covid-19 symptoms such as cough, fatigue and fever, compared to 48 per cent of people with other variants. The number-crunching body found that the largest differences in reported symptoms between the new variant and older stains were cough, sore throat, fatigue and muscle ache myalgia which is caused by a viral infection. All symptoms were equally or more likely among people with the Kent variant except for a loss of taste and smell, which is considered to be one of the tell-tale signs of the virus. The ONS report also found that there was no significant difference in people experiencing shortness of breath, nausea vomiting or headaches between people who had tested positive with the mutation or novel strain. Figures showed that 19 per cent of those who tested positive with the UK variant had a loss of smell and taste in comparison to other strains, among which it was 22 per cent. The Government last week revealed that scientists think the Kent variant may be more deadlier than the previous dominant version of the virus, and it is already known to be more infectious by around 30 to 70 per cent. The Kent strain now makes up around 60 per cent of all cases in England, according to separate ONS testing figures. Advertisement He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, while he had not held conversations with ministers about the proposals, the sector was 'familiar and accustomed to managing Covid-positive customers in our hotels'. Mr Paterson added: 'From the hotels' perspective, we would have to treat each of these customers as Covid-positive, so we would have to have strong infection control and protocols around security in the hotel to ensure we can deliver safely.' Asked whether the protocols would see guests confined to their rooms, he replied: 'Yes, it does. And that is exactly how our protocols work today. We deliver three meals per day to the door which the occupant comes out and collects those meals and then cleaning is clean sheets and towels waiting outside the room for the person to safely dispose of their previous sheets and change their own to keep the safety and infection protocols high. 'Hotels stand ready to support the authorities on the strategy and I guess it is the authorities' responsibility and their burden to present the evidence and the practicalities behind the strategy. 'But from a practical point of view at the hotels, there are thousands of rooms across the United Kingdom at the moment with many empty beds - we would be prepared to support Government on that front.' Heathrow said a blanket requirement for travellers to quarantine in hotels would effectively be 'the closure of our borders' and lead to 'huge ramifications for Britain and its aviation sector'. A spokesman for the airport said the industry was 'already on its knees', adding: 'The Chancellor must finally deliver on his promise of a comprehensive financial support package for UK aviation, made some ten months ago. 'It is completely unacceptable that an industry worst hit has watched on as others, fortunate to experience a boom in profits and no restrictions, have been afforded unnecessary financial support as we remain ignored.' Heathrow is calling for measures including business rates relief for airports. The Airport Operators' Association and Airlines UK warned an enforced quarantine regime would be 'catastrophic' and demanded an exit strategy. Shares in airlines fell sharply yesterday. In a joint statement, the industry bodies said: 'We have fully supported the Government to do what is right in the face of this pandemic, but policy should be based on evidence and there must be a roadmap out of these restrictions as soon as it is safe.' Ministers in Northern Ireland are expected to discuss the issue of quarantine at a Stormont Executive meeting on Tuesday. There is no direct route into Wales for international travellers at present, but a Welsh Government spokesman said they expected to discuss the plans with the UK Government in more detail. Direct flights to the UK from South Africa, Brazil and Portugal have already been suspended, but British residents have been permitted to return through indirect routes and then self-isolate at home. Australia became one of the first countries to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine in March, while the practice is also observed in China, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Qatar and Thailand. Moodys Analytics today announced that the ImpairmentStudio, RiskCalc, and CMM platforms have completed System and Organization Controls (SOC 1) Type 2 examinations under the attestation standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005350/en/ The SOC 1 report examination encompasses policies, operating procedures, and controls related to financial reporting of user entities by an independent auditor, to objectively validate that the service organization meets its declared control objectives. Banks, credit unions, and insurance companies use our ImpairmentStudio solution to automate allowance calculations, analysis, reporting, and workflow. This award-winning solution combines our credit risk data, best-in-class analytics, and impairment accounting expertise, and has been celebrated for its completeness and broad CECL automation capabilities. As part of an integrated suite, or as standalone platforms, the CMM solution is used to assess the default and recovery risk for commercial real estate (CRE) mortgages, while the RiskCalc solution (also a recent award winner) allows users to assess the default and recovery risk of private firms and financial institutions. Our customers count on us to help deliver outstanding operational compliance, said Eric Ebel, Managing Director at Moodys Analytics. These three SOC 1 Type 2 attestations demonstrate that our CECL solutions are fulfilling that essential purpose. Moodys Analytics, Moodys, and all other names, logos, and icons identifying Moodys Analytics and/or its products and services are trademarks of Moodys Analytics, Inc. or its affiliates. Third-party trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. About Moodys Analytics Moodys Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools to help business leaders make better, faster decisions. Our deep risk expertise, expansive information resources, and innovative application of technology help our clients confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are known for our industry-leading and award-winning solutions, made up of research, data, software, and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. We create confidence in thousands of organizations worldwide, with our commitment to excellence, open mindset approach, and focus on meeting customer needs. For more information about Moodys Analytics, visit our website or connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Moody's Analytics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO). Moody's Corporation reported revenue of $4.8 billion in 2019, employs approximately 11,400 people worldwide and maintains a presence in more than 40 countries. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005350/en/ remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Some traders in parts of Accra have reacted differently towards the possibility of a second lockdown as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the country. Scores of shops, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) visited said they were not prepared for a second lockdown, though they were not enforcing the safety protocols. It was observed that most shops had No nose mask, No Entry inscriptions welcoming clients, but they were not being enforced. Madam Aisha Abubakar, a Cosmetic seller at Okaishie, said a second lockdown would affect her business badly because that was the only means of support for her family. She said what was needed was strict enforcement of Covid -19 protocols and not a lockdown, which would break the local economy. Madam Gladys Damtey, a Fashion Designer in Ablekuma, an Accra suburb, said she could not afford to bear the difficulties she went through with her family during the first lockdown and prayed a second one never happened. She said the closure of churches and social gatherings during the first lockdown affected the fashion industry and made life extremely difficult for her, and also called for enforcement of the wearing of nose masks. But Mr Kwame Adumatta, a shoe dealer at UTC China house, said a second lockdown was necessary to contain the spread of the virus and save lives. He said traders and customers were not adhering to the safety protocols, which made it difficult to control the spread of the virus at market centres, and urged the government to declare a lockdown in time. Some traders and customers pour insults when you tell them to wear the mask, so I think the lockdown will help in a way because the thing is becoming serious and dangerous, Mr. Adumatta said. Madam Ataa Lartey, a Yam Seller in Accra, said she was frightened by the increasing cases reported daily and called on the government to restrict movements to stop the spread of the virus. People are taking the safety protocols for granted without thinking of the life of their neighbors, so I think lets restrict movements. We are told when we move, the virus spreads, she said. The Ghana Medical Association (GMA), in a recent press statement, urged the government to impose restrictions on social gatherings to contain the spread of the virus. The country is said to be recording daily cases of about 600 and have a total of 3,813 active cases as of Wednesday, January 27, 2021. It has 62,751 confirmed cases, 377 deaths and 58,561 recoveries/discharges. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Overfishing has wiped out over 70 percent of some shark and ray populations in the last half-century, leaving a "gaping, growing hole" in ocean life, according to a new study. Researchers found alarming declines in species ranging from hammerhead sharks to manta rays. Among the worst affected is the oceanic whitetip, a powerful shark often described as particularly dangerous to man, which now hovers on the edge of extinction because of human activity. Targeted for their fins, oceanic whitetips are caught up by indiscriminate fishing techniques. Their global population has dropped 98 percent in the last 60 years, said Nick Dulvy, the study's senior author and a professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU). "That's a worse decline than most large terrestrial mammal populations, and getting up there or as bad as the blue whale decline," he told AFP. Dulvy and a team of scientists spent years collecting and analysing information from scientific studies and fisheries data to build up a picture of the global state of 31 species of sharks and rays. They found three-quarters of the species examined were so depleted that they face extinction. These are "the most wide-ranging species in the largest, most remote habitats on the earth, which are often assumed to be protected from human influence", the study's lead author Nathan Pacoureau told AFP. "We knew the situation was bad in a lot of places but that information came from different studies and reports, so it was difficult to have an idea of the global situation," added Pacoureau, a post-doctoral fellow at SFU's department of biological science. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, points the finger at overfishing and weak protection, and emphasises that species can stage a comeback when conservation efforts are made. The research focuses on oceanic sharks and rays, species that primarily live in open water. While it found variation in the health of different populations, the overall trend was clear. Story continues "The data revealed a gaping, growing hole in ocean life," Pacoureau said. - 'Stunned into silence' - For 18 species where more data was available, the researchers concluded global populations had fallen over 70 percent since 1970. Dulvy said the figure was likely to be similar, or even worse, for other oceanic sharks and rays, but gaps in data made it difficult to draw conclusions. The results were a shock even for experts, Pacoureau said, describing specialists at a meeting on shark conservation being "stunned into silence" when confronted with the figures. Andrea Marshall, a contributing author of the study and co-founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation, said watching the decline of manta and devil rays in Mozambique where she works "has been a living nightmare". "It happened quicker than we could have ever imagined and it demonstrated to us that we need to take immediate action," she said in an MMF press release. Three sharks were found to be critically endangered, with their populations declining by more than 80 percent -- the oceanic whitetip shark, scalloped hammerhead and great hammerhead. Sharks and rays are especially vulnerable to population collapse because they grow slowly and reproduce comparatively infrequently. The study notes a two-fold increase over the last half-century in the use of fishing with longlines and seine nets -- methods that can snare marine life indiscriminately, including endangered animals. Regional bodies that manage international fisheries "have not prioritised shark and ray protection", Pacoureau said. He backs catch bans for endangered and critically endangered species, and limits for less threatened species. "Proactive measures can prevent population collapses. And we know they work," he added, pointing to the recovery of great white sharks around the US after new regulations. Dulvy said ordinary citizens had a role to play by pressing governments to meet their national and international commitments. "Wherever you can, urge your government to care for sharks," he said. sah/leg After a long wait at the Akmolinsk rail station, my two friends and I managed to get on a train, but we didnt have any money for tickets so the lady conductor threw us out. We held on to the rails of the steps, hanging on while the train was running. On the next rail car steps, some Russian men were also hanging on. I had a little bag hanging on a string on my arm. A man from the next car tried to steal it. He pulled and jerked the bag but the string wouldnt break, and I couldnt release my grip on the rail to let go of the bag for fear of falling off the train. It was going very fast and I would have been killed if I fell. The string of the bag cut my arm, and for many years, I had a big scar from it.When the train stopped, we walked to a village in Kazakhstan (a Russian occupied country), and asked for jobs, any jobs, because we were very hungry. The Kozak people (Cossacks) let us work on their farms and paid us with some flour and potatoes. After a few weeks, we tried to get to Alma-Ata. (A region in southern Kazakhstan). Some Russian men in the village were going to Alma-Ata, and said they had room for one of us, if we paid them. We had 50 rubles between us, so my friends decided I would take our belongings and the ride while they would walk.On the way to Alma-Ata, the men stopped by some bars for drinks while I waited in the wagon. When they came back, they yelled at me to give them more money, but I didnt have any. So they started hitting me and tearing off my clothes. I was very scared and didnt know what to do. Thankfully, there was a little Kozak man travelling with the Russians. He asked them to leave me alone, but they were drunk and wouldnt stop. When the wagon continued down the hill, the Kozak pushed me off the wagon and I fell and rolled down the hill. Then he threw my bags down. He saved my life.I was in the middle of nowhere. I didnt know where I was or what to do. I sat on my bags and cried and prayed. After a long time, another Kozak man came by and asked if he could help. He was riding a donkey and spoke only Kozak(h). But somehow we understood each other. He let me borrow his donkey. I put my bags on the donkeys back and sat on it, then started off. The donkey walked steadily, until we came to a creek. It sat down right in the middle of the creek, getting the flour in one of my bags all wet. I jumped off the donkey and started pulling the rope, but the donkey refused to move. She was just enjoying the cool water. I was so upset, I ran behind the donkey and grabbed her tail and pulled it very hard. The donkey jumped up and started running fast. Finally, I got to the place where I was supposed to meet my friends. They said, We walked and we are waiting here for you for a long time. You had a ride and you are so late.Authors Note: In Part Three we will follow Aniela Pawlisak as she makes her way across the Baltics to Iran and Iraq with the Polish 7th Division where she eventually meets and falls in love with Czeslaw Jan Plonka, a former Russian POW and Polish Army officer. So far she has been moved an incredible 6,574 kilometers east and west through Russian territories.Read: Part III - Freedom and Hope Aniela Plonkas Story NS&I ignored savers without the internet before making the decision to axe Premium Bond cheques in the post, insider reports reveal. The savings giant has been accused of abandoning older customers in its drive to axe prize warrants to save money and paper. Now Money Mail has discovered that the bank only consulted customers with an email address about the change - snubbing millions of older savers. Charities and critics accused NS&I of forcing older customers online in its drive to save more than 4m a year - and called for the decision to be reversed National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has been under fire since it announced the move in September last year and told savers to get in touch to provide their bank details. It came in the middle of a customer service meltdown at the Government-backed bank, and worried savers had to wait on hold for an average of 20 minutes to speak to anyone. Charities and critics accused NS&I of forcing older customers online in its drive to save more than 4 million a year - and called for the decision to be reversed. Money Mail, using the Freedom of Information Act, unearthed the reports that NS&I bosses used to make the decision. Among them is an online survey that excluded the customers who were, arguably, most likely to object. In a report to NS&I's retail committee, researchers presented results from a survey sent to customers with an email address registered with the bank. But they warned the poll was 'unlikely to be reflective' of the views of savers without an email address registered with NS&I. The survey in 2015 still found as many as one in four savers would not be happy with being forced to receive all paperwork electronically. It also found that one in three would rather receive documents in the post than online. Yet NS&I forged ahead and has refused to allow customers to receive prize cheques in the post. I missed 450 in online prizes Mark Courtney had no idea he won hundreds of pounds in Premium Bond prizes A Premium Bond saver missed 17 prizes worth 450 after NS&I bungled his bank payments. Mark Courtney, 51, has held Premium Bonds for more than 20 years but opted to have prizes paid directly into his account four years ago. But, in June 2019, he hadn't won a single prize since switching. When he logged on to his NS&I account it showed he had won 11 prizes worth 300 in total. None of them had been paid into his account and he had received no emails to say he had won. Mark, from Daventry, Northamptonshire, then did not receive any prize notifications for another 18 months. Yet when he logged into his account in December, he found that another six - worth 150 - had not been paid. Mark says: 'It's irresponsible of NS&I to force people to receive prizes this way.' NS&I says the payments had been blocked because of extra security checks when he couldn't be reached by phone. A spokesman says: 'It is not common for customers to experience problems with receiving Premium Bond prizes.' More than 820,000 savers in their 80s and 90s have around 14.2 billion invested with NS&I. And fewer than half of over-75s are internet users, the figures from the Office for National Statistics show. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, says: 'We know that a substantial proportion of the older population are not computer-savvy, so the fact that this large group of NS&I customers has been overlooked means its survey is fatally flawed. 'It wouldn't be the first organisation to make this mistake but having committed it, the firm has responsibility to face up to it, pause its proposed move to online-only claiming, and seek a much more representative range of customer views.' NS&I has, so far, only postponed the move until the spring when it can better handle calls. Chief executive Ian Ackerley last week admitted making the announcement in the customer service crisis had not been wise but refused to back down. NS&I is now only allowing the most vulnerable customers to keep receiving prize cheques in the post. So far, just two have been allowed to keep them. It has said that simply 'not liking it' is not a good enough reason. Premium Bonds are the nation's most popular savings product. They give more than 20 million savers entry into a prize draw every month rather than paying out interest. Money is paid out at an equivalent to interest of 1 per cent and prizes range from between 25 and 1 million. The prize warrants have been sent out in the post for more than 50 years. Last year, five million savers chose to get their prizes delivered. After axing the cheques, NS&I told savers they could either have prize money reinvested automatically or register online and provide details of a bank account where prize money could be paid. But savers soon found out that they could not register to have prize notifications unless they had an email address or mobile phone. An NS&I spokesman says, last month, more than 21,000 savers had told the bank they did not have a mobile phone or email address and will receive prize notification by post. He adds: 'NS&I has a robust exceptions policy, ensuring we are able to meet the needs of vulnerable and digitally-excluded customers. 'While we appreciate that some older customers will be less confident online, when we resume the planned change to prize payments, our call centre staff will be available to support customers who may not have access to a mobile phone or email address, or need support with online services should they choose to use them.' b.wilkinson@dailymail.co.uk HAIFA, Israel - For 10 grinding months, Shimon Sabag has worked to keep the coronavirus from devastating one of Israel's most vulnerable populations: the dwindling number of Holocaust survivors living out their final years in the Jewish state. Now he's worried about the pandemic endgame. "This is the moment of truth," Sabag said of the nail-biting contest between an exploding resurgence of covid-19 cases and Israel's aggressive vaccination program. "Holocaust survivors see the finish line, but emotionally they are collapsing." In this hilly port city that is home to the country's largest population of survivors, Sabag runs Yad Rosa, one of several private charities straining to ensure that lives that began in one mass tragedy don't end in another. Israel's remaining 192,000 registered survivors are a community both revered and neglected. A quarter live below the poverty line, and the underfunding of programs meant to help them is a chronic scandal made worse by the country's political and budget paralysis of recent years. A government report in October showed that only 30% of funds allocated for survivors had been delivered because of bureaucratic red tape. The first Israeli to die of covid-19 was an 88-year-old Hungarian who had hidden out as an adolescent after his father was taken to Nazi Germany's Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. Since then about 5,300 survivors have been infected and 900 have died, according to government figures. But beyond the physical toll, this population of survivors - elderly, often isolated and haunted by memories - is uniquely at risk. The sudden closing of the country has made for a year of crisis for many of them. "I haven't been able to breathe the air for months," Jenya Rosenstein, 85, said by phone from the cramped Tel Aviv apartment that now reminds her of Mogilev-Podolsk, the transit camp in Ukraine where she was beaten and burned as a child. "It is like I'm back in prison." Survivors have been eligible for the early rounds of Israel's vaccine program, but many required special assistance to reach the inoculation centers. Yad Rosa's staff drove 1,800 survivors to get their shot in just two weeks. As Israel waits for immunity to build and the infection rate to wane, advocates worry that survivors are at the end of their emotional ropes. Recent research shows that while many survivors - a resilient group almost by definition - are holding up well, others are suffering higher rates of post-traumatic stress, loneliness and fear than the general population. A Bar-Ilan University study says that survivors who experienced tuberculosis, dysentery and other diseases that were rampant in the concentration camps are the most likely to be feeling anguish after months of isolation and watching their televisions repeat dire updates about the growing global death count. "They're returning back to memories of the ghetto, of the camps, of death," said Isabella Greenberg, a psychiatrist specializing in the treatment of survivors who is seeing a spike of psychoses and cognitive decline among her patients. "Some of my patients feel that this is like Auschwitz." For Sabag, the pandemic has transformed the survivors' support network he founded and has run in Haifa for 20 years. Yad Rosa maintains a complex of apartment buildings for about 100 survivors in central Haifa. Before the virus, it ran a common dining hall and social events that included a yearly beauty contest. The staff handed out 130 meals a day to survivors in the surrounding community. When Israel's first national lockdown was imposed in March, all the social contact ended. Foreign health aides fled the country, leaving patients with no help. Even those survivors strong enough to venture out were afraid of being infected on a bus or in a grocery store. The panicked calls started immediately. "They crashed our phones," Sabag said in his new call center on a recent morning, recounting the chaos of the past months amid a cacophony of conversation and shouted consultations. "Coronavirus taught us to change quickly." The group dispatched a mobile dentistry van and began providing rides to doctor's appointments for survivors afraid of riding the bus. The small call center staffed by 40 volunteers began to phone thousands of survivors a day, providing a moment of human contact and checking on their needs for food and medicine. With layoffs and school closures across Israel came a flood of volunteers. Idled contractors built food bank storage and did household repairs in survivors' homes. Students were recruited to pay regular visits - distanced and masked - to "adopted" survivors. One student spotted a utility cutoff notice unopened on a table, and Yad Rosa was able to pay the bill. Yad Rosa doubled, then quintupled, its capacity. With emergency funding from the New York-based Bnai Zion Foundation and other donors, the charity hired a caterer and began delivering more than 1,000, and now 2,000, frozen meals a day to apartments and senior centers around the city. Paid contractors, along with volunteers from the army and police and ultra-Orthodox Jews who do community service in lieu of enlisting in the military, now make 4,500 phone calls a day, Sabag said. Clients who are sick or in emotional distress are called more than once. When someone on the call list doesn't respond, operators try a neighbor or family member, if there is one. If that doesn't work, they dispatch a staffer on one of a fleet of scooters to check on the person. Staffers often find a senior who has fallen or needs emergency care. On one wall of the call center, a widescreen monitor showed one such response unfolding in real time. A woman had called to say she was nearly out of food. Half an hour later, a staffer zipped through the city on a scooter, his ride captured on his body camera in dizzying high definition. It relayed his arrival at an apartment and the shaky gratitude of an elderly woman when he carried in a box of food: 14 frozen meals (chicken schnitzel, couscous, green beans) and 10 cans of tomatoes, spinach and other vegetables. Yad Rosa staffers peered at the screen, checking the cluttered room for safety hazards or other potential signs of trouble. "This is a way for the whole office to see into their homes," Sabag said. Yad Rosa has also installed cameras in 120 homes, part of a pilot program for remote elder care that Sabag says could be rolled out to 30 new survivor support centers in Israel. "What they're doing is taking the technological advances that we're using in many parts of our lives and using it to help the most vulnerable," said Ari Lamm, CEO of the Bnai Zion Foundation, which supports Yad Rosa's expansion plans. So far, none of the Holocaust survivors who live in Yad Rosa housing have died of covid-19, although two others living in the surrounding community have. For many, the hardest part is simply hanging on. Renate Kaufmann, who opened her door to a Yad Rosa volunteer bringing a requested wheelchair, has been cooped up for months. The 83-year-old is eager to emerge but willing to wait, a lesson in patience she said she learned during two years of living in secret rooms and cramped hiding spaces in Nazi Germany. "Who is safe?" she asked. "There is no safe place in this world." Trading in the year to July 2021 has been in line with board expectations, the board said ( ) raised 6mln overnight from institutions and private investors for working capital to help it serve expected growth in customer and product demand. An accelerated placing raised 5.3mln at a price of 41p per share, a discount of 39% to previous days closing price, with another 0.7 raised via a subscription and offer on the platform, the company confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. The AIM-listed company said the placing and offer were both oversubscribed, while certain directors subscribed for 71,000-worth of shares in the subscription. Giving more detail on the need for the extra funds, Applied Graphene Materials' board said it believes the group has a product range and third party distributor network to capitalise on the opportunities in its markets and accelerate commercial momentum. Current cash levels would be enough to sufficient working capital to operate to October this year, but the fundraising is "necessary to execute the next stage of its growth plan", the board said. As well as to provide ongoing working capital funding, including costs associated with continuing the product and technology development roadmap, and to service of anticipated growth in customer and product demand, the funds will also enable minor capital expenditure, including a coating spray booth to bring full control of testing in-house. Since its full-year results in October, Applied Graphene Materials has been enjoying a healthy news flow, including that the European Chemical Agency has allowed members of the Graphene REACH registration consortium to supply high volumes of graphene materials for a range of applications and the signing of a number of commercial agreements, including a distribution agreement with one of South Korea's leading chemicals distributors to extending its commercial focus into the coatings and polymers sectors. Since its July year-end, trading has been in line with board expectations for the current financial year, the company added, with continuity of operations maintained throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. "Restrictions on end-customer work practices have, however, limited practical access to structures for the deployment of their graphene-based coatings products, with customers furloughing staff and reducing operational activity. The quality of underlying customer engagement remains strong and the directors are confident that the eventual easing of lockdown restrictions will lead to a positive upswing in activity for the company," the company said in a statement. Chief executive Adrian Potts added: "We are grateful for the support of our existing shareholders and would like to welcome new investors to the company. "We believe that we are well positioned to deliver on our broad pipeline of opportunities for the use of graphene nanoplatelet material in a variety of applications. The proceeds of the oversubscribed fundraise will provide us with the financial resources necessary to capitalise on the exciting opportunities in our markets and accelerate the growth of the business." AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A physician with a terminal cancer diagnosis killed a pediatrician and then himself after taking hostages at a doctor's office in Austin, police said Wednesday. A SWAT team found the bodies of Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson and Dr. Bharat Narumanchi late Tuesday after negotiators spent hours trying to speak to the people inside the office, police said. Narumanchi did not work at the clinic where he held five adult employees hostages for hours, Austin police Lt. Jeff Greenwalt said. Four were either let go or escaped, and no children were there at the time, he said. DEPUTY KILLED: Man charged with 3 felonies in shooting of Harris County sheriff's deputy Hostages who escaped the office told officers on the scene that Narumanchi had entered Tuesday carrying a pistol, a shotgun and two duffel bags, police said. Authorities have not yet said how Dodson and Narumanchi died. Narumanchi had applied for a volunteer position at the clinic a week ago and was declined, but otherwise had no known connection to Dodson or the clinic, Greenwalt said. HOUSTON AREA: Duo facing charges in The Woodlands burglary investigation Narumanchi had recently been given weeks to live after his cancer diagnosis and investigators believe that likely played a role in his actions, Greenwalt said. He asked anyone with information to contact police, and said Narumanchi's family was cooperating fully with investigators. The case as far as who did this is closed. We know who did it," Greenwalt said. "And we know that theres no longer a threat to the public. But we really, really want to answer the question of why. Dodson, 43, was beloved by patients and their families, several people told the Austin American-Statesman. You saw her at your worst when your kid was sick, and she just always had a smile on her face, said Karen Vladeck, whose two children were among Dodson's patients. She made you feel like you were the only parent there, even though there was a line of kids waiting. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The blog "Ladyplanet. Naturlich Frau sein" is quite certain: "Our cycle is linked to that of the moon. The most obvious connection is the length of the two cycles," it says. The newspaper Berliner Tagesspiegel comes to the opposite conclusion: "The length of women's menstrual cycles is an average value; for some it lasts longer, for others it is shorter. Even one and the same woman can have cycles of different lengths. If they really were connected to the lunar cycle, all women would have their fertile days at the same time," the paper's knowledge section reads. So what is true? A team led by Wurzburg chronobiologist Charlotte Forster has now used scientific methods to examine the connection between lunar and women's menstrual cycles. The result: The scientists hypothesize that in ancient times, human reproductive behavior and the female menstrual cycle were synchronous with the moon, but that our modern lifestyles and artificial light have largely changed this synchrony. Forster holds the Chair of Neurobiology and Genetics at the University of Wurzburg (JMU). The results of her study have now been published online in the journal Science Advances. Correlation between moon phases, pregnancy and birth rate "We know many animal species in which the reproductive behavior is synchronized with the lunar cycle to increase reproductive success," says Charlotte Forster. Since the menstrual cycle of women is similar in length to the lunar cycle with its approximately 29.5 days, a connection seems likely. This is also supported by a number of other findings: For example, several older studies show that women whose cycles are in sync with that of the moon have the highest probability of becoming pregnant. Two large longitudinal studies demonstrate a significant correlation between birth rate and lunar phase with a slight increase in birth rate at full moon and a corresponding decrease at new moon. Recent evidence also suggests that births are more likely to occur at night during a full moon and during the day when there is a new moon. To clarify the influence of the moon on human reproduction, Forster and her colleagues from Munich, Buenos Aires and the USA studied the course of the menstrual cycles of 22 women who had kept menstrual diariesin some cases over a period of 32 years. "To our knowledge, this approach to analyzing this type of long-term data has not been used before," Forster says. Instead, previous studies had analyzed large numbers of women in their entirety, combining results from different women, age groups, years, and seasons. The moon orbits Earth in several cycles The team correlated the records of each of the 22 women with the lunar cycle. Whereas "lunar cycle" is actually an unacceptable simplification. "Scientifically speaking, the moon exhibits three distinct cycles that periodically change its luminance and the gravity with which it impacts Earth," Forster says. On the one hand, there is the change between full moon and new moon which takes place on average every 29.53 days with slight variations. Secondly, the moon does not go round Earth in a fixed orbit. Instead, its position varies relative to the equator. Sometimes it is more to the north, sometimes more to the south. This cycle lasts 27.32 days. The third cycle is a little longer with an average of 27.55 days. It results from the fact that the moon accompanies Earth on an elliptical orbit and is accordingly sometimes closer, sometimes further away. All of these cycles affect the intensity of the moonlight and gravity, which can be seen in the tides, for example. In addition, they interact with each other and can lead to special constellations at longer intervals, producing special phenomena, such as a solar eclipse, which is part of a regular cycle where the darkening of the sun repeats about every 18 years. Moonlight is the strongest clock generator "All three lunar cycles influence the onset of menstruation in women": This is the conclusion the scientists draw after evaluating the records of the study participants. The nightly moonlight seems to be the strongest clock synchronizer, but the gravitational forces of the moon also contribute to the effect. Of course: Not all women follow the change of light and dark in the night sky and if they do, usually only for certain periods of time. On average, in women under 35 years of age, menstruation occurs synchronously with the full moon or new moon in just under a quarter of the recorded time. For women over 35, this is the case on average in barely one tenth of the time. The synchronism of lunar and menstrual cycle does not only decrease with increasing age: It also seems to decrease to the extent that women are exposed to artificial light sources at night. Typical "night owls," who go to bed late and leave the lights on longer, show no obvious synchronization with the moon. A sense of gravity According to the scientists, the fact that synchronization occurs only sporadically and that the courses of women's menstrual cycles varies suggests that the moon's light-dark cycle alone is not a strong synchronizing factor of menstruation. They have the first evidence that gravity also influences the monthly cycles. "In the second halves of 1961, 1979, 1997 and 2015, the menstrual cycles of seven out of nine women were synchronous with the change of full moon and new moon," says Charlotte Forster. This interval of 18 years corresponds exactly to the rhythm in which the three lunar cycles combine to produce very special constellations. This conjunction may have enhanced the moon's strength as a clock generator. The observation that gravity sets a rhythm for humans could explain why certain cycles, such as menstruation but also sleep onset and sleep duration, are temporarily linked to either the full moon or the new moon: In both phases the influence of the moon's gravity on Earth is similar. Effects of gravity could also explain a study's observation that both sleep onset and sleep duration of college students are in sync with the lunar cycleeven though they live in Seattle, a city that is so bright at night that moonlight is barely perceptible. For Forster and her colleagues, all these observations suggest that the human organism can respond not only to rapid changes in gravity, as perceived by the equilibrium system, but also to slow, periodically recurring gravitational changes. However, the scientists are aware of the limited significance of their study due to the relatively small number of women studied. Her hopes are therefore pinned on the use of technology that is both simple and modern: a mobile phone app. This will make it possible to study the relationship between menstrual and lunar cycles and the influence of artificial light on a large number of women around the world. More information: C. Helfrich-Forster el al., "Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon," Science Advances (2021). Journal information: Science Advances C. Helfrich-Forster el al., "Women temporarily synchronize their menstrual cycles with the luminance and gravimetric cycles of the Moon,"(2021). advances.sciencemag.org/lookup .1126/sciadv.abe1358 Democracies have slightly outperformed authoritarian countries in suppressing the coronavirus, according to an analysis that found smaller populations and competent bureaucracies were the major factors in managing the global pandemic. The COVID Performance Index compiled by the Lowy Institute ranked 98 countries handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, finding New Zealand performed the best while Australia sits in eighth place. Australia came in eighth place of the best-performing countries in suppressing the coronavirus. Credit:James Brickwood New Zealand was closely followed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus, while the United States was the fifth-worst performing country. There has been growing concern from western commentators that the failure of some democracies to suppress the virus will result in more countries losing faith in the model of liberal democratic government and turn to authoritarianism. A new study suggests children on the autism spectrum may be more likely to misinterpret healthy arguments between their parents as being negative, compared to children who aren't on the autism spectrum. That means they may be missing out on an opportunity to learn from their parents how to handle conflict constructively, researchers Naomi Ekas and Chrystyna Kouros said. Children can learn how to best handle conflict from watching their parents. Seeing parents respectfully problem-solve during a disagreement provides children with examples of how to resolve conflict in a healthy way. But children on the autism spectrum may be missing the chance to benefit from those interactions." Chrystyna Kouros, Associate Professor of Psychology, SMU "Children on the autism spectrum reacted more negatively to interparental conflict that we generally think of as being less harmful to children's development, compared to non-autistic kids," said Ekas, lead researcher and an associate professor of psychology at Texas Christian University. "It is possible that these children are misinterpreting the conflict as being more negative than it is." Kouros and Ekas have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to further study this topic. They are conducting a larger study of 118 children on the autism spectrum and their parents. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects an estimated 1 in 54 children in the United States. The range and severity of symptoms can vary widely. Common characteristics include difficulty with communication, difficulty with social interactions and repetitive behaviors. Based on their initial findings, Ekas and Kouros said parents of autistic kids may need to ensure their child understands when a conflict has ended and that their parents have resolved their difference. They also recommended teaching autistic children to recognize differences between conflicts that are destructive, like ones that involve yelling, versus constructive ones, where parents talk through a disagreement. "This may help them navigate conflict with peers as well," Ekas said. For the study, Ekas and Kouros arranged for autistic and non-autistic children to watch videos of actors pretending to be parents. In one video, the "parents" were seen having a disagreement in a way that psychologists would consider constructive - they showed respect to each other, spoke calmly, and used problem-solving. The children also watched a video of a destructive argument, where the parents aimed insults or threats at each other. After viewing the videos children answered questions about how they felt and what they would do if they were in the room. Researchers found autistic children reacted more negatively to parents who fought constructively than did children who were not diagnosed with autism. There was no significant difference in how kids perceived the destructive arguments, according to a study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Both groups rated destructive arguments very negatively. The findings are particularly troubling, because research shows that parents of children on the autism spectrum may have higher rates of marital discord compared to parents of children who don't have autism. The study is based on surveys taken by 21 children with autism and 29 non-autistic children, who were recruited from the Dallas-Fort Worth community through schools, flyers and online advertisements. Children in the study ranged from age between 8 and 13 years old. To be included in the autism group, children had to be clinically-diagnosed as having the neurodevelopmental disorder. Nearly 23 lakh beneficiaries have been vaccinated since 16 January, when the mass inoculation drive against the novel coronavirus was launched, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. 23,28,779 have been vaccinated so far till 6 pm today at 41,599 sessions, of which 2,99,299 people were vaccinated on Wednesday alone, according to the Health Ministry.79% of beneficiaries vaccinated today are from 5 States of Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic Around 123 Adverse Effect After Vaccination (AEFI) have been reported till 6 pm on the twelfth day of the Covid-19 vaccination drive. As many as 16 persons have been hospitalised so far. 0.0007% people have recorded hospitalisation against vaccinations. In the last 24 hours, one person who is suffering from bacterial sepsis has been hospitalized at Apollo Hospital, Chennai. He was vaccinated on 23 January and was hospitalised on 24 January. Total 9 deaths have been reported so far. None of these deaths have been causally linked with coronavirus vaccination. In the last 24 hours, one person aged 23 years, a resident of Odisha has died. The post-mortem report is awaited. "No case of serious/severe AEFI/Death attributable to vaccination till date," said a media release from the government. Commercial export of Covid vaccines India had already started the commercial export of Covid-19 vaccines. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing two million doses of Covid-19 vaccines and said his country felt honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. He also shared a picture of Lord Hanuman lifting the Govardhan mountain to deliver "Sanjeevni booti". Brazil is the second-worst affected country by coronavirus after the United States. Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied by saying that India will continue to strengthen the cooperation on healthcare. Apart from Brazil, Covid vaccines are also being sent to Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Morocco, Bangladesh and Myanmar. India had earlier sent vaccines to seven neighbouring countries as aid, under a grant assistance programme called "Vaccine Maitri". The World Health Organisation has also thanked India. "Thank you #India and Prime Minister @narendramodi for your continued support to the global #COVID19 response. Only if we #ACTogether, including sharing of knowledge, can we stop this virus and save lives and livelihoods," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Affle India announced that the company through its wholly-owned step down subsidiary Affle MEA FZ-LLC (AMEA) (subsidiary of Affle International) has entered into a definitive Business Transfer Agreement to acquire the Business Assets of Discover Tech (registered in Israel). As part of the deal, Business Assets including the technology platform, brand name, intellectual property rights, business relationships and technical information of Discover Tech will be acquired by AMEA. Discover Tech is an Out of Box Experience (OOBE) mobile device marketing platform providing a major consumer touchpoint in the mobile device lifecycle through Initial Device Customization (dynamic app discovery and recommendation at initial boot or reset of a device, welcome wizards, etc.) through its platform integrations with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). This Investment is strategic for Affle's consumer platform business. It fortifies Affle's vernacular on-device consumer experiences and strengthens the ecosystem connect with advertisers, OEMs and MNOs across India, global emerging markets in general and Africa in particular. Fixed Consideration for Business Transfer is USD 1.15 million and maximum Success Fee (Incremental contingent consideration) is USD 3.37 million to be paid over a period of maximum 4 years Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Millions of Americans have received COVID-19 vaccines since the long-awaited inoculation campaign started Dec. 14 with the Pfizer-BioNTech version of the shots. Now, with a vaccine from Moderna also being distributed, here are some answers to lingering questions about the vaccines. Read the FDA fact sheet on the Pfizer vaccine Is there anything people should not do in the hours or days before and after getting shots? There are several things people should keep in mind before they get vaccinated. Dr. Philip Huang, Dallas Countys health director, has said its unclear how the coronavirus shots may interact with other vaccinations, so people should not receive another inoculation in the 30 days beforehand. He also recommended that people who have COVID-19 or have recently been exposed to someone who is infected wait for before getting inoculated 90 days if the person is positive for COVID-19 or until the end of a self-quarantine period if theyve been exposed. People with a history of documented COVID, its uncommon for them to get reinfected in the 90 days after infection, Huang said. Patients should wait briefly after theyre vaccinated to ensure they dont experience side effects 15 minutes for most patients and 30 minutes for people with a history of severe allergy, Huang said. The FDA recommends you should tell the vaccination provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: have any allergies have a fever have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner are immunocompromised or are on a medicine that affects your immune system are pregnant or plan to become pregnant are breastfeeding have received another COVID-19 vaccine Could you get one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and one of the Moderna vaccine? Again, experts say that people must receive the vaccines exactly as they were tested in clinical trials. The data that we know where it works is when its the same product, Huang said. If someone mistakenly got another vaccine, we would not recommend they go back. We dont want that to happen. If mistakenly it does it happen, its like you start over your regimen. Health officials say theyre doing everything they can to prevent mix-ups from happening. In the absence of any data, it would be wrong, said Dr. Charles Lerner, a San Antonio-based infectious disease specialist and a member of the Texas Medical Associations COVID-19 task force. What percentage of the population needs to be vaccinated to lift COVID-19 restrictions? Although the vaccines are promising, it will take months to reach the levels that will be needed to bring life back to normal. Huang has said estimates for that vaccination rate have been put at about 60% to 70%. As with any vaccine, patients who receive it are not guaranteed immunity from the virus. Because of this, patients who receive the vaccine should still wear masks and practice social distancing, both to protect themselves and others around them. There have been cases of infection occurring in immunized people, Lerner said. There have been cases of second COVID infection ... you need to continue protective measures. Read the Moderna fact sheet System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
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Slamming the BJP MLA, Uttar Pradesh Congress media coordinator Lalan Kumar charged that the BJP government was responsible for the violence and said the BJP MLA's statement shows his "mental bankruptcy". Republic Day voilence: Security tightened at Red Fort after clashes with farmers On Tuesday, the tractor parade that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the national capital as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Speaking with reporters, the BJP MLA said, "The act of violence during tractor parade is condemnable. A case of sedition should be lodged and strict action should be taken against those involved in the act". Asking the party leadership to take strict action against those involved, Singh alleged, "There is foreign hand behind the violence. The incident had taken place on directions of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Congress leaders not expressing any regret over the incident proves that." Republic Day violence: Mayawati seeks repeal of farm laws, Akhilesh blames BJP Reacting strongly to the allegation, Kumar charged "The BJP government, Home Ministry, police and intelligence agencies were responsible for whatever happened during the tractor parade". 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News "For bringing bad name to the agitation some persons intruded in the guise of farmers. Deep Sidhu is an example. Sidhu was representative of BJP MP Sunny Deol...BJP should tell how Sidhu is related with it and what punishment will he be getting for whatever he did at Red Fort," Kumar said. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 13:54 [IST] New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Delhi Police has named Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait beside other farmer leaders in the FIR over the violence that broke out in various parts of the national capital during the farmers' tractor rally on Tuesday. The FIR charges them with breach of No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued regarding the rally. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs till now in various districts over the violent protest by agitating farmers on January 26, under sections of rioting, damage to public property and assault on public servant with deadly weapons. Police has now begun investigation to analyse the video footage available to identify the violent protesters who damaged public property and attacked the Delhi Police personnel. A total of 86 policemen were injured in the violence as farmers entered into Delhi with their tractors ahead of the scheduled time agreed with the police forces of Delhi, Haryana and UP. Meanwhile, the DCP North also visited the injured police personnel in the hospital. Nearly 200 protesters have been detained so far. Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava has also held a high-level meeting with senior police officers to take a stock of the situation and discuss the future course of action. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Education Minister Norma Foley joined student leaders and other education partners today to discuss options around the 2021 Leaving Cert and Junior Cycle exams, amid growing calls for their cancellation With schools unexpectedly closed again, Ms Foley is under growing pressure to replace the conventional exams with calculated grades. The Government expects to make a final decision on the exams in the next week or so, and there will be a further meeting of this advisory group on Friday. Todays online discussion involved representatives of students, teachers parents, principals, school management bodies and the State Examinations Commission. Read More It sought out to flesh out various options, in the face of the unexpected closure of schools since Christmas and the stress that the uncertainty is causing Leaving Cert candidates in particular It was arranged after a survey by the Irish Second Level Students Union (ISSU) where four in five students, predominantly sixth years, voted for having a choice between calculated grades and exams. A similar trend has emerged in a smaller survey by the National Parents Council Post Primary, according to its president Mai Fanning, while teacher unions want to stick with exams. A Department of Education statement described todays meeting as exploration of further possible options for the exams. It added that themes around alternatives and possible impact on the student experience were discussed. Earlier, Labour education spokesperson Aodhan O Riordain for the Leaving and Junior Cert exams to be replaced by a system of assessed grades. He said assessed grades were the only realistic option for this year, with a back-up of written Leaving Cert exams sometime over the summer, for students who would prefer that option TDs, including in Government parties, are also seeking choice for Leaving Cert students this year. Mr O Riordain said that Leaving Cert students had missed 11 weeks of in-class tuition in 2020 and three weeks, so far, this year, with no certainty about a date for the return to school. He said he understood that this is not an easy decision to make and acknowledged that obtaining the data for an assessed grades system was a challenge as there was less in-class assessment available for this cohort of students than there was for the class of 2020. Mr O Riordain said he did not make the call lightly but ultimately clarity for students is whats required. Read More If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Prominent black seminary dean Lee Brand nominated to be first vice president of SBC Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment An African-American seminary dean has been nominated as a candidate for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination founded by slave-owners. According to a statement shared with The Christian Post on Tuesday evening, Lee Brand, Jr., vice president and dean of the Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary of Memphis, Tennessee, was nominated for the position. According to Article V of the Southern Baptist Convention's Constitution, the denomination officers include a first vice president and a second vice president. In case of death or disability of the president, the vice presidents shall automatically succeed to the office of president in the order of their election,explains the SBC Constitution. In an interview with CP on Wednesday, Brand said it was a great honor to be nominated to serve in any national leadership capacity within an organization like the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States. I believe the Bible and am convinced that Baptist distinctives align with it. This role will allow me to be an advocate for both the Bible and Baptist distinctives, said Brand. If elected, I want to tap into my pastoral and leadership experience to improve the relationships and trust among pastors, church planters and the SBC. Brand was nominated by James Lewis, pastor of DeSoto Hills Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi. The formal nomination process for officers will occur in June when the SBC gathers in Nashville, Tennessee. According to his biography on the seminary website, Brand earned a bachelor of science from Mississippi State University and then earned a master of divinity at the seminary he now serves. He served as senior pastor of Beth-el Missionary Baptist Church in Starkville from 2002 to 2019 and held other roles with the Northeast Mississippi Baptist Congress and the Whitefield District Association. The first vice president is involved in assorted decision-making matters and usually presides over part of the SBC annual meeting, giving what Brand calls a strategic voice to speak into matters facing our convention. I want to continue efforts to plant the convention firmly on the sufficiency of Scripture and ensure it maintains a premier focus on evangelism, continued Brand. The SBC is rightly pursuing people of every ethnicity to join its efforts. My aim is for the SBC to champion a biblical approach to diversity, not diversity at any cost. The nomination of Brand for first vice president comes as a new nomination for SBC president was announced earlier this week. SBCs first African-American president, Fred Luter, nominated Alabama Pastor Ed Litton. I have known Ed Litton for over 20 years. Our relationship started when we preached for each other as part of the SBC Racial Reconciliation Sunday during the month of February, explained Luter, who served as SBC president from 2012-2014, to the Baptist Press. From there, our relationship developed to more than just colleagues to bring races together. We both shared the hope of drawing people closer to a relationship with Jesus Christ and then growing disciples for Christ. In both of our churches, our focus has been the same all of these years." Indiana Jon Ford Terre Haute Chuck Moseley Portage Jim Pressel Rolling Prairie Indiana Indiana Indiana State Police Indiana I-465 Indiana Indiana State Police Indiana Department of Transportation Rockville Road (TNS) A bipartisan group oflawmakers are looking to bring automated speeding tickets to the state's work zones.The trio who filed bills Sen., R-; Rep., D-; and Rep., R- look to improve work zone safety by bumping up speed enforcement.The bills aren't identical, but they all look to create a pilot program that tests the effectiveness of speed cameras and similar technology onhighways. They also call for money raised from enforcement to go to special causes, not the state's general fund.Current state law neither allows nor prohibits speed cameras.Moseley, a Democrat who said he has been working with Republican colleague Ford on the topic for two years, emphasized that this isn't meant to be a revenue generator."It's not about money. It's not about punishment," Moseley said. "It's only about seeing what we can do to make our roads safer."Ford agreed, saying work zone safety is a bipartisan issue.It definitely is a bipartisan bill," he said, "because everybody wants the workers to be able to work in a safe environment.In 2020, there were 1,346 crashes in work zones oninterstates, according to. Troopers issued 409 tickets for speeding and reckless driving in work zones.On all roads, there were nearly 6,000 work zone collisions inin 2018, according to INDOT data provided by Moseley. Seventeen were fatal, with the majority of those coming in work zones with a lane closure.Pressel, who chairs the House Roads and Transportation committee, declined multiple interview requests from IndyStar.How the speeding tickets would workThe bills differ, but they generally allow the installation of technology to record how fast vehicles go and take pictures of their rear license plates if they're going over a designated speed.Two of the bills only allow citations to be issued if a vehicle is going 11 mph over the limit or more while the third requires 12 mph over the limit or more. Workers must be present, and signs ahead of the zone must warn of the automated system.The registered owner of the vehicle would receive a letter notifying them of the citation. It would include the date and time of the violation and the picture taken that day.Drivers could contest the citation. Ford's and Moseley's bills allow vehicle owners to argue they were not driving at the time by providing the name, address and driver's license number of the person who they say was actually driving.Protecting privacyFord's and Moseley's bills specifically say photos may not be taken of the front of vehicles and lay out specific rules about how pictures taken by the speed cameras may be used. The photos may not be used as evidence in other investigations, for one.Both Ford and Moseley said they don't want the program to be seen as a "Big Brother" government program."Piloting helps us ensure that we dont unintentionally infringe on the rights of people, Moseley said.It's really just to catch the license plates, Ford said.Speeding: Whyspeed limit is only 55 mphspeeding finesPressel's bill limits the pilot program to four systems and sets fines for speeders caught by the automated system at $75. The other two bills have a warning for first-time offenses, a $75 fine for second offenses and $150 fines each time after.averaged 1,800 guilty verdicts for work zone speeding per year between fiscal years 2015 and 2020, according to a fiscal note. Fines for speeders caught by officers vary from $300 to $1,000, and the money goes to the state's general fund.All three of the work zone speeding bills direct funds from the automated tickets to not go to that general fund.Pressel proposes a work zone safety fund withand theboth receiving funds. Ford and Moseley propose a fund to provide family members of fallen troopers with food assistance, housing, utilities, medical services and more.Moseley said he's open to compromise on how the funds are used, as long as they help people and do not go to the state's general fund. To him, success is seeing work zone crashes and fatalities decrease, not generating more money for the state.While previous legislative attempts to implement this technology in work zones have failed, Ford said he thinks it will have a better chance of passing this time around.I think a lot of legislation that involves technology, new ideas sometimes takes a little while to get through the system and to really educate our colleagues, explained Ford, who said they now have supporting data from other states.: 'Displaced left turns' could be installedPressel's position as chair of the House transportation committee gives him say over which of the two House bills his own or Moseley's move forward.Moseley understands the dynamic and has signed on as a co-author to Pressel's bill. He thinks they share the same goal."It's all about let's see what we can do to help people be safe." The Mail Force laptop campaign has smashed through the 1million barrier in just four days. The phenomenal milestone has been reached thanks to reader generosity and a stunning donation from Lloyds. The banking giant has offered 1,000 top-of-the-range laptops worth 500,000. It is a sensational moment for the Computers for Kids drive to get urgently-needed devices to lockdown pupils. Our readers have now given the charity a staggering 445,000 since only Saturday helping children struggling to access online lessons. Lloyds threw half a million pounds into the pot by donating 1,000 Surface Go 2 devices. Part laptop, part tablet, the cutting-edge machines have detachable screens. It is a sensational moment for the Computers for Kids drive to get urgently-needed devices to lockdown pupils. Our readers have now given the charity a staggering 445,000 since only Saturday helping children struggling to access online lessons (file image) The Lloyds gift means the Mail Force campaign has now generated 1.33million. It will help the charity add to the existing mammoth operation being run by the Department for Education, which has ordered 1.3million laptops for schoolchildren (file image) We are proud to support the campaign to provide laptops to children in urgent need, said Antonio Horta-Osorio, group chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group. The pandemic has highlighted the challenges faced by many families as they try to teach their children at home through remote learning. This campaign is a highly important initiative which will help ensure that the most vulnerable children are not disadvantaged by the current lockdown restrictions. A childs access to education is vital and we need to ensure all children can have the technology they need to attend online lessons. HOW TO DONATE TO COMPUTERS FOR KIDS CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO YOU, THE READER: How to send us donations The Daily Mail has launched a brand new campaign, Computers For Kids, to raise money for Mail Force a charity which aims to provide much needed school equipment and resources for pupils across the UK learning from home. With schools closed, we are left with the dilemma of hundreds of thousands of pupils in the UK having no access to a computer in their home. As part of this campaign, companies are donating their old laptops which, for around 15, can be wiped, professionally refurbished and made safe and fit for home schooling. They can then be delivered to a child or young person who needs one. In addition, the campaign is looking to support childrens needs in other ways such as funding brand new laptops and tablets, and assisting with data access and connectivity for online learning. Any surplus funds will be used to support of the work of UK schools via other means. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Visit mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate and follow the steps to complete your donation. Please don't send us your old device. TO MAKE A DONATION VIA YOUR PHONE To donate 10 - text KIDS10 to 70115 To donate 20 - text KIDS20 to 70115 TO COMPANIES: Could you give your old laptops? Upgrading office computers is something all companies do from time to time and there has never been a better time to donate old laptops. If you are a company with 50 laptops or more that you could give, please visit www.computacenter.com/daily-mail to check they are suitable and register your donation. We will arrange for collection by our specialist partners Computacenter. Please note: we cannot accept donated laptops from individuals. COMPANIES SHOULD GO TO: computacenter.com/daily-mail TO SCHOOLS: Where to apply for the computers Schools must apply to the Department for Education, which is managing the demand and prioritising the schools most in need. The Mail Force initiative means more laptops will become available more quickly. SCHOOLS CAN APPLY HERE: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk Advertisement The Lloyds gift means the Mail Force campaign has now generated 1.33million. It will help the charity add to the existing mammoth operation being run by the Department for Education, which has ordered 1.3million laptops for schoolchildren. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: Every pound donated to this campaign is one to further support young people in this country and to have reached 1million in just a matter of days is testament to the value Mail readers place on our childrens learning. I look forward to seeing just how far this campaign can go in building on the 1.3million devices we are providing for young people, as part of our work to make sure every child can continue to have the best possible education through this pandemic. Yesterday education chiefs announced a huge surge in their own operation, with an extra 74,000 machines delivered or dispatched by the Government to help with remote learning in the past week. The DfE has now delivered 876,013 laptops and tablets out of a 1.3million target. Nothing Mail Force does will affect the Governments drive it is designed to complement it, just as it did last year when it was set up to help the NHS get vital items of PPE. The Computers for Kids campaign has identified separate sources of technology kit to the Governments supplies. These include second-hand laptops from firms, which can be refurbished for around 15 and made fit and safe for home schooling. Donated laptops are securely managed and wiped by our IT specialist partner which already handles contracts for many large banks and governments. With classrooms shut until possibly Easter, and a third of British families saying they do not have enough devices, the campaign aims to save countless youngsters from falling behind. Every penny is spent on getting laptops and tablets to children who desperately need them. Former education secretary Lord Blunkett praised the Mails campaign on BBC Radio 4s Today programme yesterday. He said: We need immediately to get the children who dont have the devices, to get them the equipment now and I mean this week, not in three weeks time. We know the catastrophic impact that this is having on children, and particularly on those who dont have the devices. We know from local programmes, the Governments own programme, and the Daily Mail and others that are organising nationally, we know that this is turning out to be an absolute catastrophe for equality of opportunity. Yesterday a generous online donation of 450 to Mail Force came from schoolboy Jake and his grandfather. The youngster wrote: Im lucky because I have a computer I can use for my schoolwork. So my gramps is helping to buy a computer for other children. Good luck from Jake. Meanwhile, 89-year-old Betty, who survived Covid in the first wave, donated 125, and Derek Williams, 88, gave 150, with the message: I just want to help some young person in need. David Paskin, who gave 30, said on the online donations page: Im blessed with two grandchildren who are fortunate to have necessary IT for their schooling so I would like to donate 30 to help two less fortunate children. A dinner-lady at a junior school contributed 100 and said she was looking forward to being able to see the results of this campaign first hand. Lloyds Banking Group has been helping customers get online during the pandemic and last year set up a digital helpline to support them. It has also been helping non-customers, through referrals from charities including Age UK and Mental Health UK. laptops@dailymail.co.uk Data firms told to help families who have no broadband access By Arthur Martin for The Daily Mail Teachers and campaigners yesterday demanded data giants and the Government do more to help almost one million children without broadband at home. Pupils across the country are unable to watch online lessons during lockdown because their parents cannot afford WiFi. Others live in areas where broadband connections are patchy or non-existent. It means that hundreds of thousands of children are relying on their mobile phones to access learning materials and take part in lessons. Many cannot afford to pay to livestream lessons or watch educational videos due to mobile data costs. A Daily Mail poll illustrates the effect of school closures on children and shows four in ten parents say the cost of computers and other items they need is too high Even on the cheapest deals, a family with four children would use mobile data worth 80 each month just to attend lessons. This figure is likely to be higher once online homework and personal use is taken into consideration. Last night MPs and campaigners called for more to be done to help children on the wrong side of the so-called digital divide. There were calls for disadvantaged families to be given devices known as MiFi dongles which create a WiFi signal. One of these devices would work for an entire household and can be used to connect laptops and tablets to the internet. This month Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, wrote to the Prime Minister demanding more help for children without internet connection. The letter was co-signed by high profile politicians, including former prime minister Tony Blair and Lord Blunkett. And after addressing the Commons on this issue yesterday, Miss McDonagh told the Mail: What the Daily Mail and the Government are doing to get laptops to kids who need them is great but its only half the story. No matter how great your laptop is, without data it does not work. And at the moment the system for getting data particularly for poorer families is far too complex and far too expensive. She added: Every laptop issued should come with MiFi to allow internet access at home. Without that, the digital divide widens. More than one in five children in deprived areas do not have adequate internet access for learning, according to a report published by the Sutton Trust this month. 'Teachers in 95 per cent of state schools said they had some students without the internet. This figure dropped to 46 per cent for private schools. Mobile phone companies including O2, EE, Three and Vodafone have offered to provide free data through a scheme launched by the Department for Education until the end of July. Sky Mobile, Tesco Mobile, Virgin Media and Smarty are offering similar deals. Although this will help thousands, the offers relies on pupils already being customers of certain phone companies and having a phone that is capable of linking to a laptop. Data companies have said they will not charge customers for using educational websites such as BBC Bitesize and the Oak National Academy. But these offers typically do not cover lessons with teachers. Chris Hillidge, a director at The Challenge Academy Trust in Warrington, said: Lack of technology has, by far, been the biggest challenge. Our school is an area of considerable socio-economic deprivation and many students simply do not have a laptop or suitable device at home. Dr Bill Mitchell, director of policy at BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT added: We have all got to work together to develop a national strategy that recognises the digital divide as a modern measure of inequality and removes it once and for all. The Palestinian leadership on Wednesday welcomed the new US administration's intention to reopen the offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, closed under former president Donald Trump. "We welcome the contents of the speech of the US administration's representative to the (UN) Security Council yesterday," Jibril Rajoub, a senior official in the ruling Fatah party, told AFP. "The opening of the east Jerusalem consulate, the reopening of the PLO office in Washington, and the new US administration's commitment to the two-state solution are welcome positive indicators," he said. On Tuesday, Washington's interim UN envoy Richard Mills said that newly sworn-in US President Joe Biden intended to "restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis." Biden intended to "restore US assistance programmes that support economic development and humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people and to take steps to re-open diplomatic missions that were closed by the last US administration," he added. Under Trump, the US had stopped supporting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and closed the Palestinians' liaison office in Washington. At the same time, the White House stepped up its support of Israel, recognising Jerusalem as its capital and declaring settlements should not be considered breach of international law. "We expect that the new administration will raise a red card to the Israeli unilateral expansionist steps on the ground, dictating realities to undermine any possibility for the emergence of a Palestinian independent sovereign state," Rajoub said. Short link: The Direct Agents creative team won first place in the OUTFRAME 2020 competition for their submission "Out of Love." The winning prize, courtesy of Outfront Media, included a billboard feature in Times Square, NYC and around the nation for the month of November. Also included in the prize was a month of pro bono nationwide digital billboard space and advertising for a charity of their choice. Direct Agents selected Color of Change as their partner charity for this project. Color of Change is focused on ending unfair practices that hold Black communities back "until justice is real." The digital billboard design is centered around the organization's support of Black-owned businesses. Throughout the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Black communities through the decimation of black-owned businesses. Not only does this affect individual people, it threatens entire communities. In an effort to help support these communities, Color of Change created the Black Business Green Book , an online directory of Black-owned businesses. The creative team at Direct Agents drew inspiration from the Green Book efforts to create the billboard design. Direct Agents specializes in data-driven marketing with capabilities ranging from Paid Search & SEO to Data Analytics or Amazon. With the addition of the Polycultural department, the creative team is able to utilize advanced audience data to diversify their creative strategy. The detailed data and technology insight guides the creative process, and advanced creative testing helps the team exceed campaign goals. Direct Agents is proud to partner with an organization centered around bringing justice to America. Digital billboards will be displayed January 22, 2021 to February 22, 2021. About Direct Agents: Direct Agents is a full-service, independently-owned and minority-led digital marketing agency that leverages data, media and creative to launch and grow brands. With over 17 years of digital marketing experience, Direct Agents is focused on marketing innovation through advanced technology and a data-driven performance first approach. Contact: Valentina Elegante [email protected] SOURCE Direct Agents Related Links http://www.directagents.com Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Iowa - Norway Township in the northeast corner of Winnebago County is a pristine, quiet area dotted by snow-covered farm fields. But critics say that the Worthwhile wind and solar farm project will change that. "The developers approached my own family. They were interested in my family's property for easements for wind turbines and solar panel construction." Matt Helgeson lives in the area of the projected site, which is planned to be located between Lake Mills and the Minnesota state line, and from the Winnebago River into part of Worth County. He's reached out to neighbors, as well as those who live near similar projects in the Midwest, who have raised health, environmental and quality of life concerns. "Some folks who do experience a degree of annoyance and health problems and others who don't. It seems like it depends on the size of the turbines and the lay of the land." He spearheaded a petition asking the county board of supervisors to put a pause on the project and make changes, including tighter setback restrictions and noise limits. Helgeson adds that he's not opposed to utilizing alternative energy sources, but wants the concerns of residents addressed. "We need to do this with considerations of citizens. The inconsiderate placement of wind turbines over large swaths of Iowa and other Midwestern states...if the end result is a lot of unhappy, rural citizens, it's not a success in my mind." The board of supervisors is expected to provide an update on the project next month. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : In reaction to the farmers' protest on Republic Day in Delhi, British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has said it was sad to see scenes of clashes between some protesters and police. "Notable though the huge tractor parade today (on Wednesday) and ongoing months long struggle (largest protest currently in the world) have been peaceful and inspired so many struggling for an existence," he said in a tweet. Earlier, Punjab-origin politician Dhesi had sent a letter, signed by over 100 MPs and Lords, to the UK Prime Minister on the ongoing farmers' protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise. The farmers, who started their tractor parade much ahead of their scheduled timing, entered the national capital defying the agreement reached with the police and created multiple fronts at Karnal Bypass, Mukarba Chowk, Transport Nagar, Akshardham, Gazipur and Tikri border. Some farmers armed with swords were also seen clashing with the police. As soon as the farmers reached the ITO intersection and tried to move towards the Red Fort, many of the farmers clashed with the police personnel and attacked them with sticks and iron rods. The farmers also damaged several vehicles with their tractors. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Increased availability of COVID-19 vaccines is expected to fuel a stronger economic recovery worldwide this year, the International Monetary Fund predicted Tuesday. The global economy will grow 5.5 percent this year, more than the 5.2 percent expansion the IMF forecast in October, as the vaccines help contain the spread of the coronavirus, enabling governments to ease lockdown measures that last year led to the worst global economic contraction since World War II. The IMF's upgraded forecast of a 5.5 percent global economic expansion this year would mark its fastest year of growth since its sharp 2010 recovery from the financial crisis. While the vaccines are expected to help power a global economic recovery, the IMF warned that economies worldwide will need support from their governments to offset the damage caused by the pandemic. The 190-country organization also warns that coronavirus mutations could hinder global economic growth. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Dani Dyer has revealed the name of her son, three days after his birth. The Love Island star, 24, and her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence welcomed their first child on Saturday, and on Tuesday night Dani made an appearance on the latest episode of the podcast she shares with her dad, actor Danny. In a voice memo played by Danny, the new mum told her fans that she and Sammy have named their newborn Santiago. 'He's just so perfect': Dani Dyer has revealed the name of her son, three days after his birth Danny introduced the latest instalment of the podcast, Sorted With The Dyers by proudly telling listeners: So this episode is going to start a bit differently as weve got some massive news. Its f**king huge.' 'Because Im a Granddad! Yeah, Granddad Danny is what Im now known as. And Dani has sent a voice memo to update us, which I think is very, very lovely' Dani sounded emotional as she said in the voice note: 'I honestly cant believe it, hes finally here, our little boy. I never thought Id meet him. I felt like it was going on and on, she continued. 'But me and Sammy are so in love with him. Hes just so perfect and the feeling is just incredible, I cant put into words how it feels. Newborn: The Love Island star, 24, and her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence welcomed their first child on Saturday, and on Tuesday night Dani made an appearance on the latest episode of the podcast she shares with her dad Danny to reveal his name is Santiago She then revealed his name, teasing: 'I know youre all probably wondering what weve called him. Theres been a lot of assumptions going on, some are actually really funny to be fair, but his name is Santiago.' 'I know a lot of you are probably thinking What?! but that is his name but we are going to be calling him Santi,' Dani added. 'I think it sounds nice on the birth certificate.' She ended the voice memo by promising: 'Ill be giving you all the details on the podcast next week about my labour and stuff, youre going to want to hear all about that, but until then, here he is!, before sharing a gurgle from baby Santi. Grandma: Earlier on Tuesday Dani's mum Joanne Mas joked her daughter's newborn baby was called 'Jose Pepito Kanye Mas-Dyer Kimmence' Earlier on Tuesday Dani's mum Joanne Mas joked her daughter's newborn baby was called 'Jose Pepito Kanye Mas-Dyer Kimmence'. Joanne shared a sweet poem alongside a snap of her grandson and joked Kanye could be a 'beautiful name' for him. Joanne wrote: 'WELCOME TO THE WORLD MY DARLING JOSE PEPITO KANYE MAS-DYER KIMMENCE. (But your not allowed a Tottenham bib incase you get it dirty). I am so proud, blessed, & absolutely over La Luna. 'What a beautiful name this could be.' The accompanying poem had lines such as: 'A little boy to fill your heart with love beyond compare, an angel sent from heaven a lifetime yet to share'. Gorgeous: Joanne shared a sweet poem alongside a snap of her grandson and joked Kanye could be a 'beautiful name' for him Funny: Joanne wrote: 'WELCOME TO THE WORLD MY DARLING JOSE PEPITO KANYE MAS-DYER KIMMENCE. (But your not allowed a Tottenham bib incase you get it dirty)' Sweet: The accompanying poem had lines such as: 'A little boy to fill your heart with love beyond compare, an angel sent from heaven a lifetime yet to share' Dani and her boyfriend Sammy Kimmence welcomed their first child on Saturday, sharing the happy news online a day later. Dani's actor dad Danny Dyer was seen heading to his daughter's house to meet his newborn grandson for the first time on Monday. The EastEnders star, 43, cut a casual figure as he toted an empty car seat and prepared to meet the newest member of the family. Parents with children under one are allowed a support bubble under the current pandemic guidelines. Taking to Instagram on Sunday for her baby announcement, Dani told fans her baby was born weighing 7 pound but has yet to reveal his name. She penned: 'After a very long day and night finally our special little boy arrived 23/01/2021. 'Weighing 7 pound. We are in a complete baby bubble and enjoying every moment, can not believe he is ours, completely in love and so grateful to be his mummy.. 'Sending all my love to all the other mommas to be out there in lockdown.. the best experience ever will never forget this day. Dani's boyfriend Sammy also shared a beautiful tribute to Dani and their newborn son as he posted photos from the delivery room. He wrote: 'Wow I just simply cannot put this moment in to words, a day I will never forget with a boy I will never stop loving. 'You have my heart son and wow what a woman your mother is.' Sorted with the Dyers is a Spotify Original podcast with new episodes out every Wednesday. The new dispensary brings expanded access for patients along Florida's Atlantic Coast TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Trulieve Cannabis Corp. (CSE: TRUL) (OTCQX: TCNNF) ("Trulieve" or "the Company"), a leading and top-performing cannabis company based in the United States, announced today the opening of a brand-new Florida dispensary, the Company's 78th nationwide. The new 4,600 sq. ft. location marks the Company's first in the city of Sebastian and second in Indian River county, expanding patient access to Florida's largest and broadest assortment of high-quality medical cannabis products. The new dispensary also supports Trulieve's goal of ensuring direct, reliable access to medical cannabis across its home state of Florida. It joins the Company's 72 other Florida dispensaries, including those in nearby Vero Beach and Melbourne. "We are excited to open this new dispensary in Sebastian and bring access directly to patients in the area, as well as offering resources for education on the benefits of medical cannabis," said Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers. "Trulieve remains dedicated to creating an environment where everyone from experienced patients to people newly curious about medical cannabis feel comfortable. Our staff is well-trained, educated, and ready to serve patients; we encourage everyone to reach out to find out more." In honor of the Company's brand-new dispensary, all patients from those new to Trulieve to the dedicated Truliever community will be eligible for a 25% in-store discount at the new Sebastian dispensary on opening day. In line with policies adopted statewide, all visitors are required to wear masks for the duration of their dispensary visit. Additionally, only patients and their state-approved caregivers will be allowed inside the waiting room and dispensary at this time. ANNOUNCING: Trulieve Sebastian Grand Opening WHERE: 1621 US Highway 1, Sebastian, FL 32958 WHEN: Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. In stores and online, patients will find Florida's largest selection of THC and CBD products in a variety of delivery methods, including edibles, smokable cannabis, concentrates, tinctures, topical creams, vaporizers, and more. Trulieve also offers home delivery statewide for patients and convenient in-store pickup at each of its 73 dispensaries in Florida. To assist patients with ordering, Trulieve has made our entire catalog of products available for online ordering, with in-store pickup and statewide home delivery options available. In addition, patients can schedule a complimentary 30-minute virtual consultation with a Trulieve certified consultant to help navigate questions on products, devices, or review their doctor's recommendation. Furthermore, to assist with CDC recommendations for social distancing and in compliance with additional company-enforced safety guidelines, several measures have been taken to ensure the health and well-being of employees and patients, including modifications to the layout of all stores, installation of plexiglass partitions and HEPA air filtration scrubbers in every dispensary, increasing access to masks and sanitizer throughout the store for staff and visitors, utilizing visual aids to direct traffic throughout the store, and increasing the frequency of deep cleanings for all dispensaries. Trulieve is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and will update store policies as needed to ensure the highest level of safety of our patients and staff. All updates will be shared directly on Trulieve's website as they are enacted. The Office of Medical Marijuana Use recently announced the registry has surpassed 465,000 registered medical marijuana patients with an active ID card, with Trulieve consistently selling approximately half of the state's overall volume per the Florida Department of Health. To support the state's rapidly growing patient base, there are more than 2,700 registered ordering physicians in the State of Florida. For more information, please visit www.Trulieve.com. About Trulieve Trulieve is primarily a vertically integrated "seed-to-sale" company in the U.S. and is the first and largest fully licensed medical cannabis company in the State of Florida. Trulieve cultivates and produces all of its products in-house and distributes those products to Trulieve-branded stores (dispensaries) throughout the State of Florida, as well as directly to patients via home delivery. Trulieve also has operations in California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Trulieve is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol TRUL and trades on the OTCQX market under the symbol TCNNF. To learn more about Trulieve, visit www.Trulieve.com. SOURCE Trulieve Cannabis Corp. Related Links https://www.trulieve.com/ Like most restaurants, Northwest Portlands St. Jack has spent the past 10 months pivoting from one business model to the next, creating a new takeout menu from scratch, building a new patio out front, installing coronavirus-zapping ionization filters and Plexiglass barricades indoors, adjusting when the state shuts or reopens indoor and outdoor dining, and on and on. This year, Portlands signature French restaurant has a chance to start from scratch, joining five other ChefStable restaurants Lardo, Grassa, Fills Donuts, Oven & Shaker and a suburban revival of the Tasty brand with new locations in Lake Oswegos upcoming Mercato Grove development just east of Interstate 5. All six businesses get to build this new restaurant complex with the lessons learned from the past 10 months, and simultaneously look to the future. (ChefStable owner) Kurt (Huffman) and I have been talking about doing something like this for a number of years, because St. Jack is pretty popular with people from Lake Oswego, St. Jack chef-owner Aaron Barnett said. Weve been hunting for spots out there loosely, looking everywhere, including downtown. Then this opportunity popped up. Now were building out a restaurant where we can design for this, where partitions can be a part of our business model, to make it as COVID-proof as possible. Collectively, the new restaurant complex counts as a big-time score for Lake Oswego, with St. Jack arguably Portlands best straightforwardly French restaurant joined by the citys signature sandwich shop in Lardo, the casual scratch pastas at Grassa, a great wood-fired pizzeria in Oven & Shaker, a new Berliner-style doughnut shop Fills and the first new Tasty location since former Portland chef John Gorham sold the brand to ChefStable in July. Duck a l'orange from Northwest Portland's St. Jack. The restaurant will open a second location in Lake Oswego this June.LC- The Oregonian One of the most appealing parts of the project for Huffman was the chance to bring together chefs he already knew worked well together in one place. An early stipulation: ChefStable partners would get the run of as much as 15,000-square-feet of restaurant space at the sprawling new development. The project, found at the former Providence Mercantile Village medical offices, was purchased by High Street Residential, CenterCal Properties and its investment partner CBRE Global Investors in 2019. Later this year, it will open with more than 206 apartments, nearly 50,000 square feet of retail space and one 12-foot-tall duck sculpture designed by Danish company Monstrom. By being the only restaurants in this whole development, we have a chance to not only manage the restaurant, but manage the whole ecosystem, said ChefStable owner Kurt Huffman. Were going to be able to take over the whole parking lot to do events like Aarons Beaujolais Nouveau menu, or Nick (Schuurman) at Lardos beer festivals. According to Huffman, an onsite community manager will help organize potential activities including seasonal festivals, farmers market stalls or outdoor chef dinners in an elevated space above Boones Ferry Road. Heres what Lake Oswegans can expect from their six new restaurants come spring: St. Jack Were currently trying to figure out how intense we want to get, Barnett says of the second location of his Lyon-inspired restaurant, tentatively titled Lac St. Jack. I dont know that I want to do so many heads and feet, like we do down here, but I dont want to be shy, either. The interior will be more plush than the original -- were looking at prettier chandeliers, Barnett says -- and lunch could join the opening dinner service later this year. Oven & Shaker Opened as a collaboration between award-winning Nostrana chef Cathy Whims and noted bartender Ryan Magarian, this wood-fired pizzeria and cocktail bar was a Pearl District destination before the pandemic. Best of all, with a shared liquor license, customers can grab a cocktail from Oven & Shaker, carry it outside and meet friends grabbing food from St. Jack in the 5,000-square-foot shared outdoor dining area. (A previously announced Oven & Shaker in Beaverton is no longer in the works.) Lardo Rick Gencarelli, a heavy-hitting former New England chef turned avid Portland bike rider, opened his pork-loving sandwich shop as a food cart more than a decade ago. Since then, it has emerged as Portlands most celebrated sandwich shop, with signature items including the pork meatball banh mi, herb and Parmesan French fries, a good burger and arguably the best craft beer list of any Portland restaurant. Grassa Lardos casual sister restaurant specializes in scratch-made pastas, simple cocktails and good wine. Lake Oswego will mark the growing chains fourth location, with three already in the Rose City. I dont think theres a lot of fast-casual in Lake Oswego with delicious hand-crafted pasta that doesnt compromise for adults or children, says Gencarelli, who cant wait for it to be safe to open his doors to customers for the first time since last March. Sandwiches can stand on their own, but Grassa is about seeing the pasta being made, listening to the music, watching us change over records. Fills Donuts What started a spin-off of the short-lived, sorely missed Bakery at Bar King three months ago is already expanding, a testament to the work of former California baker Katherine Benvenuti and Cooked with Cannabis host Leather Storrs. Keep an eye out for Benvenutis Boston cream pie doughnut with vanilla pastry cream and Valrhona chocolate glaze, the maple bacon bar improved with a single malt Scotch custard and smoked bacon, and the tasty breakfast sandwiches built on sliced doughnuts by Storrs. Tasty Once ranked among Portlands most in-demand brunch destinations, the Tasty brand will return under new management this spring. Two longtime employees, Faye Crosswhite and Mike Kessler, plan to revive the restaurant with an assist from Fills co-owner Benvenuti, who hopes to roll out house breads, flaky biscuits, coffee cakes and more at the restaurants first suburban location. Mercato Grove and its six ChefStable restaurants are expected to open this June at 4055 Mercantile Drive, at the corner of Kruse Way and Boones Ferry Road Michael Russell, mrussell@oregonian.com, @tdmrussell Critics Warn Democrats HR1 Is Attack on American Liberties News Analysis Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) President J. Christian Adams couldnt believe what he was reading as he poured over the text of HR1, the For the People Act, which was the first piece of proposed legislation introduced by congressional Democrats in the 117th Congress. We have been collecting over the years noncitizen maintenance data [for state voter registration rolls], and heres how it works, Adams told The Epoch Times on Feb. 2. People apply to register to vote who are noncitizens, and sometimes they announce they are noncitizens on the registration forms. It says Are you a U.S. citizen, and they mark the box no. And they get registered to vote anyhow, and its not until years later that its discovered, and meanwhile they have been voting in American elections. Adams said he was stunned when he came across Section 1015(D)(2) of HR1, which makes it illegal for any government official to make a record of or to disclose publicly an individuals decision not to affirm his or her citizenship. Adams group currently has litigation in court in Maine, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Maryland seeking public records on individuals who were registered to vote despite indicating they were not at the time U.S. citizens. The litigation is made possible by the public records access provision of the 1993 Motor Voter Registration Act, which requires release of voter list maintenance records that indicate how individuals indicating noncitizenship were handled by voter registration officials. Our group is the only one in the country doing this, so I know its directed at us, Adams said. He pointed to the PILF report Steeling the Vote as an example of the fruits of his groups litigation on the issue. If HR1 becomes law with Section 1501 as presently written, neither Adams nor any other American citizen will be able to obtain noncitizen voter registration records. Millions of noncitizens could vote in future elections without risk of being exposed. Different Prospects The 2021 version of HR1 was introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.). In a Jan. 5 statement, Sarbanes said: My colleagues and I have made H.R. 1 our first priority this year because our democracy is in a state of deep disrepair. We witnessed it during the 2020 election, where Americans across the country had to overcome rampant voter suppression, gerrymandering and a torrent of special interest dark money just to exercise their right to vote. Sarbanes said the bill was needed because Americans of all political stripes are incredibly frustrated with the chaos, corruption and inaction that plague our politics and block progress on many efforts that benefit hardworking families. The same bill was overwhelmingly approved by the Democrat-dominated House of Representatives in 2019, but it went nowhere in the Republican-led Senate, and then-President Donald Trump would never have signed it into law. But things are different in 2021, with Democrat President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, his party retaining control of the House, though with a slimmer majority than last year, and Vice President Kamala Harris with the tie-breaking vote in the 50-50 Senate. The measure is backed by a huge coalition of left-wing nonprofit activist foundations, teachers and industrial unions, racial equity activism organizations, abortion rights groups, trial attorney associations, and environmentalists. Among them, these groups have hundreds of millions of dollars, legions of friends in the mainstream media, and thousands of activists to lobby Congress and the media for passage. Nationwide In addition to hiding noncitizen registration records, the current version of HR1 includes a Democratic wish-list of changes in virtually every aspect of campaigning and voting in federal elections (i.e., for president, senators and representatives). The most notable provisions include: nationwide online voter registration, with minimal verification requirements; same-day registration; automatic voter registration unless an individual specifically requests not to be registered; and legalization of ballot harvesting. It also includes nationwide registration of 16- and 17-year-olds; availability of mail-in ballots with minimal screening qualifications; and restoration of felon voting rights. The provisions will also place redistricting process under supervision of congressionally mandated independent commissions; restructure Federal Election Commission from current bipartisan requirement to majority-party control; permit members of Congress to draw salary from campaign funds in addition to official compensation; and findings to support statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Effectively, enactment of HR1 would institutionalize on a nationwide basis controversial registration and voting procedures hastily enacted in 2020 in response to the CCP virus pandemic that prompted many of the allegations of voter fraud in the presidential election. No Bipartisanship The House Administration Committee has jurisdiction over federal election issues, so HR1s first hurdle is getting the panels approval. That means ranking minority member Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) will have an opportunity to oppose the proposal, as he did in 2019. HR 1 takes the worst of what we saw during the 2020 election cycle and forces every state to implement changes that erode the integrity of our elections, Davis told The Epoch Times. It forces aspects of Californias disastrous voting system onto every state it would make many of the changes states made in the name of COVID-19 permanent. Election reform ought to be bipartisan, he said, but Davis noted that Democrats on the House floor rejected every Republican amendment, and I fear theyre gearing up to do the same this Congress, although their margins are much smaller now. A spokesman for Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the administration panels chairwoman, didnt immediately respond when The Epoch Times asked if she supports making it impossible for the public to obtain voter registration records for noncitizens. Silencing Conservative election-integrity experts interviewed by The Epoch Times are rallying resources to oppose HR1 because, as explained by Heritage Action for America Executive Director Jessica Anderson, this is not just the COVID convenience laws of state elections in 2020, this is so much further than that. I mean, it even allows politicians to take a salary from their campaigns; this is way past the stuff of reason. Anderson believes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) could seek to bring the proposal to the full House for a vote as early as next week. Given the narrow Democratic majority in the House, Anderson believes the key factor to watch is 20 to 25 moderate Democrats in red congressional districts carried by Trump in 2020. What do those 20, 25 Democrats in red districts do? What do Abigail Spanberger and Ron Kind and Lauren Underwood, Chris Pappas, Sean Maloney in New York, Colin Aldred in Texas, what do they do? Do they allow Pelosi to jam this very aggressive agenda through under the guise of election law and voting rights, or do they start looking at the bill piecemeal and start arguing among themselves about whether this is the right way to go forward; will it agitate and be explosive to their bases in their districts? Whenever the vote on HR1 is taken, the stakes will be high, according to True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht, who told The Epoch Times, This proposal is an attack on American liberties, and regardless of your party affiliation, this is the elites versus the people and the silencing of the American citizenry in a way that, when you get inside the text of this bill, is shocking. Contact Mark Tapscott at Mark.Tapscott@epochtimes.nyc On the occasion of the 176th anniversary of the first arrival of Indian immigrant labourers to these shores, I intend to comment briefly, through a couple of letters to the press, on the current status of Indo-Trinidadians after their presence here for over a century and a half. They may be regarded as ethnic-focused, divisive and contentious, or may be deemed irrelevant and inconsequential in these times. Subscriber content preview By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Three years ago, filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West got a dream Sundance debut. They premiered their film RBG to a sold-out crowd with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg not only in attendance but seeing it for the first time. There was a standing ovation, a bidding war and a big sale. It also went on to be a major awards contender. It's the kind of Sundance experience most filmmakers fantasize about. This year they're returning to the festival with their follow-up, My Name is Pauli Murray about the somewhat obscure legal trailblazer, and while their excitement remains high, the festival itself will be quite different. Like so many in the past year, Sundance has had to reinvent itself as a mostly virtual experience. . . . Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-26 03:39:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian moves for the Palestinian-Israeli talks may push the stalled Middle East peace process, as Egypt has been trying to end Palestinian internal division and mobilize international and regional efforts to revive the process, experts said. On Jan. 18, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II agreed during a meeting in Jordan's capital of Amman to revive the negotiation path for the Palestinian issue. Sisi stressed that Egypt will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the Palestinian people restore their legitimate rights and establish their independent state as per international legitimacy. Earlier this month, Egypt also hosted a quartet meeting of foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, France, and Germany, during which they discussed ways to revive peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Sisi stressed at the meeting that the settlement of the Palestinian issue would change the reality and situation of the entire region for the better. "Egypt is exerting great efforts to push the Palestinian-Israeli peace process forward in order to overcome the current stalemate and the challenges that contributed to increasing frustration among the Palestinians," Akram Hossam, an expert with the Cairo-based Tahrir Center for Political and Strategic Studies and Research, told Xinhua. He noted that the Egyptian diplomacy is encouraging all parties to return to the negotiation table, pointing out that Cairo is currently mobilizing broad international support for this approach. Hossam explained that the strategic goal of the Egyptian efforts is to relaunch direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations in order to ensure that all common issues will be directly tackled. He said this would lead to reaching understandings and agreements that satisfy all parties in accordance with relevant international resolutions. The expert noted that the Palestinian issue has gone through many difficulties at all levels, specifically during the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. "Trump's administration lost its credibility and role as a peace mediator due to its unilateral decisions against the Palestinians and bias towards Israel," Hossam said. Meanwhile, Abdel Mohdy Motawe, a researcher with the Cairo-based Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies and National Security, said Egypt's role regarding the Palestinian cause did not change for decades despite all the regional changes and challenges. He believed that Trump's election defeat has paved the way for Egypt to regain its pivotal regional role. "Egypt also played a great role to achieve Palestinian reconciliation ... Cairo has succeeded to convince Hamas group to agree on holding general elections later this year to heal years-long internal split," Motawe added. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been stalled since 2014, after rounds of U.S.-sponsored talks ended without any breakthrough. Enditem Cyber Situational Awareness firm, Vehere, announced the appointment of Vipul Kumra as Director Systems Engineering, in charge of Global Operations. He will support the companys growth and expansion plans in the region as an Executive Leadership team member. Commenting on the appointment, Praveen Jaiswal, Founder, and Director, Vehere said Were very excited to have Vipul on board as the Director for System Engineering. His strong technical skills and diverse background in IT security software will provide our System Engineering team unique perspectives. Vipul will help us enable and execute our regional vision, while ensuring cohesive and successful relationships with sales, customers, partners and product teams. With over 20-years in the IT sector, Vipul has worked as a pre-sales leader focused on creating and building high-performance teams with specialization in IOT Security, NAC, Advance Persistent Threats and Identity and Access Management solutions. In his previous outfit, Vipul was heading Systems Engineering at Forescout for India and SAARC, where he was responsible for consulting, partner enablement, driving POCs, and leading the Systems Engineering teams. Prior to Forescout, he has had multiple stints with cyber security firms, such as FireEye as a Systems Engineering Leader for APAC & Japan, and CA Technologies as a Principal Technology Consultant. His new role at Vehere entails spearheading the team that provides pre-sales support and consulting, technical guidance and assistance to customers and Veheres channel partners. Speaking on his new role, Vipul Kumra said, I was inspired by Veheres commitment to build state of the art solutions to tackle complex and sophisticated modern cyber- attacks. Backed by a decade of National Security experience, Veheres solution deliver unparalleled Situational Awareness and it is a great opportunity for me to be a part of this team, driving the next stage of growth. Amidst the changing cybersecurity landscape, Veheres real-time Cyber Situational Awareness solutions and domain expertise in National Security have delivered the most advanced capabilities for increased network visibility and amplified situational awareness to enterprises and governments. By strengthening their Executive Leadership team, the company plans to expand its reach. TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global specialty minerals and specialty chemicals company, today announced it has been included in Bloomberg's 2021 Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly listed companies and increases the breadth of environmental, social, governance (ESG) data available to investors. It also allows investors to assess company performance and compare across industry peer groups. "We're pleased to be one of the 380 companies included in Bloomberg's 2021 Gender-Equality Index," said Ilana Fahima, ICL's Chief People Officer. "As a company, ICL strives to promote equality at all of our facilities worldwide. We are also committed to ongoing transparency and to developing a diverse and inclusive workforce." "The companies included in the 2021 GEI are expanding the ESG data universe to include gender-related data investors are demanding today," said Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg. "Their commitment to disclosure is making the business case for inclusion and driving transparency in the markets." About ICL ICL Group LTD is a leading global specialty minerals and chemicals company that creates impactful solutions for humanity's sustainability challenges in global food, agriculture, and industrial markets. ICL leverages its unique bromine, potash and phosphate resources, its passionate team of talented employees, and its strong focus on R&D and technological innovation to drive growth across its end markets. ICL shares are dually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs over 11,000 people worldwide, and its 2019 revenues totaled approximately $5.3 billion. For more information, visit ICL's website at www.icl-group.com. To access ICL's interactive Corporate Social Responsibility report, please click here. You can also learn more about ICL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS PRESS CONTACT Peggy Reilly Tharp Dudi Musler Or-li Kasuto Madmon VP, Global Investor Relations Director, Investor Relations Scherf Communications +1-314-369-3883 +972-3-684-4448 +972-52-4447750 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE ICL Related Links http://www.icl-group.com About those wooly mittens that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media? They've helped to raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders' home state of Vermont, the independent senator announced Wednesday. People wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus walk past a depiction of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) About those wooly mittens that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media? They've helped to raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders' home state of Vermont, the independent senator announced Wednesday. The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the Jan. 20 image of him sitting with his arms and legs crossed, clad in his brown parka and recycled wool mittens. Senator Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., attends President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration ceremony, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP) Sanders put the first of the so-called "Chairman Sanders merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers, on his website Thursday night and the first run sold out in less than 30 minutes, he said. More merchandise was added over the weekend and sold out by Monday morning, he said. Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and were glad we can use my internet fame to help Vermonters in need, Sanders said in a written statement. But even this amount of money is no substitute for action by Congress, and I will be doing everything I can in Washington to make sure working people in Vermont and across the country get the relief they need in the middle of the worst crisis weve faced since the Great Depression. Sanders mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a Vermont elementary school teacher who has a side business making mittens out of recycled wool. His inauguration look, also featuring the winter jacket made by Burton Snowboards, sparked countless memes from the photo taken by Agence France-Presse: The former presidential candidate could be found on social media timelines taking a seat on the subway, the moon and the couch with the cast of Friends," among other creative locales. Tobey King speaks to her crochet Bernie Sanders doll as the bidding continues on eBay on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The doll sold for $20,300, and all of the proceeds are being donated to Meals on Wheels. (Billy Calzada/The San Antonio Express-News via AP) Ellis said on social media over the weekend that Sanders called to tell her that the mitten frenzy" had raised an enormous amount of money for Vermont charities although she was not authorized to disclose the amount, yet. But its BIG and its amazing! Thank you!! Generosity brings joy," she tweeted. She also said she made three more pairs of mittens and donated them for fundraising to Passion 4 Paws Vermont, Outright Vermont, and would be auctioning off a pair on eBay for her daughters college fund. The groups that will benefit from the proceeds of the Chairman Sanders items include area agencies on aging to fund Meals on Wheels throughout Vermont, Vermont community action agencies, Feeding Chittenden, Vermont Parent Child Network, The Chill Foundation, senior centres in Vermont and Bistate Primary Care for dental care improvements in the state, Sanders' office said. Sander' attire has also sparked other charitable endeavours. A crocheted doll of Sanders in his garb was auctioned off online and Burton Snowboards donated 50 jackets to the Burlington Department for Children and Families in Sanders' name, his office said. Getty Images will donate its proceeds as part of the licensing agreement to put the photo on T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers to Meals on Wheels of America, Sanders' office said. An email was sent to Getty seeking comment. Theres renewed interest in solving Americas student loan crisis, and two strategies are emerging as possible front-runners now that Joe Biden has become president. One is simply canceling debt Biden has proposed allowing student borrowers to cancel up to $10,000 in what they owe. He has also campaigned on a call to make it easier for college loan debtors to get out of the squeeze by declaring bankruptcy. There is no doubt that the numbers are staggering 44 million people owe $1.7 trillion in total debt, with $1.5 trillion of that in federal student loans. Bidens forgiveness plan would not wipe out all debt. Graduates who borrowed for bachelors degrees in 2018, for instance, left campus owing an average of $29,000 just in federal debt, according to the College Board. Still, conservative critics point to the sheer cost of tackling the debt problem. Even while Democratic leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) fault Bidens plan for not being generous enough, writing off $10,000 per debtor could cost taxpayers $400 billion. Thats about half of the Department of Defenses budget for a year. Another conservative argument against debt cancellation is a well-weathered philosophical one that to do it would be to create a moral hazard, incentivizing consumers to fail to pay up because they know someone else will. And some critics says a blanket forgiveness program would be far too scattershot rewarding plenty of well-off people who can afford paying for their childrens college degrees. While the price tag for writing off college debt is massive, it would drop considerably to $160 billion if the help was limited to economically distressed borrowers, said student loan expert Mark Kantrowitz. Scholar Jalil Mustaffa Bishop, a lecturer in education at the University of Pennsylvania, readily acknowledges that canceling student loan debt indiscriminately wont close the large wealth gap that exists among the races. Even so, Bishop, both an activist and educator, says the social impact would be so beneficial that the U.S. should do it anyway. However, he recommends that the full debt be wiped out, a figure much higher even than the $50,000 that Warren and a powerful fellow Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, have proposed. In an NAACP report he cowrote earlier this year, Bishop and his coauthors found that debt cancellation for Black borrowers is especially needed simply because they hold the most student loan debt. Warren has updated her proposed figure to $75,000 from $50,000 based on research that would translate to cancellation for 80% of Black borrowers. I disagree with both numbers because means-testing has been tried repeatedly in student loan policy and failed, Bishop said. Of a control group of debtors cited in the report, 49% of Black borrowed owed college loans in excess of $30,000 apiece. Only 29% of white borrowers held that much debt. Black people had to borrow student loans with a weaker economic base, use them to attend underfunded colleges and universities, and struggle to repay them in an underpaying and under-employing labor market, the report found. Bankruptcy options In 2001, then-U.S. Sen. Biden (D., Delaware), long representing a center of corporate and financial power, had this to say about bankruptcy: Unnecessary and abusive bankruptcy hurts everyone. This costs every single American consumer.' In 2005, he was one of only a few Democratic senators to join Republicans to vote for a bill that critics say threw up major roadblocks up so debtors could not discharge write off college loans. Biden has said he got involved to moderate more onerous parts of the legislative package. Still, today theres a very harsh standard, preventing most student loan borrowers from discharging their student loans in bankruptcy, Kantrowitz said. In his successful campaign, however, Biden told voters he would repeal the part of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code that prohibits such discharges. Kantrowitz argues that would be a less expensive step than providing money for forgiveness. Bankruptcy discharge of student loans would cost about $20 billion in the first year, then less than $1 billion per year for another decade, for a total of $30 billion. This is one of the least expensive and most well-targeted proposals, Kantrowitz maintained. How would bankruptcy work? Villanova Law professor Jason Iuliano agrees that changing bankruptcy rules would be a cheaper move. Besides, he said wiping out student debt would be unfair to people who refinanced their debt to get lower rates but kept up on payments. They took out federal loans and refinanced with private loans, he said. Cancellation penalizes people who made sound financial decisions. Its a onetime measure, he adds, and doesnt solve future problems or address the crippling cost of college tuition. He also argues that the bankruptcy rules are not as harsh as many critics say. Well over half the people who petition the courts to get out of paying their loans prevail, said Iuliano, who started a business on this premise, called Lexria. The company matches borrowers with attorneys who will pursue their claims. If customers dont get relief through a discharge or settlement, Lexria reimburses their legal fees. Student loan creditors are now participating in what are called strategic settlements with their borrowers, he said. Student loan debtors are winning the vast majority of adversary proceedings both in these confidential negotiations or in court. The myth of non-dischargeability is to blame for the student loan crisis, Iuliano said. Because few people realize that student loans are dischargeable, everyone has focused their efforts on congressional reforms. Given partisan gridlock, such reform is unlikely, he contends. These efforts have distracted everyone from the solution that already exists: bankruptcy. Dozens of tourists including Brits and Americans have been arrested as police in Thailand raided a bar flouting coronavirus rules. Police on the island of Koh Phangan arrested 89 tourists at 22 Thais after storming the Three Sixty Bar on Tuesday night. Among the locals arrests was the bar's owner and another who sold drinks there, according to police Col. Suparerk Pankosol, superintendent of the provincial immigration office. He said the gathering was illegal under a national state of emergency declared last March to combat the coronavirus. Police on the island of Koh Phangan raided the Three Sixty Bar on Tuesday night and discovered more than 100 people inside, including tourists from Britain, the US, Denmark and Switzerland Thailand is currently has barred virtually all tourists from entering the country since April, with an emergency decree banning people from attending public gatherings and entering high risk areas. Those arrested were from more than 10 countries, including the U.S., Britain, Switzerland and Denmark, Suparerk said. Photos of the raid distributed by police showed a dark, crowded room with casually dressed partygoers, almost all wearing face masks. Koh Phangan in Surat Thani province is a popular destination for young backpacking travelers and is known especially for its all-night Full Moon beach parties. However, Thailand has barred virtually all tourists from entering the country since last April. There have been 29 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Surat Thani out of a national total of 15,465. Local police say they arrested 22 locals, including the bar's owner and another person who ws selling drinks. Emergency Covid legislation in Thailand bans people from public gatherings However, 11 of the 29 cases have been found in the last month as Thailand experienced a resurgence of the disease. The penalty for violating the state of emergency is up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to 40,000 baht ($1,330). The bar owner and worker could also be charged with violating the Communicable Disease Act, punishable by a one-year prison term and a fine of up to 100,000 baht ($3,330). Suparerk said the arrested people were being held at the Koh Phangan police station, where investigators were preparing documents to charge them. He said police had tracked the party plans on social media, where the bar was promoting the event to celebrate its fifth anniversary. Entry tickets were 100 baht ($3.30), with food and drink extra. Man to Plead Guilty in Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor DETROITOne of six men charged in an alleged plot to snatch Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has agreed to plead guilty to a kidnapping conspiracy, according to a court document filed Wednesday. The filing was made by prosecutors ahead of Ty Garbins appearance in federal court in Grand Rapids. The plea agreement signed by Garbin indicates that he will fully cooperate with investigators. There is no agreement on his sentencing guidelines. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap the Democratic governor by anti-government extremists upset over her coronavirus restrictions. Six people were charged in federal court while eight others were charged in state court with aiding the alleged scheme. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer speaks during a drive-in campaign rally with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama at Belle Isle in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 31, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) In the plea agreement, Garbin admitted to more than five pages of stunning allegations. He said he and others trained with weapons in Munith, Michigan, and Cambria, Wisconsin, last summer and discussed the plan to storm the Capitol and kidnap the governor. The plot, he said, switched to a summer home on Mackinac Island reserved for Michigan governors or Whitmers second home in Antrim County. Garbin said he advocated waiting until after the national election, when the conspirators expected widespread civil unrest to make it easier for them to operate. In September, the six men trained at Garbins property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a shoot house to resemble Whitmers vacation home and assaulting it with firearms. Last fall, defense attorney Mark Satawa said Garbin had no intention to carry out a kidnapping, no matter what he might have said in recorded or online conversations. A big talk defense had emerged as a strategy. Saying things like, I hate the governor, the governor is tyrannical is not illegal, even if youre holding a gun and running around the woods when you do it, Satawa said in October. Garbins guilty plea would be a swift resolution for prosecutors, only about four months after the arrests. The other defendants are Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, and Brandon Caserta. A trial has been scheduled for March 23. By Ed White New Zealand's borders will remain closed for most of this year amid uncertainty over the rollout of coronavirus vaccines, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. We can expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year, she said. We will continue to pursue travel bubbles with Australia and the Pacific, but the rest of the world simply poses too great a risk at this stage. New Zealands success in combating the virus has allowed it to lift restrictions and get its economy moving again much sooner than initially expected, but the closed border is decimating its tourism industry. While the government said it expects to give regulatory approval for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine next week, Ms Ardern said mass immunisation will not begin until mid-year and she was taking a conservative approach to letting foreigners in again. For travel to restart, we need one of two things, she said. We need the confidence that being vaccinated means you dont pass covid-19 on to others or we need enough of our population to be vaccinated and protected that people can safely re-enter New Zealand. Both possibilities will take some time. Ms Ardern sounded pessimistic on the possibility of a safe travel zone with Australia any time soon. While talks would continue, it does look increasingly difficult at a country-by-country level. Read More Australia began allowing quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders last year, but suspended it this week when New Zealand reported one case of covid-19 in the community. Ms Ardern expressed disappointment at Australias decision. The case involving a woman who tested positive after leaving managed isolation is well under control, she said. If we are to enter into a Trans-Tasman bubble, we will need to be able to give people confidence that we wont see closures at the borders that happen with very short notice over incidents we believe can be well managed domestically, Ms Ardern added. New Zealand aims to begin immunising workers at its managed isolation facilities this quarter, but Ms Ardern was unable to say when the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the country. It is expected to get to New Zealand around the same time as it reaches Australia, which is slated for mid-to-late February. New Zealand will have its house in order so we will be ready to receive, but ultimately we will be in the hands of pharmaceutical companies delivery timelines, Ms Ardern said. "We knew that a superior foodservice program was going to be vital to our customer base and Naughty Chile Taqueria's menu fit perfectly," said Deep Singh, owner of the franchised TA location. "Naughty Chile's high-quality Mexican food covers all dayparts, so already we have 'regulars' the customers who come back often." The TA foodservice staff serves made-to-order burritos, tacos, quesadillas and nachos at the Naughty Chile Taqueria. Using its components for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, the menu capitalizes on consumers' increasing demand for fresh, delicious Mexican foods. Foil-wrapped burritos also are served from the hot merchandising unit for quick pick-up by travelers on the go. The new location fills a 10-year void in Oregon along I-84 between Bend and Ontario. "It was heartwarming to see such support for the new store on opening day," said Jane Hartgrove, la presidenta of Naughty Chile Taqueria. "The enthusiasm of both travelers and locals was overwhelming. It seems they have been starving for good, authentic Mexican food." Along with Naughty Chile's great tasting menu, Singh was drawn to its exceptional service. "From the ground up, Naughty Chile was there every step of the way, and I feel that they are committed to flexible platforms which make our store a success." The TA Travel Center location is the newest Naughty Chile Taqueria in the region. Its licensed concepts also are at convenience stores nearby in the Idaho towns Nampa, Caldwell, Grandview, Cascade and Kuna. About Naughty Chile Taqueria Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, Naughty Chile Taqueria is a licensed Mexican food concept scalable to any size convenience retail location. With a low labor model and easy-to-execute operations, Naughty Chile's flexible platform has a three daypart menu featuring authentic street tacos, burritos, bowls, quesadillas and nachos prepared with bolder recipes using fresh, high-quality ingredients. Consumers can find Naughty Chile Taquerias throughout the U.S. including Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Kansas, Oklahoma, Washington, North Carolina, Texas and Florida. For more information please visit www.naughtychile.com. Media Contact: Libby Stauffer [email protected] SOURCE Naughty Chile Taqueria EDWARDSVILLE A Southern Illinois University Edwardsville nursing student died after being shot near campus. Moneer Damra, of Chicago, died at Barnes Jewish Medical Center in St. Louis Wednesday morning. The 26-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries in a random act of gun violence off-campus on Jan. 14. Damra was transported to a regional hospital after the shooting occurred on the ramp from Illinois Route 157 to Interstate 270 in Glen Carbon Thursday. Two suspects have been charged in the shooting incident. A GoFundMe page was set up by the SIUE Army ROTC Club to support the ROTC cadet at SIUE. READ: SIUE Army ROTC rally around fellow cadet after shooting Our thoughts and prayers are with Moneer Damras family and friends as they attempt to deal with this inexplicable tragedy, said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. From all that I know, Moneer was filled with so much potential, had such a big heart and made a positive impact on everyone around him. It is absolutely heartbreaking. A member of the SIUE ROTC program, Damras goal was to become an Army nurse. Our thoughts and prayers are with Moneer Damras family and friends as they attempt to deal with this inexplicable tragedy, said SIUE Chancellor Randy Pembrook. From all that I know, Moneer was filled with so much potential, had such a big heart and made a positive impact on everyone around him. It is absolutely heartbreaking. Friends and fellow students have described Damra as a beautiful soul, compassionate, a good motivator, and a friend they could count on for encouragement and positivity. Lt. Col. Timothy Clark, SIUE ROTC professor of military science, said Damra possessed the uncommon balance of compassion and drive. He would fiercely compete against his previous best effort, and against you, but he would also encourage you, Clark said. He was absolutely committed to his friends and would do anything for them or with them. Moneer didnt just make you want to be better; somehow he actually made you better. When a person brings that culture to a group, its a beautiful thing to see. Those of us a little older and jaded sometimes embrace the falsehood that one person cant make a difference, but Moneer disproved that daily. All that matters to us is you are dependable, show up and do your best. He did his best day-in, day-out and eventually was recognized as one of our best. Details about funeral arrangements and an SIUE memorial service will be communicated as they become available. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning New Delhi, Jan 27 : Taking over the reins of the parliament canteen and ending the 52-year legacy of Northern Railways, the ITDC will serve food cooked by expert chefs of the five-star Ashok Hotel to the MPs and others from the upcoming Budget Session. The vegetarian platter one enjoys in Ashok Hotel will be manifold cheaper in the Parliament canteen. The cost will be Rs 100 for "kadai paneer, mix veg dry, bhaji, dal sultani, peas pulao, chapati, green salad, cucumber mint raita, papad and kala jamun." The mini thali will cost Rs 50 which carries "mix veg dry, bhaji, dal sultani, jeera pulao, chapati, green salad, cucumber mint raita and papad." The new menu will be from today (Wednesday). There is another menu named 'A la carte' in which there is a list of 13 items comprising six kinds of snacks for morning and evening, and seven kinds of meals with a veg thali and a mini thali. The snacks include upma with chutney (for morning) for Rs 25, paneer pakoda (for evening) for Rs 50, veg pakora (for evening) Rs 50, kachori at Rs 15, samosa for Rs 10 and tea for Rs 5. Other items include poori bhaji (for lunch) costing Rs 50, kadai paneer priced at Rs 60, chapati Rs 3, khichdi Rs 50 and green salad. The Northern Railways handed over the responsibility for the canteen to the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) on November 15. The ITDC is the government's tourism arm which runs the luxury five-star Ashok Group of hotels. It ended the 52-year monopoly of serving food to the Parliamentarians by Northern Railways which had been running the canteen since 1968. The operations of the catering units in Parliament House Estate (Parliament House, Parliament House Annexe and Parliament Library Building and outside PHE providing services to dignitaries has been taken over by the ITDC since November 15 last year. This will be the first session of Parliament when ITDC will serve food cooked by its expert chefs in the Ashok Hotel. The Budget Session will commence with the President's Address on January 29 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 1. The session will conclude on April 8 with a recess in between from February 15 to March 8. The Rajya Sabha will sit from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the Lok Sabha from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Zero Hour and Question Hour will also be there. The process to find a new vendor began in 2019 and in July last year, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla met Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel and officials of the ITDC to discuss the issue. Officials at ITDC said they have been instructed to keep special focus on the quality of food which should suit both the common people as well as the dignitaries. At present, the canteen serves around 5,000 people during every session. It has a total of 48 food items on its menu for lunch and evening snacks. While matters related to the catering arrangements in the Parliament House Complex are typically decided by a joint committee on food management, in the 17th Lok Sabha, however, the food committee has not been constituted. The final decision was taken by Speaker Birla, who has taken personal interest in ensuring that better quality food is served in the canteen. All the subsidies in the Parliament canteen have been ended from this session, saving approximately Rs 17 crore to Parliament. (Rajnish Singh can be contacted at rajnish.s@ians.in) It was the end of April just as the U.S. confirmed its millionth covid-19 case and 50,000 deaths when White House adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci announced "highly significant" news about a drug called remdesivir. That was surprising because the antiviral drug, owned by Gilead Sciences and developed with investment from the federal government, had languished for years with no apparent commercial use. It had struck out as a treatment for hepatitis C and Ebola. But early in 2020, when the first global cases of a new pneumonia-like viral illness emerged in China, Gilead resurfaced the compound, branded as Veklury, and shared it with scientists across the globe. From the Oval Office, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said remdesivir would be the "standard of care" for treating coronavirus disease. Its emergency-use approval by the Food and Drug Administration immediately drew a storm of criticism. Clinical trials suggested it was only modestly helpful to covid patients. The World Health Organization recommended against its use. Politicians railed at its $3,120 price tag. Yet, nine months later, it appears Fauci was right: As U.S. infections climb above 24 million, doctors with no other FDA-approved treatment options are now prescribing remdesivir to half the covid patients in U.S. hospitals. "We want to shorten their hospital stay," said Dr. Jade Le, an infectious diseases specialist with Access Physicians in Texas, where hospitals have been at capacity for weeks. Le prescribes remdesivir on average three to five times a day, always in concert with a low-cost steroid. This month, Gilead chief executive Daniel O'Day raised the company's profit estimates, noting that remdesivir alone would deliver about $2.8 billion in 2020 sales, bolstered by its use in U.S. and European markets. The company is proud of the role the treatment is playing during the pandemic, he said. Still, controversies abound. Tension mounted last summer as shortages of remdesivir taxed the global medical community and raised urgent questions about how the federal government could step in. While doctors rationed the drug, politicians and advocates said U.S. taxpayers had invested enough in remdesivir's development to merit a lower price. "The remdesivir story is actually a story that is all too common," said Zain Rizvi, law and policy researcher at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. Rizvi and other advocates say the drug would not have come to market if it wasn't for federal grants and the help of U.S. scientists. They said the rags-to-riches story of remdesivir, a losing prospect turned blockbuster, holds lessons in how Americans end up paying more for medicine than anyone else in the world. Remdesivir used taxpayer dollars to be developed but, in a public health emergency, patients have no option but to pay whatever the pharmaceutical giant demands. Rizvi has estimated that federal grants of "at least" $70 million supported the scientific discovery of remdesivir. He pointed to early research done, including a collaboration between Gilead and university scientists, using federal grants, to test remdesivir's antiviral compounds against coronaviruses, such as MERS and SARS. Others figure the investment could be much higher. Kathryn Ardizzone, legal counsel for the patent rights group Knowledge Ecology International, is among those, though she agreed the amount is at least $70 million and declined to estimate the total amount of federal dollars used for remdesivir's discovery. There is no publicly available database of how much the government has spent to develop any drug, including remdesivir. The NIH said in an emailed statement that it "did not develop remdesivir." The agency confirmed it funded research on the drug's uses as well as providing money to institutions that worked with Gilead to develop the drug. KEI filed a Freedom of Information Act request to view the grants and clinical trials related to remdesivir. In October, the group sued the National Institutes of Health because it had failed to respond. Ardizzone said she expects the records will counter Gilead's justification of remdesivir's price: "When the government has played such a critical role at every step of the way, that argument falls apart." Gilead, in an emailed statement, said its investment in the drug predates any government involvement and "disagrees with the premise that the government has any rights to Gilead's remdesivir intellectual property." No federal scientists are named on remdesivir's patents. The company has defended the price of the drug, saying it invested more than $1 billion in 2020 to support clinical trials as well as to manufacture and distribute remdesivir. Gilead priced it at $3,120 for a five-day course of treatment in the U.S. market, and $2,340 for other developed countries. Some smaller U.S. government entities, like the Indian Health Service, pay the lower price as well. Noting the price for developed countries, Gilead spokesperson Arran Attridge said the drug is priced "significantly below the potential value" it delivers. But U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, a top-ranking Democrat from Oregon on the Senate Finance Committee, said he has been concerned about Gilead's price for a five-day course of treatment since it was announced. "My previous investigative work has shown Gilead's willingness to put profits over patients," Wyden said. Wyden, along with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), released an investigation in 2015 of Gilead's hepatitis C drug prices and marketing. At its core, remdesivir is a simple, "small molecule" drug. Generics manufacturers in India have copied the design and priced it at $53.34 per vial, or $320 for a course of treatment. The U.S. government, so far, has not exerted its intellectual property rights. But there are signals that could change. In late summer, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra led a group of more than 30 attorneys general calling for the federal government to license remdesivir to another manufacturer, such as a lower-cost provider from overseas. President Joe Biden nominated Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Another Biden pick, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, an infectious diseases specialist who has been tasked to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, co-authored a New York Times opinion piece suggesting that HHS could buy the drug from another company (including a generics maker overseas) and pay royalties to Gilead. This fall, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) held a news conference supporting the approach Walensky and others proposed. Neither maneuver, however, was meant as a lever to lower its price for patients, said Adam Mossoff, a law professor at George Mason University. Mossoff doubted that either of the strategies would hold up in court and noted there are plenty of congressional proposals to lower drug prices and sometimes "people get ahead of themselves." They try to use the law to advocate for what should be a policy goal, he said. Underlying Becerra's and Walensky's proposals is the deeper, nagging question of whether Gilead should fully own the rights to remdesivir if the U.S. funded research and its scientists worked with Gilead to discover the drug. Doggett put it this way: "Gilead is overcharging on a drug that was saved from the scrap heap of failed drugs only because of taxpayer-funded research." Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) have asked the government's federal watchdog agency, the Government Accountability Office, to investigate "what legal rights do federal agencies have" in relation to remdesivir. Gilead said it is cooperating with the investigation; government officials expect the review to be completed this spring. Gilead, in an emailed statement in response to a question about the GAO review, called the government's involvement "limited." In response to questions about the patents, Gilead said its own investments predate any government involvement and its inventors identified the drug's antiviral activity, optimized the formula and scaled up the manufacturing process. Gilead confirmed it has eight listed patents on remdesivir, with the last expiring in 2038. In the abstracts of two patents, filed in 2014 and 2015, the CDC and USAMRIID, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, are mentioned as places studies were conducted. Each patent emphasizes its focus on treating the Ebola virus and other filoviruses that cause fatal hemorrhagic fevers. Christopher Morten, deputy director of technology law and policy clinic at New York University School of Law, said those two patents should list government scientists as co-inventors. Referring to one patent (No. 9,724,360), Morten said its earliest filing was October 2014. "Which makes perfect sense, because the U.S. government collaboration started in 2013 with Ebola and the CDC," Morten said. While not attaching specific government investment dollars to its descriptions, Gilead confirms the collaboration, as well, saying it "worked with the U.S. government to confirm remdesivir's preclinical activity against Ebola." Morten, who previously represented pharmaceutical companies as a patent lawyer, said he believes the question of inventorship should be raised in court, using the legal tactic proposed by CDC chief Walenksy. Morten co-authored a white paper on remdesivir with the HIV advocacy group PrEP4All. Notably, PrEP4All also challenged Gilead's patents for the HIV drug Truvada. In 2019, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services sued Gilead over patent rights for Truvada. The case is ongoing. Back on the pandemic's front lines, U.S. doctors administer remdesivir even after the World Health Organization recommended against the drug in November. The WHO's recommendation, which referenced results from an international trial called Solidarity, found remdesivir did not improve a covid patient's chance of survival. The Food and Drug Administration gave remdesivir full regulatory approval in October, making it the only approved U.S. treatment for the deadly disease. Dr. Rajesh Gandhi, a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America's panel on covid-19 treatment guidelines, pointed to another clinical trial of more than 1,000 hospitalized patients run by the National Institutes of Health. The trial, called ACTT-1, showed hospital stays of about 10 days for those who received remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who did not, he said. "Many of us believe remdesivir has a role," Gandhi said, "though we wish it had a greater effect." He noted that the trial showed one group of patients saw the biggest benefit: those who need supplemental oxygen but are not yet on a ventilator. It's clear, he said, "we need better drugs than remdesivir." Remdesivir along with a steroid was enough for Shirley Lewis. The 69-year-old Florida resident said she was sick for about a week when she found herself unable to breathe and went to the hospital. "I'm telling you, I was like half-dead and half-alive all I could do was pray," Lewis said. Doctors put her on supplemental oxygen and began IV bags of remdesivir paired with steroids. Lewis said she felt the difference right away. "I said, Oh, thank God," Lewis recalled about a month after being released from the hospital. "I thought it was some kind of miracle, I really did. So don't let them say it doesn't work, because it did." [January 27, 2021] Expanding Printing Capabilities Within Higher Education: Canon Solutions America, Inc., Announces New Relationship with The University of California MELVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aligning with its commitment to supporting higher education, Canon Solutions America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., is proud to announce its new cooperative contract with the University of California. Through the company's diverse portfolio of document solutions and services offerings designed to support students and teachers both inside and outside of the classroom, Canon Solutions America, Inc., plans to help the University of California deliver innovative solutions, creativity on multiple levels, and a long-term view that anticipates challenges and meets them head-on. In effect as of December 16, 2020, the cooperative agreement, available nationwide through OMNIA Partners, is valid for a period of five years with five one-year renewal options. "OMNIA Partners is proud to offer another valuable solution from Canon Solutions America to our participating colleges, K-12 schools and government agencies," said Allan McCombs, senior vice president of Public Sector Sales at OMNIA Partners. "We have enjoyed a longstanding partnership with Canon Solutions America and are excited to continue that partnership with a unique Print Goods and Services offering that the University of California has awarded for use by our participants nationwide." The new contract is designed to provide the University of California with reliable equipment across campus and other locations to help students, faculty and staff create and handle documents more efficiently. In addition, the contract provides both organizations the flexibility to choose additional components and applications as required, helping t eliminate the need to go back out for a public solicitation. Through OMNIA Partners, this agreement is available to public agencies nationwide to allow them to also realize time and resources savings. "With our years of experience supporting the higher education market, we look forward to helping the University of California evolve to meet new and existing challenges and bring genuine value-added collaborations to its campus environment," said Peter P. Kowalczuk, president, Canon Solutions America, Inc. "In combination with our fleet management tools, comprehensive reporting, and smart technology, we believe our entire portfolio can help the University of California System's digital transformation goals and efforts." The extensive University of California system features 10 campuses, five medical centers, three national laboratories, and one law school across the state, and includes more than 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty and staff. For more information on Canon Solutions America, Inc.'s new relationship with University of California, please visit csa.canon.com/UCsystem. About OMNIA Partners OMNIA Partners, Public Sector is the nation's largest and most experienced cooperative purchasing organization dedicated to public sector procurement. Our immense purchasing power and industry-leading suppliers have produced a comprehensive portfolio of cooperative contracts and partnerships, making OMNIA Partners the most valued and trusted resource for organizations nationwide. Visit https://public.omniapartners.com/contracts/university-of-california for more information about our strategic sourcing partnership with the University of California and all of the agreements in our comprehensive portfolio. About Canon Solutions America, Inc. Canon Solutions America, Inc. provides industry leading enterprise, production, and large format printing solutions, supported by exceptional professional service offerings. Canon Solutions America, Inc. helps companies of all sizes discover ways to improve sustainability, increase efficiency, and control costs in conjunction with high volume, continuous feed, digital and traditional printing, and document management solutions. A wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., Canon Solutions America, Inc. is headquartered in Melville, NY and has sales and service locations across the U.S. For more information on Canon Solutions America, please visit csa.canon.com . Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. All other referenced product names and marks are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. 2021 Canon Solutions America, Inc. All rights reserved. Canon Solutions America, Inc. Website: csa.canon.com For sales info/customer support: 1-844-443-INFO (4636) View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/expanding-printing-capabilities-within-higher-education-canon-solutions-america-inc-announces-new-relationship-with-the-university-of-california-301216449.html SOURCE Canon Solutions America [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A businesswoman has been awarded $280,000 after the Federal Court found she was defamed by a sustained campaign of offensive mockery that amounted to bullying in a series of columns in The Australian Financial Review. Elaine Stead, the former managing director of venture capital at the now-defunct Blue Sky Alternative Investments, sued the newspaper and Rear Window columnist Joe Aston over two columns from 2019, one of which referred to her as a feminist cretin. Businesswoman Elaine Stead leaves the Federal Court last year. Credit:Dean Sewell Last year, Justice Michael Lee found the columns conveyed a total of four defamatory imputations, including that Dr Stead was a cretin and rashly destroyed the capital of business ventures with which she was associated. Dr Stead had also sued over a tweet by Aston in October 2019. However, Justice Lee previously ruled it did not convey the defamatory meaning alleged by Dr Steads lawyers. The Associated Press New results extend hopes for drugs that supply antibodies to fight COVID-19, suggesting they can help keep patients out of the hospital and possibly prevent illness in some uninfected people. Eli Lilly said Tuesday that a two-antibody combo reduced the risk of hospitalizations or death by 70 percent in newly diagnosed, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness because of age or other health conditions. All ten deaths that occurred in the study were among those receiving placebo rather than the antibodies. Separately, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said partial results from an ongoing study suggest its drug combo completely prevented symptomatic infections in housemates of someone with COVID-19. Importantly, the drug was given as multiple shots rather than through an IV. The need for an infusion has greatly limited the use of antibody drugs in the pandemic because of health care shortages. None of the new results have been published or reviewed by other scientists, and the Regeneron ones were based on only one quarter of patients in its study and were not a planned early analysis. Antibodies are proteins that attach to a virus and block it from infecting cells, but it takes several weeks after infection or vaccination for the most effective ones to form. The drugs aim to help right away, by supplying concentrated doses of one or two antibodies that worked best against the coronavirus in lab tests. US regulators have allowed emergency use of some Lilly and Regeneron antibodies for mild or moderate COVID-19 cases that do not require hospitalization while studies of them continued. The drugs are also being tested to prevent infection in those at high risk of it. Thats called passive vaccination because it supplies antibodies rather than prompts the body to make them. Both companies are asking regulators to expand authorization of their drugs based on the new findings. Regenerons results were on the first 409 people in a study that has enrolled more than 2,000 so far. All tested negative for the virus but live with someone who has COVID-19. There were roughly half as many infections among those given the drug versus a placebo, and none on the drug developed any symptoms. Infections also were shorter and the amount of virus lower among those given the drug. Lillys new results were from a study of 1,035 non-hospitalized patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19. About 2 percent on the drug were later hospitalized or died versus 7 percent of the placebo group. Last week, Lilly said one of the two antibodies helped prevent illness among residents and staff of nursing homes in a different study. The four deaths that occurred in that study were all among those given placebo. Also read: Eli Lilly claims its drug can prevent COVID-19 disease in nursing home residents Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae receives an award from the Heritage of Korean Independence, a group of independence fighters and their ancestors, at the group's building in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap By Do Je-hae The Heritage of Korean Independence's choice of Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae as the recipient of an award honoring a supporter of the independence movement against Japanese colonial rule has triggered controversy here. Choo received the Choi Jae Hyung Award from the group, comprised of independence fighters and their ancestors, during a ceremony, Monday, at the organization's office in Yeouido, Seoul. The award was created in 2018 to honor Choi (1860~1920), a businessman and independence activist in the late Joseon period who moved to Russia and used most of his assets to support Korea's interim government and activists like An Jung-geun. But a separate commemorative association for Choi has taken issue with the selection process to determine the recipient of the award. "It is a disgrace to Choi's honor to hand out the award without approval from our association and bereaved family members," Moon Young-sook, chief of the commemorative association, said in a statement. She visited the Heritage of Korean Independence Monday to protest the award, saying that the selection was politically biased. The Heritage of Korean Independence said that the award was given to Choo for the efforts the Ministry of Justice has made to collect assets of pro-Japanese collaborators while she was in office. Since she took office in January 2020, property worth of about 52 billion won held by pro-Japanese figures has been reverted to the state, according to the association. Choo is the third recipient of the award, after former lawmaker Kim Sang-hyun, and Yoo In-tae, former secretary-general of the National Assembly Secretariat. Choo, who offered her resignation last month, appeared at the award ceremony in person, defying speculations that she may not show up due to the resignation offer. She has been at the center of political controversy with her battle with Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl over judicial reform. "It is the duty of an official of the Moon Jae-in administration to be committed to justice," Choo said at the ceremony. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The Tanaiste is quietly confident a phased reopening of schools will begin next month, a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party has heard. Leo Varadkar told his TDs and Senators on Wednesday night of his belief that schools will be able to return on a phased basis beginning in February and continuing into March. Students with special education needs are first in line to return when schools eventually reopen. The Tanaiste also told his colleagues that the country may move to Level 4 restrictions on March 5, if the conditions allow for it. Restrictions have been extended to March 5th to get case numbers down and give ICUs more time to deal with the surge. Weare also introducing mandatory quarantine for international travel: pic.twitter.com/Soa76H2ymQ Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) January 26, 2021 Mr Varadkar said the country may go from Level 5 to Level 4, or Level 4 with modifications, similar to the manner in how the country emerged from the first wave last year, according to sources in the meeting. Mr Varadkar also told the meeting it was important to emphasise that following this weeks measures there is no silver bullet to eliminate Covid from Ireland. The Fine Gael leader said international travel accounts for 1% or less of Covid-19 cases in the country, but he would not rule out any new strategy to deal with the pandemic. He highlighted measures taken in 2020, including closing public houses and schools, which he said would not have been countenanced before, but action had to be taken. He told party members that when tackling coronavirus, a lot of humility is required. On Wednesday, the Taoiseach defended the Governments plan to reduce coronavirus cases after it introduced new restrictions on travel and extended the lockdown. We must ensure a prolonged suppression of the #COVID19 virus. When the case numbers get low, we will do what it takes to keep them low. In doing so, we will support the frontline workers heroically caring for our people in the face of this deadly virus. #HoldFirm MicheAl Martin (@MichealMartinTD) January 27, 2021 Micheal Martin said he will do whatever it takes to keep numbers down, telling the Dail there will be no half measures to ensure a prolonged suppression of Covid-19. The Government on Tuesday announced that Irelands third lockdown is to be extended until March 5, and also introduced tighter travel restrictions. The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. Travellers arriving without a negative test could also face a fine of 2,500 euro or a six-month prison sentence. Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America is suspended until at least March 5. All passengers entering the country will be subject to mandatory quarantine, a change from the policy of voluntary self-isolation. It will be a prolonged suppression of the virus. But the key measure is human behaviour, human behaviour is what stops the spread of the virus Micheal Martin Mr Martin said: I want to make a very clear that there will be no half-measures from me as Taoiseach, or from Government, in ensuring a prolonged suppression of this virus. We will do whatever it takes to keep the numbers down once we get the numbers down, and we are achieving that. He told the Dail that Ireland cannot allow daily cases to return to the levels of recent weeks. What we have now which we didnt have last year is the vaccination. The evidence base for the vaccines is they prevent mortality and they prevent illness, he added. I think that will give us choices towards mid-year when we will have significant numbers vaccinated. It will be a prolonged suppression of the virus. But the key measure is human behaviour, human behaviour is what stops the spread of the virus. Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government of introducing half-measures, and criticised the quarantine plans, saying all arrivals on the island should be forced to isolate for 14 days. What you announced not only goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense Mary Lou McDonald What we got is a Government that is clearly at sixes and sevens, with no idea of how to proceed beyond March 5, The Dublin Central TD said. A Government that yet again has failed to prepare, failed to consult and failed to plan. So instead of a real plan, you have presented half-measures that simply dont go far enough. At your press conference, contradiction and confusion between ministers was rife and clarity and certainty was in very scarce supply. This absence of urgency, of leadership and plain common sense, quite frankly, has caused huge alarm for many people. The biggest mess from your announcement yesterday is undoubtedly your proposal on international travel, because what you announced not only goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense. Its not a system of mandatory quarantine. It is in fact one of voluntary self-isolation and you propose to send people back to homes and other accommodation with other people people who may be going out to work, people who will go into our shops and stores and therefore risk the spreading of this virus. That to me is absolutely crazy. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly earlier said that September remains the aspiration to have every person in the country vaccinated, despite issues around supply. We all must stay at home to protect ourselves and those we love. If you have #COVID19 symptoms, self-isolate (stay in your room) and call your GP. If you are a close contact of a positive case, restrict your movements (stay at home) for 14 days. #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/yOuuQRUMXq HSE Ireland (@HSELive) January 27, 2021 He said the vaccination programme is going well, but delays to the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine could hamper the Governments timeframe. September is absolutely still the aspiration. We cant promise because its a projection based partly on vaccinations that havent even been applied for authorisation, and on delivery schedules that still have to be fully agreed, he told RTEs Today With Claire Byrne. Wednesday saw another 54 deaths related to Covid-19 in Ireland. There were a further 1,335 confirmed cases, according to figures from the Department of Health. It brings the total number of Covid-related deaths in the country to 3,120. The number of people in intensive care units has increased by one to 217. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: The current 14-day incidence remains more than double the peak incidence experienced during previous Level 5 measures in October, therefore now is not the time to drop your guard and start to interact with people outside your household. The risk of transmission in the community remains very high. We must continue to work towards reducing incidence of disease and preventing further hospitalisations and deaths. President Joe Biden took thousands of train trips between his Delaware home and Washington, D.C., when he was in the Senate, earning him the title Amtrak Joe. Pete Buttigieg, the incoming U.S. transportation secretary, who earned the nickname Mayor Pete during last years presidential contest, advocated for improved passenger rail service as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. For supporters of a project to revive Amtrak on the Gulf Coast, the new Biden administration represents a potential shot of energy. Last week, during Buttigiegs confirmation hearing, he openly accepted an invitation to tour the rail line that would connect New Orleans to Mobile through Mississippi. The invitation was posed by Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the projects chief proponent. The fact that this subject was even broached during a confirmation hearing cant be overstated, said Stephen McNair of Mobile, a member of the Southern Rail Commission that promotes passenger rail opportunities in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Planning is under way for a Buttigieg visit. By the time that he arrives, rail advocates hope an ongoing study is completed that will show him the projects full costs, as well as its impact on freight lines operated by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. The study began last year and was initially pegged to last only four to six months; the completion now is expected at some point during the first half of 2021. The Gulf Coast passenger rail project would be anchored by New Orleans and Mobile with stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. Any time you get the secretary of transportation to visit, you can lay your case out on whatever you need, said Wiley Blankenship, chairman of the Southern Rail Commission and president and CEO with the Coastal Alabama Partnership. By having Buttigieg here, he can listen to us locally and we can paint the picture on why this is important and why weve been working on this for 15 years. He is a fan of passenger rail. That is also a positive thing. He gets it. He knows that is how you can move people around. The last such visit by a high-ranking member of a presidential administration was in 2016, when Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg participated in an inspection tour of the rail line from New Orleans to Mobile. Feinbergs trip drew large and welcoming crowds to train stations in Mississippi. That passenger train carrying the inspection team was the first to course through the Mississippi coast since Hurricane Katrina shattered the region in 2005. Momentum Gulf rail project hasnt enjoyed any significant movement in a year, specifically Feb. 4, when Mobiles City Council voted 6-1 to pledge around $3 million to it over three years, from 2022 to 2024. Mobiles vote showed its commitment to a Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama partnership that would pursue the project. Although the project is regional in nature, Amtraks goal is a booming daily ridership on the shorter, city-to-city routes. Thats certainly a different emphasis that years ago, when Amtrak trains like the Sunset Limited, which connected Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida, ran along the Gulf Coast only on certain days, and often at odd hours. In the weeks following the Mobile vote last February, the coronavirus hit. The pandemic proved devastating to Amtrak, dealing it losses of $700 million as the rail agency tried to cope with government shutdowns and a sudden public wariness of crowded spaces. In September, demand had dwindled to the point that Amtrak furloughed 2,000 workers. John Robert Smith, chairman with Washington, D.C.-based Transportation for America and a longtime backer of the Gulf Coast project, said he believes the newly minted Biden administration understands the economic importance of passenger rail that can link small and medium-sized towns and rural regions just as much as metropolitan areas. He said the Southern Rail Commission efforts to move the project forward such as securing federal grants for the Gulf route and pressing for capital improvements puts it at the front of the line if Congress approves an infrastructure package. Smith said he believes the passenger service between Mobile and New Orleans could begin almost as soon as Amtrak sealed a deal with the freight rail companies. He said, for example, that train station building and renovation projects in Mississippi are ready for construction. In Mobile, a study will be getting under way to consider possible locations for a train station. The study, which will be overseen by the Federal Railroad Administration, is expected to laser in on the Brookley Aeroplex, which the city wants to make the home of its commercial airport. Related content: Planes, trains and Mobile: Why Brookley might be the better alternative for an Amtrak station Naysayers The state of Alabama will likely be asked, at some point this year, to commit toward the capital improvements along the Gulf rail line. In 2019, the project earned a $33 million grant for the rail improvements. Amtrak as well as the states of Mississippi and Louisiana have contributed to the project. In Alabamas case, Mobiles commitment is something of a stop-gap until Gov. Kay Iveys administration takes action. Gulf rail finds its most vocal naysayers in Alabama, led by the Alabama Coal Association in Montgomery and the Alabama State Port Authority in Mobile. The latters former chief officer, Jimmy Lyons, argued that returning passenger rail to Mobile could interfere with freight trains rolling in and out of the ports vast footprint on the citys waterfront. Lyons retired last year and was replaced by John Driscoll in June. Blankenship and McNair said they both have met with Driscoll to discuss the project and classified those meetings as productive. Judy Adams, spokeswoman with the Port Authority, said the agencys concerns havent changed. According to Adams, there are deep reservations about introducing passenger rail on the heavily congested CSX corridor until the Amtrak study and rail improvement cost analysis is completed. She added, The Amtrak study and cost information determines the impacts to our rail dependent seaport and further defines the true costs to accommodate both. As for the view of the City Council, its president, Levon Manzie, said that the members remain supportive. We are excited that the new transportation secretary and the new Biden administration seem to be in favor of that and interested in how they can assist, said Manzie. It will take a strong federal partnership in order for it to work. I think the commitment on our end is strong. (Newser) The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the potential for lingering violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Biden's election. The department did not cite a specific threat, but pointed to "a heightened threat environment across the United States" that it believes "will persist" since Biden took office on Jan. 20. "Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,'' the bulletin said. It did not mention any ideological or political affiliation, reports the AP. story continues below It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins and advisories about the prospect for violence tied to a particular date or event, such as July 4. But this particular bulletin, issued through the the department's National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism. ABC News reports the DHS National Terrorist Advisory System last sent out a bulletin a year ago, when it warned of the possibility of retaliation by Iran for the US assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. (Read more Department of Homeland Security stories.) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - ADVANZ PHARMA Corp. Limited ("ADVANZ PHARMA" or "the Company"), a specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on complex medicines in Europe, today announced that its board of directors has reached an agreement on the terms of a cash offer, to be made by a subsidiary ("Bidco") of Nordic Capital, pursuant to which Nordic Capital will acquire the entire issued and to-be-issued limited voting share capital of ADVANZ PHARMA (the "Acquisition"). "This offer highlights the value that our employees around the world have collectively contributed towards building ADVANZ PHARMA into the strong and diverse company it is today," said Graeme Duncan, Chief Executive Officer of ADVANZ PHARMA. "In addition, this Acquisition will significantly help the business through both the capital support, and Nordic Capital's deep sector expertise. I am very much looking forward to working with Nordic Capital to deliver our growth targets." Under the terms of the proposed Acquisition, each ADVANZ PHARMA shareholder will be entitled to receive $17.26 in cash (the "Cash Offer") in respect of each ADVANZ PHARMA share. The Acquisition values the entire issued and to-be-issued limited voting share capital of ADVANZ PHARMA at approximately $846 million. As an alternative to the Cash Offer, eligible ADVANZ PHARMA shareholders may elect for the alternative offer pursuant to which they would receive unlisted shares in the BidCo structure for each ADVANZ PHARMA share, which will be issued upon, or shortly following, the agreement becoming effective. For further details about the proposed Acquisition, including closing requirements and additional considerations, please visit the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at: www.advanzpharma.com/investors About Nordic Capital Nordic Capital is a leading private equity investor with a resolute commitment to creating stronger, sustainable businesses. Established over 30 years ago, Nordic Capital has invested in excess of 16 billion and its most recent fund (Nordic Capital Fund X) raised 6.1 billion of investor commitments in 2020. About ADVANZ PHARMA ADVANZ PHARMA is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a strategic focus on complex medicines in Europe. With an agile and experienced team, including direct sales, marketing and medical capability across many of Europe's major markets, the Company supplies, innovates and enhances the critical medicines patients depend on, ensuring continued patient access and improving health outcomes. ADVANZ PHARMA has expertise in the anti-Infectives and endocrinology therapy areas, along with strong relationships with hospital decision makers, making it an attractive partner when commercialising complex medicines in Europe. ADVANZ PHARMA has an operational headquarters in London, an operations centre of excellence in Mumbai, commercial affiliates in North America, Europe, and Australia, and an established global network of commercial partners throughout the rest of the world. Notice Regarding Forward-looking Statements and Information: This news release includes forward-looking statements and forwardlooking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forwardlooking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "is expected", "expects", "scheduled", "intends", "contemplates", "anticipates", "believes", "proposes" or variations (including negative and grammatical variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such statements and information are based on the current expectations of ADVANZ PHARMA's management, and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Although ADVANZ PHARMA's management believes that the assumptions underlying these statements and information are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. 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Although ADVANZ PHARMA has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forwardlooking statements and information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forwardlooking statement or information can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forwardlooking statements and information speak only as of the date on which they are made and ADVANZ PHARMA undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statement or information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. SOURCE ADVANZ PHARMA Corp. Related Links https://www.advanzpharma.com/ Joe Biden's administration has revamped the White House logo, with the redesign taking a creative agency nearly 30 attempts to get just right, according to a new report. In fact, the whole website got spruced up and finished in record time, only having six weeks to overhaul the site from scratch before Biden was sworn in as president last Wednesday, reported Fast Company. The main difference in the new logo is that the White House has sharper architectural elements, such as defined columns and windows, and more roof detailing. It also sits on a blue background with the presidential mansion in white, opposed to Trump's white background and a navy White House. However, there are versions of Biden's new White House logo that inverts the color scheme. Back in December, the Biden administration hired creative agency Wide Eye for the revamp. The firm has been behind the branding of the Democratic National Convention and VP Kamala Harris' primary presidential campaign. Joe Biden's administration has revamped the White House logo, with the redesign taking a creative agency nearly 30 attempts to get just right, according to a new report TRUMP'S: It also sits on a blue background with the presidential mansion in white, opposed to Trump's white background and a navy blue White House Slide me The clear difference in the new logo is that the White House has sharper architectural elements, such as defined columns and windows, and more roof detailing. Pictured: Biden's White House logo (left) and Trump's (right) And according to White House director of digital strategy Rob Flaherty, the redesign went much further than just inverting colors and adding some structural details to the logo. He explained that the team made sure the White House's front door was clearly visible to symbolize the administration is accessible And according to White House director of digital strategy Rob Flaherty, the redesign went much further than just inverting colors and adding some structural details to the logo. He explained the team made sure the White House's front door was clearly visible to symbolize that the administration is accessible. He said of the redesign: 'It is both forward looking while having its roots in something very traditional. That's a nice statement about what we're trying to do here. 'We are bringing the country together and winning the battle for the soul of the nation, but also trying to do it in a way that makes people's lives materially better.' He added: 'Our whole pitch, that we assembled in about two to three days, was the idea that the White House is the peoples house.' Redesigning the White House logo and changing up the government website is nothing new. Each new administration puts their own touches on the signage, including President Trump. His team removed the oval that used to circle the White House on the logo and updated the colors to a white background and a navy blue house. Redesigning the White House logo and changing up the government website is nothing new. Each new administration puts their own touches on the signage, including President Trump In fact, the whole website got spruced up and finished in record time, only having six weeks to overhaul the site from scratch before Biden was sworn in as president last Wednesday, reported Fast Company The website landing page was filled with pictures of Trump, touring the border wall, visiting troops and making speeches The Trump administration's White House website landing page was filled with pictures of Trump touring the border wall, visiting troops and making speeches. Biden's website is more streamlined, with minimal photos and highlights recent remarks and statements he's made. Meanwhile, former president Trump has opened the 'Office of the Former President' in Florida that will handle his duties and seek to further his administration's agenda. In his first official statement since leaving office, he said he will 'always and forever be a champion for the American People.' 'The Office will be responsible for managing President Trump's correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities to advance the interests of the United States and to carry on the agenda of the Trump Administration through advocacy, organizing, and public activism,' the statement on executive letterhead said. 'President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People.' The statement, which was sent to reporters via email, includes a new logo designed by Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale, according to Wall Street Journal journalist Rebecca Ballhaus. Donald Trump has said he will 'always and forever be a champion for the American People' in his first official statement since leaving office Spot the difference: The Trump office logo uses almost all of the elements of the Great Seal of the United States (left) but takes the shield, the lower legs and tail feathers and arrows and olive branch from the presidential seal (right) The logo is a cross between the Great Seal of the United States and the presidential seal. Parscale has used almost all the elements of the Great Seal but he has taken the shield from the presidential seal. Parscale first been demoted from campaign manager after the disastrous June rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which he claimed one million wanted to attend but had ended up with empty seats, then quit entirely in disgrace after being arrested at his house following a drunken armed standoff. But Parscale now appears to be back in the fold, having called the Trumps 'family' and spoken loyally in their favor despite being forced out. The announcement came on the same day the House of Representatives delivered to the Senate an impeachment article charging the former President with inciting insurrection in a speech to supporters before the attack on the Capitol on January 6. The Senate trial is expected to start on February 9. Former U.S. presidents are funded for the costs of their 'transition' in leaving office for seven months under the Presidential Transition Act. This can include the funds required to set up a new office and pay staff for 30 months. They also receive a lifetime allowance of $96,000 a year towards staff costs, the cost of renting office accommodation, and paying its running expenses. Scheduled to arrive at dealers in the spring, the XV (that's what it's called on the other side of the pond) is exclusively offered with the e-Boxer engine in the United Kingdom. Essentially a 2.0-liter boxer with hybrid assistance from the Toyota Prius , the all-wheel-drive crossover will be offered in two well-equipped trim levels in this part of the world.SE is how the base specification is called, and it comes with LED automatic headlights as standard. The Lineartronic continuously variable transmission, high beam assist, 18-inch alloys, heated front seats, 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment, keyless entry, and push-button start are included as well, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone connectivity.Upgrade from 31,665 to 33,665 for the SE Premium, and the Japanese automaker adds leather seats, eight-way power adjustments for the drivers seat, satellite navigation, and a sunroof. From a technical standpoint, the XV promises improved comfort and handling thanks to redesigned coil springs and dampers. As far as the looks are concerned, the front bumper and front grille are the most obvious changes over the 2020 model year.Subaru has also worked its magic on the bezels that surround the fog lamps, while the exterior color palette welcomes two new additions in the guise of Horizon Blue and Plasma Yellow. Exclusive to the e-Boxer powertrain, the SI-Drive system allows the driver to select engine and transmission characteristics depending on the driving scenario. Intelligent Mode, for example, is set up for efficiency, while Sport Mode needs no explanation.The X-MODE system also deserves your attention because it now features a dual-function button. Snow and Dirt mode is calibrated for slippery surfaces that include gravel and dirt, and theres also Snow and Mud mode for especially treacherous road conditions such as deep snow or dirt.If the 2.0-liter boxer isnt to your liking or the price tag is a little on the steep side, fret not. There are plenty of alternatives out there, including the Corolla Hatchback Hybrid and Camry Hybrid. In the United Kingdom, Toyota is asking 24,480 and 31,635, respectively, for the most basic of trims. Ukraine and Canada set up a working group to respond to global migration challenges and further conduct dialogue on mobility, including the simplification of travel to Canada for Ukrainian citizens. As the Foreign Ministry's press service informs, the relevant letter of intent was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada Marco Mendicino. "The working group will become an effective tool for joint response to global migration challenges and a new platform for dialogue on the way to simplifying the travel regime to Canada for Ukrainian citizens," Dmytro Kuleba said. Minister Arsen Avakov stressed that the launch of a working group on mobility will consolidate the special status of the Ukraine-Canada partnership and promote the implementation of a set of measures aimed at cooperation between the relevant agencies of Ukraine and Canada. ol Welcome Guest! You Are Here: The coronavirus pandemic has left deep marks" on South Asia, turning a region known for its rapid economic growth into the worst performer of 2020, the UN said in a report that warned of job and income losses undoing decades of development. The World Economic Situation and Prospects report by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said the high unemployment caused by the pandemic in 2020 is set to continue in 2021. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic It said job losses have directly or indirectly affected 2.7 billion workers worldwide. Economies with large numbers of informal workersIndia is onewill need to handhold the labour market to help regain income, social security benefits and goals of education, poverty, and social equality. The UN report follows another one by the International Labour Organization (ILO) that showed the magnitude of working hour and income loss around the world and urged countries to step up efforts to address the issue. The ILO report said South Asia could see 4.9% loss in working hours in 2021 and this could mean millions of job lossesup to 31 million in the worst-case scenario. The ILO estimates job loss by counting working hour loss. ILO underlined that while 255 million jobs were lost worldwide in 2020, the share of South Asia was 80 million. The crisis has wreaked havoc on the labour markets in the developing world. By mid-2020, unemployment rates had quickly escalated to record highs27% in Nigeria, 23% in India, 21% in Colombia, 17% in the Philippines and above 13% in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Saudi Arabia and Turkey," said the UN report cited above. The ILO report said in Asia and the Pacific, the annual estimated decline in working hours was 7.9% in 2020. South Asiadriven by Indiaregistered a loss of 34.5% in the second quarter and 9.9% in the third quarter of 2020. The two largest countries in the regionChina and Indiaregistered estimated annual average losses of 4.1% and 13.7%, respectively". The UN report said livelihood and income impact has been particularly harsh for about 2 billion informal workers who have limited social protection, especially the self-employed. The informal sector accounts for over 80% of jobs in India, according to official figures. The job loss and income loss has a direct bearing on any economy. For India, the covid outbreak has been one of large-scale health, economic and people crisis. While people are talking about job loss and income loss in formal sectors, the informal sector has faced severe trauma, but lack of data hides the crisis. This is and will be bad for poverty alleviation in the short- and medium-terms, for economic revival, and for achieving sustainable development goals in areas like education, poverty, social equity," said K.R. Shyam Sundar, a labour economist. The view echoes the UN report. The total number of people living in poverty may increase by 131 million in 2020and as many as 797 million people will still be trapped in extreme poverty in 2030, representing a poverty headcount ratio of over 9% (worldwide). The cardinal sustainable development goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 will likely be missed by a large margin." The UN report said while the short-term impact of the pandemic has been severe, its long-term impact will be equally devastating and felt for years to come. With the crisis accelerating the pace of digitization and automation, millions of jobs lost in 2020 will not come back. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. WASHINGTON - The Biden administration said Tuesday it was on the cusp of securing an additional 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States. The purchases would increase available supply by 50%, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer. Because both products - one developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech and the other by Moderna - are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people. An estimated 260 million people in the United States are currently considered eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, though Pfizer and Moderna have initiated trials for children as young as 12, the results of which could expand the pool. The deals promised by President Joe Biden would not immediately speed up vaccinations. But they would greatly boost his chances of returning the nation to some semblance of normalcy by late summer or the fall. The president said Monday he expects the general public to gain access to shots by the spring - as he seemed to elevate his administration's goal from 1 million vaccinations a day to 1.5 million - though aides said that was aspirational. And Biden drew back Tuesday to his earlier ambition of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days, insisting it would be a good start. Biden, in remarks Tuesday evening, said he expected the additional doses to be delivered through the summer. Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford "This is an aggregate plan that doesn't leave anything on the table or anything to chance, as we've seen happen in the past year," the president said. He added, in a further effort to distinguish his approach from that of his predecessor, "This is a wartime effort." The companies were more cautious in public statements, though people knowledgeable about the negotiations said formal deals were imminent because the government was using options built into existing contracts to receive the additional doses. Those people, like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. Moderna spokesman Ray Jordan declined to comment. Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose said the company "has engaged in regular communications with the Biden administration and we stand at the ready to start negotiations should the White House choose to execute their option for additional doses." Each company has already agreed to deliver 200 million doses to the federal government by the end of June. Pfizer has said it can deliver 120 million of those doses by the end of March, at a price of $19.50 per dose, while Moderna has pledged 100 million by then, with each dose sold for $15. Manufacturing has steadily ramped up, in pace with those targets. As a result, federal allocations to states and other jurisdictions will increase by about 16% next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without immediately alleviating supply problems. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's coronavirus response, informed governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to two people who participated and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the conversation. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million. The vaccines are distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities. Senior administration officials said the increased supply will come mostly from releasing more doses of Moderna's vaccine. The stepped-up allocations will remain for three weeks, these officials said, as the Department of Health and Human Services provides estimates on that time scale going forward. The increased allocations and the promise of better forecasts came as welcome news to state and local officials, who have implored the federal government for estimates of available supply so they can plan and set expectations for the public. Such projections were not possible in December, according to current and former federal officials, because of uncertainty about manufacturing and instability in the supply chain. The government has gained greater understanding of production schedules, especially after directing suppliers to fulfill Pfizer's needs under the Defense Production Act. Moderna this month raised its global target for the year from 500 million doses to 600 million. Pfizer and BioNTech recently raised their target from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion. But precise manufacturing schedules remain difficult to predict, and Zients could not answer questions on Tuesday's call with governors about exact production levels and when he expected significant scale-up, according to one state official who participated. The official said the administration promised more details "sooner rather than later." Meanwhile, vaccine shortages are having stark consequences throughout the country. Appointments have been canceled en masse as health officers and medical providers confront a sharply limited supply of doses, which are being targeted at medical workers, older people, some front-line workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots. New information is around the corner about a third vaccine, though its efficacy is not publicly known. Health officials are awaiting data from a trial by Johnson & Johnson, which will probably arrive in the next week. That data may also suggest how a vaccine performs against one of the virus variants spreading alarm globally, because some of the trial was conducted in South Africa, where a more transmissible variant has been identified. The federal government has already paid $1 billion for the first 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which, if it proves effective, would be a boon because it is a single dose. The effort to buy additional Pfizer and Moderna doses vaccines represents a shift in strategy, as the Biden administration doubles down on two highly effective products authorized by federal regulators. The Trump administration worked to spread its risks over many vaccine candidates. Once the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year showed such high efficacy - about 95% - some government experts argued the administration should quickly acquire as much of those vaccines as possible, even if the United States ended up with more vaccine than needed. That argument has gained currency with the Biden administration, according to people familiar with the government's thinking, partly because of the emergence of variants that appear to be more transmissible and possibly more lethal than the original coronavirus. Early data shows that the two vaccines may be effective against the British variant of the virus that already is causing infections in the United States. And scientists believe they may possibly be effective against other variants, including ones identified in Brazil and South Africa. The South African variant has not appeared in the United States, but the Brazilian one was recently found in a case in Minnesota. In addition, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which use a platform known as mRNA to elicit a potent immune response, are the easiest type of vaccine to change to counter threatening new variants. Biden and his top aides have stressed that vaccine supply is only one aspect of the challenges involved in executing the immunization campaign. The administration is seeking additional resources for state and local health departments and has vowed greater federal coordination of the efforts, including plans to augment the public health workforce and set up mass vaccination sites. The administration has also pledged to increase transparency for state and local officials overseeing ground-level planning and for members of the public waiting to be vaccinated. Biden administration officials are also seeking to have more data related to vaccination efforts posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a federal health official. Ideally, that would include data about manufacturing, supply and allocation to the states. Information about production and supply is not currently publicly available. The vaccine rollout has been marked by a lack of transparency about stockpiles, short-term rollout schedules and contradictory statements from government officials. Companies producing vaccines have issued broad statements about vaccine goals, based on quarterly projections. In Pfizer's case, production estimates were recently accelerated by the Food and Drug Administration's recognition of a sixth dose in each vial, which previously had been considered to be "over fill'' beyond the initial five-dose capacity. The change resulted in an instant 20% increase in Pfizer's quota. The companies said they have been giving more detailed information about vaccine availability to the government, which then relays the information about weekly shipment expectations to state officials. But the lack of accurate and consistent information has been a major complaint at the state level, as the initial shipments of vaccine have not matched the volume of vaccines local systems are demanding. The Biden administration appeared to put pressure over the weekend on Pfizer and Moderna to improve the flow of information about vaccine manufacturing and supply. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday,'' Biden's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, said, "I can't tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can't tell it to you then I can't tell it to the governors and I can't tell it to the state health officials.'' Asked to respond to Walensky's concerns this week, Moderna and Pfizer said they have been reporting on a daily and weekly basis the amount of vaccine that will be ready. "We have and are continuing to work closely with the U.S. government on our production, release and shipping schedules - to ensure Americans receive their first and second doses of the vaccine on time,'' Pfizer said in a statement this week. "We have provided them with a specific schedule, and we foresee no issues in delivering on the commitments we have made." Jordan, Moderna's spokesman, said the U.S. government is in charge of relaying fine-grained information to states. "The U.S. Government is our customer, and they are free to communicate as they wish," he said. A former Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address sensitive matters, said Moderna has been more forthcoming about its vaccine production than Pfizer. "With Moderna, we always had a pretty clear sense of what was further ahead, and any potential issues, a better ability to accurately predict what was coming," the official said. "With Pfizer, we didn't have as much insight. It was a byproduct of their unwillingness to work as collaboratively with Warp Speed as other companies." Pfizer did not respond to a request to address the criticism. Along with other vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer last summer signed an advanced purchase contract with the Trump administration. But the company did not accept research and development money or backing for clinical trials from the government. Pfizer also opted to distribute its vaccine to states on its own, rather than permit its vaccine to be shipped by national wholesaler McKesson, the government's designated distributor for vaccine and supplies. Its shipments are nonetheless following the federal government's allocation guidance. Much of Pfizer's supply is obligated to other countries. But the pharmaceutical giant has recently delayed or reduced shipments to Canada and Europe as it retools a factory in Belgium, frustrating foreign governments. - - - The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Annie Linskey and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Owned by Chinese technology giant ByteDance, will be scaling back its India operations, following the government making the seven-month-long ban permanent. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2,000-plus employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, storytellers, educators, and performers in India, said a spokesperson for According to sources, the scaling back will occur in two batches over the next few weeks. People involved in the ongoing projects will be retained until their completion. ByteDance employees also said the company had handed out appraisals and bonuses after the ban last year, and the decision to make the ban permanent was a rude shock. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had asked for an interim ban on 59 Chinese mobile applications (apps) in June last year, including TikTok, SHAREit, UC Browser, and SHEIN, calling them a security threat. The government invoked its powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology (IT) Act and relevant provisions under IT Rules, 2009, in doing so. Last week, the ministry made that ban permanent. We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have. It is, therefore, disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts, we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated, the TikTok spokesperson added. When the ban came into force, internet were an easy target for the Indian government. If the border situation had been resolved in one or two months, the Indian government could have allowed TikTok and other Chinese apps to continue operations, with a few safeguards, but in the past six months, there has been no improvement in the border situation, said Santosh Pai, partner at Link Legal India Law Services. Last year, after tensions arose with China along the border in Eastern Ladakh, TikTok was among the top apps banned by the Indian government. TikTok has a global and an Indian problem. That TikTok is Chinese owned has been a problem in many countries. Eventually, to get around this issue they might sell to a US company. This might be a permanent global solution. India may then choose to review the situation. If they do not change ownership, I dont think India will be open for TikTok, added Pai. TikTok has had a tumultuous couple of years in India over issues related to content and its origin. In April 2019, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court prohibited the download of the app in the country, but lifted the ban three weeks later. It has also run into issues in countries like the US, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Calling the layoffs at TikTok unfortunate, Aditya Kothari, co-founder and chief strategist, Chingari, said, Right now, its a great opportunity and motivation for Indian entrepreneurs to showcase their potential and rise with a great product. Indians are capable of doing wonders. Our priority right now is the Indian market and in the near future, we will expand our footprint. We will hire some of the potential talent. Chingari came up as an Indian alternative to TikTok after the ban. After the ban on TikTok in June, several Indian app developers came up with alternatives to the Chinese short video app. Global players like Facebook and YouTube have also introduced short video-based products. According to a report by RedSeer Consulting in December, users for short-form content grew from 20 million users in 2016 to 180 million in 2020 in India. However, after the TikTok ban, the market saw a major void. Some of it was quickly filled by new domestic players. While 40 per cent of TikToks market has been captured by the new players, some users are still unwilling to shift for lack of quality, and lesser velocity of content creation, it added. At least 100 people from TikTok, including Nikhil Gandhi, India and South Asia Head of TikTok, are now joining Glance the worlds leading lockscreen platform owned by Bengaluru-based mobile ad network InMobi Group, according to sources. Kabul, Jan 27 : A Deputy Provincial Councillor, who was wounded in a bomb blast in Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz, succumbed to his injuries, said Chairman of the Council Mohammad Yusuf Ayubi on Wednesday. The Councillor Safiullah Amiri sustained critical injuries following an explosion in Kunduz on Tuesday. Amiri suucumbed to his injuries at a hospital later in the day, Ayubi told Xinhua. The blast, which also killed a provincial official's son and wounded two others, was the latest in a string of targeted attacks in recent months. Kunduz province, nearly 250-km north of Afghan capital of Kabul, has been the inflicted by Taliban-led insurgency for a decade. DOVER, N.J., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dallas Songwriters Association (DSA) announced the winners for its 30th annual song contest for which Casio America, Inc. a pioneer in the electronic musical instrument space was the title sponsor. As the title sponsor, the Grand Prize winner was presented with an illustrious PRIVIA PX-S1000 digital piano among other notable prizes. "We are thrilled to, once again, partner with the DSA to put a spotlight on aspiring musicians and their incredible talent," said Stephen Schmidt, Vice President of Casio's Electronic Musical Instrument Division. "It's always been our mission to support musicians of all levels and provide them with access to quality digital pianos, like our PRIVIA PX-S1000, that enable them to take their skills and creativity to the next level." Amateur songwriters from around the world compete yearly for more than $5,000 in prizes in the DSA's annual song contest. This year, all three of the Grand Prize winners were awarded a one-year Broadjam Primo MoB Membership ($199.95 Value), Song Critique from Barbara McMillen, Associate Professor of Songwriting at Collin College, recording time at JoMusik Studio, and two tickets to Between the Waves Music Conference. Additionally, the first place Grand Prize winner, Randy Overton of Waxahachie, Texas, also received a Casio Privia PX-S1000 digital piano. "The DSA appreciates Casio so much for its generosity, as well as enabling us to have world class song contest," said Michael Brandenberger, DSA President. Casio's PRIVIA PX-S1000 delivers innovations that make playing piano more enjoyable than ever. While its slim profile makes it the slimmest digital piano in the world, this piano earns the PRIVIA moniker by providing authentic grand piano sound and feel. The newly developed Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard is what makes the slim 232mm depth possible. With such a slim profile, users can easily enjoy playing the piano in a variety of environments without taking up a lot of space. Going beyond the accepted standards for hammer-action keyboards, the new design reproduces the individual response characteristics of each of the 88 keys on a grand piano. The AiR Sound Source delivers the natural tone of a grand piano with string and damper resonance, and even includes mechanical damper and key sounds. The PX-S1000 includes 18 Tones with 192 notes of polyphony, with layer/split/duet functionality. It also features recording capabilities, optional 6xAA battery power, integration with the Chordana Play for Piano app, and a music rest designed to hold iOS/Android devices of nearly any size. Two headphone jacks are included, along with " L/R outputs that connect to any amplifier, mixer or PA system. To learn more about Casio's full portfolio of electronic musical instruments, please visit www.CasioMusicGear.com. Or to see a complete list of winners go to www.dsasongcontest.blogspot.com. About Dallas Songwriters Association Dallas Songwriters Association is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to providing information about the craft and business of songwriting. All styles of music are welcome in the DSA, and membership includes writers of all ages. DSA monthly activities include meetings with guest speakers, song critiques and performance showcases that are open to the public. In addition, the DSA supports and promotes workshops and contests and publishes a monthly newsletter. For more information, visit www.dallassongwriters.org. About Casio America, Inc. Casio America, Inc., Dover, N.J., is the U.S. subsidiary of Casio Computer Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, one of the world's leading manufacturers of consumer electronics and business equipment solutions. Established in 1957, Casio America, Inc. markets calculators, keyboards, digital cameras, mobile presentation devices, disc title and label printers, watches, cash registers and other consumer electronic products. Casio has strived to fulfill its corporate creed of "creativity and contribution" through the introduction of innovative and imaginative products. For more information, visit www.casiousa.com. SOURCE Casio America, Inc. Related Links http://www.casiousa.com A Muslim woman in Uganda encountered the Lord Jesus Christ amidst her Islamic evening prayer preparation. Mansitula Buliro saw visions of Jesus on Jan. 13, calling for her to follow Him, Morning Star News reported. She stated that she first heard a loud voice saying, "Yeshua," an Aramaic translation of the name of Jesus. "During the process a certain weakness entered my body, and then I saw a light coming from above, and I heard a loud voice saying, 'Yeshua' repeatedly," Buliro reportedly told Morning Star. When her husband came from the room where he was praying and saw her, he was shocked and asked her what happened. When she narrated her divine experience, her husband thought she was possessed. He took the Koran and tried to cast out the evil spirit that he thought had entered her. She further said that she saw another vision that night. "At midnight I saw a bright light and a man dressed in white clothes crossing the river coming towards me, and He said, 'Peace be upon you - today I have chosen you to be mine.'" The next morning, the woman came to ask her Christian neighbor about her visions which went for hours. Her neighbor prayed with her and Buliro put her faith in Jesus. She was about to leave when a Muslim neighbor suddenly came. He discovered that she was praying as a Christian and said, "Mansitula, I thought you were a Muslim - how come I heard prayers mentioning the name of Issa [Jesus]?" Her neighbor left immediately. When she returned home, her angry husband said that he had been told that she has become a Christian. "I kept quiet. [He] started slapping and kicking me indiscriminately. I then fell. He went inside the house and came back with a knife and started cutting my mouth, saying, 'Allahu akbar,' (God is greater), I am punishing you to not speak about Yeshua in my house. This is a Muslim home!" Buliro shared. Her neighbors came to help her stop her husband's attacks when they heard her screaming and her children crying. "There was blood all over from my mouth. My in-laws arrived, and in their presence my husband pronounced divorce: 'Today you are no longer my wife. I have divorced you. Leave my house, or I will kill you,'" she said. A neighbor then brought her to the hospital. "I was examined, and they found that my fetus had been affected, and after four days I had a miscarriage. It is now very difficult to reunite with my family. I am now Christian, and I have decided for Issa's cause," the woman stated, referring to Jesus. The 45-year old mother now lives with a Christian family, Morning Star News reportedly said. "Uganda's constitution and other laws provide for religious freedom, including the right to propagate one's faith and convert from one faith to another. Muslims make up no more than 12 percent of Uganda's population, with high concentrations in eastern areas of the country," the report concluded. Christians in Uganda suffer from attacks perpetrated by Muslims living in different areas. The day after President Joe Bidens inauguration, a group known as Mayors for a Guaranteed Income took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post with the headline One More Check Is Not Enough. The groups pitch is that the federal government should make monthly payments to Americans for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. One-time $600 checks wont cut it, the mayors argue. Nearly half of all households cannot put food on the table, pay utility bills, or afford their rent or mortgage, they said in the advertisement. They called for recurring checks through the end of the pandemic. Mayors Ron Nirenberg and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the only signers from Texas, joined more than 30 others from across the country in publicizing the proposal. The cynics among you may point out that its cost-free for mayors to take out an ad in the Washington Post clearly targeting the one-day-old Biden administration to ask for help for their cities. But I am not a cynic. I think this type of aggressive poverty reduction, especially during an emergency, makes sense. If you cant work because your industry was crushed by COVID, I think you and your kids shouldnt go hungry or face eviction as a result. Reviewing the group, the list of mayors represent a preponderance of well-known college towns, such as Madison, Wisconsin; Middletown, Connecticut; Ithaca, New York; Durham, North Carolina; Gainesville, Florida; and Cambridge, Massachusetts. I imagine endorsing a progressive agenda is a politically easier in those towns than it is in more politically mixed cities and states. San Antonios Nirenberg said signing on in favor of guaranteed income during the pandemic was not a difficult call to make, politically. I ask myself three questions: Is it fiscally responsible? Is it fair and ethical? Have I done my homework? Nirenberg said. If its something that helps the community, the answer is pretty clear. I dont really dwell on the politics. Another way to measure the difficulty of adopting a monthly guaranteed income would be ask to what extent and in what ways it would interact with other poverty-reduction measures. Does it replace them or supplement them? Does it do a better job of food and housing outcomes, for example, than other programs? We already have housing programs, food programs, unemployment programs, job-retraining programs, income for elderly, means-tested health care programs and disability income programs. We already subsidize home loans, student loans and small business loans. The federal government offers emergency loans to small- and midsize businesses, and massive bailouts for banks and airlines. Interestingly, these financial safety nets are all relatively non-controversial. Or, better stated, even if they are controversial to some, they are politically impossible to do without. Mayors for a Guaranteed Income makes the case that the key advantage of their idea is that its unconditional money. Guaranteed income not earmarked for food or shelter is the best kind of poverty alleviation because, as their website states, no two American households are identical in their needs. And most families need something different every month. That is my favorite part of their plan the unconditionality of it. Guaranteed income, rather than food or housing assistance or job-loss or disability income, says two things about the givers view of the recipient. First, we (the giver) trust you (the recipient) to make your own decisions about how best to survive. Second, you deserve to survive. Going hungry isnt OK, no matter your circumstances. These are powerful ideas. They sound more like what I learned in Sunday school rather than what I learned in government class. In a majority Christian country, I am surprised at how controversial this remains. Andrew Yang, former Democratic candidate for president and now candidate for mayor of New York City, helped put the idea of a guaranteed income into the political mainstream. The emergency $1,200 payments sent from President Trumps Treasury Department last spring seemed to have been a popular and incremental step toward unconditional cash transfers. The Mayors for a Guaranteed Income advertisement marks another move toward mainstreaming this idea. The city of Stockton, California, has a guaranteed income pilot program underway, as do other cities. Stocktons Mayor Michael D. Tubbs is, in fact, the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Nirenberg said the need for a guaranteed income beyond the pandemic is less clear and warrants further study. But for now, he said, whats clear to me is that there has been a reckoning during this pandemic that far too many families lived on the economic brink before this pandemic, and that is a condition we cannot return to. Although guaranteed income has a long way to go before its broadly accepted, what the Biden administration announced in the first week, addressing an issue similar to the mayors, was not nothing. The administration asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to raise food stamp benefits by 15 percent in dollar terms. Biden also asked states to expand their access to supplemental nutrition programs by up to 12 million people. That same week saw 900,000 new unemployment claims, underscoring the precarious job market for many households. Michael Taylor is a columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and author of The Financial Rules for New College Graduates. michael@michaelthesmart money.com |twitter.com/michael_taylor Srinagar, Jan 27 : Two soldiers were injured after terrorists attacked an army patrolling party in Kulgam district of south Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said. According to details the attack was carried out by terrorists in the Wanpoh area. The two injured soldiers were rushed to hospital. Additional forces have been brought in. The area has been cordoned off and a search operation was underway. Romania will continue to call on Belarusian authorities, its proxies and sponsors, to stop repression and intimidation, to start a genuine inclusive dialogue with the opposition and the civil society, Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Wednesday. He gave a speech at the opening of the "EU and Belarus in 2021" event, organized online by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) think tank, in cooperation with the Romanian, Lithuanian and Polish embassies in Paris. "Romania will continue to call on the Belarusian authorities, and its proxies and sponsors, to stop repression and intimidation, to start a genuine inclusive dialogue with the opposition and the civil society, and to act responsibly for building social peace and prosperity, based on democracy and respect for fundamental rights in a free, independent and sovereign Belarus," said the head of Romanian diplomacy, according to a speech sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE).He spoke of the violence that has taken place in the country since the presidential election."The international partners of Belarus, including Romania, repeatedly condemned the violence against peaceful civilians and called for stopping the repression and, of course, the initiation of a peaceful inclusive political dialogue. Unfortunately, the situation on the ground has not improved, on the contrary: continuous and increasing brutality of the regime against its citizens led to losses of human lives, thousands of arrests, cases of torture, political prisoners, a situation that should not and will not be tolerated," Aurescu pointed out.According to the foreign minister, Belarusian citizens "aspire for democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental rights.""They have the legitimate expectation for an opportunity to make their own decision on the future of their country. They request respect for their fundamental rights enshrined in international law. We cannot remain passive. We have to call for the support for those who express themselves for the values which are important for all of us," he said.At the same time, he spoke about the support of sanctions, in the current situation."Romania reaffirms its will to support the people of Belarus in building a democratic path, through a state leadership democratically elected, a free civil society, free market and the rule of law. At the same time, we have supported, and continue to do so, the measure of sanctions against those responsible for the repression and election fraud, as well as against those who sponsor such acts. These restrictive measures are meant to keep pressure on those acting against the will of the people for democracy, fundamental rights and civil liberties," the foreign minister added.Aurescu recalled, in the context, the active role in supporting the citizens of Belarus that Romania has assumed since the beginning of the political crisis in this state generated by election fraud, through a series of diplomatic efforts within the EU, UN, OSCE. He also highlighted Romania's voluntary contribution of 100,000 euros to support Belarusian civil society and independent journalism through the European Endowment for Democracy, as well as the Romanian Government's decision to award 100 scholarships to Belarusian students, which will be operational in the near future, the MAE also shows.Along with the Romanian minister, also speaking in the opening of the event were Svetlana Tihanovskaia, a prominent representative of the Belarusian Opposition, as well as the foreign ministers of France, Lithuania and Poland. The company said the outlook for 2021 is positive, bolstered by the strong order book and the acquisitions of Ashfield PV and MedSource. ( ) shares pushed higher after the provider of services to the pharmaceutical sector said 2020 earnings would be ahead of expectations. The company said it expects revenue for 2020 will be around 86.4mln, up 26.5% on 2019s 68.3mln and in line with current market expectations. The positive trading performance seen in both Ergomed's pharmacovigilance (PV) and clinical research organisation (CRO) businesses during the first six months of the year continued through to the year-end and resulted in a strong order book at the start of 2021. The PV divisions revenue increased by 56% overall to 55.1mln, or by 30% on a like-for-like basis (i.e. excluding the impact of the PrimeVigilance USA acquisition). CRO revenues eased a tad to 31.3mln from 32.9mln the year before but second-half revenues were up 11.2% on an organic basis compared to the first half of the year and up by 15.2% year-on-year. The debt-free company ended the year with cash and equivalent balances of 18.9mln, up from 14.3mln a year earlier. The company said the outlook for 2021 is positive, bolstered by the strong order book and the acquisitions of Ashfield PV (now known as PrimeVigilance USA) and MedSource. These acquisitions considerably strengthened Ergomed's presence in the strategically important US market and globally, further enhancing growth potential in both the PV and CRO businesses, the company said. "In 2020 Ergomed demonstrated the resilience and robustness of our services business model, continuing our strong organic growth and completing key strategic acquisitions in the USA in both our pharmacovigilance and CRO businesses. Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, Ergomed performed ahead of market expectations for the full year, said Miroslav Reljanovic, the executive chairman of Ergomed in the trading update. We start 2021 from a position of considerable strength, in a robust financial and strategic position and with a strong order book to support our strategy of leadership as a pharmaceutical services specialist with a global presence, he added. Ergomed shares were up 7.4% at 1,052.5p in early deals. A massive simulation of the cosmos and a nod to the next generation of computing A team of physicists and computer scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory performed one of the five largest cosmological simulations ever. Data from the simulation will inform sky maps to aid leading large-scale cosmological experiments. The simulation, called the Last Journey, follows the distribution of mass across the universe over time -- in other words, how gravity causes a mysterious invisible substance called "dark matter" to clump together to form larger-scale structures called halos, within which galaxies form and evolve. "We've learned and adapted a lot during the lifespan of Mira, and this is an interesting opportunity to look back and look forward at the same time." -- Adrian Pope, Argonne physicist The scientists performed the simulation on Argonne's supercomputer Mira. The same team of scientists ran a previous cosmological simulation called the Outer Rim in 2013, just days after Mira turned on. After running simulations on the machine throughout its seven-year lifetime, the team marked Mira's retirement with the Last Journey simulation. The Last Journey demonstrates how far observational and computational technology has come in just seven years, and it will contribute data and insight to experiments such as the Stage-4 ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment (CMB-S4), the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (carried out by the Rubin Observatory in Chile), the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and two NASA missions, the Roman Space Telescope and SPHEREx. "We worked with a tremendous volume of the universe, and we were interested in large-scale structures, like regions of thousands or millions of galaxies, but we also considered dynamics at smaller scales," said Katrin Heitmann, deputy division director for Argonne's High Energy Physics (HEP) division. The code that constructed the cosmos The six-month span for the Last Journey simulation and major analysis tasks presented unique challenges for software development and workflow. The team adapted some of the same code used for the 2013 Outer Rim simulation with some significant updates to make efficient use of Mira, an IBM Blue Gene/Q system that was housed at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science User Facility. Specifically, the scientists used the Hardware/Hybrid Accelerated Cosmology Code (HACC) and its analysis framework, CosmoTools, to enable incremental extraction of relevant information at the same time as the simulation was running. "Running the full machine is challenging because reading the massive amount of data produced by the simulation is computationally expensive, so you have to do a lot of analysis on the fly," said Heitmann. "That's daunting, because if you make a mistake with analysis settings, you don't have time to redo it." The team took an integrated approach to carrying out the workflow during the simulation. HACC would run the simulation forward in time, determining the effect of gravity on matter during large portions of the history of the universe. Once HACC determined the positions of trillions of computational particles representing the overall distribution of matter, CosmoTools would step in to record relevant information -- such as finding the billions of halos that host galaxies -- to use for analysis during post-processing. "When we know where the particles are at a certain point in time, we characterize the structures that have formed by using CosmoTools and store a subset of data to make further use down the line," said Adrian Pope, physicist and core HACC and CosmoTools developer in Argonne's Computational Science (CPS) division. "If we find a dense clump of particles, that indicates the location of a dark matter halo, and galaxies can form inside these dark matter halos." The scientists repeated this interwoven process -- where HACC moves particles and CosmoTools analyzes and records specific data -- until the end of the simulation. The team then used features of CosmoTools to determine which clumps of particles were likely to host galaxies. For reference, around 100 to 1,000 particles represent single galaxies in the simulation. "We would move particles, do analysis, move particles, do analysis," said Pope. "At the end, we would go back through the subsets of data that we had carefully chosen to store and run additional analysis to gain more insight into the dynamics of structure formation, such as which halos merged together and which ended up orbiting each other." Using the optimized workflow with HACC and CosmoTools, the team ran the simulation in half the expected time. Community contribution The Last Journey simulation will provide data necessary for other major cosmological experiments to use when comparing observations or drawing conclusions about a host of topics. These insights could shed light on topics ranging from cosmological mysteries, such as the role of dark matter and dark energy in the evolution of the universe, to the astrophysics of galaxy formation across the universe. "This huge data set they are building will feed into many different efforts," said Katherine Riley, director of science at the ALCF. "In the end, that's our primary mission -- to help high-impact science get done. When you're able to not only do something cool, but to feed an entire community, that's a huge contribution that will have an impact for many years." The team's simulation will address numerous fundamental questions in cosmology and is essential for enabling the refinement of existing models and the development of new ones, impacting both ongoing and upcoming cosmological surveys. "We are not trying to match any specific structures in the actual universe," said Pope. "Rather, we are making statistically equivalent structures, meaning that if we looked through our data, we could find locations where galaxies the size of the Milky Way would live. But we can also use a simulated universe as a comparison tool to find tensions between our current theoretical understanding of cosmology and what we've observed." Looking to exascale "Thinking back to when we ran the Outer Rim simulation, you can really see how far these scientific applications have come," said Heitmann, who performed Outer Rim in 2013 with the HACC team and Salman Habib, CPS division director and Argonne Distinguished Fellow. "It was awesome to run something substantially bigger and more complex that will bring so much to the community." As Argonne works towards the arrival of Aurora, the ALCF's upcoming exascale supercomputer, the scientists are preparing for even more extensive cosmological simulations. Exascale computing systems will be able to perform a billion billion calculations per second -- 50 times faster than many of the most powerful supercomputers operating today. "We've learned and adapted a lot during the lifespan of Mira, and this is an interesting opportunity to look back and look forward at the same time," said Pope. "When preparing for simulations on exascale machines and a new decade of progress, we are refining our code and analysis tools, and we get to ask ourselves what we weren't doing because of the limitations we have had until now." The Last Journey was a gravity-only simulation, meaning it did not consider interactions such as gas dynamics and the physics of star formation. Gravity is the major player in large-scale cosmology, but the scientists hope to incorporate other physics in future simulations to observe the differences they make in how matter moves and distributes itself through the universe over time. "More and more, we find tightly coupled relationships in the physical world, and to simulate these interactions, scientists have to develop creative workflows for processing and analyzing," said Riley. "With these iterations, you're able to arrive at your answers -- and your breakthroughs -- even faster." ### A paper on the simulation, titled "The Last Journey. I. An extreme-scale simulation on the Mira supercomputer," was published on Jan. 27 in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. The scientists are currently preparing follow-up papers to generate detailed synthetic sky catalogs. The work was a multidisciplinary collaboration between high energy physicists and computer scientists from across Argonne and researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory. Funding for the simulation is provided by DOE's Office of Science. The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility provides supercomputing capabilities to the scientific and engineering community to advance fundamental discovery and understanding in a broad range of disciplines. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, the ALCF is one of two DOE Leadership Computing Facilities in the nation dedicated to open science. Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Professional money managers are warning retail investors the Reddit-fuelled rush into unloved tech stocks such as GameStop will end in tears, amid fresh signs the euphoria that has lifted share prices to stratospheric levels is spreading to Australia. Shares in GameStop, the NYSE-listed video games retailer, surged 92.7 per cent in Tuesdays session as day traders on the Reddit forum Wallstreetbets continued their quest to inflate the stock, fuelled by attention from prominent entrepreneurs including Elon Musk. US regulators are likely to scrutinise the quadrupling of GameStop Corp.s shares over the past two weeks. Credit:AP Momentum has continued to build over the past month as online punters egg each other on to pump up stocks that are traditionally favoured by short-sellers, in whats being billed as a revenge play on hedge funds and their short positions. But fund managers warned Australian retail investors should tread carefully because share prices will inevitably come back down to earth. As much as anything its just important to realise this is unusual behaviour and unlikely to end well, said technology portfolio manager at Platinum Asset Management, Cameron Robertson. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. McCracken Rape Suspect Makes Court Appearance By Tim Brockwell PADUCAH - A man accused of sexually assaulting an elderly woman in McCracken County last July was in court this week.The McCracken County Circuit Court Clerk says Gary Pugh appeared for a pretrial conference Monday afternoon, which was continued by Judge Tim Kaltenback until March 15.Pugh is charged with first-degree rape, first-degree sexual abuse and second-degree assault.He was arrested on July 20 after an 80-year-old woman told police he had come to her home and asked to pray with her. Investigators say he then forced the woman into her bathroom, where he physically and sexually assaulted her. Andhra Pradesh: Over 10,000 fisherfolk in East Godavari await biometric ID cards January 27,2021 | Source: The Times of India Over 10,000 fishermen in East Godavari district are yet to receive biometric identity cards that can be accessed by authorised agencies to strengthen coastal security and reduce the threat of terror attacks from the sea route. The idea behind biometric cards had been proposed by the Centre in 2009 following the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008. The task of generating the cards had been handed over to the Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL). Under the initiative, the customs department and Indian Coast Guard will verify the credentials of resident and marine fisherfolk in coastal villages with the help of card readers. The readers will check the authenticity of the cards issued by the fisheries department. The machines will also examine the authenticity of resident cards recorded in the National Population Register. However, with ECIL having withdrawn from the initiative and over 10,000 fishermen yet to receive their cards, repeated pleas raised by the fisheries department with higher officials have not yielded results. Deputy director of fisheries, East Godavari, P V Satyanarayana said, We are making repeated requests to get the work done for the remaining fishermen. Acting President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga will today officiate at the historic triple burial of Foreign Affairs Minister Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr Sibusiso Moyo, Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza and former prisons chief Major General (Retired) Paradzai Zimondi at the National Heroes Acre in Harare. Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe made the announcement yesterday, confirming that Zimbabwe would today witness the interment of three national heroes on the same day, for the first time. This follows the double burial last week of the late veteran nationalist Cde Morton Malianga and the late Manicaland Minister of Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba. Dr Moyo died on Wednesday last week while Dr Matiza and Major-General (Retired) Zimondi both died on Friday. The three died of Covid-19 related health complications. Minister Kazembe said the burials would follow strict Covid-19 control measures prescribed by the Government to contain the rapid spread of the virus. The Acting President (General Rtd Dr Chiwenga) will preside over the burials of the three national heroes. We are in the middle of the pandemic and like what has already been announced, the burials will follow strict control measures. There will be limited numbers and those who are coming for the burials will do so strictly by invitation. Those who are coming have already been notified, said Minister Kazembe. Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr Moyo was a three-star General on retirement, and served his country as a Cabinet Minister, while Major-General (Retired) Zimondi was a two-star General on retirement from the army before being seconded to the then Zimbabwe Prison Service in 1997. Despite his exemplary career in the military, Lt Gen Moyo was a distinguished scholar of international repute, President Mnangagwa last week said he balanced his time between his responsibilities and chores as a soldier, and his pursuit of higher studies. Such was his discipline and unrelenting quest for self-improvement which inspired all of us, he said. As a Cabinet minister, Dr Moyo had become the face of the countrys re-engagement thrust under the New Dispensation led by President Mnangagwa, had been making steady progress on that front with Zimbabwe now beginning to enjoy warmer ties with countries formerly regarded as adversaries. Villagers in Jona Village, Mbuyanehanda area in Mberengwa, unsuccessfully implored authorities this week to deploy a helicopter carrying Dr Moyos body to do a fly past in the area so that they could bid farewell to one of their own since they would not be allowed into the National Heroes Acre because of Covid-19 restrictions. Busi, as the late national hero was affectionately known in the Mbuyanehanda area, endeared himself to the local community, especially after his sudden and unexpected rise to fame in November 2017 when he was tasked with announcing the coming in of the New Dispensation. Visibly shaken and troubled, the villagers were yesterday still trying to come to terms with Busis death, wishing all the time, that their request had been approved. The villagers appeared to be more frightened of the deadly pandemic after it robbed them of their gallant son. They all seemed determined to know of the funeral arrangements and whether they would be allowed a chance to see their hero for one last time even in the midst of the ravaging Covid-19 pandemic. We are shaken, we are speechless, how come this Covid-19 thing decided to hit us hard by taking the man who we were all looking up to in Mberengwa and Mbuyanehanda in particular. We are terrified, said local Councillor, Mr Misheck Gomesh Zhou who was among the villagers at the late Minister Moyos homestead. A local village head, Mr Teerai Siyakwazi said the late Minister Moyo was so passionate about development and he was about to complete a water reticulation project in the entire Mbuyanehanda area. Mrs Aleta Moyo, wife to the late Minister Moyos bother Bothwel, said the Moyo family had lost a pillar. He was a very quiet man, a loving husband but very pragmatic and a unifier. He was passionate about development and every now and then, he would ask my husband, his brother, to identify areas which needed urgent attention, she said. Acting President Chiwenga extolled the journey travelled by Minister Matiza saying he held several appointments such as Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, as well as Minister of State for Mashonaland East Province, and Deputy Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing. Acting President Chiwenga said the fact that he was entrusted to hold such portfolios signifies the wealth of experience in Government that he accumulated over the years. He said Dr Matiza was a resolute and transformative minister committed to implementing transport and infrastructural development programmes and projects. VP Chiwenga said Minister Matiza advocated the utilisation of local materials and human capital, which helped to reduce operational costs and empowered the expertise abundant in the country. Acting President Chiwenga said the late Major General (Retired) Zimondi, was a stalwart of the liberation struggle who played a critical role in that regard. Major-General Zimondi joined the liberation struggle as a cadre of the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) in 1974 and underwent military training at Mgagao in Tanzania. After completing training, he was chosen to be an instructor. However, that appointment was shortlived as he was nominated to be part of the comrades who were deployed to open a new front in Gaza Province for joint operations with the Zimbabwe Peoples Revolutionary Army (Zipra) under the banner of the Zimbabwe Peoples Army (Zipa). Cde Tonderai Nyika was a close friend and fellow member of the Zanla High Command. Due to his diligence and acumen, he was given operational tasks that made a great impact in turning around the tide of the liberation war effort against the Rhodesian colonial establishment. He said apart from commanding Manica Province, he was part of the Zanla contingent that carried out the very first attack on Rhodesias third largest city, Umtali (now Mutare) in 1978 and the acting President described him as a great strategist and shrewd commander. In post-independence Zimbabwe, Major-General (Retired) Zimondi had an illustrious service in the Zimbabwe National Army where he was Colonel General Staff (Col GS) in charge of army operations, Commander I Infantry Brigade, Chief of Defence Intelligence and Commander, Presidential Guard Brigade. On retirement in 1997, he was assigned to the then Zimbabwe Prison Service (now the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Service) and later became its Commissioner-General. Among other modernisation strategies, he spearheaded the transformation of the correctional service to focus on rehabilitation of the offender. Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (Zudac) mourned the late heroes, saying their death was a great loss to the nation. In a statement, Zudac president Mr Fradreck Maguramhinga, hailed the open door policy of Minister Matiza. He was the first Minister of Transport to listen to us and managed to meet truck drivers, bus drivers, kombi drivers, taxi drivers and other transport workers. Herald The animal formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico Brydes whale could need a new name. The endangered whale may upon confirmation be an entirely new species, according to research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists have long puzzled over the whales, with fewer than 100 estimated in existence, perhaps among the rarest in the world. Examination of a skeleton found off of Everglades National Park in 2019, which was later buried at Fort De Soto Park to decompose, has led to new clues. Even something as large as a whale can be out there and be really different from all the whales, and we dont even know it, said Patricia Rosel, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist who led the research. It really brings to light the urgent need of conserving and protecting these animals in the gulf, and making sure we dont lose another marine mammal species like we already have. The species is considered the regions only baleen whale, known for comb-like plates in their mouths that strain food in lieu of teeth. The new name designation awaits recognition from a committee, in a process similar to peer review. Scientists have suggested calling the animal the Rices whale, after Dale Rice, a biologist who first recognized them in the gulf. Rosel and another scientist had noticed years ago that DNA samples from the gulf whales seemed different from other Brydes (pronounced BROO-dus) whales, found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. But to be confident in designating a new species entirely, Rosel said, they needed to examine the whales skull. That proved difficult because of how uncommon the whales and their remains are. They found one old specimen, from the 1950s, in a collection in Louisiana. But it was missing the crucial bones they needed for comparison. They dug up the bones from another whale at Fort De Soto, which had been killed by a boat and found floating off Tampa Bay in 2009. But the skull had been crushed. Rosel suspected the backhoe that entombed it was to blame. Then in early 2019 came a tragic break. Someone fishing spotted an enormous dead whale floating off the Everglades. It was 38 feet long, and scientists rushed to dissect it. They found a 3-inch piece of plastic in part of its stomach, which may have contributed to its death. The rarity of getting a large whale on the Gulf Coast is pretty big, said Gretchen Lovewell, the stranding investigations program manager at Mote Marine Lab, which helped with the recovery. In her 12 years in the area, she can recall only three. The carcass was also briefly buried at Fort De Soto Park. Later, the animals skeleton was brought to a Smithsonian facility outside downtown Washington D.C., where Rosel looked at the skull. She walked among 8-foot long jawbones from other whales and around a blue whale skull that reached nearly to the ceiling. Joined by an expert from Japan, Rosel determined bones around what would have been the Gulf of Mexico animals blowhole were different from other Brydes whales. She now believes some Brydes whales could have broken off years ago and evolved separately. Possibly a group of them entered the Gulf of Mexico, became isolated and stayed there, she said. They would still be considered endangered even after a name change. An estimate from federal surveys in 2009 indicated there might have been just 33 alive at the time. Baleen whales in the gulf are thought to live primarily in northern waters, in a crook of open sea offshore from Alabama to roughly Sarasota. They grow up to 60,000 pounds and reach 42 feet long, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They look a lot like Brydes whales. Long and slender, their throats contain grooves that stretch when they eat. Oil drilling and boats pose some of the biggest threats to the species. The whales may spend a lot of time swimming 50 feet or less from the surface and are sometimes curious in swimming close to ships, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After the Deepwater Horizon spill, a federal report estimated that oil reached into about half of the whales estimated territory and may have contributed to cutting the population by almost a quarter. Seismic surveys underwater blasts of sound used to search for oil deposits also hurt whales, which communicate with each other using low-frequency calls. Such surveys were supported late last year by federal regulators, amid outcry from environmentalists. Were long overdue in grappling with the conservation threats that exist for this species, Michael Jasny, the director of the marine mammal protection project at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Michael Heithaus, a biology professor and dean at Florida International University, said the designation of a potential new species is exciting. But for researchers studying the animals like him, its also a reminder of how little people know about the natural world they are upending. Now weve got the responsibility, Heithaus said, to make sure that we dont lose this species. ___ (c)2021 the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at www.tampabay.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., isnt part of the Republican leadership in the Senate, as Texas John Cornyn was until two years ago. Nor is he a frequent guest on Sunday morning talk shows, as is Sen. Ted Cruz. Hes never run for president or mounted a movement. Hes quiet so quiet you may not have immediately placed his name. But like your mama said, its the quiet ones you have to watch out for. If only Texas had heeded that advice. The six-term senator from Tuscaloosa is discretely powerful. The Pentagon announced earlier this month that the headquarters for the U.S. Space Force, the first new branch of the military since the Air Force was created in 1947, would be headquartered not in Space City, not even in Texas, but in Huntsville, Ala., known ever more widely as Rocket City. Space Force, with some overlap from the Air Force, will be responsible for Americas military footprint in space and is separate from NASA. Landing the headquarters, with the prestigious name of U.S. Space Command, was another win for Huntsville, which is fast rivaling Houston as the center of gravity for Americas space program. As we wrote in 2019, when NASA bypassed Houstons Johnson Space Center to put Huntsville in charge of the lunar landing vehicles for the next mission to the moon, jaws dropped across Texas like falling meteors. Cornyn and Cruz both vowed to fight harder the next time around. This time, though, Space City wasnt even a finalist. But San Antonio and other cities with deep ties to space or the military were. Theyre shouting mad about the decision. Folks in Alabama? Color them unsurprised. Its just another mission accomplished for Senator Shelby. Thats been his real expertise over the course of my whole career, to not make a lot of noise but to be very, very good at bringing home the money to Alabama, longtime columnist John Archibald of The Birmingham News told the editorial board this week. There are buildings all over the campuses throughout the state that have his name. Wasnt too long ago here in Texas that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison was cutting ribbons and distributing billion-dollar bundles to transit agencies in Houston and Dallas. Seems like a lifetime ago, doesnt it? Were no fans of pork barrel politics, but a little something for the home team, every once in a while anyway, might be nice. What good is it to have our senior senator buddied up with Senate Republican boss Mitch McConnell - Cornyn served for six years as his deputy - if when it comes to a weighty decision like this, Texas is lost in space? Both Cornyn and Cruz lobbied hard for San Antonio, sending letters on its behalf before and after it was named a finalist in December. Cruz, as chairman of the Senate subcommittee on space and aviation, has made space policy his signature legislative priority. In May 2019 he chaired a hearing on the emerging space environment. But who knows how things might have worked out differently had he spent more time helping Texas maintain its claim on the final frontier and less time helping Donald Trump cling to an illegitimate claim on the White House. A spokesman for Shelby has said the Air Force picked Huntsville because it scored best in objective criteria not because of politics or any deference to Shelbys role as the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Reports suggest that Huntsville did score well, with Colorado Springs just behind, but if you believe politics played no role, then we have some moon rocks to sell you. Air Force officials confirmed that Trump and the White House were consulted before the decision. Huntsville better hope the decision can withstand scrutiny, because the Democratic governor of Colorado is already urging the new Democrat in the White House to take another look. The command wont physically relocate for another six years, so theres still time for jockeying. But dont look for a Texas miracle. If four years of kissing up to Trump didnt give them enough pull, our fortunes arent likely to change now that Texas Republicans are living in political Siberia. Add to that an entrenched Democratic majority in the U.S. House, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton dutifully positioning the Lone Star State as the top pain in the Biden administrations backside, and we dont need a weather satellite to make this call: the forecast for Texas clout in Washington is decidedly chilly. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Seshagiri Rao remembers a meeting he had attended over 15 years ago, in which GN Bajpai, the then Chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India, also attended. The topic was corporate governance, a theme that resonated with the SEBI Chairman, who later went on to pen a book on the subject. "If corporate governance is an important parameter for investors to invest, why is there so much interest in China and Chinese companies," Rao asked Bajpai. It was a relevant question by the Joint Managing Director and Group CFO of JSW Steel. Did investors really value corporate governance? "Over the years it has been proved that a company needs sound business plan to survive. Just corporate governance won't do. At the same time, there is enough evidence now to say that having a good corporate governance system is a reflection of a good company," says Rao. A similar discussion is now happening on environment and social footprint of a company. Along with governance, the three now make up for ESG, a subject now increasingly being debated - whether a company's ESG is a relevant factor for an investor. JSW Steel thinks, it is. That is why the country's leading steelmaker has for the first time shared information on its environment and social footprint with investors, in the third quarter of this financial year. "This is the first quarter we have done this. We have given information on ESG parameters. From now on in every quarter, we will update on the ESG parameters," Rao told Moneycontrol. JSW Steel is the only second steelmaker in the country to do so. Tata Steel too shares information on the three parameters. Though the company has been reporting on ESG since the 2018 financial year in its annual reports, this is the first time it is sharing quarterly updates. Disclosures on ESG is fast becoming a trend globally. "Companies are making the transition from corporate social responsibility to ESG, "as investors are looking beyond numbers to understand how a company functions," Robert B Hirth, Jr, Senior Managing Director of Protiviti, told Moneycontrol in an earlier interaction. Protiviti is a US-based global consultancy. What JSW Steel data says The steel major has a Board-level committee on Business Responsibility and Sustainability Committee, which includes Rao. The company has set targets for 2030, with the base year being 2005, just like the Indian government has set, as per the Paris Agreement. "We have set targets on parameters such as carbon emission, water, solid waste and safety. For instance, just like the Indian government has promised to reduce carbon commission by 30 percent by 2030, we have done the same. Our commitment is to reduce it by 41 percent," said Rao. The company wants to be carbon neutral by 2030. "For instance, the Vijayanagar plant in Karnataka consumes 1,200 MW of power. Out of this, 500 MW is from heat and gas generated from mills. Balance is from fossil fuels. So how do we replace the 700 MW completely with renewable sources?" The company has several options. It could tap power supply from renewable sources such as solar, or make up for its commitment by buying Renewable Purchase Obligation, or RPO, certificates. Under RPO, companies have to buy 21 percent of their fuel needs from renewable sources. In all, JSW Steel has "17 focus areas" on the ESG framework. Investors interested? In 2020, asset management companies (AMCs) such as ICICI Prudential and Axis Mutual Fund launched ESG schemes, confirming the international trend. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the focus on ESG, with a global study saying that equity funds focused on these three areas doubling their inflows in 2020. "The disclosures should reflect the potential impact of the ESG activities of the corporates on the financial statements, to be more relevant to its readers or users. The disclosures further should be aligned to the relevant industry benchmark to reflect a relative progress and performance," said Vishal Seth, Managing Director, Financial Reporting and Transaction Services - Protiviti Member Firm for India Rao agrees to the trend, and reiterates the importance for an industry like steel that has traditionally been among the most polluting. And investors, adds the industry veteran, will take notice. "A company needs a business plan and needs to be structurally strong to be successful. And now, there is good evidence to show that if a company has a good ESG standards, it's a reflection of it doing well," says Rao. Crowds of people held a protest on Wednesday against the Kurdish militia siege of government-controlled zones in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, state news agency SANA reported. The people protested against the siege imposed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish security force, Assayish, which led to preventing the entry of food and other necessities to government areas in Hasakah. The students have also been denied access to their schools as a result of the siege that has been in place for two weeks. Citing its reporter in Hasakah, SANA said that the SDF opened fire to disperse the protesters with no reports on injuries yet. The SDF controls large swathes of Hasakah while the Syrian government controls a few areas in Hasakah, including the airport of the city of Qamishli. Recently, tension started brewing between both sides as the Syrian government has slammed in a statement the SDF due to their policies and the support they get from the US. 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Submit President Joe Bidens administration said Tuesday that it would work to restore diplomatic ties with Palestinian leaders while pushing for an eventual two-state solution, all the while continuing to urge Middle Eastern countries to establish formal relations with Israel. The new US administration will support a mutually agreed two-state solution in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state, acting US envoy to the United Nations Richard Mills said during a debate held by the Security Council on Tuesday. Mills also said the United States would work to reopen diplomatic missions to restore relations with the Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian people, which he said had atrophied over the last four years. US assistance benefits millions of ordinary Palestinians and helps to preserve a stable environment that benefits both Palestinians and Israelis, Mills said. He added that the administration intends to focus on humanitarian issues such as the situation in Gaza, which remains under Israeli blockade, and will seek to foster an environment to enable future peace talks between the two sides to resolve the more than seven-decade conflict. Mills' statement is the first public articulation of the new administrations approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since Biden took office last week. The plan would largely reverse the Trump administrations heavily pro-Israel approach to the conflict while continuing to build on strategic opportunities that have opened up for Washington via the Abraham Accords. The Trump administration closed the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington and cut nearly all humanitarian aid to the Palestinians before restoring a fraction of it last year. The UN envoy's conciliatory overture included a commitment of firm US support for Israel, saying the US administration would resist any biased UN resolutions that single out the Jewish state. US administrations have repeatedly shielded Israel from UN Security Council resolutions condemning Israeli conduct regarding the Palestinians. In 2016, the administration of President Barack Obama made headlines during its last full month in office by abstaining from voting on a resolution introduced by Egypt to demand an end to Israel's settlement-building. Netanyahu's government responded by slamming the Obama administration, under which Biden served as vice president. Though Biden has historically opposed the expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, he and some other officials were reportedly wary leading up to the abstention, citing concerns of backlash in Congress and from Israeli leaders. How the Biden administration plans to approach negotiations to achieve a two-state solution remains unclear. More than 460,000 Israeli settlers are estimated to live in the West Bank in what most of the international community says is a violation of international law. The territory, which was supposed to become the heart of an independent Palestinian state according to the 1993 Oslo Accord, remains under indefinite Israeli military occupation. Earlier this month, one of Israel's leading human rights groups, B'Tselem, declared the country an "apartheid" state due in part to how its differing rules apply to the more than 4 million Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation. Netanyahus government signed off on plans for some 800 new settlement housing units in the West Bank earlier this month in what some saw as a slight to Biden. The United States has so far not reacted to the settlement authorizations, though the United Kingdom and European Union expressed "concern" and called on Israel to halt all illegal settlement activity in the occupied territory. The US government has tended to shy away from calling the settlements "illegal" since a 1981 statement by President Ronald Reagan. Trump's State Department further departed from the international consensus in 2019 by asserting that the settlements do not violate international law. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahus government has been bracing for the new Biden administration after enjoying near carte-blanche approval for its policies from the Trump White House over the last four years. Israel's new ambassador to Washington, Gilad Erdan, is also Israel's envoy to the United Nations. His dual role comes at a time of increased skepticism about Israeli policies among many Democrats; at the same time, Biden has a long record of support for Israel. Bidens pick for UN ambassador, veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will appear before the Senate for a confirmation hearing Wednesday. The Biden White House has not yet appointed an ambassador to Israel, a key role that will likely serve as a bellwether for policy. Armie Hammer provoked his dog Archie to bite him then complained about the pet while showing off his stitches on his private Instagram account, DailyMail.com has learned. The 34-year-old had an inch-long wound bound together with stitches on his right hand, and posted the photo with the caption 'F**king Archie' on December 8, 2020, implying the dog he shares with his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers had bit him. But a source told DailyMail.com that Hammer had been goading Archie, a Welsh Terrier, to nip at him, explaining the pet is 'very docile' and 'would only do something like this if provoked.' Last week, Hammer's ex-girlfriend Paige Lorenze claimed Hammer talked about wanting to strangle the dog, saying: 'He would get angry at his dog and say like: "I'm going to kill this dog, I would have strangled him if you weren't here''.' However, Lorenze, 22, noted that she does not believe he ever hurt the animal. The Instagram model also revealed that Hammer 'kept mannequins in the basement of his family home to practice tying up women, as DailyMail.com obtained photos from his private Instagram account that showed him trying out different roping techniques on a grappling dummy. In one post, dated December 20 while he was quarantining in Grand Cayman to see his family, Hammer shared a photo of an intricate bind and wrote: 'That's what this thing is for... right? '(PS if quarantine doesn't start moving more quickly I'm going to f**k this thing.' Armie Hammer provoked his dog Archie to bite him then complained about the pet while showing off his stitches on his private Instagram account, DailyMail.com has learned The 34-year-old showed off an inch-long wound bound together with stitches on his right hand, with the caption 'F**king Archie' on December 8, 2020, implying the dog he shares with estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers had bit him But a source told DailyMail.com that Hammer had been goading Archie, a Welsh Terrier, to nip at him, explaining the pet is 'very docile' and 'would only do something like this if provoked' Hammer posted a total of four rope tying photos, as well as a meme about bondage to the private account, which is only followed by a handful of his friends. DailyMail.com previously revealed he had posted a video of a woman he described as 'Miss Cayman' dressed in lingerie waiting patiently on all fours on his bed. He later apologized for the clip and clarified the woman was not Miss Cayman. Hammer also posted several photos referring to his drug usage and about having to take drug tests in order to see the two children he shares with Chambers. Lorenze, 22, opened up about her 'deeply traumatic' four-month relationship with Hammer last week, describing how it left her emotionally and physically scarred. The former professional skier-turned-Instagram model provided DailyMailTV with an exclusive image of a sickening cut just millimeters away from her private parts that was left when Hammer allegedly carved his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game. Lorenze's story about the basement mannequins was supported by photos posted online by another alleged former lover, known on Instagram as Nastya D. Screenshots of messages purportedly sent to Nastya D by Hammer showed a mannequin wrapped in red rope with what he called a 'leash' coming out of the back. A partially blurred message accompanying the photos read: 'I was thinking about how perfect your [expletive] are and I tried to come up with a chest harness that had a handle in the middle of your perfect [expletive]... oh, and a [expletive] knot.' Lorenze said Hammer often tied her up, hit her with paddles and planned out 'high protocol nights' of painful sexual moves, which often left her covered in bruises. She said her lover - 12 years her senior - was 'sweet and kind' but 'manipulative'. The Instagram model also revealed that Hammer 'kept mannequins in the basement of his family home to practice tying up women, as DailyMail.com obtained photos from his private Instagram account that showed him trying out different roping techniques on a grappling dummy Hammer posted a total of four rope tying photos, as well as a meme about bondage to the private account, which is only followed by a handful of his friends Lorenze's story about the basement mannequins was supported by photos posted online by another alleged former lover, known on Instagram as Nastya D 'I think he definitely loved it that I was younger. He always had me wear lingerie and tied me up,' she said. 'I just kind of agreed to it and let it happen, I was just trying to please him. 'He would say things like: "I want to bite a piece of your skin off and eat it," he would bite me so hard. Sometimes it would basically break skin.' A lawyer for Hammer has categorically denied the allegations against him, calling them 'patently untrue'. But Lorenze says she wanted to make her experiences known to help protect other women. 'I'm not trying to kink shame at all,' Lorenze said. 'But I think that dangerous men [sometimes] use this as like a smoke screen for abusing and hurting women for their own sexual pleasure. 'I am holding him accountable and I think he knows that he's caused a lot of women pain, even if he doesn't want to admit it right now. And there is power in numbers.' 'This [situation] is terrible, it's so unfair on his children and I think everyone is just so disgusted and shocked.' In her interview with DailyMailTV, Lorenze exposed Hammer as an out-of-control narcissistic sexual deviant and said his wild fantasies and BDSM-fueled desires could 'seriously injure another woman.' She described how Hammer - who has claimed he's '100% a cannibal' in vile Instagram messages to other women - licked blood from the wound he left when he allegedly carved his initial into her. The blond beauty said Hammer was fixated on biting her body, begging that she allow him to take lumps of flesh from her arm, before consuming them. Hammer, who is currently embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle with his wife Chambers, also urged his lover Lorenze to participate in 'role play' sex, she said. Armie Hammer's ex-lover Paige Lorenze (pictured together) claims he kept mannequins in his basement to practice tying women up The former professional skier-turned-Instagram model provided DailyMailTV with an exclusive image of a sickening cut just millimetres away from her private parts that was left when Hammer allegedly carved his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game Lorenze claims the actor is a heavy drinker and enjoyed taking 'hallucinogens' as well as party substances, during their time together. Pictured: The 34-year-old posted to his secret Instagram account a snippet of himself taking a drag from a vape box on December 16, writing: 'When you realize they don't test for DMT on drug tests' Even on their first night of intimacy, Lorenze claimed Hammer insisted: 'You can either call me daddy or sir.' Lorenze described their time together in Los Angeles as 'like a real life 50 Shades Of Grey without the love'. Laying out more of his sick fantasies, Hammer begged the Instagram model to have her ribs removed, so that he could barbecue them. Even with his family at Thanksgiving, Hammer took along his leather bound BDSM case for kinky sex games. In a photo shared exclusively with DailyMailTV Hammer is seen posing with Lorenze and his mother Dru Ann during the holidays, which they celebrated in Dallas, Texas. In another exclusive photo the former couple are seen shirtless on a moped in the desert, Hammer smiling and wearing a cowboy hat. Lorenze told DailyMailTV: 'I want Armie to address his demons, see the pain and trauma that he has caused me and other women. 'He told me there's a whole community that will do this stuff, that it was not criminal. 'He really thought that his fantasies were normal behavior in the BDSM, non-normative, sexual kink community. I thought that this is what it was. I thought I was safe. 'But any man who is fantasizing about crushing bones, eating them, having sex with female limp bodies is a danger to all women. 'And this is not me kink shaming, I want that to be clear. 'His actions and behavior are dangerous and emotionally and psychologically damaging. 'He is saying people are kink shaming him and should not comment on his sex life, but BDSM is a smoke screen for him wanting to hurt women. 'You can be just as traumatized by consensual sex. It's unacceptable that he coerces women into agreeing to let him hurt them.' SUV After road-tripping it from headquarters to Wyoming and back, The Fast Lane is much obliged to give a one-month ownership verdict on the unibody luxury off-road. First things first, Roman cant get enough of the looks of this truck even though truck isnt the right word, in my opinion.I wont deny that Land Rover did an incredible job with the styling. Every little detail and every angle are homages to the previous model, but as opposed to ol body-on-frame grandpa, the interior of the Defender is obviously more luxurious. Dont be fooled by the exposed screws on the door cards because this cockpit has more in common with the Range Rover than the Discovery. The powerplant is another glimpse of modernity.Instead of a free-breathing V8 from Jaguar, the turbocharged straight-six engine with mild-hybrid assistance is pretty much aligned with the industrys trends. A four-cylinder turbo is offered as the standard engine, although its undersized and underpowered for this vehicle.Cavernous would be the word to describe the cargo area behind the second-row seats, and if you really need them, a couple of more seats are offered as well. Plastic floor lining is a nice touch in its own right, particularly because cleaning is much easier than when dealing with carpeting.Comfy and squishy is how Tommy summarizes the on-road driving experience thanks, in part, to electronic air suspension with Adaptive Dynamics. Roman further highlights the lack of direct competitors for the Defender , which is a fair point. The Wrangler doesnt live up to the plushness of this vehicle, the 4Runner TRD Pro doesnt come close either, and the Toyota Land Cruiser is playing in a wholly different league.What about the bad points, you ask? Well, the overall size makes it lumbersome on the trail and the brakes are really grabby in terms of pedal modulation. The infotainment system is very slow and tricky to operate, theres no recovery hook out back, and the value is pretty abysmal at best.The issue is, the base spec isnt all that premium, concluded Tommy. For $50,000, you get cloth seats, but you dont get lumbar adjustments. Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen (Photo: VNA) Hanoi Resident Representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen promised to closely coordinate with and contribute to the building and implementation of socio-economic development strategies and plans of Vietnam in a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA). During the interview, Wiesen said Vietnam was commended for the significant preparations of all the background documents for the 13th National Party Congress, particularly socio-economic development strategy and the socio-economic development plan. The official noted these critical documents will determine Vietnams cause of development for the next five- and ten-year periods. Wiesen affirmed the UNDP has been delighted to partner with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and other partners to contribute to the development of the socio-economic strategy and plan, saying it is looking forward to joining the Vietnamese Government in implementing them. The UNDP official said she thought all eyes are on Vietnam for its success in 2020, adding that what critical for Vietnam will be the quality of growth, including inclusive and sustainable growth. Talking about the countrys achievements last year, she praised Vietnams first time appearance in the list of countries with the high human development index by the UNDP as an extraordinary accomplishment. Wiesen said it showed the Vietnamese Governments dedicated commitment to growth and to the people-centered development. She attributed Vietnams fulfillment of its dual goal of pandemic control and economic growth to a strong and clear leadership that anticipated the health impacts, adapted quickly and responded with agility. According to the official, Vietnams overall success was also a result of the countrys mobilization of wide citizen support and of innovation. Wiesen said the UNDPs survey serving the Vietnam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Indexes (PAPI) recorded a high satisfaction rate among citizens on the governments performance in response to the pandemic. The UNDP representative concluded that Vietnam can be proud of its achievements last year, which will be the driving force behind its development in 2021. Democracies have slightly outperformed authoritarian countries in suppressing the coronavirus, according to an analysis that found smaller populations and competent bureaucracies were the major factors in managing the global pandemic. The COVID Performance Index compiled by the Lowy Institute ranked 98 countries handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, finding New Zealand performed the best while Australia sits in eighth place. Australia came in eighth place of the best-performing countries in suppressing the coronavirus. Credit:James Brickwood New Zealand was closely followed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus, while the United States was the fifth-worst performing country. There has been growing concern from western commentators that the failure of some democracies to suppress the virus will result in more countries losing faith in the model of liberal democratic government and turn to authoritarianism. A No Trespassing sign stands in front the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., on Aug. 26, 2020. (Michael Conroy/AP Photo) Biden Orders DOJ to End Use of Federally Funded Private Prisons President Joe Biden directed the federal government on Jan. 25 to cease its reliance on federally funded private prisons, a move that renews an Obama-era policy. Under the executive order, the attorney general must decline to renew Justice Department (DOJ) contracts with privately operated facilities. To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the Federal Governments reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities, Biden wrote in his order. The rule would essentially require the DOJ to maintain the same policy position on private prison facilities as in 2016, when then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates ordered the federal Bureau of Prisons to decline to renew that contract or substantially reduce its scope in a manner consistent with law and the overall decline of the bureaus inmate population. The goal of the Justice Department is to ensure consistency in safety, security, and rehabilitation services by operating its own prison facilities, Yates said at the time. Yatess memo was rescinded in 2017 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who said the memo changed long-standing policy and practice, and impaired the Bureaus ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. One of the private operators of federal prisons, Geo Group, characterized Bidens order as a political statement. Given the steps the BOP had already announced, todays Executive Order merely represents a political statement, which could carry serious negative unintended consequences, including the loss of hundreds of jobs and negative economic impact for the communities where our facilities are located, which are already struggling economically due to the COVID pandemic, a company spokesperson said in a statement. Over the past few months, the federal government had already announced that it wouldnt renew contacts for privately operated prison facilities. Geo Group indicated in a previous statement that this was because federal prison populations have experienced a decline, in particular, due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. This decline and other factors may result in future decisions by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to not renew additional BOP contracts, the company said in a separate statement. Some critics and civil rights groups pointed out that the order doesnt end the federal governments reliance on immigration detention centers that are privately operated. The order about private prisons was signed alongside three other orders aimed to promote racial equity. Biden and other Democrats have long claimed that systemic racism exists in the United States and the president has made addressing the issue one of his administrations priorities. Biden has signed a number of orders and measures in what his administration says would advance equity and support communities of color and other underserved communities. His other orders direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to address any discrimination in federal housing policies, condemn cases of racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders amid the CCP virus pandemic, and attempts to strengthen relationships with tribal communities. [January 27, 2021] CODY Expands Health Plan Technology and Consulting Capabilities With $7.3 Million Madena Acquisition TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CODY, a Tampa, Florida-based healthcare technology and consulting firm, has acquired Madena in a transaction valued at $7.3 million. Madena, a recognized consulting and software leader with an emphasis on enrollment, billing and reconciliation, is best known for its enrollment and reconciliation software, Synchronicity. "The combination of our products, services and industry expertise provides health plans serving the Medicare, Medicaid and commercial markets an end-to-end integrated solution previously not available in today's market," said Deb Mabari, CODY's founder and Chief Executive Officer. CODY works with more than 60 government-funded, commercial and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans to help improve regulatory compliance, manage plan benefit data, and streamline member and provider communications to maximize performance across the enterprise. CodySoft, CODY's proprietary suite of software, is designed specifically for health plans. "Driven by the increased scrutiny, escalated enforcement and rising penalties for non-compliance, Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) are in search of better ways to operate more efficiently, mitigate risk, reduce costs and deliver a better experience to serve plan members," said Mabari. "Acquiing Madena enables CODY to further enhance its ability to do all that and more." Madena, with locations in Englewood, Colorado, and Biddeford, Maine, was established in 2012. The acquisition transaction combines over 50 employees working nationwide to serve health plans across the United States and Puerto Rico. "Madena was built on bridging the gap between government agencies and plan sponsors to pave the way for organizational success," said Denyse Wise, Madena's former Chief Executive Officer, who now serves as Chief Administrative Officer at CODY. "We look forward to continuing and expanding on that vision with CODY." "The similarities of culture and vision at Madena are a perfect match for CODY," Mabari said. "We couldn't have asked for a better fit. As we enter this next phase, we look forward to building an even stronger future together, as we broaden our capabilities and expand our offerings to fill a vital need and further support managed care plans." About CODY A leading provider of healthcare technology and consulting services, CODY was founded in 2006 by industry veterans with first-hand experience. CODY works with more than 60 government-funded, commercial and ACA health plans across 45 states and Puerto Rico. CodySoft, our proprietary suite of software, is designed specifically for health plans to help mitigate compliance risk, manage plan benefit data, streamline member/provider communications and maximize performance across the enterprise. www.codyconsulting.com About Madena Founded in 2012, Madena offers a comprehensive suite of proprietary software, business process outsourcing and consulting services to help Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug plans enhance revenue and support the enrollment and reconciliation process. Madena was built on bridging the gap between government agencies and plan sponsors to pave the way for organizational success. www.madenasolutions.com Media Contact: Noelle Fox noelle@truebluecommunications.com (813) 857-2949 Related Images cody-logo.jpg CODY logo View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cody-expands-health-plan-technology-and-consulting-capabilities-with-7-3-million-madena-acquisition-301215842.html SOURCE CODY [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] On Monday, the City of Philadelphia abruptly announced that it was cutting ties with Philly Fighting COVID (PFC), operator of the citys largest COVID-19 vaccination site. City officials cited their recent discovery that the organization, run by 22-year-old Drexel student Andrei Doroshin, had changed its corporate status from nonprofit to for-profit. The city also raised issues with recent changes to PFCs privacy policy, which to date has collected personal information from thousands of Philadelphia residents desperate for a vaccine. The citys unilateral cancellation of this partnership has left thousands of health-care personnel waiting on their second dose in limbo, confused and angered residents, and eroded trust in the citys ability to execute a mass vaccination campaign. Unfortunately, the PFC debacle is a natural consequence of the citys continued abdication of basic duties to residents, community groups, and nonprofit partners. This is a model of government that exacerbates existing inequities of city neighborhoods, with well-resourced neighborhoods able to meet the shortfall of services and underresourced neighborhoods suffering the consequences. READ MORE: City drops Philly Fighting COVID as vaccination partner after it failed to disclose for-profit arm As a former government official, I understand the challenges the city faces in coordinating and delivering services. While resources are limited, the number of worthy and important causes is not. Nonetheless, the citys failure in ceding its leadership role around vaccination coordination to a phalanx of independent organizations was an egregious breach of its most important duty: protecting public health. The Health Department should have been the tip of the spear in coordinating the vaccination effort. By failing to initially lead in this area, the city created a vacuum amid a crisis. This vacuum was filled by a bunch of, like, college kids trying to help out. This lack of leadership from the city forced people to rely on a highly questionable partner and may have exposed issues related to the use and disclosure of private health information and the ongoing potential lack of safeguarding under federal health information privacy laws. There are numerous reasons why the city should have built a centralized vaccination registration portal and implemented a safe and legal process to share protected health information with partner organizations. From a logistical standpoint, having a single sign-up would better help the city and medical providers track and manage demand for the vaccine. Instead, the failure to centralize registration created a free-for-all, with each organization maintaining its own database with individuals signing up with multiple organizations, confusing residents, duplicating data, siloing information, and skewing demand. Lastly, the city has undermined its ability to deliver on its promise of the equitable rollout of vaccines. One of the biggest challenges it will face in achieving an equitable vaccination process is closing the trust gap of Black and brown communities who are justifiably distressed and have suffered a long history of medical mistreatment and inequity in health care. The citys failure to properly vet and oversee one of its main partners further erodes the trust of our communities and makes an equitable vaccination program even more difficult to achieve. READ MORE: City Council wants answers as questions build over Philly Fighting COVID partnership, handling of vaccines So yes, be mad at Doroshin and Philly Fighting COVID for trying to profit off a pandemic, but recognize the role of our government in creating the opportunity for them to do so. Weve known for over six months that a vaccine was being fast-tracked. Rarely is the government afforded such a long runway to build and execute a crisis response plan. Im left flabbergasted and angered that we squandered this rare gift of time. I hope the city will learn from its mistakes, clearly communicate to residents how it is working to fix them, and fight to protect the data that it encouraged us to share. Most importantly, I hope the city rises to the challenge and implements a comprehensive vaccination strategy for our residents. On Monday, I buried my grandmother who died of COVID-19 on the same day she was scheduled to receive her first dose of the vaccine. This is a stark reminder that the consequences of failing to get this right will be measured not in dollars and cents, but in trust, and ultimately lives lost. Lauren Vidas is an attorney who formerly served in the Mayors Office during Michael Nutters administration. She lives in South Philadelphia. (ANSA) - ROME, JAN 27 - Italian police on Wednesday issued 11 warrants, six for house arrest and five for compulsory signing in with police, and carried out over 50 raids in northern and central Italy in a probe into a suspected renewable-energy-sector gang that allegedly defrauded the State of over 143 million euros. The raids took place in Trentino Alto Adige, Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria, Emilia Romagna, Sardinia and Lazio. Among those placed under house arrest was the former CEO of oil engineering company Saipem, Pietro Franco Tali, over alleged fraud involving a renewable energy firm, Biolevano, near Pavia. Police seized over 140 million euros from the company. Several villas were also seized in the probe. Pavia prosecutors Pavia Mario Venditti and Paolo Mazza said the scams amounted to a "fraud that hurt citizens" because power bills include charges for the renewable energy sector. Farm group Coldiretti said green incentives were attracting Italy's mafias. (ANSA). Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Douglas isnt a bad man, hes just a bland one. Hes a biochemist-turned middle manager, a man of lists and spreadsheets, of maps and itineraries and order. If you were feeling uncharitable youd say he was a killjoy; if you were being generous youd call him a wet blanket. Adapted by David Nicholls from his 2014 novel, the four-part BBC series Us is a portrait of a marriage in crisis, though it tries hard to straddle the line between comedy and drama, with a whopping dollop of travelogue for seasoning. Its about a family in crisis too, as Douglas struggles to find a way to talk to his 17-year-old son Albie (Tom Taylor), whose permanently attached headphones function as a kind of protective shield. Its Connie (Saskia Reeves) who sets the wheels in motion when she wakes husband Douglas (Tom Hollander) on the eve of a family jaunt through Europe with the words, I think our marriage might be over. But the journey that follows is all Douglass. Connie is (or was, until motherhood came along) an artist. Though we never see her work, we are meant to assume her worldview allows for a little more chaos and a lot more fun. In flashback sequences (where he is played by Iain De Caestecker and she by Gina Bramhill), we learn how they came to be together, and the triumphs and tragedies that formed their unlikely marriage; in the present day, we mostly see them drifting apart. After 20-plus years of marriage these opposites no longer attract at least as far as Connie is concerned. Its not that shes repulsed exactly, but with Albie soon to leave the nest she feels an impending sense of emptiness. Despite the imminent collapse of a life, its all very civilised and a bit too bloodless to be truly compelling. The decision to push on (itself so very English) with the planned trip may be pure plot contrivance, but thank goodness: watching this mid-life crisis play out in Surrey would have been a special kind of torture. Seeing it unfold in Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Barcelona and the rest at least offers a balm to their souls, and to our eyes. In a travelless time, its a bitter-sweet reminder of what were missing. In America, getting citizens to just wear masksfor the love of Godhas been an impossibly big ask. As such, the country is now the world leader in just about every one of the bad COVID-19 indicators. Meanwhile, in China, the birthplace of the coronavirus pandemic, the government is tightening up its already draconian measures and introducing a new testing protocol that, Chinese doctors say, is more accurate and will help suppress the virus. There is one catch however: It requires an anal swab. Certainly makes having to wear mask seem like no big deal. Advertisement The governments rationale for the latest testing regimen is that there is data suggesting that patients recovering from the virus will sometimes test negative with a traditional nasal or throat swab but continue to test positive days later in samples taken from the lower digestive tract. As for how the test is conducted, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published instructions last March, the Washington Post reports. It said that a stool sample should be taken from patients, and if that is not possible, to do an anal swab by inserting a cotton-tipped stick three to five centimeters (one to two inches) into the rectum. Subscribe to the Slatest newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. The Chinese government has recently reimposed more stringent coronavirus restrictions as it battles to contain outbreaks ahead of the Lunar New Year next month, a holiday period when huge swaths of the country travel home. So far the anal swab has reportedly only been used in particularly high-risk situations. Officials took anal swabs from residents of neighborhoods with confirmed Covid-19 cases in Beijing last week, according to the state broadcaster CCTV, while those in designated quarantine facilities have also had the tests, Agence France-Presse reports. The UK produced fewer than 1m cars as Covid meant factories were severely disrupted by lockdowns and social distancing measures UK car production fell 30 per cent last year in the industrys worst 12 months since 1984. The UK produced fewer than 1m cars as the pandemic meant factories were severely disrupted by lockdowns and social distancing measures. Brexit played a role, as a deal went down to the wire. The last time under 1m cars were produced was 2009. But the industry has held off calling for government help, which has helped to sustain sales in France and Germany. The industry is the UKs largest exporter, turning over 78.9billion a year and employing 180,000 people. Mike Hawes, at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: These figures are the worst in a generation. The industry faces 2021 with more optimism, however, with a vaccine being rolled out and clarity on how we trade with Europe, our biggest market. There was optimism though as electric cars continued to be rolled out in 2020. Southside Brisbane roads will be clogged with extra B-double trucks under the current route for Inland Rail, a Senate inquiry has been told. Former Howard government minister Gary Hardgrave, who chairs a community consultation committee for Inland Rail, said there would be a tripling of trucks in Acacia Ridge, where the planned line would terminate, by 2050. The $14.5 billion Inland Rail project began with a sod turn at Parkes, NSW, in December 2018. It will be devastating for southside Brisbane if the plan is just to terminate it all at Acacia Ridge because itll just put more and more trucks on local roads, which theyre not designed for, Mr Hardgrave, the former federal Liberal member for Moreton, said. Theres certainly a very strong sentiment among many people that Acacia Ridge would have been the right termination point if this was 1920 but its 2021. Israel threatens U.S. Israelis Say Theyll Attack Iran If US Eases Sanctions By Arie Egozi January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " -TEL AVIV: Israel has said openly that it will attack Iran if the U.S eases sanctions against the Shiite regime and agrees to go back to the nuclear agreement the Jewish state claims is the biggest hoax in recent history. Israel needs to know and fast whether Washington plans to stop Irans race to the bomb or take some action to do this, a source told BD. Israeli intelligence is closely watching the Iranian nuclear facilities. The people who need to know are updated by the hour the source said. Israel allegedly attacked another Iranian target in Syria on Jan 21 and such attacks are likely to continue. This pressure will continue and grow, as a preparation for a direct attack on targets in Iran, the Israeli source here added. Ministers of the Likud Party said earlier this week that the new US administration must not appease Iran, and warned Tehran that the Jewish state will not tolerate its military presence in Syria or accept its plans to build a nuclear bomb. One of the more direct warnings came from Likud minister Tzachi Hanegbi , part of Bibi Netanyahus inner circle. He said Israel could attack Irans nuclear program if the United States rejoined the nuclear deal. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter If the United States government rejoins the nuclear deal and that seems to be the stated policy as of now the practical result will be that Israel will again be alone against Iran. By the end of the deal Iran will have received a green light from the world, including the United States, to continue with its nuclear weapons program, Hanegbi said in an interview with Israel Kan news channel. A top Israeli expert on Iran and the Arab world, Mordechai Kedar, told Breaking D that he is sure Washington will ignore all the Israel requests. The new administration will do everything to bring Iran back into the family of nations, without really understand their real goals. Kedar added that this will cause great fears in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Israel will be left alone to act in open and covert actions against the Iranian nuclear program. Kedar explained the Iranian motivation: They saw what happened to Libya and Muammar Gaddafi after he stopped his nuclear program while at the same time, they see how the world gently treats North Korea now that is has a bomb. The lesson for Teheran is very clear. l, as US President-elect Joe Biden has indicated he plans to do. In recent months Iran has signaled that it wants the end of the sanctions and has begun enriching uranium to a level of 20%, in violation of its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). At the same time, Iran has emphasized that its action is reversible, and stands ready to return to its obligations if the United States returns to the agreement and lifts sanctions. All the experts here agree that any concession to Tehran will only accelerate this countrys race to the bomb. Look at the North Korean example. The same will happen in Iran the sources said. Iran has several objectives, says Yossi Kuperwasser, former director general of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the research division of IDF Military Intelligence. The first is shortening the period needed to achieve adequate amounts of enriched uranium to a level higher than 90% for producing a nuclear explosive device. Iran currently has 4.5% enriched material that, if enriched further, will be sufficient for more than two nuclear explosive devices. The time it takes Iran to obtain the amount of uranium required for one device from the moment it decides to do so (breakout) is about two months, but if the enrichment to 20% is carried out only by the 1,000 centrifuges operating in the deep underground facility at Fordo, as the Iranians have done so far, it will take longer. The Iranians recently installed cascades (sets) of advanced centrifuges at the underground facility in Natanz, and if 20% enrichment is also conducted there, the time needed to stockpile the material will be shortened, he says in a comprehensive paper he wrote for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a thinktank here. Enriching uranium to a level of 20% is also an expression of Iranian pluck. This is a move with no immediate risk of a strong reaction from the United States after the bluster of Tehrans implied threats that did not materialize into a violent Iranian response against the Americans on the anniversary of the assassination of Qassem Suleimani. In this respect, the Iranian measure is intended to help divert public attention from the regimes caution, which reflects recognition of its weakness and recoils from widespread confrontation with the United States, in light of U.S. warnings, Kuperwasser writes. The fourth and most important goal is to make it clear to incoming President Biden that his best option is to return quickly to the JCPOA. The initial international response to the move has been slack. More attention is given to Irans hijacking of a South Korean tanker. Iran hopes to get Seoul to release frozen Iranian funds. For now, Iran will be happy to take that safe bet on the way to a toothless nuclear agreement that will give them not only one nuclear bomb but a large arsenal of nuclear weapons in a decade without suffering militarily or economically. The declared willingness of Iran to return to the agreement testifies to its preferences. Kuperwasser says. Whats the right response? Send clear and unambiguous signals to Iran that any attempt to move towards the acquiring of enough enriched uranium for the production of nuclear weapons will be met harshly, with all options on the table. At the same time, economic pressure must continue to compel Iran to accept a new agreement that would scrupulously prevent any possibility of its stockpiling nuclear weapons. It must include full oversight everywhere and at all times, the lifting of restrictions on the duration of the agreement, the demolition of the enrichment facility in Fordo, and the inclusion of ballistic missiles in the deal.Now, how will the Biden administration react? Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 13:29:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson Wednesday said Taiwan authorities created political obstacles to the use of mainland vaccines by the people on the island. Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said some people in Taiwan continued to fabricate various excuses and lies for refusing to accept vaccines from the mainland. In pursuit of selfish political gains, they are endangering the lives and health of local people. Zhu made the remarks at a press conference when asked about the possibility of donating vaccines to Taiwan through the Red Cross. "The head of Taiwan's epidemic response agency has repeatedly said that mainland vaccines will not be used, so there are obstacles to this issue indeed, mainly political ones," she said. Enditem Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. In the late 1950s, the sleepy branch of a UK bank, with only five employees, in the small suburb of Idle, received a rare visit by a team of bank inspectors, who tested the behind-the-counter alarm system as part of their investigations, reports Ian Glendon of Ashmore (Qld). Pressing the buttons did not appear to activate the usual circuits. While the inspectors were investigating this apparent malfunction, a tray with five mugs of tea appeared courtesy of a staff member from the cafe next door. Did you notice that all our stories about employees carrying guns (C8) were all about men? Of course, it could be because it was predominantly men that were employed by banks and the like from that era, but that doesnt explain why Eva Elbourne was unarmed, and untroubled, as she carried a backpack full of diamonds around the city multiple times. Merran Loewenthal of Vienna votes for the frightening females idea, sharing that in London in the 1970s, our clients security guard, no gun of course, used me, a young lawyer, as a deterrent when delivering an open plastic box of cash in various currencies. It worked. Joy Cooksey of Harrington observes that, with women not needing guns for protection, It seems to quash the belief that women are the weaker sex. Wayne Duncombe of Thirroul believes: A certain indication that you are old (C8) is when the principal ingredient of your birthday cake is fire. Never mind the toothbrush holder (C8), Kerry Whalan found a shop assistant! exclaims Ingo Weinberger of Campsie. Claiming it must be movie rule number 87, Brian Peck of Chatswood notes, I have never seen a character in a movie use an electric toothbrush. A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber flies over Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Jan. 10, 2016. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo) US Deploys First B-52 Bomber Over Persian Gulf Under Biden in Show of Force The Pentagon on Wednesday successfully conducted a strategic bombers patrol mission from Louisiana to the Middle East to showcase U.S. commitment to regional security, military officials said. The crew of the U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress, a long-range heavy bomber, departed from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on Tuesday and reportedly completed a continuous flight into the Persian Gulf region. The United States regularly performs such military practices with B-52s patrolling over the Persian Gulf in a show of force meant to deter Iran from attacking American or allied targets in the Middle East. This long-range, short-duration defensive mission was intended to demonstrate the U.S. militarys ability to deploy airpower anywhere in the world to deter potential aggression, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. Since November 2020, the U.S. Air Force has completed six such patrol missions near Iran. It was, however, the first time since President Joe Biden took office. Last year in December, another pair of B-52 bombers flew from the same Louisiana air base over the Gulf in what the military called, a presence mission. A similar flight was repeated later in December when two B-52s flew nonstop from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota throughout the western side of the Persian Gulf. The military plane, B-52H Stratofortress, is able to perform a variety of missions. The strategic bomber can fly at high subsonic speeds at altitudes reaching 50,000 feet. The military plane has an unrefueled combat range in excess of 8,800 miles. A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bomber, assigned to the 96th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, deployed from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., lands during exercise Lightning Focus on Dec. 6, 2018. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Quail via AP) The United States continues to deploy combat-ready capabilities into the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to deter any potential adversary, and make clear that we are ready and able to respond to any aggression directed at Americans or our interests, Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of Central Command previously stated. We do not seek conflict, but no one should underestimate our ability to defend our forces or to act decisively in response to any attack, he added. Tensions with Iran escalated with the killing in November 2020 of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of Irans disbanded military nuclear program. Iran has blamed Israel for the killing, but U.S. officials are concerned that any Iranian retaliation could hit U.S. interests. There have been periodic confrontations between Irans military and U.S. forces in the Gulf since 2018, when former President Donald Trump abandoned Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reinstated extra sanctions against the regime. Biden previously said he will rejoin the nuclear deal if Iran resumes strict compliance. The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. 1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone. 2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea. 3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials. 4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied. Vote View Results Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 21:30:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping hears a work report delivered via video link from Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Ho Iat Seng on the Macao SAR government's work in 2020 and Macao's current situation, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping on Wednesday heard a work report via video link from Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Ho Iat Seng on the Macao SAR government's work in 2020 and Macao's current situation. Xi highlighted the work of Ho and the SAR government to tame the COVID-19 epidemic in Macao in a fairly short period, as a result of quick response and forceful measures. No new local infections have been reported in Macao for more than 300 days, an achievement highly appreciated by local society, according to Xi. "While preventing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic, effective measures have been taken to restore the economy and overcome the people's difficulties. These measures have achieved positive results and promoted social harmony in Macao," Xi told Ho. "The central authorities fully acknowledge the work you and the Macao SAR government have done," Xi said. He said the central authorities will continue to give full support to Macao in coordinating epidemic response with economic and social development. Xi also highlighted support to the SAR in improving its legal system for safeguarding national security and corresponding enforcement mechanisms, moving faster in promoting an appropriate level of diversity in its economy, better integrating into the country's overall development, and further advancing the successful "one country, two systems" practice with Macao characteristics. Ho expressed his sincere gratitude for the care and support provided to Macao by the central authorities. Ho said he will continue to lead people in Macao to break new ground for the practice of the "one country, two systems" with Macao characteristics. Senior leaders including Han Zheng attended the event. Its more real estate drama for the quick-tempered star of Real Housewives of New Jersey, Teresa Giudice. She's slashed the price of her mansion in Montville, NJ, to try to entice a buyer. The longtime cast member initially placed her posh property on the market last fall for $2.5 million. Its now back on the market for a little under $2.25 million. 1/7 Teresa and Joe Giudice's NJ home (realtor.com) 2/7 Entry (realtor.com) 3/7 Living room (realtor.com) 4/7 Dining room (realtor.com) 5/7 Family room (realtor.com) 6/7 Kitchen (realtor.com) 7/7 Master bedroom (realtor.com) She and her former husband, Joe Giudice, purchased the property in 2002 for $530,000 and then proceeded to build their dream home together. Their lavish showpiece was completed in 2008. The spread measures 10,000 square feet, with six bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. As reality TV fans know, the stars swanky spot often served as a backdrop for the popular show. The couple also spent time away from the home when they pleaded guilty to multiple federal fraud charges in March 2014. Teresa spent 11 months behind bars. Joe served his prison sentence after Teresa, and got out of jail in March 2019. But because Joe wasn't an American citizen, he was deported to Italy after serving his time. Now that the couple have split up, they're looking forward to moving on from this home with so much history. For potential buyers who want to know what its like to live there, look no farther than Giudices Instagram account, which showcases the social media influencer's life at home. She often gives shout-outs to products she's promoting in the kitchen. She also recently posted shots of her home's holiday decor. Set on 3.7 acres, the stone and stucco build opens to an opulent entry, with black marble floors, a Cinderella staircase, and glitzy chandelier. Giudice is also a bestselling author of cookbooks, and the main level includes her infamous chefs kitchen with its center island, the site of many dishy scenes with the Housewives. It's the perfect place to spill the tea, and includes stainless-steel appliances and a butlers pantry. ___ Watch: We Just Idolize Ryan Seacrest's Beverly Hills Compound ___ In addition, the layout includes a formal dining room, family room, wine cellar, and two-story great room with a wood-burning fireplace. Upstairs are two bedroom suites, two more bedrooms, an office, and a family room. The sprawling master suite boasts a detailed vaulted ceiling design, a fireplace, dressing area, three walk-in closets, and a master bathroom with onyx tiles. Outside, the grounds include a covered patio, a pool that was newly built in 2019, and a landscaped backyard. So, will the price cut clinch a sale? Perhaps the saga of this home continues into the upcoming season of the show. Stay tuned. Joshua Baris with Coldwell Banker Realty-Fort Lee Office holds the listing. The post 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' Diva Teresa Giudice Cuts Price of NJ Mansion appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. A family of 20, including 10 adults and 10 children, was removed from an American Airlines flight that departed from Salt Lake City on Sunday after the face covering worn by one of the passengers accidentally fell below their nose. The incident took place just as an American Airlines flight was set to depart Salt Lake City for Dallas on Sunday. According to Scott Wilson, he and his 19 relatives boarded the flight and were settling in when one family member's mask momentarily slipped beneath their nose before quickly correcting it. Moments later, they were told that they needed to get off the plane by a member of the crew. He said, Well, they want you to leave the plane, Wilson told KSL-TV. I said, What, they want us to get off the plane? Can we talk, can we have a conversation? A family of 20 people - including 10 adults and 10 children - were removed from an American Airlines flight on Sunday after the flight crew accused them of being non-compliant with their mask policy. The above image is a file photo of an American Airlines plane flying into San Diego International Airport in April Nobody has even really talked to us. Wilson said that the gate agent left and then returned once again, telling him that the crew wanted the whole family off the flight. He says, Im sorry, it has to be the whole family, Wilson said. All 10 adults and 10 children, whose ages range from 3 to 13 years old, left the plane, but they say other passengers supported the family. There was actually a couple families around us that stood up and was like, This is wrong, that guy is being a jerk. He was yelling at other people as they came on, too, and he was already mad at these guys. They didnt do anything, Wilson said. A witness told KSL-TV that the family was complying with the face mask rules and that the gate manager erred in removing them from the flight. The witness said he tried to speak to airline personnel in hopes of reversing the decision, but to no avail. Fortunately, other agents at the airport in Salt Lake City were sympathetic to the family, so they arranged for them to board other American, United, and Delta flights to their ultimate destination - Hawaii. One of the family members was accused of allowing their face covering to fall beneath their nose, prompting the entire family's removal. The above image is a September 2020 file photo of Salt Lake City International Airport They were livid, Wilson said of the helpful gate agents who rebooked their flights. They were mad at this guy and said, He is the one with the problem, you guys did nothing wrong. Weve never seen anything like this. Weve never had a situation like this, and he was totally in the wrong by doing what he did. The airline said in a statement: On Sunday, January 24, passengers traveling on American Airlines flight 1214 from Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) were reported to be noncompliant with our mandatory face covering policy, which requires face coverings be worn properly over the nose and mouth. Per procedure, the customers involved were asked to exit the aircraft before departure and the flight departed for DFW shortly after. American, like other US airlines, began requiring customers to wear a face covering while on board aircraft beginning May 11. We have since strengthened our policy to require face coverings be worn at airports and on board, and announced in June that we may deny future travel for customers who refuse to wear a face covering for the duration of this requirement. Bengaluru, Jan 27 : The seven-day legislative session in Karnataka will begin on Thursday with Governor Vajubhai Vala delivering the customary address to the joint sitting of the state legislature. The session is scheduled to conclude on February 5. This is the first session of the Karnataka legislature in the New Year and is likely to be stormy as the opposition parties are likely to corner the BJP government in the state, which is already battling resentment within after the recent cabinet rejig. This will be the first session after Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa expanded his cabinet for the third time in his 17-month rule by inducting seven new ministers and reallocating portfolios among certain ministers to quell the dissidence within his cabinet. After the Governor's address, obituary reference will be taken up to condole the death of important personalities. In all, 11 Bills will be presented in the session besides the question-hour session which will be held for six days. Public is not allowed to witness the session and all the members have been asked to adhere to the Covid norms without fail. The opposition Congress is set to encash on the public outbursts by a section of BJP legislators about the style of functioning of Yediyurappa and his son and BJP vice-president B.Y. Vijayendra, which are is expected to provide enough fodder to the opposition to corner the ruling party on its handling of the Covid crisis, providing relief to the flood affected people and the state's economy. The ongoing agitation by the farmers against the three Central farm laws and lack of funds for developmental activities are also likely to gain prominence during the session. The contentious anti-cow slaughter Act is once again expected to come to the fore with a Bill to this effect yet to be taken up in the legislative council. However, the state government has already promulgated the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance that provides for punishment for killing of cattle and offers protection to those 'acting in good faith' to save them, to give effect to the Bill that is pending. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said the new Bills listed by the government along with those that are pending from the previous session will be taken up for consideration and passage. Also, the government has promulgated three ordinances so far and Bills replacing them will be tabled during the session, he said. The session comes at a time when there is strong resentment from aspirants within the BJP following Yediyurappa inducting seven new ministers into his cabinet and also regarding reallocation of portfolios among some ministers that underwent at least four rounds of changes, under pressure and threats of resignation. Besides this, elections to the post of Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the legislative council will also take place during the session. The BJP cleared the name BJP MLC M.K. Pranesh from Chikkamagluru for the post of the Deputy Chairman that fell vacant due to the sudden demise of JD(S) leader S.L. Dharme Gowda, whose body was found on a railway track in Chikkamagaluru on December 29 last year. With this, it is imminent that the JD(S) will get the Chairman's post in lieu of giving its support to the BJP in the council, which the former requires badly to clear its pending Bills. Pranesh will be filing his nomination on Thursday and on Friday he might be declared unopposed if the opposition chooses not to contest. In the event of Pranesh's victory, in all probability, incumbent Chairman K. Pratapachandra Shetty, who is from the Congress, may resign soon as the ruling BJP has moved a no-confidence motion against him and is expected to secure the support of the JD(S). Currently, the ruling BJP is the single largest party in the council with 31 seats, followed by Congress with 29 seats, including the chairman, JD(S) with 13 seats, one Independent and one vacant seat (caused by the demise of Dharme Gowda). Myanmar & COVID-19 Myanmar Activists Demand Legal Action After Pro-Military Protest Breaches COVID-19 Rules A pro-military demonstration in Pathein on Jan. 25. / Salai Thant Zin / The Irrawaddy Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region Civil society organizations (CSOs) in Ayeyarwady Region have called for legal action against the organizers of a pro-military demonstration for violating COVID-19 regulations. A stay-at-home order is in force in Pathein but over 300 protesters joined the pro-military demonstration and violated COVID-19 regulations. We accept they have rights to freedom of expression. But we cant accept such large gatherings during the pandemic. We ask the authorities to take legal action, said U Sein Hla Aung from the 1988 pro-democracy activist group based in Pathein, capital of Ayeyarwady Region. Tatmadaw (military) sympathizers sought approval from the authorities for a demonstration with 30 people to condemn the Nov. 8 general election results and in support of the armed forces, promising it would follow COVID-19 regulations. However, when the event was held on Monday at the Hittine (Vox Populi) Ground in Pathein, more than 300 people, including demonstrators from Kangyidaunt, Kyaunggon and Pantanaw townships, joined the event. They held placards saying the election results were illegal and the voting was rigged. They called for an investigation into vote-rigging and demanded the Supreme Court of the Union establish the truth, saying anyone sowing discord between the Tatmadaw and people is an enemy. Demonstration organizers refused to speak to the media. Pathein Township COVID-19 committee chairman U Yarzar Aye said: We will report the case to the regional government and ask for guidance. A stay-at-home order has been in effect in Pathein since Oct. 25 last year due to COVID-19 spikes in the township. Only one person per household is allowed to shop and people are required to wear face masks when outside. Fines are imposed on violators. CSOs in Pathein said the numbers at Mondays demonstration far exceeded those permitted and many did not keep 2 meters apart or wear masks. The CSOs called on the regional government to investigate how hundreds of people from other townships could enter Pathein, despite stay-at-home orders. Ko Lin Lin of the Ayeyarwady Transparency and Accountability Association said: Every citizen must follow the COVID-19 orders. Even if they applied to hold the demonstration under the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, we cant accept that. We have objected. Other people have been punished for breaching COVID-19 regulations. We want legal action to be taken. Lower House lawmaker U Wai Hline Tun of Pathein Township said: Stay-at-home orders are still being enforced. We did not campaign ahead of the election for fear it may cause public gatherings. If they are to organize a demonstration, they should have complied with what was permitted. But they overstepped the permission and they must be sued under the Natural Disaster Management Law. Last month four farmers organized a press conference in Pathein about the alleged confiscation of their land at Chaungtha Beach. The press conference was attended by 15 people. Police opened a case against the four under the Natural Disaster Management Law for holding the press conference without permission. The four farmers are currently in hiding. If no action is taken after the event was attended by hundreds of people but a lawsuit was filed after a press conference that followed COVID-19 regulations and was only attended by 15 people, it shows there is no justice or rule of law. There must be equality before the law. Legal action must be taken against the organizers of the event that blatantly violated COVID-19 regulations, said U Sein Hla Aung. When supporters of the Union Solidarity and Development Party and National League for Democracy held rallies ahead of the Nov. 8 election in Pathein, the township authorities opened cases under the Natural Disaster Management Law. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko You may also like these stories: Myanmar Due to Begin COVID-19 Vaccinations Hundreds More Myanmar Migrant Workers Test Positive for COVID-19 in Thailand Myanmar World Heritage Site Residents Demand Return of Visitors as COVID-19 Hits Economy New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the central government why it is resisting an order of the court to translate the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in all vernacular languages. "We do not understand why the government is resisting an order of this court for translating the draft into the languages so that everyone can understand and respond to it," the bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel said. Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, appearing on the behalf of the Centre, told the court that translating it in several languages would create a lot of "administrative problems". The ASG said, "We will file an affidavit." Following this, Chief Justice Patel slated the matter for February 25 for the Centre to place on record the difficulties faced by it in translating the draft. The Chief Justice was hearing a review petition filed by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change against an order to translate the draft notification into 22 vernacular languages. In its June 30 judgment, the court had directed the ministry to translate the draft notification in all the 22 languages mentioned in the Constitution within 10 days of the verdict, on the application filed by environmentalist Vikrant Tongad. Tongad, in his application, had sought the court's directions to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to upload the translated versions of the draft EIA 2020 on the home page of its main website. On March 23, the ministry published a draft notification on the Environmental Impact Assessment and sought objections or suggestions from members of the public. The draft has been widely criticised for its problematic changes in rules. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 02:33:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that Britain will impose mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals returning from "red list" countries. Travelers who return from "red list" countries will be placed in quarantine in government-designated accommodation such as hotels for 10 days, Boris Johnson told lawmakers. It is understood that travelers will have to pay to isolate in a monitored hotel, with coronavirus testing carried out during their stay. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons (lower house of parliament), Johnson said the new measures are designed at preventing new coronavirus variants from abroad. In a statement released Wednesday, the British government announced further action for outbound and inbound passengers to minimize travel across international borders and reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. For those wishing to travel out of Britain, the reason for travel will be checked. Anyone who does not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home and may face a fine, according to the statement. There will be an increased police presence at ports and airports, fining those in breach of the stay at home regulations. The statement confirmed that those arriving from countries where Britain has imposed international travel bans and who cannot be refused entry will be required to isolate in hotels for 10 days without exception and more details will be provided in due course. Britain has banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. Meanwhile, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said, "There are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. The rules are clear -- people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave. Going on holiday is not a valid reason." "As we have done throughout this global health emergency, we will continue to take all steps necessary to protect the public and help prevent the spread of the virus," she said. Meanwhile, the prime minister said he and the government take "full responsibility" after the coronavirus-related deaths passed the 100,000 landmark Tuesday. "I mourn every death in this pandemic and we share the grief of all those who have been bereaved. I and the government take full responsibility for all the actions we have taken to fight this pandemic," Johnson said. Johnson said that the government will reflect on the decisions taken, but he did not think it is the right time now as Britain remains in the middle of the pandemic. The government needs to focus on keeping the virus under control and continuing the fastest vaccine rollout in Europe, he said. More than 7.1 million people in Britain have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to latest official figures. Asked about the government's "legacy of poor decisions", Johnson said the government followed scientific advice and did everything it could to minimize suffering. There were "no easy solutions" but Britain could be proud of its efforts to distribute the vaccine, he said. Calum Semple, who sits at the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, told the BBC that he would not surprised to see more deaths before the pandemic is brought under control. "The deaths on the way up are likely to be mirrored by the number of deaths on the way down in this wave." Talking about the high mortality, he said that Britain had experienced some "bad luck" with the emergence of a new, more transmissible variant, while the country had also suffered from "decades of underinvestment" in the National Health Service (NHS). Britain is the first European nation and the fifth country in the world to pass the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths, following the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico. England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem There are few silver linings to come from the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C. Heres one: According to a survey by the Washington Post, 20 of the 30 largest corporate PAC donors to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted against certifying the presidential election results have decided to slash their political donations. Some have suspended donations just to those 147 officials, while others have cut off political donations entirely. This large-scale corporate action cracks open a door that should lead to much needed gift and ethics reforms, all the way down to the local level in Philadelphia. In an ideal world, it would be a positive first step in clawing back the disastrous effects of the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision, which transformed campaign finance for the worse. Profligate political spending isnt just bad for democracy; its bad for business. Some of those corporations that cut off their political donations were relieved to have an excuse not to spend that money on lobbying, and instead put it toward their business bottom line. Unfortunately the pressures to spend money on politicians is felt not just by major corporations, but by mom-and-pop businesses and small nonprofits who dont have change to spare. In Philadelphia, lobbying and gift rules have improved in recent years, but theyre still maddeningly inconsistent and full of loopholes. For example, according to a 2016 executive order from Mayor Jim Kenney, administration officials are not allowed to accept any gifts from individuals or lobbyists seeking official action from the city. This clarified rules set forth in an earlier executive order from Mayor Nutter. The problem is, executive orders are subject to the whims of the executive as Donald Trump saw last week and the next mayor could decide to do away with Kenneys rules. Second, the executive order doesnt apply to the legislative branch, whose employees i.e., City Council members and staffers are subject only to the citys looser ordinance, which permits gifts worth up to $99. For a business trying to behave ethically, the regulations are confusing and inscrutable. The situation is even worse at the state level, where its still legal to buy plenty of influence. Lawmakers of both parties have pushed for a gift ban in Harrisburg for years, including earnest efforts in 2019 and 2020. But despite good-government bills garnering bipartisan support in the Legislature and from the governor, those bills were never brought to a vote on the House or Senate floor. Cutting off Washington legislators who defied their constitutional duty was an unusual act of corporate bravery. President Bidens stated commitment to honesty and transparency provides a model for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania lawmakers to follow, and both City Council and the Legislature are crying out for someone who will lead on ethics reform. The last year has shown us what happens when people lose trust in their government and other institutions. A renewed commitment to clear, consistent and uniform ethics rules can go a long way to repair that damage. Advertisement A lucky photographer was left gobsmacked after witnessing a couple of playful whales breaching in sync with each other. In the images, the playful pair of humpback whales can be seen chasing each other underwater, breaching individually and then almost unbelievably in synchronisation with each other off the coast of the Pacific island of Maui, Hawaii. The enchanting images were snapped by Maui local, Don McLeish. Don McLeish was shocked at how close this humback whale breached near his boat off the coast of Maui, getting close enough to splash the lense In the images, the playful pair of humpback whales can be seen chasing each other underwater, breaching individually and then almost unbelievably in synchronisation with each other off the coast of the Pacific island of Maui, Hawaii The enchanting images were snapped by Maui local, Don McLeish, who was left gobsmacked after witnessing a couple of playful whales breaching in sync with each other The adult humpback whales emerged from the water in sync, leaving photographer Don McLeish captivated McLeish said he was called to the scene by a friend who had been whale watching and had noticed the mammals had started mugging. In marine biology, 'Mugging' is a term used to describe when whales choose to swim within close proximity of a boat. Don said of the experience: 'I got word from a friend who has a whale watching business at the boat launch that they had a some adult humpbacks mugging them and had another boat come in close so they could leave to come in and pick up the next group. The humpback whales can be seen chasing each other underwater. McLeish said he was called to the scene by a friend who had been whale watching and had noticed the mammals had started mugging The humpback whales breached individually before emerging in sync. In marine biology, 'Mugging' is a term used to describe when whales choose to swim within close proximity of a boat Don said of the experience: 'I got word from a friend who has a whale watching business at the boat launch that they had a some adult humpbacks mugging them and had another boat come in close so they could leave to come in and pick up the next group' 'Mugging is when some whales come to your boat and stick around checking you out while you check them out, it is the ultimate encounter,' McLeish said 'Mugging is when some whales come to your boat and stick around checking you out while you check them out, it is the ultimate encounter. 'With my friend, we headed out to the area and did see a couple boats close to each other and as we got closer we could see whales swimming around and under the boats. 'Eventually the two whales both fluked and dove deep. The other boats left but we stayed in place hoping for an encounter when the whales returned to the surface.' The adult humpback whales were pictured breaching individually at first. McLeish said he was called to the scene by a friend who had been whale watching and had noticed the mammals had started mugging 'With my friend, we headed out to the area and did see a couple boats close to each other and as we got closer we could see whales swimming around and under the boats,' the photographer said 'Eventually the two whales both fluked and dove deep. The other boats left but we stayed in place hoping for an encounter when the whales returned to the surface' After putting on a show for Don, the whales seemed to be getting bored and were about to head off, but they then breached together, something Don had only seen a couple of times in his entire life After putting on a show for Don, the whales seemed to be getting bored and were about to head off, but they then breached together, something Don had only seen a couple of times in his entire life. Don, added: 'They ended up coming out of the water a number of times and got into synchronisation so that we were treated to some very special double breaches as they circled us.' Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. According to Brand Finance, year-on-year brand value for Infosys grew from $7.1bn to $8.4bn, and an upward jump of 72 ranks BENGALURU, India, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys [http://www.infosys.com/] , a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, announced that it has been recognized as the fastest growing among the top ten IT services brands of 2020, by Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation firm, in its 2021 Global 500 report. The brand valuation summarizes three years of significant brand growth for Infosys, marked by over 29% increase in its brand value over three years, bringing it to $8.4bn in 2020, and positioning it among the Top 5 brands in IT services globally throughout this period. https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg] "The execution of our 'Navigate your Next' strategy, over the last three years, has strengthened the brand, positioning Infosys as the industry's leading digital services provider," said Salil Parekh, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys. "Continued strategic investments in building differentiating digital capabilities along with increased sales and marketing effectiveness have amplified our ability to grow in client relevance and deepen partnerships with global businesses. "Infosys is exemplary in the way the company is investing in building its brand strength, evidenced by its brand value that is growing faster than its peers and moving it higher in ranking among the top five global IT Services brand," said David Haigh, CEO, Brand Finance. "This growth has been consistent over the past three years driven by clearly deepening client relationships, and a drive to create holistic value for all stakeholders - including employees and the communities in which Infosys operates." This recognition from Brand Finance stands testimony to the evolution of Infosys, over the last three years, into a leading digital services brand. On the one hand, the company has digitally transformed its own infrastructure for learning, employee engagement, collaboration, and to empower developers to build rapidly. On the other hand, Infosys launched new client-relevant digital brands like Infosys Cobalt - the cloud services, platforms and solutions portfolio. Continuous investments in building new digital capabilities and brand differentiation, by leveraging the power of AI, analytics and cloud, has helped Infosys strengthen both business and brand equity. Brand Finance's acknowledgement comes on the back of several prestigious marketing awards for Infosys including recognition as a 2020 'Top Employer' in Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Infosys USA has been certified as Great Place to Work for excellence in its employment practices. Infosys brand also delivers on its corporate social responsibility with diligence and is fully committed to its purpose to create sustainable opportunities for people, businesses and communities that it works with. By reiterating its commitment to Environment, Social and Governance causes, in announcing its ESG 2030 vision in 2020, Infosys has further expanded its value creation. About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit www.infosys.com [https://nam05.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A...] to see how Infosys can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. These filings are available at www.sec.gov [http://www.sec.gov/]. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg [https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg] CONTACT: For more information contact PR_Global@Infosys.com U.S. President Joe Biden's phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin seems ideal for Ukraine's interests and shows that the only chance for Russia to maintain a minimally normal relationship with the United States and the civilized world is a complete cessation of its aggressive policy, according to Mykhailo Podoliak, an advisor to the head of the Ukrainian President's Office. He told Ukrinform that the telephone conversation between Biden and Putin was a sign of a key priority of the new U.S. administration, a kind of signal that "we are returning to the world order with traditional values and traditional toughness towards those who break the rules." "Although the formal reason for the conversation concerned the topic of strategic disarmament, its content was, to put it mildly, much broader and seems ideal for Ukraine's interests," Podoliak said. He stressed that Biden not only reaffirmed the key position on U.S. unwavering support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also put the issue of supporting Ukraine's sovereignty in the first place - in the context of well-known threats and risks from Russia against the rules and values of the civilized world. "This means that Russia has only one chance for at least some minimally normal relations with America and the civilized world - a complete cessation of Russia's aggressive policy. First of all, Russia must end its aggression against Ukraine, return all of our temporarily occupied territories, and refuse to support various illegal armed gangs," he said. According to him, President Biden emphasized this very clearly, objectively and systematically. On January 26, Biden had his first phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, recalling, among other important issues, that the United States strongly supports Ukraine's sovereignty. op LAS VEGAS, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - PinkCherry, North America's leading online retailer of adult novelty products for sexual health and wellness, including premium sex toys and lingerie, released their 9th edition of "America's Sexiest Cities" interactive sex map, opening our eyes to the cities of passion - and what toys and pleasurable products are striking their fancy. PinkCherry's map scanned over 250 cities from coast to coast, with cities in all 50 states getting a mention. In New York City, for example, the focus seemed to be zoned in on women's pleasure; however, lovers in Dallas seem to find toys for partners pretty steamy. With the pandemic lockdown orders still in place in many cities across the country, people are dreaming of ways to keep things hot and heavy at home and it doesn't involve playing Parcheesi in most cases. Without a doubt, it's been a lonely year. With Valentine's Day around the corner, PinkCherry's interactive sex map tells us that singles and couples alike in Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston (our Sexiest Top 5) have spent the year getting to know more about their role-play desires, vibrator fantasies, and passion for something sensual when it comes to bondage. In addition to the sexiest cities, PinkCherry also lists the top sex products and toys of each city including vibrators from the top selling brands like We Vibe Moxie, a panty vibe that includes an app, so you control the sensations for yourself or your partner. "Over the last year we have seen a significant rise in new customers visiting PinkCherry," explained CEO Daniel Freedman. "People have been focused on their overall wellbeing, and sexual health and wellness plays a large role in that." With Sin City (Las Vegas) beating everyone out for that coveted #1 spot, it's clear that Americans still see the "Land of Lights" as pretty hot and steamy. Find out if your city made the list, but we should warn you - the results may surprise you! US Top 20 Sexiest Cities List 1. Las Vegas Nevada 2. Dallas Texas 3. Chicago Illinois 4. Atlanta Georgia 5. Houston Texas 6. San Francisco California 7. San Antonio Texas 8. Denver Colorado 9. Seattle Washington 10. New York New York 11. Boston Massachusetts 12. Portland Oregon 13. San Diego California 14. Washington District of Columbia 15. Los Angeles California 16. Minneapolis Minnesota 17. Phoenix Arizona 18. Philadelphia Pennsylvania 19. Detroit Michigan 20. Tampa Florida About PinkCherry PinkCherry.com is one of North America's largest online retailers of adult novelty products for sexual health and wellness, including sex toys and lingerie. PinkCherry is headquartered in Canada in Oakville, Ontario, and in Las Vegas, Nevada. PinkCherry carries over 9,000 products and hundreds of different lines at competitive prices, real-time inventory, and fast shipping. For more information, please visit PinkCherry.com US Link https://www.pinkcherry.com/pages/americas-sexiest-cities SOURCE PinkCherry Related Links www.pinkcherry.ca Realme X7 series is now confirmed to launch on February 4 in India, as previously expected. Realme has been teasing the launch of the Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro from quite some time now with CEO Madhav Sheth himself teasing the upcoming MediaTek Dimensity powered phones back in November 2020. The Realme X7 series was previously set to mark the debut of Dimensity processors in India, however, the Oppo Reno 5 Pro launched earlier this month with the Dimensity 1000+ and took the jump on Realme. Nevertheless, the company has now officially revealed the launch date of the X7 series in India. As per the invites posted across its social media handles, Realme is hosting the launch of the X7 and X7 Pro starting from 12:30 PM on February 4 in India. We #DareToLeap by introducing #TechTrendsetter technologies for the youth and this is yet another step towards it. Get ready to #XperienceTheFuture with #realmeX7 & #realmeX7Pro. Launching at 12:30 PM, 4th Feb. Know more: https://t.co/awt3jieVUf pic.twitter.com/j1Uqk3GDz2 realme (@realmemobiles) January 27, 2021 The product pages of Realme X7 and Realme X7 Pro have also gone live on the official Realme website teasing the key features of the upcoming phones. Interestingly, the key features of the Realme X7 are a bit different from the China variant. The Indian version of the Realme X7 has more in common with the Realme V15 and the company is also bringing the Nebula colour option that is offered with the V15. Realme X7 Pro specifications Realme X7 Pro features a 6.55-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution AMOLED screen with a punch-hole cut out for the selfie camera. The display supports 120Hz high refresh rate, is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass 5 and is also home to a fingerprint reader under the screen. It measures 8.5 millimetres in thickness and weighs 184 grams. The X7 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ processor with an octa-core CPU and Mali-G77 GPU. This is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage options to choose from. Realme X7 Pro comes with a quad-camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 64MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 119-degree field-of-view, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 32MP selfie camera housed within the punch-hole cutout. The rear cameras can record in up to 4K UHD at 60FPS with support for EIS. The X7 Pro is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging out-of-the-box. Realme claims that the phone can go from 0-100% in 35 minutes. Realme X7 specifications Realme X7 features a 6.4-inch Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an AMOLED panel with a punch-hole cut out for the selfie camera. The screen is topped with a layer of Gorilla Glass for additional protection and there is a fingerprint reader underneath. It measures 8.1 millimetres in thickness and weighs 176 grams. The X7 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 800U processor with an octa-core CPU and Mali0G57 GPU. This is paired with up to 8GB of RAM and 128GB storage options to choose from. Realme X7 has a quad-camera setup on the back that consists of a primary 64MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with 119-degree field-of-view and a 2MP macro camera. Theres a 16MP selfie camera on the front and the rear cameras can record in 4K at 30FPS. The Realme X7 has a 4,310mAh battery that also supports 50W fast charging. Realme claims that the phone can be fully charged in 47 minutes. The U.S. Army on Tuesday rolled out a long-awaited update to its uniform wear guidelines, including the World War II-style Army Green Service Uniform and a new name for the combat patch. The revised AR 670-1, which was last updated in 2017, will not be made official for another 30 days to allow soldiers and leaders to become familiar with the policy. "It's been almost five years since we made an update, so it was definitely time. There [have] been a lot of changes; we have ... added new uniforms," Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders, Army G-1, Uniform Policy Branch sergeant major, told reporters at a roundtable. Read Next: Army OKs Long Ponytails, Buzz Cuts for Women in Grooming Standards Overhaul Soldiers have been acquiring and wearing the Army Green Service Uniform, or AGSU, since senior leaders approved it for everyday wear in late 2018, as a replacement for the blue Army Service Uniform, or ASU. Troops have until Oct. 1, 2027, to purchase the AGSU, after which the ASU will become the Army's optional dress uniform. "With the implementation of the Army Green Service Uniform, which is extremely important as we try and shift our culture and pay respect to the World War II generation, that really prompted the [update] to occur," Sanders said. A significant policy update features a name change for the patch soldiers wear on their right shoulder to show wartime service. "We also made a big change to what a lot of soldiers call the 'combat patch,'" Sanders said. The Shoulder Sleeve Insignia Former Wartime Service will now be called the Shoulder Sleeve Insignia Military Operations in Hostile Conditions. It is authorized for soldiers who served on combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, but also those who served in certain countries considered hostile areas. "Sometimes, we go to certain locations, and we don't plan on that to be hostile conditions, but it may turn hostile," Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston said. "How do we recognize those soldiers who are out doing what we have asked them to do? ... So we allow them to wear the shoulder sleeve insignia for the unit. I think that is appropriate." The new shoulder sleeve insignia is currently authorized for Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Jordan and Syria. The AR 670-1 update also authorizes female soldiers who breastfeed to wear an optional undershirt designed for nursing. Service officials said in November that the Army Uniform Board will consider developing a lactation shirt for the Maternity Utility Uniform in the Operational Combat Pattern. The update also includes guidelines for the Army's Improved Hot Weather Combat Uniform, which has been available for soldiers to purchase as an optional wear item at military clothing stores since the summer of 2019. Army officials unveiled some uniform policy changes that did not make it into this revision of AR 670-1 because of a publishing cutoff deadline. The service has established guidelines for the permanent wear of the non-subdued National Guard Identification Badge on the AGSU for those who have served in the National Guard Bureau for more than a year, Sanders said. "They were able to wear the badge temporarily but, once they left [the] assignment, they were no longer able to wear it," he explained. One possible change to the AGSU may be a return to wearing name tags, something Army leaders initially did not want for the uniform. "When you look at the original [World War II] uniform, they didn't have name tags, and we did try to stay true to that. But after listening to the feedback of our soldiers, our leaders, spouses, people walking down the street ... we kind of looked at it and said, 'Is that something we need to do?" Grinston said. The Army is waiting for several name tag prototypes that will be considered for the AGSU. "We have not made the final decision on the name tags ... but we are looking into it," Grinston said. "We don't even know what it is going to look like." -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: Army Adds Face Mask, Better Hot Weather Gear to Soldiers' Clothing Bags Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - ALX Resources Corp. (TSXV: AL) (FSE: 6LLN) (OTC: ALXEF) ("ALX" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has executed a binding letter agreement for an option to earn up to an 80% interest in the Alligator Lake Gold Project ("Alligator", or the "Project") located approximately 165 kilometres (103 miles) northeast of La Ronge, SK, Canada. The Project consists of five claims totaling 2,973.32 hectares (7,347.24 acres) and is prospective for high-grade gold mineralization. Highlights of the Alligator Lake Project Alligator is located adjacent to Provincial Highway 102, and has an established winter trail suitable for mobilizing drilling equipment directly to ALX's primary area of interest. The Project has been held since 1985 by Alligator Resources Ltd. ("ARL"), a private Saskatchewan corporation, and has been the subject of a number of seasonal prospecting programs and limited geophysical surveying. A total of 16 diamond drill holes have been drilled since 1995 to depths averaging less than 86 metres. In October 2020, ALX carried out its first site visit to Alligator and collected fifteen rock samples from areas of historical bedrock showings. An outcrop sample taken by ALX at the Broken Hammer Zone showing returned 504.0 grams/tonne ("g/t") gold ( 16.13 oz/ton ), and 46.2 g/t silver, by fire assay. A follow-up total metallic gold assay returned 547.0 g/t gold ( 17.50 oz/ton ). Twelve of the fifteen outcrop samples collected by ALX were anomalous in gold (i.e., greater than 0.1 g/t gold), with four other high-grade samples returning between 2.71 g/t gold and 22.8 g/t gold . ("g/t") ( ), and 46.2 g/t silver, by fire assay. A follow-up total metallic gold assay returned ( ). Twelve of the fifteen outcrop samples collected by ALX were anomalous in gold (i.e., greater than 0.1 g/t gold), with four other high-grade samples returning between . A surface exploration permit was issued by the Government of Saskatchewan in January 2021 approving up to 5,000 metres of diamond drilling at Alligator, good to March 31, 2022. "Alligator shows strong potential for hosting high-grade gold mineralization at shallow depths," said Warren Stanyer, CEO and Chairman of ALX. "ALX plans to drill the Broken Hammer Zone armed with a new geological understanding of the mineralized structures that were not tested by historical explorers." To view maps of Alligator click here Details of the Acquisition Within five (5) business days of ARL's acceptance of the letter agreement, ALX shall make a non-refundable $3,000 cash payment to ARL. During the period of forty-five (45) days from ARL's acceptance of this letter agreement (the "Due Diligence period") ALX shall have the exclusive right to conduct due diligence on the Project, at its sole discretion and expense. ALX and ARL have agreed to settle the terms of a definitive agreement incorporating the terms and conditions of the letter agreement within a 45-day period following the conclusion of ALX's due diligence. The definitive agreement will provide ALX the option to earn up to an 80% interest in the Project over a four (4) year period from the effective date of the definitive agreement in consideration for: (a) cash payments totaling $150,000, (b) the issuance of common shares of ALX to ARL totaling 1,500,000 common shares; and (c) ALX incurring eligible expenditures totaling $1,250,000 with respect to the Project, as further described below. ALX can initially earn at its option a 51% interest in the Project (the "First Option"), by meeting the following schedule of conditions: Within five (5) days of the later of (a) execution of the Definitive Agreement by both parties and (b) ALX's receipt of required acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") for the issuance of common shares and consent to the Definitive Agreement, ALX shall make a $12,000 cash payment and issue 250,000 common shares to ARL; On or before December 31, 2021, ALX shall make a $25,000 cash payment and issue an additional 250,000 common shares to ARL; On or before December 31, 2022, ALX shall make a $30,000 cash payment and issue 250,000 common shares to ARL; and ALX shall incur expenditures of at least $500,000 at the Project. ALX can earn an additional 29% interest in the Project (the "Second Option"), to earn a cumulative 80% interest in the Project, by meeting the following schedule of conditions: On or before December 31, 2023, ALX shall make an additional $35,000 cash payment and issue an additional 250,000 common shares to ARL; On or before December 31, 2024, ALX shall make an additional $45,000 cash payment and issue an additional 500,000 common shares to ARL; and ALX shall incur additional expenditures of at least $750,000 at the Project. ALX, at its option, can accelerate the cash payments and common share issuances described above. Any excess eligible expenditures incurred on the Project within an earn-in time period will be credited to successive earn-in time periods. Any deficiency in the amount of eligible expenditures incurred can be satisfied by a cash payment made by ALX to ARL equal to the deficiency on or before the applicable due date. All common shares issued by ALX will be subject to a 4-month hold period as per Canadian securities laws. Upon ALX obtaining an 80% interest in the Project (by exercise of both the First Option and the Second Option), ALX and ARL shall form a joint venture in respect of the development of the Project (with ALX as operator), with the terms of the joint venture agreement to be negotiated in good faith between the parties. Alligator is subject to an underlying 2.5% net smelter returns royalty ("NSR") on the sale of valuable minerals from the Project. ALX's acquisition of up to an 80% interest in Alligator is subject to (i) completion of a due diligence review of the Project, to ALX's sole satisfaction, (ii) approval by the Board of Directors of ALX of the terms of a transaction for the Project, and (iii) acceptance of the definitive agreement by the TSXV. About Alligator Geology The Project is underlain by Precambrian Shield rocks of the Central Metavolcanic Belt ("CVB"), part of the La Ronge Domain. Northeast-striking and steeply northwest-dipping upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies ultramafic to mafic metavolcanic rocks of the CVB are intruded by ultramafic to mafic sills. These ultramafic to mafic rocks are structurally underlain by similarly northeast-striking and northwest-dipping meta-arkose and calcareous metagreywackes of the McLennan-Sickle Group. The dominant structural feature at Alligator is the Byers Fault, which strikes in a northeasterly direction and dips to the northwest. The Byers Fault can be traced along the southeast shore of Alligator Lake and through a series of muskeg and small lake-filled topographic lows. The Byers Fault is recognized as a "first-order" controlling structure for many "second-order" quartz-sulphide-carbonate healed shear and tensional vein type gold deposits and occurrences in the greater Waddy Lake area (Schwann, 1991). In the Waddy Lake area, however, the Byers Fault trends approximately east-west before stepping/flexing into a more northeasterly trend in the Contact Lake-Alligator Lake area. Large-scale "bends" in fault systems are known to be the preferential location for dilatancies that could host gold-bearing quartz vein swarms. South of Alligator Lake, a northeast striking contact between the metavolcanics and the metasediments, is marked by a topographic lineament with sporadic outcrop displaying evidence of shearing, identified as the Radiant Shear Zone. The McLennan Lake Tectonic Zone ("MLTZ"), which is parallel to, but located approximately 2 kilometres southeast of the Byers Fault, is a major regional tectonic feature separating rocks of the Central Metavolcanic Belt from metasedimentary rocks of the MacLean Lake Belt to the east. History of Exploration During the late 1960s, Sherritt Gordon Mines Limited (Sherritt Gordon) carried out regional airborne magnetic and electromagnetic ("EM") surveys over areas of the Project followed by ground EM surveying and the completion of six diamond drill holes (Saskatchewan Mineral Assessment Database ("SMAD") File #64D-0001 and #64D04-0037). Three holes were drilled to the north and three holes to the south of Alligator Lake. All six holes intersected iron sulphide (pyrite and pyrrhotite) concentrations in metasedimentary rocks, quartz veins and "amphibolite" with the best result of 0.13% nickel and 0.12% copper over 1.37 metres. Sherritt Gordon's drilling explained the cause of the shallow EM anomalies but because of their focus on base metals exploration, few gold or PGE assays were reported from drill cores, leaving the precious metals potential of these rocks essentially untested. The most significant precious metals occurrence at Alligator is the Broken Hammer Showing, a 1.5 to 4.0 metre wide and 55 metre long north-northeast trending quartz vein, which contains visible gold in association with molybdenum (Heigh, 1995). Historical surface samples collected at the Broken Hammer Showing returned up to 707.8 g/t gold (20.5 oz/ton) (Collins et al, 1989). In 1995, Uranerz Exploration and Mining ("UEM") drilled four holes at 100-metre intervals along the Broken Hammer Shear Zone. The best intersection was 7.31 g/t gold (0.23 oz/ton) over 1.5 metres in hole AL-02, beneath the site where visible gold was discovered (Avery and Leppin, 1995). The results of a summer 2013 field program confirmed that the Broken Hammer Showing is a deformed (boudinaged) quartz vein that has potentially been modified into a series of moderately plunging (50 to 70) shoots (Jiricka, 2014). These interpreted shoots do not appear to have been specifically targeted or adequately tested by the 1995 UEM drill program. The areas just to the north of drill holes AL-01 and AL-02 could represent the down-plunge extension of high-grade gold mineralization identified in the Broken Hammer Showing / Broken Hammer North Extension Showing trenches and should be tested by diamond drilling at shallow depths. National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Sierd Eriks, P.Geo., President and Chief Geologist of ALX, who is a Qualified Person in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101. Readers are cautioned that much of the technical information described in this news release is historical in nature; however, the historical information is deemed credible and was produced by professional geoscientists in the years discussed. Historical geochemical results quoted in this news release were taken directly from assessment work filings published by the Government of Saskatchewan and other regulatory filings. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by its Qualified Person, but create a scientific basis for ongoing work in the Alligator property area. Geochemical results from samples collected by ALX in 2020 described in this news release were shipped to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories in Saskatoon, SK and analyzed using a 4-acid digestion with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Gold, platinum and palladium were analyzed by fire assay techniques. Samples that returned > 3000 ppb gold by fire assay were further analyzed by metallic gold assay. About ALX ALX is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and its common shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "AL", on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "6LLN" and in the United States OTC market under the symbol "ALXEF". ALX's mandate is to provide shareholders with multiple opportunities for discovery by exploring a portfolio of prospective mineral properties, which include gold, nickel-copper-cobalt and uranium projects. The Company uses the latest exploration technologies and holds interests in over 200,000 hectares of prospective lands in Saskatchewan, a stable Canadian jurisdiction that hosts the highest-grade uranium mines in the world, a producing gold mine, and production from base metals mines, both current and historical. ALX owns 100% interests in the Firebird Nickel Project (now under option to Rio Tinto Exploration Canada, who can earn up to an 80% interest), Flying Vee Nickel/Gold and Sceptre Gold projects in northern Saskatchewan, the Vixen Gold Project, the Electra Nickel Project and the Cannon Copper Project located in historic mining districts of Ontario, Canada, and the Draco VMS Project in Norway. ALX holds interests in a number of uranium exploration properties in northern Saskatchewan, including a 20% interest in the Hook-Carter Uranium Project, with Denison Mines Corp. (80% interest) operating exploration since 2016. For more information about the Company, please visit the ALX corporate website at www.alxresources.com or contact Roger Leschuk, Manager, Corporate Communications at: PH: 604.629.0293 or Toll-Free: 866.629.8368, or by email: rleschuk@alxresources.com On Behalf of the Board of Directors of ALX Resources Corp. "Warren Stanyer" Warren Stanyer, CEO and Chairman FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Statements in this document which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include: the Alligator Lake Gold Project ("Alligator") is prospective for gold mineralization; the Company's plans to undertake exploration activities at Alligator, and expend funds on Alligator. It is important to note that the Company's actual business outcomes and exploration results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include that ALX may not be able to fully finance exploration at Alligator, including drilling; our initial findings at Alligator may prove to be unworthy of further expenditure; commodity prices may not support exploration expenditures at Alligator; and economic, competitive, governmental, societal, public health, environmental and technological factors may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and share price. Even if we explore and develop Alligator, and even if gold or other metals or minerals are discovered in quantity, the project may not be commercially viable. Additional risk factors are discussed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2020, which is available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Except as required by law, we will not update these forward looking statement risk factors. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72942 U.S. President Joe Biden's 60-day moratorium on new oil and natural gas leases, as well as drilling permits, is causing the state of New Mexico a concern. Top Republicans and local leaders in communities that border the Permian Basis say any moves to make the suspension permanent would be economically upsetting for the state as half of New Mexico's production happens on federal land and amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars royalties annually. Congressional members from western states are also raising concerns, according to an ABC News report. They said that the effects of the moratorium imposed by Biden will hurt small businesses that are already struggling due to the effects brought by the pandemic. "During his inauguration, President Biden spoke about bringing our nation together. Eliminating drilling on public lands will cost thousands of New Mexicans their jobs and destroy what's left of our state's economy," Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway was quoted on a report. Janway further questioned how that brings them together, saying that environmental efforts should be fair and well-researched not hurt an already impoverished state. Natural gas industry provides thousands of jobs Meanwhile, Utah's state delegation asked for Biden to reconsider what they described as arbitrary decision. They argued that such a widespread suspension of routine permitting decisions normally made in the field is unprecedented. Industry groups claim that the order effectively brings all regulatory activity to a halt, according to a U.S. News report. A spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, Robert McEntyre, said that it really has the opposite intent. McEntyre added that some natural gas is going to be captured and that is not what operators want to do, saying that they want to capture it and send it to market. Aside from earning revenues from New Mexico resources, the industry also supports 100,000 direct related jobs. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office said that the administration reviewing the federal action and the short-term and long-term fiscal effects for the state. Related story: Five Key Points in Joe Biden's Economic Plans After Election Biden's Climate Steps Biden has put his team to work to review actions taken by former President Donald Trump, aiming to revers any adverse effects it might have on the environment and public health. The impact could be more widespread for energy and auto industries as Biden aims to reduce harmful emissions form cars, trucks, and SUVs, according to a Yahoo report. This could range from how companies extract resources from the ground to the safety of pipelines that distribute the fuels. Biden aims to transition the country to 100 percent renewable energy for electricity generation by 2035, as well as zero-emission in the overall economy by 2050. Meanwhile, Biden rejoins the Paris climate agreement after Trump formally withdrew the country from the climate change accord on Nov. 4. Biden said that it will recommit its emissions reduction goals under the agreement and lead the effort to get other countries to improve their climate goals, as well. Biden has plans that extend beyond the Paris climate accord, which includes a $2 trillion economic plan to invest in clean energy, cut carbon emissions from electric power, according to a CNBC report. Related story: Trump, Biden Clash Over Oil Industry During Final Presidential Debate The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be part of a tranche of vaccines from the COVAX Facility, Deputy Health Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko has said. He said this during the online discussion entitled "Vaccination. Corruption. COVID-19: Open Discussion" on January 27, Ukrinform reports. When we talk about vaccine supplies, we mean supplies from two sources in February: the first is COVAX, and the second is procurement at public expense Pfizer has confirmed to the COVAX Facility that it can deliver 50 million doses of RNA vaccine to the Facility. Ukraine is included in the list of 92 countries that will receive the vaccine free of charge under the COVAX Facility, along with syringes and diluents, Liashko said. According to him, the exact number of vaccine doses and the date when it may appear in Ukraine in February will be known approximately on January 29. Also, according to Liashko, 16 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine can be delivered to Ukraine within the COVAX initiative. As Ukrinform reported, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said that vaccination in Ukraine is expected to begin in February. It will be conducted by mobile teams during the first stage. In January 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers made a decision allowing the British agency Crown Agents to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for Ukraine. The Health Ministry plans to sign an agreement with another COVID-19 vaccine supplier in the near future. ish You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close The Prime Minister has been speaking in the House of Commons BORIS Johnson has said schools will not reopen before Monday, March 8, in an address to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister, fresh from announcing the grim milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths and taking "full responsibility" for the response to Covid-19 so far, told MPs parents will be given two weeks notice of reopening and it will therefore not be possible to do so after half term as many had hoped. In terms of easing of lockdown generally he said a road map would be announced upon the publication of a report on its affect so far. This will happen when MPs return from a break on the week commencing February 22. But he stressed schools would be the first to reopen and this would not happen before Monday, March 8. It would depend, he added, on vaccinating (delivery at least one jab) to everyone in the four most vulnerable age groups by mid February. Due to the huge disruption children have faced a 'catch-up programme' worth 300 million will be provided for tutoring and summer schools. Free school meals will also continue until March 8. The government's approach to schooling in lockdown has been one of the most controversial aspects of its response. After initially refusing to close class rooms last March it then did, except for children of essential workers. In the summer, major issues with the controversial exam algorithm saw another u-turn. Schools returned as planned in September but this year's exams were then pushed back - but by just three weeks despite hundreds of thousands of children continuing to be sent home due to exposure to the virus. They broke up for Christmas as planned, but some wrapped up early prompting education secretary Gavin Williamson to threaten them with legal action. Then, in January, another 11th hour u-turn saw many pupils, depending on where they lived, told they would not be returning to the class room with just days until they were due to go back. Then, a day into the start of term, another u-turn saw the same policy extended to all schools, the majority of which had returned for just a day. GCSEs, AS and A Levels were then called off. Schools, as always remain open for children of essential workers and, due to a change in policy, vulnerable children, meaning the numbers still heading in is far higher than during the first lockdown. In the address Mr Johnson also announced the anticipated travel quarantine. There will be a ban on travel from 22 countries where there is a known variant, including South Africa and Brazil. Those who have to come must isolate in facilities provided. Home Secretary Priti Patel will add more information later on. Following two successful editions, C3 is launching the 2021 edition of the C3 Social Impact Accelerator Programme Powered by HSBC. The programme supports entrepreneurs with innovative concepts that maximise their impact on society and the environment whilst boosting their business growth and financial performance. A total of 20 finalists from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria and Turkey will be selected to participate in the programmes signature learning journey. Selected entrepreneurs will have the unique opportunity to attend group workshops on foundational topics, simulate board meetings with impact investors and connect with experts from across the world. Winners of the pitch competition will benefit from equity-free cash prizes and the expertise of global senior corporates. The deadline for submission to participate is February 28. Sabrin Rahman, Regional Head of Sustainability for Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, HSBC, said: This programme continues to show the importance of social enterprises in the region. We are proud of the further enhancements we are bringing to this edition and we look forward to supporting the growth of the social impact these companies will bring to their communities. For the 2021 edition, C3 has partnered with best-in-class learning experience designers (Italy-based BPI - Business Performance Institute), data analytics experts (UK-based Yonder Data Solutions) and learning technology providers (Finland-based Claned) to bring to life a very interactive online programme inspired by the most successful blended-learning methodologies. The pandemic has accelerated our plans to create a unique learning experience for entrepreneurs willing to create a positive change in the world. We are excited to join forces with renowned learning design, data and technology experts, who share the same vision as ours. We are now able to empower change-makers in a more interactive and engaging way, making sure that our proven blueprints and frameworks are absorbed and implemented throughout the programme in simulated environments, C3 co-founder, Medea Nocentini says. The 2020 cohort received more than 600 applications from 8 Menat countries and shortlisted 23 finalists. 3 winners of the Social Impact Accelerator Programme were chosen: Latifa al Khalifa, co-founder and CEO of Clever Play, Abdulla al Nuaimi CEO of Yalla Give and Duygu Vatan co-founder of Joun. The C3 Social Impact Accelerator Programme armed us with the tools to be able to correctly measure our social impact and to integrate environmental, social and governance metrics into our business model, the experience has been very enriching, says last years winner Latifa al Khalifa. In 2020, C3 became the Social Enterprise Marks official and exclusive partner to expand social enterprise accreditation in the Menat region. As such, participating entrepreneurs in C3s programme now have the opportunity to receive the only internationally available accreditation specifically designed to support social enterprises. Laudy Lahdo, C3 CEO, concludes: Covid-19 has amplified the urgent need for entrepreneurs, both globally and regionally, to embed social impact frameworks into their business models. We are proud to lead these initiatives in the Menat region and to support entrepreneurs business missions, which ultimately solve major social challenges at scale. -- Tratearabia News Service Earn your Associate of Applied Business in Business IT (BIT) degree online from the University of Cincinnati. This program can be completed fully online, with curriculum customized to fit your schedule, interests and how quickly you want to complete your degree. Application deadline July 1, 2021. Learn More An intense knack for technology throughout middle school and high school where he repaired classmates' phones and gaming devices set the stage for entrepreneurial success for Adam Zinker, founder and CEO of The Perfect Part. That passion -- and a family loan of $4,000 seed money -- drove his technology logistics company over the last nine years to become the sixth-largest eBay company in North America. The 28-year-old entrepreneur gained his e-commerce experience alongside his identical twin brother, Cory. Together they grew their mobile parts shop for the first five years to a business that needed more workers. They started out selling four products stored inside pencil boxes. It took six-to-seven years to reap massive benefits. Today, the duo has 30 employees who maintain the company's gross revenue of over US$1.5M per month solely on eBay. The business ranked 203 on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. It was listed as 675 last year. "We do an average over $1.2M per month in gross revenue with our highest grossing month of over $2.2M. Becoming the sixth-largest eBay company in North America was not the plan; it was the side effect," Zinker told the E-Commerce Times. Perhaps starting the mobile parts business with his identical twin was one of the driving components to the success of The Perfect Part on eBay, quipped Adam. It let him be in two places at once. He and Cory figured out during that first year that they each needed to be doing completely different things for the business. Cory controlled everything post-order, and Adam did everything pre-order such as maintaining the eBay platform. eBay Business Basics Deciding to go into business on eBay.com instead of Amazon.com was another fortuitous decision that panned out well beyond expectations. Back in 2012, Adam Zinker researched which platforms had the largest audiences. At that point, it was eBay over Amazon. "Amazon did not have a large audience for internal telecom components and accessories. Back then, eBay was the largest e-commerce platform online that had a market for internal telecom components and accessories," he explained. Perhaps the most important task for the Zinker brothers was to learn about selling on eBay from scratch. Most of eBay today is small sellers who sell used goods. Selling competitively on eBay takes a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding their policies, noted The Perfect Part CEO. "I like to think of the eBay platform as a programming language. There are policies that as a seller you need to know like the back of your hand in order to succeed, and that takes time to learn," he remarked. After selling on eBay competitively for almost 10 years, the CEO feels he knows every policy thoroughly that eBay has to offer. That process led to the company's expansion from bedroom offices at home to two warehouse relocations. The Zinkers moved The Perfect Part into a 4,000-square-foot warehouse and hired their sister to run fulfillment. She then hired a team of cherry pickers, a team of fulfillers, and other team members that allowed the company to grow efficiently. The twin brothers brought their non-twin sister, Sydni, onboard to handle fulfillment when the technology logistics company expanded. More recently, the company again expanded, allowing the brothers to hire (not pictured) Adam's girlfriend, Jessica, and Cory's girlfriend, Tori, to oversee customer relations. Cut-Throat Competition "Since then, having enough space allowed us to grow even faster. A year later, we moved into a 10,000 square-foot warehouse, and today we have over 5,000 unique products that sell at least once a day fulfilled by a team of over 30 people," noted Adam. When the Zinkers started selling on eBay, the market was more competitive. Anyone can source parts and sell them, but not anyone can sell efficiently over a long period of time, Adam noted. There were a lot of sellers competing, but not many who would stay competing for the long run, he added. That occurs for many reasons. One major reason is that eBay's platform does not cater to small retail stores on eBay, but rather small closet sellers, those who sell used items found in their garage. "So as a small seller you have to really know what you are doing in order to get past the hump to become a large sustainable seller. For example, when I first started, one of my largest competitors back then tried to run me out of business by undercutting my items on an hourly basis," he recalled. The Zinker twins combated this by undercutting the competitor and even sometimes losing money. The goal of the competitor was not to make money, but to make The Perfect Part lose money by selling the same items for barely anything, basically efforting to run the brothers out of business. "Today, that competitor is one-quarter of our size and cannot possibly compete with us," Adam said. Changing Times on eBay Ebay has changed 100 percent since 2012. It constantly changes policies in order to adapt to market needs, he added. As a large seller, you need to make sure you anticipate these changes as well as prepare to pivot in order to succeed. "Also, the market became saturated with Chinese sellers trying to undercut American eBay accounts. They do succeed, but only in the short term -- because American buyers want quality items, and they want [delivery] within a couple days," Zinker explained. The market has changed on a global aspect as well. Buyers can find a huge market for telecom accessories on Amazon now but still not internal components. "I like to put it this way: when your TV breaks, you can find a new TV on Amazon, but you can find the part that will fix the TV on eBay," he offered. Keys to Success The Perfect Part grew on eBay to a large degree because the Zinker brothers combined their passion for technology with a focus on organization. They have not limited themselves to selling on eBay. Though eBay remains their primary focus. The twins are very entrepreneurial. Just in the last year, they considered 10 new brand ideas. Some they executed. Others are ridiculous, noted Adam. For instance, they currently have a vitamin-infused shower head company called ShaiLi on Amazon. "After we understood eBay, we hired and trained employees, created shipping logistics, fulfillment, etc. We created a machine that the more we introduced new products to, the more employees we hired. We just introduced more and more products that were interesting and that we knew we could sell better than others," said Adam Zinker. The Perfect Part co-founders Adam Zinker (left) and Cory Zinker rest on inventory newly moved into a larger warehouse. Another key event was making sure your books are organized, he continued. This means P&Ls, Balance Sheets, etc. You do not know how well or poorly you are doing without data to back it up. "You cannot expand and run an efficient business without knowing what you are doing number wise. One of the largest turning points for us was moving into a large warehouse giving us the space we need. Never in a million years did I think I could fill up 10,000 square feet of warehouse space with 5,000 unique products," he shared. That makes inventory management a huge success key. Having thousands of small products, things can get messy. Credit Creates Growth Too Equally important in any business is having someone who understands credit and how valuable that is, according to the CEO. "Cory is a credit account genius. To this day, The Perfect Part Inc. has never had any outside lending, or any amount of interest paid. This is all thanks to Cory and his credit account expertise," noted Adam about his identical twin. Cory allowed their business to flourish by expanding it on commercial credit cards for fast and efficient growth. It also forced vendors to take credit card payments because they wanted more business from The Perfect Part. "Cory always said, 'Why use our money when we can use someone else's for free'," noted Adam. Adam also learned to give moral credit to his workers and trust their performance. He readily admitted that one of his largest key events in growing his business was learning to put important work in the hands of others and trusting that they will do a great job. In the first years, he would never allow anyone to be on the eBay e-commerce platform. Now he has at least 10 people connected to the platform at any given time -- be it customer service, inventory management, or shipping. Alternatives to eBay People always ask Adam how to sell on eBay and if it can be a career or even an end goal to retirement. The truth is that it is, he replied. However, there are other options that are easier. Although he does have great success on eBay, there are only a few sellers on eBay that are like The Perfect Part, he added. He has branched out to other selling options, including Amazon. "If you are looking to sell online full time and make a career out of it, my best advice is Amazon. However, I'm not saying no to eBay. eBay is also a must but should be introduced after gaining success on Amazon. eBay is worth $35 billion while Amazon is worth $1 trillion dollars. This tells you that there are countless more customers on Amazon versus eBay," he advised. Jack M. Germain has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His main areas of focus are enterprise IT, Linux and open-source technologies. He is an esteemed reviewer of Linux distros and other open-source software. In addition, Jack extensively covers business technology and privacy issues, as well as developments in e-commerce and consumer electronics. Email Jack. Pushing back against social media pundit speculation . . . The MAGA NEXTGEN leader pleads his case to Fox news. Check-it . . . Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told Fox News Tuesday that he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024. "I've always said, Maria, that I'm not running for president," Hawley told "Fox News Primetime" host Maria Bartiromo. "It's a privilege to represent the state of Missouri in the United States Senate. Britain's vaccine roll out will limit the spread of coronavirus, but by exactly how much will not be made clear until mid-February, experts say. Providing a boost to the UK's hopes of ending lockdown, Englands deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said jabs couldnt fail to have some effect on transmission. He said it was less a question of will they? and rather to what extent will inoculation help to reduce the spread. But Boris Johnson and his chief scientists tonight said experts won't know much effect the coronavirus vaccines are having on the country's epidemic until mid-February, The PM said the impact of the jabs won't be felt in hospital and deaths data until then due to the lag in time it takes between getting injected and developing immunity. He told a Downing Street press conference tonight that he would not consider lifting lockdown restrictions until he'd seen concrete 'evidence that those graphs are coming down'. The immunisation drive has only really got up to speed in the last few weeks and it takes between a fortnight and a month for a person to build up immunity. Both the Pfizer and Oxford University vaccines have been proven to block severe illness, so experts hope they'll start to make a dent in the death and hospitalisation rates in the coming weeks. No10's scientists will be monitoring those metrics, specifically in the most vulnerable groups - including the over-80s, over-75s and care homes residents - who are currently receiving the jabs. So far 6.8million, or one in 10, people in Britain have received at least one dose of the vaccines. In three weeks time, when most of those people have protection, experts will expect to see a near 10 per cent drop in hospital admissions. Not all of the people vaccinated will be immune, however, because the jabs are not perfect. Pfizer's is 95 per cent effective at blocking severe disease, while Oxford's is around 70 per cent. Another burning question which will determine how gung-ho ministers can be with easing restriction is to what extent the vaccines stop people from spreading Covid. The Government has commissioned a study to investigate the vaccines and their role on transmission, which is being overseen by Public Health England. It is focused on frontline healthcare workers who've been jabbed. Britain won't know much effect the coronavirus vaccines are having on the country's epidemic until mid-February, Boris Johnson and his chief scientists said tonight (Pictured: Dale Snowden gets his vaccine in Sunderland) Boris said the impact of the jabs won't be felt in hospital and deaths data until mid-February due to the lag in time it takes between getting injected and developing immunity. Sir Patrick Vallance said the UK had to be 'extremely cautious' England's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, told tonight's Downing Street press conference: 'I think you've got to be extremely cautious and wait until we've got proper data. 'It's too early to say what's happening in the UK. It's being looked at very, very carefully. You shouldn't expect to see nobody getting ill who's been vaccinated. Vaccines are not 100 per cent effective. We will still see people who get disease. Britain could suffer 50,000 MORE Covid deaths before the virus is under control Coronavirus could kill another 50,000 Britons before the UK's crisis is brought under control, SAGE scientists warned today after the UK crossed the grim milestone of 100,000 fatalities on Tuesday. The experts claimed Boris Johnson could have saved tens of thousands of lives if he hadn't been so slow in locking down in the spring and in autumn, when the second wave was taking off. Professor Calum Semple, an infectious disease expert at Liverpool University who sits on SAGE, warned it 'really would not surprise me if we're looking at another 40-50,000 deaths before this burns out'. His comments echoed a warning from Professor Chris Whitty at last night's Downing Street press conference, when he said fatalities will remain high over the next few weeks and only decline slowly. The experts say the huge numbers of people infected in December and January, combined with the super-infectious Kent variant, means the country will be grappling with lots of deaths until the vaccines can be rolled out to the most vulnerable. Professor Neil Ferguson, who was sacked by SAGE in spring after breaking social distancing rules to meet his married lover, blamed the high death toll on the Government being too slow to react to the rising infections in autumn. In September and October, SAGE begged ministers to impose a circuit breaker during the half-term break to halt the second wave in its tracks. Professor Ferguson, dubbed 'Professor Lockdown' after his terrifying modelling spooked No10 into the lockdown in spring, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'Had we acted earlier and with greater stringency back in September when we first saw case numbers going up, and had a policy of keeping case numbers at a reasonably low level, then I think a lot of deaths we've seen - not all by any means - but a lot of the deaths that we've seen in the last four or five months, could have been avoided. Advertisement 'We will still see people who get severe disease, but it will be much, much reduced with the vaccine, and we need to wait and look at the data and get proper estimates of that rather than try to make early cuts and guesses as to what this is showing.' The Prime Minister said the UK would have more information in the coming weeks about whether schools could open by March 8. Asked about whether he was being overly optimistic with the target date, Boris Johnson told a press briefing: 'Opening schools is a huge priority for us all, for the country, for parents up and down the land. 'And what we're saying is that March 8 is the earliest date by which we might responsibly be able to do that, given what we know now. 'But it does depend on all those things going right in the way I described. 'So the vaccine rollout has to continue to be successful, as it currently is. We have to see evidence that those graphs are coming down and that we're making progress and that the vaccines are working in reducing mortality and serious disease. 'And we need to make sure the infection rate is in the right place and we're continuing as a country to work together to drive it down by the means we're currently using. 'We're going to keep it all under constant review, particularly on February 15 when we will know whether we've hit our target of getting those most vulnerable groups vaccinated.' It came as figures show the UK's vaccination drive suffered another hiccup. The programme gave out 312,770 Covid-19 vaccines on Tuesday, marking the third consecutive day that it has missed the 400,000-a-day target. Figures published today by NHS England revealed of the 260,307 jabs administered across England and Wales. A further 24,698 were given out in Scotland. The UK needs to be vaccinating at least 400,000 people every day for the next three weeks to fulfil Number 10's promise of immunising all 15million of the most vulnerable Brits by February 15. For each day that passes without the target being hit it becomes slightly higher. But the programme is still considered a success, given that the UK is vaccinating more than any other country in the world other than Israel. Health Secretary Matt Hancock this week said supply for vaccines was 'tight' and manufacturing was the 'limiting' factor holding back the rollout. AstraZeneca, set to supply the majority of the vaccines over the next month, is embroiled a vicious row with the EU for prioritising its doses for Britain, where it was developed. Figures showed as of Monday about 6.8million Brits have received at least one dose of either the Oxford University/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, which leaves 8.1million still to be inoculated. The NHS England data, from December 8 to yesterday, revealed that the highest number of first doses were given in the Midlands with 1,166,017 jabs administered followed by the North East and Yorkshire with 999,991. Figures also showed that from December 8 690,726 people had received the first dose in London with an additional 56,311 having received the second jab. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said at Downing Street press conference this afternoon that the NHS was 'straining every sinew' to get vaccines rolled out as 'quickly and efficiently as they can'. For a while, Disney was gearing up for something unprecedented this year: its release schedule promised four animated features in three months. When this was announced, we warned that the pandemic could scupper the plan and so it has proved. Two of those films, Rons Gone Wrong and Bobs Burgers, have been delayed as part of the recent burst of Hollywood rescheduling. They were previously slated for April 23 and April 9 respectively. Rons Gone Wrong is now due to come out on October 22 and Bobs Burgers has been taken off the release calendar, with no new date yet announced. Neither film was developed in-house Disney inherited both as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. The studio has also rescheduled half a dozen live-action films it received from Fox for the second half of 2021. The announcement follows similar delays at other Hollywood studios, led (once again) by MGMs decision to push the Bond film No Time to Die from April to October. Think all those Bernie Sanders memes are a hoot? Try feeling the Bern with crochet. Corpus Christis Tobey King just broke the mold of the popular internet meme by crocheting an adorable acrylic and cotton yarn doll of the Vermont senator in his now-famous coat and quirky brown mittens a look that made the leap from Inauguration Day ensemble to Photoshopped sensation within hours. Now that fuzzy little creation is warming hearts and fighting hunger to boot. Tuesday, King auctioned her original 9-inch prototype doll of Sanders for $20,300 on eBay, with all proceeds going to Meals on Wheels America. Meanwhile, more than 30,000 people have purchased the downloadable pattern for the doll for $5 from Kings Etsy store, TobeyTimeCrochet. King whipped up the Sanders doll Thursday, the day after the inauguration, as the memes poured across the internet. The first doll pics she posted Friday on her Instagram account, @tobeytimecrochet, quickly drummed up thousands of likes. (They now total more than 139,000.) King said when she first posted photos of the Sanders doll she never expected it to go viral, but once it did, she saw the opportunity to use it for good. By Friday evening, she had the doll pattern up on her Etsy store and by Saturday afternoon had the prototype doll up on eBay, where bids surpassed $15,000 overnight. Were all just looking for something to bring us joy right now, King, 46, said. King hopes that Sanders hears about her doll and the auction and that he approves. I really hope that he thinks this is something cool and that Im doing something good, she said, It seems likely. As the Sanders memes were going viral, his campaign store started selling sweatshirts and T-shirts imprinted with the photo to benefit Vermonts Meals on Wheels and other Vermont charities. They are now sold out. While Sanders office did not reply to a request for comment, a spokeswoman for Meals on Wheels America voiced her appreciation for Kings doll auction. Amid the pandemic, the demand for Meals on Wheels has skyrocketed ... The awareness for our cause is needed now more than ever, and on behalf of the entire nationwide network, we greatly appreciate the support, said Vice President of Communications Jenny Young, who confirmed Meals on Wheels would receive 100 percent of the dolls five-figure eBay sale. King said the winning eBay bidder wished to remain anonymous. She did note that some of the Etsy shoppers who bought her Sanders doll pattern have made their own donations to Meals on Wheels programs and other charities. With the proceeds from the sales of the doll pattern, Kings gone from from stay-at-home mom with an Etsy shop on the side to the primary breadwinner. Early last year, Kings husband Travis lost his job in Washington just weeks after they moved there with their 9-year-old daughter. So while hes been looking for full-time work, King and their daughter moved in with Kings mother in her hometown of Corpus. Now Travis is helping King answer all the Sanders-doll messages flooding her inbox. Being that successful has made a huge difference in our financial situation, King said. Now we dont have to be apart anymore. We can get this family back together. It isnt the first time Kings crochet work has turned heads. In 2019, a crochet doll she made of Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared on the hit NBC series, This Is Us, after the shows prop master spotted that viral sensation online. King went on to sell about 100 of the crochet Ginsburg dolls. Now she offers downloadable patterns for a Ginsburg-inspired crochet robe and crochet dissent collar. As for Kings recent Sanders doll, she simply tweaked an old pattern shes used to make similar dolls for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Recycle and reuse, just like Sanders mittens. rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz Accused paedophile Malka Leifer has arrived back in Australia and is expected to face a Melbourne court on Thursday after her extradition from Israel. Ms Leifer touched down in Melbourne on Wednesday night, having boarded a plane in Israel on Monday, following last months ruling by the Supreme Court of Israel that the 52-year-old return to Melbourne to face prosecution. Victoria Police vehicles were on the tarmac of terminal two at Melbourne Airport from about 8.30pm, preparing for the arrival of Ms Leifers plane. Moments before police were expected to take Ms Leifer into custody, authorities drove their cars around the corner out of view of the media. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American The number of new print magazines started in the U.S. fell by more than half in 2020 to 60, compared t Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. 1 of 1 Travel to Thailand: What to Expect on Your Arrival khaskhabar.com : , 27 2021 11:01 AM Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia will not back down on its values in response to trade threats from China, a day after Xi Jinping implored world leaders to abandon confrontation and work together. Frydenberg said the Chinese Presidents rhetoric did not match reality after Beijing launched trade strikes on up to $20 billion in Australian exports last year due to disputes over coronavirus, national security and human rights. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Xi told business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum this week in Davos that the strong should not bully the weak. Decisions should not be made by simply showing off strong muscles or waving a big fist, he said. Responding to the remarks on Wednesday, Frydenberg said Australia had been on the receiving end of some pretty harsh actions from China. The superpower, Australias largest trading partner, accounts for more than a third of all Australian exports, worth more than $150 billion a year. Bratislava, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Slovakia on Wednesday tightened its lockdown regime by requiring negative coronavirus results for trips outside the home, amid soaring infection numbers. With the exception of under 15s and the over 65s, everyone must have confirmation of a negative PCR or antigen test result in order to leave the house for work, a doctor's appointment or groceries. The new rule will apply until February 7 in the EU member of 5.4 million people where more than 2.5 million Covid tests were carried out last week -- producing more than 30,000 positives. Police said those who venture out face checks and stiff fines await anyone breaking the rules. "We will continue with random but strict checks of negative test certificates. On-site fines range up to 1,000 Euros ($1,200)," police spokesperson Denisa Bardyova told AFP. "The positivity rate for all of Slovakia amounts to 1.18 percent," Prime Minister Igor Matovic told reporters. The strict measures have not sparked any street protests, though many Slovaks are frustrated. "Had the lockdown been stricter at the right time, these tests would not have been needed," Bratislava resident Anna told AFP. Accountant Jana, who said she would have to get tested to go to work, questioned why the requirement also applied to country walks. "This is complete nonsense. Who am I going to infect there, trees?" she told AFP. Early next month, areas that are faring worse in the epidemic will undergo another round of mass testing. On Tuesday, Matovic said that putting all hope in vaccines alone was a delusion given supply issues. "At this pace, it might take until September to vaccinate 60 percent of the population," he told reporters. Only two percent of the population have been vaccinated against the coronavirus as of Wednesday, the health ministry said. Slovakia on Wednesday reported 2,775 new infections, bringing the total to 241,392. The death toll stands at 4,361. Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. David Coates, a retired KPMG managing partner, lives in Colchester and is a member of the Vermont Business Roundtable, where he serves on the Pension and Health Benefits Reform Task Force. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Cayuga County's unemployment rate shot higher in December, though it remained below state and national levels, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to stifle the economy. Data released this week by the state Department of Labor put the Cayuga County jobless rate last month at 5.7%, up from 4.7% in the same month of 2019 and up from 4.8% in November. The county's higher rate resulted from both an increase in the number of unemployed residents and a decrease in employed residents. The 2,000 unemployed residents is up 300 from a year ago, while the 32,900 employed figure is down by 1,200 people. Cayuga County's active labor force, reflecting the number of residents who either have a job or are actively seeking one, stood at 34,900 in December, the lowest mark for the county dating back to 1990. Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}} While the job market trends are not positive for the local economy, the Cayuga County job market is outperforming the state and the nation averages. The New York jobless rate in December was 8.1% and the national market was 6.5%. The figures were not adjusted for typical seasonal fluctuations. Cayuga County's December rate ranked 22nd lowest out of 62 New York state counties. Tompkins County (4.3%) was lowest while Bronx County (15.1%) was highest. Many families have been apart from their loved ones for months because of the coronavirus pandemic. No hugs from grandkids. Instead, weve waved through windows, Zoomed and socially distanced outside when as the weather allowed. So when will it be safe to see your parents and grandparents? Do you still have to be socially distant, masked and outside, or can families now sit down for an indoor meal if older relatives are vaccinated? Unfortunately, medical experts said, there is still a lot that isnt known about how the virus is transmitted even among those who are vaccinated. But they do know the risk remains when vaccinated and unvaccinated people get together and the risk cuts both ways. Those vaccinated can spread it unknowingly to the unvaccinated, and while there is a lesser risk for the vaccinated, there is still a chance they can get the virus, the experts said. Before asking about whether it is safe, its important to look at how the vaccines work, said David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He said both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines require two doses, but there is a big difference in effectiveness after two shots compared to taking only one shot. The Pfizer vaccine is about 95% effective, or 94% in those who are 55 and older, in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infection seven days after the second shot, Cennimo said. The Moderna vaccine is around 94% effective, or 86% in those 65 and older, in preventing symptoms 14 days after the second dose, he said. The efficacy of only one shot is around 50%, he said. With all that in mind, I do not think that a vulnerable person has a high enough chance of being sufficiently protected after one dose of vaccine that I would go to normal visitation, Cennimo said, noting that people should continue to distance and wear masks for now. Even after two doses, though, experts say the risks dont vanish. Those grandkids, even though theyd be less likely to get sick, they could be carrying the virus, Dr. Scott Weisenberg, an infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone in New York, told The Today Show. So even though grandparents (who are fully vaccinated) may be 95% less likely to get sick and certainly less likely to end up critically ill, theres still going to be that chance, (especially) when the virus is spreading in the community, that they can get the virus, he said. Therefore, Weisenberg said, whether you are vaccinated or not, you should take the same precautions recommended by public health experts, including social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding indoor gatherings with people who are not in your household. While news about new variants of the virus are getting a lot of attention, they dont change Cennimos advice to families. Any visits between vaccinated and unvaccinated people should include the same masking and distancing guidelines we have been following, he said, noting he wont be comfortable with any indoor visits until everyone has the vaccine. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Other experts agreed. While these vaccines are highly effective in preventing people from getting sick with COVID-19, it is not yet known if they prevent people from transmitting the virus, said Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. It will be important to continue to wear masks and practice some social distancing for a while when visiting people not in your household, even if they are vaccinated, she said. As more people get vaccinated, we will start to see more data about whether a vaccinated person could have asymptomatic infection and possibly transmit the virus, the experts said. That will be key for getting life back to normal, but even without knowing for certain about transmission levels after someone receives the vaccine, the shots will make visiting safer, Cennimo said. The next natural question is the possible need for booster doses and we just do not know the answer at this time, he said. I would still take basic precautions, but I would be more comfortable with indoor gatherings post-vaccine (for everybody). New Jersey said it hopes to have 70% of the population vaccinated in the next six months, but the available supply of the vaccine will have a large impact on the success of that plan. It will be important to temper expectations on timeline, Kates said. Most public health experts are hopeful that we can resume more normal activities in the summer and fall, but this will depend on enough people getting vaccinated. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. Domestic killings spiked in London last year, prompting fears that lockdown has had deadly side effects. There were 22 domestic homicides in the capital in 2020, up from 16 in 2019. Twelve of the victims were children, up from seven the previous year. Announcing a review into the 38 per cent increase, Commander Dave McLaren said: It is fair to say mental health has played a part in a number of those crimes. 'It isnt a massive leap of faith to say lockdown has an impact on all of us in terms of our wellbeing. The data emerged after Olga Freeman, 40, this week pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of disabled son Dylan, ten, in August. Olga Freeman, 40, yesterday admitted to killing her 10-year-old son, Dylan, (pictured together) at their family home in Acton, West London Overall, violent crime in London decreased but the number of shootings rose from 266 in 2019 to 288 in 2020. Domestic tragedies in the capital in 2020 included the deaths of 19-month-old Pavinya Nithiyakumar and her three-year-old brother, Nigish, who were killed by their shop worker father Nadarajah Nithiyakumar while his wife was in the shower at their east London home in April. In separate cases, Sutha Sivanantham, 36, from Mitcham, south London, was charged with murdering her five-year-old daughter, Sayagi Sivanantham, at their home in June, and Mariam Benzain, 32, of Preston Road, Harrow, north-west London, is accused of killing her five-month-old son, Elias Biad, in July. Another case involved the deaths of three-year-old Kailash Kuha Raj and his 36-year-old mother, Poorna Kaameshwari Sivaraj, who it is believed were murdered by father and husband Kuha Raj Sithamparanathan, 42, in October. Overall, violent crime in London decreased but the number of shootings rose from 266 in 2019 to 288 in 2020. Picture: Stock He stabbed himself to death when police arrived at the family home in Brentford, west London, on October 6. Senior Met officers say it is unclear why the total number of homicides did not drop further despite the capital being in lockdown for significant parts of the year. The force investigated 127 homicides in 2018. The force's sanction detection rate, the proportion of crimes where a suspect was charged, rose from 77% in 2019 to 96% in 2020. Violent crime fell but there was a rise in the number of incidents where guns were fired, with lethal discharges going from 266 in 2019 to 288 in 2020. Commander Jane Connors said that, during the summer months when lockdown restrictions were eased, both knife crime with injury and grievous bodily harm rose above pre-pandemic levels. China lifts Thailand's poultry trade Adapting to China's desire for frozen poultry and redirecting cooked meat exports from Europe to Japan, Thai broiler exporters made the best of a bad year. An eFeedLink Hot Topic Just as it did earlier with beef and pork, China is now a powerful, decisive player in the world poultry trade: Smiling fortune on those on does business with and creating difficulties for those it does not buy from. Just as it did earlier with beef and pork, China is now a powerful, decisive player in the world poultry trade: Smiling fortune on those on does business with and creating difficulties for those it does not buy from. Those who could take advantage of booming Chinese poultry demand benefitted and none did so more than Thailand. China offset falling EU shipments, making for a nominal 1.3% increase in 2020 exports to 911,000 tonnes, from a Thai Customs estimated 900,000 tonnes last year. Even as its tourism-dependent domestic chicken consumption nosedived, Thai exports to China in the first three quarters of 2020 were up 70% by volume and 75% by value from 2019 levels. Moreover, export-driven Thai chicken is making a home for itself in China's market: From just six plants in the mid-2010s, 14 plants were approved for export to China in 2019, 23 in 2020, and approximately 35 by some time in 2021. Kukrit Areepakorn, manager at the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association, estimates total 2020 exports to China at 135,000 tonnes, more than double 2019's volume. On one hand, with the EU suffering the deepest recession of any part of the world, Thai processed chicken exports once bound for the west were diverted to Asia. H1 exports to Britain and the EU fell 17%, to 151,000 tonnes, compared to 182,000 tonnes a year earlier. Fortunately, with H1 2020 exports to Japan rising 5%, the overall January through June decline in cooked Thai chicken exports was limited to 6%. On the other hand, while Thailand relies heavily on value-added cooked chicken, China mostly demands raw, unprocessed poultry meat. Forced to adapt, H1 2020 saw Thai output of unprocessed chicken meat rise by 3% on-year while cooked chicken output fell by 2.5% to 3.0% over this same time. Growing shipment volumes to China and Japan are expected to see exports resume growth in H2, making for a nominal rise of 1% in 2020 exports (to 910,000 tonnes) over 2019 levels. With exports holding steady and H2 2020 consumption rebounding sharply, 2020 Thai broiler meat production will fall by only 1.5%, from 3.30 million tonnes in 2019 to 3.25 million in 2020 This is considerably better than the 2.90 million tonne output that was projected just six months ago. Going forward, 2021 sees a recovery in domestic Thai chicken consumption, aggressive growth in China-bound exports, and flat trade elsewhere boosting output up 4.6% to a record 3.4 million tonnes and exports 5% to 955,000 tonnes. Should the world economy recover and no further supply/demand shocks occur, Thailand should produce nearly 3.6 million tonnes of chicken and enjoy over a million tonnes of poultry meat exports in 2022. All rights reserved. No part of the report may be reproduced without permission from eFeedLink. The 76-year-old outgoing leader (and President of the Republic) confirmed at the top of the party. The country's successes include economic growth in a period of crisis and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Congress closes on February 2nd. For analysts and experts, the guidelines and the repression of activism in civil society will remain unchanged. Hanoi (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The 1600 delegates of the Vietnamese Communist Party, gathered in Congress in the capital Hanoi, have re-elected the current secretary (and president of the Republic) Nguyen Phu Trong, 76, to lead the party for a third consecutive term. This is what is revealed, behind anonymity, by An anonymous source within the five-year assembly revealed the news that was reported by official state media while the nine-day session continues until February 2. The party congress must define the future leadership and governance of the nation for the next five years, in the context of consolidated economic growth, a thus far effective fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and the tensions between China and the United States in the Asia-Pacific region. The eve of the meeting was characterized by further repression of dissent, with a campaign of arrests and convictions of activists and members of human rights NGOs by the current leadership. Within the context of the global pandemic Vietnam has shown effective containment policies with only 1,500 cases and 35 victims since the start of the emergency a year ago. The economy also shows positive indices with a plus 2.9% in a regional (and global, except for China) context marked by recession and growing difficulties. So much so that the president and secretary of the Trong party himself called him "a shining star" in the world firmament. The current leader seems destined to hold a third term at the head of the Party, a very rare event even in consideration of his advanced age, but in all likelihood he will have to leave the presidency of the Republic an unusual dual role held so far. Vietnam is led by the so-called "four pillars": the head of the Communist Party, the president, the Prime Minister and the president of Parliament. However, the real power lies in the hands of the Politburo which controls the most important decisions (and appointments), also derogating from the rules on age limits, as happened in this situation where there is a high consensus around the person. Trong has become famous in recent years for his fight against corruption, which has seen dozens of high-level officials - including a member of the Politburo - go to jail and face lengthy sentences. For many analysts and experts, in reality this campaign proved to be only a pretext to eliminate political opponents and strengthen the links of control over the country. "In the last five years - underlines Jonathan London, Vietnam expert at the Leiden Institute of Area Studies (Holland) - there has been an evident increase in the level of repression of the regime". And this reflects, he adds, "Trong's agenda aimed at disciplining the country and the party in an ever wider way". Among the few rivals of the current leader is 66-year-old Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who has led economic growth and the fight against the new coronavirus. In all likelihood, he is destined to become the leader of the future, without however bringing major changes in terms of international policies and internal human (and civil) rights. Unless a doctor says otherwise, mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor cannot fight for 180 days following a beating he took in the ring Saturday night at the hands and feet of Dustin Poirier. Insider reports the Irish fighter, who limped out of the ring following a surprising second-round knockout in Abu Dhabi, was handed the suspension as part of UFC protocol meant to protect its combatants. McGregor reportedly sustained injuries to his right tibia and fibula. A physician would have to X-ray the 32-year-old brawlers lower leg before he can climb back into the ring. Poirier, the American fighter who kicked the life out of McGregors shins before finishing him off, has also been ordered to rest one week to nurse his wounds. "We compromised his leg, and he was in a bad position early just from the repeated leg kicks," New York Daily News cited Poirier as saying. McGregor said one of his legs was "completely dead" during the competition on Fight Island, where the UFC has hosted fights during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Norweigan woman has described how her mother escaped the clutches of the Nazis by virtue of being born in Newry. Elsie Mendel survived the holocaust after bravely standing up the Nazis who arrived at her home in November 1942, telling them they could not take her due to her British citizenship. Her daughter, Lill Fanny Saether shared her mother's story to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today. Lill's family ended up in Newry after leaving Russia and her grandparents married in the town in 1906. Florrie and Joseph Mendel lived at 7 Kilmorey Terrace and had three children, including Lill's mother Elsie. The Mendel family moved to Trondheim, Norway in 1911 when Elsie was just two-years-old, before eventually settling in Oslo in the early 1930's As the second world war raged the Nazis invaded Norway in April 1940 and occupied the country until the end of the war. Despite Norway having a tiny Jewish population of just over 2,000, Norwegian Jews were not spared the horrors meted out in the rest of Europe. Jews in Norway were subject to a number of restrictions including having a 'J' stamped in their id cards and being forced to register themselves and their property and possessions. Expand Close Daughter Lill Fanny Saether / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Daughter Lill Fanny Saether Lill was able to piece together her family's story by talking to her mother and through reading her grandmother's diary. The diary and her family's most prized possessions had been saved after they were given to a lodger for safekeeping. Persecution of Jews intensified in October and on the 24/25 Norwegian police were ordered to arrested all Jewish men over the age of 15. Elsie's father avoided arrest due to being ill in hospital at the time. On November 26 the arrest of all Jewish woman and children was ordered by the Nazis. This is when Elsie took her stand. "They came to the apartment where my grandmother and my mother and her two sisters were and they were going to arrest them. Then my mother tells the police, 'you cannot arrest me and my sister because we are British citizens," Lill explained. Elsie had learned that citizens of the UK, USA and Nazi allies were not to be detained. "She was very knowledge and it saved her life. They made a lot of phone calls and found out they could not arrest her or her sister and they didn't arrest my grandmother either" Lill said. Tragically, Elsie's sister Esther and brother Harry Isidor were born in Norway and did not possess British citizenship. They were arrested and taken on a ship to Poland and on to Auschwitz where they were killed in the gas chambers alongside millions of others. "They arrived at Auschwitz on December 1 and were transported directly to the gas chamber. Some of the men were singled out for labour, but my uncle had a limp and was gassed with the woman and children immediately," Lill explained. Of 532 people on board the ship with Lill's uncle and aunt, 302 were men, 188 were women and 42 were children. The youngest was four-months-old and the oldest was 80-years-old. During the war 776 Jews were deported from Norway, 53% of the registered Jews in the counry. Only 32 men survived and returned to Norway. Lill said the family did not talk much about their loved one's deaths during the holocaust. "Most Jews didn't talk much about it, when they came back everyone was happy. You didn't reveal your deep sorrow, at least not outside the family. When my mother spoke of them she said they were lost, she did not say they had perished or were dead or were killed, they were lost during the war," she said. Elsie also played a part in her father's daring escape from hospital, working with the Norwegian resistance to get her family out of the country. Lill said her family were indebted to the Norwegian resistance movement, some who lost their lives helping Jews flee the Nazis. They travelled to Sweden and Elsie then travelled on to Scotland where she met her husband and Lill's father, a Norwegian seaman. After the war the family returned to Norway and Elsie Mendel eventually passed away in 1998. Lill, a trade unionist and former elected representative in her native Norway, has done extensive research on her family's lives during the holocaust and is hoping to publish a book in the future. Although her mother never returned to Northern Ireland, Lill visits multiple times a year with her husband, born in England to Irish parents. "I was brought up to believe Ireland was the most wonderful place in the world. My grandmother always said everything in Ireland was better," Lill joked. "I was taught that an Irish or English citizenship could save my life. I couldn't have an English one so when I was made to understand that if my mother was born here, on this island, that I could have Irish citizenship I got it at once. It was something I just had to do," she said. She explained why she felt it was so important to keep her mother's story out there. "My mother saved her life because she was a British citizen, because she was extremely knowledgeable, responsible and brave and because some Norwegians were unbelievably heroic. "People have to know what happened to prevent it from happening again. We have an obligation to tell." Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss., on Dec. 20, 2020. (Paul Sancya/AP Photo, Pool) Pharmacist Charged in CCP Virus Vaccine Case to Plead Guilty A Wisconsin pharmacist accused of trying to spoil 57 vials of the Moderna CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccine agreed to plead guilty in federal court and now faces 20 years in prison, according to the prosecutors. Steven Brandenburg, 46, of Grafton, is charged with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine. Brandenburg was initially charged with attempted misdemeanor property damage but prosecutors warned more serious charges could follow if tests showed the doses were ruined. He was arrested on Dec. 31 as part of an investigation into how dozens of vials of the vaccine were left outside a refrigerator. The vials contained enough dozes to vaccinate more than 500 people. Authorities declined to comment beyond a press release announcing the charges. Brandenburgs attorney declined to comment Tuesday to The Associated Press. Tampering with vaccine doses in the midst of a global health crisis calls for a strong response, as reflected by the serious charges the United States has brought today, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton of the Department of Justices Civil Division said in a statement. According to court documents, Brandenburg believed that the vaccines could mutate recipients DNA. Johns Hopkins University, in a December news release, stated that some people may have to deal with side effects from the vaccine. Side effects may vary with the type of COVID-19 vaccine. We know the most about side effects following vaccination with the Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNAor mRNAvaccines, the university said, adding, Side effects include fatigue, headache, muscle aches, chills, joint pain, and possibly some fever. Brandenburg told a detective that he took the vials out of the refrigerator for three hours on Dec. 24, according to the criminal complaint. He took them out again the next day believing the vaccine would become ineffective if it wasnt refrigerated for 12 hours. A pharmacy technician found the vials and put them back in the refrigerator after nine hours. Adam Gerol, Ozaukee County district attorney, said in a statement it was necessary to bring an appropriate level of prosecution and punishment to this case in federal court, and the facts of this incident simply didnt fit a charge provided for by Wisconsin law. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. The Associated Press contributed to this report. GOTTINGEN, Germany, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The life science group Sartorius recorded high growth according to preliminary figures in 2020 due to strong organic development, several acquisitions and the additional momentum from business related to the coronavirus pandemic. The Group closed the year with significant double-digit growth rates in sales revenue, order intake1 and earnings, reporting further gains in both divisions and across all geographies. "The pandemic year of 2020 was exceptional and very challenging for Sartorius as well. First and foremost, we are glad that we did not have to report any high numbers of infections or serious illnesses among our employees to report. Moreover, in a very intense and demanding environment, we also experienced the strongest year of growth in the company's recent history and were simultaneously able to complete several strategically important acquisitions," said Executive Board Chairman and CEO Joachim Kreuzburg. "Our strategy and business model proved not only to be particularly resilient in the face of the pandemic. Sartorius has also been contributing directly toward overcoming this pandemic: each and every day, we deliver essential products and technologies to vaccine manufacturers all over the world for producing coronavirus vaccines. Our employees mastered considerable challenges in the past year. A big thank you goes out to the entire international Sartorius team for the fantastic job they did." "Looking at the current year and ahead to the future, Kreuzburg remains generally optimistic: "The pandemic is still not over so protecting the health of our employees continues to remain our top priority. In this environment, even short-term forecasts are subject to increased uncertainty. Yet from today's perspective, we expect strong growth for 2021 and beyond. That's why we will accelerate and extend the expansion of our production capacities once again, above all at our sites in Germany, Puerto Rico, and China. Moreover, we considerably raised our mid-term targets for 2025 and now plan to grow our sales to about 5 billion euros." Business development of the Group According to preliminary figures, Group sales revenue surged by 30.2 percent to nearly 2,336 million euros in constant currencies (reported: +27.8 percent). Sartorius thus exceeded its forecast issued at the beginning of the year, which had projected an increase in sales revenue by 10 percent to 13 percent and had been raised during the year. Specifically, this was because of two effects: In addition to strong organic growth, consolidation of the most recent acquisitions contributed a good 7 percentage points to non-organic expansion. Furthermore, the preparations of several biopharmaceutical customers to manufacture coronavirus vaccines and Covid19 therapeutics also had a positive impact. The influence of these pandemic-related effects on consolidated growth was a good 8 percentage points. Order intake1 grew even more dynamically than sales revenue and was up 49.0 percent in constant currencies to 2,836 million euros (reported: +46.2 percent). Pandemic-related orders accounted for close to 14 percentage points of growth. Underlying EBITDA1 also rose very significantly, showing an overproportionate increase in relation to sales revenue, by 39.6 percent to 692 million euros. The respective margin climbed year over year from 27.1 percent to 29.6 percent. Economies of scale in the Bioprocess Solutions Division primarily played a role in this substantial increase in profitability, yet the underproportionate development of costs in some areas as a result of the pandemic also added to this effect, such as the significant reduction of business travel as well as fewer new hires in non-production areas. The most recent acquisitions had a slightly positive effect on the earnings margin, while currency headwinds had a somewhat dilutive impact. Relevant net profit1 for the Group rose in relation to sales, by 42.9 percent to 299 million euros. Underlying earnings per ordinary share were 4.37 euros (previous year: 3.06 euros) and per preference share, 4.38 euros (previous year: 3.07 euros). Business development of the regions The Group increased its revenues by double digits in all three geographies yet again. Particularly in the regions of EMEA2 and the Americas, Sartorius benefited from additional demand in connection with the development and manufacture of coronavirus vaccines and Covid-19 therapeutics. Revenue in the Americas, which accounted for about 35 percent of total Group sales, rose sharply, also because of the acquisitions, by 32.8 percent to 812 million euros. Sales revenue in the EMEA2 region that contributed the highest share of around 40 percent to total Group revenue amounted to 935 million euros, up 28.4 percent. Generating around 25 percent of Group sales, the Asia | Pacific region recorded sales revenue totaling 588 million euros, a gain of 29.6 percent. (All figures in sales revenue growth in constant currencies) Key financial indicators Sartorius invested substantially in expanding its capacity in 2020 in order to meet high demand. The ratio of capital expenditures (CAPEX) to sales revenue1 remained in the double digits, at 10.3 percent, despite strong sales growth (previous year: 12.3 percent). Equity rose at year-end from 1,093 million euros to 1,402 million euros. The equity ratio of the Group continued to remain at a solid level of 29.9 percent even after closing of the acquisitions and the increased balance sheet total due to a significantly expanded cash position (December 31, 2019: 38.1 percent). Net debt to underlying EBITDA1 increased as expected, from 2.0 at year-end 2019 to 2.6 for the period ended December 31, 2020. More than 10,600 employees At the end of 2020, the Group employed 10,637 people worldwide. Compared to the prior-year headcount, this number was thus 1,601 higher. The increase resulted primarily from hiring additional production staff at the company's manufacturing sites with especially high capacity utilization. At the end of the reporting period, around 7,100 people were employed in the EMEA2 region, more than 1,900 in the Americas and about 1,600 in the Asia | Pacific region. Business development of the divisions Both divisions contributed significant rates to sales growth. The Bioprocess Solutions Division that offers a wide array of innovative technologies for manufacturing biopharmaceuticals expanded at an exceptionally dynamic rate in the reporting year, with sales up 34.4 percent to 1,783 million euros (reported: +32.0 percent). In addition to strong organic growth across all product categories and geographies, pandemic effects added up to an estimated 12 percentage points of which the majority was attributable to additional sales in connection with the ramp-up of production capacities for coronavirus vaccines and Covid19 therapeutics. Close to 5 percentage points of the division's growth was due to consolidation of the most recent acquisitions. Order intake1 developed even more strongly than sales revenue, soaring 56.4 percent in constant currencies (reported: +53.5 percent) to 2,238 million euros, with the pandemic effects described above having a positive impact of around 17 percentage points. Underlying EBITDA1 of the Bioprocess Solutions Division was 576 million euros, up 46.5 percent very significantly above the prior-year figure of 393 million euros3. Due to economies of scale and pandemic-related underproportionate cost development to some extent, the division's respective margin was up year over year from 29.1 percent3 to 32.3 percent. Currency headwinds had a slightly negative impact, while the most recent acquisitions did not have any significant effect on the division's earnings margin. The Lab Products & Services Division specializing in equipment and technologies for life science research and pharmaceutical laboratories achieved a sales increase in 2020 of 18.1 percent to 553 million euros (reported: +16.1 percent). Acquisitions contributed about 15 percentage points; the net impact of various countervailing pandemic effects added up to minus 1 percentage point. Thus, the division was confronted in the first half with an extremely challenging economic environment, especially in China and the USA, due to the pandemic. This led to a decline in sales revenue in some product segments. In the second half, rebound and catch-up effects increasingly set in. In particular, demand was high for products such as diagnostic membrane and pipette tips used as part of coronavirus testing. The division's bioanalytics portfolio that includes the protein analytical business acquired from Danaher also grew dynamically. Order intake rose even more strongly than sales revenue, climbing 26.4 percent (reported: +24.1 percent) to 598 million euros. Underlying EBITDA1 for the Lab Products & Services Division rose by 13.2 percent from 103 million euros3 a year earlier to 116 million euros in the reporting year; the corresponding margin reached 21.0 percent relative to 21.6 percent3 in the previous year. The main reason for the slight decline was the weaker capacity utilization at some plants in the first half of the year due to the pandemic, while the most recent acquisitions had a positive impact of a good 2 percentage points on the division's margin. Exchange rates did not have any significant effect on the division's earnings margin. Forecast for 2021 Sartorius plans to grow profitably in 2021 as well. Consolidated sales revenue is thus projected to increase by about 19 percent to 25 percent. Initial consolidation of the acquisitions is expected to contribute about 5.5 percentage points to this growth, and the impact of the pandemic-related businesses on Group revenue is difficult to estimate at the present time and is likely to amount to up to 6 percentage points. Regarding profitability, the company forecasts that its underlying EBITDA1 margin will be about 30.5 percent, up from 29.6 percent a year earlier. Due to dynamic organic growth, Sartorius is extending and accelerating the expansion of production capacities and its digital infrastructure. As a result, the CAPEX ratio is expected to be around 15 percent (previous year: 10.3 percent). For the Bioprocess Solutions Division, the Executive Board expects sales to grow between 22 percent and 28 percent, with consolidation of the most recent acquisitions likely to contribute about 6 percentage points and the pandemic effects up to 8 percentage points. For the division's underlying EBITDA1 margin, management forecasts a moderate increase to around 33 percent (previous year: 32.3 percent) after the underproportionate cost development as a result of the pandemic had additionally increased this margin in the prior year, especially in this division, and now that corresponding effects resulting from pent-up demand are included in this projection. The Lab Products & Services Division is projected to increase its sales revenue by 10 percent to 16 percent, with the most recent acquisitions expected to contribute around 5 percentage points to growth. Pandemic effects are not anticipated unless laboratories will be closed again as part of potentially very extensive lockdowns. For the division's underlying EBITDA1 margin, a substantial increase to about 23.0 percent is forecasted (previous year: 21.0 percent). All forecasts are based on constant currencies, as in the past years. In addition, the company assumes that the global economy will increasingly recover as the current year progresses and that supply chains will remain stable. Mid-term targets up to 2025 updated As early as 2018, management presented its strategy and long-term targets for the period of 2020 to 2025. The targets for 2025 have now been updated and partly raised, given the results achieved in the Bioprocess Solutions Division in 2020 and the resulting increase in the baseline values, as well as expectations of future organic growth in this segment. Accordingly, Sartorius now plans to increase its consolidated sales revenue to about 5 billion euros in the five-year period up to 2025 (previous target: around 4 billion euros). The company intends to achieve this increase in both divisions primarily through organic growth as well as additionally by acquisitions. The Group's underlying EBITDA1 margin is forecasted to rise to around 32 percent (former guidance: around 28 percent). For the Bioprocess Solutions Division, the company now projects sales revenue of around 3.8 billion euros (former guidance: approximately 2.8 billion euros), with an underlying EBITDA1 margin of around 34 percent (former guidance: around 30 percent). The outlook for the Lab Products & Services Division remains unchanged, with sales revenue forecasted at around 1.2 billion euros and an underlying EBITDA1 margin at about 25 percent. These projections are based on the assumption that on average the margins of future acquisitions will initially be somewhat below and, after integration, at a level comparable to those of the Group's existing businesses, and that there will be no relevant changes in the key currency exchange rates. Management points out that the dynamics and volatilities in the life science and biopharma sectors have increased over the past years and the coronavirus pandemic has further amplified this trend, so that multi-year forecasts show even higher uncertainties than usual. Sartorius publishes alternative performance measures that are not defined by international accounting standards. These are determined with the aim of improving the comparability of business performance over time and within the industry. Order intake: all customer orders contractually concluded and booked during the respective reporting period Relevant / underlying EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjusted for extraordinary items Relevant net profit: profit for the period after non-controlling interest, adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on the normalized financial result and the normalized tax rate Ratio of net debt to underlying EBITDA: quotient of net debt and underlying EBITDA over the past 12 months, including the pro forma amount contributed by acquisitions for this period CAPEX ratio: investment payments in relation to sales revenue for the same period EMEA = Europe , Middle East , Africa Sales revenues and margins of the divisions in the comparable period adjusted to reflect the reallocation of two small product segments This press release contains forward-looking statements about the future development of the Sartorius Group. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Sartorius assumes no liability for updating such statements in light of new information or future events. This is a translation of the original German-language press release. Sartorius shall not assume any liability for the correctness of this translation. The original German press release is the legally binding version. Follow Sartorius on Twitter @Sartorius_Group and on LinkedIn. Conference call Dr. Joachim Kreuzburg, CEO and Executive Board Chairman of Sartorius, and Rainer Lehmann, Executive Board member and CFO, will discuss the company's business results with analysts and investors on January 27, 2021, at 3:30 p.m. Central European Time (CET) in a teleconference. You may register by clicking on the following link: https://78449.choruscall.com/dataconf/productusers/sar/mediaframe/42744/indexl.html The presentation will be available on the same day starting at 2:30 p.m. CET, for viewing on our website at: https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/investor-relations/sartorius-ag Current image files https://www.sartorius.com/en/company/newsroom/downloads-publications Financial calendar February 18, 2021 Publication of Annual Report 2020 March 26, 2021 Virtual Annual Shareholders' Meeting April 21, 2021 Publication of first-quarter figures (January to March 2021) July 21, 2021 Publication of the first-half figures (January to June 2021) October 20, 2021 Publication of nine-month figures (January to September 2021) Preliminary key performance indicators for fiscal 2020 Sartorius Group Bioprocess Solutions1 Lab Products & Services1 In millions of , unless otherwise specified 2020 2019 in % Reported in % cc2 2020 2019 in % Reported in % cc2 2020 2019 in % Reported in % cc2 Sales Revenue and Order Intake Order intake 2,836.3 1,939.5 46.2 49.0 2,238.1 1,457.6 53.5 56.4 598.2 481.9 24.1 26.4 Sales revenue 2,335.7 1,827.0 27.8 30.2 1,782.6 1,350.5 32.0 34.4 553.0 476.5 16.1 18.1 - EMEA3 935.1 733.4 27.5 28.4 698,5 524.8 33.1 33.8 236.6 208.6 13.4 14.7 - Americas3 812.2 629.9 28.9 32.8 651.3 501.1 30.0 33.7 160.9 128.7 25.0 29.1 - Asia | Pacific3 588.4 463.7 26.9 29.6 432.9 324.5 33.4 36.5 155.5 139.2 11.7 13.4 Earnings EBITDA4 692.2 495.8 39.6 575.9 393.1 46.5 116.3 102.7 13.2 EBITDA margin4 in % 29.6 27.1 32.3 29.1 21.0 21.6 Net profit for the period5 299.3 209.4 42.9 Financial Data per Share Earnings per ordinary share5 in 4.37 3.06 43.0 Earnings per preference share5 in 4.38 3.07 42.9 1 Sales revenues and margins of the divisions in the comparable period adjusted to reflect the reallocation of two small product segments 2 In constant currencies abbreviated as "cc" 3 Acc. to the customer's location 4 Relevant / underlying EBITDA: earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and adjusted for extraordinary items 5 After non-controlling interest, adjusted for extraordinary items and non-cash amortization, as well as based on the normalized financial result and the normalized tax rate A profile of Sartorius The Sartorius Group is a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry. With innovative laboratory instruments and consumables, the Group's Lab Products & Services Division concentrates on serving the needs of laboratories performing research and quality control at pharma and biopharma companies and those of academic research institutes. The Bioprocess Solutions Division with its broad product portfolio focusing on single-use solutions helps customers to manufacture biotech medications and vaccines safely and efficiently. The Group has been annually growing by double digits on average and has been regularly expanding its portfolio by acquisitions complementary technologies. In fiscal 2020, the company earned sales revenue of some 2.34 billion euros according to its preliminary figures. At the end of 2020, nearly 11,000 people were employed at the Group's approximately 60 manufacturing and sales sites, serving customers around the globe. https://www.sartorius.com/en Contact: Petra Kirchhoff Head of Corporate Communications +49 (0)551 308 1686 [email protected] SOURCE Sartorius AG They have jetted to Dubai for a sun-soaked family holiday. And Jay Rutland admitted he was 'loving' being away with his wife Tamara Ecclestone and their two daughters, Sophia, six, and baby Serena, four months. Heiress Tamara, 36, looked stunning in a plunging floral maxi dress as she posed beside her businessman beau, 39, for the seaside shot. Family time: Jay Rutland admitted he was 'loving' being away with his wife Tamara Ecclestone and their two daughters, Sophia, six, and baby Serena, four months Jay kept it cool in a tangerine polo shirt and a pair of shorts, as he sweetly captioned the family snap: 'Outnumbered but loving it!' The couple's two girls looked adorable in matching sunflower print dresses as they posed with their parents on the white sand beach. Earlier in the day, Jay posted a further insight into their trip as he posted some adorable selfies of Tamara holding their newborn daughter. Aww! Earlier in the day, Jay posted a further insight into their trip as he posted some adorable selfies of Tamara holding their newborn daughter Dinner time: The family later headed for dinner together at the exclusive Shanghai Me restaurant The family later headed for dinner together at the exclusive Shanghai Me restaurant Earlier this week, Tamara uploaded a candid image of herself breastfeeding her baby Serena, during her break in Dubai on Sunday. She also posted pictures of her eldest daughter Sophia, cradling her younger sister as she treated her followers to a glimpse of their fun-filled holiday. Candid: Tamara uploaded a picture of herself breastfeeding her baby Serena, three, during her break in Dubai on Sunday In another snap, the model was every inch the doting mother as she wore a gold necklace emblazoned with her children's names. The media personality twinned with her mini-me in heart-shaped shades as they soaked up the sun in a separate photo. Adorable Sophia later transformed into a mermaid as she posed in a pool during their luxurious hotel stay. Family first: She also posted images of her eldest daughter Sophia, cradling her sister as she treated her followers to a glimpse of their fun-filled holiday Having fun: The media personality twinned with her mini-me in heart-shaped shades as they soaked up the sun in a separate photo The blonde is an advocate of the practice and has previously shared pictures on social media of herself breastfeeding elder child Sophia, while fending off online criticism for continuing to do so beyond her fourth birthday. Despite the division, the mother-of two previously told HELLO! that breastfeeding helped her 'reconnect' with Sophia and settled her down at the end of the day. Tamara told the publication in 2018: 'It's only at bedtime. It's her bedtime routine. We do bath time, then we read four stories every night, then she has the boob. 'She falls asleep. That's her way, she doesn't have a dummy or a bottle to comfort her.' The family initially kept their holiday location a mystery but they soon revealed they were in Dubai after they flew to their sun-drenched festive getaway before lockdown. Rules require international travellers to come back negative after a PCR test before arriving in England. Passengers arriving by boat, train or plane - including UK nationals - have to take a test up to 72 hours before leaving the country. They need to present proof of a negative test result - using a PCR test or on some occasions a LAMP or lateral flow test - to their carrier on boarding while the UK Border Force conduct spot checks on arrivals. Harris Countys 23 felony judges are no longer being sued over uneven bail practices that plaintiffs say discriminate against poor defendants. The civil rights lawsuit against the county and its reform-minded sheriff will move forward without them. The federal judge presiding over Russell v. Harris County ruled Wednesday that once the bulk of the state district judges withdraw an appeal of one of her earlier rulings, they will be automatically removed as defendants in the case. Lawyers for poor defendants say the mechanics of who is listed as a party will not prevent them from pursuing their goal of full adversarial bail hearings. The judges were not part of the original lawsuit, but were added at Chief U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthals request. Their removal was precipitated by an appellate court ruling in a similar challenge to the bail system in Dallas County, in which the 5th U.S. Circuit found the judges were cloaked by immunity and should therefore be excluded from the Dallas lawsuit. The 2019 Harris County lawsuit, from lawyers at Civil Rights Corps in Washington, D.C., and pro bono counsel at Susman Godfrey, contends the bail system discriminates against people who cant afford sometimes arbitrarily high pretrial release rates. The same team of lawyers brought the misdemeanor bail challenge that ended in a seven-year consent decree requiring that the majority of people arrested be released on general order bonds. The vast majority of inmates at the Harris County Jail are awaiting trial on felony charges. And the notion of tinkering with the felony bail process has stirred up deep emotions among law enforcement and Gov. Greg Abbott, who issued an executive order many say it was prompted by the bail reformers in Harris County prohibiting releases of inmates during the pandemic who had prior convictions or current allegations involving violent crime. Rosenthals virtual courtroom for much of the past year has offered a rare gathering for all the key players in Harris Countys judicial system along with representatives from Attorney General Ken Paxtons office to weigh the reality at the jail amid the pandemic and what it might take to tackle bail hearings for inmates. gabrielle.banks@chron.com BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The leading Party members group of the State Council has held a meeting to study the important speech made by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at the fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. Premier Li Keqiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the State Council's leading Party members group, presided over the meeting Monday to make plans to strengthen full and strict Party governance in the government system. The meeting stressed all-out efforts to implement the CPC Central Committee's major decisions and leverage the full and strict Party governance to ensure the goals and tasks set for the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) are completed. It urged efforts to beef up political building, deepen reform to root out corruption and address the practice of formalities for formalities' sake, bureaucratism and other undesirable conduct. The meeting required public servants at all levels to closely align their thinking and actions with the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, have firm political convictions and abide by Party disciplinary rules and laws. It also decided to convene the State Council meeting on clean governance in due course this year. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American Statement by Minister Coveney at UNSC Debate on the Middle East, Including the Palestinian Question Statement Thank you President, and this will be my last intervention during your Presidency, so I want to warmly acknowledge the excellent work of your team in Tunis and in New York. Let me also take the opportunity to send my best wishes to Foreign Minister Jerandi for a speedy recovery. I welcome Foreign Minister Malki and Ambassador Erdan to the Council. Ireland looks forward to working constructively with Palestine, Israel and the wider international community during our term on the Council. We also welcome Special Coordinator Wennesland and thank you for your comprehensive briefing. Let me assure you of Irelands strong support as you take up your new responsibilities. Finally, I want to welcome the Secretary General of the League of Arab States Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit. Ireland works closely with the League and appreciates the important role it plays regionally. Ireland aligns itself with the Statement to be made by the EU Head of Delegation Mr. President In his final speech on the Middle East to the Security Council, the late Kofi Annan reminded his listeners that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not just one regional conflict amongst many. No other conflict, he continued, carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge, even for people very far away. His words still ring true in Ireland, where there is great public and political interest in the peaceful resolution of this conflict which has gone on for far too long. Irelands approach to the Israel-Palestinian conflict is based on respect for international law and the agreed international parameters. We are firmly committed to a negotiated two-state solution that ends the occupation that began in 1967; with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, on the basis of international law, including relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We know that this will not be easy. Progress requires dialogue and ultimately there can be no substitute for direct negotiations between the two parties. During the lowest moments of our own peace process in Ireland, we never lost sight of the need for what was called then the duty of hope. We encourage the Council to renew its commitment to tackle the most intractable conflicts that we face. It is time to look afresh at how we can assist Israelis and Palestinians to bring new momentum to resolving this conflict. Confidence building measures, such as the resumption of cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority last December, which can help build trust, are vital and should be encouraged and supported. The engagement of the parties themselves, and that of international partners, is critical to opening the way for dialogue. Ireland welcomes the bilateral agreements between Israel and United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. These new partnerships have the potential to contribute to a just and peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine issue. We encourage regional partners to identify concrete ways to build trust and cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We salute the efforts of Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany in the Munich format to lend momentum. We want to see a reinvigorated role for the Quartet and we look forward to a fresh engagement by the US Administration. We are interested in learning more about President Abbass proposal for an international peace conference, and how such an initiative could align with other international efforts to bring new impetus to the peace process. Mr President We welcome the Presidential decree issued on the 15 January by President Mahmoud Abbas to hold Legislative, Presidential and Palestinian National Council elections this year. The holding of elections in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in Gaza is a crucial step towards Palestinian unity and reconciliation, giving a voice to Palestinians throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, and renewing the legitimacy of national institutions, including a democratically elected Parliament and Government. We stand ready to assist for free, fair and inclusive elections. And we echo the UN Secretary-Generals call on the Palestinian authorities to facilitate, strengthen and support womens political participation throughout the electoral cycle. Last month the former Special Coordinator, Nickolay Mladenov, briefed the Council on the implementation of Resolution 2334. Ireland reaffirms its position that all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory is illegal under international law. Israel's latest decisions to advance plans for the approval and construction of thousands of new settlements in the West Bank, are contrary to international law. I am extremely concerned at the Israeli decision last week to award a tender contract for the construction of housing for an entirely new settlement, in Givat Hamatos, I urge Israel to reverse this decision and halt all continued settlement expansion, including in East Jerusalem and other sensitive areas. Continued settlement activity is not only illegal, but also erodes trust between Palestinians and Israelis. The acceleration in demolition or confiscation of Palestinian-owned structures in recent months, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in recent months, is also deeply concerning. Making already vulnerable Palestinians homeless in the midst of a global pandemic is unacceptable. We call on Israel to halt demolitions, which in 2020 was the highest since 2016, according to OCHA, and to allow for legal construction for Palestinian communities. As part of our commitment at the Council to ensure accountability, Ireland will continue to speak out against unilateral actions which fail to respect the resolutions of this Council and are in breach of international humanitarian law. We also speak out clearly against violence. The missiles from Gaza into Israel must stop, disproportionate Israeli military retaliation must stop, the attacks against civilians in the occupied Palestinian Territories, by Israeli settlers or by Palestinians, must stop. Ireland is a proud supporter of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose programmes deliver essential services to Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory and in the region, and I visited many of them myself. I urge others within the region and beyond, including the new US Administration, to step up and fund UNRWA. Their vital work needs support now more than ever. We are particularly concerned about the situation in the Gaza Strip, where 80% of the population depend on humanitarian assistance. The rise in COVID cases has affected children in Gaza in need of access to life-saving medical treatment. Once again, Ireland calls on Israel to lift the illegal blockade of Gaza. Ireland stands with Palestinian and Israeli people alike as they battle this dreadful virus. Ending the worst effects of the pandemic requires constructive cooperation, to support timely, effective and unimpeded vaccination of all, in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Mr. President, I do want to address important regional issues, which we will have an opportunity to discuss again I hope in much more detail. We welcome the Al-Ula Declaration of 5 January by the members of the GCC and Egypt and thank all of those who made it possible. The Declaration represents a key milestone in the development of closer regional integration and stability and we hope that the progress can be made and built on. The terrible conflicts in Yemen and Syria continue to drive unimaginable humanitarian suffering and instability across the region. We must redouble efforts towards their resolution, and continue to provide pivotal assistance to all those who need it. Of course, there will be a time for a detailed discussion in relation to Iran and the JCPoA. I note the comments that have been made in relation to that, and I look forward to a detailed debate on that at a future moment. Mr. President, Let me conclude though, as I began, by quoting the late Kofi Annan. In that final address to the Council on the Middle East, he said, the Quartet retains its validity because of its singular combination of legitimacy, political strength and financial and economic clout. But the Quartet needs to do more . to create the conditions for resuming a viable peace process. It needs to engage the parties directly in its deliberations and to be clearer at the outset on the parameters of an end-game deal. And it will have to be open to new ideas and new initiatives. I can think of no better guidance today as we once again look at this important task. Thank you Mr President Previous Item | Next Item By Derrick Wandera Opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, has asked the newly elected National Unity Platform lawmakers to sacrifice for the people who have given them the five-year mandate. Bobi Wine made the call during a closed-door meeting with more than 50 MPs-elect who attended what they referred to as an inaugural caucus meeting at his Magere home in Wakiso District. Yesterdays meeting, according to sources, agreed to convene another high-level meeting to discuss the appointment of the next Leader of Opposition in Parliament, committee chairpersons, and Shadow Cabinet members. The meeting was chaired by Bobi Wine and attended by party Secretary-General David Rubongoya and NUP deputy president in charge of the central region Mathias Mpuuga. The Forum for Democratic Change party has had most seats in Parliament since the return of the multiparty system in 2006. But in the just concluded polls, FDC got only 28 MPs against NUPs 61. The MPs-elect introduced themselves and one-by-one pledged to remain loyal to people power movement and party leaders. The main issue was on the conduct of the MPs, especially the first timers and he (Bobi Wine) was emphatic on the fact that MPs should sacrifice themselves for the people and focus on service delivery other than making themselves rich, the source intimated to this newspaper shortly after the meeting. The other issue of discussion also was the strategy for the next move after the election. This will be further discussed because he didnt divulge into details about the same, the source added. Read more: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/what-bobi-wine-told-nup-mp-elects-3270224 Three men in their forties, who drank a suspected poisoned local gin, popularly called "apketeshie" from a drinking bar at Aiyinasi in the Ellembelle District, have died. Bodies of the deceased, namely; Mr John Andy, 43, Mr Loius Amangua, 41 and Mr Paul Etwe, have since been deposited at a morgue in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis for preservation and autopsy. Narrating the incident to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Divisional Commander of Ghana Police Service at Esiama, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Dodzi Godact Hlorazi, said the deceased on Friday, January 22, 2021, bought Akpeteshie from a drinking bar at Aiyinasi. According to him, Mr Andy and Mr Amangua shared a tot each of the drinks bought at 1.00 Ghana cedis. He said after they took the drink, the two went to a nearby village called Nyamebekyere, where they complained of stomach-ache and suddenly passed on. ACP Hlorazi said the third, Mr Etwe who also took one tot of the drink, also complained of stomach problems and was rushed to the Saint Martin De Porres Hospital at Eikwe, where he died. He said the owner of the drinking bar, Mr Ollu, and the wife, who sold the akpeteshie to the three men, had reported at the Aiyinasi police station. Roused with fury, the youth of Aiyinasi besieged the police station to lynch the owner of the bar but were prevented by the police. The Police later referred the couple to the Esiama police station, where they were detained pending further investigations. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Would Jeremy Corbyn have handled the pandemic more competently than Boris Johnson? Would his successor as Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, have made a better job of it? And what about the omniscient BBC, which has appointed itself judge and jury in a trial of the Government after the appalling death toll from the virus surpassed 100,000? Many might have done better than Boris, though I exclude Mr Corbyn. But I still believe there would have been a similar outcome whoever had been in charge over the past year. Thats not to deny the PM has made many mistakes, as has been pointed out by countless commentators including me. Would Jeremy Corbyn have handled the pandemic more competently than Boris Johnson (pictured during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on Wednesday)? Last February and early March, he was slow to grasp the gravity of the situation, and even attended an international rugby match on March 7 when the virus was already rampant in Italy. Pre-Covid Boris was genial and easy-going. He didnt like making huge decisions, and hadnt had much practice at it. Neither his experience nor his disposition had prepared him for the high-speed bolt from the blue that hit him and us. So, yes, he did bumble around quite a bit, and lives would probably have been saved if the first lockdown had been imposed before March 23, though we had better leave a definitive assessment to the eventual official inquiry. But the suggestion the Government is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths which is what some BBC journalists and the Labour Party imply is tendentious, to say the least. It seems never to occur to Mr Johnsons critics, doubtless because they have made up their minds that he is a chump, that other reasons than his alleged incompetence might explain Britains abysmal death rate. These fall into two categories. There are the immovable facts of life. And there are failings in our public services. In neither case can government make much difference, not over a short period at any rate. The Government cant be blamed for this countrys high population density, thought to be a factor in spreading the disease. In Britain it is 273 people per square kilometre versus the European average of 108. Nor can it be held responsible for the UKs ageing population, which is larger than in many countries. Covid is of course far more lethal among the elderly. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease (all of which are risk factors among those with the virus) are also more prevalent in the UK than in parts of Europe. Would Jeremy Corbyn's successor as Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, have made a better job of the pandemic? Successive governments have done too little to improve the nations health, but the failure can hardly be pinned on Boris. All of us who eat and drink too much bear some responsibility for our impaired health, and we should look at our own behaviour for a moment before taking a swipe at the Government. Then there are institutional faults, whose origins go back decades. The NHS is doing a splendid job in rolling out the vaccine much more quickly than any other European country, yet it has been guilty of several failings during the pandemic. For example, more than 20,000 care home residents died from Covid-19 during the first wave. The decision to shove thousands of untested patients out of NHS hospitals and into care homes was partly to blame. That was scarcely Boris Johnsons fault. Health Secretary Matt Hancock is not free of responsibility, but the people who should carry the can are senior NHS managers, not least Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS in England. What about the omniscient BBC, which has appointed itself judge and jury in a trial of the Government after the appalling death toll from the virus surpassed 100,000? Mr Hancock should also shoulder some blame for another institution, Public Health England, which contributed to the high death rate in care homes. But the chief fault lies with the senior management of this dysfunctional organisation. On February 25, it advised that it was very unlikely that anyone receiving care in a care home or the community will become infected. This catastrophic guidance was not withdrawn until March 13, despite reports of care homes in other countries being devastated by the virus. Boris Johnson is of course ultimately responsible for all governmental errors, an acknowledgment he made on Tuesday. It is most unusual for a senior politician to put his hand up in such a way. We should of course criticise Government ministers for their mistakes. But if we concentrate on their shortcomings alone, we ignore the egregious errors of legions of civil servants and quangocrats, who will perform equally badly during the next national crisis. In other words, an official inquiry must look at the systemic failures of our public services. They go a long way to explaining why we have had one of the worst pandemics in the world, though comparable countries such as Spain and Italy have run us close. Naturally I can see why Sir Keir Starmer should point the finger of blame at the Prime Minister while ignoring other factors. He is a politician seeking party advantage, though I wish he would show some statesmanship during a national crisis. But it is hard to forgive the BBC for its determination, never more evident than in the past few days, to make Boris Johnson alone take the rap. A perfect example was supplied during an interview on Radio 4s influential Today programme yesterday morning. Icy interrogator Mishal Husain put it to Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick that the Government should have accepted scientific advice, and imposed a lockdown at the end of September. This was her question actually more a statement of what she regards as fact: Months and months into this pandemic, when we knew already what it was like, we still made decisions that resulted in another 50,000 deaths within the last three months. By we she means the Government. The suggestion is ludicrous. She attributed 50,000 deaths to the decision to disregard scientific recommendation for a lockdown (in reality a so-called circuit breaker lasting between two and three weeks). Perhaps it would have saved lives. The PM resisted because he didnt want to inflict further damage on the economy, whose ailments cause their own version of misery, deprivation and unhappiness. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong. Lets again leave it to the official inquiry to decide. But he made a rational and moral decision. He wasnt being careless. In fact, quite the opposite. The fact is that the BBC and the Labour Party seldom consider the long-lasting damage caused to the economy which means the lives of millions by repeated lockdowns. Ironically, the Government they berate is increasingly of their persuasion. Even though Covid infection rates are falling fast, and are less than half what they were at the beginning of the month, Boris yesterday extended lockdown by three more weeks. Nor do the PMs many critics, eager to apportion blame, give him any credit for Britains so far stunningly successful vaccination programme. When the pandemic has been finally tamed it may never disappear this countrys overall performance could look better than it does now. Is the Prime Minister uniquely incompetent? I dont believe so. Would Labour have done better? I doubt it. The inveterate Boris-haters should lay off, and concede that the reasons behind our tragic death rate are much more complex than they think. A piece of artistic Texas history will be the focus of the Historical Society of Helotes first meeting of 2021. The work of late artist Warren Hunter will be discussed at the societys general meeting, noon-2 p.m., Feb. 2 at the Gardens at Old Town, 15060 Antonio Dr. Dr. Lauren Langford, Hunters niece, will oversee the presentation. Hunters work is featured in several prominent venues, including the National Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution and the White House. Texas landmarks such as the Alamo and San Jacinto Monument also house works created by Hunter. Hunter, who died in 1993, graduated from Bandera High School and attended the Chicago Art Institute. Langford recalls working with Hunter, whom she called the artist of the Southwest, in his studio where he often held classes for his fellow artists. She said his attitude toward the work of those who wanted to learn from him was always encouraging and she said he always wanted his students to simply learn how to be an artist in their own way. He had a terrific impact on art in the Southwest. People drove up from everywhere to study under him. I was in medical school and when I would come back into town I would do down there, to his studio on Saturday mornings, with some droopy little thing and he would work on it and it would come out so wonderful, Langford said. He never discouraged anyone on how to create art. He never said theres a right way or a wrong way to do it. He would show people how he would do it and you could do it anyway you saw fit. This will be just the third general meeting of the Historical Society of Helotes since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Cynthia Massey, a member of the Helotes City Council and one of the societys directors, said there is no limit on the number of people who can attend the meeting. She said there masks arent required to attend the meeting, but it is recommended. Were going to be a little flexible when it comes to masks. Were not going to force people to do it, but we suggest that they do. Of course, people will be able to take them off when they eat as this is a luncheon, as well, Massey said. Massey said Hunter was chosen as the topic for the meeting because of his impact on the area. She said his art reflected on the history of Helotes, adding that the society used one of his works, an oil painting of a cattle drive, for T-shirts. Helotes was an early cattle drive town between Bandera and San Antonio. Helotes City Hall is featuring an exhibition of Hunters work until June during regular business hours. Massey noted masks are required at City Hall. Lunch at the meeting is $12 for members and $16 for non-members. To order lunch, go to historicalsocietyofhelotes.org and click on Meetings. For members who dont want lunch, theres no cost; non-members who dont have lunch are asked to donate $5. RSVP at info@historicalsocietyofhelotes.org by Jan. 31. A Message From The Editor just-style gives you the widest apparel and textile market coverage. Paid just-style members have unlimited access to all our exclusive content - including 21 years of archives. I am so confident you will love complete access to our content that today I can offer you 30 days access for 1*. Its our best ever membership offer just for you. Leonie Barrie, editor of just-style Leonie's offer to you * plus VAT if applicable UK Ovo Energy plans to launch an electric vehicle charging tariff, at half the usual price, to compete with typical off-peak rates even when electricity demand is at its highest, a media report said. According to The Guardian, the UK's second-largest energy supplier will set the tariff at a flat rate of GBP0.06p per kilowatt-hour no matter what time of day their customers choose to charge their vehicle, in direct competition with suppliers which offer cut price charging only during set hours overnight. The supplier hopes to rival the so-called "time of use" tariffs which offer customers ultra-low rates as long as they charge when demand for electricity is low, and avoid charging when renewable energy is scarce and prices are high. Instead Ovo's "type of use" tariff will be less than half the typical rate from rival suppliers without limiting the times when customers can charge by automatically charging vehicles when prices are low. When prices are high, energy could be drawn back into the grid from the batteries of electric vehicles sitting idle, the report said. Rivals typically range between 14.3p per kilowatt-hour (KWh), offered by EDF Energy, and 19.5p/KWh offered by British Gas, according to data from Zapmap cited by the newspaper. The Guardian said Ovo's new tariff is broadly in line with rival off-peak rates, which range from 4.5p per KWh from EDF Energy to 10.44p/KWh from E.On, but typically require cars to charge after midnight and before 7.30am. The reports said the energy company's tech arm, Kaluza, had used algorithms to model electricity market patterns and customer behaviour to predict that it would have more than enough idle electric vehicles to help balance the energy grid even if some individual customers choose to charge or drive at these times. Customers would be able to set when they required their vehicle to be fully charged, or override Kaluza's software to charge at short notice, without any impact to the rate they pay. Marzia Zafar, head of strategy at Kaluza, told The Guardian its software gave electric vehicle users "the energy they need, precisely when they need it, at the lowest environmental impact, and now at a guaranteed price that saves them money". Ovo expected customers on the new Drive Anytime tariff would be able to cut their EV charging bill by more than 60%, or GBP200 a year, without altering their behaviour. "Electric vehicles and renewable energy are the perfect companions for a zero-carbon world, but we have got to demonstrate that they can be easier and cheaper, as well as greener," Zafar said. "Kaluza shields customers from the complexities of the energy transition, while at the same time driving it forward," he added. But there has also been a lot of rooting out. The tone was set before Mr. Biden was sworn in. On the Saturday evening before the inauguration, Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist, was installed as general counsel of the National Security Agency on the orders of Mr. Trumps acting defense secretary. It was a classic case of burrowing a political appointee into the bureaucracy in a new, nonpolitical job classification that would make it hard to fire him. But after Mr. Biden became president, Mr. Ellis was immediately placed on administrative leave while the National Security Agencys inspector general examined the circumstances of how he was chosen. Now it is unclear if Mr. Ellis will ever serve in the job. The Trump administration made a similar attempt to burrow officials into the United States Agency for Global Media, which broadcasts around the world, with similar results. Some officials were fired outright. The Biden team told Victoria Coates, a former Trump national security official who was made the head of the governments Middle East Broadcasting Networks in the last days of the administration, that it did not care that her contract called for her to serve at least two years and that she could not be removed unless she was convicted of a felony. Her email was cut off at the end of last week in what she called a shocking repudiation of President Bidens call for unity and reconciliation. In every department, there is already a Biden team on the ground, including those like the hollowed-out Housing and Urban Development, which was run for the past four years by a disengaged secretary, Ben Carson, and a group of ideologically oriented appointees. The first and most critical pick by the Biden team for the department was Jenn Jones, a top policy adviser to Julian Castro, Mr. Obamas last HUD secretary. Ms. Jones was placed in the role of chief of staff in many ways acting as the de facto head of the agency pending the confirmation of Mr. Bidens nominee, for secretary, Marcia L. Fudge. The policy team has already hired Richard Cho, an executive with a New England coalition that tackles homelessness, and Peggy Bailey, the head of housing for the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Last year, Samsung introduced the ability to measure Blood pressure and track an Electrocardiogram (ECG) on the Galaxy Watch Active2 and Galaxy Watch 3 for their customers in South Korea. They have now received the required certification to expand the feature support to 31 more countries. The Samsung Heath monitor, which is the companion app required to measure the blood pressure and track ECG, previously had certification to operate in Korea. The company has since then received a CE-marking in December 2020, which allows Samsung to enable the two features in 28 EU countries and with 3 other countries. The list of newly supported of countries include: Austria Belgium Bulgaria Chile Croatia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Indonesia Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland UAE United Kingdom In these countries, users can use the new features with either the Galaxy Watch Active2 or Galaxy Watch 3, download the Samsung Health Monitor app. To learn more about how the features works, click here. Commenting on the expansion, TaeJong Jay Yang, Corporate SVP and Head of Health Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics said: Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a first-term Georgia Republican, repeatedly endorsed executing top Democratic politicians on social media before she was elected to Congress, including telling a follower who asked if they could hang former President Barack Obama that the stage is being set. A review of Ms. Greenes social media accounts, first reported by CNN, found that she repeatedly liked posts on Facebook that discussed the prospect of violence against Democratic lawmakers and employees of the federal government. Ms. Greene liked a Facebook comment in January 2019 that said a bullet to the head would be quicker to remove Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and liked another about executing F.B.I. agents. After a Facebook follower asked Ms. Greene Now do we get to hang them, referring to Mr. Obama and Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential nominee, Ms. Greene responded: Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off. In a lengthy statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday before CNN published its report, Ms. Greene did not disavow the posts, but accused CNN of coming after her for political reasons and noted that several people had managed her social media accounts. As the United Kingdom on Tuesday crossed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths due to COVID-19, Prime Minister extended condolences to the kin of victims and said it was hard to "compute the sorrow contained in the grim statistic". Johnson during a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday said that he and his government take "full responsibility" for the decisions taken by him and his Cabinet to curb the spread of the virus and reduce the fatalities due to the pathogen. The British Prime Minister further said that he "was sorry for every life that has been lost" stating that the government did everything they could possibly do. "I am sorry to have to tell you that today the number of deaths recorded from Covid in the UK has surpassed 100,000, and it is hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic. The years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended and, for so many relatives, the missed chance even to say goodbye," Johnson said during a briefing on Tuesday. He added, "I offer my deepest condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one; fathers and mothers; brothers and sisters; sons and daughters and the many grandparents who have been taken... I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything the government has done. What I can tell you is that we truly did everything we could and continue to do everything we can do." The British Prime Minister pledged that when the country "comes through" this crisis, the British public would come together and remember "everyone we lost". "To all those who grieve, we make this pledge: that when we have come through this crisis, we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost, and to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others," he said. "We will remember the courage of countless working people -- not just our amazing NHS and care workers, but shop workers, transport staff, pharmacists, teachers, police, armed forces emergency services and many others - who kept our country going during our biggest crisis since the Second World War," he added. According to Sputnik, the UK vaccination campaign started on December 8 and as of Tuesday, around 6.5 million people have received at least one vaccine dose. The vaccination is currently open to five priority groups, including people over 80 years old, some people over 70, clinically vulnerable persons, personnel of care homes, and medical workers. There are currently three authorised vaccines in the United Kingdom -- the domestically-made AstraZeneca, the US-German Pfizer/BioNTech, and the one developed by US company Moderna. Johnson called for lessons to be learnt and reflect on once "those vaccines have finally freed us" and added that the best "and most important thing" the people can all do to honour the memory of those who have died from COVID-19 is to "work together with ever greater resolve to defeat this disease." As per the latest update by Johns Hopkins University, the United Kingdom has over 3.7 million COVID-19 cases and 100,359 deaths from the deadly virus across the country. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Praveen Mehta is an engineering dropout and textile trader who completed a remarkable feat in March last year. He returned home on March 15, 2020, after a long journey, a week ahead of the lockdown. By then, he had driven to 59 countries in four continents, covering nearly 70,000 km in 11 months. Also read: Heartwarming Video Shows Driver Halting Train To Let Two Stray Cows Move Away From Tracks TOI Having been flagged off from Juhu on April 8, 2019, he entered a foreign territory (Bhutan) only to steer his car back to India to enter Myanmar (had no visa from Bhutan to Myanmar), drove through several central Asian countries, Russia, Baltic and Nordic countries and 30 countries in Europe, including the UK. He shipped his car in London to the US to resume driving and visiting over a dozen more countries. He met and interviewed around 150 interesting people. Meeting people, the change makers, the influencers were the driving force behind this world drive. It was not to see sites or prove my driving skill, says Mehta sipping black tea at a trendy restaurant in Dadar. He met a variety of people on this long and thrilling journey. Also read: Shocking Footage Shows Tesla's Driver & Passenger Both Sleeping With The Car On Autopilot Unsplash In Myanmar he met Kyaw Thu (pronounced Cho Thu), a pro-democracy celebrity who lives behind several layers of security cordon. Since we didnt get an appointment to meet him, we virtually gatecrashed and met him, says Mehta who was joined by Indian friends off and on in many countries. He has funded 1, 30,000 funerals and works for public health and education. After that, he met Cynthia Muang, a peacekeeper and Magsaysay awardee who runs a centre for free child births and has helped around 4000 women in giving births. He then Akira in Cambodia. Akira was part of Cambodias former Prime Minister Pol Pots murderous Khmer Rouge regime and was recruited as a soldier when he was all of nine. Now Akira defuses landmines laid during that barbaric period and has so far defused 50,000 landmines with bare hands. It is like he senses the landmines, says Mehta. But his most memorable meeting was with Sofia, a cafe owner met in Kazakhstan. After driving 200 km non-stop, he was exhausted and famished when he decided to enter a cafe at Merki, a sleepy town on the way to Almaty. Since the eatery was a meat-serving cafe and Mehta is a vegetarian, there was nothing he could eat there. Sofia's chef was disheartened to know that there was nothing they could serve him. However, Sofia did not let that happen. Still, Sophia made us sit at a table and served three warm breads filled with chocolate and a jug full of cranberry juice. It didnt fill the stomach but left us gratified. She declined to accept money, saying nobody can go hungry from my cafe, he said. TOI Mehta is also a cyclist, biker, amateur rock climber and had prepared for this journey months before. When asked what's next, he jokingly said, I have to save my marriage first as I was away from home for so long". Also read: Lighting Up The Mood - Cab Driver In Greece Converts Taxi Into Nightclub Sudanese refugees from Darfur sit with their newborn baby girl at home in Tripoli, Libya, June 2020. UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem The international community must do more to save lives of refugees taking risky routes towards the Mediterranean, warns UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, releasing today its 2021 strategic action plan and related funding appeal for this situation. Deeply worried about escalating conflicts and displacement in the Sahel, the new displacement in the East and Horn of Africa, increased sea arrivals to the Canary Islands and no less than 1,064 deaths recorded in the Central and Western Mediterranean in 2020 alone, UNHCR is seeking just over US$100 million to enhance refugee protection in African countries en route to the Mediterranean. Offering safe and viable alternatives to the perilous journeys marred by abuse and deaths is the critical priority. Violence in the Sahel has now forced an estimated 2.9 million people to flee. With no prospects for peace and stability in the region, further displacement is highly likely. Facing protracted displacement, dire conditions in neighbouring host countries where they sought shelter, the continued economic impact of the COVID pandemic and a lack of viable alternatives, many continue to attempt risky sea journeys to Europe. Risks of trafficking and abuses, such as kidnap for ransom, forced labour, sexual servitude and gender-based violence at the hands of traffickers and gangs, are very likely to continue. We hear harrowing first-hand accounts of brutality and abuses that refugees and migrants suffer along the routes towards the Mediterranean. Many fall prey to traffickers and smugglers and are abused, extorted, raped, and sometimes killed or left to die, said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCRs Special Envoy for the Central Mediterranean Situation. Many of these people flee violence and persecution and have dire and urgent protection needs. It is critical that they receive life-saving support and protection in the countries to which they initially flee. UNHCRs strategy seeks to increase outreach, identification and assistance to refugees along the route, as well as enhance access to education and livelihoods in countries of asylum. Priority is also given to protection assessments for those in remote locations, and to increased cash-based assistance to vulnerable refugees in urban settings. To mitigate the resort to dangerous journeys on land and sea, UNHCR is appealing to States to strengthen safe and legal pathways for refugees, including through family reunification, and by enhancing the use of the two Emergency Transit Mechanisms in Rwanda and Niger for those evacuated from Libya so as to facilitate solutions. In response to reported abuses, UNHCR also aims to broaden the support and services for survivors and facilitate better access to justice. Additional efforts to inform and alert populations on the move about the risks of onward movements and services available locally will be also ramped up. In 2021 UNHCR hopes to identify and assist more refugees along these routes and in host countries and to strengthen access and delivery of protection for survivors of abuses. For more information on this topic, please contact: Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Indonesia's President Joko Widodo received his second dose of the Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, two weeks after the first injection. The vaccination program prioritizing health workers and public officers in the world's fourth most populous country comes after the government authorized emergency use of the vaccine produced by the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Indonesia's health ministry data on Wednesday showed about 245,685 people have received the vaccine so far, most of the health care workers, in 34 provinces. Several top officers from military, national police, health ministry have also received their second shots at the Presidential Palace, as well as a social media influencer. Tuesday, Indonesia announced that its COVID-19 cases had surpassed 1 million cases. The Health Ministry registered 13,094 new daily cases, bringing the total to 1,012,350. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Ask her more? Ask my Aras. When Kamala Harris became the US Vice-President-elect in November, snot-nosed female writers were falling all over themselves to forbid the world from focusing on her clothes. Her signature Chucks, they argued, had absolutely nothing to do with her surefooted ascent up the ladder of power to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. So it gave me a good laugh to see women around the world kick over the traces by wearing Converse and pearls to celebrate the 56-year-olds historic election to Veep last week, as well as the column inches devoted to her equally trailblazing choice of purple coat and dress by black designers Sergio Hudson and Christopher John Rogers for the landmark occasion. After all, how could our tiny lady brains be expected to soak up the significance of Harris being sworn into office by the countrys first Latina Supreme Court justice when her niece Meena, a successful businesswoman in her own right, was rocking a pair of silver cowboy boots? In the absence of the Oscars, or even a trip to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Joe Bidens inauguration became the fashion highlight of 2021. From First Lady Dr Jill Bidens Aer Lingus-inspired ensemble to Second step-daughter Ella Emhoffs Twitter-stopping Miu Miu coat, the glamour didnt disappoint. In recent years, the #AskHerMore movement has been encouraging media to stop asking women ridiculously frilly questions on the red carpet. Expand Close Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Read More Inauguration guests like former first lady Michelle Obama one of the few women there to wrap up warm in trousers prove for once and for all that style and substance are not mutually exclusive. Of course, Kamala Harriss footwear didnt shatter the glass ceiling, but her practical trainers are a pretty good option for the generations of girls wholl navigate the shards left in her wake. Shakespeare once said that the apparel oft proclaims the man, but Im quite sure he meant women. Expand Close Lady Gaga arrives to sing the US National Anthem / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lady Gaga arrives to sing the US National Anthem It doesnt take Dr Phil to figure out the meaning behind Melania Trumps wardrobe change from a beat-on black as she boarded Air Force One for the last time into a flowy orange kaftan alighting in Florida a few hours later. The 3,000 Gucci number is a long way from the memetastic mittens made from recycled jumpers worn by Bernie Sanders last week Ive already stolen the Senators style while doing the big shop in an on-trend surgical mask this week. But it was young poet Amanda Gormans luminous Prada coat and caged bird ring homage to Maya Angelou that said it all as she urged her fellow Americans to be the light after four years of uncivil war under Trump, as 46 had earlier put it. Expand Close Singer Jennifer Lopez performs during the Inauguration / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Singer Jennifer Lopez performs during the Inauguration Its no accident that House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Jennifer Lopez also went for the colour of peace, while Lady Gaga, in Schiaparelli custom-made to resemble the star-bangled banner itself. So, no, as power dressing takes centre stage, Ill never stop asking Who are you wearing? If thats sexist, then just spray me orange and call me Donald. Logan, WV (25601) Today Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. A multi-millionaire property mogul who installed CCTV cameras to monitor his wife and locked her indoors is now locked in a 'bitter and acrimonious' court battle over their 6.9million fortune. Fashion consultant Tracey Ratcliffe separated from Nicholas Ratcliffe in 2016 after 22 years of marriage, but they continued to live together at their 1.3m home. Mr Ratcliffe, 61, then embarked on a campaign to force his 49-year-old wife out by using cameras to monitor her and locking the doors to restrict her movements, judges have heard. In 2018, Mr Ratcliffe was ordered to leave the family home in affluent Bowdon, near Altrincham, and last year was ordered to split his 6.9million wealth with his wife. But the property developer is now appealing the ruling, arguing his needs were not taken into account and his ex was left with all of the family's cash and solid assets. Multi-millionaire property mogul Nicholas Ratcliffe (left) is locked in an acrimonious court battle with his estranged wife, fashion consultant Tracey Ratcliffe (right) Nicholas and Tracey Ratcliffe's 1.3m former marital home (right side of image) forms part of a large Victorian mansion in affluent Bowdon, Greater Manchester The Court of Appeal heard how the couple met when Mrs Ratcliffe was a student at university and enjoyed a luxury lifestyle during their 22-year marriage, after tying the knot in August 1994. They had a 'high standard of living', living in a 1.3m Victorian mansion and had two sons before the relationship broke down in 2016. Mr Ratcliffe worked as a chartered surveyor, amassing his fortune as a consultant finding potential sites for Sainsbury's supermarkets. Mrs Ratcliffe did not pursue a career after giving birth, instead working for her husband's consultancy business, which was described as a 'joint enterprise.' In June 2018, Mr Ratcliffe was ordered to leave the family home by Deputy District Judge Dunn and has since lived in rented accommodation. He has not worked since 2007, but is in the middle of carrying out a multi-million pound 'luxury' 30-house development on prime rural land he partly owns in Lower Peover, near Knutsford. At the Family Court last year, Judge Bernard Wallwork ordered the couple split their assets down the middle, with each receiving about 3.4m of the 6.9m wealth he found they would have when the profits were counted from the development. Ruling on the case, he said: 'This case ranks among the most acrimonious financial remedy cases I have ever dealt with. The bitterness and rancour has been considerable and has permeated the proceedings.' He slammed Mr Ratcliffe's attitude towards his wife, adding: 'I think his behaviour has been designed to drive the wife from the family home - and I am stressing the words 'her home'. At the Family Court last year, Judge Bernard Wallwork ordered the couple split their assets down the middle, with each receiving about 3.4m 'Closed-circuit television was installed within the house to monitor the wife's movements. 'Locks were placed on internal doors and the husband did not demur when I expressed concern that Post-it notes were left on occasions in the kitchen bearing such messages as, 'clean me', 'unhygienic' and so on. 'It appears to me that knowing of the wife's fragile mental health these actions were oppressive.' As well as getting the 1.3m home and valuable shares, he ordered that Mrs Ratcliffe be paid 1.2m in cash instalments. She would be left with as much liquid cash as possible due to the 'deviousness' of Mr Ratcliffe during the divorce proceedings, added the judge. But appealing against the order for an equal split, Mr Ratcliffe's barrister Sally Harrison QC argued the judge did not take proper account of the husband's own need for housing and money. As well as getting the 1.3m home and valuable shares, a judge ordered that Mrs Ratcliffe be paid 1.2m in cash instalments She claimed the judge failed to take into account that the land on which the development is taking place was owned by Mr Ratcliffe before the couple were married. Since she was given the couple's house and a series of cash payments, it meant Mrs Ratcliffe had received 'all of the copper-bottomed assets and none of the risks,' the QC said. Mrs Ratcliffe's barrister Anne Hussey QC told the judges: 'This appeal comes as no surprise to the wife. She has endured the husband's ill-conceived applications and failed appeals for the best part of three-and-a-half years, at significant financial and emotional cost.' She said Mr Ratcliffe had kept assets including 40,000 in Persian rugs and a Porsche worth 85,000. Appeal judges Lord Justice Moylan, Lord Justice Popplewell and Lord Justice Phillips have now reserved their judgment on the appeal until a later date. The Communist Party of Vietnam, specifically the Politburo and Secretariat, have paid special attention to the leadership over the missions of safeguarding the fatherland and building national defence over the past five years. Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Nghia The statement was made by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Trong Nghia, member of the Party Central Committee, member of the Central Military Commission and Deputy Director of the General Department of Politics under the Vietnam Peoples Army (VPA), on the sidelines of the ongoing 13th National Party Congress. According to Mr. Nghia, one of the most standout achievements of the country is the Party leadership of the tasks of safeguarding the country and building all-people defence in the new era. Regarding defence and military strategies and those on security and nation safeguarding on cyberspace as well as the legal system, Vietnam has issued several laws and continues amending and perfecting several other laws related to military and defence tasks, he said. According to the officer, to promote the achievements gained in the 12th Congress tenure, the part on orientations in the Political Report submitted to the 13th Congress continues to demonstrate a consistent inheritance along with new points on the missions of safeguarding the nation and building the all-people defence. Many new viewpoints on military and defence strategies continue to be concretised in Party documents, such as proactively preventing war early and from afar; maintaining the goal of defending the country, national independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity; protecting national interests, the Party, the socialist regime and the people; maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development; promoting the synergy of the whole nation, with the armed forces and the army in particular being the core. We have a closely cohesive vision, not only between defence-security and diplomacy, but also between defence-security, diplomacy and socio-economic development, especially Party building, Nghia said. The Party exercises leadership over the protection of the fatherland, with the key and decisive factor being continuing to maintain and strengthen the absolute and direct leadership in all aspects of the military and public security forces as well as the national safeguarding and defence-security cause, he stressed. Upholding the tradition of the Peoples Army, the Party has defined the direction of building a regular, elite and modern revolutionary army, he added. Mr. Nghia said Vietnam has been able to manufacture several kinds of weapons and military equipment and will continue with research and innovation work in order to ensure the army is capable of fulfilling the mission of safeguarding the fatherland. Press release on opening session of 13th National Party Congress A total 1,587 delegates representing more than 5 million Party members nationwide are attending the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which officially kicked off in Hanoi on January 26. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Children of all ages can bypass age verification measures to sign-up to the world's most popular social media apps by simply lying about their age, a study led by Dr Liliana Pasquale of Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software at University College Dublin, Ireland has found. Credit: Piquant Children of all ages can completely bypass age verification measures to sign-up to the world's most popular social media apps including Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Skype and Discord by simply lying about their age, researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software have discovered. And even potential age verification solutions identified by the research team can be easily sidestepped by children, according to the team's most recent study: Digital Age of Consent and Age Verification: Can They Protect Children? Lead researcher Lero's Dr. Liliana Pasquale, assistant professor at University College Dublin's School of Computer Science, said children could easily bypass the mechanisms adopted by apps to verify their age. "This results in children being exposed to privacy and safety threats such as cyberbullying, online grooming, or exposure to content that may be inappropriate for their age," she added. The study which examined Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, HouseParty, Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Messenger, Skype, Discord apps scrutinised age verification procedures in April 2019 and repeated it in April 2020it found all ten apps permitted users, regardless of age, to set up accounts if they first gave their age as 16. Dr. Pasquale said the widespread use of age of 13 as the minimum age for accessing social media services derives from the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), effective in the U.S. since 2000. Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires children below the age of digital consent (13-16) to have verifiable parental consent for the processing of their data. EU member states are also free to set a different digital age of consent, between 13 and 16 years, leading to a range of age limits across Europe. For example, Ireland, France, Germany and The Netherlands have opted for 16, while Italy and Spain have set the age at 14; while the UK, Denmark, and Sweden have set the age at 13. "Our study found that while some apps disabled registration if users input ages below 13, but if the age 16 is provided as input initially then none of the apps require a proof of age. Providing mechanisms that deter a user from installing an app on a device on which they have previously declared themselves to be underage is currently one of the most sensible solutions not to incentivise users to lie about their age," Dr. Pasquale said. The team looked at existing age recognition techniques using biometrics such as speech recognition and fingerprint characteristics as possible solutions to implement more robust age verification mechanisms. However, these were also found to have limitations with speech recognition, for example, easily bypassed by playing voice recordings. Dr. Pasquale said their study found existing data protection regulations to be ineffective. "In reality, the application of substantial financial penalties was the main trigger for app providers to implement more effective age verification mechanisms. Based on our study and on our survey of biometrics-based age recognition techniques, we propose a number of recommendations to app providers and developers," she said. Recommendations: Clarify the minimum age and treatment of data: Existing apps should ensure that a clear, concise and age-appropriate summary of the relevant parts of the app's ToU (terms of use) is displayed to users who sign-up and declare their age to be under 18. Enable the most restrictive privacy settings: Apps should apply the most restrictive privacy settings by default for any user that declares themselves to be under the age of 18. For example, photos, posts and messages should only be shared with "friends", location data should not be collected at all. It should also not be possible to override privacy settings without explicit parental consent. Encourage users not to lie about their age: Despite the presence of a minimum age requirement, many underage users continue to use social and communication apps. Users must be incentivised to be honest about their age, with minimal data collected. Providing mechanisms that deter a user from installing an app on a device on which they have previously declared themselves to be underage is currently the most sensible solution and the hardest to circumvent. Implement Robust Age Verification Mechanisms: Where a minimum age requirement is in place, it should be backed up by appropriate age verification mechanisms. Using age recognition techniques based on biometrics factors, such as facial features, may not be sufficient considering that these can be circumvented. Age verification should be an ongoing process that does not terminate after sign-up, to assess whether a user lied about his/her age at the moment of sign-up, to counteract evasion measures. Explore further TikTok tightens privacy features for younger users More information: Liliana Pasquale et al, Digital Age of Consent and Age Verification: Can They Protect Children?, IEEE Software (2020). Liliana Pasquale et al, Digital Age of Consent and Age Verification: Can They Protect Children?,(2020). DOI: 10.1109/MS.2020.3044872 Provided by Lero The series will explore into New York's African American community and musical subculture Cover image of the book titled The Great Gatsby penned by F Scott Fitzgerald (Image source: Twitter@@PostCredPod) Los Angeles: A limited series adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's timeless novel "The Great Gatsby" is in development from "Vikings" writer Michael Hirst. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a network is not yet involved as the co-producers plan on selling the series to premium cable and streaming outlets. The project will be produced by A+E Studios and ITV Studios America in association with Groundswell Productions. It will be a reimagining of Fitzgerald's 1925 novel which will explore into New York's African American community and musical subculture of the 1920s. Hirst, who will pen the script and executive produce the series, said as America seeks to reinvent itself once again, it is the perfect moment to look with new eyes at this timeless story, "to explore its famous and iconic characters through the modern lens of gender, race and sexual orientation". "Fitzgerald's profoundly romantic vision does not prevent him examining and exposing the darker underbelly of the American experience, which is why the story speaks to both tragedy and hope, and why it continues to resonate today," he said. As per sources, A+E Studios has had the rights to the novel for decades, dating back to the 2000 TV movie that starred Paul Rudd as Nick Carraway, Toby Stephens as Jay Gatsby and Mira Sorvino as Daisy. Hirst's take has been in the works for at least three years, dating back to when "The Tudors" creator had an overall deal with Barry Jossen's A+E Studios. The modern version was in secret development last year at Apple Studios before the tech giant changed course. Columbia University's William B. Ransford professor of English and comparative literature and African-American studies Farah Jasmine Griffin will serve as a consultant on the series Blake Hazard, great-granddaughter of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and a trustee of the Fitzgerald estate, also serves as consulting producer. Michael London, Jossen and Lucienne Papon are attached to executive produce as well. "Gatsby" has been adapted for the big screen multiple times, with Warner Baxter (1926), Alad Ladd (1949), Robert Redford (1974) and Leonardo DiCaprio (2013) in the title roles. Government has provided the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board with a number of alternatives to consider in relation to its retrenchment process. Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, together with the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, held respective meetings with organised labour, the SABC board as well as its executives on Tuesday and this past weekend to find an amicable resolution to the current industrial relations impasse at the broadcaster.The meetings formed part of the Ministers ongoing efforts to assist the Unions and the SABC reach an amicable end to the deadlock over retrenchments at the public broadcaster.During these meetings, the Ministers emphasised that it was in the interest of the affected employees and the nation at large, that the parties find a win-win solution.We were encouraged by the attitude and the spirit of the meetings with the SABC board and its executive management, and earlier with the unions. We have noted signs of progress and goodwill among the parties at the negotiating table, said Ndabeni-Abrahams.Both Ministers maintain that all available avenues and opportunities must be explored in order to mitigate the impact on workers, given the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.The SABC board has requested to be afforded time to look at the proposals in their next board meeting which will be held on Friday. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Twitter has allowed third-party academic researchers free access to the full history of public conversation via the full-archive search endpoint, which was previously limited to paid premium or enterprise customers. Twitter API was first introduced in 2006 and since then, academic researchers have used data from the public conversation to study topics as diverse as the conversation on Twitter itself. These include state-backed efforts to disrupt the public conversation to floods and climate change, from attitudes and perceptions about COVID-19 to efforts to promote healthy conversation online. "Today, academic researchers are one of the largest groups of people using the Twitter API," the company said in a blog post late on Tuesday. With the new Academic Research product track on the Twitter API, qualified researchers will have access to all data released to date. They will have higher levels of access to the Twitter developer platform for free, including a significantly higher monthly Tweet volume cap of 10 million (20 times higher than what's available on the Standard product track today). The new initiative will ensure more precise filtering capabilities "across all v2 endpoints to limit data collection to what is relevant for your study and minimise data cleaning requirements". "The Academic Research product track gives researchers a window into understanding the use of Twitter and social media at large, and is an important step by Twitter to support the scientific community," said Dr Sarah Shugars, Assistant Professor at New York University. Twitter said that in the coming months, it will introduce a specialised Business product track, as well as additional levels of access within its Academic Research, Standard, and Business product tracks. "Twitter's enhancements for academic research have the potential to eliminate many of the bottlenecks that scholars confront in working with Twitter's API, and allow us to better evaluate the impact and origin of trends we discover," said Dr David Lazer, Professor at Northeastern University. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Can Minnesota support a sustainable aquaculture industry? Duluth, Minnesota--A new three-year, $250,000 project led by the University of Minnesota Sea Grant program seeks to determine the potential for a sustainable food-fish aquaculture industry in Minnesota. "Potential food-fish farmers planning to enter the industry are interested in credible data that will help them decide which production strategies and species are best suited for profitability," said Amy Schrank, project lead and University of Minnesota Sea Grant fisheries and aquaculture extension educator. "Producers will need this information to apply for loans from banks and lending institutions." Food-fish or fish raised for human consumption is a relatively new and modest aquaculture industry in Minnesota and includes seafood such as shrimp and other forms of shellfish in addition to fish. Interest in food-fish aquaculture is growing in Minnesota and the Great Lakes region because consumers want to purchase local foods and are concerned about food security. The increase in worldwide demand for protein and decrease in stocks of wild-caught fish are also driving interest in food-fish aquaculture. The project team will assess Minnesota's current food-fish supply through detailed interviews with food-fish farmers and distributors. The team will also work with farmers to determine production costs of various fish species grown in Minnesota. "The information from producer assessments will be coupled with consumer demand data to identify price points so that profit margins can be estimated for the Minnesota food-fish industry," said Don Schreiner, University of Minnesota Sea Grant fisheries specialist and project member. "This information will be important to determine if Minnesota-grown fish can compete successfully with fish grown out of state." Individual consumers and restaurateurs will be surveyed to understand their preferences and willingness to pay for state aquaculture products. "Once we have results from our market study, we will develop an outreach program to share data and recommendations with the food-fish aquaculture industry, policymakers and the public," said Schrank. "We anticipate hosting several virtual and, when possible, in-person facilitated discussions among aquaculture businesses and other interested groups to discuss market priorities and best practices." An economics graduate student from the University of Minnesota will be trained in the development and analysis of project surveys used for aquaculture businesses, consumers and restaurants. The student will be mentored by project member and UMN Professor of Applied Economics Hikaru Hanawa Peterson. The number of applied economists who study aquaculture in the United States is extremely limited. Minnesota Sea Grant hopes this project will contribute to our nation's workforce development in aquaculture. "By addressing critical gaps in economic and market knowledge about food-fish, our project will help determine the potential for expansion of an environmentally and economically sustainable aquaculture industry in Minnesota and the Great Lakes region," said John Downing, director, University of Minnesota Sea Grant. "We hope our work will contribute to healthy food production, job creation, and local business growth while protecting our important natural fisheries." ### Contacts and project team members: Amy Schrank, fisheries and aquaculture extension educator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, aschrank@umn.edu. Donald Schreiner, fisheries and aquaculture extension educator, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, schr0941@d.umn.edu John A. Downing, director, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, downing@d.umn.edu Hikaru Hanawa Peterson, professor, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, hhp@umn.edu Marie Thoms, communication manager, Minnesota Sea Grant, University of Minnesota, methoms@d.umn.edu. Funding Minnesota Sea Grant's project "Determining Market Potential for Food-Fish Aquaculture in Minnesota" is funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's competition "Addressing Economic and Market Needs of the U.S. Aquaculture Industry," federal funding opportunity number NOAA-OAR-SG-2020-2006331. This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A Manitoba man facing trial for sexually assaulting and choking his girlfriend will be allowed to enter evidence of their shared history of rough sex after a judge ruled it was a key factor in assessing the mans state of mind. A Manitoba man facing trial for sexually assaulting and choking his girlfriend will be allowed to enter evidence of their shared history of "rough sex" after a judge ruled it was a key factor in assessing the mans state of mind. Evidence the man may have been mentally ill at the time of the alleged assault raises the question how he would perceive his actions, given his sexual history with the alleged victim, Queens Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg wrote in a decision released this month. Under section 276 of the Criminal Code, known as the "rape shield law," an alleged victims sexual history is not admissible in court to show they are either "more likely to have consented" to the sexual activity that is the subject matter of the charge before the court or that they are "less worthy of belief." In this case, "the evidence is relevant to the defence of honest, but mistaken, belief," Greenberg said. "It is not being used to support one of the twin myths. It is being used to understand how the accused perceived the events that occurred." The Free Press cannot name the accused as it might identify the alleged victim. According to the alleged victims police statement, the two had been living together for five months when on July 11, 2018, the man attacked the woman following an argument. The woman alleges the man tried to tie her up and choke her as she screamed for help. When the woman stopped fighting back, he raped her, she alleged. When it was over, the woman ran to her landlords apartment and called 911. In an affidavit, the man said he and the woman had engaged in "rough sex" just two days before the alleged assault, with the woman saying she "loved it" and that he "could do whatever he wanted." The man said he and the woman had previously agreed on a "safe word" to say when they wanted sexual activity to stop. The woman told police she had used the safe word "purple" with the accused responding by saying he had changed it. The man makes no mention in his affidavit of the woman using the safe word. Defence lawyer Wendy Martin White filed three psychiatric assessments with the court. They show the accused has a history of schizophrenia and at the time of the alleged attack, had not been taking his medication. A psychiatrist who examined the man concluded he did not meet the criteria for a not criminally responsible finding, but believed he was likely suffering symptoms of psychosis around the time of the incident, including delusional beliefs and auditory hallucinations. The defence has retained another psychiatrist for an assessment, and depending on the result, may again pursue a not criminally responsible defence, Greenberg said. If that is not possible, the defence will argue the man did not have the state of mind to know the woman did not consent to the sex act. "But for the evidence of his mental health, I would have difficulty finding that the proposed sexual history would be relevant to an issue at trial," Greenberg said, adding neither the Crown nor defence could find a similar case in their review of the case law. "While relationship history may not be relevant to determine mens rea in a healthy person, in my view, not allowing that evidence in this case would undermine the accuseds ability to present his defence," Greenberg said. Greenberg recommended the couples sexual history be admitted to court by way of an agreed statement of facts, a move that would free the alleged victim from the prospect of being cross-examined about her sex life. "My decision on admissibility is based on what I understand will be the nature of the Crown and defence case at trial," Greenberg said. "If the nature of the Crown or defence case changes, it may be necessary to reconsider this ruling." University of Manitoba law professor Karen Busby is involved in a study on how often so-called "276 applications" were made in Winnipeg sex assault trials over a four-year period. "I cant tell you if its 10 per cent of cases or 50 per cent of cases, and I cant say how often its successful we just dont know," she said. A decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2019 sent a firm message to judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers by reiterating the importance of 276 applications. That decision ordered a new trial for trucker Bradly Barton, who was acquitted of murder and manslaughter in the death of Cindy Gladue in an Edmonton motel room. During Bartons trial, Gladue was repeatedly referred to as a prostitute, side-stepping provisions to prevent a victims sexual history from being used against them. No 276 application was made in the case. Busby said Greenbergs decision is "pretty narrow," and does not go to the question of motive or whether the accused choked the alleged victim. "It only goes in to the very narrow question of whether or not what they had done in the past might have affected his perception of consent given his mental illness," she said. "Its a key distinguishing feature from other cases of so-called 'rough sex'." dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca Kolkata: Members of Shikshak Aikya Mukta Mancha took part in a protest march to the State Assembly in Kolkata on Jan 27, 2021 (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Kolkata: Members of Shikshak Aikya Mukta Mancha took part in a protest march to the State Assembly in Kolkata on Jan 27, 2021 (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Kolkata: Members of Shikshak Aikya Mukta Mancha took part in a protest march to the State Assembly in Kolkata on Jan 27, 2021 (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Kolkata, Jan 27 : Kolkata witnessed a unique protest on Wednesday by a section of women members of an organisation called Shikkhok Aikya Mukta Mancha, an open forum of para teachers. Disgruntled teaching staff staged protests in front of the West Bengal Assembly demanding salary at par with the regular teachers in the schools. They also demanded to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to resolve the issue. About 50 members of the organisation staged the sit-in agitation outside the Assembly, on a day when the state Assembly met for a two-day session. Later, a team of women police personnel reached the spot to quell the agitators. The police brought the situation under control by removing the protesters from the Assembly area. Armie Hammer bragged about his drug use in photos leaked from an Instagram account alleged to be his private account earlier this month. But the 34-year-old actor proved he could play any role as he transformed into a DEA agent in the upcoming thriller Crisis, written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki. Armie fights a Fentanyl smuggling operation in the film, which is set amid the ongoing opioid epidemic in America. Character: Armie Hammer plays a DEA agent in his upcoming film Crisis, about the opioid epidemic Irony: The 34-year-old actor was seen bragging about his drug use in photos leaked from what was reported to be his private Instagram The film has a star packed cast that features Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Lily-Rose Depp, Kid Cudi, Duke Nicholson, Veronica Ferres and Martin Donovan. Crisis explores three interwoven stories about the impact of the drug wars. While Armie's character tries to track down a drug trafficker smuggling Fentanyl Evangeline Lilly's character, a recovering Oxycodone addict, tries to find the truth behind her missing son. Meanwhile, Gary Oldman's character plays a university professor who realizes horrifying things about a new medication being touted as a 'non-addictive' painkiller. The film will be released in theaters across the United States on February 26, followed by a VOD release on March 5. In real life Armie seems to be much more inclined to debauchery. All star: The film has a star packed cast that features Gary Oldman, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Lily-Rose Depp, Kid Cudi, Duke Nicholson, Veronica Ferres and Martin Donovan Agent: Armie fights a Fentanyl smuggling operation in the film, which is set amid the ongoing opioid epidemic in America Missing: Evangeline Lilly's character, a recovering Oxycodone addict, tries to find the truth behind her missing son The trailer's release comes after ex girlfriend Paige Lorenze shared shocking revelations about the star's taste for over-the-top BDSM sex and drugs. Lorenze, 22, opened up about her 'deeply traumatic' four-month relationship with Hammer last week, describing how it left her emotionally and physically scarred. Lorenze claims the actor is a heavy drinker and enjoyed taking 'hallucinogens' as well as party substances, during their time together. The former professional skier-turned-Instagram model provided DailyMailTV with an exclusive image of a sickening scar just millimeters away from her private parts that was left when Hammer allegedly carved his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game. Truth seeker: Gary Oldman's character plays a university professor who realizes horrifying things about a new medication being touted as a 'non-addictive' painkiller Deadly: Oldham discovers the medication is not what it seems She recently revealed that Hammer allegedly learned how to tie women up by practicing on mannequins he stored in the basement of the $5.8 million home he shared with his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers and their two young children in Los Angeles. 'He told me that he had mannequins in his basement in his family home that Elizabeth and him were living at to practice rope tying on,' Lorenze told The Sun. 'It creeped me out, honestly. It was really strange. I'd never even heard of anything like that before.' Lorenze also claimed that Hammer talked about wanting to strangle his dog, a Welsh Terrier named Archie. Out of control: Lorenze claims the actor is a heavy drinker and enjoyed taking 'hallucinogens' as well as party substances, during their time together. Pictured: The 34-year-old posted to his secret Instagram account a snippet of himself taking a drag from a vape box on December 16, writing: 'When you realize they don't test for DMT on drug tests' Tell all: This comes after ex girlfriend Paige Lorenze shared shocking revelations about the star's taste for over-the-top BDSM sex and drugs Receipts: Lorenze's story about the basement mannequins was supported by photos posted online by another alleged former lover, known on Instagram as Nastya D. Screenshots of messages (above) purportedly sent to Nastya D by Hammer showed a mannequin wrapped in red rope with what he called a 'leash' coming out of the back 'He would get angry at his dog and say like: "I'm going to kill this dog, I would have strangled him if you weren't here,"' she said, noting that she does not believe he ever hurt the animal. Lorenze's story about the basement mannequins was supported by photos posted online by another alleged former lover, known on Instagram as Nastya D. Screenshots of messages purportedly sent to Nastya D by Hammer showed a mannequin wrapped in red rope with what he called a 'leash' coming out of the back. A partially blurred message accompanying the photos read: 'I was thinking about how perfect your [expletive] are and I tried to come up with a chest harness that had a handle in the middle of your perfect [expletive]... oh, and a [expletive] knot.' Where it happened: This is the home in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles where Hammer allegedly stored mannequins in his basement. The actor and his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers are seeking to sell the property for $5.8million amid their divorce and custody battle Animal welfare: Lorenze also claimed that Hammer talked about wanting to strangle his dog, a Welsh Terrier named Archie Trauma: Lorenze, 22, opened up about her 'deeply traumatic' four-month relationship with Hammer last week, describing how it left her emotionally and physically scarred Painful: The former professional skier-turned-Instagram model provided DailyMailTV with an exclusive image of a sickening scar just millimetres away from her private parts that was left when Hammer allegedly carved his first initial 'A' into her skin during a kinky sex game In her interview with DailyMailTV, Lorenze exposed Hammer as an out-of-control narcissistic sexual deviant and said his wild fantasies and BDSM-fueled desires could 'seriously injure another woman.' She described how Hammer - who has claimed he's '100% a cannibal' in vile Instagram messages to other women - licked blood from the wound he left when he allegedly carved his initial into her. The blond beauty said Hammer was fixated on biting her body, begging that she allow him to take lumps of flesh from her arm, before consuming them. Hammer, who is currently embroiled in a bitter divorce and custody battle with his wife Chambers, also urged his lover Lorenze to participate in 'role play' sex, she said. Even on their first night of intimacy, Lorenze claimed Hammer insisted: 'You can either call me daddy or sir.' Lorenze described their time together in Los Angeles as 'like a real life 50 Shades Of Grey without the love'. Family: Even with his family at Thanksgiving, Hammer took along his leather bound BDSM case for kinky sex games. In a photo shared exclusively with DailyMailTV Hammer is seen posing with Lorenze and his mother Dru Ann during the holidays, which they celebrated in Dallas, Texas Handsy: Pictured - Hammer grabbing Lorenze's inner thigh in a photo posted to her private Instagram account Lorenze told DailyMailTV: 'I want Armie to address his demons, see the pain and trauma that he has caused me and other women. But any man who is fantasizing about crushing bones, eating them, having sex with female limp bodies is a danger to all women' Laying out more of his sick fantasies, Hammer begged the Instagram model to have her ribs removed, so that he could barbecue them. Even with his family at Thanksgiving, Hammer took along his leather bound BDSM case for kinky sex games. In a photo shared exclusively with DailyMailTV Hammer is seen posing with Lorenze and his mother Dru Ann during the holidays, which they celebrated in Dallas, Texas. In another exclusive photo the former couple are seen shirtless on a moped in the desert, Hammer smiling and wearing a cowboy hat. In a statement to DailyMail.com, Hammer's lawyer said: 'These assertions about Mr. Hammer are patently untrue. Any interactions with this person, or any partner of his, were completely consensual in that they were fully discussed, agreed upon, and mutually participatory.' Bruised: Lorenze's body appeared to be covered in bruises during the few months she was dating Hammer. Pictured: The model appears to have a discolored mark on her chest in an Instagram picture posted in late October Ouch: Lorenze said 'I had bad bruises all over me when we were together. I was left with marks from him using a paddle. I was his own real life Christian Grey fantasy. There were teeth marks and bite marks all over me' She added: 'He was completely obsessed with biting me. He told me 'be proud as they were just love bites.'' Once he said, ''If you did not tell me to stop I would eat a piece out of you.'' And he was serious too. It was like he actually wanted to eat my flesh away' Up until 2020 Hammer was regarded as one of the most suave, handsome and brightest stars and family men in Hollywood. But behind closed doors, Lorenze saw a 'broken' side of the actor, famous for films like The Lone Ranger, Social Network and Call Me By Your Name. 'Armie is deeply insecure. He really opened up at times about his marriage break-up and family issues,' she said. 'He would cry in my arms, about how he loved his kids and felt Elizabeth was a great mother. But then would villainize his wife at other times. 'And he also talked about all the women that he had been with, which made me think he cheated all the time. There are issues too with his parents, which haunt him. I didn't ask questions, I just listened, because I felt we had an instant trust. 'Now I think a lot of it was an act, attention seeking and part of his mind games. It was an Oscar winning performance.' Despite issues with his family Hammer still took Lorenze to visit his mother Dru Ann for Thanksgiving in Dallas. Together: Lorenze described their time together in Los Angeles as 'like a real life 50 Shades Of Grey without the love'. Laying out more of his sick fantasies, Hammer begged the Instagram model to have her ribs removed, so that he could barbecue them DMT is a hallucinogenic drug Lorenze says that 'money problems' meant the pair drove 1400 miles from LA to Dallas for the family gathering. 'It was a rare moment when I felt like we were in a normal relationship, because he felt we were serious enough to meet his family,' she recalls. 'I immediately bonded with his mom, who was super kind and considerate. Even around them Armie would call me his 'little pet'.' But Lorenze sensed the tension between mother and son. 'He told me that his mother poured oil on his head one night speaking in tongues, claiming he had demons inside of him. 'That seemed weird, but she seemed a sweet traditional and Christian woman. But I feel now she knew he had a dark side.' Hammer even took his BDSM leather case on the trip, but Lorenze 'refused to have sex out of respect to his mom'. Just days after returning home, in early December, Lorenze, still recovering from his branding, decided to call off their romance. Visit: Despite issues with his family Hammer still took Lorenze to visit his mother Dru Ann for Thanksgiving in Dallas. Lorenze says that 'money problems' meant the pair drove 1400 miles from LA to Dallas for the family gathering Ex: While he decried the 'bulls**t claims' made against him, he has yet to comment further after two of his former girlfriends spoke out about their 'traumatizing' flings with Hammer, as his estranged wife Elizabeth Chambers is in 'complete shock' and 'sickened' over the allegations 'It was too much. I felt sick to my stomach, insecure and no longer attracted to him - and he was getting stranger,' she said. 'I texted him that morning to say I do not think we can see each other anymore. 'Perhaps I hoped he would change or try to make things right, but instead he replied: 'okay I understand'. 'He left soon after to see his family in the Cayman Islands for Christmas, but told me he did not want to go as he was lonely and sad. 'It will take me a long time to get over this. It still feels like a fever dream and not real.' Hammer's romance came as he and ex wife Elizabeth Chambers attempted to work out joint custody of their children and requested that she return to the US to arrange a custody schedule. In September, the actor told British GQ his separation from Chambers, whom he married in 2010, was a 'seriously seismic event'. 'I don't think you'll find anyone in the world who would ever say what I'm going through is an easy thing to go through,' he said. Hammer said when he and Chambers discussed their separation, they kept their focus on what was best for their kids. Lorenze added: 'Elizabeth is a really smart loving caring person and he is doing all of this with no regard to his family, ''We have been in touch. Elizabeth has been nothing but supportive of me and she wants me to get my truth out. I cannot thank her enough. 'I feel this is so hard for her, she has been through hell with him.' She concluded: 'People who know Armie say he already has three new 'pets', one aged 19. 'I am worried for her safety. After what happened to me, I cannot imagine what she is going through, even though she may not realize the physical and mental trauma.' Lorenze plans to use her platform to support women, who are victims in abusive relationships. ALBANY The FBI has charged a 29-year-old Glens Falls man in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol after tipsters sent them Facebook videos that captured him smoking what appears to be pot in the building and proclaiming it our house! according to the complaint. We made it in the building bitches! Were taking it back! We are taking it back, we made it in the building! the defendant, James Bonet, said on one of the videos, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Albany. Bonet, who works as a shift manager of an unidentified business in Saratoga Springs, openly talks about government conspiracy theories at work and has tried to convince co-workers that former President Donald J. Trumps re-election was stolen, stated the complaint and arrest warrant dated Jan. 25. Bonet was charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building without lawful authority, and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, both federal misdemeanors. The case will be handled in Washington D.C. but he is expected to first have a virtual appearance in U.S. District Court in Albany. On the night of Jan. 6, the complaint revealed, co-workers of Bonet held a group discussion online. One of them shared a photo of Bonet smoking at the Capitol. The workers, after discussing whether to report Bonet to the FBI, sent in separate tips on him. He reported back to work Jan. 8. On Jan. 11, the FBI received a tip that Bonet was among the mob of intruders who illegally entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an FBI agent said in the complaint. That afternoon, enraged supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol during a joint session of Congress as lawmakers were certifying the results of President Joseph Bidens November victory over his now predecessor. The FBI received two links to Bonet's Facebook account, which contained videos -- some deleted -- including one that showed Bonet "smoking what appears to be a marijuana cigarette inside the U.S. Capitol," the complaint said. It said the FBI received another tip which showed Bonet's Facepage on Jan. 6, including the videos, to corroborate the first person's information. Bonet titled his images with names such as "Made it in" and "Right in the doorsteps this is our house we will take it back." Bonet posted a photo of a Trump flag featured prominently. And he titled one video: Taking our country back. He titled yet another, "Smoking at the capital building," which showed Bonet wearing a hat and glasses. "Capitol building smoking with all my people! Bonet said, according to the complaint. Another screenshot in the complaint was from a video Bonet took in the crypt of the Capitol. In that one, the complaint stated: "Bonet can be heard responding to the chant of 'whose house?' with 'our house!' a few times." The FBI used license plate reading technology to match Bonet's vehicle to one traveling south through Baltimore on Interstate 95 late on Jan. 5. On Jan. 7, the same vehicle traveled north on Interstate 95 from Baltimore through Albany County, the agent said. On Jan. 21, the FBI interviewed a co-worker of Bonet who relayed the information that Bonet had spread conspiracy theories about the election. The person said that in mid-November, Bonet went to Washington D.C. to protest the results of the election. The complaint noted that on Nov. 14, a protest called the "Million MAGA March" (MAGA for Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again") was held in the nation's capital. The co-worker said Bonet posted from the protest on his Facebook page which showed he was not wearing a mask, The worker said fellow co-workers became concerned Bonet would contract COVID-19 and spread it to them. An attorney for Bonet could not be immediately reached. LEWISTON - For the 27th year, Idaho Public Television is hosting the PBS KIDS Writers Contest. IdahoPTVs three regional stations KUID/Moscow, KISU/Pocatello and KAID/Boise encourage young authors and artists in kindergarten through third grade to write and illustrate their own imaginative story and submit it by Saturday, March 20, for a chance to win prizes and have their work published online. Entry forms, rules, FAQs and teacher tips are available at idahoptv.org/writers. The contest is open to children in grades K-3 residing within IdahoPTVs over-the-air service area, which includes all of Idaho and parts of Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Oregon and Nevada. Regional volunteer panels will judge the entries on creativity, originality, language skills and illustrations. Winners in each grade level from each of the three Idaho regions will be selected and will receive prizes including toys, books, and a $100 contribution to an IDeal Idaho College Savings Program account. Winners will be announced on or around April 1, 2021. In May, a virtual awards ceremony will be held in each region of Idaho to celebrate the winners and their stories. The winning stories will then be uploaded in full color onto the IdahoPTV website: idahoptv.org/writers. New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI/PRNewswire): The world's biggest Olympiad for culinary students - the IIHM International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) - is back with a bang to celebrate the multicultural diversity of food from across the world. The seventh edition of the event will be held virtually this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic from January 31st to February 6th. YCO 2021 will witness participation of student chefs from 50 countries, including Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, UAE, Sweden, among others. Adopting the theme of 'Forward Together', the competition will unite the young talents of the culinary world to champion this virtual culinary battle through their positive action. Opening Ceremony is scheduled on Sunday January 31, 06:30 PM India Time or 1 PM GMT and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ym6p78NA5s & feature=youtu.be" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/5Ym6p78NA5s During the five-day long intense competition, which is being organized by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) in partnership with the International Hospitality Council London, the contestants will undertake two rounds of culinary challenges in their quest to win the coveted YCO 2021 Champion Trophy, a cash prize of USD 10,000 and a validation of their skills by globally renowned experts from the food and hospitality industry. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and an era of social distancing has not deterred our spirit to take the International Young Chef Olympiad to the next level. With 50 countries coming together virtually to celebrate the diversity of food from across the borders, YCO 2021 is not just the biggest culinary competition in the world but also a global platform fostering the spirit of youth, friendship, diversity and inclusiveness," said Dr Suborno Bose, the CEO of International Hospitality Council (IHC) and Founder YCO about YCO 2021 "Moreover, it brings all the young and talented future stars of the international culinary scene on a single platform where they connect with each other and share insights out of their experiences," he added. YCO 2021 will commence on January 31st with a grand opening ceremony and the competition rounds will start from February 1st on Zoom video conferencing. The top ten contestants as per the scores of the previous round will compete in the Grand Finale of YCO 2021 on February 4th and 5th split in two groups of five countries in each, across two days in different time zones to accommodate all. The Plate Trophy will also be held on the February 4th and 5th wherein the contestants holding positions 11 to 20 in the first round will compete. The Olympiad will conclude on February 6th with a closing ceremony, where the YCO 2021 Champion, runners-up and other awardees will be announced. This year, the participants will be competing for awards such as 'Rising Star', 'Best Vegetarian Dish', 'Best Hygiene and Kitchen Practice', 'Best Chicken Saute Dish', 'Ambassador Award', 'Mentor Award', 'Sustainability Award', 'Best Use of Kitchen Cut' and 'Best Afternoon Tea Profiteroles'. This year as the Olympiad is happening online, each participant will be recorded live in his or her own kitchen preparing and producing each of the three dishes within the prescribed time and a team of judges will be able to view the work of each participant throughout the entire competition period. Due to the time zones, competing countries will be divided into groups according to their local time's close proximity. Separate virtual competition rooms will be created for each group of judges allowing for the judges to interact throughout the full period of the competition, to discuss each competitor and to mark accordingly. In the competition's first round, the contestants will be required to prepare three dishes - four portions of a Chicken cut for saute with a garnish and sauce, 8 chocolate eclairs suitable for a luxury afternoon tea and four portions of a Vegetarian dish using the mentioned ingredients in two and a half hours. The contestants will be judged on their basic skills, nutrition, health and safety, taste and creativity in this round. The Grand Finale and Plate Trophy Finals of YCO 2021 will test the contestant's creativity, innovation, cooking skills and professional good practice in a time bound environment. For the grand finale, the contestants will be given two and a half hours for preparing 2 litres of chicken stock into a consomme with a garnish and Gateau St Honore for ten persons using a sweet pastry as the base and choux pastry filled with a creme chiboust. For the Plate Trophy Finals, the contestants will be required to prepare the same Gateau St Honore for tenpersons, but in two hours. Padma Shri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor will be the Principal Judge and Mentor for YCO 2021 while Prof David Foskett (MBE) will be the Chairman of the Jury. The panel of judges will include internationally acclaimed judges and celebrity chefs including Chef Brian Turner, the President of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, Chef Andreas Muller from Hong Kong, Chef Chris Galvin (UK), Chef John Wood (UK), Chef Stuart Littlejohn (UK), Chef Henry Brosi (UK), Chef Andy Varma (UK), Chef Stefan Hogan (Malta), Chef Garth Stroebel (South Africa), Chef Enzo Oliveri (Italy), Chef Ranveer Brar (India), Chef Parvinder Bali (India), Chef Abhijit Saha (India) and many more. The judges will evaluate the contestants on their ability to efficiently manage a food production area keeping in mind factors like health and safety, good hygiene practice, ability to follow a recipe, culinary skills, creativity, etc. Showcasing the multicultural culinary diversity of different countries, YCO 2021 will also bring together the student chefs and chef mentors for the 'United World of Young Chefs'. This event will be held on February 3rd and it will provide a great opportunity for the 50 participating countries to present their national cuisine to a global culinary audience. Launched in the year 2015, YCO aims to give young student chefs from around the world a platform to showcase their skills and compete at the global level. Through the last six editions of the Olympiad, the world has seen culinary stars being born and dreams being celebrated on the global culinary stage. The winners of the past editions of YCO were Ashwin Nicholas Oon from Malaysia (2015), Daniella Germond from Canada (2016), Tham Jiajun Mathew from Singapore (2017), Lai Jia Yi from Malaysia (2018), Cyrene Randrianasolo from France (2019) and Chen Khai Loong from Malaysia (2020). Young Chef Olympiad website - https://ycolympiad.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">https://ycolympiad.com/ This story is provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PRNewswire) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On the left is a simulated image in which intracluster light is visible as a diffuse haze between discrete peaks of brightnessthe galaxies. In observations, as seen in the right, this intracluster light component is largely drowned in noise. Credit: Left image: Jesse Golden-Marx; simulation by The IllustrisTNG. Right image: Dark Energy Survey and Yuanyuan Zhang A combination of observational data and sophisticated computer simulations have yielded advances in a field of astrophysics that has languished for half a century. The Dark Energy Survey, which is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, has published a burst of new results on what's called intracluster light, or ICL, a faint type of light found inside galaxy clusters. The first burst of new, precision ICL measurements appeared in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal in April 2019. Another appeared more recently in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In a surprise finding of the latter, DES physicists discovered new evidence that ICL might provide a new way to measure a mysterious substance called dark matter. The source of ICL appears to be rogue stars, those not gravitationally bound to any galaxy. The ICL has long been suspected of possibly being a significant component of clusters of galaxies, but its faintness makes it difficult to measure. No one knows how much there is or to what extent it has spread through galaxy clusters. "Observationally we discovered that intracluster light is a pretty good radial tracer of dark matter. That means that where intracluster light is relatively bright, the dark matter is relatively dense," said Fermilab scientist Yuanyuan Zhang, who led both studies. "Just measuring the ICL itself is pretty exciting. The dark matter part is a serendipitous discovery. It's not what we expected." Although invisible, dark matter accounts for most matter in the universe. What dark matter consists of stands as one of the major mysteries of modern cosmology. Scientists know only that it differs greatly from the normal matter consisting of the protons, neutrons and electrons that dominate everyday life. But ICL, not dark matter, was initially on the research team's agenda. Most astrophysicists measure intracluster light at the center of a galaxy cluster, where it is brightest and most abundant. "We went very far away from the centers of the galaxy clusters, where the light is really faint," Zhang said. "And the farther away from the center we went, the more difficult the measurement became." Nevertheless, the DES collaborators managed to come away with the most radially extended measurement of ICL ever. The team used weak gravitational lensing to compare the radial distribution of the ICLhow it changes over distance from the center of a clusterto the radial distribution of the mass of a galaxy cluster. Weak lensing is a dark-matter-sensitive method of measuring the mass of a galaxy or cluster. It occurs when the gravity of a foreground star or cluster bends the light from a more distant galaxy, distorting its apparent shape. It turned out observationally that ICL reflects the distribution of both the total visible mass of a galaxy cluster and, possibly, the distribution of the invisible dark matter. "We did not expect to find such a tight connection between these radial distributions, but we did," said scientist Hillysson Sampaio-Santos, the lead author of the new paper. Comparing observations with simulations To gain more insight, the team used a sophisticated computer simulation to study the relationship between ICL and dark matter. They found that the radial profiles between the two phenomena in the simulation didn't agree with the observational data. In the simulation, "the ICL radial profile was not the best component to trace dark matter," said Sampaio-Santos, who is with the National Observatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Zhang noted that it's too soon to tell exactly what caused the conflict between observation and simulation. "If the simulation didn't get it right, it could mean that the simulated intracluster light is produced at a slightly different time than in observations. The simulated stars didn't have enough time to wander around and start to trace dark matter," she said. Sampaio-Santos noted that further ICL studies could yield insights into the dynamics occurring inside galaxy clusters, including interactions that gravitationally release some of their stars, allowing them to wander around. "I'm planning to study the intracluster light and the effects of relaxation," or spreading out, he said. For example, some clusters have merged together. These merged clusters should have different properties of ICL compared to clusters that are relaxed. Enhancing signals in noisy data sets The ICL that the team measured is about a hundred to a thousand times fainter than what DES scientists normally attempt. That means the team had to deal with a lot of noise and contamination in the signal. The technical aspect of the feat was challenging, Zhang said, "but because we had quite a bit of data from the Dark Energy Survey, we were able to cancel out a lot of noise to do this kind of measurement. It's statistical averaging." Astrophysicists typically make ICL measurements using a handful of galaxy clusters at a time. "That's a great way to get information about the individual systems," Zhang said. To get the bigger picture and to beat down the noise, the DES team statistically averaged about 300 galaxy clusters in the first study and more than 500 clusters in the second. All of them are a couple of billion light-years from Earth. Teasing the signal from the noise of each cluster takes a lot of data, which is exactly what the DES has generated. In early 2019, DES completed its six-year mission of observing hundreds of millions of distant galaxies in the southern skies and publicly issued its second data release in mid-January. The ICL measurements probe clusters that are up to 3.3 billion light-years from Earth. In future studies, Zhang would like to study the redshift evolution of ICLhow it changes with cosmic time. "My dream is to go all the way to redshift one10 billion light-years," Zhang said. "Studies say that's when the ICL has just started to evolve." Going that far would enable scientists to see ICL building over time. "But that's really hard because it's three times as far as the distance of our latest measurements, so everything is going to be extremely faint there," she said. Explore further The puzzle of the strange galaxy made of 99.9% dark matter is solved More information: Y. Zhang et al. Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Detection of Intracluster Light at Redshift 0.25, The Astrophysical Journal (2019). Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Y. Zhang et al. Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Detection of Intracluster Light at Redshift 0.25,(2019). DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab0dfd Guyana condemns illegal detention of local fishermen by Venezuela January 27,2021 | Source: CNW The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Guyana, Hugh Todd on Monday issued a protest note firmly condemning the illegal detention of the captains and crews of two Guyanese registered fishing vessels, and calling for their immediate release. He issued the note when he called in Charge dAffaires of the Venezuelan Embassy Moses Chavez, and used the opportunity to voice his concerns, saying the action coming out of Caracas is distasteful. Todd added that based on latitude and longitude, the two vessels, the Lady Nayera and the Sea Wolf, were well within Guyanas territory. The government said they were operating off the coast of Waini Point, within Guyanas Exclusive Economic Zone, when they were intercepted by Venezuelan naval vessel, Commandante Hugo Chavez GC 24, on January 21. The captains of both fishing vessels were instructed to chart a course to Port Guiria, Venezuela where the boats and crew have been detained. Minister Todd on Monday called for Venezuela to operate in a manner consistent with international rule of law. He reiterated Guyanas commitment to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a means of bringing to a close the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy. The incident comes on the heels of Venezuelas President Nicolas Maduro declaring he would reconquer the disputed Essequibo region which is at the center of the neighbours decades-old dispute. Earlier this month, Maduro issued a decree to unilaterally extend Venezuelas maritime boundary into the Essequibo and establish a new territory in the area, even though the dispute is currently engaging the attention of the ICJ. Theme(s): Communities and Organisations. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Airlines appealed for stronger local tourism as they find ways to take off from dismal bottom lines. "It is really inside the Philippines domestic aviation for the 100-plus million Filipinos spread over the islands, that can really provide hope for the aviation industry," Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP) executive director Roberto Lim said during the Wednesday hearing of the House Committee on Transportation. "We should be able to open up domestic tourism. We need the cooperation of the LGUs," he added. Air passenger traffic plunged by 80% as of end-September, with companies only ferrying 12 million people compared to the 60 million passenger volume in 2019, according to the Civil Aeronautics Board. Airlines also mounted just one-third of the flights they used to offer as of the third quarter of 2020. "Kahit kahalati siguro, hindi maaabot ng 2020 [It's unlikely for 2020 flights to reach half the flights mounted the previous year]," CAB Air Operating Rights Division chief Eldric Paul Peredo told lawmakers. READ: The world's safest airlines for 2021 revealed CAB also reported major losses incurred by the country's three biggest service providers. As of end-September, flag carrier Philippine Airlines suffered a 27.92-billion loss, while budget carriers Cebu Pacific and Philippines AirAsia posted losses worth 14.69 billion and 4.86 billion, respectively. Limited flights due to quarantine restrictions and the general fear among travelers of getting infected with the coronavirus also ate into airline funding. CAB said PAL and AirAsia saw their equity positions turn negative sending them in billions of pesos in debt while Cebu Pacific's capital was nearly halved. Committee chairman and Samar Representative Edgar Mary Sarmiento said local governments should also offer cheaper COVID-19 tests to entice more people to travel again nearly a year since quarantine rules took effect. READ: Foreigners told to postpone travel to PH due to possible extension of travel ban Meanwhile, the airlines assured the public that flying is safe amid the pandemic. "Inside the aircraft, you have a very clean atmosphere that is similar to an operating room of a hospital," ACAP's Lim said. "You have the fresh air that comes in every three minutes in the cabin while on flight. Statistics show worldwide that transmission of COVID inside the cabin is very, very negligible." A number of tourist destinations have reopened to travelers, subject to requirements such as travel passes and negative COVID-19 tests, among others. RELATED: PAL urges employees to apply for voluntary separation amid ongoing job cuts In the international press, bad news tends to overshadow good news in general. When it comes to the Middle East and its population, on the other hand, there is barely room for anything but bad news. International media coverage of Egypt, for example, is always sparse, and what little international readers do read will not be about such positive matters as the major economic development projects that have been unfolding in the country during the past few years. Regional conflicts and rights issues prevail over local Egyptian concerns, sadly. In fact, last week saw the launch of a number of new national projects in a range of areas from food asecurity to granite and marble production. On Saturday, Al-Fayrouz fish farming project was inaugurated at East of Al-Tafreah in the Port Said governorate. The largest project of its kind in the Middle East, it adds a new accomplishment to the series of large-scale development achievements that Egypt has experienced in recent years, said a statement released by the presidents office. This mega project contributes huge added value to the development of the Suez Canal zone and the Sinai Peninsula through the construction of new industrial and urban communities. The project will generate 10,000 job opportunities directly and indirectly in numerous professions and specialisations related to this field. In the realm of food security too the government announced that it set in motion a project to have 100,000 acres of land in Sinai cultivated before 30 June 2021. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi also simultaneously unveiled the high-speed rail project which could take people from Cairo to Aswan in just four hours. By the end of 2021 there will be no more old trains in operation, the president said. President Al-Sisi has spoken at length about an ambitious drive to remedy many longstanding problems in rural Egypt in the next three years. A range of modernisation projects will overhaul the infrastructure of Egyptian villages, lining open irrigation canals to prevent seepage, saving three billion cubic metres of water. With regard to the latter project, the president said: We are working to restructure water, not to encroach on others water. The problem-solving development approach exemplified by the village development project is grounded in a comprehensive, integrated strategy to harmonise the efforts of all government agencies involved. It is a strategy that promotes high performance, rapid progress and governance in every component of the project with the aim of realising radical change in all aspects of rural life. Improving rural standards of living is long overdue after decades of neglect for the needs of the countryside, a neglect that was inevitably manifested in sharply declining economic and human development rates. The first phase of the village development project targets 1,500 villages across the country for the renovation and construction of water, electricity, natural gas and wastewater disposal as well as road grids and networks, and for the development of education, healthcare and social welfare systems. News of such ambitious projects are unlikely to find their way into the international press and media even though, if they are to see the bigger picture, it is important for readers to know about all political, social and economic aspects of life in Egypt. The tendency of foreign media is to home in on particular issues for years on end. In Egypts case the choice of most of these is influenced by Islamist agendas. The focus is so blinkered and the glare so harsh that one sees only a distorted sliver of the picture. Political and media circles abroad need to reexamine the concept of human rights, which is a cornerstone of the philosophy of government in Egypt today. Only with a fuller, more comprehensive concept can they assess Egypt. The reports issued by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and international credit rating agencies speak of the degree of progress on the ground. In so doing, they draw attention to shortcomings in the international press coverage of Egypt. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January , 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Short link: Apples delayed launch of its latest iPhones unleashed a holiday buying frenzy that propelled sales of the trendsetting companys most popular product to its fastest start in years. The apparently pent-up demand for four different iPhone 12 models highlighted Apples latest quarterly report on Wednesday (US time). Apple could be on its way to its biggest year of iPhone sales since its 2014 release of the iPhone 6. Credit:Bloomberg Apples iPhone sales during the October-December period totalled $US65.6 billion ($85.6 billion), a 17 per cent increase from the same time in the previous year. Part of the gain reflected pandemic-driven production problems that pushed back the release of the new iPhone until October and November. In past years, including 2019, Apple rolled out its new iPhones in late September, resulting in a spike in sales in an earlier quarter than how things unfolded last year. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The enterprise tech startup sector is packed with companies capitalizing on growing demand even amid the disruptions caused by the pandemic for tools in the world of big data, devops, cloud, mobility, the internet of things and cybersecurity. According to Gartner, global IT spending is expected to grow by 6.2% this year, with total spending projected to hit $3.9 trillion. The unprecedented acceleration of digital transformation in 2020 to satisfy the move to remote work, changes to education and new social norms presented by lockdowns has largely offset the early hit to IT spending caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. (A report by Crunchbase showed that global venture funding in the first half of 2020 was down about 6% compared to 2019, totalling $130 billion the lowest figure recorded since 2017.) Despite a rocky year, funding hotspots emerged from during the pandemic, with Massachusetts in the US, India, Indonesia, Israel, Australia and New Zealand, France, Belgium, and Brazil all reporting above average levels of funding. COVID-19 has shifted many industries techquilibrium, said John-David Lovelock, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. Greater levels of digitalization of internal processes, supply chain, customer and partner interactions, and service delivery is coming in 2021, enabling IT to transition from supporting the business to being the business. The biggest change this year will be how IT is financed, not necessarily how much IT is financed. In this list, we highlight some of the hottest startups building software and services aimed at large enterprise customers, who their customers are, their funding so far and how close they might be to initial public offerings (IPOs) or acquisition in 2021. Cockroach Labs Cockroach Labs is a software firm that develops commercial database management systems. Founded in 2015 by three ex-Google employees, it's best known for CockroachDB, a cloud-native, distributed SQL database that provides next-level consistency, ultra-resilience, data locality, and massive scale to modern cloud applications. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Cockroach Labs saw its revenue more than double in 2020, thanks in part to wide-spread cloud adoption. The startup expects to see similar levels of growth this year and claims to be on track to double its workforce from 200 to 400 employees by the end of 2021. Funding: Cockroach Labs raised $160 million Series E funding on Jan. 12, 2021. The round comes just eight months after the startup brought in $86.6 million Series D funding and leaves the company valued at about $2 billion. Cohesity There are a lot of factors that make Cohesity a 'hot' enterprise startup: unique technology, a founder on his second act after co-founding the now public software company Nutanix and $250 million in funding from SoftBank's Vision Fund. The startup was originally pitched as a cheaper way for enterprises to store what it calls "secondary data" backups, files, test/dev and analytics data all monitored using a single cloud platform. It has since expanded into other areas of enterprise data management, including analytics, security and rapid recovery. Funding: In April 2020, Cohesity raised $250 million in Series E funding, bringing its total funding to $660 million. This put the company value at $2.5 billion. Confluent Founded by the creators of open-source Apache Kafka, Confluent is a commercial version of the software that helps developers manage system and application messaging at high volume and add real-time streaming data to their apps. Kafka has proved popular with companies like LinkedIn, which uses the technology for activity stream data and operational metrics; Netflix for real-time monitoring and its event-processing pipeline; and Spotify, where it's used as part of the company's log delivery system. The idea behind Confluent is to make it easier for companies that don't have a surfeit of developer power to harness Kafka. Funding: The company announced a $250 million Series E funding round led by Coatue Management in April 2020, with participation from Altimeter Capital, Franklin Templeton, and existing investors Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital. This brought total funding in the company to $456 million and a valuation of $4.5 billion. Front Front was founded by French nationals Mathilde Collin, who is now CEO, and Laurent Perrin who is CTO after coming through the famed Silicon Valley startup accelerator Y Combinator. Front evokes the sort of evangelism often reserved for consumer apps instead of enterprise software, drawing the inevitable comparisons to Slack. The original Front app is for any team that shares an email inbox. It is particularly handy for customer support, sales, and even PR teams. It allows emails to be assigned to team members and for teams to collaborate in a shared space, increasing response speeds. Now, the company is looking to transform the email experience for all office workers after receiving a serious cash injection. Funding: Front raised a $59 million Series C funding round in early 2020, led by fellow software founders like Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes and president Jay Simons; Okta cofounder Frederic Kerrest; Qualtrics cofounders Ryan Smith and Jared Smith; and Zoom founder Eric Yuan; and existing venture capital investors Sequoia, Initialized Capital, and Anthos Capital. Funnel Swedish software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Funnel specializes in combining and tidying marketing and advertising data for clients, regardless of where it resides, to get better insights into customers. The software is priced on a tiered basis depending on monthly ad spending, starting at $499 a month. Reference customers include Skyscanner, Samsung, and Ubisoft. Visualization is done well in existing business intelligence tools once the data is properly prepared," Funnel co-founder and CEO Fredrik Skantze told TechCrunch. "Automating the collection and preparation of the data has proven to be a very hard thing to do right and we wanted to make sure we were the best at this, which we now confidently can say we are as we hear that again and again from customers." Funding: Funnel secured a $47 million Series B funding round in January 2020, led by Eight Roads Ventures and F-Prime Capital, with participation from existing investors Balderton Capital, Oxx, Zobito, Industrifonden, and Kreos Capital. It is planning to expand into the US. GitLab GitLab is an open-source Git-repository manager built by Dmitriy Zaporozhets and Valery Sizov. Not to be confused with developer code repository GitHub, this Bay Area startup has had a big couple of years as enterprises and investors have taken a keen interest in devops. The company has evolved from being just a git repository to helping developers track, manage, and collaborate on code with built in CI/CD functionality. Funding: GitLab closed $268 million funding round in September 2019 led by existing investors Goldman Sachs and Iconiq Capital. As of January 2021, the company is valued at $6 billion. Graphcore UK startup Graphcore develops processors specifically designed for AI workloads, which it calls intelligent processing units (IPUs). Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Bristol, it produced the world's first graph tool chain (in 2016) designed for machine intelligence called Poplar Software Stack. In 2017, the startup added the Colossus GC2 chip to it product library and in July 2020, it unveiled hardware using a second-gen processor called GC200. GC200 is a 59-billion transistor, 823-square-millimeter integrated circuit with 1472 computational cores and 900MB of local memory. Funding: Graphcore raised a massive Series E funding round in December 2020 of $222 million, led by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board with participation from funds managed by Fidelity International and Schroders, along with existing investors Baillie Gifford and Draper Esprit. The firm has now raised more than $700 million. Hopin London-based virtual events startup Hopin had a better 2020 than most. Founded in June 2019, Hopin wants to reimagine virtual events from the ground up and make them so good that they become no longer a sideline option but a mainstream destination. Investors and customers alike clearly believe Hopin has achieved its aim, with the company raising the fourth-largest European Series B round of 2020. The pandemic undoubtedly had a hand in Hopins success in 2020; as of November, it was claiming 3.5 million users at more than 50,000 organizations, including the United Nations, NATO, the Atlantic, UCLA, and Miro. Hopins workforce has also experienced high levels of growth over the past 10 months, starting 2020 with a team of 23 people and ending the year with 215. Funding: Hopin raised a $125 million Series B round, for a $2.1 billion valuation. Launched just eight months ago, it has now raised $170 million in total making it one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe. Hopin counts Slack, Salesforce, and Northzone amongst its investors. Snyk Combining some favorite buzzwords for investors security and open source Snyk has skyrocketed to a $1 billion valuation since it was founded in London in 2015. Created by software engineers Guy Podjarny, Danny Grander, and Assaf Hefetz, Snyk effectively helps developers automatically spot vulnerabilities in the open-source code they run. Funding: Snyk raised a $200 million investment round in September, led by investment firm Addition. That followed a January 2020 fundraise of $150 million, putting total funding at $450 million and a private valuation of $2.6 billion. Tanium Cybersecurity specialist Tanium was founded in 2007 by father-and-son duo David and Orion Hindawi who went on to sell their first business, BigFix, to IBM in 2010. It was at BigFix the pair developed a way to map and manage complex networks; with Tanium, they focused on securing large enterprise networks of connected devices. Instead of firewalls and pre-packaged security software, Tanium takes a network-first approach, mapping an organization's network endpoints any internet-enabled piece of hardware on a company network and then monitoring for breaches at device level. Funding: Tanium shelved any IPO plans after a $200 million fundraising in October 2018. It went on to raise more funding in the subsequent years, totaling more than $1 billion to date, including investments from Salesforce Ventures and VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, with Ben Horowitz, the latter's co-founder, sitting on the Tanium board. Tessian Formerly known as CheckRecipient, Tessian is a UK startup helping organizations avoid risks from with mis-sent emails. The platform analyzes millions of data points across an organizations email network to detect patterns of behavior and mis-addressed emails. If the machine-learning algorithm spots an unusual email address or detects potentially sensitive information in the content, it will prompt the sender to double-check before sending. Organizations including Schroders, Man Group, Dentons, and more than 70 British law firms use the platform to protect their email networks. Funding: Tessian raised $42 million in a Series B funding round led by Sequoia in February 2019, with involvement from previous investors Balderton Capital and Accel. The money is being earmarked for global expansion, particularly into the US. The company has now raised $60 million. TripActions Founded in 2015, TripActions wants to be the Expedia or Kayak of corporate travel, offering a consumer-grade platform for employees to search and book travel, while allowing managers to set granular thresholds for travel class or hotel type. It also offers employees Amazon gift cards when they save the company money on travel by booking a cheaper hotel. Funding: On Jan. 21, the Silicon Valley-based startup raised $155 million in Series E funding, leading to a valuation of $5 billion. Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, a former Minister of Trade, says late former President Jerry John Rawlings, promoted Christian values through his lifestyle and despised bribery, corruption, illegal mining, and environmental degradation. He said he (Rawlings), also fought for social justice and longed for the total wellbeing of the nation. We should remember his values of integrity, probity and accountability, transparency and social justice. These are the values I have inculcated personally in my life, he said. People should abide by his values as I have tried to live by it in my way. Unless we want to say living by those values is for old people or old-timers and that they are no longer applicable to Ghana. Mr Spio-Garbrah said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency after filing past the mortal remains of former President Rawlings at the Accra International Conference Centre. Flt. Lt. Rawlings, who was the first President of the fourth Republic, passed away on Thursday, November 12, 2020, at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, after a short illness. Mr Spio-Garbrah said Mr Rawlings sacrificed himself and lived entirely for Ghana, saying, People might have thought that he came to enjoy himself because that is how people think about Heads of States but this was a very different President. No President, since he left office and even before he left office, has entered the gutters of Nima to clean it for them. No President has ever lifted sacks of cocoa to bring them to the ports when Ghana had difficulty in shipping its exports. He loved his country and cared for his people, he stated. The former Trade Minister, who is currently the Chairman of the African Business Centre for Developing Education, said the man, Rawlings, played a crucial and the biggest role in making what many including engineers saw impossibility, a possibility for Ghana, especially the Northern side to obtain electricity. He made this possible to the point that Ghana now has the second-highest electricity power connection per capita after South Africa in Africa. People should thank Rawlings for the power they have in their homes now particularly in Tamale, Bunkpurugu, and Walewale, among others. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Repair shop's resident leather expert has recalled the 'depth of emotion' in a a Holocaust survivor's eyes after restoring her late husband's treasured box which was all that was left of his home after the Nazis confiscated everything. Suzie Fletcher, who was joined by Jay Blades, appeared on This Morning today and told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that she takes her responsibility of restoring aged treasures 'very, very seriously.' She went on to discuss a poignant story of a very precious keepsake which Rose Werner and her sister Linda, from Essex, brought into the Repair factory in the hope that she could turn her expertise to a decorative leather box that they hold dear. It belonged to Roses late husband Jim. He arrived in the UK as a teenage refugee just before the Second World War, thanks to the Kindertransport scheme. Sadly he never saw his family again, and this treasured box was his only link to his German Jewish heritage - so Rose was desperate to have it safely preserved. 'I am constantly in awe of anyone who brings anything in that has such intrinsic story,' said Suzie, speaking of the story behind the box. 'It tells this magnificent story of Jim and what he went through.' 'I take my responsibility very, very seriously. The whole time I'm working on an item I'm very aware of getting it right and making sure it's put back into a very good condition when it's handed back to the owner.' Suzie Fletcher, The Repair Shop's resident leather expert, appeared on This Morning today and told how she takes her responsibility of restoring people's aged treasures 'very, very seriously' Suzie discussed a treasured keepsake which Rose (pictured, left), from Essex brought in, which belonged to her late husband Jim. He arrived in the UK as a teenage refugee just before the Second World War, but never saw his family again. The was his only link to his German Jewish heritage Suzie got choked up as she recalled the look in Rose's eyes when she revealed the restored box (pictured) In a clip from the BBC show, Rose can be heard explaining the background of the item and explained: 'He got the box just after we got married. He was told by his elderly aunt that it had been in the family and she said: "I'd like you to have this box."' 'He did treasure it. It was the only tangible thing he had which his parents had had in their possession. They confiscated everything the Nazis - that's all that was left of his home.' Suzie went on to recall the look in Rose's eyes when she revealed the restored box to her. 'Unbelievable,' she said. 'Her eyes spoke a thousand words. It's something I'll never forget. The depth of emotion in her eyes gets me choked up thinking about it. She's a beautiful lady and I was so honoured.' Speaking to the box, Rose said: 'He did treasure it. It was the only tangible thing he had which his parents had had in their possession. They confiscated everything the Nazis - that's all that was left of his home.' Pictured, the stored box Suzie said that the 'depth of emotion' in Rose's eyes gets her 'choked up' every time she thinks about it. Pictured, with Jay Blades Jay Blades (pictured), a furniture restorer and upholsterer, explained how Suzie holds her breath until the person who receives the item enjoys it and says thank you Jay Blades, a furniture restorer and upholsterer, added: 'What Suzie does is holds her breath until the person who receives the item enjoys it and says thank you for it, as she puts so much love into what she's doing as all the experts do.' 'They just want this item to continue for another 100 years. The people who bring the items in - wow - they're so brave.' Holly went on to question the sense of community between the experts on the show. 'We've become a family,' said Jay. 'We've been filming since 2017 together. Sometimes we're down filming for 5/6 days a week. 'So you have lunch together, dinner, breakfast. It's just a real joy that you can rely on those community of experts - and that's in front and behind the cameras.' Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD has confirmed that the vaccination of the third group in the Governments Vaccine Allocation Strategy will begin in February. Under the Vaccine Allocation Strategy, people aged 70 and older will be vaccinated in the following order: 85 and older, 80-84, 75-79, 70-74. Minister Donnelly said: We have confirmed that the community vaccination programme will begin in February, subject to regulatory approval of AstraZeneca. Despite anticipated disruption to deliveries, which was announced on Friday, Ireland will receive a delivery of AstraZeneca vaccine within the expected range for February, although at the lower end of that range. Delivery in March is likely to be more impacted and considerably lower than what was originally stated by the company. We continue to prioritise those most vulnerable to COVID-19 in our society against the backdrop of limited supply of vaccines. He continued, "for the moment, people do not need to take any specific action. The next stage of our vaccine programme will begin with those aged 85 years and older and will be administered initially through GPs in their surgeries. The HSE is preparing a public information campaign that will provide all necessary details in advance and ensure that everyone knows when, where and how to access their vaccine." He said that in the meantime, completing vaccinations for those most vulnerable to COVID-19 infection 'remains the priority'. "Every possible nursing home resident has already received one dose and some have received second doses. Healthcare workers are also a priority. Second doses will be administered over the coming weeks to 77,000 healthcare workers. We will continue to roll out first and second doses to our remaining frontline healthcare workers during February," he said. The Minister noted that vaccination teams were unable to vaccinate some nursing homes residents and staff who had COVID-19 recently, or vaccinate those in some facilities where there were particularly large outbreaks. He said he would like to reassure those staff and residents that they will be prioritised and vaccinated 'as soon as possible', and in line with the guidelines drawn up by our National Immunisation Advisory Council. The HSE had administered 143,000 vaccine doses to Sunday, January 24 since the start of the vaccine roll out in late December. That's just over 5,200 vaccinations a day. "I would like to thank the HSE, members of the High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination, and their teams, for the effort and commitment they are putting into the efficient roll out of the vaccine programme. As we have seen in recent days, in these early stages things can change quickly and we have to build delivery around supply. Everyone involved understands the importance of this programme to the country. Everything that can be done is being done, and will be done, to deliver it," Minister Donnelly concluded. There is huge interest in our vaccine programme, which is very welcome. I committed recently to providing the public with daily figures, as full transparency is important. The HSE has advised that there is a backlog of figures to be inputted and validated. It is working hard to achieve full utilisation of the vaccination IT system at which point it will be in a position to provide updates. Larvae of a new malaria mosquito species are abundantly present in water containers in cities in Ethiopia. The mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, is the main malaria mosquito in India but only appeared on the African continent a few years ago. It has now been found in cities and towns in urban settings in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Djibouti. Researchers from the Radboud university medical center and the Armauer Hansen Research Institute in Ethiopia showed that the invading mosquito species is highly susceptible to local malaria strains. Malaria can therefore become an increasing problem for urban areas in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa. In Africa, malaria is traditionally been a rural disease with towns and cities associated with much lower levels or absence of malaria. This is due to the fact that most African malaria mosquitoes breed in rural areas. However, the introduction of Anopheles stephensi may increase the malaria risk for urban populations. Over recent years there have been increasing reports of the Asian mosquito species Anopheles stephensi in the Horn of Africa. Anopheles stephensi can reproduce particularly well in man-made containers with clean water. This makes Anopheles stephensi a notorious mosquito species for urban malaria The Asian mosquito appears to be particularly susceptible to African malaria A mosquito species only poses a health risk if it can spread local malaria parasites. "That is why we performed mosquito feeding experiments with the blood of Ethiopian malaria patients. This allowed us to determine whether the local malaria parasite can develop in the new mosquito," explains Professor of Epidemiology of Tropical Infectious Diseases Teun Bousema of Radboud university medical center in Nijmegen. "To our surprise, the Asian mosquito turned out to be even more susceptible to local malaria parasites than our Ethiopian mosquito colony. This mosquito appears to be an extremely efficient spreader of the two main species of malaria". With this important puzzle piece, concerns about urban malaria in Africa are increasing. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) already sounded the alarm about the possible consequences of the invasion of Anopheles stephensi in Africa. With this new findings, these concerns seem justified. "An aggressive approach to target this mosquito is now a top priority," concludes dr. Fitsam Tadesse. "Only if we act quickly can we prevent the spread to other urban areas on the continent. We must target the mosquito larvae in places where they now occur and prevent mosquitoes from spreading over long distances, for example via airports and sea ports. If that fails, the risk of urban malaria will rise in large parts of Africa." About malaria With approximately 216 million cases and 400,000 deaths per year, malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases of our time. Compared to the situation before the year 2000, there is a clear decrease in the number of sick people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Unfortunately, malaria now seems to be on the rise in several areas where it was previously under control. Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are the main types of malaria for humans. They are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and vice versa. There are about 60 mosquito species that can transmit human malaria. In Africa, a number of mosquito species are traditionally responsible for the most malaria transmission. Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes have been labeled the most dangerous animal species on earth and are especially common in rural settings in Africa. Spraying with Insecticides and the use of impregnated mosquito netting against mosquitoes are among the most effective ways to combat malaria. Since 2015, a vaccine has been registered for use. This vaccine, Mosquirix, offers some protection against Plasmodium falciparum malaria, the deadliest form of malaria. Preventing the spread of malaria is considered one of the greatest challenges in the fight against malaria. ### WEST SPRINGFIELD School Committee members voted unanimously on Tuesday to bring children back into their physical classrooms next month. We need to get eyes on kids, said Superintendent Tim Connor at the committees Jan. 26 meeting. Were almost going on a year (without in-person classes). Theres certain things we can do to, academically, to bring kids up to speed, and were planning for that. But what we cant fix is some of the disengagement, and some of the (decline in) mental health thats come along with loneliness and sadness. Committee member William Garvey, who like Connor had championed West Springfields policy of all-remote education even when neighboring towns reopened their schools, said the ratio has changed in recent weeks. Since the Christmas vacation, teachers and guidance counselors have reported increasing numbers of their students struggling with depression. He said he has to weigh the risk of spreading COVID-19 against the emotional damage being done to students learning at a computer all day, with no personal contact with their friends or teachers. The school board voted to restart the towns hybrid education model, with each student receiving two days per week of in-person learning and three days per week of remote instruction. Students in cohort A will go to school on Mondays and Tuesdays, while those in cohort B will go Thursdays and Fridays. Families can also opt to place their children in cohort C and continue all-remote learning. Under the plan adopted this week, preschool through grade 2 pupils, as well as sixth and ninth graders, would return to the classroom Monday, Feb. 8, or Thursday, Feb. 11, depending on their cohort. The following week is February vacation. Starting Feb. 22 and Feb. 25, students from all grades would be back in school. Those dates were chosen as the soonest that school administrators could arrange the logistics of reopening the school buildings, including a busing plan, Connor said. Connor said he considered including high school seniors in the Feb. 8 group, but found it would be too difficult to schedule, as many high school classes have a mix of students from grades 10, 11 and 12. Freshmen and sixth graders will be able to use their two-day head start as an orientation period in their new school buildings, Connor said. Mayor William Reichelt had pushed for a return to in-person learning as soon as possible. Earlier this month, he led the committee in rejecting an agreement with the teachers union that would have tied the reopening plan to decreases in the towns COVID-19 infection rate. He said those targets would likely not be met until April. Reichelt confirmed after the meeting that this plan has not been ratified by the union. Previous conversations on how to reopen West Springfield schools were focused on finding a compromise that teachers would vote to support. We have two weeks to negotiate the impact of this agreement, Reichelt said. Ideally, wed like to have a [memorandum of agreement] that works this all out. He said he doesnt believe the town needs a union vote to start hybrid learning, however. Other districts have returned to the classroom without union agreements, he said. Were looking at all these districts going back. I think we can do it, too, he said. In the event of a coronavirus outbreak in the school community, Connor said he will close classrooms, groups of classrooms, or schools individually, rather than sending the whole town back to all-remote learning. West Springfield students have been learning remotely since March 13, 2020, with the exception of one week in October, when preschool through grade 2 pupils at most elementary schools were able to attend two days of in-person instruction. That experiment in adopting the hybrid model which was supposed to have culminated in bringing all students to hybrid learning by the end of November was cut short when the towns COVID-19 infection rates spiked. Driving down the towns infection rates will be even more important with children in school, Reichelt said. He encouraged residents to wear their masks, take advantage of free COVID-19 testing in town on Sundays, cooperate politely with contact tracers, report out-of-state travel and test or quarantine if necessary. A Georgia state trooper escorted a Republican state lawmaker out of the House chamber in Atlanta on Tuesday after he refused to abide by the legislatures coronavirus testing protocols. Representative David Clark, who represents a suburban district northeast of Atlanta, was led from the chamber on the orders of Representative David Ralston, the House speaker and a fellow Republican. Mr. Ralston, without mentioning Mr. Clarks name, had initially announced that a fellow member had not followed testing protocols, and asked that member to leave. But Mr. Clark refused. I dont know about yall but Ive been to too many funerals and Im tired of going to them, Mr. Ralston said from the House dais after ordering Mr. Clark removed. Lawmakers are required to be tested twice weekly at a site in the Capitol while in session. The flare-up was just the latest infighting among Georgia Republicans, who have been riven by former President Donald J. Trumps efforts to overturn the states election results. Mr. Clark and other lawmakers signed on to an amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit, rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, that had sought to overturn Mr. Trumps losses in Georgia and three other swing states. FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LD Holdings Group LLC today announced that its newly formed affiliate, loanDepot, Inc. ("loanDepot"), has launched the roadshow for the initial public offering of 15 million shares of its Class A common stock ("Common Stock"). The offering consists of 9.41 million shares of Common Stock being sold by loanDepot and 5.59 million shares of Common Stock being sold by certain funds managed by Parthenon Capital Partners. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $19.00 and $21.00 per share. The shares are expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "LDI." loanDepot intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase additional shares of Class A common stock from loanDepot. The offering is subject to market conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether, or when, the offering may be completed or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BofA Securities, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley are acting as lead book-running managers for the proposed offering. Barclays, Citigroup, Jefferies and UBS Investment Bank will be book running managers, and JMP Securities, Nomura, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, William Blair and AmeriVet Securities will act as co-managers for the proposed offering. AmeriVet Securities is owned and operated by disabled U.S. military veterans, whom loanDepot is committed to supporting through a variety of initiatives. The proposed offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. Copies of the preliminary prospectus, when available, may be obtained from: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, by telephone at (866) 471-2526 or by email at [email protected]; or BofA Securities, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, or by e-mail at [email protected]; or Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 6933 Louis Stephens Drive, Morrisville, North Carolina 27560, telephone: 1-800-221-1037 or by email [email protected]; or Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10014. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About loanDepot: An innovator since its inception in 2010, LD Holdings Group LLC and its subsidiaries (collectively, "loanDepot") continues to disrupt the lending industry with its focus on creating the technologies needed to deliver seamless borrowing experiences to its customers. loanDepot debuted the industry's first end-to-end fully digital loan, the mello smartloan, in 2019. To date, loanDepot has funded over $275 billion in mortgage loans and ranks as one of the nation's largest retail mortgage lenders and the second largest nonbank retail mortgage lender. Investor Relations Contact: Abe Gutierrez Vice President, Investor Relations (949) 860-8215 [email protected] or Nicole Carrillo Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer (949) 575-5187 [email protected] Media Contact: Lori Wildrick Vice President, Communications (949) 330-8791 [email protected] SOURCE LD Holdings Group LLC One of Ashleigh Bartys fiercest rivals during her time at the summit of womens tennis expects the world No.1 will be perfectly primed to contest the Australian Open, given she has not had to endure 14 days of hotel quarantine. Petra Kvitova who Barty has played seven times since 2019 with four of those clashes going to three sets believes the Australian will have an advantage because she was able to avoid time in a hotel room, unlike the majority of those contesting the first grand slam for 2021. Ashleigh Barty, of Australia, hugs Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, after winning 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Credit:AP Of course it is a little bit on an advantage, for sure. They dont have to be in quarantine, they can practice whenever they want. All good, it is deserved, she is Australian and thats how it is, Kvitova told The Age and the Herald. She is used to the weather, she is used to the conditions here so it is a little bit of an advantage but on the other hand it comes down to a few points, how you prepare for the games too. If it was in Czech Republic of course it would be different for me as well. I cant complain and I dont want to, it is how it is. It is still one week of preparation [before the Open for players in quarantine] and everything from the off-season should pay off. Read the full story here. Unidentified persons send threats to e-mail of Hungarian Embassy, sign themselves as 'patrioti Ukrainy' The Hungarian Embassy in Ukraine received threats by e-mail from unknown persons who signed themselves as "patrioti Ukrainy" (patriots of Ukraine) before the arrival of Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Kyiv, said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. "Someone really needs third rate provocations before Peter Szijjarto's visit. The Hungarian Embassy has received threats from 'patrioti Ukrainy' (original language)," Kuleba wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday evening. He noted that law enforcement officers are already working on this case. "The authors, obviously, are outside of Ukraine - otherwise two errors in the word 'Ukraine' cannot be explained," the minister is sure. As reported, on December 2, Szijjarto asked the OSCE to send a monitoring mission to Zakarpattia in connection with the situation there. A young Manorhamilton digger driver, who came up with a sum of 2,300 for charity, after pleading guilty to stealing a wallet and using credit cards to buy items while on a drinking spree, was given the Probation Act for stealing the wallet, at Sligo District Court. At an earlier sitting, 22-year-old Stephen Loughlin, Cloonlougher, Manorhamilton pleaded guilty to charges that he stole a wallet and credit cards belonging to another at Kellys Bar, Ballygawley on December 7, 2019. He also pleaded guilty to using a bank card at the Miners Bar, at Derrynavogey, Arigna to the value of 22.10 on December 8. He pleaded guilty to an identical charge that came to 10. And he pleaded guilty to an identical charge at Applegreen Pearse Road, Sligo to the value of 27 on December 7. He admitted a similar charge at McDonalds Carraroe on December 7 to the value of 8.60. At last week's sitting, defence solicitor Mr Burke said his client had originally come back from England to deal with the case. He had pleaded guilty to all charges. The last court ruled that if he came back with 1500, the court would only deal with the theft of the wallet from the bar. The defendant had since found work in Sligo and had brought the sum of 2,300 to court in the hope the court would deal with the matter other than a conviction. The solicitor said the offences were totally out of character as the defendant, who has been diagnosed as bi-polar, had been going through a difficult time in his life and was resorting to alcohol and had excluded himself from his family. He was no longer drinking and was taking his medication. The young man had aspirations to go to the US or Australia as he is a digger driver. He had owned up and made an early guilty plea. The defendant had one previous conviction for no insurance, but he was a young man who would not be before the court again and there was no previous conviction for anything like the matter before the court. Sergeant Derek Butler told the court the defendant was identified on CCTV at McDonalds and was arrested on April 15, 2020 and made full admissions. When Judge Kevin Kilrane asked the defendant for an explanation for stealing the wallet, he said: I am very sorry, I was not thinking straight with drink, it was a very stupid thing to do and I wont do anything like that again. Judge Kilrane said that Loughlin was at the Miners Bar Arigna, on the following day spending money like a drunken sailor, and using credit cards to pay for the alcohol. Were you not thinking straight the next day.? The defendant repeated that his head was not in the right place due to alcohol. He lived with his aunt in Manorhamilton and had been working on the new road in Sligo until recently. The defendant was not working at present but was looking for work in Dublin. He told the court he was the eldest in his family. Mr Burke said the family had fully supported him. That is some example to give to younger siblings,said Judge Kilrane. The court was told that compensation was also in court for the injured party. Judge Kilrane said he had a view of thefts like this which were nasty as when a person is out socialising, they are relaxed and do not expect their wallet to be stolen from the bar. He said the offence spoke to the character of the person who steals in that fashion. A wallet was not just for holding money but was a personal thing and the theft was a serious invasion of privacy and was opportunistic. And then the defendant went off on a spending spree on alcohol while out of his mind in drink, which was probably the case. A mitigating factor was that the defendant co-operated immediately he was questioned by gardai and had owned up to this nasty offence. He had brought 2,300 to court and there would be a lot of pain gathering that amount of money and he had paid back 100 compensation to the injured party. The judge said it was a big ask to leave the defendant without a conviction, but he was prepared to do so with serious reservations. If convicted, it would be nailed to the defendants CV for the rest of his life and would affect his employment chances and his character. The Judge said the defendant just about made my largesse and I will give you a chance on this occasion. The defendant was given the Probation Act on the charge of stealing the wallet and credit cards and the remaining charges were struck out. Mr Burke said the defendant was most grateful and would not be before this court or any other court again. The 2,300 was split up between SVP in Manorhamilton, Drumshanbo, Sligo, North West Hospice and Carrick-on-Shannon CCTV Company. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Those are cute dogs! Reply Thread Link Finally, dogs are back at the WH. I had a german shepherd when I was young and these dogs are actually very sweet and well-behaved contrary to their rigid facade. Reply Thread Link my beach-neighbors have a pure-black German shepherd. not very intimidating when his wet nose has sand stuck to it. Reply Parent Thread Link My childhood dog was a German Shepherd/Doberman mix, and he was the kindest, calmest, gentlest dog. He was like a movie dog. <3333 Reply Parent Thread Link My mom adopted one during the pandemic that they told her was 5+ years old but is really blatantly not that far out of puppy stage (they even confirmed with their vet) and she's the sweetest of all the dogs we've ever had, just adores being around people and being pet. Reply Parent Thread Link One of the people on my block have a German Shepard and shes THE SWEETEST pup ever. Im terrified of big dogs and she is so calm. Whenever I see her she sits and will nudge your hand until you pet her for at least two minutes. Reply Parent Thread Link I grew up with a German Shepherd. He consistently lost fights to our tabby cat. The only person he could have hurt would have been someone hurting my brother/his master. Theyre such great dogs. Reply Parent Thread Link I grew up with them and they were always the gentlest breed Reply Parent Thread Link they're the only dog i have a slight anxiousness around :/ i love all dogs but i had a bad experience with two when i was very young (they were guard dogs who had got loose) i wish i didn't because i'm sure the majority are lovely Reply Parent Thread Link My first and only dog was a German Shepherd. I still love him eight years after he passed away. He was literally perfect in every way. Reply Parent Thread Link I love German Shepherds! Big dogs are the best. Reply Parent Thread Link They're very very smart, though when my mom was a kid they had a German Shepherd who was a little dim, lmao. She actually ended up having a hysterical pregnancy when my grandmother was pregnant with my uncle. Even though the dog was fixed, she gained weight and was very lethargic. Once my grandmother gave birth, she went back to normal. My husband's aunt had a Shepherd too. They visited every Sunday and this dog knew exactly when to wait by the window for them. At 10am every single Sunday, the dog would run to the couch and stare out the window. The entire family was devastated when she died. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link German Shepherds are far and away my favourite breed. To the point that I watch German Shepherd YouTube videos on a daily basis. When I was 5 or 6, an older German couple lived a couple of houses down with their German Shepherd named Chinga. I used to visit all the time so I could play with her. I can no longer remember the name of the German couple, but I will always remember Chinga. She was the first dog I have memory of interacting with. Reply Parent Thread Link My first dog was a Shepherd/Rottweiler mix that my parents got shortly after I was born - we were the same age - and he was so sweet with us. I would ride on him like a horse, pull his tail, take toys out of his mouth etc He never growled or bit any of us. When he was outside though, he was vicious and scary to anyone who would walk past or approach. He would be almost 6' when he was up on his hind legs against the fence and was intimidating. Truly the perfect guard dog for our family. Reply Parent Thread Link :) cute Reply Thread Link they are such very handsome boys I've been looking through the adoptable cats at the local humane society and crying a lot recently lmao Reply Thread Link honestly, the "Can't Hug Every Cat" meme girl is me. i would adopt every single cat if i could, and it makes me so sad that i can't Reply Parent Thread Link I don't care, where's my check? Reply Thread Link Awwwwww my aunt had a good girl German Shepherd named Pumpkin in the 90s. What kind of good boy do I have, ontd?? Hes a mystery mix cuz hes a rescue! Awwwwww my aunt had a good girl German Shepherd named Pumpkin in the 90s.What kind of good boy do I have, ontd?? Hes a mystery mix cuz hes a rescue! Reply Thread Link this is my silly girl Ruby Reply Parent Thread Link AWWWWWWWW I looooove how she looks at you so adoringly!!!! Reply Parent Thread Link What a good boy! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link that's a beautiful boy! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link He looks like 20% sweet 40% wonderful, and I think the other 40% is probably the bestest boy or the happiest boy, I'm not sure. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg cuties i hope they gave fumigated that entire house Reply Thread Link Should've burned it down and started from scratch Reply Parent Thread Link They did a 500k deep clean lmao. They said it was because of COVID, but you know Trump left fake tan stains and McDonalds wrappers all over the place. Reply Parent Thread Link Im definitely more of a cat person but because Ive always had small dog I really want a big one at some point in life to see what thats like Reply Thread Link What good boys! Reply Thread Link always thought trump was a soulless piece of shit for not having dogs or pets at the white house. these little guys are adorable!! Reply Thread Link Especially with a kid. It just seems so soulless Reply Parent Thread Link I'm glad they didn't have any pets. Can't see them treating them well, tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link Plenty of assholes can love their pets and treat them well while having no problem harming other humans. Trump is not one of those assholes. He wouldn't and doesn't, evident from both his legislation and words from his mouth, care about animals. Both are awful people. One of them just offers nice treatment to a very select few from time to time to beings that they can 100% control. Edited at 2021-01-27 07:26 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link same one of the cutest dogs I know is a sweet, sweet King Spaniel named Barnaby. His family got him for their kids, and the ~prestige~, and the poor thing lives in his kennel most of the time since the parents don't care. Breaks my fucking heart. I would love to break in and give the dog to a family who would appreciate and love him. Reply Parent Thread Link I wouldn't wish trump on any pet tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Im glad he didnt tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link the relationship with animals says a lot about a person to me, cant trust someones whos not into any kind of animal Reply Parent Thread Link the EARS Reply Thread Link such good handsome boys!!! Reply Thread Link They're good dogs Reply Thread Link U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the CCP virus pandemic in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Doug Mills-Pool/Getty Images) Biden Pledges to Replace All Federal Vehicles With US-Made Electric Models President Joe Biden on Monday committed to replacing all 650,000 federal vehicles that run on gas with electric models, as the administration shifts its focus toward clean energy. Biden said switching the governments enormous fleet with electric alternatives will help create one million new autoworker jobs in the United States. The federal government also owns an enormous fleet of vehicles, which were going to replace with clean electric vehicles made right here in America made by American workers, the president said while signing his new Made in America executive order. He didnt elaborate on when the hundreds of thousands of federal vehicles will be replaced, or on what electric models will be chosen. According to Reuters, it could cost at least $20 billion to completely replace the fleet. The White House didnt immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times. He separately criticized rules currently in place that allow vehicles purchased by the federal government to be considered domestically made, even if they have significant components that come from other countries. Biden said he would close loopholes that allow key parts like engines, steel, and glass to be manufactured abroad for vehicles considered U.S. made. Were going to change that as well. The executive action Im signing today will not only require the companies make more of their components in America, but that the value of those components is contributing to our economy, measured by things like a number of American jobs created and supported, he said. The government owns 645,000 vehicles that were, as of 2019, driven 4.5 billion miles consuming 375 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, according to report by the General Services Administration (GSA). More than 225,000 of the vehicles are owned by the U.S. Postal Service and some 170,000 of the vehicles belong to military agencies. Roughly $4.4 billion was spent by the government on federal vehicle costs in 2019, the GSA said. Of U.S.-government vehicles, just 3,215 were electric vehicles as of July 2020, GSA said. GSA is committed to exploring opportunities to leverage the purchasing and leasing power of the federal government to address the climate crisis, including greening the federal fleet, a GSA spokesperson told TechCrunch. GSA currently manages over 224,000 passenger vehicles in its fleet to support the federal governments mission. By leveraging clean energy vehicle technologies, GSA will support the presidents climate goals, while working with the American automotive manufacturing industry to ensure that these next generation vehicles are built in America by American workers, the emailed statement said. During his campaign, Biden pledged to make a major federal commitment to purchase clean vehicles for federal, state, tribal, postal, and local fleets. This will be the largest mobilization of public investment and procurement, infrastructure, and R&D, since World War II, Biden said Monday. Reuters contributed to this report. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Last Tuesday, the day before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, an editor at the New York Times found herself in a firestorm of online fury for a tweet she posted that afternoon: Biden landing at Joint Base Andrews now. I have chills. Some, such as Glenn Greenwald, formerly of The Intercept, saw itand another tweet that followed, which described the Trump administration as childishas a sign that the media would not engage in adversarial coverage of the Biden administration. Many conservatives, like Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume, saw it as a show of political bias. By the time Biden was sworn in the next day, Lauren Wolfethe author of the tweethad been informed she was being fired. Hume told me that while he believes journalists should be presented to the audience as neutral in their news coverage and thinks Wolfes tweet failed to meet that standard, it didnt seem to me to be a fireable offense. But even after the saga received celebrity-scandal treatment on both sides of the Atlanticcomplete with a paparazzo dispatched to Wolfes Brooklyn neighborhood to snap a picture of her walking her dogmany of the basic facts of the story remain murky. I spoke to Wolfe, who told me that she had been working as an editor on the Times Flexible Editing Desk, a unit in the newsroom that helps produce the live briefings on major stories, for about nine months. Her position was whats known at the Times as casual, meaning she was paid hourly, with no set schedule. Its intended as a temporary employment status, and Wolfe, who relied on the job as her sole source of income, had hopes of moving over to a full-time position. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Those hopes were dashed when she received a call from her bosss boss in the standards department. (The standards editor did not return my request for comment; Wolfe asked that his name not be included in this story.) I was told on the phone that the chills tweet was why I was fired, she says. Wolfe says she tried to argue that her tweet was being misread. This was not even a political tweet. I had chills, meaning after the attempted overthrow of our government, the nightmare weve all been through, I had chills watching the democratic process work, she says. And I get where other people are like, I had chills for Biden, but that was not what I was saying. She says the standards editor told her, Im sorry, we cant have this. We cant have our name associated with such things. (Wolfe also says her direct boss, who did not return a call requesting comment, told her, For me, the chills tweet was fine, but the next onethe childish onewas not okay.) For its part, a Times spokesperson told me, the paper is not going any further publicly than a statement it issued citing privacy concerns as the reason it would not go into its rationale for Wolfes dismissal: Theres a lot of inaccurate information circulating on Twitter. For privacy reasons we dont get into the details of personnel matters but we can say that we didnt end someones employment over a single tweet. Out of respect for the individuals involved we dont plan to comment further. (To clarify something that has been incorrectly reported, Ms. Wolfe was not a full-time employee, nor did she have a contract.) This stance is standard practice among employers, to avoid giving terminated employees grounds for bringing claims against the companyand the New York Times Guild is currently negotiating on behalf of Wolfe with Times management after issuing a statement citing procedural concerns about her termination. But in this instance, the Times statementspecifically, its insinuation that there had been a pattern of behavioris Wolfes main complaint. I dont want to be hired back, she says. What I want is for them to retract this bullshit statement that makes me sound like some shitty employee that they used this as a final excuse for. When I asked the Times for further details about any previous issues it had with Wolfes social media behavior, the paper declined, referring me to its statement. I asked Wolfe if there had been prior issues with her conduct on social media; the only incident she could think of was last fall, when she was warned by the standards editor that some of her tweets were bordering on inappropriate. Paraphrasing, she says that the post at issue was something like Conservatives who wont wear masks are an example of extreme toxic masculinity. She was especially concerned because, in 2018, she had been one of the critics whom Trump blocked on Twitter, which led to a Knight First Amendment Institute lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court. But Wolfe was left with the impression that it was a routine review of the social media policy and, after deleting the tweet, thought the matter was resolved. Wolfe, forty-five, says editing for the Times was a long-held ambition. I worship the Times, she tells me. I grew up in New York. To me it was the end-all-be-all thing. I mean, my first published story in life was at the Times. Getting a permanent job with the paper had been something of a quest for her. Last spring, Wolfe leapt at the chance to start working on the Flex Desk and began the year optimistic that she was in line for a position on the new Live team, headed by national editor Marc Lacey, that was announced in early December. Not being a full-time employee, she says, was also cited as one of the reasons she was fired. In her discussion with the standards department editor, Wolfe says, she was told, If you were full-time, we would have ways of disciplining you. And because youre not, we just have a much higher standard. That just made me really fucking mad. Youre painting me as some weirdo freelancer. Its not true, she says. Im sorry. Im really emotional, because I loved my job and I know I did well. And Im just mortified theyd characterize me this way. What is left is another example of how easy it is to derail a career with one tweet. The social media guidelines the Times demands its employees follow are vague, focused less on the content of a post and more on how it is read by others; the guidelines bar anything else that undercuts the Timess journalistic reputation or that appear[s] to take sides on issues. That means Times staffers do not have a clear way of knowing if theyre committing a fireable offense before they press post. One of the terrible things about Twitter and one of the main reasons wed all probably be better off paying less attention to itthough, of course, I have just amplified it further with this columnis the way it can take a morsel of fact and, through a viral haze of likes and retweets, transform it into a grand and urgent saga. And until the Times has clearer rules of the road for its newsroom, it would be understandable if more editors and reporters make the decision to simply stop tweeting. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Gabriel Snyder is a contributing editor to CJR. In a statement, the police also claimed it did all due diligence in following the conditions for the rally, but the protesters began their march much ahead of the scheduled time and extensive damage to public property was caused during the violence by them. New Delhi : The Delhi Police on Tuesday said protesting farmers violated the conditions pre-agreed for their tractor parade and indulge in violence and vandalism, leaving 83 of its personnel injured. The police statement came as the national capital witnessed clashes between protesters and police during the tractor parade by farmers to press their demand of repealing the three new agri laws. "The protesters violated conditions fixed for the rally. The farmers began tractor rally before the scheduled time, they also resorted to violence and vandalism," Delhi Police PRO Eish Singhal said. "We followed all conditions as promised and did our due diligence but the protest led to extensive damage to public property. Many policemen were also injured during the protest," Singhal said. Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police, said legal action will be taken against those who assaulted the police personnel during the farmers' tractor rally on Tuesday. Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal said, said a total of 83 police personnel were injured in the clashes including 41 at the Red Fort and 34 in the East District. A senior police officer said that in the morning at Ghazipur Border, a probationer IPS officer got injured as he along with Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Manjeet tried to stop the farmers from breaking the barricades. Additional DCP East Manjeet had a close shave as one of the farmers tried to hit him with his tractor but he escaped and did not sustain any injuries, the official said. The injured, including police personnel, were brought to the LNJP Hospital following the clashes on Tuesday. LNJP Hospital is currently a partially COVID-19 facility in central Delhi near ITO. "Some of them were discharged after administering first-aid. Right now, about 22 of them are admitted, including an SHO and 10 other police personnel," a senior official of the hospital said. Asked about the nature of injuries sustained, the official said they include leg and arm fractures and cut wounds. Wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police and entered the city from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort where they climbed the flagpole on Republic Day on Tuesday. While police used teargas shells to disperse the restive crowds in some places, hundreds of farmers were seen chasing them with sticks at the ITO and the Red Fort and ploughing their tractors into parked buses, barricades and security personnel deployed to maintain law and order at several other places. A protester died after his tractor overturned. The ITO resembled a war zone with a car being vandalised by angry protesters and shells, bricks and stones littering the wide streets, a testimony to the ugly turn taken by the two-month-long farmers' protests against the agri laws. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 16:37:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Cheng Baoliu shops for vegetables with his mother at a market in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 24, 2021. Cheng Baoliu learned to take care of his visually impaired mother and do household chores at a very young age, since his father was away from home for work and Cheng was the only one his mother could rely on. Over the years, with helps from the society, their life is getting better. Cheng is now a sophomore at a university in Hefei, and his father has also found a job back in their hometown. Cheng still tries his best to help out, doing part-time work and taking care of his mother during school vacations. Cheng said that after graduating from college, he would find a job while continue taking care of his mother. (Xinhua/Han Xu) Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Good morning. An extreme cold warning remains in effect for Winnipeg and the rest of southern Manitoba. Its a dangerous situation for the citys homeless population. The Western Canada Lottery Corp. has initiated contact with the Winnipeg resident who won a record $60 million. The WCLC knows who the winner is because the ticket was bought online. Three people who allegedly supplied ammunition to the gunman in last years deadly mass shooting in Nova Scotia are scheduled for court hearings today. All three are charged with unlawfully transferring ammunition to Gabriel Wortman, who was fatally shot by police. Adam Treusch, assignment editor [January 27, 2021] ACG selects Tejas Networks to build Afghanistan's high-capacity National Optical Transport Network BENGALURU, India, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tejas Networks (BSE: 540595) (NSE: TEJASNET) today announced that it has signed a multi-year contract with Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a leading independent private company providing Telecommunications infrastructure, managed & engineering services across Afghanistan. ACG with its headquarters in USA, is a full life-cycle managed network service provider in Afghanistan for last many years. As part of this contract, Tejas will supply its state-of-the-art 100G-600G capable DWDM/OTN and PTN products to establish a high-capacity national backbone and packet access network in Afghanistan. "At ACG, we are committed to develop a state-of-the-art, terabit-scale optical network that can cost-effectively address the escalating network capacity requirements of our service provider customers. After a rigorous evaluation process, we selected Tejas's TJ1600 Metro and Long-haul DWDM/OTN products and TJ1400 PTN products for this important build-out. We are truly impressed by their scalability, extreme flexibility and operational simplicity when compared to other competitive offerings in the market today." said Dr. Dzung Nguyen, CTO of ACG. "We look forward to working closely with the Tejas Networks team to ensure that we fully leverage the advanced capabilities of their products and implement an agile and future-proof network that can adapt well to the explosive growth in Afghanistan's mobile, broadband and cloud services markets in the coming years." Mr. Sanjay Nayak, Managing Director and CEO of Tejas Networks, said, "We are delighted that ACG has chosen Tejas as their core technology partner to implement a state-of-the-art Carrier-of-Carrier network for telcos, businesses and government institutions i Afghanistan. Our TJ1600 DWDM/OTN products have an innovative software-defined hardware architecture that enables next-generation wholesale telecom carriers like ACG to scale-up their network capacity in cost-effective increments and align their capex investments in line with their services and revenue growth. Our partnership with ACG exemplifies our emergence as a trusted global supplier of a full range of optical transmission products for access, metro and core networks." Mr. Yogesh Verma, Vice President for MENA region at Tejas Networks, said, "ACG is committed to offer highly reliable bandwidth services to its customers. With our state-of-the-art technology and superior support, ACG can continue to deliver on their committed SLAs and ensure vital connectivity where it's most needed. We are excited to support ACG in realizing a scalable and robust optical infrastructure that enables profitable transport and delivery of high-quality bandwidth services to Afghan operators and businesses at the lowest cost per bit." About Tejas Networks Limited Tejas Networks designs, develops and sells high-performance and cost-competitive networking products to telecommunications service providers, internet service providers, utilities, defence and government entities in over 75 countries. Tejas products utilize programmable, software-defined hardware architecture with a common software code-base that delivers seamless upgrades of new features and technology standards. Tejas Networks is ranked among top-10 suppliers in the global optical aggregation segment and has filed over 349 patents. For more information on Tejas Networks, visit http://www.tejasnetworks.com or contact Investor Relations: ir@india.tejasnetworks.com Attn: Mr. Santosh Kesavan skeshavan@india.tejasnetworks.com Phone: +91-80-41794600 About ACG Asia Consultancy Group (ACG) is a leading independent private company and provides telecommunications infrastructure, managed and engineering services across Afghanistan. Founded in 2007 by the same team that planned, developed and managed the first cellular network in Afghanistan. ACG has expanded its tower sharing, managed networks and engineering services across all provinces to help connect Afghanistan to the 21st Century. For more information on ACG, visit http://www.acgtelecom.com or contact Dr. Dzung Nguyen CTO, ACG. Email: dnguyen@arxcommunications.com SAFE HARBOUR Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements due to risks or uncertainties associated with our expectations with respect to, but not limited to, our ability to successfully implement our strategy and our growth and expansion plans, technological changes, our exposure to market risks, general economic and political conditions in India which have an impact on our business activities or investments, changes in the laws and regulations that apply to the industry in which the Company operates. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Dear Tacos, You are the weighted blanket of comfort food. Milkshakes are nice, but you bring the marinated meats to our yard and that is preferable. You often come in threes, which is better than coming in ones. You can be mild or you can be spicy, like bedrooms. You are a gentle on-ramp to beginner Spanish. Through you, those of us who didnt grow up with it learn the words for lamb (borrego), shepherd style (al pastor), and this taco gives me emotions (este taco me da emociones). You are a geography lesson. Through tacos we find Baja California (machaca and queso fresco and lobster tacos), Sinaloa (al pastor), Oaxaca (cheese), Puebla (mole), Michoacan (carnitas), Yucatan (achiote), Veracruz (hoja santa), and Las Vegas (Robertos and Tacos el Gordo). You are a cultural attache and diplomatic salve. Look, its been a hell of a year. Please pardon my brief meditational prayers to a foodstuff and the people and culture behind it. I have a thesis: Tacos are the greatest food and I finally figured out why. Im sure of it. Though I could be wrong. Who cares. This feels nice. Id love to say I grew up in a home that smelled of sizzling carne asada and simmering carnitas, cave-aging Cotija cheese in my sisters Easy-Bake Oven. But as a family of mixed and unknown white-person descent, our kitchen was more a place where hamburgers were helped and the codependent relationship between bologna and Wonder Bread was abetted. I was six or maybe seven at the time of my first taco. Regretfully I admit it wasnt from any of San Diegos iconic shops. It wasnt the steaming hot, fresh tortillas of El Indio (started by Ralph Pesqueira Sr., 1940) nor the fried-in-front-of-you shells of Las Cuatro Milpas (the Estudillo family, 1933). It wasnt the turkey tacos at Tonys Jacal (the Gonzalez family, 1946), nor the carnitas at Fidels (the Montanez family, 1961). It was Taco Bell. The Bell was the gateway taco for many non-Latino kids of the 80s. These days, globally inspired food is the norm. Kids of all ethnic backgrounds are crawling through cardamom-rosewater cakes on their first birthday and high schoolers drink small-batch pulque when their parents are away at conferences. But us kids from Americas ball-pit generation were stranded in a culinary dark age, flanked by burgers and chicken breasts. Say what you want about The Bells quality standards (the ground beef is pulverized into such fine granules that it looks less like meat than softened and browned Nerds candies)and Ill sidestep the discussion about cultural appropriation. Truth is, that whitewashed taco launched my lifelong obsession with real Mexican food and drove me into every tiny mom-and-pop taco shop I could find. I embarked on the pathway to taco enlightenment, moving on to Robertos like most San Diegans. Dolores and Roberto Robledo started with a tortilleria in San Ysidro in 1964, and then apparently decided to become gods. Their three rolled tacos were a teenagers cheat code for happinessdeep fried, crunchy meat torpedoes under so much guacamole you felt like a millionaire. They were open 24 hours, so whenever you found yourself on the crime-y side of midnight in need of a fourth meal, Robertos was there for you. They fed night-shifters and partiers, which made them the official food of our wildest nights and most memorable cries. To kids who grew up here, the Robledo elders exist on the same cosmic echelon as rock stars, astrophysicists, and Tony Gwynn. As teens we drove into Tijuana and farther into Baja to pay homage and eat at the sourcethe legendary taco carts. A taco cart is evidence of how much beauty and productivity a single human is capable of; a man or woman standing all day and night over a sizzling plancha, a spectral figure with tongs in a cloud of meat smoke, armed with a lifetime supply of chopped onions and cilantro, that delicious taco potpourri, cranking out one satisfied customer after another with rapid speed. Tijuana is to tacos as Napa Valley is to wine. Its Taco Vegas, with attractions like Tacos el Franc, Tacos Kokopelli, Tacos Salseados, Cafe la Especial, Taco Nazo, and Mariscos Ruben. Through tacos you discover you enjoy eating landscaping (nopales, aka cactus). With great reservation you try lengua (tongue) and either dont mind it or decide it is a life purpose. In Guadalajara Ive eaten escamoles (ant egg) tacos and agave larvae tacos. And though I dont feel the need to repeat that experience without a good deal of coercion, a corn tortilla and salsa made it taste okay, even briefly good. That is the transformative beauty of the taco. With a corn tortilla and some cilantro and onions and lime and a decent hot sauce, you can enjoy just about anything in life. While speaking with some of the citys most beloved taco shop owners and chefs in recent weeks, I pestered them for the big why. Of all the hokey official days for foods, why is Taco Tuesday the only one treated as a sacred ritual? Why does it feel like the true universal language is tacos and not burgers or math? Priscilla Curiel, chef-owner of Tuetano Taqueria in San Ysidro, nailed it when she said simply, Because you can eat them every day. And thats it. Yes, theyre tasty. But so are pizzas, burgers, curries, ramens, and gyros. All comfort foods are unpretentious (you can be an elitist boob while eating a taco, but its harder). Theyre inclusive to all walks of the socioeconomic strata because they are affordable. Theyre all made fast for our busy lives. But the frequency potential is why tacos win. You cant eat pizza or burgers multiple times a week. (You could, but there would be significant physical trauma.) Too much bread. But a thin, gluten-free corn tortilla, a moderate tuft of meat, that little topping salad, and fresh salsa? Yes you can. This explains the existence of taco culture. If people eat at a certain place a few times a week, lives intermingle more. Regulars become friends which leads to bonhomie and loyalty and a culture. The Taqueras and Taqueros Priscilla Curiel has been featured in national food magazines, and she's had beef bones thrown at her. Recently she received recognition from the Michelin Guide, and she watched an irate customer fling salsa at her wall. Thats how emotional people get about tacos, especially when youre doing something outside the norm. Curiels Tuetano Taqueria in San Ysidroa bright, one-room yellow box on San Ysidro Boulevard, where she often cooks with one other woman, Patty, sometimes with her young children underfoot and her husband lending a handis known for her bone marrow taco (tuetano translates to marrow). The presentation is remarkable: a sizable chunk of charred and slow-roasted bone atop a taco with a little stick you use to scoop out the molten marrow. On each table is her housemade salsa macha, a Veracruzana specialty made of toasted chiles, peanuts, garlic, and sesame oil. It doesnt look like the salsa most Americans are used to. I knew that good food would bring good people, says Curiel, who grew up working in her parents restaurants, La Espadana in Tijuana and Talavera Azul in Chula Vista. But the first year was horrible. Sometimes I would close early. I had people throw the bones at me. Id say, You ordered the bone marrow! and theyd say, Yeah, but you didnt bother scooping it out, you just put a little stick in there! I had one person throw the salsa macha against the wall. Curiels parents never wanted her to cook, so she went to culinary school. I was the black sheep, she admits. Chefs tend to have that in common. She applied for jobs in San Diego kitchens and was rejected by most. She briefly found a home under Pablo Becker, owner of former high-end East Village Mexican restaurant El Vitral, and spent a few weeks at Bencotto. After El Vitral closed, she worked mornings at her parents restaurants, then afternoons catering events. On weekends she slow-cooked birria and delivered it to breweries. But it was always my dream to have my own restaurant, she says. I always saved. I worked and worked and didnt socialize and didnt care. When space in this 100-year-old building came available, she jumped. The remodel was extensive. After four months I was out of funds, she says. But since Id already spent my life savings I was like, Oh hell no, Im not going to lose this. She worked five days a week, picking up whatever jobs she could to pay rent on her as-yet-unopened taqueriacatering events, styling food for social media, cooking for chef Hector Casanova at Casanovas Fish Tacos in Spring Valley. She poured it all into the build-out of her dream. She finally opened in late 2018 and had those bones thrown at her. She stayed up until 1 a.m. answering every Instagram comment about her taqueria. She was obsessed. My daughter hates tacos because she knows how many years I struggled to make tacos better and better and better, she says. It was beginning to hurt my family because I wouldnt talk about anything else. They were like, Shut up, Priscilla. A year later, despite the pandemic, the all-night customer service and hard work has paid off. She says she has turned the corner; people have stopped throwing bones. She just opened Mujer Divina, a coffee shop and burrito house in National City. Trading Scrubs for Salsa Thirty minutes north of San Ysidro, on Pearl Street in La Jolla, the line is always there, snaking for half a block just west of Mitchs Surf Shop. Has been since 2013. People wait for their turn at The Taco Stand. Some people think the lines are fake, but theyre not, says owner Julian Hakim. People wait over an hour, sometimes two hours. The expectations are so high after you wait two hours for a taco. I hate that, but what can you do? Thats why we have to be consistent. The Taco Stand was unexpected. In 2013, Hakim had just graduated from UNAM in Mexico City, one of the top medical schools in the world. Born in LA and raised between Tijuana and San Diego by Mexican and Persian parents, Hakim was getting ready to start his residency when his uncle called. He owned Pizza on Pearl and we would always discuss this idea for a taco shop, explains Hakim. As a kid I went to school in San Diego but crossed the border every single day. I always found it hard to eat tacos here because I went back to TJ every night and it was just so much better. I wanted to make tortillas by hand, do al pastor on the trompo [a vertical spit that slowly rotates and bastes the meat] instead of from a drawer, use better ingredients than they did in TJ. Be a doctor later, his uncle told himthe space next to Pizza on Pearl was available. It was a weird time for memy mom and dad were not too thrilled, Hakim says. I wanted to get into orthopedics and surgery, and you have to wait one year anyway. So we opened in La Jolla and the lines formed and just never stopped. My uncle said, I think you may have something here. So we opened downtown and in Encinitas to see, and they turned out to be big hits. Was I going to stop being a doctor to run a taco shop? I needed to make a decision, and that was it. Hakims not a chef. To start, he went to different taco carts and shops in Tijuana and Baja and paid them for recipes. His churro recipe is from a man with a cart in Rosarito whom they frequented as kids. They paid for quality ingredients. Im sure every restaurant will say they use quality ingredients, he admits. We pay up for certified Angus beef. Its expensive and most people wouldnt dare do it, because the small profit margin means youve got to have high volume. Luckily, we do. And when the quality is there, you dont have to take extra steps. As of last year, the doctor-in-waiting had opened seven Taco Stands. TripAdvisor named them the fourth best fast-casual restaurant in the country, behind In-N-Out and ahead of Five Guys. Just like Americans have their favorite restaurants in town, Mexicans have their favorite taco place and we all go there and religiously and often, he says. Its such a universally easy food and it seems you never get sick of it. Its definitely lighter. Im not saying its healthy. But a well-made taco with a corn tortilla has no gluten, very few calories, and no additives whatsoever. Just corn and water. Plus, theres only one flavor of hot dog, but you can make a taco out of anything. Shoot for the Stars On the other side of La Jolla, near the Shores, Galaxy Cantina & Grill is a casual, open-air showroom of what happens when a nationally acclaimed chefTrey Foshee of Georges at the Covethrows his skill set and team into taco creation. This whole restaurant was started from a single dinner at Tbl3, a recurring 12-to-14-course tasting menu at California Modern, the fine dining room at Georges. I had no desire to become a sous chef or a chef, says Christine Rivera, now chef de cuisine of Galaxy. I was perfectly content being a cook at California Modern. It wasnt until Trey said, Hey, were doing this Tbl3 taco and I dont feel right not making our own masa and tortillas from scratchcan you research how to do it? I was like, Sure, I guess. In my Mexican American culture its just something you buy. You dont go source your ingredients and grind everything. Skeptical but dedicated, Rivera and Foshee started researching different corn and playing with water-to-corn ratios. They found a non-GMO heirloom corn they liked best, and they nixtamalized ita process of soaking and cooking raw corn to prepare it for grinding into flour. So we launched it at Tbl3 and Trey goes, How about if we opened a taco place that revolved around this masa? Rivera says. Tacos all start with the tortilla. If youre using really good ingredients, you want to make sure you put those ingredients onto something thats also high quality. I remember Trey said, Youre not going to put shitty sushi rice under high-quality fish. She drove up to Costa Mesas famed Mexican restaurant Taco Maria to share masa recipes and trade notes. She flew to New York, observing and trading masa recipes with famed Mexican American chef Daniela Soto-Innes. When you see restaurants making their own tortillas on-site, most of them have bought premade masa. Galaxy is one of the only (if not the only)restaurants in San Diego doing every step from scratch, and the difference in their blue-corn tortillas is stark. Like bread, there are so many variables to a good masaaltitude and humidity and this and that, explains Rivera. She and Foshee opened Galaxy Taco in 2015, based around this masa obsession, with Georges-caliber cooks using produce from the most respected local farms and sustainable meats and seafood. So, she continues, laughing, we make everything from scratch from these great ingredients and occasionally people get upset when we charge two dollars for the salsa. Tacos 2.0 This new wave of taco zealwhich most chefs and owners agree started in San Diego about 20132014stems in part from these better ingredients, and moreso the caliber and creativity of their chefs. San Diegobased taco success story Puesto recently hired former Eleven Madison Park sous chef Ian Tenzer to be R&D chef for all of their restaurants, including the newly opened 10,000-square-foot Puesto Mission Valley. When Frank Vizcarra opened Lola 55 in the East Village, he partnered with San Diego native Drew Bent, a former executive chef at Tender Greens whod done stints as a cook at Chez Panisse and the Mexican pop-up of the world-renowned restaurant Noma. I grew up in Linda Vista and there was a taco shop called Super Bronco Taco, explains Bent. That place had a bean tostada that changed my five-year-old life and I couldnt get enough. My whole life has been trying to chase that bean. In restaurants, most family meals are Mexican inspired. Lola55 has received national press in Forbes and other outlets, for a few reasons. First, the sheer quality of the ingredients and creativity of Bents staff. Second, the logistic prowess of Vizcarra, a Tijuana native who, after a career playing for the San Diego Sockers, became one of the most respected operational minds in the food-and-beverage space, overseeing large portions of McDonalds global expansion. Their combined talents are why customers are able to pay just $4.25 for a taco with pork shoulder confit, crisped maciza, shaved tomatillo, avocado mousse, pickled red onion, and cilantro. A lot of our regulars eat three, four, or five times a week, Bent says. One of the core missions has been 'bold flavor but light on the belly.' It feels like youre eating rib-sticking food but youre not. We realized over time wed end up in a lot of trade areas that had lunch. Last thing we wanted was to feed you something and youd go back to the office and feel lethargic. Youre not breaking the bank, and youre ready to go back to work. In North Park, City Tacos owner Gerry Torres says he realized he had a deep instinct for restaurant work while he was in the hospital. I had a car accident27 fractures, he explains. My buddy came to see me while I was in a coma and said, Hey, table 43 needs bread! and I guess it was the first time I moved. Even in a coma you hear something like that and you move. I cant tell you whether or not its the truth, but thats what he said and it sounds right. Torres has spent 28 years in the food industry, starting at Port of Subs in Oceanside, then nightclubs in San Diego and Tijuana. He was a busser and waiter at old Gaslamp restaurants like Garlics and Trattoria la Strada. He opened Tiramisu in La Mesa with that buddy from the hospitalformer La Strada owner David Chiodoand ran it for ten years. Then he tried to leave. I went into logistics for about a year, he says. The family was happy because I had weekends off. And it was the worst job of my life. I couldnt handle it. My wife knew I loved the restaurant business. She knew the sacrifices shed have to make with my time. So I rolled the dice in North Park with City Tacos. He tapped chef Tony Guan (Underbelly) to oversee his idea of a pared-down menu of four original tacos and none of the classics. We werent going to have any carne asada or adobada, but instead chile relleno tacos, mahi adobo, the borrego, and chorizo asado, explains Torres, who was born in Mexico City and grew up in Tijuana, Miami, Hawaii, and San Diego. I thought it would work because the perception of Mexican food in San Diego was so far off what Mexican food really is. You went to taco shops here and they would have 40-item menus, but it was just the same ingredients presented in different ways. I felt it could be modernized and bring the quality up with nicer ingredients. He credits City Tacos success to timing and plain old luck, as well as having options for vegetarians and vegans, who were still largely ignored in the taco space when they opened in 2014. I was trying to name it a taqueria, but that term didnt exist at the time, he explains. People said, Just call it a Mexican restaurant, but it wasnt a Mexican restaurant. Then the taco craze began. We boomed, and were booming right up until COVID. Now my dream is to bring back my employees and promote from within as we grow. I want to do this for the rest of my life. Barrio Logan has been a hub of Chicano culture since the first decades of the 20th century. The immigrant population rose dramatically thanks to refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution (19101920), but Ernie Becerras family preceded even them: My dad is fourth-generation San Diegan, he explains. Our family moved to the Barrio Logan area around 1900 when it was called Logan Heights. I grew up in the South Bay, but wed come back to Logan constantly." Along with Las Cuatro Milpas, one of the marquee restaurants in Barrio Logan was Porkyland, located on the corner of Logan Avenue and Sampson Streetwhere Becerras Salud! restaurant is now. I was constantly in this building as a kid, he remembers, coming here for Chicano Park and Las Cuatro Milpas. Out of high school, Becerra went into mortgages and banking, while cooking tacos as a hobby. He had young kids to support. Then I got laid off and I told myself I didnt want to work for anybody anymore, he says. I had a scrapbook full of recipes and notes. I didnt have a dime, maybe $1,500. I told my wife I was going to buy a taco cart. She didnt like it. My parents didnt think I was going to make it. I put my head down and got to work. For a year and a half, he catered events by himself under the name San Diego Taco Company. Each day, hed drop his kids off at High Tech High in Point Loma, then drive down Logan Avenue and dream. It was dead, run-down, not the same, he remembers. One day he saw a sign on the door of Porkyland, and he called that number over and over until he got the owner. It was a pretty gnarly building when I moved in about eight years ago, he says. The back was full of trash and syringes. The owner gave me cheap rent and I fixed it up little by little. Originally it was just meant to be a tasting room for his catering business. But we opened the doors and it went gangbusters, Becerra explains. He renamed it Salud! and turned it into a living museum of Southern California culture, with skateboard decks, graffiti art, and lowrider iconography. In 2017, the New York Times included a blurb about Salud! and in 2018, Andrew Zimmern pulled down Sampson Street in a convertible blue rider surrounded by a film crew. Becerra couldnt be there because he had family commitments, but he watched months later as Salud! appeared on an episode of Zimmerns Travel Channel show, The Zimmern List. Thats when I knew, he says, look at this little taco shop from the Barrio getting international headlines. Farmers move barricades during a tractor rally to protest against farm laws on the occasion of India's Republic Day at Tikri border near New Delhi, January 26. (Image: Reuters) Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers tractor parade in the national capital. Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border, a major protest site against the three new farm laws. A senior farmer leader said, "The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi. The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi. After violence broke out during the tractor parade on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had called off the parade and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence in several area that has left over 300 policemen injured. The Kisan Morcha had disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade, and alleged that some "antisocial elements infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. [January 27, 2021] ISACA Unveils New Conference Experience for Technology Professionals Worldwide ISACA, a global association serving business technology professionals, announced its annual event schedule, which includes the ISACA Conference, a new event focused on emerging technologies, innovation and best practices, as well as new training and learning opportunities. The ISACA Conference will allow attendees to connect and engage with their fellow business technology professionals across the globe, offering flexible learning experiences featuring key crossover content from past events, including CACS, CSX and CMMI Capability Counts. Sessions of varying lengths will cover topics related to audit, risk, governance, information security, cybersecurity, capability and maturity models, privacy, and emerging technologies. Sessions dedicated to career development as well as bridging workforce and tech education gaps through One In Tech, an ISACA Foundation, will be included. ISACA is retiring its Computer Audit, Control and Security (CACS) events, which began more than 40 years ago. The last CACS conference will be Latin America CACS, currently planned for March in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. "We are always innovating ISACA's learning opportunities to meet changing demands. The critical role of ISACA professionals has never been more apparent than it has been during this pandemic because technology innovation is driving recovery efforts," said ISACA CEO David Samuelson. "The value our members provide for safe and secure use of technology in business is one reason the ISACA Conference is now a much broader event. We need to deliver the guidance, knowledge and cross-networking that our professional community seeks to navigate their constantly evolving roles." ISACA's 2021 conferences and educational events are listed below. The ISACA Conference will expand to include events in Africa, Asia and Latin America in 2022. For a list of courses and the full schedule, visit www.isaca.org/training-and-events. 2021 ISACA Conferences Latin America CACS, 25-26 March 2021, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic www.isaca.org/conferences/latin-america-cacs ISACA Conference North America, 4-6 May 2021, Virtual www.isaca.org/conferences/isaca-conference-north-america Governance, Risk and Control (GRC) Conference, co-hosted with The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), 9-11 August, 2021, Denver, Colorado, USA and Virtual www.isaca.org/conferences/governance-risk-and-control-conference ISACA Conference Oceania, tentatively September 2021, Australia and Virtual More information will be available at www.isaca.org/training-and-events/conferences ISACA Conference Europe, 20-22 October 2021, Helsinki, Finland and Virtual www.isaca.org/conferences/isaca-conference-europe Virtual Training Weeks and Virtual Instructor-Led Training ISACA offers several learning options for professionals beyond conferences: day-long, topic-based trainings; in-depth courses over several days, held virtually, and, when local health and safety guidelines allow, in person. Topics currently scheduled include AI data analytics, AI automation, and certification exam prep for Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), and Certified in Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE). More opportunities and topics will be posted to www.isaca.org/training-and-events/online-training/vilts when available. Dates for Q1 of 2021 include: CISA Exam Prep Course-15-18 February 2021 IA Data Analytics & Automation-22-25 February 2021 CRISC Exam Prep Course-22-25 February 2021 The Foundations of Automation for IA-26 February 2021 CISM Exam Prep Course-1-4 March 2021 CDPSE Exam Prep Course-22-25 March 2021 Virtual Summit These free, one-day events offer a deep dive into hot topics and feature several sessions led by industry expert speakers. Details will be posted to www.isaca.org/training-and-events/online-training/virtual-summits when more information is available. Dates and topics in 2021: Future of Data Protection, Privacy & IT Risk Management-24 March 2021 Cybersecurity for the Cloud & State of Cybersecurity-22 September 2021 Online Webinars ISACA offers free webinars throughout the year, and webinars are archived for one year from their posting for repeat access. ISACA members may earn free continuing professional education credits (CPE) for attending ISACA webinars. To view upcoming, recent and archived webinars, visit www.isaca.org/training-and-events/online-training/webinars. On-Site Trainings Enterprises can customize their own ISACA trainings for their teams. Select from on-site and virtual options for IT assurance, control, security and governance professionals. For more information, visit www.isaca.org/enterprise/enterprise-training. Past Events On-Demand Stream video of expert-led audit, privacy, risk, cybersecurity, and governance presentations recorded live at ISACA global conferences and events. Viewers can earn CPEs for these sessions; for more information, visit www.isaca.org/training-and-events/online-training/webinars. For additional information on ISACA's global events and education, visit www.isaca.org/training-and-events. About ISACA For more than 50 years, ISACA (www.isaca.org) has advanced the best in technology. ISACA equips individuals with knowledge, credentials, education and community to progress their careers and transform their organizations, and enables enterprises to train and build quality teams. ISACA is a global professional association and learning organization that leverages the expertise of its more than 150,000 members who work in information security, governance, assurance, risk and privacy to drive innovation through technology. It has a presence in 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide. In 2020, ISACA launched One In Tech, a philanthropic foundation that supports IT education and career pathways for under-resourced, under-represented populations. Twitter (News - Alert) : www.twitter.com/ISACANews LinkedIn (News - Alert) : www.linkedin.com/company/isaca Facebook (News - Alert) : www.facebook.com/ISACAGlobal Instagram: www.instagram.com/isacanews/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005659/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BY YAHUDU KITUNZI & OLIVIER MUKAAYA A third-year student of Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU) at Mbale Campus was last night knocked dead by a boda boda rider, who was attempting to evade arrest by police. The tragic accident happened near Grace Primary school, along Mbale- Bufumbo road at 9 pm in Mbale City during polices high-speed chase of a Boda Boda rider over violating curfew. However, the Officer- In- Charge of Mbale Central Police Station, Arafat Kato said the deceased got involved in an accident while running away from police officers, who were on a night operation. The deceased identified as 27-year old Ibrahim Mudoma who was pursuing a Bachelors degree in Education was also riding a motorcycle on his way home in Nabweya cell in Northern City Division when the incident occurred. Rehema Katono, the IUIU Public Relations Officer confirms that the deceased was a student at the university. The deceased was carrying a relative, who also sustained severe injuries and he is currently admitted at Mbale Hospital in critical condition. Shortly after the accident, a group of boda boda riders and relatives of the deceased organized themselves and attacked Mbale Central Police Station, threatening to set it ablaze. They also carried along with them the body of the deceased, which they dumped at Mbale Central Police station in protest. During the fracas, some of the riders grabbed one of the police officers at the station and beat him up. The police officer was only rescued after colleagues intervened by firing live bullets and several of the locals were reportedly injured during the row. Later, the residents calmed down and decided to carry the body to Bumusili village in Bufumbo Sub County in Mbale District for burial. TISD extends COVID-related paid leave During the January regular board meeting, the Tomball ISD school board approved a request by district administration to extend paid leave for employees who must quarantine because of a COVID diagnosis or close contact with an infected person, announced a district press release. On HoustonChronicle.com: Magnolia ISD school board approves COVID pay, additional sick days The board adopted a resolution extending certain leave benefits provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which expired December 31, 2020. The boards action comes as Congress has made no move to reinstate FFCRA, states the press release. The resolution also gives the superintendent the authority to determine whether and how to allow employees to continue to use the 80 hours of leave originally provided by the FFCRA if Congress modifies or extends the federal act. -Contributed by Tomball ISD Partnership boosts literacy The nonprofit Read to Them and Tomball ISD are partnering to encourage students to read through the Texas Reads One Book initiative beginning Feb. 5. An announcement on the Tomball ISD website states that on Feb. 5, elementary school students across Texas will be given a copy of Fenway and Hattie by Victoria J. Coe to read a chapter a night with their families. On HoustonChronicle.com: LSC-Tomball talks changes during COVID-19 pandemic Our reading schedule will take about 15 minutes each night, putting the entire community literally on the same page, Read to Them Executive Director Christa Donohue said in the announcement. Their reading will be augmented with virtual classroom activities, author interactions, trivia contests, prizes and fun opportunities for family engagement. For more information, visit www.readtothem.org. -From the Tomball ISD website MISD gets new exec director of financial services Magnolia ISD selected Salena Jackson as the school districts new executive director of financial services, states a district news announcement. Jackson earned a bachelors degree in accounting and a masters degree in business administration from UT Tyler. According to the announcement, she began her career as an accountant in the health care industry where she spent 10 years. She then moved to education, working in Pine Tree ISD in Longview for five years as the director of finance and then the assistant superintendent of finance. Recently my parents moved to the Houston area and I was looking to be closer to my family. Magnolia ISD gave me this opportunity and Im forever thankful. I love the fact that as much as Magnolia ISD has grown, you still have a small school feel keeping things personal. Im excited to bring my talent and perspective in school finance to Magnolia ISD! Jackson said in the announcement. -From the Magnolia ISD website Students win at science fair Magnolia ISD announced the winners of the district science fair held on Jan. 9 during which sixth graders from across the district competed in different categories: Category: Behavior/Social Science 1st Place Winner: Elizabeth LaBorde - The MJH Crazy Car Rider Line 2nd Place Winner: Andrew Oldham - Do Video Games Rot Your Brain? 3rd Place Winner: Bailey Cooper - Does Font Affect Memory? Category: Biochemistry/Microbiology 1st Place Winner: Julia Morton - Hand Sanitizer! Can You Lend Yourself a Hand and Make Your Own? 2nd Place Winner: Caden Fellers - Bacteria Among Us Category: Medicine/Health 1st Place Winner: Aiden Slansky - Drinks That Can Stain Your Teeth 2nd Place Winner: Jace Cecil - Caffeine and Your Heart Rate 3rd Place Winner: Diego Barrera-Roman - Liquids and Teeth: Is What Youre Eating Staining Your Teeth? Category: Animal Science 1st Place Winner: Abby Darragh - Whats Your Color 2nd Place Winner: Reagan Darragh - How Fat is That Cat? Category: Chemistry 1st Place Winner: Lauren Beuershausen - Fresher Apples 2nd Place Winner: Kane Ellis - The Density Effect of Water in Polyurethane Foam 3rd Place Winner: Duncan McCumber - Does Shaking a Polaroid Picture Help it Develop Faster? Category: Energy/Transportation 1st Place Winner: Hailey Christopherson - The Best Water Bottle 2nd Place Winner: Sophie Strutton - Do Dimples Determine Distance? 3rd Place Winner: Evan Johnson - What Blocks a WiFi Signal? Category: Engineering 1st Place Winner: Eduan Strydom - Fins on a Rocket Category: Physics/Astronomy 2nd Place Winner: Amelia Rivera - Electrical 3rd Place Winner: Rylan Benignus - The Effect of Temperature of Instruments Category: Environmental Science 1st Place Winner: Megan Schmidt - Worming Our Way Out of Pollution Category: Plant Science 2nd Place Winner: Danica Beveridge - The Greenhouse Rock -From the Magnolia ISD website Students make donation Magnolia Intermediate School Lone Star Leadership students recently made a $750 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a district news announcement states. The students raised the money through a two-day book sale last year. The students are happy they were able to learn how to work together, develop leadership skills, participate in service activities, and raise money for an organization that continues to give back to kids that are struggling with critical illnesses, the announcement states. -From the Magnolia ISD website Magnolia West educator is Teacher of the Month Magnolia West High School ELA and IB teacher Nieves Woodward was selected as Januarys Teacher of the Month presented by the Magnolia Education Foundation. According to an online announcement, the Magnolia ISD Teacher of the Month is chosen for going above and beyond in the areas of leadership, instructional excellence, and positivity. Woodard has 14 years of experience in the field of education and is in her seventh year at Magnolia West. She knew from a very early age that she was born to be a teacher and her focus is on making a difference for her students by being an example, the announcement states. She is also the English Department chair and hosts COVID friendly pot luck meals for her department so that they can continue sharing ideas and supporting each other. -From the Magnolia ISD website Magnolia students named All-State Musicians Magnolia High School student Izzy Luscombe and Magnolia West High School student Mason Clarkson were named Texas All-State Musicians, states a Magnolia ISD announcement. Both students are members of their high schools choirs. TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) sponsors the Texas All-State audition process to promote students dedication to their musical knowledge and skill and to encourage educators to support their students in this development, the announcement states. All-State is the highest honor a Texas music student can receive. Out of 50,000 students who auditioned, only 1,860 were selected for 2021, states the announcement. The TMEA will not be holding a performance event this year due to the pandemic. Magnolia High School student Cole Maney, who plays bass clarinet, was also selected as a member of the TMEA All-State Band; and high school student Steve Fuentes, who plays percussion at Magnolia West, was also named a Texas All-State Musician. -From the Magnolia ISD website Disney's upcoming animation Raya and the Last Dragon - which has been inspired by Southeast Asian cultures - has divided opinion after 'hiring so little actors from the region'. The official trailer for the film, which follows a warrior, Raya (played by Kelly Marie Tran), as she tracks down the legendary last dragon, was released by the American moviemaker yesterday. But while many viewers shared their excitement for the forthcoming animation, labelling the sneak peek 'wonderful', others shared their frustration about the film's casting. Asian American celebrities like Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, as well as British actress Gemma Chan lend their popular voices to the animation. But critics pointed out that Kelly Marie is one of the few Southeast Asian actors in the film. One person wrote on Twitter: 'A friendly reminder that actual Southeast Asians are not thrilled for Raya and the Last Dragon. They basically put the whole region in a blender and hired so little Southeast Asian actors for the roles. It sucks, it feels like Disney didn't care to respect us.' Scroll down for video Disney's upcoming animation Raya and the Last Dragon (pictured) - which has been inspired by Southeast Asian cultures - has divided opinion after 'hiring so little actors from the region'. The official trailer for the film (above), which follows a warrior, Raya (played by Kelly Marie Tran), as she tracks down the legendary last dragon, was released by the American moviemaker yesterday She added: 'Each country under Southeast Asia is very unique. You cannot walk up to us and say a person from Thailand is the same as a person from Indonesia. 'We speak different languages and have different customs. This movie represents no one in particular.' Another said: 'I am actually very conflicted about the new Raya and the Last Dragon casting. I love all those cast members. 'But basically everyone, except Kelly Marie Tran is East Asian. Imagine how big it would be they actually casted Southeast Asian actors. Southeast Asian actors are sorely lacking in Hollywood.' A third added: 'So, I loved everything about Raya and the Last Dragon with the exception of the casting. Disney's #RayaandTheLastDragon has an East Asian problem. But while many viewers shared their excitement for the forthcoming animation, labelling the sneak peek 'wonderful', others shared their frustration about the film's casting (above) 'Listen, I'm all for Asians playing other Asian ethnicities, but the roles of Southeast Asians have been little to none. With #RayaAndTheLastDragon celebrating Southeast Asia, I feel like it'd be a huge moment to have Southeast Asian actors being able to play their own heritage.' MailOnline has contacted Disney for comment. Southeast Asia is composed of eleven countries, including Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam. However, it wasn't all negative reviews following the trailer release. Others expressed their excitement for Southeast Asian culture to be represented in Hollywood films. One Twitter user wrote: 'This looks wonderful! The architectural details! Though Disney has a particular style of faces, there are little facial characteristics that looks like faces I grew up with. 'Yay for little kids that get to see ourselves represented in Disney,' the social media user added. Asian American celebrities like Awkwafina, Sandra Oh, as well as British actress Gemma Chan lend their popular voices to the animation. But critics pointed out that Kelly Marie is one of the few Southeast Asian actors in the film (above) However, it wasn't all negative reviews following the trailer release. Others (above) expressed their excitement for Southeast Asian culture to be represented in Hollywood films Another said: As a Filipina-American, I am heavily emotional over this trailer for Raya and The Last Dragon. I am so proud of this representation. 'Using Arnis, wearing the salakot, holding the Moro sword... the different colors on their people. Im crying. I am so proud.' A third added: 'Omg we're finally getting a Southeast Asian Disney princess. Come through representation.' Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada, Raya and The Last Dragon takes place in the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together in harmony a long time ago. But when an evil force threatens the land, the dragons end up sacrificing themselves to save humanity. Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada, Raya and The Last Dragon (above) takes place in the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together in harmony a long time ago But when an evil force threatens the land, the dragons end up sacrificing themselves to save humanity. Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it's up to the lone warrior, Raya (pictured right), to track down the legendary last dragon and restore the fractured land and its divided people Now, 500 years later, that same evil has returned and it's up to the lone warrior, Raya, to track down the legendary last dragon and restore the fractured land and its divided people. But along the journey, Raya learns that it will take more than a dragon to save the world, including trust and teamwork. The computer-animated adventure fantasy is the 59th film produced by the studio and will drop on March 5, 2021. With her voiced role, Tran makes history as the first Southeast Asian actress to lead an animated Disney movie. The film had been scheduled for release in November of 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the date was pushed back with the hopes that the delay would allow for it to be seen in theaters. Will lunar eclipse on May 26 trigger tidal waves? Is it linked to cyclone? Delhi traffic alert: Amid severe farmers' protest, several roads closed in Delhi; check details India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Jan 27: In a recent development, several roads in Delhi connecting key areas and the national capital with the neighbouring cities Ghaziabad, Noida, Gururam and Faridabad have been closed for vehicular movement. According to reports, Ghazipur Mandi, NH-9 and NH-24 have been closed for traffic movement. People commuting from Delhi to Ghaziabad are advised to take Shahdara, Karkari Mor and DND, the Delhi Traffic Police siad in a statement. People communiting from delhi to Ghaziabad are advised to take Shahdara, Karkai Mor and DND. The role of Deep Sidhu in the Delhi chaos The road connecting Minto Road and Connaught Place in the central Delhi has been closed, it said. Farmers protest that had been peaceful for the last two months turned violent on Republic Day after the protestors deviated from the designated route for the proposed tractor rally. After a clash between the farmers and police at ITO where hundreds of protestors were seen chasing police personnel with sticks, ramming their tractors into the buses, they then reached Red Fort. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News Hundreds of farmers on their tractors with flags while 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisaan' echoed all around central Delhi, ultimately made their way to Red Fort after breaching all the barricades on the way. The farmers swarmed the Red Fort and waved flags from the ramparts of the fort. They hoisted farmers' union flags as well as the Nishan Sahib flag. Some Nihangs waved their swords from the dome. Dr Stella Nyanzi, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) candidate for the Kampala Woman Parliamentary race has called upon the opposition to unite if they are to see a better Uganda. While posting on her Facebook page, Nyanzi says that Uganda can only be liberated if the opposition leaders are all united. The opposition in Uganda must unite and resume working for the liberation of our country, she posted. She emphasizes that elections will not remove President Museveni and therefore, all freedom fighters should form a united force. Is unity spearheading this important turn in the liberation struggle? Is it the United Forces of Change? We urgently a united front for all freedom fighters. Elective politics will not oust dictator Museveni from power, she said. Stella Nyanzi who recently lost in the Kampala Woman Parliamentary race came third in the race won by the National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate, Shamim Malende. Tajikistan's authoritarian leader Emomali Rakhmon said Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic had ended in his impoverished Central Asian country but warned citizens to remain vigilant Dushanbe (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jan, 2021 ) :Tajikistan's authoritarian leader Emomali Rakhmon said Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic had ended in his impoverished Central Asian country but warned citizens to remain vigilant. The poorest country in the former Soviet Union has officially recorded just over a dozen new coronavirus cases and no deaths since the start of the year, but health experts have cast doubt over the statistics and testing is not widespread. Official data has for more than two weeks shown 13,308 infections with 90 deaths and 13,218 recoveries -- figures that suggest no active cases. "We can say with confidence that there is no coronavirus in Tajikistan," Rakhmon said in an address to parliament. "We shouldn't relax and forget about the rules of personal and public hygiene," the 68-year-old president cautioned. "If we open more flights, people will come to us. Therefore, everyone who enters the republic, including our citizens, must be in quarantine under the supervision of family doctors at home for a period of 14 days." Our growth can be attributed to excellence in research and development, sustainable and ethical products and production methods, and strong customer relationships. ORCAL, Inc. Junction City, OR is welcoming renowned industry specialists and restructuring its management team to meet customer demand. Agriculture always has been and remains essential, and that is apparent at ORCAL, an agricultural, consumer and toll manufacturing company that specializes in crop protection products. ORCAL has experienced tremendous growth throughout its history, and most recently this growth attracted some superior talent and resulted in the promotion of Tom Peterson from General Manager to Vice President of Operations. Tom has been an integral part of the ORCAL team for over thirteen years. He grew up on a farm in the Willamette Valley, received his degree from the University of Oregon and has worked in the crop protection industry for twenty-two years. Peterson says, Our growth can be attributed to excellence in research and development, sustainable and ethical products and production methods, and strong customer relationships. To ensure that this growth and our relationships stay at a superior level, ORCAL is restructuring its management team. This will allow us to better focus on production efficiencies to satisfy customer needs, continued growth in our commercial business sector, and the key to our success, our people. Im very excited for this new challenge and the opportunities that it provides. Additionally, ORCAL welcomes to the team Tim Wasko after a twenty-three-year career at Simplot Grower Solutions. Tim will serve as the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Business Development. He will focus on continuing to service and support the growth of ORCAL through expanded distribution and representation, exploring new markets and future product development. Tim grew up in the Willamette Valley, earned his degree from Western Oregon University and has built strong relationships throughout his career working all over the pacific northwest and in various national roles. Wasko says, I am very excited to be joining the ORCAL family. Founders Steve Horn and George Baker have built a legacy, rooted in their relationships and devotion to their customers and employees. To be able to help continue to lead ORCAL with their guidance is a tremendous opportunity and I cannot wait to get started. Tom Peterson and I have known each other for almost twenty years and our friendship, trust and experiences will complement each other extremely well. At the end of the day, it is all about the customers, the employees and continuing to grow based on the foundation that is ORCAL. There are big things happening and this really is an exciting time for us as a company. To further strengthen this ag manufacturing enterprise, Brooke Baker will be rejoining ORCAL as Manager of Regulations and R&D. Brooke worked for ORCAL from 2014 to 2019 in both the regulatory and quality control departments. ORCAL Co-Founder Steve Horn says, Brooke has a vast understanding of our products and the regulatory process. We are very excited to have Brooke back. One of her key responsibilities is to be the conduit between the field and product and label development. Focusing our efforts on both departments to fulfill the needs of the grower is key to our continued success. Rounding out the tremendous growth and adding boots on the ground, ORCAL also welcomes Roger Haffner as Territory Sales Manager for Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Rogers key responsibilities will be to steward and expand the ORCAL product line through its distribution partners. Roger brings over forty years of experience in the ag supply business as an Agronomist and respected Sales Manager in the Willamette Valley. Police in Michigan have identified the man who raped and then fatally stabbed a woman in 1988 with the help of DNA evidence taken from a blood vial that was held for decades by local law enforcement, according to the victims family. Gayle Barrus, a 30-year-old single mother of three children, was sexually assaulted and stabbed after her disappearance on October 9, 1988 in front of a coffee shop in Battle Creek, Michigan. Her body was found 16 days later by hunters in nearby Emmett Township. At the time of her disappearance, Gayle was working at two local bars. She was last seen leaving Speed's Koffee Shop at 1425 West Michigan Avenue with a dark-haired man between 3 and 4am on October 9. Barrus son, James, wrote a post on Facebook in which he announced that the police have positively identified Roger Allen Plato, 24, as the man responsible for his mothers death. James Barrus writes that the vial of Plato's blood was discovered during a routine audit by local county police, who remembered the case and turned it over to Michigan State Police. Plato had been shot and killed by a detective during a struggle just two weeks after Barrus disappearance and three days before her body was discovered. Gayle Barrus (left), a 30-year-old single mother of three children, was sexually assaulted and stabbed in October 1988. She was last seen on October 9, 1988 in front of a coffee shop in Battle Creek, Michigan. According to Gayle's son, police have identified the suspect, Roger Allen Plato (right), 24, using DNA taken from a blood vial Gayle's body was found 16 days later by hunters in nearby Emmett Township, Michigan Three days before Gayle's body was discovered, Plato was shot and killed during a struggle with a Battle Creek Police Department detective that sought to question him in connection with the abduction and rape of another Battle Creek woman Last spring, police said they narrowed down the list of suspects to Plato (left) and his friend, Richard Compton (right), who is alleged to have witnessed the sexual assault and murder. DNA evidence ruled out Compton as the primary suspect. Compton died in 2009. He was 59 years old Barrus son, James, wrote a post on Facebook in which he announced that the police have positively identified Plato. As of Wednesday, however, Battle Creek Police Department and the Michigan State Police have yet to confirm that the case has been solved Barrus told DailyMail.com: 'An officer at the Calhoun County Sheriff's office was conducting a routine audit of an evidence storage facility and located a vial of blood belonging to Roger Plato. 'He recalled reading the story in the paper about my mother and the link to Plato and called the Battle Creek Police department and turned the vial over to them...it was promptly turned over to Michigan State Police crime lab. 'DNA of Roger Plato had been elusive all of these years, and there were no samples that were "good enough" to get a conclusive read.' He added that the vial 'remained stored in the County Sheriff's evidence because the requisition form didn't indicate that it needed to be returned to the Battle Creek Police.' At the time of his death, detectives sought to question Plato in connection with another kidnapping and sexual assault of a woman in Battle Creek just a month earlier. DailyMail.com reached out to Battle Creek Police Department in an attempt to confirm James Barrus claims, but officials declined to comment. I am excited to report that a DNA MATCH HAS BEEN FOUND! James wrote on a Facebook page titled Justice for Gayle II on Monday. Moms case is the prosecutors signature away from being CLOSED!!! According to James, forensic investigators were able to get a hold of a 32-year-old vial of Platos blood from the county sheriffs office. They then turned the sample over to Michigan State Police, which conducted DNA testing that produced a match, according to James. DailyMail.com has sought comment from Michigan State Police. James wrote on Facebook: I was informed of the vial being located but held off reporting it due to the numerous issues we had with previous samples that had been tested. Gayle was a single mother of three children who worked two jobs at two different bars at the time of her death On his personal Facebook page, James (right), who now resides in Dayton, Ohio, posted a photo in which he is seen with his girlfriend, Odessa L Mcdermott Angilella. He wrote: 'Sooooo...it has been kind of a BIG day! Not only did I receive some welcome news, but I got to spend it with this amazing lady! It is not only her birthday, but it is our one year anniversary!' Platos DNA had eluded BCPD, because he was shot and killed by a detective two days before mothers body was found. He was subsequently cremated. DNA was still in its infancy in 1988...and not very well understood, but it is very well understood today, and I knew that we would reach this milestone one day! James added: A weight has been lifted off our shoulders. On his personal Facebook page, James, who now resides in Dayton, Ohio, posted a photo in which he is seen with his girlfriend, Odessa L Mcdermott Angilella. He wrote: 'Sooooo...it has been kind of a BIG day! Not only did I receive some welcome news, but I got to spend it with this amazing lady! 'It is not only her birthday, but it is our one year anniversary!' In June, BCPD Detective Scott Marshall said that investigators who had focused in on two possible suspects - Plato and a friend, Richard Compton - could not definitively conclude that either one was behind Gayles rape and murder. At the time of her disappearance, Gayle was working at two local bars. She was last seen leaving Speed's Koffee Shop at 1425 West Michigan Avenue with a dark-haired man between 3 and 4am on October 9 Investigators said that they tested DNA samples that were taken from Comptons exhumed body and no match was found with samples found on Gayle at the time of her death, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported. Tests of DNA from Plato also provided inconclusive, Marshall said at the time. Compton, who died in 2009 at the age of 59, is believed to have witnessed Plato sexually assaulting and killing Gayle. Police said that Gayle was seen arguing with two men near the spot where her body was found. Investigators believe the two men were Plato and Compton. Compton was considered the primary suspect until DNA results last spring ruled it out, according to police. Investigators said in June that they hit a roadblock since Plato, his sister, and their parents had all died and were cremated. There is nothing that links Compton and we can't link Plato at this point, Marshall said in June. His DNA has been tested several times and there is not enough to test. Marshall said that police would search for a distant relative of Plato in hopes that another DNA sample could be provided. STRATFORD A town man was sentenced this week to more than five years in prison on federal charges of drug distribution and possession of ammunition, according to federal prosecutors. Judge Alvin W. Thompson sentenced Luis Macho Martinez to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sentencing was held by video conference. During court proceedings, it was revealed that members of the FBIs Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and Bridgeport police started investigating individuals in the summer 2017 who were selling drugs in and around the Park City. The investigation led to federal charges against 19 defendants and the seizure of drugs, items to process and package drugs, eight guns and more than $360,000 in cash, authorities said. Federal prosecutors said Martinez, 55, was supplying another drug distributor with cocaine and opioid pills. Authorities said another investigation into an unrelated drug dealer showed that Martinez was also buying and selling heroin. Martinez was arrested on Nov. 6, 2018. When investigators searched his home, they seized boxes of .45-caliber hollow-point bullets and $11,132 in cash, authorities said. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Martinezs criminal history includes state convictions on charges of manslaughter, assault, weapons and larceny, federal prosecutors said. He also has a prior federal conviction for his role in a crack cocaine distribution ring. Thompson ordered Martinez to forfeit the cash and ammunition seized on the day of his arrest. He previously handed over more than $56,000 in cash that he had shipped to a drug supplier in California. That money was seized by law enforcement at a parcel delivery hub. The Senate voted to proceed with an impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump, but don't expect Texas senators to vote to convict him. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz voted against proceeding with the trial and have not given any indication they would support Democrats in convicting Trump. CORNYN DEFENDS CRUZ: Sen. John Cornyn defends Sen. Ted Cruz against ethics investigation request from Democratic senators The former president is charged with inciting insurrection in a speech, telling supporters to "fight like hell" shortly before a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, resulting in five deaths and a delay in the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. The Senate voted 55-45 to reject a motion to dismiss Trump's impeachment trial Tuesday. Republicans largely voted to dismiss the charges, including Cornyn and Cruz. While neither senator from Texas has explicitly stated how they will vote in the impeachment trial, they have not indicted they are willing to convict Trump. Before the Senate vote to proceed with the trial, Cornyn pondered how holding an impeachment trial even though Trump has left office could prompt impeachment trials for other former presidents. Could we go back and try President Obama?" Cornyn said. Cornyn also argued that Trump has already faced consequences, saying, One way in our system you get punished is losing an election. In an interview with KHOU, Cornyn called impeaching Trump "vindictive" but said he would "reserve judgment" until he hears the case against the former president. Cruz, a vocal supporter of Trump during his term as president, has called the impeachment trial vindictive and punitive. "Joe Biden last week at his inauguration speech gave this impassioned plea for unity, and congressional Democrats, their first response is, 'Great, let's spend the first month of the Biden administration impeaching Donald Trump," Cruz said on The Hugh Hewitt Show. "They just hate Trump, and for them, their partisan hatred for Trump is a higher priority than actually working for the people of this country." "I think it's a case of misplaced priorities," Cruz added. The junior senator from Texas has also faced widespread calls to resign, with critics saying Cruz encouraged the mob by widely sharing he would vote against certifying the results until an "emergency audit" was performed to investigate baseless claims of election fraud touted by Trump. Only five Republican senators voted not to dismiss Trump's impeachment trial: Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Pat Toomey (R-PA). Trump was impeached on Jan. 13 and is the only president to be impeached twice. Impeachment proceedings will begin the week of Feb. 8. ALBANY Republican lawmakers criticized their Democratic colleagues in the Legislature Tuesday for moving forward with a bill that would repeal loitering language that has been used to arrest transgender women of color for walking down the street in certain clothing. Commonly referred to as the "walking while trans" bill due to the way police have stopped transgender women of color and arrested them for baseless reasons, the legislation would remove the state's "loitering for prostitution" ban, which was advocates and many lawmakers say has been used by police to arbitrarily stop people on the street based on what they look like. Assemblyman Mike Lawler blasted the move by his Democratic colleagues on Tuesday, arguing that the Legislature should focus its attention on bills that help New Yorkers recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Assembly Democrats continue to show us that their priorities dont lie with the hardworking families of our state, he said in a news release. Our small businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Families are struggling to pay bills and make ends meet, but instead of focusing on providing relief to those who need it most, Albany decides to prioritize legislation that decriminalizes prostitution. The bill does not decriminalize prostitution, but rather removes language that allowed for discriminatory enforcement of a loitering law. Actions like "waving at a car" and "wearing a skirt" are treated as evidence of criminal activity, according to New York penal law. Arrests under the law disproportionately impact women, particularly cisgender and transgender women of color and those who have previously been arrested for prostitution offenses, according to the bills supporting documentation. Between 2012 and 2015, 85 percent of those arrested under the loitering law were Black or Latina. A sponsor of the bill, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said most law enforcement agencies whether a police department or a district attorney's office have abandoned using the law. There are already laws on the books that can deal with disruptive behavior, Paulin said, pointing to disorderly conduct charges for someone who is allegedly shouting at someone or stopping a car. "It is not used any more," she said. "We, as lawmakers, are late to the dance because law enforcement has already decided they don't need this tool." The bill is also supported by domestic violence and anti-sex trafficking organizations, groups that Paulin pointed out are "adamantly opposed to decriminalizing prostitution." Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-Schoharie, called the bills advancement political and about pacifying progressive, New York City special interests. Tague also blasted Democrats for not focusing on legislation that will help average New Yorkers during the pandemic. Instead of scrambling to help them, Assembly Democrats just executed a full-court press to decriminalize prostitution instead, Tague said in an emailed statement. As an American and a New Yorker, this is frustrating. As a state lawmaker, Im furious. There is no greater time in our generation for lawmakers to come together and unify to deliver real, positive and effective results for all New Yorkers. Tague and Lawler issued the public statements hours before the Assembly was set to vote Tuesday on multiple bills that would provide relief from the pandemic for New Yorkers, including bills dealing with unemployment insurance. Paulin said she looks forward to debating the "walking while trans" bill on the floor to set the record straight. It is anticipated to be brought to the full Assembly next week. "We should not have a law on the books that is used to discriminate, and that's what was happening," she said. "I respectfully thank law enforcement for understanding and stopping using it, but we also have an obligation to repeal laws on the books that are used to actively discriminate against a group." Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Britain's unemployment rate has hit its highest level in nearly five years. The number of jobless people rose 418,000 to 1.7m in the year to November, the biggest annual jump since the financial crisis. It means unemployment is now 5 per cent the highest level since early 2016 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The number of jobless people rose 418,000 to 1.7m in the year to November, the biggest annual jump since the financial crisis The number of lay-offs hit a record 395,000 in the three months to November alone, while vacancies halved. And more pain is on the way. After furlough ends on April 30, experts think unemployment is likely to surge higher. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, predicted that without greater state support the jobless rate could hit 6 per cent in the second quarter. The figures prompted calls from business groups for more help from Chancellor Rishi Sunak. Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: 'A return to tighter restrictions late last year will have stretched businesses' ability to retain staff. 'The latest lockdown will have only added further pressure on firms with troubled balance sheets, which means more jobs are likely to be lost in the coming months.' IMF: Recovery will take longer Virus fears: IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its forecast for UK economic growth and warned that the recovery from Covid-19 will take longer than expected. Output is now expected to grow by just 4.5 per cent in 2021, down from October's forecast of 5.9 per cent, following a surge in infections in recent weeks and the third lockdown. This means the economy will not return to its pre-pandemic size until 2022, the IMF said. But the UK's predicted growth of 4.5 per cent this year is above the average 4.2 per cent forecast for the eurozone. The US and China are expected to lead the world recovery but the IMF fears new waves of infections and the emergence of variants. IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said: 'A lot depends upon the outcome of this race between a mutating virus and vaccines and how much policy support can hold up.' Emelia Quist, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: 'Action in March will prove too late for many. The Government needs to intervene now.' Matthew Percival, director of people and skills at the CBI, agreed, urging the Chancellor to extend furlough until 'at least the end of June'. The ONS said the number of workers on payrolls was down 828,000 since the start of the pandemic. Most of the most recent rise in unemployment took place in September and October, when employers assumed furlough would end, and job losses levelled off in November after Sunak extended support. There were 2.4m jobs on furlough on October 31, down from 8.9m in May. Responding to the figures, the Chancellor said: 'This crisis has gone on far longer than any of us hoped, and every job lost is a tragedy. 'Whilst the NHS is working hard to protect people with the vaccine, we're throwing everything we've got at supporting businesses, individuals and families.' An early recovery in vacancies over the summer looks to have slowed, with around 578,000 between October and December. [January 27, 2021] INVESTIGATION ALERT: The Schall Law Firm Announces it is Investigating Claims Against Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft and Encourages Investors with Losses of $100,000 to Contact the Firm The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft ("Deutsche Bank" or "the Company") (NYSE: DB) for violations of the securities laws. The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Deutsche Bank announced on January 24, 2021, that it had launched an internal investigation of its engagement with certain customers. According to the Financial Times (News - Alert) , the investigation will determine if the Company's "staff mis-sold sophistiated investment banking products to clients in breach of EU rules and then colluded with individuals within these companies to share the profits." The Financial Times further states "Deutsche believes that some of its staff knowingly sold inappropriate or unsuitable products to customers who may not have been able to understand and shoulder the risk they were taking," and that the investigation is not "looking at a few isolated cases, but at what appears to be a broader pattern of misconduct over several years." Based on this news, shares of Deutsche Bank dropped over the next several trading sessions. If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate. We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA (News - Alert) 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com. The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005902/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The coronavirus pandemic has turned our world upside-down. We need information like we never have before. How many new cases were there on Staten Island today? How many deaths? How many people have been released from the hospital? What are President Joe Bidens plans to end the pandemic? What are Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio doing to keep New Yorkers safe? More importantly, when are we going to get back to normal, whatever normal is? Its almost too much to keep up with. So every day around 4 p.m., Mark Stein and I take to Facebook Live to give you all the Island information you need. You can then look for this written wrap-up on SILive.com at the end of the day. Well give you the numbers and all the latest news. Well answer your questions. Well follow up on your news tips. Well share the good news too, the way that the Staten Island community is coming together in this time of crisis. Or well just share this strange and unique pandemic moment with you, as fellow Staten Islanders. On Tuesday, Mark and I discussed Bidens plan to increase the vaccine supply. Biden said that he would look to buy another 100 million doses each from vaccine producers Moderna and Pfizer, according to Politico. That would bring the number of doses on order up to 600 million. However, the administration cautioned that all those doses wouldnt be available until sometime this summer. We also talked about how some health officials were suggesting that double-masking, such as wearing a cloth covering over a surgical mask, could be helpful in fighting the virus. Dr. Jay Varma, a top health advisor to de Blasio, on Tuesday said that wearing two masks wouldnt hurt. Mark and I also discussed how the European Union had expressed concerns about lack of vaccine supply in the bloc, as reported by the Associated Press, and said that the EU might limit vaccine exports to places outside the union, including Great Britain. Were all in this together. Well all get through this together. Geetesh Sharma, President of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee (IVSC) in West Bengal. (Photo: VNA) New Delhi Under the leadership of the 13th Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), Vietnam will play decisive role to face the challenges in a post-COVID-19 scenario, Geetesh Sharma, President of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee (IVSC) in West Bengal told Vietnam News Agency correspondents in India. The 89-year-old Indian scholar and journalist has paid 29 visits to Vietnam. He reminisced his visit to the Southeast Asian country in 1982, during which he met a college student. I was deeply touched when a college student told me that he was proud of the poverty since it was shared by all the fellow countrymen and optimistically he added that soon they would overcome, Sharma said. He had full faith in the leadership of the CPV. In 1986, the CPV adopted the policy of Doi Moi (Renewal) and opened its economy, he recalled, since then the slogan Vietnam changes every day has become extremely popular among the people. It was not only a mere slogan but a ground reality that I witnessed during my twenty-nine visits to Vietnam on various occasions. He moved on to say that in every Party Congress, leadership and workers of the Party took stock of the previous five years all-round development and adopt a policy of further development in the next five years. Vietnam, that was far behind, is a fast developing country today, politically, economically and culturally, he said. The total credit for Vietnams all-round development and its economic and cultural upliftment goes to the farsightedness and its implementation to the CPV which is inspired by the great ideas of President Ho Chi Minh, he continued. He added that the Vietnamese government and CPV have also largely been credited for the countrys success in containing the COVID-19 due to their swift decision-making, effective public health messaging and aggressive contact tracing; while Vietnamese patriots wholeheartedly and actively cooperated with the Party. He further said that the 13th National Party Congress is taking place in a very crucial and challenging period. He believed it will take right decisions in a right direction to overcome all challenges and continue with anti-corruption campaign. MUNICH, Germany, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CARUSO's platform is the place to find harmonized multibrand in-vehicle data of top major vehicle manufacturers in one location, ready to use. CARUSO enables customers to easily build solutions based on connected car data for a huge variety of use cases like insurance, fleet, workshop, etc. With the new partnership, data from even more connected cars can be accessed via the CARUSO Marketplace as Elektrobit's software is used in millions of vehicles. That is, a direct data exchange to CARUSO is possible for all connected car data that is collected via Elektrobit's EB Cadian Analytics tool. "With the constantly growing coverage, CARUSO will be the marketplace with the most number of connected vehicles in reach. This partnership between CARUSO and Elektrobit is another great step forward into this direction," said Norbert Dohmen, Managing Director of Caruso GMBH. CARUSO is a neutral service provider and personal data flowing through CARUSO's platform is secured, protected, and handled 100% GDPR-compliant. Via their harmonized, OEM-independent interface, customers as well as 3rd parties receive vehicle-generated data regardless of the manufacturer. This minimizes the effort for integration and maintenance on the consumer side, as only the interface to CARUSO has to be realized. About Elektrobit (EB) Elektrobit (EB) is an award-winning and visionary global supplier of embedded and connected software products and services for the automotive industry. A leader in automotive software with over 30 years serving the industry, EB's software powers over one billion devices in more than 100 million vehicles and offers a variety of solutions. EB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Continental. https://www.elektrobit.com/ About Caruso GmbH "From Connected Cars to Connected Business." - the company motto says it all. CARUSO is a neutral, open, and secure mobility data marketplace. The platform enables third parties to consume data standardized across multiple vehicle manufacturers. Additionally, their built-in consent management technology ensures data privacy by giving vehicle end-users full control over data sharing. With that, CARUSO empowers its customers to easily build life-improving solutions based on data from connected cars. The company vision is to unleash innovation by being the better platform for car data. For more information, visit www.caruso-dataplace.com follow on Twitterand LinkedIn. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/eea8a4fc-10cb-4aff-867b-aea14882ce8f GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Gildas LaughFest announced Wednesday that the annual comedy festival would be condensed and largely shifted online this year. Last years event was disrupted as the coronavirus made its way to Michigan. This years festival, which spans March 11-14, will include 30 events, as well as social media content. Festival Director Joanne Roehm said the curtailment of last years event and this years new format will only broaden LaughFests horizons. You wont have to be in West Michigan to participate in LaughFest this year, Roehm said. Were able to interact with people from all over the country, and that does present some fun and interesting opportunities. Headlining acts and a full festival schedule are set to be revealed in February. Headliners will be part of paid programming, while other events like Family Improv Workshop, Kids Joke Time and Laughter Yoga will be free and held online. Staples like the Laughter Rx Symposium and the Seriously Funny Adventure Challenge scavenger hunt will return this year in socially distant fashion. The symposium, which provides health care professionals with education credit opportunities, will be held online. The scavenger hunt will once again be held in downtown Grand Rapids with teams exploring stops to read clues and follow prompts. Participants throughout the four-day hunt are encouraged to be socially distanced during the event. Between somber winter months and the pandemic, Roehm said being able to host LaughFest was nearly a necessity because of the positivity it spreads. We know more than ever that during the month of March especially here in Michigan and at this point, all across the country were going to need to smile and laugh more than ever, said Roehm. More details and announcements including the full lineup reveal in February can be found at www.laughfestgr.org. The festival, now in its 11th year, is designed to bring added awareness to Gildas Clubs mission of providing free emotional health support for those on a cancer or grief journey. Gildas Club is celebrating its 20th year of operation. Read more: State awards $4.75M loan to Grand Haven residential development at underutilized site Basketball coaches association calls on Gov. Whitmer to get kids in the game Grand Rapids driverless shuttles might continue into 2022 with on-demand pick-ups, drop-offs | By Jena Frick Leo and Chanel Fleurimond, the owners of SoBeachys Haitian Cuisine in Cross Street Market, are starting off the year 2021 with a renewed sense of hope and optimism. There's just a lot of a lot of things at stake right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Leo. We're just looking for things to get better, but in the meantime, were just hanging in there. Restrictions and regulations put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on their finances in 2020. Just one month ago, they were on the verge of having to close their business. Leo and Chanel Fleurimond, the owners of SoBeachy Haitian Cuisine. COVID is just the worst of the worst, he says. Maintaining and operating a business during this time is really hard. I'm just trying to find the right words to explain what it is that we're going through, and the only thing that I can come up with is just sheer misery. Local businesses across the city find themselves in a similar predicament because of the pandemic, which is why the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Office of Community Engagement (OCE) started the Small Business Volunteer Initiative. The initiative launched in March 2020 through a partnership with the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business. It pairs local minority, immigrant, and women business owners with a volunteer MBA student who helps them navigate the process of applying for state and federal grants to keep their businesses afloat during such a tumultuous time. (View media coverage on WBAL and WJZ.) A lot of small businesses can get left behind compared to larger businesses that have more staff members at their disposal, says Madison Haas, MSW, UMBs economic inclusion specialist and creator of the Small Business Volunteer Initiative. When we heard that operations for all businesses were going to be changing, we knew that locally owned, small businesses were going to be more drastically affected because most of these businesses are mom and pop shops with a limited staff. Having a knowledgeable business advisor on their side took a huge weight off local business owners and allowed them to focus on pivoting their operations to align with the COVID-19 regulations. The volunteer MBA students helped to identify state and federal grants, submit applications for funding, and offer guidance through the entire application process. The Fleurimonds were paired with Brad Fallon, who works in the Maryland General Assembly as legislative director for Del. Eric Luedtke (D-Montgomery County). With Fallons connections in Annapolis and his knowledge of Maryland government, he was able to help them apply for several state grants. Leo and Chanel are just incredible, says Fallon. They work so very hard and were just looking for some help. They were not savvy with government programs or paperwork and since I do this kind of work all the time, I was more than happy to help them out. Fallon submitted several applications for the Fleurimonds in the beginning of December 2020. Then, just before Christmas, they were awarded a $21,000 grant from the Baltimore Restaurant Assistance Grant Program. It was a relief and just mind-blowing to have somebody to lean on like that, says Leo. We were in a dark space and having access to this resource was outstanding. I can't even put it into words because of how grateful I am for this. We were really struggling and all I can say is that this was such a gift. The UMB Small Business Volunteer Initiative has helped dozens of local business owners keep doors open since the start of the pandemic. Some business owners who utilized the Small Business Initiative were so grateful for the help that they wanted to find ways to pay it forward. The owners of Rubens Mexican Food donated 100 free lunches to front-line workers in the University of Maryland School of Medicine who are working on the COVID-19 vaccine, and 100 more lunches to educators at Digital Harbor High School. Haas says she also hopes to work with the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business to integrate this volunteer initiative into the curriculum for all MBA students so that OCE can continue to support local businesses after the pandemic. The Small Business Volunteer Initiative is open to all minority-, immigrant-, and women-owned businesses in Baltimore. To learn more about how to get involved, contact Haas at madisonhaas@umaryland.edu. HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WTVA) - A shooting injured one person Wednesday morning near Hattiesburg High School, WDAM-TV reported. A spokesman for the Hattiesburg Police Department said officers responded to a report of someone having a weapon near the school before 8:00. Officers found the individual with the weapon and tried to approach him. At that time, shots were fired and the male individual was struck. He was later transported to a local hospital to be treated for injuries, the TV station reported. A Hattiesburg police officer was involved in shooting the male individual, according to Maj. Johnny Poulos of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). The names of the officer and the male subject have not been released at this time. MBI is overseeing the investigation. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! Acting President General (Rtd) Dr Constantino Chiwenga has described the three national heroes as heroes among heroes, true cadres of the liberation struggle and gallant sons of the soil who did not labour in vain. Even in death, they remain as inspirational as in their lives. They curved a special place in the club of immortals. Heroes among heroes. The Acting President was addressing mourners at the National Heroes Acre during the historic first-time burial of three national heroes Foreign Affairs Minister Lieutenant General (Retired) Dr Sibusiso Moyo, Transport Minister Joel Biggie Matiza and former prisons chief Major-General (Retired) Paradzai Zimondi, who all succumbed to covid-19. But we will eventually conquer. We will eventually conquer it and prevail as a people. He said the three national heroes are all contributors to Zimbabwes independence and socio-economic development. The common phenomenon about these three is they participated in the liberation struggle, waged to dethrone the Rhodesian regime, that had disposed Zimbabweans of their major birthright, the land, said Acting President Chiwenga. The three worked very hard to improve the lives of the people so that live in a peaceful environment. The late Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Lieutenant-General (Rtd) Sibusiso Busi Moyo seized every opportunity available while he was in the army, to acquire education. He was a joy to work with, he said. I am proud of his determination to achieve what he would have set out to achieve. He was instrumental in the transformation of the National Defence College into the National Defence University and the success of Operation Maguta, Vice President Chiwenga said. He was also at the core of regional peace-keeping and military cooperation initiatives which earned him several accolades. Added the Acting President, most of us will remember him as the mouthpiece for Operation Restore Legacy. During his term in government, the late General worked tirelessly for the success of the Engagement and Re-Engagement programme, meant to normalize relations with the international world. He Cde Moyo also worked hard to ensure the success of the Zimbabwe is Open for Business mantra, meant to attract investments into the country. Cde Biggie Joel Matiza, who assumed the name Destroyer Ndhlovu in the liberation war, at a tender age of 17, left the country for Zambia through Botswana, together with other youths of the ZIPRA wing. In hindsight, it was a wise and patriotic decision taken by Cde Matiza, a decision which is still being praised by government and his family to this day, said Acting President Chiwenga. As Minister of transport, he conceived and conceptualized great infrastructural projects including architectural designs that transcended the north-South corridor, as well as the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden. He was championing socio-economic and political developmental programmes through the devolution agenda. Acting President Chiwenga also described the late Major General (Rtd) Zimondi as a close friend and colleague, with whom he worked together during the days of the war of liberation. As he went down memory lane narrating Major General (Rtd) Zimondis war credentials, Acting President Chiwenga said the late was a shrewed military commander. In post-independence Zimbabwe, Major-Gen (Rtd) Zimondi had an illustrious service in the Zimbabwe national Army, where served in various capacities including Commander General (Staff), Chief of Defence Intelligence and Commander Presidential Guard. He also described the several awards that the late national hero received due to his committed service in the army. He spearheaded the transformation of the Zimbabwe Prison Services to focus on transformation and rehabilitation of offenders. He participated fully in the land reform programme and became an acclaimed farmer who contributed immensely to Zimbabwes efforts to attain food security and nutrition, said Dr Chiwenga. In Major General (Rtd) Zimondi, Zimbabwe has lost a great son of the soil. Acting president Chiwenga called for a united approach in the fight against the global covid-19 pandemic. It is incumbent upon us all to ensure to ensure we carry on with the journey towards the national prosperity of our people. What is crucial at this stage is to share a crucial identity as a people. The time is up for that unity of diversity to be viewed as a strength and not as a weakness. Covid-19 has taught us an important lesson, that we are all mortals. The fights against this pandemic does not allow for us to choose who to walk with, work with, or run with. It does not discriminate between the powerful and the weak, the privileged and the deprived, the haves and the have nots, it is a ruthless juggernaut that leaves a trail of despair and desperation. He said the government is in the process of acquiring the necessary vaccines for the pandemic and encouraged the nation to continue observing the stipulated safety protocols. Always mask up, sanitize and maintain social distancing. These are the key imperatives in this fight against the pandemic and have no substitute. ZBC Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Gardai have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions after a large crowd gathered at a house in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford following a funeral on Monday. Enniscorthy currently has the second highest infection rate of Covid-19 in the country, with 3,291 cases per 100,000 of the population. It comes as the Government today warned about the impact of funerals on the rate of transmission after concerning reports of significant numbers at funerals. On Monday, gardai put in place a policing plan for a funeral in Gorey and it is understood a number of people gathered at a house in Enniscorthy later that evening. Gardai attended the incident and a number of persons were identified to be in breach of the Health Act, a garda spokesperson told the Irish Independent. A file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Garda sources said there were up to 200 people at the gathering in Enniscorthy. Gardai also engaged with a number of individuals at the funeral who werent social distancing or wearing face masks. These individuals then complied with public health regulations, the spokesperson said. Regulation 8(2) of the Health Act provides restrictions on funerals. Regulation 8(2) is not a penal regulation. Under Level 5 restrictions, only 10 mourners can attend a funeral and household visits and gatherings are banned. Read More According to Liz Canavan, a spokesperson for the department of the Taoiseach, there have been reports of significant numbers of people congregating at funeral homes, churches and graveyards before and after services. In this third wave, we now sadly see a significant increase in the number of funerals. Concerns are being raised regarding the dangers of dropping our guard at funerals when we are at this critical time, she said. Reports of significant numbers of people congregating in the homes of bereaved persons and at funeral homes, or at churches and graveyards before and after services, are concerning. She said that mourners are seeking shelter due to cold weather, which leads to congregations. The weather we have this time of year can also result in those lining funeral rooms at times, congregating in doorways at churches and other areas along the route to seek shelter. She encouraged those who want to pay their condolences, despite natural emotions, to do so through social media or by sending a card. Every contact increases the risk of transmission of this highly contagious virus. Those wishing to express condolences should do so through social media, online websites, text or card. It is vital, despite our natural emotions and desire to be close to and to hug other people, to respect the situation we find ourselves in as we try to convey our sympathies to bereaved families, Ms Canavan said. There was a large gathering at a funeral in Ramsgrange, Co Wexford last month. There was also a huge outbreak of Covid-19 in the New Ross electoral area. Gardai launched an investigation into the incident, which was described as a superspreader event. Irelands Covid-19 death toll passed the 3,000 mark yesterday after 90 further deaths. Appointment 27 January 2021 Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Rami Z. Sayess as Regional Vice President and General Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay. Sayess will be taking over the reins from Richard Raab who transfers to Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg as General Manager after a tremendous three years driving the successful launch of the hotel's private beach, waterpark and additional leisure facilities. With a proven track record in the hospitality industry, specifically with Four Seasons over the past 15 years, Sayess will be based in Bahrain with regional responsibilities overseeing several Four Seasons hotels and resorts in Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA). Sayess leaves Beirut after five years, which he describes as "very unusual to say the least, having witnessed record results since the Hotel opening thanks to Lebanon's stability during the years 2016-2019 and the outstanding performance by my amazing team, all of which was followed by an incredibly challenging 2020. My time in Beirut has been rewarding both personally and professionally having worked with an extraordinary group of professionals and an extremely supportive owner." Sayess also shares his excitement about his new move, "Bahrain is renowned for its amazing hospitality, friendly people and Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay is an icon by itself. Located on its own private island, the Hotel has become a popular choice for local vacationers and international travellers alike. "I look forward to returning to Bahrain with my wife Mary and daughter Lara where we have fond memories from a previous assignment and which was the birthplace of our second son Mazen, currently pursuing his higher education Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Romania's Ministry of Health has recently signed an order for an additional 9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses with the German company CureVac, Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu announced on Wednesday. "The prime minister has already expressed his readiness to allocate the necessary resources to procure all the vaccines that are available. The Ministry of Health has recently signed an order for an additional 9 million CureVac vaccine doses, one of the products that has not yet been approved, but there is still a clear understanding that if the process goes further if the vaccine is approved, it will reach in reasonable quantities - as I said, I am talking about 9 million doses - in Romania as well," said the minister. According to him, currently in Romania there are more closed-end vaccination centres than open-end centres."As many as 30% of vaccinations are outside the vaccination platform. There is an appointment scheduling platform and then there is the National Vaccination Register. These two must be put together. (...) We currently have more closed-end centres than open-end centres. Open-end centres means centres where everyone can schedule an appointment. Closed-end ones means that only a part of the Romanian population can schedule an appointment. That worries us," said Voiculescu. Credit: NCCR Evolving Language (National Centre of Competence in Research) Speaking is something that comes across as an effortless process, almost working by itself. Our brain, however, has a lot of work to do when we construct a sentence. "In addition, languages differ in myriad ways and this also means that there are differences in how we plan what we want to say in different languages," says Balthasar Bickel, senior author of the study and a professor at the University of Zurich. And if some languages seem easier, it is because they make fewer distinctions in their grammar. While English always uses the (e.g., in "The tree is tall" and "Snow covers the tree"), German makes a distinction between der (subject) and den (object) (e.g., in "Der Baum ist gro" and "Schnee bedeckt den Baum"). Analyzing the brain just before speech In order to do this, researchers at the University of Zurich, in collaboration with international colleagues, measured the brain activity of Hindi speakers while they described different images. This is the first time that the brain processes during the planning of sentences before speaking have been studied with high temporal resolution. "Until now, similar methods have only been used for planning single words, but not for complete sentences," explains Sebastian Sauppe, lead author of the study. An ending with many possibilities Researchers have discovered that although a language may seem 'easier' to us at first glance, it actually requires more work from our neurons. They found that having fewer grammatical distinctions makes planning particularly demanding for the brain and requires more neural activity. The likely reason for this is that having fewer distinctions means keeping more choices open for speakers for how to continue a sentence. "This has, however, a crucial advantage for speakers: languages with fewer distinctions allow speakers to commit to the whole sentence only late in the planning process", adds Sebastian Sauppe. This finding contributes to explaining why languages with fewer distinctions in their grammar are found more often among the world's languages, which had been shown by an earlier study of the same research group. The research is part of the NCCR Evolving Language, a new national research center which has set itself the goal of unraveling the biological underpinnings of language, its evolutionary past and the challenges imposed by novel technologies. Explore further Grammar: Eventually the brain opts for the easy route More information: Sebastian Sauppe et al, Neural signatures of syntactic variation in speech planning, PLOS Biology (2021). Journal information: PLoS Biology Sebastian Sauppe et al, Neural signatures of syntactic variation in speech planning,(2021). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001038 Provided by NCCR Evolving Language (National Centre of Competence in Research) 1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone. 2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea. 3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials. 4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied. Vote View Results Close Engineers recently devised machines to remove carbon dioxide from the air. After CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, the development was a gauge on Wednesday at 414 parts per million or ppm. This latest finding shows that the level has reached the highest in human history and is growing year after year. Amid all the concentration on emissions reduction, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC said it would not be enough to avoid hazardous levels of global warming. A report from The Next Web indicates a need for the world to actively eliminate "historical CO2" already existing in the atmosphere, a process frequently referred to as "negative emissions." There are two ways to remove CO2. First is by enhancing carbon storage in natural ecosystems, including "planting more forests or storing more carbon in the soil." The second way is through DAC or direct air capture technology that strips carbon dioxide from ambient air and then either turns it into products or stores it underground. This US study published last week in the Nature Communications journal proposed that global warming could be delayed with an emergency deployment of "a flit of 'CO2 scrubbers'" through the use of DAC technology. Nevertheless, a wartime funding level from the government and business would be needed, and there is a need to determine, too, if such a technology would worth both time and money. ALSO READ: Are Solar Panels For Your Home Worth It? The DAC Technology DAC or direct air capture pertains to any mechanical system that captures CO2 from the atmosphere. Plants that operate at present use a liquid solvent or solid sorbent to isolate Co2 from other gases. Specifically, Climeworks, a Swiss firm, currently operates 15 DAC machines across Europe, consisting of the first commercial DAC system globally. Such an operation is powered by energy generated by burning waste or renewable geothermal energy. Essentially, the DAC machines use a fan to attract air into a "collector," inside from which a selective filter captures C02. Once the filter is full, the collector closes, and the CO2 gets sequestered underground. Meanwhile, Carbon Engineering, a Canadian firm, uses giant fans to draw air into a tower-like assembly. Nearly the air passes over a "potassium hydroxide solution," chemically binding to the CO2 molecules, and eliminates them from the air. The carbon dioxide is then concentrated, purified, and compressed. The CO2 captured can be injected into the ground for oil extraction, in some circumstances, to counteract the emissions produced by burning the oil. Great Opportunity for Australia Australia is distinctly positioned to be a world-leader when it comes to DAC technology. The country boasts large land areas not appropriate for growing crops. It has a generous amount of sunlight, which means there is an excellent possibility to host direct air capture facilities run by solar energy. The country has some of the world's best sites and areas where to sequester or store carbon in underground reservoirs. DAC is a relatively new concept for Australia, and yet, it may offer a great opportunity. Southern Green Gas, an Australian firm, and CSIRO are currently developing solar-operated DAC technologies. According to DAC experts, if this technology can surpass such hurdles, the benefits will go further beyond dealing with climate change. It would develop a new manufacturing sector and possibly rehire new workers displaced due to fossil fuels' decline. RELATED TOPIC: World's Largest Renewable Energy Megapark in India Is As Big As Singapore Check out more news and information on Renewable Energy on Science Times. Kourtney Kardashian and her famous family have been household names for the past 14 years. But before that, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star was just a teenage girl growing up in the '90s. She got nostalgic for travel Tuesday, as she took to Instagram with a throwback photo of 15-year-old Kourtney in a pink bikini, from a 1994 family trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Child of the '90s: Kourtney Kardashian got nostalgic for travel Tuesday, as she took to Instagram with a throwback photo of 15-year-old Kourtney in a pink bikini, from a 1994 family trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico The 41-year-old was photographed grabbing her towel, as little sister Khloe, 36, could be seen nearby blowing up a beach ball. It happened to be the year that their family's name became known, as family friend Nicole Brown Simpson was killed that June, and their late father Robert Kardashian subsequently defended her ex-husband OJ Simpson in the now infamous trial. The family later capitalized on their name when their E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered in 2007, which recently wrapped on its 20th and final season. Kourtney previously took a step back from the show last year, telling Vogue Arabia: 'I have been filming the show non-stop for 14 years. I was feeling unfulfilled and it became a toxic environment for me to continue to have it occupy as much of my life as it was. Beach bound: The 41-year-old was photographed grabbing her towel, as little sister Khloe, 36, could be seen nearby blowing up a beach ball Famous family: The family later capitalized on their name when their E! reality series Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered in 2007, which recently wrapped on its 20th and final season Privacy please: Kourtney previously took a step back from the show last year, telling Vogue Arabia: 'Privacy is something I have come to value and finding that balance of private moments with being on a reality show is hard' 'Privacy is something I have come to value and finding that balance of private moments with being on a reality show is hard. People have this misconception that I don't want to work, which isn't true. I am following my happiness and putting my energy into that which makes me happy.' She's enjoying some 'private moments' with longtime friend Travis Barker, 45, with whom she's recently been romantically linked, during a trip to Palm Springs. A source told ET Online: 'Kourtney and Travis have had a platonic relationship for years and they've been friends and family friends for a very long time, but recently something sparked and their relationship has turned romantic. 'They live on the same block and things are super easy between them because they know each other so well and just click and get one another.' The new couple has been neighbors in their upscale Calabasas community for years, and Barker has even made a few appearances on KUWTK. Another insider told People: 'He's liked her for a long time and she just got more open to the idea. He's a good guy and a really great dad. Her family and friends all really like him. Their kids all get along too, which is sweet.' New romance: She's enjoying some 'private moments' with longtime friend Travis Barker, 45, with whom she's recently been romantically linked, during a trip to Palm Springs (pictured in November, 2018) More than friends: A source told ET Online: 'Kourtney and Travis have had a platonic relationship for years and they've been friends and family friends for a very long time, but recently something sparked and their relationship has turned romantic' (pictured in November, 2020) Long time coming: The new couple has been neighbors in their upscale Calabasas community for years, and Barker has even made a few appearances on KUWTK (pictured in January, 2020) Family friends: Travis and the Poosh founder were reportedly brought together by their kids, as a source told Us Weekly: 'Their kids' friendship had Kourtney and Travis spending a lot of time together' (pictured in August, 2019) Travis and the Poosh founder were reportedly brought together by their kids, as a source told Us Weekly: 'Travis and Kourtney's kids are very close. 'They became friends living in the same neighborhood and hang out a lot. Their kids' friendship had Kourtney and Travis spending a lot of time together.' The Blink-182 drummer shares son Landon Asher, 17, and daughter Alabama Luella, 15, with ex-wife Alabama Luella, 45, to whom he was married from 2004 to 2008. Kourtney has co-parented sons Mason Dash, 11, Reign Aston, six, and daughter Penelope Scotland, eight, with Scott Disick, 37, with whom she was in an on-again, off-again relationship from 2006 to 2015. Scott is reportedly supportive of the new relationship, as a source tells E! Online: 'Scott has been around Travis on several occasions and thinks he's a great guy. 'He's really happy for Kourtney and is not surprised they are dating. Kourtney has spent a lot of time with Travis and it's not shocking to him that they developed a romantic relationship. She hasn't dated someone in a while and Scott wants her to be happy.' For the past many years, the advertising industry has been offering design and branding as part of the overall advertising services to their clients. However, in the last two decades, we saw the approach to design taking a shift with more focus on research, strategy and a scientific process by solving complex challenges. Today, several design consulting companies that had entered India about a decade back are delivering ideas, expertise and solutions to clients with a process driven approach to design. Many clients have also realised how important design and branding are in a brands journey. More and more brands are seeing value in it and are also investing in design and branding so that they stand out in the market place and are also able to easily connect with their target audience. To get a clearer perspective and a deeper insight on strategy and design, and how the business has evolved in the last two decades, Adgully caught up with Lulu Raghavan, Managing Director, Landor & Fitch, to find out how their company has grown and delivered value to clients and also how Design & Strategy has emerged as a highly specialised field. Design today has a larger role to play in a brands journey. How much of strategic thinking goes in when you are working on a complete rebranding exercise for a product? The short answer is that a lot of strategic thinking is involved. Successful rebrands are grounded in business logic and are not exercises in vanity. Sharp customer insights based on primary research inform the brand strategy, which has to be relevant, different and energising for the brand. Design is used to create a holistic brand experience, where every touch point is viewed as an opportunity to engage more deeply with the customer in a way that is consistent with what the brand wants to be famous for. It is not just about a logo or a packaging change, but an entire reimagination of what the brand stands for, how it will add value to a customers life, how it manifests itself across channels, and what the implications for the organisation are in order to deliver the new brand promise. We helped Oben Insurance transform itself to become Digit, which has recently joined the league of unicorns. Every element of the rebrand from the Brand Driver Platform of Hello Simplicity to the values of the organisation, the visual identity and the voice of the brand was strategically grounded. The brand experience brings to life CEO Kamesh Goyals mission to create truly differentiated insurance products and experiences that even your grandmother can understand and purchase. What do you look for in a brief from a client while creating a brand new product right from the product design? How important is research here and what is the role of research? The starting point is the conviction of the client about the business. Getting to clearly understand their ambition and their outlook is invaluable for us in being a strong partner to them. How badly do they want to succeed? How much risk are they willing to take? How open-minded are they to new perspectives and a different way of doing things? We also want to know how much belief the client has in the power of brand to impact the growth of the business, and an understanding of how brand can drive value. Then it is about the consumer segment that is being targeted. Here, research (both primary and secondary) is critical in painting a vivid portrait of the ideal customer and her world in its entirety, her attitudes towards the category and her unmet needs to serve her better. Research is also immensely helpful in understanding the category dynamics, competitive brand perceptions and preference drivers. At Landor & Fitch, we regularly use proprietary databases like BrandAsset Valuator and Brand Z to have more data-driven approaches to brand strategy. Once weve developed prototypes of the strategy and the potential brand experience, research can be used again to see how consumers react to different ideas. We commission to understand not what they like and dislike, but which concepts are likely to result in more favourable business metrics. Finally, we also set up brand trackers for clients once the rebrand is done so they can measure progress against agreed metrics. The Mahindra Group has done a brilliant job of keeping an eye on its brand perceptions on key parameters across varied audiences. This data helps them calibrate their brand-building strategies annually. As a strategic and design consultant, do you follow any design process that will help you deliver the best output? Is there any design mantra that you follow to get the best results or output? Our overarching mission is to create work for our clients that is Extraordinary, by Design. We have four important criteria to judge something as extraordinary: Original beautifully crafted and emotionally moving Remarkable has talk value Challenges convention a true insight that solves a pain point Commercially outstanding delivering beyond ROI A big brand idea is an essential ingredient for great creative work. Our strategic tools and processes help us get to this outstanding idea. After that, the extraordinary talent of the team, our culture and our approach to creativity take over. We believe every project benefits from a strong triad partnership between the client guardian, strategist and designer. We do a lot of brainstorms and sketch sessions. We use prototyping and tissue sessions to test the direction of ideas with clients. We take inspiration from outside the category. We get critical inputs from regional and global teams. We challenge the work and constantly push it to make it the best it can be based on the brief. Ultimately, it is not process but the genius of individual talent nurtured by a team approach that leads to breakthrough work. Design thinking has moved beyond logos and identity. Today, the canvas is wider and larger. Where do you think Design and Strategy is headed in the next 5 years, especially when the growth of digital and use of digital has increased considerably? The brands of the future will need to be super close to culture and consumers in order to make a meaningful difference. Both are changing rapidly and the agencies that have their pulse on the zeitgeist will clearly add the most value. Attracting the distracted consumer will require great strategy. Visual appeal will set the brand apart from a sea of sameness. Brand experiences will be grounded in strategic rigour (based on data) and magical in their touch and feel. Physical, human and digital touch points will seamlessly interact with each other and co-exist to spin new brand stories for consumers. I see a very bright future for strategy, design and of course, digital. Talent in the design space is a scarce commodity even as the market and need for design is expanding. How do you spot talent and groom them to be successful design thinkers? The best talent are the ones who pro-actively make their pitch to agencies, demonstrate great hunger, wear a can-do fearless attitude and back it all up with credibility (education, portfolio, references). It is the duty of every creative leader to constantly search for new talent in new places. This requires leaders to have laser focus on building the reputation of the agency as the most desirable place for designers and strategists. And creating a culture rooted in creativity and one that is inclusive, diverse, high performing, fun and growth oriented. As MD of Landor & Fitch India, my top priority is culture and reputation building. Is there a shelf life for designs? Today, ROI and performance is spoken on every marketing and communication that happens. So, how does one evaluate the performance of a design and its impact in the marketplace? It really depends on the brand and what it stands for. Some brands thrive on constant change. Others endure for decades with very little change. Design must be in the service of the brand and its desired customer experience. The best way to evaluate a designs impact on the brand is in perceptions of the brand on various imagery attributes. Of course, in some cases like packaging design and product design, it is possible to attribute improved performance to design alone, but the true impact of design is much harder to isolate in areas like corporate rebranding, retail, design, and customer journey design. An often quoted study conducted by the Design Management Institute proves the value of design. It shows that the index of companies that are design-driven beat the S&P 500 by 211%. McKinsey conducted research on the business value of design and found a strong correlation between high MDI (McKinsey Design Index) scores and superior business performance. Where is the future of design headed? What kind of new trends will we get to see in the design space, especially in the mobile space where UI/UX plays a key role in engaging with the audience? The world will face increasingly larger and more complex global problems (from the need for a greener planet to social equality and many more) that designers alone wont be able to solve. It will require a multidisciplinary and ecosystems approach. So, we will see a shift from working in isolation/ small groups to collaboration on a much broader scale with more diverse minds. Sustainability will become mainstream as concern for the planet becomes a global as well as local priority. We will see sustainable spaces, sustainable packs, sustainable brands and even fully sustainable companies. COVID-19 has put the spotlight more on health & wellness than ever before, which will be considered in all aspects of design. Travel will become more inward (finding a sense of peace at home and with ourselves) and outward (YOLO fulfilment) at the same time. As businesses seek to return to some form of pre-COVID-19 buoyancy and start to think about the right mix of #WFH and #WFO, we believe that Workspace Design will be one of the most important design considerations in 2021. Businesses can not just return to the workplace without reimagining the experience in its entirety for employees. I am not talking about office design which is just about layout, headcount, resources and utilities. Workspace design is a deeper discipline and mindset that connects office design to brand. It dictates the journey, the overall experience and ensures that the brands values and function are reflected in the physical, human and digital space, much like retail. The most progressive businesses will be thinking about the six imperatives of Workspace Design culture, interaction, function, sustainability, architecture and technology. A well thought through strategy on Workspace Design can help businesses in forging stronger relationships with their employees, who, in turn, will become great brand ambassadors. In the mobile space, personalisation, curation and experiences will rule the roost for apps hoping to win the hearts of consumers. Technologies like Voice, AR and animations will be used extensively for creating differentiated experiences. School on mobile may become the new norm for the next generation of learners. Authentic and hyperlocal experiences will be sought after in hospitality. And finally, the power of design to lift an experience out of the ordinary to the realm of the extraordinary will be widely understood and valued. DETROIT, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratview Research announces the launch of a new market research report on Aircraft Communication System Market by Platform Type (Military Aircraft, Commercial Aircraft, and Government Aircraft), by Aircraft Type (Manned Aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft), by Sub-Platform Type (Civil Manned {Large Aircraft, Light Aircraft, Very Large Aircraft, and Helicopter}, Military Manned {Fighter Aircraft, Transport Aircraft, and Helicopter}, and UAV {HALE, MALE, Tactical, Small Tactical, and Nano/Micro/Mini}), by Application Type (Civil Manned {Voice, Datalink, and Emergency}, Military Manned {Voice/Data, Emergency, and Sensor Data}, and UAV {Voice, C2 Datalink, and Sensor Data Downlink}), by End-User Type (OE and Aftermarket), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Size, Share, Trend, Forecast, & Industry Analysis: 2021-2026. The report, from Stratview Research, provides a comprehensive analysis of briskly changing market dynamics, competitive landscape, as well as future market possibilities till 2026 for the aircraft communication systems. The report is designed to assist the market stakeholders as well as investors in the identification of early recovering market segments as well as the future market growth potentials to formulate short- as well as long-term growth strategies. This report also provides an estimate of the possible loss incurred in the market due to the pandemic and possible ways of recoveries in the market aftermath of the pandemic. Aircraft Communication System Market: Highlights Aircraft operation hugely depends on efficient communication from aircraft to ground, aircraft to aircraft, and ground to aircraft. All aerial vehicles including helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles need an efficient communication system to operate flawlessly. A basic communication system involves the transmission and reception of voice and/or data in the form of electromagnetic waves. Communication is carried out in several frequencies allocated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). This spectrum of frequencies ranges from 30 kHz to 30,000 kHz and is divided into bands for convenience. Aircraft communication systems account for ~20% share of the total avionics' equipment market. With increasing ACARS volume and rapidly evolving customer needs, there have been ceaseless developments in the communication systems market ranging from wireless communication equipment to surging use of data link and SATCOM-based communications. Though the market efficiently dodged the B737max grounding debacle in 2019, the rapid spread of pandemic in 2020 hit the market like a bolt out of the blue, bringing in sudden changes in the business, disconcerting the entire industry. The aircraft communication systems market recorded a massive downturn of -25% YoY in 2020, wrecking the hopes of another successful year in 2020. Nevertheless, the long-term scenario still seems lucrative, backed by strong industry fundamentals coupled with the stakeholders' unmatched ability to strive through the crisis. The aircraft communication systems market is likely to follow suit, moving parallelly with the industry's rebound, experiencing a gradual recovery in demand from 2021 onwards, translating to sales of US$ 3.3 Billion in 2026. Click Here and Run Through the Detailed TOC of the Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/toc/554/aircraft-communication-system-market.html As commercial aircraft faces a momentary hurdle due to the pandemic, the military aircraft segment is likely to remain relatively stable. However, early signs of healing are visible - The lift of FAA's B737max grounding order (Nov. 2020) and Airbus' highest delivery figures (Oct. 2020) since before the onset of the pandemic. The commercial aircraft segment to fuel the market in the long-term, logging the fastest recovery, owing to strong order backlogs of 12,498 (Airbus: 7,377 and Boeing: 5,121) aircraft as of October 2020. Based on the aircraft type, manned aircraft is expected to remain the dominant segment in the market, whereas unmanned aircraft to heal at a faster pace during the forecast period. Several new policies and procedures by the FAA are underway to address and accommodate the growing need for unmanned aircraft into civil aerospace, creating a pool of opportunities within the unmanned aircraft segment in the long run. With the strong presence of leading players, North America and Europe are expected to hold the largest chunk of the market during the forecast period. The USA is likely to assert an undeniable dominance globally. Asia-Pacific is expected to take the fastest path towards healing, with the highest long-term CAGR, rapidly moving uphill in the long-term. Other key factors likely to cause a stir in the region's market are the opening of assembly plants of Boeing and Airbus in China and the upcoming indigenous aircraft program (C919). India to be the new growth engine, actively developing policies to welcome companies willing to move from China. Register Here and Ask for a Free Sample on the Exclusive Report: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/Request-Sample/554/aircraft-communication-system-market.html The aircraft communication systems market was highly concentrated in 2019 with the top five players capturing a massive chunk of the market. Major companies are performing mergers & acquisitions to quickly gain a larger chunk of the market as well as to tap the growing opportunities in this briskly expanding market. A few of the significant movements in the market were the acquisition of Rockwell Collins by UTC (2017) for US$ 30 Bn and take-over of Cobham plc. by Advent Inc. in 2020. The supply chain of this market comprises component suppliers, service suppliers, system suppliers, aircraft OEMs, airline companies, aircraft leasing companies, and MRO companies. Key players in the market are Honeywell International, Inc., Cobham plc., Collins Aerospace (Rockwell Collins), L3Harris Technologies, Inc., and Thales Group. Rapid advancements in the communication systems and infrastructure, coupled with a continuous drive towards betterment and high-performance solutions have been the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market. Report Features This report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report: Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis. Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porter's five forces analysis, SWOT analysis. Market trend and forecast analysis. Market segment trend and forecast. Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc. Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities. Emerging trends. Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players. Key success factors This report studies the global aircraft communication system market and has segmented the market in five ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the five ways in which the market is segmented: Aircraft Communication Systems Market Size, Share & Forecast, by Platform Type Commercial Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) , , , and RoW) Military Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) , , , and RoW) Government Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Communication Systems Market Size, Share & Forecast, by Aircraft Type Manned Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) , , , and RoW) Unmanned Aircraft (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Communication Systems Market Size, Share & Forecast, by Sub-Platform Type Civil Manned Aircraft (Sub-Platform Type Analysis: Large Aircraft, Light Aircraft, Very Light Aircraft, and Helicopter) (Application Type Analysis: Voice, Datalink, and Emergency) Military Manned Aircraft (Sub-Platform Type Analysis: Fighter Aircraft, Transport Aircraft, and Helicopter) (Application Type Analysis: Voice/Data, Emergency, and Sensor Data) UAV (Sub-Platform Type Analysis: HALE, MALE, Tactical, Small Tactical, and Nano/Micro/Mini) (Application Type Analysis: Voice, C2 Datalink, and Sensor Data Downlink) Aircraft Communication Systems Market Size, Share & Forecast, by End-User OE (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) , , , and RoW) Aftermarket (Regional Analysis: North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and RoW) Aircraft Communication Systems Market Size, Share & Forecast, by Region North America (Country Analysis: The USA , Canada , and Mexico ) (Country Analysis: The , , and ) Europe (Country Analysis: Germany , France , The UK, Russia , and Rest of Europe ) (Country Analysis: , , The UK, , and Rest of ) Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: Japan , China , India , and Rest of Asia-Pacific ) (Country Analysis: , , , and Rest of ) Rest of the World (Country Analysis: Brazil , The UAE, Saudi Arabia , and Others) Stratview Research has number of high value market reports in the global aerospace & defense industry. Please refer to the following link to browse through our reports: https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market-reports/Aerospace-Defense.html About Stratview Research Stratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas. We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies. Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making. Stratview Research has launched 'Composights', an online portal which offers free thought leadership reports, whitepapers, market report synopsis and much more for Composites and allied industries, worth US$ 20,000 every year. Click here to sign up (No costs involved):https://www.stratviewresearch.com/composights/sign-in For enquiries, Contact: Stratview Research E-mail: sales@stratviewresearch.com Direct: +1-313-307-4176 Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/660595/Stratview_Research_Logo.jpg A single mother will appeal the decision of a High Court judge who ruled that her brain-damaged five-year-old daughter should be allowed to die. Specialists treating five-year-old Pippa Knight, who has a rare condition, can lawfully stop providing life-support treatment, Mr Justice Poole decided earlier this month. Pippa's mother Paula Parfitt, 41, was devastated by the decision and said she would raise money to fund a challenge. Campaign group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (Spuc) says it has agreed to pay for lawyers to represent Ms Parfitt. A spokesman said Ms Parfitt, of Strood, Kent, was waiting for a Court of Appeal hearing date to be confirmed. Paula Parfitt, 41, of Strood, Kent, said she was devastated by the decision and was trying to raise money to fund a challenge to the ruling Pippa Knight has been on life support at the Evelina Hospital in London since Flu A left her brain damaged in January last year 'When my solicitor told me, I was so relieved and overwhelmed and I must admit I shed some tears,' said Ms Parfitt, in a statement released by Spuc. 'Spuc has given Pippa a second chance - and she deserves a second chance.' Lawyers said Ms Parfitt had been granted legal aid to pay for the High Court fight but her bid for more aid to fund an appeal had failed. Mr Justice Poole said specialists should keep treating Pippa for a short period to give Ms Parfitt time to organise an appeal. The judge heard evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in London in December, and described the case as 'heart-rending'. Paula Parfitt, pictured with Pippa Knight, wants her life support to continue so her daughter can take advantage of future advances in medical science Pippa was born in April 2015 and initially developed normally, but in December 2016 she became unwell and began to suffer seizures, the judge heard. Doctors diagnosed acute necrotising encephalopathy. The judge heard she is now in a vegetative state and has no awareness. Specialists treating Pippa at Evelina Children's Hospital in London said life-support treatment should end. Hospital bosses had asked Mr Justice Poole to rule that ending treatment, and allowing Pippa to die, would be lawful and in her best interests. Ms Parfitt, who told the court that Pippa's father was dead, disagreed. She wants her daughter to be placed on a portable ventilator and allowed home, and wanted the judge to authorise a home-care trial. Mr Justice Poole ruled against her. Credit: Tom Tom/Shutterstock It's a blustery October night in 1841, and though Liverpool is sleeping, Mrs Bates is very much awake. Before her, shining brightly at the foot of her bed, is an "open vision" of her friend Elizabeth Morgan, "standing in full view before her, clothed in robes beautiful and white". The shimmering vision lingers for "some considerable length of time" before fading away. When dawn arrives, and after a fitful sleep, Mrs Bates is informed by a messenger that Elizabeth Morgan is dead. People have reported spooky, spiritual and extraordinary experiences for centuries. Like Mrs Bates, those who claim to have communed with the dead have found themselves ridiculed as well as revered. Our recent research has revealed that mediums, mystics and psychics are more prone to certain hallucinatory traits than the general populationwhich leads them to believe that they do indeed communicate with the dead. The experience of hearing voices is far more common than you might expect. Some studies have estimated that as many as 50% of people hear the voice of their deceased loved one during periods of grieving. Elsewhere, research from our team has shown that some Christians occasionally hear God as a literal auditory voice with which they can commune. Claiming to be able to speak with the dead is often found to coexist with the beliefs of what's called "spiritualism"a quasi-religious movement based on the idea that individuals continue to exist after the death of their physical bodies. Their "spirits" may appear to or communicate with living persons, often called "mediums." Spiritualism can be traced back to the Fox sisters, Maggie and Kate, who in 1848 claimed to hear a spirit knocking on the walls of their home in New York. Mediums that "hear" the spirits, as the Fox sisters did, are said to be "clairaudient" while those who can "see" the spirits are considered "clairvoyant." From Arthur Conan Doyle to the Kardashians, the possibility of spiritual mediumship has endured and captivated many. In fact, the Spiritualists' National Union (SNU), one of several contemporary spiritualist organizations in Britain, boasts a membership of at least 11,000. What's more, interest in channeling spirits, psychic predictions, and life after death seems to have been growing in both the UK and the US in recent years. But what's actually going on when people claim to hear voices they take to be the spirits of the dead? "I hear dead people' Our new study of the clairaudient experiences of contemporary mediums is beginning to clarify why some people report hearing spiritual voices. We found that people who were more likely to experience "absorption"a tendency to get lost in mental imagery or altered states of consciousnesswere also more likely to experience clairaudience. This finding suggests these people actually experience unusual sounds they believe to be clairaudient. But it doesn't explain why they identify these hallucinated voices with the spirits of the dead, which is the core tenet of spiritualism. Significantly, nearly 75% of those we surveyed said they didn't know about spiritualism or its set of beliefs prior to their earliest clairaudient experiences. This suggests that, for many, the sensation of speaking with spirits preceded knowledge of clairaudience as a phenomenon. Some scholars argue that mediums later tag their voice-hearing to spiritualism as a way of explaining their auditory hallucinations. This "attributional theory" may explain why there are a large number of spiritualist mediums. Grave concerns Historical research suggests that emotional desires play a key role in conjuring such phenomena. In the past, this research tells us, when an individual felt melancholic and desperate for a manifestation of the supernatural, they would often record a spiritual experience shortly thereafter. Guidance from a faith leader also seems important for conjuring the metaphysical. The work of Stanford University anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann, for instance, highlights how one's desire must be met with direction, noting the importance of training and instruction for the faithful who hope to have vivid encounters with the divine through prayer. However, further research has shown that spiritual practice does not necessarily make perfectat least not without a pre-existing tendency towards immersive mental activities. For mediums, this means that "yearning and learning" is not enough. Clairaudience may require a unique proclivity for voice-hearing. Healthy hearing Spiritualist beliefs appear to be relatively harmless, though researchers are increasingly interested in the similarities and differences between clairaudience and several other forms of voice-hearing, like those experienced by people living with mental illness. For example, individuals with psychosis also frequently hear voices. By comparing such voices to the clairaudience reported by mediums, researchers have already begun to identify important differences that distinguish clairaudience from the experiences of people living with psychosis. For example, mediums tend to exert more control over their voicesand they report very little distress accompanying the experience. Back in Liverpool in 1841, Mrs. Bates "rejoiced in the vision" of her friend at the end of her bed, while Elizabeth Morgan's husband is said to have received "consolation in the valley of grief" when he learned of the vision. Hearing the dead is not necessarily a sign of mental distressor supernatural possession. For mediums, it may be a source of comfort, a simple quality of the way that they experience reality. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Merkel Agrees with Xi Jinping in Opposing Bidens Cold War Anti-China Bloc Jan. 26 , 2021 (EIRNS)During her speech to the World Economic Forum today, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made headlines by siding with Chinese President Xi Jinpings calls for a new system of multilateralism in implicit opposition to U.S. President Joe Bidens effort to form a global anti-China bloc. Biden has sought to hold a Summit of Democracy made up of nations that would align together to oppose what he characterizes as authoritarian regimes, singling out China and Russia. Others, including Britains Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have dubbed such a bloc the D-10. In his Jan. 25 keynote speech at Davos, Xi Jinping responded directly to such a proposal, warning, To build small circles or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to willfully impose decoupling, supply disruption or sanctions, to create isolation or estrangement, will only push the world into division and even confrontation.... History and reality have made it clear, time and again, that the misguided approach of antagonism and confrontationbe it in the form of cold war, hot war, trade war, or tech warwill eventually hurt all countries interests and undermine everyones well-being. President Xi instead exhorted for all nations to jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and to join together to act on the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. In her Special Address today, introduced by WEF Chairman Klaus Schwab, Angela Merkel was explicit in her agreement with Xi Jinping and opposition to Bidens bloc proposal, saying, The Chinese President spoke yesterday, and he and I agree on that. We see a need for multilateralism.... I would very much wish to avoid the building of blocs. I dont think it would do justice to many societies if we were to say this is the United States and over there is China and we are grouping around either the one or the other. This is not my understanding of how things ought to be. She went on to state, I think we will have more values that we share, more positions that we hold in common, but there will also be differences in opinion and different interests. Im not in favor of a total decoupling of all digital activities, we should not strive for that. Because it would feed into a division of the world. Elsewhere in her speech, Merkel came back to that theme, asserting that the COVID pandemic has proven that we need to choose a multilateral approach, shutting ourselves off against others will not help us to solve our problems.... Her remarks were picked up in an article today in Politico, under the headline Merkel Sides With Xi on Avoiding Cold War Blocs which began by reporting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rejected calls for Europe to pick sides between the U.S. and China, in a nod to the plea made by Chinese President Xi Jinping a day earlier. While the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is looking to group together democracies to contain China, Merkel was pointedly wary about the formation of factions. It must be noted that the actions are carried out along the borderline of said region. The Joint Command reported that the deployment of armored units, motorized units, and military personnel in the area was ordered to strengthen control measures in the northern border of Peru, as well as surveillance and preventive actions in the face of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The military personnel from the Northern Operational Command were carried aboard more than 50 vehicles, including armored units, trucks, and patrol cars. The soldiers were placed on the 30 illegal crossings detected by authorities in the border area, in order to prevent the entry of illegal immigrants. According to the CCFFAA chief, February will be a critical month, hence the implementation of measures to prevent illegal immigrants who may transmit the COVID-19 virus from entering Peru. These actions are being carried out following a meeting between Astudillo and his Ecuadorian counterpart, in which they agreed on control and surveillance actions within the framework of the health emergency decreed by the Government. ?? #NDP Fuerzas Armadas despliegan unidades blindadas y personal para reforzar la seguridad y el control en la frontera norte. pic.twitter.com/Pw7mjorX8h Gran despliegue de unidades blindadas, motorizadas y personal militar hasta 30 pasos ilegales detectados en la zona limitrofe con el Ecuador. En coordinacion con @DefensaEc, se garantiza la seguridad y se refuerzan las medidas de control en la frontera norte del Peru. pic.twitter.com/L0ExofZJIG US Aviation Academy (USAA) branches out and offers a Part 147 A&P program for students pursuing a career as an Aviation Maintenance Technician (AMT) beginning January 2021. USAA has helped alleviate the shortage of trained and skilled pilots and now offers an A&P program with hands-on experience with real aircraft in a Class Delta airport. Providing training at an airport gives students a full immersion environment into the AMT world. The A&P program is 12 months, compared to other programs typically lasting two years. Training includes hands-on shop time with removing, rebuilding, fabricating, troubleshooting various aircraft components, along with theory and lecture classes. USAA provides its students with all books, tools and materials necessary for training. The instructors teaching the program have worked on USAAs fleet of over 120 aircraft including piston and turbine engine aircraft. I am excited to see US Aviation branch out into A&P training, the other half of the aviation labor shortage, said Scott Sykes, Vice President of Business Development. US Aviations been solving the worldwide pilot shortage for 15 years, its time we started solving the A&P shortage too. Aircraft technicians have a unique opportunity to start earning $50,000 or more by the time they are 20 years old with a path to a six-figure salary as a manager at a large shop. The skills learned in an A&P program are transferable; mechanics can choose to work at places like Disney World, Six Flags, specialty composite/metal shops and more in addition to working at airlines. About US Aviation Academy: US Aviation Academy has provided world-class professional flight training since 2006, offering accelerated professional pilot training to domestic students and contract international airline students. In addition to providing training for collegiate partnership programs and the United States Department of Defense. USAA offers FAA Part 141 training including Private, Instrument, Commercial and Certified Flight Instructor ratings. US Aviation Academy has a fleet of over 120 aircraft and simulators, making it one of the largest flight training academies in the United States. USAA conducts flight operations out of Denton Enterprise Airport (KDTO), Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport (KCXO), Fort Worth Alliance Airport (KAFW) and Hudson Valley Regional Airport (KPOU). USAA also offers Part 147 A&P training at the Denton campus for students pursuing a career as an Aviation Maintenance Technician. If you would like more information about USAA, please visit https://www.usaviationacademy.com/ Reena Jani, 34, a health worker, receives the vaccine developed by Oxford/AstraZeneca at Mathalput Community Health Centre, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Koraput. (Image: Reuters) A total of 20,29,424 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 36,572 sessions held till the evening of January 26, the eleventh day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry. On January 26, 5,615 beneficiaries were vaccinated in five states -- Andhra Pradesh (9), Karnataka (429), Rajasthan (216), Tamil Nadu (4926), and Telangana (35) -- till 7.00 pm through 194 vaccination sessions, the ministry said. In view of Republic Day, a limited number of sessions in a limited number of states were conducted on January 26, said the ministry. According to the Health Ministry data, the highest number of vaccinations in the country till now have been carried out in Karnataka at 2,31,601 followed by Odisha at 1,77,090, Rajasthan at 1,61,332, and Maharashtra at 1,36,901. Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the vaccination drive with healthcare workers at the frontline of India's COVID-19 battle getting their first jabs on January 16. Indias drug regulator has approved two vaccines - Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) - for emergency use in the country. According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities. Here are all developments related to the COVID-19 vaccine in India: > A 27-year-old healthcare worker died in Odisha on January 26, three days after taking the COVID-19 vaccine, while the state health department said his death is not related to vaccination. The man who was inoculated on January 23 died in Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla in Sambalpur district, an official statement said. > Sri Lanka has expressed appreciation and gratitude to India for sending 5,00,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to the island country. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa told the Cabinet that the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo informed that India would be sending 5,00,000 vaccines to Sri Lanka and they will arrive there on January 28. > Over 7,400 healthcare workers received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Monday as the inoculation drive picked up pace in the city, recording 91 percent turnout for the day, officials said. > South African president Cyril Ramaphosa accused rich countries of hoarding coronavirus vaccines. The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines from developers and manufacturers, and some countries have even gone beyond and acquired four times what their population needs, he said. > Moderna Inc said it believes its COVID-19 vaccine protects against new variants found in Britain and South Africa, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the South African variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished. The company said in a news release it found no reduction in the antibody response against the variant found in Britain. Against the South African variant, it found a reduced response but still believed its two-dose regimen would provide protection. States Total Beneficiaries A & N Islands 2,369 Andhra Pradesh 1,56,129 Bihar 88,450 Chhattisgarh 40,025 Karnataka 2,31,601 Kerala 71,973 Madhya Pradesh 67,083 Tamil Nadu 73,953 Telangana 1,30,425 West Bengal 1,22,851 Chandigarh 1,928 Odisha 1,77,090 Punjab 39,418 Haryana 1,05,419 Rajasthan 1,61,332 Here is the state-wise vaccination: (With inputs from PTI) Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here With the lock-down expected to last until March and further restrictions to remain in place well into the summer, most Kerry hotels do not expect to fully reopen before late May. Even so - and after a horrific year which saw revenues at most hotels down by almost two thirds - Kerry hoteliers are remaining upbeat and are confident the sector can recover quickly once restrictions are, eventually, lifted. Few expect international tourism to return to any significant degree before 2023, at the earliest, but the domestic market is expected to be robust when restrictions are lifted and people are afforded the opportunity to enjoy a holiday or short getaway break after months cooped up at home. This belief and confidence is bolstered by the experience last year when, despite a dramatically curtailed season and the need to implement stringent social distancing measures, most Kerry hotels enjoyed a successful summer. Bernadette Randles, proprietor of Killarney's Dromhall Hotel and President of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotel's Federation, said the outlook is generally good in spite of the crisis gripping the industry. "We're in a difficult situation, but we are where we are, and it's no-one's fault. The important thing we all have to do is stay positive," she said. "In terms of reopening, I think it could be anytime in May or June. The one thing we know is we will reopen. We will be back," said Ms Randles. "Last summer went very well everywhere and it turned out to be very good season. People needed a little fun, they needed a little enjoyment, and I think we'll see that again this summer," she said. As most hotels kept the majority, if not all, of their staff on the books and all now have experience adapting their businesses to social-distancing rules, Ms Randles says the hotel sector in Kerry is ready to reopen. "We're ready to go, we just need to get the doors open," she said. "Until then, we need to stay positive and have hope. Things will get better." Over in Tralee at the multi-award-winning Ballygarry House Hotel, Proprietor Padraig McGillcuddy was also feeling positive about the year ahead. Like Ms Randles, he also expects it will be May or June before the hospitality sector gets back to business, but he is also firmly of the opinion that the industry can bounce back. While Mr McGillicuddy feels it is likely to be 2023 before the industry is back on its feet, he agrees that the domestic market will be able to provide a buffer. As the proprietor of a hotel with a large and well-known wedding trade, Mr McGillicuddy and the rest of the team at Ballygarry have extra reason to be confident ahead of their eventual reopening later in the year. Demand for weddings has shown no sign of slowing, and while the ceremonies will be smaller for the foreseeable future, there will be no shortage of people tying the knot. In fact, given the number of weddings that have had to be postponed due to COVID-19 - at Ballygarry alone some wedding celebrations have been rearranged five times already - the Tralee hotel is facing a glut of nuptials when normal service resumes. Typically, pre-COVID, Ballygarry House Hotel hosted an average of two weddings a week. When it reopens, Mr McGillicuddy expects the hotel will be catering for five a week until the backlog is cleared. Perhaps surprisingly, new wedding bookings have continued right through the latest lock-downs. "Right now, we have bookings right through in to 2022 and 2023. People started booking in the last three months, and I suppose with the number of postponed weddings, a lot of couples wanted to get in and get their day booked," said Mr McGillicuddy. "The thing about weddings is they're recession proof. The business survived the last recession and the ash cloud, and it will survive this. People will always want to get married," he said. As to the general reopening of the hospitality sector, like Bernadette Randles and her staff in Killarney, the team at Ballygarry is ready and waiting. "Once we can open the doors it's full steam ahead," Mr McGillicuddy said. 7 day print subscribers enjoy unlimited access to yakimaherald.com Enter the LAST NAME and the 7 DIGIT phone number on your print subscription account to connect your print subscription to your yakimaherald.com account. Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. The Mission's freedom of movement continued to be restricted. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine on January 25 recorded 118 violations of the ceasefire in Donbas. This is stated in the OSCE SMM's January 26 daily report based on information as of 19:30 Kyiv time on January 25, 2021. Read alsoDonbas warzone update: One WIA amid five truce violations on Jan 26"The SMM recorded 62 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded 17 ceasefire violations in the region," it said. "The Mission recorded 56 ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. In the previous 24 hours, it recorded no ceasefire violations in the region." The Mission's freedom of movement continued to be restricted, including at a checkpoint of the armed formations in Staromykhailivka, Donetsk region, and at border crossing points outside government control near Voznesenivka and Dovzhanske, Luhansk region. Other related news reports Reporting by UNIAN Jeanerette-based shipbuilding company Metal Shark has been selected to develop and build a sea-based weapons system for the United States Marine Corps. The long range unmanned surface vessel will represent the cutting edge of Naval technology.The strike vessels can be operated both remotedly or with a crew.Under the agreement, Metal Shark will design, build, test and implement the vessels and integrate them into existing software systems. Christopher Allard Metal Sharks CEO says, " We just signed a contract with the United States Marine Corps to develop their long ranged unmanned surface vessel. This has come about after four years of working in the autonomous space developing autonomous craft with partners marketing them and kind of bringing them to the military and working within the military space for the adoption of this kind of technology."Metal Shark is no stranger to federal defense contracts: in 2017 the company was awarded a 54- million-dollar contract to build patrol vessels. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (OTCQB: SVBL, TSX: SVB) (Silver Bull) is pleased to announce it has completed its due diligence and has closed om the option agreement with Copperbelt AG (Copperbelt), a public, non-listed mineral exploration company registered in Zug, Switzerland, regarding their 100% owned Beskauga copper-gold project located in northeastern Kazakhstan. Highlights of the Agreement With the closing of the deal Silver Bull has paid Copperbelt a total of US$70,000 in upfront fees. Silver Bull has four years to conduct exploration on the property. Exploration expenditures on Beskauga and certain other licenses required to keep the option in good standing are US$2 million in year one, US$3 million in year two, US$5 million in year three and US$5 million in year four, for a total exploration spend of US$15 million over four years. After completing US$15 million in cumulative exploration expenditures Silver Bull can acquire the Beskauga property for a US$15 million cash payment. Copperbelt may receive a bonus payment of up to US$32 million should Silver Bull publish a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) with a resource of up to 10 million gold equivalent ounces on the main Beskauga prospect and 5 million gold equivalent ounces on an additional prospect. 20% of the bonus is payable 60 days after publishing a BFS, with the remaining 80% payable on the commencement of mine construction. Up to 50% of the bonus is payable in common stock of Silver Bull at Silver Bulls election. Silver Bull will pay a finders fee to a third party upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. Tim Barry, President, CEO and director of Silver Bull states, We are extremely pleased to close this agreement with Copperbelt. We believe the Beskauga copper-gold project represents one of the best exploration opportunities in the world. The high quality work that has been completed on the project to date indicates that Beskauga is a huge mineralizing system that has considerable upside that has yet to be explored. We will be working closely with our partners from Copperbelt to quickly and efficiently explore these areas. In addition to the exploration potential at Beskauga, the project has excellent infrastructure. Paved road access and, 1100 KVA power lines, heavy rail, and a highly trained workforce all lie within a 10 kilometer radius. The capital city of Nur-Sultan, located approximately 300 kilometers from the project, has a major international airport allowing for easy access and administration of the Beskauga project. As a mining jurisdiction Kazakhstan is fast becoming a go to place due to its recently updated mining law and incredible geological prospectivity. In June 2018 the Kazakhstan government implemented a new mining code based on the mining code used in Western Australia and has reduced a considerable amount of the administrative burdens for subsoil users. Unlike many governments around the world today, the Kazakh government is very supportive of the mining sector, a view which is highlighted by the fact that numerous major mining companies have recently set up an office in the country and acquired exploration licenses. We expect to provide more details about the Beskauga project itself in the coming months. About Kazakhstan Size: Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, covering 2,717,300 km2, and has a population of 18.2 million people. Capital City: The capital city is Nur-Sultan which is located 300 kilometers from the project. Nur-Sultan has a major international airport allowing for easy access and administration of the Beskauga project. Mining Law: Kazakhstan adopted a new mining code titled Code on Surface and Subsoil Use (the "SSU Code") on December 27, 2017, that became effective on June 29, 2018. The SSU Code is based on the Western Australian model where Kazakhstan moved from a contractual regime to a licensing regime for solid minerals (except for uranium). Coincident with the updated SSU law, the Kazakhstan government also reduced a considerable amount of the administrative burdens for subsoil users. Tax: A summary of pertinent taxes related to exploration in Kazakhstan is as follows: 20% corporate tax 12% value-added tax (VAT) is refundable for exploration companies 4.7% royalty for copper 5% royalty for gold and silver Geological Prospectivity: Kazakhstan is one of the most prospective countries in the world for a number of metals. According the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Kazakhstan is; 1 st in the world for uranium production (41% of world output) in the world for uranium production (41% of world output) 2 nd in the world for chromite production (18% of world output) in the world for chromite production (18% of world output) 4 th in the world for titanium production (6% of world output) in the world for titanium production (6% of world output) 10th in the world for copper production In addition, Kazakhstan has significant proven reserves (as yet unmined) of gold, silver, lead, zinc tin, iron ore, nickel, cobalt, and bauxite. The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies in 2017, ranked Kazakhstan the 24th best mining jurisdiction in the world. Sierra Mojada Update Silver Bulls Sierra Mojada project remains under an illegal blockade organized by a Cooperative of local Miners called Sociedad Cooperativa de Exploracion Minera Mineros Nortenos, S.C.L. (Mineros Nortenos). Due to COVID-19 the Mexican court system remains closed and the timing of reopening is uncertain. In an attempt to force Silver Bull into making a settlement, Mineros Nortenos has blocked access to the project since September 2019. To ensure the safety of all involved, Silver Bull has elected to halt all operations on the project until a resolution can be found. The joint venture option with South32 remains in good standing but under a force majeure pause. About Silver Bull: Silver Bull is a mineral exploration company whose shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and trade on the OTCQB in the United States. Silver Bull owns the Sierra Mojada project which is located 150 kilometers north of the city of Torreon in Coahuila, Mexico, and is highly prospective for silver and zinc. Sierra Mojada is currently under a joint venture option with South32 International Investment Holdings Pty Ltd. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim Barry" Tim Barry, CPAusIMM Chief Executive Officer, President and Director INVESTOR RELATIONS: +1 604 687 5800 info@silverbullresources.com Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the potential payment of a finders fee in connection with the Beskauga option agreement, the potential upside of the Beskauga property, future exploration of the Beskauga area, support of the Kazakh government of the mining sector, geological prospectivity of Kazakhstan , the potential resolution of the blockade at Sierra Mojada. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including such factors as the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2019, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the interim periods ended January 31, 2020, April 30, 2020, and July 31, 2020, and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American Crew for the first ever private flight to the International Space Station was introduced on Tuesday. It includes three men, each paying $55 million for the trip, and a former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. The Ax-1 crew, (L-R): Michael Lopez-Alegria, Mark Pathy, Larry Connor and Eytan Stibbe. (Image: Axiom Space) The first-of-its-kind space trip is being organised by Axiom Space, a Houston-based aerospace manufacturer. The designated crew, including the private travellers, will fly to the ISS next January on a SpaceX rocket. This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. It's never been done before," said Axiom's chief executive and president Mike Suffredini. In an interaction with The Associated Press, Suffredini confirmed that the three paid travellers are just people who want to be able to go to space, and we're providing that opportunity." The first private crew will lift off from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and take one or two days to get to the ISS. Once on the station, each of the customers intends to perform science research in orbit. They will come back to Earth after spending eight days in space. Ax-1 Axiom Station (Image: Axiom Space) Axiom's first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio, Mark Pathy - a Canadian financier, and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe. Stibbe is reportedly a close friend of Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut who lost his life in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. Suffredini mentions that each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests for the flight, following which, they will now get 15 weeks of training. With the flight, 70-year-old Connor is also set to become the second-oldest person to fly in space, after John Glenn who took a shuttle flight in 1998 at the age of 77. Connor will also serve as the capsule pilot under Lopez-Alegria. [January 27, 2021] Splashtop Posts Significant Milestones on its Way to $1B Valuation SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Splashtop Inc., an emerging leader in next-generation remote access and remote support, recounts a year of significant milestones that paved the way to today's funding announcement of a $50 million financing round that pushed the company's valuation to more than $1 billion. Among its accomplishments in 2020, Splashtop: Earned a customer satisfaction-measuring Net Promoter Score (NPS) score of 93, based on a third-party report by G2the highest NPS of any company in the remote access business. Served 85% of Fortune 500 companiesincluding Disney, FedEx, GE, Marriott and Toyotaas well as government and education institutions such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard University , Stanford Healthcare, and a research lab enabling COVID-19 vacine research by major pharmaceutical companies. , Stanford Healthcare, and a research lab enabling COVID-19 vacine research by major pharmaceutical companies. Helped thousands of businesses shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling employees to remotely access their work-based computers, data and software applications from their personal devices at home. Allowed hundreds of thousands of students, in both K-12 and higher education institutions, to access software applications running in school-based computer labs from home using their laptops, tablets and Chromebooks. Achieved SOC 2/SOC 3 security auditing compliance and became ready to comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Important activities for Splashtop in 2020 included: Establishing new global partnerships in EMEA, South America and Asia . and . Opening an EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam and enhancing its Euro currency and local multilingual support in Europe . and enhancing its Euro currency and local multilingual support in . Opening an APAC channel headquarters in Singapore supporting hundreds of revenue-generating channel partners, and building enterprise channels in multiple countries, including Japan . supporting hundreds of revenue-generating channel partners, and building enterprise channels in multiple countries, including . Establishing a Security Advisory Council to help guide Splashtop toward its rigorous security and compliance goals. Integrating Single Sign On (SSO) into its remote-access product line, enabling organizations to centrally authenticate users and devices to enhance cybersecurity. Announcing support for 4K -quality streaming at 40 frames per second (fps), and iMac Pro Retina 5K , at low latencybetter equipping video editors, game developers, CAD/CAM users and others performing processing-intensive activities to work from home, without requiring physical access to their workplaces' high-end workstations. -quality streaming at 40 frames per second (fps), and iMac Pro Retina , at low latencybetter equipping video editors, game developers, CAD/CAM users and others performing processing-intensive activities to work from home, without requiring physical access to their workplaces' high-end workstations. Releasing Splashtop Enterprisea comprehensive remote access and remote support solution that provides enterprises with flexible licensing options to meet their IT staff, help desk and end-user remote-access needsand Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs, allowing educational institutions to better manage student and faculty access to computing resources located in on-campus computer labs. "Creating happy customers is an integral part of how we do business," said Mark Lee, co-founder and CEO of Splashtop. "Whether it's through new products and features, expanded geographic reach, or making it even easier to purchase and use our remote access and remote support software, delighting customers is at the heart of everything we do." The Splashtop blog provides more details about Splashtop's path to its $1 billion valuation and unicorn status. About Splashtop Based in Silicon Valley, Splashtop Inc. delivers next-generation remote access and remote support software and services for enterprises, academic and research institutions, government agencies, small businesses, MSPs, IT departments, and individuals. Splashtop's cloud-based, secure, and easily managed remote access approach is increasingly replacing legacy approaches such as virtual private networks (VPNs), while earning a stunning 93 Net Promoter Score (NPS), a standard for assessing customer satisfaction. More than 30 million users, including those in 85% of Fortune 500 enterprises, enjoy Splashtop products globally. Visit http://www.splashtop.com for more information. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/splashtop-posts-significant-milestones-on-its-way-to-1b-valuation-301215773.html SOURCE Splashtop [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. White House briefing is back It began with a few glitches and interrupted audio, but eventually President Bidens top coronavirus advisers including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held their first public briefing today. The virtual meeting was a clear effort to make good on Mr. Bidens pledge to let science speak again. A central concern among the officials is the spread of the new variants. Jeffrey Zients, Mr. Bidens Covid response coordinator, said the U.S. was 43rd in the world in its ability to track potentially dangerous new mutations of the coronavirus, calling it totally unacceptable. Federal health officials have warned that the more contagious variant first discovered in Britain could become the dominant source of infection in the U.S. by March. During the briefing, Dr. Fauci said the National Institutes of Health was working on research aimed at adapting vaccines so that they have the ability to neutralize these mutants. The advisers also used the meeting to call on Congress to do its part. Mr. Zients warned that the federal government still faced a shortage of personal protective gear, and said it would not be able to buy more if Congress didnt pass Mr. Bidens $1.9 trillion virus rescue plan. Dr. Walensky also pleaded with Congress for additional money, saying scientists really need to have access to those resources to do the amount of sequencing and surveillance that we need in order to detect things when they first start to emerge. The United Arab Emirates has claimed to have already vaccinated some 2.5 million of its population of about 10 million. It is the second highest rate globally after Israel. 'Spread love, not Rona,' say social media fliers for three restaurants run by Gates Hospitality, offering a 10 per cent discount to residents who have taken the first dose of a vaccine and a 20 per cent discount to those who have taken two. Also read: Spreading COVID-19 Vaccine Rumours Now Criminal Offence AFP Customers will have to show proof of inoculation such as a medical certificate to avail the discount. However, not everyone welcomed the move. But there were plenty who were in favour of it. "There's two ways to look at it, either it's another marketing stunt, or a genuine motivation to get more people vaccinated," said one tweet. The UAE started mass inoculations in December after approving vaccines made by Chinese firm Sinopharm and US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. Also read: Pichai Offers Google Offices For COVID Vaccine Centers And $150 Million For Awareness AFP Dubai has also reopened its borders to visitors in July. On Sunday, the UAE announced 3,579 Covid-19 cases, a new high for the thirteenth consecutive day. It has so far recorded over 277,000 infections, including 792 deaths. Also read: Covid Vaccine Update 25 Jan 2021 Healthcare IT News What do you think of this move? Is it a marketing gimmick or a way to encourage people to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Zurich/Basel, January 27, 2021 Investors are increasingly optimistic about their regional economic outlook and the equity markets, according to UBSs new Investor Sentiment survey, which polled more than 4,000 investors and business owners across 14 markets globally in late December and January. A majority of survey respondents (60%) have a positive economic outlook over the next 12 months, compared with 55% three months prior. Sixty-three percent of investors dont believe life will return to normal in the next six months. Of those respondents, only 48% are optimistic about the economy. Among the 37% of investors who expect life to return to normal in the next six months, economic optimism is much higher at 80%. Over the next six months, 61% of investors are also increasingly optimistic about the stock market, up 6 percentage points globally over the past quarter. Globally, investors expect the market to benefit from progress on COVID-19 vaccines (72%) and the potential impact of the US election results (62%). Among business owners, 72% are confident in their own business over the next 12 months, up from 69% in the third quarter, due to business momentum (45%), vaccine progress (43%) and favorable monetary policy (40%). Nearly a third of business owners (32%) plan to hire workers, up from 30% three months prior. However, the proportion of business owners who plan to downsize increased as well, up 2 percentage points. Investors expressed particular interest in sustainable investing, with 54% looking to increase their allocations. Half of investors expect sustainable investing to yield the better returns relative to traditional investing, while 29% expect equal performance. Tom Naratil, President of UBS Americas and Co-President of UBS Global Wealth Management, said: We are encouraged that confidence among investors and business owners is rising globally, despite uncertainty over COVID-19 and political issues. The decade ahead will present new opportunities, while geopolitical, economic and social challenges will remain. It is no surprise to see that eight in 10 investors tell us they need expert advice more than ever. Commenting on the finding that most investors plan to increase sustainable allocations within their portfolios, Iqbal Khan, Co-President of UBS Global Wealth Management, said: Three years ago we had around USD 1 billion invested in our 100% sustainable portfolio for private clients. Today that figure is over USD 18 billion. We believe sustainable investing offers significant value for clients and for the world, which is why in September we became the first major global financial institution to make it our preferred solution for private clients investing globally. [January 27, 2021] JETRO Kyoto Announces to hold Kyoto Virtual Design Fair featuring with Konkai-Komyoji Temple KYOTO, Japan, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the situation lots of trade fairs have been cancelled due to COVID-19, JETRO Kyoto will hold a virtual exhibition with overseas buyers to sell products from Kyoto. JETRO Kyoto has just opened a special virtual exhibition site. 3D photographs had been taken at the venue of Konkai Komyoji Temple where the products of 45 companies from Kyoto are exhibited. Visitors from around the world can select products at the website while enjoying the autumn leaves and culture of Kyoto. Also, overseas buyers can arrange B2B meetings through Eventhub system. JETRO Kyoto will also organize a virtual tour to visit a factory of Kyo Kanoko Shibori, which is designated as a traditional craft by Japanese government on 9 of February 2021. "Due to COVID-19, it is difficult to invite overseas buyers to Kyoto at this moment. However, at this virtual exhibition site, visitors can enjoy beautiful autumn which is the most beautiful season in Kyoto as well as find excellent esign products from Kyoto. We are looking forward to your visit to Kyoto virtually!", said Naofumi MAKINO, Chief Director, JETRO Kyoto. Name: Kyoto Virtual Design Fair featuring with Konkai-Komyoji Temple Date and time: Virtual exhibition site opening January 27, 2021 B2B business meetings 1-19 February, 2021 Location: Online Virtual Exhibition Site Event Introduction Page About JETRO: JETRO, or the Japan External Trade Organization, is a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Originally established in 1958 to promote Japanese exports abroad, JETRO's core focus in the 21st century has shifted toward promoting foreign direct investment into Japan and helping small to medium size Japanese firms maximize their global export potential. JETRO has 76 overseas offices in 55 countries worldwide, as well as 48 offices in Japan, including Kyoto office. SOURCE JETRO Kyoto [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] PHOENIX, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kryptolights, a startup based in Phoenix, Arizona, is commercializing a new technology to offer cost-effective Far-UV products that can seamlessly integrate into people's lives. "This type of lighting will be integral to everyone's future," says Kryptolights co-founder Shey Godoy. "To have a device that continuously reduces the viral load in any occupied space is vital to building a pandemic-proof future." Six years ago, a newly recognized spectrum of light showed promise to safely eradicate pathogens while in the presence of humans. Pioneered by Columbia University scientists, "Far-UV" (defined as the range of 207-230 nm on the light spectrum) was intended to prevent the spread of superbugs, like the current coronavirus (a strain of which is behind the COVID-19 infections) that has caused worldwide social and economic disruption. Research has accelerated during the pandemic and increasingly demonstrated the ability of this spectrum to continually disinfect occupied rooms and areas without penetrating human skin or eyes. Join the Fight with Light Deploying ultraviolet light in the effort to combat pathogens is not a new idea. For over 100 years, ultraviolet light has been actively utilized for the reduction of bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens in the air (primarily in HVAC systems) and in sterilizing drinking water. The influx of UV devices that have flooded the market with this pandemic is, however, new to the general public which has had very little experience with UV in daily life. "Education and safety are our top priorities," continued Godoy. "It is very promising that the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) is proposing to raise its threshold value limits (TLVs) for Far-UV. When implemented, these guidelines will help businesses and people recognize the potential of Far-UV in their daily lives and how it can help everyone come closer to returning to a normal life." The company is currently ramping up production to meet the needs of businesses worldwide and to limit the spread of superbugs. With the help of distributors across the country and world, Godoy plans to make this technology available to everyone and expects by next year that the "kryptonite to pathogens," Kryptolights , will be a household name. Contact [email protected] for more info. SOURCE KryptoLights The Delhi Police have registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence in several area that has left over 300 policemen injured Farmers gather at Red Fort during their tractor parade on Republic Day, in New Delhi, Tuesday, January 26, 2021. (PTI/Arun Sharma) New Delhi: Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later on Wednesday to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital. Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border, a major protest site against the three new farm laws. A senior farmer leader said, "The Samkyukta Kisan Morcha will meet around 3 pm on Wednesday and discuss all aspects pertaining to violence that happened during the tractor parade in Delhi". The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions, is leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi. After violence broke out during the tractor parade on Tuesday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had called off the parade and appealed to participants to immediately return to their respective protest sites. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Kisan Morcha had disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade, and alleged that some "antisocial elements" infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. Police registers 22 FIRs; examining CCTV footage to identify accused The Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the national capital leaving over 300 policemen injured, officials said on Wednesday. An official said multiple videos and CCTV footage are being scanned to identify farmers involved in the violence on Tuesday and that strict action will be taken against the culprits. Security has been beefed up in several places across the national capital especially at the Red Fort and farmer protest sites, with deployment of additional paramilitary forces following the violence. Additional PRO (Delhi Police), Anil Mittal, said 22 FIRs have been so far registered in connection with Tuesday's violence. More than 300 policemen have been injured in the incident, he said. The SKM had given an undertaking to the police to take out a peaceful rally as per the proposed plans on four agreed upon routes. However, on Tuesday around 8.30 am, 6,000 to 7,000 tractors assembled at the Singhu border, police said. Instead of going on the pre-decided route, they insisted upon going towards central Delhi and despite repeated requests, the farmers, led by Nihangs on their horses and equipped with swords, kirpans and fursas, had charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades, which were erected between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar, the police had said. Similar incidents were reported from Gazipur and Tikri borders. The farmers at the Gazipur border broke through the barricades at several points and headed for ITO, where they were joined by the farmers who had come from the Singhu border. At the Tikri border also, the farmers did not agree to the pre-decided plan and fought with police. They not only broke barricades, but also attacked police vehicles and personnel with deadly weapons. Instead of turning towards Najafgarh, they headed towards Peeragarhi and further towards the central part of the national capital, police had said. At ITO, a large group of farmers, who had come from Gazipur and Singhu borders, had attempted to move towards Luytens' Delhi. When they were stopped by policemen, a group of these farmers became violent and broke the barricades, damaged iron grills and dividers and even tried to run over the policemen deployed at these barricades, the police had said in a statement. However, police personnel succeeded in stopping them from entering Lutyens' Delhi. Meanwhile, some farmers also indulged in vandalism and attacked policemen. Later, they changed their plans and moved towards Red Fort, it had said. At Red Fort, they broke the gates and entered its wells. A section of the crowd also managed to climb atop the rampart of the Red Fort where they hoisted their organisation's flag, the statement had said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Delhi, Jan 27 : All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) convener V.M. Singh on Wednesday announced to quit the ongoing farmers' protest - the first leader to distance himself from the agitation as it entered the 63rd day. Condemning Tuesday's violence in Delhi, Singh said "I am quitting the agitation as its format is not accepted". In a veiled attack, Singh accused anti-social elements and other farmer leaders of "derailing" the agitation and abandoning the main issue that was the basis for the entire agitation. "We deviated from the issue yesterday. Our issue was to get the government's assurance on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and repeal of three farm laws (enacted by the government in September last year during Monsoon Session of Parliament)," Singh said. "However, yesterday's issue was to unfurl flag on Red Fort." The farmer leader, who has been booked by the Delhi Police along with many other farmer leaders and many more following the violent tractor rally in the capital on Republic Day, said he "did not come here to defame Republic Day". Singh also accused other farmer leaders for sticking to the single demand of repealing the three farm laws, saying "discussion on these laws can be done but the major issue is to get the government's guarantee on MSP purchase". Singh said, "The government is calling only those farmer leaders who are not ready to compromise. Farmers' need is government's guarantee on MSP purchase." While declaring to quit the agitation, he said, "I will not pressure other party members to leave the agitation." On December 12 last year, Singh was isolated by working group members of the AIKSCC for his statement that farmers simply want an assurance on MSP and a guarantee of produce purchase. He had then said that "farmers would benefit from the MSP Guarantee Bill". His statement was condemned by the AIKSCC who said that his claim was not authorised by the organisation. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on Jan. 26, 2021. (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Jacinda Ardern Hints at State by State Travel Bubble With Australia New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thinks Australia closed its border to her country too hastily and hinted at switching its travel bubble to individual arrangements with each Australian state or territory instead of the entire country. This comes after the Australian government suspended quarantine-free travel for three days for New Zealand arrivals after the discovery one locally acquired case of the South African strain of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Pary) virus. Ardern, at a post-cabinet press conference on Tuesday, said that it was disappointing Australia did not show more patience to health New Zealands authorities. The New Zealand PM asserted that this was a situation that was well under control, that we have had experiences in New Zealand with these situations in the past. She warned that hastily implemented border closures make it challenging to continue under the current travel bubble arrangement. Look, it does look increasingly difficult at a country-by-country levelwe havent ruled out the possibility of state by statebut, again, I know many people will have been frustrated by the impact that has been had on their travel, Ardern told reporters (pdf). Ardern stressed the inconvenience the decision had on travellers, when it may not be necessary. New Zealand had gone more than two months without a locally acquired infection until the new case, which was an overseas traveller. Similarly, Australia has not recorded any community transmission for almost three weeks. In the past, the New Zealand government have implemented swift and strong lockdowns at the appearance of a new case. Arrivals at the international airport in Auckland, New Zealand, on Jan. 29, 2020. (Dave Rowland/Getty Images) Arderns hint about looking at state to state travel arrangements comes a week after industry leaders raised concerns of the differing responses by Australian premieres and senior ministers to virus outbreaks. Outbreaks over Christmas in the capital cities in New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland led to a range of measures. Western Australia enacted a hard border close to all of Queensland and NSW, while Victoria eventually implemented a traffic light system which limits travel for people returning from identified hotspots. Australian Airports Association Chief Executive James Goodwin warned the current arrangement is having a damaging effect on jobs in the aviation sector and tourism, retail, and hospitality industries. Australia needs a better, coordinated, unified and consistent approach from states and territories on managing COVID hotspots and controlling borders, he told The Epoch Times. Goodwins comments supported federal Treasurer Josh Frydenbergs call for a national definition of virus hotspots after reiterating that closed borders cost jobs. The concern of sudden border closures was again echoed by Ardern, who said: If we are to enter into a trans-Tasman bubble, we will need to be able to give people confidence that we wont see closures at the borders that happen with very short notice over incidents that we believe can be well managed domestically. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. Bangkok: Police raided a party at a bar on a popular resort island in southern Thailand and arrested 89 foreigners for violating coronavirus regulations, officials say. The Tuesday night raid on the Three Sixty Bar on Koh Phangan also netted 22 Thais, including one identified as the bars owner and another who sold drinks there, said police Colonel Suparerk Pankosol, superintendent of the provincial immigration office. Thai immigration officers talk to people at a bar on Koh Phangan island after 89 foreigners were arrested. Credit:AP He said the gathering was illegal under a national state of emergency declared last March to combat the coronavirus. Those arrested were from more than 10 countries, including the US, Britain, Switzerland and Denmark, Suparerk said. Photos of the raid distributed by police showed a dark, crowded room with casually dressed partygoers, almost all wearing face masks. A bag of cement which usually costs approximately $50 has more than tripled in price at some places since Covid-19 invaded the country in March 2020. Some people are paying as much as $150 and more for a bag of cement. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The Coiled Tubing market is anticipated to reach over USD 5,694 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2017, the onshore location segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue during the forecast period. A significant growth in demand for energy, increasing industrialization, and rising demand for horizontal drilling are major factors driving the growth of the Coiled Tubing Market. The demand for coiled tubing is increasing owing to supportive government initiatives, and favorable regulatory framework. Other driving factors include growing demand for natural gas as a fuel and growth in exploration and production activities. Increasing demand from developing nations, development of unconventional oil blocks, and technological advancements are expected provide numerous growth opportunities to the market players during the forecast period. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/coiled-tubing-market/request-for-sample North America Coiled Tubing Market generated the highest revenue in 2017, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The high economic growth in the region, growth in drilling and exploration industries, and growing energy demand are factors expected to drive the market growth. The increasing trend of horizontal drilling, increasing demand for oil and gas in production of power and transportation applications, growing urbanization, and increasing industrialization in countries of North America are further expected to support the Coiled Tubing Market growth. Rising shale gas explorations, increasing operating cost for extracting oil from existing wells, rising demand for natural gas as fuel in the region, and supportive regulatory framework are factors expected to further provide growth opportunities during the forecast period. Well-known companies profiled in the Coiled Tubing Market report include Halliburton Co., Weatherford International Ltd., Baker Hughes, Trican Well Service Ltd, Cudd Energy Services, Schlumberger Ltd., Calfrac Well Services Ltd., C&J Energy Services, Inc., Nabors Industries Ltd., and Archer Limited. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/coiled-tubing-market Coiled Tubing Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Location Onshore Offshore Coiled Tubing Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Operation Pumping Circulation Logging Others Coiled Tubing Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Application Drilling Well Cleaning and Completion Well Intervention Others Coiled Tubing Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Region North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK France Italy Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China India Japan Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/coiled-tubing-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. 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Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Ulrich Perrey/afp/TNS A UCSF-led science team may have found another breakthrough drug treatment to fight COVID-19, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. Studies have shown that small concentrations of Aplidin, a drug created using an extraction from a marine creature called Aplidium albicans, killed the virus in both infected human lung cells and analogous cells from monkeys. The study, which has been published in the journal Science, shows that the sea squirt found off the coast of Ibiza could be "almost 30 times more potent than Remdesivir," the Chronicle reported. While not yet approved to treat patients with COVID-19, if proven effective this treatment would be a welcome addition to the still small amount of antiviral drugs available to treat the disease. This Friday January 29 is the last day of Bus Eireann's Dublin to Limerick and Cork service which served Laois. Many customers including third level students will not feel the loss of the X12 Expressway until college and normal life after Covid restrictions end. The decision by the national transport company to end its cross country service, to concentrate on cities, was announced last September with the final date announced only last week. The decision was a financial one. Expressways X12 service between Dublin and Limerick has incurred unsustainable losses due to the impact of Covid-19, said Eleanor Farrell, Chief Commercial Officer, Bus Eireann. Laois Offaly Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley is blaming the cut on "previous Fianna Fail Government policy". What has happened this week is a direct result of previous Fianna Fail Government policy. When these routes were deregulated, Sinn Fein and others pointed out at the time that Bus Eireann would not be able to compete with private operators whose workers would not have the same pay and terms and conditions as Bus Eireann staff and drivers. Gradually over the last decade or more Bus Eireann service has been gradually undercut by this race to the bottom, just as we predicted. The Bus Eireann management also has questions to answer in that they deliberately pulled these services out of towns and villages such as Durrow, Abbeyleix, Borris in Ossory, Castletown, Mountrath and Ballybrittas in Laois over the past decade and thereby reduced passenger numbers. The axing of these routes flies in the face of what is supposed to be Government policy, to make improvements to public transport. Its worth noting that this Government has a Green Minister for Transport. Also of note is the fact that during the major Covid lockdown in March to June BS alone provided continuity of service on these routes. The Minister for Transport and the National Transport Association (NTA) now need to re-examine these routes with a view to reinstating this service and a proper campaign to promote the routes," Dep Stanley said. Laois Offaly Minister of State, Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming labels Bus Eireann's move "an absolute disgrace". Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with university students via a video conference call at a state residence in Zavidovo, Russia, on Jan. 25, 2021. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters) Putin: World Risks Fight of All Against All in Grim Dystopia Amid Growing Crises Russian leader Vladimir Putin warned that society risks a return to world war if theres no international effort to ease existing global tensions and imbalances. Speaking at the World Economic Forums virtual Davos Agenda conference on Jan. 27, he offered a grim prediction and noted that the current era shows parallels to the 1920s and 1930s before the catastrophic World War II. Nowadays, such a heated conflict is not possible, I hope, Putin said. Because it will mean the end of our civilization. But Id like the reiterate that the situation might develop unpredictably and uncontrollably if we sit on our hands doing nothing to avoid it. Theres a possibility that we might experience an actual collapse in global development that might result in a fight of all against all. Such a prospect, he said, would result in a grim dystopia. Wealth inequality, political polarization, and international tensions will exacerbate the problem, he said, and on top of that, the CCP virus pandemic is placing even more strain on society. The coronavirus pandemic has become a major challenge to mankind, and it has accelerated structural changes, the preconditions for which were already in place, he said. We have every reason to believe that the tensions might be aggravated even further. International institutions are weakening, regional conflicts are multiplying, the global security system is degrading. He called for an increase in dialogue between different nations and groups to avoid a possible worldwide conflict. We need [to] ensure development following a different pathone that is positive, balanced, and constructive, he said. Russia currently finds itself amid growing internal tensions after Moscow arrested Putin critic Alexei Navalny after he returned to Russia from Germany. During the Davos address, Putin seemingly made reference to sanctions and embargoes; several countries have placed sanctions on Russia. The use of trade barriers, illegitimate sanctions, restrictions in the financial, technological and information spheressuch a game without rules is dramatically increasing the risks of the unilateral use of military force, which is very dangerous, Putin said. Putin also faces an uncertain relationship with U.S. President Joe Biden, whom he spoke with earlier this week. After their first phone call, Putin formally submitted a bill for the Russian parliament to extend the New START nuclear treaty with the United States by five years, according to Russian media. The presidents expressed satisfaction following todays exchange of diplomatic notes on an agreement to extend the New START Treaty, Putins office announced after his call with Biden, TASS reported. International topics included the United States unilateral withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty, problems of keeping in place the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program, Ukrainian settlement, as well as Russias initiative to call a summit of the United Nations Security Council permanent members, the Kremlin said. Bengaluru, Jan 27 : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has joined hands with the Janata Dal (S) to wrest the Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman's post from the Congress during a week-long Legislature Session that is starting from Thursday. The BJP announced its decision on Wednesday to appoint its member, M. K. Pranesh, as its nominee for the deputy chairman's post. Pranesh will be filing his nomination to the vacant post (deputy chairman) on Thursday and he will be elected on Friday, a senior BJP leader told IANS. With this development, incumbent Legislative Council chairman, K. Pratapchndra Shetty, likely to resign from his post sooner than anticipated as the ruling BJP had moved a no-confidence motion once again two days ago against him which is most certain to be supported by the JD (S). Shetty had expressed his desire to resign prior to December 15, 2020 itself, but due to the insistence of Congress Legislature party leader, Siddarmaiah, he had continued in the post. Even after December 15 ruckus he thought of resigning, but the then deputy chairman S.L. Dharme Gowda's body was found scattered on railway track on December 29, 2020. In the wake of deputy chairman's post remaining vacant, Shetty in one of his press conference last week countered the media persons asking whom should he submit his resignation, even if he wished to resign? "With Gowda's untimely death, I am stuck here, I am waiting for his post to be filled," he had stated. Earlier in the day, on Wednesday, JD(S) party's senior leader, Basavaraj Horatti met Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa at his official residence, Cauvery, and sought his and his party's support to elect him as the Legislative Council chairman, while the BJP can appoint its MLC for the deputy chairman's post, that was held by the JD(S) until its leader, S. L. Dharme Gowda allegedly committed suicide. After his meeting with the CM, Horatti told reporters that JD(S) supremo H. D. Deve Gowda had already spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J. P. Nadda and sought their and their party's support to appoint JD(S) party's candidate as the chairman. "I am meeting Chief Minister Yediyurappa only after our (JDS) 13 MLCs, (Party supremo) Deve Gowda and (party second-in-command) Kumaraswamy had held discussions and decided to demand for the chairman's post to the JD(S) and to support them (BJP) for the deputy chairman post, and sought their support," he said. He quickly added that Yediyurappa had told him that the BJP's decision will be communicated to the JD(S) leadership after discussion with their party MLCs and leaders concerned. Pointing out at the reported discussions held between his party supremo Deve Gowda and Prime Minister Modi and Nadda, Horatti said that Nadda had already asked for his bio-data which has been sent. "He (Nadda) has told (Deve) Gowda that their decision will be communicated to the party (BJP) state president," he said adding that he has experience, seniority and trust of MLCs of all parties to conduct the proceedings of the Legislative Council as its chairman. Speculation is rife in BJP circles that the ruling party may agree to support Horatti, in return for the regional party's support in its move to oust Shetty and passage of certain key bills, and will settle for deputy chairman post. On December 15, 2020, both the BJP and the JD(S) had come together to oust Shetty as Chairman, who is Congress party nominee but went awry with members of the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) almost coming to blows and BJP's notice of no-confidence motion was rejected on technical grounds. Amid the ruckus on December 15, the then deputy chairman S. L. Dharme Gowda was even shoved, pushed and pulled down from the Chair, who had occupied the Chair even before the quorum bell went off and a section of the BJP members closed doors of the exclusive gate through which the chairman enters and exits. Currently the ruling BJP is the single largest party in the Council with 31 seats, followed by Congress with 29 including the chairman, JD(S) 13, one independent and one vacant (due to death of Dharme Gowda). Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (OTC: DNCVF) ("Defiance" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option to acquire 1,915 Ha surrounding the Tepal Gold-Copper Project in Michoacan, Mexico. Defiance has agreed to pay the annual concession fees until a production decision has been made, upon which Defiance will pay the vendor USD $2 million for 100% ownership of the mining concessions. Chris Wright, Chairman & CEO of Defiance commented, "The agreement to acquire this additional license more than doubles Defiance's footprint at the Tepal Project. Not only does the land package contain good exploration potential, the license area underlies key proposed mine infrastructure as defined by the 2017 Preliminary Economic Assessment." Defiance has undergone a substantial desktop review of the Tepal asset and looks forward to following up on key targets generated during this review. Defiance also announces that Darrell Rader has stepped down from the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Rader has served as a Director of the Company since its inception. "On behalf of the Company and the Board, I would like to thank Darrell for his service to the Company. As one of the original founders of Defiance, Darrell's contributions towards helping the company advance its Zacatecas silver projects and develop the Tepal gold-copper project were significant. We wish Darrell all the best in his future endeavors," said Chris Wright. About Defiance Silver Corp. Defiance Silver Corp. (TSXV: DEF) (OTC: DNCVF) (FSE: D4E) is an exploration company advancing it's district-scale Zacatecas Projects, located in the historic Zacatecas Silver District and the 100% owned Tepal Gold/Copper Project in Michoacan state, Mexico. Defiance is managed by a team of proven mine developers with a track record of exploring, advancing and developing several operating mines and advanced resource projects. Defiance's corporate mandate is to expand the Zacatecas and Tepal projects to become premier Mexican silver and gold deposits. Mr. George Cavey, P.Geo, is a Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information concerning the Company's material mineral properties contained in this press release. On behalf of Defiance Silver Corp. "Chris Wright" Chairman of the Board For more information, please contact: Investor Relations at +1 (604) 343-4677 or via email at info@defiancesilver.com. www.defiancesilver.com Suite 2900-550 Burrard Street Vancouver, BC V6C 0A3 Canada Tel: +1 (604) 343-4677 Email: info@defiancesilver.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Defiance Silver Corp. relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72937 Sorry! This content is not available in your region Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning New York State Police are asking the public to be vigilant because counterfeit oxycodone pills have been found being sold in North Country. Police in Clinton County have been investigating where the pills are coming from, according to New York State Police. The pills are believed to have compressed fentanyl. State troopers are urging the public to be careful when buying any prescription-grade medications that have not been prescribed by a doctor or have not been sold to them by a pharmacy. Oxycodone pills are blue with an M on one side and a 30 on the other. Police ask anyone who has information about the counterfeit oxycodone pills to contact their local police department. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati via the Signal app for encrypted messaging at 585-290-0718, by phone at the same number, by email or on Twitter. Manitoba is bringing back the 14-day self-isolation requirement for anyone entering the province including from Western Canada in response to the presence of COVID-19 variants in the country. Advertisement Advertise With Us Manitoba is bringing back the 14-day self-isolation requirement for anyone entering the province including from Western Canada in response to the presence of COVID-19 variants in the country. Premier Brian Pallister said Tuesday morning the move is out of "an abundance of caution" in order to stop variants of the virus from being imported into Manitoba. "The variant is not just in eastern Canada it is in Western Canada as well," he said. "We do not want these variants, whether its the British, the South African version or another, in Manitoba Now is not the time for non-essential travel, we all need to do our part to keep each other safe." The new public health order takes effect on Friday. The change reverses a move the provincial government made in June to allow travellers from Western Canada and west of Terrace Bay, Ont., to enter the province without isolation. The exemption for people travelling for interprovincial work and medical purposes is still in effect, but Pallister warned against people taking advantage of it. "There is, apparently, some people who have been given the right to travel for essential purposes have used it to travel for vacation and that is not on. Thats a misuse of the privilege youve been given going for a ski trip to Lake Louise is not a reason for an exemption," he said. Manitobans living in border communities will still also be allowed to travel across for day-to-day life, he said. The order isnt designed to stop people living on the border from regular crossings, but is designed to stop non-essential travel and air travel in particular. There isnt yet a defined zone near the border that is exempt from the isolation restriction. The premier said multiple times through the press conference Manitobans must "play defence" against the new COVID-19 variants. During Tuesdays COVID-19 update, acting deputy chief public health officer Dr. Jazz Atwal confirmed variants of the virus havent been found in Manitoba, but there would be a concentrated public health response if a case was found. "There would be a lot of work done on the case and contact management to look at how an individual acquired that infection, its not native to Manitoba," he said. The danger from COVID-19 variants is that it could be more easily spread from person to person and have the same risk of serious illness or death. Atwal said the aim is to get ahead of it. "We want to try to protect Manitobans, we want to ensure those things are in place to mitigate that risk of the virus coming to Manitoba, and if it does come into Manitoba, that were able to respond to it quickly," he said. While the restrictions announced Tuesday wont 100 per cent guarantee variants wont spread, they will give contact tracers more time to work if a case is found. The province is having discussions about testing all domestic travellers into Manitoba, but Atwal couldnt provide more details on Tuesday. There currently isnt a proposed date for when travel restrictions could end. Pallister is also calling on the federal government to toughen measures at international borders against COVID-19, joining other provincial premiers, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford. There isnt a consensus on what the tougher measures at borders should be, Pallister said. Manitoba isnt calling for a total travel ban but said it is something the federal government needs to consider seriously. "I recognize they have a difficult decision to make, Im simply adding my voice to those of the premiers that have said make a decision on this and doing nothing is not an option." dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. GULFPORT, Mississippi -- Ocean Springs businessman Ken Ritchey has been indicted by a federal grand jury with multiple counts related to the hoarding of personal protective equipment and price gouging health care providers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ritchey was at the center of a $1.8 million scheme which included price gouging numerous U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals. The justice department said Ritchey, 57, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit hoarding of designated scarce materials and hoarding of designated scarce materials. Ritchey made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Robert Myers. The indictment alleges that Ritchey and others launched the scheme shortly after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in the U.S. He and others acquired PPE and other equipment from all possible sources, including home improvement stores and online retailers. Due to nationwide PPE shortages and COVID-19 fears, Ritchey directed sales representatives to solicit health care providers, including the VA, to purchase PPE and other materials at excessively inflated prices through high-pressure sales tactics and by misrepresenting sourcing and actual costs. The justice department says Ritchey sold PPE to health care providers who were desperate to acquire the equipment and were willing to pay the exorbitant costs. The indictment notes that in one instance Ritchey sold N-95 masks to the VA and other health care providers for as much as $25 per mask, despite having acquired the masks at a much lower price. This isnt Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals first run-in with legal troubles. According to the Associated Press, in 2010, the company lost its pharmacy wholesaler license in Oklahoma and other states after being accused of shipping excessively large amounts of pain killers and relaxants to Oklahoma pharmacies licensed by Native American tribes. Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals admitted to selling nearly 14 million doses of three different drugs to one pharmacy in a six-month period, also admitting it did not have procedures in place to monitor suspicious orders or seek a state license before doing business in the state. The Oklahoma case launched a wave of license revocations in other states where the company had been doing business. In April, FBI agents raided the Gulf Coast Pharmaceutical office on North Halstead Road, seizing some 280,000 protective masks, along with other PPE. In early December, Ritchey pleaded guilty to a state charge of price gouging. In addition to Gulf Coast Pharmaceuticals, Ritchey is also owner of the Ritchey commercial building on Government Street just east of the Washington Avenue intersection. This case was investigated by the FBIs Jackson Field Office, VA-OIG, and ICE HSI. Principal Assistant Deputy Chief Dustin M. Davis and Trial Attorney Sara E. Porter of the Criminal Divisions Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathlyn R. Van Buskirk of the Southern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case. The Fraud Section leads the Health Care Fraud Strike Force. Since its inception in March 2007, the Health Care Fraud Strike Force, which maintains 15 strike forces operating in 24 districts, has charged more than 4,200 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for approximately $19 billion. In addition, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the HHS-Office of Inspector General, are taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers. The public is asked to report COVID-19 fraud, hoarding or price-gouging to the National Center for Disaster Frauds (NCDF) National Hotline at (866) 720-5721 or visit The Department of Justices NCDF website. [January 26, 2021] Flex Logix Pairs its InferX X1 AI Inference Accelerator with the High-Bandwidth Winbond 4Gb LPDDR4X Chip to Set a New Benchmark in Edge AI Performance TAICHUNG, Taiwan and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Winbond Electronics Corporation, a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions, today revealed that its low-power, high-performance LPDDR4X DRAM technology is supporting the latest breakthrough in edge computing from Flex Logix for demanding Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications such as object recognition. The Winbond LPDDR4X chip is being paired with Flex Logix's InferX X1 edge inference accelerator chip, which is based on an innovative architecture that features arrays of reconfigurable Tensor Processors. This provides higher throughput and lower latency at lower cost than existing AI edge computing solutions when processing complex neural networking algorithms such as YOLOv3 or Full Accuracy Winograd. "We chose the Flex Logix InferX X1 edge accelerator because it delivered the highest throughput per dollar, which is critical to drive volume mainstream applications," said Robert Chang, Technology Executive of DRAM Product Marketing Center at Winbond. "The price/performance advantage of using InferX with our LPDDR4X chip has the potential to significantly expand AI applications by finally bringing inference capabilities to the mass market." To support the InferX X1's ultra-high speed operation while keeping power consumption to a minimum, and Max 7.5TOPS, Flex Logix has paired the accelerator with the W66CQ2NQUAHJ from Winbond, a 4Gb LPDDR4X DRAM which offers a maximum data rate of 4267Mbps at a maximum clock rate of 2133MHz. To enable use in battery-powered systems and other power-constrained applications, the W66 series device operates in active mode from 1.8V/1.1V power rails, and from a 0.6V supply in quiescent mode. It offers power-saving features including partial array self-refresh. The Winbond LPDDR4X chip operates alongside the InferX X1 processor in Flex Logix's half-height/half-length PCIe embedded processor board for edge servers and gateways. The system takes advantage of Flex Logix's architectural innovations, such as reconfigurable optimized data paths which reduce the traffic between the processor and DRAM, to increase throughput and reduce latency. Dana McCarty, VP of Sales & Marketing for Flex Logix's AI Inference Products said: "The combination ofthe unique InferX X1 processor and Winbond's high-bandwidth LPDDR4X chip sets a new benchmark in edge AI performance. Now for the first time, affordable edge computing systems can implement complex neural networking algorithms to achieve high accuracy in object detection and image recognition even when processing data-intensive high-definition video streams." The 4Gb W66CQ2NQUAHJ is comprised of two 2Gb dies in a two-channel configuration. Each die is organized into eight internal banks which support concurrent operation. The chip is housed in a 200-ball WFBGA package which measures 10mm x 14.5mm. For more information about 1Gb SDP (CS in H1'22), 2Gb SDP, 4Gb LPDDR4/LPDDR4X products, go to www.winbond.com. For more information about the InferX X1 edge inference accelerator, go to flex-logix.com/inference. About Flex Logix Flex Logix provides industry-leading solutions for making flexible chips and accelerating neural network inferencing. Its InferX X1 is the industry's fastest and most-efficient AI edge inference accelerator that will bring AI to the masses in high-volume applications, surpassing competitor's performance at 1/7th size and 10x lower price. Flex Logix's eFPGA platform enables chips to be flexible to handle changing protocols, standards, algorithms, and customer needs and to implement reconfigurable accelerators that speed key workloads 30-100x compared to processors. Flex Logix is headquartered in Mountain View, California. For more information, visit https://flex-logix.com Flex Logix Media Contact Kelly Karr Tanis Communications TEL: +408-718-9350 E-mail: kelly.karr@taniscomm.com About Winbond Winbond Electronics Corporation is a leading global supplier of semiconductor memory solutions. The Company provides customer-driven memory solutions backed by the expert capabilities of product design, R&D, manufacturing, and sales services. Winbond's product portfolio, consisting of Specialty DRAM, Mobile DRAM, Code Storage Flash, and TrustME Secure Flash, is widely used by tier-1 customers in communication, consumer electronics, automotive and industrial, and computer peripheral markets. Winbond is headquartered in Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) and it has subsidiaries in the USA, Japan, Israel, China, Hong Kong, and Germany. Based on Taichung and new Kaohsiung 12-inch fabs in Taiwan, Winbond keeps pace to develop in-house technologies to provide high-quality memory IC products. Product Contact Jacky Tseng DRAM Marketing Manager TEL: +886 356 78168 ext 78562 E-mail: yctseng7@winbond.com News Contact Yulia Lee Marcom Manager TEL: +886-3-5678168 ext 75395 E-mail: ylli5@winbond.com Spokesperson Jessica Chiou-Jii Huang Chief Financial Officer TEL: +886-3-5678168/+886-987-365682 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flex-logix-pairs-its-inferx-x1-ai-inference-accelerator-with-the-high-bandwidth-winbond-4gb-lpddr4x-chip-to-set-a-new-benchmark-in-edge-ai-performance-301215697.html SOURCE Flex Logix Technologies, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Commuters on Wednesday faced hardships in reaching their destinations due to traffic restrictions on key routes in the capital, a day after violence broke out during farmers' tractor parade in the city. The Police on Twitter said the traffic movement is heavy due to closure of four lanes on Kalindi Kunj and Noida stretches. Meanwhile, the traffic movement near ITO, Mandi House and India Gate, which was affected due to restrictions placed there, resumed on Wednesday afternoon. The barricades placed near the Tilak Bridge were removed and the road leading to India Gate from ITO was opened. Similarly, the road going towards Connaught Place from Minto Road is also functioning now, a senior police officer said. The C-Hexagon at India Gate has also opened for traffic and there is no restriction on the movement of vehicles, police said. On Wednesday morning, retired Delhi Police personnel staged a protest near ITO, leading to disturbance in traffic movement. They were protesting against the violence which broke out during the farmers' tractor parade in the city. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Additional PRO (Delhi Police) Anil Mittal said 22 FIRs have been so far registered in connection with Tuesday's violence. More than 300 policemen have been injured in the incident, he said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A modified version of the 737 Max, incorporating multiple safety upgrades, has been approved to resume flights in Europe, following nearly two years of reviews after the aircraft was involved in two deadly crashes that saw the planes grounded worldwide, the European aviation safety agency said Wednesday. Changes mandated by the Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, include a package of software upgrades, a reworking of the electrical system, maintenance checks, operations manual updates and new crew training. We have reached a significant milestone on a long road, said EASA executive director Patrick Ky. Following extensive analysis by EASA, we have determined that the 737 MAX can safely return to service. "This assessment was carried out in full independence of or the Federal Aviation Administration and without any economic or political pressure we asked difficult questions until we got answers and pushed for solutions which satisfied our exacting safety requirements. We carried out our own flight tests and simulator sessions and did not rely on to do this for us." The planes were grounded in March 2019 following the crashes of a Lion Air flight near Jakarta on October 29, 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10, 2019, killing a total of 346 people. Investigators determined that the cause of the crashes was a faulty computer system that pushed the plane's nose downward in flight and couldn't be overridden by pilots. Changes mandated by EASA, based in Cologne, Germany, include a recertification of the plane's flight-control system, called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, which was not a part of previous 737 models. While the investigations assessed that the behavior of the MCAS and related alerting systems were the clear main cause of the two crashes, EASA rapidly realised that a far wider review of the 737 MAX was needed, the agency said. EASA extended its analysis to the entire flight control system, with a particular focus on human factors the actual experience for a pilot of flying the plane. To that end, all 737 Max pilots will now need to undergo one-off special training, including on a simulator, to ensure they are fully familiar with the redesigned plane and able to handle specific scenarios that might arise during flight. Ky said EASA will continue to monitor 737 Max operations closely as the aircraft resumes service. Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here, he said. Despite the green-light from EASA, the actual return of the aircraft to the skies of Europe may still take some time. Airlines will still need to ensure their pilots have received the training needed to fly the plane, and that the maintenance and changes necessary have been carried out after the long grounding. Some EU states will have to lift their own individual grounding notices as well and the U.K., which has left the bloc, will have to make its own ruling. The pandemic, meanwhile, has caused severe travel restrictions. Many airlines are flying a fraction of their usual routes, which EASA said could affect the pace of the aircraft's return to commercial operations. The 737 Max returned to the skies in the United States last month, after the Federal Aviation Administration approved changes that made to the automated flight control system. It has also been allowed by Brazil to resume flights, and has been cleared by Transport Canada. Update: Gov. Abbott tweeted Wednesday night that he spoke to Emilian Sosa. "With the help of Nim Kidd, the Chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management & Dr. Zerwas, the equipment his mother needs was located. She should be in good medical care," Abbott said. Original post below. A potentially life-saving treatment for his COVID-19-stricken mother is the only gift a South Texas teen is hoping to receive in time for his 15th birthday. Emilian Sosa, a 14-year-old from McAllen, told Gov. Greg Abbott in a letter that the only family he has left is his mom, and she's "hanging on for dear life" after spending the last month battling COVID-19. Erika Calderon, the teen's mom, is the Emilian's go-to for guidance, he wrote. Now, he's watching her health deteriorate via Zoom. With no other options, Sosa is asking Abbott to help his mom receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. RELATED: Popular UTSA-area bar cited twice in two days for violating COVID-19 orders Sosa's painful letter to Abbott was shared on Twitter by Naxi Lopez, a reporter for The Monitor in the Rio Grande Valley, on Tuesday. Since the RGV does not have a hospital equipped to perform ECMO, Sosa is asking for help to transport Calderon to a larger city, like San Antonio, Houston or Dallas for a better chance at survival. "Her lungs have not been able to recover because the virus damaged them too severely," the teen wrote. "At this very moment, she is on a ventilator, hanging on for dear life, at the DHR Health COVID Unit in Edinburg, Texas." He said the treatment is her "only hope." ECMO adds oxygen to a patient's blood in order to give damaged lungs time to rest. "My mother has worked diligently all her life to raise me," Sosa wrote. "She is a hard-working single mother, and she is the only family I have left." Sosa is relying on Zoom calls to help keep his mom motivated by playing hymns and violin, but he is watching her condition worsen, he wrote. READ MORE: S.A. COVID-19 Vaccine Updates: One shot COVID-19 vaccine gives Gov. Abbott hope Neither Sosa nor Abbott's press office were immediately available to comment, but Lopez tweeted that she was in communication with both Tuesday night. Twitter users keyed into the story asked how they could help Sosa. She pointed to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign which is just $500 shy of the $20,000 goal to airlift Calderon to a larger city. The funds were raised in less than 24 hours. Lopez updated Twitter again on Tuesday, saying she spoke to the governor's office and Sosa "might just get the help it needs." San Antonio, the closest option to Sosa and his mom, has seen a decline in hospitalization rates recently. Though the number of admitted patients are decreasing, more people are hospitalized now than they were during the summer surge. During these spikes, already highly limited resources like ECMO are stretched thin. Patients must qualify and an ECMO machine must be available. The high-risk therapy is typically reserved for patients who have the highest chance of survival, San Antonio Express-News reporter Lauren Caruba told mySA.com. Caruba pointed to a case of a 42-year-old woman who was unable to receive ECMO treatment because of unavailability during the summer surge. That patient died. Despite the hurdles, Sosa is giving his all to fight for his mom to survive. He pleaded with Abbott to make his request a reality by his birthday on Feb. 1. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American The death of a man several days after receiving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is under investigation by the Orange County Coroner. "After receiving all additional test results, we will use those findings along with autopsy findings to make a final determination into the cause and manner of death," the coroner's office said in a statement. "If it's determined there may be a correlation to the vaccine we will immediately notify the OC Health Care Agency." Sgt. Dennis T. Breckner, a public information officer for the sheriff's department, said the investigation could take months. The Orange County Register reported the deceased was 60-year-old Tim Zook, who experienced an adverse reaction hours after receiving a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine Jan. 5. Zook, an X-ray technologist at South Coast Global Medical Center in Santa Ana, died shortly after midnight Jan. 7, the paper said. Zook's wife, Rochelle, shared the story with the Register to get out the word that while a complete investigation into her husband's death is crucial, people should still get inoculated. We are not blaming any pharmaceutical company, said Rochelle. My husband loved what he did. He worked in hospitals for 36 years. He believed in vaccines. Im sure he would take that vaccine again, and hed want the public to take it. But when someone gets symptoms 2 hours after a vaccine, thats a reaction. What else could have happened? We would like the public to know what happened to Tim, so he didnt die in vain. Severe reactions are rare. In reality, COVID is a much more deadly force than reactions from the potential vaccine itself. The message is, be safe, take the vaccine but the officials need to do more research. We need to know the cause. The vaccines need to be as safe as possible. Every life matters. The news of Zook's death comes after Placer County Public Health said last week a man in the county died Jan. 21, several hours after receiving a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The unnamed man previously tested positive for the coronavirus in late December. "There are multiple local, state, and federal agencies actively investigating this case; any reports surrounding the cause of death are premature, pending the outcome of the investigation," a statement from the sheriff's office said. "Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased." Placer County Public Health and Human Services did not administer the vaccine in that case and could not comment on whether the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine was given. Dr. John Swartzberg, a UC Berkeley professor and infectious disease doctor, cautioned against jumping to conclusions until the investigations into these two deaths are complete. "We can't give people a real answer until we have the autopsy data and find out why they died," Swartzberg said. "Everything prior to that is speculation. Both the events are true, the question is are they related? Is it true true and related or true true and unrelated?" Swartzberg said that in the vaccine trials there were no instances where the vaccine was found to cause death, and even if there were a connection between the vaccine and the death in these two recent situations, it's something we know occurs "only once in many, many millions, not even once in a million." "As has been said from the beginning about vaccines in general, this is something that once we start immunizing hundreds of millions of people, when youre talking about those numbers, there are going to be events like this that are going to happen," he said. "The risks are overwhelmingly in your favor to get vaccinated." UCSF infectious disease doctor Dr. Peter Chin-Hong echoed this sentiment. "We always think about a risk benefit calculus. Your risk of dying is so much more if you don't get the vaccine," Chin-Hong said. UofSC faculty experts on Biden's executive actions on climate change President Joe Biden signed several executive orders this afternoon to tackle climate change and transition to a clean energy economy. The University of South Carolina has a number of faculty members who are available to offer their expertise on these orders and the climate issues they address. To arrange interviews, contact Bryan Gentry, brgentry@sc.edu. Carol Boggs, a biology and ecology professor, can discuss the effect that federal land conservation could have on biodiversity, wildlife habitat, as well as the effects of requiring science to be included in federal policymaking. Conor Harrison, a geography professor, studies the transformation of the energy industry. He is available to discuss the rise of renewable power and the role that government policy, investment and other factors play in green energy growth. John Kupfer, a geography professor, can discuss the impact of conserving federal land and waters. He teaches courses about the management of federal land and on the National Park System, and he conducts research that helps natural resource managers address the impacts that climate change has on fish, wildlife and ecosystems. Lori Ziolkowski can speak about the importance of citizen action and what the creation of the Civilian Climate Corps, a proposal from Biden's campaign, will mean at the local level in South Carolina. In addition to teaching courses about climate change and marine science, Ziolkowski is chair of Columbia's Climate Protection Action Committee. The Civilian Climate Corps Initiative will create jobs for Americans to work conserving and restoring public lands and waters, protecting biodiversity, improving access to recreation and addressing the changing climate. Share this Story! Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about Deborah Richardson is coming to Colorado to fight anybody in her new role as the executive director of the ACLU of Colorado. "I view it from the standpoint of what are we going to be fighting for versus fighting against," she said. With President Biden on the side of human rights evidenced, in Richardson's view, by allowing transgender people to again serve in the military the ACLU has an opportunity for "forward looking" policies on civil liberties and human rights, she said. "Now we have the political power and an environment to get it done," Richardson said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. Nathan Woodliff-Stanley moving on from ACLU of Colorado The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, the legal patron of the underserved and lost The Atlanta native will join the American Civil Liberties Union office in Denver on March 1. Richardson succeeds Nathan Woodliff-Stanley, an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who stepped down last year to return to the ministry. Richardson is the former executive director of the International Human Trafficking Institute of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta, where she was formerly its executive vice president. She has worked for three decades for global, national and local causes that support non-dominant identity groups, and she's a nationally recognized expert in justice for women and their families. She also has been the CEO of The Atlanta Womens Foundation and chief program officer of the Womens Funding Network. We are confident that Deborahs visionary leadership style, history of consensus building, commitment to social justice, and lived and professional experiences fighting for civil and human rights will be a powerful combination as our organization navigates this critical juncture in our nation's history, said Dr. Maurice Scotty Scott, chair of the ACLU of Colorado Board of Directors. "She has displayed international leadership on issues of gender and racial equity, and we look forward to her serving as a catalyst for even more transformational change from the ACLU of Colorado." Richardson called her hometown, Atlanta, a think tank of the American Civil Rights Movement. Her parents and every adult she knew as a child was engaged in the struggle. When she was 14, Richardson was among a group of students who integrated Atlanta Public Schools. "My activism continued throughout college and my career, Richardson added. Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley C. Franklin, who chairs the National Center for Civil and Human Rights board, provided a statement of endorsement. Deborah has the unique skills of a visionary leader who builds consensus and also implements a plan and achieves its goals. She is a well-respected leader and mentor, stated Franklin, who led the city from 2002 to 2010. Her commitment to social justice is demonstrated in her work and in her life. Richardson told Colorado Politics on Tuesday that Colorado has one of the strongest ACLU chapters in the country, but says victories don't always stay won, such as transgender rights driven by partisan executive orders. She cited LGBTQ rights, the homeless, immigrants and the living wage among the issues worth fighting for. "I think the pie is big enough for everybody and nobody has to lose anything," Richardson said. "It's just about sharing." Tom Brady has maintained his TB12 brand since signing with the Buccaneers, taking that whole Tompa Bay thing and running with it. But according to Tampa Bay GM Jason Licht, Brady was close to walking away from his famous No. 12 jersey and switching to No. 7. During an appearance on The Peter King Podcast, Licht recounted the conversation he had with Brady over the fact that the Buccaneers already had a pretty good No. 12 on their roster in Chris Godwin. Licht says he asked Brady, What are you thining about that? Heres how Licht says that conversation went: He said, Oh, hes a great player. Im not gonna take his number. He goes, You know what number Im thinking of? Im thinking of taking maybe No. 7. Is that available? I said, yeah I think it is. I said, why seven? He goes, going after that seventh Super Bowl. But, as Licht confirmed, the Buccaneers sorted out that whole No. 12 thing when Godwin offered to give up his jersey number to Brady, eventually switching to No. 14. I thought that that was pretty cool, Licht said. Hes got the TB12 brand and all that. Brady built one of the NFLs greatest legacys as No. 12 with the New England Patriots over the course of 20 seasons. When it became clear that Brady was heading to Tampa Bay this offseason, the issue of the shared jersey number with Godwin quickly arose as a talking point. However, the issue was resolved quickly. Godwin gave up the number hoping that hed get some Super Bowl rings out of the deal. I have been (wearing No. 12) since high school and it means a lot to me, Godwin said on The Checkdown last year. At first it bothered me a little bit, it was kind of getting at me because it is part of my identity, but when the GOAT comes calling you kind of concede to him. Like I said, hopefully I can get a ring or two or three out of that. I was more than happy to do it. Ive got a new persona for me, 1-4. Were going to move forward and make something special with it. Well, Godwin and the Buccaneers are one win away from cashing in on that deal. Tampa Bay takes on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7. Heres the full conversation between Licht and King: Related content: STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. As the nations attention focuses on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, doctors continue to urge us not to put our annual flu vaccine on the back burner. In fact, being vaccinated against the flu is more important during the pandemic than ever, they say. And, while the flu season is already underway, it is not too late to be vaccinated. Here are 10 facts to know about the flu, the flu vaccine and COVID-19: The flu vaccine may lessen COVID-19 symptoms: The flu vaccine cant prevent you from catching the coronavirus, but studies show that the flu shot can reduce COVID-19 symptoms, decreasing a patients chances of needing acute care and hospitalization if they become infected with COVID-19. You dont want to battle COVID-19 and the flu simultaneously: Patients who catch the flu and the coronavirus at the same time are at greater risk of developing very serious respiratory complications, including pneumonia, requiring extended care, even intensive care hospitalization. Vaccinating against the flu will greatly reduce the chances of that happening, keeping you away from over-burdened hospitals whose staffs are currently overrun with COVID-19 patients. The flu vaccine works: The flu vaccine prevented an estimated 7.52 million illnesses and 6,300 deaths in America during the 2019-2020 flu season. Who should get vaccinated? The The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months get a flu shot. Getting a flu shot protects your family and friends. If youre protected, youre much less likely to pass it on to those who are vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, senior citizens, and people with certain chronic health conditions, according to the CDC. Pregnant women should be vaccinated against the flu. The flu vaccine will protect the mother and the baby until it is old enough to be vaccinated. The flu vaccine is readily available in New York City. The CDC says that between The CDC says that between 194 and 198 million doses of flu vaccine have been prepared for the 2020-2021 flu season in America. Pneumonia is one of the most serious flu complications. Pneumonia develops when the flu virus or a secondary bacterial or fungal infection infects the lungs. People with compromised immune systems tend to develop pneumonia more and getting the flu vaccine will reduce the chances of getting pneumonia. Symptoms of pneumonia include severe cough, shortness of breath, blue lips, extreme lethargy and vomiting. Medicare covers the flu shot for seniors: Older people are more likely to develop flu complications, and theyre also more likely to require hospitalization. Every year, adults over retirement age account for up to 85% of all flu-related deaths in America. and Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans cover the cost of one flu vaccination per year. Older people are more likely to develop flu complications, and theyre also more likely to require hospitalization. Every year, adults over retirement age account for up to 85% of all flu-related deaths in America. Medicare Part B andcover the cost of one flu vaccination per year. Those most at risk should get vaccinated. Pregnant women, young children, seniors over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions like cancer, diabetes and asthma are at higher risk during flu season, Pregnant women, young children, seniors over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions like cancer, diabetes and asthma are at higher risk during flu season, according to HelpAdvisers Complete Guide to the Flu Vaccine . Sometimes, the flu aggravates existing heart conditions or asthma, which can be dangerous. Getting a flu vaccine can reduce the likelihood of these complications. Finding your flu vaccine: Click on the links below to find a vaccine provider near you. Related Egypt maintains membership of UN Peacebuilding Commission Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has affirmed Egypt's commitment to support efforts meant to provide an adequate and sustainable financing for the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund under its presidency of the Peacebuilding Commission this year. Addressing a virtual UN high-level conference on Tuesday, Shoukry voiced out Egypt's support for the UN Secretary-General's strategy for the Peacebuilding Fund for the period 2020 - 2024, which includes a vision of how to employ the activities of the fund and its resources to address the political, economic and social repercussions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. During the event, Minister Shoukry highlighted the "major" challenge the pandemic constitutes to international peace and security saying it has "a profound impact on exacerbating conflict-causing conditions and weakening state institutions," according to a statement by the ministry spokesman, Ahmed Hafez. The United Nations event was co-chaired by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and others officials under the theme "A high-level Replenishment Conference for the Peacebuilding Fund to mobilize critical support for conflict prevention and peacebuilding against the Funds $1.5 billion requirements for the period 2020-24. The Egyptian foreign minister also asserted the need to rely on "innovative" financial sources to finance the fund in order to avoid relying on voluntary financial contributions, Hafez added. The UN event aimed to counter the persistent underinvestment in peacebuilding and provide this timely, catalytic and risk-tolerant instrument with more adequate, predictable and sustained resources to support national peacebuilding efforts in more than 40 countries around the world. Short link: [January 27, 2021] MassMutual to Acquire Great American Life Insurance Company Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company ("MassMutual") announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement with American Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:AFG) to purchase its wholly owned subsidiary, Great American Life Insurance Company ("Great American Life"), and other subsidiaries and affiliated entities, which primarily offer traditional fixed and fixed indexed annuity products. The purchase price is $3.5 billion, subject to adjustment at closing. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to regulatory and other necessary approvals. Upon the close of the transaction, Great American Life will operate as an independent subsidiary of MassMutual. Great American Life is a highly respected leader in the annuity market, known for its competitive product suite, excellent customer service, and deep distribution relationships with banks, independent agents, and independent broker-dealers. This transaction significantly advances MassMutual's strategy as Great American Life complements the company's existing annuity business by broadening and diversifying its product and distribution capabilities, allowing MassMutual to reach more customers in need of lifetime income solutions. In addition, Great American Life will provide MassMutual with another diversified source of earnings, helping to deliver additional value to its policyowners and position the company for long-term growth. "This acquisition is an excellent strategic fit for MassMutual that will broade our product offerings, expand our distribution, and generate additional earnings, allowing us to build a true lifetime income franchise and deliver ongoing value to our policyowners and customers," said Roger Crandall, Chairman, President and CEO, MassMutual. "With MassMutual's enduring financial strength, broad investment capabilities, and end-to-end digital experience, we will build on the outstanding leadership position that the talented and dedicated Great American Life team has built over generations, enabling us to help even more people secure their future and protect the ones they love." S. Craig Lindner, AFG's Co-Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This transaction presents an excellent opportunity for Great American Life and MassMutual to be one of the leading providers of traditional fixed and indexed annuities in major distribution channels and markets. In fact, MassMutual has among the highest insurance financial strength ratings, which we believe will result in enhanced distributor recruitment and policyholder retention." Great American Life will continue to be led by its current president, Mark Muething, and its more than 600 employees will remain headquartered in Cincinnati as part of the transaction. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP served as legal counsel to MassMutual. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL served as legal counsel to AFG. About MassMutual MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. Founded in 1851, the company has been continually guided by one consistent purpose: we help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. With a focus on delivering long-term value, MassMutual offers a wide range of protection, accumulation, wealth management and retirement products and services. For more information, visit massmutual.com. About American Financial Group, Inc. American Financial Group is an insurance holding company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through the operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of traditional fixed and indexed annuities in the retail, financial institutions, broker-dealer, and registered investment advisor markets. Great American Insurance Group's roots go back to 1872 with the founding of its flagship company, Great American Insurance Company. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005971/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Please purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you have a subscription, please Log In . Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. If you believe you've gotten this message in error, please Log In. Reliance Group has signed a $15 million deal with Israeli company Breath of Health to distribute the firm's COVID-19 breath testing system. The tests conducted by the company provides result in less than a minute, said Arie Laor, CEO of Breath of Health (BOH). BOH is said to have developed a breath test system that identifies COVID-19 at a success rate of over 95 per cent. "It takes a few seconds to get the result," Laor said. Laor added that BOH had operated under the radar till date to focus on its clinical trials and the development of its system. BOH began developing the system, two years ago, to provide early detection for Alzheimer's, cancer and lung disease. The Reliance Group will purchase hundreds of COVID-19 breath testing system from the Israeli company for $15 million. The group will use them to conduct millions of tests at a cost of $10 million per month, according to the business portal Calcalist. The agreement would help accelerate the trials. Laor is also expecting results to be announced in the coming weeks. Reliance, which will lead research of the system in the country, will also distribute the platform throughout India and in the Far East. BOH's preliminary results from clinical trials, which it is conducting with Israeli hospitals the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer and Hadassah Medical Center, have shown a success rate of 98 per cent when compared to the standard PCR test authorised by global medical organisations. Also Read: Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine works on UK strain too: study Also Read: SBI appoints Swaminathan Janakiraman, Aswini Kumar Tewari as MDs Also Read: Anti-China sentiment waning? Xiaomi reclaims No 1 position in Q4 2020, Samsung slips to second spot MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Eight people accused in scheme to bilk the states Medicaid program out of more than $860,000 have been charged with a combined 46 counts of felony theft. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the alleged ringleader of the fraud, Trenea Davis, of Brooklyn Center, faces 11 felony theft charges. Authorities say she told investigators she recruited friends and family members to fake or exaggerate medical conditions to qualify for personal care assistant services. She then enlisted others to charge for services that never occurred. Investigators say Davis reported working as a personal care assistant for more than 7,000 hours from December 2014 to May 2018, then switched to the role of a patient who needed up to 12 hours of care a day. Back to school is usually a time of excitement, a flurry of bag packing and uniform ironing, and maybe some sadness that the holidays are over. For our family, living in Liverpool in western Sydney one of Sydneys hottest suburbs its also a time of worry about the dangerous impacts of extreme heat on my childrens health. My 11-year-old daughter Caitlin will be starting secondary school on the same block as Sydneys hottest school, Liverpools All Saints Catholic College primary school campus. Anneliese Alexander and daughter Caitlin. Caitlins campus thankfully has some tree cover and is built in shade, but 40 degree days are nevertheless becoming more frequent in Liverpool. This is what climate change looks like, and kids in urban areas such as ours and regional towns are paying the price. Prolonged exposure to heat has obvious dangers for children. Extreme heat also leaves them agitated and unable to focus. In a major blow to the farmers' protests, two farmer unions on Wednesday withdrew from the ongoing agitation on Delhi's borders against the three farm laws, a day after violence broke out in the national capital on Republic Day during the tractor parade. READ | Twitter takes this strong action against those who might have tried to incite Delhi riots Talking to reporters, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatever happened during the tractor parade in the national capital, adding that his union was ending its protest. The union was staging the protest at the Chilla border. VM Singh of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said that it is withdrawing from the ongoing agitation as they cannot carry forward a protest with someone "whose direction is something else". The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag on the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and others in connection with the violence in the national capital during the tractor rally on Republic Day, officials said on Wednesday. Police detained 200 people and have registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the violence that leftover 300 policemen injured, officials said on Wednesday. When asked to comment about the case lodged against him, Tikait said FIR against any farmer leader is FIR against farmers of the country. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal the three new agriculture laws descended into anarchy as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. Clashes broke out in multiple places, leading to violence in well-known landmarks of Delhi and its suburbs, amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the Republic Day. Creating a more circular economy could generate 700,000 net additional jobs by 2040 and savings of up to $200 billion annually, according to the Netherlands Minister for the Environment Stientje van Veldhoven. Van Veldhoven made her comments during the third day of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held on Wednesday. She noted that moving towards greater circularity is imperative for the environment and for economic recovery and growth, adding that achieving greater circularity would lead to repairing and reducing wasted resources. The pandemic has reinforced the fact that wasting resources is wasting money, she said. In its third day, the WEF focused on the actions that can be taken to switch to a green and eco-friendly economy, in addition to the importance of circular innovation for an economic reset in the post-pandemic stage. The WEF hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that while globalisation and growth have lifted many people out of poverty, millions of others, even in rich countries, face dimmed prospects for wage growth and increasingly limited access to healthcare and education. The Russian president noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the shortcomings of the global economy, which are a direct result of the policies of the last century, adding that these policies led to excessive deregulation and minimal taxes for the wealthy and for corporations. It's important to move from general statements to actions when it comes to reducing social and economic inequality. A person should have a comfortable environment to live in, and countries should focus on building an economy that doesnt view people as a means, but places them at the centre, according to the Russian president. Caroline Anstey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pact, said that the world needs trillions of dollars in order to be able to finance the transition to zero emissions and a green economy, especially in hard-to-abate industries. In this regard, Mark Carney, the United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, noted that global net-zero commitments are cascading down through the private sector, adding that all countries must unlock blended finance flows, a mixture of public and private money to deal with climate change. "We need to have a focus on it so we can unlock all forms of finance, Carney expounded. Short link: Schroders Wealth Management in Switzerland to deploy Temenos Wealth Front Office on Temenos Transact core to automate and enhance its advisory business Temenos' state-of-the-art wealth management platform to support Schroders' growth strategy Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that Schroders Wealth Management in Switzerland has selected Temenos Wealth Front Office to automate and enhance its advisory business. Schroders Wealth Management will deploy the state-of-the-art portfolio management system on its existing Temenos Transact core banking platform to provide intuitive and powerful capabilities for relationship managers, advisers and portfolio managers. Supported by Temenos, Schroders Wealth Management looks after 65.7 billion of assets for its clients worldwide, from offices in the UK, Channel Islands, Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. With Temenos Wealth Front Office, Schroders Wealth Management benefits from standardized advisory processes. The solution includes dashboards for relationship managers and portfolio managers, client and investment profiling, investment proposal process, advanced order generation, comprehensive pre- and post-trade compliance checks, flexible benchmarking and performance reporting. It also provides a broad range of portfolio modelling and rebalancing tools, covering a wide range of assets, in a user-friendly and highly intuitive user experience. Giovanni Leonardo, Head of Investment, Schroders Wealth Management, Switzerland, commented: "We chose Temenos Wealth Front Office following a selection process to support our advisory business in Switzerland. The software handles all the complex processes and stringent regulations involved in advisory portfolio management, allowing our relationship managers to focus on the needs of our clients. It also provides the flexibility and efficiency we need in discretionary portfolio management. David Macdonald, President of Europe, Temenos, said: "We are proud to extend our long-term relationship with Schroders Wealth Management. As the bank seeks to grow and expand its service offering, Temenos Wealth Front Office will help to deliver an enhanced service, greater efficiency and consistent experience for its high and ultra-high net worth clients, leading to greater customer longevity and new business opportunities." Temenos Wealth Front Office was a natural choice for the bank because of its real-time, out-of-the-box integration with Schroders' existing Temenos Transact core banking system. The combination of Temenos Wealth Front Office and Temenos Transact creates an end-to-end wealth management platform with rich functionality, spanning back-office processing through to front-office portfolio management. Schroders Wealth Management has been a long-time Temenos client and Temenos Transact for its core banking technology has helped the bank to cut costs by a third, simplify its IT landscape by 63%, build customized services, and improve service quality. Temenos was recognized as the 'Most Innovative Banking Technology Partner of the Year' in the Private Banking Wealth Management Awards and cited for its capacity to deliver digital client experiences while driving considerable efficiency gains for banks from a single front-to-back platform. Ends About Schroders As a global investment manager with a 217-year history, Schroders actively and responsibly manages investments for a wide range of institutions and individuals, to help them meet their financial goals and prepare for the future. Schroders is responsible for CHF 615.7 billion (30.06.20) client assets, managed locally by 42 investment teams worldwide. Schroders has been operating in Switzerland for over half a century, currently holding three businesses, which include Asset Management, Wealth Management and Private Equity. The combined Swiss team consists of over 500 people. Together they are responsible for a total of CHF 85.6 billion (31.12.19). About Temenos Temenos AG (SIX: TEMN) is the world's leader in banking software. Over 3,000 banks across the globe, including 41 of the top 50 banks, rely on Temenos to process both the daily transactions and client interactions of more than 1.2 billion banking customers. Temenos offers cloud-native, cloud-agnostic and AI-driven front office, core banking, payments and fund administration software enabling banks to deliver frictionless, omnichannel customer experiences and gain operational excellence. Temenos software is proven to enable its top-performing clients to achieve cost-income ratios of 26.8% half the industry average and returns on equity of 29%, three times the industry average. These clients also invest 51% of their IT budget on growth and innovation versus maintenance, which is double the industry average, proving the banks' IT investment is adding tangible value to their business. For more information, please visit www.temenos.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126005941/en/ Contacts: Media Jessica Wolfe Scott Rowe Temenos Global Public Relations Tel: +1 610 232 2793 +44 20 7423 3857 Email: press@temenos.com Alistair Kellie Andrew Adie Newgate Communications on behalf of Temenos Tel: +44 20 7680 6550 Email: allnewgatetemenos@newgatecomms.com Queensland has finally opened the border to Greater Sydney after locking out the city's residents and visitors for six weeks. The border will open from February 1, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced on Thursday morning. Ms Palaszczuk said she was 'delighted' the decision had been made overnight by the state's Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young to reopen to all of New South Wales. 'If anyones down there in NSW or Victoria and youre thinking about having a holiday, come up to Cairns,' she told the Today show. 'Everyone is here, ready and willing to welcome you with open arms and a friendly smile. Queensland had instituted the border closure after an outbreak of Covid-19 on Sydney's Northern Beaches and subsequently in the western suburbs, but there has not been a single case of community transmission in the entire state for 10 straight days. A passenger wearing a face mask arrives into the international arrivals area at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced travellers from the Harbour City can enter the Sunshine State from February 1 A masked-up pedestrian in Brisbane last week. Ms Palaszczuk said she was 'delighted' the decision had been made overnight by the state's health officials The Queensland government had previously held firm to a policy of shutting out travellers from declared hotspots until they went 28 days without a mystery case of COVID-19. 'The hotspot program has been working very well, especially when we had the lockdown in greater Brisbane, where I put to the National Cabinet everyone else should declare greater Brisbane a hotspot because I did,' Ms Palaszczuk said. 'Credit to NSW, they got on top of their cases.' She said her government's decision would hopefully signal the full re-opening of state borders across Australia. 'A lot of people havent been able to see their family since the closures around Greater Sydney,' she told Sunrise. 'This is great news but its also an added boost as well for tourism. 'We have to take down those borders. Fingers crossed that Australia is on the path to a much better future in terms of being able to travel.' UNSW epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said the move showed Queensland had softened its stance on outbreaks in other states. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was 'delighted' the state's chief health officer had reopened the borders with all of New South Wales 'It's possibly a very sensible and safe decision, given the amount of testing that has been going on in NSW,' she said. 'Our major risk is still quarantine hotels but they've tightened that up. They're now doing testing so all workers are going home and they [the government] can have great certainty that they are negative.' Queensland recorded one case of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in a traveller in hotel quarantine. A passenger wearing a face shield and face mask arrives at Sydney International Airport on January 8 The easing of border restrictions between the two states comes as Sydneysiders prepare for relaxed social distancing restrictions on Friday. From Friday morning, masks will no longer be mandatory in shops and more people are allowed at gatherings. Residents must still wear a mask on public transport, at places of worship and in hairdressers, beauticians and gaming rooms. What are the new rules for Sydney? The following measures will be effective from 12.01am Friday, 29 January for the Greater Sydney region (including Wollongong, Central Coast and Blue Mountains): Visitors to households will be increased to 30 guests including children. Outdoor gatherings will be increased to 50 people in total. Weddings and funerals will be capped at 300 people (fully seated) subject to the 1 person per 4sqm rule with no singing or dancing (except 20 nominated people in the wedding party can dance). All other venues including hospitality venues, places of worship and corporate event venues (fully seated with no singing or dancing) will be subject to the 1 person per 4sqm rule. Smaller hospitality venues will be allowed at least 25 people. Singing indoors including choirs or places of worship will be limited to five people. Masks will be recommended but no longer compulsory at retail shopping venues. Masks will remain compulsory for front-of-house hospitality staff, on public transport, in places of worship, hairdressers, beauticians and gaming rooms. Aged care facilities and other health settings such as hospitals will receive tailored advice from NSW Health specific to their locations in relation to requirements around mask wearing. Advertisement Passengers who arrived on Virgin Australia flight VA318 from Brisbane to Melbourne are pictured at the city's Tullamarine Airport earlier this month. The Queensland premier said her state was ready to welcome travellers from all of NSW and Victoria 'with open arms and a friendly smile.' Up to 30 visitors will be allowed to enter a home and up to 50 people can gather outside. Weddings and funerals will be allowed 300 people, abiding by the four square metre rule. However, dancing is still banned except for 20 people nominated by the bride. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian also flagged hospitality venues would be able to host one person per two square metres in two weeks, but the four square metre rule remains for now. The Queensland government has previously held firm to its policy of blocking travellers from declared hotspots until they go 28 days without a mystery case of COVID-19 NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday flagged an easing of Covid-19 restrictions in NSW by the end of the week Tough restrictions were imposed in Sydney before Christmas when two clusters emerged on Sydney's Northern Beaches and in the city's west. The premier said her approach has struck a balance between eliminating the virus and keeping the economy moving. 'We want to encourage people to go about their normal lives as much as possible. We want businesses to resume their activities so long as it's all done in a COVID-safe way,' she said. 'We don't know when the pandemic is going to end. But what we do know is that we have to live with it and New South Wales has always taken a very balanced approach of making sure we keep the virus under control, but that we also make sure that we keep our economy as open as possible.' Australia has not recorded a case of coronavirus in the community since January 17 when six cases were reported in Western Sydney, linked to the Berala BWS cluster. NSW Health remains concerned about low testing numbers after just 9,723 tests were done on Tuesday. A statement read: 'The continuing low testing numbers is a concern. Although NSW has now seen ten days without a diagnosed locally acquired case of COVID-19, the virus may still be circulating in the community. Masks are currently compulsory indoors in Sydney, the Central Coast and Wollongong, while just five visitors are allowed in homes and a maximum of 30 people can gather outside It is vital that everyone comes forward immediately for testing if they have even the slightest of symptoms, such as a sore throat, fever, cough, headache or runny nose.' NSW Health is also urging people in southwest Sydney to monitor for Covid-19 symptoms after virus fragments were detected at the Liverpool waste treatment plant. Meanwhile, Australians have been warned coronavirus vaccines will not trigger wholesale changes to restrictions when the rollout ramps up in coming months. Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd is tempering expectations that jabs will lead to life returning to pre-pandemic settings after the Pfizer vaccine was approved for use in Australia. Meanwhile, Australians have been warned coronavirus vaccines will not trigger wholesale changes to restrictions when the rollout ramps up in coming months The two major unknowns are whether coronavirus vaccines prevent transmission of the virus and if booster shots will be needed each year, similar to the flu. 'That just reinforces for us how important it's going to be - even though we might get the vaccine rolling out across Australia - that people still adhere to the public health measures,' Professor Kidd told ABC radio on Tuesday. Social distancing, hygiene measures and other rules, as well as international travel restrictions, are likely to remain throughout the year. Australia has enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which recorded a 95 per cent efficacy rate in late-stage trials, for about five million people. Western Bay of Plenty District Council will hold a by-election for one seat on Council following the resignation of Councillor Christina Humphreys. Councillor Humphreys has resigned from her role as a Katikati-Waihi Beach Ward councillor. Humphreys leaves the role after receiving 1686 votes in the October 2019 local body elections, alongside James Denyer (2255) and Anne Henry (1491). Western Bay Mayor Garry Webber spoke to Christina this morning when she confirmed her decision to resign. We wish Christina all the very best and thank her for her contribution to our Council for the past 15 months. Electoral Officer Dale Ofsoske has confirmed the by-election process will start next week with nomination papers available from Thursday, February 4. To be eligible to stand for election, a candidate must be enrolled as a Parliamentary elector; and a New Zealand citizen; and nominated by two electors of the Katikati-Waihi Beach Ward area. If more than one nomination is received by the close of nominations at noon on Thursday 4 March 2021, a postal ballot will be held for the electors of the Katikati-Waihi Beach Ward. The by-election will finish at midday Friday, April 30, 2021. The preliminary roll will be available for public inspection between Thursday, February 4 and Thursday, March 4, at the locations below. By-election key dates: nominations open/roll open Thursday, February 4 nominations close/roll closes midday Thursday, March 4 voting opens Thursday, April 8 voting closes midday Friday, April 30 Nomination papers will be available from: Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Olivier Magre and his crew on French Class40 Palanad 3 have been declared as the overall winners of the 2021 RORC Transatlantic Race. Palanad 3 has posted the best elapsed time under IRC to win the RORC Transatlantic Race Trophy. Palanad 3 is the seventh winner of the antique sterling silver trophy and the first Class40 to do so. Antoine Carpentier's Class40 Redman, also a Mach 40.4, was second overall under IRC."I am so happy to have won overall; it is a magnificent trophy!" smiled Olivier Magre. "This is a perfect race for Class40 because it is relatively shorter than other transatlantic races and the timing is perfect to join other events such as the RORC Caribbean 600. I am sure that in the future if we have a number of Class40s it would be a beautiful race and we have the added attraction of challenging bigger boats as well. I think mixing Class40s with other boats under IRC is a good thing because it increases the challenge and the performance required.", skippered by Alex Pella, took Multihull Line Honours in an elapsed time of 9 days, 3 hours, 33 mins and 19 secs. This was Oren's second Transatlantic Race with Pella as skipper. The first race was much slower in his classic Olin Stephens' designed Stiren."Rayon Vert is a very comfortable boat and we had fantastic racing conditions," commented Oren. "However, at such a fast pace, you have to be very careful as everything is under so much more tension. Racing at such high speed is something I will always remember - it is addictive. Racing faster than a motorboat, day after day, night after night and most of the time alone - it is a huge experience."in an elapsed time of 9 days, 18 hours, 53 mins and 40 secs winning the International Maxi Association's IMA Trophy."It is an honour to win the IMA Trophy, as so many famous boats have done, but to finish the race in such a fast time is incredible. Although we finished in Antigua and not Grenada, the route we took was to the south, so there is not much difference in the miles we have raced," commented Green Dragon's Johannes Schwarz.. Racing with Christophe Affolter, Moshimoshi was the first team to finish the race in IRC Two-Handed."The first night was the most difficult with big waves and strong wind; we got a big gust and broached," explained Sebastien Saulnier. "Christophe was down to leeward and there was so much water that his lifejacket inflated! The rough conditions continued for the second day, but after that we got into the rhythm. We averaged over 8 knots for the race, which is quick for a small boat! Christophe and I are very proud that we have finished the race. I want to say a big thank you to the RORC for their organisation."finished the race for the third year in a row, smashing their own personal race record by two days (Elapsed time: 16 days, 7 hrs, 12 mins and 27 secs). The Swiss, Swedish and Finnish crew sent blogs from the Atlantic about life on the racecourse:"The biggest challenge is always just to get to the start line and this year the whole Corona situation really hammered that home - in fact two of the crew had been ill in the past with the virus," commented Benedikt. "But although the challenges have been immense, this was still about racing as a team across the Atlantic. Thank you to the RORC for organising the race and especially for the two cases of beer on arrival. Like a drip onto a hot stone, the beer didn't last long, but the memory will last forever!"Due to travel restrictions from the UK, the Royal Ocean Racing Club managed the race remotely, relying on the expert abilities of the Calero Marinas' team and the race officers of Real Club Nautico de Arrecife in Lanzarote. In Antigua, Terry O'Brien was employed as shipping agent. Greeting every team on arrival, the RORC was represented by Helen Spooner who has organised the famous greetings for every edition of the RORC Caribbean 600."A special thank you must go to JJ Calero and all the staff at Calero Marinas. We could not have put on this race without their tremendous support," commented RORC Race Manager Chris Stone. "As with every RORC race, the fleet is monitored by the RORC team and we will continue to monitor the progress of Tim Knight's Kai, which is still racing. Helen is doing a terrific job welcoming teams into Antigua, even providing a cooler of beer if a boat arrived during the night-time curfew."The 8th edition of the RORC Transatlantic Race is scheduled to start from Marina Puerto Calero, Lanzarote on Saturday 8th January 2022 and finish at Camper and Nicholsons Port Louis Marina, Grenada. For more information: www.rorctransatlantic.rorc.org On Tuesday, President Biden signed an executive order that directs the Department of Justice to end federal use of private prisons. "To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal governments reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities," the executive order reads. "Incarcerated individuals should be given a fair chance to fully reintegrate into their communities, including by participating in programming tailored to earning a good living, securing affordable housing, and participating in our democracy as our fellow citizens." The executive order doesn't specify a timeline for the phase-out. The federal government enters contracts with private corporations, so this will likely be a process of letting those contracts expire. Even still, the move comes after a year of reckoning with systemic racism in the U.S. and highlights a potential legislative goal that aligns with what progressive Democrats want to see. The justification offered in Biden's executive order for ending the partnership between the federal government and private prison operators inefficacy of incarceration, racism embedded in prisons, and sheer cost mirrors what people who have lived in prisons and other anti-incarceration activists have said for decades. It also reflects the belief that nobody should be profiting off the U.S. criminal justice system, as Biden himself said. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. "For the loved ones and families and entire communities of every one of those people, this may be a significant change," Emily Galvin-Almanza, the cofounder and executive director of Partners for Justice, a nonprofit that aims to break the cycle of poverty and incarceration, tells Mic. Galvin-Almanza notes that the number of people who will be impacted by this executive order is around 14,000, which is a small percentage of the 2 million people currently incarcerated in the U.S. However, she says the executive order is an important step toward advancing other legislative measures that address racism in our systems of education, housing, and employment, all of which are inextricably tied to incarceration. According to the executive order, racial justice is central to the Biden administration's motivation. "More than 2 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States, including a disproportionate number of people of color," the executive order states. "There is broad consensus that our current system of mass incarceration imposes significant costs and hardships on our society and communities and does not make us safer." The executive order is correct: At its core, incarceration is a racial and economic justice issue, especially when we consider all the ways incarceration is used as a punishment for poverty, and how having been incarcerated can be a hurdle toward achieving economic stability. "When you think about a system that profits off the bodies of and control of Black and brown people, one cannot help but think of this country's history with slavery," Galvin-Almanza tells Mic. While serving as a senator for Delaware, Biden championed the 1994 crime bill, which contributed to the federal government's expanded use of private prisons. The bill created $96.5 million for new federal prisons, instituted mandatory minimum sentences, and reduced opportunities for early release, keeping people incarcerated for longer periods of time. Galvin-Almanza didn't say this executive order is Biden's explicit response to the 1994 federal legislation, but she did tell Mic that it signals to her that the president "is learning to listen to impacted people instead of systems of governance or confinement, [and] learning to listen to Black people and brown people about what they're experiencing instead of relying on what seemed to be an innate trust of law enforcement." She adds: "I hope we're going to see a lot more from him." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A former BBC security guard has been accused of murdering his wife in their south Belfast home last summer. Gary Alexander Baird (61), whose address was given by the court as Lisburn Road in Belfast, did not appear before Newtownards Magistrates Court yesterday but was charged with the murder of Susan Baird (60). He was released on bail to a secure unit at Belfast City Hospital. On August 16, the mother-of-four was murdered in her home at a cul-de-sac at Windermere Road in the Four Winds area of south Belfast. She was an office administrator for Orangefield Presbyterian Church on Castlereagh Road. A detective sergeant said she could connect Baird to the murder charge and described the totally unpredictable attack as unprovoked, sustained and vicious. She said that the Windermere Road address would be unsuitable for bail as that is where the attack allegedly took place. Detectives from the PSNIs Major Investigation Team had arrested Baird who previously did security work, including at the BBC on suspicion of murder on Monday and took him to Musgrave custody suite for questioning. Representing Baird, Ciaran Toner of Finucane Toner Solicitors explained that the defendant is currently detained in Belfast City Hospital under a Mental Health Order. He added that Baird was released on Tuesday under Article 15 of the order to attend Musgrave custody suite for interview but later returned to hospital. Last night he was charged but because of the recommendations of the psychiatrist he was then brought back to Belfast City Hospital, the defence solicitor said. The detective outlined that police would ordinarily be opposing to bail and asking for Baird to be remanded in prison. However, on advice of the consultant psychiatrist, Baird was described as currently not being fit for prison. Our request, if possible, is to remand him to that unit, the detective added. We obviously have serious concerns about the risk not only to himself but the risk to the public given the fact that this was an unprovoked, sustained and vicious attack which was totally unpredictable. Mr Toner added that were not sure how long Baird will be in hospital so it was agreed that he could appear at a later date before the court in case of a future bail variation. If Baird was no longer detained under the Mental Health Order, police could then make an application to the court to vary bail and remand him in prison, it was contended. My application today, and it was agreed by the custody sergeant and the officer last night, was that he would be admitted to bail subject to the court to that address agreed by police, said Mr Toner. If there was a change to circumstances the police could then come and make representations to the court if they wanted to object. District Judge Mark Hamill said he had never come across this before but released Baird on bail for 400. He must reside in the Belfast City Hospital facility or another address agreed by police. Baird is due to appear before Newtownards Magistrates Court on February 24 for an update. 21 runners killed during mountain race in northwestern province of Gansu; Indian variant of Covid-19 found in Guangzhou; Beijing willing to arrange for vaccines to be sent to Taiwan May 28, 2021 08:15 PM Troops from the Philippine Armys 6th Infantry Division launch artillery shells against suspected Islamic State-linked militants in Sultan sa Barongis, a town in the Maguindanao province, southern Philippines, Aug. 20, 2018. At least three people died and scores were wounded in a pair of roadside bombings carried out by Islamic State-allied Filipino militants in the southern Philippines on Wednesday, officials said, in the volatile regions latest bloodshed. The attacks in North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces occurred despite a strengthened military presence since mid-2020, when President Rodrigo Duterte signed a law giving government security forces sweeping powers to tackle terrorism. No groups claimed responsibility for the attacks, but members of the Islamic State (IS)-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) are the key suspects, according to local officials. Pip Limbungan, mayor of Tulunan town in North Cotabato province, said a homemade bomb exploded shortly after noon at an abandoned ticket booth in the village of Sibsib as a bus was about to unload passengers. We condemn the attack. The explosive was hidden at the abandoned ticket booth, Limbungan said. Two people died as a result of the blast, including a 3-year-old female fruit vendor who was close to the scene, and a bus passenger who suffered a heart attack, the mayor said. Five other bystanders were rushed to the hospital after being wounded by shrapnel. They were said to be out of danger as of Wednesday afternoon. Provincial Gov. Nancy Catamco, called the bombing an insult not only to the law but to human rights. This incident is a blow to the security and peace of our province. But like all the trials weve been through, lets rise together, she said. Hours earlier, a man was killed when an improvised bomb exploded as he passed a road in South Upi, a town in neighboring Maguindanao province. Reynalbert Insular, the mayor of South Upi, said the victim was driving his motorcycle in the village of Poblacion Romonggaob at the break of dawn when a bomb exploded. The mans unidentified companion was wounded. A fragile peace The BIFF militant group is a breakaway faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the countrys former largest separatist force that ceased to be a security threat after signing a peace deal with Manila. MILF today controls an expanded Muslim autonomous region in the south. Murad Ebrahim, the groups leader who serves as interim head of the autonomous region, has said that IS-linked militants who had opposed the peace deal still posed a threat to peace. In the last three years, the greater Mindanao region has been the target of bomb attacks by IS-linked militants. Last August, two female suicide bombers killed 15 people and wounded 70 others on Jolo Island in southern Sulu province, a hotbed of the Abu Sayyaf Group. It was the deadliest militant attack since the group, which is also aligned with IS, carried out a twin suicide bombing at a local church in January 2019. Duterte last year signed a new law, which repeals the Human Security Act of 2007, in an attempt to prevent terror attacks in the south where IS militants from Southeast Asia and the Middle East had taken over the city of Marawi for five months in 2017. The law, which human rights groups have criticized, empowers government forces to conduct warrantless arrests and hold suspects for nearly a month even without charges. New military chief Also on Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte named Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, a battle-hardened soldier and army chief, to be the next overall head of the countrys armed forces. Sobejana, who as a young soldier had seen action against militants in Jolo where he was wounded, will replace Gen. Gilbert Gapay, who is set to retire on Feb. 4. The Palace confirms that Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana will be the next Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement. Sobejana led the militarys offensive against Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu before he was appointed in his current post as army chief. Basilio Sepe contributed to this report from Manila. (Newser) A paramedic in Florida's Polk County helped steal doses of COVID-19 vaccine meant for first responders a week before he was named "Paramedic of the Year," according to police. Joshua Colon, 31, of the Polk County Fire Rescue, was in charge of administering 30 doses of the Moderna vaccine to the county's firefighters on Jan. 6, not long before local groups honored him for his response to a highway crash, per the New York Times. He initially claimed three of the doses had to be discarded. Facing questions, however, he falsified vaccine screening and consent forms to make it appear as though the doses had been used, authorities say. He allegedly wrote down the name of a former firefighter and two fake names, one of which resembled the name of another ex-firefighter, per the AP. When contacted, the men told officials they had yet to receive the vaccine. story continues below Three syringes had in fact been taken by one of Colon's supervisors, a fire captain, authorities say. Colon says the captainNBC News identifies him as Anthony Damianoasked for his subordinate's help in acquiring the vaccine for his mother, and threatened to report Colon for stealing if he wasn't compliant. Colon says he saw the syringes were missing after a break, but he didn't report the theft. "Had Joshua simply gone to his boss right then, he'd have been the hero," Sheriff Grady Judd said Tuesday, announcing felony charges of uttering a false instrument, criminal use of personal identification, creating a fictitious person, and falsifying an official record as a public servant. Damiano, who will face charges upon returning from assignment in California, allegedly told Colon where the doses could be found in a call monitored by investigators. Only two doses were found. (Read more coronavirus vaccine stories.) The Ministry for Veterans' Affairs of Ukraine will cooperate with the Embassy of Austria in Ukraine on the rehabilitation and socialization of war veterans. Ukraines Minister for Veterans Affairs Yulia Laputina said this during an online meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Austria to Ukraine Gernot Pfandler, the press service of the Ministry for Veterans' Affairs reported. "The Ministry for Veterans' Affairs is interested in further expanding cooperation with Austria. Among the most important areas is the rehabilitation of war veterans, in particular, the implementation of a rehabilitation program for ATO / JFO participants with profound visual impairments," Laputina said. She welcomed Austria's support for Ukraine's European integration path, in particular, expert and technical assistance in the implementation of the Association Agreement with the European Union. Laputina also added that for all seven years of the war, Austria has been constantly providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its citizens who have suffered as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. In turn, Pfandler assured that Austria will continue to support Ukraine on its path to European integration and help servicemen return to a peaceful life. ish Redefining romance. Bekah Martinez opened up about what her future with boyfriend Grayston Leonard could look like and they might not be going down the traditional route. Read article Weve talked before about, like, I want to get married, but like, I dont know if I want to have sex with you for the rest of my life,' the former Bachelor contestant, 25, said on the Tuesday, January 26, episode of the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. And so weve talked about that maybe one day wed have an open relationship. Courtesy of Bekah Martinez/Instagram Martinez turned down the chance to appear on season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise when she and Leonard, 32, started dating in July 2018. The couple now share two children, daughter Ruth, born in February 2019, and son Franklin, born in July 2020. As they look forward to spending their lives together, Martinezs boyfriend has been possibly open to the idea of exploring a non-monogamous romance. Hes not that jealous, the reality TV alum, who competed for Arie Luyendyk Jr.s heart on The Bachelor in 2018, said on Tuesday. We have two kids together and we live together and love each other. Read article Shortly after giving birth to her baby boy, Martinez got real about her whirlwind romance with Leonard and said that she needed a break from expanding her family. Honestly I got prego three months into dating. We didnt have a sex life really established before pregnancy and kids so weve kind of never known any different with each other , she revealed in an Instagram Story in July 2020, noting that her unexpected pregnancy was so fking hard on the early days of her relationship. Wanted to break up a million times. It sucked, she added. I felt guilty for wanting to end the pregnancy initially. I worried my childs parents would hate each other. But we made it and came out stronger than ever. The California native previously dished on her hopes for a future with Leonard, telling Us Weekly exclusively in December 2020 that theyre having conversations about getting married but are pressing pause for now. We want to take some time just for us, she said at the time. It has been so much about kids in the past three years. Were like, OK, maybe we can make something just about us, but we want to wait until COVID is over. We want to have, like, a massive wedding and cant really do that right now. Read article While they might not be heading down the aisle anytime soon, the pair are still so open to welcoming more little ones into their lives. I love children. I love having a full house, Martinez told Us. Im one of five kids, and I just love that. My body needs a break, and weve been talking about exploring the option of fostering so that we can be a home for other children, even if its just temporarily. A federal judge in Texas blocked President Joe Biden's 100-day deportation "pause" on Tuesday in a ruling that may point to a new phase of conservative legal challenges to his administration's immigration agenda. Judge Drew Tipton, a Donald Trump appointee, granted a temporary restraining order sought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, saying the state had demonstrated a likelihood of facing immediate harm from Biden's pause. The court order will be in effect for 14 days while Tipton considers a broader motion by the state for a preliminary injunction. Though the order is temporary, the state's lawsuit portends more legal challenges by Biden opponents, appealing to a judicial branch reshaped by the confirmation of hundreds of Trump appointees. Paxton, a close Trump ally, celebrated the ruling as a "victory" on Twitter and declared Texas "the FIRST state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden Admin. AND WE WON." In one of his first executive actions, Biden ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt most deportations from the interior of the United States for 100 days. The pause was intended to allow ICE to overhaul its enforcement priorities, amid intense criticism from Democrats that Trump had used the agency to terrorize immigrants who had not committed violent or other serious crimes. Biden's moratorium did not apply to border-crossers who arrived in the United States after Nov. 1, and it allowed for other exceptions including matters of national security. Conservatives were incensed that Biden's pause would prevent most deportations of criminals with violent felony convictions, potentially allowing their release into the United States once they'd completed jail or prison sentences. Texas argued that the moratorium would place an unfair burden on the state and that the measure violated an agreement Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed with Ken Cuccinelli, then serving as acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, less than two weeks before Biden was sworn in. Tipton's ruling did not address the agreement, which the Biden administration does not recognize as legally binding. The state also referenced a Fox News report citing an internal ICE email calling for the mass release of detainees. But government attorneys provided the email to the court Monday, indicating that its contents had not been accurately reported by the network. Paxton, a conservative firebrand who advised Trump during the former president's failed quest to overturn the 2020 election, is currently under investigation for alleged state securities fraud and is facing other legal troubles that include allegations of bribery. In his tweet, Paxton described Biden's deportation pause as "a seditious left-wing insurrection," repeating a term used by lawmakers of both parties to describe the Jan. 6 mob attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tipton, who was appointed by Trump in June, made explicit in his ruling that the restraining order applies nationwide. He scheduled a new hearing Thursday and called the issues raised by the DHS agreement with Texas "of such gravity and constitutional import that they require further development of the record and briefing prior to addressing the merits." Tipton also left open the possibility that he would narrow his ruling in the coming weeks. "The Court notes that the scope of this injunction is something it is willing to revisit after the parties fully brief and argue the issue for purposes of the upcoming motion for preliminary injunction," he wrote. "Though the scope of this [temporary restraining order] is broad, it is not necessarily permanent." Tipton directed ICE to return to its previous operational posture, effectively directing the agency to resume deportations. An ICE official said the agency was preparing a statement. When Trump took office in 2017, he ordered several immigration-related moves, including a ban on travel from certain Muslim-majority countries that unleashed chaos and protests at U.S. airports. His administration separated more than 3,000 migrant children from their parents during a 2018 border crackdown, a "zero tolerance" policy that Biden's Justice Department on Tuesday formally rescinded. Hundreds of additional executive actions by Trump were disputed in the federal court system. Immigrant advocates and attorneys filed many of those motions in California's U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The Southern District of Texas, where Tipton presides, is part of the 5th Circuit, which is considered among the country's most conservative. The American Civil Liberties Union, which led legal opposition to Trump's immigration policies and filed a brief opposing Paxton, criticized Tipton's ruling. "This lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed," Kate Huddleston, an attorney for the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement. "Paxton sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by attempting to baselessly suppress votes; now he is attempting to force the Biden administration to follow Trump's xenophobic policies," Huddleston said. "The administration's pause on deportations is not only lawful but necessary to ensure that families are not separated and people are not returned to danger needlessly while the new administration reviews past actions." Kari Hong, an immigration scholar at the Boston College of Law, called Tipton's ruling "baffling," saying it opened the door for states to sue the federal government over any immigration policy change that might affect them. Just as Texas argued that a deportation freeze could impose financial burdens on its state budget, Hong said, California could sue by arguing that the separation of children from their deported parents leads to additional foster-care costs. Tipton "seems to invite states to be litigating matters of national policy, which is a slippery slope that will end in chaos," said Hong. She also noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has chided lower courts for issuing nationwide injunctions and rulings. ICE officials have long relied upon "prosecutorial discretion" to set and adjust immigration enforcement priorities, and during President Barack Obama's second term, immigrants who did not commit violent or serious crimes were more likely to be spared from arrest and deportation. Trump reversed that policy upon taking office, an approach his administration celebrated as removing the "shackles" on ICE officers who were given a freer hand to arrest anyone who lacked legal status. A new priority system Biden laid out, set to take effect Feb. 1, will more narrowly target serious and violent offenders once again. Tipton's restraining order does not address that priority system, so Hong said ICE still has discretion to deport - or not deport - whomever it wants. "Tipton's saying Texas has the right to stop deportations but inherently recognizing that not all deportation will happen," Hong said. "It's an illogical decision that quickly falls upon itself." - - - The Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report. Social distancing has become a staple of modern society with long queues for supermarkets, post offices and the butchers now commonplace around the UK. But there has been concern that young children will fail to follow the guidance and therefore may be spreading the coronavirus when at school. However, new research from the University of Bristol shows that when schools re-opened on June 1 2020 after more than two months shut due to the first national lockdown, the number of interactions each child had a day was drastically reduced. Close contacts among children in Reception and Year one aged between four and six dropped from 15 a day before Covid to seven, a reduction of 53 per cent. Scroll down for video Research from the University of Bristol shows that when schools re-opened on June 1 2020 after more than two months shut due to the first national lockdown with Covid-safe measures in place, the number of physical interactions each child had a day was drastically reduced For older children, those in Year Six and around 10 years old, the decrease was even sharper, down 62 per cent from 18 to seven. Contact between teaching staff dropped by 60 per cent and contact between teaching and non-teaching staff was slashed by 80 per cent. A close contact was deemed anything longer than five minutes where social distancing was not observed. The physical return of children to schools in the summer was a topic of much debate, with teaching unions and politicians repeatedly butting heads on the matter. Children have throughout the pandemic been repeatedly found to be largely unaffected by coronavirus infection, unlike adults. They account for a minute percentage of symptomatic cases, and even less for hospitalisations and deaths. For example, the Office for National Statistics shows that for the week ending on January 15 2021, not a single person below the age of 15 died of Covid-19. There was a total of 18,042 deaths that week, with more than three-quarters aged over-75. Figures from NHS England show just 29 people younger than 19 have died from Covid-19 as of January 25 in England. The exact reason for this discrepancy remains unknown, but a leading theory states youngsters have fewer receptors which the virus uses to enter cells, making it harder for the virus to infect children. These receptors become more abundant with age. Close contacts among children in Reception and Year one aged between four and six dropped from 15 a day before Covid to seven, a reduction of 53 per cent. For older children, those in Year six and around 10 years old, the decrease was even sharper, down 62 per cent from 18 to seven But their role as a carrier of the virus, capable of getting infected and spreading it to others without developing symptoms, remains largely unknown. A recent study claims children are unlikely to have played a significant role in the spread of coronavirus during the first wave last year. However, this did not account for the new Kent variant which is believed to be both more deadly, more infectious, and may be more adept at infecting children and now accounts for more than 60 per cent of all cases in the UK. The new study from Bristol, led by Professor Sir Steve Sparks, estimated the interaction levels of both children and adults in school by quizzing leaders and senior staff of 33 primary schools in England. The teachers worked in schools from all regions of the UK, and included both rural and urban areas. 'The focus of our structured expert judgement was to use these volunteers and their experience to quantify contact rates and patterns within schools and investigate how these had changed between "pre-COVID" and "new normal" times,' the authors write in the study, published in Royal Society Open Science. 'Contacts between adults and children have been reduced by a factor of about 5 between normal and new normal times,' they add. 'Given that mixing with groups of children is part of the job of classroom staff the reduction is impressive.' The study was conducted and written before schools returned fully in September and the furore over losing schools in the winter. However, the academics said the level of Covid-mitigation was impressive and often beyond government guidelines. The authors add: 'It seems unlikely that the significant reduction of risk, implied by these results, can be maintained with a full return to school. 'While opinions vary widely, there is a broad consensus that physical distancing measures can be maintained to some extent with a full return of children, but not to the same extent as achieved in June and July.' Doses of the Pfizer vaccine were binned during an NHS immunisation session amid calls for 'full transparency' about jag wastage. The doses were wasted at Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, on Saturday, while NHS staff were being vaccinated. The hospital provides rehabilitation services, assessment beds for elderly mental health patients, and care for young disabled people. It comes as production of the Oxford vaccine at a Welsh factory was suspended for around five hours while a bomb squad investigated a 'suspicious package' today. A source claimed that on at least two occasions, vials containing up to five or six doses had been disposed of after only one injection in Ayrshire. But in a statement NHS Ayrshire and Arran said the wastage was limited to three doses. The doses were wasted at Ayrshire Central Hospital in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, on Saturday, while NHS staff were being vaccinated (file photo) Dale Snowden from Sunderland receives the AstraZeneca/Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine at the NHS Nightingale North East hospital yesterday An insider told the Herald: 'We have always had suspicions that vaccines were being wasted. 'Given the crucial nature of the vaccination programme I found it ludicrous that such a thing would occur.' BMA Scotland warned of the 'risk' of vaccines going to waste due to appointment scheduling difficulties after vaccine dose spacing was extended at short notice from three to 12 weeks. It has also called for 'full transparency' about vaccine wastage. A spokesman for NHS Ayrshire and Arran said: 'Vaccines are being administered by experienced immunisation staff who have received additional training for the safe preparation and delivery of the Covid-19 vaccines. 'At this stage in the rollout Ayrshire and Arran has seen negligible numbers of wastage thanks to the skill and dedication of our immunisation team. 'Vaccinations took place at Ayrshire Central Hospital last weekend (23-24 January). Three vaccine doses were recorded as wastage from this vaccination session. 'We have reviewed our existing processes to ensure the continued minimisation of waste. 'This includes preparing a list of potential staff at the start of the day who may be available at short notice to receive their first dose of the vaccine should we have available vaccine as a result of appointments being unattended.' The Scottish Government has said early estimates suggest vaccine wastage in Scotland has been around 1.82 per cent, which is 'well below a five per cent planning assumption'. Meanwhile production of the Oxford vaccine at a Welsh factory was suspended for around five hours while a bomb squad investigated a 'suspicious package' today. All employees were evacuated from the Wockhardt pharmaceutical facility at Wrexham Industrial Estate in Wales at around 11.30am after staff received the parcel. Wockhardt provides fill-and-finish services for the Oxford and AstraZeneca vaccine and is capable of producing up to 300 million doses of the vital jab each year. A plant spokesman said the pause in production - which commenced around 11.30 - did not affect production of the vital jab. Workers have now returned to the factory after the suspicious package was 'made safe' and the investigation has now been concluded. The plant could not provide information on how many doses of the vaccine were on site, but said production 'had been proceeding at pace to meet the Government contract for 100 million vaccine doses'. Pictures taken at the site earlier today showed bomb squad vehicles and several police officers. A bomb disposal robot was filmed on the site as experts ensured the plant's 400 staff members were safe to return. A factory that produces and stores vital doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was evacuated after it was sent a 'suspicious package' today. Pictured: Emergency workers at the scene The Wockhardt vaccine facility in Wrexham this morning received a suspicious package. Pictured: Emergency services at the scene A cordon was put in place near the plant and the public were asked to keep away. A spokesman said: 'We can confirm that the investigation on the suspicious package received today has been concluded. 'Given that staff safety is our main priority manufacturing was temporarily paused whilst this took place safely. 'We can now confirm that the package was made safe and staff are now being allowed back into the facility. 'This temporary suspension of manufacturing has in no way affected our production schedule and we are grateful to the authorities and experts for their swift response and resolution of the incident.' A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said an explosive ordnance disposal team based in Chester was called out just after 11.30am and was assisting the authorities in Wrexham. Downing Street was being kept up to date on developments, a Number 10 spokesman said. Senator Patrick Leahy was hospitalized just hours after being sworn in to preside over President Donald Trump's second impeachment. Senator Leahy was rushed to a local hospital Late Tuesday night, Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy was rushed to the hospital after being sworn to preside Trump's impeachment trial. Senator Leahy is the president pro tempore of the Senate and a third in line to become president after Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Leahy, 80, the most senior Democratic Senator, took up his role in presiding as the other senators were sworn in as the court of impeachment. On Tuesday evening, the Senator was in the Capitol office and was not feeling well. His spokesman David Carle told ABC News that the Attending Physician examined Leahy in the Capitol. Carle added that out of the abundance of caution, the Capitol Physician suggested that Senator Patrick Leahy be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now being evaluated. John Roberts, Supreme Court Chief Justice, presided over former President Trump's first impeachment. However, it was reported that he did not want to preside again for President Trump's first impeachment. Read also: Trump Offers Washington DC Hotel To National Guards Kicked Out of the US Capitol According to Daily Mail, Senator Leahy helps ensure the party's majority in the 50-50 Senate like every other Senate, aside from his mostly ceremonial role at the trial. Since Democrats have the control in the White House, Vice President Kamala Harris can break ties as Senate president. Harris could also provide the party with effective management. Hours after news came out that 45 Republicans voted on a procedural motion of former President Trump's trial after leaving office unconstitutionally, Leahy's hospitalization reports spread. Republican voters saw a sign that the effort to impeach Trump faces steep obstacles, as per Mail. To convict Trump, seventeen Republicans would need to join 50 Democrats. Tuesday's impeachment trial was mostly ceremonial, setting up a crucial trial to start on February 9. Meanwhile, Democratic managers and Trump's lawyers are preparing briefs they could file on the charge of incitement of insurrection linked to the January 6 Capitol riot. Read also: Woman Faces Federal Charges for Stealing Pelosi's Laptop, Covers Tracks Online Who is Senator Patrick Leahy? Senator Patrick Leahy has previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and is now the top Democrat on the powerful Appropriations Committee. Leahy was first elected in 1974, serving for decades with President Joe Biden when they were in the Senate. The Senator is an avid amateur photographer who snapped photos in the Capitol before Trump's second impeachment. The Senate Majority Whip Senator Richard Durbin said Marcelle Pomerleau, Leahy's wife, and a nurse, was with the Senator at the hospital. Durbin told CNN that rushing Leahy in a local hospital was 'just an abundance of caution.' Marcell said things would go well, so they expect Leahy to be back tomorrow, as per Durbin. According to Business Insider, Senator Leahy is the current longest-serving Senator in the U.S., who serves as president pro tempore or the one to oversee the Senate in the absence of the vice president. Read also: Republican Kevin McCarthy says Capitol Attack is Everyone's Responsibility @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Cruel Intentions alum Selma Blair found a way to make sweatpants chic by donning a matching blazer while stopping by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Studio City on Tuesday. The 48-year-old Grammy nominee also wore a white Fiorucci T-shirt and a b&w-plaid cloth mask to protect herself and others from the coronavirus. COVID-19 is spiking nationwide with 1.07M confirmed cases in Los Angeles leading to 15,314 deaths as of Tuesday - according to Johns Hopkins University. Caffeine fix! Cruel Intentions alum Selma Blair found a way to make sweatpants chic by donning a matching blazer while stopping by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Studio City on Tuesday Mandatory: The 48-year-old Grammy nominee also wore a white Fiorucci T-shirt and a b&w-plaid cloth mask to protect herself and others from the coronavirus Missing from Selma's side was her on/off boyfriend since February 2015, Daytime Emmy-nominated producer Ron Carlson. Blair (born Beitner) amicably co-parents her nine-year-old son Arthur Saint with her Topanga-based ex-partner Jason Bleick, whom she split from in 2012. Last Friday, the University of Michigan grad discussed her passion for horse-riding and why buying Mr. Nibbles in 2018 was 'my biggest investment in myself.' 'A sober self with increasingly unremitting exhaustion. I couldn't feel my bum or left leg on my horse. The proprioception issues, inability to sit still, spasms, twitches. Jerks. Dystonia increased,' Selma wrote to her 2.4M Instagram followers. Leading man: Missing from Selma's side was her on/off boyfriend since February 2015, Daytime Emmy-nominated producer Ron Carlson (L, pictured January 16) October 26 family portrait: Blair amicably co-parents her nine-year-old son Arthur Saint (R) with her Topanga-based ex-partner Jason Bleick (L), whom she split from in 2012 'I just laughed and thought getting older is impossible! But it was ms and it got too big and I had to take a break until now. I am at the beginning. Still. And I cannot stop smiling. I cannot. When I am at the barn. I finally have the white unicorn I cannot believe is in my life and I want to rise to the occasion.' Blair - who was wearing the same shirt from 30 years ago - trains with Kelly Jennings at the Cellar Door Farm in Bell Canyon, CA. The avid equestrian's post received glowing comments from Michelle Pfeiffer, Carnie Wilson, Helena Christensen, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Kendra Wilkinson, and Paulina Porizkova. Therapy: Last Friday, the University of Michigan grad discussed her passion for horse-riding and why buying Mr. Nibbles in 2018 was 'my biggest investment in myself' Selma wrote to her 2.4M Instagram followers: 'I just laughed and thought getting older is impossible! But it was ms and it got too big and I had to take a break until now. I am at the beginning. Still. And I cannot stop smiling. I cannot. When I am at the barn. I finally have the white unicorn I cannot believe is in my life and I want to rise to the occasion' Throwback! Blair - who was wearing the same shirt from 30 years ago - trains with Kelly Jennings at the Cellar Door Farm in Bell Canyon, CA (pictured in 1991) 'Love seeing you this happy!' The avid equestrian's post received glowing comments from Michelle Pfeiffer, Carnie Wilson, Helena Christensen, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Kendra Wilkinson, and Paulina Porizkova Survivor: Next month marks two years since Selma publicly revealed her battle with an 'aggressive form' of multiple sclerosis, which first surfaced in October 2018 Next month marks two years since Selma publicly revealed her battle with an 'aggressive form' of multiple sclerosis, which first surfaced in October 2018. Blair is also set to celebrate four years of sobriety on June 21. On November 24, the After We Collided actress wrapped the 10-episode second season of dismally-reviewed sci-fi drama Another Life, in which she plays media influencer Harper Glass. Chinese brands stood out among the world's most valuable brands according to an annual report by Brand Finance, a brand valuation and strategy consultancy. In the report, released Tuesday, Chinese brands' total brand value reached $1.4 trillion, or 20 percent of the total brand value in the Brand Finance Global 500 2021 ranking. ICBC is the country's most valuable brand, placing eighth in the list with a brand value at $72.79 billion. Other valuable Chinese brands among the top 20 include WeChat (10th), China Construction Bank (11st), Tencent (14th), Huawei (15th), State Grid (16th), Ping An (17th), Taobao (18th) and Agricultural Bank of China (19th). In real estate, all 11 brands in this year's ranking hail from China, with eight out of those growing in brand value. Evergrande is the most valuable brand in the industry, ranking 85th with a brand value of $20.19 billion. China also has strong representation in the spirits sector. At 27th, Moutai ranked highest among the five Chinese baijiu brands in the list, with a single brand value of $45.33 billion. In this year's ranking, Apple overtook Amazon and Google to reclaim its status as the world's most valuable brand for the first time since 2016, with a brand value of $263.38 billion. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2021 - 14:00 | World, All South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung Wha and new U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Wednesday that North Korea's nuclear issue is an urgent matter that needs to be dealt with by the administration of President Joe Biden, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. During their roughly 30-minute phone conversation, the two agreed that South Korea and the United States will "closely discuss the matter to reach a solution," the ministry said in a statement, adding that they also confirmed stronger bilateral cooperation in tackling such issues as climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The phone talks were held just hours after Blinken was confirmed by the Senate. Kang, who is set to step down as foreign minister after more than three years in the post, expressed hope that her successor will be able to speak with Blinken at an early date, according to the ministry. President Moon Jae In has named Chung Eui Yong, a former director of the National Security Office, as new foreign minister. But his confirmation hearing has yet to be held in parliament. On Tuesday, Moon held phone talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During the talks, Xi said he "actively supports" Moon's efforts to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying it is in agreement with the common interests of both countries, according to an official at Moon's office. The two leaders also agreed to work to hold at an early date a trilateral summit that also includes their Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, the official said. The three-way meeting was not held last year amid frosty ties between Japan and South Korea over compensation for wartime labor and other issues. India-US partnership is built on the foundation of shared values and they are looking forward to working with the Biden administration, said Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu in his Republic Day address on Tuesday. In all of this, the Indian-American community is a critical pillar of our relationship with the US, Sandhu said, adding that he is confident that the community will continue to play its important role in bringing the two nations closer. We look forward to working with the new Administration, led by President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Sandhu said. India-US partnership is built on the foundation of shared values democracy, pluralism and the rule of law. From outer space to nanotechnology, Indo-Pacific to climate change, healthcare to education and IT, there is a recognition that our partnership can benefit, not just our two nations, but the entire world, he added. On the fight against coronavirus, Sandhu said both in the US and India, vaccines have been developed and large-scale vaccination programmes have begun. In India, we are undertaking the world's largest vaccination drive. The Government of India has taken special care to ensure that made in India vaccines are also made available to other countries, our neighbours, friends and partners, said the ambassador. As the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described it, India's strength as a pharmacy of the world will contribute towards making a safer and healthier world, he said. Sandhu said as the country emerges out the pandemic, it will continue to focus on strengthening the economy and building on the reforms that have been undertaken in various sectors. Despite the pandemic, foreign investments have continued to grow, a recognition of the tremendous confidence the world has in India, Sandhu said. Celebrated virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, India's 72nd Republic Day event was attended by hundreds of Indian Americans from across the country. The Address by the President of India on the eve of Republic Day was played. This was followed by a short cultural programme involving local artistes and rendition of patriotic songs by students of Gandharva School of Music, Richmond, and a violin recital by Kamalakiran Vinjamuru. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Just over two-thirds of South African adults polled said they would probably or definitely take a Covid-19 vaccine, a survey by the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Covid-19 Democracy Survey shows. Education needed around vaccines Sixty-seven percent of the adults surveyed said they would definitely or probably take a vaccine if it was available compared to the 18% who said they would definitely not or probably not take a vaccine, while 15% were undecided.The survey was conducted online using social media adverts to direct potential participants to the survey and #datafree through biNus Moya Messenger app. It was completed by 10,618 participants. Findings were weighted by race, education and age, and are broadly representative of the population at large. The questionnaire was available in the countrys six most widely spoken languages.The briefing demonstrates that race, education and age play a role in shaping vaccine acceptance. White adults were least accepting of a vaccine; 55% responding that they would take the vaccine compared to 69% of Black African adults, the researchers said.Sixty-nine percent of men indicated that they would take the vaccine in comparison to 65% of women, even though researchers said this was based on a small number of responses.Acceptance among adults with less than matric-level education was 72%, compared with 59% for those with tertiary education.For those who were either unsure or against taking the jab, the most common explanations related to concerns about side-effects (25%) and overall effectiveness of the vaccine (18%).Meanwhile, a majority of people said they needed more information.Explanations related to conspiracy theories or the occult did not appear frequently, 7% and 4% respectively. In addition, the most common explanations that people gave for wanting to vaccinate were to protect oneself (29%), closely followed by the desire to protect others (25%).Another notable finding was that those who expressed a willingness to sacrifice certain human rights to stop the spread of the virus were far more favourable towards vaccination than those opposed to sacrificing rights.The HSRCs Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller has called for education around vaccines and its rollout. The analysis shows that vaccine hesitancy comes down to a range of legitimate concerns about a vaccine developed and rolled out in record time, as well as some distrust in the government and corporations. We need a vaccine literacy campaign that provides factual information that will sway the waverers."Her colleague, UJs Professor Kate Alexander welcomed the findings. It is excellent news that such a large and representative survey shows that 67% now want to take the vaccine. The biggest challenge is to make sure that the majority get what they want." Infection Control nurse Colin Clarke looking out from a Covid-19 recovery ward at Craigavon Area Hospital in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council (ABC) area is the epicentre of Northern Irelands battle with Covid-19, according to a health chief. Addressing Januarys full council meeting, Southern Health Trust chief executive Shane Devlin compared the boroughs Covid death rate to a daily minibus or car crash in which everyone died. Yesterday, official figures showed that 12,648 people had tested positive in the borough, an increase of 114 on the previous day the biggest overnight increase in Northern Ireland. In the week before Monday, there had been 924 positive cases far ahead of every other council area with over 600 of those aged 20 to 59. And 780 Trust staff were absent on Monday as a result of Covid-19. Read More ABC is the epicentre of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland at the moment, said Mr Devlin. It is very clear that we are our incidence rate is around 500 per 100,000. At the beginning of the pandemic the World Health Organisation said anything greater than 50 per 100,000 is out of control. Expand Close Shane Devlin from the Southern Health Trust / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shane Devlin from the Southern Health Trust The situation in Northern Ireland is completely out of control but we in ABC are far worse than any other council area. He attempted to hammer home the message by comparing the current death rate within the borough as a result of Covid-19 to that of a fatal car crash. If in 2021 so far, this borough had a car crash every morning that claimed the lives of the four people in the vehicle and that was happening seven days a week, what would your reaction be? asked Mr Devlin. That is exactly what is happening in Craigavon Area Hospital at the moment and some days, it is more like a people carrier or minibus has crashed, killing all inside. The only difference is, it is not a car crash that is killing these people, its a virus a virus that we can all play part in reducing the spread of. Mr Devlin told members that during the first surge, the Southern Trust had a peak of 63 positive Covid-19 patients, it had a peak of 129 in the second surge and in this, the third surge, it has so far had a peak of 297 Covid-19 positive patients. What this means is that the Southern Trust is dealing with 40% of all Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland, said Mr Devlin. As a consequence, the Belfast Trust and the South Eastern Trust, which are not dealing with the same volume of Covid positive patients as we are, are having to take some of our patients. Put bluntly, this has resulted in 79 ambulances bypassing Craigavon in the last week. We know people transfer the virus and it is highly contagious, we are in a bad place at the moment. The levels of the virus is high in the community and high in our hospitals. Mr Devlin told councillors that we are so out of kilter with the rest of Northern Ireland and that is something we have to reflect on. He also revealed the need to double ICU capacity has led to the closure of theatres. That isnt as simple as doubling the number of beds, it also means the ICU needs more staff, he said. I have needed to move 170 staff which has resulted in theatre closures. Read More As a result of having to look after Covid-19 patients, I am in a position where I cant do every operation. Last week, I ran 15 operations because the harm to the patients would have been irreversible. That was 15 operations to keep these people alive. On a normal week we would be doing more than 100 operations. Updates on CCP Virus: UK Variant Found in Alabama Alabama health officials said Wednesday that the more highly transmissible CCP virus variant seen in the United Kingdom has been found in the state. The Alabama Department of Public Health said the variant is thought to be more contagious. It is the first time the variant has been identified in the state, although it has been detected in at least 24 other states, including Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina. Colombia Bans Flights From Brazil Colombia will ban flights from Brazil effective Friday over concerns of a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that is circulating in that country. Colombia President Ivan Duque on Wednesday announced the 30-day measure. No flights will take off from Colombia to Brazil either. Anyone who arrived from Brazil to Colombia between Jan. 18 and Wednesday will have to quarantine for 14 days. US May Reach 514,000 Deaths by Feb. 20 As many as 90,000 Americans are projected to die from the CCP virus in the next four weeks, the Biden administration warned in its first science briefing on the pandemic. Rochelle Walensky, the new head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says her agencys latest forecast indicates the United States will record between 479,000 to 514,000 deaths by Feb. 20. IOC, Tokyo Olympics to Unveil Rule Book The IOC and Tokyo organizers are set to roll out next week to explain how 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and tens of thousands of others will try to safely enter Japan when the Olympics open in just under six months. Organizers and the International Olympic Committee are finally going public with their planning, hoping to push back against reports the Olympics will be canceled with Tokyo and much of Japan still under a state of emergency with COVID-19 cases rising. Chicago Teachers to Defy Order to Return to Classroom Chicago teachers are poised to defy an order to return to classrooms on Wednesday, claiming the school system has failed to put in place COVID-19 protocols necessary for a safe reopening of in-person learning after a year-long hiatus. Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), which represents the citys 25,000 public school educators, has been locked in negotiations with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for months over a gradual reopening of schools for the systems 355,000 students. Moscow Mayor Lifts Some Restrictions Moscows mayor on Wednesday lifted some CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus restrictions in the Russian capital, citing a downward trend in new infections. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said starting Wednesday, employers are no longer required to have 30 percent of staff work from home, although a recommendation to continue doing that remains. Sobyanin has also allowed cafes, restaurants, and bars to operate between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. White House: Biden Didnt Set New Goal on Vaccines President Joe Biden didnt set a new goal this week when he said the United States could vaccinate 1.5 million people a day against the CCP virus, the White House clarified on Tuesday. Prior to taking office Biden said his goal was to have 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines injected during his first 100 days in office. But the United States had reached around 1 million doses a day before he was sworn in. Alaska Detects First Case of Variant Alaska has detected the states first known case of the COVID-19 variant identified last year in the United Kingdom, officials said Tuesday. The infected person is an Anchorage resident who had traveled to a state where the variant had already been detected, the Alaska health department said. The person first experienced symptoms on Dec. 17, was tested three days later, and received a positive result on Dec. 22. China Sought Animal, Human Samples in Origin Probe: Leaked Documents The Epoch Times obtained leaked documents that show the Chinese regime sought to investigate the source of the virus via testing animal and human biological samples. This comes to light as the Chinese regime faces criticism for its lack of transparency and delaying the arrival of international experts into China to investigate the viruss origins. Chinas National Health Commission issued a notice on Feb. 25, 2020, to the health commissions of all Chinese provinces, regions, municipalities, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a CCP-run paramilitary organization with jurisdiction over some cities and land in far-western Xinjiang. Teacher Builds Nearly 800 Desks for Kids Without Home Workspaces for Online Learning An Iowa school teacher got out his toolbox and headed for the hardware store after learning that many students didnt have at-home workspaces sufficient to support online learning. Nate Evans, a 7th Grade literacy teacher from Ankeny, and more than 50 volunteers have since worked together to construct roughly 600 desks, making his vision come true. Beijing Residents Grow Angry Over Lockdown and Soaring Food Prices The latest round of the COVID-19 outbreak in Chinas capital Beijing is spreading rapidly, with cases popping up in more districts. A local hospital was locked down, and hundreds of residents were urgently relocated for quarantine. The Epoch Times spoke with some Beijing residents who expressed frustration over the governments handling of the situation and the recent spike in food prices. Amber Li, Jenni Julander, Zachary Stieber, Alex Wu, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Solutions 30's remarkable performance in 20201 once again demonstrates its solid fundamentals and promising outlook for growth despite the destabilization and misinformation campaign it is a victim of. Solutions 30 has already filed a complaint with the French financial markets authority [Autorite des Marches Financiers] and with the national financial prosecutor's office for the dissemination of false and misleading information and market manipulation, following the publication of an anonymous report containing a large amount of false and misleading information.2 This information has been publicly disseminated and exploited by the hedge fund Muddy Waters, which-in two letters dated January 25th and January 27th, 2021 and written in its own name-made new allegations that are false and misleading. These letters, whose sole purpose is to take advantage of a decline in the Solutions 30 share price, took place two trading days before the publication of the group's full-year trading statement for the first one and on the day following the publication of strong annual sales growth for the second one. Solutions 30 categorically refutes the allegations against the company in these letters and, in view of the seriousness of their content, has decided to file a defamation complaint. About Solutions 30 SE The Solutions 30 group is the European leader in solutions for new technologies. Its mission is to make the technological developments that are transforming our daily lives accessible to everyone, individuals and businesses alike. Yesterday, it was computers and the Internet. Today, it's digital technology. Tomorrow, it will be technologies that make the world even more interconnected in real time. With more than 30 million call-outs carried out since it was founded and a network of more than 11,000 local technicians, Solutions 30 currently covers all of France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Iberian Peninsula, the United Kingdom, and Poland. The share capital of Solutions 30 SE consists of 107,127,984 shares, equal to the number of theoretical votes that can be exercised. Solutions 30 SE is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange Contact Analysts/Investors Nathalie Boumendil | Tel: +33 6 85 82 41 95 | nathalie.boumendil@solutions30.com Press - Image 7: Leslie Jung | Tel: +44 7818 641803 | ljung@image7.fr Flore Larger | Tel: +33 6 33 13 41 50 | flarger@image7.fr Charlotte Le Barbier | Tel: +33 6 78 37 27 60 | clebarbier@image7.fr 1 See press release of January 26, 2021 2 See Solutions 30's responses: https://www.solutions30.com/transparency/ Attachment Ghanas herbal industry has the potential to widen the nations foreign exchange earnings, Dr Kofi Bobi Barimah, the Acting Executive Director of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research, has said. He, therefore, called for investment and support to the sector to add value to traditional and herbal medicines for export to enhance the nation foreign exchange and spur rapid socio-economic growth and development. Dr Barimah said herbal medicine was efficacious and had huge market value both local and international and said more than 70 per cent of Ghanaians used herbal medicine in one way or the other. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, the Acting Executive Director noted that Ghanas ability to manage the herbal industry would create more jobs and increase revenue. However, Dr Barimah expressed regret about uncontrolled abuse of herbal drugs among Ghanaians, which remained detrimental to the health of the people. Herbal plants such as Kaya, Neem tree and Mahogany, he explained, had high medicinal value, but added that their misuse remained a challenge. Dr Barimah stressed the need to make the herbal industry attractive and called on the Food and Drug Authority to regulate the sector effectively and clamp down on unlicensed herbal dealers. Public demand and use of herbal medicine, he noted, kept increasing because of its proven efficacy, saying 40 health facilities in the country were providing herbal care services. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video SAGINAW, MI A Tawas man who had been arrested in and extradited from Kentucky to face sexual assault charges has accepted a plea deal. Traymond E. Baldwin, 25, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, appeared before Saginaw County Chief Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson via Zoom from the Saginaw County Jail. Baldwin pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim between the ages of 13 and 15. The charge involves penetration and is a 15-year felony. To establish Baldwins guilt, defense attorney James F. Piazza asked him a series of yes-or-no questions. Through his answers, Baldwin said that on July 1, 2019, he was at a Saginaw residence when a girl 13-year-old girl visited him. He said the girl told him she was 16 and they proceeded to engage in sexual activity. Baldwin found out later the girl was not 16, the age of consent for sexual activity in Michigan. In exchange for Baldwins plea, Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa J. Hoover agreed to dismiss three counts of first- and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, with one of each degree having the additional description of the victim being younger than 13. Prosecutors previously said the mother of the girl in question contacted police in October 2019 on learning her daughter was accusing Baldwin of sexual assault. Authorities issued a warrant for Baldwin on Feb. 26, 2020, around the time Baldwin left Michigan for Kentucky. Police in Radcliff, Kentucky, on March 8 received a call of suspected drug activity outside a business, said Police Chief Jeffrey A. Cross. Officers responded to the area and encountered Baldwin. On running his name, police learned he was wanted on an outstanding warrant in Michigan, Cross said. He was held in the Hardin County Jail in Kentucky until he could be extradited north. He was arraigned in Saginaw County on April 8. At Tuesdays plea hearing, Piazza said Baldwins estimated sentencing guidelines are expected to be 36 months to five years, with Jackson having indicated 42 months may be the resulting sentence. Jackson ordered Baldwin to be held in jail without bond pending sentencing, the date of which is pending. Read more: Tawas man extradited from Kentucky to face rape charges Saginaws first female police officer celebrates 85th birthday: I would do it again Four years after Bay City mans murder, one of his killers is about to learn his punishment Stock Market Symbols GIB.A (TSX) GIB (NYSE) cgi.com/newsroom Bookings up 24% and EPS up 24.5% year-over-year Q1-F2021 performance highlights Revenue of $3.02 billion ; ; Adjusted EBIT of $495.7 million , and margin of 16.4%, up 90 basis points year-over-year; , and margin of 16.4%, up 90 basis points year-over-year; Net earnings of $343.5 million , up 18.4%, for a margin of 11.4%; , up 18.4%, for a margin of 11.4%; Diluted EPS of $1.32 , up 24.5% year-over-year; , up 24.5% year-over-year; Net earnings excluding specific items* of $347.2 million and diluted EPS of $1.33 ; and diluted EPS of ; Cash from operating activities of $597.5 million , up 28.4% year-over-year; and , up 28.4% year-over-year; and Bookings of $3.40 billion , for a book-to-bill ratio of 112.5%. *Specific items in Q1-F2021 include: $3.7 million in acquisition-related and integration costs net of tax; Specific items in Q1-F2020 include: $16.5 million in acquisition-related and integration costs and $28.2 million in restructuring costs, both net of tax. Note: All figures in Canadian dollars. Q1-F2021 MD&A, interim condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes can be found at cgi.com/investors and have been filed with both SEDAR in Canada and EDGAR in the U.S. To access the financial statements click here (PDF) To access the Q1-F2021 MD&A click here (PDF) MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB) reported Fiscal 2021 first quarter results this morning. "CGI started fiscal 2021 with strong results as our operational discipline and quality client delivery contributed to earnings growth" said President and Chief Executive Officer, George D. Schindler. "Our business pipeline continues to improve, with bookings up 24% year-over-year as clients are increasingly turning to technology, and CGI, to assist them as they navigate the continuing pandemic and prepare for a post-pandemic environment. Our ability to offer relevant, timely and actionable insights to our clients combined with our strong cash generation will continue to drive profitable growth." For the first quarter of F2021, the Company reported revenue of $3.02 billion, compared with $3.05 billion in the same period last year. Adjusted EBIT was $495.7 million, with EBIT margin of 16.4% representing an improvement of 90 basis points from 15.5% in the same period last year. Net earnings were $343.5 million in Q1-F2021, up 18.4% compared with the same period last year, primarily due to improved margins and lower restructuring and integration expenses. Diluted earnings per share, as a result, expanded to $1.32 compared to $1.06 last year representing an increase of 24.5% year over year. Excluding acquisition-related integration and restructuring costs, both net of tax, net earnings were $347.2 million in Q1-F2021 and margin of 11.5%. On the same basis, diluted earnings per share expanded by 8.1% to $1.33, up from $1.23 from the same period last year. Bookings were $3.40 billion in Q1-F2021, up 23.5% year-over-year and representing a book-to-bill ratio of 112.5%. At the end of December 2020, the Company's backlog stood at $22.77 billion. Cash provided by operating activities was $597.5 million, or 19.8% of revenue, representing an increase of 28.4% or $132.2 million compared with Q1-F2020. In millions of Canadian dollars except earnings per share and where noted Q1-F2021 Q1-F2020 Revenue 3,019.4 3,054.7 Growth (1.2)% 3.1% Constant currency growth (3.6)% 4.8% Adjusted EBIT 495.7 474.1 Margin 16.4% 15.5% Net earnings 343.5 290.2 Margin 11.4% 9.5% Net earnings excluding specific items* 347.2 334.9 Margin 11.5% 11.0% Diluted earnings per share (diluted EPS) 1.32 1.06 Diluted earnings per share, excluding specific items* 1.33 1.23 Weighted average number of outstanding shares (diluted) 260.4 273.1 Net finance costs 27.2 26.7 Net debt 2,672.5 2,810.6 Net debt to capitalization ratio 23.2% 27.7% Cash provided by operating activities 597.5 465.3 Days sales outstanding (DSO) 44 49 Return on invested capital (ROIC) 12.4% 14.4% Return on equity (ROE) 16.6% 18.0% Bookings 3,396.6 2,749.3 Backlog 22,768.6 22,292.4 *Specific items in Q1-F2021 include: $3.7 million in acquisition-related and integration costs net of tax; Specific items in Q1-F2020 include: $16.5 million in acquisition-related and integration costs and $28.2 million in restructuring costs, both net of tax. At the end of December, net debt stood at $2.67 billion dollars, representing a net debt-to-capitalization ratio of 23.2%, down from 27.7% at the same time last year. With cash of $1.68 billion on hand at the end of December 2020 and its revolving credit facility, the Company has $3.19 billion in readily available liquidity to pursue its Build and Buy profitable growth strategy. Normal Course Issuer Bid On January 26, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors authorized the renewal of its Normal Course Issuer Bid, which, subject to approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange, allows for the purchase for cancellation of up to 19.2 million Class A subordinate voting shares over the next 12 months, representing approximately 10% of the Company's public float as of the close of business on January 22, 2021. The current program will terminate on February 5, 2021 and repurchases of Class A subordinate voting shares under the renewed program may commence on February 6, 2021. For further information, please refer to the Company's press release regarding the renewal of its Normal Course Issuer Bid. Q1-F2021 results conference call Management will host a conference call this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss results. Participants may access the call by dialing 1-877-879-0631 Conference ID: 7189191 or via cgi.com/investors. For those unable to participate on the live call, a podcast and copy of the slides will be archived for download at cgi.com/investors. Annual General Meeting of Shareholders This morning the company will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders. The meeting will be held at 11:00 a.m. (EST) via live audio webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/CGI2020. About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 76,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com. Non-GAAP financial metrics used in this press release: Constant currency growth, adjusted EBIT, adjusted EBIT margin, net debt, net debt to capitalization ratio, bookings, book-to-bill ratio, backlog, DSO, ROIC, ROE, net earnings margin, net earnings excluding specific items, net earnings margin excluding specific items, and diluted EPS excluding specific items. CGI reports its financial results in accordance with IFRS. However, management believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to investors regarding the company's financial condition and results of operations as they provide additional measures of its performance. Additional details for these non-GAAP measures can be found on pages 3 to 5 of our Q1-F2021 MD&A which is posted on CGI's website, and filed with SEDAR in Canada and EDGAR in the U.S. Forward-looking information and statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable United States safe harbours. All such forward-looking information and statements are made and disclosed in reliance upon the safe harbour provisions of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Forward-looking information and statements include all information and statements regarding CGI's intentions, plans, expectations, beliefs, objectives, future performance, and strategy, as well as any other information or statements that relate to future events or circumstances and which do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts. Forward-looking information and statements often but not always use words such as "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "foresee", "plan", "predict", "project", "aim", "seek", "strive", "potential", "continue", "target", "may", "might", "could", "should", and similar expressions and variations thereof. These information and statements are based on our perception of historic trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other assumptions, both general and specific, that we believe are appropriate in the circumstances. Such information and statements are, however, by their very nature, subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, of which many are beyond the control of CGI, and which give rise to the possibility that actual results could differ materially from our expectations expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not restricted to: risks related to the market such as the level of business activity of our clients, which is affected by economic and political conditions, external risks (such as pandemics) and our ability to negotiate new contracts; risks related to our industry such as competition and our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, to develop and expand our services, to penetrate new markets, and to protect our intellectual property rights; risks related to our business such as risks associated with our growth strategy, including the integration of new operations, financial and operational risks inherent in worldwide operations, foreign exchange risks, income tax laws, our ability to negotiate favourable contractual terms, to deliver our services and to collect receivables, and the reputational and financial risks attendant to cybersecurity breaches and other incidents; as well as other risks identified or incorporated by reference in this press release, in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and in other documents that we make public, including our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators (on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (on EDGAR at www.sec.gov). For a discussion of risks in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see Pandemic Risks in section 10.1.1. of our annual and quarterly MD&A. Unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. While we believe that our assumptions on which these forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are based were reasonable as at the date of this press release, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking information or statements. Furthermore, readers are reminded that forward-looking information and statements are presented for the sole purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our objectives, strategic priorities and business outlook as well as our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Further information on the risks that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from our current expectations may be found in the section titled "Risk Environment" of CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A, which is incorporated by reference in this cautionary statement. We also caution readers that the above-mentioned risks and the risks disclosed in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and other documents and filings are not the only ones that could affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial could also have a material adverse effect on our financial position, financial performance, cash flows, business or reputation. SOURCE CGI Inc. Related Links www.cgi.com A mans body was recovered in the Murray River by police divers on Australia Day, after he was reported missing by friends earlier in the day. Emergency services were called to the Murray River near Cobram, in southern NSW, about 1pm after the 35-year-old St Kilda man got into difficulties while swimming with friends. Authorities told 9News the man was on holidays with friends when the incident occurred. Friends entered the water here at Thompson Beach and proceeded to swim across the river. However, on the way across one of the males came into some difficulties and sunk beneath the surface, NSW Police Acting Inspector David Forland told 9News. A teacher has been sentenced over the rape of a teenage student as the victim's mother said her daughter has been 'stripped of hope'. John Fraioli, 35, a former teacher at New Rochelle High School in Westchester County, New York pleaded guilty in October 2019 to criminal sexual act and rape. On Tuesday, the 35-year-old was sentenced to six months of shock incarceration with 10 years of sex offender probation. Fraioli assaulted the victim on more than one occasion inside the school building in 2019. Prosecutors say Fraioli also raped the student at his home in White Plains. John Fraioli, 35, a former teacher at New Rochelle High School in Westchester County, New York pleaded guilty in October 2019 to criminal sexual act and rape Shock incarceration gives eligible offenders the opportunity to earn early release from prison if they successfully complete a six-month intensive 'boot camp'-style rehabilitation program. Fraioli was ordered to surrender his New York State teacher license and will be required to register as a sex offender. Fraioli was initially arrested by New Rochelle Police investigators in May 2019. Officials said he continued to abuse the teenager in his home and was arrested by the White Plains Police Department for a second time in November 2019. He resigned from his teaching position prior to his arrest. In an emotional statement during his sentencing on Tuesday, the victim's mother said: 'You took full advantage of her vulnerability. 'You manipulated her. You used her. You preyed upon her. Fraioli was a former teacher at New Rochelle High School in Westchester County, New York, pictured above 'My only hope is that in time she will be able to overcome the abuse you inflicted. My biggest fear is that she may not.' The student also read out a victim impact statement during the court hearing. 'Even though I logically know I'm not to blame I still spent most days wondering if I could have done something different,' she said. 'I've had so many days, months, almost two years now wasted on unnecessary feelings of guilt, shame and embarrassment over something that wasn't my fault.' Fraioli is due back in court in May, when his sex offender risk level will be decided upon. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the government will unveil plans for reopening the country in the week commencing 22 February. Speaking to the public tonight, Johnson said that: "With every jab that goes in we become more confident that we will reach our target of giving a vaccine to those in the top four groups". "In the week beginning the 22 February, we will set out our plan to gradually reopen our society and economy, to get our lives as close to normal as possible. "This will inevitably be a timetable that will be subject to adjustment, but I believe it will provide clarity and certainty about the way ahead. A roadmap we can take together that we can use to begin to slowly reclaim our lives." Johnson has said that he "hopes" schools will be able to re-open from 8 March, with other aspects of the economy likely to follow after this, in accordance with Johnson's "roadmap". It means that the current lockdown measures will be in place for a number of weeks. The Prime Minister added that the roadmap to reopening will be similar to that laid out last year, which had various levels and dates which suggested when and how restrictions might be lifted. According to reports in the Financial Times, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam will also lead an investigation into how vaccinations inhibit the spread of the virus (rather than simply prevent infection). Over 7 million vaccines have been administered in the UK thus far, as the nationwide scheme continues. In the meantime, a large portion of the workforce in the theatre industry suffer from a lack of sector-specific support particularly freelancers, who are ineligible for the SEISS scheme. A variety of streamed performances with remote audiences are able to take place in a Covid-compliant manner. Johnson also noted the "huge strides" being made in testing, which will also aid in reducing infection levels, which recently hit record levels, though have started to decline in some areas. In Trump derangement syndrome, Democrats just can't help themselves. Their bid to take President Trump down in his post-presidency through an illegal impeachment is going down like the Hindenburg. Start with the latest - the vote in the Senate on Tuesday. According to CBS News, which is broadcasting this as a Republican defeat: The Senate voted 55 to 45 to reject a motion to dismiss the impeachment trial on the basis that it is unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial for a private citizen, paving the way for the trial to begin in two weeks. Five Republicans Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey joined all Democrats in voting to table the point of order, brought by GOP Senator Rand Paul. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was among the Republicans who voted against the point of order, brought by Paul, indicating McConnell supports Paul's position that an impeachment trial of a former president is unconstitutional. It's nonsense. Sen. Rand Paul's motion to dismiss the impeachment was a spectacular defeat for the Democrats. It snuffed out, right then and there for them, that there is not going to be any impeachment with conviction. All their bloviating and disinformation regarding what went down on Jan. 6 has been seen through by their opponents, who've now stood up and been counted. Verdict: Defeat. Yet at least two more weeks of walking through this. Why do Democrats now even bother? They can't turn around yet most would probably be glad to do so if they only could. Sure, there were five Republicans who sided with them, but it was nowhere near the 17 they had hoped for. Those five -- Mitt Romney, Pat Toomey, Ben Sasse, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins -- are all dyed-in-the-wool NeverTrumps who have never given President Trump the benefit of the doubt. We already knew they'd do it, it's part and parcel of being anti-Trump. As for the Democrats, their impeachment bid, with all its quasi religious procession walks from the House, and its souvenir pens, is another complete loser for Democrats. The vote signalled that this impeachment move, even flimsier and more kangaroo-trial-like than the last one a year ago, is going to go down in flames. For Democrats, that's two, and apparently they learned nothing from the last one. Democrats are 0 for 2 in their nonstop hate for Donald Trump, yet now it's clear they're wasting their time. How's that for a legislative achievement? Not only is it a waste of time from a feckless leftist Congress, it also comes at a cost. Democrats flushed down the toilet the honeymoon beginnings of the Biden presidency, make it look pretty small. Biden, of course, was too cowardly to tell them to cut it off as a sideshow interfering with his political honeymoon. Biden's weakness in the face of these clowns is exposed along with this, and he's a loser, too. But wait - it gets better. How's things for the NeverTrumps? Turns out it's stinking bad. According to the New York Times from a few days ago: Its been less than two weeks since Representatives Peter Meijer, Tom Rice and Liz Cheney broke with nearly all of their Republican colleagues in the House and voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump, but in their home states, the backlash is already growing. In Michigan, a challenger to Mr. Meijer received a boost when Steve Bannon promoted him on his podcast. In South Carolina, a local Republican is getting so many calls urging him to run against Mr. Rice that he cant keep his phone charged. And in Wyoming, a state senator called Ms. Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, out of touch with her home state as he announced his primary campaign against her. The hot-headed quest for impeachment made Democrats and their NeverTrump buddies think they controlled the show. They thought they had Trump on the ropes, his political career over. What they didn't count on was the fact that Trump is like one of those bouncing punching bags, always bouncing back up. Bad call, Liz Cheney. Bad call, Mitt Romney. They and all their NeverTrump buddies now find themselves trying to bail water. Very specifically, Trump retained the love and loyalty of the people who were ever grateful for all the good things he'd done, and they weren't forgetting. That's what's kept Republicans in the Trump camp in the Senate and perhaps the House, it was Trump's hold over millions of people that saved him. Which is a heck of a lot better than a riot, which in fact, was the work of a very few boobs and agitators. That's the 74 million who voted for Trump. Democrats forgot about them, they always do. Now they're the party of losers, Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of images from Nationaal Archief @ Flickr Commons / public domain, and DNC logo. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Technology investment to transform how products are developed and brought to market in Brazil CAMPBELL, California, January 27, 2021 In order to continue its digital transformation, C&A, one of the largest fashion retail chains in the world, with more than 1,800 units in 24 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia, has selected Centric Software's Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution in Brazil. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to fashion, retail, footwear, outdoor, luxury and consumer goods companies to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals. Founded in 1841 and with operations in Brazil since 1976, the retailer has around 300 stores in 125 cities across the country. According to the prestigious newspaper Valor Economico, C&A is among the 200 largest companies with operations in Brazil, in addition to being recognized as one of the most admired brands in the Textile Retail category in journals like O Globo and O Estado de S. Paulo among others. The company is also widely recognized for its sustainable initiatives and bold communication, with its famous signature Muito Eu. C&A had planned to implement PLM for approximately 2 years. In light of the pandemic, the company needed to urgently transform itself, with teams doing all product development work remotely. The pandemic not only greatly increased our digital channel sales and made it much more relevant, but it also accelerated the digital transformation of the company as a whole. And, with that, we needed more assortments, more new models; it was in this context that we decided to leverage PLM, explains Joao Souza, Head of Sourcing for the Womens Department of C&A Brazil. Our product development was very centered around each designer and emails with suppliers but with no real strategic organization. PLM will help make this process more efficient and streamline supplier management. It'll cover our end-to-end supply chain, from the first stage of initial product design to market launch. C&A has undergone a major transformation and is currently poised for extraordinary innovation in Brazil. Says Souza, We were deciding between developing an internal PLM or looking for a tool already available on the market. When we spoke to Centric, we realized that opting for their off the shelf solution would greatly accelerate our transformation process. And as we have invested a lot in technology innovations, we were looking for a partner who can match our pacea market leader. That's why we decided to make the investment and partner with Centric which will result in a faster implementation, attributes that are ready-to-use out of the box and a quick time to value. This partnership with Centric is very important and strategic, so we can transform the company's coreproduct development. We couldn't have chosen a better partner: we needed a supplier that had relevance in the market and a high level of sophistication. Our two very successful companies will both benefit from the partnership in the coming years. We are very pleased to announce that C&A has chosen Centric as a PLM partner, says Chris Groves, President and CEO of Centric Software. C&A is a reference in fashion and retail trends worldwide and will now enable teams in Brazil to collaborate digitally, maximizing communication, speed and efficiency in product development. We are excited to be part of this milestone in the region. Learn more about Centric Fashion PLM Request a Demo C&A (www.cea.com.br) C&A is a fashion company focused on experiences that go beyond clothing. Founded in 1841 by the brothers Clemens and August in the Netherlands, C&A understands and defends fashion as one of the most fundamental channels for connecting people with themselves and with everyone around them. Therefore, it puts their customers at the center of the strategy. Being one of the largest fashion retailers in the world, C&A arrived in Brazil in 1976 when it opened its first store at the Ibirapuera mall, in Sao Paulo (SP). Currently, the company operates more than 280 stores nationwide, in addition to E-commerce. Listed on the Brazilian stock exchange (B3) since October 2019, C&A is a pioneer in several innovations in its segment, offering digital and omnichannel services and solutions, aiming to expand the customer on and offline experience. C&A has around 15,000 employees across the country and is present in the lives of one million customers each day. The company stands out for offering young, innovative, diverse and inclusive fashion for women, men and children in addition to the line of fashiontronics productsa wide variety of mobile phones, smartphones and tabletsand Galeria C&A, a marketplace that sells decorative items, pet items, jewelry, among other segments. We invite you to learn more about C&A at saladeimprensa.cea.com.br. Centric Software (www.centricsoftware.com) From its headquarters in Silicon Valley, Centric Software provides a Digital Transformation Platform for the most prestigious names in fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods including cosmetics, beauty, food and beverage. Centrics flagship Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) platform, Centric 8, delivers enterprise-class merchandise planning, product development, sourcing, quality and collection management functionality tailored for fast-moving consumer industries. Centric SMB provides innovative PLM technology and key industry learnings for emerging brands. Centric Visual Innovation Platform (VIP) offers a new fully visual and digital experience for collaboration and decision-making and includes the Centric Buying Board to transform internal buying sessions and maximize retail value and the Centric Concept Board for driving creativity and evolving product concepts. All Centric innovations shorten time to market, boost product innovation and reduce costs. Centric Software is majority-owned by Dassault Systemes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), the world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and PLM solutions. Centric Software has received multiple industry awards and recognition, including being named by Red Herring to its Top 100 Global list in 2013, 2015 and 2016. Centric also received various excellence awards from Frost & Sullivan in 2012, 2016, 2018 and 2021. Centric Software is a registered trademark of Centric Software Inc. All other brands and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Media Contacts: Centric Software Americas: Jennifer Forsythe, jforsythe@centricsoftware.com EMEA Kristen Salaun-Batby, ksalaun-batby@centricsoftware.com APAC: Lily Dong, lily.dong@centricsoftware.com NORTH MYRTLE BEACH South Carolina Republican congressman Tom Rice is on the verge of getting his first 2022 primary challenger after voting to impeach President Donald Trump. State Rep. William Bailey, whose district encompasses northernmost North Myrtle Beach and inland, has started to form an exploratory committee to determine if he will take on Rice for the 7th District seat. "In times like these, we need a strong conservative voice in Washington to represent the people of the 7th District," Bailey said Tuesday. "It's now obvious to everyone that we do not have that voice." Rice was one of 10 Republicans to vote in favor of the article of impeachment after Trump on Jan. 6 sparked a crowd to march on the U.S. Capitol. The mob broke into the building and delayed the certification of votes in the Electoral College. Rice has since been both criticized and praised by voters in his home district, though many conservatives and Trump supporters have been more vocal in their call to oust him in the Republican Party's June 2022 primary. He pointed to the frequency of elections every 2 years to his comfortability with campaign opposition. "It keeps you sharp," Rice told the Post and Courier Myrtle Beach. "Ive had opposition in every election to date. I expect I will have opposition in 2022 as well. I have a strong conservative voting record. Ive achieved a lot for our district. Im proud of my accomplishments. I welcome the public debate." Bailey was first elected to the S.C. House in 2018 and reelected in 2020. In 2018, he successfully won the GOP primary by 17 votes over then-Republican incumbent Greg Duckworth. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee and the Interstate Cooperation Committee. Bailey previously served as the director of public safety for the city of North Myrtle Beach. Originally from Conway, Bailey is a graduate of Horry-Georgetown Technical College and Coastal Carolina University. After many calls about running for the 7th District seat, Bailey said he has heard from people who are upset with Rice, with some Republican activists saying that Rice has become a major disappointment to the Republican Party. "With the socialist Democrats now in control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate, we need someone who will stand up and fight for conservative values, not to impeach them," he said. Bailey said he will be meeting with groups and individuals to "discuss building a strong grassroots organization" and a fundraising team. He is not likely to be the only Republican looking to file against Rice. Nick Masuda contributed to this report. The initiative, Accelerating Community Investment (ACI), seeks to create a more fertile environment for philanthropies and other mission-aligned investors to deepen investment in community and economic development, housing, and other areas that benefit society. The initiative will bring public finance officials, impact investors, financial institutions, and communities together to increase the availability of capital in the right place, at the right time and for the right purpose. Accelerating Community Investment includes field research, the creation of mission-oriented investment opportunities, and the convening of a national community of practice. Supported by the Lincoln Institute and the F.B. Heron Foundation, ACI seeks to bridge the gap between low-income communities and financial markets, foundations, high-net-worth individuals, and other sources of investment and credit. The initiative seeks to build a network of mission-oriented partners, grounded in community. It will focus on strengthening relationships between Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), which work closely with people and businesses on the ground, and Development Finance Agencies (DFAs) and Housing Finance Agencies (HFAs), public and private entities that issue bonds and facilitate other types of investment in economic development and affordable housing. At the heart of the three-year initiative is a national community of practice of select leaders from these organizations, who will build partnerships, receive training and technical assistance, and identify new investment opportunities. More than 1,100 in number, CDFIs provided $9 billion in financing in 2018 for people who are underserved by mainstream banks. Among their customers, 85 percent are people with low incomes and 58 percent are people of color. CDFIs have supported small businesses in times of crises, including the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and several natural disasters. During the early months of the COVID-19 crisis, they outperformed larger financial institutions in lending money to small businesses. Development Finance Agencies include local or state government entities, as well as nonprofit and private sector organizations, that fund economic development through municipal bonds, direct loans, and other vehicles. In 2018, they issued $25 billion in bonds. Housing Finance Agencies are state-chartered institutions that fund affordable housing through bonds, tax credits, and other methods. Together, they financed more than $37 billion in affordable housing development, rehabilitation, and purchase in 2018, and had access to $53 billion in untapped funds. "Deepening the skills of public finance practitioners and creating connections with impact investors will help to drive investments that improve the quality of life in underserved communities across the country," said Robert J. "R.J." McGrail senior research fellow for the Lincoln Institute and director of the initiative. "Our development and housing finance partners have not only the capacity to tap large pools of funds, but they and their community partners can also help impact-minded investors place capital and channel it to communities that need it most." "Even in communities with effective urban planning and property tax systems, major decisions about land and development are often made based on the wrong criteria. Investment decisions can dramatically improve people's quality of life and access to opportunity, but not if they're slavishly predicated on short-term financial returns," said George W. "Mac" McCarthy, president and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. "That's why the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy launched Accelerating Community Investmentto build the skills and relationships needed to redirect capital to where it can produce better social, environmental, and financial returns." "Better integration of development and housing finance and community development strategies that will come from the ACI project can help drive more and better projects on the ground and help embed a focus on economic equality and racial justice in public finance," said David Wood, director of the Initiative for Responsible Investment at Harvard Kennedy School. "A community of practice like this one can build capacity for public finance and connect it to private investors, in support of what's needed to build back from COVID-19." Accelerating Community Investment will make use of one of the bedrock tools in municipal financeprivate activity bonds, tax-exempt instruments that can be used to fund a number of private sector projects that serve a public purpose such as affordable housing, economic development, access to health care and education, home ownership, and renewable energy. The initiative will also seek to foster the expansion of other financing tools such as direct lending, and to develop new ones. The initial community of practice is comprised of the following participants. California California Housing Finance Agency California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank California Affordable Housing Agency Golden State Finance Authority Georgia Georgia Housing Finance Authority InvestAtlanta Kentucky Kentucky Housing Corporation Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Greater Clark Foundation FAHE LHOME Louisiana Louisiana Economic Development Louisiana Housing Corporation Finance Authority of New Orleans Build Baton Rouge Maine Department of Economic & Community Development MaineHousing ROC USA Maine Municipal Bond Bank Mississippi City of Jackson Jackson Redevelopment Authority Mississippi Development Authority Small Business Capital Fund of Mississippi Montana Montana Housing Native American Development Corporation New Hampshire NH Housing NH Community Development Finance Authority NH Business Finance Authority New Mexico New Mexico Mortgage Finance Agency New Mexico Economic Development Department City of Santa Fe New Mexico Impact Investing Collaborative New York New York State Homes & Community Renewal Homes & Community Renewal New York City Economic Development Corporation Ohio Ohio Housing Finance Agency Port of Cincinnati Development Authority Greater Ohio Policy Center Texas Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation Houston Land Bank Washington Washington State Department of Commerce Department of Commerce Washington State Housing Finance Commission Wisconsin Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) Milwaukee Economic Development Corporation The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation whose origins date to 1946, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. Through education, training, publications, and events, we integrate theory and practice to inform public policy decisions worldwide. SOURCE Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Related Links http://www.lincolninst.edu Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. In a blow to the makes of the web series Tandav, the Supreme Court of India has refused to grant them protection from arrest. A bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah, was hearing as many as three separate petitions of filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar, Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the shows writer Gaurav Solanki and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. The web series is facing criminal cases for hurting religious sentiments and insulting religion punishable under Sections 153A and 295 of Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court denying their petitions said that right to freedom of speech is not absolute. We cannot use the power under Section 482 CrPC. We are not inclined to grant interim protection, Live Law reported the Bench as stating. EUGENE, Ore. -- St. Jude's Catholic Church will resume distribution of free food boxes to the community on Saturday. The church plans to distribute 180 boxes weighing 25 pounds each with the help of the Knights of Columbus. The boxes will include fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products, eggs and meat. The food boxes are given out on a first-come, first-served basis and there will be a limit of two boxes per car. Boxes will be given away every Saturday from Jan. 30 through March 27. Distribution will be from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or until supplies are gone. It will be in the parking lot of St. Jude's Catholic Church at 4330 Willamette St. A voucher is not required. For more information call the church office at 541-344-1191. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Nigeria is looking to benefit from Egypts expertise in combating terrorism, Joe Keshi, the Special Envoy of the Nigerian President, told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday. According to the Egyptian presidency, Keshi delivered to El-Sisi a letter from Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on bilateral cooperation, especially in the economy and trade, combating terrorism and boosting political consultations between Cairo and Abuja. The letter also discussed an exchange of expertise in dealing with the coronavirus and Egypts role in supporting Nigerias efforts towards development through cooperation in infrastructure projects, including road construction and power generation. Keshi affirmed the long-standing ties between Egypt and Nigeria, and his countrys aspiration to benefit from Egypts expertise in combating terrorism through training sessions in light of Egypts role as a key pillar for stability and security in Africa. El-Sisi underlined the historical relations between the two countries and Nigerias status within the African continent and especially in West Africa. He stressed Egypts keenness on bolstering ties with Nigeria through the optimisation of energy and resources in Africa to help push joint African efforts to achieve the developmental aspirations of the continents nations. Short link: A man rests on his broom as he stands next to shards of glass and smashed windows of a fast-food restaurant that was damaged in protests against a nation-wide curfew in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong) E-commerce operations on cyber platforms, namely Google, Facebook and YouTube, are making as much as eight-digit income a year in U.S. dollars for certain individuals in Hanoi, according to 2020 tax return details from the Hanoi taxman. E-commerce is seeing a boom in the world and Vietnam alike, according to Mai Son, the leader of the municipal Department of Taxation. In 2020, the Hanoi tax office collected VND123 billion (US$5.3 million) from e-commerce operations in the capital, a fivefold increase from the 2019 figure. Taxpayers in e-commerce sectors are mostly individuals, one of whom contributed over VND23 million [$1 million] in tax for e-commerce operations, Son revealed. As per the tax return details, the person mentioned by Son was identified to be a 28-year-old female app developer in Hanois Cau Giay District, who paid VND23.4 billion for the VND330 billion ($14.3 million) revenue she made from her applications on Google Play Store and iOS App Store. The tax accounts also pointed to another app developer who has paid over VND18 billion ($780,000) in tax for the VND260 billion ($11.3 million) earned from selling mobile applications. For this year, the tax authority aims to heighten tax probing, and data scanning for e-commerce businesses in Hanoi through cooperation with commercial banks and online trading platforms, combing through transaction data and ensuring fulfilment of tax liability for entities and individuals working in the sector. Taxpayers in the e-commerce business who fail to meet the tax fulfilment deadline or evade their liabilities will be put under enhanced scrutiny and penalized for tax evasion or tax fraud, the tax agency added. In an earlier meeting, the General Department of Taxation, which manages the Hanoi Taxation Department, confirmed it has no plan to solicit all taxpayer information from banks. In reality, the taxman only works with banks to administrate the incomes of individuals who benefit from big tech firms partnership programs, namely the Facebook Creator Program and YouTube Partner Program. Individual identities are only obtained from banks if they are suspected of tax-related misconduct. Upon detecting foreign cash flows accruing in the accounts of domestic individuals and entities, the tax body has the authority to require banks to provide transaction details, Minh stressed. As per the current orientation, banks will provide tax authorities with the names and accounts of taxpayers with more than two sources of income, including taxpayers who settle income tax without the aid of their employers. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Mexico, one of the countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, released new figures Wednesday showing that the death toll was far higher than first reported for much of last year. The Latin American nation registered 108,658 deaths from COVID-19 up to the end of August 2020, national statistics institute INEGI said. The figure is more than 68 percent higher than the 64,414 deaths from the new coronavirus reported at the time by the health ministry for the same period. "Many people aren't dying in hospitals, they're dying at home... That may partly explain this difference," INEGI statistician Edgar Vielma told a Mexican radio network. The government and INEGI also use different methodologies. Mexico's COVID-19 death toll officially now stands at 152,016, according to the latest update from the health ministry released on Tuesday. It is the world's fourth-highest fatality toll after the United States, Brazil and India. Including suspected deaths from the virus, the figure stands at 171,378, according to the government. The country of around 126 million has officially registered nearly 1.8 million coronavirus cases. They include President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who announced on Sunday that he had COVID-19. He said his symptoms were mild, and his government has since reported that the 67-year-old is recovering well, despite his history of heart problems and hypertension. Limited testing for the virus in Mexico means that the actual total number of cases is thought to be far higher. According to INEGI, COVID-19 was the second top cause of death in the first eight months of last year, behind only heart disease. It said total deaths, at 673,260, were nearly 38 percent higher than usual over the period, resulting in nearly 185,000 excess deaths. Mexico City has been in a state of maximum alert and partial lockdown since mid-December, with more than 90 percent of hospital beds full due to soaring infections. The country began a mass inoculation drive on December 24 but progress has been held back by limited vaccine supplies. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Epidemiologists studying the pandemic in Manitoba have made a troubling discovery. On average, the Manitoba government requires a month-long incubation period for common sense to find its way into the province's COVID-19 pandemic response. Which is to say, for reasons that are not immediately evident, there is a bizarre and chronic delay necessary before Premier Brian Pallister and his government take obvious, necessary steps to combat the novel coronavirus. This week provides another case in point. On Tuesday, Pallister held a news conference to announce that starting Jan. 29, a 14-day quarantine period would be imposed on all returning travellers regardless of where they were coming from. Currently, Manitobans are allowed to travel to and from Western Canada and avoid a quarantine. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun) On Tuesday, Pallister held a news conference to announce that starting Jan. 29, a 14-day quarantine period would be imposed on all returning travellers regardless of where they were coming from. Pallister said the change is required because of the growing threat posed by more virulent variant strains of COVID-19 which are sweeping across the globe. There are a couple of interesting points to note about this announcement. The first variant of COVID-19 was identified in mid-December, nearly six weeks ago, in the United Kingdom. Contact tracing suggests the origins of the variant go back even further, to September. On Dec. 27, the first two cases of the U.K. variant were detected in Ontario; just this week, Alberta found its first U.K. variant case that was not connected to international travel, suggesting it has been spreading through community contact for at least one incubation period. Requiring a quarantine period for travellers from the West is a good idea; it would have been a great idea six months ago. If all that weren't alarming enough, by mid-January, two other variants were identified in South Africa and Brazil. Manitoba's response? More than six weeks after the U.K. identified the variant, a month after it arrived in Canada, and the same week that Alberta confirmed a variant is spreading through community transmission, Manitoba instituted a quarantine period for anyone returning home from the western provinces. Requiring a quarantine period for travellers from the West is a good idea; it would have been a great idea six months ago. Pallister and public health officials have been asked repeatedly over those months why an exception was being made for Western Canada when travellers returning from the East were required to isolate for two weeks. Never, not once, did the premier provide a rational explanation. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Now anyone entering Manitoba from anywhere in Canada will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. This includes those entering from northern and Western Canada, and from west of Terrace Bay in Ontario, which under previous health orders did not require self-isolation. Given what we know about the variants way easier to transmit, potentially deadlier there is every reason to believe that at least one of the new strains of COVID-19 has already arrived in Manitoba while Pallister carefully cultivated his common sense. This isn't the only instance of chronic, tragic delay. Manitoba moved quickly to contain the virus in the spring. But since then, obvious and sensible pandemic response ideas have required extra-long incubation periods. There was at least a month of badgering by the media and medical professionals prior to the Pallister government's late September decision to introduce a mandatory indoor mask order. And almost the same amount of time and effort to get the premier to initiate a second lockdown in November. In both instances, public opinion polls showed overwhelming support for masks and a second lockdown. And in both instances, Pallister eventually did the right thing. But only after weeks and weeks of torturous deliberation that seemed to serve almost no purpose. If you want to see the folly in the Pallister government's delay, ask yourself what the downside would have been to imposing the quarantine requirement on travellers from the West much sooner? Non-essential travel is highly discouraged, very few people are getting on planes and exemptions are available to anyone who really needs it. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Pallister said the change was required because of the growing threat posed by more virulent variant strains of COVID-19 which are sweeping across the globe. What possible benefit did we derive from delaying the quarantine requirement for western travellers? The answer is, of course, none. It is this lack of logic, combined with a tendency to move at a glacial pace, that makes Pallister's frequent demands for urgent action from others, particularly the federal government, so bloody maddening. On Tuesday, the premier admonished Ottawa for not acting sooner to introduce new rules and restrictions on travellers passing through Canadian airports. The premiers have asked for more rigorous rapid testing and increased enforcement to identify people who are ignoring quarantine requirements. These are reasonable requests, but they must surely appear meaningless when they come from a government that needs one-twelfth of a year to make a single important pandemic decision. Pallister creates even more frustration with the ongoing "do as I say and not as I do" approach to managing his staff and elected caucus when they violate travel and quarantine restrictions. As he has done in recent weeks, Pallister waxed eloquent about how "international or domestic travel ... is strongly discouraged" and about how all Manitobans must do "everything they can" to help contain the spread of the virus by adhering to rules. Pallister creates even more frustration with the ongoing "do as I say and not as I do" approach to managing his staff and elected caucus when they violate travel and quarantine restrictions. Pallister may have forgotten how several members of his government, including Clerk of the Executive Council David McLaughlin and MLA James Teitsma, flouted this advice over the Christmas period. And from what we know now, both Teitsma and McLaughlin were travelling at the same time the variants were arriving in Canada. This inability to act in a timely fashion is not, lamentably, a Manitoba phenomenon. And yet, few jurisdictions boast political leaders who invest equal amounts of time to dithering and dishing out criticism to others. So, in the interest of fairness, here's a single grain of advice for him. When it comes to things like respecting the rules and acting urgently, premier heal thyself. dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca A veteran accused of threatening the family of a Democratic Congressman and a journalist because he was furious about Donald Trump's election defeat has been arrested. Robert Lemke, 35, was detained in Bay Point, California, after allegedly sending menacing text messages to the brother and sister-in-law of Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, and the relative of an unnamed journalist. On January 6, the day of the Capitol siege, Lemke sent texts saying: 'We are armed and nearby your house,' and 'Biden did not win, he will not be president.' Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said Lemke was upset about the presidential election results and statements which Jeffries and the journalist had made about it. Robert Lemke's Facebook page features as its banner photo Mark and Patricia McCloskey who famously toted guns at BLM protesters outside their home in Missouri last year Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Capitol Hill in July. He identified himself as the Congressman in question on Tuesday, saying that what he found most 'chilling' was that the defendant had been 'radicalized' by Trump 'Rather than peaceably disagree, Lemke allegedly threatened to harm those individuals' families, demanding they retract their statements,' she said. 'While in any election it is inevitable that some will be disappointed in the result, threats of violence cannot and will not be tolerated.' Identifying himself as the congressman in the case, Jeffries told NBC on Tuesday that he believed Lemke had been radicalized by Trump's claims about the election. 'What was chilling in the message that was received is that this individual said, "Stop telling lies. Biden did not win. He will not be president,"' Jeffries said. 'And so he was radicalized by the big lie that Donald Trump told and that has been supported by so many Republicans in the House and the Senate.' The criminal complaint stated that Lemke identifies himself on Facebook as a former US Air Force captain and sergeant with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office in California. William F. Sweeney Jr., the head of New York City's FBI office, said Lemke's threats 'crossed a bright line.' According to the criminal complaint, Lemke on January 6 sent text messages to the congressman's brother that included a picture of a home in his neighborhood. 'Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. We are armed and nearby your house. You had better have a word with him,' one text said. 'We are not far from his either. Already spoke to (the Congressman's son) and know where his kids are.' The complaint said the text messages included claims that the sender and his associates were not white supremacists and were 'active/retired law enforcement or military.' 'Stop telling lies; Biden did not win, he will not be president,' the texts said. Authorities also said Lemke sent threatening text messages to the congressman's sister-in-law, telling her to have her husband talk to his brother and stating: 'calm your husband down ... We saw on the hidden camera, he was quite stirred up.' The complaint alleged that on the same day a text message was sent to a relative of the journalist telling them that the journalist's words 'are putting you and your family at risk.' The text added: 'We are nearby armed and ready. Thousands of us are active/retired law enforcement, military, etc. That's how we do it,' the complaint said. The complaint also said Lemke's apparent Facebook page contained the following message on November 7: 'Folks. Be ready for war. Trump has refused to cede. Evidence shows fraud occurred and the Supreme Court cases will be successful. We blockchained and watermarked ballots in 16 states. Trump will prevail.' Lemke was scheduled to make a first appearance in federal court in Northern California on Wednesday. Now Playing: Video: B. Kay Richter After efforts from the city of San Marcos that Disney's Princess Ariel would even applaud, the Texas legislature is expected to be vote on the decision to name the city as the official mermaid capital of Texas. Known for decades for its love of mermaids, the people of San Marcos and its city council have pushed for over two years to put their city on the map as the official haven for the mythical creatures. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. (@FahadShabbir) The Ecuadorian National Court has sentenced former Vice President Jorge Glas to eight years of imprisonment for irregularities in contracting of the Ecuadorian Singue oil field, the Attorney General's Office said MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The Ecuadorian National Court has sentenced former Vice President Jorge Glas to eight years of imprisonment for irregularities in contracting of the Ecuadorian Singue oil field, the Attorney General's Office said. "The National Court sentences ex-Vice President Jorge Glas and Ministers Wilson Pastor and Carlos Rareja Yannuzzelli to eight years in prison for the crime of embezzlement," the attorney's office said on Monday. In addition, four other people were jailed for eight years in the same case. Six accused people were found not guilty. It is the third trial against Jorge Glas. In 2017, the former vice minister was sentenced to six years for illegal association in the Odebrecht case. In September 2020, Glas got another eight years' imprisonment for bribery. New Delhi, Jan 27 : One of the most influential labels, if not the reigning brand in Indian fashion, Sabyasachi, enters into a strategic partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) by which Aditya Birla Fashion has acquired 51 percent stake in the brand for an undisclosed amount. The namesake label of designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has been a leading retailer and couturier in Indian fashion since 1999 with a strong presence across the country and internationally. From humble beginnings in Kolkata, designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee has grown his brand from strength to strength, being the proud owner of what can only be called as India's first 'Luxury Fashion House' in the real sense of the term. On Wednesday, 27th January, ABFRL announced that its platform will complement brand Sabyasachi on its journey to becoming a global luxury house out of India. This aim is to build a large ethnic wear business over next few years to complement its strong and diverse portfolio in western wear segment of the Indian apparel market. ABFRL is part of a leading Indian conglomerate, The Aditya Birla Group, with a revenue of Rs. 8,788 Cr in FY19-20, it is India's first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats. CEO and Founder of Sabyasachi Brand, Mr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, said: "Over the course of the last couple of years, as my brand evolved and matured, I began searching for the right partner in order to ensure continuity and long-term sustainable growth. I am honoured and excited to have found that partner in Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla and ABFRL. Aligned in our vision, and committed to excellence, we will work together to grow a truly global luxury brand out of India." Sabysachi Mukhrjee has always been ahead of the curve, and from the very beginning has strived to create a brand which in addition to the creative side of fashion, focused on the business of fashion. Sabyasachi has emerged as one of the most influential cultural voices in the country - shaping modern fashion and lifestyle while celebrating artisanal craftsmanship and traditional techniques in each and every product. The brand straddles categories such as apparel, accessories and jewelry and has a strong franchise in India, US, UK and the Middle East. Today, with solid footing in the domestic retail landscape, several major global collaborations, and international flagships opening soon, Sabyasachi continues steadfastly on its path to becoming the first voice of global luxury out of India. Commenting on the partnership with the ace designer, Ashish Dikshit, Managing Director, ABFRL adds: "We believe that over the next few years, ethnic wear is going to be an increasingly important category as young and confident Indians rediscover their culture and heritage. The Sabyasachi brand, through its emphasis on excellence in design and craftsmanship has set new benchmarks and captivated the imagination of the sophisticated global Indian consumer. We are proud to partner Sabyasachi in its journey to become the only global luxury brand from India. We see a 'Made in India' global brand like Sabyasachi occupying the pinnacle of our ethnic wear portfolio. Over the next few years, ABFRL intends to craft a portfolio that addresses the entire gamut of ethnic wear segments: value, premium and luxury." The proposed acquisition is subject to necessary statutory approvals and signing of definitive agreements. One can only wait and watch this unique story of Indian excellence unfold in the months to come. Sixty-eight per cent of South Africa's Indian-origin population will definitely or probably take a COVID-19 vaccine, with 14 per cent saying they would probably or definitely not take it, while the rest 18 per cent were undecided, according to a study. Last week, South Africa's health regulatory body granted approval to the world's largest drug manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) to supply COVID-19 vaccine to the country. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Friday that the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has granted approval to the SII, which is producing the vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, to supply the drug to the country. The 68 per cent put the Indian community just one percentage point ahead of the average of 67 per cent across all South African communities who indicated that they would definitely or probably take a vaccine if available, according to the joint research study by the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC). Sixty-eight per cent of South Africa's Indian-origin population will definitely or probably take a COVID vaccine, with 14 per cent saying they would probably or definitely not take the vaccine, while 18 per cent were undecided, the study said. Attitudes to taking a COVID-19 vaccine vary by race. White adults were least accepting, with only 56 per cent willing or probably willing to be vaccinated. Comparable figures were 69 per cent for Black African adults, and 63 per cent for coloured adults, UJ said in a statement about the study. Reasons cited by those who would accept the vaccine were mainly for protecting themselves or others, and often both. "It is excellent news that such a large and representative survey shows that 67 per cent now want to take the vaccine. The biggest challenge is to make sure that the majority get what they want, said Professor Kate Alexander from UJ. The study showed that 8 per cent of all South African adults would definitely or probably not take a vaccine, while 15 per cent of adults did not know if they would. The most commonly cited reasons for non-acceptance (which included the 'don't know as well as those who said they would definitely or probably not take the vaccine), were about effectiveness, side effects and uncertainty about testing. Many people said they needed more information, with only 10 per cent referring to conspiracy theories. "Our analysis shows that vaccine hesitancy comes down to a range of legitimate concerns about a vaccine developed and rolled-out in record time, as well as some distrust in the government and corporations. We need a vaccine literacy campaign that provides factual information that will sway the waverers," said Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller from the HSRC. The health minister had earlier told the country's Parliament that the SII would supply a million doses of the vaccine to South Africa by the end of January and a further 500,000 in February, which would be used to vaccinate front line healthcare workers. South Africa is battling a dramatic resurgence of COVID-19 that is quickly outstripping its first peak. The number of cases in the country has reached 1,423,578 and 41,797 have died of the disease. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Burak Sur/iStockBy SOPHIE TATUM, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- President Joe Biden has made it clear one of his first priorities in office is getting students back into the classroom, but after an almost year-long debate over the safety of schools during the pandemic, the new administration could face an uphill battle as the trajectory of the virus in the United States remains uncertain. During Bidens first week in office, his administration announced its strategy to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which included several initiatives aimed at reopening schools and an appearance by the first lady, Jill Biden, who addressed the nations educators alongside the presidents of two teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. The president said on Monday that he believes we should make school classrooms safe and secure, adding that schools need new ventilation systems and testing for students and teachers. We need the capacity, the capacity to know that, in fact, the circumstance in the school is safe and secure for everyone, he said. And on Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that indicated when schools implement strategies like mask requirements and student cohorts, there is potential for them to open safely when those certain mitigation steps are in place. The strategy put forth by the Biden administration last week relies on things like calling on Congress to provide at least $130 billion in funding specifically for schools, supporting expanded testing and screening efforts in schools and issuing updated safety guidelines for schools. His plan comes as some educators have begun to receive the vaccine in the latest push to restore normalcy. However, theres still hesitancy in many parts of the country over returning to a physical classroom full-time, following the previous administrations push to reopen with little federal guidance on how to do so. Part of the challenge he's [Biden] facing now is he realizes that, you know, without leadership from federal governments, the different states are doing different things, the NEA president, Becky Pringle, told ABC News. The Chicago Teachers Union announced on Sunday it had voted to continue teaching remote. The CTU has asked Chicago Public Schools to establish clear public health criteria and enforce safety protocols in schools, among other things, before returning to in-person learning, according to the unions list of demands. Virginia Education Association President James Fedderman released a statement on Jan. 8 calling on the state to implement an all-virtual learning curriculum until all school staff are vaccinated. The Omaha Education Association in Nebraska is pushing back against a full return to in-person learning until all teachers are vaccinated. In our view, it is absolutely imperative that OPS educators and staff are vaccinated before we return to greeting, teaching and caring for all of our students each and every day. Without vaccinated educators and staff, every school day at every OPS school building becomes a potential virus super-spreader event, OEA President Robert Miller said in a Jan. 13 statement. It always goes back to following the science and involving everyone from educators and administrators to parents and health experts when deciding on the safety of returning to school, Pringle said. All of them need to be involved in decision making around when it is safe to go back to school, and then how are we going to build a plan so that we're thinking about equity in terms of access to opportunity to the vaccine itself, all of those things, and so his plan takes that into consideration, but youre hearing a lot of angst, Pringle said, adding that has occurred because there wasn't any leadership. As schools across the nation are at varying stages of reopening, returning to school safely doesnt necessarily mean that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before a school reopens, Randi Weingarten, the president of AFT, told ABC News. The issue is that we should be aligning vaccination with school opening. That doesn't mean every single teacher has to be vaccinated before you open one school, it means there has to be that alignment, Weingarten said. When asked if teachers should return to in-person learning, Biden on Monday said that he hopes to ensure schools have safety precautions in place, like plastic dividers, and the capacity to test for the virus. The teachers I know, they want to work, Biden said. They just want to work in a safe environment, and as safe as we can rationally make it. And we can do that. And we should be able to open up every school, kindergarten through eighth grade, if, in fact, we administer these tests. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. For information only - not an official document UNIS/OS/546 27 January 2021 PRESS RELEASE UN Office for Outer Space Affairs and Keldysh Institute announce opportunity for developing countries to receive telescopes and training VIENNA, 27 January (United Nations Information Service) - The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (KIAM RAS) announced an opportunity within the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) for selected academic and research institutions in developing countries to receive small telescopes and training on how to operate them. The opportunity, named ISONscope, is part of UNOOSA's Access to Space 4 All Initiative, that aims to bridge the gap among countries' capabilities to leverage the benefits of space. The selected institutions will benefit from the experience of ISON and will have the chance to take part in global observation campaigns and contribute observation data to the Open Universe Initiative. The Initiative aims to increase the visibility, free accessibility and ease of utilisation of astronomy and space science for everyone, everywhere. ISON, managed by the Keldysh Institute, is one of the largest observation systems in the world, involving optical telescopes at more than 20 observatories worldwide. While its focus is on collecting observational data on space debris in high orbits, ISON has been credited with the discovery of eight comets, 17 near-Earth asteroids and more than 1,500 asteroids in the main asteroid belt. Performing observations using a small-aperture telescope can help institutions contribute to scientific progress and join international exchanges of observation-based data through ISON. Simonetta Di Pippo, Director of UNOOSA, said: "UNOOSA is proud to offer this exciting opportunity, that will empower receiving institutions to contribute to global scientific advancements and knowledge exchanges. At UNOOSA, we aim to bridge the gap among space-faring and non-space faring nations to ensure that everyone, everywhere can benefit from space. The Access to Space 4 All Initiative was created with this goal in mind, and this partnership is a welcome addition to its continuously expanding portfolio. By developing the capabilities of recipient institutions, this opportunity will contribute to advancing space related activities in their countries, in line with the objectives of the Initiative." Boris Chetverushkin, Scientific Director of KIAM RAS, said: "It is a great honour for KIAM RAS to contribute to sustainable development through ISON by sharing technology, equipment, and data through this joint opportunity with UNOOSA. We believe that the participation of the selected institutions in this opportunity, as part of the Access to Space 4 All Initiative of UNOOSA, will benefit space exploration and lives everywhere." See how to apply to ISONscope here: https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/access2space4all/index.html. * *** * For more information, please contact: Ottavia Pesce United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Telephone: (+43 699) 1459 8718 Email: pesce[at]un.org Broadest Medical Cannabis Product Range in Australian Market NYSE | TSX: ACB EDMONTON, AB, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - Aurora Cannabis Inc. (the "Company" or "Aurora") (NYSE: ACB) (TSX: ACB), the Canadian company defining the future of cannabinoids worldwide, today announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with MedReleaf Australia ("MedReleaf"). The companies have signed a five-year supply agreement, which provides for MedReleaf to act as the exclusive supplier in Australia of Aurora's MedReleaf, CanniMed and Aurora brands. Products covered by the agreement will be EUGMP certified and include dried flower, oils, and soft gels, as well as future products employing new delivery mechanisms. The agreement does not require or include any capital investment by Aurora. MedReleaf Australia, in which Aurora holds a 10% ownership stake, is a fully licenced, private company operating in the Australian medical cannabis sector since 2016. MedReleaf and Aurora currently supply products to the Australian medical cannabis system. This agreement will advance that offering and extend availability of high-quality, medical cannabis to patients. MedReleaf is one of the six founding members of the trade association Medicinal Cannabis Industry Australia (MCIA). "We are pleased to have established a long-term strategic relationship with MedReleaf to exclusively distribute the Aurora, CanniMed and MedReleaf brands in Australia," said Miguel Martin, CEO of Aurora. "The team at MedReleaf have created an asset-light, sustainable growth platform in Australia to assist physicians, pharmacists and patients across the country in accessing the high-quality range of Aurora cannabis medicines." Russell Harding, CEO of MedReleaf added, "Australia's medical cannabis system is well designed, well regulated, and among the fastest growing in the world. Our strategic supply agreement with Aurora ensures that our patients will have reliable access to cannabis medicines with a worldwide reputation for quality and in accordance with the stringent requirements of Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration. To support our companies' shared objectives in the Australian market, we will focus with diligence and discipline on continuing to expand our patient and prescriber base." About Aurora Aurora is a global leader in the cannabis industry serving both the medical and consumer markets. Headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Aurora is a pioneer in global cannabis dedicated to helping people improve their lives. The Company's brand portfolio includes Aurora, Aurora Drift, San Rafael '71, Daily Special, AltaVie, MedReleaf, CanniMed, Whistler, and Reliva CBD. Providing customers with innovative, high-quality cannabis products, Aurora's brands continue to break through as industry leaders in the medical, performance, wellness and recreational markets wherever they are launched. For more information, please visit our website at www.auroramj.com. Aurora's Common Shares trade on the TSX and NYSE under the symbol "ACB" and is a constituent of the S&P/TSX Composite Index. Forward Looking Statements This news release includes statements containing certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "continue", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements made in this news release include statements regarding the supply of cannabis products to MedReleaf Australia. These forward-looking statements are only predictions. Various assumptions were used in drawing the conclusions or making the projections contained in the forward-looking statements throughout this news release. Forward looking statements are based on the opinions, estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected developments at the date the statements are made, such as current and future market conditions, the ability to maintain SG&A costs in line with current expectations, the ability to achieve high margin revenues in the Canadian consumer market, the current and future regulatory environment and future approvals and permits. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that management believes to be relevant and reasonable in the circumstances could cause actual events, results, level of activity, performance, prospects, opportunities or achievements to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks associated with: entering the U.S. market, the ability to realize the anticipated benefits associated with the acquisition of Reliva, achievement of Aurora's business transformation plan, general business and economic conditions, changes in laws and regulations, product demand, changes in prices of required commodities, competition, the effects of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and other risks, uncertainties and factors set out under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated September 24, 2020 (the "AIF") and filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the Company's issuer profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and filed with and available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov, any of which could cause the Company to change its use of proceeds from the Offering. The Company cautions that the list of risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the AIF is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the risks, uncertainties and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such information. The Company is under no obligation, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law. SOURCE Aurora Cannabis Inc. Related Links https://auroramj.com/ Ukraine increased the level of fulfillment of the obligations of the Association Agreement with the EU in the field of transport by 15 percentage points (pp) in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the website of the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. "According to the Pulse of the Agreement system, the total percentage of the Ukrainian side fulfilling all obligations in accordance with the Association Agreement in the field of transport increased from 19% in 2019 to 34% in 2020," the ministry said. These results were presented by Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Krykliy during a working meeting with Head of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas on January 26 in Kyiv. The parties discussed the state of implementation of EU legislation in the field of transport, as well as further cooperation in various infrastructure areas. In particular, Krykliy expressed hope that the signing of the Common Aviation Area Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will take place in the near future, and said that Ukraine counts on the EU's support in this matter. The Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine also informed the European side that in connection with the adoption of the law on inland waterways in December 2020, the Ministry of Infrastructure has already begun work on the development of appropriate regulatory legal acts to ensure the implementation of the norms of this law. "The inclusion of Ukraine's inland waterways into the regional TEN-T network, which opens up opportunities for encouraging IFI investments in the development of river infrastructure, remains relevant for the Ukrainian side. Therefore, Ukraine expects active cooperation in this direction," Krykliy said. In addition, the participants in the meeting discussed the liberalization of international road transport between Ukraine and the EU countries, in particular, the Ukrainian side proposed to create a separate working group with EU representatives to work out this issue. You couldn't be more European than Astrazeneca. Pascal Soriot, the chief executive, is French, Leif Johansson, the chairman, is Swedish, Marc Dunoyer, the finance director, is also French while its management team and top scientists include people from Spain, Italy, Holland and Britain, to name just a few countries. Its corporate HQ and global research centre is in Cambridge but there are also research centres in Gothenburg and Warsaw. More than a third of its 70,000 workforce work across the continent. The pharma giant's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange along with the US and Indian stock markets. The notion that AstraZeneca failed to honour its commitments to vaccine supplies because of British vaccine nationalism is not only ludicrous but out of order Its biggest shareholders include all the usual big US and UK fund managers and European funds from Norges Bank to Sweden's Investor AB. As well as being one of Europe's biggest companies, the Anglo-Swedish giant, valued at 100billion, is one of the world's top five pharma groups. Astra depends on global markets and global flows of capital for its main businesses and of course for its reputation. So the notion floating around Brussels and other continental capitals that it failed to honour its commitments to vaccine supplies because of British vaccine nationalism, or that it is treating the EU unfairly, is not only ludicrous but out of order. And its latest demand that Astra divert 75m doses from the UK to the EU is even more so. If this wasn't so serious, the EU's position would be laughable. This is not a time to gloat about any problems to do with vaccine supplies but the extraordinary row blowing up between Astra and the EU smacks of classic Brussels bullying. You might even suggest there is a whiff of protectionism emerging from the Berlaymont, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, if not a predictable misunderstanding of how commercial agreements are struck. Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, and her officials, under pressure from a restless public in the 27 member states, appear to be using Astra as a scapegoat for their own mistake in taking so long to secure vaccine orders. What easier bogeyman to pick on than big nasty pharma, out to rip everybody off? But Pascal Soriot is not playing their game. Unusually for a chief executive, Soriot has taken centre stage in trying to damp down the bust-up. In an explosive interview with Italian paper La Repubblica, Soriot explains his company cannot meet the figures in its contract with the EU because of problems in rapidly expanding production capacity. He points out that the EU is being 'emotional' about the shortfall, and claims Europe is being fairly treated, and 'getting 17 per cent of its global supply for a month, for 5 per cent of the world population'. He dismisses the idea as nonsense that Astra is taking vaccines away from Europeans to sell it somewhere else at a profit as it is manufacturing the vaccine at cost at zero profit. However, Soriot also claims that Astra is hoping to be up to scale within the next few months, so that it can honour the bulk of its orders to the EU. But the pharma giant can only use the UK's manufacturing plants for EU and other orders once it has fulfilled its agreement for a 100m doses to the UK. Now we cut to the chase. Astra's agreement with the EU was made last autumn, some three months after it signed a separate deal with the UK, which means the supplies coming out of the UK supply chain must go to the UK first. Soriot also explains in the interview that the contract with the EU very clearly sets out the commitment is 'our best effort'. The term 'best effort' is a well-known piece of legal language, which is used when writing up contracts in exceptional circumstances such as the pandemic. It's there precisely to cover emergency situations when products are still in development and allows for unforeseen problems with manufacturing or distribution to crop up. You can be sure Astra's lawyers will have anticipated such hiccups, and that similar clauses will be in all their vaccine contracts. Some EU officials are demanding that Soriot publishes the contract. If Astra does not, the EU could sue the company. Hopefully, it won't come to that I doubt Brussels would be so daft. But you never know. Yet how sad that heroic efforts to get this vaccine from lab to jab, in under a year, should fall prey to such petty politicking. MBABANE You could swear that these homes were abandoned 10 years ago. The pictures depict the state of some houses located at Mangwaneni, which were destroyed by the rains brought about by Tropical Cyclone Eloise, two days ago. Over 30 residents are currently stranded as they were forced out of their houses, which were left in a bad state after huge rocks were ejected by water and damaged them. In an interview with most of the residents, they blamed this on the building ban imposed by the Municipal Council of Mbabane in the area, many years ago. Dumisani Magagula, a resident, said they were as good as dead. Magagula said everything including food was damaged by the rocks and water. Destroyed He said all his furniture was destroyed and he needed to replace everything. A neighbour is currently accommodating me and my family and we do not know for how long this will go on, said Magagula. He said when government constructed the road and houses at Mangwaneni, they created limited drainage, hence the water was not diverted and came with pressure directly into their houses, damaging them in the process. He blamed council for prohibiting them from building proper houses. However, he was quick to note that the area was under the royal kraal, hence they did not consider council although they were to blame as they had halted development in the area following the ongoing dispute. Sibonile Phiri said they were accommodated by a neighbour following that their house collapsed. Phiri said they were unable to salvage anything as all their household items were buried in the mud, including her father who miraculously survived. We recognised him by his hand as the mud had buried everything including the bed he was sleeping on, she said. Phiri said they had no clue where to begin as the family was poor and the only breadwinner was her elderly father. She said they were without food and clothing following that they could not salvage anything. Another resident, Vusi Nhlabatsi, who had part of his house damaged, said for over 20 years, he had occupied the place and never thought he would live to see this day. We are lucky to be alive and that the rocks only affected a section of the house, said Nhlabatsi. According to Nhlabatsi, part of his affected house was a bedroom which is occupied by his teenage sons, who escaped unscathed. He said he had no clue as to when he would attend to the damages as he was not in a good financial position. When reached for comment, councils Public Information Officer (PIO) Lucky Tsabedze said they had actually issued an announcement which ran on national radio before the tropical cyclone, encouraging residents to forward requests for permits to strengthen their walls. Council doors are still open in as far as issuing of temporary building permits for rebuilding walls that have fallen, he said. However, Tsabedze stated that they would not allow the building of extension walls. New Delhi: Indias tensions with China figured in telephone call between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the newly appointed US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Wednesday. Later in the day, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to his new US counterpart Jake Sullivan. The two telephone calls constitute the first high level contacts between India and the new Biden administration. Both the conversations dwelt on the need for India and the US to work closely together on regional and international issues. Spoke with my US counterpart, @SecDef Austin & conveyed my warm wishes on his appointment. We reiterated our firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation. We exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest to strengthen our strategic partnership," Singh said in a Twitter post. The readout from the Indian side said that during the call that was initiated by Washington Singh and Austin reaffirmed their commitment to work together to strengthen the multifaceted India-US defence cooperation and strategic partnership." The two discussed bilateral, regional and global issues," the statement said. Tensions between India and China have been high for nine months with troops of the two countries engaged in an eye ball to eye ball confrontation since May 2020. The previous Trump administration, which had fraught ties with China over a host of issues including trade and human rights, had backed India over tensions with Beijing. During the 2+2 talks between the foreign and defence ministers of India and the US in New Delhi on October, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and then Secretary of Defence Mark Esper had paid tributes to 20 Indian soldiers killed in a clash with Chinese troops in Ladakh in June. India had procured high altitude clothing and shelter for its troops facing the Chinese in the heights of the Ladakh mountains from the US. Meanwhile, the Indian foreign ministry in a statement said Doval underscored that as leading democracies, with an abiding faith in an open and inclusive world order, India and the US were uniquely positioned to work closely on regional and international issues including combating the scourge of terrorism, maritime security, cyber security and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond." Sullivan on his part said the US was looking forward to working together on the bilateral agenda and the common global challenges," the Indian statement said. Doval and Sullivan agreed to work together to further advance" India-US relations built on a foundation of shared values and common strategic and security interests, the statement said. The two officials highlighted the need to work collectively to address challenges in the post-Covid era and further expand the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership," the foreign ministry statement added. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, Kumawumanhene, the representative of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, on Tuesday joined mourners to pay the last respect to the late former President Jerry John Rawlings at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC). The mortal remains of former President Rawlings is laying in state at the AICC Foyer for public viewing, as part of a four-day elaborate state funeral. The late former President was married to Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, a Princess from the Asanteman Royal Family. In line with Asanteman tradition the delegation, on behalf of the Asantehene and the Asantehemaa, Nana Konadu Yiadom III, presented customary drinks and gifts and an amount of GH5,000.00 as funeral donation to the bereaved family. Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua, who spoke on behalf of the Asantehene, said: We are in Accra to mourn our friend and in-law. He recalled that the Otumfuo, in 2010, conferred on former President Rawlings a traditional title; Agyewodin, for promoting democracy in Ghana. Barima Sarfo Tweneboa Kodua said anytime there was a major event at the Manhyia Palace, the former President attended and expressed condolences to the bereaved family. He prayed for national unity and peace, saying that was what the late former President stood for. Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, the eldest child of former President Rawlings and the Member of Parliament for Klottey Korle, on behalf of the family, expressed gratitude to the Asantehene for the honour. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Kellyanne Conway is back in the news because of her tumultuous relationship with her 16-year-old daughter, Claudia. This time, serious allegations of abuse have surfaced after a fleet of photos uploaded to Kellyanne Conways Twitter account reportedly included a picture of her daughter unclothed. The photo was swiftly removed, and its not clear if it was uploaded intentionally, accidentally, or by someone hacking Conways account. But the incident has fanned fears about Claudias welfare, fears which were already aflame due to videos the teenager had shared on TikTok of her mother swearing at her and calling her a bitch. Claudia then shared a statement on Tuesday, saying that she loves her mother and is taking a break from social media to repair their relationship, but that has done little to calm spectators fears, not least because Claudia has previously stated that if she ever took a break from social media, it would not be by choice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The material in the videos, and Claudias statements about her mother, are extremely upsetting, so its only natural that theyd engender empathy and concern (from anyone, though Kellyannes provocative role in the Trump administration certainly adds a bit of fuel here). Unfortunately, speculation and calls for greater police involvement on social media with the family are as likely as not to make the situation worse. Child protective services, while necessary in cases where the life of a child is in imminent danger, have a very mixed record in resolving these kinds of situations. In many cases, intervention does more harm than good. And although wealthy families like the Conways always have a measure of protection from the worst abuses within the CPS system, the downside is that CPS is even less likely than usual to get a clear picture of whats really going on. Advertisement Wed all like to believe that, when we see someone in pain, theres something we can do to help. We want to believe that police officers or social workers can enter into a family, find out the truth, then intervene to protect the childand that the childs life will improve after that. But police and social workers are only human, our foster care and group home systems are terribly flawed, and often the information an investigation turns up only makes a complicated picture more confusing still. One of the hardest things for people who dont have experience in this area to understand is that it is not even clear that a child leaving their parents is in the childs best interestseven when the parents are abusive. That calculation is always an incredibly complicated one. Advertisement Advertisement I dont mean to suggest that we should do nothing when we know a child is being abused. Family members and friends can and should intervene when they believe a child is being harmed. Theres even a role for strangers getting involved if they have direct, unambiguous knowledge that a child is in serious danger at home. But TikTok and Twitter are not windows into private lives, theyre businesses trying to make money off of our engagement. We do not, cannot, and likely will not ever know the full picture of Claudia Conways home life and relationship with her mother. By trying to help, strangers to the family bring more scrutiny and more pressure to bear, without offering anything of value to support them. In such situations, as hard as it might be, we must accept that the best thing we can do for Claudia Conway and her family is to leave them alone. Advertisement The youngest of the Monaco royals showed she knows how to entertain a crowd as the principality celebrated its patron saint yesterday with its traditional boat-burning ceremony. Princess Gabriella, six, stole the show when she stepped out with her twin brother Prince Jacques and their parents, Princess Charlene, 43, and Prince Albert, 62. The young royal was wearing a stylish pink coat to match her skirt and bucket hat and seemed enthralled by the evening's celebrations. Showing that age is no barrier to style, the young princess sported a 2,800 Lady Dior silver nano handbag, made from sheepskin. The youngest of the Monaco royals showed she knows how to entertain a crowd as the principality celebrated its patron saint yesterday Princess Gabriella, six, stole the show when she stepped out with her twin brother Prince Jacques and their parents, Princess Charlene, 43, and Prince Albert, 62 The young royal was wearing a stylish pink coat to match her skirt and bucket hat and seemed enthralled by the evening's celebrations She teamed her outfit with a par of black and white trainers and some white tights, and a 2800 silver Dior handbag and matching trainers Princess Gabriella joined in on the day's festivities while wrapped up warmly Her mother Charlene helped while looking equally as stylish in a long black and red coat and black beret Mother Charlene cut a stylish figure in a long red coat and navy stilettos as she held her daughter's hand. Saint Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco and celebrates its patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. The municipality's residents burn a boat every year in honour of the legend that Devota, a young Christian women from Corsica, was martyed by the Prefect Barbarus under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. It is said that her body was removed by believers during the night after her martyrdom, placed on a boat, and taken to Monaco to be entombed in a chapel in 303AD. Both twins charmed the crowds with their vigorous waves. Earlier today Prince Albert revealed his wife Charlene's 43rd birthday today will be an intimate 'family affair'. Mother Charlene cut a stylish figure in a long red coat and navy stilettos as she held her daughter's hand Saint Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco and celebrates its patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century Both twins charmed the crowds with their vigorous waves. Earlier today Prince Albert revealed his wife Charlene's 43rd birthday today will be an intimate 'family affair' Charlene helped her children as they joined in with the municipalities celebrations The family stood in awe of the fire that is set as part of the day's celebrations The royal twins stood next to each other as the family celebrated the municipality's patron saint day Prince Albert helped his son to light the fire as part of the municipality's celebrations Princess Gabrielle looked delighted at the size of the large fire which was lit as part of the day's celebrations According to the royal the couple are set to celebrate the big day today in a low-key way with their twin children Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, both six. Prince Albert has said the former Olympic swimmer will spend the day surrounded by family, but explained gatherings would be in low-key amid the Covid-19 crisis, telling People magazine: 'She doesn't like big celebrations.' He revealed the family party would likely be subdued to the Covid-19 restrictions preventing groups of more than six gathering. All family members wore face masks throughout the proceedings to stay safe and adhere to coronavirus recommendations Princess Gabriella threw herself into the spirit of the patron saint day and helped to light a fire Gabriella and her mother Charlene stuck together as they helped to light the fire for Monaco's celebrations Gabriella looks enthralled by the large fire that took over during the evening's celebrations She stood enraptured by the blazing flames which steadily grew higher throughout proceedings The family stayed together as they joined in on the burning of the boat during the evening's celebrations [January 27, 2021] Parsons and AFCEA Connect Global Militaries and Cyber Warriors CENTREVILLE, Va., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Parsons Corporation (NYSE: PSN) is proud to host the second AFCEA TECHNET International Capture the Flag (CTF) from the Georgia Cyber Center (GCC) on January 28, 2021. This international exercise is designed to improve allied nations partnership, share full-spectrum cyber best practices, and strengthen training and coordination. The 2021 U.S. Department of Defense teams include Army Cyber Command (ARCYBER), U.S. Air Force Cyber, and U.S. Marine Forces Cyber. "As global digital threats increase, it is critical to unite our allies in an effort to increase, enhance, and perfect our collective cyber capabilities," said Tom Barnes, Parsons' vice president of strategic cyber operations. "We look forward to bringing together our partner nations in an effort to improve global cyber awareness and security." The 2021 competition includes 61 teams from 15 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Singapore, Switzerland, TaiwanMexico, and the Netherlands. The first event in 2019 showcased a challenge between the U.S. Army Cyber School and the Japanese Defense Force, where each country improved their full-spectrum cyber capabilities as part of a joint bilateral agreement. Each country fielded five teams. To learn more about Parsons' cyber capabilities, please visit: https://www.parsons.com/capabilities/cyber/ Parsons (NYSE: PSN) is a leading disruptive technology provider in the global defense, intelligence, and critical infrastructure markets, with capabilities across cybersecurity, missile defense, space, connected infrastructure, and smart cities. Please visit parsons.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to learn how we're making an impact. Media Contact: Bryce McDevitt +1 703.851.4425 Bryce.McDevitt@Parsons.com Investor Relations Contact: Dave Spille + 1 571.655.8264 Dave.Spille@parsons.com View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/parsons-and-afcea-connect-global-militaries-and-cyber-warriors-301212392.html SOURCE Parsons Corporation San Francisco will rename 44 schools, including campuses named after former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The near-unanimous Monday vote by the San Francisco Board of Education, with only one dissenter, comes after years of debate and much scorn, including from Mayor London Breed over the reckoning of historical figures and their contentious, flawed legacies. Its a message to our families, our students and our community, board member Mark Sanchez said in the meeting, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Its not just symbolic. The new namesakes for the schools must adhere to a new set of guidelines, including that individuals honored by a renaming are not slave owners or abetted in slavery or genocide, attached to human rights violations, or are "known racists and/or white supremacists." Washington and Jefferson, for instance, were slaveowners, while former San Francisco mayor Feinstein was listed after reportedly reinstating Confederate flags by City Hall in the '80s. Lincoln, widely revered for his issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, was chosen based on "his treatment of First Nation peoples," first-grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries told the Chronicle in a widely circulated December quote. Some other namesakes' legacies, such as Junipero Serra, Jose Ortega and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, were based on colonization and abuses of indigenous people. Another storied figure, John Muir, was also selected for renaming due to comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward Black people. (The Sierra Club's executive director recently condemned its founder for these remarks.) Schools have until April to determine the new names for their campuses, per KNTV-TV, which will then be voted on by board members. The issue of renaming San Francisco's schools has drawn national attention, with former President Donald Trump lending his tweeting powers in opposition to the decision. Some have criticized the lack of historian involvement in the renaming decision. Even Mayor London Breed entered the fray, criticizing the renaming of schools and calling it "offensive" last year amid the pandemic and the continuation of school closures. Breed said in a statement Wednesday: "This is an important conversation to have, and one that we should involve our communities, our families, and our students. What I cannot understand is why the School Board is advancing a plan to have all these schools renamed by April, when there isnt a plan to have our kids back in the classroom by then." "Lets bring the same urgency and focus on getting our kids back in the classroom, and then we can have that longer conversation about the future of school names," her statement goes on to read. A parent of a student at Adolph Sutro Elementary who spoke at the meeting, reported the Chronicle, spoke favorably of the decision. Sutro, a former mayor, discriminated against Black people who wanted to visit the baths named after him. But others, such as Spring Utting, a parent of a student at Lowell High another school set to be renamed were concerned that the renaming deflects on the broader, more crucial issue of schools reopening. "Is this meant to distract parents so we don't ask what the school reopening plan is? Do they have one?" she told SFGATE. "Why isn't that the first item on their agenda?" "It's deeply disappointing," said Seeyew Mo, the executive director of Families for San Francisco, a parent advocacy group, "that the School Board paid zero attention to community input, even to the point of ignoring factual corrections." The group published a report earlier this month, calling the work done by the renaming committee "deeply flawed." The saga concludes just a week after a scandal at Lowell in which racist slurs and pornography were shown in a schoolwide virtual forum. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, UC Berkeley is continuing its efforts to rename or "un-name" buildings on campus. It removed the signage from the former Kroeber Hall, which was named after Alfred Kroeber, an anthropologist whose work, indigenous activists say, contributed to the erasure of Native Americans. Eric Ting contributed to this report. (Image: News18) The Republic Day Parade is the most important State ritual of the Republic of India when India reaffirms its commitment to democracy and the Constitution. Armed forces reaffirm their allegiance to the civilian authority and government honours the martyrs of the republic and award citizens for their notable contribution to the nation. To defile or threaten to harm the Republic Day's sanctity is a direct assault on the very foundation of the republic. This is what we witnessed on January 26 when armed protestors broke their promise and stormed the national capital while carrying out the infamous tractor parade. The images of sword-wielding anarchist trying to mow down police personnel with tractors, beating women constables and assaulting police and bystanders have marred the Republic Day. The very idea of holding a parallel parade to the Republic Day Parade reeks of contempt of the republic and challenge to the authority of the State. Moreover, the assault on the Red Fort, an important symbol of the Indian State, is reminiscent of the insurrectionists' attack the United States Capitol Hill. Now that several supporters and opposition parties are distancing themselves from the violence, we must recall that these protests with unreasonable maximalist demands were not peaceful from the very beginning. From creating law and order problem in Punjab and Haryana to the failed attempt at storming Delhi in November, it always had a strong undercurrent of vandalism. These protestors have been blocking critical access routes to the Delhi, thus harassing the millions of common people, apart from causing the loss of thousands of crores of rupees to local residents and industry. Furthermore, all this while refusing to engage in any meaningful dialogue with the government. In the first meeting, farmer union representatives could not point out any clause or specific points as detrimental to the farmers. The government had to ask them to come back later, but they still could not come with any issues against the three new farm laws despite 10 rounds of talk. They refused to discuss the laws, and insisted on its instant repeal. They reportedly misbehaved with the government negotiators by refusing to speak in the meeting or sitting with their backs towards them. Instead of discussing the farm laws, they made demands such as no fine and jail sentence for smog-causing stubble burning, diesel prices for agriculture be slashed by 50 percent, a written guarantee for the above-market artificial price for their produce, and compulsory purchase the government. Moreover, even after the government conceded most of their demands along with the proposal to suspend new laws for a year-and-a-half, farmer unions refused to come to any agreement and instead called for a tractor rally on Republic Day. They even kidnapped and forced a youth to lie on camera that government tasked him to assassinate farmer union leaders in an attempt to whip up passions. The youth claimed that he was even tortured. The protests' discourse and polemics have been steeped in conspiracy theories and demonisation of the media, politicians, and business houses. It has resulted in violence like the widespread vandalism of the network towers of Reliance Jio mobile. Wild allegations were made that corporates will take over farmers lands. The violence should also spotlight the role of social media, especially Twitter in creating a fake narrative and justifying violent means as a just cause. Twitter did not ban any handle spreading panic and fake news, including that of media persons who falsely claimed that the protester who died on January 26 was due to police firing. From observing the events over the past few weeks, and especially the ghastly violence on January 26, the insurrectionists aim is clear: they wanted to provoke the government and the police into using lethal force. It would have started a downward spiral of violence. Here, the police's role in the face of immense adversities is commendable. They put their lives in the way of harm and were largely unprovoked in the face of a massive assault and still did not let the anarchy disturb the Republic Day ceremonies. It must now follow up the CCTV footage and other evidence to track and arrest those responsible for the violence. Moreover, while the government refused to take the bait, it must now open an investigation against the farmer union leaders and others behind the violence. Furthermore, the implementation of the new farm laws must now go on without any delay. Parliamentary democracy cannot be held hostage by violent interest groups working to protect their oppressive social and political power at expense of the masses. Pilots pose for photographs as three Rafale jets prepare to take off from France for a non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE MRTT. (Image: Twitter/@Indian_Embassy) The fate of a rare 18th-century violin has reopened debate over Germanys efforts to return property looted from Jews by the Nazis. The violin, made in 1706 by Giuseppe Guarneri, the Italian master, is said by its owners, a Nuremberg musical foundation, to be an instrument of understanding. Yet a government commission has taken the unusual step of publicly shaming the foundation after it refused to pay compensation to the descendants of the violins Jewish former owner. The Franz Hofmann und Sophie Hagemann Foundation claims information has come to light that suggests the violin was not looted. The affair has exposed the toothlessness of the German authorities to force private owners to return property or pay restitution. The filius Andreae violin was bought in 1938 by Felix Hildesheimer, a music dealer in the small western city of Speyer. He and his wife tried to flee Nazi Germany to Australia but were unable to secure visas. Forced to sell his home and business at a fraction of their value, he took his own life in 1939. What happened to the violin is unclear, but authorities believe it was either seized or forcibly sold by the Nazis. It reappeared in 1974, when Sophie Hagemann, a violinist, found it in poor condition in a German music shop. She left it to a foundation for musical children established in memory of her husband, Franz Hofmann, a composer. After her death, the foundation referred the case to the Advisory Commission on Nazi-Looted Cultural Property in 2015. The commission was set up in 2003 to fulfil the Washington Principles, a 1998 international agreement on the return of Nazi-looted property. But its recommendations are advisory, and it has no power to enforce them. In 2016, the commission determined that the violin had been looted and ruled that the foundation could keep it if it paid 100,000 in compensation to Hildesheimers heirs. The violin was valued at 150,000 and the foundation had spent 50,000 restoring it. Yet the compensation has not been paid. The foundation first claimed that it could not raise the money and now suggests that Hildesheimer was forced to sell his business later than thought and sold the violin beforehand. The commission dismissed both claims last week, accusing the foundation of failing to make the necessary effort to raise the funds. Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Ultra Sonar Systems (Ultra) has joined forces with Kraken Robotic Systems (Kraken) to support the supply of their SeaScout system to the Royal Danish Navy. Ultra Sonar Systems (Ultra) has joined forces with Kraken Robotic Systems (Kraken) to support the supply of their SeaScout system to the Royal Danish Navy. Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link Complete SeaScout system in stowed position (Picture source: Ultra Sonar Systems) The SeaScout is comprised of Krakens Katfish towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar vehicle, Tentacle Winch and Autonomous Launch and Recovery System (ALARS) and will be integrated onto the Royal Danish Navys optionally unmanned surface vessels in support of their mine countermeasure activities. Katfish is a high speed, actively stabilized towed Synthetic Aperture Sonar vehicle designed to be deployed from manned or unmanned surface vehicles. Equipped with Krakens state-of-the-art AquaPix synthetic aperture sonar, the Katfish will be used to survey the seafloor in ultra high-definition at larger area coverage rates than ever before. These capabilities enable operators to survey for seabed and tethered mines from a safe distance in real-time, thus removing any operators from harms way. Throughout the survey, information is transmitted to both manned and unmanned platforms (through the tow cable and radio respectively) where objects of interest can be tagged for closer inspection. Once a potential threat is identified, mine countermeasures (MCM) can be employed to inspect the object or to safely dispose of it. Ultras Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) engineering team will provide expert support to Kraken throughout the delivery phase in the production of ILS documentation, as well as supporting Krakens installation and commissioning teams in the field, with an option to continue to support the complete SeaScout system throughout the lifecycle once it is in service with the Danish Navy. Karl Kenny, President and CEO of Kraken Robotic Systems, commented: Kraken is pleased to be providing this state-of-the-art system to the Royal Danish Navy. This contract was a highly competitive bid process and we were compared on all fronts with large, global defence contractors so we are proud to have been selected. The next 24 months will see Kraken deliver four complete SeaScout systems to the navy which will complete the majority of the contract. Kraken has also established an office in Copenhagen, Kraken Denmark, which will be the basis for our Danish Centre of Excellence in Mine Counter Measures, while also providing support for the systems and conducting critical research and development in MCM moving forward. Bernard Mills, President of Ultra Sonar Systems, commented: we are extremely pleased to be supporting Kraken Robotic Systems in delivering this key capability to the Danish Navy. It also pleases me that our long standing capability in ILS services continues to be recognised. Ultra is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of a wide range of underwater warfare solutions for surface ships and submarines and also provides logistics support design services and long term support solutions of own and third party systems and equipment. Kraken Robotics is a marine technology company dedicated to the production and sale of software-centric sensors, subsea batteries and thrusters, and underwater robotic systems. The company is headquartered in St. Johns, Newfoundland with offices in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia; Toronto, Ontario; Bremen & Rostock, Germany; Boston, Massachusetts; and a newly formed office in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kraken is ranked as a Top 100 marine technology company by Marine Technology Reporter. [January 27, 2021] Primerica Included in 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index Primerica, Inc. (NYSE:PRI), a leading provider of financial services to families in the United States and Canada, today announced that the Company has been selected as one of 380 companies across 11 sectors to be included in the 2021 Bloomberg (News - Alert) Gender-Equality Index (GEI). The GEI represents 44 countries and regions and companies reflect a variety of industries, including financial services, automotive, consumer services, engineering and construction, and retail. "Primerica is committed to diversity, equality and inclusion in all areas of our business, including the number of women in leadership roles and in our talent and succession planning programs," said Glenn Williams, Primerica CEO. "We're proud our Company has been recognized as one of the 138 U.S.-headquartered companies to be included in the 2021 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index." The GEI brings transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly listed companies increasing the breadth of environmental, social, governance (ESG) data available to investors. The comprehensive, transparent GEI scoring methodology allows investors to assess company performance and compare across industry peer groups. The reference index measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. Primerica was also one of the companies included in the 2020 GEI, which included 325 companies headquartered across 42 countries and regions. "The companies included in the 2021 GEI are expanding the ESG data universe to include gender-related data that investors are demanding today," said Peter T. Grauer, Chairman of Bloomberg. "Their commitment to disclosure is making the business case for inclusion and driving transparency in the markets." Through disclosure of gender-related metrics using the GEI framework, the firms included in the 2021 GEI have committed to providing a comprehensive look at their investment in workplace gender equality and the communities in which they operate, raising the bar of what should be expected from other companies within the same industry. Primerica was included in this year's index for scoring at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect a high level of disclosure and overall performance across the framework's five pillars. Both the framework and the GEI are voluntary and have no associated costs. The GEI is a reference index and is not for use as a financial benchmark. The index is not ranked. While all public companies are encouraged to disclose supplemental gender data for their company's investment profile on the Bloomberg Terminal, those that have a market capitalization of USD1 billion are eligible for inclusion in the index. To learn more please visit the GEI website. To learn more please visit the GEI website. Bloomberg Terminal subscribers can access the GEI at {BGEI }. About Primerica, Inc. Primerica, Inc., headquartered in Duluth, GA, is a leading provider of financial services to middle-income households in the United States and Canada. Independent licensed representatives educate Primerica clients about how to better prepare for a more secure financial future by assessing their needs and providing appropriate solutions through term life insurance, which we underwrite, and mutual funds, annuities and other financial products, which we distribute primarily on behalf of third parties. We insured over 5.5 million lives and had approximately 2.6 million client investment accounts at December 31, 2020. Primerica, through its insurance company subsidiaries, was the #2 issuer of Term Life insurance coverage in North America in 2019. Primerica stock is included in the S&P MidCap 400 and the Russell 1000 stock indices and is traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "PRI." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005495/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sun Country Airlines is launching twice-a-week service from San Antonio International Airport to Cancun, Mexico, on May 28 the latest sign that the aviation industry is expecting demand for international travel to climb this year as more people get the COVID-19 vaccine. The flights will depart on Monday and Fridays, with an introductory one-way fare of $129. As travel picks up, we expect Cancun to resume being a popular destination for leisure travelers, city Aviation Director Jesus Saenz Jr. said in a statement. Prior to the pandemic, more than 61,000 travelers flew between San Antonio and Cancun each year. Sun Country joins a number of airlines betting that South Texas residents are tired of staying home and want to travel internationally. VivaAerobus is expanding its four-times-a-week service to Monterrey, Mexico, to seven days on Feb. 3. Aeromexico launched a second daily flight to Mexico City earlier this month, and Southwest Airlines will resume once-a-week service to Cancun on March 13, said Brian Pratte, the airports chief air service development officer. The added service is reinforcing our reputation as being a really good hub for Mexican service, said Pratte. The optimism may be dimmed, though, by new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rules that go into effect on Tuesday. Passengers ages 2 and older who travel abroad will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of their return flights. The new requirement is the CDCs attempt to encourage U.S. travelers to stay home, said airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research Group in San Francisco. The U.S. is taking steps to throttle back international travel, he said. On ExpressNews.com: Southwest employees honor Herb and send a message He said CDC officials are worried that Americans have a greater risk of catching fast-spreading mutations of the COVID-19 virus overseas. The new testing requirement will definitely kill some desire for traveling abroad, Harteveldt said. People dont want the hassle of getting a test while on vacation, plus the added cost if their insurance doesnt cover it. Harteveldt said he doesnt see the CDC lifting the test requirement until large segments of the U.S. and international populations are vaccinated. Pratte, meanwhile, said he said travel scene could improve by the end of May, with the CDC possibly lifting the testing rule by the time Sun Country begins its flights. Sun Country spokeswoman Erin Blanton said the airline will list COVID-19 testing sites in Mexico on its website to help travelers meet the CDC requirements. The airline is waiting until late May to start its Cancun service because demand usually is strongest in the summer, she noted. Pratte said the travel industry is working to increase the number of COVID-19 testing sites to encourage people to fly. They are certainly looking at making testing as easy as possible so their profits arent restricted, he said. In September, the CDC issued a travel advisory asking Americans to reconsider travel to Mexico because of the countrys high COVID-19 rates. randy.diamond@express-news.net Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Photo: The Canadian Press Commissioner Austin Cullen listens to introductions before opening statements at the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia, in Vancouver on February 24, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A former executive with British Columbia's lottery corporation became emotional Tuesday after two days of testimony at a public inquiry into money laundering. Robert Kroeker took several moments to compose himself but his voice still cracked with emotion when he was asked to describe his experience as a focal point in B.C.'s probe into money laundering. Kroeker, who was fired as vice-president of corporate compliance in 2019, spent much of his testimony explaining what the Crown corporation knew about illegal cash circulating at casinos and what was being done to prevent it. "You are not a floor manager. You are not on the business side of casinos. You are not wining and dining high rollers," said Marie Henein, Kroeker's lawyer. "That's not what you do. You've spent your life in compliance and trying to deal with money laundering and making casinos secure places in B.C." Kroeker's voice cracked as he tried to describe the impact of allegations that the lottery corporation did not act on large amounts of illegal cash at casinos. "It's been devastating, not being able to respond, particularly when I was at the corporation, and especially for my team," said the former RCMP officer. "They're professionals and to see them continually attacked and maligned, it's really unfair." Former gaming investigator Larry Vander Graaf, who is also a former Mountie, told the commission last November that the B.C. Lottery Corp. did not move quickly enough to protect the integrity of gaming from organized crime more than a decade ago. Vander Graaf, the former executive director of the province's gaming policy branch, testified that large amounts of suspicious cash started to appear at B.C. casinos in 2007 and by 2010, loan sharks were circulating nearby parking lots with bags of money believed to be from proceeds of crime. Kroeker testified Tuesday he received a high-level briefing about suspicious cash activities at provincial casinos with possible links to organized crime on his first day on the job at the lottery corporation in 2015. He said he reviewed a document that concluded lottery officials appeared unwilling to address police concerns about suspicious cash and its potential connections to organized crime. The document also included the lottery corporation's concerns over the potential fallout if the information became public, he added. "Certainly by this point BCLC knew there was a concern around the cash being brought into casinos being proceeds of crime," B.C. government lawyer Jacqueline Hughes asked Kroeker. "Yes, for sure," said Kroeker. On Monday, Kroeker testified that Attorney General David Eby appeared uninterested in the lottery corporation's anti-money laundering efforts during a meeting in 2017 shortly after the New Democrats took power. The Ministry of Attorney General said in a statement on Monday that Eby would not comment on evidence or proceedings while the commission is underway. But in a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said "this government's actions to tackle financial crime in B.C. speaks for itself." Kroeker testified Tuesday that the money laundering issue in B.C. had become "politically charged" and was used by the two main political parties to criticize each other. The province appointed B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen in 2019 to lead the public inquiry into money laundering after three reports outlined how hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal cash affected the province's real estate, luxury vehicles and gaming sectors. Anutin denies jab rollout too slow BANGKOK: Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday (Jan 26) defended the government over criticism it was taking too long to start vaccinating Thais against the coronavirus. COVID-19Coronavirushealth By Bangkok Post Wednesday 27 January 2021, 09:11AM Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Photo: Bangkok Post Every process has been overseen by medical doctors and experts because the government considers public safety of paramount importance and we would never politicise the vaccine issue, Mr Anutin said in response to questions posed via Facebook by Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, reports the Bangkok Post. Mr Thanathorn said the government was moving too slowly and had only reserved enough vaccines to inoculate 21.5% of the population in the short term. Even by 2023, he said, it was only on course to vaccinate just 50% of the population, far short of the 70% minimum to create herd immunity. Mr Anutin, however, insisted the government had arranged to vaccinate 70% of Thais by the end of 2022, not a whole year later, as Mr Thanathorn claimed. Our COVID-19 vaccine programme is not slow. We are just following our plan, Mr Anutin said. Furthermore, we also have the capability to produce COVID-19 vaccines locally so we dont have to worry about competing over vaccines with other countries, he added. The first vaccination phase is due to be carried out between February and April, using 150,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine shipped from the companys own manufacturing plant in Italy. The first person is scheduled to be vaccinated in the middle of February it is tentatively set for Valentines Day, Feb 14 and the governments plan is to use the first 50,000 doses to inoculate the elderly and 7,000 medical staff in Samut Sakhon. The government then plans to use 2 million doses from Sinovac, provided the Beijing-based biopharmaceutical companys vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The second phase, from May to December, will see doctors using about 26 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, produced locally by Siam Bioscience. The third phase, starting in January next year, will see a further rollout of 35 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The government expects that by that time more options will be available and that will enable it to reach its goal of securing herd immunity by the end of 2022. A family dog has saved the life of a young child who was 'just seconds' away from drowning after being sucked out to the deepest part of a river. Max, a staffy cross bulldog, swam out to the distressed child in the river mouth wearing a life jacket which had a handle the boy could cling onto. The very good boy was able to guide the child back to dry land, becoming the newest four-legged hero of Port Noarlung in South Australia. Max, the staffie x bulldog wasted no time swimming out to the boy, who was able to grab the handle on the dogs life jacket and be guided to safety Max's owner Rob Osborn spotted the boy in distress from the sand of the riverbank. 'The tide was going in, and it was sucking the boy over to all of the big rocks, into a really deep part of the river', he told 7 News. Witness to the distressed swimmer, Nevaeh Osborn said the boy was 'bound to drown any second' if the pair hadn't raised the alarm. But before Mr Osborn could jump in the water himself, he noticed Max had already begun to swim out to the boy. Mr Osborn encouraged the boy to call Max's name and to grab the handle on the dog's personal life jacket to swim to shore. 'He's definitely a hero, he just doesn't know it. He was just doing what he was told', the proud owner said. Bulldogs and staffies have a reputation for being aggressive in nature, with many believing the breeds are unsuitable for life as family pets. However the efforts of Max might help to change this perception. 'Max deserves a medal he is such a hero. So gentle and so brave but viewed by the world as dangerous,' wrote one commentator. Some businesses and libraries in Central New York have announced that they are closing early or not opening for evening activities due to the snow and winter weather. Related article: Winter storm warning issued in Upstate NY A number of Central New York schools have closed early or canceled after-school activities. Heres a list of community organizations that have been affected by the weather. This list will be updated as additional information is received. If you cant see the list, click here. If you are a business or community organization and would like to report a closing, send us an email. Please be sure to include the words community closing in the subject line. If you want to announce your own closings, we can help you too: How to submit a business or community closing to Syracuse.com New Delhi, Jan 27 : Three Rafale combat aircraft will arrive in India on Thursday after flying non-stop from France, an Indian Air Force official said on Wednesday. The three new additions will add to the current fleet of eight Rafale jets. The three Rafale combat aircraft, manufactured by French company Dassault Aviation, took off from Istres in France on Wednesday. The Indian Embassy in France tweeted that three more Rafale jets have taken off from Istres for a non-stop flight to India with mid-air refuelling. "Adding more strength to India's air power. Wishing our amazing pilots a smooth flight and safe landing with superb fighter jets," the Indian Embassy said. With three more aircraft, the IAF will now have 11 Rafale jets in service. Further, Indian Air Force pilots are being trained in batches at the Saint-Dizier air base in France. India received the first batch of five Rafale aircraft on July 29, 2020 which were inducted into the 17 'Golden Arrows' Squadron on September 10 at the Ambala Air Base. Second batch of three Rafale combat aircraft arrived in India on November 4, 2020 after flying non-stop from France. India had signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 Rafale jets at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. Rafale is a 4.5 generation aircraft and has the latest weapons, superior sensors and fully integrated architecture. It is an omni-role aircraft which means it can carry out at least four missions in one sortie. The fighter jet has HAMMER missiles. It will also be armed with beyond visual range missiles like Meteor, SCALP and MICA, increasing its ability to take on incoming targets from a distance. Continental, a global tyre company, said it has set out its new strategic program for the tyre business with its Vision 2030 focusing on the systematic customer-centric alignment of the organisation and all its business activities. In addition, it is looking at ways it can set itself apart from the competition in respect of sustainability and digital solutions. In the passenger and light truck tyres segment, the focus will be on growing the global business with tyres for electric vehicles and ultra-high-performance tyres. In the truck and bus tyre segment, the Conti360 fleet services offering will be a key driver across all regions. Excellent tyres are and will remain our DNA. They have made us one of the world's largest manufacturers. Now, with our Vision 2030 strategic program, we are setting the stage to build on what is already a position of strength. Going forward, smart digital tyre solutions and the realisation of ambitious sustainability goals will be decisive for our success and as differentiators in the marketplace, said Christian Kotz, head of the Tyres business area and a member of Continentals Executive Board. Going forward, with its premium portfolio of passenger, truck and specialty tyres, Continental will continue to stand for innovative peak performance in tyre technology. In the future, this will be complemented by an ever-expanding service offering and aligned even more precisely with different customer segments. On top of this, in recent years Continental has pursued the targeted expansion of its worldwide production network. At the companys state-of-the-art production plants, innovations such as fully automated tyreware houses and the cross-company rollout of a global digital manufacturing system will support even more efficient and environmentally compatible production in the future. Continental will continue to systematically develop new business models and create an entire ecosystem of smart digital solutions centered on its premium tyres. As one of the world's largest suppliers of electronics, sensor systems and software in the mobility industry, Continental has a decisive competitive edge in this respect. At the same time, the tyre manufacturer will also enter development partnerships with customers and other technology firms with the aim of becoming the global leader for service-based digital solutions by 2030. Continental is currently demonstrating the added value that it will create for its customers going forward by networking tyres, sensors, telemetry data, algorithms and the cloud. The resultant smart digital solutions will help to ensure that, in the future, tyres are serviced or replaced precisely when necessary. This will lead to a substantial increase in safety and productivity, while at the same time cutting costs. In the sustainability sector too, Continental is pursuing ambitious goals and aiming to become the most progressive manufacturer in the tyre industry by 2030. With this in mind, back in April 2020, all the relevant projects and activities worldwide were brought under the umbrella of the newly created Sustainability Department. In order to arrive at a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly tyres of the future in respect of production, use and recyclability, Continental systematically invests in research and development in the fields of new technologies, alternative materials and environmentally compatible production processes. Through these efforts, by 2050 the tyre manufacturer is aiming to gradually transition to 100 percent sustainably produced materials in its tyre products. The Tyres business area is also the industry leader in the efficient and sustainable use of water and energy. Continental already consumes 55 percent less water and 17 percent less energy than the industry average per metric ton of tyres produced. By 2030, the aim is to achieve savings of an additional 20 percent in each case. TradeArabia News Service 24-hour Chakka bandh in Assam called off India oi-Deepika S Guwahati, Jan 27: The 24-hour Chakka Bandh, called in protest against the anti-labour policy of the state government has been called off. Withdrawing the bandh, which was scheduled to be held on January 27, the Assam Motor Transport Association said they would hold discussion with the concerned department and take further decision. At least 11 private transport workers' associations had called for the bandh pressing for various demands including withdrawal of speed governor, airbag, camera in the vehicles which are plying to other states. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News They also urged that the authorities of Ola-Uber should decrease the percentage of commission from 26-30 per cent to 10 per cent. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a booster of conspiracy theories with a track record of making racist statements, repeatedly endorsed violence against Democratic leaders and federal agents, according to a CNN review of her Facebook activity. Greene filled her feed with extremist content for years before she was elected in November, becoming the first open supporter of QAnon, an extremist ideology baed on false claims, to win a seat in Congress. In a January 2019 post, Greene "liked" a comment advocating "a bullet to the head" of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., according to a screenshot published by CNN's KFile. In another, from April 2018, a commenter asked, "Now do we get to hang them ??" referring to former president Barack Obama and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, KFile reported. In response, Greene did not denounce the suggestion of execution and instead wrote, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off." The revelations are the latest examples of Greene's far-right, conspiratorial online exploits, which also include supporting the bogus claim that the Parkland, Fla., school shooting was staged and backing a dangerous conspiracy about child abuse. Greene has also relentlessly boosted the "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was rigged against President Donald Trump, even though court after court has dismissed the former president's claims and state officials across the country, including Republicans, have rejected the baseless allegations. Greene's statements have resulted in her temporary ban from Twitter and they have prompted a number of advocacy organizations to call for her resignation or expulsion from Congress - a push that intensified after CNN's Tuesday story. The offices of Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., did not respond to requests for comment about Greene's Facebook activity or the campaign for her removal. On Twitter, Greene characterized the KFile report as a "hit piece on me focused on my time before running for political office" but did not dispute the authenticity of the posts it highlighted. Instead, Greene wrote that she has had "teams of people manage my pages." "Many posts have been liked," she said. "Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet. They are taking old Facebook posts from random users to try to cancel me and silence my voice." But Greene's office did not respond to questions about why the posts and "likes" remained on her page if she did not agree with them. Many of the posts included in the CNN article are no longer visible. It's unclear whether Greene changed her privacy settings or Facebook removed the posts. The social media company did not respond to a request for comment. Rep. Don Beye, D-Va., was among those calling for Greene's resignation. "So you aren't denying you wrote called for the deaths of political leaders, you aren't taking responsibility, you aren't apologizing, you aren't even saying it was wrong," he wrote on Twitter, responding to Greene's statement. "You're just blaming others. Your conduct does not reflect creditably on the House, and you should resign." Greene has a history of singling out Democrats - especially Pelosi - with threatening and ominous rhetoric. Before she ran for office, Greene circulated a petition to have Pelosi impeached. In February 2019, she led a group of Trump supporters into the speaker's office, where she accused Pelosi of "treason" and suggested she "shall suffer death or shall be imprisoned." In now-deleted posts, Greene "liked" one comment encouraging her to "beat Pelosi's ass" and another that advocated for Pelosi's ouster "through removal or death, doesn't matter, as long as she goes." In others, she criticized FBI agents not being sufficiently loyal to Trump. She "liked" one comment that proposed capital punishment for those law enforcement officials, reading: "Trump already said there were some great ones working with FBI but some have fallen and quite frankly need to be hung for TREASON!" And in another Facebook post, surfaced by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters for America and also published Tuesday, Greene endorsed the gruesome conspiracy dubbed "Frazzledrip," which involves Clinton, her aide Huma Abedin, satanic ritual and child murder. A commenter called it "another hillary hit." Greene replied: "I post things sometimes to see who knows things. Most the time people don't." Israelis of Indian origin have been busy this week preparing for the annual Malida ceremonies to be celebrated Jan. 27-28. With the country under closure and with family gatherings banned, festivities are being relegated to Zoom and other virtual meeting places. Still, the community refuses to give up on the joy these ceremonies are known for and the celebrations that have grown increasingly popular in Israel. The Jewish Indian community in Israel is comprised of three groups: the Bene, Cochin and Baghdadi communities. The Malida ritual is performed also on other family occasions but always once a year, on the day Jews worldwide celebrate Tu Bishvat, the Jewish Arbor Day. The Bene Israel community believes that on this day of Tu Bishvat, hundreds of years ago, a dozen of Jewish men and women from ancient Israel were shipwrecked off the west coast of ancient India. Fearing for their lives, the survivors prayed to the Prophet Elijah and were saved. It is in memory and thanksgiving of that event that Indian Jews mark the Malida. They consider the prophet a protector of both the individual and the community. The ceremony itself includes a series of prayers, many of them honoring Elijah. A special offering is prepared of sweetened dried rice mixed with fruits, nuts and aromatics. The Malida mixture is piled on a round plate, with different fruits placed around its base, all with ritual significance. Tens of thousands of young Israelis flock every year to India on what has become their traditional year-long trip after they finish their army service. They take in the slow, easy-going Indian lifestyle, the bold colors, tastes and smells that are so particular to that continent. Still, after several months in India, many of them had never heard of the Malida ceremonies celebrated by Indian Jews or the rest of the communitys vast cultural heritage. Artist and social activist Ilana Shazor was born in Israel, but both her parents immigrated from India. Her parents were part of the centuries-old Bene Israel community that lived and prospered in the Konkan region. When members of the community first arrived to Israel, they experienced some difficult years, fighting for acceptance by Israeli society and religious authorities. Many of them were directed on arrival to poor towns in Israel's periphery. The author of the book "Mother India, Father Israel," Shazor has been campaigning many years for recognition of Indian Jewry. She is deeply invested in preserving the Jewish-Indian traditions and has been celebrating Malida since childhood. "Traditionally, families performed Malida ceremonies throughout the yearly cycle. They celebrate Malida before a mother gave birth, they celebrate before one leaves home for higher studies and they celebrate making a special wish or canceling a pledge. But the one time that people perform it together, in much wider circles, is on Tu Bishvat," Shazor told Al-Monitor. Shazor explained the week's festivities, which have had to accommodate the pandemic. "This year, we are celebrating Malida within the small family circle. In previous years, we went out to nature, made blessings, played games and enjoyed a vegetarian meal. This year, especially because of the difficult situation we are all experiencing, we invite the public to join us on Zoom. We started this celebratory week Sunday night, with a special night of studying the spiritual significance of Malida. We had religious speakers as well as academic researchers and activists from the community, all trying to reconnect. Because this is the spirit of Malida reconnecting and bringing people together. Then, today and tomorrow, we will have Malida ceremonies online, performed in Yeruham, Jerusalem, Dimona, Ramle, Ashdod and elsewhere. In fact, on Thursday we will conduct a ceremony together with the Indian Embassy to Israel, she said. Shazor noted that few Israelis are even aware of the Indian Jewish communities. "We want to be part of the Israeli culture. Not just with this ceremony, but as Indians in this country. We want people to get to know our communities. There has never been in Israel any Knesset member of Indian origin, so we are on not just a physical periphery, but also a cultural one." Indians across the globe celebrated their national Republic Day Jan. 26. Israels Foreign Ministry heaped congratulations on the Indian people via Twitter. Israels ambassador to India, Ron Malka, featured a picture of himself and his wife in traditional Indian costumes. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi tweeted, "The friendship between our peoples and the strategic partnership between our countries has grown over the years and will continue to strengthen." Bilateral ties with India have recently become one of Israels diplomatic and security priorities, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fostering a warm and friendly relationship with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Indian Jews in Israel hope these warm relations will spill over in their direction, exposing the richness of their history and culture to their fellow Israeli citizens. Whats new: Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Cui Tiankai told Chinas national broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday that Beijing and Washington have not yet engaged in talks on reopening each others consulates that were closed last year in a tit-for-tat diplomatic confrontation. Cui said that the new U.S. administration under President Joe Biden, who took office last week, should take the first step in correcting the current situation as a good faith gesture. Previously, Cui had signaled during a think tank event in December that China was willing to consider reopening the U.S. consulate if Washington reciprocated. In July, the U.S. State Department ordered China to close its Chinese consulate in Houston while accusing the diplomatic mission of illegal spying and influence operations. In response, Chinas foreign ministry subsequently told the U.S. to close its consulate in Chengdu in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Whats more: Cui also responded to White House press secretary Jennifer Psakis comment Tuesday that the Biden administration will approach its relations with Beijing with patience and plans to review hardline policies adopted by former President Donald Trump. Cui said that he hoped the Biden administration could reflect on the U.S. China policy in recent years and take a positive, constructive and forward-looking view on their bilateral relations. Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com) and editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com) Support quality journalism in China. Subscribe to Caixin Global starting at $0.99. Drilling Program to Expand Quebec Lithium Resources Brisbane, Jan 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Emerging lithium miner Sayona Mining Limited ( ASX:SYA ) ( FRA:DML ) ( OTCMKTS:DMNXF ) today plans for a C$2 million (A$2.03M) drilling program during Quebec's late winter at the Company's flagship Authier Lithium Project and emerging Tansim Lithium Project, amid rapid growth in demand for the key battery metal.The new drilling program encompasses approximately 8,700m of drilling, representing around a 30% increase on previous drilling in the province, as Sayona seeks to expand its lithium resources to support a planned Abitibi regional hub.At Authier, the Company plans 31 drill holes for a total of 4,500m of diamond drilling, with a goal of expanding current ore resources and improving the strip ratio to enhance its profitability, as outlined in the project's revised Definitive Feasibility Study (refer ASX announcement 11 November 2019).In addition, 26 drill holes for approximately 4,200m are planned at the emerging Tansim project, comprising its Viau-Dallaire prospect (3,400m) and Viau prospect (approximately 800m). The new drilling aims to expand the lithium mineralisation at Viau-Dallaire following the initial Phase 1 diamond core drilling conducted in February 2019 and complete an initial JORC-compliant resource estimate.An initial drilling program is also proposed for the Viau prospect (6km east-southeast of Viau-Dallaire), with proposed drill holes based on historical geological data together with Sayona's reconnaissance survey undertaken in July 2018, which included four grab rock samples of up to 4.49% Li2O.C$250,000 to Quebec Precious Metals Corporation for the remaining 50% stake in tenements subject to an option agreement (refer ASX announcement 24 December 2020).Located 82km south-west of the Authier project, Tansim comprises 191 mineral claims spanning 11,042 ha of prospective lithium acreage. The main prospects are Viau-Dallaire, Viau and Vezina, with exploration activity having included Phase 1 diamond drilling at the Viau-Dallaire prospect as well as an airborne geophysics survey and reconnaissance selective sampling.Previous drilling intercepted two main pegmatite albite-spodumene dykes, with an east-west strike dipping 45 to 55 degrees to the north. Dyke 1 (upper dyke - outcropping) averaged 15m true width, while Dyke 2 (deeper dyke - not outcropping) averaged 40m approximate true width.All the dykes showed variable percentages of mostly very coarse to coarse spodumene (crystals of up to 20cm length and concentrations of 10% to 25% with peaks of 40-50%), with minor fine grain spodumene as well as internal zones of low grade to barren pegmatite.There is potential for both strike extensions and deeper extensions testing potential coalescence of pegmatite dykes as well as new and not-outcropping pegmatite dykes.Sayona's Managing Director, Brett Lynch welcomed the new drilling campaign as demonstrating the Company's commitment to increasing its lithium resources in Quebec."This is a significant investment in our Tansim project and a substantial potential boost to Authier's profitability as we work to deliver a world-scale lithium hub at Abitibi, supported by multiple projects," Mr Lynch said."Lithium demand is soaring in Canada and the United States, as seen by the multi-billion dollar investments by automakers in EV production in Ontario, Tesla's increasing offtake demand and the Biden administration's clean energy drive, such as its 'Buy American' EV campaign."North America needs domestic supplies of battery metals to fuel this accelerating industry. Our lithium projects are perfectly placed to deliver, benefitting from Quebec's unique economic, strategic and sustainable advantages, including its renewable, clean and green hydropower."He added: "As we advance Sayona's bid for NAL and our new partnership with Piedmont Lithium, we look forward to expanding our lithium projects to ensure we can supply both the domestic and U.S. markets, including mining and downstream processing."To view tables and figures, please visit:About Sayona Mining Ltd Sayona Mining Limited (ASX:SYA) (OTCMKTS:DMNXF) is an Australian, ASX-listed (SYA) company focused on sourcing and developing the raw materials required to construct lithium-ion batteries for use in the rapidly growing new and green technology sectors. The Company has lithium projects in Quebec, Canada and in Western Australia. Please visit us as at www.sayonamining.com.au SPRINGFIELD City officials announced Tuesday that Melanie Acobe has been promoted to the position of budget director in Springfield, becoming the first Latina in that post. The appointment was announced by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Chief Administrative and Financial Officer Timothy J. Plante. Acobe replaces former budget director Timothy Brown, who left for a different career opportunity, officials said. The post carries an annual salary of $92,270. Acobe, a Springfield resident, has previously served as grants director in Springfield and as senior budget analyst. She begins the new job Feb. 1. Melanie Acobe is a wonderful and very talented professional and as always, everything being equal, we always look to promote from within, which enhances and strengthens morale, Sarno said in a prepared statement. Acobe grew up in the citys Brightwood neighborhood and attended Central High School. She has a masters degree in public administration from Westfield State University and a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Rollins College. She returned to a community that she loves, to give back to the city that gave her so much as the citys first ever Latina Budget Director, Sarno said. Sarno and Plante congratulated Acobe on her promotion and thanked Brown for his service. She has the skills, training, education and pedigree to be successful in this role, Plante said. Acobe said she is extremely grateful for this opportunity and am looking forward to serving the city in my new role as budget director. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Customers can order brands such as Entenmanns, Sara Lee Grupo Bimbo, the Mexico-headquartered bakery giant, has launched a direct-to-consumer service in the US through its subsidiary Bimbo Bakeries USA. Through the online site sweetsnacking.com, customers can order the Bimbo Bakeries' (BBU) brands Entenmann's, Sara Lee, Thomas' and Takis for free delivery direct to their doors. Consumers can select from ten options offering pre-made-up boxes consisting of combinations of those lines. Bimbo joins a growing list of food companies that have entered the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market since the pandemic erupted last year as a way to get products to consumers without having to enter retail stores, such as meat-free business Beyond Meat, and FMCG heavyweights Kraft Heinz and PepsiCo. Most have acknowledged the services are designed as a complementary channel and not to compete directly with food retail outlets. "The Covid-19 pandemic has created a massive demand for convenient and affordable food options, as many have had to shift to remote work, school and social environments. This demand, paired with BBU's mission to always keep its consumers' needs at the forefront, led the company to develop this new option," Bimbo said in a statement. Omar Haque, the vice president for e-commerce at BBU, added: "We know that our consumers can buy from multiple sources, but with everything that has happened since the beginning of the pandemic, we wanted to take the pressure off any way we could. SweetSnacking.com presents no shortage of snacking options...Whether you prefer sweet, salty, or a combination of both.." In cities like Mumbai and Pune and their nearby rural areas, groundwater is no longer an option and they depend on dams and lakes that collect water during the rainy season With our natural resources ever depleting, the only way to resolve issues like a looming water crisis is by taking charge of nurturing natural resources. One such possible method is rainwater harvesting, a conservation method thats been around for decades but still not used to its full capacity. And a man who is dedicating his life to make the process a life-saving solution in Indian villages is Colonel SG Dalvi (Retd). Colonel Dalvi is national coordinator for water conservation at Climate Reality Project of India. The former army man has worked continuously to revamp water maps across scores and hundreds of villages. One of the states with extreme water crises in rural areas is Maharashtra. In Pune alone, two consequent years were declared as water crisis months by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The crises have been continuing since the early 2000s, in the light of which rainwater harvesting was made compulsory for all new buildings, residential or government, in 2007. But there were little checks and balances to ensure operation. In an interview given during the Harpic-News 18 led Mission Paani, the colonel spoke about the crisis. According to NITI Ayogs statistics, 600 million Indians face high to extreme water stress. In his speech, he says in our struggle to allot water to needy citizens, we often neglect the water that is freely available on our rooftops. He goes on to explain that while useful, rainfall is not a constant occurrence across all areas. Some areas receive heavy rainfall to the point of flooding and some cities thirst for a drop of rain even during the busiest monsoons. He gives the example of his project in Pune where there is an average rainfall of 750mm, as compared to the neighbouring metropolis of Mumbai, which gets over 2500mm rainfall. Standing in small town from Pune, he explains how 1000sw ft rooftop can accumulate 60,000 litres of life-saving water per annum. Whereas in a city like Mumbai, a roof of similar size can collect 2,50,000 litres of water per year! According to World Health Organizations (WHO) Human right to water and sanitation, the bare minimum required by a person to live a clean life is 100 litres of water per day. Whereas some committees put it at 135 litres. In cities like Mumbai and Pune and their nearby rural areas, groundwater is no longer an option and they depend on dams and lakes that collect water during the rainy season. However, these structures have a capacity and have to be closed off once that capacity is met. In such a situation, there isnt adequate water left with the civic bodies to provide the bare minimum to all the citizens. Generally, the poor are affected the most as they cannot hire private tankers and the likes. But thanks to Colonels efforts, things are starting to change. He says now there is so much water in the village Kaam Kheda that his students have enough left over to go and water all the trees in the school. The villagers are so thankful to the colonel that he is being called jal doot or rain man. The Colonel pleads to people to take inspiration from Kaam Kheda and says if that place can become aatmanirbhar and water sufficient, we all can achieve the same. You can contribute to the cause by taking a Jal Pratigya. Visit www.news18.com/mission-paani Watch the Waterthon LIVE here. Representative Image Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from April to November 2020 have increased by 22 percent (YoY) to $58.37 billion - the highest for the first 8 months of any fiscal, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on January 27 said. FDI equity inflows in the first eight months of FY21 rose by 37 percent (YoY) to $43.85 billion, said the Union Ministry statement said. "During April to November, 2020, total FDI inflow of US$ 58.37 billion has been received. It is the highest ever for first 8 months of a financial year and 22% higher as compared to first 8 months of 2019-20 (US$ 47.67 billion)," the Union Ministry said in its official statement. FDI in India rose by 13% in 2020, as inflows declined in major economies due to pandemic: UN Apart from this, the FDI equity inflows received during April-November 2020, rose by 37 percent (Y-o-Y) to $43.85 billion. This is the highest FDI inflows in April-November for the first 8 months of any fiscal. It was US$ 32.11 billion in April to November, 2019-20. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Stating the reason for the increase in the FDI inflows, the Centre stated that it is due to the measure taken by the Government on the fronts of FDI policy reforms, investment facilitation and ease of doing business. Earlier on Sunday, the United Nations had said that FDI into India rose by 13 percent in 2020, boosted by interest in the digital sector. It added that fund flows "declined most strongly" in major economies such as the UK, the US and Russia due to the COVID-19 pandemic, India and China bucked the trend. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Sunday issued an 'investment trends monitor' stating that global FDI collapsed in 2020 by 42 percent to an estimated $859 billion from $1.5 trillion in 2019. It also mentioned that such a low was last seen in the 1990s and is more than 30 per cent below the investment trough that followed the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. In its report, the UNCTAD said FDI in South Asia rose by 10 per cent to $65 billion, while FDI in India rose by 13 percent, boosted by investments in the digital sector. It added, 13 percent rise in FDI saw the total foreign investments for 2020 touching $57 billion and noted that acquisitions in Indias digital economy was the largest contributor to this rise. This Uttarayan, a top boutique in Surat launched a unique initiative 'Dor - Stitched Together,' to donate clothes to the poor and needy people. Ajiliyaa is a one of the best boutiques in Surat offering high-street labels and amazing clothes classy jewellery, footwear & bags for any occasion. This multi-designer store was launched in 2017 by Ajiliya Italiya for the modern fashion shoppers. As part of their CSR activity, Ajiliyaa started a unique fashion campaign to bring a little sunshine in others lives. They put in a lot of efforts to bring together the people of Surat and join their initiative of clothes donation. Under this social work campaign, Team Ajiliyaa asked the people of Surat to donate their clothes which were in good condition but they didn't wear or use anymore. They asked interested people to message their address. Team Ajiliyaa went and collected the clothes from the homes of these people. Once they collected all the clothes, they were properly ironed, reassembled and neatly packed. On 14th Jan, 2021 on Uttarayan, team Ajiliyaa distributed these clothes to the underprivileged and needy section of the society. Seeing the smile on the faces of these poor kids, Team Ajiliyaa felt emotional and knew it was worth the combined efforts of all people who contributed in making this campaign a success. Founder and creative Director of Ajiliyaa, Ajita Italiya has initiated this movement to bring about a revolution in the fashion world by raising awareness in the society to donate clothes to the needy people. Says Ajita, ' Small steps eventually happen to make big differences. And there is no better gift than providing clothes to the underprivileged. Together with the help of the people of Surat, we tried to make that difference in the poor section of the society. It was so satisfying to see a smile on the people's face when they accepted our donated clothes. And this was possible due to the support and generosity of the people in the city. We are grateful for their contribution. ' Ajita Italiya is an entrepreneur, vocalist, fashion stylist and socialist; donning multiple roles with much enthusiasm and dedication. The boutique store also has an in-house health cafe for serving the patrons delicious food in a crisp, refreshing style. The main idea is to serve everyone who walks in, with a memorable experience that is substantially more than just assuaging their shopping spree. With the rising demand for genuine designer wear across the country, at Ajiliyaa, the team caters to the needs of consumers of luxurious fashion. With more than 3 years of experience, today they boast of 10,000+ Customers. Also, the store is home to more than 200 designers from across the country under one roof, they are a one stop destination for your fashion shopping. Their Designer's list Includes Shivan & Naresh, Nikita Mhaisalkar, Abstract by Megha Jain, Shweta Kapur and many more. Ajiliyaa has also launched its e-commerce website, providing their clients across the country with a versatile collection to choose from. Over these 3 years, they have organized various designer previews in the presence of the designer themselves. They have even started social activities and fashion campaign to generate awareness regarding clothes donation to help the needy people, thus spreading joy and happiness in their lives. Police have launched a hunt for a maskless Covid denier who tried to take a dying patient from intensive care against doctors' orders. Toby Hayden-Leigh, 45, from Maidstone, Kent, was joined by a group of people who refused to wear masks inside East Surrey Hospital and then became abusive towards staff on January 21. A police spokesman made a number of comments as well videos which were abusive towards hospital staff were posted on social media on January 23. Joined by others close to the patient, Mr Haydeigh-Leigh filmed a team of medics - who were working tirelessly to save the pensioner's life - and insisted he be discharged, despite a doctor warning he could 'drop dead at any minute'. Toby Hayden-Leigh, 45, from Maidstone, Kent, was joined by a group of people who refused to wear masks inside East Surrey Hospital and then became abusive towards staff on January 21 Insisting he was the patient's 'McKenzie friend' - an untrained legal helper - he asks for the patient to be taken off oxygen, despite his seriously low levels, and ignored repeated requests to leave during the fiery 20-minute row. When Mr Hayden-Leigh and the others with the patient were told they were putting themselves and others in grave danger by being there, and in his case not wearing a mask, they simply replied: 'It's our own risk.' The patient - who was seen coughing and struggling for breath throughout - removed his oxygen tube and demanded to go home, but was told by staff he would not survive the journey. The ringleader of the group, who insisted he was exempt from wearing a mask, added insult to injury by asking staff whether Covid was even 'proven to exist', before finally being booted out by security. Footage of the disturbing incident has already been viewed thousands of times. Joined by others close to the patient, the intruder filmed a team of medics - who were working tirelessly to save the pensioner's life - and insisted he be discharged, despite a doctor warning he could 'drop dead at any minute' It shows the patient and his loved ones arguing with a young male doctor - as he desperately battles to save the man from the virus. The doctor warns the patient if he removes his oxygen tube he will die, to which he replies: 'Yeah, so you keep saying. Let's go.' Mr Leigh steps in and accuses the hospital of 'lying' about the patient's condition and keeping his family in the dark. The doctor responds: 'My main concern is his safety and at the moment you are making him unsafe. He's taken his oxygen off, he's going to die if we don't put it back on.' The patient defiantly replies: 'No, I'm not.' The doctor refuses to discuss the matter further until the oxygen pipe is put back in - and the patient reluctantly agrees. Appealing to his family, the doctor says: 'You're not respecting our wishes by coming inside. You're going to spread Covid around.' Mr Leigh insists 'we're fine', and the patient - clearly struggling for air - asks: 'What about my wishes?' The doctor then points at the patient's oxygen levels on a monitor and says: 'Seventy-three per cent. He's at risk of dropping dead at any minute.' The seriously ill man says 'I want to go home' but is told: 'You will die.' Again, he dismisses the medical advice. Security had to intervene, right, after Mr Leigh, who was filming the incident, refused to listen to doctors, left The man's loved ones continue to challenge the doctor but he stands firm and insists the patient will not survive without a constant supply of oxygen. He says: 'He has coronavirus pneumonia affecting both of his lungs. He's on steroids called dexamethasone. He's on antibiotics to treat concurrent bacterial infections.' Mr Hayden-Leigh says his treatment should be replaced with vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc but is flatly told: 'None of those are proven treatments for coronavirus.' Security guards then arrive and order him to leave, but he refuses to comply, saying the patient is being held 'hostage'. He blasts: 'I'm an officer of the court. I'm putting you on notice, if you put one hand on me and touch me I'll be doing you for assault.' The doctor tells the patient he needs to be put on a ventilator, but he shakes his head and says: 'No way. Hurry up and get me out of here.' Mr Hayden-Leigh then rants about Covid conspiracy theories, at which point the doctor ends the conversation and tells security to throw him out. As he is hauled away, he shouts 'get off me, ya p****' and threatens to have the men prosecuted for assault. A police spokesman said: 'On investigation, these posts related to an earlier incident at the hospital, on Thursday 21 January, when a number of people, some of whom were not wearing masks, gained access to the critical care ward to visit a family member and were abusive towards hospital staff. They also refused to leave. 'Officers attended and issued fines to two individuals involved for breaching Covid restrictions and issued a breach of the peace warning, which resulted in the group leaving the location.' Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey said: 'We would like to speak to Hayden-Leigh in connection with this incident, and the escalating abusive and threatening comments being made towards hospital staff on social media. 'These comments are extremely concerning, and are obviously causing considerable distress for those who are being targeted. 'The staff at the hospital, as are all NHS workers, are trying to care for desperately-ill people in extremely challenging circumstances, and to be targeted and abused on social media in this way is simply unacceptable.' He added: 'We also need to track Hayden-Leigh down as a matter of urgency due to the public health risk he poses. 'He came into close proximity with a patient who remains seriously ill with Covid and may well have contracted the virus himself. 'We are appealing for any information and any help we can get from the public to find this man so that we can deal with him appropriately.' Kerala assembly polls 2021: Ruling LDF to hold state-wide mass rallies to woo voters India oi-Madhuri Adnal Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27: With the assembly polls due in Kerala this April-May, the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front is getting ready to hold state-wide mass rallies and grassroot level meetings and continue its house visit programmes to woo voters and widen its support base. The LDF, which expects continuity of the Left government, will take out two state-level campaign rallies-one from the northern most district Kasasragod on February 13, and the other from the central district of Ernakulam the next day. Both rallies, expected to have the participation of people from various walks of life, would conclude in Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram on February 26,CPI(M) state secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavan told reporters here. He said the LDF, which met here today, also decided to prepare the election manifesto. Detailing various campaign programmes, he said the LDF meetings would be held in districts on January 28 and 29 and in all assembly constituencies on January 30 and 31. The panchayat-booth level meetings would be held from February 1 to 5, he added. Stating that continuity of the LDF government was essential for development of the state, Vijayaraghavan said the welfare schemes implemented by them would be the focus of their campaign during the election. Lone INLD MLA Abhay Singh Chautala resigns from Haryana Assembly over farm laws "The LDF will conduct two campaign rallies in the state ahead of the election. We will continue to put forward the vision of development and values of renaissance before the voters," he said. The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had lost its political vision and their attempt was to challenge the secularism of the state by forging religion- based political alliances, the Left leader alleged. The only agenda of the UDF was to weaken the LDF and they were in a hurry to forge alliance with Muslim fundamentalists for that, he alleged, adding that the BJP was seeking to poison Kerala with its "Hindutva extremism". "So the LDF will face the polls listing out the government''s gains on the development front," he added. The senior CPI(M) leader also said it was becoming clear day by day that the Muslim League,the second largest coalition partner in the UDF, was ''controlling'' the UDF. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 16:49 [IST] New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Tuesday registered seven FIRs in connection with the protesting farmers' tractor parade in the national capital, officials said here. "Three FIRs were registered in east district, three in Dwarka and one in Shahdara district," a police official said. FIR More FIRs are expected to be registered, the police said. Earlier in the day, the tractor parade meant to highlight the demands of the farmer unions dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. According to a statement by police, 86 personnel have reported injuries in the violence. A protester died after his tractor overturned near ITO, one of the major flashpoints of trouble. Tractor rally The Sayunkt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which comprises various farmer organisations, had proposed a "Kisan Tractor Rally" on Republic Day. The SKM had held several rounds of meetings with the Delhi Police in connection with their proposed tractor parade, the statement said. They had given an undertaking to the police to take out a peaceful rally as per the proposed plans on four agreed upon routes, it added. However, on Tuesday around 8.30 am, 6,000 to 7,000 tractors assembled at the Singhu border, it said. Instead of going on the pre-decided route, they insisted upon going towards central Delhi and despite repeated requests, the farmers, led by Nihangs on their horses and equipped with swords, kirpans and fursas, charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades, which were erected between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar, the statement said. Similar incidents were reported from Gazipur and Tikri borders. Tractor rally The farmers at the Gazipur border broke through the barricades at several points and headed for ITO, where they were joined by the farmers who had come from the Singhu border, it said. At the Tikri border also, the farmers did not agree to the pre-decided plan and fought with police. They not only broke barricades, but also attacked police vehicles and personnel with deadly weapons. Instead of turning towards Najafgarh, they headed towards Peeragarhi and further towards the central part of the national capital, the statement further said. At Red Fort, they broke the gates and entered its wells. A section of the crowd also managed to climb atop the rampart of the Red Fort where they hoisted their organisation's flag, the statement said. Police managed to remove the crowd from the rampart. The struggle between the police and the farmers continued throughout the day until late evening, the statement said, adding that most of the incidents were reported from Mukarba Chowk, Ghazipur, A-Point ITO, Seemapuri, Nangloi T-Point, Tikri Border and Red Fort. Northbrook, IL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/27/2021 -- According to the new market research report "LED Packaging Market With COVID-19 Impact by Package Type (SMD, COB, CSP), Application (General Lighting, Automotive Lighting, Backlighting, Flash Lighting, Industrial), Wavelength, Power Range, and Region - Global Forecast to 2026", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is estimated to be USD 22.1 billion by 2026 (forecast year) from USD 17.6 billion in 2021 (estimated year), at a CAGR of 4.6% between 2021 to 2026. The growth of the LED packaging market is fueled by risen demand for IoT-enabled lighting fixtures and smart lighting solutions, recent government initiatives and regulations promoting the use of LEDs for energy efficiency and environmental benefits, and surged demand for LED packages in the display panel market. Also, increased demand for disinfection systems amid COVID-19 to drive demand for efficient UV LED packages. Moreover, factors such as surged adoption of CSP LEDs in automotive lighting applications and development of human-centric lighting solutions and horticulture lights play an important role in driving the growth of the market. Ask for PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=217522990 LED packaging market for general lighting application expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period General lighting segment is expected to hold the largest share of the LED packaging market, by application. Growth of this segment can be attributed to the increasing demand for LED lighting across commercial applications and the replacement of traditional light sources with energy-efficient LED technology at the backdrop of lesser energy consumption. Considering that governments and other bodies are focusing on lesser consumption of energy through schemes and regulations, especially in residential and industrial use, the said market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. Moreover, improvements in the standard of living and the modernization of residential design and construction are creating demand for smart lighting systems in residential applications. High-power LED packages is estimated to be the fastest growing market High-power LED packages, often referred to as W-class power LED packages, have power levels greater than 1 W. These LED packages find applications where high-luminescence or bright directional light is required, such as for flash lighting and in automobiles and general lighting. The market for high-power LED packages is propelled because of the increasing demand from smartphone manufacturers to include high-power LEDs in a flash lighting module, enabling smartphone cameras to provide excellent image quality in dim light environments. Additionally, long life-span, less power consumption, better luminescence efficiency, and increasing high brightness application are the major factors fueling the demand for high-power LED packages. Browse in-depth TOC on "LED Packaging Market" 122 Tables 58 Figures 208 Pages Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_BuyingNew.asp?id=217522990 APAC is projected to hold the largest share of LED packaging market in 2026 APAC is expected to hold the largest share of the LED packaging market in 2026. The acceptance of the latest technology trends such as micro LEDs and quantum dot LEDs by majority of consumer electronics manufacturers have stimulated the demand for efficient LED packages in APAC. Moreover, APAC has witnessed significant growth in manufacturing activities due to low manufacturing costs and the support of local governments. Increasing investments in R&D also drive the growth of this market in the region. Most electronic manufacturers outsource production in segments such as semiconductor assembly to low-cost countries in this region. China is a major global market for semiconductors. Additionally, it also has an extremely large and diverse electronic manufacturing industry, especially for consumer and automotive electronic products. China has the largest market for LED packaging in the APAC region. The report profiles key players, including Nichia (Japan), OSRAM (Germany), Lumileds (Netherlands), Seoul Semiconductor (South Korea), Samsung (South Korea), MLS (China), EVERLIGHT (Taiwan), Cree (US), NationStar (China), and LITE-ON (Taiwan). These companies focus on adopting both organic and inorganic growth strategies, such as product launches and developments, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, contracts, joint ventures, expansions, and mergers and acquisitions to strengthen their position in the market. Related Reports: Horticulture Lighting Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Technology (Fluorescent, HID, and LED), Application (Greenhouses, Vertical Farms, and Indoor Farms), Cultivation, Lighting Type, Offering, Installation, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025 High Power LED Market by Packaging Type (Flip Chip, Mesa, and Vertical), Application (General Lighting, Automotive, Flash Lighting, Backlighting,) and Geography (APAC, North America, Europe, Rest of the World) - Global Forecast to 2024 About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. 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Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Norway announced Wednesday that it would close its borders to almost all non-residents in a bid to avoid highly transmissible new strains of the coronavirus spreading. "From midnight Thursday to Friday, Norway will introduce the strictest rules in this territory since March 12," Prime Minister Erna Solberg told a news conference. "In practical terms, the border will be closed to all those who do not live in Norway." She added that a handful of exceptions would apply, including for health workers arriving from Sweden and Finland, and people transporting goods. Also exempt are energy and defence workers as well as foreign journalists. The restriction applies however to foreign athletes as Norway prepares to host international ski trials in the next few weeks. The Nordic nation, which is not a member of the European Union but is part of the passport-free Schengen zone, aims to re-evaluate the measure in two weeks. The kingdom, which has one of the lowest infection rates in Europe, said it aims to keep the health threat under control. "We see that other countries have passed from low infection rates to an uncontrolled spread in the space of a few week," Solberg said, citing Ireland. The new curbs add to entry measures for the country that were already among the strictest in Europe. For example, it requires people to have a negative COVID test before entering the country, register with the local authorities and respect a quarantine. The Oslo area has since the weekend entered a semi-lockdown following the discovery of a cluster of cases of a new more contagious strain, first discovered in Britain, in a retirement home near the Norwegian capital. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP The Joe Biden administration is gearing up to make it easier for graduates of US universities with degrees in STEM subjects to stay in the US. (Image: Reuters) In the late noughties, the Chinese government realised that the countrys best students went abroad to study and never returned to their homeland. These brilliant students found work at top corporations in countries such as the US. To reverse this, China launched the Thousand Talents Plan, in 2008. Besides awarding academics willing to work in China with a fancy title, theyd also be employed at top Chinese universities, paid well, and given lavish bonuses, research funding, and help with housing and immigration. Chinese Premier Xi Jinping said in 2016, Great scientific and technological capacity is a must if China is to be strong and if peoples lives are to improve. To that end, the thousand talent programme has brought back nearly 7,000 top scientists from different fields to buttress the countrys intellectual firepower. The Chinese Playbook Over the years, as Chinas economy grew and conditions of life and work improved, Chinese students have been wanting to go back home after studying overseas. If a government study from last month is to be believed, 86 percent of all Chinese students return home after studying abroad. In short, China has somewhat been able to reverse the brain drain. It has also been able to position itself as a credible rival to western rivals when it comes to science and technology. On the other hand, India continues to lose its brightest minds to opportunities abroad. The country has the largest share of the diaspora in the world with about 17 million people of Indian origin. An investigation by The Indian Express last month revealed that more than half of Indias board exam toppers live and work abroad in top positions across academia, government, and corporations like Google. Most are in science and technology with a degree from Indias coveted IITs. As of 2018, more than 750,000 Indian students were studying abroad. Our Loss, Their Gain Some of them even go on to lead corporate America like Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and Shantanu Narayen. In fact, the US economy has greatly benefited from immigrants who make up nearly a third of the workforce in industries such as technology. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2018, the labour force participation rate of foreign-born adults was 65.7 percent at about 27.2 million. The Joe Biden administration, which understands the importance of having a talent friendly immigration policy, is gearing up to make it easier for graduates of US universities with degrees in STEM subjects to stay in the US. This will likely result in more and more Indian students going to the US and staying there. Brain drain again. As we look into the future, with a growing startup ecosystem, and also an economy that is poised for recovery after COVID-19 pandemic, it is high time India took big steps to reverse the brain drain if we are to reap the benefits of the demographic dividend and give ourselves a golden decade ahead. A concentrated effort to woo and bring its brightest students back to the country is the need of the hour. Call it a thousand lotus programme if you need to, the syntax doesnt matter but the results will. Hello world is a program developers run to check if a newly installed programming language is working alright. Startups and tech companies are continuously launching new software to run the real world. This column will attempt to be the "Hello World" for the real world. Philippine Navy personnel wave the flags of the Philippines and Japan in front of a Beechcraft aircraft after it arrived from the Japanese Ministry of Defense at the Naval Air Group headquarters at Sangley Point in Cavite, south of Manila, March 26, 2018. A province south of the Philippine capital has cancelled its plan to award a U.S. $10 billion contract to a Chinese company-led consortium to develop an airport because of various deficiencies in required documents, the local governor said Wednesday. The consortium, made up of the China Communications Construction Co. (CCCC) a company blacklisted by the United States and MacroAsia Corp., a Philippine firm, was the sole bidder for the international airport in Sangley, a former military base at the mouth of Manila Bay in Cavite province. Due to the various deficiencies of the submission of requirements to conclude the joint venture agreement for the Sangley Point International Airport, the Cavite provincial government special selections committee has recommended the non-approval of the redevelopment of the former airbase presented by the applying parties, Cavite province Gov. Jonvic Remulla said in a statement. He said his office had accepted and approved the move to cancel the project on Tuesday, adding that his office would seek to restart it with a more qualified partner by October 2021. I still believe that the new international airport is important for the country in the long run, Remulla said. It must also be stressed that the cancellation is not prejudicial against anyone. The governor told Reuters that documents submitted by the consortium were deficient in three or four items. We saw it as a sign they were not fully committed, Remulla said, according to the news agency. Beijing-controlled CCCC is one of 24 Chinese firms and individuals that were sanctioned by the United States in August 2020 for what Washington said was their role in constructing artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. In response, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte rejected the U.S. blacklist. [The] Sangley project will continue [and] all other projects involving Chinese companies that are banned in the U.S. can continue in the Philippines, Duterte spokesman Harry Roque said last September. We are not a vassal state of any foreign power and we will pursue our national interest. Chinese projects Since taking office, Duterte has sought development deals with the Chinese. During a 2018 state visit to Manila by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two nations signed 29 bilateral deals that touched on big-ticket infrastructure projects, which fell under Dutertes ambitious build, build, build infrastructure initiative. The initiative calls for building bridges and highways, as well as the reconstruction of southern Marawi city, which was destroyed during a 2017 siege by Islamic State-linked militants and an ensuing five-month battle with government forces. In early 2019, Philippine defense officials said two Chinese firms were eyeing the takeover of a major shipyard located inside a former U.S. naval base at Subic, north of Manila. On Wednesday, Remulla said the decision was not connected to the U.S. decision. The announcement about the cancelled airport project came 11 days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi wrapped up a visit to the Philippines. During his stay, the two countries finalized a deal to build a cargo railway that would connect the former American base at Subic with the former Clark U.S. air base here. The project to build the 71-kilometer (44-mile) railway from the Subic Bay Freeport Zone to Clark International Airport is valued at close to $1 billion, officials said. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said he was not privy to the specifics of the negotiations, but stressed that the Chinese government backed state companies seeking ventures in the Philippines in accordance with laws and regulations. We believe the Philippine side will follow the principle of fairness and justice and provide a favorable environment for Chinese businesses, which serves the common interests of both sides, Zhao said. A pensioner in his 70s is said to be 'very lucky' to be alive after his car plunged into a river when he put it in 'drive' instead of reverse. The man is believed to have accidentally driven his Citroen C3 into the water near Nairn Harbour in Inverness, the Scottish Highlands, at around 11am today. Police, a coastguard team, the ambulance and fire service attended the scene after being called to reports of a person in the water. Pictures show the white vehicle partially submerged in the water and dangling in the air as it is removed by a crane. The white Citroen C3 pictured being removed near Nairn Harbour in Inverness, the Scottish Highlands, today after a pensioner in his 70s put the car into 'drive' instead of reverse The vehicle seen partially submerged in the water, before its removal. The elderly man was reportedly taken to Raigmore Hospital after suffering from hypothermia The elderly man was treated at the scene by ambulance crew and taken to Raigmore Hospital after suffering from hypothermia, reports the Inverness Courier. Eyewitnesses said that the driver was 'very lucky' to get out, and managed to escape onto nearby rocks before being helped up with a lifebelt. A Police Scotland spokesperson told MailOnline: 'We became aware of a vehicle having entered the water at Nairn Harbour shortly before 11am on Wednesday, 27 January. 'The male driver was rescued from the water and has been checked over by the ambulance service. Police officers seen standing near the harbour as a crane removes the vehicle. A coastguard team and the ambulance and fire service also attended the scene around 11am today The vehicle pictured from a different angle and seen almost fully submerged in the River Nairn today. Eyewitnesses said that the driver was 'very lucky' to get out 'Recovery has been arranged for the vehicle.' A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We were called by Police Scotland to reports of a person in the water at Nairn Harbour at 11.01am. 'Two appliances attended at the scene. A person was removed from the water. 'The person was then taken into the care of the Ambulance Service.' It is understood that the man drives to this location every day but went over the edge after mistakenly putting his car in drive. Credit: CC0 Public Domain The rapid growth of e-cigarette use is a major public health problem in the United Stateswith significant attention on use among adolescents and young adults. Although manufacturers of e-cigarettes tout their products as safer alternatives to cigarette smoking, research has shown that e-cigarettes can be as hazardous as traditional tobacco products but appeal to those who were never cigarette smokers. In the first study to assess national use of e-cigarettes among adults with disabilities, George Mason University's College of Health and Human Services researchers found that adults with disabilities were twice as likely to use e-cigarettes (8.4%) than adults without disabilities (4.8%), but the prevalence of e-cigarette use varied by type of disability. Dr. Gilbert Gimm led the study published in Disability and Health Journal. "Previous studies have found that e-cigarette use is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, depression, and adverse health outcomes. Also, smokers with disabilities are less likely to receive advice from their physicians to stop smoking," explains Gimm. "Our study shows that adults with disabilities are a high-risk group for e-cigarette use and therefore at greater risk for adverse health outcomes." Gimm and colleagues assessed e-cigarette use among 560,858 working age adults (18-64 years) with and without disabilities by using data from the 2017-2018 Behavioral Risk Factor and Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. With a nationally representative sample, they estimated the prevalence of e-cigarette use among adults by type of disability. They found that e-cigarette use was more than twice as likely among adults with a cognitive disability (12.0%), an independent living disability (11.0%), or two or more disabilities (9.2%), compared to adults without disabilities (4.8%). Adults with disabilities who were previously smokers were more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults with disabilities who never smoked. "We know from prior studies that adults with cognitive disabilities have higher rates of mental health conditions such as severe depression and anxiety, and we think this might be a reason for greater e-cigarette use among this population," adds Gimm. "Detailed information on mental health conditions wasn't available in our sample, so we hope future research can shed light on this potential contributor to e-cigarette use in these groups." Regardless of reported disability status, men were more likely to use e-cigarettes than women, and young adults (18-24 years) were six times as likely use e-cigarettes than middle-aged adults (45-54 years). Adults with COPD or depression were also more likely to use e-cigarettes. This study highlights the need for more targeted smoking cessation treatments for adults with cognitive disabilities and other high-risk groups. In the future, Gimm and colleagues plan to conduct future research on the use of e-cigarettes among adults with disabilities. More information: Gilbert Gimm et al, Prevalence and risk factors of e-cigarette use among working-age adults with and without disabilities in 20172018, Disability and Health Journal (2020). Gilbert Gimm et al, Prevalence and risk factors of e-cigarette use among working-age adults with and without disabilities in 20172018,(2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.dhjo.2020.101048 Riyadh Airports Company (RAC) celebrated the launch of a new route between the Dutch capital Amsterdam and the Saudi capital Riyadh operated by Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). This new route marks KLMs very first operation through King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) Riyadh, marking a new chapter for both KLM and KKIA. The inauguration ceremony of this new route and the arrival of the first flight from Amsterdam were attended by Janet Alberda, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Saudi Arabia, Hamid Sait, Country Manager of KLM and Abdulaziz Al-Asaker, General Manager Aeronautical Business Development at Riyadh Airports. Alberda said: Riyadh has a strategic location ripe with economic and tourism opportunities and capabilities. The launch of this new route will open new avenues to elevate tourism between Saudi Arabia, Netherlands and Europe, benefit passengers traveling along this route, as well as offer companies and mainstay industries in the Netherlands an opportunity to witness and invest in the ongoing transformation of Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz Al-Asaker, General Manager Aeronautical Business Development at Riyadh Airports, said: We appreciate and value our partnership with KLM, which is a direct result of the efforts of the team here at KKIA and the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Saudi Arabia. This new route will serve as a gateway for people and businesses in Saudi Arabia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and whole of Europe, and vice versa, through KLMs network that extends to North America. The Royal Dutch Airlines will operate two flights weekly between Riyadh and Amsterdam. I would like to thank all to make this new service possible including excellent support we got from Riyadh Air Port company said by Mr. Hamid Sait, Director of the Royal Dutch Airlines Station. This step comes as part of the strategic direction pursued by Riyadh Airports Company, which aims to reinforce the position of King Khalid International Airport as an important international airport and the worlds gateway to Saudi Arabia. - TradeArabia News Service Global natural fiber composites market will grow by USD 1.49 billion during 2020-2024. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005531/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Natural Fiber Composites Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the global natural fiber composites market registered a YOY growth of 3.88% in 2020 and the market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of over 5% during the forecast period. The report offers a detailed analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the market in optimistic, probable, and pessimistic forecast scenarios. Get Free Sample Report Delivered Instantly to Know More Natural Fiber Composites Market: Demand for environment-friendly composites to drive growth The current market demand for fiber-reinforced (glass and carbon fibers) composites is quite high. Despite their extensive use in various industrial applications, their high price and negative impact on the environment have compelled many EU and Asian regulatory bodies to introduce regulations to restrict their use. These factors are increasing the demand for natural fiber composites, which is driving the growth of the market. Is there any relief during this COVID pandemic? Click to know As per Technavio, the superior properties of NFCs will have a positive impact on the market and contribute to its growth significantly over the forecast period. This research report also analyzes other significant trends and market drivers that will influence market growth over 2020-2024. Natural Fiber composites Market: Superior Properties of NFCs Natural fibers are renewable, cost less to produce, consume less energy, and emit less toxic fumes compared to synthetic fiber composites. Also, their high specific strength and stiffness coupled with a less dense nature aids in weight reduction in a variety of end-user applications. For instance, in the construction industry, natural fiber composites are added to concrete to improve mechanical performance flexural strength, impact resistance, and fracture toughness. Many such benefits are fostering the growth of the global natural fiber composites market. "Potential of NFC to replace synthetic fiber composites and the increasing demand for sustainable packaging solutions will further boost market growth during the forecast period," says a senior analyst at Technavio. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Natural Fiber composites Market: Major Vendors The report covers details on the market's competitive landscape and offers information on the products offered by various companies, including: The AZEK Co. LLC DuPont de Nemours Inc. FlexForm Technologies JELU-WERK J. Ehrler GmbH Co. KG PolyOne Corp. Natural Fiber composites Market: Segmentation Analysis This market research report segments the natural fiber composites market by type (wood fiber and non-wood fiber) and geography (North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA). The North America region led the natural fiber composites market in 2020, followed by APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA respectively. During the forecast period, North America is expected to register the highest incremental growth due to the increasing use of natural fiber composites in the production of particle boards, fiberboards, and composite panels in the region. Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and Gain competitive intelligence about market players. Track key industry trends, opportunities, and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy, and market development. Request a free sample report Related Reports on Materials Include: Global Eco Fiber Market - Global eco fiber market is segmented by application (textile, household and furnishing, industrial, medical, and others) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and MEA). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Global Bio-soluble Fiber Market Global bio-soluble fiber market is segmented by end-user (petrochemical, ceramics and glass, metal and foundry, power, and others) and geography (APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America). Click Here to Get an Exclusive Free Sample Report Some of the key topics covered in the report include: Market Share by Competitors Market Challenges Market Drivers Market Trends Vendor Landscape Vendors covered Vendor classification Market positioning of vendors Competitive scenario About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005531/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ ADVERTISEMENT The police in Akwa Ibom State said they have arrested two suspected fraudsters who allegedly use fake bank credit alerts to swindle their victims. The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday. Mr MacDon, a superintendent of police, said the police arrested one of the suspects, a Point of Sale (POS) operator, after he used a fake alert to defraud two of his customers of N200,000 at his POS stand, in Uyo. The police spokesperson said police operatives also arrested another suspect who bought a Lexus 330 saloon car in Lagos using fake bank alert. The police trailed the car to Uyo where the suspect was arrested, he said. The Akwa Ibom State Police Command, on Jan. 18, 2021, relying on credible information, that a Lexus 330 salon car was bought with fake bank alert at Festac Town, Lagos State trailed the said car to Uyo via Abia State and in a coordinated operation. ALSO READ: Police name man allegedly killed by Lagos task force officials Utilising the instruments of intelligence-driven policing by the Anti-Cultism Unit of the command, arrested one male suspect, along IBB Road by Ibom Hall, driving the car with a fake number plate; Lagos AKD 230 GQ and recovered the said vehicle, Mr MacDon said. The police appealed to members of the public to be vigilant and to take additional steps in securing their cars by inserting security devices. (NAN) The Biden administration has drafted an order imposing a moratorium on oil and gas auctions on federal land and water, according to reports President Joe Biden will announce new bans on drilling on federal lands, as well as a US-hosted climate summit in April, as part of a raft of actions that take aim at rising global temperatures. The federal government will pause new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or offshore waters "to the extent possible," and review existing leases, according to a statement. The issue was politically explosive during the election campaign, especially in the battleground state of Pennsylvania where fracking led to a natural gas boom. The US would also pledge to conserve 30 percent of all federal land and water by 2030, part of an international push to stem biodiversity loss and confront climate change. Other actions include establishing climate considerations as an essential element of US foreign policy and national security, resurrecting a presidential council of science advisors, directing agencies to invest in areas with deep economic ties to fossil fuels, and assisting communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harm. A presidential memorandum on scientific integrity will direct agencies to make decisions guided by the best available evidence. The US will further announce a US-hosted Climate Leaders' Summit on April 22Earth Day and also the fifth anniversary of the signing ceremony of the Paris Agreement. Almost a quarter of American carbon dioxide emissions come from energy produced on public lands, according to a government report from 2018. The drilling generated $11.7 billion in revenue in 2019, according to official data. Environmental activist Leann Leiter uses an infrared camera to look for invisible emissions from the Mad Dog 2020 fracking site in Pennsylvania The measures are therefore significant steps towards Biden's campaign pledges to transition away from fossil fuels on the way to net zero emissions in the power sector by 2035 and the economy as a whole by 2050. Taken together, the actions are "consistent with President Biden and Vice President Harris raising global climate ambition starting here at home," Sherri Goodman, deputy undersecretary of defense for environmental security under former president Barack Obama, told AFP. Industry backlash Nonprofit Oceana has called on Biden to go further and turn the moratorium into a ban. It released an analysis that found making offshore drilling protections permanent for unleased federal waters could prevent over 19 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions and more than $720 billion in damages. "By permanently protecting our coasts from dirty offshore drilling and advancing clean energy sources like offshore wind, we can simultaneously combat climate change and safeguard our clean coast economy," said Oceana campaign director Diane Hoskins. But the proposals have triggered a backlash from the fossil fuel industry. "Restricting development on federal lands and waters is nothing more than an 'import more oil' policy," said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers. "Energy demand will continue to riseespecially as the economy recoversand we can choose to produce that energy here in the United States or rely on foreign countries hostile to American interests." Wind turbines are viewed at a wind farm in Colorado City, Texas International summit David Waskow, of the World Resources Institute, said the proposed summit on April 22 is a chance for a new multilateral climate push after four years under Donald Trump. "This will be an opportunity for the US to come to the table with others to press forward the agenda and sort of add to the drumbeat on the way to COP26," the UN climate meeting that will be hosted in Glasgow later this year, he told AFP. The US would also be expected to raise its Paris accord ambitions at the summit, and potentially target as much as a 50-percent reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels. Biden, who will seek a green infrastructure package from Congress next month that could run up to $2 trillion or more, will face political challenges from Republicans. But Goodman, now a senior fellow at the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program, said she saw opportunities for bipartisanship. "Remember that states like Texas and Wyoming also have huge wind potential," she said, adding that there was increased recognition of the realities of climate change. "More rapid polar ice melt, sea ice retreat, collapsing permafrost and higher temperatures all underscore the importance of recognizing climate as an essential element of our foreign policy and national security planning." Explore further Biden puts U.S. back into fight to slow global warming 2021 AFP Miners rescued from a fatal goldmine explosion in Qixia, east China's Shandong province, said while trapped underground that they always believed help would come, CCTV news reported on Jan. 26. On Jan. 24, the rescuers brought the 11 miners to the surface. Currently all of them are receiving medical treatment in hospitals. A trapped miner expresses his gratitude after being lifted from a gold mine in Qixia City, east China's Shandong Province, on Jan. 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Hao) Recalling the first moments of the explosion, a miner surnamed Wang said the shock wave of the blast swept them far away and their safety helmets cracked. They had no food reserves and had to drink underground water in order to stay alive, even though it was not suitable for human consumption. However, I always believed that I would not die and rescue would come to me, Wang said. Wang was the first to respond by knocking on a drill pipe that led up to the surface on Jan. 17. I knocked on the pipe five times to indicate that we were in the fifth section of the mine. We were trapped nearly 600 meters below ground, it was a daunting task to drill the hole, the man said. We are so happy that the government didnt give up efforts. Wang, the last to ascend the shaft, put his hands together to thank the rescuers. Another rescued miner surnamed Du said every day one of them would knock on the pipe. We comforted each other with encouraging words. When we heard the drills of the shaft nearing us, all of us stood up, Du said, I feel like I am reborn. Rescuers are still searching for one miner who remains unaccounted for. This was a huge positive for many students with disabilities, and for the first time in my 13 years at school, we transitioned to remote learning with staggering rapidity and efficiency. Learning comes from both success and failure, and 2020 provided a unique opportunity. Take, for example, the move to online learning. As a disabled student finishing year 12 in 2020, I can tell you that studying through that unprecedented year was a challenge. Yet as students, teachers and families prepare for a return to school in 2021, and the temptation to dust your hands clean of 2020 looms, I ask that you consider what can be learned from thousands of disabled students like me. Though delighted at this new flexibility and agency over learning provided to students, I was left with a bittersweet question: Why did it take a global pandemic to implement such a shift? As a youth worker at the Youth Disability Advocacy Service, many conversations I had in 2020 were about how let down students felt by the government and education systems. There were few spaces carved out for us to express our grievances, and as a result, our voices were often ignored. A 2020 report by Children and Young People with Disability Australia, Not even remotely fair: Experiences of students with disability during COVID-19, found that 74 per cent of disabled students were not provided social support from their educators in 2020. The report also found that 54 per cent of students with disabilities were not provided with regular and specific contact with education providers to ensure their learning was accessible. This really hurts. Students with disabilities should not be falling through the cracks. Credit:AP Though less well documented, our relationships with government and education institutions also suffered during the pandemic. Seeing these bodies turn on a dime to implement strategies, education modifications and support systems wed been told were untenable or unreasonable was shattering. A trust that government and education institutions act in our best interests has been broken. This is a raw wound, and it will take time to heal. TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontario-based cannabis producer Olli Brands Inc. ("Olli Brands", "Olli," "OBi") has been granted an amendment to their Standard Processing Licence, allowing for the sale and distribution of edible cannabis under the Cannabis Regulations. Effective Jan. 14, 2021, the long-anticipated license allows OBi to include sales activities in both recreational and medical channels. OBi continues to roll out a Canada-wide sales launch of their in-house branded products as well as partner products. "The OBi team is more than delighted to have received our Sales Licence from Health Canada," said Sarah Gillin, CEO, Olli Brands Inc. "This achievement allows us to bring sales and distribution activities in-house, further strengthening our existing relationships with the Provincial boards. We have many exciting new flavours and formulations to augment our existing fruit chew lineup, as well as entirely new and delicious products in other categories, coming soon to authorized retailers nationwide." A sophisticated commercial manufacturing space in Etobicoke, Ontario, houses OBi's ongoing product innovation initiatives, and the production of the company's premium quality, cannabis 2.0 derivative products. The OBi facility has capabilities to produce soft chews (currently in market) as well as baked goods, chocolate, other confectionary and cannabis-infused teas. In partnership with its preferred API supplier MediPharm Labs, OBi's products are now sold in five provinces in Canada - British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Ontario - under their current flagship brand, Olli, as well as partner brand Ace Valley. Receipt of the Sales Licence will position OBi's brands and partner brands for direct national distribution. OBi's best-in-class team of experts in the fields of product innovation, research & development, regulatory and operations distinguishes the company from others in the Canadian cannabis space and supports the goal to be a leader in expertly crafted cannabis-infused products in the Canadian market. About Olli Brands Inc: Olli Brands Inc. (OBi) is the trusted leader in expertly crafted high-quality cannabis-infused products, brands and experiences. Based out of Etobicoke, ON, OBi is a fully independent and licensed National manufacturer of infused cannabis 2.0 products. OBi's team works with best-in-class suppliers to offer premium-grade cannabis-infused goods to the legal Canadian market. The company's brands include its flagship brand Olli, as well as wellness-focused Ollive. In addition to its portfolio brands, OBi works with like-minded private label partners to turn good ideas into exceptional possibilities. OBi's products are sold across Canada at various authorized provincial retailers. For further information, please contact: Hana Price Burstyn Inc. | [email protected] 1 (416) 903 9763 Related Images obi.png OBi SOURCE Olli Brands Inc. MASON CITY, Iowa A North Iowa man is pleading guilty to a high speed chase in a stolen vehicle. Joshua Thomas Teeter, 23 of Mason City, has entered a guilty plea to charges of eluding and 2nd degree theft. He was accused of driving away from an attempted traffic stop on 290th Street in Mason City on November 18, 2020, leading to a chase that hit 80 miles an hour before Teeter escaped. Law enforcement says he was driving a stolen vehicle and was arrested in later November in Dubuque. Teeters sentencing is now set for March 22. Seattle Seahawks backup offensive tackle Chad Wheeler faces a felony domestic violence charge after he was arrested Saturday morning, according to a report. Wheeler is accused of assaulting his girlfriend over the weekend. According to the Kent Police Department report, police responded to a call of a woman who was locked in a bathroom following a physical fight with her boyfriend. The victim had called 911 to state that she was being killed. Police were advised that she had suffered a dislocated arm and was bleeding. According to the report, when officers arrived they could hear screaming from inside the apartment, and after forcing their way in they heard more screaming from a bathroom. They forced their way in to the bathroom and found the victim and Wheeler. He was standing beside her, the report said. The report said Wheeler is 6-feet-7 and 310 pounds, and the victim is 5-9 and 145 pounds. The Seahawks issued a statement Monday night, saying, We are aware of the situation and still gathering information. Seattle signed Wheelers to its practice squad October 2019. He played in five games for the Seahawks this season and will be a restricted free agent in 2021. -- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold Biden announced plan during an afternoon address, while reiterating his warnings (t)hings are going to continue to get worse before they get better. The death toll, experts tell us, is likely to top 500,000 by the end of next month ... and cases will continue to mount. We didnt get into this mess overnight, and its going to take months for us to turn things around. Hong Kong Locks Down One More Area and Mandates Overnight Virus Testing Hours after the Jordan area re-opened after a 48-hour lockdown, the Hong Kong authorities locked down the Yao Ma Tei area in Kowloon. Starting from 7 p.m. on Tuesday, residents at 15-27 Pitt Street and 3 Tung On Street are required to complete CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus testing by midnight. All are prohibited from leaving the restricted area until the compulsory testing is complete. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at her weekly briefing earlier on Tuesday that future lockdowns will involve fewer streets and be more sudden than the Jordan one. Police blocked the restricted area on Tung On Street, Kowloon, Hong Kong, on Jan. 26, 2021. (Sung Pi Lung/Epoch Times) Testing stations were set up on Tung On Street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong, on the evening of Jan. 26, 2021. (Sung Pi Lung/Epoch Times) Hong Kong Yau Ma Tei residents lined up late at night on Jan. 26, 2021, to take COVID-19 tests. (Sung Pi Lung/Epoch Times) Hong Kong Yau Ma Tei residents registered to test on the evening of January 26, 2021. (Sung Pi Lung/Epoch Times) Testing stations were set up on Tung On Street in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, Hong Kong, on the evening of January 26, 2021. (Sung Pi Lung/Epoch Times) On Tuesday, Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) released the latest polls based on a Jan. 18 to 22 survey. Regarding the satisfaction of the Hong Kong government, 61 percent were dissatisfied versus 16 percent satisfied. The 1,011 surveyed are Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents aged 18 and up, according to PORI, a continuation of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Kin Kwok Lai, a senior lecturer with the Department of Social Sciences at the Caritas Institute of Higher Education, said that the poll numbers reflected citizens dissatisfaction with the instability of government decisions. He gave an example of the recent U-turn decisions on the annual Chinese New Year fair, also known as flower markets. Over a dozen flower markets are usually held across Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year time, with the biggest one at Victoria Park. On Jan. 8, the government announced canceling all 15 flower markets due to the pandemic. Ten days later, it resumed the fair by cutting the scale to about half. He added that some farmers decided to rent a store on their own, instead of going with the governments arrangements. With more CCP virus cases confirmed and areas locked down, the uncertainty of another cancellation is on the rise. Hongkongers shopped for fresh flowers at the Chinese New Year fair on February 6, 2013. (Pan Zaishu/Epoch Times) During the meeting of the 113th Executive Council of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Saudi Arabia stressed the importance for the international community to work together to ensure the full recovery of the sector especially as vaccines campaigns are accelerated globally, said a report. The meeting reviewed a number of issues related to the organisations efforts to serve the international tourism sector in cooperation with member states. This included the efforts to help the recovery of the sector by standardising international protocols to lift restrictions on the movement of travelers, and continued coordination to support the private sector., said a report in Saudi Gazette. Saudi Arabia expressed its appreciation to Spain for hosting of the 113th Executive Council meeting and commended the efforts of the UN World Tourism Organization geared towards the development and recovery of the tourism sector worldwide. Haifa Al Jedea, general supervisor of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Tourism, said: Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to cooperation and partnerships with international organisations like the UN World Tourism Organization, and we are delighted that the UNWTO is able to recognise the kingdoms tourism priorities and ambitions through selecting Riyadh as its regional hub. The UNWTO Middle East Regional Office will open and be fully functioning in the first half of this year. Al Jedea added: The UNWTO office will play an essential role in building up the sector not only for the region, but also for surrounding countries in Africa and Asia. The collaboration with the UNWTO to establish this office underlines the Kingdom's commitment to international cooperation aimed at supporting the tourism sector regionally and globally. Tourism is a fundamental pillar of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, which aims to raise the contribution of the tourism sector to 10 per cent of GDP, in addition to creating one million new job opportunities by 2030. The country also seeks to be a leading global tourism destination, hosting 100 million visits annually by 2030. This will be achieved in partnership with the international community, as Saudi Arabia works with other countries to help build a thriving global tourism industry and develop sustainable tourism destinations, the report said. Members of the Kogi State House of Assembly have called on political leaders in the North Central region to lobby for the zoning of the presidency in 2023 to the region. The lawmakers made this appeal on Tuesday in Ilorin during an advocacy visit to Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to build support for the presidential ambition of their governor, Yahaya Bello. Speaking for the lawmakers, the Speaker of the Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, said the zone had not benefited from power-sharing in the country under the current dispensation. North central has not really benefited from the power sharing of this country under democratic setting, particularly president and vice president. We are lobbying Your Excellency that when it is time to talk about zoning arrangement, let the presidency be zoned to the north central, Mr Kolawole said. We are in Kwara State on an advocacy visit. Kogi State House of Assembly took it upon ourselves without sponsorship from anybody that we want to support our own governor. We want to support him because of the existing relationship between us. We have a perfect and robust relationship, he said. Mr Kolawole said since Mr Bello assumed office, insecurity had reduced in the state, adding that the governor has also managed ethnic relationships in the state, stressing, He is a complete detribalised Nigerian. In his remarks, Governor AbdulRazaq called for better political representation of the zone at the federal level. Mr AbdulRazaq said the North Central region, with its huge human and material resources, has never produced the president or vice president since independence. He commended the giant strides of the Kogi governor and said the social media criticisms of him were not reflective of the infrastructural developments that have taken place under his administration. When you listen to some news in Kogi, because the opposition is not on ground they move to social media and they claim that the governor is not working. But when you visit practically you will see the difference. I went to Okene and I was shocked with what I saw. This is contrary to the criticisms we see on social media. Governor Yahaya Bello is doing very well both at the state and national levels, contributing to discourse at the zonal and national levels. At our meeting in Makurdi, we agreed that the zone had been left out in so many things under civilian administration. North Central has not produced either president or vice president at all. If we are looking at the present geographical structure of the country based on zones and not just north and south, we believe in terms of political appointment and elective offices, we are being shortchanged, we are confined to party chairmen and senate presidents only, Mr AbdulRazaq noted. He said leaders within the region and across political divides are working together to change the political under-representation of the region at the centre. We have had several meetings both at the North Central Governors Forum level and recently I hosted the North Central Peoples Forum headed by General J.T. Useni (rtd) and what we discussed were about the way forward for the North Central. ADVERTISEMENT The governor also advocated for infrastructural development in the zone. Mr AbdulRazaq urged the federal government to invest more in extractive infrastructure for the region and prioritise the dredging of the River Niger. The geopolitical zone is lagging behind in critical infrastructure and socio-economic development. North Central alone can feed the whole of West Africa. If you look at the infrastructure in North Central, it is basically extractive infrastructure, like railway and federal highways are going from Lagos to the North. Enugu to the north and from the north to the south. We do not have major highways crossing horizontally from Niger to Benue and from Okuta (Kwara) to Kogi and bursting out in Cameroon. No horizontal railway line that services us. River Niger, which we depend on for most of what we do, needs to be dredged. The annual flooding causes a lot of havoc but if it is dredged and harnessed properly, it will open up new economic prospects for Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Benue states especially. Our agricultural productivity will be boosted. The rivers are huge sources of irrigation for the communities that live on the banks. I am aware that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources is doing something on that, he said. The governor said that the outcome of the meeting of North Central governors in Makurdi focused on the economies of the zone, while emphasising on agriculture because of its huge prospects. On his part, the Kwara House of Assembly Speaker, Yakubu Salihu, commended the cordial relationship between the executive and legislative houses in Kwara and Kogi states. The delegation informed us about the sterling qualities of Governor Yahaya Bello and his programmes in addressing insecurity, gender equality and youth friendly programmes. We appreciate the visit of our colleagues and we told them for now, we will support them with prayers, he said. (NAN) The Biden administration's review of the Afghanistan withdrawal strategy under new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been complicated by a Treasury Department report that al-Qaida has been gaining strength and raising money through continuing close ties to the Taliban. "Al Qaeda is gaining strength in Afghanistan while continuing to operate with the Taliban under the Taliban's protection," according to the Jan. 4 Treasury report to the Defense Department's Inspector General. Al-Qaida also has parlayed cooperation with the Taliban to raise money through "donations from like-minded supporters, and from individuals who believe that their money is supporting humanitarian or charitable causes," states the report, which was requested by the Pentagon's IG. Read Next: Army Rolls Out Army Green Uniform Wear Guidelines, Renames Combat Patch "Al Qaeda capitalizes on its relationship with the Taliban through its network of mentors and advisers who are embedded with the Taliban, providing advice, guidance, and financial support," it adds. The Treasury report backs up October statements in a webinar by Edmund Fitton-Brown, the British head of the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team for al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Taliban. Fitton-Brown appeared to suggest that the U.S. was underestimating al-Qaida's resilience and the continuing threat posed by its fighters to the peace process. He said that senior al-Qaida leaders "remain in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of armed operatives," according to a Voice of America report on the webinar. Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri "himself remains close to the Taliban," Fitton-Brown said, adding that "the Taliban regularly consulted with al-Qaida during the negotiations with the United States and they offered informal guarantees that they would honor their historic ties with al-Qaida." The Treasury report, and Fitton-Brown's statements, call into question the February 2020 agreement signed by the U.S. and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, which called for the Taliban to cut ties to al-Qaida and reduce levels of violence while aiming for a cease-fire and peace agreement with the Kabul government. The deal also called for a total withdrawal of U.S. troops by May 2021, dependent on conditions on the ground and the Taliban living up to its promises. However, Army Gen. Austin "Scott" Miller, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, have said repeatedly that the Taliban is still attacking Afghan security forces and civilians. In reducing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 in the waning days of his administration, former President Donald Trump said he was fulfilling a commitment to end the U.S.' "forever wars." The Biden administration has now pledged a review of the withdrawal strategy and the February 2020 peace deal with the Taliban. In a Jan. 22 call to Afghan national security adviser Hamdullah Mohib, new National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration is reviewing the strategy, with a focus on assessing "whether the Taliban was living up to its commitments to cut ties with terrorist groups, to reduce violence in Afghanistan, and to engage in meaningful negotiations with the Afghan government and other stakeholders." The White House readout of the call said Sullivan also emphasized U.S. support for "protecting the extraordinary gains made by Afghan women, girls, and minority groups as part of the peace process." The new administration will work closely with the Kabul government, NATO allies and regional partners "regarding a collective strategy to support a stable, sovereign, and secure future for Afghanistan," the White House readout added. Military analysts have been split on whether the U.S. should continue to support an Afghan government plagued by corruption and internal divisions or go ahead with a total withdrawal of its troops in May. In a Council on Foreign Relations virtual forum Monday, retired Army Gen. David Petraeus said, "You don't end an endless war [simply by taking U.S. troops out of the equation]. "We can easily afford, for example, 10,000 troops in Afghanistan," said Petraeus, the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq and the former head of U.S. Central Command. "I'm concerned about the collapse of the Afghan security forces," he said, adding that the Taliban "certainly haven't reduced the level of violence. I suspect that will be near the top of Jake Sullivan's list to assess." However, 20 years of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan have yet to result in a stable, democratic government there, and continued effort would likely be futile, said Jason Dempsey, a retired Army lieutenant colonel; veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan; and now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. "I don't think we can thread the needle on this one," Dempsey told Military.com. "We're propping up a government that has failed. "Maintaining a presence isn't a plan," he said. "All we're doing with the status quo is throwing more money at an inevitable failure." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Biden Administration to Review US-Taliban Withdrawal Deal Time to stimulate consumption, investment The Korean economy contracted 1 percent in 2020 from the previous year, largely due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). This represents its worst performance since the Asian financial crisis hit the country in 1998 when the country's gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 5.1 percent. The contraction was mainly due to declines in private consumption and exports which dropped 5 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. By comparison, government expenditure and facility investment rose 5 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, in spending on stimulus measures. The nation's gross national income (GNI) per capita also decreased for the second consecutive year, barely sustaining the $30,000 level. Despite the growth setback, South Korea fared relatively well compared to other developed countries which recorded economic contractions of between 3 percent and 10 percent last year. Quoting World Bank data, Bloomberg said that Korea posted the highest economic growth rate among OECD member countries. The government has used relief funds to help underprivileged people and small business owners, and to pump up sagging consumption amid the pandemic. Crafting four extra budgets last year, the government poured 66 trillion won ($60 billion) into attempts to boost the economy and support individuals and battered businesses. This had the effect of boosting GDP by 1 percentage point, despite the drop of 2 percentage points in the private sector. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki acknowledged this by saying, "The state budget greatly contributed to minimizing the economic slowdown. This proves again that our economy remains relatively stronger despite the crisis, compared to other developed countries." Cheong Wa Dae also said the growth rate is higher than previously forecast by major domestic and foreign organizations, and market estimates. Boding well for the national economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Tuesday that South Korea is expected to be able to register 3.1 percent growth for this year, revising up its October estimate of 2.9 percent. The global economy will also likely rebound in light of coronavirus vaccination programs in many countries coupled with a massive stimulus package adopted by the U.S. administration. The IMF also raised global growth from 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent this year. These and other factors are positive signs for the Korean economy which relies on exports. Yet what matters most is how to revive domestic consumption, which remains sluggish. The government should take proper measures to revitalize consumer spending by, for example, providing more assistance to vulnerable people and expanding the social safety net. It also needs to take pump-priming steps, while monitoring the spread of COVID-19. No less important is to create a more favorable business environment to attract more investments. Deregulation holds the key. President Moon Jae-in should roll up his sleeves and work to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. All policies should be focused on speeding up economic recovery and boosting growth potential to overcome the current difficulties. UPPER THUMB - The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan assists hungry individuals and families throughout eastern Michigan in many ways. The Food Bank is a key source of food in their 22-county service area for a network of "partner agencies" serving those struggling to afford food. Many of these partner agencies are food pantries, enabling people to pick up and receive an assortment of basic food and grocery supplies. The following is a listing of upcoming area food pantries. BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that he stands ready to make a joint announcement with his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, on an official launch of the China-South Korea Year of Cultural Exchanges. Xi made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Moon. During their conversation, Moon wished Xi and the Chinese people a happy New Year, and Xi extended the same wishes to Moon and the South Korean people. Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and transformations rarely seen in a century have become interwoven with one another, and the international and regional situation has undergone profound changes, Xi noted. China and South Korea have stuck together through thick and thin, and have joined hands to promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields, which have yielded fruitful results, Xi said, adding that both countries have especially put forward effective institutional arrangements and set an example of cooperation in fighting the pandemic, which fully demonstrates the high level of the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership. The two sides should continue to make good use of the cooperation mechanism of joint prevention and control as well as "fast lanes," so as to facilitate the epidemic prevention and control and economic development of the two countries, and to help boost regional and global anti-pandemic cooperation, Xi said. The year of 2022 will mark the 30th anniversary of China-South Korea diplomatic relations, which will embrace new opportunities for deeper development, Xi said. Xi also said he hopes both countries make good use of the platform of the committee for future development of China-South Korea relations, review the achievements of bilateral ties over the past 30 years, plan for future development, enhance friendship between the two people, and lift the China-South Korea strategic cooperative partnership to a new level. China and South Korea are important cooperative partners, Xi stressed, adding that the two-way trade last year managed to grow amid broad downward pressures, demonstrating the complementarity and great potential in bilateral cooperation. Xi said he hopes that the two sides can earnestly implement the consensus reached on speeding up the alignment of development strategies of the two countries and deepening bilateral cooperation in key areas, so as to continuously expand mutually beneficial cooperation and promote high-quality integrated cooperation. He said that the two sides should accelerate the completion of the second-phrase negotiations on the free trade agreement between the two countries, so as to put into effect the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at an early date and speed up the construction of the China-Japan-South Korea free trade area. China stands ready to strengthen coordination with South Korea on international affairs, and to jointly contribute to safeguarding multilateralism and free trade, Xi added. For his part, Moon expressed his heartfelt congratulations as the Communist Party of China is going to mark its 100th anniversary this year, saying that under the strong leadership of President Xi, China has been successful in the fight against the epidemic and has become the world's only major economy that has achieved positive economic growth. He also said that with China's international status and influence rising day by day, the country is taking important steps towards achieving the second centenary goal, and he is very pleased to announce with Xi the launch of the South Korea-China Year of Cultural Exchanges as the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries approaches. South Korea and China have strengthened their friendship and mutual trust through joint efforts to fight the epidemic, Moon said, adding that South Korea is willing to have close exchanges with China, deepen friendship between the two people, and continue to promote cooperation in various fields such as anti-epidemic, economy and trade, culture and education. He also said that South Korea appreciates China's leadership in dealing with climate change and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with China on issues such as climate change and sustainable development. (Source: Xinhua) BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- A local political club called Cuyahoga Valley Republicans and Brecksville city officials are denying a claim that the club sent a busload of Donald Trump supporters to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 -- the day violence erupted at the Capitol building. What isnt so clear, however, is whether the club had planned a bus trip. The claim was made by A Better Brecksville, a political group with a strong Facebook presence, although at least one group member said it was more than a claim. Whatever it was, the group is standing by it. The people on the Better Brecksville Facebook page were merely reporting what the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans had already posted in their website, Gretchen Corp Jones, a Better Brecksville member and former Brecksville City Council candidate, said in an email to cleveland.com. On the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans website, they clearly stated they were sponsoring a bus, what time the bus was scheduled to depart, whom to contact and when it was returning, Corp Jones said. All (we) did was repeat these already published and very public remarks. Rebecca Kapur, cofounder of A Better Brecksville, said Cuyahoga Valley Republicans has since removed the bus trip information from its website and Facebook page. I cannot confirm that a bus was sent to D.C., but the Jan. 6 event remained on (the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans) events page for several days following, and I have not seen any notice that the D.C. bus protest trip was canceled or rescheduled, Kapur said in an email to cleveland.com. In a Jan. 19 letter to council, Dominic Sciria, president of Cuyahoga Valley Republicans, said his group did not send a bus to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. Having said that, we did and do support the right of the 99 percent of those Americans who went to Washington to assemble peacefully and hear directly from (then) president of the United States (Donald Trump) in response to his request to voters to attend a rally for which he had a valid permit from the Washington, D.C., government, Sciria said in the letter. At a Jan. 19 City Council meeting, Mayor Jerry Hruby, a charter member of Cuyahoga Valley Republicans, said he didnt travel to Washington Jan. 6 and was unaware of anyone from Brecksville who did. Hruby sharply criticized A Better Brecksville. He said the group has posted incorrect information about other matters on Facebook, although he later wouldnt elaborate with cleveland.com. Hruby said A Better Brecksville, instead of trying to improve the city, seems to have its own political agenda. He said the group asks him questions and offers to post his answers on its Facebook page, but blocks him from making comments himself. Youre becoming more irrelevant every day with the way that you are approaching what you do, Hruby said, referring to A Better Brecksville, at the Jan. 19 council meeting. Im calling (you) out because I feel very strongly that you are doing a disservice to this community, Hruby told the group. If you want to do a service to the community, speak out about things that you believe truly need to be fixed. But speak out with respect, with civility in an open forum, instead of hiding behind a name, hiding behind being on social media. Council President Michael Harwood said he has talked to Councilwoman Ann Koepke, a friend of A Better Brecksville, about facts and documents that the group has misrepresented. He didnt return emails to cleveland.com asking specifically what A Better Brecksville has said that wasnt true. Bus trip invitation Kapur provided cleveland.com with a screenshot of what appeared to be an invitation, on the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans website, to a Jan. 6 DC Protest Bus Trip. On Tuesday (Jan. 26), a Cuyahoga Valley Republicans DC Protest Bus Trip announcement was still on the North Royalton Republican Club Facebook page. However, when the item is clicked, a message appears, saying, The resource you are looking for has been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. A post on the North Royalton Republican Club Facebook page, which was still on the page Tuesday night (Jan. 26), indicates that the Cuyahoga Valley Republicans club was providing a way to get to the Washington, D.C., protest earlier this month. (Bob Sandrick, special to cleveland.com) Nevertheless, in his letter to council, Sciria, who is also a member of the Brecksville Planning Commission, said Kapurs claims about the Washington bus trip were blatantly false. He said Kapurs Facebook comments were reckless and libelous and added that she should apologize. Sciria said A Better Brecksville goes out of its way to find things to complain about. They seem constantly angry and critical, and they refuse to find anything to celebrate about our community, Sciria said. Frankly, I dont think they really want to make Brecksville better. They just want to divide us and turn us against each other. Sciria also said that Cuyahoga Valley Republicans condemns and detests the violence that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. He said the group was shocked and saddened by what happened there. When asked by cleveland.com what specifically Kapur said that was libelous, Sciria said, I wont dignify Rebeccas comments by repeating them here, but I will again offer her an opportunity to apologize. Kapur told cleveland.com that she did not make definitive comments about Sciria, but asked questions about the bus trip and a Dec. 31 letter -- sent by Sciria, Councilwoman Kim Veras and other members of Cuyahoga Valley Republicans -- that expressed support for then-President Trumps election fraud claims. She said the questions were reasonable. I am genuinely concerned about the stance of my elected officials and (of) a council-appointed member of a city (commission), Dom Sciria, Kapur said. As for Hrubys comments, Kapur said Hruby has been blocked from the Better Brecksville Facebook page because with the presence of the mayor ... free expression of opinion would either be stifled due to a perceived power imbalance and/or that we as moderators would have to spend significant additional time moderating the group to ensure it is respectful. Kapur said A Better Brecksville would consider Hrubys request to post something on its Facebook page, but added that he already has several platforms -- including council meetings, emails and other social media sites -- to communicate with residents. Kapur also disagreed that A Better Brecksville was doing a disservice to the community by being negative, untruthful and uncivil. She said the group watches city meetings online, sends emails to city officials, applies to serve on various committees and tries to engage Hruby and council, but consistently feels ignored. Others feel the same, and thats why the group has grown to more than 1,000 members, she said. Overwhelmingly, the posts and comments on the Better Brecksville Facebook group are constructive and engaging, Kapur said. This is a forum for Brecksville residents to share ideas and express their thoughts on how our city is run. Questioning decisions and attempting to have open conversations about decisions in order to improve our city should not be mistaken for being uncivil, Kapur said. As with any forum, things can get out of hand and emotions can take over, but the volunteer moderators work hard to manage those situations. Read more from the Sun Star Courier. (In Arabic) Abu Dhabi and Atlanta, 27 January 2021 His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has announced renewed financial support of $10M to the Carter Center, following the 30th anniversary of the organizations partnership with the UAE. The collaboration will continue to work towards global health initiatives and the eradication of the NTD Guinea worm disease. The announcement was made in the lead-up to the second annual World NTD Day on January 30th, 2021, which aims to raise global awareness for the urgent need to end NTDs. The partnership was originally initiated by a historic meeting when the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan invited the former US President Jimmy Carter to the UAE for the first time. During the meeting, President Carter brought up his initiative to eradicate a parasitic disease that was causing devastation across large parts of Africa. The late Sheikh Zayed responded with a substantial donation to the Carter Center, which began a decades-long commitment by Abu Dhabis ruling family to disease eradication. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said, We are privileged to continue the legacy of the founder of our nation His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in our work with The Carter Center to eradicate Guinea worm disease. I thank former President Carter for our decades-long partnership and his unwavering commitment to ending a disease that affects the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people. His Highness the Crown Prince continued, In the United Arab Emirates we have seen first-hand the vital link between health and prosperity, and we remain steadfast in our vision of a world where every person deserves to live a healthy, dignified life. Guinea worm disease eradication is closer than ever. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Carter Center reported that the number of human Guinea worm cases was cut in half to just 27* in 2020 compared to the previous year (*provisional). The Carter Center and its partners have reduced the incidence of Guinea worm disease by 99.99% (from approximately 3.5 million cases annually in 1986). Now this NTD is on track to be the first human disease eradicated since smallpox, and the first disease to be eradicated without the use of vaccines or drugs. Starting with my good friend Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and today continued through the generosity of his son, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates has been a staunch ally in the battle against Guinea worm and other neglected tropical diseases, said President Jimmy Carter, who, with former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, founded The Carter Center in 1982. Together, the UAE and The Carter Center have formed a strong partnership that has transcended generations. For more than three decades, the Center has been a leader in the eradication and elimination of NTDs, and today focuses on five NTDs (Guinea worm, trachoma, river blindness, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis), malaria, and mental health in more than a dozen countries. A virtual event marking the 30th anniversary of the partnership between The Carter Center and the UAE will be held on January 27. It will feature UAE Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba; Chair of The Carter Center Board of Trustees Jason Carter; CEO of The Carter Center; and the CEO of the Global Institute for Disease Elimination Simon Bland. The ongoing partnership with The Carter Center represents a part of the UAEs larger, decades-long commitment towards global health and overcoming some of the worlds most deadly and debilitating diseases including malaria, polio and NTDs. The countrys commitment to disease elimination is focused on keeping preventable diseases at the top of the political agenda, maintaining progress, raising funding levels, and working closely with global partners and multilateral initiatives to increase impact. Additionally, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, has donated more than $250 million USD since 2010 to efforts to eliminate preventable infectious diseases. --- Reaching the Last Mile Reaching the Last Mile (RLM) is a portfolio of global health programs working towards disease elimination that is driven by the personal commitment of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The Initiative provides treatment and preventative care in communities that lack access to quality health services, with a specific focus on reaching the last mile of disease elimination. RLMs mission represents His Highnesss dedication to ending preventable diseases that affect the worlds poorest and most vulnerable communities and helping millions of children and adults live healthy, dignified lives. https://www.reachingthelastmile.com/, @RLMGlobalHealth The Carter Center Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. Media Contacts The Carter Center, Atlanta Emily Staub emily.staub@CarterCenter.org +1 678 595 0341 Reaching the Last Mile, U.S. Colleen McMillen colleen.mcmillen@gmail.com +1 917 344 9360 Reaching the Last Mile, Abu Dhabi Sami Haddad shaddad87@gmail.com +971 56 865 9756 North Korea has begun developing its own coronavirus vaccine using data that it hacked from foreign scientists, it is claimed. Despite the claims of supreme leader Kim Jong-un that the isolated kingdom has not recorded a single case of Covid-19, vaccine developers are thought to be testing their product on people with virus-like symptoms. A source told Seoul-based outlet Daily NK that scientists at Kim Il Sung University are using expertise gathered through 'hacking activities' to carry out their work at a biological research institute. Claims of North Korean hacking had surfaced in the West last year before any of the vaccines currently in use in Europe and the US had even been approved, with Microsoft pointing the finger at a shadowy operation called the Lazarus Group. Kim Jong-un's regime has long been suspected of cyber-attacks on foreign vaccine developers and is now thought to be testing its own product The North Korean source said the ruling party had established a specialist unit called Bureau 325 devoted to hacking intelligence on Covid-19, including on vaccines. Receiving orders directly from the party's central committee, the secretive bureau is said to report to Kim's influential sister Kim Yo-jong. Based on hacking activities late last year, scientists have apparently started testing their product on patients with symptoms similar to those caused by Covid-19. The source said that Phase I and Phase II trials had already been completed, with large-scale Phase III trials now underway. How a mass vaccine trial would work is unclear when Kim's regime claims that the virus is not circulating in the country, after the Chinese border was closed last year. But North Korea has long been suspected of trying to steal vaccine secrets, with Microsoft linking it last November to a series of attempted cyber-attacks. The Lazarus Group, which is under US sanctions as a suspected state-backed hacking unit, allegedly posed as job recruiters in an attempt to steal login credentials. Most of the targets in Canada, France, India, South Korea and the United States were 'directly involved' in researching vaccines and treatments, the software giant said. Microsoft also pointed the finger at a Russian state-backed hacking group, while the US says that China has also tried to target vaccine manufacturers. Separately, South Korea's intelligence agency said it had foiled hacking attempts from the North which were aimed at companies developing vaccines. A health worker in a protective suit sprays sanitiser at a medical facility in Pyongyang on Sunday, with North Korea under tight restrictions despite its claims to have no cases Seoul's spy agency warns it is possible that the virus is circulating in the North because of its links to China where the pandemic began. While touting its success in supposedly keeping the virus at bay, Kim's regime has also imposed tough restrictions including closing all points of entry to the kingdom. The WHO says that public transport and inter-state movement have been rigidly restricted in North Korea while gatherings of more than five have been banned. The measures are compounding economic problems in the country, which is already under severe strain from US sanctions over its nuclear programme. Reliable economic data is sparse but North Korea's GDP may have shrunk by 8.5 per cent last year, according to analytics firm Fitch Solutions. The Seoul-based Hana Institute of Finance estimated a contraction of up to 10 per cent, worse than some Western countries. Chinese customs data for 2020 showed trade with North Korea plunging by more than 80 per cent, cutting off the country's main lifeline to the outside world. Kim announced a new five-year plan to revitalise the economy at a party congress earlier this month where his regime displayed what appeared to be a new missile. North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon or fired its longest-range ballistic missiles since 2017, but talks with the US stalled under Donald Trump's presidency. Kim has signalled he no longer feels bound by a self-imposed moratorium on missile tests. TULLOW Oil shares fell as much as 16pc after the company said in a trading update that it would produce less oil this year than it did in 2020. The company stock was down 15pc in London afternoon trading at 26.44 pence after it said output this year would be 60,000-66,000 barrels per day, a decline from the 74,900 barrels a day that it extracted last year. The company said that talks with its creditors over its debt refinancing options had been extended by up to one month. The company had previously said it would start discussions with creditors in January. These discussions are now under way and the banks have agreed to extend the redetermination of the reserve base lending facility, which was due to complete in January, by up to one month, said Davy analyst Colin Grant. We estimate this is currently $1.5bn (1.24bn) of the $2.4bn net debt, so it is central to the investment case. Mr Grant added. Tullow expects to report a gross profit of $400m for last year, a fall of almost 50pc on 2019, in what was a difficult year for the industry. In 2019, the Irish-founded company reported gross profit of $759m. Full year revenue for 2020 is expected to be around $1.4bn, according to a trading update from the group. During the year capital and decommissioning expenditure was about $290m and $50m respectively. Tullows year-end net debt reduced to around $2.4bn from $2.8bn in 2019, with $430m in free cashflow. This includes proceeds from the sale of Ugandan properties of $500m and around $70m of group redundancy payments. Pre-tax impairments and exploration write-offs are expected to be in line with the $1.4bn reported in the companys half year results for 2020. Rahul Dhir, CEO of Tullow Oil, said: Despite the challenges that 2020 presented, Tullow delivered production in line with expectations, executed major reductions to its cost-base and reduced net debt through the Uganda asset sale. Capital expenditure is forecast to be around $265m, with an additional $100m to be spent on decommissioning. Organisational restructuring is expected to deliver annual cash savings of over $125m, according to the group. In Ghana, oil production from Jubilee and TEN for the year to date is in line with expectations, it said. In Kenya, following approval of the 2021 Work Programme and Budget, Tullow received an extension to its exploration licences to the end of 2021. The company and its joint venture partners are currently reworking the development project to ensure that it is robust at low oil prices. As was previously reported, Tullows new business plan aims to deliver around $7bn in underlying operating cash flow over the next 10 years. Tullow has a busy year ahead as we begin implementing the business plan that we laid out at our Capital Markets Day. The plan is focused on ensuring that Tullows producing assets in West Africa reach their full potential, Mr Dhri said. We will leverage the new plan and our reduced cost base to generate positive free cash flow at current commodity prices, drive down our net debt and deliver a robust balance sheet. From the moment Joe Biden assumed the presidency, immigration has been at the top of his agenda. One of his first acts was to sign a series of executive orders that reversed the Trump administration's policies on things like border wall funding, travel bans, and sanctuary laws. While Trump's goal for immigration policy was clearly articulated in his "Make America Great Again" concept, we have heard little on where Biden intends to take us with his immigration plank. Judging from his actions so far, though, the destination is clear. He wants to make America into California, and that should deeply concern every U.S. citizen. What anti-borders politicians have done to California over the last 30 years is a disgrace. The home of Hollywood and Silicon Valley, once a beacon of opportunity and prosperity, is today a sinking ship. Immigration policy is a significant factor in that decline. Taking on a massive population of illegal aliens has come at a colossal cost to Californians, in terms of finances, safety, and job opportunities, to name a few. State residents foot the bill for more than $23 billion that is directly attributable to illegal immigration and its effects. That breaks down to almost $2,000 for every legally present household each year. This from a state that is already carrying more than $1.3 trillion in total state, county, and municipal debt. Who wouldn't want to pay a hefty tax each year to encourage more illegal aliens to move to your community? The chief catalyst for California's illegal alien crisis has been its embrace of sanctuary laws. By preventing local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in the deportation of criminal aliens, there are virtually no consequences for violating our nation's immigration laws inside the state of California. While the Orwellian-named California Values Act (S.B. 54) made sanctuary policy state law, it seems downright moderate compared to what some cities and counties have done. S.B. 54 at least allows cooperation with ICE in only the most extreme of circumstances. The sanctuary law in Santa Clara, the largest county in northern California, takes an even more radical position, stating that the county "does not, under any circumstances, honor civil detainer requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by holding inmates on ICE's behalf for additional time after they would otherwise be released from County custody." Before sanctuary laws, it had long been a practice of local law enforcement to cooperate with detainer requests as a way to expedite criminal aliens toward deportation. The results of this policy have been about as bad as you might expect. In Santa Clara County last November, police arrested Fernando De Jesus Lopez-Garcia after he allegedly stabbed five people inside the Grace Baptist Church, killing two and leaving three others seriously injured. One witness called 911 to say a "man was going crazy, stabbing people and there was blood everywhere." He was arrested on two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, battery on a spouse, and violation of a protective order. Lopez-Garcia is an illegal alien with an extensive criminal record who had successfully avoided ICE apprehension after each arrest because of local and state sanctuary laws barring cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In 2019, police arrested Carlos Eduardo Arevalo Carranza, an illegal alien from El Salvador, for allegedly beating and stabbing Bambi Larson to death in her San Jose home. Reports later disclosed that police had previously arrested Carranza ten times for drugs, kidnapping, battery against a police officer, and burglary. ICE had requested an immigration hold on Carranza seven times, but the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office (SCSO) refused every request. Facing criticism for the sanctuary policy, the county supervisors met and inexplicably voted 5-0 to double down on the policy. My organization, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), recently concluded an investigation into these practices in Santa Clara and found some disturbing results. We submitted a records request with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office to discover just how many ICE detainers it has received in recent time and how many of them applied to aliens with serious criminal backgrounds. That request revealed that ICE lodged a total of 1,757 detainers in just two years 909 requests in 2019 and 848 in 2020. The law enforcement records technician with the sheriff's office confirmed with IRLI that every single one of these requests was ignored. The Sheriff's Office refused to disclose to IRLI how many of the detainer requests applied to aliens who were convicted or charged with serious or violent felony offenses. When IRLI asked about the last year an ICE detainer request was honored by the county, a records technician there replied that he could not find records that showed the last time a detainer request was honored. The results of these laws are clear. The county has become a haven for illegal aliens, particularly those with criminal records. The communities are demonstrably less safe, and the influx of new arrivals creates a heavy financial burden on legal state residents. Is it any wonder that taxpayers are fleeing the state in droves? As the Biden administration goes full speed with its anti-borders agenda, however, there will be no place for concerned Americans to flee. California-style laws will soon become federal laws. We're about to conduct a national experiment in anti-borders cause and effect. Buckle up. Dale L. Wilcox is executive director and general counsel at the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration. Image: Screen shot from shareable DW video, posted on YouTube. president was on Wednesday hospitalised again with discomfort in the chest, less than a month after he underwent angioplasty here. The 48-year-old, who underwent angioplasty earlier this month after he was diagnosed with three blocked coronary arteries, felt "dizzy and slight discomfort in the chest" as he was rushed to a private hospital in the Salt Lake area near Kolkata for further diagnosis, a family source told PTI. "He was feeling dizzy and had some discomfort in the chest. So, he was rushed to the hospital for further diagnosis," he said. The Kolkata Police created a green corridor for smooth travel from his Behala residence to the hospital off the E M Bypass, authorities at the medical establishment said. Earlier this month, the former India captain had complained of chest pain while exercising at his Behala residence. A nine-member medical team was formed and opinions were sought from renowned experts and cardiac surgeons including Devi Shetty, R K Panda, Samuel Mathew and Aswin Mehta from India and Shamin K Sharma from New York before a stent was implanted. A businessmen walks past the entrance to a HSBC bank branch in London, on June 9, 2015. (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images) HSBC Aiding Crackdown on Democracy, British Lawmakers Say LONDONHSBC is aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world, British lawmaker Chris Bryant told the banks chief executive Noel Quinn on Tuesday in a hearing over its freezing of Hong Kong democrats bank accounts. The CEOs summons to face the cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee came after former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui criticized HSBC for blocking his local bank accounts. The bank is complying with its legal obligations and is not in a position to judge the motives of Hong Kong police, Quinn told lawmakers questioning him over the lenders freezing of bank accounts of Hui and other pro-democracy politicians in the Asian city. I cant cherry-pick which laws to follow, Quinn said, adding that the bank would have to comply with police requests in any country in the world. When pressed by lawmakers whether HSBC would ever deny police requests on ethical grounds, Quinn said he was not considering this in Hong Kong. If youre asking, am I willing to walk away from Hong Kong? The answer is no. Were too committed through our history and heritage. A riot police officer (R) detains a man (C) during a protest by district councillors at a mall in Yuen Long in Hong Kong on July 19, 2020. (Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images) A police officer raises his pepper spray handgun as he detains a man during a march against the national security law in Hong Kong, on July 1, 2020. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters) Quinn had written to Hui, in a rare move by a bank boss to an individual customer, to argue that the bank had no choice and was complying with a police request. The grilling from British lawmakers saw HSBC yet again dragged into the political battle between Hong Kongs pro-Beijing and Democratic factions, as well as the wider tensions between China and the West over the citys future. Founded in Hong Kong but headquartered in Britain, HSBC has historically tried to remain politically neutral. Recently however it has shown support for Beijing, most notably last June when its top executive in Asia signed a petition backing Chinas imposition of a national security law on Hong Kong. Police in Hong Kong, as in most places in the world, have long been able to request customer information from banks and ask that accounts be frozen as part of criminal investigations. Authorities are also scrutinizing the financial records of pro-democracy activists as they crack down on political opposition, Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday. HSBCs lawyers believe a separate national intelligence law passed in 2017, which requires companies to assist Chinas state intelligence operations, has no extraterritorial reach, the banks head of compliance Colin Bell said. That means the bank would not for example send information about individual British-based bank accounts to China, he said in response to lawmakers questions. By Lawrence White and Iain Withers Any restaurant, catering operation or cooking establishment can sign up to operate as a dark kitchen to make a selection of Wow Baos products, including five different types of baos, three kinds of rice bowls and two types of pot stickers. The host restaurants dont carry Wow Baos products on their own menus, but operate a sort of side hustle selling them out the back door via third-party delivery platforms where customers placed their Wow Bao orders. Bank reported a Net Profit of 1,061 crore as on Dec 31, 2020 on a standalone basis and consolidated Net Profit is at 1,196 crore. Shares were trading nearly 1.5% higher in afternoon trade. In the same quarter of the previous year, Bank of Baroda had reported a loss of 1,407 cro Here are the highlights of Bank of Baroda Q3 resuls: Domestic advances increased by 8.31% led by organic Retail and Agriculture loans at 13.78% and 14.08% respectively. Domestic CASA momentum continues with CASA ratio up by 240bps YoY to 41.20%. Credit deposit ratio increased to 81.5% as of Dec'20 from 80.1% as of Dec'19. Global advances increased by 6.30% led by domestic organic retail and agriculture loans which grew by 13.78% and 14.08% respectively. Auto loans increased by 22.56% YoY. Domestic CASA ratio increased to 41.20%, up by 240 bps YoY. Domestic cost of deposits in Q3FY'21 is lower at 4.27%, a decline of 15bps QoQ. Operating Profit for Q3FY'21 is 5,591 crore registering an increase of 12.77% YoY and 0.70% QoQ. Net interest income stood at 7,749 crore, an increase of 8.65% YoY and 3.21% QoQ. Domestic margins (NIM) increased to 3.07% in Q3FY21 compared with 2.96% in Q2FY21. Global NIM at 2.87% compared with 2.86% in Q2. Gross NPA ratio stood at 8.48% as on Dec 31,2020 against 10.43% as on Dec 31,2019. Net NPA ratio to 2.39% as against 4.05% as on Dec 31, 2019. Proforma GNPA ratio and NNPA ratio at 9.63% and 3.36% as of Dec 31,2020. Provision coverage ratio has increased to 85.46% as on Dec 31,2020 compared with 77.77% as on Dec 31, 2019 (85.35% as on Sep 30, 2020). Covid-19 related provisions stood at 1709.45 crore. Capital adequacy (CRAR) stands at 12.93% with CET-1 at 8.98% on a standalone basis and for the consolidated entity it stands at 13.60% and 9.76% respectively. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 A day after the farmers' tractor parade to Delhi spiralled into chaos and violence, the police in Haryana's Palwal district on Wednesday registered an FIR against nearly 2,000 unidentified protesters for allegedly trying to break barricades to forcibly enter the capital and driving dangerously, among other charges, officials said. Around 50 protesters have been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as they drove tractors dangerously, endangering the lives of Palwal police chief Deepak Gahlawat and other officials who were on duty, they said. The case has been registered under various other sections of the IPC including those relating to obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions, use of assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty, and blocking the highway, the police said. The case was filed on the basis of a complaint given by a head constable, they said. "Investigation in the case is under progress," Gahlawat said. As part of the larger tractor parade, wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags, tens of thousands of farmers atop tractors broke barriers, clashed with police, overturned vehicles and entered Delhi from various points to lay siege to the Red Fort on Republic Day on Tuesday. The protesters also hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India's tricolour. The Palwal police had on Tuesday said the farmers had been given a different route for their tractor parade, but they did not stick to it, forcing the police to resort to baton charge. Gahlawat had earlier said that just before the tractor parade, the Palwal police had held discussions with the group of farmers that had been sitting in protest there for the past several days. "We had given them the option of using the 60-km stretch of KGP expressway and told them that they could use the route after taking a right turn from Faridabad's Sector 58. However, they were adamant on using the other route towards Delhi, which we had disallowed," he had said. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28 last year, demanding the repeal of the Centre's three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspects in Fatal Paducah Shooting Appear in Court By Tim Brockwell PADUCAH - A Paducah pair charged in an August double-murder case appeared in court earlier this week.The McCracken County Commonwealth's Attorneys Office says Mykweze Cox and Alexis Graham were in court Monday morning for a pretrial conference. Judge Tim Kaltenbach continued the hearing until March 15.Cox is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery, tampering with physical evidence, and being a felon in possession of a handgun. Those charges stem from his alleged role in an Aug. 22 shooting at Lone Oak Manor apartments on College Avenue that killed 23-year-old Justice Hicks and 31-year-old Victor Moore.Graham faces two counts of complicity to first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, and first-degree robbery for her alleged role in the killings.Detectives said Cox admitted to shooting Hicks and Moore after he went to the apartment to collect a drug debt. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The cyber security market is anticipated to reach over USD 269.76 billion by 2026 according to a new study published by Polaris Market Research. In 2019, the enterprise segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. North America is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue in 2019. The growing need for protection of sensitive data, and increasing cyber terrorism has boosted the adoption of cyber security solutions. The rising penetration of mobile devices, and increasing trend of BYOD further support the growth of this market. Additionally, the increasing demand of cyber security solutions from small and medium enterprises has supported market growth over the years. Increasing investments by vendors in technological advancements coupled with growing demand for cloud-based cyber security solutions would accelerate the growth of the cyber security market. However, However, growing use of pirated cyber security solutions, and complexities associated with device security hinder market growth. Growing demand from emerging economies is expected to provide numerous growth opportunities in the coming years. Get Sample Copy : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/cyber-security-market/request-for-sample The cases of cyber-attacks in the healthcare sector have increased significantly over the years. The high demand for electronic health records in the black market has resulted in numerous cyber-attacks. The healthcare sector is prone to cyber-attacks owing to limited budget allocation by healthcare institutions for cyber security. The healthcare sector is dominated by small practices and rural hospitals, which lack the resources for investment in cyber security, thereby increasing risks of cyber-attacks. However, introduction of affordable cyber security solutions for healthcare sector, increasing awareness, and growing incidences of cyber-attacks are expected to promote the adoption of cyber security in this sector. North America generated the highest revenue in the market in 2019, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The increase in number of cyber-attacks, and growing trend of BYOD drive the market growth in the region. The growing penetration of mobile devices, and technological advancements further support market growth in the region. The increasing spending on data protection in BFSI and defense sectors in the region further promote market growth in the region. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period owing to growing need for data privacy across various industries in the developing countries of the region. Have Any Query Or Specific Requirement? Feel Free To Ask Our Industry Experts At : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/cyber-security-market/speak-to-analyst The end-users in cyber security market include BFSI, IT & Telecom, healthcare, retail, defense and government, travel and hospitality, and others. In 2019, the defense and government segment accounted for the highest market share owing to increasing need to protect sensitive data and avoid cyber-attacks. The growing government spending to provide enhanced cyber security to the public sector and increasing implementation of cyber security installations in the defense sector, especially in developing countries, supports the market growth in this sector. The increasing adoption of cloud-based cyber security in this sector is expected to support market growth in the coming years. The well-known companies profiled in the report include Symantec Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., BAE Systems Inc., EMC Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint Inc., LogRhythm Inc., IBM Corporation, Fortinet, Inc., and Centrify Corporation among others. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers. Buy Now @https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/checkouts/671 The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. A protesting farmer who died after his tractor overturned at ITO during the tractor parade on Republic Day had returned from Australia recently. His family reportedly did not know that the deceased, identified as Navreet Singh Hundal, was a part of the farmers' protests at Delhi border. A senior Delhi Police official told The Indian Express, "The family told us they didn't know Navreet was in Delhi and protesting in Delhi. They had said Navreet had left home to meet a relative at Bajpur (located in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district)." The 27-year old protestor from Uttar Pradesh's Bilaspur, who came to Ghazipur border a week before the parade, was living in Australia with his wife and parents and was studying agriculture. The protestors were sitting with his body and refused to let the police take it away for postmortem till late Tuesday evening. A farmer from Bilaspur told the daily that the officials fired a tear gas shell at Navreet and "one of the shells hit him on the head and he lost control of the steering wheel. The police didn't even help him." Meanwhile, Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs so far in connection with the tractor parade violence wherein over 300 policemen were injured. The Delhi Police also said that eight buses and 17 private vehicles were vandalised during the violence that took place mostly in ITO, Mukarba Chowk, Seemapuri, Ghazipur, Nangloi, Tikri border and Red Fort. Also read: New farm laws have potential to raise farmers' incomes, but need social security: Gita Gopinath Also read: Punjab youngster's family lauds him for 'showing bravery' by unfurling Nishan Sahib at Red Fort A few years ago, I moved from my home in Dublin across the country to Galway. Its less than two and half hours on the motorway from city to city, but it felt like I had moved 3,000 miles away because of the tight-knit group of friends that I had left behind me. WhatsApp and social media were lifesavers for me at the time, offering me ways to stay connected while apart. It was good practice for how we conduct our friendships now. Over the past year, Ive watched my friendships separate like sediment in an ant farm, naturally finding their different strata now that the superficial props of cafes and restaurants, pubs and book clubs have been stripped away. The casual friendships were the first to go, but, surprisingly, some friendships have grown stronger during lockdown, and Ive even reconnected with old friends, and made a few new ones, too. Read More While initially we heard about friendships crumbling during the pandemic, Ive found the opposite has started to happen. After the frenzy of Zoom meetings and quiz nights and long walks subsided in Lockdown One, I got back on social media out of boredom. Through this, I reconnected with old friends. My phone sent me dire warnings about my screen time usage but I didnt care. Something beautiful was happening. Friends I had thought lost to me, were back. I jumped on the DMs, the texts, I said yes to the group chats, responded to every message with a question to keep the conversations going. And with each contact, now almost daily, I felt our friendship return, grow stronger and flourish again. These were good friends, genuine friends, faithful friends that I had let fall by the wayside, friends I hadnt texted for months after I had children. Months became years, and then I became too embarrassed to make contact so the friendships faded. I realise now that I just had to say, hi, how are you? because real friendship is always there. In terms of mental health, I think friendship is really important, says GP Dr Harry Barry, author of the books Emotional Healing and Embracing Change. Expand Close Dr Harry Barry in his home town Drogheda. Photo: David Conachy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Harry Barry in his home town Drogheda. Photo: David Conachy I have known situations where friends get into dark places and it might be that one phone call to that friend that opens up the possibility of going on. Friends allow us to pick up the phone and say, Im having one of those days, I cant cope with the kids at home, or the constant bad news. When we have true friends, we have empathy bonds between us, so you mightnt see a really good friend for a few years and you meet them off the plane and within two minutes the bond is back. "Theres a trust there, a sense that this person knows what Im at. Its almost like the other person knows what youre thinking. The great advantage of that is if we have that friend and were getting anxious and stressed, even if we cant meet them, to be able to go on to WhatsApp and have a good moan is great. These things are critical for our mental health because if we dont have it, these things build up. Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen are the creative powerhouses behind the best-selling series of novels, Oh My God What a Complete Aisling and most recently Oh My God What a Complete Diary. As well as colleagues, they also happen to be best friends. Expand Close Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen. Photo: Douglas OConnor / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen. Photo: Douglas OConnor My God Tier of friends includes Emer, says Sarah. Because she lives alone, she was able to bubble in with my household. Not only did that allow us to work together easily, we were also able to enjoy a good many Friday nights drinking wine and roaring along to Hamilton. I was also able to call on her for childcare when I needed it. Its been hugely important to me, says Emer. Im single, so I rely on friends more than a partner or a romantic relationship, and Ive become a bit closer to some friends. Ive gotten quite close to a friend who was just a friend-of-a-friend last year, but weve become really close because she lives nearby and weve been doing our walks together. Its a strange time to make new friends, but I think longing for human connection has made us more open to talking to strangers when we are out on our walks. I have made new connections just walking on the beach, and have joined new WhatsApp groups where I dont know everyone on the group. Now I discuss television, politics, books and music of an evening with people Ive never met, and Im looking forward to meeting them in real life whenever it is safe to do so. Maintaining friendships in the meantime can be difficult, but Im getting creative and doing everything from book clubs and writing groups to learning languages competitively on Duolingo. Men have an unfair reputation for being bad at maintaining friendships. Rick OShea, a presenter on RTE Gold and presenter of The Book Show on RTE Radio One, says some of his friendships have become deeper too. During that period in between lockdowns, one of my friends and I made a very deliberate effort to meet in the open air. We went and sat in a park and brought two cans of beer each and we sat there till after dark, talking about what was going on. We kept up to date. Prior to that, we would have met up in a pub somewhere and done that, but this time there was that weird thing of being in a quiet spot, and there was a lot going on in everyones lives so we ended up talking about a lot of things we might not have otherwise. He has noticed too that he is getting to know more people in his local area. You get to know people through this, just in passing, to say, how are you, hows things for you today?. None of this is a substitute for what were missing, of course, but it is buoying while we are all at sea. Sarah Breen says: Lockdown has done an excellent job of separating the wheat from the chaff. My closest friendships have absolutely grown. My friends are everything to me. We all know how exhausting, stressful and frustrating the last 11 months have been, especially with women bearing the brunt of the childcare and schooling on top of our usual responsibilities. "I dont have any sisters (neither does Emer), so when I need to vent or moan I go straight to them. "Likewise, Im always at the other end of the phone when they need me. They have absolutely kept me sane. For those wanting to reconnect with old friends, Dr Harry Barry says just go for it. Get stuck in. Send a text. Say sorry you havent been in contact. We have to work harder on those important friendships. Forget the minor ones, and focus on the ones that are important to you. This horrible period has had the positive effect of making us appreciate how critical friendships are, how not to take them for granted. So send that text, write that note, like someones tweet youve nothing to lose but friendship. 3 ways to reconnect Start a Zoom book club or movie club. Since Covid, small talk has become almost impossible, so having a book or film to discuss will help you get the ball rolling. Say yes to joining in. If someone invites you into a group chat or online meet-up, join it. Youll be surprised how easily you can make new connections online. Be brave and take the first step: if theres someone youve been meaning to text or write to for ages, now is the perfect time. Other people are feeling just as disconnected as you are and will be delighted to hear from you. By Brendan O'Brien CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago teachers' union told its members on Wednesday to remain at home and vowed further job actions if the district moved to discipline them, delaying a staggered reopening of schools that began earlier this month. Pre-school and special education students, who had returned to classrooms on Jan. 11, were told there would be no school on Thursday. And the return next week of some 70,000 elementary and middle school students to in-person teaching is now in question. Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, has been trying to reopen its classrooms after students had been kept home for months by the COVID-19 pandemic. The district, which oversees 355,000 students, ordered 10,000 teachers back to work on Wednesday despite a vote by 71% of union members to keep teaching remotely until a stronger health and safety agreement is reached. "Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership continues to direct their members who support pre-k and cluster programs to remain at home. Therefore, we must ask parents to continue keeping your children home as we are unable to guarantee adequate staffing levels to cover in-person learning," the district said in a message to families on Wednesday evening. On Sunday, Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson warned that if teachers do not report to their schools on Wednesday, it would be construed as an illegal strike. "We have got to put our children first and schools are such an important part of who they are, a community's identity," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at an afternoon news conference, making her case for schools to be reopened. 'STOP THE SHOUTING' Miranda Byrd Jameson, an attorney with two children in the Chicago school district, said both sides have lost her trust and that she believes neither have the best interest of children and teachers at heart. "It is time for both organizations to put the political differences aside, stop the public shouting contest and start working together in good faith on behalf of our children and teachers," she told Reuters. Story continues "Another strike, legal or illegal, hurts our kids even more." The possible work stoppage in Chicago comes 15 months after the city's teachers staged an 11-day strike over overcrowded classrooms, support staff levels and pay. In a message to teachers on Tuesday night, the union said if the district takes action against teachers who did not report, members will stop working altogether on Thursday and picket, the Chicago Tribune reported. CTU President Jesse Sharkey said if the district took any disciplinary action, union delegates would decide whether to set a strike date. The district had also canceled in-person classes on Wednesday for 6,500 pre-kindergarten and special education students who were given the option to take classes in their school as part of the CPS's reopening plan. The teachers' union says classrooms lack proper ventilation and that the district has failed to provide cleaning supplies and personal protective equipment. The district says ventilation meets industry standards for classroom learning and that it would provide schools with adequate PPE. The union has urged school and city officials to move quickly to vaccinate teachers. Inoculations are expected to begin in mid-February. The district said on Wednesday in its latest proposal that it has offered to make accommodations for those teachers who have family members with medical conditions, and that it has expanded testing and prioritized vaccines for staff working in the hard-hit areas of the city. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, with additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Matthew Lewis and Tom Hogue) I was just an officer, a citizen, an average Joe who was outraged by the treatment of another human being by an uncivilized, savage mob, Catanzara said. I call them savages. I will stick to that description to this day. Anybody that acts uncivilized at that level are savages in my opinion. This was not specific to a religion. It was about the actions of a specific mob, who were Muslim, and obviously radical. But I understand the dynamic that some people, whether genuine or for political purposes, want to keep this, you know, scandal alive. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Talk about a rough day at work. Googles Australian managing director Melanie Silva got handed the hard basket on Friday when she fronted a Senate committee hearing and threatened to close down its local search function if a proposed code that will force the tech giant to pay for using news services becomes law. Googles Melanie Silva was heavily pregnant when she faced a Senate hearing last week. Credit:John Shakespeare But the sensational display of brinkmanship and a threat to walk away from some $4 billion in Australian ad revenues was far from the biggest event in Silvas world that week. After wrapping up the hearing on Friday, the heavily pregnant Silva went into labour. On Saturday morning, she gave birth to a baby boy. CBD is told mum and bub are both doing well. Congratulations. Senate observers were surprised the usually unflappable tech executive looked uncomfortable at some points during the hearing. After all, handing the federal government a threat at the behest of sneaker-wearing Silicon Valley bosses is hard. But wed say facing a televised Senate committee while on the brink of labour is significantly harder. Francesca Paris covers North Adams for The Berkshire Eagle. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston, as a news reporter, producer and editor. Find her on Twitter at @fparises. OSLO, Norway, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Aker ASA ("Aker") today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Aker Horizons AS ("Aker Horizons"), and Aker Offshore Wind Operating Company AS ("Aker Offshore Wind") have entered into a cooperation agreement with Statkraft AS ("Statkraft") to explore possibilities for collaboration on offshore wind power projects on the Norwegian Continental Shelf ("NCS"). Aker Horizons, Aker Offshore Wind and Statkraft (the "Parties") will work together and utilize their complementary skills and expertise to explore the possibility to develop and operate large-scale offshore wind parks in Norway. By harnessing excellent offshore wind resources in the North Sea, the Parties aim to export green electricity to European customers. The agreement reinforces Aker Offshore Wind's ongoing efforts in being a driving force for the industrialization of offshore wind in Norway and internationally and solidifies Aker Horizons' role as a leading planet-positive investment company. "Statkraft has been making clean energy possible for over a century. A partnership that couples Europe's largest renewable energy producer with Aker's 180-year track record and industrial expertise, especially on the NCS, has the potential to redefine Norway as an energy nation. Norway's leading offshore industry, including a strong supplier industry, means we already have the building blocks and capabilities in place to be at the forefront of the energy transition. We look forward to working with Statkraft to develop the offshore wind industry further, reducing emissions and creating new jobs for the future," says yvind Eriksen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aker ASA and Chairman of Aker Horizons. "By entering a cooperation with Aker Horizons and Aker Offshore Wind, we are exploring a value-creative opportunity in Norway. We have expertise in the development and operations of wind power and have previously been engaged in offshore wind in the UK. Strong growth, falling technology costs and a changed competitor landscape indicates that offshore wind will take a larger role in the European energy transition; therefore, we see the cooperation with Aker Offshore Wind as an opportunity for substantial value creation and accelerate Europe's green transition," says Statkraft Chief Executive Officer, Christian Rynning-Tnnesen. The partnership will explore the opportunity for bottom-fixed offshore wind at Srlige Nordsj II ("SN2"), for which the Parties will establish an integrated project team, equally split between Aker Offshore Wind and Statkraft, for joint preparation and submission of an acreage application and further development activities. Aker Offshore Wind, being a pure play offshore wind developer with an ambition to become a full-fledged independent power producer (IPP), will play a leading role in the construction phase. As the largest provider of green electricity in Europe, Statkraft will lead the operations phase and the marketing of the green electricity. Aker Horizons, Aker's investment platform dedicated to investing in, incubating, and developing companies within renewable energy and decarbonization technologies, will play an active role in the overall management of the cooperation, adding value with its expertise within financial structuring, strategy project execution and deploying digital solutions. Together, the Parties are evaluating export possibilities to Europe and the UK and electrification of oil and gas assets for possible value adding offtake. "The cooperation agreement comes at a time when we see large global ambitions for offshore wind development and a window of opportunity to put Norway at the forefront of a growing global industry. For SN2, we have already identified and will leverage key differentiators, including Statkraft's renewable energy track record and the Aker ecosystem's deep domain expertise. Capabilities and experience across the Aker Horizons portfolio, which we significantly strengthened with the recent addition of Mainstream Renewable Power, will be mobilized to support Aker Offshore Wind in the development and implementation of the project. We look forward to working together with Statkraft towards our common goal of using one of the fastest growing energy sources in the world to reach a carbon free future," says Kristian Rkke, Chief Executive Officer at Aker Horizons. For more information, please contact: Christina Chappell Glenn, Head of Investor Relations, Aker ASA Tel: +47 90532774 Email: christina.glenn@akerasa.com Atle Kigen, Head of Corporate Communications, Aker ASA Tel: +47 90784878 Email: atle.kigen@akerasa.com Ivar Simensen, Communications, Aker Horizons and Aker Offshore Wind Tel: +47 46402317 Email: ivar.simensen@akerhorizons.com This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/aker-asa/r/aker-asa--aker-horizons--aker-offshore-wind-enter-cooperation-agreement-with-statkraft,c3274519 Aside from injuring at least 30 individuals, the Fultondale tornado ripped through the area on Monday night which resulted in the death of a teenager and left a path of massive destruction in its wake. According to the New York Times, Jefferson County Superintendent Dr. Walter Gonsoulin shared that the teenager who was killed was a 14-year-old ninth-grader in the area. Gonsoulin also added that they are also currently determining as to how many students may be homeless after the Futondale tornado. Due to the massive damage to the Fulton High School, officials doubt that the students can return to their classrooms this year. Based on the information given by Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb, the said tornado hit the northern portion of Jefferson County city around 10:30 p.m., which is a quarter-mile wide swath after touching down near Interstate 65. Holcomb also added that it then moved northeast towards Fultondale High School where there is currently substantial damage. Aside from the educational facility, several businesses, such as Hampton Inn and Hurst Towing were destroyed, as well as most businesses in between. At around 7 a.m., the Fultondale mayor mentioned that they are planning to search homes in the Carson Road area, AL.com reported. Justin McKenzie, the Fultondale Fire Chief, who spoke to the 10 a.m. press conference shared that 30 individuals had been injured, and 18 among them were taken to hospitals nearby. Read also: World's Most Beautiful Girl Complains It's Not Easy Being Pretty at All McKenzie also added that six individuals who were trapped in homes had been rescued. The Fultondale Fire Chief also mentioned that in their area, they were experienced in this kind of weather condition, as he referenced his statement to the tornado outbreak which happened on April 27, 2011. According to the NWS or the National Weather Service, that day in 2011, Fultondale also caught the tail end of an EF-4 tornado that ripped across the state of Alabama from Tuscaloosa, which killed 65 individuals and injured 1,500 along a damaged path of more than 80 miles long, NBC reported. McKenzie also stated that they knew exactly what to do and when to do it, but they just do not like to do it. Joe Knight, the Jefferson County Commissioner shared during the press conference that the storm came with little warning but left much work to be done. Knight also emphasized that it is devastating. The Jefferson County Commissioner also stated that they are going to have some kind of shelter for some of their people because their houses were destroyed by the tornado and they have no place to go. He also added that it is tough to go and see them sitting on their front porch and especially the look on their face as many of them are still in shock, but he also stated that they are going to get this through but it will take a while. Moreover, Knight also shared that the Fultondale High School had sustained extensive damage, and it does not look good. He also added that for the 650 students, they will have a place for them to go, as he believes that it is a great community, great surrounding communities and he knows that everybody will step up. Related Article: Apollo CEO Leon Black Plans to Step Down After Jeffrey Epstein Payments @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The company, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), has secured exclusive exploration rights for up to six years over an area of 6.9 square kilometers, MRC reported to the exchange on Tuesday January 19. The Hesten and Vardfjellet prospects are 15km from the Skaland graphite operation,... A new study by Central Bank economists for INM shows that Kerry has been the county hardest hit economically by the COVID-19 crisis as the countys reliance on tourism and its lack of manufacturing industry left it uniquely vulnerable to the virus and lockdowns devastating impact on business. Stock image A new study carried out by Central Bank economists for Independent New s and Media (INM) and The Kerryman shows that Kerry was the county that suffered the greatest economic hit from the COVID-19 crisis and the series of lock-downs that have seen the national economy grind to a halt. The INM/Central Bank study - which examined the impact of the second major lock-down in October and November - found that more workers in Kerry lost their jobs than in any other county. According to the study in late November, almost half - 45 per cent - of Kerry's workforce were receiving some form of state benefit including the Pandemic Unemployment Payment; the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme or more traditional welfare payments. During the November lockdown, Kerry had a significantly higher proportion of workers on benefits than Dublin and had an overall unemployment rate of 24.9 per cent. In September 2019, pre-COVID and a little over a year earlier, the unemployment rate in Kerry was just six per cent. The Central Bank experts involved in the study found that Kerry's economic foundations had left it in a uniquely vulnerable position when the Covid-19 crisis hit. Kerry's reliance on the tourism industry was, obviously, a major issue but this was compounded by the county's lack of any significant industrial and manufacturing industry to cushion the impact of the successive lock-down's. For example while both Dublin and Cork have thriving tourist economies both also have major industrial bases which were able to remain open and weather the worst of the crisis. To illustrate this point further the Central Bank study points out that while nationally around one in 20 people are employed in the tourism and hospitality industries in Kerry it's one in 11. While the data the study is based on date back to November the most recent figures show that in the current lock-down the situation has not improved. According to the latest statistics from the Department of Social Protection as of January 26 there were 18,297 Kerry workers in receipt of the PUP. Currently the number of PUP claimants in Kerry is the third highest in the county outside the major cities and Dublin commuter belt. A further 2,861 people in Kerry are now receiving the Covid Enhanced Benefit Payment which is provided to people forced to stop work because they had Covid-19 or were forced to self isolate as they were a close contact of a known case. Meanwhile Revenue figures indicate that the wages of around 15,000 further Kerry workers - about 44 per cent of the employees who are still working in the county - are being directly supported by the State through the Wage Subsidy Scheme. Currently 1,230 Kerry businesses are also availing of the Covid Support Scheme - which provides eligible business with up to 5,000 a week in support payments - up from just 525 in late November. Northern white rhinos are the second largest land mammals on Earth, yet the magnificent creatures are on the brink of extinction, with just two females remaining. Now, scientists have created two new embryos in a lab using the eggs of one of these females and the sperm from a deceased male, bringing the total number of viable embryos to five. The other three were created in 2019, using eggs and sperm from the same rhinos. The team hopes to implant the embryos into a surrogate mother within the next three years using an IVF technique, and bring white rhinos back from the brink of extinction. There are no known living male white rhinos on Earth, and just two females - a mother and daughter living in Kenya, called Najin (pictured) and Fatu The researchers carefully monitored Fatu's breathing and heart rate during the oocyte collection procedure There are no known living male northern white rhinos on Earth, and just two females. Pictured are two of the researchers during the procedure WHY ARE WHITE RHINOS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION? Northern white rhinos were once found in southern Chad, the Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Uganda, and as recently as 1960, there were more than 2,000 remaining, according to WWF. However, poaching has led to their extinction in the wild, with just two known individuals left. WWF explained: 'Uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era was historically the major factor in the decline of white rhinos. Today, poaching for the illegal trade in their horns is the major threat. 'Powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses from hangovers to fevers and even cancer.' Advertisement There are no known living male northern white rhinos on Earth, and just two females - a mother and daughter living in Kenya, called Najin and Fatu. Sadly, neither of these females can carry a calf to term themselves. To counter this issue, researchers from the BioRescue team at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany have created five embryos using eggs from Fatu, and sperm from a deceased male called Sudan, who died in March 2018. The five embryos are being stored in liquid nitrogen at a laboratory in Cremona, in Italy's Lombardy region, waiting to be transferred into a surrogate southern rhino mother. The team hopes to be able to deliver its first northern white rhino calf in three years and a wider population in the next two decades. Thomas Hildebrandt, leader of the BioRescue project, said: 'We are under time constraint because we want really a transfer of the social knowledge from the last existing northern white rhinos to a calf.' The positive news follows a challenging year for the team, who were forced to delay their research amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Hildebrandt said: '2020 was really a hard test for all of us, but giving up is not the mentality of any true scientist. 'Christmas gave us a present: two embryos. And we are extremely happy about that.' Artificial insemination of these embryos is planned for March 2021, in order to prevent the otherwise irreversible extinction of this type of rhino Sadly neither Najin (pictured) or Fatu can carry a calf to term themselves, so instead, their eggs have been harvested and used to create embryos The positive news follows a challenging year for the team, who were forced to delay their research amid the Covid-19 pandemic Northern white rhinos were once found in southern Chad, the Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Uganda, and as recently as 1960, there were more than 2,000 remaining, according to WWF. However, poaching has led to their extinction in the wild, with just two known individuals left. WWF explained: 'Uncontrolled hunting in the colonial era was historically the major factor in the decline of white rhinos. Today, poaching for the illegal trade in their horns is the major threat. The bottle seen is sued to collect and store the eggs, before they're transported to Italy to be frozen and stored Northern white rhinos were once found in southern Chad, the Central African Republic, southwestern Sudan, northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and northwestern Uganda, and as recently as 1960, there were more than 2,000 remaining, according to WWF Following their retrieval, the five embryos are being stored in liquid nitrogen at a laboratory in Cremona, in Italy's Lombardy region, waiting to be transferred into a surrogate southern rhino mother The team hopes to implant the embryos into a surrogate mother within the next three years using an IVF technique, and bring white rhinos back from the brink of extinction 'Powdered horn is used in traditional Asian medicine as a supposed cure for a range of illnesses from hangovers to fevers and even cancer. 'The recent surge has been primarily driven by the demand for horn by upper-middle class citizens in Vietnam. As well as its use in medicine, rhino horn is bought and consumed purely as a symbol of wealth. 'Hundreds of white rhinos have been killed annually in recent years. They are particularly vulnerable to hunting, because they are relatively unaggressive and occurs in herds.' A group, Women in Energy Oil and Gas, is demanding more representation in the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other oil bodies in the industry. The group was one of many major oil groups that took turns to make thier recommendations at the Senate public hearing for the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) on Tuesday, being the second and final day. Having suffered setbacks for almost 20 years, the PIB was transmitted to the National Assembly for consideration and passage. Public hearing, a necessary stage in the process of bill passage, was organised by the Senate joint committees on petroleum upstream, downstream and gas where relevant companies and groups were invited to make input. In their presentation, the Women in Energy Oil and Gas did not only query the lack of gender representation in the bill, it also demanded that the name of the legislation be changed to Energy Industry Bill. This is because the world has moved beyond petroleum towards energy, Oladunni Owo, representative of the group, explained. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, she queried how the industry has not explored untapped reserve which is women and stressed the need to close the gender gap. We want to have women representation in governing bodies. We have the NNPC governing council, there is no single woman in that board. It is a one sided decision thing. We also want to get input from women. It is not about feminism or trying to compete with the men, it is by us ensuring that everyone is carried along and we get full benefits, she said. The NNPC, which she made reference to, currently/ has only two women of the 10-member board. In the entire bill, women are only mentioned twice. (There is) no mention of female or girl in the entire 248 paged bill. That is critical. If you train a woman, the woman will tell the boy, dont vandalize that pipeline, she continued. Ms Oladunni also demanded full integrations of all streams which she said is because Nigeria does not get the full benefits of that oil and gas and then imports back every other thing. We treated oil and gas as a typical buy and sell commodity as against treating it as a transformational resource that will affect our educational resource, human resource, infrastructure, she explained. She further urged the federal government to leverage on the African Continental Free Trade agreement. The bill, she said, doesnt show anything that Nigeria wants to capitalise or cash in on that agreement. Sustainable GMoU For the Egbema and Gbaramatu Communities Development Foundation (EGCDF), which was created by the tripartite GMoU between the Delta State Government, Chevron Nigeria Limited and Communities of Egbema and Gbaramatu Kingdoms in the state, they want the agreement to be sustained. Francis Abulu, who represented the chairperson of the group, Jude Ukori, said the GMoU has been successfully operated for more than a decade without one party having overriding powers over the other. It is important to note that similar GMoU arrangements exist between oil companies and host communities all over the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Our desire is to improve on this functional mechanism for managing communities and oil multinational relationship, he said. He opposed Section 257 (2) & (3) of the bill, which stipulates that communities shall forfeit entitlements to the extent of repairs where there is an act of vandalism or sabotage. This, he said, is because there are several reasons or factors that could be responsible for damage to oil facilities or disruption of oil company operations neither caused by the host communities nor within the control of the host communities. ADVERTISEMENT He also asked the lawmakers to scrap the Sections 235, 247, 249 and 251 which seek to create governance structures like Board of Trustees, Management Committee, Advisory Committee and the Settlor (Oil Companies). These administrative structures are unnecessary and would not aid the development of the host communities. The implication of these bureaucratic structures is that all the time and resources would be spent on bureaucracy at the expense of the speedy development of the host and impacted communities. He further recommended that the bill should not provide uniform governance structure for all the impacted communities, rather, the different oil producing communities have their peculiarities. On funding, he said the contribution of oil companies to the funding of oil producing communities development fund should be tied to the quantity or amount of production from first oil or commencement of production or before production at the point of exploration and also pegged at 10 per cent Operation Honolulu Cops for Christ, a bible study and prayer group of which retired police detective David Vines was a member, have completed their new book Jesus the Truth vs. Satan the Liar: a book of insight citing time-honored biblical truths that expose the many falsehoods facing modern-day high school and college students in America. In the Gospels, Jesus called Satan the Father of Lies. From the beginning of Mankind until the present, Satan has been lying to mankind in order to destroy us and keep us from eternal life with God. Our first ancestors fell victim to a lie of Lucifer, and because of their fall, all humanity fell under the influence of the devil. Jesus came to earth to break Satans power over us. Jesus referred to Himself as the Light of the World and as the Truth. He wants to deliver humanity out of the spiritual darkness and deception in which Satan has mankind trapped. A spiritual battle rages between Jesus and Satan for the souls of men. The weapons of Satan are his numerous lies. The weapon of Jesus is the truth of His Word. He said that the truths He taught were a solid and unshakable foundation in a world of shifting and sinking sand. In Jesus the Truth vs. Satan the Liar, this cop for Christ exposes many of the dark lies of Satan that are spread within Americas higher education system. They are exposed by the light of biblical truth, giving students the knowledge they need to reject the lies and all who spread them. Published by Page Publishing, Honolulu Cops for Christs engrossing work is a fascinating read for students who are seeking real answers to many of their questions. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase Jesus the Truth vs. Satan the Liar at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing understands that authors should be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. The US Department of Homeland Security declared a nationwide terrorism alert Wednesday, citing the potential threat from domestic anti-government extremists opposed to Democrat Joe Biden as president. Extremists "emboldened" by the deadly January 6 assault on Congress by angry supporters of former president Donald Trump could undertake attacks against elected officials and government facilities, the alert said. The warning came as authorities in California charged a Trump supporter and follower of a far-right militia group with possession of five home-made pipe bombs, alleging he intended to attack Democrats. The National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin said the threat of attacks could persist for weeks, in the wake of Biden's January 20 inauguration and the storming of the US Capitol. "Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence," the Department of Homeland Security said. Some security worries surround the impeachment trial of Trump beginning in the second week of February. Trump has been charged by the House of Representatives with "incitement of insurrection" for allegedly encouraging the assault on the Capitol. DHS said it had no information indicating any specific, credible threat. "However, violent riots have continued in recent days and we remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition... could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors to incite or commit violence," it said. - Over 150 arrested - The alert came two days after the Pentagon said thousands of National Guard troops deployed in Washington for Biden's inauguration would remain in the capital through March due to FBI intelligence on potential threats. Story continues It was the first alert ever issued for domestic violent extremists. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the alert marked a turn from the previous four years of the Trump administration when the threat from the extreme right was downplayed, despite a growing number of deadly attacks. "I am glad to see that DHS fully recognizes the threat posed by violent, right-wing extremists, and is taking efforts to communicate that threat to the American people," Thompson said. The DHS alert said threats had grown since last year from domestic violent extremists motivated by Covid-19 restrictions, Biden's defeat of Trump in the November election, police brutality and illegal immigration. On Tuesday, the Justice Department said it had arrested more than 150 people over the attack on the Capitol and was investigating hundreds more. Increasingly the investigations are focused on conspiracy and sedition charges, which can bring up to 20 years in prison, said Michael Sherwin, the acting federal prosecutor for Washington. Three people linked to the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers groups have been charged on those grounds. Their case is significant, Sherwin said, because "it shows militia groups actively involved in planning and breaching the Capitol." The FBI continues to search for a person or persons who placed two pipe bombs near the US Capitol on January 6. The bombs were real but never detonated, and the FBI has offered a $75,000 reward in the case. In San Francisco Wednesday the Justice Department announced charges against Ian Benjamin Rogers, 43, for possessing five pipe bombs and the materials to make more. An FBI affidavit said Rogers was linked to the Three Percenters violent anti-government group and had 49 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition in his Napa Valley home and business. Messages on Rogers' phone indicated he believed Trump's claim that Biden's November 3 election victory was rooted in widespread fraud, the affidavit said. The messages showed "his intent to attack Democrats and places associated with Democrats in an effort to ensure Trump remained in office," it said. The messages indicated Rogers was considering attacking the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, and also of Twitter and Facebook, which blocked Trump's postings and those of right-wing extremists. - Guilty plea in Michigan plot - Meanwhile, one of six members of an armed militia group charged with plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer last year pleaded guilty Wednesday. The plot against the Democratic governor was one of several cases which elevated concerns about far-right groups. In a plea deal, Ty Garbin admitted he was part of the conspiracy to kidnap and possibly even kill Whitmer due to her policies, including on Covid-19 restrictions. Facing possible life in prison, Garbin agreed to cooperate in investigations of others in the case or related activities. pmh/cl Unless you grew up in Michigan, Detroit-style pizza is probably not familiar pie territory. But the square-panned, crunchy-edged dish recently has been catching on like a Motown earworm far beyond the borders of the Wolverine State, fueled by diners' interest in regional specialties - and the simple fact that the cheese-all-the-way-to-the-edges style can be pretty delicious, even to those who grew up drinking soda, not pop. After years of enjoying the thin-crusted New York or Neapolitan-style slices that had been the standard for most quality pizza purveyors I had encountered, I found the Detroit pizza's pillowy crust, with a crunchy, nearly deep-fried exterior, satisfying. But it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Digging into a slab from a local pie shop recently brought me back to a childhood memory. I was suddenly 8 years old and staring in awe of a feast before me: a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, in a piping hot skillet, for me alone to devour - the pepperoni-topped bounty from my school's Book It reading program. So when I saw the announcement Tuesday that the pizza giant was debuting its very own Detroit-style pizza, I was optimistic that the offering would bridge my nostalgic reminiscence with a favorite new-to-me trend. Pizza Hut's version sounded enticing - and thoroughly researched. The company boasts in a news release that it spent a year developing the pizza, during which it tried 500 iterations (presumably discarding 499). Each of its double-pepperoni pizzas features 32 slices of regular pepperoni and an additional 48 that crisp into the cup shaped discs familiar to Detroit pizza aficionados. And so I ordered two versions of the new menu item - the aforementioned double pepperoni and the double cheese. (It also comes in an even more meat-laden variety that adds bacon and sausage to the mix and another, the "supremo," topped with Italian sausage, red onions and green bell peppers). Because I thought I should enlist someone for whom the Detroit-style is a native language, I also ordered the same pies for Chris Powers, a co-founder of Ivy and Coney, a bar in D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood themed in homage to its owners' hometowns of Detroit and Chicago. Powers grew up just north of the Motor City and added Detroit-style pizza to Ivy and Coney's takeout menu after the pandemic made more delivery-friendly food a necessity, so he knows what goes into a good slice . . . er, slab. We each sampled our respective deliveries, and then I chatted with Powers for a debrief. To start with, I was more impressed than he was. My pies had some of the crisp/soft juxtaposition that I had hoped for: I appreciated the lacy ring of sizzled cheese that surrounded them, following the instructions on the box to nab a corner piece for two sides of crunch. The crust was pleasantly springy, even if the bottom wasn't as crisp as I'd hoped. The curly-edged pepperoni, too, offered another layer of texture and a salty counterpoint to the slightly too-sweet sauce (though I didn't count them to make sure they matched Pizza Hut's promised figures). But Powers was even more discerning. He did approve, at least, of the classic construction. The Hut's lab wizards layered cheese directly over the dough, then topped it in two "stripes," often a hallmark of the style, he notes, which are sauced only after a turn in the oven. That's a technique used by Buddy's, the beloved chain of his youth whose recent expansion has helped fuel the craze for Detroit's pies, and can keep the dough from being weighed down while it bakes. But appearances can be deceiving, and Powers pointed to a literary reference to describe the disconnect. In the sci-fi classic "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," a machine called the "Nutri-Matic" attempts to create the user's desired beverage. The result for a British Earthling? "A liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea." Pizza Hut's latest concoction similarly "looks like a Detroit pizza - all the cornerstone elements are represented," Powers says. "But they're all a little off, so when you put them all together it ends up entirely different." His quibbles: The crust wasn't nearly crisp enough; the cheese on his pizzas didn't extend to the edges, as promised, and besides which, it wasn't the classic Wisconsin brick, whose low moisture gives it the feeling of cheese curds, he says, and the sauce's sweetness marred the whole. And so perhaps this is a pie to be enjoyed by people who don't know better yet. Which clearly doesn't include our friends up north. Powers' final verdict? "Anyone who grew up in Detroit would probably be offended." WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. A new campuswide faculty innovation and entrepreneurship program will help connect Purdue University innovators with novel paths for entrepreneurship and commercialization. To kick off the program, the College of Agriculture has appointed Christian Butzke, a food science professor and wine industry entrepreneur, as the first innovation and entrepreneurship fellow. I could not be more excited about this great opportunity to share my passion for innovation and entrepreneurship with our wonderful faculty, Butzke said. I look forward to working with faculty and students who are interested in commercialization to take their innovations to the world. In this new role, Butzke will mentor faculty and students considering entrepreneurship. He also will support Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, to develop and implement entrepreneurship and commercialization strategies for the College of Agriculture. Commercialization of Purdue discoveries is crucial in our efforts as a worldwide leader in addressing challenges in food, life and natural resource sciences, Plaut said. Bernie Engel, associate dean and director of agricultural research and graduate education, said, The College of Agriculture has made great strides working with Dan Dawes and our ecosystem partners in creation of startup companies based on faculty, student and staff discoveries. We look forward to growing this success with the addition of Christian in this role. Butzke co-founded VinSense, a company assisting in wine grape agriculture through Purdue-patented technology. Dawes is an advisor for the Purdue Foundry. Wade Lange, vice president and chief entrepreneurial officer of the Purdue Research Foundation, said, This is another strategic way to support Purdues mission of improving the world through technologies and graduates. Dr. Butzke is a wonderful example of a faculty entrepreneur who is innovative and passionate about helping others achieve their dreams. We anticipate that other colleges will soon be participating in the program. The campuswide program will be coordinated through the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship. Faculty interested in learning more about this program may contact Arnold Chen at acchen@purdue.edu. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 5 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu. Writer: Chris Adam, cladam@prf.org Sources: Christian Butzke, butzke@purdue.edu Wade Lange, walange@prf.org Agricultural Communications: 765-494-8415; Maureen Manier, Department Head, mmanier@purdue.edu Agriculture News Page GREENFIELD A Prospect Street home was destroyed Tuesday afternoon by an explosion that lifted the building off its foundation, according to fire officials. One person was injured and taken to the hospital. The cause of the explosion and fire remains under investigation by Greenfield fire investigators and the state fire marshals office. Officials said it may have started in the basement, with a propane tank as the source. Firefighters were dispatched to 19 Prospect St. at 12:30 p.m. for a reported explosion. When they arrived, they found the home on fire. The building appeared to have been separated from its foundation. Firefighters were not allowed inside the structure because it was considered structurally compromised, and had to fight the fire from the outside. The building has since been razed. Firefighters from Turners Falls, Bernardston, Deerfield, Northfield and Brattleboro, Vermont, provided mutual aid. According to Greenfield records, 19 Prospect St. is a 1 story bungalow built in 1890. It has an assessed valuation of $180,000. President Biden is boosting weekly allotments of COVID vaccine doses to states, upping shipments by 16%, as the federal government attempts to increase distribution and inoculate Americans at a faster pace. In response to complaints from states such as New York that have seen supplies dwindle, the White House announced Tuesday that 10 million doses will be distributed each week for the next three weeks, up from the current 8.6 million. Starting next week. Thats an increase of 1.4 million doses per week, Biden said during an afternoon announcement from the State Dining Room of the White House. You all know that vaccines were distributed to states based on population, based on population. The smaller the state, the less vaccine. The bigger the state, the more they get. And so this is going to allow millions of more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated. Weve got a long way to go, though, he added. Biden also announced the purchase of an additional 200 million vaccine doses to be delivered this summer, bringing the total purchased to 600 million. The government will be purchasing 100 million doses each from Pfizer and Moderna, the two companies manufacturing the two-dose vaccines already granted emergency use authorization by the federal Food and Drug Administration. This is going to allow millions of more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated, he said. This is an aggregate plan that doesnt leave anything on the table or anything to chance. This is a wartime undertaking. Its not hyperbole. Earlier in the day, Gov. Cuomo and his fellow governors spoke with Jeff Zients, the leader of Bidens Covid-19 task force, about the changes and what they mean for states struggling to keep up with the demand for doses. Many state leaders complained that the Trump administration had kept them in the dark about how many shots they could expect each week, hampering distribution efforts. Story continues The allocation will go up 16%, but even more importantly ... we can count on that allocation for the next three weeks, Cuomo said during an appearance on MSNBC following the meeting with Zients. Weve been going week to week and you really cant plan and schedule when you dont know what youre going to get next week. You cant do it in an orderly way. So knowing that what number were going to get for the next three weeks is important because it will bring efficiency to the program, he added. The increase comes as officials in the Empire State noted that 93% of first doses received from the feds so far have been administered and both Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio pleaded for more immunizations. More than seven million New Yorkers are now eligible to be immunized, including health care workers, first responders and anyone over 65. The state has the capability to administer more than 100,000 shots a day, Cuomo has said, but the current weekly federal allocation of first doses is around 250,000, down from 300,000 initially shipped to the state just weeks ago when the program started. It could take as long as six months to get through those who are currently eligible, which is slightly more than a third of the states population, the governor said. In all, the state has administered 1,210,339, or 93%, of 1,304,050 first doses supplied by the feds as of Tuesday morning. Of the 564,600 second doses received, New York has doled out 166,640. Biden, in remarks delivered Monday, struck an optimistic tone as he vowed that vaccines will be available to anyone in the nation by spring. But White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki walked back the presidents claim, noting that the general public will likely not be eligible until much later in the year. He pushes his team on COVID and updates on it even when its a meeting about other issues, this is his focus every single day. But the fact is every American is not going to be eligible this spring, Psaki said. He has said many, many times its going to take months and months for a broad swath of the population to be vaccinated. The U.S. is currently administering about 1.2 million shots a day, and Biden said he expects that will soon reach 1.5 million doses. While the president did not specify how the administration will be able to accelerate deliveries starting next week, he noted that agencies are in the process of preparing Defense Production Act invocations to address the supply shortages we inherited from the previous administration and ramp up production of vaccine as well as relevant materials, like syringes and needles. Cuomo heaped praise on Biden for his actions and the announcement of more allotments. I say amen and the American people should say amen, he said. The president saying a 16% increase and state can count on that for three weeks, that gives us certainty. Thats competent government, professional government, the federal government doing what it should do, he added. President Joe Biden has already shown that racial equity and Critical Race Theory will play a key role in the ideology of his administration. Essentially, Critical Race Theory holds that certain races have malign characteristics intrinsic to their skin color. Some races use racial privilege and power to oppress other races. This theory is not new; indeed, it has been a major stream in Western thinking for over a century. A version of Critical Race Theory was implemented as the core ideology of the German State between 1933 and 1945. In the German version of Critical Race Theory, it was the Jewish race that used their power and privilege to oppress other races, and therefore needed to be legally sanctioned. One can read the scholarship of the Third Reichs leading institute of racial science, Jena Universitys Institute for Heredity and Racial Policy (Institut fur menschliche Erbkunde und Rassenpolitik) from the 1930s and simply exchange the term Whites in place of Jews -- and it reads awfully close to todays official racial ideology. As a military man and former Defense Department civilian I am concerned how we implement Critical Race Theory in the Defense Department. After all, the Defense Department is the one branch of the government over which Joe Biden, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has complete control. Moreover, the problem of whiteness in the military has already been brought to the forefront by Democratic Representative Steven Cohen. (Democratic congressman Steve Cohen suggests National Guard members might 'want to do something' to Joe Biden during his inauguration because 'they are mostly white Trump supporters' | News Break) The Department of Defense senior leadership has already instituted training that highlights the problem of a military in which over 50% of its members share the malign characteristics of being both male and white. One might think that an official ideology that declares an entire race to be malign and oppressive could not pass muster with the clear language of the 14th Amendment and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. However, we can be sure that any legal opposition to Critical Race Theory will be swept aside by Chief Justice Roberts. Indeed, the real problem in implementing Critical Race Theory will be in its practical application. We can look at the Third Reich experience with critical race theory. The Nuremberg Laws enacted in September 1935 created legal sanctions against German Jews, who then constituted less than 1% of the German population. The German State believed that it would be easy to sanction and suppress a relatively small group, but there were unanticipated realities. In the century since Jewish emancipation, Jews had assimilated, become middle class, and intermarried widely with Christian Germans. When the law required all Germans prove their Aryan Germanic status, many more than 1% of Germans had enough Jewish ancestry to face sanction under the Nuremberg Laws. These included many individuals very useful to the German State, including distinguished soldiers, engineers, doctors, and aircraft designers. There were also cases of devoted Nazi Gauleiters, totally committed to the Party, who discovered that Grandma Schultz had actually been born a Goldberg. Such people faced loss of party status, job, and citizenship. The head of state, Mr. Hitler, instituted an imaginative program designed to retain the services of many valuable and talented Germans with Jewish ancestry. Hitler intervened and personally reviewed files of people legally declared Jewish and, in a few thousand cases, pronounced that certain people including many in the military were not Jewish but actually Aryan. Hitler issued certificates of Arianization clearing people of their Jewish ancestry and thus entitled to all rights and privileges of an Aryan German citizen. (Bryan Rigg, Hitlers Jewish Soldiers, Kansas 2002) In combating whiteness in the U.S. armed forces, the Biden administration can follow the 1930s German approach and issue certificates of minoritization, making the recipient legally non-white. Applications for minoritization could be accompanied by a large financial donation to the Joe and Hunter Biden Charitable Foundation, soon to be established. However, few members of the armed forces have the financial resources to make the kind of donations that the Bidens would expect. So, the rank and file will have to look to other means of achieving minority status. Senator Elizabeth Warren gives us one model for minoritization. Early in her career, Senator Warren declared through family lore evidence she was not a blonde, white woman, but actually a Native American. Thanks to this scam, she advanced through affirmative action to become Harvard Law Schools first female professor of color. It was remarkably effective except for one inconvenient fact. In becoming Native American, she chose the only racial group clearly defined under American law. To be a recognized member of a Native American nation, family lore doesnt hack it. One must prove direct ancestral connections through tribal registers, no tribal registration, no Native American status. In the great chandelier of our politician-lawyers, Elizabeth Warren may be the dimmest bulb. But, luckily for most of us who are smarter than Senator Warren, other races and ethnicities are not clearly defined under U.S. law. So, I suggest a variation of the Warren method to attain coveted minority status that is simple and legal. In my own family tree, I found a Mary Brown who married an ancestor in the 1830s. There is no information as to her birth, or parentage, or origin. But according to family lore, I heard that Mary Brown was actually born Maria Moreno and had immigrated from Spain. Voila! I have just been transformed from being a white oppressor into being a non-white victim. Recent scientific studies of mitochondrial DNA could be used redefine race Thanks to the Medieval invasions of Europe by the Asiatic Huns, Avars and Mongols, just about anyone whose family originates to the east of Switzerland is likely to have a good deal of Asian DNA in their makeup. The only problem with claiming Asian as your racial category is that you are screwed if you apply to an Ivy League school, especially Harvard. But until the U.S. adopts detailed racial definition laws -- the Third Reichs Nuremberg Laws or the Apartheid Laws of the Republic of South Africa are excellent models for the Biden Administration most white personnel can find a way to claim coveted minority status. But what can we do about the high-ranking leadership staffed by thousands of white male flag officers and senior civilians who have for decades been part of the systemic racism that plagues America? In the long past era when the Defense department was focused on winning wars, it was necessary to tolerate meritocracy regardless of race. But, thankfully, that can be dispensed with today. Under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies, the outmoded Defense department focus upon winning wars was thrown out. Since the Clinton administration, the key prerequisite for career advancement has been a readiness to say or do anything that will please the political leadership. The one thing that can immediately end the malign power of white males in the military and civilian senior ranks of the Department of Defense is to require all high-ranking white males to undergo transgender surgery. Even if generals and senior civilians remain white, they will be freed of the toxic influence of maleness. Nothing less can reassure the Democrat party leaders of the militarys absolute personal loyalty to Joe Biden. This progressive move to literally transform our senior defense leaders will not harm the nation, as the establishments military/security policies will continue to fail regardless of whether the top leaders or white or minorities, male or female (or cisgender). And while a Bidenized defense leadership will continue to lose wars, at least our senior leaders will look a lot more interesting. James S. Corum PhD is a military historian, author and co-author of 14 books, and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Image: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1990-048-29A / Heinrich Hoffmann / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Representatives of Turkey and Greece attend a meeting as part of the bilateral talks on the maritime disputes in Istanbul, Turkey, on Jan. 25, 2021. (Turkish Foreign Ministry/Handout via Reuters) Turkey, Greece Resume Talks on Maritime Disputes After 5 Years ANKARA/ATHENSTurkey and Greece resumed talks aimed at addressing long-standing maritime disputes on Jan. 25, ending a five-year hiatus after months of tension in the eastern Mediterranean. The neighboring NATO members are at odds over claims to Mediterranean waters and energy rights, air space, and the status of some islands in the Aegean Sea. They made little progress in 60 rounds of talks from 2002 to 2016. Plans for resuming talks foundered last year over Turkeys deployment of a seismic survey vessel in contested waters and disagreements over which topics they would cover. The vessel was withdrawn to Turkish shores last year. Ankara and Athens agreed this month to resume the talks in Istanbul, in a test of Turkeys hopes of improving its relations with the European Union, which has supported EU-member Greece and threatened sanctions on Turkey. As the talks resumed, French Defense Minister Florence Parly said France will present proposals to Greece for the renewal of its fleet of frigates, and had finalized a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.04 billion) deal for Greeces purchase of 18 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets. Under the strong leadership of our president, the solution to all problems, including the Aegean, is possible and our will for this is strong, said Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, who was part of the renewed talks. Washington welcomed the talks, saying it backed efforts to reduce tension in the eastern Mediterranean. The United States welcomes the commitment of both governments to this process, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Twitter. The exploratory talks are meant to reach common ground on disputed issues to allow for formal negotiations. But, despite agreeing to resume talks, Ankara and Athens still appeared to disagree over the topics to be covered in the run-up to the meeting. Athens has said it will discuss only the demarcation of exclusive economic zones and continental shelf in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean, not issues of national sovereignty, while Ankara has said it wants all issues, including air space and the Aegean islands, on the table. Greek government spokesman Christos Tarantilis said on Jan. 25 that Greece was attending the talks in good faith and expects Turkey to act similarly, reiterating the Greek position that the talks are unofficial and focused on maritime zones only. The agenda for the new talks, which lasted more than three hours, wasnt disclosed. Another round of talks is expected to be held in Athens, a Greek diplomatic source said, without providing any further details. Despite the technical disagreements, both sides voiced guarded optimism, though they were still trading barbs in the days ahead of the Jan. 25 meetings. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said last week Greece would approach the talks with optimism but zero naivety, while Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the resumption of talks would herald a new era. Analysts have said an immediate breakthrough is unlikely given decades-old policy differences, but that resuming dialogue is an important first step after EU pressure on Ankara. By Tuvan Gumrukcu and Renee Maltezou STORY: China Taiwan Briefing - China: military drills 'a warning' to Taiwan LENGTH: 01:06 FIRST RUN: 0619 RESTRICTIONS: No Access Mainland China TYPE: Mandarin/Natsound SOURCE: CCTV OFF AIR STORY NUMBER: 4307997 DATELINE: 27 January 2021 - Beijing SHOTLIST: RESTRICTION SUMMARY: NO ACCESS MAINLAND CHINA ++QUALITY AS INCOMING++ CCTV OFF-AIR NO ACCESS MAINLAND CHINA Beijing 27 January 2021 1. Wide of conference 2. Mid of reporters wearing masks 3. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China: "The military drills of the Liberation Army are to show our resolution to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. They are a stern warning against external interference and provocation from separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence." 4. Mid of reporters 5. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China: "To effectively guard against external interference and separatist moves of a very few separatists seeking Taiwan independence, we make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option to use all necessary measures. Our position has been consistent and will not change." 6. Mid of reporters 7. Wide of conference STORYLINE: The Chinese government, in its first official comment on its warplanes flying near Taiwan last weekend, said Wednesday that such actions are a warning against both foreign interference in Taiwan and any independence moves. Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that China's military drills are to show the nation's resolution to protect its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. China sent eight bombers and four fighter jets into Taiwan's air defense identification zone on Saturday, according to Taiwan's Defense Ministry. Taiwan scrambled fighters to monitor the activity. The U.S. State Department later issued a statement urging China "to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan" following China's sizeable show of force. China then sent 16 military aircraft into the same area on Sunday, Taiwan said. Taiwan is a self-governing island about 160 kilometers (100 miles) off China's east coast. The Chinese government regards it as a renegade province that should be united with mainland China. Zhu said that China would not renounce the use of force to guard against separatist moves and foreign interference. "Our position has been consistent and will not change," she said. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) In February or March, the first phase of construction on U.S. 281 between Loop 1604 and (almost) the Comal County line will hit a significant milestone - the completion of the projects last two flyover lanes connecting it with 1604. Thats a big deal for everyone, Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Serold said. Its been a long time coming. Now people wont have to exit to the frontage roads and theyll have proper highway lanes. The completion of those two northbound flyovers the last of eight would allow the opening of a main lane of traffic just north of Stone Oak Parkway, Serold said. And coming even sooner, perhaps in a week or two, access roads from Marshall Road to Stone Oak will be completed, removing a few more orange cones from the path of some 100,000 vehicles on what is perennially Bexar Countys most congested major highway. The first phase of the 8-mile project is expected to be finished by the fall, with the conversion of the Stone Oak/TPC Parkway intersection. The second phase, from Stone Oak to Borgfeld Road, a half-mile from the Comal County line, is expected to be completed by early 2023, though its new northbound access road might be ready by August of this year. With no unforeseen delays, the entire project will have taken almost seven years upon completion. On ExpressNews.com: 3 million miles after he started, San Antonio VIA bus driver retired with perfect safety record Planning for it began as far back as 2000, when TxDOT announced plans to remodel U.S. 281 into a conventional, nontolled six-lane freeway from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway. But severe funding shortages pushed the state into requiring new freeway projects to use toll roads if possible. Litigation and political pressure from toll road opponents and environmentalists ensued and the 281 project got delayed for many years. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio names Florida planner as new transportation director Construction of the massive $532 million highway project to some a necessity for suburban growth, for others a monument to governments misplaced priorities started in early 2017 with Gov. Greg Abbott addressing a crowd of local politicians and TxDOT workers in the parking lot of a Mattress Firm on U.S. 281. In front of stagnant morning traffic, Abbott said, The reason these roads behind me are clogged is due to San Antonios dynamic economy. Lets give it up for the workers who built these roads. Afterward, then-Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, a fellow Republican, noted of the countys lack of mass transit: As a community we just havent matured into asking what other means of transportation there are. It was a major fight just to get HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes. A lot of people really fought them. bselcraig@express-news.net (Newser) About those wooly mittens that Sen. Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration, sparking endless quirky memes across social media? They've helped to raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders' home state of Vermont, the independent senator announced Wednesday. The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the Jan. 20 image of him sitting with his arms and legs crossed, clad in his brown parka and recycled wool mittens, the AP reports. Sanders put the first of the so-called "Chairman Sanders" merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers, on his website Thursday night and the first run sold out in less than 30 minutes, he said. More merchandise was added over the weekend and sold out by Monday morning, he said. story continues below "Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and we're glad we can use my Internet fame to help Vermonters in need," Sanders said in a statement. Sanders mittens were made by a Vermont elementary school teacher who has a side business making mittens out of recycled wool. Groups that will benefit from the proceeds include agencies on aging, community action agencies, Feeding Chittenden, Vermont Parent Child Network, The Chill Foundation, senior centers in Vermont, and Bistate Primary Care for dental care improvements in the state, Sanders' office said. Getty Images will donate its proceeds as part of the licensing agreement to put the photo on T-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers to Meals on Wheels of America, Sanders' office said. (Read more Bernie Sanders stories.) Mayor London Breed appointed San Franciscos economic development chief, Joaquin Torres, as the next assessor-recorder Wednesday the latest City Hall shakeup in the wake of a public corruption scandal that has forced a shuffling of top officials. Torres, who is director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, will step in for Carmen Chu, whom Breed appointed as city administrator this month. Chu takes over from Naomi Kelly, the current city administrator, who plans to step down Feb. 1 after prosecutors charged her husband in a multipronged bribery scheme that was first made public last year. The assessor-recorder is responsible for identifying and assessing all taxable property in San Francisco. The office identifies billions of dollars in property taxes for the citys coffers every year. Chu, a former San Francisco supervisor, was appointed assessor-recorder in 2013 by then-Mayor Ed Lee and has been affirmed by voters three times since then. Since its an elected position, Torres will have to run in June 2022 to keep the seat. We know that there are so many vulnerable members and homeowners out there, Torres said in an interview with The Chronicle. And they need to know that there is an advocate for them to provide transparency, clarity and consistency in our approach. Torres has led the citys Office of Economic and Workforce Development since 2018. During his tenure, the departments budget has grown approximately 35%, from $67 million to almost $92 million, as services for businesses and workers have expanded. He also helped implement Breeds Opportunities for All initiative, a program that expands youth employment in the city. Torres is currently president of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission; an executive board member of the organization SPUR; and chair of the equity, diversity and inclusion committee for the American Conservatory Theater. It was not immediately clear if he would maintain those positions in his new role. As a lifelong public servant, Torres said the public corruption scandal is hard to watch. The scandal first came to light last year, when the FBI arrested former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and charged him with fraud in connection with an alleged attempt to bribe an airport commissioner. Kellys husband, former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, was charged with accepting bribes from a contractor. Naomi Kelly has not been charged with any crimes, and her husband said he will fight the charges. Torres said the scandals are fuel to do better work, deeper work and more committed work on behalf of the people. And its a reminder that people need to see government, especially in these times, acting in their best interests, he added. Torres will step away from OEWD at an extremely precarious time, as San Franciscos small businesses struggle to stay open during the pandemic and the city grapples with high unemployment. Since March, the city has provided $24 million in grants and loans to 1,230 small businesses hurt during the public health crisis. Still, many have closed for good. Torres who made $282,536 in salary and benefits in 2019, according to Transparent California said hes confident the office will be left in good hands. Chu made $259,227 in salary and benefits in 2019. Torres said it was his assumption that he would be taking a pay cut, but he will be working out those details in the days ahead. He will officially step down in a few weeks, which he said will give the mayor time to find an adequate replacement. Its like a relay race. Ive run a very powerful stretch, Torres said. Now its time for someone else who has been waiting to take the baton. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani As mad scenes rocked the capital, we need to address the bigger question that who wanted R-Day Chaos? Do law and order enforcement and intel agencies need to probe the foreign funding angle? On the same day as Republic Day, the Farmers Tractor rally left a blood trail and utter mayhem in Delhi as protests turn violent. Bharti Kisan Union Leader Rakesh Tikait clearly mentioned that some farmers made their own decision by splitting from their own union group and did all these kinds of misshapes As mad scenes rocked the capital, we need to address the bigger question that who wanted R-Day Chaos? Do law and order enforcement and intel agencies need to probe the foreign funding angle? The farmers tractor rally had been marred by violence and Internet services have been suspended to the border areas where the agitation was continuing for the last 2 months. Foreign Funding probe looms large as many outside the country have been calling it an opportunity to fight for Indian farmers and earlier this morning members of Khalistani separatist groups along with others were seen in support of farmers outside the Indian embassy in Washington DC on Tuesday. As Red Fort was besieged it showed the actual picture of how lumpens hijacked the Kisaan Rally. It remained pertinent now more than ever to probe how the expenses and such massive large-scale protests have been carrying out over two months. From langar costs to thousands of tractors flagging the capital yesterday who has been funding and mobilize the cause and is there any hidden agenda to hijack the country. Questions regarding funding have been raised throughout the start of the agitation as similar protests have occurred in major American and Canadian cities over the last two months as farmers have been protesting at the Delhi border where many of the protests in the US have been led by the Sikh diaspora living in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the US. Also Read: R-Day tractor rally in Delhi-NCR turns violent: Protestors hoist flags at Red Fort Also Read: India celebrates R-Day: A glance at Indias constitution & what we have managed to achieve in 72 years To aggravate the situation as per multiple media reports many in the crowd across the foreign nations held saffron-colored Khalistan flags and chanted anti-India slogans to register their protests. Panaji, Jan 27 : A day after Goa's Ports Minister Michael Lobo slammed former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar for taking wrong decisions related to the closure of mines and starting a government-backed taxi aggregator service, state BJP President Sadanand Shet Tanavade said on Wednesday that the minister has been warned against making such utterances. "Manohar Parrikar was not just Goa's tallest BJP leader, but he was also a pan-India leader. We have summoned Lobo and warned him against making such comments against Parrikar. Not just Lobo, no one else in the party should make such comments about Parrikar," Tanavade said. "I condemn Lobo's statements. Parrikar contributed a lot for the betterment of Goa," Tanavade told reporters at the state legislative Assembly complex. On Tuesday, Lobo had said that Parrikar's decision to shut down the mining industry in 2012 was a mistake, because of which people in the state's mining belt are still suffering. Mining was first stopped during Parrikar's regime in 2012. The mines sector in Goa continues to be non-functional in the wake of a more recent Supreme Court order in 2018, which observed irregularities in the renewal processes of 88 mining leases in the state. Earlier this week, Lobo had also blamed Parrikar for the ongoing chaos in the taxi sector, saying the former Chief Minister's decision to permit an app-based cab aggregator service in 2018 had angered the influential tourist taxi operators. Over the last one year, the state has witnessed several clashes between drivers associated with the app-based cab aggregator service 'GoaMiles' and the members of the tourist taxi union. Parrikar passed away following a prolonged battle with cancer in 2019. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government has proposed the Parliament to convene an extraordinary session. The session will be convened on February 3, at 11:00. The agenda of the session will include the package of bills on making changes and amendments to the Judicial Code, the Criminal Procedure Code and the Law on Justice Academy, as well as the Law on Social Assistance, etc. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan A Texas father-of-five was shot dead on Friday after he confronted the parents of a teenage boy who had been cyberbullying his 15-year-old daughter on social media, according to his heartbroken family. Brandon Curtis, 35, was shot multiple times in the 10900 block of Spring Brook Pass of the Humble area, according to a statement from the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Authorities said Curtis, who worked as a commercial truck driver, was found shot in the street and succumbed to his injuries at the scene. His wife, Shantal Harris, said that her husband had gone over to the boy's home because their daughter had been bullied by the same teen for the last nine months. She claims the bully would send her daughter messages saying 'I'm gonna beat you up' and 'ho I'm gonna get you', and also posts ridiculing her parents. She says that Curtis went to the boy's house to speak with the alleged bully's parents to try and resolve the situation. Texas father-of-five, Brandon Curtis left and right with his children), 35, was shot dead on Friday after he confronted the parents of a teenage boy who had been cyberbullying his 15-year-old daughter on social media, according to his heartbroken family Authorities have not charged the man with Curtis' death. The sheriff's office will be referring the case to a Harris County grand jury. Curtis Harris is pictured with four of his children His wife, Shantal Harris, said that her husband had gone over to the boy's home because their daughter had been bullied by the same teen for the last nine months. The scene where Curtis Harris was shot of Friday is pictured However, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the fatal shooting occurred when he allegedly took his daughter over to the boy's home to fight other teens. 'I don't feel like it's right to let that come out like that. I'm angry. I'm angry about it,' Harris told ABC 13. 'I know my husband. My husband is not like that.' Curtis' sister, Jeran Perkins, also disputed the claim, saying: 'My brother would never put a hand on a child. We want justice.' Harris said she and her husband spoke with the boy's father about the bullying, and on Friday Curtis, her daughter and son went to speak to the family again. 'When he left from here, my husband went to go resolve the issue. He wanted to go speak to the parent,' Harris told the news station. 'I don't feel like it's right to let that come out like that. I'm angry. I'm angry about it,' Harris (pictured) told ABC 13. 'I know my husband. My husband is not like that' Harris said she and her husband spoke with the boy's father about the bullying, and on Friday Curtis, her daughter and son went to speak to the family again. 'When he left from here, my husband went to go resolve the issue. He wanted to go speak to the parent,' Harris said However, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said the fatal shooting (scene pictured) occurred when he allegedly took his daughter over to the boy's home to fight other teens According to authorities, a 20-year-old man told them Curtis hit his teen brother outside their home. That's when the man went to get a gun to protect his brother and shot Curtis, authorities said. After the shooting, Harris said her daughter received another message that read: 'We all had a fight and killed dey (sic) daddy.' 'For them to claim self- defense, it's sickening,' Harris, said. Authorities have not charged the man with Curtis' death. The sheriff's office will be referring the case to a Harris County grand jury. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea met with her Sudanese counterparts to mull over increasing bilateral trade cooperation when she attended the Khartoum International Fair from 21 to 28 January in the Sudanese capital. Egypt was the guest of honour at the fair, and Gameas meetings were part of Egypts determination to open a new page in its trade relations with Sudan. Topping the agenda at the meetings was renewing the licence for the Egyptian Trade Centre in Sudan, this helping to make Egyptian goods available to Sudanese consumers at a lower cost and in a shorter time. Gamea met with Madani Abbas Madani, Sudans minister of industry and trade, and Hashim Mohamed bin Auf, minister of infrastructure and transport, to discuss opportunities for economic cooperation and developments in the commercial, industrial, and transport sectors. One of the main challenges facing Egyptian exporters and hindering the flow of trade was the sometimes poor quality of the road network in Sudan, a member of the Egyptian-Sudanese Business Council told Al-Ahram Weekly. He said that the Egyptian governments intention to establish an integrated transportation company to establish regular transport lines with Sudan would boost bilateral trade, since Egyptian exporters have great potential in Sudanese markets if they can overcome transport problems. According to Gamea, trade between Egypt and Sudan last year reached $862 million, $496 million of which were Egyptian exports to Sudan and $366 million were imports. The most important items traded between the two countries are chemicals, manufactured products, machinery and equipment, food products, textiles, transportation materials, livestock, and agricultural products. Trade with Sudan is already on the rise. In 2019, trade exchanges between Egypt and Sudan recorded around $675 million, up from around $611 million in 2018, an increase of 10.4 per cent. Egyptian exports to Sudan made up 1.5 per cent of total Egyptian exports in 2019, while imports from Sudan were 5.1 per cent of total Sudanese exports. Plastic products were prominent on Egypts export list to Sudan in 2019. Exports worth around $81 million were recorded in 2019, up from around $77 million in 2018. Egypts exports to Sudan represent about four per cent of its total plastic exports. Iron and steel come second on the list of Egypts exports to Sudan, with fertilisers occupying third place followed by glass, utensils, and pharmaceutical products. Constituting almost 98 per cent of Sudans exports to Egypt in 2019 were seeds and fruit, livestock, cotton, and meat. In August 2020, Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli travelled to Sudan to discuss with Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok the transport challenges facing Egyptian exporters to Sudan. They agreed on the need to restructure the Nile Valley Authority for Riverine Navigation (NVARN) to increase its efficiency and upgrade its fleet. NVARN is an Egyptian-Sudanese organisation that transports passengers as well as goods. It was established in 1975 as the only international transporter working on Lake Nasser. Egypt and Sudan have also discussed a project to link the railways of the two countries to increase economic and trade cooperation, develop maritime navigation, and update the cooperation agreement on land transport between Cairo and Khartoum. Madboulis visit to Sudan resulted in an agreement to remove obstacles hindering the flow of trade, especially concerning roads leading to land ports. Putting this deal into effect will be a crucial step in achieving economic integration between Egypt and Sudan. Some 21 Egyptian companies participated in this months Khartoum International Fair, regarding it as an opportunity to increase their exports to Sudan. The companies specialised in the commercial and service sectors as well as in engineering, food, construction, chemicals, crops, and leather. Ahmed Gaber, a member of the Egyptian-Sudanese Business Council, said that despite the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) agreements to which Egypt and Sudan are signatories, there are still 54 Egyptian products on which customs are imposed when entering Sudan, constituting a hindrance to Egyptian exports. Regulations related to the Covid-19 currently prevent vehicle traffic across the Egyptian-Sudanese border. Exporters offload their cargoes on the border, from where they are transported by the other countrys vehicles. A problem facing Sudanese importers is a shortage of foreign currency, which affects their ability to import Egyptian products, Gaber said. Were the Egyptian and Sudanese central banks to reach an agreement on credit arrangements, Egyptian exports could win the lions share of Sudans imports, estimated at $7 billion annually. The establishment of an Egyptian industrial zone in Sudan was another topic of discussion at the meetings between Gamea and her Sudanese counterparts. A feasibility study of the zone has been completed and is awaiting input from the Sudanese side, she said. The industrial zone is expected to attract Egyptian investments into Sudan, Gamea said. According to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Sudans investments in Egypt were $1.9 million in 2018-19, up from $300,000 in 2017-18, an increase of 53.3 per cent. These investments are in the fields of industry, finance, services, agriculture, construction, tourism, and communications. Egypt established 229 projects in Sudan between 2000 and 2013, representing a total investment of $10.8 billion. The projects focused on the industrial, agricultural, and service sectors. The moves to boost prospects for bilateral cooperation with Sudan are part of Egypts desire to bolster cooperation with the African countries in the infrastructure, electricity, agricultural, industrial, and irrigation sectors. Sudan is Egypts southern gateway to Africa, making it even more necessary for the two countries to cooperate fully in boosting their respective roles on the African continent. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: Drill hole LRGO-20-005 intersected 43.0m averaging 322.7 g/t AgEq consisting of 49.0 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 0.45% Cu, 2.99% Pb and 4.69% Zn, including 14.3m of 537.8 g/t AgEq. Drill hole LRGO-20-002, 400m away from LRGO-20-005, intersected 63.4m of 171.0 g/t AgEq consisting of 75.8 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 0.16% Cu, 3.00% Pb, and 0.14% Zn, including 6.7m of 685.9 g/t AgEq. See Figures 2 and 3 for drill hole locations. "We are really excited about this new discovery which is 1.2km to the west of the El Favor deposit. These are the first holes that have ever been drilled in this area of Los Ricos North. These strong results further strengthen our belief that Los Ricos North is a very large mineralized system," said Brad Langille, President and CEO. "For Los Ricos we see 2021 being a year where more resources may be defined, and there is the potential for further discoveries like El Orito. " The El Orito deposit is located about 1,200 meters to the west along strike from the El Favor deposit and continues westward for 1,000 meters (see Figure 1). In the fall of 2020, geological mapping teams observed several areas of historical mine workings and found several outcrops of silver and gold bearing quartz veins within a 50m wide by 750m long zone of silicification and epithermal alteration. A nearby second zone of quartz veining was found within a 35m wide by 700m long zone of silicification which was about 300m to the south of and parallel to the first vein. Both zones are dipping steeply to the north between -70 to -75 degrees. The known strike length of the El Orito El Favor structure is now approaching 2,500 meters and is still open in both directions. The surface topography at El Orito is 400 to 500m lower compared to El Favor and is allowing the exploration team to see this large mineralized structure over a vertical height of 750 meters when measured from the surface outcrops at El Favor to the intersections in the El Orito drill holes. The drilling at El Favor has only tested the first 200m down dip and over the coming weeks and months the exploration team will continue to explore the silver and gold zones at El Favor, La Trini and many of the other targets in Los Ricos North. The team will also focus on the significant El Orito silver/gold-base-metal sulfide discovery. The first three holes (LRGO-20-001, 002 and 003) were drilled from the same collar at dips of -45, -60 and -75 degrees to test the down dip continuity of the mineralization of the first deposit. Hole LRGO-20-004 was moved about 25m to the east and hole LRGO-20-005 was collared along strike about 400m to the west of holes 1, 2 and 3. Hole LRGO-20-006 was collared to test the second zone of alteration. (See Figure 2 for a map of the drill hole locations). Detailed intersections are listed in Table 1 with drill hole locations included in Table 2. A plan view of El Orito, El Favor, Casados, and Mololoa is included as Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the El Orito area and the drill hole locations. Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section of El Orito and El Favor. Table 1: Drill Hole Intersections Hole ID Area From To Length1 Ag Au Cu Pb Zn AgEq2 (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (%) (%) (%) (g/t) LRGO-20-001 El Orito 158.5 189.6 31.1 34.6 0.11 0.03 0.61 0.08 62.6 including 166.5 171.1 4.6 108.5 0.56 0.05 1.79 0.02 199.2 LRGO-20-002 El Orito3 150.0 216.0 63.4 75.8 0.06 0.16 3.00 0.14 171.0 including 152.0 175.0 23.0 169.7 0.10 0.29 7.46 0.07 384.4 including 153.8 159.1 5.3 267.0 0.23 0.22 11.47 0.07 578.6 including 164.3 171.0 6.7 320.1 0.11 0.15 14.37 0.08 685.9 LRGO-20-003 El Orito 206.4 268.9 62.6 12.7 0.02 0.08 0.65 2.12 107.4 including 207.3 224.0 16.8 28.4 0.04 0.21 2.04 3.12 203.5 including 216.8 224.0 7.2 51.3 0.06 0.14 4.49 3.06 277.3 LRGO-20-004 El Orito 213.1 264.3 51.2 15.9 0.04 0.07 0.64 2.07 110.0 including 216.4 226.9 10.5 35.5 0.09 0.16 0.82 2.08 146.4 including 251.6 256.5 4.9 41.2 0.15 0.18 1.56 2.91 203.6 LRGO-20-005 El Orito4 177.8 225.5 43.0 49.0 0.05 0.45 2.98 4.69 322.7 including 196.1 210.4 14.3 84.7 0.11 0.83 4.78 7.57 537.8 LRGO-20-006 El Orito 137.5 155.0 17.6 35.3 0.05 0.10 0.88 1.12 106.7 including 151.1 155.0 3.9 74.6 0.08 0.11 1.26 2.47 203.0 1. Not true width 2. AqEq converted using a silver to gold ratio of 75:1. Copper, Lead and Zinc converted using $3.66/lb, $0.90/lb and $1.26/lb at 100% recoveries based on a silver price of $26.00/oz 3. Excludes 2.6m of historically mined void 4. Excludes 4.7m of historically mined void Table 2: Drill Hole Locations Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Length LRGO-20-001 583860 2336830 890 210 -45 197.5 LRGO-20-002 583860 2336830 890 210 -60 249.5 LRGO-20-003 583860 2336830 890 210 -75 340.0 LRGO-20-004 583843 2336844 947 210 -65 334.6 LRGO-20-005 583553 2336960 851 210 -65 245.6 LRGO-20-006 583480 2336740 790 210 -55 180.3 VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation VRIFY is a platform being used by companies to communicate with investors using 360 virtual tours of remote mining assets, 3D models and interactive presentations. VRIFY can be accessed by website and with the VRIFY iOS and Android apps. Access the GoGold Company Profile on VRIFY at: https://vrify.com The VRIFY Slide Deck and 3D Presentation for GoGold can be viewed at: https://vrify.com/explore/decks/9404 and on the Company's website at: www.gogoldresources.com. Los Ricos District Exploration Projects The Company's two exploration projects at its Los Ricos property are in Jalisco state, Mexico. The Los Ricos South Project began in March 2019 and includes the 'Main' area, which is focused on drilling around a number of historical mines including El Abra, El Troce, San Juan, and Rascadero, as well as the Cerro Colorado, Las Lamas and East Vein targets. An initial resource on the Los Ricos South project was announced on July 29, 2020 and indicated a Measured & Indicated Mineral Resource of 63.7 million ounces AgEq grading 199 g/t AgEq contained in 10.0 million tonnes, and an Inferred Resource of 19.9 million ounces AgEq grading 190 g/t AgEq contained in 3.3 million tonnes. An initial PEA on the project was announced on January 20, 2021 indicating an NPV 5% of US$295M. The Los Ricos North Project was launched in March 2020 and includes drilling at the El Favor, La Trini, and El Orito targets. During 2020, GoGold's exploration team identified over 100 targets on the Los Ricos North properties, demonstrating the significant exploration potential. The Company plans to drill 10 of these targets as part of its 2021 drilling program which is planned to exceed 100,000 metres of drilling and will be one of the largest in Mexico. Procedure, Quality Assurance / Quality Control and Data Verification The diamond drill core (HQ size) is geologically logged, photographed and marked for sampling. When the sample lengths are determined, the full core is sawn with a diamond blade core saw with one half of the core being bagged and tagged for assay. The remaining half portion is returned to the core trays for storage and/or for metallurgical test work. The sealed and tagged sample bags are transported to the ActLabs facility in Zacatecas, Mexico. ActLabs crushes the samples and prepares 200-300 gram pulp samples with ninety percent passing Tyler 150 mesh (106m). The pulps are assayed for gold using a 50-gram charge by fire assay (Code 1A2-50) and over limits greater than 10 grams per tonne are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code 1A3-50). Silver and multi-element analysis is completed using total digestion (Code 1F2 Total Digestion ICP). Over limits greater than 100 grams per tonne silver are re-assayed using a gravimetric finish (Code 8-Ag FA-GRAV Ag). Quality assurance and quality control ("QA/QC") procedures monitor the chain-of-custody of the samples and includes the systematic insertion and monitoring of appropriate reference materials (certified standards, blanks and duplicates) into the sample strings. The results of the assaying of the QA/QC material included in each batch are tracked to ensure the integrity of the assay data. All results stated in this announcement have passed GoGold's QA/QC protocols. Mr. David Duncan, P. Geo. is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information of this release. About GoGold Resources GoGold Resources (TSX: GGD) is a Canadian-based silver and gold producer focused on operating, developing, exploring and acquiring high quality projects in Mexico. The Company operates the Parral Tailings mine in the state of Chihuahua and has the Los Ricos South and Los Ricos North exploration projects in the state of Jalisco. Headquartered in Halifax, NS, GoGold is building a portfolio of low cost, high margin projects. For more information visit gogoldresources.com. CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except in compliance with the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or pursuant to exemptions therefrom. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy of any of GoGold's securities in the United States. This news release may contain "forward-looking information" as defined in applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Los Ricos South and North projects, and future plans and objectives of GoGold, including the intention to undertake further exploration at Los Ricos North, constitute forward looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such information but which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions in connection with the continuance of GoGold and its subsidiaries as a going concern, general economic and market conditions, mineral prices, the accuracy of mineral resource estimates, and the performance of the Parral project. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from GoGold's expectations include exploration and development risks associated with GoGold's projects, the failure to establish estimated mineral resources or mineral reserves, volatility of commodity prices, variations of recovery rates, and global economic conditions. For additional information with respect to risk factors applicable to GoGold, reference should be made to GoGold's continuous disclosure materials filed from time to time with securities regulators, including, but not limited to, GoGold's Annual Information Form. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date of this release. SOURCE GoGold Resources Inc. 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We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Twin brothers Jensen and Jackson Mejia are bursting with passion as they start a cannabis delivery company called Florencia, a process that just became a little bit easier with the help of a $25,000 equity grant from NETA. Jensen said he saw the cannabis industry as a chance to build something of his own from scratch. Jackson was an ideal partner as his twin, but also for his experience as an attorney. The two have been working on getting Florencia started since incorporating last year and Jensen is part of the states social equity program, designed to offer training for people who were disproportionate affected by the War on Drugs. We have all these career ideas, but sometimes money gets in the way, and resources, Jackson said in an interview. Jensen has been the eyes and ears, always looking for ways to bridge that gap, Jackson said. Jensen saw a MassLive story about NETAs grant program, offering $25,000 for the purchase of security equipment to economic empowerment or social equity cannabis licensees, and applied. NETA announced Tuesday that the brothers had been awarded the grant and plans to present the funds next week. Its a leg up, its a good start, Jackson said. Were also getting our story out there, which is amazing. The brothers came to the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1991 and moved to Worcester with their family. We grew up in Worcester and grew up poor, Jackson said. Were a family of six children, single mother who worked daycare out of [our] home just to take care of us. For us, theres not a lot of resources to draw on. The name Florencia is a nod to their mothers maiden name, Florencio. Jensen and Jackson Mejia have received a $25,000 equity grant from NETA to purchase security equipment for their cannabis delivery company, Florencia. Photo courtesy of NETA. Jackson said the brothers were in shock to receive such a large sum, even though theyll still need a lot more to run a cannabis company. Its costly to break into the industry and because cannabis remains illegal on the federal level, obtaining capital remains a challenge, particularly for underrepresented business owners. The Mejia brothers are impressive entrepreneurs who share NETAs commitment to promote social responsibility and inclusion in their workplace and in the cannabis industry, said Kim Napoli, the senior director of corporate social responsibility and community affairs for Parallel, of which NETA is a division. Theyre just the picture of intention, of hopefulness, of desire, all of these things, it was just screaming through their application. Their backstory is really enthralling and primarily the desire that they have, the intention and what we perceive as the ability to succeed is really what said to us this is the right team to go with. NETA plans to make the grant program annual as part of its positive impact plan. About 12 companies applied for the first round of the grant, Napoli said. Theres a real need, especially in Massachusetts, to make good on the required positive impact plans that all operators have. Theres a real need for equity to finally be realized in the cannabis industry, Napoli said. This is one way that as a larger operator were able to really use our resources to benefit a company that otherwise might not have the resources to do this. Jensen said he feels the grant shows that NETA understands the importance of equity in the industry. NETA has gone above and beyond for us, Jensen said. They believe that this can happen with us, NETAs enhanced that for us. Were very thankful. The brothers have applied for pre-certification for a marijuana courier license, but now have their sights set on a delivery operator license, which is seen as a more financially viable option. The state Cannabis Control Commission is still preparing the application for that newly-approved license type. Delivery licenses are limited to equity applicants for the first three years. After reaching out to a number of municipalities, the Mejias plan to operate in Uxbridge, pending final town approvals. They chose the Central Massachusetts town because it has been welcoming to cannabis businesses, Jensen Mejia said. Carolines Cannabis, the first women-owned cannabis business in Massachusetts, is located in Uxbridge. Their younger brother Ardwin, a U.S. Marine, plans to join Jensen and Jacksons business when he returns from his current military duties. The twins are excited to have their brothers expertise help with safety and security. Because we get to bring in his experience, and NETA has given us an opportunity to bring that in, the grant is a huge positive, Jensen. Vans for delivery require quite a bit of security, including locking mechanisms and storage. Drivers are required to wear body cameras, as well. Were going to make sure we have the best and greatest security, Jackson said. Its a great start to whats going to be a very important part of the business. Jensen said the brothers want to make sure they do everything right the first time, with no cutting corners. Being a part of the social equity program has been an asset, Jensen said. He said the CCC has answered questions quickly and has been a valuable resource. For now, the brothers have been focused on the regulatory process. Soon, theyll start thinking about what kinds of cannabis products they want to deliver. The twins see Florencia as a way to bring together their family, build strong roots in the U.S. and live up to the social equity program. Whether or not its because theyre twins, Jensen said he has the utmost faith in his brother and knows that together they can achieve their dream. Its a weird thing when youve grown up with someone and you just know that person so well that you also know how theyre going to react, Jackson said. I wouldnt do this, I dont think, with anybody else. Related Content: Lawmakers want to introduce ethics rules for debt collectors in Ukraine Some 355 MPs voted for the bill with a required minimum of 226 votes. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. The movement came after Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, abandoned his insistence that Democrats commit to keeping the filibuster, a demand that had effectively held hostage their ability to take control of Senate panels as the new majority. Mr. McConnell ultimately capitulated based on assurances from two centrist Democratic senators who have long said they would not join their party in any effort to overturn the filibuster and whose opposition would prevent Democrats from doing so in a Senate split 50 to 50. But his surrender did not mollify progressive activists who have long clamored for Senate Democrats to curb the procedural weapon. They promised to keep the pressure on in their campaign to end the filibuster which effectively requires 60 votes to advance legislation through advertising and other advocacy efforts. It is a good win, but it is also just a start, said Stasha Rhodes, campaign director for the District of Columbia statehood group 51 for 51 and a leader of the Just Democracy coalition, an assembly of dozens of racial and social justice organizations seeking structural changes in American government. It was the first battle in a very long war. We didnt win the election to lose the next four years. Just Democracy was behind a new billboard in Times Square urging the abolishment of the filibuster, calling it a Jim Crow relic in an effort to tie it in the publics mind to its past use by segregationist lawmakers to block civil rights legislation. Though Mr. McConnell expressed confidence in the pro-filibuster pledges by the Democratic Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, he seemed to recognize that the fight was far from over. In a detailed floor speech, he painted a grim picture of the Senate should Democrats try to change the filibuster, promising that Republicans would use their minority muscle to paralyze the chamber in response. The outcome, he said, would doom the Democratic agenda. 1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone. 2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea. 3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials. 4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied. Vote View Results Apple is urging users to update devices with the latest iOS 14.4 to fix three security vulnerabilities that may have been actively exploited by hackers. The tech giant released a statement on its Apple Support page that shows two bugs were identified in Webkit, the browser engine that powers Safari and one in the core operating system, Kernel. The Kernel flaw was described as a race condition that can allow malicious applications to elevate privileges, but the update fixes it with improved locking. Vulnerabilities in WebKit have been rectified with improved restrictions, but without the update hackers could remotely access devices to cause arbitrary code execution, Apple states. Scroll down for video Apple is urging users to update devices with the latest iOS 14.4 to fix three security vulnerabilities that may have been actively exploited by hackers. The update can be accessed in Settings, General and then Software Update Apple rarely announces issues with its systems that could be used by bad actors in malicious activity, but the tech giant is open to receiving reports from others who find a security of privacy vulnerability. The firms site shows an anonymous researcher spotted the flaws codenamed CVE-2021-1782, CVE-2021-1871 and CVE-2021-1870. Along with fixing the bugs, iOS 14.4 includes other updates for keyboard lag and allows devices to read smaller QR codes. Apple does pride itself on a security system, but that does not mean the technology is immune to problems. The tech giant released a statement on its Apple Support page that shows two bugs were identified in Webkit, the browser engine that powers Safari and one in the core operating system, Kernel In 2019, Googles Project Zero found several vulnerabilities in iMessage, with some allowing hackers to send malicious codes via text that granted them access to the device when opened. Other bugs leveraged a flaw in iOS memory and allowed attackers to hoover data from the phone onto a remote device. And a few months later, Googles research group uncovered an 'indiscriminate' hacking operation that targeted iPhones using websites to implant malicious software to access photos, user locations and other data. 'Simply visiting the hacked site was enough for the exploit server to attack your device, and if it was successful, install a monitoring implant,' said Project Zero's Ian Beer. However, Apple responded to the report by calling it misleading and inaccurate. Apple spokesman Fred Sainz said in a statement the research released by Google created a 'false impression' that large numbers of iPhone users may have been compromised. Sainz said that contrary to what Google claimed, the incident was a 'narrowly focused' attack which affected 'fewer than a dozen websites that focus on content related to the Uighur community, an ethnic minority in China. Apple recently shared another warning regarding its iPhone 12, which notifies users with pacemakers not to bring their iPhone close to their breast. The Kernel flaw was described as a race condition that can allow malicious applications to elevate privileges, but the update fixes it with improved locking. Vulnerabilities in WebKit have been rectified with improved restrictions, but without the update hackers could remotely access devices to cause arbitrary code execution' The firm's latest devices feature a technology called MagSafe, which uses in-built magnets to firmly attach accessories like wireless chargers and wallets to the back of the phones. iPhone 12 devices, released in October last year, also contain components and radios that emit electromagnetic fields. Apple confirmed the risk applies to all iPhone 12 models iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and the two MagSafe chargers, the MagSafe Charger and the foldable MagSafe Duo Charger. A phoenix-themed memorial for late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa was inaugurated at the Marina here by chief minister K Palaniswami on Wednesday, three years after he laid its foundation stone along with his deputy O Panneerselvam. Amid slogans hailing the former AIADMK supremo by party supporters, Palaniswami inaugurated the memorial as Panneerslevam and Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal joined him. The three later paid floral tributes, with Palaniswami and Panneerselvam prostrating at the spot, where she was laid to rest on December 5, 2016 after her death. The three also paid tributes to a huge portrait of Jayalalithaa at the memorial. Palaniswami and Panneerselvam in May 2018 had jointly laid the foundation stone for the memorial adjacent to that of party founder and late chief minister M G Ramachandran located on the Marina Beach at Kamarajar Salai. Ministers, MPs, MLAs and senior party leaders were present. The state government had earlier earmarked Rs 50 crore for constructing the phoenix-themed memorial for Jayalalithaa, fondly addressed as 'Amma' (Mother) by her supporters. Huge crowd of supporters thronged the Kamarajar Salai to witness the inauguration of the memorial. State Superintendent Eric Mackey told legislators today about efforts to use education funds, including the latest round of federal dollars provided by Congress for COVID-19 relief, to help students make up the learning time theyve missed because of the pandemic. Mackey gave a presentation and answered questions at the State House as lawmakers began budget hearings in preparations for the legislative session, which starts Feb. 2. The most recent coronavirus relief package from Congress, approved in December, will send $899 million to Alabama for public schools. The money is in addition to what Alabama received to support education last spring from the Coronavirus Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Mackey said the law requires that 90%, or about $800 million, go to local school systems for needs related to the pandemic, including helping students make up the learning they have lost because of pandemic disruptions. Schools can also use the money, called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, to improve facilities and infrastructure to reduce the risk of spreading the virus, and to purchase education technology. Mackey said the State Department of Education is asking school districts to offer expanded classroom time and tutoring for students. He said school districts will apply for the federal funds as reimbursements for the costs of those programs. We are requiring them to do an application and a plan and a budget to tell us how they intend to spend the money to at least show that all the districts have taken time to think through the process, Mackey said. We are asking them to focus the vast majority of that on learning loss. Either extending the school year, before- and after-school tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and those kind of things. The state has until September 2023 to spend the funds, Mackey said. Mackey said teachers are reporting that students are struggling academically because of the loss of classroom time and routine caused by the virus. We havent done the big state assessment at the end of the year, Mackey said. But the best information we get is from what teachers are doing in the classroom. And theyre telling us that students are falling behind in many areas. A lot of that has to do with being quarantined, being in and out of school, the lack of continuity. We know from early childhood psychology that one thing children need is consistency. Ten percent of the $899 million will go to statewide programs. Mackey said some of that will be used for professional development for teachers. He said the intent overall is to use most of the almost $90 million to improve math learning in early grades. The superintendent explained several other areas where the pandemic has affected schools and the budget request for the 2022 fiscal year. Mackey presented an overall budget request of $5.2 billion for 2022, almost 10% more than this year. Included in that is $4.4 billion for local school systems, an increase of 6.7% over this year. The rest would go to the State Department of Education and other programs. Other funding issues Mackey discussed today were related to the pandemic. Total public school enrollment in Alabama fell by 9,760 students in fall 2020 as compared to the previous year, about a 1.3% drop, to about 718,000. State funding to local school systems is based on enrollment. As part of its budget request, the State Department of Education proposed offsetting any funding cuts to local districts caused by reduced enrollment with a one-time subsidy to close the gap and prevent having to reduce the number of teachers and staff for what is not expected to be a permanent loss of students. We believe that the vast majority of those 9,700 students will be back in the fall, Mackey said. Some of them have already come back. What we dont want is to have at the end of this year school districts saying that because of state funding, Im going to have to lay off teachers, and then they come back and have overcrowded classrooms in the fall and have to hire teachers again. Were trying to introduce consistency to the program. So, what this does is it takes that gap and just fills the hole. Mackey said most school districts lost enrollment this year. The reductions hit every grade statewide except seventh, eighth, 10th, and 11th, according to a chart from the Department of Education. The biggest drop was in kindergarten, which had about 53,000 students, 3,000 fewer that last year. Kindergarten is not mandatory in Alabama. Overall, the proposed budget would apply $95 million to the COVID-19 hold harmless/staff stabilization allocation. The budget request for school nurses next year is $60 million, almost double this years $34 million allocation. Mackey said the pandemic reinforced the value of having nurses on campuses. Statewide, there are 804 registered nurses and 600 licensed practical nurses in schools. Mackey said some large schools have four, five, or six nurses but some schools have to share nurses or have a single LPN. Barbara Cooper, secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, presented a budget request of $160 million, $28 million more than this year. Most of that increase, $24 million, would go to the states prekindergarten program, First Class, which would receive a total of $151 million. The National Institute for Early Education Research has recognized First Class for meeting every quality benchmark for prekindergarten programs for 14 straight years. The program is available to 37% of Alabama 4-year-olds. The requested funding increase would raise that to 44% and provide access to 3,000 children on a waiting list. Cooper said the goal is to increase access to 70% by 2026. Chief Executive Carrie Lam On January 25 last year, the first day of the Chinese New Year, after returning to Hong Kong from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, I immediately started to lead the work against the COVID-19 epidemic. In what seems like the blink of an eye, a year has passed. The COVID-19 epidemic continues its global rampage, with confirmed cases approaching 100 million and the death toll exceeding two million. Economies around the world have been hard-hit. Everyone hopes that the vaccines can be widely applied as soon as possible so that we can start to emerge from this predicament. Compared with the Mainland, Macau and Taiwan, epidemic control in Hong Kong has fallen short of expectations. However, from an international perspective, we have managed to keep the epidemic in check. As of midnight on January 26, the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong was 10,223, which is less than some 130 other countries or regions; the number of cases per million people was 1,360, or about one-tenth of the global average of 12,740; in terms of testing volume, the number of tests conducted per million people was 901,940, which ranks among the top in the world. Nevertheless, the volatile epidemic situation over the past year, as well as stringent border control measures to guard against imported cases and social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the virus in the community, have led Hong Kongs tourism and hospitality sectors into an ice age. Many industries have been hard-hit and the unemployment rate has continued to rise. Therefore, the most important task of the Government at present is to suppress the epidemic so that our people can resume a normal life and our economy can return to an upward trend. How the epidemic has developed For the latest wave of the epidemic that began in late November, following the implementation of various anti-epidemic measures, the number of confirmed cases had been declining slowly from its peak in mid-December, with the seven-day average number of daily cases dropping to less than 40 by early January. However, infection clusters that emerged later on led to a spread of the virus in densely populated old districts, causing a rebound in the number of confirmed cases. On January 18, for the first time in a month, the number of cases again exceeded 100 in a single day. In recent days, the number of daily cases has been hovering at high double digits. Analysed by district, Yau Tsim Mong has the largest number of confirmed cases, with this single district accounting for more than one-third of all cases in Hong Kong. Apart from the cluster of cases, the dense population and large number of old buildings and subdivided units are believed to have caused of the spread of the virus in the district. Moreover, as we have strengthened compulsory testing efforts, more cases (especially infected persons with no symptoms) have been identified, resulting in a further increase in cases. Anti-epidemic efforts Because of the rebound of the epidemic, we cannot allow any error in our anti-epidemic work. The Government has already put in place the most stringent measures yet to tackle the current wave. We have stepped up testing efforts, including exercising statutory powers to mandate citizens to undergo testing. For any building in Hong Kong, if two unrelated confirmed cases are found, residents of the entire building, or those who had been present at the building for more than two hours in the past 14 days, would be required to undergo compulsory testing. For buildings within the higher-risk specified areas, the threshold for compulsory testing has been lowered from two cases to one. Closed community compulsory testing has been also carried out in restricted areas with even higher risks. Together with other kinds of testing on a mandatory, obligatory and voluntary basis, the number of tests arranged by the Government since November 15 has exceeded 3.1 million, which is 85% of the total number of tests over the preceding 10 months. Preparing for vaccination at full steam Vaccination remains the worlds greatest hope to help contain the epidemic. Over the past month, the Hong Kong SAR Government has been working at full steam to prepare our vaccination programme. Our goal is to arrange vaccination for the public as soon as possible according to priority groups and upon approval of vaccines for use and their arrival in Hong Kong. The Department of Health (DH) has been liaising closely with the three vaccine suppliers with which we have signed advance purchase agreements to follow up on data provision and to strive for the early supply of vaccines to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, we continue to approach a fourth vaccine supplier based on the strategy recommended by experts in the hope of purchasing a fourth type of vaccine developed from a different technology platform. Apart from this, the central government has earlier said that it will support Hong Kong in ensuring the supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Where necessary, it will reserve a certain number of vaccines developed or manufactured in the Mainland for use by Hong Kong citizens. I have already made a request to the central government in this regard. Consolidating Experience COVID-19 is a new virus that we still do not know much about. In the beginning, the anti-epidemic facilities and supplies in Hong Kong were inadequate, the social unrest had not completely ended and there were street violence, political smears, false news etc. All this made the fight against the virus extremely difficult. However, with the all-out efforts of anti-epidemic personnel and the co-operation of residents, Hong Kong has successfully overcome wave after wave of the epidemic, and achieved zero local infections on many days. All that time, we have never used the extreme measures seen elsewhere such as a citywide lockdown or curfew. Our society has maintained a certain degree of operation, and our public healthcare system has not collapsed due to overload. Looking at the global situation, these anti-epidemic results are by no means guaranteed, or due to chance. Over the past year, Hong Kongs anti-epidemic strategy has covered the following eight major areas: (I) Acting in accordance with the law A public health crisis is a matter of life and death and time is of the essence, yet the Hong Kong SAR is a society that believes deeply in the rule of law, and all measures adopted by the Government must have a solid legal foundation. As such, the Hong Kong SAR Government has invoked the Prevention & Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap 599 of the Laws of Hong Kong) to introduce 10 specific regulations at different times to regulate the operation of premises, entry into Hong Kong, provision of personal information, mask wearing, group gathering, virus tests, the use of vaccines etc, and amended the regulations as needed. We will not hesitate to use our statutory powers to implement anti-epidemic measures and will continue to take law enforcement actions against offenders. (II) Professional leadership Apart from colleagues of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the DH, I, on the first day of taking up the reins of anti-epidemic efforts, appointed four experts - Prof Gabriel Leung, Prof Yuen Kwok-yung, Prof David Hui and Prof Keiji Fukuda - to form an expert advisory group to advise the Hong Kong SAR Government. We have been paying regular attention to the advice of the World Health Organization to different places and maintaining communication and co-operation with the National Health Commission as well as various provinces and cities on joint prevention and control of COVID-19. Experts of the two places had also met to exchange views. In light of the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines, we have consulted the Scientific Committees under the DH on vaccine procurement. We also recently made appointments to the Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines and the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation, which will provide advice on the efficacy and safety of individual vaccines, and perform continuous monitoring of possible adverse effects following administration of the vaccines respectively. When planning the vaccination programme, we have invited two former heads of the CHP to join. Some have criticised me for excessively heeding the advice of experts. Nevertheless, public health is a subject about theory and practice, and the fight against the virus should be based on science. (III) Facilities and accessories Hong Kong has always relied on imports of anti-epidemic supplies, as there is almost no local production. However, when the Mainland, the worlds (and also Hong Kongs) largest supplier of such goods, was also facing a shortage of supplies, there emerged tremendous difficulties with local supply. To this end, in the early period of the epidemic, we took the enhancement of our capability and facilities as an integral part of our work. This included subsidising local research and development and production of face masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment, constructing more temporary quarantine centres, and converting AsiaWorld-Expo into community treatment facilities and dedicated quarantine facility for the elderly of residential care homes. With the support of the central government, we have an additional 950 beds in the community treatment facilities at AsiaWorld-Expo and a brand new North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre nearby, which can accommodate about 820 negative pressure beds when opened, which provides our medical system with sufficient capability to fight the epidemic. (IV) Application of technology The current-term Hong Kong SAR Government has been keen to develop innovation and technology and has set up research and development teams and social networks, enabling it to respond to an emergency situation in no time. In the current fight against the epidemic, items widely used include the electronic wristbands for monitoring persons under quarantine and the StayHomeSafe app; the LeaveHomeSafe QR code and app for assisting in tracing close contacts of confirmed cases; the Local Situation Dashboard to keep the public abreast of the latest information on cases; the CuMask that can be reused dozens of times and were provided for free to the public; the reagent for rapid tests and the building sewage testing technology that help detect confirmed cases. With a view to helping businesses continue to operate amid the epidemic, the Government has allocated $1.9 billion to roll out the Distance Business Programme to subsidise businesses to adopt solutions such as cyber security, electronic payment and online conferencing, and subsidise merchants of small businesses to switch to electronic payment systems. The construction of the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre used modular integrated construction technology which drastically shortened the construction time. (V) Information transparency When anti-epidemic work started, I instructed that it be carried out with the greatest transparency. The latest and accurate information on the epidemic situation should be conveyed to the public quickly and effectively. Since the beginning of the anti-epidemic work, press conferences hosted daily at 4.30pm by the CHP and the Hospital Authority (HA) and those held by me and the secretaries of department and directors of bureau have totalled 550. The Information Services Department has issued over 3,000 press releases and about 5,000 posts on various social media platforms. I have also provided bilingual reports on the Government's anti-epidemic work. Including this one, I have provided 12 such reports over the past year. (VI) Precise Testing As the World Health Organization has reiterated, virus tests are the key to anti-epidemic efforts prior to the availability and extensive use of effective vaccines. As a matter of fact, the testing capability of the Hong Kong SAR Government was a serious bottleneck in the anti-epidemic work. At the beginning, our testing capability amounted to only several thousand tests per day from the DH and the HA plus the limited service of private laboratories. With the introduction of major laboratories of the Mainland under the support of the central government, and through the effort of various parties, current testing capacities have been increased to approximately 100,000 tests per day (without sample pooling). However, to give full play to our testing capability, we have a lot of work to do in respect of specimen collection, transportation and logistics, and timely release of testing results. With the staunch support of the central government, the 14-day Universal Community Testing Programme was launched in September last year and over 1,700,000 members of the public took the test. Currently, our three-pronged approach to enhance testing includes:- (1) Testing on a compulsory basis: Specified persons are required under the law to complete tests within a specified time. This has covered over 500 premises/buildings visited by persons who are confirmed cases/where persons who are confirmed cases live or the sewage of which tested positive, persons with symptoms in seeking medical treatment, staff of homes for the elderly, hostels for the disabled and nursing homes, as well as taxi drivers. In this connection, the Government has set up 19 community testing centers in various districts. In response to the recent epidemic situation, we have substantially increased the issue of compulsory testing notices to buildings and imposed closed community compulsory testing on two restricted areas in Jordan and Yau Ma Tei. (2) Testing on an obligatory basis: Over the past few months, the relevant government departments have been providing free testing services for high-exposure groups (such as public transport drivers and stall operators in markets) and staff of critical infrastructure and services (such as slaughterhouse workers and designated frontline container terminal employees). More than 1.3 million specimens have been tested. Such testing schemes will be further enhanced; and (3) Testing on a voluntary basis: As with the Universal Community Testing Programme, some members of the public wish to take tests for ease of mind, even though they are asymptomatic or do not belong to the target groups. The Hong Kong SAR Government has now provided specimen collection packs in 47 general outpatient clinics, 121 post offices and 20 major MTR stations to meet public needs as far as possible. (VII) Bold adjustment to social distancing measures Reducing the flow of people and social contact is an effective way to prevent the spread of disease. Some countries and regions have taken stringent measures such as a complete city lockdown and stay-at-home orders. Having regard to Hong Kongs social situation and to maintain normal operation as an international financial centre, the Hong Kong SAR Government has not yet adopted these stringent measures. Instead, we have taken into account the epidemic development to adjust the measures so that commercial activities, social activities, work and school classes can be maintained to a certain extent. Since the outbreak of the latest wave of epidemic in late November 2020, the Government has raised all social distancing measures to the strictest level. (VIII) Prevention of imported cases by plugging all loopholes To prevent the importation of cases and plug all loopholes, the Hong Kong SAR Government has tightened the relevant measures, such as putting inbound travellers arriving in Hong Kong from countries outside China under closed-loop management, and requiring them to take designated transportation to the designated hotels for quarantine after testing negative. Recently, we have also decided to further tighten the testing and isolation arrangement for people such as crew members of aircraft in order to minimise the chance of virus transmission from imported cases into the community. On anti-epidemic work, there is always room for improvement. While efforts made should not be dismissed, we will accept criticism with humility and sincerity, learn from experience and look for ways to improve. Though determined and diligent in the fight against the epidemic, we have no alternative but to consider the situation in Hong Kong and the feasibility of various measures. We totally understand the hardship faced by commercial premises under mandatory closure or restricted business operations, the effect on student mental health with the lack of face-to-face classes, the worries of children for not being able to visit their parents living in residential care homes, and the disappointment of the public avoiding gatherings with families and friends. However, as we are combating an unprecedented global pandemic, we seek your endurance and ongoing concerted efforts to overcome this challenge. Let us continue the anti-epidemic work in a proactive manner and with unwavering confidence. Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued this article titled Fighting the Epidemic for One Year Consolidating Our Experience on January 27. Editor's note: For the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, the Daily News will highlight Midland County high school seniors who are in the performing arts (band, orchestra, choir and drama). Music has been a big part of Grace Chae's life for almost as long as she has been in school. The H.H. Dow High senior took up the violin in first grade and has been playing it ever since. She is one of four rotating concert masters in both the Honors Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra at Dow, and has been played in both ensembles since she moved to Midland from Illinois in her sophomore year. Chae said she feels right in her element when she is playing music. "It plays a pretty big role in my life because it gives me a way to express myself and it's just really fun," Chae explained. "Just creating music is my escape, I guess. Just being able to read music and interpret it in my own way, and just seeing how the different techniques I use created something unique to me, it gives me something new and it helps me to stray away from the normal, everyday things." Chae has also contributed her musical talent outside of school, including at a performance last year through the Music Care program at MidMichigan Medical Center Midland. She was part of a small group of students from Dow who performed a repertoire in the main entrance lobby at the hospital. Like so many aspects of life, musical performance has been very restricted over the past year due to the pandemic. Chae qualified for the All-State Orchestra this school year but the group will not be able to perform. She is now preparing for the yearly Solo and Ensemble Festival through the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association, which is being done virtually this year, with the first auditions in March. But despite not having opportunities to perform publicly in the past year, Chae doesn't feel shortchanged when it comes to music. "I think, because I can play at home even more because I'm at home more, I've just been able to practice more," she said. "Even online lessons are pretty decent because of technology." Chae plans to keep pursuing her passion for the violin next year at college. She hasn't yet decided which school she will attend. "I plan on joining the college orchestras, but probably not minoring (in music). But I'll definitely continue with it," Chae said. Dow High orchestra director Amanda Thoms said Chae's musical skills are exemplary. "Grace is both a gifted and hard-working violinist. She is able to excel at repertoire that I have seen college students struggle with," Thoms said. "Her level of playing pushes those around her to be even better, and I feel very lucky to have her in the Dow High Symphony and Honors Orchestras." Britain passes a grim pandemic milestone As the world surpassed 100 million known cases, Britain this week hit a tragic milestone of its own: 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus. Though the countrys death toll has long been the worst in Europe, a fast-spreading variant has propelled Britains daily fatality rates to levels not seen since April. Per capita, Britains death rate has been the worst in the world over the last week. So far, one in eight adults in the country had received the first of the two required vaccine doses. Health experts in the United States worry that new variants of the virus could cause a resurgence in numbers there, as they have in Britain, Ireland and South Africa. Such fears have prompted new lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world. Official response: Its hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of Britains deaths. Youd exhaust the thesaurus of misery. Its an appalling and tragic loss of life. The toll has laid bare the missteps in his governments handling of the pandemic, as well as the tough choices Mr. Johnson faces in grappling with the new variants. A terminally ill mother-of-four who had sued over the alleged incorrect reporting of three of her smear tests has settled her High Court action. This week the 46-year old mother broke down as she told the High Court she wont get to see her children grow up. Giving her evidence by video link, the woman who has terminal cervical cancer and who cannot be named by the order of the court, said her life is now about making memories. Everything is about making memories, I dont know how much time I have left she told the judge. On the third day of the hearing before Ms Justice Bronagh OHanlon, the judge was told the action taken by the woman had been settled. Noting the settlement, the terms of which are confidential Ms Justice Bronagh OHanlon said it had been a privilege to have presided over the case and to hear the womans evidence. She wished the woman and her family the best of luck. The case referred to three smears taken, in 2011, 2012 and 2014. The woman was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2015 which recurred last year. She had sued US laboratory, Clinical Pathology Laboratories Inc, (CPL) Austin, Texas, Medlab Pathology Ltd with offices at Sandyford, Dublin and the HSE. It was claimed the three smears were incorrectly reported and cytological cell changes were allegedly allowed to develop and spread unidentified, unmonitored and untreated until the woman was diagnosed with cancer six years ago. There was, it was further claimed an alleged failure to diagnose pre cancerous or cancerous cells on a timely basis. It was also claimed the womans constitutional rights were allegedly breached in the alleged inexcusable delay in conveying the results of the screening audit to her. The laboratories denied all the claims and the settlement against them was without admission of liability. The HSE had accepted the outcome of the slides review should have been made known to the woman as soon as CervicalCheck was notified. The reassurance given by the specialist in 2018 regarding no alteration to her clinical outcome, it has said was given in good faith but it admitted the further review concluded the reassurance was not accurate. The womans counsel, Oonah McCrann SC at the opening of the case said the situation for the woman who was a much loved wife and mother was very dire. Giving her evidence to the court the woman said the Covid lockdown has given her more time at home with her children. Even if we are sitting on the sofa looking at a movie, we are making memories she said. She said she trusted the doctors to look after her, but she fell at every turn. Nobody looked after me. I dont get to see my children grow up, she added. Referring to an external review of her cervical smear slides which concluded there had been missed opportunities in her case to diagnose and treat pre cancer, the woman said she was sad, angry and dumbfounded. In evidence she said she was told in February 2020 her cancer had returned and spread to other parts of her body. It was everywhere; that was it. Referring to the 2016 internal review by CervicalCheck which upgraded her smear slides from the initial reporting of no abnormality detected and which she was only told about two years later, she said she could not understand why she was called back to her specialists office. The specialist told her the results of the review but reassured her it made no difference to her clinical outcome. I trusted him I did not question what he told me, she told the judge. When after the external review she found out the specialists reassurance was incorrect she said she got angry and upset. I think of my children and everything we are going through, she said. Though mask recommendations have shifted repeatedly during the pandemic, one piece of advice has stayed relatively consistent: Both the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization have repeatedly recommended that surgical-grade (FFP1) and N95 masks (FFP2) are reserved for healthcare workers, while cloth masks and gaiters are to be worn by everyday citizens going about their normal lives. That may not be the case for much longer. The German government began requiring all people to wear FFP1 or FFP2 masks while on public transport, in workplaces, and in shops starting Tuesday, Jan. 19. France followed later that week, mandating that both FFP1 and FFP2 are required in public places. Austrias FFP2 mandate began on Sunday, Jan. 24. WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks for $0.29 at WellBefore WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks - Individually Wrapped - wellbefore.com 0.29 Shop Now The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommends face masks in indoor and outdoor situations to help prevent the spread of new variations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. While they dont specify the type of mask, both the WHO and the CDC recommend that FFP1 and FFP2 masks, which have been in short supply for the duration of the pandemic, be reserved for healthcare workers. This isnt the first major shift in mask recommendations. In the early days of the pandemic, understanding of the virus was minimal and surgical masks and N95s were both in short supply. The CDC advised against wearing masks at all, reversing course about a month into the viruss spread across the globe. The change in recommendations come down to the masks efficacy. Study after study has confirmed that the N95 mask (FFP2) provides the greatest protection possible aside from social distancing and simply staying home, with three-layer surgical masks (FFP1) coming in a distant second. Cloth face masks, folded bandanas and gaiters were all found to be significantly less effective. It's important to note that in all but a few highly specific situations, face coverings are still far safer than going maskless. Harley NIOSH N95 Masks for $3.99 at WellBefore Harley N95 NIOSH - L-188 Folding Mask - wellbefore.com 3.99 Shop Now The CDC recommends that gaiters be worn in two layers. Reports that mask gaiters were worse than no mask were later contradicted by experts. The effectiveness of face shields is not currently known. As scientists have gained a greater understanding of COVID-19 and mask supplies have caught up with demand, and as new variants of the disease have emerged, health experts and world leaders have seen more incentive to increase precautions. Whether or not masks are the best way to accomplish that is the subject of controversy. The better the quality of mask you can wear, the more effective that will be at stopping transmission, but you need to put affordability and accessibility into that as well, Jimmy Whitworth, a public health professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Bloomberg. Writing for The Washington Post, associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University Joseph G. Allen said, "theres no reason any essential worker and, really, everyone in the country should go without (N95) masks that filter 95 percent (of pathogens) ... heres my cheat sheet: If you can find an N95, go for it. These are certified in the United States. Barring that, Id go for the certified mask used in South Korea, the KF94. Next Id choose KN95s." Shoppers looking for N95 masks in particular should be wary of the spread of counterfeit N95s. Read our guide on detecting and avoiding them. Speaking to journalists in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her own citizens and other governments to take the new regulations seriously so as to prevent a third wave. Are you tired of booting your PC each and every workday to the same boring background image? If so, change it up! Use Microsofts Bing Wallpaper app to refresh your PC's desktop wallpaper with a new, gorgeous wildlife or landscape photo every single day. Sound familiar? Well, it is, somewhat: Weve previously shown you how to personalize your PC, with sounds and themes and custom backgrounds. With Microsofts theme packs, you choose the background. With Bing Wallpaper, Microsofts team curates a new photograph to serve as your PCs wallpaper. While the app refreshes daily, theres a small control to cycle through the available wallpapers if youre looking for a different mood. Somewhat surprisingly, Bing Wallpaper is not an app that youll find on the Microsoft Store. Instead, you can download the Bing Wallpaper app directly or from Microsofts Bing Wallpaper page. (A version of the Bing Wallpaper app has quietly been available for years, dating back to Windows 8 and possibly even earlier; this version just looks like an updated version.) Mark Hachman / IDG Microsoft's art varies dramatically, from landscape photos to wildlife to more abstract yet culturally significant art like this. Each image has been featured on the Bing homepage, from Microsofts curated collection of nature imagery. Microsoft doesnt provide many details about the image itself, including whether the company is providing 4K wallpapers for high-resolution displays. But everything looks crisp and clear on my screen. The Bing Wallpaper app is controllable via a small Bing Wallpaper icon app on your PCs taskbar. Click it, and youll have the option to cycle among recent wallpapers, and (of course!) visit Bing to learn more about the scene. Mark Hachman / IDG A small control on the taskbar provides more information and allows you to cycle through the art. Want to pick your own PC background? Try Themes If the Bing Wallpaper app is showing you wintry scenes and youre yearning for something a bit more tropical, youre free to visit the Microsoft Store and hunt down your own themes. Simply open the Store app, type in Themes, and click the Get your theme button, which should appear in the prominent Windows Themes card that appears at the top of the page. Themes collects dozens (hundreds?) of curated Microsoft themes, all for free. Dont be scared off by some of the Premium labelsMicrosoft uses that language to call out 4K photos, as opposed to the more traditional 1080p imagery. You'll notice a few third-party themes, some of which charge a small fee, but the vast majority are free. Mark Hachman / IDG Want themes that you can select yourself? The Microsoft Store app has tons, all for free. Artistic preferences vary. Some like music, others sculpture; some prefer film, or woodworking. Personally, Ive always loved the beauty of the natural world, and Bings imagery scratches that itch on a daily basis. I love it, and I think you will as well. Since the start of the pandemic, almost a quarter of UK businesses have been forced to temporarily close, pause trading, or work remotely, with very little notice. Now nearing the 12th month of the crisis, the country is currently enduring its third national lockdown, with an unspecified timeframe. Most workers are being urged to remain at home and only venture out for essential travel. This means a huge number of premises across the board, from recreational venues such as theatres, pubs and leisure centres, to office buildings, and storage facilities, will remain empty. Its likely that security has been scaled back, so many buildings could be vulnerable to attack for the foreseeable future. Just recently weve seen empty pubs in London targeted by opportunistic illegal rave organisers. Physical security strategy Even rural areas arent exempt from the problem, as burglars have reportedly targeted beauty salons, etc Even rural areas arent exempt from the problem, as burglars have reportedly targeted beauty salons, food stores and vehicle hire premises this winter. Vandalism and burglary remain very real threats, therefore it is vital that facilities managers and property owners ensure the physical security of these empty buildings is maintained to the highest standard to protect property and the assets within. Below we outline key considerations when evaluating a physical security strategy for an empty building. Assess the risk We would urge facilities managers and building owners to carry out regular, thorough checks of the building and the perimeter to assess any obvious factors which would elevate the risk of attack. This includes assessing the location. Is the crime rate high? How visible is the property? Are the contents of the property on show? How secure is the access or perimeter boundary? View the premises from a potential intruders perspective, and when you cant be at the site in person, use photographs, notes and drawings to identify potential weaknesses. For example, there may be high security fencing at the front of the premises, but make sure it is not at risk of being compromised at the back. Conducting regular maintenance Retain and maintain quality Inspecting the fence line may seem obvious and straightforward, but it needs to be a deliberate, scheduled event Conducting regular maintenance is even more essential while premises are left empty, as it is much easier for any issues to appear and escalate undetected. We highly recommend regularly inspecting your fencing for disrepair or damage as this can affect the perimeters integrity. Alternatively, choosing high quality galvanised and preferably powder coated steel fencing with a 25-year guarantee will offer longer-lasting protection against rust and corrosion. Inspecting the fence line may seem obvious and straightforward, but it needs to be a deliberate, scheduled event. Take time to check the perimeter on both sides. As you inspect the fencing, keep an eye out for any attempted breaches and note if foliage, weather conditions, or topography changes have affected security integrity. Check all fixtures and fittings are in good working order, look for damage and corrosion, and clear all litter and debris away. Huge security risk Quality investments In a time when businesses are already stretched, it can be tempting to opt for quick, inexpensive fixes. However, poorly executed design or cheap, low quality products can lead to costly, long-term remediation or worse, significant loss to the business. Make wise, informed decisions and specify solutions based on your organisations security needs first and foremost. While generic steel palisade is a popular option, owing to its intimidating aesthetic, it is easily compromised. Steel palisade fencing has inherent weaknesses that undermine performance. Its wide pales can obstruct surveillance, while the bolted construction is a huge security risk. Simply removing or breaking the lower fixing on one or two pales would allow them to swing aside to give repeated access to the site without leaving an easily visible sign that the perimeter has been breached. Its a false economy, as the initial lower price is offset by the costs and inconvenience incurred by regular repairs. Performance classification system The standard works via a performance classification system, and even considers the tools that an intruder may use Specifying a higher quality product thats fit for purpose makes more sense both in the short and long term, and it adds little to the original cost. Fortunately, there are a number of security accreditations that facilities managers and building owners can refer to when specifying security measures at their site, helping them choose effective solutions to combat the risks the property faces. Proven performance Certifications and approvals, such as The Loss Prevention Certification Boards (LPCB) LPS 1175 and the British Standards Institutions (BSI) PAS, prove a product has been thoroughly tested to a specific standard. They prove the strength and durability of the item in multiple different situations. It is worth noting also that investing in effective perimeter protection can actually deliver a positive return by reducing the incidence of burglary and vandalism, and their associated costs. The technical evaluation work carried out by LPCB is extremely thorough. The product is subjected to rigorous quality audit processes, to certify the security products tested by BRE deliver verified levels of protection. All LPS 1175 rated products are vigorously tested before receiving an accreditation. The standard works via a performance classification system, and even considers the tools that an intruder may use. Intrusion detection system Our law enforcement teams are stretched to capacity and coping with reduced workforces due to illness By predicting a likely toolset, specifiers can construct multiple defensive layers to maximise how much time a facility has to respond to an attack. Different levels of security are crucial for the 5D defence concept, whereby a quintet of security assets work together to prevent access to your site, resulting in a strategy that will: Deter, Detect, Deny, Delay and Defend unwanted access from intruders. 360 security There is no single solution when it comes to securing a building. Every situation must be considered on an individual basis, starting with a full risk assessment. We recommend an integrated approach where appropriate. Along with a secure perimeter, this might also include effective lighting in shaded areas and at doors, gates, and vulnerable windows, Perimeter Intrusion Detection Systems (PIDS) and well-placed CCTV. These measures can hinder entry and escape, or increase the chance of discovery and detection. Domestic burglaries While domestic burglaries have become less attractive as many of our homes are now occupied around the clock, commercial properties have become increasingly more vulnerable. Our law enforcement teams are stretched to capacity and coping with reduced workforces due to isolating and illness. Therefore it has never been so important for building owners and facilities managers to assess the properties theyre responsible for to ensure theyre protected effectively in the event of an attack. Smaller scale turf cutting contractors may continue in operation despite the moves to decarbonise the country, Just Transition Commissioner Kieran Mulvey said on Monday. Mr Mulvey said Bord na Mona had been forced to exit peat harvesting earlier than originally planned because of court rulings, planning law and public policy but he saw no impediment to smaller operators. Bord na Mona has announced it is ending all peat harvesting and Mr Mulvey said that will reduce carbon emissions by nearly 95%. Speaking to Offaly County Council, he said: I still hold the view that turf harvesting can still take place. No policy decision has been made regarding that and there are thresholds under which that can be done that doesn't attract difficulties." In 2019 the High Court ruled that peat harvesting on bogs over 19ha requires planning permission and licensing but that consent has proved very difficult to attain in many cases. Fears for fuel poverty have also been raised by Bord na Mona's confirmation that it will cease briquette production by 2024, using existing stocks of peat in the meantime. Mr Mulvey said he believed Bord na Mona had adequate peat reserves to keep its briquette factory in Derrinlough in production until 2024. In a wide ranging presentation and question and answer exchange with councillors, Mr Mulvey also hit out at the European Union, criticising its application of state aid rules and its approach to peat harvesting for horticulture. Millions of euros worth of grants are available from the Just Transition Fund for job creation projects in regions affected by decarbonisation but EU rules on state aid mean companies and community groups will have to raise much more money themselves than they previously thought, putting the plans in jeopardy. There was widespread shock before Christmas when applicants discovered they would have to contribute between 15,000 and 100,000 if they are to receive their grants. Isn't it amazing that Lufthansa, Norwegian Air and Air France seem to get state aid and nobody bothers about it, said Mr Mulvey. The bigger you are, it's the usual argument, some countries in Europe can do what they like and some others, like ours, don't seem to be able to do what we like. But I am conscious of this but I think a lesson has certainly been learned about this and there has be a better way of doing this. Sixty-nine projects involving 11.2m of spending were not affected by the state aid rules but 25 other projects were. He was especially concerned to learn that not-for-profit organisations, which he thought would be exempt, were also subject to the rules. Mr Mulvey was also critical of the EU's position on the harvesting of peat for horticultural purposes. The horticulture industry in Ireland has indicated it will be damaged when Bord na Mona ceases supplying peat. Mr Mulvey said that while large scale peat harvesting in Ireland will end, peat will then be imported from other EU countries that don't appear to have the same restrictions on them, namely the Baltic countries. This is a contradictory position, even within the European Union. He said it seemed a jurisdictional issue between some Government departments was slowing down the establishment of a working party on the matter. Personally I'd wish they get on with it and do it. It's urgent and needs to be addressed. He said the ESB will be required by planning law to demolish its former peat-fired generation stations in Shannonbridge and Lanesboro but he believes both sites should be used for community gain projects. A corrections officer with the Pickens County Sheriffs Office was fired from his job and arrested Tuesday on sex abuse and other charges, the district attorney for Alabamas 24th Judicial Circuit announced. Teraze James Nunn, 24, of Ethelsville, was arrested Tuesday on second-degree sexual abuse, criminal solicitation to commit second-degree rape and electronic solicitation of a child following an investigation by the circuits sexual assault unit, said 24th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Andrew Hamlin. The circuit covers Pickens, Fayette and Lamar counties in west Alabama. Nunn, who worked as a corrections officer for the Pickens County Sheriffs Office, was fired from his job following his arrest, Hamlin said. Nunn was working for the sheriffs office for less than a year. Hamlin said there is no evidence that the allegations against Dunn are related to his job. We are continuing to conduct a fair and impartial investigation into the matter, the DA said. Nunn was being held in the Lamar County Jail Tuesday night. His bond has yet to be determined. When the Metropolitan Transportation Authority made the decision in April to end 24/7 subway service in New York City, the reasoning was to allow for the deep disinfecting of subway cars and stations as the pandemic raged in the city and as part of an effort to keep homeless New Yorkers from sleeping on trains. But nearly a year into the pandemic, these kinds of cleaning efforts have been dismissed by some experts as hygiene theater, noting that the spread of the coronavirus largely happens by airborne transmission, and not surface transmission. To boot, the closures dont save the MTA any money, as officials acknowledged at a joint legislative hearing on Tuesday. That was not done as a cost-saving effort, MTA Chief Financial Officer Robert Foran said of the closures. We are still running trains. They are to get our workforce back and forth. The MTA has stood behind the continued closures for the purposes of cleaning, and cited a survey from the fall of roughly 20,000 customers in which 76% agreed or strongly agreed that the cleaning made them feel safer. Calling the authoritys disinfecting efforts hygiene theater was way off base, MTA Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren told City & State. Think about hospitals and everywhere else. We clean and disinfect the hell out of these locations, and thats the same thing were going to do in our subway system, Warren said. No one is going to come back into our system if it is not a safe and healthy system. That is just job one for the MTA. Advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection currently says that frequently touched surfaces should be cleaned and disinfected at least daily. Asked whether the MTA might be able to continue its disinfecting efforts and reopen 24/7 service, Warren said that extra passengers do get in the way of their cleaning. A spokesperson for the MTA added that when they asked for advice from the Environmental Protection Agency at the end of 2020 about whether they should focus solely on aerosols, they were told to continue their work disinfecting surfaces as well. While the subways are closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., trains are still running and are only open to transit workers and police. The MTA may be getting its own workforce back and forth, but a city full of essential workers who require late-night transit are forced to make an extra effort to get around overnight. The MTA has ramped up its bus service because of the subway closures, but some essential workers find that to be an inadequate substitute. After Tuesdays hearing, some lawmakers called for 24/7 service to resume immediately. Enough is enough. We are in the middle of a 24/7 vaccination campaign, and this is a 24/7 city. We demand the return of 24/7 service, mayoral candidate and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams wrote on Twitter. Reopen our overnight subway service NOW. Assembly Member Robert Carroll and state Sen. Brad Hoylman are sponsoring a bill that would require 24/7 subway service unless a state of emergency is in effect. The bill passed the state Senate last year, but hasnt passed the Assembly. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The state government on Wednesday rejected the recommendation that the censure become part of their service records and would communicate the decision in a proper manner to the poll body, an official source said Amaravati: The State Election Commission (SEC) in Andhra Pradesh has censured two senior IAS officers for alleged dereliction of duty in their work related to the gram panchayat elections. A day after the SEC wrote to it, the state government on Wednesday rejected the recommendation that the censure would become part of their service records and would communicate the decision in a proper manner to the poll body, an official source said. In the letter to Chief Secretary Adityanath Das, State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar said Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Commissioner of Panchayat Raj M Girija Sankar failed to carry out their duties in preparing the latest electoral rolls for the Gram Panchayat polls. On Monday, Ramesh Kumar had told a press conference that as a result of the "dereliction" of duty by the two officials, the SEC was forced to conduct the elections on the basis of January 2019 electoral rolls. He had also claimed that over 3.50 lakh first-time voters who attained the age of 18 missed the chance to exercise their franchise in the polls, to be held in four phases next month. The SEC had said the censure would become part of the service record of the two officials. A top government source said that the SEC's recommendation was rejected by the state government on the ground that the commission was not the competent authority to initiate such action. "The state government would not be considering that censure. It is one-sided. The SEC did not seek an explanation from the officials before issuing the censure. The SEC is not the competent authority. We will inform the SEC in a proper manner about the government's intention," the source told PTI. Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Ramesh Kumar said he was not vindictive against the two officials and if they changed their "attitude", there could be a chance for him to rethink the censure action. The YS Jagan Mohan government and the SEC have been at loggerheads over the conduct of the local body elections with the former seeking postponement of the exercise, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing vaccination programme. While a single-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court earlier this month suspended the SEC's poll schedule, a division bench, allowing an appeal by the poll body, later gave the go-ahead for the elections. In a setback to the state government, the Supreme Court on 25 January dismissed its appeal against the high court order saying, "We cannot be part of this ego battle." The SEC on 23 January issued the notification for the Gram Panchayat elections to be conducted in four phases from 5 February, with the nomination process scheduled to begin on Monday. However, it later rescheduled the first phase while leaving the previous schedule for the subsequent phases unaltered. (@ChaudhryMAli88) WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th January, 2021) The foreign ministers of the G7 countries on Tuesday condemned the arrest of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny. "We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America and the High Representative of the European Union, are united in condemning the politically motivated arrest and detention of Alexey Navalny," the ministers said in a statement. On Saturday, multiple unauthorized protests took place in various regions of Russia, instigated by supporters of Navalny. Both the Russian Interior Ministry and Prosecutor General's Office warned that those participating in such events would be held liable to prosecution. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Bidens Virus Response Resembles Trumps, Adds Bureaucracy Aside from a handful of exceptions, Bidens actions restate predecessors agenda while infusing pandemic response with 'equity' agenda News analysis President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to turn the tide of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, telling Americans that he had a superior plan to the one that was being executed by the administration of President Donald Trump. Biden unveiled his strategy in the first days of his administration amid a flurry of executive orders. While some of Bidens ideas are truly novel, including his vision for a centralized national contact-tracing workforce through the establishment of the U.S. Public Health Job Corps, the plan largely mirrors what had been set in motion by Trump, plus the addition of several layers of bureaucracy and the infusion of the quasi-Marxist equity agenda into every aspect of the pandemic response. While Trump streamlined the coordination of the response through the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Bidens executive orders erect a federal bureaucracy tasked with accomplishing the same work. There is now a National Security Council principals committee, the NSC Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense, the Global Health Interagency Review Council, the Pandemic Testing Board among others, all tasked with handling overlapping aspects of the pandemic response. Despite the sheer volume of activity, a review of Bidens pandemic executive actions shows that the majority of the activity the president has ordered was already being performed by the government during the Trump administration. Some orders duplicate existing efforts or task officials working on the response with the equity task of unearthing and rectifying racism and sexism at every turn. The vast majority of new activity ordered by Biden consists of directives to create plans and reports. A review of the 15 major executive actions the president has taken on the pandemic shows that he has directed the government to create 14 different plans and seven reports. They include a plan to combat the global COVID-19 pandemic, a plan for advancing innovation in public health data and analytics, and a plan for advancing innovation in public health data and analytics. In almost all cases, the orders dont specify deadlines for completion of the plans and reports. The proliferation of the various make-a-plan orders is notable, considering that Biden ran on a platform of having a plan for solving the pandemic crisis and had nearly a year to formulate a strategy. The presidents broader strategy features some ideas that are entirely novel, including the establishment of thousands of community vaccination centers and the contact-tracing Public Health Jobs Corps. The president ordered a plan for the jobs entity and asked Congress for funding for the vaccination centers. The lack of urgency on either of these suggests they arent the silver pandemic bullet that Biden sold on the campaign trail. The president himself conceded in a speech on Jan. 22 that he has no silver bullet. If we fail to act, therell be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months as this pandemic rages on, because theres nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months, Biden said. White House officials didnt immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. Bidens early steps arent entirely without urgency. The president acted on warnings of a more dangerous virus strain in South Africa and banned travel from the nation. The move nevertheless isnt a novel idea. Trump barred travel from China, the origin of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus, in January 2020. However, Democrats, including Biden, attacked the ban. Biden also extended the travel bans that Trump had imposed on most of Europe and Brazil. The president also imposed a negative COVID-19 test requirement on international travelers, which appears to be his only major novel and urgent action so far. Whether the move proves to be effective remains to be seen. The negative tests can be from up to three days prior, and there are no guards in place to prevent travelers from presenting fraudulent documents. Bureaucracy The executive order, which establishes the management structure of Bidens response team, created the position of the COVID-19 response coordinator, a role that Trump had assigned to Vice President Mike Pence. The order tasks the response coordinator, Jeff Zients, with doing everything Pence had already been doing since late February last year, including the coordination of testing, treatment, equipment and supply production, vaccination, and public outreach. Zients is responsible for convening principals from relevant agencies, which appears to be another way of saying that Biden will carry on, under a different name, the White House Coronavirus Task Force meetings that Trump initiated almost a year ago. The order also directs the assistant to the president for national security affairs to convene a meeting of National Security Council (NSC) principals as necessary to identify, monitor, prepare for, and, if necessary, respond to emerging biological and pandemic threats. Beyond the as necessary and if necessary hypothetical nature of this entity, the only action item its responsible for is to complete, in 180 days, a review of and recommend actions to the president concerning emerging domestic and global biological risks and national biopreparedness policies. The principals meeting isnt the only bureaucratic entity created through this executive action. The order resurrects the NSC Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense, a relic of the Obama era, which is responsible for monitoring current and emerging biological threats. If the description sounds familiar, thats because the bureaucratic entity described in the previous paragraph is responsible for the same thing. The effort isnt duplicated only within the order itself. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) already have subdivisions dedicated to monitoring emerging global biological threats. Bidens COVID-19 data order, is similarly duplicative, calling on the heads of several agencies to designate senior officials to work on COVID-19 and pandemic-related data issues and to make pandemic data publicly available and accessible. The CDC has been tracking and publicly reporting COVID-19 data since the early days of the pandemic, including statistics on case trends, county-level reports, testing, vaccinations, seroprevalence levels, global trends, and effects on unique populations, among other metrics. The HHS has made the COVID-19 datasets, including reporting from individual states and county-level data, available to the public through the HealthData.gov website. Vaccination Campaign One of Bidens seven goals for tackling the pandemic is to execute an aggressive vaccination strategy. His target metric to administer 100 million vaccines in 100 days was already surpassed by the vaccination pace under Trump. On Inauguration Day, more than 1.9 million vaccines had been administered in the United States, according to the CDC. At that rate, the Biden administration could reach its goal in half the time without changing anything about the distribution strategy set up by Trump as part of Operation Warp Speed. Of the more than a dozen executive actions Biden undertook so far related to the pandemic, only two include directives on vaccines, neither of which tackles domestic distribution. One order directs the government to conduct an outreach campaign to promote vaccine trust and uptake among communities of color and other underserved populations. Its unclear how many minds such a campaign could change while millions who trust and want the vaccines await their shots. Another order directs the United States to join the Vaccine Alliance in order to donate surplus vaccines to other nations once there is sufficient supply in the United States. Bidens broader vaccine distribution strategy envisions thousands of community vaccination centers, which are to be created with $20 billion in funding that isnt yet approved by Congress. In a speech on Jan. 15, Biden said personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Guard could staff the vaccination centers. None of the presidents publicly announced executive actions to date have gone toward establishing such centers. In an email to The Epoch Times, a FEMA spokesperson said the agency does not have medical personnel on hand to administer vaccines but is working with various agencies at the federal, state, and local level to meet these needs. FEMA is already supporting existing vaccination sites by providing expedited financial assistance, providing federal equipment and supplies, and deploying federal personnel, the spokesperson said. FEMAs can tap into the Disaster Relief Fund balance, which is more than $19 billion These funds will support continued response to COVID-19, including expanded vaccination efforts across the country by providing financial assistance to governments and other eligible applicants for vaccination efforts as well as personal protective equipment, alternative care sites and durable medical equipment, the spokesperson said. FEMA and the National Guard didnt immediately respond to questions on whether any work is in progress. Masking, Testing, Treatment The presidents executive order mandating masks on federal property and for interstate travel was largely symbolic, since masks have been mandated on public interstate transportation and federal properties, such as courthouses, for months. Airlines have deplaned passengers who refuse to wear masks, while federal judges have worn masks even when conducting remote hearings. The CDC long ago issued guidelines for masks in transportation hubs and public transport. Bidens strategy calls for implementing masking nationwide by working with governors, mayors, and the American people. Compliance with local masking orders, which stem from the federal guidelines established by the Trump administration, has been high, especially in large cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The same executive order established the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, the mission of which is to provide ongoing guidance to heads of agencies on the operation of the Federal Government, the safety of its employees, and the continuity of Government functions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This task force appears to be one of several carrying out the work of Trumps White House Coronavirus Task Force, but with a limited scope and in an entirely advisory role. Its unclear why the advice from this new task force is needed when the CDC has been issuing and updating employer guidelines for masking, symptom screening, testing, and other issues. In a separate order, Biden established the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board, tasked with the same mission as Trumps centralized task force. As of Jan. 25, the United States had conducted more than 280 million tests, leading the world in testing. India, the country with the second most tests conducted, trailed the United States by nearly 100 million tests. The testing board is tasked with accomplishing what was already being done under the Trump administration, including providing free COVID-19 tests to people with insufficient health insurance, something handled via the HHS Provider Relief Fund. While the money is there, COVID-19 testing bills could still go unpaid if patients dont know how to ask for the relief or if providers dont know how to use it. Bidens testing board could potentially improve on what the previous administration built. The board is also tasked with making tests available to schools, another item already implemented by Trumps task force. The same order also calls for a plan to create the U.S. Public Health Job Corps, which will be responsible for COVID-19 contact tracing; however, the order gives no deadline for when the plan is due. The Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the HHS, the agencies tasked with coming up with the plan, didnt immediately respond to requests by The Epoch Times for information. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A HORSE and carriage driver caught with a wallet full of counterfeit "movie prop money" has been spared a criminal record. Ross Hyland (26), who had 380 worth of fake cash on him when he was searched by gardai, said he found it in his carriage when he bought it and held onto the notes for "some reason." Judge Bryan Smyth applied the Probation Act, leaving him without a conviction when he paid the same amount to charity. Hyland, a father-of-one of Blackhorse Grove, Dublin 7 pleaded guilty to possession of counterfeit 5 notes at Donard estate in Cabra on December 11, 2019. Hyland had pleaded guilty earlier and when the case came back before Judge Smyth, a defence lawyer said the money had been paid to Fr Peter McVerry's Trust. Previously, Dublin District Court heard gardai saw Hyland in a vehicle acting suspiciously and approached him and asked what he was doing. He gave the gardai permission to search the vehicle and they found a wallet containing 380 in denominations of 5, which were a fraudulent currency. Garda Alan Reddy explained that the cash was "prop money" used as "motion props, in movies." Hyland was arrested and made full admissions, he said. Judge Smyth asked the garda "how close to a real note it was." The garda said there were key security features missing from it but it "could be passed off in a shop." "It does say 'this is not legal tender'" the judge said. Hyland used a horse and carriage for work, his solicitor Andrew Broderick said. He saved up to buy the carriage and the counterfeit money was in the carriage when he got it. He knew he should have reported it to the gardai but "for whatever reason", he held onto it, Mr Broderick said. Hyland had not used the money on customers "or anything like that." He made no gain from having the notes and was very remorseful. Salem Community College glass art alumna Cat Burns was at her familys home in Woolwich in December 2019 when she received the invitation to appear in season 2 of the Netflix reality series Blown Away. I got off a Skype call and basically burst through the doors, jumping and screaming at my mom, recalled Burns, a 2012 SCC graduate who had submitted a video and an application to the shows producers several weeks before. I legally wasnt allowed to tell anyone but everyone knew that I had applied and got a call back so it was pretty obvious I had good news. I then made my younger sisters help me pick every outfit since my usual clothes are burnt T-shirts and I didnt need them making fun of me for the rest of my life for dressing like trash on international television, she continued. I finished teaching a weeklong intensive in Corning [at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York] in January (2020) and got on a plane the day it finished. Burns arrived in Hamilton, Ontario, for the taping, joining nine other artists. There were something like 500 applicants and 10 spots, said Burns. I didnt really think anything of it until I was on a plane to Canada, like, Oh, this is real. In Blown Away, artists turn up the heat in glassblowing sculpture challenges for the chance to win $60,000 in prizes and the title of champion, according to the Netflix website. The 10-episode second season premiered on Jan. 22. SCC adjunct instructor Alexander Rosenberg appeared in Season 1 and serves as a guest judge in the new season. However, Burns was prohibited from approaching Rosenberg or anyone else for tips before season 2 taped. Glass-wise, I didnt do anything to prepare except do some strength training because I knew most of the assistants were students so I would have to do most of the heavy lifting, she said. The self-described defiant artist who worked for Corning in various capacities for five years, iescribed why she applied for Blown Away. I have high-functioning anxiety, so I made a promise to myself long ago that if an opportunity ever scared me, I had to at least try to go for it, Burns said. I went into the show a production glass worker with the least formal education and the least glass experience of anyone there and I came out of it a fulfilled artist. I was critiqued from some of the most renowned people in their fields, I learned and grew from their (critiques), and at the end of the day I left totally proud of what I accomplished. I became a braver artist because of it, I became more sure of myself. Burns dismissed the idea that Blown Away has made her a reality TV star. Im definitely not going to become a celebrity over this, she said. I personally dont think its a big deal because I just did it for fun. Im just gonna keep playing with my horses and blowing glass. Burns now lives in Corning, N.Y., where she creates art and sells it online at catburnsglass.com and wholesale through other stores. In non-COVID times, I would also travel as a teacher, she added. And what does the artist look forward to the most each day? As my own boss, I get to spend most of my day in pajamas with my dog, making absolute bank while dancing in my studio, she said. I get to decide when to take cookie breaks, when to take vacation and I get all the mental health days I need. Submitted by Salem Community College. Send community news to south@njadvancemedia.com. Australian entrepreneur Domm Hollands first big attempt at building a startup ended in failure. His second - sparked by a failure to remember a Coles online shopping password -is going much better. Fast, the online checkout platform Holland helped found in 2019 on Wednesday announced it secured $US102 million ($131 million) in fresh capital in a funding round led by payments unicorn Stripe and also backed by Addition, Index Ventures, Susa Ventures and Sugar Capital. Holland said his wifes grandmothers struggles to order her shopping from Coles highlighted the fundamental identity problem which Fast is trying to solve. Domm Holland is the founder and chief executive of Fast Why do we have a different password for every website and why do we have to fill in the same information on every form in the world?, he said. As soon as I sort of came across this problem I was just obsessed with it ...it was a no brainer that it should change. A bag of cement which usually costs approximately $50 has more than tripled in price at some places since Covid-19 invaded the country in March 2020. Some people are paying as much as $150 and more for a bag of cement. Gerard Coyne called for 'openness and transparency' on the eve of crisis talks Len McCluskey's 'moral authority' was called into question yesterday as the storm deepened over his union's multi-million-pound hotel deal. Gerard Coyne an ally of Sir Keir Starmer who wants to succeed Mr McCluskey as general secretary of Unite called for 'openness and transparency' on the eve of crisis talks. He urged Unite to introduce tough new rules which would force its leadership to declare any financial interests, gifts and other benefits. Mr McCluskey, one of the Labour leader's fiercest critics, is himself under fire over the funding of a luxury hotel and conference centre in Birmingham. The project includes a 170-bedroom Marriott-branded hotel, a conference room, an education centre and regional offices for Unite. The furore over the deal was first revealed by the Mail in December. The union's bill is now reported to have more than doubled from 35million to 74million in just five years. Some sources said union officials initially claimed it would cost just 7million. Unite boss Len McCluskey's 'moral authority' was called into question yesterday as the storm deepened over his union's multi-million-pound hotel deal. The Birmingham complex is being built by The Flanagan Group, a Liverpool-based company run by Paul Flanagan. Merseyside Police is investigating the firm amid an inquiry into the sale of council land and Mr Flanagan himself was arrested in September. Pictured: Paul Flanagan (left) with Len McCluskey (right) at the unveiling of the artwork at the St Thomas Street Hotel, Victoria Street, Liverpool [File photo] The complex is being built by The Flanagan Group, a Liverpool-based company run by Paul Flanagan. Merseyside Police is investigating the firm amid an inquiry into the sale of council land and Mr Flanagan himself was arrested in September. Another contract for the hotel project went to a company owned by David Anderson, the son of Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson. Both men were also arrested by Merseyside Police last year. There is no suggestion that the Unite contract is linked to the police inquiry. There is also no suggestion of any wrongdoing in the decision to award the contract to The Flanagan Group or that Mr McCluskey had anything to do with the tendering process. However, Mr Coyne said in an open letter to Unite's members that its leadership must answer 'widespread criticism and serious questions over the hugely-over-budget project'. McCluskey is under fire over the funding of a luxury hotel and conference centre in Birmingham. The project includes a 170-bedroom Marriott-branded hotel, a conference room, an education centre and regional offices for Unite He added that members had a right to know whether money had been spent 'wisely' and 'properly overseen'; what the scheme's true cost was; and whether contracts were awarded in the correct fashion. On the eve of a special meeting of Unite's ruling body tomorrow, Mr Coyne urged the union to clean up its act. He pointed out that it has 'no code of conduct, no register of interests and no requirement to declare gifts and benefits'. Mr Coyne called for the introduction of strict rules on these matters, which should apply to everyone at the top of the organisation, including Mr McCluskey. 'It is the basic minimum in any well-run organisation, let alone one which should stand for moral authority,' he said. Gerard Coyne (pictured) an ally of Sir Keir Starmer who wants to succeed Len McCluskey as general secretary of Unite called for 'openness and transparency' on the eve of crisis talks over a hotel deal [File photo] 'This union can be a powerful force for good but only if we embrace openness and are transparent.' Mr Coyne, who narrowly lost the bitter battle for Unite's top job in 2017, confirmed he plans to run again when Mr McCluskey steps down next year. Unite has said of the Birmingham project: 'Continuing efforts to create the impression that something untoward has occurred with the construction of our Birmingham facility are pathetic. 'This is a world-class facility, which will provide conference, education and hotel facilities for our entire union and help regenerate a neglected part of the UK's second city. 'The costs and management of the project will be considered by our executive on Friday. It would be completely inappropriate for Unite to enter into discussion of these with the media beforehand.' Britain announces travel curbs, extended lockdown A man walks near the River Thames as Britain's coronavirus lockdown continues. Photo: Reuters British Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated on Wednesday the Covid-19 lockdown in England would last until March 8 when schools could start to reopen as the government announced new measures to clamp down on travel to and from the country. A highly contagious new variant of the virus, which emerged in southeast England at the end of last year, has led to a soaring number of infections across Britain with cases and deaths reaching record levels. On Tuesday, Britain's Covid-19 death toll surpassed 100,000, the first European state to reach that figure, leading to questions about Johnson's handling of a crisis that has also battered the economy. England has been in lockdown since the start of January with schools, pubs and restaurants closed and people told to stay home as much as possible. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, whose governments decide on their own measures, are also under various restrictions. Britain has begun a vaccination programme aimed at delivering shots to 15 million people in priority groups by the middle of February. Johnson told parliament he hoped that would allow schools to begin reopening the following month. "We hope it will therefore be safe to begin the reopening of schools from Monday the 8th of March, with other economic and social restrictions being removed (then or) thereafter, as and when the data permits," he said. Britain has banned travellers from 22 high-risk nations, where new coronavirus variants have emerged, such as South Africa and some in South America, or may be present, like Portugal. The government said new measures would mean travellers to Britain from those countries who could not be refused entry would now have to quarantine for 10 days in government-provided accommodation. Those wishing to leave Britain will need to explain why in a declaration checked before departure, with vacations not an acceptable reason, said Home Secretary Priti Patel. More police will be on duty at ports and airports to send home people who had no valid reason for travel. "People should simply not be travelling," she told parliament, citing cases of people turning up at a London train station with skis. "That is clearly not acceptable. We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world that they are in, mainly in sunny parts of the world. Going on holiday is not an exemption." (Reuters) Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2021 4:42 pm The latest proposed project at the Chehalis Industrial Park is a 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center for Costco Logistics, Port of Chehalis CEO Randy Mueller announced at the Chehalis City Council meeting on Monday evening. Preliminary plans for the distribution center describe the building as 1.2 million square feet in the first phase and 1.5 million square feet when the project is fully built out. The Port of Chehalis owns about 35 acres of the 100-acre site and the remaining 65 acres is owned by Puget Western Inc. If the project is completed it will be the largest building in Lewis County and the third-largest distribution center in Washington state, Mueller said. This is not a Costco retail warehouse. The logistics center fulfills online orders. "This will be a phenomenal project for our entire community if we are successful in gaining the necessary approvals and making it happen, Mueller said. The living wages and excellent benefits being offered by Costco are far above median wages for the area, and will improve the lives of our residents and our community." If all goes according to plan and the project receives the necessary approvals, construction on the Costco Logistics Center should begin in 2022. The port is anticipating the process of obtaining permits taking about a year. The distribution center is planned to create 153 jobs at startup and should employ more than 200 by the end of the first year of operations. The port shared that the average annual salaries for the Costco employees will be about $60,640 after six years of employment with the company. Besides the direct benefit of those high-quality jobs, the indirect benefits of injecting $10M in annual payroll into the community will be a massive boost, the Port of Chehalis shared in a Facebook post. Costco consultants, lawyers and engineers have been working with the city of Chehalis and the port since this past summer. Mueller said it is encouraging to see the prospective buyer investing funds into site testing. Its a done deal when theyre digging dirt and moving a building on there so hopefully there wont be any major hiccups in the permitting process, Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes said. Another port sale that is set to close this week is with McCallum Rock Drilling buying the Habein Road industrial complex, which includes three buildings on about 10 acres, for $2.5 million. This will be the largest sale in Port of Chehalis history thus far. McCallum Rock Drilling has already been operating in Lewis County and employs about 100 technically-skilled employees. The company plans to add 100 more jobs over the next two years. Those employees at McCallum, theyre making two to four times the average income of folks in Chehalis so these are not just jobs these are great jobs, Mueller told the council on Monday. Since 1988, McCallum Rock Drilling has provided controlled drilling and blasting services in several states in the U.S. The kinds of jobs McCallum takes on include dam blasting, mines and road and highway projects. It goes back to high-quality job creation. Chehalis residents pay some money to the port and subsidize our work and they want us to improve the community. When you think about those median incomes, were trying to move those numbers up That is reflected in the kinds of projects we target, Mueller said. With many new jobs on the horizon, the Chehalis City Council discussed the need for more housing in the area and the possibility of creating a stakeholder group with local realtors and business owners to address housing creation. Theres a mental block about developing in Lewis County for some damn reason. We have no impact fees, land acquisition cost is cheap, the prices are there, we have upwards of 200 jobs coming in soon good jobs. We need housing, Chehalis City Councilor Bob Spar said. Mueller said that the creation of jobs could signal to developers that their investment in housing in the area would be worthwhile. More information on the Port of Chehalis projects can be found on the ports website at portofchehalis.com. Mumbai, Jan 27 : Demanding a "time-bound programme" to resolve the complicated boundary row between his state and Karnataka, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday reiterated his plea to declare the disputed border areas as a Union Territory till the final verdict of the Supreme Court. "What has happened has happened... Now we have to fight and win... We will have to work for this in a time-bound programme," said Thackeray, who is also President of the Shiv Sena, which is espousing the cause of the Marathi-speaking people in the border areas since years. Hie remarks came at the release of book "Maharashtra-Karnataka Seemavad: Sangharsh Ani Sankalp (Maharashtra-Karnataka Boundary Dispute: Struggle & Pledge)", a 530-page treatise penned by Dr Deepak Pawar. Present on the occasion were all members of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and representatives of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti - and all raised a united voice on the issue vis-a-vis the neighbouring BJP-ruled Karnataka. "Though the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, the manner in which the Karnataka (government) is behaving amounts to contempt of court... They have changed the name of Belgaum (to 'Belagavi'), they have declared it the second capital, constructed a Vidhana Soudha there and held a legislature session," Thackeray said. Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar said that the matter is pending before the apex court and all must await its verdict. "The apex court is the last resort to resolve an issue... we have to put forward our point effectively... The Chief Minister (Thackeray) is personally working on it," he said. Among those present or addressed the meeting included Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, state Congress President and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Marathi Language Department Minister Subhash Desai, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Food & Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Minister of State Dattatray Bharane and BJP's Leader of Opposition in Council Pravin Darekar, besides other top leaders and officials. As Amazon continues hiring for warehouse and delivery work in Connecticut where it has become among the states largest corporate employers the company has again hopscotched the state for the best-paying corporate jobs in favor of Massachusetts. Amazon announced Tuesday morning plans to hire 3,000 to staff a new building in Bostons burgeoning Seaport district, where General Electric moved its headquarters more than four years ago. The positions will support work for Amazon Web Services, the new Amazon Pharmacy, Alexa and other artificial intelligence work. The Boston expansion will push the internet giants Massachusetts workforce to more than 20,000, with the company employing 8,500 people in Connecticut at last report at fulfillment centers in North Haven, Windsor, Wallingford and several smaller dispatch warehouses in Stratford, Danbury, Orange. and Cromwell among other locales. Amazon has been on a historic hiring push as the COVID-19 pandemic prompts more people to order online, rather than put their health at risk while venturing to retail stores. We welcomed 250,000 permanent full-time and part-time employees just in [the third quarter] and have already added about 100,000 more in [October], said Brian Olsavsky, chief financial officer of Amazon, speaking on a conference call last fall. This has been a big year. Spokespeople for Gov. Ned Lamont did not immediately say whether Connecticut has continued discussions with Amazon about landing corporate jobs. The company presently has about 50 openings in the state, including several information technology development jobs in Milford with salaries listed in excess of $120,000. Three years ago, Connecticut was unsuccessful in a long-shot bid to land the East Coast headquarters Amazon created alongside its historic corporate office in Seattle. The company ultimately chose Virginia after scotching an initial plan to create a dual headquarters there and in New York City. Amazons board has multiple directors with Connecticut ties, most prominently former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, the Greenwich resident who oversaw the drafting of Lamonts Reopening Connecticut guidelines last year. Also on the board: former Hewlett-Packard and Apple executive Jon Rubinstein, who had a short stint as co-CEO of the Westport-based hedge fund Bridgewater Associates; and Thomas Ryder, who led Readers Digest while commuting from New Canaan. In a press release, Amazons head scientist indicated the company chose Boston for its latest expansion in part due to its access to engineers with expertise in software and artificial intelligence, as well as broader corporate roles covering finance and personnel. The company already has 3,700 people working at what it calls its Boston Tech Hub, with a new building under construction in the Seaport that will house 2,000. The company did not respond immediately to a query Tuesday on whether it has any plans to add office space in suburban areas on the East Coast as a result of the COVID-19 pandemics impact on worker attitudes toward commuting. Includes prior reporting by Cassandra Day, Paul Schott and Luther Turmelle. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American Once Joe Biden was sworn in as president, the new US administration started to review various decisions made under Trump, especially those of them taken at the 11th hour. The US State Department announced it was reviewing the designation of the Houthis, aka Ansarullah, as a terrorist group.We will not publicly discuss or comment on internal deliberations regarding that review; however, with the humanitarian crisis in Yemen we are working as fast as we can to conduct the review and make a determination, a spokesperson said.They added that they strongly believe the militias need to change their behaviour, and that they bear significant responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe and insecurity in Yemen.At the same time, we must also ensure that we are not impeding the provision of humanitarian assistance, they said.The UN has repeatedly announced Yemen is on the precipice of famine.Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo designated the Houthis a terrorist organisation one day before the inauguration of Biden.The internationally recognised government of Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi quickly welcomed the US decision, so did Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have been engaged in a war against the Houthis since March 2015.On Tuesday, an explosion rocked the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, reported Reuters. Though the cause of the blast has not yet been confirmed, signs pointed to the Houthis who had launched several cross-border drone and missile attacks, targeting oil and civilian infrastructure, the latest of which was last week.Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV cited videos on social media of a missile being intercepted over the city.On Saturday, military officials from the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen said they had destroyed an enemy air target fired towards Riyadh.The Riyadh-led Arab Coalition had intervened in Yemen to halt what it described as Iranian influence in the form of military, political and financial backing of the Houthis, a Zaidi Shia extremist group. Both Tehran and Ansarullah denied those Saudi claims repeatedly.The designation of Ansarullah as a terrorist organisation was decried by humanitarian groups, diplomats and Congress members who fear it might lead to deterioration in the military situation on the ground, hinder UN peace talks and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis.The conflict in Yemen has rendered thousands dead and tens of thousands wounded. More than eight million Yemenis had to leave their homes and 80 per cent of the population are in danger of famine, depending for their survival on international humanitarian aid.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly warned that, together with South Sudan, northern Nigeria and Somalia, Yemen is on the verge of famine.Weve been warning since July that Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis, said Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, in a report published on 27 October 2020. If the war doesnt end now, we are nearing an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemens young children. The data we are releasing today confirms that acute malnutrition among children is hitting the highest levels we have seen since the war started.Acute malnutrition rates among children under the age of five are the highest ever recorded in parts of Yemen, with more than half a million cases in southern districts, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Malnutrition analysis released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and other organisations.Grandes report added that the greatest increase is in cases of young children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with a 15.5 per cent rise during 2020, stating that a quarter of a million pregnant and nursing women require treatment as a result of malnutrition.The UN said that until mid-October it had received only $1.43 of the $3.2 billion needed for humanitarian aid in Yemen for 2020, and aid programmes have begun to close down. The UN said it urgently needs $50 million to support its food programmes.Last week Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, tweeted that the number of hungry Yemenis is likely to increase in the next six months. He still believes, however, that world leaders can prevent this man-made catastrophe. We are very close to the point of no return, he said.According to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council, the biggest challenges to humanitarian work and ending the suffering in Yemen are the obstruction of access to aid, denying doctors and teachers access to their salaries, and the escalation of violence.There appears to be no comprehensive solution to the Yemeni crisis. The battle lines have been frozen since the start of the war supported by Barack Obamas administration to curb Irans influence, afterhe appeased Iran with the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to many observers.The Yemeni crisis will not be easy for Washington to handle despite US State Secretary Antony Blinken saying the Biden administration will review the terrorist designation of the Houthis and his announcement that the US has ceased its support for Saudi Arabia in the Yemen war.Because the Middle East files have become more complex, the Yemeni crisis cant be resolved in a manner that pleases all concerned parties without reaching a settlement on the Iranian nuclear and missile programmes and resolving the debacle of Irans presence in Syria and Lebanon.Without involving the Gulf, this is a settlement that is hard to attain. Such are Riyadhs demands in any new round of negotiations to reach a settlement reminiscent of the 2015 agreement forged by former US state secretary John Kerry.Washington should take into account its partners in Riyadh, in the words of Blinken, who said before the Congress that the US should consult with Saudi Arabia to stop the war in Yemen and handle the Iranian military, nuclear and missile files.Riyadh had earlier warned it would join in the nuclear race if its rival Tehran was to attain atomic capabilities. At that time, many observers anticipated Saudi Arabia may seek Pakistans expertise in the field, since the two countries have been strategic partners for more than 60 years.If Saudi Arabia turns to Pakistan, the conflict in the Gulf will grow to rival the nuclear terror in Asia (China, India and Pakistan), which will make stopping it next to impossible.This will also encourage other countries, such as Turkey and Egypt, which had maintained a distance from the nuclear armament race, to join the fray. Will tensions spread from East Asia to the Mediterranean Sea? *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: SANDUSKY, Ohio, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PAO Group, Inc. (USOTC: PAOG) today announced moving forward with its initiative to produce cannabis nutraceuticals. PAOG recently engaged with the Puerto Rico Consortium for Clinical Investigation (PRCCI) to assist PAOG with developing its proprietary Cannabidiol (CBD) extract into a nutraceutical product to provide care for those experiencing issues associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD). Last year, PAOG acquired RespRx from Kali-Extracts, Inc. (OTC Pink: KALY). RespRx is a cannabis treatment under development for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) derived from a patented cannabis extraction method - U.S. Patent No. 9,199,960 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING HERBACEOUS PLANT MATERIALS INCLUDING THE CANNABIS PLANT." Earlier this week PRCCI advanced next step plans to PAOG to advance the nutraceutical developments. PAOG plans to work with Alkame Holdings, Inc. (USOTC: ALKM) in the packaging of its nutraceuticals. Learn more about PAOG at www.paogroupinc.com. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Us: Jim DiPrima 888-272-6472 [email protected] SOURCE PAO Group, Inc. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Earn your Associate of Applied Business in Business IT (BIT) degree online from the University of Cincinnati. This program can be completed fully online, with curriculum customized to fit your schedule, interests and how quickly you want to complete your degree. Application deadline July 1, 2021. Learn More Libra, the digital currency announced by Facebook last year, is getting a new name. Libra will now be Diem. The new name will reenforce the currency project's independence, according to a statement released Tuesday by the Libra Association, which is also changing its name. From now on it will be the Diem Association. "What's the best way to get people to think about a product differently?" asked Josh Crandall, CEO and co-founder of NetPop Research. "Change the name." He maintained the name change is Facebook's way to create a blank slate for the currency. "The Libra rollout was rife with conflicts between partners and positioning statements that roiled the industry," he explained to TechNewsWorld. "They had to bury that history however they could and changing the name was the fastest means to an end." The currency also came under fire from the U.S. government. "The Treasury Department has expressed very serious concerns that Libra could be misused by money launderers and terrorist financiers," Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters at a White House press conference held around the time of the Libra launch. Turning Over New Leaf "They're trying to turn over a new leaf -- fresh face, fresh name," observed Avivah Litan, a security and privacy analyst at Gartner. "They're trying to disassociate from the past, when they had trouble with regulators who saw Libra as a Facebook attempt to dominate the financial world," she told TechNewsWorld. "Branding and marketing can make a difference," she added, "but astute financial regulators aren't going to change their mind about anything just because of a name change." Facebook has done a great job of enlisting members from outside organizations to serve on the council governing its digital currency, maintained Graeme Moore, head of tokenization at Polymath, maker of a solution for creating, issuing, and managing tokens on the blockchain. "But whether Libra or Diem, many will still think there is an outsized influence from Facebook," he told TechNewsWorld. "On the flip side," he added, "many people don't even know Instagram or WhatsApp is owned by Facebook, so for those individuals, I don't think Libra versus Diem makes a difference." Looking Under the Covers Martha Bennett, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, explained that regulators are concerned that Facebook's global reach could create risk issues for the financial markets if Diem were broadly adopted. "But the people who have the power to influence where this goes are not going to be fooled by a name change," she told TechNewsWorld. She noted that this isn't the first name change in the Facebook currency scheme. Calibra, the name of the digital wallet used in conjunction with Libra, was rebranded in May as Novi. "So what?" she asked. "It is still a wholly-owned subsidiary of Facebook." By the same token, she continued, "It doesn't matter whether it's called the Libra Association or the Diem Association because, from a technology development perspective, Facebook remains in the driver's seat." "What really matters -- and what both regulators and lawmakers will be looking for -- is what's under the covers. It doesn't matter what you call it," she said. Facebook, through spokesperson Lauren Dickson, referred our request for a comment for this story to the Diem Association. The Association did not respond to a separate request for comment made by TechNewsWorld. Appeasing Regulators Since launching its currency scheme in June 2019, Facebook has had to give its scheme a makeover. In April, it announced a scaled-back version of its original plan to be the center of a new global financial system with Facebook in the role of a central bank and Wall Street. The new system is a payment network similar to PayPal, with digital coins tied to a local currency. In the original scheme, Libra was going to be backed by a "basket" of global currencies. While there will still be a variety of Diem supported by multiple currencies, its role in the system will be less prominent. "The April revision is a much, much, much reduced version of the original proposal," Bennett said. "What they're gearing up for now is just a digital version of the U.S. dollar." The scaled back Facebook currency scheme also seems to have calmed the qualms of regulators. "Many of the concerns raised by regulators and politicians seemed like feigned outrage," asserted Moore. "From my perspective, the primary concern was Libra being backed by a basket of currencies rather than only the U.S. dollar," he said. "Libra has altered their initial plans to now have Libra backed by only U.S. dollars, and their imminent launch shows this has satisfied regulators." "Imminent" could be as soon as January, according to some reports. Issues In D.C. Facebook's scheme may also benefit from a change in administrations in Washington. "Gary Gensler and other members of the Biden team aren't afraid of cryptocurrencies," Litan said. "They're not going to have this knee-jerk negative reaction any time they hear the word cryptocurrency," she continued. She acknowledged that the new administration may have issues with Facebook, but "they 'get it' a lot more than the last one did" when it comes to cryptocurrencies. "The last administration talked about how cryptocurrency was used for money laundering, when, in fact, it's easier to stop money laundering on blockchain than in banks because the money movement is transparent," she explained. "They made comments that showed a fundamental lack of understanding that you don't see with the Biden team," she added. However, Moore maintained that Trump officials like Mnuchin, Jay Clayton, Hester "Crypto Mom" Peirce have done an excellent job in blockchain regulation. "There haven't been any overly regressive or detrimental policies that could have stifled innovation," he said. He added, though, that Mnuchin's recent comments on regulation involving self-hosted wallets could tarnish what has been an otherwise straightforward, beneficial approach digital money. With well over 1,000 digital currencies in existence, one might ask, "Do we really need another one?" Moore says yes. "Fast money, secure money, private money, money backed by gold, money backed by dollars, money for specific use cases, and more," he observed. "It's not that we 'need' another cryptocurrency. It's that humans love to innovate and create, and this design space is incredibly exciting to the world's most enterprising people." John P. Mello Jr. has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2003. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, IT issues, privacy, e-commerce, social media, artificial intelligence, big data and consumer electronics. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including the Boston Business Journal, the Boston Phoenix, Megapixel.Net and Government Security News. Email John. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Lockdown now demands that millions of parents have to juggle work and their children's schooling from home. Yet despite this, a third of families do not have the computers they need. The Daily Mail is campaigning to ensure all Britain's pupils are equipped with a laptop or tablet - so no child is prevented from learning in lockdown. But it's not just a lack of hardware causing difficulties. As this newspaper reveals today, almost one million children do not have access to broadband at home, which they need to do lessons. Digital divide: A third of families do not have the computers they need to ensure the children can continue their education during lockdown Many instead rely on their mobile phones to access the internet. But this can be very costly, particularly for those with pay-as-you-go contracts. Research by the Mail shows that even on the cheapest deals, a family with four children could easily rack up a mobile data bill of 80 a month. In a bid to help those struggling, many major providers have launched a string of discounts and are providing free access to educational websites. But with each firm offering something different - and some nothing at all - families face navigating a maze to get the help they need. Consumer experts say much more needs to be done to close the digital divide, and are calling for firms to give out devices known as dongles, which create a wi-fi signal. In the meantime, here's Money Mail's ultimate guide to getting up to speed with the internet savings your family could make in lockdown... Free data Under the Government's Get Help With Technology scheme, mobile giants have teamed up with ministers to dish out free data to children with access to a mobile phone. Their phone can then be used as a hotspot, which allows other devices, such as laptops, to connect to the internet. To be eligible children must be in Years 3 to 11 and learning from home as a result of lockdown restrictions. They must also have no broadband at home, with their parents unable to afford additional data for their mobile devices. Those who qualify must then ask a school, trust or local authority to apply to the scheme on their behalf. Schools do not need to provide proof that children are eligible - decisions will be based on their understanding of who needs support. However, spaces are limited and the amount of free data up for grabs varies depending on your provider. O2 is offering 40GB (GB stands for gigabyte, a measurement of data usage) a month to families struggling with connectivity, while Virgin Mobile customers can get 20GB a month. Others, such as Three, are offering unlimited data as part of the scheme. Some providers have their own rules about who is eligible, too. O2 customers must have been with the network for at least six months, while Vodafone customers must have a Big Value bundle costing 10 or more. The Department for Education is also giving schools, trusts and local authorities 4G wireless routers, which provides the same type of connection as your smartphone, which can be lent to disadvantaged children. For more details see gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-technology-for-remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19. Mums are paying the price of being teacher By Miles Dilworth Homeschooling has become a full-time job for single mother Hilary Shanahan. Every Monday morning, her daughter's school sends through a timetable for the week, which includes five hours of work a day. But because she is on furlough, Hilary, 41, can ensure Milly, nine, isn't left to struggle through her worksheets alone. Not everyone has been afforded that small mercy, however. A survey by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) shows 71 per cent of working mothers have had furlough requests turned down after all schools were forced to close on January 5. It follows a poll by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed, which revealed around one in five mothers of primary school children have either been pushed out of their job or quit since Christmas. Mothers say they have been told they can't take a couple of hours off as holiday to support their children. Others have been told to take unpaid leave instead. Heavy workload: Hilary Shanahan (pictured with Milly, nine, and Rory, 10) has been on and off work since the start of the pandemic Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed, says: 'We are witnessing a tsunami of mothers exiting the labour force, and this will impact families with young children and our economy. It is a debt we will be paying for decades to come.' The job retention scheme allows bosses to furlough parents who can't work due to a lack of childcare. But more employers are refusing to furlough staff during this lockdown compared to spring. Hilary, a sales administrator from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, has been on and off work since the start of the pandemic and says her current break has been a lifeline. Her son Rory, ten, is still going to school as he has special educational needs, but Hilary says she couldn't cope with the demands of homeschooling her daughter Milly if she was still working full-time. She says Milly's school has increased her workload since the previous lockdown. 'I don't know how successful it would be if the child was left alone,' she adds. 'I don't feel her education is suffering as much with me on hand. If I wasn't on furlough I don't think she could do it.' In July, Money Mail revealed working parents were forfeiting 250million in earnings every week as school and nursery closures forced them to cut down on work to look after their children. But experts warn this lockdown is taking a harder toll as parents are squeezed between schools, who have been told to ramp up work, and employers. Hilary says the 20 per cent reduction in her income has been offset by a fall in costs such as sending her children to clubs. But she admits she is 'worried' that her food bill has gone up by a quarter, and expects her heating costs to double. A quarter of mothers are using annual leave to manage their childcare, according to the TUC. It says nearly one in five mothers reduced their working hours and 7 per cent are taking unpaid leave. One mother, who is looking after a one-year-old and a five-year-old daughter, was 'flatly informed' by her employer that it didn't participate in the furlough scheme. The mother, who did not want to be named, says her eldest child struggles with schoolwork and needs constant support. Her partner's job is seasonal and she says she is 'effectively a single mother at this time of year', but she was refused furlough and told to take unpaid leave. She adds: 'I have managed to do my work, but at the expense of doing any schoolwork. My daughter is being neglected.' The TUC is calling on ministers to introduce a temporary right to furlough for groups who cannot work because of Covid restrictions. It says employers should explore other options first, such as additional paid leave, but that working parents should have the right to take it. Becky O'Connor, head of pensions and savings at Interactive Investor, says: 'It's awful that parents are feeling forced to take a financial hit to cope with homeschooling. There could be lasting consequences for their finances and career prospects.' Online lessons O2, Three, Vodafone, EE, BT Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Sky Mobile and Plusnet Mobile have promised to 'zero rate' online education site Oak National Academy for children in England until the end of the academic year. This means they will be able to access the site, which offers nearly 10,000 free lessons from Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 11, without it eating into their mobile data allowance. BT Families can also access the BBC Bitesize study support website via BT Mobile, Plusnet Mobile and EE without needing data. As part of its Lockdown Learning support scheme, BT is working with the Department for Education to offer unlimited mobile data to children in England with no internet access. This should be available from the end of January until July. EE and BT Mobile customers must apply through their child's school. For more information visit get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk. It has also given out Wi-Fi vouchers to schools and charity partners to distribute to families who are not online. These will allow children to connect to one of BT's five million Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK, although BT estimates just 20 per cent to 30 per cent of homes are in range. Low-income families can also apply for BT's Basic tariff which costs 10.07 a month for broadband and a phone line. It is available to those on specific means-tested benefits, such as Income Support, Jobseeker's Allowance or Pension Credit. BT removed all of its broadband caps in March last year so that customers can have unlimited internet at home. Its cheapest fibre deal costs 26.99 a month but you must sign up for 24 months and also pay a 19.99 upfront fee. The average download speed is 36Mbps (megabits per second). You need at least 3Mbps to stream a standard Netflix show or 16Mpbs to download a standard film in around six minutes. Data help would be a 'godsend' Geraldine Phoenix-Jones, 41, said any help with broadband or getting access to mobile data would be a 'Godsend' for her and daughter Katelyn. She, and husband Christopher, 39, are both unemployed and on benefits. They live with Katelyn, 16, and son Logan, four, in the West Midlands. The couple have been unable to afford the 36 a month they were quoted for home Wi-Fi and don't have any laptops. Geraldine Phoenix-Jones (pictured with son Logan) is unable to afford the 36 a month she was quoted for home wi-fi and doesn't have any laptops Katelyn initially tried to do her schoolwork on her mobile phone. But even if they were to get a laptop, accessing the internet would be as big a problem. Geraldine says: 'I would put 10 on her phone but that only lasted two weeks sometimes when she was going on the internet. We are on benefits so couldn't afford to keep doing that. Times are hard enough at the moment. 'Help with broadband or mobile data would be brilliant. We aren't the only ones in this situation. 'We don't have Wi-Fi at home and no devices, except for my old Nokia phone and my daughter has an old smartphone. This year has been hard. 'We've had to ask for help from the food bank, which was embarrassing enough. Katelyn was given a laptop in the first lockdown by the school, but it was taken off her as it didn't have the software on it to enable her to do the virtual lessons. They said they would get another one, but she is still waiting. 'I rang the school to say she couldn't do the work and as she has a statement for special needs she has been told she can go into school now with the key worker children, but I'd rather she was at home. 'If we had a laptop and internet access she could log on, see her teacher online and do her lessons right now.' EE EE's cheapest pay-as-you-go monthly pack costs 10 a month for 4GB data, 100 minutes and unlimited texts. Or you can pay 1 a week for 10MB data, 100 minutes and 200 texts. Its Sim-only 12-month plan is 13 a month and includes 250MB data, unlimited minutes and texts. 02 Families struggling with connectivity can get 40GB free data a month as part of the Department for Education's initiative. Customers can also access 34 sites without needing data. These include Citizens Advice (citizensadvice.org.uk), Money Advice Service (moneyadviceservice.org.uk) and Stepchange (stepchange.org) for financial support; the Samaritans (samaritans.org) and Mind (mind.org.uk) for emotional and mental health help; and educational resource Hungry Little Minds (hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk). O2 is still calling on businesses to ask employees to donate old smartphones, as part of its Community Calling initiative it launched last month with charity Hubbub. The aim is to send out 10,000 devices to the UK's most vulnerable and disconnected people with unlimited minutes and texts, plus 6GB of data a month for a year. The network says it is already seeing the campaign benefit children who need technology for home schooling. For more information see hubbub.org.uk/communitycalling. O2's cheapest contract starts at 13 a month for 3GB data plus an Oppo A15 handset over 36 months. On pay as you go, for a minimum top-up of 15 you get 15GB data. Nokia 3.4, Oppo A15 and Oppo A5 2020 handsets are currently available for 99. Sim-only customers can get 6GB for 10, or 12GB for 12. Shell energy All plans have unlimited data as standard and customers who are struggling can request payment holidays of up to 90 days or opt for partial payments. Shell says it is helping communities in Coventry, where its head office is based, by donating laptops to a local school. Shell's most basic broadband costs 21.99 a month for 18 months but you will only get average speeds of 11Mbps. Its Superfast Fibre costs 27.99 a month for the same term, while its Superfast Fibre Plus is 29.99 a month. Expect average download speeds of 35Mbps and 63Mbps respectively. Both fibre deals currently offer customers a one-off credit covering three months of the cost. Net gains with a better deal When searching for the best deal, the first thing you need to do is pop your postcode into a comparison site such as Cable.co.uk, Broadband Choices or Uswitch to find out which deals are available in your area. Bear in mind the contract length, download speeds, data limits as well as additional fees for installation, equipment and postage to send the router. A standard broadband speed is around 11Mbps - which should be enough for browsing the internet and sending emails. But Jonathan Leggett, tech expert from Broadband Choices, says families of three or four people working online simultaneously may need between 30 and 60 Mpbs. If there are five or more of you working or learning at the same time, you may want to consider faster fibre with average speeds of 65 to 100 Mbps. Examples are BT Fibre 2, Plusnet Unlimited Fibre Extra or TalkTalk Fibre 65. Watch out for introductory deals. Some firms may offer cheaper prices for three to six months before it rises, trapping you for up to a year or more. Check if the deal offers a guaranteed fixed price. If it doesn't, the cost could go up within the agreed minimum contract period. If your current broadband service runs on the Openreach phone network, such as BT, EE, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone, and you are switching to another provider that also uses this network, the new firm will arrange the transfer for you. Each provider should send you a letter to confirm the details and include an estimate of timings. For cable providers - such as Virgin - customers must cancel their existing deal and contact their new provider themselves. The switch should be swift - although it may be longer if you are switching to or from a cable network - and you will rarely be left without internet. If you are, it should not be for more than a few hours. Some firms, including BT, Virgin Media, Sky and TalkTalk, have signed up to a scheme that promises automatic compensation if you suffer service delays. If a provider fails to start a new service on the agreed date you get 5 for every day it is late. However, you may not get this compensation if the reason for the delay is because of coronavirus restrictions. You can also complain to either the Ombudsman Services: Communications or Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme, depending on which your provider is signed up to. For example, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, BT and Plusnet are members of Ombudsman Services. If you are coming to the end of your contract and do not want to switch, try haggling with your provider. Benchmark the prices of rivals and mention any issues you've had with service or connection during the term. Ask for a better deal or whether it can match the prices of others. If you have a reason for not being able to afford the package, mention this, or ask if you can remove services, such as TV channels, you do not use. Sky Sky is offering 100GB free mobile data to children as part of the Government scheme. It has also removed broadband download limits. Its Essential package costs 25 a month for 18 months plus a 19.95 set-up fee. Average download speeds are 11Mbps. Its Superfast deal is also the same price fixed for 18 months with speeds of 56Mbps but the offer ends today. Its usual price is 32 a month plus the set-up fee. Talktalk Broadband packages have always been unlimited and TalkTalk says it is 'having conversations' with the Government to help children who are 'digitally excluded'. Its cheapest deal is fixed for 18 months and costs 22 a month, plus 4.95 postage for the router. Download speeds average at 38Mbps. TalkTalk is already working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the North West to provide online access to digitally-excluded jobseekers. It offers an uncapped, fixed-line service to a whole household for an initial six-month period at cost, with DWP covering the ongoing rental cost and referring eligible customers. TalkTalk wants to adapt this programme to support schoolchildren too, and is working with the Government and local authorities. Three The mobile provider is offering free unlimited mobile data to children with no internet access, as part of the Government's Get Help With Technology scheme. Pay-as-you-go deals start at 72.99 for a Nokia 1.3 handset, plus a 10 top-up. They include 6GB data, unlimited calls and texts. A 24-month contract, including a Huawei Y6p or Xiaomi Redmi 9AT, costs 19 upfront and then 10 a month for unlimited calls, text and 1GB of data. Speeding up connections Test your internet speed using an online checker such as broadbandchoices.co.uk/tools/speed-test or broadband.co.uk/broadband-speed-test/. Make sure your Wi-Fi is protected by a password to stop strangers accessing it - the more people online, the slower the speed. Move your router away from walls, fairy lights, computer speakers, microwaves and doors. Consider updating to a newer model. Update your computer browser and shut down any web pages you are not using. The Advertising Standards Authority sets rules about how companies advertise broadband speeds. They must show the average speed that at least 50 per cent of customers receive at the network's busiest time (8-10pm). Providers should also give a minimum guaranteed speed. If problems persist, speak to your provider. Virgin Virgin Mobile is working with the Department for Education to provide free data to children and access to Oak National Academy. Vulnerable customers on Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go packages can request an extra 500 minutes, 500 text messages and 1GB extra data for free every month. If a child is using a pay-as-you-go sim, which has been registered to an account holder who has been classed as vulnerable - for example, because of their age, financial situation or a disability - then they would be able to access the package. Those considered vulnerable on monthly contracts can get unlimited minutes and 10GB of additional data each month. Both offers are available until the end of March. Virgin's lowest-price sim-only plan is 6 for 3GB per month on a 12-month contract - including unlimited calls and texts. Virgin Media's Essential broadband is available for customers who receive Universal Credit and costs 15 per month for 15Mbps speed with no fixed-term contract length. Its cheapest broadband deal for non-vulnerable customers is an 18-month contract at 26.99 a month for fibre, which means average download speeds of 108Mbps - almost ten times faster than standard broadband. However, Virgin is only available to 53 per cent of households. You must live in areas connected to its street network. Vodafone More than 9,000 schools have been given 350,000 sim cards, that include 30GB of data, to distribute to their most disadvantaged children. Vodafone has also recently joined the Government's Get Help With Technology programme to increase data allowances for children in need and will give unlimited data to customers who join the scheme. In addition, the company is also offering free and discounted access to four leading online education platforms - Azoomee (azoomee.com), MarcoPolo World School (marcopololearning.com), SchoolOnline.co.uk (schoolonline.co.uk) and New Skills Academy (new skillsacademy.co.uk) - via its VeryMe loyalty programme. The mobile provider is also asking the public to donate unwanted smartphones and tablets as part of its Great British Tech Appeal. It will cover postage and packing, add six months free unlimited data connectivity and send out the devices to disadvantaged families, via charity Barnardo's. To donate visit: vodafone.co.uk/techappeal. Its Voxi brand, which is aimed at under-25s, offers 12GB data for 10 a month, plus unlimited texts and minutes. The contract is flexible and you can leave at any time. Vodafone pay-as-you-go customers can get a bundle which includes 3GB of data, 250 minutes and unlimited texts for 10 a month. For 15 the data increases to 6GB. The cheapest contract is 6 a month but you must sign up for a year. This includes 4GB a month data, unlimited minutes and texts. For unlimited data its 24-month contract costs 22 a month. All packages can be used as hotspots so you can use the data on your computer or laptop. Alternatively, Vodafone has data-only packages which start at 10 for 2GB to be used over 90 days. Zen Internet Customers with home broadband packages have been given unlimited data since March. The firm is also working with a local charity to refurbish and donate laptops and desktop computers to children. This week it is asking its staff to bring in old laptops for the cause. Zen's cheapest deal is a 12-month broadband deal for 28 a month, plus a 19.99 set-up fee. Average download speed is 10Mbps but this is only available to those in remote communities who cannot access fibre. Its Superfast package, which offers unlimited fibre and average speeds of 35Mbps, costs 29.99 a month plus the activation fee. a.murray@dailymail.co.uk During an emergency conference by the UISD Board of Trustees, the decision to rename George Washington Middle School in honor of board member Juan Ramirez was rescinded as another school will instead bear his name. The decision was passed without opposition, and Ramirez released the following statement: I am extremely thankful that my colleagues on the board recently chose to honor me by renaming Washington Middle School after me. I am sorry for any frustration or distress that has arisen from the proposal to rename the campus, Ramirez said. George Washington is the father of our country, our first president and one of the greatest leaders in world history. His name and legacy have been an integral part of our local traditions and celebrations since 1939. Most importantly, Washington Middle School has enriched the lives of many students who have gone on to become great leaders in our community and beyond. I will continue to work with the board of trustees and our superintendent to give students a superior public school education, and I thank my constituents for giving me the opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of our students and their families for nearly 20 years. Despite the decision, the boards next agenda item was to rename the new school at Aquero Property in honor of Ramirez. The vote was unanimous. I just want to thank the board and those involved in this, Ramirez said. I appreciate everything that has been taken one moment to the other and everything following all the laws. Ramirez is a Vietnam veteran and retired federal officer. He has worked with UISD for over 19 years and said he will continue to serve the over 42,000 students and 6,700 employees. I always give out of my heart, and I always try to teach the kids to be humble and give to others whenever they can, Ramirez said. To me, it is an honor to do so. I always put God in front, and I always ask God to give me strength and wisdom to do the best I can within my reach. cocampo@lmtonline.com Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. COMPANIES backed by IDA Ireland have announced that they will create 620 jobs so far this year. The latest jobs were announced by Alter Domus, which provides solutions for the alternative investment industry. The company is creating 100 new jobs at its Centre of Excellence in Cork. Other IDA Ireland-supported businesses to announce new jobs in Ireland this month include Personio, which is creating 140 roles in Dublin, Genesys, which is increasing its headcount by 100 in Galway, Indigo Telecom with 100 roles in Limerick and Logitech, which has created 50 jobs in Cork. Alter Domus operates a European hub for global private debt, private equity, real estate and infrastructure investors and managers supporting over 1trn in assets under administration globally from its Cork office. The company, which also has a presence in Dublin, increased its headcount here to 180 from 100 people in 2020. James McEvoy, country executive Ireland at Alter Domus, said: This industry holds over $10trn (8.2trn) in assets, a growing proportion of which is invested in Europe. Ireland is going to be an increasingly important access point to these markets. Our priority is to support our clients where they need us and our focus now is to enhance our service offering to bring our specialist full-service solutions to market in support of that growth. Alter Domus said it will also continue to invest in its partnerships with third level institutions locally. This will include the enhancement of both graduate and internship programmes. Annual intake for each of these programmes is expected to double this year, the company said. Martin Shanahan CEO of IDA Ireland, said: [The] announcement to create 100 roles at its European Centre of Excellence in Cork, endorses Alter Domus confidence in the availability of a high skilled and talented workforce in the South West and demonstrates IDA Irelands continued commitment to winning investment for regional locations. Globally, Alter Domus recruited over 700 people in 2020. It is also continuing to grow by acquisitions. In December, the company acquired Boston-based fund administrator, IPS Fund Services and London-based fintech, Credit-Vision. In January the company purchased Utah-based Strata Fund Solutions. The company said it is targeting significant further organic and acquisition growth in 2021. (Natural News) Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida appeared on Fox News Friday, Jan. 15, to call out the hypocrisy of Joe Biden and the Democrats. For all of the criticism that they have leveled against Donald Trump unfairly, they were the cheerleaders, fundraisers and apologists for the people who burned our cities, attacked our police and were on offense against the very notion of America for months this summer, Gaetz said. They dont want to account for that. Joe Biden doesnt want to answer for it. Certainly, Kamala Harris doesnt. (Related: BOMBSHELL: Organization funding BLM, Antifa terrorism linked to Biden campaign.) He also accused Bidens incoming administration of positioning itself to use national security tools against political opponents. We should take note of the language that the left is using chemical warfare, insurrection, domestic terrorism. There are exquisite authorities in our national laws that allow our government to do things to terrorists that we would never allow against our own people, Gaetz said. But in the incoming Biden administration, they want to use national security authorities against MAGA. Theyre targeting Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert, Madison Cawthorn and myself because we had the nerve to actually stand up and point out the need for election integrity. MAGA refers to Make America Great Again, a campaign slogan popularized by Trump that has evolved and turned into a movement supporting the president. Gaetz claimed Biden and the Democrats will go after Trump and his allies and he said: Theyre going to use national security authorities that you should never use against our fellow Americans. The lawmaker was one of the first to defend Trump following the Capitol riots on Jan. 6. This morning, President Trump explicitly called for demonstrations and protests to be peaceful. He was far more you can moan and groan but he was far more explicit about his calls for peace than some of the BLM and left-wing rioters were this summer when we saw violence sweep across this nation, Gaetz said on the House floor hours after the Capitol attack. Bidens own words substantiate Gaetzs claim Biden had some interesting descriptions for the Capitol rioters. They werent protesters. Dont dare call them protesters, he said. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists. Its that basic. Its that simple, He then recalled a text conversation hed had with his granddaughter about how differently law enforcement officers treated the rioters from how they treated Black Lives Matters protesters during summer demonstrations over the death of George Floyd. No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldnt have been treated very, very differently from the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol, he said. We all know thats true. And its unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. Biden said both parties agreed the people involved in the Capitol attack should be punished. I think it is critically important there be a real serious focus on holding those folks who engaged in sedition and threatened peoples lives, defacing public property, caused great damage, that they be held accountable. I think thats the view held by the vast majority of Democrats and Republicans in the Congress, he said. Additional security measures have been put into place at the Capitol ahead of Bidens inauguration on Jan. 20. Seven-foot anti-climbing fences were installed around the Capitol complex, surrounding it in a ring of steel. National Guard units have arrived to help guard the building through the inauguration. The head of the National Guard said at least 10,000 troops will be deployed in Washington, D.C. and an additional 5,000 could be requested from other states. Biden told reporters that he wasnt afraid of holding his inauguration ceremony outside despite the mounting threats. Im not afraid of taking the oath outside, he said. With the national security authorities at his command, theres no reason for him to be afraid. Follow JoeBiden.news for more stories related to Joe Biden. Sources include: ThePoliticalInsider.com News.yahoo.com DailyMail.co.uk JACKSON, MI - The routine of their typical lunch food fare, like pizza and burgers, is about to change for Jackson High School students. Chef John Sugimura is in town this week preparing the schools kitchen staff to whip up the chicken karaage bowls he serves at his PinKU Japanese Street Food restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Students will get a taste of this more-than-100-year-old recipe passed down from his grandmother later this week. The meal well be serving Thursday and Friday will be exactly how my grandmother would do it and she would be proud of it, he said. Sugimura is joining the Jackson High food service team through Jackson Public Schools partnership with Taher Food Service, where Sugimura is corporate chef. I do it to share and give them a little snippet of Japanese Americans and broaden their world a little bit, said Sugimura. Its really been quite magical. Sugimura has spent the last couple years traveling the country to schools, educating students and food service staffs about the benefits of using healthy, fresh ingredients and cooking from scratch. Unlike the heat-and-serve dishes students are used to getting in a typical school lunch, Sugimura said his grandmothers recipe tells a story that can be used to get them excited about trying different foods. The chicken-based meal was made by his grandmother in her restaurant in Sacramento, California in the 1920s, up until World War II. In 1942, Sugimuras grandmother and her family were forced to move to Tule Lake, California, where they were incarcerated in assembly centers for more than four years, he said. Sugimuras family eventually was able to leave the war camp and moved to Minnesota where he was born and raised. Being able to carry on his grandmothers recipes, he said, is what has driven him as a chef. You would think I work for Taher because of my passion for food, he said. I work for for Taher as a corporate chef doing exclusively Japanese food so I can talk about the Japanese-American experience. The recipe for the chicken karaage bowls includes Persian cucumbers, shredded nori, medium grain rice and chicken fried in gluten free potato starch to heavily reduce its saturated fat content. Getting Sugimura to come to Jackson has been two years in the making after meeting him at a Taher conference in Minneapolis, JPS Catering Coordinator Steve Trout said. We never really got to experience anything like this, said Trout, who graduated from Jackson High in 2007. Its kind of refreshing for me to bring that over here to get these kids to try new things and experiences from other parts of the world. I really try to press new, fresh ingredients that are healthy with great flavors. Sugimuras visit is a welcomed change of pace for both students and food service crews, with a chance to try something authentic, JPS Food Service Director and Chef Manager Brant Russell said. Its a great learning experience that will push some kids boundaries, Russell said. It will hopefully open their eyes to something different. With plans to serve around 600 students this week, Sugimura said the rewarding part of visiting students is engaging with and exposing them to something different. Most kids, at some point in their life, have been made to feel different, Sugimura said. This is one day where nobody is feeling different because were introducing them to a brand new everything. Sugimura will return to Jackson later in the spring to make another Japanese-inspired dish of homemade noodles with chicken and steak skewers. READ MORE: Jackson Public Schools renames building after late civil rights activist John Lewis Jackson teachers hope COVID-19 vaccine increases comfort in community Jacksons former Griswold School being demolished for possible new development Struggling major Bay Area transit operators including Muni and BART will receive millions of dollars in the first round of new federal coronavirus relief funding Wednesday. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission voted unanimously to allocate the first $180 million out of $982 million for transit operators in the Bay Area from a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill signed by former President Donald Trump last month. The first tranche of funds is vital to keeping transit workers employed and bringing back service as operators struggle after more than 10 months of plummeting revenue. In places like the Bay Bridge, traffic is already worse than before COVID, and this region needs robust transit to support an equitable and sustainable economic recovery, said commissioner Nick Josefowitz. These funds will be essential to keeping the trains, buses and ferries running, which so many essential workers rely on. Five operators will receive money in the first round to make up for revenue losses from last fall. BART will get $103.7 million; followed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni, with $43.8 million; Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District with $20.3 million; Caltrain with $6.9 million; and the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority, with runs regional ferries, with $4.9 million. Over the next two months, the commission will allocate the remaining $803 million based on pandemic revenue losses, expenses and the needs of transit-dependent riders. Only operators that run in three urban areas are eligible for a slice of the $982 million from the new federal bill, with San Francisco-Oakland receiving $822.7 million, San Jose $144.2 million and Santa Rosa $15.4 million. Rural operators, such as bus service County Connection, arent eligible to get new federal money. MTC can work on making them whole through other funding sources. Were creating a situation for the haves and the have-nots, commission Chair Scott Haggerty said during a meeting earlier this month. People in smaller areas are riding transit because theyre transit dependent. He added the government should have just given us the damn money and let us figure it out. New money wont solve long-term problems for operators. BART will use $55 million of new funds to close its $33 million deficit this fiscal year and put the rest toward next years deficit. The agency still anticipates a $500 million budget hole by 2023 without more aid, spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. These funds provide short-term relief, preventing layoffs and providing funds to keep our current service levels, BART General Manager Bob Powers said in a statement. Federal funding staves off layoffs at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which was facing a $68 million deficit, and allowed the agency to roll out more service last week. Muni brought back the T-Third light rail line, other bus lines and added new express routes from the Bayview and Dogpatch to downtown. The federal government has prevented the collapse of the public transit systems that have allowed essential workers to keep hospitals and other basic services running during the pandemic, an SFMTA spokesperson said. Were not out of the woods yet. Even with these funds, we will likely have to continue to tap into our rainy-day reserves to balance the budget next year. Federal money already saved jobs at Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, which voted to lay off 146 workers in November and then reversed course in December. New funding halved the agencys deficit this fiscal year to $27 million. General Manager Denis Mulligan said Wednesday the district was thrilled to receive funds that will allow us to continue to make payroll and pay our hardworking employees through mid-April. Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @mallorymoench With the start of the Biden administration, decisions must be taken to as to how the US will proceed in Syria and what their next steps will be writes Arab News. As the conflict in Syria nears its 10-year anniversary, the new Biden administration in Washington must decide how to shape US policy on this issue. As the administration names people to key positions, it is becoming clear that President Joe Biden is likely to take a more engaged yet pragmatic approach toward Syria. The approach to Syria will be set within the administrations broader Middle East policy, which will re-establish diplomacy and human rights as priorities. The emerging foreign policy team appears to take a nuanced view of using US military assets in the region, with strong opposition to large-scale military interventions but a willingness to use smaller military forces to pursue counterterrorism and other missions. The Biden administration is very likely to view preventing any resurgence of Daesh as its top priority, but it also will view the refugee crisis, regional stability, human rights, and limiting Russian and Iranian influence as important issues in its Syria policy. However, Syria is likely to rank relatively low on the list of global and even regional priorities. Managing the pandemic, strengthening alliances, and addressing Irans nuclear program will take precedence. Biden was vice president at the start of the Syrian civil war. Many members of his new team also served in the Obama administration and some feel a sense of regret for US policy failures in Syria. Antony Blinken, nominated for secretary of state, has suggested that he feels a responsibility to do better now. Some likely administration leaders have suggested that they learned lessons from their previous experience, and no one should assume that those who served under President Barack Obama will pursue exactly the same policies now. Indeed, there is widespread awareness that the Middle East has changed, the US has changed, and the individuals themselves have changed. Biden and his team have revealed little about their Syria policy. The information available so far suggests that the administration will seek to increase diplomatic pressure on the Assad regime, including through rebuilding coalitions to pursue a political process to end the war. While diplomacy will play an essential role, there is widespread support among foreign policy officials for maintaining the current small military force in Syria and potentially increasing the military presence in a targeted way. The main purpose would be to counter a Daesh resurgence, but also to provide support to the Syrian Democratic Forces and to pressure the Assad regime. The new administration is also likely to resettle more Syrian refugees and provide more humanitarian aid, including in Idlib. It will likely oppose reconstruction aid that might benefit the Assad regime unless there is a political process in place, although the administrations position is not fully clear. Under Biden, the sanctions imposed by the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act will likely remain in place. Statements by leading officials highlight a pragmatic mix of hard and soft power, though there are likely to be disagreements about how to apply those tools to Syria. Biden criticized Trump for withdrawing troops in 2019, saying that it betrayed the US Kurdish allies and damaged its moral authority. Blinken also criticized Trumps troop withdrawal and expressed support for maintaining some military presence in Syria. Jake Sullivan, Bidens national security adviser, reportedly advocated for arming anti-Assad rebels during the Obama administration but has since appeared to modify his views on the effectiveness of military interventions. Brett McGurk, selected as Middle East coordinator for the National Security Council, resigned from the Trump administration over the withdrawal of troops, which he strongly criticized, and he is known as a critic of Turkish policy in Syria. Dana Stroul, Bidens pick to lead Middle East policy at the Pentagon, has advocated for maintaining a counter-Daesh force in Syria and co-chaired the Syria Study Group, which offers several recommendations. The Biden administration faces many challenges in Syria. In addition to the many internal problems and the refugee crisis, there are multiple external stakeholders that have complex or hostile relations with Washington. Biden will be less willing than Trump to accommodate the leaders of Russia and Turkey. The administration faces a challenge in trying to manage different strands of Iran policy. After a decade of war, Syrians have little faith in Washingtons ability to improve the situation, but few other sources of hope. After a decade of war, Syrians have little faith in Washingtons ability to improve the situation, but few other sources of hope. The Biden administration also has some opportunities. The new foreign policy team is likely to re-evaluate the US overall regional role and place Syria policy within a refreshed understanding of what Washington can accomplish in the region. Many European allies are keen to work with Biden to address concerns, including the Syrian wars impacts on Europe. While Biden has been critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the new administration has ideas for a reset in relations with Ankara. The Biden team believes in the value of strategy and will try to set pragmatic goals in Turkey with the means necessary to achieve those goals. The new administration has significant opportunities to maintain a coalition that ensures Daesh cannot regain power. Washington alone cannot resolve the Syrian war and the Biden team is not interested in nation building. Syria will not be a top priority, with the administration taking a pragmatic approach with limited goals. However, Biden has significant opportunities to set policies that might help put Syria on a more positive track for the future. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Juniper Networks Announces Close of Apstra Acquisition Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that the company has finalized its acquisition of Apstra, a leader in intent-based networking and automated closed-loop assurance. The closing of the deal marks a meaningful step toward delivering an unmatched, experience-led portfolio for the data center across all customer segments - enterprise, service provider and cloud provider. Apstra brings network automation based on an open, multivendor architecture to Juniper's Data Center networking portfolio which has been recognized for the third year in a row as a leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center and Cloud Networking. The combined experience of the two companies delivers a proven open, programmable and highly-scalable solution for next-generation data centers and cloud networks, providing customers the clearest and quickest path to automate the data center and introduce AI-driven operations. The Apstra team is now part of Juniper's Data Center business and Apstra CEO and co-founder, David Cheriton, joins Juniper as Chief Data Center Scientist. "The Apstra acquisition is a significant milestone for our business that reinforces our commitment to transforming data center operations. Apstra's focus on intent-based networking, closed-loop automation and fabric assurance is a perfect complement to Juniper's award-winning hardware and software. Together, we can drive lasting customer value from design to deployment (Day 0 and 1) through everyday operations and assurance (Day 2 and beyond)." - Mike Bushong, Vice President of Data Center Product Management, Juniper Networks (News - Alert) "Cloud - not just as a destination for workloads, but also as an operating model and set of technologies for intelligent automation - is driving profound change and disruption. Increasingly, organizations that own and operate their own data centers realize that their networks must be modernized, both architecturally and operationally, to support cloud-native applications and workloads. With the acquisition of Apstra, Juniper is responding to the urgent need for simplified, streamlined cloud-centric operations that help architects and network operators collaborate effectively to achieve greater agility throughout the network lifecycle." - Brad Casemore, Research Vice President of Data Center Networks, IDC (News - Alert) "The extreme demands of Switzerland's renowned financial services industry need an infrastructure that guarantees the lowest latency and response times with high-cost efficiency and high levels of reliability. This is only possible if the latest technologies are used throghout. Apstra's automation and simple operational model helps us deliver the lowest response times with the highest cost efficiency and reliability. And with their rapid feature velocity, we are confident they'll continue delivering on our, and our customers', requirements in the future." - Hanspeter Tinner, Chief Service Officer and Co-Founder, Beelastic The close of the Apstra acquisition follows the close of Juniper's additional acquisitions of Netrounds and 128 Technology (News - Alert) in H2 2020. Juniper will also host its annual Investor Day virtually on Friday, February 12, 2021 via live webcast on the Juniper Networks' website: http://investor.juniper.net/. Additional Resources: About Juniper Networks Juniper Networks challenges the inherent complexity that comes with networking and security in the multicloud era. We do this with products, solutions and services that transform the way people connect, work and live. We simplify the process of transitioning to a secure and automated multicloud environment to enable secure, AI-driven networks that connect the world. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo, Juniper, Junos, and other trademarks listed here are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Gartner (News - Alert) Disclaimer Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Data Center and Cloud Networking, Andrew Lerner, Evan Zeng, Jonathan Forest, 30 June 2020 Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Category-corporate View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005240/en/ Health workers in protective gear walk out from a blocked off area after spraying disinfectant in Shanghai's Huangpu district on Jan. 27, 2021, after residents were evacuated following the detection of a few cases of COVID-19 coronavirus in the neighborhood. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Wartime Mode: Inside Chinas Current Virus Hotspots China is seeing its worst CCP virus resurgence in months as the Lunar New Year approaches. During the annual holiday, tens of millions travel across the country, crowding buses, trains, and planes, to reunite with their families. But this year, dozens of Chinese provinces and cities are urging against unnecessary trips, telling people to stay where they are while imposing quarantine measures to contain the virus. At daily virus press briefings, officials have spread theories about imported cases seeding local outbreaks and people getting infected through frozen food packagingthough disease experts have said the risk of infection through viral material on food packaging is very low. The number of reported cases is still small compared to those in Western countries, but the Chinese communist regimes history of downplaying crises while prioritizing its image has led critics and residents to question whether they are hearing the truth. Some regions enforcement of virus containment measures has also given rise to concerns that peoples basic rights are being violated. The Epoch Times here compiles key details, collected through interviews with locals in areas that have experienced the most severe outbreaks, in an effort to present a more complete picture of Chinas current epidemic. A map illustration of the current CCP virus hotspots in China. (The Epoch Times) Hebei Province The year 2021 began with a surge of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus infections in northern Chinas Hebei Province, concentrated in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang. The city was quickly placed under wartime mode on Jan. 3 after local authorities announced about a dozen new COVID-19 cases. Schools were closed, and local public transportation was suspended. Within days, the city saw a full-blown outbreak, with at least hundreds of new cases reported. Local authorities mandated testing for millions of people. The under-construction centralized quarantine facilities, where people at risk of contracting the Covid-19 coronavirus are to be taken into quarantine in Shijiazhuang, in northern Hebei Province after the province declared an emergency state, on Jan. 16, 2021. (STR/CNS/AFP via Getty Images) However, the mass testing didnt calm Shijiazhuang residents nerves. A resident surnamed Guo (a pseudonym) complained that health officials werent changing gloves or carrying out proper disinfection procedures while taking swab samples. He said there was also panic among the people, as worry set in over financial losses and food shortages resulting from lockdowns in multiple counties and districts in the city. In some areas, people could only leave their homes every few days to go out shopping for basic necessities. Now, Shijiazhuang is under a form of white terror, Guo said, referring to authorities heavy-handed suppression of citizens. There is nothing to be afraid of about the epidemic. What is scary is that people have lost their freedom. At one point, about 20,000 villagers in Zengcun, one of the towns in Shijiazhuang, were asked to leave their homes and transfer to makeshift quarantine centers, such as schools and hotels, as local authorities tried to stem the spread of the virus. Three other cities in Hebei ProvinceNangong, Xingtai, and Lanfanghave all been subjected to harsh lockdown measures. The outbreak in Hebei continues to be of great concern. On Jan. 19, Chinas state-run media Xinhua reported that a makeshift quarantine center with 500 rooms was being built at Longyao, a county in Xingtai city. The construction of another makeshift quarantine center in Nangong, equipped with 2,600 rooms, was completed on Jan. 23, according to another Xinhua article. Heilongjiang Province In northern Chinas Heilongjiang Province, authorities in Heihe city, which is located near the Russian border, began reporting a few new cases at the end of December. Unexpectedly, city officials in Heihe placed the city under warlike mode on Jan. 2. Since then, infections have been reported in multiple cities across the province, including Qiqihar, Yichun, Daqing, Suihua, and the capital city of Harbin. Wangkui county, which is under the jurisdiction of Suihua, is among the hardest-hit. County officials have placed all communities under seal-off managementmeaning no one is allowed to leave their homesand began mass testing of locals. A medical worker takes a swab sample from a man as people queue to get tests for Covid-19 coronavirus at an office building in Harbin, in northeastern Chinas Heilongjiang Province on Jan. 14, 2021, after the province declared an emergency state as daily Covid-19 numbers climb. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Mr. Chen, a resident of Angangxi district in Qiqihar, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times in a Jan. 21 phone interview that he hadnt left his home for more than a week because of local government measures to prevent the spread of the virus. He said that his community had been under lockdown since Jan. 12. Chen Xin (a pseudonym), a Harbin resident, told The Epoch Times that local meat and egg prices had skyrocketed recently due to the local outbreak. He added that there was a lack of trust in Chinese-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines because there have been accounts of people experiencing bad side effects after being inoculated. He believed that the actual number of infections in his city was likely much higher than local officials were reporting. Jilin Province Jilin, which borders Heilongjiang to the south, blamed a superspreader originally from its neighbor for sickening a total of 144 locals and starting the latest wave. The 45-year-old man, surnamed Lin, was said to have made frequent trips between multiple cities in the two provinces recently to promote linseed oil to elderly people, according to the Jilin provincial health commission. He contracted the virus from infected passengers during a train trip on Jan. 5 and shed the virus during two subsequent marketing lectures in the cities of Gongzhuling and Tonghua, officials said. The two cities went into immediate lockdown. On Jan. 21, Tonghua officials began sealing off residents doors in the worst-hit district to prevent people from going out, and offered a 5,000 yuan ($773) reward to anyone who spotted violators. In a move similar to those seen in Wuhanthe first place in the world to enact a lockdownauthorities swiftly punished local officials to quell public anger. Eight local officials in Tonghua city received warnings or a one-year probation, while six others were removed from their positions. Staff are waiting to check peoples entry permits, screen their body temperature, and scan their health codes at the entrance of a residential compound in Jilin City, China, on May 25, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) The draconian measures and a lack of transparency in official announcements have led to public fear. The government doesnt allow you to casually post or circulate anything about the outbreak. A lot of [WeChat social media] groups have been suspended, a Tonghua resident who gave her last name as Tan told The Epoch Times. In her neighborhood compound, the utilities management workers were not allowed to come clear away snow, she said. We have to take the government version as the standard, but the reality should be worse. The abrupt lockdown, on some occasions imposed before an official announcement, led to a food crisis. Locals left so many enraged comments online that the city mayor apologized on Jan. 24 and promised to provide grocery packages at reduced prices, although some residents complained that they have not received these packages. While authorities have consistently blamed imported frozen foods as the source of outbreaks, some residents have dismissed the theory. They keep saying there are foreign-origin cases, but I dont trust it, said Mr. Zhang, a supply-chain worker in Changchun city in Jilin. The virus broke out from Wuhan and has never stopped since last year. Beijing authorities have blamed recent outbreaks on people who traveled outside the mainland. Clusters of local infections have been emerging in Beijing since at least Dec. 14, months after officials declared victory over last summers outbreaks. City officials identified the first patient as a 27-year-old worker from Hong Kong who tested positive for the virus following a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Officials said the man spread the virus to two workers at a Chinese bun shop who stayed in the same hotel where the man was quarantined. The Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the patients had contracted the mutated viral strain first found in the UK, called B.1.1.7. A Chinese security guard wears a mask to protect against COVID-19 as media and staff scan their health code before visiting the National Speed Skating Oval during an organized tour in Beijing on Jan. 22, 2021. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Then, in late December, the city reported more than a dozen patients in the district of Shunyi, which it traced to a person from Indonesia. The youngest patient in the district is only 8 months old. Local complaints arose over changing policies and indiscriminate quarantine measures. After a local district reported three infections, hundreds of residents were sent to a quarantine center on Jan. 23 as a precautionary measure, without being told when the quarantine might end, according to Mr. Li, a Beijing resident. The quarantine hotel bolted down room windows with nails, likely in an attempt to prevent escapes, which caused many people to feel suffocated, he said. The city, which began administering vaccinations this month, said 1.9 million had received the first dose as of Jan. 19. But many residents didnt show much faith in the campaign, citing the regimes lack of transparency in vaccine data and a slew of past vaccine scandals. Definitely cant get the vaccine, said retired doctor Ms. Xia from Chaoyang district. She said many medical doctors she knows also dont intend to get the shot. Dr. Wang, also from Beijing, noted that all currently developed Chinese vaccines are only for people aged 18 to 59, which strikes him as unusual. Perhaps they [authorities] are afraid that the elderly will have more adverse reactions and discourage people [from taking the vaccine], so they will vaccinate the group that is less likely to have reactions, he said. It suggests that the vaccine safety is not up to par, and even authorities themselves lack the confidence. Until recent days, Shanghai authorities have been reporting few to no local infections, laying the blame on foreign imported cases for the frequent flare-ups. Yet videos that locals sent to The Epoch Times showed scenes reminiscent of the early days of the Wuhan outbreak last year. A train station staff member said he has seen multiple passengers, elderly and young alike, suddenly collapse to the ground. Rumors abound that they were victims of the virus. A man in a white jacket collapses on the train in Shanghai, on Jan. 17, 2021. (Provided to The Epoch Times) These days, the number of commuters riding trains is less than half of regular traffic, he said. A lot of the frontline train station crew are quitting, he said, adding that many workplaces, grocery stores, and shopping centers in Shanghai have been checking peoples temperatures upon entry, along with scanning two cell phone codes that track their overseas trips and health statuses in the past two weeks. As residents, theres a sense that the virus may have already exploded, just that the city government strictly controls any reporting on it, he said, adding that a friend disappeared after posting photos related to the outbreak on WeChat. The friends account was also suspended. Like in Beijing, officials in heavy-hit districts have transferred thousands of local residents to quarantine sites. Police and workers stand next to buses at a neighborhood where residents are forced to go to centralized quarantine centers in Huangpu District in Shanghai on January 21, 2021. (STF/AFP via Getty Images) It feels like sitting in jail, Shanghai resident Ms. He said of such experiences. A video supplied by He showed health officials shutting down shops in Baoshan district, resulting in several women getting locked inside a coffee shop moments after they walked in. Another resident, Ms. Wang, told The Epoch Times: Right now, we can only reduce outings and wear masks. Thats about all we can do. Within this year's analysis, Aragon recognizes that COVID-19 has been and continues to be a key driver accelerating digital transformation initiatives across every industry. According to the firm, "the pandemic has created a situation in which paper can no longer be relied upon as a safe medium" while employees work remotely. Aragon also believes that "organizations that have deployed DTM continue to outperform their competitors" by providing streamlined and modern digital experiences. "At Nintex, we recognize that every business and government leader is facing increasing pressure to meet (and ideally exceed) the ever-increasing digital demands of their customers, employees and constituents," said Nintex CEO Eric Johnson. "We appreciate being named a Leader with our easy-to-use and affordable platform for powerful automation solutions that turn manual, paper-based and repetitive processes into fully digital experiences for more than 50 percent of the Fortune 500 and in over 10,000 organizations worldwide today." Aragon Research examines the complete capabilities of the Nintex Process Platform to eliminate paper within the report. With Nintex, customers can automate the assembly and digital distribution of documents by leveraging the platform's integrated eSignature and document automation capabilities, including Nintex Drawloop DocGen which is an app available within Salesforce AppExchange. The firm also notes the Nintex Process Platform offers advanced process management capabilities including easy-to-use visual process mapping with Nintex Promapp, and its built-in Nintex Workflow Generator capability, to create workflow scenarios including document generation with nearly touchless automation design work. Industry leaders like Amazon, AstraZeneca, and Zoom, as well as government agencies and municipalities like the City and County of Denver and the City of Garland, Texas, all report significant results and customer/stakeholder satisfaction leveraging Nintex to easily manage, automate and optimize simple to complex business processes and workflows. To re-imagine your own business processes and put automation to work - from workflow to document or robotic process automation (RPA) - within your organization, request a Nintex demo at www.nintex.com/request-demo. Media Contact Kristin Treat Nintex [email protected] cell: (215) 317-9091 About Nintex Nintex is the global standard for process management and automation. Today more than 10,000 public and private sector organizations across 90 countries turn to the Nintex Platform to accelerate progress on their digital transformation journeys by quickly and easily managing, automating and optimizing business processes. Learn more by visiting www.nintex.com and experience how Nintex and its global partner network are shaping the future of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA). Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Aragon Disclaimer Aragon Research does not endorse vendors, or their products or services that are referenced in its research publications, and does not advise users to select those vendors that are rated the highest. Aragon Research publications consist of the opinions of Aragon Research and Advisory Services organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Aragon Research provides its research publications and the information contained in them "AS IS," without warranty of any kind. SOURCE Nintex Related Links http://www.nintex.com Traumakine has also attracted the interest of the US Department of Defense, which was revealed to be a surprise backer Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy ( ) is enjoying momentum with its project pipeline as its COVID-19 candidate Traumakine has just received the green light to enter the final stage of trials in the US. The Finnish drugmaker will test it on people who have been hospitalised but do not yet need ventilation and have not received corticosteroids. The aim is to prevent systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and by extension improve sufferers condition and reduce the death rate among patients. In all, around 140 coronavirus sufferers will take part in Farons HIBISCUS study at five to ten sites in the US. Traumakine, which is an interferon beta-1a, will be measured against a placebo, which has no medical impact on the patient. The candidate has also attracted the interest of the US Department of Defense (DoD), which was revealed to be a surprise backer of the HIBISCUS study with a US$6.1mln cash injection. Faron chief executive Dr Markku Jalkanen told Proactive the DoD is also interested in the drug to treat its soldiers when they suffer from combat wounds. Hospitalised soldiers and COVID-19 patients have one thing in common: the potential to develop cytokine storms, which are inflammatory reactions that go out of control posing the risk of multiorgan failure and consequent death. Traumakine was also part of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Solidarity trial, however it was concluded that a subcutaneous formulation (when its injected under the skin), had little effect in halting coronavirus-related deaths. Jalkanen told Proactive he was pleased, regardless of the outcome, because the WHO was able to confirm Farons theory that the drug was not effective in subcutaneous form. Instead, it should work when delivered right into the vein (intravenous injection) so it can circulate across the body. Farons other lead candidate, Clevegen, was recently discovered that it has even more potential that previously though. Researchers assessed data from the phase I/II MATINS clinical trial of the treatment, which targets Clever-1, a receptor known to be expressed on immunosuppressive macrophages (cells that engulf and destroy other cells). Firstly, it was found that the candidate showed early efficacy signs on cholangiocarcinoma, also known as bile duct cancer, alongside other four cohorts previously announced - cutaneous melanoma, colorectal cancer, hepatocellular cancer and ovarian cancer. Secondly, it was found that a higher dosage of the drug could potentially work better on patients, so Faron is now studying how to increase it from every three weeks to every fortnight or week and a half. This was revealed after the latest scientific observations shone some light on how Clever-1 works in suppressing the patients immune system. While it waits for further data on the new discovery, Faron is discussing with potential partners but Jalkanen said a deal has to reflect the real value of the Clevegen approach and hes not interested in clinching one unless it brings real value. It would be totally foolish to enter new partnerships unless they really would recognise the future upside of the product, he added. Meanwhile, the AIM-listed firm is mulling over a US listing: its already building a unit in Boston to facilitate interaction with the US Food and Drug Administration, has appointed an advisor and is reaching out to investors in the country but nothing has been decided as of yet. With further data expected on Traumakine and Clevegen and growing interest in the US, 2021 is set to be a year to remember for Faron. Shares jumped 6% to 421.25p on Tuesday afternoon. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- There was some good news Wednesday for New York City residents who have been stymied trying to get vaccinated, due to supply shortages and appointment cancellations. President Joe Biden is owning the mission, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press briefing Wednesday, while announcing the federal government has ordered 200 million more doses of the Moderna coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. The increase at the federal level means that, beginning next week, the city will receive 30% more vaccine doses than it is currently receiving, approximately 17,000 doses. Still, the mayor said, we still need way more. But Im also really happy to get those 17,000 new doses. Last week, the city was forced to reschedule at least 23,000 appointments and shutter 15 city-run vaccination hubs across the five boroughs, including two on Staten Island, after the city didnt receive a shipment of 103,000 Moderna vaccine doses. The Biden Administration said its goal is to have enough vaccine supply for the entire United States adult population by the end of the summer. In the coming weeks and months, the Administration said it will order an additional 100 million doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. The federal government is also increasing transparency between state and local governments, providing them with an allocation estimate for the coming three weeks, instead of one week. This increased transparency will give state and local leaders greater certainty around supply so that they can plan their vaccination efforts and administer vaccines effectively and efficiently, the White House said in its fact sheet. The mayor continues to call on the federal government first the Trump Administration and now the Biden Administration to act forcefully when it comes to ramping up the vaccine supply. UNCLEAR IF MASS VACCINATION SITES WILL BE ABLE TO OPEN De Blasio announced last week that three city-run mass vaccination sites -- Empire Outlets, Citi Field and Yankee Stadium -- would not open on-schedule due to the vaccine shortage. The announcement came days before the Empire Outlets location was set to open on Jan. 22. When asked when the three sites would open, the mayor said the sites would remain closed until the city had an adequate supply of vaccines. I dont have an exact number, but I can say if we can have on hand at any time enough to at least guarantee us that we could meet our weekly goal, thats when we can put this kind of site into action, de Blasio said. Thats the kind of supply level that will guarantee us that we can have the 24-hour sites, he said. The mayor set a goal of vaccinating 300,000 New Yorkers per week in January -- with a total of 1 million people by the end of the month -- and eventually increasing that number to 400,00 and then 500,000 per week in February. On Tuesday, the city had only 7,710 doses on hand, he said. City Hall did not immediately return a request for comment when asked if the shipment increase will allow the city to open up the mass vaccination sites. FOLLOW KRISTIN F. DALTON ON TWITTER. Paying extra baggage fee is any traveller's worst nightmare. We have all tried to either talk our way through it or find some kind of jugaad. However, no story of yours can beat this one - four travellers from China ended up eating 30 kilograms of oranges in under 30 minutes at an airport in Kunming in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Also read: How 2 Ex-UAE Consulate Staffers Used Diplomatic Baggage To Smuggle 30 KG Gold In Kerala 9TV News One of the people, a man named Wang, along with his colleagues had bought a box of oranges weighing 30 kilograms for 50 yuan (Rs 564) while on a business trip to Kunming. When they reached the airport to board the plane, the airport staff informed them that they had to pay 10 yuan for each kilogram of the fruits which was a total of 300 yuan (Rs 3,384). Wang and his colleagues decided that the fee was too expensive for them to pay and instead, decided to eat the oranges right there at the airport. "We just stood there and ate the whole thing up. It took about 20-30 minutes," Wang told Global Times. Also read: Even Baggage At Singapore Airport Behaves Better Than Some Passengers, Here's Proof Unsplash (Representational Image) Once they were done eating the fruits, they started to suffer from ulcers in their mouths. "We never want to have oranges again," Wang said. Also read: So Close: Woman Stuffs Laptop & Wires Under Her Clothes To Fake Pregnancy To Avoid Baggage Fee Unsplash (Representational Image) Most locals there were confused by the travellers' actions. One person wrote online, 'Could not they pack the oranges into four items of hand baggage and carry them into the cabin?' ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Pakistan will continue to extend humanitarian assistance to Niger under flood relief programme besides construction of Jinnah Park and a school for street children in the capital Niamey. This was informed by Pakistan's ambassador to Niger Ahmed Ali Sirohey in a meeting with Niger's Foreign Secretary held at the Foreign Office in Niamey. Ambassador Sirohey updated the Foreign Secretary that Navy ship NASR had brought 36,000 bags of relief goods for the flood-affected people of Niger, says a message received here from Niamey. He said further supply of relief goods from Pakistan had been suspended owing to technical problems with airports in Niger. The Foreign Secretary of Niger thanked the ambassador for the assistance rendered by the government of Pakistan and expressed hoped that the two embassies would work towards strengthening the bilateral relations. Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2021 7:03 am Thurston County added 32 COVID-19 cases Tuesday as the public health department reported more cases at the county jail. The added cases brings the county's total number of cases to 6,217 since the first case was recorded in March 2020, according to Thurston County Public Health and Social Services. The county has not reported any new deaths since Jan. 19 when it recorded its youngest death, a woman in her 30s. In all, 331 COVID-19 patients have been hospitalized at some point in their illness and 5,018 people have recovered or are recovering, according to county data. The county reported that 7.9% of COVID-19 tests have come back positive over the past week, which is lower than the rate has been in recent weeks. Additionally the county reported six ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks, bring the the total number of such outbreaks to 45. This includes the ongoing outbreak at the Thurston County jail that was first reported Jan. 15. On Jan. 11, test results indicated eight out of 203 incarcerated persons and three employees tested positive for COVID-19. After another round of testing Jan. 18, five additional incarcerated persons and one more staff member tested positive for the virus, wrote county spokesperson Magen Johnson in a statement to The Olympian. One dormitory at the facility remains in quarantine and another is under investigation, the statement read. All other dormitories have been cleared. Those who tested positive are in isolation while close contacts of those people are in quarantine, according to the statement. Vaccine supply Health care providers in Thurston County have given 14,310 vaccine doses as of Jan. 24, according to state data. This week, Thurston County is receiving an additional 1,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine and 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, said department director Schelli Slaughter at a board of commissioner's meeting Tuesday morning. Thurston County is still prioritizing people in Phase 1A and 1B tier one, Slaughter said; there are about 70,000 Thurston County residents eligible in the current phases. "We are committed to 100% allocation and 100% no waste of our vaccines in our community," Slaughter said. "We know there's not enough vaccine supply for everyone and we thank everyone for their patience." Slaughter said Thurston County residents can refer to the county's COVID-19 website for updates on when more vaccines are available for eligible populations. The county also has a phone number, 360-867-2610, for those without adequate internet access or who may need more guidance, she said. Last week, the health department partnered with Providence St. Peter Hospital to administer 2,400 doses over three days. More vaccination events are being planned as supply comes in, Slaughter said. Slaughter said the county is setting up two mass vaccination sites at Thurston County Fairgrounds and at South Puget Sound Community College. Those two sites will be ready about the second week of February, she added. The department also will partner with schools to provide vaccinations to teachers and staff in Phase B2, Slaughter said, when that phase starts in March or so. The delays may be discouraging for some, but county is dependent on supply that is allocated by the state and federal government, she said. "All vaccine events and availability in our community are dependent upon the supply that we receive, and that changes each week," Slaughter said. In the region Pierce County announced 224 new cases and four new deaths Tuesday, bringing the county's totals to 31,946 cases and 386 deaths. Grays Harbor County reported 2,856 confirmed and probable cases as of Sunday night with 31 deaths. Lewis County reported two new deaths and 26 new cases on Tuesday for a total of 2,804 cases and 36 deaths. Mason County reported seven additional cases on Tuesday for a total of 1,568 with 19 deaths. Pacific County reported five additional cases Monday for a total of 678 cases with eight deaths. Around the state, nation and world The state has reported 302,141 confirmed and probable cases and 4,148 deaths as of Sunday night. In the U.S., more than 25.4 million cases had been reported as of Tuesday with over 424,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The world topped the 100 million mark for cases reported on Tuesday, and more than 2.15 million people had died, the data show. ___ (c)2021 The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) Visit The Olympian (Olympia, Wash.) at www.theolympian.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Josh Hawley has confirmed he will not run for President in 2024 as he slammed people trying to cancel him for challenging the election results. The Republican was one of Donald Trump's staunchest allies in the senate but has faced a backlash since he raised a fist in solidarity with protesters storming the Capitol, with critics accusing him of encouraging the violence. Just one day after the riot which left five dead, publishing house Simon & Schuster ended its contract with Hawley to publish his forthcoming book and he lost key donations. Speaking on Fox News on Tuesday, a day after penning an Op-Ed for the New York Post about perceived attempts to 'muzzle' him by corporate America, the 41-year-old complained again that he was being silenced by the 'woke mob'. Host Maria Bartiromo even said his treatment 'feels like Communist China' after a number of Democrats sought to expel him from the senate and submitted an ethics complaint against him. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Fox News Privacy Policy Josh Hawley has confirmed he will not run for President in 2024 as he slammed people trying to cancel him for challenging the election results Hawley said: 'I won't bow down to them, I won't do what they tell me to do, I'm not going to be silenced, I'm not going to be cancelled, I refuse to bow down to the mob. 'They are just literally losing their minds because I won't do as I'm told to do but I've got news for them, I answer to the people of Missouri, I don't answer to the left-wing mob and it's time we had more people in the country who stood up and said "I'm not going to take my directions from the mob".' He added: 'It's a desire by the left to try to silence all opposition, They don't want unity, they want control, they want total and complete control, want to eliminate all opposition, shut it down, silence everybody, any speech that they don't agree with.' Some believed Hawley was seeking higher office by siding with Trump on challenging Joe Biden's electoral college votes. Host Maria Bartiromo even said his treatment 'feels like Communist China' after a number of Democrats sought to expel him from the senate Hawley faced backlash after objecting to the Electoral College results on January 6 and as an image went viral of him holding up a fist appearing to encourage the pro-Trump mob as they descended on Capitol Hill But he has confirmed he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024 despite his growing profile. He said: 'I've always said, Maria, that I'm not running for president. It's a privilege to represent the state of Missouri in the United States Senate. 'I just got elected barely two years ago. There's a lot of work to do, and I look forward to continuing to fight for Missouri every day that I can.' Hawley has frequently criticized the role of Big Tech and its 'conservative censorship', viewing it as an arm of the Democratic party. He said: 'I think there definitely is an alliance between the left and the woke capitalists, between big business, big tech, and the left. He has confirmed he will not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024 despite his growing profile 'We have a bunch of corporate liberals who run the Democratic Party, they love big business because they can control big business, we've seen it right now in the last two or three weeks, big business kicking people off social media, telling folks that they can't fly, telling folks they are not welcome to speak, denying them access to venues. 'This is becoming more and more common, this is why we've got to stand up and say I'm not going to bow down to the corporate mob, I'm not going to bow down the woke mob, and we've got to challenge it.' Fox host Bartiromo agreed, questioning why her Twitter followers have suddenly dropped in the wake of the election. Fox host Bartiromo questioned why her Twitter followers have suddenly dropped in the wake of the election She said: 'Right around the election, I had 1million followers on Twitter, now I have under 900,000. Really, I mean, literally in a couple of weeks, I don't know what's going on there.' Hawley's comments come a day after he lashed out in a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee, lodging a complaint against his Democratic colleagues after they filed an ethics complaint against him. 'Most astonishingly, the Democrats who filed the complaint against me insinuate without any evidence whatsoever that I or my staff may have conspired with the criminals who stormed the Capitol,' Hawley wrote in his letter. 'In most jurisdictions, such statements would constitute defamation.' The New York Post published the Missouri Senator op/ed in their Monday paper where the Republican demanded: 'It's time to stand up against the muzzling of America' Hawley sent a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee lodging a complaint against his Democratic colleagues for them filing an ethics complaint against him for allegedly conspiring with those who stormed the Capitol Outrage against Hawley specifically ensued after an image went viral of the 41-year-old senator holding up a fist at pro-Trump protesters who descended on the Capitol with critics suggested the senator was encouraging the violent demonstration meant to prevent Congress from holding a vote on certifying the election for Biden. 'They tried to reprimand me this month because I didn't [conform],' Hawley said of Democrats, corporate America and Big Tech in his op/ed for the New York Post this week. 'In my case, it started with leftist politicians demanding I resign from office for representing the views of my constituents and leading a democratic debate on the floor of the Senate,' he continued. Hawley won't face reelection until 2024, prompting many lawmakers to call for him to either resign or be removed now. 'Taking that cue, a corporate publishing house then canceled a book it had asked me to write,' Hawley bemoaned. 'Ironically enough, the book is about political censorship by the most powerful corporations in America.' He added: 'Now corporate America is cancelling my political events, because two parties are apparently one too many for their taste.' Just one day after the Capitol riot, which left five dead, publishing house Simon & Schuster ended its contract with Hawley to publish his book. The conservative lawmaker, however, reassured his book would still be published by an independent company. Hawley claimed in his Sunday op/ed that corporate America, Big Tech and the 'woke left' are trying to 'cancel' him because he would not 'conform' to their agenda Also in the fallout of the January 6 events, Hawley has seen a huge dip in his donations and has had several fundraising events canceled. A hotel in Florida canceled Hawley's $5,000 per-ticket 'family fun' fundraiser, which was set to take place in February. Loews Hotel and Universal Orlando only canceled the event after liberal lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder tweeted a photo of a flyer for the event demanding the chain explain why it was hosting an event for a 'traitor.' Fighting for Missouri was the host of the would-be event. The Hawley-affiliated political action committee raised more than $272,000 for him in the 2020 election cycle. Hallmark's PAC said it requested a $3,000 donation to Hawley be given back less than a week after the violent protest. The company is based in Kansas City, Missouri. Hawley insisted that he only raised an objection to the results of the presidential election on January 6 because he was representing 'voters of my state', who he claims were concerned about the election outcome and how it was reached. 'Maybe you agree with me. Maybe you don't,' Hawley wrote in his op/ed. 'But whatever your view, corporate America's rush to cancel those it dislikes should trouble you.' The senator announced before the vote was held and interrupted by protesters that he would object to the results. While several Republican lawmakers who initially planned to object to the election changed their mind after the violent display on Capitol Hill, Hawley, along with dozens of other GOP representatives and senators, went forward with their plans. The day after the riot, Simon & Schuster canceled its contract with Hawley to publish his book. The GOP lawmaker called them the 'woke mob' and assured Sunday his book on political censorship would still be published by an independent company Exactly a week after the Capitol storming, the House voted to impeach Trump for 'incitement of insurrection,' claiming he was to blame for riling up his supporters before they marched from a rally at the Ellipse in front of the White House to the Capitol. There are also several open and pending investigations into the events, including a probe into lawmakers who may have conspired or helped organizers and activists get familiar with the Capitol before they descended on it earlier this month. Hawley defended objecting to Pennsylvania's election results in his letter to Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford and Vice Chairman Chris Coons on Monday. '[T]here is a strong legal basis to believe that Pennsylvania's electoral votes were not regularly given. Indeed, it appears that Pennsylvania conducted the 2020 general election using a mail voting scheme that violated the Commonwealth's Constitution,' Hawley asserted. 'That's not just my opinion: while no judge has concluded that the mail-voting system was valid, multiple members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court expressed substantial doubt about the validity of the statute,' he added. Hawley insisted his objection was part of him representing his constituents and his effort to lead a 'Democratic debate' as a growing number of Republicans and Trump allies, advisers and supporters voiced concerns over the 2020 election process. The Missouri senator was elected in the 2018 election, beating out incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill by 5.8 per cent a feat the former lawmaker blames on her own party for failing to reach rural voters. McCaskill represented the state in the Senate for two terms before being ousted by Hawley. In the 2020 presidential election, Missouri's 10 Electoral College votes went for Trump after he beat Biden there 56.8 per cent to 41.1 per cent. Beijing is using anal swabs to test its residents for coronavirus, a method that experts say is more accurate and raises the chances of detecting the virus. To collect test samples, the swab needs to be inserted about three to five centimetres (1.2 to 2 inches) into the rectum and rotated several times. After completing the motion twice, the swab is removed before being securely placed inside a sample container. The whole procedure is said to take about 10 seconds. To collect the nucleic acid samples, the swab needs to be inserted about three to five centimetres (1.2 to 2 inches) and rotated several times. A video widely circulated online shows a doctor holding a visual demonstration of the procedure The Chinese capital began using the derriere detecting method more frequently during a mass testing drive after a nine-year-old boy tested positive for the virus last week. Since January 17, more than three million residents in three Beijing districts have received coronavirus testing in a bid to stem the contagion, authorities said. More than 1,000 staff and students at the infected young patient's school also underwent a variety of nucleic acid tests including the anal swabs, reported state media. Anal swabs have been used in China to test coronavirus since last year, but the method is mainly used in key groups at quarantine centres because of its inconvenience, according to a Chinese disease control expert. Speaking to state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday, Li Tongzeng from Beijing You'an Hospital said that traces of the coronavirus linger longer in the anus or excrement than those samples taken from throat and nasal swabs. 'We found that some asymptomatic patients tend to recover quickly. It's possible that there will be no trace of the virus in their throat after three to five days,' Li noted. 'But the virus lasts longer from the samples taken from the patient's digestive tract and excrement, compared to the ones taken from the respiratory tract. 'If we conduct anal swabs for nucleic acid testing, it would increase the detection rates of patients and lower the chance of a missed diagnosis,' the expert claimed. Anal swabs have been used in China to test coronavirus since last year, but the method is mainly used in key groups at quarantine centres because of its inconvenience, expert says Ms Gao, a resident who was under quarantine in Tangshan city near Beijing, told reporters about her experience receiving the anal swab at a centralised isolation centre. A female health worker performed the procedure on her, the woman told The Beijing News. The whole test took about 10 seconds. '[She] inserted the cotton stick inside the rectum,' Ms Gao said. 'Rotated it a few times and took it out. She did it twice in total.' As the testing method sparked a discussion online, a video widely circulated on Chinese social media shows a doctor holding a visual demonstration of the procedure. According to China's National Health Commission, the anal swab needs to be inserted about three to five centimetres (1.2 to 2 inches) into one's rectum and rotated for several times before being removed and securely placed inside a sample container. Users of China's popular Twitter-like Weibo social media platform reacted to the method with a mix of mirth and horror. 'So lucky I returned to China earlier,' one user wrote. 'Low harm, but extreme humiliation,' another said, using a laughing emoticon. Others who had undergone the procedure chimed in with dark humour. 'I've done two anal swabs, every time I did one I had to do a throat swab afterwards - I was so scared the nurse would forget to use a new swab,' one Weibo user joked. But the accuracy and efficiency of anal swabs remain controversial among experts. Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told state media Global Times that the nasal and throat swabs remain the most efficient test as the virus is proven to be contracted via one's upper respiratory tract rather than the digestive system. 'There have been cases concerning the coronavirus testing positive in a patient's excrement, but no evidence has suggested it had been transmitted through one's digestive system,' Yang said. As cases rise around the world, China has imposed stricter requirements on international arrivals in an effort to keep domestic transmission close to zero. The country has also tightened restrictions domestically, with Beijing announcing that people from medium- or high-risk areas will be barred from the city from Thursday to reduce the risk of virus transmission over the Lunar New Year period. Meanwhile, arrivals into the country must have multiple negative test results and quarantine for at least 14 days in a designated hotel on arrival, with many cities and regions imposing additional home observation requirements. As of Wednesday, China has reported a total of 89,272 confirmed infections. Its death toll rose by one to 4,636 following an additional fatality on Monday. LONDON The vaccine wars have come to Europe. For months now, wealthy countries have been clearing the worlds shelves of coronavirus vaccines, leaving poorer nations with little hope of exiting the pandemic in 2021. But a fresh skirmish this week has pitted the rich against the rich Britain versus the European Union in the scramble for vials, opening a new and unabashedly nationalist competition that could poison relations and set back collective efforts to end the pandemic. The European Union, stung by its slow progress on vaccinations, threatened this week to tighten rules on the shipment of Belgian-made shots to Britain. British lawmakers, in turn, have accused their European counterparts of a blackmail campaign that could embitter relations for a generation. And poorer countries, already at the back of the line for vaccines, could face even longer waits if the intense squabbling among rich countries drives up prices for everyone else. Rana Kapoor The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took Rana Kapoor, co-founder of YES Bank, into custody on Wednesday in connection with a money laundering investigation into Maharashtra MLA Hitendra Thakur's Viva Group. Kapoor had been arrested in the Yes Bank fraud case on March 8 and was in judicial custody. On Wednesday, the special PMLA court remanded Kapoor to ED custody until January 30. The Directorate has been waiting to grill Kapoor about a YES Bank loan to real estate developer HDIL, embroiled in the PMC Bank scam, for renovation of a newly constructed building in Andheri, a Mumbai suburb. The building was constructed by Mack Star Private Ltd, with Rs 1,000 crore invested mainly by Ocean Deity Investment Holding Ltd (ODIL). ODIL owns 78.09 percent of Mack Star Private Limited, with 21 percent held by HDIL and Warayam Singh, former chairman of the scam-ridden PMC Bank. However, HDIL, with its smaller shareholding, handled Mack Stars operations. When HDIL faced severe financial stress and was not able to repay its liabilities it took loans to the tune of Rs 200 crore from Yes Bank between 2011 to 2015, in Mack Star's name. This amount was diverted to discharge liabilities owed by HDIL to keep them from being classified as non-performing assets (NPA). Rana Kapoor is the third person arrested in the case. On January 23, the ED had arrested Viva Group MD Mehul Thakur and Director Madan Gopal Chaturvedi in the same case. A day earlier, the ED conducted raids on ten premises, including the residence of Bhai Thakur, brother of MLA Hitendra Thakur, and the offices of Viva Group. In October, India and the US signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement agreement, which provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps New Delhi: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday spoke to new US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, in the first high-level engagement between the two sides after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the US last week. Singh said the firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation was reiterated during the talks. "Spoke with my US counterpart, Secretary Def Austin and conveyed my warm wishes on his appointment," Singh tweeted. "We reiterated our firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation. We exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest to strengthen our strategic partnership," he further said. It is not immediately known whether the eastern Ladakh standoff between India and China figured in the talks. The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years and in June 2016, the US had designated India a "Major Defence Partner". The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries use each other''s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation. The two sides have also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for sale of high end technology from the US to India. In October, India and the US sealed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries. Hungary donated 50 artificial lung ventilation devices to Ukraine, said Minister of Foreign Economy and Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto during a working visit to Ukraine. "In order to more successfully combat the pandemic, yesterday we donated 50 artificial respirators to Ukraine. And different hospitals, located not in Zakarpattia, received 46 pieces of such equipment," Szijjarto said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday. The minister stressed that Hungary has prepared a project for the modernization of the bridge over the Tisza River in Zahony and would like to implement this project. "We would like to open a new border point between Velyka Khodas and Velyka Palad. We are ready to give a loan of EUR 50 million for the construction of roads in Zakarpattia. And until that moment, we have provided grants in the amount of 16 billion forints to finance about 34,000 projects. And within this framework, another 22 billion - grants for Zakarpattia," he said. Szijjarto noted that he confirmed to the head of Zakarpattia Regional State Administration the idea that Hungary is ready to continue the M3 and M31 motorways to the border with Ukraine and is ready to take part in the development of structures from the Ukrainian side. TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Banty.com announced the launch of its medical conferencing platform poised to redefine how telemedicine is conducted while the world still contends with a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Banty is a simplified platform that works easily within multiple browsers including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and others and is intended as a quick, efficient way for patients and doctors to connect. Banty requires no prior experience, no downloads, and is user-friendly right from the start, giving patients access to a safe and secure portal using a single URL. Banty offers screen sharing, polling, appointment scheduling, automatic email invites, YouTube sharing, recording, collaborative whiteboarding, individualized branding, patient messaging/waiting rooms, and multiple affordable subscription packages to suit each practice and organization's specific needs. Banty founders Dr. Richard Tytus & Scott Wilson "The genesis of Banty was pure necessity," said internet marketing expert and Banty Co-founder, Scott Wilson. "Although major telemedicine access had already begun before COVID-19 hit, the onset of the pandemic has accelerated the entire telehealth revolution due to increased need from millions of quarantined, locked-down patients and physicians worldwide. So what we've done is create a platform that's actually geared specifically toward this need, while appealing to physicians who aren't techie types. Banty is one link, all access. And because doctors and patients use the exact same link every single time, it ensures a smooth telemedicine experience every time. Banty bridges the gap between video conferencing and social media, upgrading and humanizing an experience that should always be extremely personal: a patient's visit with their doctor." Banty.com: Simple and Secure Telemedicine Banty is a fully secure meeting platform with end-to-end encryption that meets both HIPAA standards in the U.S. and PHIPA mandates for Canada. Businesses, organizations and individuals get personal links that are easy to remember like banty.com/doctor-name or banty.com/business-name and patient visitors always land on a branded webpage that can be customized to each physician's specifications. Banty subscribers own these links, with every meeting always held via the same link, and each meeting is conducted in a locked digital room for privacy. Meeting organizers can also hold large or open-group meetings in unlocked rooms if they choose to allow broader access. As patients wait to be seen each day, sitting in a queue of upcoming appointments, they are first ushered into a digital waiting room which allows physicians to communicate exact wait-times. In the event of delays, this returns time back to patients and frees them up to do other tasks away from the computer while they wait (e.g. Doctor: "I'm going to be 30 minutes late; please feel free to log off and return at that time"). Banty has been deployed in multiple countries, has employees who speak eight different languages, and plans to build platform access for the 21 most commonly spoken/written languages. "Banty is great because my patients can see me wherever I choose, thanks to green screens and digital technology. So I can personalize the experience, making it both fun and dynamic, allowing improved access that is very efficient," said Banty Co-Founder Dr. Rick Tytus, Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. "We already know that technology improves patient outcomes and enhances access to health care. Now patients can receive more timely access from the comfort of their homes, eliminating wasted travel time and stress, in addition to staying safe from exposure to COVID-19. That fear alone has already kept many patients with chronic diseases or disabilities from regular physician visits. Banty eliminates this patient-access problem immediately." For the latest platform innovations and updates, go online. Or follow Banty on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram. You can also view how Banty can help here. About Banty Banty is a patient-centered video conferencing platform that allows doctors to integrate virtual medical appointments into their clinics and practices easily. Accessed via a simple web browser, Banty requires no downloads, registration, or lengthy, complicated set-ups, while providing users with a dedicated Banty.com URL that is easy to remember. A prepackaged, ready-made digital system right out of the box, Banty lets doctors add telemedicine directly to their practice and begin offering convenient virtual visits to their patients immediately. Learn more at: www.Banty.org. Media Contact: Scott Wilson, CEO [email protected] 289-259-8059 To view Banty's media kit, visit https://banty.org/media/ SOURCE Banty Positive data from Phase 1 clinical trial of high-dose setanaxib Cash and cash equivalents of 1.2 million as of December 31, 2020 Calliditas Therapeutics AB (publ) tender offer closed in December 2020, resulting in an ownership percentage of 86.24% Regulatory News: Genkyotex (Euronext Paris Brussels: FR0013399474 GKTX) (Paris:GKTX) (Brussels:GKTX), a biopharmaceutical company and the leader in NOX therapies, today reported cash and cash equivalents of 1.2 million as of December 31, 2020. The existing cash and cash equivalents provide cash runway to the end of February 2021. After this date Genkyotex will be required to fund the ongoing operations with new capital. Calliditas Therapeutics, the majority shareholder of Genkyotex, has expressed its intent to participate in such future financings on a pro rata basis. Until such financing has occurred, Calliditas will support Genkyotex by way of debt financing to enable the Company to meet its liabilities as they fall due and to carry on its normal business without any significant curtailment of operations. Business update On August 13, 2020, the Company announced the agreement by Calliditas to acquire 7,236,515 ordinary shares of Genkyotex, representing 62.7% of the share capital and voting rights from the Company's largest shareholders and management team. On December 17, 2020, the Company announced the results of the tender offer, according to the results published on December 16, 2020 by the Autorite des marches financiers (AMF), a total of 2,885,161 shares were tendered to the public offering. Following the close of the public offer, Calliditas held 10,121,676 shares of the Company representing 86.24% of the share capital and voting rights of the Company. Clinical highlights Phase 1 trial with setanaxib at higher doses: in January 2021, the Company reported positive data from its Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of setanaxib at dosages up to 1,600 mg/day. Development strategy for setanaxib in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC): based on the Phase 1 trial data and interactions with US and European regulators in 2020, the Company recently announced that it plans to launch a pivotal and potentially registrational Phase 2/3 trial of setanaxib in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in the second half of 2021. The final design and protocol details are subject to feedback from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in patients with head and neck cancer: the Company recently announced that it plans to initiate a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in patients with head and neck cancer before the end of the year. The trial will evaluate administration of setanaxib, targeting cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs), in conjunction with immunotherapy. Orphan drug designation (ODD) for setanaxib in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC): setanaxib was granted orphan drug designation for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October and by the European Commission in December, following the positive opinion from the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Phase 2 trial of setanaxib in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF): the Company announced on September 14, 2020, the enrollment of the 1st patient in a Phase 2 trial of setanaxib in IPF. This study is conducted in accordance with a protocol approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the relevant Institutional review board (IRB). This investigator-initiated study is being led by Professor Victor Thannickal of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and includes a consortium of five research centers of excellence in the United States. It is fully funded by an $8.9 million grant awarded to Professor Thannickal's team by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The aim of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of setanaxib dosed at 800 mg/day (400 mg BID) in 60 IPF patients receiving standard treatment (pirfenidone or nintedanib) over a period of 24 weeks. Phase 2 trial of setanaxib in diabetic kidney disease (DKD): following the Company's Phase 2 trial with setanaxib in PBC, the DKD trial protocol was amended to increase the dose to 400 mg BID. To date, 29 patients have completed the full 48-week treatment and no safety signals have been identified. The DKD trial is being conducted primarily in Australia, with work ongoing to activate centers in New Zealand, Denmark, and Germany. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, investigators have taken steps to minimize patient visits to investigation centers, in accordance with applicable rules and recommendations, but investigators cannot exclude a possible slowdown in new patient enrollment in the study. Q4 2020 Financial highlights On December 31, 2020, the Company's cash and cash equivalents totaled 1.2 million vs. 3.6 million on September 30, 2020. The Company's cash burn over the FY 2020 was primarily driven by R&D expenses related to the preparation of the End-Of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA and the Phase 1 study to investigate higher dose with setanaxib. The Company expects its current resources to support anticipated operations until the end of February 2021, taking into account the facts and assumptions detailed in note 2.1 "Going concern" of the December 31, 2019 consolidated financial statements and the condensed consolidated interim financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS for the six-month period ended June 30, 2020. Genkyotex will be required to fund the ongoing operations with new capital. Calliditas Therapeutics, the majority shareholder of Genkyotex, has expressed its intent to participate in such future financings on a pro rata basis. Until such financing has occurred, Calliditas will support Genkyotex by way of debt financing. Financial results to September 30, 2020 As part of the accounting consolidation process of Calliditas, the Company prepared consolidated financial statements for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020 under IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board. These financial statements are available in the Investors section of the Company's website. The Company does not plan going-forward to report on standalone nine-month financial information or on quarterly financial information (other than in relation to its quarterly cash and cash equivalents position). In thousands of euros Nine-month period ended September 30, 2020 At December 31, 2019 Other Income 35 142 Research Development expenses (9,627) (6,305) Subsidies and Research Tax Credit 356 899 General Administrative expenses (1,757) (2,160) Operating loss (10,993) (7,425) Net loss (11,017) (7,203) Net loss per share (in euros) (0.99) (0.88) Given its stage of development, the Company has not generated any sales to date, as all of its product candidates are in the Research Development (R&D) phase. The consolidated net loss as at September 30, 2020 is 11,017 thousand against 7,203 thousand as at December 31, 2019. This increase is mainly driven by the impairment of the SIIL contract as a consequence of the impact of Covid-19 on the development timelines (negative impact of 5.8 M), partially offset by the reduction of R&D costs due to the end of the Phase 2 clinical trial with setanaxib in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and reduced G&A costs. Governance Following the closing of the off-market block trade on November 3, 2020, the members of the board of directors other than Elias Papatheodorou, Chief Executive Officer, resigned. Elmar Schnee, Chairman of the board of Calliditas, Renee Aguiar-Lucander, Chief Executive Officer of Calliditas and Jonathan Schur, Group General Counsel of Calliditas, have been appointed as members of the Board of directors. Elmar Schnee has been elected President of the Board of directors. Dr. Philippe Wiesel, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Genkyotex, has left the Company to pursue new professional projects. He will remain as a consultant to Calliditas. COVID-19 update In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company continues to closely monitor the evolution of the official guidelines and recommendations in order to protect its employees and contractors. The Company has also implemented strategies to mitigate the impact of the global shutdown on its business and operations. To date, except for the impairment of the SIIL contract (see above), the COVID-19 pandemic has had a limited impact on the Company's operations. Genkyotex will continue to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 pandemics on the conducting of clinical trials and discussions with health authorities and, depending on the evolution of the pandemics and of its potentially material impact on such trials and discussions, will keep the market informed. About Genkyotex Genkyotex is the leading biopharmaceutical company in NOX therapies, listed on the Euronext Paris and Euronext Brussels markets. Its leading platform enables the identification of orally available small-molecules which selectively inhibit specific NOX enzymes that amplify multiple disease processes such as fibrosis, inflammation, pain processing, cancer development, and neurodegeneration. Genkyotex is developing a pipeline of first-in-class product candidates targeting one or multiple NOX enzymes. The lead product candidate, setanaxib (GKT831), a NOX1 and NOX4 inhibitor has shown evidence of anti-fibrotic activity in a Phase II clinical trial in primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Clinical trials in PBC and head and neck cancer with setanaxib are being planned in 2021 and investigator led studies in Type 1 Diabetes and Kidney Disease (DKD) and in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic lung disease that results in fibrosis of the lungs, are ongoing. For further information, please go to www.genkyotex.com Disclaimer This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs, estimates and expectations of Genkyotex's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release and actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements, due to various factors. Without being exhaustive, such factors include uncertainties involved in the development of Genkyotex's products, which may not succeed, or in the delivery of Genkyotex's products marketing authorizations by the relevant regulatory authorities and, in general, any factor that could affects Genkyotex's capacity to commercialize the products it develops. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the universal registration document filed with the AMF on April 30, 2020 under number D.20-0434, and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genkyotex is present. Genkyotex products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005386/en/ Contacts: GENKYOTEX Alexandre Grassin CFO Tel.: +33 (0)5 61 28 70 60 investors@genkyotex.com NewCap Dusan Oresansky Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 92 genkyotex@newcap.eu [January 27, 2021] DoorDash To Provide Over $1 Million In COVID-19 Relief Grants To Help Canadian Restaurants DoorDash's latest Main Street Strong effort will support restaurants in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver as they continue to recover from the COVID-19 crisis TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ -- DoorDash today announced it would provide $1,125,000 CAD in local COVID-19 relief grants as part of its expanded grant program to help restaurants in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Restaurants will be able to apply to receive a $3,000 CAD grant to be used to offset costs associated with the ongoing pandemic. The grant program is part of the company's $200 million USD, 5-year Main Street Strong Pledge, which includes a $10 million USD grant program to help restaurants in select cities across Canada and the United States. "Restaurants in our city have been heavily impacted by the ongoing pandemic. This new program from DoorDash embodies the importance of working together and supporting each other through these difficult times. I want to thank DoorDash for stepping up and for providing financial assistance to restaurants across this city. I hope that restaurants in Toronto are able to take advantage of this grant program so we can continue to build up and support our city's main streets," said Mayor John Tory, City of Toronto "Vancouver is home to so many amazing restaurants and we know they need our support now more than ever. It's great to see DoorDash for stepping up to support restaurants in our city by providing this funding. We all need to work together to get through these challenging times and we hope this serves as an example for other companies," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart, City of Vancouver "We're committed to supporting Canadian restaurants as they continue to navigate uncertainties presented by the pandemic. Whether it's to maintain operations or help support staff, we hope these grants will play a role in enabling our merchants to stay resilient and continue to feed their local communities," said David London, Director, U.S. East and Canada Government Relations, DoorDash "We are proud to partner with DoorDash on this initiative and to ensure Toronto's struggling restaurants are aware of this meaningful grant opportunity," said John Kiru, Executive Director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas "This innovative program by DoorDash comes at a great time. Entrepreneurs and small businesses are at the heart of Vancouver's vibrant restaurant scene. Connecting businesses with locally minded grants that serve our local neighbourhoods is extremely valuable in COVID-times," said Ian Tostenson, President & CEO, British Columbia Restaurant and Foodservices Association "Restaurants have done an incredible job of adapting over the past year. It has not been easy, but initiatives like this will help businesses get through to the better days ahead. We strongly encourage those who qualify to apply for this grant," said Charles Gauthier, President and CEO, Downtown Vancouver BIA. Hello Alice will manage the application and selection process for the program while the Ontario Chamber of Commerce will manage distribution of funds to recipients in each city. Grant recipients will be selected based on criteria set out in the application, and a process intended to help ensure equal access to funds and eliminate selection bias. Applications are available today through February 17th, 2021 at doordash.helloalice.com , and selected restaurants will be notified by March 1, 2021. Funds will be distributed by early April. Eligible restaurants will be located in Montreal (QC), Toronto (ON) or Vancouver (BC), must have 3 stores or fewer currently operating; $3 million CAD or less in 2019 annual revenue per store; and employ 50 people or fewer per store. During the COVID-19 pandemic, DoorDash has taken significant active steps to ensure the safety of our entire community, including: Main Street Strong Pledge committing $200 million USD over five years to support restaurants, Dashers, and the broader community across Canada and the US over five years to support restaurants, Dashers, and the broader community across and the US Providing $120 million USD in commission relief and marketing investments in commission relief and marketing investments Offered a 50% reduction in commissions for restaurants with 5 or fewer locations, plus 0% commissions for pickup and 0% commissions for restaurants new to DoorDash Free personal safety equipment for Dashers, including hand sanitizer, gloves, wipes, and masks Two weeks of earnings for eligible Dashers affected by COVID-19 Read more about DoorDash's efforts to help restaurants through our grant program here . About DoorDash DoorDash is a technology company that connects customers with their favorite local and national businesses in more than 4,000 cities and all 50 states across the United States, Canada and Australia. Founded in 2013, DoorDash empowers merchants to grow their businesses by offering on-demand delivery, data-driven insights, and better in-store efficiency, providing delightful experiences from door to door. By building the last-mile delivery infrastructure for local cities, DoorDash is bringing communities closer, one doorstep at a time. Read more on the DoorDash blog or at www.doordash.com. SOURCE DoorDash [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Carbon Fiber Bike Market Research Report by Type (Mountain Bikes and Road Bikes), by Application (Bicycle Racing and Bicycle Touring) - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market is expected to grow from USD 2,642.30 Million in 2020 to USD 3,653.16 Million by the end of 2025. This research report categorizes the Carbon Fiber Bike to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: Based on Type, the Carbon Fiber Bike Market is examined across Mountain Bikes and Road Bikes. Based on Application, the Carbon Fiber Bike Market is examined across Bicycle Racing and Bicycle Touring. Based on Geography, the Carbon Fiber Bike Market is examined across Americas, Asia-Pacific , and Europe , Middle East & Africa . The Americas region surveyed across Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Mexico , and United States . The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , South Korea , and Thailand . The Europe , Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Qatar , Russia , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , Spain , United Arab Emirates , and United Kingdom . The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market including Colnago Srl, CUBE-BIKES, Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd., LOOK Cycle International SAS, MARMOT BIKE, Merida & Centurion Germany GmbH, SwiftCarbon, Trek Bicycle Corporation, TYRELL BIKES, and XDS Bikes. COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. The ongoing research amplifies the research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players 2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets 3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments 4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players 5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market? 2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market during the forecast period? 3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market? 4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market? 5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market? 6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market? Key Topics Covered: 1. Preface 1.1. Objectives of the Study 1.2. Market Segmentation & Coverage 1.3. Years Considered for the Study 1.4. Currency & Pricing 1.5. Language 1.6. Limitations 1.7. Stakeholders 2. Research Methodology 2.1. Research Process 2.1.1. Define: Research Objective 2.1.2. Determine: Research Design 2.1.3. Prepare: Research Instrument 2.1.4. Collect: Data Source 2.1.5. Analyze: Data Interpretation 2.1.6. Formulate: Data Verification 2.1.7. Publish: Research Report 2.1.8. Repeat: Report Update 2.2. Research Execution 2.2.1. Initiation: Research Process 2.2.2. Planning: Develop Research Plan 2.2.3. Execution: Conduct Research 2.2.4. Verification: Finding & Analysis 2.2.5. Publication: Research Report 2.3. Research Outcome 3. Executive Summary 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Market Outlook 3.3. Application Outlook 3.4. Type Outlook 3.5. Geography Outlook 3.6. Competitor Outlook 4. Market Overview 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19 4.3. Geographic Growth Opportunities 5. Market Insights 5.1. Market Dynamics 5.1.1. Drivers 5.1.2. Restraints 5.1.3. Opportunities 5.1.4. Challenges 5.2. Porters Five Forces Analysis 5.2.1. Threat of New Entrants 5.2.2. Threat of Substitutes 5.2.3. Bargaining Power of Customers 5.2.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.2.5. Industry Rivalry 6. Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market, By Type 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Mountain Bikes 6.3. Road Bikes 7. Global Carbon Fiber Bike Market, By Application 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Bicycle Racing 7.3. Bicycle Touring 8. Americas Carbon Fiber Bike Market 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Argentina 8.3. Brazil 8.4. Canada 8.5. Mexico 8.6. United States 9. Asia-Pacific Carbon Fiber Bike Market 9.1. Introduction 9.2. Australia 9.3. China 9.4. India 9.5. Indonesia 9.6. Japan 9.7. Malaysia 9.8. Philippines 9.9. South Korea 9.10. Thailand 10. Europe, Middle East & Africa Carbon Fiber Bike Market 10.1. Introduction 10.2. France 10.3. Germany 10.4. Italy 10.5. Netherlands 10.6. Qatar 10.7. Russia 10.8. Saudi Arabia 10.9. South Africa 10.10. Spain 10.11. United Arab Emirates 10.12. United Kingdom 11. Competitive Landscape 11.1. FPNV Positioning Matrix 11.1.1. Quadrants 11.1.2. Business Strategy 11.1.3. Product Satisfaction 11.2. Market Ranking Analysis 11.3. Market Share Analysis 11.4. Competitive Scenario 11.4.1. Merger & Acquisition 11.4.2. Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership 11.4.3. New Product Launch & Enhancement 11.4.4. Investment & Funding 11.4.5. Award, Recognition, & Expansion 12. Company Usability Profiles 12.1. Colnago Srl 12.2. CUBE-BIKES 12.3. Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd. 12.4. LOOK Cycle International SAS 12.5. MARMOT BIKE 12.6. Merida & Centurion Germany GmbH 12.7. SwiftCarbon 12.8. Trek Bicycle Corporation 12.9. TYRELL BIKES 12.10. XDS Bikes 13. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1up3m1 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com TechAngels, the largest network of angel investors in Romania, has invested approximately 4 million euros in 75 startups during 2020, 60 of which are completely new entries in the association's portfolio while the remaining 15 benefited from the contribution of investors in 2019, informs a press release of the group. Currently, TechAngels' portfolio includes 175 startups in a variety of fields, but all are focused on technology-based solutions. "The most important trend last year was, for me, diversification. In addition to intensifying our business, in the sense that we met with over 200 startups, practically tripling the number of meetings and pitches, we supported new areas that have potential. It seemed more obvious to me how tech solutions reach most industries. I saw many more solutions in the segment of telemedicine, education, in line with the health situation, but also solutions for services, retail, delivery, food, sales, marketing and other fields with increased potential," said Malin-Iulian Stefanescu, president of TechAngels. The investments were made in several ways: directly, individually, as an angel investor, in a group, through TechAngels or through partner platforms and funds such as SeedBlink or GapMinder. The aggregate amounts according to the TechAngels internal survey amount to approximately 4 million euros, accounting for two thirds of the value of the estimated investments in 2019. TechAngels currently has 75 investors, 56% more than at the end of last year, although there were both new members and angels who chose to invest through other means during the year. TechAngels is an open group of private investors interested in supporting the development of technology start-ups in Romania and in the region. At the moment, the association has a number of 75 members. The investors in the group are entrepreneurs or specialists from multinational companies, with extensive experience on the Romanian and worldwide market, in business planning, product development, market approach, sales, marketing, etc. As angel investors, group members provide mentoring and counseling for selected start-ups. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A leading headteacher is urging ministers to restart the current school year from scratch in September because remote learning is markedly less effective. Katharine Birbalsingh believes pupils should redo the entire year when they can be back in classrooms with teachers who are no longer forced to grapple with Zoom. She warned that teachers were covering as little as 20 per cent of the content they would usually manage in a classroom, meaning pupils preparing for exams were in a 'dire situation'. But her intervention comes only a day after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson hailed remote classrooms as a 'major achievement' and a 'revolution in learning'. Katharine Birbalsingh (pictured with Gavin Williamson) believes pupils should redo the entire year when they can be back in classrooms with teachers who are no longer forced to grapple with Zoom Ms Birbalsingh founded Michaela Community School in Wembley, north London Ms Birbalsingh, who founded Michaela Community School in Wembley, north London, told the Telegraph: 'For an online lesson, they probably manage about 20 per cent of what they would normally have accessed. So in terms of the actual lesson, the teacher cannot give as much content. 'They just can't, because of the awkwardness of being online, muting, un-muting, getting on, etc. The minutes just aren't the same. So a minute is like half a minute.' The headteacher, 48, who famously made waves after tearing into Britain's education system at the 2010 Conservative Party Conference, suggested the UK should mimic the Indian government in making pupils resit the whole school year. 'I actually think we are arriving at that point in this country,' she said. 'And it's something we should consider, that all children should redo the year.' She warned that teachers were managing to cover as little as 20 per cent of the content they would usually work through in a classroom, meaning pupils preparing for exams were in a 'dire situation' Boris Johnson has marked out children's ongoing education as a 'national priority' throughout the pandemic. But an 11th-hour U-turn to close schools in January and a row over meagre free school meals parcels left parents and industry leaders reeling. In a speech to the Education Policy Institute, Mr Williamson assured that quality education was continuing while schools were shut. He said: 'Schools are now routinely delivering high-quality teaching for up to five hours a day to children who are learning at home. 'This is giving them a better chance to keep pace with what they would have been learning if they'd been in school.' He added: 'Thanks to one of the world's largest hardware shopping expeditions, we have purchased an additional 1.3million devices. 'Of these, we've already delivered an additional 800,000 laptops and tablets and nearly 240,000 have gone out to schools since the start of this month. 'We are also working with the country's leading mobile network operators, enabling schools to request free data uplifts for disadvantaged families.' Climate change mitigation is about more than just CO2. So-called "short-lived climate-forcing pollutants" such as soot, methane, and tropospheric ozone all have harmful effects. Climate policy should be guided by a clearer understanding of their differentiated impacts. It is common practice in climate policy to bundle the climate warming pollutants together and express their total effects in terms of "CO2 equivalence". This 'equivalence' is based on a comparison of climate effects on a 100-year timescale. This approach is problematic, as IASS scientist Kathleen Mar explains in a new research paper: "The fact is that climate forcers simply aren't 'equivalent' - their effects on climate and ecosystems are distinct. Short-lived climate forcers have the largest impact on near-term climate whereas CO2 has the largest impact on long-term climate." The use of a 100-year time horizon as the primary basis for evaluating climate effects understates the impacts of short-lived climate-forcing pollutants (SLCPs) and thus undervalues the positive near-term effects that can be achieved by reducing SLCP emissions. Reducing SLCP emissions benefits climate, human health, and food security One of the more pernicious qualities of CO2 is that it accumulates in the atmosphere - once it is emitted, it takes a long time for it to be removed. SLCPs, on the other hand, remain in the atmosphere for significantly shorter periods. The atmosphere and climate system react much more quickly to reductions in the emission of these pollutants. This should be a boon for policymakers, Mar argues: "Reducing SLCP emissions would slow near-term climate warming, reduce air pollution, and improve crop yields - all positive benefits that citizens could experience today and in the near future." Studies indicate that a rapid reduction in SLCP emissions could slow the rate of climate change, reducing the risk of triggering dangerous and potentially irreversible climate tipping points and allowing more time for climate adaptation. Measures to reduce SLCP emissions could be implemented using existing technologies and practices, such as the collection of landfill gas to generate energy. Changes in other sectors will be needed to achieve further reductions. Methane and soot emissions from the agriculture and waste management sectors, for example, have important climate as well as health impacts. Similarly, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which are significantly more potent climate forcers than CO2, are still widely used as coolants. Designing effective climate change mitigation: don't overlook SLCPs Mar argues that clear communication on the different time horizons relevant for CO2 and SLCP mitigation would help guide climate policy discussions towards more effective outcomes: "To mitigate the most harmful consequences of climate change as a whole, we need to minimize both near-term and long-term climate impacts - and that means reducing SLCPs in parallel to CO2. However, the positive benefits of SLCP mitigation are simply not captured when using the 100-year time horizon as the single benchmark for assessing climate impacts." Recognizing the broader benefits of SLCP reductions, several countries have stepped up and made SLCP mitigation a central element of their national climate strategies. Chile, Mexico, and Nigeria all include SLCPs in their national commitments under the Paris Agreement. If this type of holistic approach can be expanded and translated into on-the-ground emissions reductions at a global scale, then it will certainly be a win, not only for climate, but for air quality, health, and sustainable development. ### The cell controls MTOR activity with the help of suppressors, which are molecules that inhibit a protein and help to regulate its activity. The TSC (tuberous sclerosis) complex is a suppressor for MTOR, which is located together with MTOR in the cell called lysosomes and helps to keep MTOR in check. For example, if there is a change in one of the TSC complex components and they no longer remain in the lysosome, this can lead to excessive MTOR activity with severe health consequences.The scientists investigated how the TSC complex binds to lysosomes and it was found that G3BP proteins (Ras GTPase-activating protein-binding protein) that are located with the TSC complex on lysosomes, perform the function of an anchor that ensures that the TSC complex can bind to the lysosomes.If the amount of the anchor G3BP proteins reduces in the cell culture, then an increase in the MTOR activity and cell migration is seen.The scientists were able to show in cell cultures that drugs that inhibit this MTOR, can prevent the spread of cancer. EspeciallyKathrin Thedieck, professor of biochemistry at the University of Innsbruck said,Drugs that block MTOR are already approved as anti-cancer drugs. These drugs could be tested specifically in furture studies.In the brain, G3BP proteins were able to inhibit MTOR. The scientists observed disturbances in brain development when G3BP is absent in zebrafish which is an important animal model. These disturbances resulted in neuronal hyperactivity similar to epilepsy in humans. Drugs that inhibit MTOR can suppress this neuronal discharges.Christiane Opitz of DKFZ said,The scientists plan to investigate this further with their Europe-wide research network.Source: Medindia Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A senior EU official on Wednesday contested drug company AstraZeneca's explanation for a delay in vaccine deliveries and stressed Brussels is demanding it fulfil its contract. The British-Swedish firm has a deal with the European Commission to supply 400 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine, which is a expected to get EU approval on Friday. But, due to what it said was a production shortfall in the firm's European plants, the firm has warned that it will miss its target, while still meeting a separate contract it signed with the UK. In an interview on Tuesday, CEO Pascale Soriot said the UK had signed its contract three months earlier than the EU and this had given the firm time to iron out "glitches" in British plants. "As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches. Would I like to do better? Of course," he said. "One of the plants with the highest yield is in the UK because it started earlier," he said. "Anyway, we didn't commit with the EU, by the way. It's not a commitment we have to Europe, it's a 'best effort': we said we are going to make our best effort." But the European official contested that, and warned that Brussels would hold AstraZeneca to its contract. "We contest many of the things in the interview, including the idea that the factories in the UK are reserved for UK deliveries. It's not true," the EU official said "On the idea of 'best effort', in the contract we have redundancies. So if there is a problem in a plant in Belgium we have capacity in other plants in Europe and the UK." The European Commission has not revealed the text of its contract with the firm, citing commercial confidentiality imposed by AstraZeneca, but it is expected to give a detailed response later Wednesday. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Cairo criminal court has ordered the release of popular female TikTok influencer Haneen Hossam, who was arrested on human trafficking charges. The court rejected an appeal filed by the prosecution a day earlier against Hossams release. However, the court renewed the detention of another female TikTok influencer, Mawada Eladhm, for 45 days in the same case after accepting the prosecutions appeal. The two influencers have remained in detention pending investigations into human trafficking charges; however, they have been acquitted in another case related to their videos on the popular video-sharing platform. Hossam and Eladhm, who were arrested last year, are facing charges of inciting women to commit immoral acts that are against societys values. A Cairo economic appeals court acquitted Hossam and Eladhm and others earlier this month of violating family values and principles. The appeals court overturned a previous court order that handed the two influencers two-year prison terms and a fine of EGP 300,000. Eladhm, who is in her early 20s, was arrested on 14 May after she fled her residence at an upscale New Cairo gated community, moving around between Cairo and the North Coast after an arrest warrant was issued against her. Eladhm, who has 3.1 million followers on TikTok and 1.6 million followers on Instagram, gained fame for posting lip syncing and dance videos. Hossam, a university student who has 1.2 million followers on TikTok, was arrested on 21 April on charges of inciting debauchery and human trafficking. Her arrest came a few days after she posted a video on TikTok encouraging women to publish live videos and talk with strangers via short video sharing platform Likee in exchange for money. Last year, Egyptian authorities arrested several female TikTok users who are known for controversial content that authorities describe as violating family values and principles. Short link: The paper that says Democracy Dies in Darkness wont be fact-checking the Biden administration like it did his predecessor (Natural News) (Article by Frank Salvato republished from NationalFile.com) The Washington Post has announced it will effectively cease its fact-checking operation where the Biden administration is concerned. According to a Washington Post spokesperson, the publication, whose motto is Democracy dies in darkness, will let the lights go out on fact-checking the presidency of Joe Biden. After The Post published its final tally of lies or misleading statements by Donald Trump (they tallied 30,573), the papers spokesperson said it has no plans to keep a tally database of Joe Bidens falsehoods at this time. The database of Trump claims was started a month after Trump became president as a way not to overwhelm our fact-checking enterprise, The Post spokesperson said, adding that the papers daily reporting would still attempt to keep track of both parties statements. Biden, who many conservative and nonpartisan journalists see as the gaffe king that never stopped giving, has plenty of baggage when it comes to inaccurate statements, untruths, embellishments, plagiarism, and fictional statements The Washington Post says it has "no plans" to keep a database of falsehoods by @JoeBiden "at this time." If it weren't for double standards, liberals would have no standards at all. https://t.co/BxnICuCQIW via @tperkins @DailySignal Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) January 25, 2021 There is a litany of public statements dating back as 1987 when C-SPAN unearthed video of Mr. Biden lying about his graduation ranking in law school. Then, it was a scandal that ended one of his many shots at the presidency. There was his missive about being arrested trying to visit then imprisoned Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Even The Posts fact-checkers called that claim ridiculous. The Post additionally called shenanigans on Bidens account of a trip he took to Afghanistan. In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony, The Post declared. Perhaps appropriately but certainly ironically, the news of The Posts decision to forgo fact-checking the Biden administration broke on the very same day as a new poll revealed a record numbers of Americans think the mainstream media is intentionally trying to deceive the American public. Read more at: NationalFile.com and WashingtonPosted.news GOVERNMENT received a total of $7.37 billion from oil, gas and quarrying/mining companies in fiscal 2018, with the largest payment of $2 billion coming from majority State-owned National Gas Company (NGC). However, for the period 2019 to 2020, unaudited figures indicate a declining trend in revenue. Tributes have poured in for a teenage boy who died after a stabbing incident in north Dublin last night. The 16-year-old, named locally as Josh Dunne, passed away in hospital after suffering serious injuries in an assualt which occurred on the East Road, East Wall, in the north-inner city last night. It is understood Josh played football for a number of teams in Dublin including Tolka AFC and Bohemians underage. In a tribute, Bohemian's football club wrote: "Everyone at Bohemians is devastated to learn of the death of Bohs-SKB player Josh Dunne in tragic circumstances. Expand Close Josh Dunne / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Josh Dunne "Josh was a talented young footballer who will be sadly missed by former team-mates and coaches. "We extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends." Tolka Rovers football club said: "We are deeply saddened to hear the tragic news of Josh Dunne. It was a privilege to have him play for Tolka Rovers FC and to watch him play football under the guidance of Coco, Kev and James. "Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this very sad time. Rest in Peace Josh." Scottish premiership side Dundee United, where the teenager was on trial last year, also paid tribute to him. We are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Josh Dunne. Josh was a trialist with our Foyle Cup & Super Cup squads in 2019 where he was warmly welcomed & respected by players & staff. Our thoughts & best wishes are with his family & friends. Expand Close Josh Dunne / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Josh Dunne North Dublin schoolboy club St Kevins Boys said: It is with great sadness that the club has learned of the sudden and untimely death of one of our players Josh Dunne last night. On speaking to Josh's Managers Mark, Gerry, Peter and all the lads from his team they are all devastated to hear the sad news." Heartbroken friends and family have also paid tribute to Josh on social media, with one person writing: "Rest easy josh [sig] sending my prayers to the dunne family." "I'm absolutely gobsmacked. way too young, thoughts and prayers are with all of the Dunne family," another wrote. Emergency services attended the scene after gardai were alerted at around 9.20pm. The two casualties were transferred to the nearby Mater Hospital, with one of them said to be in a critical condition. Josh Dunne was later pronounced dead. Gardai said a third male has presented to the Mater Hospital to be treated for injuries. At this stage gardai are investigating if the youths were involved in a confrontation with a delivery driver prior to the alleged assault. The scene, which was sealed off by gardai and examined by members of the garda technical bureau this morning, is a long stretch of pavement on the East Wall Road, a busy stretch of road that links the north city to the Docklands area. Expand Close Flowers left at the scene on East Wall Road / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Flowers left at the scene on East Wall Road Local Councillor Nial Ring said little is known about the circumstances that led to the stabbings. In all the speculation we have to be mindful that theres a 16-year-old lad deceased. I was here last night after getting a lot of phone calls that there had been an incident in East Wall, he said. Its a close-knit quiet community and to have this visited upon them is very shocking for a lot of people. The gardai have been down here looking for anyone who has information and I think thats the main thing - to try and piece together what happened, he added. Ultimately what happened was a young boy of 16 years of age has died. That is the tragedy. That is what people are genuinely in shock about, said Cllr Ring. A Garda spokesman said officers continue to investigate all the circumstances of a fatal assault and associated incidents which occurred on East Wall Road, East Wall. "At approximately 09:20pm, Gardai received report of a public order incident occurring on East Road, East Wall. "Gardai and emergency services attended the scene and two juvenile males were taken to the Mater Hospital to be treated for serious injuries. "One of the juvenile males has subsequently been pronounced dead in the Mater Hospital. "A post mortem will be carried out on this male this afternoon, 27 January 2021 at the City Morgue by Dr Heidi Okkers, Locum Assistant State Pathologist. "A family Liaison Officer has been appointed to and continues to liaise with the family. "The two males (an adult and a juvenile) remain in Hospital receiving medical attention. "Gardai continue to appeal for anyone who was in the East Wall Road/ East Road, Dublin 3 area between 9:00pm and 9:40pm to speak with investigating Gardai. "Gardai are appealing for any person with video footage (mobile phone, dashcam footage or other video) to contact investigating Gardai at Store Street Garda Station on 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Phone Number 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station." As Donald Trump enjoys his post-White House life in his Twitter-less Floridian Mar a Lago estate, former Vice President Mike Pence's whereabouts after vacating One Observatory Circle last week are a bit more unclear, sparking questions of whether America's ex second in command is just couch surfing his way through Indiana. Millionaire government higher-ups -- they're just like your annoying crust-punk acquaintance, down to the fly in his questionable-looking hair. During his farewell address last week, Pence said that he and his wife, who is very appropriately named Karen, would be "moving back to Indiana come this summer" leaving out any specific details of their future abode. "There's no place like home," he said later in the address. Despite ex the VP's nostalgic and #relatable Wizard of Oz reference, records show that the Pences haven't actually owned property in approximately eight years, as before living in Washington D.C.'s U.S. Naval Observatory during his four-year term as VP, the Pences lived in Indiana's Governor's Residence, near downtown Indianapolis. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Lacking permanent quarters, politicians close with the former second couple say they've been couch surfing, reportedly staying at the "dolled-up" retreat cabin of current Indiana governor Eric Joseph Holcomb, whatever tf that means, and living a home that allegedly belongs to Pence's brother in his hometown of Columbus, according to Business Insider. You'd think with all this new time on his hands not being VP and his reported $1 million net worth, Pence would have more than enough resources to find himself a nice house instead of pestering his inner circle. But hey, I guess we all need that annoying friend who only ever hits you up when they're visiting from out of town and don't want to pay for a hotel. Keepin' it classy, Pence! Continue Reading Below Advertisement Yet as The Root pointed out, it seems that in finding a place to stay, Pence should absolutely not reach out to his real-estate mogul former boss, Donald Trump. Despite owning several apartments and mansions, the two have apparently been on pretty sour terms since the Capitol attack on January 6, after the then President riled up a crowd of right-wing insurgents, some of whom were very vocal about their desire to "hang Mike Pence." Believe it or not, inciting deadly riots targeting your former allies can definitely do a number on your personal relationships. To quote the old internet adage that has been incredibly useful in describing the events of the past three weeks, "Damn, that sucks. Hey Alexa, play "That's What You Get" by Paramore. So Pence, good luck couch surfin' USA! You're gonna need it -- futons aren't all that comfortable, trust me. For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone Top Image: Shutterstock Ive spent my entire career in media and politics, working with and talking to politicians of all stripes and conducting hundreds of interviews with local, state and national reporters who want my punditry on the state of campaigns and candidates in Pennsylvania. I thought I had seen it all, especially after the last few weeks. But in Pennsylvania politics, there are always surprises around the corner. The latest is the revelation about Congressman Scott Perrys and his alleged role in a scheme to overturn election results. Congressman Perry hasnt called me, and I doubt he will. But if he did, this is what Id tell him: Not everyone believes whats printed in the New York Times, especially among your supporters, but the story reporting that you were an active participant with President Donald Trump to try to fire Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen because he refused to pursue baseless claims of election fraud is a stunning revelation. Im sure youll deny it. Thats expected. But your record is clear. You voted to throw out Pennsylvanias electoral votes, which would have disenfranchised me and millions of other voters, as much as it would have invalidated your own re-election. You voted against Trumps impeachment, even though one of your constituents is now under arrest for stealing House Speaker Nancy Pelosis laptop --- her breach of the U.S. Capitol Building incited by the former president. You were one of the few lone votes against a resolution condemning QAnon for its threats against elected officials and urging responsible agencies to investigate whether the conspiracy site has foreign backing. And this was just in the last few months! I respect your service with the National Guard and your time in Iraq. My own son is a veteran who served overseas. There are issues where I know we are in agreement, too, even though, as a disclaimer, I supported your opponents in the last two elections --- and I am confident that you won those elections fair and square, without posing any illegitimate questions as you are regarding President Joe Bidens victory. Your stances truly are a mystery to me and so many others, and nothing you have done over these last few months with these extremist views makes any sense. But maybe I am the one who is in denial and cannot see what is happening around me. The question is whether our fellow Pennsylvanians, beyond your central Pennsylvania enclave, are in agreement with you, and whether they see people like me as never-Trumpers who are simply blinded by hate. So, I have an idea. Congressman Perry: I challenge you to run in one of the statewide campaigns taking place in 2022. Run for the open U.S. Senate seat or seek the gubernatorial post once Gov. Tom Wolfs term expires. It really doesnt matter which position you choose. Your statewide candidacy would give Pennsylvanians the chance to say whether they are in your corner when it comes to all your conspiracy activities and unpopular votes. Having been in Pennsylvania politics for a long time, my guess is that the Republican primary would be a breeze for you. The real test would come when Democrats and Independents are added to the mix. One last thing, Congressman Perry: I have confidence in Pennsylvanias electoral system and in faithful commitment of our counties to carry out those elections. I believe both in-person and mail-in ballots were handled seamlessly under the most difficult of circumstances. By the time you throw your hat into the ring for a statewide post, your former colleagues in the state General Assembly will probably be finished with their partisan review of how the 2020 election was administered, and they may even propose changes to Act 77 --- the sweeping election reform plan that they themselves voted for overwhelmingly in 2019. So, heres the deal: If you win the election, I wont say it was due to fraud, but only if you agree to do the same if by chance you come up short. Truly putting yourself in front of voters of Pennsylvania instead of scheming with the former president behind closed doors will get us one step closer to finally uniting our Commonwealth again. Larry Ceisler is founder of a statewide communications firm with offices in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia. Reliance Group has signed a USD 15 million deal with Israeli company Breath of Health (BOH) to distribute the company's swift COVID-19 breath testing system throughout India, a media report here said. According to the agreement, the Indian corporate giant will purchase hundreds of systems from the Israeli company in a deal valued at USD 15 million and will use them to conduct millions of tests a month at a cost of USD 10 million per month, business portal Calcalist reported. Reliance will also lead research of the system in India and will distribute the platform throughout the country and in the Far East, it added. BOH is said to have developed a breath test system that identifies COVID-19 at a success rate of over 95 per cent. Preliminary results from clinical trials it is conducting with Israeli hospitals Hadassah Medical Center and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer have shown a success rate of 98 per cent compared to the standard PCR test authorised by global medical organisations. The development of BOH's system began two years ago and was initially meant to provide early detection for cancer, Alzheimer's, and lung disease. The company's scientists decided to focus on adapting the system to detect COVID-19 following the outbreak of the pandemic, recognising that it could be a crucial tool in the fight against the virus until the arrival of the vaccines. BOH's CEO, Arie Laor, said that the company had operated under the radar till date in order to focus on its clinical trials and the development of its system, the report said. The agreement will help to accelerate the trials and Laor is expecting results to be announced in the coming weeks, it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Republican legislators say a Democratic leaders plan to enact a new property tax on the wealthy will instead target middle class homeowners since it would impose an annual levy on all Connecticut residences worth more than $430,000. But Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney said Tuesday he considers his proposal a mansion tax' that will ensure financial fairness in tough times and raise $73 million per year as part of a package to provide property tax relief for cash-strapped communities like his hometown of New Haven. The tax would rely largely on collections from the wealthiest towns in Connecticut, including Greenwich, Westport, New Canaan and Darien. It would collect relatively little revenue from much of the state. But Senate Republican leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford said it is a tax on the middle class across Connecticut. What theyre going after are solid, middle-class homes in every community, in every town,' Kelly said. No, its not a mansion tax. This is going to hit Milford, Manchester, Naugatuck, Hampton, Madison. It will hit all communities. This isnt like your mansions in southwestern Fairfield County only. A $400,000 home is in every single town. The facts will show you thats a middle-class tax.' Kelly added, The solution to every problem is a tax and a bullseye on the middle-class wallet, whether its tolls or gas taxes or insurance taxes. Now, its just not the wallet. Now, theyre coming after our homes.' . Under Looneys proposal, all homes with an assessed value of $300,000 and a market value of $430,000 would pay no tax. For homes above that level, the first $300,000 of assessment would be tax-free, and they would then pay one mill beyond that level. As a result, Looney said, a home with a market value of $500,000 would pay $50 per year and a home with a market value of $1 million would pay $400 per year. Gov. Ned Lamont, a longtime Greenwich resident, has told the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and others that he wants to avoid raising taxes on anyone - rich or poor - as the states budget outlook has been improving rapidly in recent months. Concerning his views on a statewide mill rate, Lamont said Monday, I do not think were going to need any new broad-based tax increases in this state. Story continues House Republican leader Vincent Candelora of North Branford said the timing of the tax proposal during the pandemic sends the wrong message as the state budget is finally doing better and generating a small surplus. The latest statistics on the state budget, released this week by the legislatures nonpartisan fiscal office, call for a projected surplus in the current fiscal year of $179 million. Analysts are also projecting that the rainy day fund for fiscal emergencies will increase to $3.54 billion after the final surplus is certified. When we talk about the surplus and the budget is doing much better, its disturbing that we see these type of proposals cropping up - of more taxation on our Connecticut residents and our families 1/4 u201a Candelora said Tuesday. The legislature is being left amok to focus on any issue under the sun that they so choose and have forgotten the fact that were in the middle of a pandemic, where families are suffering. We continue to shed jobs every single month, and these types of proposals are only increasing the anxiety and the temperature in everybodys household. So I would hope that we would see this proposal summarily rejected.' As part of the overall package, Looney is also trying to increase the payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT, that towns would receive for tax-exempt property because the communitys fiscal need is not currently calculated. Greenwich gets the same percentage reimbursement for Greenwich Hospital property that New Haven gets for Yale-New Haven Hospital property and Hartford gets for Hartford Hospital property,' Looney said. Looney said he had not yet held a closed-door caucus to gauge support from his fellow Democrats in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 24-12 margin. Democrats also control the House by 97-54. Looney rejected various characterizations of his mansion tax plan. You have to look at the whole package. It is not an additional tax,' Looney said. It is a redistribution of property tax revenue, and many communities will benefit from it ... especially those communities that will receive more PILOT funding.' Totals released by the Senate Democrats show that Greenwich residents would pay $21.8 million of the $73.5 million collected annually. The top five towns - Greenwich, Westport, Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan - would pay a combined $44.4 million - more than half of the annual total. The statistics show that the tax would generate $6.6 million from Westport residents, $5.8 million from Stamford, $5.2 million from Darien and $5.0 million from New Canaan. The projected annual payments by residents would be $741,000 in West Hartford, $238,000 in Glastonbury, $177,000 in Farmington, $155,000 in Avon, and $142,000 in Simsbury. Recent home sales provide a glimpse of where some of the states highest value homes are located. Statewide, statistics show that nearly 13,000 single-family properties were sold in 2020 for at least $430,000. Fairfield County had 7,881 of the property sales above $430,000, while Hartford County had 1,398 sales, according to SmartMLS,Inc., the statewide Multiple Listing Service that covers all eight counties in the state. In the lowest-priced areas of the state, only 595 single-family properties in New London County sold last year for more than $430,000, compared to 156 in Tolland County and only 66 in Windham County. The final details of the proposal - which is currently only one sentence long - will be fleshed out in the coming weeks and months by the legislatures tax-writing finance committee. Prompted by questions from reporters Tuesday, Looney said the tax will likely not have a major impact on renters in apartment buildings. He said it would probably not' be imposed on farms and crops as lawmakers want to encourage farming across the state. When asked about commercial properties, Looney said, We wanted to address the great disparity in residential property, which is where the real crisis is in the state.' Courant staff writer Kenneth Gosselin contributed to this report. Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating @courant.com. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Over the past day, January 26, the Russian invaders violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas five times. In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group North, the armed formations of the Russian Federation opened fire from grenade machine guns, hand-held antitank grenade launcher, small arms and sniping weapons near Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk); grenade machine gun outside Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk), the press center of the JFO Headquarters informs. As a result of the aimed attack on Ukrainian positions, one serviceman of the Joint Forces received a gunshot wound. The soldier was promptly given first aid and evacuated to a medical facility. In the area of responsibility of the operational and tactical group "East", the occupiers used tripod-mounted man-portable antitank gun and heavy machine gun in the area of Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk); sniping weapons in the suburbs of Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk). Ukrainian defenders opened fire in response to the enemy attacks. The OSCE representatives were informed about the ceasefire violations through the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC). Today, January 27, no ceasefire violations have been recorded in the JFO area. ol Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Lets begin by understanding what chrome actually is. Usually found on bumpers, grilles, rims, or various trims, this shiny metal coating is primarily made of chromium, a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.In the automotive industry, it is used for protection and decoration purposes, being applied to other metals like steel using electroplating.However, like most metals used on cars, chrome is susceptible to alternating weather and road conditions. These lead to corrosion and theres nothing more ugly than rusted chrome-plated parts.If you have chrome elements that have begun to deteriorate but havent yet developed chips, you can make them shine again using these simple steps.The first thing you should do is gather all the necessary products and tools. These include nitrile gloves, microfiber towels, car wash soap, fine grade sandpaper, masking tape, a rust treatment product, and last but certainly not least, a chrome polish or restoring compound.Make sure to get a premium product for the best possible result. You can find countless metal and chrome polish from brands like 3M, Turtle Wax, or Blue Magic.Before you start, make sure youre doing this either outside or in a well-ventilated area because you are dealing with some hazardous chemicals that might do a lot of good for your chrome trims but could have some negative effects on your health.If the component youre planning to restore hasnt just lost its shine on the outside but also developed rust on the interior, make sure you remove it as best as you can using fine grade sandpaper.Then apply the rust treatment to prevent further corrosion; make sure you follow the product instructions about the application and drying time.The next step of the restoration process is washing your car thoroughly and then taking the necessary time to let it dry. Any dirt, sand, salt, or water can mix with the polish and end up doing more harm than good.You should carefully tape off the area surrounding the part you will be working on to prevent the polish from damaging the paint or other components.Once you thoroughly scrubbed the entire surface, clean the polish off with a new microfiber towel. If youre not satisfied with the outcome, repeat the process several times until you get the desired effect.Chromed parts that have been neglected for a long time might only get their original bling back after an arduous process of cleaning the old coat off and getting the part re-chromed.This is not something you cant do yourself in your garage and will require professional assistance. Mind you, it is not cheap, therefore it makes a viable option only if the car is very rare and its impossible to find new parts. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ViaCyte, Inc. , a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, today announced the appointment of Michael Yang to President and CEO and as a member of ViaCyte's Board of Directors. The Company also appointed Steve White, BSc Pharm, as Chief Technology Officer, and promoted Brittany Bradrick, who joined ViaCyte in July 2020 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to Chief Operating Officer (COO) and CFO. These executive leadership team appointments come as the Company's two clinical-stage product candidates, PEC-Encap and PEC-Direct, have progressed and are actively recruiting type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients for two Phase 2 clinical trials. Data are expected in the second half of this year for PEC-Encap and first half of 2022 for PEC-Direct. Additionally, ViaCyte is expanding cell manufacturing capacity and capabilities to advance PEC-Direct, PEC-Encap, and its immune-evasive cell program for diabetes (PEC-QT), which is partnered with CRISPR Therapeutics, Inc., while also exploring research into new disease areas that may benefit from cell-based therapies. "ViaCyte is dedicated to delivering on the potential of cell therapies, for type 1 diabetes and beyond, and has developed all the technologies and expertise to achieve this goal," said Ian F. Smith, Executive Chairperson of ViaCyte. "Over the last year, ViaCyte has added significant experience to the executive leadership team, improved its financial position, and recently initiated Phase 2 programs for T1D patients. With the appointment of Michael Yang as President and CEO, ViaCyte is positioned to drive the first cell replacement therapies to the market for type 1 diabetes and to expand its core cell manufacturing capabilities and research in new disease areas." "This is an exciting time to join ViaCyte as it advances toward establishing the first cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes," said Mr. Yang. "I look forward to heading the leadership team that shares the vision of building a leading cell therapy company that can truly transform care for patients." Michael Yang has more than 20 years of broad commercialization and senior level leadership experience in biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies, where he launched new platforms, expanded global revenues, and diversified product lines. He joins ViaCyte from Acadia Pharmaceuticals, where he was Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. During his tenure, which started in 2017, Acadia transformed the standard of care for patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis. Prior to Acadia, Mr. Yang was President of Janssen Biotech Inc., where was responsible for building Janssen's U.S. Immunology business, generating more than $8 billion in annual revenues. "When I looked at what could be truly transformative for diabetes, I saw that ViaCyte has continually made the scientific, manufacturing, engineering, and clinical breakthroughs necessary to realize the first islet cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes," said Mr. White. "With the mandate to expand and build with scale, quality, and compliance, I look forward to establishing the cell manufacturing platform to support the creation of many cell-based therapies." Mr. White is a healthcare product development leader with more than 30 years of diverse international experience in delivering innovative products to the marketplace across biotech, medical device, and pharma. Prior to joining ViaCyte, he was Vice President, Global R&D at Baxter Healthcare, managing global product development for biopharma, pharma, and medical devices portfolio, as well as leading an innovation function to define, scout, and grow early-stage pipeline opportunities. Prior roles include General Manager of a drug delivery subsidiary within Baxter and Vice President, Product Development at Nektar Therapeutics, leading their first of a kind biotechnology combination program for diabetes. Previous to that, Mr. White held product development roles of increasing responsibilities at E. Merck KG and GSK. About ViaCyte ViaCyte is a privately held regenerative medicine company developing novel cell replacement therapies based on two major technological advances: cell replacement therapies derived from pluripotent stem cells and medical device systems for cell encapsulation and implantation. ViaCyte has the opportunity to use each technology individually or together to address critical human diseases and disorders that can potentially be treated by replacing lost or malfunctioning cells or proteins. The company's first product candidates are being developed as potential long-term treatments for type 1 diabetes patients to achieve glucose control targets and reduce the risk of hypoglycemia and diabetes-related complications. To accelerate and expand the company's efforts, ViaCyte has established collaborative partnerships with leading companies, including CRISPR Therapeutics and W.L. Gore & Associates. ViaCyte is funded in part by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and JDRF. ViaCyte is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more, please visit www.viacyte.com and connect with ViaCyte on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. SOURCE ViaCyte, Inc. Related Links http://www.viacyte.com MOSCOW (AP) Moscow police launched a series of raids Wednesday on apartments and offices of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalnys family and associates, arresting his brother. The searched locations included Navalnys apartment, where police detained his brother, Oleg, and a rented apartment where Navalny's wife, Yulia, has been living. Video on the internet TV station Dozhd showed Yulia Navalny telling journalists from the window that police had not allowed her lawyer to enter the apartment. The raids came four days before protests that Navalnys supporters have called for Sunday. Demonstrations calling for his release took place in more than 100 cities across the nation last Saturday, a strong show of rising anger toward the Kremlin. Nearly 4,000 people were reported arrested at those protests. Other locations raided by police Wednesday were the offices of Navalny's anti-corruption foundation and the studio that produces his videos and online broadcasts. The popular videos and broadcasts helped make Navalny into Russian President Vladimir Putin's most prominent and persistent foe. There was no immediate police comment on the searches. Navalny associates said on social media that the searches were connected to alleged violations of epidemiological regulations from last week's mass protest in Moscow. But the real reason for the searches of Navalny's teams, relatives and office is Putin's crazy fear, Navalny's team said in a message. Navalny's challenge to Putin grew after he was arrested on Jan. 17 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Two days after his arrest, his organization released an extensive video report on a palatial seaside compound allegedly built for Putin. It has been viewed tens of millions of times, further stoking discontent. Navalny, the Kremlin's most prominent and durable foe, fell into a coma while aboard a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow on Aug. 20. He was transferred from a hospital in Siberia to a Berlin hospital two days later. Labs in Germany, France and Sweden, and tests by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, established that he was exposed to the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent. Story continues Russian authorities have refused to open a full-fledged criminal inquiry, citing a lack of evidence that Navalny was poisoned. In December, Navalny released the recording of a phone call he said he made to a man he described as an alleged member of a group of officers of the Federal Security Service, or FSB, who purportedly poisoned him in August and then tried to cover it up. The FSB dismissed the recording as fake. Navalny's arrest and the harsh police actions at the protests have brought wide criticism from the West and calls for his release. Russia's foreign ministry said Wednesday that a statement by the Group of Seven foreign ministers condemning his arrest constitutes gross interference in Russia's domestic affairs. Advertisement The world is marking Holocaust Memorial Day in the midst of the pandemic today as memorial events take place online and vulnerable survivors shield from the coronavirus on the 76th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation. The Auschwitz museum is holding a virtual event emphasising the fate of the 200,000 children who were murdered at the Nazi death camp, where only 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. The survivors who were young then are now among the most vulnerable to a disease that preys on the elderly, especially because many of them suffer medical problems caused by their inhuman treatment at German hands. German chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at an online event later with the UN-secretary general, while parliament is meeting for an in-person commemoration in Berlin where Hitler's regime oversaw the genocide of six million Jews. Pope Francis called for remembrance today while Israel's president Reuven Rivlin will join a virtual event in a country where many Holocaust survivors have already been inoculated against Covid-19 a world-leading vaccine drive. Hundreds of surviving victims in Austria and Slovakia were also poised to get their first vaccines on Wednesday to mark the anniversary. GERMANY: A rose was left in tribute this morning on one of the blocks that make up the Holocaust memorial in Berlin, officially the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe POLAND: A mass grave at a military cemetery in Warsaw is seen this morning as the world marks a virtual Holocaust Memorial Day due to the pandemic Auschwitz, pictured in 1945, was liberated by Soviet troops 76 years ago on Wednesday after around 1.1million people were murdered at the Nazi extermination camp The president of the European Jewish Congress said on Monday that some Holocaust survivors had died alone or suffered 'extreme isolation' because of the pandemic. 'Throughout their lives, they have shown mighty strength of spirit, but in the current crisis, many have sadly died alone and in pain,' Dr Moshe Kantor said. 'Therefore, I call on European leaders to ensure that Holocaust survivors have access as soon as possible to a safe and effective vaccination and with the highest priority.' He also warned that conspiracy theories and extremism had spread during the pandemic, alluding to how social and economic crisis helped bring Hitler to power and thereby unleash the Holocaust. 'The pandemic has created the social conditions where antisemitism and extremism thrive,' he warned. At Auschwitz, a memorial event will be streamed on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the museum's website later on Wednesday. The main theme will be the fate of children in Auschwitz, who made up nearly a fifth of the 1.1million people killed at the extermination camp. '200,000 children were murdered in Auschwitz. Completely innocent, good, curious about life, loving their closest ones, trusting children,' said museum director Piotr Cwyinski. 'The adult world - after all, so often unjust and cruel - has never demonstrated so much of its heartlessness, its evil. 'This cannot be justified by any ideology, reckoning or politics. This year we want to dedicate the anniversary of liberation to the youngest victims of the camp.' GERMANY: Wreaths are left at the 'Platform 17' memorial in Berlin to commemorate the deportation of Jewish victims on the German railway network GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel and president Frank-Walter Steinmeier were among the dignitaries at a special session of parliament in Berlin this morning to mark the anniversary ITALY: People pay tribute to Holocaust victims at a ceremony in Turin on Wednesday morning, in one of the few in-person events to take place on the anniversary GREECE: A woman walks past a Holocaust memorial in Thessaloniki on the 76th anniversary today While many commemorations have moved online for the first time, one constant is the drive of survivors to tell their stories as words of caution. 'We have to tell our stories so it doesn't happen again,' 91-year-old survivor Rose Schindler said on Monday from her home in California. 'It is unbelievable what we went through, and the whole world was silent as this was going on.' Friedman says she believes it is her role to 'sound the alarm' about rising anti-Semitism and other hatred in the world, otherwise 'another tragedy may happen.' That hatred, she said, was on clear view when a mob inspired by former US president Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6. Some insurrectionists wore clothes with anti-Semitic messages like 'Camp Auschwitz' and '6MWE,' which stands for '6 million wasn't enough.' At the Vatican today, the Pope marked the anniversary by urging people to watch out for extremism because 'these things can happen again'. 'To remember is an expression of humanity. To remember is a sign of civility. To remember is a condition for a better future of peace and fraternity,' he said. 'To remember also means being careful because these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that claim to want to save a people but end up destroying a people and humanity.' In Germany, the government says it wants to use the digital format to 'reach more people than ever' and educate them about the Holocaust. 'Millions of people were victims of the Nazis. That makes the repeated efforts to exploit, relativise or forget that suffering for political purposes all the more unbearable,' said German culture minister Monika Gruetters. Angela Merkel will give the keynote address later at an online event organised by the UN, UNESCO and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The ceremony will be followed by a panel discussion on Holocaust denial involving a survivor of the genocide and leading historians. POLAND: The entrance to Auschwitz, with its infamous sign saying 'Arbeit Macht Frei' or 'Work sets you free', is seen on Monday ahead of the anniversary GERMANY: Flowers decorated with a ribbon in the colours of the German flag are left at the Berlin Holocaust memorial on Wednesday morning POLAND: Wreaths lie in front of the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw on Wednesday IHRA chair Michaela Kuechler said: 'Remembrance plays a critical role in fighting the persistent forces of antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion. 'This is because remembrance ties us fundamentally to the facts, to what took place and the people it affected. 'When we remember, when we strive to reflect upon this suffering, we understand that as unimaginable as it is, it is just as undeniable.' Merkel and German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier were present at a special session of parliament in Berlin this morning where lawmakers were due to hear from a survivor who later became president of Germany's top Jewish organisation. In Austria, more than 400 survivors were expected to get a coronavirus vaccine at Vienna's largest vaccination centre to mark the memorial day on Wednesday. Mostly in their 80s or 90s, many of them were being brought in by shuttle or ambulance while others were escorted by their children. 'We owe this to them,' said Erika Jakubovits of the Jewish Community of Vienna. 'They have suffered so much trauma and have felt even more insecure during this pandemic.' Jakubovits organized the vaccination drive with the Austrian health ministry and officials in Vienna, where twelve Jewish doctors volunteered to give the vaccines. In a similar project to that in Vienna, the Jewish community of Bratislava in Slovakia was also set to vaccinate survivors on Wednesday. 'We're very, very grateful that the vaccinations are taking place on this symbolic day,' said Tomas Stern, the head of the Jewish community in Bratislava. Some 128 survivors were to receive their first shot at Bratislava's Jewish community center on Wednesday and another 330 across the country in the coming days. In Israel, home to many Holocaust survivors, more than 80 per cent of those over 70 have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, and nearly 60 per cent have received the second dose. Because Israel's vaccination campaign has moved so quickly, there was no need to single out Holocaust survivors. Still, about 900 Holocaust survivors died of Covid-19 in Israel last year before vaccines were available and about 5,300 survivors were infected, according to Israel's national statistics office. THUNDER BAY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Wolfden Resources Corporation (TSXV:WLF)(OTC PINK:WLFFF) ("Wolfden" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement of 6,250,000 common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") at a price of C$0.32 per Common Share with Altius Minerals Corporation ("Altius") and Kinross Gold Corporation ("Kinross") for gross proceeds of $2 million (the "Offering"). Altius now holds approximately 12.6% and Kinross holds approximately 11.4% of the issued and outstanding shares of the Company. The majority of the proceeds from the Offering will be used to continue exploration at the Company's 100%-owned Pickett Mountain high-grade polymetallic deposit and also at its recently optioned Big Silver project, both located in Maine, USA. As part of the terms of the subscription agreement, the Company will continue to collaborate with and gain support from its strategic shareholders on technical programs related to the exploration and development of the projects. "We are very pleased to have the continued support of Altius and Kinross as a significant investors and as strategic partners as we increase our exploration focus on precious metal rich polymetallic deposits and seek to further expand the mineral resources including high-grade mineralization intersected in the final holes of the 2020 drill program in the footwall of the Picket Mountain deposit," said Ron Little, President and CEO for the Company. "The Company has been working in parallel on an application to rezone a small portion of its Pickett Mountain Property to allow for an underground mining operation and hopes to conclude the process in 2021 with a favorable outcome". Brian Dalton, President and CEO for Altius stated, "We continue to support Wolfden as it successfully advances its high-grade projects and continues to work collaboratively with stakeholders to prove its commitment to sustainable mining within Maine. This is a natural resource rich area of North America that has been underexplored for decades and the metals that Wolfden is seeking to produce there are critical to the enabling of the industries that will contribute to a more sustainable future in the USA and globally." The financing has been approved by the TSX Venture Exchange and no compensation has been paid in respect of the financing. The securities issued are subject to a four-month hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws, which expires on May 28, 2021. As an insider, Altius was considered to be related party transactions within the meaning of TSXV Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The Company relied on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 in respect of such insider participation. About Wolfden Wolfden is an exploration and development company focused high-margin deposits in good jurisdictions. Its wholly owned Pickett Mountain Project is one of the highest-grade polymetallic projects in North America (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ag, Au). This relatively advanced project is well-located near excellent infrastructure that will support straight forward development as detailed in a Preliminary Economic Assessment date September 14, 2020. For further information, please contact Ron Little, President & CEO, at (807) 624-1136 or Rahim Lakha, Corporate Development, at (416) 414-9954. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, statements relating to the completion of the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering, metal price assumptions, cash flow forecasts, projected capital and operating costs, metal or mineral recoveries, mine life and production rates, and other assumptions used in Preliminary Economic Assessment dated September 14, 2020, information about future activities at the Pickett Mountain Project that include plans to complete additional drilling and pre-permitting (rezoning petition), the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment dated September 14, 2020, the potential upside of the Pickett Mt. Project, and the timing and commencement of future drill programs in Maine, Manitoba and New Brunswick. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties: (i) risks inherent in the mining industry; (ii) regulatory and environmental risks; (iii) results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; (iv) risks relating to the estimation of mineral resources; (v) stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations; and (vi) general market and industry conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Wolfden Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626138/Wolfden-Completes-2M-Financing-with-its-Strategic-Partners February Challenge: Produce An Album In 28 Days! With lock down in continued effect and artists still stuck at home, this coming February is the perfect time to participate in a challenge to write and produce an entire album in just 28 days! Guest post by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan of the Disc Makers Blog Were still in various stages of lockdown, so this February, why not sign up for the RPM Challenge or February Album Writing Month and produce an entire album of new music in 28 days? Look, its winter, its dark, theres still a pandemic, and youre staying indoors to do your part to stop the spread of the coronavirus (thank you!). Why not take this time to boot up your DAW or recording studio, finish up your song ideas, and produce an album? Maybe you need a bit of motivation, so hows this: Starting this February 1st, challenge yourself to create an entire albums worth of new, original music by March 1st. Sound impossible? Its not and one of the most motivating things in life is a deadline. But even more motivating is having other musicians you can lean on who are trying to achieve the same musical goal. Pushing yourself to be creative in such a compressed time frame is good for your musical output and weve got tips to help you achieve it. Sign up now and commit to this creative challenge. How? By joining one of two free February music challenges: Record Production Month Challenge (RPM) February Album Writing Month (FAWM) Each year, we push our musician friends and all our students to attempt one of these two challenges. Both RPM and FAWM are modeled after the highly successful National Novel Writing Month, which challenges authors to commit to writing a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November. Both RPM and FAWM challenge you to record an albums worth of material during the month of February. RPM challenges you to finish 10 songs or 35 minutes of music, while FAWM sets your goal at 14 songs. Either way, they both achieve the same result: you produce an album in 28 days! These are both motivational challenges, not contests or battle-of-the-bands. You win by finishing and creating new, original music. Why does an album challenge work to spark creativity for so many musicians? Because of a little thing called Parkinsons Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available to complete it. This means that if you give yourself three months to come up with 10 songs, it will end up taking you three months to complete the task. However, that extra time probably wont improve the quality of what you create. Studies have shown that most of the time spent on a given project is usually wasted on procrastination, distractions, overplanning, and stress. In fact, other studies have shown that imposing a constraint on creativity whether you limit the technology, tools, or the time you take (deadlines!) can actually enhance what you create and the quality of ideas. Because the 28-day deadline is much shorter than what it usually takes to create an album, it forces you to push off the distractions and procrastination and to focus on the key essentials songwriting, recording, and mixing since you have such limited time. Here are three additional reasons why you should take on an album challenge this month: Create new material. The idea with any music challenge isnt to make something perfect! Get that idea out of your head and use the 28 days to complete a first draft. Once you complete the challenge album, that can be the start of a process you can finalize once the draft is done. Although you can share it with the other musicians you connected with at the challenge sites, you dont have to release it to the greater public as is. Instead, you can put more production time into it afterward. Once you have 10-14 new songs, youll be in a great position to pick which tracks to continue to work on, revise, add to, and then release into the world throughout the year. Network with other musicians. One of the best things about these challenges is knowing youre not alone. Throughout February, the RPM and FAWM websites and forums are buzzing with musicians talking gear, exchanging recording and songwriting tips, and keeping each other motivated as the clock ticks to midnight on March 1st. Its a great place to network and generate new opportunities for one another. And then, once its done, the connection continues with listening parties online and in cities around the world (maybe not this year). Generate exposure. Participating in the challenge can also generate publicity and exposure. The music you create can get included in jukeboxes showcasing RPM and FAWM artists, which can get you new fans. Plus, RPM and FAWM often work with the media to highlight the musicians taking part. For instance, the RPM organization usually promotes the event to radio and media outlets, including National Public Radio (NPR), which chooses its favorite songs and plays them on the air. A few years ago, our own attempt at the RPM Challenge ended up getting NPR coverage. And, once we put the finishing touches on our album, Sham Rock, it was even nominated for a couple of different Best Irish Album awards. Not bad for just rolling up our sleeves, diving into the challenge, and seeing what might come out of it. Schedule your four weeks and chunk out your work Seriously, why not make the most of this difficult time by bringing some music into the world? Focusing on a four-week project like this can not only get you out of any funk you may be in as we round the corner on a year of social distancing, but itll keep your mind focused on something positive: creating new music. You only have four weeks, so one way to make the best use of your time is to break up the weeks by album production tasks. For example, week one could be reserved for songwriting song topics, lyrics, initial demos, etc. You may even want to pick a theme for the album to help structure and guide what youre creating. The goal would be that by the end of week one, youll have rough demos for all the songs youll be recording and mixing during the rest of the month. Weeks two and three should target recording, with week four focused on mixing. Of course, thats the plan, but youll want to be flexible. When we took on the RPM Challenge, we came up with songs late in the month that were perfect for the album, and we found a way to fit them in. One note: the rules of both contests state you need to submit an album cover along with the music, so youll either want to work on that bit by bit through the month or reserve the last few days to create the image. Are you ready to dive? If so, here are some tips for songwriting and music production to make the best of the 28-day challenge. Produce activities and tasks in batches This tip will help your music production as well as your efficiency throughout the month as you focus on album creation. Batching is the act of lumping related tasks together so you can finish them all at once. Think about how you do your laundry: you dont wash each article one at a time. You do a whole batch based on color or fabric type. For our band, which includes a horn section, we set aside time to record all the bass parts or all the horn parts on one weekend day. By doing this, the band members didnt have to come into the studio 10 times. They came in once and powered through all 10 songs, saving a ton of time. A second way to use the batching technique as youre working on your album is to bundle up non-album-production activities, like answering emails, posting on social media, or hitting the RPM or FAWM boards. Otherwise, you can scatter your time, lose focus, and kill your creative flow and production output. Shut up your inner critic As we said in You arent qualified to judge your music, you need to ignore your internal critic when songwriting especially when working within a tight deadline like RPM and FAWM. Critiquing yourself during the creative process is like driving with the parking brake on. Stay in the flow and run with what you come up with. You can always edit and refine what you created later. Remember, what youre creating is a first draft to build on and release to the greater public later in the year. Your job now is simply to create new music and produce a solid album for the RPM or FAWM audience. So, dont delay! Make the most of this strange time and take on the RPM or FAWM challenge (again, theyre both free) and get to work. You can start coming up with ideas for a theme for your album and a plan before it starts so youre ready to go once the clock strikes midnight on February 1st. Share on: The family of the late Dr Kwame Amoako-Tuffour, a founder member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called on the leadership of the party in Accra yesterday to formally inform them of his demise. The 25-member delegation was led by a member of the party's Council of Elders and a close friend of the late party stalwart, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor. Speaking on behalf of the family at the brief meeting at the party's headquarters, a member of the family and a representative of the Ashanti Regional NPP, Mr Edward Kwasi Akuoko, confirmed that Dr Tuffour passed on at the 37 Military Hospital after battling an illness. He indicated that the family had already informally consulted some executive of the party to seek advice and direction on the way forward. "And so, if you see us this morning, then our mission is very simple though with a very heavy heart to formally inform the party and the Council of Elders that our father and brother, Kwame Amoako -Tuffour is no more with us ," he said. Mr Akuoko presented some customary drinks to the party leadership to signify the official information. Commiseration The Chairman of the NPP, Mr Freddy Blay, while commiserating with the family, described the late Dr Amoako -Tuffuor as a great leader and good friend, stressing that his death was unfortunate. He said Dr Amoako Tuffuor was a relentless fighter adding that its a pity hes gone a little too early because we needed him particularly around these times. He was a good example to the children and then to members of the party, particularly to the leadership. From the beginning, he was there and hes been with us all this while. But it is unfortunate that he has fallen around this time, he stated. Commitment Mr Blay further promised that the party would continue to stand with the family until the final funeral rites were performed and even beyond. It is not only the condolence to yourselves but to all of us. So, we assure you the family members that we will put together a team led by the Organiser, the Women Organiser and the Director of Protocol to work closely with you, he added. Gratitude The head of the family, Mr Charles Kofi Opoku, was grateful to the party for the reception. Source: Graphiconline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Health and finance ministers from Africa are to meet the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) to discuss equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. I will tell them that we are doing everything that we can to accelerate the roll out of vaccines in Africa. To save lives and get their economies back on track. The rest of the world must play its part," WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists ahead of Wednesday's virtual meeting. It comes a day after South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is also the chairperson of the Africa Union, pleaded with rich nations to share their excess vaccines doses with poorer countries. Rich countries had bought nearly 800 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, enough to vaccinate their entire populations before poorer countries were able to do so, said Dr Seth Berkley, the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. They also have another 1.4 billion doses of different vaccine options. "But to ensure that poorer countries start vaccinating their populations against Covid-19 we are looking at approaching rich and asking them to donate excess vaccines to poorer countries," Dr Berkley said at the ongoing virtual conference organised by the World Economic Forum. "If that wont work, we will tell them that we would be willing to buy the surplus from them," he added. More than 45 countries globally have begun Covid-19 vaccinations. In Africa, only Egypt, Morocco, Guinea, Mauritius and Seychelles have started vaccinating frontline healthcare workers and those who are vulnerable. These five countries are using vaccines that have been donated to them by allied richer nations. Despite approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, WHO is yet to give the greenlight for its distribution to African countries. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Thackeray had said that areas dominated by Marathi-speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the issue Bengaluru: Karnataka deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi on Wednesday said Mumbai should be made part of the state and urged the Centre to declare it a Union Territory until then, as he hit back at Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for raking up the border issue with a similar demand. "We condemn the Maharashtra CM's statement. The Mahajan report is final. We are confident that things will be in our favour in the Supreme Court too. The demand of the people of our region is that we have been part of the Mumbai-Karnataka (region), so we too have our right on Mumbai," Savadi told reporters. From now on, he said the people would start demanding that Mumbai should be made part of Karnataka as they too had a share in it. "Until it (Mumbai) is made part of Karnataka, I urge the Central Government to make it a Union Territory," the Karnataka deputy chief minister said in response to a question on repeated raking up of the border issue. "With us now demanding Mumbai, things may get fine," he said. Earlier in the day, Thackeray had said that areas dominated by Marathi speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the issue. Ramesh Jarkiholi, Minister-in-charge of Belagavi district, which borders Maharashtra, said Thackeray had raked up the border issue to divert public attention from the 'failures' of his government. "...Don't give much importance to what he says. UddhavThackeray has failed at all levels. So he is trying to rake up the emotive border issue and trying to divert public attention," he said. Minister for Women and Child Development Shashikala Jolle, who also hails from the Belagavi district, said Thackeray has no right to speak about Belagavi. "We are not sitting quiet here with our hands tied. We are people of Karnataka... the soil of Kannada has nurtured us...if the issue is raked up repeatedly, we will give a befitting reply," she said. The Karnataka minister pointed out that Belagavi is the land where Kittur Rani Chennamma had led an armed rebellion against the British for freedom. Thackeray had on 17 January too said his government is committed towards incorporating into the state the areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority. Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending the majority of the population in these areas is Marathi-speaking. On its part, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modelled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where the legislative Assembly session is held once a year. Person-to-person ("P2P") international transfers, or remittances, sent by global citizens to their homelands represent the largest foreign economic support structure for developing economies. According to a new report by Oxford Economics, commissioned by Western Union (NYSE: WU), a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, remittances have helped smooth COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic shocks, increasing the resilience of developing nations throughout 2020 and presenting a potential lifeline for recovery in 2021 and beyond. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005359/en/ The Remittance Effect: Global Citizens Emerge as Economic First Responders of the Developing World (Graphic: Business Wire) The Oxford Economics Report: The Remittance Effect: A Lifeline for Developing Economies Through the Pandemic and Into Recoveryidentifies several positive economic and remittance consumer fundamentals that could support unexpected strength in remittance flows to developing nations compared to World Bank forecasts of slowdown in 2021. The report states that global P2P transfers to developing nations, which surpassed the value of Foreign Direct Investment in 2019, can potentially achieve what overseas development aid (ODA) and private direct investment cannot - the P2P transfers quickly and efficiently put money directly into the hands of individuals who then use the money to fund a broad range of economic activities. This "Remittance Effect" drives profound gains for developing economies, including reducing poverty and driving increases in economic activity. In addition to being engines for growth, P2P transfers enhance connectivity by linking individuals worldwide, thereby contributing to economic, social, and political interdependence between nations, even as governments shut borders. "The research further shines a light on the resilience of this global web of financial interconnectivity and confirms what Western Union has witnessed repeatedly: Crises make people more determined to provide support to the people they care about. When times get hard in developing economies, remittance-senders become front-line workers of economic security," said Hikmet Ersek, President and CEO of Western Union. "This report justifies bestowing a new title of 'Economic First Responders' upon these global citizens and local heroes. The love and money they send across the world's borders have helped smooth the economic shocks from the pandemic and foster resiliency and recovery within their home nations throughout 2020 and into 2021 and beyond," he added. The World Bank estimates that the pandemic will push an additional 88-115 million people into extreme poverty, with the total potentially rising to as many as 150 million in 2021. The developing world, home to many of the world's most economically vulnerable people, will face the most extreme consequences. To avoid the economic divide, Western Union is encouraging policymakers across the spectrum to prioritize legal, smart, safe, and equitable cross-border migration systems, which will uplift developing nations' economies and continue to support developed economies to recover and address human capital shortages. Ersek added, "In the critical task of rebuilding developing nations in a post-pandemic world, millions of these Economic First Responders will continue to step up. These heroes deserve so much credit for the irreplaceable role they play in their host and home countries' economies. There has also simply never been a greater need for innovation and technology that provides the on-the-ground financial support flowing instantly across borders." Read blog. For 170 years, Western Union has been focused on connecting individuals to their families and loved ones globally, anytime, anywhere, and today, it continues to connect them through one of the world's largest global financial networks that move 130 currencies electronically worldwide within minutes. Oxford Economic report - Key Highlights Remittances were a silver lining in a cloudy 2020 for developing nations. Positive data for 2020 on remittance inflows from several central banks in receiving countries, positive earnings data from leading money transfer companies, as well as survey evidence indicating the resiliency of senders, who have been highly motivated to support families and loved ones back home, have all supported a stronger than expected potential outturn for remittances in 2020. Family ties and rebounding economies may prove resilient for remittance flows, potentially exceeding World Bank forecasts for 2021. The remittance outturn for 2021 could fall anywhere within a wide range between a decline and a return to the pre-pandemic trend of growth, as uncertainty around the outlook is high. The World Bank forecast of a further 7.5% slowdown in 2021 may be exceeded. As predicted by the World Bank, a cumulative fall of 14% over 2020 and 2021 would be unprecedented in the recent history of remittance flows, which have tended to trend upwards year-over-year. Positive economic trends, sender economy recovery, sender resilience, and high demand for remittance from receiver countries could combine to support unexpected strength in remittance flows to developing nations in 2021. A predicted rebound of GDP growth in sender economies, as vaccines are rolled out, restrictions are lifted, fiscal policy remains supportive and pent-up demand is released, augurs well for remittances in 2021. Remittances are the hidden engine of global connectivity; people are single-handedly responsible for the massive capital movement across the world's borders. Financial flows between individuals/people contribute to interdependence worldwide social, economic, and political. It is unmatched by any other type of public or private cross-border investment flows. Remittance flows are directed to meet the recipients' specific needs in developing economies. In comparison, governments' fiscal response and flows of overseas development aid (ODA) can sometimes be delayed and blunter in their application. Also, developing country governments have less budgetary capacity to support their economies. While the World Bank estimates that remittances fell by 7% in 2020, this decline will be significantly less severe than the expected decline in private investment capital. UNCTAD expects foreign direct investment (FDI) to develop economies to decline by 35% to 45% in the full year 2020. Remittances multiply through a nation's economy contributing 0.40 cents GDP for every USD1.0 of inflow. The .40 cents multiplier is comparable or higher than some multiplier estimates of FDI or ODA. Applied to the $548bn of developing-country remittance inflows in 2019, this translates to a direct GDP impact on these economies of $219bn. Remittances have short-run effects on national output, as additional spending is received as income elsewhere in the economy. However, the full economic benefits of remittances are only realized in the long term due to the transformative effects of increased spending on education, health, and other investments. Remittances represent social insurance for households in developing countries. At a micro level, remittances benefit recipient households in developing countries by providing an additional income source that helps fund essential expenditures, lowers the incidence of extreme poverty, shields them against economic shocks, and supports long-term investment in healthcare and education. The global clout of remittances is underappreciated, despite being the largest foreign capital inflow to developing markets (excluding exports). Remittance flows to developing economies are indispensable, exceeding ODA by a factor of three. According to the World Bank, remittances to developing countries totaled $548bn in 2019, overtaking FDI to become the largest inflow of foreign capital (excluding exports) to developing markets. A robust study of the remittance 'multiplier' is critical, as the current modeling is inadequate and underestimates the real effects. The remittance 'multiplier' is lower than one due to the impact of 'leakages' some of the funds are saved or used to pay off debt (not spent), while a high share of spending in developing economies is likely to be on imported goods (e.g., medicines). A lack of investment opportunities in developing economies may also explain why remittance flows often fail to generate self-reinforcing development. However, a more complete measure of remittance economic impacts that also captures their longer-term transformative effects would likely result in more extensive estimates of the multiplier effect. Existing research on multiplier impacts is fragmented in terms of time periods covered, methods used, the multiplier definition, and the range of impacts measured. There is an opportunity to bridge the gap in existing research to measure the remittance multiplier more comprehensively and consistently across countries, looking at the individual effects of different use of funds and factoring in other country-specific characteristics. WU-G About Western Union The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement and payments. The company's omnichannel platform connects the digital and physical worlds and makes it possible for consumers and businesses to send and receive money and make payments with speed, ease, and reliability. As of the end of September 2020, the Western Union network included over 550,000 retail agent locations offering branded services in more than 200 countries and territories, with the capability to send money to billions of accounts. Additionally, westernunion.com, the fastest-growing channel in 2019, is available in over 75 countries, plus additional territories, to move money worldwide. Western Union moves money for better with our global reach, connecting family, friends, and businesses to enable financial inclusion and support economic growth. For more information, visit www.westernunion.com. About Oxford Economics Oxford is a leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis. Our worldwide client base comprises more than 1,500 international corporations, financial institutions, government organizations, and universities. Headquartered in Oxford, with offices around the world, we employ 400 staff, including 250 economists and analysts. Our best-in-class global economic and industry models and analytical tools give us an unmatched ability to forecast external market trends and assess their economic, social, and business impact. For more information visit www.oxfordeconomics.com/all-services. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005359/en/ Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Angkor Resources Corp. (TSXV: ANK) (OTC Pink: ANKOF) ("Angkor" or "the Company") CEO Stephen Burega is pleased to report the continuation of the Company's 2021 exploration program with a planned pitting and trenching program at the Wild Boar Prospect on its 100%-owned Andong Meas license in Cambodia. Highlights Several grab float rock samples returned high grade values over 70 g/t gold (Press Release) Wild Boar work will start with hand trenching/pitting in the area where the high-grade float samples have been collected Old artisanal pits will be cleared, mapped and sampled Results of these preliminary actions will determine the location of drill hole collars for the subsequent +1,000-meter drill program "Our team has the Wild Boar prospect at the top of our priority list and we are excited to get this program started," stated Stephen Burega, CEO. "Building shareholder value through fundamental programs like this is crucial to the success of the company, and this year in particular, we are fully funded and work is progressing on three epithermal gold targets." "The program will consist of hand excavated trenches and pits, the location of which will be in close proximity to the samples which returned high grade gold values from 19.45 g/t to over 70 g/t," he continued. "The purpose of the trenches will be to attempt to trace the surface samples back to a bedrock source by excavating and searching for buried examples of the high-grade gold quartz vein float." The planned outcome of the pitting program is to better determine the surface expression of the gold-bearing sulphide vein system to ensure better accuracy and efficiency when placing the pending diamond drill collars. Map shows proposed location of trenching and pitting program To view an enhanced version of this map, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7648/72936_be44dd82a4d48acf_001full.jpg The Wild Boar Prospect is located in the southeast area of the 100%-owned Andong Meas license, and portions of the area have seen intensive artisanal workings on several subparallel epithermal veins. However, recent work by the Company has identified an area at the northern end of the gold mineralized trend which has not been mined by the local artisanal mining community nor has the Company completed any drilling to date.(Press Release). "The northern portion where the trenching program will be conducted is covered by an unknown thickness of recent river flood sediments which geochemically mask the underlying bedrock," stated Dennis Ouellette, VP of Exploration. "This is also why there has been no artisanal mining here. The collection of high-grade gold quartz vein specimens in the area have all been identified within the local small creeks and offshoots." As an update to the ongoing work program at the Peacock Prospect as part of the 100%-owned Koan Nheak license, the Company has completed a +500 meter drilling program and is currently processing the core, which will be sent for assaying in due course. Lastly, the company would like to announce that as part of the previously announced (November 26, 2020) planned Investor Relations program, it has agreed to issue 300,000 stock options (the "options") at an exercise price of $0.10 to officers of Stirling Merchant Capital. The Options vest quarterly over a period of twelve months from the date of issuance and can be exercised for a period of three (3) years from the date of grant. The Consulting Agreement and the grant of Options are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval. The Company further announces that pursuant to its 10% Rolling Stock Option Plan, it has granted options to purchase a total of 200,000 common shares, exercisable in whole or in part on or before January 26, 2024 at an exercise price of $0.10 per share. QUALIFIED PERSON Dennis Ouellette, B.Sc, P.Geo., is a member of The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA #104257) and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). He is the Company's VP Exploration on site and has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure in this document. ABOUT ANGKOR RESOURCES CORP. Angkor Resources Corp. is a public company, listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange, and is a leading mineral explorer in Cambodia with a large land package across four 100%-owned licenses and a fifth license under an earn-in agreement with a third party. In 2019, the company received approval to negotiate Production Sharing Contract (PSC) terms for Block VIII, a 7,300 square kilometre oil and gas license in Cambodia. CONTACT: Stephen Burega, CEO Telephone: +1 (647) 515-3734 Email: sb@angkorgold.ca Website: http://www.angkorgold.ca or follow us on Twitter @AngkorGold. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company, including, but not limited to the potential for gold and/or other minerals at any of the Company's properties, the prospective nature of any claims comprising the Company's property interests, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, dependence upon regulatory approvals, uncertainty of sample results, timing and results of future exploration, and the availability of financing. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72936 Durban Youth Radio (DYR), which broadcasts in the greater Durban metro on 105.1FM and online, has started a crowd-funding campaign to raise much-needed funds to keep the station afloat.The community radio station, which is also an NPO, is self-funded and has seen a drop in its advertising revenue as local businesses are struggling due to the effects covid-19 pandemic. Click here to learn more and contribute to DYR's campaign. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning He Lives in My Phone I last saw Ajay on our two-year anniversary; it will be our third before I see him next. During the pandemic, I have forgotten what its like to be with him in real life. Some nights, I ask him to stay with me until morning. I place my phone next to my pillow as if hes there next to me and listen to him shuffle against the blankets. Then, I close my eyes and fill in the blanks: his arms looped around me, my legs braided gently into his. It reminds my body of the warmth it has forgotten. Katherine Hu The Buckingham, a senior living community located in Spring Branch, has been able to make more progress in vaccinating its residents and staff this month. The COVID-19 vaccine has been hard to procure for some with many appointments filling up in minutes. As of Jan. 26, 365,036 Harris County residents have received at least one of their two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the Buckingham was able to get the free vaccine doses through a federal government program for residents and staff of long-term care facilities working with local pharmacies. COVID data: Tracking coronavirus: Interactive maps, charts show spread of COVID-19 across Houston, rest of Texas The Buckingham reached out to Walgreens and set up vaccination appointments. The on-site vaccination appointments have taken place on Jan. 5 and Jan. 26 with the third round taking place on Feb. 16. People who receive their first dose of the two-dose vaccine are receiving their second dose at the next date. Basically everybody at The Buckingham falls into the high-risk group or the essential worker group, so we didnt really have to decide in terms of staff or residents who did or didnt get it, said Jamie Kneen, Executive Director of The Buckingham. Kneen said the process has run smoothly so far and he is not aware of any serious side effects. Three-part expose: EXPOSED | PART ONE Nearly 3 dozen local COVID patients said their symptoms preceded the Houston regions first confirmed case, data shows He said that The Buckingham, like healthcare communities and business all around the country, weighed whether to make the vaccine mandatory for all residents and staff. While it decided not to make vaccination mandatory, he estimates that 98-99 percent of all residents and staff will get vaccinated. He estimates that about 600 people will have received both doses by the end of the Feb. 16 appointment. Were glad that we could arrange this for our residents and staff, and were glad that so many of them are taking advantage of it, said Kneen. elliott.lapin@hearst.com January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - After four years of Donald Trumps fitful tenure, America is awakening from a long, troubled sleep to discover, like the fictional character Rip Van Winkle, that the world it once knew has changed beyond all recognition. In that classic American tale by Washington Irving published in 1819, an amiable but shiftless farmer strolls out of his colonial village to go hunting in the Catskill Mountains. There he happens upon a group of mysterious men, drinks deep from their keg of liquor, and falls into a long sleep. He awakens to find that hes grown a white beard down to his belly and his youth has withered into an unrecognizable old age. Walking back to the village, he discovers his wife is long dead and their house in ruins. Meanwhile, the sign above the village pub where he whiled away so many pleasant hours no longer bears the face of his beloved King George, the British monarch, but has been replaced by someone named General Washington. Inside, the convivial chatter of colonial days has given way to fervid electioneering for something called Congress, whatever that might be. Incredibly, Rip Van Winkle had slept right through the American Revolution. While this country was similarly sleepwalking through the fever dream of President Donald Trumps version of America First, the world kept changing as decisively as it did during those seven years when General Washingtons Continentals fought the British Redcoats. Just as King George suffered a searing defeat that cost him the 13 colonies, so the United States has, with similarly stunning speed, now lost its leadership of the international community. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Whose World Island Is It? During the eight years before Donald Trump took office in 2017, the U.S. seemed to be adapting creatively to some serious challenges to its post-Cold War global hegemony. After the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, a bipartisan stimulus program saved the nations auto industry and launched a slow but sustained economic recovery. Fueled by renewed economic vitality, Washington seemed to have a reasonable shot at checking Chinas all too real and growing global economic challenge. After all, using the $4 trillion in foreign exchange reserves it had earned by 2014 from its new role as the worlds workshop, Beijing had launched a trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative focused on making the vast Eurasian landmass (and parts of Africa) into an integrated trade zone a veritable world island that would exclude America and so radically undercut its global leadership. In his two terms as president, Barack Obama, Trumps predecessor, pursued a clever countervailing strategy, seeking to split Beijings potential world island economically at its continental divide in the Ural Mountains. Obamas planned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which pointedly excluded China, was the keystone to his strategy for drawing Asias trade toward America, thereby rendering that Belt and Road Initiative a hollow shell. That draft treaty, which would have surpassed any other economic alliance except the European Union, was designed to integrate the economies of 12 Pacific basin nations that generated 40% of gross world product and the U.S. was to be at the very heart of it. To drain commerce away from the other half of Beijings would-be world island, Obama was also pursuing negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership with the European Union. Its combined $18 trillion economy was already the worlds largest, accounting for 20% of gross world product. The proposed regulatory alignment between Europe and the United States would supposedly have added $260 billion to their total annual trade. Obamas bold grand strategy was to use those two pacts to beggar Beijings plans by giving the U.S. preferential access to 60% of the world economy. Of course, Obamas effort was encountering strong headwinds even before he left office. In Europe, an opposition coalition of 170 civil society groups protested that the treaty would transfer control over the regulation of consumer safety, the environment, and labor from democratic states to closed corporate arbitration tribunals. In the U.S., Obamas scheme faced sharp criticism even within the Democratic Party. Key figures like Senator Elizabeth Warren opposed the potential degradation of labor and environmental laws via the TPP. In the face of such strong criticism, Obama had to rely on Republican votes to win Senate approval for fast-track authority to complete the final round of negotiations over the treaty. That opposition, however, ensured that neither agreement would be approved before he left office. It was, however, Donald Trump who delivered the coup de grace. Right after his inauguration, he curtailed trade talks with Europe and withdrew from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, saying: Were going to stop the ridiculous trade deals that have taken companies out of our country, and its going to be reversed. Unilateral Foreign Policy Trump would instead adopt a unilateral America First strategy that soon sparked a costly trade war with China. After two years of escalating tariffs on both sides of the Pacific that damaged the U.S. economy, Trump capitulated in January 2020, signing an agreement that rescinded the most prohibitive U.S. duties in exchange for Beijings unenforceable promise to buy more American goods. The president then hailed his big, beautiful trade deal as a great victory, even though it was nothing less than an ill-concealed surrender. While his White House seemed obsessed with gaming its bilateral ties with China, Beijing was stealing a page right out of Obamas strategic global playbook, outmaneuvering Washington by pursuing two multilateral trade agreements that should have seemed eerily familiar to anyone who lived through the Obama years. In November 2020, Beijing would lead 15 Asia-Pacific nations in signing a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership that promised to create the worlds largest free-trade zone, encompassing 2.2 billion people and nearly a third of the global economy. ust a month later, Chinas President Xi Jinping scored what one expert called a geopolitical coup by signing a landmark agreement with European Union leaders for the closer integration of their financial services. In effect, the accord gives European banks easier access to the Chinese market, while drawing the continent more closely into Beijings orbit. So serious is the shift away from Washington that President Bidens incoming National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan publicly urged the NATO allies to first consult with the new administration before signing onto the deal a plea they simply ignored. Indeed, this treaty is arguably the biggest breach in the NATO alliance since that mutual defense pact was formed more than 70 years ago. Through a stunning inversion of Obamas bold yet unrealized geopolitical gambit of using multilateral pacts to draw Eurasias trade toward America, those two agreements will give China preferential access to nearly half of all world trade (without even factoring in the still-developing Belt and Road project). In a diplomatic masterstroke, Bejing exploited Trumps absence from the international arena to negotiate agreements that could, along with that Belt and Road Initiative, steer a growing share of the Eurasian continents capital and commerce toward China. In the years to come, Beijings inclusiveness could well mean Washingtons exclusion from much of the burgeoning trade that will continue to make Eurasia the epicenter of global economics. The Decline and Fall of You-Know-Which Great Power If that were all, then we could chalk up a few significant wins for China and just wait for Bidens foreign-policy team to try to even the score. But theres far more happening that suggests those treaties were a clear manifestation of deeper, more troubling trends. When empires decline and fall, they seldom collapse in the sort of sudden apocalypse portrayed in a monumental series of paintings entitled The Course of Empire by another denizen of the Catskill Mountains, the renowned artist Thomas Cole. His 1836 painting in that series, now appropriately enough hung at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, shows a savage enemy plundering a grand imperial capital whose inhabitants, debased by years of luxurious living, can only flee in terror while women are raped and buildings burn. Mexican authorities announced Tuesday that they have arrested a man wanted for the August 2020 murder of a San Diego retired couple whose bodies were discovered inside a well. Ava Setzer told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the family believes her father, Ian Hirschsohn, 78, and his girlfriend, Kathy Harvey, 73, were killed August 29 while they were sleeping at a home that Hirschsohn rented in the beach town of El Socorro from the alleged killer's father. 'We believe they were stabbed in their sleep in the middle of the night,' Setzer said. Setzer confirmed the murder suspect's name to DailyMail.com as Emmanuel Aguilar, whom she said has a prior history of drug use and had been out of a rehabilitation program before he killed Hirschsohn and Harvey. She added that Aguilar is the son of the land owners of the ranch that Hirschsohn had rented for over 35 years in San Quintin, and that the motive behind the murder is unknown. 'I was really surprised by this information because I suspected it was somebody that came that knew there were a bunch of Americans living there and had a field day,' Setzer during a phone interview from her home in Oregon. 'I haven't spoke to anybody yet. I am still in shock. Ian Hirschsohn and Kathy Harvey, both of San Diego, were murdered August 29, 2020 while vacationing at a ranch in El Socorrito, south of San Quintin, about 200 miles south of the Mexican border. They were reported missing September 2 and found inside a well September 5. The arrest of the killer was announced Tuesday by the Baja California Attorney General's Office. He was identified as Emmanuel Aguilar by Hirschsohn's daughter, Ava Setzer, in a text message to DailyMail.com The arrest of Emmanuel Aguilar was announced Tuesday by the Baja California Attorney General's Office. The suspect is the son of a man who rented a ranch located in the beach town of El Socorrito for over 35 years to Hirschsohn Hirschsohn, from Solana Beach, and Harvey, a resident of Tierrasanta, were reported missing September 2 and were found September 5 by authorities in the bottom of a well that is located four miles from the town of San Quintin. Robert Harvey told CBS8 he received a text from his mom on the evening of August 28 saying they were planning on going to a gold mine or to a beach. They were due to return to San Diego on August 31 after spending around a week on vacation together, and were never heard from again. The prosecutor's office initially thought the suspect was a drug user who invaded the home believing nobody was living there. Pictured is Ian Hirschsohn, one of two San Diego retirees who were reportedly killed August 29, 2020, while sleeping with his girlfriend Kathy Harvey at a home he rented in the Mexican beach town of El Socorro Kathy Harvey (pictured) was found dead in a well in Mexico on September 5 with her boyfriend Ian Hirschsohn. They were reported missing while vacationing near El Socorro, a beach town about 200 miles south of the United States-Mexican border It said that the killer stabbed Hirschsohn and Harvey and then placed the bodies inside Hirschsohns Toyota Land Cruiser before dumping the remains into the well. Kathy Harvey was a native from New York who lived in Tierrasanta for over three decades before she retired from her job as a physical therapist in 2014. Hirschsohn graduated from the University of The Witwatersrand in Johannesburg in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He obtained a master's degree in engineering sciences from Purdue University in 1966, and completed a second master's degree in aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1967 from Princeton University. The retired couple was last heard from on August 28 when they texted relatives to say they were going to explore a gold mine or visit a beach The arrest capped off months of anguish for two families who had taken to social media to share photos and information about their loved ones. Setzer lauded the work of three detectives from the Ensenada Homicide Division in capturing Aguilar in a country where most of the crimes go unsolved. For a while she figured her father's and Harvey's remains were not going to be found. 'We have been going to Mexico for 35 years and I know plenty of people who have been through similar circumstances and when he came out missing I was like, 'We're never going to find him,' she said. 'I just know enough about Mexico, I was already kind of setting my own expectations. My brother went to Mexico to meet with them and they were thoroughly invested and I always felt they were really sad for this situation. I can't even imagine the list of other victims that they deal with. The effort that they put in to support was incredible. I really appreciated it.' Robert Harvey said his mother and Hirschsohn met via an online dating platform and were dating for a couple of years. 'She was really happy with Ian,' he added. Setzer described her father on a Facebook post as a keen windsurfer and 'seasoned veteran of Baja travel' who had visited the area for more than three decades. President Joe Bidens swearing-in as the 46th president of the US, with 34 million viewers, is the third most-watched in the history of American television. According to TV audience research company, Nielsen, Mr Bidens popularity is only surpassed by the swearing-in ceremonies of presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama in the past 40 years. Almost 33.8 million people watched Mr Bidens six-hour-long inauguration ceremony over 17 television networks on 20 January, said Nielsen. While Barack Obamas first inaugural in 2009 drew 37.8 million viewers, Ronald Reagans popularity peaked to 41.8 million in 1981. Mr Biden also exceeded viewership of his predecessor Donald Trump, who watched the television ratings actively and closely. Nearly 30.6 million people watched Mr Trump take the oath of office in 2017, according to Nielsen. The 78-year-old became the oldest person to serve the nation as US president, issuing a call for unity in his speech. The ceremony included the performances by Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Garth Brooks. Kamala Harris, who was a former senator, became the first Black person, first woman and first Asian-American to serve as vice president. Meanwhile, CNN became the most popular network among the viewers for inaugural ceremony. Contrary to Nielsons ratings, right wing channel Fox News projected that the viewership of Mr Bidens inauguration ceremony was down to 77 per cent from the channels viewership for Mr Trump. The new president also has favourable job approval rating in early polls at 63 per cent among registered voters. After being swornin as president, Mr Biden passed at least 17 executive orders as part of a range of his new domestic and international policies during the first 24 hours of his presidency. He ended Trump administrations travel restrictions on several Muslim majority countries and halted the construction work along the US-Mexico border, among other decisions. Mr Biden also began talks with Congress over a $1.9 trillion stimulus package to provide relief to those most impacted by the pandemic. OTTAWA David Milgaard has lost patience with the Trudeau government over its stalled pledge to establish an independent body to rectify wrongful convictions. OTTAWA David Milgaard has lost patience with the Trudeau government over its stalled pledge to establish an independent body to rectify wrongful convictions. "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Justice Minister David Lametti are failing to act on this situation," Milgaard wrote in a statement to the Free Press. He urged Canadians to pressure Ottawa to follow through on its promise to create a review panel that is independent from prosecutors. Milgaard reached out Tuesday, 11 days after the Free Press reported that Trudeau had downgraded this promise to a secondary priority for his justice minister. Shortly after the fall 2019 election, Trudeaus marching orders for Lametti listed 21 priorities, the first of which sought to "establish an independent criminal case review commission to make it easier and faster for potentially wrongfully convicted people to have their applications reviewed." Before the pandemic, Lametti met with advocates to discuss that pledge, including Milgaard, the Winnipeg man who served 23 years in prison for a 1969 murder in Saskatoon that he didnt commit. The idea is to put Canada in line with other countries that have independent commissions review cases in which a criminal argues theyve been wrongfully convicted. Under the current process, Justice Department officials, whose colleagues are often involved in the original prosecutions, are involved. But on Jan. 15, Trudeau issued updated mandate letters, and Lamettis priority list no longer included the wrongful-conviction panel. Successive federal governments have promised to reform the system, and the Trudeau government appeared the most committed to following through. Milgaard said Tuesday that only "limited consultations" have taken place, and that "what could have been accomplished in a matter of months, is almost at a standstill." Milgaard stressed he spoke on his own behalf, and not any advocacy group that he helps to run. He said pushing to get the federal review body up and running has taken away from work to support prisoners who say they have been wrongfully convicted. "These men, women and in some cases children, need Canadians to stand up for them now. They are in immediate need of our help," he wrote, comparing the lives put on hold to the stalled promise to get the review panel launched. He noted that prisons and jails have been hotbeds of coronavirus outbreaks. "COVID-19 cannot be used as an excuse to slow progress. If anything, a pandemic should underscore exactly why it is critically important to act swiftly and effectively," Milgaard wrote. Milgaard called Lametti "a compassionate person" but said hes personally hurt to see the lack of progress, asking both the justice minister and Trudeau to expedite things. "They have the power to do what is just and they have a legal and ethical responsibility to unlock the cages of those who need our help the most the people who have done no wrong," he wrote. Lamettis office insisted Tuesday he will follow through with this promise, saying his government wants to make sure it tables appropriate legislation and conduct public consultations. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The case of a San Antonio man arrested in connection with the deadly U.S. Capitol riot will remain in Washington, D.C. Matthew Carl Mazzocco was scheduled to appear in federal court Tuesday morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard B. Farrer for preliminary hearings, but those were waived. His case will be handled in a federal court in the District of Columbia, where it was filed, Mazzoccos lawyer, Robbie Ward confirmed Tuesday. She will continue representing him. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio man charged in Capitol riot appears in federal court Mazzocco, 37, was arrested Jan. 17 after FBI agents raided his Stone Oak-area home. He is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct, according to a federal complaint. Authorities used postings on social media, largely on TikTok, to identify Mazzocco as among the supporters of then-President Donald Trump who stormed inside the Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the House and Senate from certifying the election of Joe Biden. On ExpressNews.com: TikTok calling out San Antonio loan officer for allegedly breaching U.S. Capitol Five people died in the riot, including a Capitol police officer. The complaint was released after Mazzoccos first initial court appearance last week in San Antonio. It details that as early as the day after the riot, three people reported Mazzocco to authorities, based on photos that showed up on his social media pages, including a selfie he took showing a view of the Rotunda, with the caption: The capital (sic) is ours! Mazzocco, whose social media accounts said he was a loan officer for Synergy One Lending, apparently was fired after his arrest. An email from the San Antonio branch manager confirmed last week that he is no longer employed with the company, which is based in California and operates in 45 states. The charges against Mazzocco are misdemeanors. If convicted, he faces a maximum of a year and six months in prison and fines of more than $105,000. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Advertisement Europe's borders are closing once more with Belgium banning non-essential travel from today, France demanding negative tests from all EU visitors and Germany looking at ways to cut air traffic to 'almost zero'. With virus deaths still piling up across Europe and governments alarmed by new strains of Covid-19, EU travel restrictions have gone beyond sealing off the UK and are now curtailing free movement on the continent too. France and Italy are among the countries requiring negative tests to enter from across the EU, with France generally demanding gold-standard PCR tests although UK hauliers are allowed more rapid screening. Germany generally has a 10-day quarantine instead, but is also checking test results from some high-risk countries and is gearing up to impose tougher controls on its nine usually free-flowing land borders. Liberal Sweden does not have a quarantine policy at all, while Switzerland is taking a more surgical approach and picking out particularly high-risk areas of neighbouring countries. Travel from outside Europe is still kept to a minimum across the EU, with some countries imposing special requirements for Brazil and South Africa which also have their own alarming strains of the disease. It comes as Britain draws up a 'red list' of countries whose travellers will face 10 days of hotel quarantine when they arrive in the UK, after Boris Johnson's government was criticised for keeping borders open earlier in the pandemic. Meanwhile, France's President Emmanuel Macron 'asked for additional analysis' on the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday before deciding whether new restrictions are required, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said. Macron is under pressure to introduce a third lockdown after it was revealed the 6pm nightly curfew is failing to slow infections, and after the daily number of hospitalisations reach an eight-week high of 27,041 on Tuesday. Infection rates are heading sharply upwards in Portugal (green) and Spain (purple), although they are falling in the UK (light blue) and appear to have passed their peaks in Italy and Germany Death rates remain stubbornly high in much of Europe and have rocketed in Portugal following a rise in cases there, while the UK's daily death rate appears to have plateaued after cases started falling Here is how borders are going back up in many EU countries: FRANCE: NEGATIVE TEST REQUIRED After fears over the UK's new virus strain prompted France to start demanding negative tests from incoming lorry drivers last month, the French government has now widened its measures to cover the whole of the EU. People arriving from EU countries by air or sea must produce a negative test dated less than 72 hours earlier - but the checks do not apply to those coming in by road or rail. The rules are tougher for people coming from the UK, who can only travel for certain reasons and sometimes have to isolate for seven days in addition to having a negative test. But this does not apply to cross-Channel hauliers, who also have a special exemption meaning they can take so-called 'lateral flow' tests which produce a quicker result than PCR tests. Those who do get into France are subject to the nationwide curfew which currently runs from 6pm to 6am, with official paperwork needed to get around during those hours, including to leave the country. GERMANY: TESTS FOR HIGH-RISK AREAS Germany is considering almost completely halting flights into the country to slow the spread of more infectious strains of the virus, interior minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday. Under current rules, people entering from high-risk countries such as Britain must provide a negative test result from within the previous 48 hours. There is also a lower tier of countries including France and Italy where a test is not required but people must go into a 10-day quarantine, which can be shortened to five if they test negative during their isolation. Federal police are already carrying out checks at land borders, and Seehofer warned that these could become 'significantly stricter' - while suggesting that air travel could be 'reduced to almost zero'. Angela Merkel told party colleagues that Germans had a right to expect 'certain precautions at the border', with hundreds of deaths still piling up every day. GERMAN-CZECH BORDER: People queue at a testing centre in Folmava on Monday to cross the border into Germany, which is eyeing up stricter controls at its nine usually free-flowing land borders ITALY: NEGATIVE TEST REQUIRED Visitors from most of Europe do not need a to provide a compelling reason for entering Italy, but they do have to show a negative result from a test taken within the previous 48 hours. People who cannot provide a negative test will be sent into isolation and put under 'health surveillance', the Italian government says. The negative test requirement does not apply to the mini-states of San Marino and Vatican City, or a handful of low-risk countries such as Australia and New Zealand. But stricter rules for the UK mean that people can only enter from Britain if they were registered as Italian residents before December 23 or if they have a 'reason of absolute necessity' to go to Italy. And there are even tougher rules for Brazil, where no flights can go to Italy at all and where anyone who had recently been to the South American country when the ban was imposed was required to get a test. SPAIN: NEGATIVE TEST REQUIRED Spain's list of high-risk areas where a negative test is required includes essentially the entire EU as well as numerous 'third countries' such as the UK and Brazil. Travellers planning to go to Spain have to fill in a form which will generate a QR code that they can show to border officials when they arrive at Spanish airports. The tourism-reliant country has been lobbying the EU to set up 'vaccine certificates' which could allow people to evade travel restrictions once they receive a jab. 'Vaccine certification is something we are going towards inevitably,' the country's foreign minister Arancha Gonzalez claimed last week, with Spain in the midst of an alarming rebound in infections. BELGIUM: NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL BANNED As of today, non-essential trips in or out of Belgium are banned until March 1, with the government saying it will monitor arrivals by rail, road, air and sea. The country wants to avoid a repeat of last winter when Belgians went on Alpine ski holidays, bringing the virus back with them, or the Christmas-New Year period when an estimated 160,000 residents took trips abroad. 'When people travel, the virus travels with them and we also have seen, from sampling of tests, that people who have travelled show more cases of the variants than those that have not,' PM Alexander De Croo said. Anyone trying to enter has to fill out their essential reasons in a 'sworn statement', which can include travel for medical reasons or for everyday cross-border activity. For those who are allowed to enter, there are generally no other restrictions - but people coming in from Britain, South Africa and South America must go into quarantine for 10 days. An empty check-in area at Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, today BELGIUM: Police officers watch a car approach a border crossing near France on Wednesday after the smaller country banned non-essential trips in and out of the country SWEDEN: NO QUARANTINE In keeping with the liberal approach it has taken throughout the pandemic, Sweden does not impose quarantines on EU arrivals and does not even make masks compulsory at its airports. However, there is an outright ban on travel from the UK, with negative tests required for the few people who might be allowed to enter for essential reasons. A ban on entry from outside the EU remains in place until at least March 31. There are also stricter rules for Norway and Denmark where the UK virus strain has already been detected, and where people can only enter Sweden for specific reasons. Those who do make it into Sweden from high-risk countries are recommended to isolate for seven days but this is not compulsory. SWITZERLAND: QUARANTINE FOR SELECTED AREAS Switzerland's 10-day quarantine rule applies only to a relatively small list of countries including Britain, the US, Portugal and the Netherlands. In addition, Swiss authorities have pinpointed particularly high-risk areas of neighbouring countries - with only two states of Germany and three regions of Italy subject to quarantine rules. But under new rules to take effect in early February, people will also have to produce a negative test result - although this may allow them to shorten their quarantine period. Switzerland said today it was prepared to spend more than a billion dollars on testing for asymptomatic Covicases, saying they were probably responsible for most new infections. AUSTRIA: A police officer and an Austrian army soldier speak to a driver as it crosses the border from the Czech Republic into the Alpine country, which is carrying out random checks at its land frontiers AUSTRIA: TEN-DAY QUARANTINE People entering Austria generally face 10 days in quarantine, although this can be shortened to five if a PCR or antigen test comes back negative at the halfway point. Flights from the UK are banned from landing in Austria altogether until February 7. Austrian border officials are carrying out random checks, and people can only enter the Czech Republic or Slovakia at certain crossings. A wider lockdown has been extended until at least February 8, with the catering and tourism sectors set to stay shuttered until at least March. NETHERLANDS: TEN-DAY QUARANTINE While Dutch borders remain open, new arrivals must quarantine for 10 days and travellers from high-risk areas have to show a negative test to enter the country. Flights are banned altogether from Britain, South Africa and all of South America, while UK passenger ferries are also banned from docking in the Netherlands. Dutch officials believe that the UK variant is now causing around a third of cases, forcing the country into its first curfew since World War II. But anti-lockdown protests have turned violent in recent days with hundreds of people arrested over three days of rioting in Amsterdam and elsewhere. Pictured: French President Emmanuel Macron waves after a working lunch with Transition Mali President at the Elysee presidential Palace on January 27. Macron is facing criticism over the government's handling of the pandemic, as well as its slow start to France's vaccination campaign which has seen just 1.81 vaccine doses administered per 100 people With a presidential race coming up next year, Macron is facing criticism over the government's handling of the pandemic, as well as its slow start to France's vaccination campaign, which has seen just 1.81 vaccine doses administered per 100 people (as of January 26). The UK by comparison has vaccinated 11.25 per 100 people. A curfew runs from 6 p.m until 6 a.m. every night but Macron is under pressure to impose a third national lockdown since the crisis began almost a year ago as data shows another increase in hospitalisations and deaths. 'The data shows that at this time the curfew is not putting enough of a brake on the spread of the virus,' Attal told a news conference after Macron chaired a cabinet meeting. Scenarios being discussed range from a very strict lockdown to maintaining the status quo, Attal said. It was unlikely no action would be taken, he said. Restaurants, bars, museums and ski resorts are closed in France but schools are still open. Shops remain open but with restrictions on the numbers allowed inside. Macron is likely to wait until Saturday, two weeks after the curfew was lengthened, before deciding on the next step. Public opinion is split. An opinion poll on Wednesday showed 52 percent of French people opposed another tough lockdown. Macron is wary of the rapid spread of a new strain of Covid-19 and resulting deaths as seen in the UK - that would require stricter measures to halt - but is also concerned that more curbs on public freedoms may trigger acts of civil disobedience, a government official said, pointing to riots seen in the Netherlands. 'I know there is a fatigue,' Gabriel Attal said during the press conference, before adding that the decision on whether to tighten measures or not would come down to health indicators. During its first lockdown last spring, France closed all schools and universities and prohibited citizens from leaving their homes other than to buy groceries, carry out essential work, seek medical attention or exercise. Schools remained open during a less stringent confinement in the autumn. The government's top scientific adviser, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, said on Sunday a new lockdown was necessary but that it was for politicians to decide how tough to make it. Failure to impose another lockdown would result in a very difficult March as a more contagious variant first detected in Britain becomes increasingly prevalent in France, Delfraissy said. Mark and Julie Odell What we do at TruBlue both allows families to enjoy their homes without sacrificing the time it takes to make home repairs or find individual, trustworthy contractors to help and gives seniors the opportunity to age in a safe, well-maintained home. - Mark Odell Mark and Julie Odell are pleased to announce the launch of their new business, TruBlue Total House Care of Centennial, a house care company designed to serve seniors and busy families. TruBlue of Centennials team works in Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Southglenn, Dove Valley, Littleton, Englewood and the surrounding areas. TruBlue is a unique company because were able to provide a wide range of services to address the needs of each individual home or property owner, whether you need a one-time repair, a Home Safety Assessment or an ongoing maintenance program, Julie said. Were also different because we put a lot of emphasis on the trust we look to build with our clients. We background check every single person we send to your home, we stand behind our work with a one-year guarantee and we are right here in this community, if you ever have a concern. Clients looking for dependable, high-quality, individual services can hire TruBlue for handyman repairs, cleaning services, yard work, seasonal services and minor home renovations. TruBlue also works with homeowners, realtors and rental property owners who need to get homes move-in ready quickly and keep them maintained as well as business owners needing regular cleaning and maintenance services. TruBlue also offers a suite of senior-focused services, including the ability to do Senior Home Safety Assessments, make age-friendly renovations and offer House Care Plus, a regular service program that can help seniors enjoy the comforts and convenience of owning a home without worrying about the maintenance hassles. Julie grew up in Parker, Colorado, and has watched it grow from a small farm town to the popular city it is today. Before TruBlue, she stayed home with the familys two young children while Mark led their financial services company. Before that, Mark was a Veterans Affairs benefits specialist, working with many seniors and families to make sure veterans has access to the care they deserved. That experience gave him unique insight into the home care needs of older adults, which is part of what inspired them to open TruBlue of Centennial. The Odell family lives in Southeast Aurora. We are part of this community and we are here to stay, so we were looking for a way to make a positive impact while providing a much-needed service. What we do at TruBlue both allows families to enjoy their homes without sacrificing the time it takes to make home repairs or find individual, trustworthy contractors to help and gives seniors the opportunity to age in a safe, well-maintained home, Mark said. As parents of two young children and having lost both of Julies parents a few years ago we can truly see the value and need for TruBlue here in this community. Were excited to be a one-call-does-it-all solution for our region, he added. TruBlue of Centennial is licensed, bonded and insured. To learn more about TruBlue, call 720-943-0307, email modell@trubluehousecare.com or jodell@trubluehousecare.com, or visit http://www.trubluehousecare.com/centennial. The San Francisco school board has voted to strike the names of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln from the district's institutions, it was revealed Tuesday. The former presidents were among the historical figures deemed by the board members to have ties to racism or have 'dishonorable legacies' in a 6-1 vote, which will see 44 San Francisco Unified School District schools forced to change their names. The controversial move follows a wave of anti-racism protests that swept the country last summer in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, resulting in statues of Confederate leaders, in particular, being torn down. The decision in San Francisco resulted in anger from some policy makers, including Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, who believe the school board should instead be concentrating on how to bring students back to in-person learning during the pandemic. Among the other names on the newly banned list are Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to the national anthem; former presidents William McKinley, James Garfield, James Monroe and Herbert Hoover; Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere; and author Robert Louis Stevenson. Even current senator Dianne Feinstein's name did not escape the chopping block, as the first female mayor of San Francisco and lifelong Democrat became the only living person whose name was noted for removal. Former presidents George Washington, left, and Abraham Lincoln, right, were among the historical figures set to be removed as namesakes of San Francisco's public schools The decision in San Francisco resulted in anger from some policy makers, including Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, who believe the board shoudl be focused on reopening schools The schools now all have until April 19, 2021, to come up with a proposal for a new name to be presented to board. As well as the lack of focus given to school reopenings, the $400,000 price tag to replace the signage at all the schools was also criticized in light of the district's budget deficit. The price could rise to more than $1million to include new uniforms and gymnasium floors while the budget deficit could reach $75 million next school year. The school board had voted in 2018 to establish a task force to study the names of district schools and determine which ones would be replaced, as calls mounted to replace those of historicial figures tied to slavery. It came after the 2017 death of Heather Heyer at the hands of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. A volunteer panel was established and reviewed all 144 school names in the district, sending its recommendations to the board. The plans were moved forward in early 2020 after the Black Lives Matter protests erupted and the criteria expanded to include slave owners, colonizers, and those associated with genocide or oppression. The panel was also advised to focus on people 'who engaged in the subjugation and enslavement of human beings,' who 'oppressed women,' or who 'otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. Feinstein Elementary, which takes its name from senator, will be forced to change it's name due to allegations she replaced a damaged Confederate flag outside of City Hall when she was mayor in 1984. The flag was part of an 18-banner historical display outside of City Hall and been there for 14 years before she took office. The San Francisco native refused to replace the flag after it was taken down a second time by protesters and announced that the Confederate flag would never fly there again but it was not enough to save her from Tuesday's list. During her time as mayor, she also oversaw the eviction of the Filipino neighborhood Manilatown and 'allowed police dogs to attack Filipino veteran elders', the committee ruled. Despite the controversy, she is regarded as a champion for LGBTQ equality after serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with Harvey Milk and being among the leaders calling for gay marriage. Feinstein's office said that it was not commenting on the decision. Feinstein replaced a damaged Confederate flag outside of City Hall while she was San Francisco city mayor. Dianne Feinstein Elementary is pictured above Feinstein Elementary, which takes its name from current U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (pictured above), is set to undergo a change due to an incident with a Confederate flag in 1986 After the decision was announced Tuesday, critics attacked the board for spending all their time at the meeting discussing renaming the schools and failing to mention the need to reopen schools following the coronavirus shutdowns. 'It's offensive to parents who are juggling their children's daily at-home learning schedules with doing their own jobs and maintaining their sanity,' Mayor London Breed previously said of the plan, according to Courthouse News. 'It's offensive to me as someone who went to our public schools, who loves our public schools, and who knows how those years in the classroom are what lifted me out of poverty and into college. 'It's offensive to our kids who are staring at screens day after day instead of learning and growing with their classmates and friends,' she added. US Senator for Arkansas Tom Cotton also blasted the decision in a tweet, stating: 'San Francisco can't figure out how to safely open schools. But they have the time and energy to cancel Abraham Lincoln.' SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RENAME 44 SCHOOLS OVER 'DISHONOROABLE LEGACIES' OF NAMESAKES: ABRAHAM LINCOLN: U.S. president targeted for his treatment of indigneous people, Abraham Lincoln High School. GEORGE WASHINGTON: The first U.S. president and a slave owner, George Washington High School. VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA: A Spanish explorer targeted by the board over colonization and abuses of indigenous people, Balboa High School. MISSION DOLORES: The 7th mission founded by Spanish settlers in their quest to colonize and evangelize the native peoples of California, Mission High School. JAMES R. LOWELL: While initially involved in the movement to abolish slavery, the poet's support wavered over the years, Lowell High School. JAMES DENMAN: Founder of first S.F. school and first superintendent, a racist leader who denied Chinese students a public education, James Denman Middle School. EDWARD EVERETT: An American statesman who a speech in 1826 in which he appeared to endorse slavery, despite his arguments that he rejected the slave trade and the act of kidnapping someone into slavery, Everett Middle School. HERBERT HOOVER: U.S. president: African-American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including his unwillingness to push for a federal anti-lynching law, Herbert Hoover Middle School. JAMES LICK: A land baron whose estate funded the controversial 'Early Days' statue depicting Native Americans in a demeaning manner, James Lick Middle School. PRESIDIO: S.F. military post estalished in 1776 as Spain's northern-most outpost of colonial power, Presidio Middle School. THEODORE OR F.D. ROSSEVELT: Both U.S. Presidents. Teddy Roosevelt held Racist attitudes toward Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos during the Spanish-American War; F.D received heavy criticism for his internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, Roosevelt Middle School. HENRY WARE LAWTON: An officer in the U.S. Civil War, Lawton K-8 CLAIRE LILIENTHAL: A S.F. school board member, two school sites PAUL REVERE: A Patriot in the American Revolution, Paul Revere K-8 ALAMO: A poplar tree or the site of Texas Revolution battle, Alamo Elementary PEDRO DE ALVARADO: A conquistador, Alvarado Elementary, EDWIN BRYANT: The author penned editorials supporting the anti-Catholic nativism movement and a series of racist attacks on Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson for his black common law wife and two mixed race daughters, Bryan Elementary EDWARD HYDE: The English politician and Earl of Clarendon , Clarendon Elementary Second Community and Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program EL DORADO: Mythical City of Gold, El Dorado Elementary DIANNE FEINSTEIN: The US Senator replaced a Condererate Flag at City Hall while the Mayor of San Francisco in 1984, Dianne Feinstein Elementary JAMES GARFIELD: US President, Garfield Elementary WILLIAM HENRY GRATTAN : An Irish author regarded as controversial due to the inaccuracy of some of his work, Grattan Elementary THOMAS JEFFERSON: U.S. president and a slave owner, Jefferson Elementary FRANCIS SCOTT KEY: Composer of 'Star Spangled Banner', Francis Scott Key Elementary FRANK MCCOPPIN: San Francisco Mayor, Frank McCoppin Elementary WILLIAM MCKINLEY: US President, McKinley's expansionist policies are now widely viewed as racist toward indigenous people, McKinley Elementary JAMES WILSON MARSHALL: Sawmill worker at Sutter's Mill, who reported the finding of gold at Coloma on the American River in California on January 24, 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush, Marshall Elementary JAMES MONROE: US President and slave owner, Monroe Elementary JOHN MUIR: The naturalist made comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward black people, John Muir Elementary JOSE ORTEGA: A Spanish colonizer, Jose Ortega Elementary JOSE BERNARDO SANCHEZ: A Spanish missionary, Sanchez Elementary JUNIPERO SERRA: Elementary, Spanish priest to be renamed due to colonization and abuses of indigenous people Serra Elementary GEN. PHILIP SHERIDAN: A Union General in the American Civil War, Sheridan Elementary GEN. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN: Did not believe in equality between white and black people despiet being a genera in the Northern Army during the Civil War, Sherman Elementary JOHN SLOAT: Navy officer and a colonizer who 'claimed/stole' California from Mexico, Commodore Sloat Elementary ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: Author, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary ADOLPH SUTRO: S.F. mayor accused of discriminating against black people in the 19th century who wanted to visit the baths named after him, Sutro Elementary DON ANTONIO DE ULLOA: Spanish General and the the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Ulloa Elementary DANIEL WEBSTER: U.S. Statesman who urged northerners to respect slavery in the South and to assist in the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, Daniel Webster Elementary NORIEGA: Unclear, Noriega Early Education School PRESIDIO: San Francisco Military Post formerly established by the Spanish, Presidio EES ROBERT F STOCKTON: Navy Commodore who captured California during the MexicanAmerican War, Stockton EES Advertisement Abrahan Lincoln High School. A San Francisco school names advisory committee recommended to remove Abraham Lincoln's name from the school for the 16th President's past treatment of Native Americans Roosevelt Middle School (left) faces a rebranding over President Theodore Roosevelt's (right) opposition of civil rights and black suffrage for black people Others said the appropriateness of school names did not put the figures into historical context and the research process had involved using Wikipedia to back up claims instead of enough input from historians. In the case of Roosevelt Middle School, it wasn't clear if the board knew which former President Roosevelt it was named for, but decided to have it removed anyway In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, Confederate figures and leaders were the main focus, yet anti-racism activists also began to scrutinize other presidents such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, and James Garfield. Jeremiah Jeffries, the man in charge of school renaming, whose Nation of Islam parents inspired him Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee and a first grade teacher The man behind the renaming of 44 of San Francisco's schools is a first grade teacher who was influenced by his parents - both prominent members of the Nation of Islam - who set up their own Islamic school. Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee, revealed in an interview his mother told him 'There's nothing mysterious about progression. It's working instead of wishing.' She and her husband set up the Sister Clara Muhammad School that serve a predominately African-American Muslim population. The Nation of Islam, which is defined as an organized hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay teachings and rhetoric of black superiority over whites. Jeffries also led San Francisco's largest school boycott when he encouraged 200 families to send their children to protest the closure of a school, rather then to lessons in 2006. In 1999, Jeffries hit headlines nationwide when he held a protest against teachers spending their own money on school supplies. The San Francisco School District increased the school supply budget for the first time in decades as a result. He has also carved out a reputation as a power-broker for the district's Board of Education, using his influence to get at least four candidates - teaching professionals - appointed. Jeffries grew up in Philadelphia as one of seven children. At the age of 12, after his sister was shot dead, Jeffries had his first taste of working in education as a janitor at a childcare center. He later went to the University of Virginia, where he first got involved in racial justice activism with the Black Student Alliance including getting the first black woman into student office. When he moved to San Francisco he cofounded Teachers 4 Change and, later, Teachers 4 Social Justice activism groups alongside Mark Sanchez - who is also on the renaming committee and on the San Francisco Board of Education. Teachers 4 Social Justice was set up to 'help teachers build their practice and become better teachers', holding annual conferences and social justice workshops each year and pushing for education policy reforms. Jeffries oversaw the voluntary committee which recommended the name change for 44 of the district's schools after it ruled the namesakes are inappropriate or racist. Advertisement Further fuel was added to the debate as former President Donald Trump rushed to defend the statues and stoked the ongoing battle. Presidents Washington and Jefferson's status as slave owners made them subjects of controversy. And while Lincoln often expressed that slavery was morally wrong, the district's renaming committee decided he is not worthy of keeping his name on Abraham Lincoln High School because 'the majority of his policies proved to be detrimental to [Native Americans]'. In 1862, the Homestead Act, where citizens could claim ownership 160 acres of land, and the Pacific Railway Act, which gave railroad companies permission to build a transcontinental railroad through America 'led to the significant loss of land and natural resources, as well as the loss of lifestyle and culture, for many Indigneous peoples', the committee said. In 1864, the Lincoln administration then oversaw the deportation of the Navajo tribe from their land in what is now Arizona. The tribe was forced to march a brutal 450 mile journey to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. The walk became know as the 'Long Walk of the Navajo', with at least 200 dying on route and over 2,000 dying during conflict before a treaty was signed in 1868 granting the Navajo permission to set up a reservation. 'The history of Lincoln and Native Americans is complicated, not nearly as well known as that of the Civil War and slavery,' Jeremiah Jeffries, chairman of the renaming committee and a first grade teacher, told the San Francisco Chronicle when the list was first announced in December. Jeffries, who parents are prominent members of the Nation of Islam and set up their own Islamic school, previously lef San Francisco's largest school boycott when he encouraged 200 families to send their children to protest the closure of a school, rather then to lessons in 2006. In 1999, Jeffries also hit headlines nationwide when he held a protest against teachers spending their own money on school supplies. He was joined on the renaming committee by School Board Commissioner Mark Sanchez, who previously set up teachers' activist groups Teachers 4 Change and Teachers 4 Social Justice with Jeffries. Teachers 4 Social Justice was set up to 'help teachers build their practice and become better teachers', holding annual conferences and social justice workshops each year and pushing for education policy reforms. Its Facebook page recently posted an article that claimed the coronavirus pandemic should be used as the time to bring about 'systemic change' in US schools, calling a return to the previous system of schooling 'regressive'. It suggested changing the country's education system instead of focusng on the 'learning loss' caused by the pandemic and students being forced to learn from home. The Board of Education's current President Gabriela Lopez is also a core organizer in the group Teachers 4 Social Justice. She was the youngest woman ever elected to office in San Francisco, aged 28, and the youngest school board member elected to the San Francisco Board of Education when she was sworn into office in January of 2019. The board's Vice President Alison Collins is the daughter of one of the first black professors at UCLA and she is the founder of the SF Families Union, a parent advocacy organization committed to fighting for equitable and inclusive schools. She also writes a blog focused on race and education. Sanchez was the Board Commissioner who introduced the list of names to be changed on Tuesday. In 2018, he had been supported by Stevon Cook and Matt Haney who are no longer on the board. He previously served on the San Francisco Board of Education from 2001-2009 and served as its president between 2007 and 2009. On his election, he was the first Green Party Member on the board and the second openly-gay Commissioner. Sanchez was reelected to the board in 2016 and served as its President in 2020 when the time line for the school renaming was pushed forward. He said that the change sends a 'moral message'. 'It's a message to our families, our students and our community. It's not just symbolic,' Sanchez added. His fellow school board member Kevine Boggess, who did not support the resolution on Tuesday, said that the school board 'should not make heroes out of mortal folks' as the decision was discussed. 'I think we need to examine our naming policies across the district and really consider how the way we go about naming schools reflects our true values,' he claimed. Board Commissioner Mark Sanchez previously set up teachers' activist groups Teachers 4 Change and Teachers 4 Social Justice with Jeremiah Jeffries, the man in charge of school renaming. Current Board President Gabriela Lopez is also involved in Teachers 4 Social Justice The resolution to propose a new name for the 44 schools was passed this week Teachers 4 Social Justice recently posted an article that claimed the coronavirus pandemic should be used as the time to bring about 'systemic change' in US schools, pictured According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the board argued that its decision now was timely and that some families have been pushing for a name change for years. In Adolph Sutro Elementary, for example, a survey of parents showed 80 percent were in favor of changing the name. Sutro was a San Francisco mayor accused of discrimination against black people in the 19th century. Yet others in the community argued that it was not giving the names of the schools their full historical context. 'I must admit there are reasons to support this resolution, but I can't,' said community member Jean Barish. 'These are not decisions that should be made in haste.' SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD WHO VOTED TO CHANGE 44 SCHOOL NAMES: Board President Gabriela Lopez - Supported Board Vice President Alison Collins - Supported Commissioner Matt Alexander - Supported Commissioner Kevine Boggess - Voted against Commissioner Jenny Lam - Supported Commissioner Faauuga Moliga - Supported Commissioner Mark Sanchez (also a member of the voluntary committee who recommended to the main board which schools should be renamed) - Supported renaming Advertisement She claims the process has been flawed and based on emotion rather than expertise. 'I urge the board to halt this renaming process,' added Lope Yap, Jr. 'You are placing your politics against your learning.' Only one commissioner, Kevine Boggess, voted against the renaming. The San Francisco native and SFUSD graduate was elected to the board last year and ran on a platform of closing 'achievement and opportunity gaps by race and class'. He claimed that while he didnt agree with all the criteria and recommendations, his main concern was his opposition to naming schools after elected officials. Boggess wanted the rule included as part of the renaming process. The decision was also criticized on Twitter, with some people saying it was taking 'cancel culture' too far. 'Cancel culture run amok!!' One person remarked. 'Mark my words...this thinking will haunt us,' another commented. 'This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. SF School Board is incompetent,' said another. Among those who managed to keep their name on schools in the change up was labor leader, community organizer, and Latino American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez. Chavez founded the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 which then merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers. The union helped improve working conditions and pay for Latino farm workers in California, Texas, Arizona and Florida. However, Chavez also made repeated derogatory comments about undocumented immigrants and called for their deportation. He encouraged members of his union to join what he called 'wet lines' to stop undocumented immigrants crossing the border from Mexico to Arizona. Yet later changed stance and pledged that United Farm Workers would support legalization for undocumented 'brothers and sisters'. Students, a school site council made up of staff and parents, and groups such as the English Learners Advisory Committee and African American Parent Advisory Council can all propose new names for the schools. Some schools to be renamed have already presented some suggestions to the board, including 'Fearless' for the Sutro Elementary School, or John Harris, the black man who had successfully sued Sutro. WASHINGTON, DC - Investigators leading the Lung Cancer Master Protocol, or Lung-MAP trial, will present findings from three translational medicine studies at the 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer, to be held online January 28-31, 2021. The presentations will mark the first time that investigators share translational medicine insights from Lung-MAP, the first large-scale precision medicine trial in lung cancer backed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and the first major NCI trial to test multiple treatments, simultaneously, under one "umbrella" design. Since it launched in June 2014, the trial has tested 12 new lung cancer drugs. Lung-MAP has also amassed a scientifically valuable cache of data and biospecimens from 3,021 patients. "Lung-MAP now has one of the largest collections of data and biospecimens ever gathered for lung cancer," said Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, a Yale University professor and the Lung-MAP study chair. "It's gratifying to see this asset put to use to improve our understanding of lung cancer - and find better ways to treat it." Results from the Lung-MAP studies will be shared at the 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer, or WCLC. Organized annually by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, the conference was planned for Singapore but will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The WCLC is the world's largest international gathering of clinicians, researchers, and scientists in the field of lung cancer and thoracic oncology. Here are summaries of the Lung-MAP presentations to be delivered: Fred Hirsch, MD, PhD (Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai) will give an oral presentation on work that examined tumor mutational burden - or TMB - and related biomarkers to evaluate whether there were any connections to clinical outcomes of immunotherapy. Using next-generation sequencing data on tissue from 320 patients enrolled in two sub-studies of patients receiving immunotherapy for the first time under the original Lung-MAP master protocol, Hirsch and colleagues evaluated associations between TMB and how long patients lived, and how long they remained cancer-free. They found that higher TMB was significantly associated with better survival rates, and longer periods of time before patients' lung cancer returned or spread. However, expression of the PD-L1 gene - a "brake" on the immune system that contributes to cancer growth - was not associated with better outcomes. "We found TMB to be a good predictor of outcomes to immunotherapy, which operates independently of PD-L1 expression," Hirsch said. "What was interesting in the findings is the emergence of the idea that when we look at TMB to predict outcomes, we should assess TMB as a continuous variable rather than using fixed cut-off values." Hirsch presents this work January 29 (Abstract OA01.04). David Kozono, MD, PhD (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) will give a mini-oral presentation of an analysis of next-generation sequencing data gathered from the original Lung-MAP master protocol S1400. Patients on that study had tumor tissue samples genetically tested with Foundation Medicine's FoundationOne T5 assay, which sequences 313 cancer-related genes. Kozono and colleagues analyzed Lung-MAP data from 1,672 patients with squamous cell lung cancer and compared it with squamous lung cancer data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. A primary goal: spot novel pairs of genetic alterations in squamous cell lung cancers. These pairs are important because they provide clues about how mutations may contribute to the growth and spread of cancer - information that can be used to create more effective cancer drugs. In the Lung-MAP data, the team uncovered a set of three genes that have never before appeared together - PARP4, NFE2L2, and KEAP1. These findings suggest that all three genes may affect how lung cells respond to oxidative stress, and how treatment resistance may form, and, for the first time, suggest that PARP4 may play role in this key biological pathway. "With novel pairs of mutations, it's 'guilt by association,'" Kozono says. "When you find these, they can hold a real clue about what a gene does. And when you know what a gene does, you have a better understanding of how it might affect responses to a drug. Kozono presents this work January 31 (Abstract MA11.10). Philip Mack, PhD (Tisch Cancer Institute, Mount Sinai) will give a mini-oral presentation on the feasibility of using plasma circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) to detect key cancer mutations that can be used to guide therapy in lung cancer, such as alterations in the BRAF, RET, EGFR, KRAS and MET genes. In Lung-MAP, patients who submitted fresh tissue samples for genetic screening also provided plasma samples to measure ctDNA, an approach to cancer detection, characterization, and monitoring known as a "liquid biopsy." Mack and colleagues studied paired samples of both tissue and plasma from 129 Lung-MAP patients. Of those, 52 had critical driver mutations detected in their tissue biopsy samples. The analysis showed that 43 patients also had the same drivers detected in plasma - for an 83 percent sensitivity rate. Of the 77 patients with no drivers detected in their tissue, two patients had drivers detected in ctDNA - for a 97 percent specificity rate. While the ctDNA results were impressive, Mack said they don't yet support a plasma-only approach to genetic screening. While ctDNA testing is faster, cheaper, and much less invasive for patients, tissue samples are still the genetic screening gold standard. Mack said the results do support the use of ctDNA if patients can't - or won't - undergo a second tumor biopsy. "This would speed enrollment onto the trial, and spare patients time, money, and a painful procedure," Mack said. "That's good news." Mack delivers his presentation January 30 (Abstract MA08.10). To see the full abstracts for these and all WCLC presentations, visit the conference website. Lung-MAP is a groundbreaking public-private partnership, one that includes the NCI and its National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) including SWOG Cancer Research Network, Friends of Cancer Research, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), Foundation Medicine, pharmaceutical companies which provided their drugs for the study, and several lung cancer advocacy organizations. Since the trial is offered at more than 700 U.S. medical centers and community hospitals under the NCTN and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), Lung-MAP makes it easier for patients to receive investigational treatments to fight their non-small cell lung cancer. Lung-MAP is more flexible, and faster, than traditional clinical trial models. Where typical trials require the development of individual studies for each new drug tested, Lung-MAP uses a single "master protocol," which is amended as drugs enter and exit the trial, preserving infrastructure and patient outreach efforts. This makes Lung-MAP more efficient and cost-effective, allowing researchers to quickly answer the critical question: Does this new drug work? Since its launch, Lung-MAP has registered more than 3,660 patients. Lung-MAP leaders have worked with 10 pharmaceutical partners, in coordination with the FNIH, to launch 13 studies, 12 of which are completed. The trial is addressing questions about the efficacy of immunotherapies and immunotherapy combinations and the validity of new biomarkers. The trial has also produced critical insights into the conduct of large-scale precision medicine trials, including tissue sampling and banking, genetic screening, and patient communication. ### About the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health creates and manages alliances with public and private institutions in support of the mission of the NIH, the world's premier medical research agency. The Foundation, also known as the FNIH, works with its partners to accelerate biomedical research and strategies against diseases and health concerns in the United States and across the globe. The FNIH organizes and administers research projects; supports education and training of new researchers; organizes educational events and symposia; and administers a series of funds supporting a wide range of health issues. Established by Congress in 1990, the FNIH is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For additional information, please visit fnih.org. About Friends of Cancer Research Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) drives collaboration among partners from every healthcare sector to power advances in science, policy and regulation that speed lifesaving treatments to patients. For more information, please visit http://www. focr. org . About SWOG Cancer Research Network SWOG was founded in 1956, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, making it part of the oldest and largest publicly funded cancer research network in the United States. SWOG has over 12,000 members in 47 states and six countries who design and conduct cancer prevention and treatment trials. SWOG trials have led to the approval of 14 cancer drugs, changed more than 100 standards of cancer care, and saved more than 3 million years of human life. Learn more at swog.org. Mumbai, Jan 27 : Actress Madhuri Dixit Nene on Wednesday took a trip down memory lane and celebrated the 32nd anniversary of her Bollywood hit film Ram Lakhan. The 1989 film, which starred Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor as brothers, was directed by Subhash Ghai. Sharing a collage of two photos of the film's team, she tweeted: "Celebrating #32YearsOfRamLakhan & the wonderful memories we made while working on the film. Thank you for watching, enjoying & loving the hard work of the entire team." The first photo features Madhuri, Anil, Jackie, Ghai, Anupam Kher, Satish Kaushik and Gulshan Grover. The other image seems to have been taken during the shoot of the film. The black and white photo features actors Dimple Kapadia, Rakhee, Amrish Puri, Saeed Jaffrey and Paresh Rawal, who were part of the film's cast. Here are some of the stocks in the news today. Larsen & Toubro | The company reported higher consolidated profit at Rs 2,466.7 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 2,352 crore in Q3FY20, revenue fell to Rs 35,596.4 crore from Rs 36,243 crore YoY. RPG Life Sciences | The company reported sharply higher profit at Rs 12.87 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 7.9 crore in Q3FY20, revenue jumped to Rs 107.6 crore from Rs 94.4 crore YoY. Astec LifeSciences | The company reported lower profit at Rs 7 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 12.1 crore in Q3FY20, revenue declined to Rs 116 crore from Rs 124.8 crore YoY. Aptech | Sapphire Intrex acquired 3 lakh equity shares in the company at Rs 201.5 per share and Abhishek Khaitan 2.5 lakh shares at Rs 200.01 per share on the NSE. JK Tyre & Industries | Navodya Enterprises bought 15 lakh shares in the company at Rs 142.03 per share on the NSE. GG Engineering | TCG Funds Fund 1 acquired 1,42,200 equity shares in the company at Rs 112.5 per share on the BSE. Vikas EcoTech | Elara India Opportunities Fund sold 75 lakh shares in the company at Rs 3.23 per share on the BSE. Sharda Cropchem | The company reported sharply higher consolidated profit at Rs 48.3 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 5.86 crore in Q3FY20, revenue rose to Rs 493.8 crore from Rs 382.4 crore YoY. The company appointed Ashok Kumar Vashisht as Chief Financial Officer. Navin Fluorine International | The company reported sharply higher consolidated profit at Rs 58.9 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 45.4 crore in Q3FY20, revenue jumped to Rs 309.09 crore from Rs 260.5 crore YoY. Vardhman Special Steels | CRISIL has revised the outlook for long-term bank loan facilities of the company from 'AA/Negative' to 'AA/Stable' and re-affirmed the credit rating for long term and short term Bank loan facilities and for commercial papers. ICICI Securities | The company has reported sharply higher profit at Rs 267 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 137.2 crore in Q3FY20, revenue jumped to Rs 620.11 crore from Rs 422.24 crore YoY. Wipro | The company appointed Douglas Silva as Country Head for Brazil. Cholamandalam Financial Holdings | HDFC AMC reduced its stake in the company to 4.94 percent from 7.08 percent earlier via open market transactions. Indo Count Industries | ELM Park Fund reduced stake in the company to 4.97 percent from 5.04 percent earlier via open market transactions. (Image: indocount.com) Agro Tech Foods | The company has successfully restarted its commercial production and operations at its plant at Unnao, UP. Auto stocks in focus | Government vehicles older than 15 years will also be scrapped as per the vehicle scrappage policy approved on January 25, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' (MoRTH) has confirmed. The policy will come into effect from April 1, 2022, reported CNBC TV18. From the aforementioned date, vehicles used by the government departments would be put off service if they are older than 15 years. Can Fin Homes | The company reported higher profit at Rs 131.9 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 106.6 crore in Q3FY20, revenue fell to Rs 502.76 crore from Rs 516.8 crore YoY. Chennai Petroleum Corporation | The company reported loss at Rs 546.4 crore in Q3FY21 against profit Rs 11.3 crore in Q3FY20, revenue fell to Rs 11,458.3 crore from Rs 11,965 crore YoY. Genus Paper & Boards | The company reported higher consolidated profit at Rs 4.15 crore in Q3FY21 against Rs 3.86 crore in Q2FY21, revenue rose to Rs 80.68 crore from Rs 80.1 crore QoQ. Bharat Dynamics | HDFC Asset Management Company increased stake in the company to Rs 5.03 percent from Rs 4.97 percent earlier, via open market transactions. Indag Rubber | ICRA re-affirmed its long-term rating at A(Stable) and short-term rating at A1. (Image: indagrubber.com) GAIL (India) | The company plans to launch an InvIT of its two gas pipelines between Dahej and Bengaluru ahead of a proposed splitting of the pipeline business from the gas marketing function. Bank of Baroda | The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has imposed a financial sanction of Rs 13.56 crore approx. on Bank of Baroda, GCC Operations, Dubai for deficiencies in compliance of AML and Sanctions Compliance Framework as on December 31, 2019. Inox Leisure | The company has commenced the commercial operations of cinema, taken on Leave & License basis, located in Thane from January 26, 2021. Adani Ports | The company will raise USD 500 million via bonds. MSTC | The company has received approval from Excise Department, Government of Rajasthan for conducting an e-Auction for Liquor Shop License Contracts through MSTC's portal www.mstcecommerce.com. HG Infra Engineering | lrcon International has cancelled the tender of Gevrapendra/Pkg 1 in Chhattisgarh due to high quoted rate, for which the company was declared L-1 bidder. The estimated project cost was Rs. 713.69 crore and the Company's bid price was Rs. 784.99 crore. Tejas Networks | ACG selected the company to build Afghanistans high-capacity National Optical Transport Network. Since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the first 100 days of a US presidency carry a certain mystique. The period is meant to provide a window into a new presidents political soul. In nearly every respect, as weve seen already, Joe Bidens presidency will seek to be the opposite of Donald Trumps. Last weeks inauguration tried to soothe and restore confidence in American democracy. His first executive orders reversed Trumps trademark policies, including the immigration ban on Muslim countries, the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organisation, and the building of a wall along the Mexican border. Then theres his cabinet. Having promised to govern with a team that looks like America, Biden is proposing a cabinet with more people of colour and women than any other before it. Kamala Harris is not only the first female vice-president but also the first African American and south Asian woman elected to the position. Credit:AP Assuming confirmations by the Senate, the majority of Bidens 25-strong cabinet will be non-white and just under half will be female. Itll be the most diverse US cabinet. Given the resurgence of white supremacy implicated with the Trump presidency, the make-up of the Biden cabinet feels like an institutional rebuke of the past four years. The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine has gone in this thirteenth edition to David Julius, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian, from the Scripps Institute, La Jolla (United States), "for identifying the receptors that enable us to sense temperature, pain and pressure." "Temperature, pain and pressure are part of our sense of touch, perhaps the least understood of the five main senses of humans," read the opening words of the citation. "Julius and Patapoutian provided a molecular and neural basis for thermosensation and mechanosensation." This line of research holds out exciting medical possibilities, because "it sheds light on how to reduce chronic and acute pain associated with a range of diseases, trauma and their treatments." In fact, several pharmaceutical laboratories are working to identify molecules that act on these receptors with the aim of treating different forms of chronic pain, for example, those associated with inflammatory processes like arthritis. But the committee also highlighted "the immense value that comes with understanding from a fundamental standpoint how we perceive the world," in the words of Oscar Marin, committee secretary and Director of the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at King's College London (United Kingdom). "Although we have yet to see practical applications from these discoveries, their potential is so great as to mark a transformative milestone. Understanding how our bodies sense changes in temperature or pressure is so conceptually important that it is surprising how little we knew until recently, or rather, how we knew which part of the nervous system processes the information, but not the molecular sensors it uses. This is the kind of finding where it is hard to grasp the full scope of its potential applications, although work is already underway on some, such as chronic pain management and blood pressure control." For Marin, the award is also a timely reminder of the importance of basic science: "Think back 20 years to the researchers working on RNA biology. Not even they could imagine that they had found the key to a new generation of vaccines likes those now being deployed against Covid 19." The two laureates' findings have opened an area of research with the power to transform how we understand the physiological processes that govern our bodies' functioning, with important medical implications. This new field, mechanobiology, is taking a first look at the role of pressure receptors inside the body. In the excretory system, for instance, to indicate a full urinary bladder, or the circulatory system, to control blood pressure. Taste and touch sensors The first surprise came when David Julius found that the receptor that triggers a burning sensation in the mouth on ingesting capsaicin - the pungent ingredient in chili peppers - is also responsible for sensing heat. Julius, says the committee, "identified the gene encoding the first temperature sensor, the ion channel TRPV1, using capsaicin, and discovered that TRPV1 is also activated by high temperatures." The signal emitted by this receptor reaches the brain, which determines whether the heat is strong enough to burn tissue and, if so, produces the sensation of pain. Julius explained after hearing of the award that though the link between the burning sensation of spicy food and high temperature was "obvious with hindsight," it was not so at the time. It was his basic curiosity about how we use natural products that attracted him to this area of research, eventually leading him to investigate the molecular basis of pain. "Plants defend themselves by generating substances that cause predators pain, and we thought we could use these tools to try and understand the sense of pain on a molecular scale," says Julius. His research group started by studying the molecular bases for the perception of capsaicin, which they knew from research done elsewhere could be linked to pain sensation. They were successful in identifying the gene of the receptor for the hot ingredient of chili, but the real surprise came when they began looking at the same protein's function in humans. "There was no way," says Julius, "that we would have it just to enjoy spicy food." They discovered in cultured cells that heat too would activate the capsaicin receptor. "We realized that heating the cells produced an intense activation of the receptor," the new laureate recalls. "It was a truly thrilling moment." They decided to pursue this line of research and search for the cold receptor. Armed with their knowledge of the link between temperature and certain taste reactions, they turned to menthol, an ingredient of mint associated with a cool or icy sensation. In effect, they found that the receptor for menthol and low temperature was one and the same. And, to Julius's astonishment, it resembled that of capsaicin. "What was really fascinating about this discovery was that that molecule is very close genetically to the receptor activated by the capsaicin of chili peppers and by heat. So together these findings told us that nature uses a common strategy that enables our nervous system to detect changes in temperature through a family of similar molecules." Wasabi and inflammatory pain Julius then went on to identify the receptor for wasabi, the pungent compound belonging to the mustard family. Again the clues were found in nature: "Extracts from mustard have been used for many years in pain tests: a physician would rub a tincture of mustard oil on a patient's skin to generate a sense of irritancy that tests acute pain response, but also generates inflammation which makes the area more sensitive to temperature and touch. So this was used as a model to understand the mechanisms associated with inflammatory pain, such as you would feel with an arthritic joint. We asked how this process worked and identified a receptor in the nerve cells that is the mechanism through which wasabi and other mustard plants produce a pungent sensation." It has since been found that the wasabi receptor is implicated in the stinging of the eyes experienced when chopping an onion, and is also activated by the toxins of certain animals, among them the scorpion. But "the crucial point" about this mechanism, Julius explains, is that "it is important for understanding the pain of an inflammatory injury" and may serve "to understand how tissue injury generates not only acute but persistent pain, leading on to chronic pain syndromes." Pressure in skin and blood vessels The discovery of the capsaicin receptor gene was published in 1997. At that time Ardem Patapoutian - an Armenian immigrant fleeing the war in Lebanon who had come to the USA to become a doctor but quickly "fell in love with research" - had also begun to study the molecular bases of sensory perception. The two laureates, who coincided at the University of California, San Francisco, during Patapoutian's postdoctoral stay, described their relationship as moving from "competitive" to "complementary" as they began specializing in different receptors. Patapoutian, the citation says, "identified the genes encoding a family of stretch-activated ion channels." Known as Piezos, these proteins "are responsible for pressure sensing in the skin and blood vessels, so their importance in health and disease extend beyond the sense of touch." "These findings," it continues, "opened the door to understanding mechanobiology, an emerging field of science that intersects biology, engineering and physics." Touch and neuropathic pain The starting point for Patapoutian's research was the observation that touch is the only sense based on the translation of a physical signal, like pressure, into the chemical language that the body understands. "When studying the peripheral nerves that help us feel touch and pain, we realized something very special, which is that they do something that the rest of the body doesn't. They sense physical forces like temperature and touch. There is really very little known about how the body translates these physical forces into a chemical language." Patapoutian and his group looked for cells that reacted electrically in a lab culture to the physical stimulus of pressure. Once found, they systematically suppressed the expression of candidate genes via RNA interference until they had isolated the receptor. At this stage, they still had no inkling of how this finding might relate to other physiological processes: "We knew there were proteins involved in the perception of pain, touch, heating or blood pressure, but no one had any idea that a single family, the Piezo 1 and Piezo 2 receptors discovered by our group, could explain all these processes," said Patapoutian yesterday. This breakthrough was the first in a chain of discoveries in this research field. Patapoutian's group has since revealed the three-dimensional structure of the Piezo receptors, helping to elucidate their mechanical functioning. They are, it turns out, large proteins that move repeatedly in and out of cell membranes, like an elastic band fastened to the membrane that alternately stretches and contracts. Last October, an article in Nature described how Piezo 2 indicates when the urinary bladder is full. It is also Piezo 2 that detects when the skin is brushed lightly or caressed. Or warns that the skin is inflamed by sunburn. Patapoutian elaborates further: "Piezo 2 is required for a very specific subset of pain. The pain of being hit with a hammer has little to do with this receptor, but if you get sunburn, for example, and just touching your shoulder hurts, that form of pain seems to be Piezo 2 dependent. This could be important for the treatment of neuropathic pain [when pain lasts for a long time after the original injury has gone away]. I believe it will be interesting to see what the next five or ten years bring in terms of the medical repercussions of these findings." The Scripps Institute investigator has also shown that these sensors play an essential role in "proprioception," our ability to feel the relative position of the parts of our body. This is a sense, he points out, that we largely ignore "because we cannot turn it off," but that we rely on completely to do such simple things as stand up or walk. He is confident that mechanobiology will uncover additional means of inter-cell communication, with potentially enormous implications for biomedical research: "Until now we have treated life mainly as a bag of chemicals that talk to each other by chemical synthesis, but more and more we are realizing that mechanobiology, mechanical forces, play important roles in everything from cell division all the way up to hearing, touch and pain. What we have discovered so far is very exciting, but it's just the tip of the iceberg of this new science." Laureate bio notes David Julius (New York, 1955) completed an undergraduate degree in Life Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. He then entered the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, earning his PhD there in 1984. After six years postdoctoral research at Colombia University, in 1990 he began teaching and research at the University of California, San Francisco, first in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology then in the Department of Physiology, where he is currently a full professor. Author of over one hundred published papers in scientific journals, Julius has served as chair of the Physiology and Pharmacology Section of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and on the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council of the National Institutes of Health, among other service roles. He belongs to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Howards Hughes Medical Institute, and is a former editor of Annual Review of Physiology and member of the editorial board of Proceedings of the National Academies of Science. Ardem Patapoutian (Lebanon, 1967) earned his BS from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1990, then went on to complete a PhD in Biology at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1996, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. In the year 2000, he joined the faculty of the Scripps Research Institute, where he now combines a professorship in the Department of Neuroscience at the Dorris Neuroscience Center with his work as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. He also held a series of posts at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation between 2000 and 2014. Author of more than a hundred published papers in scientific journals, he belongs to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2016), the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (2017), and the Society for Neuroscience. Biology and Biomedicine committee and evaluation support panel The jury in this category was chaired by Angelika Schnieke, Chair of Livestock Biotechnology in the Department of Animal Sciences at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) (Germany). The secretary was Oscar Marin, Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at King's College London (United Kingdom). Remaining members were Dario Alessi, Director of the Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit in the School of Life Sciences at Dundee University (United Kingdom); Lelia Delamarre, Group Leader in the Department of Cancer Immunology at biotech company Genentech (United States); Robin Lovell-Badge, Senior Group Leader and Head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute (United Kingdom); Ursula Ravens, Senior Professor in the Institute of Experimental Cardiovascular Medicine of the University of Freiburg (Germany); Ali Shilatifard, Robert Francis Furchgott Professor of Biochemistry and Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (United States); and Bruce Whitelaw, Professor of Animal Biotechnology and Interim Director of the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh (United Kingdom). The evaluation support panel of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) was coordinated by M. Victoria Moreno, Deputy Vice President for Scientific and Technical Areas, and formed by: Jose Felix de Celis Ibeas, research professor at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CBMSO); Dolores Gonzalez Pacanowska, Coordinator of the Global Life Area and research professor at the Lopez-Neyra Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine (IPBLN); Jose Luis Martinez Menendez, research professor at the National Center of Biotechnology (CNB); M. Isabel Medina Mendez, Deputy Coordinator of the Global Life Area and research professor at the Institute of Marine Research (IIM); and Isabel Varela Nieto, research professor at the Alberto Sols Biomedical Research Institute (IIBM). ### About the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards The BBVA Foundation centers its activity on the promotion of world-class scientific research and cultural creation, and the encouragement of talent. The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards, funded with 400,000 euros in each of their eight categories, recognize and reward contributions of singular impact in science, technology, social sciences and the humanities, privileging those that significantly expand the frontiers of the known world, open up new fields, or emerge from the interaction of various disciplinary areas. The goal of the awards, established in 2008, is to celebrate and promote the value of knowledge as a public good without frontiers, the best instrument at our command to take on the great global challenges of our time for the benefit of all humanity. Their eight categories are congruent with the knowledge map of the 21st century, ranging from basic science to key challenges for the natural environment by way of domains characterized by the overlap of disciplines - Biology and Medicine; Economics, Finance and Management - or the supremely creative realms of music and the opera. The BBVA Foundation has been aided in the evaluation of the 98 nominees for the Frontiers Award in Biology and Biomedicine by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), the country's premier public research organization. CSIC appoints evaluation support panels made up of leading experts in the corresponding knowledge area, who are charged with undertaking an initial assessment of the candidates proposed by numerous institutions across the world, and drawing up a reasoned shortlist for the consideration of the award committees. CSIC is also responsible for designating each committee's chair and participates in the selection of its members, thus helping to ensure objectivity in the recognition of innovation and scientific excellence. LAist only exists with reader support. If you're in a position to give, your donation powers our reporters and keeps us independent. Our reporting is free for everyone, but its not free to make. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe By Jackie Botts | CalMatters Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. The first thing Deborah Bell-Holt does each morning is check whether water still flows from her bathroom faucet. It always does, thanks to an April executive order from Gov. Gavin Newsom banning water disconnections during the pandemic. But that didn't stop her utility debt from snowballing to nearly $15,000. "They say you're safe," said the 67-year-old retired nurse, who manages finances for her household of twelve in South Los Angeles. "But you see that bill. How is that supposed to make you feel? You're scared to death." At least 1.6 million California households, or one in eight, have water debt. Like Bell-Holt, they could face shutoffs when Newsom ends the state of emergency. The unpaid water bills total $1 billion, according to new data from the State Water Resources Control Board. That may dwarf statewide rental debt, which the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office pegged at $400 million. California's water debt crisis, which Newsom called a "critical issue" on Monday, represents another pandemic ripple effect that jeopardizes basic human needs in the face of disaster: a shelter from the virus, safe water to drink and wash hands. "Water to us is the most basic form of PPE," said Jonathan Nelson, policy director for the nonprofit Community Water Center. Water debt and potential shutoffs weigh most heavily on low-income communities of color, who suffer disproportionately from job loss and coronavirus itself. Meanwhile, unpaid bills threaten smaller water systems serving rural, poor areas. Though Congress approved federal assistance in December for water bills, the $60 million to $70 million destined for California is no match. "Don't panic, but be very worried," said Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the water board's Division of Drinking Water, at last week's board meeting before revealing the estimates, which are based on a representative survey of 559 water systems in November. WHERE CALIFORNIANS CAN'T PAY THEIR WATER BILLS Bell-Holt and her husband, a disabled U.S. Army Master Sergeant, live on fixed incomes. For several years, Bell-Holt hasn't kept up with the soaring cost of water, electricity, sewage and trash pick-up for their rented Victorian in Jefferson Park. Water comprises the biggest, fastest-growing chunk, Bell-Holt said. By February, she owed the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power about $8,000. A copy of Deborah Bell-Holt's December utilities bill. Since then, she used stimulus checks to pay off $2,000, leaving her total utilities debt at nearly $15,000. (Shae Hammond for CalMatters) Then the pandemic hit. Bell-Holt's household swelled from five to 12, as she took in laid-off children, several friends and her toddler grandson. Monthly utilities swelled to over $2,000. That meant trade-offs. She stayed current on the $2,700 rent. As before, she sent regular but partial utility payments: $500 here, $1,000 there. She used December stimulus payments to shrink the debt by $2,000. Bell-Holt lives in the epicenter of California's water debt crisis. While average debt is $500, at least 155,000 households -- mostly in Los Angeles -- owe over $1,000. In her ZIP code, nearly half of households have water debt. Of those, one fifth owe more than $1,000. "I understand the utility companies have to make improvements but I understand that the little people are paying it," she said. "People who are bunching up together all at home, trying to make it work." Poorer areas and areas with more Black and Hispanic residents have more widespread debt, higher average debt, and a higher portion of households owing over $1,000. Water debt hotspots also pepper the Central Valley. In Delano, a majority Latino grape-growing hub of Kern County, about one in five households -- over 2,200 -- owe water bills. "The cost of water is on the mind of almost all residents," said Mayor Bryan Osorio, adding that Delano repeatedly hiked rates to cover infrastructure upgrades over the past decade. Early on, Osorio lobbied to waive water late fees. By December, that had cost the city $371,500. Other pockets of water debt include the farmworking city of Santa Maria along the Central Coast, the Sacramento suburb of Rancho Cordova, and the Northern California lakeside town of Clearlake. THE 'STRESS CRACKS' IN STATE WATER SYSTEM As a California Assembly member, Bill Dodd represented Clearlake, where a third experience poverty. Across his district, tiny and struggling water systems regularly raised rates for their rural, poor customers. He heard from constituents whose $300 water bills ate up much of their social security checks. The number of people who couldn't afford water "was just unbelievable," said Dodd, now a senator representing the North Bay. In 2012, California declared the human right to safe, clean, affordable and accessible drinking water. In 2015, Dodd championed legislation to study what it would take to create a statewide water bill assistance program. The water board's resulting 2020 report illustrated a dire situation. Californians get water through a chaotic patchwork of around 2,900 community water systems. Cities operate some, private utilities others. Some depend on water pumped from underground, others on rain and snow. Thousands serve a few hundred residents. Some serve millions. As California's water infrastructure ages and federal funding shrinks, hundreds of systems don't keep contaminants below state and federal limits. Some deliver water polluted by hazardous chemicals from wildfires, others by "forever chemicals." One million Californians lack access to clean water. To cover upgrades, water systems raise rates. The average Californian paid 45% more for drinking water in 2015 than in 2007. Unlike other utilities, California offers no statewide water bill assistance. Fewer than half of Californians get water from a system that offers any. Most smaller systems can't afford to. Those that do provide limited help to few people, like San Francisco, where just 4.5% of eligible customers get aid. The result: less than 20% of low-income households receive any assistance and water disconnections plagued Californians long before coronavirus. At least 500,000 people experienced shutoffs in 2019, the water board estimates. "We were already very concerned," said board chair E. Joaquin Esquivel, but the pandemic has "further unearthed the stress cracks." WILL WATER SYSTEMS SURVIVE THE DEBT? The mounting debt could imperil water quality too. About 130 systems mostly serving low-income areas may require emergency assistance by May, the water board estimates. Nearly 60 may need it sooner. California's $130 million per year Safe and Affordable Drinking Water fund could help bail them out, but the water debt "dwarfs" it, Esquivel said. In theory, this kind of revenue loss could eventually erode water quality if systems cut treatment. That's not something happening now and the state would step in if necessary, Polhemus said. Still, another state board member Laurel Firestone warned that panicking water systems have chosen financial survival over customer health before. The city of Flint, Michigan switched drinking water supplies to save money in 2014, leading to mass lead contamination of majority Black residents. The same year, Detroit aggressively shut off residents' water as a debt collection tactic as the city went bankrupt. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Sen. Dodd has introduced two bills to avoid the pending shutoff crisis. Under SB 223, water systems must provide repayment plans of at least 12 months, waive disconnection and reconnection fees for low-income households, and wait until a customer is four months late and owes over $400 to shut off water, among other protections. SB 222 would set up the water affordability assistance program Dodd envisioned in 2015. A big hurdle remains, though: it identifies no funding. Eventually Dodd hopes to build consensus for using state funds. For now, the program could start with private donations and federal funds as President Joe Biden has proposed $5 billion in utility bill aid. Deborah Bell-Holt looks out the window of her house in Jefferson Park near Downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 21, 2021. (Shae Hammond for CalMatters) But Bell-Holt, who along with her husband tested positive for the coronavirus last week, isn't holding her breath for assistance. The city offered a payment plan only if she first pays $8,000 -- money she doesn't have. So Bell-Holt will keep checking the faucet each morning and nagging her children to shorten showers. Despite Newsom's shutoff moratorium, her heart will keep racing on instinct when she spots a white truck on her block. She'll wonder: is it finally time to start filling buckets with water before the city disconnects her pipes? This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California. It was originally published by CalMatters. by Ati Nurbaiti General Prabowo is one of President Widodos trusted men. His appointment is also backed by Indonesias main Islamic organisations. His priorities include the fight against extremism and the promotion of diversity as well as enforcing COVID-19 restrictions whilst respecting civil liberties. Jakarta (AsiaNews) After more than 40 years, a Christian has been appointed as head of the Indonesian National Police. General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, who was sworn in today at a ceremony led by President Joko Jokowi Widodo, replaces General Idham Azis, who has retired. Prabowo, a 51-year-old Protestant, was promoted to the top post of the police after heading the Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim[*]). He was President Jokowis only candidate, and his appointment was unanimously approved on January 20 by the People's Representative Council, Indonesias lower house of parliament. The super policeman also received the support of leading Muslim organisations and Islamic clerics in Banten, the province bordering the capital known for its religious conservatism, where he led the local police. The last Christian to head the national police force was Widodo Budidarmo, who held the post from 1974 to 1978. Prabowo's appointment did not surprise observers. As a former aide to Jokowi, he led the Surakarta police in Central Java when the president was mayor of the city. Speaking after his appointment, Prabowo promised to improve the police force and promote diversity to counter the discrimination Indonesian minorities often endure. According to the Setara Institute, a human rights research and advocacy NGO, 200 incidents of intolerance were reported in Indonesia in 2019; between October 2019 and October 2020, 157 cases were reported, including violence against Christians. Riziek Shihab, leader of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI[]), is among people accused of fuelling hatred against religious minorities. The Attorney General filed charges against Shihab who was arrested on 12 December for hate speech and violating anti-pandemic measures, especially with regard to the ban on public gatherings. On 30 December, the government went a step further and banned Shihabs group, one of President Jokowi's boldest moves against Islamic extremism. The new police chief wants to involve former terrorists in prison who are willing to help the authorities in their efforts against extremism. Pradowos campaign against extremism, however, is starting as an uphill battle since he must decide whether to defend or prosecute policemen accused of the unlawful killing of four FPI members. The incident took place on 7 December during an alleged gunfight near the capital; according to police, the militants were protecting Shihab. The police operation ended up in the crosshairs of public opinion, as did the authorities handling of the pandemic emergency. The country yesterday topped more than a million cases. As national police chief Prabowo will be called to enforce health protocols whilst respecting civil liberties. [*] Badan Reserse Kriminal. [] Front Pembela Islam. ADVERTISEMENT The Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele, has expressed hope that a contract for the renovation of the National Art Theatre would be awarded in a few weeks. Mr Emefiele gave the hint while responding to questions at a news conference on the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, on Tuesday in Abuja. According to him, all approvals are in place to renovate the structure and transform it into a world-class conventional Centre. All approvals are in place; we are hoping in the next couple of weeks, a contract will be awarded and the National Art Theatre by the grace of God will wear a new look, Mr Emefiele said. He recalled the structure in 1977 was commissioned and used for the festival of arts and culture but was saddened by the fact that it was allowed to decay. National Art Theatre was commissioned and used for the festival of arts and culture, 1977, we have visited that magnificent structure, yes its totally dilapidated but the structure can compete with any conventional Centre that you will find in any part of the world. So it is painful that we allowed that infrastructure to decay to the level that it is, he said. Mr Emefiele also said that no conventional centre in the world is a match to the national Art theatre, adding that he had not seen any in all the IMF and World Banks meetings that he had so far attended. He said that the Bankers Committee would fund the renovation of the structure, given the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari. The CBN governor said that four structures would also be built to support the creative arts activities of the Nigerian youths. Besides, he believes that a new and improved national arts theatre would be launched by the president, before 2023. The Federal Government, in July 2020, officially handed over the National Theatre in Lagos to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Bankers Committee for renovation. Mr Emefiele had said at the handover that Nigeria had the potential to earn over $20bn annually from the creative industry and that the creative industry centre was expected to create over 1 million jobs in five years. Our goal for the National Theatre is to create an environment where startups and existing businesses are rewarded for their creativity, Mr Emefiele had said. (NAN) Overnight clashes in northern Lebanon between security forces and demonstrators angered by a coronavirus lockdown injured at least 45 people, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Wednesday Beirut, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :Overnight clashes in northern Lebanon between security forces and demonstrators angered by a coronavirus lockdown injured at least 45 people, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Wednesday. At least nine of the injured were treated in hospital following rolling scuffles in the main northern city of Tripoli, the Red Cross said. At least 30 people were injured in similar clashes in Tripoli on Monday night as frustration with tight coronavirus restrictions boiled over. Tripoli was already one of Lebanon's poorest areas even before the pandemic piled on new misery to a chronic economic crisis. Many of its residents have been left without an income since Lebanon imposed enforced a full lockdown earlier this month in a bid to stem a surge in Covid-19 cases and prevent its hospitals being overwhelmed. Last week, authorities extended the lockdown by two weeks, angering day labourers and other vulnerable groups. A round-the-clock curfew is in force nationwide and grocery shopping is restricted to home deliveries, which are often unavailable in poorer areas. Lebanon has recorded over 285,000 coronavirus cases and more than 2,470 deaths since the pandemic began. The outbreak has compounded an economic crisis that has seen more than half of the population fall below the poverty line, with a quarter living in extreme poverty. The authorities say they have started disbursing monthly payments of 400,000 Lebanese Pounds (around $50 at the market rate) to some 230,000 families. But caretaker social affairs minister Ramzi Musharrafieh acknowledged Tuesday that three-quarters of the population of more than six million need financial assistance. Wits joins York Univeristy in Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence Data Modelling consortium Consortium will research predictive modelling and forecasting of the transmission of COVID-19 in Africa, using Artificial Intelligence. The University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (Wits) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with York University in Canada that will lead to the creation of the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence Data Modelling Consortium. The Consortium will create algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence to predict the evolution of crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, with which to help policymakers and the public manage complex situations. The Consortium will be co-chaired by Professors Jianhong Wu (York University) and Bruce Mellado (Wits University and iThemba LABS) and will include representatives of many African countries. The MoU was signed on Wednesday, 27 January 2021, in a virtual ceremony by Professor Rhonda Lenton, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University, and Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand. The project has received funding of $1.25 million from the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) for the predictive modelling and forecasting of the transmission of COVID-19 in Africa using Artificial Intelligence project. This project will build on an existing South African-led COVID-19 dashboard and modelling developed by Mellados Institute for Collider Particle Physics, and transmission models and simulation technologies that have been developed both at York University and the University of the Witwatersrand. These technologies have been widely adopted by government agencies and international organisations in recent months, including the Gauteng Provincial Government. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have invested in technology to improve decision making in reducing infections and transmission of the virus. The work of the Premier COVID-19 Advisory Committee chaired by Dr Kawonga and where Professor Mellado leads modelling efforts bears witness of this shift, says Mduduzi Mbada, Head of Policy at Gauteng Office of the Premier. Particle physics harnesses large amounts of data and uses artificial intelligence to understand the data. These skills are transferrable to the problem solving of complex systems, such as the modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic or future crises, says Mellado. Artificial Intelligence through machine learning provides a unique suite of tools and methodologies that allows analysts to learn from it. This is essential in solving complex modelling problems." Mellado and his colleagues view this exercise as a form of technology transfer revolving around skills and knowledge developed in solving problems of fundamental interactions in nature. In solving problems such as this, they would also be able to create an ecosystem of knowledge in Artificial Intelligence that feeds back into Particle Physics. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life as we know it, but it has also galvanised our rapid adaptation to change and the adoption of new technologies, says Vilakazi. Wits is proud to collaborate with leading scholars from York University on this multidisciplinary project to develop new technologies to strengthen the fight against COVID-19. We are in a crucial moment in the life of this pandemic and it is important that we work as a collective for the benefit of society. Professor Lenton says York University is excited to join forces with colleagues from Africa, as part of the global effort to put an end to the pandemic. This important and timely collaboration will combine Yorks research strength in disease modelling, global health, artificial intelligence and emergency management, with AI and modelling expertise in Africa and the practical skills and sensitivity that only local organisations can provide, says Lenton. Professor Jude Kong, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics in the Faculty of Science and a member of the National COVID-19 Modelling Rapid Response Task Force at York will serve as the Canadian Principal Investigator. Working with organisations in Africa, we will develop models and simulations of COVID-19 that are relevant to specific cities and the areas adjacent to them, says Kong. This will give municipal and national health authorities, and policy-makers from across Africa the practical tools that they need to suppress subsequent waves of infections or mitigate their impact. It will enable us to look at the effectiveness of public health interventions to determine if a particular intervention is appropriate, equitable, feasible and cost-efficient. Wits also collaborates with universities in neighbouring countries. The ceremony was attended by Professor Otlogetswe Totolo, the Vice-Chancellor of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology, one of the pivotal partners in the project. Congratulations to York University and Wits on establishing the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence Data Modelling Consortium, says Professor Totolo. Our university already has a dynamic partnership with Professor Mellados team to visualise, monitor, and model the spread of the pandemic. Indeed, we are excited to work with this consortium to solve COVID-19 problems in Africa using Artificial Intelligence. As weighty political meetings held annually across China, the local "two sessions" are drawing more attention from abroad. Local "two sessions," the annual meetings of provincial-level lawmakers and political advisors, discuss local economic and social development in the last year and make plans for the year ahead. The "two sessions" meetings of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality were held from Jan. 20 to 25. More than 20 consular officials from 12 countries including the Netherlands, Italy, Ethiopia, and Uruguay were invited to watch the opening ceremony through live broadcasting at the Chongqing Foreign Affairs Office. For COVID-19 reasons, they were not invited to the site. Wearing a mask, Agustina Casavalle Bonilla, acting consul general of Uruguay in Chongqing, listened carefully to the Chongqing 2020 government work report delivered at the opening session of the municipal people's congress, while writing down the main points in her notebook. "This is the second time I am attending the local two sessions of China. I have learnt much more about Chongqing's development and its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)," Bonilla said. "What impressed me most is that the report says Chongqing is transitioning from high-speed development to high-quality development." The government work report showed that the city's gross domestic product (GDP) has reached 2.5 trillion yuan (about 386 billion U.S. dollars), with an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent over the last five years. The municipality's per capita GDP last year exceeded 10,000 U.S. dollars and the poverty alleviation goals and tasks have been completed as scheduled. "The rapid development of science and technology in China deeply impressed me. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly indicated the vital role of science and technology. We look forward to cooperation with Chongqing in the field of big data," Bonilla said. Chongqing is a major manufacturer of cars and motorcycles in China. The Uruguayan consul general said her country welcomes Chinese investors in the motor industry, including electric vehicles. The consulate general of Uruguay that opened in Chongqing in 2019 is the country's fifth consular institution in China. It is also the first consulate general of Latin American countries and Spanish-speaking nations in Chongqing. "Uruguay has always attached importance to cooperation with western China and has cooperated with Chongqing in agricultural products export and automobile manufacturing," Bonilla said. She hopes more Chinese will invest in Uruguay, and more Uruguayans will come to China for work and study. "We also hope that Uruguay can become the gateway for Chinese investors to the South Atlantic ocean and the Latin American region," she added. A woman fell victim to a ploy where a group of men on motorbikes encircled and stole from her as she was driving on a street in Ho Chi Minh City last week. Police are probing the robbery of a woman that took place in the Lu Gia residential area in District 11, a source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday. Surveillance video shows a woman robbed on Road No. 52 in the Lu Gia residential area in Ho Chi Minh City, January 21, 2021. According to preliminary inspection, the crime transpired on Thursday last week, when the victim was crossing Road No. 52 in the Lu Gia residential area in District 11. At the intersection of Road No. 52 and Road No. 3, a man wearing the uniform and helmet of a ride-hailing service firm cut in front of her, while two other men on motorbikes blocked her vehicle from the sides. After locking the woman down, one man snatched VND10 million (US$433) in cash from her pocket before joining his accomplices to flee the scene. The incident, which was over in less than 20 seconds, was caught on a surveillance camera nearby. Footage of the robbery was quickly spread on social media and pulled in many viewers, several of whom were disturbed by the blatant act of robbery in daytime, while others advised commuters to be hypervigilant against thieves during the high-risk season before the Lunar New Year holiday arrives. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! CLAREMONT, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Claremont Lincoln University (CLU), a non-profit online university offering master's degrees through a Socially Conscious Education, has named Joanna Bauer, Ed.D., the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer (CAO). It has also named Dr. Nita Evans the Dean of Academic Affairs. Dr. Joanna Bauer As VP of Academic Affairs and CAO, Dr. Bauer is responsible for the educational and student academic support enterprises of the university, including academic planning and policy, program and instructional quality, academic operations, student academic support services, learning quality and educational technology. Dr. Bauer will lead the long-term planning of CLU's educational programs, ensure quality of instruction, and further the strategic plan, the educational master plan and the goals and objectives of the university. Prior to her new role, Dr. Bauer served as the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at CLU, after two years as an Academic Dean. Dr. Bauer is an educator who believes in the value of learning and the intersection of ethical leadership, sustainable solutions and social change. In this quest of educating, she has held a variety of academic administrative positions, and taught onground and online for more than 20 years. Dr. Bauer earned her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Management from Capella University, her master of Arts degree in Speech Communication from California State University-Northridge and her bachelor of Science in Communication from California State Polytechnic University. "Dr. Bauer was chosen for this role because she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to ensuring our institution delivers an exceptional academic experience while leading with integrity and collaboration," said Tony Digiovanni, president and CEO of CLU. "We are confident that CLU's academic affairs will continue to flourish under Dr. Bauer and her team's capable and passionate leadership." Dr. Nita Evans As Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Nita Evans is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the programs and concentrations at CLU, as well as the managerial functions related to curriculum, faculty and instruction. She will promote the culture and academic excellence and ensure the academic goals and objectives set forth in the university's strategic plan are met. In addition, Dr. Evans is responsible for implementing the vision for the university's transformational academic and certificate programs, and will work collaboratively across the university to develop and oversee research-based best practices and policy regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. Prior to being named Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Evans spent two years as a member of CLU's teaching faculty pool. She was named Faculty Chair for the master's in Social Impact program in early 2020. Dr. Evans is an education activist with more than 15 years of college teaching experience, and has spent her career dedicated to issues of equity and access for women and communities of color. Dr. Evans earned her doctorate degree in Sociology from Stony Brook University, her master's in Sociology from Stony Brook University, and her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from SUNY College at Old Westbury. As a 2021 Mira Fellowship winner, Dr. Evans is working to close the opportunity gap and create an actionable plan for social change in the areas of higher education and race. "As Faculty Chair, Dr. Evans has demonstrated excellent academic aptitude and leadership skills, providing seamless support to students, faculty, curriculum and the institution," said Dr. Bauer. "We are fortunate to have someone of Nita's caliber and experience join us to forward academic quality of curriculum, instructional design, and faculty and student experience. Her expertise, skill set and dynamic presence will allow us to successfully implement our academic strategy and build on key initiatives through 2021." About Claremont Lincoln University Claremont Lincoln University (CLU) is a non-profit institution offering affordable online master's degrees rooted in a socially conscious education. CLU's mission is to equip students with 21st Century leadership skills for engaging in solutions that improve the world for the benefit of all. CLU is regionally accredited by the highly regarded WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC), which ensures institutions meet strict standards and fulfill their missions in service to their students and the public good. Master's degree programs at CLU focus on civic engagement, ethics, healthcare administration, higher education, human resources, organizational leadership , management, professional studies, public administration, social impact, and sustainability leadership. SOURCE Claremont Lincoln University Related Links https://www.claremontlincoln.edu Infection Control nurse Colin Clarke looking out from a Covid-19 recovery ward at Craigavon Area Hospital in Co Armagh, Northern Ireland (Niall Carson/PA) Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council (ABC) area is the epicentre of Northern Irelands battle with Covid-19, according to a health chief. Addressing Januarys full council meeting, Southern Health Trust chief executive Shane Devlin compared the boroughs Covid death rate to a daily minibus or car crash in which everyone died. Yesterday, official figures showed that 12,648 people had tested positive in the borough, an increase of 114 on the previous day the biggest overnight increase in Northern Ireland. In the week before Monday, there had been 924 positive cases far ahead of every other council area with over 600 of those aged 20 to 59. And 780 Trust staff were absent on Monday as a result of Covid-19. Read More ABC is the epicentre of Covid-19 in Northern Ireland at the moment, said Mr Devlin. It is very clear that we are our incidence rate is around 500 per 100,000. At the beginning of the pandemic the World Health Organisation said anything greater than 50 per 100,000 is out of control. Expand Close Shane Devlin from the Southern Health Trust / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Shane Devlin from the Southern Health Trust The situation in Northern Ireland is completely out of control but we in ABC are far worse than any other council area. He attempted to hammer home the message by comparing the current death rate within the borough as a result of Covid-19 to that of a fatal car crash. If in 2021 so far, this borough had a car crash every morning that claimed the lives of the four people in the vehicle and that was happening seven days a week, what would your reaction be? asked Mr Devlin. That is exactly what is happening in Craigavon Area Hospital at the moment and some days, it is more like a people carrier or minibus has crashed, killing all inside. The only difference is, it is not a car crash that is killing these people, its a virus a virus that we can all play part in reducing the spread of. Mr Devlin told members that during the first surge, the Southern Trust had a peak of 63 positive Covid-19 patients, it had a peak of 129 in the second surge and in this, the third surge, it has so far had a peak of 297 Covid-19 positive patients. What this means is that the Southern Trust is dealing with 40% of all Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland, said Mr Devlin. As a consequence, the Belfast Trust and the South Eastern Trust, which are not dealing with the same volume of Covid positive patients as we are, are having to take some of our patients. Put bluntly, this has resulted in 79 ambulances bypassing Craigavon in the last week. We know people transfer the virus and it is highly contagious, we are in a bad place at the moment. The levels of the virus is high in the community and high in our hospitals. Mr Devlin told councillors that we are so out of kilter with the rest of Northern Ireland and that is something we have to reflect on. He also revealed the need to double ICU capacity has led to the closure of theatres. That isnt as simple as doubling the number of beds, it also means the ICU needs more staff, he said. I have needed to move 170 staff which has resulted in theatre closures. Read More As a result of having to look after Covid-19 patients, I am in a position where I cant do every operation. Last week, I ran 15 operations because the harm to the patients would have been irreversible. That was 15 operations to keep these people alive. On a normal week we would be doing more than 100 operations. The company is working with additional provincial boards to register products and increase the distribution capabilities for its branded products. The Embark team has worked tirelessly to move from a definitive agreement to product on shelves in a matter of weeks ( ) ( ) (FRA:2P9) investee Embark Health Inc has successfully completed its first shipment of products to the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch. Its Hank Co. Bubble Hash is now available across British Columbia and Embark Health anticipates further purchase orders imminently with the province of Alberta. The company is working with additional provincial boards to register products and increase the distribution capabilities for its branded products. Product on shelves in weeks Embark chief executive officer Dr. Luc C. Duchesne said: The Embark team has worked tirelessly to move from a definitive agreement to product on shelves in a matter of weeks. The speed of execution for this brand and product launch is impressive and a testament to Embarks capabilities and understanding of the consumer demand to deliver high-quality product to market quickly. This strategic approach underpins Embarks distribution execution across further provinces. The company has signed definitive supply agreements with the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta for the supply of Bubble Hash, launching under The Hank Co brand. Launch of other product SKUs Embark looks forward to continuing the rollout of this product and the launch of other product stock-keeping units (SKUs) in the very near future. Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com , on Twitter @BE_cfanto or at 413-637-2551. Whenever anyone asks me what it was like growing up in my house, my answer is always the same: Moonstruck, without the infidelity. My mother is Italian from Brooklyn, and while my dad is Scottish, hes eaten enough broccoli rabe and pasta fagioli to count as an honorary member of the club. Moonstruck, which was recently re-released by Criterion, is the quintessential Italian film not quite a love story, not quite a comedy which makes perfect sense. Italians are cynics, neurotics and catastrophizers by nature, and rarely indulge in unabashed sappiness, absurd comedy or the vulnerability that goes hand in hand with falling stupidly and openly in love. But its that ironic restraint that makes the love in this film even more felt: the moments of pure passion and tenderness bring tears to my dark Sicilian heart every time I watch, despite knowing the dialogue so well I can anticipate almost every line. On paper, the film sounds like pure folly: a love story between Nicholas Cage and Cher. Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a young widow, set to marry the safe, boring Johnny Camareri (Danny Aiello). When Johnnys mother in Palermo falls ill, he leaves it to Loretta to invite his estranged brother Ronny (Nicholas Cage), to the wedding. What ensues is a torrid, white hot and darkly comedic love affair between Loretta and Ronny. The attention to detail and the accuracy with which Moonstruck depicts Italian culture are in large part what make it such a joy to watch; for Italians, theres a sense of comforting realism a reminder that yes, your Italian family is like every other Italian family in one way or another. For non-Italians, it serves as a window inside the culture without cartoonish exaggerations and rote innuendoes about the mob or other Italian stereotypes. There are many overt signifiers of Italian culture in the film: the opera, the tone with which the Castarini family communicates with each other. There are also a number of subtler nods to Italian life; the muumuu Lorettas mother wears at breakfast, the ceramics that adorn the kitchen walls, the neutral tablecloth on their table that looks like it only comes off to be replaced with a slightly more ornate one for holidays. Then theres the meal that Loretta cooks for Ronny when she first visits his apartment. It ranks among other iconic depictions of Italian food cooking, from Paulies razor-thin garlic in Goodfellas to Carmela Sopranos ubiquitous baked ziti, pulled cold from the fridge in a clear corning dish. In the moment, theres obvious tension between them; you can almost start to feel it boil over into passion, but not quite yet. Like any Italian woman I have ever met in my entire life, my mother and myself included, Loretta knows that preparing food is the fastest way to obviate this kind of emotional tension. Whats that smell? Ronny asks. Im making you a steak, she yells from the other room. I dont want it, he replies. Youll eat it, she comes back with. I want it well done, he acquiesces. Youll eat this bloody to feed your blood, she says, forcing a steak off a fork and onto a glass plate. The next shot is of Ronnys meal: plain spaghetti and steak; Lorrettas is simply a bowl of plain spaghetti. It might seem like a pedestrian and simplistic meal to the outsider, but theres a deeper story here for those of us who grew up with Italian family in the house. Plain buttered pasta is a staple for Italians; to soothe an aching stomach, to calm jittery nerves, to make late at night when you want a hot meal but not too many dishes. Its critical to get the butter and salt ratios correct; you want enough butter that the pasta is slippery but not so much that it becomes liquid-y; you want enough salt to give the pasta a bright flavor but not so much that tastes, well, over-salted. Pepper and parmesan cheese are optional, and obviously add something to the dish but the simplicity of the butter and salt evokes a level of safety and comfort you cant really understand until youve tried it. The steak on the side is an easy protein: pan-fried with olive oil, butter, salt, pepper and nothing else. If youre Italian youve likely been fed some variation of this meal the simple and soothing pasta, often accompanied by a no-fuss protein. Youve probably eaten it on dishes with illustrated fruits or vegetable or different pasta shapes adorning the ceramic; youve definitely eaten it on a table cloth or a placemat probably one at some point that was plastic-coated canvas because to eat anything directly on a bare table would be an infamia. Maybe for you it was steak and spaghetti, maybe it was a cold chicken cutlet from the night before and some buttered penne; maybe it was pastina with scrambled egg. Its about more than just the actual contents of the meal. When I mentioned I was writing this piece to my mother, she reminded me its not just what Loretta cooks, but how she cooks it. Shes never been in his home before and she walks in and she can create a meal from whatever is available, she says. Thats what Italians do. She reminded me of all the late nights weve come home from shopping or a trip into the city to make aglio e olio, a simple pasta dish with olive oil and garlic that when cooked right tastes like it came from a five-star restaurant. Italians are resourceful and instinctive in the kitchen, and just as the presentation requires no added flair, the preparation is likewise without fuss. At our core, were peasants who turn simple ingredients into an impromptu meal that satisfies your belly and your soul. Above all, what that scene in Moonstruck gets right is that Italian food is built to nourish. Its not supposed to be infused with pretense or modernity, or served on square plates in diminutive portions. Its meant to be foisted off a serving fork, straight from a hot pan by an angry woman who has fed you despite significant protest on your part. And by the time you finish it, you should be so satisfied that a passion overcomes you, and you whisk said angry woman off to bed for what will inevitably be a night to remember. The post Moonstruck, Not Goodfellas, Is the Essential Italian Food Movie appeared first on InsideHook. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram (Bloomberg) -- The Biden administrations moratorium of oil and gas leasing on federal public land faced an immediate legal attack from an energy industry group. Western Energy Alliance, which says it represents 200 oil and natural gas companies, said the administrations suspension of leases is unsupported and unnecessary, and an overreach by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, according to a petition filed Wednesday in Wyoming federal court.Presidents dont have authority to ban leasing on public lands, Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said in a statement. Drying up new leasing puts future development as well as existing projects at risk, she said, adding that the move will cost tens of thousands and perhaps millions of jobs. The administration moratorium issued Wednesday buys time for a broad review of whether fossil fuels should be extracted from lands under the U.S. governments control. Environmentalists want President Joe Biden to make the suspension of leasing permanent. But even if he doesnt, future leasing could encompass far less terrain and come with higher costs and environmental limits. Although Biden has directed the Interior Department to pause new leases for oil and natural gas from public land and coastal waters, it will not affect ongoing operations on existing leases. And drilling permits for existing leases will keep flowing; more than two dozen have been issued already since Biden took office. [January 27, 2021] Copyright Clearance Center's RightsLink for Scientific Communications Increases Awareness of Available Open Access Publication Funding Upon Manuscript Submission Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), a leader in advancing copyright, accelerating knowledge, and powering innovation, announces new functionality in RightsLink for Scientific Communications (RLSC), its market-leading, comprehensive scholarly communications workflow solution. RLSC now can inform authors of available Open Access (OA) publication funding throughout the manuscript lifecycle, starting with submission. Leading submission platforms such as those offered by CCC partners Aries, ScholarOne and eJournal Press, enable authors to preview Article Processing Charges (APCs) that may be due upon manuscript acceptance. Now, leveraging RLSC's agreement management capabilities, authors can see a list of possible funding sources for paying those fees based on publisher agreements with institutions, consortia or funders. "Researchers and authors have long struggled with the administrative burden required to identify, secure and manage eligible OA publication funding from various sources," said Emily Sheahan, Vice President and Managing Director, CCC. "With this new capability, CCC and its submission platform partners make it possible to connect author affiliation to funding eligibility early in the manuscript lifecycle, providing an important missing link between the various workflow stakeholders." A Drives Open Science Achievements RLSC enables publishers, funders and institutions to support a variety of Open Access agreements. It accelerates the implementation of OA deals, including Read and Publish Agreements, Publish and Read Agreements, Membership Deals, and more. RLSC is now the most widely adopted market solution to support institutional agreements, ease the APC (News - Alert) payment process for unfunded authors, facilitate alignment with mandates such as Plan S, and lower operating costs for all parties. CCC works with publishers, funders and institutions as they seek to further simplify implementation of OA institutional agreements and accelerate deals in effect for 2021. More than 30 publishers rely on CCC's sophisticated agreement management solution to serve more than 800 global academic institutions, consortia, and funders - including Jisc, Max Planck and California Digital Library. CCC's Open Access Workflow Services, a comprehensive consulting practice providing strategic OA institutional agreement workflow support, helps organizations deliver on each agreement's unique needs. CCC is an active partner in the information industry's evolution of hybrid and pure Open Access publishing models. For years CCC has brought together key Open Access stakeholders from the author, publisher, institution, funding, and vendor communities through roundtables, panel events, webinars, podcasts, and published pieces. CCC is a member of OASPA (Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association), ALPSP (Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers), STM (International Association of STM Publishers) and SSP (Society for Scholarly Publishing). ABOUT COPYRIGHT CLEARANCE CENTER Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) builds unique solutions that connect content and rights in contextually relevant ways through software and professional services. CCC helps people navigate vast amounts of data to discover actionable insights, enabling them to innovate and make informed decisions. CCC, with its subsidiary RightsDirect, collaborates with customers to advance how data and information are integrated, accessed, and shared while setting the standard for effective copyright solutions that accelerate knowledge and power innovation. CCC is headquartered in Danvers, Mass. with offices across North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more about CCC, visit www.copyright.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005595/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This is a 70-year-old man in the twilight of his years, who has serious medical complications, and is seeking release to finally be with his wife, children and grandchildren after nearly 50 years of separation, he wrote. To have his name continuously thrown into the affairs of others and to be used as a scapegoat for criminal activity he has no connection to needs to cease. Haiti - News : Zapping... Canada Covid test mandatory Travellers flying into Canada are required to test negative for COVID-19 and show proof that includes: the name and address of the facility that administered the test, the date the test was conducted, and the method of test (PCR or LAMP) All the details on https://ow.ly/tta830rrHEV New US Secretary of State "Congratulations Antony Blinken on your confirmation as the new US Secretary of State. I look forward to working with you on behalf of all Haitians to strengthen the historic ties between Haiti and the United States" said Chancellor Claude Joseph Lavalas wants barricades everywhere The Radical Opposition, convinced that the mobilizations will force the departure from power of the Head of State, calls on its supporters to close the country. For his part, Schiller Louidor, of the Fanmi Lavalas party, wants barricades in all the districts of Port-au-Prince and in the provinces in order to paralyze the country again, as in 2019. Nearly 244,000 barrels of Diesel arrive Tuesday, Fils Aime Ignace Saint Fleur, the Director General of the Office of Monetization of Development Assistance Programs (BMPAD) announced the arrival in Haiti of the oil tanker "MT SILVER PHILIPPA" with a cargo of nearly 244,000 barrels of Diesel. The Spotlight initiative is recruiting volunteers The Spotlight Initiative in Haiti, a UN program for the elimination of domestic violence against women and girls funded by the European Union, is recruiting members of civil society to expand its Society Reference Group Civil. You are a Haitian committed to the fight against violence against women and girls, follow this link and send us your application no later than February 10, 2021 : https://haiti.un.org/fr/95806-programme-spotlight-appel-candidatures-pour-le-groupe-de-reference-de-la-societe-civile The rehabilitation of the RN7 continues for 4 km The South Departmental Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works informs that it is continuing with the rehabilitation work on the RN7 near the town of Les Cayes. These works are extended over 4 km from the Dessalines plant to the Carrefour des quatre (4) Chemins. HL/ HaitiLibre Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here 4. Hyderabad | Weighted Average Compensation: Rs 8.5 lakh per year (Image: Moneycontrol) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Confounding the naysayers, mid-tier IT firms clocked one of their largest deal wins amid the pandemic during the third quarter of FY21. With the focus on cloud and large deal pipelines, these companies are now looking at strong growth in Q4, say IT executives and analysts. This confidence can be attributed to the sharp focus on new age technologies like cloud, client mining and the resulting large deal wins. Mid-tier IT companies such as L&T Infotech, Mphasis and Mindtree have posted strong year-on-year growth for the quarter ending December 2020 ,and have signed some of their largest deal wins during this period. Larger peers such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech too have seen large deal momentum coming back with these firms signing large multi-million dollar deals during the third quarter of FY21. Infosys clocked its all-time high deal win of $7.13 billion in a quarter for Q3 FY21. Just like top IT firms, tier II IT firms too have been among the biggest gainers during the pandemic as their stock prices more than doubled since April 2020. Analysts and IT firms expect this growth momentum to continue in coming quarters. Why is this so? Large deal wins L&T Infotech won net new deal total contracts to the value of $278 million for the quarter ending December 2020. Mphasis' new deals wins stood at $247 million and Mindtrees was $312 million. Nitin Rakesh, CEO, Mphasis, in a recent interaction pointed out that average deal sizes are larger and also longer compared to what they were two years ago. Two years ago, our average large deal was about $29 million. Now it is $62 million. Not only are we doing large deals consistently, we are doing larger deals consistently, he explained. This comes on the back of the need for enterprises to scale their existing business models. Last year was about can we apply whatever short-term fix we need to apply and keep our business running. Now they (clients) are saying, we know this works. But now can we make this at scale and is this the new way of doing business, Rakesh said. He added that this technology transformation is a 2-4-year journey and would be a growth driver for the company. The continued deal intake, analysts pointed out, would augur well for the companys growth in the coming months. The higher order intake was also aided by these companies' focus on cloud and new age technologies Focus on cloud, new age tech Take for instance, L&T Infotech. The firm will now have a separate focus on cloud, which is expected to generate $1 billion in revenue in the next 2-3 years from the current $185 million. Brokerage firm BOBCAPS said in a note that this was one of the reasons for the large cloud-based deals that the company won. Mindtrees cloud portfolio now accounts for about 19.2 percent of the overall revenue from 15.9 percent in the same quarter last year. Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal said in a note that the firm will benefit from the strong demand environment in the areas of cloud, given its high exposure to the segment. Mphasis in its Q2 FY21 earnings call indicated that its cloud pipeline has seen a 300 percent increase as enterprises adopt them on scale. Client mining Client mining has also become a key focus for firms to generate revenue. For L&T Infotech, though the revenue from top clients continues to decline on a year-on-year basis, analysts have pointed out that this has stabilized as the top 20 accounts grew 4.5 percent sequentially in Q3 FY21. Morgan Stanley also pointed out in a note that LTIs client mining had improved, leading to strong growth rates. The leadership during the earnings call last week said that it intends to mine its top 50 clients more and rationalize client accounts less than $1 million. Mindtree, too, has been focusing on mining its top clients. Revenues from the top 10 clients have increased from 45.6 percent in Q3 FY20 to 49 percent in Q3 FY21. However, analysts pointed out that the companys dependence on its top client presents a risk. Its top client, Microsoft, contributes 28.5 percent of overall revenues for the company. In addition, Mindtrees revenues declined 0.4 percent YoY, in part due to its large exposure to the travel and hospitality sector. Before the pandemic, the sector accounted for about 16 percent of its revenues. Now it accounts for about 8.9 percent of revenues. To tap growing opportunities in the healthcare space, the firm is in the process of rolling out its healthcare strategy. The strategy is defined and rolling out is in progress as we speak. We have completed the hiring for healthcare business leaders in the US. From our point of view, the ball has started rolling, said Venu Lambu, Executive Director and President, Global Markets, during the Mindtrees Q3 FY21 earnings call on January 18. We have started putting across the plan of leveraging our capabilities into these two segments. As we start rolling this strategy on the ground we will start looking for opportunities where we can bring synergies and capabilities together, he added. For Mphasis as well, revenues from top clients have increased to 52 percent in Q3 FY21 from 47 percent for the same quarter last year. Investment giant Goldman Sachs has clawed back some $174million in executive pay to dozens of current and former senior bankers after it agreed to pay nearly $3billion in fines to the Department of Justice for its role in a Malaysian bribery scandal. Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon's annual pay fell by $10million, or 36 per cent, in 2020, according to regulatory disclosures filed Tuesday, reflecting the bank's role in Malaysia's 1MDB scandal. Solomon will receive $17.5million for his work during the year, compared with $27.5million the year before, the bank said. Goldman previously announced it would reduce Solomon's pay, along with that of Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron, in light of the findings of investigations into the bank's role in the affair. Waldron will receive $18.5million for his work last year, down 24 per cent, or $6million, from 2019. Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon's annual pay fell by $10million, or 36 per cent, in 2020, according to regulatory disclosures filed Tuesday, reflecting the bank's role in Malaysia's 1MDB scandal CFO Stephen Scherr (left) will be paid $15.5million, down 31 per cent, or $7million, from the previous year, during which he earned $22.5million. Chief Operating Officer John Waldron (right) will receive $18.5million for his work last year, down 24 per cent, or $6million, from 2019 Scherr will be paid $15.5million, down 31 per cent, or $7million, from the previous year, during which he earned $22.5million. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs told DailyMail.com that the pay reductions are a one-time penalty and that salaries will be returned to their normal levels next year. 'While none of Messrs. Solomon, Waldron or Scherr was involved in or aware of the firm's participation in any illicit activity at the time the firm arranged the 1MDB bond transactions, the Board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure, inconsistent with the high expectations it has for the firm,' the SEC filing stated. The scandal dates to the government of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, which set up the 1MDB fund in 2009. Between 2009 and 2014, Goldman bankers paid more than $1.6billion in bribes to foreign officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to win 1MDB business, including underwriting $6.5billion in bond sales, for which it earned $600million in fees, the bank has said. In total, Goldman Sachs will have to pay out more than $5 billion in fines in the scandal, in which former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (above) and his cronies looted billions from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a supposed government investment fund The scandal's alleged mastermind, jet-setting Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (above), has been charged in Malaysia and the US but his whereabouts are currently unknown Were it not for the 1MDB scandal, Solomon and Scherr's pay would have been unchanged from the previous year, the bank said, and Waldron's pay would have risen by $1million. Rival Morgan Stanley's Chief Executive James Gorman saw his annual pay rise by $6million, or 22 per cent, last year, according to a regulatory filing released on Friday. Goldman said in October it is clawing back the money from a dozen current and former executives, including Solomon and his predecessor, Lloyd Blankfein. The bank has not revealed exactly how much it clawed back from Blankfein and other top former honchos. The bank agreed to pay $2.9billion to settle probes into its role in the 1MDB corruption scandal. In a coordinated enforcement action, British regulators fined Goldman Sachs International$126million. In September, the government of Malaysia dropped criminal charges against three Goldman Sachs units after the bank agreed to pay $3.9billion there to settle the probe. Investigators have alleged that $155 million was diverted from 1MDB to help finance the 2013 film The Wolf Of Wall Street (above) Alleged mastermind Low Taek Jo denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown. Above, he is seen with Gigi Hadid at the 2014 Angel Ball at Cipriani Wall Street In total, Goldman Sachs will have to pay out more than $6billion in fines in the scandal, in which Razak and his cronies looted billions from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a government investment fund under Goldman's oversight. Goldman Sachs had generated about $600million in fees for its work with the Malaysian Sovereign wealth fund, which included three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013 that raised $6.5billion. The 1MDB scandal has been a distraction for Goldman as new CEO Solomon tries to push the bank in profitable new directions. While the scandal surfaced in 2015, prior to Solomon's tenure as CEO beginning in 2018, it was centered in a division that Solomon ran at the time. The scandal dates back to 2009, when Razak created the 1MDB fund. He and his associates are accused of looting some $4.5billion from the fund to pay for a luxury lifestyle, as well as funneling the cash to steal an election and keep Razak in power. In June 2017, the DOJ began actions to recover more than $1billion from people close to Najib and 1MDB, seizing assets including high-end properties in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Manhattan, New York City and London. Also seized were fine artwork, a private jet, a luxury yacht and royalties from the film The Wolf of Wall Street and its production company Red Granite Pictures. Investigators have alleged that $155million was diverted from 1MDB to help finance the 2013 film. Justice Department prosecutors held a press conference in Washington, DC, on October 22 announcing the deferred prosecution agreement with Goldman Sachs Goldman's position is that a 'rogue' banker lied and fooled the investment bank's management and compliance teams. A former Goldman partner, Tim Leissner, has previously pleaded guilty in the US over his part in the controversy. A Malaysian former managing director at the bank, Low Taek Jho, has also been charged in the US and Malaysia over the scandal. Low, the scandal's alleged mastermind, is a jet-setting Malaysian financier. He denies any wrongdoing, and his current whereabouts are unknown. Malaysian law enforcement officials believe Low is moving freely in mainland China, despite an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest. BAY CITY, MI Federal regulators want to levy a $15 million civil fine against the operator of a failed hydroelectric dam that unleashed flooding in mid-Michigan last spring, but creditors and a bankruptcy case trustee are pushing back, arguing such a large penalty would upend proceedings and jeopardize a settlement fund for flood victims. Mark H. Shapiro, a Southfield attorney who is trustee in the Boyce Hydro bankruptcy case, warned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) earlier this month that imposing such a penalty against the beleaguered dam operator would wreak havoc on its plan to exit bankruptcy and pay off creditors and victims of the May 2020 flood. To be clear, asserting a large non-subordinated penalty claim in the bankruptcy could wreak havoc on confirmation of the Chapter 11 plan in this case and delay distribution of what monies are available to creditors, Shapiro wrote to FERC Secretary Kimberly Bose on Jan. 11. The Four Lakes Task Force (FLTF), which assumed ownership of the dams through condemnation last year and is a creditor in the bankruptcy case, joined Shapiro and Boyces attorneys this month in opposing the sizable fine, which FERC proposed in December but has yet to finalize. FERC posted the show cause order and penalty proposal on its website Dec. 9, 2020. The obscure filing was not announced and it generated no media attention. As proposed, attorneys say $15 million would be the largest civil fine FERC has assessed for a hydroelectric dam safety failure in nearly 15 years. The same amount was issued against AmerenUE over the 2005 Taum Sauk reservoir collapse in Missouri. To date, that is the largest such fine ever assessed by FERC for a hydroelectric dam incident. The fine is based on Boyce Hydros failure to act on federal orders after the May 19, 2020 dam collapse in Edenville, which unleashed a flood that overtopped the Sanford Dam, nearly wiped out the village of Sanford, inundated downtown Midland and left a trail of destruction through multiple counties. About 10,000 people were forced to evacuate during the flood, which caused more than $200 million in estimated damages. According to FERC, Boyce did not form an independent forensic investigation team to probe the failures or asses the companys Secord and Smallwood Dams upstream of Edenville, as ordered by the commission. Boyce did not perform follow-up safety inspections at its dams, nor did it study Sanford Lake shoreline stability after the reservoir was drained. Lack of post-flood work was also a major contention point between Boyce and state regulators, who issued an emergency order last fall to stabilize remaining sections of the dam. Disregarding FERCs post-flood investigation orders allowed the commission to assess penalties of $23,331 per-day, per-violation, under federal law. The dam safety violations here chanced further failure of project works and shoreline, thereby putting surrounding communities at risk of additional flooding and other significant harm to human life, property, and the environment, FERC wrote. The violations were serious, and Boyce Hydro failed to take any remedial efforts. Boyce did ask FERC for leniency in performing inspections in September, claiming it needed court permission to spend the money. In October, FERC denied the request, nothing that the court had already authorized the expenditures. In late October, six months after the flood, debris removal at the Sanford Dam finally began using state and federal grant money awarded to the Four Lakes Task Force. By ignoring its dam safety obligations, Boyce Hydro elevated its own economic interests (e.g., avoidance of professional fees) above the safety of its neighbors, FERC wrote. However, the bankruptcy case is complicating the civil penalty assessment. In August, Boyce Hydro owner Lee Mueller of Nevada filed for Chapter 11 protection. Boyce listed more than $7 million in liabilities owed to its 20 largest creditors. The list included banks, local contractors, attorneys and class action plaintiffs whove sued the company over flood damages. The largest creditor is Byline Bank of Chicago, which had a mortgage on Boyces dams. In November, the task force agreed to pay about $1.5 million for them through condemnation. The task force has delegated authority from Midland and Gladwin counties to acquire the dams. According to trustee Shapiro, 100 percent of that money is going to Byline Bank. In his Jan. 11 letter to FERC, Shapiro said a final confirmation decision by bankruptcy judge Daniel Opperman in Bay City was near and any action taken by FERC, including any assessment of penalties could have a significant impact on the case. Even without a substantial claim being filed in the bankruptcy by FERC, the thousands of flood victims who are creditors in the bankruptcy are likely to receive relatively nominal distributions as a result of the distribution of the property of the estate, Shapiro wrote. All in, these assets are not expected to make any of the flood victims whole, or even close to whole. A confirmation hearing is now scheduled for Feb. 19. The fact is, (Mueller) is insolvent, said Dave Kepler, chair of the Four Lakes Task Force. There is not $15 million coming out of that bankruptcy. FERC would not provide substantive answers to questions by MLive about the proposed fine, its disclosure or subsequent steps in the process. Hydropower section spokesperson Celeste Miller would not return general media line calls on Monday, Jan. 25 or provide her direct line. The commission speaks through its orders, Miller wrote by email. Beyond the bankruptcy financials, Kepler said there are other complicating factors in play that FERC must navigate as it moves forward with the proposed penalty. The task force now owns the dam properties, but it didnt also receive Boyces licenses to generate hydropower. However, now Boyce says it doesnt hold them, either. In a Jan. 8 letter to FERC, attorney Michael Swiger argued that the ownership transfer of the dams resulted in a constructive abandonment and implied surrender of the licenses. The hydroelectric license issue is a dilemma for FERC, which cant assess a penalty if Boyce doesnt hold them, Kepler said. Theres a further complication due to an expected transfer of oversight authority to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) for the Secord, Smallwood and Sanford dams, Kepler said. The state already assumed oversight of the Edenville Dam in 2018 after FERC revoked Boyces license at the ill-fated structure over historical compliance issues long before the flood. The task force is pushing the state and federal agencies to sit down and figure out a formal transitional process for the three remaining dams, Kepler said. Kepler thinks FERC wants community support for letting Boyce avoid having to pay the proposed fine due to complications with the license surrender and bankruptcy case. The commission signaled that in its order, writing that it does not intend to imperil any direct recovery of damages by flood victims and it will consider the impact on the bankruptcy proceeding when it decides whether to impose a civil penalty. They would, politically, like to be able to get off the hook, Kepler said. Its FERCs decision work through, not ours. Weve told them very clearly that we dont need the licenses. In his letter to FERC, Boyces attorney Swiger pushed the commission to withdraw its proposed penalty, or at most to quickly impose a nominal penalty and to request that the penalty be given lower priority than creditor recoveries in the bankruptcy proceeding. Swiger wrote that if FERC does proceed with terminating the dam licenses, it should do so promptly and not maintain a fiction that the project licenses exist in a vacuum or attempt to retain jurisdiction over Boyce Hydro for the sole purpose of imposing a civil penalty. Related stories: In Michigan, aging dams forced a reckoning in 2020 Debris removed from Sanford Dam months after flood Timeline: The Edenville Dam saga (before, during and after) Dam failures, flood impact havent subsided for these families A year after emergency drawdown, Morrow Lake refill begins Michigans aging dams are a public safety issue Michigan steps up dam oversight, but much work remains Five Longford students were among over 520 to receive the Trinity College Entrance Award in Dublin this year. Aoife Corcoran from Cnoc Mhuire Granard, Jack Hayes from Ballymahon Vocational School, Ellen Frances Kenny from Mean Scoil Mhuire, Ever Evangel Tuyogon from St Mel's College and Urte Vityte from the Convent of Mercy in Ballymahon all received the award. Students from every county in Ireland and 15 countries in the EU have been awarded special Entrance Exhibition Awards from Trinity College Dublin this year. The awards go to the student accepted into the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree programme who achieves the highest points among Trinity entrants from their secondary school, above a minimum of 500 CAO points. Many former awardees have gone on to make a significant contribution to the economic, cultural, and political life of Ireland and beyond. Past Exhibitioners include Tanaiste and former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Of the 2020 new entrants to Trinity, 527 students qualified for an award, up from 452 in 2019. The students come from a record 455 different schools, 438 schools on the island of Ireland (up from 403 in 2019) and 17 schools from overseas. For the first time, the awards were delivered virtually. Trinity Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, said: "We are delighted to welcome these talented students to Trinity and only wish that they and their families could come to celebrate with us at the University, as they usually do. Since we revised the Entrance Exhibition Awards in 2018 as part of our commitment to boosting diversity we are seeing an ever-growing number of schools represented and, this year, all 32 counties on the island of Ireland. We congratulate each student and wish them well in their studies." Changes made to the awards scheme in 2018 meant that students who achieve the highest points among Trinity entrants from their secondary school with a minimum of 500 points in the Leaving Certificate (or its equivalent second level final examinations) are eligible for an Entrance Exhibition Award. This includes bonus points for Mathematics. Previously, any students receiving 560 or more points (excluding bonus points) were awarded Entrance Exhibition Awards which meant that there could be up to 20 students from any one school. The Entrance Exhibition Awards were awarded to 322 students from Leinster, 75 from Munster, 61 from Ulster, 52 from Connacht and 17 international students from Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Hungary, Spain, France, Poland, Norway, Austria and Netherlands. Awardees will receive a certificate and a 150 book token. Additional data to be presented include two abstracts from Study 218 ( NCT03173560 ), which is a Phase 2 trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of two starting doses of LENVIMA (18 mg versus 14 mg once daily) plus everolimus (5 mg once daily) in patients with advanced RCC. These include a health-related quality of life outcomes analysis (Abstract # 314) as well as efficacy analyses by independent imaging review, and by subgroup of patients who received prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy per investigator assessment (Abstract # 307). A Trial in Progress abstract will also be presented on a Phase 3 study ( NCT04586231 ) exploring the efficacy and safety of LENVIMA plus the hypoxia-inducible factor-2 alpha (HIF-2) inhibitor belzutifan (MK-6482) versus cabozantinib in patients with advanced RCC who received prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy (Abstract #TPS372). "We're excited to present new investigational data on LENVIMA that we hope will provide the oncology community with optimism at this year's Genitourinary Cancers Symposium," said Dr. Takashi Owa, Vice President, Chief Medicine Creation Officer and Chief Discovery Officer, Oncology Business Group at Eisai. "We remain relentless in our pursuit to spark change in the oncology space by continuing to evaluate the LENVIMA plus everolimus combination as well as research new potential combination treatment options for renal cell carcinoma patients. We're dedicated to fighting for patients suffering from this insidious disease and we believe these results mark a big step in the direction of greater therapeutic knowledge and options for this community." In March 2018, Eisai and Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA, both as monotherapy and in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA and Merck's HIF-2 inhibitor, belzutifan. To date, 20 trials have been initiated under the LEAP (LEnvatinib And Pembrolizumab) clinical program, which is evaluating the KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA combination across 13 different tumor types. For more information on the LEAP program, please visit clinicaltrials.gov. This release discusses investigational compounds and investigational uses for FDA-approved products. It is not intended to convey conclusions about efficacy and safety. There is no guarantee that any investigational compounds or investigational uses of FDA-approved products will successfully complete clinical development or gain FDA approval. The full list of Eisai presentations is included below. All abstracts will be available for viewing on demand via the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium website from February 11 at 8:00 AM EST through February 13, 2021. Study/Trial Abstract Name Virtual Presentation Details CLEAR study (KEYNOTE-581/Study 307) A phase 3 trial of lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab or everolimus versus sunitinib monotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (the CLEAR study) Oral Presentation (Late-Breaker) Abstract #: 269 February 13, 2021 at 1:00 PM-2:15 PM EST Robert Motzer, MD Study 218 Health-related quality of life outcomes from a Phase 2 open-label trial of two different starting doses of lenvatinib in combination with everolimus for treatment of renal cell carcinoma following one prior VEGF-targeted treatment Poster Session Abstract #: 314 Cristiane Bergerot, PhD Phase 2 trial of lenvatinib (LEN) at 2 starting doses + everolimus (EVE) in patients (pts) with renal cell carcinoma (RCC): results by independent imaging review (IIR) and prior immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) Poster Session Abstract #: 307 Sumanta Pal, MD Trial in Progress Phase 3 study evaluating efficacy and safety of MK-6482 + lenvatinib versus cabozantinib for second- or third-line therapy in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who progressed after prior anti-PD-1/L1 therapy Poster Session Abstract #: TPS372 Robert Motzer, MD About Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) Worldwide, it is estimated there were more than 430,000 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed and nearly 180,000 deaths from the disease in 2020. In the U.S. alone, it is estimated there will be more than 76,000 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed and nearly 14,000 deaths from the disease in 2021. Renal cell carcinoma is by far the most common type of kidney cancer; about nine out of 10 kidney cancers are RCCs. Renal cell carcinoma is about twice as common in men as in women. Most cases of RCC are discovered incidentally during imaging tests for other abdominal diseases. Approximately 30% of patients with RCC will have metastatic disease at diagnosis, and as many as 40% will develop metastases after primary surgical treatment for localized RCC. Survival is highly dependent on the stage at diagnosis, and with a five-year survival rate of 12% for metastatic disease, the prognosis for these patients is poor. About LENVIMA (lenvatinib) Capsules LENVIMA is indicated: For the treatment of patients with locally recurrent or metastatic, progressive, radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RAI-refractory DTC) In combination with everolimus, for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) following one prior anti-angiogenic therapy For the first-line treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) In combination with pembrolizumab, for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR), who have disease progression following prior systemic therapy, and are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and durability of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in the confirmatory trial LENVIMA, discovered and developed by Eisai, is a kinase inhibitor that inhibits the kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors VEGFR1 (FLT1), VEGFR2 (KDR), and VEGFR3 (FLT4). LENVIMA inhibits other kinases that have been implicated in pathogenic angiogenesis, tumor growth, and cancer progression in addition to their normal cellular functions, including fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors FGFR1-4, the platelet derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFR), KIT, and RET. The combination of LENVIMA and everolimus showed increased anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor activity as demonstrated by decreased human endothelial cell proliferation, tube formation, and VEGF signaling in vitro and tumor volume in mouse xenograft models of human renal cell cancer greater than each drug alone. In syngeneic mouse tumor models, lenvatinib decreased tumor-associated macrophages, increased activated cytotoxic T cells, and demonstrated greater antitumor activity in combination with an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody compared to either treatment alone. Important Safety Information Warnings and Precautions Hypertension. In DTC, hypertension occurred in 73% of patients on LENVIMA (44% grade 3-4). In RCC, hypertension occurred in 42% of patients on LENVIMA + everolimus (13% grade 3). Systolic blood pressure 160 mmHg occurred in 29% of patients, and 21% had diastolic blood pressure 100 mmHg. In HCC, hypertension occurred in 45% of LENVIMA-treated patients (24% grade 3). Grade 4 hypertension was not reported in HCC. Serious complications of poorly controlled hypertension have been reported. Control blood pressure prior to initiation. Monitor blood pressure after 1 week, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and then at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose when hypertension is controlled or permanently discontinue based on severity. Cardiac Dysfunction. Serious and fatal cardiac dysfunction can occur with LENVIMA. Across clinical trials in 799 patients with DTC, RCC, and HCC, grade 3 or higher cardiac dysfunction occurred in 3% of LENVIMA treated patients. Monitor for clinical symptoms or signs of cardiac dysfunction. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Arterial Thromboembolic Events. Among patients receiving LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus, arterial thromboembolic events of any severity occurred in 2% of patients in RCC and HCC and 5% in DTC. Grade 3-5 arterial thromboembolic events ranged from 2% to 3% across all clinical trials. Permanently discontinue following an arterial thrombotic event. The safety of resuming after an arterial thromboembolic event has not been established and LENVIMA has not been studied in patients who have had an arterial thromboembolic event within the previous 6 months. Hepatotoxicity. Across clinical studies enrolling 1,327 LENVIMA-treated patients with malignancies other than HCC, serious hepatic adverse reactions occurred in 1.4% of patients. Fatal events, including hepatic failure, acute hepatitis and hepatorenal syndrome, occurred in 0.5% of patients. In HCC, hepatic encephalopathy occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients (5% grade 3-5). Grade 3-5 hepatic failure occurred in 3% of LENVIMA-treated patients. 2% of patients discontinued LENVIMA due to hepatic encephalopathy and 1% discontinued due to hepatic failure. Monitor liver function prior to initiation, then every 2 weeks for the first 2 months, and at least monthly thereafter during treatment. Monitor patients with HCC closely for signs of hepatic failure, including hepatic encephalopathy. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Renal Failure or Impairment. Serious including fatal renal failure or impairment can occur with LENVIMA. Renal impairment was reported in 14% and 7% of LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, respectively. Grade 3-5 renal failure or impairment occurred in 3% of patients with DTC and 2% of patients with HCC, including 1 fatal event in each study. In RCC, renal impairment or renal failure was reported in 18% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (10% grade 3). Initiate prompt management of diarrhea or dehydration/hypovolemia. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue for renal failure or impairment based on severity. Proteinuria. In DTC and HCC, proteinuria was reported in 34% and 26% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. Grade 3 proteinuria occurred in 11% and 6% in DTC and HCC, respectively. In RCC, proteinuria occurred in 31% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus (8% grade 3). Monitor for proteinuria prior to initiation and periodically during treatment. If urine dipstick proteinuria 2+ is detected, obtain a 24-hour urine protein. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Diarrhea. Of the 737 LENVIMA-treated patients in DTC and HCC, diarrhea occurred in 49% (6% grade 3). In RCC, diarrhea occurred in 81% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients (19% grade 3). Diarrhea was the most frequent cause of dose interruption/reduction, and diarrhea recurred despite dose reduction. Promptly initiate management of diarrhea. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Fistula Formation and Gastrointestinal Perforation. Of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA or LENVIMA + everolimus in DTC, RCC, and HCC, fistula or gastrointestinal perforation occurred in 2%. Permanently discontinue in patients who develop gastrointestinal perforation of any severity or grade 3-4 fistula. QT Interval Prolongation. In DTC, QT/QTc interval prolongation occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QT interval prolongation of >500 ms occurred in 2%. In RCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 11% of patients receiving LENVIMA + everolimus and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 6%. In HCC, QTc interval increases of >60 ms occurred in 8% of LENVIMA-treated patients and QTc interval >500 ms occurred in 2%. Monitor and correct electrolyte abnormalities at baseline and periodically during treatment. Monitor electrocardiograms in patients with congenital long QT syndrome, congestive heart failure, bradyarrhythmias, or those who are taking drugs known to prolong the QT interval, including Class Ia and III antiarrhythmics. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery based on severity. Hypocalcemia. In DTC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 9% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In 65% of cases, hypocalcemia improved or resolved following calcium supplementation with or without dose interruption or dose reduction. In RCC, grade 3-4 hypocalcemia occurred in 6% of LENVIMA + everolimus treated patients. In HCC, grade 3 hypocalcemia occurred in 0.8% of LENVIMA-treated patients. Monitor blood calcium levels at least monthly and replace calcium as necessary during treatment. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity. Reversible Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome. Across clinical studies of 1,823 patients who received LENVIMA as a single agent, RPLS occurred in 0.3%. Confirm diagnosis of RPLS with MRI. Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue depending on severity and persistence of neurologic symptoms. Hemorrhagic Events. Serious including fatal hemorrhagic events can occur with LENVIMA. In DTC, RCC, and HCC clinical trials, hemorrhagic events, of any grade, occurred in 29% of the 799 patients treated with LENVIMA as a single agent or in combination with everolimus. The most frequently reported hemorrhagic events (all grades and occurring in at least 5% of patients) were epistaxis and hematuria. In DTC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 2% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 1 fatal intracranial hemorrhage among 16 patients who received LENVIMA and had CNS metastases at baseline. In RCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 8% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients, including 1 fatal cerebral hemorrhage. In HCC, grade 3-5 hemorrhage occurred in 5% of LENVIMA-treated patients, including 7 fatal hemorrhagic events. Serious tumor-related bleeds, including fatal hemorrhagic events, occurred in LENVIMA-treated patients in clinical trials and in the postmarketing setting. In postmarketing surveillance, serious and fatal carotid artery hemorrhages were seen more frequently in patients with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) than other tumors. Safety and effectiveness of LENVIMA in patients with ATC have not been demonstrated in clinical trials. Consider the risk of severe or fatal hemorrhage associated with tumor invasion or infiltration of major blood vessels (eg, carotid artery). Withhold and resume at reduced dose upon recovery or permanently discontinue based on severity. Impairment of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Suppression/Thyroid Dysfunction. LENVIMA impairs exogenous thyroid suppression. In DTC, 88% of patients had baseline thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level 0.5 mU/L. In patients with normal TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH level >0.5 mU/L was observed post baseline in 57% of LENVIMA-treated patients. In RCC and HCC, grade 1 or 2 hypothyroidism occurred in 24% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients and 21% of LENVIMA-treated patients, respectively. In patients with normal or low TSH at baseline, elevation of TSH was observed post baseline in 70% of LENVIMA-treated patients in HCC and 60% of LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients in RCC. Monitor thyroid function prior to initiation and at least monthly during treatment. Treat hypothyroidism according to standard medical practice. Impaired Wound Healing. Impaired wound healing has been reported in patients who received LENVIMA. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to elective surgery. Do not administer for at least 2 weeks following major surgery and until adequate wound healing. The safety of resumption of LENVIMA after resolution of wound healing complications has not been established. Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (ONJ). ONJ has been reported in patients receiving LENVIMA. Concomitant exposure to other risk factors, such as bisphosphonates, denosumab, dental disease, or invasive dental procedures, may increase the risk of ONJ. Perform an oral examination prior to treatment with LENVIMA and periodically during LENVIMA treatment. Advise patients regarding good oral hygiene practices and to consider having preventive dentistry performed prior to treatment with LENVIMA and throughout treatment with LENVIMA. Avoid invasive dental procedures, if possible, while on LENVIMA treatment, particularly in patients at higher risk. Withhold LENVIMA for at least 1 week prior to scheduled dental surgery or invasive dental procedures, if possible. For patients requiring invasive dental procedures, discontinuation of bisphosphonate treatment may reduce the risk of ONJ. Withhold LENVIMA if ONJ develops and restart based on clinical judgement of adequate resolution. Embryo-fetal Toxicity. Based on its mechanism of action and data from animal reproduction studies, LENVIMA can cause fetal harm when administered to pregnant women. In animal reproduction studies, oral administration of lenvatinib during organogenesis at doses below the recommended clinical doses resulted in embryotoxicity, fetotoxicity, and teratogenicity in rats and rabbits. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus; and advise females of reproductive potential to use effective contraception during treatment with LENVIMA and for at least 30 days after the last dose. Adverse Reactions In DTC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (73%), fatigue (67%), diarrhea (67%), arthralgia/myalgia (62%), decreased appetite (54%), decreased weight (51%), nausea (47%), stomatitis (41%), headache (38%), vomiting (36%), proteinuria (34%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (32%), abdominal pain (31%), and dysphonia (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were pneumonia (4%), hypertension (3%), and dehydration (3%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions in 68% of LENVIMA-treated patients; 18% discontinued LENVIMA. The most common adverse reactions (10%) resulting in dose reductions were hypertension (13%), proteinuria (11%), decreased appetite (10%), and diarrhea (10%); the most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were hypertension (1%) and asthenia (1%). In RCC, the most common adverse reactions (30%) observed in LENVIMA + everolimustreated patients were diarrhea (81%), fatigue (73%), arthralgia/myalgia (55%), decreased appetite (53%), vomiting (48%), nausea (45%), stomatitis (44%), hypertension (42%), peripheral edema (42%), cough (37%), abdominal pain (37%), dyspnea (35%), rash (35%), decreased weight (34%), hemorrhagic events (32%), and proteinuria (31%). The most common serious adverse reactions (5%) were renal failure (11%), dehydration (10%), anemia (6%), thrombocytopenia (5%), diarrhea (5%), vomiting (5%), and dyspnea (5%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 89% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were diarrhea (21%), fatigue (8%), thrombocytopenia (6%), vomiting (6%), nausea (5%), and proteinuria (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 29% of patients. In HCC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA-treated patients were hypertension (45%), fatigue (44%), diarrhea (39%), decreased appetite (34%), arthralgia/myalgia (31%), decreased weight (31%), abdominal pain (30%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (27%), proteinuria (26%), dysphonia (24%), hemorrhagic events (23%), hypothyroidism (21%), and nausea (20%). The most common serious adverse reactions (2%) were hepatic encephalopathy (5%), hepatic failure (3%), ascites (3%), and decreased appetite (2%). Adverse reactions led to dose reductions or interruption in 62% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reductions were fatigue (9%), decreased appetite (8%), diarrhea (8%), proteinuria (7%), hypertension (6%), and palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia syndrome (5%). Treatment discontinuation due to an adverse reaction occurred in 20% of patients. The most common adverse reactions (1%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were fatigue (1%), hepatic encephalopathy (2%), hyperbilirubinemia (1%), and hepatic failure (1%). In EC, the most common adverse reactions (20%) observed in LENVIMA + pembrolizumab - treated patients were fatigue (65%), hypertension (65%), musculoskeletal pain (65%), diarrhea (64%), decreased appetite (52%), hypothyroidism (51%), nausea (48%), stomatitis (43%), vomiting (39%), decreased weight (36%), abdominal pain (33%), headache (33%), constipation (32%), urinary tract infection (31%), dysphonia (29%), hemorrhagic events (28%), hypomagnesemia (27%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (26%), dyspnea (24%), cough (21%) and rash (21%). Adverse reactions led to dose reduction or interruption in 88% of patients receiving LENVIMA. The most common adverse reactions (5%) resulting in dose reduction or interruption of LENVIMA were fatigue (32%), hypertension (26%), diarrhea (18%), nausea (13%), palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia (13%), vomiting (13%), decreased appetite (12%), musculoskeletal pain (11%), stomatitis (9%), abdominal pain (7%), hemorrhages (7%), renal impairment (6%), decreased weight (6%), rash (5%), headache (5%), increased lipase (5%) and proteinuria (5%). Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 3% of patients receiving LENVIMA + pembrolizumab, including gastrointestinal perforation, RPLS with intraventricular hemorrhage, and intracranial hemorrhage. Serious adverse reactions occurred in 52% of patients receiving LENVIMA + pembrolizumab. Serious adverse reactions in 3% of patients were hypertension (9%), abdominal pain (6%), musculoskeletal pain (5%), hemorrhage (4%), fatigue (4%), nausea (4%), confusional state (4%), pleural effusion (4%), adrenal insufficiency (3%), colitis (3%), dyspnea (3%), and pyrexia (3%). Permanent discontinuation due to adverse reaction (Grade 1-4) occurred in 21% of patients who received LENVIMA + pembrolizumab. The most common adverse reactions (>2%) resulting in discontinuation of LENVIMA were gastrointestinal perforation or fistula (2%), muscular weakness (2%), and pancreatitis (2%). Use in Specific Populations Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in breastfed infants, advise women to discontinue breastfeeding during treatment and for at least 1 week after last dose. LENVIMA may impair fertility in males and females of reproductive potential. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with mild (CLcr 60-89 mL/min) or moderate (CLcr 30-59 mL/min) renal impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC or EC and severe (CLcr 15-29 mL/min) renal impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe renal impairment. There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC and severe renal impairment. LENVIMA has not been studied in patients with end stage renal disease. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with HCC and mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A). There is no recommended dose for patients with HCC with moderate (Child-Pugh B) or severe (Child-Pugh C) hepatic impairment. No dose adjustment is recommended for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and mild or moderate hepatic impairment. LENVIMA concentrations may increase in patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment. Reduce the dose for patients with DTC, RCC, or EC and severe hepatic impairment. LENVIMA (lenvatinib) is available as 10 mg and 4 mg capsules. Please see Prescribing information for LENVIMA (lenvatinib) at http://www.lenvima.com/pdfs/prescribing-information.pdf. About the Eisai and Merck Strategic Collaboration In March 2018, Eisai and Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA. Under the agreement, the companies will jointly develop, manufacture and commercialize LENVIMA, both as monotherapy and in combination with Merck's anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA. In addition to ongoing clinical studies evaluating the KEYTRUDA plus LENVIMA combination across several different tumor types, the companies have jointly initiated new clinical studies through the LEAP (LEnvatinib And Pembrolizumab) clinical program and are evaluating the combination in 13 different tumor types (endometrial carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, urothelial cancer, biliary tract cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, glioblastoma, ovarian cancer, and triple-negative breast cancer) across 20 clinical trials. About Eisai Eisai is a leading global research and development-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, with approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. We define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call our human health care (hhc) philosophy. We strive to realize our hhc philosophy by delivering innovative products in therapeutic areas with high unmet medical needs, including Oncology and Neurology. In the spirit of hhc, we take that commitment even further by applying our scientific expertise, clinical capabilities and patient insights to discover and develop innovative solutions that help address society's toughest unmet needs, including neglected tropical diseases and the Sustainable Development Goals. For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com (for global), us.eisai.com (for U.S.) or www.eisai.eu (for Europe, Middle East, Africa), and connect with us on Twitter (U.S . and global) and LinkedIn (for U.S.). LENVIMA is a registered trademark used by Eisai Inc. under license from Eisai R&D Management Co., Ltd. KEYTRUDA is a registered trademark of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. SOURCE Eisai Inc. Related Links http://www.eisai.com Indias largest micro-blogging platform Koo announces its tie up with Republic TV to further reach and encourage Indian audiences to express their thoughts and opinions on everyday trending news. This gives impetus to the ongoing Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative by PM Modi, which brings two homegrown brands together in a first-ever unique partnership. As part of the partnership, Republic Bharat will use the Koo platform to trend daily hashtags and encourage their followers on Koo to express their thoughts and opinions on these topics. The best koos will get featured on Republic TV. Republic will publish polls on Koo to users to get the pulse of the nation everyday which will be featured on their television network. Koo and Republic Bharat partnership will be seen on the Koo App and Republic Bharat TV channel starting Republic Day, 26th January 2021. Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder and CEO of Koo, said We firmly believe that Freedom of Speech digitally should be irrespective of language preferences. Today the internet has a majority of thoughts and opinions from the English audience. The tie up with Republic Bharat will help bring awareness about expressing oneself on social media among the Hindi speaking audiences as well. Arnab Goswami, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Republic Media Network said, It is a phenomenal start to our Republic-Aatmanirbhar Bharat Initiative. Aprameya and Mayank (of Koo) are rock-solid examples of the nations AatmaNirbhar Bharat beacon call. What these young entrepreneurs have created is truly remarkable. We vow to support, encourage and give a platform to the bright minds, ideators, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are rooted in this great nation and take pride in India.AatmaNirbhar Bharat beacon call. What these young entrepreneurs have created is truly remarkable. We vow to support, encourage and give a platform to the bright minds, ideators, innovators, and entrepreneurs who are rooted in this great nation and take pride in India. Singapore looking to facilitate a deeper partnership between ASEAN and India, says Minister Tan See Leng during R-Day function Speaking during the virtual Republic Day of India function organised by the Indian High Commission, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Tan See Leng said Singapore hopes to facilitate a deeper partnership between the ASEAN and India that would be to everyone's benefit as deeper integration with the region would enable greater access to significant opportunities. India would always be a valued partner and a friend to Singapore, Tan said. Photo courtesy: MTI The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners. "Looking to the future, Singapore as a country coordinator of the ASEAN-India dialogue relations, hopes to facilitate a deeper partnership between ASEAN and India. This would be to everyone's benefit as deeper integration with the region would enable greater access to significant opportunities," said Tan, congratulating India on its 72nd Republic Day. India would always be a valued partner and a friend to Singapore, Tan said. "We look forward to strengthening this relationship in the years to come," he added, recalling India's relationship with the city-state since its independence in 1965. The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence. "As our countries move towards the next stage of recovery from COVID-19, we look forward to working with India which is a key player in the global pharmaceutical supply chain," he said, noting the hard work put in by the two countries in keeping the supply chains open especially for essential goods such as health supplies and food. "Our partnership is especially strong on the economic front. We will work with the Indian government to establish skill centres in different parts of India to expand on this area of cooperation. Indian companies in Singapore have played their parts through partnerships with us and the region. Similarly, Singapore companies have a vested interest in the bright potential and promise of India, he said. In his address at the virtual Republic Day celebration, Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran noted Singapore's interests in various economic development fields, with over 440 companies having registered in India and total investments of USD 106 billion Nearly 9,000 Indian companies are registered in Singapore, exploring business opportunities across markets in the region, said the envoy. The beginning of the school year when you got to show off your new duds, new cars, new looks! Sports! Playing, cheering, watching high school athletics. The arts: Dramatic arts, musical groups and shows, graphic arts groups, debate, etc. The prom! No dancing the night away or punch bowl antics. The daily interactions. Just being with the group, hanging with friends and classmates. Access to college recruiters and advisors its harder to line up higher education. Walking onstage to get a diploma while all the family is watching with everyone elses family. Vote View Results The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, HuffPost and Wired are all looking for new editors. Soon, The New York Times will be too. Why it matters: The new hires will reflect a new generation one that's addicted to technology, demands accountability and expects diversity to be a priority. Driving the news: The Washington Posts widely-respected Executive Editor Marty Baron announced Tuesday he would be retiring at the end of the month, following a monumental nine-year run at the Post, and 45 years in journalism. Sources tell Axios that The Post has eyed both internal and external candidates, including Steven Ginsberg (the Post's national editor during the Trump administration), former Post managing editor Kevin Merida (now at ESPN) and National Geographic Editor in Chief Susan Goldberg (who helped lead that newsroom's successful digital transformation). that The Post has eyed both internal and external candidates, including Steven Ginsberg (the Post's national editor during the Trump administration), former Post managing editor Kevin Merida (now at ESPN) and National Geographic Editor in Chief Susan Goldberg (who helped lead that newsroom's successful digital transformation). Since it's owned by Jeff Bezos, the Post will serve as a litmus test for how much traditional newsrooms might think outside of the box for these types of roles. Be smart: This trend extends beyond print. TV newsrooms are also facing a reckoning. NBC News just tapped Telemundo veteran Cesar Conde to lead MSNBC, CNBC and NBC News. MSNBC vet Rashida Jones will be the first woman of color to lead a major cable news company when she becomes president of MSNBC in February. Susan Zirinsky became the first female president of CBS News in 2019. Suzanne Scott was named Fox News' first female CEO in 2018. just tapped Telemundo veteran Cesar Conde to lead MSNBC, CNBC and NBC News. MSNBC vet Rashida Jones will be the first woman of color to lead a major cable news company when she becomes president of MSNBC in February. Susan Zirinsky became the first female president of CBS News in 2019. Suzanne Scott was named Fox News' first female CEO in 2018. What to watch: The next big TV newsroom shakeup is expected at CNN, where the network's boss Jeff Zucker is reportedly eyeing an exit. The big picture: Trust in traditional media is at an all-time low in America. At the same time, the news business including big institutions are struggling to survive the pandemic. The new editors chosen to lead these newsrooms must be willing to approach journalism in a new way. Candidates that would've been considered overly qualified years ago might no longer be equipped to lead a modern newsroom. chosen to lead these newsrooms must be willing to approach journalism in a new way. Candidates that would've been considered overly qualified years ago might no longer be equipped to lead a modern newsroom. Candidates, particularly women and minorities, as well as technologists, that were for years overlooked for these types of roles, may now be more appealing. The bottom line: Change is coming to America's biggest newsrooms. Go deeper: Women leading press during the Biden era This week: Pitkin Countys front line workers are eligible for the COVID19 vaccine, but can your employer require you to get vaccinated? Also a look at the two back-to-back worldwide ski events Aspen is hosting beginning March 10. Host Alycin Bektesh is joined by Madeleine Osberger, Erica 2021 Toyota Truck Model Research To help drivers learn more about new Toyota trucks, Dan Cava Toyota World has added model research pages of the 2021 Toyota Tacoma and 2021 Toyota Tundra to its website so shoppers can get the details they need to make an informed buying decision. Pickup truck shoppers now have options when they begin their search for a new vehicle that can offer them the power and capability they are looking for on and off the road. The new 2021 Toyota Tundra and 2021 Toyota Tacoma are now available to drivers who require a tough new truck that can deliver incredible towing and hauling capacities as well as outstanding off-road capabilities. To help drivers learn more about these new Toyota trucks, Dan Cava Toyota World has added model research pages of both vehicles to its informative website so shoppers can get the details they need to make an informed buying decision. The 2021 Toyota Tacoma model research page offers a closer look at what this new truck has to offer in many different categories, including performance, technology, safety, power and capability. Some of the highlights found on the 2021 Toyota Tacoma research page that will help drivers buy the right new truck include its two available engine options, maximum towing capacity and its long list of available high-tech features. For drivers that require serious power to take care of the tough jobs, the 2021 Toyota Tundra is a perfect choice. The 2021 Toyota Tundra research page offers insight into this model's power and capability as well as its available technology and safety features. Other valuable information that can be found includes the maximum towing and hauling capacities of the 2021 Toyota Tundra pickup truck. To learn more about the new 2021 Toyota Tacoma or 2021 Toyota Tundra, interested truck shoppers can visit the West Virginia Toyota dealerships website by going to http://www.cavatoyota.com. Drivers may also contact the dealership to learn more about these new trucks and any current sale prices by calling 304-366-2720. Dan Cava Toyota World is located at 2510 White Hall Blvd. IT services major HCL Technologies (HCL) on Wednesday said it has partnered with University of California, Berkeley to create a Health Technology Collaborative Laboratory (CoLab). As a founding member of the CoLab, HCL Technologies is contributing USD 750,000 over the course of three years, a statement said. Housed in the Blum Center for Developing Economies on the university's campus in Berkeley, the CoLab's multidisciplinary teams will work on health technology innovations to meet the challenges in a new age of healthcare, it added. These activities will include rapid problem-solving, prototyping and testing of breakthrough healthcare technologies. The effort will bring together stakeholders in healthcare (patients, clinicians, regulators and insurers), the business community and investors to create and commercialise solutions from initial concept through the stages of prototyping, systems architecture and scalable distribution. "As a responsible global technology leader, we are proud to contribute and support the creation of macro-scale solutions to healthcare issues for a better future for all. We're honoured to support UC Berkeley in this initiative, especially as the healthcare industry is undergoing tremendous transformation," HCL Technologies President (Engineering and R&D Services) GH Rao said. As a founding member, HCL will have the opportunity to contribute to promising solutions and projects underway and looks forward to engaging the CoLab Ecosystem to develop new and unique health technology solutions for the future, Rao added. "HCL's commitment, combined with its vision for technology innovation and its global reach, will allow us to realize the goals of the CoLab quickly, said Daniel Fletcher, Associate Director for Research of the Blum Center, Purnendu Chatterjee Chair of Bioengineering, and Director of the CoLab. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As protesting farmers turned rioters on Tuesday in New Delhi, the name of actor Deep Sidhu emerged at the forefront of the desecration that happened at the Red Fort. While farmer unions alleged it was fringe elements like him who instigated protesters and turned the agitation violent, Sidhu defended his actions, saying they did not remove the national flag at the Red Fort, but only put up the 'Nishan Sahib' as a symbolic protest. The violent turn of events after two months of farmers' agitation has exposed the movement, even as unions and leaders continue to disassociate themselves from the faction that stormed the Red Fort. While there have been calls for an investigation into the role of Sidhu and Lakhana Sidhana in Tuesdays violence, there have been unfounded and unconfirmed reports linking the former to the BJP and the partys MP Sunny Deol. Deol has categorically denied having any connection with Siddhu, who himself has said that he does not have any association with the BJP. Who is Deep Sidhu? Sidhu was born in 1984 in Punjab's Muktsar district. He studied law and was also part of the Bar for a brief period before he won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award, according to a report by India Today. Sidhu's first Punjabi movie - Ramta Jogi - hit the theatres in 2015. But he gained popularity with the movie Jora Das Numbria in 2018, in which he played a gangster. ALSO READ | Delhi Police to Take Legal Action Against Violent Protesters, Says Farmers Broke Pre-agreed Conditions Indian Express states that the call to break away from the designated tractor rally route began on Monday, when for about six hours - from 6pm to midnight - some fringe elements took over the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) stage at the Singhu border. They opposed the route agreed upon between SKM leaders and Delhi Police, and their call was also webcast live on some Punjabi web channels and individual social media accounts. While it was first unknown faces who took up the state, Lakhbir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana, 40, and Sidhu later addressed the crowd. Sidhana is a gangster-turned-politician and president of the Malwa Youth Federation, Indian Express reports. Sidhu had also held a prolonged protest at Shambu border between Punjab and Haryana before moving to Singhu border. Accusations of Khalistani elements running the protests at Shambu have also been previously made. Reports say he was also involved in breaking barriers at Shambu border in November last year, after which Haryana Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the group of protesting farmers trying to enter Delhi. Sidhu and his brother, Mandeep Singh, were also among those summoned by the NIA earlier in January in connection with a case filed against the banned outfit 'Sikhs For Justice'. Sidhana was acquitted in several cases before contesting the 2012 assembly polls as a candidate of the Peoples Party of Punjab, floated by Manpreet Singh Badal. Unfounded links Actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol has distanced himself from Sidhu in December last year after the latter joined the farmers agitation. In a tweet, Deol on Tuesday said, Today, I am very sad to see what happened on the Red Fort, I have already made it clear on Twitter, on 6 December, that I or my family has no connection with Deep Sidhu. Sidhu, himself, in an interview to a journalist has clearly mentioned that he was never been part of the BJP or supported the party. I am not supporting BJP and I have not supported BJP or any political party... Sidhu said in the interview. ALSO READ | Day After Tractor Rally Violence, Delhi Roads See Huge Traffic Jams. Here Are the Routes to Avoid In his interviews, Sidhu has long been quoting Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He has been earlier summoned by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) case. Instigation of Protesters At Singhu border on Monday night, Sidhu had said - Our leadership is under pressure. We shouldnt put more pressure on them. But we can ask them to take a decision that is acceptable to all. They should come on the stage. If they dont come, then we will take a decision. You all should decide who should take the decision in that case." Thousand of youths want to take the Ring Road. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee has already decided to take the Ring Road. They are protesting ahead of us, so our tractors will be behind them. So if anyone wants to go on Ring Road, they can follow the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee What is the issue then? You should cool down, Sidhana had told the gathering. While Sidhana's presence could not be confirmed at Red Fort, Sidhu was there and in a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday evening. The Netherlands-Vietnam Sustainable Business Event for the Mekong Delta reaffirms the solid cooperation and friendship between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Vietnam A Letter of Intent on the Establishment of the Netherlands-Vietnam Business Platform for the Mekong Delta between the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality together with the joint Top Sector Water, Logistics, Agro Food, Horticulture & Starting Materials (Top Sector) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (VCCI) branch in Can Tho city (VCCI Can Tho), was signed at the event. The platform is established to not only stimulate business development in the Mekong Delta with a focus on sustainable water management, agro-water technology, and logistics but also identify business opportunities through a public-private partnership approach by 2030. Effective partnership and comprehensive integrated plans are, however, not sufficient without financing. Mobilisation of alternative financial resources from the private sector, rather than just solely from the government, has to be prioritised. Business is the leading force for the development of the Mekong Delta. Another highlight of the event was the Sustainable Citrus Chain Empowering and Developing Smallholders in the Mekong Delta (SUCCEEDS). With $2 million invested from the Dutch government and another $2 million from the Dutch private sector, the project aims to make the citrus sector of the Mekong Delta more sustainable and efficient (reduce the negative impacts of agro-chemicals to the environment), and more profitable (50 per cent increase in income) for 150,000 citrus small-holders in the area, by developing a sustainable citrus value chain in which the local farmers will be contracted and supported in combination with the private sectors extension system, fertiliser advisory service, virus-free citrus seedlings, and financial support programme. The programme was signed between The Fruit Republic, Can Tho University, and Ben Luc district from Long An province for the next five years of implementation. Alongside, there are also project launchings and project introductions. Among those were the Quality improvement tropical fruit Vietnam, Orange knowledge Program: Towards a climate-resilient nursery sector and value chain in the Mekong Delta, River training and management in the Mekong Delta, Water retention in the Mekong Delta, and Cai Mep Ha Logistics Centre and Downstream Cai Mep Ha Port. The event also honours five project winners of the Agro-Water Solutions for the Mekong Delta Contest, where Dutch and Vietnamese knowledge institutes and businesses work together for breakthrough solutions addressing the challenges in the Mekong Delta. The Netherlands-Vietnam Sustainable Business Event for the Mekong Delta reaffirms the solid cooperation and friendship between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Vietnam. The Mekong Delta in Vietnam faces many challenges such as climate change, salt intrusion, land subsidence, clean water shortage any others, that affect not only the regional economy but also the livelihoods of the people. The Netherlands has been Vietnams leading partner in a joint movement towards the realisation of a sustainable and climate-resilient Mekong Delta, both in the public and private sectors. Vietnam and the Netherlands have embarked on a sustainable development pathway that requires a more comprehensive and integrated approach to economy and ecology in their economic growth models, with impact investments needed from both the government and private sectors, especially in water and agriculture. The Netherlands and Vietnam have been engaged in the Strategic Partnership Arrangement on Climate Change Adaptation and Water Management since 2010 and the Strategic Partnership Arrangement on Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security since 2014 two over-arching umbrella structures for all existing and new areas of cooperation in the aforementioned fields. The agro-water nexus two interlinked elements of the delta system is a showcase for an integrated approach to the Mekong Deltas governance and businesses in adaptation to climate change, changing water and agriculture conditions. The cooperation between the two countries has become even more robust after the ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), with a growing volume of agro products transported between the two countries for consumption. As a small country with a highly innovative sector and the worlds second-largest exporter of agricultural products, and as Vietnams second-largest European trade partner, the Netherlands is with Vietnam in every step towards a sustainable food system for the Mekong Delta and together we will solve the challenges for years to come. Photo: The Canadian Press The Cannes Film Festival, cancelled altogether last year by the pandemic, is postponing this year's edition from May to July in hopes of having an in-person festival. Cannes organizers announced Wednesday that this year's festival will now take place July 6-17, about two months after its typical period. The French Riviera festival, which had run for nearly 75 years with few interruptions, is currently hoping the coronavirus recedes enough by summertime. Cannes last year first looked at a postponement its 73rd festival to June or July before ultimately cancelling altogether. The festival still went ahead with a selection announcement to celebrate the films it had planned to include in its prestigious lineup. This year, organizers are intent on having a festival, one way or another. No details were announced Wednesday on what shape a 2021 edition might take. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. On Monday afternoon, Senate Bill 389 was passed by the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee and is now headed to the Indiana Senate floor. This bill would take what some might call "protection" away from isolated wetlands across Indiana and give developers more freedom. Currently, if people want to build on a wetland, there are a series of steps and regulations they must follow. If this bill is passed, builders and developers will no longer need a permit from the state to work on a property with isolated wetlands. Rick Wajda, the CEO of the Indiana Builders Association, said the association supports the bill. According to Wajda, the bill makes things much easier for builders and developers. "We've heard a lot of feedback from builders and developers across the state that had had some challenges with working with isolated wetlands. So, they saw this as something that they had an interest in and that's something that we should support as an industry," said Wajda. Wajda also said if SB 389 is passed, Hoosier homebuyers will save money. "Builders and developers that build houses for Hoosier home buyers have to pass along those regulatory costs to homeowners. That's no sticks and that's no bricks or any other products that go into the house. That's government regulations from the federal state and local level," explained Wajda. Those against the bill say it could have negative effects on the environment. Cliff Chapman, the Executive Director for the Central Indiana Land Trust said SB 389 could decrease access to drinking water for Hoosiers and create flooding. "Sort of think of it like a bathtub. It's not connected to a river or a stream, your bathtub fills up like a basin and you have a drain just open a little bit and it slowly goes down. You can fill it up fast but it will slowly go down. What SB 389 would do is allow somebody to stick a piece of plywood over the tub and just let all of the water run onto the floor," explained Chapman. According to Chapman, those types of problems could end up costing Hoosiers more money down the road. To stop this bill from being approved, the Central Indiana Land Trust has reached out to its members and encouraged them to contact their local leaders. He said they have never taken those steps before. "We've never done this in 31 years and this is such a horrible piece of legislation and it would be so bad for everybody in the state that we felt like [we needed to do it] for the first time," said Chapman. According to Lorrie Heber, Director of the White Violet Center of Eco-justice with the Sisters of Providence in Vigo County, not only are wetlands an important part of the Wabash Valley's water system but also its wildlife. She believes if this bill is passed, it will have severe impacts. "We're a very migratory route for birds, bees, and other wildlife as it moves from the southern hemisphere of our world to the northern hemisphere. Wetlands serve as a place for them to stay, a source of food, and a source of shelter," said Heber. District 38s, Senator Jon Ford, who will eventually vote on this, was not available to comment. However, in an email from his office, he confirmed that the Wabashiki Wetland won't be impacted by SB 389. Wabashiki will not be impacted because it's a federally jurisdictional wetland. That means it's next to a federally regulated body of water. Which in this case, is the Wabash River. Wajda also said builders and developers consider the environment while working on a project. "In most parts of the state, you'll see the subdivisions and housing developments that have been built over the last 20-30 years all have flood control measures in place. Being sensitive to the environment around us is important," said Wajda. Heber hopes that both sides of the bill can come together to create a middle ground. "This isn't an either-or situation. There's always a common ground to come to. We benefit from the environment, we benefit for economic development. Let's sit down and talk about it. To express your support or opposition to senate bill 3-89, contact your district leader. For a list of Indiana's senators and the districts they cover, visit here. Hundreds of supporters of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Volta Region have demonstrated against the reappointment of Mr Archibald Yaw Letsa as the Regional Minister. Various constituency executives of the party took part in the rally organised by a pro-NPP group, Volta Region Grassroots for Justice. An earlier attempt by the regional police command to prevent the demonstration due to the rising COVID-19 cases failed. Chants of Letsa must go away and Neho filled the air as a sea of red-attired protesters surged across the principal streets of Ho. Some of the protesters were seen sweeping along the streets with brooms in a symbolic gesture of banishment. A deployment of police with some riot control equipment and other security teams were on hand to ensure sanity. The protestors alleged that the Regional Minister-designate had failed to help develop the area as compared with the performance of some ministers in other regions. They said he also failed to provide opportunities for members of the party in the region. Its not that the President is not working, but it is because of the Regional Minister. He is not working for us, Mr James Deh, a Member of the Ho Constituency Communication Team, said. Letsa must go so that we will get work to do, one protestor said, while others threatened not to vote for the NPP should the Regional Minister be maintained. The protesters presented a petition to the NPP Regional office, asking President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to consider the interest of the grassroots. Mr Gladstone Azorko, Convener of the group, accused the Regional Minister-designate of causing more harm than good to the party in the region. He said the protest sought to rescue Volta from political retrogression, adding that Mr Letsas performance was abysmal and failed to provide significant support for the partys electioneering efforts. Of what use is it to continue to appoint a person who does not have the progress of the party and the development of its members at heart, he quizzed. Mr Makafui Woanya, the Regional Chairman of the NPP, who received the petition, said it would be forwarded to the relevant stakeholders for consideration. Mr Korsi Bodza, Regional Organiser of the NPP, told the Ghana News Agency that the Presidents decision reflected the choice of the Party, and appealed to stakeholders to work together for progress. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Gov. Kay Ivey is scheduled on Wednesday morning to tour the widespread damage from Monday nights tornado that touched down in Fultondale and killed a 14-year-old boy, injured more than 30 people and left a trail of devastation in its wake, her office announced Tuesday. Ivey is set to hold a press conference with Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb, Center Point Mayor Bobby Scott, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Coker and Alabama EMA Director Brian Hastings before surveying the damage caused by the EF-2 tornado, her office said. The tornado hit the northern Jefferson County city about 10:30 p.m. Monday and cut a quarter-mile wide swath after touching down near Interstate 65. It moved northeast toward Fultondale High School where there is substantial damage. Multiple businesses - such as Hurst Towing and the Hampton Inn were destroyed, as well as most everything in between. Elliott Hernandez, a ninth grader at Fultondale High School, was killed when the tornado ripped through Fultondale. We were deeply saddened to learn of the loss of one of our students,' said Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin. This is a tragic day for the Fultondale community and the entire Jefferson County School District. Our thoughts and prayers are with the students family, as well as his teachers and classmates. Childhood Services Ireland, the Ibec group representing the Irish childcare sector, has today cautiously welcomed the Department of Childrens funding arrangements for the childcare sector up to March 5. The group says that while there are a number of critical areas where further detail from the Department is urgently needed for providers to make informed decisions, the package should see providers through the next six weeks. Under the terms of the funding arrangements, services which remain open will continue to receive 100% of their NCS and other legacy scheme funding, 70% of ECCE funding, and continue to receive the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) at the enhanced rate. Childcare providers who remain open may also receive the remaining ECCE funding and an additional Covid Support Payment if they are deemed eligible. Details of the eligibility criteria, however, have not yet been disclosed by the Department. ECCE services which remain closed in February and services which are closed with approval by the Department will continue to receive the EWSS at the enhanced rate and may also receive 100% of their NCS and other legacy scheme funding, 70% of ECCE funding, and a Covid Support Payment if they adhere to certain conditions. Commenting on the Departments package, Childhood Services Ireland Director, Darragh Whelan, said; "We have been working extremely hard with the Department of Children on these funding arrangements for the past few weeks, and we are cautiously welcoming it. "The childcare sector is fully committed to playing its part in helping our healthcare workers through this crisis, and this arrangement will enable us to do so. There are outstanding uncertainties on which we are working with the Department to seek clarity. However, this arrangement should see the childcare providers through the next six weeks until the restrictions begin to ease on March 5." Darragh went on to say: "Our focus now is on helping childcare providers remain open for the children of frontline and essential workers and vulnerable children. In parallel, we need to begin planning for what will happen after March 5th, when we will hopefully see childcare services reopening fully. Childhood Services Ireland is the Ibec trade association representing childcare providers across Ireland. Credit: CC0 Public Domain As China pushes the world to avoid official dealings with Taiwan, leaders across the globe are realizing just how dependent they've become on the island democracy. Taiwan, which China regards as a province, is being courted for its capacity to make leading-edge computer chips. That's mostly down to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest foundry and go-to producer of chips for Apple Inc. smartphones, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. Taiwan's role in the world economy largely existed below the radar, until it came to recent prominence as the auto industry suffered shortfalls in chips used for everything from parking sensors to reducing emissions. With carmakers including Germany's Volkswagen AG, Ford Motor Co. of the U.S. and Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. forced to halt production and idle plants, Taiwan's importance has suddenly become too big to ignore. U.S., European and Japanese automakers are lobbying their governments for help, with Taiwan and TSMC being asked to step in. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron discussed the potential for shortages last year and agreed on the need to accelerate Europe's push to develop its own chip industry, according to a French official with knowledge of the matter. The auto industry's pleas illustrate how TSMC's chip-making skills have handed Taiwan political and economic leverage in a world where technology is being enlisted in the great power rivalry between the U.S. and Chinaa standoff unlikely to ease under the administration of Joe Biden. Taiwan's grip on the semiconductor businessdespite being under constant threat of invasion by Beijingalso represents a choke point in the global supply chain that's giving new urgency to plans from Tokyo to Washington and Beijing to increase self-reliance. By dominating the U.S.-developed model of outsourcing chip manufacture, Taiwan "is potentially the most critical single point of failure in the entire semiconductor value chain," said Jan-Peter Kleinhans, director of the technology and geopolitics project at Berlin-based think tank Stiftung Neue Verantwortung. The Trump administration exploited that pinch point to deny Beijing access to technology. By banning access to all U.S. chip technology including design, it was able to cut off the supply of semiconductors from TSMC and other foundries to Huawei Technologies, hobbling the advance of China's biggest tech company. It also negotiated with TSMC to establish a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in Arizona. South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. is set to follow, with a $10 billion facility in Austin, Texas. The "CHIPS for America Act" introduced to Congress last year aims to encourage more plants to be established in the U.S. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, plans to reintroduce the bipartisan bill this year with a view to securing $25 billion in federal funds and tax incentives. McCaul said in a statement he's working with colleagues in the House and Senate "to prioritize getting the remaining provisions of CHIPS signed into law as quickly as possible." News that Intel Corp., the onetime industry leader, was considering outsourcing production of some chips to TSMC under its former CEO underscored the need for a U.S. player that can fabricate at the leading edge, said a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee staff who is not authorized to speak publicly. The European Union aims to bolster the bloc's "technological sovereignty" through an alliance armed initially with as much as 30 billion euros ($36 billion) of public-private investment to raise Europe's share of the global chip market to 20% (without a target date) from less than 10% now. It's also encouraging Taiwan to increase investments in the 27-nation bloc, with some success. GlobalWafers Co.based in TSMC's hometown of Hsinchujust boosted its offer for Germany's Siltronic AG to value the company at 4.4 billion euros, an acquisition that would create the world's largest silicon wafer maker by revenue. That's not to say Taiwan is the only player in the semiconductor supply chain. The U.S. still holds dominant positions, notably in chip design and electronic software tools; ASML Holding NV of the Netherlands has a monopoly on the machines needed to fabricate the best chips; Japan is a key supplier of equipment, chemicals and wafers. But as the emphasis shifts to ever smaller, more powerful chips that require less energy, TSMC is increasingly in a field of its own. And it's helped Taiwan form a comprehensive ecosystem around it: ASE Technology Holding is the world's top chip assembler, while MediaTek has become the largest smartphone chipset vendor. Tokyo, too, is attempting to attract TSMC to set up in Japan. With 110 billion yen ($1 billion) earmarked last year for R&D investment and another 90 billion yen for 2021, some of that may go to a TSMC facility, which reports have said the company is considering setting up in Japan. "TSMC is becoming more and more dominant," said Kazumi Nishikawa, an official working on technology issues at Japan's Economy Ministry. "This is something everybody in the chip industry must find a way to deal with." China, in its five-year plan presented in October, is channeling help to the chip industry and other key technologies to the tune of $1.4 trillion through 2025. Yet even that kind of money doesn't negate the need for Taiwan. Indeed, China has long tapped the island for chip-making talent; two key executives at China's top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., used to work at TSMC: co-Chief Executive Officer Liang Mong Song and Vice Chairman Chiang Shang-yi. But with Washington stymieing China's progress, there is also speculation that Beijing could resort to stealing chip IP, with Taiwan at the heart of those endeavors. Taiwanese cyber security firm TeamT5 has observed a steady increase in attacks on the island's chip industry corresponding to the tightening of U.S. export controls on China. While it's not always possible to know if these are Chinese state actors, "they are all attacking the Taiwanese semiconductor industry," Shui Lee, a T5 cyber threat analyst, said. Fellow analyst Linda Kuo said the Taiwanese government was alarmed by a ransomware attack on TSMC in 2018 and had announced plans for some $500 million to help the industry become more aware of cyber security issues. The greater worry is that TSMC's chip factories could become collateral damage if China were to make good on threats to invade Taiwan if it moves toward independence. TSMC's capital spending of as much as $28 billion for this year suggests it's going to stay out in front. "Taiwan is the center of gravity of Chinese security policy," said Mathieu Duchatel, director of the Asia program at the Institut Montaigne in Paris. Yet while Taiwan's status in the global chip supply chain is a "huge strategic value," it's also a powerful reason for Beijing to stay away, said Duchatel, who's just published a policy paper on China's push for semiconductors. Assuming Taiwanese forces were to be overwhelmed during an invasion, "there is no reason why they would leave these facilities intact," he said. And preserving the world's most advanced fabs "is in the interests of everyone." For all the moves to reel back domestic chip fabrication, it's optimistic to think the supply chain for such a complex product as semiconductors could change in short order, Peter Wennink, ASML chief executive officer, told Bloomberg TV. "If you want to reallocate semiconductor build capacity, manufacturing capacity, you have to think in years," he said. In the meantime, geopolitics means chip shortages could become a more regular occurrence, according to Joerg Wuttke, president of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. "This is going to move on to the point where actually because of export controls, because of governmental intervention, there will be all of a sudden supply chain disruptions not just because of capacity problems," he told Bloomberg Television. "So better get prepared. 2021 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC Delhi Farmers Protest: Police use tear gas and lathi charge tractor rally on January 26 (Image Source: Twitter/Abhijeet Dipke (AAP) A day after the tractor parade by farmers protesting against the recently passed three agriculture reform laws turned violent on January 26, an FIR has been filed against more than 2,000 persons over involvement in the incident. The case against almost 2,200 protesting farmers was lodged after the head constable posted at the Gadpuri Police Station filed a complaint, reported The Indian Express. The FIR has been registered under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), namely, sections 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees). In Pics | Farmers' protest rally on Republic Day 2021 Sub-Inspector Hanish Khan, who is investigating the case, said: The FIR has been registered against 2,000 to 2,200 people moving on 350 to 400 tractors, who became violent with police officers, broke barricades, and containers, and blocked the National Highway between 11.30 am and 12 pm near Softa village in Gadpuri. We are still investigating the matter and are yet to identify the accused or make any arrests. Notably, the FIR was lodged against those who were part of the tractor rally and had tried entering Faridabad to move towards Delhi. They were later talked into returning to Palwal. Faridabad has since been under curfew with Section 144 being imposed due to apprehension of any tension, damage to public property, and loss of life. BRIDGEPORT Two years after it agreed to pay a share of $61 million to more than 50 boys sexually abused at a Haitian school it funded, Fairfield University is fighting to get its insurance company to pick up the tab. This is a civil action by Fairfield against Chubb for breach of their contractual obligations to defend and indemnify Fairfield against lawsuits alleging liability in connection with sexual misconduct in Haiti by Douglas Perlitz, states the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. The Chubb Group of New Jersey, the universitys insurer, has filed a motion in court to dismiss the case, contending it has done nothing wrong. In the meantime, a settlement conference has been scheduled for March 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Merriam, according to court records. As a matter of policy, we do not comment on legal matters, said Chubb Group spokesman Eric Samansky. Fairfield University does not comment on ongoing litigation, said spokeswoman Jennifer L. Anderson. The university has not said how much of the $61 million settlement it paid. Douglas Perlitz, a Fairfield University graduate, founded and operated the residential school for boys in Haiti called Project Pierre-Toussaint. Fairfield University raised funds and sent university student volunteers to work at the Haitian school. Accused of sexually assaulting the Haitian students, in August 2010 Perlitz pleaded guilty to one charge of traveling overseas to engage in sex with a minor. He was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in federal prison. Two dozen former students sued Fairfield University and other religious groups that helped run the school resulting in a separate $12 million settlement in 2013. The second lawsuit, referred to as Perlitz II, was later filed against the university and others by more than 50 former students. That lawsuit alleged that Fairfield University was liable for negligent supervision of Perlitz and for breach of a fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs. In early 2019, the defendants successfully settled the Perlitz II litigation by asking the District Court to certify a settlement class and approve the proposed settlement as reasonable, the universitys lawsuit states. Chubb participated in the settlement discussions and consented to the settlement. A significant proportion of the funds to be used in the Universitys contribution to the settlement will come through a University Insurance carrier, Fairfield University said in a statement following the announcement of the settlement. The university has been planning for this litigation, and any difference has been allocated for and will not have material impact on the financial integrity of the university or its day-to-day operations in serving our students, faculty and the broader Fairfield Community, the school said in a prepared statement at the time. We will continue to make investments to enhance our facilities and our faculty to ensure that we provide a world-class education to our students. However, the lawsuit continues, while Chubb consented to Fairfields settlement share, it only funded a portion at the time of settlement, requiring Fairfield to advance a significant balance of the settlement from its own funds in order to effectuate the settlement and end the litigation. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) welcomed a new Facebook tool that aims to educate the public about the Holocaust. When users search certain key words related to the Holocaust, a pop-up will appear directing users to more detailed information. "The new pop-up treatment is a proactive step by Facebook for truthful Holocaust education. But the priority remains ensuring that Holocaust denial is entirely taken down from Facebook," said AJC CEO David Harris. Facebook cited AJC as a partner in creating this critical resource. AJC has been working closely with Facebook on combating antisemitism on the social media platform. In October, AJC praised Facebook's decision to remove all Holocaust denial and distortion posts from the social media platform and to prevent any such posts in the future under the company's hate speech policy. "The power and credibility of Facebook are vital to preserving the facts of the most documented genocide in history, and helping maintain the guardrails against any possible recurrence," Harris said at the time. "There shouldn't be a sliver of doubt about what the Nazi German regime did, nor should such a mega-platform as Facebook be used by antisemites to peddle their grotesque manipulation of history." SOURCE American Jewish Committee Related Links http://www.ajc.org BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on China and Belarus to boost high-quality development of bilateral Belt and Road cooperation. In his telephone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Xi also urged the two sides to make solid progress in the construction of China-Belarus industrial park. Xi pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belarus, bilateral ties have seen continuous development, adding that in the face of the pandemic, the two sides have carried out close anti-epidemic cooperation, and practical cooperation in various fields has maintained a good momentum of steady progress. Noting that this year is the first year for China to implement the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi said China's efforts to foster a new development pattern and promote reform and opening up at a higher starting point will provide more development opportunities and open up broader cooperation space for countries worldwide, including Belarus. He also called on the two sides to boost cooperation in the fields of anti-epidemic, economy and trade, education, science and technology, culture, as well as exchanges at local levels. "I believe that as long as the two sides can uphold the spirit of mutual trust and win-win cooperation, the China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership will surely achieve greater development," he said. Xi stressed that China supports Belarus in pursuing a development path that fits its national conditions, hopes that Belarus will maintain political and social stability, and is willing to provide assistance within its own capacity to the economic and social development in Belarus. The two sides should continue to support each other, safeguard the common interests of developing countries and defend international fairness and justice, Xi added. For his part, Lukashenko expressed his admiration and warm congratulation to China on its remarkable and significant achievements in battling the pandemic, resumption of work and production, poverty alleviation and lunar exploration projects, saying that he appreciates China for providing invaluable support for Belarus's fight against the epidemic as well as for his country's economic and social development. Noting that Belarus and China are comprehensive strategic partners, he said Belarus firmly stands with China on issues involving China's core interests such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang and firmly opposes all external interference. He also said that his country is willing to join China in actively promoting bilateral Belt and Road cooperation and the construction of the Belarus-China industrial park, and strengthening cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade and exchanges at local levels, adding that he wishes the Chinese people a happy New Year, prosperity and health. (Source: Xinhua) BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Switzerland stock market ended weak on Wednesday, in line with the trend seen across Europe. However, losses posted by the Swiss market was relatively less pronounced than in other major markets in the region. The market, which spent a little over an hour in positive territory after recovering from a weak start, faltered again in late morning trades and then stayed weak till the end. The benchmark SMI ended the session with a loss of 59.81 points or 0.55% at 10,904.24, more than 70 points off the day's low of 10,964.05. The index touched a high of 11,000.05 around mid morning. Lonza Group, Credit Suisse, Sika, LafargeHolcim and Swiss Life Holding lost 1.4 to 1.7%. UBS Group, Richemont, Swatch Group and Partners Group ended lower by 1 to 1.2%, while Roche Holding, Swiss Re and SGS slid 0.7 to 0.85%. Swisscom rallied 4.7% after Taiwanese company MediaTek Inc. announced it has reached a 5G carrier aggregation and voice over new radio milestone in collaboration with Swisscom, Ericsson and Oppo, advancing 5G networks across Europe. Alcon and Nestle ended with modest gains of 0.6% and 0.45%, respectively. Among the stocks in the Swiss Mid Price Index, Straumann Holding ended 4.1% down, BB Biotech declined 3.7% and Gerorg Fischer lost 3.3%, while, Cembro Money Bank, Tecan Group, VAT Group, SIG Combibloc and Lindt & Spruengli ended lower by 1.6 to 2%. Logitech moved up by about 1.9%. PSP Swiss Property, Ems Chemie Holding, AMS and Swiss Prime Site Posted moderate gains. On the vaccine front, the Swiss government is negotiating a supply agreement for the vaccine with the American company Johnson & Johnson, according to NZZ newspaper. The company is expected to release results of a large clinical trial early next week. If the deal is agreed, Johnson & Johnson would be Switzerland's fourth supplier of coronavirus vaccines, after Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna and AstraZeneca. The Swiss government has stated that it would spend more than a billion dollars on testing for asymptomatic Covid-19 cases, saying they were probably responsible for most new infections. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de As police action against the protestors continued, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Wednesday reiterated that they had nothing to do with the violence, alleging that a 'dirty conspiracy was being hatched' against farmers to malign their movement The farmers unions on Wednesday blamed the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KSMC) along with anti-social elements such as Deep Sidhu" for the Republic Day violence in Delhi, which killed one person and injured over 1,000 people, including at least a 100 police personnel. The body alleged that a dirty conspiracy was being hatched against farmers to malign their movement and push them on the backfoot. The statement was made by the umbrella body of all farmers' unions, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), after a joint meeting was held to assess Tuesday's violence. The body has squarely blamed not only Sidhu and KMSC leader Satnam Singh Pannu, but also a gangster-turned-politician named Lakha Sidhana, who was previously deemed close to former BJP ally, Akali Dal. Meanwhile, the Delhi Police continued its action against the section of protesters and farmer leaders it blamed for Tuesday's events, even as SKM reiterated that they had nothing to do with the violence. The police detained around 200 protesters on charges of rioting, damaging public property and attacking police personnel. It has also filed 22 FIRs so far that mention the names of at least 10 farmer leaders, including Yogendra Yadav and Rakesh Tikait. Other leaders named in the FIR for allegedly breaching the No Objection Certificate issued for the tractor rally include, Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha. But who are these people and why are they being linked to the violence? Let us take a look: As per The Indian Express, a group of youths on Monday had opposed the route agreed upon between SKM leaders and Delhi Police. They staged a protest at the Singhu border, which was webcast live on some Punjabi web channels as well as on some individual social media accounts. Later on, some known faces, like Lakha Sidhana, gangster-turned-politician and president of the Malwa Youth Federation, and Punjabi film actor Deep Sidhu, were identified amongst the group of youths who opposed the agreed-upon route. Sidhu took over the main stage at Singhu border along with Sidhana, and announced that they would hold the march inside Delhi. With Tuesday's chaos and bloodshed on Delhi streets in retrospect, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha distanced itself from the duo and also raised slogans against them, ThePrint reported. The union members shouted slogans such as Deep Sidhu murdabad and Lakha murdabad. They accused the two of inciting the violence in which thousands of farmers were injured in addition to the loss to public property and the 80 odd cops recieving injury. The SKM also said that "a dirty conspiracy was hatched with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others against the peaceful struggle of other farmer organizations. As per The Hindu, in a statement, the SKM said, "anti-social elements like Deep Sidhu and others, including the KMSC, attempted to torpedo the farmers agitation. Deep Sidhu Deep Sidhu, a 1984-born Punjabi actor from Muktsar district, studied law and practised as an advocate for a brief period. However, he later quit the Bar to work in films after winning the Kingfisher Model Hunt award. In 2015, his first Punjabi movie Ramta Jogi was released. It was only in 2018 that Sidhu gained popularity with the movie Jora Das Numbria. He is considered close to Bollywood star and Bharatiya Janta Partys Gurdaspur MP Sunny Deol. In fact, Sidhu was the election agent of Deol in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, as per reports, many farmer leaders are opposed to him. According to Business Today, some farmer leaders have also accused Sidhu of being a BJP-RSS agent after his photos with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sunny Deol made rounds on social media. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had reportedly summoned him and his brother Mandeep Singh, earlier this month, for questioning in connection with the banned pro-Khalistan Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group. Several farmers bodies have blamed Sidhu and Sidhana for the violence at Red Fort. "Deep Sidhu was present at Red Fort during the violence. We were opposed to him since the start. A probe should be launched into how Deep Sidhu reached the Red Fort with a microphone," Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav said in an interview with AajTak. Yadav also claimed that they had informed the police about Sidhu and Sidhana trying to instigate the crowd the night before the tractor rally, but no action was taken. Meanwhile, some farmers alleged the involvement of government agencies. All India Kisan Sabha leader Hannan Mollah suspected the role of the government in the incident. Deep Sidhu, who was the election agent of Bharatiya Janta Party candidate Sunny Deol and whose picture with Narendra Modi went viral on social media, led the charge at Red Fort, according to TV visuals, he claimed , as per Scroll.in. This clearly points to an element of sabotage. Meanwhile, Deol has denied any links with Sidhu. Deol tweeted, "Really saddened to see what happened at the Red Fort today, I have already made it clear on Twitter, on 6 December, that neither I nor my family have no connection with Deep Sidhu. Jai Hind." , , 6 December ,Twitter Sunny Deol (@iamsunnydeol) January 26, 2021 Following the incident, Sidhu defended himself. He admitted that he and the protestors hoisted the Nishan Sahib, a Sikh flag, at the Red Fort but insisted that there was nothing wrong with the action. We did not make any separatist announcements there, he said on a Facebook Live. Our act should not be seen as anti-national. We raised our flags there without touching the Tricolour. This only shows the unity in our diversity. Sidhu said the protesters did not go to Delhi to hurt anyone or vandalise government property, and should not be called communal or hardliners. He also said the protest was peaceful and symbolic and the emotions of the people should be understood, adding that one person should not be blamed for the mobilisation of people or the protest. Lakha Sidhana Lakhbir Singh Sidhana alias Lakha Sidhana, who now identifies himself as a social activist, was at one time, a criminal with 26 cases registered against him, for murder, kidnapping and other heinous crimes, including one under Gangster Act. Now, only a couple of cases under the Arms Act are pending against him. In most of the cases, he was acquitted by the courts for lack of evidence. He had also contested the 2012 Assembly polls on Peoples Party of Punjab ticket. He hails from the Rampura Phul town of Bathinda district in Punjab and was once considered close to Akali leader Sikander Singh Maluka, who was an MLA from Rampura Phul. Maluka has denied any involvement with his criminal activities. Sidhana is also the chairman of Malwa Youth Federation. As per The Indian Express, he has two masters degrees in history and Punjabi, with a third in Urdu on its way. He uses social media extensively to spread messages in support of the farm agitation through his motivational videos and has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must look at the plight of small and marginal farmers instead of selling them to corporate houses. In 2017, the gangster-turned-social activist was among seven booked by the Faridkot Police for allegedly using a mobile phone inside prison to record a Facebook Live video. As chairman of Malwa Youth Federation, an organisation floated by him, Sidhana made headlines when his supporters smudged the English language on signboards on highways, demanding that Punjabi be put on top. As a social worker, he has also organised mass marriage of poor girls, reports The Tribune. Farmer leaders have accused both Sidhana and Sidhu of orchestrating the violence. Deep Sidhu and Lakha Sidhana have tried to damage our protest, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), told ThePrint. They incited the youth to take over the agitation and give it a different colour. We were marching on the route finalised for us but we encountered these agitated youth who wanted us to change our route. Speaking to the media on Monday, Sidhana said he did not go to address the youth on the morchas stage when it was taken over by them. He said that he and some farmer leaders only marched up to the Outer Ring Road in the national capital. "I am pained at the incidents that took place on Tuesday but I am not involved in these. There is no video, photo or other evidence that shows that I instigated people. We had marched towards the Outer Ring Road under our farmer leaders in a peaceful manner. We never had any agenda of going towards the Red Fort," Sidhana, who is in his 40s, told PTI over phone. Satnam Singh Pannu Another name that has come under the scanner in light of the recent events is the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) leader Satnam Singh Pannu. As per the agreed plan between the police and the SKM, the tractor rally on Tuesday was supposed to take place at the borders of the National Capital. But on the eve of the rally, leaders of KMSC, said they were not satisfied with the route as it restricted them to the outskirts of Delhi. They wanted to take the march to Delhis Outer Ring Road. KMSC leaders openly admitted to breaking through the barriers on Tuesday but dissociated themselves from the Red Fort incident. We did exactly what we had said, said KMSC leader Satnam Singh Pannu. We differed from the unions routes and instead we broke barriers and reached the Ring Road. We did our parade and are now back at the Singhu border. Pannu said that his groups had no plans to go the Red Fort. I have no idea who went to the Red Fort, he said. Our supporters were not among them. As per NDTV, Pannu blamed the ruling BJP of organising the Red Fort violence to tarnish the farmer protests. He further went on to insist that his group had nothing to do with the Red Fort violence and named Deep Sidhu of instigating the clashes and planting a Sikh religious flag. Hailing from Piddi village near Tarn Taran district, Pannu was once an activist of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He has been active in the farmers' movement for nearly the past three decades. Along with some other members of CPM, Pannu broke away from the party and formed the Kisan Sangarsh Committee. However, soon after Pannu clashed with leader Kanwalpreet Singh over the dictatorial attitude in the organisation and formed Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee Punjab in 2007. Now the committee is present in seven districts including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Fazilka. Delhi Police name at least 7 farmers leaders in FIR The Delhi Police on Wednesday detained around 200 protestors on charges of rioting, damaging public property and attacking its personnel, during a tractor rally organised by farmers on Republic Day. Farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha were named for allegedly breaching of the No Objection Certificate issued for the tractor rally. The FIR also mentioned the name of Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait and Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav but the charges against them were not immediately clear. The police have said the personnel are verifying phone cameras, CCTV and drone footages to identify rioters. Now let's take a look at profiles of some of these farmers' leaders. Yogendra Yadav Born on 5 September, 1963 in Saharanwas, in Rewari, Haryana, Yogendra Yadav is an Indian activist, psephologist and politician. He started off as a professor at Panjab University, and then went on to be a Senior Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi. After he had established himself at the CSDS as a leading psephologist, he went on a sabbatical to become an anti-corruption activist along with Arvind Kejriwal. He went on to serve as a member of the National Executive of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). But on 4 March 2015, Yadav was voted out of AAP's Political Affairs Committee (PAC). Subsequently, on 28 March, he was expelled from the party's National Executive for alleged "anti-party activities". In April of 2015, he was expelled from the party. Yadav denied being involved in anti-party activities and stated that he was victimised for challenging "dictatorial ways" of the party's chief Arvind Kejriwal. Together with activist and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, sociologist Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, Yadav formed a new political organisation called Swaraj Abhiyan and is currently the president of it. Swaraj Abhiyan is currently leading the farmers protests On Tuesday, 26 January, Yogendra said he felt "ashamed" of the way the farmers' tractor parade turned out and took responsibility for it. "Violence impacts any kind of protest in the wrong way. I cannot say at the moment who did it and who did not, but prima facie it looks like it has been done by the people that we kept out of the farmers protest," Yadav told a TV channel. Rakesh Tikait Rakesh Tikait is the national spokesperson of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), one of the many farmer leaders participating in the ongoing negotiations with the government over the new farm laws. His father, Mahendra Tikait, is one of the founders of BKU, who once made the BKU the voice of farmers in north India. Tikait unsuccessfully contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on a Rashtriya Lok Dal ticket from Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, even failing to save his deposit. As per The Telegraph, he has the support of sugarcane farmers of Uttar Pradesh, who have tilted towards the BJP since 2014 but are now resentful of the new farm laws that some fear will undermine their bargaining power over sugarcane procurement. Joginder Singh Ugrahan Joginder Singh Ugrahan (75) is the founder and Punjuab president of Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan). He left the Indian Army to attend to his family's farms and formed the BKU (Ugrahan) in 2002. He actively takes part in the activities of the organisation. As per ThePrint, he is from one of the most popular and aggressive farmer unions in Punjab with the largest membership base. Known for having an uncompromising stand on most farmer issues, the leader is believed to command an almost blind following in the Malwa region for his pursuit of the cause of the small and marginal farmer. The BKU Ugrahan is not a part of the 31 organisations leading the current protest at Delhi's borders, but the body has been running parallel agitations in Punjab, starting with a sit-in outside Chief Minister Amarinder Singhs Patiala residence in September. The body has been responsible for the more aggressive aspects of the protests in Punjab, including the rail roko agitation, burning of BJP leaders effigies, and gheraoing of BJP leaders. Their programme has been mostly in coordination with the 31 organisations under the AIKSCC. Balbir Singh Rajewal Balbir Singh Rajewal heads a faction of the BKU, ever since he broke away from the original outfit in the 1990s. He is credited with having drafted the constitution of the BKU. Rajewal was once considered close to the Akalis, especially former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. He is believed to have guided the Akalis in drawing up designs for farming improvement in the state. Darshan Pal Darshan Pal is a 70-year-old MD in anaesthesia and is the president of Krantikari Kisan Union Punjab, which has been working for farm loan waivers for several years. His organisation was among the first few bodies that started protesting against the central farm ordinances in June. He retired early from the Punjab Civil Medical Service and began organising the peasantry in 2007. Pal is also among the farmer leaders who have played a vital role in bringing the 31 organisations together for the agitation, and now plays the role of coordinator for this grouping. He is also considered close to several umbrella groups of Left-leaning activists, including the now-banned Revolutionary Democratic Front, as per a report in The Telegraph. With inputs from agencies In the weeks since, authorities have arrested dozens of the rioters who rampaged into the Capitol building, the worldwide symbol of U.S. democracy, ransacked some congressional offices and scuffled with police. The actions of dozens more protesters are still being investigated. Numerous Republican senators have said Trump bears some responsibility for the mayhem that unfolded at the Capitol that left five dead, including a police officer whose death is being investigated as a homicide. At a Jan. 6 rally near the White House, Trump continued voicing baseless claims that he had been cheated out of reelection and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol and "fight" to upend Biden's victory. Biden, a senator for 36 years and the former vice president in the Obama administration, told CNN on Monday he supports holding the trial but does not think enough Republicans will vote against Trump for a conviction. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump supporter who has been advising the former president on the upcoming proceedings, said, "There are only a handful of Republicans, and shrinking, who will vote against him." The Republican lawmakers hold Trump's fate in their hands, even though the former president's four-year term in the White House ended Jan. 20 with Biden's inauguration. A two-thirds vote is needed for conviction, meaning 17 Republicans would have to turn against Trump for a conviction, assuming all 50 Democrats vote as a bloc. If convicted, a separate, simple majority vote could bar Trump from ever holding public office again. All 100 senators -- 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans -- are being sworn in Tuesday as jurors in Trump's impeachment trial, although the heart of the case has been put off until Feb. 9. U.S. Senate Republicans appear to be edging away from convicting former President Donald Trump of inciting insurrection in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by hundreds of Trump supporters who looked to confront lawmakers as they debated certifying Joe Biden as the winner of the November election. But several Republican lawmakers, while often admonishing Trump, questioned why the trial is being held since he is now out of office, or suggested that the rioters themselves were to blame for the rampage. "We will listen to [the case against Trump,] but I still have concerns about the constitutionality of this, and the precedent it sets in trying to convict a private citizen," Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said. "He exhibited poor leadership, I think we all agree with that. But it was these people that came into the Capitol. They did it knowingly. So, they bear the responsibility," she said. Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin asked, "Why are we doing this? I can't think of something more divisive and unhealing than doing an impeachment trial when the president is already gone. It's just vindictive. It's ridiculous." On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told the "Fox News Sunday" show, "We're just going to jump right back into what we've been going through for the last five years and bring it up with a trial, and it's going to be bad for the country. It really is." The lawmaker added, "This is not a criminal trial. This is a political process and would fuel these divisions that have paralyzed the country." Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer rejected suggestions by Republicans that Trump should escape a judgment because his term as president has ended. "There seems to be some hope that Republicans could oppose the former president's impeachment on process grounds, rather than grappling with his awful conduct," Schumer said. "Let me be perfectly clear: This is not going to fly." Two major newspapers, The Washington Post and The New York Times, said their surveys showed wide opposition among Republican senators to convicting Trump. The Post said 29 of the 50 in the chamber opposed the former president's conviction, while the Times said 27 are opposed. With 67 needed for a conviction, that apparently leaves Trump's fate to the votes of a small number of Republicans unless more evidence emerges linking Trump to the storming of the Capitol, possibly forcing Republicans opposed to conviction to take a new look at the case. Some Republicans, however, remain open to the possibility of voting for conviction, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the losing Republican presidential candidate in 2012, and the only Republican who voted to convict Trump in his first impeachment trial. Romney, while not committing to vote for a conviction, told CNN on Sunday, "I believe incitement to insurrection is an impeachable offense. If not, what is?" He said he believes Trump was "complicit in an unprecedented attack on our democracy." Whatever happens in the upcoming trial, Trump stands alone as the only U.S. president to be impeached twice in the country's 245-year history, although the first to face an impeachment trial after leaving office. The House impeached him in late 2019, accusing him of trying to enlist Ukraine to dig up dirt against Biden ahead of the November election. The Senate acquitted him last February. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania, one of the House Democratic impeachment managers who will present the case in the Senate against Trump, told CNN they will "put together a case that is so compelling" to confront "the big lie" that Trump had been cheated out of reelection. She called Trump's incitement of insurrection "an extraordinary, heinous crime. The American public saw what happened." "This was a terrifying moment incited by the president," she said. "This cannot go unanswered." House impeachment managers formally delivered the article of impeachment to the Senate Monday evening, accusing Trump of "incitement of insurrection." Two weeks ago, the House voted 232-197 in favor of Trump's impeachment, with 10 Republicans joining all House Democrats in the majority. ADVERTISEMENT Nigerian stocks were up by 0.83 per cent on Wednesday as the All Share Index lifted by 345.79 index points to 41,930.73, helped by investors increased interest in telcos MTN and Airtel, alongside WAPCO, Julius Berger and Dangote Sugar. The market posted a positive breadth as 35 gainers emerged against 21 losers. All the sector indices closed high save for the Insurance Index which was down by 0.23 per cent at 128.30 basis points. Market capitalisation jumped to N21.934 trillion, expanding by N180.884 billion. Year to date, the index is up by 4.12%. TOP 5 GAINERS Consolidated Hallmark led gainers, appreciating by 10% to close at N0.44. 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FBN Holdings traded 38.076 million shares estimated at N284.687 million in 302 transactions. UBA traded 32.535 million shares valued at N291.729 million in 315 deals. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The board of directors of OneTen, a coalition bringing together business leaders committed to upskilling, hiring and promoting one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement, announced today that it has named Maurice Jones as its CEO, effective March 1, 2021. Jones is an innovative business leader and prominent social advocate whose breadth and depth of leadership experience is equally matched by a passion for driving positive social change and economic justice and creating a more equitable society. "The OneTen board of directors is thrilled to have a leader with Maurice's extraordinary business acumen and long legacy of providing the highest level of service join us on our mission to create one million jobs for Black Americans over the next 10 years," said co-chair, Ken Frazier, Chairman and CEO of Merck. "Maurice possesses the expertise to launch OneTen in communities across the country and create lasting, meaningful impact." "Maurice is the right person to lead OneTen," said co-chair, Ginni Rometty, former Executive Chairman and CEO of IBM. "His strong relationships within the business community will link OneTen member companies to the critical work that needs to be done to remove structural barriers, shift to a skills-first paradigm and create a more flexible talent pipeline in order to reach our goals." Jones joins OneTen from his role as President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), one of the country's largest organizations supporting projects to revitalize communities and catalyze economic opportunity for residents. Prior to joining LISC, Jones was the Secretary of Commerce and Trade for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Jones previously served as Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from April 2012 through January 2014 where he managed the Department's day-to-day operations, the annual operating budget of $40 billion and the agency's 8,900 employees. Before his appointment at HUD, Jones was President of Pilot Media, the largest print and digital media organization in Hampton Roads, Virginia. "I could not be more excited to accept the position as CEO of OneTen," said Maurice Jones. "OneTen is reimagining how business leaders come together to effect change and create a more equitable society. My goal in leading this newly established organization is to firmly establish our capabilities and elevate our reach and impact. Thirty-nine of America's leading employers have already signed on to this initiative, and support continues to grow. I look forward to the opportunity to address persistent inter-generational gaps in opportunity and wealth by working to ensure that Black Americans with the skills and aptitude to earn success also have the opportunity to achieve success." Jones received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hampden-Sydney College and attended Oxford University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he received a Master of Philosophy in International Relations. He later received a Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia. About OneTen OneTen is a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies who are coming together to upskill, hire and promote one million Black Americans over the next 10 years who do not yet have a four-year degree into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement. We connect employers with talent partners, leading non-profits and other skill-credentialing organizations who support the development of diverse talent. By creating more equitable and inclusive workforces, we believe we can reach our full potential as a nation of united citizens. Member corporations include Accenture, ADP, Allstate, American Express, Amgen, Aon, AT&T, Bain & Company, Bank of America, Cargill, Caterpillar, Cisco, Cleveland Clinic, Comcast, Deloitte , Delta Air Lines, Eli Lilly , General Motors, Gilead Sciences, HP Inc., Humana, IBM, Illinois Tool Works, Intermountain Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe's, Medtronic, Merck, Nike, Nordstrom, Northrop Grumman, Pepsico, Roper Technologies, Stryker, Target, Trane Technologies, Verizon, Walmart, and Whirlpool Corporation. Join us at OneTen.org. SOURCE OneTen Related Links https://www.oneten.org/ The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will soon bid asteroid Bennu farewell. NASA has announced that OSIRIS-REx will start its journey back to our planet on May 10th, two-and-a-half years after it rendezvoused with the near-Earth asteroid. The agency launched the spacecraft back in 2016 to collect samples from Bennu in hopes that analyzing the materials could give us more insight into the formation of the Solar System and into the beginning of life here on Earth. OSIRIS-REx observed the asteroids surface for months after the rendezvous to find the perfect site for sample collection. In October 2020, it finally touched the space rocks surface just long enough to scoop up samples of regolith that scientists can examine. In fact, it grabbed more than the missions requirement of 60 grams, which is why the sample container started leaking and NASA had to speed up the process to secure it. Michael Moreau, OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager, explained that leaving for Earth in May puts the mission in the sweet spot, when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecrafts onboard fuel. Before the spacecraft completely leaves the rock its been studying for the past few years, though, it may do one more flyby in early April. The OSIRIS-REx team is currently studying whether its feasible to do another flyby, which will give it a way to gather data on how the touch-and-go sample collection affected Bennus surface. It would also give the team the chance to assess the state of the spacecrafts instruments, including its cameras and spectrometers. OSIRIS-REx is expected to deliver the samples it collected in September 2023. As it approaches Earth, the spacecraft will jettison the sample container, which will land with the help of parachutes in Utah. A better future Regarding United under Biden, (A14, Jan. 21): Kudos to Garth Brooks, a long-time Republican for singing at Joe Bidens inauguration, supporting the person who was elected to office. He, as an American, is ready to move on, to have our leaders get on with the health and economy of this nation. He set aside his preference for the good of the country. We should all support the president, even if he was not your choice, and his cabinet, praying for wisdom, guidance and discernment. In this way, we can uphold the Constitution and look forward to a better future. Carole Wakefield, Houston Big statements Regarding President Biden, dont write off oil and gas, (A17, Jan. 24): It is highly ironic to hear Craddick, a Republican, declare how urgent it is to take measure of the needs of every American who has suffered through the economic turmoil of the last year. The House of Representatives passed a second stimulus bill May 15. The leadership of Craddicks party, specifically Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, waited months to take any action on a second stimulus bill, as enhanced unemployment benefits ended and millions of Americans faced hunger and homelessness. Andrew Edmonson, Houston Apparently Christi Craddick doesnt understand the difference between a regulator and a lobbyist. As she notes, Texas energy producers leave a massive footprint on our economy, and that footprint includes thousands of uncapped wells, some of the worst urban air pollution in the country, and periodic oil spills and pipeline ruptures. When it comes to Craddick, Im reminded of the old saw, Putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. Bill Wilson, Houston Everyone else was storming the Capitol Regarding Feds debate not charging some rioters, (A4, Jan 24): With the exception of the Civil War, the assault on the Capitol was an unprecedented attack on our country by a large number of its own citizens. Every person who penetrated the Capitol on Jan. 6 should be charged, at a minimum, with unlawful entry of a restricted area. Responsible parents do not accept the excuse of everyone else was doing it from a toddler or a teenager, and responsible parents dole out logical consequences for their childrens misbehavior. By the same token, a responsible justice system must hold the adults who broke into and swarmed the halls of the Capitol accountable for their crimes regardless of any prior criminal record. Not to do so is a dereliction of their oath to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Aletha Evert, Houston Theres nothing better than a summer barbeque, and it wouldnt be a proper barbie without some hefty sides of beef. You can almost picture it already: sun shining, cold beer in one hand, tongs in the other But in whats sure to be a worrying development for all aspiring grill jockeys, beef is experiencing one of the biggest price rises in living memory. Since June 2020, Australian beef prices have been the highest in the world, with that trend only exacerbating, according to Meat and Livestock Australia, the industry body. Its not much better overseas. Aussie prices might be the highest but beef prices from all the major beef-producing countries (with the exception of Uruguay) are all on the up. Global cattle prices remain disjointed, with a variety of supply and demand factors influencing sharp price movements throughout the year. The rising number of COVID-19 cases in the US, dry conditions in South America and the shift in seasonal conditions across Australia remain key influences on cattle prices at present, the MLA relates. Our nations cattle numbers are the lowest they have been in 20 to 30 years due to the last drought. But good rains on the eastern seaboard have seen good pasture, therefore farmers are restocking their herds, pushing prices up, MLA Managing Director Jason Strong shared with Good Food. He continues: What we have to understand is that here in Australia, we produce some of the best quality beef in the world, and that there is global demand for that beef local steak lovers are competing with consumers in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Los Angeles. So with beef the least accessible than its ever been, what should Aussie foodies looking for a luxurious meal (not to mention Aussie restaurants keen to replace their classic big-ticket menu item) do? The answer is simple, if superficially ludicrous: eat lobster instead. View this post on Instagram A post shared by mimis and wills (@mimis.sydney) Beef prices might be at a record high but Western Australian rock lobster prices are at a record low, with major supermarkets selling whole lobster for as little as $20, The Guardian reports. Why so cheap? Its thanks to our escalating trade dispute with China, which has seen Australian lobster literally waste away in Chinese customs thanks to this tit-for-tat stouch. China has slapped bans on Australian beef imports as well as lobster imports, but these have had far less of an impact on prices: for comparison, we export 27% of all our beef to China (MLA stats), but around 94% of all our lobster, The Sydney Morning Herald reports. Additionally, domestic consumption and demand for beef is far higher than it is for lobster, further driving lobster prices down. So while the trade war has been devastating for many sections of the Australian economy particularly Western Australian lobster farmers, who have seen their biggest market close its doors overnight one of the few positives for Australian consumers is that domestic lobster has never been cheaper or more accessible. And with no end to the trade war in sight, lobsters could soon be replacing steaks on the plates of Australias gourmands. RELATED: Famous Australian Food Critic Busts Pretentious Assumption All Foodies Make The prospect of lobster in the shell instead of sirloin is certainly appealing Who doesnt love balling on a budget? But the reality is more complex than that. Lobster might be cheap but supermarkets are struggling to keep up with demand, so the prospect of actually finding a cheap crustacean isnt as straightforward as advertised. Lobster is also a far harder to prepare and less versatile protein than beef is its a bit too much to handle for most home cooks. And on a more essential level, beef is ingrained in our national psyche in a way that lobster isnt, or is likely to ever be. In short? People will always be happy to fork out for steak. But if youre feeling adventurous, take advantage of the cheap prices and make like The B-52s. Good eats await. Read Next Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has delivered Articles of Impeachment of Donald J. Trump and the appointment of Impeachment Managers to the U.S. Senate on January 25. The Senate cannot legally hold a trial on impeachment of a President or other official who has already left office. As we will watch, the Senate has extensive, long-established procedures -- but only as its own rules. The Senate must convene the next day at 1:00 P.M. But the Senate typically schedules the actual trial for later. Chuck Schumer says the trial will start February 8. Senate rules require a trial, whereas the Constitution only allows the Senate to hold a trial should they choose. No trial is required. But in any trial, a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction must be taken up first. Remember: Democrats in the House were conducting impeachment hearings of President Richard Nixon for some serious crimes. It appeared that the votes were there in the Senate to remove Nixon from office. But when Nixon resigned, the entire effort stopped. Democrats then believed that they did not have the jurisdiction to proceed with impeachment. In December 2019, when Rep. Matt Gaetz suggested impeaching Barack Obama no longer in office, the Washington Post fact checked the idea as unlikely, with more professors arguing against than for. There have been a couple past impeachments of former officials. But those cannot override the Constitution. It is unconstitutional even if the Congress impeached a few former officials before. There is no precedent that can change the Constitution. To interpret our short Constitution, lawyers examine legal experiences from England and the American colonies as illuminating what the drafters of our Constitution were possibly thinking. That includes noticing when our Founders sharply diverged intentionally from English legal traditions. British impeachments were radically irrelevant because the English government had a completely different structure. Early state constitutions are strongly inconsistent from one another, providing no guidance. However, the Massachusetts constitution is almost identical to the U.S. Constitution on this topic, with New Hampshire close. It offers no support for impeachment of former officials. Thus, it appears that the Constitutional Convention chose to follow the Massachusetts model while distinctly rejecting examples from other States. Despite the fact that some states knew how to explicitly allow for impeachment of former officials when they wanted to, neither the U.S. nor Massachusetts Constitution chose to follow the examples of other States. See, Brian C. Kalt, The Constitutional Case for the Impeachability of Former Federal Officials: An Analysis of the Law, History, and Practice of Late Impeachment, 6 Tex. Rev. L. & Pol. 13 (2001-2002). Also, the U.S. Constitution rejects English tradition by shifting criminal prosecution after impeachment over to the regular courts. That is a sharp change. Englands Parliament could prosecute former officials for anything. But our Constitution explicitly divests Congress of prosecution after removal and entrusts the separate judicial branch for follow-up. The U.S. Constitution segregates criminal prosecution by naming the President as the only prosecutor (who of course appoints assistants) and making the judiciary the only real courts. By contrast, the English Parliament had the ability to try anyone itself. Article II, Section 4, says that: The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors. However, Donald Trump is not President nor is he a civil officer. He is a private citizen. The Senate has lost jurisdiction. Democrats argue that they can try a former President because they just want to disqualify him from holding future office. The Constitution says in Article I, Section 3, that: Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States. (That is a clear rejection of British practices.) But it says and, not or. Removal from office is a requirement before disqualification can be on the table. The power is not removal or disqualification. The Senate cannot pick and choose whether to remove an official or disqualify the official. Remember that the focus is on Judgment -- that is, conviction from a quasi-criminal trial. Disqualification is a by-product of removal from office. Notice also the violence this does to the Constitutions concepts: If a former official can be tried for impeachment and disqualified, this prevents the voters from deciding whether to vote for him or her next time. Voters cannot remove a federal official from the office they currently hold. So removal may be necessary to do what the voters cannot do. But it is the voters who decide which candidate they want to vote for in the future. Depriving the voters of the power to choose their elected representatives is undemocratic. Therefore, expanding impeachment is probably not what was intended. When precedent offers little legal guidance, it is often important to take a proposed idea for a test drive. Interpretations are disfavored if strained, forced, or contrary to reason or would lead to an absurd result. Courts actually use such tests. So under Nancy Pelosis and Chuck Schumers proposed interpretation, why couldnt a future Republican-controlled House of Representatives and Senate impeach a future Democrat candidate for President solely to disqualify the Democrat in the Presidential campaign? If they cannot show a distinction between their proposal and absurd results, it is considered in the law a red flag that something is deeply wrong. What exactly would be different from the proposed impeachment trial of Donald Trump now and a future Congress merely picking off all the Democrat candidates one by one and disqualifying all of them? What in the proposed interpretation would stop a Republican House from impeaching every Democrat candidate for Congress and a Republican Senate from disqualifying them? That would make it easy to win elections. So, the power to try an impeachment must be limited to those who are currently government officials. The alternative could produce absurd results. Note that that interpretation analysis does not require a belief that it might ever happen. It is enough that the proposed interpretation could create some absurd possibilities. Therefore, the Founders probably did not intend that. It is also not relevant that Congress has done it in the past. We will face a curiosity: Chief Justice John Roberts is required to preside over a trial of the President. Roberts has declined that invitation. Roberts has slow-rolled several cases still in the Supreme Court that might make Trump still President under Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. Scarnati is one of several cases still undecided. Should Roberts effectively endorse that Trump is now still President? By declining to walk across Second Street, N.E., Roberts emphasizes that Trump is no longer a civil officer subject to impeachment. The Constitution requires that during an impeachment trial, the senators must be on Oath or Affirmation. Why? They cant speak during the trial. They are on Oath or Affirmation to vote according to the Constitution and applicable laws. Thus, whim is prohibited. They must vote on a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction strictly according to legal considerations. Image: Pix4Free Representative image: AP The COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest health emergencies of our times, may well propel the Centre to significantly increase spending on public health in the coming fiscal. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already spoken of a Budget like never before and hinted at an increased emphasis on healthcare in FY22. India has long been languishing at the bottom of the health-spending pecking order, with the latest Oxfam report showing that the country's expenditure on health as a percentage of the total budget is the fourth lowest anywhere in the world. In 2020-21, the budgeted spend for healthcare at Rs 67,112 crore was just about 1.5 percent of the countrys GDP. The Oxfam report showed that Indians routinely shell out more than 70 percent of health expenses from their own pockets, and only half the population in this country has access to even the most basic healthcare services. As per government data, India has just about 5.5 beds per 10,000 population and this is nearly a fifth of the global average. Also Read: Healthcare sector allocation likely to go up by 40% A Crying Need With the pandemic bringing all aspects of healthcare into sharp focus, healthcare spending needs a substantial boost. Even in 2020-21, our allocation on health remained a fraction of that on defence and infrastructure sectors, as the government continued to turn a deaf ear to persistent demands for a mega increase on healthcare spends. The allocation was only about half the sum demanded by the ministry of health and family welfare and just over 5 percent of the Centres total budgeted expenditure. Now, two of the country's apex business chambers, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), have also demanded a substantial increase in Indias health budget. In its pre-budget recommendations, Ficci has said the government should spend an additional half a percent of the countrys GDP every year, for the next five years, on healthcare. And CII wants the government to almost double its healthcare spend in three years to 3 percent of GDP. Time to Advance Targets So will the Finance Minister listen to these pleas? As per the National Health Policy 2017, India was targeting an annual increase in its health expenditure to reach 2.5 percent of GDP by 2025, or in four years. Perhaps the time has come to advance this target. The only question is, where will the FM find the resources for such a mega expansion, and whether new levies are on the cards in a fiscally stretched year. A parliamentary standing committee, which recently assessed the impact of the pandemic and the governments response to it, also found fault with our historically low allocation to the health sector. In fact, the committee emphasised that the health ministrys demand for funds for the next five years comes to a whopping Rs six lakh crore or nearly 10 times the amount allocated in FY21. The funds are to be used in setting up more medical colleges, expanding the scope of the National Health Mission and for post-COVID health sector reforms. For implementing a dedicated action plan to address the COVID-19 challenges alone, the ministry has sought upwards of Rs 65,000 crore. Listen In: How govt can help healthcare sector become self-reliant post-COVID The Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has said in its 123rd report that the Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) and the Indian Association of Epidemiologists have all demanded an increase in public healthcare expenditure to at least 5 percent of the GDP. The focus of increased health expenditure should be on primary healthcare and human resource and infrastructure strengthening rather than opening/strengthening tertiary care centres. No Better Time Than Now The panel has said COVID-19 offered a window to revisit the countrys health policy and to strengthen the health sector, and this necessitates higher investment in creating permanent basic health infrastructure. A higher budgetary allocation will also shift the focus to Indian manufacturers and domestic supply chain of products, and this is the opportune time to boost healthcare infrastructure besides also pushing for greater technology deepening. Not only are low budgetary allocations towards health a cause for worry but also the dismal actual disbursals in a pandemic year may have worsened the situation on the ground. According to data from the Centre for Policy Research, just a fraction of the allocated funds had been released till November 2020 for the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aroyga Yojana (PMJAY). Against Rs 6,400 crore allocation, only about 16 percent or Rs 1,032 crore had been released. PMJAY is a health insurance scheme aimed at providing access to quality inpatient secondary and tertiary care to poor and vulnerable families and reducing catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditures arising out of serious health episodes. The CFPR has said that advanced estimates may show lower utilisations of funds for several schemes under the health ministry as allocated sums were not fully made available to state governments. Apple is experiencing astonishing Mac market growth in the US enterprise markets, according to IDC, where it has seen macOS device use increase around a third since 2019. Macs 'growing by many measures' The adoption of Mac usage in the enterprise (1,000+ employees) is growing by many measures, IDC said, according to a Jamf announcement. In the United States, average penetration of macOS devices is around 23%, compared with 17% in 2019. The analyst firm also took a measure of how Apples other products are performing in the enterprise, saying: Macs, of course, are not the entire story around Apple devices in the enterprise. According to IDC's 2020 enterprise survey, iPhones account for 49% of the smartphone installed base among U.S. enterprises, and iPads account for the majority of tablets used in business. "The proliferation of Apple devices macOS devices, as well as iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV in business is causing many organizations to rethink their approach to overall endpoint provisioning, management, and security. Living at the edge Driven by remote working in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to provide effective tools to provision, manage and secure Apple devices means enterprises are searching for solutions, such as those from Jamf. This has generated interest from IDC, which has named Jamf a leader in its first ever Worldwide Unified Endpoint Management Software for Apple Devices 2021 Vendor Assessment. Full access to the IDC report costs $15,000, but Phil Hochmuth, program vice president, Enterprise Mobility and Client Endpoint Management, IDC says in a boilerplate statement: "Strong support for Apple devices Macs as well as iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs is becoming a must-have function for UEM software providers. Hochmuth also observes: "Growth in Mac usage among business users, especially for employees working remotely and given their choice of PC device, is pushing more businesses to formally adopt management tools and strategies around macOS, along with iOS/iPadOS and tvOS." Thats good news for Jamf and for other vendors selected for this collection by IDC: Zoho, VMWare, Quest, Microsoft, Micro Focus, Matrix 42, Ivanti/MobileIron, IBM, Google, Citrix, Cisco, BlackBerry, and smaller vendors that didnt make the list, as the extent of the collection represents the available market opportunity. Tool for deployment in a multi-everything enterprise Jamf gets special status in the report because it covers all the bases from deployment to security across the lifecycle of Apples devices within an optimized Apple user experience, with remote configuration and zero-touch deployment baked in. While its great to see Jamf gain recognition for its focus on supporting Apple, its even more significant when you consider the extent to which IDCs analysis shows the transformation of enterprise IT. We already knew that enterprise computing had become multi-platform, multi-device and (increasingly) multi-cloud. COVID-19 has accelerated trends toward remote working and accentuated challenges around remote device provision, protection, and support. Employee choice has also been amplified during this time theres a reason Starling Bank purchased all available MacBooks in the UK as it first sent employees home last year. The latest IDC data shows that far from being an outlier, there has been a bit of a boom in Mac deployment across the Work From Home enterprise. A remarkable story Think back when Mac marketshare hovered around 3% with near zero presence in enterprise IT. Driven by the iMac and iPod halo and accelerated by the iPhone, Apple has somehow managed to parlay that tiny sliver of sales into a rather convincing 23% share in the enterprise. One image shared by Jamf CEO Dean Hager shows this transformation in action: taken from Statcounter, it shows how Windows usage in the U.S. has declined as Mac use has increased most dramatically in the last few years. With Apples M1 Macs promising to put the platform at the top of the heap in terms of computational performance, its unlikely well see much change in the direction of travel. New opportunity? Thats interesting for enterprises in a quandary around Mac deployments, but deeply significant for any entrepreneur seeking fresh opportunity in the market of services and support provision for enterprise Macs. Developers will surely be asking themselves how these platforms can support new productivity experiences for this changed enterprise ecosystem. Thats certainly Microsofts approach. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolics bar & grill group on MeWe. Kathmandu, Jan 27 : The first phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive kicked off in Nepal on Wednesday. According to the health officials, the coronavirus has so far killed 2,017 people and infected 270,092 across the country. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli rolled out the programme while reading out the message of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. A total of 430,000 frontline health workers, supporting staffers at health facilities, female community health volunteers, security personnel, sanitation workers, elderly people living in care homes and prisoners will be administered the vaccine shots in 65 districts across the country, said Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population. India has handed over one million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to Nepal under grant assistance in sync with its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Health Minister Hridesh Tripathi said that the first phase of immunisation camping will be completed within 10 days. However, the inoculation programme couldn't be rolled out in some distrcits which are yet to receive their consignment of the vaccines. Over 600 health workers have been trained to run the vaccination drive, while booths with the capacity to immunise 200 people have been set up at the immunisation centres. The number of people to be vaccinated is less than 1.5 per cent of the total population. Even after the first phase, around 70.5 per cent of the population will not be inoculated, the health ministry said. Public health experts feel that the rollout of the vaccination drive by prioritising the frontline workers in the first round is a positive step. As authorities concerned have already given up on all preventive measures, including testing, contact tracing, and strict enforcement of the safety measures, vaccination is only the way to curb the infection spread as well as possible fatalities, doctors said. Meanwhile, the Nepal government has said that it is committed to immunise 72 per cent of the total population. The vaccine cannot be administered to children under 14 years of age, who accounts 28 per cent of the population in the country. After the frontline workers, people above 55 years of age, people between 40 and 55 years of age and he remaining population will be administered the vaccine shots in the subsequent phases. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The 12-year-old brother of Nyssa Davis, 9, who died last week after being shot in the head inside her North Philadelphia home, was arrested Wednesday and charged as a juvenile in connection with her death, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department said. The boy, whose name was not released, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, Officer Tanya Little said in a statement. Nyssas father, Blake Davis, 39, also faces charges in the childs Jan. 20 death. He was arrested last week on charges of involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of minors and firearm violations. Davis, a felon who is prohibited from having a gun, was not at home at the time of the shooting. He is jailed without bail. Police have not said who shot Nyssa. The shooting occurred at the familys rented home on the 2300 block of North Bouvier Street. At the time, Nyssa, her brother, and a 5-year-old cousin were there without adult supervision. Relatives said Nyssa and her brother lived in the house with their father and his girlfriend. After Nyssa was shot, her brother called 911. Police later recovered two guns in the home. The girl, who suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of the head, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital later that afternoon. She had the nickname Butterfly, said Patrick Flood, a lifelong friend of her fathers, who described the child as quiet, nice, peaceful, loving. READ MORE: A 9-year-old girl has died after being shot in the head in North Philly, police say Flood, 40, who grew up with Davis, said its still not clear to the family what role the 12-year-old boy played in the shooting. With Nyssas death, and her brother and father charged, he said, the family is devastated. Hes crushed. He lost his daughter and he already knew they was going to charge his son before we knew. So, this whole incident has shattered his whole family now, Flood said of Davis, who he said works in construction and had custody of his son and daughter. Everything happens for a reason, Floyd said he told Davis. God knows whats going on, so you dont have to worry about nothing because Gods going to handle it. It may look dark right now, but sit back and let God be God. Relatives believe the children found the gun and were playing with it when Nyssa was shot, Flood said. A detective at the scene last week, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said everything points to an accident, but added that the investigation was still ongoing. Court records indicate that Davis has been denied bail and he is scheduled to be in court for a preliminary hearing Feb. 8. His court-appointed attorney, Lee Mandell, did not return a request for comment Wednesday. The childs death saddened friends and neighbors on her block, who gathered for a vigil to mourn her. And it got the attention of City Council President Darrell Clarke, who posted tweets about the tragedy last week, reminding people to keep guns out of the reach of children. The death of a 9-year-old girl in North Philly today is deeply upsetting. With #gunviolence too prevalent in our streets, our homes should be safe havens. @PHLCouncil passed a safe-storage law that requires any gun in a home where children under 18 reside to be safely stored, Clarke wrote. In a separate tweet he said: Please, if you own guns and there are children who live in or regularly visit your home, please get a gun safe or gun locks to secure your weapons today. Its the law and it could prevent another senseless tragedy. Staff writer Erin McCarthy contributed to this article. The flag of Taiwan flies at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei on Oct. 7, 2012. (Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images) Taiwan Needs to Be Firmly Incorporated Into International Organizations, Bodies: China Research Group Taiwan is the frontline of the Chinese Communist Partys (CCP) disinformation hybrid warfare, and democracies need to learn from Taiwan and incorporate it into more international organizations and other bodies, a group of conservative MPs in the UK heard Tuesday. The Webinar entitled Discussion: CCP Influence and Interference in the UK was organized by China Research Group, a group of conservative MPs. When asked what democratic countries can do to learn from and defend Taiwan, Dr. Mareike Ohlberg, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and co-author of Hidden Hand: How the Communist Party of China is Reshaping the World, said its important to increase engagement with Taiwan and incorporate it into more international organizations and various other bodies. To recognise Taiwan as an independent country may not be a realistic option because it could trigger a response from the Chinese regime in the mainland, Ohlberg said. But I think what must be done is, Taiwan needs to be firmly incorporated into all basically below recognition activities, she told the webinar. And this is something where the UK can be very active, where European countries can be very active, she said. They cant defend Taiwan militarily, but they can help counter the isolation that has been happening to Taiwan. Ohlberg said that co-operating with Taiwan would be in the worlds interest, citing the CCP virus pandemic as an example. We used to think that Taiwan being excluded from bodies like the WHO was to Taiwans detriment. I think if we look at the current pandemic, we can very realistically argue that Taiwan being excluded from WHO was to the worlds detriment, she said. Because they would have had something important to contribute, [and they] still do. And therefore it is not only right, its also very much in our interest to work with Taiwan on these issues, she said. Charles Parton, a former UK diplomat who worked for 22 years in or on China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, said he agrees with Ohlberg. I think its important to realize that Taiwan is the frontline of this disinformation hybrid warfare. We have a hell of a lot to learn from them, Parton said, adding that he hopes the UK government can send a whole raft of delegations to learn from Taiwan. Divide And Conquer Ohlberg said that the CCPs approach to the UK from a macro perspective is from its United Front principle of making sure that it can isolate its principal enemy. The United Front thinking informs the work of all of the party, Ohlberg said. It basically distinguishes three basic zones. The three zones are the friends of the party, a small number of enemies of the party, and a neutral camp, she said. You want to make sure that the most people, the most countries are on board with the CCP against the principal enemy, which can vary under different circumstances. On a global scale, Ohlberg said, the CCPs principal enemy is the United States. So here in the UK, [which] is obviously interesting to the CCP as a key U.S. ally, she said. Theres a reason why five eye countries have been targeted. In particular, in that case, you want to make sure that you surround the United States as your principal enemy, and make sure that you turn its allies against it. Ohlberg said this is done in a two step process. The first step would be to shift the UK perspective by tying up its business interests to China into a position where in a case of conflict, it would remain neutral, Ohlberg said. In large parts of Europe, you could argue that the CCP has already succeeded in that. And then ultimately, in the very long run, you would want to have the UK and other countries that were previously allied with the U.S. to side with China or the CCP [and] its goals. Killing The Chicken To Scare The Monkey The principle to isolate its main enemies, Ohlberg said, is seen at many other levels, such as isolating developed countries in the UN by mobilising developing countries, or using local governments to overcome resistance to a policy at the national level. Citing a Chinese idiom killing the chicken to scare the monkey, Ohlberg said the CCP would make an example out of a few, in order to get others to fall in line. The basic idea here being if you only shout at and intimidate a small number of people, you dont make too many enemies at the same time, she said, while at the same time, signaling to all others that you [sic] better not pick a battle with the CCP. Ohlberg said this strategy has been used on countries, such as Sweden, Australia, or Canada; and also on others such as companies, individual politicians, or academics. Get Together The panelists all agreed that the worlds democracies need to think in the long term and get together to counter the CCPs interference. What needs to happen is first when you see a country being targeted, when you see a company being targeted, and other groups being targeted, that your first reaction is next time, that could very well be us, and not oh great, its not us,' Ohlberg said. Secondly, in the long term, to prevent CCP interference is not to preemptively send memos to everybody in your company, or to everybody in your ministry, to not offend China, but to actually stand up actively [to] defend the country, the company, the group that is under attack, she added. Ohlberg said that we have seen a tiny sliver of this shift of thinking in voicing support to Australia when it was targeted by the Chinese regime, but its not nearly enough. She argued that countries, academia, and other areas need to have a large degree of coordination and a code of conduct in future dealings with such issues. Parton agreed with the strategy of unity, which is one of the five words he used to summarize whats needed to counter the CCPs influence and interferenceknowledge, transparency, publicity, unity, and reciprocity. Im much attached to the idea of like-minded democracieswhether its a D forum, or D15, or D20getting together and laying down a set of guidelines for themselves and acting in concert, he said, because communist China and democratic countries are in what he calls a values war. They should not be in any doubt. Xi Jinping has said so on a number of times, he said, and particularly, I always go back to his first comment in his first Politburo meeting in 2013, where he said there must be struggle so that Chinese socialism can emerge in the superior position over capital, Western capitalism, thats how he sees it. Rents shot up around the country when last years rent freeze was lifted, including the largest monthly rent increase in recorded history. Renters have been knocking on the door of advocacy organisations and taking cases to the Tenancy Tribunal in an attempt to fight increases of nearly 40 per cent in some cases after the COVID-19 rent restrictions were lifted. Across the country, average rents rose 11 per cent between when rents were unfrozen on September 25 and the end of 2020. The average rent rose three per cent in the month immediately after restrictions were lifted, according to Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) rental bond data. Even Tenancy Tribunal adjudicators have expressed surprise at the increases some landlords have levied. The tenant questions the landlords notice of rent increase by which the rent would increase from $250 per week to $350 per week [an increase of 40 per cent], an adjudicator wrote in one decision published in December. On its face that appears a more than market level of increase. However, Murdoch Stephens, the author of last years surprise literary hit Rat King Landlord which imagines a renter revolution in Wellington over issues like these is sceptical the crisis will ever lead to the kind of uprising he imagined in his book. People are both scared and angry. Theyre angry about the situation, but theyre also scared to voice it publicly because theyre worried they wont get the next flat. The government froze rents in response to the COVID-19 pandemic for six months from March 26 but didnt extend it into this year the way several states in Australia did. Associate Minister of Housing Poto Williams says the government never considered extending it, and argued via written statement rents had risen in lockstep with incomes. Rents have generally been rising in line with wages, although there is variation across locations, and for people on low and fixed incomes rents have grown faster than incomes. But MBIE and economic data shows a divergence between the two overall, at least when it comes to how most economists interpret the information. And in the period after the rent freeze ended rents have soared. Wellington has been one of the worst hit by the increases, with MBIE recording median rent there as having overtaken Auckland. Geometric mean rents (a type of average which is a good way to measure percentage changes in rents) show Wellingtons rents have surpassed Aucklands. Tenants Protection Association Auckland co-ordinator Angela Maynard says increasing numbers of renters were coming through their doors seeking advice on how they could fight these increases. Where landlords chose to give tenants a reason for these increases most pointed to new laws around Healthy Homes as the cause. They actually should have been doing this all of the time, Angela says. So if they have to bring their houses up to scratch then its basically their own fault. A rent increase of $50 per week reported by some would mean almost the entire estimated average cost of complying with the legislation ($3000) was being passed on. Infometrics economist Brad Olsen says the ability of landlords to pass the cost of these upgrades on to renters was evidence of how much market power they had because of a major imbalance between supply and demand. Often suppliers in competitive markets would absorb rising costs because consumers could shop around for different options, but this wasnt the case here. The feeling from landlords is that they can continue to make money because theres a captive market out there. Rents had also been increasing for a long time. If they were increasing to pay for more habitable homes then at least renters were getting something for their money, he says. -Stuff/ Dileepa Fonseka and Kate Newton We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Shares of Tata Motors have been witnessing a lot of traction of late amid new launches, price hikes, and media reports of a possible partnership with Tesla. Shares of Tata Motors have jumped 52 percent in the month of January so far against a 13 percent gain in the BSE Auto index. Sensex has gained just 1.25 percent in this period. Experts believe as the stock is still trading below its all-time high level, it can rise further. However, a sharp gain in the stock has raised the chances of profit-booking and traders can consider taking some money off the table. "The stock is still trading at half the price from its peak levels, so investors having a long-term perspective should still hang on, while traders should look to book profits as sharp swings are expected in the near-term," said Navneet Daga, Senior Derivatives Analyst Institutional Equities, YES SECURITIES. Days ago, the company launched the i-Turbo petrol variant of its premium hatchback Altroz at an introductory price increment of Rs 60,000 above the existing petrol variants of the model. It has also announced price hikes of its passenger vehicle range. Rising input costs and material costs of steel, precious metals and semiconductors have compelled the company to pass on a part of the cost to customers, the company said in the release. Owing to signs of economic recovery, analysts believe the automobile sector is poised for gain. Tata Motors, being one of the prominent players of the segment, is likely to see tailwinds. Moreover, the company's emphasis on cost-control has helped it in gaining operational efficiency while boosting cash flows. "The relentless focus on cost-control helps the company gain operational efficiency and enhance free cash flows. It enables the company to deliver more than the consensus in its QoQ balance sheet performance, the primary factor fueling the rally," said Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research. "Seeing the management focus on innovation and consistent action and plan to provide the best customer satisfaction, Tata Motors can consider Indias Tesla with a lighter note," said Biswas. Umesh Mehta, heads of research at SAMCO Group, pointed out that the stock has zoomed at full speed over the past trading sessions thanks to better-than-expected sales numbers from the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) division, which saw a strong demand coming from China for the quarter. Another major boost for the stock, as per Mehta, came from the news stating that Tesla will be seeking a partnership with Tata in setting up their India operations. "With Tesla being synonymous with next-gen EVs, a partnership can significantly improve Tata Motors prospects multi-fold and this drove investors to jump into the stock. While nothing has been confirmed by either Tata or Tesla, investors are willing to place their confidence and bets with hopes of benefitting from this association if it comes to fruition," said Mehta. Global research firm CLSA has retained a buy call on the stock with a target price of Rs 290. It is of the view that building the confidence of a turnaround could lead to a valuation re-rating. CLSA said that the buy rating is premised on expectations of a turnaround at JLR and India business. It is conservative on its valuation relative due to its underperformance in the last five years. Resultant bull case valuation (Rs 500) implies 104 percent upside from current levels, it added. Last week, the company said it has received 98 patents in 2020 under its accelerated drive for engineering excellence and innovation which indicates that the company does not want to lag on the front of technological advancement. These patents predominantly relate to the megatrend of CESS (connected, electrified, sustainable and safe) automobiles. The company is to announce its December quarter earnings on January 29 wherein the company's India business outlook, including market share gains in the PV segment, recovery trends in the CV segment, demand recovery trends at JLR and the impact of Brexit on manufacturing will be in focus. The earning numbers and management commentary will decide the course of the stock in the near-term. The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. He played Christian Grey in the film trilogy series Fifty Shades of Grey. And now, Jamie Dornan is gearing up for his new role in exciting new Stan Original series, The Tourist. The show will be filmed in South Australia, with production set to commence in the coming months. Leading man: Jamie Dornan has signed on to star in new 'thriller' The Tourist... with filming to begin in Australia in the coming months. He will play a British man who finds himself in the Australian Outback and in search of his past The Northern Irish actor, 38, will play a British man who finds himself stuck in the Australian Outback. His character is injured in a hospital and unaware of his identity. He returns to the outback to find answers about his past. 'The Tourist are some of the most exciting scripts I've ever read. I can't wait to go to Australia with such a talented group of people,' Jaime said. The six-part thriller series, will also star some of Australia's biggest names including Hugo Weaving. Can't wait to go Down Under! He said of the six-part thriller series, 'The Tourist are some of the most exciting scripts I've ever read. I can't wait to go to Australia with such a talented group of people.' Pictured is Jamie in 50 Shades of Grey Australia's finest: Starring alongside the 50 Shades of Grey star is Hugo Weaving, best known for his roles in The Matrix trilogy and Priscilla Queen of The Desert Hugo is best known for his roles in The Matrix trilogy and Priscilla Queen of The Desert. The actor revealed he is looking forward to filming, saying: 'This is a totally unique project and should be an unforgettable ride and shoot for us all'. Actress Danielle Macdonald, who also starred in Stan's I Am Woman, Unbelievable and Golden Globe winning comedy Lady Bird, is also confirmed to star in the series. Unique role: Hugo revealed he is looking forward to filming, saying: 'This is a tonally unique project and should be an unforgettable ride and shoot for us all.' Pictured is Hugo in The Matrix 'I'm so excited': Actress Danielle Macdonald, who starred in Stan's I Am Woman, has also been cast in the series. She praised the scriptwriting of her character, saying: 'I ended up reading all the episodes in one sitting because I couldn't put them down!' She praised the scriptwriting of her character and the series, saying: 'I ended up reading all the episodes in one sitting because I couldn't put them down!' 'I'm so excited to be part of this incredible project and I can't wait to start filming alongside the amazing cast and production team.' Shalom Brune-Franklin, who has starred in Channel Nine's Doctor Doctor and Bad Mothers, is also gearing up to bring the series and her character Luci, to life. 'It's going to be a lot of fun': Shalom Brune-Franklin, who has starred in Channel Nine's Doctor Doctor and Bad Mothers, is also gearing up to bring the series to life. 'It's very exciting to be working on such a great project in Australia,' she said 'This story is really unique and I'm excited to be part of bringing it to life with this brilliant team,' she said. 'It's very exciting to be working on such a great project in Australia - it's going to be a lot of fun,' Shalom added. South Australia has recently become a hot spot for exciting new local productions, with Stan Original film Gold starring Zac Efron, recently filmed there. [January 27, 2021] Attivo Networks Excellence Awards Honor Partners Driving Cybersecurity Innovation Across North America, LATAM, META, APAC and the UK Attivo Networks, an award-winning leader in cyber deception and attacker lateral movement detection, today announced recipients of its inaugural Excellence Awards, which honor partners driving innovation and delivering effective, comprehensive cyber security solutions for their customers. Culminating in two categories, "Partner of the Year" and "Project of the Year," the awards recognize Attivo's global partners in Latin America (LATAM), Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META), Asia-Pacific (APAC), North America, and the United Kingdom (UK). "I am proud to honor and congratulate our award winners. Their success is a testament to the dedication of our partners and the Attivo Networks Partner Program, which is designed to support long-term, mutually profitable partnerships," said Sarah Ashburn, senior vice president, sales and customer success, Attivo Networks. "The award winners we recognize today, and our larger ecosystem of partners, play an integral role in our go-to-market strategy and we are committed to investing in and growing with them." "Partner of the Year" Winners North America: MRK Technologies - MRK provides a suite of solutions designed to monitor, alert and resolve information security threats on a 24/7/365 basis. LATAM: IQSec - IQSec is an IT security solutions company with expertise in electronic signature, biometric identity and security in digital banking. META: Saudi Telecom Company Solutions - Saudi Telecom Company (News - Alert) Solutions is a technology solutions company specializing in cybersecurity, cloud computing and system integration. APAC: M.Tech - M.Tech is a cybersecurity and network performance solutions provider that brings solutions to the market through a channel of reseller partners. "Project of the Year" Winners LATAM: Micronet de Mexico SA de CV - Micronet provides consultancy, design, and installation of security services, including network infrastructure, network and business applications, support and monitoring, and security. META: Optimiza Solutions - Optimiza is a regional Systems Integration and digital transformation solutions provider that supports its clients' pursuit of operational excellence and profitability. Hear from the Winners "We are honored to be the recipient of the Attivo 2020 Partner of the Year Award for North America. Throughout our partnership, the Attivo and MRK Teams have developed a valued mutual trust and commitment to our relationship. In addition, Attivo's deception technology has enabled MRK to differentiate above 'the noise' that exists in the IT security space. We look forward to continued growth with Attivo as we collectively serve our customers throughout 2021." - John Tookman, vice president of MRK Technologies "We're a cybersecurity company with more than 12 years of experience and our headquarters are based on Mexico City. We have invested hundreds of hours on developing what we consider is the best cybersecurity tools portfolio in Latin America, selecting the leaders and best in class solutions for each discipline. That's why we do business with Attivo Networks." - Luis Valerdi, sales director of IQSec "This is a step forward to advanced detection with Deception Technology. Attivo is the best solution that can respond in 3D - Deny, Detect and Derail. Attivo ThreatDefend platform delivers unparalleled attack detection in parallel with M.Tech delivery for customer satisfaction. Together we look forward to a hyper growth in Thailand." - Krisana Kamakorn, country manager for M.Tech Thailand The winners were selected based on performance results, new customer acquisition, relationship engagement, and prospecting momentum. Honorees were chosen from a set of more than 300 partnerships located worldwide. More information on Attivo Networks Partner Program can be found here: https://attivonetworks.com/join-the-attivo-partner-program/ About Attivo Networks Attivo Networks, the leader in cyber deception and lateral movement attack detection, delivers a superior defense for revealing and preventing unauthorized insider and external threat activity. The customer-proven Attivo ThreatDefend Platform provides a scalable solution for derailing attackers and reducing the attack surface within user networks, data centers, clouds, remote worksites, and specialized attack surfaces. The portfolio defends at the endpoint, Active Directory and throughout the network with ground-breaking innovations for preventing and misdirecting lateral attack activity. Forensics, automated attack analysis, and third-party native integrations streamline incident response. The company has won over 130 awards for its technology innovation and leadership. For more information, visit www.attivonetworks.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005825/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] ETNews reports that Samsung Display has signed a deal to supply foldable displays select smartphone makers in China. The plan is to start shipping the displays in the third quarter and to deliver 1 million units before the end of the year. This will lead to several foldable phones being announced in the second half of 2021. According to insiders, Oppo and vivo will be launching phones, other companies may be involved as well. The company will be supplying both large horizontal folding screens (like on the Z Fold) and smaller vertical folding screens (Z Flip). Oppo Foldable phone prototype shown off at MWC 2019 So far the only buyer of Samsung Displays foldable panels has been Samsung Electronics (which uses them in the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip phones). SD has been trying to sign on other buyers for the last few years, but things didnt go as planned. Huawei was lined up to make a purchase, however the US sanctions against the company threw a wrench in those plans. Instead, Huawei has been using foldable displays from BOE. Another company in China that is making foldable displays is CSOT. Samsung Display is currently the only one using Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) in its foldable displays, which gives it the edge. However, reports from November indicate that BOE plans to launch panels with UTG as well. Number of panels for Samsung Electronics for Chinese makers Vertical folding screens 7,845,000 800,000 Horizontal folding screens 3,155,000 260,000 Anyway, Samsung Display is forecasted to produce over 10 million foldable panels this year. Only 1 million of those is headed for China, the rest are going to Samsung Electronics. The table above shows shipment predictions for panels of each type. Source (in Korean) | Via He was one of the most controversial stars on Married At First Sight in 2019, thanks to his 'fat-shaming' comments about Lizzie Sobinoff and his 'affair' with Ines Basic. And now, as the hit Australian show airs in the United Kingdom, Sam Ball has revealed the horrific abuse he's facing from British viewers. In a lengthy post to Instagram on Wednesday, the 28-year-old Army recruit shared some of the troll comments he's copped online. Backlash: On Wednesday, Married At First Sight star Sam Ball revealed the horrifying abuse he's received from British viewers. Pictured on his 'wedding day' to Lizzie Sobinoff Sam got called a 'narcissist,' a 'manipulative bellend,' a 'disgusting piece of male trash,' and even an 'absolute d**khead'. 'You are the most disgusting piece of male trash to ever exist,' one user told Sam in a direct message. Another added: 'I have been watching you on Married At First Sight and I'm absolutely disgusted with your behaviour towards Lizzie.' Horrific: Sam got called a 'narcissist,' a 'manipulative bellend,' a 'disgusting piece of male trash,' and even an 'absolute d**khead' Ouch! Another added, 'I have been watching you on Married At First Sight and I'm absolutely disgusted with your behaviour towards Lizzie' Hitting out: One user called Sam a 'disgusting human being', while others said he was 'gaslighting' 'Could you be anymore disrespectful. You set a bad example for men. And also in the first episode you said you didn't want people to see you as just a pretty face well you've f**ked that now. Narcissistic p***k.' Another added: 'Absolute d**khead! Him and Ines are both vile people not one girl is gonna trust him.' One user called Sam a 'disgusting human being', while others said he was 'gaslighting.' Sam shared a photo of himself at the gym and said he was 'turning away from all the s**t I've received for the last two years'. Not looking back: Sam shared a photo of himself at the gym and said he was 'turning away from all the s**t I've received for the last two years' 'I don't have anything to prove to anyone nor do I really care, it's the past but the show is exploding overseas and I feel like you all need to know what the reality TV world is like from my experience on it as it's taken lives from suicide along with causing serious mental health issues for many,' Sam wrote. He said he'd been 'gagged for over a year and 10 months in a contract' with Channel Nine and Endemol Shine Australia, but was now 'not afraid to tell all'. He added: 'It's TV and I hope you all enjoy what I tell you and you get a laugh out of it.' Earlier this week, Sam dropped a series of behind-the-scenes bombshells on his Instagram Stories about the show. 'I don't have anything to prove to anyone nor do I really care, it's the past but the show is exploding overseas and I feel like you all need to know what the reality TV world is like from my experience on it as it's taken lives from suicide along with causing serious mental health issues for many,' Sam wrote He described how producers allegedly 'manipulate' participants and set up scenarios. He also spoke about the infamous 'fat-shaming' incident on his MAFS wedding day, saying he had never judged ex-'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff because of her weight. Sam went on to insist he had never slept with anyone on the show, despite making headlines in 2019 for his on-screen 'affair' with co-star Ines Basic. Bombshells: Earlier this week, Sam dropped a series of behind-the-scenes bombshells on his Instagram stories about the show 'I was in a contract for a long time so kept my mouth shut. Hope you guys in the UK are enjoying the show, because I'm about to ruin it for you,' Sam began. He then claimed the producers, not the experts, are the ones who pick the couples. 'Producers ask you and hit you up about your new partner,' he said. 'They go off track, manipulate you and tell you what to say and ask questions until you answer it they want you to answer it... I thought Lizzie was a lovely girl, I was trying to give her positive compliments until they told me to say what was said, so that's what happened,' he added of the 'fat-shaming' incident. Denying it all: He also spoke about the infamous 'fat-shaming' incident on his MAFS wedding day, saying he had never judged ex-'wife' Elizabeth Sobinoff because of her weight 'Lizzie got out of the f**king limo and says, "Oh, my God, look how chunky tubby is." She fat-shamed me and I said she's bigger than the girl I usually dated, meaning height and stuff like that.' Sam went on to suggest that producers 'fat-shamed' Elizabeth in front of him. 'I didn't want to fat-shame her at all, that's not what my intentions were. They were the ones who said, "Sam, she's a big girl mate, what are you doing?!" That's messed up, they shouldn't do it, it's all bulls**t,' he said. He also spoke about his 'affair' with Ines and said he was 'asked' to do it - and he did so because he has done 'acting' in the past. 'Lizzie got out of the f**king limo and says, "Oh, my God, look how chunky tubby is." She fat-shamed me and I said she's bigger than the girl I usually dated, meaning height and stuff like that,' he said 'I didn't sleep with anyone on the show, mark my words,' Sam insisted. He sensationally claimed the show's 'relationship experts' are actually actors. 'They don't talk to you, they're getting told things through an earpiece. They're just actors,' he said. Sam said that when he left to go to a funeral in New Zealand, producers were threatening 'to sue him for leaving'. 'I knew Lizzie for 10 minutes, the funeral was the priority,' he said. Scandal: He also spoke about his 'affair' with Ines and said he was 'asked' to do it - and he did so because he has done 'acting' in the past Making headlines: Sam also sparked outrage after revealing his plans to help Elizabeth lose weight after their televised nuptials He also spoke about how he didn't turn up for the finale because he had a girlfriend at the time who was 'going crazy' about the situation. Fans were outraged when he remarked that he had never 'dated girls as big' as Elizabeth before. 'I've never really dated girls as big as Elizabeth to be honest. It's obviously a topic that's troubled her in the past,' he said. Sam also sparked outrage after revealing his plans to help Elizabeth lose weight after their televised nuptials. 'She's got a beautiful face... Maybe I'll get her running in the mornings... but she'll be right. We'll get her going,' he said. Lizzie went on to find love with Seb Guilhaus on Married At First Sight last year, but the pair have since split. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya are seen on board a plane before the departure for Moscow at an airport in Berlin on Jan. 17, 2021. (Maria Vasilyeva/Reuters) G-7 Foreign Ministers Condemn Detention of Navalny and Demand His Release The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) states and the European Unions top diplomat condemned the arrest of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, and expressed their concern over the detention of protesters that were demanding the freeing of Navalny. The diplomats called on Russia to immediately and unconditionally release Navalny. The foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and the high representative of the European Union condemned the detention of Navalny in a joint statement issued on Tuesday, calling it politically motivated. The statement says Navalny has been detained in relation to court decisions which the European Court of Human Rights determined in 2017 to be arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable. Russia is bound by its national and international obligations to respect and ensure human rights, the statement says. A participant holds a placard reading One for all, all for one during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow on Jan. 23, 2021. (Maxim Shemetov/ Reuters) G-7 ministers also expressed their concern about the arbitrary detention of thousands of protesters and journalists who covered the demonstrations that took place in around 100 towns and cities in Russia on Jan. 23 to demand the release of Navalny. The violent suppression by police forces of the right of individuals to express their opinion is unacceptable, the statement said. Navalny, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on his arrival at Moscow airport after he flew home to Russia from Germany for the first time since he was poisoned last summer. He has been detained due to the alleged violation of a suspended prison sentence for embezzlement, a 2014 case Navalny says was trumped up. The European Court of Human Rights stated that Navalnys convictions for fraud and money laundering by the Russian court were based on an unforeseeable application of criminal law and that the proceedings were arbitrary and unfair. The court ruled that Russia must pay damages to Navalny. Navalny could be jailed for three-and-a-half years for allegedly flouting the terms of the suspended prison sentence. Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia (R), daughter Daria, and son Zakhar posing for a photo in a hospital in Berlin on Sept. 15, 2020. (Navalny Instagram/AP Photo) The G-7 foreign ministers reiterated their condemnation, in the strongest possible terms, of the poisoning of Mr. Navalny in August 2020 with a chemical nerve-agent of the Novichok group, a substance developed by Russia, the statement says. The signatories urged Russia to investigate and credibly explain the use of a chemical weapon on its soil in the light of Russias obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention. The confirmed use of chemical weapons against an opposition politician, as well as Mr. Navalnys latest detention further undermine democracy, independent voices, and political plurality in Russia, the statement says. The foreign ministers urged Russia to guarantee the civil and political rights of its people, including the right to freedom of expression, as it is obliged to by international treaties. Alexander Zhang and Reuters contributed to this report. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) welcomes Washington's offer to Moscow to extend the Russian-US treaty on reduction of strategic offensive weapons, known as New START, and voices its support for the deal, a FCDO spokesperson said. "We welcome the U.S. offer to extend the New START treaty with Russia. The Treaty has made an important contribution to strategic stability, transparency and building trust. We would support the treaty and its robust verification mechanism continuing," TASS cited the spokesperson as saying. Japans Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato in turn said the agreement on extending New START is an important step towards nuclear disarmament. "We welcome this. This is an important step towards nuclear disarmament for both countries," Kato said. At the same time, he noted that a broader structure on arms control was needed in order to achieve a nuclear-weapons-free world. The Russian and U.S. presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joseph Biden, expressed satisfaction following the exchange of notes on the extension of the New START Treaty, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday after their telephone conversation. According to the Kremlin, "the sides will finalize, within days, procedures needed to ensure further functioning of this major international mechanism of reciprocal limitation of nuclear missile arsenals." 21 runners killed during mountain race in northwestern province of Gansu; Indian variant of Covid-19 found in Guangzhou; Beijing willing to arrange for vaccines to be sent to Taiwan May 28, 2021 08:15 PM By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen vowed U.S. cooperation in calls with British and German counterparts on Wednesday to end the coronavirus pandemic, support a robust economic recovery and tackle difficult climate and international tax issues. Yellen, on her first full day on the job after being sworn into office on Tuesday as the first female head of the U.S. Treasury, spoke with finance ministers Rishi Sunak of Britain and Olaf Scholz of Germany, Treasury readouts of the calls said. Yellen stressed the importance of Washington's transatlantic partnerships, which frayed under former President Donald Trump, and agreed to work with both ministers "to end the pandemic, support a strong and sustained global economic recovery, fight income inequality and forcefully address the threat of climate change". The Treasury also said Yellen noted the importance of collaborating closely on bilateral and global issues. She discussed the need to find multilateral solutions to global economic problems including the challenge of "efficiently and equitably taxing the income of multinational firms". She pledged active U.S. participation in OECD discussions on international taxation to reach a timely agreement. "It was a very friendly exchange, they agreed on good and close cooperation," a spokesman for Scholz said in Berlin, adding that the too hoped to meet soon in person when the COVID-19 pandemic allows. A UK finance ministry statement said Yellen and Sunak agreed "that our number one priority continues to be supporting businesses, individuals and families through this crisis" Britain, which holds the presidency of G7 industrial democracies this year, added that Sunak and Yellen agreed to work closely on a global solution to "tax challenges created by digitalization of the economy". The Trump administration published results of "Section 301" investigations into digital taxes that found they discriminated against big U.S. tech firms, but stopped short of imposing tariffs, leaving that for the Biden administration. The Biden administration has not indicated whether it will act on the reports but is seeking to engage with allies on a range of economic and trade issues. (Additional reporting by David Milliken in London, Michael Nienaber in Berlin and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Mark Heinrich) Helping to bring contemporary African storytelling to a larger audience, Norton Young Readers has launched a partnership with Accord Literary, an initiative that cultivates and mentors African-based childrens book authors. As part of the agreement, Norton has acquired the North American rights to six novels, which will begin rolling out this spring. The idea for this program has been in the works over the last two years, when Accord Literarys founders, London-based Sarah Odedina and Accra-based Deborah Ahenkorah decided to collaborate with Norton Young Readers publishing director Simon Boughton. They had been developing a program for African authors for a while, and I felt that their mission and goals were consistent with mine for Norton and would be a good fit for Nortons profile, he said. While Boughton appreciates the richly diverse U.S. childrens book market, he believes these new works can offer readers a unique perspective: modern fiction set on the African continent, written by African writers. Theres a tendency in the West to publish [African] folklore and traditional storytelling, he explained. We want to bring contemporary storytelling with middle grade themes to a wider market. Drawing upon the recent success of African authors in the U.S. and U.K. adult trade market, including Maaza Mengiste and Marie NDiaye, Boughton is following that model as a guideline for the new program. A Team Effort Working in conjunction with Norton as the exclusive U.S. publisher, the Accord team is responsible for identifying and working directly with writers, as well as introducing them to a broader demographic. Boughton likens Accords work to acting as both packager and agent. Sarah and Deborah make the initial editorial decisions and we endorse them, he explained. Focusing on their shared interest in finding books that entertain, inform, and represent universal childhood themes, Norton and Accord have chosen the first three books for publication. The first title, Crossing the Stream (May 2021), is a middle grade novel set in Ghana that follows a child coming to terms with the death of his father. This book is followed by Playing a Dangerous Game (August 2021), an adventure-mystery about boys getting into trouble. Rounding out the line-up is a YA novel, Even When Your Voice Shakes (winter 2022), which explores the sexual violence and class tensions experienced by a servant girl who is targeted by a young man in a wealthy household. Its about what you do when you are disadvantaged and powerless, Boughton said. To help promote these titles to the U.S. market, Norton is planning to assemble a group of panels and virtual events connecting these authors and publishers. (The tentative date is between May and August, coinciding with the first and second books publications.) Its not just to talk about the books, but the experience of publishing this way, Boughton noted. We think the gatekeepers and readers are interested in the lives of the authors and having them introduced in person. He is quick to point out that these books will be published as standalone titlesnot as a collection. While Norton and Accords initial agreement is to publish six books over the course of two years, Boughton looks upon this opportunity as a long-term investment. We very much want to see this grow from there, he said. Norton prides itself on publishing books that are part of a national conversation, and this speaks to a real opportunity and interest in the market. [January 27, 2021] QuEST Global launches TCMS test lab in Hyderabad HYDERABAD, India, Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, announced today that it has launched a Train Control and Management System (TCMS) lab at its Hyderabad facility. The 5800-sq.ft. lab will facilitate the verification and validation of safety-critical TCMS software for multiple functionalities. This next-generation lab will host test racks for various product families of Bombardier Transportation. The lab was inaugurated virtually by Stephane Navarra, Head of Engineering Technology Office (ETO) Systems, Bombardier Transportation, and Ajit Prabhu, Chairman & CEO, QuEST Global. The lab is part of the strategic partnership signed by both companies in 2019 to strengthen their cooperation and further develop engineering capabilities for the rail industry. QuEST's TCMS lab has the capacity to house more than 100 racks and simulations for performing TCMS software testing and hardware-software integration checks. It is qualified to support validation checks submitted as evidence for assessing rail products; and will enable Bombardier Transportation to deliver safer transportation solutions to their customers globally. With the launch f this lab, QuEST also plans to hire over 200 engineers in Hyderabad with expertise across all phases of the software development lifecycle, test automation, and ethernet & internet protocol technology. Commenting on the new lab, John Saabas, Head of Engineering Technology Office (ETO), Bombardier Transportation, said, "We are pleased about the launch of TCMS lab at QuEST premises in Hyderabad. Bombardier Transportation has always endeavored to deliver excellence and help our customers enable faster and smarter commute through continuous innovation. QuEST is a strategic partner in providing world-class engineering solutions to the rail industry, and I am sure this lab will further enhance our valued collaboration in this area." Lauding the capabilities of QuEST, Stephane Navarra said, "The TCMS lab provides the QuEST team with the infrastructure to manage their deliverables end to end. Bombardier will be developing and housing test racks at this lab for our projects in India and globally." Elaborating further on the significance and value the lab will provide, Ajit Prabhu, said, "As a trusted thinking partner to Bombardier Transportation, we are excited to launch the world-class TCMS testing lab in our Hyderabad Centre. We are confident that this will enable us to help Bombardier Transportation serve and create value for its customers. This lab is part of our long-standing strategic engagement with Bombardier Transportation and is a testament to our expertise in providing transformational services and solutions to our customers. We look forward to helping Bombardier Transportation to enhance their competitiveness in the rail domain." About QuEST Global For more than 20 years, QuEST Global has aimed to be a trusted global product engineering and lifecycle services partner to many of the world's most recognized companies in the Aero Engines, Hi-Tech, Aerospace & Defense, Transportation (Auto and Rail), Power and Industrial, Oil & Gas and Medical Devices industries. With a presence in 13 countries, 56 global delivery centers and 11,250+ personnel, QuEST Global believes that it is at the forefront of the convergence of the mechanical, electronics, software and digital engineering innovations to engineer solutions for a safer, cleaner world. QuEST Global's deep domain knowledge and digital expertise aim to help its clients accelerate product development and innovation cycles, create alternate revenue streams, enhance consumer experience and make manufacturing processes and operations more efficient. SOURCE QuEST Global [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The first strike in over 30 years at the Hunts Point Produce Market in the South Bronx was a resounding success. On Jan. 23, after organizing outdoors in the cold for almost a full week, workers at the distribution center represented by Teamsters Local 202 were able to celebrate a new contract with hourly raises, better health benefits, and forthcoming one-time bonuses. Before the agreement, the strike had also evolved into a place to see and be seen for many New York City politicians. A crowd of elected officials flocked to support the workers, and add their star power to the existing infamy of Scabby the inflatable rat. These were some of the high-profile visits: Armed with Bustelo, hot chocolate and hand warmers, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brought national attention to the Hunts Point strike, and on Inauguration Day, no less. On another night, she gave out pizza next to Scabby the rat. Another night on the picket line with @TeamstersJC16 and you never know who youre going to meet HUGE thank you to @PadmaLakshmi who showed up in solidarity with produce workers and delivered pizza to keep the party bumping. Happy to help hand it out! https://t.co/f7FuD7aPyz Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 23, 2021 Rep. Ritchie Torres showed up in the congressional district that just elected him, with his preferred mayoral candidate Andrew Yang. At Hunts Points with @RitchieTorres supporting striking Teamsters asking for a $1/hour raise - essential workers deserve more. pic.twitter.com/cX3OidUF9O Andrew Yang(@AndrewYang) January 18, 2021 Other mayoral candidates, including Dianne Morales and Maya Wiley, also made appearances. Here at Hunts Pt with @Teamsters Local 202 fighting for the right to strike, and for our essential workers to be paid a fair wage! pic.twitter.com/UB1nTNECaJ Maya Wiley (@mayawiley) January 19, 2021 Assembly Member Amanda Septimo was there every day of the strike in her Assembly District, and she reached out directly to Governor Cuomos Deputy Secretary for Legislative Affairs and Policy, Dana Carotenuto Rico. Septimo told City & State that shes really grateful to the governors office for getting involved, because he brought both sides back to the table. The daily fight alongside the @Teamsters made me feel inspired, exhilarated, & so hopeful. Thank you Danny Kane & every single worker for your courage in the face of great uncertainty. We are all better because of you. Congratulations @TeamstersJC16 Local 202! We did it fam!! pic.twitter.com/4ZUSLhGtPI Amanda Septimo (@AmandaSeptimo) January 23, 2021 Other sources on background agreed that calls from the governors office were essential in getting management to settle with the workers, and Rafael Salamanca even shouted out Cuomo in a victory tweet. Along with representing its City Council district, Rafael Salamanca has a personal connection to Hunts Point Market: his father used to work there, and was a member of Local 202. Just arrived at the @TeamstersJC16 picket line at Hunts Point Market pic.twitter.com/BFIWKYP9F6 claudia irizarry aponte (@clauirizarry) January 23, 2021 The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America were all over the strike, catering breakfast and serving hot pizza to hungry workers on the picket line. DSA-endorsed Assembly Members Zohran Mamdani of Queens and Marcela Mitaynes of Brooklyn, and state Sen. Jabari Brisport of Brooklyn joined Septimo on the fifth night to hand out some New York slices. Who needs bread and roses when you can have pizza and roses?@JabariBrisport , @marcelaforny , @amandaseptimo, and I got some food for our @TeamstersJC16 family on Tuesday night. Today marks their 5th day on strike... pic.twitter.com/Lg7k2SPGEb Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) January 22, 2021 Weve included a more expansive list of elected officials weve confirmed joined the strike, but it was a large demonstration, and odds are there are more we havent identified yet. Others, like state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (who represents Hunts Point Market) didnt attend in person but did show their support online. Congress: Carolyn Maloney Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Ritchie Torres NY Senate: Jabari Brisport Diane Savino NY Assembly: Khaleel Anderson Kenny Burgos Robert Carroll Nathalia Fernandez Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas Zohran Mamdani Marcela Mitaynes Victor Pichardo Karina Reyes Amanda Septimo City Council: Vanessa Gibson Brad Lander Farah Louis Rafael Salamanca Gustavo Huerta, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The Texas GOP drew attention over the weekend for using its slogan, "We are the storm," on publicity materials and its Twitter account, which critics say links the party to QAnon. "The Storm" is a phrase widely visible within the QAnon movement, a web of baseless conspiracy theories that claim a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles run the world and were plotting against former President Donald Trump. Origins of the movement are linked to an anonymous 4chan account calling itself "Q Clearance Patriot," who claimed "The Storm" was when Trump would expose those plotting against him. Many believed Inauguration Day would start "The Storm." Hot lava runs down from the crater of Mount Merapi, partially seen behind a mosque in Sleman, Indonesia, late Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The country's most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down its slopes. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi) Indonesia's most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 3,000 meters (nearly 10,000 feet) down its slopes. No casualties were reported. The sounds of the eruption could be heard 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, officials said. It was Mount Merapi's biggest lava flow since authorities raised its danger level in November, said Hanik Humaida, the head of Yogyakarta's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center. She said the volcano's lava dome is growing rapidly, causing hot lava and gas clouds to flow down its slopes. After morning rain, the ashfall turned into muck in several villages. More than 150 people, mostly elderly, living within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the crater were evacuated to barracks set up for displaced people. Authorities in November had evacuated nearly 2,000 people living on the mountain in Magelang and Sleman districts but most have since returned. The alert is being maintained at the second-highest level and authorities told people to stay out of an existing danger zone around the crater. The 2,968-meter (9,737-foot) volcano is on densely populated Java island near the ancient city of Yogyakarta. It is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds recently. Hot cloud of volcanic materials run down the slope of Mount Merapi during an eruption in Sleman, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Indonesia's most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down its slopes. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi) A volunteer uses his walkie talkie as he monitors Mount Merapi during an eruption in Sleman, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Indonesia's most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down its slopes. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi) A man sprays insecticide at his crops as Mount Merapi is seen erupting int he background, in Sleman, Indonesia, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. Indonesia's most active volcano erupted Wednesday with a river of lava and searing gas clouds flowing 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) down its slopes. (AP Photo/Slamet Riyadi) Merapi's last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people. Indonesia, an archipelago of 270 million people, is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the ocean. 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. New manager A.J. Hinchs wish has been fulfilled: The Detroit Tigers are signing a catcher. The Tigers are finalizing a one-year deal with catcher Wilson Ramos, a league source told MLive Tuesday night. The news was first reported by Jose Rivera of WOW Deportes, who said the contract would be worth $2 million. Ramos agent later confirmed the deal on Twitter. El mayor de los exitos para @WRamosC3 en su nueva etapa con los @tigers. El #Buffalo llega a Motown #OctagonFamily pic.twitter.com/t3yQqcRQcW Gustavo Marcano (@GMarcanoAgent) January 27, 2021 A 33-year-old native of Venezuela, Ramos spent the last two seasons with the Mets. He has a career OPS of .755 (103 OPS+), well above average for a catcher, but his defense has had some question marks in recent years. He became a free agent after the Mets declined a $10 million contract option for 2021 and instead paid him a $1.5 million buyout. The Tigers currently have two catchers on the 40-man roster in Grayson Greiner and Jake Rogers. Veterans Eric Haase and Dustin Garneau are expected to be invited to spring training. The Tigers have struggled offensively at catcher since non-tendering James McCann after the 2018 season. They signed Austin Romine to a one-year, $4.1 million deal a year ago, but he struggled at the plate after a hot start. Hinch, a former catcher, said earlier Tuesday that he would ideally like to add another catcher to the mix before spring training. In a perfect world, theres still a guy out there that can help us, but whether the market produces that, whether thats how we choose to spend our dollars, is obviously up to (general manager Al Avila), he said. Ramos made his MLB debut for the Minnesota Twins in 2010, but was traded to the Washington Nationals later that year. He spent seven seasons with the Nats, making the All-Star Game in 2016. He signed with the Tampa Bay Rays prior to the 2017 season and was traded to Philadelphia late in 2018. Over the last three seasons, hes hit .288 with a .785 OPS and 34 home runs over 1,095 plate appearances. Ramos earned high marks for his glove early in his career, but defensive concerns have been magnified as hes aged. Its unclear whether the Tigers envision Ramos as a backup or starter. Rogers, a one-time top prospect who will turn 26 in April, is known for his top-notch defense behind the plate but has struggled with the bat. He could end up splitting playing time with the veteran Ramos. Ramos was in the news nearly 10 years ago when he was kidnapped at gunpoint by abductors who later sought a ransom payment. Venezuelan commandos freed him on Nov. 11, 2011, a date that he now has tattooed on his forearm. I know of many [kidnapping] cases in my country in which those people never make it back home, never see their families again, Ramos told MLB.com. Thats why I say I was born again, because God allowed me to come out of all that unharmed and it was another chance at life. Ramos is the third Major League free agent signed by the Tigers this winter, joining pitcher Jose Urena (one year, $3.25 million) and outfielder Robbie Grossman (two years, $10 million). The Tigers will have to drop a player from the 40-man roster when Ramos signing becomes official. TIGERS FREE-AGENT SIGNINGS Major League (3): RHP Jose Urena, OF Robbie Grossman, C Wilson Ramos.3 Minor league (14): LHP Ian Krol*, C Dustin Garneau*, LHP Locke St. John, RHP A.J. Ladwig, RHP Henry Martinez, RHP Zac Shepherd, IF Isrrael De La Cruz, LHP Miguel Del Pozo, LHP Robbie Ross, RHP Andrew Moore, IF Yariel Gonzalez, 1B Aderlin Rodriguez, RHP Erasmo Ramirez*, LHP Derek Holland, IF Drew Ward. * -- confirmed invitation to spring training * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Alabama will receive a slight increase in its supply of COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a press release. Ivey said she took part in a National Governors Association call this afternoon to discuss vaccine distribution with President Bidens COVID-19 coordinator, Jeff Zients. Ivey did not give any specific numbers on how many doses of vaccine the state would be receiving. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said last week the state has been receiving a total of about 50,000 to 60,000 doses a week of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, far short of whats needed. Harris said then there was a chance that could increase slightly in February if manufacturers increased production. In todays press release, Ivey said the state has the flexibility to redistribute unused doses from the federal pharmacy program for long term care facilities to reallocate for the general population. Im pleased that Alabama will receive a slight increase in our vaccine supply, Ivey said. Any margin of increase is appreciated, but we have a long way to go to be able to provide them to any Alabamian who wants one. Along with Dr. Harris, Ill continue to advocate to our federal partners that we must be more efficient in shipping these to the states in order for us to get shots in arms. Related: 6 ways the feds slowed Alabamas COVID vaccine rollout. WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Krasdale Foods, a 112-year-old, family-owned business providing grocery distribution, merchandising, and marketing to independent grocery store owners, has announced that it has hired Ike Kraemer to serve as general manager of the company's Bronx warehouse, responsible for all operations. Kraemer joined the company on March 2, two weeks prior to the lockdown, just as grocery stores began experiencing a strain in the supply chain. Despite the unusual circumstances, Kraemer immediately put a process in place to manage pandemic-related issues. "Ike has been a tremendous asset in helping us navigate one of the most difficult situations our industry has ever faced," said Krasdale President and Chief Operating Officer Gus Lebiak. "We're grateful to Ike for his leadership and steady hand and look forward to watching him continue to grow with the team, hopefully under less trying circumstances." Formerly General Manager at C&S Wholesale Grocers in its Davidson Specialty Food division, Kraemer has worked in the grocery industry for nearly 40 years, having started his career as a warehouse worker. At Krasdale, he manages a team of seven. "Though I joined Krasdale less than a year ago, I feel like I've gained years' worth of knowledge," Kraemer said. "Under normal circumstances, it would have taken me six months to recognize things that I saw in three weeks. When you're under pressure, you can get to the root of things so much better." For more information about Krasdale, please contact Erin Mandzik at 862-246-9911 or [email protected]. About Krasdale Krasdale is an independent, family-owned grocery distribution, merchandising, and marketing services company. For 112 years, Krasdale has supplied independent food markets with all the tools they need to succeed, helping to build and sustain multiple generations of successful enterprises. With its base of operations in New York, Krasdale has spread throughout the Northeast and Florida with store banners that include: C-Town, Bravo, Aim, Market Fresh, Shop Smart Food Markets and Stop 1 Food Mart. Contact: Erin Mandzik JConnelly 862-246-9911 [email protected] SOURCE Krasdale Foods Ten Elizabethan-era maps depicting the Spanish Armada have been saved for the nation and will stay in the UK after a museums fundraising campaign amassed 600,000 to purchase the set. The hand-drawn maps were sold to a foreign collection in July but an export ban was imposed to keep them in the UK. The National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) in Portsmouth then raised the funds to buy them in just eight weeks. Caroline Dinenage, the culture minister, imposed an overseas sales embargo on the ink and watercolour maps until January and urged museums and institutions to raise money to purchase them. NMRNs funding consisted of grants of 212,800 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and 200,000 from the Art Fund with the remainder raised from donations from the public. Professor Dominic Tweddle, the museum's director general, thanked the NMRNs funding partners and the public for "digging deep in extremely difficult times, to save these treasures". The maps date back to the year after the historic naval battle of 1588 and are believed to be the earliest surviving representations of the naval battles. They were drawn by an unknown draughtsman, possibly from the Netherlands and have not left the UK since they were drawn. In a statement, the museum said: "These armada maps present a defining moment in England's national and naval history. "They depict in real time a navy defending England's shores against invasion by the 16th century's imperial super-power of Spain, with each map detailing the position in the Channel of individual ships in the English and Spanish fleets. "The defeat of the armada and the 16th century's superpower was a turning point in forging England's complex identity as it developed into the modern age. "The maps offer the opportunity to explore the role of the navy throughout history as a protector of an island nation." The 1588 battle, where 66 English ships defeated a Spanish fleet double its size, is considered to be one of the most pivotal battles in history. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, during a virtual address at the 148th session of WHO Executive Board on Tuesday, said the world was on the verge of defeating the coronavirus pandemic. He attributed the success to "preemptive, proactive and collaborative" efforts taken by countries affected by the global pandemic. He said despite wide disparity in epidemiological trends estimated by countries, the world is close to defeating the pandemic. He said governments, business and philanthropic organisations got together to start committing resources. "The year 2020 was the year of science when the best of humanity was shown through the gloom that descended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation demanded setting up of major global collaboration so that scientists could share their expertise," he said during the virtual address. He said all states in India are doing everything they can to contain the virus but efforts need to be redoubled. He said the government worked immensely towards improving accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare services as it fought against the deadly virus. He added that WHO has ensured that all low and middle income countries get access to safe and effective Covid-19 testing kits and vaccines. Vardhan said even after the pandemic is over, there will be many challenges, for which the organisations like the WHO need to come up with a new vision. Meanwhile, the global coronavirus tally surpassed the 100 million mark on Wednesday, the Johns Hopkins University data suggests. The United States is still the worst affected country with 25,407,414 cases, followed by India. Total cases in India stands at 1,06,89,527. India reported 12,689 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, while 13,320 patients cured and 137 deaths in the last 24 hours, says the health ministry data. The active case tally stands at 1,76,498. The country has reported 1,03,59,305 recoveries and 1,53,724 deaths so far. Also read: Johnson & Johnson likely to report COVID vaccine data next week Also read: US to buy 200 million more doses of COVID-19 jabs; supply to increase by 50%: Joe Biden Deploring the Republic Day violence in Delhi, especially at the Red Fort, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday termed it an insult to the nation and said it had brought shame to the country and weakened the farmers' agitation. But he made it clear that he continues to stand with the farmers as the farm laws were wrong and against India's federal ethos. Stressing that the Red Fort is a symbol of independent India and thousands of Indians had given up their lives for independence and to see the national flag flying atop the fort, the Chief Minister said Mahatama Gandhi had fought the entire war of independence through non-violence. "My head hangs in shame at what happened yesterday in the national capital," he said. "Whoever has done it (indulged in violence at Red Fort) has brought shame to the country and Delhi Police should investigate and take action," he said, adding that the Centre should also probe into the involvement, if any, of any political party or nation, while making sure that no farm leaders are unnecessarily targeted or harassed by the police. The Chief Minister declared that the future of Punjab's youth lay in peace and recent developments had slowed down investment in the state. Even as he demanded action against the perpetrators, who he said were not farmers but misguided youth indulging in symbolism, the Chief Minister said that such problems will continue to take place if the government fails to listen to the voice of the people. A government for the people and by the people cannot ignore the will of the people, he said, adding that the performance of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre will not be acceptable in the next elections to the majority in a country where 70 per cent of the population is of farmers. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should realise that stability and secularism, encompassing all minorities, is the key to inclusive growth of the nation and playing the Hindutva card will not lead to progress, he remarked. "The farm laws are wrong, which is why we passed our own laws," Amarinder Singh said, pointing out that agriculture is a state subject, yet "we were not asked before introducing the Ordinances". Categorically rejecting allegations of his government being in the know on the issue, he said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was spreading false propaganda and the fact was that Punjab was not even initially included in the expert committee as the Centre knew the state will oppose their laws. Punjab had nothing to do with the policy decision taken by the Central government, he said, pointing out that even when the state was eventually included in the committee after he personally wrote to government of India, there was no discussion or consultation on the farm Ordinances. In fact, the draft report received later from the Niti Aayog, to which his government gave point-by-point response, also made no mention of the Ordinances, he added. Lamenting that the Governor had not yet forwarded the state amendment Bills to the President for assent, he said the laws were passed in the state assembly under Article 254 (II) of the Constitution, as the BJP had done in the case of the Land Acquisition Act. "If it could be done for the BJP, why can't they do it for us," he asked, questioning the biased attitude towards the Congress government in Punjab. "Why have state governments at all, if their powers are to be systematically reduced," asked Amarinder Singh, pointing out that the Anandpur Sahib resolution, passed 50 years ago, had demanded strengthening of the federal structure but it is instead being weakened further. Reiterating that the farm kaws will be death knell for the economic empowerment of the future generations of the farmers who are protesting against the legislations, the Chief Minister said private corporates were even now functioning in Punjab and could continue coming into the state without destroying the established system of the MSP, arhtiyas and PDS. : WangLimin (), : Chinese : COVID-19 PANDEMIC = A GLOBAL MURDEROUS FRAUD : Global MURDEROUS FRAUD,COVID-19 Pandemic : BBS (Tue Jan 26 22:25:33 2021, ) COVID-19 PANDEMIC = GLOBAL MURDEROUS FRAUD January 26, 2021 by Limin Wang I will begin with an excerpt from my Dec. 29, 2020 post, The Pursuit of Justice --- Please NO COVID-19 Shroud On Serious Injuries: "Lets have a little discuss of COVID-19 symptoms here, since the perpetrators try to utilize COVID-19 on me. The main-stream media propagandaed COVID-19 symptoms ALL existed for injuries or illnesses BEFORE the COVID-19 was even coined in 2020! The trend-lines of the reported COVID-19 test positives and COVID-19 mortality in the U.S.A. or in the world did NOT correlate for many consecutive months until recently the systematic murderous fraudsters have known the serious doubt brought up by serious doubters and have then tried to make the lines correlate! Tens of millions of people worldwide die each and every year due to causes, and the mortality lines worldwide are practically STRAIGHT lines. The mortality in countries adopting herd immunity does not see a spike in 2020. In my personal life experience, I have witnessed or known medical clinics like NYCMNO or NYMDC stay OPEN throughout the so-called COVID-19 pandemic. From my understanding, non-respiratory clinics stay OPEN to MAKE MONEY in the first place, and that medical professionals themselves do not get harm or death from COVID-19 is mostly because COVID-19 is actually not terrible at all. If airborne COV-2 were deadly, medical professionals are only money-making humans too, although with some specialty knowledge and special resource, and they would have died in piles too. Particularly on NYCMNO during my visits in 2020, I witnessed some medical providers there were coughing, frequently or not, really or fakely, and they took their masks off when I was the only patient left in NYCMNO! It is what it is, and they are what they are. I did not have a complaint about their hazardous or hostile behavior then. NOBODY in my interacting or witnessing sphere even showed with COVID-19. Plus, a family member living with me was being tested frequently for COVID-19 because of the external demand, and the test results were all negative, and I told this to NYCMNO during the argument on 12/22/2020. Judge who is the psychiatric! About my constant pain on the whole front chest wall and the lungs from the 01/16/2018 fall, Dr. Martin B. Gillman, a Jewish chiropractor, at NYMDC gave me his business card as Dr. Martin B. Stillman and suddenly sprayed some kind of powder to my chest and face area when I was following him to the X-ray room at the their basement floor on February 15, 2018, the very first day I visited NYMDC because of BCFs referral. I had moments ago told Dr. Martin B. Stillman I dont like X-ray and I need to go Manhattan for the afternoon brain MRI. AT LEAST AN OBLONG METALLIC PARTICLE WAS SHOWN ON MY THROATS INNER SURFACE ON THE 02/15/2018 X-RAY IMAGES AND SUCH A PARTICLE IN MY LUNGS ON THE MARCH 08, 2018 X-RAY IMAGES, BOTH TIME DONE AT NYMDC. I complained to NYS WCB and then, as instructed, to NYS DOH Office of Professional Medical Conducts about NYMDCs DENIAL & DISTORTION of the OPEN-MOUTH view X-ray images, these NYS government agencies again and again showed MALFEASANCE and CORRUPTION." I would like to add a little here about the CONSPIRACY THEORY and the MURDEROUS FRAUD SYSTEM. About the time some COVID-19 vaccines made in the U.S.A. were about to be announced available, the main-stream media STARTED to BULLHORN the existence of VARIANTS and their POTENCY from many corners of the world. Of course, it would be the best for the continuation of GLOBAL MURDEROUS FRAUD that a potent variant is reported from a developed country and best ally, UK. If UK can not do much about it, then it's NORMAL for the U.S. not able to do much about it. The "explanation" of vaccines probably not working has been laid out: viral strains of variation. President Trump did not lose to the COVID-19, but President Trump did lose to the COVID-19 FRAUD. What the fuss of being test positive of "COV-2" (not COVID-19)? If the UNSCRUPULOUS MURDEROUS FRAUD SYSTEM of insurances, lawyers, medical professionals, government agencies like those I have met in my injury case in New York State were to be accused of liability for COVID-19, then COVID-19 would NOT even exist because such a SYSTEM would have been EASILY wiped it out CLEAN AND CLEAR, because such HUMAN SCUMS are in the POWER position. Now, a news from the Peculiar-Colored CCP's China announced a sentence of one-year-jail-time on a China-Born-American woman because she reportedly "successfully" travelled from Boston, U.S.A. to Beijing, China. She was reportedly hiding about her symptoms while boarding, but honest while arriving. Allegedly, some sixty people were tested COV-2 positive because of this "immoral" or "illegal" woman. So what? is this a story of RULE OF LAW? I think it's more of a sick joke. It's also reportedly that woman was fired because of this. What's the PCCCP's "treatment" of COVID-19? By RULE OF LAW. The similar sick joke has been happening in the U.S. The positivity of COV-2 test administered by such a SYSTEM does NOT equal COVID- 19 illness or even death. All these positives in that Beijing legal case of COVID-19 were luckily NOT murdered or murder- attempted to serious mortality or morbidity yet. -- WangLimin People's Voice http://blog.mitbbs.com/WangLimin http://www.mitbbs.com/pc/index/WangLimin :WangLimin Jan 26 22:44:34 2021 [FROM: 2603:7000:101:87] :WWW mitbbs.com [FROM: 2603:7000:101:8] [] Capitol Breach Getting Caught (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) The federal prosecutor investigating the riot at the Capitol said indictments could be issued this week. The FBI is working to find more than 400 suspects in the investigation. Acting US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, said during a briefing on Tuesday that more than 135 people have been arrested so far in connection to the violent overthrow of the Capitol building on 6 January. The Department of Justice expects the number of cases to keep going up as they make use of the huge amount of video and photographic evidence in addition to tips from the public. The vast majority of the arrests have come from criminal complaints, Reuters reported. Criminal complaints are used temporarily to give the government time to build a case that will then be presented to a grand jury, as a suspect can not be convicted only on a criminal complaint in a federal court setting. Only a few people have been indicted so far out of the hundreds of people who have been charged, many for minor offences such as trespassing. Others have been charged with more serious crimes such as assaulting a police officer and conspiracy. Many of the initial charges were minor but Mr Sherwin said they have added significant felony charges to most of the arrested suspects, the AFP reported. Mr Sherwin said: Were continuing to build the evidence related to these charges. The individuals that were charged via the federal criminal complaints will then be indicted in the very near future to include this week. Charges like assaulting a police officer and disrupting a federal proceeding can lead to between 5 and 20 years in prison. The FBI is looking into whether groups of people made plans to take over the Capitol before the riot. If some are found to have conspired to overthrow the government, they could be charged with seditious conspiracy. Mr Sherwin said he expected some suspects to face charges of this kind. Three members of the far-right anti-government militia the Oath Keepers have already been charged with conspiring before the riot, but no indictment has been issued yet in this particular case. Story continues Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden presidency Mr Sherwin said: It shows militia groups actively involved in planning and breaching the Capitol. He said the investigation would reach a plateau" as the FBI has tracked down many of the suspects who posted images and videos of themselves on social media. The investigation is entering a deeper phase which involves looking at the more complicated conspiracy cases, Mr Sherwin said. The investigations into the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and the bombs found at the DNC and RNC are ongoing, federal officials said. The FBI agent leading the bureaus investigation, Steven D'Antuono, said that they had received 200,000 tips from members of the public. Read More Trump Plaza near Mar-a-Lago to be renamed following Capitol riots Susan Rice: Biden administration to focus on white supremacist threats Capitol police chief apologises for agencys role in terror attack Mitt Romney wants some damage at the Capitol left as a reminder Capitol rioter who took Pelosis laptop may be destroying evidence RTHK: Russian police raid homes of Navalny, allies Russian police raided the Moscow offices of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's group on Wednesday and came to search several other properties, including a flat where his wife was, one of his allies said. The searches come after tens of thousands of Navalny's supporters took to the streets on Saturday to call on the Kremlin to release him from jail where he is serving a 30-day stint for alleged parole violations that he denies. Police had said the protests were illegal and detained close to 4,000 people. More than a dozen criminal cases have been opened. Navalny's allies plan to hold another rally this Sunday. Ivan Zhdanov, director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, said police appeared to be conducting the searches as part of an investigation into calls made to hold a protest that flouted restrictions imposed over the Covid-19 pandemic. Zhdanov wrote on Twitter that Navalny's apartment in northern Moscow was being searched. "A lot of 'heavies' in masks. They started breaking down the door," Zhdanov said, adding that Navalny's brother, Oleg, was inside the property. At another location, Zhdanov posted video showing Yulia Navalnaya, the Kremlin critic's wife, telling police to wait for her lawyer to arrive as they banged loudly at the door. Police also searched the offices of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, he said. Photos on social media showed around 20 masked men waiting to gain entry. Navalny has not yet returned home since being poisoned last summer, as he was arrested immediately on his return to Russia from Germany, where he had been recovering. (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Were excited to be working with Amtel to help bring their clients solutions that bridge the interoperability gap and bring new capabilities to their existing infrastructure. REDCOM is pleased to announce the addition of Amtel Phone Systems as a strategic partner in the First Responder and Public Safety verticals. Amtel is a Houston, Texas-based organization and a leading provider of top industry phone brands, providing innovative IP phone solutions to their customers. Partnering with Amtel Phone Systems allows REDCOM to reach new markets, expanding our presence into Texas and giving us a reliable and trusted partner, says REDCOMs National Channel Manager, Gwen Salmon. Were excited to be working with Amtel to help bring their clients solutions that bridge the interoperability gap and bring new capabilities to their existing infrastructure. Walter Davidson, Co-Owner of Amtel Phone Systems echoes that statement: We want to help our customers help themselves. The public safety solutions we have access to with REDCOM as a trusted partner gives us technology thats been missing, and something thats really necessary. He goes on to say that after Hurricane Harvey, they knew they needed to have something that would allow them to help their customers respond quickly if and when natural disasters like that happen again, We see that REDCOM is filling a niche that has not been available to us here before, and we want to bring that to our customers. The partnership will see Amtel distribute a range of REDCOM Solutions including REDCOMs radio interoperability solution, REDCOM CrucialConnect to their customers in the Houston area and beyond. About REDCOM Based in Victor, N.Y., REDCOM is a woman-owned small business that specializes in the design and manufacture of advanced communications solutions with a focus on interoperability, flexibility, and ease of use. REDCOMs customers include first responders, public safety organizations, integrators, government agencies, and all branches of the military. All REDCOM products are proudly designed, built, and supported in the United States. For additional information, please visit the REDCOM website at https://www.redcom.com. About Amtel Phone Systems Based in Houston, TX, Amtel is a leading provider of top industry phone brands, delivering innovative digital phone solutions to their customers and leading the way toward unified communications in all industries of business. Offering IT services, managed services, and telephone services, Amtel allows full service integration, no matter how great the distance. For additional information, please visit the Amtel website at https://www.amtelphonesystems.com/. Ukraine to consider sanctions against 13 Russian airlines The Russian companies violate the procedure for using Ukraine's airspace by flying over the temporarily occupied Crimea and Sevastopol. Reporting by UNIAN If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+Enter Video sharing giant YouTube extended its suspension of former U.S. President Donald Trumps channel indefinitely. The Google-owned company announced that for the second time in two weeks, it would extend restrictions that block Trump from posting on the platform. The company initially blocked him on Jan. 12 amid fears of additional violence in the wake of the insurrection at the Capitol by Trumps supporters. YouTube initially said it was giving Trump his first of three strikes before it would permanently ban him from the site under its content policies, suspending him for a minimum of one week. It extended that suspension last Tuesday for at least another week. But the company offered no timetable for the latest extension, making his suspension effectively indefinite, Politico reported. "In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will remain suspended," YouTube spokesperson Ivy Choi said in a statement. "Our teams are staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments." WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING? Are you streaming the latest series? Revisiting a classic on cable? Pulling out your Blu-rays or DVDs? Let us know what you're watching by emailing eyest@bakersfield.com for possible inclusion in an upcoming column. GREENWICH When Sean ODonnell returned from a nearly yearlong military deployment overseas, he surprised his two children just before Christmas as a holiday gift to his family. ODonnell has now delivered a present to the people of the town of Greenwich. A Greenwich police sergeant and a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard, ODonnell on Tuesday presented First Selectman Fred Camillo with a U.S. flag that was flown where he was stationed in the Middle East. The flag flew over Camp Arifjan Army Base in Arifjan, Kuwait, and it will now fly at Town Hall. Its acknowledging the people of Greenwich; they have been very supportive of me, and this is a way of giving back, said ODonnell, who has been in the National Guard for 31 years. The flag is our banner, one we can all get behind, he said at Tuesdays meeting with Camillo at Town Hall. The first selectman called it a wonderful present for the community. Hes serving our country, and hes serving our community, so its a great honor to take the flag from one of our great patriots, and who is beloved in town, Camillo said. Camillo joked that he has seen so many signs in the Greenwich neighborhood where ODonnell lives, welcoming him back from his deployment, that he thought he might be running for political office. Were happy hes home, said Camillo. Theyre the reason why I serve, said ODonnell, speaking of his neighbors. The National Guard officer said he is happy to be back, but getting used to winter had been a challenge after months of warm weather in Kuwait. Since he returned just before Christmas, ODonnell said he has been reconnecting with family and friends. Of his own wife and two kids, he said, Theyre the ones who sacrifice. The police sergeant has also been taking long walks at Greenwich Point, something he was looking forward to while he was deployed overseas. Getting down to Tods, its the diamond in our Greenwich crown, he said. ODonnell enjoyed a bagel for breakfast on Christmas Eve morning, and hes also been satisfying a craving for pizza since his return. He will put on his blue police uniform next month. While in Kuwait, ODonnell served as the provost marshal for the 42nd Division, its top law-enforcement officer. The U.S. military is deployed for security operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. He wore his military uniform on his visit to Town Hall on Tuesday after taking care of some National Guard business earlier in the day at Camp Smith, outside Peekskill, N.Y. Just before Christmas, ODonnell flew in from Fort Hood, Texas, to surprise his children. In 2008, ODonnell presented another flag to then-First Selectman Peter Tesei from his service overseas. The longtime military policeman had been stationed then at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. The camp was named after a New York City marshal and soldier who died while trying to rescue people from the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ODonnell had previously served two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army 104th Battalions 442nd Military Police Company. The Greenwich Police Department organized an effort to send school supplies for Iraqi children at his request. He also spent a year in Bosnia. In 2003, ODonnell was awarded a Bronze Star for his service in the military. rmarchant@greenwichtime.com In February or March, the first phase of construction on U.S. 281 between Loop 1604 and (almost) the Comal County line will hit a significant milestone - the completion of the projects last two flyover lanes connecting it with 1604. Thats a big deal for everyone, Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jennifer Serold said. Its been a long time coming. Now people wont have to exit to the frontage roads and theyll have proper highway lanes. The completion of those two northbound flyovers the last of eight would allow the opening of a main lane of traffic just north of Stone Oak Parkway, Serold said. And coming even sooner, perhaps in a week or two, access roads from Marshall Road to Stone Oak will be completed, removing a few more orange cones from the path of some 100,000 vehicles on what is perennially Bexar Countys most congested major highway. The first phase of the 8-mile project is expected to be finished by the fall, with the conversion of the Stone Oak/TPC Parkway intersection. The second phase, from Stone Oak to Borgfeld Road, a half-mile from the Comal County line, is expected to be completed by early 2023, though its new northbound access road might be ready by August of this year. With no unforeseen delays, the entire project will have taken almost seven years upon completion. On ExpressNews.com: 3 million miles after he started, San Antonio VIA bus driver retired with perfect safety record Planning for it began as far back as 2000, when TxDOT announced plans to remodel U.S. 281 into a conventional, nontolled six-lane freeway from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway. But severe funding shortages pushed the state into requiring new freeway projects to use toll roads if possible. Litigation and political pressure from toll road opponents and environmentalists ensued and the 281 project got delayed for many years. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio names Florida planner as new transportation director Construction of the massive $532 million highway project to some a necessity for suburban growth, for others a monument to governments misplaced priorities started in early 2017 with Gov. Greg Abbott addressing a crowd of local politicians and TxDOT workers in the parking lot of a Mattress Firm on U.S. 281. In front of stagnant morning traffic, Abbott said, The reason these roads behind me are clogged is due to San Antonios dynamic economy. Lets give it up for the workers who built these roads. Afterward, then-Bexar County Commissioner Kevin Wolff, a fellow Republican, noted of the countys lack of mass transit: As a community we just havent matured into asking what other means of transportation there are. It was a major fight just to get HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes. A lot of people really fought them. bselcraig@express-news.net To read this article and more, including our archive of drinks industry news, analysis & comment pieces from the last 20 years, try just-drinks for 30 days for just 1* First Name Last Name Job Title Email Take a trial *plus VAT if applicable Already a member? Log in here SpaceX's rocket would be used by Axiom Space for the world's first commercial private crew flight on January 2022, bound for the International Space Station, and each person paid a whopping $55 million for their seat. The company has been gearing up for its commercial flight program, which opens its doors to anyone who can afford a seat towards space. People have now turned to the most exotic and out-of-this-world getaway experience of a lifetime, and that is going to the International Space Station, and looking forward to research and study above the Earth's atmosphere. The trip is already arranged and bound for ISS in January 2022, with a former NASA astronaut heading the voyage. Optimistically, experts believe that the current fee that costs millions of dollars would soon reduce to several hundreds of dollars in the coming years for all commercial space travels, as it gathers more people to avail. Read Also: Nvidia RTX 3060 Pre-Order Now Available: Price, Specs, and Everything You Need to Know! Axiom Space and SpaceX: Flying the First Three Private Crew in 2022 According to the Associated Press, Axiom Space has appointed Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut who was known for his countless missions and a trip to the ISS would captain the ship's private crew. The reason for the flight is because these three people have been wanting a new experience, and their chosen destination is space. Private space companies have now moved from creating spacecraft and unmanned space missions to opening their commercial space program to anyone who can afford and take up the rigorous conditions of space. The first private crew with Axiom Space would be spending eight days at the space station and would be conducting scientific research of their own. They would be utilizing the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that seats four people, one for its captain astronaut, and the three others for the private crew passengers. The SpaceX rocket and Axiom Space mission would be departing from Cape Canaveral come next January. Who are the Three Private Crew Passengers? According to Global News CA, Axiom Space has received bids and payment for the program from Larry Connor who is a real estate and technology entrepreneur from Dayton, Ohio. He is joined by Mark Pathy, a Canadian financer in the profession, and Eytan Stibbe, an Israeli businessman, who is also known for his close friendship with the late Ilan Ramon, Israel's first astronaut. These people would be performing educational outreach in space, apart from their scientific research, that is said to be a contributing factor for the development of their communities, says chief executive and president, Mike Suffredini. Axiom's chief is also known as the former program manager in the International Space Station from NASA. The team is dubbed as the "Collection of Pioneers" by Lopez-Alegria, as they will make history as the first private crew to head to the International Space Station. While Tom Cruise's rumored ISS trip with Doug Liman to shoot a film is still set, Axiom Space's mission in 2022 would be making history and starting the commercial flights. Related Article: NASA and SpaceX Dragon Will Bring Tom Cruise, Doug Liman, a Pilot, and a 'Lucky' Tourist in the ISS for October 2021 This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Isaiah Alonzo 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Lincoln Project slammed Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in its latest ad, tweeting that he knew what he was doing. He is complicit. The accusation relates to his efforts to support former President Donald Trump in his attempt to overturn the election result by baselessly claiming that he lost because of widespread voter fraud. The ad focuses on the Capitol riots on 6 January which left five people dead. It opens up on Mr Trump saying: "Josh Hawley will be one of the greatest champions," at a rally. Fox News host Brett Baier then asks Mr Hawley in the ad: "Are you trying to say that come January 20th, that President Trump will be President?" Stumbling over his words, Mr Hawley responds: "Well, that depends on what happens on Wednesday," referring to 6 January, the day when the congressional certification of President Joe Biden's electoral college win was interrupted by the violent assault on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters. Before they attacked the Capitol, Mr Hawley could be seen raising his fist to the crowd in apparent support. Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, tweeted on 9 January that many senators now despise" Mr Hawley. In the ad, a news anchor says over violent imagery from the riot: "The Kansas City Star writes plainly that he has quote 'blood on his hands'." Next, Rudy Giuliani yells "Let's have trial by combat!" from the stage at the ellipse next to the National Mall where Mr Trump spoke before the riot. Read more: Follow live updates on the beginning of the Biden presidency Another anchor then quotes the former Missouri Senator Jack Danforth who said Mr Hawleys actions represented the "opposite of conservative, it's radical". Mr Danforth said in a statement in the days before the riot that "lending credence to Trump's false claim that the election was stolen is a highly destructive attack on our constitutional government. It is the opposite of conservative; it is radical. As one friend asked me, 'What are my grandchildren to think of America if they are told that elections are fraudulent?'" With dramatic music in the background, the words across the screen at the end of the ad spell out the Lincoln Projects verdict: "JOSH HAWLEY ... YOU ARE COMPLICIT" The Lincoln Project was started by a number of communication-savvy anti-Trump Republicans, including Steve Schmidt, who has worked on the campaigns of former President George W Bush, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and former Arizona Senator John McCain. Others include Rick Wilson, who has created ads for several gubernatorial and senatorial campaigns, and George Conway, the conservative lawyer, Washington Post columnist and husband to the former counsellor to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway. Several ads from the Lincoln Project got under Mr Trump's skin. In December, an ad arguing that former Vice President Mike Pence was backing away from Mr Trump to save his own skin reportedly rattled the then president and made him sceptical of his right-hand man. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Strategic Industries of Ukraine Oleh Uruskyi and Charge d'Affaires of the United States in Ukraine a.i. Kristina Kvien discussed the issues of military-technical and industrial cooperation between Ukraine and the United States during an online conversation. As the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine informs, Oleh Uruskyi outlined his vision of possible areas of bilateral partnership, which, in his opinion, may be of mutual interest and will contribute to the deepening of the strategic ties between the countries. The Deputy Prime Minister also outlined the key priorities for further activities of the Ministry of Strategic Industries for 2021, including the establishment of the Defense Technology Agency following an example of U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA. As noted, Kristina Kvien congratulated the Ministry for Strategic Industries on the progress made during the operation of the Ministry and expressed support for the reform of the Ukrainian defense industry. The U.S. diplomat pointed out the transparency of reforms in the defense industry as it will be positively perceived by investors and will allow the United States and Ukraine to reach a new level of collaboration. As reported, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine presented five key tasks for 2021, including the establishment of a defense technology agency on the model of DARPA which will implement scientific and technical developments and new technologies to create modern types of competitive weapons and military equipment. ol America Talks: Join us and #ListenFirst in a virtual conversation with another American HHM Certified Public Accountants, a full-service CPA and consulting firm with locations in Chattanooga and Memphis, has hired two senior accountants and three staff accountants.HHM has hired Joseph Bishop to its Management Advisory Services team. He will assist with all stages of mergers and acquisitions, including planning, implementation and evaluation of potential tax consequences. He will also provide trust and estate services, valuation services and individual tax planning and consulting.Mr. Bishop is a licensed attorney and completed a judicial clerkship in the Tax Court of New Jersey prior to joining the firm. After that, he spent three years at Big 4 accounting firms where he handled partnership taxation, the Research and Development Tax Credit and mergers and acquisitions. He is a military veteran, graduated cum laude from the University of Maine, and obtained his JD from Rutgers Law School.Returning to the firm is Andrew Mayfield, who previously worked at both the Chattanooga and Memphis locations. Mr. Mayfield will assist business owners in year-end tax planning, succession planning and general tax and accounting services. Prior to returning to the firm, Mr. Mayfield served as controller and VP of Finance for a data and media company. He graduated with a bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a master of business administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.Blake Bryson joins the firms Management Advisory Services team as a staff accountant. He will provide valuation support, mergers and acquisitions due diligence and management advisory consulting. Prior to joining HHM, Mr. Bryson worked in public accounting performing audits on domestic and international hedge funds and private equity funds. He also spent time in private industry doing accounting, financial planning and analysis and mergers and acquisitions consulting. Mr. Bryson graduated with a bachelor of science in both accounting and business administration from Liberty University.HHM has hired Gabby Galluzzi to its Accounting and Assurance department. Before graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a master of accountancy, Ms. Galluzzi was an intern at HHM.Rachael Yager also joins the Accounting and Assurance team. She will assist in the completion of audit field work, as well as prepare financial statements and tax returns. Prior to joining HHM, Ms. Yager worked in public accounting as a staff auditor following a two-year internship with a local manufacturer. Ms. Yager graduated with a master of accountancy and bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.I am thrilled to start a new year by adding this group of talented professionals to our team, said Donnie Hutcherson, managing partner of HHM CPAs. We are humbled to retain and add talent during the ongoing pandemic. A man charged with the theft of a 2007 New Holland Kobelco digger, which was parked up for the weekend at Lower Ferefad has been released on bail and is due to reappear in March following last weeks sitting of Longford District Court. Fergal Gannon, with an address at Ferefad Lower, Longford, was arrested shortly after 10.30pm on January 18 and charged with the theft, which had been reported to gardai earlier that morning. The vehicle, which had been used to carry out works by Irish Water in the previous week was discovered by gardai at the back of Mr Gannons property, approximately 1.5km away from where it had been stolen. This is a very odd thing to do, Judge Hughes noted as he heard the evidence. Solicitor, Frank Gearty, explained that the digger had been parked up on the grass verge on January 15 and was missing when the workers returned on January 18. Its not something thats easy to hide, said Judge Hughes. Gardai present in court last week explained that the vehicle was a 2007 model and was started with the aid of a machine. It was proposed that the case be adjourned to February 2, but defence solicitor Lorna Groarke requested a longer adjournment due to Covid-19: to avoid people like me showing up in your court, she joked to Judge Hughes. Judge Hughes agreed to adjourn the case to March 9 fixing bail with a number of conditions attached. Mr Gannon must reside at his address in Ferefad Lower and abide by a curfew of 10pm to 8am. He must sign on at Longford Garda Station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9am and 8pm and he must present himself to gardai who call to his address. Judge Hughes also told Mr Gannon to have no contact with the victim or witnesses, to provide a contact number to gardai, and to remain drug and alcohol free, though he took note of a possible drinking problem. The shifts in Washington were long, which led Teeter and his fellow soldiers to take naps "wherever we could find a spot," he said. Still, the narratives of National Guardsmen being forced to sleep in parking garages or stairwells are overblown in his opinion. They had hotel rooms, but the logistics of such an unusual deployment often made them want to get rest before they could be bused back. Teeter's battalion was stationed at the Capitol for a few days. Then, as the security perimeter around it expanded, the 102nd moved to the Supreme Court, helping its police force guard a control point. The Auburn soldier enjoyed the historic sights, including the Library of Congress, where his battalion took breaks. He also saw a few politicians, he said, but didn't identify them for security reasons. "We weren't treating these buildings like our barracks, we were treating it like we were in the halls of the Supreme Court, the Capitol, the Library of Congress," he said. "Everyone was respectful." Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute to almost a third of Indias total GDP and employ a large section of the population. MSMEs are therefore vital to the countrys economic growth. And with new technology opening up more avenues in the MSME sector, entrepreneurs today have a lot of opportunities to look forward to. As the pandemic-hit economy moves back to normalcy, a key factor that can help MSMEs leverage these opportunities is the availability of financing. Small and medium enterprises need funds to buy equipment, refill inventory, expand operations, increase working capital and more. To help those in the MSME space get access to funds, lenders are offering MSME loans. What is an MSME loan? An MSME loan is a personalised financial instrument useful in fulfilling the varied needs of small enterprise. It is a kind of financing that is easy to avail of and can help you grow your business. Here are some reasons that make an MSME loan a popular financing solution for entrepreneurs today: 1. An ideal solution to meet big expenditures: An MSME loan is a financing option designed to help entrepreneurs to meet their expenses in a hassle-free manner. Lenders today offer high-value loans that come with easy-to-meet eligibility criteria. You are not required to pledge any security and you can use the money for any business expense. For instance, consider the MSME loan offered by Bajaj Finserv. The non-banking finance company (NBFC) offers collateral-free MSME loans up to Rs.45 lakh at an attractive rate of interest. Since it is an unsecured loan, you can avail funds without pledging any asset as security. 2. It comes with a short processing cycle: Timing is a crucial factor, especially during an unforeseen event where you may need funds immediately. An MSME loan is a handy solution as it comes with quick approval and requires only a handful of documents. 3. Flexible tenure to ease the repayment: One of the major deciding factors for an applicant before availing a loan is the convenience of repayment. A comfortable repayment tenure helps borrowers in managing the debt in a better way without defaulting on it. With MSME loans, you can enjoy a flexible repayment tenure and plan your finances smartly without creating a dent in your pocket. 4. Attractive rate of interest: Rate of interest plays an important role when you choose to apply for a loan. It is an important factor that determines your overall cost of loan as well as the monthly instalment. The amount of the monthly instalment is determined by the rate of interest as well as the principal, therefore it is important to avail a loan at a lower rate of interest for affordable EMIs. An MSME loan usually comes with a competitive rate of interest that is suitable for small entrepreneurs. The MSME loan offered by Bajaj Finserv comes with the unique Flexi loan facility in which you can opt for interest-only EMIs and reduce your monthly instalment by up to 45%*. It also lets you withdraw flexibly as per your requirement from the sanctioned loan limit with interest charged only on the withdrawn amount. Minimal paperwork, approval in 24 hours*, and easy repayment options make an MSME loan the ideal choice for business owners today. Check your MSME loan offer from Bajaj Finserv and manage the expenses of your venture with an MSME loan today. Disclaimer: This content is distributed by Bajaj Finserv. No HT journalist is involved in creation of this content. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. (Natural News) The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) experienced the side effects of the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was knocked out for an entire day after receiving the second dose of Modernas jab. He described his experience following the second dose as a little achy and chilly, but clarified that he was not sick. Fauci made the remarks during a Jan. 22 White House press briefing. Responding to a question whether he had already taken the COVID-19 booster shot, he answered: I was hoping that I wouldnt get too knocked out. I did for about 24 hours. Now Im fine. The top infectious disease doctor added he received his booster shot on Jan. 19, which was 28 days after he received the first dose on live television Dec. 22. The health expert joined the ranks of other officials and high-profile personalities who received the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine, broadcast on television to encourage Americans to get theirs. These officials include President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also received vaccinations on live television. Meanwhile, it is unclear whether former President Donald Trump was vaccinated for COVID-19 behind closed doors. He contracted COVID-19 in early October 2020, but subsequently recovered after treatment. Even a top health expert like Fauci is not immune to the side effects of vaccines The fatigue, aches and chills Fauci experienced are the most common side effects of the vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. Others also experienced headaches, another common side effect. But the health expert nevertheless reminded Americans that the side effects were not illnesses caused by the vaccine. Rather, these were signs that the immune system is ramping itself up to fend off the virus. No deaths have been conclusively linked to the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines as of writing. However, surveys showed that Americans were concerned about the rushed vaccine development or possible side effects that may be worse than the disease it aims to prevent. Clinical trials showed that both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna shots demonstrated more than 90 percent efficacy rates. About 55 percent of people who got the Moderna mRNA vaccine during clinical trials reported side effects after the first dose. Moreover, 80 percent of people who received the Moderna jab reported side effects after the booster dose. Thus, doctors warned Americans to be prepared for any adverse reactions they may experience. Dozens of Americans who claim to have taken part in trials for both Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines alleged that the second dose of the mRNA vaccines caused significant side effects. Among the adverse reactions they reported included being fatigued for an entire day and developing high fevers. (Related: Boston physician vouches for the Moderna coronavirus vaccine that almost TOOK HIS LIFE.) Indiana nursing home employee Shawn Skelton was among those who experienced a serious reaction to the vaccine. She suffered uncontrollable shaking and tongue spasms after being vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, just like Fauci. The adverse reactions appeared three days following immunization, her fiance Rich Vidiella said. Vaccine hesitancy is high among health workers as many of them experienced adverse reactions Health workers were given top priority under the current immunization program. However, health authorities were surprised as a majority of health workers rejected the coronavirus vaccine. Some 60 percent of health care workers in the state of Ohio initially turned down the vaccine. A veterans home in Illinois said 80 percent of its staff refused vaccinations for COVID-19. Vaccine hesitancy threatens to undermine the critical rollout of vaccines, more so when it comes from people in the medical field. Health workers themselves have reservations when it comes to the coronavirus jab following reports of serious reactions and post-vaccination deaths. (Related: California healthcare workers suffer severe allergic reactions following coronavirus vaccination.) Florida obstetrician Gregory Michael died 16 days after being vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus. The 56-year-old Miami doctor died of a hemorrhagic stroke after developing a rare autoimmune disease which prevented blood clotting. Michaels wife Heidi Neckelmann said his death was 100 percent linked to the vaccine. Meanwhile, Portuguese nurse Sonia Acevedo passed away Jan. 1, two days after being vaccinated against COVID-19. The 48-year-old mother of two did not report any adverse effects following immunization. Acevedos daughter Vania Figueredo said her mother had only complained about discomfort in the area where she was injected. VaccineInjuryNews.com has more about the side effects of jabs against the Wuhan coronavirus. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk GreatGameIndia.com Selectman Robert Ciskowski, seen here in his re-election run in 2018, has resigned from all town boards. Ciskowski Resigns From Cheshire Select Board CHESHIRE, Mass. In a letter sent to iBerkshires on Wednesday morning, longtime selectman and former Chairman Robert Ciskowski declared his resignation from all town boards he served on. "As much as I like this Town, my ability to serve in Town Government has been compromised by what I believe to be serious violations of the Public Trust by another elected official," Ciskowski wrote. "My moral convictions and what I hold as true are more powerful than my like for helping out with local government." Ciskowski wrote that around the time of Town Administrator Edmund St. John IV's departure late last year, he felt he had experienced state ethics violations and Open Meeting Law violations while on the board. "I contemplated filing with the appropriate State agencies my concerns, but at this point, hold that it is best for the taxpayers and voters for me to remain silent," he wrote. The letter was dated Jan. 25 and, on Tuesday night, the Board of Selectmen accepted Ciskowski's resignation. Chairwoman Michelle Francesconi thanked Ciskowski for his service to the board. "I'm sorry to see Bob leave the select board," she said. "He served the town faithfully for many years and his efforts and commitment are appreciated. The institutional knowledge he provided was helpful during this period of change within the select board. I wish him all the best." She added that the Selectmen will likely hold off on filling the position. She said Ciskowski's term would have expired May. "So we will run the election process as regularly scheduled," she said. Ciskowski was re-elected to the board in 2014 after some time away from town government. He also served on the Conservation Commission and the Rent Control Board. Ciskowski often challenged other select board members, including longtime former Selectwoman Carol Francesconi. Specifically in the contentious hiring of St.John as town administrator, he offered to vote for St. John and end the gridlock, but said he planned to resign immediately after. This never came to be. Ciskowski more recently challenged new Chairwoman Michelle Francesconi. He felt she was overstepping her role as board chair, specifically in holding conversations with the Hoosac Valley Regional School District in regard to the town's lease agreement for the use of Cheshire Elementary School. Although it was agreed that Francesconi would take on new roles in the absence of a town administrator, Ciskowksi felt she should have included the rest of the board in these discussions. Ciskowski was also outspoken about the closing of Cheshire Elementary School and took issue with the district using the building as its central office. He fought to increase the board from three to five members and brought construction and heavy equipment knowledge to the board. He was instrumental in the development of the town's master plan. He also looked to improve transparency in government and was part of a movement to move Selectmen's meetings to the larger Community Center to accommodate more seating. Ciskowski was the only remaining member from the earlier iteration of the board with only three members. MYRTLE BEACH Nancy Poole still hears the echo of her mother telling her to always try to make a difference, no matter how small of a difference it is and she takes that to heart every day. Her mother died of breast cancer when Poole was 14, but she lives on through Poole with this ideal. One of the main ways Poole focuses on making that difference is through her work at Strand College of Hair Design. When she opened the college in 1993, her first class had six students, and she taught cosmetology during the day and esthetics at night. Now, nearly 28 years later, Poole has more than 60 students and the college offers cosmetology, esthetics, massage therapy and teacher training classes. Pooles focus over the last couple decades of teaching has always been on building a stronger educational foundation, and making sure her students can do more than just pass the state board exam. I am not saying there's not a lot of good schools around because there are, but (it) was not, at that time, educational geared, Poole said. There was very little strong foundation in education and theory in the science of hair, skin and nails. Poole teaches advanced beauty classes three days a week while continuing to manage the college, which involves taking care of the business and social media sides of the school as well. She answers tens of hundreds of emails a day, she said, and is always making new goals for herself to improve the quality of the education she gives her students. This amount of responsibility takes a lot, and she often takes the job home with her, physically and mentally. She finds solace, though, not only in her strong faith in God, but in knowing she is setting her students up for ultimate, well-rounded success that goes beyond technical abilities. This, she believes, is what sets her apart from other schools: her approach to the beauty industry as a whole, including the business aspect. They can be the best creative person in the world, but if they don't know how to run their business, they don't know how to work with their clients, they don't know how to pay their bills, they don't know how to order properly and not understock or overstock, and be able to do their home expenses, plus what they can do to run that business, the business is gonna fail, Poole said. Ashley Bonass, a 2014 alumna of Strand College of Hair Design, came back to teach at the college in 2017. She returned to teach after a few years working in a spa because she wanted to do what Poole had done for her: motivate and share her knowledge with young professionals. Bonass is also inspired by Poole being a fellow female instructor. She empathizes with the struggles of being a business woman, and respects how Poole carries herself and the college. She's very passionate about it, she's devoted her whole life to this industry and she's always open to continuing to educate me, Bonass said. I always go to her for advice on what to do in the classroom or what to do if I have an issue with a student, and she's very devoted to business and it's helped me become the instructor that I am today. Sign up for our Myrtle Beach weekly update newsletter. Sign up for weekly roundups of our top stories, news and culture from the Myrtle Beach area. This newsletter is hand-curated by a member of our Myrtle Beach news staff. Email Sign Up! Education is one of the things Poole values most in life, no matter the subject matter. She always knew she wanted to go into education as a career, but she never thought itd be in cosmetology. During the first years of the Strand College, Poole was attending Charleston School of Law, commuting back and forth while also building her own business. Though she could have continued on with her law degree, she ultimately decided to drop it after a year and a half and focus solely on the college. Though this decision was not an easy one for Poole, she knew it was the right one because of the difference she was able to see she was making with students at the college. The thing that really kept me in it and continues to keep me in it is to see a student have the lightbulb moment, the moment where something truly connects with them and they understand something and they see that what they're doing is progressing positively, Poole said. It really is something that can change your life, because when they connect all that together, and they experience a good moment with a client, they made this person look better (and) feel better all at the same time, it is a great feeling. Pooles dedication to education does not stop in the classroom either. Each year, she gives her students the opportunity to travel to large conventions to compete, meet others in the industry and build connections for future jobs or other opportunities. Strand College does fundraisers to reduce the cost for students to attend these conventions, and Poole loves being able to offer her students that extra step toward their career. It gives them that opportunity to see (others) in action, to see the potential of what their career could do, as well as compete against other people from all over the United States, Poole said. That can not only inspire the students that have gone with me through the years, but encourage them with their own abilities to step out of the box, and become the best that they can. In an already all-consuming, lifestyle-oriented job, Poole was uncertain how the beauty industry would adapt to COVID-19. Learning how to use chemicals to dye hair and teaching massage therapy are not things she thought would be easily accessible through a webcam. She cites her strong faith as something that has helped keep her afloat while adjusting her curriculum to COVID-19. It is by the grace of God, she said, that she has been able to continue providing classes online and in-person, and she was pleasantly surprised with how well online formatting for classes worked. I had to keep students safe, I had to keep my staff safe, and I still do every single day. But at the same time, I felt I needed to keep education going and not just stop classes, and not stop people from going towards their goals for their futures in their careers, Poole said. Looking at what goals she has for the college going forward, Poole would love to focus more on teaching classes to foster the next generation of beauty industry educators. Though she knows the impact she has been able to make on her students, she wants to further that impact to branch into students who will be learning from her former students, and so forth. I really want to see me professionally moving more in the direction of working with instructors to help them become the best educators that they can be, and be more available for all students instead of just in the classroom with one particular group, Poole said. The 'Humanitarian' Left Still Ignores the Lessons of Iraq, Libya and Syria to Cheer on More War By Jonathan Cook January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - The instinct among parts of the left to cheerlead the right's war crimes, so long as they are dressed up as liberal "humanitarianism", is alive and kicking, as Owen Jones revealed in a column last week on the plight of the Uighurs at China's hands. The "humanitarian war" instinct persists even after two decades of the horror shows that followed the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the US and UK; the western-sponsored butchering of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi that unleashed a new regional trade in slaves and arms; and the west's covert backing of Islamic jihadists who proceeded to tear Syria apart. In fact, those weren't really separate horror shows: they were instalments of one long horror show. The vacuum left in Iraq by the westthe execution of Saddam Hussein and the destruction of his armed forcessucked in Islamic extremists from every corner of the Middle East. The US and UK occupations of Iraq served both as fuel to rationalise new, more nihilistic Islamic doctrines that culminated in the emergence of Islamic State, and as a training ground for jihadists to develop better methods of militarised resistance. That process accelerated in post-Gaddafi Libya, where Islamic extremists were handed an even more lawless country than post-invasion Iraq in which to recruit followers and train them, and trade arms. All of that know-how and weaponry ended up flooding into Syria where the same Islamic extremists hoped to establish the seat of their new caliphate. Many millions of Arabs across the region were either slaughtered or forced to flee their homes, becoming permanent refugees, because of the supposedly "humanitarian" impulse unleashed by George W Bush and Tony Blair. No lesson learnt No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter One might imagine that by this stage liberal humanitarianism was entirely discredited, at least on the left. But you would be wrong. There are still those who have learnt no lessons at alllike the Guardian's Owen Jones. In a new column he picks up and runs with the latest pretext for global warmongering by the right: the Uighurs, a Muslim minority that has long been oppressed by China. After acknowledging the bad faith arguments and general unreliability of the right, Jones sallies forth to argueas if Iraq, Libya and Syria never happenedthat the left must not avoid good causes just because bad people support them. We must not, he writes, "Sacrifice oppressed Muslims on the altar of geopolitics: and indeed, it is possible to walk and to chew gum; to oppose western militarism and to stand with victims of state violence. It would be perverse to cede a defence of China's Muslimshowever disingenuousto reactionaries and warmongers." But this is to entirely miss the point of the anti-war and anti-imperialist politics that are the bedrock of any progressive leftwing movement. Jones does at least note, even if very cursorily, the bad-faith reasoning of the right when it accuses the left of being all too ready to protest outside a US or Israeli embassy but not a Chinese or Russian one: "Citizens [in the west] have at least some potential leverage over their own governments: whether it be to stop participation in foreign action, or encourage them to confront human rights abusing allies." But he then ignores this important observation about power and responsibility and repurposes it as stick to beat the left with: "But that doesn't mean abandoning a commitment to defending the oppressed, whoever their oppressor might be. To speak out against Islamophobia in western societies but to remain silent about the Uighurs is to declare that the security of Muslims only matters in some countries. We need genuine universalists." That is not only a facile argument, it's a deeply dangerous one. There are two important additional reasons why the left needs to avoid cheerleading the right's favoured warmongering causes, based on both its anti-imperialist and anti-war priorities. Virtue-signalling Jones misunderstands the goal of the left's anti-imperialist politics. It is not, as the right so often claims, about leftwing "virtue-signalling". It is the very opposite of that. It is about carefully selecting our political prioritiespriorities necessarily antithetical to the dominant narratives promoted by the west's warmongering political and media establishments. Our primary goal is to undermine imperialist causes that have led to such great violence and suffering around the world. Jones forgets that the purpose of the anti-war left is not to back the west's warmongering establishment for picking a 'humanitarian' cause for its wars. It is to discredit the establishment, expose its warmongering and stop its wars. The best measurepractical and ethicalfor the western left to use to determine which causes to expend its limited resources and energies on are those that can help others to wake up to the continuing destructive behaviours of the west's political establishment, even when that warmongering establishment presents itself in two guises: whether the Republicans and the Democrats in the United States, or the Conservatives and the (non-Corbyn) Labour party in the UK. We on the left cannot influence China or Russia. But we can try to influence debates in our own societies that discredit the western elite headquartered in the USthe world's sole military superpower. Our job is not just to weigh the scales of injusticein any case, the thumb of the west's power-elite is far heavier than any of its rivals. It is to highlight the bad faith nature of western foreign policy, and underscore to the wider public that the real aim of the west's foreign policy elite is either to attack or to intimidate those who refuse to submit to its power or hand over their resources. Do no harm That is what modern imperialism looks like. We play with fire, and betray anti-imperialist politics, when we echo the bad faith arguments of a Pompeo, a Blair, an Obama, a Bush or a Trumpeven if they briefly adopt a good cause for ignoble reasons. To use a medical analogy, we join them in fixating on one symptom of global injustice while refusing to diagnose the actual disease so that it can be treated. Requiring, as Jones does, that we prioritise the Uighursespecially when they are the momentary pet project of the west's warmongering, anti-China rightdoes not advance our anti-imperialist goals, it actively harms them. Because the left offers its own credibility, its own stamp of approval, to the right's warmongering lies. When the left is weakwhen, unlike the right, it has no corporate media to dominate the airwaves with its political concerns and priorities, when it has almost no politicians articulating its worldviewit cannot control how its support for humanitarian causes is presented to the general public. Instead it always finds itself coopted into the drumbeat for war. That is a lesson Jones should have learnt personallyin fact, a lesson he promised he had learntafter his cooption by the corporate Guardian to damage the political fortunes of Jeremy Corbyn, the only anti-war, anti-imperialist politician Britain has ever had who was in sight of power. Anti-imperialist politics is not about good intentions; it's about beneficial outcomes. To employ another medical analogy, our credo must to be to do no harmor, if that is not possible, at least to minimise harm. The 'defence' industry Which is why the flaw in Jones' argument runs deeper still. The anti-war left is not just against acts of wars, though of course it is against those too. It is against the global war economy: the weapons manufacturers that fund our politicians; the arms trade lobbies that now sit in our governments; our leaders, of the right and so-called left, who divide the world into a Manichean struggle between the good guys and bad guys to justify their warmongering and weapons purchases; the arms traders that profit from violence and human suffering; the stock-piling of nuclear weapons that threaten our future as a species. The anti-war left is against the globe's dominant, western war economy, one that deceives us into believing it is really a "defence industry." That "defence industry" needs villains, like China and Russia, that it must extravagantly arm itself against. And that means fixating on the crimes of China and Russia, while largely ignoring our own crimes, so that those "defence industries" can prosper. Yes, Russia and China have armies too. But no one in the west can credibly believe Moscow or Beijing are going to disarm when the far superior military might of the westof NATOflexes its muscles daily in their faces, when it surrounds them with military bases that encroach ever nearer their territory, when it points its missiles menacingly in their direction. Rhetoric of war Jones and George Monbiot, the other token leftist at the Guardian with no understanding of how global politics works, can always be relied on to cheerlead the western establishment's humanitarian claimsand demand that we do too. That is also doubtless the reason they are allowed their solitary slots in the liberal corporate media. When called out, the pair argue that, even though they loudly trumpet their detestation of Saddam Hussein or Bashar Assad, that does not implicate them in the wars that are subsequently waged against Iraq or Syria. This is obviously infantile logic, which assumes that the left can echo the misleading rhetoric of the west's warmongering power-elite without taking any responsibility for the wars that result from that warmongering. But Jones' logic is even more grossly flawed than that. It pretends that the left can echo the rhetoric of the warmongers and not take responsibility for the war industries that constantly thrive and expand, whether or not actual wars are being waged at any one time. The western foreign policy elite is concerned about the Uighurs not because it wishes to save them from Chinese persecution or even because it necessarily intends to use them as a pretext to attack China. Rather, its professed concerns serve to underpin claims that are essential to the success of its war industries: that the west is the global good guy; that China is a potential nemesis, the Joker to our Batman; and that the west therefore needs an even bigger arsenal, paid by us as taxpayers, to protect itself. Belligerent superpower The Uighurs' cause is being instrumentalised by the west's foreign policy establishment to further enhance its power and make the world even less safe for us all, the Uighurs included. Whatever Jones claims, there should be no obligation on the left to give succour to the west's war industries. Vilifying "official enemies" while safely ensconced inside the "defence" umbrella of a belligerent global superpower and hegemon is a crime against peace, against justice, against survival. Jones is free to flaunt his humanitarian credentials, but so are we to reject political demands dictated to us by the west's war machine. The anti-war left has its own struggles, its own priorities. It does not need to be gaslit by Mike Pompeo or Tony Blairor, for that matter, by Owen Jones. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The Glucaric Acid Market is anticipated to reach over USD 1,467 million by 2026 according to a new research published by Polaris Market Research. In 2017, the detergents segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the leading contributor to the global market revenue during the forecast period. Increasing application of Glucaric acid in agriculture, chemical, and food industry supports the growth of the Glucaric acid Market. Increasing use in polymer manufacturing further promotes the growth of this market. Glucaric acid is increasingly replacing phosphates in detergents owing to stringent regulations regarding harmful environmental effects of phosphates, thereby supporting market growth. Other factors supporting market growth include increasing awareness regarding environment, and research and development for advancement. Increasing demand from developing nations, and growing use in healthcare sector is expected provide numerous growth opportunities to the market players during the forecast period. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/glucaric-acid-market/request-for-sample Asia-Pacific Glucaric acid Market generated the highest revenue in 2017, and is expected to lead the global market throughout the forecast period. The rising use in agriculture and chemical industries in the region drive the market growth. The increasing demand of detergents and growing environmental concerns in the region further support market growth. The increasing demand of glucaric acid for animal feed and growing demand for healthy livestock is expected to accelerate the adoption of glucaric acid during the forecast period. The well-known companies profiled in the Glucaric acid Market report include Cayman Chemical, Rivertop Renewables, Inc., Carbosynth Limited, Haihang Industry Co., Ltd., Rennovia Inc, Kalion Inc., Alfa Chemistry, AK Scientific Inc., Merck KGaA, and Shanghai Meicheng Chemical Co. Ltd. among others. These companies launch new products and collaborate with other market leaders to innovate and launch new products to meet the increasing needs and requirements of consumers. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/glucaric-acid-market Glucaric acid Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Type Calcium D-Glucarate Pure Glucaric Acid D-Glucaric Acid-1,4-Lactone Potassium Sodium D-Glucarate Others Glucaric acid Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Application Detergents Healthcare Food Manufacturing Corrosion Inhibitors Others Glucaric acid Market Size and Forecast, 2017-2026 by Region North America U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK France Italy Rest of Europe Asia-Pacific China India Japan Rest of Asia-Pacific Latin America Brazil Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/glucaric-acid-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan received today new Ambassador of Belarus to Armenia Alexander Konyuk, the ministry told Armenpress. Minister Badasyan congratulated the Ambassador on appointment, expressing confidence that his activity will contribute to the development and strengthening of the ties between the two countries. The Belarusian Ambassador thanked the minister for the meeting and assured that during his tenure in Armenia he will do the utmost for expanding and deepening the cooperation between the Armenian and Belarusian ministries of justice. Previously serving as Prosecutor General of Belarus, the Ambassador was interested in Armenias fight against corruption, in particular the action on establishing an Anti-Corruption Committee. Minister Badasyan introduced the goals of creating such Committee and informed that it will investigate corruption crimes, as well as will conduct an operational-intelligence activity. Other issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting. An agreement was reached to strengthen the mutual collaboration. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan LA JOLLA--(January 27, 2021) A collaborative team of Salk scientists led by Professor John Reynolds will receive $1.2 million over four years as part of a Network Grant from the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation to examine aging across the life span, including age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. The research will advance our understanding of aging mechanisms at the cognitive, genomic and cellular levels with potentially direct translatability to humans. Other members of the team include Salk President and Professor Rusty Gage, Staff Scientist Uri Manor, Senior Staff Researcher Courtney Glavis-Bloom, and Carol Marchetto, an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego. "Aging is the greatest risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, yet we know very little about how the brain ages across the life span," says Gage. "With this generous new funding from the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation, we will be able to explore this scientific mystery and hope to uncover some of the basic mechanisms of brain aging." For this newly funded project, the Salk team will examine the link between metabolism of the aging brain and cognitive decline. Neurons use nearly ten times the amount of energy as any other cell type, making them especially susceptible to metabolic dysfunction. The main energy source for neurons are the cells' powerhouses, the mitochondria, which experience significant deterioration as the brain ages. The scientists will test whether mitochondrial impairment is driving the cognitive decline observed in neurodegenerative diseases. "We think age-related mitochondrial deterioration could be driving the cognitive decline observed in many neurodegenerative diseases," says Reynolds. "We are extremely grateful to the Larry L. Hillblom Foundation for funding our project, so that we can examine this theory in extraordinary detail." ### The Larry L. Hillblom Foundation supports medical research within the state of California and facilitates interaction between networks of researchers. About the Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies Jonas Salk's mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience, genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge. Be it cancer or Alzheimer's, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin. Learn more at: salk.edu. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Golden Independence Mining Corp. (CSE: IGLD) (OTCQB: GIDMF) (FSE: 6NN) (the "Company") is pleased to announce further drill results from its recently completed 2020 resource expansion drill program at the Independence project, south of Battle Mountain, Nevada. Results from these four reverse circulation (RC) holes include: 2.21 g/t gold and 13.2 g/t silver over 60 feet (18.3 metres) 1.61 g/t gold and 10.3 g/t silver over 20 feet (6.1 metres) 0.53 g/t gold and 6.1 g/t silver over 115 feet (35.1 metres) 0.49 g/t gold and 4.7 g/t silver over 185 feet (56.4 metres) "The second set of assay results include a significant 60 foot interval of +2 g/t gold," commented Golden Independence President Tim Henneberry. "The results from the first 7 holes have met Company expectations, verifying the historic results with longer intervals of +0.5 g/t gold along with some good intervals grading 1 to 2 g/t gold. These results continue to expand the mineralized footprint at Independence and the historic oxide resource," he continued. "This second set of assay results further supports our belief that we will be able to significantly expand the historic oxide resource at the Independence project in the near term," remarked Golden Independence CEO Christos Doulis. "We anticipate receiving assay results from an additional 20 RC holes recently drilled at the Independence project culminating in an NI 43-101 complaint resource for the Independence project at the end of the quarter." Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/72899_ad4fe6fb64feba3c_001full.jpg https://goldenindependence.co/docs/GI-2020_DrillMap_AGEI_16-19.pdf Table 1. 2020 Reverse Circulation Drill Results Hole ft from ft to ft length m length g/t gold g/t silver AGEI-16 145 165 20 6.1 1.161 10.3 AGEI-17 0 115 115 35.1 0.532 6.1 and 245 265 20 6.1 0.909 50.0 AGEI-18 0 185 185 56.4 0.493 4.7 and 760 770 10 3.0 1.328 2.0 and 990 1015 25 7.6 0.717 6.9 AGEI-19 0 245 245 74.7 0.313 4.3 and 470 530 60 18.3 2.214 13.2 All assay results are drill widths not true widths, which is undetermined at this time. Figure 2 To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/72899_ad4fe6fb64feba3c_002full.jpg https://goldenindependence.co/docs/CrossSection_AGEI-16-19.pdf Quality assurance All samples were shipped to the ALS Minerals prep lab in Elko, Nevada with analyses completed at the ALS Minerals Lab in Reno, Nevada. Both facilities are ISO 9001:2015 and ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certified. All samples are analyzed utilizing ALS ME-ICP41 procedure, an aqua regia digestion with ICP-AES finish, with gold determined by the Au-AA23 procedure, a 30-gram fire assay with AAS finish. ALS Minerals is independent from Golden Independence. Golden Independence institutes a rigorous QA/QC program of duplicate samples, blanks and standards. Based on a review of the QA/QC data is not aware of any other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein. R. Tim Henneberry, PGeo (British Columbia), President and Director of Golden Independence Mining Corp., is the qualified person who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release on behalf of the company. About Golden Independence Mining Corp. Golden Independence Mining Corp. is an exploration company currently focused on exploring the advanced-stage Independence Gold Property located in the Battle Mountain-Cortez Trend, Nevada and the Champ precious metal property near Castlegar, British Columbia. The Independence Gold Property benefits from over US$25 million in past exploration, including over 200 holes drilled, and is located adjacent to Nevada Gold Mines' Phoenix-Fortitude mining operations in the Battle Mountain-Cortez trend of Nevada. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Christos Doulis, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 1.647.924.1083 Email: christos@goldenindependence.co To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72899 Singapore based fund Cube Highways has awarded Egis two contracts for the tolling operations on the Jhansi-Lalitpur stretch of NH-44 for a period of 30 years Indias road network is the third largest in the world after the United States and China. Within this network, the NH-44 motorway linking Jhansi to Lalitpur, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, is the key link in the North-South corridor, currently the largest motorway project underway in India. ') } // --> ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> ') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write(' ') } // --> ') } else if (width >= 425) { console.log ('largescreen'); document.write('') } else { console.log ('nompuad'); document.write('') } // --> The Singapore-based concession company Cube Highways, currently holds the largest portfolio of toll roads in India (28 roads with 8,900 km of roads). It has awarded the operation of these two contiguous roads to two public companies: Jhansi Lalitpur Tollway Ltd (in charge of a first four-lane section, 49.7 km long) and Jhansi Lalitpur Tollway Ltd (in charge of a second contiguous four-lane section, 49.3 km long). This project has a well-established operational track record of toll collection since November 2014 and March 2012 respectively, with an optimal mix of passenger and commercial traffic. Egis, a leader in motorway and toll operations (more than 4,400 km of motorways worldwide, including 81 km of tunnels used daily by 3,500,000 vehicles), has been selected to manage and operate two toll plazas (8 lanes each) on this major Jhansi-Lalitpur route. The project was awarded by the National Highways Agency of India (NHAI) in the form of a 30-year concession under the TOT3 (Toll Operate Transfer) scheme, following a competitive tender in November 2019. For several years, Egis has been involved in many projects to upgrade and develop the entire road infrastructure of the country. This new operating contract strengthens the willingness of Egis to contribute to the sustainable economic and social development of India. GENESEE COUNTY -- School officials faced a familiar challenge this week as a winter storm hit the Genesee County area. For the first time since COVID-19 rocked Michigans education system back in March, officials had to decide if the weather warranted a snow day after shifting to virtual learning for students. Every district made its own call to cancel classes or not this week after several inches of snow blanketed the region, making traversing the roadways treacherous in some spots. Flint resident Heather Burnash, whose daughter is a sophomore at Powers Catholic High School, said the decision was made to not hold classes -- virtually or otherwise -- on Tuesday, Jan. 26. The school currently has students attending school in-person using a hybrid model. Related: Are snow days a thing of the past for Michigan schools? However, Burnash said if a second snow day in a row had been called, the school informed parents that students would resume class virtually. Burnash is a local attorney and would normally be in the office on weekdays. Many parents working from home due to the pandemic makes snow days more manageable, she said. People arent scrambling for daycare and transportation and things like that. Everybodys home, said Burnash. So, it didnt feel as difficult as it normally would. Snow days normally throw such a wrench into things. Burnash said Powers was well equipped prior to the pandemic as it already supplies students with needed technology. The preparation extends into the districts ability to teach virtually in the case of multiple snow days in a row, she added. I think now that we have the infrastructure set up and everybody kind of is on board -- just mentally knowing how to do this and realizing that it can work, Burnash said. I think it definitely does make school more flexible at using technology as a viable option for the future. However, it is important to acknowledge there are still gaps in the education system and now all students and school districts have access to the same technology, Burnash noted. Tuesday was the first day Clio Area Schools Superintendent Fletcher Spears had to think about possibly calling a snow day this academic year. And then, of course, it was every superintendents nightmare, Spears said. I was sitting in the McDonalds parking lot at 5 a.m. and we didnt have anything. And I went home and laid back down in bed at 5:30 a.m. and by 7 a.m. we had two inches of snow on the ground. The district ultimately opted for an early bus release to give bus drivers time to safely traverse snowy roads. However, Spears said snow days the district has this year will remain mostly unchanged due to teacher contracts. Most teachers are reporting to the classroom even on days their students work virtually, he said. Right now, most of our contracts indicate that on a inclement weather day where our kids cant report to school, teachers dont report, Spears said. So, its gonna be something that were gonna need to work on with our teachers within our bargaining units. Statewide discussions over a possible end to snow days were taking place prior to the pandemic, Spears said, as more and more classrooms started acquiring adequate technology to continue coursework on a virtual platform. In fact, the Genesee County superintendents talked about it two or three years ago, he said. We said perhaps we wanna get out ahead of this and come up with a plan of our own instead of Lansing coming down and putting a plan on top of us. Michigan law allows districts to be forgiven for six days of closures due to conditions beyond their control such as weather and power outages before having to make up lost instructional days. An additional three days may be granted with the approval of the state superintendent. Spears added that while Clio schools has the technology available to students to provide virtual learning, many districts and families still struggle to provide broadband access to kids. (The state) could just say, OK, you dont get any and obviously that would put us in a situation where either you would have virtual learning on those days or you would wind up extending your school year, Spears said. I think its just a matter of, you know, we need to sit down and talk about it. Davison Community Schools canceled school for high school and middle school students Tuesday. This year, due to COVID-19, face-to-face students at Davison High School, Davison Alternative Education and Davison Middle School begin school later in the morning and have two of their classes online, according to district spokeswoman Michelle Edwards. When road conditions began to deteriorate quickly Tuesday morning because of the snow, Edwards said the district decided to cancel grades 7-12 because they were not at school yet and the district didnt want young student drivers on the bad roads. For those students who had a snow day today, our expectation is that students -- both face-to-face and 100% online -- would not be responsible for any new learning on a day where classes are cancelled, Edwards said. However, students are encouraged to use this time to complete missing assignments and improve their grades for the end of the first semester. Many teachers, although not required, made themselves available to students Tuesday as well as it is exam week, she pointed out. Elementary students returned to Grand Blanc Community Schools buildings Tuesday for the first time since November, which became a snow day. But district spokeswoman Andrea Calvert said this year, snow days will be on a case-by-case basis, due to the hybrid schedule currently in place. For instance, on Fridays, a snow day would probably be less likely, as nearly all of our students are learning remotely anyway, Calvert said in an email to MLive-The Flint Journal. We do still have teachers that come into the building to work, and some have a commute, so we have to be mindful of that, as well. Monday-Thursday would depend on the timing and severity. The superintendent will be communicating with other districts and the road commission and taking a drive to assess the conditions before making a call, Calvert said. We know the amount of time our students have in the classroom is already limited, but if the roads are bad, safety will remain a priority, she said. Flint Community Schools children are all still learning remotely, but Superintendent Anita Steward wrote a Wednesday, Jan. 27 letter that, in the case of significant snowfall, the district plans to honor the tradition of snow days this year. Growing up as a student at Flint Community Schools, I remember the excitement I would carry every time a large snowfall was predicted, Steward wrote. I would barely sleep a wink, waiting to find out whether school might be canceled. When it was, I would play outside in the snow, building snow men and carving snow angels in the yard. Steward said families should check the districts Facebook page, monitor local news and make sure theyre signed up for robocalls to check if their child has a snow day in the future. Lemma Shomali has a 6-year-old and 13-year-old enrolled at Grand Blanc Community Schools. The family went sledding Wednesday, Jan. 27, at Creasey Bicentennial Park in Grand Blanc Township while the kids were on a break from their online classwork. While her children did not have a snow day this week, Shomali said snow days are important to the mental health of students and teachers. The pandemic has thought us that kids emotional well-being and teachers well-being is really, really critical, and snow days are like a part of that emotional well-being, she said. Shomali acknowledged snow days are called for health and safety reasons, but she said theres a bit more to it. There is this component of relaxation and a break from the norm and I think COVID-19 has thought us this is critically important for our well-being, she said. Read more on MLive: Flint school board votes to offer hybrid in-person class options by end of February Retiring Grand Blanc superintendent, successor reflect on future of countys largest school district Flint school board votes to offer hybrid in-person class options by end of February Kearsley superintendent announces retirement after 33 years with district Flint school board fills vacancy through appointment at special board meeting Lucknow, Jan 27 : The Allahabad High Court has sought a response from the district administration in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur on the "exorbitant" amount of personal bonds and sureties sought from farmers, to prevent them from participating in the ongoing farm protests. A division bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Justice Rajeev Singh sought the reply on a PIL plea filed by Lucknow-based social activist Arundhati Dhuru. Dhuru said in the petition that Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) in various districts of the state, including Sitapur, had issued notices to thousands of farmers under Section 111 of the CrPC. The farmers were informed that the police suspected that they may get involved in the ongoing farmers protest and commit breach of peace. Dhuru said that several orders were passed on December 19 by SDMs of the different areas of the district, issuing notices to farmers, including women, calling them to furnish personal bonds of Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh and two sureties in the like amount, on apprehension that he or she would violate the law and order in the light of the ensuing farmers protest in the district. The court has asked the administration under what circumstances farmers were asked to furnish such "exorbitant" amount of personal bond and two sureties. The matter would be heard on February 2. The petitioner's counsel submitted that notices were not only baseless but also took away the fundamental rights of a person, as farmers were not allowed to come out of their houses. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Mostly cloudy in the morning with scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day. High 86F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 62F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Pompeo Calls on Biden to Acknowledge CCPs Role in Pandemic After Memo Release Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is calling on the Biden administration to acknowledge the role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the COVID-19 pandemic, hours after the White House released a memorandum condemning the use of references by the geographic location of its origin. The remarks on Jan. 26 followed shortly after President Joe Biden signed the memo that condemns rising racism, xenophobia, and intolerance against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin, the document states. Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons. While the memo doesnt directly name former President Donald Trump, Biden has been critical of his predecessor for calling COVID-19 the China virus. He said it has led to racial discrimination against Asian Americans. Ive called it the Wuhan virus almost ever since its inception, Pompeo said during an appearance on Fox News Primetime, emphasizing the importance of recognizing where the virus first emerged. Its common to name a virus after its place of origin. (L) Then-President Donald Trump speaks as he visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 3, 2020. (R) Then-presidential candidate Joe Biden rallies supporters in the West Oak Lane neighborhood in Philadelphia, on Nov. 3, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images & Drew Angerer/Getty Images) It began in Wuhan. It is, in fact, a virus that came from that place. We know that the Chinese Communist Party covered that up. We know that they disappeared doctors and journalists who wanted to write about it and were told they couldnt, Pompeo said. These are important things, he added. The American people need to know them because they matter. They matter for our health, for our safety, for economic prosperity, and for our security, and I hope and Im counting on this next administration to do what the American people demand of them and continue to confront the Chinese Communist Party. CCP officials in early December 2019 knew that the virus had appeared in Wuhan, but sat on the information for six weeks. They arrested those who tried to warn of the danger, accusing them of spreading rumors, and employed the regimes rigorous censorship system to prevent media coverage and to delete any mentions of it from social media. This virus has now destroyed thousands and thousands and thousands of lives, Pompeo continued. Economic toll that is unequaled in an awfully long time, and it began in a placeWuhan, Chinaand the CCP did everything it could to give itself the time to respond to it on its own terms, and it didnt do what it was supposed to do. It [CCP] had a duty to the world to let us know that this [COVID-19] indeed had human-to-human transmission and that it had begun, that this threat had begun. That was enormously costly to the American people and those are facts, so yes, I hope this administration and everyone in the world will acknowledge where it began and how the CCP misbehaved, he added. We have to put in place processes to make sure that something like this can never emanate from China again. The Epoch Times refers to the virus by the name of the party responsible for releasing it to the world: the Chinese Communist Party. Williamstown Moves Ahead on Interim Police Chief Plan, Department Investigation WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Select Board on Monday decided to hire an interim chief of police while continuing to press forward with an investigation into the Police Department. Without taking a formal vote, the board expressed a consensus around a plan to bring in a long-term interim chief to help the department move forward while the town completes an evaluation of how it wants policing to look in the future. That evaluation is being led by a social work researcher who the town is hiring to study the issue and engage the community about its public safety needs. A local social worker who helped the town hire that researcher told the board that the study will take time. "What's being referred to as community conversations is a full-scale research project," Kerri Nicoll said after hearing the board discuss the question for several minutes. "It will be conducted by a professional in this field. It's not simply social-workers going out to chit chat with people. "She will be working full time on this project starting Feb. 15. I believe that's her start date, and that is when she will be able to dive in to begin planning the scope of the project and what it's going to entail." Nicoll, a professor at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts who serves on the town's Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, said the search firms the town might hire to look for a police chief would not be able to do the in-depth research the town needs. She also said the needs assessment research is not the only reason the town needs to take time before hiring a full-time chief. "Our community needs time and space to process what has happened in the past, what is happening in the present and to envision our future," Nicoll said. "Hiring an interim chief will provide that time and space. And it will allow the police department to work under someone who has not been immersed in this department for years. "I understand the desire to bring in a permanent chief. We are going to find a police chief, but I think that needs to happen after the time and space has been provided for the community to process, understand and envision what it needs." Select Board member Andy Hogeland started the discussion by presenting his colleagues with two potential scenarios. Under one, the town would run the police chief search concurrently with the needs assessment and take data from the study in progress to inform an updated job description and questions that could be asked of candidates. Under the second scenario, the town would hire an interim chief and wait for the social work research to run its course before conducting a search for a permanent replacement for former Chief Kyle Johnson, who left abruptly in December after four months of controversy surrounding the force. Hogeland said he frankly favored the first scenario and felt that the town could benefit from the research project as it is conducted without necessarily waiting for its conclusion. But after listening to Nicoll's reasoning, he said he was OK with the idea of hiring an interim. Under either scenario, the hiring of either an interim or permanent chief is the responsibility of the town manager under Williamstown's charter. Town Manager Jason Hoch had signaled that he wanted the Select Board's input on the process, and again on Monday reiterated that he wants community input into the hiring processes. "The scenario for an interim chief as well as a full-time chief anticipates having an advisory committee," Hoch said. "I would invite people who want to be part of that to send me a note or give me a call. We'll try to pull together a manageable group and think through the process. "The selection committee for a permanent chief is going to be a more time-consuming engagement. Lending a hand in the short term [for an interim chief selection] may or may not be a long-term assignment." Hogeland on Monday also presented the board with the responses he received from law firms that are available to investigate allegations raised in the lawsuit police Sgt. Scott McGowan filed against the town. The proposals from four firms prompted questions from board members, including whether the law firms' final reports would include recommendations for corrective actions and how many hours the firms' estimated the investigation would take. Hogeland said he would follow up on his colleague's comments and report back at a future meeting. Hogeland did have an answer when Jeffrey Thomas asked whether the board had references for the firms in question. But Hogeland's answer later elicited criticism from one of the residents at the meeting. "I asked two people I respect in town who were familiar with this episode who they recommended," Hogeland said. "They both recommended one of these [firms]. I asked our current outside counsel, and she recommended one; she knew of two others. She recommended one and said the others would be fine. And I asked our litigation counsel, who referred me to two but had not worked with them. "[The four firms] are familiar to people that I think I can trust. That's why I didn't cut anybody out on my list. They all had an indication of competence from other sources." Later in the night, Janice Loux addressed the board and advised against taking recommendations from attorneys who have represented the town in matters under investigation. "I strongly object to any attorney on that list who has been recommended by the town attorney or who has any connection to the town attorney," Loux said. "I'd like you to be transparent about it. I think if you look at examples of how these investigations are done, one would never let that conflict intervene. "If I said to you, 'I think we should let Scott McGowan's attorney recommend who is going to do this investigation,' I guess you'd refuse it and look at me like I had 10 heads." In other business on Monday, the Select Board discussed its process for the annual review of the town manager with the hope of having a final report completed by its second meeting in February. The board members agreed to issue a memo to all town employees soliciting input for the evaluation process. "I would like to talk to anyone who wants to talk to me," Hogeland said. "Not just to get input but also to find out how they're doing. As Jeffrey [Thomas] said, these are stressful times. People are working hard. They feel accused of things they didn't do or their entire department didn't do. "I think if we talk to these people, it isn't just about a manager review. It's, 'How are you guys doing?' I suspect the answer is not going to be positive all the time, and I think we need to make that part of the conversation. We hear you, we know you guys are having a hard time, what else can we do for you?" A video has emerged showing conspiracy-supporting Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene confronting Parkland massacre survivor David Hogg before she was elected. In the video posted to Ms Greene's YouTube account in January 2020, she can be seen following Mr Hogg down the street in Washington DC asking him to defend his stance supporting "red flag" laws, which permit temporary removal of firearms from a person considered a danger to themselves or others. "David, why are you supporting the red flag laws? If Scot Peterson the resource officer at Parkland had done his job then Nickolas Cruz wouldn't have killed anybody in your high school, or at least protected them," she said in the video. "And why are you using kids as a barrier? Do you not know how to defend your stance?" While the timing of the video is unclear, Fred Guttenberg father to one of the murdered students, Jaime Guttenberg tweeted that it was weeks after the Parkland shooting. Mr Hogg has been a vocal gun control activist since the 2018 shooting that killed 17 students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. The newly-circulated video comes as Facebook posts from Ms Greene emerged that appeared to show her endorsing the execution of Democrats. In response to an April 2018 post asking now do we get to hang them ?? Ms Greene replied: Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off. The White House refused to comment on Ms Greenes social media posts, with press secretary Jen Psaki saying they had no response and didnt plan to the future. We dont and Im not going to speak further about her I think in this briefing room, Ms Psaki said. Ms Greene did not immediately respond to The Independent's request for comment. Mr Hogg, meanwhile, responded on Twitter, saying: "Lmao how embarrassing a sitting congresswoman argues that an 18-year-old is both a more effective lobbyist and communicator than her. "People like @mtgreenee like most bullies always try to attack and project strength because they are so badly hurting, so unloved and so insecure," he added. In the video, neither Mr Hogg nor his companions responded to Ms Greene as she called him a coward for not defending his stance against the second amendment, and demands he reveal the liberal funding behind his gun control agenda. "How did you get over 30 appointments with senators, how'd you do that? How did you get major press coverage on this issue? And how did you get kids, why did you get kids?" she said. "You know if school zones were protected by security guards with guns, there would be no mass shootings at schools. Did you hear that? The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. And yet you're attacking our second amendment." WABASH VALLEY, Ind (WTHI) - The blizzard of 1978 still holds the overall record as having the biggest impact on the Wabash Valley. It began on Wednesday, January 25th, and didnt leave until Friday the 27th. In its wake snow depths of 20 to 40 inches had fallen, with drifts up to 20 feet in some locations. Snow began slowly, with snow already on the ground. By 7 pm only another inch had accumulated, but by 10 pm 35 miles per hour wind slammed gulf moisture into arctic air, resulting in the worst blizzard in Indiana history. By 7 am on the 26th, the temperature had dropped to zero with wind chill readings more than 20 below zero. At one point, visibility was reduced to near zero. Wind gusts of 55mph and drifting snow prompted the Governor to declare a state of emergency for the entire state. The Indianapolis airport closed, an Amtrack train was stranded and by the afternoon of January 26th, every road in Indiana was officially closed. When the storm finally exited the state, it left us cold, powerless, and buried in snow measured in feet, not inches. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning "Yojiyeondo," or "Immortals' Feast on Yoji Pond," an 18th century court painting from the 1392-1910 Joseon Kingdom, is on display at the National Palace Museum of Korea's Court Painting Gallery. Visitors have a look at "Yojiyeondo" at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap Auckland: The New Zealand Ministry of Health is carrying out urgent testing after two more people tested positive for COVID-19 after leaving hotel quarantine. The pair were staying at the Pullman Hotel in the Auckland CBD the same facility where a Northland community case identified this week had stayed. NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said her government could approve a COVID-19 vaccine this week. Credit:Getty Images After news of the Northland case broke on Sunday, all 353 people who were at the hotel at the same time as the affected woman were asked to self-isolate and undergo tests. The pair have returned weak positive results and are at home isolating, a ministry spokesman said on Wednesday evening. The historic trial initiated by Tran To Nga, a 78-year-old Vietnamese-French woman, against 14 US multinational companies that provided the chemical toxins used by the US Army in the war in Vietnam has received coverage in German media. Deutschlandfunk, a public-broadcasting radio station, on January 26 run an article on the trial, which opened in France on January 25, on Ngas lawsuit against the US companies for producing and selling highly toxic chemicals used by US armed forces from 1961-1971 which caused severe health damage to Nga and millions of other victims The companies must be held responsible, the radio quoted Nga as saying prior to the trial. Nga, who suffers from heart disease, is not only fighting for herself but also for her children and millions of AO victims in Vietnam. She filed the lawsuit six years ago and has received support from various non-governmental organisations. Running an article headlined One for all against the chemical giants, the Der Spiegel news website said the lawsuit could be a major result for AO victims. The herbicide was used by US forces as part of Operation Ranch Hand from 1962. A total of around 80 million litres of defoliant are said to have been sprayed across 2 million ha, including at least 46 million litres of AO. Following many class action lawsuits, affected US servicemen were compensated as part of an out-of-court settlement in the 1980s. Vietnamese victims, however, have received nothing. No matter the verdict or how long the lawsuit takes, Nga does not want to give up, as she thinks of the victims who cannot come to court. She said she cannot disappoint them. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, meanwhile, described Nga as a strong and energetic woman who was exposed to toxic chemicals during the US War. She filed a lawsuit to seek justice for all victims of AO in Vietnam. The article cited figures from the Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin that said some 4.8 million Vietnamese were directly or indirectly exposed to AO and other chemicals that have been linked to cancers and miscarriages./. VNA Up to 30 million citizens will have free access to coronavirus vaccines. Health Minister Maksym Stepanov has announced the launch of a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Ukraine in February 2021. He made this announcement on TV Channel Ukraina 24. Read alsoCOVID-19 vaccines can't be distributed in Ukraine yet: MP explains reason "We as the Health Ministry and I as minister fulfill all the undertaken obligations," he said. "And if we said back in September that we would start the mass vaccination campaign in February this year, then we will start in February this year," he added. Stepanov also elaborated on the number of people to get vaccinated. "According to our national plan, we expect to provide 30 million citizens with free access to vaccines at different (five) stages of vaccination, depending on risk groups. These are our healthcare workers, risk groups by health, these are people by age. We plan to vaccinate all of them in during 2021 and the first quarter of 2022," the minister explained. He also noted that "mass vaccination" means "free access to vaccines for all citizens of Ukraine." COVID-19 vaccine for Ukraine In February-March 2021, Ukraine expects the delivery of a vaccine against COVID-19. The first batch of a vaccine via the COVAX Facility will include 8 million doses, which will be enough to vaccinate 4 million people (two shots per person required). First to get vaccinated will be healthcare workers, the elderly, and seriously ill patients. On December 24, 2020, Health Minister Stepanov said that his ministry was working out a plan to increase the COVAX vaccine quota from 8 million to 16 million doses. On December 30, Ukraine signed a contract with China's Sinovac for the supply of 1.9 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 170 experimental vaccines are currently at the stage of preclinical trials, 65 are undergoing clinical trials, of which 15 are at the third, last stage. Reporting by UNIAN Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's close aide, VK Sasikala will complete her four year prison term for corruption on Wednesday but having tested Covid positive on January 20, she may have to continue her treatment in a Bengaluru hospital. According to prison authorities, she will be formally released today. "All the required formalities pertaining to her release will be completed at the hospital itself on Wednesday as she has been quarantined due to Covid," a prison official told IANS. Independent legislator T T V Dhinakaran, Sasikala's nephew and founder of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) had on Monday said a decision on the discharge of his aunt from the hospital would be taken after consulting the doctors. Sasikala was sentenced to four years imprisonment in February 2017 in the Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and and Jayalalithaa's foster son V N Sudhakaran. ALSO READ | Sasikala Moved Out of ICU, Says Bengaluru Hospital Sasikala tested positive on January 20 and was admitted to the Bowring hospital initially. In view of her critical condition, she was shifted to the ICU ward of Victoria Hospital. Now that the symptoms have reduced substantially and her condition has become normal, she has been taken out of the ICU, the Victoria Hospital authorities said in a statement. However, the hospital authorities have been monitoring her. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law J. Ilavarasi, who too is serving a jail term along with Sasikala in the corruption case and was found Covid-19 positive, was keeping well, the authorities said. Victoria Hospital, where she is treated, said Sasikala is conscious, alert and well oriented. She is consuming food and she is also maintaining oxygen saturation 97 per cent on two litres of oxygen through a non-rebreather mask (NRBM), it added. Her release comes at a time when Tamil Nadu is preparing for assembly elections in which her former party AIADMK takes on the DMK. Sasikala was reportedly unwell at her prison cell for about a week before admitted to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital by the prison doctors with a diagnosis of type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypothyroidism, urinary tract infection (UTI) and suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). The 63-year-old Sasikala is serving her prison term in a disproportionate assets case. The case pertains to the amassment of disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore during Jayalalithaa's tenure as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1991-1996. In September 2013, a special court convicted Jayalalithaa to simple imprisonment of four years. She was also slapped with a Rs 100 crore fine and forced to step down as the CM. The three co-accused -- Sasikala, V.N. Sudhakaran, and Ilavarasi were also convicted, and fined Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa challenged the conviction in the Karnataka High Court, which acquitted her of all charges. But in 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the special court verdict convicting all four of them. Charges against Jayalalithaa were abated in view of her death on December 5, 2016. Soon after Jayalaithaa's death, Sasikala took over the reins of the AIADMK in December 2016, but was later expelled from the party by the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led camp. She again came into limelight in late November 2019, when the Income Tax Department had reportedly attached properties valued Rs 1,600 crore allegedly belonging to her under the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act. It is alleged that nine properties, located in Chennai, Puducherry and Coimbatore, were purchased soon after demonetisation in November 2016. Boris Johnson has warned banks they must not refuse mortgages on homes with cladding that are 'perfectly safe'. Thousands of homeowners face the cost of removing cladding from their buildings in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy, which killed 72 people in 2017. Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions today, Mr Johnson was asked to come forward with a plan to fix the cladding crisis that does not burden leaseholders with the costs of removing the material. The Prime Minister told Labour MP Seema Malhorta that the onus should be on banks not to 'unreasonably refuse mortgages on properties that are perfectly safe'. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Labour MP Seema Malhorta that banks should not refuse mortgages on homes with cladding that are 'perfectly safe' during Prime Ministers Questions today (pictured) His comments come after it emerged that UK flat sales have halved due to fears over dangerous cladding similar to that which was on Grenfell Tower. Speaking in the Commons, Mrs Malhorta said: 'Almost four years on from the Grenfell tragedy, Government inaction on the cladding crisis means that hundreds of thousands of leaseholders including my constituents remain trapped in unsafe, unsellable blocks. 'Ministers have warned at least 15 times that leaseholders will not have to pay unfair costs but as ever with this Government there has been a lot of promises not matched by delivery. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could face bills of 40,000 each on average to replace dangerous cladding, similar to that found on Grenfell Tower (file photo) 'Will the Prime Minister finally act, end this injustice and come forward with a plan to fix the cladding crisis that does not burden leaseholders with the cost?' The Prime Minister responded by saying the Secretary for Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick would bring forward a plan 'very shortly'. He added: 'But it is also important that mortgage companies do not unreasonably refuse mortgages on properties that are perfectly safe.' Hundreds of thousands of homeowners could face bills of 40,000 each on average to replace dangerous cladding, it was revealed earlier this month. Ministers have set aside 1.6 billion to fund repairs, but MPs estimate the work could cost 15 billion. It cannot begin in earnest until comprehensive funding is released. Big building firms could also face a multi-billion-pound levy to help families pay to repair homes with dangerous cladding. It could a mean a levy on all high rise flats and possibly a separate charge on major developments to atone for building tens of thousands of flats and homes with unsafe cladding and insulation in recent decades. Workers pictured removing cladding from the Whitebeam Court tower block in Salford, north west England, in June 2017 (file photo) It is part of a package of measures being discussed by Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick to meet Britain's post-Grenfell repair bill. The levy could raise up to 200million a year a total of 2billion over ten years. It comes after it was announced a new regulator will be set up to ensure the safety of building materials after 'deeply disturbing' evidence of malpractice was heard at the Grenfell Inquiry. Sales of flats HALVE as housing market is crippled by fire risk fears Sales of flats have halved as fears over dangerous cladding similar to that found on Grenfell Tower cripple the housing market. Families have been left in flats they cannot sell as transactions worth 1.6billion were lost in September amid concerns over unsafe constructions and fire risks, figures from the Land Registry show. In September the number of flats being sold also fell by around 5,600, or 48 per cent, compared to the same month the year before, according to the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership charity. Across the country, around 20,000 high-rise flats still have the same cladding as Grenfell Tower and an estimated 186,000 private high-rise flats are wrapped in other types of inflammable materials, The Sunday Times revealed. Advertisement The investigation into the fatal fire heard that some firms involved in the production of materials used on the tower's flammable cladding deliberately manipulated fire tests and marketing materials. Now, a regulator for construction products will be able to remove any products from the market that pose a safety risk and prosecute any companies that are found to be flouting rules. If there are concerns about a product, the new body will be able to conduct its own tests against existing safety standards. Ministers have also commissioned an independent review into weaknesses in previous testing regimes and will look at how abuse of these systems can be prevented. The Minister for London said the move comes as a result of the 'entirely justified anger' over the fire and the 'failings it exposed'. Paul Scully said: 'This must never happen again, which is why we are launching a new authority to test and regulate the safety of construction materials, informed by the expertise that already exists within the Office for Product Safety and Standards.' Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: 'The Grenfell Inquiry has heard deeply disturbing allegations of malpractice by some construction product manufacturers and their employees, and of the weaknesses of the present product testing regime. 'We are establishing a national regulator to address these concerns and a review into testing to ensure our national approach is fit for purpose. 'We will continue to listen to the evidence emerging in the Inquiry, and await the judge's ultimate recommendation - but it is already clear that action is required now and that is what we are doing.' Hearings of the Grenfell Inquiry are currently suspended amid lockdown restrictions across England. Organisers have previously said they hope to start hearing evidence again remotely in February. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A Newry man who punched a partially sighted pensioner and kicked his guide dog in the belly was handed a seven month jail sentence today. Sentencing Joseph Magee at Armagh Magistrates Court, Deputy District Judge Philip Mateer told the 33-year-old: "You have a very bad criminal record, it would appear everything else has been tried and a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case". Magee, from St Mary Street, had earlier appeared for sentencing on assault occasioning actual bodily harm, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and two counts of theft. A prosecuting lawyer told the court that on 5 July 2019, Magee stole three bottles of Buckfast from a Spar shop while the assault related to an incident on 6 November last year. Read More The victim, a 73-year-old man who is partially blind reported that he had been in his fold housing flat on Scotch Street in Armagh when he answered loud banging at the door. Magee forced his way in, punching the pensioner to his eye and nose before taking a swipe at his guide dog and collapsing in a heap on top of his victim. Magee was arrested at the scene but during interview he denied any wrongdoing. Defence solicitor Kevin McDonnell conceded the theft had been "unsophisticated" while in relation to the assault, he submitted it was a case of mistaken identity because he was so drunk. He revealed that Magees uncle lives next door to the victim and he thought that his uncle was not letting him into the property". Jailing Magee, DJ Mateer accepted the defendant had expressed remorse but added: "This partially sighted man did not know what to expect at his door. He did not expect to be assaulted. "He did not expect his guide dog to be struck in the belly, all in the presence of his wife. You have a very bad criminal record, it would appear everything else has been tried and a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case". INTRODUCTION As a well cultured Nigerian and Catholic Christian, I abhor criminality in all its ramifications. I have been a serial victim. But God has always delivered me from the snares of all evils (Psalm 23). As a constitutional lawyer and Human Rights Activist, I speak not just for today, but for tomorrow and posterity. I do not simply jump into the fray of issues and take the popular and most convenient route. Many do. Without weighing the possible negative effect of such populist positions. Such may be good music to the ears in the short measure. I prefer to look at, not just the short, but the medium and long term effects and consequences of such delicate matters. That is why over 98% of my postulations have always come to pass. Not a few Nigerians have wondered aloud whether I am a prophet, seer or Nostradamus. I am neither. Some Nigerians have, on the trending issue, been vociferously in support of the Ondo States blanket order given to herders, by my good friend, Governor Rotimi Aketi Akeredolu, to quit Ondo forest reserves within 7 days. Many have applauded it. Many endorsed; clapped. There is some sense in this, eclat though. But, have we stopped for a moment, to look at the possible manifold and ponderous effects of such a blanket order on other tribes and indigenes living in other parts of Nigeria other than their own? Have we analysed and interrogated the issues? When my good friend, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State ordered the demolition of a hotel for the owners violation of covid-19 rules, I intervened, arguing that he should have done it through a court order. I suggest that the owner of the hotel should go to court for redress. In the same measure, I argued that Governor Nasir-El-Rufai should not have rolled out bulldozers and caterpillars to demolish a hotel in Kaduna simply because it was alleged that the owner had desired to use it for a nude party, a matter never proved. It was simply political. But, I believed it should have been done through a court order; not through brute force. We cannot use illegality to fight illegality; just as it is wrong to use corruption to fight corruption. Can we really stop Nigerians from plying their trade in any part of Nigeria, if done legitimately and in accordance with extant laws? I think not. I hope not. I pray not. We must learn, in a constitutional democracy, to be a country governed by laws, not men. We must build a country of strong institutions, not strong men. This was why America only just recently defeated a strongman, performer president Donald Trump, with a strong institution. It is in this context I will now proceed to critically analyse and interrogate, whether Governor Akeredolus 7 days Quit Notice for herders to quit Ondo State forest reserves is legal, constitutional and proper. THE LEGAL REGIME The Land Use Act of 1978 (LUA) has since laid the issue to rest as to who controls land in Nigeria. The provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of the Land Use Act, provides that all land comprised in the territory of each state in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of that State such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The Act says all Nigerians, not only indigenes of a state. The case of NZENWATA & ORS V. NZENWATA (2016) LPELR-410 89(CA) gives a detailed explanation of the control and management of land under the Land Use Act, 1978, in the following words: By the provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of the Land Use Act, 1978, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federation were/are vested in the Governor of that state and such land shall be held in trust and administered for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians in accordance with the provisions of the Act (Section 1 of the Act). Also as from the commencement of the Act, all land in the urban areas shall be under control and management of the Governor of each State and all other lands shall, subject to the Act, be under the control and management of the Local Government within the area of jurisdiction of which the land is situated. (Section 2(a) and (b) of the Act). By the provisions of Sections 5 (1) and 6(1) of the Act which deals with the Principles of Tenure, Powers of the Governor and Local Governments and Rights of Occupiers: It shall be lawful for the Governor in respect of land, whether or not in an urban Area- (a) to grant statutory rights of occupancy to any person for all purposes. Section 5(1) (a) Section 6 (1) of the Act, on the other hand, provides that: It shall be lawful for a Local Government in respect of land not in an urban area- (a) to grant customary rights of occupancy to any person or organization for the use of land in the Local Government Area for agricultural, residential and other purposes. The combined effect of the provisions of all the Sections of the Act above quoted is that all lands in urban areas, as well as the Rural Areas, are either vested in the Governors or Local Government Chairmen and all citizens of this Country who hitherto owned land or not are mere beneficial occupiers or owners as the State Governor in cases of land in Urban areas hold such land in trust for them. See Savannah Bank of (Nig) Ltd. & Anor v. Ajilo & Anor (1989) LPELR-3019 (SC) Per Belgore, JSC (as he then was) at pages 84-85, Paragraphs A-C). Per AGUBE, J.C.A. (Pp. 32-34, Paras. D-D). In accordance with Section 1 of the Land Use Act 1978, State Governors can exercise the power to grant statutory rights of occupancy in any part of the State, at which point proof of the right of occupancy, which is known as a Certificate of Occupancy, is issued by the State Governor. From the above provisions, it is crystal clear that my good friend, the Ondo State government and its Governor, Arakunrin Aketi Rotimi Akeredolu has control over all lands within his State territory. It is also clear that all citizens of this country who hitherto owned land or not are mere beneficial occupies or owners as the state Governor in cases of land in urban areas hold such in trust for them. Additionally, section 28 of the LUA, 1978, provides for the powers of the Governor to revoke a right of occupancy already granted for overriding public interest. Similarly, the instances in which these rights can be revoked are provided for in the same section (28). From the aforementioned, it is within the powers of the Ondo State Governor to exorcise and expel occupants of lands within its territories, if it is shown to be in the overriding interest of the public, such as security matters. Governor Akeredolu can, therefore, in exercising the rights granted to him by virtue of his position as Governor of Ondo State, issue the order asking herders to vacate the forests reserves within seven days, simply on the ground that the reserve belongs to the Ondo State government. Indeed, the Governor can compulsorily acquire such lands as occupied by the ungovernable herdsmen, in accordance with section 44 of the 1999 Constitution. In such a lawful event, the Governor is expected to make prompt payment of compensation to the herdsmen, who have lawfully been in occupation without criminal records in accordance with section 44(1)(a) of the Constitution. See AIGORO V. COMMISSIONER OF LANDS AND HOUSING, KWARA STATE (2011) LPELR-9112(CA). The Governor has duly exercised his powers under the Land Use Act by giving the 7 days quit notice to the herdsmen. This is constitutional and legal. It is also correct to state that something drastic needed to be done to tackle the increasing menace of crimes and violent acts faced in Ondo State forest reserves, which the Governor adduced as his reason for the order. Said Hippocrates (the father of Medicine), desperate diseases require desperate remedies. Akeredolus primary function as Governor of Ondo State is the security and welfare of his people (section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution). However, it is trite law that the Governors powers are only effective up to the extent that they do not arbitrarily affect a citizens fundamental rights under the 1999 Constitution, without resort to due process of law. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) as amended, supersedes the provisions of the Land Use Act. It is the highest law of the land, the grundnorm, the fontact origo, and supreme law. See ABACHA & ORS V. FAWEHINMI (2000) LPELR-14(SC). Thus, where any law or provisions of laws conflict with the Constitution, such a law is null and void to the extent of its inconsistency. Inherently, Governors are bound by their oath of office to obey and uphold the Constitution and all other laws that uphold it. No Governor can therefore unilaterally, arbitrarily, whimsically and capriciously order a group of people, tribe or religion to vacate, by fiat and ultimatum, any part of a state which they govern, without resort to due process and the law courts, as this will amount to encroaching on the fundamental rights of citizens as guaranteed by the Constitution. These rights include right to freedom of movement (section 41); right to freedom from discrimination (section 42); and right to own movable and immovable property (section 44). How fair and equitable is a 7 day quit notice from a habit where people have lived all their lives, some for a decade? I think it is not! RIGHT TO OWN LAND It is arguable that the herdsmen, who have been issued quit notice by Governor Akeredolu are actually being arbitrarily sent away from lands over which they have since legally acquired title and possession over. Where it is proven that some herdsmen have peacefully lived on their occupied lands for a significant time without committing crimes, then they are deemed to have a bonafide title to such lands occupied by them under the law. The case of IDUNDUN AND ORS V. IKUMAGBA AND ORS (1976) 9-10 S.C. 227, reflects this legal position, as it posits five ways in which title to land can be proven: i. By traditional evidence in the form of traditional history. ii. By production of documents of title iii. By proving acts of ownership and possession over a sufficient length of time which are numerous and positive enough as to warrant the inference that the person is the true owner. iv. By proving acts of long possession and enjoyment of land; and By proof of possession of connected and adjacent land, in circumstances which make it probable that the owner of such adjacent or connected land is probably the owner of the land in dispute. The above five ways to prove title to land are not mutually connected. Ergo, proving one of these ways is sufficient enough to prove title. See the case of BARTHOLOMEW ONWUBUARIRI & ORS V. ISAAC IGBOASOIYI & ORS (2011) LPELR. Where any of these are proved, the governments order could be successfully challenged as constituting a breach of those herders title or possessory rights. However, section 28 of the Land Use act bestows title over all lands of a state on the Governor, to hold in trust for the people. Consequentially, Governor Akeredolu can lawfully give out lands in a state, just as he can also lawfully take them back. This is the dilemma striking a delicate balance between Nigerians right to live and carry out business wherever they desire, and the need that they live peacefully, without criminal tendencies, in such places. Can the individual ownership or possessory rights of these herders override the need for the Governor to maintain law and order as the Chief Security Officer of his state (section 215(4) 1999 Constitution); and to give maximum security to his people (section 14(2)(b) 1999 Constitution)? I think not. But, can he do so by fiat, without resort to due process through a court of competent jurisdiction? I think not. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered) provides the citizens right to freedom of movement throughout Nigeria. He is also allowed to reside in any part thereof. Section 41 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in very clear and precise words, provides as follows: Every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and to reside in any part thereof, and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom. This fundamental right is widely applied, as citizens are thereby permitted to move about and across all corners, nooks and crannies within Nigeria, as was aptly held in the case of OKAFOR v. LAGOS STATE GOVT & ANOR (2016) LPELR-41066(CA). It is of no effect whether the citizens live where the land is located, or whether they are mere nomads. This position has been clearly reiterated by the apex court in IBRAHIM V. MOHAMMED (2003) FWLR (PT. 156) 902, where Lordship Kalgo, JSC, stated thus: The Land Use Act was promulgated as a whole with a view to making land available to all Nigerians irrespective of where they live. Do you hear that please? See also the case of AROWOLO V. AKAPO & ORS (2002) LPELR-7063(CA). The only exception/limitation to this is, where restrictions have been placed on the movement or residence of such a person, if he commits a crime, or is suspected to have committed a crime with a view to preventing him from leaving Nigeria. Thus, applying the literal rule, this limitation appears to apply in an instance such as the present case, where the crime is committed, or is expected, or foreseen, as was Governors Akeredolus reasons for tackle the increasing spate of violent crimes perpetrated by herders in the forest reserve of Ondo State. The Governor is legally correct and competent to demand that herders should register for proper identification. Why will they not want to do this, when this will actually help the genuine herders to be separated from the violent and criminally-minded ones, such as kidnappers and armed bandits? This registration will determine how many herders are actually operating in the forest reserves and also separate the authentic herders from invading terrorists who spill in from neighbouring countries. WHAT MUST AKEREDOLU DO TO QUIT THE HERDERS? Legally speaking, the right channel available for Governor Akeredolu, in my humble legal opinion (if he must demand their exit within 7 days), is for the Governor to file an action at the Federal High Court, Akure, stating the reasons as to his request to oust and quit the herdsmen from the Ondo forest reserves. His reasons are strong and cogent enough, and courts would readily agree with him. This will enure his acts with legal and constitutional imprimatur; not resort to self-help. Freedom of movement, in any case, is not absolute; though courts of law in Nigeria rarely grant applications that breach the fundamental rights of citizens. In KALU V. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA & ORS (2012) LPELR-9287(CA), the issue for determination was whether the rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, are absolute. There, EKO, J.C.A. (as he then was), in pages 44-45, paragraphs F-E, concisely and unambiguously stated: The courts, including the Federal High Court, know the law and would not do things to whimsically undermine the rights of parties guaranteed by the Constitution. The rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement, guaranteed respectively by sections 35 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution, are not absolute. Section 41 (2) (a) of the Constitution says that the right to freedom of movement may be deprived under a law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society that imposes restrictions on the movement of any person who has committed or is reasonably suspected to have committed a criminal offence in order to prevent him from leaving Nigeria. An application for enforcement of a partys fundamental right presupposes the right has been, is being or is likely to be violated otherwise than in accordance with the procedure permitted by law. That argument will be defeated when it is apparent that the right has been deprived of in accordance with the procedure permitted by law. Consequently, once the Governor can demonstrate to the court that the peace and order of Ondo State have been serially breached by the herders, the constitutionality of Governor Akeredolus order will not be faulted by a court of law; and same will be held to be constitutional; and not unconscionable, arbitrary, oppressive, discriminatory, illegal or ultra vires his gubernatorial powers. This is the best route to follow. FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION In discussing this fundamental right, I would refer to the Punch Newspaper publication of 19th January, 2021, in which the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, replied Governor Rotimi Akeredolus order thus: Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, a seasoned lawyer, Senior Advocate of Nigeria and indeed, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, has fought crime in his state with passion and commitment, greater sensitivity and compassion for the four years he has run its affairs and, in our view, will be the least expected to unilaterally oust thousands of herders who have lived all their lives in the state on account of the infiltration of the forests by criminals. I completely agree with this opinion. It is important to note that not every Fulani herder living in Ondo state is a criminal. Some, or many, who have lived there for decades, do not fall into the category of the rampant, blood-lusty herdsmen terrorizing citizens and states in Nigeria. Consequently, the categorization of every Fulani within the herdsmen bracket or the categorization of every and all herdsmen in the blood-lusty herdsmen bracket will, in my humble view, appear to be blanketly discriminatory. This is contrary to freedom from discrimination as guaranteed by section 42 of the 1999 Constitution. It is a court of law that can sift the chaff from the seeds. I do not agree with the tarring of a whole race or occupation with the besmearing paintbrush of criminality. Let me give an example: if some Igbo or Edo or Yoruba indigenes (permit my example) living outside their states are fond of committing crimes in the Sagon Gari area of Kano City, it will be wrong, unconstitutional and even immoral, will it not, to term Igbos, Edos and Yorubas living in Kano as criminals who must be evicted within seven (7) days. What about the majority of the innocent ones, many of whom are living in Kano in their third generation? My simple thesis is that criminals must be separated from the innocent ones. I, therefore, agree with the compulsory registration exercise introduced by Akeredolu, to sift the good from the bad; the beautiful from the ugly; the clean from the tainted, and the innocent from the guilty. WAS THE PRESIDENCY RIGHT IN ITS REACTION TO AKEREDOLU QUIT NOTICE? The Presidency in my view is right to be gravely worried about the Governors 7 days quit notice, seeing that this would infringe on the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens, without a valid court order to that effect. A court order, I repeat, is necessary. We must carefully guide against ethnoreligious reprisals in a volatile, mutually suspicious country of major religions and ethnic fault-lines as we have. By the way, why will Governors abdicate their solemn duties of protecting their people through short cuts? What stops Governor Akeredolu and other South-West Governors from deploying their local vigilante groups such as AMOTEKUN, to flush out the identified criminals and prosecute them? What are they paid for? Why use the crimes of some (whether in the minority or majority) to deal with every herdsman, including the innocent ones? I dont agree with this, even if my view is unpopular. After all, I am not in any popularity contest with anyone. HOW BEST STATES CAN TACKLE THIS ISSUE OF INSECURITY SOME IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS Bad governance and poor leadership Bad governance and poor leadership still remain Nigerias bane and fundamental cause of insecurity from the past to date. It is the duty of every government anywhere to see its primary function as providing basic services such as security, welfare, water, electricity, good road network, quality education, and general infrastructure. Our governments do not. Overpopulation Nigerias population has grown from 33 million in 1950 to about 208 million today [UNO, mid-June, 2020]. This phenomenal increase in the population has put enormous pressure on land and water resources used by farmers and pastoralists. This pressure has led to the blockage of transhumance routes and loss of grazing land to agricultural expansion, while the increased southward movement of pastoralists has led to increased conflict with local communities, with the latter (e.g. Ondo State) being at the receiving end. Porous Borders One major immediate factor which has enhanced insecurity in Nigeria is the porous borders of the country, where individual movements are largely untracked. Given the porous borders, as well as the weak security system, weapons easily find their way into Nigeria from other countries. Small arms and light weapons proliferation have enabled militant and criminal groups to have unhindered access to arms. Nigeria is estimated to host over 70 per cent of about 8 million illegal weapons in West Africa. The porosity of Nigerian borders has also led to an unceasing influx of migrants from neighbouring countries, such as Niger Republic, Chad and Republic of Benin. These migrants who are mostly young men constitute the perpetrators of major crimes in the country. Rural /Urban Drift The migration of jobless youths from rural areas to urban centres is a major cause of insecurity in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the countries in the world with very high rural/urban drift. Lack of social irresponsibility of companies Companies engage in corporate social responsibility to enable them to offset corporate social irresponsibility. The rise of terror groups in some parts of the country is directly related to the abysmal neglect of social responsibility by companies to the community where they operate. This has been the case of the Niger Delta, leading to a crisis. Acts of Terrorism Acts of terrorism have become the most fundamental source of insecurity in Nigeria. Its primary base and source have been squarely located in religious and ethnic fanaticism and intolerance. There are fear, destruction and death, especially against unarmed targets, property and infrastructure in states. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED PANACEA 1. Establishment of Grazing Reserves The establishment of permanent grazing reserves provides the opportunity for practising a more limited form of pastoralism and constitutes a pathway towards a better template of animal husbandry. Nigeria has a total of 417 grazing reserves out of which only about 113 have been gazetted. It is clear that pastoralism, at least in the short and medium-term, may help to prevent seasonal migration of herders from dry to wet season grazing areas. 2. Law and Policy There is an emerging conflict between the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of movement of persons and goods, and laws emerging in some States which restrict movement. Some States have, rightfully, enacted laws or are still processing bills to prevent open grazing on their territory. There are some initiatives so far in Benue, Ekiti, Taraba and Edo States. Could such laws be effective in prohibiting nomadic pastoralism, which is practised by millions of Nigerians, especially of the Fulani stock? We shall find out sooner than later. 3. Community policing should be immediately established within states of Nigeria for effective management of insecurity. Nigerias behemoth Police Force (sections 214 and 215 of the 1999 Constitution) should be dismantled in favour of states, LGAs and community policing. 4. There is an urgent need to create an enabling economic environment that allows for social, security, economic and physical infrastructure. This will allow for business and industrial growth. 5. Creation of job opportunities for the teeming youth is a sine qua non to prevent rising crime. 6. Adequate punishment e.g. barring for life, politicians who use thugs for politics, should be encouraged. This will help our electoral system. 7. There must be good governance, transparency and accountability. 8. Security systems must be strengthened Our weak security system can be attributed to a number of factors which include corruption, inadequate funding of the Police (and other security agencies), lack of modern equipment, poor welfare of security personnel, and inadequate personnel. There is, therefore, the need to improve our security architecture through the training of security officers, sufficient training in modern security methodologies, provision of state-of-the-art equipment and appropriate remuneration, good service conditions, and a convenient pension scheme. Modern methods of intelligence gathering and intelligence sharing, training, logistics, motivation, and deploying advanced technology in managing security challenges should be introduced immediately. 9. Poverty reduction is a must. A realistic social security programme must be vigorously pursued and implemented, to ensure that the teeming populace meets their basic needs. 10. There should be mutual trust, respect and accommodation by all ethnic and religious groups in Nigeria. No section should claim superiority over others whom they, unfortunately, regard as vassals. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Haiti - Politic : The Minister of Social Affairs dismissed On Tuesday, Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe proceeded to the installation of Me Marie Giselhaine Mompremier (Minister of Tourism) as Acting Minister (a.i) of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST). Ms. Mompremier was appointed by presidential decree published in the Special Monitor N5 dated Monday January 25, 2021, she replaces Nicole Yolette Altidor in this position. In his speech the head of government explained that this change was imperative "in view of the dysfunction of this institution for several months". He urged the new Minister a.i. "[...] to apply the framework sheet given to her in order to allow the institution to respond effectively to its vocation. The Haitian social security system must live up to the expectations of the population [...] As the human face of the Government in the context of the implementation of its protection and social security policy, MAST has the obligation to support the most vulnerable." For her part, the Minister a.i Marie Giselhaine Mompremier, after the usual thanks, said she was aware of the task entrusted to her. "[...] The action of this institution must and will participate in the overall government vision through these three major priority areas, namely, the restoration of the security climate; the reduction of social inequalities and the revival of the economy [...]" emphasizing "[...] its implementation will greatly contribute to providing concrete answers to the many expectations of the Haitian population thirsty for social justice." This installation took place in the presence in particular of the Minister of Culture, two electoral advisers; the Secretary of State for the Integration of People with Disabilities; the Director General of the Social Assistance Fund, officials from the Ministry for Women's Affairs and MAST. HL/ HaitiLibre Homicide detectives investigating a fatal shooting in Harvey over the summer got a lead when DNA at the crime scene pointed them toward a potential suspect, according to authorities. Christopher Cross, 19, of Marrero was eventually arrested Nov. 24 and booked on counts of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and a raft of charges related to a police pursuit that occurred during his apprehension. Cross is accused of killing Cay-yon Bickham, 37, on June 25 in the Tallow Tree neighborhood on the West Bank, Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office Detective Kristian Fricke testified Friday during a probable cause hearing for Cross in Jefferson Parish Magistrate Court. A passerby spotted Bickham's body about 6:43 a.m., lying between two vehicles parked on a grassy lot in the 1000 block of Orange Blossom Lane, Fricke said. Bickham had been shot four times and was pronounced dead at the scene. One of the vehicles he was lying near was his own, according to Fricke. Evidence at the scene led investigators to believe there was a struggle before Bickham was shot, Fricke said. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Detectives found blood on the interior driver's side door of Bickham's car. The blood was sent to the Sheriff's Office crime lab for analysis, Fricke said. Investigators received word on Oct. 6 that there was a identification hit from the FBI's Combined DNA Index System. "The blood belonged to Christopher Cross," Fricke said. Deputies spotted Cross Nov. 24 in the 1200 block of the West Bank Expressway in Harvey, authorities said. Cross allegedly rammed a Sheriff's Office car and hit three other vehicles in a chase before he was arrested. Defense attorney Raul Guerra argued that detectives don't know when the blood got onto the door of Bickham's car and noted that no eyewitnesses have placed Cross at the crime scene. But Assistant Jefferson Parish District Attorney Doug Freese told that the defendant's blood contradicted a statement Cross made to investigators that he didn't know Bickham and was never in the victim's vehicle. Criminal Commissioner Paul Schneider ruled there was probable cause to continue holding Cross on the murder charge. He was being held Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on bond of $705,050. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 02:57:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks on Wednesday with visiting EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Susanna Terstal on reviving peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Shoukry briefed Terstal on the tireless efforts exerted by Egypt in a bid to bring the Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiation table, said Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez in a statement. The Egyptian top diplomat highlighted Egypt's joint efforts with international partners in this regard, citing the latest quartet meeting of Shoukry and the foreign ministers of Jordan, France and Germany in Cairo. The quartet meeting aimed to "push ahead with peace efforts and to create an environment that helps urge the Palestinian and Israeli sides to engage in a serious and constructive negotiation path," said the statement. Egypt and its peacemaking partners seek to reach a just and comprehensive settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the UN-backed two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, according to the statement. Shoukry "expressed his confidence in the continuation of European support for the Palestinian cause at all levels." For her part, the EU special envoy briefed Shoukry on the results of her latest contacts with the various parties concerned and elaborated on the European vision of reviving negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Terstal expressed her aspiration for continuous consultation and cooperation with Egypt regarding Middle East peace, Hafez said. Shoukry and Terstal further discussed the progress of inter-Palestinian reconciliation and the financial issues facing the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that provides support for some 5.7 million Palestinian refugees as stated by the agency. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades, following the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948. Enditem Istanbul court arrested a man Tuesday, who attacked three Russian nationals in the Besiktas district, local media reported. According to the report, the arrested is charged with attempted murder. Late on January 24, an unidentified person armed with cold weapon attacked three Russians in Istanbul. The victims were hospitalized. According to the Russian Consulate General in Istanbul, two victims remain under medics supervision, while the third ones condition is good. The police apprehended the attacker - a mentally unstable Turkish citizen, TASS reported. The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Professor Mohammed Salifu, has explained that the intention of the government to introduce a Centralised Admission Services (CAS) in the Public University Bill is to sanitise the admission process into universities. He also said such a system would be cheaper for prospective students who would no more have to buy more than one admission form to brighten their chances of gaining entrance into the university. Prof. Salifu gave the explanation in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra in reaction to calls by some lecturers, civil society organisations and other stakeholders for the proposed bill to be thrown away. He described the CAS as a replica of the Computerised School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) for junior high school students entering senior high schools. CAS Prof Salifu, therefore, dismissed the notion that the CAS was designed to take away the admission right of public universities. According to him, the universities would continue to decide which student to take based on minimum entry requirements to be agreed on. "Nobody is going to take over that responsibility. What we are doing is providing a platform so that instead of buying five or six admission forms from different universities, you will just buy one access card, go into the system, select the universities and programmes you want in each university. "The data will go to the universities and each of them will collate them as prevails, go through their processes, accept which students they want to accept and put the data back on the platform," Prof. Salifu further explained. He said once a university offered a student admission and he or she ticks accept, that student would no more be available for selection by other universities. "Currently, what happens is that the best students who would have bought four or five admission forms would get admission from all the four or five universities but would not be able attend all and so would have blocked the chances of others. "The prevailing system is a waste of resources which makes vacancies redundant; it is not the most ideal thing," Prof Salifu added. Mobilisation of funds The Director-General further dismissed the accession that the sale of admission forms was a way of generating funds by the universities, claiming that very little of that money ends up in the universities' confers. "when we did an analysis, actually, there is no single university that earns more than 1.2 per cent of its internal generated funds from the sale of forms and so it is very insignificant even though it comes at a huge cost to the individual applicant," he said. According to Prof. Salifu, when the bill is passed, the CAS would significantly help to sanitise the process because "sitting here, I can have all the data of students who have been admitted into a university and other such data". He said to get the buy-in of Vice-Chancellors of public universities, they were sponsored to the United Kingdom where the CAS, known there as universities and colleges admissions services (UCAS) was practised for them to appreciate how the system worked. Source: Graphic.com.gh Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tamam Financing Company, a top fintech, has announced the certification of its micro-finance app in light of Sharia principles by Shariyah Review Bureau. The Tamam app will extend a suite of Sharia compliant microfinance services in Saudi Arabia. Tamam has also been officially licensed by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) to provide micro-financing services to consumers across the Kingdom. Established in 2019, Tamam aims to increase financial inclusion in the Kingdom in line with the Financial Sector Development Plan of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. The platform provides individuals requiring financing the opportunity to immediately avail a Shari'a-compliant consumer micro-finance. The end to-end Shari'a approved process takes less than five minutes from downloading the app to receiving the financing amount based on the user credit profile. To ensure Sharia compliance Shariyah Review Bureau (SRB) will supervise the trading and processing of commodities and Sharia audit services and processing operations of Tamams activities. We see our assignment as an opportunity to serve the unbanked population in the Kingdom said Yasser S Dahlawi, Founder and CEO of SRB. We have an unwavering focus of maintaining Sharia compliance as we partner with Tamam Financing company to serve the financially underserved communities and business. With an integrated approach to Sharia advisory comprising certification process, consultative advice and Sharia audit expertise, SRB can deliver higher-value services to help Tamam drive operational excellence and enable its team to stay focused on increasing inclusion in Saudi Arabia, said Dahlawi. TradeArabia News Service Fishermen hop on coracles to head for their fishing vessels off the south central coast in Vietnam in June 2018. Photo by VnExpress/Le Dang. Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested Malaysia to ensure the humane treatment of and provision of criminal evidence for 16 Vietnamese fishermen detained last week. The Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia has contacted Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and local authorities to clarify the incident, verify the fishermen's personal information as well as that of the two vessels on which they had fared, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang told VnExpress on Wednesday. Hang said Vietnam also requested Malaysian authorities to treat the detained fishermen humanely and provide enough evidence proving the two vessels had indeed illegally encroached Malaysian waters so Vietnamese authorities could launch an investigation and deal with the boat owners. The Bernama state news agency quoted a source from MMEA saying the two fishing boats carrying 16 crew members were detained off Terengganu state, on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, on Jan. 23. The fishermen, aged 18 to 62, did not have any valid identification documents nor possessed any license to fish in the countrys waters, Terengganu MMEA Director Captain Muhammad Suffi Mohd Ramli was reported as stating. "Two boats, fishing gear, catch and diesel supply were also seized, with the total haul valued at RM3 million ($741,685)," he added. The fishermen were taken for novel coronavirus swab tests before being detained. They are being investigated under Malaysia's Fisheries and Immigration acts. The views expressed by public comments are not those of this company or its affiliated companies. Please note by clicking on "Post" you acknowledge that you have read the TERMS OF USE and the comment you are posting is in compliance with such terms. Your comments may be used on air. Be polite. Inappropriate posts or posts containing offsite links, images, GIFs, inappropriate language, or memes may be removed by the moderator. Job listings and similar posts are likely automated SPAM messages from Facebook and are not placed by WFMZ-TV. GREENSBORO, N.C., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bell Partners Inc., one of the nation's leading apartment investment and management companies, today announced that it has acquired Modera Jackson, a 160-unit apartment community located in Seattle, Wash. The property, acquired on behalf of the firm's Fund VII investors, will be renamed Bell Jackson Street. The seller is Boca Raton, Florida-based Mill Creek Residential. Institutional Property Advisors (IPA), a division of Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI), served as broker on the transaction. Bell Jackson Street is located in the heart of Seattle's historic Central District, giving residents access to a vibrant residential neighborhood and community. The city of Seattle is the largest employment center in the Pacific Northwest with over 328,000 jobs in the downtown core. Fortune 500 companies with headquarters in the city include Amazon, Nordstrom and Starbucks, and other notable employers include Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. The acquisition represents Bell Partners' third owned community in the Seattle metro area and continues the firm's expansion on the West Coast. Including Bell Jackson Street, Bell Partners owns and/or manages over 1,200 apartment units across six properties in West Coast markets including Seattle, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. "With the acquisition of Bell Jackson Street, we are thrilled to grow our Seattle portfolio with a focus on locations that offer strong long-term growth prospects," said Nickolay Bochilo, EVP of Investments at Bell Partners. "Despite near-term economic challenges, we continue to believe in the long-term economic fundamentals of the Seattle metro area. The city's top-tier educational institutions, the culture of innovation and presence of some of the world's leading companies provide a strong foundation for job and population growth in the coming years." Built in 2018, Bell Jackson Street is comprised of 160 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment homes. All units are equipped with keyless entries, programmable thermostats and A/C ports and stainless-steel appliances, and include quartz countertops and vinyl plank flooring throughout. Select homes have direct patio access, Juliet balconies and foyers for added privacy. Community amenities include a rooftop clubhouse with an adjacent deck, media and conference rooms, a state-of-the-art fitness center, electric vehicle stalls and bike storage. The property features views of the Seattle skyline, Puget Sound and the Cascade Range from the rooftop deck and many of the apartments. Bell Partners closely follows guidelines from local, state and federal health authorities regarding the operation and cleanliness of community amenities. About Bell Partners Inc. Established in 1976, Bell Partners Inc. ("Bell Partners" or the "Company") is a privately held, vertically integrated apartment investment and management company focused on high-quality multifamily communities throughout the United States. With approximately 63,000 units under management, Bell Partners is one of the largest apartment operators and renovators in the United States. The Company has over 1,500 associates and eight offices (including its headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.) and offers an extensive and full-service platform containing expertise in acquisitions and dispositions, construction, financing, property operations, accounting, risk management and all other related support functions. Bell Partners is led by a senior management team with an average of over 20 years of experience that has invested throughout all phases of the real estate cycle and has helped the Company complete over $16 billion of apartment transactions since 2002, including over $1.2 billion in 2020 transactions. For more information, visit our website at www.bellpartnersinc.com . Contacts: John Perilli / Allie Rudden Prosek Partners for Bell Partners Inc. (212) 279-3115 [email protected] / [email protected] SOURCE Bell Partners Inc. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 12:33:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Gao Pan, Xiong Maoling, Tan Yixiao WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday stressed the importance of closer multilateral cooperation amid uneven global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are seeing very diverging prospects across the world, and at the same time when it comes to the health aspect of it, the global economy is as strong as its weakest link," Petya Koeva Brooks, deputy director of the IMF's Research Department, told Xinhua in an interview, after the IMF released the latest update of its World Economic Outlook (WEO). The IMF projected that the global economy will grow by 5.5 percent in 2021, 0.3 percentage point above its October forecast, following an estimated contraction of 3.5 percent in 2020. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty around this forecast as global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million Tuesday, breaking yet another grim record, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. The resurgence of the virus, including the likelihood of new lockdown measures and the negative impact on economic activity, is perhaps "one of the most important risks in the near term on the downside," Brooks said. Other downside risks include a sharp tightening in financial conditions and the slower rollout of the vaccination across countries than current expectations, while upside risks include faster progress with vaccinations and additional fiscal support in some countries, according to Brooks. "At this stage, we would like to emphasize the uncertainty rather than coming up with the bottom line on which risks dominate," Brooks said, urging countries to accelerate vaccination "so that this race between the virus and the vaccine is one in the favor of the vaccine." "Having universal access to vaccines for all countries is something that is going to benefit everyone. This is where multilateral cooperation would be particularly important," she said. Faster progress on ending the health crisis will raise global income cumulatively by 9 trillion U.S. dollars over 2020-25, with benefits for all countries, according to the IMF's estimation. Besides public health, multilateral cooperation on climate change and resolving debt issues is also important for the global economy "to grow and to be better going forward," Brooks said. Meanwhile, the IMF official noted that there are a lot of divergences across economies in the post-pandemic recovery. The Chinese economy has already reached the level of output that it had prior to the pandemic, while the United States and Japan are expected to reach the pre-pandemic level of output this year, Brooks said. The euro area as well as many emerging markets and developing countries will not reach this level until 2022, with some of the low-income countries even beyond that, she said. Brooks also noted that preserving the relationship between the employer and the worker would be very helpful for countries to reduce scarring effects of the pandemic. "Many governments have implemented schemes to provide support for short-time work programs and such, and more generally targeting the sectors that have been most effected is an important aspect of that," she said. China's economy is expected to grow by 8.1 percent in 2021 from 2.3 percent in 2020, according to the IMF's forecast. Brooks attributed China's fast recovery from the pandemic to "very strong containment efforts" as well as "very strong" support of fiscal policy and monetary policy. Calling China "the engine of growth for the global economy for a while," Brooks believed China has a very important role to play in the global recovery going forward. "I think the fact that China is one of the producers of the vaccine and has been active and willing to also help others is an important thing," she said, adding it would be important for China to be one of the champions of global multilateral cooperation on the vaccine front. China also plays a critical role in strengthening global supply chains, addressing climate change and resolving debt issues, said the IMF official. "China can do a lot in terms of being again the catalyst or the champion for change at the global level." Enditem It started in Secaucus: a break-in at a small pharmacy on the Meadowlands Parkway and an attempted burglary at a pharmacy in another part of town on the same morning in October. Police Chief Dennis Miller said his detectives had a hunch that these break-ins were not exclusive to Secaucus, so his department alerted the surrounding communities and neighboring counties. Within weeks the calls started coming in from other law enforcement agencies in Hudson, Bergen and Morris counties, some reporting that as many as four pharmacies were victimized by the same crew of criminals in a single morning. Three months after the first incidents at Quik Drugs and Marras Drugs, 10 Jersey City men have been charged federally with burglarizing 40 pharmacies across northern New Jersey. The Secaucus Police Department was credited as the lead agency in the investigation, with assists from more than a dozen other law enforcement agencies. Millers four-member Anti-Crime Unit put in hundreds of hours on the case and was the driving force behind the arrests, which were announced Tuesday by Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig. When someone victimizes a person or business in the town of Secaucus we will go to great expense to facilitate a prosecution, Miller said. I want to applaud the Anti-Crime Unit for their efforts and diligence. Mohummad Simmons, 25, Tamir Brown, 27, Rico Phang, 19, Deon Davis, 24, Michael Simeus, 27, David Booker, 28; Darrel Hicks, 25; Daquan Hart, 22, Jamiel French, 27, and Tyriq Rembert, 28, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit burglary involving controlled substances. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Simmons, Hart, Rembert, Hicks and Brown are in custody, while the remaining five defendants are at large. The men broke into pharmacies between Oct. 11 and Dec. 22 last year and stole dangerous controlled substances, including opioids, Honig said. The group targeted small mom-and-pop pharmacies and typically broke in by breaking windows or doors with a brick or a rock. Miller also credited Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Adam Salzer and Special Agent John Gillespie of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency for helping to bring the crimes to the attention of federal law enforcement agencies. Even after the federal involvement, Secaucus police continued to compile and investigate all the information related to the burglaries, leading to the charges against the 10 men. Pharmacies in Secaucus, North Bergen, Guttenberg, Jersey City, Harrison and West New York were among the Hudson County businesses victimized. Aging society looking to find remedy for graying, balding From:ChinaDaily | 2021-01-27 09:34 Hair loss has become an increasingly vexing headache for young Chinese consumers, and a niche market has been developing for wig manufacturers. More than 250 million people in China-or one in every six people-experience some degree of hair loss, and many are under the age of 30, said the National Health Commission. Wigs are one way to deal with the issue, and the wearing of hairpieces has become more popular in the country. Compared with overseas markets, demand for wigs in China is small but growing. By 2023, sector sales in the country are expected to hit 14.43 billion yuan ($2.23 billion), according to LeadLeo Research Institute. "Online shopping has become the main channel for wig purchases in China, especially since the outbreak of COVID-19," said Han Bin, sales director of the domestic e-commerce department at Henan Rebecca Hair Products Co Ltd. The company said that since the pandemic, online sales of hairpieces in China saw a surge of 60-70 percent compared with pre-pandemic levels as the base number in China is smaller than overseas. As of November, sales of wigs on Rebecca's flagship store on Alibaba's Tmall platform surged more than 70 percent year-on-year, though it didn't disclose specific figures. Rebecca used to be an overwhelmingly export-reliant firm. Fueled by increasing demand for wigs in China, the company has since expanded its business in the domestic market and sales of wigs in the country now make up for more than 20 percent of its total business volume. It plans to continue to raise the proportion of domestic sales, the company said. "We plan to open more online stores on various e-commerce platforms. We will also increase investments in flagship stores on Tmall and JD and carry out more comprehensive operations. In addition, we plan to cooperate with more social media platforms and key opinion leaders to promote wig products," said Zhang Tianyou, executive deputy general manager at Rebecca. More than 10 years ago, Rebecca started its e-commerce operations, and it began selling products via livestreaming sessions since 2019.In 2007, Rebecca launched its first wig store in Beijing, and now it has more than 200 stores nationwide. In the next few years, Rebecca said it plans to open more stores nationwide in malls and expand its sales channels and domestic penetration rate. As China increasingly becomes an aging society, those going gray or experiencing hair loss are growing in number. As hairpieces continue to be better integrated with the hairdressing sector and appear in more barbershops and brick-and-mortar stores, the number of wig consumers in China is expected to continuously expand, LeadLeo said. In addition, wigs serve a practical purpose in the film industry and in cosmetology schools. "In China, wigs carry a relatively high price tag in stores, and their consumers are mainly high-income groups. Women make up about 80 percent of total wig consumers," said Wang Siyu, LeadLeo analyst. "Consumers' motivation to buy wigs mainly comes from a desire to address thinning or graying hair, and this group accounts for 60 percent of the total. Others wish to wear wigs as a remedy for baldness, and some are willing to wear wigs to become more fashionable and match with different outfits," Wang said. Rebecca said wig demand started to rebound in May, when the pandemic began to be brought under better control in China. Now, the company has achieved positive sales growth. Meanwhile, in the past five years, the hair transplant sector in China has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20-30 percent, and related technologies have developed fast, said Wu Wenyu, a dermatologist at Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University in Shanghai. Israel and Sudan will finalise a diplomatic deal to normalise relations at a signing ceremony in Washington in the next three months, Israeli Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said on Wednesday. There was no immediate comment from Sudanese officials or from the U.S. embassy in Israel. Sudan's civilian government has said the deal to normalise relations with Israel can only take effect once approved by a transitional legislative council that is yet to be formed. Sudan joined the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco last year in agreeing to move toward normal relations with Israel in U.S.-brokered deals. The new U.S. administration of President Joe Biden has said it wants to build on those deals. "The peace agreement's draft is progressing and a signing ceremony for Israel and Sudan is expected in Washington in the next three months," Cohen told Israel's Ynet TV. Cohen headed a delegation to Sudan on Monday to discuss advancing the normalisation deal. He told Ynet TV that officials discussed three economic plans as well as border security. Cohen said he brought his hosts oil and fruit from the Holy Land and as a parting gift received an M16 rifle. Short link: City Editor Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids. The nation's job market steadily regained its momentum in 2020, with about 11.9 million urban jobs added throughout the year, outperforming the planned target of 9 million, according to data released on Tuesday by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas fell to 5.2 percent in December after rising to a historic high of 6.2 percent in February. "The year 2020 was surely a remarkable one in the history of employment, when great efforts were made to stabilize the job market," Zhang Ying, an official in the ministry's employment promotion department, said during an online news conference on Tuesday. To offset the negative impact of the pandemic, the ministry released 28 new policies in 2020, including the reduction of 1.54 trillion yuan ($238 billion) in payments made by enterprises and entrepreneurs for endowment, unemployment and job-related injuries insurance. Helping formerly poverty-stricken people to find stable employment was another important measure taken in 2020. "We've organized these formerly poverty-stricken people to work away from their hometowns and given them priority in joining any job-hunting campaigns." The government has also channeled great efforts and resources to further encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in order to ease employment pressures, including raising the credit limit for entrepreneurs and canceling a number of administrative fees. However, the job market still faces an uncertain future due to the recently recurring sporadic COVID-19 cases and the unstable foreign trade environment. Chen Lixiang, vice dean of Peking University's China Institute for Occupation Research, said the outlook for China's job market would improve in 2021 "thanks to the government's experience in controlling the epidemic, but there are challenges yet to be tackled". Market uncertainties "Along with the pandemic, the current foreign trade environment and problems brought by the technological revolution have all put pressure on the job market," Chen said. "For example, the technological revolution requires employees to have greater skills, as does the adjustment of the economic structure, and exerts more and long-term pressure than emergency events such as COVID-19." He said that any measures that can create more employment for job hunters are welcome. "In the short term, the government can give small and medium-sized companies incentives to let them recruit more people, including migrant workers, and release more supportive policies to attract more entrepreneurs." "In the long run, offering workers training courses to improve their skills is of great importance, which can improve their capacity of withstanding possible risks and surviving the technological revolution," he said. Death. Taxes. Nick Willis breaking four minutes in the mile. The 37-year-old New Zealander accomplished the feat yet again last week, logging a 3:58.63. Its the 19th year in a row hes clocked in under the fabled barrier. That streak is now an all-time record, passing a mark actually set by another Kiwi runner (John Walker), whod run a sub-four every year from 1973 to 1990. Williss biggest challenge other than, you know, going sub-four was finding a race that could accommodate his goal. Due to COVID-19, most events are postponed or outright canceled. But eventually, the Orange Winter Classic #1 in Orlando, Florida was able to play host. In order to prepare for the race, Willis trained at altitude, in Flagstaff, Arizona. Its probably one of the biggest open secrets in long-distance training. If you want to lower your times, train in high places. Up your VO2 max. Pros like Edward Cheserek (a 3:49 miler) post photos near-daily from workout sessions in Scottsdale or Sedona. Meanwhile, On Running just opened its first American-based training facility in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado. And the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center is famously based in Colorado Springs. Willis spent a month in Arizona, before the New Year, doing diabolical tempo runs four miles in under 20 minutes, for example. The work clearly paid off, but at his age, its not enough just to put the hay in the barn. Hes constantly battling old injuries (stress fractures, pulled muscles, strained tendons), and more pressing, now, hes battling motivation. Speaking to Runners World, he estimated that his motivation is at 70% of where it used to be when he was younger. Still: It seems like a crime to stop at 19. Whenever retirement does come, Willis has a job lined up at Tracksmith. The Boston brand has enlisted both Willis and former Nike runner Mary Cain as two ambassadors between the professional world and the millions of amateurs who make up the core of the running community. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post Where One of the Worlds Best Aging Runners Trains to Break Four-Minute Miles appeared first on InsideHook. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A global leader in online multi-asset trading services and currency data and analytics, OANDA has joined forces with Currencycloud, a leading provider of B2B embedded cross-border solutions, to deliver a new international money transfer service to companies in North America. Called OANDA FX Payments, the new solution has been made possible through a joint collaboration with Shift Connect. OANDA FX Payments enables corporate clients to make cross-border payments in 35 currencies, quickly and easily through a safe and reliable online platform. The solution helps companies reduce the cost of international transactions while hedging their currency risk and protecting their bottom line. Featuring a streamlined user experience, the platform also offers clients a completely personalized customer support service. The partnership combines OANDA's deep-seated expertise in foreign exchange with Currencycloud's best-of-breed payment technology and Shift Connect's world-class customer support to offer a simple-to-use, reliable international money transfer solution for businesses, large or small. Lucian Lauerman, Head of OANDA FX Data Services, said, "One of the world's leading FX authorities, OANDA is dedicated to helping companies optimize cash flow, manage currency risk and build their bottom line. As such, we're delighted to be partnering with Shift Connect and Currencycloud in order to add OANDA FX Payments to our best-in-class range of corporate currency solutions, which are trusted by audit firms, tax authorities and multinational corporations all over the world." "As we have started to expand into new territories across the globe, and our partnership with Currencycloud expands, we were uniquely placed to create new solutions for OANDA's corporate FX clients who make international payments," explained Dave Kelcher, CEO at Shift Connect. Richard Arundel, North American General Manager & Co-founder of Currencycloud, commented, "This is a unique proposition for OANDA and its corporate FX clients. By working closely with our existing partner, Shift Connect, in North America, we have been able to create a one-of-a-kind cross-border payment solution for OANDA." OANDA FX Payments is available to corporate clients through OANDA Business Information and Services Inc. The firm also offers a wide range of FX Data Services including the OANDA Exchange Rates API, which provides access to daily averages, spot and forward rates, central bank exchange rates and tick-level data for 38,000+ currency pairs, over 200 currencies, commodities, and precious metals, as well as exchange rates sourced from 25 central banks and historical currency rates that date back to 1990. About OANDA Founded in 1996, OANDA was the first company to share exchange rate data free of charge on the Internet, launching an FX trading platform that helped pioneer the development of web-based currency trading five years later. Today, the group provides online multi-asset trading, currency data and analytics to retail and corporate clients, demonstrating an unrivalled expertise in foreign exchange. With regulated entities in eight of the world's most active financial markets, OANDA remains dedicated to transforming the business of foreign exchange. For more information, please visit oanda.com or follow us on Twitter , Facebook , or LinkedIn . About Currencycloud Moving money around the world is hard. Setting up overseas bank accounts and dealing with distinct regulatory regimes takes up time, money, and resources. Currencycloud removes that pain, helping customers achieve their ambitions sooner than they dared dream. With a global, multi-currency account infrastructure, customers are able to collect, convert, pay and manage multiple currencies, anywhere in the world. Launched in 2012, Currencycloud has processed more than $65bn to over 180 countries, working with banks and Fintechs around the world, including Starling Bank, Revolut, Penta and Lunar. Based in London with offices in New York, Amsterdam and Cardiff, Currencycloud works with partners including Visa, Dwolla, and Mambu to deliver simple, clear financial infrastructure solutions for clients. They are regulated in the UK, US, and the EU. About Shift Connect Shift, Canada's most trusted FX consultants helping businesses efficiently navigate international currency markets to maximize value and minimize risk, offering unbeatable rates and unrivalled service. For more information visit: www.shiftconnect.com . SOURCE OANDA Related Links http://www.oanda.com Peshawar: The owner of Indian film legend Raj Kapoors ancestral home in Peshawar has refused to sell the building at the rate fixed by the provincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, saying the prime-location property has been severely undervalued. Earlier in the month, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had approved the release of Rs 1.5 crore for Kapoors ancestral home, with the aim to turn it into a museum in honour of the movie star. Haji Ali Sabir, the present owner of the haveli, in a chat with a private news channel on Wednesday, flatly refused to sell the property at Rs 1.5 crore. Even half a Marla land in the area is not available for Rs 1.5 crore. How can I sell the six-marla property for Rs 1.5 crore?" he said. Marla, a traditional unit of area used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is considered as equal to 272.25 square feet or 25.2929 square metres. Sabir said the right valuation of the property is Rs 200 crore. Raj Kapoors ancestral home, known as Kapoor Haveli, is situated in the fabled Qissa Khwani Bazar. It was built between 1918 and 1922 by the legendary actors grandfather Dewan Basheswarnath Kapoor. Raj Kapoor and his uncle Trilok Kapoor were born here. The building has been declared national heritage by the provincial government. Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor This explains the amount of stupid, reckless, and downright illegal stuff people film themselves doing and then post on social media or other content-sharing platforms. The car community is no different, whether were talking about drag racing, reckless driving, or the now-classic instances of Autopilot-related dumb stunts Sometimes, this never-ending quest for those 15 minutes of elusive fame comes back with a vengeance. This is one of those cases and, while it was nothing as dramatic as you could be tempted to believe, it still proves that common sense should prevail when you engage in any type of illegal activity. IndyStar reports that the Indiana State Police were able to charge a driver with reckless driving after he filmed himself doing 213 mph (342 kph) on the I-465 in Indianapolis and posted the video online. The Drive says the video went online on YouTube last November, 2015 Lamborghini Huracan LP 610-4 Naturally Aspirated (0-213MPH), and has since been taken down. The driver is one Gabriel Sleiman, who, you guessed, runs a channel for auto enthusiasts.According to the report, police received several notifications about the video, which prompted an investigation. The Indiana State Police Crash Reconstructionists launched a follow-up investigation and determined that the Lambo passed another vehicle in the video at a speed of 198 mph (318 kph).And heres a somewhat surprising twist in the story: brought in for talks one month after the fact, Sleiman told the police that, while that was his car in the video, it was going nowhere as fast as it seemed. For one, his Huracan cant reach that top speed; secondly, the online videos of his vehicles are fake and deceptively edited to make his car appear faster. The Internet is made of lies if you can believe it.In total, Sleiman has 15 traffic citations related to speeding since 2006, not counting this one. He is due in court in April, but hes not exactly sweating over it since he just thanked someone who mockingly congratulated him for the reckless driving charge. Day care shortage creates barriers for working parents With a labor shortage plaguing the state, working parents are ready to fill these positions. The lack of childcare options creates barriers. Police locked the Jilin city's railway station in Jilin, China on May 13, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinas Jilin Province Building Mobile Hospitals as Virus Outbreak Worsens The Jilin Provincial National Health Commission reported dozens of new COVID-19 cases in recent daysin Changchun city, the capital, and Tonghua city, which borders North Korea. However, the public is skeptical of Chinas official figures because the Chinese Communist Party has consistently lied about or covered up the severity of the virus outbreak. Tonghua City Launching Third Round of Nucleic Acid Tests On Jan. 25, the Tonghua command center for pandemic prevention and control declared at a press briefing that the city would launch its third round of testing on all residents. As of the end of 2019, the city had a population of 2.14 million. Two days prior, the local Party anti-corruption watchdog criticized 14 officials who it said failed to perform their administrative duties to prevent virus spread. The punished officials included Cheng Weihua, Party chief and director of the Tonghua center for disease control and prevention. Mobile Cabin Hospitals Under Construction Currently, mobile cabin hospitals are being built in Tonghua, Changchun, and Huichun cities in preparation for a more menacing situation. A female resident of Tonghua, Zhang Jie (alias), told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Jan. 24 that the pandemic situation in her city was more serious than one week ago. All residents of Dongchang district, Tonghua city, were forbidden from leaving their homes. Authorities placed paper seals on the doors to each household, she said. If the paper seal is broken, officials would forcibly take all household members to quarantine elsewhere. Dongchang district was officially designated as a high-risk region for virus spread on Jan. 20. Zhang said the atmosphere was stifling. Youre not allowed to go out even if you have no food at all! All supermarkets are closed. We received [government] messages that whoever leaves home will have to take legal responsibility for his or her actions. A video uploaded onto social media confirmed this. Now theres nobody walking around in the neighborhood. The glowing lights from ambulances passing by would startle her from sleep. She said to her knowledge, local infections were detected in schools, the tax bureau, and crematoriums. As COVID-19 cases keep rising, local authorities have begun to build mobile cabin hospitals for centralized isolation. According to media reports, the project is located at a logistics center in Gangwu district, Tonghua. Three warehouses are being transformed into isolation centers with a total of 1,186 rooms. The project is scheduled to be completed on Jan. 27. Xin Chun (alias), a Changchun city resident, told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on Jan. 24 that they, too, were fearful of the local outbreak and never missed a day watching news. According to Chinese media reports, Changchuns mobile cabin hospital will be built at a plant in Fanjiatun town, with 670 rooms. Screenshot of a video uploaded onto social media showing a mobile cabin hospital under construction for Changchun city. A Chinese netizen revealed on social media that another mobile cabin hospital was under construction in Huichun city, Yanbian prefecture, Jilin province. However, the authorities have not publicized any detail about it. Dong Hong, a Yanbian resident, also told the Chinese-language Epoch Times that the Jilin pandemic is serious and that theyre preparing for more challenges in advance. All domestic arrivals must be subject to 28-day quarantine and nucleic acid testing, and all is for prevention, she said. Yi Ru and Annie Wu contributed to this report. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here Lars Niki/Getty Images for BET After 20 years of being together and nine years of marriage, T.I. and Tiny Harris are no strangers to controversy. But we're not sure how they'll address these latest allegations. In a lengthy Instagram post Tuesday, Tiny's longtime friend and Atlanta-based entrepreneur, Sabrina Peterson, accused T.I. of pointing a gun at her years ago. "The sad part about being a woman & BEING A BLACK WOMAN IS THIS! The public PRAISES OUR PREDATORS! @troubleman31 you PUT A GUN TO MY HEAD IN FRONT OF CHILDREN & I NEVER CALLED THE POLICE ON YOU! But for years you have painted me as the VILLAIN!" Peterson wrote. She also called out Atlanta mayor Keyisha Bottoms, who worked with T.I. to condemn the violent Atlanta riots in 2020. "@keishabottoms YOU CANT HAVE A PERSON THAT HAS VICTIMIZED WOMEN SPEAK FOR US! Lets have a real TALK!" she continued. In another post, Peterson claimed to have spoken with other women who were also allegedly victimized by T.I. "I didnt know how many women he truly hurt & didnt know what made me finally say something. Nonetheless, Im blessed that I did," Peterson continued. "THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, THIS ISH HAS GOTTEN REALLY REAL." As the news spread, The Shade Room captured Tiny's response to Peterson's allegations. "Hold up...So you want your abuser to train your sons? He was just uncle two years ago," wrote Tiny. "Now when did you say my husband assaulted you? Did you change your mind or change it back? What's up with you today Pooh? I'm confused. Stop harassing my family. You strange. Everybody know you been special (face slicing seminar lady). Please get help. But leave us alone!" By Wednesday, Peterson claimed she was anonymously "interviewing" other alleged victims and "moving forward with civil legal action & awareness." By Rachel George Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. It marks the day in 1945 that the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated by the Soviet Red Army. It is a day we honour the memories of the innocent who were murdered. This file photo, taken just after the liberation by the Soviet army in January, 1945, shows a group of children wearing Auschwitz concentration camp uniforms. Credit:AP When US General Dwight Eisenhower liberated the concentration camps and saw the death and destruction caused by Nazi forces, he said there would come a time when the people of the world would not believe what had occurred and would deny the Holocaust ever happened. We need to work together to prevent such historical revisionism from ever taking hold and better educate the community about the lessons of the past. It was a message Paul Keating also conveyed back in 1994 when he opened a Children of the Holocaust exhibition at the Australian War Memorial. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In commencing his speech, then prime minister Keating declared that he was daunted by the requirement to speak. To be required to speak about the unspeakable. Loading At that time, Mr Keating said the exhibition was so important because it forces us to think, forces us to remember. It reminds us of how profoundly important it is to keep alive the memory and forever reaffirm the reality of the Holocaust. It reminds us that those people who keep it alive do so for all of us, not just for the Jewish people and the survivors and descendants of the others who were persecuted, but for all of us. This is why federal, state and territory governments, regardless of their political persuasion, are joining forces in a bipartisan way to support the establishment and upgrading of Holocaust museums around the country, promoting tolerance and understanding while combating racism and anti-Semitism. Through literature, testimonies and other exhibits, every Australian, young and old, can and should have the opportunity to learn what happened. Holocaust education should be taught in Australian classrooms. Credit:Virginia Star Holocaust education should be taught in Australian classrooms so the children of today and tomorrow learn from the past and work towards a brighter, more tolerant and inclusive future. Both of us have had families who perished in the Holocaust. The Frydenberg family lost great-grandparents and great-aunts but were also fortunate to have a great-aunt, Mary Frydenberg, survive. Every day she lived was a miracle, but it was with her own history and scars. And it was with her own number tattooed onto her arm from her time in Auschwitz. My wife Amies grandmother survived but lost both of her parents and nine siblings. My wifes grandfather lost his mother and eight siblings. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Credit:AP Gerda Cohen, the grandmother of Josh Burns, was four when she fled Hitlers Germany in October 1938. It was the week before Kristallnacht the night of broken glass. She fled because even at just four years of age, she was deemed unequal and impure. While she was one of the truly lucky ones, her grandparents and extended family were not as fortunate. They were among the first to be sent to the Auschwitz death camp. Our families stories are not unique but reflect the background of a generation who fled persecution arriving in Australia to seek a better life. We have seen the consequences of ignorance and hate. We have seen the crimes that began with dehumanising ones fellow countrymen. We share a pride in the many cultures, religions and identities that make up Australia. But this experience has instilled in us a deep commitment to multiculturalism and diversity. We differ in our political membership but we share a pride in the many cultures, religions and identities that make up Australia. It is here in our great country that many survivors were welcomed and finally found peace. As John Howard said as prime minister in 2007: Australians will never forget the unmitigated evil which led to the murder of 6 million Jews and countless thousands of others in Nazi concentration camps. I am proud of the fact that Australia was to become home for many Holocaust survivors. Walking through Auschwitz, you are commonly left with the eerie feeling of emptiness and disbelief. That the so-called cultured people who produced Bach, Mozart and Weber could descend to such inhumanity themselves. It is still hard to believe that it all has happened. Chennai: The ruling AIADMK has expelled a Tirunelveli-based functionary for putting up a poster welcoming VK Sasikala, the aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister late J Jayalalithaa. This message from the incumbent party, AIADMK comes on the same day when Sasikala has been released formally from prison and is expected to return to Chennai within a week. Welcome, General Secretary, who is going to guide the AIADMK the poster read in Tamil, with the picture of VK Sasikala as the most prominent. The poster had also featured the name and picture of Subramania Raja, who served as a District joint Secretary of the MGR Mandram. The statement issued by Coordinator O Pannerselvam and Joint Coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the individual Subramania Raja was being expelled from the basic membership of the party and from all other responsibilities that he holds. It also urged other party men to cut ties with the expelled individual. This comes at a time when Sasikalas release is perceived as a major threat to the AIADMK, which faced serious troubles following the death of supremo Jayalalithaa in 2016. Back then, Sasikala and her family members had taken control of the party, with all elected MLAs owing allegiance to them. It was after several rounds of factional feuds, the conviction of Sasikala and the re-union of OPS-EPS that the party has seen stability. It must be noted that the unveiling of the Jayalalithaa memorial on the famed Marina beach also was conducted on Wednesday in the presence of lakhs of AIAMDK cadre, on a day when Sasikala was meant to step out of prison. While her jail term has ended, Sasikala is recuperating in a hospital in Bengaluru after she tested positive for COVID-19 last week. Before heading for prison, Sasikala had visited the resting place of Jayalalithaa and slammed her hand thrice, as if taking a vow. Hence, it was only natural that the united AIADMK under EPS-OPS would showcase their strength with lakhs of cadre gathering along the Kamarajar Salai, adjoining the Marina beach. While the AIADMK leaders have dismissed Sasikalas release having any impact on their party, it is must be understood that over the last few years, AIADMK leaders have jumped ship to the TTV-Dinakaran(Sasikalas nephew)-led AMMK. Given the clout that Sasikala once enjoyed within the party, her release and subsequent moves are going to be closely watched by the AIADMK, owing to the possibility of disgruntled elements switched sides or causing rifts. It's not yet clear how this union of gigantic proportions is going to work out. Nevertheless, it's fun to imagine smaller Dodge cars returning to compete against popular models from Honda or Toyota. If we remember correctly, the first Avenger had Japanese blood, as it was a coupe made on the platform of the Mitsubishi Galant. The Avenger sedan began its life at the 2006 Paris Motor Show, where Dodge announced it with a concept car. The production model was powered by something called a "World Engine." No, not the one General Zod uses to turn Earth into Krypton, but a 2.4-liter naturally-aspirated unit shared with Daimler-Chrysler, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai.This rendering by wb.artist20 attempts to bring the Dodge Avenger to your attention. It's an attempt to both make it a member of the Hellcat family and modernize it into a car that looks like a 2021 Charger . Interestingly, this is done not with a fancy new platform but using the bones of a car that's been gone since 2014. We all know how Chrysler's brands like to squeeze out every penny from old tech!To make it into a mini Hellcat, the artist changed the Avenger's face, updating the grille and installing headlights with a U-shaped LED halo. The profile received chunky fenders like the Charger widebody, a crease stamped into the doors, and some sporty wheels.As you can probably tell, the Avenger likes to rely on foreign technology. But that doesn't mean it's making a comeback, particularly as a Hellcat model. French carmaker Peugeot's expertise is in EVs and improving quality control, not muscle sedans. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Manchester Center, VT (05254) Today Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. African Development Bank President Akinwumi A. Adesina announced the launch on Monday of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to mobilize $25 billion to scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation actions across Africa. The announcement came during the Climate Adaptation Summit (CAS) 2021, hosted by the government of the Netherlands and the Global Center on Adaptation. The AAAP, a joint initiative between the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation, is expected to scale up innovative and transformative actions on climate adaptation across Africa, Adesina said during the inaugural Ministerial Dialogue on Adaptation Action, held as part of the summit. Our ambition is bold: to galvanize climate resilience actions; support countries to accelerate and scale up climate adaptation and resilience; and mobilize financing at scale for climate adaptation in Africa, the Bank chief said. Adesina was joined in addressing the summit by Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte, 8th UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, current UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres , UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi. World Bank president David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva also spoke. The ongoing COVID-19 crisis formed a backdrop to the meeting, a fact Prime Minister Rutte acknowledged in his opening statement. The Netherlands has taken a lead role globally in harnessing the energy and entrepreneurship of the youth and developing nature-based solutions. I hope that 2021 will be a year of heightened international ambition and action on climate change, after a difficult 2020, and this conference will help achieve that goal, Rutte said. Acknowledging the huge gaps remaining in financing for adaptation in developing countries, the UN Secretary General called for 50% of all climate finance provided by developed countries and multilateral development Banks to be allocated to adaptation and resilience in developing countries, noting, the African Development Bank set the bar in 2019 by allocating over half of its climate financing to adaptation. A number of speakers acknowledged Africas vulnerability to climate change, as well as Africans innovative responses to challenges. Ghanaian president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the country was working with the private sector with the assistance of the Green Climate Fund, to establish a multimillion-dollar green fund to support our climate adaptation interventions and our efforts to transition to renewable energy. Adesina thanked Ban Ki Moon for his role in the establishment of GCAs regional office for Africa in Abidjan last year, which is hosted by the Bank. The African Development Bank head participated in three sessions and outlined a number of Bank initiatives, including the $20 billion Desert to Power project to create a solar zone in the Sahel, the largest in the world. Our Youth Adaptation flagship will unlock $3 billion for the youth, support 10,000 youth-led SMEs in climate resilience, and build capacity for one million youth on climate adaptation, Adesina said. The Banks TAAT initiative has leveraged $450 million and provided 19 million farmers in 27 countries with climate resilient agricultural technologies, raising average yields by 60%. Adesina also acknowledged that the presence of John Kerry, U.S. special envoy for climate, provided a boost to global climate efforts. With you in charge, and the strong and palpable leadership of President Biden, we are reenergized on the global agenda on climate change, Adesina said. The Climate Adaptation Summit, held annually, aims to answer Secretary-General Guterres call for more concrete plans and more ambition from more countries and more businesses to make the world more climate resilient. The Global center On Adaptation is a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions around the world. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn One of Ashleigh Bartys fiercest rivals during her time at the summit of womens tennis expects the world No.1 will be perfectly primed to contest the Australian Open, given she has not had to endure 14 days of hotel quarantine. Petra Kvitova who Barty has played seven times since 2019 with four of those clashes going to three sets believes the Australian will have an advantage because she was able to avoid time in a hotel room, unlike the majority of those contesting the first grand slam for 2021. Ashleigh Barty, of Australia, hugs Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, after winning 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-2 during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Credit:AP Of course it is a little bit on an advantage, for sure. They dont have to be in quarantine, they can practice whenever they want. All good, it is deserved, she is Australian and thats how it is, Kvitova told The Age and the Herald. She is used to the weather, she is used to the conditions here so it is a little bit of an advantage but on the other hand it comes down to a few points, how you prepare for the games too. If it was in Czech Republic of course it would be different for me as well. I cant complain and I dont want to, it is how it is. It is still one week of preparation [before the Open for players in quarantine] and everything from the off-season should pay off. Read the full story here. Ty Garbin (pictured), who is one of six men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy One of 14 men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov Gretchen Whitmer pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy, admitting that the group discussed an incredible scheme to snatch her at her lakeside vacation home and destroy a bridge to slow down police. Ty Garbin's guilty plea is a major catch for prosecutors, only about four months after arrests were made. His testimony could strengthen the government's case against the others and back up evidence collected by informants and undercover agents. Garbin appeared in federal court in Grand Rapids a few hours after a plea agreement loaded with details about the operation was filed, including his pledge to fully cooperate with investigators. Sentencing for Garbin, who remains in custody, was set for July 8 and he was facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. While the plea deal did not obligate the government to recommend a reduced sentence for Garbin, prosecutors said they would decide their recommendation based on his level of cooperation. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, by anti-government militia extremists upset over coronavirus restrictions she had imposed in Michigan. Six people were charged in federal court while eight others were charged in state court with aiding them. US District Judge Robert Jonker went through a series of questions about Garbin's rights and his willingness to plead guilty. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer (pictured on October 31, 2020), a Democrat, by anti-government extremists upset over coronavirus restrictions she had imposed in Michigan When the judge asked if he had second thoughts, Garbin replied: 'I do not, your honor.' In the plea agreement, Garbin, 25, of Hartland, acknowledged more than six pages of stunning allegations. He said he and others trained with weapons in Munith, Michigan, and Cambria, Wisconsin, last summer and 'discussed the plan to storm the Capitol and kidnap the governor.' The plot, he said, eventually switched to Whitmer's second home in Antrim County. Garbin said he 'advocated waiting until after the national election, when the conspirators expected widespread civil unrest to make it easier for them to operate.' In September, the six men trained at Garbin's property near Luther, Michigan, constructing a 'shoot house' to resemble Whitmer's vacation home and 'assaulting it with firearms,' the plea deal states. The men also made trips to Antrim County to study the home and the area, Garbin said. Garbin said he sent a text message to someone who turned out to be a government informant, indicating that 'if the bridge goes down it will stop the wave,' a suggestion that police would be delayed in responding to a kidnapping if a nearby bridge was blown up. The other defendants are Adam Fox (left), Barry Croft Jr (center), Kaleb Franks (right) Two others, Daniel Harris (left) and Brandon Caserta (right) are also defendants in the case. A trial has been scheduled for March 23 He said he also offered to paint his boat black for another night of surveillance. Last fall, defense attorney Mark Satawa said Garbin had no intention to carry out a kidnapping, no matter what he might have said in recorded or online conversations. But outside court Wednesday, he said Garbin believed a guilty plea was the 'right thing to do'. 'This is about our client saying, "Look, I need to own up to what I did. It was wrong. I'm accepting responsibility. I'm sorry for having done it,"' Satawa told reporters. The other defendants are Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta. A trial has been scheduled for March 23. 'I'm sure his fellow codefendants are extremely nervous about this and may also rethink their legal strategies as a result,' said Javed Ali, a counterterrorism expert and visiting instructor at the University of Michigan. When the kidnapping case was filed, Whitmer pinned some blame on President Donald Trump, claiming his refusal to denounce far-right groups had inspired extremists across the US. The governor last year put major restrictions on personal movement and the economy because of COVID-19, although many limits were eventually lifted. The Michigan Capitol was the site of rallies, including ones with gun-toting protesters calling for Whitmer's removal. Whitmer exchanged barbs with Trump on social media, with Trump declaring in April, 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN!' New Delhi: India has strongly raised the vandalism issue of the Indian mission in Rome by Khalistan elements with Italian authorities, even as it complimented the UK on handling the situation expertly. The vandalism incident of the Indian embassy in Rome happened just ahead of India's Republic Day. Flags of Khalistan were raised at night, while "Khalistan Zindabad" was scribbled on the walls. A video of the incident was taken and used for propaganda on social media. Lodging a strong protest, India highlighted that it "was an act of vandalism perpetrated by Khalistani extremists in the stealth of night" with Indian government sources pointing out that the specific incident was taken up with the Italian authorities and their concerns were conveyed. India reminded that the safety and security of Indian diplomats and diplomatic premises is the responsibility of the Italian authorities. It expressed confidence that the Italian authorities will take action against the perpetrators and prevent such incidents from happening in the future." New Delhi has been constantly raising its concerns with the Italian authorities and had done so recently ahead of Republic Day. Khalistanis, especially backed by outlawed groups like Sikh for Justice (SFJ) has been active in many Western European countries and North American countries. Before Republic day, the SFJ had and its leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu had called for the removal of the Indian flag from Red Fort and announced "$2.5 lakh" for it. In December, Khalistani elements protested in front of the Indian high commission in London and the consulate in Birmingham as well. Back then, London's Metropolitan Police was swift in acting and arrested 13 for violating pandemic protocols. During the protest Paramjit Singh Pamma was present, who is on National Investigation Agency's most wanted list. The Indian govt sources commended the London Metropolitan Police for the "pro active role in preventing any untoward incident at the Indian High Commission in London." UK's strong action since 2019 has prevented any untoward acts by Khalistanis in London in front of the Indian mission. 2019 saw major protests by the Pakistani diaspora who broke the window-pane of the Indian high commission in London. India has been in touch with many global capitals over the safety and security of Its diplomatic premises ahead of Republic Day. Tuesday, which was India's Republic saw some incidents by Khalistanis in front of the Indian mission in Washington. In December, Khalistani elements had defaced the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Washington sparking condemnation by New Delhi and the US government. Live TV Advertisement Dr Anthony Fauci says he's ready to put his rocky relationship with Donald Trump 'behind' him, despite giving several interviews this past week criticizing the former president after he left the White House. The nation's top infectious disease expert and head of Trump's Coronavirus Task Force admitted he's no longer interested in 're-examining' what happened in the past, during an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday. Fauci was asked about the media's fixation with his clashes with Trump and whether he felt compelled to continue addressing such matters as the pandemic continues to grip the country. Host Dana Perino referenced Fauci's recent interview with New York Times podcast The Daily in particular, which she noted was mostly focused on his turbulent relationship with the president rather than the pandemic. 'You are very willing to answer a lot of those questions and I know those questions are irresistible for reporters to ask, but is there a law of diminishing returns to continue to answer questions about that relationship if the crisis is as acute as you say?' Perino asked. 'I agree with you, Dana,' Fauci replied candidly. 'After that interview, I said to myself we really got to look forward and ahead and just put that behind us. I totally agree with you.' Scroll down for video Fox News host Dana Perino asked Dr Fauci on Tuesday whether he felt compelled to continue addressing questions about his rocky relationship with Trump as the pandemic continues to grip the country Fauci admitted he's no longer interested in 're-examining' what happened in the past with Trump after speaking openly about their disagreements in several interviews with various media outlets following the president's departure from Washington last week 'Looking forward I'm really not enthusiastic at all about re-examining what happened back then rather than looking forward to what we need to do now.' Fauci's comments however, come after he openly spoke about his disagreements with Trump in several interviews with various media outlets following the president's departure from Washington last week. Most recently, he told CNN on Monday he feared people would start doing 'dangerous and foolish things' after Trump had suggested that injecting disinfectant could treat COVID-19. A day earlier, he lamented how Trump would listen to his business friends over science and the experts in an interview with the New York Times. He also said it was 'liberating' to be backed by a science-friendly administration following Biden's inauguration. Speaking alongside Perino on Tuesday, co-host Bill Hemmer chimed in saying he had noticed an 'aggressiveness towards the Trump administration' in recent interviews with Fauci. 'You're the most respected man in America on this topics why do you even feel the obligation to answer these questions?' Hemmer asked. 'When you were at the White House no one prevented you from talking, did they?' 'No, that's why I got into trouble,' Fauci responded, adding that the White House 'wasn't happy about some of the things that I said.' President Joe Biden (center) gives an update on the coronavirus vaccine Tuesday. He was accompanied by Jeffrey Zients (right), the head of the Biden administration's COVID-19 taskforce There are currently more than 25.4million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and a total of 425,036 deaths, with 3,734 new fatalities reported on Tuesday Only about 23 million Americans - six per cent of the population - has been vaccinated with about 1.25 million shots per day But before he could elaborate further, Fauci decided to draw the line on the topic once and for all. 'And here again, we're getting into rehashing it again,' he said. 'I think we should do what Dana just suggested - namely, put that behind us and take a look at the problems we have ahead.' Fauci had appeared on news station to address the current state of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the US vaccination rollout after President Biden said he planned to have the majority of the nation inoculated by the end of the summer. There are currently more than 25.4million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country and a total of 425,036 deaths, with 3,734 new fatalities reported on Tuesday. Only about 23 million Americans - six per cent of the population - have been vaccinated, with a rate of about 1.25 million shots per day. Fauci confirmed the president's goal could be feasible once vaccine doses become available to the general population in April, which he referred to as 'open season.' 'Logistically by the time you get doses into everyone who might want it, it will take several months, which will go into the end of the summer,' he explained. 'I've been saying that probably by the end of the summer you could get everybody vaccinated, but the availability for people in any category will likely be by April.' Biden earlier announced that the US is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall. Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall That's nearly the entire US population, which is officially estimated at 329 million - and therefore well over the 80 per cent estimated to be the point at which there will be herd immunity. Calling the push a 'wartime effort,' Biden said the administration was working to buy an additional 100 million doses each from drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna. He acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much vaccine they will have from one week to the next. Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites around the US had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot. 'This is unacceptable,' Biden said. 'Lives are at stake.' He promised a roughly 16 per cent boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. Fauci told Perino on Tuesday that people requiring their second dose would also be prioritized when the next batch of vaccines come in. 'Clearly the priority is you want to get doses into people for their first dose, but when the next group of doses come in, you always have a priority of making sure that the people who've gotten the first dose get their second dose on time,' he said. Those who received the Pfizer vaccine are due for a second dose after 21 days while those who received the Modera vaccine will be up for their next shot after 28 days. Even more vaccines could also be available soon if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization in the coming weeks. On Tuesday Biden also promised the state and local leaders 'will now always have a reliable three-week forecast of the supply they're going to get.' 'Until now, we've had to guess how much vaccine to expect for the next week and that's what the governors had to do: 'how much am I getting next week?' This is unacceptable,' Biden said. By knowing these figures, Biden said, governors, mayors and local leaders can carry out their plans to vaccinate the largest number of people possible. Meanwhile, the number of deaths, cases and hospitalizations across the US remain at increasingly high levels. According to the COVID Tracking Project, another 143,745 new cases of COVID-19 were reported across the US on Tuesday, with 3,734 deaths. About 108,957 people are currently hospitalized with the virus, with 20,573 of those patients in the ICU. The latest data however appeared to offer a glimmer of hope in the country's battle against the virus, after it showed the hospitalization rates were falling nearly everywhere in the country, with the exception of Hawaii and Vermont. California in particular seems to be showing signs of improvement following weeks of record high deaths, cases, and hospitalizations that have devastated state's health care system. Tuesday's infection tally was the state's lowest since December 1st, according to the data. Hospitalizations also fell to levels last seen before the Christmas period, however, deaths in the state remain high. Biden's team held its first virus-related call with the nation's governors on Tuesday and pledged to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks ahead of delivery. Biden's announcement came a day after he grew more bullish about exceeding his vaccine pledge to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that a rate of 1.5 million doses per day could soon be achieved. The administration has also promised more openness and said it will hold news briefings three times a week, beginning Wednesday, about the outbreak that has killed over 420,000 Americans. OnSceneTV An arsonist set two rooms at a northeast Harris County motel on fire early Wednesday using Molotov cocktails, investigators said. The Houston Fire Department responded about 4:15 a.m. to the Normandy Inn, located at 12769 Nimitz Street near Interstate 10, where they found two rooms ablaze, said fire inspector Joseph Leggio of HFD. Perhaps in this case, crime doesn't pay. That is, possibly not as well as the paranormal investigator and television personality Zak Bagans had hoped it would. He recently reduced the price of the LaBianca murder house in Los Angeles to $1,999,000, shaving a couple of hundred grand off the $2.2 million he listed it for in October 2020. Built in 1922, the home became infamous in 1969, when its owners, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, were killed there by Charles Manson and his followers. The couple was murdered the day after the Manson family murdered the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends in Beverly Hills. Bagans bought the house in September 2019 for $1,889,000, just a couple of months after Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" hit the theaters. The cinematic fairy tale about L.A. in the late 1960s renewed interest in the Manson murders and other Los Angeles locations of the day. Front porch of former LaBianca home in Los Angeles realtor.com Front exterior realtor.com Bagans told TMZ that he purchased the property to use for film production, but changed his mind after feeling the vibe there. The host of "Paranormal Adventures" claims to possess a particular sensitivity to otherworldly beings. He also told TMZ that he decided to cancel his intended project out of respect for the LaBianca family. So now the two-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom Spanish Colonial-style house is back on the market and could turn out to be a great deal for a buyer who can ignore its grisly past. The location is hard to topthe home sits on a private and gated acre hilltop lot, with views of downtown Los Angeles, Griffith Park, Glendale, and the San Gabriel Mountains. The Griffith Park Observatory and its surrounding trails, and the shops and restaurants of the Silver Lake and Los Feliz neighborhoods are minutes away. The house itself is a charming period piece, with floor-to-ceiling windows, French doors, and Italian marble floors. The large windows afford clear views from almost every room. Living room https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Dining room https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Bedroom https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Breakfast nook https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Deck https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Outdoors, there are mature fruit trees, lush greenery, rolling lawns, Italianate fountains, and a pool. Backyard https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Fountain https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ The listing notes that there is "tremendous upside potential as the lot size is truly rare for the pristine location." That may translate into a tear-down. At this point, building a beautiful new home on the large lot could be an option for a buyer looking to leave the past behind. Kitchen https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Bagans, 43, has been involved with the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" and its spinoff "Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks," since 2004. In 2016, he opened "The Haunted Museum" in Las Vegas, with more than 30 rooms of paranormal paraphernalia. The post Ghost Hunter Zak Bagans Cuts Price on LaBianca Murder House in L.A. appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Amaravati, Jan 27 : Even as the Andhra Pradesh government is encouraging unanimous elections declaring financial incentives up to Rs 20 lakh for gram panchayats, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its local ally Janasena denounced the move on Wednesday. "Unanimous elections are a ploy by the government to scare people, to bring pressure on candidates who want to contest. Using the local administration to make people withdraw from elections, it is a conspiracy to make elections unanimous," alleged Janasena leader Nadendla Manohar. Manohar said as a political party, the Janasena has a responsibility in the matter and called for nominations across the state. "But the government is encouraging unanimous polls. It is surprising that the government is encouraging unanimous polls with press conferences and wide publicity," he observed. He demanded that the State Election Commission on behalf of the BJP and the Janasena take suo motu cognizance of the issue and look into it, calling for elections to take place in all villages and panchayats, to negate unanimous polls. Manohar said both the parties have taken an appointment with Governor Bisaw Bhusan Harichandan on Friday to make a representation. "Elections should happen in a free and transparent environment. Democracy should be upheld. Administration should also work to uphold democracy," he said. On Tuesday, the Andhra Pradesh government announced financial incentives up to Rs 20 lakh in the forthcoming panchayat polls to encourage unanimous elections and thereby enable the gram panchayats to concentrate on development work. Unanimous elections in gram panchayats (GPs) with a population less than 2,000 will receive a financial incentive of Rs 5 lakh while GPs with a population between 2,001 to 5,000 will receive Rs 10 lakh. Likewise, GPs with a population between 5,001 to 10,000 will receive an incentive of Rs 15 lakh for unanimous elections. Those GPs with a population above 10,000 will receive Rs 20 lakh. Manohar, an aide of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan, who founded the Janasena just before the general elections in 2014, said the alliance partners, BJP and Janasena, will encourage the youth to contest elections across the state. "This opportunity will encourage youth to move forward in public life, which Pawan Kalyan also called for. Both the BJP and the Janasena decided to contest at all places in the panchayat elections," he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text WILLOWBROOK, Ill., Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Based in Willowbrook, Illinois, Russell Health, a national marketer and distributor of specialty medical products and services, has recently been issued company trademark registrations from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Russell Health, Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company, announced today the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued registrations for the company's trademarks - Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy (Reg. No. 6,109,514) and Stem Cell Recruitment Facial (Reg. No. 6,218,705), signifying that the company has met the stringent United States standards for exclusively applying its trademarks to the company's products. Media Approved Quote: "Being a leader in regenerative medicine, we have made it a priority to invest in our Intellectual Property and trademarks across our company. We are excited at the Patent Office's decision to award us with two highly valuable registered trademarks. We are planning to expand our Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy and Stem Cell Recruitment Facial brands nationwide." (Ryan Salvino, CEO) About Russell Health: Russell Health is a national marketer and distributor of specialty medical products and services. Together with our partners and suppliers, we work to provide innovative life-changing and sustaining products and therapies to patients and healthcare providers around the world. Russell Health and its partners have distributed regenerative therapy products nationwide and achieved profound clinical outcomes in multiple therapeutic areas including cosmetics, wound care, pain management, podiatry, orthopedics, ocular and gynecology. Our knowledge of national markets combined with our strong industry relationships, our location and our relevant industry experience make us highly effective at building sales channels that deliver great results. We pride ourselves in having a high level of integrity and being a trusted partner and advisor to our practitioners, manufacturers and patients. These trademarks exclusively distinguish our fine products and services from those of other products in the industry. Customers can always count on Russell Health for the best quality specialty medical and regenerative products solutions in a variety of specialty areas. Disclaimer Stem Cell Recruitment (SCR), Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy (SCRT), Stem Cell Recruitment Facial , DermaFlo, OrthoFactor and Vivaderm are trademarks of Russell Health, Inc. The treatments described on this marketing are not considered to be standard of care for any condition or disease. SCR, SCRT, SCR Facial and Vivaderm attempt to utilize acellular, minimally manipulated tissue allografts and are comprised of tissue allograft components intended for homologous use to supplement tissue. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Results may vary. Visit Russell Health online to learn more about Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy. For media inquiries or to contact the Russell Health team directly. Please visit www.russellhealth.com or email [email protected] . Contact: Veronica Bennett Phone: 312-919-1896 Email: [email protected] Mailing Address: 621 Plainfield Rd., Willowbrook, IL 60527 Online: www.russellhealth.com Related Images stem-cell-recruitment-therapy.png Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy by Russell Health Related Links Stem Cell Recruitment Therapy by Russell Health SOURCE Russell Health Three investment projects for new garment factories totalling around US$16.6m and creating nearly 2,500 jobs have been given the go-ahead in Cambodia. The projects were approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) this month for HC Global Textile Co, New Era (Cambodia) Cashmere Textile Co Ltd, and Brightness (Cambodia) Garment Factory Co Ltd. The HC Global Textile Co investment of $7.8m will see the building of a garment factory in the Trang district of Takeo province, creating around 834 jobs. New Era Cashmere is making an investment of $5.7m in the Kandal Province, creating around 951 jobs, while Brightness Garment Factory Co is investing $3.1m in the Takeo Province. This is expected to create around 702 jobs. Cambodia, like other garment producing countries, has suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic as orders were either cancelled or postponed. It has also been hit by the partial withdrawal of its duty-free access to the European Union (EU) last August, meaning some of Cambodia's typical exports, including garments, footwear and travel goods, are now subject to the EU's MFN (most favoured nation) duty rate. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Overview Nutritional bars are handful collection of low sugar, high protein, high level of omega-3 and less additives. Increasing population of health conscious individuals is propelling the market growth of nutritional bars. Moreover, the trend of consuming nutritional bars as snacks between the meals is gaining popularity among all age groups which is driving the market of nutritional bars. Nutritional bars are the best substitute of proper meal for individuals who require quick energy. Nutrition bar contains most of the carbohydrates such as fructose, sucrose, dextrose and others in appropriate ratios. The commonly known nutritional bars include protein bars, meal-replacement bars, snacks bars, whole food bars, and others. Moreover, in order to enhance the taste of the bars, manufacturers add various flavors to the product including chocolates, fruits, peanut butter, savory, spices and others. The high nutritional value of the product is driving the nutritional bars market. Increasing number of working population followed by hectic lifestyle of consumers is adding fuel to the growth of the nutritional bars market. However, there are large number of product substitutes available in the market which may have a negative impact on the market growth of nutritional bars. Nevertheless, all these factors are projected to contribute to the estimated CAGR of 4.9% of nutritional bars market during the forecast period 2017-2023. Major Key Players Some of the key players profiled in the Global Nutritional Bar Market are Kellogg Co. (U.S.), Atkins NUTRITIONALS, Inc. (U.S.), CLIF Bar & Company. (U.S.), General Mills Inc. (U.S.), Kashi Company (U.S.), Quaker Oats Company (U.S.), Mars Incorporated (U.S.) Downstream Analysis Global Nutritional Bars Market is segmented on the basis of type such as protein bars, meal-replacement bars, snacks bars, whole food bars, and others. Among all, protein bars is dominating the market followed by meal replacement bars. Protein bars are rich in protein content which is driving the growth of this segment. On the basis of flavors, Nutritional Bars are segmented such as chocolates, fruits, peanut butter, savory, spices and others. Chocolate flavor is dominating the market followed by peanut butter. However, fruits segments is expected to have a steady growth over the forecast period. Based on the distribution channel, nutritional bars are segmented such as store based and non-store based. However, nutritional bars are mainly sold through grocery wholesalers, retail stores and food service providers. Regional Analysis The global Nutritional Bars Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and rest of the world (RoW). Asia Pacific is dominating the market for nutritional bars and is expected to be the fastest growing market over the forecast period. In Asia Pacific, India and China are the major contributors to the nutritional bars market. Increasing health awareness among the growing population is driving the growth of nutritional bars in this market. In North America, the U.S. holds the major share of nutritional bars market. Moreover, busy work life is driving the nutritional bars market in the European market. Additionally, continuous innovations will positively impact the market in rest of the world Access Report Details @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/nutritional-bar-market-4867 NOTE: Our Team of Researchers are Studying Covid19 and its Impact on Various Industry Verticals and wherever required we will be considering Covid19 Footprints for Better Analysis of Market and Industries. Cordially get in Touch for More Details. Why North Star felt it was key to keep in-person education amid COVID Celina Jaitly is often seen sharing sneak-peeks into her whereabouts on social media. On Jan 27, the celeb took to her Instagram handle and shared that she is looking forward to getting solar ventures at her home in Austria. Celina Jaitly also posted a picture of her, wherein she can be seen sporting green hair colour. Take a look at Celina Jaitly's Instagram post. Celina Jaitly to get solar ventures In the above Instagram post, Celina Jaitly is spotted in green hair colour, to promote 'green energy'. As Celina's caption suggests, the star was super excited about her upcoming solar ventures at her home in Austria. She also added, "The future will either be green or not at all". Check out Celina Jaitly's Instagram caption. Celina Jaitly's Instagram caption read as: The future will either be green or not at all..... feeling super excited about our upcoming solar ventures at home in Austria... #greenhair #greenrevolution #solarpower #celinajaitly #celinajaitley #celina #bollywood #austria #sustainable #greenenergy Also Read | Celina Jaitly expresses displeasure as Hungary bans adoption for same-sex couples Fans' reactions Fans and followers of Celina Jaitly were quick to share their responses to the actor's post. One of the users wrote, "Go ahead with your awesome self.i luv ur hair color.lots of love you". Another fan added, "All the bestest for your new ventures Cjay looking forward to hearing more about it". One of the comments on Celina Jaitly's post read as "Congratulations all the very best for the new venture Dear@celinajaitly,, ma'm... Lot's of love and my god blessings You". Take a look at some more fans' reactions below. Image credit - Celina Jaitly's Instagram comment section Also Read | Celina Jaitly reminisces school memories of taking oath as 'sports captain'; shares pic Celina Jaitly's career Celina Jaitly made her huge Bollywood debut in 2003 with a romantic thriller, Janasheen. In the same year, she also appeared in another action film, Khel No Ordinary Game. After starring in 2012's romantic comedy, Will You Marry Me?, the actor did not appear on the big screen. However, recently in 2020, Celina Jaitly returned to acting and made her digital debut with ZEE5's short film, Seasons' Greeting. Directed by Ram Kamal Mukherjee, the film also stars Lillete Dubey, Shree Ghatak and Azhar Khan. The drama film follows the life story of the fictional character Romita, played by Celina. Also Read | Celina Jaitly shares glimpse of Christmas fun with twins plus one; fans react Also Read | Celina Jaitly shares glimpses of childhood on brother Vikrant's b'day, fans express pride Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment. Chief of Army Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru Mr Attahiru, a major general, succeeds Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general. A native of Kaduna State, Mr Attahiru, was born on August 10, 1966. Until his recent appointment, he was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu. With service number 8406, he was a member of Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy. At a time, he was the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole until he was sacked in 2017 for alleged incompetence. Under his watch, suicide bombings and attacks on military formations were on the rise. Barely a month after he assumed office, Boko Haram insurgents attacked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Isiaka Amao Mr Amao, an air vice marshall, succeeds Abubakar Sadique who resigned from service after spending about 40 years. The new Air Force Chief was born in Enugu State, South East, Nigeria. He joined the Nigerian Air Force on January 19, 1984, as a member of 35 NDA Regular Course and was commissioned as Pilot Officer on December 20,1986. He served at the 99 ACTG Kainji as Trainee/Sqn Pilot from 1993 2004, 301 FTS Kaduna as Instructor Pilot/Sqn Pilot from 2004 2007, HQ NAF Abuja as Air Assistance to Chief of Air Staff from September 08 May 10, Nigerian High Commission London as Deputy Defence Adviser from May 10 August 12. He also served in the North East as Air Component Commander of operation ZAMAN LAFIYA / LAFIYA DOLE (North East operation) from 13 February 2015 to 16 February 2016. Other positions he held were Acting Deputy Theatre Commander (Air Ops) for operation LAFIYA DOLE, Director of Policy (DOPOL) at HQ NAF, Abuja, Director of Operations (DOO) at HQ NAF and Director of Training (DOT) at HQ NAF, Abuja. Until his new appointment, he was the Air Officer Commanding, Tactical Air Command (TAC). A fighter pilot, the new Air Force Chief is married with three children. Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Auwal Gambo Auwal Gambo, a rear admiral, succeeds Ibok Ibas who resigned from service after spending over 35 years. Formally known as Rear Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, the new Naval Chief is an indigene of Nasarawa Local Government of Kano State. ADVERTISEMENT He joined the Nigerian Navy in September 1984 as a member of Regular Course 36 and was commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant in September 1988. An Underwater Warfare specialist with a sub-specialisation in Intelligence, the new Naval Chief also attended Junior Division 48/89 and Senior Course 26 both at AFCSC Jaji. Other courses attended include the National Defence Course at the South African National Defence College. Until his recent appointment, he was the Director of Procurement at the Defence Space Administration. A volunteer in the local Peruvian trial of a coronavirus vaccine produced by China's Sinopharm Group Co Ltd has died from COVID-19-related pneumonia. According to Cayetano Heredita University, which conducted the trials in collaboration with Sinopharm, the female volunteer was fighting for her life for a week despite receiving all necessary treatments. Although approved by the Chinese Communist Party for mass use, the Sinopharm vaccine has resulted in severe side effects across its trials. Read: China Conditionally Approves Sinopharm Vaccine Read: EU Official: AstraZeneca Pulls Out Of Vaccine Delivery Talks University retracts its statement The university later retracted its statement and said that the volunteer had received a placebo rather than the vaccine. It is important to stipulate that the death of the participant is not related to the vaccine since she received the placebo, and we will therefore report to the relevant regulatory and ethics bodies and maintain the course of this phase three study, the university said in a statement. However, it is being said that the Universitys changed stance came after it was instructed by Peruvian health authorities to do so. Last month, the country had halted the clinical trials for Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine candidate reportedly due to a serious adverse event involving one of the volunteers for the study. The Peruvian government reportedly said in a statement that the event is currently under investigation to determine if it is related to the vaccine or if there is another explanation. Sinopharm trials in Peru Chinas Sinopharm Group Co Ltd is conducting trials in Peru with nearly 12,000 volunteers and neurological problems in one of its participants just when it was about to complete the first stage of trials in the next few days. Meanwhile, as Peru has recorded more than 36,000 deaths due to COVID-19, the countrys health ministry said in a statement that the decision to temporarily suspend clinical trials is a safety measure that contemplated in the regulations for clinical trials along with the protocols established to safeguard the health of research subjects. Read: Peru Suspends China Vaccine Trials Due To 'serious Adverse Event' Read: Iraq Approves Sinopharm, AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccines For Emergency Use Against COVID-19 (Image: AP) Intravenous fluid is necessary during war, but supplies can easily run out or soldiers who need medical attention may be too deep on the battlefield to receive treatment. With this in mind, the US Army has teamed up with a Colorado-based research firm to design a 'game-changing' system that transforms 'ditch water' into the life-saving fluid. A new briefcase-sized device, called the Lactated Ringer's Solution Generator, is capable of making a one-liter bag of the medical solution from ground water in just six minutes. Water is injected with a sterile concentrate of sodium, potassium and calcium, and the mixture is filtered into IV bag where it becomes 'the correct concentration.' Scroll down for video The US Army has teamed up with a Colorado-based research firm to design a 'game-changing' system that transforms 'ditch water' into the life-saving fluid The Lactated Ringer's Solution Generator is currently in the prototype phase and is a collaboration between the US Army Medical Materiel Development and TDA Research and is funded through the Defense Health Agency's Small Business Innovation Research program. The idea is to produce portable, sterile Ringers Lactate, or lactated Ringer's (LR) solution, which is the sodium, potassium and calcium combination. This solution is vital for military medics in a war zone, as it treats dehydration, wounds and injuries. The new device is easily carried, weighing just 11 pounds and measuring 18 inches tall and 10 inches wide it is also only six inches deep inside the casing. A new briefcase-sized device, called the Lactated Ringer's Solution Generator, is capable of making a one-liter bag of the medical solution from ground water in just six minutes Austin Langdon, assistant product manager for the LR Solution Generator program within USAMMDA's Warfighter Deployed Medical Systems Project Management Office, said: 'Without question, this small device will dramatically reduce the Army's logistical footprint of having to ship and store lactated Ringer's solution, which is the fluid of choice for resuscitation if blood is not available on the battlefield.' 'This unit can make LR solution from practically any water source, including ditch water.' TDA Research has been working on the LR Solution Generator since 2018 and recently showcased a working prototype. Girish Srinivas, CEO of TDA Research, told Military.com: 'We created this just for the Army.' 'The source water flows through this device and there is [a lactated Ringer's] concentrate that is injected and the source water ends up going through filters into an IV bag and ends up making the correct concentration of LR in IV bags.' Water is injected with a sterile concentrate of sodium, potassium and calcium, and the mixture is filtered into IV bag where it becomes 'the correct concentration.' The device will allow medics to adm The LR generator runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion cell that can produce more than 30 bags of LR solution from a single charge. 'Army leadership is continually seeking ways to reduce the logistical strain of getting much-needed resources to the frontline and far forward in Multi-Domain Operations,' said Langdon. 'Products such as the LR Solution Generator are far-forward-leaning solutions that can help us think outside of our normal parameters of operation. 'This device, and others like it, will bring forth new innovation that will change our standard of operation and secure our valuable resources.' Australias vaccine rollout plan is under a cloud after the European Union slapped export controls on COVID-19 vaccines produced within their territory, including the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs the Morrison government is relying on. The controls, which effectively mean vaccine producers must ask for permission before shipping vials outside the region, will at the very least slow the distribution process for countries outside Europe. The government remains confident the vaccine program will commence in late February, despite the European Union controls. Credit:AP A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt did not answer specific questions about what the European decision means for Australias vaccine rollout. Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being manufactured in Belgium. The first shipment of at least 80,000 doses is due by the end of February. The country is also expecting 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be imported into Australia from Europe as local manufacturing of that vaccine ramps up. On Monday, that number was revised down from the previously expected 3.8 million due to global supply issues. Mr Hunt remains confident Pfizer will still deliver the first lot of 80,000 vaccines at the end of February, a spokesman said. Read the full story here. Rand Paulimpeachment,5GOP Senate voted 55-45 to end debate on Sen. Rand Pauls point of order arguing that the impeachment trial is unconstitutional now that Trump is out of office. McConnell and most other Republican senators sided with Paul on the vote. Five GOP senators voted not to dismiss the impeachment trial of President Trump: Susan Collins, Maine, Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, Ben Sasse, Neb., and Pat Toomey, Pa. They voted with all 50 Democrat senators to table the point of order. more details or full transcript can be found here some user comments can be found here youtube Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 11:00:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for renewed approach to multilateralism and international cooperation through a new peacebuilding appeal. "An approach that goes beyond crisis response and boosts long-term investments in prevention and peacebuilding, hand-in-hand with our efforts to deliver the Sustainable Developments Goals," the UN chief told the High-level Replenishment Conference for the UN Peacebuilding Fund (PBF), which requires 1.5 billion U.S. dollars for 2020-2024. The "scale of turmoil ... requires concerted efforts to ease tensions and prevent further escalation," Guterres said. He underscored the need for increased support to women and young people "as agents for peace and stewards of inclusive development" maintaining that without their participation, "neither peace nor prosperity can be sustainable." When aligned with both the UN's and individual national priorities, the PBF and Peacebuilding Commission engagement "can be invaluable," said the secretary-general. He gave a first-hand account of how the PBF had helped to stabilize Bambari in the Central African Republic, including through a combination of cash-for-work, rehabilitation, socio-economic revitalization and support to local peace committees. Yet, despite its impact and cost-effectiveness, the PBF is repeatedly short-funded. In 2020, the Peacebuilding Fund mobilized more than 180 million dollars, delivering in the most difficult contexts. "But its resources are now depleted," the UN chief said. "We must urgently replenish it" to save lives and demonstrate multilateral support. A contribution from all member states and partners would provide a "quantum leap" and signal that together, "we can successfully invest in building and sustaining peace." "I urge those that have not yet contributed, in particular members of the Security Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, to act on your commitments and provide a contribution to this essential global instrument for peace," the UN chief said. Enditem Utz - will no longer produce Husman's crisps US snacks business Utz Brands is to discontinue the Husman's crisp brand which dates back to 1919, it has confirmed. The Cincinnati-based business was acquired by Utz from Conagra Brands in 2019 but an Utz spokesperson told just-food the Husman's brand "has been steadily declining in what is an extremely competitive snack food category". The spokesperson added: "After considering retailer feedback and consumer demand, we recently made the difficult decision to discontinue the Husman's brand." Utz stressed jobs at the Husman's manufacturing facility in Berlin, Pennsylvania, would not be lost as a result of this decision. "In fact, we have added positions and plan to add even more as we begin producing new products and introduce other snack brands to our Berlin factory in February 2021," the spokesperson said. "Additionally, this change supports our local, independent sales team by providing them with more competitive offerings for Cincinnati and nearby markets, giving them a wider range of snack food brands to offer. "While we understand the disappointment of Husman's brand fans, we hope that they will enjoy our many other high-quality snack food brands, such as Snyder of Berlin and Zapp's snacks." A 24-year-old called Harry Husman started the Cincinnati crisp company in 1919, according to the company's website. Its products were mostly sold in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. The news of Husman's demise comes just two weeks after Utz announced it had bought the Vitner's brand from local peer Snak King Corp. for US$25m. Paxton, IL (60957) Today Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 42F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 42F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Days of Glory with Abba: You are Free to go: a potent read that contains comfort for the spirit, soul, and body as one takes on a greater journey of discovery embracing Gods glory. Days of Glory with Abba: You are Free to go is the creation of published author Frances Langford, a graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center. Fran and Dennis work together in the gifts of the Spirit for forty-two years of marriage. They have five children, eleven grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. Langford shares, Many people want to know their destiny in life. However, the world only offers heartbreak and disappointment. The world has a system to accept or reject humans as if a machine was designed a program to monitor your thinking and actions; it was through the pain of rejection and sin that I came to the fact I wanted to die and not live. With two small babies, I begged God to take my life and kill me. I deserved nothing less but to welcome death with a horrible ending. It was ten years later that I received a personal answer from God. Instead of replying to my former prayer, He gave the opportunity to receive what I have been missing all my life. That day was unexpected as my husband came home and gave me the gospel. I could not believe what he said was truth. Nevertheless, one thing I saw that convinced me that I did not have was the way he was saying it. He was standing behind a glass door dripping with love and I was not able to cross that door. What was that? The rest of the story was a divine intervention by the Holy Spirit. The next morning I came to the Lord for answers. His presence was profound enough to give my life to him. I found a God who threw my sins into the deepest sea never to remember them again. (Micah 7:19). That was the day I fell in love with Jesus and wanted to know all about him. He is waiting. Just ask in faith believing. I can guarantee that he will show up. Days of Glory is written for you and to you! Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Frances Langfords new book is a stirring creation that is written to make readers fall in love with the Lord and believe in His power of redemption and grace. May every reader pursue a glorifying journey with Him in their lifetime. View a synopsis of Days of Glory with Abba: You are Free to go on YouTube. Consumers can purchase Days of Glory with Abba: You are Free to go at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Days of Glory with Abba: You are Free to go, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Remote Campus Brown U to Hold In-Person Commencement for Grads, Virtual Event for Guests Rhode Island's Brown University has announced its plan to hold commencement in person for graduates while members and guests will attend virtually. The class of 2021 will be hosted on campus on May 1 and 2, although the university noted that it expects most graduates studying remotely during the spring to participate virtually as well. According to a commencement FAQ, students "who are on campus or in the Providence area will attend commencement ceremonies in person in accordance with public health protocols." Originally, the institution was hoping to hold a "once-in-a-lifetime double commencement" this year, to recognize the graduations of both the classes of 2020 and 2021. That would coincide with a reunion weekend. But the public health "situation" has made that infeasible, according to the institution. Now the reunion will be held virtually, and class of 2020 graduates will be invited to participate in an as-yet undetermined event "to meaningfully honor their achievements." On Aug. 11, 2020, the University outlined a phased approach to welcoming students back for the fall semester. Graduate and medical students choosing to study on campus during the fall arrived in August. A limited number of undergraduates were allowed to return for the fall; they arrived in late September, after starting their studies online. In October, Brown said it would allow a larger number of undergraduates to return for an in-person residential experience. In the university's most recent COVID-19 update, school officials had identified 29 positive cases during the latest seven days, in a total of 12,173 tests among 7,857 people. That's a positivity rate of 0.2 percent. All individuals both staff and students are tested either once or twice each week, depending on how much contact they have with others. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Department of Health officials in the Cordillera region are looking into the swab test results of eight Filipinos who recently returned to Bontoc, Mountain Province as the source of the new COVID-19 variant spreading in the town. "Nakakita sila ng walo na OFWs or returning overseas Filipinos na bumalik din po sa bansa at pumasok sa lugar na ito. Atin pang kukunin ang details at what were the RT-PCR results of these people so we can identify kung sino pa ang pwede natin makuhang detalye kung saan galing ang impeksyon na ito," Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Wednesday. [Translation: They saw eight OFWs or Filipinos who returned to the country and entered Bontoc. We will get their details like their RT-PCR results, so we can identify where the infection came from.] Health officials are still figuring out the source of the UK variant that reached the mountainous town and infected 12 residents, including one returning Filipino. Dr. Alethea de Guzman, medical specialist IV of the Health Department's Epidemiology Bureau, earlier said there is still no strong evidence to conclude the traveler from the United Kingdom is the source since the patient tested positive for COVID-19, but was not found with the more infectious B.1.1.7 variant. But de Guzman added that all the 11 other cases are linked to the patient. The DOH has confirmed there is local transmission of the UK variant in Bontoc, but stressed there is no community transmission yet. To declare a community transmission, there should be several cases coming from different clusters, and the source of infection can no longer be traced. Bontoc has the highest number of infections involving the UK variant in the country, accounting for 12 of the 17 cases. Three children in Bontoc aged 5, 6, and 10 were among the infected. Several of these signs are out along Route 6A in Brewster, whose select board and finance committee were scheduled to host a summit meeting Monday night with members of the regional school committee, high school building committee, and Nauset administration. ORLEANS Confusing and conflicting information from both sides of the debate over the proposed renovation and expansion of Nauset Regional High School is roiling the waters in the four district towns. What appeared to be a final word (No) on further funding extensions from the Massachusetts State Building Authority was actually much more nuanced. Claims that approving the project at town meetings would require a two-thirds margin turn out be wrong. When a town borrows money to build a town project, a debt exclusion vote (at town meeting) requires two-thirds, Town Administrator John Kelly told the select board Jan. 20, and then a simple majority at the polls. The difference here is that the debt is the debt of the school district. Were simply voting to approve their borrowing. Were responsible to pay the annual principal and interest. The vote at town meeting is only a simple majority. Citing concerns about communities abilities to hold town meetings this spring as the pandemic continues, the Nauset Regional School Committee exercised its option to hold a district-wide vote on the building project March 30 rather than go to town meetings in Brewster, Eastham, Orleans, and Wellfleet for approval. With mail-in balloting, proponents argue, its likely that more people will have an opportunity to express their opinion this way. Opponents say this route puts Brewster, which accounts for close to half of Nausets enrollment, at the mercy of the other towns whose citizens wont have to come up with as much money for the project. Some also say the district-wide election short-circuits the opportunity to educate voters on the town meeting floor, but proponents say they face the same hurdle. Theres another twist to the situation. A town meeting vote for the project would be contingent on passage of a debt exclusion article at a subsequent election. A district-wide vote has no contingency, Kelly said, so its imperative that the town has, the same day, an election so that if the voters vote yes on both, we can pay our annual debt service without cutting our operating budget. That means that, for now, voters will get two ballots, one asking to approve the project and the other asking to exclude the associated debt from the towns tax levy limit. With many expected to take advantage of voting by mail, Kelly said, theres some concern that people will be confused (and say), I already voted. Why are you sending me another ballot? Theres got be education that if you vote in favor of the school project, you also vote in favor of the debt exclusion. Kelly said he has not heard anything further about the districts back-up plan if the March 30 vote fails: an article for town meeting warrants for a total of nearly $100 million to bring the aged high school up to code and correct some other deficiencies. The town in turn would have to put a ballot question on for a debt exclusion, he said. Select Board Chair Kevin Galligan said the regional committee made it very clear that, on Jan. 4, they would hit the ground running with outreach and education. I just feel as if this board has an obligation to have information thats clear and factually presented, and were not getting it. He suggested inviting the regional and building committees and the district superintendent to attend the boards Feb. 3 meeting. This situation reminds me a little bit of how the wastewater process was, said board member Mefford Runyon. Its frustrating. Different sides to this present their case in different places at different times with no opportunity for knowledgeable people to answer statement or refute statements. If we are gonna get into this, which we are, Id like to control it to the point where were not allowing either side to come in and talk to us by themselves, that we dont recreate a situation where one side cant answer the claims of the other. Board member Mark Mathison admitted he was a little disappointed at the lack of information thats come out. Unless somebody is watching every school committee meeting and catching every detail, nobody knows whats going on This can turn into a real fiasco unless we get some clarity. On Jan. 25, Brewsters select board and finance committee were to host a meeting with the regional school committee, building committee, and the district superintendent. And on Jan. 21, the regional school committee met with the Orleans Finance Committee for a discussion of the mechanics of the budget process that included a look at how school choice works and the rationale behind its use at the middle school and high school. On a trip to Las Vegas, Mitchell Englander accepted $34,000 in bottle service at a nightclub, $10,000 in cash, $1,000 in chips, and two female escorts On Monday, former Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, 50, was sentenced to 14 months and will begin serving time in June 2021. In July, the former lawmaker pleaded guilty to one count of scheming to falsify material facts after he attempted to manipulate an investigation against him for accepting inappropriate gifts such as cash and prostitutes. Read More: FEMA names Los Angeles county as most dangerous area in America He chose to lie and engage in this elaborate and clandestine scheme to hide his lies, making sure that Businessman A would also lie during his interviews with the FBI in order to coordinate lies, said U.S. District Court Judge John F. Walter at Englanders sentencing, per NBC News. Englander pleaded guilty to his role in Operation Casino Loyale, an investigation conducted by the FBI looking into corruption at Los Angeles City Hall. Defendants obstruction campaign was calculated, extensive in scope and duration, and designed to mislead investigators, Walter said before sentencing. Lilly Lawrence Photo: Getty Images Read More: Prosecutors concerned woman who allegedly stole Pelosi laptop might destroy evidence Englander accepted gifts for his cooperation on a large and impactful city planning committee. On a trip to Las Vegas, he accepted $34,000 in bottle service at a nightclub, $10,000 in cash, $1,000 in chips, and two female escorts. According to the reports, Englander invited one of the escorts back to his hotel room. I give no excuses, I own what I did and take responsibility 100 percent, Englander told the judge. He continued, I apologize to the court, to the FBI, to the community, my former constituents, and more importantly to my family, my wife, my daughters. Englander represented San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Granada Hills, Chatsworth, and Northridge, which is LAs City Council District 12. He started his term in July 2011 but abruptly resigned in 2018. Story continues Former City Councilmember Jose Huizar, along with about a dozen others, were apart of the Casino Loyale probe. Huizar will stand trial on a 41-count racketeering indictment. Have you subscribed to theGrios podcast Dear Culture? Download our newest episodes now! TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today! The post Ex-LA lawmaker sentenced to prison following City Hall corruption investigation appeared first on TheGrio. The Senate State Government Committee advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow gubernatorial candidates to select their own running mate. The legislation, which passed the committee on Wednesday by a 10-1 vote, would establish a process that would have a partys gubernatorial nominee choose the candidate to be their lieutenant governor, subject to political party or political body approval, prior to the general election. This would resemble the manner in which presidential candidates select their vice presidential running mate. Currently, lieutenant governor candidates in Pennsylvania run separately from the governor in each partys primary election. The top two vote-getters then run as a team in the general election. Senate State Government Committee Chairman Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill County, won his committee's approval on Wednesday of his proposed constitutional amendment that would allow gubernatorial nominees to have a say in who their lieutenant governor is. Jan. 27, 2021 Screenshot from Pa. Senate website State Government Committee Chairman Dave Argall, R-Schuylkill County, has championed this proposed amendment in the wake of the soured relationship in 2017 between Gov. Tom Wolf and his first-term and now former lieutenant governor, Mike Stack. Their relationship fractured after allegations of Stack and his wife verbally abusing and mistreating the taxpayer-provided staff. I think weve all seen reports in the press that sometimes the conflicting personalities just dont mesh to the point where they admitted they didnt even speak to each other for weeks at a time, which is not a good strategy, Argall said. He said the proposed amendment has the support of former Lt. Govs. Jim Cawley and Bob Jubelirer, both Republicans, as well as former Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Singel. In addition, former chairs of the state Republican and Democratic parties Alan Novak and T.J. Rooney, respectively, also endorsed it at a 2017 hearing on the proposed amendment. In an earlier news conference, Argall also noted the Wolf-Stack feud wasnt the first time one of these forced political marriages went south. Former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell kept his lieutenant governor, the late Catherine Baker Knoll, at arms length as well. Im trying to fix a problem, Argall said in 2017 when he first proposed this constitutional change. We believe this would be a big improvement over the current situation. Argall said this would ensure governors and lieutenant governors work better together as partners and as a team with a shared vision. Sen. Sharif Street of Philadelphia, the ranking Democrat on the committee who is the current vice chairman of the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee, told the committee that he sees it as common sense for the lieutenant governor and governor to have an aligned view. There are already enough natural divisions in our government between House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, we certainly dont need divisions within the executive branch between the governor and lieutenant governor, Street said. The lone dissenting vote came from Sen. Katie Muth, D-Montgomery County. An attempt to reach her for comment was not immediately successful. If Pennsylvania voters would approve of this constitutional change, Argall said it would join 13 other states that have moved to a process that lets the gubernatorial candidate select their lieutenant governor either before or after the primary election subject to approval by their respective state committee. Those states include Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, and Utah. Because this requires a change to the state constitution, identical legislation proposing the amendment must pass the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. A bipartisan-backed bill containing this proposed amendment passed the Senate by a 46-2 vote and the House by a 130-67 vote. If the bill gets through both chambers in the 2021-22 legislative session, it would then go to the voters, who cast the ultimate decision. Given the current legislative calendar, the bill is not in a position to be able to pass both chambers before the mid-February cutoff to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the May 18 ballot. The earliest this could go to the voters would be the November general election. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. I am optimistic that there will be light at the end of the tunnel, said Alhassan Ayuba, a market trader in Maiduguri, the northeastern city at the heart of the Boko Haram crisis. In recent years the Nigerian military has adopted a defensive strategy in the northeast, retreating to garrison towns that it has christened super camps, digging trenches around them and waiting to repel Boko Haram attacks rather than going on the offensive against the militants in their hide-outs. The change of leadership presents an opportunity to scrap the super camp strategy, said Ahmed Jaha, a member of Nigerias House of Representatives from Borno state, and one of those pushing for change. The super camp strategy was a deliberate attempt by the Nigerian Army to shield themselves from Boko Haram attack, thereby exposing harmless, unarmed civilians, Mr. Jaha said. He represents a constituency that includes Chibok, where in 2014, hundreds of schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitories, causing global outrage. More than 100 of the Chibok girls are still missing, and many of their parents have since died, Mr. Jaha said, putting their deaths down to the stress and trauma they had been through. To deal with insurgents, you have to be taking the battle to their doorsteps. You cannot remain in a camp and claim that you are fighting insurgents, he said. The idea of super camps is not going to finish this war. Another of the militarys toughest public critics was the governor of Borno state, Babagana Zulum. The Nigeria Army has failed us, he told local reporters in December after 35 people were abducted on a short stretch of road that led to Maiduguri, the state capital. He said that soldiers and the police were harassing and collecting money from innocent travelers instead of doing their jobs, adding: I cannot foresee the capacity of the army ending this insurgency any time soon. PROPOSALS to effectively ban the building of one-off houses in County Limerick have been met with strong opposition from members of the local authority. Work to draw-up the first-ever Limerick Development Plan is now underway and the draft plan will be presented to members after Easter. The final plan, which will run from 2022 to 2028, must comply with national planning guidelines and councillors have expressed significant concerns as to the impact it will have on rural communities and those who want to build in their native parish. I certainly will not go back to the people of rural Limerick and tell them that they cannot build a house in county Limerick. How could I do that? said Cllr Liam Galvin. Cllr Eddie Ryan told a virtual meeting of the council that he too has serious concerns that the final plan will not reflect the views of members or the people of County Limerick. The members have absolutely no say, it wont be our plan. Once this plan, as presented to us now, is adopted the free movement of the people of county Limerick will be squashed, he stated. A motion, put forward by Mayor Michael Collins, was passed unanimously during Mondays meeting. It calls on the Housing Minister, Darragh OBrien, to extend the statutory deadline to complete the plan and to provide a definition of social and economic need as outlined in the National Planning Framework. Dr Pat Daly, chief executive of the Limerick City and County Council, told members he will work with them over the coming weeks and months in the hope of addressing their concerns. However, he stressed that the drafting of the Limerick Development Plan is part of a statutory process and that the plan could ultimately be adopted without the approval of councillors. A 34-year-old New Jersey man with has been charged by Georgia authorities with exploitation of children after he offered a juvenile money online for nude photographs, officials said. Eric E. Talley, of Roselle, was taken into custody at his Roselle home on Jan. 5, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Monday. Authorities began investigating after someone tipped off the Oconee County (Georgia) Sheriffs Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations identified Talley as a suspect and learned he had been charged with possessing and viewing child pornography in New Jersey in 2016 and criminal solicitation of a minor in South Carolina in 2012. A registered sex offender in New Jersey, investigators seized evidence from Talleys home when search warrants were executed, the GBI said. He is being held at the Union County jail ahead of his extradition to Georgia. Roselle police and the Union County Prosecutors Office assisted in the arrest. Anyone with information about Talley is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation Unit at 404-270-8870. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-(8477) or online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Ninety-five new COVID-19 infections were reported Wednesday in Manitoba alongside the deaths of four more seniors. Ninety-five new COVID-19 infections were reported Wednesday in Manitoba alongside the deaths of four more seniors. Provincial public health officials said a man and a woman, both in their 70s and from the Southern Health-Sante Sud region, a Winnipeg woman in her 70s, and a Winnipeg man in his 90s connected to the outbreak at Concordia Place Personal Care Home have died from the disease. Since last March, 813 Manitobans have died due to COVID-19. Winnipeg led the way in new cases announced Wednesday (44) followed by the Northern Health region, which had 43 new infections. Prairie Mountain Health and Southern Health reported three new cases each and Interlake-Eastern had two. The five-day test positivity rate in Manitoba is 9.6 per cent and 6.1 per cent in Winnipeg. Just 1,576 tests were performed at labs Tuesday. A total of 281 people were in hospital Wednesday receiving treatment for COVID-19, including 36 in intensive care (127 patients had active COVID-19 infections). A new outbreak has been declared at Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre in Winnipeg. Outbreaks have resolved at Milner Ridge Correctional Centre in Beausejour, Headingley Correctional Centre, St. Norbert Personal Care Home in Winnipeg and Lions Personal Care Home in Winnipeg, the province said. So far in Manitoba, 33,361 doses of vaccine have been given, including 28,274 first injections and 5,087 second shots. The province has received a total of 55,650 doses of the vaccine from the federal government (40,950 Pfizer and 14,700 Moderna). According to the province, 18 adverse reactions have been reported in the province following immunization. Public-health officials have said the provinces vaccine inventory will be exhausted by Feb. 7. The province is scheduled to receive some Pfizer vaccine next week. The federal government has not yet informed the province how much vaccine it will receive the week of Feb. 8, officials said. That information is expected to be released Friday. Depending on how many doses are received the week of Feb. 8, the province may be forced to delay some second-dose appointments at the Winnipeg and Brandon super-site clinics. People with appointments should plan to attend as scheduled unless they are notified otherwise, the province said. danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca To the Editor: It is totally disgusting as to what occurred in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 with the attack on our Capitol building by a group of lunatics spurred on by our former president. It is totally unacceptable to any clear-thinking citizen of our great country. Likewise, it was just as despicable last summer in Minneapolis when Black Lives Matter groups destroyed many businesses and livelihoods, as well as in other cities such as Portland and Chicago. The mayors and other public officials in those cities failed to protect their residents, as our president and military failed to protect our Capitol. What is most despicable is that the riots in our cities were just as bad as the riot at the Capitol, yet the news media failed to condemn the riots in our cities while condemning the riot at our Capitol, which certainly should have been done. Both the riots and destruction at our Capitol, as well as in our many cities, were despicable and totally unacceptable to any caring resident. It has become quite clear that our politicians from our many city mayors, state governors, as well as our president failed to protect our citizens and our Capitol, as well as the many properties of small businesses in our cities. Since the actions of both our president and our many city and state officials has been totally unacceptable, it is time that once and for all our politicians start working together for the benefit of all our residents instead of constant fighting among themselves and getting little done. We have many fine members of both political parties, but we also have many not-so-fine members of each party who have failed to do whats best for the majority of our fine residents. It appears that we have hit an all-time low in the work and cooperation between our Democratic and Republican parties. Its time that we rethink just setting a party agenda and finally working together to benefit as many of our fine folk as possible throughout our great country. It is quite evident that the quality of our presidential candidates has deteriorated to an all-time low in the past five years. Lets hope we start to see better candidates in the future who will work together with our Congress to finally get things done for the betterment of the majority of our population. Perhaps we should have term limits on our U.S., as well as state senators and representatives, to give other individuals the opportunity of trying to better serve our residents and finally work together for the benefit of all residents. Violence is unacceptable, whether it be at our Capitol or in our cities or anywhere else in our fine country. All perpetrators in our violence at the Capitol as well as our cities should be totally punished for their violent acts and placed in jail. Let us hope that we will soon see some semblance of order and cooperation between our two political parties for the benefit of all our residents. Yours truly, W.R. Stump Pine Grove TS Tirumurti, permanent representative of India to the on Tuesday announced a pledge of USD 150,000 to activities of the UN fund this year. "We extend our support to the activities of the peacebuilding fund and as a token of our engagement, India would like to announce today a pledge of USD 150,000 to the fund's activities and program this year," said TS Tirumurti. "We believe that 2021 provides us with an opportunity to look at peacebuilding with a broader context and in a more focused manner especially in the context of a Covid pandemic which is threatening to eat out the gains we have made over the years," he said. On India's peacebuilding efforts at UN, ambassador Tirumurti said, "As the world's largest democracy, we are conscious of the need to prioritize the building of governance structure to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. India also recognizes the critical role played by women and youth in peacebuilding activities. Strengthening security structures go hand in hand with strengthening civilian structures of good governance." Tirumurti said that the world needs to consequently prioritise our specific aspect of peacebuilding which will have the highest impact in the post-conflict situations so that the funds are utilized to the optimum. Further talking about India's role at the world stage, he said, "India has always played a constructive and significant role in the context of peacebuilding through its extensive development partnership with developing countries particularly with Africa and Asia. India continues to assist countries bilaterally in post-conflict situations by providing substantial grants and soft loans. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leon Black is "retiring" as CEO of Apollo Global Management, the alternative investment giant he has led since co-founding it in 1990. But he is not making a full break, as Black will remain chair of Apollo's board of directors. Why it matters: This is the culmination of 18 months of head-in-the-sand obfuscation of Black's dealings with Jeffrey Epstein. What we already knew: Black and Epstein had both a business and personal relationship stretching back to before Epstein's 2008 guilty plea for soliciting prostitution with a minor. Black maintained those contacts until 2018, when they crumbled due to a "fee dispute," even though even new Epstein allegations came out during the 2016 presidential campaign because of his associations with both Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. Black was believed to have given Epstein at least $50 million, including a $10 million charitable donation. What we just learned: Black paid Epstein a total of $158 million between 2012 and 2017, for tax advice and related work that Black believes saved him upwards of $2 billion, according to the results of an investigation conducted by law firm Dechert on behalf of Apollo. Dechert found no evidence that Epstein ever did work for Apollo or other Apollo executives, although Black did make introductions. Epstein received a $5 million allocation to Apollo's initial public offering in 2011, as part of a directed share offering program, although Black told Dechert he doesn't recall the circumstances. That stock today would be worth more than $12 million. Epstein also co-invested with Black and Black's family office on a personal investment. Black loaned Epstein $30.5 million in early 2017, of which only $10 million was repaid. Dechert found "no evidence that Epstein ever introduced Black, or offered to introduce Black, to any underage woman." It adds that "Black has no recollection of ever seeing Epstein with an underage woman at any time." "Underage woman" is a legal euphemism for "girl." What Black is saying: "It is important for me to stress again how deeply I regret having had any involvement with Mr. Epstein." Read his full statement, which includes a $200 million pledge toward "initiatives that seek to achieve gender equality and protect and empower women." What Apollo is saying: Black will formally step down as CEO by July 31, and will be succeeded by fellow co-founder Marc Rowan (who's largely credited for Apollo's massive debt business). The CEO shuffle features some serious palace intrigue. Rowan had stepped back from day-to-day Apollo activities last year, while the firm's third co-founder, Josh Harris, is said to have angled for the job. That's the same Josh Harris who co-owns the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils with The Blackstone Group's David Blitzer. The bottom line: Leon Black is giving up day-to-day control of his firm, just shy of his 70th birthday, because he broke the two cardinal rules of private equity: Conduct thorough due diligence and, when that fails, own up to it by cutting bait quick. London: An unseemly dispute between Europe and the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing two key coronavirus vaccines threatens to slow shipments of the lifesaving jab to Australia should the row worsen. In the first major example of long-feared vaccine nationalism, the European Union has slapped export controls on vaccines produced within its territory because Pfizer and AstraZeneca can no longer meet their pre-agreed supply volumes and timelines with the bloc. While Australia plans to produce the AstraZeneca jab at a Melbourne factory owned by biopharmaceutical firm CSL, the 10 million doses it has agreed to buy from Pfizer will be manufactured in Belgium. The Pfizer jab is the only one granted approval for use in Australia to date and is due to roll out from late next month. Think all those Bernie Sanders memes are a hoot? Try feeling the Bern with crochet. Corpus Christis Tobey King just broke the mold of the popular internet meme by crocheting an adorable acrylic and cotton yarn doll of the Vermont senator in his now-famous coat and quirky brown mittens a look that made the leap from Inauguration Day ensemble to Photoshopped sensation within hours. Now that fuzzy little creation is warming hearts and fighting hunger to boot. Tuesday, King auctioned her original 9-inch prototype doll of Sanders for $20,300 on eBay, with all proceeds going to Meals on Wheels America. Meanwhile, more than 30,000 people have purchased the downloadable pattern for the doll for $5 from Kings Etsy store, TobeyTimeCrochet. Now Playing: Video: Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express News King whipped up the Sanders doll Thursday, the day after the inauguration, as the memes poured across the internet. The first doll pics she posted Friday on her Instagram account, @tobeytimecrochet, quickly drummed up thousands of likes. (They now total more than 139,000.) On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg jumps in on the traveling Bernie Sanders meme moment King said when she first posted photos of the Sanders doll she never expected it to go viral, but once it did, she saw the opportunity to use it for good. By Friday evening, she had the doll pattern up on her Etsy store and by Saturday afternoon had the prototype doll up on eBay, where bids surpassed $15,000 overnight. Were all just looking for something to bring us joy right now, King, 46, said. King hopes that Sanders hears about her doll and the auction and that he approves. I really hope that he thinks this is something cool and that Im doing something good, she said, It seems likely. As the Sanders memes were going viral, his campaign store started selling sweatshirts and T-shirts imprinted with the photo to benefit Vermonts Meals on Wheels and other Vermont charities. They are now sold out. While Sanders office did not reply to a request for comment, a spokeswoman for Meals on Wheels America voiced her appreciation for Kings doll auction. Amid the pandemic, the demand for Meals on Wheels has skyrocketed ... The awareness for our cause is needed now more than ever, and on behalf of the entire nationwide network, we greatly appreciate the support, said Vice President of Communications Jenny Young, who confirmed Meals on Wheels would receive 100 percent of the dolls five-figure eBay sale. King said the winning eBay bidder wished to remain anonymous. She did note that some of the Etsy shoppers who bought her Sanders doll pattern have made their own donations to Meals on Wheels programs and other charities. On ExpressNews.com: Two San Antonio sisters with a big passion for ultra-realistic dollhouse miniatures With the proceeds from the sales of the doll pattern, Kings gone from from stay-at-home mom with an Etsy shop on the side to the primary breadwinner. Early last year, Kings husband Travis lost his job in Washington just weeks after they moved there with their 9-year-old daughter. So while hes been looking for full-time work, King and their daughter moved in with Kings mother in her hometown of Corpus. Now Travis is helping King answer all the Sanders-doll messages flooding her inbox. Being that successful has made a huge difference in our financial situation, King said. Now we dont have to be apart anymore. We can get this family back together. It isnt the first time Kings crochet work has turned heads. In 2019, a crochet doll she made of Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared on the hit NBC series, This Is Us, after the shows prop master spotted that viral sensation online. King went on to sell about 100 of the crochet Ginsburg dolls. Now she offers downloadable patterns for a Ginsburg-inspired crochet robe and crochet dissent collar. As for Kings recent Sanders doll, she simply tweaked an old pattern shes used to make similar dolls for the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Recycle and reuse, just like Sanders mittens. rguzman@express-news.net | Twitter: @reneguz China has begun carrying out strict coronavirus testing requirements in anticipation of the Lunar New Year holiday, as it grapples with a new surge in infections. The festive season is the busiest time of the year in China and health authorities in Beijing said they were aiming to screen more than two million people in 48 hours using antibody tests and throat, nasal and anal swab tests. According to reports, more than a million residents in Beijing have already undergone anal swabs as part of the screening. An infectious disease specialist, Li Tongzeng, from the Youan Hospital, told state broadcaster CCTV that anal swabs are more accurate and reduce the return of false positives. He was quoted as saying: In some asymptomatic cases or in individuals with mild symptoms, they tend to recover from the illness very quickly. Its possible that there will be no trace of the virus in their throat after three to five days. What weve found is that in some infected patients, the coronavirus survives for a longer period of time in their digestive tract or excrement than in their respiratory tract. Of course, anal swabs arent as convenient as throat swabs, so theyre only being used on individuals in key quarantine areas. This will reduce the return of false positives, he added. However, the use of anal swabs in Covid testing has sparked some controversy among experts. Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, told state-run newspaper Global Times that the virus is a respiratory disease, therefore making nasal and throat swabs more efficient methods of testing. He said that while there have been cases in which a persons excrement has tested positive for coronavirus, there was no evidence to suggest the virus could be transmitted through ones digestive system. Last week, Beijing announced it would conduct antibody tests on all travellers arriving in the capital from overseas since 10 December as part of rigorous contact tracing for the latest cluster of infections found in the Daxing district. Foreign arrivals are also facing up to 28 days of quarantine in a few Chinese cities. Beijing authorities announced a 14+7+7 quarantine system which involves 14 days of hotel quarantine, seven days of home quarantine and seven days of health monitoring, which means they are not allowed to join group activities. Dalian and Nanjing cities have also introduced similar measures, as well as the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Zhejiang. Recommended China pandemic control goes rural ahead of Lunar New Year Chinas National Health Commission also announced in a notice posted online that people returning to rural areas from other provinces over the Lunar New Year period would have to produce a negative Covid-19 test taken within seven days. The aggressive new infection control measures come after a nine-year-old boy tested positive for the UK variant of coronavirus that is more transmissible and potentially more deadly than the original strain. On Wednesday, China recorded its lowest daily increase in Covid-19 cases in more than two weeks with 75 new cases reported on 26 January. This is down from 82 new cases a day earlier and is the lowest single-day rise since 11 January. The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in mainland China now stands at 88,701, with the death toll remaining unchanged at 4,635. Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News Two weeks after Northside Independent School District Superintendent Brian Woods asked parents to consider temporarily keeping their children in virtual learning amid a local surge in coronavirus cases, the district is extending that request by one week. We had hoped to see an improvement in the citys health metrics and allow students to return Feb. 1. However, we have seen inconsistent metrics, Woods said in a statement Wednesday. Because of that, we ask that if you are able and your child is successful in the virtual environment that you delay a return to in-person learning for at least another week. ARCHIVED - Spain approves coronavirus genome sequencing protocols to monitor spread of variants Madrid and Cantabria report far greater incidences of the British strain than the national government Concerns continue to grow in Spain over the potential threat posed by the British, Brazilian and South African variants of Covid-19 and the probable emergence of other mutations in the course of the coming months, and in the light of this the Ministry of Public Health in the Spanish government has approved protocols to monitor the spread and virulence of such strains. The objective is to standardize genome sequencing procedures regarding SARS-CoV-2 in order to gather more comprehensive and reliable data and to determine which variations are associated with higher rates of infection or greater virulence, as well as any which are resistant to the antibodies generated by the human body. In order to do so a network of laboratories will be established where genome sequencing is performed and standardized procedures will be coordinated by the national Epidemiological Vigilance System. At the moment, samples are all being sent to Madrid, an inefficient and slow process which is not providing information as rapidly as some regional health authorities would like it to. The aim is to routinely test samples taken via PCR testing to establish the sequencing of the variants circulating in Spain. The spread of the British variant In the meantime, it appears that the British strain of the virus is already on its way to becoming the dominant one in various parts of the country, and specialists at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona report that it is now being transmitted within the region of Catalunya rather than being imported from elsewhere. This is the variant first identified in a Kent laboratory in the UK, hence the name British variant or UK variant, which lies behind the significant surge in UK cases and lockdown which was made public by the British Government in December. Although France immediately locked down its ports, by this point hundreds of travellers from the UK had taken advantage of a 2-week window between travel bans to drive through France into Spain without the need for a PCR test, some of them bringing the variant with them. In other cases, PCR tests had given a negative result, but travellers developed symptoms after arriving in Spain, as obviously its perfectly possible to contract the virus in the 72 hour window between taking a PCR test and travelling. In most instances, the first variants detected were found in people who had travelled from the UK as described above during this time period, although later detections of the variant have been secondary infections. In the Campo de Gibralter, the variant is believed to have arrived via Gibraltar and was first detected in faecal waters in Granada on December 17th, before the British Government made its announcement. On Monday Moderna and Pfizer both reported that their vaccines were effective against the British and South African strains, but they are slightly less protective against the South African variant which is believed to be more adept at dodging antibodies in the bloodstream, but of course that does not necessarily apply to other potential mutations in the future. Moderna has begun work to develop a new form of its vaccine with the possibility of using this as a booster shot against the South African variant and will undertake testing to see if a third shot of its original vaccine can be used as a booster against the new variants. Fernando Simon, the Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, remains adamant that there is not yet any solid scientific evidence that the British variant is more virulent or dangerous and maintains that there are currently only 219 cases in which the strain has been confirmed in Spain. He also maintains that although there is considerable variation from region to region the strain is present in only 5 per cent of the country, although in the northern region of Cantabria the head of the Public Health department reports that the proportion of cases involving this variant has risen from 14 per cent to almost 25 per cent over the last three weeks. Last week, however, he did state that he believed the variant would become the dominant strain in Spain by mid-March, answering criticism from regional governments that are attributing a surge in new cases to the presence of the variant that the threat posed is being down-played by the national government. Similarly, in the region of Madrid the sharp recent rise in case numbers is attributed not only to increased socialization over the Christmas and New Year holidays but also to the arrival of the British strain, and regional Health service spokesmen estimate that the B.1.1.7 strain now accounts for 9 per cent of all new cases. Regional government spokesman Antonio Zapatero adds that in different health areas the proportions range from 7 per cent to 33 per cent, and that during February it is likely to become the dominant type of coronavirus in and around the national capital. The arrival of this version of the virus, he adds, may help to explain why the enforced confinement of people to their homes during the heavy snowfall and extreme cold a fortnight or so ago failed to curb the spread of the pandemic, although, this is not provable by scientific means and should not be confused with the political messaging of the regional government of Madrid. A married mother-of-three from Texas was working her second job delivering food for Uber Eats over the weekend when she was murdered. Ryan Munise, 31, was found dead with what police described only as 'obvious signs of trauma' at the Northern Cross Apartments in the 4200 block of Northern Cross Boulevard in the Fort Worth suburb of Haltom City on Saturday night. Munsie was delivering food to a customer in the building but did not make it to the door before she was killed. She was found suffering from unspecified injuries in a breezeway and was later pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. Scroll down for video Ryan Munsie (left and right) was working her second job delivering food in suburban Fort Worth on Saturday when she was killed. She was found with obvious signs of trauma Ryan is pictured on her wedding day with her husband, Camaron Graham Haltom City police Sgt. Eric Peters said the customer who had ordered the Uber Eats delivery was questioned and cleared of any wrongdoing, reported NBC DFW. Investigators have not disclosed Munsie's cause of death or a potential motive. The detectives are kind of holding that close to the vest for investigative purposes, they dont want the actual cause of death out there yet, Peters said. They are using that as an investigative tool at this point. Munsie was employed as an ambulance driver for the disabled, but had taken the Uber Eats delivery job on the side to supplement her income. We were all so proud of her, delivering UberEats to earn extra money due to cuts in their income due to Covid. This is how she died. An UberEats delivery, wrote Ryans sister, Erin Munsie, in a Facebook post. I didnt know a person could feel this level of sadness. I keep thinking Im having a nightmare and Im going to wake up any minute. Munsie was bringing a food order to someone at the Northern Cross Apartments in the 4200 block of Northern Cross Boulevard in the Fort Worth suburb of Haltom City when she was attacked Police said Munsie's lifeless body was discovered in a breezeway at the apartment building Munsie's sister, Erin Munsie (left), said their family were so proud that she had taken a second job delivering food to boost her income Munsie was employed as an ambulance driver for the disabled. She is pictured with her co-worker and friend, Bailey Ables Ryna and Camaron are pictured with their three children, now ages 5, 7, and 11 Munsie and her husband, Camaron Graham, have three children, ages 5, 7 and 11. 'Her children were her world,' Munsie's friend Bailey Ables told WFAA. 'When I think of her, how funny she was, she was always trying to put a smile on someone elses face. Always asked how your day was and if you needed something, shed get it for you.' Ables has started a GoFundMe campaign to help Munsie's husband with her funeral expenses, which by Wednesday has drawn more than $30,000 in donations. Police are offering a $1,250 reward for any information that leads to the arrest of a suspect. Anyone with information is being asked to call Haltom City police at 817-222-7027. After efforts from the city of San Marcos that Disney's Princess Ariel would even applaud, the Texas legislature is expected to be vote on the decision to name the city as the official mermaid capital of Texas. Known for decades for its love of mermaids, the people of San Marcos and its city council have pushed for over two years to put their city on the map as the official haven for the mythical creatures. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- While successful SEO strategies offer lasting benefits, only half of small businesses in the U.S. (49%) invest in SEO, according to a new survey by The Manifest , a business news and how-to site. Almost all buying experiences (93%) occur through search engines , which means ranking on the first page of search results is essential to gaining website traffic and clients. New data from The Manifest shows that while 49% of small businesses invest in SEO, 18% say they never will. Only 9% of small businesses believe backlinks are an important SEO metric, according to new data from The Manifest. Still, half of small businesses do not think investing in SEO is worth their time as they turn to other methods like paid advertising to gain new leads. While paid advertising can provide immediate results, it is expensive and only offers a short-term solution. Small businesses should invest in an SEO strategy because, although it can take months to see results, it will eventually provide stable traffic and brand visibility for the business. Less Than 10% of Small Businesses Believe Backlinks to Their Website Are an Important SEO Metric Small businesses track a variety of SEO metrics to improve their ranking, including web traffic from organic search, keyword rankings, and on-site engagement. Only 9% track the number and quality of backlinks to their website, which can be a huge part of growing a company's SEO presence online. While website traffic obviously indicates potential customer interest, small businesses must also focus on increasing backlinks to their website through content creation. By creating valuable content on their website, small businesses have a better chance at being recognized by other sites and Google as an authoritative subject matter expert. Social Media Marketing Is the Most Popular SEO Strategy for Small Businesses Small businesses prefer investing in social media marketing to more direct SEO methods like keyword research and link building. Half of small businesses (50%) use social media marketing as part of their SEO strategy, while 44% dedicate time to keyword research. Social media marketing can be a valuable tool to communicate with customers and offer customer support. Experts, however, still debate the direct connection between SEO results and social media presence. In 2017, Gary Illyes, a webmasters trend analyst at Google, hinted at the correlation between social content and SERP rankings . "The context in which you engage online, and how people talk about you online, actually can impact what you rank for," Illyes said. As small businesses focus their SEO efforts on social media, they could see more SEO results from link building and content creation. The Manifest's 2021 Small Business SEO Survey included 500 small business employees who were familiar with their company's SEO strategy. Read the full report here: https://themanifest.com/sem/small-business-seo-statistics For more information on the findings, or an introduction to the industry experts included in the report, contact Emily Clark at [email protected] . About The Manifest The Manifest is a business news and how-to website that compiles and analyzes practical business wisdom for innovators, entrepreneurs, and small and mid-market businesses. Use The Manifest as an approachable tour guide through every stage of the buyer journey. With three main offeringsdata-driven benchmarks, step-by-step guides, and agency shortlistsThe Manifest strives to make your business goals a reality. Contact Emily Clark [email protected] (202) 350-4344 SOURCE The Manifest Pakistan has received GI (geographical indicator) tag for its Basmati rice, which will help its case against India in the European Union (EU), where India has applied for declaring Basmati as its origin. "Pakistan received the geographical indicator tag for Basmati on 26 January 2021," confirmed an official government source. The GI tag will aid Pakistan's case against India at the EU as it has challenged the Indian claim by registering its own GI for Basmati and would be claiming the same protection of its Basmati in the EU as India. "Since Basmati rice fetches higher prices in the International markets, India had attempted to block Pakistan's trade in the EU by declaring that its Basmati was the geographically original one," said the government official. Pakistan's was quick to take notice of the matter as The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) prepared the book of specifications for Basmati, laying down the criteria of characteristics for Basmati, needed to be followed by any producer or operator in Pakistan. "Since REAP is a trade body, which has been involved in exporting Basmati to the world and it is representative of Pakistan's exporters of Basmati, it was best suited to offer insight into Basmati's trade, characteristics, regions and history," said the government official. The Pakistani government had designated the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) as registrant of Basmati, which moved the application for registration of Basmati with the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO). As per details, IPO, with the help of REAP, mapped the regions where Basmati is grown by taking recommendations from all provinces of Pakistan. Pakistan's fast paced acquiring of GI tag comes after India applied for the GI tag on Basmati in the EU, a move that many rice traders say, caught Pakistani authorities napping as deliberate delays in acquiring the GI tag were witnessed for years. Pakistan aims to block India's way for the GI tag at the EU as it fears loosing billions in rice exports if India gets the rights of Basmati trade. According to sources in Delhi Police, five FIRs have been lodged in Eastern Range. "15 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence during farmers' tractor rally yesterday. So far, 5 FIRs have been lodged in Eastern Range," Delhi Police sources said. New Delhi : As many as 15 FIRs have been registered by Delhi Police in connection with the violence which broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on Tuesday. Delhi Police said that a total of 83 police personnel were injured in the clashes. The tractor rally by farmers saw violence at several places in Delhi as protesters clashed with police and broke barricades. Protesters breached the Red Fort premises and waved flags they were carrying from its ramparts. Violence erupted near the ITO area of the national capital as tractors driven by protesters tried to scare and even run over police personnel deployed in the area. Metro services were stopped at multiple stations and traffic on roads was also diverted. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met senior officials from the home ministry to take stock of the law and order situation in the national capital, following the violence. Internet services were suspended in the capital at Delhi's border points -- Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi and areas adjoining these protest hubs due to intensifying clashes. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 00:51:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- 12 foreign countries have granted market approval or emergency use for Chinese vaccines, one developed by Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and the other by Sinopharm's bioscience subsidiary the China National Biotec Group (CNBG). Six Chinese vaccines have entered phase-3 clinical trials. The Sinovac vaccine, CoronaVac, has an efficacy rate of 91.25 percent in clinical trials in Turkey and 65.3 percent in Indonesia. Clinical studies in Brazil suggested the vaccine was 100 percent effective in preventing severe cases, 78 percent effective in preventing mild cases requiring medical treatment, and had a general efficacy rate of 50.38 percent. The United Arab Emirates, which announced the official registration of the CNBG vaccine last December, said the interim analysis of the phase-3 trials shows the vaccine provides 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19, the seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies reaches 99 percent and it is 100 percent effective in preventing severe cases. China has joined the WHO-led COVAX initiative to promote international cooperation on vaccines and equitable global distribution of vaccines. A WHO team in China is working with producers of the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines for potential emergency use listings. Produced by Xinhua Global Service From 2001 until December of last year, Hayao Miyazakis Spirited Away reigned as the highest-grossing anime movie in the world and the highest-grossing movie ever in Japan. (No. 2 was Titanic.) However, as 2020 came to a close, a new challenger broke both of the Studio Ghibli films records. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, a sequel to the popular anime Demon Slayer, became an instant hit upon its October release. (Miyazaki, when asked by a reporter on the street about the box-office upset, said, with his trademark stoicism, That sort of thing isnt worth worrying about, before excusing himself to keep cleaning up trash.) Though theres no set date yet for the movies North American release, the first season of the series has just landed on Netflix, making now the perfect time to get acquainted with the history-making franchise. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The series story centers on Tanjiro Kamado, a teenage boy in Taisho-era Japan whose life is irrevocably changed by an encounter with a demon. While hes away from the house, the demon slaughters his family and turns his younger sister Nezuko into a demon as well. Soon afterward, he is recruited by a secret society of demon slayers to become one of them and sets out to avenge his family and to make his sister human again. In other words, the plot may not go much further than the title suggests, but the fact of the matter is that it doesnt need to. That simplicity helps Demon Slayer focus on building meaningful connections between its characters, and on the area in which it truly excels: its animation. Advertisement Sign up for the Slate Culture newsletter The best of movies, music, TV, books, and more, delivered to your inbox three times a week. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again. Please enable javascript to use form. Email address: Send me updates about Slate special offers. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms Sign Up Thanks for signing up! You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Before airing on TV, Demon Slayer began as a manga series (Kimetsu No Yaiba, in Japanese), written and illustrated by Koyoharu Gotoge, and was published in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump (home to other notable hits such as Naruto, Death Note, and My Hero Academia) from February 2016 to May 2020. The anime adaptation, which aired in 2019 for 26 episodes (thus far), won the 2020 Anime of the Year award from the anime streaming service Crunchyroll, cementing the shows place as one of the best and most popular animated series to emerge from Japan in recent years. That reputation is well-earned. Though the series premise is fairly simple, its execution is impeccable, and it boasts a visual style that immediately sets it apart from its peers. Advertisement Advertisement The fight sequencesof which there are many, as suggested by the fact that the shows core concept involves slaying demonsare breathtaking, not just for how well-choreographed they are, but for the way blows and sword strokes are visualized. The demon slayers employ Breathing Styles that lend them enhanced strength, and different techniques (Sun Breathing, Water Breathing) burst to life on screen in waves of fire or ripples of water that, rather than being rendered in the shows typical style, look like they were pulled straight from woodblock prints. That isnt, however, to discount what the rest of the show looks like, as the utmost care is taken from everything from the characters clothes, almost all of which boast beautiful patterns, to their hairstyles, which range from looking (relatively) natural to, in the case of Tanjiros eventual friend Zenitsu, resembling french fries. Advertisement The dazzling animation, however, wasnt the only factor behind the movies historic success. Beyond being the latest installment of a popular and critically acclaimed anime, Mugen Train had the benefit of opening just as Japan reopened its movie theaters nationwide after having shut them down due to COVID-19 during the spring. On top of that, it had very little competition, given that most major Hollywood releases had been pushed into 2021 because of the pandemic. It was this combinationthe right movie at the right timethat put Demon Slayer over the top. With the second season of the anime reportedly in production, the Demon Slayer phenomenon is still growing, and the first seasons arrival on Netflix makes it more easily accessible than ever. (It is already, as of this writing, climbing Netflixs list of its Top 10 titles in the U.S. today.) With episodes clocking in at less than half an hour each, it makes for a breezy show to binge-watch, and its worth catching up with now before the next installment arrives and the franchise becomes even more of a global hit. This year our dine and drink business locations throughout the Gorge have suffered with closures. You can help support your favorites by purchasing take out and gift cards. Many of these business will offer curb-side delivery and some will deliver to your home. Lets keep the Gorge going strong! It will apply to arrivals from southern Africa, South America and Portugal because of its ties with Brazil England is expected to announce mandatory quarantine in hotels for travellers coming from high-risk countries. Boris Johnson is set to discuss with ministers on Tuesday but the new rules may be revealed on Wednesday. The measure would mostly affect UK citizens and residents, since nationals from most foreign high-risk countries are not allowed to enter British grounds. It will apply to inbound travellers from southern Africa, South America and Portugal because of its ties with Brazil, the BBC reported. It is understood the ten days in hotel should be paid by the individuals, just like it is required in Australia, which has already implemented such measures. Currently, most travellers to the UK need to show a negative COVID-19 test taken maximum 72 hours before their entry and are required to self-isolate for ten days in a private accommodation. By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's nominee for energy secretary, Jennifer Granholm, defended his administration's push for a clean energy transition as senators from fossil fuel producing states raised concerns about its impact on jobs at her Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday. Granholm, 61, who is expected to be confirmed by the Senate in days after the hearing, wants to steer the department to help the United States compete with China on electric vehicles, or EVs and green technologies like advanced batteries and solar and wind power. While governor of auto-manufacturing Michigan from 2003 to 2011, Granholm led a charge to secure $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to produce EVs and advanced batteries in the state. "We can buy electric car batteries from Asia or we can make them in America," Granholm told the senators. "We can install wind turbines from Denmark or we can make them in America," she said. But Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia who will soon head the committee, and John Barrasso of Wyoming, the panel's top Republican, told Granholm that Biden's green push is increasing concerns in rural states that coal, oil and gas workers risk losing their jobs in the transition. The hearing happened days after Biden canceled a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil from Canada. Earlier on Wednesday, the president issued more executive orders on curbing climate change including pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land. GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY "These people feel like they've been left behind," Manchin said about workers in fossil fuel industries. The energy transition must be about innovation, not elimination of jobs, he said. Granholm has a "golden opportunity," if people can be transitioned into new jobs where they live, he said. "Energy is the biggest thing that can heal us and bring us together ... because it has quite divided us too," Manchin said. Story continues Granholm said oil, gas and coal would still be part of the U.S. energy mix despite a Biden administration goal for the country to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. She added that Michigan created a "No Worker Left Behind" program when she was governor that helped them get new jobs. And the Biden administration, she said, has pledged to commit 40% of the benefits of the clean energy transition to communities that have been left behind. Clean energy technologies could represent a $23 trillion global market by 2030, Granholm said, apparently citing a recent report by the International Finance Corporation. Granholm would be the second female U.S. energy secretary after Hazel O'Leary served in the Clinton administration in the 1990s. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, asked Granholm about opportunities for mining rare earth and other minerals that are used in advanced batteries, and wind and solar power. Granholm said "we can mine in a responsible way" and that she supports the industry for the jobs and energy security it provides. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Stephen Coates and Marguerita Choy) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. For Houston to thrive in a post COVID-19 economy, it must continue to diversify its economy and develop its technology sector, Amy Chronis, chair of Greater Houston Partnership, said Tuesday. I believe the pecking order of global cities is being re-established as we speak, Chronis said. Everything is up for grabs, and there will be metros that are winners and losers. Houstons economy was harder hit by the COVID-19 pandemic than other metro areas because of the concentration of oil and gas companies here. The oil bust spurred by a collapse in demand and prices last spring cost the region more than 100,000 energy jobs, according to the partnership, a business financed economic development group. Some 500 companies in exploration and production and oil field services filed for bankruptcy. These were the bedrock jobs of Houstons past success, Chronis said, and I don't believe we will be getting those back one-for-one. On HoustonChronicle.com: A year of healing and uncertainty ahead Chronis, however, said Houston has made progress in building its tech sector. The Ion, a 288,000-square-foot innovation space in Midtown is slated to open later this quarter. Developed by Rice University, it will serve as a hub for the Innovation District planned for the stretch between downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center. Bob Harvey, CEO of the Greater Houston Partnership, noted recent announcements from companies such as Amazon and Google that will add hundreds of jobs. In November, tech giant Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it would relocate its corporate headquarters to Houston from Silicon Valley. Economic indicators, he added, suggest that a difficult 2020, better days are ahead for the local economy. For nearly a year now, our members and businesses across Houston have struggled to keep employees and customers safe while maintaining operations as best they could, Harvey said. This has proven more difficult for some than others, but time and again Im amazed by the resiliency of Houston companies to innovate and persevere in the face of significant obstacles. A Taiwanese businessman has been fined one million Taiwanese dollars (26,000) for breaking his coronavirus quarantine seven times. The man, who has not been identified, was under home-quarantine at his apartment in Taichung, central Taiwan, after returning to the island from a business trip to mainland China. But the man violated the quarantine rules seven times within three days for a series of tasks such as to get his car repaired and to go shopping, reports TTV News. The local government confirmed he had returned to Taiwan after a visit to mainland China on January 21 and broke quarantine rules by leaving his home several times. Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan (centre) condemned the businessman for his 'serious violation of quarantine regulations' and said he 'must face severe punishment' The man, who has not been identified, was under home-quarantine at his apartment in Taichung, central Taiwan, after returning to the island from a business trip to mainland China In response to new outbreaks of coronavirus on the island, all incoming passengers are required by law to quarantine at home for 14 days. Taichung Mayor Lu Xiuyan condemned the businessman for his 'serious violation of quarantine regulations' and said he 'must face severe punishment'. She said he had ignored the safety of his family, neighbours and the city's measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. 'The home quarantine regulations were deemed to be nothing, which caused a significant increase in the risk of spread of coronavirus in the community,' the Mayor said in a statement. One of the businessman's neighbours reportedly confronted him after they spotted him breaking the quarantine rules, leading to a confrontation, reports CNN. In addition to the one million Taiwanese dollar fine - the highest one yet handed out in the country for coronavirus violations - the man must also pay 3,000 Taiwanese dollars (78) per day for the cost of his quarantine. The Taiwanese government has been providing 1,000 Taiwanese dollars (26) per day to the public to compensate for the 14-day home quarantine period - but the businessman will not receive this following his violation. Secretary of Health Zeng Zizhan urged that residents of home quarantine must comply with the regulations and are not allowed to go out. Meanwhile, in December last year, a migrant worker from the Philippines was fined 2,650 for breaking coronavirus restrictions for eight seconds. The man had been quarantining in a hotel in Kaohsiung City. Under the country's Covid-19 rules, people in quarantine are not allowed to leave their hotel rooms, regardless of the length of time. Taiwan has been praised for its quick response to the coronavirus pandemic and has recorded 893 cases and seven deaths The man stepped out of his room into the hallway for eight seconds in an incident which was caught on CCTV. Taiwan has largely been praised for its quick response to the coronavirus crisis and has recorded just 893 coronavirus cases and seven deaths since the start of the pandemic. Checks on travellers arriving from Wuhan, where the epidemic started, were brought in as early as December 31. Meanwhile, foreign nationals were barred from entering the country from March 19, with a few exemptions. On November 18 the country announced that from December 1, all travelers arriving in or transiting through Taiwan must provide proof of testing negative for COVID-19 within three working days of arrival. Jennifer Butler Murray costume designer, Levi's overalls collector, former Ms. Red Hot Chili Pepper and Bill Murray's ex-wife died suddenly on Jan. 19 at age 57. Murray was born in Panorama City, Calif., to Michael Bowe Butler and the late Judith Kelly Butler. She was a third-generation costume designer who worked on the wardrobe for hit films, including "Mutiny on the Bounty," "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," "The Last of the Mohicans" and "Groundhog Day" the latter of which starred ex-husband and famed actor Bill Murray. She was a collector of Parisian fashion and Levi's overalls, and a former beauty queen with the title of Ms. Red Hot Chili Pepper. She resided on Sullivan's Island and also reportedly had a home in California after her divorce from Bill Murray. Jennifer and Bill were together for 11 years. They first met on the set of "Scrooged," for which Jennifer designed costumes and Bill starred in the lead role. They were married in 1997 and divorced in 2008. According to Jennifer's family, she was a "proud, squeaky wheel who fought the system and flaunted her nonconformity." She was also known to be a fiercely loyal mother to four boys. She is survived by her sons: Caleb James Murray, Jackson William Murray, Cooper Jones Murray and Lincoln Darius Murray. Sign up for the Charleston Hot Sheet Get a weekly list of tips on pop-ups, last minute tickets and little-known experiences hand-selected by our newsroom in your inbox each Thursday. Email Sign Up! "I was so saddened to read of Jenny's passing," Arthur Stubbs, mail carrier, posted to the online J. Henry Stuhr funeral home condolences log. "As her family's UPS driver for decades, I had the honor to get to know her and watch the boys grow to adulthood. Please know that I am praying for God to assuage your hurt and loss with His love and compassion and peace." "Deepest sympathy & prayers for her boys & family," shared family friend Diane Tausig. "I remember her sweet spirit, her kindness, her smile and generosity when our kids were at Trident Academy. So sad to hear of her passing." Bill Murray, who is not active on social media, could not be reached for comment. Though the couple did not split on amicable terms, a statement was released following the separation. Bills lawyer, John McDougall, said at the time, I can say that Bill Murray is deeply saddened by the break-up of his marriage to Jennifer. They remain loving parents, committed to the best interest of their children. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jennifer's honor to the St. Judes Childrens Hospital at stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html. A memorial message may be sent to the family online at jhenrystuhr.com. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tunis, Jan 27 : As long as political stability is not guaranteed, Tunisia will not be able to get out of the crisis, Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said on Tuesday. Speaking during a plenary session of the parliament for a vote of confidence in the new ministers proposed in the latest reshuffle, Mechichi said that "the state suffers from a structural crisis that has grown in recent years by hindering the will for a real responsible reform and opening the way to a populist discourse", the Xinhua news agency reported. He said that the objective of this cabinet reshuffle, which includes 11 ministerial posts, "is to have more efficiency in the performance of the government." "The political scene has been marked, for 10 years, by political escalation which helped to widen the gap between the governing elite and the Tunisians and give them a feeling of marginalization and neglect with regard to their expectations and demands," Mechichi said. It is therefore necessary to listen to young people who have expressed their discontent with real sincerity, and work to find sustainable solutions to their problems, he added. The sluggish economy, surging Covid-19 infections and strict curfews to fight the pandemic have triggered off recent protests in Tunisia. On January 16, Mechichi announced a cabinet reshuffle, the first since his government passed the vote of confidence in the Parliament on September 2, 2020. (Natural News) Harvard University astronomer Abraham Loeb claims that a discarded alien machine visited the solar system but was mistaken as a natural object because of groupthink. In his forthcoming book, Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth, Loeb wrote about the solar systems first known interstellar visitor, Oumuamua. He posited that Oumuamua is really technological trash thrown away by an intelligent alien civilization based on its cigar or disk shape, shininess and behavior, which he noted are unlike anything ever seen in the solar system before. However, Loeb said that his ideas are not taken seriously by the scientific community because everyone refuses to wrest free from the mainstream view that the object was just a space rock. Oumuamuas strange properties Oumuamua was discovered in 2017 by astronomers at the Haleakala Observatory in Hawaii. Known as the first documented interstellar visitor, the object was strangely luminous for a space rock, brightening at peaks rarely observed in comets and asteroids. Rocky and cigar-shaped with a somewhat reddish hue, it was up to a quarter-mile long and estimated to be 10 times as long as it is wide. But the most compelling anomaly, according to Loeb, is that Oumuamua seemed to accelerate as it moved away from the sun. No space rock except a comet can do that. As a comet passes close to the sun, it warms and starts to release gas. That outgassing is responsible for what astronomers call the comets tail a visible trail of gas and dust that can be as long as hundreds of millions of miles. It acts like burning fuel that escapes from the bottom of a rocket, propelling a comet to higher velocities and new directions through space. But the observers of Oumuamua failed to see a comets tail. This, together with its unusual shape, suggests that the object might have been a light sail, a form of spacecraft that relies on sunlight to generate propulsion, according to Loeb. Loeb suspects that the device was a piece of technological trash, or e-waste, from an alien civilization that produces huge numbers of machines that end up drifting uselessly through space. (Related: Signs of alien civilization: Did astronomers detect technosignatures?) A buoy. A grid of pods for communication. Signposts that an extraterrestrial civilization could navigate by. Launch bases for probes. Other intelligent living organisms defunct technology or discarded technological trash, Loeb wrote of the possible explanations for the Oumuamua mystery. He noted that these explanations are plausible as humans themselves are already producing these things, albeit on a far more limited scale. For one, scientists from the Breakthrough Initiatives, a space science program devoted to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, have been developing a light sail to be sent to the nearest star system to Earth, Alpha Centauri. Scientific community rejects alien theory in favor of mainstream explanations However, scientists also offered mundane explanations for Oumuamuas anomalies. Some brushed it off as a cosmic dust bunny made of fluffy, ultralight material that can be pushed by sunlight like a light sail. Others maintained that it was a comet of nearly pure hydrogen, releasing molecules that would be invisible to telescopes. Loeb criticized these explanations, arguing, for instance, that Oumuamua couldnt possibly be a hydrogen comet because it would have fallen apart as it approached the sun. He was particularly critical of a study from the International Space Science Institute in Switzerland which he said embodied a scientific establishment engaged in groupthink. The researchers of that study asserted that Oumuamuas properties can be explained wholly by natural processes. Loeb said that he has been mocked for his daring ideas. Yet physicists studying higher dimensions, or string theory, which has never been observed in the real world, are revered in the scientific community. Instead they get prizes or honors, Loeb said. For more mind-blowing stories about alien life, visit Cosmic.news. Sources include: LiveScience.com 1 SolarSystem.NASA.gov CosmosMagazine.com LiveScience.com 2 (@FahadShabbir) British citizens returning home from roughly 30 countries deemed at "high risk" from new coronavirus variants could soon have to quarantine in hotels, reports said on Wednesday London, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :British citizens returning home from roughly 30 countries deemed at "high risk" from new coronavirus variants could soon have to quarantine in hotels, reports said on Wednesday. Beefed-up rules will require the travellers to stay in hotels near airports for 10 days, according to the Times and BBC. Non-UK arrivals from the targeted destinations -- which include South America, Portugal, Cape Verde and South Africa -- are already barred following the discovery of two virus variants in Brazil and South Africa. The 10-day quarantine will cost returning Britons 1,500 ($2,060, 1,697 Euros), with meals served at the bedroom door and security guards supervising stays. Interior minister Priti Patel is due to make a statement in parliament later on Wednesday on the borders policy after a meeting of the government's Covid-19 operations committee. WASHINGTON - The Biden administration said Tuesday it was on the cusp of securing an additional 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines authorized for emergency use in the United States. The purchases would increase available supply by 50%, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer. Because both products - one developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech and the other by Moderna - are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people. An estimated 260 million people in the United States are currently considered eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, though Pfizer and Moderna have initiated trials for children as young as 12, the results of which could expand the pool. The deals promised by President Joe Biden would not immediately speed up vaccinations. But they would greatly boost his chances of returning the nation to some semblance of normalcy by late summer or the fall. The president said Monday he expects the general public to gain access to shots by the spring - as he seemed to elevate his administration's goal from 1 million vaccinations a day to 1.5 million - though aides said that was aspirational. And Biden drew back Tuesday to his earlier ambition of administering 100 million shots in his first 100 days, insisting it would be a good start. Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford Biden, in remarks Tuesday evening, said he expected the additional doses to be delivered through the summer. "This is an aggregate plan that doesn't leave anything on the table or anything to chance, as we've seen happen in the past year," the president said. He added, in a further effort to distinguish his approach from that of his predecessor, "This is a wartime effort." The companies were more cautious in public statements, though people knowledgeable about the negotiations said formal deals were imminent because the government was using options built into existing contracts to receive the additional doses. Those people, like several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal matters. Moderna spokesman Ray Jordan declined to comment. Pfizer spokeswoman Amy Rose said the company "has engaged in regular communications with the Biden administration and we stand at the ready to start negotiations should the White House choose to execute their option for additional doses." Each company has already agreed to deliver 200 million doses to the federal government by the end of June. Pfizer has said it can deliver 120 million of those doses by the end of March, at a price of $19.50 per dose, while Moderna has pledged 100 million by then, with each dose sold for $15. Manufacturing has steadily ramped up, in pace with those targets. As a result, federal allocations to states and other jurisdictions will increase by about 16% next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without immediately alleviating supply problems. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's coronavirus response, informed governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to two people who participated and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the conversation. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million. The vaccines are distributed on a population basis among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities. Senior administration officials said the increased supply will come mostly from releasing more doses of Moderna's vaccine. The stepped-up allocations will remain for three weeks, these officials said, as the Department of Health and Human Services provides estimates on that time scale going forward. The increased allocations and the promise of better forecasts came as welcome news to state and local officials, who have implored the federal government for estimates of available supply so they can plan and set expectations for the public. Such projections were not possible in December, according to current and former federal officials, because of uncertainty about manufacturing and instability in the supply chain. The government has gained greater understanding of production schedules, especially after directing suppliers to fulfill Pfizer's needs under the Defense Production Act. Moderna this month raised its global target for the year from 500 million doses to 600 million. Pfizer and BioNTech recently raised their target from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion. But precise manufacturing schedules remain difficult to predict, and Zients could not answer questions on Tuesday's call with governors about exact production levels and when he expected significant scale-up, according to one state official who participated. The official said the administration promised more details "sooner rather than later." Meanwhile, vaccine shortages are having stark consequences throughout the country. Appointments have been canceled en masse as health officers and medical providers confront a sharply limited supply of doses, which are being targeted at medical workers, older people, some front-line workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots. New information is around the corner about a third vaccine, though its efficacy is not publicly known. Health officials are awaiting data from a trial by Johnson & Johnson, which will probably arrive in the next week. That data may also suggest how a vaccine performs against one of the virus variants spreading alarm globally, because some of the trial was conducted in South Africa, where a more transmissible variant has been identified. The federal government has already paid $1 billion for the first 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which, if it proves effective, would be a boon because it is a single dose. The effort to buy additional Pfizer and Moderna doses vaccines represents a shift in strategy, as the Biden administration doubles down on two highly effective products authorized by federal regulators. The Trump administration worked to spread its risks over many vaccine candidates. Once the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year showed such high efficacy - about 95% - some government experts argued the administration should quickly acquire as much of those vaccines as possible, even if the United States ended up with more vaccine than needed. That argument has gained currency with the Biden administration, according to people familiar with the government's thinking, partly because of the emergence of variants that appear to be more transmissible and possibly more lethal than the original coronavirus. Early data shows that the two vaccines may be effective against the British variant of the virus that already is causing infections in the United States. And scientists believe they may possibly be effective against other variants, including ones identified in Brazil and South Africa. The South African variant has not appeared in the United States, but the Brazilian one was recently found in a case in Minnesota. In addition, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which use a platform known as mRNA to elicit a potent immune response, are the easiest type of vaccine to change to counter threatening new variants. Biden and his top aides have stressed that vaccine supply is only one aspect of the challenges involved in executing the immunization campaign. The administration is seeking additional resources for state and local health departments and has vowed greater federal coordination of the efforts, including plans to augment the public health workforce and set up mass vaccination sites. The administration has also pledged to increase transparency for state and local officials overseeing ground-level planning and for members of the public waiting to be vaccinated. Biden administration officials are also seeking to have more data related to vaccination efforts posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a federal health official. Ideally, that would include data about manufacturing, supply and allocation to the states. Information about production and supply is not currently publicly available. The vaccine rollout has been marked by a lack of transparency about stockpiles, short-term rollout schedules and contradictory statements from government officials. Companies producing vaccines have issued broad statements about vaccine goals, based on quarterly projections. In Pfizer's case, production estimates were recently accelerated by the Food and Drug Administration's recognition of a sixth dose in each vial, which previously had been considered to be "over fill'' beyond the initial five-dose capacity. The change resulted in an instant 20% increase in Pfizer's quota. The companies said they have been giving more detailed information about vaccine availability to the government, which then relays the information about weekly shipment expectations to state officials. But the lack of accurate and consistent information has been a major complaint at the state level, as the initial shipments of vaccine have not matched the volume of vaccines local systems are demanding. The Biden administration appeared to put pressure over the weekend on Pfizer and Moderna to improve the flow of information about vaccine manufacturing and supply. Appearing on "Fox News Sunday,'' Biden's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rochelle Walensky, said, "I can't tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can't tell it to you then I can't tell it to the governors and I can't tell it to the state health officials.'' Asked to respond to Walensky's concerns this week, Moderna and Pfizer said they have been reporting on a daily and weekly basis the amount of vaccine that will be ready. "We have and are continuing to work closely with the U.S. government on our production, release and shipping schedules - to ensure Americans receive their first and second doses of the vaccine on time,'' Pfizer said in a statement this week. "We have provided them with a specific schedule, and we foresee no issues in delivering on the commitments we have made." Jordan, Moderna's spokesman, said the U.S. government is in charge of relaying fine-grained information to states. "The U.S. Government is our customer, and they are free to communicate as they wish," he said. A former Trump administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address sensitive matters, said Moderna has been more forthcoming about its vaccine production than Pfizer. "With Moderna, we always had a pretty clear sense of what was further ahead, and any potential issues, a better ability to accurately predict what was coming," the official said. "With Pfizer, we didn't have as much insight. It was a byproduct of their unwillingness to work as collaboratively with Warp Speed as other companies." Pfizer did not respond to a request to address the criticism. Along with other vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer last summer signed an advanced purchase contract with the Trump administration. But the company did not accept research and development money or backing for clinical trials from the government. Pfizer also opted to distribute its vaccine to states on its own, rather than permit its vaccine to be shipped by national wholesaler McKesson, the government's designated distributor for vaccine and supplies. Its shipments are nonetheless following the federal government's allocation guidance. Much of Pfizer's supply is obligated to other countries. But the pharmaceutical giant has recently delayed or reduced shipments to Canada and Europe as it retools a factory in Belgium, frustrating foreign governments. - - - The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein, Carolyn Y. Johnson, Annie Linskey and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report. RIMINI, Italy, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Italian Exhibition Group, key international expo and conference player, with its Rimini and Vicenza expo venues in Italy and offices in Milan, New York, Las Vegas and Dubai and listed on the Screen-based Share Market (MTA) organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A, has faced the world emergency by making rapid choices, in Italy and abroad. IEG President Lorenzo Cagnoni says, "Fundamental strategic choices made to keep the engines running, now ready to take off again along with the companies with an overall replanning of the calendar and formats of the events foreseen in the first part of 2021." IEG CEO Corrado Peraboni adds, "Trade fairs are and will remain the most powerful business multipliers." The gradual administration of vaccine throughout the world and simultaneous discussion by the European Union on international travel will result in coming months in a renewed scenario for expos and conferences on which IEG, in its role of worldwide ambassador of the best of made in Italy, will reposition its leading expos on the global expo scene, representative of the country's industrial platform. SIGEP, the International Trade Show of Artisan Gelato, Pastry and Bakery and the Coffee World, will launch its "Road map to SIGEP 2022" (the edition being held live from 22nd to 26th January next year at Rimini expo centre) with a completely digital version from 15th to 17th March. Beer & Food Attraction, dedicated to excellent beer and beverage and food for the Ho.re.ca. market, and BBTech Expo, the professional exhibition of technology for beers and beverages, foresee a run-up to the 2022 edition that will begin with a full-digital appointment between 12th and 14th April. Scheduling the calendar of B2B appointments for the gold and jewellery sector - led solely by IEG in Italy - Vicenzaoro will be held in Vicenza from September 10th to 14th, along with T.GOLD, the international show of jewellery machinery and technology, and VO Vintage, the marketplace for premium vintage watches and jewellery. Oroarezzo will reopen the Arezzo expo centre from 12th to 15thJune 2021. Whereas WE ARE Jewellery, on 23rd March, will have a unique B2B format to promote new collections with the buyers connected from all over the world. Again regarding Rimini, RiminiWellness, the huge leading B2B and B2C event highlighting wellness, fitness and sport on stage, will be strategically held at the beginning of the summer season. Also for the fitness world, confirmation has arrived for the new international expo inDubai, which will be held in the city overlooking the Persian Gulf from 28th to 30th October, simultaneously with the world Expo. There is also intense activity on the conference front, with the development of great new all-digital events and the confirmation of over ten appointments of great international calibre between 2021 and 2025. These will include the 29th Congress of the European College of Sport Science (3-5 July 2024). Italian Exhibition Group Press Contacts Press Office Manager: Marco Forcellini, marco.forcellini@iegexpo.it International Press Office Coordinator:Silvia Giorgi, silvia.giorgi@iegexpo.it, P. +39-0541-744814 Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723307/Italian_Exhibition_Group_Logo.jpg The 20th of January saw the whole world tune into an event that would change the free world as we know it, the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, the man with more power and influence over the world than pretty much anyone on the planet. At just after 4:20pm Irish time, a usually grandeur ceremony but now much quieter and exclusive affair got under away as President Elect Joe Biden took his first steps onto Capital Plaza overlooking the Hill now filled with thousands of Red, White and Blue flags replacing the normal scene of jubilant supporters taking up space as far as the eye could see. On the other side of the Atlantic Sea, Andrea McKevitt, a Louth councillor who is a distant relation of Mr Biden was partaking in her own celebrations among family from the comfort of their home. I was at home watching with my mom, dad and sisters and then we zoom called the rest of the family, to make a party out of it McKevitt confirmed. It was a surreal experience, even to just be watching it on the TV. My whole family were quite emotional throughout the day. My sister made a Biden cake which we cut during the inauguration ceremony and we popped open a bottle of champagne as we watched Biden became President. A little after 4:45pm Joe Biden took the pledge of allegiance and was sworn in as the successor to Donald Trump, and as he hugged his immediate family and got ready to make one of the most important speeches of his life, his cousins back in Ireland had excitement oozing through their veins as they came to terms with the fact a son of county Louth was in office. When he came out onto Capitol hill it just made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, thinking wow we are related to this guy, hes become the president. This is such a big day for us, for him, the US and the whole world. I suppose it was when he walked down the steps and was called out as President, that is when it hit us that this is our man, and this is our family involved. The Delaware native spoke for 20 minutes as he addressed the planet as leader of the free world for the first time and the young politician was inspired by the words of unity spoke by her now immensely powerful distant cousin. Weve seen a lot of division in the States recently, he is not taking on an easy task and will be dealing with a politically and socially divided country which Im sure will come with its challenges. But we believe Joe will rise to the task. The new Presidents connection with the Wee county is his great-great grandfather James Finnegan who came from the Carlingford area before emigrating to the US and McKevitt was keen to stress the whole community would be celebrating the victory. I think the whole Cooley Peninsula have been excited given the fact his ancestors are from here; I dont think you have to be related to Joe to feel the sense of pride in his victory. One of our own has reached the White House. From the smallest county in Ireland to the biggest office in the world. The Fianna Fail councillor had the American flag draped outside her home to mark the occasion and is hopeful that it will get another unfurling soon when Mr Biden visits the area as president. The stars and stripes have been flying here all day and I am looking forward to getting them up for his return visit. We cannot wait to see him again. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here " " Bobbie Oskarson holds the 8.52-carat diamond she found at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas in 2015. It was later dubbed the Esperanza Diamond. Matt Jonas/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images If you're short on cash after the past few months, there's a place in the United States where you can mine for minerals. Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, Arkansas is a 37-acre (15-hectare) park, located around two and a half hours southwest of Little Rock, that allows visitors to search for their own diamonds. And if you find one, you get to keep it! The land that became a state park was originally owned by local farmer John Huddleston, who discovered diamonds here in 1906. The land was bought and sold a number of times, including to a commercial mining operation, before being passed on to the state of Arkansas. The park is named for the lunar-like landscape of craggy dirt created from a volcanic eruption that left behind an 83-acre (33.5 hectare) crater. This eruption from 100 million years ago, brought minerals and rocks to Earth's surface from the mantle. Over the centuries, the lighter soil removed by erosion and the heavier elements (like the diamonds and other stones) remained, according to National Geographic. Crater of Diamonds State Park, which opened to visitors in 1972, is the only public diamond mining site in America. Advertisement Since then, more than 33,000 diamonds have been discovered by visitors, varying in size. Among them are the 40-carat Uncle Sam, the largest diamond unearthed in the United States (found in 1924 before the area became a park), and the 16-carat Amarillo Starlight. On Labor Day, 2020, Maumelle, Arkansas, resident Kevin Kinard found a 9-carat diamond, the second-largest found since the park opened. "This latest diamond find is a testament to maintaining the diamond search area with a focus on sustaining the resource at Crater of Diamonds State Park, as well as creating the opportunity to find a diamond and make lifetime memories for all of our guests," Arkansas State Parks Director Grady Spann said in a press release at the time. " " The 8.52 carat Esperanza Diamond sits next to a 1.5 carat diamond for comparison at Black, Starr & Frost in Newport Beach, California. The diamond was found in Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas in June 2015 and was estimated to be worth $1 million. Jeff Gritchen/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images Visiting Crater of Diamonds State Park Since diamond seekers need to dig around in the dirt, comfortable clothing is a necessity. Expect to get muddy, dusty and wet in your search. Shoes that can be easily washed are a good idea, along with a wide-brimmed hat to protect from sunburn. You'll need to bring your own equipment, as tool rentals are not available during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most gems are found in the first foot of dirt, so visitors will need to bring a shovel to dig and a screen to sift through. Although diamonds are the most popular item to search for, visitors might also find other rocks and gems like agate, garnet, amethyst and jasper. Whatever you find can be registered and weighed at the Diamond Discovery Center, and then it's "finders keepers." If you're interested in visiting the park, make your plans early. Advance tickets are required as currently, only 1,500 are issued per day and cost $10 per adult. The state park is also home to walking trails, campsites, a seasonal cafe and a water park. Now That Rocks Crater of Diamonds is the only place in the U.S. where the public can mine for diamonds, but "rockhounds" can find gems and minerals elsewhere. Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega, Georgia, has public gold mining. Herkimer Diamond Mines in Herkimer, New York, is home to their namesake diamonds, which are actually double-terminated quartz crystals. And at Rainbow Ridge Opal Mine in Virgin Valley, Nevada, you can hunt for opals. A NASA satellite image of Iceland, superimposed with a heatmap of movement data of individuals during the 2009 H1N1 epidemic, drawn from cell phone metadata near the time they were diagnosed with a flu-like illness. Graphic by Ymir Vigfusson, Rebecca Mitchell and Leon Danon. Cell phone data that is routinely collected by telecommunications providers can reveal changes of behavior in people who are diagnosed with a flu-like illness, while also protecting their anonymity, a new study finds. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published the research, led by computer scientists at Emory University and based on data drawn from a 2009 outbreak of H1N1 flu in Iceland. To our knowledge, our project is the first major, rigorous study to individually link passively-collected cell phone metadata with actual public health data, says Ymir Vigfusson, assistant professor in Emory Universitys Department of Computer Science and a first author of the study. Weve shown that its possible to do so without comprising privacy and that our method could potentially provide a useful tool to help monitor and control infectious disease outbreaks. The researchers collaborated with a major cell phone service provider in Iceland, along with public health officials of the island nation. They analyzed data for more than 90,000 encrypted cell phone numbers, which represents about a quarter of Icelands population. They were permitted to link the encrypted cell phone metadata to 1,400 anonymous individuals who received a clinical diagnosis of a flu-like illness during the H1N1 outbreak. The individual linkage is key, Vigfusson says. Many public-health applications for smartphone data have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic but tend to be based around correlations. In contrast, we can definitively measure the differences in routine behavior between the diagnosed group and the rest of the population. The results showed, on average, those who received a flu-like diagnosis changed their cell phone usage behavior a day before their diagnosis and the two-to-four days afterward: They made fewer calls, from fewer unique locations. On average, they also spent longer time than usual on the calls that they made on the day following their diagnosis. The study, which began long before the COVID-19 pandemic, took 10 years to complete. We were going into new territory and we wanted to make sure we were doing good science, not just fast science, Vigfusson says. We worked hard and carefully to develop protocols to protect privacy and conducted rigorous analyses of the data. Vignusson is an expert on data security and developing software and programming algorithms that work at scale. He shares first authorship of the study with two of his former students: Thorgeir Karlsson, a graduate student at Reykjavik University who spent a year at Emory working on the project, and Derek Onken, a Ph.D. student in the Computer Science department. Senior author Leon Danon from the University of Bristol, and the Alan Turing Institute of the British Library conceived of the study. While only about 40 percent of humanity has access to the Internet, cell phone ownership is ubiquitous, even in lower and middle-income countries, Vigfusson notes. And cell phone service providers routinely collect billing data that provide insights into the routine behaviors of a population, he adds. The COVID pandemic has raised awareness of the importance of monitoring and measuring the progression of an infectious disease outbreak, and how it is essentially a race against time, Vigfusson says. More people also realize that there will likely be more pandemics during our lifetimes. It is vital to have the right tools to give us the best possible information quickly about the state of an epidemic outbreak. Privacy concerns are a major reason why cell phone data has not been linked to public health data in the past. For the PNAS paper, the researchers developed a painstaking protocol to minimize these concerns. The cell phone numbers were encrypted, and their owners were not identified by name, but by a unique numerical identifier not revealed to the researchers. These unique identifiers were used to link the cell phone data to de-identified health records. We were able to maintain anonymity for individuals throughout the process, Vigfusson says. The cell phone provider did not learn about any individuals health diagnosis and the health department did not learn about any individuals phone behaviors. The study encompassed 1.5 billion call record data points including calls made, the dates of the calls, the cell tower location where the calls originated and the duration of the calls. The researchers linked this data to clinical diagnoses of a flu-like illness made by a health providers in a central database. Laboratory confirmation of influenza was not required. The analyses of the data focused on 29 days surrounding each clinical diagnosis, and looked at changes in mobility, the number of calls made and the duration of the calls. They measured these same factors during the same time period for location-matched controls. Even though individual cell phones generated only a few data points per day, we were able to see a pattern where the population was behaving differently near the time they were diagnosed with a flu-like illness, Vigfusson says. While the findings are significant, they represent only a first step for the possible broader use of the method, Vigfusson adds. The current work was limited to the unique environment of Iceland: An island with only one port of entry and a fairly homogenous, affluent and small population. It was also limited to a single infectious disease, H1N1, and those who received a clinical diagnosis for a flu-like illness. Our work contributes to the discussion of what kinds of anonymous data lineages might be useful for public health monitoring purposes, Vigfusson says. We hope that others will build on our efforts and study whether our method can be adapted for use in other places and for other infectious diseases. Co-authors include the late Gudrun Sigmundsdottoir, directorate of health for Icelands Center for Health Security and Communicable Disease Control; Congzhang Song (Cornell University); Atil Einarsson (Reykjavik university); Nishant Kishore (Harvard); Rebecca Mitchell (formerly with Emorys Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing); and Ellen Brooks-Pollock (University of Bristol). The work was funded by the Icelandic Center for Research, Emory University, the National Science Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Alan Turing Institute, the Medical Research Council and a hardware donation from NVIDIA Corporation. The Court of Appeal (CoA) has upheld a 65,000 award to a 10-year-old girl who was injured when she fell at a skating rink and another patron skated over the back of her hand. Aoibhe Naghten, now aged 15, of Blanchardstown, Dublin, through her mother Teresa Crowley, sued Cool Running Events Ltd, with offices at Glanmire, Co Cork, operators of the pop-up ice rink at Blanchardstown Shopping Centre on December 30, 2015. It was claimed there was overcrowding and inadequate supervision in the ice-rink on the day when 285 people were present for that particular session. The defendant denied the claims. It alleged the girl voluntarily assumed the risk of being injured by an established doctrine which states someone who willingly puts themselves in a dangerous situation cannot sue for any resulting injuries (the doctrine of "volenti non fit injuria"). In July 2018, the High Court's Ms Justice Bronagh O'Hanlon awarded her 65,000 after finding the defendant failed to take reasonable care, was negligent in the safety and management of risk and the accident was reasonably foreseeable. The defendant also failed to make out the defence under the dangerous situation doctrine and had carried out no proper risk assessment or safety audit, the judge said. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Seamus Noonan, on behalf of the three-judge CoA, upheld the award saying there was "more than ample evidence" which entitled the High Court judge to conclude the defendant had been negligent and this caused the accident. He said while the defendant had initially pleaded contributory negligence, this was not an issue during the trial. It followed Ms Naghten was entitled to succeed 100pc. Earlier, the judge said Ms Naghten went to the ice rink with her mother and older sister having made an online booking. She was described in court as a proficient skater, having done it a number of times previously. The accident occurred at the end of the session as the skaters were leaving the rink via the single exit. CCTV footage showed Ms Naghten appeared to have been skating towards the exit reasonably close to the barrier. It showed a large gentleman holding onto the barrier with his back to the ice rink as she approached to skate behind him. As she did so, his body moved out slightly, whether by design or otherwise, so that she collided with him, the judge said. This caused her to fall to the ground onto her outstretched hands. It would appear a skater immediately behind her then inadvertently skated over her hand, he said. She appeared to have suffered fairly significant lacerations to the back of her hands as illustrated in photographs taken very shortly after the accident showed, he said. She ultimately made a good recovery albeit with a degree of scarring remaining, he said. Mr Justice Noonan said the High Court made clear and sustainable findings of fact on issues that were supported by credible evidence and which should not be disturbed by the appeal court. The defendants case was that the High Court findings of fact should be set aside and the evidence of the witnesses who testified in that court ignored simply by viewing the video evidence and drawing conclusions. That was impermissible, the judge said. He also said not a single witness who was present was called by the defence, notwithstanding that such witnesses were not only available but actually present in court. If the plaintiff's witnesses were wrong in suggesting that the venue was overcrowded, the defendant was perfectly free to call witnesses to rebut that evidence. The failure to do so speaks for itself, he said. Florida Man Charged for Encouraging People to Vote via Text Message or Social Media A Florida man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly taking part in a misinformation campaign regarding how to vote. Douglass Mackey, 31, of West Palm Beach, established a Twitter account in 2016. He then conspired, according to a criminal complaint, with others to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate supporters of a presidential candidate to vote via text message or social media, which are both legally invalid methods of voting. In one example, Mackey is accused of tweeting an image featuring a black woman standing in front of a sign stating African Americans for [the Candidate]. The image included instructions to Avoid the Line and Vote from Home by texting the candidates name to a number. The image falsely stated that it was paid for by the candidates campaign, according to authorities. Mackey, also known as Ricky Vaughn, was the 107th most important influencer leading up to the 2016 election, according to the MIT Media Lab. It wasnt clear whether Mackey had retained an attorney. In a statement announcing the arrest, acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas McQuaid said, This indictment underscores the departments commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who would undermine citizens voting rights. There is no place in public discourse for lies and misinformation to defraud citizens of their right to vote, added Seth DuCharme, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. With Mackeys arrest, we serve notice that those who would subvert the democratic process in this manner cannot rely on the cloak of Internet anonymity to evade responsibility for their crimes. They will be investigated, caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Catcher is now the biggest question mark for the Washington Nationals, who have otherwise added a first baseman, a left fielder, a starter and two left-handed relievers this winter. They are bringing back 33-year-old Yan Gomes for the end of his contract. The one other catcher on the 40-man roster is Tres Barrera. They'll need to address this, now or later, but have padded their spring training depth with two minor league deals. The first was for veteran catcher Welington Castillo, who signed back with the Nationals in December. The second was for Blake Swihart, who received a contract and invite to spring training Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. Castillo, 33, opted out of 2020 with coronavirus concerns, and was last seen as a light-hitting backup for the Chicago White Sox in 2019. And Swihart, 28, was released by the Texas Rangers in August and hasn't been a regular since 2018. He was, however, once a top prospect for the Boston Red Sox, thus making him a lightly intriguing add. A man was killed in a shooting in the Little Woods neighborhood of New Orleans late Tuesday night in one of two homicides under investigation, according to a release from police. Update: 2 killed, 2 injured in late-night shootings Gunfire erupted in the 7800 block of Sand Street, where police said the man was fatally shot some time before 10:25 p.m. Information on possible suspects or a motive were not immediately available, and the Coroner's Office will release the victim's identity in the coming days. Another man was shot to death and dropped off at a hospital by an unknown person who didn't stay with the victim. Police said they don't know where the fatal shooting occurred but that the slaying was reported at about 8:45 p.m. Stay with NOLA.com for more updates. Ukraine and Canada establish a working group that will work on a wide range of issues in the field of migration and mobility, including simplifying the travel regime for Ukrainians to Canada, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reports. Thus, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Arsen Avakov and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada Marco Mendicino signed a letter of intent to create a Ukrainian-Canadian working group on mobility. According to Avakov, the creation of a working group on mobility will consolidate the special status of the Ukrainian-Canadian partnership and will contribute to the implementation of a set of measures aimed at interaction between the competent authorities of Ukraine and Canada. In turn, Kuleba said that the working group will become an effective tool for joint response to global challenges in the field of migration and a new platform for dialogue on the way to simplify the travel regime for Ukrainian citizens to Canada. In turn, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky later welcomed the intention to create a working group: "I welcome the creation of a Ukrainian-Canadian working group on mobility issues. I am sure this new tool will help intensify the bilateral dialogue between Ukraine and Canada on migration issues and simplify the travel regime for Ukrainians to Canada," Zelensky wrote on his Twitter page. On January 26, 2021, the Grant Contract for Project for Provision of Garbage Containers and Collection Vehicle to Enhance Capacity for Waste Management in Ijevan City in the amount of USD 76,960 within the framework of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) of Japan was signed by Mr. Jun Yamada, Ambassador of Japan to Armenia and Dr. Mkhitar Mnatsakanyan,President of Armenian Red Cross Society. The ceremony took place in the presence of Mr. Hayk Ghalumyan, the Acting Mayor of Ijevan city and Mr. Nikolay Grigoryan, Adviser to Tavush Governor. The project aims to provide 240 waste containers and a garbage collection truck for proper waste management in Ijevan city. The newly installed containers and the purchased garbage collection truck will directly improve waste management practices for more than 19000 inhabitants in the city of Ijevan. In the frame of the project environmental protection events will be organized to raise the environmental awareness among the residents and contribute to the solid waste management. For more information, please contact Mkrtich Dallakyan, Employee of the Embassy of Japan in Armenia (Email: [email protected]; [email protected] TEL: (+374) 11 523 010 (ext. 137)) Embassy of Japan in Armenia Advertisement The number of coronavirus patients being admitted to hospital appears to have peaked in every region of England, official figures show as the third national lockdown continues to drive down infections. NHS England data showed hospitalisations had fallen 13 per cent across England from their peak, and a regional breakdown shows a falling trend in all regions with the biggest drops in London, the South East and East of England, which have been in lockdown since before Christmas. But despite the flattening off the total number of patients rushed to hospitals every day remains 'incredibly high' and 'substantially' above the peak of the first wave, the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said at a Downing Street press conference yesterday. He added they were likely to stay at these levels for weeks and only drop gradually because the more infectious variant is still triggering high numbers of cases, leading to additional admissions. The total number of Covid-19 patients on wards remains high, and is 80 per cent above the peak of the first wave. And the numbers on mechanical ventilators are at their highest level since the pandemic began at 30 per cent above the levels in April, although in the most recent days this has started to dip. Sir Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England, yesterday warned that doctors and nurses were still seeing no respite from 'incessant' Covid admissions. It comes after the UK passed the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths from the virus, which critics have blamed on a 'litany of errors' and ministers being 'constantly behind the curve' when fighting the pandemic. Department of Health statistics showed a further 1,631 Covid-19 deaths were recorded yesterday, taking the national tally to 100,162 fatalities since the pandemic began. And Professor Whitty warned daily deaths will remain high over the next few weeks before declining slowly. Ministers are today set to announce a plan for quarantining those coming from countries with new variants. The daily number of Covid-19 hospitalisations in England has peaked but remains 'incredibly high'. Above it is broken down by regions of England LONDON: Covid-19 hospital admissions in the capital have declined by 28 per cent since the peak on the week to January 9, from 6,000 Covid-19 patients arriving in hospitals in a week to 4,300 in the seven days to January 24, the latest date data is available for. The capital was among the first into Tier 4 measures just days before Christmas SOUTH EAST: Hospitalisations with the virus have also dipped by 28 per cent in this region in the week to January 9 from 4,600 patients to 3,400 in the week to January 24, the latest date figures are available. It was first to enter Tier 4 measures EAST OF ENGLAND: Coronavirus admissions in this region dipped by 17 per cent from 3,351 patients in the week to January 9 to 2,800, NHS England data shows. The region was among the first to enter Tier 4 measures SOUTH WEST: Coronavirus hospitalisations in this region have also peaked, dipping by 15 per cent in the week to January 15 from 2,100 patients to 1,750. The region has escaped the full force of both waves of the pandemic NORTH WEST: NHS England data suggests admissions are also beginning to flatten in this region, after they hit a peak of 3,100 patients in the week to January 15 before declining by five per cent to 2,900. The North West has faced months of gruelling restrictions, including under both tier systems MIDLANDS: The daily number of people visiting hospitals with the virus peaked in the Midlands in the week to January 20, when it hit 5,300 patients. It has since dropped by 10 per cent to 4,800. NORTH EAST AND YORKSHIRE: In this region admissions peaked in the week to January 21 at 3,200 patients before falling by six per cent to 3,000, according to figures from NHS England Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer (left), said although admissions were flattening they remained 'incredibly high'. Boris Johnson held a press conference last night after the UK recorded more than 100,000 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began. The NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens (right) also appeared at the conference NHS England data shows weekly Covid-19 hospitalisations across England peaked in the week to January 12, when they hit an average of 26,700 patients, before dropping to 23,000 by January 24, the latest date figures are available. But the numbers in hospital with the virus remain very high at 33,000 patients. This is 14,000 more than during the first wave when a peak of 18,500 was reached on April 11. MINISTERS BEGIN WORK ON ROADMAP TO EASE RESTRICTIONS Boris Johnson could unveil a roadmap out of lockdown within weeks if coronavirus cases keep easing - as ministers today insisted the government took the 'right decisions at the right time' despite the UK passing the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths. The blueprint, which Tory MPs have been demanding for weeks amid fears about havoc being wreaked on the economy, is expected to be published by February 15, when ministers will review the draconian measures in force to get the mutant strain under control. News that work on the exit strategy is under way came after Prof Chris Whitty provided a small but much needed glimmer of hope - saying he believed the UK had reached the peak of the latest wave. The chief medic said cases were falling fast - down from 68,000 cases recorded on January 7 to just over 20,000 yesterday. The figure is the lowest it has been since December, while the vaccine rollout is gathering speed. However, deaths are still high as they lag behind infections - with some scientists suggesting another 50,000 could fall victim before the crisis 'burns out'. This morning Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick defended the handling of the pandemic amid criticism that Mr Johnson acted too late to lockdown at crucial moments, stressing that there was no 'textbook' to dealing with the disease and ministers did 'everything we could' based on the knowledge they had. But, in a round of interviews, he admitted that in 'hindsight' there were things that could have been done differently, and accepted there will 'come a time' when the government's performance will need to be assessed. In a blunt verdict, shadow health secretary said: 'I don't accept they did everything they could.' The UK is taking stock after it was announced last night that the toll had moved into six figures, with Mr Johnson telling a Downing Street briefing that he was 'deeply sorry for every life lost'. Advertisement In a glimmer of hope, however, the data shows a dip of two per cent over the past week in a sign the total number of patients in hospital may have peaked, from 33,500 on January 18. The number of Covid-19 sufferers on mechanical ventilators is at a seven-day average of 3,676 for England, which is the highest since the pandemic began and 800 patients more than the highest level seen at the previous peak in April (2,848). London, the South East and the East of England were first to see their daily coronavirus admissions peak, NHS England data shows, with each seeing their highest number over the seven days to January 9. In the capital admissions hit 6,000 patients, before dropping 28 per cent to 4,300 by January 24. In the East of England they hit 3,351, but then fell 17 per cent to 2,800, and in the South East they dropped by 28 per cent from 4,600 to 3,400. Admissions passed their peak in the South West - which has escaped the full force of both waves - in the week to January 15, and have now dropped by 15 per cent from 2,100 to 1,750. And in the North West - forced to endure months of severe restrictions under the old and new tier systems - they peaked in the same week, but have since only dropped five per cent from 3,100 to 2,900. The daily number of hospitalisations in the Midlands hit a height of 5,300 in the week to January 20. It has now dropped by 10 per cent to 4,800. And in the North East and Yorkshire NHS data suggests admissions peaked in the week to January 21 at 3,200 before falling by six per cent to 3,000. Professor Whitty warned last night that while admissions had started to dip, the levels were still very high across England. 'We were worried two weeks ago that the measures we have at the moment were not enough to hold this new variant,' he told the press conference. 'I think what the data I showed you at the beginning of the slide sessions shows is that the rates are just about holding with the new variant, with what everybody's doing. 'It's going to be much harder because of this new variant and I think we have to be realistic about that.' Sir Stevens said yesterday health staff want to know if there are 'reinforcements on the way' amid the high numbers of admissions of patients suffering from Covid-19. He was asked if NHS staff in England will receive a financial bonus as a gesture of support after health and social care colleagues in Scotland got a 500 payment in recognition of their work during the pandemic. 'What people probably want right now is three things first of all to be able to look forward to some sort of respite from what has been an incredibly demanding and continuous year of pressure. 'Secondly to know that there are reinforcements on the way, that the staffing pressures in the health service will be taken seriously in the years to come. 'And thirdly to tackle the pressures in the here and now which fundamentally are about reducing the number of new patients who are turning up in A&E severely ill with coronavirus day in day out. So its that combination I think. CORONAVIRUS CASES FALL BY TWO THIRDS IN THREE WEEKS, FIGURES SHOW Britain's coronavirus cases have dropped to a third of the level three weeks ago, as the country's second wave continues to run out of steam amid brutal lockdown restrictions. Department of Health statistics show 20,089 infections were registered yesterday - well below the 45,533 announced two weeks ago, and 40 per cent less than the 33,355 recorded last Tuesday. But amid the promising sign the UK's Covid-19 death toll passed the grim milestone of 100,000 for the first time today bringing the total to 100,162, after health chiefs announced another 1,631 fatalities in the last 24 hours. It marked a one per cent rise on the same time last week when 1,610 people succumbed to the virus, amid predictions from experts that the second wave will peak this week. Nonetheless, the falling infections are a sure sign that hospitalisations and deaths from the virus should also start to fall. There is a lag of about two weeks between someone becoming infected with the virus and developing symptoms severe enough to be hospitalised, and around another week for someone to sadly die from the disease. Advertisement 'The sense there will be some respite, the sense the health service will get resilient, staffing support it needs in the years to come, but right now we actually collectively turn off the incessant new admissions that are arriving with very severely ill coronavirus patients.' Also asked why NHS staff in England have received no financial bonus, Boris Johnson said the health service had seen investment. 'We do our absolute utmost to support our wonderful NHS staff and indeed have had a three-year pay package for nurses, that I think was 12.8%, and will continue to invest record sums in the NHS,' he said. 'I think the amount we invested in the NHS even before the pandemic began was more than any time in modern memory, 34 billion package of investment, and that will continue under this Government.' Speaking at a sombre Downing Street press conference yesterday after the 100,000 death toll was announced, Mr Johnson said: 'On this day, I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done. 'What I can tell you is that we truly did everything that we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very, very difficult crisis for our country, and we will continue to do that.' But in a glimmer of hope on what Professor Whitty branded a 'very sad day', the number of people testing positive for coronavirus has dropped again to just a third of the level it was at three weeks ago, with 20,089 more infections. The infection number was well below the 45,533 announced two weeks ago and a steep drop from 60,916 the Tuesday before that. Although the peak of infections now appears to have passed, the number of people in hospital is still 'incredibly high', Professor Whitty said as both he and the PM spoke to quash hopes that lockdown will be lifted soon. On loosening restrictions Mr Johnson said the infection rate was 'still pretty forbiddingly high'. Deaths lag about three weeks behind cases because it takes this long for someone who has caught the virus to suffer symptoms severe enough to be admitted to hospital and die from the disease, and Professor Whitty said the daily counts would remain high for weeks to come. In his career spanning more than two decades, Bobby Deol has been a part of many memorable films. The actor who turns 52 today (January 27, 2021), in a recent interview with ETimes recalled some of his past hit movies and shared his memories about them. The actor also opened up about his signature long hair while speaking with the tabloid. Speaking about one of his cult hits Gupt, Bobby said that the film had the most awesome soundtrack. "The most talked-about film of its time. Luckily there were no mobile phones that time or else people would have gone and given spoilers," the actor was quoted as saying while referring to the identity of the killer in the film. Rajiv Rai's suspense thriller Gupt stars Bobby Deol, Kajol and Manisha Koirala in leading roles. Known for its chartbuster music, Kajol became the first actress to win the Filmfare Award for Best Villain, a category where only male actors had been winning till then. Bobby Deol also spoke about another hit film of his, Abbas Mastan's action thriller Soldier in which he was paired opposite Preity Zinta. Talking about the film, Bobby called Soldier the most action and stylised film ever. "My relationship with Abbas and Mustaan began with this film. I was very lucky to meet them. I am really proud of my film," he told the daily. Be it in songs like 'Duniya Haseeno Ka Mela' or 'Soldier Soldier', there's a separate fan-following for Bobby Deol's peculiar dance style. "I am not a perfect dancer. I am not someone who is perfect with moves. I am not like Hrithik Roshan or Tiger Shroff who are extremely amazing dancers. But I don't think it is about being a perfect dancer, it is about how you enjoy the song. Even my brother is not a good dancer, but when he does the steps, people enjoy seeing him and the same thing goes for my dad, even though he is not a great dancer but whenever he dances people go crazy looking at him. So it's all about enjoying it," Bobby told ETimes. In the same interview, Bobby also opened up about his signature long hair and said, "All my co-stars loved my curly hair. I always wanted straight hair but everybody loved my curly hair and complimented me for my look. People would think only Bobby Deol could carry long hair. My image is such that it just looked best on me." With respect to Bobby Deol's upcoming projects, the actor will next be seen in Anil Sharma's Apne 2 and Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal. ALSO READ: Bobby Deol To Play A Negative Character In Ranbir Kapoor And Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Next? ALSO READ: Bobby Deol Says He Became Alcoholic During His Darkest Phase; 'My Family Looked At Me With Sadness' Benedict Cumberbatch plays an unassuming businessman swept into a MI6 mission in upcoming true-life spy thriller The Courier. And the first trailer for the film dropped on Wednesday, teasing drama aplenty. Co-starring Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, and Jessie Buckley, and directed by Dominic Cooke, the film sees unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Thriller: Benedict Cumberbatch plays an unassuming businessman swept into a MI6 mission in upcoming true-life spy thriller The Courier At the behest of the UK's MI6 and a CIA operative (Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. 'I can't believe I'm having lunch with spies!' Greville says in the trailer. 'I'm just a salesman! What do you want me to do?' Concerned about danger, the spies he lunches with assure him: 'If this mission were the least bit dangerous, you really are the last man we'd send!' Sent off to Moscow, he is told to assume everyone he meets is KGB. Secret service: The first trailer for the film dropped on Wednesday, teasing drama aplenty Cast: Co-starring Merab Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, and Jessie Buckley, and directed by Dominic Cooke, the film sees unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history Stay! He is sent to-and-fro to Russia, his wife begging him not to go back He is told to 'sell the idea' that he is 'nothing more than an ordinary businessman' - yet is seen undergoing clandestine missions in dark streets and being watched by suspicious-looking characters. 'What happens if I get caught?' he is seen asking. 'I get executed, correct?' He is seen back home again, clearly having to to-and-fro to Russia, his wife begging him not to go back. Mission: He is told to 'sell the idea' that he is 'nothing more than an ordinary businessman' - yet is seen undergoing clandestine missions in dark streets and being watched by suspicious-looking characters True story: The film is based on the true story of Wynne and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky Double agent: Penkovsky was codenamed Ironbark, which is an alternative name for movie. His crucial intelligence ended the Cuban Missile Crisis Yet back he goes - vowing to bring back Soviet intelligence 'at a time where Russia and America are on the brink of nuclear war!' In thrilling scenes, he's then seen with a sack put over his head - suggesting he indeed gets caught at one stage. The film is based on the true story of Wynne and his Russian source, Oleg Penkovsky. Secrets and spies: At the behest of the UK's MI6 and a CIA operative (Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership Watch your back: Sent off to Moscow, he is told to assume everyone he meets is KGB Coming soon: The Courier is scheduled to be released on 19 March 2021 Penkovsky was codenamed Ironbark, which is an alternative name for movie. His crucial intelligence ended the Cuban Missile Crisis. Penkovsky was engaged in selling arms and weapons secrets to British intelligence during the Cold War and he and Wynne struck up a bond after Wynne's mission was uncovered. Wynne was captured but eventually released in a deal that saw him exchanged for the spy Gordon Lonsdale in 1964. Penkovsky was caught and faced death by firing squad but died ahead of this. It's thought he killed himself in prison before the execution could take place. The Courier had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival Sundance Film Festival on 24 January 2020, and is scheduled to be released in the United States and United Kingdom on 19 March 2021. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Mounties in Prince George are asking witnesses who filmed a car flying over a fence in College Heights to come forward. In a widely shared video on social media, which has since been taken down, showed a dark four-door sedan driving through a strip mall parking lot at high speeds, using a raised surface to clear a fence and into the ball diamonds by College Heights Secondary School. The vehicle is then seen leaving the school fields. RCMP spokesperson Cst. Jennifer Cooper says police are asking the person who filmed the video and the car's driver to come forward with their information. This was a dangerous stunt that put the lives of those in the area at risk," she said. "It occurred during the day at what appears to be peak shopping hours for the strip mall. Additionally, children frequently use that hill for sledding. We are making a plea to the public, and particularly the driver of the vehicle, to come forward with what they know." Police are asking anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage that shows the incident to contact Prince George RCMP at 250-561-3300. POTTSVILLE Joseph J. Kriner will spend at least seven years in prison, more than a decade on probation and the rest of his life subject to Megans Law sanctions after a Schuylkill County judge sentenced him Tuesday for what prosecutors said was his sexual contact with a young girl in 2015. Kriner, 43, of Minersville, pleaded no contest to sexual assault, indecent assault, corruption of minors, indecent exposure and endangering the welfare of children. Prosecutors withdrew four counts of rape of a child and one of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. President Judge William E. Baldwin accepted Kriners plea and, pursuant to an agreement between prosecutors and the defendant, sentenced Kriner to spend seven to 14 years in a state correctional institution, plus 11 additional years on probation, pay costs and $50 to the Criminal Justice Enhancement Account, have no contact with the victim and submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities. Additionally, Baldwin imposed lifetime Megans Law sanctions on Kriner. Ive spoken with both the victims mother and the arresting trooper about the sentence, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer N. Foose said. They are in agreement with this. State police at Schuylkill Haven alleged that between May 1 and Sept. 30, 2015, Kriner had sexual contact several times with a 4-year-old girl in a trailer on Market Street in West Brunswick Township. Police said the girl tried to escape Kriners clutches but failed. Once in the trailers living room, Kriner put on a video of child pornography and had sexual contact with the girl while it was playing, according to police. On another occasion, Kriner forced the girl to have sexual contact with him in the living room, police said. He also took a nude photograph of her, police said. During the 25-minute hearing, Kriner said little except that he understood the terms and consequences of his plea and was entering it knowingly and voluntarily. By pleading no contest, Kriner did not admit committing the crimes, but offered no defense to the charges, acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and agreed to be sentenced as if he had pleaded or been found guilty. The Megans Law sanctions to which Kriner will be subject once he leaves prison require him to provide his name, address, Social Security number, telephone numbers, photograph, employment, any schools he might attend, registration of any vehicles he owns and other information to the Pennsylvania State Police for the rest of his life. Any violation of the sanctions would be an additional crime and subject Kriner to another prosecution. Kriner already is an inmate at the county prison, and Baldwin conducted Tuesdays hearing by videoconference. The victim and members of her family did not attend the hearing. New Delhi: A day after violence during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday to repeal, what he claimed were, "anti-agriculture" laws. Taking to Twitter, he also shared a quote by Mahatma Gandhi -- "In a gentle way, you can shake the world." ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? -??????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ?? ???? ?? ?? ????? ????-?????? ?????? ???? ??? ????? Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 27, 2021 "Once again, I appeal to the Modi government that the anti-agriculture laws be taken back immediately," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. His appeal to the government came a day after tens of thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital as their tractor parade to highlight their demand of repealing the laws dissolved into unprecedented scenes of anarchy. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Alarmed at the spread of illegal software licenses, movies, games and porn content by users on Google Drive, the company on Wednesday said it takes such issues very seriously and take appropriate action when find such content that violates its policies. IANS had reported that pirates of the Internet are freely storing and sharing illegal software licenses, movies, games and porn content and most of which have allegedly been indexed in Google Search as some Drive users made such links public in their individual accounts. A Google spokesperson told IANS that "Drive has clear policies that prohibit the distribution of content that contains malware, copyrighted and sexually-explicit material". "We take these issues very seriously. When content violates our Abuse Programme Policies, we take appropriate action," the spokesperson added. According to independent cyber security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia, thousands of such explicit and illegal content is being circulated via Google Drive, in zipped compressed files. "Apart from thousands of porn videos, at least 25,000-30,000 links are likely sharing illegal content like malware, software, movies, games and what not. One can search such links in Google Drive at ease. Just do a search and download at will," Rajaharia had told IANS, while sharing several such screenshots. Google Drive is a file storage and synchronisation service that allows users to store files on their servers, synchronise files across devices, and share files. The Google Drive users must be aware of their actions. "They should not make pirated movies and other content public on Google Drive as this will lead to indexing on Search. They must keep their content private or share links with people they know and trust," Rajaharia emphasised. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani locked horns with his powerful hard-line rivals by throwing his full weight behind young Minister of Information and Communications Technology Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, who has been pushing fundamental internet development projects. Jahromi was summoned last week by a Tehran court for an investigation into a host of accusations, including his failure to implement judicial orders on banning the social media platform, Instagram. Jahromi was released only after committing himself to attending the next stages of the proceedings. Addressing a Cabinet meeting in Tehran on Jan. 27, Rouhani fiercely criticized the judiciary over the case. Nobody should be put to trial over expanding the internet bandwidth, Rouhani said. He even challenged the judiciary by declaring that if there was anyone to be investigated, it would be the president, who issued the directive on the bandwidth improvement. Rouhani did not detail the technical aspects of the project, but he praised his young minister for the great job that he said will help in such areas as customs controls, thus boosting the fight against corruption. In 2018, Jahromi blew the whistle on powerful financial empires who had allegedly pocketed millions of dollars by misusing government subsidies granted to cell phone imports. Ever since, the minister has been attempting to project the image of an avant-garde, anti-corruption hero. His relentless support to help open up space on Irans typically restricted social media has also kept him under the spotlight. The list of filtered platforms in Iran currently includes Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The latest addition is the messaging app Signal, which became unavailable to users inside Iran on Monday. While admitting that he holds nearly no authority to lift those bans, Jahromi has managed to keep Instagram up and running. But in that struggle, the minister has been relentlessly chased by the prosecutor-general. And to Jahromis dismay, the conservative parliament is also in the middle of an intense attempt to pass legislation on banning Instagram, which hosts nearly half of the countrys population. The partisan nature of the tug of war over Irans internet management was highlighted by government spokesman Ali Rabiee, who described the ministers brief interrogation as not simply a judicial or administrative process. Rabiee suggested that the decision was rooted in the judiciarys political rifts with the administration regarding governance, religion and culture. He also warned that a ban on Instagram would result in an exodus of more than 1 million people who are earning a living through small businesses on the platform. Advertisement These newborn lambs - dubbed 'the world's cutest sheep' - are already worth a small fortune. Thanks to their rarity and adorable looks they are in demand as pets. Chris Slee and Tom Hooper rear the breed - originally from Switzerland - in Devon and they can sell for up to 10,000 for exceptional rams. Their distinctive markings of black faces with black knees, spiralling horns and a long white fleece has earned them the reputation of the world's cutest sheep. There are only a few thousand of them in Britain and Switzerland has banned their export so any increase must come purely from breeding. Chris Slee and Tom Hooper rear the breed - originally from Switzerland - in Devon and they can sell for up to 10,000 for exceptional rams Their distinctive markings of black faces with black knees, spiralling horns and a long white fleece has earned them the reputation of the world's cutest sheep There are only a few thousand of them in Britain and Switzerland has banned their export so any increase must come purely from breeding The Valais blacknose are seldom seen outside Switzerland, where they are often referred to as the world's cutest sheep. The country, which banned exports six years ago, rear the sheep for wool as well as meat. In the UK, where there are thought to be only a few thousand and they are kept as pets, for breeding and for showing. Mr Slee and Mr Hooper have been raising Valais blacknose at Halsbury Barton, near Bideford, since 2016, when they invested in some embryos from Scotland. The Valais blacknose are seldom seen outside Switzerland, where they are often referred to as the world's cutest sheep The country, which banned exports six years ago, rear the sheep for wool as well as meat. In the UK, where there are thought to be only a few thousand and they are kept as pets, for breeding and for showing Mr Slee and Mr Hooper have been raising Valais blacknose at Halsbury Barton, near Bideford, since 2016, when they invested in some embryos from Scotland Mr Hooper, a former City economist, previously said of the breed: 'It's a fairly straightforward case of supply and demand. 'The supply is limited as the Swiss have prevented further exports so the ones we have in the country, which would only be a few thousand, cannot be added to by imports and it is not a particularly quick process to add naturally to a flock by breeding. 'On the other side of the equation, there's a lot of demand they look great and are fairly docile so make ideal pets for those with a bit of land who want a pretty, but expensive, lawnmower.' Mr Slee, whose family have farmed in north Devon for more than a century, previously added: 'The prices are a bit crazy but seem to be going up for the good quality stock. Mr Hooper, a former City economist, previously said of the breed: 'It's a fairly straightforward case of supply and demand' Mr Slee, whose family have farmed in north Devon for more than a century, previously added: 'The prices are a bit crazy but seem to be going up for the good quality stock' He added: 'We got interested in them a few years ago after going to Holsworthy market and seeing sheep go through the ring for thousands of pounds' 'We got interested in them a few years ago after going to Holsworthy market and seeing sheep go through the ring for thousands of pounds. 'I couldn't believe it Holsworthy is a small town in north Devon and I have kept sheep my whole life and never seen anything like it. 'On my family farm we have about 400 commercial sheep and my sister and I breed and show Jacob sheep. But we are always being told by the Government to diversify, so Tom and I took a punt and bought some of these Valais. 'It has worked out well so far but lambing time can be a bit more stressful as these little lambs are worth 30 or 40 times the values of normal sheep.' A new set of proposals by a group of influential D.C. insiders and tech industry practitioners calling for a degree of "bifurcation" in the U.S. and Chinese tech sectors is circulating in the Biden administration. Axios has obtained a copy. Why it matters: The idea of "decoupling" certain sectors of the U.S. and Chinese economies felt radical three years ago, when Trump's trade war brought the term into common parlance. But now the strategy has growing bipartisan and even industry support. The report, called "Asymmetric Competition: A Strategy for China & Technology," was authored by an informal working group formed last summer with 15 participants writing in their private capacities, including: Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and technical adviser at Alphabet, and co-founder of Schmidt Futures. (Google exited China in 2010 while Schmidt was CEO). Jared Cohen, CEO of Jigsaw, a tech incubator created by Google, and former adviser to Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Richard Fontaine, the CEO of the Center for a New American Security, whose co-founder Kurt Campbell now occupies a top position on Biden's National Security Council. Liz Economy, China scholar at the Council on Foreign Relations and Stanford University's Hoover Institution. Alexandr Wang, CEO and founder at Scale AI. Marissa Giustina, a quantum electronic engineer at Google. What they're saying: "Americas technological leadership is fundamental to its security, prosperity, and democratic way of life. But this vital advantage is now at risk, with China surging to overtake the United States in critical areas," the authors write. The report "advances policies that position the United States to out-compete China without inviting escalatory cycles of confrontation, retaliation, or unintended conflict." The nature of the challenge, according to the report: The competition is "asymmetric," meaning "China plays by a different set of rules that allow it to benefit from corporate espionage, illiberal surveillance, and a blurry line between its public and private sector." meaning "China plays by a different set of rules that allow it to benefit from corporate espionage, illiberal surveillance, and a blurry line between its public and private sector." We're heading towards separate tech spheres. "Some degree of disentangling is both inevitable and preferable," the authors write. "In fact, trends in both countries and many of the tools at our disposal inherently and necessarily push toward some degree of bifurcation." That's because the alternative to bifurcation is a world in which China's non-democratic norms have "won." "Some degree of disentangling is both inevitable and preferable," the authors write. "In fact, trends in both countries and many of the tools at our disposal inherently and necessarily push toward some degree of bifurcation." That's because the alternative to bifurcation is a world in which China's non-democratic norms have "won." There will be trade-offs, such as between "creating risk-tolerant research environments that encourage innovation versus security/espionage risks." Their proposed solutions: The creation of a national tech analysis and forecasting center. Building more resilient supply chains by investing in domestic infrastructure and "ally-centric production." Improving education and reducing immigration bottlenecks to ensure a strong supply of highly skilled labor. A government redesign across the executive branch to guide a "new era of technological statecraft." New multilateral initiatives, including an alliance of democracies called the "T-12" to coordinate responses to tech competition, an "International Technology Finance Corporation," and the creation of "multilateral trust zones" where integration can be safely achieved. What to watch: Whether or not the proposal gets traction in the Biden administration, its emphasis on multilateralism fits with the administration's goals and priorities. Editor's note: This story was updated to reflect that the report's authors were writing in their private capacities and that Eric Schmidt is also a co-founder of Schmidt Futures. Go deeper: While filming the reality series Deaf U, Rodney Burford wasnt too focused on any effect he and his cochlear implants would have on viewers. In my own mind I was like, Yo, Im really on Netflix, said the 22-year-old cast member of the show, which zooms in on a group of students at Gallaudet University, the nations only liberal arts university devoted to deaf people. Things changed after the show debuted last fall. Parents of cochlear-implant users started reaching out to say how seeing Burford on the screen had made an impact on their children. So I would say, no question, Im proud, he said in an interview. I am very proud. Many deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals have welcomed the increase in visibility that deafness and hearing loss have enjoyed on TV lately. The current season of The Bachelor, on ABC, features Abigail Heringer, who is believed to be the first deaf contestant and cochlear-implant wearer on the show; the actress Angel Theory, who is hard of hearing, currently stars on Kinderfanger on Facebook Watch and plays Kelly, a character with hearing loss, on AMCs The Walking Dead; and Disney+ has announced that a Hawkeye series in development would feature a deaf Native American actress, Alaqua Cox, as Echo, a deaf Native American superhero. Jeo Baby talks about gender inequality in the kitchen, and how his own experiences moulded the story of The Great Indian Kitchen. Ten minutes into the conversation with Jeo Baby and I am completely floored. He is talking in detail about the time he spends in the kitchen, about the endless process of making a meal, cleaning and tidying, feeding children, about avoiding dinner invitations by friends, simply at the thought of women slaving in the kitchens and advising nieces about the patriarchal traps awaiting them in a marriage and I feel like I am talking to a woman friend or as if I am hearing excerpts from a conversation I had with a woman friend. It's uncanny how deeply and profoundly this man has understood and empathised with women. What you are hearing is not a pretentious, pedantic observation of a newly baptized woke man, but that of someone who has lived and experienced the drudgery of domesticity, like a woman. By choice, of course. Thats exactly why he was able to make a film like The Great Indian Kitchen with such nuance. And why a large number of women are writing heartfelt essays about the film which they feel are a mirror to their lives. The film is about Indian families' worst kept secret that has also kept it alive for centuries. The amount of unrewarded physical labour undertaken by a woman to keep the household together and the thankless 24/7 slogging she has been assigned to by men in the family with the sole purpose of serving them. It talks about patriarchy, male entitlement and the manipulative social structure called marriages. Currently the most discussed film on social media, Director Jeo Baby talks at length about his fourth film, after Randu Penkuttikal, the critically acclaimed Kunju Deivam and Kilometres and Kilometres. You said the motivation was your own experience. That, Nimisha Sajayans difficulties were something you had experienced in the kitchen. How did it evolve into this story of everyday women? When I made the decision to share the kitchen responsibilities with my wife, I wasnt aware of the rocky path ahead. That was an eye-openercooking, cleaning, taking care of children and it had come to a stage when I was dreading the prospect of having to do this all my life. That made me think of the women who were trapped in these kitchens. At least I have the option to make excuses and walk out and no one would question me because of my gender. When I told my wife about making a film on this, she told me a lot of things, as did my sister and other female friends. I think what has been said in the film should be only a fraction of what they have endured in real life. I am in awe of women. What did they tell you were some of the most common gripes? It was the time when they retire for the night and are often required to agree for sex even when they are bone tired with smelly hands and their mind already on next days work. I remember not being able to write and constantly thinking about the dust around me. Only women can multitask. I remember feeling angry at my own kids for messing the house. Men usually never think about such things. When we get invited for dinner, I would be more concerned about the workload of the women and try to avoid it. Be it women staying at home or office, the load remains the same. What was the other homework you did? I started reading writings by women and often got such overwhelming stories that further inspired me. In fact, my wife thought I had turned into a woman and only kept talking about them. I remember getting into an argument with one of my associates for marrying as he wanted someone to take care of his mother. I advised him to get a home nurse instead. Even between me and my wife, we would often talk about the lack of freedom since marriage, despite all that progressiveness. There is a segment in Adaminte Variyellu. Did that inspire? Interestingly I saw KG Georges Adaminte Variyellu 20 days before the shoot. I was watching Ee Kanni Koodi and was blown away. Till then I was only aware of his Panchavadi Palam and Yavanika. I followed it up with Irakal, Mattoral and Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback. While Adaminte Variyellu, we realized that he had already done a lot of things we were planning to incorporate. For example, Suhasinis kitchen was shown in a long take and we were planning that. There are lives of three women in that and even our cinema was that. Nimishas life was the core but in between we thought of peeking into other homesher friends (a govt office) and a teacher (her kitchen). But after this we were wondering if we should do a film at all. In a way it is good that we saw the film or would have been accused of being like the film. First draft had a shot of Nimisha in the mental asylum after her outburst. Having said that I know my film only stands below KG George. Sreevidya is advised to go back to her husbands home and thats what Nimishas mom tells her. We are not moving away from Nimisha. The detailing around the kitchen came through our observations and detailing and thats perhaps what women found very touching. Were the actors difficult to convince? Initially, Suraj Venjaramoodu and Nimisha Sajayan werent on my mind. 15 days before the shoot it was my producer who advised me to speak to Suraj. When I detailed the scenes, he was curious to know if his character changes in the end. I explained my reasons and he asked for a few days and then agreed. I think he was being socially responsible. I am told he has contributed to the scenes Surajs character is very gentle and I even told him he can be aggressive in that scene where he pushes her when falls from the scooter and the one where he tells her not to apply for a job. But he was very subtle and that was very effective. Dialogues weren't written for any scene. My mind had certain key dialogues and the actor's contribution is there. That first night scene where he asks whether he can switch off the lights was his suggestion. Suraj would suggest dialogues for co-actors too. He prepares a lot, questions a lot about the characters and took a lot of time to dub for the character. The whole unit was an excellent creative exchange of ideas. And Nimisha? She only wanted the scene order correctly and complied to how we wanted her character to perform. She cooks at home and some of the stuff in the kitchen was made by her. She is a switch on and switch off actor. Different acting processes but both produce the same effect. A few felt the menstruation portions were a bit stretched from reality. My wife is a Hindu and I am a Christian. When I visited my wifes house, they would talk about inauspicious days. I have seen this young Engineer who wont pluck curry leaves or Tulsi leaves on inauspicious days. Women who arent very religious find this Sabarimala restrictions rather harrowing. They cant even see their husbands. And its a practice even today. I think it wasnt present in Nuclear families simply because the men didnt want to make food and therefore kept these rigid rules aside. You said women were emotional lovers while men go after physical love I think women arent loved enough by their men. Its when they are emotionally ignored that they get into extra-marital affairs and look for the same emotional solace, unlike men who look for sex. I know a lot of women who have gone through this emotional trauma. I am told initially you had planned to keep a Muslim backdrop We did a few discussions. But the menstruation taboo is not there in Christian or Muslim households. We wanted to tell a story which covered a lot of womens issues. Thats why we shifted to the Hindu household. Having said that a lot of Muslim women have asked us to make a film about them. About early marriage, pregnancy, elaborate feasting. Men largely are disturbed by this film Yes, men are overwrought with guilt and its the social media ire which is forcing many to write flattering things about the film. Though I have read posts where men have openly expressed their guilt. I kept wondering her plight if she got pregnant That was deliberately avoided. Just the thought of her character going through it suffocated me. And the celluloid women who inspired you? All I can think of are all the KG George celluloid women. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-26 19:05:32|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Tunisian Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi speaks during a plenary session of the Tunisian parliament for the vote of confidence in Tunis, Tunisia, Jan. 26, 2021. Tunisia's Assembly of People's Representatives, or parliament, on Tuesday began a plenary session for the vote of confidence in new ministers proposed by the head of government Hichem Mechichi. (Photo by Adel Ezzine/Xinhua) TUNIS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's Assembly of People's Representatives, or parliament, on Tuesday began a plenary session for the vote of confidence in new ministers proposed by the head of government Hichem Mechichi. Amid tight security measures, the plenary session was chaired by Rached Ghannouchi, speaker of the parliament, in the presence of 165 deputies out of 217. On Jan. 16, Mechichi announced a cabinet reshuffle, the first since his government obtained the confidence of the parliament on Sept. 2, 2020. In a recent statement, Mechichi said "the objective of this reshuffle which included 11 ministerial portfolio, is to have more efficiency in the performance of the government." Enditem BOSTON, Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New England College of Optometry (NECO) announced today the receipt of a grant from the The Coca-Cola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company, that will fund a new diversity and inclusion scholarship. Beatriz Perez, Chair and President of The Coca-Cola Foundation states, "The Coca-Cola Foundation is committed to empowering communities, including a strong focus on education. We are pleased to provide new support to enable minority and students with disabilities to pursue advanced studies in optometry." "We thank The Coca-Cola Foundation for this generous grant and for recognizing the importance of increasing diversity in the field of optometry," states Angela Abraham, OD, Diversity and Inclusion Liaison. "Optometry is a fulfilling profession that is much in demand as eye health needs continue to increase." This is the third such diversity and inclusion scholarship established at NECO in the past few months. In addition to The Coca-Cola Foundation Scholarship, Warby Parker gifted a scholarship to be awarded to two Black scholars that covers tuition for the College's four-year doctor of optometry program. NECO alum Dr. Alan Glazier gifted scholarship funds with the goal to increase Black and underrepresented minority participation in the field of optometry. The grant also furthers NECO's organization-wide program for diversity and inclusion. "A scholarship is one aspect of a larger effort to attract individuals to optometry school who may otherwise not have considered it," states Janet LaBreck, member of the NECO Board of Trustees. For details on NECO scholarships, reach out to [email protected]. About The Coca-Cola Foundation The Coca-Cola Foundation is the global philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company. Since its inception in 1984, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 billion in grants to support sustainable community initiatives around the world. For more information about The Coca-Cola Foundation, link here. About New England College of Optometry New England College of Optometry is an optometry school that prepares the next generation of eye care providers, educators, and innovators through a rigorous curriculum and extensive clinical experiences. NECO graduates compassionate and skilled optometrists prepared to practice in diverse settings. More at neco.edu. SOURCE The New England College of Optometry Almost a year after Jarrod Woodgate went public with his girlfriend, Sam Royce, fans are now speculating about whether they're engaged. Rumours emerged after the 34-year-old former Bachelor in Paradise star recently enjoyed a romantic trip to Uluru. During their tour of the Northern Territory, the vineyard manager shared gorgeous photographs of himself and his girlfriend enjoying a getaway for the past few days. So romantic: Almost a year after Jarrod Woodgate went public with his girlfriend, Sam Royce, fans are now speculating about whether they're engaged On Monday, he uploaded a photo of himself and his girlfriend enjoying a sunset picnic in front of the sacred site. Eagle-eyed fans were quick to comment on the post, with many suggesting it looked like the perfect opportunity for Jarrod to propose to his blonde bombshell girlfriend. 'Perfect spot to produce a ring,' one fan hinted, while a second commented, 'I feel there will be a proposal happening!' 'Get married! What a gorgeous couple you are. I love watching your relationship. Jarrod, so glad you found someone like Sam, genuine and beautiful inside and out. You deserve that,' added another. In the outback: Rumours emerged after the 34-year-old former Bachelor in Paradise star recently enjoyed a romantic trip to Uluru Propose already: Eagle-eyed fans were quick to comment on the post, with many suggesting it looked like the perfect opportunity for Jarrod to propose to his blonde bombshell girlfriend Fellow reality star Renee Barrett, who appeared on season three of Bachelor in Paradise, also chimed in, writing: 'Propose already!' Her comment racked up more than 100 likes, with many of Jarrod's fans agreeing with her. 'If he doesn't put a ring on her soon and lock it down, Australia will be heartbroken... they are the national treasure couple,' commented one person. Love and light: Earlier in the day, Jarrod shared a photo of the couple posing at the Field of Lights, which is an illuminated art instillation created by British artist Bruce Munro Earlier in the day, Jarrod shared a photo of the couple posing at the Field of Lights, which is an illuminated art instillation created by British artist Bruce Munro. He also shared a picture of the couple toasting with two champagne glasses in hand. 'One of the most romantic nights of my life. What an amazing start to our Central Australia holiday - not sure how we'll top this!' he wrote. WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are preparing to push ahead quickly on President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package even if it means using procedural tools to pass the legislation on their own, leaving Republicans behind. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., left, speaks during a news conference with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., right, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats are preparing to push ahead quickly on President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package even if it means using procedural tools to pass the legislation on their own, leaving Republicans behind. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told senators to be ready to vote as soon as next week on a budget reconciliation package that would lay the groundwork for swift passage. Coming so soon in Biden's administration, the action provides a first test of Republican opposition to the White House priorities as well as to the new president's promise of a "unity" agenda. "The work must move forward, preferably with our Republican colleagues, but without them if we must," Schumer said after a private meeting of Democratic senators. "Time is of the essence to address this crisis. We're keeping all options open on the table." Unwilling to wait for Republicans who argue Biden's price tag is too high and his priorities too wide-ranging, Democrats are flexing their newfound power as they take control of the Senate alongside the House and White House. It is the first time in a decade the party has held the full sweep of power in Washington, and Democrats say they have no time to waste trying to broker compromises with Republicans that may, or may not, happen. They have watched Republicans use similar procedural tools to advance their priorities, most recently the Trump administrations GOP tax cuts. The fast-moving events days into the new majority on Capitol Hill come as the White House continued meeting privately with groups of Republican and Democratic lawmakers in hopes of striking a bipartisan agreement. Biden's COVID-19 aid package includes money for vaccine distribution, school reopenings and $1,400 direct payments to households and gradually boosts the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. The next steps remain highly fluid. The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus of more than 50 House lawmakers had a "productive meeting and constructive conversation" Tuesday with top administration officials on the virus aid and economic recovery package, according to a statement from Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., and Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., who co-chair the group. A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the virtual conversation with the caucus, said there was agreement on the scope of the challenges facing the country and the need for additional relief. Biden and other members of his team intend to continue making their case to lawmakers about the need to act with urgency. Separately, the dozen senators who emerged from a lengthy private meeting with the White House on Sunday evening are talking on their own about trying to craft a more targeted bill. The bipartisan group of senators assembled privately again Monday evening. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier Tuesday that Biden is still looking to negotiate on an aid package, while emphasizing that several components of the existing aid will lapse in March. "He laid out his big package, his big vision of what it should look like, and people are giving their feedback," Psaki said. "Hes happy to have those discussions and fully expects its not going to look exactly the same on the other end." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who led a bipartisan effort for the last $900 billion relief package, is working again with the senators on crafting an alternative package that she has said would be more focused on money for vaccine distribution and tailored economic assistance to the neediest Americans. Collins said Tuesday that the White House made good on its commitment to deliver a more detailed accounting of the proposed expenditure. But she said the group is still waiting for data on how much funding remains unallocated from past relief measures that, by her tally, totals a whopping $1.8 trillion still unspent. Congress has approved some $4 trillion in emergency aid since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, a stunning outlay and the largest rescue package in the nation's history. Senators from both parties who joined the White House call over the weekend agreed the priority needs to be standing up the country's faltering vaccine distribution system. With the death toll climbing, and new strains of the virus threatening more trouble ahead, ensuring vaccinations appears to be crucial to stemming the COVID-19 crisis. Several senators from both parties also said they want the $1,400 direct checks to be more targeted to those in need. They also want an accounting of what remains from previously approved aid bills. But Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont and the incoming Budget Committee chair, said he is already working on the budget package for next week and expanding it to include Biden's proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour over five years. Raising the wage is a long-running Democratic priority that would essentially double the current $7.25 hourly wage set the last time the party was in control in the Obama administration. Advocates say the pay raise would boost millions of full-time workers from poverty. "There is a consensus," Sanders told reporters at the Capitol. "If Republicans are not prepared to come on board, thats fine. Were not going to wait. Were going forward soon and aggressively." Hollyoaks star Sarah Jayne Dunn has revealed that Mandy Richardson will 'split the audience' in the coming weeks as she desperately tries to protect her daughter Ella from being thrown behind bars. In an exclusive interview with MailOnline the actress, 39, said that as a parent herself she sympathised with her character's decision to keep quiet after learning the teen killed drug dealer Jordan Price on New Year's Eve, Sarah also hinted that Mandy's history with Luke Morgan could be one of the reasons why she's willing to blackmail him into keeping Ella's involvement a secret. EXCLUSIVE: Hollyoaks' Sarah Jayne Dunn has revealed that Mandy Richardson will 'split the audience' as she desperately tries to protect her daughter Ella from being thrown behind bars Earlier this month Mandy was stunned to learn that Ella (played by Erin Palmer) was responsible for Jordan's death after she stabbed him during a tense confrontation. The scenes came following a year-long storyline on the damaging effects of County Lines drug dealing, and featured some of the soap's younger cast in their most hard-hitting scenes to date. Sarah told MailOnline that Mandy will grow increasingly desperate to hide Ella's involvement in the crime, and as a mum herself to son Stanley, four, she understands why her character is willing to take such drastic action. Explosive: The actress said that as a parent herself she sympathised with her character's decision to keep quiet after learning the teen killed drug dealer Jordan Price on New Year's Eve She said: 'It's shown a completely different side to the character, I mean she's gone to lengths that I didn't even know she was capable of. 'I wouldn't say I was surprised as I know how much she cares about her daughter and how much she wouldn't want to lose her and she's been through that before and the thought of losing her again is just too much to bear. 'I was surprised at how much she would go out of her way and be deceitful and conniving to do so, but the way that it's worked as a character is she's desperate it's all come from a desperate situation. 'She doesn't know what else to do and as much as she doesn't want to hurt anyone else, she doesn't want Charlie to be where he is, she's in this position that she doesn't know what else to do and she's going to lengths that I don't think she ever thought she'd go to. 'She is a caring person and she loves all the people that she's ultimately betraying and hurting, and I think it is coming from a place of sheer desperation and not knowing what else to do or any other way out.' Shocking: In recent days viewers have seen Mandy resort to blackmailing ex Luke (played by Gary Lucy) to force him to keep quiet about Ella's involvement in Jordan's death Sarah went onto reveal that Mandy's decision to protect Ella has already divided fans of the soap. She continued: 'It's been really split, and I think that's what been really nice about this storyline when I was discussing it with the producers is that it will make the audience question how far they will go for their children. 'I guess, I'm a mother, and until you're in a situation where you're a desperate as Mandy you don't know what lengths you would go to, your maternal instinct kicks in and of course you would die for your children, you'd do anything to protect them. 'I think it's really torn the audience, I've had lots of people saying ''I can't believe Mandy's doing this'' and ''this is going to ruin her relationshi'p' and on the flip side Mandy's protecting Ella and I really feel for her because what else can she do and you can see the desperation there. 'It's been a talking point and I think it will continue to be a talking point for a while yet while people see what lengths she does go to.' Divisive: Sarah went onto reveal that Mandy's decision to protect Ella to prevent her from going to prison has already divided fans of the soap In recent days viewers have seen Mandy resort to blackmailing ex Luke (played by Gary Lucy) to force him to keep quiet about Ella's involvement in Jordan's death, by vowing to tell police about his Ollie stealing money to buy drugs. She said: 'She knows Luke so well she knows how to push his buttons and how to manipulate him really. 'She knows he still cares for her, and I think that is the thing she's really playing on in all of this, is she's actually taken a massive risk, she's opened up to him because they're close and she couldn't keep it him any longer, and she's panicked and is thinking ''how can I work Luke to make this remain a secret?'' Despite the government's third COVID-19 lockdown, and rival soaps being forced to suspend filming due to coronavirus outbreaks, Hollyoaks has continued to film with strict social distancing guidelines. Difficult: The soap star admitted that despite being proud to tackle such a moving storyline, it's proven difficult to film the scenes while maintaining the distances. Sarah admitted that despite being proud to tackle such a moving storyline, it's proven difficult to film the scenes while maintaining the distances. 'What I've found really challenging about this storyline is that we can't have any physical contact and we have to keep a two metre distance and that's been a real challenge, because maternally all I've wanted to do is envelope Ella and cuddle her and protect her and I've not been able to do that, so it's been areal challenge.' 'But it's been a good thing because it's made us think outside the box, there's been camera trickery to make us look closer together. 'Erin's mum bless has been my hand double a couple of times, putting her hand on a should and stroking her hair so there's some physical contact, as long as we can keep telling the story. I think it gives another dynamic to Mandy in that, there's this desperation.' 'It is different because were a very tactile industry, we love a hug so its just taking away our natural instincts, but Im still grateful to get to be around other people on a daily basis when Im at work, coming home to my husband whos working from home and hasnt seen anyone else. 'At least were still getting or social interaction and thats made a massive difference to when we werent able to work.' Hollyoaks airs weekdays at 6:30pm on Channel 4. A first look episode airs at 7pm on E4. A day after some protesting farmers hoisted a pennant at the Red Fort, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) - the Congress' student wing - on Wednesday demanded registration of a case against Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu over the violence in Delhi. NSUI General Secretary Nagesh Kariyappa and NSUI National Secretary Hussain Sultania filed a complaint with Delhi Police Commissioner S.N. Shrivastava and demanded appropriate action against Sidhu. They also wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding action against Sidhu. In their complaint to the police commissioner, Kariyappa said it was wrong and shameful to carry out such a well-planned conspiracy by "anti-social elements" like Sidhu. "Such incidents send the wrong message in the country and society. Therefore, the administration should take appropriate action on this and prevent such incidents from happening in future, so that India's democratic system remains intact," Kariyappa said. He said that for the last two months the farmers were protesting peacefully on the outskirts of the national capital. He also emphasised that despite 11 round of meetings remaining inconclusive with the government, the farmer protests remained largely peaceful. Kariyappa alleged, "Deep Sidhu campaigned for BJP's Sunny Deol in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The incident which happened yesterday at Red Fort is a conspiracy planned by the BJP government to disrupt the farmers' protest." He also said that entering a place like Red Fort with such high security is not a joke and that too on Republic Day. He also accused the government of playing with the sentiments of the nation and trying all "dirty means" to end the farmers' protests. Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Kryklii expects that the Common Aviation Area Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will be signed in the near future. Kryklii made a corresponding statement at a working meeting with Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Matti Maasikas, Ukrinform reports with reference to the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure. "The Minister of Infrastructure also expressed hope that the Common Aviation Area Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union will be signed in the near future. Ukraine counts on EUs support in this matter," reads the statement. In addition, the parties discussed the liberalization of international road transportation between Ukraine and the EU. Kryklii thanked the European side for its readiness for this dialogue and suggested setting up a separate working group with EU representatives to work on this issue. The minister also shared the plans and initiatives in the implementation of the European Green Deal. The parties also discussed the progress of implementation of EU legislation in the field of transport, as well as further cooperation in various infrastructure areas. Kryklii thanked the European side for its support and informed about the Ministrys progress in fulfilling Ukraines European integration commitments. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the fulfillment of Ukraines obligations under the Association Agreement in the field of transport increased from 19% in 2019 to 34% in 2020. The development of Ukraine's inland waterway transport was also discussed during the meeting. The Ministry has already begun to draft relevant regulations to ensure the implementation of the law on inland waterway transport adopted in December last year, Kryklii noted. According to him, the inclusion of Ukraine's inland waterways in the TEN-T regional network, which opens up opportunities to encourage investment in the development of river infrastructure, remains relevant for the Ukrainian side. Therefore, Ukraine expects active cooperation in this area. As reported, following the results of the 22nd EU-Ukraine Summit in October last year, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that the Common Aviation Area Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union could be signed in 2021. ol AMSTERDAM and LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Payvision, the global fintech and omnichannel payments provider, and Selina, the global hospitality platform, announce their partnership in providing travelers with the ultimate user experience. Payvision supports Selina in ensuring all customers undergo a smooth and successful payment journey with all transactions. Conversational commerce is an important feature for Selina's co-live offering with the additional questions that arise from long stays. Payvision helps Selina power conversational commerce with its sales team through customized Virtual Terminals and payment links. With Selina's dedication to providing a unique travel experience and Payvision's commitment to guaranteeing a smooth transaction with every payment, the two companies are bound to ensure the best customer journey and experience. "PSD2 SCA has additional challenges in hospitality when accepting bookings from online travel agencies (OTAs) where an additional authentication reference is sent. As PSD2 SCA became mandatory, Selina has now a dynamic solution to meet the requirements of the mandate and optimize authorization rates," said Bradley Hossack, Technical Integration Manager at Payvision. Payvision is processing the direct ecomm platform on selina.com and will process the rooms sold through OTAs. A major challenge in hospitality is managing guests' card payment info securely, especially when multiple external channels are involved in an online and physical omnichannel experience. Payvision's solution offers increased security for Selina's guests' personal data, by reducing card data exposure across channels from online to check-in. "We bolstered our payment strategy by unifying all our channels and achieved a quantifiable cost optimization. Payvision's technical solution will grow at the same pace as Selina, together with the user experience that allows guests to pay however they want, wherever they want," declared John Santrizos, Director Treasury at Selina. Payvision also provides Selina's commercial team with a dashboard showing a clear view of each location's performance. With this service, Selina can turn data into business intelligence, helping make strategic commercial decisions. After a testing period, the partnership between Selina and Payvision became operational in October 2020 and it fills the gap between service and technology while also demonstrating responsiveness and street-smart mentality. The partnership with Payvision will help Selina have a stronger hold and further expand their business in Europe. About Payvision Payvision is driven by a passion for technology and simplifying payments. With one single, secure platform, we power transactions for businesses across the globe. We know our way around the latest techniques in artificial intelligence and omnichannel strategies. The dedication to our clients shows this is where we truly make a difference. By enabling an intuitive and flawless customer experience on all channels, we bring a unique beat to payments. Founded in 2002, we're headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and since 2018 we are part of ING Group. This allows us to offer an unstoppable combo of both the fintech and banking worlds put together. This partnership means cutting-edge technology and a startup mindset backed by ING's expertise and global network. Learn more about how Payvision takes the hassle out of payments at payvision.com. Get in touch with our Communications team at [email protected] or +31 20 794 23 00. About Selina Selina is a global hospitality brand that blends beautifully-designed accommodation with coworking, recreation, wellness, and local experiences. Custom-built for today's nomadic traveler, Selina provides guests with a global infrastructure to seamlessly travel and work abroad. Founded in Latin America in 2015, each Selina property is designed in partnership with local artists, creators, and tastemakers, breathing new life into existing buildings in interesting locations around the world -- from urban cities to remote beaches and jungles. Selina currently operates +80 locations throughout Latin America, USA, and Europe. For further information on Selina visit www.selina.com or check out @selina on Instagram or Facebook. SOURCE Payvision Related Links https://www.payvision.com Andy George lost his youngest sister to racism. She was only 23 when she took her own life 11 years ago. Her tragic death is what drove the 41-year-old PSNI Inspector to become president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA), which represents all black/ethnic minority police associations in the UK. "It was me who found her... it was so difficult for myself and my family," Andy told the Belfast Telegraph. "For me, it's a life lost that didn't need to be. "It's what led me to doing the work with the NBPA, and that's what drives me." Born and bred in Co Armagh, the eldest of four mixed-race children to a Northern Ireland mother and a Malaysian father, he recalls being "one of two or three families in the whole town from an ethnic minority". Andy, who joined the PSNI in 1999, said he has seen little change in attitudes here, where, he added, the statistics show that racism is now even more prevalent than sectarianism. "It's quite shocking, given that at the last census 1.8% of the population identified as being from an ethnic minority," he said. "Northern Ireland can be one of the most welcoming places on earth, but it's also home to some really abhorrent crimes that have a devastating impact, like the recent arson attack at the Belfast Multicultural Association." The divorcee and father of two has become a high-profile figure since being appointed the new NBPA president, initially on an interim basis, last July. His appointment - which became permanent in October - coincided with a series of infamous 'racial profiling' incidents, such as Metropolitan Police officers' treatment of black Labour MP Dawn Butler. Latest figures show that black people are nine times more likely to be stopped by police, and especially in London where the Met conducts 48% of all stops in England and Wales. Met commissioner Dame Cressida Dick has insisted that the UK's largest force was no longer institutionally racist, but Andy doesn't accept that. "Institutional racism doesn't mean that every single officer and staff member is racist," he said. "It's more about the fact that, over time, systems and processes within policing have worked to the detriment of ethnic minority communities. "Think about it as being like alcohol dependency; you have to admit the problem before you can tackle it. Admit it's there, then start putting measures in place to resolve it." The mid-Ulster native said he believes his own force has problems with institutional racism, citing officers' treatment of Black Lives Matters protesters in June - which the Police Ombudsman found was unfair and discriminatory and for which PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne later apologised - as an example. Expand Close The Black Lives Matter protest held at Belfast City Hall in June last year / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Black Lives Matter protest held at Belfast City Hall in June last year But he added: "I believe the Chief Constable is sincere in his desire to change things and to get things right for ethnic minority communities. The problem is that we're a large organisation and it's about getting the mindset changed right across it." On two different occasions, Andy has taken grievances against the PSNI in relation to promotion. The first one, in 2012, was settled, while the second was dismissed. Andy says he felt he was not promoted despite being highly commended twice and winning awards. "For instance, back in July 2015 when an Orangeman drove his car into a group of protesters at Ardoyne, it was me who got him out. "I was hit by the car, dislocating my knee. "I got punched a few times by the crowd while protecting the driver." Was he worried about taking on his employer? "Yes. There are no winners," he replied. "You always get people saying that I've 'played the race card', or that I was 'looking for a pay-out'. Expand Close On the front line during the Ardoyne riots in 2015 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp On the front line during the Ardoyne riots in 2015 "But nothing could pay you enough to go through that process. I thought about quitting the force a couple of times because of it." He added: "For the first action in 2012, I paid 11,000 of my own money because that's how strongly I felt about that. It was a gamble." Andy said ethnic minorities remain "seven to eight times under-represented" in the PSNI. "There's nobody above Inspector level from an ethnic minority," said Andy, who left the Armed Response Unit in 2017 and is currently attached to the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Unit in HR. "The recruitment branch of the PSNI has been trying to do something about this. "It's all about engagement, and trust and confidence." Andy, who revealed that he and his new partner are expecting their first child in April, said his earliest recollection of racism in Northern Ireland still haunts him. "I was only six years old," he said. "I was at the circus, and I was one of three children selected to go into the middle of the ring. "At that stage, I didn't realise I was different from everybody else. "The clown asked us what our names were...and I was last to speak. "When I said mine, he paused before shouting out 'Sausage! This is Sausage'. "The place erupted in laughter. "I couldn't work out why he was calling me 'Sausage'... then it suddenly dawned on me that it must be because of the colour of my skin. "I was probably the only person from an ethnic minority in the whole circus. "It felt like the Big Top was coming in around me. "Nobody stood up and said 'that's not right'. Everybody was just laughing." At primary school, where Andy said he was "the only person from an ethnic minority", one particular memory from P7 stands out. "I was called names all the time, and then one day three guys attacked me," he said. "I stood up and fought back." He continued: "Thankfully the vice principal, who knew what had really happened, intervened." Andy told how he initially distanced himself from his Malaysian roots - his military father had been stationed in Northern Ireland and then moved here permanently after meeting his mother. And he said that his heritage is "something I've had to come to terms with, probably because of the racism". "Even when I joined the police, I made a point of eating soda bread and potato bread," he admitted. "I really pushed the similarities, rather than the differences, so that people didn't notice the differences. "It wasn't until my late 20s that I came to terms with my ethnicity." Ironically, he tells me that he "always alludes to a relative" when illustrating how racism can manifest itself, even at low levels. "They still come out with stuff about 'foreigners coming over here' and I'm always pulling them up about it," he said. "I point out that people could be saying the same thing about me, to which they reply: 'I don't mean you, you're one of us!' "Racism isn't just about swastikas on doors and graffiti on walls; it manifests itself in many different ways." Andy's sister died when he was 31. "That is the impact it [racism] can have on you," he said. "I've another brother and sister as well, but she was the youngest." Despite the obvious societal issues, Andy says he is "proud to be from Northern Ireland", adding: "It's what got me to be president of the NBPA. "People don't expect somebody that looks like me to speak with a Northern Ireland accent," he said. "Whenever I'm engaging with government ministers - including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel - and police commanders in England, Wales and Scotland, they really want to know what it's like in Northern Ireland as we transition into a more peaceful society. "Policing in London is tough, but no tougher than here, where the police service is more sensitive to its communities while still coping with high levels of violence and threat. "I still have to check under my car every morning for a bomb. "I have to bring my firearm home with me." The man who describes himself as "mixed race - Asian and Northern Irish" will continue as NBPA president, representing around 50 UK police forces, until October, when he must decide if he wants to stand for another two years. But he admitted: "It's a critical time. I took over just as the BLM movement started, and just as the impact of George Floyd's death in America kicked in. "I want the organisation I represent to be the forefront of pushing for racial equality; we really can be the bridge between police and communities," he added. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, or Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. [January 27, 2021] PURE Bioscience Welcomes New Members to Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board PURE Bioscience, Inc. (OTCQB: PURE), creator of the patented non-toxic silver dihydrogen citrate (SDC) antimicrobial, today announced the addition of three new members to the Board of Directors with the election of Kristin A. Taylor, David M. Rendall and Tom Myers. Ms. Taylor and Mr. Rendall also will serve on the audit and compensation committees of the Board of Directors. PURE also is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Scott Harris and Dr. Martin Wiedmann to the Scientific Advisory Board. New Members of Board of Directors Kristin A. Taylor is an accomplished technology executive with over 20 years of experience that includes VP and Director roles at leading tech companies. In May 2020, Ms. Taylor was named President and CEO of ImageWare Systems, Inc., a software SaaS (News - Alert) leader in biometric identification and authentication for state, local, federal governments, including law enforcement/public safety, as well as commercial businesses in the financial, healthcare, education, manufacturing and call center verticals. Prior to serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of ImageWare Systems, Ms. Taylor was a strategy consultant providing advisory services on communications, marketing, and analyst relations for Veritas Lux and Kristin A. Taylor Consulting, in which she developed a proprietary algorithmic methodology to weigh and rank the most influential global technical analysts. From September 2017 to April 2019, Ms. Taylor served as Vice President of Worldwide Analyst Relations at IBM and led the efforts to modernize and transform IBM's Analyst Relations organization to drive not only influence but materialize revenue. From August 2013 to August 2017, she served as Vice President, Global Analyst and Public Relations at MediaTek (News - Alert) , the third largest fabless semiconductor company worldwide with a $49 billion market cap, where she led the buildout of a new global Public and Analyst Relations organization to penetrate the North American, European, Latin American, Russian and Indian markets. Prior to that, from September 1998 to December 2010, she served in various positions of increasing responsibility with Qualcomm (News - Alert) , including Head of Industry Analyst Relations, Senior Director of Business Development, and as a Director in Information Technology. During her tenure with Qualcomm, she drove development and launched the world's first embedded wireless WAN module inside of notebook computers that resulted in the creation of a new corporate division for computing, with Gobi becoming a core element of 300+ product offerings. In October 2020, she was named to the Top 50 Women Leaders in SaaS by The Software Report. In November 2020, Ms. Taylor was appointed the Chairperson of the Board of ImageWare Systems. She earned degrees in business management and sociology from the University of New Hampshire. David M. Rendall is an attorney and licensed real estate broker in the state of California. Mr. Rendall has been the broker and owner of RE/MAX of Santa Clarita, RE/MAX of Valencia, and RE/MAX Gateway (News - Alert) since February 2014. Mr. Rendall manages approximately 175 agents and has annual sales of about $1 billion. He is the owner of Group One Investments, Inc., a licensed real estate property management and real estate investment firm specializing in commercial management and real estate syndication and development. He currently sits on the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation board and is the Chief Executive Officer of Escrow Advantage, Inc., an independent escrow company. Mr. Rendall also is the general partner, owner, president, managing member, and/or member of multiple businesses and real estate partnerships. In addition to his real estate companies, he is the Principal and Partner of Group One Legal, PC. Mr. Renall has been practicing real estate since 2001 and law since 2003, when he was admitted to the state bar of California. Mr. Rendall earned a J.D. from Loyola Law School and a bachelor's degree in political science and sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles. He also was an adjunct professor at College of the Canyons, where he taught courses called Real Estate Principles, Real Estate Practices, and Legal Aspects of Real Estate. Tom Myers has served as the Chief Operating Officer of PURE since October 2018. He previously served as Executive Vice President, Technical Support Services and in other roles after joining PURE in 2011. Mr. Myers has over 40 years of food industry experience focusing on operations management, quality control and assurance, research and development, product and process development, plant design and construction, food safety and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining PURE, Mr. Myers served as the President and Principal of Idaho Milk Products, where he built a $105 million green field dairy proteins plant and launched a worldwide business with annual revenues in excess of $200 million. Mr. Myers has also held executive management roles at Weider Nutrition International, Puritan Quartz Pharmaceuticals, FruitSource Associates and FruitSource Confections, Nancy's Specialty Foods, Izaki Glico and Berkshire Hathaway Corporation (See's Candies and See's Candy Shops). Mr. Myers holds a bachelor's degree from California State University at Long Beach. "I am pleased to welcome Kristin, David and Tom to the Board of Directors. Kristin has experience in Fortune 500 and micro-cap business along with extensive knowledge of sales, business development, public relations, marking and go-to-market strategies. David possesses substantial managerial and business expertise, including the sales and marketing experience necessary to help lead the Company through various stages of potential development and growth. Tom brings to the board a wealth of executive leadership experience and unsurpassed knowledge of all aspects of PURE's products and business. The team at PURE looks forward to leveraging Kristin, David and Tom's unique skillsets to help drive the future growth of the Company," said Tom Y. Lee, Chief Executive Officer. New Members of Scientific Advisory Board Dr. Scott Harris is an accomplished environmental health and safety professional with over 30 years of experience in the private sector, in federal and state regulatory agencies and more recently as an adjunct professor of Environmental Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He currently holds the position of President of Environmental Quality Management, a national environmental consulting, engineering and remediation service provider to the government and private sectors. "Having spent my career committed to protecting public health and welfare, I am keenly aware of the need for a safe, effective disinfection solution and the many challenges in finding one that actually does what we need with maximum results and minimal issues," said Dr. Harris. Dr. Martin Wiedmann is currently the Gellert Family Professor of Food Safety at Cornell University. He has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications, which have been cited over 25,000 times. He and his team have received multiple awards from leading institutions for advancing food safety for over two decades. He received his doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and his Ph.D. in food science from Cornell University. Dr. Wiedmann stated, "I am excited to serve on the PURE Bioscience Scientific Advisory Board as I recognize the key importance of improved and innovative sanitation procedures to improve food safety and quality." "We are pleased to have Dr. Scott Harris and Dr. Martin Wiedmann join our Scientific Advisory Board. Scott's experience with the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal and state regulatory agencies is invaluable in providing technical oversight and advice in supporting our efforts and technology. Martin has been a leader in food science for over two decades. We look forward to working with Martin to leverage his extensive food safety experience to help drive PURE's food to table food safety commitment. Both Scott and Martin and our other technical advisors will help guide and further advance PURE's current and future technical programs," said Tom Myers, PURE's Chief Operating Officer. About PURE Bioscience, Inc. PURE Bioscience, Inc. is focused on developing and commercializing our proprietary antimicrobial products primarily in the food safety arena -- providing solutions to the health and environmental challenges of pathogen and hygienic control. Our technology platform is based on patented, stabilized ionic silver, and our initial products contain silver dihydrogen citrate, or SDC. SDC is a broad-spectrum, non-toxic antimicrobial agent, which offers 24-hour residual protection and formulates well with other compounds. As a platform technology, SDC is distinguished from existing products in the marketplace because of its superior efficacy, reduced toxicity and mitigation of bacterial resistance. PURE is headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California (San Bernardino metropolitan area). Additional information on PURE is available at www.purebio.com. Forward-looking Statements: Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in this press release concerning the Company's expectations, plans, business outlook or future performance, and any other statements concerning assumptions made or expectations as to any future events, conditions, performance or other matters, are "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the Company's failure to implement or otherwise achieve the benefits of its proposed business initiatives and plans; economic and other disruptions resulting from COVID-19; acceptance of the Company's current and future products and services in the marketplace, including the Company's ability to convert successful evaluations and tests for PURE Control and PURE Hard Surface into customer orders and customers continuing to place product orders as expected and to expand their use of the Company's products; the Company's ability to maintain relationships with its partners and other counterparties; the Company's ability to generate sufficient revenues and reduce its operating expenses in order to reach profitability; the Company's ability to raise the funding required to support its continued operations and the implementation of its business plan; the ability of the Company to develop effective new products and receive required regulatory approvals for such products, including the required data and regulatory approvals required to use its SDC-based technology as a direct food contact processing aid; competitive factors, including customer acceptance of the Company's SDC-based products that are typically more expensive than existing treatment chemicals; dependence upon third-party vendors, including to manufacture its products; and other risks detailed in the Company's periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC (News - Alert) ), including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020 and Form 10-Q for the first fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2020. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005331/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Apples newest 14.4 update to its iOS platform fixes three vulnerabilities that may have been actively exploited by hackers. Specifics of the exploit or the extent of the exploit have not been made public yet. The first of these bugs was in the kernel, the heart of the operating system and affected iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users. The vulnerability may have allowed a malicious application to gain access to these systems and could have been exploited. As per its security policies, Apple did not disclose the extent of the exploit or detail who might have been affected. Two more bugs were present in WebKit, the platform which powers the companys Safari browser. Both allowed a hacker to run malicious code on iOS and once again, the company says it could have been exploited. In the absence of any concrete information on these exploits, it is highly recommended that iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users update as soon as possible. This is not the first time Apples been in the crosshairs of hackers. In 2019, Googles researchers unearthed malicious websites that broke into iPhone undetected. Similarly, a bug in iOS 13 allowed people to see contact details stored on iPhones without the need for a passcode or fingerprint verification. Last month, researchers from Citizen Lab found evidence of a targeted hack on Al Jazeera journalists which installed spyware on their iPhones using a bug in iMessage. It was later found that the phones had been compromised using the Pegasus spyware, developed by Israel-based NSO group. The attack allowed the hackers to record audio, take pictures and more disturbingly, track the devices location and gain access to all passwords stored on the iPhones. (Natural News) Glenn Kessler and his Washington Post Fact Checker squad celebrated their end-of-term count of President Trumps false and misleading statements 30,573. Their level of aggression clearly increased as the term went on, since they announced on January 21, 2019 they had arrived at 8,158 of those or 26.7 percent of the four-year total. (Article by Tim Graham republished from NewsBusters.org) Shelby Talcott of the Daily Caller put the Post on the record explaining what we all could expect: there will be no False & Misleading Claims count for President Biden: Trumps departure also equals an end to having a false claims project for the current president, as The Post said it does not have plans to launch a Biden database at this time. Trumps database began a month after he became president, The Posts director of communications Shani George told the Caller. The database of Trump claims was started a month after Trump became president as a way to not overwhelm our fact-checking enterprise, where the core mission is to explain complex policy issues, George said. While we do not have plans to launch a Biden database at this time, we will continue to dig into the accuracy of statements by political figures of all party affiliations. But party affiliation matters: there was no False & Misleading Statements count for Barack Obama, and there wouldnt have been one if Hillary Clinton won in 2016. Kessler told Jordan Klepper at Comedy Central In terms of fact checking, Hillary Clinton is like playing chess with a real pro. Fact-checking Donald Trump is like playing checkers [Laughter] with someone thats not very good at it. Its pretty boring. Klepper shot back: You find Donald Trump boring. Kessler replied: Yes! His facts are so easily disproven, theres no joy in the hunt. There is no hunt for Democrats. Only admiration for those chess pros! On January 15, Kessler signaled his new approach in fact-checking Bidens address on the coronavirus. He boasted that Bidens team responded to him immediately. Thats because Democrats care about their home-team newspapers, and Bidens team knew he would be sympathetic. Kessler warmly accepted Bidens use of liberal think tanks like the Brookings Institution, the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and poverty analysts at Columbia University backed by liberal foundations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But when Trump used the National Federation of Independent Business for a survey of small business confidence in 2018, Kessler dismissed it as a conservative group whose survey didnt draw enough responses to impress him. Misleading! In a January 16 interview on CNN, Kessler elaborated on how pleased he was with Team Biden: VICTOR BLACKWELL: Yes. Let me ask you about the president-elect. He made a lot of pretty dramatic claims in his speech on Thursday, Thursday evening. I understand that your team reached out to him and just compare and contrast the reaction and response you got from the incoming administration to what youve gotten over the last several years. GLENN KESSLER: Well, in the case of the Biden-Harris transition team, we asked we identified five factual statements he made. You know, interesting claims that we wanted to know if they what was the basis for this. Within 15 minutes, we received citations to those factual statements and they all checked out. Generally, the Trump White House almost never responded to our queries, because, of course, a lot of what the president said could not be defended or explained in terms of where he got these so- called facts. I assume the Biden you know, I did five years of Obama, and I assume the Biden presidency will be a lot like the Obama presidency, and that they will be responsive, and will be able to quickly back up what theyre saying. And occasionally, the president will go off- kilter, particularly when hes, you know, speaking extemporaneously and not following something that previously has previously been fact-checked. Cant you just hear Kesslers comfort level? Read more at: NewsBusters.org and FactCheck.news. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 10:15:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BRASILIA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government aims to airlift 1,500 COVID-19 patients in the hard-hit northern state of Amazonas to other states for medical treatment, Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said Tuesday. Pazuello spoke to reporters at the opening of a field hospital in the Amazonas capital Manaus, where hospitals have been overrun by a rise in COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks. "We have already taken 300 people aboard air force planes, and our goal is to airlift about 1,500 people," said Pazuello, who was accompanied by Amazonas Governor Wilson Lima. The initial goal unveiled last week was to transfer 235 people due to a lack of ventilators at hospitals. According to the minister, the new variant of the coronavirus found in Manaus may have aggravated the situation in the Brazilian state. "We had a jump in infections at the beginning of January," which tripled the number of cases, he said. The variant appears to be more contagious but has the same degree of aggressiveness as the initial virus, he added. More than 8.9 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Brazil and 218,878 people have died from the disease, according to the Ministry of Health's latest report on Tuesday. Enditem Georgia Harrison treated herself to a night out in Dubai on Tuesday following her ex Stephen Bear's revenge porn arrest. The Love Island star, 26, who recently re-launched her gymwear range GHX Style in the United Arab Emirates, caught the eye as she posed in a chic outfit for a series of striking Instagram images. Earlier this month, police apprehended Stephen, 31, after he returned from United Arab Emirates for allegedly using his CCTV system to film himself having sex with the influencer without her knowledge and sharing the explicit content online. Brushing the drama aside: Georgia Harrison treated herself to a night out in Dubai on Tuesday following her ex Stephen Bear's revenge porn arrest The media personality turned heads as she sported a white bralet by KaMoon.co, teamed with PrettyLittleThing jeans which featured distressed detailing. Adding a pop of colour to her look, the former personal assistant boosted her height in orange pointed heels by YSL, and accessorised with a selection of chunky silver necklaces. The TV star wrote a motivating quote in the post's accompanying caption, which read: 'You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith - Mary Manin Morrissey.' (sic) Work trip: The Love Island star, 26, who recently re-launched her gymwear range GHX Style in the UAE, caught the eye as she posed in a chic outfit for a series of striking Instagram images Commanding attention: The media personality turned heads as she sported a white bralet by KaMoon.co, teamed with PrettyLittleThing jeans which featured distressed detailing Essex police have since announced a formal charge is yet to be made while the investigation continues, with the TV personality remaining on bail until February 10. In statement to MailOnline, a spokesperson confirmed: 'A 31-year-old man from Loughton, who was arrested on suspicion of disclosing private sexual images or film without consent with intent to cause distress, voyeurism, harassment and obstructing a police officer, has been released on bail until 10 February.' The blonde believes her former boyfriend showed the recording to at least 'two friends' and claims the footage was being widely shared on WhatsApp. Georgia also alleges he shared screenshots of the video to followers on his OnlyFans account, but the social media star has denied it was her in the video. In custody: Earlier this month, police apprehended the TV star, 31, at Heathrow for allegedly using his home CCTV system to film himself having sex with ex Georgia without her knowledge The former TOWIE star has since thanked her fans and 'everyone that has reached out' following his arrest. In a statement given to The Sun, she said: 'I am passionate about supporting victims of revenge porn and hopefully by coming forward it will give others the courage to do the same. 'I have a fantastic team around me including friends, family and colleagues who are just some of the many reasons I have be able to stay positive right now.' The closure of Dubai's travel corridor means those arriving from the UAE are required to quarantine for 10-days upon their arrival in the UK, although the coronavirus test and release option halves the isolation period to just five days. While he may well have chosen to be tested following his return, the TV personality appeared to show a complete disregard for current guidelines by venturing out to buy takeaway coffee shortly after his release. Distress: The blonde believes her former beau showed the recording to at least 'two friends' and claims the footage was being shared on WhatsApp (pictured during their romance) Stephen was accompanied by on-off lover Tia McAlister, 18, who is 13-years his junior, as he left his Essex home for refreshments. The Walthamstow native defended his actions in a video, saying: 'I'm sure you are allowed to go out for an hour a day or to get some food. 'What am I meant to do? Starve? If I stayed in and starved, people would call me thick and say why didn't he go out and get some food.' Guidelines state people in the UK can get food if there is no one else who can get it for them. On Tuesday, the former CBB contestant fled his home after finding a death threat posted through the front door. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Stephen ran to his car and vowed to contact the police after finding a message that said 'die you c**t' had been stuck through the letterbox. Europe lifts safety ban on Boeing 737 MAX jet FILE PHOTO: FAA Chief Steve Dickson takes off in a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in Seattle By Tim Hepher and Rachit Vats (Reuters) - European regulators on Wednesday lifted a 22-month ban on flights of the Boeing 737 MAX after a design and pilot training overhaul in the wake of crashes that killed 346 people. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) confirmed a provisional approval given in November, but dropped calls for an extra flight-angle sensor to back up a system implicated in crashes. "Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here," Executive Director Patrick Ky said in a statement. "We have every confidence that the aircraft is safe, which is the precondition for giving our approval. But we will continue to monitor 737 MAX operations closely as the aircraft resumes service." Regulators worldwide grounded the MAX in March 2019 after crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia. The United States lifted its ban last November, followed by Brazil and Canada. Britain, which is no longer in EASA after leaving the EU, followed the agency's lead on Wednesday. Relatives of some victims have criticised the move to clear the 737 MAX, the latest version of the world's most-flown jet. Crash investigations show bad data from a single faulty sensor triggered a barely documented software system that ordered repeated dives and overwhelmed both accident crews. Boeing has said data from both Angle of Attack sensors on the MAX will be tracked in the modified aircraft, instead of just one as in the past. But EASA has suggested a third sensor system to act as a jury in case one of the main sensors fails. The proposal, opposed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, triggered a regulatory tussle over whether existing modifications would allow pilots to cope with any sensor outage, or whether a further safety net was needed. Ky said in September that Boeing had agreed to install the digital equivalent of a third sensor on the next version, the 737 MAX 10, followed by retrofits on other models. Story continues SENSOR DEMAND DROPPED However, in a document alongside the ungrounding order, EASA dropped the proposal for a third "synthetic" sensor on the grounds that Boeing had promised other ways of securing data. It said Boeing had agreed to develop further changes "within two years" to improve fault-monitoring and allow pilots easily to select the right data. An EASA spokeswoman said the solution now being considered by Boeing was different from a third sensor but "broadly aligned". She declined further comment on proprietary details. A Boeing spokesman said: "We will address all regulatory requirements, technical needs and testing requirements." In comments to EASA released on Wednesday, Virginie Fricaudet, who lost her sister on Ethiopian flight 302 and who heads a France-based relatives association, said the MAX was "aerodynamically unstable" and should have a third sensor. Naoise Ryan, who lost her husband, the global deputy chief engineer of the U.N. World Food Programme, in the same crash, called the MAX a 'bastard-type' aircraft with modern modifications bolted onto a 1960s aircraft design. EASA acknowledged the aircraft's technical roots would hinder the addition of complex new systems. "Due to the legacy ... architecture of the Boeing 737, the installation of an additional AOA sensor would require a significant engineering effort," it said, adding that Boeing had nonetheless demonstrated that its approach was viable and safe. The challenges of developing upgrades, rather than the much bigger expense of a clean-sheet design, were further highlighted on Wednesday when Boeing took a $6.5 billion charge to redesign part of its upcoming 777X, including control electronics. Boeing said the changes to the plane, a derivative of its 1990s mini-jumbo, would anticipate regulatory changes resulting from the MAX crisis. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Rachit Vats; Editing by Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan and Jan Harvey) Affle India announced that its wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, Affle International (AINT) has entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement to sell its minority investment of 8.0% in OSLabs, Singapore (Indus OS) to its Promoter Group Company Affle Global (AGPL Singapore) for a consideration of USD 2.86 million in cash. AINT has also secured an option to purchase the minority investment back from AGPL Singapore at a premium of 5% after 1 year or 10% after 2 years subject to any approvals that may be required. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gardai can ask people travelling into the Republic from Northern Ireland to return home and may ultimately fine them in future, according to an Irish minister. Irish Environment Minister Eamon Ryan, was speaking at yesterday's announcement of new Covid-19 regulations in the Republic. The leader of Ireland's Green Party added that the "objective" was to reduce the volume of traffic. Gardai would eventually fine drivers from Northern Ireland, he appeared to suggest. Mr Ryan said: "There is provision for someone coming down from the North, that they (gardai) can ask someone to turn back, and we're looking to actually strengthen that (so) that we have the same fining capability in terms of traffic coming from whatever different direction." Mr Ryan was speaking alongside Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tanaiste Leo Varadkar as it was announced that the Republic's Level 5 restrictions will continue until March 5. Mr Ryan said: "You have to make sure that international travel is in collaboration with our colleagues in Northern Ireland, with the UK Government, with the European Union and beyond. "Among the decisions that we make today is one to make sure that the current travel regulations applicable to persons who travel into Ireland from overseas also applies with respect to passengers who route their journeys via Northern Ireland. We're going to amend the passenger location regulations to require all inbound passengers, including those going on to Northern Ireland, to provide place of residence address on the form. "We're going to conclude arrangements with Northern Ireland, regarding data-sharing, and follow up with the passengers who travel to Ireland via Northern Ireland." Mr Ryan had said earlier that there would be increased Garda checks near the border, although it was "a matter for the PSNI" whether similar checks would be in place on the other side. He told RTE: "If on a road south of the border, 5km from the border, someone's on that road and doesn't have a valid explanation as to why they're travelling, they will be subject to prosecution and fine." Mr Martin did admit that the border "cannot be sealed" but a "strong policy of suppression of the virus" may work instead. The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in the Republic without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. Visa-free short term travel from South Africa and South America is suspended until at least March 5, he added. "In other cases, people will be required to quarantine at home," Mr Martin said. He added: "These regulations will apply to anyone who travels into Ireland, from an airport or port on the island, including ports and airports in Northern Ireland." According to the Taoiseach, Stormont and Dublin officials have discussed data sharing in terms of the passengers coming into Ireland. UK ministers are holding talks about making travellers coming to England quarantine in hotels, with an announcement expected soon. Stormont Health Minister Robin Swann has written a letter to the First and Deputy First Minister calling for the quarantining of travellers to Northern Ireland. Arlene Foster said a four-nations approach was being taken to the issue. She added: "As yet, a Cobra call has not taken place on that issue." This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions A French Instagram prankster who films himself harassing London Underground passengers without a face mask claims he spent four days in a cell for live streaming a trip to the shops during lockdown. Bule Mbelu Boris Becker - who goes by Mr Boris Becker online - was arrested for being out of the house 'without a reasonable excuse' on Saturday and was locked up for four days. Prosecutors have now dropped the charge for breaching lockdown - but the 27-year-old claims 'there is no justice' and police treated him like a 'criminal'. Becker, 27, has amassed more than 1.8 million Instagram followers who watch him play pranks on unsuspecting public transport passengers and pedestrians. In several of his videos, Becker pretends to be blind and walks with a cane on a moving Tube carriage. French Instagram prankster Bule Mbelu Boris Becker (pictured) claims he spent four days in a cell for live streaming a trip to the shops during lockdown Becker (pictured left and dancing on Instagram, right) was charged with' being a person living in a Tier 4 area who left the place where they were living without a reasonable excuse' He stumbles - prompting nearby passengers to jump up to help - before bursting into dance and revealing he is not disabled after all. In another video, Becker pretends to lose his balance on the Tube and throws himself around to the beat of a remixed song. Unlike the passengers he tricks, Becker fails to wear a mask - despite face coverings being mandatory on all public transport. In England's third national lockdown, people can only leave the house for essential reasons such as to buy food or to exercise. Earlier this month, Becker and a friend pretended attack unassuming pedestrians - before stopping and putting on face masks. Becker claims he was livestreaming his trip to the supermarket to buy food on Saturday and was two minutes away from his home in Embankment when he was stopped by police. They told him to go home but Becker continued on before coming across a police car. Becker told MailOnline: 'Further down the road we walked past a police car and the officers looked at us before they turned on the lights and we thought 'we're in trouble' so we started running because we didn't want any problems. 'As we run down the street we run into the police again who stop us. 'They ask me my address but I didn't understand their accent and I didn't know how to response so they thought I didn't have an address and put me in the van. 'They handcuffed me and searched me. 'In the van I finally understood and gave them my address but they said "it's too late now, you don't go anywhere, we're taking you to the police station, you can't do this here." Becker, 27, has amassed more than 1.8 million Instagram followers who watch him play pranks on unsuspecting Tube passengers and pedestrians. In several of his videos, Becker pretends to be blind and walks with a cane on a moving Tube carriage (pictured) 'Then they started laughing at me and telling me "you're a YouTuber, you're not funny." 'They said came to London just to annoy Londoners but the real reason is that people have asked me to come to London to do my videos.' He said he was taken to Brixton police station where he was told police arrested him for being outside without a valid reason. He added: 'I was on my way to buy food, it is possible that on my way to the shop I might record videos and jokes but I was going to buy food. 'The police officer explains that they had asked me to go home and that when they saw me a second time they arrested me. 'They took me to a cell and said that within the next three hours I should know whether I would have to pay a fine or see a judge, I ended up staying four days in the cell.' Becker said he remained in custody since his arrest on Saturday. A legal advisor today apologised to Mr Becker for his time in a cell, adding: 'That is so, so bad, I am so, so sorry you have been in custody for so long.' Becker wore a rainbow Puffa jacket as he was lead into the dock today. When asked if he was arrested on Tuesday, he replied: 'No, I was arrested on Saturday. I'm a YouTuber. I'm very famous in France. My name is Boris Becker. In another video, Becker pretends to lose his balance on the Tube and throws himself around to the beat of a remixed song (pictured) 'I've been here Saturday so that is Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Four days.' After he was released from the dock, Mr Mbelu told media waiting outside the court: 'I don't understand what happened. I feel so sad and this was so disrespectful. 'I have been four days in the cell for nothing. That is not normal, that is crazy. It's f***** up. 'We wanted to buy something, just food. Then we meet the police. They said go back home silly boy. I said OK. 'Three or four minutes later I see [the police] coming. I knew it was for us. 'They take me like I'm a criminal [with] handcuffs. I feel so bad. I feel there is no justice. Becker claims he was livestreaming his trip to the supermarket to buy food on Saturday and was two minutes away from his home in Embankment when he was stopped by police. Pictured: A map showing Becker's home and the distance to where he was arrested 'In the van they said 'oh a YouTuber with 1.8 million followers'. I didn't say anything about that. They told me I was famous. 'They said you're going to the cell.' He described his cell as 'seriously not good' and claimed it left him in 'pain which was so strong'. Mr Mbelu's cousin Tairo Tavares said he was fined 200 for being with Becker - but says officers 'were only interested' in his relative. Mr Tavares said: 'Officers took my name and details. They told him go home, go home. As we were walking my cousin was streaming because obviously he's famous. Earlier this month, Becker and a friend pretended attack unassuming pedestrians - before stopping and putting on face masks (pictured) 'They found his Instagram they were watching his live-stream so they came back to us. They were looking at us and came back and that's when we started running home quickly. 'We went into home they stopped in front of us and went straight to my cousin like they didn't even see me. 'I told them can I come with him as well because he doesn't really speak English. 'They asked my cousin if he had ID then they said you're under arrest. I said for what reason. Why didn't they take me?' Becker was charged with being a person living in a Tier 4 area who left the place they were living without a reasonable excuse. The charge has now been dropped by the CPS. A veteran Mexican TV host is being slammed for flying to the United States to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus. Juan Jose Origel, who co-hosts the evening talk show, Con Permiso TV, and is also a columnist for La Prensa and El Sol de Mexico, took to Twitter on Saturday to share a photo of himself sitting inside a vehicle while a physician administered a shot of the vaccine on his right arm. 'Already vaccinated!! Thank you #usa it's sad that my country did not offer me that security!!!!' Origel wrote. It is unknown how the 73-year-old was able to secure an appointment. He reportedly had returned to Mexico on Tuesday. DailyMail.com has reached out to Origel and the Florida Department of Health for comment. The state last Thursday reviewed its guidelines for anyone seeking to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida to cut down on tourists, whether international or residents from other states, traveling there to get vaccinated. A person wishing to be vaccinated must demonstrate proof that they are a resident of the state by either providing a Florida driver's license or state identification card. However, health workers and a person who needs a second dose of the vaccine are not required to show proof of residency. Mexican TV host Juan Jose Origel shared a photo on his Twitter account that captures the moment he is given the COVID-19 vaccine in Miami on Saturday. It is unknown how the 73-year-old was able to receive the shot and skip Americans who are still waiting for appointments Television host Juan Jose Origel flew from Mexico to the United States to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus. The 73-year-old has been slammed on social media for posting a photo that shows the moment he is given the shot by a physician in Miami. DailyMail.com reached out to Origel for comment According to NBC 8, Florida surgeon general Dr. Scott Rivkees warned that foreigners would not be allowed to travel to Florida and beat out residents waiting for the vaccine. 'Vaccine tourism is not permitted,' he said 'It's abhorrent, people should not be flying here to get a vaccine and flying out.' According to the Florida Department of Health's website, the state had vaccinated 1,446,680 people as of Wednesday, including 1,270,739 who have received the first dose. As part of Florida's Seniors First vaccination drive, at least 1,001,087 people over the age of 65 have received the vaccine. At least 4.5 million of the state's population is over 65. The picture generated a wave of attacks from followers back home in Mexico, where the coronavirus pandemic has generated 1,788,905 cases and 152,016 deaths as of Wednesday, according to John Hopkins University. One Twitter user took Origel to task for getting the scarce vaccine ahead of frontline workers. 'The best example of selfishness, do you really think that you deserve more the vaccine, than the doctors, nurses, health personnel who are fighting the Covid?' Another Twitter user, who has dual citizenship of Mexico and the United States, called on the U.S. government to revoke Origel's tourist visa. 'Not even I, who am an American citizen, consider myself entitled to go and use a vaccine that does not correspond to me, before those who have the right and are more vulnerable to get it, this guy should be accused in the USA to have his tourist visa canceled for being abusive.' 'You are a scoundrel in every sense of the word,' another user tweeted. 'I am very sorry for the people of Miami who are priority and are still waiting on the list.' Origel defended himself from the criticism on his Instagram account by quoting Ghandi: 'The ignorant attack with the mouth, the wise man defends himself with silence.' A Twitter user, with dual Mexico-United States citizenship, attacked television host Origel for flying from Mexico to Miami to get vaccinated for the coronavirus Origel has been at the receiving end of a wave of attacks on social media for skipping frontline workers combating the COVID-19 pandemic One Twitter user accused Origel of being a 'scoundrel' Another suggested that Origel's status helped him secure his shot Origel's decision to travel to Miami to get the COVID-19 was met with support from at least one Twitter user, who allegedly made the trip from Mexico to the United States with his family to get vaccinated Origel's decision to cut the line, however, was met with support from one Twitter user who allegedly traveled to the United States with his family to get vaccinated. 'My dear Countryman. I did the same with my whole family. Today's Mexico is a horror. According to its calendar, I would go until 2022 [without being vaccinated].' It is the worst economic, health crisis, that according to the WHO, [Mexico is] the country that together with Uganda has handled the pandemic worst. Hug from a distance.' Mexico became the first country in Latin America to roll out the vaccine, doing so December 24, 2020, when it started vaccinating front line health workers with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. So far, the country has given nearly 630,000 doses of the vaccine. Under Mexico's process of vaccinating its residents, Jose Origel would have to wait until the second phase of the vaccine rollout, which runs from February to April and targets people over the age of 60 Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who on Sunday tested positive for COVID-19, had a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday and announced Mexico will soon receive 24 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine A second phase of the vaccine, that will run from February to April, will target remaining health profession employees and people over the age of 60. The third phase will cover people between the ages of 50 to 59 from April to May, and the following phase will take place from May until June targeting those who fall between the ages of 40 to 49. A fifth and final phase will commence in June and last until March 2022 in which the rest of the population will be eligible to receive the vaccine. Mexican President Andres Lopez Obrador is currently sidelined after testing positive for the coronavirus Sunday, although his symptoms are considered light. His spokesman Jesus Ramirez revealed Tuesday that the 61-year-old leftist leader was not feeling well before boarding an Aeromexico morning flight from San Luis Potosi to Mexico City following a three-day tour. Juan Jose Origel fought off the wave of criticism for his decision to fly from Mexico to Miami to get a COVID-19 vaccine shot by quoting Mahatma Ghandi in Spanish: 'The ignorant attack with the mouth, the wise man defends himself with silence' He had a fever and was tested upon arriving in Mexico City on Sunday evening and was still experiencing some mild symptoms by Tuesday, including a minor headache, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said. Passengers on the flight were being contacted, and journalists traveling with the president were recommended to isolate. Lopez Obrador spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to confirm a shipment of 24 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine. The Mexican president has been criticized for his handling of his country's pandemic and for not setting an example of prevention in public by refusing to wear facial coverings. Lopez Obrador has been seen in public often disregarding social distancing measures by greeting and hugging supporters, but then shied away from it as the epidemic worsened. The country generated its highest levels of infections and deaths to date last week. However, it was not enough for Lopez Obrador to reconsider imposing a full lockdown of the economy. He has regularly noted the devastating effect it would have on so many Mexicans who live day to day. People wait to refill oxygen tanks for relatives sick with COVID-19 in the Iztapalapa district of Mexico City on Tuesday Mexico has a tiered system that avoids mandatory lockdowns. Authorities in Mexico City, which is in the strictest red tier, say people should not travel or leave home unless necessary, but does not prohibit such activities. In the event that Lopez Obrador, who has a history of high blood pressure and heart problems, cannot carry out his duties while in office, the Mexican constitution states that Interior Minister Olga Sanchez would assume the presidency in his absence. Congress would then vote on an interim successor within sixty days who would remain in office until the end of Lopez Obrador's term in 2024. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists has urged government to order more consumables for the testing and treating of COVID-19 cases before things get out of hand. According to them, though they have enough in stock to handle the current situation, there should be a checkup before they run out of stock. Speaking on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' program, Spokesperson for the Association, Dr. Dennis Adu-Gyasi explained that currently, they have enough stock to run the various test but they risk running out of stock should cases continue to increase astronomically on daily basis. "The government has provided enough consumables for the various laboratories across the country to expedite testing for COVID-19 cases but as the cases keep increasing across the globe, there is likely to be a surge in demand for testing consumables. So we are appealing to the government to immediately order more testing consumables so that the country may not be in crisis should the cases continue to rise," he said. Though the country and government have done exceptionally well in the past few months in the fight against COVID-19, celebrations and social gatherings during the festive season have contributed to the recent spike in the cases. "Since the virus has an incubation period of 14 days, people who were infected during the festive season are now showing symptoms," he added. Watch video below Information Minister-designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the country may be heading for tighter restrictions and a possible lockdown should the COVID-19 cases continue to rise.At a press briefing Monday, he stated that considering the current trend where an average of 200 persons tested positive for the virus daily, the imposition of restrictions should be anticipated.Yes, there is a possibility of some more restriction being introduced especially with regard to how this trend is going. If these numbers keep rising where the average daily increases to 210-250 that means in five days we will be hitting about 1,000 plus." Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) today released People in Jail and Prison in 2020a report that shows while overall U.S. jail and prison populations declined dramatically in the first half of 2020, local jail populations began to rebound in the second half as the decline in state prison populations slowed. These dramatic and historic changes in U.S. incarceration were triggered largely by the COVID-19 pandemic and came during a national wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations and accompanying demands to transform the criminal legal system in the United States. The number of people in state and federal prisons and local jails in the United States dropped 14 percent, from around 2.1 million people in 2019 to 1.8 million in September 2020. Despite the historic drop in the number of people incarcerated, the initial decrease was neither substantial nor sustained enough to be considered an adequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and incarceration in the United States remains a global aberration, wrote Jacob Kang-Brown, Senior Research Associate for Vera and lead author of the report. The COVID-19 pandemic that transformed daily life in the United States brought the dehumanizing and life-shortening nature of incarceration further into light. Jails and prisons have been, and continue to be, devastated by a virus that spreads in close quarters. This report represents the most comprehensive national look at the change in jail and prison populations during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic published to date. It shows that although many jail populations initially declined after law enforcement made fewer arrests, and other justice system actors used their discretion to release people awaiting trial or serving short sentences, the population in jails has increased sharply since the summer. The backsliding on the temporary decrease in jail bookings and increase in jail releases is worsening overcrowded and unsafe conditions in local jails at a time when COVID-19 cases are spiraling across the country. Many jails have already begun to refill, and prison declines have diminished, showing the fragility of decarceration. said Jasmine Heiss, project director of Veras In Our Backyards initiative. Elsewhere, the return to the status quo has meant the continued criminalization of poverty during a global pandemic, with a money bail system that puts a price tag on freedom. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately devastated Black and brown communities, and the enduring harms wrought by the criminal legal system only compound the suffering of Black, brown, and poor people. State and federal prisons held an estimated 1.3 million people at midyear, and then declined further to 1.25 million by the end of Septembera 13% total decline. However, local jails showed a different trend, with steep population declines during the first part of the year, and then a rebound from June to the end of September 2020. Between June 2019 and June 2020, the local jail population decreased from 758,400 to 575,500 people, or 24 percent, but jumped 10 percent from June 2020 to September 2020 to 633,200 people - reducing the overall decline to 17 percent from mid-2019 to September 2020. States with dramatic recent increases in local jail populations included: Colorado (+30 percent), Kentucky (+22 percent), California (+16 percent), Tennessee (+15 percent), and West Virginia (+15 percent). In 2020, the largest jail population declines were in rural areas, declining by 60,400 people between midyear 2019 and 2020a 33 percent reduction. However, from mid-to-late 2020, the number of people in rural jails grew by 10,600 people, a 9 percent increase. This brought the total rural jail population decline to 27 percent between midyear 2019 and late 2020. This large decline through the first part of the year shows that dramatic decarceration is possible in rural areas, though further decarceration is necessary. The nations rural counties still incarcerate people at double the rate of major cities and their suburbs. In fact, three out of five people incarcerated in local jails today are in smaller cities and rural communities. The rural jail population rebound is particularly troubling given the limited health care resources in rural counties and the continued spread of COVID-19 behind bars. While jails and prisons generally do not publish data on incarceration by race, ethnicity, or gender, preliminary results from other studies suggest that racial disparities in incarceration may be worsening during the pandemic. The report also looked at the continued use of jails by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the detention of immigrants and asylum seekers. Although most are held in private prisons and other facilities operated by for-profit companies, agencies like ICE and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) are responsible for a substantial and growing number of incarcerated people in local jails due to contracts that allow them to rent jail cells in many jurisdictions. Overall, ICE detention decreased more than 70 percent from August 2019 to December 2020, in large part due to both fewer encounters at the border and the Trump administration's policies that immediately expel people encountered by U.S. Customs and Border patrols. In contrast, the total number of people detained in jails and other detention settings by USMS remained virtually unchanged from 2019 to late 2020. More than half of the people detained by USMS were held in local jails, many in rural jails. According to data obtained via records request, at least 17 USMS pretrial detainees had died from COVID-19 by early October 2020, and at least 5,450 had been infected. USMS continued to transfer people who had active COVID-19 infections between jails, state prisons, and private detention centers even as the pandemic worsened. Vera researchers have also tracked the COVID-19 data reported by ICE and estimate that the actual number of positive cases may have been up to 15 times higher than the figures reported by ICE. Amidst the pandemic, many officials have been slow to heed recommendations and demands to release people from jail and prisons, which has contributed to the high burden of illness in the United States and to at least 2,020 coronavirus deaths in state and federal prisons in 2020. And the lack of institutional oversight and detailed record keeping means there are no current estimates of jail deaths due to COVID-19 in most states. Recommendations released with the report focus on the need for continued reductions in incarceration with an eye to ensuring that policies center racial equity. Notably, this includes decreasing Federal detention by ICE and the US Marshals, implementing a comprehensive strategy to re-invest federal funding from local jails and policing into community needs and resources, and working toward universal representation for people in immigration court. Local, state, and federal authorities should also do everything in their power to protect the dignity, health and safety of incarcerated people while they remain behind bars. This includes prioritizing incarcerated peoples access to COVID-19 vaccines, and providing incarcerated people with an informed choice with respect to vaccination. Vera researchers estimated the national jail population using a sample of 1,558 jail jurisdictions and the national prison population based on a sample of 49 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prisons are under state or federal jurisdiction and primarily house people serving felony sentences, while jails are generally under local jurisdiction and primarily house unconvicted people in pretrial detention and people serving misdemeanor or low-level felony sentences. More information about the methodology used can be found on page 10 of the report. The full People in Jail and Prison in 2020 Report can be found at https://www.vera.org/publications/people-in-jail-and-prison-in-2020. ### About the Vera Institute of Justice: The Vera Institute of Justice is a justice reform change agent. Vera produces ideas, analysis, and research that inspire change in the systems people rely upon for safety and justice. Vera collaborates with the communities most impacted by these systems and works in close partnership with government and civic leaders to implement change. Across projects, Vera is committed to explicitly and effectively reducing the burdens of the justice system on people of color and frames all work with an understanding of our countrys history of racial oppression. Vera is currently pursuing core priorities of ending the misuse of jails, transforming conditions of confinement, providing legal services for immigrants, and ensuring that justice systems more effectively serve Americas increasingly diverse communities. Vera has offices in Brooklyn, NY; Washington, DC; New Orleans, and Los Angeles. People who lost loved ones to Covid-19 are being urged by a public health specialist to contact local politicians to share their experiences. Speaking at a webinar on border management, epidemiologist Dr Gabriel Scally said: People need to contact their TDs, tell them who they know who has died from this preventable disease and ask how many more people are they prepared to see die. He added that politicians need to wake up and smell the coffee regarding the need for an all-island approach. The webinar, chaired by broadcaster Eamon Dunhpy on behalf of the Independent Scientific Advocacy Group (ISAG), heard from a range of experts who gave insight into managing the spread of Covid-19. Read More The ISAG is calling for a zero-Covid approach and members hit out at the Governments refusal to consider a strategy to achieve it. This idea of living with the virus is actually causing us to die with the virus, said Dr Aoife McLysaght, a genetics professor at Trinity College Dublin. Mr Dunphy slammed the Government announcement on restrictions yesterday as weak and evasive. He also questioned why the Government seems reluctant to consider an all-island approach. Some experts criticised Tanaiste Leo Varadkars appearance on Claire Byrne Live on Monday night, when he said mandatory hotel quarantine would not be fully effective. Mr Varadkar said he spoke to his New Zealand counterpart about mandatory quarantine and said there is only so much you can do, describing the hotels there as detention centres. Dr Nessa Cronin of NUIG said people living in the Direct Provision system were upset by the comments. She also said references to the Border as a sieve were unhelpful as they created a suggestion of impossible politics, when in fact there had been a successful all-island approach before during the foot and mouth disease outbreak. Dr Scally said the bickering between North and South politicians over Covid-19 restrictions is extraordinarily unhelpful and shocking. The public health doctor said he is happy to hear of the recent announcement from Government to tighten travel restrictions, however, he said the UK and Ireland have not had any meaningful restrictions on travel. Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast today, he said: Britain and Ireland, across the countries of the world, have been some of the few that havent really had any meaningful restrictions on travel in and out. That is a dreadful position to be in when you are trying to cope with one of the most infectious and dangerous diseases we have seen in a century. Dr Scally, who is president of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Royal Society of Medicine, said he welcomes the new restrictions but that you cant half seal your borders. He added: You cant half keep the cases out and you cant half quarantine so it is a question of how thorough the measures are. He criticised politicians in the Republic and Northern Ireland, saying he is extraordinarily disappointed at their inability to do anything, adding that politicians need to sit down and sort it out. He said: We have a memorandum of understanding with Northern Ireland in terms of Covid-19, which promises harmonisation, cooperation and so on, and we have seen almost nothing, and as a result different rules and regulations on different parts of the island. The politicians need to sit down and sort it out. The spats over the last week between politicians North and South about the passage of information from locator forms, about whether or not the North is testing for the variant are all extraordinarily unhelpful and, I mean, shocking. Dr Scally said the public both North and South are very much in favour of tighter restrictions on incoming cases. He added: There is a huge amount of public support for this and one of the problems is that, we can talk about a strategy for getting back to normal or whatever - but there isnt a proper strategy for dealing with Covid. The kidnapped spokesperson of the Edo State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mrs Bridget Esene, has narrated her ordeal in the h... The kidnapped spokesperson of the Edo State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service, Mrs Bridget Esene, has narrated her ordeal in the hands of her abductors after her release. Recall that Mrs Esene was kidnapped by five armed men who trailed her to her church at Ikhueniro, a community in Benin City on Sunday, January 24. Following her kidnap, the Police swung into action to secure her release from her abductors. However, the Spokesperson of the Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, on Tuesday said Mrs Esene was released at about 4 pm. Nwabuzor failed to state if any ransom was paid for her release. Speaking to newsmen, Esene narrated how she was abducted at gunpoint by the kidnappers and sold to another gang. According to her, she was taken to the forest where she was handed over to another set of abductors who took her deeper into the forest. I was forced into the car and driven out of the church premises by the five gunmen who later sold me to another set of kidnappers who are suspected herdsmen. The armed men later took me into the forest and some other hardened kidnappers were on ground to receive me. I was sold to another set of gunmen who then took me deeper into the forest, she said. The role of Deep Sidhu in the Delhi chaos India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 27: The chants of Raj Karega Khalsa were heard loud in Delhi as actor turned activist Deep Sidhu handed over a kesri flag to a man to hoist on the ramparts of the Red Fort on Tuesday afternoon. Deep Sidhu 'instigated' farmers: Who is the man? | Oneindia News Deep Sidhu has been attempting to take the leadership role of the movement, despite him being shun by the farmer unions at various stages. On Monday, Sidhu took over the main stage at Singhu along with gangster turned activist, Lakha Sidhana. They announced that they would hold the march inside Delhi. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee was in favour of sticking to the original plan of holding the parade on the Outer Ring Road. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh says violence in Delhi unacceptable, orders high alert in Punjab Deep Sidhu had a plan ready by Tuesday and first they started a march of their own before the official march of the farmer unions. They then positioned their henchmen in large numbers at a road turning towards Central Delhi. From there, they directed other tractors towards Red Fort instead of the agreed route. The volunteers who had tried to intervene were outnumbered by Deep Sidhu and The Sidhana group. In a video posted Facebook, he said that they had hoisted the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort, while exercising their democratic rights to protest. He said that in such a protest, people's anger flares up and you cannot blame one person for inciting the protesters. He also said that they went to Red Fort as a symbolic protest and did not remove the National Flag. We hoisted the Nishan Sahib as a sign of unity in diversity. Do not see the incident in isolation as the farmers' protest has been going on for months. He also said that the protesters did not go to Delhi to harm anyone or damage government property. He also added that the protest was peaceful and symbolic and the emotions of the people should be understood and no one person should be blamed for the mobilisation of the people. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 8:44 [IST] Delivery Delays Further Hampering Slow Vaccine Rollout With hopes that the COVID-19 vaccine would enable life to return to something resembling normalcy, Canadas slow rollout, now exacerbated by shipment delays, is the subject of much scrutiny. A lot of people have begun to follow provincial and national politics more closely because of these developments, says Allan Tupper, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia. A shipment of 208,650 doses of the Pfizer vaccine slated to arrive the week of Jan. 24 was cancelled, and the shipment of 366,000 expected to be delivered the week of Feb. 1 has been reduced to 79,000. The disruptions are due to renovations at Pfizers plant in Belgium. The delays were also top of the agenda as members of Parliament returned to the House of Commons on Jan. 25 after a month-long break, with Conservative Leader Erin OToole accusing the Liberals of not doing enough to ensure a stable supply of vaccines. Theyve known for months there was going to be problems with production. They didnt plan for it, OToole said in the House on Jan. 25. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau replied that Canada will be receiving hundreds of thousands of doses later in February and is still on track to vaccinating over 3 million Canadians by the end of Q1 and everyone who wants it by September. Pfizer delivery forecasts have been scrubbed from Health Canadas website, prompting further criticism from OToole. Unknown means there is no real plan, he said. Canadians are worried. Were in the second wave of the pandemic, theres UK strains, and this week were receiving zero Pfizer vaccines. More bad news came on Jan. 26, when Europe warned drug manufacturers that it might impose export controls on the vaccines it had invested billions to help develop. This could jeopardize Canadas vaccine deliveries, since vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Canadas current suppliers, are made in Europe. Tupper told The Epoch Times that when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, the political stakes are substantial for several reasons. This is an important measure of competence during this COVID period. He said premiers may also pay a political price if vaccines are delayed. The provinces have to get their priority lists updated, cleared, and made visible to people, and then they have to deliver. So its a much more rigorous and quite a different process than the federal government has to engage in, he said. Just 2.2 percent of Canadians have been vaccinated for COVID-19 as of Jan. 26. This compares poorly with Israel (46.7 percent), the UK (10.8 percent), and the United States (7.1 percent), but favourably with Germany (2.3 percent) and France (1.6 percent). However, the EU will receive 92 percent of the Pfizer vaccines that it was originally scheduled to receive for the week of Feb. 1, according to The Associated Press. Canada currently ranks 18th in the world for vaccine rollout, behind Italy and Romania, according to the Global News vaccine tracker. Ian Lee, associate professor of management at Carleton University, said the downside of decades of efforts by successive governments to minimize pharmaceutical profits are now becoming evident. I think that were paying the price for creating a very hostile climate for pharmaceutical companies. Theyre not going to move heaven and earth to make sure that were at the front of the linetheyre going to look after the other countries where they have big investments. On Jan. 26, human clinical trials began in Toronto for a COVID-19 vaccine by Calgary-based company Providence Therapeutics. But commercialization of the vaccine is not expected to begin until the end of 2021 or early 2022, pending positive results. Its the first fully made-in-Canada COVID-19 vaccine to reach this stage of development. Lee notes that a proper response to the pandemic involves more than vaccination. He believes a tandem approach of rapid testing along with vaccination could lead to great strides in getting the economy back on its feet. Rapid testing in the major areas where theres high volumes of people, in conjunction with rolling out the vaccine as rapidly as possible, would go an enormously long distance towards bringing the economy back, he said. Those are the two keys, not lockdowns. Thats whats going to bring the crisis to an end, thats whats going to bring the economy back. Everything else is just talk. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : Given China's long-standing expansionist agenda, Indiashould have a clear and well-defined policy on its hostile neighbour, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Wednesday, warning that talks with Beijing alone would not lead anywhere. While he hoped India got the better of China in the latest skirmish at Naku La on January 20, Amarinder Singh, himself an ex-Army man and a military historian who has authored several books on Indian military, said India needs to improve and strengthen its military might. This incident, after Galwan Valley, shows that China has not backed off, and has no intention of backing off, from its expansionist policy, he said, while noting that India has not been able to take back from China what "they have seized from us through force". The need for a strong military in the face of such threat at the border cannot be over emphasised, he added. Urging the Centre to think seriously on the joint threat from Pakistan and China, the Chief Minister said: "Pakistan cannot move without China, they both support each other", and in the circumstances, "mere talks with China won't lead anywhere, we need to augment our military prowess". Stressing that China had always pursued an expansionist agenda, the Chief Minister said the neighbouring country had been concentrating on expansionism through development of their defence infrastructure. "They have already built capacities in cyber and rocket warfare to dominate the world and they claim that they will exceed America's defence production in the next seven years," he noted, underlining the need for a cohesive and clear-cut strategy by New Delhi. PMs Australia Day Speech Reflects on History, Warns of Rising Authoritarianism Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Australia Day praised the patience and resilience of Australians who, along with the rest of the world, endured under the strain of the CCP virus pandemic over the last year. His speech covered Australias journey in overcoming its brutal beginnings 233 years ago to create and defend one of the most successful liberal democracies on earth. But he also warned that Australia, which has been bolstering its defences and strengthening alliances against China, is now facing down a global threat of authoritarianism that is once again seeking to push itself forward. The prime minister delivered the speech at flag raising and citizenship ceremony on Jan. 26 which was attended by the governor-general, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, ministers, the recipients of the Australian of the Year awards, and other dignitaries and bureaucrats. Prime Minister Scott Morrison poses for a photo with new citizens during an Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony and Flag Raising event in Canberra, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) Today we reflect on how far we have come, but importantly we humbly acknowledge the work still ahead of us, Morrison said. We have risen above our brutal beginnings. We have overcome, survived and thrived. We have learned but yet we are still learning. In a year when the world has struggled due to economic and health impacts caused by lockdowns, layoffs, and COVID-19 clusters, Morrison said Australians who patiently did the right thing prevailed in our own Australian way. He thanked the essential industry workers whose jobs enabled the country to pull through the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. Nurses are seen conducting COVID-19 tests at the Bondi Beach testing clinic in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 4, 2020. (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images) Health workers collecting samples and tracing the virus; nurses, aged and disability care workers tending to our elderly and to our vulnerable; the medical teams, our defence forces, the police running our quarantine facilities; the farmers, and the truck drivers, the wholesale and the retail workers keeping our supermarket shelves stocked and all those even now working to produce our vaccine, Morrison said. And, of course, the many business owners of Australia, small and large, struggling with the uncertainty of a pandemic, keeping their show together and Australians in work, he added. The prime minister praised the ability Australians to overcome and rise above their history. Today, on Australia Day we reflect on that journey, the price that has been paid for our freedom, the lessons of our history and the privilege of being able to call ourselves Australians, he said. The Australian flag projected on the sails of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia on Jan. 26, 2020. (Don Arnold/Getty Images) Morrison said the stories of 25 million Australians are all important and unique and do not compete with each other, but simply coexist and weave together to create an Australian story. Our stories since that day have been of sorrow and of joy, of loss and redemption, of failure and success, Morrison said. Whether it is the story of our first nation peoples strong, ancient and proud culture and their survival in the face of dispossession and colonisation, or the forsaken souls who came as convicts, not to start a new world, but because they had been banished from the old one. Condemned and outcast by empire, they too overcame. Morrison acknowledged the settlers and waves of immigrants who sought Australia out to make a better life for themselves and their families. He also welcomed the 12,000 people from over 130 countries who became citizens on Jan. 26. In a year when Australia will face many more challenges, Morrison called on Australians to exercise responsibility and make their own contributions to the countrys success in their communities, families, workplaces, schools, places of worship, and in nature. We do this, because in Australia we believe in the unique value of each Australian as individuals, rather than seeing or indeed allowing ourselves to be defined solely through the identity prism of our age, or our race, or our gender, our ethnicity or our religion, Morrison said. As Australians we are more than any and all of these things, and together we share and steward our Australian inheritance. As Australians we write our own story. We create our own future. And we will do so again this year, together, he said. Brussels, Belgium (PANA) - The European Union (EU) is preparing new temporary rules to help air carriers cope with the drastic decline in air traffic caused by the Coronavirus crisis and avoid operating empty flights Colleges are feeling the heat also as rooms can no longer be offered on a sharing basis as physical distance is necessary. DC Image. Hyderabad: Allocation of hostel space for students in colleges and universities is now an uphill task for managements. Two weeks ago, the government had advised officials to ensure hostel facilities for poor/tribal/BC/minority students. However, government-sector college hostels and university campuses have not got required attention. With three days left for the reopening of colleges in the state, students arriving in the city from outstations are struggling to find accommodation. Several students from Osmania University, JNTU and Nizam College, among others, are forced to check into private facilities for stay. They were told that hostels are unavailable for six months in some cases for all students; and in other cases available only for final year students. A second-year BA student in Nizam College, who came from Karimnagar, was told by the warden that the hostel was available only for third-year students, and not for first and second-year students. "Most of us come from middle class or ordinary families. It is now compulsory for us to attend classes as the government will not allow online classes for higher education institutes beyond March," he said. Another student at Osmania University pursuing PhD in Genetics, final year, said, "I managed to get an accommodation with two other girls near the university. We were told the hostels at the campus will not be open for the next six months. If PG students are called in for exams, they'll need a place to stay." A student of civil engineering at Malla Reddy College said he will be paying an extra Ea 3,500 per month for a private hostel facility near the college in view of the college refusing to provide accommodation now. Hundreds of students getting back to colleges after the long dry spell induced by Covid-19 are experiencing the same difficulty. Colleges are feeling the heat also as rooms can no longer be offered on a sharing basis. The social distancing norms do not allow sharing. However, TSCHE chairman Prof. T Papi Reddy said all colleges and universities have been directed to provide hostels to students. "Eventually all colleges and universities will have operational hostels. The process will be completed in the next few days," he said. The Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) says it welcomes the news Sen. Lynn Beyak is leaving the Red Chamber. Advertisement Advertise With Us The Southern Chiefs Organization (SCO) says it welcomes the news Sen. Lynn Beyak is leaving the Red Chamber. Announcing her early retirement Monday, ahead of possible expulsion, Beyak said she stands by her controversial statements on residential schools. In a 2017 speech, Beyak argued residential schools had done good for Indigenous children, although many suffered physical and sexual abuse and thousands died of disease and malnutrition in them after being forcibly removed from their homes and communities. The schools were operated by churches and funded by the federal government. Beyak then published letters from Canadians defending her on her taxpayer-funded website. Five of those letters were found by the Senates ethics officer to contain racist content. Beyak, who was kicked out of the Conservative caucus over the matter, was suspended without pay from the Senate in May 2019 but due to Parliamentary processes, was automatically reinstated. Beyak was named to the Senate in 2013 by Stephen Harper "While this news is positive, it comes eight years too late," stated SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels in a Tuesday news release. SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels (left) is happy to see the last of Sen. Lynn Beyak (right). (File) "Anyone who shares or believes Beyaks views on residential schools and other horrific chapters of colonialism has no business serving in Canadas so-called chamber of sober second thought. She should never have been appointed in the first place." The SCO supported a coalition made up of residential school survivors, Grand Chiefs and First Nations that called for her expulsion from the Senate last June. In December, Sen. Mary Jane McCallum, a member of the Independent Senators Group, introduced a motion calling for Beyaks expulsion from the chamber. It was not debated before senators paused for the holidays. The Senate resumes sitting Feb. 2. In her official letter of retirement to the Senate Monday, Beyak defended both her 2017 speech and her choice to share the letters she received. She wrote she was attacked by "those with an agenda for power and control, and an aversion to honest debate," with the help of some in the media. "The fact that a senator dared to speak the opinions of millions of Canadians frightened those same few people, and their fear has been evident every day since, as they have constantly attacked me in Ottawa with unconstitutional motions and costly inquiries, all in an effort to stifle freedom of expression," she wrote. Daniels said its disturbing but unfortunately not surprising that someone with Beyaks beliefs could rise to a position of influence and power in Canada. "It is irrefutable that the Indian residential school system represents one of the darkest moments in our shared history. Over 150,000 First Nation children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to residential schools where they endured harsh discipline along with all forms of abuse and even death. Thousands of children never made it home. For Senator Beyak to never acknowledge these facts is unforgivable." Beyak, having retired, will retain her pension. "This is the true definition of the term bittersweet," said Daniels. "While I am pleased to see her leave the Senate, I am dismayed that she is able to exit on her own terms, before she potentially faced harsher consequences such as expulsion. Ms. Beyak was granted the right to choose to leave. First Nation children had no such right when they were dragged from the arms of their loved ones and forced to attend residential schools." Daniels hope is that any future potential candidates for the Senate will be thoroughly vetted. "We have seen meaningful representation by appointing deserving First Nation representatives such as Mary Jane McCallum and Murray Sinclair. I implore the prime minister to consider the many qualified First Nation candidates to fill this vacant senate seat and others. It would be an important way to increase much needed representation for the First Peoples of this country." mletourneau@brandonsun.com, with files from the Canadian Press Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism. Meghan Markle's BFF Misha Nonoo has unveiled a new 10-piece collection aimed at encouraging people to stop buying clothes in bulk and adopt a simplified capsule wardrobe. The British-Bahraini designer, who lives in the US with her billionaire oil heir husband Mikey Hess and is known for her eponymous clothing line, claims the idea of overhauling your closet every season is 'outdated'. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, she added there's a 'cleverness to not being frivolous' and insisted she's only ever travelled with hand luggage because she relies on just a couple of different pieces wherever she goes. 'The idea that we need a wardrobe overhaul for every new season, or that we wear entirely different clothes in the day as we do in the evening is dated and not representative of how women actually dress,' Misha told the publication. Meghan Markle's BFF Misha Nonoo, pictured together in November 2015, has unveiled a new 10-piece collection aimed at encouraging people to stop buying clothes in bulk and adopt a simplified capsule wardrobe Pictured: Serena Hood, left, co-founder of Collagerie, wearing the Husband Shirt, and commercial lawyer Thandi Maqubela, right, wearing the Kiki Pants (236) and 9-9 shirt (165) from Misha Nonoo's new Perfect 10 collection 'You really can imbue just as much of your own personality into a capsule wardrobe. It's just that previously it felt aspirational to have lots of things... But what feels aspirational now is how you can be as thrifty as possible with the pieces you buy there is a cleverness to not being frivolous.' She added: 'I think that producing in bulk is the crux of so many problems in fashion.' Following a year where most people rethought the role of their wardrobes, Misha's new Perfect Ten collection, released today, comprises of 10 pieces which includes her popular Husband Shirt, worn by Meghan to the Invictus Games in 2017. Misha told how the Duchess of Sussex, with whom she created a collection for the UK charity Smart Works, is 'a huge advocate' for a capsule wardrobe. Misha told how the Duchess of Sussex, with whom she created a collection for the UK charity Smart Works, is 'a huge advocate' for a capsule wardrobe. Pictured: Venetia Archer, founder and CEO of RUUBY, wearing the Florence Blazer dress (425) from the new collection Misha believes producing in bulk is 'the crux of so many problems in fashion'. Pictured: Charlotte Rey, founder of Campbell Rey, wearing the Cameo Skirt (236) from Perfect 10 Following a year where most people rethought the role of their wardrobes, Misha's new Perfect Ten collection, released today, comprises of 10 pieces which includes the Husband Shirt (175) (pictured being modelled by Venetia Archer, founder and CEO of RUUBY) The new collection also features her Everyday Turtleneck, the Ivy Pant and new matching loungewear - versatile pieces to be mixed, matched, and layered, which she says form the basis of a 'seasonless, streamlined, and sustainable wardrobe'. Misha is famed for her timeless, modular wardrobe in a mostly monochrome palette and is a staunch believer in the 'buy better, wear longer' movement. She claims she could easily limit herself to just a handful of items in dark colours, and admitted the only colourful piece in her wardrobe is a pink bikini which she's worn just once or twice. When it came to photographing her new capsule collection, Misha selected 10 London-based professional women, giving each the chance to fashion the 'Perfect 10' to reflect their own personal style. The group consisted of Charlotte Rey, founder of Campbell Rey; Jules Miller, founder of The Nue Co.; Lucy Yeomans, creator and founder of DREST; Marine Edith-Crosta, painter and co-founder of Crosta Smith Gallery; photographer Morgane Lay; Nikki Tibbles, founder of Wild at Heart florist; Ruth Rogers, chef and owner of The River Cafe; Serena Hood, co-founder and CEO of Collagerie.com; commercial lawyer Thandi Maqubela and Venetia Archer, founder and CEO of RUUBY. Serena Hood, co-founder of Collagerie, wearing the Sunday Sweatshirt (146) from Misha Nonoo's Perfect 10 collection Misha is famed for her timeless, modular wardrobe in a mostly monochrome palette and is a staunch believer in the 'buy better, wear longer' movement. Pictured: photographer Morgane Lay wearing the Everyday Turtleneck (80) and Kiki Pants- (236) from the collection The Girlfriend Tee Pima, priced at 66, from Misha Nonoo's Perfect 10 collection, out today Pictured: the Ivy Pant (left - 236) and the Chicago Sweatpants (right - 127) from the Perfect 10 collection She told how the inspiration behind her simple yet chic style is the years she spent in France while studying in Paris. '[These women] would walk past me and I would think how great they looked but I could never pick out one particular item of clothing there were no seasonal trends, no bright colours,' she told the Telegraph. She claims dressing in that manner meant it was the wearers who did the talking, not the clothes. In addition, her limited personal wardrobe means she doesn't 'waste time or energy' deciding what to wear. Misha married her husband Mikey in a ceremony in Rome in September 2019 that was attended by Prince Harry, Meghan, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice before announcing her pregnancy at the end of the year. The couple announced the birth of their first child Leo in March last year. The first time mother has since been making an effort to connect with friends virtually, previously admitting: 'Its very stressful not having your normal life to return to I knew having a baby would change my life, but I never expected this. Reflecting on the experience of working together on the Smart Works collection, Misha described Meghan as 'the ultimate professional' and very 'considerate' of the women the collection was helping During her pregnancy, Misha told People, that the Duchess of Sussex had been sharing her advice about becoming a first-time mother. The designer revealed: 'As with all friendships, you share lots of tips and everything.' Her baby announcement came less than a year after close friend Meghan gave birth to baby Archie in May 2019. The Duchess has continued to support her friend by wearing Misha Nonoo styles over the years, wearing another of Misha's designs for her final day of meetings in the UK before stepping back from royal duties. Reflecting on the experience of working together on the Smart Works collection, Misha described Meghan as 'the ultimate professional' and very 'considerate' of the women the collection was helping. 'It was such an ideal, incredibly easy collaboration,' she said. 'It was, from start to finish, wonderful, thoughtful, considerate, as is she.' To view the full collection visit https://uk.mishanonoo.com/collections/the-perfect-10 Everyone who has received first doses of the coronavirus vaccine at Middlesex County sites on or after Jan. 21 will receive notification to schedule an appointment for a second dose, county officials said. That includes vaccines administered at the Monroe Township Senior Center, a site where dozens of readers told NJ Advance Media they were not given second dose appointments when they were first vaccinated. Rest assured, Middlesex County is fully equipped with advanced infrastructure both operationally and technologically to administer second doses to every individual who has been vaccinated at the Countys six sites and the mega-site at Raritan Center, county officials said. The State has assured the County that it will have sufficient supply to dispense second doses. The County is committed to ensuring that anyone who has received the first dose at any of Middlesex Countys facilities from January 21 to date, will be assisted in making appointments for the second dose, it said. But some county residents reported receiving an email about second doses, but it only included a link to the states New Jersey Vaccine Scheduling System (NJVSS), which to date does not allow for second dose bookings. Linda McGrath, who said she received her first dose at the Middlesex County Fire Academy, did receive an email about a second dose. We were just sent a second dose link to the NJVSS via an email, which puts us on the exact page and process for personally scheduling the second dose as we did the first dose, McGrath said, noting she tried more than 10 times to get an appointment through the link to no avail and feels that shes on her own. No scheduling help via Middlesex County other than generating the second dose link. Diane Amato, 66, who said she received her first dose on Jan. 22 at the senior center in Monroe, said she hasnt been contacted, but she worries that she will be sent the states link to make an appointment and that shes never going to be guaranteed a definite appointment. She said when she called the county, she was told vaccines were scarce and that she should call back if she couldnt find an appointment by Feb. 19, the date her second dose is due. Ive been living everyday since Friday in fear that I would not get a second dose, she said. I was panicking. I still am. What do I do If they dont come through? The county didnt immediately respond to questions about whether people will have to book their own appointments through the states site, another county site or if appointments would be automatically assigned. On Tuesday, Gloucester County said people who were vaccinated at its mega-site at Rowan College will now automatically get appointments for a second dose after people complained they were unable to book a time. These individuals should expect to receive an email that includes a QR code (matrix barcode) with the date and time of their next appointment, officials said, noting that people will get a text or phone call if the county doesnt have their email address on file. The State has advised that appointments will be consistent with the date on the back of the card and all appointments will be held at Gloucester Countys Mega Vaccination Site. Going forward, all people who receive their vaccine on or after Jan. 30 will automatically receive a second dose appointment from the state, the county said. It was unclear whether people who visit Middlesex County sites in the future would be assigned a second dose date when their receive their first doses. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The United States says all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopias embattled Tigray region immediately. A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press late Tuesday cited credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abuses." "There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea, the spokesperson said. The statement reflects new pressure by the Biden administration on the government of Ethiopia, Africas second-most populous country with 114 million people and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, and other combatants as the deadly fighting in Tigray nears the three-month mark. The AP this week cited witnesses who fled the Tigray region as saying Eritrean soldiers were looting, going house-to-house killing young men and even acting as local authorities. The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces as they pursue the fugitive leaders of the Tigray region, though Ethiopias government has denied their presence. The U.S. stance has shifted dramatically from the early days of the conflict when the Trump administration praised Eritrea for its restraint. The new U.S. statement calls for an independent and transparent investigation into alleged abuses. It remains unclear how many Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, or precisely where, it says. It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. has addressed its demand directly to Eritrean officials. And the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to questions. Witnesses have estimated that the Eritrean soldiers number in the thousands. Eritrean officials have not responded to questions. The information minister for Eritrea, one of the worlds most secretive countries, this week tweeted that the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea is on the rise again. The U.S. also seeks an immediate stop to the fighting in Tigray and full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the region, which remains largely cut off from the outside world, with Ethiopian forces often accompanying aid. Story continues We are gravely concerned by credible reports that hundreds of thousands of people may starve to death if urgent humanitarian assistance is not mobilized immediately, the statement says. The United Nations in its latest humanitarian update said it is receiving reports of rising hunger in Tigray and cited a dire lack of access to food since many farmers in the largely agricultural region missed the harvest because of the fighting, and as critical staff to scale up the humanitarian response can't access the region. Transport, electricity, banking and other links have yet to be restored in much of the region, the U.N. said, and 78% of hospitals remain nonfunctional. Our concern is that what we dont know could be even more disturbing," U.N. children's agency chief Henrietta Fore said in a statement Wednesday. "For 12 weeks, the international humanitarian community has had very limited access to conflict-affected populations across most of Tigray. Vaccinations have stopped across the region, Fore added. The U.S. statement added that dialogue is essential between the government and Tigrayans. Ethiopia's government has rejected dialogue with the former Tigray leaders, seeing them as illegitimate, and has appointed an interim administration. The former Tigray leaders, in turn, objected to Ethiopia delaying a national election last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and considered Abiy's mandate over. Advertisement The Biden administration is 'actively looking' at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on US domestic flights, a senior CDC official says. Dr Marty Cetron, director for the Division of Global Migration and Quarantine at CDC, was asked on a call with reporters on Tuesday about whether new domestic travel testing requirements might be employed. Cetron said there were 'conversations that are ongoing and looking at what the types and locations of testing might be... We're actively looking at it'. Airline officials fear such requirements could curtail already weak demand for air travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic. President Joe Biden last week directed US agencies to make recommendations to 'impose additional public health measures for domestic travel' and to consider new requirements for people crossing land borders. Administration officials had said that could include requiring negative COVID-19 tests before flying domestically. It comes after Biden reinstated COVID-19 travel restrictions on most non-US travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders. He also added South Africa to the list because of concerns of a variant of the virus that has spread beyond that nation. The Biden administration is 'actively looking' at expanding mandatory COVID-19 testing to travelers on US domestic flights, a senior Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) official said on Tuesday On Tuesday, new CDC rules took effect requiring nearly all international air travelers (pictured in California) aged 2 and older to present a negative coronavirus test taken within three calendar days of travel or proof of COVID-19 recovery to enter the US The South Africa variant has not yet been discovered in the US but other variants that originated in the United Kingdom and Brazil have been detected in several states. New CDC rules also took effect this week requiring nearly all international air travelers aged 2 and older to present a negative COVID-19 test taken within three calendar days of travel, or proof of COVID-19 recovery, to enter the US. In discussions with airline officials, the CDC has said it is considering requiring domestic testing as well. 'We realize that there's been a dramatic evolution and increase in both testing platforms and testing capacity. I think this is a really important part of our toolkit to combat this pandemic,' Cetron said on the call with reporters. A handful of states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Massachusetts and Maryland, require out-of-state travelers to either have a negative COVID-19 test on arrival or they need to quarantine for varying periods of time. The CDC has said it would not grant waivers to exempt travelers from some countries with limited testing capacity. Numerous US airlines had sought waivers. The State Department said on Tuesday that US citizens should reconsider non-essential travel abroad, noting that access to testing in some nations remains difficult. The agency also cautioned Americans to consider ahead of international travel how they'd pay for health care and additional lodging costs if they became infected or hospitalized while travelling. Acting Assistant Secretary of State Ian Brownlee has said the CDC is 'not at this time issuing federal quarantine orders' but recommends self-quarantining for seven days after returning from a trip and getting post-arrival COVID-19 tests. Brownlee said the 'main message to US citizens considering travel abroad remains the same: Seriously reconsider going overseas right now'. 'If you're overseas right now, it's going to be harder to come home for a while,' Brownlee said. The airline industry has already been hit hard by the COVID pandemic, with lockdown restrictions and fears over catching the virus on planes sending passenger numbers plummeting. Passenger traffic was down 67 per cent in 2020, wiping out 21 years of global aviation growth in a matter of months, as passenger numbers dropped to levels last seen in 1999. At the peak of the disruption in April, scheduled passenger flights dropped to just 13,600 globally, on April 25, compared to 2020's busiest day on January 3 when Cirium tracked over 95,000 scheduled passenger flights - an extraordinary 86 per cent reduction in flights. The prohibition Biden has reinstated suspends entry to nearly all foreign nationals who have been in any of the countries on the restricted list at any point during the 14 days before their scheduled travel to the US. President Donald Trump in his final days in office had called for the relaxation of the travel restrictions. Dr Anthony Fauci called Biden's decision to reinstate the travel restrictions - and add South Africa to the list - 'prudent'. 'We have concern about the mutation that's in South Africa,' Fauci told 'CBS This Morning.' 'We're looking at it very actively. It is clearly a different and more ominous than the one in the UK, and I think it's very prudent to restrict travel of noncitizens.' The 26 European countries impacted by reinstatement of the ban are part of the border-free Schengen zone. They include Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The South Africa variant has not yet been discovered in the US but other variants that originated in the United Kingdom and Brazil have been detected in several states Fauci said there is 'a very slight, modest diminution' of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines against those variants but 'theres enough cushion with the vaccines that we have that we still consider them to be effective against both the UK strain and the South Africa strain.' He warned, however, that more mutations are possible and said scientists are preparing to adapt the vaccines if necessary. 'We really need to make sure that we begin, and we already have, to prepare if it's necessary to upgrade the vaccines,' Fauci said. 'We're already taking steps in that direction despite the fact that the vaccines we have now do work.' While infections, hospitalizations and deaths have seen a decline in recent days, a forecast model is predicting that nearly 569,000 people will die by May 1. The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation shared the new forecast, which predicts a third wave of the coronavirus later this year if people don't get vaccinated. The model does show a significant decrease in cases and deaths beginning in March and April, but it doesn't account for the new variants of COVID that have been found in the US. The US has reported more than 25.3 million infections since the pandemic hit the country last year. At least 423,653 Americans have died from the virus. So far, just over 24.4 million Americans have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. LONG ISLAND, NY With coronavirus positivity rates continuing to decline, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that restrictions would be lifted in all orange zones and most yellow zones across New York State, including all communities on Long Island, where the positivity rate remained the highest statewide at 6.83 percent. However, those hoping to see the 10 p.m. curfew for restaurants lifted in time for Super Bowl Sunday will have to wait, Cuomo said. On Long Island, microcluster zones in Riverhead, Hampton Bays, Great Neck, and Massapequa Park were lifted. The only areas where yellow zones still exist are the Bronx, Washington Heights, Queens and Newburgh, Cuomo said. In a yellow zone, houses of worship could only operate at 50 percent capacity; mass gatherings could include only 25 people or more indoors and outdoors; indoor and outdoor dining allowed only four people per table; and schools remained open, with weekly testing of 20 percent of students and teachers/staff for in-person settings. Local leaders on Long Island reacted: "That is good news. It shows we are moving in the right direction," said Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman; Hampton Bays, in Southampton Town, was a yellow zone. "But it is not time yet to let down our guard. There is still significant community spread." And said Supervisor Yvette Aguiar in Riverhead, where a yellow zone was also lifted: "I am happy to report, positivity levels in Riverhead are now declining. Now, more than ever, the public needs to strictly adhere to all COVID-19 protocol, while we await widespread vaccination. I am hopeful we are entering into the recovery stage of the pandemic. Cuomo said with the predicted holiday surge over, facts and science indicated that it was safe to begin lifting restrictions and loosening the valves to allow for increased economic activity. When asked about the unknowns posed by new variants, Cuomo said the vaccine was the only answer and that data could change in the future. He also added that hospital capacity remains the most critical issue, as does vaccination of hospital staff. Story continues A decision will be made this week on whether to allow indoor dining back in New York City at 25 percent, Cuomo said; the news comes after lawsuits filed by restaurant owners about the restrictions. "I understand the economic devastation," Cuomo said. Cuomo added that opening restaurants in New York City would mean a boon to the economy and less reliance on the $15 billion needed in federal aid. When asked about lifting the 10 p.m. curfew a number of industry leaders and at least one Long Island lawmaker have asked that the curfew be lifted in time for Super Bowl Sunday, Cuomo said: "That is something we are looking at, but not at this time. If you listen to the federal guidance, when you keep restaurants open late that tends to be more problematic more crowding, more drinking. At this time we are not changing the curfew." This article originally appeared on the Riverhead Patch It took hustle, but Heather Orman-Lubell, medical consultant at the Philadelphia private school Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, was thrilled to secure hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine doses for teachers and staff through a Montgomery County pharmacy. As recently as Monday morning, Orman-Lubell was looking forward to Friday, when Wellness Pharmacy in Horsham was to inoculate about 250 SCH Academy staff and their eligible family members. Shots also would go to about 100 personnel from Community Partnership School, a private elementary school for low-income children, and that institutions preschool, she said. Hours later state health officials shut down the plan, she said, citing rules about vaccine eligibility. Its so hard trying to do something good, she said, and being shut down because of red tape. The pharmacy was willing to participate, said owner David Sie, but warned that Montgomery County might not authorize doses for teachers by Friday, and any clinic would be contingent on that happening. Before getting nixed, word of SCH Academys plan had trickled out to public school teachers, who questioned how a private school was able to get vaccine doses while they had been told to expect to wait at least a month. Immunization promises a return to normalcy for staff and students. But confusing messages, shifting vaccination priorities, and ambiguity over how schools are supposed to obtain doses are setting off a frantic search for solutions, as well as worries about equitable treatment for all. READ MORE: COVID-19 vaccine rules spark confusion for some in Philly. Others are jumping the line. I cant help but think this is the next great competition of those who have the resources, the haves and have-nots, said Dan McGarry, the superintendent of the Upper Darby School District. Thats not really the way the system should work. The frustration stems from the ongoing scarcity of vaccine doses. Last week, Philadelphia, which is managing distribution in the city independently from the state, announced it was moving to the next category of vaccine eligibility, 1B, which includes educators. But the dearth of doses means a new hierarchy within that category, city officials said, and teachers are not at the top of the list. The city announced Tuesday it was negotiating a partnership with a local university to inoculate teachers, but it would still be weeks before they would be eligible. Montgomery County, meanwhile, thought it was close to being finished with category 1A, mainly health-care providers and nursing-home residents, a spokesperson said. But last week, the state Health Department added people with high-risk health conditions and those 65 and older to the 1A category. That means more than 230,000 people remain eligible for vaccines before teachers can get shots. If Montgomery County cant get more doses than its current supply of 5,000 a week, itll take most of the year before its teachers are eligible. Some area superintendents have directed parents distressed that they cant send their children to in-person classes to contact state officials and request doses for teachers. Fears of inequity SCH Academy is the largest independent school in the city, with more than 1,000 students from preschool to 12th grade. Annual tuition ranges from about $24,000 for pre-kindergarten to almost $41,500 for high school, and the budget has allowed for pandemic accommodations that public schools cant match. Its early childhood center has been open since July, Orman-Lubell said, while the lower school started in person classes in September. Older students are offered a hybrid of in person and virtual learning which allows the school to maintain social distancing restrictions, she said. READ MORE: The wait for a vaccine is frustrating teachers and adding uncertainty to school reopening plans Its in the best interest of these kids to be in schools with their peers in a safe place, said Karen Tracy, the schools communications director. We went through so much to be prepared for this restart of the school in September. Kristin Luebbert, a Philadelphia teacher and member of the Racial Justice Organizing Committee, an activist group that aims to abolish racism in schools and communities, doesnt fault SCH Academy for attempting to provide the inoculation for its staffers, but said SCH Academys initial success in finding doses highlights all the inequities in our system. Luebbert teaches at the U School, where students havent attended classes in person since March. Its about systems failing people, and always failing the same people the poorer people, the Black and brown people, the people who dont have anything to leverage, she said. SCH Academys efforts to obtain vaccine started a torrent of rumors, including one in Bucks County that Montgomery County schools were getting doses while its own were not. I think its a very emotional time, said Lindsey Dymowski, president of Philadelphias Centennial Pharmacy Services who has said no to several schools in the city and neighboring counties trying to line up vaccinations through her business. We just get emails every day just begging, begging to be put on a list. Orman-Lubell agreed its troubling that there isnt a system in place to distribute vaccine equally, and felt health departments should take a more active role in organizing vaccine distribution. SCH Academy did not pay for vaccine access or seek favors to schedule a clinic, she said. My schools lucky they have a medical director, said Orman-Lubell, a pediatrician. I was able to take the time to sit down with a phone book and make lots of phone calls. READ MORE: Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine in the Philly area? Use our lookup tool. Educators scramble SCH Academy isnt the only school that has sought out vaccines. The Shipley School, a private school in Bryn Mawr, has had conversations with an independent pharmacy to provide vaccinations once teachers are eligible, said spokesperson Susan Manix, though it has no plans to obtain vaccine or vaccinate teachers before Phase 1B opens. In the Lower Merion School District, Superintendent Robert Copeland said during a school board meeting Monday that his administration was trying to contact pharmacies throughout the state ... so we can bring vaccinations to our staff. District spokesperson Amy Buckman said Tuesday the district was seeking vaccines for employees as they qualify under the various phases. Chichester School District Superintendent Dan Nerelli said he was not made aware that schools could secure their own doses. Superintendents in Delaware County which has been awaiting more doses to hold vaccination clinics for teachers havent discussed that as a strategy, he said. A few Pennsylvania school districts have already vaccinated staff through agreements with local pharmacies, including Greater Latrobe in Western Pennsylvania, said Chris Lilienthal, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the states largest teachers union. In that case, a PSEA representative was neighbors with a local pharmacy owner who was very focused on helping people in her community, Lilienthal said. But such arrangements seem to be the exception rather than the norm, he said. READ MORE: Pa. and Philly expand COVID-19 vaccine groups, but confusion remains for residents Some Pennsylvania school employees have been eligible for vaccines in Phase 1A, including school nurses and certain special-education teachers. SCH Academys vaccination effort died after Wellness Pharmacy received notification from the state that its request for 1,500 doses didnt align with the states distribution priorities, said Barry Ciccocioppo, a state Health Department spokesperson. It instead received just 300 doses. As Orman-Lubell understands it, the request was denied because the state is still in stage 1A. It also was a concern that a Montgomery County pharmacy would be providing doses to a school in Philadelphia. While Philadelphia last week encouraged teachers who live outside the city to find other vaccine sources, the city on Tuesday said it would handle vaccination of its teachers. Staff from Wellness Pharmacy did not return a call for comment. After notifying about 350 people they could be vaccinated Friday, SCH Academy is paring down its list to staff eligible in the 1A category who live in Montgomery County, about 100 people. As of Tuesday, Orman-Lubell was exploring whether they could find other people in the community eligible for vaccination with the doses the pharmacy has. I am willing to give shots to anybody who needs it, she said. Staff writers Laura McCrystal and Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article. The economic and investment potential of Kherson, as well as the possibility of attracting Israeli technology to the city were the subject of a meeting between the Ambassador of Ukraine to the State of Israel Yevhen Korniychuk and Kherson Mayor Igor Kolykhayev. The Embassy of Ukraine reported this at Facebook. During the online conversation, the parties discussed in detail the state and prospects of bilateral cooperation in the economic sphere. The Kherson Mayor presented the economic and investment potential of the city. Particular attention was paid to the development of cooperation in the agro-industrial, tourism and educational sectors, - the message says. In addition, was discussed the possibility of involving Israeli technology in certain industries of the city and the municipal government. It was reached an agreement to work out the issue of establishing twinning relations between Kherson and one of the Israeli cities, - the Embassy said. Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has reintroduced a constitutional amendment that would impose term limits on members of Congress for the third time. If passed, the amendment would limit U.S. senators to two six-year terms and members of the House of Representatives to three two-year terms. TEXAS POLITICS: Texas GOP denies its slogan links to QAnon after online criticism resurges The rise of political careerism in todays Congress is a sharp departure from what the Founders intended for our federal governing bodies," Cruz said. "I have long called for this solution for the brokenness of Washington, D.C., and I will continue fighting to hold career politicians accountable. As I have done in the past, I urge my colleagues to submit this constitutional amendment to the states for speedy ratification. Cruz introduced similar amendments in January 2017 and January 2019. In December 2016, Cruz also published an op-ed with then Florida representative Ron DeSantis in the Washington Post, arguing in favor of former President Donald Trump's campaign call for enacting congressional term limits to "drain the swamp." Under the amendment, terms beginning before its passage would not count toward a representative's term limit. The senator from Texas is currently in his second term. If his proposed amendment was ratified, the soonest Cruz could be term limited would be in 2036. Term limit proposals dating back to the 1940s have historically failed. The amendment needs to be approved by both chambers of Congress by a two-thirds majority, as well as three-quarters of state legislatures or conventions. The 27th amendment, the most recent amendment to be ratified, was proposed on Sept. 25, 1789, and ratified on May 7, 1992. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The operational situation at the Armenia-Azerbaijan Line of Contact of the Armenian state border remained unchanged on January 26 and January 27, with no incidents taking place, the Armenian Ministry of Defense said. According to information received from the National Security Service of Armenia, no incidents took place also at the Vorotan-Davit Bek section of the Goris-Kapan interstate road, which is under the responsibility of the NSS border troops. The units of the Armed Forces and NSS of Armenia are controlling the border situation at the entire length of the borderline and are fulfilling their objectives, the Defense Ministry said. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan A move by health authorities in Beijing to include anal swabs in the city's arsenal of COVID-19 testing options has sparked an outcry on China's tightly controlled internet. Testing stations have begun using anal swabs to test people considered to be at high risk of having COVID-19, according to a report by state broadcaster CCTV, because the technique can better detect the presence of the virus. It quoted You'an Hospital senior doctor Li Tongzeng as saying that the test was more sensitive than throat and nasal swabs, and was better at detecting people infected with COVID-19. "Some asymptomatic patients recover quickly, meaning that there could be no trace left of the virus in their throat after three or five days," Li was quoted as saying. "But we found that the virus lingers longer in samples taken from the patient's digestive tract and stool ... so using anal swabs would increase detection rates ... and lower the risk of misdiagnosis," he said. The move follows mass compulsory testing at a Beijing school -- including nasal, oral and anal swabs -- after a student was confirmed as an asymptomatic case. Health officials locked down several residential compounds in Beijing's Daxing district last week, and citywide testing is currently under way. "There are still a lot of restrictions in Daxing, and across the whole of Beijing," an employee who answered the phone recently at the Shunyi district epidemic control center in Beijing told RFA. "You have to get your temperature taken and scan your health code to go anywhere." 'An easy way to detect the virus' Beijing pharmacist Pang Xinhua said the virus is particularly easy to detect in stool samples, and frequently affects the digestive tract. "Patients with COVID-19 can have symptoms such as diarrhea," Pang told RFA. "It's an easy way to detect the virus." "Testing from the oral mucosa and nostrils doesn't always work properly," he said. Diagrams and video clips of patients presenting for anal swabs went viral on social media on , with netizens cringeing at the idea, and some saying they would cancel plans to travel back to the city ahead of Lunar New Year on Feb. 12 to avoid what is widely seen as a humiliating procedure. According to one video, the swab must be inserted about an inch into the rectum and rotated several times, with the whole procedure taking about 10 seconds. "Low risk of harm; high risk of humiliation," one user quipped on the Weibo social media platform. Another commented: "After seeing the official propaganda pictures, I have dropped the idea of going home for the New Year." Regime stability Hebei-based academic Wang Wenguang said the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is likely concerned by the proximity of Daxing district to its government headquarters at Zhongnanhai. "This could affect what they call overall stability, something that the CCP considers hugely important," Wang said, referring to a fear that a COVID-19 outbreak among China's leaders could affect the stability of the regime. "They're not too concerned about how many people actually catch this disease." CCTV said in its report on that anal swabs wouldn't be used as widely as other testing methods, as they weren't "convenient." Amid a resurgence of COVID-19 cases -- particularly in northern China -- many regions have clamped down on arrivals from medium- and high-risk areas of the country, with Beijing announcing a ban on such travelers to the city ahead of the New Year rush. Anyone arriving in China from overseas must currently undergo a 14-day quarantine period at a designated hotel, as well as multiple COVID-19 tests. It was unclear whether such tests would include anal swabs, however. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The University of North Georgia (UNG) will look to build off the success of hosting the Conference on the Americas for the first time last year. It will host the virtual 24th annual Conference on the Americas on Feb. 19-20, a year after welcoming participants to UNG's Gainesville Campus. Registration is available on the conference webpage, and Zoom links for sessions will be emailed to participants. While the focus of the multidisciplinary conference is primarily for university and college faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students are also invited to showcase their research on the Americas. Dr. Nelson Maldonado-Torres, director of the Rutgers Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies, will serve as the keynote speaker. Maldonado-Torres is also a professor and chair of the comparative literature program in Rutgers University's Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies. In addition to UNG's College of Arts & Letters and Mike Cottrell College of Business, the Americas Council of the University System of Georgia, Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University Perimeter College are sponsors. The Americas Council provides a venue in which faculty can engage and share their interest and expertise on the United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. "It's good that the facilities and the technology we have still allow us to meet," said Dr. Donna Danns, UNG professor of economics. Conference organizers reduced registration fees to attract more attendees. The cost is $25 for faculty and other professionals and $10 for graduate and undergraduate students. Abstract submissions are due Jan. 30. The call for papers is available on UNG's Conference on the Americas webpage. For Dr. Donna Danns and Dr. George Danns, UNG professor of sociology, serving as conference organizers is important to them. These scholars derive from Guyana, South America, and each has written several books based on their respective research in the region. Their most recent research is on youth entrepreneurship in Guyana and was funded by a 2018 Presidential Incentive Award. Both are grateful for the support of UNG's administration to host the conference. "It fits with the mission of UNG by deepening our diversity portfolio, expanding our international footprint and enhancing our linkages with scholars from other USG institutions and elsewhere," George Danns said. It is expected that more than 15 public and private institutions from Georgia and 12 out-of-state schools will be represented. Topics and categories will focus on migrants and immigration; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; ecology and the environment; gender, language and literature, politics and economic issues in the region; social problems in relation to Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada; and study abroad programs. More than 60 faculty and students are expected to participate in the two-day conference. More information is available on the Conference on the Americas webpage. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:04:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- In his special address at the World Economic Forum virtual event of the Davos Agenda, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for global action, global response and global cooperation to fix the world's problems. Xi's remarks on Monday resonate with all those across the world committed to upholding multilateralism and jointly building a community with a shared future for mankind. At a time when the deadly coronavirus is still raging in many parts of the world and humanity is encountering a raft of global challenges and crises rarely seen in history, no one can survive without joining forces and working together with others. Thus, an efficient way to jointly ride out the critical moment is to uphold multilateralism, in which all countries need to assume their due responsibilities and take concrete actions, instead of only making empty promises. China has walked the talk and devoted itself to the global fight against the once-in-a-century pandemic. Under immense pressure of epidemic prevention and control at home, it has offered urgently-needed supplies to others within its capacity. Actions speak louder than words. So far, China has provided assistance to over 150 countries and 13 international organizations, and sent 36 medical expert teams to countries in need. It has also been actively engaged in global cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines and working hard to promote these life-saving tools to be more accessible and affordable. "It is especially important to scale up cooperation on the R&D, production and distribution of vaccines and make them public goods that are truly accessible and affordable to people in all countries," Xi said. Besides its efforts and actions in the anti-COVID-19 fight, China has made remarkable contributions to global causes aimed at alleviating poverty, tackling climate change and resuscitating the global economy. Because of the coronavirus and resulting economic recession, an additional population of about 100 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty, while the gap between rich and poor countries is very likely to grow. China, the first country to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control, has made historic achievements in eradicating absolute poverty despite the impact of the pandemic, contributing to over 70 percent of the global drive in this field. China has also continuously advanced South-South cooperation and made tangible contributions to poverty eradication and debt relief in the developing world. Meanwhile, China has taken concrete actions to promote sustainable development, and stepped up its efforts in building a cleaner and better world. Notably, the country has announced its goal of striving to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Though meeting these targets will require tremendous hard work from China, the country, as Xi said, will "step forward, take action, and get the job done" when the interests of the entire world's population are at stake. Also, China has never stopped working to bolster economic globalization, by following through on its fundamental policy of opening-up, which has created more cooperation opportunities for other countries and accelerated global recovery and growth. For instance, despite the recession, China's foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road totaled 9.37 trillion yuan (about 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars), up 1 percent year on year, official data showed. Charles Onunaiju, director of the Abuja-based Center for China Studies, said with the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Belt and Road Initiative, China has in recent years become an increasingly open, inclusive and confident player on the global stage. In this globalized era, stronger multilateralism is the way forward to tackle tough global challenges. In this context, China, in both words and deeds, has boosted confidence in upholding multilateralism and injected impetus into a joint response to global crises. In the future, China will continue to join forces with the international community to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. Enditem Photo taken on Oct. 6, 2020 shows a traffic jam on an expressway near Minqing County of Fuzhou City, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei) "All local governments in China must not adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to stop residents from returning to their hometowns for Spring Festival reunions. They should provide convenience to those who need to go back," said Zhao Chenxin, a spokesperson for China's top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), at a press conference on Wednesday. In light of the recent sporadic outbreaks of COVID-19 in some northern and northeastern Chinese cities, the Chinese authorities have advised people to avoid the annual holiday travel rush to prevent the spread of the virus. "The policy of encouraging people to stay where they work for the upcoming Spring Festival is not mandatory," the official said, adding people from medium and high-risk regions must adopt the policy, but it is only recommended to do so for low-risk areas. China is facing rising demand for virus testing as peak travel season approaches, said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), urging local authorities to improve their testing capacity and explore ways to lower the testing cost and facilitate people being tested. According to the NHC, China's daily testing capacity for COVID-19 has surpassed 15 million samples. "Our testing capacity is even stronger when we conduct pool testing, for example, five or 10 samples in one batch," said Zeng, at the press conference. The Chinese government is striving to accomplish the goal of vaccinating 50 million people in the high-priority group against the coronavirus before the start of the peak Chinese New Year travel season. Zeng said that as of Tuesday, China had vaccinated 22,767,000 people, and the vaccination drive was progressing steadily. With more people expected to ring in the Lunar New Year without their families, the demand for deliveries is going up. In order to meet the higher demand, the government will cancel all the restrictions for commodity transportation in the low-risk areas, said Wang Yang, chief engineer of the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Commerce also said it will release 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of pork from central reserve on weekly basis to ensure the supply and stabilize the market price during the holiday season. At the same time, local communities are being urged to pay more attention to the empty-nest elderly people and the left-behind children, who might not expect their parents to come home this year. Before the holiday, all the community workers are required to conduct a survey on the number and living situation of all the elderly and children in need to make sure that they have enough resources to live through the tough time during the pandemic. Twenty Chester County Devereux staffers allegedly harmed children or kept quiet about the abuse since 2018. The company says it's continuing its reforms. When a 16-year-old with severe autism ran naked into the living room of his residential facility at Devereux Advanced Behavioral Healths campus in West Chester one early evening in September, a staffer turned off the lights and advanced on the boy. Four times the man punched the teenager in his head, his ribs, his groin. The boy, who is nonverbal, put up his hands to try to block the blows. After the teen broke free and fled, the staffer, Olasoji Satimehin, turned the lights back on, looked up at a surveillance camera, then calmly sat down, according to a criminal complaint. Police say he did not know the camera was equipped with night vision. Satimehins October arrest was the most recent in a string of criminal cases at Devereux. Since July 2018, prosecutors have charged 20 staffers in connection with alleged physical abuse of 18 different children at Devereuxs three residential campuses in Chester County: Leo Kanner in West Chester, Brandywine in Glenmoore, and Mapleton in Malvern, according to an Inquirer review of court records. Story continues below LAUREN SCHNEIDERMAN / Staff Photographer He would try to punch himself in the head and he would say, I was bad, and Dont tell. Chris Oram, speaking of her son Seth Hear their story One staffer whipped three girls with a phone charger cord, raising welts on the arms of two of them. Another repeatedly struck a nonverbal girl with cerebral palsy and autism with a hairbrush, laughing during the attack. Two other Devereux employees made two boys engage in a bloody fistfight. In all three cases, other staffers watched and didnt intervene, court records show. Devereux leaders would not answer questions about specific incidents, citing litigation concerns and privacy laws. In a statement, they said: These incidents are heartbreaking and unacceptable, and we must always ensure weve learned from the past and are constantly driving change in our organization and industry. Every provider in the field must deal with the issue of employees who, despite thorough training, support, and supervision, do the wrong thing in complicated situations. At Devereux, we hold ourselves to the highest standards we know there is still important work to be done and we are committed to protecting those in our care. Devereux senior vice president and chief strategy officer Leah Yaw acknowledged that more of its staffers have been arrested for abuse than those at other providers. She attributed that to our really excellent use of video and reporting and catching incidents and being able to provide evidence so that when people need to be prosecuted, they are successfully prosecuted. Jonathan Rubin, who oversees state-licensed residential facilities for children as a deputy secretary in Pennsylvanias Department of Human Services (DHS), recently said Devereuxs use of video technology was ahead of the curve compared to other providers. Facilities that care for children with disabilities are not immune from incidents of abuse. It is a recognized problem in the industry. Devereux, which specializes in treating children with intellectual and behavioral disabilities, mental disorders and trauma, holds itself out as best in class. Devereux leaders say that since January 2018, when CEO Carl Clark II took the helm, the Villanova-based nonprofit has increased direct staff pay, upgraded video camera technology and implemented random reviews of surveillance footage, and beefed up training and oversight to hold staff accountable and protect children. Devereux said it plans to spend up to $6 million to add more cameras in hallways, stairwells, and outdoor areas at its 15 residential campuses in nine states. As changes rolled out, incidents still took place. Several Devereux employees didnt report suspected child abuse to authorities even though they are legally mandated to immediately do so; Devereux supervisors sometimes minimized the severity of a childs injuries, and failed to tell parents that a staffer was suspected. In some cases, staffers who witnessed the abuse did nothing to intervene and kept quiet. They either failed to file a required incident report when a child got hurt or was restrained, or they lied in the report. And Devereux supervisors who reviewed the reports accepted the staffers accounts. After The Inquirer published an investigation in August about how Devereux staff sexually assaulted at least 41 children over the last 25 years at facilities in Pennsylvania and seven other states, the company hired former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct an independent audit of child safety. It is ongoing. Philadelphias Department of Human Services and Community Behavioral Health conducted its own inquiry. Six weeks later, city officials said they would remove all 53 children it had placed at Devereux facilities, saying that staffers werent doing their jobs and lapses in supervision put vulnerable children at risk. To date, 34 remain at Devereux, in part because parents chose to keep their children there and because they are among the most difficult to relocate. READ THE INVESTIGATION: Children were sexually abused at Devereux for years while red flags were overlooked Darlene St. John, of Philadelphia, said she opted for her 17-year-old grandson to stay at the West Chester campus, where hes lived for two years. He feels loved he feels nurtured there, she said. The Pennsylvania DHS, which inspects, monitors, and licenses residential treatment facilities for children, also launched a review into Devereuxs safety practices, including unannounced visits. The abuse of the 16-year-old boy with autism occurred in the midst of that review, which remains open. Two days after Satimehin allegedly assaulted the teen, a nurse at the center noted mild swelling to his skull. The next day, a Devereux official alerted police. Devereux also fired Satimehin, and contacted the boys parents to tell them what had happened. It was a shock, said the father of the boy, who is unnamed in police and court records. The boy has lived at Devereux for about five years. The father said he and his wife had no reason to think he wasnt well-treated there. Their son has autism and intellectual and behavioral disabilities that require 24-hour attention. The couple tried to care for him at their Philadelphia home, but by age 10, he had become too difficult to manage, running outside into traffic and getting aggressive with younger siblings, he said. The father said he hopes to soon find a new facility for his son, but agonizes over his safety. If someone beats [him] or does anything [he] could not tell anything nothing. Reports pile up DHS said it has received 254 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect on Devereuxs three Chester County campuses from Jan. 1, 2018, to Nov. 16, 2020, through ChildLine, the states 24-hour hotline to report child abuse. DHS officials said they cannot reveal how many children are involved or how many of the reports were founded because the states Child Protective Services Law bars them from releasing that information. But during a state legislative committee hearing in September, Rubin, of DHSs Office of Children, Youth and Families (OCYF), testified that state investigators confirmed a total of four incidents of physical abuse at Devereuxs three Chester County campuses since 2018. Of the 20 criminal cases, OCYF issued violations to Devereux in just four of them: The bloody staged fight between two boys that had become so well-known among staffers that some nicknamed it fight club. The staffer who took a hairbrush and chair to a girl. The foot stomping of a 15-year-old boys head. And Satimehins alleged abuse of the 16-year-old boy with autism, according to an Inquirer review of state inspection summary reports. In response to reporters questions about why only four of the 20 criminal abuse cases are reflected in public licensing records, state DHS officials said prosecutors have more leeway under criminal law to bring charges in alleged cases of child abuse, while DHS investigators, by statute, must prove that a staffer intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly injured a child or created a situation where a child could have been injured, via any recent act or failure to act. Under the regulations, Devereux is required to remove the alleged perpetrator, immediately report the incident to the state, and fully cooperate with investigations. If the company does so, state DHS officials said they weigh those factors favorably during a licensing review. DHS officials say they do consider complaints of child abuse when deciding to renew a facilitys annual license. But an Inquirer review of summary inspection reports shows an agency focused more on the nuts and bolts of building maintenance and paperwork expired waffle mix, a burned-out refrigerator light, uncovered trash containers, missing documentation of staff training, incomplete health records of childrens annual eye and hearing exams and less on rooting out suspected child abuse. We have a child protective services system that is not working to protect children, said Marci Hamilton, founder of CHILD USA, a nonprofit think tank at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect through reform. DHS has the power to pull a license or put institutions on warning with a provisional license, which could deter parents or government agencies from sending children to programs that can cost as much as $84,000 per child per year. The state, however, rarely wields this power. Even as criminal convictions piled up, DHS did not alter Devereuxs licensure. To the departments knowledge, there have been no recent failures among Devereuxs leadership to address concerns and take appropriate action, DHS spokesperson Ali Fogarty wrote in an email to The Inquirer last month. Of the 20 cases, 14 unfolded on Devereuxs West Chester campus, where 10 dormitory-style residences, a small zoo, a swimming pool, and a job training center are spread out on a sloping hill off Boot Road. As of late December, 141 children with severe cognitive and behavioral challenges lived there. Abuse complaints on this campus are investigated by the West Whiteland Township Police Department. Detective Michael Buchmann handles nearly all of them. He said he investigates at least 75 child abuse complaints a year. Very few complaints result in criminal charges, Buchmann said. He worries only a fraction gets referred to him. Thats my big stress, Buchmann said. If no one makes a report, I would never know. Fight club It was just after 6:30 p.m. July 5, 2018, when Devereux staffers Anthony Merrick and Rayne Portela cleared furniture in a common area and pushed two boys toward each other to engage in a vicious, bare-knuckled brawl. Merrick and Portela laughed as Merrick videoed the boys punching and kicking each other, according to a detailed police account of the video. One boy tried to run away, but Merrick grabbed his shirt and pushed him toward the other child to keep fighting. Portela wiped blood off one boys back. He used a white rag to wipe his bloody nose. Merrick shared the recorded fight with friends on SnapChat. None of the staffers told the boys parents, or reported the abuse to authorities. Staffer Dyneisha Kellogg, who witnessed the fight, would later say she tried to get Merrick, Portela, and the boys to stop, but they would not listen. She later told Buchmann that she had emailed her supervisor about the incident. Its unclear what, if anything, the supervisor did about it. The incident only came to light three months later with the intervention of Joel Secundy. He had grown increasingly concerned about seeing bruises, cuts, and scrapes on his son, who has autism, ever since he went to live and get treated at Devereux about two years earlier. During a visit in October 2018, his son told him that a staffer had twisted a towel around his neck and choked him. Secundy called the police and the case landed on Buchmanns desk. Most investigations are hampered by victims who cant articulate what happened, staffers who lie and cover for one another and above all, a lack of video evidence, Buchmann said. Video is key, he said. Its very hard for people to say it didnt happen when its on video. The choking incident was not captured on video, so Buchmann had to tell Secundy he could not move forward. Theres something else you should know, Secundy told the detective. Three months earlier, Devereux employees had orchestrated a fight between his son and another boy. They got that on camera, Secundy said. Buchmann said he called ChildLine, and was told no report had been made about the fight. When he asked Devereuxs quality control manager about the incident, she cited the date of it right away, and provided a 32-minute video. When Buchmann interviewed Merrick and Portela later that fall about the July fight, both were still employed by Devereux, he said. By the time they were charged in December, the two had been fired. They later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and simple assault, and in July 2019 were sentenced to two years probation. DHS inspectors wrote a blistering summary report: They found that Devereux failed to protect the health, safety and well-being of the children by allowing them to fight. That staff videotaped the degrading incident. That they failed to report it. That Devereuxs program manager didnt do her job. DHS required Devereux to submit a plan of corrective action. Devereux assured state officials that it would retrain staffers on reporting laws and ways to keep children safe and ensure their rights are not violated. And the agency renewed Devereuxs license. In two years after the fight club incident and retraining, at least 16 more children at Devereuxs Chester County facilities have allegedly been physically abused, court records show. Devereux, which receives about 95% of its $497 million in annual revenue from government programs, including Medicaid, is governed by a board of trustees. Rhea Fernandes, senior vice president and chief operating officer, said the board is made aware of the criminal cases and executives are held accountable. None of that is borne out Devereux frontline staff, called direct care professionals, need to have a high school diploma, but arent required to have worked with special-needs youth, although some do. The starting hourly wage is about $15. Each time they have to restrain a disruptive child, they must file a report with facility managers. Devereux says this incident reporting system protects kids from harm. But in 2018, that safety net had holes. When 16-year-old Shanttia Nelson tried to leave from her residential unit on West Chesters campus on a September 2018 afternoon, Devereux staffer Christina Borden said she first tried to reason with the girl with intellectual and behavioral challenges. But Shanttia attacked her, Borden said in a report she filed. She said she had to place the girl in a bear hug, a minimal restraint that Devereux staffers are trained to use. Next, Borden escorted Shanttia to the staff nurse for an exam a body check for any possible restraint-related injuries, which is standard at Devereux. Inside the nurses office, the girl complained of some arm pain and the nurse gave her an ice pack. Borden explained how she was forced to restrain Shanttia after she got violent. The teen echoed Bordens account. Borden put this all in her incident report. That likely would have been the end of the story, if not for the throbbing pain that brought Shanttia to tears the next day and her grotesquely swollen elbow. Devereux took Shanttia to a nearby hospital, where an X-ray revealed a fractured arm. At that point, a Devereux employee alerted ChildLine of suspected abuse. Law enforcement authorities reviewed video of the incident. The video shows Shanttia near an exit door. Borden runs over and yanks the girl by her arms. Borden puts her in a bear hug and places the girl in her room, holding the door shut so she cant leave. Once Borden walks away, Shanttia emerges. Borden attacks her from behind, hurling her down. Shanttia is on all fours as Borden knees her, again and again, each time the girl tries to stand, according to court records. Bordens earlier restraint report was a work of fiction, according to police. In the incident report, Christina said that Shanttia assaulted her, that she was being aggressive, pulling at her clothes, trying to bite her, was hitting her and that she charged at her, said Erin OBrien, a prosecutor with the Chester County District Attorneys Office. None of that is borne out by the video. Its just not. LAUREN SCHNEIDERMAN / Staff Photographer Marian Grischott with her daughter, Rose, at their home in Lebanon County. While at Devereux, a staffer whipped Rose with a cell-phone charger cord. Theres no oversight the way that the incident reports are written and submitted, no one ever would have pulled the video [to check] if Shanttia hadnt had that serious injury, OBrien said. Borden had even convinced the girl that she was to blame, causing her to parrot the words that Borden used in her false report. Shanttia repeatedly told authorities she was sorry for her bad behavior, OBrien said. The video also reveals two staffers, Monique Scott and Solgie Barbar, watching Borden batter the girl, court records show. They dont intervene or report the abuse. Four hours after she assaulted Shanttia, Borden whipped three girls, ages 12, 16, and 18, with a cell-phone charger cord. Again, staffer Scott watched as Borden chased the terrified girls in and out of their rooms. Borden took off a shoe and cornered one girl in a bedroom closet, then threw her shoe and the girls doll, hitting her in the head and making her cry, according to police records. On the video, Scott appeared to egg Borden on, OBrien said. It was only by chance that evening that a Devereux nurse visited the floor to see another child and noticed the welts on the girls arms before they faded and made a report to ChildLine, OBrien said. Referring to this case, OBrien said, I think just the culture of Devereux at that facility is, or was at that point, just not to get involved, just to mind your own business. A judge sentenced Borden to a maximum of 23 months in prison. Scott pleaded guilty to child endangerment; Barbar pleaded guilty to failure to report child abuse. Both got probation. The mother of Rose Grischott, one of the three girls whipped by Borden, said she wasnt alerted to the abuse by Devereux officials, as state law mandates, but from Buchmann. Marian Grischott said her daughter had just turned 18 and was back living in the familys Lebanon County home when the detective called. The Grischotts had adopted Rose at age 2. She was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder that slows growth and causes intellectual disabilities. Doctors later diagnosed her with autism, pica and self-harming obsessive-compulsive disorder. After talking to the detective, Grischott sat down and talked to her daughter. Rose told her that Borden often tormented her and ripped up her drawings of horses and tore family photos. She said Borden took away her puzzles, coloring books and the sensory fidgets she used to keep from picking at her skin, her mom said. Rose identified Borden as her attacker during the criminal trial. The girl sobbed after leaving the courtroom with her parents. I didnt want to talk about her, she wailed, Grischott recalled. In a recent interview, Devereuxs Fernandes acknowledged that there was a cluster of incidents in 2018, including fight club. Since then, Devereux has tightened oversight: For example, supervisors now try to match all incident reports of restraints to video footage, if available, to check that they line up, Fernandes said. They let it happen When Devereux staffers and supervisors fail to report abuse to authorities, the burden falls squarely on the parents shoulders. On Jan. 6, 2020, Tom Hackenberg was on his job trimming trees near Pittsburgh when a Devereux supervisor called him around 2:30 p.m. to tell him that his 15-year-old adopted son, Wayne, had to be restrained at the Glenmoore campus. Story continues below LAUREN SCHNEIDERMAN / Staff Photographer There was nothing but blood and bruises. There was this other mark where they basically curb stomped him. Tom Hackenberg Hear their story Wayne had a few bruises on his face from going to the floor, he recalled the supervisor telling him, and Hackenberg wasnt overly worried about what was portrayed as minor injuries. He said he might have a small concussion and he wanted Wayne to go to the hospital to get checked out, but Wayne was refusing to go, Hackenberg recalled. Hackenberg asked him to put Wayne on the phone. I dont want to go nowhere with nobody, he said his agitated son told him. I dont want anyone around me. Pleading, Hackenberg finally convinced Wayne, who has autism and an IQ of 50, to go to Brandywine Hospital with a female Devereux staffer the boy trusted. Courtesy of The Hackenberg Family This photo of Wayne Hackenberg was taken the night of Jan. 6, 2020 after a Devereux staffer allegedly stomped on his face after he threw Wayne against a brick wall, causing the boy to fall to the floor. Crying as he drove east, Hackenberg arrived at the hospital around 6:30 p.m. when Wayne was getting X-rays. Its really bad, Hackenberg said the Devereux staffer told him. What happened to him should have never happened. When he saw his son, Hackenberg was aghast. A boot print was across his face, all the way down, Hackenberg recalled. There was nothing but blood and bruises. There was this other mark where they basically curb stomped him. Hackenberg dialed 911 for the West Brandywine Police, something Devereux staff had not done. A police officer came to the hospital. Courtesy of The Hackenberg Family Wayne Hackenberg was allegedly assaulted by a Devereux staffer on Jan. 6, 2020. This photo was taken the night Wayne was taken to the hospital for treatment. Tina Hackenberg called her husband around 9:30 to tell him she reported the assault to ChildLine. Tom Hackenberg informed the staffer, who excused herself from the hospital room, saying she had to make some calls. About an hour later, Tina Hackenberg said a ChildLine worker called her to say Devereux had just made a report around nine hours after the assault. Hackenberg signed Wayne out of Devereux that night. The video shows a 26-year-old staffer named Tahir Carr pushing Wayne down a hallway, according to court records. Carr then throws him backward, causing Wayne to fall face first into a concrete block wall. After he falls to the floor, Carr stomps him in the face. Carr has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, and endangering welfare of a child. Carr did not respond to a message seeking comment. His attack on Wayne was corroborated by several witnesses who were standing in view of these events, according to the criminal complaint. All the staff members who watched and turned away did it to him as well, Hackenberg said. They let it happen. Bruises, burns, and wounds In May 2019, Devereux supervisors provided staffers with enhanced training on client abuse and neglect, with an emphasis on their duty to immediately report any suspected abuse to ChildLine. DHS regulators reviewed the beefed-up training, which grew out of the 2018 fight club incident, and signed off on the plan. But two months later, another incident went unreported. On a hot, sunny Saturday in July 2019, 16-year-old Ava left Devereuxs West Chester campus and went home for a visit. Avas mom, Angie Coggin, discovered a dark purple bruise on Avas left foot from her ankle to her toes. What on earth happened? Coggin asked. Ava, who has cerebral palsy and autism, can only communicate by typing or clicking on suggested words that are converted into computerized speech on her iPad. I got hit, Ava replied on her device. When Coggin called Devereux for answers, they were trying to tell me her shoe was too tight. Coggin, a nurse, knew that couldnt explain the injury. A few days later, the principal at Avas school told Coggin that she had heard a woman, recorded on Avas talking device, threaten to push the girl in her motherf face. The principal told her it was very disturbing. Buchmann, the detective, obtained surveillance video from July 26, 2019. It shows staffer Andrene Bennett-Wint pushing Ava, striking her with a hairbrush, and shoving a chair into her knees and waist, court records show. Staffers Cecelia Gbor and Tyrena Adams witnessed the assault, but did not report it. At Devereux, Buchmann was unable to communicate with Ava. She came to the interview without her talking device and she appeared very lethargic and out of sorts, he said. She could barely keep her eyes open. Bennett-Wint told the detective she didnt hurt Ava, that Ava was abusing her. Then Buchmann played the recording on Avas iPad. Bennett-Wint was shocked to hear her own voice. She started to sweat and placed her shaking hands on her lap, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Buchmann then played the nine-minute video of her assault, and Bennett-Wint changed her story: She struck Ava on the spur of the moment. Last month, Bennett-Wint pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of children and was sentenced to three years probation. Adams was sentenced to two years probation for failure to report. The case of Gbor, also charged with failure to report, remains open. About a month after the assault, and after Buchmann had confronted Bennett-Wint with the video and audio, Coggin saw a scab on Avas foot that looked like the result of a serious burn. Using her iPad, Ava told her that a staffer had scorched her with a curling iron, Coggin said, according to police. When she called Devereux, she said she was told, once again, that Avas shoes must be too tight. When Buchmann investigated, he said that Devereux supervisors told him that they were unable to retrieve the video from the time period he requested. Then not long after, Coggin noticed a wound in the middle of Avas back. Coggin said a Devereux staffer told her that Ava had rolled around in gravel. But the girl told her mom she was outside at a picnic table when a staffer scraped a fork down her back. Coggin called ChildLine. When he investigated the alleged incident, Buchmann said he was told there was no video coverage of that area. Since the string of incidents, Ava has regressed drastically, Coggin said. She has escaped from Devereux at least five times, and sometimes was found rolling on an asphalt road. At school she went from straight As to where they couldnt even keep her in class, she said. Her daughter started eating feces and attacking other kids and staff at her school. She hadnt had any incidents of aggressive behavior, but when this happened, it was like, boom! Coggin is trying desperately to find another residential treatment center for her. Shes been told the only facility willing to take her is in Ohio. At school she went from straight As to where they couldnt even keep her in class. Angie Coggin Just because she has aggressive behavior disorder, it doesnt give anyone the right to treat her the way shes been treated, she said. Bottom line is shes a child with a disability. If you choose to do this as your career, you have to go in with the mindset that youre going to help these kids, not harm them. ChildLine has been alerted at least three times that Ava allegedly was abused, Coggin said. If I had done this, I would have lost my nurses license, lost my kids, she said. Id have someone at my house that very day. They wouldnt let it go on three times. They wouldnt need video evidence. Id lose it all. DHS cited Devereux for suspected child abuse and failing to report Bennett-Wints assault on Ava in the Glenloch building. Once again, Devereux assured DHS officials that Glenloch staffers would be retrained on interrupting any perceived mistreatment of children, and abuse reporting procedures. In a Nov. 21, 2019 letter, DHS accepted Devereuxs plan and renewed its license for the Glenloch building. Broken trust The abuse of Seth Oram, however, apparently stayed under the states radar. On July 5, 2019, police charged a staffer in the Goldsmith dorm on the West Chester campus with repeatedly punching 17-year-old Seth in the head a month earlier. Three days later, on July 8, Devereux submitted a renewal application for the Goldsmith building. DHS dropped the license in the mail on July 10, with the regulatory caveat that the agency could pull the license or issue a provisional one, if inspectors later found problems. DHS inspectors spent three days July 24, 25, and 26 at Goldsmith. They found Devereux in violation for allowing one Goldsmith staffer to work with children before completing orientation, according to the inspection summary report. The report didnt address what happened to Seth. Seth had been living at Devereux just over a year when his mother, Chris Oram, received an email from a Devereux nurse in June 2019. She wrote that she was called to check on Seth at 9:15 that morning. He has a 2cm scratch on the top of his head left of center. It is not deep but it did bleed a little. He also has three scratches on his right side-mid back. An investigation is being done to find out how these injuries occurred. I applied Neosporin to the areas and will monitor. It didnt sound like it was a big deal, Oram recalled. A program coordinator called her to say a staff member had hit him, but still Oram didnt understand the severity until Buchmann called and told her. She started to sob hysterically. In a video, Seth, 5-foot-8 and only 118 pounds, enters an office, followed by 39-year-old staffer James Summerville. Less than a minute later, Seth leaves the office, visibly upset, holding his head. He runs to staffer Stephanie Boyd. Summerville then exits wiping his hands. Boyd would later tell Buchmann that Seth was beet red. She asked him what was wrong. Im sorry, he told her, and started to cry and cradle his head. He told her it hurt. Boyd alerted another staffer, who saw that Seth was bleeding from a gash on his head. Boyd later told Buchmann she suspected that Summerville had hit him. Boyd and two other staffers went into an office to discuss how to report the incident, and eventually did so. Seth was with them. Meanwhile, in walked Summerville. Who you talking to? Summerville asked the boy, according to the criminal complaint. Then Summerville took a closed fist, his middle knuckle sticking out, and punched him in the head, directly into the wound. Seth fell to the floor. Boyd screamed at Summerville and ordered him to leave the room. Seth crawled toward her and wrapped his arms around her legs. During the interview with Buchmann, Boyd cried. She later told him it made her heart drop. Chris and John Oram, of Sinking Spring, had taken Seth into their home when he was 10 days old. Born five weeks early, he was one of Chris patients in an Ohio hospital where she worked as a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit. The Orams would learn that Seth has fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, mild cerebral palsy, feeding problems, seizure disorder, attention deficit disorder, and a severe intellectual disability. With an IQ around 40, he knows his name, but not colors, letters or numbers. He knows about 50 words and can manage sayings like, I love you, mom, or I want pizza, she said. Two years ago, his in-home therapeutic support staff was no longer funded, and Chris was battling thyroid cancer while her husband underwent open heart surgery. We were at the point we couldnt care for him anymore, she said. Thats why he ended up at Devereux. On visits, the Orams noticed that Seth always had a lot of bruises. Staffers told them that Seth was clumsy and tripped a lot. I never wanted to think that anyone would hurt my son, she said. You put your trust in them. Its something you dont want to think about. She could rationalize the bruises on his legs. But I couldnt understand the ones on his back, the middle of his back, she said. The same day that Wayne Hackenberg was assaulted, Chris Oram stood before Judge Jeffrey Sommer in Chester County Common Pleas Court to describe how Seth still blames himself. I never wanted to think that anyone would hurt my son. You put your trust in them. Its something you dont want to think about. Chris Oram She told Sommer shes tried to explain to Seth that being beaten wasnt his fault. He just does not have the ability to process that, she said. The only thing he would say is, he would try to punch himself in the head and he would say, I was bad, and Dont tell. Those are the only words that we could ever get from him about it. This kind of broke our hearts. She wants to know how people like Summerville pass a screening test to work with special needs kids. I dont understand what kind of person takes that type of job and has that evilness inside them. Is that why you took the job because you can do this kind of stuff to children who cant tell anyone? she said in an interview. I want Devereux to be held accountable, she said. They need to look at their hiring, training, and monitoring practices. Reflecting on her sons experience, she said: They need to be upfront with families when the children are hurt. They need to be open and honest. The lack of information makes it worse. Devereux declined repeatedly to answer questions about specific cases. The company has noted it has added safety measures since 2018. After the assault, Seth often had night terrors, and he started to bite his arms again until they bled. I could not protect my son from this assault, she told the judge that January day. I feel like I Unable to finish, she asked assistant district attorney Emily Provencher to read the rest of her victim-impact statement. I feel like I have failed as a parent, especially the parent of a special needs child. I feel helpless and inadequate, the prosecutor read. After every visit with Seth, I go home depressed and often cry all the way home. I dont know if I will ever, ever be able to forgive you for assaulting my helpless son. I cant say that I will be happy with the outcome today, but I am hoping that giving this statement will start the healing process in our household. After pleading guilty to simple assault, Summerville was sentenced to three years probation. The Orams moved Seth, now 18, to a group home in a Philadelphia suburb in August. Im scared, Seth told his mom that day as they celebrated with pizza and cake. These people could hurt me too. The last stop After the 16-year-old autistic boy was beaten in the darkened living room, his father visited and was heartsick. He was like keeping his distance from us, the man recalled. Its something thats not normal, as if hes afraid of us. When a staffer held out a cookie, the boy wouldnt come closer to take it. Prosecutors charged Satimehin, of Delaware County, with aggravated assault, simple assault, and child endangerment. He declined to comment after a recent court hearing. On Sept. 13, a day after Satimehins alleged assault, another incident took place in the same dorm. A staffer placed a boy in another childs bedroom and left to help other children shower. A half-hour later, the boy, whose treatment plan called for 24-hour supervision, was found laying naked with another child, according to a state DHS licensing inspection summary. In each case, Devereux launched an internal investigation and fired both staffers. Devereux also submitted plans of correction to the state; both involved more staff training. Devereux said it would train all staff on a new client supervision hand off procedure and institute a shower plan, with increased staffing, at that dorm. In the case involving Satimehin, Devereux said it would give all overnight supervisors access to recorded video and increase camera reviews, including all restraints. In a one-paragraph form letter, a DHS regional director deemed each plan acceptable. Meanwhile, Devereuxs Fernandes said of the 53 children that Philadelphia officials had pledged to relocate, only three families now want their children moved. And for those families, options are few, she said. Devereux has a long history of taking the most behaviorally intense kids, she said. Theres no other provider that will take them. The kids who end up at Devereux have exhausted other treatment routes. We, Fernandes said, are the last stop for these kids. *Former staff writer Lisa Gartner contributed to this article. A further six cases of the more infectious South African variant of the virus have been detected here, it emerged yesterday. Three cases were found earlier this month and were believed to have been contained. The South African strain - called B.1.351 - is thought to be much more infectious than regular Covid and even more transmissible than the UK strain, which has been blamed for contributing to the third-wave surge. There is particular concern because it is still uncertain whether the existing vaccines will be effective against it. Caught If not, drug manufacturers will need to reformulate the vaccines and everyone vaccinated would need a new jab. Five people who caught Covid-19 abroad or were infected by someone who travelled here are among those who have died of the disease over the course of the pandemic, as Ireland yesterday reached a grim milestone of 3,066 deaths from the virus. As the Cabinet gave the go-ahead for tougher restrictions on travel, the death toll breached 3,000. The over-75s have been worst hit by fatalities and this third wave has seen high levels of infection among this group. The number of healthcare workers who have died from the virus has risen to 10 after remaining at eight for several months. It comes as another 90 deaths were reported yesterday among people ranging in age from 48 to 99 years old. The number of newly diagnosed daily cases fell below 1,000 to 928 for the first time since Christmas Eve. Hospitals continue to be under huge pressure, although the number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients fell to 1,750 from 1,905 on Monday. Intensive care for patients relied heavily on surge beds, with 216 needing the highest level of treatment - a slight drop from 219 on Monday. "Today we are reporting a further 90 deaths, bringing our cumulative total of lives lost to Covid-19 to more than 3,000 in Ireland," chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said. "This highly infectious disease is having a severe impact on the most vulnerable in our society and we must continue the good work we are doing. "The decline in daily incidence of Covid-19 has begun. However, the volume of disease in our communities remains very high. "To date we have reported 96,000 cases in January 2021, which has already passed the total of 93,500 cases reported in 2020. Identified "Indeed, public health doctors in the midlands reported a total of 4,000 cases in the first eight months of 2020 and another 4,000 cases in the first four weeks of 2021. "Through our enhanced public health surveillance programme we have identified six additional cases linked to the Southern African variant of concern. All cases are being followed up by public health teams in line with the latest European Centre for Disease Control guidance. "The downturn in incidence has been achieved through the determination of people to stay at home, to work from home and to avoid meeting and socialising with others. "It is imperative that everyone continues to strictly adhere to the public health advice to protect ourselves and our loved ones." By Jun Ji-hye Korea's low-cost carrier (LCC) industry is bracing for major changes this year as two newcomers are ready to join the market, while a giant budget airline is set to emerge through a merger between three low-cost carriers. The two new entrants are Air Premia and Aero K. According to industry sources, Air Premia is expected to receive its air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and acquire Boeing 787-9 planes next month. The transport ministry grants an AOC after verifying a carrier's capability to provide safe services. Air Premia received its license to operate air transport services back in March 2019. The deliveries of Boeing aircraft and other procedures to launch services have been delayed due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, but Air Premia may be able to begin its inaugural service within March as the carrier is in the final stages of receiving its AOC, according to sources. "We are planning to launch our inaugural service to a Southeast Asian country, and then expand our routes to Los Angeles and Silicon Valley, among others," an Air Premia official said. Aero K received its AOC last month and is set to begin operations next month, flying a 180-seat Airbus A320 on the Cheongju-Jeju route. The carrier also plans to operate more international routes after acquiring two more Airbus planes. Fly Gangwon already began offering flights on the Yangyang-Jeju route in November 2019, and added the Yangyang-Gimpo and Yangyang-Daegu routes later. Meanwhile, Korean Air's plan to take over Asiana Airlines will bring about a mega merger between the budget carrier brands of the two full-service flyers. Jin Air is a subsidiary of Korean Air, while Air Seoul and Air Busan belong to Asiana. As of last year, the three LCCs accounted for a combined market share of 44 percent, beating Jeju Air, which is currently the largest budget carrier. Industry officials noted, however, that the ongoing COVID-19 crisis will remain as a variable in the reshaping of the LCC industry as the continuation of the pandemic could threaten the very survival of LCCs, especially new players. As the pandemic has caused international travel to plummet, existing LCCs have turned their eyes on domestic routes, intensifying competition in the local budget airline market. "An intense price-cutting race among LCCs amid the pandemic could make things more difficult for new budget carriers," an official at a Seoul-based budget airline said on condition of anonymity. Two female eagle rays have given birth to pups at an aquarium despite having no contact with a male in two years. Nibble and Spot gave birth at the same time as each other on New Year's Eve without a male companion, intriguing aquarists and scientists. The two females reside in the Fish Tunnel display at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand, which currently does not house a male eagle ray. Aquarium staff are trying to work out whether the pups were conceived through a process called parthenogenesis known as a 'virgin birth' or by sperm storage. Two female eagle rays gave birth to pups at the SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium in Auckland, New Zealand on New Year's Eve despite having no male eagle ray sharing their tank Female eagle rays Nibble and Spot both gave birth at exactly the same time, which came one year to the day Nibble had last given birth. Pictured is one of Nibble's pups from last year 'Whilst we were surprised to see Nibble and Spot give birth to pups because they haven't been with a male in two years, it's not completely unheard of,' Andrew Christie, Curator at SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's, said. 'It could have occurred through a process called parthenogenesis, which is a rare reproductive strategy where an embryo develops without fertilisation. 'Alternatively, Nibble and Spot could have stored sperm inside their bodies for the last two years. 'Sperm storage has been recorded in several shark and ray species, so we think this is the more likely scenario.' The newborns are currently not on display at the aquarium but Nibble's pups from 2019 are featured in the aquarium's Turtle Bay. Pictured is one of Nibble's pups from last year Eagle rays are born with barbs but are still vulnerable to predators when they are young because of their size WHAT ARE THEY? - Eagle rays are a type of cartilaginous fish with skeletons made of cartilage instead of bone as well as wide, flat snouts like a duck's bill - They are found in New Zealand waters and are easy to identify thanks to their pointed wings and the flapping motion they make when they swim Source: SEA LIFE Kelly Tarlton's Aquarium, Auckland, New Zealand Advertisement Adele Dutilloy, a fisheries modeller at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, believed if the two females had stored sperm, it would be the first such time that had been documented in eagle rays. 'The only way you can really confirm it for sure is through genetic testing It would be a really cool thing to do, because it's never been looked at before,' she told The Guardian. The pups are currently not on display at the aquarium, instead staying behind-the-scenes where they are being fed mussels and fish fillets. While they are born with barbs they are still vulnerable to larger fish when they are young because of their small size. Nibble also gave birth on New Year's Eve in 2019, with those pups on display at the aquarium's Turtle Bay. In 2018, Freckle, a female eagle stingray at Sydney's SEA LIFE Aquarium, managed to give birth to a baby despite not coming into contact with a male for nine years. Freckle - one of the park's main attractions due to the array of white dots found on her back - threw her tail up to conventional pregnancy and instead chose to do it alone, opting for parthenogenesis. Taoiseach Micheal Martin arrives to announce an extension of Level 5 lockdown with Cabinet members Cabinet ministers fear a public backlash over new mandatory quarantine plans which they believe do not go far enough to stop the spread of the virus from overseas. The new quarantine rules will only apply to anyone travelling from South Africa and Brazil, along with those who arrive in Ireland without a negative Covid-19 test. All other passengers are to be subject to mandatory quarantine in their homes, while a new 500 fine for taking any non-essential travel is to be introduced. However, during a more than four-hour Cabinet meeting, ministers raised concerns the quarantine proposals will not go far enough to stop the spread of the virus or appease public demand for tighter controls on our borders once the spread of the disease is brought under control At the meeting, Culture Minister Catherine Martin and Higher Education Minister Simon Harris both called for stronger regulations than those proposed by the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19. Ms Martin, the Green Party deputy leader, told the meeting she did not believe the quarantine rules were strong enough to deal with the possibility of more variants of the virus emerging. She said a larger managed isolation regime was needed and suggested life would return to near normal by the summer if it was introduced. Mr Harris also said the new rules did not go far enough and called for more clarity on how the proposed quarantine regulations will work in practice. Chief Whip Jack Chambers and Education Minister Norma Foley also pushed for tighter restrictions on travellers who are to be legally ordered to quarantine in their homes. Mr Chambers insisted people should be told to remain in their homes for the two weeks rather than be instructed to restrict their movements. He said the messaging on quarantining at home should be strong to ensure compliance. His call for stricter rules on mandatory quarantining at home was supported by Ms Foley. Crazy Questions were also raised at the meeting about how mandatory quarantining at home could be policed. Ministers also called for the list of essential workers to be narrowed to reduce the amount of people allowed to travel overseas. Sources at the meeting said the quarantine proposals presented to the gathering needed a lot more work which Health Minister Stephen Donnelly committed to undertake in cooperation with other departments. "I think we are out of step with the public on this and we should be going further," a source said. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was "crazy" to expect that people will quarantine in their homes. She called for all passengers to be held in quarantine hotels. Labour Party leader Alan Kelly said the quarantine plans were "half-baked, and will confuse the situation more". "It was a missed opportunity to once and for all set out a strategy to suppress and contain the virus," he said. "What we needed was a strong message from the Government that it will once and for all act, instead of more short-term responses, and stop-gap proposals." Targets Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said there is public support for stronger restrictions and urged the Government to act faster. Separately, Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien raised concerns at Cabinet about the impact of the continued ban on non-essential construction. He told the meeting for every week of the lockdown between 700 and 800 houses will not be built. He said the nine weeks of lockdown this year mean his housing targets will be off by between 6,500 and 7,000 homes. The minister made a submission to the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 over the weekend seeking to have the ban lifted. However, it was decided to extend the ban until March 5. The proposals on international travel agreed by the Cabinet included a commitment to increase the fines for breaches of the rules. The Taoiseach said the fines will be 500. The Government said there will be increased Garda checks and enforcement activity on people making non-essential journeys during Level 5 restrictions. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said under new rules being considered gardai will be able to ask people travelling from the North to the Republic to turn back if their journey is not deemed essential. Regulations for some of the new rules will be signed this week but new legislation will have to be drafted for other elements of the Government's travel restrictions. Maci Bookout and Taylor McKinney have closed the door on naturally conceiving another child but the couple are open to adoption. Read article Weve always both had that in our minds, the 16 and Pregnant alum, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, January 26, while promoting season 9 of Teen Mom OG. We are still waiting. Obviously right now is not the time, but yes, we are both definitely still interested and would welcome that in our future. Courtesy Maci Bookout/Instagram Bookout, who is the mother of Bentley, 12, with Ryan Edwards and Jayde, 5, and Maverick, 4, with McKinney, 31, explained, Well revisit it when I feel like[,] when we feel like, we have our three not under control because I dont think that will ever happen but when maybe when Maverick is in school too, and things can kind of get a little bit more structured. Read article The Tennessee native previously told Us Weekly exclusively that she and McKinney didnt agree on expanding their family. We are on different sides of the fence when it comes to that, the Naked and Afraid alum said in April 2020. And were both also very respectful of how the other one feels about it. Were on the same page as far as it being OK that were on different pages. The reality star added, We talk about it a lot. And, I mean, nothings really changed as far as our opinions go, but thats OK. As time goes on, well come to some sort of actual resolution or agreement. But, I mean, for now, I think just as long as we keep talking about it even when were not on the same page, its best. At the time, Bookout had spoken to her husband about possibly getting a vasectomy. Read article On Tuesday, she clarified that she and the motorcycle racer are now on the same page about their future family plans. She explained to Us, He said hes on whatever page Im on. So no more babies biological, anyways. Season 9 of Teen Mom OG premieres on MTV Tuesday, January 26, at 8 p.m. ET. With reporting by Christina Garibaldi Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning The New START agreement, which limited the size of the US and Russia's strategic nuclear arsenals, expires on 5 February Washington: Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin avoided a renewed arms race Tuesday when they formally agreed to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between their countries. But White House officials said Biden also confronted the Kremlin leader over the poisoning of an Opposition activist and a hacking of government and private computer networks in the United States. It was the first call between the leaders of the worlds two largest nuclear powers since Bidens inauguration. But it was being watched as much for its tone as its substance: Biden vowed during the transition to make Russia pay a price for the hacking, and his administration, in its opening hours, demanded the release of Alexei Navalny, whose arrest on 17 January prompted protests last weekend across Russia that resulted in more than 3,000 arrests. The call was, in essence, the opening act of what promises to be a deeply adversarial relationship between the two leaders, and most likely the sharpest turn in American foreign policy since Donald Trump left office one week ago. American intelligence agencies, led by the CIA, assessed before the 2020 election that Putin had a clear preference for the reelection of Trump, who, during his four years in office, treated the Russian leader with remarkable deference. Biden, in contrast, had repeatedly called Putin a KGB thug and mocked Trump as Putins puppy. Putin, for his part, had chastised Biden for his sharp anti-Russian language. But there was none of that kind of name-calling in the official White House and Kremlin accounts of this first conversation, a tempering of language that seemed to reflect the fact that both leaders recognised that they must now deal with each other. Biden tried to deflect a question about the call with a joke, telling reporters at a White House event that Putin, whose government has jailed journalists and has been accused of worse, sends his best! The call came at the request of the Russians at a moment when Biden is receiving congratulatory calls all determined to get off on a good foot with a new administration from many national leaders. But there was an immediate need: The New START agreement, which limited the size of the two countries strategic nuclear arsenals, expires on 5 February. On Monday night, the countries exchanged diplomatic notes to extend the treaty for five years, the maximum allowed in its text. Trump had initially declared that he would not extend it unless China also joined. The Chinese immediately rejected the idea, and noted that Beijing had fewer than 300 deployed nuclear weapons. Chinese officials asked, somewhat mockingly, whether the United States and Russia might be willing to cut their own arsenals by four-fifths to match Chinas level or encourage China to deploy more than 1,000 new weapons to match the American and Russian arsenals. A last-minute effort by the Trump administration to negotiate an improvement to the treaty also failed; by that time, Putin appeared to be betting that Biden would win, and would want to make good on his promise to renew the Barack Obama-era treaty. The treaty limits nuclear arsenals to 1,550 strategic warheads. The five-year extension was built into the original text, if both countries agreed, so it does not need further approval by the Senate. But Putin will need to ratify the extension through the Duma, which he controls; it initially approved the treaty itself 10 years ago this week. Putin and Biden voiced their satisfaction about diplomatic steps taken earlier in the day to exercise the extension, the Kremlin said. In the coming days, both sides will finish the procedures necessary to assure the continued functioning of this important international legal mechanism to place mutual limits on nuclear-missile arsenals, it added. The extension does not cover tactical nuclear weapons, nor does it reverse Trumps decision to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces agreement, amid American charges that Russia was violating its terms. There is a question whether Russias new class of nuclear-armed undersea drones and other weapons would be covered. But the New START extension avoids a costly arms race and Bidens national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, argued that if the country was going to confront Russia for its malign activities, it was better to do so with both sides under nuclear constraints. Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, said Tuesday that the White House was right to engage Putin on issues of mutual interest like the New START treaty extension, while raising Russias belligerent foreign policy actions and speaking bluntly about human rights violations inside Russia. The challenge, of course, is implementing all three of these policy ambitions simultaneously, said McFaul, now the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Navalny and his team, for instance, has called upon the West to sanction not just a handful of obscure Russian intelligence officers responsible for his poisoning and arrest, but instead those Russian billionaires, with real assets in the West, who enable Putins regime. Will Biden go that far? Lets see. Not surprisingly, the Russian account of the conversation made no mention of Navalny, who survived the poisoning, or the considerable evidence that the attack was the work of Russian intelligence. Navalnys allies seized on that omission as evidence of Putins brittleness. Putin lies always, about everything, to the last, Leonid Volkov, a close aide to Navalny, posted on Twitter. Biden also raised with Putin the highly sophisticated hacking of US government and private networks, called SolarWinds after the name of the Texas-based firm whose network-management software was one way Russian hackers got access to 18,000 networks. While Biden has ordered a broad assessment of the intelligence and promised that Russia would pay a price for the action, the White House gave no details of what he said or threatened. American intelligence assessments of Russia placing bounties on US soldiers in Afghanistan was also raised by Biden, as well as what White House officials said was interference in the 2020 United States election. Biden made clear that the United States will act firmly in defence of its national interests in response to actions by Russia that harm us or our allies, the White House statement said. The two presidents agreed to maintain transparent and consistent communication going forward. For its part, the Kremlin said Putin noted that normalising the relationship between Russia and the United States would be in the interest of both countries and given their special responsibility for security and stability in the world of the entire international community. David E Sanger and Anton Troianovski c.2021 The New York Times Company California lawmakers may open a new front in the states fight against climate change by forcing large corporations to develop specific plans for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, unveiled on Wednesday an emissions disclosure bill aimed at companies that do business in California and have more than $1 billion in annual revenue. The bill, labeled the Climate Corporate Accountability Act, would require those companies to annually reveal the emissions associated with their businesses and set science-based targets for curbing their carbon footprints, Wiener said. The annual disclosures would apply to emissions from direct sources, including fossil fuel combustion, as well as indirect areas such as electricity use and supply chains including from activities that relate to a business but do not involve its own assets. Regulators at the California Air Resources Board would have one year to develop a reporting structure, and companies would have another year to comply. The emission reduction targets would not be required until 2025. Wiener touted the bill as the first of its kind in the nation. Some companies already disclose emissions voluntarily, he said, but his goal is to make it mandatory for corporations with large carbon footprints and ensure that the information reported is comprehensive. This is an existential threat to our planet, Wiener said. Its about whether this planet will be viable for our kids and our grandkids. We need bold action now, and the corporate community has to be part of that solution. Wieners efforts have already won support from Rep. Katie Porter, D-Irvine, who told The Chronicle that the bill would improve the publics understanding about the role that various corporations play in climate change. Ive seen corporations really weaponize peoples lack of information. They use it to enable their abuse, Porter said. This gives consumers, investors, the public and those who might contract with these corporations information information they can use in deciding whether they want to keep doing business with companies that may be contributing to this problem or are not taking adequate steps to solve this problem. Climate advocates who helped craft Wieners bill estimate that more than 5,000 public and private U.S. corporations would meet the legislations revenue requirement, though its not clear exactly how many of them do business in the state. We think its going to be a very small number of those corporations that arent going to end up having some kind of business in California, said Catherine Atkin, a director at the organization Carbon Accountable who backs the legislation. Its not clear yet how the bill might fare in the Legislature or what level of resistance it may encounter from large businesses or trade groups. Chevron of San Ramon, for example, reports its own emissions and reduction goals, although Wieners bill could potentially require changes. Chevron spokesman Sean Comey said in an email that the company would continue to work with policymakers to help develop well-designed energy and environmental policies. As critics pointed out the ballooning energy usage at their rapidly expanding data centers, companies like Apple, Facebook and Google began reporting on their emissions and have set goals to reduce them. Uber has sought to persuade drivers to trade in gas cars for electric models. In addition to reporting its own emissions, Salesforce developed carbon accounting software to help customers track their greenhouse-gas contributions. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. UC Berkeley energy economist Severin Borenstein said that requiring emission disclosure makes a lot of sense, though he questioned how companies would be able to confidently calculate the emissions associated with their supply chains. It would not be a simple thing to do, Borenstein said. But the idea of disclosure, I think, is one of the tools that has had good effects in the past. He also said he found the bills timing a little odd, given the new administration of President Biden, which is positioning itself to take a much more aggressive stance against climate change than the federal government did under former President Donald Trump. Still, Borenstein said that pushing for more information was a fine thing to do, even if doesnt have a huge impact. If passed, Wieners bill would be the latest in a long line of aggressive climate policies California has pursued in recent years. Just last year, for example, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state would phase out the sale of gas-powered cars by 2035. Newsom also called for a ban on the fossil fuel extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking and Wiener previously said he would help enshrine that goal in law. That legislation is still being developed and should be introduced in the coming weeks, Wiener said. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris MOSCOW -- Russia has approved an extension of the New START nuclear arms control treaty as Moscow and Washington look to save the last major pact of its kind. The lower house of parliament, the State Duma, voted unanimously on January 27 to extend the treaty for five years. It was then approved quickly in the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council. The pact, signed in 2010, was set to expire next week. A day earlier, U.S. and Russian officials announced an agreement to extend the accord, which doesn't require approval from the U.S. Congress. The extension is "a step in the right direction," Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the Davos Economic Summit on January 27, adding that "challenges remain" that could cause "a real setback in global development, which is fraught with a fight of all against all and attempts to resolve looming controversies through a search for internal and external enemies." "The situation can develop unpredictably and spin out of control if nothing is done to prevent it," he said, while expressing "hope" that global conflicts are a thing of the past since they could mean "the end of civilization." In a thinly veiled comment aimed at Western nations that have sanctions imposed on Moscow over its illegal annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and its ongoing support to separatists in eastern Ukraine, Putin warned against putting "pressure on the countries that do not agree with playing the role of obedient and directed satellites." "The use of trade barriers, illegal sanctions, restrictions in financial, technological, information spheres. These types of games without rules increase the risk of one side using military weapons. That is the real danger," Putin said. New START, the last remaining arms-control pact between Washington and Moscow, limits the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads at 1,550, deployed strategic delivery systems at 700, and provides for a verification regime. Former President Donald Trump's administration made a late attempt to negotiate limits on other categories of nuclear weapons and add China to the treaty, stalling negotiations. A bid to agree to a shorter extension also ran into complications, leaving the fate of the treaty to the incoming administration of President Joe Biden just two weeks before its expiration. Biden had long advocated extending the treaty even if it could not be strengthened and expanded. The two presidents confirmed an agreement on the extension during a January 26 phone call -- their first direct communication since Biden took office six days earlier. Extending the treaty to allow time for Moscow and Washington to negotiate a new verifiable arms-control arrangement will be welcomed by the United States European allies, which were already concerned after Trump withdrew from two other arms-control pacts. With reporting by Reuters and AP New Delhi: The first official and public contact between the governments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden took place on Wednesday with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and new US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin speaking in the evening. READ | Biden's administration appoints Indian-Americans to key posts in Energy Department The talks that started around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, lasted for around 20 minutes. During the call, which was made from the US side, there was a reaffirmation of the Indo-Pacific vision, backed by both Washington and Delhi. READ | Joe Biden, family 'locked' outside White House due to this act by Donald Trump The Indian government readout said, "During the telephonic talk, they reaffirmed their commitment to work together to strengthen the multifaceted India-US defence cooperation and the strategic partnership. Raksha Mantri and Secretary Austin discussed bilateral, regional and global issues." READ | President Joe Biden to push US Congress for $1.9 trillion in COVID-19 relief Singh tweeted, "Spoke with my US counterpart Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and conveyed my warm wishes on his appointment. We reiterated our firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation. We exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest to strengthen our strategic partnership." Spoke with my US counterpart, @SecDef Austin & conveyed my warm wishes on his appointment. We reiterated our firm commitment to deepen India-US defence cooperation. We exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest to strengthen our strategic partnership. Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) January 27, 2021 The fact that the US side reaffirmed its position on Indo-Pacific, show no change of sentiment in Washington on the vision. It is given that China remained another focus area of the talks. The call comes a few days after the US Senate confirmed Austin as the US Defence Secretary. He is the first black US Defence Secretary. Austin has so far spoken to his counterparts from Britain, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg. During his interaction with Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, Austin reiterated America's commitment to the US-Japan alliance and emphasised on the importance of maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said on January 24. "Austin and Kishi discussed a broad range of security issues in the Indo-Pacific and exchanged views on ensuring the readiness of the alliance despite the challenges posed by COVID-19," Kirby said. They also discussed the need to continue implementing US force realignment initiatives including continued efforts regarding the construction of the Futenma Replacement Facility in Henoko, he said. Austin affirmed that the Senkaku islands are covered by Article V of the US-Japan Security Treaty and that the United States remains opposed to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea, he added. Kishi congratulated Austin on his appointment, Kirby said. "Austin thanked Kishi for Japan's continued leadership in implementing United Nations Security Council Resolutions regarding North Korea and encouraged minister Kishi to strengthen Japan's contribution to the role that the alliance continues to play in providing security in the Indo-Pacific region," Kirby said. Austin also spoke to the UK secretary of state for defence Ben Wallace and reaffirmed the importance of the special relationship between our two countries, Kirby said. The secretaries discussed views on confronting strategic issues of mutual interest, including the COVID-19 response, concerns from a rising China, threats from Russia, and ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said. Austin congratulated the UK for the recent announcement of its largest increase in defence spending in 30 years, noting the importance of that spending to our shared security and the collective security of the NATO alliance, he said. Austin noted the significance of the recent joint declaration for the Carrier Strike Group 2021 deployment. The deployment will include US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft deployed aboard the UK aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time, as well as the inclusion of US Navy destroyer USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) as part of a combined carrier strike group. He noted the significance of this deployment to our bilateral ties and interoperability, Kirby said. The secretary expressed his appreciation for the UK's commitment to our defence partnership and highlighted the US' commitment to the NATO alliance, he said. Austin also called South Korea's Minister of National Defence Suh Wook to reaffirm the "ironclad alliance" between the two countries while emphasising on the importance of close cooperation between them, Kirby said. Austin underscored the US' commitment to defend South Korea through both the US-South Korea combined defence posture and the US extended deterrent, he said. Suh congratulated Austin on his appointment, he added. Austin and Suh addressed a broad range of defence-related issues and exchanged views on the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, Kirby said. Both sides noted the need to maintain the readiness of alliance combined forces, affirmed the importance of maintaining the rules-based international order, and agreed to enhance cooperation on shared threats, he said. with additional inputs from news agency PTI The Murray remains the deadliest river in Australia, claiming the lives of about two Victorians on average each year, with another drowning this week prompting renewed warnings about the waterways lethal hazards. A 35-year-old man became the latest drowning victim on Tuesday after running into difficulty while swimming near the northern Victorian town of Cobram, at the border with NSW. The Murray is the most deadly river for swimming in Australia. Credit:Nick Moir NSW Police said the mans body was found about four metres underwater at about 8.40pm by Victorian police divers. He was declared dead at the scene. At the time the man disappeared, there was a moderate current flowing to the west, the police statement said. Officers are investigating the circumstances of the drowning. Social media triggers sharp declines in teenagers' mental health, causing the most damage to the self-esteem of girls aged 14 to 17, a new study has found. Research from the Education Policy Institute and the Prince's Trust found wellbeing and self-esteem levels are similar in boys and girls at the end of primary school. However, while the mental wellbeing of both genders begins to drop in their teens, girls see a far greater decrease once they reach 14, according to research of around 5,000 young people born around the year 2000. While around one in seven girls reported being unhappy with the way they look at the end of primary school, the figure rises to nearly one in three by age 14. Girls also experience more depressive symptoms such as hopelessness, according to the report, while boys are more likely to struggle with their self-esteem into their late teens. Heavy use of social media has been associated with declines in wellbeing and self-esteem in girls ages 14 and 17, and worse wellbeing for 14-year-old boys Research used data from surveys of young people who were asked questions about their mental health, wellbeing and self-esteem at the ages of 11, 14 and 17. It said that, on average, the wellbeing of all young people drops as they move into secondary school and continues to fall through adolescence, with girls seeing a far greater decline. Self-esteem also falls on average as children move into adolescence; however, while it stabilises for girls as they move into their late teens, it continues to fall for boys. Focus groups were carried out in November 2020, allowing researchers to include the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Generation Z. The report said the pandemic has led to increased issues in mental health, with the number of young people with a probable mental illness rising from one in nine in 2017 to one in six. Mental health and wellbeing were linked to a number of factors in the research, including family income, frequency of exercise, and poor maternal health. While self-esteem and wellbeing are roughly the same for boys and girls at the end of primary school, their reported happiness dropped by age 14 - with self esteem continuing to drop among young men into their late teens It also found that heavy use of social media was associated with declines in wellbeing and self-esteem in girls ages 14 and 17, and worse wellbeing for 14-year-old boys. Jonathan Townsend, UK chief executive of the Prince's Trust, called for quick action to 'prevent scarring this generation's future'. He said: 'The transition from childhood to adolescence can be turbulent, and the findings of this report underline why addressing and supporting young people's mental health will only become more crucial as the impact of the pandemic unfolds. 'Young people are among the hardest hit by the pandemic, so it is more important than ever that they can access support with their mental health during this critical time in their lives. 'In particular, the decline in young people's wellbeing and self-esteem as they go into their mid to late teens shows the need for early intervention and ongoing support to prevent future harm and potential mental health crises.' The report made several recommendations, including a 650 million post-pandemic package to schools for wellbeing funding, matching academic catch-up funding. It also called for an increase in mental health teaching, the publication of a plan for rolling out four-week waiting times for specialist mental health care, and ensuring all young people can take part in physical activity. Geoff Barton, general secretary from the Association of School and College leaders, called for a greater focus on children's mental health, warning lockdown had 'exacerbated a problem that already of huge concern' Richard Crellin, policy manager at The Children's Society, said the findings were shocking but not surprising, adding: 'The Government cannot ignore these figures and it is time for drastic action, without it we risk a generation of young people facing a lifetime of poor mental health.' Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the impact of coronavirus has 'exacerbated a problem that was already of huge concern to school leaders before the pandemic struck' and called for a greater focus on children's mental health. A Government spokesperson said: 'We are absolutely committed to supporting the mental wellbeing of children and young people, particularly through the challenges of this pandemic which have uniquely impacted this generation. 'Early intervention and treatment is vital and we are training a new dedicated mental health workforce for schools and colleges across the country as well as teaching what good mental and physical health looks like.' Tools to support children and young people's mental wellbeing were available through the Every Mind Matters website, they said, adding that mental health services for children and young people were being expanded through the NHS Long Term Plan 'to support an additional 345,000 individuals by 2023/24, backed by record investment of an extra 2.3 billion per year'. Photo: The BC Women's Health Foundation New findings by the BC Women's Health Foundation (BCWHF) reveals over 40 per cent of BC women do not have access to the mental health support they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. To raise awareness of the issue, the BCWHF is launched a social media campaign Tuesday called #AlsoMe to spotlight the common experience many British Columbians are having as it relates to mental health. Research shows women's mental health has been heavily impacted during this time. In B.C., nearly four-in-ten women say their mental health has worsened since mid-March 2020. Of the women surveyed, over 40 per cent reported not having access to the mental health support they need. Health data suggests women were prescribed medications related to anxiety, depression or sleep support 2.4 times more than men between April to December 2020. A study by the Women's Health Research Institute shows women more commonly described feeling lonely, stressed out, and worried during all phases of the pandemic compared to men. There were key findings were discovered from those surveyed: Two thirds of women who are essential workers are experiencing worry, anxiety or stress, and two in five are experiencing depression. Womens mental health has been heavily impacted by the pandemic: 63% of younger women (those aged 35 and under) and 37% of women aged over 35 reported feeling worry, anxiety or stress. Indigenous women and those from a minority community are more inclined to rate their emotional health poorly (27 per cent and 35 per cent more likely respectively) since the beginning of the pandemic. Concerns regarding finances and job security has resulted in nearly half (44 per cent) of women stating their health has been affected in some way. To join the #AlsoMe campaign, click here. By Janet Ney The worlds worst humanitarian crisis in decades tells the story in graphic language that originated with the United Nations. Yemens people are dying because of bombs, because of scarcities of essential goods, because of illness and lack of food. For five years, a naval and air blockade has prevented the importation of food, fuel, and medicine. A coalition of Yemeni and peace organizations that includes the Yemeni Alliance Committee (U.S.), Stop the War (U.K.) and Action Corps (U.S.), and many others issued a call for a Global Day of Action for Yemen, which was observed on Monday, Jan. 25. This mobilization of peace activists is the largest since the protests aroused by the war in Iraq. Peace advocates are calling on American citizens 1) to demand that Congress act to end the Saudi naval blockade and work to reopen Yemens airports and sea routes; 2) urge Congress to pressure USAID to restore and expand aid into Yemen; and 3) stop selling arms to the Saudi-led Coalition. In the Lehigh Valley, the Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern is supporting the Global Day with vigils in Allentown and Easton. Half the population of Yemen is on the brink of famine. Twenty million people have almost nothing to eat. The numbers of displaced people exceed 3.5 million. Nearly half of Yemeni children are suffering from malnutrition and show evidence of stunted growth. One million women and two million children are at risk. One million people have died as a result of a cholera epidemic; Yemen has the worst record for COVID, with the deaths of 25% of the population. Other diseases including Dengue Fever, diphtheria, polio, measles, and SARS exacerbate the already dire predicament of the suffering people. When children have nothing to eat but wheat, they often develop an allergy to gluten. They suffer and die from malnutrition. A film, Hunger War, discloses in graphic detail the struggles at two hospitals in Yemen to treat children suffering from malnutrition and the effects of war. The film will be shown by the Friends Committee on National Legislation in a free public screening. Tickets are available at https://gathr.us/screening/31731. A nurse in the film states, If we dont lose the children to malnutrition, we lose them to the bombs. The desperate situation in Yemen is not a natural disaster; it is entirely attributable to human action. Its a complex history that starts with a rebellion in Yemen and the subsequent invasion of the country by Saudi Arabia. Yemens Saudi-backed government is complicit in the continuing violence. Houthi rebels have been accused by Human Rights Watch of standing in the way of getting aid to the country. The United States and the United Kingdom are involved especially as they sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A recent deal made in Washington authorized $23 billion in arms for UAE. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo labeled the Houthi rebels a terrorist organization. Aid organizations fear that this decision will interrupt the flow of necessities to Yemen which imports 90 percent of its food. The United Nations anticipates that 16 million people will go hungry in Yemen this year. A small famine is underway with about 50,000 people starving to death. Another 5 million are in danger. At the same time, Saudi Arabia may be open to negotiations to end the military operation. Winning a war with bombs, but without troops on the ground, can be seen as an ineffective way to win a war. It is time for the leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other western nations to find a peaceful solution to the violence and allow Yemen to heal and govern itself without outside interference. The founder of the Yemeni Alliance Committee, Jehan Hakim, is living in the United States but many of her family are in Yemen and facing the ordeal. She has visited her country of origin. Saddened and alarmed by what she has seen, she notes that our country is beautiful. With changes in policy among western nations, this beautiful country will once again find peace and security. Concerned American citizens should urge President Biden to end the United States involvement in Yemen and urge Congress to authorize humanitarian aid. Janet Ney of Allentown is a member of the steering committee of the Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. [January 27, 2021] Logiq Files Preliminary Prospectus for Proposed Initial Public Offering of Units in Canada NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Logiq, Inc. (Logiq or the Company) (OTCQX: LGIQ), a global provider of award-winning eCommerce and fintech solutions, has filed a preliminary prospectus (the Preliminary Prospectus) with the securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada (other than Quebec) for a proposed initial public offering (the Offering) of units of the Company (the Units). The number of Units to be sold, the offering price of the Units and the terms of the Warrants (including the exercise price and expiry term) will be determined in the context of the market. Each Unit will consist of one common share (a Unit Share) and one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each, a Warrant). Each Warrant is exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company (a Warrant Share). The Offering is being led by Mackie Research Capital Corporation as the sole agent and sole bookrunner. Logiq recently submitted its application to list its common shares (including the Unit Shares and Warrant Shares) on the NEO Exchange (the NEO) in Canada, with the approval subject to Logiq fulfilling the listing requirements of NEO. Upon listing on the NEO, Logiqs common shares would continue to be traded in the U.S. on the OTCQX Market as LGIQ. We are fortunate to have the assistance of Mackies experienced and capable team as we take this major step towards completing our NEO listing process, stated Logiqs executive chairman and president, Brent Suen. As a senior exchange, the NEO platform exemplifies how state-of-the-art exchange trading technology can help increase investor confidence, improve liquidity, and elevate a companys global profile. Over the past year, Logiq acquired two leading e-Commerce platforms and expanded its global presence. Its product offerings now extend from mobile commerce and fintech solutions for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to AI-powered customer acquisition for major enterprises and brands. Logiqs customer relationships now range from hundreds of thousands of SMBs around the world to publicly traded Fortune 1000 companies. Among the companys notable customers are QuinStreet (a marketing technology company), Purple (the creator of the renowned Purple mattress) and Sunrun (a solar company). The Preliminary Prospectus contains important information relating to Logiq and the Units. The Preliminary Prospectusremains subject to completion or amendment. There will not be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy the Units until a receipt for the final prospectus has been issued by the relevant securities regulatory authorities in Canada. A copy of the Preliminary Prospectus can be obtained under Logiqs corporate profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. There can be no assurance that Logiq will satisfy all applicable requirements for listing its common shares on the NEO, that its application for listing will be approved or that a receipt for its final prospectus will be issued. About Logiq Logiq, Inc. (OTCQX: LGIQ) is a U.S.-based leading global provider of eCommerce, mCommerce, and fintech business enablement solutions. Its DataLogiq subsidiary provides a data-driven, end-to-end eCommerce marketing solution for enterprises and major U.S. brands, including Home Advisor, QuinStreet and Sunrun. Its AI-powered LogiqX data engine delivers valuable consumer insights that enhance the ROI of online marketing spend. The companys Fixel technology offers simplified online marketing with critical privacy features. Logiqs AppLogiq platform-as-a-service enables small- and medium-sized businesses worldwide to easily create and deploy a native mobile app for their business without technical knowledge or background. AppLogiq empowers businesses to reach more customers, increase sales, manage logistics, and promote their products and services in an easy, affordable, and highly efficient way. AppLogiq is offered in 14 languages across 10 countries and three continents, including some of the fastest-growing emerging markets in Southeast Asia. The companys PayLogiq offers mobile payments, and GoLogiq offers hyper-local food delivery services. For more information about Logiq, go to Logiq.com . Forward-Looking Disclaimer This press release contains certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This news release also contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation that relate to Logiqs current expectations and views of future events. Any statements that express, or involve discussions as to, expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases such as "will likely result", "are expected to", "expects", "will continue", "is anticipated", "anticipates", "believes", "estimated", "intends", "plans", "forecast", "projection", "strategy", "objective" and "outlook") are not historical facts and may be forward-looking statements and may involve estimates, assumptions and uncertainties which could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. In particular and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements regarding Logiqs proposed NEO listing and its initial public offering of Units. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Logiqs control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, failure to complete the initial public offering, the impact and progression of the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors set forth under Forward-Looking Statements" and Risk Factors in the Preliminary Prospectus, as well as other risks described in Logiqs prior press releases and in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in Logiqs Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings with the SEC. Logiq undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for Logiq to predict all of them, or assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Any forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Company Contact Brent Suen, President Logiq, Inc. Email contact Media & Investor Contact Ronald Both or Grant Stude CMA Investor & Media Relations Tel (949) 432-7566 Email contact [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Feature Article Precision measurements of intracluster light suggest possible link to dark matter DOE/Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory A combination of observational data and sophisticated computer simulations have yielded advances in a field of astrophysics that has languished for half a century. The Dark Energy Survey, which is hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, has published a burst of new results on what's called intracluster light, or ICL, a faint type of light found inside galaxy clusters. The first burst of new, precision ICL measurements appeared in a paper published in The Astrophysical Journal in April 2019. Another appeared more recently in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. In a surprise finding of the latter, DES physicists discovered new evidence that ICL might provide a new way to measure a mysterious substance called dark matter. The source of ICL appears to be rogue stars, those not gravitationally bound to any galaxy. The ICL has long been suspected of possibly being a significant component of clusters of galaxies, but its faintness makes it difficult to measure. No one knows how much there is or to what extent it has spread through galaxy clusters. "Observationally we discovered that intracluster light is a pretty good radial tracer of dark matter. That means that where intracluster light is relatively bright, the dark matter is relatively dense," said Fermilab scientist Yuanyuan Zhang, who led both studies. "Just measuring the ICL itself is pretty exciting. The dark matter part is a serendipitous discovery. It's not what we expected." Although invisible, dark matter accounts for most matter in the universe. What dark matter consists of stands as one of the major mysteries of modern cosmology. Scientists know only that it differs greatly from the normal matter consisting of the protons, neutrons and electrons that dominate everyday life. But ICL, not dark matter, was initially on the research team's agenda. Most astrophysicists measure intracluster light at the center of a galaxy cluster, where it is brightest and most abundant. "We went very far away from the centers of the galaxy clusters, where the light is really faint," Zhang said. "And the farther away from the center we went, the more difficult the measurement became." Nevertheless, the DES collaborators managed to come away with the most radially extended measurement of ICL ever. The team used weak gravitational lensing to compare the radial distribution of the ICL -- how it changes over distance from the center of a cluster -- to the radial distribution of the mass of a galaxy cluster. Weak lensing is a dark-matter-sensitive method of measuring the mass of a galaxy or cluster. It occurs when the gravity of a foreground star or cluster bends the light from a more distant galaxy, distorting its apparent shape. It turned out observationally that ICL reflects the distribution of both the total visible mass of a galaxy cluster and, possibly, the distribution of the invisible dark matter. "We did not expect to find such a tight connection between these radial distributions, but we did," said scientist Hillysson Sampaio-Santos, the lead author of the new paper. Comparing observations with simulations To gain more insight, the team used a sophisticated computer simulation to study the relationship between ICL and dark matter. They found that the radial profiles between the two phenomena in the simulation didn't agree with the observational data. In the simulation, "the ICL radial profile was not the best component to trace dark matter," said Sampaio-Santos, who is with the National Observatory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Zhang noted that it's too soon to tell exactly what caused the conflict between observation and simulation. "If the simulation didn't get it right, it could mean that the simulated intracluster light is produced at a slightly different time than in observations. The simulated stars didn't have enough time to wander around and start to trace dark matter," she said. Sampaio-Santos noted that further ICL studies could yield insights into the dynamics occurring inside galaxy clusters, including interactions that gravitationally release some of their stars, allowing them to wander around. "I'm planning to study the intracluster light and the effects of relaxation," or spreading out, he said. For example, some clusters have merged together. These merged clusters should have different properties of ICL compared to clusters that are relaxed. Enhancing signals in noisy data sets The ICL that the team measured is about a hundred to a thousand times fainter than what DES scientists normally attempt. That means the team had to deal with a lot of noise and contamination in the signal. The technical aspect of the feat was challenging, Zhang said, "but because we had quite a bit of data from the Dark Energy Survey, we were able to cancel out a lot of noise to do this kind of measurement. It's statistical averaging." Astrophysicists typically make ICL measurements using a handful of galaxy clusters at a time. "That's a great way to get information about the individual systems," Zhang said. To get the bigger picture and to beat down the noise, the DES team statistically averaged about 300 galaxy clusters in the first study and more than 500 clusters in the second. All of them are a couple of billion light-years from Earth. Teasing the signal from the noise of each cluster takes a lot of data, which is exactly what the DES has generated. In early 2019, DES completed its six-year mission of observing hundreds of millions of distant galaxies in the southern skies and publicly issued its second data release in mid-January. The ICL measurements probe clusters that are up to 3.3 billion light-years from Earth. In future studies, Zhang would like to study the redshift evolution of ICL -- how it changes with cosmic time. "My dream is to go all the way to redshift one -- 10 billion light-years," Zhang said. "Studies say that's when the ICL has just started to evolve." Going that far would enable scientists to see ICL building over time. "But that's really hard because it's three times as far as the distance of our latest measurements, so everything is going to be extremely faint there," she said. The Dark Energy Survey is a collaboration of more than 300 scientists from 25 institutions in six countries. For more information about the survey, please visit the experiment's website. Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, Funding Authority for Studies and Projects in Brazil, Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the German Research Foundation and the collaborating institutions in the Dark Energy Survey. Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov. Stamford officials announced new moves to make vaccines, testing and simply getting new information easier in the city, starting with a streamlined registration process for Phase 1b. At Mayor David Martins weekly COVID-19 update to the city, Public Safety Director Ted Jankowski announced that the citys partnership with Stamford Health has moved away from the federally mandated vaccine registration system and will now schedule new appointments through its own portal. What we found is that it was very difficult, and we were receiving complaints from people, said Jankowski, a concern that advocates across Southwestern Connecticut have echoed. Stamford Health hinted last week at its plans to shift its vaccine registration system over to something more intuitive. The hospital started using ZocDoc to register members of the community for vaccine appointments, a move that the city hopes could streamline the process. Problems with the federal Vaccine Administration Management System plagued Connecticut residents since the rollout began, both in Stamford and statewide. Kathleen Silard, Stamford Health CEO, said last week that older adults reported trouble using the online system. Its about making the experience more seamless for the residents of Stamford and for our patients, said Andie Jodko, spokeswoman for the hospital. Jodko emphasized that anyone who already had registered through VAMS has been fully accounted for and should not worry about registering through the new system. Stamford Health and the city launched a helpline, too, open to residents between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on weekdays. Community members can call 203-276-7300 to book either their first or second vaccine appointment through Stamford Health. That help line experienced record traffic on Monday, said Jankowski, with 6,000 people calling throughout the day, including residents from other regions and states. The hospital isnt the only entity in Stamford trying to bridge the gap between the residents and the web of federal and state COVID guidelines. Martin announced a new initiative: Ask Mayor Martin, a virtual help line for Stamford residents with questions about coronavirus in the community and the vaccine. The bombardment of questions about the vaccine never seems to stop, but were going to do what we can to give you the information that you need, said Martin. Residents can address their questions to AskMayorMartin@StamfordCT.gov. Martin said he would answer some of the questions during next weeks live COVID update, while others would receive a direct response. Vaccines dominated much of the conversation between Stamford officials, but the city also announced changes to the growing network of testing sites and advised community members where to go for a quick turnaround. Special Advisor to the Mayor Laura Burwick announced both a new testing site and a way for people to tailor the hunt for tests to their own needs. CIC Health, a health technology company from Cambridge, Mass., will open on Wednesday a free testing site at 845 Canal St., the former Dinosaur Bar-B-Que location. CIC Health also provides COVID-19 testing at sites in Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven. They are getting results back to people within 24 hours, Burwick said. On top of the new site, the city unveiled an interactive map of all the testing facilities in Stamford. Community members can filter locations by what days of the week they operate and whether appointments, insurance or prescriptions are required to receive a test. In the last week, Stamford reported 64 new cases of coronavirus, along with 10 additional fatalities. One cant help wonder how a film like Rang De Basanti would go down with audiences if it was released today in the age of jingoism, majoritarianism and divisive politics. Its been exactly fifteen years since Rang De Basanti released and blew our collective consciousness (at the time). To label it as just a patriotic film or a film about students discovering politics would be an injustice purely due to the various layers it peeled. Those were different times though. Only 2.4% of Indias population was connected to the internet, the majority of whom had yet to experience it on a handheld device. Facebook was still something that we had only heard of from our American cousins, and it was still cool to profess zero interest in anything political. As for patriotism, well, that was just for the faujis (or so we thought). RDBs lasting social impact, therefore, was to make patriotism cool once again to the youth of the country. Ah, but the patriotism that was served up on a platter to us back then (dramatic as it was) was true to the definition of the word in its purest sense love for ones country, the passion to drive change, to break a corrupt system that had nothing going for the common man, regardless of caste or religion. It was a landmark film, theres no doubt about it. The film spoke of active participation in politics. In peak brain-drain era, it recommended taking up jobs in the government, the civil services and the military. It endorsed joining politics when most youngsters looked at politicians with suspicion. A few years later, MTV launched a campaign Rock the Vote but one could argue that the seeds to make voting cool were seeded right here, with RDB. The premise of the Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film is a coming-of-age for five young men (played by Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and Kunal Kapoor) when a friend of theirs, an Air Force pilot (played by R Madhavan), loses his life due to sub-standard parts in his plane. It starts with them organising peaceful protests and questioning the government, and subsequently being subjected to police brutality. The rage that follows sees them taking up arms and killing the corrupt politician who was responsible, only to make a martyr out of him. What follows is a classic final stand as they take over a radio station and broadcast what theyve done to the entire country. The eventual gunning down of the five youths sets off national outrage. Some would argue that RDB was in part responsible for peaceful protests, candlelight marches and citizen demonstrations coming back in vogue. The common man suddenly wanted to participate more in the governance of the country. Its almost as if someone flicked on a switch saying, Hey, were a democracy. Were allowed to voice our displeasure. Most would agree that the awakening of the collective conscious towards a corrupt system was what eventually felled that last government. And yet today, all of this seems centuries ago and the idea of a bunch of students taking on the system just has no innocence about it anymore. In the 2010s and 20s, this very premise would and has taken on a completely divisive and hate-filled turn. Student politics isnt something relegated to a few choice universities around the country - its everywhere. Politics itself isnt just something that the neighbourhood uncles debate over their evening cigarette at the chai tapri. Everybody today, has a view. And everybody takes a side. Self-professed centrists are just people with a heightened aversion to be offensive, while slowly and surely leaning towards one side or the other. Over the past few years, weve had incidents where the police has stormed onto a campus and beaten up protesting students along with goons supporting the regime. Weve had civilians across the country protesting a highly divisive act that threatens to strip an entire community of their citizenship. There are farmers sitting outdoors in the bitter cold of the capital, some of whom of have lost their lives over the past few months. Whats common to all of this is a fundamental and democratic right to exercise ones right to dissent. Whats also common to all of this is the use of brute force on unarmed citizens. But do you see any national outrage? You dont, because the very definition of patriotism has divided our populace. And the one big difference, today, is the equating of state and regime. Voices of dissent are quick to be called out as being anti-national while jingoistic media news anchors scream on blaring television sets across the country. Every wrong has half the population calling it right, and majoritarianism has taken over democracy. One cant help wonder how a film like RDB would go down with audiences if it was released now, even with its story-within-story of long forgotten heroes. Would Bhagat Singh be the focus of the trailer to bring in some national fervour for one section of the masses, only to have the other side quickly point out that he was a communist? Would the inclusion of Ashfaqullah Khans story be labelled as minority appeasement by one side, while the other frantically dug out names of every Muslim freedom fighter just to prove they were there? Would Laxman Pandeys course correction from his deeply ingrained religious bigotry be termed as Hinduphobic by one side? Would the other side scream Islamophobia at the depiction of Aslams family as ghettoised and insular? Would DJ be called a loser for hanging around campus and would there be conspiracy theories about him consuming taxpayer money? Would the taking up of arms as a solution, be seen as a terrorist move? Or would it be seen through the filmmakers lens - as an act of desperation? Would the filmmaker really have the luxury of keeping his story pure or would he have to choose a side? More importantly, would he be allowed to make a film that questions the morals of an existing government? And its not just about the powers-that-be disallowing him. Would you, the majoritarian population of India, allow him to? When I re-watched RDB today, I couldnt help feeling that some things are best preserved in glass cases, not to be subjected to the ravages of time. Technically, its not the film that hasnt aged well; its our country that hasnt. Co2Bitcoin will be available on January 28, 2021 at the www.coinsbit.io exchange. NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2021 / A decentralized group of innovators and visionaries, focused on mitigating the causes and potentially cataclysmic effects of climate change, has introduced a new financial instrument. A cryptocurrency, Co2Bitcoin, available to the public on January 28th, 2021, will help Countries to finance local projects to combat global warming's negative effects on our environment and inhabitants. Co2Bitcoins have already been used to acquire and protect over 100 million trees in the Brazilian Rainforest, saving them from fires by clearing and maintaining the underbrush and using controlled burns, ensuring that they will be preserved, sequestering critical amounts of Co2 and its brimming habitats, for generations to come. Liquidity of the currency will be supported organically by the growing investor demand for cryptocurrencies, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and the rising appetite for Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) impact investing. The Co2Bitcoin currency, like any other, depends on its utility, and of course supply and demand, to determine its exchange rate. Co2Bit (http://www.co2bit.com/news) has already signed partnerships with many regional authorities in Africa. Co2Bit has many advantages that point to its sustainable impact: - It is the first crypto currency that has the formal support of many regions. The governments will be the main token holders, which give this token a more secure stature. - It has a healthy and comprehensive objective to protect the planet, through the financing of projects aimed at reducing the impacts of global warming in the near term and long term. - It is a very promising message for the public and institutional funds where the Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) vision is becoming more important. - It will make it possible to create a more efficient and liquid voluntary carbon credit option, which will allow large emitters to come and buy Co2Bitcoins, in addition to carbon credits. This will have a stronger impact as they strive to maintain positive brand images. The price of carbon credit certificates has steadily increased over the past 4 years. This market remains a specialist market, exceedingly difficult to access for private investors. As many polluting actors are obliged (legally, or more often by market forces) to offset their carbon footprint. Co2Bitcoin could become a new financial instrument used by companies as a voluntary carbon credit. This Co2Bitcoin asset could, specifically, be mentioned in the environmental annual reports of companies to raise their ESG rating. This will ultimately result in this currency being used more and more, increasing its liquidity and utility. For speculators, this natural demand could have a positive impact on the appreciation of the price of Co2Bitcoin. The Co2Bit cryptocurrency, when injected into climate mitigation project financing, facilitates technological innovations in solar, wind, and hydroelectric power stations, new technologies for making steel and plastics, advancing agricultural yields, and other projects impacting deforestation and reforestation globally. The Co2Bit currency will benefit from strong overlapping trends as significant interest from private and institutional players in cryptocurrencies are multiplying across the entire asset class. On the Ethereum blockchain and in its Smart Contract, one (1) Co2Bitcoin has a value of 1/13th an ETH. Based on a January 25, 2021 price of $1404 USD per ETH, this would result in a price of $108 USD per Co2Bitcoin. In the words of Anatoly Karpov International Statesman & Ten-Time World Chess Champion, " Co2Bitcoin is a real, practical step to try and solve the problem of Global Warming which disturbs the whole world." For additional information go to, Co2Bit.com . Co2B coins will be available January 28th, 2021 on the highly respected, Award Winning Coinsbit Exchange (https://coinsbit.io/) for both individual and institutional investors. This Exchange is centralized and recently launched their Decentralized Exchange (DEX). It is renown for its reliability and convenience for traders of all experience levels. Coinsbit Exchange offers superior security protocols for the safety of each transaction. It includes the world's first online store for buying goods with cryptocurrency. And, P2P Loans just got easier! Register for free today at https://coinsbit.io/ Media contact Company: Co2Bitcoin Contact: Ron Henley, IGM Email: support@co2bit.com Telephone: +1 (917) 612-7416 (GMT -5) Website: http://co2bit.com/contact/ SOURCE: Co2Bitcoin View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626140/Co2Bitcoin-Co2B-Combatting-Global-Warming-at-Coinsbit-Exchange Manchester Center, VT (05254) Today Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain likely. Low 37F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. WASHINGTON As President Biden prepares on Wednesday to open an ambitious effort to confront climate change, powerful and surprising forces are arrayed at his back. Automakers are coming to accept that much higher fuel economy standards are their future; large oil and gas companies have said some curbs on greenhouse pollution lifted by former President Donald J. Trump should be reimposed; shareholders are demanding corporations acknowledge and prepare for a warmer, more volatile future, and a youth movement is driving the Democratic Party to go big to confront the issue. But what may well stand in the presidents way is political intransigence from senators from fossil-fuel states in both parties. An evenly divided Senate has given enormous power to any single senator, and one in particular, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, who will lead the Senate Energy Committee and who came to the Senate as a defender of his states coal industry. Without a doubt, signals from the planet itself are lending urgency to the cause. Last year was the hottest year on record, capping the hottest decade on record. Already, scientists say the irreversible effects of climate change have started to sweep across the globe, from record wildfires in California and Australia to rising sea levels, widespread droughts and stronger storms. New Orleans restaurants may double the number of customers that they're currently allowed to serve and gatherings of as many as 25 people may resume under eased coronavirus restrictions that will begin Friday, city officials said. But bars will remain closed to indoor service through Mardi Gras regardless of whether coronavirus data would allow for the re-opening under state rules. That restriction, which deals a blow to bar owners hoping for more business during Carnival, is aimed at keeping infections in check even if tourists swell into the city during Carnival. The new rules for restaurants, retailers, gyms and other businesses announced by city officials on Wednesday come as vaccines are being slowly rolled out to residents and coronavirus cases are starting to fall. Cases remain well above levels seen at some earlier points in the pandemic, but they've retreated over the past three weeks from a post-Christmas peak. The drop prompted New Orleans public schools on Wednesday to announce a return to in-person learning next month. And city leaders said the improved numbers offered a chance to make at least a few small changes to business restrictions. "The small strides weve made will allow us to inch back towards normalcy," said city health department director Dr. Jennifer Avegno during a press conference Wednesday. Residents had been told not to hold gatherings larger than that of a typical household in recent weeks as New Orleans worked to get a handle on the latest wave of the pandemic, which as of a Jan. 9 peak was infecting 266 people per day, on average. Restaurants, fitness centers, salons and other retail establishments had been limited to 25% capacity. New infections have dropped by roughly half since then. As a result, the city will move this Friday at 6 a.m. to a "modified Phase 2." In addition to restaurants, other businesses including retail stores, gyms and salons will be allowed to move back to 50% capacity. Indoor event venues will be allowed to host 10 people and outdoor event venues will be allowed to host 25 people over the next three weeks, Avegno and City Hall spokesperson Beau Tidwell said. Indoor bar service will remain canceled until at least Feb. 19 even if the city's positivity rate stays below the 5% threshold the state has set. The rate dipped to 4% for the first time in weeks on Wednesday, following a Dec. 30 high of 10.4%. Many bar proprietors around the city weighed the news of continued limits with a sense of weary resignation. Rollin Bullet Garcia Sr. stood outside his Seventh Ward institution Bullet's Sports Bar shortly after the announcement, looking up and down the residential street and wondering aloud why Mardi Gras restrictions have to impact his business. That was designed for the French Quarter and the Marigny, it wasnt designed for places like us, but we have to live it now, Garcia said. How much can the good suffer for the bad? He said he agrees with the citys goal of minimizing virus spread, but hes skeptical that officials can enforce the rules theyre imposing and predicts many bars will disregard them. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Meanwhile, Lafittes Blacksmith Shop co-owner Joe Licciardi said Lafittes has been serving drinks at outdoor tables and is glad to continue in that vein. It will hurt us to miss Mardi Gras, really bad, but as long as they dont shut the doors completely we have a chance, he said. Like most jurisdictions in Louisiana, New Orleans has been dealing in recent weeks with a surge of new COVID-19 cases that kicked off around the holiday season, just as vaccines became available to health care workers and other select populations for the first time. More than 700 people in New Orleans have died from the virus over the past 10 months, 34 of them in January alone. Hospitals have been filled to what experts say are critical levels since November. The surge comes as a new and more contagious strain of COVID-19 first found in the United Kingdom has been discovered in Louisiana. Health experts expect the U.K. variant to become the dominant strain across the U.S. by March. Avegno urged residents Wednesday to continue to stringently follow guidelines to fight against the new, more easily spreadable variant. She also stressed the importance of getting the elderly and vulnerable residents vaccinated. Double masking, as some health experts have recommended, is not a bad idea, though she said using too many masks was excessive. This is not a variant that burrows its way into your mask, or jumps on you from 20 feet away, Avegno said. If we can just do what were doing now, we will be protected. The problem is when people let their guard down, it becomes much worse. Under rules that begin Friday and will run at least through Feb. 19: Bars will be closed indoors, but may continue to offer takeout and outdoor table seating until 11 p.m. Restaurants, retail stores, gyms and salons will be allowed to operate at 50% capacity Churches may operate at 50% capacity but choirs may not perform Event venues that host weddings or parties are limited to 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors Residents will be allowed to gather with small groups of friends and relatives outside of their immediate households. Casinos can open at 50% of capacity with half of their gaming positions Office buildings can open at 50% capacity. Tidwell said the restrictions on bars as well as bans on parades leading up to Mardi Gras were designed to help the city avoid repeating the surge in cases that followed last year's Carnival. We know what happened last spring, when we had Mardi Gras and didnt know," he said. "This year we know. Eyes wide open. And we are going to act accordingly." Earlier in the pandemic, city officials had pledged to ease restrictions if cases fell below 50 on average per day, along with other metrics. But Avegno said the city has largely abandoned that threshold, given the holiday surge in cases and officials' newer practice of testing anyone with or without symptoms who wishes to be tested. The latter practice has revealed increasing infections in people who werent experiencing symptoms to begin with. Hyderabad: The Telangana state government has agreed in principle to lay the foundation stone for the masjid on February 26 in place of the two masjids that were brought down during the demolition of the old Secretariat complex in July last year. This followed a meeting of public representatives, representatives of community organisations and religious scholars that was convened by minorities welfare minister Koppula Eshwar on Wednesday. AIMIM MLA Ahmed Balala submitted a detailed plan of the proposed masjid which was prepared by engineers as per instructions issued by MIM Assembly floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao had entrusted the task to Akbaruddin Owaisi to prepare a plan. One of the participants at the meeting said home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali, who along with Eshwar led the meeting, tried to convince the participants not to insist on laying the foundation stone immediately as debris was still not removed completely from the premises and the boundary wall of was yet to be constructed. However, Balala emphasised that the date needs to be fixed as there was increasing discontent in the community over the delay in reconstruction of the masjid. He said. We stated that the work should start without further delay as the new masjid has been excluded from the new boundary of the Secretariat and there is no restriction in Islam to choose an astrologically appropriate time for starting the work. Balala said that if the government is facing any difficulty in finding engineers or contractors for construction or any financial crises, our party is ready to provide engineers/contractors and bear the expenditures. He said that ministers Eshwar and Talasani Srinivas Yadav had clarified that the Chief Minister wanted to fulfil his promise as early as possible and said there is no hurdle from the government side. The meeting then decided that the foundation stone will be laid on February 26. The Chief Minister had visited the Secretariat site on Tuesday to inspect the works. Last Sunday, a joint action committee had held a Chalo Secretariat protest demanding the reconstruction of the masjid as promised by the Chief Minister. [January 27, 2021] Sun Life U.S. creates new absence management solution, using employer and employee feedback to make absence easier WELLESLEY, Mass., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Life U.S. has launched a new in-house absence management solution that simplifies the complexities of managing paid and unpaid leaves of absence and leverages the power of one one state-of-the-art system to manage all applicable absences under one claim number, one contact to answer all absence-related questions, and one end-to-end intuitive digital experience. With support for ADA/ADAAA accommodations, Sun Life absence management fully integrates federal/FMLA, state, local and company-specific plans with short-term disability, statutory disability, and paid family and medical leave (PFML). The solution's design is powered by client insights and is supported by the FINEOS platform. It alleviates the administrative burdens of absence claims, allowing HR to focus more on employees and employees to focus on recovery or caring for family. Sun Life interviewed employees around the country who had gone on leave for various reasons and found their greatest sources of frustration were independently navigating the process and connecting with the appropriate people. "When an employee goes on a leave of absence it's often a challenging time in their lives, and we want to put them at ease so they can focus on their reason for leave, and on successfully returning to work," said David Healy, senior vice president, Group Benefits, Sun Life U.S. "An absence event can bring the added stress of managing an illness, injury, or important family moment, so navigating the claims process needs to be easy. We have created an intuitive, easy-to-navigate digital experience where employees can view all the absence benefits they are filing for under one claim number, and work with one case manager to address all of their questions and concerns." As the legislative landscape continues to evolve, absence management becomes increasingly complicated for employers, particularly those who operate in multiple states and must contend with various PFML programs. As a leader in disability, paid leave and absence management, with decades of experience, Sun Life brings clinical, vocational and compliance expertise together with digital tools that make HR's job easier. "We are committed to providing the best possible experience to employer clients and employee members, and that starts with listening to their feedback and delivering solutions that address their needs," said Kevin Kreminski, senior vice president, National Accounts, Sun Life U.S. "Our absence management offering was uiquely developed by gaining an understanding from employers and their employees on how we could improve their absence management experience. Combining our commitment to the client experience with the newest technologies and our in-depth expertise enables us to make managing absence easier for everyone involved." Sun Life's client-centric absence management solution provides a streamlined process to manage all absence benefits the employee is using, regardless of the type for example, an employee might take short-term disability, FMLA, and the company's own maternity leave concurrently. The intuitive digital experience includes educational tools, real-time claim status updates available to both HR and the employee, and on-demand, fully customizable reporting and dashboards, also with real-time claim information. Employers don't have to "be the expert" when it comes to absence, and can get time back to focus on the things that matter most running their business and supporting employees. In addition to disability benefits, Sun Life offers paid family leave management in New York and PFML in Massachusetts, with plans to launch PFML in Connecticut and Washington on 1/1/2022. For more information about Sun Life Absence Management Solutions and ADA Accommodations, visit www.sunlife.com/absencesolutions. About Sun Life Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth and asset management solutions to individual and corporate Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2020, Sun Life had total assets under management of C$1,186 billion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. In the United States, Sun Life is one of the largest group benefits providers, serving more than 60,000 employers in small, medium and large workplaces across the country. Sun Life's broad portfolio of insurance products and services in the U.S. includes disability, absence management, life, dental, vision, voluntary, supplemental health and medical stop-loss. Sun Life and its affiliates in asset management businesses in the U.S. employ approximately 5,500 people. Group insurance policies are issued by Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Wellesley Hills, Mass.), except in New York, where policies are issued by Sun Life and Health Insurance Company (U.S.) (Lansing, Mich.). For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com/us . Media contacts: Devon Fernald Sun Life U.S. 781-800-3609 Devon.Portney.Fernald@sunlife.com Connect with Sun Life U.S. https://www.facebook.com/SLFUnitedStates https://www.linkedin.com/company/sun-life-financial https://twitter.com/SunLifeUS View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sun-life-us-creates-new-absence-management-solution-using-employer-and-employee-feedback-to-make-absence-easier-301216440.html SOURCE Sun Life U.S. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. New RealtyTech Blog Features The simplicity and authenticity of IDX search system and comprehensive input of a blog would help real estate agents and brokers to attract more prospective homebuyers, added Uzelac R., the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. When it comes to the listing of real estate information on sites, IDX or Internet Data Exchange has become one of the biggest umbrellas. IDX, in simple terms, is dedicated software that real estate professionals use to incorporate MLS listings to their official website. As a result, IDX creates a link between the MLS and the real estate site. It gives you the freedom to import and display listings on your site. RealtyTech, however, now would include a comprehensive blog. Its a right and sensible move that would help real estate agents convey more information on their website with a Blog to drive traffic to their IDX search system, said Richard Uzelac, the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. Plus, the continuous updates of IDX listing makes it easier for the audience to get prompt access to recent listings. It is the best way for real estate brokers to get in touch with more clients and offer up-to-date information on properties available in the market. In comparison, the IDX search system combo is more comprehensive and updated than common listing platforms like Trulia and Zillow. The inclusion of a blog would help real estate brokers affirm and reaffirm valuable information to their clients with more expertise. In fact, it would allow brokers and agents to make the most out of MLS (multiple listing services). Integrating the MLS database into your official real estate broker or agent website has always been beneficial. But now, the next step from the RealtyTech to include a blog will help real estate agents and brokers become more specific about the prices, locations, and keywords. There are endless parameters to consider when it comes to the listing of available properties, and the skys the limit when you roll out a blog into your website. A full-featured blog and IDX search mechanism is an ideal combo for real estate agents and brokers to: Encourage more clients to spread the word Stand Out in the real estate market online search Grow business with more and consistent leads Use local and state expertise to guide clients The new initiative will allow real estate agents and brokers to connect the dots of a property with intelligent statistics. The simplicity and authenticity of IDX search system and comprehensive input of a blog would help real estate agents and brokers to attract more prospective homebuyers, added Rich Uzelac, the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. About RealtyTech: Richard Uzelac's RealtyTech Inc was created in 2002. Since that time RealtyTech has helped thousands of Agents and Offices to build strong brands and online presences to enhance their real estate businesses. RealtyTech specializes is Websites, IDX, and Internet Marketing and Advertising for the Real Estate Industry. Contact Richard Uzelac directly at RealtyTech Inc. at 805-413-7888 for more information. About Richard Uzelac Richard Uzelac has been in the real estate business for over thirty years. He started as a real estate agent in New Jersey then office owner in California to real estate technology leader. Richard Uzelac was the Senior Director of Realtor.com before starting RealtyTech Inc. in 2002. Richard has given thousands of presentations and talks on real estate technology. Richard Uzelac is available as a Speaker and Consultant for Franchises, Offices and Agents. Contact Richard Uzelac at 805.413.7888 Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Chief of Staff of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMAs) has strongly denounced the use of child soldiers as combatants and recalled that it is "a war crime" in a statement received by PANA on Wednesday Japan defense continues its annual increases. A record $51.5 billion will be spent during 2021. Thats an increase of three percent over 2020. The military had asked for $55 billion. Either way, this is the ninth year in a row that Japan has increased defense spending and it is all about North Korea and China. North Korea openly complains about how unfair and unfriendly these increases are, but they are a direct result of the increasing threat from North Korea. Both Japan and South Korea each have annual defense spending that is more than a third larger than the annual GDP of North Korea. That is one reason North Korea spends about a third of GDP on defense compared to 1.2 percent for Japan and nearly three percent for South Korea. The disparity in military manpower is also unusual. While North Korea has a million men (and some women) in its military, South Korea had 500,000 and Japan 247,000. While North Korea depends on a large number of poorly equipped troops, Japan depends a lot more on high-tech weapons, and lots of them, plus lots of training for its all-volunteer force. North Korea spends a disproportionate amount of its defense budget on ballistic missiles and trying to perfect nuclear weapons. Since Japan is an island its army has only 150,000 troops. The structure of the Japanese army is also unique. It has nine divisions; eight infantry and one armored. There are eight independent combat brigades; five infantry, one airborne, one airmobile and one amphibious. The divisions are relatively small with 6,000 to 9,000 troops each while the brigades have 3,000-4,000 troops each. These brigades and divisions are heavy on firepower. All the infantry divisions and brigades are basically local defense units. The divisions have only three infantry battalions with artillery and other support units typical in larger Western infantry divisions. One of those three infantry battalions is usually mechanized and acts as a mobile reserve. These Japanese divisions depend on a lot of artillery and air defense weapons plus excellent communications. The brigades are basically divisions without most of the support units. The airborne, airmobile and amphibious brigades are mobile reserve forces. Another reserve force unit is an armored division with 6,500 troops, 230 tanks and 350 IFVs (Infantry Fighting vehicles) for its one infantry battalion and many of the support troops. The navy and air force each have about 50,000 personnel and world-class ships, aircraft and other weapons. Most of the defense budget goes to equipping and maintaining these ships, aircraft and missile systems. The first line of defense is the fleet and air force. While the air force has 760 aircraft, the navy has 346, in addition to 154 ships. The air force is usually the first responder when any potentially hostile ships or aircraft come near any of the islands. The navy has a lot of combat ships, all of modern design. These include 37 destroyers, seven equipped with the Aegis air defense system that can also intercept ballistic missiles. Another Aegis destroyer will enter service in 2021 and two more are on order. There are also four helicopter destroyers that look like small aircraft carriers, which is what they actually are. The post-World War II Japanese constitution prohibits Japan from having aircraft carriers but the helicopter destroyers are being modified to use the vertical takeoff F-35B stealth fighter. Japan is making a big investment in these aircraft, with 147 in service or on order. Most (105) will be the land-based F-35A model but 42 will be F-35Bs, the version that can operate from carriers. Japan already had 42 F-35As on order to replace 73 elderly F-4E interceptors. The new F-35As ordered in 2020 are to replace a hundred older F-15J fighter-bombers. Another hundred more recently built F-15Js have been upgraded with digital communications and fire control gear that can cooperate with F-35s. Ordering some F-35Bs makes it clear that Japan is going to experiment with some of these aircraft aboard the existing Japanese helicopter carriers. Since 2017 Japan has had operational two 27,000 ton destroyers (DDH type ships) that look exactly like an aircraft carrier. These Izumo class ships can carry up to 28 helicopters or up to ten vertical takeoff aircraft. The carriers are armed only with two 20mm Phalanx anti-missile cannon and launcher with sixteen ESSM missiles for anti-missile defense. The DDH have powerful engines capable of destroyer-like speeds of over fifty-four kilometers an hour. There are also more medical facilities than one would expect for a ship of this size. Izumo does have considerable cargo capacity which is intended for moving disaster relief supplies quickly to where they are needed. Apparently, some of these cargo spaces can be converted to berthing spaces for troops, disaster relief personnel, or people rescued from disasters, as well as additional weapons and equipment needed to support F-35B fighter-bombers. Izumo can carry and operate at least ten of the vertical take-off F-35B stealth fighters now that modifications were made to the flight deck to handle the extremely high temperatures the F-35B generates when taking off or landing vertically, like a helicopter. When the first DDH entered service in 2015 Japan made no mention of buying F-35Bs or modifying the LPH flight decks to handle the F-35B. The Izumos already have an elevator (to the hangar deck under the flight deck) powerful enough to carry an F-35B fighter. The air force also handles the long-range air-defense systems, including Patriot batteries and two Aegis Ashore systems (identical to the Aegis systems on warships). In 2020 the two Aegis Ashore systems were cancelled and two additional Aegis destroyers were ordered. Japan is developing more powerful air defense systems as well as new electronic warfare weapons. This includes some innovative jamming systems. Japan also has a submarine force of very quiet and lethal diesel-electric boats, most with AIP (air-independent propulsion) that allows submerged operations lasting several weeks. This submarine force is being expanded to 22 boats. There are 16 smaller (frigate and corvette) surface warships plus 30 minesweepers, three landing ships and lots of support ships. The air force has 300 modern fighters, with the older ones being upgraded or replaced with F-35s. There are 13 AWACS (aerial radar and air control) aircraft, five intelligence collection aircraft and about 70 two and four-engine transports. The air force also has about fifty helicopters. The army has about 490 aircraft, most of them helicopters. There are 17 V-22 vertical takeoff and landing transports on order. The navy has 346 aircraft, 145 of them helicopters with most of those serving on ships. The fixed wing aircraft include 42 F-35Bs on order as well as about a hundred maritime patrol aircraft with the rest being transports and trainers. South Korea has a larger army than Japan because South Korea has to face the possibility of a land invasion by North Korea. South Korea also has a large and modern air force, including F-35s. Currently South Korea has sixty F-35s. That is expected to change, especially since South Korea is also building DDH type chips that can operate F-35Bs. North Korea considers all these F-35 purchases a hostile act and direct threat to North Korea. That about sums it up. In the event of a war, the U.S. plans to bring in over 200 more air force and navy F-35s. South Korea is also building Aegis destroyers and more AIP powered submarines. Both Japan and South Korea are beginning to use lithium-ion batteries on subs, which are superior to current submarine batteries. Japan pioneered the use of lithium-ion batteries for submarines. The tent, Witcher said, as well as the sleeping bag, were issued by Housing Opportunities, which is all the agency can offer in the way of shelter when no housing is available. The agency hands out 15 tents or more each year, as well as other supplies to help people get by until housing becomes available. The award is one of the most prestigious in Europe and endowed with 500,000 Swiss francs. With this prize the Louis-Jeantet Foundation honors the director at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry for his pioneering work in the field of gene transcription. Transcription is a copying process enabling living cells to produce transcripts of their genes that then serve as blueprints for making proteins. Cramer's research focuses on the molecular machines, called RNA polymerases, that control this fundamental process of life. "Patrick Cramer has visualized the structures of many of these cellular copying machines in atomic detail for the first time. He demonstrated how RNA polymerases translate genetic information and how they work as a team with other protein complexes. His ground-breaking research provides deep insights into gene transcription with unprecedented detail. It is highly deserved that his outstanding achievements are now being honored with the Louis Jeantet Prize," says Marina Rodnina, Managing Director at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry. With his research, Patrick Cramer also wants to understand how the cellular copying machines are controlled. After all, the genetic information is identical in all cells, but read out only on demand. It is through this precise control of transcription that a complex organism with specialized cells as diverse as skin, nerve or liver cells can develop. To understand transcription and gene regulation at the molecular and cellular levels, the molecular biologist combines a wide variety of methods in his research group, from biochemistry and electron microscopy to functional genomics and bioinformatics. "It is a special honor to receive the Louis-Jeantet Prize. I am very grateful to the many coworkers who have contributed over the years with their outstanding research. I hope that soon we will all be vaccinated and can celebrate this success," says Cramer. The molecular biologist plans to use the prize money for his research on the new coronavirus, among other things. Shortly after the pandemic started, Cramer's group filmed how the coronavirus duplicates its genetic material and which three-dimensional structure the pathogen's polymerase adopts during copying. Recently, Cramer's group also visualized how the drug remdesivir interferes with this copying process. Remdesivir was the first drug to be approved in Europe and the United States to treat Covid-19 infections. Cramer's team described how remdesivir impairs copying of the viral genome, and that it does not block this process completely. "Our results can explain, at least in part, why the drug is not as effective as had been expected," Cramer says. "It is now an important goal to develop molecules that can inhibit the corona polymerase more efficiently." ### About Patrick Cramer Patrick Cramer studied chemistry in Stuttgart, Heidelberg, as well as Bristol and Cambridge (England). After completing his PhD at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Grenoble (France), he worked as a postdoctoral researcher with future Nobel laureate Roger Kornberg at Stanford University in California (USA) from 1999 to 2001. He was then appointed as professor of biochemistry at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat in Munich, where he also headed the Gene Center from 2004 to 2013. Since 2014, Cramer has been director at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry in Gottingen heading the Department of Molecular Biology. Cramer has received many awards, including the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, the Otto Warburg Medal, and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. About the Louis-Jeantet Prizes The Swiss Louis-Jeantet Foundation awards up to three Prizes annually to scientists conducting research in the field of biomedicine and working in one of the member states of the European Council. Patrick Cramer is already the fourth scientist at the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry to be recognized with this award, following Bert Sakmann, Peter Gruss, and Herbert Jackle. Kapoor, 63, was already in judicial custody after he was arrested by the Central probe agency in March in connection with alleged financial irregularities New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested Yes Bank co-promoter Rana Kapoor in a fresh money laundering case linked to an alleged Rs 4,300 crore fraud at the PMC Bank in Maharashtra, official sources said on Wednesday. Kapoor, 63, was already in judicial custody after he was arrested by the Central probe agency in March in connection with alleged financial irregularities and purported kick backs paid to him and his family members in lieu of certain loans provided by the Yes Bank to a number of high-profile borrowers. In the latest case, sources said, Kapoor was placed under arrest in jail as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was later produced before a special PMLA court that sent him to ED custody till January 30 in the second money laundering case filed against him, they said. The latest case pertains to the alleged loan fraud in the PMC Bank where the ED raided the premises of the Viva Group promoted by Maharashtra MLA and Bahujan Vikas Agadhi (BVA) party chief Hitendra Thakur in the Vasai-Virar areas of Palghar district and Mumbai last week. The Central agency filed a criminal case of money laundering in October 2019 to probe alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, against Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, his son Sarang Wadhawan, the bank''s former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas. It took cognisance of a Mumbai Police economic offences wing FIR that charged them with causing "wrongful loss, prima facie to the tune of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank and corresponding gains to themselves". The ED is probing the role of the Viva Group, Kapoor and the Wadhawans for allegedly "siphoning off" a Rs 200 crore loan sanctioned by the Yes Bank to a company called Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd. "This loan was siphoned by the Wadhawans by showing it for fictitious purpose," it had said in a statement issued last week. "It was found that Wadhawans illegally and fraudulently transferred two commercial properties of Mack Star in Kaledonia building, Andheri East (Mumbai) valued at Rs 34.36 crore to Viva Holding, a company of Viva Group," the ED had claimed. For the transfer of these properties, it had said, two separate sale agreements were prepared on June 26, 2017 and the sale value for both the commercial properties was shown as Rs 34.36 crore. "In the sale agreements, the purchase amount was shown to be paid by 37 cheques by Viva Holding to Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd. Investigation has revealed that these cheques were never encashed in the account of Mack Star and Viva Holding never made payments for the purchase of the said property to Mack Star," the ED alleged. It said the Wadhawans had "illegally transferred" these properties to Viva Group in violation of the article of association of Mack Star. "Viva Holding never showed these properties in its balance sheets," it had said Kathmandu, January 27 The Ministry of Health and Population has informed that the countrys Covid-19 tally has reached 270,375 as of Wednesday afternoon. The ministry says 283 new cases were confirmed in the country in the past 24 hours. In this period, 4,382 swab samples were tested. So far, 2 million and 57,069 people have been tested in the country. As of today, 3,286 cases are active. Of the total cases so far, 265,069 people have achieved recovery whereas 2,020 died, according to the ministry. In the past 24 hours, 246 people have been discharged whereas three deaths have been reported. The recovery rate as of today is 98 per cent. Over 100 people are quarantined across the country. The third phase of the third underground metro line in Cairo which connects Ataba Square and Kitkat in Imbaba is set to be inaugurated in December of this year, said Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir on Wednesday. El-Wazir explained that 49 percent of the third phase of the line has been completed. This third phase of the third line will run from Ataba Station to Isaaf followed by Maspero - all in Downtown Cairo- then Zamalek across the NIle, before reaching the Kitkat area in Imbaba. With the completion of the third phase, the third line will be running for 17.7 km through 15 stations. The underground network will serve 3.5 million people, according to cabinet estimates in 2019, after the completion of the third phase. El-Wazir made the statement as he and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed the arrival of a major deep-drilling machine to Kitkat, the last station in the first part of the line. A 6.6 km extension from Kitkat to Rod Al-Farag Axis, with six stations, will be inaugurated in June 2022, while the final 7.1 km of the line from Kitkat to Cairo University, with five stations, will open in April 2023, said El-Wazir. The transport minister added that the estimated cost of the third phase of the metro line is EGP 40.7 billion and the total cost of the third line stands at EGP 97 billion. The three-storey Kitkat station is being built over 3,800 square metres, 23 metres deep, stated El-Wazir, adding that Kitkat is an important station because it will link El-Nil and El-Sudan streets through Kitkat Square, after which the route will split north to the Rod Al-Farag Corridor and south to the Cairo University Station. According to the transport minister, the third line will connect Greater Cairo with 6 October City, the New Administrative Capital, and the east Cairo cities of Shorouk, Obour, and Mostaqbal. The third line of the Greater Cairo Metro project is targeted to become the link between the Helwan-Marg underground line, constructed in 1987, the line between Shubra and Cairo University, and the interchange station of Adly Mansour, explained El-Wazir. The third line is also meant to connect the Administrative Capital monorail at El-Estad station in Nasr City and the 6 October monorail at the Nile Valley station, added El-Wazir. He stated that the government is moving ahead with its plans to expand Egypt's transportation network despite the harsh global conditions imposed by the coronavirus. Short link: A John Deere Gator worth thousands of pounds has been stolen from a farm in Suffolk after thieves broke into two shipping containers to obtain it. The high-value theft took place between 6pm on Sunday 24 January and 8am on Monday 25 January, on a farm off Penthouse Road, Barham. The offenders broke into two 20ft shipping containers used for storage with a John Deere gator - registration WA13FKG - and power tools stolen. Police have made an appeal to the public for witnesses following the theft. A spokesperson said: "Anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity or knows the whereabouts of the vehicle or power tools should contact Suffolk police, quoting crime reference 37/3932/21." It comes as farming and rural organisations warn of an alarming increase in rural crime incidents occurring across the UK. NFU Cymru recently called for the deployment of more police officers to tackle the rise in criminal activity affecting farmers. The latest theft claim figures by NFU Mutual reveal that rural crime cost the UK 54.3 million in 2019, an increase of nearly 9% on the previous year. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the tech giant will open up its spaces in the US that will serve as mass COVID-19 vaccination centres. To help get vaccines to more people, Google is providing $150M to promote vaccine education & equitable access, and opening up our spaces for vaccination sites as needed". He added, "On Search & Maps, were making it easy to find when + where to get a vaccine." Equitable access to vaccines Since the beginning of the pandemic, Google has helped more than 100 government agencies and global non-governmental organisations. As per a Google blog, this time it is announcing a $100 million in ad grants for the CDC Foundation, the World Health Organization, and nonprofits around the globe. Also, the tech giant will be investing another $50 million in partnership with public health agencies to reach underserved communities with vaccine-related content and information. Read: Google Celebrates India's 72nd Republic Day With Memorable Doodle; Theme Depicts 'Unity' The aim is to focus on equitable access to vaccines. As per the early data, disproportionately affected populations, especially people of colour and those in rural communities. To help this issue, Google.org has committed $5 million in grants to organisations addressing racial and geographic disparities in COVID-19 vaccinations, including Morehouse School of Medicines Satcher Health Leadership Institute and the CDC Foundation. In order to help with finding accurate and timely information regarding vaccines, the company has expanded its information panels on Search to more than 40 countries and dozens of languages. Read: Is Google Leaving Australia? Find Out Everything About It Here As per the blog, searches for vaccines near me have increased 5x since the beginning of the year. Google says that it wants to make sure that they provide people with relevant answers. The blog read, Well include details like whether an appointment or referral is required, if access is limited to specific groups, or if it has a drive-through. Were working with partners like VaccineFinder.org, an initiative of Boston Children's Hospital, and other authoritative sources, such as government agencies and retail pharmacies, to gather vaccination location information and make it available. Read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Describes US Capitol Siege As 'antithesis Of Democracy' Also Read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Thrilled As India Defeats Australia; Makes 'greatest Ever' Claim (Image Credits: AP) North Country officials are welcoming President Joseph Biden's signing of an executive order that would have the United States, Canada and Mexico work together to eventually reopen their borders. The borders were closed to leisure travelers last March in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus. Biden's order enlists the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, State and Transportation Departments to work with their counterparts across the border to determine how to ease health and safety restrictions to eventually reopen the borders. "We're actually encouraged there's attention being paid to it," said James McKenna, CEO of the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism in Essex County. "I don't think it's going to open real quickly," he added. "This is the sort of official planning effort we have been calling for," said Garry Douglas, president of the North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh. "Not a rush to reopening, which isn't in the cards anytime soon, but a commitment now to exploring agreed conditions and metrics along with possible steps that might eventually begin. "For example, how about considering vaccination and test documentation at some point, Douglas suggested. That might reassure Canadian officials, who have been reluctant to reopen the border as Covid 19 spreads in Quebec and other provinces. Quebec earlier this month instituted a province-wide curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. The curfew was due to expire Feb. 8. We take the current COVID-19 pandemic very seriously," said Catherine Loubier, Quebecs Delegate General in New York. "It is important to ensure there are no compromise on the health and safety of our populations, while keeping our borders open to essential travelers and goods in several key supply chains. "We look forward to the discussions between Canada and the U.S. on the border and will work with the Federal Canadian Government to find the best solutions ahead," Loubier added. "The U.S. is our first trading partner and keeping our supply chains open is a top priority, as well as finding solution for industries hit hard by the non essential border closure, including culture and tourism. The Washington-based Wilson Center's Canada Institute last month named a bi-national task force to study how to safely reopen the border, with recommendations to be made to the two governments, in Washington and Ottawa, by the end of March. The Canada Institute task force "should now be able to feed information, ideas and stakeholder input to these agencies and their Canadian counterparts," Douglas said. "One of the greatest frustrations of the longstanding closure of our border to most personal travel has been around the absence of any official discussions or planning regarding the eventual way forward," Douglas said. "We thank President Biden for this step, and we thank Senator (Charles) Schumer and the bi-partisan Northern Border Caucus in the House among others for helping to get this on the White House agenda so early." State lawmakers have made it clear they hold a deep resentment toward Gov. Tom Wolfs unilateral decision-making when it comes to responding to COVID-19 and are fixing to give voters a chance to show how they feel about the governors handling of the pandemic at the ballot box this May. The state House of Representatives on Wednesday voted 116-86 to approve legislation that provides for a proposed constitutional amendment that would limit the length of a governor-declared emergency disaster to 21 days, unless lawmakers agree to extend it. Currently, the governors emergency declarations can last up to 90 days and be extended indefinitely. , Four Democrats joined the Republicans in voting for the measure. The legislation also includes a separate proposed constitutional amendment that would clarify that the Legislature can end an emergency declaration without requiring the governors consent through a concurrent resolution. It also provides for yet another constitutional amendment prohibiting the denial of equal rights based on race or ethnicity, bringing the Pennsylvania constitution in line with the U.S. Constitution. The Senate on Tuesday approved an identical bill by a 28-20 vote, with Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh County, siding with Republicans in supporting the bill. It is the Senate bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County, that is now moving through the House. The House is expected to bring that bill up for a vote as early as Tuesday. That would ensure it would meet the constitutionally required timeframe to be advertised so it can appear on the May 18 primary ballot. The governor has expressed his strong opposition to the proposed amendments dealing with changes to emergency disaster declarations. Most Democratic lawmakers also object. Wolf said it would hinder a governors ability to respond quickly, comprehensively and effectively to a disaster emergency by requiring any declaration to be affirmed by concurrent resolution of the Legislature every three weeks. This would force partisan politics into the commonwealths disaster response efforts and could slow down or halt emergency response when aid is most needed. Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, said that all depends on how the governor treats the Legislature. We can find compromise and we can move forward and weve shown to be able to work with the governor, he said. The proposed amendments dealing with emergency declarations emerged last spring. Republican lawmakers grew increasingly frustrated with Wolfs use of the expanded powers that the declaration provided him to redirect state aid and resources and make unilateral decisions to deal with an emergency. Wolf, in trying to curb the transmission of COVID-19, ordered businesses his administration determined to be non-essential to close with little advance notice. Schools were ordered to halt in-person learning and extra-curricular activities. Restrictions placed on restaurants and bars limiting occupancy continue to enrage that industry. Masking orders and crowd limits, among other decisions made without having to obtain legislative approval, also drew legislators wrath. Lawmakers offered a flurry of bills to reverse Wolfs actions and end the disaster emergency. Many of them ended up being vetoed by the governor. Failed attempts to override vetos only added to lawmakers fury over his go-it-alone approach. That made them more determined to change the state constitution to require a governor to engage with the General Assembly in dealing with emergency situations. House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County, said going the constitutional amendment route is about striking a balance between the co-equal branches of government. We believe that both the governors office, the Senate and the House, all three got elected to represent the people, and therefore, it would be helpful to have us all involved in these decisions, he said. I think it would be good for cooperation. Wolf called the proposed amendment, which doesnt require gubernatorial approval, an attempt by the Legislature to to get their way. But Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York County, said during the Senate debate nothing could be further from the truth. We are giving the people of Pennsylvania the opportunity to weigh in on this process, Phillips-Hill said. The beauty of our constitution is that it doesnt belong to the Legislature. It doesnt belong to the governor. It doesnt belong to the Supreme Court. It belongs to the people of Pennsylvania. And this legislation gives the voters the ultimate say in the matter, she argued. Grove said the Legislature attempted to do its job and legislate and work through this pandemic but every turn, weve been ignored and marginalized by governor. He said this is to bring some consistency and realign our checks and balances enshrined in our constitution. But most Democratic lawmakers agree with the governor that this is ill-advised. They say the legislative process moves too slow when in emergencies, time is of the essence. The measures have not been debated in legislative hearings. Were practically guaranteeing that emergency orders, even if they need to be renewed will not be done in a timely manner. I just dont see how it can happen, said Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks County. Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-Allegheny County, called it a power grab by the Republican majority. This is an opportunity to beat up on the governor, Williams said. The majority has the power of the purse. They control everything in this building. The majority had the ability to spend billions of dollars to help people [with the federal CARES funds] and they chose not to. They pretend to support small businesses, and they plugged the hole in the budget instead. The governor took action to save lives. Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, said ending the emergency declaration "wont get us back to the lives we had 12 months ago and it wont stop COVID-19. What it will stop is our ability to help Pennsylvanians right when they need us the most. Jan. 27,2021 Screenshot from Pa. House website Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny County, agreed that it is wrong-headed at a time the world is dealing with a contagious virus. He said without the governors COVID-19 emergency order, pharmacists couldnt administer the vaccines, trained health care practitioners and technicians in the armed forces could not assist in the response, and the use of telemedicine would be restricted. It wont end the suffering. It wont get us back to the lives we had 12 months ago and it wont stop COVID-19, Frankel said. What it will stop is our ability to help Pennsylvanians right when they need us the most. Ward said having one person calling all the shots in an emergency is a recipe for a constitutional crisis. She said theres no harm in letting the public decide whether to ratify the proposed amendment and she hopes they do. We will make this work better for Pennsylvanians, Ward said. We should never find ourselves in a position like this again. Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, who sponsored the House bill proposing the constitutional amendments, said this measure is in response to the peoples calls for the Legislature to do something as their businesses were shuttered permanently, unemployment checks were slow in coming if at all and childrens learning was interrupted by the unpredictable schedule of schools switching from in-person to remote learning. This is giving the power back to the people, Diamond said. It is the people who I trust to make a determination as to whether this is a good idea or not. So far, Wolf has extended his COVID-19 disaster declaration three times since the first case emerged in Pennsylvania on March 6. He has renewed his January 2018 opioid disaster declaration to help the state fight the then-burgeoning opioid and heroin epidemic 12 times so far. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. More from PennLive Pa. House passes measure to allow voters to create a window for child sex abuse victims to go to court HSBC has been accused of 'aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world' over its treatment of customers in Hong Kong. Appearing before MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee, bosses were quizzed about why bank accounts of pro-democracy protesters in the former British colony were frozen. The grilling followed months of criticism of HSBC after its top executive in Asia signed a petition backing a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by China. Troubles: HSBC boss Noel Quinn says he has personally witnessed the turmoil that has rocked Hong Kong The law has led to arrests and the imprisonment of pro-democracy protesters, fuelling fears over Beijing's influence in the territory. Several activists in Hong Kong, including legislator Ted Hui, who fled to Britain last month, have had their bank accounts frozen by HSBC. Taking aim at chief executive Noel Quinn and chief compliance officer Colin Bell at yesterday's hearing, Conservative MP Bob Seely said: 'You're making ethical judgements in Hong Kong, you're just making the wrong ethical judgements.' Labour MP Chris Bryant added: 'You're effectively aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in the world.' Founded in Hong Kong but with headquarters in Britain, HSBC has historically tried to remain politically neutral. But Western governments have accused it of 'kowtowing' to China's Communist regime. Quinn said that he could not comment on individual cases, but that if the Hong Kong police ordered a bank account to be closed, HSBC must comply. He told MPs: 'I'm not in the position as a banker to be able to judge the motives or the validity of that legal instruction from a law enforcement authority. 'I can't do that in the UK, and I can't do it in any other market. I cannot cherry-pick which law to follow or which legal instruction to follow from a police authority.' HSBC faces questions over whether it has become too close to Beijing and can remain a British-based bank spanning East and West. Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested last year that it may be 'more closely aligned to the Chinese government than Her Majesty's'. And then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo chief foreign affairs adviser to Donald Trump accused it of a 'show of fealty' in the face of 'bullying' by Beijing. Quinn said he was committed to doing the best for Hong Kong. He told MPs: 'We are troubled about the challenges Hong Kong has faced over the past two to three years. I've witnessed them myself, having lived there. 'We have, as an institution, been part of its evolution and I am nowhere near the point at which the challenges it faces would give me any hint or consideration of walking away from Hong Kong.' Following the hearing, Seely said: 'No one is demanding HSBC walk away. We understand complexity, and we know the difficulties they face, but to avoid any conversation about values or ethical dilemmas was very poor. 'HSBC is happy to virtue signal in the West, yet desperate to avoid ethical debate in Hong Kong. 'None of Mr Quinn's answers have given me any confidence that HSBC has adequately engaged with this issue.' A high-moisture atmospheric river swept the Bay Area on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, dumping heavy rain and kicking up high winds, but by sunrise the storm had nearly disappeared. Residents across the Bay Area woke to blue skies and scattered clouds. Where did the atmospheric river go? The main system exited the Bay Area and is now focused over Central California, with the bull's eye on Monterey County. "Big Sur is getting rainfall right now, and its going to stay that way today," said National Weather Service forecaster Brayden Murdock. "Santa Cruz will start to see some of the edge of that storm again, but its not going to be as heavy as last night. As the low pressure starts to move into northern regions of Northern California, well see heavier showers push through the Bay Area today. "The showers wont be heavy as last night, but were not done with the rainfall yet." Murdock said a flash flood watch remains in effect for the burn scar areas of the CZU Lightning Complex in the Santa Cruz Mountains and the SCU Lightning Complex in the East Bay hills. The watch was lifted for the North Bay. In other words, the worst of the storm is over for the Bay Area, but the Big Sur coast will continue to get soaked. The weather service has a flash flood warning (more severe than a watch) in effect for the Dolan Fire burn scar; mudslides and debris flows are possible. Evacuations are in place for this area. Murdock said the storm activity throughout the Bay Area unfolded as expected, but the storm delivered less rain than originally forecast. In the past 24 hours, Ben Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains recorded 2.89 inches, Mount Umunhum in the South Bay 2.56 inches, Cazadero in the North Bay 1.95 inches, Mount Tamalpais 1.62, Novato 1.39, Half Moon Bay 1.37, Oakland 0.86, San Francisco 0.83, Livermore 0.56 and San Jose 0.55. Portions of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties evacuated throughout the CZU burn scar area. Murdock said there have been no major reports of mudslides in the Santa Cruz Mountains as of 8 a.m. but it's still too early for a complete report as officials are still completing assessments of the area. Turkish authorities detained 126 people suspected of ties to the Islamic State militant group in nationwide operations, state broadcaster TRT Haber said on Wednesday. Operations were carried out across 58 provinces to capture the suspects, whom TRT said were believed to be linked to Islamic State group and financing the group. Authorities were still seeking 22 more suspects, it said. Several weapons, documents, agendas with money transactions, as well as large amounts of money, were found during home raids, TRT said. Islamic State group has conducted numerous attacks across Turkey, including on a nightclub in Istanbul on Jan. 1, 2017 in which 39 people were killed, and a bombing in the city's historic heart that killed 12 in 2016. Short link: Browsers that can not handle javascript will not be able to access some features of this site. WASHINGTON Senate Republicans rallied on Tuesday against trying former President Donald J. Trump for incitement of insurrection at the Capitol, with only five members of his party joining Democrats in a vote to go forward with his impeachment trial. By a vote of 55-to-45, the Senate narrowly killed a Republican effort to dismiss the proceeding as unconstitutional because Mr. Trump is no longer in office. But the numbers showed that loyal Republicans were again poised to spare him from conviction, this time despite his role in stirring up a mob that violently targeted lawmakers and the vice president on Jan. 6 as Congress met to finalize the election. I think its pretty obvious from the vote today that it is extraordinarily unlikely that the president will be convicted, said Senator Susan Collins of Maine, one of the five Republicans who voted to proceed to trial. Just do the math. It would take two-thirds of senators 67 votes to attain a conviction, meaning 17 Republicans would have to cross party lines to side with Democrats in finding Mr. Trump guilty. If they did, an additional vote to disqualify him from ever holding office again would take a simple majority. Laura Whitmore wished her new husband Iain Stirling a happy birthday with a romantic picture of the couple sharing a kiss on Dublins Hapenny Bridge. The Bray beauty, who is based in London, returned to Dublin to tie the knot with Iain just before Christmas. Paying tribute to her hubby on his 33rd birthday, Laura posted cute photos of the pair posing on the iconic landmark, adding the caption: Happy Birthday to my best friend (I even tagged you in the picture!) Famous friends of the couple shared the moment with heartfelt comments from Imelda May, who wrote: Happy Birthday Ian!!!! Whoop whoop!!! alongside a series of balloons emojis while Robbie Keane added: Happy birthday pal. Comedian Keith Lemon wrote: Appy lockdown birthday while Eamonn Holmes added: Many Happy Returns Ian . Laura is preparing quite a present for you Daddy. Read More The couple are expecting their first child early this year after announcing Laura's pregnancy in December. The Celebrity Juice star recently shared pictures from her special wedding day after she and Iain wed in an intimate ceremony in Dublin City Hall last month. Expand Close Laura Whitmore and husband Iain Stirling (Photo: Instagram) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Laura Whitmore and husband Iain Stirling (Photo: Instagram) The pair got engaged on New Years Eve in 2019 and kept the details of the big day under wraps. A year ago, Iain asked me to marry him and we had the most magical, perfect ceremony, she wrote on Instagram. She said that they didnt discuss their engagement publicly as they loved having it to ourselves and had time to plan their wedding. We had been planning the perfect celebration and I will forever be so thankful thats what we got, she said. BERLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- How does a company reach 30 successful years in business? Many would point to motivation as a driving force, but for the CEO and co-founder of FLEXIM, Jens Hilpert, it's something a little different. For Hilpert, respect drives motivation. "Motivation is not just about money," he says. "Motivation is also respect. The most important thing is that we have to respect the work of everybody in the company." By any standards FLEXIM is a successful business. From four founders it's grown to over 450 employees and established operations in every region of the world. Now, with more than 25% of the global market, FLEXIM is known for high-quality products and technological leadership. So just how did this company grow to become a successful market leader? As we know, sustained success takes more than great products. It's about the people that make up a company and how they work together. With that in mind, we sat down with Mr. Hilpert recently to talk about the part culture plays in the FLEXIM story. What Matters at FLEXIM FLEXIM exists to make things of value, and currently these things are high-quality, technically advanced ultrasonic flowmeters. These flowmeters perform valuable functions for the customers that buy them, helping to conserve resources and improve quality. In this way, FLEXIM manufactures and sells things that serve the common good. A Focus on Technology "Our aim is to be the technological leader," and this clearly has its roots in the very first flowmeter the founders built. From the outset, their goal was to build not just a better product but the best product. The sophisticated, and proprietary, algorithms they developed are key, but the quality and integrity of the electronics plays a part too. Attention to detail is deeply ingrained in the company culture to ensure every FLEXIM flowmeter delivers exceptionally stable measurements, whatever the fluid or application environment. Speaking of the product focus, Hilpert says, "Our target is to produce the best meter. We are technology-oriented, not sales oriented." Staying ahead of competitors demands constant innovation, and this is something Hilpert and his co-founders actively encourage. Those working in R&D are encouraged to spend some of their time pursuing "pet" projects. This, "Time to play," as Hilpert calls it, is often the source of new ideas and solutions. FLEXIM seeks patent protection for the best of these, with employees receiving due credit and recognition. It's also worth noting that, while Hilpert has assumed the Managing Director role his three co-founders still work in R&D. After all these years and a great deal of success, there's been no letup in the focus on the product! Respect for Employees and Stakeholders With customers, establishing a lasting, durable relationship is key. The FLEXIM way is to give customers sound and accurate advice on what they need to solve their problems and improve their processes as this is the only way to build long term relationships. Customers and distributors comment frequently on the outstanding support they receive, so clearly this is working! When it comes to discussing how people work together within FLEXIM, "Respect" is another word that Hilpert uses a lot, and notes the mutual respect shared by all within the company. Teamwork "Teamwork is the key for success," says Hilpert, and it's a subject on which he becomes quite animated. Managers are expected to promote teamwork, and every employee is expected to work in a cooperative, team manner. Showing Employees the Impact of Their Work Openness, teamwork and mutual support all help provide motivation, but FLEXIM adds something extra. This is to help each employee see the impact of their contribution. It's done by showing and explaining where and how customers are using their FLEXIM flowmeters. Letting employees see that the products they helped design, develop or assemble supported a NASA project or are part of lifesaving oxygen monitoring systems (especially important these days) shows them the impact they are having with FLEXIM on the world. Read more about this story here: https://www.flexim.com/en/start-setting-standards About FLEXIM Founded in the 1990s in Berlin, FLEXIM is a flow measurement and metering products company with headquarters in global locations. They offer products and solutions for companies in the water, power, food, energy chemical, pharmaceutical, paper, semiconductor, and mining industries. Learn more at www.flexim.com Contact: Tiffany DeMayo Global Director of Marketing FLEXIM GmbH [email protected] www.flexim.com Related Images jens-hilpert.jpg Jens Hilpert CEO of FLEXIM flexim-germany.jpg FLEXIM Germany SOURCE FLEXIM GmbH CHICOPEE The city is preparing to create a new park that will celebrate and memorialize those who served in the military and after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and recognize service dogs on seven acres of land that once was part of Westover Air Reserve Base. The triangle-shaped parcel located between Westover Road, Honeysuckle Drive and Lynnwood Drive, has been used by the neighborhood for years and already has walking paths through it. City officials are hoping now to create a memorial park that will include two off-leash dog parks, a playground and an overlook with a monument. The park will be built on a piece of land that was turned over to the city in the 1970s when Westover Air Reserve Base was being downsized and the property was no longer needed. The land was mainly developed into an industrial park and housing but the seven acres were never developed. Often parks are created to remember those killed in war, but the Western Massachusetts Post-9/11 and Service Dog Memorial Park is unique because it will celebrate everyone who served in the military after the terrorism attacks, said Stephanie Shaw, director of Veterans Services for the city. The park is intended to celebrate the service, the growth, the opportunities and experiences our service members have because of the terrorism that happened on that fateful day, she said in a video presentation. The park is being designed in a collaborative effort between multiple city departments including Veterans Services, Parks and Recreation, the Mayors Office and Planning. The design process was boosted with a $75,000 state grant secured by State Sen. Eric P. Lesser, said Lee Pouliot city planner. Instead of a traditional memorial park, Shaw said the group decided the park should celebrate service members and their families and even service animals. We can do better, we can do more, we can create an environment that evokes emotion and not just sad emotion but one of pride and enthusiasm for the future, she said. The city hired Milone & MacBroom, which has offices in Springfield, to create a preliminary design of the park. Early estimates of construction costs are $315,000, said Mark Arigoni, director of landscape architecture. This project is unique in that it not only creates a special celebratory park space in the city but also responds to the priorities of the community as identified in our open space and recreation plan, particularly a dog park, Pouliot said. It would also be a huge attraction for residents, friends and guests from around the region and across the state to visit Chicopee and see what we have to offer. The city is now asking people to review the plans for the park, which are posted on the Chicopee Planning and Development website. People can also listen to a public presentation at https://vimeo.com/495776218. Mayor John L. Vieau said he is hoping residents will email Pouliot at lpouliot@chicopeema.gov to give feedback and suggestions that can be incorporated into the final design of the park. The park was designed in four phases so construction can be done in pieces as money becomes available or it can be done all at once. The preliminary schedule calls for the project to go out to bid as soon as February with construction to begin in April and the park opening in the spring of 2022, Arigoni said. It includes handicap accessible trails, one of which will lead to the highest part of the property where a plaza will be constructed that will include a service memorial and a dog tag sculpture, Arigoni said on the video. The dog area will have an about .15 acre park for small dogs and a spot for large dogs that will measure .6 acres. There will be a series of memorials that will reflect the contributions of service dogs and an honor alley for them. Designers will use the unique landscape to create large berms to create a sound barrier between nearby homes and the dog parks, he said. Another area will include a playground created with logs, rocks and other natural features children can climb on. It will also try to create obstacles military personnel may have used in training and can now share with children and other family members, Arigoni said. The park will also have about 33 paved parking spots off Westover Road and there will be more room for parking in an unpaved area. The gateway at the parking area plans calls for a symbolic entry area and other features. There will also be a bus shelter constructed there, he said. Related Content: Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. TROY The city will launch the public phase of its police reform and reinvention collaborative in February after announcing Tuesday the 15 members of the committee that will review police department operations. The police department leadership and Mayor Patrick Maddens administration have been working on preparing for the public sessions for the last several months. Troy becomes the last of the Capital Regions three major cities to go public with its meetings to seek public comment and suggestions for future police department operations. Through this process we hope to explore opportunities to increase engagement between the community and the police department, and encourage Troy residents to add their voice to the discussion around public safety in our community, Madden said in a statement. The city and the police department have been criticized for the way they handled the internal investigation of the April 2016 fatal shooting of drunken-driving suspect Edson Thevenin by Sgt. Randall French, who died in April 2020 from COVID-19. A federal civil rights lawsuit brought by Thevenins family is still pending. There was renewed public interest in the case following the May 2020 death of George Floyd while being arrested by four Minneapolis police officers. This was followed in September 2020 in the trial and acquittal of former Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove for the way he handled the investigation of the shooting. Protesters gathered daily outside the Rensselaer County Court House during the trial. The 15 committee members are Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski, Police Chief Brian Owens, Deputy Police Chief Daniel DeWolf, Rensselaer County District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly, City Council President Carmella Mantello, Council Pro Tempore Ken Zalewski, Starletta Smith, executive director of the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region, Renee Powell, president of the Troy Branch of NAACP, Stacey Howard of the city Police Objective Review Board, Pastor Justin Relf of Rhema Revealed Ministries, Rensselaer County Public Defender John Turi, Kathy Algone-Coons, commissioner of the county Department of Mental Health, Laura Bauer, county probation director, Chris Burke, executive director of Unity House and Kevin OConnor, executive director of Josephs House and Shelter. Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order last year directing municipalities with police departments to adopt a police reform plan by April 1. The plans must be approved by the local legislative body, in this instance, the Troy City Council, and filed with the state. Communities not filing a plan face the loss of state funds. The city committee is to meet remotely on Mondays and Wednesdays during February although the schedule has not been set. Monday is the first day of February. The meeting times and other information will be listed on the city website page for the police reform and reinvention collaborative at www.troyny.gov/PoliceRRC . Schizophrenia is the second biggest risk factor for dying of Covid-19 after old age, new research shows. The mental health condition almost triples the risk of dying from Covid-19 when compared to a healthy person aged between 18 and 44. The only group of people at higher risk of death than those with schizophrenia are older people who, irrespective of comorbidities, are far more likely to die. Scientists do not yet fully understand why people with schizophrenia are at increased risk, but believe it may be due to a genetic flaw inhibiting their immune response. People with schizophrenia tend to live, on average, up to two decades less than people with no mental health issues and also suffer from increased disease as a result of a lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and side effects from some schizophrenia medication. Other conditions which increased the risk of death include heart failure (60 per cent increased risk), high blood pressure (38 per cent) and diabetes (27 per cent). Men were found to be 69 per cent more at risk of death than women and non-white people (black, asian, mixed race) were 47 per cent more at-risk compared to whites. Scroll down for video The mental health condition almost triples the risk of dying from Covid-19 when compared to a healthy person aged between 18 and 44. Other conditions which increased the risk of death include heart failure (60 per cent increased risk), high blood pressure (38 per cent) and diabetes (27 per cent) Researchers from New York University studied anonymous health records of more than 7,000 hospitalised Covid-19 patients between March and May 2020, 75 of which had medically diagnosed schizophrenia. Mortality was defined as death or discharge to hospice within 45 days following a positive test result for the coronavirus. 'Our findings illustrate that people with schizophrenia are extremely vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19,' says study lead author Dr Katlyn Nemani. 'With this newfound understanding, health care providers can better prioritise vaccine distribution, testing, and medical care for this group.' Professor Shon Lewis of the University of Manchester, who was not involved in the study, said: 'It is a good, robust study with important findings. 'We have known for some time that people with schizophrenia in the UK have a life expectancy reduced by 18-20 years compared to the general population. 'This awful statistic is due largely to increased rates of cardiovascular, respiratory and metabolic disease resulting from lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and side effects of some medications in people with schizophrenia. 'This latest finding spotlights how good preventive care must now be urgently focused on this incredibly vulnerable and disadvantaged population. They should be immediately prioritised for vaccination.' Currently, the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has prioritised all people over 50 for the jab, as well as healthcare workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable, which are in the fourth priority slot ahead of over-65s. This group includes people with 'severe mental illness', which is not currently listed as clinically extremely vulnerable, with people suffering from this condition give no priority when it comes to receiving the vaccine. The clinically extremely vulnerable group includes chronic kidney disease and diabetes, which confer a 1.23 and 1.27 times increased risk of death from Covid, respectively. This is dwarfed by the 2.67 figure for schizophrenia. A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'The list of conditions used to identify individuals who may be clinically extremely vulnerable is agreed by the four UK Chief Medical Officers and reflects the latest available evidence. 'Clinicians in the NHS are able to add any patient to the shielded patient list, based on their own clinical judgement and an impartial assessment of their needs.' The clinically extremely vulnerable vaccine priority group includes people with chronic kidney disease and diabetes, which were found to be at 1.23 and 1.27 more at risk of death from Covid than a healthy person. This is dwarfed by the 2.67 figure for schizophrenia (stock) Dr Adrian James, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: 'The deadly consequences of Covid-19 on people living with schizophrenia is deeply worrying and should serve as a catalyst to ensure this at-risk group of people are offered the vaccine at the earliest opportunity. 'Those living in the community must be supported throughout the vaccination process, while those in mental health wards or residential settings must not be forgotten about or left behind. 'People living with a severe mental illness already die on average 20 years earlier than the general population. The government must do all that they can to protect people living with severe mental illness, intellectual disability and dementia from Covid-19.' While people with schizophrenia were found to be at much higher risk of death, people with anxiety and mood disorders were not. This, the researchers say, indicates there may be an unknown underlying mechanism which puts people with schizophrenia at elevated risk. Dr Nemani says this may be an immune system disturbance, possibly tied to the genetics of the disorder. 'Now that we have a better understanding of the disease, we can more deeply examine what, if any, immune system problems might contribute to the high death rates seen in these patients with schizophrenia,' says study senior author Dr Donald Goff at NYU Langone. Stephen Buckley, Head of Information at Mind, said: 'While we welcome research into the links between serious mental health problems and Covid19, much more robust research is needed worldwide, including in the UK. 'Research that leads to improved health outcomes and quality of life for people with mental health problems is welcomed. 'Never has it been more important for people with mental health problems to get the support they need and deserve. 'Anyone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who is worried about what impact coronavirus might have on their health should talk to their doctor to review their situation. 'In the UK research has shown links between covid19 and factors like poverty and ethnicity, so its really important that all these links are better understood. In England, people living with severe mental illnesses are 4.5 times more likely than average to die before they reach the age of 75 in England, if they dont get the right support, so its really important that we try to understand the reasons behind these poor health outcomes.' The study was published today in JAMA Psychiatry. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Members of the Korea Stockholders Alliance hold a rally in front of Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday, to call for a complete ban on stock short-selling. / Yonhap By Park Jae-hyuk Mirae Asset Daewoo, Samsung Securities and Korea Investment & Securities are considering giving retail investors wider access to short-selling by lending them stocks for the investment method that bets on the price fall of the borrowed shares, according to industry sources, Wednesday. Short-selling refers to a method in which an investor sells borrowed shares in the belief that the price will fall and they will be able to buy the shares back at a discount, keeping the difference and returning the borrowed shares. The government has temporarily banned the method since March last year to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the domestic stock market. Before the temporary ban, retail investors had a limited ability to conduct short-selling by borrowing stocks from mid-tier securities firms using the system of the Korea Securities Finance Corp. (KSFC). Those brokerages include Kiwoom Securities, Shinhan Financial Investment, SK Securities, Daishin Securities and NH Investment & Securities. Yuanta Securities lent stocks to retail investors without using the KSFC's system. Larger firms have refused to enable short-selling by retail investors because of low profitability. The financial regulator, however, began to pursue the plan favorable for retail investors before it lifts the temporary ban this year. "As far as we know, big brokerage houses will join the companies using our services for short-selling by retail investors," a KSFC official said. An official of one of the large securities firms denied such speculation, saying the company is still maintaining a wait-and-see stance on enabling retail investors to gain access to short-selling. According to sources, the Financial Services Commission, the Korea Financial Investment Association and the KSFC are in talks to choose the brokerages that will be able to lend retail investors their stocks for short-selling. Retail investors, however, are still calling for a complete ban on short-selling in the local stock market. "If retail investors have better access to short-selling, it is quite obvious that they will fall victim to foreign and institutional investors," said Chung Eui-jung, head of the Korea Stockholders Alliance comprised of 18,000 retail investors. (@FahadShabbir) JOHANNESBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) OHANNESBURG, JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) anuary 27 (Sputnik), Thabiso Lehoko - Lesotho may consider purchasing Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, which is becoming the "talk of the world," Lesotho's Minister of health Motlatsi Meqelepo told Sputnik. "As the government of Lesotho, we are still wrapping our minds around the procurement of the vaccines. We are currently under the Covax facility up to now. But seeing that there's a wider option of vaccines, Sputnik V is becoming the talk of the world and it is something we should be looking into as Government," the minister said. Lesotho has been under a two-week National lockdown due to Covid-19 infections and soaring deaths. The restrictions have included a ban on all outbound international travel. According to the statistics from Johns Hopkins University, there have been 8,047 confirmed cases in the country of roughly 2.1 million people so far, and 146 deaths. EverythingBenefits, the provider of comprehensive, next-generation benefits automation technology solutions, today announced the launch of its innovative EverythingBenefits Malachite program which will transform the way employers interact with their benefits carriers. Through the carriers participating in the Malachite program, employers will experience improved data communications including increased utilization of real-time API data exchange, streamlined operating experiences such as benefits invoicing and payments, enhanced evidence of insurability support, and other services. Additionally, the program provides access to powerful analytics and improved thought leadership and collaboration to help educate employers and employees about this complex area making benefits more accessible to the everyday benefits consumer. The Malachite program is about our commitment to collaboration and continuous improvement on communication, automation, and education to drive the best benefits experiences. EverythingBenefits mission has always been to improve peoples lives through benefits technology. We are thrilled to have the support of forward-thinking carriers that embrace that same vision, said Rachel Lyubovitzky, Chief Executive Officer, EverythingBenefits. Guardian Life, a leading provider of life, disability, dental and supplemental health benefits for worksite benefits, will be the first insurance carrier to join the EverythingBenefits Malachite program. Guardian Life has been acknowledged for the past two years as a top carrier on the EverythingBenefits Top 20 Carrier list. The list recognizes benefits carriers for their consistency, all-around performance, and excellent collaboration. Our customers want an automated, streamlined benefits experience that will reduce their administrative workload, improve accuracy, and increase overall employee participation, said Sarah Oliver, Head of Enrollment at Guardian Life. With EverythingBenefits Malachite program, we are changing how Guardian benefits are delivered and serviced, which will lead to significant advantages for our customers. The key features of EverythingBenefits Malachite include: Improved employer carrier communications Streamlined operating experiences Access to insights to identify coverage gaps According to Guardians Workplace Benefits Study Digital Overdrive, technology is now a key component of the benefits strategy for many employers. The research confirmed that employers who adopt a highly digital benefits experience will also yield higher employee satisfaction versus those who still rely on paper (70 percent versus 37 percent). EverythingBenefits Malachite strengthens the carrier and employer relationship by enhancing communication, providing real-time data exchanges, and ultimately, elevating the benefits experience for all. For more information on Malachite, please visit everythingbenefits.com/malachite. About EverythingBenefits EverythingBenefits is a leading provider of next-generation, end-to-end benefit technology solutions and services that help businesses of all sizes and their employees experience benefits in more meaningful ways. By leveraging an open business model, EverythingBenefits partners with enterprise resource planning systems, human capital management (HCM) companies, benefits carriers, in addition to benefit brokers, independent agents and other providers. The companys philosophy is that technology should make life simpler, more rewarding, and more enjoyable. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.everythingbenefits.com or connect with us via LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook. About Guardian Every day, Guardian provides Americans the security they deserve through our insurance and wealth management products and services. Since our founding in 1860, our long-term view has helped our customers prepare for whatever life brings whether starting a family, planning for the future or taking care of employees. Today, we're a Fortune 250 mutual company and a leading provider of life, disability, dental, and other benefits for individuals, at the workplace and through government sponsored programs. The Guardian community of over 9,000 employees and our network of over 2,500 financial representatives is committed to serving with expertise when, where and how our clients need us. Our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2019 included $9.3 billion in capital and $1.7 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. EverythingBenefits Public Relations Phone: 800-689-3568 Email: pr@everythingbenefits.com DENVER (AP) The families of four Black girls mistakenly detained by suburban Denver police at gunpoint last year after they were suspected of being in a stolen car sued police and the city of Aurora on Monday _ claiming the officers actions permanently traumatized them and are part of a pattern of racial biased treatment against Black people. The August 2020 incident attracted national attention after a video taken by a bystander of the four girls, ranging in age from from 6 to 17, being held on the ground spread on social media. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages, disciplinary action against officers, written apologies and changes in police policy and training. On the video, the girls are heard crying and screaming as officers stand with their backs to the camera in a parking lot in the Denver suburb of Aurora, where police are being investigated over the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man confronted by officers as he walked down the street in 2019. That case is one of several in Aurora that the lawsuit cites to back up its claim of discriminatory policing. The 17-year-old and the 12-year-old lie on their stomachs on the pavement with their hands cuffed behind their backs, the video shows. The 14-year-old girl lies next to the 6-year-old. According to the lawsuit, one of the officers tried to handcuff the 6-year-old, who was wearing a tiara for what was supposed to be a girls day out with her relatives but the officer could not because the handcuffs were too big for the girl. The 6-year-olds mother, Brittney Gilliam, the driver of the car, is also a plaintiff in the case. The lawsuit was filed in state court which, under a Colorado police reform bill passed amid protests over racial injustice last year, would allow the five officers named as defendants to be held financially liable for any monetary judgments awarded in the case. Auroras police chief, Vanessa Wilson, was also listed as a defendant but its not clear whether the new law would also make her financially liable. Police referred questions about the lawsuit to representatives for city government, but city spokesperson Ryan Luby said officials had not received the lawsuit and it that would be inappropriate to comment on pending litigation. Wilson has apologized directly to Gilliam and offered to pay for therapy for the girls, Luby said. Wilson previously apologized for the officers actions, saying she was angered by them. While Wilson said at the time that the officers acted in keeping with department policy for suspected stolen car cases, she also said the officers should have used common sense to respond to what they saw. The Aurora police department has since changed its training to give officers more discretion in responding to suspected stolen car cases, Luby said. The city of Aurora is committed to ongoing reviews of the practices and procedures of the Aurora Police Department, he said. A prosecutor announced earlier this month that he did not think there was evidence that the officers broke the law but called their actions disturbing. According to the lawsuit, the girls now struggle to sleep and eat, are all in therapy and fear the police after what happened and would be afraid to call the police if they were in danger. The 14-year-old girl cannot get the terrified screams of her cousins out of her mind, the lawsuit said. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on China and Belarus to boost high-quality development of bilateral Belt and Road cooperation. In his telephone conversation with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Xi also urged the two sides to make solid progress in the construction of China-Belarus industrial park. Xi pointed out that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belarus, bilateral ties have seen continuous development, adding that in the face of the pandemic, the two sides have carried out close anti-epidemic cooperation, and practical cooperation in various fields has maintained a good momentum of steady progress. Noting that this year is the first year for China to implement the 14th Five-Year Plan, Xi said China's efforts to foster a new development pattern and promote reform and opening up at a higher starting point will provide more development opportunities and open up broader cooperation space for countries worldwide, including Belarus. He also called on the two sides to boost cooperation in the fields of anti-epidemic, economy and trade, education, science and technology, culture, as well as exchanges at local levels. "I believe that as long as the two sides can uphold the spirit of mutual trust and win-win cooperation, the China-Belarus comprehensive strategic partnership will surely achieve greater development," he said. Xi stressed that China supports Belarus in pursuing a development path that fits its national conditions, hopes that Belarus will maintain political and social stability, and is willing to provide assistance within its own capacity to the economic and social development in Belarus. The two sides should continue to support each other, safeguard the common interests of developing countries and defend international fairness and justice, Xi added. For his part, Lukashenko expressed his admiration and warm congratulation to China on its remarkable and significant achievements in battling the pandemic, resumption of work and production, poverty alleviation and lunar exploration projects, saying that he appreciates China for providing invaluable support for Belarus's fight against the epidemic as well as for his country's economic and social development. Noting that Belarus and China are comprehensive strategic partners, he said Belarus firmly stands with China on issues involving China's core interests such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang and firmly opposes all external interference. He also said that his country is willing to join China in actively promoting bilateral Belt and Road cooperation and the construction of the Belarus-China industrial park, and strengthening cooperation in various fields such as economy, trade and exchanges at local levels, adding that he wishes the Chinese people a happy New Year, prosperity and health. Advertisement Britain is 'comfortably' on target to vaccinate all over-50s by March and '30million people in weeks', the boss of AstraZeneca has said. Pascal Soriot backed the government's decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine and predicted it would allow the inoculation of huge numbers in just weeks. Mr Soriot also slammed an 'emotional' European Union over a jabs war that saw Eurocrats accuse the UK of hijacking doses meant for the continent. It came as Boris Johnson warned the EU he expected it to honour government contracts for vaccines as a diplomatic row saw senior Brussels figures accused the UK of stealing jabs destined for other countries. The UK and the EU were in a tense stand-off last night as continental figures attempted to shift blame for its slovenly rollout of the inoculations in comparison to Britain. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen vowed to make firms declare what vaccines they are exporting to the UK as she scrambled to contain the backlash. The commission president said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies. But the boss of British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca fired back at EU health chiefs, insisting Brussels was late with its vaccine order. On another dramatic day in the coronavirus crisis: The Brussels bloc indicated it could move to restrict export of jabs and launched a bid to have British supplies diverted to Europe; AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot laid the blame for the problems at the EU's door, saying the bloc had signed its contract three months later than the UK; A furious row broke out following German media claims later flatly dismissed that the Oxford vaccine might not work well for older people; Ministers met to thrash out the final details of a border crackdown which is likely to see Britons travelling from at risk countries having to quarantine in hotels; The head of the NHS said the virus could become a much more treatable disease over the next six to 18 months; Figures showed more than 30,000 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid put on their death certificate; Mr Johnson hinted that primary school children could return to class after half-term amid mounting evidence pupils are not drivers of infection; He also hinted he would unveil an exit plan from lockdown in the coming weeks; The unemployment rate hit its highest level in nearly five years; The vaccines minister warned families should put off booking a foreign holiday; Privacy watchdogs warned that freedom passports for the vaccinated risked creating a 'two-tier society'; Global cases passed 100 million. In a warning shot at the EU Mr Johnson said: 'All I would say is obviously we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts' Pascal Soriot backed the government's decision to delay the second dose of the vaccine and predicted it would allow the inoculation of huge numbers in just weeks Ursula von der Leyen yesterday vowed to make firms declare what vaccines they are exporting to the UK as she scrambled to contain a backlash at the EU's shambolic rollout The commission chief said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted that the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies These set of graphs show the number of vaccines ordered by the UK and the EU. The EU has also ordered a number of other vaccines, including 300million Sanofi-GSK doses and 405million CureVac doses Europe's vaccine roll-out was already among the slowest in the world, but has been hit by further problems as France's Pasteur Institute mothballed its jab on Monday and AstraZeneca cut supplies to the bloc by 60 per cent due to 'supply issues' Mr Soriot told La Repubblica: 'I have no doubt that the UK has made the right choice thus maximizing the number of people vaccinated, which will reach 28-30million by March.' The figure is double the government's current pledge to vaccinate the 15million most vulnerable by February 15 - and would enable the inoculation of almost everyone aged over 50. He also told the Italian newspaper that the European Union has only itself to blame for its shambolic vaccine rollout. He said the EU deal was struck so late AstraZeneca could only offer to make its 'best efforts' to meet supply targets, rather than a firm guarantee. 'The reason why we said that is because Europe wanted to be supplied more or less at the same time as the UK, even though the contract was signed three months later. So we said 'OK, we're going to do our best, we're going to try, but we cannot commit contractually because we are three months behind the UK'. Sombre Boris Johnson takes 'full responsibility' as UK Covid death toll tops 100,000 A downtrodden Boris Johnson last night appeared at Downing Street to say he was 'deeply sorry' as the UK's Covid-19 death toll officially rose above 100,000 for the first time. The Prime Minister appeared alongside Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, and NHS CEO Sir Simon Stevens, to say it was 'hard to compute the sorrow' Britain had been through in the past year. This Sunday will mark one year since the first two people were taken to a hospital in Newcastle after being found with coronavirus in York, and since then 375,000 people have been admitted to hospital with the illness and at least 100,162 have died. The Department of Health yesterday announced the deaths of 1,631 more people. Mr Johnson said: 'On this day, I should just really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done. 'What I can tell you is that we truly did everything that we could, and continue to do everything that we can, to minimise loss of life and to minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very, very difficult crisis for our country, and we will continue to do that.' But in a glimmer of hope on what Professor Whitty branded a 'very sad day', the number of people testing positive for coronavirus has dropped again to just a third of the level it was at three weeks ago, with 20,089 more infections. The infection number was well below the 45,533 announced two weeks ago and a steep drop from 60,916 the Tuesday before that. Although the peak of infections now appears to have passed, the number of people in hospital is still 'incredibly high', Professor Whitty said as both he and the PM spoke to quash hopes that lockdown will be lifted soon. Deaths lag about three weeks behind cases because it takes this long for someone who has caught the virus to suffer symptoms severe enough to be admitted to hospital and die from the disease, and Professor Whitty said the daily counts would remain high for weeks to come. Advertisement He added: 'There are a lot of emotions running in this process right now, and I can understand it people want the vaccine. I want the vaccine too, I want it today. But, at the end of the day, it's a complicated process. We are getting there.' Meanwhile, fronting a Downing Street press conference last night, Mr Johnson said he had 'total confidence' in the UK's supply of vaccines. And in a warning shot at the EU he added: 'All I would say is obviously we expect and hope that our EU friends will honour all contracts. 'And we continue to work with friends and partners in the EU, and indeed around the world, because the delivery of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, the creation of the vaccine has been a multinational effort, and the delivery of the vaccine is multinational as well, because the virus knows no borders,' he said. The sabre-rattling from Brussels, which comes amid growing chaos and protests across the continent, has incensed senior MPs, with warnings that the EU could 'poison' relations for a generation if it blocks some of the 40million Pfizer doses the UK has bought 'legally and fairly'. Mr Johnson also offered his 'deepest condolences' to those who have lost relatives to coronavirus and pledged to ensure their loved ones are remembered as the Government's figure for Covid-19 deaths passed 100,000. The PM said when the country comes through the crisis 'we will come together as a nation to remember everyone we lost and to honour the selfless heroism of all those on the front line who gave their lives to save others'. NHS England chief Simon Stevens also swiped at the 'uproar' in the EU yesterday, suggesting it underlined the pressure on supplies and how Britain had done 'very well'. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said protectionism was 'not the right approach', insisting that the huge push to get the four most vulnerable groups of Britons covered by mid-February will not be derailed. For its part, Pfizer warned it was 'critical that governments do not impose export restrictions or other trade barriers' that would risk creating 'uncertainty' and disrupting supplies. Meanwhile, the health ministry in Berlin has been forced to issue a denial after two German newspapers claimed the EU's regulator could refuse to give the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab full approval, with officials anonymously briefing its efficacy for pensioners was just eight per cent. The claim was angrily rejected by the pharmaceutical company - and No10 sources told MailOnline it was 'rubbish'. It is understood the issue came up at Cabinet yesterday morning, and Boris Johnson said it was 'not correct'. Science chief Patrick Vallance told the meeting that data showed a good immune response among all older patients. He suggested the publications could have been confused between the proportion of the trial participants who were over 65, and the effectiveness. One Whitehall source told Playbook it was the kind of tactics 'you expect from the Russians'. The German health ministry yesterday desperately tried to kill off the spat, dismissing the idea there was any data suggest efficacy of only eight per cent among older people. It said at 'first glance' there seemed to have been a mix-up over the 8 per cent figure insisting a decision is still due on approving the jab on Friday. Tory MP Damian Collins suggested the briefing was connected to wrangling between the EU and AstraZeneca - which is based in the UK, whereas Pfizer has a manufacturing hub in Belgium - over access to supplies. 'Either way it is dangerous and irresponsible and only helps the anti vaccine movement,' he said. As the backlash in the EU at its dire progress gathered pace, Ms von der Leyen tried to offer reassurance something is being done to address the problems. 'Europe invested billions to help develop the world's first COVID vaccines and create a global common good,' she said. 'Now the companies must deliver and honour their obligations. We will set up a vaccine export transparency mechanism. EU is committed to contribute. But we also mean business.' A spokesman for Pfizer said: 'We understand the EU proposed notification process is aimed at increasing transparency and does not intend to restrict global supply to patients, but it is critical that governments do not impose export restrictions or other trade barriers that risk creating uncertainty and disrupting supply of vaccines to patients around the world. Concerns over vaccine supply on the continent have prompted the European Union to tell pharmaceutical companies they can only export to Britain with explicit permission from the bloc. Pictured: Jenny Holland, 86, from Mansfield receives her injection of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine at a former Wickes store in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire Science chief Patrick Vallance told the meeting that data showed the AZ jab produced good immune response among all older patients Groups rioters throw stones at police in Haarlem, Netherlands, yesterday amid protests against coronavirus restrictions Firefighters work to extinguish a vehicle that was set ablaze by rioters, in Haarlem, Netherlands, yesterday 'We look forward to receiving further details on the EU proposal and assessing its impact on patients. Germany denies claim AstraZeneca vaccine doesn't work for OAPs The German health ministry says the claim that the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine doesn't work in elderly people was untrue and there is 'no data' to support it Scientists slammed the spurious claim overnight after it was published by German newspaper Handelsblatt, which said government sources had warned the jab only appeared to be eight per cent effective but didn't publish any data to prove it. Oxford University rubbished the report, saying there was 'no basis' for the allegation, and that their data has already been 'released transparently'. AstraZeneca, manufacturing the jab on behalf of Oxford, said it was 'completely incorrect'. And scientists added they had 'no idea' where the figure has come from, adding that it was not proved by research on the vaccine. Germany has now confirmed there is no data to suggest the effectiveness of the vaccine is that low and that the European Medicines Agency will decide whether to approve the jab on Friday. It is not clear where the eight per cent figure emerged, with a political correspondent at the German paper saying senior sources in the government had given it to him without scientific data. Advertisement 'We are continuing to liaise closely with the UK Government to deliver the 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that we have committed to supply to the UK before the end of the year.' Speaking at a Chatham House event yesterday afternoon, Mr Hancock said: 'Well, we oppose protectionism in all its forms. 'And I think protectionism is unfortunate, and especially so in the midst of a pandemic when we are working so closely together with countries right around the world and the contribution that the UK has made that we've been talking about, for instance through the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and the therapeutics that are available, has been in partnership with countries right around the world including in the EU. 'I'm sure we can work with the EU to ensure that while transparency is welcome that no blockers are put in place. 'I'm glad to say that having spoken to the chief executives of both of Pfizer and AstraZeneca I'm confident of the supply of vaccine into the UK. I'm confident that won't be disrupted but I would urge all international partners in fact to be collaborative and working closely together, and I think protectionism is not the right approach in the middle of a pandemic.' In a round of interviews ealier, Mr Zahawi told Sky News: 'I'm confident they [Pfizer] will deliver the quantities we need to hit our mid-February deadline and beyond that. Pfizer will deliver to us. I'm sure they will deliver to the UK, EU and the rest of the world. I'm confident that will be able to vaccinate the entire adult population by the Autumn.' He dodged the question about whether the EU was trying to block supplies because its vaccination programme has fallen massively behind Britain's. The move was branded 'mean-spirited and selfish' by MPs. Ex-health secretary Jeremy Hunt told the Telegraph: 'If the EU were to take action unilaterally that restricted supplies of vaccine bought legally and fairly by the UK, it would poison economic relations for a generation. At such a critical moment, the world needs vaccine nationalism like a hole in the head.' Last night two German newspapers reported sources in Berlin saying EU experts told them in an off-the-record briefing that they have found the UK-made Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is only eight percent effective in pensioners. The drug firm has furiously denied those reports, which came a fortnight after Klaus Cichutek, the head of Germany's vaccine regulator, hailed the success rate of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine saying: 'The efficacy remains outstanding and excellent'. An AstraZeneca spokesman said: 'Reports that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine efficacy is as low as 8 per cent in adults over 65 are absolutely incorrect. All companies producing vaccines against COVID-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries,' EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides warned last night, as Britain prepares to receive nearly 3.5m of the Belgian-produced Pfizer (pictured: The company's production plant in Belgium) vaccine in the next three weeks 'In the UK the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) supported use in the population and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) included this group without dose adjustment in the authorisation for emergency supply. In November we published details in The Lancet demonstrating that older showed immune responses to the vaccine, with 100 per cent of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose.' EU block could mean UK misses out on millions of Covid vaccine doses The UK could miss out on millions of doses of the coronavirus vaccine if the European Union suspends deliveries to countries outside the bloc. Britain is expecting to receive another 9million doses by mid-February from Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech. But if Eurocrats blockade jab exports across the channel, American drugs company Pfizer - which manufactures vaccines in Puurs, Belgium - will be unable to ship supplies. As many as 3.5million doses of their jab are expected to arrive over the next three weeks, reports the Telegraph, a shipment that wouldn't land on British soil if Brussels chose to redirect supplies. The move would not, however, cut supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine because the 'vast, vast majority' of their jabs are made in the UK. There are fears that any cut in deliveries could leave the Government unable to meet its target of vaccinating 15million of the most vulnerable by mid-February. But it is not clear how many doses are already sitting in warehouses in the UK, which ministers say they won't reveal because of 'security concerns'. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said at a conference last night that supply remained the 'limiting factor' in Britain's Covid-19 vaccine rollout. The UK has already vaccinated more than six million of the most vulnerable against the virus, as it steams towards its mid-February target. Advertisement AstraZeneca angered Brussels earlier yesterday by warning it would cut the number of vaccines it will deliver to Europe by the end of March from 80million to 31million. But more concerning for EU health chiefs is the claim, the exact nature of which remained unclear yesterday, that the AstraZeneca jab fails to adequately protect pensioners. That would leave a large hole in the EU's vaccine supplies as well as throwing into question the effectiveness of immunisation strategies in other countries including the UK, where getting AstraZeneca's jabs in as many pensioners as possible is key to ending lockdown. German financial broadsheet Handelsblatt and tabloid Bild both quoted sources in the federal government as saying the AZ jab was less than 10 per cent effective in over-65s. The papers said German officials now fear the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU's medicine regulator, may not approve giving the Oxford vaccine to such people. The federal and state governments in Germany had planned to use the AstraZeneca vaccine for older people who live at home and cannot go to a vaccination centre due to age or illness. However AstraZeneca last night branded the German reports 'absolutely incorrect', and it was disowned by the health ministry yesterday morning. In a statement the German government said: 'At first glance, it seems that two things were confused in the reports: Around eight percent of the subjects in the AstraZeneca efficacy study were between 56 and 69 years of age, and only 3 to 4 percent were over 70 years of age (MHRA Approval Public Assessment Report). 'From this, however, an effectiveness of only eight percent in older people cannot be derived. 'The European Medicines Agency also evaluates the studies. It has been known since autumn that fewer older people were involved in the first studies submitted by AstraZeneca than in studies by other manufacturers. The result of the evaluation by the EMA can be expected on Friday.' Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee yesterday, NHS England chief Sir Simon Stevens suggested the bitter briefing was down to the EU being under pressure on vaccine supplies. He said: 'If there were unlimited vaccines then you wouldn't see what the European Commission were saying yesterday, you wouldn't see Italy attempting to sue one of the manufacturers, you wouldn't see Germany in uproar as it is today. 'Of course there's a supply shortage, and we've done very well in this country to get the supply we have available to us, the question is how do we use it to best effect.' AstraZeneca has blamed the EU's supply chain for their failure to deliver the promised 80million vaccines by the end of March Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi insisted yesterday morning the UK's huge push to get the four most vulnerable groups covered by mid-February will not be derailed The EMA's approval of the vaccine is expected to take place on Friday, according to reports. Like in the UK, European vaccine drives are relying on shots from multiple suppliers to reach their targets. Britain has so far ordered 40million doses of AstraZeneca's jab - which was the first to be approved in the UK and is a so-called 'work horse' of the UK vaccine roll-out. The UK is expecting to receive nearly 3.5million Pfizer doses within the next three weeks. But in a stern warning, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides last night declared the bloc would take 'any action required to protect its citizens'. The row came after British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca announced yesterday it could not meet the demand of a 300million dose vaccine deal it made with the EU in August - for which it was paid 298million upfront. The move, described as 'surprising' by Ms Kyriakides, sparked fears of a vaccine shortage on the continent. EU bosses subsequently hit back, demanding 'full transparency' concerning the export of vaccines from the bloc. German health minister Jens Spahn told ZDF television yesterday morning that the EU must get its 'fair share', suggesting there should be export limits. 'I can understand that there are production problems but then it must affect everyone in the same way,' he said. 'This is not about Europe first but about Europe's fair share.' In statement overnight, Ms Kyriakides said: 'Last Friday, the company AstraZeneca surprisingly informed the Commission and the European Union Member States that it intends to supply considerably fewer doses in the coming weeks than agreed and announced. 'This new schedule is not acceptable to the European Union. The European Union has pre-financed the development of the vaccine and the production and wants to see the return. 'The European Union wants to know exactly which doses have been produced by AstraZeneca and where exactly so far and if or to whom they have been delivered.' Ms Kyriakides said the EU had asked AstraZeneca about the the change, but said the company's answers had 'not been satisfactory so far'. She said: 'We want our contract to be fully fulfilled. In addition, the Commission yesterday proposed to the 27 Member States in the Steering Board that an export transparency mechanism will be put in place as soon as possible. 'We want clarity on transactions and full transparency concerning the export of vaccines from the EU. 'In the future, all companies producing vaccines against COVID-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries. In a stern warning, she added: 'The European Union will take any action required to protect its citizens and rights.' HOW DO THE OXFORD, MODERNA AND PFIZER/BIONTECH VACCINES COMPARE? Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech have both released interim results of the final stage clinical trials of their vaccines, with both suggesting they are extremely effective. Oxford University has published the findings from its second phase, which show the jab provokes an immune response and is safe to use it is not yet clear how well it protects against coronavirus in the real world. Here's how they compare: CREATOR: MODERNA (US) PFIZER (US) & BIONTECH (DE) OXFORD UNIVERSITY (UK) How it works: mRNA vaccine Genetic material from coronavirus is injected to trick immune system into making 'spike' proteins and learning how to attack them. mRNA vaccine both Moderna's and Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccines work in the same way. Recombinant viral vector vaccine a harmless cold virus taken from chimpanzees was edited to produce the 'spike' proteins and look like the coronavirus. How well does it work? 94.5% effective (90 positive in placebo group, 5 positive in vaccine group) . 95% effective (160 positive in placebo group, 8 positive in vaccine group). 62% - 90% effective, depending on dosing. Average 70.4%. How much does it cost? Moderna confirmed it will charge countries placing smaller orders, such as the UK's five million doses, between 24 and 28 per dose. US has secured 100million doses for $1.525billion (1.16bn), suggesting it will cost $15.25 (11.57) per dose. The US will pay $1.95bn (1.48bn) for the first 100m doses, a cost of $19.50 (14.80) per dose. Expected to cost 2.23 per dose. The UK's full 100m dose supply could amount to just 223million. Can we get hold of it? UK has ordered five million doses which will become available from March 2021. Moderna will produce 20m doses this year, expected to stay in the US. UK has already ordered 40million doses, of which 10million could be available in 2020. First vaccinations expected in December. UK has already ordered 100million doses and is expected to be first in line to get it once approved. What side effects does it cause? Moderna said the vaccine is 'generally safe and well tolerated'. Most side effects were mild or moderate but included pain, fatigue and headache, which were 'generally' short-lived. Pfizer and BioNTech did not produce a breakdown of side effects but said the Data Monitoring Committee 'has not reported any serious safety concerns'. Oxford and AstraZeneca said there are no serious safety concerns about the vaccine. Phase three trial saw three out of 23,745 participants have 'serious adverse events' that were 'possibly' linked to the vaccine. All three have recovered or are recovering, and remain in the trial. Advertisement Vaccines minister reveals his uncle died of Covid Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has revealed he lost an uncle to Covid-19. Mr Zahawi said the pandemic was 'grim and horrible' but the impact made him 'determined' that the rollout will happen quickly. Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, he said: 'It's painful, and it's closer to home than you think in terms of losing relatives and family. 'I lost my uncle last week to Covid, but, you're right, it is grim and horrible, but our way out of this is the vaccination programme. 'It makes me angry, but it makes me determined to make sure we vaccinate the most vulnerable people in our country and protect them as quickly as possible and then protect the whole nation.' Advertisement The statement came after a weekend of protests over the tightening of lockdown rules in countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands. The jab has already been approved in the UK, as well as Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Morocco, while Canadian officials have asked for more data before approving the vaccine. The Oxford jab is cheaper and easier to store than the rival Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine - which is also being used in Germany. The Oxford vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at normal refrigerated conditions. This is unlike the Pfizer vaccine, which needs to be kept at minus 70C. But the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine came under fire last year when initial tests showed the vaccine was 62 per cent effective when two full doses were given at least a month apart. This was less than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which were both shown to be 95 per cent effective. However, the Oxford vaccine's efficacy rose to 90 per cent when people were given half a dose followed by a whole dose at least a month later. Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, praised the results in a piece to the Sunday Times in December, saying: 'We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else. I can't tell you more because we will publish at some point.' On the results, he said: 'We would have preferred a simpler set of results, but overall we thought these are positive.' A large group of young people clash with police on Beijerlandselaan in Rotterdam on Monday night amid growing anger over lockdown measures Dutch policemen arrest a man during clashes with a large group of young people on Beijerlandselaan in Rotterdam, on January 25 Anti riot forces gather as groups of local youth gather on the streets of Schilderswijk, the Netherlands, for a second day on January 25 The deserted Avenue de l'Opera leading up to the Opera Garnier during a nationwide curfew, from 6pm to 6am, due to restrictions against the spread of Covid The deserted Pont de Bir-Hakeim Bridge and the Eiffel Tower during a nationwide curfew, from 6pm to 6am, due to restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus Matt Hancock reveals nearly 80% of UK over-80s have now had a Covid vaccine as NHS rollout reaches 6.6MILLION people Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night announced that 78.7 per cent of Britons over the age of 80 have had a Covid vaccine as he confirmed 6.6million people have received their first dose. That means nearly one in 10 people across the country has had at least one dose that could protect them against deadly Covid-19, and the Government is nearly halfway through its drive to hit 15million by mid-February. Britain is ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. But a Sunday slowdown meant that only 221,067 people received vaccines, down from a record high of 493,013 people on Saturday. Department of Health figures showed 220,249 first doses and 818 second doses were administered across the country on January 24. The Sunday slowdown is thought to have been triggered by fewer doctors and nurses being on shift on the last day of the working week, meaning fewer Britons could receive their jabs. The smallest number of cases and deaths is also generally recorded on Sundays, when more staff are off work and unavailable to tick off reports. It comes as ministers battle to vaccinate the most vulnerable to the virus by mid-February. This includes the over-70s, vulnerable, care home residents and NHS frontline staff. But the NHS appears to have already missed its internal target of reaching all care home residents by January 24. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last Thursday they had already vaccinated 63 per cent of care home residents - leaving another 154,660 out of an estimated 420,000 residents waiting for their jabs. But ministers are yet to say whether the NHS target has been hit. Britain last night recorded another 22,195 infections with the virus, a 41 per cent drop on last week, and a further 592 deaths, down one per cent on the same time last week. Advertisement French MEP Veronique Trillet-Lenoir said the European Commission will consider 'controlling' products made in the European Union as part of its row with AstraZeneca over the bloc's vaccine rollout, while also weighing up legal action. The European Commission has accused the pharmaceutical company, which worked with Oxford University on the development of the Covid-19 vaccine, of failing to give a valid explanation for not delivering doses to the bloc. Ms Trillet-Lenoir told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'A contract is a commitment, it is based on public money, long negotiations with mutual agreements on prices and ability (to deliver). 'The Commission is right to say that, when trust is betrayed, we should take strong decisions. 'First of all, (it) is thinking about controlling exportation for products made in the EU. 'But the Parliament would agree, and will be alongside the Commission, if the decision is to take legal action.' Politicians pushed to tighten lockdown measures across the continent even after a weekend of rioting brought scenes of chaos to the Netherlands and Denmark. France is due to decide whether to bring in a third national lockdown this week as Prime Minister Jean Castex warned the situation there is 'worrying', with Italy's top medic also calling for a month-long national shutdown. The EU has not officially approved the Oxford/AstraZenecca jab yet but it is expected to give its assent on Friday, starting the mass roll-out. Europe, which was initially praised for its tough response to Covid after most countries went into full lockdowns in March last year, has been hammered by a second wave that a mish-mash of measures has largely failed to control. Those efforts have been complicated by the emergence of new and potentially more-infectious variants of the virus, including in the hard-hit UK, which is now back in full lockdown. While many countries have announced new measures to try and bring infections down, case numbers have remained stubbornly high in countries such as France, Italy and Germany, causing hospitals to run out of space. Meanwhile Spain and Portugal have both seen infections soar to record levels after a brief dip over the festive period, putting health services under strain. The Netherlands, which had become one of Europe's worst-affected countries with its light-touch lockdown approach, has seen cases fall dramatically in January but remain well above the lows seen during the summer. As a result and amid fears the UK variant could cause cases to spike, new measures designed to bring the toll down were announced last week, including a 9pm to 4.30am curfew - the country's first since World War Two. The prompted protests in 10 cities on Sunday which turned violent, as protesters fought police, looted shops, and trashed police stations. Authorities in Eindhoven announced on Monday that 62 people had been arrested and more are being sought, while officers in Amsterdam said 192 were arrested. 'It is unacceptable,' Prime Minister Mark Rutte said. 'This has nothing to do with protesting, this is criminal violence and that's how we'll treat it.' 'My city is crying, and so am I,' Eindhoven Mayor John Jorritsma told media Sunday night. In an emotional impromptu press conference, he called the rioters 'the scum of the earth' and added 'I am afraid that if we continue down this path, we're on our way to civil war.' Meanwhile, in locked-down Britain, it was announced yesterday that the UK had recorded the fewest coronavirus cases in a day since December 15 with 22,195 more people testing positive a 41 per cent drop on last Monday and new deaths remained level at 592, down one per cent in a week. In further good news, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced yesterday that 78.7 per cent of Britons over the age of 80 have had a Covid vaccine as he confirmed 6.6million people have received their first dose. Boris Johnson sowed confusion yesterday as he hinted that 'some' lockdown curbs could be eased in mid-February - but defied a growing Tory mutiny by refusing to guarantee that schools will be open by Easter How does the Oxford vaccine work? The vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 uses a harmless, weakened version of a common virus which causes a cold in chimpanzees. Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers). The virus is genetically modified so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans. Scientists have transferred the genetic instructions for coronavirus's specific 'spike protein' which it needs to invade cells to the vaccine. When the vaccine enters cells inside the body, it uses this genetic code to produce the surface spike protein of the coronavirus. This induces an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if it infects the body. It was 62 per cent effective if given as two doses and 90 per cent when one half dose is given followed by a further full dose. Advertisement That means nearly one in 10 people across the country has had at least one dose that could protect them against deadly Covid-19, and the Government is nearly halfway through its drive to hit 15million by mid-February. Britain is ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world - ahead of the Spain, France, Germany and Italy. But furious EU officials have said they will investigate why Britain is not suffering from similar delays in the rollout as have been seen on the continent. Peter Liese, an EU lawmaker from the same party as Angela Merkel, said: 'The flimsy justification that there are difficulties in the EU supply chain but not elsewhere does not hold water, as it is of course no problem to get the vaccine from the UK to the continent. 'AstraZeneca has been contractually obligated to produce since as early as October and they are apparently delivering to other parts of the world, including the UK without delay.' The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker had received an up-front payment of 336 million euros (298million) from the EU when they struck a deal in August, an EU official told Reuters. The agreement for at least 300million shots was the first signed by the EU to secure Covid vaccines. Under advance purchase deals sealed during the pandemic, the EU makes down payments to companies to secure doses, with the money expected to be mostly used to expand production capacity. But AstraZeneca said on Friday: 'Initial volumes will be lower than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain.' The site in question is a vaccine factory in Belgium run by the drugmaker's partner Novasep. A senior EU official said the bloc had a contractual right to check the company's books to assess production and deliveries. A Commission spokesman said: 'We expect the company to find solutions and to exploit all possible flexiblities to deliver swiftly.' EU executive Ursula von der Leyen had a call on Monday with AstraZeneca's chief Pascal Soriot to remind him of the firm's commitments, with a second meeting scheduled for the same day. AstraZeneca was not immediately available to comment last night. The first EU official, who has been directly involved in talks with AstraZeneca, said there were no high expectations about the meeting in which the company will be asked to better explain the delays, although its outcome is still unclear. Earlier in January, Pfizer, which is currently the largest supplier of COVID-19 vaccines to the EU, announced delays of nearly a month to its shipments, but hours later revised this to say the delays would last only a week. EU executive Ursula von der Leyen had a call on Monday with AstraZeneca's chief Pascal Soriot to remind him of the firm's commitments EU contracts with vaccine makers are confidential, but the EU official did not rule out possible penalties for AstraZeneca, given the large revision to its earlier commitments. However the source did not elaborate on what could trigger the penalties. 'We are not there yet,' the official added. AstraZeneca's vaccine is expected to be approved for use in the EU on January 29, with first deliveries expected from February 15. On Monday, the boss of the pharmaceutical company denounced the 'me first' approach by some countries to obtaining doses. AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot, speaking at a virtual event for the Davos World Economic Forum, also attacked a lack of global preparation for the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The arrival of ground-breaking Covid-19 vaccines could have been grounds for celebrating, 'but it unfortunately wasn't because there was a little bit of 'me first' behaviour', Soriot said. 'Globally, it is fair to say we could and should have been better prepared for this pandemic,' he added. Soriot noted however that 'things are changing and international collaboration is emerging' over the coronavirus that has claimed the lives of more than two million people. 'There are many good examples of tremendous public-private collaboration actually in many countries,' he said. Going forward, 'the first thing to do is to invest in prevention and early detection and early treatment', Soriot added. He noted that among the world's most industrialised countries, only three-percent of health expenditure is spent on prevention. 'Twenty percent of this 3.0 percent... is spent on immunisation and early detections of disease. 'So, essentially, we kind of tend to wait for people to become sick to try to address that, as opposed to early detecting (of) disease and preventing it.' A mans licence was suspended on the spot after police in a Brisbane school zone allegedly caught him doing 11 kilometres over the speed limit, before he blew double the legal alcohol limit. The 39-year-old was pulled over on Gowan Road in Stretton in Brisbanes south on Wednesday, the first day back for most students, just before 8am. It will be alleged he was doing 51km/h in the designated 40km/h school zone. It will also be alleged the driver blew over the limit roadside and was then taken to Crestmead Police Station where he blew .112 more than double the legal limit. Forty-five Republicans voted against former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial over his remarks at the U.S. Capitol, pointing out it would be unconstitutional for a former president to be impeached. Republicans Say Trump Impeachment Trial is Unconstitutional All but five Republican senators sided with an effort proposed by Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), sending a signal that there are inadequate votes to convict the former president. On Tuesday, United States senators were inducted for Trump's impeachment trial -- the only president to have been impeached by the House of Representatives twice, and the first president to undergo a trial following leaving the office. Senator Paul eventually attempted to halt Trump's upcoming trial on the argument that it is "unconstitutional" because Trump is no longer in office. According to Paul, "Article 2, section 4 of the constitution says, the president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors... As of noon last Wednesday, Donald Trump holds none of the positions listed in the constitution. He is a private citizen," reported Yahoo News. Despite the Republican senators not succeeding in ending the impeachment trial before it commenced, the test vote made it apparent that the former president still has enormous power over his party. Several Republicans had denounced his role in the siege -- before which he prompted his supporters to "fight like hell" to overturn President Joe Biden's certification of victory. But the majority of them have rushed to come to his defense in the trial. Also Read: Trump Gives First Remarks Since Leaving Office Prior to Impeachment Trial This result confirmed that Democrats would find it difficult to persuade 17 Republican senators, which is the number required for the mandatory two-thirds majority to vote to convict Trump. The motion failed after all 50 Democrats, and merely five Republican senators did not support efforts to throw out the case before the trial. It signals that Trump has adequate votes to secure an acquittal. The vote was 55-45 in favor of proceeding with an impeachment trial. The five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats. According to sources familiar with the deliberations, House impeachment managers are preparing a case to display the U.S. Capitol violence's tangible evidence and how Trump's words and actions prompted the rioters to breach the building. There remain key questions for the House to deliberate before the February trial. They have yet to make a final decision, for instance, if they will call witnesses. According to spokesperson David Carle, the trial's presiding officer Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was hospitalized for observation after not feeling well at his office. The 80-year-old senator was assessed by the U.S. Capitol's attending physician, who advised him to be admitted to the hospital due to an abundance of vigilance, reported AP News. The five GOP senators who voted not to dismiss the former president's impeachment suit were Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Mitt Romney of Utah, reported The Epoch Times. Related Article: Trump Impeachment Trial To Begin Week of February 8 @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Good morning, Chicago. Illinois health officials on Tuesday announced 3,667 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and 87 additional fatalities. Meanwhile, the city of Chicago canceled an unspecified number of vaccine appointments made by teachers who inadvertently signed up using a code meant for health care workers, sparking confusion as educators face mounting anxiety over trying to secure an inoculation. In lighter news, although the winter storm Monday didnt live up to originally forecast expectations, the storm did drop snow across the Chicago area. Use our map here to see how much it snowed in your area. And, if you want to share photos of your snowy day, or look at what other readers submitted, check out our photo gallery. Heres more coronavirus news and other top stories you need to know to start your day. For your smart speaker 5/8 Join our COVID-19 Facebook group 5/8 More newsletters 5/8 Puzzles & Games CPS halts in-person learning for students already back as teachers strike looms; district still aims to open elementary schools Monday Chicago Public Schools will halt in-person classes Wednesday as the city makes a last push to reach a deal with its teachers union to reopen schools for elementary students on Monday. Without an agreement despite months of talks and several delays, the Chicago Teachers Union said its members will still refuse to report to schools and will strike if CPS locks teachers out of remote classroom platforms. It would be their second strike in less than two years. Foxx stunned as some public defenders arranged for coronavirus vaccine at Cook County Jail ahead of her staff A handful of Cook County public defenders received a COVID-19 vaccine at the Cook County Jail this week unbeknownst to leaders of the Cook County states attorneys office who told the Tribune they had no idea public defenders were in talks to possibly be designated for earlier inoculations. Illinois told to expect a boost in vaccine shipments as limited indoor dining returns to many suburbs Story continues Walgreens, Jewel-Osco, Walmart and Cook County scheduling COVID-19 vaccine appointments, though demand is great and doses scarce Sen. Mitt Romney calls out fellow Republicans for pushing stolen election myth, says it makes achieving unity more difficult U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney on Tuesday accused fellow Republicans of fomenting political division by perpetuating the myth that massive voter fraud denied Donald Trump reelection, and said unity will be difficult to achieve without acknowledging Democratic President Joe Biden won a fair contest. Romney, in a livestreamed interview with Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar on behalf of the Economic Club of Chicago, also said he shared hopes that the Jan. 6 uprising at the nations capital might lead to more bipartisanship but said theres been no sign of any change in rhetoric. Every Illinois police officer would be required to wear a body camera by 2025 under bill awaiting Pritzkers signature. But without penalties, will departments comply? Every police officer in Illinois would be required to wear a body camera by 2025 as part of a massive criminal justice overhaul state lawmakers approved this month, but a lack of additional funding to help agencies pay for equipment and the absence of penalties for those that dont raises questions about whether the legislation will achieve its ambitious goal. The Chicago pizza boom expands with 7 more great new spots from tavern to Indian and beyond It might be a new year with a new president, but one thing remains the same: Chicagoans will always eat more pizza. Perhaps the pandemic has us all craving the comfort of dough, sauce and melted cheese. If thats you, then check out these seven new spots. (Natural News) The Globalist American Empire (GAE) has been amping up censorship efforts in the wake of the disputed 2020 election. So far, the most blatant act of tech totalitarianism has been the banning of the sitting President from most major social media platforms. This is hardly the final step in their plans, however. Not content with merely banning Donald Trump, our corrupt ruling class wont stop until all of his allies are banned as well and all of his supporters identified as enemies of the state. (Article republished from Revolver.news) Two regime eunuchs recently outlined the regimes plans for further censorship in a segment on regime media outlet CNN. Former Facebook insider Alex Stamos tells @brianstelter: "We have to turn down the capability of these Conservative influencers to reach these huge audiences There are people on YouTube for example that have a larger audience than daytime CNN." pic.twitter.com/gP0XtnjhCQ Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 17, 2021 Alex Stamos is the former Chief Security Officer of Facebook. He resigned from that position in 2018 when the company refused to accuse the Russian government of intervening in the 2016 election. He has since become the head of the Stanford Internet Observatory. He was interviewed by rotund CNN media correspondent and hysterical anti-Trump liberal Brian Stelter as a third man watched from the shadows. Transcript: Alex Stamos: Its really hard because whats happening is people are able to seek out the information that makes them feel good. People have so much choice now. They can choose what their news sources are. They can choose what influencers they want to follow. They can try to seal out anything that helps them question that. I think that gets to a really core issue with how our freedom as Americans, and the way weve treated press freedom in the past, is being abused by these actors. We have given a lot of leeway both in the traditional media and on social media to people to have a very broad range of political views. And it is now in the great economic interest of those individuals to become more and more radical. Stamos would be correct if he was talking about the mainstream medias push to normalize open borders, child gender transitions, and prison abolition. Of course, thats not the radicalism hes talking about. The radicalism hes talking about is people who voted for the 45th President of the United States. Back to the transcript: Stamos: One of the places you can see this is the fact that you know have competitors to Fox News on their Right OANN, Newsmax which are carried by all the major cable networks, who are trying to now outflank Fox on the right because the moment Fox introduced any kind of realism into their reporting, immediately a bunch of people chose to put themselves into a sealed ecosystem. And they can do that both on cable, they can do it online, and that becomes a huge challenge in figuring out, how do you bring those people back into the mainstream of fact-based reporting and try to get us all back into the same consensual reality. Here we see Stamos ominously mention that OANN and Newsmax are carried by all major cable television providers (he erroneously refers to providers as networks). Despite his verbal slip, his intention is clear. CNN has been actively campaigning for weeks to have rival news networks deplatformed by cable providers. CNN would like Fox News banned in addition to OANN and Newsmax. Stamos is somewhat more conciliatory and thinks Fox News should be allowed to stay on the air, as long as they remain anti-Trump. Brian Stelter: And can, is that possible? It seems like thats an open question. Stamos: Its hard, I think we have to do a couple things. One, there needs to be an intentional work by the social media companies, collaborating together, to work on violent extremism in the same way they worked on ISIS. When I started at Facebook in 2015, the number one challenge from a content perspective was the abuse of social media by the Islamic State. And there was a collaboration between the tech companies and law enforcement to make it impossible for them to use the internet to recruit and radicalize mostly young Muslim men, at that time, around the world. Now were talking about a domestic audience in the United States. Here Stamos draws a clear parallel between supporters of Donald Trump and members of ISIS, an Islamic fundamentalist group responsible for acts of genocide and mass rape, which, ironically, was largely defeated by the US military under President Trump and the Russian military under President Putin. Stamos: The challenge is going to be partially that ISIS did not have a domestic constituency in the United States Congress. But over half of the Republicans in Congress voted to overturn the election. And there will be a continual political pressure on the companies to not take it seriously. So I think first, you have to focus on those violent extremists, and those companies need to be brave in that way. Not content to merely label rank and file Republicans as the equivalent of Islamist terrorists, Stamos also says the same of half the Republicans in Congress. Do you think our elites will tolerate ISIS in Congress? BLM Activist and newly elected Congresswoman Cori Bush recently called for congressmen who questioned the 2020 election to be expelled from Congress. Because nothing says defending democracy like banning opposition political parties and denying a quarter of the population political representation. And second, we have to turn down the capability of these conservative influencers to reach these huge audiences. There are people on YouTube, for example, that have a larger audience than daytime CNN. And they are extremely radical in pushing extremely radical views. And so, its up to the Facebooks and YouTubes in particular, to think about whether or not they want to be effectively cable networks for disinformation. Leftists activists have been complaining about YouTube radicalization for years. They think people become conservatives and patriotic nationalists because they are hypnotized by videos of Alex Jones and Gavin McInnes. If the videos are banned, they reason, people will stop becoming conservative. In actuality, people seek out these videos because the material reality around them has already made them question the system run and controlled by Americas corrupt ruling class. This is not to say that deplatforming isnt something conservatives should be worried about. Its just that deplatforming conservatives is a band aid the ruling class tries to place over the gaping wound that is the obvious failure of their system. And then were going to have to figure out the OANN and Newsmax problem. These companies have freedom of speech, but Im not sure we need Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and such, to be bringing them into tens of millions of homes. This is allowing people to seek out information if they really want to, but not pushing it into their faces. I think this is where were going to have to go here. [CNN] Here we see the deplatforming agenda made explicit. Stamos names by name every major cable provider and muses that they should stop providing OANN and Newsmax. Again fancying himself a moderate, Stamos says that these channels shouldnt be banned outright, they just shouldnt be pushed into peoples faces. Perhaps they should still be allowed to broadcast, but only if people are forced to seek out their broadcasts on HAM radios or the dark web? It goes without saying that such extreme measures shouldnt be necessary to access the free press in a free society. Whether America is a free society or not is debatable. In light of all the comparisons, made nonchalantly on the nations largest news channel, between normal patriotic Americans and an Islamist terrorist group that was the medias number one boogeyman four years ago, its temping to say that conservatives may end up getting the same treatment. Youd be wrong though. The United States government supplied weapons to ISIS. Read more at: Revolver.news and FreePress.news. A vegan activist who was accused of risking a puppy's life after he turned down a rescue centre's offer to care for her has revealed the dog has died. James Aspey called on his more than 259,000 Instagram followers for help finding a lactating female dog after he found an abandoned puppy in the streets of Bali earlier this month. Rescue centre Act 4 Dogs Bali replied to the post offering to take the puppy in, but Mr Aspey instead chose to nurse the newborn himself while following veterinary advice, before tracking down her mother the next day. Updating his fans, Mr Aspey this week announced she had sadly died days later, despite the best efforts of a local vet. James Aspey has announced a newborn puppy he found abandoned in Bali (pictured) earlier this month has died Rescue centre ACT4 Bali Dogs offered to take in the puppy (pictured) but Mr Aspey decided to care for it himself following veterinary advice while trying to locate its mother 'Sadly, Tempeh, the white puppy, passed away some days after meeting mum for the first time,' he wrote. 'We took her to the vet as soon as we noticed a change in her condition. They did everything they could for her, but she didnt survive.' When asked what cause her death, Mr Aspey said the vet had given her a slim chance of survival from day one. 'She was sick and fragile from the moment we found her. The vet advised a course of action that we proceeded with and that he assisted with,' he wrote. '[But] she took a turn for the worse and didnt recover.' Mr Aspey came under fire from members of the vegan community over concerns he was caring for the dog for 'Instagram likes' instead of acting in her best interest. As the first few days of the mother's colostrom is vital in building a newborns' immune system, it is crucial the right feeding requirements are met if a puppy can no longer access milk. Mr Aspey located the dog's mother the following day, who led him to three more of her puppies trapped down a drain, two of which were already dead. Mr Aspey (pictured with his wife Nicky) came under fire after he asked for help finding a lactating bitch before turning down a rescue centre's offer to take it in and provide it with milk A dog rescue organisation offered to care for the puppy, but later wrote their proposition was rejected Members of the vegan community slammed his decision after his exchange with the rescue centre was shared in a Facebook group The remaining puppy, a boy called Tofu, and the mother, SoySoy, have since been given to non-for-profit rescue charity BARC 4 Bali Dogs, Mr Aspey said. Mr Aspey previously told Daily Mail Australia he was 'following advice from a vet who advised him on everything necessary to take the best care of the dog'. He made headlines in 2015 when he spoke for the first time in 365 day after a year-long vow of silence to raise awareness about animal cruelty. He has since launched numerous activism campaigns, with supporters funding his pursuit by subscribing to his web page. New York: Two men have been extradited from Australia to the United States to face charges over their alleged roles in a scheme to swindle hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users out of more than $US50 million ($64 million) for unwanted text messaging services. Michael Pearse, a 52-year-old Australian national, and Yongchao Liu, a 33-year-old Chinese national, are being detained after making initial appearances in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. The two men are due to appear in a Manhattan court. Credit:AP US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan accused the defendants and their co-conspirators of using a practice they called auto-subscribing to charge monthly fees for unsolicited messages about celebrity gossip, horoscopes, jokes, love tips and trivia, without customers knowledge or permission. Pearse and Liu were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and Pearse was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both defendants arrived in the United States on Monday, US time. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Member of the European Parliament Lars Patrick Berg is concerned over the fact that Azerbaijan is not fulfilling its commitments assumed by the international agreements, by not completely returning the Armenian prisoners of war. The MEP says his country, Germany, can play a role in supporting efforts within the United Nations to force Azerbaijan to honour its international commitments. The MEP gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, which is available below: -Mr. Lars Patrick Berg, one of the points of the trilateral statement on Artsakh is the exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, but Azerbaijan seems to be hindering this process. Azerbaijan has already returned more than 40 Armenian captives and Armenia has returned prisoners of war to Azerbaijan, but the process is not over yet. Despite the joint efforts of Armenia and Russia, there are still Armenian captives in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan either delays or does not implement the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. First of all, what is Your opinion on this attitude of Azerbaijan? -It is regrettable that Azerbaijan has chosen not to honour its obligations under international treaties. I understand representations have already been made to the United Nations on this matter, and Azerbaijan should desist from undermining the agreements. Prisoners of War have protected rights, and Azerbaijan's attempts to re-designate these prisoners simply demonstrate bad faith. -What do You think what can the European Parliament do to support the immediate return of the Armenian captives from Azerbaijan? What role can You, the other MEPs, play? -The European Parliament probably has a limited role at the present time. Some pressure can be applied, especially through the inter-parliamentary groups, but in reality I think the UN is the right forum for this to be discussed. -And what is the opinion on this issue in Germany? Some Armenian opposition figures think that in addition to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, many other countries should also make efforts with their announcements to pressure Azerbaijan to return the prisoners of war. What role can Germany play? -There is obviously a great deal of sympathy within Germany for the plight of the prisoners of war, and for the unwarranted attack on Artsakh perpetrated by Azerbaijan. Germany can play a role in supporting a concerted effort within the United Nations to force Azerbaijan to honour its international commitments, and can do the same within the European Union, although this will have a limited effect. -After the recent war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the recognition of Artsakh's independence has become an issue on the agenda again. Will you insist that Germany recognize the independence of Artsakh? -I have every sympathy for Artsakh's claims of independence, but I am not sure that now is the right time to push this agenda. The priority has to be the release of the prisoners of war, and a negotiation that ensures Azerbaijan (and Turkey) abide by the agreements. At that point we can get into the detail of the future status of Artsakh. -Azerbaijan committed many war crimes during the war, Azerbaijan used banned phosphorous weapons, targeted the civilian population, civilian objects, and so far has not received an adequate response from the international community. What opinion do You have about this? How should Azerbaijan be legally punished at the international level? -My understanding is that these crimes are being investigated. -The issue of Artsakh's status has not been resolved yet, it should be resolved within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, but Azerbaijan is not inclined to go for it. How would you comment on the political behavior of Azerbaijan? What is your opinion on the issue of Artsakh's status? -I think the Minsk Group has been struggling to come up with workable solutions for some times, and Azerbaijan's intractable position hasn't made things any easier for them. I hope that Azerbaijan will see the value of behaving reasonably, and the people of Artsakh will be able to choose their future for themselves. I have to say on past performance this may not happen anytime soon. Interview by Anna Grigoryan Park Won-soon's death comes with sexual harassment allegations after being held by the most influential South Korean figures. He was seen as a potential candidate for the presidency, however, on July last year, even before he could face the court for sexual harassment allegations, Seoul's mayor died. Park's death came just a day after the Secretary made a police report about his actions. A petition was signed by more than 500,000 people stating that Park Won-soon state-run five-day funeral should not go ahead. Lee Eun Kyung, who was on the panel of judges chairing the first-ever sexual harassment case in Korea won by Park Won-soon, was at her Seoul office on Aug. 3. Lee Eun Kyung recalls Park Won-soon from his job, starting in 1993, calling for the first-ever sexual harassment case in South Korea. Lee was on the panel of judges which first presided over the case, and Park was the woman's legal team's star lawyer. He helped gain a conviction in 1999 after six years of pro-bono work, also a first for the region. As a civil rights lawyer, Park's high-profile record helped propel him into public life. In 2011, he was elected Seoul mayor and was a leading candidate in 2022 to run for president. Until Jul. 10, when his body was found in Seoul's mountains, Park Won Soon was widely seen as a champion of women's rights. Accusation to the Mayor His former Secretary had lodged a police complaint two days ago, alleging he had sexually assaulted her for four years. The apparent suicide of Park and the charges against him have bitterly divided Korea, which must confront the awkward questions behind the shining legacy of one of the most influential men in the world. At a press conference called jointly with influential women's groups, her lawyer said that the mayor had sexually kissed her in the bedroom attached to his office, submitted photos of himself in his underwear, and asked for pictures of her. Her allegations that he used his positions to continue to exploit here are alarming. She claims she was assigned to wake the mayor from his naps because she was told that a female secretary would be less annoyed. In a written statement, her representatives said, "The nature of the secretary's job was to keep the mayor happy." According to the woman, the mayor sent pictures of himself in his underwear and called her into his office bedroom, asking to hug him. The woman said that she wondered Seoul City Hall for support but was ignored. She said that even though she moved offices, the sexual harassment persisted. ALSO READ: Trump Offers Washington DC Hotel To National Guards Kicked Out of the US Capitol Police Reports to the Allegations The study found that, before and after he showered, the alleged perpetrator, who was working as Park's assistant, was forced to take care of intimate aspects of his life, including handling his undergarments. Witnesses also testified that Park Won-soon gave the alleged victim "inappropriate texts and photos" Secretary's attorney Kim Jae-ryon said last year that Park had sent her photographs of himself in his underwear, as well as lewd, late-night messages via the Telegram encrypted app. Ultimately, the commission found that the alleged victim's allegations against Park were plausible based on facts and witness testimony. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. ADVERTISEMENT The Director-General of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN), Mayo Ayilaran, has lamented the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on royalty collection societies in Nigeria. MCSN is a collective management organisation for music (musical work) and sound recordings in Nigeria. They are also involved in literary, dramatic, and audiovisual rights. Speaking with PREMIUM TIMES in Lagos on Wednesday, Mr Ayilaran said the continued closure of event centers and fun spots across the country due to the newly rolled out COVID-19 protocols, has impacted royalty collection and artistes earnings. The main challenge we are facing right now is that businesses, where music is being performed like nightclubs, event centers, bars, and hotels, arent open. This means that we cant earn money from there. When music is not being performed publicly, then there is no way we can go to collect money for our artistes. When we are not collecting, then to run your operations efficiently and effectively becomes a big task and the musicians themselves who we represent will not be earning. They cant earn because of the lack of public performance neither can they get their due royalties from us, so its a vicious cycle, he said. Radio In Nigeria, collection societies consider radio and television airplay as a public performance that should generate performance royalties for musicians. One of the ways the MCSN collects royalties is by administering performing/mechanical rights and collecting license fees on behalf of its members. Unfortunately, according to Ayilaran, most Nigerian broadcast stations renege on these agreements. Yes, all of them are guilty of this offence, they are all, he noted. Radio stations will be complaining to us that COVID-19 has affected them because many advertisers are not paying them and so they are not paying us. And we must be seen to be understanding, of course, many of them are on air but the challenge there is many of them do not regard music or the content they play on air as important as the diesel they burn to power their stations, or as important as the transmitter itself. Because if you stop the transmitter and you are powering your station without content, then what will you be playing to people?What will you be broadcasting? But they (broadcast stations), have pushed us to that point where we will push down this argument very hard on them. So this year, we are not going to just lie low there and allow our members to take the brunt of whatever challenges everybody may be having. So, we should distribute it equally. When this newspaper asked him the last time MSCN paid artistes their royalties, he said, Well, for last year, nothing has come out so far. We are only looking up to God. The question is not really when last we paid artistes royalties, but the most important question is how soon can we put money in the pockets of creators? Mr Ayilaran, who listed Sunny Ade and 2baba Idibia as some past royalty beneficiaries, said the Nigerian Copyright Commission recently renewed MCSNs license to continue to operate as a Collective Management Organisation. The renewal of MCSNs approval to continue to operate as a collecting society for musical works and sound recordings was conveyed by a letter dated 22nd December 2020 from the NCC. The agency has been in a longtime battle with its fierce rival, the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), over royalty collections. A businesswoman has been awarded $280,000 after the Federal Court found she was defamed by a sustained campaign of offensive mockery that amounted to bullying in a series of columns in The Australian Financial Review. Elaine Stead, the former managing director of venture capital at the now-defunct Blue Sky Alternative Investments, sued the newspaper and Rear Window columnist Joe Aston over two columns from 2019, one of which referred to her as a feminist cretin. Businesswoman Elaine Stead leaves the Federal Court last year. Credit:Dean Sewell Last year, Justice Michael Lee found the columns conveyed a total of four defamatory imputations, including that Dr Stead was a cretin and rashly destroyed the capital of business ventures with which she was associated. Dr Stead had also sued over a tweet by Aston in October 2019. However, Justice Lee previously ruled it did not convey the defamatory meaning alleged by Dr Steads lawyers. Press Release January 27, 2021 CO-SPONSORSHIP SPEECH SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA Mr. President and esteemed colleagues: It is my honor to co-sponsor Senate Bill No. 2027 under Committee Report No. 166 introduced by the Senate Committee on Government Corporation and Public Enterprises chaired by our very hardworking colleague, Senator Richard "Dick" Gordon and Senate Committee on Labor, Employment and Human Resource Development chaired by this representation. We would also like to thank the good Chairman for considering our bill, Senate Bill No. 1965 as one of the three (3) Senate Bills that have been considered in drafting the committee report. Mr. President, please allow me to take a few minutes to raise at least three points why we are pushing this bill that seeks to grant the President of the Philippines the power and authority to suspend or defer the implementation of the mandated increase in SSS contribution. FIRST, there is no debate that membership contribution is the lifeblood of a pension fund. But when there is little to draw from an economy bleeding jobs, from businesses hemorrhaging from lack of sales, from workers who have to work shorter hours for less, then government must extend to those who pay this payroll tax the same relief it had extended to those with house rents and bank loans: IMPOSE A MORATORIUM. What we are proposing, Mr. President, is not a forgiveness but a freeze, for the time being and not forever. And it will not cover the entire monthly contribution but only the increase that is supposed to take effect this year. Let me stress that this is not a payment holiday but a pause, not for the entire dues but only a portion, to be lifted when the pandemic has retreated and when normalcy has returned to our lives. SECOND, some say that this bill is driven by the desire to be populist. No, Mr. President, this is motivated by our obligation to help. Facts and figures are also on our side: By the government's count, 3.8 million of our kababayans lost their jobs in October 2020. But if the SWS survey is to be the gauge, the unemployed numbered 27.3 million as of September 2020. Our GDP also contracted by 11.5 percent in the third quarter of 2020, the fastest shrinking in the region. But we're racing to the front in piling up Covid cases. AND GOD knows where we are in the vaccine race. This plunge only mirrors the number of companies who have found themselves in the hole - according to DOLE there were 2,167 companies that have been forced to shut down permanently, while 100,290 closed temporarily as a matter of survival, leaving their workers who have families to feed with nothing to survive on. Tapos, kokolektahan pa rin natin sila ng dagdag na SSS contribution? THIRD, and lastly, Mr. President, we are by nature an optimist who even in the darkest of days view the future through the prism of hope. But believe me I rid myself of this bias in studying the SSS books - impassionately. And what I see is that our proposal is not a prescription for bankruptcy, as we are made to believe by a few people. This temporary halt in SSS premium hike, in the name of compassion, will not sink the SSS. It will remain financially buoyant. Yes, there will be a momentary dip in income, but it is not, and never be, an irreversible disaster. Let me briefly explain, Mr. President: Sa presentation po kahapon ng SSS, ang nakita po natin ay mga numero sa mga charts and tables. Cold numbers. Pero sa likod ng mga numerong iyan ay mga buhay na tao. Warm bodies. Halimbawa po ang manggagawang si Elena Parena na isang massage therapist sa Maynila ay napilitang mag-temporary leave dahil sa mga quarantine restrictions last year[1]. Dahil walang trabaho, nauwi sa pamamasura at pangongolekta ng mga tira-tirang pagkain sa kalapit nilang palengke para may makain ang kanyang mag-anak. Mr. President, according to SSS estimates[2], the proposed SSS contribution rate increase this year 2021 is an estimated Php 15 to Php 100 per covered employee. This amount may not seem much, however for our minimum wage workers and workers who earn lower than the minimum wage, the amount is more than enough to purchase an additional meal for their families. Ang problema, Mr. Chairman, ang kadalasang ehemplong ibinibigay ng SSS sa atin ay yung kumikita ng P10,000 a month. Kasi nga naman pag maliit sahod, maliit ang dagdag-premium. Pero kung ang titingnan po natin ay yung kumikita ng Php30,000 kada buwan, ang bayarin nila ay nasa Php3,280. Yung Php2,155 pasan ng employer, yung Php1,125 sagot ng manggagawa. Pati kasambahay, tatamaan ang kakarampot n'yang kita na Php5,000 kung nasa NCR, dahil Php 600 na po agad ang kaltas, Php435 sagot ng employer at Php225 sagot ng kasambahay. Mr. President, temporarily suspending or deferring the SSS contribution rate increase this year will ease the burden of our workers and businesses until they can get back to their feet. One way to do this is by granting the President the power and authority to suspend or defer the implementation of the mandated increase in SSS contribution rates in times of emergency or calamity for a minimum period of 6 months. Of course, the President may extend the suspension if it is necessary to protect public interest and welfare. Uulitin ko po: hindi po ito forever, pansamantala lang po. Ang minimum ay anim na buwan o hanggang makabangong pong muli ang ating mga negosyante't manggagawa. Umaasa po ang representasyon na ito sa sana po maipasa po natin sa lalong madaling panahon. Maraming salamat po. God bless us all. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 26) Public schools will be designated as among the vaccination sites in Pasig in a bid to ensure an orderly and fast rollout of coronavirus vaccines, a city health officer announced on Tuesday. We asked the permission sa atin pong regional office ng DepEd to use public schools para mas mabilis po at mas maayos po ang pagbabakuna natin, Pasig City Health Officer Joseph Panaligan said during a forum. [Translation: We asked permission from the regional office to use public schools so the vaccination will be quick and orderly.] Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto told the same forum that public schools are the best venue for vaccination as they have ample spaces that would allow vaccine recipients to practice physical distancing. Tanghalang Pasigueno and other hospitals including Pasig City General Hospital will also serve as vaccination sites in the city. Panaligan said a doctor will be assigned to each immunization site in case a vaccine recipient suffers vaccine-related side effects. There are also emergency vehicles on standby to transfer to treatment facilities people who experience mild to severe reactions after receiving the shots. A total of 74 personnel, composed of medical staff and support staff, will be deployed to each center. Priority groups Pasig LGU will administer the vaccine based on priority groups. First in line are frontline health workers, followed by indigent senior citizens, remaining senior citizens, remaining indigent population, and uniformed personnel. Panaligan said 195,912 eligible recipients were included in the city's initial master list of priority sectors, most of whom are indigents and senior citizens. The Pasig government may finish with the first wave of mass vaccination in 21 days if there is enough supply of anti-coronavirus shots, he added. Post-vaccination Pasig's health centers are tasked to regularly monitor the condition of vaccinated individuals, the city health officer said. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said last week that the target date for the countrys COVID-19 vaccine rollout is Feb. 20. However, if an emergency use authorization on anti-coronavirus shots that will be used in the vaccination program is not issued by the Food and Drug Administration on the date, we can move it to last week of Feb. or March. Public sector lender Bank of Baroda (BoB) on Wednesday warned of rising stress in the coming months, possibly emanating from the retail and small business segments as a fallout of covid-19 stress. The kind of stress we are seeing now is something that is unprecedented and, therefore, it is likely that there may be some slippages that you cannot anticipate," said Sanjiv Chadha, chief executive officer, Bank of Baroda. There is no argument about the existence of stress in the system and while there will be stress in some parts of the book, the bank has a fair handle in terms of how much is there and what are the likely implications, Chadha told reporters. The bank has invoked a one-time restructuring for 9,500 crore of loans. There is still a fair bit of stress in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and retail that will play out over the next few months. If you were to look at the break-up in terms of our recasts, 80% has come from corporates, and the retail recast is a very small figure," the CEO said. Therefore, whatever stress might be there has not been addressed, at least through the restructuring mode, he said. This means that people could actually start paying up on time, but there is a fair possibility that some stress will come through non-performing assets (NPAs)," Chadha said. The lenders gross NPAs as a percentage of total advances were 8.48% in the December quarter and net bad loan ratio was 2.39%. While its asset quality has improved in the quarter, its gross NPA ratio would have been higher at 9.63% had it not been for a 3 September Supreme Court order that asked banks not to classify certain assets as bad if not already done by 31 August. However, in terms of the known unknowns, things which have not fully played out yet, that is where the MSME and retail are. Particularly, retail is the kind of book that was not being stress tested," said Chadha. Unsecured retail loans, typically seen as riskier assets, are less than 1% of BoBs loan book, Chadha explained. Besides, more than 70% of the banks retail loan book comprises home loans. About 73% of all retail borrowers are credit scored over 725, indicating stringent underwriting standards, he said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. WASHINGTON - As President Joe Biden pushes for another round of stimulus payments for most Americans, calls are escalating to target the aid solely to low and moderate-income families, and new data suggests that it would provide the most needed and effective boost for the economy. Families earning under about $75,000 typically spend the money quickly, according to a new analysis of how Americans are using the $600 payments this month, a study by Opportunity Insights, a nonprofit research organization. Families earning above that threshold typically save the stimulus payment, which provides little help to the overall economy and signals that the money was not as urgently needed. Lawmakers from both major political parties lobbied the White House over the weekend for a less costly relief package that would only send stimulus payments to the most needy. Under Biden's proposal, most U.S. households would receive $1,400 payments. "Targeting the stimulus payments to lower-income households would both better support the households most in need and provide a large boost to the economy in the short run," said John Friedman, an economics professor at Brown University and co-director of Opportunity Insights. "These checks are really impactful for lower-income households." Friedman, Harvard University economics professor Raj Chetty and economist Michael Stepner analyzed credit and debit card data and found a clear rise in spending for families and individuals who earn less than about $50,000 after the stimulus payments started to widely hit bank accounts on Jan. 4. Spending barely moved for families and individuals earning more than $78,000. The price tag to send another round of checks to couples earning more than $75,000 and singles earning more than $50,000 would be $200 billion, yet the researchers estimate that this group would spend $14 billion of that money - about 7%. The initial round of $1,200 stimulus checks in the spring saw some increase in spending across all income levels, Friedman and Chetty say, but this second stimulus is revealing a wide gap. That's probably because the recession is largely over for the rich, while poorer households are still deep in it. The Federal Reserve says unemployment for low-wage workers is still about 20% - a near depression-like state. "We're seeing a pretty similar effect in how low-income households spent the stimulus in the first and second rounds and a smaller spending impact for high-income households," Friedman said. "Low-income household have suffered by far the biggest economic shock. They need the help the most." Their findings are backed up by other surveys and analyses of how people used their first stimulus payments. The U.S. Census found households with incomes between $75,000 and $100,000 "were more likely to use their stimulus payments to pay off debt or to add to savings, compared to households overall." Nearly 88% of households with less than $25,000 intended to spend the stimulus. Andrew Rafner, 32, has been unemployed since mid-March after working at a comic book shop in Los Angeles. He and his girlfriend have struggled to pay bills at times. The stimulus check he just received was a lifeline for food and rent. "It's been nice to go to grocery store and not really have to worry about what to eat," Rafner said. Netspend, a prepaid debit card company, said it processed more than $850 million stimulus payments in January for about 900,000 customers. Prepaid debit card users tend to be lower income, and Netspend confirmed that most of the money has been spent quickly for basic necessities such as food and gas. "For the first and second round of individual stimulus payments, Netspend saw its customers spend funds quickly," said Netspend spokesman Adam Dawes. "Consistent with the first round of individual stimulus payments, these customers are using their funds to make purchases at grocery stores, restaurants, pharmacies and gas stations." Some lawmakers and economists have suggested that the stimulus checks are a waste of money and that the government would be better off focusing aid on unemployed. But many workers who have been able to return to jobs say they are struggling to get the hours and pay they once did. Betty Laribo is a nurse's aide in Morgantown, W.Va. Before the pandemic hit, she was working "per diem" and had no trouble getting booked as many days as she wanted at health-care facilities that needed extra help. Now she says she's lucky to get a day's work every two weeks. As a single mom of four kids who are all in virtual schooling, Laribo is doing what she can to get by. She had fallen three months behind on her car payment and was worried about losing it until her stimulus payment arrived Friday. "I paid my rent, my car payment and got groceries for the house and a few fun things for my kids," said Laribo, a military veteran. "A lot of us are still working, but our hours have been so drastically affected by covid that we might as well be unemployed." Laribo said it's frustrating that people earning as much as $75,000 a year were receiving the same stimulus payment that she was. Eligibility details for a proposed third round of payments have not been worked out, but individuals earning up to $87,000 a year and married couples earning up to $174,000 a year received at least some money in the second round of stimulus payments that Congress passed over the holidays. About 160 million households probably will get a payment. Some people who received a payment in January have posted on social media that they did not need the money and are donating it to charity. "Stimulus checks arrived, time for a big food bank donation," tweeted one woman last week. But data indicates that most people who did not need the money right away are saving the stimulus payment or using it to pay off student loan, credit card or mortgage debt. A Bay Point man, upset over President Bidens win, was arrested Tuesday after he threatened to hurt relatives of a member of Congress and a family member of a journalist, according to federal authorities. Robert Lemke, 35, is accused of sending threatening text messages on Jan. 6, the day a mob loyal to former President Donald Trump took over the U.S. Capitol, to family members of the congressional representative and a relative of the journalist. The criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court does not name the individuals whose relatives were targeted, but the New York Times reported they were Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. Lemke was arrested Tuesday in Bay Point and faces federal charges of making threatening interstate communications. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in New York. Lemke is scheduled to appear on Wednesday before a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco. In text messages to Jeffries brother, authorities say, Lemke attached a photograph of a home in the brothers neighborhood and wrote, Your brother is putting your entire family at risk with his lies and other words. We are armed and nearby your house. You had better have a word with him. We are not far from his either. Already spoke to (the member of Congress son) and know where his kids are, according to a transcript included in the criminal complaint. Authorities said the text message warned, your words have consequences and falsely said President Biden did not win the election. The complaint also alleges Lemke sent a threatening text message to the congressional representatives sister-in-law, saying, Calm your husband down. ... We saw on the hidden camera, he was quite stirred up. You need to have him talk to the member of Congress. On the same day, the complaint states, Lemke sent threatening text messages to a relative of the journalist, saying the reporters words are putting you and your family at risk. We are nearby armed and ready. Thousands of us are active/retired law enforcement, military, etc. Thats how we do it. The complaint says Lemkes Facebook account claimed he is a retired sergeant of the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, but sheriffs officials said on Twitter that Lemke was never employed by the sheriffs office. Phone records reviewed by FBI detectives found that Lemkes phone was subscribed under the name Alameda County Sheriffs Department, and with an email address info@acgov.org, the domain of which is used by the Alameda County government. There is very false information on social media that a Robert Lemke worked for the Alameda County Sheriff. This information has proven to be untrue by the FBI and our agency, sheriffs officials said in a tweet directed to news organizations that they say falsely reported he was a retired sergeant. The complaint said roughly four days after the presidential election, Lemke posted on Facebook urging his friends to, Be ready for war and said Trump has refused to cede. He repeated a baseless claim that there was election fraud and said, Trump will prevail. William F. Sweeney Jr., assistant director-in-charge of the FBIs New York Field Office, said in a statement that Lemkes alleged threats crossed a bright line. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a statement that As alleged, Robert Lemke was dissatisfied with the results of the 2020 Presidential Election and subsequent statements about the election made by a U.S. Congressman and journalist. Rather than peaceably disagree, Lemke allegedly threatened to harm those individuals families, demanding they retract their statements, Strauss said. The electoral process is the essential mechanism through which our democracy functions. While in any election it is inevitable that some will be disappointed in the result, threats of violence cannot and will not be tolerated. Strauss thanked the FBIs New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and the FBIs San Francisco Field Office for their investigative work. Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez Vladimir Putin today sounded a warning about the influence of global tech giants which he said were 'competing' with national governments, after Russia told internet firms to take down posts that had fuelled Alexei Navalny-inspired protests. Putin told the virtual Davos summit that tech companies were 'not just economic giants... in some areas they are already de facto competing with the state'. 'We just saw it all in the United States,' he added, referring to the Capitol riot incited by Donald Trump which led to the then-president being banned from Twitter - a move which has caused disquiet in several European countries. Putin's comments come as Russia ramps up pressure on the activities of foreign tech giants, which are not subject to the same state censorship as most media outlets. Moscow earlier this week accused US tech platforms of interfering in Russia's internal affairs during the anti-government protests egged on by Navalny. Vladimir Putin watches a session of the virtual Davos summit today where he warned about the power of big tech firms which he said were 'competing' with national governments Hungary prepares 'digital freedom' fight against Facebook and Twitter Hungary has launched a so-called 'digital freedom' fight against US tech giants which it accuses of censorship and suspects could intervene in next year's parliamentary election. Donald Trump's Twitter ban has raised fears in Hungary that the same thing will happen to hardline PM Viktor Orban, a staunch Trump supporter. 'We all have to be prepared for such a situation,' Gabor Kubatov, a vice-chairman of Orban's ruling party Fidesz, said. On Tuesday, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said the government 'will propose a law to the Parliament this spring' aimed at curbing the power of bit tech. 'They could (arbitrarily) switch off bakers, hairdressers, pensioners, teachers, small businesses and state leaders as well,' she said after a meeting of her ministry's 'Digital Freedom Committee'. The combative Varga, 40, previously accused tech giants of 'systematic abuses' including 'shadow bans' that allegedly restrict accounts for political purposes. 'To reduce their reach, Facebook also limits the visibility of Christian, conservative, right-wing opinions,' she said in a message on her own Facebook page last week. Fidesz is neck-and-neck in polls against an opposition alliance ahead of the election scheduled in April 2022. Advertisement Ahead of the Navalny rallies, Russia's media watchdog Roskomnadzor ordered several online platforms, including YouTube and Instagram, to delete posts by users calling for protesters to attend demonstrations. The chairman of the Russian parliament's foreign interference committee, Vasily Piskaryov, said today that the head of TikTok's Russian branch had been invited in for a conversation. Piskaryov was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying that 'questions had piled up' about the China-based video-sharing service. In recent months, TikTok has emerged as a popular platform for young Russians to express their political views. Hashtags dedicated to Navalny have been trending on TikTok, garnering more than 1.5billion views, after the anti-corruption campaigner was jailed on his return to Russia from Germany. Putin said today it was unclear where the line is between a 'successful global business' and 'attempts to crudely, at their own discretion, control society'. His comments echo those of European leaders including Angela Merkel who voiced concern about Trump's Twitter ban and the power it gave to US tech giants. Trump's Twitter account was permanently suspended earlier this month after he caused the riot at the Capitol and continued to use Twitter to spread his spurious claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him. Merkel's spokesman said she viewed Trump's ban as 'problematic', saying that freedom of opinion was a 'fundamental right of elementary importance'. 'This fundamental right can be interfered with, but through the law and within the framework defined by the legislature, not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms,' her spokesman said. EU governments have frequently clashed with US internet giants whom they accuse of holding too much power. Poland recently moved to curb the power of Facebook and Twitter by drawing up plans for a 'freedom of speech council' which could overrule their decisions. Social media sites would only be allowed to ban users for breaking Polish law under the plans unveiled by Warsaw earlier this month. A man is arrested by Russian police during a protest rally inspired by jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny on Saturday, during a wave of demonstrations which has led Moscow to accuse internet companies of interference in its affairs Putin himself signed new legislation last month allowing Russia to block or restrict access to sites that 'discriminate' against its media, raising fears that the Kremlin is seeking to introduce China-style controls. Twitter currently labels some Russian media 'state-affiliated media', a move decried by Moscow. Another introduces hefty fines of up to 20 per cent of their previous years Russia-based turnover for sites that repeatedly fail to remove banned content. In Hungary, there are fears that right-wing PM Viktor Orban - a staunch Trump supporter - could be next to have his account cut off. On Tuesday, Hungary's justice minister said the government 'will propose a law to the Parliament this spring' aimed at curbing the power of tech firms. 'They could switch off bakers, hairdressers, pensioners, teachers, small businesses and state leaders as well,' she said. France's finance minister Bruno Le saying has also voiced doubts about Trump's ban, telling French that it should not be for the 'digital oligarchy' to regulate itself. And Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said that 'we need to be able to better regulate the contents of social networks'. 'It is not possible for this regulation to be carried out mainly according to rules and procedures set by private actors,' he said. Toronto, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Minera Alamos Inc. (TSXV: MAI) (the "Company" or "Minera Alamos") is pleased to provide a construction update detailing progress at the Santana gold project, Sonora, Mexico, as the Company advances towards the commencement of mining. Leach solution ponds (barren and pregnant) are now fully lined and ready for operations (see Photo 1 below). The plant foundations have been completed and all previously fabricated plant structures (including carbon columns for gold recovery) have been delivered to site in preparation for final installation that is now underway. The majority of the civil works for the heap leach pad area have been completed and the installation of the pad liner has commenced this week. Foundations for additional site infrastructure items including the warehouse and fuel storage areas are also complete. The crushing system previously acquired for potential future expansions at Santana or at the Company's Cerro de Oro project is in transit from the U.S. to the Company's staging facilities in Obregon, Sonora The Company is well funded to complete construction of Santana while advancing development activities across its pipeline of projects. "We have made tremendous progress towards the completion of construction at the Santana gold project since activities were allowed to restart around the middle of last year following the widespread Covid-19 shutdowns. Major civil works are now drawing to an end and the focus has shifted towards the final placement of field connections required for fluid handling systems involved in the leach process. The overall project site is quickly taking shape with the plant, remaining buildings and storage facilities all beginning their final construction and installation phases over the coming month. In parallel, our mining group continues to finalize start-up optimization plans for the Nicho and Nicho Norte open pits." stated Darren Koningen, CEO of Minera Alamos. "We would like to take this opportunity to thank our contractors and team in Mexico for the excellent progress in building the Santana operation at a time where so many logistical challenges presented themselves. As construction activities draw to a close at Santana the project's development is a testament to their hard work and commitment." Photo 1- Lined Solution Ponds with Plant location in background To view an enhanced version of Photo 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4183/72948_32db0b2a54e3e8a5_002full.jpg With the vast amount of construction activity in 2020 revolving around earthworks for the plant, ponds and pad the final installation of liners and plant process equipment is moving forward quite rapidly as can be seen in the transition from unlined to fully lined ponds in just a few weeks (Photo 1). The main pad liner is expected to be installed over the coming weeks in parallel with the final installation and connection of equipment related to the gold recovery plant. Photo 2 - Panoramic Site showing Plant foundations adjacent to Solution Ponds (December 2020) To view an enhanced version of Photo 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4183/72948_32db0b2a54e3e8a5_003full.jpg Crushing System In 2020 the Company was able to acquire a complete crushing, screen and agglomeration system suitable for gold heap leach operations including the associated material handling systems and power generation infrastructure. The system is currently being transported from the U.S. where it had been stored to the Company's existing storage facilities in Obregon, Sonora. Internal planning studies are underway to finalize decisions as to which items will be designated for future use at the Santana operation versus the Company's recently acquired Cerro De Oro gold project in Zacatecas. Mr. Darren Koningen, P. Eng., Minera Alamos' CEO, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release under National Instrument 43-101. For Further Information Please Contact: Minera Alamos Inc. Doug Ramshaw, President Tel: 604-600-4423 Email: dramshaw@mineraalamos.com Website: www.mineraalamos.com Victoria Vargas de Szarzynski, VP Investor Relations Tel: 289-242-3599 Email: vvargas@mineraalamos.com About Minera Alamos Inc. Minera Alamos is a gold development company poised to join the ranks of gold producers in 2021. The Company has a portfolio of high-quality Mexican assets, including the 100%-owned Santana open-pit, heap-leach development project in Sonora that is currently under construction, and which is expected to have its first gold production in early 2021. The newly acquired 100%-owned Cerro de Oro oxide gold project in northern Zacatecas that has considerable past drilling and metallurgical work completed and could enter the permitting process rapidly. The La Fortuna open pit gold project in Durango (100%-owned) has an extremely robust and positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) completed and the main Federal permits in hand. Minera Alamos is built around its operating team that together brought 3 mines into production in Mexico over the last 13 years. The Company's strategy is to develop very low capex assets while expanding the projects' resources and continuing to pursue complementary strategic acquisitions. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This news release may contain forward-looking information and Minera Alamos cautions readers that forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of Minera Alamos included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to Minera Alamos and Minera Alamos provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to Minera Alamos' future plans with respect to the Projects, objectives or goals, to the effect that Minera Alamos or management expects a stated condition or result to occur and the expected timing for release of a resource and reserve estimate on the Projects. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to, among other things, results of exploration, the economics of processing methods, project development, reclamation and capital costs of Minera Alamos' mineral properties, the ability to complete a preliminary economic assessment which supports the technical and economic viability of mineral production could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons. Minera Alamos' financial condition and prospects could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: an inability to finance and/or complete an updated resource and reserve estimate and a preliminary economic assessment which supports the technical and economic viability of mineral production; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; changes in demand and prices for minerals; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Minera Alamos' activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Minera Alamos' forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Minera Alamos' forward-looking statements. Minera Alamos does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by Minera Alamos or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72948 Israel said on Wednesday that it is closing its land crossings with Jordan and Egypt to travellers, in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The decision announced by the interior ministry follows the shutdown of the country's international airport, which took effect on Tuesday. "To complete the joint efforts to prevent the increase in morbidity, Interior Minister Arye Deri announced that the land crossings will be closed to Israelis and foreigners," the ministry said in a statement. The crossings to be closed are the Jordan River and Arava -- both with Jordan -- and Taba, which is a crossing with Egypt. The order will take effect at 0400 GMT on Thursday and remain in place until at least Sunday, when the initial ban on air travel is due to expire too. Deri said he ordered the crossings closed in order to prevent people seeking alternatives to flying into the country. "The loophole here is clear, and could be exploited for entry via the land crossings, which would increase the dangers and prevent the accomplishment of the goal in the regulations," Deri said. The Israeli-controlled Allenby crossing, located in the occupied West Bank and connecting with Jordan, which serves Palestinians from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, would be closed at 1500 GMT on Thursday and "until further notice", said COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for civilian affairs in the West Bank. COGAT said the decision, which was "part of the efforts to reduce the morbidity level in the region," was "made in coordination with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority." Israel is in its third national coronavirus lockdown, initiated late December and extended earlier this month until January 31 due to a surge in Covid-19 deaths. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to extend it yet again in the coming days. Shortly after Deri's order was issued, Netanyahu told the World Economic Forum that the border shutdown was to gain an advantage in the "arms race" against Covid-19 mutations, while the country rushed to administer vaccinations. Shutting down land borders -- on top of the ban on flights -- would enable Israel "to inoculate millions of people in the time that I close the country, and try to win the race between mutation and vaccination," Netanyahu said. Nearly 2.8 million Israelis have received the first of two shots of coronavirus vaccination, with half of that number already getting the second dose too. The country has a population of nine million. Short link: President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that he hopes Xi will visit Korea as soon as the coronavirus pandemic allows. In a 40-minute phone conversation, Moon reminded Xi of his promise to visit, which was passed on by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last November. Xi thanked Moon for the invitation and said he was looking forward to meeting him as soon as circumstances allow. It was their first phone conversation since last May. Moon also asked China to play a constructive role in finding a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue through dialogue, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok. Xi expressed support for inter-Korean dialogue and talks between North Korea and the U.S., saying China thinks highly of Seoul's role in finding a political solution to the North Korean issue. Xi claimed the recent Workers Party congress in Pyongyang has not closed the door to dialogue with Seoul and Washington. He added that the overall situation on the Korean Peninsula is "stable." WA Police have charged a man with the alleged murder of Dinh Lam Nguyen, whose body was discovered on Monday inside a wheelie bin at Glen Brook dam. Homicide detectives charged a 28-year-old man from Mahogany Creek with murder after locating Mr Nguyens burnt-out car in bushland in Chidlow. Todd Kiernan appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday and had his matter adjourned until February 24. Mr Nguyen, 51, was reported missing by his Balga housemate on January 22 after he was last seen leaving the address on January 20. Advertisement Brussels is trying to requisition tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses manufactured for the UK, but AstraZeneca bosses have hinted they will not bend to EU demands. EU chiefs demanded the Oxford jabs - made in Staffordshire and Oxfordshire - be diverted to make up for a 75million shortfall on the continent. The European Commission said the Anglo-Swedish firm was obliged to meet its contractual obligations despite production issues at its Belgian site. The EU's health commissioner last night insisted Britain should not receive priority even though the UK signed a contract with AstraZeneca three months before the bloc did. Stella Kyriakides said: 'We reject the logic of first come, first served. That may work in a butcher's shop but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements.' But while AstraZeneca committed to 'even closer' co-ordination with EU officials, the company stuck firmly to its guns, saying it had been 'open' with bloc leaders about the 'complexities' of scaling up its vaccine production. The firm also left a small but poignant sting in the tail, with a reminder to European leaders of its commitment to provide millions of vaccines to people across the continent 'at no profit' during the pandemic. A spokesman last night told MailOnline: 'Our CEO Pascal Soriot was pleased to participate in a meeting this evening with the EU's Vaccine Steering Board. 'We had a constructive and open conversation about the complexities of scaling up production of our vaccine, and the challenges we have encountered. 'We have committed to even closer co-ordination, to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring our vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic.' It comes as sources said Britain has enough vaccines to last this year and meet its targets and could end up distributing them to other countries anyway. Meanwhile an industry insider rubbished fears Brussels may try to divert the UK's vaccines as 'political rhetoric', but warned if it did it 'would be a human rights issue for millions of people'. In other developments: The Prime Minister said schools would have to remain closed until at least March 8, with a phased return likely after that; He also promised to publish a roadmap for a route out of lockdown in the week starting February 22; With cases declining and hospital admissions down, chief science adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said lockdowns had worked; Priti Patel announced that all Britons would be required to produce a written declaration if they wanted to leave the country; The Home Secretary also confirmed arrivals from Covid hot-spots would be forced to quarantine in airport hotels for 10 days; Latest figures showed 7.16million people have had a coronavirus jab, with over 1,400 sites in operation; Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the vaccine rollout would reduce coronavirus transmission; The Children's Commissioner warned mental health services for young people were hopelessly overstretched. EU chiefs demanded that AstraZeneca jabs made in Staffordshire and Oxfordshire be diverted to make up for a 75million shortfall on the continent. Pictured: European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen Brussels last night tried to requisition tens of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses manufactured for the UK. Boris Johnson (pictured) dismissed the EU's threat, saying: 'We're very confident in our supplies, we're very confident in our contracts and we're going ahead on that basis' It comes as the German press (pictured inset: An article in Die Zeit) turned on Brussels yesterday as it denounced the EU's shambolic vaccine rollout as the 'best advert for Brexit' Vaccines WILL limit the spread of coronavirus but we won't know how by much until mid-February, experts say Britain's vaccine roll out will limit the spread of coronavirus, but by exactly how much will not be made clear until mid-February, experts say. Providing a boost to the UK's hopes of ending lockdown, England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said jabs 'couldn't fail to have some effect on transmission'. He said it was less a question of 'will they?' and rather 'to what extent' will inoculation help to reduce the spread. But Boris Johnson and his chief scientists tonight said experts won't know much effect the coronavirus vaccines are having on the country's epidemic until mid-February, The PM said the impact of the jabs won't be felt in hospital and deaths data until then due to the lag in time it takes between getting injected and developing immunity. He told a Downing Street press conference tonight that he would not consider lifting lockdown restrictions until he'd seen concrete 'evidence that those graphs are coming down'. The immunisation drive has only really got up to speed in the last few weeks and it takes between a fortnight and a month for a person to build up immunity. Both the Pfizer and Oxford University vaccines have been proven to block severe illness, so experts hope they'll start to make a dent in the death and hospitalisation rates in the coming weeks. No10's scientists will be monitoring those metrics, specifically in the most vulnerable groups - including the over-80s, over-75s and care homes residents - who are currently receiving the jabs. So far 6.8million, or one in 10, people in Britain have received at least one dose of the vaccines. In three weeks time, when most of those people have protection, experts will expect to see a near 10 per cent drop in hospital admissions. Not all of the people vaccinated will be immune, however, because the jabs are not perfect. Pfizer's is 95 per cent effective at blocking severe disease, while Oxford's is around 70 per cent. Advertisement A prominent German MEP warned the UK would 'suffer' unless it agreed to the EU's demands. Peter Liese, who is in Angela Merkel's CDU party, suggested Brussels could block shipments of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, which is made in Belgium. Boris Johnson dismissed the EU's threat, saying: 'We're very confident in our supplies, we're very confident in our contracts and we're going ahead on that basis.' Aaron Bell, a Tory member of the Commons science committee, said: 'I understand and sympathise with the EU's disappointment that AstraZeneca is having yield issues at its Belgian plant, but the suggestion that the UK's supply should be diverted to the continent is clearly inappropriate.' AstraZeneca warned Brussels last week the problems in Belgium meant the bloc would receive only a quarter of the 100million doses it had expected by April. Government sources insisted tonight only once the British factories in Oxford and Newcastle-under-Lyme had fulfilled their commitment to the UK would they be free to supply other countries. The UK signed a deal with AstraZeneca last May to supply 100million doses of the vaccine it developed with Oxford University. EU nations placed a joint order for 400million doses from AstraZeneca three months later, in August, to be made at two sites on the continent, as well as the two UK sites. The resultant 75million shortfall in the first three months of this year has caused a major row between the two sides. Tensions rose when Astra chief Pascal Soriot told European newspapers in an interview on Tuesday that the supply schedule for the EU was not a 'commitment' but agreed as a 'best effort'. He said that as Brussels had signed its supply contract three months later than the UK it had left less time to sort out production 'glitches' at sites on the continent. 'The contract with the UK was signed first and the UK, of course, said 'You supply us first', and this is fair enough,' he added. But yesterday, Miss Kyriakides flatly rejected the argument and demanded the vaccines being made in the UK for domestic use be exported to the EU. At a briefing in Brussels, she said: 'There is no hierarchy of the factories. 'You are aware in the contracts there are four factories listed but it does not differentiate between the UK and Europe. 'The UK factories are part of our advance purchase agreements and that is why they have to deliver.' The commissioner said the EU was losing people to the pandemic every day, adding: 'These are not numbers. They're not statistics. These are persons with families with friends and colleagues that have been affected as well. 'We reject the logic of first come, first served,' said Stella Kyriakides (pictured). 'That may work in a butcher's shop but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements' Astra-Zeneca warned Brussels last week the problems in Belgium meant the bloc would receive only a quarter of the 100million doses it had expected by April. Pictured: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Tuesday EU officials have today demanded that Covid vaccines made in the UK be exported to Europe to help plug shortfalls in its own jabs roll-out, which is among the slowest in the world and is lagging well behind Britain The EU's health commissioner last night insisted that Britain should not receive priority even though the UK signed a contract with Astra-Zeneca three months before the bloc did. Pictured: AstraZeneca office building in Brussels Johnson & Johnson's one-shot Covid vaccine could soon be added to Britain's arsenal Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night. The jab uses similar technology to the Oxford University vaccine, making it just as easy to transport and store, but requires just a single injection to protect against Covid. Government scientists expect the vaccine, made by Janssen, the Belgian arm of the US pharmaceutical giant, could be given emergency authorisation and rolled out in Britain by mid-February. The UK has already struck a deal for 30million doses, with the option of ordering 22million more. If approved, it would be the third Covid jab in the UK's arsenal and could significantly speed up the programme which has been held back by supply shortages. A fourth jab, made my US firm Moderna, sealed approval earlier this month but doses won't arrive until March because of an exclusive deal with the American Government. Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunisation plans. The 30million doses already ordered by the UK could be enough to reach almost half of the population. Advertisement 'Pharmaceutical companies, vaccine developers, have moral societal and contractual responsibilities which they need to uphold. 'The view that the company is not obliged to deliver because we signed a best effort agreement is neither correct nor is it acceptable. 'The 27 European Union member states are united that AstraZeneca needs to deliver on its commitments in our agreements.' Following talks with AstraZeneca last night, Miss Kyriakides tweeted: 'We regret the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule and request a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the fast delivery of the quantity of vaccines that we reserved.' Mr Liese said: 'The BioNTech vaccine, which is only produced in Europe and has been produced with the aid of the German state and European Union money, has been shipped to the United Kingdom. 'If there is anyone thinking that European citizens would accept that we give this high quality vaccine to the UK and would accept to be treated as second class by a UK-based company, I think that the only consequence can be immediately stopping the export of the BioNtech (vaccine) and then we are in the middle of a trade war. 'So the company and the UK better think twice. When we see Europe is not treated well, not by the United States and not by the UK, then we have to show our weapons. 'We need to tell the other companies in the world if we treat the Europeans as second class, you will suffer for this.' Tory MP Peter Bone said the EU was trying to cover up for its incompetence. He added: 'The EU has acted in a disgraceful way, to say 'We want to jump the UK because we are the EU and important' is unbelievable. 'Hands off our vaccine, there is no legal or moral right to have it.' It was also reported last night Britain had ordered enough vaccines for the year - of 367million doses, enough for 5.5 per person - and could end up dishing them out to other countries anyway - meaning EU countries would benefit. A source told the Times: 'There is plenty of vaccine. It exceeds what the government wants to do.' The industry insider also told the newspaper the demands from Brussels were 'political rhetoric' and would be a 'human rights issue' if they did try to divert doses. They said: 'They cannot stop vaccines that are contracted for delivery. Some of these vaccines have already been given to people who are due to receive their second dose. It would be a human rights issue for millions of people if that process was stopped.' Mr Johnson said it would have been a 'great pity' if the UK had stayed in the EU's vaccine programme rather than set up its own plan. 'I do think that we've been able to do things differently, and better, in some ways,' the Prime Minister told MPs. More than a tenth of the UK population has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. This compares to just 1.75 per cent in France, 1.96 per cent in Germany, 2.50 per cent in Spain and 2.15 per cent in Italy. These set of graphs show the number of vaccines ordered by the UK and the EU. The EU has also ordered a number of other vaccines, including 300million Sanofi-GSK doses and 405million CureVac doses French drug giant agrees to produce Pfizer shot after its vaccine failed French drugmaker Sanofi has announced it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, after failures with its own vaccine delayed production until at least the end of the year. The announcement came as production problems for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and a vaccine from Britain's AstraZeneca have caused political uproar across the European Union. The EU's 27-nation vaccination effort has struggled to pick up steam, while more contagious virus variants are spreading fast and COVID-19 deaths are surging anew. Sanofi's Frankfurt facilities will help with late-stage production of vaccines prepared by Germany-based BioNTech, including bottling and packaging, starting in the summer, according to a Sanofi official. Sanofi did not reveal financial details of the agreement. According to Thomas Cueni, director of the International Federation of Vaccine Manufacturers, 76% of the world's major vaccine manufacturing capacity is in Europe. The French government has pressed Sanofi to use its facilities to help make vaccines from its rivals, given the high demand and supply problems. 'We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved,' Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement. Advertisement Meanwhile experts revealed how Britain's vaccine roll out will limit the spread of coronavirus, but by exactly how much will not be made clear until mid-February. Providing a boost to the UK's hopes of ending lockdown, England's deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said jabs 'couldn't fail to have some effect on transmission'. He said it was less a question of 'will they?' and rather 'to what extent' will inoculation help to reduce the spread. But Boris Johnson and his chief scientists tonight said experts won't know much effect the coronavirus vaccines are having on the country's epidemic until mid-February. The PM said the impact of the jabs won't be felt in hospital and deaths data until then due to the lag in time it takes between getting injected and developing immunity. He told a Downing Street press conference tonight that he would not consider lifting lockdown restrictions until he'd seen concrete 'evidence that those graphs are coming down'. The immunisation drive has only really got up to speed in the last few weeks and it takes between a fortnight and a month for a person to build up immunity. Both the Pfizer and Oxford University vaccines have been proven to block severe illness, so experts hope they'll start to make a dent in the death and hospitalisation rates in the coming weeks. No10's scientists will be monitoring those metrics, specifically in the most vulnerable groups - including the over-80s, over-75s and care homes residents - who are currently receiving the jabs. So far 6.8million, or one in 10, people in Britain have received at least one dose of the vaccines. In three weeks time, when most of those people have protection, experts will expect to see a near 10 per cent drop in hospital admissions. Not all of the people vaccinated will be immune, however, because the jabs are not perfect. Pfizer's is 95 per cent effective at blocking severe disease, while Oxford's is around 70 per cent. Another burning question which will determine how gung-ho ministers can be with easing restriction is to what extent the vaccines stop people from spreading Covid. The Government has commissioned a study to investigate the vaccines and their role on transmission, which is being overseen by Public Health England. It is focused on frontline healthcare workers who've been jabbed. England's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, told tonight's Downing Street press conference: 'I think you've got to be extremely cautious and wait until we've got proper data. 'It's too early to say what's happening in the UK. It's being looked at very, very carefully. You shouldn't expect to see nobody getting ill who's been vaccinated. Vaccines are not 100 per cent effective. We will still see people who get disease. 'We will still see people who get severe disease, but it will be much, much reduced with the vaccine, and we need to wait and look at the data and get proper estimates of that rather than try to make early cuts and guesses as to what this is showing.' Matt Hancock reveals nearly 80% of UK over-80s have now had a Covid vaccine as NHS rollout reaches 6.6MILLION people Health Secretary Matt Hancock last night announced that 78.7 per cent of Britons over the age of 80 have had a Covid vaccine as he confirmed 6.6million people have received their first dose. That means nearly one in 10 people across the country has had at least one dose that could protect them against deadly Covid-19, and the Government is nearly halfway through its drive to hit 15million by mid-February. Britain is ahead of all other countries in Europe in its vaccine drive and has one of the highest per-person rates in the world. But a Sunday slowdown meant that only 221,067 people received vaccines, down from a record high of 493,013 people on Saturday. Department of Health figures showed 220,249 first doses and 818 second doses were administered across the country on January 24. The Sunday slowdown is thought to have been triggered by fewer doctors and nurses being on shift on the last day of the working week, meaning fewer Britons could receive their jabs. The smallest number of cases and deaths is also generally recorded on Sundays, when more staff are off work and unavailable to tick off reports. It comes as ministers battle to vaccinate the most vulnerable to the virus by mid-February. This includes the over-70s, vulnerable, care home residents and NHS frontline staff. But the NHS appears to have already missed its internal target of reaching all care home residents by January 24. The Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last Thursday they had already vaccinated 63 per cent of care home residents - leaving another 154,660 out of an estimated 420,000 residents waiting for their jabs. But ministers are yet to say whether the NHS target has been hit. Britain last night recorded another 22,195 infections with the virus, a 41 per cent drop on last week, and a further 592 deaths, down one per cent on the same time last week. Advertisement Moderna president Dr Stephen Hoge says the global fight against Covid will continue 'for the next couple of years' as the virus continues to mutate By Jack Newman for MailOnline The president of Moderna has warned the global fight against Covid could last for a number of years. Dr Stephen Hoge said during a conference call this week that the virus will continue to mutate and create new strains despite vaccines being rolled out. It comes as Moderna, which produces one of the vaccines approved in many countries around the world including the US and the UK, said its shots could offer protection against the prominent British and South African Covid strains. The president of Moderna Dr Stephen Hoge has warned the global fight against Covid could last for a number of years Dr Hoge said, according to CNN: 'The virus is going to evolve as long as it's infecting. 'The key thing we need to do is to stop it from infecting. We need to break that transmission and, secondly, stop those infections from lasting a very long time.' He said this process will continue for years as scientists continue to analyze the changing virus. He added: 'I think as we look at the efficacy of any of these vaccines, we should hope and assume that they're going to work across them, but we need to prove that case, time and time again. 'Now, usually, probably just with measuring the vaccine's ability to provide neutralizing antibodies in the blood, but in some cases over time we may need to go look at whether or not we're actually protecting in the real world against some of these new strains. 'Until we've got this thing sort of fully suppressed and in control, and people are broadly vaccinated or seropositive and protected against it, it's going to be an ongoing battle for the next couple of years.' Moderna said its shots could offer protection against the prominent British and South African Covid strains His comments come as Moderna announced it had found no reduction in the antibody response against the Covid variant found in Britain. Against the South African variant, it found a reduced response but still believed its two-dose regimen would provide protection. The emergence of new variants in Britain, South Africa and Brazil has created some concern that mutations in the virus may make vaccines less effective. Moderna said it is looking at whether a booster shot - either of its existing vaccine or of a new shot designed to protect against the South African variant - could be made available in future if evidence were to emerge that protection declined. 'The virus isn't going to stand still,' Moderna President Stephen Hoge said on a conference call. 'It's important that we remain vigilant and develop potential tools and countermeasures that would allow us to continue to beat back the pandemic.' Moderna said it expects its current vaccine will remain protective for at least a year after completing the two-dose course. It does not expect to test a third dose until at least six months after that course is finished. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a research note it was encouraging that the antibody response of the Moderna vaccine to the South African variant was still above the levels that provide protection. Yee also said the speed with which Moderna was able to design a new booster shot candidate was proof of the flexibility of the new mRNA technology upon which it is based. Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel, said he was only mildly concerned the vaccine would not be protective against the variants. A map based on genome sequences shows have different strains of coronavirus have spread around the world, with at least eight strains being tracked 'It is a little worrisome that you see a lesser neutralizing antibody response, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are unprotected,' he said, noting that even these lower levels may still be enough to protect against serious infections. 'The goal of this vaccine is to keep you out of the hospital and to keep you out of the morgue. If you get a symptomatic infection or mildly symptomatic infection that is not a burden to the healthcare system,' Offit said. Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have also said tests showed their vaccine is effective against the variant found in Britain, but have not yet disclosed results against the South African variant. That variant first found in Britain has caused a massive surge in cases there and has also been found in more than a dozen U.S. states. US public health officials expect it to be the dominant variant in the United States within six weeks. Dual studies aim to determine if the repurposed drug, lenalidomide, safely and effectively reduces inflammatory and disease-associated biomarkers, and improves cognition in early-stage Alzheimer's disease Jan. 27, 2021, Las Vegas: The National Institute of Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) awarded five-year grants of $3.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively, to scientists from Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to study the therapeutic potential of the anti-cancer drug lenalidomide in early-stage Alzheimer's disease, known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The funding will support the project "Repurposing Lenalidomide for Early Alzheimer's Treatment" led by Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., and Boris Decourt, Ph.D., of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The project is comprised of two complementary clinical studies aimed at identifying whether lenalidomide reduces inflammation and other disease-related neuropathological features, and improves cognition in those living with mild cognitive impairment. Enthusiasm to study lenalidomide stems from the strategy to target multiple Alzheimer's disease neuropathologies at once, a relatively new approach in Alzheimer's disease drug development. Lenalidomide is one of few multi-purpose agents, which has demonstrated several effects on the immune system in cancer patients. Additionally, as an FDA-approved drug, lenalidomide's safety and toxicity profiles have already been established, which will help accelerate testing and progression in Alzheimer's clinical studies if the present project is successful. "To date, disease-modifying therapies have only used a single drug approach to target Alzheimer's disease pathologies, and they have all failed. These grants will help us explore a novel approach in reducing several pathologies simultaneously," said Dr. Sabbagh, director of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. "With its dual mechanistic nature, lenalidomide is particularly intriguing because it has the potential to both reduce chronic inflammation and lower amyloid beta loads in the brain, which are both indicators of Alzheimer's disease." The two lenalidomide sister studies will recruit participants with early-stage Alzheimer's disease/MCI at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. The first study is funded by the NIH and is a 20-month Phase II investigation evaluating the effect of long-term use of lenalidomide on cognition, along with safety and tolerability. The second study, supported by ADDF funding, is a six-month Phase II investigation examining the short-term use of lenalidomide in 45 participants, with a focus on safety and effects on blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Dr. Sabbagh's work is also supported by the Camille and Larry Ruvo Endowed Chair for Brain Health. ### For additional information about Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, visit ClevelandClinic.org/Nevada. About Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. Among Cleveland Clinic's 67,554 employees worldwide are more than 4,520 salaried physicians and researchers, and 17,000 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,026-bed health system that includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 18 hospitals, more than 220 outpatient facilities, and locations in southeast Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2019, there were 9.8 million total outpatient visits, 309,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 255,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic's health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/CCforMedia and twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org. About the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened in 2009, provides expert diagnosis and treatment for individuals and families living with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body, frontotemporal and other dementias; Parkinson's and Huntington's disease, multiple system atrophy and other movement disorders; and multiple sclerosis. With locations in Cleveland, OH; Weston, Florida and headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, the center offers a continuum of care with no-cost opportunities for the community to participate in education and research, including disease prevention studies and clinical trials of promising new medications. An integrated entity, Keep Memory Alive, raises funds exclusively in support of the Nevada location. clevelandclinic.org/Nevada Editor's Note: Cleveland Clinic News Service is available to provide broadcast-quality interviews and B-roll upon request. A young man got into a woman's house and sexually assaulted her while she was asleep in bed after a 'Get to know your neighbour' party. Anthony Ferguson appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal where he was charged with sexual assault, burglary and threats to damage property. Ferguson, a 26-year-old supermarket manager, pleaded guilty to all the charges. The court was told that Ferguson was an "outsider" who had arrived at the event held on a Donegal housing estate on July 21st, 2018. The party, which was arranged by locals, involved storytelling and other activities for children as well as food and alcohol. The event also featured a 'Baravan' which the court was told is similar to a mobile bar which can be rented out for such occasions. The event was a huge success for all those who attended. That evening the victim in the case was serving drinks at the Baravan when a man who was not local to the area, later identified as Ferguson, became rowdy and he was asked to leave as the bar was closing. The victim in the case and her husband went back to their home nearby with some neighbours where they had some more drinks with friends. However, Ferguson gained entry to the house, was again very rowdy and was asked to leave. The woman and her husband went to sleep around 2am but the terrified victim revealed she was awoken by a man in the bed beside her who was touching her between her legs. The man, Ferguson, said to her: "I have you now." The terrified woman jumped up and alerted her husband screaming at him to get the man out of the house. She realised it was the man who was rowdy earlier and her husband scuffled with him before getting him out of their home. Ferguson then began shouting to be allowed back into the couple's home as he had left his mobile phone and jacket inside. Garda Maria Doherty said they had received a call that a man was banging on doors on the housing estate and that a woman had been sexually assaulted. Barrister for Ferguson, with an address at Brittania Point, Colliers Wood in London, Mr Colm Smyth, said his client was extremely drunk on the night The court was told that Ferguson has an issue with both drugs and alcohol and has undergone two rehabilitation stints in addiction clinics. Ferguson himself apologised to his victim saying he was deeply sorry and ashamed for what he had done and that nobody deserved to go through what she did. He added that he was shocked when Gardai said he had sexually assaulted a woman saying he didn't think he was capable of such a thing but couldn't remember anything from about 9pm that evening. The woman's victim impact statement was also read in court. In it, she said she could have written page after page about how violated she had felt after the incident. She said she couldn't work for weeks after the attack and was going around her house locking doors all the time. Her husband, who works abroad, could not travel as she was in so much fear and they lost a major part of their earnings. She said she wanted Ferguson to stand up and admit what he had done and that his behaviour was atrocious and that he should be disgusted and ashamed of himself. She added that he should accept his wrongdoing and never put anyone in a position like he had put her in again. Barrister Colm Smyth said his client's father owned a number of supermarkets and were in a position to offer some compensation to the family towards their loss of earnings as part of an apology. An offer of 20,000 was made but Mr Smyth stressed that Ferguson would repay all the money back to his father from his earnings. Judge John Aylmer said it was appalling what the woman was subjected to on the night. He noted that Ferguson had no previous convictions of any kind, his remorse and also his addiction to alcohol. He said he will review all these circumstances and if he is satisfied that the case fell into one of those "unique categories" then the court may take a view that it can be treated by way of a non-custodial or suspended sentence. He adjourned the case until the next sittings of the circuit court in April for a final sentence. Regulatory News: Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) today released its regular weekly Net Asset Value ("NAV") and performance returns on its website, https://www.pershingsquareholdings.com/company-reports/weekly-navs/. The NAV and returns were computed as of the close of business on Tuesday, 26 January 2021. PSH NAV per share as of close of business on 26 January 2021 was 46.06 USD 33.52 GBP and year-to-date performance was 1.3%. Weekly net asset value ("NAV") is calculated as of the close of business on each Tuesday and posted on the following business day. In the event that Tuesday is not a business day, the Company will calculate the close-of-business NAV as of the business day immediately preceding that Tuesday. The end-of-month NAV is calculated as of the close of business on the last day of the month and posted on the following business day. For weeks that include a month-end NAV report, PSH will provide only the month-end NAV and not report the Tuesday NAV. Monthly NAVs are published in accordance with the Decree on Conduct of Business Supervision of Financial Undertakings under the Wft (Besluit Gedragstoezicht financiele ondernemingen Wft). Performance is presented on a net-of-fees basis and reflects the deduction of, among other expenses: management fees, brokerage commissions, administrative fees and accrued performance fees, if any. The performance figure includes the reinvestment of all dividends, interest and capital gains. Depending on the timing of a specific investment, net performance for an individual investor may vary from the net performance as stated herein. Net performance is a geometrically linked time weighted calculation. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. All investments involve risk including the loss of principal. About Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. Pershing Square Holdings, Ltd. (LN:PSH) (LN:PSHD) (NA:PSH) is an investment holding company structured as a closed-ended fund that makes concentrated investments principally in North American domiciled companies. Category: (PSH:WeeklyNAV) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005989/en/ Contacts: Camarco Ed Gascoigne-Pees Hazel Stevenson +44 020 3757 4989, media-pershingsquareholdings@camarco.co.uk A woman has brought High Court proceedings against Facebook after a hacker took over and locked her out of her account. Sylvia O'Mahoney, from Brighton Place, Foxrock, Co Dublin, claims she first became aware of the hack in mid-December when her social media contacts started receiving messages from her account that she did not send. Facebook accepts that her account was hacked, but says that it moved quickly to restore full control to her, and that all information she had sought concerning the hack had been provided to her. Its counsel Rossa Fanning SC told the court that like all other internet and e-commerce entities Facebook has issues with online security. However, he said that there was no evidence before the court that Facebook could be held culpable for accounts being hacked. Ms O'Mahoney, who had a Facebook account for many years, claims that after becoming aware that messages were being sent from her account, she tried to change her password. She said she was unable to do so, and was denied access to her account. In a sworn statement, she said her friends started getting messages from her account. including invitations to like the business page of a decking company. In addition, her name profile changed to a 'Luo Yihan' instead of Sylvia O'Mahoney, and was concerned about the nature of some of the content of the messages. She reported this through Facebook's automated complaints system due to her concerns about the unknown person's access to her private information including photos and personal messages. She followed the instructions, including uploading picture ID, on at least two occasions, but said she claims she only got messages back in Chinese saying her issue had been resolved, which it had not. As a result, she has brought proceedings against Facebook, where she claims her constitutional right to privacy and GDPR rights have been breached. Ms O'Mahoney is seeking orders against Facebook Ireland Ltd including injunctions which would require Facebook to prevent the unknown person, identifying as Luo Yihan from using or accessing Ms O'Mahoney's account, and any information originating from the account. She also seeks orders requiring Facebook to retrieve and return any data taken from her account from the hacker, and that she be provided with all the activity on her account from January 1st last. When the matter came before the High Court on Wednesday Ms O'Mahoney's counsel Jack Fitzgerald said the matter was becoming even more urgent. As well as her concerns about her own personal data his client had discovered in recent days learned that her account had been linked to many entities and groups that had nothing to do with her. He said his client did not want to delete her account as she wants to keep evidence of the wrongdoing. However, due to the recent revelations regarding her account his client was required to amend her action, counsel said. Counsel added that some direct contact between his client and Facebook regarding her concerns would be beneficial in resolving the matters. In reply Mr Fanning said his client had been concentrating on dealing with the issues raised rather than preparing sworn documents for court proceedings. Counsel said in recent days Facebook had sent out two letters to Mr O'Mahoney's solicitors, stating that once it was established the account was hacked, access was restored to Ms O'Mahoney within two business days. An online meeting with Facebook's representatives with Ms O'Mahoney had also taken place, counsel said. Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds adjourned the matter to early February to allow the sides exchange documents. New Delhi: Ahead of the much-awaited GST roll-out, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked the Congress not to get indulged in politics over the roll-out of new tax regime. He said that all the decisions relating to GST were taken unanimously by the council. The finance minister also said that the GST Council is the first federal institution chaired by the Union finance minister and has representatives from all states. The government will launch the GST at the midnight of June 30-July 1 from the Central Hall of Parliament in the presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, along with members of Parliament. Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda have been invited by Jaitley to attend the event. When asked about the Congress party being non-committal of attending the event, Jaitley said I dont know what they will do. All decisions (on GST) were taken collectively and we want the launch programme to reflect the collective nature of our polity. Jaitley said that GST is for the entire country and all political parties have supported the GST Constitutional Amendment Act in Parliament. All states sans Jammu & Kashmir have passed the State GST (SGST) act. It is for entire country, and President would be there and there should be no politics over it, Jaitley said at the GST Sammelan hosted by ABP News. The Union finance minister said, in Parliament every political party supported GST and then the Council was set up. GST Council is the first federal institution where every decision was taken by consensus. No decision was taken on the basis of UPA Vs NDA, or on the basis of politics. All decisions were taken keeping in mind the benefits to the country and traders, Jaitley said. The Congress has remained non-committal about attending the event to mark the launch of GST in the Central Hall of Parliament. GST will subsume 16 different taxes. ALSO READ | GST: Here is a list of items exempted from Goods and Services Tax AICC chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala yesterday said the Congress was considering whether to attend the meeting and suggested that it had not given any concrete assurance to the government on its participation. The Congress party is examining various aspects of the issue, including the manner the GST is being implemented causing harassment to the common people, the unorganised sector and small businessmen, Surjewala said. The historic Central Hall of Parliament will host a midnight function on 30 June to launch the sweeping tax reform measure, reminiscent of Indias tryst with destiny at the midnight of 15 August, 1947. The government will use the circular-shaped Central Hall, perhaps for the first time, to launch a new taxation system that is set to dramatically re-shape the over $2 trillion economy. The launch event will, in all probability, start at 11 pm on 30 June and extend into midnight, coinciding with the roll-out of GST regime. The GST Bill was originally piloted by Mukherjee when he was the finance minister in the previous UPA regime. ALSO READ | What is GST and how it will benefit customers (With inputs from PTI) For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News file Webb County Commissioners Court on Monday voted to enter into a memorandum of understanding in consideration of purchasing an ambulance bus, or AMBUS, for $200,000. Webb County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Landin explained that this bus can hold up to 22 non-critical patients in the event of a mass casualty incident in the area. Tejas Networks announced it has signed a multi-year contract with Asia Consultancy Group (ACG), a leading independent private company providing Telecommunications infrastructure, managed & engineering services across Afghanistan. ACG with its headquarters in USA, is a full life-cycle managed network service provider in Afghanistan for last many years. As part of this contract, Tejas will supply its state of the art 100G-600G capable DWDM/OTN and PTN products to establish a high-capacity national backbone and packet access network in Afghanistan. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Google Camera app has received a minor update to version 8.1.200. The biggest change is that you can now permanently disable Auto Night Sight (as in the setting doesnt reset every time you close the app like it used to). Its a simple change, but Pixel users have been asking for it for a while. The Night Sight toggle has been relocated to the Flash setting the options now are Flash Off (Night Sight is off too), Auto Night Sight and Flash On. GCam v8.1.200 Auto Night Sight toggle has moved Previous GCam version Even older version The Auto setting for the flash is still missing. That was removed last year as part of the October update (and people werent happy about the change). A member of the Google Support team said that the Auto Flash option will be reinstated with a later update, but its not this one. Check if your phone updated the Google Camera app to v8.1.200. If not (and you dont feel like waiting), you can pick up a copy from APKMirror. Source 1 | Source 2 ADVERTISEMENT The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Wednesday, met with President Muhammadu Buhari over the security challenges rocking the south-west state. Mr Makinde met with Mr Buhari in Aso Rock, Abuja, to explain the activities of bandits, hoodlums, armed robbers and kidnappers in the state. Speaking with the State House Correspondents, Mr Makinde said he reached out to the president for greater synergy between the state and the federal security agencies. The details of the meeting were made known to PREMIUM TIMES in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa. He quoted Mr Makinde to have said that he came to brief the president on the security situation in Oyo State. There has been a lot of fake news all around and I wanted to be sure that the President clearly has first-hand information from me, which I did. We also exchanged ideas about what we need to do better; some of the programmes we have put in place to ensure that this security issue is tackled. So, thats basically why I came here. The issue that I discussed with Mr President is the fact that Oyo State landmass is quite big. Oyo State is close to 29,000 square kilometres. And the state right now only has two Mobile Police Squadrons. So, I requested for more Mobile Police Squadrons to be deployed to Oyo State and also asked for support for the joint security outfit because the underlying issue here also has to do with limited opportunities. The tension will definitely go down if a lot of our youths are gainfully employed. So, I briefed the President on what we are doing in that regard. On Wednesday, Mr Makinde also announced the government was deploying 200 additional Amotekun operatives to tackle the insecurity around the Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa axes in the state. In his meeting with the president, Mr Makinde noted that the ethnic groups in Oyo State have a history of living together peacefully. For instance, what triggered all of these was that Dr. Aborode was brutally murdered; that is criminal. But on the other hand, the Seriki, Alhaji Kabir, has been staying in that same place for 40 years. So, quite frankly, the people we are after are criminals they are the bandits, hoodlums, armed robbers, kidnappers. Those are the true enemies of the state and those are the people we will go after. The Constitution of Nigeria guarantees that you can live in any part of Nigeria. You just have to be law-abiding and obey the local laws in such areas. That is what we are pushing and will continue to push as a government, Mr Makinde was quoted by his press secretary. Help India! By Shalini S, TwoCircles.net Chennai: Aruvi is a 25-year-old transgender person pursuing gender studies at the University of Hyderabad. Having previously worked in the IT sector, she is a strong advocate of the rights of the transgender community who face discrimination across India. Support TwoCircles Aruvi lives in Chennai, the capital of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. When the BJP-led central government enforced a strict lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Aruvi along with two of her friends Srijith and Anish, came up with an idea to ameliorate the condition of the trans people. The idea that they came up with is called mutual aid fund. The trio has extended support to many trans people starting last November. They claim to have conducted two successful projects so far, one on the occasion of Diwali in 2020 and the one on Pongal earlier this month. Talking to TwoCircles.net, the trio say that they look forward to conducting similar projects in future to support their trans community. None of us are free until all of us are free, Aruvi says, while heartily laughing about trans liberation. Aruvi, with the help of two of her friends, says that their mutual aid fund initiative began in March last year. Aruvi says that their idea of providing help is different from others. The concept of mutual aid was proposed by a Russian anarchist named Kropotkin. Charity plonks an eligibility criterion for those who seek help and stands exclusive of certain vulnerable communities. In mutual aid there is no hierarchy, theres no pecking order, help is given then and there, she tells me. The idea gives a new meaning to the habit of circulating incapacitated images and photographs of the marginalised community to raise funds in the name of charity, whereas mutual aid is an easily practicable and decentralised approach, Aruvi says. During the festival of Diwali last year, the trio provided sarees (a garment wore by women in India) to over thirty people in Chennai in a project called Give a Gift of Gender Euphoria and during Pongal earlier this month, the team distributed blankets. Aruvi speaks enthusiastically about the Solapur blanket being a part of the kit, which are multi-coloured and create a sense of warmth. The kit also accommodated a 25 kg rice bag, sunflower oil, dates and nuts among other essentials. Additionally, the trio extended help in buying hardware equipment like sewing machines for entrepreneurial community members. Aruvis team is particular about providing nurturing groceries because many trans people do not have access to ration cards. Their identities are haunted and disabled from benefitting anything that is government given, she says. According to the Census of 2011, there are around 30,000 trans people in the state of Tamil Nadu. During the Covid-19 lockdown, the state provided Rs. 1000 and 12 Kgs of rice per month for those with transgender identity cards (although many trans people dont even possess that). However, this provision had come to a pause very soon. Abandoned by their families and having to live under unquarantined conditions after losing their livelihoods, many trans people took to creating awareness about Covid-19 among the general public through theatrical street performance. As per these trans people, any initiative of the state has remained an act of tokenism alone. Trans people say that the Pongal gift hamper of Rs. 2500 and other groceries provided by the state government through the Public Distribution Scheme to ration cardholders could not be availed by the trans population as they did not have access to it. Most of the trans population do not possess the consumer smart card as they lack valid address and identity proof. Added to these disadvantages is the fear of violence that the transgender community face in the state. The brutal murder of Sangeetha, a trans woman in Coimbatore in October has not made Tamil Nadu a safe haven for the community. The incident has left deep fear and anxiety among the trans community and they say they have to solely rely on each other for their safety. The Pongal project by Aruvi and her team brings out the promising nature of mutual aid as their aid expanded to Namakkal and Coimbatore in addition to Chennai. In January alone, they were able to help over sixty people including working-class cis women, trans women, LGBQ+ migrants, HIV positive women and people from Kothi communities across these three cities. Aruvi talked about the capital and disposable income of the rich and their audacity to laugh at the extravagance of the poor. The narrative of the underprivileged not having any entrepreneurial literacy is sharply refuted by Aruvi. We are not teaching anyone how to fish. They already know how to fish. They have the rod and bait ready. Our help is just leverage. Its like my people have a scooter, they just dont have the money for petrol, Aruvi explains. Aruvi says that it is due to the shunning of trans people at every juncture of their lives, and the abnegation they face from job markets pushes them to to do kadai kekrathu (asking for money in shops) or sex work. This socioeconomic unfairness is one of the reasons why we wanted to pack our kits with provisions which they would hesitate to buy under current circumstances because it just costs too much, Aruvi says and adds that she wanted a flavour of self-respect parcelled with the kits. Aruvi cheerfully spoke about the decent relationship she was able to build with chance acquaintances throughout the course of the projects. When there was a government ordinance in place early into the lockdown that restricted the public from distributing provisions owing to physical distancing, the hiccup was overcome by Aruvi and her team by directly forwarding the money to the local community leaders. When asked if it was a tedious job to hunt down the contacts of local community leaders, Aruvi says that it was rather very easy for them. The network among the trans communities, who are otherwise confined to the peripheral edge of the society, still remains strong. To sustain the mutuality with the funders and to keep a record of their progress, emails are collected from those who contributed to the mutual aid. By the end of the project, details of the distribution work and images are shared privately to the contributors. Aruvi says that it keeps them settled, creates a network and foundation to carry out similar projects in future. It also assures a sheltered process with no breaching of privacy, she adds. When asked about what the general public can do to help the situation of transgender people, Aruvis response was surprisingly grounded. Give them money if they ask you on the streets, it will make them self-sufficient. All of these lofty things like education, entrepreneurship, etc are needed but hunger comes before all this, she says. Aruvi and her friends have set an example for the trans community, which they want to continue in the future. THE creation of the role of Limericks executive mayor has been hailed as the biggest reform" to local government since the foundation of the State. The Junior Minister in charge of the scheme Peter Burke was speaking after further details of the proposal were yesterday revealed. Work to draft legislation to create the role for the executive position with a 130,000 salary will begin immediately, with Mr Burke targetting the maiden election in the quarter four this year. That is ambitious. Thats our target. It will all depend on the prevailing public health advice at that particular time. We have to be respectful of that. Its hard to know what the landscape will be like in quarter four, but that is our aim as we speak to you, said the Minister of State for Local Government and Planning. As part of the reform, a new role, that of priomh-comhairleoir will be created, with their job to be to chair meetings of the council, and act as a speaker for the local authority. This summer, Cllr Daniel Butler is expected to be named the Mayor of Limerick City and County as part of a grand coalition deal which since 2014 has seen Fine Gael and Fianna Fail share the top positions. If the election for an executive mayor takes place this autumn, that will be the final time councillors hold a ceremony to elect a first citizen from their number. Instead, it will be up to the public to decide, with the first term expected to run up until 2029 before it switches to regular five-year intervals. If Limerick does go to the polls in the final quarter, Cllr Butler will be part-way through his term. Unless he contests and wins the election to become the Directly Elected Mayor, its anticipated he will become the first ever priomh-comhairleoir, in itself a high-profile role. Addressing reporters at a special briefing last night, Tim OConnor, who chaired the Independent Advisory Group (IAG) set up to recommend measures associated with the new mayoralty, said: Its part of the system of checks and balances. Looking at international practice, in a very great number of places its the case. In New York, youve the mayor, and a speaker who chaired the meeting. At the time I was there, that role was carried out by a good Irish American at the time, Christine Quinn. Mr OConnor said the group has recommended there would be the normal allowance associated with the role, with Limericks current first citizen earning 50,000 for their year in office. This would be a one-year role. Priomh-comhairleoir in English translates to first councillor. That role of the chair will be rotated on an annual basis, similar to the current mayor role in the council, and there would be the same kind of allowance going with that, he said. Mr Burke confirmed that the report of the IAG had been accepted by government, and they would try and implement as many of its recommendations as possible. There are a series of objectives which do require a bit more work and will require significant agreement with different departments. I dont want to oversell that part. But this is a very exciting day. We will try and deliver as much as we can on the very first day, said the Westmeath TD. Around 250,000 Jews were killed at the Sobibor Nazi death camp, located in Poland, and an excavation of the site reveals at least four children also died there during the Holocaust. Archaeologists working at the now closed camp uncovered four metal ID tags belonging to children ages five to 12, engraved with names, dates of birth and hometown. However, researchers say the tags appear to have been part of a private initiative by the parents and not given to them by the German Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, who operated the camp. The names include: Lea Judith De La Penha, Deddie Zak, Annie Kapper and David Juda Van der Velde. Yoram Haimi from the Israel Antiquities Authority, who was conducting the dig alongside Polish and Dutch colleagues, says: 'As far as we know, identity tags with children's names have only been found at Sobibor, and nowhere else.' Scroll down for video Metal tags belonging to four children murdered at the Sobibor Nazi death camp have been found. Annie Kaper was 12 years old when she was sent to Sobibor on a train with a total of 1,255 Jews. The moment the train arrived, all of the passengers were immediately sent to gas chambers and Kaper's tag was found in a mass grave The extermination camp was constructed in what was once German-occupied Poland in March 1942, it opened that May and stayed in operation until October 1943. During that time, about 250,000 Jews, mostly from Poland and parts of the then Soviet Union, were murdered. Archaeologists uncovered the tags during a recent excavation of the camp, which they believe were once attached to a necklace and worn at the request of the parents. 'The children's identity tags were prepared by their parents, who were probably desperate to ensure that the children's relatives could be located in the chaos of the Second World War,' said Haimi. The tags appear to have been part of a private initiative by the parents and not given to them by the Nazi officials. Pictured is Lea Judith De La Penha's ID tag De La Penha (right) was only six years old when she died at the Nazi extermination camp. The children were known to have died at the camp due to entries in Nazi lists, but the tags offer new details that allowed researchers to link the IDs to faces, as the tags included name, age and hometown Haimi had first traveled to the Sobibor extermination camp in 2007 to look for clues about how his uncle may have died during the Holocaust, The Jerusalem Post reports. However, this sparked a decade-long excavation of the area, which produced personal belongings of thousands of those who died at the camp with the most recent being the four metal tags. The children were known to have died at the camp due to entries in Nazi lists, but the tags offer new details that allowed researchers to link the IDs to faces. Lea Judith De La Penha was just six years old when she was murdered and Deddie Zak was nine years old. Deddie Zak was nine years old when he was murdered at the camp (left) Zak's tag was found in the crematorium, which suggests his body was burned with the tag However, Zak's tag was found in the crematorium, which suggests his body was burned with the tag, researchers said. Annie Kaper was 12 years old when she was sent to Sobibor on a train with a total of 1,255 Jews. The moment the train arrived, all of the passengers were immediately sent to gas chambers and Kaper's tag was found in a mass grave. David Juda Van der Velde was also on that train and died in the gas chamber at the young age of 11 his tag was found one of the chambers. David Juda Van der Velde was also on that train and died in the gas chamber at the young age of 11 his tag was found one of the chambers The Nazi extermination camp was constructed in March 1942, opened that May and stayed in operation until October 1943. Pictured is a recent shot of the camp that shows the excavation taking place Most of the Jews that entered the gates of the Sobibor death camp were sent directly to gas chambers and murdered after their arrival. The camp only fell after some 300 Jews rose against their Nazi captives many of which were killed during the fight or while attempting to escape. Only 50 prisoners were left after the revolt. However, the Nazis destroyed the camp following the attack and left nearly nothing behind. Haimi and his team have found remains of gas chambers, the crematoria and a few mass graves. They also uncovered a tunnel that is assumed to have been dug by prisoners trying to escape the nightmare. Some 75,000 objects were found at the site including plates, forks and jewelry, along with other items the prisoners had brought with them. Although so much has been discovered at Sobibor, Haimi was unable to find any information about his uncle. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected people of color, particularly Hispanics and Latinos. But despite this, some factors still add to their vaccine hesitancy. Most Hispanics and Latinos were open to getting vaccinated, taking up a sizeable share of the Kaiser Family Foundation's COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor. However, there remains some vaccine hesitancy among the group's young population. NBC News reported that Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, the two largest groups of Latinos in the U.S., show more vaccine hesitancy. There were some concerns in taking the vaccine as they believe it could potentially have negative long-term effects on them. Experts Urge Understanding of Latino Community's Vaccine Hesitancy Experts recognize that communication efforts on people of color will have to be changed or tailored for these groups. They urged the Biden administration to understand better the source of people of color's vaccine hesitancy to improve the nationwide vaccine rollout. Read also: Tell-Tale Signs If Your Stomach Problems May Actually Be COVID-19 According to surveys conducted by researchers Gabriel Sanchez and Juan Pena of Brookings Institution, there was an "element of fear and mistrust" to the vaccines among Latinos. However, these fears manifest in different ways across Latino subgroups. Aside from the long-term effects, Latinos were also concerned about the level of vaccine efficacy, side effects, and risks for Latinos. They also do not trust the Trump administration's vaccination efforts and had concerns about vaccination costs. In October, a survey by the Latino advocacy group UnidosUS said at least 28 percent of Latinos were unlikely to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for these reasons. Sanchez and Pena were also concerned about the high levels of vaccine hesitancy. "Given that Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans are the two largest national origin groups among Latinos... this is a significant concern for the ability the reach the goal of herd immunity," they said. There was also a gender gap in vaccine hesitancy, with more women unlikely to get vaccinated than men at 33 percent and 22 percent, respectively. "This gender gap in the likelihood of vaccination identifies how important it will be to conduct more in-depth research with the Latino population," the researchers said. Puerto Rican Doctor Voices Experience with Modern to Avoid Vaccine Hesitancy Dr. Hector Octaviani, a pediatrician at True Health in Sanford, told Click Orlando that he was aware of his fellow Latinos' concerns and how they are wearier of things concerning the pandemic. To help ease the worries of fellow Latinos, he talked about his experience when he got his first shot of the Moderna vaccine last week. "I haven't felt anything. That's not the way most people react to it. Some people have a little bit of soreness, tenderness in the arm," he said. Related story: You May Have COVID-19 if Your Food Tastes Like This Octaviani also shared the data known about vaccines and assured that there doesn't seem to be any long-term side effects. Polls also showed that Latinos were less likely to get an emergency-use approved vaccine that did not pass the Food and Drug Administration's review process. Octaviani stressed that there is a reason a vaccine gets approved for emergency use. "We need to immunize people. Traditionally diseases that are controlled by vaccination, you need to vaccinate 90% plus of the population to get the infection under control," he noted. WASHINGTON Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wont be returning to Wichita, Kansas, just yet. Instead, hell take a job on Pennsylvania Avenue in the nations capital. Pompeo has been named a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank just blocks from the White House. Axios first reported Pompeos decision to stay in Washington Tuesday evening. The institute made its official announcement of Pompeos position in a news release, which touted Pompeos background as both CIA director and the nations top diplomat under former President Donald Trump. From his leadership in promoting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors to confronting strategic threats to the United States, Secretary Pompeo has been among the most consequential secretaries of State, John Walters, president and CEO of Hudson Institute, said in a statement. It is an honor to have this outstanding public servant join Hudson Institute. Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman, told The Wall Street Journal in December that he hoped to return to Kansas, setting off a round of speculation that the Wichita Republican might run for governor in 2022 when Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly stands for reelection. Pompeos move to the foreign policy-focused think tank is a sign he has little interest in the governors mansion in Topeka. Instead, its a post that will give him a platform to offer critiques of President Joe Bidens administration ahead of a possible White House run. Tuesday evening, Pompeo appeared on Fox News after his successor, Antony Blinken, was confirmed as secretary of state earlier that day. He criticized the Biden administrations decision to halt the countrys withdrawal from the World Health Organization. I think thats a mistake. President Trump thought that was a mistake. We believed it was unreformable, it had become a corrupt and political and had kowtowed to the Chinese Communist Party at the most critical moment, at the most critical moment of a global health challenge, Pompeo said. Trump announced in July the U.S. would leave the WHO, an international agency which coordinates public health responses between nations. The decision received criticism from allies struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump accused the WHO of aiding China in a cover-up of the viruss origins. Biden stopped the yearlong withdrawal process last week, recommitting the U.S. to the organization and appointing Dr. Antony Fauci as the lead to U.S. delegation on the WHO board. Pompeos tenure at the State Department was marked by frosty relations with European allies and allegations he had used official resources for personal purposes. He also oversaw diplomatic victories in the Middle East as Israel normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain late in his tenure. Pompeo faced criticism in November when he suggested at a news conference that a second Trump administration would begin in January as Trump refused to concede the election. During his final weeks at the State Department, Pompeo used his official Twitter account to promote Trump administration policy victories and rail against political correctness. The day before Bidens inauguration, Pompeo encouraged his followers to switch from his official account to his personal account. Pompeo set it up in December of 2019 amid speculation that he might run for U.S. Senate. A source close to Pompeo said at the time the secretary needed to set up a personal Twitter account for future plans. Those plans may be for a presidential candidacy in 2024 if Trump does not run for a non-consecutive term. Pompeo hinted at the notion a day after Bidens inauguration when he tweeted the number of days left in Bidens term. 1,384 days, Pompeo said. -- Bryan Lowry of McClatchy Washington Bureau wrote this story. 2021 McClatchy Washington Bureau. Visit at mcclatchydc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP has launched an investigation into whether the board members of Perspecta Inc. (NYSE: PRSP) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to Veritas Capital. On January 27, 2021, Perspecta announced that it had entered into a definitive merger agreement with Veritas Capital. Under the terms of the deal, Perspecta stockholders will receive $29.35 per share in cash. The investigation concerns whether the Perspecta board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for Perspecta shares of common stock. If you are a Perspecta shareholder and believe the proposed buyout price is too low or you're interested in learning more about the investigation, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ( [email protected] ) at 619-814-4471. If emailing, please include a phone number. Additionally, you can [Click here to join this action]. There is no cost or obligation to you. About Johnson Fistel, LLP: Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York, and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit https://www.johnsonfistel.com. Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Contact: Johnson Fistel, LLP Jim Baker, 619-814-4471 [email protected] [Click here to join this action] SOURCE Johnson Fistel, LLP Related Links http://www.johnsonfistel.com Editor's Note: Due to a clerical error by the Department of Justice, this story was updated to reflect that 32 Texans are facing charges in connection with the Capitol Riots on Jan. 6. Forty-one Texans have been arrested in connection with the Capitol riot on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C., and are facing a variety of charges. EXPRESS-NEWS APP: Breaking news, Spurs scores, COVID updates and more at your fingertips Ryan Scott Zink FBI The 32-year-old was arrested on Feb. 4 after a tipster provided the FBI with screenshots of his Facebook page that had photos from the riot, according to a statement of facts. Zink is a musician and the owner of Pressure Clean Oil, Gas, and Wind in Lubbock, court documents said. His Facebook page also included numerous videos of Zink inside the Capitol, including one in which he can be heard saying We knocked down the gates! Were storming the Capitol! You cant stop us!, according to the court documents. In a private Facebook message, Zink also told someone he had "taken two flash bangs" and had been hurt, the court docs continued. Charges: Obstruction of an official proceeding; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and engages in any act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds. Sean David Watson FBI The Alpine man was arrested on April 28 after showing his coworkers videos of himself at the riot, according to a statement of facts. Witnesses told FBI agents that Watson was showing the videos on his cell phone, saying "I fd st up," court documents said. When questioned by agents, Watson initially denied being in the Capitol despite photo, video and cell phone evidence showing he was there, the FBI said. The FBI also said Watson sent texts on Jan. 6 admitting that he was at the Capitol, including one that said "We made history today. Proudest day of my life!" Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Samuel Christopher Montoya FBI The San Antonio man was arrested on April 13 after a family member sent a tip to the FBI about a 44-minute video he shot while inside the Capitol, according to the FBI. Montoya, who allegedly works for Infowars, took video of himself inside the Capitol as well as recorded the shooting of Ashli Babbitt, the woman who was shot and killed by Capitol police, a statement of facts said. In one of the videos, Montoya allegedly turns the camera on himself and says "It feels good to be in the Capitol baby!," according to the court documents. He also described his experience inside the Capitol in multiple interviews on an Infowars show. Charges: Entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building; violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in the Capitol building Daniel Ray Caldwell The Colony man was arrested on March 22 after video captured him allegedly assaulting federal agents inside the Capitol. Video footage uploaded to Twitter showed Caldwell spraying a mist, believed to be pepper spray, at officers who were trying to stop protesters from getting into the Capitol, a statement of facts said. A video uploaded to ProPublica shows Caldwell describing the events and saying he sprayed 15 officers after he was sprayed first, according to court documents. Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct ANDREW JACKSON MORGAN JR. The Maxwell man surrendered to the FBI on April 6 after officials found YouTube videos of him at the Capitol, according to court documents. Morgan was recording other protestors and can be heard in the video, that was later uploaded to YouTube and other sites, encouraging protesters to enter the Capitol and fight with police, a statement of facts said. He told the FBI that he wanted to go to the Capitol "as a chameleon" because he is an "independent journalist and civil rights auditor," court documents said. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; obstruction of an official proceeding; and aiding and abetted Grady Douglas Owens and Jason Douglas Owens FBI The father and son from Blanco were arrested for allegedly attacking police officers during the riots. Grady was arrested in Florida on April 1. Body camera footage showed Owens hit a Metropolitan police officer with a skateboard as the officer was trying to push through the crowd, a statement of facts said. The officer sustained a concussion and hand injury. Footage also showed Jason shoving another officer during the altercation, the FBI said. The FBI said it pulled fight information that shows the two traveled from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. GPS tracking from their phones also put them at the Capitol, according to court documents. Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; and violent entry and disorderly conduct Christian Cortez FBI The Seabrook man was arrested on March 26 after video footage showed him squaring off with police before going inside the Capitol atrium with his former classmate Benjamin Larocca, the FBI said. Cortez was in the group of rioters who were trying to break through the metal barricades into the Capitol as police attempted to push them back, a statement of facts said. As police tried to close the doors, Cortez started advancing on the officers and yelling before he was sprayed with pepper spray and fire retardant, court documents said. When interviewed by the FBI, he initially said he was trying to help the officers and disagreed with the other protestors ramming open the doors, but retracted his statement when he was shown the video of him yelling at the officers, according to court docs. Charges: Assaulting a federal officer; civil disorder; obstructing an official proceeding; unlawfully entering a restricted building to disrupt government; and disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds Benjamin Larocca FBI The Pearland man was arrested on March 26 after video footage showed him inside the Capitol atrium with his old classmate Christian Cortez, the FBI said. Video footage posted to LaRocca's Instagram page showed him and Cortez inside the Capitol, chanting "Our house," according to the FBI. When interviewed by the FBI, LaRocca, who now lives in Pearland, said there were no police at the Capitol entrance stopping them from going inside and that they had just joined a tour group going through the Capitol, a statement of facts said. Charges: Obstructing an official proceeding; unlawfully entering a restricted building to disrupt government; and disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds Jalise and Mark Middleton FBI The Forestburg husband and wife were arrested on April 21 after allegedly assaulting Capitol police officers while trying to breach the Capitol. The Middletons were allegedly part of a group that was trying to overpower the police blockades to get into the Capitol, a statement of facts said. As the rioters pushed against police, body camera footage caught Mark grabbing an officer's wrist and trying to pull him into the crowd before Jalise started "grappling with and striking" two of the officers, the FBI said. Officials identified the couple after multiple tipsters provided videos from the Middletons' Facebook pages talking about how they were "on the front lines" and helped pushed down the barrier before getting pepper sprayed, the court docs said. When a follower asked why they fought with police, Jalise responded To get in the Capital to send them bs a clear message that this wont be tolerated, the court documents said. Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers; obstruction of law enforcement during civil disorder; obstruction of Justice/Congress; knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry and disorderly conduct Elizabeth Rose Williams FBI The life coach from Kerrville was arrested on March 23 after tipsters identified her and a man from photos on social media that show them inside the Capitol Crypt and in the gallery of the Senate Chamber during the riot, the FBI said. On social media, Williams describes herself as a life coach, natural health enthusiast and musician. Her blog, "Life with Rose," has since been deleted. The FBI said the man she was with frequently posted on social media about QAnon conspiracy theories on his Facebook and Parler accounts. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of government business or official functions; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds David Judd FBI The FBI is accusing the Dallas man of pushing officers and throwing lit objects at them during the riots. He was arrested March 26. Judd was allegedly a part of the group of rioters who were involved in an "intense and prolonged clash between protesters and law enforcement" at the Lower West Terrace, a statement of facts said. As the group of rioters was pushing the officers, cell phone footage captured Judd yelling "ready, heave" and later yelling at the crowd to pass back riot shields that had been stolen from the officers in order to make a "shield wall," the FBI said. Soon after, footage shows Judd lighting something on fire and throwing it toward the line of officers before turning and walking out of the tunnel, officials said. According to the FBI, Judd spent over an hour near the tunnel, encouraging people to enter the Lower West Terrace tunnel. Officials said they identified Judd after a witness showed FBI agents an ad Judd posted on social media asking for a ride to the rally. Charges: Assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees; and civil disorder Kevin Blakely FBI FBI officials said the McKinney man's phone pinged him inside the Capitol building during the time of the riot. He was arrested March 23. In a photo on his Facebook page, Blakely was wearing the same Figueroa Mountain Brewery sweatshirt that he was seen wearing in Capitol surveillance footage, a statement of facts said. He was also seen in Instagram and video footage taken by others at the Capitol, the FBI said. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; knowingly engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in any restricted building or grounds; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. Richard Franklin Barnard and Jeffrey Shane Witcher FBI The two Marine veterans from Austin were arrested on Feb. 25 after Witcher admitted to FBI agents that he and Barnard went into the Capitol to "take part in civil disobedience which he felt was necessary," the FBI said. A tipster told the FBI that Witcher sent them videos from inside the Capitol. Witcher, however, deleted the footage before he was interviewed by authorities, a statement of facts said. He told authorities he "saw what was happening on the news and felt the videos would be self-incriminating" but insisted he wasn't destroying evidence. According to the FBI, agents were able to retrieve the videos from Witcher's iCloud account that show him and Barnard inside the Capitol, chanting "our house" and telling officers "Don't forget your oath! You are us!" While inside, Barnard and two others attempted to shield police with their bodies as others shoved the officers, the FBI said. Charges: Obstruction of an official proceeding; entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building Joseph Barnes FBI The Austin man was arrested on Feb. 10 after multiple witnesses told authorities they saw Barnes in the TV coverage of the riot. In the footage, Barnes could be heard saying "This is our house! This is our country!" a statement of facts said. While attempting to identify Barnes, authorities said they found a Facebook page titled "Joseph Barnes Art" that showed him standing in front of artwork, pointing an assault-style rifle at the camera with a caption that said A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. Barnes is the vice president of an Austin-based real estate company. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; obstruction of Justice/Congress; and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Luke Coffee FBI The Dallas man was arrested Feb. 25 after he was seen on video and in photos hitting Capitol police officers with a crutch during the riot, the FBI said. Officials said Coffee was captured in videos in the Lower Terrace steps around the time several Metropolitan police offers were injured in violent confrontations with rioters, a statement of facts said. Coffee grabbed a crutch nearby, held it in the air while approaching the police line and then used it to push into the officers, according to the FBI. Officers were able to push Coffee off of them before he charged at them again with the crutch, the FBI said. Coffee was identified after a former college classmate, who happens to be a Special Agent with the FBI, recognized him, a statement of facts said. Authorities said they also have screenshots of Coffee's social media posts wearing the same brown cowboy hat and camouflage jacket he was seen wearing inside the Capitol. Charges: Assault of federal law enforcement officer with dangerous weapon; interference with law enforcement officer during civil disorder; obstruction of an official proceeding; unlawful entry on restricted grounds; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Wilmar Jeovanny Montano Alvarado FBI The Houston man was arrested Jan. 26 after he admitted to a Houston news station that he participated in the riots, according to the FBI. He told the reporter that he was at the edge of the Capitol building barricade when people started pushing past it so he "joined in." However, a video later posted on YouTube showed Alvarado battling with police at the entrance of the building, a statement of facts said. He was hit multiple times by a police baton and pepper sprayed as well as being hit by a speaker thrown by someone in the crowd, the FBI said. Charges: Restricted building or grounds; violent entry or disorderly conduct; civil disorders; assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers of employees; and obstruction of official proceedings Treniss Jewell Evans III The Canyon Lake man was arrested after a tipster told the FBI that Evans was allegedly taking shots of Fireball inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office during the Capitol riot, the FBI said. A friend of the Evans family told the FBI that Evans had taken videos on his cell phone at the Capitol. Surveillance footage later showed Evans entering the Capitol through a broken window and staying inside for about 20 minutes, the Express-News reported. Charges: Obstruction of an official proceeding; unlawfully entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; violent entry or disorderly conduct. Katherine Staveley Schwab FBI The Colleyville real estate agent was arrested on Feb. 2 after surveillance footage showed Schwab in the crowd inside the Capitol, according to the FBI. According to a statement of facts, Schwab flew on a private plane from Denton to Washington, D.C., with Jason Hyland and Jenna Ryan, both of whom have also been arrested in connection with the riot. On Facebook, Schwab described what it was like inside the Capitol and said rioters only "raised hell" once Capitol police shot and killed a woman, according to the FBI. When the FBI interviewed her, she said that, because of her "small stature," she was pushed into the Capitol by the crowds. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Jason Lee Hyland FBI The 37-year-old Colleyville man was arrested on Feb. 2 after surveillance footage showed Hyland inside the Capitol, the FBI said. According to a statement of facts, Hyland flew a private plane from Denton to Washington, D.C., with Katherine Staveley Schwab and Jenna Ryan, both of whom have also been arrested in connection with the riot. Hyland told investigators, he asked a Capitol police officer if he could go inside the building and the officer replied "everyone else is," the FBI said. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Daniel Goodwyn FBI A self-proclaimed member of the Proud Boys from Cornith was arrested on Jan. 29 after appearing on another suspect's livestream video, according to a criminal complaint Officials said Goodwyn can be seen and is called by name in a video taken by Anthime Joseph Gionet, also known as "Baked Alaska." Gionet has also been arrested on charges stemming from the Capitol riots. Goodwyn was escorted out of the Capitol, calling the officer who escorted him out an oathbreaker and yelled for rioters to take the officers badge number as he left, the criminal complaint said. On Instagram, Goodwyn said he was inside the Capitol but only stayed for a few minutes and didn't break anything. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Nolan Cooke FBI The 22-year-old man from Savoy was arrested on Jan. 21 after three people informed the FBI about Snapchat photos that showed Cooke "helped lead the charge of rioters breaking through the police gates," officials said. Cooke recorded the incident on a GoPro around his neck before posting video to Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, an arrest affidavit said. He also posted photos of himself and an unnamed girlfriend with the caption I wouldnt want anyone other than you with me to take on the revolution," the affidavit said. He told officials that he went to the Capitol because he wanted to be heard, according to the affidavit. Charges: Acts during civil disorder; entering/remaining on restricted buildings or grounds and disorderly/ disruptive conduct in or near restricted buildings or grounds; unlawful activities on Capitol grounds Tam Dinh Pham FBI Pham, a Houston police officer, was arrested on Jan. 20 after telling FBI agents that he only went into the Capitol to "see history," not to vandalize or be violent, according to a statement of facts. The 18-year veteran initially told officials that he went to Washington D.C. for business reasons. When officials asked to look through his phone, they found deleted photos and videos of him inside the Capitol, the court documents said. He told officials he only looked at the art in the Capitol, took some photographs and left after 15 minutes, according to the court documents. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Joshua Loller FBI The Spring man was arrested on Jan. 15 after a tipster showed police photos and video from Loller's Facebook account of him inside the Capitol confronting Metropolitan police officers, a statement of facts said. An officer's body camera footage also shows Loller on the front lines fighting with police to enter the Capitol, according to the court documents. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds; obstructing or impeding law enforcement officer during civil disorder and obstructing federally protected functions Christopher Ray Grider FBI The Bruceville-Eddy man and owner of Kissing Tree Vineyards was arrested Jan. 21 in Austin after telling a Waco TV station that he was in the Capitol during the riots. He told reporters that he was within feet of Ashli Babbitt, the woman was who killed by Capitol police outside the House chambers, an arrest affidavit said. During his TV interview, Grider said "The president asked people to come and show their support. I feel like it's the least we can do, it's kind of why I came from central Texas all the way to D.C." Officials also believe Grider handed a man a black helmet that was then used to break the glass doors of the Capitol in which Babbitt eventually attempted to jump through. Video footage shows Grider trying to push and kick the doors open, the affidavit said. He was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service and taken to Washington D.C. for arraignment. Charges: Government property or contracts; knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Chance Anthony Uptmore and James "Sonny" Uptmore FBI The San Antonio father and son were arrested Jan. 26 after a tipster told the FBI about comments and photos on Chance's Facebook page detailing his time inside the Capitol. Chance had posted that the violence was "minimal" and that he was trying to help the police stop other rioters, a criminal complaint said. Images of him inside the Capitol were captured by news coverage of the event. Chance later admitted to authorities that he and his father James entered the Capitol because they were "caught up in the crowd and it was a once in a lifetime event," according to court documents. Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and impeding or disrupting official functions; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Daniel D. Phipps FBI The Dallas-area man was arrested Jan. 26 after a witness told Fort Worth police about a photo Phipps posted on Facebook inside the Capitol with an American flag draped over his shoulder, a criminal complaint said. Under the photo, Phipps wrote a comment that he was in Washington, D.C., and "helped take the Hill." Charges: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and impeding or disrupting official functions; violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol Grounds Nicholas DeCarlo FBI The 30-year-old Burleson man was arrested on Jan. 26 after he gave an interview to the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 13 in which he admitted to being in the Capitol with another man named Nicholas Ochs, who has also been arrested by the FBI, a statement of facts said. DeCarlo said the two men were working as journalists but neither are listed as a credentialed reporter with the House or Senate Periodical Press Gallery. In a photo from Jan. 6, DeCarlo is wearing a shirt that says "Murder the Media," standing next to the same message etched into a Capitol wall, court documents said. According to court documents, photos were posted to Twitter that showed him smoking in the Capitol with Ochs. Additional videos were posted on Twitter of Ochs and Decarlo speaking about how they were able to "stop the steal" by storming the Capitol, the FBI said. Charges: Obstructing or impeding any official proceeding; knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds Garret Miller FBI Miller was arrested Jan. 20 after surveillance footage purportedly shows the Dallas-area man was part of the group that first stormed the U.S. Capitol, a statement of facts said. Miller also detailed his activities inside the building on social media, including a video posted to his public Twitter account and photos on Facebook with "just wanted to incriminate myself a little lol" as a caption, according to officials. Miller also made threats on Twitter, saying it was "hunting season" and called for the assassination of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, officials said. He also threatened the officer who fatally shot a rioter inside the Capitol, saying supporters should "hug his neck with a nice rope," according to officials. CHARGES: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; obstructing or impeding any official proceeding; certain acts during lawful civil disorder Matthew Carl Mazzocco FBI The 37-year-old San Antonio man was arrested Jan. 17 after purported videos of him at the Capitol appeared on TikTok. Multiple tipsters led officials to Mazzocco after he posted photos from the Capitol on Facebook, including in a group for a youth sports league. Twitter users also tagged the San Antonio FBI account with videos of Mazzocco inside the Capitol, where he was "telling others not to take or destroy anything, and that they were probably going to get in trouble for what they were doing," a statement of facts said. CHARGES: Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Larry Rendall Brock FBI The Grapevine man was arrested Jan. 10 after his ex-wife called the FBI to say she recognized him in a photo inside the Capitol building wearing a patch and pilot wings from his military service. A YouTube video showed a man resembling Brock's driver's license photo walking out of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office wearing a military-style helmet, body armor and holding flex-cuffs, according to the criminal complaint. CHARGES: Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Jenny Louise Cudd and Eliel Rosa FBI Cudd and Rosa were arrested Jan. 12. Officials said the two were seen on surveillance footage entering the Capitol and taking photos of the rotunda before walking around outside the upper House doors. Cudd streamed a live video and Rosa posted pictures on Facebook from inside the Capitol, the FBI said. Cudd also participated in an interview with a Texas TV station in which she described what happened, saying we the Patriots did storm the U.S. Capitol," documents said. Later, when questioned, the FBI said Rosa admitted to entering the Capitol. CHARGES: Entering a restricted building or grounds; violent entry or disorderly conduct Anthime Joseph Gionet Gionet, known as "Baked Alaska" on social media, was arrested in Houston on Jan. 15 after livestreaming his time inside the Capitol. Gionet livestreamed for 27 minutes and posted on social media sites DLive, YouTube and Twitter, documents show. CHARGES: Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Daniel Page Adams FBI Adams was arrested Jan. 16 in East Texas after posting about the riot on Facebook, the FBI said. Adams and his cousin Cody Page Carter Connell posted video on social media showing them pushing toward a line of Capital police officers and Adams "physically engaging with officers," documents show. Adams was clubbed and shot with rubber bullets, the FBI said. CHARGES: Assaulting a federal officer; obstructing law enforcement engaged in official duties; incident to civil disorder; knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Alex Kirk Harkrider and Ryan Nichols FBI Harkrider, 30, of Converse and Nichols, 32, of Longview were identified by friends on Facebook. Witnesses shared photos and videos from Nichols' Facebook page and Snapchat account that showed the two inside the Capitol. One photo depicts them standing in front of smashed windows at Pelosi's office, a criminal complaint said. Nichols was carrying a can of pepper spray and a crowbar while Harkrider carried a baton, the FBI said. Nichols also pepper-sprayed law enforcement, according to the FBI. They were arrested Jan. 18 in East Texas. CHARGES: Conspiracy and unlawful entry with a dangerous weapon; violent entry or disorderly conduct; assaulting a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon; aiding and abetting Guy Wesley Reffitt FBI Video from Reuters and Fox News show the Wylie resident being pepper sprayed by police. According to an arrest affidavit, Reffitt's son told officials he took his gun to the Capitol to "protect the country." His son also told officials that Reffitt said he "would have no option but to do what he had to do" and threatened to shoot his family if they turned him into the authorities, the FBI said. He was arrested Jan. 18. CHARGES: Entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds; obstruction of justice Troy Anthony Smocks Smocks posted on the social media platform Parler that he would be at the Capitol and planned on returning Jan. 19 with far-right groups that would "come in numbers that no standing army or police agency can match," FBI documents show. According to the FBI, Smocks also told his social media followers they needed to "hunt theses cowards down like the traitors that each of them are." He also said to target certain groups, including democrats. He was arrested Jan. 15. CHARGES: Threats in interstate commerce Jenna Ryan FBI The Frisco real estate agent, who took a private plane to Washington, D.C., was arrested Jan. 15 after livestreaming herself at the Capitol calling it the "best day of her life," the FBI said. One video posted before the riots, Ryan is talking to a bathroom mirror saying "We're going to go down and storm the Capitol. They're down there right now and that's why we came and so that's what we are going to do. So wish me luck," a statement of facts said. Later, as she was inside the Capitol, she said "Y'all know who to hire for your realtor, Jenna Ryan for your realtor," the court documents said. After her arrest, she asked Trump to pardon her, CBS11 reported. She told the news station "I dont feel a sense of shame or guilty from my heart. I feel like I was basically following my president." CHARGES: Knowingly entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds without lawful authority; disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for ExpressNews.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Showers early, then clearing overnight. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers early, then clearing overnight. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. A storm moving across Illinois is a reminder to make safety a priority in the winter, according to the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. Snow was expected to fall across west-central Illinois into this evening, with accumulations of 1 to 2 inches possible south of Rushville and more to the north. There is a possibility of another round of snow and some ice this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Latest issue of SAMUDRA Report published, available for free download January 27,2021 | Source: ICSF | Alert Type(s): Samudra Exclusive The International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) has just published the latest issue of SAMUDRA Report, its triannual journal on fisheries, communities and livelohoods. The current edition, SAMUDRA Report No. 84, dated December 2020, features a range of articles from countries around the world like Peru, Kiribati, Belize, France, the Philippines, Brazil, Ghana, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The issue also carries articles that discuss small-scale fisheries (SSF) and the SSF Guidelines, the ocean economy, tourism and labour rights, among other topics. The editorial Comment in SAMUDRA Report No. 84 discusses the FAO-SSF Umbrella Programme that offers a platform to provide direction for the formulation of small-scale fisheries policies, strategies and legislation in many developing countries. The article from India reports on a first-of-its-kind survey in coastal Andhra Pradesh that reveals the peculiar vulnerabilities and demands of migrant fishworkers. Small-scale fishworkers face many challenges in Peru, says another article, but the government pays little attention to the informal and uncontrolled sector. The piece from Kiribati points out that vulnerability to climate change has forced the Pacific republic to build resilience through community approaches to fisheries management. A study of three fishing communities in Belize, according to another report, shows that only with empowerment can women occupy positions of power in fisheries cooperatives. The article from France reports that confronted with plans for an offshore wind farm, the fishers of the Bay of Saint Brieuc are clamouring for their rights to be respected and guaranteed. Another article announces the creation of a new virtual platform for knowledge sharing and engagement that collates experiences and stories from small-scale fishery actors around the world. From the Philippines comes a piece which argues that coastal communities cannot transition from fishing to tourism when land tenure rights are weak. The creation of an inclusive, equitable and sustainable ocean economy calls for bold political and social leadership, based on a holistic relationship with our ocean planet. Also reproduced is a statement from 16 small-scale organizations, titled Call to the European Commission, which calls for an inclusive oceans strategy to secure sustainable fishing communities. The article from Brazil reports on a seminar that discussed how the SSF Guidelines can help improve the management of a fish species in the Amazon rainforest territory, while that from Ghana argues that the implementation of the Guidelines should be based on human-rights principles and standards, factoring in local conditions. The piece from Myanmar points to a planned national network that will share information and knowledge on the SSF Guidelines to a wider audience of fishery-related stakeholders. The plight of fishworkers on board vessels engaged in commercial fishing operations in the Philippines calls for regulating their conditions of work and providing protection benefits, says another article. The article from Sri Lanka points out that incorporating the SSF Guidelines into the national fisheries policy requires several rounds of engagement with state and community stakeholders. Some valuable lessonsa replicable modelon protection of aquatic resources and small-scale fisheries are offered in the article from Vietnam. The current issue also carries two obituaries on (i) T Peter, an Indian activist and organizer, and (ii) Jeremy Herklots, a pathbreaking technologist and boatbuilder. The Roundup section of SAMUDRA Report No. 84 carries news snippets, event announcements, briefings on fishery-related matters, and more. SAMUDRA Report No. 84 can be accessed at: https://www.icsf.net/en/samudra/article/EN/84.html?limitstart=0 ICSF is an international NGO that works towards the establishment of equitable, gender-just,self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector. For more, please visit www.icsf.net 2021 ICSF Theme(s): Others. Biden Chief of Staff Offers Support for Teachers Unions Refusing to Reopen Schools President Joe Bidens chief of staff on Tuesday backed teachers unions that are refusing to return to schools for in-person learning, contradicting studies that show little CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus transmission is taking place inside schools. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials have repeatedly said its safe to reopen schools. Former Director Robert Redfield said last year schools never should have shut down. Officials said Tuesday in a journal article that there has been little evidence that schools have contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission of the virus, which causes COVID-19. But teachers unions across the United States are refusing to resume in-person learning, claiming teachers would be in danger. In the most high-profile case, the Chicago Teachers Union is battling with the city of Chicago, which attempted to resume in-person classes on Monday. The union claims conditions arent right and in a blog post on Tuesday, urged its members to work from home on Wednesday. If the city retaliates, it said, a strike will be held. Biden campaigned on dealing with the CCP virus pandemic. He vowed to spearhead the reopening of schools. Asked why so many public schools remain closed, his chief of staff Ron Klain said it was a funding issue. Teachers Adrienne Thomas (L) and Irene Barrera set up their computers and materials for their virtual classes outside of Suder Montessori Magnet Elementary School in solidarity with pre-K educators forced back into the building in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 11, 2021. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP Thats why the president of the United States sent a plan to Congress even before he took office to make the investments you need to make the schools safe, Klain said during an appearance on CNNs Erin Burnett OutFront, referring to Bidens $1.9 trillion proposal that includes a number of measures such as a minimum wage hike. Biden, in remarks at the White House on Tuesday, called for Congress to pass the proposal to help schools and businesses reopen. A study published Tuesday showed few CCP virus outbreaks related to classroom settings being seen in rural schools in Wisconsin that reopened. But those schools received sizable grants that enabled them to set small classroom sizes and implement other safety measures, Klain argued. In other states, we havent seen those kinds of investments. President Biden has sent a plan to Congress that will make sure that the majority of our schools can be reopened in 100 days. We need Congress to pass that plan so that we can do the kind of things you need to do so that the schools can be safe, so the students can be safe, so the teachers can be safe. Sadly, it costs money, Klain said. When the host pushed back and pointed to Chicago, asking why the union seemed to be going against what studies show, he added: I dont think that teachers unions are overruling studies. I think that what youre seeing [is] that schools havent made the investments to keep the students safe. I mean, again, the Wisconsin study were classrooms of 12 on average. So that requires a lot more classrooms, a lot more teachers, or, you know, other kinds of arrangements to get them small, podding students very carefully. So we need to do the things to open safely. Most of the teachers I talk to, they want to be back in the classroom. They just want to know that its safe and we as a country should make the investments to make it safe, Klain added. At least 28,044 Crimean residents have been called up for "service" in the Russian army since the beginning of the occupation. Russian occupation authorities in Crimea last year opened 81 criminal cases targeting local residents evading conscription to the Russian army. That's according to an analyst with the Crimean Human Rights Group (CHRG), Oleksandr Siedov, an UNIAN correspondent reports. According to the CHRG, at least 28,044 Crimean residents have been called up for "service" in the Russian army since the beginning of the occupation, Siedov told a Kyiv press conference on Wednesday. Read alsoReintegration ministry drafts concept for promoting Crimean Tatar languageIn particular, at least 6,300 men were drafted in 2020. Siedov noted last year, occupation authorities opened the largest number of criminal cases under the article on evasion of service, namely 81. At the same time, 35 such cases were opened in 2019, 38 in 2018, nine in 2017, and none in 2016 and 2015. The human rights activist reiterated that both the conscription into the occupying power's army and persecution of such draft dodgers is a crime from the international humanitarian law perspective. Reporting by UNIAN Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Police in Chau Thanh District, located in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, on Tuesday said that they had broken up a place illegally trafficking drugs and arrested at least six people. Drug-related crime scouts of Chau Thanh Districts police unit caught Nguyen Thanh Yen, 24, living in Tan An City of Long An Province in the Mekong Delta region, possessing a plastic bag containing narcotics at 6:30 pm on Monday. From the details given by Yen, police officers made an urgent search of the residence of Nguyen Thi Nhieu, 61, in Tan Ly Tay Commune, Chau Thanh District, where they were able to seize 523 plastic bags containing white crystals that are suspected to be methamphetamine, a precision scale, six cellphones, a cash amount of VND31 million (US$1,340), and several related items used for drug distribution, sale, and use. Police also confiscated one large package and six plastic bags containing white crystals that are suspected to be methamphetamine, one precision scale, some homemade drug and weapon tools in the room of Phan Minh Hung, Nhieus 32-year-old son. Plastic packs of crystal meth are pictured at Nguyen Thi Nhieus house in Tan Ly Tay Commune, Chau Thanh District, Tien Giang Province, Vietnam, January 25, 2021. Photo: Le Hoai / Tuoi Tre Authorities detained Tran Thanh Tien, 32, living in Tan Binh Thanh Commune, Tien Giang Provinces Cho Gao District, Nguyen Ngoc Sang, 29, residing in Tan Ly Tay Commune, Chau Thanh District, and Dao Trung Tin, 22, from Tan Ly Dong Commune, Chau Thanh District at Nhieus house. At the police station, Nhieu admitted to trafficking narcotics and that the white crystals in the aforementioned bags were methamphetamine. According to Nhieu, she and her son purchased narcotics from Ho Chi Minh City to resell in Tien Giang. This is the largest drug trafficking point in Tien Giang that police have destroyed so far, according to local police. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! United Nations: US President Joe Biden's administration announced Tuesday it was restoring relations with the Palestinians and renewing aid to Palestinian refugees, a reversal of the Trump administration's cutoff and a key element of its new support for a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians. Acting U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills made the announcement of Biden's new approach to a high-level Security Council meeting, saying the new U.S. administration believes this remains the best way to ensure Israel's future as a democratic and Jewish state and the Palestinians' legitimate aspirations for a state of their own and to live with dignity and security. In order to advance these objectives the Biden administration will restore credible U.S. engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis, Mills said. This will involve renewing U.S. relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people, he said. President Biden has been clear that he intends to restore U.S. assistance programs that support economic development programs and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, and to take steps to reopen diplomatic relations that were closed by the last U.S. administration,. Mills added. He said the United States hopes to start working to slowly build confidence on both sides to create an environment to reach a two-state solution. To pursue this goal, Mills said, the United States will urge Israel's government and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that make a two-state solution more difficult, such as annexation of territory, settlement activity, demolitions and providing compensation for individuals in prison for acts of terrorism. Luckily Vincent, 89, was released in time to surprise Mary on her 90th birthday Operation meant they spent first Christmas apart in 66 years of marriage A grandfather reduced his wife to tears by surprising her on her 90th birthday after he was released from hospital. Heartwarming footage shows the moment Vincent and Mary O'Brien were reunited at their home in Dublin, Ireland. The couple have been married for 66 years and have never spent a Christmas apart. But in early December, Vincent, 89, had to go into Mater Hospital in the Irish capital because of complications from gallstones. Heartwarming footage shows the moment Vincent and Mary O'Brien were reunited at their home in Dublin, Ireland on her 90th birthday Ellen Murphy, one of the couple's grandchildren, said that her grandfather's time in hospital was difficult for Mary who suffers from dementia and doesn't know how to use a smartphone. Because tests were taking longer than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic, the couple could not be together for Christmas, and no one was allowed to visit Vincent in hospital. The family eventually received a call from the hospital on December 30 informing them that Vincent could be picked up immediately. They decided to surprise Mary, who hadn't been told of her husband's discharge, by bringing him home on her 90th birthday. The family eventually received a call on December 30 to say Vincent could be picked up, but decided to surprise Mary by bringing him home on her 90th birthday Her beautiful reaction has since gone viral after being viewed more than 2.5 million times on Tiktok. 'I had to turn the notifications off on my phone as the numbers just kept going up, we couldn't believe it,' Murphy told IrishCentral. 'We tried to make the day as special as we could so various family members went down with balloons and presents and left them at the hall door.' Vincent has his 90th birthday in May, and the family are planning a big celebration if lockdown restrictions have been lifted. Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday afternoon met with the newly-appointed military Chiefs, charging them to be patriotic and serve the country well Death Row Records Founder and Former Drug Kingpin Thanks Trump for Pardon An American hip-hop label co-founder and ex-drug kingpin thanked former President Donald Trump for granting him clemency last week after being imprisoned for 30 years. Michael Harry O Harris made the comment during his first interview since Trump commuted the Death Row Records co-founders 25 years to life sentence after being convicted in 1988 for drug trafficking and attempted first-degree murder. I appreciate Donald Trump, his children, his son-in-law, the 59-year-old said during an interview with DailyMailTV, referring to the Trump family and likely Ivanka Trumps husband, Jared Kushner, who served as the former presidents White House adviser. Whyever he did it, he did it, when so many others wouldnt do it, he added. Michael Harry O Harris pictured in a mug shot from the California State Prison. (Courtesy of California State Prison) Harris said he tried to ask for clemency from former President Barack Obama, but it never happened on his watch. He told the network it went through many bureaucratic loopholes, adding that he believes it never reached the 44th presidents desk. Snoop Dogg, a U.S. rapper who was previously signed with the infamous record label, lobbied for his friends release throughout the years. The 49-year-old rapper also thanked Trump and his team for their work. Thats great work for the president and his team, the rapper told the New York Post. They did some great work while they was in there and they did some great work on their way out. Let them know that I love what they did. Donald Trump and rapper Snoop Dogg perform onstage at the Comedy Central Roast Of Donald Trump at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, on March 9, 2011. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) Harris, a South Central Los Angeles native, began selling drugs when he was around the age of 20. He later expanded his network to multiple states in the United States including Florida, New York, Texas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, and Arizona. It was an awestruck moment, Harris told the network, describing the moment of his release. Im riding in the car with my folks and we coming back from the prison. I just had a [peace] of mind and I said I dont feel it. They said what? I said I dont feel what I just left.' That does not mean I didnt get the insight from the 33 years, the wisdom, he added. But for that moment I felt like I had never been in prison. Thats how powerful freedom is. I have a second chance to make different choices. In the final hours of his presidency, Trump granted over 70 presidential pardons and commutations that included former White House chief strategist and ex-Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon, as well as rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and former Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy. Individuals not on the list of pardons and commutationsbut were frequently discussed on social media prior to the White House announcementinclude WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former CIA employee and whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Joe Exotic, a former zoo operator who was convicted on charges of animal abuse and an attempted murder-for-hire plot. Mimi Nguyen Ly contributed to this report. From NTD News Two Florida women have been arrested on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer after livestreaming themselves pulling over a car and yelling profanities at its occupants while pretending to be cops. According to the Sarasota Police Department, at around 1am on Sunday officers were responding to a report of a colleague in distress, when they came upon Jymieka McDowell, 28, and Ryshawnna Poole, 39, who they said had illegally pulled over a car near Cocoanut and Drive and Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Police wrote in a press release that the vehicle the two women were in was equipped with red and blue lights in the windshield, and a siren. Police in Sarasota, Florida, on Sunday arrested two women who they say livestreamed themselves pretending to be cops and pulling over a vehicle (screenshots from the video) Jymieka McDowell, 28, and Ryshawnna Poole, 39, are heard in the video laughing while shouting profanities at the occupants of an SUV and ordering them to get out Poole, who was riding as a passenger in McDowells car, livestreamed the bogus traffic stop on Facebook Live, where it has been viewed more than 10,000 times as of Wednesday. In the video, McDowell and Poole were claiming to be law enforcement officers, made threatening and derogatory statements to the driver and passengers of a vehicle they had stopped, police stated. The victims in the vehicle that had stopped do not know McDowell or Poole. The Facebook Live video shows red and blue lights flashing and the siren blaring. McDowell and Poole are heard yelling at the occupants of the other car, driver, exit the vehicle, throw your keys out the car. All the while, the duo are convulsing with laughter. The women continue yelling out profanity-filled commands, including put your f***ing hands up, driver, I need everyone to exit the f***ing car, do not make a move. and anybody move and I will shoot. McDowell (left) and Poole (right) have been charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer and false imprisonment At the urging of her companion, one of the suspects screams: black lives dont f***ing matter to me. They carry on in this fashion, threatening to shoot the occupants of the car, before the black SUV drives away. McDowell and Poole pursue the vehicle and activate the lights and siren, before it pulls over in someones driveway. One of the woman presciently warns the other: these people will call the police for real. More cackling and swearing follows, before some of the SUVs occupants exit the vehicle holding their cellphones and ducking behind the rear bumper. Concerned that the people might be armed, McDowell and Poole take off. Detectives believe it was not the first time that the pair have impersonated cops. McDowell and Poole also each face unrelated charged stemming from previous incidents Real police officers who responded to the scene were able to make contact with McDowell and Poole and arrest them. The pair were booked into the county jail on charges of impersonating a law enforcement officer and false imprisonment, as well as unrelated counts of petit theft for McDowell, and a probation violation for Poole stemming from a larceny case. According to police, detectives have reason to believe that it was not the first time McDowell and Poole have impersonated cops and are asking any other potential victims to come forward. This wasnt Sarasota Police officers pulling over a car, said Sarasota Police Chief Bernadette DiPino. These were people who were pretending to be law enforcement officers and putting fear into innocent victims and residents of our community. Sarasota police are asking anyone who was stopped by the duo to call the Sarasota Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at 941-263-6070. China has been slammed for hypocrisy after its President Xi Jinping declared 'strong nations should not bully the weak'. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg lashed out at the communist state and vowed to take it to task on human rights abuses and the draconian crackdown on trade with Australia. The Chinese president made the statement at the World Economic Forum this week, taking a thinly veiled swipe at western nations who demanded an investigation into the origins of coronavirus. But Treasurer Frydenberg questioned whether China was following the same rules. Xi Jinping told the conference 'decisions should not be made by simply showing off strong muscles or waving a big fist... Strong should not bully the week.' In response, Mr Frydenberg said: 'There seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the words and the actions,' The Daily Telegraph reported. China has accused Australia of a litany of unfounded offences and imposed punitive tariffs, as the trade war between the nations continues (pictured, a Chinese military parade) Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has stirred tensions between Australia and China after President Xi Jinping urged 'strong nations' not to bully the weak 'The reality is Australia has been on the receiving end of some pretty harsh actions when it comes to trade, but we won't compromise on the national interests (or) on our values.' Mr Frydenberg was also quick to confirm Australia would not consider backing down on any of the grievances China raised late last year. China released a dossier outlining 14 grievances with the government after Mr Frydenberg attempted to cool escalating tensions between the nations. The dossier was handed to Nine Newspapers by the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, containing accusations ranging from 'racist attacks against Asian people' to siding with the 'United States' anti-China campaign'. 'China is angry. If you make China the enemy, China will be the enemy,' a Chinese government official said in a briefing with a reporter. The Chinese president made the statement at the World Economic Forum this week, taking a thinly veiled swipe at western nations who demanded an investigation into the origins of coronavirus. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping last year The dossier of grievances claimed Australia was interfering with China's affairs in Taiwan and Hong Kong and condemned Scott Morrison for seeking an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19. Mr Morrison was among the first world leaders to propose an investigation into the origins of coronavirus, which was identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year. China hit back with a series of crippling tariffs on Australian imports, in what some spectators say is an attempt to punish the nation. This includes an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley and the suspension of beef imports from major suppliers, as well as telling students and tourists not to travel Down Under. Recently coal and seafood exports have been held up at Chinese ports, despite the two countries signing a free trade deal in 2015. Xi Jinping also took aim at other nations, and appeared to present a thinly veiled warning to incoming American president Joe Biden, warning him against following the Trump administration's strong stance against China Recently coal and seafood exports have been held up at Chinese ports, despite the two countries signing a free trade deal in 2015 Among the other grievances was Australia's decision to ban Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from the country's 5G network and blocking foreign investment bids by Chinese companies. Mr Frydenberg this week said Australia's stance on the matters was 'non-negotiable' and that the nation and elected leaders would continue shining a light on matters it felt were important. 'A politician elected democratically into the Parliament should have the right to speak as they see fit,' he said. 'The fact that we are taking decisions on foreign investment that are very much in our national interest. China has slapped huge tariffs on numerous Australian products, including suspending beef imports from major supplies (pictured, Aussie beef on sale in Beijing before the suspension) 'And of course, on human rights, we'll continue to speak out where there are injustices as we've done in the past.' Xi Jinping also took aim at other nations, and appeared to present a thinly veiled warning to incoming American president Joe Biden, warning him against following the Trump administration's strong stance against China. 'To build small circles or start a new Cold War, to reject, threaten or intimidate others, to wilfully impose decoupling, supply disruption or sanctions, and to create isolation or estrangement will only push the world into division and even confrontation,' Mr Xi said. Chinese state controlled media frequently claims that Australia is subservient to the US, which is locked in strategic competition with China. Recently coal and seafood exports have been held up at Chinese ports, despite the two countries signing a free trade deal in 2015 Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning A new trial, led by experts from the University of Nottingham, will look at reducing the transmission of Covid-19 and its severity in care homes, thanks to funding from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The team are initially looking for up to 400 care homes to take part in the ground-breaking trial - called PROTECT. As part of the trial, researchers will test drugs that already show promise for treating Covid-19, but will use them to prevent Covid-19 instead. The team will focus on care home residents because they are at high risk from Covid-19, and although priority has been given to them for vaccination, the effectiveness of vaccines in this group has not yet been fully established. The aim is to reduce the number and severity of Covid-19 cases in those homes. The UK has more than 21,000 care homes looking after 420,000 residents, many of whom have dementia or physical care needs. Up to half of all Covid19 deaths in the UK have occurred in care homes. If PROTECT can identify an effective drug to reduce the severity of Covid-19, and the likelihood of transmission, then this, alongside other measures, could help enable a return to a more normal life for care home residents and their families, including more liberal visiting policies. The lead researcher, Professor Philip Bath from the University of Nottingham said: "Apart from vaccines, there are no drugs for preventing serious Covid-19 and we believe that the PROTECT trial has a good chance of finding one or more drugs that might reduce the awful death rates seen in care homes." The trial will have a "platform" structure like the RECOVERY trial, which has rapidly evaluated candidate treatments for Covid-19. However, PROTECT will randomise care homes (rather than individual residents) to one of up to three drugs or no additional treatment, in a cluster randomised controlled design. This design allows several drugs to be tested in parallel and then for new drugs to be added once the first candidates have been shown to be beneficial or have no useful effect. Treatment will be given alongside the ongoing vaccination programme. The trial will be coordinated from the University of Nottingham working with colleagues from the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, Cardiff, Surrey and Warwick and Queen's University Belfast and University College London. Professor Adam Gordon, President-Elect of the British Geriatrics Society and co-chief investigator at the University of Nottingham said: "Having worked closely with care homes throughout the pandemic, I have seen how hard it has been for residents, their families and staff to deal with the high rates of illnesses and deaths, and the associated loss of routine, including visiting. The announcement of PROTECT is an important step towards finding preventative treatments that might help restore normality. The agents investigated may have important protective effects in future virus outbreaks, even after the pandemic has passed." Vic Rayner, Executive Director of the National Care Forum, said: "This trial is hugely important on so many levels. Firstly, it will enable detailed research with the intention of identifying lifesaving interventions that could prevent some of our most vulnerable citizens from contracting Covid-19. And secondly, because it recognises that those living within care homes continue to have a vital contribution to make towards society, and prioritises medical research which puts their health and wellbeing front and centre of scientific considerations." Minister for Innovation Lord Bethell said: "Vulnerable care homes residents have been disproportionately impacted by this virus and we are working tirelessly to find effective ways of protecting those most at risk." "This is a very promising development for the UK and I actively urge as many care homes as possible to get involved with this trial, which the government is backing through the National Institute for Health Research. Together, we can play a part in helping to ensure the most vulnerable in our society are given every possible form of defence against the virus." ### Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. At a news conference Tuesday, Lightfoot addressed teachers directly, saying: Of course we want you to be safe. Of course we take your health and safety incredibly seriously, and we have built a plan to make sure you can get the vaccine. But you need to work with us, you need to talk to your leadership, because we cant get there unless we get there together. (Natural News) The city of Seattle has suddenly adopted a new law and order approach to city governance following the installment of Joe Biden into the White House. Rather than continue to let the city be burned to the ground by violent Antifa terrorists, which was pretty much the norm during Donald Trumps entire first term, Seattle is all of a sudden planning to crack down on crime now that a new regime has taken hold. In what is clearly a politically motivated attempt to manufacture empathy and decency, which leftists promised would return under Biden, Seattle officials are developing a new scheme that aims to clean up the city and make it nice again. Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz announced that his department is coordinating with the city attorney to enact what The Post Millennials Ian Miles Cheong describes as a strict new policy to arrest and prosecute protesters who destroy property during street demonstrations. Set to take effect on Jan. 30, just 10 days after Bidens installment, Diazs new policy is to prosecute anyone who is observed destroying property or otherwise committing a crime. In a speech, Diaz claimed that he has been wanting to crack down on violent militants for months, but that nothing was done because only now, thanks to Biden, has it become clear that said militants have no real cause beyond destruction, chaos and anarchy. Theyre focused on breaking windows, and these are things we need to work on, Diaz is quoted as saying. Seattle only prosecutes crime when Democrats are in the White House A spokesperson for the police department indicated that suspects in low-level crimes were neither arrested nor booked during nearly the entirety of 2020 because of concerns about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). Said virus is still supposedly with us, however, though Biden is now in office as opposed to Trump. As a result, Seattle has decided that things need to change in order to heal the city and create the type of peace and harmony that was nonexistent there throughout the Trump years. We will be prosecuting these crimes from now on, Diaz promised. When we dont have any form of accountability for people and many of them are coming from outside the city they will continue to do that activity, and we cant have that. Not only will Seattle start prosecuting crime now that Biden is president, but it is also planning to expand its policing capacity. The inauguration of this newfound law and order policy will commence during this Saturdays planned protest in Occidental Square. The Washington State Patrol, in cooperation with federal agents, will help local law enforcement to keep things as civil as possible at this protest. They will also guard area federal buildings against invasion, as well as block protesters from storming area freeways and blocking traffic, which they are known to do on a regular basis. We would like to protect buildings from being vandalized in the first place, and dont want to cause undue conflict, Diaz says. Its safer for protesters and officers to not be drawing that line, so to speak. This sudden crackdown on crime in Seattle is further driven by the fact that vandals bashed in the windows of the local Democrat Party office following Bidens inauguration. These vandals also took to the historic downtown Starbucks location to wreak havoc and destroy property. Harassing and assaulting conservatives is no problem, of course but the moment leftists are targeted, that is where government officials draw the line. More related news stories about the politicization of law enforcement can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: ThePostMillennial.com NaturalNews.com Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 ALEPPO, Syria Iranian forces and their allied militias in Deir ez-Zor province in eastern Syria have recently carried out new redeployment and repositioning operations to limit their losses in the event of Israeli airstrikes against their sites in the area. Their action included moving to new military sites and headquarters, hiding weapons and removing flags from the roofs of military sites and barracks as well as relying more on local members to guard military sites. Some armed formations also partially withdrew from their sites, while the families of members were transferred to other areas. The biggest challenge facing the Iranian forces now is to maintain their cohesion in Deir ez-Zor and its countryside, as the violent suspected Israeli bombing that targeted their sites on Jan. 13 has pushed many members to flee their headquarters and military sites. This prompted the Iranian forces to intensify patrols in search of defectors - primarily Syrian nationals who had been working with the Iranian-backed groups - and arrest local members who did not join the military barracks after the airstrikes ended. Meanwhile, other members were accused of helping a group of officers to defect. What most worries the Iranian forces in Deir ez-Zor seems to be the increasing flow of defectors toward armed formations supported by Russia in the area, most notably the Fifth Corps, which officially announced its establishment on Nov. 22, 2016. Firas Allawi, journalist and editor-in-chief of Alsharq News Network, which monitors news in Deir ez-Zor and eastern Syria, told Al-Monitor, Dozens of members of the Iranian formations from Deir ez-Zor province left their sites after the Jan. 13 airstrikes, many of whom have chosen to join the Fifth Corps. Allawi added, The Iranian forces are intensifying patrols in search of defectors across Deir ez-Zor province to limit [defections] that worry the leadership of the Iranian forces and directly affect its influence. They have already arrested dozens of fleeing operatives and some of them have been charged with inciting their colleagues to leave the ranks of the Iranian formations. It seems that Russia will benefit from the presumed weakness that the Iranian forces are experiencing in Deir ez-Zor. The Russian-backed Fifth Corps seems to have become the go-to faction for these defectors. This may be an opportunity for Russia to expand at the expense of the Iranian forces in the strategic Deir ez-Zor province. The province is particularly important for Russia due to its proximity to the border with Iraq and its vast underground wealth, including oil. It seems that Russia had already started taking steps to expand its influence in Deir ez-Zor at the end of 2020, i.e., before the Jan. 13 airstrikes against Iranian positions in the province. Allawi noted, More airstrikes against the Iranian forces in Deir ez-Zor may weaken them and lead to their collapse because many of their local members will defect since they are not willing to die in their headquarters defending Iran. Their [the members] best option to get protection and money is the Fifth Corps. Sheikh Rami al-Doush, a member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, who is from Deir ez-Zor, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The Iranian forces and their affiliated militias in Deir ez-Zor province feel a threat that menaces their presence and influence due to the recent targeting of their sites, as well as Russia's competitive [moves] toward them. Political science researcher Mohammed Adeeb, who lives in the countryside of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, The Iranian-Russian competition in Deir ez-Zor is constantly escalating, and it is natural for Russia to take advantage of the state of weakness that Iranian forces are going through in the area after being directly targeted. Russia has also benefited from the alienation and fear of the Iranian forces and their militias among the popular circles there, which are afraid of cooperating with them or allowing their sons to join their ranks, as the popular circles in Deir ez-Zor prefer Russia over the Iranian forces. Bilal Sattouf, a political science researcher from the countryside of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, The Russian-Iranian relationship in Syria is based on competition, not conflict, and this competition is focused on attracting recruits as the two parties share overlapping areas of influence. Both sides employ several tools in managing this competition, and Russia may exploit the Israeli attacks on Iranian militias in eastern Syria to attract militia members, without this indicating a Russian desire to completely remove Iranian influence from eastern Syria. Russia is indeed trying to preserve the Iranian presence, but only in a way that serves its interests and policies. So I believe that this Russian-Iranian polarization in eastern Syria will not imply a conflict between the two sides. Obadah al-Tamer, deputy dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences at the International Sham University in the countryside of Aleppo, told Al-Monitor, Russia may wish to compete with Iran over some of its influence in Syria for its own interests or for reasons related to the [policies] of the new US administration. During the meetings between [former US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov] in 2016, Russia was given the green light [to expand its actions] in Syria, with US consent. This meeting was followed by a series of events aiming to balance the Russian role in Syria. If the Joe Biden administration adopts that same vision, Russia might try to limit the Iranian role in Syria. However, Iran may try to exploit the negotiation process over the nuclear issue to achieve gains in Syria, especially in central and eastern Syria. By Misairi Thembo Kahungu President Museveni has repeated his earlier call for reconciliation with the Opposition saying the National Resistance Movement (NRM) party has in the past incorporated that kind of arrangement. Mr Museveni, who on January 14 won a sixth elective term in office, was speaking during the 35th anniversary of the National Resistance Army (NRA) victory at State House, Entebbe, yesterday. While responding to comments made by Rt Rev Msgr Charles Kasibante, the Vicar General of Kampala Archdiocese, who led the opening prayer at yesterdays ceremony, Mr Museveni said he is ready to reconcile with anyone who fronts an ideology that is different from that of the NRM. On the issue of reconciliation which Msgr Kasibante talked aboutthat is our way to do things. That is how you find that Idi Amins son is my deputy Director of Intelligence and when you see Taban, you can see that Idi Amin is around, Mr Museveni said. Earlier in his speech, he recounted how he fought former President Amin. The President went on to list State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Henry Oryem Okello, the son to former President Tito Okello, Kibanda North MP Tampo Idi Amin, the grandson of Idi Amin, and Lands minister Betty Amongi, the daughter-in-law of Milton Obote, as fruits of reconciliation championed by NRM. So really for us, we do not have much problems (with reconciliation). We have the mouth and we use it to talk. The only thing we shall not tolerate is violence. This is the minimum. Violence, intimidation, and cheating are not allowed. Let everybody maintain peace, everything will move in a positive direction, Mr Museveni said. Uganda has just completed the Presidential elections, in which campaigns by Opposition candidates Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, of the National Unity Platform party and Forum for Democratic Change candidate Patrick Oboi Amuriat, met violence by security forces. At least 54 people were killed by security forces in November 2020 after spontaneous protests broke out as a result of the arrest of Bobi Wine. Bobi Wine, who came second in the presidential elections, was put under house arrest for nearly two weeks, until Court ordered the police and the army to vacate his private home in Magere, Wakiso District, on Monday. Advocates Fear Biden Policies Could Undo Trump-Era Protections for Religious Liberty President Joe Bidens first day in office was marked by a flurry of executive orders. Among those was an order addressing discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. It augurs measures that would expand transgender access in areas such as the locker room and school sports, but fails to mention protections on the grounds of religious belief. Bidens order earned praise from civil rights activists but for many religious liberty advocates and groups, the trajectory of the new administrations policies are presenting concerns and questions over what they could mean for the constitutionally enshrined freedom to exercise ones religion. Early indications are troubling, professor Edward A. Morse, who is a member of the board of directors of the Thomas More Society, told The Epoch Times in an email. Tumultuous days lie ahead as we wait to see how quickly protections for [religious liberty] groups won by the Trump administration will be repealed and replaced by coercive measures insensitive to their concerns, he said. Morse, who also teaches law at Creighton University, said anticipated policies in the area of health care are likely to present the greatest concerns. Not only for health care providers with religious commitments but also for patients who desire treatment from those who share their commitments and values, he said. Schools, including private and religious ones, will also be within the target zone in terms of accommodations based on gender. Clashes between the coercive power of government that prefers other interest groups over the interests of religious citizens will be inevitable. During the last four years, former President Donald Trump advanced a variety of protections to religious individuals and faith-based organizations. His tenure came at a time when religious liberty was facing challenges on many fronts. In one example, the Obama administration was forcing religious individuals such as the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Catholic order of nuns, to provide FDA-approved contraceptives in their health insurance plans or face severe penalties. After Trump took office, he issued the executive order Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty (pdf) directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other agencies to protect conscience-based objections from the mandate. The Trump administration (pdf) subsequently issued several rules (pdf) to expand religious exemptions for that health provision. This was but one of many executive actions Trump took in order to augment existing religious liberty policies and expand conscience protections. The former president also made protecting the sanctity of life, in particular unborn children, a priority by reinstating the so-called Mexico City policy, a Reagan-era rule that prohibits the United States from providing financial support to abortion centers and programs overseas. He also directed HHS to reinterpret the rules for Title X so that it prohibits the use of Title X funds to perform, promote, refer for, or support abortion as a method of family planning and requires clear financial and physical separation between Title X and non-Title X activities. Trump was also the first president to attend a pro-life rally. Then-President Donald Trump speaks at a March for Life rally, on the National Mall in Washington, on Jan. 24, 2020. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo) Meanwhile, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have taken very different policy stances on these issues, vowing to expand access to abortion and push for LGBTQ rights. Biden also vowed to enact the Equality Act during his first 100 days as president, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation, and for other purposes. Before the election, the Biden-Harris campaign signaled that they would push to codify the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortions in all 50 states. Biden promised to protect abortion as a constitutional right, and voiced his support for repealing the Hyde Amendment, which blocked federal funding from being used in abortion services. Last week, the Biden administration announced that the president will rescind the Mexico City policy. During his campaign, the president also vowed to restore funding for Planned Parenthood. While campaigning, President Biden promised that his administration will seek to roll back many of the religious liberty protections the Trump administration advanced, Mike Berry, general counsel at First Liberty Institute, told The Epoch Times via email. We anticipate a much more hostile and intrusive government than we experienced during the past four years. He added that the religious community can anticipate Biden, who was President Barack Obamas vice president, would again attempt to disregard Little Sisterss and other groups beliefs on life, marriage, and human sexuality. Matt Sharp, senior counsel and state government relations national director at the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), also raised concerns over Bidens plan to restore the Obama-Biden contraception mandate that brought significant challenges to the Little Sisters. This mandate lost in court when the Supreme Court rightfully acknowledged that the administration was infringing on peoples freedom and beliefs. This is a settled issue and any attempt by the Biden administration to restore this mandate will force the president to litigate a battle he already lost, Sharp told The Epoch Times via email. Everyone should be free to live and work according to their beliefs and this administration should respect that. Bidens Order on Sex Discrimination Bidens recent executive order enshrines the 2020 Supreme Court ruling Bostock v. Clayton County, which found Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts definition of sex discrimination in hiring covers sexual orientation and gender identity. The ruling is expected to have real-life consequences for many religious employers and non-profits when making hiring decisions. The presidents order directs the heads of agencies to review all existing orders, regulations, guidance documents, policies, programs, or other agency actions for anything inconsistent with Title VII and to revise, rescind, or suspend any policies to ensure compliance with the prohibition of sex discrimination. Berry noted it was unfortunate but telling that one of the first actions by the Biden administration could provide roadblocks for the religious community and ministries who wish to provide services to vulnerable communities. In Bostock, the Supreme Court indicated that religious organizations should be protected. Well see if the justices live up to that promise, Berry said. The U.S. Supreme Court is pictured in Washington on Feb. 1, 2020. (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images) The order also earned Biden, who is a Catholic, reproof from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) which released a statement characterizing the action as a misguided approach to address discrimination. [The] executive order on sex discrimination exceeds the [Supreme] Courts decision. It threatens to infringe the rights of people who recognize the truth of sexual difference or who uphold the institution of lifelong marriage between one man and one woman, the statement says. This may manifest in mandates that, for example, erode health care conscience rights or needed and time-honored sex-specific spaces and activities. In addition, the court had taken care to note that Bostock did not address its clear implications for religious freedom. Yesterdays executive order exercises no such caution. Tom Farr, president of the Religious Freedom Institute, told The Epoch Times via email that he also believes enshrining such principles in federal regulations could impinge on the religious liberty of those individuals and institutions affirming the traditional understanding of human persons as created male and female. He said as the public discourse over matters of sex and gender continues to rage, the government should not use non-discrimination rules as a means to quash dissent on these fundamental moral, anthropological, and, for many Americans, theological questions. Equality Act The Equality Act was introduced in Congress in 2015 and seeks to make sexual orientation and gender identity protected classes under federal law. The bill seeks to amend civil rights laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Jury Selection and Services Act, as well as several laws regarding employment. The law would also expand the public spaces and services covered under current discrimination law to include retail stores, services such as banks and legal services, and transportation services, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The group says it would provide more explicit protections for LGBTQ individuals. The bill passed the House in a 236-173 vote on May 17, 2019. It was referred to the Senate in that year. The conservative Heritage Foundation argues that the bill would likely cause harm to employers and workers by threatening them with penalties if they do not conform with the new sexual norms; medical professionals if they refuse to pay for these therapies against any moral or medical objections; parents and children by attempting to normalize hormonal and surgical interventions for gender dysphoric children and forcing ideological education in schools; women by closing down sex-specific facilities and services and sports; and non-profits and volunteers by forcing some faith-based organizations to conform with sexual norms or shut down. The Equality Act would create a cause of action against any institution that rejects the government-imposed moral orthodoxy, including churches, hospitals, adoption agencies, religious orders, schools, and other nonprofits, Farr said. Dissenters will be driven from public life with ruinous fines and social opprobrium. Free exercise equality will not be allowed to guard against the harms of the Equality Act because it precludes the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a defense against adverse action based on one of its provisions. Sharp said the bill would threaten women who are in need of critical services, such as at the Downtown Hope Center in Anchorage, Alaska, a Christian non-profit that offers job skills training, daily meals, laundry, and clothing for homeless men and women. The center also provides a free overnight shelter for women, especially those who are escaping abusive situations and sex trafficking. The non-profit was previously sued for discrimination after it referred a drunk and injured biological man, who identifies as a woman, to a hospital. City officials also attempted to force the shelter to open its doors to biological men at the expense of the women taking refuge in the shelter, ADF, who represented the group, said. These women said they would rather sleep in the Alaskan winter than in the same room as a male, Sharp said. ADF successfully defended Downtown Hope Center against the city government who tried to force the shelter to take in biological men despite housing women who have experienced rape, sex trafficking, and domestic violence. Bidens HHS Nominee Bidens pick for HHS secretary, Xavier Becerra, has also drawn concern from religious liberty defenders and pro-life advocates for his hostility toward pro-life and religious causes while serving as Californias top law enforcement official and during his time in Congress. Many advocates are also worried over Becerras aggressive pro-abortion stance and his previous attacks on religious freedom protections for doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals. Xavier Becerra is particularly concerning for his extreme positions on abortion. While a majority of Americans support at least some restrictions on abortion, Xavier Becerra has a record of expanding abortion access, challenging laws that protect women, and consistently voting against bills that would protect women and unborn children, Sharp said. When Becerra was serving as a U.S. House member, he voted against a bill that aims to protect minors from driving across state borders to get an abortion without parental consent. He had also voted against a law aimed at prohibiting a form of late termination of pregnancy called partial-birth abortion. Becerra also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act that protects unborn children by recognizing an embryo or fetus in utero as a legal victim. Not only has Xavier Becerra sued the Little Sisters of the Poor to coerce them to abandon their religious commitments that conflicted with Obama Administration policies concerning contraception and abortion, but he has also been a vocal and supportive ally of Planned Parenthood, Morse said. He has been instrumental in focusing the states prosecutorial powers on members of the pro-life cause, including David Daleiden, who have shined light on the business practices of Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks to reporters in Sacramento, Calif., on March 5, 2019. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Meanwhile, Farr noted that Becerra had previously indicated a lack of respect for the freedom of religious institutions in society during his 2017 confirmation hearing in California. [In] regards to religious protections, the protection for religion is for the individual, and so I think its important to distinguish between protections that you are affording to the individual to exercise his or her religion freely, versus protections you are giving to some institution or entity whos essentially bootstrapping the First Amendment protections on behalf of somebody else, Becerra responded to Assemblyman James Gallagher at the time when asked about religious liberties. Becerra also previously argued in favor of using taxpayers money to provide transgender individuals in North Carolina with cover for gender transitioning surgery and treatment. Becerras office did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. Although early signs indicate that there are significant threats to religious liberty under the new administration, advocates say that they will keep a close eye in order to prevent excessive or abusive actions. Many religious liberty organizations say they will take action to defend religious liberty and prevent attempts to violate First Amendment freedoms. The unity promised by this administration can only be accomplished when all Americans are given the freedom to live consistent with their beliefs, Sharp said. Xiaomi has submitted another Redmi smartphone with the FCC, the EEC and the TKDN. This time, the M2101K7AG has been certified, which is believed to be the Redmi Note 10. The listings confirm that the M2101K7AG will receive a global launch. Meanwhile, the Redmi General Manager Lu Weibing has begun teasing the launch of the Redmi Note 10 series. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 5G , Accessory , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel Evo / Project Athena , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Linux / Unix , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Rumor , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) Ticker Rumours about the Redmi Note 10 series have been circulating for a while now, Xiaomi's smartphone model, most-recently with the 5G model's sighting at the FCC. Now, multiple agencies have seemingly certified the regular Redmi Note 10. The device, referred to by its model number M2101K7AG, has appeared at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Eurasian Economic Commission (ECC) and the TKDN in Indonesia. According to the FCC listing, the M2101K7AG is probably the 4G version of the Redmi Note 10. The listing also confirms that Xiaomi will launch the Redmi Note 10 with MIUI 12, dual-band Wi-Fi. Additionally, the EEC refers explicitly to the M2101K7AG as a Redmi-branded smartphone. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 00:08:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda and delivers a special address via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- At a time when humanity is encountering multiple crises, China has yet again called for championing multilateralism to cope with the unprecedented array of challenges and uncertainties. Why is embracing multilateralism the right choice, and what kind of multilateralism do we need in the 21st century? Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that multilateralism is about having international affairs addressed through consultation and the future of the world decided by everyone working together. "We are going through the worst recession since the end of World War II. For the first time in history, the economies of all regions have been hit hard at the same time, with global industrial and supply chains clogged and trade and investment down in the doldrums," Xi said. Despite the trillions of dollars in relief packages worldwide, global recovery is rather shaky and the outlook remains uncertain, he noted. While the pandemic is far from over, it is likely to pose more challenges, both in the short term and in the long run. In its "Global Risks Report 2021" released on Jan. 19, the WEF said that the most imminent threats -- those that are most likely in the next two years -- include employment and livelihood crises, widespread youth disillusionment, digital inequality and economic stagnation, among others. Chinese medical team experts and Italian doctors pose for a photo in Padua, Italy, March 18, 2020. (Chinese Medical Team/Handout via Xinhua) The pandemic and its fallout have provided a sober reminder that the world is closely interconnected, and that a path into the future lies in multilateral cooperation, of which China has always acted as a firm advocate, experts said. China has contributed to the global epidemic control and economic recovery from two dimensions, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies. On one hand, the country has walked a fine line between epidemic prevention and economic development. On the other hand, it has consistently called on the international community to enhance solidarity in the fight against COVID-19, Ruan said. Just as Xi has pointed out, the problems facing the world are intricate and complex, and the way out of them is through upholding multilateralism and building a community with a shared future for mankind. Xi called for building an open world economy, upholding the multilateral trading regime, discarding discriminatory and exclusionary standards, rules and systems, and taking down barriers to trade, investment and technological exchanges. "To uphold multilateralism in the 21st century, we should promote its fine tradition, take on new perspectives and look to the future. We need to stand by the core values and basic principles of multilateralism. We also need to adapt to the changing international landscape and respond to global challenges as they arise. We need to reform and improve the global governance system on the basis of extensive consultation and consensus-building," Xi said. The speech of President Xi was historic, according to WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab. "Four years after he made a famous speech in Davos, in 2017, where he emphasized the need for the world to embrace multilateralism, he came back to this proposal and notion of multilateralism at a very crucial time in the history of humankind," Schwab said. STRATFORD A town man was sentenced this week to more than five years in prison on federal charges of drug distribution and possession of ammunition, according to federal prosecutors. Judge Alvin W. Thompson sentenced Luis Macho Martinez to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sentencing was held by video conference. During court proceedings, it was revealed that members of the FBIs Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and Bridgeport police started investigating individuals in the summer 2017 who were selling drugs in and around the Park City. The investigation led to federal charges against 19 defendants and the seizure of drugs, items to process and package drugs, eight guns and more than $360,000 in cash, authorities said. Federal prosecutors said Martinez, 55, was supplying another drug distributor with cocaine and opioid pills. Authorities said another investigation into an unrelated drug dealer showed that Martinez was also buying and selling heroin. Martinez was arrested on Nov. 6, 2018. When investigators searched his home, they seized boxes of .45-caliber hollow-point bullets and $11,132 in cash, authorities said. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon. Martinezs criminal history includes state convictions on charges of manslaughter, assault, weapons and larceny, federal prosecutors said. He also has a prior federal conviction for his role in a crack cocaine distribution ring. Thompson ordered Martinez to forfeit the cash and ammunition seized on the day of his arrest. He previously handed over more than $56,000 in cash that he had shipped to a drug supplier in California. That money was seized by law enforcement at a parcel delivery hub. Though mask recommendations have shifted repeatedly during the pandemic, one piece of advice has stayed relatively consistent: Both the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization have repeatedly recommended that surgical-grade (FFP1) and N95 masks (FFP2) are reserved for healthcare workers, while cloth masks and gaiters are to be worn by everyday citizens going about their normal lives. That may not be the case for much longer. The German government began requiring all people to wear FFP1 or FFP2 masks while on public transport, in workplaces, and in shops starting Tuesday, Jan. 19. France followed later that week, mandating that both FFP1 and FFP2 are required in public places. Austrias FFP2 mandate began on Sunday, Jan. 24. WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks for $0.29 at WellBefore WellBefore 3 PLY Disposable Face Masks - Individually Wrapped - wellbefore.com 0.29 Shop Now The European Center for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) recommends face masks in indoor and outdoor situations to help prevent the spread of new variations of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. While they dont specify the type of mask, both the WHO and the CDC recommend that FFP1 and FFP2 masks, which have been in short supply for the duration of the pandemic, be reserved for healthcare workers. This isnt the first major shift in mask recommendations. In the early days of the pandemic, understanding of the virus was minimal and surgical masks and N95s were both in short supply. The CDC advised against wearing masks at all, reversing course about a month into the viruss spread across the globe. The change in recommendations come down to the masks efficacy. Study after study has confirmed that the N95 mask (FFP2) provides the greatest protection possible aside from social distancing and simply staying home, with three-layer surgical masks (FFP1) coming in a distant second. Cloth face masks, folded bandanas and gaiters were all found to be significantly less effective. It's important to note that in all but a few highly specific situations, face coverings are still far safer than going maskless. Harley NIOSH N95 Masks for $3.99 at WellBefore Harley N95 NIOSH - L-188 Folding Mask - wellbefore.com 3.99 Shop Now The CDC recommends that gaiters be worn in two layers. Reports that mask gaiters were worse than no mask were later contradicted by experts. The effectiveness of face shields is not currently known. As scientists have gained a greater understanding of COVID-19 and mask supplies have caught up with demand, and as new variants of the disease have emerged, health experts and world leaders have seen more incentive to increase precautions. Whether or not masks are the best way to accomplish that is the subject of controversy. The better the quality of mask you can wear, the more effective that will be at stopping transmission, but you need to put affordability and accessibility into that as well, Jimmy Whitworth, a public health professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Bloomberg. Writing for The Washington Post, associate professor and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at Harvard University Joseph G. Allen said, "theres no reason any essential worker and, really, everyone in the country should go without (N95) masks that filter 95 percent (of pathogens) ... heres my cheat sheet: If you can find an N95, go for it. These are certified in the United States. Barring that, Id go for the certified mask used in South Korea, the KF94. Next Id choose KN95s." Shoppers looking for N95 masks in particular should be wary of the spread of counterfeit N95s. Read our guide on detecting and avoiding them. Speaking to journalists in Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her own citizens and other governments to take the new regulations seriously so as to prevent a third wave. 65-year-old Hasina Begum who had gone to Pakistan 18 years ago to meet her husband's relatives but landed up in a Pakistani jail after she lost her passport, returned to India on Tuesday after Aurangabad police filed a report on the matter. She was received by her relatives and Aurangabad police officials upon her return here. "I went through a lot of hardships and I am feeling a sense of peace after returning to my country. I am feeling as if I am in heaven. I was imprisoned forcefully in Pakistan," she said. "I want to thank Aurangabad police for filing a report in the matter," she added. Khwaja Jainuddin Chishti, a relative of Hasina Begum, also thanked Aurangabad police for the help provided by them in bringing her back to her home country. Begum had lost her passport in Lahore after arriving there 18 years ago to meet her husband's relatives. She was locked up in a jail in Pakistan for the last 18 years. According to the information received from the police, Begum who is a resident of Rashidpura area under the City Chowk police station limits in Aurangabad is married to Dilshad Ahmed who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. She urged the court in Pakistan that she is innocent after which the court sought information in the matter. Aurangabad police sent information to Pakistan that Begum has a home registered in her name under the City Chowk police station in Aurangabad. Pakistan released Begum last week and handed her over to Indian authorities. (ANI) Tucker Carlson says Joe Biden's executive orders promoting racial 'equity' would 'disgust' Martin Luther King Jr, will lead to Republican voters being treated as 'jihadis' and the Democrats forcing millions to agree with their views. 'Vote the wrong way, and you are a jihadi. You thought you were an American citizen with rights and just a different view. No, youre a jihadi. And we are going to treat you the way we treated those radicals after 9/11, the way we treated bin Laden. Get in line pal, this is a war on terror,' Carlson told his viewers on Tuesday night. 'They're talking about American citizens here. They're talking about you', Carlson added while acknowledging his audience. Biden signed four orders on Tuesday designed to tackle inequality in housing and the prison system, condemn xenophobia and reaffirm the government's commitment to tribal sovereignty. He also called Trump's 1776 Project 'ignorance and lies' and said George Floyd's death has 'opened the eyes of millions fighting white supremacy'. In an impassioned speech on his Fox News show, Carlson said the policies will harm people the government deem to be 'privileged' and force the country to 'conform to the orthodoxies of the Democratic party'. He also attacked Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff's crackdown on white supremacy and compared it to the hunt for international terrorists after 9/11. Tucker Carlson has slammed Joe Biden for signing a series of executive orders to promote racial 'equity' He said policies of 'equity and inclusion' allow Democrats to force their 'indefensible' views on the country that would even 'disgust' Martin Luther King Jr. 'The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would be shocked and disgusted if he watched Susan Rice on television,' Carlson said. 'She announced that every agency in the US government, the largest and most lavishly funded organization in human history, must "place equity at the core" of its policy design specifically and for the benefit of "marginalized communities". 'According to Rice, much of that money will now be distributed on the basis of equity. That means it will go to people who do not possess "privilege". 'Some Americans won't get jobs because it's been decided they have too much privilege. Others won't get into college or get promoted or win federal contracts. Others will see their neighborhoods change dramatically in ways they may not like because of their privilege.' Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice outlined some of the executive orders and memos Biden would sign later Tuesday during the press briefing But, Carlson said: 'They can't tell us who, in a country with no majority culture, actually qualifies as a "minority". They only want to have this conversation at all because their views are indefensible.' The Fox host continued his invective by talking about press censorship and the 'muzzling' of conservative views which has seen right-wing social media site Parler being taken off app stores. PRESIDENT BIDEN'S 'EQUITY' ORDERS Tribal Consultation and Strengthening Nation-to-Nation Relationships The order 'charges all executive departments and agencies with engaging in regular, meaningful, and robust consultation with Tribal officials in the development of Federal policies that have Tribal implications.' Condemning and Combating Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States The order condemns acts of racism toward the Asian-American and Pacific-Islander community and orders the Health and Human Services secretary and other public health professionals to mitigate 'racially discriminatory language in describing the COVID-19 pandemic.' It effectively rebukes Trump for calling COVID 'the China virus' and 'The Federal Government must recognize that it has played a role in furthering these xenophobic sentiments through the actions of political leaders, including references to the COVID-19 pandemic by the geographic location of its origin. Such statements have stoked unfounded fears and perpetuated stigma about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and have contributed to increasing rates of bullying, harassment, and hate crimes against AAPI persons,' the order says. Reforming Our Incarceration System to Eliminate the Use of Privately Operated Criminal Detention Facilities 'The Attorney General shall not renew Department of Justice contracts with privately operated criminal detention facilities, as consistent with applicable law.' Private prisons are accused of being more likely to mistreat prisoners, particularly from minority groups. Redressing Our Nation's and the Federal Government's History of Discriminatory Housing Practices and Policies 'This memorandum recognizes the central role the federal government has played implementing housing policies across the United States, from redlining to mortgage discrimination to destructive federal highway construction, that have had racially discriminatory impacts. This Presidential Memorandum directs HUD to examine the effects of the previous Administration's regulatory actions that undermined fair housing policies and laws. And, it directs HUD to take steps necessary based on that analysis to fully implement the Fair Housing Act's requirements.' Advertisement He then quoted Adam Schiff, the lead prosecutor in Donald Trump's impeachment trial, who said he intends to go after white nationalists and domestic terrorists with the same resources as the country did to international terrorism after 9/11, shifting the priority of Homeland Security. The Democrat representative said if the Capitol rioters were of a different religion, they would be seen as 'violent jihadists'. Carlson said of Schiff's remarks: 'Equity and inclusion means that you will believe what they tell you to believe, or else you're a terrorist and they can hurt you because we hurt terrorists. Announcing his orders Tuesday, Biden said: 'I'll be reaffirming the federal government's commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and accessibility, building on the work we started in the Obama-Biden administration.' Susan Rice, the director of the United States Domestic Policy Council, added at the briefing: 'Today the average black family has just one-tenth the wealth as the average white family. 'These aren't feel good policies, the evidence is clear, investing in equity is good for economic growth and it creates jobs for all Americans.' 'Vote the wrong way, and you are a jihadi. You thought you were an American citizen with rights and just a different view, but no, you're a jihadi and we're going to treat you the way we treated those radicals after 9/11, the way we treated bin Laden.' Biden signed four orders on Tuesday including one that instructs the Department of Justice not to renew contracts with private prisons. He also signed a memorandum directing the Department of Housing and Urban Development to mitigate racial bias in housing. He signed an order reaffirming the federal government's commitment to tribal sovereignty. And he signed a memorandum condemning xenophobia against Asian Americans, which has been on the rise since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic - taking aim at former President Donald Trump's use of the term 'China virus.' Biden credited the death of George Floyd as an inflection point turning America against 'systemic racism and white supremacy.' 'Those eight minutes and 46 seconds that took George Floyd's life, opened the eyes of millions of Americans and millions of people all over the world,' Biden said. 'It was the knee on the neck of justice and it wouldn't be forgotten. 'It stirred the consciousness of tens of millions of Americans and in my view it marked a turning point in this country's attitude toward racial justice,' Biden continued. Just hours into his presidency, Biden dissolved Trump's 1776 Commission, which was formed in September partially in response to The New York Times' 1619 Project. It became highly controversial for trying to reframe American history as starting with the arrival of the first slaves in 1619 and being defined by first slavery and then its aftermath ever since. It drew heated attacks over its accuracy - particularly a claim that the inspiration for the Declaration of Independence from Britain was in part because the colonies wanted to 'protect the institution of slavery.' As part of his pre-election culture war, Trump attacked the project and called for American children to be given a 'patriotic education' not one that demonizes the white founders. That same month, he banned racial sensitivity training for federal workers and government contractors - including critical race theory, another lightning rod for controversy. Trump had also embraced a 'law and order' candidacy and etched out policy positions such as statues and military bases named after Confederate generals should remain. HOUSTON, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TC PipeLines, LP (NYSE:TCP) (TC PipeLines or the Partnership) today announced that it has established a record date of January 15, 2021 and a meeting date of February 26, 2021, for a special meeting of its common unitholders to be held at 10:00 a.m. Central Time. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and to support the well-being of the Partnerships common unitholders, the special meeting will be held in a virtual meeting format only via live webcast. At the special meeting, TC PipeLines common unitholders will vote on a proposal to approve the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of December 14, 2020 (the Merger Agreement), by and among the Partnership, TC Energy Corporation (TC Energy) and their respective affiliates, pursuant to which an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TC Energy will merge with and into TC PipeLines such that TC PipeLines will become an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TC Energy. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, approval of the Merger Agreement requires the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding TC PipeLines common units entitled to vote at the special meeting. TC PipeLines also announced today that it has filed a definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) for the special meeting. TC PipeLines common unitholders of record as of the close of business on January 15, 2021 will be entitled to receive notice of the special meeting and to vote at the special meeting. TC PipeLines expects to commence mailing the definitive proxy statement and other related proxy materials on or about January 28, 2021 to TC PipeLines common unitholders. Subject to satisfaction of the remaining closing conditions, including receipt of the requisite unitholder approval, the parties currently expect to close the transaction during the first quarter of 2021. Upon closing of the transaction, TC PipeLines will be an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of TC Energy and will cease to be a publicly held partnership. About TC PipeLines, LP TC PipeLines, LP is a Delaware master limited partnership with interests in eight federally regulated U.S. interstate natural gas pipelines which serve markets in the Western, Midwestern and Northeastern United States. The Partnership is managed by its general partner, TC PipeLines GP, Inc., a subsidiary of TC Energy Corporation (NYSE: TRP). For more information about TC PipeLines, LP, visit the Partnerships website at www.tcpipelineslp.com. Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally include statements regarding the potential transaction between TC Energy and the Partnership, including any statements regarding the expected timetable for completing the potential transaction, the ability to complete the potential transaction, the expected benefits of the potential transaction, projected financial information, future opportunities, and any other statements regarding TC Energys and the Partnerships future expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, or future events or performance. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as anticipates, expects, intends, plans, targets, forecasts, projects, believes, seeks, schedules, estimates, positions, pursues, may, could, should, will, budgets, outlook, trends, guidance, focus, on schedule, on track, is slated, goals, objectives, strategies, opportunities, poised, potential and similar expressions. All such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations of TC Energys and the Partnerships management and therefore involve estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results expressed in the statements. Key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements include the ability to obtain the requisite Partnership unitholder approval; uncertainties as to the timing to consummate the potential transaction; the risk that a condition to closing the potential transaction may not be satisfied; the risk that regulatory approvals are not obtained or are obtained subject to conditions that are not anticipated by the parties; the effects of disruption to TC Energys or the Partnerships respective businesses; the effect of this communication on the price of TC Energys common shares or the Partnerships common units; the effects of industry, market, economic, political or regulatory conditions outside of TC Energys or the Partnerships control; transaction costs; TC Energys ability to achieve the benefits from the proposed transaction; and the diversion of management time on transaction-related issues. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are: the impact of downward changes in oil and natural gas prices, including any effects on the creditworthiness of shippers or the availability of natural gas in a low oil price environment; the impact of litigation and other opposition proceedings on the ability to begin work on projects and the potential impact of an ultimate court or administrative ruling to a project schedule or viability; uncertainty surrounding the impact of global health crises that reduce commercial and economic activity, including the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, and the potential impact on the respective businesses of TC Energy and the Partnership; the potential disruption or interruption of operations due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, severe weather, cyber threats, terrorist acts, or other natural or human causes beyond the parties control; and the potential liability resulting from pending or future litigation. Other unpredictable or unknown factors not discussed in this communication could also have material adverse effects on forward-looking statements. The Partnership assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in the Partnerships most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, as it may be updated from time to time by quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K all of which are available on the Partnerships website at https://www.tcpipelineslp.com/investors/reports-and-filings/ and on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov, and in TC Energys most recent Annual Report on Form 40-F, as it may be updated from time to time by current reports on Form 6-K all of which are available on TC Energys website at https://www.tcenergy.com/investors/reports-and-filings/ and on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov. Important Information for Investors and Unitholders This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act. This communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in respect of the potential transaction. In connection with the potential transaction, on January 22, 2021, TC Energy filed with the SEC an amendment to the registration statement on Form F-4 that was originally filed on January 11, 2021 containing a prospectus of TC Energy and a proxy statement of the Partnership. The registration statement was declared effective on January 26, 2021, and the Partnership expects to commence mailing the definitive proxy statement/prospectus to common unitholders of the Partnership on or about January 28, 2021. This communication is not a substitute for the proxy statement/prospectus or registration statement or for any other document that TC Energy or the Partnership filed with the SEC or sent to the Partnerships common unitholders in connection with the potential transaction. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF TC ENERGY AND THE PARTNERSHIP ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the proxy statement/prospectus and other documents filed with the SEC by TC Energy or the Partnership through the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by TC Energy will be available free of charge on TC Energys website at https://www.tcenergy.com/investors/reports-and-filings/ and copies of the documents filed with the SEC by the Partnership will be available free of charge on the Partnerships website at https://www.tcpipelineslp.com/investors/reports-and-filings. TC Energy and the Partnership, and certain of their respective directors, certain of their respective executive officers and other members of management and employees may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the potential transaction under the rules of the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of TC Energy is set forth in its Management Information Circular, dated February 27, 2020, which was filed as Exhibit 99.1 to TC Energys Current Report on Form 6-K, filed with the SEC on March 16, 2020. Information about the directors and executive officers of the Partnership is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, which was filed with the SEC on February 20, 2020, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on September 17, 2020 and November 13, 2020. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants in the solicitation of proxies in respect of the potential transaction is included in the registration statement and proxy statement/prospectus. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above. Media Inquiries: Robin Lee / Hejdi Carlsen 403.920.7859 or 800.608.7859 Unitholder and Analyst Inquiries: Rhonda Amundson 877.290.2772 investor_relations@tcpipelineslp.com PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/5c66ae30-f4d6-4155-8675-c79a86d7caa4 The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. She enjoyed a fiery display with her family last night at the celebrations for Monaco's patron saint but today Princess Charlene appeared in a more sombre mood. The mother-of-two, 43, visited the Monaco Cathedral this morning for a ceremony in honour of Saint Devote wearing a black frock and boots with Prince Albert, 62, by her side. St Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco in remembrance of their patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. The royal couple's united front comes after it emerged Prince Albert is set to appear in court in the coming months to fight explosive claims he fathered a third love child with a secret girlfriend. She enjoyed a fiery display with her family last night at the celebrations for Monaco's patron saint but today Princess Charlene (pictured with Prince Albert) appeared in a more sombre mood The mother-of-two, 43, visited the Monaco Cathedral this morning for a ceremony in honour of Saint Devote wearing a black frock and boots with Prince Albert, 62, by her side (pictured) Princess Charlene took part in the service at Monaco Cathedral and was seen holding on to her husband's arm as the pair left the ceremony. Dressed to impress, the royal sported a black frock with matching knee-high boots and a shimmering, tailored coat. She gave her demure outfit a pop of colour by adding a pink beret, while completing her ensemble with a pair of stylish glasses. Both royals wore face masks at the ceremony, which followed COVID restrictions. Sainte Devote is the patron saint of the Grimaldi family, reigning in Monaco, and is celebrated each year as a national holiday. The royal couple's united front comes after it emerged Prince Albert is set to appear in court in the coming months to fight explosive claims he fathered a third love child with a secret girlfriend. Pictured, Princess Charlene St Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco in remembrance of their patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. Pictured: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene According to legend, Christians saved Saint Devote's body and cast it off in a boat to Africa in the hope that once there she would receive a Christian burial. A dove then flew from her mouth and guided the boat to Monaco where it ran aground and the Saint has helped the principality in times of peril ever since. In line with the legend, Prince Albert and Princess Charlene took part in an annual ceremonial ritual remembering the Saint's final journey last night. They also helped set light to a fishing boat - a tradition that's been going strong since the reign of Prince Louis II in 1942. They were given torches which they used to set fire to a fisherman's boat like the one that the Saint's body was carried on. Princess Charlene (pictured left) took part in the service at Monaco Cathedral and was seen holding on to her husband's arm as the pair left the ceremony Dressed to impress, the royal (pictured with her husband, right) sported a black frock with matching knee-high boots and a shimmering, tailored coat The royal couple's outing comes just a week after Princess Charlene praised 'loyal' Prince Albert in her first comments since claims arose he is facing a paternity suit over a third love child. The mother-of-two shocked royal fans around the world when she debuted a striking punk shaved haircut in December. Days later it emerged her husband, 62, is set to appear in court in the coming months to fight explosive claims he fathered a third love child with a secret girlfriend. After appearing alongside her husband in snaps over the Christmas period, the former Olympic swimmer made her first comments in an interview in which she hailed Prince Albert as 'loyal, determined and courageous'. Speaking with Point du Vue, she revealed: 'When my husband has problems, he tells me about it. I often tell him, "No matter what, no matter what, I'm a thousand percent behind you. I'll stand by you whatever you do, in good times or in bad." Princess Charlene (pictured) gave her demure outfit a pop of colour by adding a pink beret, while completing her ensemble with a pair of stylish glasses Sainte Devote is the patron saint of the Grimaldi family, reigning in Monaco, and is celebrated each year as a national holiday. Pictured, Princess Charlene Both royals (pictured) wore face masks at the ceremony, which followed COVID restrictions The mother-of-two went on to say she also often tells her husband she will 'protect him' and will 'always be by his side.' Meanwhile Princess Charlene revealed her drastic new haircut was 'her decision', explaining she had wanted the cut 'for a long time' because the 'style pleases her.' She said she had dismissed comments about the style 'not being royal', adding: 'And I have nothing to answer them, except that we are in 2021, and that in these times so troubled, so difficult, other much more important subjects deserve our attention.' And after being asked 'are you happy', the royal responded: 'There are times more or less easy, it is the case for everyone. 'But I am happy as I am, fulfilled by what I am going through, I know I am very privileged.' Prince Albert and Princess Charlene (pictured centre, while at the service) took part in an annual ceremonial ritual remembering the Saint's final journey last night Sources in the Mediterranean principality say Charlene has had a 'terrible' year as lawyers for the billionaire couple brace themselves for the court case that opens in Milan in February. Albert, who already supports two illegitimate children, is alleged to have had a relationship with a 34-year-old Brazilian woman which resulted in a daughter on July 4, 2005. The claim, which his lawyers dismissed as a 'hoax', is particularly painful as he was dating Charlene at the time, having met the former Olympic swimmer in 2000. Albert received a handwritten letter from the child, who is now 15, in September this year reading: I don't understand why I grew up without a father, and now that I have found you, you don't want to see me. Legal papers were also filed, as lawyers for the claimant called on Albert to undergo a DNA test just as he did before finally being identified as the father of two illegitimate children born in the 1990s and early 2000s. This was before Charlene and Albert were an item, but the latest case covers a time when she was already in love with him, said a source who works closely with the Monaco Royal household. Charlene has had a terrible year, with one family crisis after another including Albert going down with Coronavirus, and now shes gearing herself up for this hell. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: A further 54 Covid-19 related deaths and 1,335 new cases were confirmed by the Department of Health today. This brings the total number of cases in the country to 191,182 and the total number of coronavirus related deaths to 3,120. The median age of those who died is 85 years and the age range is 55-96 years. Of the cases notified today, 618 are men and 711 are women, with 54pc of them being under 45 years of age. The median age is 43 years old. Across the country, 437 were in Dublin, 114 in Cork, 78 in Galway, 71 in Meath, 61 in Louth and the remaining 574 cases are spread across all other counties. As of 2pm today, 1,670 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 217 are in ICU. There were 81 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan said: The current 14 day incidence remains more than double the peak incidence experienced during previous Level 5 measures in October, therefore, now is not the time to drop your guard and start to interact with people outside your household. The risk of transmission in the community remains very high. We must continue to work towards reducing incidence of disease and preventing further hospitalisations and deaths, he said. Yesterday the government announced additional lockdown measures to further stop the spread of the virus. First and foremost, they said that current Level 5 restrictions will remain in place until at least March 5, after which they will review them. All visa-free travel from South America and South Africa is suspended also until at least March 5. Read More Those travelling from Brazil and South Africa will also have a mandatory quarantine for 14 days, even if they receive a negative Covid-19 test result. For passengers from any other countries, it is possible to leave mandatory quarantine after five days of self-isolation and two negative tests. For now, it appears the government is ruling out a zero Covid strategy, with Micheal Martin saying: I dont think its possible or sustainable because its a promise we could never fulfil. Leo Varadkar also added that: Its a false promise. As of Sunday, 143,000 people have been given the Covid-19 vaccine in the Republic of Ireland. However, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said distribution will be delayed in March as the country will not be receiving as much supply from AstraZeneca as expected. We have confirmed that the community vaccination programme will begin in February, subject to regulatory approval of AstraZeneca, he said. Despite anticipated disruption to deliveries, which was announced on Friday 22 January, Ireland will receive a delivery of AstraZeneca vaccine within the expected range for February, although at the lower end of that range. "Delivery in March is likely to be more impacted and considerably lower than what was originally stated by the company." The government is preparing to cut pay bonuses to public employees under the pretext of eliminating pay inequities in the public system, Secretary General of the Publisind Trade Union Federation Cosmin Andreica told AGERPRES during a rally held by the trade union before the headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on Wednesday. "Yesterday evening we took possession of a document that is not public at the moment but that we posted for the people to see, under which the Citu government wants to get rid of pay bonuses to public employees and diminish percentage-based bonuses under the guise of eliminating inequities. In other words, for example the night shift bonus - which is 25% of the working hour: if you now receive 3 lei and I receive 2 lei, Mr Citu will come, eliminate discrimination and will give 1 leu to both. And then under the same pretext there will be practically other pay cuts, to which, obviously, we will not be able to react. We cannot tolerate such a thing under the pretext of eliminating inequities. (...) Public employees went through a similar experience in 2009, at that time they were told that they had to wait calmly, that nothing would happen, but there were those pay cuts by 25%, while exactly in the same period politicians were stealing hundreds of millions of euros, which proved to be the case in the years following the crisis. I think there is money, but the problem is how it is spent and distributed," said Andreica. The union leader, who is also chairman of the Europol police trade union, explained that the main grievance of the rally is the cancellation of the government's ordinance freezing public sector pay. "This is the third week of an industrial action schedule adopted by the Publisind Federation, which includes several trade unions of public employees working in Police, penitentiaries, courts, public administration, social assistance and so on. This week we are protesting before the Interior Ministry. We have just one demand: revoke the emergency ordinance suspending the application of law 153, the pay law," said Andreica. He called on the government to be open to dialogue with trade unions on the pay of public employees. "We expect dialogue from the Government in the first place. The emergency ordinance was given not 'at night like thieves', but 'on weekends like thieves', without social dialogue, without a consultation and without our solutions that we have made available to the Interior Ministry being checked. It would have been natural that before these cuts we would see if we could give up, for example, other expenses, as we proposed at the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, namely pay for exceptional works and special missions, which are up to 50% of the basic pay. And we have seen this week that they went especially to the bosses who had issued the most fines," said Andreica. She's just returned from an extensive stay in Dubai. And Chloe Ferry was clearly feeling nostalgic for her 'work trip' as she shared a throwback bikini picture with her 3.5million followers on Wednesday. The Geordie Shore star, 25, looked sensational in a tiny black two-piece as she reclined on a sun lounger in the sunshine, with little work seemingly going on. Looking back: Chloe Ferry was clearly feeling nostalgic for her 'work trip' as she shared a throwback bikini picture with her 3.5million followers on Wednesday Like much of the reality TV world, Chloe escaped the UK coronavirus crisis and imposed herself upon the United Arab Emirates for a 'business trip'. The nature of her business was not made clear at any point in the trip, however she did litter social media with an onslaught of beach and clubbing snaps. On Wednesday, she returned to the photosharing site to share another scantily-clad snap, proving her return home would not stop her clogging Instagram feeds. Love Island star Laura Anderson, who has reportedly dropped a sizeable 12,000 followers, sparked a backlash when she said it was 'really hard' to be an influencer following unimpressed comments on her Dubai snaps. Looking back... The Geordie Shore star, 25, looked sensational in a tiny black two-piece as she reclined on a sun lounger in the sunshine, with little work seemingly going on Over recent weeks, reality stars have seen a growing furore from the public as their Dubai trips as Brits back at home are in a nationwide lockdown. Many have travelled abroad under the ruse that their trips are 'for work,' sparking backlash from fans who have been holed up in lockdown amid the pandemic. Olivia Attwood, who found fame on Love Island, had suggested that unimpressed fans unfollow the stars abroad after she lashed out at them earlier this month. Uh oh: Like much of the reality TV world, Chloe escaped the UK coronavirus crisis and imposed herself upon the United Arab Emirates for a 'business trip' The beauty told people to stop trolling influencers following her own rant, instead suggesting they take a less vocal approach and simply unfollow the stars. Ahead of her arrival back in the UK, last week the star took to Instagram Stories to reveal she would be flying home in a few days, adding she was looking forward to getting back into her gruelling fitness regime. She said: 'I'm back home in a few days and I'm not gonna lie I'm actually really excited to get back to doing some workouts I want to start training and eat healthy every single day and get some work done. Stunner: The beauty told people to stop trolling influencers following her own rant, instead suggesting they take a less vocal approach and simply unfollow the stars 'It's really really out of my routine here I can't wait to just get in the gym get training every single day, I know you probably can't tell I've put weight on but I can feel it in myself. 'I just can't wait. I know I've obviously been training a little bit out here, and I was at the start just living on chicken Caesar salads, but then it started becoming burgers everyday and pizzas and stuff like that. 'So I'm gonna really get my mind in a good place, eating healthy, meditating, stuff like that.' As the Spanish government had planned, today was the last cabinet meeting for Salvador Illa. The until-now health minister returns to Catalonia to be the Catalan Socialist (PSC) candidate in the Catalan elections. This has led to a reorganization of the Spanish government, which was announced by Pedro Sanchez himself after communicating it to king Felipe VI. There were no surprises. "A minimal adjustment," were the words of the Spanish prime minister. The health portfolio has been passed to Carolina Darias, who has supported Illa in the management of the coronavirus. The vacancy thus created in her former position, in the territorial ministry, will be filled by the other person taking part in the Socialists' game of musical chairs: the first secretary of the PSC, Miquel Iceta, thus maintaining the Catalan quota. The three-way swap began when the original candidate, Iceta, made way for the former Catalan minister who has gained a public profile thanks to the pandemic. Tomorrow Iceta and Darias will be officially sworn in. Miquel Iceta's jump to the Moncloa government palace comes after several frustrated attempts to catch the train to Madrid. The last attempt was when Pedro Sanchez tried to place him in the presidency of the Senate, but the Catalan Republican Left prevented him from achieving the necessary prerequisite - becoming a senator in the Parliament of Catalonia. Now he will land in a portfolio that the PSC has already occupied, that of territorial policy, where Meritxell Batet was minister before becoming speaker of the Congress of Deputies. For her part, Carolina Darias is left with the health portfolio. Along with Salvador Illa, she has been the minister who has been involved in the management of the coronavirus crisis. In recent months she has been present at the vast majority of meetings between the health ministry and Spain's autonomous communities. But the changeover comes at a critical time: with the third wave of the virus raging and the need to speed up the vaccination process. What did prime minister Sanchez say about Miquel Iceta? "Miquel Iceta is a well-known politician, a scholar of politics, a person of ideas and a builder of consensus in a decentralized state," the PM said, predicting that "co-governance has come to stay." He said that the PSC secretary is "the person who will decline all verbs with this prefix: cooperation, collaboration, co-governance." He asserted that the Catalan is "a man of concord." With regard to Darias, the Socialist party leader stressed that "she has shared the day-to-day management of the pandemic with Salvador Illa", both in the Interterritorial Council and in the internal committee meetings of the executive. She knows the regional authorities well. "She herself formed an autonomous government, that of the Canary Islands," said the Spanish PM. First of all, however, the leader of the Spanish government wanted to say a little about the outgoing minister, and unsurprisingly they were all words of gratitude. "He has been an extraordinary minister, an honest person who has always avoided political confrontation in these hard times," said Sanchez, already campaigning. He has always shown capacity for dialogue, he asserted. And he concluded: "If I had to highlight one quality of his passage through the ministry of health, it would be one word: respect." Illa's last words Today, Salvador Illa appeared for the last time at the Moncloa press conference, after the cabinet meeting. His last words were of gratitude. First, to the members of the Congressional and Senate health committees, whom he has abandoned just before he was due at a ministerial accountability session. Secondly, to the 23 health heads from the autonomous communities with whom he has worked side by side over all these months. Although the year "has not been easy", he stressed that "many points of agreement" had been reached. Finally, he thanked all the health professionals, "from the specialist doctor and caretaker to the security guards to the person who does the cleaning work". He admitted that the "most difficult" moment as a minister was when he restricted access of relatives to accompany gravely ill patients. Turning the page and with his eyes on the 14th February elections, Salvador Illa said that in this new stage "he will give his best efforts to defeat" the virus as he has done so far, and he guaranteed that "we will be able to eradicate it. He stated that it was "an honour" to serve as a minister and that he was leaving Madrid "with great sorrow" and leaving many friends there. I feel like a public servant. I will always be where I think I can be most useful", he concluded. ADVERTISEMENT The 32 Artillery Brigade, Owena Cantonment, Akure, now has a new Brigadier Commander, Raymond Utsaha, who replaced Zakar Abubakar. Mr Abubakar, a brigadier-general has been posted to the Nigerian Army school of Artillery, Kaduna, as the Deputy Commandant of the school. Speaking during the handing and taking over ceremony on Wednesday in Akure, Mr Abubakar expressed gratitude to God for a successful tenure in the state. He said that though there were challenging times, his stay there was interesting, rewarding and fulfilling. He thanked the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) for finding him worthy to serve as commander, 32 Artillery Brigade. He also thanked the men and officers of the command for their cooperation, support, commitment and high sense of discipline which made his tenure a success. The outgoing commander enjoined the troops to extend the same cooperation to his successor. Mr Abubakar further reminded the troops of the crucial role of the brigade which demands absolute loyalty, sacrifice and dedication to service. Responding, the incoming commander, Mr Utsaha, also a brigadier-general affirmed his commitment to building on the successes of 32 Artillery Brigade and its areas of responsibility for safety. I will work in collaboration with other security agencies to ensure that Ondo and Ekiti States are more secured and peaceful, he said. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the command flag to the incoming commander. Present at the event were the incoming 32 Artillery Brigade Garrison Commander, Ifeanyi, Chief of Staff, Commanding Officers 323 Artillery Regiment, officers and soldiers of the Brigade. (NAN) Ian G. Brownlee, the acting assistant secretary of the State Departments bureau of consular affairs, said that if U.S. citizens traveled abroad and happened to contract the coronavirus, they should be prepared to deal with the extra lodging and medical costs required with a delayed trip back home. All travelers should have a Plan B, Mr. Brownlee said. We urge folks to postpone their trips if theyre able. Just one week into his administration, Mr. Biden is facing a convergence of crises. The vaccine rollout he inherited from his predecessor has been rocky, leaving Americans angry and frustrated over vaccination appointments canceled for lack of supply. At the same time, new, more infectious variants of the virus are making vaccination all the more urgent. Were not in a race with the variants the variants have already won, warned Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. If these variants take off like I think they are very likely to do, by April this surge will have come and possibly gone and it could be by far the very worst surge of the entire pandemic. The president is also well aware that Americans will not give him an extended honeymoon. He tried on Tuesday to blame his predecessor, saying he intended to launch a full-scale wartime effort to address the supply short shortages we inherited from the previous administration. But fingers will soon be pointing at him if there is no improvement. Tuesdays announcement underscored that reality. In making it, Mr. Biden appeared to roll back a comment that he made on Monday, when he said that he believed that any American who wanted a coronavirus vaccine would be able to get one this spring. Mr. Biden has repeatedly promised that health officials will administer 100 million vaccine doses by his first 100 days in office a promise that some experts have criticized as not ambitious enough. Appointment of Director - Mr Ron Hayward Sydney, Jan 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Board of Endless Solar ( NSX:ESCLV ) is pleased to announce that Mr Ron Hayward has consented to become a Director of ESC.Ron has a long and distinguished career in the telecommunications industry. It commenced with Accountants Coopers & Lybrand Consulting and has included a long association and past Directorship of Ericsson Cellular, a Microsoft Development Partner, and more recently developing his ACCUTE technology interests (accounting, utilities, new energy) technology project.At the ESC 20 October 2020 General Meeting the Joint Venture Relationship with Ron Hayward was confirmed and ESC is now actively involved through these established platforms and related technologies to integrate this with its " CooL Solar Project " development.It is also pertinent to point out that on the 18th October 2020 Apple announced the launch of the Apple IPhone and IPad 12 with 5G technology. Around the same time Ericsson announced its $US 1.1 billion acquisition of Cradle Point, an edge computing wireless SD-WAN operator.ESC is now positioned to utilise these technologies which will open many new markets through providing significant operational savings as a result of the impact of 5G.About Endless Solar Corporation LimitedListed on the National Stock Exchange of Australia.Issue Code: ESCLVIssue Name: Endless Solar Corporation Limited - Limited VotingIssue Type: 01 - OrdinaryISIN: AU0000ESCLV4Industry: IndustrialsNominated Adviser: Endless Solar Corporation LimitedListed Date: Tuesday, 21 January 2014 This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Artistic, well-read and with a keen sense of fun, Brennan once surprised a Herald interviewer with a pithy critique of Ulysses . She held no truck with literary snobbery either. When she published her how-to guide The Secrets of Successful Romance Writing in 1995, she advised aspiring authors to borrow from the literary techniques of Dostoevsky and Hemingway before reminding them: To write great category romance at its best takes a commitment, minus the recognition and applause. Her books sold over 71 million copies worldwide, regularly appearing in the bestseller lists in both the UK and US. Her readers who were always at the heart of everything she wrote devoured her books, enjoying the passionate and adventurous escapism of novels such as The Sheikhs Seduction, Hidden Mistress, Public Wife and The Upstairs Lover. The English writer Angela Carter said that no one wrote Mills & Boon novels without putting their hearts and souls into it. Such books, she said, were only written by women of formidable intelligence. These words could be used to describe the author Wendy Brennan who has died aged 80. Writing under her pseudonym Emma Darcy she was Australias bestselling romantic novelist. Both prolific and successful, she wrote 106 romance novels for Mills & Boon, firstly in partnership with her beloved husband Frank, and then, after his death in 1995, on her own. Wendy Brennan was born in Dorrigo, NSW on November 28, 1940. The daughter of a schoolteacher and dressmaker, she was one of four children. After school at St Josephs College, Gosford, she took an honours degree in Latin at the University of Sydney, before attending Sydney Teachers College. She initially taught English and French in high schools before switching to computer programming. This career choice made her a woman ahead of her time she was reputedly the first female computer programmer in the southern hemisphere. Wendy Brennan wrote under the name Emma Darcy. In 1964, Brennan married Frank, a pharmacist and businessman. The couple had three sons and Brennan gave up work to concentrate on their upbringing, as well as designing the family home on the Central Coast. An elegant, glamorous woman, she loved books, oil painting and pottery, and, at one time, thought about becoming an actor. However, by the early 1980s, she was bored. After reading a library novel which she thought was appallingly written, she decided she could do a much better job. Although she had never met a writer before, she was determined to see what it was like so she sat down and wrote a political thriller entitled Secrets Are Never Safe. It was promptly rejected by Michael Joseph in London. Frank who was, like his wife, an avid reader said later, wryly: I told her it was hopeless. I asked her why she was wasting the money on the airmail to London! Undeterred, Brennan did not give up. I asked myself: What was the simplest, easiest story to tell? Maybe I can get one of those published. I picked on a Mills & Boon romance. It was a misconception. But as an outsider, looking at things; it seemed like the bottom rung on the writing ladder. I thought I would start at the bottom and work my way up. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. The Duchess of Cambridge is 'shifting focus' and has a 'secret plan' to launch new initiatives to 'help silent victims' of the Covid-19 crisis, sources have claimed. Kate Middleton, 39, is currently spending the country's third lockdown at her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall with Prince William, 38, and their children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two. Royal sources said the mother-of-three is shifting her focus to help charities operate in a post-pandemic world, while progressing work on her Early Years survey. An insider told the Mirror: 'The Duchess's primary work will be to build on the results of the survey and bring together more partners to focus on those who are most at risk of falling through the cracks of society.' The Duchess of Cambridge, 39, is 'shifting focus' and has a 'secret plan' to launch new initiatives to 'help silent victims' of the Covid-19 crisis, sources have claimed They continued to say that the issues Kate is passionate about, including homelessness, addiction and poor mental health of children and their families, would have been 'exacerbated' during the crisis. Meanwhile Peter Grigg, CEO of Home Start UK which helps support the children of disadvantaged or struggling families - said Kate was working to help the 'silent victims' of the crisis. He said: 'The early years have been historically woefully underfunded, but the attention on the Duchess's focus has the capacity to make real change.' Throughout the pandemic, the Cambridges have adapted their public life, turning to video calls to carry out virtual engagements and then joining socially distanced face-to-face events when restrictions were lifted. Royal sources have revealed the mother-of-three hopes to further work on her Early Years survey, while helping charities operate in a post-pandemic world At the start of the crisis, sources told Vanity Fair that the Cambridges wanted to revamp' their work in the face of coronavirus. Royal expert Katie Nicholl has also revealed how the Duke would be 'stepping up into statesman role' during the crisis. Speaking to Australian website 9Honey at the time, Katie said the couple were the 'best placed' members of the royal family to be 'pillars of support' for the nation at the moment. She revealed: 'We're seeing William step up in that statesman role. It strikes me as interesting that the first member of the royal family to address the nation has been William.' Last year, expert Katie Nicholl said Kate Middleton, as well as Prince William, would lead the royal family's response to the crisis The royal expert explained that left Kate and William 'best placed' to lead the family's efforts and support the nation. Katie revealed: 'Obviously William and Kate aren't in the vulnerable sector, therefore they are perhaps the best placed or among the best placed of the royal family to be able to help at the moment.' Last April, their Royal Foundation site was updated to reveal the couple's plan to provide 'practical support' and help frontline workers with 'mental health needs' amid the coronavirus crisis. A statement on the couple's official website at the time detailed how their organisation will 'do all it can to support those on the frontline of responding to COVID-19 in the UK.' Kate is currently spending the country's third lockdown at her Norfolk home of Anmer Hall with Prince William and their children Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two. The update detailed the couple's plans to connect their patronages with charities that can offer practical support for frontline responders, and plans to promote and support mental health charities, as well as 'thanking and celebrating those working on the frontline' of the crisis. In November, the duchess said she was 'humbled' that more than half-a-million people had taken part in her landmark research on the issue of early years. The study was the largest of its kind in the UK on perceptions of early childhood - which found only one in four people recognise the key importance of the first five years of a child's life. Kate - now an HRH and a future Queen consort - is patron of 19 charities and organisations, and has focused her charity work on helping children have the best possible start in life, particularly surrounding their mental health. Friends of a Brisbane bayside couple hit and killed by a four-wheel drive allegedly stolen by a teenager have been left heartbroken, as the community held an evening vigil to remember them. Katherine Jane Leadbetter, 31, and Matthew Philip Field, 37, were killed late on Australia Day as they were crossing the road at the intersection of Finucane Drive and Vienna Road in Alexandra Hills in Redland City. Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field were walking their dogs when they were hit. They had been together for almost five years and Ms Leadbetter was pregnant. The 17-year-old male accused of being behind the wheel of the white Toyota LandCruiser that killed the couple appeared in Brisbane Childrens Court on Wednesday. Jamie Campbell Bower was seen on the set of Stranger Things for the first time in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Sweeney Todd star, 32, puffed on a cigarette in between scenes as he transformed into orderly Peter Ballard, just a few months after he was announced as a new member of the A-list cast. Production on season four of the Netflix hit first resumed last September, after being halted in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Newcomer: Jamie Campbell Bower (pictured left) was seen on the set of Stranger Things for the first time in Atlanta on Tuesday Cutting a sharp figure, the actor teamed a crisp white shirt with high-waisted trousers and khaki green boots. The Counterfeit musician maintained his suave appearance in the hair department as his blond 'do featured a side-parting. Full Metal Jacket star Matthew Modine also emerged on set to film flashback footage after his character Dr Martin Brenner was killed off in the first season. Award-winning actress Millie Bobby Brown, meanwhile, kept a low-key profile as she was covered behind a large umbrella. Brief break: The Sweeney Todd star, 32, puffed on a cigarette in between scenes as he transformed into orderly Peter Ballard Sharp figure: The actor teamed a crisp white shirt with high-waisted trousers and khaki green boots Rest: The English artist lit his cigarette as he took a brief break from filming All in the details: The Counterfeit musician maintained his suave appearance in the hair department as his blond 'do featured a side-parting No rest for the wicked: Production on season four of the Netflix hit first resumed last September, after being halted in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Jamie's character works at the psychiatric hospital where murderer Victor Creel (Robert Englund) is imprisoned, who goes against the institution's cruel practices. At the end of season three, viewers saw Joyce (Winona Ryder) and her children Will (Noah Schnapp) and Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) leave their home with Eleven (Millie) in the fictional town of Hawkins. On the production's filming delays, executive producer Shawn Levy previously told Collider: 'The pandemic definitely massively delayed shooting and therefore the launch of our current season four... but it impacted very positively. Protection: The vocalist proved safety comes first as he sported a face mask while walking across the city Animated: The Twilight star seemed to be in great spirits as he flashed a thumbs up sign at onlookers 'It allowed the Duffer brothers, for the first time ever, to write the entire season before we shoot it and to have time to rewrite in a way that they rarely had before so the quality of these screenplays are exceptional, maybe better than ever.' Producers have yet to reveal a release date for Stranger Things, but show creators, The Duffer Brothers, recently teased the title of episode one: The Hellfire Club. Last March, leading actor David Harbour, 45 - who plays Jim Hopper - revealed the show was scheduled to make a comeback in early 2021. Hidden: Award-winning actress Millie Bobby Brown, meanwhile, kept a low-key profile as she was covered behind a large umbrella He's back! Full Metal Jacket star Matthew Modine also emerged on set in a flashy black car Standing out: The filmmaker, 61, filmed flashback footage in a red bandana Grand return: His character Dr Martin Brenner was killed off in the first season More up their sleeves: In August 2020, show creators The Duffer Brothers (pictured) confirmed the upcoming shows 'won't be the end' of the science fiction series Netflix renewed the programme for season four in September 2019, before revealing that the third edition was the most-watched series to date with a viewership of 64 million in just four weeks of its release. In August 2020, The Duffer Brothers confirmed the upcoming shows 'won't be the end' of the science fiction series. Twins Matt and Ross, both 36, spoke candidly with The Hollywood Reporter about its future as they claimed lockdown has 'given them time to look ahead' at what direction they want to take the show in. Details: Producers have yet to reveal a release date for Stranger Things, but The Duffer Brothers recently teased the title of episode one: The Hellfire Club (crew pictured) Director Ross explained to the publication: 'Season four won't be the end. We know what the end is, and we know when it is. '[The pandemic] has given us time to look ahead, figure out what is best for the show. Starting to fill that out gave us a better idea of how long we need to tell that story.' Matt added: 'We've had a lot more time to work on the scripts. For the first time, we have all the scripts written and we're able to look at it as a whole piece and make adjustments.' Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Starting Wednesday, Massachusettss oldest residents may schedule an appointment for a COVID vaccine. Gov. Charlie Baker announced Monday that the state will enter Phase 2 of the vaccine rollout on Monday, Feb. 1. Residents 75 years and older are the first priority group in Phase 2 and are eligible to receive the vaccine as early as Monday. This group will be followed by residents 65 years and older, individuals with at least two comorbidities that make them high risk for COVID and/or residents and staff of low income and affordable senior housing, followed by early education and K-12 workers, grocery, transit, public health, sanitation and other essential workers. State health officials have yet to release a date for when these groups will become eligible. COVID vaccine eligibility status For residents 75 years and older, appointments can be made online via an interactive map created by Massachusetts officials with the following instructions provided. Select vaccination locations have appointments available beginning Wednesday for individuals age 75 or older. More locations will have appointments available for February 1 and beyond in the coming days. Health officials warn that it may take several weeks to get an appointment and that as more vaccine supply arrives in Massachusetts, additional appointments will become available. Click the icon in the top left with the arrow to view a list of locations Click on a map pin for hours, contact information, and sign up details Fill out your Self Attestation form and be prepared to present it at your appointment All sites require appointments. Map Legend: Red star: Mass Vaccination Sites (high volume, large venue sites) Green star: General Vaccination Sites (healthcare locations) Blue star: General Vaccination Sites (pharmacy/grocery locations) Yellow star: Local Vaccination Sites (open to select cities/towns) When scheduling an appointment for your second dose, please be sure you are scheduling through the same vaccination site as your first dose and follow their process for signing up for dose two. Assistance in scheduling an appointment is available to seniors here. Having trouble viewing the map? Click here to view the map or here for a downloadable list of locations. Related Content SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE: EXR) announced today it will release financial results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2020 on Monday, February 22, 2021 after the market closes. The Company will host a conference call at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 23, 2021 to discuss its financial results. Hosting the call will be Extra Space Storage's CEO, Joe Margolis. Joining him will be Scott Stubbs, Executive Vice President and CFO. During the conference call, company officers will review operating performance, discuss recent events, and conduct a question-and-answer period. The question-and-answer period will be limited to registered financial analysts. All other participants will have listen-only capability. To Participate in the Telephone Conference Call: Dial in at least five minutes prior to start time. Domestic: 855-791-2026 International: 631-485-4899 Conference ID: 3191147 Conference Call Playback: Domestic: 855-859-2056 International: 404-537-3406 Conference ID: 3191147 The playback can be accessed beginning on February 23, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. ET through February 28, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. ET. The conference call will also be available on the Company's website under Investor Relations at www.extraspace.com. To listen to a live broadcast, go to the site at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. A replay of the call will also be available for 30 days on the Company's website. Full Text of the Earnings Report and Supplemental Data The full text of the earnings report and supplemental data will be available at the Company's website at http://ir.extraspace.com immediately following the earnings release to the wire services after the market close on Monday, February 22, 2021. For those without Internet access, the earnings release will be available by mail or fax, on request. To receive a copy, please call Extra Space Storage Investor Relations at (801) 365-1759. About Extra Space Storage Inc. Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of December 31, 2020, the Company owned and/or operated 1,921 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 1.4 million units and approximately 149.2 million square feet of rentable storage space offering customers conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. The Company is the second largest owner and/or operator of self-storage properties in the United States and is the largest self-storage management company in the United States. For more information, please visit www.extraspace.com. SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc. Related Links http://www.extraspace.com NSW will be forced to accept incremental easing of COVID-19 restrictions despite recording 10 days of zero community transmission due to the emerging threat of virus strains from overseas. Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced on Wednesday a handful of restrictions would be eased across Greater Sydney from Friday, but said it would be at least two weeks before hospitality venues could permit one person per two square metres. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian attends a press conference about the easing of restrictions in NSW. Credit:Janie Barrett Ms Berejiklian had previously foreshadowed rolling back restrictions to levels that were in place prior to the Avalon outbreak on Sydneys upper northern beaches, but on Wednesday conceded things have changed. Since the Avalon cluster, much has been revealed globally and in fact in Australia regarding the new strains of virus, she said. The oaths were administered to two members March 12, 2019, by attorney Robert Lewis, but paperwork certifying them was apparently never delivered to the election board. A third member was sworn in Sept. 10, 2019, but that paperwork also was not delivered. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. By Min Zhang and Shivani Singh BEIJING (Reuters) - China's steel demand will increase slightly in 2021, supported by stable macroeconomic policies, the steel association said on Wednesday, even as the government has urged companies to produce less steel this year. Economic policies that China adopted to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic will shore up China's steel demand, Qu Xiuli, vice chairwoman of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said at a news conference. Citing a desire to reduce carbon emissions, the industry ministry had asked China's mammoth steel sector to produce less crude steel in 2021 than the record 1.05 billion tonnes it logged last year. But CISA's vice chairman, Luo Tiejun, told the briefing that higher demand this year could be met by other means. "We can strengthen imports of primary steel products, especially billets... so that rising demand can be met without increasing output," said Luo. Billet is a raw length of steel that has to be processed further. Luo also said the government is planning to roll out favourable policies to encourage such imports. The world's top steel producer shipped out 53.67 million tonnes of steel products in 2020, down 16.5% from 2019. Its steel imports, meanwhile, jumped 64% last year, and billet imports rose by almost 500% in 2020, according to the CISA. As the recovery of steel demand and production in other markets still faces difficulties amid the pandemic, the CISA expected China's rising imports and falling exports to continue this year. RAW MATERIALS CRUNCHES The association also warned of supply issues for steelmaking ingredients, which Luo described as one of the "sour points" of China's ferrous sector. According to a draft plan for steel industry development issued by the industry ministry last December, China aims to build one or two major overseas iron ore mines by 2025 to boost supply of the steelmaking ingredient. It currently imports 80% of the iron ore it uses. Story continues Besides Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, with blocks 1 and 2 backed by SMB-Winning and block 3 and 4 backed by Rio Tinto, Chinalco and Baowu Group, Luo said the association is also lobbying the Chinese government to lower taxes and fees for exploitation of domestic mines. The CISA has also suggested improving steel scrap-related policies to take advantage of resources at home after Beijing allowed imports of high-grade scrap this year. While surging raw material prices - iron ore, coking coal and coke - are largely squeezing steelmakers' profits, Luo said mills have to eventually take measures to lower costs and prevent operational risks. (Reporting by Min Zhang and Shivani Singh; Editing by Tom Hogue, Ana Nicolaci da Costa and Gerry Doyle) Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators have arrested a 17-year-old juvenile accused of gunning down a man who was sitting inside a vehicle in Terrytown Sunday morning. The Sheriff's Office did not name the teen because he is a juvenile. He surrendered to authorities Tuesday at the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Justice Complex in Harvey, said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. Man found fatally shot in Terrytown Sunday morning, JPSO says Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office homicide detectives are investigating the death of a man found shot in Terrytown Sunday morning. The teen was booked on counts of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and possession of a handgun by a juvenile. Bond information was not available. The teen is accused of killing Ronnie Brown, 19, of New Orleans, according to the Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office. The shooting occurred about 10 a.m. Sunday in the 600 block of Heritage Avenue in Terrytown. Brown was sitting inside a car and talking to the teen, who was standing outside the vehicle, according to the Sheriff's Office. "The suspect fired repeatedly into the vehicle and fled," Rivarde said. Brown suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators did not say how Brown and the teen knew each other. They also didn't release any details about a suspected motive for the shooting. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Brown's death was one of three homicides reported over the weekend in unincorporated Jefferson Parish. The Coroner's Office has released the names of the men killed in the other two cases. Carlos Castillo, 18, was found fatally shot Saturday inside a car parked behind a business in the 3100 block of Houma Boulevard in Metairie. Castillo died of a gunshot wound to the head, said Mark Bone, the coroner's chief death investigator. Sheriff's deputies found Castillo's body after receiving a report of a suspicious vehicle. Cleveland Thompson, 23, died Sunday, five days after he was wounded in a Marrero shooting, according to authorities. Thompson was shot in the chest Jan. 19 during a disturbance at a residence in the 1000 block of Cohen Avenue, the Sheriff's Office has said. He was taken to the hospital in stable condition but succumbed to his injuries. No arrests have been made in either homicide case, according to Rivarde. Anyone with information about the shooting deaths of Carlos Castillo or Cleveland Thompson is asked to call the Sheriff's Office investigations bureau at 504-364-5300. The public can also call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify and can earn a reward of up to $2,500 for information that leads to an indictment. A public hospital and public health system strain under vaccine demand Angela Sides gives a shot to George Gibson at the vaccination clinic Pardee UNC Health operates at Blue Ridge Community College. In a windowless room on the ground floor of Pardee Hospital, 10 people are speaking into headsets as they type information into the Covid Vaccine Management System. On the other end of the line are lucky winners of the Covid-19 lottery. They have gotten through, always after a long wait, and theyre getting appointments for their Covid vaccination. All these (call center schedulers) are fulltime Pardee employees that were doing other jobs most of them leaders in administration, planning, community relations and other areas, said Johnna Reed, a registered nurse who is Pardees chief administrative officer. We just yesterday brought in two temps, from an agency. That may sound like a quick fix. But in the pandemic world, nothing is as easy or as quick as it appears. We had to get them through Epic security (the hospitals computer network system), we had to get them through Epic training and we had to get them an ID number. So its a herculean process, Reed adds. Its not the first time during a two-hour tour of Pardees call center and the vaccine clinic it runs at Blue Ridge Community College that Reed uses the word herculean. In Henderson County, as in many counties across the state, the system is struggling to meet the demand for shots. Last Wednesday, when the health department opened its freshly upgraded call center for appointments, the phone system inadvertently sent calls to voicemail instead of queuing them up to be answered. The decision by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to lower the eligibility pool age from 75 to 65 overwhelmed call centers. Im not sure that this is our future, Steve Smith, director of the Henderson County Department of Public Health, told county commissioners last week when asked what could be done to improve the call centers ability to handle the demand. I really want to propose, at least we need to consider that perhaps theres a different way of doing this. I had some really personal conversations with people that are very very frustrated. And what they dont like is being thrown into the maul and competing for very limited appointments in this scramble, no matter how robust the call center. And so an option for us to think about and were ready to pivot very quickly, depending on your feedback is opening up a wait list so that we could open up the call center five days a week. I could let you enroll on line or through a phone call and I think we let you get in a virtual line. Take a deep breath. Accept the challenge. Pardee first opened its call center with two operators on Dec. 14 then upgraded the capacity to eight stations on Jan. 12 when it began taking appointments from people over 65. That age group numbers more than 30,000 in Henderson County. At the Pardee call center, a large electronic screen shows the current calls in the queue, how many are currently connected to a scheduler and the average wait time. Last Wednesday, the average wait was an hour and 21 minutes. The peak call volume in a day was 8,000, and most of those would not be answered. The system can accommodate 50 calls in the queue at a time, with a maximum wait time of two hours. On Thursday afternoon, 49 people were on hold. Although UNC Health also offers an online signup option, the available slots fill up so fast it never looks like its live, Reed said. To get the call center up and running fast, Pardee redeployed people from across its campus. These people are all 100 percent call center, Reed said. The men and women in headsets are scheduling appointments through Feb. 5, even though we only have enough doses to last us through end of day next Wednesday (Jan. 27). We dont know, until the Tuesday of the week that were in, if were going to get any more doses. So we will know Tuesday morning if were going to get any doses Thursday. We didnt get any this week. So now, next week, were going to be out by Wednesday, so we are crossing our fingers. The call centers at Pardee and at the health department, which schedules appointments for its clinic at East Henderson High School and for one Blue Ridge Health operates at North Henderson High School, are trying to meet this overwhelming demand, deal with uncertainty and comfort people in tears at a time when the workers themselves are stressed under months of pressure. The same people, whether its us or the health department, that have been caring for Covid patients in Henderson County whether its testing, whether its treatment, whether its education and prevention its been us and the health department, Reed said. Now were the same ones being tasked to give the vaccine, so the best thing that could happen is to have a more normalized distribution system (through) doctors offices, pharmacies. This is not sustainable. Yes, we want more vaccines to go to the community but we also want a broader more consistently dispersed distribution. Reed says this in a matter of fact way, not as a complaint. After all, the training sheet for Covid-19 features the header: Take a deep breath. Accept the challenge. Aside from the regular calls that come in one-by-one, Pardees call center also get special requests. We just got a huge list of MAHEC residents in Buncombe that couldnt get in, that are UNC residents, Reed said, referring Mountain Area Health Education Center, a program of UNCs medical school. We just gave them a long list, calling them to get them in, because they were 1A (bedside medical providers). We need to get them in as quick as we can. Last Wednesday, a group of neighbors gathered in one place to watch President Bidens inauguration, managed to get through. I bet we scheduled a hundred people from one phone call. Turned out, they lived in South Asheville. Then I asked the question, said Reed. Theyve got a big health department, theyve got tons of vaccine. They said, Yeah, but the Buncombe County Health Department sent us to you. You know what, its like Jay Kirby said. We serve Western North Carolina. The lions share of our appointments have been Henderson County residents. As aggravated as people are at failing to get through or spending hours on hold, theyre often overwhelmed with gratitude when they reach a scheduler. Weve had people crying on the phone, theyre so grateful. Theyre relieved, Reed said. Ive heard personal stories every day answering the phone I finally feel like now maybe I can babysit my grandkids again. BRCC nursing students on front lines Operating the clinic at BRCC, the nurses have not lost a shot yet. In the rare case of a cancellation or no-show, the team works quickly to recruit a new arm to receive the shot. So far, we have scrambled, Reed said. We call back over here and say, You get somebody on the line that come today. Weve got two doses. The director of Pardees pharmacy, Adrienne Giddens, is a key leader in making sure every dose is accounted for, kept viable and injected into a patients arm. The Pfizer vials contain enough for five doses, each .03 milliliters. Its a mad dash if we have extra doses, Giddens said. It takes a whole team of people. Like the rest of the countywide Covid-19 response dating back to last March, the quick standup of clinics is a cooperative effort of numerous public agencies. The school system permitted clinics to take over gym floors at East and North high schools. When Pardee and the public health leaders asked for permission to use BRCCs largest space, the Blue Ridge Conference Center, President Laura Leatherwood immediately said yes. The agreement is mutually beneficial. Seventy-three students in BRCCs nursing program work on the front lines giving shots. Theyre learning the role of a nurse in a pandemic, anywhere from interviewing patients to learning how to process the information, said Leigh Angel, dean of health sciences at the community college. Theyre learning about principles of community health within this pandemic how can we keep people safe, how can we keep people well? We have seen patients tearful because theyre grateful to get this vaccine. A student would not get that in simulation. The gratitude these people are exhibiting when they come through is not something I can replicate in a lab setting. Bright Mensah came to the U.S. 13 years ago as an Eckerd Camp counselor before he trained to become a medical social worker. Now a second year nursing student at BRCC, Mensah, 43, is giving Covid shots. Its been very wonderful, he said. I learn by doing so this is a perfect environment for me. The patients have been very grateful for the opportunity to get a vaccine. Its pretty delightful, added Laylah Weaver, another second year student working in the clinic. Its very organized. People are excited to get their Covid vaccine. So when they come in, you get to chit chat a little. I try to make sure Im going over their paperwork with them really thoroughly and then get them in and out. The needle itself, the gauge is pretty tiny and so most people say they hardly even feel it. I think its good for everyone. Theyre ready, theyve been waiting for it. They say Ive been looking forward to a vaccine so much and theyre excited. Hard to plan when every week is a surprise Mensah and Weaver are part of the process that by all accounts is working well. Two weeks ago, Bruce Mills, 71, was so aggravated with his failure to get through to make an appointment that he called the situation a travesty and a disservice to the public. After he sent an email to all five county commissioners, Commissioner Rebecca McCall responded. She told Mills she was sorry to hear of the trouble he had experienced. She said they had had many many problems in trying to get their system up and running and off the ground, he said. They actually saw that I got an appointment and I got my first vaccination last Friday. He got his shot at the health departments clinic at East Henderson High School. I could not have been more impressed with how organized they were, he said. I handed them the paperwork, sat down and in less than two minutes they called me. I entered the gymnasium. They stuck a needle in my arm. I had to wait 15 minutes before exiting. I couldnt be more impressed with how organized they were. They had lots of volunteers there and lots of people helping out. It was very very impressive. As happy as Mills was, thousands more are waiting. The short notice of the supply line is a problem throughout the state, even the nation. I think one of our frustrations as vaccine providers is we do not get any reliable forecasts about whats going to happen two weeks from now or a month from now, Smith told commissioners last week. It is literally waiting on a week to week basis about what we might be allocated. Ellis echoed that concern. It would be very useful if we knew in advance how many we were going to be getting next week, he said. Scheduling patients beyond what youve got in stock is dicey. This week county public health directors from across the state and another statewide association wrote letters to Gov. Roy Cooper and DHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen imploring them to improve the vaccine distribution system. When every week is a surprise, its hard to plan if you have all the resources and the people that are distributing the shots, said Steven Lawler, president of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, which advocates for the states hospitals. On Monday, Dr. Cohen responded. In a call with hospital leaders and county public health directors, she pledged that the state would guarantee a minimum baseline allocation each week for the next three weeks, WRAL-TV reported. In Henderson County, as the first large wave of vaccinated retirees arrives for Covid booster shots, the workload the number of patients and the need for space, check-in desks, nurses and volunteers will double. The public demands that providers give more shots, give more shots, give more shots, Ellis said. I understand that. But if were going to give more shots, give more shots, give more shots, in 21 days we have to be ready to give twice as many as were giving. Good morning, its Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. I keep thinking the news cant get any worse -- and then we learn that while most Americans desperately await their chance to get COVID vaccinations, a majority of nursing home workers in this country are refusing to take their shots. President Biden did his part yesterday in announcing stepped up federal efforts and producing more of the life-saving serum, but you wonder sometimes if America is still governable. On that cheery note, Id point you to RCPs front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. Todays lineup features Dhruv Khullar (The New Yorker), Rep. Raul Grijalva (The Hill), Jamelle Bouie (New York Times), and Matt Welch (Reason). We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors this morning, including the following: * * * Uighur Advocates: Will Biden Actions Match Words on Genocide? Susan Crabtree reports on the new teams support for the Trump administrations stance on Chinas mistreatment of the Muslim minority. Republican Attacks on Liz Cheney Will Backfire. Robert Doar explains why. A New Generation of Diverse Leaders Helps Expand the GOP. Paris Dennard highlights the election of Rep. Byron Donalds as emblematic of young African Americans drawn to the partys message of freedom and opportunity. Facebook Cancels Abe Lincoln. John Cribb describes how the social media giant rejected attempts to place an ad for his historical novel about the 16th president. Will the Truth on COVID Restrictions Really Prevail? Scott W. Atlas contends that data on state infections/hospitalizations/deaths undermines the science behind the closure of businesses and other lockdown measures. For Stability in Afghanistan, Invest in Women. At RealClearWorld, Farhat Popal urges the Biden administration to protect gains in human rights in negotiations with the Taliban. RealClearPolicy Webinar on Bidens Crypto Policies. Highlights from the event (and the full video) can be found here. Why Warner Bros. Went to Simultaneous Streaming. At RealClearMarkets, Eric Fruits examines the upset created in Hollywood when the film studio changed its plans for releasing films. Civic Virtues as Moral Facts: Recovering the Other Half of Our Founding. In the latest 1776 Series essay, Daniel J. Mahoney contrasts the moral consensus of early America with the subjective, rights-based morality that defines American culture today. * * * Carl M. Cannon Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics @CarlCannon (Twitter) ccannon@realclearpolitics.com Venezuela's President Nicols Maduro appears to be counting on yet another miracle to save his citizens from COVID-19, promoting a secretive solution with no published scientific evidence he claims will conquer the new coronavirus. Ten drops under the tongue every four hours and the miracle is done, Maduro said in a televised appearance on Sunday. It's a powerful antiviral, very powerful, that neutralises the coronavirus. But his government has released no evidence. He even kept secret the name of the brilliant Venezuelan mind behind it, saying he needed to protect them. Scientists at home and abroad remained skeptical. The local National Academy of Medicine said it appeared be derived from the common herb thyme. It's not the first time the Venezuelan leader has promoted a cure. In October, he notified the Pan American Health Organization that Venezuelan scientists discovered a molecule that nullifies the replication capacity of the new coronavirus. He hasn't spoken of that development since. He's also promoted a special herbal tea he claims can fend off the virus and other ailments. Other leaders too have embraced solutions dismissed by scientific studies. Former US President Donald Trump and Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro both stubbornly touted an antimalarial drug despite repeated studies finding it ineffective and possibly dangerous. The new coronavirus hasn't hit as hard as other South American countries such as Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, though many experts say that's likely because sanctions against Maduro's government have sharply limited travel there. Maduro said the treatment, which he called carvativir, has been under testing for nine months among Venezuelans ill with the coronavirus. He said he plans to distribute it nationwide and to other nations as well. Dr David Boulware, professor of medicine and an infectious diseases physician at the University of Minnesota Medical School, noted the lack of scientific evidence. This is, just as with other things, people trying to sell, you know, some magic beans as the solution to a complex problem," Boulware told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "This would be great if it worked, but I would like to see the data. Venezuela's National Academy of Medicine said it's prudent ... to wait for more data from the carvativir tests according to international protocols. Since October, has been part of trials for the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia, a staunch ally of Maduro's government. signed a contract in December with Russia to buy the vaccine, but inoculations aren't scheduled to start until April. Rosa Colina, 58, said authorities should do more to get Venezuelans vaccinated sooner. She said colleagues at a local health center and some neighbors have died from COVID-19. I'm of the mind that we need the vaccine, not these droplets, she said. I think that won't have any effect. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions India on Wednesday inked a strategic partnership agreement with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to strengthen cooperation in global energy security, stability and This partnership will lead to an extensive exchange of knowledge and would be a stepping stone towards India becoming a full member of IEA, a power ministry statement said. "The Framework for Strategic Partnership between the members and the Government of India was signed on 27th January, 2021 to strengthen mutual trust and cooperation & enhance global energy security, stability and sustainability," it said. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by Power Secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai and Executive Director Fatih Birol. "The contents of the strategic partnership will be jointly decided by members and India, including a phased increase in benefits and responsibilities for India as an IEA strategic partner, and building on existing areas of work within Association and the Clean Energy Transitions Programme, such as Energy Security, Clean & Sustainable Energy...Expansion of gas-based economy in India etc," it said. The IEA Secretariat will be responsible for implementation of the cooperative activities in India and for facilitating discussion between the IEA members and India to further develop the strategic partnership. Through this agreement, the Indian government endeavours to take necessary steps to encourage and promote strategic and technical cooperation in the in the identified areas, the ministry added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said no one should do politics over violence that broke out during the farmers' protest in the national capital on Republic Day as the matter is about the nation. Speaking to PTI, Fadnavis condemned the violence and said farm leaders leading the protest should introspect why such violence took place. The tractor parade on Tuesday that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. "What happened yesterday in the national capital was not right. I think no one should do politics and it is not right to do politics on this kind of violence," Fadnavis said just before meeting Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. He was responding to a query on NCP chief and former Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar blaming the Centre for violence during the farmers' tractor rally in Delhi. Asked if the farmers' protest has lost its credibility after the violence witnessed in Delhi here, the senior BJP leader said, "Those who are leading the protest should introspect why such an incident happened." Fadnavis called on Tomar and discussed Maharashtra-related issues. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary was also present in the meeting. New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. is quarantining after possibly being exposed to the coronavirus. Pascrell, D-9th Dist., canceled his appearance at a press conference with Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., to discuss efforts to restore the full federal deduction for state and local taxes, which President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans capped at $10,000 in their 2017 tax law. Spokesman Mark Greenbaum said the congressman learned earlier Wednesday that a person he had come into contact with tested positive for COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, the congressman will refrain from participating in public events and will work from home, Greenbaum said. He said Pascrell would be tested later this week. Gov. Phil Murphy, who visited a vaccination site in Kearny with Pascrell the day before, said Wednesday at his coronavirus briefing in Trenton that the congressman called him in the morning and told him a family member had tested positive for the virus. Murphy said he and Pascrell were both wearing masks and did not spend more than 15 minutes near each other but will likely wait a couple of days and get a test myself. Rep. Albio Sires, D-8th Dist., who also attended the Kearny event and also wore a mask, plans to quarantine and get tested as well, spokeswoman Erica Daughtrey said. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage The 84-year-old Pascrell, re-elected last November, underwent a heart procedure last July to clear blocked arteries. And in 2018, he was hospitalized for heat exhaustion. Earlier this month, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-12th Dist., tested positive for the coronavirus and was treated in a hospital. She said she may have caught the virus during last weeks violent protests by supporters of Trump when she waited out the riot in a safe room with other lawmakers, including Republicans who refused to don masks. In October, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-11th Dist., quarantined after her child care provider tested positive for COVID-19, though she tested negative. She also was tested for the coronavirus in April after her husband, Jason Hedberg, tested positive for the virus. That test also was negative. Two other New Jersey lawmakers, Gottheimer and Andy Kim, D-3rd Dist., were tested after coming in close contact with people who later were found to have COVID-19. Both lawmakers tested negative after quarantining. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @JDSalant. Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Hydrotherapy or aquatherapy is a form of activity performed in water to help with rehabilitation and recovery from hard training or serious injury Leaders and changemakers will join hands for an initiative towards saving water and sustaining it for the generations to come under the Mission Paani Waterthon, an initiative by News18 and Harpic India which is set to bring together some of the biggest celebrities. Hosted by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, the campaign ambassador, the event will emphasise on Paani Ki Kahaani, Bhaarat Ki Zubaani, the theme to raise awareness about water crisis in India. Kumar, while addressing the people on the need to conserve water, spoke on the many positives of hydrotherapy. The actor, who is a fitness junkie, has often spoken about his rigorous training sessions and he gave a sneak peek into how water helped him recover. Hydrotherapy or aquatherapy is a form of activity performed in water to help with rehabilitation and recovery from hard training or serious injury. This has increasingly become a popular form of treatment and exercise for athletes. Speaking about a difficult time back in the 1990s when he had suffered from slipped disc, the superstar said how hydrotherapy was something that was able to bring him back relief when nothing else worked for him. The superstar, elaborating on it further, said how while performing a difficult stunt for a film, he had lifted The Undertaker and ended up suffering from slipped disc. When none of the treatment worked, his doctor suggested him to undergo hydrotherapy. Explaining the process, the actor said, "The process entails working out in the water. Be it running, walking or any form of exercise, hydrotherapy involves working out in the water. What happens in this case is that the water pulls away the impact of the exercise and the buoyancy of water reduces the stress of bearing weight on one's body." Kumar added that one can perform exercise such as these in swimming pools or in any water body. He also spoke about a recent addition to his work out equipment, a water treadmill. Elaborating on the same, the actor showed a short clip of himself running inside the treadmill and also explained how the water that he uses in the exercise can be stored, cleaned and reused for upto 3-4 months, thus ensuring minimum wastage of water. You can contribute to the cause by taking a Jal Pratigya. Visit www.news18.com/mission-paani Watch the Waterthon LIVE here. Modern Family will expand its full-series streaming to Peacock and Hulu next month. ADVERTISEMENT Both streaming services will start airing all 250 episodes of the half-hour family sitcom, which aired its final episode of its 11-season ABC broadcast run last year, on Feb. 3, Deadline reported. As the show wrapped up its programming on ABC in April, cast members said they hoped it paved the way for the future as the first show to feature a gay couple as leads when it debuted in 2009. The series, co-created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, revolves around three families in Los Angeles linked by grandfather Jay Pritchett, who is married to a Colombian immigrant. It includes his daughter, Claire, a homemaker who returned to the business world, married to Phil Dunphy; his son, Mitchell, a lawyer married to Cameron Tucker; and grandchildren. Hulu announced the series expansion to its streaming service on Twitter with a picture of the cast. "Our family is about to get bigger," Hulu tweeted. NBC Universal's Peacock similarly announced it was picking up the episode in a tweet with a GIF of the cast hugging. Peacock, a streaming service that launched last July, will feature 12 episodes of the series for free on its ad-supported tier, with access to full seasons available through Peacock Premium for $4.99 a month with ads or Premium Plus for $9.99 a month with no ads. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! During the ABC broadcast run, the series could be viewed the next day on Hulu. "We were fortunate to bring this beloved series to Hulu audiences next-day during its celebrated run, and now we're excited to offer every episode so new fans can meet the Pritchetts, Dunphys and Tuckers and old friends can visit them again," Brain Henderson, Hulu's vice president of content partnerships, told Variety. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Bengaluru, Jan 27 : Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, J. Jayalalithaa's close aide, V. K. Sasikala was released from Bengaluru's central prison -- Parappana Agrahara Central Jail -- on Wednesday after prison authorities completed the release formalities. The central jail authorities wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and completed the formalities at the hospital where she is presently undergoing treatment for Covid infection. Her sister-in-law, J. Ilavaris too was admitted in the same hospital on January 22. She will, however, remain in the hospital as she is being treated for Covid. Parappana Agarahara Central Prison chief Superintendent V. S. Murthy stated that woman prison inmate number 9234 - Sasikala Natarajan, completed her prison term on January 27 and she has been released as per the court's order. The health bulletin issued by the Victoria Hospital at 11.30 a.m. on Wednesday, stated that Sasikala has been freed as per an official order at 11 a.m. on January 27. Sasikala will continue to be at Victoria Hospital for the next four to five days, the hospital's medical superintendent said. The bulletin added that according to the Covid protocols, the patients can be discharged 10 days after testing if they are asymptomatic. "They also need to have been without the need for oxygen for three days and Sasikala has maintained oxygen saturation of 96/97 without oxygen for the past 12 hours," the bulletin explained. A huge crowd of her supporters lined up outside Victoria Hospital, raising slogans in her favour and distributed sweets in celebration. She was rushed to the government's Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on January 20 from the prison hospital, after falling ill there and had been transferred to Victoria Hospital the following day, where she tested Covid positive. The 63-year-old leader was reportedly unwell in her prison cell for about a week before being admitted to Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital by the prison doctors with a diagnosis of type II diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hypothyroidism, urinary tract infection (UTI) and suspected Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI). Her release comes on a day when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurates a Rs 79 crore memorial to J. Jayalalithaa along Chennai's Marina Beach. Sasikala served her four-year prison term in a disproportionate assets case since February 15, 2017. The case pertains to amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 66.65 crore during J. Jayalalithaa's tenure as chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1991-1996. In September 2013, a special court convicted Jayalalithaa to simple imprisonment of four years. She was slapped with a Rs 100 crore fine and forced to step down as the CM. The three co-accused -- V. K. Sasikala, V. N. Sudhakaran and J. Ilavarasi -- were also convicted. They were penalised with a fine of Rs 10 crore each. Jayalalithaa challenged the conviction in the Karnataka High Court, which acquitted her of all charges. But in 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the special court verdict convicting all four of them. Charges against Jayalalithaa were abated in view of her death on December 5, 2016. Soon after Jayalaithaa's death, Sasikala, who is also known as Chinnamma, took over the reins of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in December 2016 but was later expelled from the party by the Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami-led camp. Her stay in Bengaluru prison too kicked off a row when Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) D. Roopa on July 12, 2017 submitted a report to State Police Chief Rupak Kumar Dutta and the Anti-Corruption Bureau, stating that AIADMK leader V. K. Sasikala Natarajan was receiving VIP treatment in the jail. This case came to be known as the Sasikala bribery case. Highlighting violation of eight prison rules, Roopa's report stated that Sasikala has an exclusive kitchen and is provided with an inmate to help her with her daily chores. The report alleged that prison officials may have received a bribe of Rs 2 crore to give preferential treatment to Sasikala, and the Director General of Prisons H. N. Satyanarayana Rao could also be a beneficiary. She demanded that a fair probe should be conducted. Sasikala again came into the limelight in late November 2019, when the Income Tax department had reportedly attached benami properties valued at Rs 1,600 crore allegedly belonging to her under the provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act. It is further alleged that nine properties, located in Chennai, Puducherry and Coimbatore, were purchased soon after demonetisation. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text When Joan Silber was president of Aish HaTorah in the late 90s, the Orthodox Jewish educational organization was working to convert the former Chesterfield Firehouse into a center for Jewish learning. But the group needed to raise a significant amount of money to pay for the project, which was expected to cost $760,000. So Rabbi Elazar Grunberger, who led Aish at the time, sought help from a local Jewish woman known for her development skills: Elynor Flegel. ADVERTISEMENT Elynor, being the wonderful, giving person she always was, just said, Sure, recalls Silber of the successful project. She came in and gave us a lot of advice and assistance for our approach to fundraising. Nevermind that Mrs. Flegel was not an active participant at Aish or that development was what she also did professionally at Webster University. She still donated her time. Elynor just jumped in in any way she could to help anybody, said Silber. Her expertise in fundraising and desire to help others became a known commodity for Jewish and non-Jewish nonprofits and played a pivotal role in developing a number of programs that became mainstays of the St. Louis Jewish community, according to volunteers and Jewish professionals. Mrs. Flegel died Jan. 18 at age 79 from a rare form of Parkinsons disease. It was hard for her to see the underdog, and I think what drove her was trying to help people have an equal playing field, said Lauren Sagel, Mrs. Flegels daughter. Mrs. Flegel met her husband, Leslie, at a Jewish Federation of St. Louis singles event in 1960. Sagel recalls that the family would celebrate Shabbat each week with Friday night dinners. She was not particularly religious, but I think the connection to the community meant a lot to her from growing up in U. City, said Sagel. The cultural part of Judaism was important to her. Her family was important to her, and I think she wanted to give us a strong base and the community a strong base. That desire drove her to serve on the board of what is now the St. Louis Jewish Community Center, where she became the organizations first Cultural Arts chair and a founder of the Jewish Book Festival in 1979, the Light reported. Mrs. Flegels particular contribution was in launching the festivals annual book sale, said Zelda Sparks, director of arts and culture at the JCC. I just think she had a good eye for the way things should look, what would be appealing, said Sparks. She was really a mover and a shaker at that time and was very active at the J in the cultural arts as a whole. Mrs. Flegel also contributed to Jewish programs to help the underserved. As a volunteer with National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis, Mrs. Flegel worked on the Victim Service Council, an initiative to help the victims of crime and abuse. Finding solutions to a variety of human problems is not easy, but volunteers such as Elynor Flegel have been able to claim some accomplishments, the Light reported in 1978. When one victim, a paraplegic as a result of a gunshot wound, was discharged from the hospital with only a mattress to sleep on, Mrs. Flegel combed community resources until she found a suitable bed, then called her own mover and convinced him to deliver and assemble it. In 1990, Mrs. Flegel chaired a committee for a rally to help in the fundraising for the resettlement of Jews fleeing the Soviet Union for the United States. She also served as vice president of NCJW and as chairwoman of the Js Family Program and Group Services Department. Fred Steinbach served with Mrs. Flegel on the board of what is now called Jewish Family Services and watched her stewardship of the WINGS program, a partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness St. Louis (which Mrs. Flegel also served as president of) to help adults struggling with mental illness and their families. That cause was particularly important to Mrs. Flegel because her brother Randy was diagnosed with schizophrenia. When WINGS was struggling because of lack of funding and participation, it was a very trying time for Mrs. Flegel, Steinbach recalls. But her passion and time investment in keeping it alive for a little while longer were consequential, Steinbach said. She was passionate about the causes in which she was involved, and she was very thorough in preparing to talk to donors, Steinbach added. Amy Rome, the founder of the Rome Group, a consulting firm that assists nonprofits with development, met Mrs. Flegel in the early 80s while the two were participating in the first class of the Coro Women in Leadership program, which aims to help women develop leadership skills. Rome described Mrs. Flegel as her mentor in learning how to approach development. She was an effective fundraiser because of her ability to communicate and really her belief in what she was doing. Raising money is about building relationships, but you have to be genuine in terms of whatever it is you are raising money for, and anything she worked on, she was committed to 150 percent, Rome said. Sagel also thinks that her mom surprised some people. She really didnt have to do all of this. She was very pretty; she was very social. And in that time, people were not expecting Jewish women to be doing fundraising, so I think people were impressed and in awe of it, Sagel said. Even when her health declined because of the Parkinsons disease, Silber recalls, It never stopped her spirit from moving forward and her optimism for the next day. Mrs. Flegel is survived by her husband, S. Leslie Flegel, and her children Jason Flegel, Mark Flegel and Lauren Sagel; brother Craig Keyser; and grandchildren Dylan and Brooke Flegel and Graham and Alexa Sagel. Some camp directors this summer will have to decide in which cabin to put kids. Aaron Hadley, executive director of Camp Ben Frankel, has to decide where to locate an entire camp. The Jewish overnight camp typically takes place in southern Illinois. But the state has a ban on such gatherings because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. So Hadley has a decision to make: Locate Ben Frankel in its usual home and have it likely be only a day camp, or move it to Missouri where, as it stands now, campers will be allowed to spend the night this summer. Fortunately, prior to joining Ben Frankel in 2017, Hadley spent three years as chief operating officer of Camp Kesem, an organization started at the Hillel at Stanford University for the children of parents with cancer. It ran more than 100 camps around the country, and Hadley constantly had to move them around among rental sites. ADVERTISEMENT I have a lot of experience with switching camp sites, Hadley said. Not to mention, we are getting really good during the pandemic at contingency planning and navigating uncertainty and preparing ahead of time for it. In spite of the unanswered questions about what the pandemic will look like this summer, the directors of four Jewish camps that draw youth from the St. Louis area are planning to hold camp again this summer and are confident that they will be able to provide a fun,if different, experience for campers. There is a much bigger contrast between what you are coming from and what you are going to this year, said Terri Grossman, director of Camp Sabra, the St. Louis Jewish Community Centers camp at Lake of the Ozarks that had to cancel last summer. So I think, for all of us, the level of gratitude will be much higher for that opportunity. The camp directors point to the availability of COVID-19 test kits as being one of the most important factors for the summer. Thats because they are not expecting that campers will be able to receive the vaccine by then. We have to have an eye to cost for the families, for our staff, the efficacy of the test, Grossman said. Is this an at-home test that we can administer? (Do we need) to get a mobile lab to come in? Those are the biggest variables of all. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved two at- home coronavirus tests that allow people to collect the sample, process it and get the results without the use of a laboratory. One manufacturer stated that it plans to produce 20 million kits within the first half of the year and make them available in drugstores, but its unclear whether there will be enough for all of the camps. The Goldman Union Camp Institute (GUCI), the Union for Reform Judaisms camp in Zionsville, Ind., is asking campers to submit to a PCR test the type considered the most accurate but which takes longer to get results a few days before heading to camp, director Jeremy Klotz said. During the initial stages of camp, the directors anticipate that one or two cabins will exist as bubbles or pods. In order for that to work, campers will all need to arrive on the same day, rather than in normal years when the camp could more easily accommodate people who arrived late, said Klotz, who had to cancel camp last summer. The directors gave various estimates of when they would be able to relax some of the restrictions and allow the bubbles to meld. But said they hoped that could happen within 10 to 14 days, once they were confident that the coronavirus has not found its way into camp. When they are able to provide tests depends on the type of testing available, Grossman said. If campers are separated into bubbles, what happens to one of the core camp experiences, meals together, after which there is often cheering? Klotz anticipates that campers and staff will eat in two shifts. I dont think its going to diminish the experience, he said. We sing a lot at our camp, and we jump up and down and run around a ton. I think those things will have to look different because,I dont know if the guidance has changed, but singing and projecting and screaming is not great for exposure. But we still plan to do song sessions and cheering. It just might happen at different places or look a little different. Other restrictions could include not being able to have visiting staff from Israel or other parts of the world because the U.S. government has suspended its J-1 visa program, said Jacob Cytryn, executive director of Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, which is affiliated with the Conservative Judaism movement. Grossman said Sabra does not plan to do off-site camping because there will be no coming and going once kids are at camp. But we will do things with them at camp that will be outdoor experiences. The makeup of the camp also could be affected by surges of the virus in particular parts of the country. To accommodate for unusual enrollment numbers one age group could have far fewer than normal, another could have a waiting list Ramah is considering investing in temporary cabins and bathrooms to ensure that everyone who wants to come to camp is able to, said Cytryn, who also had to cancel camp last year. In spite of the additional costs involved with operating a camp during a pandemic, such as for new cabins and COVID testing, the directors said they do not plan to charge more than the usual annual cost of living increase. They have been able to avoid a greater increase because of fundraising efforts and an increase in the size of donations. Camp Ben Frankel has traditionally been positioned at the affordable end of the market, and we will stay there, focused on providing a high quality experience at a reasonable price, Hadley said. Still, cost is only one factor for families considering sending their kids to camp. Will they feel safe doing so? Directors are projecting that enrollment will be only slightly lower than usual. In 2019, Sabra had 741 campers. This year, it is budgeting for 650 to 700, Grossman said. Ramah typically has about 500 campers. This year, Cytryn expects about 450. We are probably 6% to 8% lower than we normally are right now, which is actually pretty good, said Klotz, who is budgeting for 400 to 420 campers rather than the usual 480 to 500. We usually get our second-, third- and fourth-graders and new families in now, but I think parents are going wait until March, April, May to see what the scenario is in our country. Despite the slightly smaller camp sizes and moderately larger number of rules, the directors all project optimism about this summer. Cytryn said parts of the experience will depend on whether campers have to wear masks for the whole summer and whether they are able to gather in large groups. But he has also met a number of times with the medical director of Camp Winnebago in Maine, which managed to operate last summer and has served as a model for other camps. She reminded me and a group of other directors that the kids who went to camp last summer had a great summer and are coming back to camp, Cytryn said. Camp is more important now than ever with the realities of our childrens lives and the kids are used to masks and social distancing. Children are unbelievably resilient. Ben Frankel was the only one of the four Jewish camps tied to St. Louis to operate last summer, but it did so online. The camp still separated campers into small groups, as though they were in the same bunk at camp and remained in that group, with the same counselors throughout the whole summer. They were will still able to make kids feel safe enough to take some healthy, positive risks, like singing at a talent show in front of others and getting your first standing ovation. Those magical, transformative moments can still happen online, or in person with masks on, Hadley said. Grossman also was director of Camp Sabra in 2009, when the swine flu hit the camp with no warning, she said. She feels like they have a leg up during the COVID pandemic because we know whats coming. And she doesnt think campers experience will be diminished. I was a camper in 1971 at Camp Sabra, and here is what I took away and what I still carry with me: my friendships, the community that I created, those pieces of my Jewish identity that I absorbed and carried with me for the rest of my life, Grossman said. And those things are easy-peasy for us to do regardless of the size of the bubble. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. "Our sustained profitability and growthwhich accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemicvalidate that Splashtop's next generation remote access solution is making a real difference in how, where and when people can use the digital resources they need to work, learn and be entertained," said Mark Lee, co-founder and CEO of Splashtop. "We're fundraising now at unicorn valuation to amplify our brand and momentum so we can attract talent, expand our enterprise presence, and accelerate our global expansion to delight customers everywhere." Splashtop's $1 Billion Valuation Validates its Performance and Market Vision Unlike the vast majority of the unicorns that ignore financial losses as they pursue high growth, Splashtop has been profitable since 2015 even while growing rapidly. The company's current growth rate of 160% and profits of 60% represent exceptional performance levels. "Splashtop is an example of an efficient and agile enterprise technology company that has demonstrated incredible metrics, including fast growth, impressive customer satisfaction scores and attractive profit margins," said Jai Das, president and partner of Sapphire Ventures. "We anticipate the adoption of Splashtop to continue to climb. Its secure remote access solution has been essential for businesses of all sizes during the pandemic, and we anticipate will be critical far beyond as where and how people work has been forever reimagined." Also fueling Splashtop's valuation is recognition of the company's vision for disrupting the established remote access market. "Splashtop is at the leading edge of a major IT trend: making it easier to access and use necessary software applications and data," said Ryan Floyd, a founding managing director of Storm Ventures, which has invested in Splashtop since its Series A funding. "Splashtop replaces the clunky, complex, expensive legacy approaches to remote accessexemplified by virtual private networks (VPNs)with a modern, cloud-native approach that provides secure, easy access to any digital assets, anywhere, at any time." COVID-19 Pandemic Accelerates Splashtop's Business Success The COVID-19 pandemicwhich shut down physical access to corporate and academic computing resources worldwidedrove increased demand and appreciation for Splashtop's solutions, including among larger enterprises. In identifying the "Top Trends Impacting Infrastructure and Operations for 2021," research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. names Trend No. 1 as Anywhere Operations. "Gartner expects that 48% of employees will work from home, even after the pandemic, compared with 30% pre-pandemic. This shift will force IT executives to develop flexible and resilient organizations that enable staff to work from anywhere, allow customers everywhere to access services, and manage the deployment of business services across distributed infrastructures."* Over the past year, Splashtop has served 85% of Fortune 500 companiesincluding Disney, FedEx, GE, Marriott and Toyotaplus government and educational institutions such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Harvard University, Stanford Healthcare, and research labs enabling COVID-19 vaccine research by major pharmaceutical companies. Splashtop Empowers Leading Businesses to Thrive "Adobe customerswho use our industry-leading Creative Cloud products in broadcast media, graphic design, scientific research, engineering, education and moreneed to remain productive when working remotely, as many have had to do since the start of the pandemic," said Sue Skidmore, head of partner relations, Adobe Video. "Splashtop's remote desktop solution has proven to be very valuable to many video content creators who can run Adobe applications on any device as if they were sitting in front of the high-performance work computers." "As we've seen with the global pandemic, remote access is crucial to the success of any business and we are pleased to be partnered with Splashtop. Their reliability, performance, and customer support have been exceptional in providing us, our customers and employees the necessary tools to keep important work moving forward, even remotely," said Joel Nichols, vice president of Information Systems at Quanterix, a biomarker analysis company that is enabling new insights into the biology of health and disease. "Our revolutionary technology is helping researchers around the world advance the science of precision medicine." Also during 2020, Splashtop expanded its global reach, including new partnerships in EMEA, South America and Asia. In Europe, the company opened an EMEA headquarters in Amsterdam and expanded its Euro currency and local multilingual support. In Asia, the company opened an APAC channel headquarters in Singapore supporting hundreds of revenue-generating channel partners and built enterprise channels in multiple countries, including Japan. The Splashtop blog provides more details about Splashtop's path to unicorn status, and a related press release, also issued today, recounts some of the company's 2020 milestones. The newest funding comes a decade after Splashtop's previous funding: four rounds that raised a total of $49 million. *Gartner Press Release, Gartner Identifies the Top Trends Impacting Infrastructure and Operations for 2021 About Sapphire Sapphire Ventures is a leading venture capital firm that partners with visionary teams and venture funds to build companies of consequence. For nearly two decades, Sapphire has been investing capital, resources and expertise in innovative startups and technology-focused venture funds around the world. With more than $4B in AUM across Sapphire Ventures, Sapphire Partners and Sapphire Sport, and with team members in Austin, London, Palo Alto and San Francisco, Sapphire is well-positioned to help scale companies and venture funds, elevating them to become global category leaders. To learn more about Sapphire Ventures, visit: https://sapphireventures.com/. About Splashtop Based in Silicon Valley, Splashtop Inc. delivers next-generation remote access and remote support software and services for enterprises, academic and research institutions, government agencies, small businesses, MSPs, IT departments and individuals. Splashtop's cloud-based, secure and easily managed remote access approach is increasingly replacing legacy approaches such as virtual private networks (VPNs), while earning a stunning 93 Net Promoter Score (NPS), a standard for assessing customer satisfaction. More than 30 million users, including those in 85% of Fortune 500 enterprises, enjoy Splashtop products globally. Visit http://www.splashtop.com for more information. SOURCE Splashtop Related Links http://www.splashtop.com A teenager charged with two counts of murder after allegedly running a red light in a stolen 4WD and killing a Brisbane bayside couple could face further charges over the death of their unborn child. About 150 locals gathered at the scene, at the corner of Vienna and Finucane roads in Alexandra Hills, on Wednesday night to pay tribute to Katherine Leadbetter, 31, and Matthew Field, 37, whose deaths on Australia Day left friends and family absolutely heartbroken. The 17-year-old male accused of being behind the wheel of the Toyota Landcruiser, allegedly stolen from a Cleveland home, had clipped another vehicle, causing the 4WD to roll before it struck the couple, who were walking their dogs at the time. He then allegedly fled what Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd described as a catastrophic scene on foot about 5.30pm before he was accused of attempting to steal another car from a nearby garage. Electricite de France said the completion of its flagship British nuclear plant project will be delayed at least six months and cost about 500 million pounds ($687 million) more than previously planned because of the coronavirus pandemic. While the delay announced Wednesday is short at this stage, it's likely to revive controversy about how expensive the technology is and whether further holdups are inevitable. EDF is already struggling to finish a French reactor more than a decade behind schedule. "We are still facing the full force of the pandemic," Hinkley Point C Managing Director Stuart Crooks said. "This means we have not been able to bring on the extra people needed to catch up on work we postponed at the height of the crisis." The French state-controlled utility warned last year that such risks had risen as Covid-19 slowed construction of the two reactors it's building with its Chinese partner at Hinkley Point in Southwest England. EDF had planned to make up key milestones missed in 2020 by the end of this year but continued social distancing requirements have limited the number of workers allowed on site. The project completion cost at Hinkley Point C is now estimated at 22 billion to 23 billion pounds, half a billion more than estimated in 2019, EDF said in a statement Wednesday. The first reactor will begin producing power in June 2026, compared with end-2025 as initially announced in 2016, it said. The six-month delay is dependent on being able to begin to ramp up back to normal site conditions from July, EDF said. EDF fell 3.2% to 10.40 euros by 11:20 a.m. in Paris. The utility will have to shoulder the extra costs and won't be paid any money from the U.K. government until the project is finished and electricity is being produced. Nuclear doesn't have a good track record for finishing on time. EDF is struggling to finish a reactor at Flamanville, which is delayed by more than 10 years, leading France to put further new projects on hold. "Not great news, though given the covid-19 crisis and the very poor project evolution at Flamanville this is a fairly benign update," JPMorgan Chase analysts said in a note, referring to EDF's delayed nuclear project in France. Delivering Hinkley Point C without huge delays is important for both EDF and U.K. policymakers who are relying on power from the reactor to plug a supply gap that's emerging as older reactors shut. The utility is in talks with the government about financing a second project at Sizewell C. The government says the project needs to be cheaper than Hinkley Point C. In a show of the importance of making a success of Hinkley, U.K. energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng gave his public backing to the project last week. "I'm confident that if we do Hinkley Point C on time, which is looking likely, or if we miss it, it won't be by very much, " he said. The U.K. is likely to need nuclear power as a source of low carbon electricity to meet its commitment to zero-out emissions by 2050. Electricity use is set to double by then as heating and transport sectors electrify. The huge program of offshore wind the U.K. is planning to roll out within nine years will need back up for when the weather is calm. The delay and cost overruns will trim EDF's projected rate of return on the project. The French company reiterated that units 1 and 2 still face another potential delay of 15 and 9 months, respectively, which might result in additional costs of about 700 million pounds. Press Release January 27, 2021 Opening Statement Sen. Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan Senate Hearing on Charter Change We are here to tackle the following measures: 1. Resolution of Both Houses 1 entitled "A Resolution of Both Houses of Congress Proposing Amendments to Certain Restrictive Economic Provisions in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines Specifically on Articles XII, XIV and XVI Thereof". This is introduced by Senator Gatchalian. 2. RBH-2: "Resolution of Both Houses of Congress to Convene the 18th Congress as a Constituent Assembly for the Purpose of Introducing Limited Amendments to the 1987 Constitution", introduced by Senators Francis "Tol" N. Tolentino and Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa 3. Senate Joint Resolution 1: "Joint Resolution to Propose Amendments to or Revisions of the Economic Provisions of the Constitution". This is introduced by Senator Richard J. Gordon For the record, proposed Senate Resolution No. 623 filed by Senator Panfilo Lacson was referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, this committee, in yesterday's plenary session, January 26, 2021. Since the proposed resolution calls for the Senate of the Philippines to exercise its constituent powers under the 1987 Constitution, to propose amendments to/or revision of the Constitution and upon approval or three-fourths vote of its members, adopt the same. PSR No. 623 may touch on the issues being raised by the other resolutions subject of this hearing. The Committee may tackle PSR 623 together with the resolutions in the agenda. We are gathered virtually as the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment and Revision of Codes to discuss pending bills before us. Today, we tackle anew the Cha-cha proposals of some of our colleagues against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic that has changed our world, battered economies, and affected almost every aspect of our lives The pandemic has claimed over 10,000 Filipino lives of over half a million Covid-positive cases. As of yesterday, January 26, an additional 1,173 new cases have been reported. Libo-libo rin sa ating mga kababayan ay jobless or kaya naman ay under-employed. Marami sa ating mga OFW ang kinailangang umuwi at ngayon ay walang hanap-buhay. Yes, the 1987 Constitution is not perfect. While we recognize the wisdom of our eminent experts who drafted it in 1986, we should also realize that they were not prophets and were constrained by the realities at that time. It is incumbent upon the next generations to reflect deeply on how this Charter can better respond to the challenges of the global community while protecting national interest and patrimony. But many have raised this question: Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, is this the time to talk about Cha-cha? While we have the right intentions, could doing it now be the right time? Will Cha-cha serve as the vaccine for our health crisis and economic recovery? Are we not treading on initiatives that have questionable efficacy for our survival and may have detrimental side effects on our national well-being? These are crucial questions to ponder -- which we hope will help us discern the value of this exercise. To guide us in our discussions, for the information of our colleagues for this public hearing, we prepared three questions that we provided our resource persons in advance so that there is an organized presentation. And we hope that they will, and we expect them to answer these three questions for today's hearing: 1. Is there a need to amend or revise the 1987 Constitution now, given Covid and the economic downturn? What is the proposed timeline for Charter Change, given the upcoming National Elections scheduled in May 2022? 2. Should the amendments or revisions be proposed by a Constitutional convention or by Congress itself acting as a constituent assembly? Why? Or why not? 3. If Congress convenes as a constituent assembly for the purpose of amending or revising the Constitution, should the Senate and the House of Representatives vote jointly or separately? If I may add, given the resolutions and amendments covering economic provisions only, can a constituent assembly when convened be prevented from tackling other issues outside of the economic provisions? Hopefully, by the end of this hearing, we will have clarity as to whether kailangan nga ba, kailan ba, and paano ba. We would like to welcome and thank our resource persons and our distinguished colleagues for taking time out to participate in today's hearings. Maraming salamat! Nphet is concerned that, as the number of indigenous cases here decline and Ireland moves towards easing some measures, the relative importance of the risk of importation of cases from overseas increases, Tony Holohan wrote on May 8, 2020. The chief medical officer urged the then government to eliminate as far as possible all non-essential travel. He said failing to do so endangered the resumption of social and economic life. A significant increase in the number of cases in Ireland as a result of the importation could have an impact on public compliance with public health guidance and restrictions, Holohan added all those months ago. The Government didnt listen to him then and they certainly werent considering his advice in the months before Christmas when the British variant of Covid made its way on to these shores. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar also wasnt reflecting on the public health advice when he drifted into a bizarre diatribe on Claire Byrne Live about people being unable to holiday abroad during the summer if the Government introduced tough quarantine measures for international passengers. The Tanaistes logic is that if mandatory quarantine restrictions are introduced, they would have to be in place for at least a year or until everyone is vaccinated. This, he said, could ruin peoples plans for summer holidays. Who in their right mind is planning a summer holiday at the moment? Read More And, more importantly, why is the deputy leader of the country going on national television to encourage people to book summer holidays as our health service collapses under the strain of new Covid cases? Ryanair will no doubt be delighted with the Tanaistes contribution, but then he is the Minister for Enterprise. But aside from Varadkars PR pitch for international tourism mid-pandemic, the Government did announce plans to introduce some form of quarantine for international travel. It will apply to people flying in from countries with new variants of Covid and those who do not produce a negative test on arrival in Ireland. No one else. The Government tells us there are very few people travelling into the country and point to recent data that shows there are currently no cases linked to foreign travel. But in the same breath it tells us at least two-thirds of all new cases are linked to the British strain of Covid-19, which it is safe to suggest made its way from Kent to the four corners of this island on board either a plane or ferry. Ministers who dismissed outright any proposals for quarantine last May are now branding calls for a zero-Covid plan as hare-brained. Speaking yesterday, the Tanaiste said our naive population who opinion polls show are strongly in favour of stronger restrictions on our borders would not be able to deal with the heartbreak of a zero-Covid strategy not working out properly. Taoiseach Micheal Martin also talked himself into knots when trying to explain why it was stupid to want to restrict movement into this country. However, the Taoiseach did say hes in favour of a so-called two island approach involving Britain. So instead of trying to contain the virus on an island of around seven million people, Martin is devising a plan involving another and completely separate island of more than 60 million citizens. Lets see how working with a country that just surpassed 100,000 Covid deaths goes. Or perhaps we shouldnt worry and should focus instead on booking our summer holidays. On December 25, 2020, while facilitating the entry of essential goods at the Coutts, Alberta port of entry, CBSA officers referred a semi-truck hauling produce for further inspection. While examining the shipment, CBSA officers uncovered 228.14 kg of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $28.5 million. This amount of methamphetamine translates to 2.28 million individual dosages. This is the CBSA's largest seizure of methamphetamine at a land border crossing on record across Canada. CBSA officers arrested the driver and turned the individual in to and the evidence over to Alberta RCMP. After a thorough investigation, the RCMP Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET) has since charged Amarpreet Singh Sandhu, 38, of Calgary on the following counts pursuant to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: Importation of a Controlled Substance, contrary to Section 6(1); and, Possession for the Purpose of Trafficking, contrary to Section 5(2). Sandhu was released from custody on January 14, 2021, and is scheduled to appear in court on February 11, 2021, at the Lethbridge Provincial Courthouse. Seizing and effectively preventing this enormous amount of methamphetamine from reaching our streets will have a positive impact on the safety of all Alberta communities. This seizure reflects our mutual commitment to providing excellent law enforcement services to the communities to which we serve and protect. This seizure, arrest and subsequent charges were only made possible due to the close partnership the CBSA and RCMP have in monitoring and investigating cross-border smuggling of illicit drugs. Quotes "While many Canadians were celebrating Christmas at home, border services officers at Coutts remained on the front line to protect our country. It is because of CBSA officers' diligence while screening essential goods that this record amount of methamphetamine did not reach our streets or cause harm to our communities." Ben Tame, Director, Southern Alberta and Southern Saskatchewan District, Prairie Region, Canada Border Services Agency "The success of this operation is a testament to the strong partnership the RCMP shares with CBSA, and law enforcement agencies across Canada. We know that crime has no borders and it is imperative that we continue working with our partners, like CBSA, to share information and coordinate enforcement action as needed to keep Canadians from the harms of illegal drugs and crime related to smuggling in Alberta and all of Canada." Superintendent K.C.A. (Allan) Lai, A. Federal Policing Operations Officer, Alberta RCMP Federal Policing Criminal Operations Quick Facts Methamphetamine is a powerful synthetic stimulant. It is illegal, highly addictive, and very dangerous to a person's health. The Integrated Border Enforcement Team under Federal Policing directly supports the Alberta RCMP Strategic Framework providing enhanced support to the safety and security of Albertans. RCMP Strategic Framework providing enhanced support to the safety and security of Albertans. The previous CBSA record for amount of methamphetamine seized at a land border crossing was approximately 200 kg, from an incident on December 24, 2019 at the Ambassador Bridge port of entry in Windsor, Ontario . at the Ambassador Bridge port of entry in . The CBSA and the RCMP work together to prevent illegal drug smuggling that endangers the safety of Canadian communities and generates profits for organized crime. The Coutts border crossing is located on Highway 4 approximately 109 km southeast of Lethbridge . Associated Link Border Watch Line Follow us on Twitter at @CanBorderPRA and @RCMPAlberta. SOURCE Canada Border Services Agency Related Links http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/ (TNS) Gov. Gavin Newsom's abrupt move to lift stay-at-home orders allowing outdoor dining and other business activities to resume represents a gamble that California can avoid another deadly coronavirus surge in the coming months despite a slow, frustrating rollout of the vaccine and the looming threat of more contagious strains of the virus taking hold across the state.After a catastrophic fall-and-winter surge left about 20,000 dead, California is rapidly bending the curve as new cases fall and hospitalizations decline. COVID-19 hospitalizations began to fall about 2 weeks ago, and much of this progress can be attributed to residents changing their behavior by avoiding travel, staying at home more and following the new rules.The question now is whether California can keep cases down even as activities such as dining, cosmetology and travel pick up.Lifting the stay-at-home order should be a boost to some restaurant owners and other merchants whose businesses have been battered by cycles of closure since the pandemic began and who placed enormous pressure on the governor to ease restrictions as campaigns gather signatures to recall him from office. But experts said it would not take a lot for the situation to spiral out of control again.UC San Francisco epidemiologist Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo said lifting the order can work if the public and businesses follow the rules and show intense caution. This is more essential than ever, she said, because so much is still unknown about these new strains, which adds a new level of uncertainty to fighting the virus."Everything hinges on the behaviors we adopt. If we adopt behaviors where everyone is masking, everyone is keeping to distancing, that all of the rules the governor has in place are enforced, I think there's a possibility for us to resume some of these activities," Bibbins-Domingo said. "It's not an outrageous idea. This is not an outrageous policy."Newsom, in announcing the changes Monday, also struck a cautious note but said he believed the conditions had improved enough to try it out."We're seeing a flattening of the curve. Everything that should be up is up; everything that should be down is down case rates, positivity rates, hospitalizations, ICUs. Testing is starting to go back up, as well as vaccination rates in this state," he said.The shift took some officials and others by surprise, coming just a few weeks after California found itself the American epicenter of the coronavirus with hospitals overflowing, ambulance patients facing as much as a 17-hour wait to get into emergency rooms, hospital morgues overwhelmed and funeral homes forced to turn families away.UC Berkeley epidemiologist Dr. John Swartzberg said he feared lifting the stay-at-home order was "premature" because the cases, while declining, remain very high. He said it might make more sense to wait a few weeks until cases go down further and California can begin reopening with a lower baseline.He noted that after last year's spring and summer surges, California failed to bring its case numbers to a low level before reopening. That meant that when the next surge hit, it became even bigger than the one before it, he said."It's like we're climbing this mountain. We go two steps up and we just take one step back, and we take two steps up from there and one step back and we keep just having more cases," he said. "We're doing a lot better than we were doing 2 weeks ago, but we're doing terrible compared to three months ago. We need to knock these cases down so as we get more and more people vaccinated, we'll get to a safer environment much more quickly."The autumn-and-winter stay-at-home order was unpopular in many corners, with some politicians saying it went too far and restaurant owners suing in an effort to bring back outdoor dining. Critics questioned whether there was enough evidence to show outdoor dining was a significant spreader of the coronavirus. But there is evidence the order changed behavior and helped slow the spread.A calculation by the L.A. County Department of Health Services found that the transmission rate of the virus began to climb in the region in the weeks before Halloween and accelerated until late November, when it reached a peak of 1.2, meaning on average every person infected with the virus was infecting 1.2 other people a recipe for a dramatic worsening of the pandemic.It was also in late November that L.A. County became the first in the state in the autumn to shut down outdoor restaurant dining, and a few days later became the first again in the state to issue a stay-at-home order that once again banned almost all private gatherings and instituted tighter capacity limits on stores. The county's model suggests that was the time period when the transmission rate began to fall, and by late December fell below 1, meaning that every infected person on average was infecting fewer than one other person."I think that the early action taken by L.A. County as cases began to rise has blunted the magnitude of this tsunami that we experienced. It would have been even worse had some of these measures not been taken early on," said Dr. Robert Kim-Farley, medical epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, and a former health official with L.A. County.It would end up taking roughly two months for the effects of L.A. County's health orders to convincingly begin reducing hospitalizations and offering officials confidence to begin reopening businesses. That's similar to the amount of time it took for the summer's business restrictions to have a similar impact."It takes time from when you initiate a control measure to when you actually see the effects of having that control measure in place. It's like trying to steer a large supertanker ship. When you turn the rudder, it takes a long time before the ship begins to move," Kim-Farley said.Epidemiologists said it's essential health officials keep focused on at least two mutant strains of the coronavirus in California.One of them, the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in Britain, is believed to be more transmissible and, according to new data, may be possibly more deadly, and has been detected in L.A., San Diego and San Bernardino counties.A homegrown mutant strain in California, B.1.426, has also spread quite rapidly in recent weeks and officials are investigating whether it's partly responsible for California's devastating surge.This should give the public pause, Bibbins-Domingo said. "If you take a long view of the pandemic, we actually need to reiterate more not less how much we need to be doing the types of things that are not fun for everybody, but have become the mainstay of policy until we get everyone vaccinated."Under Newsom's changes, all counties will return to the colored tier system that assigns local risk levels based on case numbers and rates of positive test results for coronavirus infections.Most areas will be classified under the "widespread" risk tier, which permits hair and nail salons to offer limited services indoors but restricts many other nonessential indoor business operations, such as gyms and movie theaters."Today, we can lay claim to starting to see some real light at the end of the tunnel as it relates to case numbers," Newsom said.Hours later, Los Angeles County officials said they plan to take advantage of the relaxed restrictions allowing for the immediate reopening of personal care services and outdoor dining at restaurants later this week. Additionally, hotels and motels can again be booked for nonessential travel and leisure.But conditions in hospitals remained crowded, according to L.A. County health officials who have watched as COVID-19 ripped through communities since Halloween, a time period that has resulted in more than 8,000 dead out of a cumulative total of 15,000."We're anxious, as is everyone, to move forward" with reopenings, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a briefing Monday.But, she stressed, "this all depends on all of us" and, if the county's coronavirus situation starts deteriorating again, "we'll be in the horrible position of once again needing to backtrack."Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday morning that his administration learned of the governor's move "as quickly and as suddenly as the public."Garcetti said coronavirus infections seem to be slowing in the L.A. region, but remain extremely high."Still very high historically," he said. "Still numbers that are six to seven times more hospitalizations than what we had just a month and a half ago, but the right trend."Garcetti said in a statement Monday night that the city would follow the county's rules, including allowing outdoor restaurant dining to resume Friday.Other counties from San Francisco to Orange said they hoped to get restaurants open for outdoor dining soon.Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner, a frequent vocal critic of the state's pandemic response and of Newsom, said rescinding the stay-at-home order was "a step in the right direction, but I've also learned during the course of COVID that this governor is very erratic. Who knows what will get him to change his mind again?""It's a long time coming," Wagner added Monday. "It was an unnecessary step when he shut us down. It's a necessary step for him to open us up. Let's just not pretend there's a lot of science that he's revealed behind his decision."For all the concerns about how the changes will affect the spread of the coronavirus, the end of the stay-at-home order represents a life preserver for restaurants, which have been brought to the brink of financial collapse. While indoor dining is still considered too unsafe, many eateries invested in building elaborate outdoor dining areas that have sat empty since the stay-at-home order."This is a huge step forward, and it's a big relief for everyone in this industry," said JC Clow, the founder and managing partner of the Winery Restaurant Group, which has two locations in Orange County and one in San Diego County.Clow closed outdoor dining at his three locations for about a week when California began imposing regional stay-at-home orders the week of Dec. 6. It was a huge blow to staffers who depended on the restaurant for a steady paycheck and income from gratuities. He started getting daily phone calls from staff members who were pleading for help, he said, with some on the brink of homelessness."As those personal stories started coming in, we couldn't just sit on our hands and do nothing," he said. "A lot of these people have been with us since Day One, and when you hear those heartfelt cries for help, we just couldn't turn the other cheek. We had to do what we could while still being safe, so we reopened outdoor dining." Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the IGCE-II as well as a 'Gender Park' in Kozhikode. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 (IANS) The second edition of International Conference on Gender Equality (ICGE-II) would be held from February 11 to 13, Health, Social Justice and Women and Child Development Minister KK Shailaja said on Wednesday. On the opening day, he will lay the foundation stone of International Women's Trade and Research Centre that envisages a secure and sustained ecosystem for women entrepreneurs and a space for them to market products. The valedictory ceremony will be inaugurated by Kerala Finance Minister TM Thomas Isaac. It would see the announcement of a policy draft based on the highlights of the sessions at ICGE-II. A Gender Museum, Gender Library, Convention Centre and an Amphitheatre will be part of the first phase of the 'Gender Park' project, which aims towards gender equality in the state, Shailaja told the media here. The 'Gender Park' is not only the first of its kind in the country, but also the world, Shailaja said. The Rs 300-crore 'Gender Park' will comprise three towers and the project has been handed over to Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society, India's oldest worker cooperative founded in 1925. "Already we have allotted Rs 26 crore for the 'Gender Park' and another Rs 15 crore for the next financial year," the Minister said. The government has also approved an administrative sanction of Rs 172 crore." A total of 100 delegates, besides 50 speakers, will hold nine plenary sessions and as many parallel sessions during the ICGE-II amid Covid-19 protocols. They will include policymakers, academics, professionals and domain experts, besides Ministers and diplomats from 30 countries. Legislators A Pradeep Kumar and Purushan Kadalundi, besides 'Gender Park' CEO PTM Sunish were present at the press conference addressed by Shailaja. The first edition of the ICGE was held at Kovalam near Thiruvananthapuram in 2015 on the theme of 'Gender, Governance and Inclusion'. It saw the release of Kerala State Policy for Transgenders. --IANS aal/khz/tsb [January 27, 2021] Ault Global Holdings' Coolisys Power Electronics Business Receives Purchase Order for 5,000 Electric Vehicle Charging Units Ault Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: DPW) a diversified holding company (the "Company"), announced today that its power electronics business, Coolisys Technologies Corp. ("Coolisys"), has received a purchase order for 5,000 ACECool 7kW residential electric vehicle ("EV") charging systems for an aggregate of $1.75 million and expects to receive orders for a substantially greater number of such chargers from iNetSupply, LLC. The purchase order and expected follow up orders are part of an anticipated agreement with iNetSupply, LLC and its wholesale sister company, Origin Micro, LLC (collectively, "iNet") to exclusively resell and distribute the ACECool 7kW residential EV charging systems. The ACECool 7kW wall-mount charging system runs on 240 volts and is compatible with the SAE J1772 charging connector, with the option to add an adapter to charge Tesla vehicles. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005394/en/ iNet is a leader in distributing new products for many popular brands including Lenovo (News - Alert) , Dell, HP and Cisco through its strong relationships with traditional and e-commerce channels and platforms. If the anticipated agreement with iNet is executed, the ACECool charger and its peripherals will be available for purchase and preorder at iNetSupply.com. We expect that the ACECool charger and peripherals will during the next few months be listed on Newegg.com, NeweggBusiness.com, Amazon.com (News - Alert) , eBay.com and Walmart.com. iNet is highly regarded for delivering product integrity and customer service to businesses and consumers. iNet's President, Donald G. Doney, Jr. stated, "The future of humanity's daily transportation lies in the development of EV and EV infrastructure. Affordable, rapid charging of those millions of EV's requires expertly engineered devices that are easy to use and install. iNetSupply, Origin Micro and Coolisys expect to bring the groundbreaking AceCool line of chargers to the public." Coolisys' President and CEO, Amos Kohn said, "We are pleased to announce this first purchase order from iNet and anticipate that this step is the first step in a burgeoning relationship. iNet provides the level of experience, knowledge, integrity and professionalism that we believe to be required to launch, manage and grow our ACECool EV charging product line nationwide. We believe our EV charger product line will be well-positioned to address the epected rapid expansion of infrastructure required to support broad adoption of electric vehicles globally." For more information on Ault Global Holdings and its subsidiaries, the Company recommends that stockholders, investors and any other interested parties read the Company's public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at www.AultGlobal.com or available at www.sec.gov. About Ault Global Holdings, Inc. Ault Global Holdings, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, the Company provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, telecommunications, medical/biopharma, and textiles. In addition, the Company extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. Ault Global Holding's headquarters are located at 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, NV 89141; www.AultGlobal.com. About Coolisys Technologies Corp. Coolisys and its portfolio companies and divisions are primarily engaged in the design and manufacture of innovative, feature-rich, and top-quality power products for mission-critical applications in the harshest environments and life-saving, life sustaining applications across diverse markets including defense/aerospace, medical/healthcare, industrial, telecommunications and automotive. Coolisys' headquarters are located at 1635 South Main Street, Milpitas, CA (News - Alert) 95035; www.Coolisys.com. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "projects," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "may," "will," "should," "could," "potential," or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of them publicly in light of new information or future events. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors. More information, including potential risk factors, that could affect the Company's business and financial results are included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Company's Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All filings are available at www.sec.gov and on the Company's website at www.AultGlobal.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005394/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) A tornado touched down near the airport in Floridas capital city Wednesday, flipping at least one small plane over and knocking out weather radar before moving east into residential neighborhoods, the National Weather Service said. Hundreds were without power. The city of Tallahassee tweeted photos at Tallahassee International airport showing the flipped plane and a damaged hangar. The airport was closed as officials assessed damage, but there were no reported injuries. The damage assessment is underway at @TLHAirport, which remains closed. pic.twitter.com/9q9wg3yfZo City of Tallahassee (@CityofTLH) January 27, 2021 Hundreds of customers were without power, according to the city. The tornado also caused damage in the citys Southwood community, where several state offices are located, as well as scattered neighborhoods south of downtown, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jasmine Montgomery. Weather radar at the airport was still intermittent as the storm moved to counties east of Tallahassee, but Montgomery said the weather service had other radar available to keep watch on the system. This is the second day in a row that a tornado has hit the southern U.S. At least 30 people were injured and one person killed on Tuesday when a different tornado carved a 10-mile path of destruction north of Birmingham, Alabama. READ MORE: Tornado rips through Alabama town, killing teen, injuring at least 28 others Last year, BP called on Texas regulators to take bold action to stamp out the routine flaring of natural gas, a harmful environmental practice thats drawn increasing scrutiny from investors. Yet on Tuesday, it was BPs turn to get pushback from the Texas Railroad Commission when 121 of its flaring requests were up for consideration. The agency postponed a decision until its next meeting, and its newest member slammed the burning of excess gas as a waste of our precious resources. I am amenable to allowing fair time for flaring to occur in certain circumstances, but limits must be set, Jim Wright, a Republican who joined the three-member commission this month, said in a statement. Wrights comments didnt explicitly name BP, but the London-based company made up the bulk of the permit applications being considered by the agency. The commission had sought to head off criticism that its too lenient over flaring guidelines when it adopted new rules in November that require more detailed disclosures when oil companies seek a permit. Yet that didnt go far enough to temper criticism over the agencys traditional hands-off approach. Oil producers are allowed to flare natural gas in the first 10 days a well is drilled, but anything beyond that requires a permit from the Railroad Commission. The 121 permits BP is seeking for its shale assets would be good through April 2022 if granted. The regulator routinely receives requests for flaring, which they almost always approve. But BPs ask is notable for just how many sites it includes, and for how long the company wants permission to flare, said Kelly Mitchell, an oil and gas analyst at Documented, a transparency advocacy group. This two-year flaring exception is a real world test of its promises to tackle carbon emissions, she said. If BP isnt serious about reducing routine flaring then the Railroad Commission needs to deny this request. Just a few months ago, BP teamed up with Royal Dutch Shell to call on the commission to pursue a policy that would ban routine flaring. The company has pledged to achieve that goal on its own assets by 2030. BP says the request for flaring permits isnt inconsistent with those plans. Its already lowered the rate of flaring on assets the company acquired through its purchase of BHP Billitons shale business. The company said its committed to zero routine flaring and will continue to work with the commission on this critical issue. In an earlier statement, BP said it has several projects underway to advance its goal of zero routine flaring but that, in the meantime, exception permits are necessary for our operations as we continue to pursue our ambition. Just before the Railroad Commission met on Tuesday, Rystad Energy released an analysis on flaring on the Texas side of the Permian. The report, commissioned by the Environmental Defense Fund, found that 40% of the flaring expected in 2025 is avoidable at no cost to operators. The shale boom over the past few years created a massive excess of natural gas, often a by-product of oil in some basins such as the Permian. Although last year saw a sharp drop in flaring as oil drillers shut in output in response to the virus, its expected to pick up in future years as production resumes. In a major blow to the farmers' protests, going on in the outskirts of the national capital for nearly two months now, some farmers were on Wednesday seen taking off their tents at Chilla border. The development comes following announcement of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh that the organisation is ending the protest in the light of violence during farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day (January 26). READ | Republic Day Delhi violence: Two farmer unions withdraw from protests against agri laws There is anger among the people of the country against the farmers, on the other hand, there has been a split in the farmers' organizations. Many farmer organizations have distanced themselves from this movement. Meanwhile, farmers have started picking up their tents and goods from the Chilla border. READ | Republic Day farmers clashes: Twitter takes this strong action against those who might have tried to incite Delhi riots Farmers seen taking off tents: Singh had announced to break away from the farmers' protest and end the movement. Shortly after this, the farmers at the Chilla border were seen taking off their tents. This organization is ending the protest after violence during the farmers' tractor rally. Talking to reporters, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatever happened during the tractor parade in the national capital, adding that his union was ending its protest. The union was staging the protest at the Chilla border. #WATCH: Some farmers seen taking off their tents at Chilla border following announcement of Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu), that the organisation is ending the protest in the light of violence during farmers' tractor rally y'day.#FarmLaws pic.twitter.com/wgDIeKnUMf ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2021 This farmers union also distanced itself: All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee and National President of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan VM Singh (VM Singh) said that they are separating themselves from this movement. Singh said that what happened in the capital Delhi on Republic Day is also the fault of the government. When someone is leaving at 8 am instead of 11 am, what was the government doing? When did the government know that some organizations had talked about giving crores of rupees to the flag hoisting on the Red Fort, where was the government? VM Singh targeted farmers leaders: VM Singh said, "We cannot continue opposition to agricultural laws with someone whose direction is different. So, I wish them all the best. We are withdrawing this protest immediately." VM Singh of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said that it is withdrawing from the ongoing agitation as they cannot carry forward a protest with someone "whose direction is something else". READ | Delhi Republic Day unrest: FIR filed against rioters involved in farmers' tractor rally violence; check details The dignity of the country's flag dissolved: VM Singh said that the flag and dignity of India belong to everyone. If that dignity has been dissolved, the violators are wrong and those who have allowed it to dissolve are also wrong. A fellow in ITO was also martyred. He said that the person who took the farmers to the Red Fort or who provoked the farmers, action should be taken against him. Police barricading being removed from Chilla Border. Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh, president of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) who was protesting at Chilla border against #FarmLaws announced that they're ending the protest in wake of violence during farmers' tractor rally y'day. pic.twitter.com/wz24WPayZI ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2021 As many as 37 farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in an FIR in connection with the violence during the tractor parade that left 300 police personnel injured even as two farmer unions on Wednesday withdrew from the agitation against the farm laws. READ | Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Rakesh Tikait, other leaders booked for violence during farmers' tractor march in Delhi Delhi Police said that 22 FIRs have been filed and around 200 people detained. Multiple videos and CCTV footage are being scanned to identify those involved in the violence and strict action will be taken against the culprits. The FIR registered at Samaypur Badli names 37 farmer leaders including Tikait, Yadav, Darshan Pal and Chaduni and their role will be probed, the police said. The FIR has been registered under various sections of IPC including 147, 148 (related to rioting), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy). Even as the farmer unions continued to allege that "anti-social" elements had perpetrated the violence to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation against the farm laws, Tuesday's incidents that have been widely condemned started taking a toll with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) and All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee withdrawing from the protests on the Delhi's borders. The protesting farmer leaders are now considering the postponement of their foot march to Parliament on February 1 against the three farm laws in the wake of the violence during the Republic Day. A senior farmer leader said that Samkyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), which is an umbrella body of 41 protesting unions, will take a final call on the postponement of the February 1 foot march. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel visited the Red Fort on Wednesday to take stock of the damage caused by a section of farmers who stormed the monument and hoisted the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh religious flag, thereafter deviating from the rally route. The minister has sought a report on the incident. Vandalised metal detector gate and ticket counter, and shards of glass were seen on the premises of the Red Fort during the visit by the minister who was accompanied by the secretary of culture ministry and the ASI Director-General. Security has been beefed up in several places across the national capital, especially at the Red Fort and farmer protest sites, with the deployment of additional paramilitary forces. Delhi Metro authorities shut the Lal Quila station and restricted entry to the Jama Masjid station. The tractor parade on Republic Day that was to highlight the demands of the farmer unions to repeal three new agri laws dissolved into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, and overturned vehicles. Farmers' body Samyukta Kisan Morcha alleged "antisocial" elements like actor Deep Sidhu attempted to "torpedo" their peaceful agitation under a conspiracy but asserted they won't allow "the government and other forces inimical to the peace movement to break this struggle". In a statement, the Morcha said, "The Union government has been severely shaken by this peasant agitation. Therefore, a dirty conspiracy was hatched with the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others." It alleged that these outfits had set up their own separate protest site after 15 days of the beginning of this farmers' agitation. " They were not part of the organisations which jointly undertook the struggle," the statement claimed. Meanwhile, two pleas were filed in the Supreme Court over the tractor rally violence with one seeking setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire into the incident while the other urged it to direct the media not to declare farmers as "terrorist" without any evidence. Live TV Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Benchmark indices saw correction for the fourth straight session on Wednesday ahead of Union Budget 2021. In line with weak global equities, Sensex ended 937 points lower at 47,409 and Nifty fell 271 points to 13,967. Yesterday, markets were closed on account of Republic Day. On Monday, equity indices closed 1% lower in a volatile session. Sensex ended 530 points lower at 48,347 and Nifty lost 133 points to 14,238. Axis Bank, Titan, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy's, HDFC and Asian Paints stocks were among the major losers. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, ITC, PowerGrid, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech and Nestle India were among the top gainers. Shares of market heavyweight Reliance Industries fell for the third straight session despite the conglomerate reporting a 13% rise in Q3 net profit. On the currency front, Indian rupee rose for the sixth straight day to end 2 paise higher at 72.92 per dollar, despite heavy selling in the domestic equity market. Here's a look at five factors that led to the fall in Sensex and Nifty today: 1. Union Budget The sharp pullback in the last two sessions showed that markets have turned highly volatile, especially ahead of Budget 2021. Autos, Metals & Financials bore the brunt of selling as traders unwinded positions ahead of Union Budget on February 1. Investors sold overvalued stocks such as Reliance Industries, HDFC and Infosys ahead of the Budget 2021. As per analysts, volatility is likely to continue till the Budget. Traders also suggested market being a bit apprehensive of some budget tax proposals which may not be market-friendly. The reversal of FII from buyers to sellers in the last two sessions, right ahead of the budget also added to the nervousness in Wednesday's trade. S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said,"Markets witnessed a 2% cut in indices today even as the IMF put out an impressive 11.5% growth for India in 2021, the highest for any major economy globally. Autos, Metals & Financials bore the brunt of selling as we saw unwinding ahead of the Union Budget. Absence of FII buying this week too added to the nervousness in Wednesday's afternoon trade." 2. Profit booking Global stocks continued correcting in today's session, with some positivity registered in Asian counterparts, as investors locked profits after the recent rally, driven by hopes of a massive US economic stimulus from the new President Joe Biden. In a similar move, broader indices on the domestic front continued to trade in the negative for the fourth day today, slipping from record highs, on the back of profit-booking by investors at high levels. Market participants said overbought positions were settled on a global scale as investors took profits after a recent rally driven by better than expected Q3 earnings by Indian corporates, sustained FII inflows, hopes of a US economic stimulus and Covid-19 vaccine drive. World markets have been flushed with liquidity amid Covid-19 stimulus and lower lending rate by central banks, which has led to an unprecedented rise in both global and domestic equities, increasing the disconnect between the market and economy. As per analysts, the world economy continues to face downward pressures from the sustained spread of coronavirus and will take some time to recover. Markets are turning volatile amid an increase in coronavirus concerns around the globe, and delay in the vaccine shipments are also adding to the already increased concerns. 3. Derivatives expiry Sensex fell over 1,000 points in afternoon trade today, while Nifty dropped 320 points intraday, ahead of Derivatives expiry day scheduled tomorrow. The market saw across the board selling, especially in heavyweights like Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank that fell up to 4.41%. Traders said volatility is expected ahead of the Derivatives expiry day. Sneha Seth (Derivatives Analyst, Angel Broking) said, "January series is a historical one as the benchmark index clocking fresh record highs tad above 14750. However, in merely last four trading sessions all the gains during the series have been wiped-off. In addition, we also witnessed the volatility index surging to 24.40, further rise beyond 25.50-26 may be a sign of concern as we haven't seen INDIAVIX closing at such higher levels in last five series. The benchmark index has concluded today's session at a very crucial level, hence, follow-up move on the expiry day is very important to watch. At present, we would advise traders avoiding any aggressive bets on the monthly expiry ahead of the key event." 4. Weak global cues Most Asian equities earlier turned positive after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its growth forecast to 5.5% for the global economy this year. That's a 0.3 percentage point increase from October's forecasts. Later, most indices erased early gains and closed in red territory, as investors continued to monitor the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and US stimulus. Traders said investors watched developments around Covid-19 vaccine against the mutating coronavirus which has produced a number of potentially more infectious variants. Further, profit booking was anticipated in global equities after the Biden administration signalled that it could be open to tweaking eligibility for future stimulus checks. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion proposal calls for $1,400 direct deposits, but the plan has drawn critiques from a bipartisan group of lawmakers because of its lofty price tag. Investors were also cautious ahead of the new policy statement from the Federal Reserve as the US central bank began its two-day meeting on Tuesday. "It is well-known that a fall in FIIs inflows will be the biggest risk to the liquidity-driven rally. Indian bourses mirrored mixed sentiment from global peers with a downward rally owing to consecutive days of FII selling," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. 5. Technical outlook As per traders, valuations of major stocks cooled off in the four-day fall, after the rally to record levels this month. All major sector-based indices except for FMCG closed in red today, with almost 3% drop in banking and over 2% fall in realty, pharma, metal and auto index. Market breadth was negative with midcap and small-caps ending weak. Meanwhile, the volatility index NSE VIX gained 4.9% today. Nifty 50, that is already trading in the overbought zone, fell from the key level of 14K today. With today's fall, the equity market has turned negative year-to-date as Sensex and Nifty fell 0.71 and 0.16%, respectively. Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited - Investment Advisor said," The market witnessed a strong downward trend and a decisive breakdown below the support level around the Nifty 50 Index level of 14000. While a recovery above 14000 is the key to change the short-term bearish outlook. Market is sustaining below this level to gain downside momentum and open the gate for a movement until 13670. We have observed the momentum indicators like RSI, MACD to turn negative and market breadth to deteriorate significantly, further strengthening the view of a short-term bearish outlook." Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said, "Markets slipped further lower on Wednesday as selling pressure continued across the board. We're are not surprised with the recent fall and expect Nifty to test 13,700. However, it's a healthy correction before the event and investors should use it to accumulate fundamentally sound counters on dips. Traders, on the other hand, should maintain extra caution due to the expected rise in volatility ahead. We thus suggest trading through options or taking selective trades in cash segment." Stocks in news: L&T, Wipro, ICICI Securities, Bank of Baroda, Inox Leisure, Adani Ports Share Market News Live: Sensex drops 250 points, Nifty at 14,170; Maruti, SBI, Airtel, Titan, HUL top losers Over the past few months, Christians have participated in gatherings for racial justice and prayer for racial reconciliation to protest the shootings of Black men and women and to observe anniversaries of past events. It can be tempting to see participating in public assemblies like protests as the only way to advocate for racial justice. But, you dont have to join a physical gathering to advocate. Although physically protesting is a powerful way to advocate for justice, if you have a chronic disease or pre-existing conditions that make you vulnerable to COVID-19, its important to modify involvement to protect health. Sometimes you need more than a mask to stay safe; you need to stay at home. Its okay if your involvement looks different from others. You can still be heard and cry out for justice if your risk for contracting the disease is too high and you cannot be around groups of people. If you need to avoid the front lines, here are three meaningful ways to continue to engage in racial justice advocacy: 1. Boycott companies that perpetuate injustice. Economic injustice is a major factor in the oppression of Black people. Decades of wealth gaps, redlining and other discriminatory practices have continued to perpetuate a system of injustice. We still see this today. In addition to economic injustice, some companies and organizations are not taking aggressive steps toward condemning hate speech. For example, many large corporations chose to discontinue advertising on Facebook this summer because of insufficient actions toward hate speech on their platforms. You can protest by pulling your support from companies and organizations that do not align with your values for racial justice. Even when there arent public protests in the streets, educating yourself about economic injustices in your community, identifying brands that are and are not supporting racial equality, and choosing to share your findings is a powerful way to advocate from home. 2. Partner with advocacy and education organizations. Many cities have local organizations that have been doing anti-racism work for years, and there are several national nonprofits also committed to racial justice. The deaths of several Black people in 2020 may have set off global protests, but this type of activism isnt new. It continues today, and many of our brothers and sisters carry on the important work of education and activism. Many organizations are working on building bridges in communities and advocating for practical steps like police reform, economic justice, education on the racial history of their areas and more. All of these organizations could use your time, expertise, volunteerism and dollars. Many continue to offer ongoing education and virtual tools. Pray about which organization best fits your vision and convictions about racial justice and reform, and then offer your support any way you can. 3. Voice your concerns to a politician through advocacy and voting. Advocacy and policy change has moved mountains in our country. But, we still have many mountains to move. Two ways to make your voice heard are advocacy and voting. Advocacy lets you voice concerns and priorities to your members of Congress. If youre not sure where to start, review the AND Campaigns Steps for Christian Civic Engagement on Racial Injustice and ways to get involved. Also, voting is another powerful way to make your voice heard. Local and national elections are crucial times to express whats on your heart. A few first steps involve registering to vote if you havent yet and showing up to the polls or voting by mail when its time to cast your vote. Creating change from home It can be difficult to stay at home and not join up with others when you long to be magnifying the God of justice, but if your health requires you to stay at home, there are many ways to be heard. To learn more about becoming a collective agent of change and ways to take action against racism during COVID-19, download the free guide, The Black Church in Action Against Racism During COVID-19. Theon E. Hill serves as Associate Professor of Communication at Wheaton College where he teaches and researches on the intersections of race, faith, and politics. His work has appeared in media outlets and popular blogs including The Atlantic, Chicago Tribune, Christianity Today, Faithfully Magazine, and The Front Porch. Danielle Ripley-Burgess is a two-time colon cancer survivor first diagnosed at age 17, an award-winning communications professional and author of Blush: How I barely survived 17. She previously served alongside the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College as a communications strategist. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Yes, Theyre Open is a web series highlighting local bars and restaurants that are open for takeout, delivery, pickup or dining during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Live streams from the featured restaurants are broadcast on the Advance Facebook page every weekday around 3 p.m. On Tuesday, the Advance/SILive.com visited Towne Deli & Pizzeria at 5373 Arthur Kill Road in Tottenville, which is open for pickup and delivery from 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 9 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, visit townedelipizza.com. YES, THEYRE OPEN: Towne Deli and Pizzeria offers pickup and delivery at 5373 Arthur Kill Road. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 10:45 p.m.Friday and Saturdays. Sunday follows weekday schedule. For more information, visit townedelipizza.com. Posted by Staten Island Advance on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Staten Island restaurant owners: If you would like your establishment featured for free as part of Yes, Theyre Open, email reporter Victoria Priola at vpriola@siadvance.com. WANT MORE YES, THEYRE OPEN? Check out the listings below or check out all of our previous coverage here. Bubbakoos Burritos, 1650 Richmond Ave. In Fine Fettle, 961 Jewett Ave. and 20 Jefferson Blvd. Domenicos Pizzeria & Pasta, 5838 Amboy Road Brunos Italian Bakery & Restaurant, 1650 Hylan Blvd. Secretary of State Antony Blinken got to work Wednesday with a warning that the world's eyes were on the United States to see if it can heal deep divisions. Blinken, a veteran diplomat and confidant of President Joe Biden, promised to rebuild morale and respect in a welcome ceremony at the State Department front entrance that was extraordinary for what was lacking -- crowds. With Covid-19 raging, Blinken asked that only a bare minimum of employees, all masked, come to see him -- and noted that just days earlier, barricades had been protecting the usually staid building near the National Mall in the wake of a failed insurrection at the Capitol. "The world is watching us intently right now. They want to know if we can heal our nation," Blinken said. "They want to see whether we will lead with the power of our example," he said, "if we'll will put a premium on diplomacy with our allies and partners to meet the great challenges of our time." He said that the challenges included the pandemic as well as "climate change, the economic crisis, threats to democracies, fights for racial justice and the danger to our security and global stability posed by our rivals and adversaries." Blinken said of the turbulent times, "The president is committed to getting us through it as quickly as possible, so that very soon, we can all gather in person again and have confidence that the foundations of our democracy are strong." Under former president Donald Trump, close Western allies were rattled by his jarringly undiplomatic approach as he voiced fondness for autocratic leaders. The divisiveness spread to the State Department where Blinken's predecessor Mike Pompeo was a relentless defender of Trump, using his welcoming speech to vow "swagger" and spending his final days railing against multiculturalism and the media. Blinken, who served as a deputy secretary of state under former president Barack Obama, promised to listen to dissenting views and said pointedly, "I will have your back." Story continues Trump fired the US ambassador to Ukraine as Trump sought to dig up dirt on Biden, a scandal that led to his first impeachment. "I cannot promise that you will support every choice I make as your secretary. But I can promise an open door and an open mind," Blinken said. Blinken, known for his even temper, was confirmed Tuesday by the Senate 78-22 with many members of Trump's Republican Party backing him, a turnaround from the narrow approval on partisan lines for Trump's two secretaries of state. Blinken got to work Tuesday with calls to his counterparts from neighbors Canada and Mexico as well as top US allies Japan and South Korea, key players in what will likely be a defining issue of his tenure -- the rise of China. He is expected later Wednesday to hold a news conference, a sign of early commitment to engaging with the media after tensions during the Trump administration. Blinken in his confirmation hearing signalled a shift from Trump by pursuing diplomacy, including with Iran, but also pledged continuity including in the hard line on China. sct/dw Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! San Francisco will rename 44 schools, including campuses named after former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. The near-unanimous Monday vote by the San Francisco Board of Education, with only one dissenter, comes after years of debate and some scorn over the reckoning of historical figures and their contentious, flawed legacies. Its a message to our families, our students and our community, board member Mark Sanchez said in the meeting, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Its not just symbolic. The new namesakes for the schools must adhere to a new set of guidelines, including that individuals honored by a renaming are not slave owners or abetted in slavery or genocide, attached to human rights violations, or are "known racists and/or white supremacists." Washington and Jefferson, for instance, were slaveowners, while former San Francisco mayor Feinstein was listed after reportedly reinstating Confederate flags by City Hall in the '80s. Lincoln, widely revered for his issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation, was chosen based on "his treatment of First Nation peoples," first-grader Jeremiah Jeffries told the Chronicle in a widely circulated December quote. Some other namesakes' legacies, such as Junipero Serra, Jose Ortega and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, were based on colonization and abuses of indigenous people. Another storied figure, John Muir, was also selected for renaming due to comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward Black people. (The Sierra Club's executive director recently condemned its founder for these remarks.) Schools have until April to determine the new names for their campuses, per KNTV-TV, which will then be voted on by board members. The issue of renaming San Francisco's schools has drawn national attention, with former President Donald Trump lending his tweeting powers in opposition to the decision. Some have criticized the lack of historian involvement in the renaming decision. Even Mayor London Breed entered the fray, criticizing the renaming of schools and calling it "offensive" amid the pandemic and the continuation of school closures. Breed did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. "The School District and the Board of Education need to do what needs to be done to get our kids back in school," she said in October. A parent of a student at Adolph Sutro Elementary who spoke at the meeting, reported the Chronicle, spoke favorably of the decision. Sutro, a former mayor, discriminated against Black people who wanted to visit the baths named after him. But others, such as Spring Utting, a parent of a student at Lowell High another school set to be renamed were concerned that the renaming deflects on the broader, more crucial issue of schools reopening. "Is this meant to distract parents so we don't ask what the school reopening plan is? Do they have one?" she told SFGATE. "Why isn't that the first item on their agenda?" The saga concludes just a week after a scandal at Lowell in which racist slurs and pornography were shown in a schoolwide virtual forum. Elsewhere in the Bay Area, UC Berkeley is continuing its efforts to rename or "un-name" buildings on campus. It removed the signage from the former Kroeber Hall, which was named after Alfred Kroeber, an anthropologist whose work, indigenous activists say, contributed to the erasure of Native Americans. Eric Ting contributed to this report. (Newser) The widow of a kindergarten teacher in Georgia says it was "painful and insulting" when the superintendent and two school board members refused to honor his dying wish, even for a few seconds. Patrick Key, 53, died from COVID-19 on Christmas Day after almost six weeks in the hospital. His obituary stated that he "felt passionate about wearing masks during the pandemic" and urged people to honor his memory by wearing masks "to protect others and yourself, " USA Today reports. But when district employee Jennifer Susko asked Cobb County Board of Education members to wear masks for a moment of silence during a meeting Thursday, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale and two members remained maskless during 13 seconds of silence. The other six board members were already wearing masks. story continues below "I'd like the record to reflect that some of you did not wear a mask, the final request of a Cobb teacher who died. Your actions in these two minutes have spoken louder than words," Susko said. "We see where your priorities are. Please know that many of us reject your false gratitude for staff since we seem disposable to many of you." Ragsdale declined to comment on the meeting, but a school district rep said board members had complied with a policy allowing them to remove masks if they are physically distanced. "All it had to be was a few seconds of a demonstration of kindness and empathy and they couldnt even do it," Heather Welch, Key's niece, tells the Washington Post. On the day of the meeting, two other teachers in the district died from COVID. (Read more coronavirus stories.) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Larry Hugo, a fisherman for more than a decade now, said he was on his way to a regular fishing area near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island when he was blocked by a ship of the China Coast Guard the latest reported harassment of Filipino fishermen by Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea. "Akala ko po dadaan lang ang barko. Bigla pong humarang sa may dadaanan ko," Hugo told CNN Philippines in an online interview on Wednesday. "Saka may paparating pa na lima hanggang anim na barko, lahat tumatakbo rin papunta sa lugar na yon." [Translation: I thought the ship was just passing by. It suddenly blocked my way. There were also five to six other vessels going in the same direction.] The incident happened on Monday. Fearing the worst, including being shot by water cannons, Hugo turned back while managing to take a video upon reaching a safe distance. "Marami akong kalaban sa dagat, ayan o (I have many enemies at sea, look)," Hugo said, pointing the camera to the China Coast Guard ship as he sailed away. The Philippine Navy said its Naval Forces West, which secures the area, is now looking into the incident. It said it will reach out to Hugo. "[B]e assured that your Naval Forces West, especially the security personnel deployed in the different KIG (Kalayaan Island Group) features, continues to uphold and protect the safety of our Filipino fishermen," the Navy's statement read. Pag-asa Island, internationally known as Thitu, is one of the biggest islands in the disputed Spratlys and is the seat of the municipal government of Kalayaan under Palawan province. It is also being claimed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Philippines previously filed diplomatic protests over the swarming of Chinese vessels around Pag-asa. While Hugo said it was his first time to be driven away by a foreign vessel, this has been a practice by Chinese vessels as the East Asian giant insists on owning almost the entire South China Sea including areas covered by Manila's exclusive economic zone. In 2016, an arbitral tribunal recognized Manila's sovereign rights in its EEZ in the West Philippine Sea which Beijing contests. It also ruled that China "unlawfully prevented" Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough or Panatag Shoal west of Zambales. China rejects the landmark decision, while President Rodrigo Duterte agreed to set it aside to pursue areas of cooperation, including joint oil and gas exploration in disputed areas. The Philippines recently filed a diplomatic protest over China's new law which authorizes its coast guard's "use of weapons" against foreign vessels "when national sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon or threatened." CNN Philippines' David Santos and Eimor Santos contributed to this report. Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. US President Joe Biden moved decisively on climate, rejoining the Paris Agreement on day one and appointing former secretary of state John Kerry as his Climate Envoy. Kerry has already called out the climate emergency, emphasised that time is fast running out, and makes the critical point that existing Paris pledges are inadequate to meet the goal of keeping global warming below 2 degrees. Kerry will make the point in coming summits that countries collectively need to do at least three times as much as they are currently pledging. The costs of climate events are rising alarmingly, as evidenced for Australia by a Climate Council report on Wednesday of a looming annual $100 billion bill for natural disasters. Kerry has drawn attention to the cost of some $US350 billion ($452 billion) in one year after three storms. The governments own forecasts warn of a catastrophic temperature rise of 4.4C by the end of the century. Credit:Nick Moir A 2 degrees increase in temperature is specified by science as an upper limit, as a guardrail, or tipping point, beyond which global warming becomes an unstoppable chain reaction. Our children could face the prospect of their planet becoming uninhabitable in their lifetimes. To stay below that limit the world has a finite carbon budget a fixed amount of pollution we can emit over the next two to three decades. The next decade will be determinant. Hence the global focus on increased targets for 2030. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - LaSalle Exploration Corp. (TSXV: LSX) ("LaSalle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the 2021 exploration program has commenced on the Company's 100% owned Radisson Property ("Radisson" or the "Property") in the Eeyou Istchee - James Bay Territory, Quebec. The planned 88-kilometre induced polarization ("IP") geophysical survey has begun, initially targeting the areas encompassing the Goldhawk and Goldfang high-grade gold discoveries announced late last year. These two gold discoveries are located near the south-central border of Radisson adjacent to the Serpent Property owned by Harfang Exploration Inc. ("Harfang") as shown on Figure 1. The Goldhawk and Goldfang gold-bearing zones occur within an area defined by the convergence of a series of east-west structures within the west to northwesterly trending gold-bearing Stu Structural Corridor ("SSC"). A ground magnetic survey is also underway to further enhance the definition of gold targets. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6809/72933_lasalle1.jpg LaSalle President and CEO Ian Campbell stated, "We are very excited to begin the 2021 exploration program designed to build upon and expand the high-grade gold in bedrock discoveries we made on the Goldfang and Goldhawk zones late last year. These discoveries represent the highest gold grades recorded to date on Radisson. The IP survey targets these discoveries and several other areas identified as having favourable structural and geological trends. Our discoveries, together with those defining the Stu Structural Corridor that extends through the center of Radisson, represent a new Quebec gold exploration hot spot. Our current work program is being executed with the intent of defining additional targets in preparation for drilling". The Goldhawk Zone occurs over an area of 100 metres by 50 metres and contains anomalous to high-grade gold from grab samples of quartz veins hosted in diorite with values ranging from 1.55 g/t to the highest grades of 36.71 g/t and 64.50 g/t gold. Grab samples taken in the biotite-altered diorite host with no quartz veins but with 1 to 4% fine-grained disseminated pyrite and pyrrhotite also returned higher grade assays of 6.72 g/t and 9.30 g/t gold. Goldhawk remains open along its strike and width. The Goldfang Zone, located 2.5 kilometres east of Goldhawk, returned anomalous to high-grade copper and gold from grab samples, along with mineralization consisting of semi-massive sulphide horizons of pyrite (5 to 15%), chalcopyrite (2 to 5%) and bornite (1%) that locally contain quartz veins. Assay values range from 1.01 g/t to 5.93 g/t gold, up to 48 g/t silver and up to 2.34% copper hosted in diorite and in close proximity to amphibolite. The Goldfang Zone remains open along its strike and width. The SSC first identified by Harfang extends 3.5 kilometres east-southeast from Radisson onto their Serpent Property as shown in Figure 1, is characterized by numerous high-grade gold showings associated with quartz veins and a large gold in till anomaly by Stuart Averill of Overburden Drilling Management as one of the most significant in Canada. Cautionary statement: Grab samples described above are selective by nature and reported grades might not be representative of more extensive mineralized zones. Field Work and COVID-19 Protocols The health and safety of the staff at site, and the communities in which the company operates, is of paramount importance to LaSalle. All employees and contractors work according to a protocol relative to the recent COVID-19 restrictions announced by the government of Quebec on Jan. 6, 2021 defining the measures and constraints to be adopted in order to limit the risks associated with COVID-19, ensuring the health and safety of everyone involved in the project. About the Property The 4,450-hectare, 100% owned Property is located in the Eeyou-Itschee-James Bay Territory of Quebec along the highly prospective regional contact between the La Grande and Opinaca geological Sub-Provinces. This structural setting has proven to be highly favourable for gold mineralization and hosts the Eleonore Mine (Newmont) and the Cheechoo deposit (Sirios Resources) to the southeast and the La Pointe deposit (Quebec Precious Metals) to the northeast. Radisson is easily accessible via the main north-south James Bay paved road 1.5 kilometres to the west. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Alan Sexton, P.Geo., Vice-President, Exploration of LaSalle Exploration Corp., who is a non-independent qualified person for the technical disclosure as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). About LaSalle Exploration Corp LaSalle is a Canadian exploration company focused on less explored districts of the Abitibi in Ontario and Quebec, recognized for mining investment based on mineral potential, policy and success., LaSalle is actively exploring Radisson in the developing Eeyou Itschee-James Bay region in Quebec as well as the Blakelock and Egan high-grade gold properties located in northeastern Ontario. LaSalle trades on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") under the symbol "LSX". Additional information about LaSalle can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at www.lasallecorp.com. On behalf of the Board of Directors LASALLE EXPLORATION CORP. "Ian Campbell" President and Chief Executive Officer Telephone: (604) 647-3966 Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Information The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward-looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72933 An emergency department nurse at Antrim Area Hospital, Co Antrim, in Northern Ireland swabs a woman at a drive-in coronavirus testing site (Michael Cooper/PA) Health Minister, Robin Swann, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride and Patricia Donnelly, Head of the Covid-19 Vaccine Programme pictured at a press conference in Parliament Buildings, Stormont. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. People aged over 65 can now book their Covid-19 vaccination appointments at one of Northern Irelands seven regional vaccination centres. The Department of Health this week announced a twin-track approach to accelerating NIs vaccination programme - ensuring more people can take up the offer of vaccination and help protect themselves against Covid-19. GPs will be focusing on the 70 plus age group, while the seven regional vaccination centres will in parallel be offering offer vaccination appointments to 65-69 year-olds. The online booking is available at covid-19.hscni.net/get-vaccinated/ Earlier Health Minister Robin Swann announced plans for 500 special recognition payment for health and social care staff. Subject to Department of Finance approval, it will be paid to all health and social care workers including doctors, nurses, care home workers, domiciliary care workers, administrative staff and estates teams. Mr Swann also announced a flat rate, one-off special recognition payment of 2,000 for all qualifying students that have been on clinical placement between October 1 2020 to March 31 2021. The qualifying courses are the nursing and midwifery, AHP, social work and physician associate pre-registration programmes commissioned from Queen's University Belfast and the Ulster University by Stormont's health department. A one-off award is also set to be made to carers, but Mr Swann said more work is to be done on this before further detail can be announced. Mr Swann added that the current lockdown is "making a difference" as infection numbers are falling. He said: "The R-number has been moving in the right direction and we have to sustain and building on that progress." He also expressed his frustration at those people who are not taking the threat of Covid-19 seriously and at "armchair experts who spout simplistic ideas and snipe" at Stormont and the "heroes" in our health service over their efforts in tacking the infection rate. "The reality is that we, as a health service and as a society, are living through the challenge of our lifetimes - the battle of our lifetimes. "It is a challenge that is complex, all-consuming and relentless." Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride confirmed that new coronavirus cases are continuing to fall and the R-number now stands at less than one. But he urged people to "continue to do what we're doing", adding that "while the number of hospital admissions may have passed the peak, they remain at a very high level". He added: "It's important to remember that they will remain extremely high for many weeks and that will ensure, unfortunately, that our health staff will remain under very severe pressure in the coming weeks." Dr McBride also paid tribute to those who are adhering to the restrictions and following the advice. "The decisions you make, the actions you are taking, are reducing the number of infections and reducing the number of people who become unwell and require hospital care, "We must now avoid dropping our guard. We need to be extremely careful around the relaxation of any of the current restrictions and certainly to avoid any relaxation too early." He was speaking as Northern Ireland's Department of Health reported another 16 deaths and 527 new cases of coronavirus Latest figures show 12 deaths occurred in the 24 hours up to 10am on Wednesday, while another four happened previously. The death toll has risen to 1,779. Read More In terms of testing, 4,246 have contracted the virus in the past seven days, that is down from 6,944 the previous week. In total over 766,000 people have been tested and nearly 102,000 found positive. Hospital bed occupancy is at 95%. There are 775 people in hospital with Covid and 68 are in intensive care. There are 126 care homes dealing with an outbreak. Head of the Covid-19 vaccine programme, Dr Patricia Donnelly told today's Stormont press conference Northern Ireland has reached an "important juncture" and her team is ready "to accelerate the programme's roll-out". A further delivery of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Northern Ireland yesterday while another is scheduled for next week. "When that arrives we should have sufficient vaccines to allow GPs to cover everyone in the 75-plus age group and begin vaccinating the over 70-year population," she added. Dr Donnelly also confirmed a "twin-track approach" to administering Covid-19 vaccinations here.. "Later this week the role of the seven regional vaccination centres will be expanded to begin vaccinating members of the public. "As GPs focus on the 70-year plus age group the vaccination centres will, in parallel, offer vaccination appointments to 65-to-69-year-olds," she said. "These will be bookable online and further details of a booking portal will be published very shortly as well as a telephone helpline for those unable to use online booking." Meanwhile First Minister Arlene Foster has backed the approach of the South Eastern Trust after an email emerged offering family and friends of staff the chance to get the vaccine. The trust said it was ensuring supplies were not wasted. Read More Elsewhere, Sinn Fein has called for Education Minister Peter Weir to provide "clarity" on if school closures will be extended in Northern Ireland. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that he hoped it would be safe to begin the reopening of England's schools from March 8. "The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms. I know how parents and teachers need as much certainty as possible including two weeks' notice of the return of face-to-face teaching," he said. Read More Follow live updates below: President Joe Biden holds his mask as he speaks on the CCP virus in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 26, 2021. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) White House: Biden Didnt Set New Goal on CCP Virus Vaccines President Joe Biden didnt set a new goal this week when he said the United States could vaccinate 1.5 million people a day against the CCP virus, the White House clarified on Tuesday. The president didnt actually say the new goal is; the president said, I hope we can do even more than that. And that is certainly of course his hope, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during a briefing. He is continuing to push our team to get as many Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible. Thats why we set the bold goal of 100 million shots in the arms of Americans in 100 days to begin with. Prior to taking office Biden said his goal was to have 100 million doses of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus vaccines injected during his first 100 days in office. But the United States had reached around 1 million doses a day before he was sworn in. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Biden said: I think with the grace of God and the goodwill of the neighbor and the creek not rising, and as the old saying goes, I think we may be able to get that to 1.5 million a day, rather than 1 million a day, but we have to meet that goal of a million a day. I hope well be able to increase as we go along until we get to the million five a day. Thats my hope, he added. While the 1 million per day goal remains, Biden does want to surpass it, Psaki said. But again, it is a goal that was set with contingencies. We need to plan for that in mind, and hes going to continue to push the team to meet that goal and go beyond it, she said. People work near refrigerators used to store the Pfizer vaccine for the CCP virus as patients who have received the shot sit in an observation area during a one-day vaccination clinic set up in an Amazon.com facility in Seattle, Wash., on Jan. 24, 2021. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23.5 million doses have been administered as of Jan. 26. Pfizers CCP virus vaccine was authorized for emergency use on Dec. 11, 2020, and Modernas was cleared six days later. On CNN, White House chief of staff Ron Klain defended Bidens goal, saying over 1 million people were vaccinated on only one day during the Trump administration. Our goal is to hit a million 100 days out of 100, he said. No country in the history of the world has ever done that. Its never happened before. Thats a pretty ambitious goal. Dr. Anthony Fauci, elevated to be a medical adviser to Biden after serving in the Trump administration, said over the weekend that the average daily vaccinations during Trumps term was around 450,000. Bidens goal is a floor, not a ceiling, he said on CBSs Face the Nation. He noted that 100 million doses does not mean 100 million people being vaccinated, since both of the vaccines that have been authorized by drug regulators require two doses. That means, at the end of the 100 days, youre going to have some people who will have gotten both shots and some will still be on their first shots, he said. Palm Beach officials are conducting a 'legal review' of Donald Trump's use of Mar-a-Lago as a residence because of a 1993 permit that restricts long-term stays at the resort. But Eric Trump, the former president's son and an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said his father is within his rights to stay at the exclusive club as long as he chooses. Trump signed a 'special exception use' agreement in 1993 that let him convert the historic mansion into a for-profit social club. But the agreement includes a clause that limits stays to no more than 10 guests at one time, for no longer than seven days at a time, up to three non-consecutive visits a year. Neighbors have claimed that Trump has violated the agreement in the past, and Wednesday marks seven days since he flew there prior to President Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration. The agreement is 'under legal review' by Palm Beach's town attorney John Randolph, Town Manager Kirk Blouin said. Eric Trump argues that his father Donald, left, has a legal right to make Mar-a-Lago his permanent residence Donald Trump signed a 1993 permit that allowed him to maintain a private club at Mar-a-Lago Blouin added he has 'no personal knowledge of where ex-President Trump is living or intends to live.' The Town Council may discuss the 1993 permit and Trump's residency at a meeting on February 9, he said. If found to have violated the 1993 agreement, the town has the right to revoke the club's occupational license and can seek relief in civil courts, the signed document reads. But Eric Trump told DailyMail.com that his father has the legal right to live at his property. 'There's absolutely nothing that prohibits my father from living at the property,' he told DailyMail.com. 'My father has the absolute right to live at Mar-a-Lago.' Trump pointed to Section 134-2 of the town's municipal code, which defines private clubs and noted that Mar-a-Lago maintains its RAA-Large Estate Residential zoning. 'Within residential zoning districts, a private club may provide living quarters for its bona fide employees only,' the ordinance reads. Donald Trump also owns two houses on nearby Woodbridge Road Donald and Melania Trump, left and second left, pose with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in 2000 The 1993 permit prevents guests from staying more than 21 days at the club yearly The town ordinance also defines what constitutes an employee. 'Employee means any person generally working on site for the establishment and includes sole proprietors, partners, limited partners, corporate officers and the like,' the ordinance reads. Eric Trump added that in his father's 1993 application for the permit, he said the property usage would not change. 'The use of property is not permitted to have changed, and has to be used in the way Marjorie Merriweather Post had used the property,' he said, referring to the cereal heiress who built the estate in the 1920s. He also noted that the primary argument from critics points to a clause in the 1993 permit which states 'guest suites shall be limited to a maximum of three (3) non-consecutive seven (7) day periods by any one member during the year.' 'He's the owner and he's the director and this why these guys aren't gaining any traction,' Eric Trump said. He added: 'There is a big difference between a guest and an owner.' Eric Trump said that the 1993 agreement did not constitute a rezoning and that there are stipulations in his father's agreement with the town and zoning ordinances that mandate the property return to residential use, 'if for some reason the club didn't work or wasn't profitable.' '[The agreement] mandated that the property return to residential if for some reason the club didn't work or wasn't profitable,' he said. 'They didn't want to have commercial use inside Palm Beach,' Eric Trump said. Mar-a-Lago neighbors opposed to Trump's residence there in December delivered a letter to Palm Beach officials claiming the former president cannot live at the resort full-time, citing the long-term stay clause in the 1993 agreement. Reginald Stambaugh, a lawyer representing the DeMoss family, which has a property next to Mar-a-Lago, wrote in the letter that the president should find somewhere else to live. 'To avoid an embarrassing situation for everyone and to give the president time to make other living arrangements in the area, we trust you will work with his team to remind them of the use agreement parameters,' Stambaugh wrote. Trump has enjoyed numerous trips to Mar-a-Lago that lasted for longer than seven days in recent years, according to a HuffPost analysis of his schedule. He stayed eight days in a row in 2020, had a 16-day stay in 2019 and a 10-day visit in 2017, HuffPost claims. Donald and Melania raise their glasses for a New Year's toast at Mar-a-Lago in 2004. Eric Trump said his father plans to make the resort his full-time home Trump, right, and Melania, second from left, are seated for dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie Abe at Mar-a-Lago in 2018 Trump speaks to the press from Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 22, 2018 Eric Trump added that his father has been living there since 1992 and 'nobody has said anything.' He also noted that his family already owns two other houses nearby on Woodbridge Road. 'They are beautiful houses, and my father could live in either of those houses there on Woodbridge,' he told DailyMail.com. 'They're beautiful houses, but Secret Service would likely shut down the road. They would have bomb dogs. They would literally have gates. The neighbors should be very careful what they ask for.' Eric Trump said that his father plans to maintain Mar-a-Lago as his primary residence. 'He's going to be traveling and I'm sure there is going to be a lot of time he's going to be out of Palm Beach, but he plans on spending a lot of time there.' Michael Cohen, who served as Trump's personal lawyer, told Huffington Post that Trump 'cannot reside in Mar-a-Lago as a full-time permanent resident.' 'Now, he can go there every day. It's his club,' he said. DailyMail.com has reached out to Cohen, who began working for Trump in 2007, for additional comment. A pregnant woman and her boyfriend made a fateful decision that cost them their lives moments before they were allegedly mowed down and killed by a teenager high on drugs. Kate Leadbetter, 31, and her boyfriend Matthew Field, 37, were about to become parents for the first time before a 17-year-old boy allegedly slammed into them in a stolen Toyota 4WD in Alexandra Hills, in Brisbane, on Australia Day. The couple were taking their dogs, Frankie and Django, for their usual afternoon walk at 5.30pm on Tuesday when they were both struck. The parents-to-be died at the scene. Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field would usually make a right turn when they left their home for their daily exercise with their pets. But on the day of the fatal crash, they turned left and walked towards the busy intersection where they took their final breaths, The Australian reported. Kate Leadbetter, 31, and her boyfriend Matthew Field, 37, were killed during a horror car crash in Alexandra Hills, in east Brisbane on Tuesday at 5.30pm Loved ones console each other during a vigil for the young couple on Wednesday night The 17-year-old alleged driver has since been charged with two counts of murder. It's believed the teen was on bail for other driving offences including evading police. Assistant Police Commissioner Brian Codd said the most hardened members of the force had been rocked by the tragedy. 'We, the police department, along with our community, are hurting. Dealing with this sort of tragedy - which is preventable - is incredibly frustrating,' he told the Today show on Thursday. 'I'm limited by law [by what I can say]. I'm not going to compromise our investigation and prosecution. 'The reality of it is... It's something that does my head in. 'I am angry. I'm angry and my people are angry. They're frustrated and they're heartbroken... Can you imagine going and telling a family about the loss of a loved one? It has an impact on our people but we're providing them enormous support.' Kate Leadbetter (right) was six months pregnant and excited to start a family with her long-term boyfriend Matty Field (left) when they were rundown and killed in Brisbane on Tuesday Locals have since banded together to hold a vigil on the corner of Finucane and Vienna Road - the intersection where the couple tragically lost their lives Today host Karl Stefanovic said the story of the 'beaming and beautiful' expectant parents breaks his heart. 'Just at Christmas. Holding a picture of their unborn baby. Their whole lives ahead of them,' he said on Thursday morning after learning of the couple's walking route. 'But in one horrifying moment on a bayside suburban street that was ripped apart. 'As they left home to walk their dog, we learn this morning they made a fateful decision, turning left when they would ordinarily turn right. 'Moments later, they were struck and killed.' Locals banded together on Wednesday night to hold a vigil on the corner of Finucane and Vienna Road - the intersection where the couple tragically lost their lives. Ms Leadbetter's aunt, Danielle Leadbetter, bravely spoke out about the horrific incident which took the life of her 'beautiful' niece. 'No parent should have to bury their child. Ever. I feel sorry for everyone involved. The paramedics, police, the people who witnessed it. You never get over a traumatic event,' Ms Leadbetter said. A mourner lays a bouquet of flowers down at the intersection where Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field were killed The shattered aunt and uncle of Ms Leadbetter, Danielle and Jason Leadbetter (pictured at vigil), said they would always remember their 'beautiful' niece 'I just really would like Queensland to instead of just posting to social media, campaign for change. That is what we need. Campaign for change, campaign for justice, and let's stop this ridiculous loss of life. 'She was just everything that is beautiful in this world so Queenslanders posting on social media, I'm reading it, you're angry, let's change the laws, take this anger and challenge it into something positive so it's not your child that you are burying one day. 'I hope that Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and our lawmakers are watching this.' Countless bouquets of flowers and teddy bears were laid at the scene while loved ones bravely spoke out about the loss of the couple. Distraught residents found comfort in each other's arms as crowds turned up to honour the young couple. Candles were laid around the memorial which is only expected to grow as the vigil continues on into the night Distraught mourners turned out in droves to the vigil on Wednesday night after the beloved couple were killed in a horror crash Candles were laid around the memorial which is only expected to grow as the vigil continues on into the night. Relatives, locals, children and politicians all paid their respects to the couple on Wednesday evening as the community struggles to accept their deaths. A little girl was captured in a heartbreaking photo laying a bouquet of flowers at the couple's memorial while two other distraught children were seen sitting arm-in-arm. Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered his condolences and said his 'heart breaks' for the friends and families of the victims. 'Three beautiful young lives gone in the blink of an eye. I cannot begin to imagine the grief their families are feeling,' he wrote on Wednesday night. Mourners were seen at the vigil late on Wednesday night to honour the couple killed Heartbroken loved ones are seen at the tribute service held for Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field The tribute has grown throughout the day with loved ones and residents dropping off flowers, stuffed animals and candles 'I'd like to extend my thanks and support to the first responders and witnesses to this horrific accident who fought so hard to try and save their lives. 'Some very small comfort to hear one of the couple's dogs, Frankie, who had run off from the scene last night was found late this morning after the local community rallied together to help find her after a plea from Kate's family.' Ms Leadbetter, who was six months pregnant, is understood to have been working as an interior stylist while her partner worked in fabrications. The young couple had recently shared a photo of their baby's ultrasound as they stood proudly in front of a Christmas tree. Queensland Police are now investigating the possibility of laying more charges against the teenager over the death of Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field's unborn baby. Flowers, teddy bears and letters were left at the intersection where a young couple were killed on Australia Day A young child is seen laying a bouquet of flowers at the vigil on Wednesday The vigil started at 6pm at the intersection in Alexandra Hills as hundreds of locals paid their respects Children are seen laying candles at the memorial for the couple in Brisbane's east Families lay flowers and candles at the vigil on Wednesday night. The couple were due to become parents in just three months before they were killed 'That's certainly something we'll be considering as part of the ongoing investigation,' Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Cold said on Wednesday. 'Here's two people going about their business innocently on Australia Day, walking their dogs, they should be entitled to do that. 'To have them ripped away from their families is an absolute tragedy, and I can assure you it's impacted very heavily on the first responders and witnesses who faced that.' The 17-year-old had allegedly been driving erratically through the intersection when he ploughed into a tow truck. His car then began to roll and moments later collided with the couple walking their two dogs. Ms Leadbetter, 31, and Mr Field, 37, died instantly, while their dog Frankie who they had been walking, fled from the scene A woman wipes away tears during a vigil held for Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field at the intersection where they were killed Huge crowds were seen at the vigil on Wednesday night on the corner of Finucane and Vienna Road Harrowing scenes are pictured at the memorial held on Wednesday night following the tragic deaths of a young Brisbane couple The 17-year-old from Waterford West was due to front Brisbane Children's Court on Wednesday but chose not to appear. At a hearing in his absence he was remanded in custody. The teen is understood to have been on bail for 50 unrelated offences when the crash occurred. Outside court the teen's lawyer Patrick Horgan said it had been a 'very traumatic experience for everyone involved'. As their families struggle to come to terms with the tragedy, the pregnant woman's sister shared the heartbreaking photo showing Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field in happier times over Christmas. Arm-in-arm and smiling, Mr Field held up the framed photo of the ultrasound, while in the background was a display that read: Santa baby. 'Here's two people going about their business innocently on Australia Day, walking their dogs, they should be entitled to do that,' Queensland Police Assistant Commissioner Brian Codd said of the deaths of Mr Field and Ms Leadbetter Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field's dog Frankie is carried out of bushland on Wednesday morning at the end of a long search by locals, friends and family to find the dog Frankie (pictured) survived the horrific crash but fled the scene in terror immediately after Ms Leadbetter's sister Kimberley shared the photo to Facebook on Wednesday in a bid to help the dozens of locals who spent the morning searching for missing pooch Frankie, the couple's beloved pet. The dog fled the scene in the aftermath of the crash leading some locals to search well into the night, before continuing on with their hunt on Wednesday morning. But a large search party discovered Frankie alive and well in bushland about 11.30am AEST on Wednesday. She was carried out of the dense bushland by the search party and will be taken to a local vet for a check up. A GoFundMe page has now been set up to help cover the medical costs for Frankie. Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field had been dating for more than four years and were expecting their first child The couple's beloved dog Frankie was missing on Tuesday night after she fled the scene but was fortunately found on Wednesday morning just before midday The Toyota LandCruiser that the teenager was allegedly driving lies damaged at the scene of the horror crash around 5.30pm on Tuesday Police alleged the 17-year-old fled the scene before he was arrested nearby and taken to hospital for minor injuries. Shocking footage has since surfaced of the teenager allegedly speeding through an intersection before smashing into another vehicle just 15 minutes before the fatal crash. Nearby drivers screamed in horror as the Toyota sped through the intersection, attempting to cut off a silver hatchback before crashing into the vehicle's side - only to then speed off into the distance. The driver, who was wearing sunglasses, had been seen allegedly making crude gestures towards other motorists while stopped at the traffic lights before slamming into the hatchback. Police allege the teenage boy was driving erratically through the intersection when his car smashed into a tow truck. Police allege the Toyota then rolled across the road straight into the couple, who died at the scene. It is understood Ms Leadbetter and Mr Field never saw the car coming. Mr Field was killed instantly while desperate attempts from passersby were made to save his girlfriend's life. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning At the onset of her career, Cindy Munro knew she wanted to be a nurse scientist and was thrilled when the predecessor to the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) awarded her a fellowship to pursue her doctoral degree in 1989. The investment paid off: While working on her Ph.D. at Virginia Commonwealth University, Munro was part of the team that showed how oral bacteria infect heart valves, a finding that led to the first of three patents Munro holds with co-investigators. She went on to lead research that showed dental plaque was a risk for pneumonia in patients on mechanical ventilation, and led to practices that changed the oral care guidelines for intensive care patients. Now, more than three decades later, the dean of the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies is equally elated by her four-year appointment to the NINRs National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, which NINR Director Shannon N. Zenk announced on Tuesdaywhen Munro remotely attended her first council meeting as a member. I couldnt be more thrilled to serve on the advisory council, which is a really important voice for the NINR, said Munro, who was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2016. Their early support was instrumental in starting my research career, and I have such admiration for the work NINR does. I look forward to making a contribution to their mission in this way. Established in 1986 as the National Center for Nursing Research, the NINR was elevated to one of the National Institute of Healths 27 institutes in 1993by a federal notice signed by then-Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala, the Universitys immediate past president. Comprised of at least seven nursing experts in clinical practice, education, or research, its 15-member advisory council makes recommendations on the direction and support of NINR research that has enabled nurses to improve the health of individuals, families, and communities at all stages of life and across diverse populations and settings. Council members also provide a second-level review of grant applications and recommend which should be approved for fundingsomething with which Munro, the co-editor in chief of the American Journal of Critical Care, is intimately familiar. The NINR has continuously funded her research, much of it aimed at reducing complications in ventilated ICU patients, for 20 years. But she is particularly excited about joining the advisory council as Zenk, a nurse researcher from the University of Illinois at Chicagos College of Nursing, begins her tenure as NINR director. The council will play a crucial role as Zenk reviews and updates the NINRs strategic plan, an endeavor Munro said has important implications for the future of nursing and patient care that go beyond the continuing COVID-19 health crisis. Since the first case was reported in the U.S. a little more than a year ago, the novel coronavirus has infected more than 25 million U.S. residents, killing nearly 420,000. The work of the NIH and the NINR is much larger than COVID. It is funding the pivotal science that drives health care forward, Munro said. So, while some of the work will be COVID-specific, it will continue to be less about a specific disease and more about general strategies that are applicable to lots of different patient populationsincluding COVID patients. As an example, Munro noted that the NINR is the NIHs lead institute for end-of-life and palliative care, an area of research that has and will continue to impact fatally ill COVID patients. Isolated from loved ones, they often die without any family present, only a nurse at their bedside. A lot of the things that patients deal with at end of lifepain, trouble breathing, thirstare very amenable to nursing research and intervention, she said. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Munro and her fellow council members, who include her immediate UM predecessor, Nilda Peragallo Montano, now the dean of the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will continue to meet remotely for the foreseeable futurerather than at the NIHs Bethesda, Maryland, headquarters. But, as Munro pointed out, council meetings are partially open to the public. And watching them, even online, likely will be a transformative experience, especially for the Universitys nursing students. Munro knows this firsthand, because as a young faculty member, she used to take Virginia Commonwealth nursing students on the 90-minute trip to the meetings. But, she never imagined she would be sitting on the council one day. Premier Brian Pallister was the only member of cabinet to bill Manitoba taxpayers for out-of-province travel in the most recent three-month reporting period. Premier Brian Pallister was the only member of cabinet to bill Manitoba taxpayers for out-of-province travel in the most recent three-month reporting period. A new posting on the government's website shows Pallister racked up $5,770 in expenses during two trips to Ottawa, one in July and the other in September. Questions have surrounded both trips since they involved a combination of business and personal time. The premier's expense filings reflect that. While he's listed as being away from Manitoba for eight nights in September (Sept. 15-23), he billed the province for just $752 for "accommodation, meals and phone calls." Similarly, while he was in Ottawa July 1-7, he billed the province just $470 for hotels and meals. His airfare in July cost $910; in September, the charge was $1,560. Under the category of "other transportation," Pallister rang up costs of $774 on his July trip and $1,301 on his September trip. Following his July visit to the nation's capital, Pallister said he would not bill taxpayers for a large chunk of the trip. While the premier left for Ottawa on Canada Day, he did not participate in any business meetings until July 6-7, during which he packed six meetings with business groups and think tanks over the course of a day and a half. Following his September trip, he told reporters that he "had meetings for five working days" that were "productive and positive and important." On that trip, he appeared in a joint news conference with three other premiers. He also met with the prime minister and two federal cabinet ministers as well as representatives from several business organizations and think tanks. Some meetings, including his session with Justin Trudeau, wound up being held via teleconference due to the COVID-19 scare. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said the $1,300 bill for "other transportation" in September raises eyebrows, as it costs only $40 to take a cab from downtown Ottawa to the airport. "It certainly raises questions as to what that $1,300 was spent on (when) a lot of meetings took place by Zoom," he said. A Pallister spokeswoman, citing Finance Department criteria, said "other transportation" "could include car rentals, travel agent fees, taxi cabs, essentially any transportation that is not airfare." She said in this case, "other transportation" would include "transportation to and from the airport and to meetings that took place off-site the hotel." Meanwhile, Kinew said Pallister should also be more forthcoming about the purpose of his trips. "The question the premier should answer is, was this trip really organized out of necessary government business or was this just tacking on government business to a personal trip?" larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca Clip Studio Paint for Chromebooks Through a marketing partnership with Google, Chromebook users will receive an extra 3 months free (*2). Google Play: http://www.prweb.com/releases/chromebook_users_to_receive_3_months_free_of_clip_studio_paint/prweb17684982.htm Chromebooks are computers built with Google's Chrome operating system, Chrome OS. Chromebooks features fast boot-up and app launch times, with a large roster of apps on the Google Play Store to download. Clip Studio Paint for Chromebook includes all features and offers the same capabilities as the Android, Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad and iPhone versions. Signing up through the Chromebook Perks page grants users 3 months free of Clip Studio Paint (*2). After the free offer ends, users can sign up for a monthly usage plan to continue using the app on their preferred device (Chromebook/Android/Galaxy/Windows/macOS/iPad/iPhone). Chromebook Perks: https://www.google.com/chromebook/perks/ Celsys, together with Wacom, is working to optimize interoperability between pen tablets, Chromebooks and Clip Studio Paint. The first project is the optimization of Clip Studio Paint and One by Wacom, which is Wacoms Wacom device to be fully compatible with Chromebooks and holds the Works With Chromebook certification. Wacom plans to certify products by Works With Chromebook over time. Wacoms pen tablets, popular among digital creators globally, combined with the Chromebook and Clip Studio Paint, provide an optimally smooth creative experience for all digital creators, from beginners to professionals. Clip Studio Paint for Chromebook: Product Information & Pricing App Name Clip Studio Paint Google Play URL https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.co.celsys.clipstudiopaint.googleplay Pricing Signing up through the Chromebook Perks page grants users 3 months free of the top-grade Clip Studio Paint EX (*2). After the free offer ends, users can sign up for a monthly usage plan to continue using the app on their preferred device (Chromebook/Android/Galaxy/Windows/macOS/iPad/iPhone). 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Supported OS ChromeOS supporting Android 9 (ARM 32/x86/x86_64) Supported Devices Chromebook Device: 4GB or more memory required, 8GB or more recommended WXGA (1280x768) or higher display recommended *1 The release date and availability may vary for some regions. *2 The availability of perks may vary for some regions. CELSYS, Inc. Celsys will continue supporting creators to create artistic content with digital technology. We provide solutions for content creation, distribution, and browsing, including support of creative activities through our illustration, manga and animation production software Clip Studio Paint and web service Clip Studio, as well as our e-book solution, Clip Studio Reader. Corporate site: https://www.celsys.co.jp/en/ Clip Studio Paint site: http://www.clipstudio.net/en/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clipstudioofficial/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/clipstudiopaint Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celsys.clipstudiopaint/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CLIPSTUDIOPAINTchannel Contact For media Pacific Marks Shinjuku, 4-15-7 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Japan 160-0023 e-mail: press@artspark.co.jp For Companies https://www.celsys.co.jp/en/clipsolution/ Emyria Ltd (ASX:EMD) is a Real-World Evidence data company using its network of specialist clinical services and purpose-built, remote patient monitoring technologies and data platforms to accelerate the development and registration of new treatments and facilitate the implementation of valuable new care models. Emyria encouraged by US FDAs position on real-world data on CBD regulation Emyria Ltd (ASX:EMD) is encouraged by a recent perspective shared by the leadership of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) highlighting the potential role of real-world data (RWD) to improve the understanding of the safety and uses of cannabidiol (CBD). The data-backed drug development company believes the increasing interest and support for high-quality RWE from the FDA, particularly in the field of cannabinoid medicines, bodes well for its strategy to use its proprietary data platform and unique RWE assets to inform and support multiple drug registration programs targeting unmet needs. FDA's strong support Emyria managing director Dr Michael Winlo said: "We're encouraged, but not surprised, by the FDA leadership's strong support for carefully collected RWD to help improve our understanding of cannabinoid medicines specifically. "Dr Amy Abernethy has been a pioneer in RWE as a key leader at Flatiron Health prior to joining the FDA. "This recent FDA leadership perspective highlights the value the FDA places on high-quality RWD but also reinforces their strict standards for high-quality clinical evidence to support drug registration. - - yemenakhbar : 21 2021 05 / - - - . " . ". . . " . : ". 4 1967 . " - - . ". Sorry! This content is not available in your region (Newser) You're stopped at a traffic light and see a vanity plate that catches your eye. That's what happened to Matt Tunseth in Anchorage, Alaska on Friday, though it may have seemed more like he was in 1940s Berlin. The plate in front of him read "3REICH," and he snapped a photo and tweeted it. On Monday Department of Administration Commissioner Kelly Tshibaka confirmed that her office had fielded complaints about the plate previously, and that the DMV recalled the plate in early January. The AP reports the owner would have received a new regular plate and been informed that it was illegal to use the "3REICH" plate. Tshibaka noted that a plate reading "FUHRER" was recalled in December, two months after Anchorage attorney Eva Gardner says she emailed the Alaska DMV asking them to recall the plate, per the Daily News. story continues below Tshibaka wrote on Facebook that she is "ordering a review of DMV guidelines and processes to determine how these plates were issued." But it's not a closed book. Jamie Allard, a member of the Alaska Human Rights Commission appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, weighed in, writing that "If you speak the language fluently, you would know that the English definition of the word""reich" in German translates to realm, Allard said, and "fuhrer" to leader"the progressives have put a spin on it and created their own definition." She said she is "not for banning free speech." A rep for the governor says Allard has since been removed from the commission. (Read more vanity plates stories.) VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Hannan Metals Limited ("Hannan" or the "Company") (TSXV:HAN)(OTC PINK:HANNF) is pleased to announce initial field results from its 100% owned, 906 square kilometre, Ucayali project in Central Peru. Initial exploration has focused on two areas: Previsto and Belen, about 20 kilometres apart, with both stream sediment and float sampling and subsequent TerraSpec spectral analysis being undertaken. Key points: At Previsto, initial reconnaissance field work has identified a large-scale hydrothermal system within a 6 kilometre x 3 kilometre area, that has the potential to host a porphyry copper-gold mineral system with an associated skarn (Figure 1). Multiple copper and gold mineralized float samples were identified within a 6 kilometre x 3 kilometre area defined by copper and gold anomalous stream sediment sampling. The best float sample assayed 25.6% copper and 28 g/t silver , sample 3703 (Figure 2-5) from an interpreted supergene enrichment zone; Exploration focused on a range that extends 10 kilometres in a north-south direction. The trend remains open to the north, west and south. Copper and gold mineralized porphyritic intrusive rocks were identified within float samples in creeks with propylitic, phyllic, intermediate argillic and potassium alteration, together with iron oxides, copper oxides, pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and neotocite; with an associated skarn (Figure 1). At Belen, a second copper and gold anomalous target was identified 20 kilometres south of Previsto. (Figures 2, 6 and 7). The zone is defined by altered outcrops and copper and gold anomalous stream sediment samples. Michael Hudson, CEO states, "The back-arc basins of Peru have been sporadically explored over the last 30 years. The area represents a true last frontier within the metal-rich Andes mountain chain. In a similar way to our vast sediment-hosted copper-silver project in San Martin, we have once again opened a new search space in Ucayali, this time for copper-gold porphyry systems. Big systems have big footprints, and in a rare event, field teams were able to sample up to 25.6% copper in creeks within the first day or so of visiting the Ucayali project. Hannan is extremely well poised for a strong 2021 with a top 10 ground position in Peru, two extremely prospective and large copper projects, and a great joint venture partner JOGMEC earning up to 75% of the at San Martin project by spending US$35,000,000 to deliver a feasibility study." Technical background Within the Ucayali project, initial work has identified two target areas (Previsto and Belen) prospective for copper-gold mineralization. At the Previsto Cu-Au target (Figure 2-5) field observations suggests that the samples represent different parts of a mineralized copper-gold porphyry intrusion with an exposed zone of supergene enrichment, leach cap and phyllic, intermediate argillic and potassium alteration. To date, the source area of boulders and stream sediments anomalies is approximately 6 kilometres by 3 kilometres. Eleven float (grab samples from river drainages) samples from Previsto ranged from 2.7 ppm copper to 25.6% copper, with an average grade of 23.7% copper and a median of 166.5 ppm copper, 1 ppb gold to 114 ppb gold, with an average grade of 20.1 ppb gold and 0.005 ppm silver to 28 ppm silver, with an average grade of 3.1 ppm silver. Float samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property. Within the grab samples, the best copper results assayed 25.6% copper and 28 g/t silver (sample 3703) from semi-massive chalcocite float which is interpreted to be sourced from a zone of supergene enrichment. Minerals identified within grab samples by TerraSpec spectral analysis clearly demonstrate hydrothermal alteration typical of a porphyry copper system, including: phyllic alteration with muscovite-paragonite-quartz, relict argillic alteration with a chlorite-muscovite assemblage. Macroscopically, relicts of secondary biotite were also observed. At this early stage, the paragenetic sequence of alteration appears to be potassic alteration (secondary biotite> potassium feldspar-magnetite), destroyed by the intermediate argillic alteration and later by phyllic alteration. Mineralization consists of iron oxides, copper oxides, pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite and neotocite. Gold and copper rich samples are associated with samples rich in potassium, interpreted to be related to white potassic feldspar and biotite. Potassium varies between 3-10% in copper-gold mineralized samples. Sodium varies between 0.2-4.2% and calcium between 0.06-5.2%. Fourteen stream sediment samples from Previsto ranged from 9.0 ppm copper to 136 ppm copper, with an average grade of 29.1 ppm copper and 0 ppb gold to 404 ppb gold, with an average grade of 38.2 ppb gold. Stream sediment sampling is an early-stage exploration tool to cover large areas relatively quickly to identify smaller areas of interest to be followed up. The technique relies on sampling fine material in stream and creek beds that has been eroded from rocks in surrounding catchments, which represents a mixture of all the weathered material occurring upstream from the stream sediment sampling point. Copper and gold anomalism within stream sediment samples observed at Previsto is considered high. At the Belen Cu-Au target, very early-stage field work has identified a second target 20 kilometres south of Previsto (Figures 2, 6 and 7). Reconnaissance field work by Hannan at Belen has identified an outcrop of dioritic intrusive, with argillic alteration overprinting an earlier propylitic alteration (chlorite>epidote), with 10 centimetre wide hydrothermal magnetite veins. Two grab samples from the outcrop were taken and anomalous copper was observed in one sample (209 ppm copper, sample 3713). Four stream sediment samples were taken from Belen and further work is required to cover to sample all the streams of the area. The most significant results are from the two southernmost catchments (Figures 6 and 7). These two catchments contain 10-17 ppm Cu and 1.5-11.4 ppb Au. The four samples from the Belen area ranged from 10.45 ppm copper to 17.3 ppm copper, with an average grade of 12.8 ppm copper and 0 ppb gold to 11.4 ppb gold, with an average grade of 3.4 ppb gold. Further reconnaissance exploration at both Previsto and Belen will be undertaken over the coming months, with work focused on infilling stream sediment catchments at smaller scales, geological mapping and prospecting. About the Ucayali Project The Ucayali Project comprises of 906 square kilometres of mining concession applications, and demonstrates the Hannan's strategy to open new search spaces and apply disruptive exploration models to previously unexplored terrain (Figure 1). During the last year Hannan has completed interpretations over the area with modern medium resolution satellite derived topographic (ALOS PALSAR, ~15m), high resolution optical imagery from Sentinel-2 satellites (~10m) and satellite imagery from the Landsat program (~30m). A Landsat image of the project is shown in Figure 2 including the two new target areas discussed in this news release. Hannan has also reprocessed airborne magnetic and gravimetric data obtained from PeruPetro and utilized in-house geological datasets. This work has led the company to develop a robust regional exploration model for the area. The combined geological observations, such as host regional setting, rock composition, metal content and alteration suggest that the copper gold mineralized boulders discovered at Previsto relates to a back-arc alkalic porphyry copper-gold system. To the best of Hannan's knowledge, the exploration history of the area is limited. Between 1999 and 2013 regional airborne surveys, both magnetic and gravimetric have been flown by the petroleum industry due to the proximity to productive hydrocarbon basins. Limited government funded geological mapping was carried out in the late 1990s. In combination with remote-sensed data, available at the time of mapping, the government funded geological data has formed the basis for the public geological maps for the area The Ucayali Project is in the sub-Andean zone, at an altitude between 700-2,000m above sea level. To the west the project borders the Andean Cordillera and to the east the Pachitea Basin. The infrastructure within the project is well developed, with National Road "5" traversing the central parts of the project, connecting the towns of Pucallpa and Tingo Maria. Geologically the project is dominated by uplifted and deformed Cretaceous to Early Paleogene sediments. The sediments are dominated by arenites, shales, some micritic limestones and dolomites which are generally flat lying to openly folded that steepen to sub-vertical dips proximal to faults. The western part of the area is intruded by small monzonitic stocks composed of potassic feldspar and hornblende, sodium pyroxene, biotite and chlorite. The intrusions were dated 1979 by "Mision Japonesa" using K-Ar. The results suggest intrusive ages of 27 m.a according to INGEMMET Boletin No 80. With reconnaissance field crews active on the Ucayali Project, further information on this and other new areas will be made as it becomes available. The time to grant mining concession applications in Peru takes up to one year. One hundred percent ownership of the Ucayali Project is held through Hannan subsidiaries or in trust via other private companies. Technical Background All samples were collected by Hannan geologists during two weeks of recognizance work in the region. Rock and sediment samples were transported to ALS in Lima via third party services using traceable parcels. At the laboratory rock samples were prepared and analyzed by standard methods. The sample preparation involved crushing 70% to less than 2mm, riffle split off 250g, pulverize split to better than 85% passing 75 microns. The crushers and pulverizes were cleaned with barren material after every sample. Samples were analyzed by method ME-MS61, a four acid digest preformed on 0.25g of the sample to quantitatively dissolve most geological materials. Analysis is via ICP-MS. Gold was analyzed using method Au-ICP22 on a 50g sample charge. The method uses fire assay and ICP-AES. All crushed rejects if the rock samples were scanned using TerraSpec 4HR scanning and aiSIRSITM expert spectral interpretation. Sediment samples collected at multiple points of active sedimentation in creeks. They were pre-screened in the field using a steel sieve and subsequently bagged. At the lab, the samples were first dried at <60o C, sieved to -180 microns. Samples were analyzed by method AuMe-ST43, a super trace gold and multielement method. An aqua regia digest was performed on 25g of the sample with ICP-MS analysis. About Hannan Metals Limited (TSXV:HAN) (OTCPK: HANNF) Hannan Metals Limited is a natural resources and exploration company developing sustainable resources of metal needed to meet the transition to a low carbon economy. Over the last decade, the team behind Hannan has forged a long and successful record of discovering, financing, and advancing mineral projects in Europe and Peru. Mr. Michael Hudson FAusIMM, Hannan's Chairman and CEO, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. On behalf of the Board, "Michael Hudson" Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO Further Information www.hannanmetals.com 1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7 Mariana Bermudez, Corporate Secretary, +1 (604) 685 9316, info@hannanmetals.com Forward Looking Statements Certain disclosure contained in this news release, including the Company's expectations regarding the Agreement and the payments and earn-in upon the successful completion of certain milestones, may constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. These statements may relate to this news release and other matters identified in the Company's public filings. In making the forward-looking statements the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the current coronavirus pandemic known as COVID-19 on the Company's business. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news SOURCE: Hannan Metals Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626154/Hannan-Announces-Copper-Gold-Porphyry-Discovery-at-Ucayali-in-Peru-Samples-up-to-256-Copper SEATTLE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a letter sent yesterday, the Washington Health Alliance (Alliance) and the Purchaser Business Group on Health, formerly Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), join with purchasers in expressing support for the state's efforts to transform the delivery of primary care. The letter to the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA), asks providers and health plans to "work together with those of us paying for health care services to generate new payment models that increase the proportion of health care spending on primary care." Signers to the letter include employers and union trusts that collectively represent more than 350,000 individuals in Washington state. These purchasers include the Association of Washington Cities, King County, Puget Sound Energy, SEIU 775 Benefits Group, and the Washington Health Benefit Exchange. The letter calls the transformation of primary care "the foundation upon which future success is built," namely, achieving the "triple aim aspirations of health carea better experience of care, healthier individuals and populations, and lower per capita cost of care." Alliance Director of Performance Improvement and Innovation Karen Johnson said, "The health plans committed to working with HCA are to be commended for their leadership in collaborating to improve primary care in a manner that enables providers to focus on what is truly important caring for patients." Johnson added, "At the Alliance, we increasingly hear from our provider members about the need to eliminate unnecessary administrative tasks often associated with new payment models. When payers work together to align important aspects of their programs, such as common measures of success, providers are better able to focus on care delivery transformation and less on reporting on multiple measures in different formats." The HCA has been focused on the issue of improving primary care for more than a year. The purchaser letter follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) last fall between insurance plans, the HCA, Governor Jay Inslee's office, and the Washington State Medical Association to support the HCA's Multi-Payer Primary Care Transformation Model. Under the MOU, insurers have committed to "use good faith efforts to contract with the practices participating in this initiative," and medical practices "will be held accountable for meeting transformation and clinical quality metrics." Amerigroup Washington, Community Health Plan of Washington, Coordinated Care, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington, Molina Healthcare, Premera Blue Cross, Regence BlueShield, and UnitedHealthcare have all agreed to the MOU. Today, purchasers signing this letter will present their priorities to the HCA and health plans, specifically, that primary care be convenient and flexible, utilize a team-based approach, support patients with congoing and complex health conditions, and be culturally sensitive. In implementing new primary care payment models, the letter recommends that they be: prospective rather than fee-for-service; transparent in both the payment approach and amount; consistent in the measures and methods used to measure performance; effective in utilizing and sharing patient data to allow for optimal care for individuals and populations; thoughtful in determining provider participation based on delivery of quality care; and clear in identifying a patient's primary care provider. In addition to the HCA, the letter is being sent to leaders representing all health plans in the state, as well as the Washington Academy of Family Physicians, Washington Association for Community Health, Washington Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Washington Chapter of American College of Physicians, Washington State Hospital Association, Washington State Medical Association. About the Washington Health Alliance The Washington Health Alliance (Alliance) is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan nonprofit working collaboratively with its 185 member organizations to transform Washington state's health care system for the better. The Alliance believes strongly in transparency and offers trusted and credible reporting of progress on health care quality, price, spending, and waste. The Alliance couples that analysis with providing a forum for critical conversation and aligned efforts by health plans, employers, doctors, start-ups, consumers, and other health care partners. In addition to its Community Checkup website, the Alliance supports Own Your Health, a website designed to help consumers obtain high quality health care. SOURCE Washington Health Alliance Related Links http://wahealthalliance.org VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / Mawson Gold Limited ("Mawson" or "the Company") (TSX:MAW)(FSE:MXR)(OTC PINK:MWSNF) announces that four diamond drill rigs are now at site to complete the 2021 resource expansion drill program at the Rajapalot gold-cobalt project in northern Finland. A total of 20,000 metres of diamond drilling is planned to be completed by mid-April 2021. Key Points: Four drill rigs are now in operation to complete 20 kilometres of resource expansion drilling; The program aims to significantly expand the current 716,000oz AuEq inferred resource. This will be achieved by: Infill and extend high-grade zones within current resource areas, including for example around Palokas drill holes PAL0228: 7 metres @ 17.0 g/t Au, 2,168 ppm Co, 18.5 g/t AuEq from 251.4 metres and PAL0222: 8.2 metres @ 19.1 g/t Au, 1,572 ppm Co, 20.2 g/t AuEq from 266.9 metres; Test and drill out multiple potential near-surface resource areas where near surface scout drilling has identified high-grade mineralization, and subsequent electromagnetic geophysical surveying ("TEM") has defined larger conductive bodies. For example, this will include drilling at The Hut, Terry's Hammer and Rumajarvi prospects; One drill rig has been active at the Joki East discovery since November 2020 (completing 14 holes for 3,565.9 metres), with 6 drill holes left to report. The discovery hole at Joki East, PAL0241, returned 1.6 metres @ 28.3 g/t gold and 1,190 ppm cobalt (29.2 g/t AuEq) from 168.6 metres. Mr. Michael Hudson, CEO, states: "With a later than normal start to winter conditions through Northern Europe, we are now up to full speed with 4 drill rigs in operation in Finland. This is another key drill season as we continue to build a resource of substantial size, in combination with the early stages of environmental impact assessment, permitting and land-use planning studies that are being undertaken for potential future mine development. Drill targets for this program are well constrained, given the continuity of the linear high-grade gold and cobalt mineralization within ground EM conductors. Along with the success of the 2020 winter program, and our continued discovery of new areas of mineralization at Joki East, we are excited to see what the drill bit will deliver over the coming months and the substantial news flow that will be generated." Technical Discussion The 2021 drill program aims to significantly expand the current 716,000oz AuEq inferred resource by infilling and expanding high grade areas with resources, in combination with drill testing newly defined new near-surface resources and targets along strike from the current resource areas. High Grade Infill and Extensions - Palokas Opportunity exists to infill and extend high-grade areas found within current resource areas, especially in the Palokas area. Notable high-grade hits from Palokas that will be infilled, and drilled along strike include: PRAJ0009: 2 metres @ 99.9 g/t Au, 1196 ppm Co, 100.7 g/t AuEq from 5.9 metres PAL0222: 8.2 metres @ 19.1 g/t Au, 1572 ppm Co, 20.2 g/t AuEq from 266.9 metres PRAJ0006: 15 metres @ 9.2 g/t Au, 769 ppm Co, 9.7 g/t AuEq from 1.3 metres PAL0228: 7 metres @ 17.0 g/t Au, 2168 ppm Co, 18.5 g/t AuEq from 251.4 metres Near Surface Potential The 2021 drill program also aims to significantly define new near-surface resources along strike from the current resource areas. Multiple prospect areas with minimal drilling have intersected high-grade mineralization in scout drilling. Subsequently, Mawson has performed electromagnetic geophysical surveying ("TEM") which has defined larger conductive bodies around these initial drill results that provide compelling drill targets. These areas include: The Hut The Hut Prospect is located 600 metres south of the South Palokas resource area. Five electromagnetic (EM) conductors are associated with high-grade gold intersections and remain untested in their west to northwest trends. Best results at the project to date include: PAL0199: 3.0 metres @ 6.4 g/t Au, 722 ppm Co, 7.6 g/t AuEq from 140.4 metres. PAL0033: 2.0 metres @ 7.7 g/t Au, 94 ppm Co, 7.8 g/t AuEq from 152.5 metres Drilling this season will focus on systematically drilling near surface EM conductors beyond the initial drill hole intersections. Terry's Hammer Early stage drilling at Terry's Hammer, located 300 metres south of the Hut, intersected 4.7 metres at 2.1 g/t gold from 65.7 metres in PAL0099, with the first large diameter drill test of a combined remanent magnetic/chargeable/conductive anomaly comprising gold-bearing sulphidic rocks in outcrop. Subsequently TEM geophysics was performed over Terry's Hammer, which defined a conductive body in associated with gold mineralization, which remains untested and will be the focus of drilling this season. Rumajarvi Rumajarvi lies on the western flank of the mineralized Rajapalot trend, 700 metres west of Raja and 1.1 km south of the Palokas Inferred Mineral Resources. Rumajarvi was a new near-surface addition to the upgraded resource calculation in September 2020 and reflects the shallow potential to add to the resource base with further drilling. Rumajarvi hosts the best-developed boulder field in Rajapalot where a total of 55 boulders and outcrops with >0.1 g/t gold have been discovered. Gold grades in boulders from a 10 hectare area range from 0.1 g/t gold to 3,870 g/t gold, with an average of 184 g/t gold and median of 0.6 g/t gold. Grab samples are selected samples and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. Many rocks (style and grade) from surface boulders found at Rumajarvi are not yet reflected in drilling. Better drill results at Rumajarvi to date include: PAL0182: 7.4 metres @ 3.4 g/t Au, 597 ppm Co, 4.4 g/t AuEq from 93.7 metres PAL0037 drilled 56m of gold-bearing magnetite, pyrrhotite, biotite and chlorite alteration from 5.0 m that averaged 0.53 g/t gold (without applying a lower cut). Higher grade zones included 22 metres @ 6.7 g/t Au, 120 ppm Co, 6.8 g/t AuEq from 59 metres and 3 metres @ 3.2 g/t Au, 681 ppm Co, 3.7 g/t AuEq from 33 metres; Drilling at Rumajarvi will focus on testing the extensions of known mineralization and defining the source for the high grade boulders. Joki East Discovery The Joki East prospect is a new drill discovery made at Rajapalot in November 2020 and is located 1,600 metres north-east of the Raja resource area and is permitted for year-round drill access. In total eight holes at Joki East (PAL0240-247), for 2,084.7 metres, were completed in late 2020 and an additional 6 drillholes for 1,481.2 metres (PAL0249-254) for a total of 14 holes for 3,565.9 metres, were completed during January (results awaited). Selected results from Joki East to date include: PAL0241, the discovery drill hole at Joki East, returned 1.6 metres @ 28.3 g/t gold and 1,190 ppm cobalt (29.2 g/t AuEq) from 168.6 metres; and PAL0247, the deepest hole at Joki East and drilled 130 metres north west of PAL0241, returned 5.5 metres @ 6.9 g/t gold and 732 ppm cobalt (7.4 g/t AuEq) from 220.9 metres including 1.0 metre @ 25.4 g/t gold and 617 ppm cobalt (25.8 g/t AuEq) from 223.8 metres. Technical Information One drill rig from Nivalan Timanttikairaus Oy with water recirculation and drill cuttings collection systems was used in the Joki East drill program. Core diameter is NQ2 (50.7 mm). Details of the three additional diamond drill rigs will be provided when further assays are reported. Core recoveries are excellent and average close to 100% in fresh rock. After photographing and logging in Mawson's Rovaniemi facilities, core intervals averaging 1 metre for mineralized samples and 2 metres for barren samples are cut in half at the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) core facilities in Rovaniemi, Finland. The remaining half core is retained for verification and reference purposes. Analytical samples are transported by commercial transport from site to the CRS Minlab Oy facility in Kempele, Finland. Samples were prepared and analyzed for gold using the PAL1000 technique which involves grinding the sample in steel pots with abrasive media in the presence of cyanide, followed by measuring the gold in solution with flame AAS equipment. Samples for multi-element analysis (including cobalt) are pulped at CRS Minlab, then transported by air to the MSA labs in Vancouver, Canada and analyzed using four acid digest ICP-MS methods. The QA/QC program of Mawson consists of the systematic insertion of certified standards of known gold content, duplicate samples by quartering the core, and blanks the within interpreted mineralized rock. In addition, CRS inserts blanks and standards into the analytical process. The true thickness of mineralized intervals is interpreted to be approximately 80-85% of the sampled thickness. Gold equivalent "AuEq" = Au+(Co/1430) based on assumed prices of cobalt US$17.28/lb and gold US$1,694/oz gained from analyst consensus forecasts. All maps have been created within the KKJ3/Finland Uniform Coordinate System (EPSG:2393). NI 43-101 Technical Report: On September 14, 2020, an updated resource estimation was completed by Rodney Webster of AMC of Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Kurt Simon Forrester of Arn Perspective of Surrey, England. Each of Mr. Webster and Dr. Forrester are independent "qualified persons" as defined by NI 43-101. The NI 43-101 technical report is entitled "Rajapalot Property Mineral Resource Estimate NI 43-101 Technical Report" and dated September 14, 2020 (the "Updated Technical Report"). The Updated Technical Report may be found on the Company's website at www.mawsongold.com or under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are encouraged to read the entire Updated Technical Report. Qualified Person: Dr. Nick Cook (FAusIMM), Chief Geologist for the Company, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure or Mineral Projects and has prepared or reviewed the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this press release. Mawson Gold Limited is an exploration and development company. Mawson has distinguished itself as a leading Nordic Arctic exploration company with a focus on the flagship Rajapalot gold project in Finland. Mawson also owns or is joint venturing into three high-grade, historic epizonal goldfields covering 470 square kilometres in Victoria, Australia. On behalf of the Board, "Michael Hudson" Michael Hudson, Chairman & CEO Further Information www.mawsongold.com 1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7 Mariana Bermudez (Canada) Corporate Secretary +1 (604) 685 9316 info@mawsongold.com Forward-Looking Statement This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). All statements herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Although Mawson believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Mawson cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, timing and successful completion of planned drill programs and results varying from expectations, delays in obtaining results, the Company's expectations to find additional resource areas and expand the Sept 2020 Mineral Resource in Finland, capital and other costs varying significantly from estimates, changes in world metal markets, changes in equity markets, the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the current coronavirus pandemic known as COVID-19 on the Company's business, equipment failure, unexpected geological conditions, local community relations, dealings with non-governmental organizations, delays in operations due to permit grants, environmental and safety risks, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Mawson's most recent Annual Information Form filed on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Mawson disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Figure 1: The Rajapalot Project in Finland with EM Plates, inferred stratabound host, resource areas and key target areas for the 2021 resource expansion drill program. SOURCE: Mawson Gold Limited View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626132/Mawson-Mobilizes-Four-Drill-Rigs-to-Rajapalot-Gold-Project-Finland Acer Malaysia has officially announced that the Acer TravelMate P4 is now available in Malaysia starting from the price of RM4099 for the i5 variant while the i7 is priced at RM4999. If youre interested in purchasing the aforementioned laptop, head over to any of Acers authorized resellers located across the nation. In addition to that, if you purchase the TravelMate P4 before 31 March 2021, youll be able to redeem RM80 TnG eWallet or Boost eWallet credit via Acers official website. In terms of the tech specs, the laptop comes equipped with up to an 11th gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB RAM, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 14-inch FHD display, as well as 15.5-hour battery life. But thats not all, it also MIL-STD-810G certified making it durable and secure while lightweight at only 1.41Kg. With all that said, would you be interested in getting the Acer TravelMate P4? Let us know on our Facebook page and for more updates like this, stay tuned to TechNave.com. IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. CLEVELAND, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The COVID-19 pandemic wrought a net negative effect on the global power tool market in 2020, with a 3.2% sales decline recorded as construction and manufacturing activity ground to a halt and professional demand for power tools shrank: DIY home improvement trends in the much smaller consumer market did provide a bright spot for power tool suppliers in the last tumultuous year. Looking ahead, however, sales growth in the consumer market is expected to underperform the professional market due to the concentration of consumer sales in mature, high-income markets, like the US and much of Western Europe . As global construction and manufacturing industries renormalize, demand is expected to recover quickly in 2021 and beyond, growing to $38 billion in 2024. Global Power Tools, now available from the Freedonia Group, provides in-depth analysis of the key trends that will drive this growth. Cordless Electric Products Continue to Lead Global Market Growth Cordless electric tools significantly outperformed the market between 2009 and 2019 as battery technology improved. This trend is expected to continue through 2024, with cordless products accounting for 45% of all power tool sales growth. In high-income nations, cordless products are already established in consumer markets, which are beginning to mature. However, slowing gains in these areas will be more than offset by rising penetration of cordless tools in professional markets, where greater performance requirements have delayed the adoption of this technology. Going forward, cordless tools will increasingly be able to match plug-in tools for power while offering longer run times for intensive use, leading more professionals to choose these products. Industrializing Nations to Post Above Average Gains In the US and West Europe, growth in power tool sales volumes will be limited and demand gains will be largely attributable to pricing growth as professional users increasingly invest in advanced cordless products. Stronger growth will occur in the Asia/Pacific region, with India and China representing the world's two fastest growing national markets for power tools. In addition, industrializing Southeast Asian nations like Indonesia and the Philippines are expected to post rapid gains, driven by strong advances in building construction and manufacturing activity. Want to Learn More? Global Power Tools is now available from The Freedonia Group. This study examines global supply and demand for power tools. Historical data (2009, 2014, and 2019) and forecasts for 2024 are provided for power tool demand by product, market, and power source; net exports; and shipments on a country-by-country basis. Spin-off studies focusing on the global markets for electric power tools and professional power tools are also available. About The Freedonia Group The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com, is a leading international industrial research company publishing more than 100 studies annually. Since 1985 we have provided research to customers ranging in size from global conglomerates to one-person consulting firms. More than 90% of the industrial companies in the Fortune 500 use Freedonia Group research to help with their strategic planning. Each study includes product and market analyses and forecasts, in-depth discussions of important industry trends, and market share information. Studies can be purchased at www.freedoniagroup.com and are also available on www.marketresearch.com and www.profound.com. Press Contact: Corinne Gangloff +1 440.842.2400 [email protected] SOURCE The Freedonia Group Related Links http://www.freedoniagroup.com In a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force, the third batch of three Rafale fighter jets landed at an IAF base in India from France after a non-stop flight. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, the IAF tweeted that the aircraft flew over 7000 km with in-flight refuelling. The aircraft got airborne earlier in the day from Istres Air Base in France and the tanker support was provided by the UAE Air Force. "The third batch of three Rafale aircraft landed at an IAF base a short while ago. They flew over 7000Km with in-flight refuelling. The aircraft got airborne earlier in the day from Istres Air Base in France. IAF deeply appreciates the tanker support provided by UAE Air Force," the IAF tweeted. The third batch of three Rafale aircraft landed at an IAF base a short while ago. They flew over 7000Km with in-flight refuelling. The aircraft got airborne earlier in the day from #IstresAirBase in France. IAF deeply appreciates the tanker support provided by UAE Air Force. pic.twitter.com/tykLthzVlx Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) January 27, 2021 The Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) of the United Arab Emirates provided mid-air refuelling to the three Rafale jets, according to the Indian Embassy in France. "Three more Rafale jets take off from France for a non-stop flight to India with mid-air refuelling by UAE MRTT; Adding more strength to India's air power. Wishing our amazing pilots smooth flight&safe landing with superb fighter jets," it tweeted. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. The second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3. The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia. The new fleet of Rafale jets has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh. The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets. The IAF is also procuring a new generation medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon system Hammer to integrate with the Rafale jets. Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a precision-guided missile developed by French defence major Safran.? The missile was originally designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy. Meteor is the next generation of BVR air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA to combat common threats facing the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden. The first squadron of the Rafale jets is stationed at Ambala airbase while the second one will be based at Hasimara base in West Bengal. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Thousands of extra cars and trucks have been flooding onto southern Sydney roads since a new toll was imposed on the M5 East motorway as drivers try to save money. An extra 7500 vehicles were recorded per day on average at the intersection of Forest and Stoney Creek roads in Bexley after a toll was introduced on the M5 East in mid-2020, government analysis obtained under freedom of information reveals. Traffic on Stoney Creek Rd, approaching Forest Rd at Bexley. Credit:Wolter Peeters Westbound traffic on Stoney Creek Road has jumped by 25 per cent since July 2020 when compared to average traffic volumes in July 2019, as motorists appear to be circumventing the toll. A new distance-based toll was introduced on the motorway in July last year when the $4.3 billion second stage of WestConnex, the M8, was opened to motorists, linking Kingsgrove to a new interchange at St Peters. DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Ebsray, part of PSG, a Dover (NYSE: DOV) company, and a global leader in the design and manufacture of regenerative turbine and positive displacement pump technologies, today announced the launch of its new HiFlow Series Regenerative Turbine Pumps. Designed to help optimize the transport and handling of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), propane, butane and Autogas, Ebsray HiFlow Series pumps are available in R75/R77 models for use on large transport trailers and R80/R82 models for use in base-mounted setups. Ebsray HiFlow Series Regenerative Turbine Pumps excel in handling LPG because they are designed with very low NPSHr requirements. This allows them to easily transfer low viscosity liquids at high pressure while handling entrained vapors or liquids at or near their boiling point. While these fluid conditions generally hamper the performance and reliability of most pump technologies, HiFlow Series pumps are able to maintain their efficiency in almost any pumping and fluid condition, eliminating the damaging impact of cavitation and pulsation, with flow rates up to 600 L/min (159 gpm). Designed for truck loading and unloading, Ebsray HiFlow Series R75/R77 pumps are truck flange mounted pumps built for the rigors of fluid delivery. For fast, smooth and quiet transfer of fluids, HiFlow R75/R77 pumps provide much-needed speed and efficiency in the time-sensitive nature of deliveries. R75/R77 models can be driven by electric drive, hydraulic drive or high-speed PTOs. Base mounted for large volume fluid transfer, Ebsray HiFlow Series R80/R82 pumps provide a variety of operational advantages compared to competing technologies like side-channel pumps. With their compact footprint and simple design, these single-stage regenerative turbine pumps are easy to repair in the field and feature only one wear component, the mechanical seal. For more information on Ebsray, please go to ebsraypumps.com.au. Ebsray is a product brand within PSG, a Dover company. For more information on PSG, please go to psgdover.com. About Ebsray: Ebsray is a leader in the design and manufacture of regenerative turbine and positive displacement pump technologies, including sliding vane and gear, for a wide range of industrial applications. Founded as a precision-engineering company in the 1920s, in 1938, Ebsray turned to pump design and manufacture and has grown into a leading supplier of specialized pumps for use in a wide array of industries, including chemical, petroleum liquids, mining, food and beverage, pulp and paper, municipal and utility services, and paint and coatings. Ebsrayheadquartered in Cromer, Australiais part of PSG, a Dover company. About PSG: PSG is a global pump and dispensing solution expert and leading manufacturer of pumps, systems and related flow-control technology for the safe and efficient transfer of critical and valuable fluids and materials. Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, USA, PSG is comprised of several world-class brands, including Abaque, All-Flo, Almatec, Blackmer, Ebsray, EnviroGear, Griswold, Hydro Systems, Mouvex, Neptune, Quattroflow and Wilden. PSG products are manufactured on three continents, North America, Europe and Asia, in state-of-the-art facilities that practice lean manufacturing and are ISO-certified. PSG is part of the Pumps and Process Solutions segment of Dover Corporation. For additional information on PSG, please visit psgdover.com. PSG: Where Innovation Flows. About Dover: Dover is a diversified global manufacturer and solutions provider with annual revenue of approximately $7 billion. We deliver innovative equipment and components, consumable supplies, aftermarket parts, software and digital solutions, and support services through five operating segments: Engineered Products, Fueling Solutions, Imaging & Identification, Pumps & Process Solutions and Refrigeration & Food Equipment. Dover combines global scale, operational agility, world-class engineering capability and customer intimacy to lead the markets we serve. Recognized for our entrepreneurial approach for over 60 years, our team of over 23,000 employees takes an ownership mindset, collaborating with customers to redefine what's possible. Headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, Dover trades on the New York Stock Exchange under "DOV." Additional information is available at dovercorporation.com. PSG Contact: Mark Pyk (616) 475-9330 [email protected] Dover Media Contact: Adrian Sakowicz, VP, Communications (630) 743-5039 [email protected] Dover Investor Contact: Andrey Galiuk, VP, Corporate Development and Investor Relations (630) 743-5131 [email protected] SOURCE Dover Related Links http://www.dovercorporation.com South Africa: Minister Ntshavheni appointed as Acting Minister in the Presidency This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Deaths continue to rise in South Africa, with 680 more people who lost their lives to COVID-19 related complications on Tuesday. Of the recent fatalities, 306 occurred in KwaZulu-Natal, while 141 were recorded in Gauteng, 95 in the Western Cape, 28 in Free State and 18 in Mpumalanga. In addition, two provinces had single-digit deaths, ... See more Former TD Margaret Murphy OMahony is emerging as the favourite for the Fianna Fail nod towards filling a Seanad vacancy. Thirteen candidates will make pitches to the Fianna Fail parliamentary party tonight by means of five-minute speeches. The two main parties of Government, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, have a deal that should see each take a further seat in the upper house through vacancies that arose last year. The berths formerly belonged to Fine Gael and Sinn Fein, with Leo Varadkars party looking to hold onto a seat while Micheal Martin aims to pick up a seat. Read More Read More The by-elections arise because Michael DArcy, a former minister of state at the Department of Finance, controversially resigned last September to take up the post of chief executive of the Irish Association of Investment Managers. The following month saw the abrupt departure of Sinn Fein senator Elisha McCallion after she was disciplined by her party over the receipt and non-return of 10,000 in Covid business grants in Northern Ireland. Ms Murphy OMahony is thought likely to head the poll within the party because of her popularity with members from her previous stint as TD for Cork South West. She was displaced as a TD by her Fianna Fail running-mate, Christopher OSullivan, in last years general election. Another with a strong shout is Kevin OKeefe, a former TD for Cork East. He too lost out to a running mate last year, first-time TD James OConnor who won the seat by 650 votes in the final analysis. With 13 candidates in the field, transfers will decide the issue. Former Senator Gerry Horkan is also seen as having an outside chance. A group of councillors are also in the chase, with Shane Moynihan of Lucan and Kate Feeney of Blackrock, Co Dublin, seen as having their own claims, being potential Dail candidates next time out. The contenders are Cllr Uruemu Adejinmi, Cllr Kate Feeney, Cllr Trevor Gilligan, Gerry Horkan, Bernard McGrath, Rita McInerney, Cllr Shane Moynihan, Cllr Michael Naughton, Cllr Ed OBrien, Kevin OKeefe, Margaret Murphy OMahony, Cllr Michael SHeehan and Cllr Hoe Sheridan. Fine Gael will contend for the DArcy vacancy on the Agriculture panel, while Fianna Fail will aim for the available seat on the Industrial and Commercial panel. The by-elections are not expected to be held for weeks yet. A Senate post is worth 65,000 before expenses and perks. Read More Read More Syracuse firefighters evacuated an East Fayette Street apartment building Tuesday night after a fire in the basement caused heavy smoke. Firefighters responded to 1815 E. Fayette St. around 7:45 p.m. Tuesday after a fire was reported. When they arrived, firefighters found heavy smoke on the first two floors of the four-story building, officials said in a news release. Firefighters searched for residents and found several who had to be evacuated. Firefighters advised residents on the upper floors to shelter in place, officials said. Crews extinguished the fire in the basement in less than 10 minutes, according to the release. It took more than 30 minutes to clear the smoke from the building, officials said. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The Syracuse Fire Department in the news release reminded residents to heed the warnings of fire alarms: Get out of the building if yours goes off. Firefighters also cautioned residents to stay outside once you are outside after a fire alarm, until authorities advise you to go back in. Contact Jacob Pucci at jpucci@syracuse.com or find him on Twitter at @JacobPucci. Over 2,300 people in UK infected with Covid-19 strain found in India; How worrying is the variant? Dogs sniff could be your next COVID-19 test: Know why Will Facebook, Twitter, Instagram be banned in India? Check new IT Rules, Regulations and Penalties 2021 Who is Deep Sidhu? India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, Jan 27: Actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu has been accusing of instigating the otherwise 'peaceful' movement into a violent protest. Deep Sidhu 'instigated' farmers: Who is the man? | Oneindia News A symbolic protest by farmers on Republic day against the Centre's three farm laws turned into anarchy on the streets of the city as tens of thousands of protesters broke through barriers, fought with police, overturned vehicles and hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the iconic Red Fort. The actor, who has been associated with the farmers' agitation for the last many months, was present during the incident, sought to defend their action, saying they did not remove the national flag and had put up the 'Nishan Sahib' as a symbolic protest. The flag represents the country's "unity in diversity", he said while pointing towards 'Nishan Sahib', the triangular saffron flag with the emblem of 'Khanda', a two-edged sword, Chakra, a disc, and two Kirpans that cross each other at the handles. In depth: What are the new farm laws and why are only Punjab, Haryana farmers upset He stated that the national flag was not removed from the flagpole at the Red Fort and that nobody raised a question over the country's unity and integrity. Leaders across the political spectrum condemned the violence and the Red Fort incident, with the Congress' Shashi Tharoor saying he supported the farmers' protests from the start but cannot condone "lawlessness". Who is Deep Sidhu? Deep Sidhu is an Indian actor, who predominantly works Hindi and Punjabi movies. Born in 1984 in Punjab's Muktsar district, Sidhu studied law and was also a part of the Bar for a brief period before he won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award. He made debut in the film industry with a Punjabi film Ramta Jogi which is produced by critically acclaimed actor Dharmendra under his banner Vijayta Films. The actor is also seen as an aide of Bollywood actor Sunny Deol. He campaigned Deol during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign when the actor was contesting elections from the Gurdaspur seat of Punjab. After the tractor rally violence, Sidhu's photo with the now BJP MP Sunny Deol and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also went viral post the Republic Day violence. However, Deol has distanced himself from Sidhu and had said he and his families have no association with Sidhu. Deol tweeted, "My heart is very sad to see what happened on the Red Fort today, I have already clarified this through Twitter on December 6. I am that my or my family has no connection with Deep Sidhu. Jai Hind." It may be recalled that Deep Sidhu have been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for questioning on January 17 in a case related to Sikhs for Justice (SFJ's) Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a designated terrorist, for conspiring to create an "atmosphere of fear and lawlessness and to cause disaffection in people against Government of India". Wolf Capital Partners purchased a 10,625-square-foot building in the Heights with plans to redevelop it for retail tenants. Founded by Zach Wolf in late 2019, Wolf Capital purchased the building at 742 E. 20th from Geraldine Akin. The building, which sits at the juncture of North Main, Studewood and East 20th streets, was the site of Akin's Pharmacy for decades. "My goal is always to pursue well located opportunities with a value-add component," Wolf said in an email. "My philosophy has always been to work with local tenants to bring great concepts to the surrounding neighborhoods." RELATED: Retail wrap: Bonchon, Cavenders, Torchys Tacos, Tommy Bahama Home expand in Houston Studewood Barber Shop, a tenant for 20 years, recently extended its lease, according to Wolf. The building has an upstairs office with 1,890 square feet and other available spaces from 1,111 square feet to 3,945 square feet. Akin's Pharmacy was expanded over the years by E.P. and Thelma Akin, Geraldine Akin's in-laws, who operated the pharmacy from 1942 to 1974. It operated under different ownership until the mid 1980s. The center previously housed restaurant and more recently a print shop. "I'm glad they're keeping it. There's a lot of history there," Akin said. Wolf, who has been canvassing Houston for diamonds in the rough" during the COVID slowdown, also plans to redevelop a restaurant building with drive-thru at 5013 N. Shepherd. Construction at 742 E. 20th is expected to be completed within four months, according to Wolf. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowell & Moring International LLC the global policy and regulatory affairs affiliate of Crowell & Moring LLP has appointed Nicholas Diamond as a director focused on global health and regulatory policy. Diamond has nearly a decade of experience serving as a strategic advisor to healthcare and life sciences companies, as well as advocacy and trade organizations, on U.S. and international health policy and regulatory matters, including vaccine policy, healthcare financing, telehealth, public and private insurance, and market access. The appointment further enhances C&M International's global health and life sciences service offering, which it has provided for three decades to clients seeking guidance on regulatory and policy matters as they bring their innovations to market. The company works with nine out of ten of the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies (by revenue) and a wide spectrum of medical device, technology, digital health, nutrition, and distribution businesses and their industry associations to advance their perspectives in key international forums, and with government regulators in pursuit of better health for all. "With health and medical innovations continuing to accelerate, we are redoubling our efforts to guide our clients into impactful collaborations with governments and through multilateral organizations so the world can benefit more quickly from these advancements," said Robert Holleyman, CEO and president of C&M International. "Nick's widely recognized health policy experience, combined with his industry knowledge and legal credentials, bolsters our service offerings to clients seeking to navigate a complex global regulatory and business environment." Prior to joining C&M International, Diamond was a consultant at Avalere Health, a healthcare consulting firm, where he advised business leaders on market access, policy, and government affairs strategy. While there, he led the firm's state policy team, co-led its pharmacy services and telehealth advisory teams, and was one of its senior vaccines consultants. Before that, Diamond led global market strategy for the health sector at MarkLogic, a global enterprise software company. In earlier senior consulting positions with Booz Allen Hamilton and The MITRE Corporation, he worked on diverse public policy and regulatory matters, with a focus on health insurance, payment, and quality issues. Diamond also advised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. "C&M International presented a unique opportunity to expand my service to clients with its strong international platform," said Diamond. "At a time when innovation and partnerships in the health sector are top priorities in every country, I look forward to helping our clients shape and navigate complex policy and regulatory developments." Diamond will also join Crowell & Moring LLP as a lawyer in its Health Care Group once he has been admitted to the D.C. Bar. Diamond frequently appears as a commentator in major broadcast and print media. He received his law degree from the Charleston School of Law, where he was a Presidential Scholar in conjunction with the Medical University of South Carolina. He also received a master's degree in bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.M. in global health law, with distinction and on the Dean's List, from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he is now an adjunct professor. Diamond is also a Ph.D. candidate in public international law at Leiden Law School in The Hague. He earned his undergraduate degree at Georgetown University. About Crowell & Moring International LLC Crowell & Moring International LLC is a global government relations, public affairs, and public policy consulting firm that helps clients shape the international regulatory landscape to support innovation, sustainable growth, and commercial competitiveness in global markets. For more than thirty years, C&M International's team of public policy experts, former trade negotiators and government officials, economists, and researchers has worked with clients to resolve commercial and trade challenges, clear political hurdles, and engage in the policymaking processes that affect their business goals. When issues demand it, the team also brings to bear the resources and expertise of its lawyer colleagues within its parent organization, Crowell & Moring LLP. About Crowell & Moring LLP Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with approximately 550 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Media Contact: An Pham Senior Communications Manager +1 202.508.8740 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP Related Links http://www.crowell.com Gov. Kay Ivey will hold a press conference at Fultondale City Hall at 10 a.m. today to discuss the aftermath of Monday night's deadly tornado. Joining the governor will be Fultondale Mayor Larry Holcomb, Center Point Mayor Bobby Scott, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Jeff Coker, as well as Alabama EMA Director Brian Hastings. Watch it above, and watch WAAY 31 News later today and tonight for complete coverage Unveiling a new chapter in its European expansion, IHG Hotels & Resorts boutique luxury brand, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, will open its first property in France this spring. The opening of Kimpton St Honore Paris will see the brands playful and sophisticated design, innovative approach to restaurants and bars, and immersive guest experiences that foster genuine human connections, offer a fresh perspective on hospitality in the City of Light. Kimpton St Honore Paris will breathe new life into a heritage building which once housed the much-loved luxury department store Samaritaine de Luxe. Located on the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris Opera district, the hotel will infuse true Kimpton style, harmoniously blending luxury and creativity across 149 stylish guest rooms (including 24 suites), an indoor swimming pool, gym and a Spa with luxury treatment rooms. Its landmark original 1917 Art Nouveau facade, distinctive staircase and unique elevator will all be thoughtfully restored and celebrated French interior designer Charles Zana is transforming the spaces to bring Kimptons elegant and playful design to life within. Hotel interiors will be inspired by 1930s Art Deco and each guest room will have the feel of a chic, modern, design-centric Parisian apartment, with balconies, floor-to-ceiling windows and thoughtfully-selected works of art. Culinary and cocktail experiences at Kimpton St Honore Paris will bring a refreshing light-heartedness and authenticity in its service to the neighbourhood, with exciting outlets and Kimptons famed daily Social Hour offering the opportunity for guests to enjoy interesting, locally inspired drinks and swap stories. The light-filled ground-floor will see a Californian-inspired restaurant and bar designed by Humbert & Poyet set to combine light, seaside-inspired recipes infused with American generosity. On the tenth-floor rooftop, a terrace bar with 360-degree views of the city will welcome guests for unique cocktails and bites cleverly paired with social moments in mind, set to become as popular with locals as with visitors to Paris. With 25 years of experience in luxury hospitality, Jean-Paul Dantil, who has been appointed General Manager of Kimpton St Honore Paris, commented: France is famed for its hospitality, and Paris for its art, design, culture and admiration of originality, so we are thrilled to be delivering Kimptons philosophy of relaxed, stylish and uniquely personal service with this magnificent new flagship hotel. The opening of Kimpton St Honore will bring with it a refreshing sense of joie de vivre, reinvigorating a building associated with traditional luxury and infusing it with a modern approach to indulgence which welcomes, acknowledges and celebrates the individual without the fuss. Founded in 1981 in San Francisco by Bill Kimpton, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants heartfelt approach to hospitality has translated to unique, design-led hotels across city centres, beachside resorts, and mountain getaways around the world. Kimptons recent notable new openings include Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok, Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo, Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester, UK and Kimpton Vividora Hotel in Barcelona. The brand is also set to make its debut in Bali this year, and more hotels are in the pipeline for Germany, Mexico, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and the Netherlands in the next 2-5 years. - TradeArabia News Service Emily Mieure covers criminal justice and emergency news. She also leads the News&Guides investigative efforts. She has reported for WDRB TV in Louisville, Ky., WFIE TV in Evansville, Ind., and WEIU TV in Charleston, Ill. The Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has administered more than 38,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine in Malaga province since 27 December, when the first shipments of the Pfizer jab arrived in the region. The first phase of the vaccination, still unfinished, has already reached two per cent of the Malaga population, taking into account that a percentage of these injectables are used as a second dose. Andalucia has already administered 90 per cent of the doses received, compared with the slightly higher Spanish average of 91.9 per cent. The Junta announced that it was going to reserve at least 20 per cent of the shipment received from central government to ensure the administration of the second dose in case of delays, so it has had to draw on this "stock" to complete the guidelines according to the indications of the American pharmaceutical company. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the only ones approved so far by the European Medicines Agency, require two injections 21 and 28 days apart, respectively. This first phase has focused on care homes, especially for the elderly, and on health personnel. Both groups are currently receiving the second dose. It is expected that the next phase will begin between the end of February and the beginning of March. The campaign will then open its range to those over 80 who live outside residences and to professionals considered at risk for maintaining contacts of more than ten minutes with people without a mask, such as dental personnel. The Junta de Andalucias minister of health, Jesus Aguirre, said over the weekend that the regional government had already exhausted its doses reserved and called for more deliveries from central government. Pfizer has reduced the number of vaccines shipped to Spain and other countries by up to 41 per cent due to reforms at its production plant and logistics centre in Belgium. The aim of the works is to increase vaccine production capacity from 1.3 billion to two billion. The European Union will have access to one hundred million more vaccines than planned. The Derby della Madonnina between Inter and AC Milan doesn't need fans to be heated. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at the centre of everything that happened at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The Swede opened the scoring with a fine first half goal, marking his 499th, and then was involved in a heated head to head with Romelu Lukaku that saw both players booked. In the second half, Ibrahimovic conceded a needless foul and received his second yellow card. With Milan down to 10 men, Inter fought back and, helped on their way by a Lukaku penalty, won 2-1. What did Ibrahimovic and Lukaku say to one another? The spat has been all over social media. Zlatan repeatedly called the Belgian a "donkey", telling him to "go and do your voodoo sh*t somewhere else." Lukaku, incensed, responded with a strong "f**k you and your wife," in response to which Ibrahimovic made a reference to Lukaku's mother. My Pillow CEO sues over Jane Krakowski dating rumors MyPillow Guy Mike Lindell is suing The Daily Mail after the UK tabloid claimed he had an affair with 30 Rock and Ally McBeal star Jane Krakowski. E! News reports the My Pillow CEO filed a $75,000 libel lawsuit on Monday after the British publication said they were in a torrid love affair over 9 months. Both Lindell and Krakowski have denied having a relationship or even knowing each other; a rep for the actress said in a statement: Jane has never met Mr. Lindell. She is not and has never been in any relationship with him, romantic or otherwise. She is, however, in full fledged fantasy relationships with Brad Pitt, Rege-Jean Page and Kermit the Frog and welcomes any and all coverage on those. Meanwhile, Lindell continues to face fallout for spreading baseless claims that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Twitter banned Lindells account Tuesday for repeated violations of its civic integrity policy fighting disinformation; major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohls and Wayfair have stopped carrying MyPillow products; and Dominion Voting Systems has threatened to sue Lindell for claiming their voting machines were rigged without evidence. The Pillow Case: Twitter permanently suspends My Pillow CEO for election misinformation #MyPillow https://t.co/djWFP7mDHa Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) January 26, 2021 MORE BUZZ: Jodie Turner-Smith to star in The Witcher prequel series on Netflix ( SF Demi Lovato to star in NBC comedy about friends with food issues ( E! Jane Fonda to receive Cecil B. DeMille award at Golden Globes ( ET Tomb Raider sequel in the works with Alicia Vikander ( SF ABC announces return dates for Greys Anatomy, more shows ( E! CBS suspends 2 execs amid claims of racisms, sexism, bullying ( DM Hulu releases Palm Springs cut with commentary feat. Andy Samberg ( SF The Bachelor adds five contestants to Matt James season ( E! Disney updating Jungle Cruise ride at theme parks ( SF Kanye West screams at Chance the Rapper in leaked documentary footage ( DM 13 facts about The Wedding Planner, which turns 20 this year ( E! Buzz is a daily roundup of entertainment news about movies, TV, music and celebrities. A Derry man facing child sex abuse charges has received a death threat from the INLA, a court was told today. The man's case came before Derry Magistrates Court. He is charged with a number of offences, including sexual activity with a child. His defence solicitor applied for anonymity for his client on the basis that he had received a 'genuine' threat to his life from 'the INLA'. The INLA stands for the Irish National Liberation Army, a republican paramilitary group responsible for dozens of murders during the Troubles. However, the INLA announced a ceasefire in 1998, although the republican group has been linked to attacks, including murders, since then. Speaking at today's court hearing, the solicitor said his client also wished his case to be dealt with at a different court as he was 'too afraid' to enter Derry. The judge said the defendant would be able to take part in the proceedings remotely. In relation to the application for anonymity, the judge asked if the prosecution, police and media had been made aware of the application. A prosecution solicitor told the court that it was the first they had heard of the application. The judge granted the anonymity order for one week to allow the views of the various parties involved to be sought. The case was adjourned until February 3. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A possible, but unproven, world-record paddlefish estimated at more than 150 pounds and about 6 feet in length caught and released in a Tennessee lake over the weekend, has propelled the strange species into the headlines once again. Any catch of the oddly shaped, ancient fish generally makes news because the species is rare and not generally targeted by anglers. Those catches usually are bycatch snags by anglers targeting other species and hooking the paddlefish by accident. It has happened in Pennsylvania, where the paddlefish is native to some large waters, as recently as mid-July 2017. Aaron Thompson, of Ford City, caught a paddlefish of several feet in length in the Allegheny River, near Lock and Dam 9, south of East Brady in Armstrong County. An ancient species thats been around for more than 150 million years, paddlefish are considered extirpated from Pennsylvania. However, catches like that made by Thompson reveal that some of the strange fish with broad, flat snouts still swim in some Pennsylvania waters. They likely are the grown-up remnants of a reintroduction effort by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The agency began that program in 1991, stocking fingerling paddlefish in the Allegheny and Ohio rivers. Through 2011, the commission released 158,000 fingerlings. A 2016 commission report explained why the stocking effort was discontinued: From all monitoring efforts - gill netting and angler reports - only one juvenile paddlefish was collected. Although sub-adults and adults were collected, the numbers did not increase sufficiently to achieve a self-sustaining population. However, noted that report, during 2014-15 reliable angler reports from the lower Allegheny River indicated an increased number of juvenile paddlefish catches. Directed sampling effort is planned to document the presence and abundance of these juvenile paddlefish. Paddlefish grow rapidly to considerable size, and may be 5 feet long when they are 17 years old. They are believed to live at least 20 years. That would indicate that Thompsons fish likely started life as an egg at the commissions Linesville State Fish Hatchery, where the young paddlefish were hatched and raised to the fingerling/stocking size. It may also have come from New York through the Kinzua Dam upriver on the river. Allegheny Reservoir, which is the impoundment of the Allegheny River created by the dam, is used as a nursey for paddlefish in New Yorks stocking efforts, which have reported good survival and some natural reproduction in the wild. In Pennsylvania, the paddlefish is protected. Thompson returned his catch to the Allegheny after taking a few photos with it. The American paddlefish is found in large rivers of the Mississippi River Basin, including the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers in Pennsylvania. They prefer deep water and slow current. Human-led changes to the rivers - including pollution and diversion of the water, and damming of the rivers - led to drastic declines in the paddlefish population by 1900. Overfishing of the species for the eggs (caviar) carried by the females compounded the problem. The naturally occurring population is thought to have disappeared from Pennsylvania waters by 1919. However, the species appears to be returning to the state. Thompsons catch was the most recent of a few similar incidents in the past few years. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season. CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15. GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season. BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career. Vote View Results Party chief, President Nguyen Phu Trong (C) and other Vietnamese leaders at the preparatory session of the 13th Party Congress, January 25, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy. The Communist Party Central Committee has introduced several "special" cases for re-election to leadership positions at the 13th Party Congress. Hau A Lenh, deputy head and general secretary of the Central Committee of Vietnam Fatherland Front, said on the sidelines of the 13th Party Congress that besides those within the normal age requirements, the 12th Central Committee has recommended some of its members as "special" cases for re-election to the 13th Central Committee. Those recommended meet all the necessary requirements including health, capability and credibility in all of their positions, Lenh said. As per existing regulations, members of the Party Central Committee must not be older than 60 to be re-elected. Members of the Politburo and the Secretariat must not be older than 65 to be re-elected. At a press conference on Jan. 22, Mai Van Chinh, deputy head of the Central Organization Committee, had mentioned the likelihood of recommendations being made for the re-election of special candidates. Current Party regulations stipulate that a Party chief cannot hold the position more than two terms in a row. Asked whether such a regulation could be changed, Chinh had said the issue would be considered by the 13th Party Congress. The 13th Party Central Committee is expected to have 200 members 180 official and 20 alternate members. Chinh said that 15-20 percent of the members should be under 50, 70 percent in the 50-60 age group and under 10 percent in the 61 and above group. At least 12 percent of the committee members should be women, he said. The 13th Party Congress officially opened Tuesday. The nations premier political event will select Party, State and National Assembly leaders for the next five years, besides finalizing socio-economic development policies for the 2021-25 period and orientations until 2030 with a vision towards 2045. The congress has attracted the highest participation so far, with 1,587 delegates representing 5.1 million Party members from across the country. The Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that there was no emergent medical condition requiring businessman Deepak Puri, booked in a case along with his son Ratul Puri, to travel to the US for treatment of his mouth cancer. The in August 2019 had lodged an FIR against Ratul Puri, his father Deepak Puri, mother Nita and others in connection with a Rs 354 crore case filed by the Central Bank of India against their company Moser Baer and its directors. The bank had claimed that Moser Baer and its directors, which included Ratul Puri, allegedly forged and fabricated documents to induce the Central Bank of India to release funds. The agency on Wednesday cited the report of an Indian doctor who stated that Deepak Puri can be examined at hospitals here also and he can get the required treatment in India. However, his counsel submitted that he is required to go to the USA for further check up as he had earlier received treatment from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre there. Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar, after hearing the arguments of the counsel for and businessman, reserved the order on plea by CBI challenging a trial court's December 23, 2020 order allowing 80-year-old Deepak Puri and his wife to travel to the USA for two months. I have heard you. I will pass the orders, the judge said. During the hearing, CBI counsel Anupam Sharma said according to an Indian doctor there is no emergent medical condition requiring him to go to the USA as he can get the treatment in India also. He claimed that Deepak Puri was playing fraud with the court and contended that even Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and others had roots in the society but they left the country and never came back. CBI said that Deepak Puri might not return to India and he might move the money he allegedly got in connection with the Advocate Vijay Aggarwal, representing him, said these issues were argued by the CBI counsel earlier also and he had gone abroad for the cancer treatment and follow ups for four consecutive years from 2016 to 2019 and returned each time and he will also come back this time too. Regarding joining investigation, Aggarwal said the businessman is 80 years old and he cannot go to the CBI office and the officials had come to his house to examine him and he fully cooperated with them. In pursuance to the high court's directions, the accused had earlier submitted medical documents in support of his claim that he has to travel to the US for treatment of his mouth cancer. Initially, he had shown a September 24, 2020, letter from a doctor at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre stating that he had received treatment there and needs further check up. The court had said that he had not shown any documents or correspondence dated after September 24, 2020, which showed that he needed further medication or consultation or that he was having any medical problems. The trial court had on December 23, 2020 granted permission to Deepak Puri and his wife to travel overseas. However, the CBI challenged the order in the high court which had on December 29, 2020, stayed the trial court's decision. Deepak Puri's counsel had said his client was not named as an accused in any of the CBI or money laundering cases against him. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. Navy plans to expand testing of unmanned surface vessels because USVs are considered the best candidates for risky missions. The development of these systems allows more emphasis on completing the task with no danger to humans. Navy planners see the deployment of USV as cost-effective solutions for dangerous missions for humans who are not optimal for warfighting. USVs will do jobs longer Embarking on developing robotic (A.I.) artificial intelligence systems is a game-changer that allowed dangerous jobs like clearing minefields to be done automatically. Another is an automated system like in science fiction can continue watching for enemy activity, reported USNI. According to program manager Capt. Pete Small, getting these automated drones will give the option for more missions that are dangerous. It includes simple monitoring of the sea and just relevant but straightforward tasks. The U.S. navy will be one of the first operators of a modest fleet of larger robotic ships or USVs. Next will be a digital or battle network that connects all USVs and crewed vessels wirelessly. A total of 15 unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) and seven USVS are getting built by contractors. Small said that in two years, the Surface Development Squadron-1 (SURFDEVRON) organization would deploy these systems in trials and study how to use them. Differences of unmanned systems now Compared to earlier use of USVs that was limited to mine-clearing and ocean surveillance, which was uneventful, these robots would be practically looking until something is detected and alert the operator to danger. Having the USVs know what they are doing is better than looking at the screen in real-time. To expand testing of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) will take more time. Also read: China Rips Off U.S. Sea Hunter Drone One big difference in these robotic systems' new concepts is implementing a tri-service maritime strategy, with the naval operations' Navigation Plan. These approaches combine USVs in a more active role in the fighting, not just passive. What the U.S. Navy can do with USVs Force multiplier might be bigger USVs that are crammed with missiles, but it was not approved. Among the ideas the Navy was most interested in was arming Large USVs (LUSVs) with missiles, an idea that was quickly shot down by lawmakers. Adding these LUSVs as missile launchers will need further development if lawmakers allow. The budget to make a large, robotic ship with missiles are not yet on the table until something is agreed upon. Specific USVs that have prototypes Some of these projects by the U.S. Navy is the Overlord USVs and Sea Hunters that are the first of its kind deployed by the Navy. Even if the initial LUSV were shot down, there would be efforts to develop everything from the hull to the electrical system for reliability. Not much confidence in robotic systems Despite the enthusiasm in building missile-armed large USVs that are viewed with caution, claims that USVs will for weeks without human intervention are not accepted, especially if the robotic ship needs repair. One worry is that hackers can gain control of the unmanned systems and fire its missile payload remotely. This scenario uses the robot's sensors to know what's happening. To expand testing of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) like the Sea Hunter and Overlord will depend on how well the U.S. Navy will accept using robotic ships more. Related article: U.S. Navy Develops Sea Drones to Join Surface Fleet for Joint Attack. @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Oregon's COVID-19 vaccine committee has proposed prioritizing shots to communities of color in order to tackle 'structural racism' in healthcare. The state's 27-member COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee recommended Thursday that the next eligible group to get the shot should be the roughly 806,000 people that make up the BIPOC - black, indigenous, and other people of color - communities across the state. It also recommended people with underlying chronic conditions - about 1.8 million Oregonians - be next in line pitting these two groups ahead of some essential frontline workers and prisoners. The committee, made up of representatives and public health professionals, was set up by the state and tasked with the job of recommending the order in which vaccines are administered. The state has said it will follow its recommendations but Governor Kate Brown and the Oregon Health Authority do hold the final say. Brown has already been forced to defend the state's vaccine plan after facing a backlash from some Oregonians over her controversial decision to vaccinate teachers ahead of people aged 80 and over. This comes as the state has been lagging behind many other parts of the US in getting shots in arms, with just 6.2 percent of its population so far being given a shot. Oregon's COVID-19 vaccine committee has proposed prioritizing shots to communities of color in order to tackle 'structural racism' in healthcare. A man receives a vaccine at Sacred Heart RiverBend Hospital in Springfield, Oregon The Oregon COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee narrowed down its proposed list for those next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine in its meeting Thursday. The recommendation to focus next on people of color and those with chronic health conditions would encompass a huge priority group of 2.5 million people or 60 percent of the entire population. This would come on top of the 1.4 million people currently prioritized including healthcare workers, long-term care residents and teachers. The committee agreed that communities of color and people with chronic health conditions are worst affected by the pandemic and health inequities but there was disagreement over how best to focus on these groups. Kelly Gonzales, representing Oregon Health & Science University, Portland State University and the urban Native community, said people of color should come ahead of people with chronic conditions in order to tackle 'structural and systemic racism'. She argued that bumping people of color down the list was 'whitewash[ing]'. 'I don't agree with removing BIPOC as the first priority. I think it whitewashes the structural racism and systemic racism that we are trying to center,' she said. 'By centering on BIPOC people and then including chronic conditions, there is an overlap there.' CDC data shows that black people and Hispanic people are both 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people CDC graph charting coronavirus cases by race/ethnicity across America CDC graph charting coronavirus deaths by race/ethnicity across America Kalani Raphael, from Oregon Pacific Islander Coalition, said focusing on chronic conditions first will cover much of the BIPOC community given it is adversely affected by ill-health. 'Chronic health conditions are more common in minority communities,' Raphael said. '[Starting with chronic conditions] targets the most vulnerable people within our communities and it is one approach to this very, very complicated problem.' Oregon state lawmakers of color waded into the debate Monday in a letter sent to the committee saying it should prioritize essential workers and that way people of color will be prioritized. 'We strongly believe that we need to prioritize the people who are in significantly vulnerable situations and who are dying right now - frontline workers, adults in custody, and people in low-income senior housing and other congregate care facilities,' wrote members of the Oregon Legislature's BIPOC Caucus in the letter, per OPB. The lawmakers urge the committee to 'base its decisions on the data of who is most vulnerable because of their occupation and living position.' The committee, made up of representatives and public health professionals, was set up by the state and tasked with the job of recommending the order in which vaccines are administered. The state has said it will follow its recommendations but Governor Kate Brown (pictured) and the Oregon Health Authority do hold the final say 'These frontline and essential workers, adults in custody, and people in low-income senior housing and other congregate care settings, are disproportionately BIPOC, and by prioritizing frontline and essential workers and communities, we are centering BIPOC communities,' it reads. The committee will meet again January 28 to make a final recommendation which will be passed to the governor and state health officials to take action. The state entered phase 1B group 1 of its vaccine rollout plan Monday which extended eligibility to childcare providers, early learning and K-12 educators and staff. This includes roughly 105,000 people and is in addition to the 400,000 people already eligible in phase 1A including, among others, hospital staff, residents in long-term care facilities, workers in correctional facilities, caregivers, and people with medical conditions or disabilities who receive service at their homes. In February, rollout will be extended to another 795,000 people. These are in order: people aged 80 and over; 75 and over; 70 and over; and 65 and over. The plan for the remainder of the population is still being determined by the state with the help of the vaccine committee but covers critical workers in high-risk settings, people with underlying conditions, inmates and staff in prisons, jails and detention centers, as well as the general population. Oregon has been lagging behind many other parts of the US in getting shots in arms, with just 6.2 percent of its population so far being given a shot Prioritizing the 806,000 BIPOC people would mean a longer wait for these remaining groups. But such a move comes after communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic across both Oregon and the nation. CDC data shows that black people and Hispanic people are both 2.8 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. American Indian or Alaska Natives are 2.6 times and Asian people 1.1 times more likely. Communities of color are also more likely to suffer worse when contracting the virus, with Hispanics 4.1 times, American Indians or Alaska Natives 4 times and black people 3.7 times as likely to be hospitalized. The CDC said the disproportionate impact of the virus on certain ethnic groups is down to several factors including socioeconomic status, access to health care, and exposure to the virus by being frontline, essential, and critical infrastructure workers. Racial disparities have also emerged in the rollout of the vaccine to date. White people are getting the vaccine at more than twice the rate as black and Latino people, according to a recent CNN analysis. Analysis of data from 14 states showed more than 4 percent of the white population has received a shot compared to just 1.9 percent of the black population and 1.8 percent of Latinos. Medical professionals from Oregon Health & Science University load syringes with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a drive-thru vaccination clinic in Portland White people are getting vaccinated at more than twice the rate as black and Latino people across America Experts have put it down to both limited access as well mistrust among the black community in the safety of the vaccine. While 71 percent of black Americans know someone who has been hospitalized or died from the virus, just 42 percent said they would get a vaccine straight away if it were available today, according to Pew Research Center in December. This lack of trust is deep-seated in a lack of trust in the medical industry following a history of systemic racism. Given the lack of inequity in both the toll the pandemic has taken and the vaccine rollout, Oregon asked the committee to consider equity and anti-racism when making its vaccine plan recommendations. However, questions are mounting over whether a plan to prioritize people by race will face legal challenges after a similar move to prioritize COVID-19 relief to the state's black businesses sparked a litany of lawsuits from white business owners. Experts warned rolling out the vaccine by race could be a violation of equal protection laws. Oregon's vaccine rollout. The state is already facing a backlash over its current rollout plans after it started vaccinating teachers ahead of the elderly 'This runs into the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which says citizens of all races are entitled to the equal protection of the laws,' according to Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, in a recent article. 'The Supreme Court has long interpreted this to mean that the government may ordinarily not dole out valuable benefits, or impose harms, based on a citizen's race.' Oregon is already facing dozens of lawsuits after lawmakers approved a plan to earmark $62 million of its $1.4 billion federal COVID-19 aid for black residents business owners. Almost $50 million of the funds were awarded but a court blocked the remaining funds after several lawsuits - by white business owners - were filed claiming the move was racial discrimination. The allocation of the remaining money is now on hold until the litigation is resolved and it is likely a vaccine program that also serves to tackle deep-rooted racial barriers will also face legal challenges. The state is already facing a backlash over its current rollout plans after it started vaccinating teachers ahead of the elderly. To date, Oregon has recorded 139,355 infections and 1,904 deaths from the virus Brown defended the decision Friday saying it is crucial to vaccinate educators so schools can start safely reopening in February. She said schools need to return for the sake of students' 'suffering' mental health. As it stands, people aged over 80 can start receiving the vaccine from February 7. To date, just 308,066 vaccines have been administered across the state, with just 6.2 percent of Oregonians receiving at least one dose and just 1 percent having got both doses. Just over half (52.3 percent) of the doses delivered to the state have gone into residents' arms with a staggering 47.7 percent sitting unused, according to Bloomberg data. This pits the state lower than the national average of 55.2 percent of doses delivered being administered to date. To date, Oregon has recorded 139,355 infections and 1,904 deaths from the virus. A total of 7,592 people are currently hospitalized across the state. As Chinese video sharing platform hands over pink slips to over 1,000 employees following the permanent ban by the government of India, Indian app developer Chingari plans to hire some of the fired employees. Chingari will be looking forward to hire people across domains, however, the company hasn't shared any information on the number of employees it plans to hire. Similar to TikTok, Chingari is an Indian video-sharing social networking platform where users could record and share short video clips. The app is available in multiple Indian languages including Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Odia, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. "Sad to hear, so many people had to get laid off because of this move of TikTok. We were expecting this from a long time since the government-imposed ban on Chinese app. Right now, it's a great opportunity and motivation for Indian entrepreneurs to showcase their potential and rise with a great product. Indians are capable of doing wonders. And our priority right now is the Indian market and in near future, we will expand our footprints. It's unfortunate for the layoff. None of the companies or founder wish so for his or her employee. We will hire some of the potential talent," says Aditya Kothari, Co-Founder & Chief Strategist, Chingari. Following the government's notice on the permanent ban, a joint email from Bytedance's global interim head Vanessa Pappas and vice president for global business solutions Blake Chandlee had been sent to the employees communicating the decision to downsize staff. The email copy states that the company initially hoped that the situation would be short-lived and resolved quickly. However, it wasn't the case. The company had to cut expenses, while still paying benefits. "We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have. It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India," a TikTok spokesperson said. The company is not shutting shop in India and plans to have its presence in the country. TikTok has also retained its leadership team and those employees who were working on critical projects including teams helping international operations. Also Read: Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine works on UK strain too: study Also Read: SBI appoints Swaminathan Janakiraman, Aswini Kumar Tewari as MDs Also Read: Anti-China sentiment waning? Xiaomi reclaims No 1 position in Q4 2020, Samsung slips to second spot MIAMI, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. To underscore the importance of this day, we echo the sentiments of our colleague Izzy Arbeiter: To me the most important date in history is January 27, 1945, the liberation of Auschwitz. That is the day the slaughterhouses of the Jewish people were shut down, and hopefully forever ceased the killing of the Jewish people. If it weren't for that day, it could still be going on, and the families we brought into this world wouldn't have been made and be able to accomplish what they have accomplished, in this country, and in Israel. For most survivors, the war did not end until all of Europe was liberated in May 1945. This year, the commemoration occurs at a time of political upheaval in our country, and an unfortunate trend of people analogizing political events and disagreements to the Holocaust, Hitler, or Nazism. Analogies to Kristallnacht, the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz or other death camps, or any of the unspeakable crimes of the Holocaust, reflect a very serious misunderstanding of the vast scope of Nazi Germany's crimes, and the crimes of its collaborators. They also denigrate the memory of 6 million Jews, including one and a half million Jewish children, who were murdered in the Holocaust. We all have a responsibility to speak out against hate, bigotry, and violence, which have the potential for ever-greater abuses. At the same time, we must do everything in our power to remember, and to educate every living soul about the unprecedented crimes against the Jewish people for which we commemorate the anniversary of January 27, 1945. The Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA Executive Committee: Israel Arbeiter, Boston, MA Dena Axelrod, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Magda Bader, Boston, MA Renee Firestone, Los Angeles, CA Esther Finder, Las Vegas, NV Ella Frumkin, Los Angeles, CA Jay Ipson, Richmond, VA Herbert Karliner, Miami Beach, FL Leo Rechter, Queens, NY Annette Lantos, Washington, D.C. David Mermelstein, Miami, FL Wendy Rothfield, Miami Beach, FL Shirley Rubin, Boynton Beach, FL Anita Schuster, Las Vegas, NV David Schaecter, Miami, FL Charles Srebnick, New York, NY Esther Widman, Brooklyn, NY Agnes Vertes, Weston, CT Louise Lawrence-Israels, Wash. D.C. For More Information, please go to: www.hsf-usa.org Contact: David Schaecter, HSF President (305) 742-8501 Samuel J. Dubbin, HSF Counsel (305) 815-8060 SOURCE Holocaust Survivors Foundation USA Related Links http://www.hsf-usa.org Online edition ViniVeri starts with 70 artisan winemakers Video-interviews with producers, also from Spain, Slovenia (ANSAmed) - ROME, JANUARY 27 - The first online edition of "ViniVeri-Assisi 2021" is kicking off on Wednesday with 70 artisan winemakers. The virtual edition - according to a statement - was necessary to deal with difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The online edition, also considered as an "opportunity to take new roads with creativity and hope", is organized for "enthusiasts of natural wine", with a renewed official website of the Consorzio ViniVeri and the YouTube channel (Consorzio ViniVeri-YouTube) with 70 short videos directly recorded by wine makers in their wineries, divided by regions as well as in Spain and Slovenia. The 70 video-interviews, edited with voices and stories around three questions, see each producer illustrate the most representative wine that would be debuted at Assisi 2021, describe the year and talk about an anecdote related to production or to a specific harvest. The president of the consortium ViniVeri Paolo Vodopivec said "around the New Year we had the idea of not abandoning our first annual meeting but to organize it in a different manner, accessible to all. A way to maintain a close contact not only with the public that visits our events, but also with the world of communication, the network of distributors and all lovers of natural wine. In a few days, 70 winemakers responded with enthusiasm, becoming the 'artisanal' protagonists of a video that was entirely 'handmade'".(ANSAmed). Chicago, which has America's third largest school district, has long been known for its exceptionally aggressive public teachers' union that seems wedded to strikes. What it doesn't seem to be wedded to is teaching. That's especially true with the Wuhan virus. Chicago teachers are refusing to return to classrooms, despite the educational and emotional disaster that long-distance learning is proving to be for kids. Instead, six dance teachers offered an interpretative dance explaining why they prefer to stay home and get paid for short hours and minimally effective job performance. At the beginning of the 2019 school year, Chicago's public school students weren't doing so well. Forty-three percent of elementary school students couldn't meet basic math metrics, and 37% couldn't meet reading requirements. The problem was blamed on the students' "socio-economic status" rather than teaching quality, but the lack of enthusiasm the teachers are showing for returning to classroom duties indicates that there's more going on than blaming poverty or racism. Very few teachers (thankfully) have succumbed to the Wuhan virus. It made national headlines in early October when a 58-year-old first-grade teacher in Chicago died from the virus after she visited the school to get supplies for her students. It's unclear how the school visits infected her, given that she was doing long-distance teaching (and the fact that children do not seem to spread the virus), but the teachers' union seized upon her death to justify refusing to return to in-person learning unless the district met a raft of demands: Among the equity demands that could be the least agreeable for CPS are the CTU's rejection of simultaneous teaching in which teachers instruct students in classrooms and remotely at the same time and a proposed reduction of remote learning screen time by one hour each day. CPS' current plan only works with simultaneous teaching and would otherwise need a redesign. [snip] The CTU is also demanding clear public health criteria for opening and closing schools and is proposing a 3% test positivity threshold. Schools would reopen citywide for all students and staff if the rate is lower, and would close if it's higher, the union said, with community-by-community decisions also possible if rates vary. Meanwhile, store clerks, restaurant workers, transportation workers, and myriad other people manage to go to work every day. Also, meanwhile, America's students are in dire straits. Deprived of social interaction, students are suffering badly, and suicide is on the rise. Indeed, the number of student suicides in Las Vegas was so bad that the school system finally, reluctantly, reopened. But in Chicago, many of the teachers just don't want to go back, and to heck with the students. In mid-January, some schools serving preschoolers and special needs students did begin reopening after 300 days without in-person teaching only to have a single COVID-positive employee send many of the teachers into a panic. (Note, please, that students could not have infected the employee.) When 150 teachers still refused to appear, the district played hardball and withheld pay and access to their Google Classroom accounts. Over this past weekend, thousands of Chicago public school teachers absolutely refused to return to the classroom on Monday, January 25, with 71% of them approving the union leadership's plan to maintain only distance learning. And this is where we get to a video so appalling that it should receive an eye bleach rating of 10. According to the "ChicagoTeachersUnion" Twitter account, six "rank-and-file dance teachers came together to use their art form as a voice to express their desire to feel safe amidst CPS' [sic] teacher return policy." The statement was big, bigger than their just wanting to stay home and collect paychecks without having to do any more classroom teaching: "They stand in solidarity with all educations at risk because no one should have to choose between life and livelihood." And with that pronouncement, the six teachers engaged in the worst, most laughable, most cringe-worthy, most embarrassing, most lacking in self-awareness, most narcissistic effort ever, by any teachers trying to collect a paycheck while not working: Six of our rank-and-file dance teachers come together to use their art form as a voice to express their desire to feel safe amidst CPS' teacher return policy. They stand in solidarity with all educators at risk, because no one should have to choose between life and livelihood. pic.twitter.com/gajXH9PReE ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) January 23, 2021 Neither Chicago nor Illinois has made noises about seceding from the Union since Biden became president. However, I would like to nominate the Chicago Teachers' Union for immediate secession and relocation to a remote island outpost where they can no longer inflict harm on the young people whose parents blindly and naively trusted these teachers. As Glenn Reynolds is wont to say, nowadays, public education is tantamount to child abuse. Image: Chicago teachers' interpretative dance. Twitter screen grab. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal The global pandemic didnt slow down spending at Sandia National Laboratories, which increased its workforce and total outlays in the 2020 fiscal year. All told, Sandia spent $3.76 billion in the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. That includes $1.67 billion in payroll, and $1.4 billion in purchases of goods and services, of which $482.6 million went to New Mexico businesses. The labs spending marked an $86.8 million increase from the previous fiscal year, according to an economic impact analysis by the labs that was published today. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ We had a really, really good year in terms of the impact we had from an economic perspective, Sandias associate labs director for Mission Services, Scott Aeilts, said in a meeting with Journal reporters and editors. We did this during a very uncertain time where we had multiple pressures because of the pandemic. Sandia hired nearly 1,200 people in the fiscal year, bringing its workforce to 14,454 employees. Most of those people 12,697 work in New Mexico. The hires included 460 new positions as well as backfilling 740 existing positions. Sandia spent $2.26 billion on labor in the 2020 fiscal year, which includes payroll and other expenses, such as travel, and the costs of conferences and certifications, according to the analysis. As the labs workforce grows, Aeilts said, Sandia has had to lease office space around Albuquerque outside Kirtland Air Force Base. Sandia now has leases at two properties the Gibson Medical Center and office space on Buena Vista SE where some of its employees work. As we continue to grow, were running out of space at the lab. And thats a good news story for Albuquerque, Aeilts said. Sandias spending on goods and services from New Mexico business, at $482.6 million, was down from last year, when the labs spent $522 million. Paul Sedillo, Sandias small-business program manager, said that decline was due largely to a contract for a local company to build a supercomputer in the 2019 fiscal year. At the end of the day, (the 2020 fiscal year) was still a fantastic year, he said. Most contracts that Sandia enters with outside companies must go out for a bidding process. New Mexico businesses are offered a 5% pricing preference, Sedillo said. Much of Sandias spending with local businesses is for construction work. But Sandia also spends a significant amount on information technology services, Sedillo said. New Mexico companies are competitive on both fronts, Sedillo said. New Mexico businesses are meeting the call, he said. In the 2020 fiscal year, Sandia paid a record $98 million in gross receipts taxes in New Mexico, according to the analysis. Dr Zhangs team proposed a mathematical model to analyse disease transmission, behaviour change and information diffusion. Credit: Physical Review E A research team led by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has built a mathematical model to explore and analyze the relationship between disease transmission, people's awareness about the disease and their resulting behaviors, as well as information spread by the mass media and opinion leaders. The research may shed some insights on responding to COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases. The research team is led by Dr. Zhang Qingpeng, associate professor of the School of Data Science (SDSC) at CityU. Their findings have been published in the scientific journal Physical Review E, titled "Effect of heterogeneous risk perception on information diffusion, behavior change, and disease transmission." Factors motivating the public to fight against the diseases Individuals taking adequate measures to fight against disease can stop it from spreading. But before the public can develop self-protection awareness, they have to know about the disease with correct understanding. However, on the basis of knowing the occurrence of an epidemic, people's subjective perceptions of the severity of the epidemic are affected by factors including past experience, information spread by the media and opinion leaders, therefore resulting in different preventive behaviors. Dr. Zhang said, "For example, in Hong Kong, people were deeply concerned about COVID-19 in the early stage of its outbreak as, they had experienced SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003. Many citizens started wearing masks consciously to protect themselves even before a single case was confirmed in Hong Kong." He believed that because many citizens have developed self-protection awareness and taken actions like wearing masks and using alcohol-based handrubs, Hong Kong successfully contained the first wave of COVID-19 during the 2020 Chinese New Year. "On the contrary, people in Europe and the United States did not take it seriously in the early outbreak of COVID-19. They did not wear masks, and even the government did not stock up sufficient resources for fighting the disease," said Dr. Zhang. He pointed out that even later, when the situation has worsened in the United States, many people still did not implement protective measures and often even opposed the epidemic control measures. The team further categorised each layer into different groups. Fig A are the groups in the disease transmission layer, Fig B are the groups in the behaviour change layer, and Fig C are the groups in the information diffusion layer. Credit: Physical Review E One key factor: perception and judgment of the epidemic's severity Some previous studies have used mathematical models to investigate how people's awareness of disease affects outbreaks. However, few studies considered the heterogeneity of public responses towards media coverage and opinion leaders' views. Referencing other studies, Dr. Zhang pointed out that the public's willingness to take self-protection actions (for example, wearing masks and keeping social distance) and to share disease-related information with the others would be influenced not only by media coverages, but also by personal risk perception, their subjective judgment about the severity of the disease. The research team observed that in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there are differences in risk perceptions between people, which resulted in different behaviors in response to the outbreak. That observation drove the research. Dr. Zhang's team proposed a mathematical model to analyze disease transmission, behavior change and information diffusion. This is the first study that considered both subjective risk perception and the public's awareness of diseases. Dr. Zhang explained the relationship between disease, behavior and information. "Mass media and opinion leaders would spread the information about the disease, including the transmissibility and severity. People who have access to this information would be aware of the disease, and then they would judge their own risk of being infected. Some people would take action to protect themselves, for example, purchasing protective gear like masks. This would subsequently affect disease transmission by changing the actual infection rate." Scientific and fair media coverage help in building awareness of fighting the epidemic Their calculation results showed that if enough number of citizens are informed of the transmissibility and severity of the disease and willing to adopt personal protection actions, the outbreak could be effectively contained. Dr. Zhang pointed out that people who were unaware of disease information did not protect themselves, as they did not know the risk. Individuals who have access to disease information with a higher subjective risk perception are found to be more actively engaging in self-protection and information sharing. Dr. Zhang believes that opinion leaders' views and media coverage on the epidemic could raise the public's awareness and influence them in consideration of taking self-protection measures. Therefore, both the opinion leaders and media played important roles in the prevention and control of the epidemic. However, Dr. Zhang elaborated that they should be careful while disseminating epidemic information. "Deliberately downplaying the severity of the epidemic may cause the public to let their guard down and lead to more infections. On the other hand, over-exaggeration of the severity of the epidemic may make the public distrust the public health system," he added. Moreover, their mathematical model calculations showed that social influence is also an important factor. People's behaviors are affected by their friends' behaviors. In social networks, if opinion leaders have taken appropriate anti-epidemic behaviors, the wider public would also be motivated to take anti-epidemic actions, which could significantly reduce the scale of disease outbreaks. Explore further Tension between awareness and fatigue shapes COVID-19 spread More information: Yang Ye et al. Effect of heterogeneous risk perception on information diffusion, behavior change, and disease transmission, Physical Review E (2020). Journal information: Physical Review E Yang Ye et al. Effect of heterogeneous risk perception on information diffusion, behavior change, and disease transmission,(2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.102.042314 Provided by City University of Hong Kong In a news conference on Tuesday, City Hall spokesman Beau Tidwell expressed dismay that the Mystic Krewe of Nyx had held its annual Carnival ball in a Biloxi casino on Saturday seemingly without regard for coronavirus suppressing protocols. Based on photos of the Nyx Myx Masquerade Ball that appeared on social media after the event, many participants were unmasked. Prompted by a reporters question, Tidwell said that the city would consider refusing Nyx a parade permit for its next parade, based on the krewes disregard for safety. What Nyx did over the weekend did a disservice to public health, he said. Its certainly something were going to look at when it comes to looking for permits next year. Tidwell pointed out that traveling outside of New Orleans was no defense against the virus, and he called on the Nyx members who attended the event to quarantine and be tested upon returning to the city. The ball, he said, held the potential to be a super spreader event. Everyone involved should know better, Tidwell said. Everyone in this room and in the city should know better. And we do know better. Hours after Tidwell's comments, Nyx spokesman J. Douglas Sunseri issued a written statement disputing the citys claims. Sunseri, an attorney, argued that the gathering this past weekend in Biloxi was in total compliance with all social distancing guidelines and CDC requirements at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi. He added that in his opinion, If this gathering was conducted in Louisiana and-or Orleans Parish, it would have fully and completely complied with any social distancing and-or CDC guidelines. On Jan. 8, which was the most recent peak in cases in New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell tightened restrictions, limiting businesses to 25% occupancy. Indoor and outdoor sporting events were reduced to 4% capacity. Cantrell had already banned indoor service in bars as of Dec. 30. Sunseri said there were 42 people in attendance at the ball and that only two of those were residents of New Orleans. Most of the members who attended the gathering reside outside the State of Louisiana, he wrote. The krewe had not received an inquiry from an official of Orleans Parish Government to ascertain the truth," Sunseri said. On Tuesday evening, a City Hall representative had no comment on Sunseris assertions. Kim Goetz, the director of marketing for the Imperial Casino in Biloxi, said that safety protocols were strictly followed during this event, including capacity limits, social distancing between tables, and signage noting that face coverings were to be worn at all times. At IP we are committed to protecting the health and safety of our team members, our guests and our community, Goetz said. The krewe's 2021 ball was only the most recent episode in a sting of controversies focused on the Mystic Krewe of Nyx and its founder Julie Lea. In late May, in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, Lea issued a social media post on behalf of the krewe that featured a photo of a black child caressing the face of a white child under the slogan #ALLLIVESMATTER Our Souls Are the Same Color. The post provoked outrage among krewe members who felt it insensitively dismissed the Black Lives Matter movement. Lea, a former police officer, apologized, claiming ignorance of the implications of her use of the term All Lives Matter. But she did not publicly ally the krewe with the Black Lives Matter movement, as many members wished. Nyx sisters, as members are known, staged a protest calling for Lea to resign, but she refused. Founded in 2012, the 3,500-member, all-female Mystic Krewe of Nyx was arguably the largest and one of the most diverse parading organizations in New Orleans. But a mass exodus of most officers and members in June left its future in doubt, with many former parade riders forming new parading organizations and several suing Nyx for the return of their dues. +4 27 Nyx float lieutenants quit after captain refuses to step down over 'All Lives Matter' post Escalating a controversy roiling New Orleans largest parading krewe, more than two dozen float lieutenants quit the Mystic Krewe of Nyx Monda Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. A young man got into a woman's house and sexually assaulted her while she was asleep in bed after a get to know your neighbour' party. Anthony Ferguson appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court in Co Donegal where he was charged with sexual assault, burglary and threats to damage property. Ferguson, a 26-year-old supermarket manager, pleaded guilty to all the charges. The court was told that Ferguson, with an address at Brittania Point, Colliers Wood in London, was an "outsider" who had arrived at the event held on a Donegal housing estate on July 21, 2018. The party, which was arranged by locals, involved storytelling and other activities for children as well as food and alcohol. The event also featured a 'baravan' which the court was told is similar to a mobile bar which can be rented out for such occasions. That evening the victim in the case was serving drinks at the baravan when a man who was not local to the area, later identified as Ferguson, became rowdy and he was asked to leave as the bar was closing. The victim in the case and her husband went back to their home nearby with some neighbours where they had some more drinks with friends. However, Ferguson gained entry to the house, was again very rowdy and was asked to leave. The woman and her husband went to sleep around 2am but the terrified victim revealed she was awoken by a man in the bed beside her who was touching her between her legs. The man, Ferguson, said to her: "I have you now." The terrified woman jumped up and alerted her husband, screaming at him to get the man out of the house. She realised it was the man who was rowdy earlier and her husband scuffled with him before getting him out of their home. Ferguson then began shouting to be allowed back into the couple's home as he had left his mobile phone and jacket inside. Garda Maria Doherty said they had received a call that a man was banging on doors on the housing estate and that a woman had been sexually assaulted. Barrister for Ferguson, Colm Smyth, said his client was extremely drunk on the night The court was told that Ferguson has an issue with both drugs and alcohol and has undergone two rehabilitation stints in addiction clinics. Ferguson apologised to his victim, saying he was deeply sorry and ashamed for what he had done and that nobody deserved to go through what she had. He added that he was shocked when gardai said he had sexually assaulted a woman saying he didn't think he was capable of such a thing but couldn't remember anything from about 9pm that evening. The woman's victim impact statement was also read in court. In it, she said she could have written page after page about how violated she had felt after the incident. She said she couldn't work for weeks after the attack and was going around her house locking doors all the time. Her husband, who works abroad, could not travel as she was in so much fear and they lost a major part of their earnings. She said she wanted Ferguson to stand up and admit what he had done and that his behaviour was atrocious and that he should be disgusted and ashamed of himself. She added that he should accept his wrongdoing and never put anyone in a position like he had put her in again. Barrister Colm Smyth said his client's father owned a number of supermarkets and was in a position to offer some compensation to the family towards their loss of earnings as part of an apology. An offer of 20,000 was made but Mr Smyth stressed that Ferguson would repay all the money back to his father from his earnings. Judge John Aylmer said it was appalling what the woman was subjected to on the night. He noted that Ferguson had no previous convictions of any kind, his remorse and also his addiction to alcohol. He said he will review all these circumstances and if he is satisfied that the case fell into one of those "unique categories" then the court may take a view that it can be treated by way of a non-custodial or suspended sentence. He adjourned the case until the next sittings of the circuit court in April for a final sentence. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Hero MotoCorp has announced that it will soon commence its operations in Mexico. The company which recently surpassed 100 million units in cumulative production, has entered into a distribution agreement with Grupo Salinas, a group of companies founded by Mexican entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas. Following the agreement, the two companies have come together to form a global distribution network to sell products in the Mexican market. Dr. Pawan Munjal, Chairman & CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said, Our partnership with Grupo Salinas is aligned with our Mission to Create, Collaborate and Inspire and will be key to our growth in the region. With the global expertise and technology prowess of Hero and the local market knowledge of Grupo Salinas, we are aiming for rapid expansion of the Hero brand here over the next three years. We will be bringing products that cater to all segments of the market, thereby offering a wide range of choices for the customers in Mexico." In the first phase of operations, Hero MotoCorp will launch nine products, including motorcycles - for work (100cc), street (125cc), premium (150cc, 160cc) and on-off segments - and scooters. All these products are being designed and developed at Heros state-of-the-art R&D hubs in India and Germany. Currently, Hero MotoCorp has presence across Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Middle East. In Latin America, the company is now present in more than 10 countries. Hero MotoCorp has eight manufacturing facilities, including six in India and one each in Bangladesh & Colombia. It also has a global R&D presence with technology centers in India, the Center of Innovation and Technology in Jaipur, and the Hero Tech Center GmbH in Germany. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! (CNN) -- The internet is buzzing over a new technology created by Microsoft developers that could make it possible to have a virtual conversation with a deceased loved one (well, kind of). A patent granted to Microsoft last month details a method for creating a conversational chatbot modeled after a specific person a "past or present entity ... such as a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure," according to the filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The technology is reminiscent of a fictional app in the dystopian TV series "Black Mirror" that allowed a character to continue chatting with her boyfriend after he dies in an accident, by pulling information from his social media. Want to talk music with David Bowie? Or get some words of wisdom from your late grandmother? This tool would theoretically make that possible. But don't get too excited, or freaked out for that matter: The company isn't planning to turn the technology into an actual product. Tim O'Brien, Microsoft's general manager of AI programs, said in a tweet on Friday that he "confirmed that there's no plan for this." In a separate tweet, he also echoed the sentiment of other internet users commenting on the technology, saying, "yes, it's disturbing." Here's how the technology would work if it were in fact built into a product. According to the patent information, the tool would cull "social data" such as images, social media posts, messages, voice data and written letters from the chosen individual. That data would be used to train a chatbot to "converse and interact in the personality of the specific person." It could also rely on outside data sources, in case the user asked a question of the bot that couldn't be answered based on the person's social data. "Conversing in the personality of a specific person may include determining and/or using conversational attributes of the specific person, such as style, diction, tone, voice, intent, sentence/dialogue length and complexity, topic and consistency," as well as using behavioral attributes such as interests and opinions and demographic information such as age, gender and profession, the patent states. In some cases, the tool could even be used to apply voice and facial recognition algorithms to recordings, images and videos to create a voice and 2D or 3D model of the person to enhance the chatbot. While Microsoft doesn't have plans to create a product from the technology, the patent does indicate that the possibilities for artificial intelligence have moved beyond creating fake peopleto creating virtual models of real people. The application for the Microsoft patent was filed in April 2017, which O'Brien said on Twitter predates the "AI ethics reviews we do today." These days, the company has an Office of Responsible AI and an AI, Ethics, and Effects in Engineering and Research Committee, which help oversee its inventions. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Microsoft patented a chatbot that would let you talk to dead people. It was too disturbing for production" Hyderabad:Telangana state has decided to appoint sarpanches as honorary wildlife wardens and give them special powers to approve the killing of wild boar that damage agricultural and horticultural crops outside of protected forest areas. This means, in one fell stroke, the state will have 12,751 honorary wildlife wardens, one for each gram panchayat in the state. In its orders on Tuesday, the government said that decision followed a proposal from the state forest department for appointing gram sarpanches as honorary wildlife wardens to hunt Wild pigs (wild boar), which have become dangerous to human life and property, outside the protected areas and reserved forests subject to compliance with certain conditions. The sarpanches will have the powers to permit wild board hunting by hunters in possession of licensed weapons and who are in the panel of shooters prepared by the Telangana forest department. If such a person is not available, then any other hunter available at the village/mandal/district concerned, who has a license for possession of fire arms, can be permitted to hunt the animals. The person identified shall be an expert shooter and own a rifle powerful enough and capable of killing a wild pig, the orders said. The orders from the government do not make it clear if they apply to all the 12,751 gram panchayats. The state has not been appointing honorary wildlife wardens over the past few years claiming that this opens a Pandoras box with several of those appointed in the past because of political pressure using their status beyond what their supposed roles were in the honorary positions. The only exception to this unofficial ban was the appointment of a follower of a TRS MLA as following intense political pressure. While the January 26 orders of the government make these appointments for the express purpose of killing wild boar, the guidelines for such appointments as per the Wildlife Protection Act make it very clear that the purpose of such appointments are for protection of wildlife. Such persons, according to the guideline for such appointments should have genuine concern for wildlife conservation, and free of any personal record of involvement in any activity detrimental to the interests of nature and wildlife conservation. The appointees also get power to inspect records of licences under section 47 (b) of the Act, have powers of entry, search, seizure, and detention under Section 50 for prevention and detection of offences under the Act. The states, however, are also allowed to delegate any other power under the aforesaid Act, as it may consider necessary. Deccan Chronicle had reported on January 8 in its report Permit panchayats to deal with problematic wild animals: National Board of Wildlife that the National Board for Wildlife under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change advised all states and union territories to give gram panchayats powers to deal with situations relating to problematic wild animals. As the world prepares to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th, communities and memorials around the world are addressing how to meaningfully commemorate the day while protecting public health and safety. The day marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is ordinarily commemorated with hundreds of individual memorial events across the globe. This year, most of those events will be impossible for any sizable gathering of people due to COVID-19. With the goal of proposing relevant solutions to this challenge, Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann and research student Tom Divon of the Hebrew University Communication and Journalism Department, examine the many ways individual museums and memorial sites have adapted their programs over the past year. As part of the research, Dr. Ebbrecht-Hartmann published in Media, Culture and Society a paper that revealed how educators have successfully leveraged new forms of Holocaust remembrance using social media tools. Included have been a series of memory related hashtags in use on Twitter and Facebook, "live" Instagram stories from memorial sites and concentration camps as well as Zoom discussions with Holocaust survivors across the globe. This transition was described by the author as particularly important because prior to Corona, many memorials objected to such means of communication out of fear that it would "commercialize" or even distort legitimate Holocaust memory. "The onset of this global crisis has impacted our lives in many ways and indeed Holocaust remembrance is no exception," Dr. Ebbrecht-Hartman said. "While we have already been experiencing a transition where forms of social media and digital content have been increasingly recognized as legitimate expressions of commemoration, the severe restrictions of Corona both accelerated this process but also created a far more accepting culture for the role these media must play." Ongoing research is compiling data and feedback from 32 Holocaust museums and monuments in nine different countries with the goal of better understanding which digital platforms have been used most effectively and were best received. The research has so far indicated that educators and museum curators have strived to adapt content to be better absorbed via digital means and in so doing provided the motivation for relevant audiences to log on. Certain museums have opened Instagram and even TikTok accounts, produced online "digital challenges" while others have invested in virtual tours of their facilities. Most of these efforts represent a desire by Holocaust educators to make the history more relevant and accessible to the younger generations who are known to be less emotionally attached to the subject matter. Among the initiatives described were Yad Vashem's broadcast of their annual commemoration via YouTube in addition to the traditional local television format. The museum also initiated a campaign where online users were invited to read the names of Holocaust victims and then upload them to social media accounts with relevant hashtags. In a similar approach, the directors of the monument site at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria encouraged the public to upload and share pictures or drawings relating to the liberation of the camp with the hashtag #Liberation1945. The monument later released a video clip compiling the images that were uploaded. Dr. Ebbrecht-Hartmann said, "Even while we are encouraged by these efforts, we know that the physical spaces where the Holocaust occurred will always remain sacred memorial sites. We anticipate that future commemoration will be a continuation of physical trips to these sites but the historic impact of Corona has introduced a new reality whereby digital memorials and online efforts can be an integral component of Holocaust remembrance." ### Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a press conference at the State Department in Washington on Oct. 21, 2020. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images) Mike Pompeo Joins Conservative Think Tank Hudson Institute Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, in a move that some see as a preparing for a potential 2024 presidential run. I am pleased to be joining Hudson Institute and look forward to contributing to its mission of promoting American leadership and global engagement, Pompeo said. The institute, which is reputed among the conservative community, said in a statement that Pompeo will come on as a distinguished fellow. From his leadership in promoting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors to confronting strategic threats to the United States, Secretary Pompeo has been among the most consequential secretaries of State, said John Walters, president and CEO of Hudson Institute. It is an honor to have this outstanding public servant join Hudson Institute. Aligning himself with the institute could give Pompeo the opportunity to engage in policy discussions and be close to donors of the Republican Party, according to Axios, which first reported the matter. Pompeo, who is now a private citizen, recently raised speculations about his White House ambition when he appeared to be counting down until the next presidential election. He wrote 1,384 days, on Twitter Jan. 21, the day after President Joe Bidens inauguration. It is the number of days until Election Day 2024, when the the first term of Bidens presidency is about to end. Bidens pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, was confirmed Tuesday in a 78-22 Senate vote. Blinken previously served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration. During his confirmation hearing, Blinken vowed to end U.S. military support for the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen, and seek a reentry into the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018. Blinken praised the recently normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, a legacy of Pompeos tenure. I applaud the work that was done to push forward on normalization with Israel. It makes Israel and the region safer, he said. Its a good thing, and yes, I would hope that we can build on that as well. Blinken also said he agreed with the Trump administrations tough stance on China over human rights and the communist regimes bullying behavior in the South China Sea. I also believe President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China. I disagree very much with the way he went about it in a number of ways, but the basic principle was the right one and I think thats very helpful to our foreign policy, he said. "Levenza joins Firmenich with a strong understanding of local market dynamics, drawing from her extensive international experience and deep knowledge of the Asian market," said Felix Frowein, Senior Vice President, Global Consumer Fragrances, Firmenich. "With a strong network encompassing leading manufacturing companies in Personal and Home Care, as well as local customers, we are confident in Levenza's leadership to spearhead our business in the region." Toh replaces Rajan Arul, who is retiring from Firmenich after 33 years with the organization. Arul first joined Firmenich Singapore in 1988 and worked in Mumbai, Geneva and London during his career. He returned to Singapore in 2012, when he was appointed Vice President for Perfumery Asia, adding the role of General Manager of Firmenich Singapore to his scope in 2015. Arul relished coming full circle to where the journey started for him and has mentored numerous talents in the Firmenich regional headquarters. He also championed the pioneering recruitment and integration of visually impaired sensory panelists at Firmenich in Singapore. "I would like to extend my gratitude to Rajan for the exemplary leadership he has shown throughout his career, playing an instrumental role in transforming the business and grooming talents within the region over the past decade. His legacy will remain a strong inspiration for both business and colleagues as we continue to push boundaries in a world of transformation," added Frowein. Toh joins Firmenich from Global Amines Company, a joint venture between Clariant and Wilmar, where she held the position of General Manager APAC, leading sales, marketing, business development, technical, R&D and manufacturing. Prior to that, she worked at Clariant, BASF and Royal Dutch Shell in various commercial roles. Toh holds a BA with Honors in Chemical Engineering from the National University of Singapore and a dual Executive MBA from Tsinghua SEM and INSEAD. She is Singaporean and has lived in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Germany. She speaks English and Mandarin, as well as Malay and Cantonese. Toh will report to Frowein. About Firmenich Firmenich, the world's largest privately-owned fragrance and taste company, was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1895, and has been family-owned for 125 years. Firmenich is a leading business-to-business company specialized in the research, creation, manufacture and sale of perfumes, flavors and ingredients. Renowned for its world-class research and creativity, as well as its leadership in sustainability, Firmenich offers its customers superior innovation in formulation, a broad and high-quality palette of ingredients, and proprietary technologies including biotechnology, encapsulation, olfactory science and taste modulation. Firmenich had an annual turnover of 3.9 billion Swiss Francs at end June 2020. More information about Firmenich is available at www.firmenich.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1426981/Firmenich_Levenza_Toh.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1357990/Firmenich_Logo.jpg Related Links http://www.firmenich.com/ SOURCE Firmenich Posted Tuesday, January 26, 2021 4:30 pm A Centralia man faces third-degree assault charges for resisting two officers who were arresting him for allegedly driving under the influence. Officers with the Centralia Police Department stopped a vehicle driving erratically at 40 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone in Centralia just after 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 22. The driver, Leonel Orlando Melendez Ayala, 28, provided a breath sample with blood alcohol content of .134. He allegedly admitted to officers that he had a few drinks prior to being stopped, according to Lewis County Superior Court documents. Ayala was told he was under arrest for driving under the influence and for driving without valid identification, and instructed to turn around to be cuffed. According to officer reports, Ayala initially complied, but when officers went to grab his arms he tensed up and would not comply with orders. Officers reportedly took Ayala to the ground in an attempt to get his arms behind his back, and while on the ground, Ayala began to struggle and kicked Officer Stephen Summers before pinching Officer Timothy ODells hand to the point of drawing blood. Officers eventually maneuvered Ayala into the police car. While officers attempted to put his seat belt on, Ayala allegedly used his elbow to pin Summers arm to the seat and ground his elbow into Summers arm attempting to cause pain, according to court documents. Staff at the Lewis County Jail reported Ayala has been violent and refused to wear a prison uniform for two days after he was booked. Judge James Lawler approved the jails request for restraints for Ayalas Jan. 25 preliminary hearing, and Ayala appeared via video in handcuffs and leg restraints. He is currently being held on a $10,000 bail and is scheduled for an arraignment and trial setting hearing on Jan. 28. Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. The railway tracks leading to the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland (Markus Schreiber/AP) Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman had hoped to mark Holocaust Memorial Day by taking her eight grandchildren to the site of the former Nazi death camp in Poland but the coronavirus pandemic prevented the trip. At just six years old, she was instructed by her mother to lie absolutely still in a bed at a camp hospital, next to the body of a young woman who had just died. As German forces went from bed to bed shooting anyone still alive, she barely breathed under a blanket and went unnoticed. Days later, on January 27 1945, she was among the thousands of prisoners who survived to greet the Soviet troops who liberated the camp. Expand Close Polish-born Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman holds a photograph of herself as a child with her mother, who also survived the Nazi death camp Auschwitz (World Jewish Congress/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Polish-born Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman holds a photograph of herself as a child with her mother, who also survived the Nazi death camp Auschwitz (World Jewish Congress/AP) Now 82, Ms Friedman had hoped to mark Wednesdays anniversary by travelling to the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial site, which is under the custodianship of the Polish state. Instead, she was alone at home in Highland Park, New Jersey, in the US. However, her message warning about the rise of hatred was part of a virtual observance organised by the World Jewish Congress. Across Europe, the victims were remembered and honoured in various ways. In Austria and Slovakia, hundreds of survivors were offered their first doses of a vaccine against coronavirus in a gesture both symbolic and truly lifesaving given the threat of the virus to older adults. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from Covid-19 out of the 5,300 who were infected last year, the countrys Central Bureau of Statistics reported. Expand Close Roses are placed on the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Roses are placed on the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP) Pope Francis warned from the Vatican that distorted ideologies can end up destroying a people and humanity. Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal agreeing to pay reparations and to give back looted art to Holocaust survivors. Other institutions around the world, including the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial museum in Poland, Yad Vashem in Israel and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC also have online events planned. The presidents of Israel, Germany and Poland were among those delivering messages of remembrance and warning. Expand Close Holocaust survivors wear face masks and keep a safe distance from each other while attending an annual memorial ceremony in Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Holocaust survivors wear face masks and keep a safe distance from each other while attending an annual memorial ceremony in Israel (Ariel Schalit/AP) German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a message to a World Jewish Congress and Auschwitz memorial museum event, said the online nature of remembrance events takes nothing away from their importance. Its a duty but also a responsibility, one we inherit from those who lived through the horrors of the Shoah, whose voices are gradually disappearing, Mr Steinmeier said. The greatest danger for all of us begins with forgetting. With no longer remembering what we inflict upon one another when we tolerate anti-Semitism and racism in our midst. We must remain alert, must identify prejudice and conspiracy theories, and combat them with reason, passion and resolve. The online nature of this years commemorations is a sharp contrast to how Ms Friedman spent the 75th anniversary of Auschwitzs liberation last year, when she gathered under a huge tent with other survivors and dozens of European leaders at the site of the former camp. Expand Close Former prisoners attend a previous memorial service on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz (Dave Thompson/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former prisoners attend a previous memorial service on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz (Dave Thompson/PA) It was one of the last large international gatherings before the pandemic forced the cancellation of most large gatherings. Many Holocaust survivors in the US, Israel and elsewhere find themselves in a state of previously unimaginable isolation due to the pandemic. Ms Friedman lost her husband last March and said she feels acutely alone now. But survivors like her also have found new connections over Zoom: World Jewish Congress leader Ronald Lauder has organised video meetings for survivors and their children and grandchildren during the pandemic. More than 1.1 million people were murdered by the German Nazis and their henchmen at Auschwitz, the most notorious site in a network of camps and ghettos aimed at the destruction of Europes Jews. The vast majority of those killed at Auschwitz were Jews, but others, including Poles, Roma and Soviet prisoners of war, were also killed in large numbers. In all, about six million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators. In 2005, the United Nations designated January 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an acknowledgement of Auschwitzs status. Connecting @Facebook users to https://t.co/KlPHhW36HY has the potential to contribute greatly to promoting tolerance and empathy as the antidote to resurgent antisemitism, xenophobia, and bigotry. A critical step in the fight against online hate. https://t.co/X0JEHF9jWR WJC (@WorldJewishCong) January 27, 2021 Israel, which is home to 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring, but events organised by survivors organisations and remembrance groups also took place across the country on Wednesday, many of them held virtually or without members of the public in attendance. While commemorations have moved online for the first time, one constant is the drive of survivors to tell their stories as words of caution. Rose Schindler, a 91-year-old survivor of Auschwitz who was originally from Czechoslovakia but now lives in San Diego, California, has been speaking to school groups about her experience for 50 years. Her story, and that of her late husband, Max, also a survivor, is also told in a book, Two Who Survived: Keeping Hope Alive While Surviving The Holocaust. After Ms Schindler was transported to Auschwitz in 1944, she was selected more than once for immediate death in the gas chambers. She survived by escaping each time and joining work details. The horrors she experienced the mass murder of her parents and four siblings, the hunger, being shaved, lice infestations are difficult to convey, but she keeps speaking to groups, over past months only by Zoom. We have to tell our stories so it doesnt happen again, she told the Associated Press. It is unbelievable what we went through, and the whole world was silent as this was going on. The Holocaust began with words - and in the era of the internet and social media, the power of propaganda is more devastating than ever. But education & knowledge can help prevent genocide. 27 January is International #HolocaustRemembrance Dayhttps://t.co/41dxzOZfJT pic.twitter.com/a4d0fs38sG UNESCO i #Education #Sciences #Culture (@UNESCO) January 27, 2021 Ms Friedman said she believes it is her role to sound the alarm about rising anti-Semitism and other hatred in the world, otherwise another tragedy may happen. That hatred, she said, was on clear view when a mob inspired by former President Donald Trump attacked the US Capitol on January 6. Some insurrectionists wore clothes with anti-Semitic messages like Camp Auschwitz and 6MWE, which stands for 6 million wasnt enough. It was utterly shocking and I couldnt believe it, she said. And I dont know what part of America feels like that. I hope its a very small and isolated group and not a pervasive feeling. Nevertheless, the mob violence could not shake her belief in the essential goodness of the United States and most Americans. Its a country of freedom. Its a country that took me in, she said. In her recorded message that was being broadcast on Wednesday, Ms Friedman said she compares the virus of hatred in the world to Covid-19. She said the world today is witnessing a virus of anti-Semitism, of racism, and if you dont stop the virus, its going to kill humanity, MANZINI It was a double loss for the family of Elliot Black Cat Fakudze. This is because on the day of his demise, Fakudze supposedly left his compound with money said to be about E35 000. This was disclosed by some of his family members. The traditional healer died on Sunday afternoon as his vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), was swept away by floods while crossing the Mndobandoba Bridge. As the vehicle was swayed by the raging floods, which were as a result of Cyclone Eloise, the family members suspected that the money could have been washed away in the process. This, it was concluded, after his vehicle was pulled out of the river where it had spent the night after ramming a railway line bridge. According to one of the family members, ordinarily, the traditional healer kept money in the arm rest of any vehicle he was being chauffeured in. The family said when they inspected the arm rest compartment after the vehicle was pulled out of the river; they discovered that it was closed but full of mud. The family member said, noting this, they enquired from some of the children the deceased was travelling with before he met his death and it was established that he had kept the money in the pockets of the camouflage jacket he was wearing. According to some of the family members, before leaving his compound for the last time on Sunday, Fakudze had informed some of his children that he was missing his deceased son - Mukelo - and wore his jacket. Mukelo was a soldier and allegedly died at the hands some military men from the Military Police Department, who were punishing him. This took place in 2012. Following being swept along the Mndobandoba River by the floods, Fakudzes body went missing for some hours and was later recovered in his sacred dam, where he performed his spiritual rituals in line with his practice as a traditional healer. Hands When his body was found, it was in a sitting position. According to some of the family members who formed part of the search party, their father was found in a sitting position with his hands wrapped around his knee. However, the son said the camouflage jacket that the deceased had worn when leaving his residence was not found. The deceaseds children said in the days leading to his death, he jokingly told them that his time in this earth was about to be over and he (Black Cat) said he would not die from COVID-19 or get killed by someone. Instead, he said he would go back to Tanzania and this would be through water. Tanzania is where he got his powers, they said. They also reiterated what their father had shared with this publication in his lifetime that he was initiated in Tanzania and he got his powers from water. Furthermore, they claimed that Fakudze also told them that when he died, he would go to his sacred dam near the Great Usuthu River, where he used to perform rituals. This is where the search party found him dead after a long search, one of the children said. In that regard, they said even though they were shocked and saddened by the demise of their father, they were relieved by the fact that he knew about his death. Some of the deceaseds children, in unison, said they believed that everything went according to the ancestors plans. COLUMBUS, Ohio Allowing a crime victim to sit at the prosecutors table and be introduced as a representative of the state during a kidnapping and rape trial prejudiced the jury against the defendant, his attorney argued before the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday. This is a case that depended entirely on the credibility of the alleged victim, said Addison Spriggs, an attorney for Theodis Montgomery, who wants the court to vacate his conviction and order a new trial because she said his trial wasnt fair. The case was the first time the high court will have to look at how far to go in interpreting Marsys Law, a set of victims rights voters amended into the Ohio Constitution in 2018. The campaign behind Marsys Law said in a statement on Tuesday nothing in the constitutional amendment gives a victim the right to sit next to a prosecutor. The Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Montgomerys position. Spriggs argued that the seating arrangement and introduction suggesting the victim was a representative of the state resulted in the jury thinking the prosecution and victim were one and the same. However, Kristine Beard, the attorney representing the Stark County Prosecutors Office, which prosecuted the case, argued that under court rules, prosecutors dont have to provide any reason why someone sits at their table. Its common that people considered essential to a prosecutors case sit there, she said. I dont think that jurors operate in a vacuum, Beard said. And I think that they understand that if theres going to be a victim in a case, the victims going to testify as a witness for the state. So they already understand theyre part of the states case. Putting them seated by counsel, I dont think bolsters their credibility any more than presenting their testimony on behalf of the state, any more than letting them sit in the back of the courtroom, behind the defendant or behind the states chair. The victim and Montgomery knew each other for about a decade. Her father married Montgomerys sister and Montgomery lived in the fathers basement in Canton, according to court documents. Montgomery wanted to have a romantic relationship with the victim. She declined. Alone at the house in March 2018, Montgomery is accused of punching the victim in the face and forcing her to have sex. He later felt remorseful and allowed her to leave the house, according to the allegations. The victim called her fiance in prison, which was recorded, and then her sister, who told her to call the police. Montgomery was ultimately convicted of one count each of kidnapping and rape. Justice Melody Stewart noted that lay people such as jurors who dont intimately know the criminal court system could be misled by the victim sitting at the prosecutors table. She asked whether the result was to bolster the victims testimony or to present some optics that might be beneficial to the state. Beard replied the jury was instructed to consider the credibility of all witnesses, so they were free to reject the victim on her credibility. The jury also took four hours to decide the case, meaning jurors weighed the evidence carefully. The court is expected to release a decision on the case in a few months. More coverage: Ohio Chief Justice Maureen OConnor again calls for eliminating party affiliation on judicial ballots Gov. Mike DeWine announces tens of thousands of leftover vaccines will go to older Ohioans Ohio reports 4,262 new coronavirus cases, 29,768 new vaccines given: Tuesday update With Ohio giving lowest vaccine doses per capita among neighbors, Gov. Mike DeWine to give a coronavirus update: Watch live DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Connected Medical Devices Market (2020-2025), by Device Type, Product, End-user, Applications, Geography and the Impact of Covid-19 with Ansoff Analysis" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The introduction of IoT has benefitted the healthcare industry in various ways. The connected medical devices are poised to solve the challenges faced by the healthcare industry. The Healthcare industry, in recent years, has witnessed a growth of medical devices connected with each other via wireless monitoring services. The adoption of these devices is also increasing day by day owing to their reliability, effective patient monitoring and Government initiatives etc. Moreover, the penetration of mobile and internet technology and spending on R&D activities are contributing to the growth of the market. For instance, in the year 2019 more than 45 new medical devices and technologies were approved by the US FDA. As of June 2020, more than 20 connected devices are sanctioned by the FDA. However, the barriers such as high deployment cost, data security challenges, and an insufficient IoT infrastructure across the healthcare industry may hamper the market growth. The report includes a proprietary tool to analyze and evaluate the position of companies based on their Industry Position score and Market Performance score. The tool uses various factors for categorizing the players into four categories. Some of these factors considered for analysis are financial performance over the last 3 years, growth strategies, innovation score, new product launches, investments, growth in market share etc. Market Dynamics Drivers Government initiatives for promoting digital health Increasing focus on patient-centric delivery and patient safety Penetration of Mobile Technologies and Internet Services Restraints High deployment cost of smart medical devices and related infrastructure Issues in data security Insufficient IoT infrastructure across Healthcare industry Opportunities Low Doctor-to-patient ratio leading to self-operated e-Health platforms Telehealth and telemedicine services Report Highlights: A complete analysis of the market including parent industry Important market dynamics and trends Market segmentation Historical, current, and projected size of the market based on value and volume Market shares and strategies of key players Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market Key Topics Covered: 1 Report Description 1.1 Study Objectives 1.2 Market Definition 1.3 Currency 1.4 Years Considered 1.5 Language 1.6 Key Shareholders 2 Research Methodology 2.1 Research Process 2.2 Data Collection and Validation 2.2.1 Secondary Research 2.2.2 Primary Research 2.3 Market Size Estimation 2.4 Assumptions of the Study 2.5 Limitations of the Study 3 Executive Summary 4 Market Overview 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Market Dynamics 4.2.1 Drivers 4.2.2 Restraints 4.2.3 Opportunities 4.3 Trends 5 Market Analysis 5.1 Porter's Five Forces Analysis 5.2 Impact of COVID-19 5.3 Ansoff Matrix Analysis 6 Global Connected Medical Devices Market, By Device Type 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Stationary Medical Device 6.3 Implantable Medical Device 6.4 Wearable Medical Device 6.5 Non-wearable Medical Device 7 Global Connected Medical Devices Market, By Product 7.1 Introduction 7.2 BP Monitor 7.3 Pulse Oximeter 7.4 Heart Rate Monitor 7.5 ECG Monitoring Device 7.6 Glucose Monitor 7.7 Insulin Pump 7.8 Portable GPS PERS 7.9 Smart Pill Dispenser 7.10 Others 8 Global Connected Medical Devices Market, By End-User 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Hospital 8.3 Ambulatory Surgical Centre 8.4 Specialty Clinic 8.5 Home Care Settings 9 Global Connected Medical Devices Market, By Application 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Remote Monitoring 9.3 Diagnostics Services 9.4 Treatment Services 9.5 Fitness Device 10 Global Connected Medical Devices Market, By Geography 10.1 Introduction 10.2 North America 10.2.1 US 10.2.2 Canada 10.2.3 Mexico 10.3 South America 10.3.1 Brazil 10.3.2 Argentina 10.4 Europe 10.4.1 UK 10.4.2 France 10.4.3 Germany 10.4.4 Italy 10.4.5 Rest of Europe 10.5 Asia-Pacific 10.5.1 China 10.5.2 Japan 10.5.3 India 10.5.4 Australia 10.5.5 Rest of APAC 10.6 Middle East and Africa 11 Competitive Landscape 11.1 IGR Competitive Quadrant 11.2 Market Share Analysis 11.3 Competitive Scenario 11.3.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 11.3.2 Agreements, Collaborations, & Partnerships 11.3.3 New Product Launches & Enhancements 11.3.4 Investments & Fundings 12 Company Profiles 12.1 GE Healthcare, Inc. 12.2 OMRON Corporation 12.3 Medtronic Plc 12.4 Philips Healthcare 12.5 McKesson Corporation 12.6 Fitbit, Inc. 12.7 Johnson & Johnson 12.8 Boston Scientific Corporation 12.9 St. Jude Medical, Inc. (Abbott) 12.10 AgaMatrix, Inc. 12.11 Dexcom 12.12 F. Hoffmann-La Roche 12.13 Polar Electro 12.14 IHealth Labs 12.15 Aerotel Medical Systems Ltd For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/3031m4 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com A modified version of the Boeing 737 Max, incorporating multiple safety upgrades, has been approved to resume flights in Europe, the European aviation safety agency said. The decision follows nearly two years of reviews after the aircraft was involved in two deadly crashes that saw the planes grounded worldwide. Changes mandated by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) include a package of software upgrades, a reworking of the electrical system, maintenance checks, operations manual updates and new crew training. We have reached a significant milestone on a long road, said EASA executive director Patrick Ky. Following extensive analysis by EASA, we have determined that the 737 MAX can safely return to service. This assessment was carried out in full independence of Boeing or the Federal Aviation Administration and without any economic or political pressure we asked difficult questions until we got answers and pushed for solutions which satisfied our exacting safety requirements. Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here Patrick Ky, EASA executive director We carried out our own flight tests and simulator sessions and did not rely on others to do this for us. The planes were grounded in March 2019 following the crashes of a Lion Air flight near Jakarta on October 29 2018, and an Ethiopian Airlines flight on March 10 2019, killing a total of 346 people. Investigators determined that the cause of the crashes was a faulty computer system that pushed the planes nose downward in flight and could not be overridden by pilots. Changes mandated by the EASA, based in Cologne, Germany, include a recertification of the planes flight-control system, which was not a part of previous 737 models. Mr Ky said the EASA will continue to monitor 737 Max operations closely as the aircraft resumes service. Let me be quite clear that this journey does not end here, he said. Expand Close The planes were grounded in March 2019 (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The planes were grounded in March 2019 (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) Despite the green-light from the EASA, the actual return of the aircraft to the skies of Europe may still take some time. Airlines will still need to ensure their pilots have received the training needed to fly the plane, and that the maintenance and changes necessary have been carried out after the long grounding. Some EU states will have to lift their own individual grounding notices as well. The pandemic, meanwhile, has caused severe travel restrictions. Many airlines are flying a fraction of their usual routes, which the EASA said could affect the pace of the aircrafts return to commercial operations. The 737 Max returned to the skies in the United States last month, after the Federal Aviation Administration approved changes that Boeing made to the automated flight control system. It has also been allowed by Brazil to resume flights, and has been cleared by Transport Canada. San Antonio police shot and killed a man after he ran from a traffic stop into a South Side mall Wednesday afternoon. Chief William McManus said a Texas Department of Transportation officer stopped an 18-wheeler near Interstate 35 and Zarzamora Street. The officers job is to inspect big rigs and conducted an investigative stop, according to McManus. When the truck stopped, the suspect, described as a man in his 20s, ran into the South Park Mall. A security guard asked the man to leave but he encountered four San Antonio police officers outside next to Dicks Sporting Goods. McManus said the man was armed with a gun when officers confronted him but did not divulge details about what led to the four officers firing at the suspect. It is unclear if the man shot his weapon, and none of the officers were injured. McManus said he has not reviewed the body cam footage. Per new SAPD policy, the footage will be made public within the next 60 days. The four officers have been with the department for 10, 13, 23 and 26 years, respectively, McManus said. Police closed off the I-35 access road next to the mall as they investigate the scene. The eighth National Party Congress took place from June 28 to July 1, 1996 in Hanoi. Do Muoi was re-elected as Party General Secretary. VNP/VNA The Fifth National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam was held from March 27-31, 1982 in Hanoi. The Congress reviewed the victories that the Party and people have won in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland since 1975. A pot-loving couple from Georgia tried to hide marijuana by eating it during a high-speed car chase with cops. Authorities informed that they found the duo engaging in extreme measures to destroy evidence on Sunday night. WAGA-TV reported that the 22-year-old passenger in the car was eating a bag of weed before the vehicle was overtaken by police authorities in the Atlanta suburb of Carrollton. Brian Turner, 22, accused of eating pot had the company of 23-year-old driver, Whitney Bailey. The woman behind the wheel took a different approach than Brian as she allegedly hid marijuana in an unspecified body cavity. A police spokeswoman told local Fox affiliate WAGA-TV that the female was later taken to a hospital to get rid of the marijuana from her body. The joint effort of the escaping duo to hide any evidence went up in smoke soon after, informed the police. The chase began after the owner of a Nissan sedan reported to the police that he had loaned Bailey his car who refused to return it. To question the driver, the cops tracked and pulled over the car. Initially Bailey stopped, but immediately led police on a wild pursuit as she drove off. When officers approached the car and they saw Brian, who was sitting in the passenger seat, they found weed in his mouth and all over his clothes. The incident was caught on an officers dashboard camera. The footage shows Bailey driving in the wrong lane and running stop signs. Her speed on local winding roads went beyond 80-mph, authorities said. The chase finally ended when police officers boxed in the car and arrested the pair without further ado. Both the suspects were busted and have been slapped with multiple charges. Whitney has been charged with felony theft as she stole the car from a friend. She is additionally accused of eluding a police officer, reckless driving and other traffic violations. Brian, on the other hand, has also been charged with theft. According to online records from the Carroll County Sheriffs Office, he is also accused of wilful obstruction of law enforcement authorities and probation violation. The online records at the moment reflect that the couple was still being held without bond at the Carroll County Jail. On an added note, when the accused couple were taken to the station and investigated, it was found that there were a few outstanding arrest warrants for both Brian and Bailey. Advertisement More than 200 flights were canceled as travel chaos hit the Midwest on Tuesday when up to 15 inches blanketed multiple states during a major winter storm that left 100 million people under weather advisories. The storm dumped more than a foot of snow on parts of the middle of the country while another system blanketed areas of the Southwest, disrupting travel for a second consecutive day and shuttering many schools. Several coronavirus testing sites closed Monday and Tuesday in Nebraska and Iowa, as both states saw 12 to 15 inches of snow in places. At least 4 inches of snow was expected through Tuesday across most of an area stretching from central Kansas northeast to Chicago and southern Michigan. Ice is also predicted to accumulate just south of the snow from Kansas to New Jersey. National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Taylor Nicolaisen, who is based near Omaha, said up to 15 inches was reported in spots between York, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa. 'This is historic snow,' Nicolaisen said. He said it's uncommon for the region to get more than a foot of snow from a single storm, and it has been decades since some cities saw this much. More than 200 flights were canceled on Tuesday as travel chaos hit the Midwest where up to 15 inches blanketed several states during a major winter storm Crews clean snow from a car parking lot at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday Snow covers vehicles in a car parking lot at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday Snowplows clear snow on Grand Avenue near the State Capitol in Des Moines. Workers in Des Moines started cleaning up a record snowfall Tuesday morning 'A lot of people tend to misremember snow events especially from when you were a kid. Everything felt like a foot of snow when you were a kid,' Nicolaisen said. 'The snow drifts were literally higher than your head when you were a kid, but that's because you were 2 1/2 feet tall.' 'If these snow totals materialize, they would be very rare for Iowa,' the NWS in Des Moines wrote. 'On average, single daily snowfalls of a foot or more only historically occur every 15 to 20 years.' The storm made travel treacherous in places as wind-whipped snow piled up. Interstates were temporarily closed in western Nebraska and in Wisconsin near Milwaukee because of crashes, and about 230 flights were canceled at airports across the region. Officials urged drivers to stay off the roads. In Wisconsin, the weather service predicted up to 10 inches of snow could fall in the Milwaukee area, with the highest totals along Lake Michigan. A lone runner leans into a stiff wind near Lake Michigan on the Northside of Chicago on Tuesday A man shields himself from the rain with an umbrella as he walks along with a child during a rainy and foggy winter afternoon at the Ocean City boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey Snow covers cars and Blondo Street east of Northwest Radial Highway in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday. The Omaha area recorded almost 12 inches of snow the day before A worker clears a sidewalk in downtown Des Moines Tuesday morning following heavy snow Monday Wind gusts of 15mph to 25mph were reported across southern Wisconsin, creating drifting snow, reduced visibilities and complicating snow removal efforts, said Andy Boxell, a meteorologist with the weather service's office in Sullivan, Wisconsin. In the Chicago area, more than 6 inches had already fallen by Tuesday afternoon and forecasters predicted up to 8 inches or more would fall in some areas before the storm ended Tuesday evening. The last comparable snowfall hit the area in November 2018, when 8.4 inches fell. Many schools and businesses across the Midwest closed for a second day Tuesday as crews worked to dig out after the storm. Omaha had all 115 of its own plows and 300 contractors out Tuesday working around the clock to clear the streets in Nebraska's biggest city, but Assistant Public Works Director Todd Pfitzer cautioned that the effort will take some time to complete. Parts of Nebraska and Iowa could see between 12 to 18 inches of snow (depicted) In the Chicago area, more than 6 inches had already fallen by Tuesday afternoon and forecasters predicted up to 8 inches or more would fall in some areas before the storm ended Tuesday evening Traffic on a snow packed street in downtown Des Moines. Workers in Des Moines started cleaning up a record snowfall Tuesday morning Wind gusts of 15mph to 25mph were reported across southern Wisconsin, creating drifting snow, reduced visibilities and complicating snow removal efforts, said Andy Boxell, a meteorologist with the weather service's office in Sullivan, Wisconsin. A pedestrian crosses a snow covered street in Des Moines on Monday Looking west from the Iowa State Capitol into central Des Moines Tuesday morning after a two-day snowstorm dropped nearly a foot of snow 'We are asking for a little patience,' Pfitzer told the Omaha World-Herald. In West Des Moines, Iowa, Chris Borsberry said he needed four-wheel drive to make it into the Fairfield Inn & Suites where he works, and it took him twice as long as normal. Once at the hotel, Borsberry said he had to shovel the sidewalk seven times because it kept getting covered until the snow finally stopped. 'I got excited about that because it meant I only had one more shovel pass to do,' said Borsberry, 45. In the Southwest, more than a foot of snow fell in the mountains of Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Icy conditions in mountains north of Los Angeles shut Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass and State Route 58 in Tehachapi Pass. A storm buried northern Arizona in snow while sending flurries to the outskirts of Las Vegas and Phoenix. Preliminary snowfall reports from the latest storm included 14.2 inches at the Flagstaff airport and 16 inches at Payson between Sunday night and late Monday, the weather service said. Most of Nevada was bracing for another series of powerful storms that generated a rare blizzard warning along with a forecast for as much as 6 feet of snow and wind gusting over 100mph in the mountains above Lake Tahoe by early Friday. At lake level, the weather service expects 2 to 4 feet of snow with winds gusting to 50mph. Meanwhile, in Alabama, a tornado ripped off roofs and destroyed homes, leaving one dead and 30 injured on Monday Shocking aerial pictures show heaps of mangled metal and wooden debris littered across the Darlene Estates neighborhood in Fultondale just north of Birmingham 'Travel could be near impossible or even paralyzed with near-zero visibility through Friday morning,' the service said. Another major storm was approaching the coast with the potential to bring 10 to 15 inches of rain to central California and dump several feet of snow across the Sierra Nevada mountains over the next three days. That could lead to flash floods and debris flows which can carry massive boulders, trees and other objects to areas north and south of San Francisco Bay. Evacuation orders were in effect for areas of fire-scarred Santa Cruz County and evacuation warnings were issued in San Mateo County. In the South, one person was killed and at least 30 others were injured after a tornado carved a 10-mile-long path of destruction north of Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday night, leaving the area with crumpled buildings and downed trees. Shocking aerial pictures show heaps of mangled metal and wooden debris littered across the Darlene Estates neighborhood in Fultondale. Officials said that a 14-year-old boy who was sheltering in his basement died when a tornado blew a tree onto the home and killed him, police said on Tuesday. Several of his family members were critically injured when the home collapsed and trapped them in the basement. At least 30 other people were injured as the tornado rampaged through the community, which was severely harmed by a much larger tornado a decade ago. Ukraine's former national-security chief, Oleksandr Danylyuk, has called the election of Joe Biden "excellent news" for Kyiv but said the new U.S. administration will lay down strict preconditions for cooperation, including pushing out corrupt officials. Danylyuk told a U.S.-Ukraine Business Council virtual conference on January 27 that Biden's team knows "Ukraine well" and it will be very difficult for the nation's officials to "bullshit them." Danylyuk said Biden's victory will be bad news for some current and former Ukraine officials, including those involved in helping the Trump administration look for dirt on Biden's son Hunter, who sat on the board of a Kyiv-based gas company. Trump's request to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a July 2019 call to help him find compromising information on his Democratic competitor led the House of Representatives to charge him with two crimes. Trump was eventually acquitted by the Senate in early 2020, but the case damaged his administration's relationship with Kyiv. "The new [Biden] administration will be effective in communicating, cooperating with Ukraine, but under certain conditions. Certain people involved -- for example in the impeachment scandals -- will have to go," Danylyuk told the conference. He said those officials were operating in their own interest rather than in the interests of Ukraine. Danylyuk said Zelenskiys government was "very weak" and that this could pose a challenge to the United States as it pushes Kyiv to carry out tough reforms. "It's very difficult to be a strong partner [to the United States], when the execution is weak. It's difficult to plan something when you know there's no one to implement it properly," he said. He called anti-corruption and judiciary reform the most important issues that Ukraine needs to tackle and described the annulment of anti-corruption reforms in October as the "worst news" for the country in 2020 aside from the pandemic. "Unless the key topics of anti corruption and judiciary are tackled, nothing is going to change in the country," he said. "You can have wonderful economic policy, you can address the energy issues, but these two things impede the development of the country." Biden, who oversaw Ukraine policy while serving as U.S. vice president from 2009 to 2017, including traveling to Kyiv six times during that period, has yet to speak with Zelenskiy since taking office on January 20. Danylyuk resigned in September 2019, after four months on the job, amid concern over corruption in the Zelenskiy administration. He said he is forming a think tank with two other former officials to create a platform for people "who would like to change the country." A glance at some of the day's highlights from the Proactive Investors newswire ( ) has released new and upgraded contingent resource estimates for the Buchan oil project in the North Sea Following dynamic reservoir work conducted by Schlumberger the company has set P50 contingent technically recoverable resources of 126mln barrels of oil for the Buchan oil field, which will be the central part of the Greater Buchan Area (GBA) hub project. It marks an improvement from a prior estimate of around 82mln barrels, and lifts the whole GBA inventory to 162mln barrels. ( ) said it has sold a package of 9 licences in the Kalahari Copper Belt for US$3mln to Sandfire Resources Ltd ( ), which is building the T3 copper-silver mine nearby. It marks a quick monetisation for Galileo given it only acquired the exploration ground in May and October 2020. Sandfire is paying US$1.5mln in cash and US$1.5mln in shares, plus a contingent future success payment of US$10mln-80mln subject to future ore reserve volumes being unearthed across the acreage. At the same time, Sandfire is subscribing for US$1.5mln Galileo shares, at a price of 2.68p per share. Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy ( ) (First North:FARON) said the US Food & Durg Administration (FDA) has approved the phase II/III trial of a drug being deployed to combat the acute symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19). Traumakine, an intravenous interferon beta-1a drug, will be given to people who have been hospitalised but who do not yet need ventilation. It will be administered before corticosteroids are given. The aim is to prevent systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and by extension improve sufferers condition and reduce the death rate among patients. ( ) shares pushed higher after the provider of services to the pharmaceutical sector said 2020 earnings would be ahead of expectations. The company said it expects revenue for 2020 will be around 86.4mln, up 26.5% on 2019s 68.3mln and in line with current market expectations. The positive trading performance seen in both Ergomed's pharmacovigilance (PV) and clinical research organisation (CRO) businesses during the first six months of the year continued through to the year-end and resulted in a strong order book at the start of 2021. Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Ltd (LON:ECO) said it has launched plans that will see it become a diversified, growth-oriented energy company. The firm has set up a new company, Eco Atlantic Renewables, which will seek to source, acquire, and develop exclusive renewable solar energy projects. "We are not a management team that likes to sit and wait for outcomes, said Gil Holzman, Eco chief executive in a statement. Following several months of extensive strategic work and identification of multiple projects by the management team and Board of Directors, this exciting opportunity has crystalised. ( ) has highlighted recent drill results put out by Group Eleven Resources ( ) as part of an ongoing programme of work on the Stonepark zinc deposit in Ireland. Arkle holds a 23.44% interest in the Stonepark project with Group Eleven holding the remaining interest. The two-hole step-out programme intersected strong mineralisation beyond the boundary of the existing resource estimate, including 0.5 metres of 12% combined zinc and lead. Albion Development VCT PLC (LON:AADV) has said that, following strong demand for the companys shares under the Prospectus Top Up Offers 2020/2021, which opened on January 5, 2021, its board said it has elected to exercise the over-allotment facility. Accordingly, the maximum amount that the company can raise is increased from 7mln to 10mln (before issue costs). ( ) has reiterated a multi-track approach to recovering the casino vertical alongside what it said is a fundamental rationalisation of its asset portfolio. In a trading update for the year to December 31, 2020, the digital marketing specialist said the portfolio rationalisation involved significantly reducing the overall number of sites and upgrading the quality of those remaining, with a concentration on highly-engaging content and enhanced functionality to drive increased traffic and build consumer loyalty. ( ) has unveiled a maiden copper-gold mineral resource estimate for its Alford East project in South Australia including the Netherleigh Park, Liaway and Alford East prospects. The AIM-listed explorer reported a mineral resource estimate for the project of 177,000 tonnes of contained copper and 71,500 ounces of contained gold, although it added that the estimate includes only oxide copper-gold mineralisation considered amenable to In Situ Recovery (ISR) techniques. ( ) said its cash burn has been significantly reduced to cope with the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while also outlining actions that it said will allow it to rapidly take advantage of pent-up consumer demand and opportunities that will undoubtedly emerge once restrictions are lifted. In an update for the year to December 27, 2020, the AIM-listed publican said cash burn has been reduced to 300,000 per month following a number of cost-saving measures including furloughing almost all of its staff, reducing director salaries and negotiating with its landlords. Sativa Wellness Group Inc ( ) has said it is aiming to achieve a UK FSA novel foods accreditation on or before the deadline of March 31 as the cannabidiol (CBD) specialist laid out its plans for the coming year. In a business update, the company said it is aiming to drive sales of its Goodbody brand of CBD wellness products in the UK and launch them in Europe. The firm said it will commence online sales on its Goodbody store websites as well as expanding its product range to focus on lower price point products as well as adding more cosmetic products to deliver increased consumer and trade sales. plc ( ) the AIM-listed metals exploration and development company announced an update regarding the maiden drill programme targeting the discovery of nickel and platinum group metals (PGM) at the Haneti Nickel PGM Project in Tanzania. Power Metal holds a 35% ownership interest in Haneti with 65% held by PLC ( ). Paul Johnson, chief executive officer of commented: "The successful completion of the maiden drill programme at Haneti is another positive step forward and with samples now dispatched to the laboratory, we eagerly await the assay results." In a separate statement, PLC said it has taken an option to acquire a 100% interest in four gold exploration properties in the prospective Hemlo and Schreiber area of Ontario, Canada. The AIM-listed company said the agreement would see it pay up to C$260,000, half in cash and half in shares, based on an issue price of its shares of 3p apiece. FastForward Innovations Ltd ( ) has noted the shareholder approval of the merger of Yooma Corp. and Globalive Technology (TSX-V: LIVE). The AIM-listed group held a 10.65% interest in Yooma and will hold 8.95% of the enlarged issued share capital of the combined company. The merger remains subject to Canadian regulatory approval. ( ), the employee benefits and services provider, believes it is well-placed to capitalise on an increased focus on employee well being. Protecting employees' health and wellbeing became a key focus for all employers in 2020 and with 72% of UK managers naming wellbeing as a top priority in 2021, the company said its three divisions stand ready to help them deliver on this. In a trading update covering the whole of 2020, the group said that after a solid first-half performance, it continued to trade robustly in the second half of the year during what it described as a most challenging period. SDX Energy PLC ( ) has set its 2021 production guidance at 5,620 to 5,920 barrels oil equivalent and said it plans to spend some US$25mln to US$26.5mln of capex. The Egpyt and Morocco focused firm noted that the production guidance range is slightly lower than the like-for-like run-rate last year. I am pleased to provide our production and capex guidance for 2021, where after a very solid year of production in 2020, we continue on a similar profile, albeit with some contingency worked in for maintenance in Egypt, said Mark Reid, chief executive in a statement. ( ), a leading oil & gas drilling and production services provider in the Middle East and North Africa, said it has secured a new contract in the Gulf of Suez. The contract, secured with a top-tier client, covers a firm six-month period, with the option to extend for an additional six months. The daily rate for the contract will be similar to a previous contract held by the company. The contract further strengthens ADES's position and revenue visibility in Egypt. The new contract is expected to commence in February 2021. ( ), the online trading platform operator, has selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) to speed up the next phase of its digital transformation. The adoption of AWS will provide the agility, security, and resilience for CMC Markets to deliver on its ambitious product development pipeline, the company said. By outsourcing the management of network servers, CMC Markets will free up valuable development hours, taking its delivery time for new product innovations from six months to six weeks, it told investors. Inc. ( ) ( ) has announced the appointment of Jaco Crouse has been appointed as its chief financial officer (CFO) effective immediately. The group said Crouse will replace George Fowlie who has stepped down as the CFO but remains on its board as a director. It added that the board intends to propose Crouse as a director of the company at the next annual general meeting. noted that Crouse is a seasoned mining executive with nearly 20 years' experience in financial management, mine financial planning, business optimization and strategy development. He most recently occupied the position of CFO of Detour Gold Corp. ( ) said it has bought a Morrisons store in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, from Aberdeen Standard Investments for 30mln. The total amount paid (excluding acquisition costs) represents a combined net initial yield of 5.0%. Built in the 1980s, the supermarket was refurbished and extended in 2011 to cover 37,000 square feet. ( ), the gold producer focussed on Azerbaijan, is to pay a special dividend of US$0.015 per share in respect of the year ended December 31, 2020. The dividend will be paid on March 11, 2021. ( ) has announced that Jan Gunnar Opsal has stepped down as a non-executive director of the company, with immediate effect. Under the terms of the Shareholder and Relationship Agreement dated July 8, 2016, Eclipse Investments has the right to appoint two directors to the Aminex board and there is now only one Eclipse Director on the board and Eclipse retains the right to appoint an additional director at any time. Charles Santos, chairman of Aminex commented: "On behalf of the Board, we thank Jan Gunnar for his contribution to the Company and wish him the very best for the future." ( ) announced that it has renewed and amended its multi-currency revolving credit facility (RCF). The lender has been novated from (Ireland) Designated Activity Company to The Bank of Nova Scotia, London Branch. The company's borrowing policy is unchanged. Under the terms of the amended RCF, the company may draw down loans up to an aggregate value of US$150mln. The new facility will expire in January 2022. ( ) has said that, following its announcement on January 12, 2021, regarding the exercise of the Company Put option with an institutional investment fund managed by Lombard Odier Asset Management, the company has issued 9,375,000 warrants to advisors in settlement of certain fees for this transaction. The warrants are exercisable for a period of 3 years at an exercise price of 2p per share. ( ) said it has been notified that Paul Ryan, previous non-executive chairman of the Company, has exercised a further 7,142,857 options at a price of 1.4p each. The consideration received by the company will be 100,000. ( ) ( ) said that after receiving notice for the exercise of warrants, it is issuing 83,333 new ordinary shares with a nominal value of 20p each in the capital of the company at a subscription price of 31p per share, for which the company has received gross proceeds of 25,833. ( ), the AIM-listed mining company, announced that Atlas Special Opportunities LLC has given notice to the company that it elects to convert bonds of US$500,000 nominal value in accordance with the terms of the Bond Issuance Deed announced on October 24, 2019. The company confirmed that it has satisfied the exercise of the Conversion Rights through the issue of 323,880,177 ordinary shares of 0.1p each at a price of 0.1128p per ordinary share. Zephyr Energy PLC ( ), the Rocky Mountain oil and gas company focused on responsible resource development, said it has received notice of exercise for warrants (issued in November 2019) to subscribe for 4,545,454 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the company at a price of 2.0p per ordinary share. ( ), a leading global provider of specialist consultancy services to the Asset and Wealth Management industry, has announced that Investec Bank has been appointed as its Nominated Adviser, in addition to its existing role as joint broker alongside Berenberg, with immediate effect. ( ) is a buy and could more than double in value, thats according to an initiation note by stockbroker SP Angel. The small-cap oiler bucked the trend of its peers in 2020 with a year of operational development, highlighted analyst Sam Wahab. Against a challenging market backdrop, the company successfully transitioned into a low cost, high margin producer, exiting the year with a transformed production profile, Wahab said in a note. ( ) ( ), a biotechnology company focused on innovative therapeutics for oncology, inflammation, and infectious diseases has published an updated presentation to its website at https://ir.tizianalifesciences.com/presentation. The presentation contains no new material information but gives an overview of all of the company's current and active development pipeline, consolidating information the subject of previous announcements, including the potential of Foralumab as a lymphodepletion agent in CAR-T therapies for cancer. The company's budgeted expenditure for the full year 2021 remains $30mmln and budgeted expenditure for 2022 remains $28mln; in both cases, the expenditure totals include all clinical and general and administrative expenditure. Cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2020, stood at US$62mln. ( ), the specialist drug development company delivering targeted small molecule therapeutics to improve the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, has said its chief executive officer, Dr Tim Mitchell, is participating in a virtual interview at the Edison Open House: Global Healthcare 2021 event, taking place online between 26 and 28 January 2021. Dr Mitchell's session will take place between 2.00pm and 3.00pm GMT today, Tuesday, January 26, 2021. The following link can be used to register: https://www.lsegissuerservices.com/spark/edison-open-house-global-healthcare-2021 UPDATE: Michigan man says he surveilled Gov. Whitmers home in kidnap plot GRAND RAPIDS, MI Ty Garbin, an alleged leader of a Michigan-based militia, has agreed to plead guilty to kidnap conspiracy in the alleged plot to abduct Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a plea agreement shows. Garbin, 25, is expected to enter the plea Wednesday, Jan. 27. He faces up to life in prison and forfeiture of property connected to the kidnapping plot. Five others await trial in federal court while another eight face charges in state courts. Garbin will be the first to enter a guilty plea. He has agreed to cooperate with state and federal authorities investigating the kidnapping plot. Under the agreement, filed Wednesday, federal prosecutors will not add additional charges, including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and possession of unregistered weapons and destruction devices, court records said. Federal prosecutors could ask for a sentence reduction if he fully cooperates with investigators, records showed. Garbin, of Livingston Countys Hartland Township, was an alleged leader of the Wolverine Watchmen, a Michigan-based militia. Others indicted on federal kidnapping-conspiracy charges are Brandon Caserta, 33, of Canton, Barry Croft Jr., 44, of Bear, Delaware, Adam Fox, 37, of Wyoming, Kaleb Franks, 26, of Waterford, and Daniel Harris, 23, of Lake Orion. (Top left to right) Adam Fox, Barry Croft and Ty Garbin (Bottom left to right) Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. They are held without bond with a jury trial set for March 23. Over the course of months last year, undercover FBI agents and confidential sources provided investigators real-time information about planning and training to kidnap the governor at her Antrim County vacation home, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler said in court documents. He said that Garbin, Harris, Franks and Caserta belong to the Wolverine Watchmen. On June 14, another member of the militia men with Fox, who said he wanted to meet with other militia groups in the state. Four days later, the defendant, Harris and other members of the Wolverine Watchmen leadership met Fox in person at a Second Amendment Rally outside the Michigan State Capitol. Fox said he wanted to recruit 200 people storm the Capitol, try any politicians they caught for treason, and execute them by hanging on live television, Kessler wrote. The group met two days later in the basement where Fox worked just outside of Grand Rapids. Fox allegedly talked about removing tyrants from office, Kessler wrote in the plea agreement that Garbin signed. Fox proposed using Molotov cocktails and improvised explosive devices to distract or hinder police. He also wanted to hold Whitmer for trial and restore our Constitutional rights by any means, the prosecutor wrote in the plea agreement. The government said that Garbin and others took part in planning and training. On Sept. 12 and 13, at Garbins property near Luther, the defendants built a shoot house to simulate (Whitmers) vacation home, and practiced assaulting it with firearms. In addition, the conspirators constructed a range for life-fire training, using (Garbins) front-end loader and approximately 400 used tires provided by Franks, the plea agreement said. Some of the defendants conducted overnight surveillance of Whitmers vacation home, according to testimony and the plea agreement. Read more: 6 suspects in alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer indicted by federal grand jury Suspected Michigan militia leader to plea in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot, records show Alleged leader in Gov. Whitmer kidnap plot faces first Michigan court appearance Jeff Siwak, Director of Client Accounts at The Weinbach Group As we help these companies navigate this new era, we feel confident having Jeff guide them. The Weinbach Group, a nationally recognized healthcare marketing firm, announced today the addition of Jeff Siwak, a seasoned communications professional, to its executive leadership team. He will serve as director of client accounts, where he will be responsible for providing strategic direction for clients marketing efforts to ensure the Miami ad agency achieves clients communications and marketing goals. Despite the pandemic, The Weinbach Group grew dramatically during the past year, adding a number of new accounts and expanding the scope of work for existing clients. The addition of Mr. Siwak will allow the agency to continue its growth trajectory while bringing greater strategic focus to client accounts. Of course, the pandemic has been a historically challenging period in so many ways, said Daniel Weinbach, president and CEO of The Weinbach Group. In the context of healthcare public relations, this time has raised unique challenges for our clients in the healthcare industry challenges that required expertise in healthcare marketing. So, they turned to The Weinbach Group. Now, as we help these companies navigate this new era, we feel confident having Jeff guide them. He brings diverse experience from across the health and medical field as well as unique bona fides as a professor of healthcare marketing. Mr. Siwak is an adjunct professor at St. Louis Universitys College of Public Health and Social Justice, where he teaches healthcare marketing. Prior to joining The Weinbach Group, he worked at BJC Healthcare, the largest health system in Missouri. His healthcare experience also includes working at Coventry Health Care, overseeing the proposal department at Express Scripts, and handling product development at Magellan Behavioral Health. He also has worked on a contract basis for Express Scripts and Blue Cross Blue Shield. As director of client accounts, Mr. Siwak will collaborate with the healthcare advertising agencys other account executives, as well as the companys content writers, graphic design team, and publicity department, to deliver creative work that advances client objectives. Further, he will leverage his client-side experience to grow existing relationships and provide a client-centric focus to the work the agency carries out. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from St. Louis University. About The Weinbach Group The Weinbach Group, a now in its fourth decade of business, consistently ranks among South Floridas top advertising, public relations, and marketing firms. The agency serves clients in a range of industries, and has special expertise working with healthcare organizations. Notable clients have included ChenMed Senior Care, The Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, HCA, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Jackson Health System. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Russian police today searched the properties of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny for evidence he breached coronavirus rules by calling for protests demanding his freedom. Navalny, 44, was arrested on return to Russia following months of treatment for novichok poisoning in Berlin, which he maintains was an assassination attempt ordered by President Vladimir Putin. After his imprisonment, the Kremlin dissident called on pro-democracy Russians to protest and demand his release. On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of activists poured into 70 Russian cities to support the 44-year-old's cause. Police reported 3,900 arrests, including Navalny's wife Yulia, and were accused of employing 'brutal tactics' to 'suppress' the crowds, which left many demonstrators bloodied and injured. Interior ministry officials and sources close to Navalny today confirmed his home and offices are being searched as part of a criminal probe into whether the rallies' organisers had breached coronavirus protocol. Policemen leave the flat of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia today. The property is occupied at present by Navalny's wife Yulia, as her husband was jailed on return to Russia for allegedly breaching the terms of a suspended sentence A police officer is seen outside the Moscow apartment of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny today Police officers are seen preparing to search the offices of opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), in Moscow today A Russian police van is parked outside of the Moscow apartment building of jailed opposition leader Navalny today. Police searched the dissident's properties as part of a criminal probe into whether organisers of nationwide rallies on Saturday breached coronavirus restrictions A Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman today accused organisers of the protest of creating a 'threat of the spread' of coronavirus. Ivan Zhdanov, the head of the FBK Anti-Corruption Foundation, a non-profit formed by Navalny in 2011, said on Twitter that Navalny's wife Yulia was at one of the apartments as police were gaining entry to the home. She posted a video from inside where loud hammering could be heard outside the door. 'They are not letting in my lawyer. They broke my door in,' Yulia Navalny yelled to journalists from out of her apartment window, an AFP journalist reported. Navalny (pictured) maintains that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his assassination. The 44-year-old was admitted to a Berlin hospital in August for suspected novichok poisoning People clash with police during a protest against Navalny's detention, in St Petersburg, Russia on Saturday Riot police officers detain a participant in an unauthorized rally in support of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny by the Moscow Circus A supporter's face is bandaged and covered in blood after attending the unauthorised rally in Moscow on Saturday Zhdanov posted a screenshot from a security camera at the office of the foundation, showing several masked men there. The FBK is best known for its investigations into the wealth of Russia's political elite. Its most recent report suggested President Vladimir Putin was gifted an opulent property on the Black Sea Coast costing over $1.5 billion. The investigation was released days after Navalny was arrested on his return on January 17 from Germany, where he spent months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Russian police watch a fire during an unauthorised protest rally against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny People climb a monument during an unauthorized rally in support of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny Riot police officers guard the area during an unauthorized rally in support of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny As Moscow cracks down on its critics, the Kremlin said it plans to punish social media platforms which failed to delete posts to join in Saturday's protests. Social media platforms, most notably popular teenage platform TikTok, were flooded with thousands of posts calling on Russians to demonstrate ahead of Saturday. In response, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor warned platforms they would face fines for failing to delete such posts and said that several had removed a significant number. An injured participant reacts during an unauthorised protest rally against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny Roskomnadzor decided today that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Youtube, would be fined between 800,000 rubles (7,700) and four million rubles (38,600) for failing to comply with its requirements 'to suppress the spread of calls to minors to participate in unauthorised rallies'. Protests in Russia are banned if they are not approved by the authorities, as are calls for people under 18 to join demonstrations. Also on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin complained about the growing influence of large technology companies, which he said are 'competing' with states. Hashtags dedicated to Navalny have been trending on TikTok, where they have garnered more than 1.5 billion views, after the anti-corruption crusader was jailed on his return to Russia from Germany. His allies have called for a new round of demonstrations this Sunday. A High Court judge has granted arrested journalist Hopewell Chinono ZWL$20,000 bail following his two-week detention at Chikurubi Prison on charges of publishing or communicating falsehoods. According to the Media Institute of Southern Africa Zimbabwe, Justice Foroma ordered Chinono to surrender his title deeds, report twice a week at the nearest police station and reside in Chisipite until the finalization of the case. Chinono is also facing charges of defeating or obstructing the course of justice. The state claims that the journalist posted a falsehood on his Twitter account when he tweeted a video in which a child allegedly beaten to death by a policeman while he was in strapped on the back of his mother. Police claimed that the baby is alive. A similar video was posted on Twitter by MDC Alliance vice chairperson Job Sikhala and the partys spokesperson, Fadzayi Mahere who were also arrested for publishing or communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Source: Reuters Budget 2021 is just around the corner and industry captains are hoping Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will give their requests due consideration when she presents her Union Budget 2021-22 on February 1. While the COVID-19 pandemic has left no sector unharmed, the micro small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is believed to have borne the maximum brunt. To alleviate the pain of MSMEs, the government announced a Rs 3 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package valid until March 21, 2021. But could Budget 2021 bring more relief? Moneycontrol takes a look at what experts expect for MSMEs from FM Sitharaman and what is likely in store for the sector that has been marred by massive liquidity crunch, labour shortages, and non-payment of dues: What does MSME expect from Budget 2021? As per a report by Financial Express, experts have suggested the GST on professional services be cut to 5 percent from 18 percent to boost the MSME sector. The report also states the MSME body Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) has sought a temporary suspension of Basel norms to ease lending from the banking sector to the small businesses. Experts feel the government must increase the collateral-free loan limit to Rs.35 crore for medium businesses, Rs 15 crore for small businesses and Rs 5 crore for micro-units. What is FM Nirmala Sitharaman likely to announce for MSME sector in Budget 2021? Moneycontrol had earlier reported that government is considering easing NPA classification norms to provide relief to the MSMEs and small businesses. Currently, non-payment of loan amount above 90 days is termed as a non-performing asset (NPA). The government is considering increasing the limit for NPA classification to 120-180 days. Among the other announcements is the development of a one-stop mobile app for the MSMEs, Zee Business reported. The app is expected to be a one-stop centre for all the necessities like registrations, enrollment for GST, legal and tax compliance among other things, Zeebiz reported. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Travel in Saudi Arabia under Tourism category. The Travel Market in Saudi Arabia is projected to exhibit highest growth rate over report offers a collection of superior market research, market analysis, and competitive intelligence and industry reports. From 25 March when lockdown measures began to be introduced, COVID-19 has severely damaged the Travel Industry In Saudi Arabia. Inbound and domestic tourism flows plummeted, with grounded flights from 15 March to 1 June leading to a sharp drop in international tourism. These restrictions have had a devastating impact on Saudi Arabias economy which is expected to continue to be felt in coming years. The hit to religious tourism will be particularly hard, with this being the bedrock of the Saudi... Travel in Saudi Arabia report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest market size data 2015-2019, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new legislative, technology or pricing issues. Background information on disposable income, annual leave and holiday taking habits is also included. Forecasts to 2024 illustrate how the market is set to change. Request a free sample copy of Saudi Arabia Travel Industry Report @ http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/sample/reports/724600 Product coverage: Activities and Experiences (Destination), Lodging, Online Travel Sales and Intermediaries, Tourism Flows, Travel Modes, Traveller Profiles. Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data. Why buy this report? * Get a detailed picture of the Travel market; * Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change; * Understand the competitive environment, the markets major players and leading brands; * Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop. Table of Contents Travel in Saudi Arabia EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COVID-19 impact on travel COVID-19 country impact Company response to COVID-19: Airlines and hotels Impact of COVID-19 on online bookings and travel intermediaries What next for travel? CHART 1 Inbound Receipts: 2020-2025 CHART 2 Average Spend per Trip for Inbound Arrivals: 2020-2025 MARKET DATA Table 1 Annual Leave: Volume 2015-2020 Table 2 Travelers by Age: Number of People 2015-2020 Table 3 Seasonality: Number of People 2015-2020 Table 4 Leisure Outbound Demographics: Number of Trips 2015-2020 Table 5 Other Transport Sales: Value 2015-2020 Table 6 Other Transport Online Sales: Value 2015-2020 Table 7 Forecast Other Transport Sales: Value 2020-2025 Table 8 Forecast Other Transport Online Sales: Value 2020-2025 Table 9 Activities and Experiences: Value 2015-2020 Table 10 Forecast Activities and Experiences: Value 2020-2025 GLOBAL MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT GLOBAL INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT SOURCES DISCLAIMER Browse our full report with Table of Contents: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/travel-in-saudi-arabia/724600 About Us Market Reports on Saudi Arabia provides you with an in-depth industry reports focusing on various economic, political and operational risk environment, complemented by detailed sector analysis. We have an exhaustive coverage on variety of industries - ranging from energy and chemicals to transportation, communications, constructions and mining to Food and Beverage and education. Our collection includes over 3000 up-to-date reports all researched, analyzed and published by top-notch international research firms. Contact us at: Market Reports On Saudi Arabia Tel: +91 22 27810772/27810773 Email: info@marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Website: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com Follow us on: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. 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Digital Editor The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine recommends that the heads of educational institutions in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions during the period of difficult weather conditions be ready to make a decision on the organization of the educational process in a remote form. According to the ministry's press service, such a recommendation was sent to the region following the results of an extraordinary meeting of the Commission on Manmade Disaster, Emergency Response due to a sharp deterioration in weather conditions. "The letter also notes the need to transfer the functional subsystem of teaching preschool children, pupils and students to actions in emergency situations (on life safety issues) of the unified state system of civil protection of Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kirovograd, Poltava, Sumy, Cherkasy and Chernihiv regions on high alert," the ministry said. In addition, all regional departments of education and science, institutions of higher education, enterprises, institutions and organizations related to the management of the Education Ministry are recommended to take additional measures to prevent hypothermia of participants in the educational process during the period of complications of weather conditions. Sony has just dropped a bomb on the camera world with the launch of the A1, its new flagship full-frame mirrorless camera with some breakthrough features. Thanks to a new 50-megapixel Exmor RS stacked CMOS sensor and the cutting-edge Bionz XR processor, it offers 30 fps shooting speeds, 8K 30P/4K 120P video and a lot more. With all that, it can easily take on Canons R5, though it comes at a significantly higher price. The A1s key feature might be its incredible speeds. It can shoot 50.1-megapixel images at up to 30 fps, with both autofocus and auto-exposure enabled, using the electronic shutter (thats 1,500 MB/s worth of data, Sony noted). At those speeds, you can capture up to 155 compressed RAW files before the buffer fills. Speeds drop to 10 fps with the mechanical shutter, but thats still excellent considering the very high resolution sensor. Whats more, youll get a blackout-free view of those images thanks to the worlds first 240Hz OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) with 9.44 million-dot resolution and 0.90X field of view. Thats similar to the EVF found on the A7S III, but the A1s EVF has double the refresh rate and a larger field of view. Sony A1 flagship full-frame mirrorless camera Sony A1 flagship full-frame mirrorless camera At the same time, the A1 has a standard ISO 100-32,000 ISO sensitivity range, expandable to ISO 50-102,400, so it should work well in low-light. Thats possible because of the back-illuminated [sensor] structure with gapless on-chip lenses and an AR coated seal glass, according to Sonys latest sensor jargon. It also has improved color reproduction and up to 15 stops of dynamic range. If 50-megapixels isnt enough resolution, you can use Sonys pixel shift multi shooting feature to combine up to 16 shots into one 199-megapixel image. If video is more your thing, you can shoot 8K 10-bit 4:2:0 video at 30 fps internally (to either SD or CFexpress cards), using the full width of the sensor. That 8K video should be sharp, as its super-sampled from an 8.6K image size. 4K recording at up to 60 fps also uses the full width of the sensor, or adds a small 1.1x crop if you turn on active image stabilization. If you want to shoot 4K at 120 fps with a full sensor readout, it will crop down to Super 35 mm with 5.8K oversampling. Autofocus works in all video modes. Story continues The S1 can record with 10-bit 4:2:2 color detail and S-Log or hybrid log-gamma (HLG) modes, using Sonys latest HEVC/H.265 code with intra-frame coding. If thats not good enough, it will output 16-bit RAW video to an external recorder. The A1 also features Sonys S-Cinetone color matrix found on its Venice, FX6 and other Cinema Line cameras. One downside for video shooters and vloggers is that the rear display only flips up and not around like on the A7S III. Rolling shutter has been a problem on previous Alpha cameras, particularly for video. However, Sony has promised that a new anti-distortion shutter reduces that effect by up to 2.8 times. Sony has also introduced an anti-flicker mode to reduce flicker caused by artificial lights when shooting using the electronic shutter. Sony promises unrivaled autofocus on the A1 with real-time eye-tracking for both photos and video, covering humans, animals and birds. The tracking algorithms work faster than ever and with 30 percent greater precision than the A9 II, according to Sony. The A1 also offers 5-axis in-body stabilization with 5.5 stops of shake reduction. That includes an active video mode that Sony says is highly effective for handheld shooting. All of these features are contained in a normal-sized, 737 grams (1.63 pound) Alpha body, but Sony promises that youll be able to record 8K/30p or 4K/60p video continuously for up to 30 minutes without overheating. Thats clearly a shot over Canons bow, as EOS R5 continuous shooting times are more constrained by overheating. Sony's A1 is a $6,500 50MP camera that shoots 30fps bursts and 8K video Much like the A7S III, the A1 includes dual SD UHS II and dual CFexpress card slots, so youll be able to backup your work on the fly and choose between cheaper SD UHS II or faster CFexpress formats. Other features include a full HDMI port, mic and headphone ports, 10 Gbps USB 3.2, an optional multi interface shoe with digital audio and, yes, a gigabit ethernet port. As for battery life, youll get up to 530 shots on a charge. It also offers the industrys fastest 802.11ac WiFi speeds, according to Sony. Professional photographers or video shooters will be able to use that feature in conjunction with the new $2,500 Xperia Pro smartphone (above), which will double as an HDR monitor and 5G transmitter. Youll pay for all this power. Pre-orders start tomorrow at $6,498 for the body only, which is $3,000 more than the Canon EOS R5. However, the A1 is now Sonys flagship aimed at professional photographers and videographers, who wont balk at that price for a second. Shipping is expected to start around February 25th, with consumer availability sometime in March. Webinar Investor Presentation Perth, Jan 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Torian Resources Limited ( ASX:TNR ) encloses an investor presentation to be presented at 1:00pm AEDT, Wednesday 27 January 2021.The Company will present an outline of its current projects, exploration strategy and outlook.Event: Torian Resources Limited Investor Presentation WebinarPresenting: Paul Summers (Executive Chairman), Peretz Schapiro (Executive Director) and Claudio Sheriff-Zegers (Senior Geologist)Time: 1:00pm AEDT, Wednesday 27 January 2021To view the presentation, please visit:About Torian Resources Limited Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) is a gold exploration and development company with an extensive and strategic land holding comprising eight projects and over 400km2 of tenure in the Goldfields Region of Western Australia. Torian's flagship project, Zuleika, is located along the world-class Zuleika Shear. The Zuleika Shear is the fourth largest gold producing region in Australia and consistently produces some of the country's highest grade and lowest cost gold mines. Torian's Zuleika project lies north and partly along strike of several major gold deposits including Northern Star's (ASX:NST) 7.0Moz East Kundana Joint Venture and Evolutions (ASX:EVN) 1.8Moz Frogs Legs and White Foil deposits. Torian's other projects include the strategically located Mt Stirling and Malcolm Projects in the Leonora region (near Red 5's King of the Hills Project), where it recently completed updated Mineral Resource Estimates and preliminary scoping studies, and a suite of other projects in the Kalgoorlie region including Credo Well JV Zuleika JV, Bonnie Vale, Gibraltar and Mount Monger/Wombola. Political Strategists Donna Brazile, Ana Navarro to Speak at UW Virtual Event Feb. 11 Donna Brazile, the former Democratic National Committee interim chair, bestselling author and a Fox News contributor, and Ana Navarro, former Republican strategist, co-host of ABCs The View and a CNN political contributor, will discuss todays political landscape and the future of the country Thursday, Feb. 11, through a virtual University of Wyoming presentation. An Afternoon of Conversation with Donna Brazile and Ana Navarro will take place at 5:30 p.m. The discussion was set to occur last March as part of the womens suffrage 150th anniversary celebration but, due to COVID-19 concerns, it was rescheduled. The event will be part of UWs annual Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Dialogue (MLK DOD) Feb. 8-12. The link to view the presentation will soon become available on the School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice (SCGSJ) website. Brazile and Navarros talk is sponsored by UWs SCGSJ; the College of Arts and Sciences Deans Office; the Milward L. Simpson Fund and the School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies; the departments of Communication and Journalism, English, and Criminal Justice and Sociology; as well as the College of Law. With years of political expertise and media experience, Brazile and Navarro are seasoned analysts and are among the best political commentators on television today. They can quickly scrutinize geopolitical trends and other major forces at play in the nation. When Brazile and Navarro team up, they deliver straightforward perspectives about the future of Washington, D.C., while peppering their talks with real-life stories from campaigns and television sets. Brazile is a renowned political strategist and commentator who was an ABC News and CNN political news contributor. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House and the 2004 bestselling memoir, Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in America. Brazile was the first African American woman to direct a major presidential campaign, acting as campaign manager for Al Gore in 2000. She also has worked on several presidential campaigns for Democratic candidates, including Jesse Jackson and Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro campaigns in 1984, and for Dick Gephardt in the 1988 Democratic primary. Navarro is a well-known Republican strategist who also has appeared on CNN en Espanol and Telemundo. The Miami New Times named her a Republican power-consultant, and the Tampa Bay Times called her a sought-after voice in Republican politics and an adviser for any presidential hopeful. Navarro served as the national Hispanic co-chair for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsmans 2012 campaign and was the national co-chair of the late U.S. Sen. John McCains Hispanic Advisory Council in 2008, where she also was the national surrogate for the McCain 2008 campaign. Navarro has played a role in several federal and state races in Florida. She served on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bushs transition team in 1998 and was his first director of immigration policy in Floridas Executive Office of the Governor. In 2001, she served as ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, devoting much of her energy to condemning human rights abuses in Cuba. In 1999, she worked in the private sector, representing private and public clients on federal issues, particularly related to immigration, trade and policy affecting Central America. In 1997, she was a special adviser to the government of Nicaragua. For more information about the virtual talk, call Jacquelyn Bridgeman, the director of UWs SCGSJ and the Kepler Professor of Law, at (307) 766-5259 or email jbridge@uwyo.edu. Sorry! This content is not available in your region 18+ FOR.kg search news service (news aggregator, media aggregator) Read first Agreement on the use of the FOR.kg search site When using materials from the FOR.kg - reference to the source is required For all questions please contact customer support Footage shows one victim on the ground not retaliating as he is repeatedly struck, while another video shows a boy with his arms over his head attempting to break free from an assault. Disturbing vision has emerged of a group of males repeatedly kicking and punching teenagers in the dunes at the popular beach on Tuesday night. Perth teenagers enjoying an Australia Day gathering at City Beach have been bashed, robbed and had their heads stomped on after being ambushed by a violent mob. The violent group can be heard shouting run that shit ... get it, get it, get his wallet ... I got his phone as someone can be heard pleading, stop, stop ... please mate, please. Lisa Melvin told Radio 6PR her teenage son was taken to hospital after being bashed by a ring of ten people. He originally went in - one of his mates was getting threatened with a knife - so he went in to ty and get that to calm down, and after that they sort of came after him, this large guy, and punched him, she said. About 10 other people just surrounded him and he was just down on the ground and they were kicking him and punching him and hes come out with bruises all over his head, his shoulder can hardly move, and hes got bruises just all over his body just from defending his mate. A girl tried to get in to help him and they just shoved her away, there was no way his friends could have got to him without getting hurt so he just did what he was trained and went all floppy and put his hands over his ears and protected his face. Nissan Motor Co, Ltd has set the goal to achieve carbon neutrality across the companys operations and the life cycle of its products by 2050. As part of this effort, by the early 2030s every all-new Nissan vehicle offering in key markets will be electrified. Nissan will pursue further innovations in electrification and manufacturing technology to make progress on the companys carbon neutrality goal in the following strategic areas: *Battery innovations including solid-state and related technologies to develop cost-competitive and more efficient electric vehicles; *Further development of Nissans e-POWER electrified powertrains to achieve greater energy efficiency; *Development of a battery ecosystem to support decentralised, onsite power generation for buildings with renewable energy sources. Nissan anticipates increased collaboration with the energy sector to support the decarbonization of power grids; and *Manufacturing process innovations to support higher productivity in vehicle assembly, starting with the Nissan Intelligent Factory initiative. The company will also strive for greater energy and material efficiencies to support longer-term carbon neutrality ambitions. Were determined to help create a carbon neutral society and accelerate the global effort against climate change, said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. Our offering in electrified vehicles will continue to expand around the world, and this will make a major contribution to Nissan becoming carbon neutral. We will continue to drive innovation that enriches peoples lives as we pursue a sustainable future for all. Nissans goal builds on its decades-long programmes to reduce emissions and provide electric vehicle technologies that benefit the environment and society. The companys electrification and emissions reduction efforts support the aims of the UN Paris Agreement on climate change and global progress toward carbon neutrality by 2050. Nissans ambition also expands upon past initiatives under the Nissan Green Programme and the companys ongoing work to minimize the carbon footprint of its products and operations. The company introduced the worlds first mass-market electric car, the Nissan LEAF, and has sold more than 500,000 of the zero-emission vehicle to date. Nissan also continues to work with industry coalitions and authorities to develop infrastructure and raise public awareness about the benefits of electric vehicles. With 100% of all-new vehicle offerings to be electrified in the key markets of Japan, China, the US and Europe by the early 2030s, Nissan will also be among the leaders in driving the adoption of electric vehicle technology. Nissan believes the automotive industry can be a driving force in meeting global environmental and climate needs through a commitment to innovation and impact reduction by collaborating with authorities and partners worldwide. When combined with the expansion of renewable energy and charging infrastructure, vehicle electrification and sustainable operations can help accelerate the arrival of a carbon neutral future.-- Tradearabia News Service The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Photos courtesy of families; Skye Gould/Insider The police shootings of Daniel Prude and Walter Wallace Jr. highlight both how ill-equipped police officers are to deal with mental-health crises and the pain and guilt that family members can feel after calling the police to intervene. Insider spoke with five mothers who called the police during their sons' mental-health crises, only for the officers to kill their sons. This is part one in a six-part series. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. One exhausted mother in North Carolina feared that her depressed son would take his own life. She hadn't left the house in days, but she needed a respite, and he needed treatment. A mom in California was told that her son had a knife and was expressing suicidal thoughts. She didn't want to take a chance by dismissing it as just a teenage cry for help. Another mother had done everything in her power to ensure that people in her community knew her son with schizoaffective disorder was not a threat to them. In each case, the desperate parent made the only choice they thought they had: They called 911. But instead of summoning relief, those calls triggered a deadly response by armed police officers. Police officers in the US have fatally shot nearly 1,000 people each year since 2015, The Washington Post reported in June. A few of those shootings have a certain terrible distinction: They occurred after someone called the police for help with a relative in a mental crisis. Choosing to call for help has left these families suffering from a particular kind of survivor's guilt, one for people who were failed by a broken system that gave them nothing but bad options. "The debris and wreckage that leaves behind for the family members who are essentially survivors, who may themselves feel like they had a hand in contributing to the death of a loved one - this survivorship is one of the most under-recognized sources of mental-health disparities in the country," Alexander Tsai, a psychiatrist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Insider. Story continues Five mothers from around the country talked to Insider about the day the police killed their sons after they or another family member called the authorities for help. They described the devastation it left behind. Some of them have been propelled into activism or advocacy to reform how the police respond to mental-health calls. Others have fled the homes they once shared with their children, trying to run from anything that reminded them of the worst day of their lives. Several still struggle with establishing emotional or social balance. All of them said that if they were put in the situation again, they would not call 911 for assistance in a mental-health emergency, no matter how desperate they felt. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Mental health is a factor in nearly 20% of fatal police shootings Researchers have found that in the US, about 10% of police calls for service each year involve some form of mental crisis, Dennis Kenney, a former officer and current professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, recently told Insider. In 2015, police records indicated that about 25% of the people the police fatally shot were experiencing such a crisis, The Post reported; as of mid-October this year, that figure was nearly 20%. A 2015 study by the Treatment Advocacy Center found that the risk of being killed by law enforcement for people with an untreated mental illness - about one in 50 people - was 16 times as high as the risk for other people. Tsai, whose research analyzed racial disparities in police killings and their effects on mental health, says it's normal for people whose call to 911 resulted in police violence to feel lingering grief and responsibility. "Grief is normal. Not only have they lost a loved one, but they feel complicit in that loved one's death, even if it's not their responsibility," Tsai said. "The key is how can you begin to reconstruct your life and reconstruct your narrative around what happened so you can be merciful to yourself and begin to have a life worth living again? "I think in this country we put too much on the backs of the families put these in these types of situations, where they feel like they have to basically make up for gaps in the system because the system failed them," he continued. "We do not have a functioning system for mental-health treatment or substance-use treatment in this country." Police killings are not a modern phenomenon, but the growing availability of officer body-camera footage and cellphone videos has shed light on their disturbing prevalence. In March 2020, one such video captured the death of Daniel Prude, 41, of Rochester, New York. Prude's brother had called 911 because Prude was acting erratically. Body-camera footage showed Prude naked and handcuffed with a "spit hood" over his head, struggling to breathe for several minutes. The Monroe County medical examiner found that Prude died of asphyxiation and ruled his death a homicide. Months later, protests erupted over the shooting death of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old man in Philadelphia who was killed during what his family said was a mental-health crisis. Relatives had called emergency services several times that day for help for Wallace, who had bipolar disorder. Family members told reporters that they had called for medical aid but that the police showed up first. "When you come to a scene where somebody is in a mental crisis, the only tool you have to deal with it is a gun. That's a problem," Shaka Johnson, an attorney for the Wallace family, told NBC News. "I would have a problem if my carpenter came to my house with only a hammer. Where is your screwdriver, sir? Where is the proper tool for the job?" "We know that people - certainly Black and brown people - with mental illness are much more likely to be killed by police and more likely to be killed by police while unarmed," Tsai said. "We know that ungodly percentages of people killed by police are in a mental-health crisis. And so, understandably, people, even before they pick up the phone to call the police, have a large degree of skepticism about whether they should call the police, whether it's the right thing to do, whether some bad outcome is going to result." Every decision shouldn't be a 'bad choice' For most communities, there is no easy answer, Tsai said. Some cities, like Eugene, Oregon, have developed nonpolice units to respond to mental-health crises. In Eugene, people can call a number and have trained, unarmed emergency medical technicians and clinicians respond. It's called Cahoots, short for Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets, and the city has been using it for more than 30 years. The White Bird Clinic, which runs the Cahoots program, reported that in 2019 it received 24,000 calls but required police support only 150 times. Police departments in other cities, including Los Angeles and New York, have announced similar pilot programs. Many departments around the country now provide crisis-intervention training, which offers tools to address mental-health emergencies. But the training isn't the be-all and end-all in preventing police shootings. It's designed to teach officers how to identify when they're dealing with a person in a mental-health crisis so they have context for when and how to use de-escalation tactics, Kenney said. While that context can be helpful, it only goes so far in situations where officers believe their lives are in danger, he said. "In theory, that works somewhat. But when it comes to very aggressive behavior - or at least perceived aggressive behavior - it doesn't change that you believe you're about to be hurt," Kenney told Insider. "If I feel terribly threatened, then the reason why you're threatening me becomes much less important than the threat itself." Research on police shootings suggests the opportunity to alter the outcome of a possibly fatal police response doesn't happen in the seconds a police officer has to decide "shoot or don't shoot," Kenney said. It happens the moment the police approach the person. In many cases, the greatest opportunities to intervene in mental-health crises come before the police ever arrive, Kenney said. "Yes, we do need more training, but we also need a system where it doesn't burden the police officers with responsibility, so it doesn't burden the families with responsibility," Tsai said. "So that we have a more functioning system where not every decision is a bad choice." Reshaping the crisis-response system to provide support and lessen the burden on the police Angela Kimball, the national director of advocacy and public policy at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, agrees that the Cahoots model is the right path to prevent violent encounters between the police and people in crisis. NAMI has been at the front of a national push to rebuild the crisis-response system, and its efforts have gained support from law enforcement, she said. "Responding to people who are experiencing mental-health, suicide, or substance-abuse issues, that's not the job law enforcement signed up for," Kimball told Insider. "It's not a position we should ask our law-enforcement professionals to be in." Kimball said the existing crisis-response system in most states was built to fail both the person with a mental illness and the officers called to respond. "One of the most challenging and, in fact, devastating aspects of a severe mental-health condition is that a person doesn't always recognize that there is something wrong," Kimball said. "And that gets to the fact that our system is set up such that we don't have ways to get people into treatment when they aren't voluntarily doing so, except for civil-commitment laws." The civil-commitment process - in which a person can argue that a loved one needs to be entered into treatment even if they oppose it - usually involves the courts or law enforcement, she said. "That is often a very stressful or at times traumatizing way of getting someone into treatment," Kimball added. The skills needed to respond to people with mental illness are often at odds with the traditional ways that law enforcement operates. For example, Kimball said, it's natural for people in crisis to act in a way that others would perceive as irrational, such as not responding to commands, fleeing, or waving a weapon in the presence of an officer. It's not uncommon for people with mental illnesses to be exceptionally intelligent, articulate, and verbal, but they might also have impediments that slow down their processing and prevent them from abiding by officers' commands. For this reason, many police shootings of people with mental illnesses are technically considered justifiable, Kimball said. That doesn't mean they're not also traumatic for the officers. Capt. Zach Hall of the Riverside County Sheriff's Office in Southern California told Insider that when officers pull the trigger, it's usually because they believe their lives are somehow in danger. When they find out they killed someone in a mental-health emergency, they, too, can live with a sort of survivor's guilt. In some situations, particularly those where a person is seeking "suicide by cop," the person will leave behind a note apologizing for putting officers in that situation, Hall said. The officer might later learn that a gun the person was holding was empty, or was a toy gun, and realize their death was unnecessary, Hall said. "Some of them never recover," Hall said. To protect families from this kind of devastation, the crisis-response system needs to be rebuilt to involve behavioral-health specialists trained in de-escalation who can get the person the assistance they need, Kimball said. She cited the Cahoots model and the launch of a national mental-health-crisis hotline as potential solutions. The hotline, expected to launch by July 2022, is a means to use the Cahoots model on a national scale. The idea is that people experiencing or witnessing a crisis will be able to dial 988 instead of 911 to reach a call center staffed with experts who will offer an assessment of the situation over the phone. Ideally, the centers would also be able to dispatch mobile crisis-response units. A goal would also be to feed cases that come through the hotline to stabilization programs, Kimball said. "Funding is the primary barrier," Kimball said. "We've not chosen to invest in this kind of crisis-response system in most parts of the country, but I think their incredible success is opening up the eyes of other state officials in other places. "With 988, it's happening, and it's really important for people to understand that the kind of system they have in the future will depend on them getting involved now," Kimball added. "This is a unique opportunity to really reshape things." Tsai said that "Black and brown families have every right to be skeptical or fearful for when they pick up their phone about what's going to happen." "Wouldn't it be better if that phone call resulted in a mobile mental-health-crisis van that came to your home with people who are trained in de-escalation and recognizing signs of mental-health illness and acute intoxication and can actually connect your loved one with treatment?" Read the original article on Insider Covid-19: C.D.C. Says Its Safe to Reopen Schools, With Precautions The Biden administration is nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 million more doses, but the pace of vaccinations may not escalate for months. Global coronavirus cases have topped 100 million. C.D.C. officials say most available evidence indicates schools can be safe if precautions are taken on campus and in the community. Students arriving for in-person learning at a public school in Brooklyn this month. Credit... Andrew Seng for The New York Times Open schools. Close indoor dining. When to keep schools open, and how to do so, has been an issue plaguing the response by the United States to the pandemic since its beginning. President Biden vowed to teach our children in safe schools in his inaugural address. On Tuesday, federal health officials weighed in with a call for returning children to the nations classrooms as soon as possible, saying the preponderance of available evidence indicates that in-person instruction can be carried out safely as long as mask-wearing and social distancing are maintained. But local officials also must be willing to impose limits on other settings like indoor dining, bars or poorly ventilated gyms in order to keep infection rates low in the community at large, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in the journal JAMA and in a follow-up interview. School administrators must limit risky activities such as indoor sports, they added. Its not going to be safe to have a pizza party with a group of students, Margaret Honein, a member of the C.D.C.s Covid-19 emergency response team and the first author of the article, said in an interview. But outdoor cross-country, where distance can be maintained, might be fine to continue. Federal officials cited the many benefits of in-person schooling for children, and argued for prioritizing their educational, developmental and emotional and mental health needs. Schools are an important source not just of education, but health and social services for children, Dr. Honein said. Even though the pandemic is rapidly changing, and contagious new variants are spreading, Dr. Honein and other C.D.C. officials argued there is little evidence that schools spark the kind of outbreaks seen in nursing homes and meatpacking plants, or contribute to increased transmission in communities. Back in August and September, we did not have a lot of data on whether or not we would see the same sort of rapid spread in schools that we had seen in other high-density work sites or residential sites, Dr. Honein said. But there is accumulating data now that with high face mask compliance, and distancing and cohorting of students to minimize the total number of contacts, we can minimize the amount of transmission in schools. The call by Dr. Honein and other officials reflects a consensus among some leading educators and public health experts that schools should be the last to close and the first to open when shutdowns are necessary. Last year, all kindergarten to grade 12 public schools closed for in-person instruction by March 25, shortly after the World Health Organization declared that the new coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic. Many schools subsequently switched to online teaching models for the rest of the school year. During the fall term, about one-quarter of school districts were completely online, about half were using a hybrid model, and fewer than one-quarter were fully open for in-person teaching. Yet more than half of school districts had students participating in sports programs. In an opinion column in USA Today earlier this week, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dr. Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, called for widespread testing to keep schools safe and get children back into the classroom, not only for educational reasons, but to restore free school meals, give children a social outlet, and provide myriad school-based services that are vital to low-income children. The Covid-19 School Response Dashboard, a collaboration that tracks infections in school districts willing to share data, has reported that infection case rates among staff in October and November were similar to case rates in the surrounding communities. More recently, however, staff case rates in New York increased at a faster rate than community case rates. The causes are not clear. The increases may reflect a more frequent testing of schoolteachers. Case rates increased among teachers engaged in in-person teaching and among those teaching remotely, suggesting in-person instruction was not the sole factor. Emily Oster, a professor of economics and public policy at Brown University who created the dashboard, said that low case rates in the community make it possible to keep schools running safely. Prioritizing schools is going to mean limiting some of those other activities, and deciding that we want to undertake some of those sacrifices to keep schools open, because weve decided as a society that schools are important relative to other things, Dr. Oster said. The frustration for many people is that you can go to an indoor restaurant. In Massachusetts, I could go to an indoor water park like Great Wolf Lodge I can take my kids to Great Wolf Lodge. But in a lot of places in Massachusetts, there has been no school. The C.D.C. also published two related studies on Tuesday. One was an investigation of a high school wrestling tournament in Florida in December that became a super-spreader event, leading to at least 79 infections and one death. The tournament brought together 10 schools and 130 athletes and coaches, and 30 percent of participants were infected with the coronavirus. Thirty-eight individuals went on to transmit the virus to at least 41 others, including family members. (The full number is not yet known, because fewer than half the participants were tested.) The researchers calculated that 1,700 in-person school days were lost to quarantines and isolation of patients and their contacts. The number would have been higher if not for the December holiday break. C.D.C. researchers also took a look at 17 elementary and secondary schools in rural Wisconsin where mask-wearing was routine. The incidence of infection was lower in schools than in the community at large, the scientists found. During 13 weeks in the fall of 2020, there were 191 infections among staff and students; only seven resulted from in-school transmission, according to the study. Biden said his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna for 200 million more doses by summers end. It may not speed up vaccinations. Video transcript Back bars 0:00 / 1:08 - 0:00 transcript Biden Administration Orders 200 Million More Vaccine Doses President Biden announced on Tuesday that his administration was working on a deal to secure the doses of coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of the summer. The deal is unlikely to accelerate the current pace of vaccination for several months. This will be one of the most difficult operational challenges weve ever undertaken as a nation. Ive said that before, but I must say it again, because were going to do everything we can to get it done. After a review of the current vaccine supply and manufacturing plans, I can announce that we will increase overall weekly vaccination distributions to states, tribes and territories from 8.6 million doses to a minimum of 10 million doses. And we believe that well soon be able to confirm the purchase of an additional 100 million doses for each of the two F.D.A.-authorized vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna. Thats 100 million more doses of Pfizer and 100 million more doses of Moderna 200 million more doses than the federal government had previously secured. Not in hand yet, but ordered. We expect these additional 200 million doses to be delivered this summer. We didnt get into this mess overnight. And its going to take months for us to turn things around. But let me be equally clear: Were going to get through this. We will defeat this pandemic. President Biden announced on Tuesday that his administration was working on a deal to secure the doses of coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of the summer. The deal is unlikely to accelerate the current pace of vaccination for several months. Credit Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times President Biden announced on Tuesday that his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna to secure an additional 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of the summer a time frame that his predecessor had also envisioned, and one that may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination for months. The purchases would boost the administrations total vaccine order by 50 percent, raising it from 400 million to 600 million doses enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer, beginning of the fall, Mr. Biden said. Although the president has been in office for less than a week, he is already under intense pressure from a frustrated public to accelerate vaccinations. Tuesdays announcement will enable Mr. Biden to underscore that he shares those concerns. The deal would provide the federal government with 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 100 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, Mr. Biden said. Speeding up what has been a slow distribution of vaccines has taken on more urgency with the arrival of more contagious virus variants in the country. But while the president has vowed to use the Defense Production Act if necessary to increase vaccine supply, there is little he can do in the short term. Federal health officials and corporate executives agree that it will be hard to boost the immediate supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines the only two that have federal authorization before April because of lack of manufacturing capacity. Pfizer had agreed last summer to provide an initial 100 million doses to the United States by the end of March. Under a new agreement reached last month by the administration of former President Donald J. Trump, Pfizer agreed to provide an additional 70 million doses by the end of June and another 30 million by the end of July, doubling the deliveries it promised in the initial contract. This latest deal would apparently obligate Pfizer to deliver another 100 million over the summer, or roughly the third quarter of the year. The original contract said that while the government could request that new tranche of vaccine, Pfizer could reasonably refuse it. But there was little expectation that Pfizer, an American company, would do so. Mr. Biden also said the federal governments weekly allocations of coronavirus vaccines would increase by about 1.4 million doses starting next week. This is going to allow millions more Americans to get vaccinated sooner than previously anticipated, he said. The increase, to around 10 million doses given to states, territories and tribes each week, will come from the federal governments plans to release more of the vaccine made by Moderna, the Massachusetts biotech company whose vaccine was authorized for emergency use in December. Although governors will probably welcome the news, it does not reflect any increase in the overall amount that Moderna will deliver to the federal government in the first three months of this year, according to people familiar with the companys production. Governor Andrew Cuomo, the chairman of the National Governors Association, said that New York, where more than 42,000 people have died, welcomed both the increase in doses and Mr. Bidens assurances that those vaccine allocations would be maintained in weeks to come. You really cant plan and schedule when you dont know what youre going to get next week, Mr. Cuomo said on MSNBC. At the same time, he conceded its not enough, as the state continues to try to vaccinate nearly 20 million residents. At this rate, were talking about months and months, he said. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Noah Weiland, Sharon LaFraniere, Katie Thomas and Advertisement Continue reading the main story The world reaches a staggering milestone of more than 100 million known virus cases. Medical personnel transporting a patient at Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System in Salinas, Calif., on Sunday. Credit... Joel Angel Juarez for The New York Times The world surpassed a total of 100 million known coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to a New York Times database, a staggering milestone for a global health crisis that is entering a phase of both hope and deep concern. Experts say that 100 million most likely underestimates the true number of cases, given the lack of adequate testing and contact tracing in many countries, including the United States. Likewise, the number of deaths more than two million people worldwide, including more than 420,000 in the United States is probably much higher than officially reported. Despite lockdowns, social distancing and other measures, the increase in cases has only accelerated in recent months. Global coronavirus cases topped 25 million at the end of August, more than eight months after the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China. By mid-November they had doubled to 50 million. It took less than three months for them to double again. In one positive sign, the number of daily new cases in the United States, which has the worst outbreak in the world, has been on the decline in recent weeks. U.S. deaths, though, remain high, numbering more than 3,000 per day on average in recent days. While the U.S. decrease in cases has contributed to a recent decline in the number of daily new cases reported worldwide, there are still more than 500,000 new cases being reported around the globe each day on average. Health experts also worry that new variants of the virus could bring a resurgence in U.S. numbers as they have in Britain, Ireland and South Africa. Those fears have prompted new lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world. Weariness over the pandemic and the associated economic pain remains palpable, even as experts warn that preventive measures remain necessary in many areas. A United Nations official said Monday that the pandemic had precipitated the greatest global labor crisis since the Great Depression. Some of the strongest stirrings of hope came in December, when large-scale rollouts of coronavirus vaccines began in earnest. But the global supply of the new vaccines has thus far been insufficient to meet the demands of the most vulnerable. There is not enough vaccine right now to even serve those who are most at risk, Dr. Michael Ryan, head of the emergencies program at the World Health Organization, said Monday. In an increasingly interconnected world, the economic fallout from a flawed vaccine distribution plan could prove difficult to contain, much like the virus itself. According to a report released Monday, inequitable vaccine distribution could cost the global economy more than $9 trillion. Wealthy nations, which in some cases have secured enough doses to vaccinate their populations several times over, would absorb about half of those costs, the report found. Under pressure to speed up the U.S. pace of coronavirus vaccination, President Biden said on Tuesday that his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna to secure an additional 200 million doses of vaccine by the end of the summer a time frame that his predecessor had also envisioned. It may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination for months. The State Department is warning Americans that help will be limited if they go abroad for nonessential reasons. A testing center at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Golf & Spa Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. Credit... Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach Beginning Tuesday, travelers flying into the United States from any other country must present proof of a negative test for the coronavirus. The State Department is also urging Americans to avoid traveling abroad for nonessential reasons, warning that those who test positive or cannot access a test could get stuck abroad for an extended period of time and that for them, assistance from the U.S. government will be limited. The Department of State is committed to helping U.S. citizens overseas who find themselves in dire situations, but that assistance is likely to be limited, said the Bureau of Consular Affairs Acting Assistant Secretary Ian Brownlee. Our goal is to help people avoid those dire straits in the first place. The directive was in line with the new tone from the Biden administration which has tightened rules around international travel. Many other countries have been requiring negative test results for months. While travel globally will be affected, especially in light of the Biden administrations decision to bar travelers excluding American citizens from Brazil, Britain, Ireland, South Africa and 26 countries in Europe that allow travel across open borders, the biggest impact of the testing rule will be for destinations in the Caribbean and Mexico, which have continued to attract American leisure travelers who cannot go to other parts of the world. We keep getting curveballs thrown at us in our whole industry, said Jason Kycek, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Casa de Campo, a golf-and-beach resort in the Dominican Republic that is expanding its existing on-site testing facilities. The finish line keeps moving, but we are staying on top of things and making sure our guests have what they need and can travel safely. Mexico and countries in the Caribbean have remained popular destinations for American travelers even as other destinations closed their borders, in part because of their proximity to the United States, making them relatively easy and affordable to reach. In the fall, several U.S. airlines added flights to the Caribbean islands and to Mexico at a time when routes elsewhere were being cut. In November, nearly 500,000 Americans flew to Mexico alone, according to official figures. Under the new requirement, travelers seeking to enter the United States will need to get tested no more than three days before their scheduled flight, showing a negative result to their airline before boarding. Those who have already had the virus will need to show documentation of recovery in the form of a recent positive viral test and a letter from a health care provider or a public health official stating they were cleared to travel. Americans who test positive or cannot access a test could be stuck abroad for several weeks and should be prepared to pay for their medical care and lodging, Mr. Brownlee said. All travelers should have a plan B, he said. He added that before traveling, Americans should ask themselves the following questions about what they would do if they were stuck in another country longer than intended: Where would you stay? How would you pay for that extended stay? What would happen at home if you couldnt get back to work, couldnt get back to take care of your children or any of your other responsibilities? The United States will accept results from rapid antigen tests, while other countries have been asking for what are known as polymerase chain reaction tests, or P.C.R. tests. Antigen tests have been found to be less reliable than P.C.R. tests. U.S. embassies in other countries will not offer tests. For an industry already decimated by the pandemic, the new testing requirement may cut into any business rebound. Last week, United Airlines told reporters on its fourth-quarter earnings call that Mexican destinations were among the most affected by the new testing requirement. Tariro Mzezewa and Students in Chicago Public Schools are told to stay home as a clash with the teachers union escalates. Earlier in January, Chicago teachers had set up computers outside public schools, holding virtual classes as a show of support for pre-K educators teaching inside. Credit... Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times, via Associated Press With the clash between the Chicago Public Schools and its teachers union escalating and thousands of teachers planning to stay home starting on Wednesday to protest the districts reopening plan, on Tuesday evening the district told parents of prekindergarten and special education students who have been attending school in person that it had no choice but to ask them to keep their children home on Wednesday. For the past three weeks, thousands of CPS students have been safely learning in person, and the unions action will prevent these students from receiving the classroom support their parents needed and chose, the districts chief executive, Janice K. Jackson, said in a letter to families. The union has fiercely opposed the reopening plan, under which the district brought an initial cohort of students back into buildings this month and planned to welcome kindergarten through eighth grade students on Monday. Most students in the district, the nations third largest, have been learning remotely since last March. Dr. Jackson said in her letter that the district was continuing to try to reach an agreement with the union. She said the district had made changes to its plan to address some of the unions concerns, including increasing the frequency of planned surveillance testing of staff to twice a month and testing students in the 10 ZIP codes with the highest positivity rates once a month. But she said that the union was continuing to make demands that did not align with public health guidance, including demanding that its members be vaccinated ahead of other city residents, including the elderly, first responders, grocery store employees, and other school staff members who have been in schools regularly since the pandemic began. While teachers were being prioritized in the citys vaccination efforts, she wrote, city leaders cannot cast aside an equitable vaccination plan and deprioritize the needs of other deserving community members who are at greater risk and performed essential work throughout the closure. Meanwhile, the union said Tuesday evening that it was calling for mediation to broker an agreement. If solving the problem of how to reopen school buildings while ensuring the safety of educators, staff and students in the middle of a pandemic was easy, then CPS and CTU would have already done it, said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the national union. Thats why appointing a mediator is the right move, right now. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Key data of the day Just how fast is the U.S. vaccine rollout rolling? Only 6 percent of the U.S. population has received the first of the two required doses of vaccine; only 1 percent have gotten both doses and are fully immunized. Credit... James Estrin/The New York Times More than a million people a day, on average, have received a shot to help protect them against Covid-19 in the U.S. over the last week, and the national vaccination effort has been gathering speed. Yet even at that pace, the vaccine has reached only a small proportion of Americans far too few yet to significantly slow the spread of the virus. So far, only 6 percent of the U.S. population has gotten the first of the two required doses of vaccine; only 1 percent have gotten both doses and are fully immunized. What do those percentages mean in human terms? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracker, 19.9 million people had received at least one shot by midday on Tuesday meaning that the nation is only now, almost four weeks into 2021, reaching the goal of 20 million that the Trump administration set for Dec. 31. Of those 19.9 million, about 3.4 million Americans have received their second shot as well. At that scale, the vaccines are protecting the recipients, but not doing much yet for anyone else. The country will not start to gain the effects of herd immunity when the virus has trouble spreading because most people who encounter it already have antibodies until at least 60 percent of the population has either been vaccinated or survived an infection, according to Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. The minimum threshold may be getting higher now, as new, more transmissible variants of the virus take hold, she said. And even after a degree of herd immunity is reached, the virus will continue to spread, just at a far less dangerous rate. It doesnt mean the virus completely goes away, she said, but it kind of moves into the background. All kinds of things went wrong when the vaccine rollout started, including problems with supply, staffing, logistics and communications. But with time, most states have built up their capacity to administer shots, and 45 states have moved beyond the narrow initial categories of nursing home residents and frontline health care workers to start inoculating all residents above a certain age. So the national pace has more than doubled in a month, setting the country on track to meet President Bidens initial goal of getting at least one shot into 100 million people in his first 100 days in office a million a day. Yet even at that rate, the Biden administration estimates that by the end of April, about 67 million people will have had both shots and be fully protected less than halfway to the 160 million or more who may need to be vaccinated for a level of herd immunity, even after allowing for people with natural antibodies from a cleared infection. On Monday, President Biden raised his goal to 1.5 million shots a day. Federal health officials and pharmaceutical executives agree that it will be impossible to increase the immediate supply of vaccines before April because Pfizers and Modernas factories are already running flat out, but the companies hope to get more production lines running after that. On Tuesday, Biden administration officials said they were near a deal to buy 200 million more doses of those companies vaccines for delivery in the summer. And another manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson, is expected to report the results of clinical trials soon on the vaccine it has developed. If it proves to be safe and effective and wins authorization, that would help expand the vaccine supply even more. A state representative is kicked out of Georgias House chamber after refusing a coronavirus test. State Representative David Clark, who was expelled from the House chamber on Tuesday, said he believed it was political retaliation from a fellow Republican. Credit... Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press A Georgia state trooper escorted a Republican state lawmaker out of the House chamber in Atlanta on Tuesday after he refused to abide by the legislatures coronavirus testing protocols. Representative David Clark, who represents a suburban district northeast of Atlanta, was led from the chamber on the orders of Representative David Ralston, the House speaker and a fellow Republican. Mr. Ralston, without mentioning Mr. Clarks name, had initially announced that a fellow member had not followed testing protocols, and asked that member to leave. But Mr. Clark refused. I dont know about yall but Ive been to too many funerals and Im tired of going to them, Mr. Ralston said from the House dais after ordering Mr. Clark removed. Lawmakers are required to be tested twice weekly at a site in the Capitol while in session. The flare-up was just the latest infighting among Georgia Republicans, who have been riven by former President Donald J. Trumps efforts to overturn the states election results. Mr. Clark and other lawmakers signed on to an amicus brief supporting a Texas lawsuit, rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, that had sought to overturn Mr. Trumps losses in Georgia and three other swing states. Mr. Ralston was among top Republican lawmakers who resisted Mr. Trumps efforts to change the election results based on meritless accusations of widespread voter fraud. Mr. Clark, in a phone interview on Tuesday, said he did not get tested because he was upset that people who worked in Georgias Statehouse had access to regular testing while many other Americans did not. There are only so many tests, he said. Mr. Clark said that he was considering legal action to challenge his expulsion, and that he believed it was political retaliation by Mr. Ralston. Mr. Clark had earlier demanded Mr. Ralstons ouster after an Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation found that the speaker, who is a lawyer, used his political post to delay court cases for clients accused of child molestation, domestic abuse and rape, among other charges. The speaker is trying to crucify me for this because of what Ive done to him in the past, Mr. Clark said. Mr. Clark said he was not a pandemic denier. But he said he considered the states regular testing regimen for lawmakers excessive if they were following the recommendations of public health experts to wear masks, monitor temperatures and socially distance. He did not wear a mask while speaking to reporters in the Capitol. Sean Keenan and A Wisconsin pharmacist will plead guilty to attempting to spoil hundreds of vaccine doses. Steven Brandenburg was skeptical of vaccines, according to the plea agreement, and had shared his beliefs in conspiracy theories and alternative history with his co-workers. Credit... Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, via Associated Press A Wisconsin pharmacist accused of intentionally sabotaging hundreds of Covid-19 vaccine doses will plead guilty to charges filed in federal court, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday. Steven R. Brandenburg, a 46-year-old hospital pharmacist from Grafton, Wis., attempted to spoil the doses of the Moderna vaccine which must be stored at cold temperatures to remain effective by removing them from the hospitals refrigeration unit, the Justice Department said. Mr. Brandenburg will plead guilty to two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death and bodily injury. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. During two overnight shifts on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Mr. Brandenburg left the doses out for several hours before returning them to the refrigerator for use the next day, according to a plea agreement. Mr. Brandenburg had for at least two years told his co-workers about his beliefs in conspiracy theories and alternative history and had indicated that he was skeptical of vaccines, specifically the Moderna vaccine, according to the plea agreement. Police earlier called him an admitted conspiracy theorist. The doses that Mr. Brandenburg had removed from refrigeration made it into the arms of 57 people before his conduct was discovered. Whether the doses were actually rendered ineffective was still under investigation. The FDA has ensured that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine meets the agencys rigorous standards for quality, safety, and efficacy, Catherine A. Hermsen, assistant commissioner for criminal investigations at the Food and Drug Administration, said in a statement. Those who knowingly tamper with this vaccine place American patients health at risk. Todays announcement should serve as a reminder that this kind of illicit tampering activity will not be tolerated. Advertisement Continue reading the main story For sale in Oklahoma: a large stockpile of hydroxychloroquine. Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, purchased a stockpile of hydroxychloroquine in April and said it could be used for other things if it proved to be ineffective against Covid-19. Credit... George Frey/Reuters The Oklahoma Department of Health is still trying to unload a stockpile of hydroxychloroquine an antimalarial drug touted by former President Donald J. Trump as a miracle cure for Covid-19 despite a lack of evidence that it effectively treats the disease that it purchased for $2 million last spring. Mike Hunter, the states attorney general, has been brought on to assist the health department in selling back the drug, Alex Gerszewski, a spokesman for Mr. Hunter, said on Tuesday. The state is attempting to sell the stockpile back to the company it purchased it from, FFF Enterprises, a California-based health care distributor, or to find another buyer, Mr. Gerszewski said. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Oklahoma has been trying to unload the stockpile for months. In July, the state health department told News 9, a local TV news station, that it was working to sell it. A spokesman for the health department confirmed on Tuesday that the stockpile was still in the departments possession but referred questions about the attempted return to the attorney generals office. Early, seemingly promising results, bolstered by political pressure, prompted the Food and Drug Administration to grant hydroxychloroquine an emergency authorization for use in very sick Covid-19 patients. Follow-up studies, however, found the drug neither sped recovery nor prevented healthy people from contracting the coronavirus or progressing to serious disease. The F.D.A. revoked its emergency approval in June. The agency now warns that hydroxychloroquine can cause dangerous abnormalities in heart rhythm in coronavirus patients. In April, Mr. Trump said he would place millions of hydroxychloroquine doses into a federal stockpile for use on Covid-19 patients. In May, he said he had been taking it himself, even though he was not infected with the coronavirus. When Mr. Trump contracted the virus in October, he received an antibody cocktail and remdesivir, an antiviral drug. Hydroxychloroquine was not mentioned as part of his treatment. The U.K. exceeds 100,000 reported deaths, and prepares to tighten travel restrictions. A cemetery in Chislehurst, England, this month. Deaths are rising in Britain as it confronts a highly contagious variant of the coronavirus. Credit... Hannah Mckay/Reuters Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain promised on Tuesday to learn lessons from the coronavirus pandemic, as he acknowledged that the country had surpassed 100,000 total deaths. Its hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic the years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended, and for so many relatives, the missed chance even to say goodbye, Mr. Johnson said. He called for the country to remember the lives lost and the efforts of the countrys health care workers as they struggle to help the afflicted and to contain the spread of the virus. I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost, and as prime minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the government has done, Mr. Johnson said, adding that the government would do everything in its power to minimize, loss of life and to minimize suffering. The British government is preparing to announce tighter restrictions to combat a surge in new fast-spreading variants of the virus, which could include a mandatory hotel quarantine for travelers arriving from abroad. Mr. Johnson did not elaborate on those plans during his news conference. Nadhim Zahawi, the British vaccine minister, told Sky News that an announcement on the travel rules would come later on Tuesday, but he declined to give details. New data released by the Office for National Statistics earlier in the day put the total number of registered deaths in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales at 103,602 through Jan. 15. The country has had some success in getting vaccinations going quickly. Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the National Health Service, said on Tuesday that so far, one in eight adults in the country had received the first of the two required vaccine doses. But he cautioned that there were still difficult times ahead. This is not a year that anybody is going to want to remember, Mr. Stevens said. Regenerons antibody treatment prevented symptoms in people exposed to those with the virus, an early analysis shows. Regenerons monoclonal antibody treatment sharply cuts the risk of hospitalization and death among high-risk Covid-19 patients, a study found. Credit... Regeneron, via Associated Press The drug maker Regeneron said on Tuesday that its Covid-19 antibody cocktail prevented illness in the family members of people who had tested positive for the virus, according to an early analysis of a clinical trial that has not yet been published in a scientific journal. The antibody cocktail was authorized last fall to treat people who have already tested positive and are at high risk for complications from Covid-19, but this study looked at whether an injection of the cocktail what they called a passive vaccine could prevent infections. The company said an early analysis of 400 trial participants found that the treatment completely prevented symptomatic infections, and also reduced the rate of asymptomatic infections. Among the 186 volunteers who received the treatment, 10 were infected with the virus but did not get sick. In contrast, of the 223 people who got a placebo, 23 tested positive for the virus and eight became ill with symptoms. Regeneron is one of two companies Eli Lilly is the other that developed specially engineered antibodies to combat the virus soon after people are infected. Last fall, both companies received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration to administer the drugs to people who are already infected with the virus. Last week, Eli Lilly also released results from a trial showing that its antibody treatment prevented infections in nursing homes where an outbreak had occurred. Despite the treatments early promise, the drugs have been sitting unused in many hospitals, even as the country has experienced a record wave of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Doctors and hospital administrators have cited a range of reasons for not using the treatments more frequently, including challenges identifying the right patients, questions over whether they work, and logistical hurdles in administering the cocktails, which must be given as infusions in a clinic. (Regenerons preventive trial gave the antibodies as an injection instead.) Regeneron has received more than $3 billion in federal funding to develop the antibody treatments and provide them to Americans. In a statement on Tuesday, Regenerons president and chief scientific officer, Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, suggested that the treatment could be used to break the chain of transmission even as vaccines are slowly being rolled out. Even with the emerging availability of active vaccines, we continue to see hundreds of thousands of people infected daily, actively spreading the virus to their close contacts, he said. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Harris receives her second dose of the vaccine, urging all Americans to get it: It will save your life. Vice President Kamala Harris receiving the second dose of the Moderna vaccine at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., on Tuesday. Credit... Anna Moneymaker for The New York Times Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday afternoon received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine at the National Institute of Healths Bethesda campus. When are ya gonna put it in? she joked to the nurse administering the shot into her left arm, after it was already over. It really was painless, Ms. Harris said as the nurse put a Band-Aid on her arm, relatively painless. Ms. Harris televised vaccination shot was part of the Biden administrations ongoing attempt to instill confidence in the vaccine among skeptical Americans, and particularly among minority communities who are being infected with and dying of the coronavirus at higher rates. In brief remarks after receiving her shot, Ms. Harris commended the staff at the N.I.H. for the research and dedication that resulted in what she called something that will save your life. Urging all Americans to take the vaccine when it becomes available to them, she reiterated: It will save your life. During the Trump administration, scientists and scientific institutions were regularly undermined by the president and some of his top officials. In contrast, Ms. Harris noted that her mother worked at the N.I.H. and said that for scientists, their whole reason for being is to see what can be, unburdened by what has been. Their whole reason for being is to pursue what is possible for the sake of improving human life and condition. It is such a noble pursuit. Ms. Harris sought to boost public trust in government and in science in particular, saying that for public health officials, Its not about profit, its about the people. Borders tighten as more contagious coronavirus variants continue to be detected. At Kennedy Airport in New York on Monday. Several countries are imposing restrictions on international air travelers, including the United States. Credit... Spencer Platt/Getty Images Around the world, borders were being tightened this week as rising cases and the threat of more contagious virus variants taking hold prompted travel policy changes from the United States to Europe to Australia. Even as the United States moved to impose travel restrictions, citing the danger of the fast-moving variants, a case of the variant spreading in Brazil was identified in Minnesota. In Europe, France is moving to impose strict border measures, Britain is considering a mandatory hotel quarantine for some travelers, and the European Union is urging more coordinated action among member states to limit travel. Germanys interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said on Tuesday that his country was considering the reduction of air traffic to Germany to almost zero to head off the spread of the variants. The people who accept tough restrictions in Germany expect us to protect them as best we can from an explosion in infection numbers, he told the Bild newspaper. Already, a hospital in Berlin and another in the state of Bavaria have stopped taking any new patients and have sent much of their staff into quarantine after the B.1.1.7 variant was detected, raising fears that the countrys current safety measures were not stringent enough to meet the new threat. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand said on Tuesday that the countrys borders would remain closed until New Zealanders had been vaccinated and protected. Australia has suspended its travel bubble with New Zealand for 72 hours from Monday, after New Zealand confirmed a case outside its quarantine system of the variant found in South Africa. As of Tuesday, the United States will begin requiring a negative virus test from all arriving international air travelers. The Biden administration has announced that it is extending a ban on travel by noncitizens into the United States from Brazil, Britain and 27 other European countries, and adding South Africa to the list. The State Department also urged Americans not to travel abroad for nonessential reasons, warning that if they tested positive or were unable to present proof of a negative test, assistance from the U.S. government is likely to be limited. The Brazil-based variant, known as B.1.1.28.1 or P.1, was identified Monday in a Minnesota resident who had recently traveled to Brazil, the state health authorities said, which could suggest that the variant might not yet be widely circulating. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, an adviser to President Biden, said it was only a matter of time before the Brazil-based variant was detected in the United States. With the world travel that you have, and the degree of transmissibility efficiency, its not surprising, he said. The variants have arrived just as there are signs of progress. Hospitalizations, after peaking in early January, are at their lowest level nationally since Dec. 13, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The average daily caseload in the United States is down by about one-third compared with two weeks ago, according to a New York Times database. And after a slow start, the pace of vaccinations is picking up, and the United States already seems to be vaccinating well over a million people per day, according to a New York Times analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr. Biden said Tuesday that his administration was nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna to secure additional doses that would allow a total of 300 million Americans to be vaccinated by the end of the summer, beginning of the fall. But scientists fear much of the countrys momentum could be quickly halted if the variants continue to spread unchecked. They are especially anxious about the variants spreading in Brazil and South Africa, which share many mutations, because they may be able to blunt the effectiveness of vaccines. See How Vaccinations Are Going in Your County and State See where doses have gone, and who is eligible for a shot in each state. The United States is flying blind, scientists have warned, as the country navigates the spread of the new variants without a large-scale, nationwide system for checking virus genomes for new mutations. Instead, the work of discovering the variants has fallen to a patchwork of academic, state and commercial laboratories. Scientists say that a national surveillance program would be able to determine just how widespread the new variant is and help contain emerging hot spots, extending the crucial window of time in which vulnerable people across the country could get vaccinated. A Vancouver couple was fined after flying to a remote town for vaccination. An airport in Beaver Creek, in the Yukon Territory, where a couple from Vancouver is accused of violating coronavirus restrictions to get vaccinated. Credit... Google Maps A Canadian couple violated coronavirus restrictions when they traveled to the Yukon Territory last week to get vaccinated, according to the authorities, prompting accusations of entitlement and raising concerns about infection in a remote community of about 100 people. The couple, Rodney and Ekaterina Baker, of Vancouver, British Columbia, face fines of $1,000 for failing to isolate themselves for 14 days after they traveled to Yukon, even though they said they would, court records show. Additionally, Mr. Baker, 55, who was the chief executive of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, which operates casinos and hotels across Canada, resigned from his position on Sunday. Ms. Baker, 32, is an actress. According to charging documents and Yukon authorities, the Bakers traveled about 1,200 miles to Yukons capital city, Whitehorse, on Jan. 19. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that instead of quarantining for the required 14 days, the couple chartered a flight to Beaver Creek, which is about 300 miles northwest of Whitehorse, last Thursday, claimed to be working at a motel in the area and got their shots. They returned to Whitehorse before the authorities, acting on a tip from Beaver Creek, found them later that day, according to court records. I am outraged by this selfish behavior and find it disturbing that people would choose to put fellow Canadians at risk in this manner, John Streicker, Yukons community services minister, said in a statement. Reports allege these individuals were deceptive and violated emergency measures for their own advantage, which is completely unacceptable at any time, but especially during a public health crisis. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Minnesota will ramp up virus sequencing after a variant from Brazil was found in the state. Minnesota will expand its virus sequencing efforts after a variant from Brazil was found in the state. Credit... Christophe Archambault/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Public health officials in Minnesota are expanding their surveillance of coronavirus mutations after discovering this week that someone in the state was infected with a more contagious variant of the virus, the states epidemiologist said. The state will sequence about 100 specimens of the virus each week, up from 50, in an effort to detect more variants, Dr. Ruth Lynfield, the epidemiologist, said in an email. Officials announced on Monday that a Minnesota resident who had traveled to Brazil tested positive for a variant of the virus that first appeared there. It is the first confirmed case in the United States. We are going back and re-interviewing people who we identify as having a variant to learn more about their exposures, potential travel and contacts, Dr. Lynfield said in the email. The Brazilian variant is similar to one first found in South Africa, public health officials said. While the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are slightly less effective with the South African variant, the drug companies say that they still provide protection. Minnesota officials will continue to try to vaccinate as many people as possible as an important tool to fight against the virus , Dr. Lynfield said. Public health officials globally have said that the more the virus is allowed to spread, the greater the chances that new variants will form. In addition to the ones initially found in Brazil and South Africa, another variant was first found in Britain. That variant has since been confirmed in at least 22 states in America. The variant from South Africa has not been found in the United States. Dr. Lynfield said state officials were cautioning residents against traveling and urging them to double down on taking steps to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. We are reminding Minnesotans of the importance of prevention measures, such as wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding gatherings outside your household, etc., to limit transmission of the virus, Dr. Lynfield said. Careful prevention measures will help decrease the spread of variants and of other strains of the virus. Dutch cities brace for a fourth night of anti-curfew violence. A damaged supermarket in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, after clashes between a group of young people and the police on Monday night. Credit... Marco De Swart/EPA, via Shutterstock Shopkeepers boarded up windows and sent employees home early in several cities across the Netherlands on Tuesday, as the country braced for a fourth night of protests against a 9 p.m. curfew that is meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Hundreds of protesters have been arrested since the curfew went into effect nationwide on Saturday, the authorities said. Rioters have looted stores, burned a Covid-19 testing center, and thrown fireworks and rocks at the police in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and other cities. Officers have been injured, and residents felt unsafe in their own homes, Hugo Hillenaar, the chief public prosecutor of Rotterdam, said on Tuesday, after police made dozens of arrests on Monday night. As a society, we absolutely cannot tolerate this. Government officials have said the protests were no reason to change the strict lockdown measures, and on Tuesday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands denounced the criminal violence that had erupted. The riots have nothing to do with protesting or fighting for freedom, Mr. Rutte wrote on Twitter. We must win the fight against the virus together, because only then can we regain our freedom. Though daily counts of new coronavirus cases have been declining in the Netherlands, Dutch authorities said last week that stricter restrictions were needed to control the spread of a more contagious variant that was first identified in Britain. Other European countries have also imposed curfews, including France, where people generally must be home by 6 p.m.The new variant, known as B.1.1.7., has been held responsible for record numbers of new cases in Britain and other European countries like Spain, which closed down its bars and restaurants last week, and Portugal, where hospitalizations have soared to record highs. In the Netherlands, where bars and restaurants have been shut since October and schools and nonessential shops closed last month, the government has said it was gravely concerned about the new variant. We dont want to look back a few weeks from now and realize that we did not do enough, the government said in a statement on Friday. There have been protests against lockdown measures all through the pandemic, but none had turned as violent as the riots of the last four days. When the curfew and new travel restrictions took effect on Saturday, groups of youths set fires, attacked buildings and pelted police officers with stones. The Dutch justice minister, Ferd Grapperhaus, said in a broadcast interview Tuesday that the protests were no reason to rethink the countrys strict lockdown measures. We need the curfew, he said. The Netherlands has reported 13,686 deaths since the pandemic began, or 79 deaths for each 100,000 inhabitants half the rate reported in countries like Britain, Belgium or Italy. The U.S. rate is about 127 per 100,000. On Tuesday evening, soccer supporters in the cities of Den Bosch and Maastricht patrolling the streets said they were trying to prevent looting and clashes, according to a New York Times photographer and reports on social media. Ecuadors erratic vaccine rollout has already led to conflict of interest accusations against the health minister. A healthcare worker receiving a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine at the military hospital FFAA in Quito, Ecuador, last week. Credit... Johanna Alarcon/Reuters Less than a week after the government of Ecuador began a pilot program for coronavirus inoculations, health care workers say that despite officially stated priorities, vaccine doses are being given to people who are not frontline responders. A plane carrying 8,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine landed to applause in Quito on Wednesday before flying to Guayaquil. Already, at least two people at a large public hospital in the capital a medic and a press officer were fired after receiving doses they were not supposed to receive. Elsewhere at the largest public hospital in Cuenca, the countrys third largest city, frontline responders staged a brief protest on Monday after learning only 13 of the 100 workers who directly treated Covid-19 cases there had received a vaccine. The list of eligible people at the hospital, called Vicente Corral Moscoso, instead gave priority to staff members such as the general manager, ear and nose doctors, pediatricians, epidemiologists and even a plastic surgeon. The countrys health minister has ordered an investigation into the hospitals vaccine distribution. But the Health Minister himself, Juan Carlos Zevallos, was accused on Monday of sending vaccine doses from the pilot program to a nursing home of a wealthy private hospital, where some of his relatives live. The programs plan had originally stated that doses were to be given only to frontline responders and the elderly residents and caretakers at public nursing homes. In an interview with a local newspaper, Mr. Zevallos admitted sending the doses to the private facility. He said people working and living in private facilities also had a right to get the vaccine. The countrys ombudsman, Freddy Carrion, sent a letter to President Lenin Moreno on Monday demanding that Mr. Zevallos be dismissed. Mr. Carrion said his office was concerned over the irregularities and lack of transparency in the first stage of the vaccine rollout, and voiced his concerns about the lack of public access to the vaccination plan and to information throughout the entire pandemic. As of Tuesday morning, the Health Ministry and Mr. Zevallos had not returned requests for comment. The arrival of coronavirus vaccines in Ecuador and specifically in Guayaquil, where the plane was received by Mr. Moreno, the health minister and local health care workers was a hefty symbolic moment. The large port city was struck hardest by the pandemic after the first positive case was confirmed in Ecuador on February 29. The following months plunged the city into horror: thousands were dying, and hospitals and funeral parlors were so overwhelmed that corpses were left for days in housesand morgues and even on sidewalks, before they were picked up. Some have never found their loved ones bodies. Since the holidays and the discovery that a more contagious variant had entered the country as early as mid-December, cases have again surged. Advertisement Continue reading the main story Germanys government denies reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine is ineffective. A patient receiving an injection of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Brighton, England, on Tuesday. Credit... Ben Stansall/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Germanys Health Ministry has denied widely criticized and thinly sourced reports in local news outlets that AstraZenecas coronavirus vaccine is barely effective in protecting older people, stressing that the data was still being reviewed as European Union regulators consider approving the vaccine. The German Ministry of Health cannot confirm recent reports of reduced efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, after two leading German newspapers reported that the vaccine had proved effective in just 8 percent of people over 65. At first glance, it appears that two things have been confused in the reports: About 8 percent of the subjects in the AstraZeneca efficacy trial were between 56 and 69 years of age, and only 3 to 4 percent were over 70 years of age, the ministry said. However, this does not imply an efficacy of only 8 percent in seniors. The German health minister, Jens Spahn, called the reports speculation early Tuesday and pointed out that the available data had not yet been fully assessed. It has long been clear there was a discussion in the fall that there is less data for older people, Mr. Spahn said. AstraZeneca refuted the initial reports in the German media on the effectiveness of the vaccine, calling them completely incorrect. AstraZeneca and Oxford, which developed the vaccine, have not released figures on how effective the vaccine is for different age groups. The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for emergency use in several countries, including Britain, India and Mexico, but not yet in the European Union. The company applied for authorization on Jan. 12, and the European Medicines Agency, the blocs drug regulator, is expected to announce its decision on Friday. The reports come amid growing concern in Germany over the sluggish start to the countrys mass vaccination program, after AstraZeneca informed Brussels on Friday that it would not be able to deliver the anticipated number of doses to the European Union, because of slow production at a manufacturing site within the bloc. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mr. Spahn have pledged to make vaccines available by Sept. 21 to all adults in Germany who want the shot. That promise is dependent on the country receiving the 56.2 million does of the AstraZeneca vaccine, based on its original delivery pledge. At Salisbury Cathedral, a vaccination backed with an organ recital. The cathedral in Salisbury, England, is also a vaccination center. Credit... Tom Jamieson for The New York Times On a recent Saturday afternoon, Margaret Drabble, 83, sat beneath the soaring arches of Salisbury Cathedral, swinging her legs back and forth under her chair like a schoolgirl. Minutes earlier, in a booth near the cathedrals entrance, she had received her first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the coronavirus. But that wasnt why she was looking so happy, she said. Instead, it was from the elaborate organ music gently reverberating in the cathedrals interior. Oh, I just love the organ, said Ms. Drabble, a former schoolteacher. Its so beautiful, it almost makes me cry every time I hear it. Ive always wanted to play it, she said, wistfully. Then, she looked toward the organs 4,000 pipes at the front of the cathedral and sat up straight to listen. She had been told to stay put for 15 minutes, to make sure she did not develop an allergic reaction. Britain is in the middle of a mass vaccination drive, racing to outrun the spread of the virus as a new variant discovered in the country surges. So far, some 6.3 million people have received a first dose, just under 10 percent of the population. Englands National Health Service has signed contracts with dozens of large venues that will operate as vaccination centers. On Monday, it announced 33 new locations, including a soccer stadium in Oxford, several sports centers and a concert arena. Patients have been getting the vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral since Jan. 16, and it hosts the inoculation sessions twice a week for around 1,200 people a day. Sessions last about 12 hours, and, for most of that time, David Halls and John Challenger, the cathedrals organists, provide a musical backing, ranging from well-known hymns to fairground tunes and euphoric classical works. That makes the cathedral one of the few places in the country one can hear live music right now. With much of Britain under lockdown restrictions for the third time, theaters, museums and concert halls have been forced to shut. But in recent weeks, the British governments race to vaccinate its population has provided some cultural venues with a surprising lease on life. I live locally, and weve all been saying, Have you been to the organ recital yet? said Pam Scoop, 86. We dont say, Have you been for a jab? she added, using a British term for a shot. A moment of peace for Mona Lisa, and an opportunity for the Louvre. There are no tourists in the Louvre, but its galleries are abuzz with restoration and maintenance work. Credit... Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times The Louvre, the worlds most visited museum, is grappling with its longest closure since World War II, as pandemic restrictions keep its treasures under lock and key. But with the crowds gone, museum officials are seizing the opportunity to undertake a grand restoration and cleanup. For some projects, the lockdown has allowed us to do in five days what would have previously taken five weeks, said Sebastien Allard, the general curator and director of the Louvres paintings department. A small army of around 250 artisans has been working since Frances latest restrictions went into effect on Oct. 30. Some of the work is relatively simple, like dusting the frames of nearly 4,500 paintings. Some is herculean, like makeovers in the Egyptian antiquities hall and the Sully Wing. Nearly 40,000 explanatory plaques in English and French are being hung next to art works. Even before the pandemic, the Louvre was taking a hard look at crowd management because mass tourism had meant many galleries were choked with tour groups. While travel restrictions have slashed the number of visitors, which hit a record 10 million in 2019, the museum will limit entry to ticket holders with reservations when it reopens to meet health protocols. At the moment we have so many question marks its hard to know what the situation will be in two, three or four months, Mr. Allard said. But despite Covid, we continue to work as always, he continued. We must be ready to welcome back the public. Advertisement Continue reading the main story If you squeeze the coronavirus, does it shatter? A scanning electron micrograph of epithelial nasal tissue infected with coronavirus. Credit... Andrew Paul Leonard Of all the pandemic questions bedeviling scientists, the one that Juan Perilla is asking may be among the strangest: If a shrunk-down hand were to squeeze the coronavirus, would it squish, or would it shatter? Viruses like H.I.V. tend to be on the softer side, smooshing down like a foam ball, whereas the ones that cause influenza are more brittle, prone to cracking like an egg, said Dr. Perilla, a biophysical chemist at the University of Delaware in Newark. Coronaviruses, he suspects, are somewhere in the middle, a sort of tactile Goldilocks in the world of infectious disease. Like many other microbes, viruses are known best as malady-toting motes of misfortune obvious grist for biologists keen to understand the inner workings of infection. But in recent years, physicists too have joined the field, eager to decipher how viruses cobble themselves together and move from place to place despite lacking most of the machinery that enables cells to replicate and run. Some physicists, like Dr. Perilla, are teasing apart the mechanical properties of virus particles, while others monitor the forces that bring the bits and pieces of viruses together or tear them apart. Some are even enlisting physics to design the next generation of Covid-19 treatments, whether by disrupting the forces that assemble viruses inside human cells or by creating a suite of self-replicating vaccines. Physics and virology are now so academically intertwined that their union has acquired a formal name: virus physics (or, to some, physical virology). And the data its pioneers produce can have consequences far beyond the microbial world. At the end of the day, said LaNell Williams, a virologist and physicist at Harvard University, were trying to figure out what physics viruses already know. The story of a Houston doctor, a vial of vaccine and a theft charge takes a twist. Harris Countys top prosecutor, Kim Ogg, said her office would probably take the case of Dr. Hasan Gokal to a grand jury after a judge dismissed a theft charge. Credit... Godofredo A. Vasquez/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press Did a doctor steal vaccine to help his friends and family jump the line? Or was he beating the clock to keep precious, perishable doses from going to waste? Those are the two sides of the still-unfinished story of Dr. Hasan Gokal, a Houston-area physician who was accused last week of taking a vial of coronavirus vaccine from a public inoculation site he was supervising. Citing a lack of probable cause, a Texas judge dismissed a theft charge against the doctor on Monday, but that may not be the end of the matter. Harris Countys top prosecutor, Kim Ogg, said it was likely that the case would be presented to a grand jury, which could find grounds for an indictment. The episode is attracting attention at a time of widespread frustration in the U.S. over the slow pace and glitchy start to the nations coronavirus vaccination push. Ms. Oggs office announced the initial charge against Dr. Gokal on Thursday, saying that he had stolen a vial containing nine vaccine doses on Dec. 29 while he was working at a vaccination site in a public park in Humble, Texas, a suburb north of Houston. Dr. Gokal was fired from his job at the county health department, according to Ms. Oggs office, and was charged with a misdemeanor, theft by a public servant, which is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. He abused his position to place his friends and family in line in front of people who had gone through the lawful process to be there, Ms. Ogg said in a statement. What he did was illegal and hell be held accountable under the law. The doctors lawyer, Paul Doyle, said in a statement that Dr. Gokal was simply trying to ensure that vaccine doses that were at risk of expiring went into the arms of people who met the criteria for receiving it. Mr. Doyle told The Houston Chronicle that the vial was left over at the end of the day, and that Dr. Gokal realized that because it had been opened, it was going to spoil in a few hours. Rather than let the doses go to waste, Mr. Doyle told the newspaper, Dr. Gokal offered to inoculate health workers and police officers at the site, but they either did not want it or did not need it, so Dr. Gokal administered doses to other eligible people, including his wife. At a hearing Monday, Harris County Court-at-Law Judge Franklin Bynum found that there was insufficient cause to charge Dr. Gokal, noting that the charging document was riddled with sloppiness and errors. Mr. Doyle said he planned to bring a wrongful termination lawsuit against the health department on Dr. Gokals behalf. Advertisement Continue reading the main story College basketball coach Rick Pitino, who pushed to delay the season, tested positive. Rick Pitino while coaching the Greek professional team Panathinaikos in 2019. Credit... Geeorgia Panagopoulou/EPA, via Shutterstock Rick Pitino, the Hall of Fame basketball coach now at Iona College, said he had tested positive for the coronavirus this month, 10 days after getting his first shot of a two-dose vaccine. Pitino, 68, told reporters on Tuesday that he had felt some symptoms during his illness, but is feeling better now and still plans to get the second vaccine shot. He said on The Michael Kay Show that he believed he contracted the virus from his players, and that he tested positive on Jan. 16. I was vaccinated, and unfortunately it takes two weeks to probably kick in where you have 50 percent immunity, so unfortunately it didnt work totally with me and we move on, he said on a videoconference with reporters. Im fine, Im out of quarantine, he added. I was very lucky. I didnt have the severe symptoms that many people have had and Im ready to go. He told The New York Times on Tuesday night that he has since tested negative for the virus several times. Sanofi says it will help produce 100 million doses of Pfizers vaccine. A Sanofi facility in Val-de-Reuil, France, last year. The company has delayed its own vaccine development, but will produce doses for Pfizer. Credit... Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse Getty Images The French drugmaker Sanofi said on Tuesday that it would help produce more than 100 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, starting this summer, in an effort to meet strong demand in Europe. Paul Hudson, Sanofis chief executive, said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro that the company had signed an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech to fill and pack vials of the vaccine starting in July, at a Sanofi plant in Frankfurt near BioNTechs German headquarters. We should be able to supply over 100 million doses by the end of the year, which will be destined to the European Union, and therefore in part to France, Mr. Hudson said. Sanofi and the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline are working on their own Covid-19 vaccine but have announced that its rollout would be delayed to later this year because trials so far had produced an insufficient immune response among elderly participants. Since we are running several months late on our main vaccine, we asked ourselves how we could make ourselves useful right now, Mr. Hudson told Le Figaro. Sanofi is also working on a second vaccine that uses an mRNA technology similar to Pfizer-BioNTechs. Sanofi has come under intense pressure to help produce approved vaccines, especially in France, where the company is seen as a national champion and where its failure to rapidly produce a functioning vaccine has led to criticism of its domestic research and development policies. France has recorded more than three million coronavirus cases during the pandemic, including an average of more than 20,000 per day over the past week, according to a New York Times database. The average number of new daily cases fell sharply last month after peaking in November, but has been slowly increasing in recent weeks. Global Roundup Indonesia surpasses one million cases, and other news from around the world. Medical workers examining a Covid-19 patient at a hospital in Bogor, Indonesia, on Monday. Credit... Adek Berry/Agence France-Presse Getty Images Indonesia officially passed one million coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with many hospitals near capacity even as vaccinations are underway. As in many countries, however, the true number of infections is likely to be much higher. Indonesia, which has the worlds fourth-largest population at more than 270 million, never succeeded in containing its first wave of infections, and the daily numbers of new cases and deaths have surged to their highest levels in the past 10 days. On Tuesday, officials reported 13,094 new cases and 336 deaths for a total of 1,012,350 cases, the highest in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is the 19th country to surpass one million cases, and among Asian nations it trails only India in the number of cases. Dicky Budiman, an epidemiologist who studies pandemics and global health security at Griffith University in Australia, has been saying for months that Indonesia is undercounting its case numbers by a third or more. He estimates that the country has at least 60,000 new infections each day, more than four times what the government is reporting. The response they give to the pandemic is not equal to the problem, said Dr. Dicky, a former Indonesian health official. Though Indonesia began its vaccination program almost two weeks ago, it is likely to be some time before there is a significant effect on new infections. A government spokesman said that as of Tuesday, 162,000 people had received the first of two doses of the vaccine made by Sinovac, a private Chinese company. With a population spread across thousands of islands, experts say vaccinating enough Indonesians to reach herd immunity could take a year or more. Heres what else is happening around the world: Violent protests erupted for the third night in cities across the Netherlands , with stores looted and rocks and fireworks thrown at police officers in response to a national 9 p.m. curfew that went into effect on Saturday. In total, the police arrested more than 150 people nationwide, the police chief told the Dutch broadcaster NOS. Politicians echoed a similar sentiment. Whats happening in the Dutch streets is unprecedented, Wopke Hoekstra, the finance minister, told Dutch television on Tuesday. Ferd Grapperhaus, the justice minister, called the violence outrageous and indicated that the protests were no reason to rethink the strict lockdown measures. We need the curfew, Mr. Grapperhaus said. France announced on Tuesday that it would not delay the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to quickly maximize the number of people receiving a first shot, as some countries have done. The French health minister, Olivier Veran, said at a news conference that the debate on delaying the second dose was legitimate but that it was still unclear how efficient the vaccine would be if administered six weeks after the first shot, instead of the recommended three to four weeks. I am choosing the security of confirmed data, Mr. Veran said. A World Health Organization panel of experts recommended on Tuesday that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine be given in two doses spaced 28 days apart, which could be extended under exceptional circumstances to 42 days. The guidance was issued by the organizations Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization several weeks after it issued similar guidance on the rival Pfizer shot, according to Reuters. Richard C. Paddock, Muktita Suhartono, Aurelien Breeden and Advertisement Continue reading the main story (Natural News) More than 28 million people in China are back in lockdown as the communist nation posted its largest daily jump of Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) cases since July on Wednesday, Jan. 13, according to media reports. Editors note: We dont believe anything coming out of China, so take this official news with a grain of salt. Most of the new patients were reported in Hebei, a province surrounding the countrys capital of Beijing. Almost all the other cases were reported in Heilongjiang province in Chinas far northeast. (Related: Anthony Fauci finally acknowledges that China played significant role in early spread of coronavirus.) Official data from Chinas National Health Commission shows that over 115 new confirmed cases were reported, compared with 55 just a day earlier. One-hundred and seven cases were local infections, with 90 coming from Hebei and 16 from Heilongjiang. Health authorities have also reported 38 asymptomatic cases, a drop from 81 cases the previous day. Chinese health guidelines do not classify asymptomatic cases as confirmed cases, so they have not been added to the countrys official tally. Because of the surge in cases, Hebei has placed three cities in lockdown Shijiazhuang, Xingtai and Langfang. Heilongjiang placed the city of Suihua which is directly to the northwest of the provincial capital into lockdown as well. These four cities have a total population of around 28.6 million people. The wave of infections and the subsequent lockdowns come just one month before the Chinese Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of people are expected to travel from the cities where they work back to their hometowns to celebrate the holiday with relatives and other loved ones. According to Feng Zijian, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Chinese Communist Party does not expect a massive resurgence in coronavirus cases during the Chinese New Year so long as people follow lockdown protocols and the authorities enforce their control measures properly. New spread of coronavirus infections triggers new round of restrictive lockdowns In the city of Langfang in Hebei, local authorities placed its five million residents under strict home quarantine for seven days starting on Tuesday as officials planned to test almost every single resident for coronavirus. Similar quarantine measures were imposed on the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang last week. Furthermore, Shijiazhuang has been cordoned off from the rest of China. All roads leading to the city have been shut down, people and vehicles have been barred from leaving and public transportation within the city has been temporarily halted. The provincial government of Hebei has also postponed an annual meeting wherein the provinces top officials would set the regions policies for the coming year. Hundreds of provincial leaders and political advisers would typically gather during this meeting, which precedes Chinas national legislative conclave to be held in March. Heilongjiang province declared a COVID-19 emergency on Wednesday. A majority of the cases in Suihua have been found right in the middle of the city, in a county known as Wangkui. Tieli, a small city of just around 300,000 people directly to the northeast of Suihua, has ordered a self-imposed three-day lockdown, preventing all people and vehicles from leaving the city as Tieli follows the nations new COVID-19 prevention measures. China pushes through with mass vaccination program According to health commission official Wang Bin, China has already administered more than 10 million vaccine doses. They are ramping up vaccine production and distribution efforts at the same time as they are increasing testing capacity. Now, the whole country is supposedly able to test around 12.55 million people per day. In Beijing alone, the municipal government announced on Monday that they had inoculated more than one million residents, and hope to ramp up distribution capacity to be able to provide 100,000 shots per day until the Chinese New Year on Feb. 12. Nationally, the CCP wants to inoculate 50 million people mostly key workers such as those working in healthcare before the Lunar New Year. This means that the national government wants to administer vaccines to around 1.248 million people per day. Despite Chinas push for massive and mandatory vaccinations, the CCP is still relying on lockdowns to control the outbreaks and the population. The health commission has already told citizens to limit large gatherings and to do all their shopping online. Health authorities have also begun discouraging workers from returning to their hometowns for the new year. Some local government units have even started offering incentives of extra wages to people who choose to stay in their respective cities for the holidays. Private corporations have also been told to stagger holidays to try and reduce the number of people who will be traveling. Other local government units have also imposed new rules to disincentivize travel. Many are now requiring returnees to produce a negative coronavirus test, even those who are coming from areas deemed by the national health authority to be low risk. Other local governments are asking residents to report travel plans beforehand. As of press time, the supposed number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China (excluding Macau and Hong Kong) now stands at 87,706, while the reported death toll remains unchanged at 4,634. Learn more about the progression of the coronavirus pandemic in China, the United States and in other parts of the world by reading the latest articles at Pandemic.news. Sources include: Reuters.com StraitsTimes.com WSJ.com Volkswagen AG and a German auto supplier on Tuesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling that said two counties could seek financial penalties over excess diesel emissions that could total billions of dollars. The German automakers U.S. unit and Robert Bosch LLC asked the U.S. high court to reverse a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that said Utahs Salt Lake County and Floridas Hillsborough County could seek staggering damages over updates made to polluting diesel vehicles after they were sold. Volkswagen Group of America told the high court the appeals court decision threatens to throw one of Americas largest industries into regulatory chaos, to the detriment of manufacturers, dealers, consumers, and the environment. On Tuesday, the Ohio Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the states lawsuit against Volkswagen over emissions damages from 14,000 Ohio-registered cars. VW said in court papers Ohios claims could total $350 million per day, or more than $127 billion per year, over a multi-year period. Ohio said VW engaged in deceptive recalls after vehicles were sold and it seeks to hold Volkswagen responsible for modifying its customers cars cars that the customers had already purchased and used to evade emissions laws. In September the Environmental Protection Agency announced a $1.5 billion settlement with Daimler to resolve allegations it engaged in emissions cheating. Volkswagen noted Hillsborough County has since sued Daimler and Bosch and cited a county document that it could also bring an emissions-cheating lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler, which is now known as Stellantis. Volkswagen settled U.S. criminal and civil actions prompted by the emissions scandal for more than $20 billion, but that did not shield it from local and state government liability, the appeals court found, noting they were mindful that our conclusion may result in staggering liability for Volkswagen. The court added it was due to conduct that could not have been anticipated by Congress: Volkswagens intentional tampering with post-sale vehicles to increase air pollution. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, who ruled in VWs favor in 2018, noted the automakers potential penalties could reach $30.6 million per day and $11.2 billion per year in the case involving the two counties. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington Editing by Matthew Lewis) Top Photo: In this Monday, April 27, 2020. file photo, The Volkswagen logo stand on the top of a VW headquarters building in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Swen Pfoertner/dpa via AP) Topics USA Claims Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Local News, Crime By Long Island Published: January 26 2021 Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the guilty plea of a contracting company to underpaying its workers and submitting false payrolls to the Town of East Hampton in connection with a public ... William G. Prophy, LLC, d/b/a WGP Contracting, Inc., pleaded guilty yesterday to Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony. The consequences of these unscrupulous business practices are two-fold: on the one hand, you have employees not being paid their fair share for the work they are doing, which is not only illegal but immoral, District Attorney Sini said. On the other hand, you have bad actors winning contracts over upstanding companies by cutting corners at the expense of their workers and under-bidding the competition. My Office has made the investigation and prosecution of labor-related crimes a priority so that we can protect both the individual workers and the responsible business owners who make up the outstanding labor force in our region. I thank the New York State Department of Labor for their continued partnership in investigating labor-related offenses and making sure workers are paid what they deserve. Protecting the hardworking men and women of New York is a priority of the Department of Labor and by cracking down on those who steal from these hardworking New Yorkers we send a clear message that wage theft will not be tolerated in this state, said New York State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. The DOL is proud to work with the Suffolk County DAs Office and all our law enforcement partners to put an end to this type of worker exploitation. On Nov. 16, 2017, WGP Contracting, Inc., was awarded the bid for the East Hampton Town Hall Cedar Shake Shingle Roof Replacement public works project. During the course of the project, the company paid several employees as laborers instead of roofers, which must be paid at a higher rate in accordance with New York States prevailing wage schedule. The company submitted certified payrolls to the Town of East Hampton that contained the misclassifications and falsely asserted that the workers had been paid properly. The investigation also revealed evidence that the company had similarly misclassified several workers, some of whom were assigned to the East Hampton project as well, as lower wage rate laborers in connection with a public works project to renovate toll booths at Jones Beach State Park. Pursuant to the plea agreement, which was reached in conjunction with the New York State Department of Labor in disposition of underpayments on both projects, the company has forfeited $32,553.81 to the District Attorneys Office to be distributed to the defrauded workers and was required to pay a fine of $2,500. The company will also be required to remit an additional $10,110.82 in restitution to the New York State Department of Labor for further disbursement to the workers. The companys owner, William G. Proefriedt, also signed a stipulation of wrongdoing with the New York State Department of Labor admitting to willfully failing to pay the prevailing wage and barring Proefriedt and the company from bidding on public works projects for five years. I urge anyone who believes he or she is a victim of wage theft or any other labor-related crime to contact the Suffolk County District Attorneys Offices Financial Investigations & Money Laundering Bureau by calling 631-853-4232 or by emailing InfoDA@suffolkcounty.gov, District Attorney Sini said. Proefriedt, 58, of Bay Shore, was also arrested in 2018 and charged with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree in connection with his bid on the 2018 Pyrrhus Concer House restoration public works project in Southampton Village. Proefriedt submitted a signed letter to the Southampton Village attorney stating that employees of his company, William G. Prophy, LLC, would perform all plumbing, electrical and HVAC work on the project and that they were licensed to do so, when in fact they were not. That matter has been dismissed in satisfaction of todays plea and the stipulation of wrongdoing with the Department of Labor. William G. Prophy, LLC, was represented by Raymond Perini. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Shaun McCready, of the Financial Investigations & Money Laundering Bureaus Labor Crime Unit. At least 43 refugees drowned on January 19 off the Libyan coast during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Only 10 people could be rescued. They were returned to Libya by the Libyan coastguard. The mass death in the Mediterranean, for which the European Union (EU) bears responsibility, thus continues into yet another year. The dinghy, carrying more than 50 people, suffered engine failure amid rough seas and capsized shortly after leaving the port city of Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, in the early hours of the morning. The survivors, who came from the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia, stated that everyone on board the capsized boat came from West Africa. Chief responsibility for these pointless deaths of people fleeing civil war, poverty and misery lies with the governments in Berlin, Rome, Paris, Vienna and The Hague. In close collusion with the European Commission, they have blocked all legal avenues to Europe. Syrian and Iraqi refugees from Turkey arrive at Skala Sykamineas on the island of Lesbos where they are rescued by volunteers of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, October 30, 2015 (Source: Ggia, CC BY-SA 4.0) When refugees are then forced to attempt crossings on tiny, unseaworthy dinghies, the European governments do everything in their power, in what amounts to a despicable crime, to halt virtually all rescue missions in the central Mediterranean. Their hands are, in the most literal sense of the phrase, dripping with the blood of the 20,000 people who have drowned in the Mediterranean over the past eight years. The experience of Souleymane, a refugee from Guinea, gives a sense of the tragedies taking place in the Mediterranean. Souleymane was interviewed by the Infomigrants news website last March while he was living in Libya, waiting on an opportunity to reach Europe. The 18-year-old was one of the victims who drowned in last weeks boat tragedy. His friend Moussa, who was among the survivors, told Infomigrants that the sea became increasingly rough in the hours following their departure. The boat then capsized, and Souleymane, who could not swim, was thrown into the water. Moussa was able to grab him and pull him back to the boat. Souleymane was still in the water holding onto the boat from the outside when a second wave struck. I am broken. I cant hold on anymore, were the last words Souleymane spoke before he disappeared underwater. He never resurfaced again, whispered Sylla, who also comes from Guinea and lives in Libya. Souleymane told Infomigrants last March about his plight in Libya, where he arrived in 2018. He was detained twice by the police after his boat was intercepted by the Libyan coastguard. The Libyan coastguard is financed, equipped, and trained by the EU. In essence, it consists of the countrys warring militias, who abuse migrants and often trade them as slaves. Souleymane was brought to the detention camps of Tajourah and Zouara and tortured, like all of the refugees there. The people who took him there on the pretext that they could offer him work abused him and inflicted severe injuries with knives. His mother died last summer in Guinea, but Souleymane could not even attend her funeral because he was confined in Libya. Then, last Tuesday, he boarded a tiny dinghy for the fourth and last time, hoping to reach Europe, find work and start a new life. He died in the first ship accident in the Mediterranean of the year. Emergency rescue at sea We have a huge gap in naval emergency rescue because almost all lifeboats have been detained by the authorities or they cant sail because legal proceedings against them are ongoing, a spokesperson from the aid organization AlarmPhone explained about the situation in the Mediterranean. The only aid organisation currently able to operate a boat in the Mediterranean is SOS Mediterranee. Their ship Ocean Viking, which returned to sea on January 11 after a five-and-a-half-month break, rescued 374 refugees from the ice-cold waters in the first 48 hours alone. However, the Ocean Viking arrived too late at another shipwreck and was forced to watch as the Libyan coastguard detained 80 refugees and returned them to Libya. The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported Friday that the Libyan coastguard has violently returned over 300 refugees to Libya already this year, including women and children, and detained them there. The IOM renewed its demand that no refugee should be returned to Libya. In a joint statement, the IOM and UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed the fear that the number of deaths last year in the Mediterranean was likely much higher than estimates suggest, because naval rescue operations are barely monitored any longer. The EU withdrew from emergency rescue missions in 2019. Last year, it criminalised civilian emergency rescue missions, persecuted them, and deliberately withdrew them from service. The so-called Libyan coastguard remains solely responsible for naval emergency rescue missions, performing the dirty work for the EU in its brutal policy of deterrence towards refugees. But the IOM and UNHCR stress that Libya is not a safe refuge for refugees, as the European governments like to proclaim. Migrants continue to be arbitrarily detained there and interned under the most terrible conditions. They are bullied and exploited by people traffickers and smugglers, detained to secure ransoms, tortured, and abused, noted the joint statement. According to the Missing Migrant Project, 977 people officially lost their lives last year on the Mediterranean route from Libya, making it the deadliest refugee route in the world. AlarmPhone estimates that in 2020, 27,435 people tried to flee from Libya. 5,375 people in 75 boats made it to the small Italian island of Lampedusa. 2,281 people made it to Malta. 3,700 people were rescued at sea by civilian ships and brought to Italy. But 11,891 refugees were seized at sea by the Libyan coastguard and returned to Libyas torture camps. In total, around 200,000 refugees continue to reside in Libya in horrifying conditions, a significant percentage in the numerous internment camps controlled by the militias. Last April, the Italian government seized on the coronavirus pandemic to declare all Italian ports unsafe, so as to prohibit all refugees from landing. Crews of civilian ships were criminalised and charged with allegedly assisting illegal immigration. At the same time, the EU not only supported the Libyan coastguards illegal repatriation of refugees, but also conducted illegal pushbacks of refugees at sea. This refers to the process of turning refugees away without giving them the chance to file an asylum application. The Maltese government even used a civilian fishing boat to carry out such an operation. Eleven refugees died as a result. Similar illegal pushbacks are increasingly being used by the Greek government in the Aegean Sea, and by Croatia on its border with Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia, Bosnia and Greece The Croatian border patrols in particular use extreme brutality against refugees. The Border Violence Monitoring Network has counted pushbacks on the Croatian border affecting 12,000 people. The refugees are often chased away by the border guards with batons and whips. They are beaten, robbed and abused. A substantial amount of the financing for the EU member states border regime comes from the European Union. The EU made 6.8 billion available for this purpose last year. We stand by Croatia as a partner, affirmed German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer in January 2020, when heat-seeking cameras were handed over. The German government then provided Croatian border guards with 20 vehicles in December. Croatian Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic not only expressed his thanks for the millions of euros in support but vowed that the German government would be extensively informed about the Croatian border guards activities. The German government is not merely well informed about the blatant violations of human rights on the EUs external borders, but also supports them strongly. The EUs criminal approach to refugee deterrence is made particularly clear by the camps on the Greek islands and in Bosnia. On the island of Lesbos, tents housing 7,000 refugees in the Kara Tepe camp are sinking into the mud. There is neither adequate food nor electricity, running warm water or health care services. Despite this, the Greek government refuses to move the refugees to the mainland. Following the burning of the Moria refugee camp in September 2020, the German government loudly proclaimed its intention to accept at least 1,500 refugees. In fact, only 291 refugees have been flown to Germany to date, while thousands of people, including small children, continue to languish in the camps inhuman conditions. The situation is equally dire in the Croatian-Bosnian border region, especially since the fire in the Lipa camp on December 23. 9,000 people have been left to brave the bitter cold of the Bosnian winter with virtually no protection. Emergency camps have only been made available for around 5,600 refugees. This means that more than 3,000 refugees are sleeping in ruins, makeshift tents, or outdoors. The humanitarian catastrophe playing out in Bosnia and the Mediterranean is the product of the EUs criminal and cynical policies. It bears repeating: the EUs policies were consistent and coherent, and the EU provided all the necessary financial resources, noted a confidential paper from the EU Commission on the situation in Bosnia cited by the German daily Die Welt last week. The procedure in Libya and Bosnia-Herzegovina is always the same: the EU pays hundreds of millions of euros to criminal gangs and corrupt elites so that they perform the dirty work and keep the refugees away from their doorstep. Following German Interior Minister Seehofers mantra, Help must be provided on the ground, the EU then washes its hands in innocence and claims it is not responsible for the conditions of the refugees on the ground. As the refugee aid organisation ProAsyl explained in rejecting this, these countries neither have a functioning asylum system nor a framework for receiving refugees. Instead, refugees are at best left to their own devices, and at worst interned and horrifically abused. The Nigerian government has leased a property for the use of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice as its new headquarters in Abuja. The international court, set up in 2001 pursuant to the 1993 revised treaty of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has been operating from temporary offices in Abuja while waiting on the Nigerian government to meet its obligation of providing it a permanent headquarters. The host government is obligated to provide a furnished accommodation to an ECOWAS agency. But Nigeria had not met this obligation to the court for about 17 years now. Due to the inadequacy of the temporary main office, the court rented an annex office in 2007 as a short term measure to redress its desperate accommodation challenges. However, the Nigerian government last year provided an office building for the Court in the serene Gudu district of Abuja. Officials said the bigger facility will enable the Court to house all its departments and staff under one roof. The property was identified by the Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) and was deemed acceptable by the Court for its purpose. Long road This marks the culmination of the latest effort to secure accommodation for the Court which began on September 30, 2015. On that day, a delegation of the Court consisting of its last college of judges presented the request to the Minister of the FCT, Mohammed Bello, during a visit to his office. During the discussions, the minster pledged that Nigeria would rent a property for a temporary period of two years while efforts were being made for a permanent building with the specificities of the Court. The process for securing the building had since gone through due process, including approval by the Federal Executive Council and No Objection stamp by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). This finally led to the identification of the Gudu property by a private company, BESTCO Engineering Nigeria Ltd. On inspection at the invitation of the FCT, the Court found the property suitable for its use. Once payment issues were settled by the FCT, the Court began the process of partitioning the property to fit its departmental and other space needs. In keeping with the financial regulations for the award of contracts, the ECOWAS Commission worked with the Court in the weeks before the Christmas holiday to develop the bidding documents for the engagement of a contractor for the partitioning. Request for bids was published on the Courts website on December 18, 2020 and in The Guardian newspaper of December 28, 2020 in line with the ECOWAS procurement requirement. The bids were also published in the ECOWAS Offices in all member states on the Instructions of the President of the ECOWAS Commission. The bid request closed on January 19 this year. Elated The head of information and communication of the Court, Sunny Ugoh, said: We are delighted that the process is nearing its end and wish to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for living up to its obligation and commitment. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Ugoh said every stage of the process was owned by the host government, adding the Court was only contacted when necessary as the process went on for concurrence on issues of location, size and caliber of property befitting for an international organization of its kind. Furthermore, Mr Ugoh said the process of award for partitioning of the leased property is still ongoing through the Community procurement process, adding, no contract for the partitioning of the property has been awarded by the Court as some people are already speculating. He further explained that the relevant departments administration and finance statutorily empowered to handle such issues are the ones leading the process for the award. I can tell you that any speculation of sidelining of relevant departments in the award process is as unfounded as it is mischievous, Mr Ugoh said. The lavish Ram Navami celebrations were the VHP and its associate organisations answer to Muharram processions in Bengal. The BJP rode on this wave to extract political benefit out of it, writes Sambit Pal Veteran journalist Sambit Pal's The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and the Future of the TMC comes at a juncture when political turmoil on the state's turf is rife, with debates on 'insiders versus outsiders' reaching their crescendo right before it goes to the polls. The book aims to investigate how the Bharatiya Janata Party, who, until even five years ago, held only two seats from Bengal in the Lok Sabha, managed to increase their count to 18 in the 2019 general elections. Pal takes a closer look at what dismantled the Left in one of its traditional strongholds, thereby allowing the Right to make inroads into what is considered largely unfamiliar territory for the ideology and the party. With first-person accounts and a comprehensive lowdown on contemporary Bengali society, the journalist documents Mamata Banerjee's rise and her journey through the state's complex political milieu in the past decade to illustrate what may have disenchanted its people away from her. In the excerpt that follows, the writer sheds light on how the BJP postured its majoritarian politics to counter the TMC's 'minority appeasing' stance, in order to capture the imaginations of Bengalis with boisterous chants of 'Jai Shri Ram' during Ram Navami a festival it had barely ever observed before. *** The year is 2017 and two young boys, one clad in printed trousers and a black shirt and another in black pants and grey T-shirt and wearing a cap, are performing lathikhela (a performance using sticks) on the streets of a suburban town of Chandannagar, which was a French colony before Independence. The passers-by look at their intense performance. Behind them, a sea of people chanting Jai Shri Ram and waving saffron flags march through the arterial streets. Among them, some are carrying swords and brandishing them openly. Some, dressed as Lord Hanuman, are carrying maces. A group of young women is seen dancing to music booming out of huge sound boxes placed in a Matador. As some are chanting slogans, Haar ghar bhagwa chhayega/ram rajya phir aayega (Saffron will reach every household, Rams kingdom will be back again), trucks carrying pictures of Bharat Mata, Swami Vivekananda and even a group of army jawans follow. Behind the huge cut-out of Swami Vivekananda, there is Lord Ram. His idol holding a bow and arrows moves through the crowd. Girls and boys sporting red scarves around their foreheads, holding crude weapons high in the air, chant, Bharat ka abhimaan hai Hindu, Matribhumi ka shaan hai Hindu (Hindus are the pride of Bharat, Hindus are the pride of the motherland). Some are even dressed as Lord Ram and Goddess Sita and riding a ghorargari (horse cart). The air is fraught with tension, one can feel being in a war field as people give a war cry for Lord Ram and a Hindu nation. That year, West Bengal got a taste of a different kind of Ram Navami (spring Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Lord Ram). Earlier, the Ram Mandir in Chandannagar used to bring out a procession on Ram Navami. A few Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists used to take part in that. They also organised such processions during Janmashtami. Then, there was just one procession, says Pinakpani Ghosh, a journalist and a resident of Chandannagar. In 2017, however, one man changed the way the festival was celebrated in the area. A man called Dilip Ghosh had mobilised the people of this mofussil town and took the Ram Navami celebrations to the masses. No one knew his name at that time. It was only later that he stepped into the shoes of West Bengal BJP president. People came to know about Dilip Ghosh when he became the BJP state president. But, he was instrumental as the chief of Hindu Jagaran Manch to mobilise the temples to bring out multiple processions and then merge them into one during Ram Navami. It all happened after TMC came in power, Ghosh adds. Chandannagar was not an isolated case, similar scenes were replicated across Bengal that year. Interestingly, no slogan was raised in favour of the BJP from these Ram Navami rallies. There were slogans against Pakistan, on Kashmir, etc. This was a way to polarise people. Before 2017, for the average Bengali household, Ram Navami meant a tame celebration limited to mothers fasting for the well-being of their sons. No-fuss, no noise was involved. A few processions were visible, but they didnt hold much significance. Also, no aggressive show of power or faith was involved. Ram is very close to the Bengalis heart, more than a deity. Unlike north India, he is not a war hero, but more like the benevolent eldest son of a king. Grandmothers would read the Bengali version of Ramayana written by Krittibas Ojha and we learnt the stories of Ram, Lakshman and Sita through them. People of Bengal chanted Ram naam to scare away ghosts. So naturally, the aggressive Ram Navami celebrations that suddenly emerged in Bengal were a shocker for many. For Bengalis, in whose lives Maa Durga is omnipresent, 2017 signalled a change in the states mood and a new social churning was visible with the aggressive emergence of the remodelled Lord Ram. The lavish Ram Navami celebrations were the VHP and its associate organisations answer to Muharram processions in Bengal. The BJP rode on this wave to extract political benefit out of it. The Bengal BJP state president, Dilip Ghosh, had come out in a new avatar. He was seen in saffron pagri holding a sword in one hand and a mace in the other. He gave a war cry from his assembly constituency, Here [Bengal] a fight is on between Ramzada and Haramzada. It is a test to decide who is on the side of Ram, and who is not. I looked after the Hindu Jagaran Manch since 2011 and I wanted to give a voice to the Hindus who saw partition and division in Hindu society. They felt insecure about the way Muslims were being appeased. They felt they would be refugees in their own land. No political party talked for the Hindus. If one talked in favour of Hindus, he was branded as communal. Political parties talked for the Muslims to get votes. We caught that point and we needed an issue through which we could unite the Hindu voices. We used Ram Navami for that. This was not part of the Bengali tradition. We got a huge response and it worked well for us, says Dilip Ghosh. *** The above extract from Sambit Pal's The Bengal Conundrum: The Rise of the BJP and the Future of the TMC, has been reproduced here with permission from its publisher Bloomsbury. By Brian Mullen Al Kopak Western Carolina University researchers find a disproportionate number of inmates with violent offenses suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder and alcohol use disorder, and published their findings in the Journal of Criminal Psychology. Alexa Barrett, clinical psychology masters student at WCU, and Al Kopak, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at WCU, discovered the combination of PTSD, PD and AUD significantly increased the likelihood of violent offenses while conducting research at three county detention centers in North Carolina. Supported by a Summer Research Assistantship provided by the Graduate School, the purpose of this study was to detail the prevalence of PTSD in combination with PD and AUD to help inform practices designed to address violence in the understudied population of male jail detainees incarcerated in small local detention centers. Alexa Barrett Determining how these conditions interact to exacerbate the propensity for violence can help inform the development of proper prevention and intervention programs in local detention centers as detainees prepare to re-enter the community, said Barrett. The study sample of male detainees demonstrate less than half showed symptoms consistent with PTSD and about one quarter reported having panic attacks in the past 12-month period. In addition, more than one third of the sample met criteria for a moderate or severe AUD. These conditions were also frequently observed in conjunction with one another. Another important finding relates to the relatively large proportion of detainees who experienced panic attacks and the connection between this condition and violent charges, said Kopak. The researchers note that one explanation underlying this relationship is the possibility that male detainees who experience panic attacks may become involved in aggressive violent behavior as a response to stressful life events. Implementing empirically based screening and assessment procedures could be accomplished with minimal investment and could also generate actionable information, Barrett stated. Positive indications could be referred for full assessment and those results could be used to inform appropriate community-based interventions following release. The study provides valuable insight for future research on the combinations of these conditions. For example, jail personnel might be interested in developing a rapid screening process where detainees booked for violent charges are automatically identified and evaluated for PTSD, PD and AUD, Kopak says. Future work will examine the sensitivity and specificity of a proposed process that is primarily based on using violent charges as the indicator of these potentially underlying conditions. As thousands of Indian farmers protested against the agricultural reform bills of the government, violence erupted, as farmers rode tractors part of police barriers, and clashed with officers around the capital city of India, New Delhi on Tuesday. Indian Farmers Protest According to CNN, Indian farmer's protest did not start right away as their union had devised a plan for a peaceful march into the capital on Republic Day, a day wherein the people of India commemorates the signing of the Indian constitution. The government of India had approved the plan for the farmers, who have been protesting already for months, allowing them to enter the city at noon. However, the plans of the farmers went awry when some protesters started to march towards the capital a few hours before their schedule, which resulted in a face-off against the police. The law enforcement has used tear gas and batons as they tried to break the Indian farmer's protest. Moreover, as the farmers abandoned their approved routes, fierce battles broke out around the city. A farmer was even crushed when his tractor was among the many vehicles that had overturned in the melee. Based on reports, there are at least 19 individuals involved in the clashes were sent to two hospitals in New Delhi. On the latest report of the Indian Police, at least 86 officers were also injured during the clash, Eish Singal of the New Delhi police, shared during a statement that the protesters broke the agreement that was established before the rally. He also added that the farmers began the tractor rally before the scheduled time, they also resorted to violence and vandalism. Singal also mentioned that the farmers, who are mostly from the Punjab and Haryana states of India, also entered the historic Red Fort in New Delhi and raised the Nishan Sahib, which is a flag of importance to the Sikh communities of India, NPR reported. Read Also: World's Most Beautiful Girl Complains It's Not Easy Being Pretty at All On Tuesday, the Joint Farmers' Front, which represents a number of unions of Indian farmers, issued a statement wherein they condemned the clashes and separated themselves from the protesters who have exhibited violence. In their statement, they have mentioned that they condemn and regret the unacceptable and undesirable events that have taken place that day and dissociate themselves from those who are indulging in those acts. The Joint Farmers' Front also clarified that they had made efforts in keeping the events as peaceful as possible, however, some organizations and individuals have violated the designated route and indulged in condemnable acts. Amarinder Singh, the Chief Minister and the one who represents Punjab, and also where mostly the farmers are from, tweeted that the violence was unacceptable. The Chief Minister also urged all of the genuine farmers to vacate Delhi and go back to the 'borders,' which refer to the areas on the outskirts of the city, places where the farmers have been camped for weeks in protest, The Guardian reported. On the other hand, the Indian farmer's protest started two months when they initially demanded the repeal of the three laws that Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party passed in September, as a part of a plan in making India a $5 trillion economy by the year 2024. Related Article: Apollo CEO Leon Black Plans to Step Down After Jeffrey Epstein Payments @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Chahid El Hafed, Jan 21 2021 (SPS) - The Frente POLISARIO representative to the United Nations Sidi Mohamed Amar affirmed that the Sahrawi cause had taken a new turning point since November 13 by continuing the armed struggle, adding that participation in any negotiation operation was dependent on developments on the ground. Sidi Amar told a press conference held on Tuesday on the developments of the Sahrawi question, following the resumption of the fight army, said that "the Sahrawi people are counting on their resistance and their resolution to wrest their entire rights." The "Sahrawi cause began a new phase after November 13, date of Morocco violation of the ceasefire agreement and the continuation of the armed struggle." "Any participation in any negotiation operation remains dependent on developments on the ground and the seriousness of the UN Security Council," he said. "The only solution to the Sahrawi conflict consists in guaranteeing our people their intangible right to freedom and independence," insisted the Sahrawi diplomat, affirming that "there is currently no negotiation." In addition, he said that the position of Morocco is behind the delay in the appointment of a UN new envoy in Western Sahara. Sidi Amar reaffirmed the right of the Frente POLISARIO to defend itself by all legitimate means including armed struggle, adding that the POLISARIO remains open to any possible peaceful solution ensuring firm respect for the right of the Sahrawi people to independence." Regarding the human rights situation induced by the constant violation of these rights by Morocco in the occupied cities, the same Sahrawi official declared "it is France which hinders the establishment of a UN mechanism to monitor them." SPS 125/090/700 A Vietnamese factory worker tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday after leaving Vietnam over a week earlier, local authorities said on Wednesday. The woman, 31, arrived in Japan on January 17, said officials in Hai Duong Province, where she resides. She had earlier learned Japanese in Hanoi until August last year when she returned to work at an industrial park in Hai Duong. No coronavirus cases have been recorded at either the industrial park or the place where she studied Japanese, authorities said. Following reports of her positive COVID-19 test on Tuesday in Japan, Vietnamese health authorities have fumigated her household and workplace in Hai Duong. Her direct contacts have been quarantined for coronavirus testing. Vietnam is waiting for further tests on her in Japan, said Dang Quang Tan, a senior official from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Since August 2020, many cases have tested positive for the virus in Japan and then retested negative after leaving Vietnam. Vietnam reported zero new infections on Wednesday, with the tally standing at 1,551 patients, according to the health ministry. A total of 1,430 patients have recovered from the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus while 35 have died, most having underlying conditions. The Southeast Asian country has detected no community cases since December 2. The government is quarantining nearly 22,000 people who had close contact with infected patients or entered the country from virus-hit regions. Vietnam is sealing its borders to all international arrivals but it still allows entry to skilled workers, experts, diplomats, and Vietnamese repatriates, who are all subject to mandatory quarantine upon arrival. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The deal signed off by the Government which will see local pharmacists and GPs administer the Covid-19 vaccine to people in our communities has been welcomed with delight and relief. The Cabinet announced last week that GPs and pharmacists will play a vital part in the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine once it is approved by the European Medicines Agency. The Dundalk Democrat, and its sister titles across the Iconic Newspapers group, launched its #BestShot campaign for Covid-19 vaccines to be delivered straight into our community through pharmacies, which was backed by local TDs, GAA and Dundalk FC stars, as well as local pharmacists. The Democrats petition got amazing support with as many as 1,300 people signing it prior to the government announcement. Michelle OKeeffe, editor of the Dundalk Democrat, said: It is great that our local pharmacies are getting to play a pivotal part in the rollout of the vaccine into our communities. Pharmacists have been there for local people throughout the pandemic and they are now ready to play a vital part in getting our communities open up once again. With Louth having one of the highest rates of positive Covid-19 cases in the country it is crucial that the vaccine is rolled out in our county efficiently and quickly and this is now possible with the help of our local pharmacists and GPs. We would like to thank all those who supported out #BestShot campaign as we look towards a brighter future. Pharmacist Mark McPhillips of Ardee Pharmacy, who was among the leading voices backing the Democrat campaign, said: I am totally delighted that local pharmacists will get to play a vital role in administering the Covid-19 vaccine to people in our community. I am excited about playing a part in getting the country back up and running again. Our customers are eager to get the vaccine and have been asking us when we will be able to do it and how long they will have to wait. We are ready to go so I hope the Government puts a plan in place as quickly as possible. Over the next few months, we are planning to extend our opening hours and increase our staff levels to facilitate administering the vaccine to local people. We are also considering the possibility of using a church hall or community centre to roll out the vaccine into the community. Mark, who recently got vaccinated as he is a resident of Northern Ireland, said that he has a real sense of relief and is looking forward to being able to administer the vaccine to the people in the community. Pharmacist Cara Murdock of Pure Pharmacy in Dundalk, who also backed our #BestShot campaign and signed our petition, said: We are passionate about the welfare of the community and if we can be of assistance within Dundalk alongside other health practitioners, we would be most enthusiastic to help. The need for the roll out of the vaccine is evident for all to see. We wholeheartedly believe the rollout of the Covid vaccine through community pharmacies will be a game changer in the fight against Covid-19. Local councillor Antoin Watters said: It is fantastic that pharmacists and GPs are going to play a vital role in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout. It is especially beneficial for people living in rural areas, like my constituency. Local pharmacists being able to administer the vaccine to people in their community is the best way to do it. Pharmacists have been the backbone keeping society going through the pandemic and are well equipped to do what needs to be done now. It is important now that a plan is put in place as quickly as possible. Lee Mack has revealed is so terrified of flying he choses to travel alone while his wife and three children fly separately to their holiday destination. The comedian, 52, told how while his wife Tara and their kids jet to family getaways such as Barcelona and Switzerland, he choses to make his own way because he refuses to travel unless he is the driver, reports the Mirror. The Not Going Out star also revealed he even drove alone while out touring with Rob Bryden, 55, and David Mitchell, 46, last year because Rob also insisted on being behind the wheel. Scared: Lee Mack has revealed is so terrified of flying he choses to travel alone while his wife and three children fly separately to their holiday destination Lee said: 'If we go on holiday - and we have done for the last couple of years Tara has flown with the kids and I've met them there. 'And I'm including Barcelona, I'm including Switzerland. You know why - they won't let me sit up front and drive it. 'I've asked. I've said "yeah, of course I'll fly - can I drive?" and they said "no, and you don't drive a plane, you fly it" 'And I've said "forget it then, I'll go in the car". Lee and Tara share their three children Arlo, 17, Louis, 15, and daughter Millie. Honest: The comedian, 52, told how while his wife Tara and their kids jet to family getaways such as Barcelona and Switzerland, he choses to make his own way because he refuses to travel unless he is the driver Lee admitted that he is happy to travel on a train without being the driver, which was his method of transport for reaching Barcelona, Spain, last year. Lee hasn't flown since he had to get back from a a Children in Need trip to Turkey in time for his wife's 40th birthday. The TV personality was forced to go on a special British Airways course in order to calm him down ahead of the journey back to the UK. Lee hit a block in the road while taking part in the Around the World in 80 days fundraiser, which involved travelling without flying. The funnyman admitted he was 'stupid enough' not to realise that despite travelling overland during their voyage out there - he failed to consider his journey back. Although Lee considered the train he realised that this mode would mean he wouldn't arrive home until the afternoon of his wife's birthday. New York: Two men have been extradited from Australia to the United States to face charges over their alleged roles in a scheme to swindle hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users out of more than $US50 million ($64 million) for unwanted text messaging services. Michael Pearse, a 52-year-old Australian national, and Yongchao Liu, a 33-year-old Chinese national, are being detained after making initial appearances in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday. The two men are due to appear in a Manhattan court. Credit:AP US Attorney Audrey Strauss in Manhattan accused the defendants and their co-conspirators of using a practice they called auto-subscribing to charge monthly fees for unsolicited messages about celebrity gossip, horoscopes, jokes, love tips and trivia, without customers knowledge or permission. Pearse and Liu were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and Pearse was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both defendants arrived in the United States on Monday, US time. As Brandi Solomon unloaded a ruined school years worth of fear, frustration and failure, my eyes kept returning to the subject line of her email to me. SUBJECT: Just a mother Brandi is just a mother, one of thousands in Northeast Pennsylvania and millions more across the country watching her children fall behind in online learning and feeling powerless to help. For the first time in my life, I dont know how to help them, she told me Tuesday. Brandi needed someone to listen. What she said deserves to be heard. Brandi, 43, is a stay-at-home mom. Her husband Michael is 61 and has a pair of auto-immune disorders. Keeping him safe and their kids, Israel, 14, and Deborah, 12, focused on schoolwork during an infectious disease pandemic gets more overwhelming with each lost in-person school day. Israel is in eighth grade, Deborah is in sixth at West Scranton Intermediate, and were doing well before COVID canceled in-person instruction, Brandi said. The first quarter, Israel had seven As and four Bs, she said. Deborah had 10 As and one B. Now, Brandi said both are pulling Cs and have lost the love for learning she worked to instill in them. They have no hope, she said. They cant see an end to this, and they just dont want to do it anymore. In December, The Times-Tribune reported that while more than 90% of district students check in each school day, only about 70% regularly complete work, according to the district. The drop in grades is a national trend, according to a recent study by McKinsey & Co. The educational consulting firm projects that students on average will likely lose five to nine months of learning by the end of the school year. Minority students could be six to 12 months behind. NWEA, a nonprofit organization, reported that students in third through eighth grade scored 5 to 10 percentile points lower in math than students who took the groups assessment tests in the fall of 2019. Daily isolation from teachers and friends is also taking a terrible mental health toll on students, particularly adolescents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From March to October 2020, children 1217 showed a 31% increase in mental health-related trips to emergency rooms. Children 5-11 saw a 24% spike, CDC data revealed. Brandi said shes seen these grim numbers reflected at home. I took my son to his pediatrician, because I just knew something was really wrong, she said. The doctor said, This is how all my middle-school students are. They all feel defeated. So does Brandi, and she doesnt think the Scranton School Board or district administrators understand how badly some students and their families are struggling. District officials are out of touch with the everyday impacts of their decisions. The teachers are great, but theres only so much they can do (virtually), Brandi said. My sons reading teacher stayed on the phone with me until after 5 (p.m.) just listening to me cry. If you call (district officials) they take your number and say someone will call back, but it never happens. Brandi said the districts issue of a single laptop per family pitted her kids against each other. Often, their classes were live at the same time. So who gets the computer? Brandi asked. Like many parents, she lacks the resources to buy a second laptop. Sharing and making sure the kids stay focused on learning is a full-time job. If you do it wholeheartedly, its 15 hours a day, hands down, she said. And Im doing it with two kids. What about working mothers who have four kids? How are they supposed to work knowing their kids are at home fighting over one computer? The laptop shortage has reduced public education to survival of the fittest, Brandi said. Students whose families have the means to secure better tools thrive while those who dont get left behind. Brandi made it clear she is not looking for sympathy, but action. She doesnt want any student to fail, but is naturally most concerned about Israel and Deborah, who she promised herself would get the education she didnt. I grew up in the foster system, Brandi said. Education is the main thing Ive always wanted for them, and now Im scared for their future. Brandis desperation moved me. I know what its like to feel powerless, and to struggle with the anger and frustration it fosters and festers. Most of Brandis fear is rooted in uncertainty. She doesnt believe district officials have a realistic plan to get teachers vaccinated and students back in class. If officials do have a plan, they must do better at communicating it to a restless public. School Board President Katie Gilmartin acknowledged that officials sometimes dont communicate effectively, but all major developments are addressed at public meetings. The best way to stay informed is to attend a meeting, which for now are on Zoom. Gilmartin said she understands Brandis frustration, which she assured is shared by the board. We are all tearing our hair out over this situation, she said. And it is hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep pushing through, but thats what we have to do. The district ordered 10,000 Chromebooks in June, but due to supply shortages that hamstrung school districts nationwide, only 1,700 were shipped. Gilmartin said the district hopes to receive and distribute the remaining 8,300 over the next few weeks. When we talked Tuesday afternoon, Gilmartin said she had just left a conference call with state education officials trying to coordinate vaccinations for teachers and staff across Pennsylvania. The district is working with Hometown Health Care of NEPA to secure the doses, which could be administered as early as next month. Getting students back in school begins with getting educators vaccinated. The district has a plan, Gilmartin said, but school officials around Northeast Pennsylvania and across the nation are dealing with a very fluid situation. Everybody is dealing with the uncertainty of all of this, and we are all so eager to get back to some sense of normalcy, Gilmartin said. Its hard, but were getting there. Its not what anyone wants to hear, but under the circumstances, theyre doing the best they can. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Natural Gas Vehicle Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis By Fuel Type (CNG and LNG), Application (On Road and Off Road), and Vehicle Type (Passenger Vehicles, Light and Commercial Vehicles, and Heavy Commercial Vehicles)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to this report the market was valued at US$ 17,100 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 28,805.75 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2020 to 2027. Europe led the global natural gas vehicle market with 8.1% revenue share in 2019, followed by Asia-Pacific (APAC)and North America. Europe comprises Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK, France, and the Rest of Europe. Automotive is one of the major manufacturing industries in European countries as it considerably contributes to the countries' gross domestic product. Also, several premium automotive manufacturers are based in the region. The vehicles and fueling stations are constantly growing across Europe. LNG and CNG primarily consist of methane that is progressively generated from renewable sources in biomethane and synthetic natural gas. The rising production of commercial and passenger vehicles generates huge demand for natural gas vehicles. Moreover, growing investments in sustainable transport and increasing need for alternative fuel technology would accelerate the natural gas vehicle market growth across various European countries in the coming years. In 2019, Asia-Pacific stood second in the natural gas vehicle market with a decent market share; it is anticipated to register a steady CAGR from 2020 to 2027.In the past five years, capital investment in technological development has grown by 6.3%in Europe, to reach US$ 7,313.09 million of capital investment in 2019.International Energy Agency stated that apart from South America, APAC is the leading region in the natural gas vehicle industry.The increasing disposable income of individuals and rising economy have bolstered the sales of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in the past few years. APAC has become a global manufacturing hub with the presence of a robust automotive and transportation industry. Government initiatives - such as Made in China 2025 and Make in India - propel the growth of this sector in APAC countries. Developing infrastructure, increasing domestic consumption, as well as low labor costs are the key factors attracting automotive and transportation companies in southeast Asian countries. Based on the pollutant emissions, natural gas vehicles perform exceptionally well than diesel vehicles - especially in heavy commercial vehicles. Optimizing air quality is expected to be a significant driver for natural gas in various APAC countries, such as India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Expansion of gas markets, public transportation, and the economy in the region drives the growth of the market. Companies adopt inorganic market strategies to expand their footprints across the world and meet the growing demand. The market players present in the natural gas vehicle market are mainly focusing on gaining approval by integrating advanced features and technologies. By signing partnerships, contracts, joint ventures, and inaugurating new offices across the world, companies are increasing their market share and brand presence. Most of the market initiatives were observed in North America, and Europe, which have a high potential for future market growth. For instance, in 2019, Agility Fuel Solutions for medium - and heavy-duty commercial vehicles received 2019 California Air Resources Board (CARB) certifications for its natural gas fuel system for installation on General Motors 6.0L gasoline engines. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Natural Gas Vehicle Market The COVID-19 outbreak is adversely affecting the world and is continuing to shatter several countries. Until the outbreak, the automotive and transportation industry was experiencing substantial growth in terms of production and services; however, the outbreak is tremendously disrupting the supply chain and production of automotive and transportation. The automotive manufacturing and transportation industry is heavily dependent on manual labor. Owing to the strong lockdown regulations imposed by the majority of the countries across the globe, the industry is experiencing a significantly lower number of labors in respective manufacturing facilities. This factor is hindering the automotive and transportation industry, thereby restraining the growth of the natural gas vehicle market. Reasons to Buy: Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the global natural gas vehicle market Highlights key business priorities in order to assist companies to realign their business strategies The key findings and recommendations highlight crucial progressive industry trends in the global natural gas vehicle market, thereby allowing players across the value chain to develop effective long-term strategies Develop/modify business expansion plans by using substantial growth offering developed and emerging markets Scrutinize in-depth global market trends and outlook coupled with the factors driving the market, as well as those hindering it Enhance the decision-making process by understanding the strategies that underpin commercial interest with respect to client products, segmentation, pricing and distribution Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 1.1 Study Scope 1.2 Report Guidance 1.3 Market Segmentation 2. Key Takeaways 3. Research Methodology 3.1 Coverage 3.2 Secondary Research 3.3 Primary Research 4. Natural Gas Vehicle Market Landscape 4.1 Market Overview 4.2 PEST Analysis 4.2.1 North America 4.2.2 Europe 4.2.3 APAC 4.2.4 MEA 4.2.5 SAM 4.3 Ecosystem Analysis 4.4 Expert Opinion 5. Natural Gas Vehicle - Market Dynamics 5.1 Market Drivers 5.1.1 Growing Demand for Cost-Effective Mobility Solutions 5.1.2 Surge in Government Focus on Enhancing Energy Security 5.2 Market Restraints 5.2.1 Rising Emphasis on Electric Vehicles 5.3 Market Opportunities 5.3.1 Rising Focus on Green Transportation 5.4 Future Trends 5.4.1 Growing Use of Heavy-Duty Vehicles Powered by Natural Gas 5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints 6. Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Global Analysis 6.1 Global Natural Gas Vehicle Market Overview 6.2 Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 6.3 Market Positioning - Top Five Players 7. Natural Gas Vehicle Market Analysis - by Fuel Type 7.1 Overview 7.2 Natural Gas Vehicle Market, by Fuel Type (2019 and 2027) 7.3 CNG 7.3.1 Overview 7.3.2 CNG: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 7.4 LNG 7.4.1 Overview 7.4.2 LNG: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8. Natural Gas Vehicle Market Analysis - by Application 8.1 Overview 8.2 Natural Gas Vehicle Market, by Application (2019 and 2027) 8.3 On Road 8.3.1 Overview 8.3.2 On road: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 8.4 Off Road 8.4.1 Overview 8.4.2 Off road: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 9. Natural Gas Vehicle Market Analysis - by Vehicle Type 9.1 Overview 9.2 Natural Gas Vehicle Market, by Vehicle Type (2019 and 2027) 9.3 Passenger Vehicles 9.3.1 Overview 9.3.2 Passenger Vehicles: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 9.4 Light and Commercial Vehicles 9.4.1 Overview 9.4.2 Light and Commercial Vehicles: Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 9.5 Heavy Commercial Vehicles 9.5.1 Overview 9.5.2 Heavy Commercial Vehicles Market Revenue and Forecast to 2027 (US$ Million) 10. Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Geographic Analysis 10.1 Overview 10.2 North America: Natural Gas Vehicle Market 10.3 Europe: Natural Gas Vehicle Market 10.4 APAC: Natural Gas Vehicle Market 10.5 MEA: Natural Gas Vehicle Market 10.6 SAM: Natural Gas Vehicle Market 11. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Natural Gas Vehicle Market 11.1 North America: Impact assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 11.2 Europe: Impact assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 11.3 Asia-Pacific: Impact assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 11.4 Middle East and Africa: Impact assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 11.5 South America: Impact Assessment of COVID-19 Pandemic 12. Global Natural Gas Vehicle Market - Industry Landscape 12.1 Overview 12.2 Market Initiative 12.3 New Development 13. Company Profiles 13.1 AB Volvo 13.1.1 Key Facts 13.1.2 Business Description 13.1.3 Products and Services 13.1.4 Financial Overview 13.1.5 SWOT Analysis 13.1.6 Key Developments 13.2 Agility Fuel Solutions 13.2.1 Key Facts 13.2.2 Business Description 13.2.3 Products and Services 13.2.4 Financial Overview 13.2.5 SWOT Analysis 13.2.6 Key Developments 13.3 Cummins Westport Inc. 13.3.1 Key Facts 13.3.2 Business Description 13.3.3 Products and Services 13.3.4 Financial Overview 13.3.5 SWOT Analysis 13.3.6 Key Developments 13.4 Ford Motor Company 13.4.1 Key Facts 13.4.2 Business Description 13.4.3 Products and Services 13.4.4 Financial Overview 13.4.5 SWOT Analysis 13.4.6 Key Developments 13.5 PACCAR Inc. 13.5.1 Key Facts 13.5.2 Business Description 13.5.3 Products and Services 13.5.4 Financial Overview 13.5.5 SWOT Analysis 13.5.6 Key Developments 13.6 General Motors 13.6.1 Key Facts 13.6.2 Business Description 13.6.3 Products and Services 13.6.4 Financial Overview 13.6.5 SWOT Analysis 13.6.6 Key Developments 13.7 CNH Industrial N.V. 13.7.1 Key Facts 13.7.2 Business Description 13.7.3 Products and Services 13.7.4 Financial Overview 13.7.5 SWOT Analysis 13.7.6 Key Developments 13.8 Navistar, Inc. 13.8.1 Key Facts 13.8.2 Business Description 13.8.3 Products and Services 13.8.4 Financial Overview 13.8.5 SWOT Analysis 13.8.6 Key Developments 13.9 Volkswagen AG 13.9.1 Key Facts 13.9.2 Business Description 13.9.3 Products and Services 13.9.4 Financial Overview 13.9.5 SWOT Analysis 13.9.6 Key Developments 13.10 Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. 13.10.1 Key Facts 13.10.2 Business Description 13.10.3 Products and Services 13.10.4 Financial Overview 13.10.5 SWOT Analysis 13.10.6 Key Developments 14. Appendix 14.1 About the Publisher 14.2 Word Index For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/mxyrkl Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Vibhu Norby was used to the occasional break-in at his retail stores, especially the one in Hayes Valley he opened five years ago. The products b8ta sells, mainly electronics and high-end home goods, likely resell well on the black market, he said. But the break-ins have been getting worse, and hes starting to fear for the safety of his employees. Just this year, the Hayes Valley store already saw multiple robberies and an overnight break-in. On the same block as the store in Union Square, there have been three muggings this year. He has decided to close that store indefinitely, even though hell have to continue to pay the rent. It doesnt matter how expensive it is, Norby, CEO and founder of b8ta, said. We cant send our employees into a store where theres even a 2% chance they get mugged. Norby has taken to Twitter to express his frustration, he said, as well as attract the attention of the city. He said since media outlets have begun to pick up his story, the police have been stopping by more. Hes using a single thread to detail each incident, which has included both a video of a man breaking the glass at the Hayes Valley store to steal items as well as a man entering the store on Jan. 5 in broad daylight to run out with a $2,200 Devialet speaker. In a tweet on Jan. 19, Norby said, Have never mentioned this publicly, but we have stores all over the country and crime/employee harassment in our San Francisco stores (mostly Hayes Valley but now Chase Center as well) is 10x the rest of our stores combined. But when he spoke with SFGATE he mentioned the tweet and said he feels that statement wasnt even strong enough. This actually doesnt happen anywhere else in the country, he said. We have 17 other stores, including three internationally. This just doesnt happen anywhere else. Its only here. Their stores are being watched constantly, Norby said, as he says the criminals know when items arent secured with security cords and when security guards arrive at stores and even when they take lunch breaks. After the most recent string of events, hes decided to hire full-time overnight security at the Hayes Valley store, which he said will cost 30% more than his monthly rent. He said thats not sustainable for his business, nor can most retail businesses afford something like that. Hes hoping the city is taking notice. There has to be some effort made, I dont care what it is. I feel like they dont even talk about it. It doesnt seem like its a major issue. There are ways to solve this. [City officials] can come talk to me. Im happy to discuss what weve seen and the cost of this. Hes also reduced store hours and added more employees to staff stores. In the meantime, he plans to continue documenting incidents on Twitter, hoping for change. I just want my stores to be safer for employees when they go to work, he said. The Maize Growers Processing Marketer Association of Nigeria (MAGPAMAN) in Ekiti State has said that its members farms worth N10million have been destroyed by suspected herdsmen in the state. The association, speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Ado Ekiti, said the maize farms, spanning over 235 hectares of land, located in the forest reserve in Aduloju, along Ado-Ijan road, in Ado Local Government Area, were completely grazed and destroyed. The development follows the controversy arising from a quit order by the Ondo State Governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, asking the herdsmen to leave the states forest reserves over issues of insecurity. The issue of herdsmen has further created tensions in Oyo State after a self-titled Yoruba warrior, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, issued a quit notice for the herdsmen to vacate the state. The Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, swiftly led other governors to Ondo and Oyo states, where a truce was secured. Speaking with journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the state secretary of the association, Tope Emmanuel, said the herders had been terrorising the farmers in the last one week, leading to the destruction of the maize farms. Mr Emmanuel explained that the herders stormed the farms at night with dangerous weapons to feed their cows and all efforts to stop them were rebuffed. He disclosed that members obtained N6.6 million loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) under the anchor borrowers programme in September 2020 to plant the maize, adding that the 160 members had been left with nothing to cultivate. Last year, we approached the CBN as a group to obtain a loan worth N6.6 million for the maize farm and we planted the maize covering 235 hectares of land, he said. In actual fact, the expected proceeds are over N10 million. But unfortunately, when we were preparing for harvest, the herdsmen came and destroyed everything in the farm with nothing for us again. Those herders always go there during the night with dangerous weapons in the last few days and nobody can challenge them because of the arms they are holding. We cant go to the farm now. Mr Emmanuel pleaded with the state government and other stakeholders to come to their rescue in saving them from the hands of the deadly herdsmen and help in recouping their investment. Dont forget that the government always says we should go to the farm and we approached the bank for a loan hoping to pay back after cultivation but nothing to cultivate now as these herders have destroyed everything in the farm, Mr Emmanuel added. We are begging the state government to save us as members are really in a difficult situation now in view of the loan and you can predict what might follow if nothing is done. He said the police and the State Security Network Agency, codenamed, Amotekun, had been briefed on the incident but expressed regret that nothing was forthcoming from the security agents. When contacted, the Ekiti Amotekun corps commander, Joe Komolafe, a retired Brig-General, confirmed the incident. We are handling the situation, he added. ADVERTISEMENT Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:11:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A model developed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington projected that 569,000 people in the United States will have died from COVID-19 by May 1, U.S. media reported Monday. The model showed a slight increase from its last update, which projected 566,000 deaths by May. The latest forecast has yet to account for new variants of COVID-19, said Christopher Murray, director of the institute, in an interview with CNN International. The model expected that 157 million Americans will be vaccinated by that time, equivalent to 36 percent of the country's population being immunized on condition that vaccines are 50 percent effective, CNN reported. Enditem The COVID-19 vaccines made by China are doing well in a variety of criteria for the vaccine's effectiveness, according to the chairmen of domestic vaccine manufacturers and other experts. "There are three dimensions to assess the effectiveness of a vaccine: safety and efficacy, accessibility and affordability. And we make the grade on them all," said Yin Weidong, chairman and CEO of Sinovac Biotech, a major coronavirus vaccine provider for the country and the world. "The vaccines developed and produced by China's Sinovac and Sinopharm are based on the inactivated virus. It's a more mature method and requires a higher level of bio-safety in production compared with other new technologies like the mRNA route," said Feng Duojia, president of the China Vaccine Industry Association. "The Chinese vaccines can be stored at temperatures of 2 to 8 C, which makes them easier to store and transport, while the mRNA vaccines require extremely low temperatures, even -70 C," Feng added. "The side effects in people after taking our vaccines are fewer and lighter than many other kinds of vaccines, mostly muscle aches and light fever, "said Yang Xiaoming, chairman of China National Biotech Group, a subsidiary of Sinopharm. The Chinese vaccines have reported promising efficacy rates in different countries. For example, the Sinovac vaccine showed 65.3 percent of efficacy in Indonesia, 78 percent in Brazil and 91.2 percent in Turkey. The Sinopharm vaccine had a reported 86 percent efficacy against COVID in the UAE. "The differences in clinical trial design, sites, populations and statistical methods in different countries contribute to the different results," Feng said. "Our inactivated vaccine is a whole virus vaccine and contains various antigens. So it's more adaptive when responding to different variants of the virus," Yin added. This is also true of the Sinopharm vaccine, Yang said. "The vaccine has proved effective in protecting people from seven to eight variants of the coronavirus. We believe our vaccine can protect against the new variant found in the UK and tests on this are underway." China, as a participant in the WHO-backed vaccine program COVAX, has been at the forefront of vaccine research and development, upholding the role of multilateral cooperation in advancing the equitable global distribution of vaccines. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia and Brazil are among the countries that have authorized the use of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines, and over 40 countries have asked to import them. Responding to numerous demands, China has also made every effort to ramp up vaccine production. "Eighteen vaccine producers are accelerating expansion of manufacturing capabilities, and China's total annual capacity is expected to reach 2 billion doses by the end of 2021," Feng said. "With more developers getting regulator's approval for their vaccines and building the production capacity, the nation's total capacity will eventually reach 4 billion per year, covering 40 percent of world demand, based on calculations of world population and average vaccination rates." Runners: Get your summer program off on the right foot Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Gardai have began patrolling popular walking routes in Kerry in a bid to enforce the 5km travel restriction rule currently in place as part of lock-down. Last week a man was stopped at the foot of Caurantoohil by Killorglin Gardai on patrol close to the popular walking spot. The man was stopped last Friday, outside of his 5km limit, heading to climb the mountain, during heavy snow conditions and without proper equipment. He was fined for breaking restrictions. It's one example of how Gardai have continued to clamp-down in recent days in a bid to tackle congestion at popular walking routes in the county. There has been ongoing traffic jams at many locations and, given the volume of traffic, many are breaking the 5km rule to reach such destinations. Surfers and cyclists are among those who have been fined for breaching rules. However, Garda management will not give a full break-down of fines issued in Kerry in recent weeks. Figures are only available for the southern region which includes Cork, Kerry and Limerick - 211 fines for breaching Covid-19 restrictions have been issued up until last Friday. A more up-to-date figure is not available. Meanwhile, Gardai have also issued a warning about a nation-wide scam in relation to the COVID-19 vaccine. In recent days, Gardai in Kerry have become aware of members of the public having received fraudulent text messages and calls regarding Covid vaccination. The text messages have made requests for people to confirm private and sensitive information such as PPS number, date of birth and address. Other people have received phone calls requesting they make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine jab at a random hospital. But the HSE will never text or call individuals requesting personal information and they will never request payment for a Covid test or Vaccine. Your local GP will be the first point of contact about vaccination or Covid testing. The Covid-19 vaccine is free and it is not available privately. EUGENE Another Oregon senior is returning for an extra season of eligibility. Inside linebacker Nate Heaukulani, a former walk-on awarded a scholarship in 2020, will return to the Ducks in 2021, according to a team spokesman. Heaukulani appeared in five games in 2020, most notably at Cal. He had two tackles in three games in 2019 and three tackles while redshirting in 2018. The Portland native began his career at Monterey Peninsula College in 2016 and went to Arizona Western College in 2017. Heaukulanis return gives Oregon seven scholarship inside linebackers in 2021. He is the eighth UO senior returning for an additional season. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) More than six in 10 people across 50 countries consider climate change to be an emergency, a fresh survey conducted by the United Nations Development Programme and the University of Oxford found. "Over all 50 countries, 64% of people said that climate change was an emergency - presenting a clear and convincing call for decision-makers to step up on ambition," the Peoples' Climate Vote report, which was published by the UNDP on Wednesday, read. The proportion of people saying that climate change is an emergency was highest in Western Europe and North America, where 72 percent of respondents held this view. Support for the statement was lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 61 percent of those polled said that climate change is an emergency. The conservation of forests and land is the most popular climate policy globally, the report found, closely followed by the development of renewable power and climate-friendly farming techniques. A majority of respondents in eight of the 10 surveyed countries with the highest emissions from the electricity sector expressed support for developing renewable energy, UNDP found. The poll, which surveyed 1.2 million people across 50 countries, was the largest survey on climate change ever conducted, UNDP said. DALLAS (January 26, 2021) - Many people believe that they can't change their brains, or that their brain health will inevitably decline as they age. But the Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Tactics (SMART) training protocol, created by researchers and clinicians at the Center for BrainHealth, has been demonstrated over the past two decades to improve cognitive function and psychological well-being in laboratory participants. Recent research suggests that SMART can even make long-lasting improvements to people's brain health when given outside of the lab in short, informal training sessions. A paper detailing these findings was recently published in Military Medicine. The research was a collaboration between Leanne R. Young, PhD, of Applied Research Associates, Inc. and researchers from the Center for BrainHealth, led by Sandra Bond Chapman, PhD, founder and chief director, and Jennifer Zientz, MS, CCC/SLP, head of clinical services. Participants included 74 police officers and 425 total veterans, reservists, National Guard members and active-duty soldiers. First responders like them face uncertainty and stress every day at their jobs and have demanding, unpredictable schedules, so SMART - normally delivered to participants in the lab over a 12-week period - was tailored to their schedules. The researchers wanted to test whether shorter workshops outside of the lab could have similar effects on participants' brain health. Trained clinicians delivered between six and ten hours of SMART over two to three days. As expected, participants' overall cognitive function improved after SMART; for instance, both police officers and military personnel demonstrated an average of 20% improvement in innovative thinking skills. Surprisingly, SMART improved participants' integrated reasoning abilities by about 20% if they were military personnel, but not if they were police officers. And SMART improved participants' strategic attention by about 16% if they were police officers, but not if they were military members or veterans. These differences in how SMART affects participants' cognitive function might be due to differences in their jobs. "Our brains are really driven by our own experiences, and how you use your brain is what makes you good at some things," said Zientz. Still, the results suggest that various modes of SMART delivery can positively impact people's brain health. "Even in a training that doesn't take an inordinate amount of time, people can learn information, apply the information to their daily lives, and see a positive benefit from it," she continued. SMART empowered the participants to take charge of their own brain health, including their psychological well-being. Four months after training, military personnel reported less stress and depressive symptoms, as well as more satisfaction and resilience in their lives. This suggests that SMART can produce lasting results when applied in short programs outside of the lab. Young believes that SMART could even help save lives. "With the rising rates of suicide, both in civilian and military populations, perhaps the most exciting aspect of the study is the impact of the cognitive training on psychological health. I look forward to seeing this work continue as the military builds its arsenal of weapons against anxiety, stress and depression," said Young. ### Funding for the study was provided in part by the National Institutes of Health, the United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, the Health and Human Services Commission's Texas Veterans + Family Alliance, and Lyda Hill Philanthropies. About Center for BrainHealth The Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, is a research institute committed to enhancing, preserving and restoring brain health across the lifespan. Scientific exploration at the Center for BrainHealth is leading edge, improving lives today and translating groundbreaking discoveries into practical clinical application. By delivering science-based innovations that enhance how people think, work and live, the Center and its Brain Performance Institute are empowering people of all ages to unlock their brain potential. Major research areas include the use of functional and structural neuroimaging techniques to better understand the neurobiology supporting cognition and emotion in health and disease. This blog was written by Judith Tekin for Fethiye Times. Photos by Judith Tekin. Thank you for accepting me as a regular contributor to Fethiye Times. I look forward to writing with the hope that it is a positive experience for readers and helps to lift their spirits. This is what life is all about. Blessings are in our lives every day, but sometimes we simply lose sight of them. When we do notice things previously overlooked, we begin to take more notice of ordinary, everyday things; rain, clouds, birds singing and the world outside. Then we appreciate rather than just notice. Sometimes even the smallest gesture, a smile, a cup of tea or simple errand for someone can bring us as much pleasure as it brings joy to the recipient. Appreciating each of our unique life situations enables life to become more vibrant and we learn to treasure the things in life that signify the best in us. Being empathetic and compassionate is a must and its always good to share our views, acknowledging that we are all different and should be so. The six senses And this brings me to think about our six senses. For a minority of people with one or even two missing through no fault of their own, miracles would come in handy! For the blind it would be a miracle to see. I myself am deaf, and for the deaf, it would be pure joy to be able to hear the sound of rain, birds singing or music and so much more. Whichever sense is lost, the person will be living in an entirely different world and will cope the best they can. First of all, its by no means the end of the world, but when deaf and in company, one may as well be on ones own as there is no shared communication. Folk laugh and the deaf person is totally oblivious as to what everyone is laughing about. Now, with everyone wearing masks, visual communication ceases as there is no ability to lip-read. Thankfully friends are kind and explain. But all is not lost as I believe that, what we may lose in one sense, we gain in another. Sight, smell, intuition, feelings and touch enable the deaf to have increased alertness in the world around them. Text on TV is very useful and we acknowledge that more technological advances are being invented to help the deaf all the time. Deafness is an invisible disability and deaf people develop their own communication skills and adapt typically well in a hearing world. Have you noticed that deaf people use their hands more to communicate and they lip-read? It shouldnt be seen as a handicap but just a different way of living and means of communication. Thankfully, hearing aids amplify hearing but by no means can the deaf hear normally. The deaf need to see a face in front of them to see and lip-read and sometimes the incorrect word can be seen to be heard which can be hilarious to others. However friends totally understand and help where they can. Oh, for the delight of having understanding friends. Its not so difficult learning to survive in a hearing world when deaf. Other senses compensate and often deaf people have advanced vision, feel vibrations acutely, react more quickly and can be very alert. Often they are most artistic and have much more worldly insight and an awareness to appreciate attention to detail. Reflecting on life as deaf is, in a nutshell, living a normal life as much as possible and possessing the gratitude of being alive. A small thought written down can be of so much more value than a big thought that simply floats away. Writing is an excellent means of expression and I enjoy writing about different aspects of life that come into my mind. Its not only humans that can be deaf, three years ago we adopted a white blue-eyed angora rescue kitten. Realizing she was totally deaf, I taught her sign language. She reciprocates by using her paws to communicate with us too. Being vulnerable, shes a house cat but enjoys exploring the world outside with a harness and extending lead. A happy Shakira We have so much to be thankful for in life and we must all stay positive with shared hopes for a better future. A world full of wonders The world is full of wonders to be found in the strangest of places. Being deaf enables one to see the beauty of nature often in minute detail in front of our eyes, to notice the world around us, and the joy of being alive and seeing the world in an entirely different way. How lucky we are to be in the Fethiye area, full of rich culture and history everywhere. Walking is pure joy and we have so many beautiful natural beaches to bring joy to our hearts. At Yanklar, our local beach, I see small flowers emerging now from under the sand. Its so beautiful to be amongst nature, a place for relaxation during the time the allowed out with lockdown restrictions. Walking on the beach allowing the sand and sea to drift over my feet and between my toes is just heavenly at any time of the year and grounding. Swimming when the water is warm is also a pure delight. To see the first snows settling on our mountain tops brings joy to our hearts. And although we look forward to normality to return to this world, we can still reflect at any time upon the changing and beautiful seas, observe the many sea birds, some diving into the water. We are privileged to see turtles and dolphins and have many incredible places to visit just on our doorstep, so to speak. We welcome places to be inspired, it can be a small stream, waterfall, forest or even a field full of wildflowers. Nature is here to comfort and heal us. And so we all need to venture out when we can in these changed times, to places of serenity to enjoy the fresh air, so healthy and for us all to share. We all need more tranquility and optimism than ever. Remember that only humans know about this virus. Nature all around us acts as an antidote for any frustrations any of us may be feeling. We become inspired and at peace with ourselves when we understand the outside world. None of us are experts in life and we all need to stay confident and positive whilst staying safe. I believe to be positive is a discipline and exciting too, as we dont know what tomorrow will bring but we all live in hope. At the end of the day, unless we truly believe that our lives will be better, we are unlikely to take that initial step to take responsibility for making it so. As we are all in this together its important to remember Sweet is the day of contentment, enjoy life and stay safe. Happy days. Judith Tekin Judith is from North Yorkshire where she lived with her three children. Initially qualifying as a shorthand typist / book-keeper, she then attended art college for three years and had her own pottery and design studio. A further career change took her to university to where she qualified as a mental health professional, a career that spanned 30 years. In 2009, Judith retired at 65 years of age and moved here permanently. She now lives in Ciftlik with her Turkish husband and fourteen rescued animals. Loving art of any description, the Turkish culture, travel and history prompted Judith to write her own blogs to lift to peoples spirits and keep them feeling positive. Turkey and living here is my dream and Im very happy to be a contributor to Fethiye Times. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it has achieved Elite Status in the Snowflake Partner Network. Along with Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, Infosys will offer transformational solutions for enterprises, built on Snowflake's Data Cloud, which include a hyper data economy for enterprises, proven industry and business solutions and managed cloud consumption solutions from the Infosys Cobalt portfolio. Infosys' POV on hyper data economy opens up new possibilities for businesses to connect unconnected data, across industry boundaries, while monetizing their own data to draw richer actionable business insights, explore new business models, build new solutions and create connected customer experience. Snowflake enables secure data exchange with strong yet flexible processes for operations ranging from data consumption to monetization. Infosys industry and business solutions will bring together a growing portfolio of ready-to-launch, cloud-first applications with an ecosystem of data intelligence partners to unlock value across siloed data lifecycles and transform processes and functions for enterprises across industry verticals. Infosys will also partner with enterprises to co-create new solutions that combine the power of AI, cloud and data analytics and amplify the value of their business investments on Snowflake's Data Cloud. Infosys managed cloud consumption solutions for Snowflake can bring the governance and cost management capabilities that enterprises need to maximize the efficiency of their cloud consumption on Snowflake. This can significantly lower the TCO of their Snowflake investments, improve ROI and enable them to realize value faster. We want to enable our clients to build businesses so sentient that their organizations, across layers and functions, can sense and respond to their customers. Our Elite service partnership with Snowflake enables us to unlock the expansive data capabilities that our clients need," said Ravi Kumar S, President, Infosys. "This, along with leverage from Infosys applied AI cloud and Infosys Cobalt cloud offerings, can help them drive faster innovation and greater business resilience." "Snowflake's Data Cloud enables organizations to mobilize their data, including partner and third-party data sources, with near-unlimited scale, concurrency and performance," Snowflake Chief Revenue Officer, Chris Degnan said. "Our partnership with Infosys can help joint customers transform data into insights for potential new revenue streams and industry specific solutions to drive their businesses forward." About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. SOURCE Infosys Advertisement Rare maps giving a detailed account of England's defeat of the Spanish Armada have been saved for the nation after the public helped raise the funds to buy them. The set of ten, dating back to 1589, are thought to be the earliest surviving representations of the battle and have not left the UK since they were drawn. They were sold abroad in July, but a Government export ban prevented them leaving the country and gave the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth time to raise the 600,000 to buy them back. Chart 1 - The sighting of the Armada off the Lizard, Friday July 29 Chart 2 The first engagement, near Plymouth, July 30 - 9am 31st July Chart 3 The skirmish off Plymouth and the aftermath, Sunday July 31 Left: A portrait of Sir Francis Drake, 1591, by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Right: Armada Ark Royal The hand-drawn ink and watercolour maps depicting the 1588 battle were completed by an unknown draughtsman, possibly from the Netherlands, who is thought to have based them on a set of engravings by the Elizabethan cartographer Robert Adams. The Armada had sailed for England after decades of hostility between Spain's Catholic King Philip II and the protestant Queen Elizabeth I. In one of the greatest naval battles in history, 66 English ships including the flagship Ark Royal beat a Spanish fleet twice the size by sending fireships into it while anchored off Calais. Chart 4 - Drake's capture of the Rosario, Armada pursued by Howard east of Plymouth, night of Sunday July 31 Monday August 1 Chart 5 The Fleet off Berry Head, Capture of the San Salvador, and the engagement near Portland Bill, Mon 1st August Tue 2nd August Chart 6 - Engagement of the fleets between Portland Bill and the Isle of Wight, Tuesday August 2 Wednesday August 3 The museum raised the 600,000 in eight weeks from public donations and grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund. Professor Dominic Tweddle, its director general, said the public 'dug deep in extremely difficult times', adding: 'I am incredibly proud that we made sure the Armada maps have been saved for generations to come.' A museum spokesman said: 'They depict in real time a navy defending England against invasion by the 16th century's imperial superpower of Spain.' Chart 7 - The Battle off the Isle of Wight, Thursday August 4 Chart 8 - The Pursuit to Calais, Friday August 5 Saturday August 6 Chart 9 - The fireship attack, Sunday August 7 Manila, Jan 27 : A 53-year-old woman was killed and five others injured in a bomb blast in southern Philippines' Cotabato province on Wednesday, police said. The explosion took place at around 12:30 p.m. (local time) near a roadside waiting shed in Tulunan, a town in the province, police added. According to the police, the blast engulfed a passenger bus heading to a bus station but nobody was injured. The attackers had used a home-made bomb in the attack, Xinhua reported. However, no group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet. The explosion rocked a day after a bomb blast in Maguindanao province of southern Philippines killing one person and leaving another injured. Bloomberg (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds often measure their investments in minutes, not decades; but for Anchorage Capital Group, its long-held stake in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is proving that patience can also be profitable.The New York-based money manager stands to make roughly $2 billion on its investment in the film and TV producer, one that began almost 11 years ago with MGM in bankruptcy court. Amazon.com Inc. agreed to buy the company for $8.45 billion Wednesday, a price that includes just under $2 billion in debt.The deal is in many ways a vindication for Kevin Ulrich, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader who co-founded Anchorage in 2003 and was part of a group of distressed debt investors that took control of MGM as it went through the restructuring process. In recent years the stake looked to be an albatross for the fund, one that came with significant drama in its own right.Ulrich brought in and later fired a high-profile chief executive officer, resisted efforts by activist investor Carl Icahn to take control, and held out for a bigger payday after years of considering various exit strategies. By selling now, as demand for media content from entertainment and technology companies alike is booming, hes proving his long-held faith in the investment was justified.There was a lot of maneuvering, a lot of financial engineering, said Steven Azarbad, chief investment officer at New Yorks Maglan Capital, an MGM investor who sold his shares four years ago. But theyve done great.A representative for Anchorage declined to comment.When Ulrich first invested in MGM, he was new to Hollywood. He helped pick Gary Barber, a South African-born producer of films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as chief executive officer of the storied but debt-laden studio. Barber brought to the table a shrewd business sense, and connections into a world Ulrich long admired from afar.Barber shepherded MGMs development of The Hobbit franchise, a co-production with Warner Bros., that became a global smash hit. He helmed the release of the James Bond film, Skyfall, which generated over $1 billion at the box office, and he revived the studios work in television. Barber also brokered a deal to bring on TV super producer Mark Burnett, which gave MGM access to reality show hits like Survivor and The Apprentice, but would ultimately become personally troublesome.In 2012 the company bought back Icahns stock for $590 million. It also filed paperwork for a possible public offering of shares, and considered other options, such as a sale.As Barber boosted MGMs film and TV pipeline, Ulrich was increasingly entranced by the allure of Hollywood. He became a regular at movie premieres in Los Angeles and New York, and frequented industry parties in the Hamptons and elsewhere. He became active in creative decisions after becoming chair of MGMs board -- somewhat unusual for a non-executive lacking Hollywood experience -- even getting involved with business granularities like casting.Growing RiftBut over the following years a rift began to open up between Barber and Ulrich. When it was time to renew Barbers contract in 2017, Ulrich conducted an extensive search for a new CEO. When it ended, he ultimately chose to sign Barber to a new five-year deal. Yet around the same time, the pair split on whether to sell the company, with Ulrich wanting to hang on to the studio and Barber saying it was time to find a buyer.The company would hold buyout talks with Apple Inc. as well as Chinese investors that would ultimately prove fruitless.Only months after renewing Barbers deal, Ulrich fired him. The shock departure meant the company had to pay Barber for five years of salary and buy out his equity, a package totaling $260 million. In the three years since Barber left, Ulrich hasnt replaced him, instead operating an office of the chief executive officer, comprised of various people that each have their personal vision for MGM.Barber declined to comment via his spokesperson.Bounce BackAfter the initial period of success following the restructuring, the gains became harder to come by, as they did in Anchorages overall credit-focused business. Two senior managers left the firm in January 2020, and another in November. Anchorages flagship strategy, with about $8.5 billion under management, returned just 0.6% in 2018, 1.5% in 2019 and 4.4% in 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.In December, MGM hired investment bankers for a potential sale.MGM only released one film in theaters in 2020. Its biggest potential hit, the latest Bond film, No Time to Die, was pushed from last year to this October as a result of the pandemic.Yet the value of MGMs library rose as everyone from media companies to technology giants have sought to build video streaming platforms that can compete with industry leader Netflix Inc. Earnings jumped 48% last year, to about $307 million, even as sales declined.Anchorage holds a roughly 30% stake in MGM, worth about $2.5 billion in the sale, said people with knowledge of the matter. Anchorage invested around $500 million in the company more than a decade ago. Including the MGM stake, Anchorages flagship fund is up 18% this year, the people added. The fund has gained about 8% in 2021 not counting the studio.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.2021 Bloomberg L.P. Australias vaccine rollout plan is under a cloud after the European Union slapped export controls on COVID-19 vaccines produced within their territory, including the Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs the Morrison government is relying on. The controls, which effectively mean vaccine producers must ask for permission before shipping vials outside the region, will at the very least slow the distribution process for countries outside Europe. The government remains confident the vaccine program will commence in late February, despite the European Union controls. Credit:AP A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt did not answer specific questions about what the European decision means for Australias vaccine rollout. Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being manufactured in Belgium. The first shipment of at least 80,000 doses is due by the end of February. The country is also expecting 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be imported into Australia from Europe as local manufacturing of that vaccine ramps up. On Monday, that number was revised down from the previously expected 3.8 million due to global supply issues. Australia has been declared the shark attack capital of the world, but experts say beachgoers shouldn't be concerned. Twelve fatal shark attacks were recorded across the globe in 2020, according to a new report released by the University of Florida's Shark Attack File (ISAF). Australia accounted for eight of those, with three people killed in Western Australia, three in Queensland and two in New South Wales. 2020 was the deadliest year for shark attacks since 2013, with 12 shark bites leading to a fatality (pictured: stock image of great white shark) Director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program Gavin Naylor said the figures were surprising, but not alarming. 'Australians are not naive when it comes to the inherent dangers of surfing and swimming,' he said. 'So I was surprised that the number was as high as it was this year.' 'Unprovoked' maulings worldwide fell for the third consecutive year to 57 - down from 64 in 2019 - but 2020 was the deadliest year since 2013. Australia's eight fatalities almost topped the 90-year-old record of nine deaths in a year. But Mr Naylor said the spike in fatalities should not deter beachgoers. 'It's a dramatic spike, but it's not yet cause for alarm,' he said. Australia has been named the shark capital of the world after eight deaths from a shark attack were recorded last year (pictured: beachgoers at Surfers Paradise in Queensland) 'We expect some year-to-year variability in bite numbers and fatalities. One year does not make a trend. 'The total number of unprovoked shark bites worldwide is extremely low, given the number of people participating in aquatic recreation each year.' The ISAF found great white sharks were responsible for 16 unprovoked attacks worldwide - and accounted for four fatalities in Australia. Tiger sharks bites were responsible for two deaths. But Mr Naylor said there is no evidence sharks are hunting humans. 'We need to focus on long-term trends and rigorous scientific study, rather than speculation,' he said. Mr Naylor said most bites to surfers or beachgoers resulted from shark's mistaking swimmers for seals or fish. 'I think the frequency of white sharks swimming in the same places as humans may be on the rise, but if so, we don't yet know the cause,' he said. The ISAF found that the most common shark involved in 16 unprovoked attacks was the great white shark Downing Street today defended Boris Johnson's right to travel across the UK during the coronavirus crisis ahead of an expected trip to Scotland after Nicola Sturgeon urged him to respect lockdown travel rules. Number 10 said it is the 'fundamental role of the prime minister to be the physical representative of the UK government' and it is 'right that he is visible and accessible'. Mr Johnson is widely expected to travel north of the border this week to make the case for the Union and to urge Scots to reject separatism. But a visit will put the PM on a collision course with Ms Sturgeon after she questioned whether such a trip is really 'essential' and told Mr Johnson he has a 'duty to lead by example'. Ms Sturgeon said she is 'not ecstatic' about the PM's trip and urged him to listen to his own advice to people to 'work from home if you possibly can'. Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon blasted Mr Johnson's new hotel quarantine plan as she said it 'does not go far enough'. Current curbs in Scotland dictate that people should not cross the border unless it is an essential journey. Travel for work is allowed 'but only where that cannot be done from your home'. Nicola Sturgeon today said she is 'not ecstatic' at the prospect of Boris Johnson making a trip to Scotland as she said he has a 'duty to lead by example' and stick to Covid travel rules Mr Johnson is widely expected to go to Scotland later this week to make the case for the Union Boris Johnson announces new hotel quarantine rules Boris Johnson today revealed travellers to the UK from 22 'high risk' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Mr Johnson also announced that Britons will be sent home from airports if they fail to prove their trip abroad is 'essential'. Airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce non-exemptions properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. The Prime Minister is introducing an Australian-style quarantine scheme following concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignored a plea from Priti Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer told the Commons today that the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining people from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. The 22 'high risk' countries, due to be published later today by the Home Secretary along with a start date, are expected to include Brazil, South Africa, Portugal, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, much of South America and southern Africa. These areas have been chosen because of dangerous variants that have emerged there - or because they have rocketing infection and death rates. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Mr Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' Advertisement Mr Johnson's expected trip to Scotland comes after the SNP on Saturday released an 11-point 'roadmap' to holding another independence referendum. The party has made clear a ballot could take place if May's Holyrood elections result in a pro-independence majority - even if Westminster refuses to grant permission for a re-run of the 2014 referendum. There have now been 20 consecutive polls suggesting a majority of Scots could vote in favour of independence. Mr Johnson has repeatedly said he will not grant permission for another referendum because he believes the first ballot settled the issue for a generation. The prospect of the PM visiting Scotland this week has prompted SNP fury, amid suggestions that the trip would not be within the spirit of the travel rules. Ms Sturgeon told her daily Covid-19 briefing in Edinburgh: 'I am not and never would be saying that Boris Johnson is not welcome in Scotland. He is the Prime Minister of the UK. 'But beyond that everybody is welcome in Scotland... Boris Johnson is not unwelcome in Scotland even if I had the ability to stop him. 'That is not what this is about and I would be really disappointed if that is how what I am about to say is translated. 'But we are living in a global pandemic and every day right now I stand, look down the camera, and say what I am about to say, Boris Johnson does that, I heard him do it as recently as yesterday: Don't travel unless it is really essential, work from home if you possibly can. 'That has to apply to all of us. Now, people like me and Boris Johnson have to be in work for reasons that I think most people understand. 'But we don't have to travel across the UK as part of that. Is that really essential right now? Because we have a duty to lead by example and if we are going to suggest that we don't take these rules as seriously as we should it gets harder to convince other people. 'That is why I perhaps am not ecstatic about the thought of the Prime Minister visiting. 'It's not because he is not welcome, in fact if I was standing here being political you could perhaps conclude that I would be quite welcoming of him coming to Scotland. 'But we are in a global pandemic. Let's all remember the importance of these rules and the importance of us, none of us are infallible as I have demonstrated but we have all got a duty to lead by example here.' The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman refused to confirm if a trip to Scotland would take place tomorrow. But he defended Mr Johnson's right to travel during the pandemic, telling reporters: 'It's the fundamental role of the prime minister to be the physical representative of the UK government. 'It's right that he is visible and accessible to communities and businesses and the public across all parts of the UK especially during this pandemic.' Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon also announced that she intends to go further than Mr Johnson on the issue of hotel quarantine. These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries that could be on the UK quarantine list The PM announced this afternoon that UK nationals and residents returning from 'red list' countries will be placed in quarantine in Government-provided accommodation for 10 days. The 'red list' countries are those with very high case numbers or where a new variant of the disease has been identified. The Scottish First Minister said: 'I think I do have a duty at this point to say that I am concerned that the proposal does not go far enough and I've made that point very strongly in the four-nations discussions that we've just had today. 'So while the Scottish Government will initially emulate the UK Government's steps on enhancing quarantine arrangements, we will be seeking urgently to persuade them to go much further, and indeed to move to a comprehensive system of supervised quarantine. 'Given the obvious practical issues involved, we are very clear that our preference is to have consistent quarantine rules across the UK, but if there is no agreement to go further on a four-nations basis, we will be considering going further ourselves and we will set out any such additional measures next week.' Prevu, a real estate technology company on a mission to save home buyers time and money, today announced the appointment of Russell Sinclair to the newly created position of Chief Product Officer. In this role, Sinclair will oversee both the product and engineering teams for the company. Russell has played an integral part in architecting Prevus digital home buying platform. In his three years with the company, he has driven the planning and development of both the consumer-facing and agent-facing solutions we know today, said Thomas Kutzman, Co-CEO of Prevu. He has instilled a culture of collaboration and product feedback across our organization and it is a privilege to have him on our leadership team. Sinclair brings nearly two decades of expertise in managing product strategy and operations in high-growth technology and real estate technology organizations. Most recently, Sinclair held the role of Vice President of Product at Prevu leading product direction for the company. Prior to joining Prevu in 2018, Sinclair held product leadership positions at Ladders, StreetEasy (a member of the Zillow Group family of products focused on the New York City real estate market), as well as over 4 years in product roles at Microsoft. Prevus rapid growth and our plans to continue to scale product and engineering makes this an exciting time to grow with the team and to help create new products and new services for the real estate industry, said Sinclair. The companys brand values around consumer savings and transparency motivate our team every day. About Prevu Prevu is a real estate technology company on a mission to save homebuyers money. The companys digital Smart Buyer platform offers a homebuying experience with unparalleled control, transparency and savings when purchasing a home. With Prevu, consumers can seamlessly search, offer and save up to 2 percent of the purchase price when they buy a home. This zero-pressure online experience delivers a smarter, more efficient way for homebuyers to transact. To learn more about the company, visit http://www.prevu.com Media Contacts: Prevu Communications Team pr@prevu.com Somalia on Wednesday threatened to withdraw from a grouping of East African nations after the bloc ruled in favour of Kenya in a diplomatic spat between the neighbouring countries, which have an often-fraught relationship. Somalia severed diplomatic ties with Kenya on December 15 after alleging its larger neighbour was meddling in its affairs. Nairobi denied any wrongdoing, accusing Mogadishu of seeking a scapegoat for its own problems. Leaders from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) regional group tasked a fact-finding mission with investigating Somalia's complaints that Kenya was violating its sovereignty, in an intervention aimed at easing tensions. The foreign ministries of both countries said separately Wednesday that the inquiry had rejected Somalia's complaint, further angering Mogadishu, which accused the group of bias. "IGAD has overwhelmingly demonstrated incapability to be a fair and independent arbiter," Somalia's foreign ministry said of the trade bloc comprising Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda. "The Federal Government of Somalia calls for immediate withdrawal of the baseless and unfair report and demands an apology, failure to which Somalia is considering withdrawing from IGAD." Somali officials did not point to specific grievances for the decision to break off diplomatic relations in December. But the announcement followed months of rising tensions, and came as Kenya hosted the leadership of Somaliland, a breakaway state not recognised by Mogadishu, which considers the northern region part of Somalia. Mogadishu has also long resented what it believes is Nairobi's support for the semi-autonomous Somali state of Jubaland, which Kenya sees a buffer between it and Al-Shabaab militants over the border. This week, at least nine people were killed in fighting in Jubaland that Somalia blamed on Kenyan troops and militias backed by Nairobi. Kenya denied any role in the clashes, and has accused Somalia of stirring up diplomatic trouble to patch over its own internal political crises. Parliamentary and presidential elections in Somalia slated for early February are well behind schedule, with political disagreements between the central and regional governments delaying a vote. "The report of the fact-finding mission affirms the fact that allegations by Somalia against Kenya are wholly unfounded," Kenya's foreign ministry said in a statement. "It is also clear that the decision by the Federal Government of Somalia to sever diplomatic relations with Kenya was uncalled for" and had negative repercussions for the African Union's AMISOM peacekeeping mission fighting Al-Shabaab. Kenya is a major contributor of troops to AMISOM. For its part, Kenya last year accused Somali troops of crossing the border into its territory during clashes with troops loyal to Jubaland. Kenya also recalled its ambassador from Mogadishu in February 2019 in a long-running dispute over a stretch of the Indian Ocean claimed by both nations and believed to hold valuable deposits of oil and gas. The matter is before the international court. Short link: When asked for an example of how the Republican National Committee and President Trump expanded the party during the last four years, I like to cite Florida's newest Republican member of Congress, Byron Donalds. In a story that could only happen in America, this Black American man born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn to a single mother of three went on to become a conservative Republican who ran for a congressional seat in the Sunshine States 19th District and won. The actions of President Trumps agenda to empower Black Americans, create more economic opportunities, address health challenges, reduce prescription drug prices, support school choice, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and charter schools, as well as enacting historic criminal justice reforms and Opportunity Zones, resonated with Donalds, his constituents, and millions of other Americans across the nation. When Rep. Donalds (pictured) got to Washington, he had choices to make on staffing and was intentional in his commitment to find the best talent that represented America. To that end, Donalds hired a majority minority staff of men and women. The new congressman got his political start working for the late Herman Cain on his 2012 presidential campaign. In many ways, this is how you pay it forward by giving others an opportunity to serve in different positions and offices, just as he was given. When I first read about his diverse staff, I was filled with pride to see the names of young Americans coming from different experiences and backgrounds with one focus service. Donalds said, Since being elected the next congressman of Floridas 19th Congressional District, I have worked tirelessly to establish a staff dedicated to my steadfast commitment to serving my constituents with honor and distinction. I am confident this diverse and talented group of professionals will follow in my promise to ensure our government remains of, by, and for the people. Personally, I was proud to see three Black Republican young men holding positions in his office as communications director, legislative correspondent and staff assistant. It reminded me of my start in politics, although these three have already had impressive careers. I remember attending my first political fundraiser for then-Rep. J.C. Watts Jr., who offered me an internship in Washington, if I was able to get there. I was a young man involved in the Republican Party of Arizona serving in leadership for the Arizona Teenage Republicans. The AZ GOP took a chance on me: While in college I interned at the RNC in the political division and then at the White House. I did not come from great wealth or have family political connections in either party, but I was still given a chance and I am forever grateful. My story, Rep. Donalds story, and so many others reflect the intentions of the Republican Party to reach out to voters of all backgrounds and communities. This is something we have not always succeeded at but we have made a renewed focus and commitment to continue to expand the Party of Opportunity, one that works for all Americans. In 2020, the RNC and the Trump campaign were both intentional in their efforts to engage with diverse audiences, especially minorities, and they succeeded with historic gains from minority voters across the board, helping spur a surge of GOP women and racial minorities winning seats in Congress and at the state and local level. We now have a new generation of leaders who are providing fresh conservative input on how we message, engage and highlight our policies to the American people especially to those who may be unaware of how specific policies impact their daily lives. The RNC hired minorities to serve as regional engagement coordinators in leading our efforts in dozens of cities across the nation. They worked with the RNC and campaign staff to implement training, GOTV, and engagement events from our Black, Latino, and Asian community centers. Some of these coordinators never imagined working in politics at this level or thought it to be within reach, but they were inspired by the message of the Republican Party and President Trump and wanted to get involved. The RNC invested in them, gave them a chance, and they led. These courageous new leaders are the future of the GOP. Everyone, no matter their background, has to be given that first chance to succeed and this will continue. The Republican Party has always been the party of freedom and opportunity. This party continues to live up to our founding and its history of empowerment of minorities and women. Ive witnessed the growth and expansion each year. Mainstream media might not give us the credit, tell the story or celebrate our diversity and thats all right because we will quietly continue to grow, empower, and win. Rep. Donalds is not the first Republican congressman to have a diverse team and he wont be the last, but I am glad to give him recognition. More people are seeing the real diversity of the GOP at the RNC, state GOP offices, and with countless elected officials all over the nation. I have always been proud of my party and am excited about our future. With so many more new faces, ideas, and energy focused on active involvement in our political process, we will continue to push for advancing the conservative cause of freedom and opportunities in America. Close Trump: Biden is lying or 'mentally gone on vaccines Joe Biden said the world can't return to a Cold War with Russia and China and must seek ways to cooperate on global challenges like the Covid pandemic even as the two countries pose security risks to the western alliance. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Biden reaffirmed his commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization while apologizing to European leaders for the last four years under Donald Trump. That apology came with the Biden administration returning the US to the Paris climate accord, another reversal of Trump-era policies of the past four years. The focus on foreign policy came as the Biden administration continued to face domestic crises in its first weeks, including unprecedented winter weather that delayed 6 million doses of Covid vaccine. While Biden toured the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing plant in Michigan, Republican senator Ted Cruz stayed out of the spotlight after coming under intense scrutiny for fleeing Texas for the warmer climes of Cancun. Congress continued going through its motions, with Democrat Joe Manchin announcing his opposition to the nomination of Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management & Budget, Neera Tanden. The White House has refused to withdraw her nomination, hoping instead to convince Republicans to confirm her post. Trump himself, meanwhile, did things that were terrible when contradicted on the coronavirus pandemic, Dr Anthony Fauci has said in an interview. Fauci said Trump entirely lost interest in tackling Covid-19 as it became clear he had lost Novembers presidential election. The Doomsday clock has remained at 100 seconds to midnight for the second year running, in part due to the 'ineffectual response to Covid-19' by world governments. This is the closest the clock has been to midnight in its 73-year history, with climate change, increased nuclear tensions and the global pandemic bringing us 'closer to the apocalypse than ever before', according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The clock was founded by US scientists involved in the Manhattan Project that led to the first nuclear weapons during WW2 and is a symbolic countdown to represent how close humanity is to complete global catastrophe. Maintaining last year's grim record means the clock's keepers perceived threat of global apocalypse has not cooled off in the past 12 months. They warn that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic revealed 'how unprepared and unwilling' countries are to handle a global emergency properly. Scientists did have some hope that tensions could be eased, with new US President Joe Bidens intention to rejoin the Paris Agreement and stay in the World Health Organisation mentioned as positives. The coronavirus pandemic is cited as one of the main reasons why the Doomsday Clock's position has not changed Rachel Bronson, president and chief executive of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, said the pandemic had presented world leaders with a genuine crisis. 'In this time of genuine crisis, governments around the world too often abdicated responsibility, ignored scientific advice, did not co-operate to communicate effectively and consequently failed to protect health and welfare of their citizens.' The group responsible for the clock expect the virus to kill more than two million people around the globe. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, co-chair, WHO Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient said coronavirus was a 'terrible warning against complacency int he face of global threats to human life'. Maintaining last year's grim record means the clock's keepers perceived threat of global apocalypse has not cooled off in the past 12 months 'The past twelve months have served to reinforce the messages that it is only through collective action and responsible leadership that we can secure a peaceful and habitable planet for future generations.' Dr Asha M. George, executive director, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense said in 2020 alone Covid-19 killed 1.7 million people and left at least 70 million sick. 'The pandemic reveals just how unprepared and unwilling countries and the international system are to handle global emergencies properly. 'In this time of crisis, governments too often abdicated responsibility, ignored scientific advice, cooperated or communicated ineffectively, and consequently failed to protect the public health and welfare of their citizens.' Scientists also expressed concern about accelerating nuclear programmes in multiple countries, which they blamed for moving the world into 'less stable and manageable territory' last year. This is in part as hypersonic glide vehicles, ballistic missile defences, and weapons-delivery systems were developed. They said: 'Events like the deadly assault earlier this month on the US Capitol renewed legitimate concerns about national leaders who have sole control of the use of nuclear weapons. 'Nuclear nations, however, have ignored or undermined practical and available diplomatic and security tools for managing nuclear risks. 'By our estimation, the potential for the world to stumble into nuclear war an ever-present danger over the last 75 years increased in 2020.' Since the turn of the century the clock hasn't gone above ten minutes to midnight and has got closer to midnight almost every year since 2015. Dr Rachel Bronson president and chief executive of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, who cited the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as one of the reasons for this year's count remaining at 100 seconds, staying the closest to midnight it has ever been for the second year running The clock was founded by US scientists involved in the Manhattan Project that led to the first nuclear weapons during WW2 and is a symbolic countdown to represent how close humanity is to complete global catastrophe 'We are now expressing how close the world is to catastrophe in seconds not hours, or even minutes,' said Bronson The clock has become a universally recognised indicator of the world's vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in life sciences. The bulletin said the countries of the world should publicly rededicate themselves to Parish climate agreement to restrict warming. They also recommend the US and other signatories of the Iran nuclear deal working to restrain nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and creating international 'norms of behaviour' to improve trust. Alex Galindo Alex Galindo with Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP Trial Lawyers announces that the family of Nathaniel Lee Lowe (Nathan) age 44 seeks damages against Butte County and CDCR. The filed complaint states that on September 9, 2019, Nathan was arrested by Chico Police. Chico Police processed Nathan and he was booked into Butte County Jail. Court documents say Nathan was charged with assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon (the truck driven by Nathan). The lawsuit alleges that while at Butte County Jail Nathan was assessed by the jail medical staff and they determined that Nathan suffered from schizophrenia and was suicidal. He was placed on suicide watch and suicide prevention measures were taken at the jail. In late October Nathan plead guilty and was sentenced to state prison. The court documents state that on November 8, 2019 Nathan was transferred from Butte County Jail to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California. Nathan was placed in general population. The lawsuit alleges that the medical staff at Butte County Jail failed to notify and alert CDCR that Nathan had attempted suicide while in custody and was on suicide watch. The lawsuit alleges that as a result of Butte County Jail officials' conduct, CDCR failed to continue the suicide protocol and prevention. Three days after arriving at DVI-the state prison, Nathan hung himself with his shoelaces. He was found lifeless in his cell on the morning of November 11, 2019. Both Butte County and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has denied the allegations filed in the Eastern District of California United States District Court in Sacramento. Mr. Galindo is a founding member of Curd, Galindo & Smith, LLP which is a full service law firm that represents both corporate and professional clients and those who have been seriously injured or have lost a family member due to an accident, defective product, police misconduct or negligence. The law firm has recovered millions of dollars for its thousands of clients since 1995 by winning complex and challenging business disputes, death and injury cases involving police misconduct, traffic collisions, work place injuries and defective products, including defective automobiles, against some of the world's largest companies and governmental agencies. Mr. Galindo received his business degree from University of Southern California in 1982 and his law degree in 1985 from the University of Oklahoma. Mr. Galindo has been a lawyer and real estate broker for over 25 years. He has won numerous jury verdicts and settlements in the area of personal injury, products liability and civil rights/police misconduct cases. Mr. Galindo is a member of ABOTA which is an organization of attorneys representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. All of the attorneys who belong to ABOTA have earned great distinction at trial. Mr. Galindo is a member of Los Angeles County Bar Association, Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Consumer Attorneys of California, Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles, NPAP (National Police Accountability Project), National Lawyers Guild, National Association of Realtors and California Association of Realtors. Jocelyn Ann Hampel, 7, died days after visiting a Cedarburg dentist A Wisconsin girl has died after having a tooth extracted while under anesthesia at the dentist office. Jocelyn Ann Hampel, 7, died days after visiting a Cedarburg dentist for a tooth removal on January 8, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. Her heart stopped halfway through the procedure while she was sedated and the dentist office performed CPR, the outlet reported. 'They were able to regain a pulse enough to transport her to Aurora [Medical Center] in Grafton,' said Brian Gould, her uncle and godfather. The Jackson Elementary first-grader lived the final days of her short life in a medically induced coma before she was taken off life support on January 14 when tests indicated a lack of brain activity. Jocelyn's family, pictured, said she was nonverbal but loved to dance and twirl in circles Dad Luke Hampel posted a photo after Jocelyn's death showing his hand holding hers Gould told the outlet that the medical examiner's office would perform an autopsy to figure out what happened to the young girl. Parents Luke and Ashley Hampel have mourned the loss of their daughter in posts to social media. 'It's been a week since we last kissed you, held you in our arms, snuggled with you in your hospital bed and ran our hands through your curly hair,' Ashley Hampel wrote on Facebook. 'It seems like just yesterday but at the same time even longer because these days are next to impossible to get through. An obituary for Jocelyn she will be remembered as the 'cherished sister of Tenley and Hendrix' Mom Ashley Hampel posted a moving tribute a week after the tragic death of her daughter Jocelyn suffered from Cohen syndrome, a rare disorder 'You were just an innocent 7 year old little girl in the dentist chair, we were supposed to go home, cuddle and spoil you and you'd be back to yourself by the next day. You didn't deserve this, you had so much joy and life left to live.' Luke Hampel posted a picture of his hand holding hers on Instagram, with the caption: 'There are no words... rest easy my baby. Until we meet again.' He later posted another which shows a pile of Fruit Loops sitting on a table. 'Your favorite snack will always be where you remember it,' he said. According to a study in the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research, 'death was the most important side effect of anesthesia in dentistry.' The study, which examined deaths associated with dental procedures from 1955 to 2012, found that there were 218 deaths out of 71,435,282 dental patients for a mortality rate of one in every 327,684 patients. 'In 1970s and 1980s, numerous deaths among healthy children undergoing simple dental procedures under general anesthesia were documented,' the study reads. Jocelyn, pictured with her mom, suffered from Cohen syndrome, a rare congenital disorder Jocelyn, bottom left, enjoyed glitter and shiny things, according to her obituary The study recommended that only pediatric anesthetists should administer general anesthesia to young children. 'Mentally compromised patients are unlikely to allow safe completion of treatment under local anesthesia because of problems related to physical/mental disability; therefore they might need general anesthesia,' the study reads. Another study, published in the journal Pediatric Anesthesia, evaluated 44 deaths among children aged 2 to 5 during dental anesthesia and found only three patients were reported to have pre-existing medical conditions that placed them at increased risk for anesthesia-related complications. Family members said that Jocelyn had Cohen syndrome, a rare congenital developmental disorder first described in 1973. Cohen syndrome symptoms can vary greatly from person to person but generally include low muscle tone, developmental disabilities 'She could walk, and she could play. She showed emotions, and she learned new things constantly, but she was nonverbal. She's never been able to talk,' Gould told the Journal Sentinel. Cohen syndrome symptoms can vary greatly from person to person but generally include low muscle tone, developmental disabilities, a smaller than normal-sized head and near-sightedness, according to the National Institute of Health. There is no cure for the disorder but physical, occupational and speech therapy can address the symptoms. 'She never knew she was dealt a short hand,' Gould said. 'She was always smiling and laughing and playing.' Grandfather Jeff Gould said Jocelyn loved her short life and family vacations to Mexico and Disney. 'She loved to dance and twirl in circles. She loved pretty lights, sparkle and glitter; everything little girls love,' he told the Journal Sentinel. 'But her passion was swimming. She would try and find the biggest wave she could find and let it crash into her. She was our joy, our sweet little princess and her grandma and grandpa loved her more than anyone can imagine.' Jocelyn's obituary said she will be remembered as the 'cherished sister of Tenley and Hendrix.' '[She] had some hurdles put in her path right from the start but with her courage, bravery and determination, cleared them all. This little girl learned how to bring so much joy and happiness through her smiles and giggles to all of us that really got to know and love her,' the obituary reads. 'Whether she was navigating through her iPad just to find the right silly video she wanted or posing for pictures with Tenley and Hendrix, our love for her grew more and more. Whether she was shopping with mom or dad, or swimming in grandma and grandpas pool, we loved her somehow even more.' Pennsylvania on Wednesday stepped closer to paving the way for adults who were sexually abused as children to seek recourse in court against their predators. By a vote of 187-15, the state House of Representatives passed a measure that could lead to a temporary lifting of expired statute of limitations for some abuse victims, allowing them to file civil suits. House Bill 14, authored by Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Blair, calls for a voter referendum on a two-year retroactive window that would lift expired statute of limitations to allow such legal civil action. The bill now heads for the Senate, which has signaled strong support for the measure. This is a wonderful day. Attitude of gratitude for the people of Pennsylvania who have waited a long time, Gregory said just moments after the vote. This is just another step in the process of recognizing those who have been sexually abused in past decades. They have been waiting a long time for this and Im just grateful to colleagues who voted for this so strongly that they believe in justice for victims but also believe in the protection of our families. Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, who has made statute of limitations reform one of his signature initiatives, called it an easy vote. Victims deserve their day in court. Victims have waited long enough, he said. The bill calls for amending the state constitution to create the window for victims to pursue claims and it requires voter approval. It is a companion piece to an effort launched in 2018 by Rozzi to reform the states child sex crime laws in the wake of a set of stunning investigations into clergy sex abuse in Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania. After much debate and failures, Rozzis companion piece was enacted into law by Gov. Tom Wolf in 2019, as part of a cadre of bills that substantially reformed the states child sex crime laws. The new law abolished criminal statute of limitations on childhood sex abuse; and extended the amount of time victims have to file civil actions against their abusers to age 55. Rozzi, himself a survivor of clergy sex abuse, delivered yet another impassioned appeal to lawmakers to approve Gregorys measure. Rozzi over the years had given similar appeals in the wake of the grand jury investigations that uncovered the systemic and widespread sexual abuse of children at the hands of Catholic priests. Rozzi outlined the string of investigations into clergy sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, starting in 2003 with the first investigation into the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Two subsequent investigations there were followed by equally stunning investigations into the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In 2018, the 40th Statewide Grand Jury investigation uncovered nearly identical child sexual abuse conspiracies and cover-up across all remaining dioceses in the state. Representatives in this House have been fighting for this since 2005, said Rozzi, who admitted to having been emotionally defeated in the past by the General Assemblys failure to advance reforms. Nationwide, since 2002, some 24 so-called revival bills have been enacted. Some jurisdictions have had multiple windows, including California with two, and Hawaii with three. Overall there have been 19 retroactive windows opened by states and five revivals. Vermont has completely eliminated statutes on child sex crimes and has enacted a permanent retroactive window. This is a great day, said Marci A. Hamilton, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and statute of limitations reform advocate. We have been working since 200516 years to bring justice to the child sex abuse victims of Pennsylvania. This is a moment to thank all the brave survivors including those who have passed away for standing up for truth. And the prosecutors like Lynne Abraham and Josh Shapiro for their groundbreaking grand jury investigations. It is now time for the Pennsylvania bishops and insurance lobbyists to support the victims and to cease sabotaging their path to justice and healing. A window will serve the public not only the survivors, as it brings unknown predators to light, shifts the cost of the abuse to the ones who caused it, and educates the public about widespread child sex abuse. The measure now heads for the Senate for consideration. It is expected to be overwhelmingly supported in that chamber. The Senate had been concurrently pushing its own constitutional amendment bill, which was scheduled for a full chamber vote on Wednesday but was tabled, signaling the chambers willingness to consider Gregorys bill. Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Luzerne County, chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has called the measure a priority for her chamber. If approved by the Senate, the measure would have fulfilled all the legal requirements in order to go to voters. Measures to amend the state constitution must pass the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions. Lawmakers approved the measures in the last session. If the Senate acts swiftly, the ballot question could go to voters as early as this spring. The measure would have to clear the General Assembly by Feb. 18 to get on the May 18 primary ballot. The Senate reconvenes on Monday. The constitutional amendment measure would further reinforce the removal of the sovereign immunity defense, which gives public and government institutions a shield from being sued in these cases. Rozzis 2018 bill, enacted two years ago, eliminated the statute of limitations going forward in criminal cases, as well as the sovereign immunity defense for public and private institutions, including government bodies such as schools. The constitutional amendment bill essentially reaffirms the idea that those institutions would not be shielded from any lawsuits brought during the two-year retroactive window. Rozzis bill provided for other changes, extending the amount of time some victims are allowed to sue their abusers. Additionally, the 2019 law signed by Wolf increased penalties for mandatory reporters who dont report abuse, and exempted conversations with law enforcement from non-disclosure agreements. Prime Minister Florin Citu on Wednesday stated that Romania is carrying out a "successful" vaccination campaign against COVID-19, one of the most successful in Europe, and he mentioned that all EU states had to reconfigure during this time the dose administration pace because manufacturing companies have adjusted their production. "It's going very well, all the figures show that it's going very well. On the 25th we were on the first place in the European Union in terms of the number of vaccinations per day, calculated as an average. So Romania ranked first in the European Union at vaccinations. And we are still in top six in terms, with 2.5pct of the population that is to be vaccinated having already taken the vaccine, which we need to say so that people will know. With the resources that we have, limited resources, Romania manages to stay in the top. Yes, it is true, and Romania and the other EU countries had to reconfigure, to reset their vaccinations campaign in the very short term, because the vaccine companies have adjusted their production and we had to re-analyze the situation. But this happens in all EU countries, not only in Romania. However, Romania has a successful vaccination campaign, we have over 500,000 vaccinated people," Citu said, at the end of the Government meeting. He noted that the goal is to vaccinate against COVID-19 "as soon as possible, as many people as possible," so that immunization has an effect on society. The Prime Minister reiterated his conviction that the long-term goals for vaccination will be met."Although we received 93,000 less vaccines last week, only 20,000 - 30,000 people were affected. (...) And even with these short-term problems, we sill have the same objectives we discussed with all the companies producing the vaccine, to get to vaccinate 10.4 million citizens by September. That goal has not changed. It could happen faster, but that is the target, and also to have 2.4 million vaccinations done by March 29 this year. We are taking on the contracts we have at the moment with the companies, especially with Pfizer, but with the other companies too, one at a time. I repeat, the vaccination campaign in Romania is going well, despite all those who thought we couldn't do it. But we did it and we even managed to rank first in Europe," said Florin Citu. Press Release January 27, 2021 Pia on Charter Change proposals: First step to economic reform is to pass CREATE Highlights of Senator Pia S. Cayetano's manifestation at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments Economic reforms and delays in CREATE Senator Pia S. Cayetano (SPSC): I totally agree with Sen. Grace Poe's statement about the work that has been done [by the Senate] on economic provisions. The lady has spearheaded AMLA, and on FIST, we have moved that forward. And as she pointed out, it is this representation that spearheaded CREATE. And so I echo in a way what I am hearing from her that when we passed CREATE - and this was the latter part of November, November 26, to be exact - the House had already passed their version of CITIRA. And that whole time, they had, through my counterpart in the House, the Chairperson, Congressman Joey Salceda, manifested that they would be adopting the Senate version because they know that we have had numerous and very lengthy debates, and included all sectors in the preparation of the finalization of this bill. So it's been two months, dear colleagues. I've said this on the floor. But now that we have our esteemed resource persons here, I feel like this should be part of the record that it's taken two months. Two months [have passed] and the House has not been able to... they decided not to adopt the Senate version. And I actually received informally a 57-page matrix of the changes they want in CREATE. I can just imagine what these economic provisions are going to be about. I mean, seriously? A 57-page matrix on the changes in CREATE? That, I think, all my colleagues will be able to stand by the fact na hinimay naman natin nang todo-todo yun [CREATE Bill]. So that is the reality that [we face] as pointed out by Sen. Grace. And I wanted to put that on the table so that we are aware of this reality. One last point I want to raise. Yesterday, they said that they would be amenable to reducing it to 3 items, because the Senate has pretty much taken a stand na sobra na yan... This is what's gonna go on. So I just wanted to share that, Mr. Chair. And thank you, Senator Grace. On the passage of CREATE bill SPSC: I just wanted to emphasize that I first heard, and we were actually still on Christmas break, [that the House] was going to proceed with the hearings on the proposed revisions of the economic provisions [in the Constitution]. Honestly, the first thought that entered my mind, and of course the basis for that is to uplift the lives of the Filipinos [by making] business easier to transact in the Philippines, invite foreign investors, etc. But I need to put on record that the first step there would have been CREATE. If that is the objective, the first thing that could have been done was to pass CREATE. We have all the support, not just from the finance team, the economic team of the government, but also from the foreign chambers, that they now support the version of CREATE. So that would have been the first step. So, it's not for me to judge what the objectives of the House [were], but if that was the objective, to improve the economic conditions [for our people], then this is what would have happened. And it could have happened right away. Because for the information of those just tuning in, corporate income tax could have dropped immediately from 30 to 25 percent, and for SMEs earning less than P5 million, 20 percent. How much better does it get than that? And for foreign investors, we've broadened [and] we've clarified the incentives that are available to them. I think most of our colleagues are quite happy with the more liberal and generous incentives that we've provided, which are competitive with our Asian neighbors. So that really would have been the easy step. So I cannot help but wonder, if that is the objective, then why could this [CREATE] first not be taken [up]? On voting separately SPSC: Having said that, anyone who wants to react, Mr. Chair, can react. I am just tossing it all out there. Going back to the statements of our esteemed resource persons, I noted earlier that Justice Mendoza did specifically state that for the record, what was contemplated by the Commissioners at that time was a unicameral system. And so, when this was changed in the end, very simply put - and these are my words, not his - some amendments to certain provisions were not made. Mr. Chair, all of us as legislators can understand that. The TRAIN law, the CREATE law, andaming housekeeping niyan. It's one provision that affects so many others. So, did I hear it clearly... Very simply put, it was overlooked, to clarify... that it should have been voting separately when we shifted, when the draft shifted from a unicam back to a bicam scenario? Is that what you said... And in all likelihood, certain provisions were not amended? But I don't want to put words in your mouth, so I wanna hear it from you. (Note: Justice Mendoza replied it would be prudent to discuss the major issues jointly; he said there are 5 provisions in the Constitution, which require Congress to meet jointly and separately vote; he said it is not an error but merely an oversight.) SPSC: I was just saying thank you to my former professor. I continue to learn a lot from his wisdom... I have very fond memories of being in his class and I am so happy to see him here today. That's actually what I wanted to point out. I think any of us who has defended a complex bill, and sometimes, it's not even that complex, and yet [audio cut] belatedly our staff will remind us that, "Sir/Ma'am kailangan palitan ninyo ito para consistent doon sa mga una." That happens to me so often. That's why a bill like CREATE, we needed so much time to do the housekeeping, because there were so many interrelated provisions on basically, the National Internal Revenue Code. So my point is similar to what Justice Mendoza was making, that there was an oversight here, but we can be guided by what was the intention, and what was it that we [audio cut] in the drafting of the Constitution as a whole. My personal takeaway is that I don't have any strong feelings about sitting jointly or separately. But I was listening carefully to Justice Mendoza about... going through the debates together. I have no issue [with] that. In fact, we end up repealing the [audio cut]. My colleagues and I all know that when we have an important bill, separate hearings move on almost simultaneously. Sometimes, our resource persons will say they are not available today because they are in the House. So I personally have no major issue with that. To me, it's really a matter of efficiency. But on the voting separately, of course, we are two separate houses. Then I feel strongly that that should have always been the interpretation. And I think Sen. Kiko and I had our [audio cut] on this issue also. And I wanted to end by saying that perhaps, the CommSec can take a look at... I am not sure, it could have been Sen. Miriam [Defensor-Santiago], can you recall? I think she had hearings on this also. But I am sure the CommSec has records also of various resource persons who attended. That's all. Thank you very much. New Delhi: Smartphone camera is getting better and many are now using their phones to record and capture moments even on a professional scale. Samsung has recognised the potential in this area and will be conducting Galaxy Masterclass for the users. The Galaxy Masterclass will go live from Galaxy Creators Lounge at New Delhi. The Galaxy Masterclass features ace photographer Auditya Venkatesh and Samsung's flagship Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. The event will be taking place on Saturday (January 30) at 4 PM. The users can register themselves so as to attend this class for free. The users need to visit the website and register themselves. From portraits to light paintings, learn to capture the epic with our Galaxy Expert @audiphotography and the new #GalaxyS21Ultra 5G (Ready)! January 30, 2021 at 4 PM, Live from Indias first-ever #GalaxyCreatorsLounge. Register now:https://t.co/52XmRB9Qng#Samsung pic.twitter.com/oa4hpmoGHy Samsung India (@SamsungIndia) January 27, 2021 The users will get to learn many smartphone camera tips and tricks, basic visual grammar and composition. The users will get an opportunity to understand the Pro camera features of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G comes with 108 MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture and 24mm wide lens. The camera has PDAF, Laser Auto Focus and Optical Image Stabilisation. The second camera is a 10MP with f/4.9 aperture and 240mm periscope telephoto lens. This camera comes with OIS, dual pixel PDAF and 10x optical zoom capability, It still retains the 100x space zoom (software enabled). There is another 10MP camera with f/2.4 aperture and 70mm telephoto lens. It has 3x optical zoom. There is an ultra-wide-angle 12MP camera with f/2.2 aperture and 13mm lens. There is a 40MP camera with f/2.2 aperture doing its duty at the front. This camera can shoot 4K videos at 60fps. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G starts at Rs 1,05,999 for the base(12/256GB) model. [January 27, 2021] Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Inked a Joint Venture Agreement with Korea's WSG Group January 2021, Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Group ("Thousand Oaks") announced that it had signed a Joint Venture agreement with WSG Group in Busan, Korea, to establish a bioprocess solution joint venture (including cell culture media, single-use technology, and related technologies and products) in early 2021. The Joint Venture will speed up and boost development of the Korean Biopharmaceutical industry by supplying serum-free cell culture media at commercial scale. This cooperation also marks another milestone for JSBiosciences (a fully owned subsidiary of Thousand Oaks) the leading cell culture media supplier to enter the international market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006173/en/ Thousand Oaks Biopharmaceuticals Inked a Joint Venture Agreement with Korea's WSG Group (Graphic: Business Wire) With a history of 22 years, WSG is the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of meticulously precision-egineered flow components for ultra-high-purity (UHP) applications, servicing industries such as semiconductors, LCD/OLED displays, microelectronics, biotechnology, life sciences and pharmaceuticals. It has acquired ASME BPE certification, an essential certification for biopharmaceuticals industries, through heavily invested and developed in localization of MPE (materials, parts, and equipment), and successfully supplying to Samsung (News - Alert) Biologics. According to the agreement, the joint venture will be committed to becoming one of the premier providers of bioprocess solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry by developing the cell culture media business in Korea, and formulating a production strategy in line with Korea's localization of biopharmaceutical MPE (materials, parts, equipment). It plans to build a culture media production center with a significant capacity by 2021, making it Korea's first local company for cell culture media with a batch capacity in the thousands of kilograms. Dr. Shun Luo, Chairman and President of Thousand Oaks, said, "We are looking forward to the prospects of the cooperation with WSG. There are many world-leading biopharmaceutical companies in Korea. The cell culture media joint venture is an integral part of our global strategy and is also in line with the MPE localization strategy of Korea's biopharmaceutical industry. It will speed up our progress in the international biopharmaceutical market and support our global partners to achieve the accessibility and affordability of biologics for humanity!" Victor Kang, President of WSG, said, "We are very pleased to establish a joint venture with Thousand Oaks. As our strategic partner, Thousand Oaks owns China's leading cell culture media brand JSBiosciences which holds competitive core technologies and production process in culture media. This cooperation will rapidly enhance WSG's strength in the field of biopharmaceutical services, and we will leverage the strengths of both sides to achieve mutual benefits." Dr. Yu Chen, Vice President of Commercial Operations Asia-Pacific of Thousand Oaks, said, "Before establishing a partnership with WSG, we extensively and thoroughly studied the Korean biopharmaceutical and biotechnology market. It was after rounds of discussion and planning by both parties that we finally reached the agreement. We believe this Korea-based cell culture media joint venture will vigorously boost development of the Korean biopharmaceutical industry and extend our global footprints in the cell culture media market." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006173/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] MASON CITY, Iowa A woman accused of stealing money from a disabled adult is pleading not guilty. Tayla De Register, 30 of Mason City, is now scheduled to stand trial starting March 9 for dependent adult abuse-exploitation over $100. Authorities say Register was working as a caretaker for a disabled person when she stole her victims debit/credit card. Court documents state that between June 6 and September 3 of 2020, Register used the stolen card to make ATM cash withdrawals and online purchases totaling $4,033.20. Alia Clicks A Cute Picture Of Ananya With Ranbirs Dog; Janhvi Shares A Glimpse Of Work From Home Ananya Pandays love for dogs is evident all over her social media handle. May it be Christmas celebrations with Astro or her reunion with Fudge-- we absolutely adore her posts featuring her furry friends. Well her latest snap was clicked by actress Alia Bhatt. In this super adorable click, Ananya has a broad smile on her face as she gets a kiss from Ranbir Kapoors pet dog. Along with this pawerfect image, Ananya wrote: if youre ever looking for me at a party, this is where Ill be photo credit - @aliaabhatt . View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ananya (@ananyapanday) Star kid Janhvi Kapoor, on the other hand, shared glimpses from her work from home which are quite relatable and nothing short of ultra glam. In the post, Janhvi is sitting in front of a laptop with a cup of coffee in her hand, and is sporting a comfy soft jacket and killer eye makeup. While in the first picture she is looking at the laptop, in the second one she is gazing at the camera person. But its the third one, featuring her rolled eyes, which left us in splits. Along with this post, Janhvi penned a caption which read: Work from home they said. Itll be fun they said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Janhvi Kapoor (@janhvikapoor) The actress has been busy shooting for her upcoming film Good Luck Jerry, which is directed by Siddharth Sengupta and produced by Aanand L Rai, in Punjab. The team recently shifted to Chandigarh because the shoot in Patiala was disrupted after a group of farmers held a protest and shouted slogans against Bollywood. Kabul, Jan 27 : Three people were killed and 13 others injured in Afghanistan's twin bomb explosions, the latest in a string of attacks in the militancy-hit country, authorities said on Wednesday. In the capital city Kabul, two police officers were slightly wounded when an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) struck a police pickup truck in Police District 15 Wednesday morning, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaus Faramarz told Xinhua. The IED was likely to be detonated by remote control and a Criminal Investigation Department team of Kabul police was investigating the case, he said. In southern Uruzgan province, two police officers and a civilian were killed and 10 civilians, and a policeman wounded in a similar incident on Tuesday night, according to the Provincial Governor. The police pickup truck was destroyed by the explosion that occurred in Police District 1 of provincial capital Tirin Kot city, Governor Mohammad Omar Shirzad told Xinhua, adding the wounded were receiving treatment in a provincial hospital in Tirin Kot. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks. However, Afghan officials blame the Taliban militant group for the bomb explosions in recent months. Panasonic AI-driven cameras empower an expanding vision of new uses Imagine a world where video cameras are not just watching and reporting for security, but have an even wider positive impact on our lives. Imagine that cameras control street and building lights, as people come and go, that traffic jams are predicted and vehicles are automatically rerouted, and more tills are opened, just before a queue starts to form. Cameras with AI capabilities Cameras in stores can show us how we might look in the latest outfit as we browse. Thats the vision from Panasonic about current and future uses for their cameras that provide artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities at the edge. Panasonic feels that these types of intelligent camera applications are also the basis for automation and introduction of Industry 4.0, in which processes are automated, monitored and controlled by AI-driven systems. 4K network security cameras The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications Panasonics 4K network security cameras have built-in AI capabilities suitable for this next generation of intelligent applications in business and society. The companys i-PRO AI-capable camera line can install and run up to three AI-driven video analytic applications. The AI engine is directly embedded into the camera, thus reducing costs and Panasonics image quality ensures the accuracy of the analytics outcome. FacePRO facial recognition technology Panasonic began advancing AI technology on the server side with FacePRO, the in-house facial recognition application, which uses AI deep learning capabilities. Moving ahead, they transitioned their knowledge of AI from the server side to the edge, introducing i-PRO security cameras with built-in AI capabilities last summer, alongside their own in-house analytics. Moreover, in line with the Panasonic approach to focus more on collaboration with specialist AI software developers, a partnership with Italian software company, A.I. Tech followed in September, with a range of intelligent applications, partially based on deep learning. Additional collaborations are already in place with more than 10 other developers, across the European Union, working on more future applications. i-PRO AI-capable security cameras Open systems are an important part of Panasonics current approach. The companys i-PRO AI-capable cameras are an open platform and designed for third-party application development, therefore, applications can be built or tailored to the needs of an individual customer. Panasonic use to be a company that developed everything in-house, including all the analytics and applications. However, now we have turned around our strategy by making our i-PRO security cameras open to integrate applications and analytics from third-party companies, says Gerard Figols, Head of Security Solutions at Panasonic Business Europe. Flexible and adapting to specific customer needs This new approach allows the company to be more flexible and adaptable to customers needs. At the same time, we can be quicker and much more tailored to the market trend, said Gerard Figols. He adds, For example, in the retail space, enabling retailers to enhance the customer experience, in smart cities for traffic monitoring and smart parking, and by event organisers and transport hubs to monitor and ensure safety. Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems Edge-based analytics Edge-based analytics offer multiple benefits over server-based systems. On one hand, there are monetary benefits - a cost reduction results from the decreased amount of more powerful hardware required on the server side to process the data, on top of reduction in the infrastructure costs, as not all the full video stream needs to be sent for analysis, we can work solely with the metadata. On the other hand, there are also advantages of flexibility, as well as reliability. Each camera can have its own individual analytic setup and in case of any issue on the communication or server side, the camera can keep running the analysis at the edge, thereby making sure the CCTV system is still fully operational. Most importantly, systems can keep the same high level of accuracy. Explosion of AI camera applications We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications" We can compare the explosion of AI camera applications to the way we experienced it for smartphone applications, said Gerard Figols, adding However, it doesnt mean the hardware is not important anymore, as I believe its more important than ever. Working with poor picture quality or if the hardware is not reliable, and works 24/7, software cannot run or deliver the outcome it has been designed for. As hardware specialists, Figols believes that Panasonic seeks to focus on what they do best - Building long-lasting, open network cameras, which are capable of capturing the highest quality images that are required for the latest AI applications, while software developers can concentrate on bringing specialist applications to the market. Same as for smartphones, AI applications will proliferate based on market demand and succeed or fail, based on the value that they deliver. Facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line technologies Panasonic has been in the forefront in developing essential AI applications for CCTV, such as facial recognition, privacy protection and cross line. However, with the market developing so rapidly and the potential applications of AI-driven camera systems being so varied and widespread, Panasonic quickly realised that the future of their network cameras was going to be in open systems, which allow specialist developers and their customers to use their sector expertise to develop their own applications for specific vertical market applications, while using i-PRO hardware. Metadata for detection and recognition Regarding privacy, consider that the use of AI in cameras is about generating metadata for the detection and recognition of patterns, rather than identifying individual identities. However, there are legitimate privacy concerns, but I firmly believe that attitudes will change quickly when people see the incredible benefits that this technology can deliver, said Gerard Figols, adding I hope that we will be able to redefine our view of cameras and AI, not just as insurance, but as life advancing and enhancing. i-PRO AI Privacy Guard One of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard Seeking to understand and appreciate privacy concerns, one of the AI applications that Panasonic developed was i-PRO AI Privacy Guard that generates data without capturing individual identities, following European privacy regulations that are among the strictest in the world. Gerard Fogils said, The combination of artificial intelligence and the latest generation open camera technology will change the worlds perceptions from Big Brother to Big Benefits. New applications will emerge as the existing generation of cameras is updated to the new open and intelligent next generation devices, and the existing role of the security camera will also continue. Future scope of AI and cameras He adds, Not just relying on the security cameras for evidence when things have gone wrong, end users will increasingly be able to use AI and the cameras with much higher accuracy to prevent false alarms and in a proactive way to prevent incidents." Gerard Figols concludes, That could be monitoring and alerting when health and safety guidelines are being breached or spotting and flagging patterns of suspicious behaviour before incidents occur. CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenkins Electric Company welcomes industry veterans Jimmy Walker and Calvin Fleming as of January 2021. Bringing experience from industry heavyweights EIS and ABB Motors and Mechanical, both Jimmy and Calvin will be key team members responsible for continuing the company's 114-year legacy. "Jenkins is built on the reliability and knowledge of our employees and we are proud to welcome Jimmy Walker and Calvin Fleming to our team. They both bring invaluable industry knowledge and will be critical to continually providing engineered solutions and products across the world," says Iain Jenkins, President of Jenkins Electric. Jenkins Electric Company welcomes industry veterans Jimmy Walker and Calvin Fleming. Tweet this Jimmy Walker joins Jenkins from EIS, where he was a Senior Product Manager for 13 years. His experience spans the electric power market, working with a variety of customers and vendors to source the most in-demand products relevant to the industry. Jimmy brings his vast experience and understanding of the motor industry to the Jenkins manufactured products business with the goal of expanding the offering and continuing to assist customers across the globe. His deep knowledge of customer needs will be an essential component to moving Jenkins into the future. Calvin Fleming III joins Jenkins from ABB Motors and Mechanical, where he oversaw the testing of large AC induction motors and provided technical support for existing products in his role as Electrical Engineer. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from UNCC Charlotte, going on to pursue his master's degree in computer engineering at Colorado Technical University, and is currently pursuing his PhD in the area of prognostics for electrical machines at the University of North Dakota. As a US Army veteran, formerly serving as a helicopter avionics and electronics technician, Calvin brings a level of precision and a solutions-focused attitude to his role of Senior Product Engineer at Jenkins. His experience designing and interpreting electrical specifications for a variety of testing equipment will be critical as he contributes to the ongoing development of Jenkins Motor Test Systems and support products. About Jenkins Electric Company: Jenkins Electric is a Charlotte, NC-based industrial, electromechanical repair, test and manufacturing company. Their repair services keep OEM's and utilities across the southeast running, while their manufactured test systems and replacement products support repair facilities and maintenance departments throughout the world. Learn more at JenkinsElectric.com. Crystal Bristow Jenkins Electric Company 704-969-8332 [email protected] SOURCE Jenkins Electric Related Links https://www.jenkinselectric.com/ The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. Even though scientists decide what time will be shown on the clock, it is not a scientific or even a physical instrument, but a symbolic one. And the annual warning has generated some skepticism. If Im being charitable, I say, OK, they are part of a broader effort to focus collective attention on pressing immediate concerns or longer-term things that could have catastrophic consequences, like climate change, said Andrew Latham, a professor of international relations at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. But its like the boy who cried wolf, he said. After a certain period of time, were not going to pay attention. The board has projected optimism about the worlds future before. In 1990, as the Cold War drew to an end, the clock was set at 10 minutes to midnight. The next year, it was a full 17 minutes away, the farthest humanity has been from projected annihilation since the introduction of the Doomsday Clock. (Because the clock is not updated in real time, some geopolitical shifts are over and done with too quickly to register. In 1962, for instance, its hands were not moved in response to the Cuban missile crisis because too little was known at the time about the circumstances of the standoff or what the outcome would be, the bulletin explains on its website.) The board said this year there was reason to have hope, pointing to President Bidens decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement and his intention to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal. On Tuesday, Mr. Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia avoided a renewed arms race when they formally agreed to extend the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between their countries. Married At First Sight's most controversial and outspoken participants recently reunited to film a two-part special. And now the most shocking insults from the Grand Reunion have been revealed, just days before the first episode is set to air. Some brides and grooms had a lot to say about their co-stars, either calling them out in person or behind their backs in vox pops with producers. Feuds: The worst insults from the Married At First Sight reunion have been revealed. Pictured (L-R): Charlene Perera, Ryan Gallagher, Jo McPharlin, Michael Brunelli and Martha Kalifatidis Daily Mail Australia understands that Nasser Sultan described Martha Kalifatidis as a 'Kmart Kim Kardashian' and her boyfriend Michael Brunelli as 'her doormat'. He also referred to several of his co-stars as 'plebs' and 'seat-fillers'. Another participant apparently instructed Martha to 'take a social media course' because 'no one cares about seeing her in a bath'. They then told her to 'go film porn', presumably a reference to joining OnlyFans. Outspoken: Some brides and grooms had a lot to say about their co-stars, either calling them out in person or behind their backs in vox pops with producers. Pictured: Jessika Power Comments: Daily Mail Australia understands that Nasser Sultan described Martha Kalifatidis (left) as a 'Kmart Kim Kardashian' and her boyfriend Michael Brunelli (right) as 'her doormat' Meanwhile, part-time comedian Ryan Gallagher is described as 'not funny' while his co-star Dean Wells is called 'irrelevant'. On-set spies claim Jessika Power was left in tears after a confrontation with Cyrell Paule in which she called her relationship with Eden Dally a 'showmance'. While the warring cast members are rumoured to have hurled shocking insults at each other at the dinner party, there are a few words you won't be hearing when the first episode of the two-part special airs on Channel Nine on Sunday. Tension: Another participant apparently instructed Martha to 'take a social media course' and told her to 'go film porn', presumably a reference to joining OnlyFans. Pictured: Cyrell Paule According to New Idea magazine, the participants were given a list of 'banned words' which all related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The producers reportedly didn't want Covid-19 being discussed at the dinner table because they wanted the focus to be on the contestants' relationships instead. The following words were allegedly banned: 'Covid', 'coronavirus', 'lockdown' and 'pandemic'. Married At First Sight Grand Reunion will air over two nights on Sunday, January 31, at 7pm and Monday, February 1, at 7.30pm on Nine and 9Now Bubble: Meanwhile, the producers didn't want Covid-19 being discussed at the dinner table because they wanted the focus to be on the contestants' relationships. Pictured: Troy Delmege Advertisement Thousands of New Orleans residents are decorating their houses to resemble Mardi Gras floats after the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of this year's elaborate event. Mardi Gras is the biggest festival on the New Orleans calendar, with the two-week long celebrations usually held in February or March of each year. Because tens of thousands of people pack into the city to celebrate, officials quickly called off this year's event - which was set to kick off on February 16 . Louisiana has been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, with 341,211 cases recorded across the state and 8,090 death. A majority of those have occurred in and around New Orleans. The state is still struggling through a second wave of the virus, with more than 2,000 new cases confirmed on Tuesday alone. Despite the grim reality of the ongoing pandemic, plucky locals are still eager to enjoy the color and spirit of the Mardi Gras this year. Thousands of New Orleans residents are decorating their houses to resemble Mardi Gras floats after the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of this year's elaborate event. Pictured: A home decorated to honor late blyes musician Dr. John who lived in the city Despite the grim reality of the ongoing pandemic, plucky locals are still eager to enjoy the color and spirit of the Mardi Gras this year. Pictured: A home decorated in honor of New Orleans resident and jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain One New Orleans family has decked out the front of their home with a large home clown statute to celebrate the color and spirit of Mardi Gras A Mansion on St. Charles street is seen with a giant dinosaur statue out front earlier this month. It is one of thousands of homes which have been jazzed up ahead of the festivities The Acadiana Hay Ride House, with decorations sponsored by Krewe of Red Beans, pays homage to zydeco pioneers Boozoo Chavis and Clifton Chenier and the "Cajun Hank Williams" D.L. Menard Mardi Gras is the biggest festival on the New Orleans calendar, with the two-week long celebrations usually held in February or March of each year. Because tens of thousands of people pack into the city to celebrate, officials quickly called off this year's event - which was set to kick off on February 16. Crowds are seen on Bourbon Street during festivities in 2019 Bright and colorful floats are usually seen on the streets during Mardi Gras celebrations. However, this year, locals have channeled their creativity into decorating the exterior of their houses. Pictured: he Mystic Krewe of Nyx parade in NOLA last year Back in November, after officials cancelled the event, resident Megan Joy Boudreaux posted to Twitter: 'Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at your neighbors walking by.' The idea initially started off as a joke, but Boudreaux soon started a Facebook group, the Krewe of House Floats, expecting a few friends and neighbors to join. The numbers rose before 39 subgroups evolved to discuss neighborhood plans Now, there are more than 9,000 members, including out-of-state 'expats' set to decorate their homes in solidarity. Residents have made online maps showing whereabouts the decorated residences are located. 'I didn't think I was starting a Mardi Gras krewe. Here I am,' Boudreaux told the Associated Press. 'I've got myself a second full-time job.' Thousands of New Orleans residents are decorating their houses to resemble Mardi Gras floats after the coronavirus outbreak forced the cancellation of this year's elaborate event. Pictured: View of restaurant Commander's Palace decorated in honor of New Orleans resident and jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain View of a home decorated to celebrate Mardi Gras with oversized Mardi Gras clowns Despite the grim reality of the ongoing pandemic, plucky locals are still eager to enjoy the color and spirit of the Mardi Gras this year. Pictured: Designer Caroline Thomas looks at a house decorated like a parade float in the city Kick-starting the economy! Some have hired or bought from out-of-work artists and suppliers affected by the parade cancellation. Pictured: Carley Sercovich hot glues an addition to a coral reef of boxes and spray foam at the foot of her front steps in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans View of The Queen's Jubilee House, whose decorations are sponsored by Krewe of Red Beans. The idea to turn homes into 'house floats' has put struggling artists back to work and injected money into the local economy Pictured: A view of The Queen's Jubilee House, whose decorations are sponsored by Krewe of Red Beans. Owners of small and large homes alike have been getting into the spirit by kitting out their properties One home in the city decided to opt for a Jurassic theme, and planted large statues of dinosaurs in their front yard View of "The Queen of Bounce" House decorated to honor rapper Big Freedia Boudreaux says houses should be decorated two weeks before February 16 - when Mardi Gras was meant to kick off. That gives people both the time and space to travel around the city to see the colorfully kitted-out homes. Meanwhile, discussions in the Facebook groups include how-tos, ads for props and neighborhood themes. Artists have given livestreamed outdoor lessons. Katie Bankens posted that her block's theme was Shark Week staycation paradise. When a resident worried that she was not 'crafty' enough, administrator Carley Sercovich replied that if they could play music and throw trinkets to neighbors, 'you are perfect for this Krewe!' Boudreaux also suggested that people could hire or buy from out-of-work artists and suppliers hit by the parade cancellation. A spreadsheet of artists and vendors followed. One of them, artist Dominic 'Dom' Graves, booked more than 20 five-person classes in professional papier mache techniques, at $100 a person. Devin DeWulf, who already had started two pandemic charities as head of the Krewe of Red Beans walking club, kicked the house float idea up a few notches at the suggestion of Caroline Thomas, a professional float designer. Their 'Hire a Mardi Gras Artist' crowdfunded lotteries collected enough money to put crews to work decorating 11 houses, plus commissioned work at two more houses and seven businesses. 'We've put about 40 people to work, which is nice,' DeWulf told the Associated Press. View of a home decorated to celebrate Mardi Gras with oversized Mardi Gras clowns. Despite the cancellation of this year's event, many are still eager to bring a celebratory spirit to the city More than 9,000 people have joined the Facebook group 'Krewe of House Floats' and 39 subgroups have been formed. Pictured: Artists discussing decorations outside a home last week Thom Karamus shows his paper mache head of the hookah-smoking caterpillar from 'Alice in Wonderland' in New Orleans last week Madeline Fox and her husband, Tom Fox, stand on their porch in River Ridge with decorations made to decorate their yard for Mardi Gras. The pair believe that a new tradition has just started in the city Charlotte 'Charlie' Jallans-Daly, right, and her wife, Sharon Jallans-Daly, pose for a picture behind giant ruby slippers which are part of Wizard of Oz 'house float' decorations for Mardi Gras One home decked out like a tiki bar featured the sign 'Wasted Away Again in Coronaville'. The owner used styrafoam balls and red gold tees to recreate the COVID-19 virus A mansion on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans has been decked out with a large statue of a dinoasaur. Because pandemic dangers from large and widespread crowds have canceled Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans this year, thousands of people are decorating their homes as floats One commissioned house is rented by a pair of nuns. Sisters Mary Ann Specha and Julie Walsh, who run a shelter for homeless women with children, had to get permission for their own crowdfunding from the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dubuque, Iowa. 'They loved it,' Specha stated. Meanwhile, several mansions along a short stretch of St. Charles Avenue had elaborate displays with signs noting their creation by one of the citys biggest float-making studios. Tom Fox, whose wife, Madeline, painted a Spongebob Squarepants scene and made jellyfish from dollar store bowls, said he thinks a new tradition may have begun. 'Even when Mardi Gras comes back, I think people are going to keep doing this,' he said. The new Capitol Police Chief apologized for the force's unpreparedness during the January 6 breach last Tuesday. Capitol police were overwhelmed by rioters, allegedly Trump supporters, as claimed by media and the DEMS. After the debacle on the day of the Joint Session in the Capitol building, the Capitol Police Force had to clean up its act, but it was evident something went awry on January 6. According to the Capitol police head's replacement last Tuesday, she briefed about the Capitol incident saying on that day, the force was not expecting violence that ensued. When people went into the Capitol building, they even chatted with officers, and violence broke out unexpectedly, said The Epoch Times. Closed-door briefing of Congress The newly appointed Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman had a session with Congress members after the unfortunate incident during the Joint Session. Pittman stated a narrative commonly accepted by Washington members that it was a planned terrorist attack by now termed "Insurrectionists" or President Trump's alleged supporters. Their main goal was to stop the counting of electoral college votes to prevent Biden from winning. But some dispute the common narrative on that day. Federal authorities informed reporters that on January 6, no one knows how many people entered the building or if they were all Trump supporters or hidden members of Antifa who caused damage on that day. Results of Capitol incident Pittman, the new Capitol Police Chief, added that having failed to respond to the bursting unrest unsuccessfully, the tradeoff is securing the members of the upper and lower houses in the capitol building. They said that the ones who spearheaded (alleged they are all Trump supporters) the assault on officers made them bolder. Also read: More DEMS Want Chuck Schumer to End Senate Filibuster Despite GOP Plea This was her remarks to the media via the House Appropriations Committee. The Police chief aired her apologies concerning the unfortunate events of that day, stating that the agency should have been more vigilant and prepared for such threats. Reports of activities by certain groups say those were going to be part of the demonstrations. More intel claim that some individuals will carry weapons during the usually peaceful Trump groups. She added there was always a risk that hostilities will happen and groups will target Congress. Preparations by the U.S. Capitol Police Changes were implemented on that day, just in case. One of them is more officers on that day, and the SWAT team already on point. But due to the number of people, they were overwhelmed. She told the lawmakers, a total of 1200 of the force had to deal with thousands, and it was a failed response. The Chief added that the incident was not preventable and other factors were in play. Everyone had the right to demonstrate and be heard. But, she informed that changes had been made to avoid such unfortunate incidents in the Capital. House Appropriations Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) criticized the force for their failure with no excuses. She added the committee would pursue changes in the agency. Pittman is the new Capitol Police Chief after Chief Steven Sund announced his resignation on January 11. Related article: Republicans Slam Use of Metal Detectors in House Chamber Access, Calls It Unnecessary @ 2021 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a sharp warning to Russia to ensure the safety of opposition leader Alexei Navalny and called on the Kremlin not to 'muzzle' opposing voices. Blinken spoke about the tense situation in Russia a day after President Biden phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to raise Navalny and other contentious issues. 'We have a deep concern for Mr. Navalny's safety and security and the larger point is that his voice is the voice of many, many, many Russians and it should be heard, not muzzled,' Blinken said at the State Department just hours after being sworn into his post. 'We have a deep concern for Mr. Navalny's safety and security,' said new Secretary of State Antony Blinken 'It remains striking to me how concerned and maybe even scared the Russian government seems to be of one man, Mr. Navalny,' he said, poking at the Russian government, which oversaw a harsh security crackdown on protesters Navalny had urged to the streets. During his call with Putin, Biden raised numerous issues, including an expiring nuclear arms control treaty, Ukraine's sovereignty, the SolarWinds hack, and Russian election interference. This grab taken from a video made available on January 18, 2021 on Navalny team YouTube page shows Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaking while waiting for a court hearing at a police station in Khimki outside Moscow Dmitry Poshtarenko, expert who makes 3D military scenes and dioramas (L), Russias President Vladimir Putin (C) and the museum's director Alexander Shkolnik look at a display in the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Hill during celebrations marking the 77th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege Law enforcement officers clash with participants during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia January 23, 2021 'Across the board as the president has said we're reviewing all of these actions that are a deep concern to us, whether it's the treatment of Mr. Navalny and particularly the apparent use of the chemical weapon in an attempt to assassinate him,' Blinken said. 'We're looking very urgently as well at SolarWinds and its various implications. We're looking at the reports of bounties placed by Russia on American forces in Afghanistan, and, of course, we're looking at these questions of election interference.' It remains striking to me how concerned and maybe even scared the Russian government seems to be of one man, Mr. Navalny.' - Sec. of State Antony Blinken 'He called all those subjects 'under review.' Blinken kicked off his briefing with expressions of 'deep respect' for the press and the role it plays, following an administration that did away with regular briefings at the State Department and the Pentagon. 'And you hold us accountable, ask tough questions. And that really does make us better,' he said. 'A free press is a cornerstone of our democracy,' he said. But he did not reject all elements of Trump Administration policy, expressing support for the Abraham Accords granting recognition to Israel from several countries. 'As we've said, we very much support the Abraham accords,' he said. 'We think that Israel normalizing relations with its neighbors and other countries in the region is a very positive development and so we applaud them. And we hope that there may be an opportunity to build on them in the months and years ahead,' he said. He said he wanted a 'full understanding' of any commitments that may have been made, when asked about F-35 jet sales to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Blinken, 58, was confirmed by the Senate Tuesday on a 78 to 22 vote. He returned to a building where he served as deputy secretary of state. He also served as deputy national security adviser for President Barack Obama. Blinken said he intended to keep Zalmay Khalilzad to continue the 'vital work' he has been performing in Afghanistan as U.S.special representative. Seoul, Jan 27 : Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his active support for Seoul's initiative to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula, calling the efforts in line with the common interests of both countries. It said Xi delivered the comments during his phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday. During the talks, Moon said he hopes Seoul and Beijing can work together to open a trilateral summit between the two countries along with Japan, Yonhap reported, citing Seoul's presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae. Xi replied by saying China will strengthen cooperation with South Korea to open the summit at the earliest date. Seoul had planned to host the annual summit, held in turns in the three countries, last year, but was unable to do so apparently due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The two leaders also agreed that bilateral cooperation to curb the Covid-19 spread turned out to be effective. Xi said he supports Moon's vision of creating a Northeast Asian cooperative body on public health. Xi also said he was aware of South Korea's plan to begin public coronavirus vaccination next month and expressed hope that Seoul's vaccination program could play a key role in the global fight against the pandemic. Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday after the phone talks that Xi expressed hope for an "early visit" to South Korea, as soon as conditions are created. Xi was quoted as saying that Beijing makes much of Seoul's role for a "political resolution" to the North Korea issue, while describing the Korean Peninsula situation as "stable in general." Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the longest-serving senator and the president pro tempore, was briefly taken to a hospital in Washington for observation early Tuesday evening after he reported not feeling well, his spokesman said. He returned home a few hours later after an evaluation. Mr. Leahy, whose position in the Senate puts him third in line for the presidency, oversaw the start of the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald J. Trump earlier on Tuesday. At 80, Mr. Leahy is one of the oldest senators and has served in the Senate since 1975. After he reported not feeling well in his office, Mr. Leahy was examined in the Capitol by the attending physician, said David Carle, the spokesman. Out of an abundance of caution, the attending physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now, and where he is being evaluated. Mr. Leahy was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he received tests and a thorough examination before being released, Mr. Carle said. A conference to promote the new economy, that is, modern, high-growth industries that are on the cutting edge of technology, was held on Tuesday in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan province. The 2021 Chengdu New Economy Sharing Conference showcased the achievements and prospects of the city's high-quality development in the new era, particularly with regard to its new economy, and served to build a bridge for exploring innovative cooperation and mutually beneficial development in the city. The live-streamed event was held at the Wuliangye Chengdu Financial City Performing Arts Center as well as across 150 other sub-venues at home and around the world. The event attracted guests from renowned universities, industry associations, established firms, and investment institutions from 19 countries and regions, including the United States, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand. Attendees gathered to shed light on Chengdu's path forward in the new economy and share their view about the city's prospects. "Five years ago, ByteDance's Sichuan branch was established in Chengdu. From a team of 20 people, we have grown to a leading internet technology company with a total of more than 6,000 employees," Vice President of ByteDance Zhang Yu said. As a participant and witness of the development of Chengdu's new economy, Zhang said that ByteDance regards Chengdu as a pivotal city for investment in China's western region. As such, the company will pour about 10 billion yuan into the city to build an innovative business center for emerging businesses such as AI education and interactive multimedia office systems. Ren Bin, founder and president of Chengdu Zongheng Automation Technology Co. Ltd., which manufactures and distributes unmanned aerial vehicle products, said that his company's business has expanded thanks to Chengdu's new economic development over the past ten years. In addition, local officials in Chengdu, guests, the virtual host of the event "Nezha," and the mascot for the Chengdu 2021 Summer Universiade Rong Bao introduced the city's new economic development and investment opportunities to the world. As of 2020, the number of new economy firms in Chengdu stood at 433,000, up 18.3% year on year. Seven companies have reached unicorn status and 159 companies quasi-unicorn status. In terms of the fraction of the population that is choosing new professions, Chengdu ranks third across the country. Print Navigacia: > News > > Slovak Film Institute at Clermont-Ferrand Online Slovak Film Institute at Clermont-Ferrand Online Clermont-Ferrand international Short Film Festival (January 29 February 6, 2021), one of the worlds largest and most prestigious film festivals dedicated to short films, adopts online format. Slovakia will be represented within Short Film Market (February 1 5, 2021). Third year in a row, Slovak Film Institute will attend the Short Film Market under the umbrella name Central European Cinema shared with the Czech Film Center and the Slovenian Film Centre. Euro Connection Euro Connection is the European Short Film Co-production Forum taking place each year at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Market. This business platform aims at fostering partnerships between European production companies for short film projects. In collaboration with the European correspondents, a dozen producers are also invited to be in the Producers Focus. This year, Slovakia is represented by an animated short film project Tourists (d. Maria Kralovic), included into the final line-up thanks to the nomination through the Slovak Film Institute. A married couple, Kornel (55) and Hana (50), are fixing hiking trail marks in the woods. Kornel feels like a woodsman discovering new, unexplored places. He is secretly hoping that this adventure will save their stagnant, childless relationship, but at the same time, he has no courage to depart from the marked trail. Hana only ever tries to make her husband happy anymore, and if Hana happens to dream from time to time, she ends up feeling guilty. It doesnt take long for the couple to get lost, neither of them being able to return to the hiking trail. MEET THE CEC TALENTS A panel discussion with the directors of the short films in the Festivals programme Katarina "KUKLA" Resek (Sisters), Alexandra Majova (Washing Machine), and Aliona Baranova (Leaf), as well as with the directors of the projects participating in Euro Connection Pavla Bastanova (About a Cow), Lun Sevnik (The Tourist), and Maria Kralovic (Tourists), MEET THE CEC TALENTS will take place on February 1, 2021 at 3:00 pm (CET) in the virtual room AGORA. Vitezslav Chovanec from the Czech Film Center, Lea Pagacova from the Slovak Film Institute, and Nerina Kocjancic from the Slovenian Film Centre will moderate the debate. Come and meet us at Central European Cinema Virtual Stand! Representative of Slovak Film Institute in Clermont-Ferrand: Lea Pagacova, lea.pagacova@sfu.sk Newsletter Slovak Short Films. web: www.clermont-filmfest.org/en (TNS) Katie Rosenberg is essentially trapped in her Fabius home until she can get the Covid-19 vaccine.The 31-year-old, who lives with her parents, was born with a cyst on her brain. She is developmentally disabled, has a seizure disorder and trouble swallowing.Intellectually, Katie is stuck between 18 months and 5 years, says her mother, Jennifer Rosenberg. Katie does not understand why its important to wear a mask or practice social distancing. For all those reasons, she is at high risk of getting Covid-19 and suffering severe complications from the virus.But she and about 80,000 other developmentally disabled New Yorkers including nearly 5,000 in Central New York who live in the community are not eligible yet to get the vaccine unless they are at least 65. Development disabilities include Down syndrome, autism and other disorders. Disability advocacy groups want the state to prioritize this population, the same way it has prioritized people with developmental disabilities who live in group homes and other congregate residential facilities.Their pleas come at a time when the states vaccination program is fraught with confusion and dysfunction. The state expanded eligibility last week to about 7 million people, even though its getting less than 300,000 doses of the vaccine a week.ARC of New York is encouraging families of people with disabilities living in the community to send emails to their state and federal elected officials, asking that their loved ones get priority for the vaccine.Eric Geizer, CEO of Arc of New York, acknowledged the state is in a tough spot because it does not have enough vaccine for people over 65 and some others who have already been deemed eligible for the shots. But our population has inherent risk factors the general population may not have, he said. We have an obligation as a society and state to make sure they are protected from harm.Jack Sterne, a spokesman for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, said while the state is sensitive to the disability groups concerns, ... we are constrained until the federal government steps up and provides more doses.The state announced last week it was adding people with weakened immune systems to the eligibility list. People who are immunocompromised, however, have not been able to make appointments for the vaccine because the state is waiting for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to clearly define who qualifies under the immunocompromised category.State Sen. John Mannion, D-Geddes, chair of the Senates Disability Committee, has also asked Cuomo to make all developmentally disabled individuals eligible for the vaccine.Historically, people with developmental and intellectual disabilities have not received equitable medical treatment when resources are scarce, Mannion said in a letter to the governor.Katie Rosenberg attended a day habilitation program in Liverpool run by ARC of Onondaga until the pandemic hit in March. Her parents are anxious for Katie to go back, but wont let her until she is vaccinated.Jennifer Rosenberg is upset Katie and her peers are not considered a high priority for the vaccine. They have been forgotten, she says.Nick Cappoletti, CEO of LIFEPlan CCO NY, a Utica agency that coordinates care for Central New Yorkers with developmental disabilities, said hes hearing from many parents upset about the lack of vaccine for their children. Until the vaccine is available, many families are keeping their children home, he said.They cant work, they cant volunteer and they cant move on with their lives, he said.People with intellectual and development disabilities are three times more likely to die of Covid-19 than patients without those disabilities, according to a recent analysis of insurance claims by FAIR Health, a nonprofit that operates a database of private insurance claims. Recent studies by researchers at Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University have also concluded Covid-19 poses a much greater risk to this population.Many people with developmental disabilities have underlying medical conditions that make them vulnerable to the virus, according to Dr. Margaret Turk, an Upstate Medical rehabilitation specialist and disabilities researcher. She said those underlying conditions include cardiovascular disease, lung disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and cancer.Many people in this population are unemployed, live in poverty and dont have good access to health care, according to Turk. She said society tends to overlook their problems This is a vulnerable population and an invisible population, she said.Turk co-wrote a paper released last month with SU professor Scott Landes and other researchers that says limiting vaccine prioritization to developmentally disabled people who live in group homes is short-sighted.Caring for those with the greatest need is a moral responsibility, the paper says. Whether, and how, we prioritize people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Covid-19 vaccine allocation will reveal the extent to which we value this group within our society. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. 65-year-old Hasina Begum who had gone to Pakistan 18 years ago to meet her husband's relatives, but landed up in a Pakistan jail after she lost her passport, returned to India on Tuesday after Aurangabad police filed a report on the matter. Upon her return to India, Hasina Begum was received by her relatives and Aurangabad Police officials. Speaking about her experience, the 65-year-old woman said that she went through a lot of "hardships". READ | Pakistan Opposition Alleges 'disrespect' Shown To Karima Baloch's Body; Pak Army Panned 65-yr-old woman returns from Pakistan While stating that she is now feeling a sense f peace after returning to her country, Hasina Begum said, "I am feeling as if I am in heaven. I was imprisoned forcefully in Pakistan." READ | US Updates Travel Advisory To Citizens For Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan Begum said, "I want to thank Aurangabad Police for filing a report in the matter." One of her relatives Khwaja Jainuddin Chishti also expressed gratitude to the police for the help provided by them to get her back to the home country. The 65-year-old woman had lost her passport in Lahore after arriving there 18 years ago. She was then locked up in a jail in Pakistan for the last 18 years. According to the information received from police, Begum who is a resident of Rashidpura area under the City Chowk Police limits in Aurangabad is married to Dilshad Ahmed who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur. READ | Pakistan's 759-acre Fatima Jinnah Park To Be Mortgaged By Imran Govt For 500 Bn PKR Loan Giving out details of her experience in Pakistan, the woman informed that she had many times urged the Pakistan court that she is innocent after which the court sought information in the matter. It was then that the Aurangabad Police sent information to Pakistan that Begum has a home registered in her name under the City Chowk Police Station in Aurangabad. Pakistan after verifying the information released Begum last week and handed her over to Indian authorities. READ | Pakistan Vs South Africa 1st Test Live Stream, Pitch Report, Weather Forecast, Preview (With ANI inputs) Welcome back to Tech Chronicle. We hope this fine newsletter figures into your long-term retention plan. Even after covering the company for a couple of decades, Im astounded by Apples capacity for doublespeak: Dan Riccio begins a new chapter at Apple is how the company announced Monday the exit of a long-serving executive from Tim Cooks inner circle. Cook and Riccio both arrived at Apple in 1998, part of the team co-founder Steve Jobs was assembling to reboot the troubled computer maker. Starting off in product design, by 2010 Riccio was overseeing iPad hardware engineering, a critical role at a time when the tablet was seen as Apples next big hit. He rose to oversee engineering for all of Apples key products. Bebeto Matthews / Associated Press 2018 Riccio is now working on a special project, according to Apple, but is no longer on the executive team. A lieutenant, John Ternus, who played a key role in moving Apples Mac from Intel chips to its own silicon, has taken his place there. Heading a special project reporting to the CEO is a soft landing, but its a comedown for someone whom others saw (and may have seen himself) as a candidate to succeed Cook. Two years ago, I asked that very question: Who might come after Cook, who has had a matchless run building Apple into a monolith of American business? It wasnt lost on anyone that a ten-year stock grant Cook received in 2011 expired this year. In September, Apples board provided an answer, granting him another million shares (currently worth more than $140 million) if he stuck around through 2025. That bought Cook and the board some time to groom the likes of Ternus and other new additions to Apples innermost ring. The most obvious candidate is Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, who gained responsibility outside the supply chain when he led the development of the Apple Watch. But Williams is not much younger than Cook, who turned 60 in November, and he is perhaps too obvious a choice for a company that thinks different. Among the geek squad, besides the newly elevated Ternus, there is Craig Federighi, Apples software chief. Eddy Cue, who helped bring the iTunes Store to life, oversees Apples fast-growing services and media businesses. But Apple TV+ has been a disappointment, which could be a strike against him. Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The Chronicle 2020 Im intrigued by Adrian Perica, the rare dealmaker in Apples top ranks. In 2014, The Chronicle broke the news that Perica had met with Teslas Elon Musk, at a time when rumors were swirling that Apple might buy the electric-car startup, which was considerably less expensive then. Apple is still interested in cars, as is Perica; a Chronicle photographer spotted him a year ago at an event held by Cruise, the San Francisco self-driving vehicle company backed by GM. I doubt Perica is on the CEO track, but if hes able to swing a transformational deal at a company that has historically been leery of big acquisitions, hell be one to watch. Cliff Owen / Associated Press 2019 The coronavirus pandemic has brought one candidate to the fore: Deirdre OBrien, Apples head of people and retail. From closing Apples lucrative stores in China as the disease first broke out there to keeping Apple Store workers safe as it became a worldwide epidemic to figuring out remote work and plotting the eventual return of Apples engineers to Apple Park, OBrien has faced crucial decisions for the company in the past year. Steve Jobs wasnt much of a technologist co-founder Steve Wozniak said he didnt ever code but he knew not to waste a crisis, and I see that in OBrien. Owen Thomas, othomas@sfchronicle.com Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. Quote of the week Theres all sorts of myths about Friendster that we were too early or that we ruined things by deleting fake profiles. And the reality is, the company just was not managed well, it did not execute well and none of that needed to happen. Friendster founder Jonathan Abrams, on the Web Masters podcast Coming up Did I mention Apple and Tesla? The companies are announcing earnings Wednesday, as is Facebook. What Im reading Tomio Geron on Tracy Chous battle against online harassment. (Protocol) Chase DiFeliciantonio on a push to take Googles nascent union global. (San Francisco Chronicle) Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans on the new details around Zappos founder Tony Hsiehs death. (Forbes) Tech Chronicle is a weekly newsletter from Owen Thomas, The Chronicles business editor, and the rest of the tech team. Follow along on Twitter: @techchronicle and Instagram: @techchronicle Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-28 03:49:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Morocco received on Wednesday its first batch of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines. Meanwhile, over 2.8 million people in Israel and 1.5 million in Turkey have been vaccinated against the pandemic. The Sinopharm vaccines arrived at Morocco's Casablanca airport and will be distributed to 3,000 vaccination locations throughout the country, the Moroccan health ministry said in a statement. It said the North African country will launch in the coming days a mass vaccination campaign, as it has secured acquisition of 66 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinopharm and Britain's Oxford University/AstraZeneca. Morocco last Friday approved the emergency use of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine. "The vaccine meets all the conditions of quality, efficacy and safety, and does not present any potential side effects," the health ministry said. It on Wednesday reported 890 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of infections in the country to 468,383. The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 446,181 after 1,358 new ones were added. The death toll rose to 8,207 with 20 new fatalities. Israel's Ministry of Health said the number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in the country has surpassed 2.8 million, or 30.1 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020. It reported 7,412 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally in the country to 620,698. The death toll from the COVID-19 reached 4,574 after 73 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 1,173 to 1,160, out of 1,763 hospitalized patients. The total recoveries rose to 541,339, with 6,877 newly recovered cases, while the active cases totalled 74,785. Israel's senior officials announced that land crossings connecting Israel with Egypt and with Jordan, including a major border crossing Allenby Bridge between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, will be closed on Thursday to prevent the new coronavirus strains. Over 1,522,000 people have been vaccinated in Turkey, according to official data on Wednesday, since the country started mass vaccination against COVID-19 on Jan. 14 after the authorities approved the emergency use of Chinese SinoVac vaccine. Turkey reported 7,489 new COVID-19 cases, including 675 symptomatic patients, as the total number of positive cases in the country reached 2,449,839, according to its Health Ministry. The death toll from the virus rose by 132 to 25,476, while the total recoveries climbed to 2,331,314 after 8,803 more cases recovered in the last 24 hours. Also on Wednesday, Lebanon announced its COVID-19 vaccination plan with Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan vowing to secure vaccines for 80 percent of the population. "Our aim is to reduce the spread of COVID-19 by securing the vaccines for the groups that are mostly at risk, while reducing the burden on the health sector, and reducing the number of deaths," Hassan said during a press conference. He ensured that all people residing in Lebanon, including Syrian and Palestinian refugees, will have access to the vaccines which will be free of charge. Head of the Health Parliamentary Committee Assem Araji said that the vaccines will be given according to priority. "We will start with people working in the health sector, followed by the elderly aged above 75." Lebanon is expected to receive the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines by mid-February. Iran's health ministry reported 6,608 daily COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, raising the total nationwide infections to 1,392,314. The pandemic has so far claimed 57,651 lives in Iran, up by 91 in the past 24 hours. A total of 1,183,463 people have recovered from the disease and been discharged from hospitals, while 4,024 remain in intensive care units. The Iraqi Health Ministry reported 879 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 616,259. It also reported eight new deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 13,018. And 1,575 cases recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 586,327. The Qatari Health Ministry announced 338 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the Gulf state to 149,933. Meanwhile, 127 more recovered from the virus, bringing the overall recoveries to 145,251, while the fatalities remained 248, according to a ministry statement. The Omani health ministry announced 167 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the sultanate to 133,574. Meanwhile, 77 people recovered during the past 24 hours, taking the overall recoveries to 126,486, while one death was reported, pushing the tally up to 1,525, said the ministry. Enditem Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Platform licensed to Chiesi for developing drugs Will receive $3 million upfront, and as much as $138 million in additional milestones and undisclosed royalties Has inhouse development programs targeting neurological diseases What Bioasis Technologies does: Bioasis Technologies Inc ( ) ( ) is a biopharma company developing the xB3 platform to aid in the delivery of molecules to the brain, and the treatment of brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. The blood-brain barrier plays an indispensable role in protecting the brain from blood-borne disease. However, it also blocks crucial medicines from reaching the brain posing an epic challenge to treating neurological diseases. Scientists at Bioasis have worked for over a decade to develop the patented xB3 platform, which helps small molecules shuttle across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) safely. Like a key designed to open a lock, the xB3 platform unlocks the door to the blood-brain barrier, allowing compounds into the brain. In a nutshell, the xB3 platform uses a small peptide to ferry molecules across the BBB in a process called receptor-mediated transcytosis. The Guilford, Connecticut-based companys in-house drug programs are designed to develop treatments for neurological diseases. The lead program, xB3-001, is in preclinical development for brain metastases in HER2+ metastatic breast cancer. Bioasis is also working on xB3-002 aimed at treating glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive cancers originating in the brain, with 80% of diagnosed malignant brain tumors being gliomas. The company has additional preclinical programs in pain, neurodegenerative diseases and rare diseases. How is it doing: In March 2021, Bioasis formed a research collaboration with Aposense Limited, an Israeli bio-pharmaceutical company specializing in development of novel drugs utilizing membrane electrical forces. Bioasis said the research partnership will focus on the delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) into the brain using the companys xB3 platform technology. Significantly, earlier in March, a study published in the Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences showed that the xB3 platform can act as a delivery vector to facilitate blood-brain barrier translocation of siRNA, reducing stroke damage in the brain and improved neurological function. The data presented in the publication provided evidence for the utility of xB3 peptide (previously known as MTfpep) as a platform technology for delivery of recombinant and chemically conjugated drugs across the blood-brain barrier. Meanwhile, Bioasis recently struck a royalty purchase pact with . to sell certain rights to milestone and royalty revenue from the advancement of four enzymes that the firm is investigating as a treatment for lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), which are inherited diseases caused by a build-up of toxic material in the body's cells due to enzyme deficiencies. People with lysosomal storage disorders lack enzymes that break down certain lipids (fats) or carbohydrates (sugars) in the body. In exchange for a $1.2 million upfront payment, XOMA will receive a low single-digit royalty on future net sales of each of the four enzymes and an undisclosed share of the up to $138 million in potential milestones made possible by the Bioasis-Chiesi Group alliance. The arrangement with XOMA, will allow Bioasis to deploy more capital to advance its unpartnered pipeline programs targeting Parkinsons disease, Lewy Body Dementia and Fronto Temporal Lobe Dementia and also secure technology validating partnerships. The enzymes are being developed under Bioasis strategic alliance with the Chiesi Group. At the end of June last year, Bioasis struck a deal with Chiesi to license its xB3 platform technology to develop drugs for four LSDs. In return, Bioasis will receive $3 million upfront and up to $138 million in additional milestones and undisclosed royalties. Chiesi will be responsible for all costs related to research, development and commercialization of the four undisclosed LSD programs. Significantly, the US has issued a patent for xB3 technology, which represents a major milestone for the firms intellectual property protection around its core technology and its xB3 programs Meanwhile, Bioasis has commissioned Bluestar BioAdvisors to provide a commercial assessment of its lead drug xB3-001, developed for the treatment of HER2+ cancers and brain metastases. Bluestar reported that when used strictly to treat HER2+ breast cancer and brain metastases, xB3-001 could generate nearly $440 million in annual worldwide revenue. However, the company said preclinical data suggests that xB3-001 is likely to perform outside the brain as well as intravenous drug Herceptin that is part of a chemotherapy regimen. Therefore, xB3-001 may have the potential to become the standard of care for all patients with HER2+ breast cancer for which Herceptin is prescribed. Bluestar BioAdvisors pegs this larger market to be as high as $12.4 billion annually for all treatments of HER2+ breast cancer worldwide. With an estimated 30% share of this market, xB3-001 could produce annual revenue of $3.7 billion, so has blockbuster potential. For the time being, xB3-001 has investigational new drug (IND) status enabling studies. As additional funding is secured, it is likely to bring forward milestones for xB3-001, in particular the IND filing with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) which is currently anticipated towards the end of the calendar year 2021. Inflection points: Expect partnerships for the xB 3 drug delivery platform and licensing deals drug delivery platform and licensing deals Several pipeline programs expected to reach key milestones New data in coming months to drive fresh partnership interest Data readout for xB3-007 being developed for treating Gaucher disease, GBA gene conditions, including Parkinsons and Lewy Body Dementia What the broker says: Analysts at Edison Investment Research modeled a higher valuation for Bioasis driven by its strategic alliance with Chiesi Global Rare Diseases. We see this as a major validation of the platform and for additional future licensing potential, said Edison analyst Nathaniel Calloway. We increased our valuation to C$60.1 million or C$0.89 per basic share, from C$47.8 million or C$0.71 per basic share, driven by the addition of the Chiesi partnership to our model. Edison Research noted that the xB3 platform may offer an attractive solution to improving central nervous system (CNS) drug activity because it is entirely modular. Enzyme replacement therapies have already been developed for a range of lysosomal storage disorders, and the development of a brain penetrant derivative of these drugs could be as simple as producing a conjugate to the xB3 peptide developed by the company, said Calloway. Edison also emphasized that the value of the xB3 platform is both in the wide array of cargo that can be delivered as well as the rate of transfer, which is significantly higher than other methods that have been tried, at least in model systems. In October 2020, gave Bioasis a US$0.60 price target. In the long term, Zacks estimates a 2030 approval and launch of the two candidates, known as xB3-001 and xB3-007, respectively. What the boss says: The xB3 platform is a very versatile, high capacity delivery system able to deliver antibodies, enzymes, siRNA as well as small molecules across the BBB. We believe that xB3 has the potential to deliver effective treatments into the brain for a very large number of conditions such as Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia, Parkinsons disease as well as for the treatment of brain cancers, Bioasis CEO Deborah Rathjen has told Proactive. Our alliance with Chiesi represents a further validation for Bioasis technology and endorses our current strategic priorities. We wont stop at this deal will continue with our business development activities which have received a significant boost since the Chiesi deal. We are also advancing our preclinical programs and they are still a top priority for us. We are aiming to reach several preclinical milestones as we round out FY 2021, she added. Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive A new Netflix true-crime series is exploring the dark history behind the notorious Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, the site of multiple murders, mysterious deaths, and not one, but two serial killer guests. Premiering on February 10, Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel is the first installment of the anthology series, which focuses on eerie places shrouded in death, criminal activity, and conspiracy theories. There have been at least 16 deaths at the hotel since it opened in 1927. The debut season touches upon the Cecil's haunted past while investigating the site's most recent mystery, the 2013 disappearance and death of 21-year-old Canadian college student Elisa Lam, whose body was found in the hotel's water tank. Spooky subject: The Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles is the focus of Netflix's new true-crime series Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel The first trailer for Crime Scene begins with a description of the Cecil Hotel, with one person noting in a voiceover that 'people call it Hotel Death.' A former Cecil Hotel manager recalls being asked: 'Is there a room here that maybe somebody hasn't died in?' 'I never got used to that,' she admits. The hotel was built in 1924 by William Banks Hanner, Robert H. Schops, and Charles L. Dix, costing $1.5 million to complete. Its 700 rooms and marble lobby were designed with tourists in business travelers in mind, but it was only open a few years before the county was rocked by the Great Depression. The blocks surrounding the Cecil Hotel became known as 'Skid Row' after an influx of homeless people inundated the area. The hotel became associated with transients, sex workers, and criminals, but it was already plagued by untimely deaths. Yikes: There have been at least 16 deaths at the Cecil Hotel since it opened in 1927 Haunted history: Six people reportedly committed suicide in the hotel in the 1930s alone, while a teen mom threw her newborn baby out of the window after giving birth in 1944 Murder: 'Pigeon' Goldie Osgood, a retired telephone operator, was found raped, strangled, and fatally stabbed at the Cecil Hotel in 1964 At least six people committed suicide in the hotel in the 1930s alone. Two ingested poison, one shot himself in the head, and others jumped from the building itself. In July 1934, Army Medical Corps Sergeant Louis D. Borden was found dead in his room at age 53 after he slashed his throat with a razor. The hotel's following decades boast an equally violent history, with a teenage mother throwing her newborn baby out her window in September 1944. Questionable: Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia, was allegedly spotted having a drink at the Cecil hotel days before her murder in 1947, though the claim remains heavily disputed Dorothy Jean Purcell, 19, had no idea she was pregnant when she woke up with stomach pains while staying at the hotel with her boyfriend Ben Levine, 38. She gave birth to a baby boy in the bathroom and threw the live infant out the window onto the roof of the building next door, thinking he was dead. She was charged with murder but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia, was allegedly spotted having a drink at the Cecil hotel days before her murder in 1947, though the claim remains heavily disputed. The aspiring starlet's body was found beside a sidewalk in a vacant lot in a southern Los Angeles suburb. The 22-year-old had been viciously mutilated, with the trunk of her body completely severed, and a satanic smile cut into her face. Short's gruesome murder case has never been solved. Reputation: 'Throughout its history, the Hotel Cecil has always had a dark persona,' one woman explains in the trailer' Infamous guests: Serial killers Richard Ramirez, better known as 'The Night Stalker,' (left) and Jack Unterweger (right) lived in the hotel in 1985 and 1991, respectively Chaos: Ramirez would reportedly dump his bloody clothes in the hotel's dumpster and walk through the lobby after murdering someone Changes: The Cecil, which the series American Horror Story: Hotel is based on, was rebranded as the Stay on Main in 2011, though it's still often referred to as its original name Nearly two decades later, 'Pigeon' Goldie Osgood, a retired telephone operator, was found murdered in her room at the Cecil Hotel on June 4, 1964. Osgood, who earned her nickname by feeding the pigeons at nearby Pershing Square, was raped, strangled, and fatally stabbed to death. A suspect was found walking nearby in bloodstained clothes, but he was later cleared. The crime remains unsolved. Focus: The show investigates the hotel's most recent mystery, the 2013 disappearance and death of Canadian college student Elisa Lam Two of the hotel's most infamous guests were Richard Ramirez, better known as 'The Night Stalker,' and Austrian serial killer Jack Unterweger, who once called the Cecil home. 'Throughout its history, the Hotel Cecil has always had a dark persona,' one woman explains in the trailer. 'This is a place where serial killers let their hair down, like Richard Ramirez, who had come back covered in blood, and no one's got a problem with that. Ramirez killed 13 people in California in the mid-1980s, and he lived in a room on the hotel's 14th floor in 1985 before he was caught. Richard Schave, who runs Esotouric bus tours in Los Angeles with his partner Kim Cooper, told CNN in 2013 that while Ramirez was staying at the Cecil, he was 'just dumping his bloody clothes in the dumpster at the end of his evening and going in the back entrance.' Meanwhile, Unterweger was working as a journalist covering LA crime for an Austrian magazine when he checked into the hotel in 1991. He killed three sex workers in the city while staying there. Vanished: The bulk of the trailer for Crime Scene focuses on Lam's disappearance and the puzzling CCTV footage of her last moments Confusing: The 21-year-old was last seen in surveillance footage on February 1, 2013, behaving strangely in the hotel elevator, appearing to hide from someone or something 'We believe he was living at the Cecil in homage to Ramirez,' Schave said. The Cecil, which the series American Horror Story: Hotel is based on, was rebranded as the Stay on Main in 2011, though it's still often referred to as its original name. The bulk of the trailer for Crime Scene focuses on Lam's disappearance and the puzzling CCTV footage of her last moments. She checked into the hotel on January 26, 2013, after traveling from British Columbia, Canada, where she was studying, on her way to Santa Cruz. On January 31, Lam stopped using her phone. She was last seen in surveillance footage on February 1, behaving strangely in the hotel elevator, appearing to hide from someone or something. Mystery: Lam's naked body was found float in the hotel's water tank on the roof on February 19, 2013, after hotel guests complained the water tasted and smelled bad No clues: Lam's death was officially ruled accidental but how she died and the details leading up to it remain a mystery. Firefighters are pictured leaving the hotel after removing her body Eerie: In the show's trailer, a former Cecil Hotel manager recalls being asked: 'Is there a room here that maybe somebody hasn't died in?' She admits: 'I never got used to that that' 'The last footage we have of her was inside the elevator,' one man explains in the trailer. 'That's where the case starts to go askew.' Lam's naked body was found float in the hotel's water tank on the roof on February 19, 2013, after hotel guests complained the water tasted and smelled bad. Police believe Lam, who was bipolar and had been staying at the hotel, had been there for two weeks by the time she was found. No other information about her final movements including how she got onto the roof and into the tank has been confirmed. Lam's death was officially ruled accidental but how she died and the details leading up to it remain a mystery. 'Bad things keep happening here, over and over again,' someone says of the hotel towards the end of the trailer, while another adds: 'This hotel is hiding something.' Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on his re-election as president of Portugal. In the message, Xi said China-Portugal relations have stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year. The traditional friendship between the two countries has shown new vitality, Xi said, adding that anti-pandemic and public health cooperation has made new strides while practical cooperation has continued to make new progress. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Portugal relations, and stands ready to work with Rebelo de Sousa to push for new achievements in bilateral ties in a bid to benefit the two countries and peoples. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Alabama legislators will hear the state prison systems budget request and ask questions of prison officials during the second day of budget hearings Wednesday afternoon at the Alabama State House. The Alabama Department of Corrections, part of the Gov. Kay Ivey administration, is negotiating with private developer teams to build three mens prisons to replace many of Alabamas prisons. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in December alleging that Alabama violates the constitutional rights of prisoners by failing to protect them from violence from other inmates and excessive force by correctional officers and by failing to provide safe and sanitary conditions. The state has until Feb. 15 to respond to the lawsuit. Legislators are preparing to deal with prisons and other issues during their annual session, which begins Tuesday. The budget hearings are closed to the public because of COVID-19 but will be livestreamed. The Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency will also appear at todays hearings, which start at 1:30 p.m. Legislators heard budget requests from from education officials Tuesday. Related: COVID education funds aimed at extra classroom time help offset learning disruptions Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Boston Dynamics is an American technology company that has developed a series of robots designed to move in ways similar to humans and animals. The company has spent years building robots with useful abilities like walking, moving through rough terrain and picking things up with their hands. The machines are designed to be used in work settings to perform a number of different tasks. Videos of some of the robots especially those that look like animals when they move have been popular on the internet in the past. But the companys latest video to go viral shows a group of robots dancing to the 1962 hit song Do You Love Me by The Contours. The video received more than 23 million views during its first week. The performance shows two Boston Dynamics humanoid robots, called Atlas, doing several dance moves such as the twist, the mashed potato and others. The two are joined by Spot, a dog-like robot, and Handle, a wheeled robot designed for lifting and moving boxes. Speaking to The Associated Press, Boston Dynamics founder and chairperson Marc Raibert admits the video is fun to watch. But he said the real success behind the experiment was the valuable lessons the project taught his team. It turned out that we needed to upgrade the robot in the middle of development, Raibert said. He said that step was necessary in order for the robot to be strong enough and have enough energy to do the whole performance without stopping. So that was a real benefit to the design, he added. The difficulty of teaching robots to dance also pushed Boston Dynamics engineers to develop better motion-programming tools. These tools helped the robots do several things at once - balance, bounce and perform dance moves without breaks. Some social media users who watched the video commented that the robots dancing was so similar to a human that they could not believe their eyes. Some praised the robots moves and the technology powering them. Others suggested that what they were seeing was probably computer-generated imagery, or CGI. But Raibert said it was all real, the result of long and hard work, fueled by a strong desire to program a robot that could dance to the beat. We wanted it to do human dancing and when a human dances, the music has a beat and their whole body moves to it their hands, their body, their head. Raibert added: It looked like the robot was having fun and really moved with the music. And I think that had a lot to do with the result of the production. The Atlas robots used a wide range of sensors to perform the dance moves, including 28 actuators. These are devices that serve as muscles by converting electronic or physical signals into movement. The robots were also equipped with three powerful computers, including one that processes perception signals and two that control movement. Aside from the technology progress, Raibert said it was also pleasing that the video became so popular with people across the world. We got a call from one of the sound engineers who had recorded the original Contours performance back in the 60s. And he said that his whole crew of Motown friends had been passing it around and had been excited by it, he added. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - The Team Behind the Dancing Robots that Went Viral Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story terrain n. a particular kind of land task n. a piece of work to be done upgrade v. to improve something by making it newer or better quality benefit n. a good or helpful result or effect bounce v. jump up and down on a soft surface beat n. a regular movement or sound convert v. to change the appearance or purpose of something perception n. the ability to notice something Motown n. a kind of popular music that was produced by an American record company based in Detroit in the 1960s and 1970s Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A Los Angeles council member was left red-faced after being asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, only to stumble on some of the wording. Long-time California lawmaker Kevin de Leon had been asked by Los Angeles Council President Nury Martinez to lead the chamber in the Pledge of Allegiance during a virtual meeting yesterday morning. After saying that 'it would be an honor', de Leon began to recite the words. However, the former Democratic majority leader in the state Senate and state Assembly, seemed to muddle the words up in his head. Los Angeles councilman Kevin de Leon (pictured) was left red-faced after being asked to lead the Pledge of Allegiance, only to stumble on some of the wording The correct words for Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Advertisement Instead of correctly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance words, de Leon said: 'I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Americaundervisible, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of Americafor which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.' After the fumbled attempt to lead the Pledge, somebody in the chamber is heard saying 'oof'. People watching the councillor's attempt at the Pledge of Allegiance weren't too impressed and took to social media to express their disappointment. One person Tweeted: 'I've got a kindergartener going 4 half-days a week who knows the pledge, likes saying the pledge, and knows how to work Zoom. 'If the LA folks need someone to lead them in saying it, they can give us a yell.' People took to social media to aim jokes towards Kevin de Leon for his attempt at the Pledge, with some suggesting their kindergarteners could have done a better job, while others suggested he had come 'so close' to getting it right Another said that their five-year-old kindergartener could have done a better job. Others joked that de Leon had come 'so close' with his attempt and that he had only 'had ONE job.' Leaning into his mistake, de Leon took to Twitter to acknowledge his faux pas and uploaded an image of Bart Simpson writing the correct words onto a blackboard. In his tweet, the councillor said: 'Embarrassing, am I right?' He also used the opportunity to encourage people to donate 'a few $$' to a non-profit organisation. Susanna Reid fought back tears as she and Piers Morgan paid tribute to coronavirus victims on Wednesday's' episode of Good Morning Britain. The broadcaster, 50, grew emotional as she and her co-host, 55, shared stories about the lives of those who have passed away from the deadly virus in a special segment. On Tuesday, the government announced there were another 1,631 fatalities recorded today, bringing the total to as high as 100,162 since the pandemic began. Emotional: Susanna Reid fought back tears as she and Piers Morgan paid tribute to coronavirus victims on Wednesday's' episode of Good Morning Britain The presenters stood alongside images of the sufferers as they updated viewers on the horrific COVID-19 statistics. Journalist Piers said: 'We passed a horrendous milestone in this country, 100,000 people have now died from coronavirus in the UK.' 'This morning, we pay tribute to all those who have died and to those who have been left behind. With family permission, here are just some of their stories', a tearful Susanna added. One half of Britain's oldest twins Doris Hobday - a regular GMB guest - was featured in the heartfelt tribute after she passed away following a two-week battle. Moving: The broadcaster, 50, grew emotional as she and her co-host, 55, shared stories about the lives of those who have passed away from the deadly virus in a special segment Tragic: On Tuesday, the government announced there were another 1,631 fatalities recorded today, bringing the total to as high as 100,162 since the pandemic began The former BBC Breakfast star struggled to pull through the piece as she said: 'For each name and every story we have told, there are at least 4,000 people who have died with coronavirus in the last year. 'We say thank you to the families who let us share their personal details and those little details into their lives that make it hit home.' Concluding the feature, Piers shared: 'We pay tribute to each and every person who has lost their lives to this dreadful virus, may they all rest in peace.' Others names included Maria Rico, Ahsan-ul-Haq Chaudry, Susan Marston, Bassodeo Rambojun, Rachel Hardy, Olufemi Akinnola, Shelia Gompertz, Mohammed Abdul Razaq, Kim Brien, Jim Russell, Marita Edwards and John Ho. Sad news: One half of Britain's oldest twins Doris Hobday - a regular guest - was featured in the heartfelt tribute after she passed away following a two-week battle Gladys Lewis and her two sons Darren and Dean, Mike Hynd, Katie Horne, Trevor Belle, Peter Rodney Myles, Abbas Ahmed, Elizabeth Lewis, Matt Pears, Jim Pass, and Ramila Smyth were also honoured. Lorraine Kelly later praised her colleagues for their moving message as she said: 'Thank you so much for putting a human face on this unimaginable amount of people who have died. Thank you. It really hit home, we have all been saying that.' Piers agreed: 'Real people, real lives, real families, real loved ones, we should never forget that.' Four in 10 deaths in England and Wales in the week ending January 15 were caused by Covid-19. 'This is what we need to see on TV!' Viewers commended ITV for highlighting the message Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that, across the entire of the UK, there had been 103,704 Covid fatalities by the middle of this month. This figure is slightly higher than the Department of Health's tally because the ONS includes all fatalities with Covid on the death certificates, whereas the Government's figure relies on positive tests. A sombre Boris Johnson appeared at Downing Street on Tuesday to say he was 'deeply sorry' about UK's Covid-19 death toll. The Prime Minister joined Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, and NHS CEO Sir Simon Stevens, as he admitted it was 'hard to compute the sorrow' that Britain has been through in the past year. This Sunday will mark one year since the first two people were taken to a hospital in Newcastle after being found with coronavirus in York. Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at the University of Cambridge, described the 100,000 figure as an 'awful total'. Arrow Labs, the technology company uniting deskless, frontline workers, has been chosen by BNET (Bahrain Network) to manage field operations and service delivery. Arrow Labs will deploy its core product, MIMS, an enterprise SaaS software running on state-of-theart Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, unifying frontline workers. Accessed by mobile app, web, and wearables - MIMS connects employees/machines/facilities to deliver flawless work-flow execution. Launched in October 2019, BNET is an independent wholesale broadband provider, and a key part of Bahrains fifth National Telecommunication Plan to develop and enhance the telecommunication sector. BNET provides next-generation fiber broadband connectivity solutions to all licensed telecom operators and ISPs in Bahrain. It also provides broadband services to large enterprise customers. BNET has integrated Arrow Labs MIMS technology to automate its service provision and manage its workforce more efficiently. 11 MIMS modules including Task, Asset, Incident, Locations and Allocation Management have been deployed, running on the back-office web portal and mobile app for BNETs delivery team. BNET aims to integrate all its key systems, including MIMS to provide a seamless service delivery operation. This includes Enterprise Resource Planning and its Business Support Systems to achieve full automation, from client request through to service activation. Some of the added benefits will be: Real time capacity-based management - optimised service bookings; Material reductions in incident response time e.g. a cut in fiber or exchange outage; Accurate consumption tracking; and Significant increases in critical infrastructure availability MIMS - which is used by clients such as G4S and DP World - increases staff productivity by 30 per cent business efficiency by 40 per cent, and reduces operating costs by 20 per cent. Rami Darwish, CEO and Founder of Arrow Labs, commented: We are delighted to partner with a visionary client such as BNET. By integrating our MIMS technology, BNET will be even more efficient in delivering next generation connectivity to its citizens and businesses. BNET will be core to delivering Bahrains Fifth National Telecommunications Plan and we look forward to playing a part in that. Salah Abdulraheem, Chief Digital Platforms Officer at BNET, said: Our partnership with Arrow Labs is aimed at optimising our productivity and efficiency levels as a company. This ultimately supports our efforts to achieve our goal of ensuring a resilient digital communication infrastructure in the kingdom, while remaining focused on delivering an exceptional customer experience with a reliable and consistent service. - TradeArabia News Service The Cannes Film Festival may not be held in its traditional month of May. It is likely to be put off till July first week. Europe is still reeling under the dark clouds of the Coronavirus pandemic, and Festival organisers may be keeping their fingers crossed in the hope that the current vaccination drive against the infection will bring some kind of relief to a world turned upside down. The new date will be announced soon, and the organisers are keen on holding a physical event this year. The Festival chief, Thierry Fremaux, despite his best intentions could not hold the 12-day annual event last year. July seems to be the most appropriate date, because the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival takes place in June, and this is quite likely to happen. So, with festival like Venice and Toronto slated for September, July may well be ideal for the Cannes Film Festival. But it also has the entire August, if worse comes to worst. July and August are really lovely months; it is summertime with very comfortable temperatures. Fremaux recent told the French magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, that he was exploring the possibility of having the Festival for a duration longer than its usual 12 days, because there is a backlog of high-quality movies which were delayed owing to the pandemic. (Gautaman Bhaskaran is a movie critic and author of a biography of Adoor Gopalakrishnan) The 122-member contingent of Bangladesh Army that also took part in 72nd Republic Day parade, laid a wreath and paid tribute to fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial on January 27. Anurag Srivastava, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson shared images of 122-member Bangladeshi regiment marching during the 72nd Republic Day parade. He deemed it a historic moment in 50 years of bilateral ties between both the nations. This was for the first time, that contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces participated at the historic Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday. Delhi: Bangladesh Armed Force Contingent that participated in #RepublicDay parade yesterday, lays wreath & pays tribute at the National War Memorial. pic.twitter.com/Ok4ncCLD4K ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 The Bangladesh contingent included soldiers of the Bangladesh Army, sailors of the Bangladesh Navy, and air warriors of the Bangladesh Air Force. As per reports, the majority of the soldiers in the contingent come from the most distinguished units of the Bangladeshi Army comprising of 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10 & 11 East Bengal Regiment and 1, 2 and 3 Field Artillery Regiment. These units reportedly also have the distinct honour of fighting and winning the Liberation War of 1971. The contingent was led by its Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abu Mohammed Shahnoor Shawon along with his deputies, Lieutenant Farhan Ishraq and Flight Lieutenant Sibat Rahman. Marking another historic moment in 50 years of India-Bangladesh diplomatic ties! In a first, a 122-member tri-service contingent from Bangladesh participates in Republic Day parade, bearing testimony to fraternal ties as well as shared historic struggle & sacrifices. pic.twitter.com/n02YCdQveG Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) January 26, 2021 Read - Bangladesh Participates In Republic Day Parade For The First Time In 50 Years; See Pics Read - US Updates Travel Advisory To Citizens For Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan Very good experience and great responsibility Earlier, Colonel Mohatsim Hyder Chaudhary, chief of the Bangladesh contingent had said on January 25 that the marching style of both Indian and Bangladeshi contingent is similar and thus, they did not have to change the pattern a lot. Just hours before the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India begin in New Delhi, Chaudhary had told news agency ANI that it is a great responsibility assigned to Bangladeshi contingent of putting a great show. He also said that the forces are excited about Tuesdays parade. "It is a great responsibility that has been assigned to us. The men with me are very excited to participate in this parade... If you ask about the feelings, participating in a foreign land, with a foreign army and with the same tempo is very much exciting," he said. Chaudhary added, "It is a very good experience. Fortunately, the way we march and the marching of the Indian contingent are quite similar. From that point of view, we didn't have to change our pattern much." Read - Bangladesh Receives 5 Million Doses Of Virus Vaccine Read - Bangladesh Tri-service Contingent To Lead Republic Day Parade At Janpath On Jan 26 A smoker could pay anywhere from 6,000 to 60,000 than their non-smoking counterpart for life assurance according to figures released today by Royal London. Experts at the leading protection specialist say that many policyholders are unaware of the significant cost savings that can be made on their life insurance premiums if they have given up smoking with non-smokers benefiting from a reduction in premiums of up to around 50%. Royal London is highlighting the issue now as this is a time when many smokers make it their New Years resolution to give up smoking once and for all and, after the expense of Christmas, they believe it comes as welcome news to anyone who has successfully managed to quit since January 2020 or before, that this year their life insurance premiums may be reduced dramatically. Michele Murphy of Royal London explained: When weighing up the advantages of quitting smoking, we generally think about the obvious health benefits and the cost savings to be gained from not purchasing cigarettes frequently especially given that, from 2021, one packet is set to cost 14. "However, fewer people may immediately think of the significant cost benefit of quitting in terms of the impact it has on life cover premiums. As you might imagine, smokers pay more in premiums for life insurance than non-smokers, due to many damaging health effects, but people may not be aware of just how sizeable the difference can be between the premiums charged. Commenting on the cost analysis carried out by Royal London, Ms. Murphy said: The figures speak for themselves - showing massive savings for non-smokers when compared with smokers. A smoker turning 35 on their next birthday will pay over 6,000 more in premiums than their non-smoking counterpart for 300,000 worth of Level Term Life Cover over a 25-year term. "A smoker turning 45 on their next birthday can expect to pay over 68,300 more than a non-smoker during the course of a Specified Serious Illness policy for 300,000 over a 25-year term. Our experience is that while many people expect that smokers will pay more in premiums; they are surprised how much the cost savings can add up to over the lifetime of the cover. Royal London says that anyone considering quitting smoking as their 2021 New Years resolution has the added incentive of looking forward to a reduction in premiums next year. To be classified as a non-smoker for insurance purposes you must have not used any tobacco products in the last 12 months, including the use of e-cigarettes and nicotine replacement products such as patches or chewing gum, with no intention to do so in the future. It is possible that your insurance provider may ask you to complete a cotinine test (smoker test). This is a simple test which involves screening a sample of saliva or urine for tobacco use. Last year the then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, said that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more important than ever to quit smoking. Smoking impairs lung function and the infectious virus primarily attacks the lungs. Added to that, tobacco is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes. According to a report from the World Health Organisation research suggests that when smokers are affected by the virus that they are at higher risk of developing severe illness and death. Ms. Murphy concluded by saying, Given the pandemic, more focus than ever has been on our physical health, and with tobacco use being the leading cause of preventable death in Ireland each year, it stands to reason that those that smoke may make giving up the habit a priority in 2021. Fortunately, the prevalence of smoking in Ireland is decreasing according to HSE figures for the first half of 2020 15.7% of the Irish population smoke, which is down from the 2019 full year figure of 17.1%. "We are calling on ex-smokers who have successfully kicked the habit since at least 01 January 2020 to go about reaping the financial rewards of their outstanding achievement. If you are a smoker, who is considering quitting, the potential cost savings on your life insurance is another reason to break the habit that you can add to the list. If youre an ex-smoker since this time last year, we recommend that you get in touch with your Financial Broker who, by assessing your individual needs, will be able to advise you about the potential cost savings for non-smokers. It may be possible for you to avail of cheaper rates and start the New Year by saving money on your insurance policy. Irelands health minister has said September remains the aspiration to have every person in the country vaccinated, despite issues around supply. Stephen Donnelly said the vaccination programme is going well, but delays to the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine could hamper the Governments timeframe. Mr Donnelly said Ireland has ordered about 14 million doses of various vaccines and, based on those figures, it is likely everyone will be vaccinated by September. September is absolutely still the aspiration. Yeah, absolutely. It has to be, he said. We cant promise because its a projection based partly on vaccinations that havent even been applied for authorisation, and on delivery schedules that still have to be fully agreed, he told RTEs Today With Claire Byrne. I think people in Ireland are asking a very reasonable question, were all being asked to stick with Level 5, its been a tough, tough year. I think people are reasonably saying, based on the information you have, based on your conversations with the pharmaceutical companies, based on what the scientists are telling you, are we likely to all be vaccinated in May? No. Is it likely that it will be this September? Yes. However he appeared to row back on this, saying he cannot say it is likely everyone will be vaccinated by September. If the vaccines come through that we have advanced purchased and if they come in on schedule, then it is reasonable to think that by September every adult could be vaccinated, but with all of those very serious caveats, he added. Vaccinations for the over-70s are due to get under way in the next two weeks, he said. Expand Close Stephen Donnelly (Julien Behal Photography/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stephen Donnelly (Julien Behal Photography/PA) It comes as the Government announced that lockdown is to be extended until March 5, and also introduced tighter travel restrictions. The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. Travellers arriving without a negative test could also face a fine of 2,500 euro or a six-month prison sentence. Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America is suspended until at least March 5. All passengers entering the country will be subject to mandatory quarantine, a change from the policy of voluntary self-isolation. Government has decided to extend all of the current #Level5 restrictions until the 5th of March. For more information ai https://t.co/bcWUJ5BaHe pic.twitter.com/GO5Cv2OjoX MerrionStreet.ie #StaySafe #HoldFirm (@merrionstreet) January 26, 2021 The number of daily cases on Tuesday was 928, dropping below 1,000 for the first time in over a month. Mr Donnelly said of case numbers: Now we have to be very careful, but theyre moving in the right direction. So actually the most important decision yesterday wasnt about foreign travel, it was about extending the measures, and my big ask is that we all continue, because it only works if we do it together, is that we stick with these measures because they are working. About two-thirds of all new cases in Ireland are now this UK variant. Were watching this African variant, were looking at the Brazilian variant. If we were having this conversation and there was no vaccine, we would be in a very, very dark place. We do have a vaccine. The programme is going well. He also said total spread from foreign travel is very low. Over the last three weeks, there have been around 667 outbreaks recorded, with only one linked to foreign travel. The South African variants, the Brazilian variant, and Im told by experts in the field that there will inevitably be other variants popping up around the place theyre game changers. When we had a UK variant that was 60% to 70% more contagious. While we have good evidence that the vaccines will work well on the UK variants, the jurys still out on the South African variant and the Brazilian variant and exactly how they interact with the vaccines, and were taking them very seriously. Minister for Health @DonnellyStephen on @TodaywithClaire continues to describe the problem rather than outline solutions. How many people will be vaccinated by 5th March and what happens then? RAisAn Shortall (@RoisinShortall) January 27, 2021 Co-leader of the Social Democrats Roisin Shortall appealed to the health minister to outline the Governments plans after March 5. She tweeted: Minister for Health @DonnellyStephen continues to describe the problem rather than outline solutions. How many people will be vaccinated by 5th March and what happens then? Irate Chelsea supporters have made their frustrations known after Frank Lampard became the 10th boss to be sacked under Roman Abramovich by hanging a banner outside one of the entrance gates at Stamford Bridge which reads 'circus continues'. Club legend Lampard was dismissed by the Blues on Monday morning after just 18 months in charge, with Chelsea since announcing former Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel as his replacement. And while the club felt the decision was necessary given their torrid run of five defeats in their last eight Premier League games, some fans appear less convinced and have protested outside the stadium. Chelsea fans have hung a banner reading 'circus continues' outside Stamford Bridge The banner came with fans angry that Frank Lampard was sacked after 18 months in the job The supporters hung the banner on the Bovril Gate on the southern side of Stamford Bridge, while blue smoke bombs were also let off as fans let their anger at the decision to sack a club legend be known. The picture has emerged just hours before German boss Tuchel's first game in charge of the Blues at home to Wolves, with the club currently sat 10th in the Premier League. Tuchel - who had been out of a job for four weeks after being sacked by PSG around Christmas - took his first training session on Tuesday and is now tasked with closing the 12-point gap to league leaders Manchester City. There was mixed reaction to the banner being hung on the gate on social media, with opinion very much polarised between the club's supporters. Thomas Tuchel was appointed his successor and took training for the first time on Tuesday Tuchel's first game with his new side comes on Wednesday evening against Wolves at home One fan was in favour of the banner's message, stating: 'So true God bless Frank,' while another added: 'The message is spot on.' Asked by another fan to elaborate, the latter said: 'Our best ever player was still manager whilst the club were recruiting another manager, wasn't able to say goodbye to players and staff, experienced players making younger players feel uncomfortable, could go on.' Another user was reflective when seeing the banner, commenting: 'Always thought the managers were mercenaries I now know it's us the supporters who are the hired hands. 'I backed Super Frank just like I've backed every CFC manager, through ups and downs, for the first time I feel guilty, the connection isn't the same. Win or lose up the Blues.' So true God bless frank. peter johnson (@P19Johnson) January 27, 2021 No George, because our best ever player was still manager whilst the club were recruiting another manager, wasnt able to say goodbye to players and staff, experienced players making younger players feel uncomfortable, could go on Carefree (@ChelseaBoys8) January 27, 2021 However, others were critical of the banner being put up and backed owner Abramovich and the club's ruthless decision to sack Lampard. 'The club has appointed a new manager following a period of poor results, anyone who watched the Leicester game could see a change was needed,' one said. 'This is nonsense.' Another added: 'What made you all think Lampard was the future? Acting like Chelsea is [an] Arsenal team. Always thought the managers were mercenaries I now know its us the supporters who are the hired hands. I backed Super Frank just like Ive backed every CFC manager, through ups and downs, for the first time I feel guilty, the connection isnt the same. Win or lose up the Blues Joe Nazari (@joenazari) January 27, 2021 What made you all think Lampard was the future? Acting like Chelsea is Arsenal team. Circumstances gave Lampard the job at that point and he should be grateful for it. Maybe in the future his time will come and maybe he will stay longer. We move. Gerald Osuji (@OfficialOGFlick) January 27, 2021 'Circumstances gave Lampard the job at that point and he should be grateful for it. Maybe in the future his time will come and maybe he will stay longer. We move.' Another user agreed Lampard's future looked bleak, adding: 'Do you guys think there was going to be any improvement by keeping Lampard to the end? We would be in relegation zone after few matches, it's about time.' Others however preferred to focus on the task now at hand, with one stating: 'Ain't gonna change anything, just grow up and get behind the new man,' with a GIF of Tuchel pumping his fist while he was PSG boss. Do you guys think there was going to be any improvement by keeping LAMPARD to the end? We would be in relegation zone after few matches, it's about time J (@JiddieBoy) January 27, 2021 Biggest churches push 'superficial Christianity,' 'phonies' now being exposed: John MacArthur Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Some of America's biggest churches support a culture of corrupt, superficial Christianity and made a lot of money doing it but the internet is now making it harder for phonies to survive, Pastor John MacArthur recently said. Speaking at the pulpit of Grace Community Church in California for the first time after a brief absence during which some speculated he may have been ill, MacArthur suggested that the pandemic combined with the technological shift in ministry has led to a sifting and shifting. We had for decades, people trying to create a cultural Christianity that would appeal to nonbelievers, that was accepting of immorality, accepting of homosexuality, accepting of racial hatred. There was a kind of superficial, shallow Christianity that watered down the Gospel, didnt talk about sin, tried to have a positive message. And it was very successful. And I get it because I fought that battle well for almost all the time Ive been here, he told his congregants in a sermon just over a week ago. He explained that one of the things he likes to do is to call the church to repentance but it was a tough call because superficial Christianity made a lot of money and elevated a lot of charlatans. It was successful. The biggest churches in America are part of it. It was very hard to call people to faithfulness when you could be so corrupt and so successful in Christian religion. That was the battle. Now I think theres a sifting and a shifting, he said before alluding to sex scandals surrounding prominent Christian figures like late apologist Ravi Zacharias and former Hillsong Church Pastor Carl Lentz without mentioning their names. First of all, phonies are going to have a hard time hiding with the internet. Were seeing one after another after another. Dead ones and alive ones. This dead apologist had a deviant sex life. This cool dude rock and roll pastor was immoral with multiple women for years and years, MacArthur said. I look at all that and my thoughts were I dont think if it werent for Jesus Christ that I could sell anybody on Christianity. We preach Christ, right? And youre attracted to Him, right? But if there are people out there looking at Christianity, it has to be uninviting, maybe even repulsive. Who are these people? Filthy rich, immoral, corrupt, narcissistic. If it werent for Jesus Christ, Christianity would have no appeal, he said. MacArthur also explained that despite efforts by government authorities to shutter his church during the pandemic, he has managed to defy every restriction and remain open regardless of fines and court actions against his church. They tried every way to close Grace Church. And I think it is true that there is no more scrutinized church in the United States of America than Grace Community Church, he said, calling out major media organizations like ABC, CNN and the Los Angeles Times as well as ungodly bloggers who tried to discredit his church. Im still here, he said. MacArthur said the decision to remain open in defiance of government restrictions has been a blessing to his church. He said even though the church had not collected an offering in the last 10 months, congregants have given more in the last 10 months than any 10-month period in the history of this church. MacArthur fought for his churchs legal right to hold indoor worship services amid the pandemic and said even though his church has faced fines each Sunday for their defiance, the congregation has only continued to flourish. In the middle of the lawsuit, the Lord has grown our church. So this was a very small tiny local church until COVID. One thousand new members, baptisms, he said, calling his new members Grace refugees. Did you hear the testimonies in baptism Sunday night? Theres a new evangelical term. I love it. Its Grace refugees, he said as his congregation laughed. Its the people who had no other church to go to so they came here as church refugees, he said to more cheers. And arent we happy about that? Arent we blessed? Well take you whoever you are even if youre a Presbyterian refugee. People have flown in from all across America, driven in from all across the West every Sunday to be with us. Some of you only came here because it was the only church open and you found it wasnt just a church that was open. It was a church that was presenting the Gospel and the Word of God, he said. Nearly lost in the tumult of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and the excitement of Joe Bidens inauguration is the fallout from the massive data breach of SolarWinds Corp. by suspected Russian hackers. SolarWinds was a prime vendor to tens of thousands of clients, nearly the entire U.S. government. At least 18,000 entities were affected. By breaking into SolarWinds, the hackers had instant access to that huge roster of firms. The scale of the attack is breathtaking, and there is still a great deal about which we are uncertain. This is partly because of the sophistication and level of resources available for the hackers and because there is still a limited culture of sharing the results of hacks between elements of the public and private sectors. Unlike the airline industry, where a single airliner going down sparks detailed information-sharing between airlines and governments, cyber has something of a keep your cards close to the vest approach. This is particularly true of software providers, which operate in highly competitive markets. SolarWinds was a clear demonstration that technology alone cannot solve cybersecurity problems. The Department of Homeland Securitys Einstein intrusion-detection system didnt keep hackers from going unnoticed for almost a year. This means U.S. firms and the government must put a greater priority on supply-chain security and third-party risk management. The administration faces pressing international security issues: returning to the Iran nuclear deal; restarting negotiations with North Korea; developing a coherent strategy to deal with China; recovering a smooth relationship with the European Union. But the challenge that concerns me the most is the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of critical infrastructure and institutions from external state and nongovernmental actors. At the top of the to-do list is getting out the excellent report of the federal Cyberspace Solarium Commission and following its recommendations. The commissions executive director, retired Adm. Mark Montgomery, should be called into the administration his energy and understanding of the cyber landscape and the mechanisms of the federal government are unparalleled. Ideas in the report include getting serious representation of cyberspace experts into a position on the National Security Council staff with enough authority to require Senate confirmation. The administration should create a full-fledged Cyber Force. The Trump administration correctly created a Space Force, recognizing how much of national security relies on the ability to operate in space. Likewise, we are overdue for an elite, independent branch of the armed forces in which all the personnel wake up every morning thinking about cyberspace. A long-overdue step is splitting up the National Security Agency and the U.S. Cyber Command. The former is an intelligence-gathering entity. The latter is a military combatant command under a four-star officer. Both are now led by the same person, the head of Cyber Command. But each is far too large, vital and fundamentally different to share a leader. The agencies would continue to share information, much as with the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Department. But over time, each would be strengthened by a formal split. Congress already has authorized this separation, but the secretary of defense has to certify the change. The SolarWinds hack shows that public and private entities need to move smartly to enhance the level of protection in cyberspace. The Solarium Commission report, creating a Cyber Force, and splitting up the NSA and Cyber Command are good places to start. JAMES STAVRIDIS is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist, a retired Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Last one year with pandemic has been a difficult one. It tested our patience, potential and grit. While we remained indoors, webinars, video calls, etc became the reality of work life under the new normal. But this hasn't been without any goof ups as we tried to get a hang of the new world. Goof ups, sometimes even scandals, during video meetings have been common. But this old man from somewhere in India has taken the Internet by storm. A couple of videos of Dr KK Aggarwal have gone viral on social media. In one video, he is speaking during a live session after taking coronavirus vaccine. As he speaks, his phone rings and he attends the call. It is apparently his wife on the other end who starts asking him where he is. Doctor KK Agarwal got himself vaccinated without his wife. Note to self : don't ever pick-up phone while you are live on tv :) #forwarded. pic.twitter.com/uhIQYvZ4IO Tarun Shukla (@shukla_tarun) January 27, 2021 As he tells her that he just got vaccinated, the woman on the other end loses her calm and gives him a dressing down for getting vaccinated without her. He tries to pacify her by saying that he will take her for vaccination on Monday morning, but she refuses to listen. His wife gives him an earful before he hangs up. People are sharing the video on social media that one should not receive wife's phone call during a live session. Another video of the same old man has also gone viral where he is seen taking a head massage during a webinar. It is either that Dr Aggarwal doesn't understand how video conferencing and live sessions work or it could also be that he knows, but doesn't care about the world of social media watching him. He's talking while getting a head massage. Confidence... Chirag Patnaik (@chirag) January 27, 2021 This guy is slowly but surely becoming a legend. Shashank Arora (@misterarora) January 27, 2021 What happened when he reached home? Kalchakra News (@KalchakraNews) January 27, 2021 To see how senior citizens reacted to the new normal and the dependence on technology in pandemic, a study called the 'State of Seniors' was conducted by Antara and Access Media International over October-November 2020. It found that seniors are now more text-savy than before. The survey found that seniors are acquainting themselves with smartphones at a faster pace to stay connected with their family. The Covid-19 pandemic has played a crucial role in the faster adoption of electronic gadgets among the senior population. The survey revealed that nearly 77% of seniors use their smartphones for messaging and chatting purposes. An emergency department nurse at Antrim Area Hospital, Co Antrim, in Northern Ireland swabs a woman at a drive-in coronavirus testing site (Michael Cooper/PA) Health Minister, Robin Swann, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Michael McBride and Patricia Donnelly, Head of the Covid-19 Vaccine Programme pictured at a press conference in Parliament Buildings, Stormont. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye. People aged over 65 can now book their Covid-19 vaccination appointments at one of Northern Irelands seven regional vaccination centres. The Department of Health this week announced a twin-track approach to accelerating NIs vaccination programme - ensuring more people can take up the offer of vaccination and help protect themselves against Covid-19. GPs will be focusing on the 70 plus age group, while the seven regional vaccination centres will in parallel be offering offer vaccination appointments to 65-69 year-olds. The online booking is available at covid-19.hscni.net/get-vaccinated/ Earlier Health Minister Robin Swann announced plans for 500 special recognition payment for health and social care staff. Subject to Department of Finance approval, it will be paid to all health and social care workers including doctors, nurses, care home workers, domiciliary care workers, administrative staff and estates teams. Mr Swann also announced a flat rate, one-off special recognition payment of 2,000 for all qualifying students that have been on clinical placement between October 1 2020 to March 31 2021. The qualifying courses are the nursing and midwifery, AHP, social work and physician associate pre-registration programmes commissioned from Queen's University Belfast and the Ulster University by Stormont's health department. A one-off award is also set to be made to carers, but Mr Swann said more work is to be done on this before further detail can be announced. Mr Swann added that the current lockdown is "making a difference" as infection numbers are falling. He said: "The R-number has been moving in the right direction and we have to sustain and building on that progress." He also expressed his frustration at those people who are not taking the threat of Covid-19 seriously and at "armchair experts who spout simplistic ideas and snipe" at Stormont and the "heroes" in our health service over their efforts in tacking the infection rate. "The reality is that we, as a health service and as a society, are living through the challenge of our lifetimes - the battle of our lifetimes. "It is a challenge that is complex, all-consuming and relentless." Chief medical officer Dr Michael McBride confirmed that new coronavirus cases are continuing to fall and the R-number now stands at less than one. But he urged people to "continue to do what we're doing", adding that "while the number of hospital admissions may have passed the peak, they remain at a very high level". He added: "It's important to remember that they will remain extremely high for many weeks and that will ensure, unfortunately, that our health staff will remain under very severe pressure in the coming weeks." Dr McBride also paid tribute to those who are adhering to the restrictions and following the advice. "The decisions you make, the actions you are taking, are reducing the number of infections and reducing the number of people who become unwell and require hospital care, "We must now avoid dropping our guard. We need to be extremely careful around the relaxation of any of the current restrictions and certainly to avoid any relaxation too early." He was speaking as Northern Ireland's Department of Health reported another 16 deaths and 527 new cases of coronavirus Latest figures show 12 deaths occurred in the 24 hours up to 10am on Wednesday, while another four happened previously. The death toll has risen to 1,779. Read More In terms of testing, 4,246 have contracted the virus in the past seven days, that is down from 6,944 the previous week. In total over 766,000 people have been tested and nearly 102,000 found positive. Hospital bed occupancy is at 95%. There are 775 people in hospital with Covid and 68 are in intensive care. There are 126 care homes dealing with an outbreak. Head of the Covid-19 vaccine programme, Dr Patricia Donnelly told today's Stormont press conference Northern Ireland has reached an "important juncture" and her team is ready "to accelerate the programme's roll-out". A further delivery of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines arrived in Northern Ireland yesterday while another is scheduled for next week. "When that arrives we should have sufficient vaccines to allow GPs to cover everyone in the 75-plus age group and begin vaccinating the over 70-year population," she added. Dr Donnelly also confirmed a "twin-track approach" to administering Covid-19 vaccinations here.. "Later this week the role of the seven regional vaccination centres will be expanded to begin vaccinating members of the public. "As GPs focus on the 70-year plus age group the vaccination centres will, in parallel, offer vaccination appointments to 65-to-69-year-olds," she said. "These will be bookable online and further details of a booking portal will be published very shortly as well as a telephone helpline for those unable to use online booking." Meanwhile First Minister Arlene Foster has backed the approach of the South Eastern Trust after an email emerged offering family and friends of staff the chance to get the vaccine. The trust said it was ensuring supplies were not wasted. Read More Elsewhere, Sinn Fein has called for Education Minister Peter Weir to provide "clarity" on if school closures will be extended in Northern Ireland. It comes as Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that he hoped it would be safe to begin the reopening of England's schools from March 8. "The first sign of normality beginning to return should be pupils going back to their classrooms. I know how parents and teachers need as much certainty as possible including two weeks' notice of the return of face-to-face teaching," he said. Read More Follow live updates below: In this photo Nov.30, 2020 file photo the logo of French drug maker Sanofi is picture at the company's headquarters, in Paris. French drug maker Sanofi said Wednesday it will help manufacture 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File) In an unusual and potentially groundbreaking decision, French drugmaker Sanofi said Wednesday it will help bottle and package 125 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, while its own vaccine candidate faces delays. The announcement came as delays or production problems for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and a vaccine from Britain's AstraZeneca have caused political uproar across the European Union. The EU's 27-nation vaccination effort has struggled to pick up steam, while more contagious virus variants are spreading fast and COVID-19 deaths are surging anew. Sanofi's Frankfurt facilities will help with late-stage production of vaccines prepared by Germany-based BioNTech, including bottling and packaging, starting in the summer, according to a Sanofi official. Sanofi did not reveal financial details of the agreement. According to Thomas Cueni, director of the International Federation of Vaccine Manufacturers, 76% of the world's major vaccine manufacturing capacity is in Europe. The French government has pressed Sanofi to use its facilities to help make vaccines from its rivals, given the high demand and supply problems. "We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved," Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in a statement. The deal was announced amid national soul-searching about the failure of French pharmaceutical heavyweights Sanofi and the Pasteur Institute to produce a COVID-19 vaccine so far, and after Sanofi faced a recent strike by French unions over job cuts. European Union regulators so far have approved using the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The EU regulatory agency is scheduled Friday to consider approval for the vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. Sanofi is still pushing ahead with its own COVID-19 vaccine efforts, including a much-awaited candidate developed with British partner GlaxoSmithKline. Sanofi said they will start a new phase-2 trial next month. The two companies said last month that their vaccine won't be ready until late 2021 because the shot's effectiveness in older people needed to be improved. Producing the huge volume of vaccines needed at short notice has been a challenge for drugmakers around the world, but sharing vaccine production from one company to another is challenging. The multiple types of COVID-19 vaccines being used in different countries require different technologies, raw materials, equipment and expertise. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Mumbai: Actress Urvashi Rautela has back-to-back projects in her kitty and that has left her fans all excited. With more than 34 million followers on Instagram, the actress has aced her Instagram game like a pro already! Recently, Urvashi Rautela celebrated Republic Day in Tirumala, seeking blessings of Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati Temple. The actress who landed in Mumbai on the same day itself was spotted by the paps at the airport. Urvashi made a sweet gesture by offering the paps Prasad from Tirupati and wished them prosperity for life, which melted the hearts of many viewers. Check out the video here: On the work front, Urvashi Rautela was recently seen in a music video titled Woh Chaand Kaha Se Laogi opposite television actor, Mohsin Khan. Apart from that, she also has another music video lined up titled Teri Load Ve. In an interview, she admitted that she enjoyed doing music videos. Urvashi was last seen in Virgin Bhanupriya. She will also be seen in Black Rose, which is said to be a bilingual thriller, and will be released in Hindi and Telugu. The team reportedly shot the project once the lockdown curbs were lifted. Recently, the first look of Urvashi Rautela's Hindi remake of the Tamil film "Thiruttu Payale 2" created a huge buzz. The actress will be also seen in an international project opposite Egyptian superstar Mohamed Ramadan. The announcement of which will be made soon. Urvashi Rautela has also made an announcement for her upcoming series Inspector Avinash opposite Randeep Hooda. Gov. Phil Murphy appointed a special investigator Wednesday to review allegations of beatings at the states only womens prison, NJ Advance Media has learned, as more lawmakers called for the head of the state prison system to step down. The governor appointed A. Matthew Boxer from the firm Lowenstein Sandler LLP to investigate a Jan. 11 incident at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, according to a statement sent by a spokesman. I am sickened by the horrific reports of what happened, Murphy said. Let me be clear: every individual in state custody deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, and we must always remember that female inmates have long been uniquely vulnerable to abuse. While he said he supported the actions Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks has taken so far, Murphy said we must go further. Today, I am ordering a full independent investigation, under the direction of former State Comptroller Matt Boxer, to determine how this happened and make recommendations to prevent anything like it from ever happening again, Murphy said. He said the report should be finished in an expedited fashion and any individual who acted improperly will be held fully accountable. Thirty staff have been suspended at the prison. One inmate told NJ Advance Media that she was beaten and sexually assaulted by a corrections officer during the attack. The Hunterdon County Prosecutors Office and the state attorney generals office previously confirmed they launched a criminal investigation. Earlier Wednesday, all seven Republican Assemblywomen demanded the prison commissioner resign or be replaced. The report of thirty officers and supervisors on leave because of allegations of abuse should stop all of us in our tracks, state Assemblywomen BettyLou DeCroce, R-Morris, and six others said in a statement. This is not a few bad actors scenario. The continued abuses at the Edna Mahan demonstrate the need for further overhaul to cleanse the culture of abuse and bring justice to the women who endured these brutalities. A total of 14 lawmakers from both political parties have now called for the commissioner to at least temporarily step down. The governor said Tuesday he was standing by Hicks and his reform efforts. Boxer, a respected former federal prosecutor and state comptroller, has developed a reputation for deep-dive investigations into allegations of government misconduct. But those inquiries dont always see the light of day. In 2015, then-Gov. Chris Christies administration hired Boxer to investigate a host of discrimination and sexual harassment complaints and other misconduct at a New Jersey National Guard base. Christies administration refused to release Boxers report. Boxer declined comment. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN. S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. OMAHA, Neb. (AP) A major winter storm dropped more than a foot of snow on parts of Nebraska and Iowa, disrupting traffic and shuttering some schools, while blanketing other parts of the middle of the country with snow that continued to fall Tuesday. There were early closures of several coronavirus testing sites on Monday in Nebraska and Iowa, and both states saw 12 or 13 inches (30.5 to 33 centimeters) of snow in places by Tuesday morning. At least 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow was expected into Tuesday across most of an area stretching from central Kansas northeast to Chicago and southern Michigan. National Weather Service meteorologist Taylor Nicolaisen, who is based near Omaha, Nebraska, said up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) was likely between York, Nebraska, and Des Moines, Iowa, and that it has been at least 15 years since that area received more than a foot of snow in a single storm. This is historic snow, Nicolaisen said of the snow in that area. In northern Illinois, snowfall began around sunset Monday and by early Tuesday more than 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) was reported in places. Meteorologist Bett Borchardt forecast snowfall up to 8 inches (20.3 centimeters) or more before it ends Tuesday evening. The last comparable snowfall hit the area in November 2018, when 8.4 inches (21.3 centimeters) fell. Chicago on Monday warned residents that hazardous conditions were likely during Tuesday morning commutes and some power outages are possible. City officials have dispatched about 280 salt spreaders to clear main streets and have created warming centers in libraries and park facilities. And a winter weather advisory was issued for northwest Indiana. Many schools and businesses closed Monday as the storm moved across the Midwest and officials urged drivers to stay off the roads. In western Iowa, Missouri Valley Superintendent Brent Hoesing reworked the lyrics of the 1970s hit I Will Survive to tell students in his district, So Stay Inside. Roughly 250 semi trucks waited out the storm at the Petro truck stop alongside Interstate 80 in York, Nebraska. Manager Rachael Adamson said she could see knee-high drifts and that sidewalks needed to be shoveled every half hour. We havent had this much snow in quite a few years, Adamson said. In the South, a tornado touched down in an Alabama city north of Birmingham, leaving one person dead after a tree fell on a home. The tornado hit the Fultondale area of Jefferson County late Monday night, and other homes were damaged along with businesses. Over the weekend, more than a foot of snow fell in Southern Californias mountains. Interstate 5 was shut down Monday in the Tejon Pass between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley. Wind, snow and ice also forced the closure of State Route 58 through the Tehachapi Pass. Until recently, California had been experiencing significantly dry weather accompanied by relentless wildfires. A band of clouds suggested more rain could fall Tuesday in areas north and south of San Francisco Bay, bringing the threat of possible flash floods and landslides in areas scarred by the fires. Sacramento-area National Weather Service forecasters predict an abundance of snow in the Sierra Nevada this week that will make travel difficult. A storm buried northern Arizona in snow on Monday while sending flurries to the outskirts of Las Vegas and Phoenix. And most of Nevada was bracing for another series of powerful winter storms that could bring several feet of snow to the mountains above Lake Tahoe by Thursday. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. WASHINGTON - The Biden administration said Tuesday that it will seek to buy another 200 million doses of the two coronavirus vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the United States. The purchases would increase available supply by 50%, bringing the total to 600 million doses by this summer. Because both products - one developed by Pfizer and German company BioNTech and the other by Moderna - are two-dose regimens, that would be enough to fully vaccinate 300 million people. An estimated 260 million people in the United States are considered eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, though Pfizer and Moderna have initiated trials for children as young as 12, the results of which could expand the pool. The additional supply would greatly boost President Joe Biden's chances of returning the nation to some semblance of normalcy by late summer or early fall. He said Monday that he expects the general public to gain access to shots by the spring - as he seemed to elevate his administration's goal from 1 million vaccinations a day to 1.5 million - though aides on Tuesday said that was aspirational. "Every American is not going to be eligible this spring," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. A senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the strategy, said the additional doses would be delivered this summer. Pfizer and Moderna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Each company has agreed to deliver 200 million doses to the federal government by the end of June. Pfizer has said it can deliver 120 million of those doses by the end of March, while Moderna has pledged 100 million by then. Manufacturing has steadily ramped up, in pace with those targets. As a result, federal allocations to states and other jurisdictions will increase by about 16% next week, easing shortages that have intensified nationwide without immediately alleviating supply problems. Washington Post photo by Jabin Botsford Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's coronavirus response, informed governors of the increase on a call Tuesday afternoon, according to people familiar with his comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The weekly allocation is forecast to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. The vaccine is distributed among 64 jurisdictions, including 50 states, eight territories and six major cities. Senior administration officials said the increased supply will come mostly from releasing more doses of Moderna's vaccine. The stepped-up allocations will remain for three weeks, these officials said, as the Department of Health and Human Services provides estimates on that time scale. The increased allocations and the promise of better forecasts came as welcome news to state and local officials, who have implored the federal government for estimates of available supply so they can plan and set expectations for the public. Such projections were not possible in December, according to current and former federal officials, because of uncertainty about manufacturing and instability in the supply chain. The government has gained greater understanding of production schedules, especially after directing suppliers to fulfill Pfizer's needs under the Defense Production Act. Shortages are having stark consequences throughout the country. Vaccine appointments have been canceled as health officers and medical providers confront a limited supply of doses, which are being prioritized for medical workers, older people, front-line workers and other highly vulnerable people. The patchwork of rules about eligibility has deepened confusion about access to the shots. There could soon be a bright spot in the form of a third vaccine, though its efficacy is not publicly known. Health officials are awaiting data from a trial by Johnson & Johnson, which will probably arrive in the next week. That data may also suggest how a vaccine performs against one of the variants spreading throughout the world, because some of the trial was conducted in South Africa, where a more transmissible and possibly more deadly variant has been identified. The effort to buy additional doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines represents a shift in strategy as the Biden administration doubles down on two highly effective products authorized by federal regulators. The Trump administration worked to spread its risks widely over many different candidates. Once the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year showed such high efficacy - about 95% - some government vaccine experts said the administration should quickly acquire as much of those vaccines as possible, even if the result was that the United States ended up with more vaccine than it needed. At the same time, Biden and his top aides have stressed that vaccine supply is only one aspect of the challenges involved in executing the immunization campaign. The administration is seeking additional resources for state and local health departments and has vowed greater federal coordination of the efforts, including plans to augment the public health workforce and set up mass vaccination sites. The administration has also pledged to increase transparency for state and local officials overseeing ground-level planning and for members of the public waiting to be vaccinated. Biden administration officials are also seeking to have more data related to vaccination efforts posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a federal health official. Ideally, that would include data about manufacturing, supply and allocation to the states. Information about production and supply is not publicly available. The vaccine rollout has been marked by a lack of transparency about stockpiles, short-term distribution schedules and contradictory statements from government officials. Companies producing vaccines have issued broad statements about vaccine goals based on quarterly projections. - - - The Washington Post's Amy Goldstein and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report. Carlsbad startup Airspace, which has developed an artificial intelligence platform to manage shipping of time-sensitive cargo including human organs for transplants, said Tuesday that it has raised $38 million in a third round of venture capital funding. The company will use the money to fund its growth and expand internationally. It recently opened an office in Amsterdam. Overall, Airspace employs 166 workers globally, with 121 based in Carlsbad. The latest funding is led by Telstra Ventures, and joined by co-lead HarbourVest Partners. Other participants include existing backers Scale Ventures, Defy Partners, Qualcomm Ventures and Prologis Ventures. The Series C round brings the total raised by Airspace to more than $70 million since it was founded in 2016. According to the company, time-critical logistics has seen rapid growth in recent years, ballooning to $20 billion in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted certain global supply chains, highlighted the need for reliable delivery of critical supplies. Airspace's platform uses predictive analytics and machine learning to help ensure critical packages are delivered as soon as possible. Its software automates the process of planning and tracking shipments, allowing shippers to communicate with customers in real time about package locations and track drivers dispatched to pick up packages at airports. The company has more than 200 customers that include LabCorp, Alaska Airlines, Quest Diagnostics and the American Red Cross. "We have already accomplished so many amazing feats, including our part in saving over 100,000 lives since we began organ deliveries," said Nick Bulcao, co-founder and chief executive of Airspace. "The ongoing support from our investors means that this number will only increase as we continue to develop solutions for our customers worldwide." As part of the funding, Mark Sherman, managing partner of Telstra Ventures, has joined Airspace's board of directors. "Combining human experience and artificial intelligence allows Airspace to stand out amongst its competitors and be the trusted partner for time-critical logistics," said Sherman. More information: 2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune. 2021 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Houston police unveiled Wednesday its latest addition to its aging helicopter fleet: an Airbus H125 dedicated to fallen Flight Tactical Officer Jason Knox. The aircraft, obtained through a $7.5 million grant through the Texas Department of Public Safety, was delivered to the Houston Police Departments Air Support Division in December with the tail number N2374F to incorporate Knoxs badge. Knox, son to Houston council member Mike Knox, died May 2020 in an on-duty helicopter crash at a Greenspoint-area apartment complex. Police officials said the helicopter will not be a replacement for the crashed MD Helicopter but instead stemmed from a grant that had been in the works for at least four years. Police parked the helicopter complete with an Oilers-blue pinstripe on the body on a landing pad at William P. Hobby Airport next to where a portion of Knoxs ashes was scattered. Knoxs family, including his parents and widow Keira Knox, joined the Air Division for the dedication ceremony. The blue paint pays tribute to Knoxs love for fixing old police cars. The officer, who joined HPD in 2011, had a penchant for replicating what police such as his father, a retired HPD officer once used to patrol Houston streets in the 1990s and before. "Jason would get a kick out of all this attention," the elder Knox said. Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer The new bird has already taken flight over Houston on multiple occasions, according to flight records. Bradley Mark one of three pilots trained to fly the new Airbus called the new aircraft the golden standard for law enforcement aviation. Sixteen more officers will be trained in March, he said. Its a complex aircraft but its stable platform is confidence-inspiring, Mark said. Pilots will have better control over the tail rotor and are less likely to spin out of control, Mark continued, like what happened in the fatal crash. Mark remembered Knox as charismatic. The two worked together on the night shift. He fondly recalled walking off meals with Knox on a nearby runway in between flights. Chief Art Acevedo said the new aircraft is better suited for Houstons sweltering weather which can impact a helicopters lift. Its rollout for patrol will be limited because other helicopters in the fleet are still airworthy, he said. The Airbus will be better suited for search and rescue operations, firefighting and security, he continued. We want to try to save some of the flight hours for the other capabilities that it has, Acevedo said. The police department has lost two aircraft to crashes in the past two years. The helicopter from the first crash in July 2019 in which Knox was also a passenger remains in disrepair and the department is determining whether it will be too costly to fix. Acevedo grounded the HPD fleet for at least four weeks in response to Knoxs death. By the start of the George Floyd protests in late May, the police helicopters were back in the air. The fatal crash happened as Knox and pilot Chase Cormier were wrapping up an aerial search for a possible drowning none was found in a bayou. The aircraft spiraled out of control and crashed into an apartment clubhouse. Cormier was critically injured and he has since retired for medical reasons, Houston Police Officers Union President Doug Griffith said. Days after the crash, a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board offered few answers as to why the aircraft went down. Police have not disclosed the results of their internal investigation into the crash. Acevedo said their review is contingent on the finalized NTSB findings which could take another year. The pandemic has slowed the independent agencys investigation into the crash, the chief said. Meanwhile, an internal review of safety protocols within the air division found nothing problematic, Acevedo said. Police ruled out the possibility that hostile action was a factor behind the crash. Investigators accused Josue Trajedo-Claros of firing a gun at a Department of Public Safety helicopter whose pilots responded to the HPD wreckage. Trajedo-Claros remains jailed on two counts of aggravated assault against a public servant and tampering with evidence all felony charges. WASHINGTON The last time Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Demcorat from Minnesota, sat in the majority, her party was fawning over Silicon Valley. Lawmakers praised the ingenuity of Facebook and Amazon, while President Barack Obama and regulators fought alongside Google and Twitter to protect the growth of internet businesses. Now, many of those same politicians are gearing up to tame those companies. And Klobuchar, who leads the Senate panel overseeing antitrust, is expected to play a leading role. Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota, is set to play a key role in regulating Big Tech. Credit:Gabriela Bhaskar/Bloomberg Many Democrats, as well as some Republicans, want to take on Big Tech with laws and regulations to address issues like market power, data privacy, and disinformation and hate speech. Those ambitions have only grown since the insurrection at Capitol Hill, with more members of Congress pointing to the power of the tech companies as the root cause of many problems. The growing talk of new federal laws adds to the industrys many headaches. Facebook and Google are fighting federal and state regulators in court over allegations of anti-competitive conduct. Regulators continue to investigate Amazon and Apple over antitrust violations. President Joe Biden and his nominees for attorney general and Commerce secretary have also promised to hold tech companies to account for the speech they host and to strengthen policing of competition violations. LONDON Britain, swamped by a fast-spreading coronavirus variant and desperate to keep other mutations out of the country, tightened its travel restrictions on Wednesday, requiring British citizens arriving from 22 high-risk countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. The policy edges Britain closer to the strict hotel quarantines imposed by Australia and several Asian countries. But it falls short of a blanket requirement, drawing criticism that it will not seal off the country from dangerous new variants, even as it cripples the already wounded travel and aviation industries. There are still too many people coming in and out of our country every day, Priti Patel, the home secretary, said in Parliament, announcing the new measures, which are also designed to stop Britons from leaving the country. Going on holiday is not an exemption, Ms. Patel added, noting there were reports of people turning up at St. Pancras Station in London, lugging their skis, to board the Eurostar train on their way to Alpine ski resorts. Chandigarh: On the question of whom to support during Presidential poll, Haryanas main opposition party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has left the decision on party supremo and former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala. INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala said though the Working committee of the party, which met here today under his chairmanship, felt NDA presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind and opposition candidate Meira Kumar had excellent credentials, it has decided to leave the final decision to Om Prakash Chautala. Party chief Om Prakash Chautala is currently serving a prison term in connection with a teachers recruitment scam. Chautala sahib will take a final decision in this regard and we will inform you about it when it is finalised, he told reporters when asked INLDs stand on the presidential polls. At the meeting, Abhay noted that long after former deputy prime minister late Devi Lal had expressed his desire to see a Dalit in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the two leading parties of the country were constrained by vote bank politics to propose Dalits as their representatives. INLD is in opposition in the BJP-ruled Haryana. Over a decade ago it was an ally of the BJP and both shared power in the state. Kovind is scheduled to meet NDA MPs and MLAs from Haryana and Punjab in Panchkula, Haryana, on Thursday. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and BJPs general secretary Anil Jain will be among the leaders who will be with Kovind in the Haryana town. Meanwhile, the INLD has threatened to block all types of vehicles coming from Punjab on national highway at Patiala-Ambala border, besides other points in the state on July 10 to protest against what it termed as the failure of the BJP governments in state and at Centre to get the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal constructed despite verdict of the Supreme Court in Haryanas favour. At the INLD meeting, Abhay reiterated his partys demand to get Haryanas share of river waters through the SYL. He exhorted the party workers to stop all vehicles entering Haryana from Punjab near Ambala as well as Gulha Chika (district Kaithal) and Dabwali (Sirsa) from wee hours on July 10, if the government would not take any concrete step on the issue by then. At the meeting, the party resolved to demand waiver of farmers debt, implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission report and improvement in law and order in Haryana. Also read: Ideological battle not required in President election, says Venkaiah Naidu Also read: Presidential poll: Ghulam Nabi Azad targets Nitish, says 'people who believe in several principles make different decision' For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. [January 27, 2021] Benchmark Senior Living Launches Digital Platform to Improve, Personalize Resident Experience As part of Benchmark Senior Living's commitment to improve and personalize the resident experience, the company has become the first senior living provider in the Northeast to implement a digital platform that pinpoints residents' interests to better match them to community programs and activities, and build relationships with neighbors. The "Something in Common" program, developed using TSOLife technology, is being launched across Benchmark's 63 communities in seven states. "Creating and enhancing human connections in our communities is at the heart of Benchmark's mission and something each of our staff members strive to achieve each day. 'Something in Common' is a tremendous resource that helps forge cherished relationships between new and longtime residents, as well as staff," said Tom Grape, Benchmark's founder, Chairman and CEO. "Something in Common" also creates an audio narrative of residents' life stories using recorded interviews with residents. The recorded audio is edited and brought to life with photos, videos, and other materials to create a rich, first-person account that can be downloaded and shared. Family members can also use the TSOLife mobile app to contribute to their loved one's legacy by recording and adding their own stories. The TSOLife platform is far superior to the written resident profiles the company had previously used to learn about residents when they moved into Benchmark communities. "TSOLife has been a game changer. It helps us make data-based decisions on what activities to bring to the residents based on their interests," said Barbara Solomon, Vice President of Revenue Operations. "It has been amazing to see how quickly we can now connect new residents with their peers to make instant friendships." Solomon said each audio interview yields more than 80 etails regarding each resident's interests and preferences, doubling the amount of data points compared to the written profiles. This information is stored in TSOLife's secure online platform where Benchmark employees who work with residents on programs and activities can securely access the data. This data is then used to personalize residents' experiences and connect them to other residents. "We're thrilled to partner with Benchmark Senior Living for this initiative. Benchmark is a forward-thinking innovator and is always putting the care of their residents first. It's rewarding to see a community leverage our tools to improve the lives of their residents, and personalize the experience for both residents and staff," said David Sawyer, founder and CEO of TSOLife. Benchmark has already launched the program in more than 90% of its 63 communities across the Northeast and will be extending it to the remainder of the company's footprint in coming weeks. For more information on Benchmark Senior Living's "Something in Common" program, please visit https://www.benchmarkseniorliving.com/helpful-solutions/something-in-common-program. About Benchmark Senior Living Benchmark offers independent living, assisted living, memory care and continuing care retirement communities in seven states. The company was named to FORTUNE's Best Workplaces for Aging Services list in both the first year it was published, 2018, and in 2019, ranking fifth among senior living companies with 50 or more communities. The company has been named to The Boston Globe's Top Places to Work list every year of the 13 years it has been published. It also has been consistently recognized as a top workplace by the Boston Business Journal, Hartford Courant and Hartford Business Journal. Visit BenchmarkSeniorLiving.com for more information. About TSOLife TSOLife partners with senior living communities across the nation to provide a first-of-its-kind business intelligence platform using Artificial Intelligence (AI) called Minerva. Minerva creates powerful dashboards with a suite of information and personalized tools for staff to put prospect and resident knowledge into practice. TSOLife provides actionable insights and fuels decision-making in senior living communities. Along with Minerva, TSOLife provides a tech-enabled legacy preservation solution to easily preserve the life stories of their residents. Visit www.tsolife.com for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005627/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute. Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno. Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi. You recognize that voice immediately its a voice shaped by the internet: ironic, inexplicably defensive, funny. The narrator punctuates her jokes: Ha ha, ha ha. Image Lauren Oyler, whose debut novel is Fake Accounts. Credit... Pete Voelker Before she can confront Felix, she receives news that he has died. She moves to Berlin, where they met and where she writes the novel we are reading. If the dull, continuous roar of social media isnt interruption enough for her, she imagines a Greek chorus of ex-boyfriends reading over her shoulder, criticizing and annotating her every line. She begins dating again but adopts different personas in a vaguely conceived social experiment: My deception would not be selfish, cruelly manipulative of innocents looking for love, but a rebellion against an entire mode of thinking, which was not really thinking at all, just accepting whatever was advertised to you. Dare I say: It was political? Thats the plot, and it couldnt matter less. It exists, one suspects, just to get the character to Berlin, and that for no palpable reason. We experience the book locked into the consciousness of the narrator, and that consciousness largely resides on and has been shaped in response to Twitter. My favorite line: Throughout my childhood Id been warned that Id grow up to spend a significant portion of my time doing something I could barely stand, the narrator tells us, but Id been led to believe I would be paid for it. The novel has Points it would like to make about self-mythologizing on the internet and in life, the overlap of the virtual and the actual; they are obvious and easily mapped. The riffs are its strongest aspects. Social media has lurked in the background of contemporary literary fiction, only occasionally becoming a plot point (Megha Majumdars A Burning is set in motion by a Facebook post). Sometimes it becomes the big boogeyman (Dave Eggerss The Circle), but here it feels, finally, fully and thoroughly explored, with style and originality. Oyler writes well about flowing from platform to platform during a daylong conversation, about how staring at the internet can somehow be compulsion and reward. Like the narrator, Oyler has worked in feminist media. Shes also written two books with Alyssa Mastromonaco, the former deputy chief of staff for operations under President Obama. But shes best known for her scathing critiques of popular writers like Roxane Gay and Jia Tolentino. Theres a particular move Oyler favors in her reviews. She likes to begin by quoting someone saying something stupid. A guy I know, mid-30s, recently told me hed never really considered having a kid until he listened to the audiobook of Karl Ove Knausgaards My Struggle. I marveled at this display of male simplicity, she writes at the start of a piece about Sheila Hetis novel Motherhood. Her review of Having and Being Had, by Eula Biss, begins much the same way, with Oyler at a cafe, opening her laptop with its sticker: NEVER WORK. A woman (supposedly) chirps at her: If you love what you do, you never have to work a day in your life! In another interaction, which opens an essay about the word necessary, a woman laments about how little art seems to matter in the middle of a political emergency: I cant see how anyone justifies talking about books anymore. Alchimie and Samsung TV Plus Extend Strategic Partnership Across Europe Alchimie provides over 30 channels to Samsung TV Plus platform ALCHIMIE (Paris:ALCHI) (FR0014000JX7 ALCHI), an OTT (over the top) subscription video on demand (SVoD) platform featuring original and exclusive thematic channels published jointly with media groups and talents, today announces it has extended its partnership with Samsung TV Plus to provide channels to Samsung Smart TV viewers across the UK, France, Italy and Spain. The 30+ themed channels are all populated and updated by Alchimie's considerable 60,000 hour, multilanguage premium-content library. Access to this library, enables Samsung TV Plus to offer accomplished curations of high-quality programs which remain fresh, relevant and tailored to each territory, in both language and topic. Additionally, the partnership has seen the debut of Alchimie's first scripted channel, Movies Central by TVPlayer, on Samsung's TV Plus platform. The channel gives viewers in France and the UK access to must-see films from all genres. Alchimie's platform, distribution technology, high-quality library and dynamic approach provides Samsung's TV Plus flexibility both in the range of channels and the content offered. Alchimie's channels are populated with exclusive curations or 'playlists' of content designed around channel themes. The cornerstone to this flexibility is Alchimie's library of premium multilanguage content, one of the largest in the world, which provides exclusive access to trusted premium programming, allowing channel editors to refresh content playlists regularly, match viewers' interests and stay relevant to global and local events. Nicolas d'Hueppe, CEO of Alchimie said, "Samsung's European audience is large, multilanguage and discerning. With Alchimie's inspiring library and technology we can create themed channels that are well populated and agile designed to appeal to those audiences with high-standards and special interests. Together with Samsung we make sure there is something for everyone to watch, wherever you are, and whatever your interests are Samsung TV Plus comes pre-installed on post 2016 Samsung smart TVs, it's 100% free and doesn't require any downloads, credit cards, subscriptions or additional devices. With more than 300 channels, TV Plus is available in a total of seven countries in Europe including Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, UK, Austria and Spain. About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry, and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com About Alchimie Alchimie is a channel factory: a unique video platform in partnership with talents and media to co-publish their own thematic channel. Alchimie has a catalog of more than 60,000 hours of content from more than 300 renowned partners (Arte, France TV distribution, ZDF Entreprises or Zed). Alchimie partners with 70+ talents (celebrities, influencers), brands and media groups to create new channels (Cultivons-Nous, The Big Issue, Army Stories, Jacques Attali, Poisson Fecond, Vaughan, Michael Rowe, Spektrum der Wissenschaft) which are then distributed on more than 60 distribution platforms (TVPlayer, Amazon, Orange, Movistar, Samsung, Huawei, etc.) constantly expanding its audience and consequently its revenues. In 2019, Alchimie acquired TVPlayer, the largest independent OTT platform in the UK. With offices in France, the UK, Germany, Spain and Australia, Alchimie employs 125 people and is ranked 48th in FW500 (ranking of French technology companies). For more information: www.alchimie-finance.com www.alchimie.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005768/en/ Contacts: Alchimie Stephane Taillefer CFO investors@alchimie.com NewCap Thomas Grojean/Louis-Victor Delouvrier Investor Relations alchimie@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 NewCap Nicolas Merigeau Media Relations alchimie@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98 President Joe Biden will sign an executive order directing the Department of Justice to end its contracts with privately run prisons, part of the incoming administrations efforts to address racial injustice. Susan Rice, the new presidents domestic policy adviser, said Mr Biden was stopping private prison companies from profiteering from federal prisoners. The president will sign an executive order directing the Department of Justice not to renew any contracts with private prison, said Ms Rice at a White House press briefing. "Private prisons profiteer off federal prisoners and are proven to be, or found to be by the Department of Justice inspector general, less safe for correctional officers and prisoners. President Biden is committed to reducing mass incarceration, while making our communities safer and that starts with ending the federal governments reliance on private prisons. Ms Rice then confirmed that the federal governments new policy only applied to Department of Justice contracts with private prisons and not those housing undocumented immigrants facing deportation. Therefore it does not impact those prisons contracted with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security. In this instance it is not applicable to those run by other agencies, said Ms Rice. The use of private prisons to detain immigrants expanded under Donald Trump, with at least 24 facilities and more than 17,000 beds added during the former presidents administration. It addresses the Department of Justice prisons in the first instance, it is silent on what may or may not transpire with ICE facilities, added Ms Rice when pushed on the issue. "There was a Department of Justice inspector general report in 2016 that underscored that private prisons funded by DOJ were less safe, less secure and arguably less humane. The Obama-Biden administration took steps to end renewing contracts for private prisons, the Trump administration reversed that and we are reestablishing it. Ms Rice also said that Mr Biden would sign an executive order reinvigorating the commitment of federal agencies to engage in regular, robust and meaningful consultation with Native American tribal governments. He will also sign a memo directing all federal agencies to take steps against xenophobia and act of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have been targeted by political leaders in our nations response to Covid-19. For too many American families, systemic racism and inequality in our economy, laws and institutions, still put the American Dream far out of reach, added Ms Rice. Mr Biden will sign the executive orders on Tuesday afternoon. These are desperate times for so many Americans, and all Americans need urgent federal action to meet this moment, added Ms Rice. Building a more equitable economy is essential if Americans are going to compete and thrive in the 21st Century. Washington: Five Republican Senators have sided with their Democratic colleagues to reject the idea that former US president Donald Trumps historic second impeachment trial was unconstitutional, effectively ending an effort to have the trial thrown out. Republican Senator Rand Paul made a motion that the impeachment trial against Trump was unconstitutional in the Senate, arguing that Trump couldnt be tried as a private citizen. The motion was rejected by a 55-45 vote. But essentially, 45 senators voted that the trial was unconstitutional, providing an early indication of a lack of support for impeaching Trump on a charge of inciting insurrection. Former President Donald Trump waves to supporters as his motorcade drives through West Palm Beach after he left office. Credit:AP Trump was impeached by the House on January 13 on one article of incitement in connection with the deadly riot that saw his supporters storm the Capitol Building on January 6. Ten House Republicans voted yes. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The Sandiganbayan has found Manuel Andal, former general manager of the Philippine National Railways, guilty of graft for illegally approving contracts in 2009. Considering the amounts involved in these cases, the Court finds it proper to impose the indeterminate penalty of eight years and one month as minimum, to twelve years as maximum, the anti-graft courts Fourth Division said in a decision dated Jan. 22. Andal was ordered perpetually disqualified from holding public office. He was also asked by the court to reimburse the government P86.5 million, which is the amount of public funds unlawfully spent in one of the transactions. Andal was charged with two graft cases for entering contracts with Pandrol Korea Limited and Nikka Trading. The court said Andal violated laws when he purchased railways materials from Pandrol Korea Limited without a certification from the transportation secretary. Accused Andal clearly gave unwarranted benefit and advantage to said company because he already committed the government to the transaction even without the DOTC Secretarys review, the decision read. He was also found to have favored Nikka Trading as he entered a contract with the company without holding public bidding. Furthermore, the court found that there was no need for the PNR to purchase the same items from Nikka Trading. Hence, it was clearly shown that the government suffered damage in the amount of P86,505,000.00, the court said. Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, on Capitol Hill in Washington in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool/AFP via Getty Images) Bidens UN Ambassador Nominee Defends Past Praise of China President Joe Bidens nominee to become ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday faced questioning over her past praise of Chinas communist regime. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaking at an event in 2019 put on by the communist-supported Confucius Institute network, spoke positively about China, telling the audience that the country has invested in Africa in a number of ways, including railway projects and other infrastructure development. Africa would not benefit from competition between the United States and China, she added, saying the United States could learn from China and its recent success on the continent. Ultimately, the future is about Africa and its people. The U.S. should be focused on building a strong partnership with Africa which is based on shared values of peace, prosperity, sustained economic growth and development, and a firm commitment to good governance, gender equity, and the rule of law. I see no reason why China cannot share in those values. In fact, China is in a unique position to spread these ideals given its strong footprint on the continent, she said. During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, senators pressed Thomas-Greenfield over the speech. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch (R-Idaho) said the biggest issue was the lack of acknowledgment of the malign activities of China. The nominee told senators that she has a long track record of acknowledging those activities and expressed regret for accepting the invitation to speak at the Savannah State University Confucius Institute. Thomas-Greenfield also said she was surprised that the institute was involved in activities in Georgia high schools and elementary schools. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) later said he has believed for a long time that the biggest threat to America is China and said hes growing concerned about that he described as a pattern among Biden nominees of consistently moving towards and embracing the Chinese Communist Party. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) questions nominee for United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield during her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 27, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters) The pattern became worse, he said, when the speech Thomas-Greenfield gave came to light on Tuesday, noting that Congress passed legislation cracking down on Confucius Institutes because of their role in spreading propaganda. At the same time that the United States Congress and the United States government is acting to combat the spying, the espionage, and the propaganda coming from Confucius Institutes, run and controlled by the Chinese communist government you were apparently going to a Confucius Institute, giving a paid speech, and praising China. How do you reconcile those two? Cruz asked. The Chinese Communist Party is undermining our values and undermining what we believe in, the nominee responded. Theyre undermining our security and our people. We need to work against that. I want to say in no uncertain terms that I look forward to working with this body to address these issues. You have taken some incredible steps and I support all of those steps, and I will be working aggressively against the Chinese efforts in New York, she added. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) later said that he looked at the speech and believed Thomas-Greenfield was playing a little jujitsu, challenging China to promote good values such as gender equity and the rule of law. That was exactly my intention, Thomas-Greenfield said. Two of the countrys most powerful unions have combined to launch a social media, TV and radio campaign targeting the Morrison governments industrial relations overhaul, claiming it will let companies cut workers pay. The CFMEU and Electrical Trades Union have gone out ahead of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, which has also attacked the laws but will only decide on its own campaign next week, and argue that a group of key crossbench senators should vote down the legislation entirely. CFMEU national construction division secretary Dave Noonan is one of the forces behind the campaign. Credit:Jesse Marlow Branded Stop the Bus, the campaign evokes the unions Your Rights at Work campaign (which included a bus travelling the country) that contributed to the Howard governments 2007 election loss and ups the ante for a fight over industrial relations when Parliament returns next week that will likely run throughout the year. With Labor and the Greens set to oppose the governments bill as it stands, a group of senators including independents Rex Patrick and Jacqui Lambie along with Centre Alliances Stirling Griff and One Nations Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts are likely to control its fate. [January 27, 2021] Enablon Named an Industry Leader in Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) Software by Independent Research Firm CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wolters Kluwers Enablon has been named as a Leader in EHS software by the independent research firm Verdantix in its Green Quadrant EHS Software 2021. In the new report, Enablons software received the highest overall score for product capabilities among 22 other vendors. Enablon was also recognized for its strong market presence, with a perfect score in brand preference. Verdantix also reaffirmed Enablons strong market momentum - driven by significant expansion of its customer base and high customer satisfaction - as well as its strong financial stability, investments and resources as a part of Wolters Kluwer, the 4.6 billion software and information solutions company. Enablon helps our customers create a safer, more productive and more responsible world, said Laurent Dechaux, Enablon Vice President and Managing Director. Our customers have long trusted Enablon to provide them with tailored and easy-to-use risk management solutions to help them navigate ever-evolving risk landscapes. We are honored that the Verdantix report reflects our continued market-defining work to mitigate risks across a wide range of industries. The industrys leading platform capabilities Enablon has consistently appeared among the leaders for the entire history of the Verdantix Green Quadrant EHS Software report. For 2021, Verdantix named Enablons comprehensive and robust platform capabilities with Enablon scoring among the highest in the following categories: User interface and configurability; Safety, audit and inspections and EHS risk management; Air emissions compliance and GHG emissions management. User interface and configurability Verdantix gave Enablon the highest scores assessed as part of the study. User interface and configurability are the most important factors in driving user adoption for successful digital EHS programs. Integrated safety compliance and operational risk management As Verdantix recognized Enablons integrated Vision 9.0 platform for enabling firms to manage cross-functional risk conrols in real time, it also scored Enablon highest in: safety program management, incident management, audit and inspection management, and EHS risk management. Verdantix notes that with its interconnected software platform, Enablon is well-positioned to break down traditional functional silos and deliver real-time safety insights at critical moments of frontline operations, to prevent incidents. Companies increasingly expect integrated EHS and ORM solutions this is where safety is headed, and Enablon is ready, said Dechaux. Enablon continues to create the industry standard and lead it, as we focus on meeting these needs with an integrated platform, and we are very pleased to be recognized for this differentiation in the market. Air emissions compliance and GHG emissions management Enablon scored highly on air emissions compliance and GHG emissions management functionalities. Verdantix cited dynamic case studies of customers that have used Enablon's Air Compliance and GHG Emissions products, underscoring Enablon's leadership in these categories. Enablons strengths are further reflected in the reports advice for software buyers. Verdantix believes that Enablon should be shortlisted by: Enterprise firms seeking unified management across operational risk, EHS and sustainability; Asset-intensive and complex sectors wanting to strengthen real-time, cross-functional visibility and risk controls. About Verdantix & the Green Quadrant Verdantix is an independent research and consulting firm with expertise in digital strategies for Environment, Health & Safety, ESG & Sustainability, Operational Excellence and Smart Buildings. Based on proprietary Verdantix Green Quadrant methodology, the analysis combines benchmark data from three-hour live product demonstrations, responses to a 332-point questionnaire as well as integrated findings from a recent global survey of 301 EHS decision-makers across 25 industries and 35 countries. The report provides a detailed fact-based comparison of the 22 most prominent EHS software suppliers globally. About Wolters Kluwer Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare; tax and accounting; governance, risk and compliance; and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services. Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The group serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands. For more information about our solutions and organization, visit www.wolterskluwer.com . Enablon, a Wolters Kluwer business, is the worlds leading provider of integrated software solutions for risk and compliance; engineering and operations; environment, health, safety and quality (EHSQ) and sustainability. We help create a better world by making organizations responsible, productive and safe through innovative technology. Hundreds of industry-leading enterprises and millions of users worldwide rely on our solutions to minimize risks, increase worker safety, prevent incidents from happening, achieve regulatory compliance and reduce environmental impact. For more information, visit www.enablon.com . Media Contact: Astrid Greve-Spencer Associate Director, Corporate Affairs and Communications Enablon Phone: +1.708.427.8429 Email: astrid.greve@wolterskluwer.com [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A swimmer is in a 'serious condition' after nearly drowning at a popular beach this morning. The man was saved by lifeguards at Surfers Paradise Beach near Clifford Street and Northcliffe Terrace on the Gold Coast at 11:30am on Wednesday. After he was brought ashore, critical care paramedics from Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) took the man to hospital in a 'serious but stable' condition. Swimmers and lifeguards at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast on Tuesday. A man was saved by lifeguards after a 'near drowning' at Surfers Paradise Beach at 11:30am on Wednesday 'He suffered the effects of a near drowning,' a QAS spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia. The adult man, whose age is unknown, is now being cared for at Gold Coast University Hospital. Australia has experienced a spike in drowning deaths in the summer of 2020/2021 after fitness levels plunged during Covid lockdowns, a top lifesaver has warned. At least 55 people have died as a result of drowning this summer alone, compared to just 43 at this time last year. After he was brought ashore, critical care paramedics from Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) took the man to hospital in a 'serious but stable' condition. Pictured: A QAS ambulance According to Liam Krige, the general manager at Life Saving Victoria, the staggering amount of drowning deaths this season is done to dwindling fitness and a blase attitude to the dangers. 'The sad reality is that people think it's not going to happen to them, or that they don't need to worry about it,' Mr Krige told The Age. 'We knew people were going to be less fit during the coronavirus lockdown, and missing swimming lessons and it's exactly why we've, alongside other emergency services, have scaled up.' Congratulations, amaltv.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Amaltv.com scored 68 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 15 Jun 2018, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Add a widget like this on your site: click here This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the amaltv homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if amaltv has a Facebook fan page). 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Basic Information PAGE TITLE AmalTV Movies | AmalTV amaltvmovies.com AmalTV Movies DESCRIPTION amalTV is the best place to watch And Share Sri Lankan Teledramas, Sinhala Live Show,Sinhala Films,Sinhala Song, Gossip Sinhala News KEYWORDS Derana TV Tele Dramas, Hiru TV Tele Dramas, ITN TV Tele Dramas, Rupavahini TV Tele Dramas, Sirasa TV Tele Dramas, Siyatha TV Tele Dramas, Swarnavahini TV Tele Dramas, TV 1 Tele Dramas, Tnl TV, Shakthi TV, Neth FM Radio, Hiru FM Radio, Siyatha FM Radio, Y OTHER KEYWORDS view all, amaltv, posted by amaltv, view all items, posted by, by amaltv, all items The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER nginx (PleskLin) OPERATIVE SYSTEM Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Type of server and offered services. The language of amaltv.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Character set and language of the site. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for amaltv.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Translink's cash reserves are set to fall below minimum levels before the end of March, it has emerged, sparking fears over the future of Northern Ireland's public transport provider. In response to a written Assembly question from Alliance MLA Andrew Muir, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said the impact of the Covid pandemic and other pressures have hit Translink's finances. She said she has engaged with other ministers over the company's "future financial stability" and Translink's cash reserves are currently at a level allowing it to meet daily financial obligations because DfI has put in place measures to keep reserves above a "minimum independently-assessed threshold". "However, these reserves are projected to reach the minimum threshold by the end of this financial year not least due to the impact of current lockdown restrictions," she added. Mr Muir said action needs to be taken to ensure Translink's very survival. The public transport provider's consolidated losses for the 2019/20 financial year - before tax, pension adjustments and other costs - was 23.2m. That compares to 1.1m profit for the previous year, according to it's latest accounts. Back in April 2020, Translink chief executive Chris Conway told Stormont's Infrastructure Committee it needed a 100m injection of funds to continue providing a public transport network following a 90% drop in passenger numbers. Expand Close Concern: Nichola Mallon / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Concern: Nichola Mallon In her written answer to Mr Muir, Ms Mallon said: "I have taken action throughout my time as minister to underline my commitment and I have instructed my officials to explore ways to ensure that my department continues to meet its obligations to Translink's financial viability under the current Public Service Agreement." She said this work is ongoing but has resulted in 90m Covid-19 mitigation funding being provided to support public transport services throughout the pandemic. In response, Mr Muir said Translink's finances were in a "precarious state" before the Covid outbreak and continue to be under "real, serious pressure". "We need further clarity from the minister as to whether more money is needed this financial year, as we know the Executive is sitting on 430m," he said. Expand Close Andrew Muir / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Andrew Muir Ulster Unionist infrastructure spokesperson Roy Beggs MLA echoed Mr Muir's view that some unspent Covid support funding could be used to help Translink. A Translink spokesperson said the company continues to support communities throughout the pandemic, operating essential bus and train services. "The economic impact of Covid-19 has left public transport globally in a very challenging funding situation and similar to interventions in GB, the Republic of Ireland and across Europe, Translink has welcomed additional emergency Covid-19 funding from the Northern Ireland Executive and the Department for Infrastructure which has allowed us to maintain our financial position for this year," they said. The spokesperson added that Translink is continuing to work with DfI to secure funding through the 2021/22 budget to maintain and enhance the network. A Wisconsin pharmacist charged with ruining 570 doses of COVID vaccine because he thought the shots would mutate DNA will plead guilty, prosecutors said Tuesday. Steven Brandenburg, 46, removed vials of the Moderna vaccine from a refrigerator on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas Day in order to destroy the doses, prosecutors claim. The 57 vials - enough to inoculate 570 people - were being stored at Advocate Aurora Health in Grafton, a Milwaukee suburb, where Brandenburg worked. Prosecutors announced new charges against Brandenburg on Tuesday as part of a plea deal. Brandenburg, who has not yet pleaded guilty, faces up to 10 years in jail. Prosecutors said Bradenburg is an admitted conspiracy theorist who believed the vaccine would mutate recipients' DNA. Bradenburg's wife filed for divorce on December 30, stating that he had rental storage filled with dry food and guns because he believed the pandemic was part of a government plot to shut down the world. Pharmacist Steven Brandenburg is accused of intentionally spoiling hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine. He is pictured in a booking photo by the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office Brandenburg claimed that his actions were a 'spontaneous act' and he 'wasnt thinking straight due to ongoing personal matters and lack of sleep' Prosecutors say Brandenburg took out a box of Moderna vaccines from a refrigerator at Advocate Aurora Health in Grafton (above) on December 24 for three hours and for nine hours the following day to render them ineffective. The medical center had to throw out the compromised doses Brandenburg told a detective that he removed the vials from the refrigerator at the medical center for three hours on Christmas Eve and then put them back. Then on Christmas Day he took the vials out of the refrigerator again and left them out for nine hours, believing that it would render the doses ineffective if it wasn't refrigerated for 12 hours. But he said a pharmacy technician found the vials and put them back in the refrigerator. The Moderna vaccine is supposed to be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Moderna says that the vaccine can remain viable at room temperature for 24 hours, according to the complaint. Chief Aurora Medical Group officer Jeff Bahr said that upon discovering that Brandenburg had deliberately removed the vials, health care workers were forced to throw out some 570 doses. Brandenburg claimed that his actions were a 'spontaneous act' and he 'wasnt thinking straight due to ongoing personal matters and lack of sleep.' Brandenburg reportedly told investigators he was aware 'that people who received the vaccinations would think they had been vaccinated against the virus when in fact they were not.' Medical experts say there is no truth to the claims that the COVID-19 vaccines genetically modify humans. According to the complaint, Brandenburg confessed to his employers at Aurora in an email that he intentionally removed the box of Moderna vaccines twice. Divorce documents reveal that Brandenburgs wife was concerned about her husband's actions and behavior around that time and told a judge she believed her children were in imminent harm, according to WISN. She labeled him an 'admitted conspiracy theorist' in her divorce filing on December 30, the day after she found out her husband was under investigation for attempting to sabotage the vaccines. In the filing she said her husband has rental units which include 'bulk food and guns being stored.' On one occasion he dropped off a water purifier, large bucket of powdered milk and two three-day emergency food buckets at her home. He told her the world was 'crashing down' and he thought 'the government is planning cyber attacks and plans to shut down the power grid.' Brandenburg was fired from Aurora Health after the incident and his license was suspended by a state board last week. The Department of Safety and Professional Services, which handles Brandenburg's pharmacy license, said they had no prior complaints or incidents with him. Brandenburg pictured at a probable cause hearing in the Ozaukee County Justice Center via video from Ozaukee County Jail in Port Washington, Wisconsin on January 4 after his arrest Brandenburg is charged with two counts of attempting to tamper with consumer products, which is described in the plea deal as showing 'reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of death or bodily injury.' Brandenburg faces a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine on each count. He had originally been charged with attempted misdemeanor property damage but prosecutors warned more serious charges could follow if tests showed the doses were ruined. Adam Gerol, Ozaukee County District Attorne, said in a statement it 'was necessary to bring an appropriate level of prosecution and punishment to this case' in federal court and 'the facts of this incident simply didn't fit a charge provided for by Wisconsin law.' Authorities declined to comment beyond a press release announcing the charges. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. Joe "China" Biden took office, and suddenly, Democratic Party governors begin loosening their China virus lockdowns. Joe's in charge, don'cha know, so the virus is on its way out. Heck, even the World Health Organization finally admits that the settings commonly used for COVID tests produce far too many false positives, thus inflating the number of cases and contributing to the panic engendered by months of media exaggeration and fear-mongering. Meanwhile, journalism continues to fail us in digging into what is going on with COVID, ignoring an area of inquiry that could enlighten us about the real effects of the virus in this country. Did you know, for example, that of about 200 countries, in fatalities the United States comes in at number 11, with 1,302 COVID deaths per million population? That's right: 189 countries have lower deaths per million population than we do. (This is as of Jan. 26, according to the statistics posted here.) The worst are Gibraltar, 2,048; San Marino, 1,913; Belgium, 1,791; Slovenia, 1,636; United Kingdom, 1,471; Czechia, 1,457; Italy, 1,431; Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1,414; Lichtenstein, 1,362; North Macedonia, 1,350. Then comes the good old USA, with its sclerotic federal health agencies that got caught unprepared for an epidemic, let alone a pandemic: 1,302 deaths per million population. Recall the fuss about Sweden not locking down, reported in the press a few months ago? What's Sweden's tally? 1,110. Not great, but better than our locked down number. Bulgaria beat us. Hungary beat us. Spain beat us. Mexico, France, Switzerland, Argentina, Armenia. You'd never know this from U.S. media. Some of these countries come in with numbers that, while lower than ours, are not much lower for example, Brazil at 1,021. Many numbers are spectacularly lower: Poland, 943; Chile, 938; Romania, 936. Or lower yet: Germany, 642; Latvia, 601; Ireland, 591. And there are about 75 nations that have fewer than 100 deaths per million, among them Iceland, Bangladesh, and Japan. What are these countries doing that the United States should be and considering? Granted, there are a multitude of reasons why any nation may have lower rates than another for example, remoteness, climate, wealth, even religion. But with so much evidence that other nations are doing better, why are our media not asking these kinds of questions? Granted, they have been so obsessed with trashing Trump that they've had little energy left for anything else. But still... One of the lowest death rates is India's at 111. Wouldn't you think some editor somewhere would notice that India's rate is about 1/11 of ours and ask why? If he did, he would find that India relies heavily on hydroxychloroquine. He might find that some lower numbers might also be due to India exporting hydroxy to 108 nations, where, unlike in the U.S., hydroxy is not restricted by government agencies and medical societies. If hydroxy use doesn't at least partly explain the lower death rates around the world, what does? Where are the reporters asking these questions? J.G. Smith, a former newspaper reporter and editor, teacher, and computer scientist, has been following U.S. elections and government since 1952. Image: qimono via Pixabay, Pixabay License. Gov. Phil Murphy is scheduled to hold a press conference at the Trenton War Memorial on Wednesday afternoon to provide additional updates on the coronavirus pandemic. It starts at 1 p.m. and will be streamed at the governors YouTube.com channel. Murphy will be joined by state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, Dr. Eddy Bresnitz and State Police Superintendent Colonel Pat Callahan. Earlier Wednesday, Murphy said on CNN that New Jersey will receive 130,000 vaccinations for each of the next three weeks. New Jersey health officials on Tuesday reported another 4,117 cases of the coronavirus and 133 additional deaths as the state surpassed 600,000 confirmed cases on the same day as hitting 600,000 vaccinations administered. As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, 627,677 people in New Jersey have received the vaccine. Of those, 540,243 are the first of the two-dose shot. The 3,190 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases across New Jerseys 71 hospitals as of Tuesday night. Thats 61 fewer than the previous night and the lowest number since Nov. 30. The number of people being hospitalized has deceased by 18% after hitting a more than seven-month high of 3,873 on Dec. 22. At least 18,984 have died of coronavirus-related causes. Another 2,121 deaths were probably caused by the virus, officials said. At 7 p.m. Murphy will be appear on Ask Governor Murphy, hosted by three public radio stations 88.3 FM WBGO in Newark, WNYC 93.9 FM in New York City and WHYY 90.9 in Philadelphia. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JGoldmanNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Medical Team of OccupyGhana has been studying graphs plotting new cases of COVID-19 against time, and sees a relative period of quiescence from late August through much of October 2020. In the first week of November, though, there was a noticeable spike in new cases that let up about two weeks later. A similar phenomenon was evident as we entered December. Though new cases were more than what was seen in September and October, the growth rate stayed stable. However, January 2021 has seen a significant uptick in new cases and death. These changes are not letting up three weeks into the month. The uptrends in new cases and deaths are noticeable and more significant this time than back in November and December 2020. OccupyGhana therefore states as follows: 1. The factor(s) driving these unfortunate changes are not letting up, and unless something drastic is done, the situation will get worse. These factors leading to the uptrend are visible to most Ghanaians. After almost a year of dealing with this disease, we have all learned the role social gatherings play in spreading. We therefore ask the government to immediately ban all social gatherings till a marked drop in new cases is seen. This will include funerals, parties, church services, night clubs etc. In short, any gathering of more than ten people should be banned again. 2. Unfortunately, a ban might affect the recent and pending re-opening of schools. It will therefore be imperative to explore expanding online classes, whether class sizes of those who cannot take online classes could be reduced to a maximum of ten, and shift systems introduced. For parents who must go to work, it is time for employers to begin conversations on flexitime, which breaks the day into three 8-hour cycles where parents could stay at home to supervise online classes and then report to work later in the day. We must do whatever it takes to rein in this trend of infections, and it requires us to be creative in how we think and how we do things. 3. It is our view that the experience from last year showed that a general lockdown is not sustainable. A better alternative, we think, would be to identify and target the hotspots and at-risk groups and explore ways to modify their behaviour. It is unfortunately evident that the social behaviour of those in the middle class is driving this new uptick in cases and deaths. All efforts should be made to influence this behaviour and reverse this trend. 4. Enforcing the mask mandate is also very important. Masks have been shown to break the spread. We must enforce the terms of the Imposition of Restrictions Act, 2020 (Act 1012). However, we think that the punishments in the Act have hardly been applied. This is because although the prescribed fine of between GHS12,000 and GHS60,000 and/or imprisonment between 4 and 10 years might have been well-intentioned to be draconian and convey the seriousness of the situation, they have proven to be unrealistic. Parliament has to consider an amendment of the Act in this light, to aid its enforcement and to provide for realistic fines and other deterrents such as community service for those who breach the law. 5. In the general public, there are still many misconceptions about the disease. Re-educating the public about the disease, the myriad ways it can present and its short and long-term effects should be an exercise our media houses can help with. We are inviting electronic media houses to commit to air approved educational advertisements on the pandemic for a minimum cumulative period of one hour in every 24-hour cycle, over the next month. Print media houses may also commit to print one full-page advert three times a week. 6. Another factor leading to the uptrend is the new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Consideration should be given to reducing travel to and from countries where these variants are dominant. 7. We also ask the government to make more hospital beds available as all indications point to a dire need for beds for the ever-increasing number of new cases that need in-patient care. 8. Ultimately, the best way out of the chokehold of this pandemic is a vaccine. Therefore, we implore the government to spare no effort in getting doses of a COVID-19 vaccine for the country. 9. To all Ghanaians, even if you are one of those who will only get a mild case of COVID-19, the toll those who suffer the severe version exact on the health facilities ultimately lead to a situation where help for non-COVID conditions become very difficult or even impossible to obtain. The indirect effects of the disease and a rampant spread are many. Therefore, it behoves us all to work to stop the uptrend in cases. In conclusion, it is essential for all to recognise the direness of the situation and act accordingly. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here A total of 3.3 million Covid-19 vaccines have been ordered by Ireland from the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca which recently told the EU that it cannot meet its first supply target. The Department of Health has also confirmed that more than 4.5 million doses of two vaccines are on order which have not been approved for use by the European Medicines Agency. This represents near a third of all vaccines the Irish Government believes it needs to immunise the country. The smallest batch on order is for the Moderna vaccine which has already beeen used in Ireland. A total of 880,000 doses of the American made vaccine will be given to Irish people. The EU signed a deal on August 14 to buy 400 million doses from AstraZeneca. The vaccine is due to be approved for use in Ireland at the end of January but the company has said it does not have enough to meet the first round of supply agreed. Janssen Johnson & Johnson is due to ship 2.2 million doses when approved while 2.5 million CureVac vaccines are expected to come to Ireland. Neither have been approved for use in Ireland. The Janssen vaccine is a one shot dose while the CureVac vaccine is based on new technolgy. Figures supplied also show that the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is the biggest consignment on order by Ireland. It also has had difficulties supplying. It is due to send 5.5 million to Ieland. The EU is spending 2.5 billion on vaccines for the 26 countries in the block. About 14.4 million vaccines are due to be supplied to Ireland under the deal. The national vaccination programme has begun in Ireland, starting with front line healthcare workers and people over 65 years of age and living in long term residential care facilities. MORE HERE Table of vaccines due in Ireland below Pfizer/BioNtech 5.5 Moderna 0.88 AstraZeneca 3.3 Janssen J&J 2.2 CureVac 2.5 COLUMBUS, OhioThe Ohio National Guard announced Wednesday that 150 military police based in Toledo are being deployed to Washington, D.C. in anticipation of civil unrest in the coming weeks. The activation of the 323rd Military Police Company comes just days after 1,000 Ohio National Guard troops returned home from D.C., where they were among 25,000 Guard soldiers providing security for President Joe Bidens inauguration. The military police will be ready to assist at various locations to enforce security, protect lives, and preserve critical infrastructure, an Ohio National Guard release stated. They, along with National Guard troops from other states, are expected to remain in the nations capital through at least mid-March, according to the release. D.C. has been on heightened alert since supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, resulting in several deaths. The 323rd Military Police Company was deployed to Columbus in the days leading up to the inauguration to protect the Ohio Statehouse and other areas from anticipated pro-Trump protests, according to Ohio National Guard spokeswoman Stephanie Beougher. However, only a small, peaceful group ended up turning out in downtown Columbus. Hundreds of National Guard members deployed to D.C. tested positive for the coronavirus or were placed in quarantine after the inauguration, according to media reports. Beougher, in an email, declined to say how many Ohio National Guard members returning home from D.C. have tested positive for COVID-19. We do not discuss COVID cases, she stated. However, she wrote that the National Guard is following federal and state health guidelines, and that troops sent to D.C. were tested for the virus before they left Ohio, when they arrived in D.C., and when they arrived home. National Guard members who tested positive upon their return were advised to quarantine at home for two weeks, Beougher stated. Those who tested negative were also given the option of self-isolating for the same amount of time out of an abundance of caution. Those who felt they couldnt quarantine at home without infecting others were sent to a centralized quarantine facility, she continued, and the Guard has worked to provide proper medical care for those in isolation or quarantine. Read more Ohio politics and government stories: Lt. Gov. Jon Husted out of U.S. Senate race while Ohio Republican Party Chairman Jane Timken says shes seriously considering it Unemployment claims to reopen this weekend for 100,000 Ohioans; target date for a separate PUA unemployment group moved up Ohio records 7th straight day with coronavirus hospitalizations under 3,500, which will shorten curfew: Wednesday update Ohio treasurer moves closer to launching pay for success projects Ohio GOP lawmakers seek power to override Gov. Mike DeWines executive orders, coronavirus rules Sapna Sapu who is an actor by profession and a single parent to a five-year-old son, has reportedly approached the Bombay High Court seeking to block an OTT platform alleging it shows pornographic content. According to reports, Sapna has claimed that an OTT platform by the name Nuefliks shows nude programmes, because of which her son is getting spoiled. The bench comprising of Justice AA Sayed and Justice Madhav J Jamdar, heard the case earlier this week. The court said that the petition does not have requisite details and added that the petitioner should consider filing for public interest litigation, as the direction she is seeking is very generic in nature. Advocate Ashok Saraogi, representing Sapu, argued saying, "Just like films are censored, content on platforms like Nuefliks should be censored." He added that "there are 100s of such platforms and small children are getting affected by it." Meanwhile, advocate Advait Sethna, appearing for Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said that the Ministry is considering issuing guidelines for regulating content over OTT platforms. Sethna argued that the petition was very vague and urged the court to direct the petitioner to make a representation before the ministry, so that they can take a look at the issue. The court also pointed out that the petition did not mention Nueflik's respondent and the case cannot be heard without anyone representing the app. Advocate Saraogi revealed to the court that he could not reach out to the app's owner to send the notice, but promised to implead the owner of the app in the case. The court has scheduled a hearing in the case after three weeks. ALSO READ: Tandav Controversy: Supreme Court To Hear Director Ali Abbas Zafar's Plea Against FIRs ALSO READ: Tandav Controversy: Social Activist Kiran Aradhya Lodges FIR Against Ali Abbas Zafar, Saif Ali Khan Doctors have warned about the danger of alcohol poisoning as the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday season approaches. An alcohol poisoning patient is treated at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi. VNA/VNS Photo The Poisoning Control Centre of Hanois Bach Mai Hospital reported a 29-year-old young man recently died from alcohol poisoning. The patient was transferred from Hung Yen Province's General Hospital to the centre, in critical condition in a deep coma and with kidney failure. The patient's family members said the man drank a lot of alcohol with his friends on January 2. After that, he returned home and went to bed. The next morning, when family members couldn't wake him up. Immediately, the patient was taken to the provincial hospital and later transferred to the Bach Mai Hospital. After receiving the patient, doctors performed resuscitation and dialysis, but the patient showed no signs of recovery. Previously, another three patients from the northern province of Bac Ninh were treated at the centre for alcohol poisoning, after they drank a mixture of methanol and alcohol. The alcohol samples were tested and found to contain levels of methanol in excess of permissible levels. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, director of the centre, said that despite warnings from doctors, the number of patients hospitalised for alcohol poisoning around Tet greatly increased. In many cases, drinking too much alcohol causes nerve depression, falling into a deep coma, stop breathing, lack of oxygen, brain damage and cardiac arrest, he said. According to the doctor when a person has signs of alcohol poisoning, about 12-24 hours after drinking, the patient often feels dizziness, confusion, muscle weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Ethanol in alcohol will cause hypoglycemia, especially when people do not eat before drinking, causing their blood sugar to be depleted. The death rate from methanol poisoning is quite high, mostly due to late hospitalisation, he said. The best way to avoid alcohol poisoning is to not drink alcohol, especially unknown-origin wine. However, if necessary, family members need to remind alcohol drinkers to eat starch, juice, milk, broth, or diluted porridge to replenish energy for the body. The Food Safety Department, Ministry of Health, recommends that people do not drink alcohol-soaked with leaves, roots or animal viscera of unknown toxicity and origin. People who are hungry, tired or taking medication should not drink alcohol, either. VNS Khanh Hoa: One dies, two foreigners hospitalised with alcohol poisoning A foreigner has died and two others are being treated for alcohol poisoning in the central province of Khanh Hoas General Hospital after they drunk a mixture of methanol and beer. BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The second phase of the Los Llanos photovoltaic power plant project developed and managed by Trina Solar in Colombia has been connected to the grid and the start of its commercial operations officially declared. The President of Colombia, Ivan Duque Marquez, cut the ribbon at the delivery ceremony on Jan 22. He expressed his gratitude to Trina Solar for its important contribution to the smooth grid connection of the project and said it will enable thousands of Colombian families to have safe, reliable and permanent energy. Colombia has made great strides in renewable energy, he said, and by next year the installed capacity of solar and wind energy in the country will have increased more than seven-fold. Phases one, two and three of the Los Llanos project, with total installed capacity of 82 MWp, have been developed by Trina Solar's International System Business Unit (ISBU). Trina Solar (Colombia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Trina Solar, provided EPC management services for this project. The first phase of the 27MWp megawatt project was completed and delivered to the grid in October. The second phase, involving grid connection, installed capacity of 27MWp megawatts and will generate 51 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, equivalent to the consumption of 23,800 households. It will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 19,450 tons a year. The President of Trina Solar International System Business, Mr. You Hongming, said that having President Duque cut the ribbon was a great honor for the company. "The President's recognition of Trina Solar's contribution to Colombia's renewable energy business encourages us greatly. Trina Solar International System Business has worked on cultivating its activities in Latin America over many years, has accumulated a fantastic pipeline and built up a strong and experienced project execution team. Our team completed the second phase of the Los Llanos project and achieved grid connection in just four months, this is a remarkable achievement given the difficult circumstances resulted from COVID-19." The head of the Latin American North Region of Trina Solar International System Business, Ruben Borja, said: "President Duque's attendance at the ceremony adds to our confidence in the Colombian solar market. Our team is now giving its all to complete the fourth and fifth stages of the Los Llanos project, which will have installed capacity of about 52 MWp." The overall project will install more than 200,000 high-reliability, high-power dual-glass modules, coupled with Vanguard Tracker Solutions. The perfect adaptation of Trina Solar's dual-glass modules and the tracker system can reduce the levelized cost of energy and provide customers with high reliability, high-power generation and higher returns. As the leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, Trina Solar provides customers worldwide with a package of integrated solar energy solutions including products, power plants development, design, procurement and EPC management services. About Trina Solar Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is the world leading PV and smart energy total solution provider. The company engages in PV products R&D, manufacture and sales; PV projects development, EPC, O&M; smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems development and sales, as well as energy cloud-platform operation. In 2018, Trina Solar launched the Energy IoT brand, established the Trina Energy IoT Industrial Development Alliance together with leading enterprises and research institutes in China and around the world, and founded the New Energy IoT Industrial Innovation Center. With these actions, Trina Solar is committed to working with its partners to build the energy IoT ecosystem and develop an innovation platform to explore New Energy IoT, as it strives to be a leader in global intelligent energy. In June 2020, Trina Solar listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit?www.trinasolar.com. Nepal on Wednesday launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive with the one million doses of vaccine provided by India under grant assistance in sync with its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli inaugurated the vaccination campaign at the Prime Minister's residence at Baluwatar on Wednesday morning. At the same time, government hospitals across the country vaccinated doctors and front-line health workers actively engaged in the field. Speaking at the inaugural programme, Prime Minister Oli said that all Nepalis would get the vaccine free of cost within three months. Dr Sagar Rajbhandari, director of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku was the first among the front-line workers to receive the jab, according to Health Ministry sources. According to officials, around 430,000 frontline workershealth workers, supporting staffers at health facilities, female community health volunteers, security personnel, sanitation workers, elderly people living in care homes, and prisoners will be inoculated in 65 districts across the country. One million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine donated by India last week was jointly developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and produced in India by the Serum Institute of India. Prime Minister Oli last week thanked the Indian government for sending one million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. "I thank Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji as well as the Government and people of India for the generous grant of one million doses of COVID vaccine to Nepal at this critical time when India is rolling out vaccination for it's own people," Oli tweeted. "Nepal appreciates this gesture from a friendly neighbour," he added. Responding to his tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India remains committed to assist the people of Nepal in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. "The vaccines being made in India will also contribute to the global efforts to contain the pandemic," Modi tweeted. Nepal has so far registered 270,375 COVID-19 cases while 2,020 people have died. Nepal has so far recorded 265,069 recoveries. India, one of the world's biggest drugmakers, has been approached by numerous countries for its anti-coronavirus doses. India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country. 39 Ocean Bottom Seismometers where deployed on the ocean floor across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as part of the PI-LAB experiment. Credit: University of Southampton An upsurge of matter from deep beneath the Earth's crust could be pushing the continents of North and South America further apart from Europe and Africa, new research has found. The plates attached to the Americas are moving apart from those attached to Europe and Africa by four centimetres per year. In between these continents lies the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a site where new plates are formed and a dividing line between plates moving to the west and those moving to the east; beneath this ridge, material rises to replace the space left by the plates as they move apart. Conventional wisdom is that this process is normally driven by distant gravity forces as denser parts of the plates sink back into the Earth. However, the driving force behind the separation of the Atlantic plates has remained a mystery because the Atlantic ocean is not surrounded by dense, sinking plates. Now a team of seismologists, led by the University of Southampton, have found evidence of an upwelling in the mantlethe material between the Earth's crust and its corefrom depths of more than 600 kilometres beneath the Mid Atlantic ridge, which could be pushing the plates from below, causing the continents to move further apart. Upwellings beneath ridges are typically thought to originate from much shallower depths of around 60 km. Deploying one of the remote sensors. Credit: University of Southampton The findings, published in the journal Nature provide a greater understanding of plate tectonics which causes many natural disasters around the world, including earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Over two research cruises on the RV Langseth and RRV Discovery, the team deployed 39 seismometers at the bottom of the Atlantic as part of the PI-LAB (Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary) experiment and EURO-LAB (Experiment to Unearth the Rheological Oceanic Lithosphere-Asthenosphere Boundary). The data provides the first large scale and high-resolution imaging of the mantle beneath the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This is one of only a few experiments of this scale ever conducted in the oceans and allowed the team to image variations in the structure of the Earth's mantle near depths of 410 km and 660 kmdepths that are associated with abrupt changes in mineral phases. The observed signal was indicative of a deep, sluggish and unexpected upwelling from the deeper mantle. Lead author, Matthew Agius, a former post-doctoral fellow at the University of Southampton and currently at Universita degli studi Roma Tre said: "This was a memorable mission that took us a total of 10 weeks at sea in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The incredible results shed new light in our understanding of how the Earth interior is connected with plate tectonics, with observations not seen before." Dr. Kate Rychert and Dr. Nick Harmon from the University of Southampton and Professor Mike Kendall from the University of Oxford led the experiment and were the chief scientists on the cruises. The experiment was funded by NERC (Natural Environment Research Council, UK) and the ERC (European Research Council). Explainer video showing the deployment of sensors and explanation of the geological phenomenon. Credit: University of Southampton Dr. Harmon said: "There is a growing distance between North America and Europe, and it is not driven by political or philosophical differencesit is caused by mantle convection!" As well as helping scientists to develop better models and warning systems for natural disasters, plate tectonics also has an impact on sea levels, and therefore affects climate change estimates over geologic times scales. Dr. Rychert said: "This was completely unexpected. It has broad implications for our understanding of Earth's evolution and habitability. It also demonstrates how crucial it is to gather new data from the oceans. There is so much more to explore!" Professor Mike Kendall added: "This work is exciting and that it refutes long held assumptions that mid-ocean ridges might play a passive role in plate tectonics. It suggests that in places such as the Mid-Atlantic, forces at the ridge play an important role in driving newly-formed plates apart." Explore further Geophysicists challenge traditional theory underlying the origin of mid-plate volcanoes More information: A thin mantle transition zone beneath the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Nature (2021). www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03139-x Journal information: Nature A thin mantle transition zone beneath the equatorial Mid-Atlantic Ridge,(2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03139-x SYDNEY, Australia and DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Australian payments company, eftpos, which operates Australia's national debit card processing infrastructure and mobile payments app Beem It, today announced it has joined the Hedera Governing Council and will run the country's first Hedera network node this year. Designed to be the most decentralized governance model for a public ledger, the Hedera Governing Council includes a group of highly diversified enterprises and organizations overseeing a global network of nodes that aims, among other things, to enable low cost micropayments for a range of use cases such as the Internet of Things (IOT) and access to content streamed over the internet. eftpos CEO, Stephen Benton, said eftpos joined the Council after a number of successful proofs of concept last year, and it aimed to enhance the company's digital payments innovation strategy to better meet Australians' payment needs into the future. "By joining the Hedera Governing Council and running the Australian node, alongside some of the world's largest and most influential companies, we are excited to participate in the development of next-generation micropayments technology that has the potential to open up entirely new ways of conducting business for Australian enterprises and enable compelling new experiences for Australian consumers. "For example, in a world of fast paced technology change, low cost micropayments to pay for internet content or tiny payments for device to device transactions." The eftpos digital strategy was devised with an Australian focus, creating world-class innovations to compete with global payments players. The digital strategy has five key elements: Mobile Wallets including Beem It eCommerce Digital identity, using connectID Fintech ecosystem access National QR code payments rollout. The initial objective of the micropayments proof of concepts, led by eftpos Entrepreneur in Residence, Rob Allen, was to investigate ways to create a seamless, sub-cent micropayments experience as an alternative to traditional online paywalls and subscriptions in the digital world. "By combining the new eftpos API infrastructure with a consumer wallet-based experience, digital identity, and an AUD-based stablecoin using Hedera's superfast, secure and low-cost distributed network, the PoC's objective was demonstrably achieved," Mr Allen said. "Use cases like this simply are not possible on other public blockchains. Along with several partners, we are now exploring a variety of use cases that this combination of technologies enables and the options to commercialise them. "Being on the Hedera Governing Council will provide us with the combined technical insight of all the Council members as well as a unique global perspective to improve our speed to market." Mance Harmon, CEO and co-founder of Hedera Hashgraph, said, "As Australia's debit card system operator, eftpos is a critical component of the country's financial infrastructure, processing over 2 billion transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day. We are pleased that they have joined the Hedera Governing Council as part of their new Australia-first digital product strategy. We look forward to their collaboration with other Council members and participants of the Hedera ecosystem to help make micropayments and other innovative financial models a reality for millions of consumers and billions of IOT devices." As the 17th Council member, eftpos joins a growing network of large enterprises, including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. Members of the Hedera Governing Council are responsible for running the initial nodes of the Hedera network, as well as guiding both strategy and software development, over a maximum of two consecutive three-year terms. This contributes to stability and is conducive to maintaining diversity and decentralization of the public network. Hedera Hashgraph's node policy and codebase are undergoing continuous updates, to which Council members will contribute, supporting a governance model that eliminates the risk of forks, provides safeguards for users, and preserve the integrity of the Hedera network. For more information, visit https://hedera.com/council. About Hedera Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralized public network on which developers can build secure, fair applications with near real-time finality. The platform is owned and governed by a council of the world's leading organizations including Avery Dennison, Boeing, Dentons, Deutsche Telekom, DLA Piper, eftpos, FIS (WorldPay), Google, IBM, LG Electronics, Magalu, Nomura, Swirlds, Tata Communications, University College London (UCL), Wipro, and Zain Group. For more information, visit www.hedera.com, or follow us on Twitter at @hashgraph, Telegram at t.me/hederahashgraph, or Discord at www.hedera.com/discord. The Hedera whitepaper can be found at www.hedera.com/whitepaper. About eftpos eftpos is Australia's debit card system, processing over 2 billion debit card transactions in 2020 worth an average of more than $300 million each day. eftpos is wholly owned by its 19 members, comprising the largest financial institutions and retailers in Australia, including Adyen, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, Australian Settlements Limited, Bank of Queensland Limited, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited, Citigroup Pty Limited, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Coles Group Limited, Cuscal Limited, EFTEX, Fiserv, Indue Limited, ING DIRECT, National Australia Bank Limited, Windcave Pty Ltd, Suncorp Bank, Tyro Payments, Westpac Banking Corporation, and Woolworths Group Limited. For more information on eftpos, please visit: www.eftposaustralia.com.au For Media Enquiries Zenobia Godschalk E: [email protected] SOURCE Hedera Hashgraph Related Links http://www.hedera.com Telugu actress Samantha Akkineni has opened up on social media during an 'Ask Me Anything' session saying The Family Man 2 role is her favourite thus far. She also named her Oh Baby role as one of her favourites alongside The Family Man, which marks her debut on any digital platform. During her interaction with fans, one of them questioned Samantha, "Favourite role/character you have played until now?" Read: Samantha Akkineni's Flirty Response to Naga Chaitanya's Serious Pic is Why They are Couple Goals The actress said in response, "My favourite role is a tie between Oh Baby and The Family Man." A short teaser of The Family Man 2 has already been released by the makers Raj and DK. In it, everyone is searching for agent Srikant (Manoj Bajpayee), who seems to have gone missing. His wife Suchitra (Priyamani) and kids are shown to be worrying about him as he does not pick up their calls. Samantha has joined the action thriller web series in season two, as an antagonist. Srikant (Manoj Bajpayee), while struggling to balance his personal and professional lives, will be pitted against a new nemesis, Raji, played by Samantha. All episodes stream from from February 12 on Amazon Prime Video. New Delhi : After videos went viral on social media showing actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu handing over a flag to a man to hoist on the ramparts of the Red Fort on the Republic Day during the farmers' tractor rally, farmer leaders on Wednesday raised doubts over his political affiliation, claiming that "he is a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party". After the Red Fort incident, Sidhu posted a video on his Facebook page claiming that, "We have only hoisted the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort while exercising our democratic right to protest." Responding to Sidhu's video, Bhartiya Kisan Union Rakesh spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said that "Deep Sidhu is not a Sikh, he is a worker of the BJP." "There is a picture of him with the prime minister. This is a movement of farmers and will remain so. Some people will have to leave this place immediately -- those who broke barricading will never be a part of the movement," he said. The BKU leader asserted that those who created violence and unfurled flags at Red Fort will have to pay for their deeds. "For the last two months, a conspiracy is going on against a particular community. This is not a movement of Sikhs, but farmers. Our issues remain the same and our protest will continue," he said. Farmer leader SS Pandher of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said: "Some miscreants joined the protest to defame farmers' movement. We did not plan to unfurl the flags at Red Fort, this was not our program. Deep Sidhu's photo with the prime minister has floated, we had already expressed doubt over him." BJP MP Sunny Deol whose picture with PM Modi and Sidhu went viral on social media, took to Twitter to clarify that he has "no relation" with the actor turned activist. "I am very sad to see what happened at Red Fort today, I have already cleared through Facebook on December 6 that I or my family have no relation with Deep Sidhu," he tweeted. Leaders of farmer unions protesting against the farm laws have said that Sidhu had directed youth to move towards the Red Fort on Tuesday. On Tuesday, protesters agitating against the new farm laws entered the premises of Red Fort in the national capital and waved flags they were carrying from its ramparts. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. hapabapa/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News (NEW YORK) -- The chief executive of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, urged companies to publicly disclose their plans for how they will operate in a world with net-zero emissions by 2050. CEO Larry Fink highlighted climate change as a business and investing priority in his annual letter to company leaders Tuesday. "Given how central the energy transition will be to every companys growth prospects, we are asking companies to disclose a plan for how their business model will be compatible with a net-zero economy -- that is, one where global warming is limited to well below 2C, consistent with a global aspiration of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," Fink wrote. "We are asking you to disclose how this plan is incorporated into your long-term strategy and reviewed by your board of directors." Fink also called for a single global standard for sustainability disclosures, saying it would "enable investors to make more informed decisions about how to achieve durable long-term returns," but he also urged companies to "move quickly to issue them rather than waiting for regulators to impose them." BlackRock, which manages some $7 trillion for investors, made headlines early last year when Fink announced that climate change would be the focus of its investment strategy going forward. In his letter Tuesday, Fink highlighted how he believes prioritizing climate change is not just good for the planet, but also good for business and investments. "We know that climate risk is investment risk," he wrote. "But we also believe the climate transition presents a historic investment opportunity." "I have great optimism about the future of capitalism and the future health of the economy -- not in spite of the energy transition, but because of it," he added. His letter comes as a new administration in the White House has notably reprioritized climate change and environmental policies. President Joe Biden rejoined the U.S. into the international Paris climate agreement -- which Donald Trump took the nation out of -- on his first day in office. The agreement sets a goal to ensure that global temperatures do not increase more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Biopharmaceutical company Biopharma (Kyiv) has started the production a hyperimmune globulin drug, potentially effective against coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, the drug is to be produced at the end of February. The first fusion of plasma with antibodies against COVID-19 in the amount of 2,100 liters took place on January 25, the company said in a press release. "The product will be supplied to the finished goods warehouse at the end of February. Further, the drug is tested in an independent French laboratory, which in March must confirm the antiviral activity of the drug," the press release said. The company said that in case of a positive conclusion of the European laboratory, Biopharma will be able to start clinical trials of the drugs in Ukraine. The collection of plasma with antibodies against COVID-19 started in the spring of 2020 in cooperation with the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance, of which Biopharma is a member. The goal of the alliance is to accelerate the development and provide reliable and sustainable treatment for people with complex coronavirus disease. In October 2020, within the framework of the alliance, the third phase of a clinical trial of inpatient treatment with anti-coronavirus immunoglobulin started. The results of clinical trials are planned to be published in April 2021. If the trials are successful, the new treatment could provide hope for those suffering from serious health consequences from COVID-19. "To date, thanks to caring donors in Ukraine, it has been possible to collect about 10,700 liters of plasma from those who have overcome COVID-19. This amount of plasma will save hundreds of lives of Ukrainians. We thank every donor who has shared his part of antibodies to help seriously ill patients. And we continue to appeal to those who are not indifferent, to become plasma donors for the creation of vital drugs," President of the company Kostiantyn Yefymenko said. As reported, the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance was formed in April 2020 to fight the COVID 19 pandemic and to help develop potential plasma therapy for people who are prone to serious complications from COVID 19. Biopharma is a Ukrainian biotechnology company, the only plant in Eastern Europe that has modern technologies, has been producing and developing drugs from donor plasma for almost 50 years. The company is focused on providing medicines to Ukraine and on a contract basis, supplies its products to more than 30 countries around the world. In the fall of 2019, Biopharma moved its production to a new research and production complex in Bila Tserkva. The company is developing a network of its own plasma centers. The company's investments in this area of activity amounted to more than $10 million. TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Never miss a sunset at this waterfront home located right in the heart of Traverse Citys wine country, now on the market for $3.4 million. With 162 feet of frontage along West Grand Traverse Bay, this 5,048-square-foot home is located at 6467 Peninsula Drive. Its MLives House of the Week; we feature a different one every Wednesday afternoon. The four-bedroom, five-bathroom home exudes elegance throughout with Snaideor Italian cabinets with auto-closing drawers, a grand spiral staircase and an indoor pool and hot tub. This home, located at 6467 Peninsula Dr. in Traverse City, in West Grand Traverse Bay, is on the market for $3.4 million. (Photo by Mark Hagan Real Estate Professionals) The owners have invested a considerable amount of money to make the house what it is, Mark Hagan, Lead Realtor of Mark Hagan Realty, told MLive. They did it for their own personal use, not for resale. They custom designed all of these features for themselves. This home, located at 6467 Peninsula Dr. in Traverse City, in West Grand Traverse Bay, is on the market for $3.4 million. (Photo by Mark Hagan Real Estate Professionals) Inside, theres a view of the water from just about everywhere with more than 50 windows. Outside, the home is an entertainers dream with some of the best waterfront views in all of Michigan. The house is completely over the top with real high-end finishes, right down to the yard and seawall. You even have beautiful views of the bay right from the indoor swimming pool. Theres a nice, sandy bottom to West Bay and its right at the base of Old Mission Peninsula, so youre out just a little bit from town, but yet youre really close, added Hagan. This home, located at 6467 Peninsula Dr. in Traverse City, in West Grand Traverse Bay, is on the market for $3.4 million. (Photo by Mark Hagan Real Estate Professionals) Here is the official listing of the home. You can contact Mark Hagan at 231-929-7985 or via email. Here is a video tour of the home: MORE DREAM HOMES FROM MLIVE: Live in an actual historic Michigan train station, now a home on market for $324K Traverse City waterfront home has jaw-dropping views with decks galore, heated floors, putting green, $2.19M This isnt a chateau in France, its a 100-year old Michigan home on the market for $995K Off the grid retreat, hidden within Michigan forest, hits market for $850K 1929 Michigan mansion has 2-story library with Sistine Chapel-like painted mural ceiling, $4.75M Home perched on private Lake Michigan sand dune on remote island hits market for $3M Log home on Michigans own slice of the Caribbean, Torch Lake, hits market for $3.3M Actor Varun Dhawan recently tied the knot with long-term beau Natasha Dalal. While the intimate wedding ceremony, which took place in Alibaugh on January 24, has left fans and social media in a tizzy, some actors seem to be taking the opportunity to make a point about gender discrimination in the film industry. Soon after Dhawan and his new bride's photos were shared on the actor's Instagram account, Tamil actor Shraddha Srinath took the photosharing platform to congratulate the duo. But she also used the occasion to take a jab at typical Indian mentality when it came to the wedding of male and female actors. "Another good actor bites the dust. Sad that we will not see him on screen again. Obviously, his wife and in laws will not be okay with him acting with other heroines. Maybe he will switch to doing male-oriented films? But how to balance personal life and work-life ya. Tough. Will miss him. Congratulations though, Varun, she wrote in an Insta story. The sarcastic post is an allusion to the kind of comments women across professions are subjected to once they get married. In the film industry, the pressure on women is all the more intense. With the industry constantly promoting inauthentic and unfair beauty standards for women, ageism and shunting of women actors after a certain age or after marriage is not unheard of as a practice. In fact, countless women actors have faded away from Bollywood since getting married, even have some have managed to make "comebacks" in "mature" character roles. Male actors, on the other, have, seem to have a much longer shelf-life. Most of the top actors in the country including Shah Rukh Khan, Amir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, have continued to have successful careers in Bollywood despite their wedding. In fact, they even get paired with younger actresses who play their love interests even as their yesteryear co-stars struggle to find lead roles. Srinath's post is an apt response to those in the industry as well as fans of Bollywood who think a woman actor's shelf-life is proportional to how long she remains single. While some discomfited fans outraged against Srinathf for allegedly attacking Dhawan on the occasion of his wedding, others took the post for what it was - a response to patriarchy. I might Stan her pic.twitter.com/ywGaXOggNj scum fuck flower boy (@boyisagun6) January 25, 2021 Shraddha Srinath's instastories today S (@extradecoction) January 26, 2021 want @ShraddhaSrinath to be my best friend because her wit and humour sense is UNMATCHED https://t.co/XA1mgTzxl6 cwc stan account (@biggbosskanni) January 26, 2021 However, the outrage was such that Srinath had to share a follow-up post to clarify that she wan not intending to make fun of Dhawan or Dalal. "I took a jibe at patriarchy yesterday. I merely switched genders. And it sounded like a joke right? It sounded absurd to you all when I said an actor will have to retire from work because hes getting married. Why doesnt it sound just as absurd when the same assumptions are made about an actress? she wrote. As we all should !! pic.twitter.com/m9SO2CTDlv rishitha (@rishithaaxx) January 26, 2021 Meanwhile, not much has been revealed about the intimate ceremony in which Dhawan and Dalal tied the knot, though it has been reported that all attendees had been tested for coronavirus before the event. Photos from the event have been taking social media by storm. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Azeri authorities handed over the remains of 31 servicemen to Artsakh in the Varanda (Fizuli) region, the State Service of Emergency Situations of Artsakh told ARMENPRESS. It said that the Azeri authorities did not reveal where the bodies were found. A medical examination is underway to identify the bodies. According to preliminary information the deceased are reservists who were drafted during the war. Since the 2020 Artsakh War ended, authorities say theyve found a total of 1318 remains of casualties, of which 15 are civilians, while the others are troops. Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan Lily Allen has marked 18 months of sobriety. The Smile songstress, 35, has been candid about her addiction struggles and has now celebrated the milestone since quitting drink, drugs and cigarettes. In posts on her Instagram, Lily shared an image of the keyring given to mark momentous dates dished out by support group Narcotics Anonymous as well as a selfie showing her holding the keyring over her eye. Happy days: Lily Allen has marked 18 months of sobriety Lily's grey keyring read: 'Clean and serene for eighteen months', and she shared a shot while holding the token alongside a gushing caption reading: '18 months clean and sober today. Would recommend!' She has always been candid about her drink and drug abuse, particularly when she released her memoir My Thoughts Exactly last year. Her milestone comes weeks after Lily revealed she debated taking heroin when she 'hit rock bottom' during her 2014 supporting stint on Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour. Earlier this month, she spoke to DJ Fat Tony on his The Recovery podcast about her own sobriety journey, including her personal lowest point, as she touched on the tour and how she felt - turning to drink, drugs and prostitutes. Overjoyed: The Smile songstress, 35, has been candid about her addiction struggles and has now celebrated the milestone since quitting drink, drugs and cigarettes Proud: In posts on her Instagram, Lily shared an image of the keyring given to mark momentous dates dished out by support group Narcotics Anonymous After her weight rose to 14st, the 5 2 star began taking a drug similar to speed to shed pounds before the tour, however this send her on a downward spiral and left her debating taking heroin to help her 'act out'. She said: 'I was supporting this girl who was much younger and more attractive than I felt. I was thinking: "I think I have got a drinking problem. And none of this acting out is working any more. Maybe I should try heroin."' The tour visited the Americas, Europe, and Oceania through five legs. It spanned from February 14 to October 23, 2014, and Lily has previously revealed she would use female escorts and take drugs in excess during the tour. Stunner: She shared another snap on social media Way back when: She has always been candid about her drink and drug battles and in July she marked one year sober(pictured in 2017) She then turned to drugs to lose weight, saying: 'I started taking a drug which is like speed to lose the weight and I got addicted to this drug because it made me feel invincible. And then I ended up on tour in America supporting Miley Cyrus... 'It was when she was doing Wrecking Ball - it was a highly sexualised tour. I had just spent the last three years pushing babies out. It couldnt have been less what I felt like. I had never supported anyone... 'I was re-entering this phase of being a pop star again but not doing it on my terms any more. I was supporting this girl who was much younger and more attractive than I felt. I just started acting out in all manner of ways.' Her loves: Lily pictured with her husband David Harbour and daughters Ethel, nine, and Marnie, eight, last summer In 2018, she came under fire for glamourising drug-taking after admitting she snorted a line of ketamine at the Glamour Woman Of The Year Awards in 2008. Describing what happened, Allen said: 'Someone gave me a line of what I assumed to be cocaine at the Glamour awards once, but it turned out to be Ketamine. I was thrown out (passed over some railings) of the Glamour awards for being in a k hole.' She added: 'Obviously I couldnt talk, or direct the driver so my assistant instructed the occupant of the car behind to follow that cab I believe the occupant was @chattyman , I have no idea what happened next.' MOSCOW (AP) Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that the world risks sliding deeper into instability as the coronavirus pandemic combines with global rivalries and other international tensions. Speaking by video link during a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum, Putin pointed at growing inequality and unemployment and a rise of populism as potential triggers for new conflicts that he said could plunge the world into a dark anti-Utopia. The pandemic has exacerbated the problems and disbalances that have been accumulating, the Russian leader said. International institutions are weakening, regional conflicts are multiplying and the global security is degrading. Putin hailed the decision by Russia and the United States to extend their last nuclear arms control pact as a positive move, but he added that spiraling tensions have come to resemble the situation before World War II. I strongly hope that such hot global conflict is impossible now. It would mean the end of civilization," he said. But the situation may become unpredictable and spin out of control. There is a real danger that we will face a downturn in global development fraught with an all-out fight, attempts to solve contradictions by searching for internal and foreign enemies, and the destruction of basic traditional values. Putin attributed the worsening economic situation to a Western liberal economic model that he said foments social, racial and ethnic intolerance with tensions erupting even in countries with seemingly long-established civil and democratic institutions. The Russian leader pointed to what he described as the negative role of technology companies that run top social networks, charging that they have abused their position and tried to control the society, replace legitimate democratic institutions and usurp an individual's right to decide how to live and what views to express. We have seen it all in the United States, Putin said without elaborating. Story continues Putin also claimed that there has been " increasingly aggressive pressure on those countries that disagree with a role of obedient satellites, the use of trade barriers, illegitimate sanctions, restrictions in the financial, technological and information spheres. Relations between Russia and the West have sunk to post-Cold War lows after Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, Russia's meddling in the U.S. elections and recently, the poisoning and the subsequent arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The era marked by attempts to create a centralized unipolar global order is over now, Putin said in an apparent reference to the perceived global domination of the U.S. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. of Nathan Russell, 46, found by a friend inside his central Adelaide unit A father killed in a vicious assault inside his own home was the victim of a targeted attack, according to police. Nathan Russell, 46, was found by a friend who became concerned after trying to contact him on Australia Day. When he arrived at the central Adelaide unit on Sturt St around 6.30pm, Mr Russell was dead. Police have confirmed the death was being treated as a murder. Police believe Nathan Russell (pictured above) was the victim of a targeted attack inside his own apartment 'We believe the assault on Nathan was a targeted attack,' Detective Inspector Brett Featherby said. 'There's no doubt they intended to assault him. Whether they intended to kill him, I can't comment on that until the investigation is concluded.' Police also confirmed Mr Russell had bled for some time before he was found by his friend. It is believed the 46-year-old was killed on Monday, but detectives declined to reveal the exact nature of his injuries. Detective Inspector Featherby would not be drawn on whether drugs were involved or if the death was possibly gang-related. 'Investigators believe that people have knowledge of what has occurred to Nathan and knowledge of the circumstances leading up to his death,' he said. 'We are seeking anyone with information to come forward and do the right thing by his family.' A number of items were seized from the unit and from the immediate area by a forensic team. Police have urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Police said 'there was no doubt' Nathan Russell was targeted, but would not be drawn on whether drugs were involved or if the death was possibly gang-related SpaceX has successfully sent a record-breaking 143 satellites soaring into space as part of its commercial satellite "rideshare" service. One of the most ambitious missions for SpaceX, its Falcon 9 rocket launched into orbit Sunday morning (Jan. 24) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, according to Amy Thompson with Space.com. SPACEX HISTORIC UNDOCKING: SpaceX Cargo Dragon makes historic first undocking "The flight allowed SpaceX to flex its ridesharing muscles in a carefully choreographed orbital ballet as its flagship rocket ferried its largest number of payloads yet," Thompson wrote. The mission called Transporter-1 carried a troupe of satellites including 10 of SpaceX's Starlink broadband units. The flat-paneled Starlink satellites will serve to provide coverage to customers in Alaska and other polar regions, Thompson wrote. "A first for its broadband fleet." In addition, Transporter-1 also carried over 130 satellites for paying customers such as Planet, "which operates a constellation of Earth-imaging satellites, according to Jackie Wattles with CNN Business. In 2019, SpaceX announced it would offer rideshares on its Falcon 9 rockets throughout the year for the price of $1 million per launch, Thompson said. Cosmic rideshares aren't new, as SpaceX has sent payload missions for various companies since SpaceX founder Elon Musk announced the company's StarLink initiative in 2015. In 2018, a rocket dubbed SSO-A sent 64 satellites into low-Earth orbit, Thompson noted. While this is exciting news for SpaceX, experts fear the large number of satellites being sent into Earth's orbit could cause interference for existing research being conducted. Adam Mann with Space.com shared a statement from The International Astronomical Union voicing their concerns with the satellite missions. "Satellite constellations can pose a significant or debilitating threat to important existing and future astronomical infrastructures, and we urge their designers and deployers as well as policy-makers to work with the astronomical community in a concerted effort to analyse and understand the impact of satellite constellations." These criticisms have been met with promises of good faith and cooperation by SpaceX officials. "SpaceX is absolutely committed to finding a way forward so our Starlink project doesn't impede the value of the research you all are undertaking," said Patricia Cooper, vice president of SpaceX's satellite government affairs division. Two Sydney men have been extradited to the US over their alleged role in a $US50 million ($65 million) scam to rort mobile phone users in a premium messaging service, while a BRW rich lister worth an estimated $100 million awaits an extradition hearing in a Perth jail over his alleged role. Allegations against eight members of an international fraud ring detailed in a New York court reveal how the proceeds of their crimes allegedly funded a lavish lifestyle of multimillion-dollar homes, expensive holidays and gambling. Michael Pearse, 52, from Sydney, and Yongchao Kevin Liu, 33, a Chinese national living in Sydney, were flown to the US on Monday to face charges relating to one of the biggest telecom scams in American history. Michael Pearse from Sydney has been extradited to the US to face charges that could land him in prison for 20 years. Credit:LinkedIn They face charges relating to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr Pearse also faces charges relating to laundering the proceeds of the scheme. They face 20 years in prison if convicted. By Aram Roston WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys extremist group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and Tarrios own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling and human smuggling. Tarrio, in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others. I dont know any of this, he said, when asked about the transcript. I dont recall any of this. Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrios denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrios case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes. Tarrio, 36, is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the right-wing Proud Boys in their confrontations with those they believe to be Antifa, short for anti-fascism, an amorphous and often violent leftist movement. The Proud Boys were involved in the deadly insurrection at the Capitol January 6. The records uncovered by Reuters are startling because they show that a leader of a far-right group now under intense scrutiny by law enforcement was previously an active collaborator with criminal investigators. Washington police arrested Tarrio in early January when he arrived in the city two days before the Capitol Hill riot. He was charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines, and burning a Black Lives Matter banner during a December demonstration by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The D.C. Superior Court ordered him to leave the city pending a court date in June. Story continues Though Tarrio did not take part in the Capitol insurrection, at least five Proud Boys members have been charged in the riot. The FBI previously said Tarrios earlier arrest was an effort to preempt the events of January 6. The transcript from 2014 shines a new light on Tarrios past connections to law enforcement. During the hearing, the prosecutor and Tarrios defense attorney asked a judge to reduce the prison sentence of Tarrio and two co-defendants. They had pleaded guilty in a fraud case related to the relabeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. The prosecutor said Tarrios information had led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and had helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring. Tarrios then-lawyer Jeffrey Feiler said in court that his client had worked undercover in numerous investigations, one involving the sale of anabolic steroids, another regarding wholesale prescription narcotics and a third targeting human smuggling. He said Tarrio helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses, and was a prolific cooperator. In the smuggling case, Tarrio, at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country, the lawyer said in court. In an interview, Feiler said he did not recall details about the case but added, The information I provided to the court was based on information provided to me by law enforcement and the prosecutor. An FBI agent at the hearing called Tarrio a key component in local police investigations involving marijuana, cocaine and MDMA, or ecstasy. The Miami FBI office declined comment. There is no evidence Tarrio has cooperated with authorities since then. In interviews with Reuters, however, he said that before rallies in various cities, he would let police departments know of the Proud Boys plans. It is unclear if this was actually the case. He said he stopped this coordination after December 12 because the D.C. police had cracked down on the group. Tarrio on Tuesday acknowledged that his fraud sentence was reduced, from 30 months to 16 months, but insisted that leniency was provided only because he and his co-defendants helped investigators clear up questions about his own case. He said he never helped investigate others. That comment contrasts with statements made in court by the prosecutor, his lawyer and the FBI. The judge in the case, Joan A. Lenard, said Tarrio provided substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other persons involved in criminal conduct. As Trump supporters challenged the Republicans election loss in often violent demonstrations, Tarrio stood out for his swagger as he led crowds of mostly white Proud Boys in a series of confrontations and street brawls in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Proud Boys, founded in 2016, began as a group protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity. It grew into a group with distinctive colors of yellow and black that embraced street fighting. In September their profile soared when Trump called on them to Stand back and stand by. Tarrio, based in Miami, became the national chairman of the group in 2018. In November and December, Tarrio led the Proud Boys through the streets of D.C. after Trumps loss. Video shows him on December 11 with a bullhorn in front of a large crowd. To the parasites both in Congress, and in that stolen White House, he said. You want a war, you got one! The crowd roared. The next day Tarrio burned the BLM banner. Former prosecutor Johannes said she was surprised that the defendant she prosecuted for fraud is now a key player in the violent movement that sought to halt the certification of President Joe Biden. I knew that he was a fraudster but had no reason to know that he was also a domestic terrorist, she said. (Reporting by Aram Roston in Washington. Editing by Ronnie Greene) The families of two of loyalist killer Michael Stone's victims have condemned his release from Maghaberry Prison on parole. The family of Dermot Hackett said they still live with the heartache of his death, while the family of Thomas McErlean, who pursued legal action to try and keep Stone imprisoned, said they have been "denied the chance to heal". It emerged yesterday evening that the notorious former UDA serial killer had been released after Northern Ireland's highest court ruled that he could apply for parole last November. The court said keeping Stone behind bars until at least 2024 would "constitute an interference with the physical liberty of the prisoner and could only arise under clear authority of the law", and in its view this could not be implied. Thomas McErlean's family said it is unjust how Stone can move forward with his life after taking the lives of others. Mr McErlean was 20 when he was one of three murdered by Stone in an attack on Milltown Cemetery during an IRA funeral in March 1988. They said: "Our family are denied the chance to heal whilst he refuses to answer questions about which parts of the state armed and assisted him with so many murders. Expand Close Loyalist killer: Michael Stone was released from prison yesterday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Loyalist killer: Michael Stone was released from prison yesterday "As a family we continue to love, miss and remember Thomas, and call for a proper investigation into his death that will reveal the truth about state collusion and loyalist paramilitaries. The victims' families need to be the focus rather than Michael Stone." Mr McErlean's sister Deborah McGuinness had taken legal action in a bid to attempt her brother's killer from applying for early release. Dermot Hackett's family said many questions remain unanswered about his killing. Mr Hackett, a father-of-one from Castlederg, was found dead in his bread delivery van between Drumquin and Omagh on May 23, 1987 after being shot by Stone up to 16 times with a submachine gun. Stone, who suffers from a myriad of health conditions, was given a 30-year jail sentence for Mr Hackett's murder as well as the murder of Mr McErlean. He was also convicted of murdering John Murray and Kevin Brady, also at Milltown Cemetery, milkman Patrick Brady in south Belfast in 1984 and Kevin McPolin in Lisburn in 1985. He was freed under the Good Friday Agreement in 2000 but was returned to prison six years later for trying to kill then Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont. BBC News NI reported that the families of his victims had been informed of the move to release Stone. Mr Hackett's family said not a day goes by without thinking of their husband and father, to whom a second child was born six months after his murder. In a statement, they said: "Whilst Michael Stone served a prison sentence for the murder many questions remain unanswered, particularly around his relationship with the state. Michael Stone most definitely did not act alone, the role of the state and in particular RUC special branch and British Military Intelligence remain to be clarified." Parole Commissioners took the decision to free Stone on Monday and he was later released yesterday, it's understood. Reporter Ben Zigterman is a reporter covering business at The News-Gazette. His email is bzigterman@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@bzigterman). Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Samsung on Tuesday announced rolling out vital blood pressure and electrocardiogram tracking to Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 users in more than 31 countries. The rollout comes after the Samsung Health Monitor app received a CE-marking in December 2020. The markets that will receive the new health-tracking features are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The features will also be rolled out to Chile, Indonesia, and the UAE. ALSO READ: In focus: AliveCors KardiaMobile 6L ECG device Nearly one million people have used the Samsung Health Monitor app to manage their health since its initial launch in Korea last June, said TaeJong Jay Yang, Corporate SVP and Head of Health Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. Were committed to bringing this innovative health service to more people across the world, and the latest expansion marks a major milestone in our mission. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Samsung had launched Galaxy Watch 3 in August last year. The smartwatch comes in 41mm and 45mm models. The larger variant comes with a 1.4-inch round display and a 340mAh battery. The smaller variant features a 1.2-inch display with a 247mAh battery. Both versions feature AMOLED displays with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The smartwatch comes with a bunch of sensors such as atmospheric pressure sensor, GPS, light sensor, and more. It has the pressure vent and heart rate sensor on the back. It can also track sleep. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 The smartwatch comes in three sizes -- 42mm, 44mm and 46mm -- and three colour variants - Silver, Pink and Black. The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ protection. It runs on Tizen OS 4.0 and is available with up to 340mAh battery. It also has 5ATM + IP68 MIL-STD-810G certification. READ Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 review As the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday is only one month away, the demand for food and drinks for the countrys largest holiday has sharply increased at both physical and online stores. The HCM City Food Safety Management Board is ramping up its inspections to ensure food hygiene and safety during the holiday season. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the board, talks tabout measures to ensure food safety during Tet. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, head of the HCM City Food Safety Management Board. VNS Photo Thu Hang How are inspections being tightened to ensure food safety as the Tet holiday approaches? The citys Food Safety Management Board set up multi-sector inspection teams in December, which will carry out tasks until March. They are inspecting producers, vendors and importers of foods and drinks as well as wholesale markets, supermarkets, shopping malls and food and beverage premises. For now, inspections are focused on food and beverages that are commonly consumed during Tet such as meat products, imported frozen food, beer, alcoholic drinks, vegetables, food additives, candies and cakes. Food distribution at supermarkets, traditional markets and stores will be given priority for inspections from now until Tet. Inspections at food producers and cold-storage warehouses over the last month showed there were not serious violations of food hygiene and safety. District authorities have also set up inspection teams to crack down on small-scale food producing and processing establishments and food and beverage service providers. During inspections, samples of products with a high risk of unsafe food will be taken for testing. Food origin tracing will also be carried out if violations of food hygiene and safety regulations are found. Food testing and origin tracing at wholesale markets and infection disease control stations at gateway points to the city are done on a daily basis to ensure food safety. Are there food safety risks when buying and selling food on social media websites that have emerged as e-commerce platforms? Concerns over COVID-19 have driven up online sales, besides the savings in costs. However, sales of food through social media sites pose a great risk to public health. Home-based food businesses need to meet the same food safety requirements as other firms regardless of size. However, most home-based food businesses are unregistered. It is unlikely that food prepared in a home kitchen would meet the required food safety standards and labelling requirements. However, the tracing of these unregistered food businesses is a tough task as the addresses on social media website are usually incorrect. Law enforcement related to home-based food businesses is too loose, and heavy fines are not imposed for food safety or hygiene offences, making it difficult to manage these unregistered food businesses and homemade-food providers. We have suggested that the industry and trade sector put in place monitoring measures for online food sales. Specific regulations are needed on homemade food safety controls that cover hygiene, safe cooking, refrigeration, and safe storage and transportation to reduce risks to public health. Businesses preparing food at home have been told to register as a business and not gamble with peoples health. What is your advice to locals about choosing food for the Tet holiday? The public must be aware of the safety of food sold online, especially homemade food. People should purchase food at reputable premises and companies to avoid the potential risk of food poisoning. There are a range of promotions at highly reputable firms during Tet. Many customers believe in advertising at social media websites and order food online without carefully checking the food origin and labelling. It is unnecessary to buy and store so much food for use during Tet as the food supply chains and supermarkets will open their doors to serve customers throughout the holiday. To avoid food poisoning incidents, food must be stored properly. In addition, limits on beer and alcoholic drink consumption during Tet gatherings and celebrations are necessary to prevent traffic accidents. VNS Nora, the young polar bear who stole the hearts of visitors to the Oregon Zoo, will be returning to Portland in March, zoo officials said Wednesday. Nora will be moved from her current home at Utahs Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City to the Oregon Zoos brand new bear exhibit, called Polar Passage. Were so excited to welcome Nora back, Amy Cutting, who oversees the zoos marine life area, said in a statement. Shes kind of like the kid who goes off to college and comes home all grown up. We cant wait to get reacquainted and introduce her to the new Polar Passage habitat. Nora, now 5, first came to the Pacific Northwest in 2016 as a 10-month-old cub after she was abandoned by her mother soon after her birth in Columbus, Ohio. She was hand raised by a team of zookeepers there and brought to Portland in search of a companion, an older bear named Tasul who had lived at the Oregon Zoo for nearly three decades. The two bears never formed the bond zookeepers had hoped for, and Tasul died within a few months of Noras arrival. Keepers at the zoo also discovered she had failed to absorb some vital nutrients in her infancy and she had developed skeletal issues. Nora was prescribed antidepressants after keepers saw troubling signs of mental health issues in the young bear. The Oregonian/OregonLive chronicled Noras troubles and triumphs, along with the threats that climate change pose to her species and the native people in her ancestral homeland of Alaska, in a five-part series in 2017 and a 30-minute documentary. Keepers felt Nora needed a companion of her own species since she had been raised by people and had little exposure to other bears. In the fall of 2017, they decided to move her to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City to be paired with another bear named Hope. Meanwhile, the Oregon Zoo had delayed construction of Polar Passage and, soon after Nora left, the old exhibit was torn down. It took a while, but Noras relationship with Hope eventually blossomed, the two bears play-fighting and wrestling to the delight of her new fans in Salt Lake City. At Hogle, Nora learned how to interact with another bear, Cutting said in a statement. This was so important for her development. Things were going well for Nora until, in 2019, when her keepers in Utah discovered she had broken her humerus, a large, weight-bearing bone in one of her front limbs. A team of veterinary surgeons traveled from Texas and in a first-of-its-kind procedure, inserted a metal rod into the broken bone. Nora endured months of isolation and physical therapy as she healed, but eventually made a full recovery. Earlier this week, Hogle Zoo announced that Hope would be moving to another zoo to be paired with a male in the hopes the two will mate. That meant Nora would need a new home and, with the completion of the new polar bear exhibit at the Oregon Zoo, Portland was the logical choice. The zoo didnt say exactly when Nora would return, only that it would be sometime in March. Shell be alone for the first few months of her second stay, but the zoo anticipates shell be joined by another female bear sometime in the fall. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale The Social Democratic Party (PSD) intends to submit a simple motion against the Minister of Health, once parliamentary activity has been resumed and to call the leaders of anti-COVID vaccination campaign to hearings, announced on Tuesday evening, the head of this formation, Marcel Ciolacu. "Politicians, when they have nothing else to do with the Romanians' health and with our life, must assume clear political responsibility. We reached the absurd situation in which the Minister of Health says that he does not trust the data he and the Ministry he runs, are managing. We cannot submit a simple motion against an inter-governmental group, but instead we will submit, as of February 1st, a simple and clear motion, against the Ministry of Health. Maybe he does not understand that the pandemic is related to the Ministry of Health. (...) We, the PSD, will submit a simple motion and will call to hearings," Ciolacu said in a phone call for local broadcast station RTV. The PSD chairman declared that those responsible for the vaccination campaign will be called to hearings and that Prime Minister Florin Citu should resign if, until September, the vaccine will not reach 10,4 million Romanians, just as he estimated. The Social-Democrat leader considers that there is no coherent plan regarding the anti-COVID vaccine and that at the same time, the testing has been "abandoned". "We simply abandoned testing. We are opening the schools, while the rest of the European countries enter lockdown to vaccinate and test as many people at the same time. We are opening schools without even quickly testing teachers. We simply do not have any coherent plan, there are always exceptions found: there have to be vaccinated who knows who before those with health problems or vulnerable people. We are always discovering more and more exceptions and the entire system came to a halt," Marcel Ciolacu also said. Peter Fish Case is a man with an opinion. He offers up a weekly podcast discussion that can be heard at theearspoon.com. Questions, compliments and complaints can be sent to him at fish@theearspoon.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of the Brattleboro Reformer. The first 60 tonnes of jasmin rice shipped to the UK under the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) hit the shelves in London on January 26. The first batch of jasmin rice is shipped to the UK under the UKVFTA. The top-quality fragrant rice was imported by the Long Dan Limited Company in the UK from the Vietnam National Seed Group (Vinaseed), and the rice is now sold at 15.5 GBP (21.28 USD) per kilogramme at the firm's supermarket chain. Since Vietnamese high-quality rice enjoys zero tariff in the UK market under the trade pact, which took effect on December 31, 2021, it will gain competitive edge over rivals, including those from Thailand. According to the Vietnamese trade counsellor in the UK Nguyen Canh Cuong, rice shipments to the European country this year will sharply rise against 2020. He said more UK firms will purchase Vietnamese rice under the UKVFTA, relishing an exciting prospect that Vietnamese rice will expand its market share in the UK this year. In 2019, the UK, the worlds 9th largest rice importer, splashed out 531 million USD buying 671,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice. However, Vietnamese rice only accounted for 0.24 percent of the UKs total rice import. Top rice exporters to the UK included India (22 percent of market share), Pakistan (18 percent), Spain (11 percent), Italy (10.9 percent), and Thailand (9.2 percent)./. VNA Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny's FBK Anti-Corruption Foundation, said police were searching flats linked to Navalny and the foundation's offices for alleged violations of coronavirus restrictions Moscow: Russian police on Wednesday launched raids on the Moscow apartments and offices of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, his team said, ahead of new protests called for the weekend to demand his release. Ivan Zhdanov, the head of Navalny's FBK Anti-Corruption Foundation, said police were searching flats linked to Navalny and the foundation's offices for alleged violations of coronavirus restrictions. Russia's Interior Ministry said Wednesday it had launched a criminal probe into the violation of sanitary and epidemiological measures during a Moscow protest that saw thousands rally in support of Navalny on Saturday. The ministry's spokeswoman Irina Volk said the organisers and participants of the rally "created a threat of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection". Zhdanov said on Twitter that Navalny's wife Yulia was at one of the apartments and posted a video from inside where loud hammering could be heard outside the door. "They are not letting in my lawyer. They broke my door in," Yulia Navalny yelled to journalists from out of her apartment window, an AFP journalist reported. Zhdanov posted a screenshot from a security camera at the office of the foundation, showing several masked men there. The FBK is best known for its investigations into the wealth of Russia's political elite. Its most recent report suggested President Vladimir Putin has gifted an opulent property on the Black Sea Coast costing over $1.5 billion. The investigation was released days after Navalny was arrested on his return on 17 January from Germany, where he spent months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Russia on Saturday calling for Navalny's release. According to independent monitors, more than 3,900 people were detained at the demonstrations. Wearing three layers of face coverings can help protect you against infection with the novel coronavirus. Public health experts say this does not mean wearing three masks at a time. Multiple masks may offer a measure of protection, but you will also be more likely to fiddle with an additional mask, and it makes it harder to breathe Instead, infectious disease specialists recommend wearing either wearing a single, multilayered mask that fits closely over your nose and mouth or a surgical mask with an extra layer of fabric. In fact, one study found three-layer masks can block out at least 90 percent of potentially infectious droplets and reduce your risk of falling ill. A study from Virginia Tech University found that three-layer masks - with two layers of tightly woven fabric and a filter in between (above) - blocked out at least 90% of infectious particles Double-masking, such as endorsed by Dr Anthony Fauci, can make it harder to breathe and increases the risk of fiddling with one of the masks, experts say. Pictured: Fauci wearing two masks at a White House press briefing, January 3 In a recent interview, Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, endorsed double-masking. 'So, if you have a physical covering with one layer, you put another layer on, it just makes common sense that it likely would be more effective,' Fauci told NBC's TODAY on Monday. 'That's the reason why you see people either double masking or doing a version of an N95.' But Dr William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told DailyMail.com that double- and triple-masking isn't necessarily for anyone. He says a good-quality mask is just as effective as wearing two masks. 'There isn't any doubt that the thicker the mask is, generally it is thought the more effective it will be in screening out viral particles,' Schaffner said. 'Mainly, the thicker it is, the more effect it effective it is of filter particles away from me or, if I happen to be exhaling them, away from you. And a recent new study appears to back-this up. In a November 2020 pre-print, Dr Linsey Marr, an expert in virus transmission at Virginia Tech University, and her colleagues tested 11 different mask materials to test their effectiveness at filtering out materials. They found that a vacuum bag performed best, with effectiveness of up to 96 percent, while a thin face shield performed the worst, offering little to no protection. 'Based on these findings, we recommend a three-layer mask consisting of outer layers of a flexible, tightly woven fabric and an inner layer consisting of a material designed to filter out particles,' the authors wrote. Marr told The New York Times that this means the best masks have two tightly woven layers of outer material with a filter material in between the two. For example, you can use fabric like cotton or microfiber for the outer layers and a piece of vacuum bag, a coffee filter or a HEPA filter for the inner layer. Marr says such a three-layer mask can block out 75 percent of small particles and at least 90 percent of larger ones. These findings are similar to those in a study published by researchers at Duke University in August. Researchers tested 14 different types of face coverings at how well they filtered out particles both large and small. They found that other than N95s, three-layer surgical were the second-most effective and that homemade masks with polypropylene acting as a filter between two layers of cotton were the third most effective. Schaffner says that, while N95s are considered the gold standard, they are not the only acceptable face mask. 'I would not recommend wearing N95s to most people,' he said. 'They are in much shorter supply than regular mask, and the regular masks, for most activities, they works. For all practical purposes, the sort of fabric masks you can purchase can work very efficiently. He adds that the key is to be committed to wearing a mask whenever you leave your home and to make sure it covers your nose and mouth snugly. 'Don't for an excuse not to wear that. If we did that, we could drive down COVID rates. And, when it's your turn, please roll up your sleeve and get vaccinated,' Schaffner said. UKs Hotel Quarantine for Travelers Could Amount to Illegal Detention: Law Firm Britains new requirement for travellers to the UK from 22 countries to quarantine in hotels for 10 days could be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), an international law firm has said. Home Secretary Priti Patel announced the measures on Wednesday, telling Parliament that the government will introduce a new managed isolation process in hotels for those who cannot be refused entry, including those arriving home, from countries where we have already imposed an international travel ban. Under the new rules, Patel said inbound travellers from countries on the travel ban list will be required to isolate in hotels for 10 days without exception. But human rights law firm PGMBM suggested prior to the announcement that if travellers who know, through testing, that they do not have the virus, and are consequently not at risk of transmitting the disease, are made to quarantine in hotels, their rights under Article 5 of the ECHR could be violated. Blanket Imposition These proposals of a blanket imposition of hotel quarantine raise fundamental questions about the denial of liberty of those subjected to it, Tom Goodhead, barrister and managing partner at PGMBM, said according to The Telegraph. Travellers arrive at Heathrow Airport in London on July 8, 2020. (Matt Dunham/AP Photo) Article 5 of the ECHR specifically states that no one shall be unduly deprived of their liberty, Goodhead said on Tuesday. Whilst there is a provision that may allow the denial of that liberty to prevent the spread of infectious disease, under these proposals inbound travelers would be detained even if they did not test positive for Covid-19. He also said that some European states have already considered, but thought better of, imposing such measures because detention of people without confirmed infection may not be covered by the provisions of Article 5. Talking about enforced quarantine of people without evidence that those people are carrying any variant of Covid-19, he said that there is certainly a very credible perspective that this could amount to illegal detention, thus contravening the ECHR. The Home Office have not responded to a request for comment by the time of publication. Hotels Ready? Rob Paterson, CEO of Best Western Hotels GB, told the BBCs Breakfast program on Tuesday that having provided overflow discharge beds for the National Health Service (NHS), many of his companys hotels were already set up for a contactless customer experience at check-in and an escorted process into the hotel. Youre in the room, and the detail would explain once you are in the room that you cant leave, he said. There will be CCTV or security to ensure thats the case, he added. He also said that three meals a day would be delivered outside the room along with bed linen, which quarantined travelers would have to change themselves, before putting their used linen into a sealed bag and placing it outside their door. Patel said the details of which hotels would be used and how the quarantine would be administered were currently under discussion. Damian Green, former First Secretary of State and member of Conservative backbench Covid Recovery Group, told the BBCs Newsnight program prior to Patels announcement that he hoped any government decision would be taken on the basis of evidence. He also said that curbs are justifiable if they result in the end of lockdowns. The British people can take this curtailing of their freedoms and liberties and the way we all want to go about our lives as long as theres a purpose to the end of it, as long as they can see the end in sight, he said. Travel Restrictions Britain closed its travel corridors from Jan. 15 and banned travel from South America and its commonly used transit point, Portugal, on the same day. This followed concerns about a new virus strain that emerged in Brazil, which scientists said had similarities to a strain that originated in South Africa, from where travel had already been banned on Jan. 9. Another strain was first identified in southeast England. All three caused worry over how effective vaccines, seen as key to Britains way out of lockdown, would be against them. The travel bans do not apply to British or Irish nationals or people with UK residency rights, so some travelers from high-risk locations are still potentially entering the country. Most arrivals into Britain have to show theyd had a negative test within the 72 hrs before setting off for the UK or face a possible 500 ($684) fine. They have to self-isolate for 10 days but can do so at home or wherever it is they chose to stay. They can be fined up to 10,000 for not doing so, but in England they can halve the isolation period if they had a negative test on day five. Patel said the Department of Health and Social Care will set out further details of the new hotel-based quarantine measures next week. Regulations for travelers to Scotland , Wales, and Northern Ireland are set separately but are very similar to Englands rules. The UK has the worlds fifth worst death toll from the pandemic, with official data showing on Tuesday that 100,162 people have died within 28 days of a positive test. Simon Veazey, Alexander Zhang, and Reuters contributed to this report. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Albuquerque Public Schools will not offer the alternative calendar next school year. Late last year, staff from the handful of elementary schools in the district that have an earlier start day, with intersessions in the fall and spring, pushed for the schedule. And the board said it would revisit the issue. But after being presented with costs, and student academic and transfer data, the board made the call to maintain its initial decision to put most schools on a traditional calendar, which starts classes for the 2021-22 school year on Aug. 11, 2021, and ends them on May 25, 2022. Some schools will use an extended school year that adds days in the classroom. The decision can be readdressed, if needed, and may be altered depending on legislative shifts. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ IN WITH THE OLD, OUT WITH THE SECRETARY: Speaking of the APS Board of Education, it is maintaining the status quo of responsibilities this year. Members recently decided that officer positions such as the president of the board and committee chairs would remain the same. APS.edu spells out the seven members roles and terms. But that wasnt the case at the federal level. Betsy DeVos has resigned her post leading the U.S. Department of Education and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten had this to say: Good riddance. SOARING HIGH: Two APS students were selected for prestigious Air Force Junior ROTC Flight Academy scholarships. Juniors Veronica Bearup of Del Norte High School and nex+Gen Academy High School, and Luke Vaughn of Volcano Vista High School were among 230 students worldwide to receive the honor, according to APS. Cadets Bearup and Vaughn will attend an accredited aviation university participating in a private pilot license training program this summer, the district said in an announcement. Over 1,000 JROTC cadets applied. The scholarship covers room and board, academics and more, and is valued at about $22,500. MORE ACCOUNTED FOR: The New Mexico Public Education Department and other agencies have found 7,547 of the more than 12,000 students who were off the public school books. The state has been trying to keep tabs on kids who enrolled in public schools last spring, but werent there in the fall. Turns out some students were enrolled at other schools, such as private schools, or were being home-schooled. Efforts continue as 4,639 students are still unaccounted for. Shelby Perea: sperea@abqjournal.com Energy industry associations unanimously support the Biden administrations efforts to combat climate change. But last weeks executive order placing a 60-day moratorium on new drilling permits on federal lands and Wednesdays order placing a moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal lands are not the answer, they insist. We share President Bidens goal for addressing climate change, said Mike Sommers, president and chief executive officer of the American Petroleum Institute. But, he said during a media call that included associations representing states that would be impacted by the moratoriums, the presidents actions represent a step backwards not only for the nations economic recovery but environmental progress. He said he feared the decision is the first step toward a policy of banning oil and natural gas development on federal lands and waters. That would lead to increased oil imports, more emissions from the power sector as the transition from coal to cleaner natural gas is slowed an estimated 55 percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 as coal use rises an estimated 15 percent, the API said. In addition, he said it would also cost nearly 1 million jobs by 2022 and put $9 billion in government revenue at risk. New Mexico would be particularly hard hit, said Ryan Flynn, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. He told the media participating in the call that New Mexico accounts for 57 percent of federal onshore oil production and 31 percent of onshore natural gas production. A ban is projected to cost the state 62,000 jobs and put over $1 billion in revenues derived from oil and gas development on federal lands that goes to the states schools at risk. Flynn pointed out that the industry recognizes that climate change is a serious concern for the public and is a top priority for the new administration, and companies stand ready to collaborate on efforts to reduce emissions and their impact on the environment. He noted that New Mexico energy representatives worked closely with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on crafting regulations requiring the capture of 98 percent of methane emissions and is also working with her administration on other issues, including produced water. Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said that while the state has far less onshore federal land than New Mexico, it is home to significant federal offshore leases that account for 15 percent of oil production and about 120,000 jobs. We hope to have a reasonable conversation on the role oil and gas plays and how we can provide cleaner energy and not rely on government policies that hurt the industry and cost jobs as well as billions in revenues that fund schools, health care, first responders and infrastructure, he said. Phasing out oil and gas when there is no alternative undermines not only the environmental gains the industry has made but undermines national security and energy security, Staples said. We understand society has concerns about the climate, he said. But the choice does not have to be one or the other. We can have an all-of-the-above energy policy that grows the economy, creates jobs and protects the environment. Companies like EOG Resources have been taking out drilling permits recently in New Mexico in advance of the expected moratorium. EOG Resources Chief Operating Officer Billy Helms explained during a November Bernstein conference that We've had a history of [working with different administrations and any potential regulations], and we'll continue to do that. When it comes to access to federal lands, that's one of the things we're not really worried about in our business. We have a lot of potential outside of federal land, too. So we take comfort in the fact we have a pretty robust inventory already on non-federal land. And our exploration efforts are adding to that inventory on non-federal land all the time. EOG officials said that while the federal leases are important, they still have to compete with the rest of the companys portfolio. Flynn said one of the negative impacts of the moratorium is that even when companies like EOG Resources have drilling permits, they still need other permits, say for pipelines to take away the oil or capture the natural gas. With the moratorium, he said, decision making has been taken away from the field offices, like the Bureau of Land Management office in Carlsbad, and moved up the chain of command to Department of the Interior offices in Washington, D.C. That has essentially frozen decisions, slowing or halting development. That has an impact today even if youve leaded al the land you want or received drilling permits, he said. Sommers, Flynn and Staples were joined by Jessica Sanders, 2019 New Mexico Teacher of the Year and president of the New Mexico Science Teachers Association, Tyler Gray, president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, Pete Obermueller, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming and Jim Willox, Wyoming County Commissioners Association president, to discuss the economic and social impact of the moratoriums on their states and professions. But an intelligence official involved in drafting Wednesdays bulletin said the decision to issue the report was driven by the departments conclusion that Mr. Bidens peaceful inauguration last week could create a false sense of security because the intent to engage in violence has not gone away among extremists angered by the outcome of the presidential election. The warning contained in a National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin was a notable departure for a Department of Homeland Security accused of being reluctant during the Trump administration to publish intelligence reports or public warnings about the dangers posed by domestic extremists and white supremacist groups for fear of angering Mr. Trump, according to current and former homeland security officials. Starting with the deadly extremist protest in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when Mr. Trump said there were very fine people on both sides, he played down any danger posed by extremist groups. And when racial justice protests erupted nationwide last year, his consistent message was that it was the so-called radical left that was to blame for the violence and destruction that had punctuated the demonstrations. Even after the Department of Homeland Security in September 2019 singled out white supremacists as a leading domestic terrorism threat, analysts and intelligence officials said their warnings were watered down, delayed or both. Former officials in the Trump administration have even said that White House officials sought to suppress the phrase domestic terrorism. The intelligence official involved with the bulletin, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its findings, added that the public warning should have been issued as early as November, when Mr. Trump was making an escalating series of false accusations about the election, and that far-right groups continued to be galvanized by such false statements. PITTSBURGH, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC (CCM), a top 10 retail mortgage lender in America with headquarters in Brecksville, Ohio, is excited to announce the opening of a new Pittsburgh branch, increasing the company's footprint in the important Western Pennsylvania market. Led by Kevin Giza, this branch will be the Pittsburgh flagship for the CrossCountry Mortgage brand of outstanding client service. Three loan originators will join Giza at the outset, with plans for continued growth already established. Giza is a top-producing loan officer with more than 20 years of experience in residential mortgage lending. In addition to corporate awards, he has been nominated as a Five Star Mortgage Professional by Pittsburgh magazine for eight consecutive years, and featured in Real Producers magazine several times. "We have long wanted to expand our service to the people of Pittsburgh, and opening this branch is a great way to kick off 2021," said Ron Leonhardt, CrossCountry Mortgage CEO. "We are excited to welcome Kevin and his team to CCM. In addition to his tremendous expertise as a loan originator, Kevin is dedicated to the Pittsburgh community. His values align perfectly with ours." "I'm thrilled to announce my move to CrossCountry Mortgage, a top 10 lender on the rise," Giza said. "CCM allows me to offer a wider range of products, more competitive rates, and even better service to my clients and referral partners. Perhaps most important to me, CCM shares my commitment to community. I am Pittsburgh born and bred. I'm an active member of my church and I've been an amateur scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I am truly proud to be the director of the Perfect Pitch Camp for the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf. CCM supports my community service, and by providing me with superior operational and technical support, they are making it possible for me to continue and grow my volunteer work." ABOUT THE GIZA BRANCH The Giza branch is ready to serve its clients and referral partners with a blend of outstanding service, a transparent loan process, and a commitment to a superior mortgage experience. ABOUT CROSSCOUNTRY MORTGAGE Founded in 2003 by CEO Ronald J. Leonhardt, Jr., CrossCountry Mortgage LLC is a top 10 retail mortgage lender nationwide with licenses in all 50 states. The company offers a broad portfolio of home purchase and refinance programs ranging from conventional and jumbo mortgages to government-insured programs for Veterans and rural homebuyers. Additional options include down payment assistance, home equity products, and expedited closing programs. CrossCountry Mortgage is on the Inc. 5000 List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies and was a recipient of the 2019 Weatherhead Centurion Award for sales and growth. For more information, please visit crosscountrymortgage.com. SOURCE CrossCountry Mortgage, LLC Related Links https://crosscountrymortgage.com Yemen on Wednesday marks the 10th anniversary of an uprising that called for change but has resulted in the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. By Nathan Morley For years, Yemen has been embroiled in a brutal conflict between the internationally-recognized Government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi rebels. Its now thought that over 16 million people in the country are facing famine or malnutrition. The economy is in tatters, as are hospitals, schools and other infrastructure. Listen to Nathan Morley's report The impact of the coronavirus has been severe, given the lack of health facilities. UNICEF recently warned that Yemen was teetering on the edge of collapse and "perhaps the most dangerous place on Earth to be a child." Staggering statistics According to figures released by the UN in December, more than 230,000 Yemenis have died due to the war, mostly because of a lack of food, health services and infrastructure. In a separate development, the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels began a new round of UN-brokered negotiations for a prisoner exchange last weekend. The UN called on the warring rivals to give priority to the release of all prisoners, sick and wounded detainees and those arbitrarily detained. While the Nederland Heritage Festival was the last Southeast Texas celebration to be held during the spring of 2020, it now joins others that have been canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. But it brings the question: will it be the last? The festival announced Monday that it would not go forward this year, joining Mardi Gras Southeast Texas that was also recently canceled. It was a tough decision and one we did not take lightly, said Shannon Hemby, Nederland Heritage Festivals executive director. But in the end, it was the correction decision for the overall health of our citizens and the community. Nederland City Manager Chris Duque said the mayor and NHF organizers discussed the festivals fate for more than a month before it was canceled. Duque is aware some members of the community will be frustrated with the decision, as he understands how important the annual festival is to the community. The mayor has had to make various difficult decisions during this pandemic, Duque said. The festival is an important part of the communitys identity. Its one of my familys favorite time of the year. Nederlands five-day festival draws several thousand visitors every year. As a result, it became a point of contention last year when organizers continued to operate despite the spread of COVID-19. During the festival, Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick issued an emergency order banning the gathering of events with 200 or more people, but it did not apply to events within incorporated cities. Currently, any event with more than 100 people in an incorporated city requires approval by the mayor, according to Branick. He added the final discretion in unincorporated cities falls on the county judge. Hemby said the scholarship money raised by the festival has been set aside and will not be affected. In addition to awarding scholarships to Nederland High School seniors, the festival also makes donations to local city services such as the the police and fire departments. Now the question remains whether other upcoming festivals and fairs are to take place as originally scheduled. Branick said fate of future large gatherings all depends on how quickly the vaccine can be deployed. As of Tuesday, no decision had been made about the status of the YMBL South Texas State Fair or the Port Neches Riverfest. Both the Fair and Riverfest were canceled last spring. The South Texas State Fair usually starts in mid-March, while the Riverfest takes place in late April or early May. Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson said the Riverfests organizing committee has not met with city officials to discuss the status of the event; but said if the virus cases continue as they are now into April and May, there will not be a Riverfest this year. The Riverfests organizing committee met last year and came to the decision to cancel the festival, and Johnson said he is confident the organization has the communitys best interest in mind. Theyre very responsible and I have all the faith that they are going to make the right decision, he said. jorge.ramos@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/byjorgeramos The first pan-Asia Pacific clinical practice standards for the screening, diagnosis and management of osteoporosis, targeting a broad range of high-risk groups Credit: The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) has today launched the first pan-Asia Pacific clinical practice standards for the screening, diagnosis, and management of osteoporosis, targeting a broad range of high-risk groups. Published in Osteoporosis International today, 'The APCO Framework' comprises 16 minimum clinical standards set to serve as a benchmark for the provision of optimal osteoporosis care in the region. Developed by APCO members representing key osteoporosis stakeholders, and multiple medical and surgical specialities, this set of clear, concise, relevant and pragmatic clinical standards aims to support national societies, guidelines development authorities, and health care policy makers with the development of new guidelines, and to encourage the revision of existing guidelines. According to the Framework lead author, APCO Chairperson, and Director of the Osteoporosis and Bone Metabolism Unit at Singapore General Hospital, Dr. Manju Chandran, Singapore, APCO employed a 5IQ analysis and the well-established Delphi Consensus process to analyse the 18 clinical practice guidelines currently available in the Asia Pacific region, to inform the development of The APCO Framework. "Utilising a comprehensive, four-round Delphi consensus method enabled our APCO members who work in vastly different health care systems, to reach a remarkable level of consensus on a benchmark set of clinical standards for the provision of quality osteoporosis care for the Asia Pacific region." The APCO Framework offers clinicians structured, well-articulated, and readily accessible clinical practice guidelines that define: 16 minimum clinical standards for the screening, diagnosis and management of osteoporsois Credit: The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Individuals to be identified for assessment; Investigations required; Relevant indications for treatment; Appropriate selection of interventions to be made; The guidance and information patients need for self-care; Integration of healthcare systems for optimal provision of care; and The need, and methods for monitoring and improving the quality of osteoporosis care. "Implementation of The APCO Framework, or a similar set of standards of care informed by the Framework, is expected to significantly reduce the burden of osteoporosis not only in the Asia Pacific region, but also worldwide. We hope that the Framework can serve as a stimulus for harmonization of guidelines in other regions that have similar socio-economic diversity and heterogeneity of health care resources," Dr. Chandran said. Globally, the population aged 65 years or over increased from six per cent in 1990, to nine per cent in 2019. This proportion is projected to rise to 16 per cent by 2050,1 meaning one in six people worldwide will be aged 65 years or over by 2050. The number of people aged 60 years and over in the Asia-Pacific regionhome to more than a third of the world's population aged 65 years and over, and to more elderly people than any other regionis predicted to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching a staggering 1.3 billion people. Osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations are expected to increase exponentially, not only because of the region's rapidly aging population, but also due to mounting urbanization, and the subsequent increase in sedentary lifestyles. Despite the presence of generally safe and effective treatments for osteoporosis, as many as five in six patients presenting to their primary care physician (PCP), or to a hospital with a fragility fracture, will not be assessed for osteoporosis, nor appropriately managed to prevent further fracture. According to Medical Director of Osteoporosis Australia, and APCO Executive Committee member, Professor Peter Ebeling AO, Australia, as many as half of those who have sustained a hip fracture, have already experienced a previous fracture at other skeletal sites. Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Credit: The Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) "In fact, a prior fracture at any site is associated with a doubling of future fracture and mortality risk. The unfortunate ramifications of the gross under-diagnosis and under-treatment of osteoporosis is that a large number of people sustain further debilitating secondary fractures, which places a substantial, but importantly, preventable burden on already strained healthcare systems," said Prof Ebeling. A fragility fracture, which occurs every three seconds worldwide, [6] compromises quality of life and loss of independence. [6,7] Concerningly, one-in-four patients who sustain a hip fracture die within a year, and less than half of those who survive, regain their previous level of function. In 2010, an estimated 158 million people aged 50 years and above were at high risk for osteoporotic fracturea figure which is set to double by 2040.[10] According to International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) CEO and APCO Executive Committee member, Dr. Philippe Halbout, Switzerland, these alarming statistics, coupled with the anticipated, exponential rise in osteoporotic fractures among Asia-Pacific populations, warrant a standardized set of minimum clinical standards for the region. "Anecdotal evidence to date reveals significant inconsistencies in osteoporosis clinical practice guidelines in the Asia Pacific region, which vary widely in scope and recommendations. This was confirmed when we analyzed the 18 guidelines." "Implementation of the minimum clinical standards proposed by The APCO Framework, and reform of existing guidelines, will support clinical improvement initiatives, while also paving the way for a more holistic approach to osteoporosis care, and ultimately, greater consistency across all national and regional clinical practice guidelines in the region," Dr. Halbout said. Explore further Hip fracture incidence expected to increase two-to-three fold in some Eurasian countries More information: Development of the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Framework: clinical standards of care for the screening, diagnosis, and management of osteoporosis in the Asia-Pacific region, Osteoporosis International (2021). Journal information: Osteoporosis International Development of the Asia Pacific Consortium on Osteoporosis (APCO) Framework: clinical standards of care for the screening, diagnosis, and management of osteoporosis in the Asia-Pacific region,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s00198-020-05742-0 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal Middle and high school students could soon be back in the classroom, which for most will be the first time since schools were shuttered last March. In-person learning could be expanded to include more elementary schools and the older grades starting on Feb. 8, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Tuesday. But allowing students back in a limited capacity under three options available to districts and charter schools will be up to local school boards and charter leaders. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ And families may also opt for fully remote learning even if their school is opening. David Peercy, the president of Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education, said reopening schools will be a hard decision to make. He said meeting all the guidelines and working out logistics is a heavy lift especially in the less than two weeks until Feb. 8, adding that the date was a surprise. State Public Education Department Secretary Ryan Stewart said Tuesday was the first time the start date for more in-person learning was announced, but he said school leaders were told to anticipate such an expansion. To expand in-person learning, districts are required by PED to meet safety measures such as testing staff for the coronavirus. For those in a red county like APS, 25% of in-person staff will have to be tested weekly. Schools in yellow and green counties, which only applies to Harding and Union right now, will be tasked with testing 12.5% of staff each week. We were on a 10% (testing requirement) and having somewhat difficulty doing that, so there are a lot of things that were going to need to make sure we can do, Peercy said. APS has been preparing for kids to return to campus, he said, but the district needs to nail down how many families will send their children back for in-person learning and look into what else needs to be done to meet requirements. For example, you have Atrisco Heritage with 2,600 kids, is 50% going to work with 1,300 kids back in school? Probably not. How do we do distancing? he said. He said the board will revisit the school reentry topic at an upcoming meeting. APS students have largely been learning remotely the entire school year, with in-person learning being conducted for small groups of students with disabilities. Stewart said more students are getting the green light to go to school after the safest possible set of conditions to return have been created. Human Services Secretary David Scrase pointed to modeling on reopening schools under a hybrid system and other data, along with vaccination developments, as reassurances for expanding in-person learning. We are at a good place in the state and also clearly in a good place in the schools, Scrase said. PED said in a press release that schools have been able to avoid school-based outbreaks for the most part. No New Mexico schools have reached the rapid response closure threshold of four rapid responses in a 14-day period. The current test positivity rate for school staff is 2.2%, the release said. Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia said itll be at least a couple of weeks before the district will make an announcement regarding in-person learning, as district officials gauge the concerns of teachers, staff and families. She said she wants to see how the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine might impact some staff members willingness to return to the classroom. Stewart said those educators and school staff members who are 75 and older can get the vaccine prior to Feb. 8. And school nurses and school staff who work with medically fragile students are able to sign up for vaccines as health care workers, which moves them up on the list. Other educators and school employees would be vaccinated in a later sub group, along with essential workers. Santa Fe briefly had hybrid classes for some elementary students last semester, but the district later announced classes would remain online for the time being. Various labor unions said they support the return of in-person learning at New Mexico schools if the proper safety precautions are implemented. If there are places where they dont have safety precautions in place, we are very clear the school should not reopen, said Stephanie Ly, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico. National Education Association New Mexico also plans to work closely with PED to make sure safety practices are being followed. Those practices will bring big changes to the day-to-day operations of schools. Requirements will include mask wearing, social distancing and separate groups of students. Upgrades to air filtration and adherence to positive-case reporting protocols will also be required as it has in the past. And officials will be visiting schools to sign off on safety. Its critical as were operating schools safely and looking all of our children, all of our families, educators and staff in the eye to say weve created a safe environment for you, that we have a clear set of COVID-safe practices that everyone is adhering to and that are strictly enforced, Stewart said. Former Home and Away star Kate Ritchie, 42, recently went public with her new boyfriend, John Bell, 25. And the 17-year age gap has raised eyebrows among Kate's fans, with many joking that her new beau looks young enough to be her son. 'Definitely thought this was her son!' one person wrote on social media. 'Definitely thought this was her son!' Fans are surprised by the youthful appearance of Kate Ritchie's new boyfriend, John Bell, who is 17 years her junior. Pictured earlier this month 'Younger the better!' joked another fan, adding several crying-with-laughter emojis. One person called the couple's romantic display 'a bit embarrassing', going as far as to say that John still resembles a teenager. However, others were more positive, with one writing: 'Good on her, whatever the case may be.' Commentary: 'Younger the better!' one fan joked on social media, adding several crying-with-laughter emojis. Pictured: Kate on September 11, 2019, in Sydney Kate, who quietly separated from her husband Stuart Webb several months ago, was seen packing on the PDA with her much younger boyfriend as they holidayed in Byron Bay earlier this month. The couple reportedly stayed at an Airbnb and spent most of their time on holiday relaxing by their private mineral salt pool and visiting Byron Bay's top restaurants. While little is known about John, resurfaced court records show he has had a minor brush with the law. Age-gap romance: Kate, 42, is best known for her stint on Home and Away. John, 25, runs a security solutions business Court extracts reveal John was charged with careless driving in March 2015, but was not convicted. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, John was described as a 'messed up teenager from little old Portland [Victoria]' in an Instagram post by a friend last year. John started security solutions business VIREOSS in September 2019. He runs the company from the small town of Seymour, an hour and a half from Melbourne. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a master development agreement (MDA) with Ishraq Hospitality, a division of the Dubai-based Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group, to develop eight hotels across IHGs midscale brand, Holiday Inn Express, in the MEA region. The multi-property portfolio license will see new hotel openings in the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt in the near term. Ishraq Hospitality, which operates HIEX under the IHG franchise, currently owns four Holiday Inn Express hotels in the UAE in partnership with IHG. The agreement will mark the first Holiday Inn Express hotels in Oman, Bahrain, Jordan and Egypt where there is an expected build-up of demand for midscale, branded accommodation to cater to business and leisure tourists alike. The brand debuts will strengthen IHGs existing Holiday Inn brand family portfolio and solidify IHGs position as one of the leading hospitality players across the region. Ishraq Hospitality has an excellent track record in hospitality management and the agreement will see it expand its horizons to create a regional footprint. Speaking on the announcement, Pascal Gauvin, Managing Director, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG, said: We are delighted to sign this agreement with Ishraq Hospitality, which will bring the Holiday Inn Express brand to the forefront in the Middle East and further strengthen our midscale offering in the MEA region. We are proud to continue our relationship with Ishraq Hospitality with whom we share a common vision for the travel and tourism industry in the region. The hospitality sector has faced great challenges in response to Covid-19, however, such signings reaffirm a positive future outlook for the industry. We are excited about this new venture and look forward to welcoming guests to these highly anticipated locations in the near future. Sherif Beshara, Group CEO of Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group, the holding company of Ishraq Hospitality, said: We are proud to further strengthen our partnership with IHG, given our already strong, successful relationship with them. This agreement solidifies and endorses Ishraq Hospitality as a renowned hospitality management company under the IHG franchise. This signing presents us with more opportunities to reinforce and build on our Holiday Inn Express portfolio in MEA." There is ample evidence of the strength of the regions economy and the robust potential of its hospitality sector, and we are committed to accelerating this growth, along with IHG, our trusted partner." Given IHGs global expertise in hospitality, their signature flair and strong legacy in the region, I am confident that the opening of the hotels in enviably strategic locations will successfully cater to all the needs of modern business and leisure travellers, he said. IHG currently operates 95 hotels across seven brands in the Middle East, including: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, voco and Six Senses with a further 42 in the development pipeline due to open within the next three to five years. - TradeArabia News Service The draft political report submitted to the 13th National Party Congress has shown the importance and the pioneering role of foreign affairs in the cause of building and safeguarding the country. An important foundation to implement the task is to continue "building a comprehensive and modern diplomacy" with focus on three pillars of Party diplomacy, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh. Photo baoquocte.vn Politburo member, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh made the statement in his article entitled The hallmarks of foreign affairs in 35 years of oi moi (reform): To accompany the nation, serve the Fatherland and serve the people'. It was published on the occasion of the 13th National Party Congress this week. The article reviewed milestones of Vietnamese foreign affairs policies mentioned in the Party documents since 1986 and looked into diplomatic achievements and lessons learned over the past 35 years. Minh called the first period of oi moi (from 1986 to 1995) the period of breaking the embargo siege and bringing the country out of serious economic crisis. The Communist Party of Vietnam reviewed the changing regional and global situation to respond to the new developments and determine foreign policies and directions in the new situation. In Politburo Resolution No 13 in May 1988, the Party set the policy of co-existence in peace. Accordingly, Vietnam would be able to maintain independence and build a socialist state with a strong economy, defence and the expansion of international co-operation relations. Vietnam's foreign policy was consolidated at the seventh Party Congress in 1991 during which the Party affirmed that Vietnam wants to be a friend and a partner with other countries around the world, and expand and multilateralise its external economic relations. Vietnam normalised diplomatic relations with China in 1991, with the US in 1995 and fostered relations with neighbouring countries and other important partners in the world. Vietnam became an official member of ASEAN in 1995. The eighth National Party Congress in 1996 affirmed the diplomatic policy of "independence, self-reliance, diversification and multilateralisation of international relations". The progressive diplomatic thinking was reflected through the economic integration policy at the eighth, ninth, tenth congresses in 1996, 2001 and 2006 respectively. From 1996 to 2010, Vietnam joined the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) and signed a bilateral trade agreement with the US. Vietnam attended a series of important multilateral mechanisms such as the 1996 Asia-Europe Co-operation Forum (ASEM), the 1998 Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC), the World Trade Organisation. Vietnam hosted high-level conferences of the Community of French-speaking countries (1997), ASEAN (1998), ASEM (2005), APEC (2006) and was a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council during the 2008-09 period. The eleventh National Party Congress in 2011 switched the economic integration policy to active international integration. The scale of integration was extended at the twelfth congress in 2016, highlighting the active participation and promoting the core leading role of Vietnam. Vietnam has built a network of 30 comprehensive and strategic partners, including all major countries, 17 out of G20 members and all ASEAN countries. Vietnam has actively negotiated a number of free trade agreements (FTAs), including new FTAs, namely the CPTPP, EVFTA and RCEP. Vietnam has been actively participating in the ASEAN community building and peacekeeping mission. It also assumed the ASEAN chairmanship in 2020 and became a non-permanent member of the 2020-21 UN Security Council term. According to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, foreign affairs have handled properly and relations with neighbouring countries, major powers, comprehensive and strategic partners have grown effectively. In the aspirations for national development, the Vietnams external affairs work has created all favourable international conditions, attracting resources for development and enhancement of the country's status in which local people and businesses are at the centre. The foreign affairs work has made an important contribution to protecting national sovereignty and improving Vietnams position and prestige in the region and in the world. Those achievements are attributed to the Party's proper foreign policy and guidelines over the past years on the basis of situation assessment and lessons learned. First of all, that is the lesson of determining and bringing into full play the nations interests on the basis of basic principles of international law, equality and mutual benefits. Another lesson is to rely on internal power of Party, State diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy, and power of foreign affairs - defence - security. The external goals always stick to the country's development goals. External relations are an extension of the internal affairs and an effective tool for realising development aspirations. In the context of evolving regional and global situation which include uncertain factors, peace, co-operation, development, globalisation and integration are still a big trend, but there will be many obstacles and challenges from major strategic competition and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Asia-Pacific region holds a vital position in the world and is an important driving force of the global economy. But the region still has potential destabilising factors, including the developments in the East Sea and the Mekong. In the most complex international context, Vietnam will set ambitious long-term development goals for 2030 and 2045. Therefore, the mission of foreign affairs in the future is difficult, with the priority on the task of building a happy and prosperous country, according to the Deputy Prime Minister. VNS Brandon Straka, a gay Trump supporter who launched the #WalkAway social media campaign encouraging voters to leave the Democratic Party, has been arrested in connection with the assault on the U.S. Capitol this month. Straka was arrested Monday in Nebraska, where he grew up, and was charged with impeding law enforcement officers during civil disorder, knowingly entering restricted grounds and engaging in disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress, NBC New York reported. Straka, 44, who describes himself as a "former liberal," was a scheduled speaker at a Jan. 5 "Stop the Steal" rally at Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C. The FBI received multiple tips about his presence at the deadly siege the next day, according to a federal affidavit, including a tip from a woman who claimed to be a relative of Straka's. Special Agent Jeremy Desor detailed a series of tweets and videos Straka made during and after the attack. They have since been deleted. In one tweet, he called on "patriots at the Capitol" to "hold the line!" according to the affidavit. The affidavit says a video posted to YouTube by a witness shows Straka at the Capitol doors saying: "We're going in. They're saying we're going in. We're going in." At one point, the crowd was challenged by a Capitol Police officer with a shield. Straka told them, "Take it away from him," according to the affidavit. The clip ends with Straka at the top of the stairs, the document says. "I was quite close to entering myself as police began tear gassing us from the door," reads a screenshot of a tweet the FBI said it received. "I inhaled tear gas & got it in my eyes. Patriots began exiting shortly after saying Congress had been cleared." Straka is alleged to have tweeted after the assault that he was "confused'' by conservatives who disavowed the rioters. Story continues "For 6-8 weeks everybody on the right has been saying '1776!' & that if congress moves forward it will mean a revolution! So congress moves forward," he wrote, according to the complaint. "Patriots storm the Capitol now everybody is virtual signaling their embarrassment that this happened. "Perhaps I missed the part where it was agreed this would be a revolution of ice cream cones & hair-braiding parties to take our government back from lying, cheating globally interested swamp parasites," he added. "My bad." Straka also dismissed conspiracy theories that the protesters were antifa, or anti-fascist, activists in disguise, according to the complaint. "Be embarrassed & hide if you need to- but I was there. It was not Antifa at the Capitol. It was freedom loving Patriots who were DESPERATE to fight for the final hope of our Republic because literally nobody cares about them. Everyone else can denounce them. I will not," he wrote on Twitter, according to the complaint. At least 150 people have been charged in connection with the attack. Straka, who has made his Twitter account private, did not respond to a request for comment. Straka, a former hairdresser and aspiring actor, became a right-wing social media star in 2018, when he launched a YouTube video explaining why he decided to "walk away" from the Democratic Party, using #WalkAway as the tagline for his incipient movement. "Once upon a time, I was a liberal," Straka says in the six-minute clip. "For years now, I have watched as the left has devolved into intolerant, inflexible, illogical, hateful, misguided, ill-informed, un-American, hypocritical, menacing, callous, ignorant, narrow-minded and, at times, blatantly fascistic behavior and rhetoric." The video, which was watched millions of times, earned Straka follows on Twitter from Sarah Palin and Donald Trump Jr., as well as a $10,000 donation from Alex Jones of Infowars and an invitation to appear on Fox News' "Ingraham Angle." The Alliance for Securing Democracy, which tracks Russian interference in U.S. elections, alleges that #WalkAway's success was the result of Russian bots. Last year, Straka's campaign held rallies in Dallas, West Hollywood, California, and Washington, D.C. In June, Straka was banned from American Airlines after he refused to wear a mask on a flight from New York to Dallas. The day of President Joe Biden's inauguration, Straka acknowledged his followers' sadness in a Facebook Live video but said he was "excited about our future." "I just feel that there is so much to be excited about. It's such an era of great reformation that's just beginning," he told viewers, adding that there was now "an opportunity now for us to wake people up [and] connect with people." "I don't believe the rallies are going to stop," he said in the clip. "I don't believe our families or communities are going to stop." Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram He also added that he would like to be a part of a film made on the cause of water conservation. The Newton actor said that cinema has the power to bring real change, and hopes a director will take a project forward. In an effort to spread awareness against the looming water scarcity, actor Rajkummar Rao joined Network18's initiative Mission Paani Waterthon. Rao listed several steps that can be followed to conserve water on a daily basis. "I'm very conscious about water conservation and I want to tell everyone that we don't need to try very hard to save water. There are small steps that we can imbibe in our lives, through which we can contribute a lot to this issue. Because there is nothing greater than water. 70% of our body is water. A small thing, that I can say, is that when you are brushing your teeth in the morning, a lot of people keep their taps on. There is no point. It just takes half a second to put the tap off. So please turn your taps off. A lot of men, when they shave, they keep their taps on. Don't do that. These little steps are very easy and need to be a part of our lives. We can make a big contribution to this issue," he said. "I don't use a shower, I use a bucket so that I know how much water I'm using. When we use a shower we don't get an idea and a lot of water is wasted. So there are the few things that I want to request everyone to make a part of our lives. We might not understand it now, but in a few years we will understand the value of it," he added. Rajkummar opened up about his own experiences growing up in a middle-class joint family in Gurugram. He added that their family faced water crunch and had to get a tank made to store water. He added that as a child, it was a source of fun for him, but he has now understood the significance of the tank after growing up. Also Read: Mission Paani Waterthon: Akshay Kumar walks 21 km on treadmill to spotlight problem of water scarcity He also added that he would like to be a part of a film made on the cause of water conservation. The Newton actor said that cinema has the power to bring real change, and hopes a director will take a project forward. The Mission Paani Waterthon, an initiative by News18 and Harpic India, brought together some of the biggest celebrities, leaders and changemakers to join hands for an initiative towards saving water and sustaining it for the generations to come. The event will emphasise on 'Paani Ki Kahaani, Bhaarat Ki Zubaani', the theme to raise awareness about water crisis in India. You can contribute to the cause by taking a Jal Pratigya. Visit www.news18.com/mission-paani CANTON, Mass., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Dear Dunkin' lovers everywhere: No matter how Valentine's Day is celebrated, Dunkin' is making it easy to feel the love and share in the sweetness of the holiday with a lineup of sweet sips and treats, featuring beautifully bold espresso beverages and perfect pairings of heart-shaped donuts. And, inspired by being part of so many fans' love stories, Dunkin' will debut its first-ever, online wedding-themed pop-up shop, and will put marriage on the menu by giving select fans the chance to kick off Valentine's Day weekend with a Dunkin' drive-thru wedding ceremony. Sweet Sips and Sweet Hearts for any Valentine Celebration Available today for a limited time at participating Dunkin' restaurants nationwide, Dunkin's seasonal menu offers choices to fit any Valentine's Day mood or moment. Starting with sweet sips for espresso lovers' lips, Dunkin' is once again serving the whimsical and playful Pink Velvet Macchiato, bringing the experience of biting into a delicious red velvet cupcake by combining Dunkin's espresso with red velvet cake flavor and hints of smooth cream cheese icing. And in the romantic and decadent spirit of a full box of chocolates, Dunkin's Mocha Macchiato offers the combo of rich espresso and deep chocolate flavors. When served iced, both Macchiatos feature a stunning layered look sure to make friends on social swoon. For a delicious duet with Dunkin's Macchiatos, America's favorite sweethearts are together again. Dunkin' has brought back its signature heart-shaped donuts, including the Brownie Batter Donut filled with rich, chocolatey brownie batter-flavored buttercreme filling, and topped with vanilla flavored icing and chocolate sprinkles, and the Cupid's Choice Donut filled with Bavarian Kreme and topped with strawberry-flavored icing and pink sprinkles. According to Jill Nelson, Vice President, Marketing & Culinary at Dunkin', "Dunkin' is the perfect place for anyone to find the spirit of Valentine's Day. With our gorgeous Pink Velvet and Mocha Macchiatos, joined together with our beloved heart-shaped donuts, we're making it easy to treat yourself and bring a little love and sweetness to any way you choose to celebrate." Marriage is on the Menu at Dunkin' Over the years, Dunkin' has seen fans take their "I Dos" to Dunkin' as the place to pledge their love to the one they choose to run with for life. From in-store weddings, to photo shoots at the local Dunkin', to wedding party Dunkin' runs, Dunkin' has been a part of it all. This year, the brand is there for couples that want to get married as fast as a trip through the drive-thru, or want Dunkin' to be a part of a wedding day later in the year. Dunkin' Wedding Merch Drop: Dunkin' has been part of so many love stories over the years, with many fans making their own Dunkin' wedding merch to celebrate the big day. This year, the brand is answering the call from fans and officially bringing Dunkin' lovers the chance to bring a little pink and orange to their "I Dos" with its first-ever, wedding-themed online pop-up shop. The wedding merch will be available starting February 11 , with details and specific merchandise to be revealed soon. Dunkin' Drive-Thru Wedding Contest: Recently, a general manager of a Dunkin' restaurant in Oklahoma City was married at the Dunkin' drive-thru where she and her husband first met. Now, Dunkin' is spreading the love by giving select couples their own chance at a Dunkin' drive-thru wedding. In a time when so many couples have had to reimagine their wedding, Dunkin's special Marriage is on the Menu contest will give fans in New York the chance to win a unique wedding experience with a Dunkin' twist. Dunkin' has teamed up with I Do Drive Thru, an international drive-up wedding service created to help people get married in a fun and safe way during the pandemic, to perform the ceremonies. In addition to the Dunkin'-themed ceremony complete with festive decor and picture perfect photo moments each couple will receive special wedding presents from Dunkin', including a gift basket of Dunkin' wedding gear and accessories, professional photos from the big day, and a $500 cash prize. The contest winners' wedding will kick off Valentine's Day weekend on Friday afternoon, February 12, at a Dunkin' location in the Town of Wallkill, New York (address: 350 Route 211 East, Middletown, NY 10940). Other couples can also visit this location between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for a drive-thru vow renewal or commitment ceremony conducted by I Do Drive Thru. For the chance to receive a Dunkin' drive-thru wedding, fans in the state of New York can submit a photo on Instagram along with a caption stating why they want to get married in a Dunkin' drive-thru beginning today, January 27, through January 30 using #DunkinIDoContest. Winners will be selected by February 2. No purchase necessary. Must be 18 or older and resident of New York State. Contest begins at 12:01am ET on 1/27/21 and ends at 11:59pm ET on 1/30/21. For Official Rules and Marriage/Judging criteria, visit www.DDSweeps.com. About Dunkin' Founded in 1950, Dunkin' is America's favorite all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin' is a market leader in the hot regular/decaf/flavored coffee, iced regular/decaf/flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories. Dunkin' has earned a No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for 14 years running. The company has more than 12,600 restaurants in 40 countries worldwide. Dunkin' is part of the Inspire Brands family of restaurants. For more information, visit www.DunkinDonuts.com . Media Contact: Caroline Medeiros Dunkin' Brands [email protected] 781-737-5200 SOURCE Dunkin' Related Links http://www.DunkinDonuts.com January 22, 2021 Digital Discussion with SVHC and VTDOH When you have questions, you can rely on SVMC and its community partners to answer them. We held an online info session on Tuesday, January 19. Megan Herrington, our district director of the Vermont Department of Health, joined our Chief Medical Officer Trey Dobson, MD, and the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce's Matthew Harrington to discuss our region's vaccine roll out. READ MORE How the Pandemic is Like a Football Game As we face the biggest threat in our lifetimes, the pandemic, we look to football players for the key lessons we need to play hard to the end and win the game. The stakes have never been higher. READ MORE Current Issues in Maternal Health Dr. Kimberley Sampson of SVMC OB/GYN shares the challenges of maternal health and what OB/GYNs nationwide are doing to address them. Read More. Our Biggest Vaccine Q&A Yet We've gathered all of the vaccine questions we have heard and put them all together in one easy and convenient place. If you have questions, answers are here. Read More. Case Counts in Your Town Knowing the data helps us make good decisions. Get the most accurate information about new COVID-19 cases in your town, county, and state. It's available to you on your state's COVID-19 dashboard. Read More. SVMC Wins National Recognition from American Hospital Association SVMC is pleased to share that it received 2020's Rural Hospital Leadership Award from the American Hospital Association. The award recognizes extraordinary efforts toward healthcare reform. READ MORE OUR CORPORATE SPONSORS: Southwestern Vermont Health Care | svhealthcare.org Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Searching for a way to make your point? Then look no further than your hands. Gestures such as slicing the air or waving can make what we are saying more memorable, according to scientists. It may explain politicians annoying habit of making chopping motions to emphasise words in their speeches and why people in some countries such as Italy tend to gesticulate when they speak. Scientists suggest gestures such as slicing the air or waving can make what we are saying more memorable The research shows gestures can affect the sounds people hear, for example making vowels seem longer. So waving while saying bit could make it sound more like beat. And a vigorous hand movement could make code sound more like coat, according to the scientists from Germanys Max Planck Institute. Writing in the Royal Society Journal, they said chopping motions known as beat gestures feature prominently in politicians public speeches and may help to make what they say more memorable by stressing the important words. Their study involved playing people videos of a man speaking with his face blurred out and his right arm moving to emphasise different syllables. It may explain politicians annoying habit of making chopping motions to emphasise words in their speeches. Pictured: Boris Johnson They wrote: Beat gestures... influence the perception of individual speech sounds. They add that listening involves taking in auditory and visual information to make a well-informed best guess of what specific message a speaker is intending to communicate. They say that practical implications are that speech recognition systems may be improved by including looking at hand signals and that computer figures, when speaking, would benefit from animated hand gestures along with computer generated sounds. With sub-zero temperatures, long hours of darkness and snow on the ground, its difficult not to have some thoughts for those who are sleeping rough. Numbers are supposedly available for this group. A recent RTE Investigates programme to which I contributed found that 27pc of those surveyed had been refused an emergency bed since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The reasons were not given, however one person reported being turned away because he was not homeless in Dublin, but in another country. It may be that the hostels were full on that occasion or that the callers were threatening. More likely it is simply the rigidity that comes from petty bureaucracy. Read More The cost of emergency beds to the State has more than doubled, between 2016 (10 million) and 2019 (22 million) amounting to between 35,000 and 40,000 per person per year. The path to homelessness is variable. Some becoming estranged from their families while others have unwelcome behaviours due to drug misuse or mental illness. Some will have elected to leave home because of physical or sexual abuse in childhood. Others will come through the State system, having first been taken into care as children for protection from abusive or neglectful parents. Job loss will be a trigger for some, while spiralling rents in a city that has a housing crisis may be another explanation. Homelessness following release from prison will be a feature among some who now have nowhere to stay except to borrow a place on a couch from a friend a welcome that is likely to extinguish rapidly. The model in Ireland seems to be to manage the problem rather than resolve it. It is questionable if the millions spent on emergency accommodation for the homeless in Ireland is value for money. Finland, a country with roughly the same population as Ireland, and Helsinki, with a population similar to Dublin, have now significantly reduced the numbers of rough sleepers and those relying on temporary accommodation. It is the only country in Europe where the number of homeless people is dropping. The Housing First model is driven by the belief that having a place to live is a human right and a fundamental right. The needs of the homeless are met by different types of housing and it has seen the number of homeless people drop from 20,000 in the 1980s to 4,600 at present. The underlying philosophy is that a home is the foundation on which the person can get the rest of their lives together while in most other countries, including Ireland, this approach is reversed and permanent accommodation will only be offered to those who have already stabilised and are drug-free. That country also seems more willing to provide case workers to support homeless people on their journey back to healing from the many scourges that have blighted their lives. However, these support staff are provided on a case-by-case basis, depending on need. Accommodation cannot be provided by aspiration alone. Suitable, affordable housing must be available and this can only be achieved by government policy. In Finland this required close co-ordination between government, municipalities and the organisations involved, of which Y-Foundation is the largest. In practice, the person is allowed to remain in their property and with the help of support staff they are encouraged to engage with treatment and rehabilitation. Those who are more independent are stimulated to involve themselves in activities in the local neighbourhood. Unlike other countries, the Finnish model provides an accommodation allowance to those who apply for it and so the person pays their own rent directly. This increases their sense of ownership and responsibility. In this country, with our severe housing shortage, it is difficult to see an end to homelessness and particularly rough sleepers, notwithstanding the towering work of the Peter McVerry Trust and Focus Ireland in using the Housing First model. The most relevant guide to the Irish shortage is in the rental sector. On December 4, 2020, Dublin city and county with a population of almost two million had just 457 houses to rent and the cheapest started at 1,297 per month for a one-bedroom property, according to Daft.ie. Studio apartments on the outskirts of Dublin come to 150 per month. Most of these are student accommodation and so are not available to a homeless person. In Cork city and county, with a population of over half a million, there were only 246 properties for rent, according to Selectra. Most landlords prefer to use their properties for holiday or short-term rentals as the profits are much higher. Many of those who are homeless, and especially those sleeping rough, do not have the fond, loving memories of a place called home. They may have had houses but not the love, warmth and care that the word conjures up. Isnt it time they now had something they can truly call home and where they can belong, so that their self-respect, confidence and dignity can be nurtured. In the simple words of TS Eliot: Home is where one starts from. Patricia Casey is a consultant psychiatrist in the Hermitage Medical Clinic and Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at UCD Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson is expected to release early data next week on its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The vaccine developed by the companys Belgian division, Janssen Pharmaceutica has been in its Phase 3 clinical trial, known as Ensemble. It could be a game-changer in bolstering the rollout, which has been lagging nationwide and in New Jersey with only two vaccines approved in the U.S. I am proud of the progress of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate and the fact that weve moved so quickly while maintaining the highest level of science and safety standards, said Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, during an investor conference call. We look forward to sharing further details from our Phase 3 study by early next week. Nothing is certain until the data is released, but Gorsky said he was optimistic. I think the Phase 1 and 2a results, particularly those that were recently published we are hopeful thats a good precursor to the kind of efficacy and safety that well see in a larger population, Gorsky said. Of course, until we see this final data, we wont know for certain. But look, we remain optimistic, and were going to remain very diligent as we go through this final review. In August, Johnson & Johnson entered into an agreement with the federal government to deliver 100 million doses of its vaccine after it received approval or Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. On the call, the company indicated that it plans to meet its supply agreements. I would say with respect to supply, consistent with the comments that were made earlier, we intend to meet all of the firm-order commitments that we have, whether that be (to) the United States, to the European Union, or to developing countries, said Joseph J. Wolk, Johnson & Johnsons executive vice president and chief financial officer. Right now, the current vaccine supply hasnt met demand throughout the state and nation. The current vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna also require two doses a priming shot and a booster shot three or four weeks later, depending on which companys injection you get. Experts worry about recipients returning for their second dose. A single shot would alleviate that concern. Vaccination sites have also been running out of doses, as people wait for hours in long lines, only to be turned away. Once the clinical trial data is ready, Johnson & Johnson is expected to apply for an emergency use authorization with the FDA, just like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna did following their clinical trials. Its unclear how long it will take before people can begin receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine once its approved. New Jersey has administered 627,677 Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses so far including 540,243 first-dose shots and 85,735 boosters, according to the state dashboard. Tell us your COVID-19 vaccination stories, send us a news tip or questions about the vaccination process on our tip form. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. It has become a game of whack-a-mole to police users like Mr. Mackey, who prosecutors said would simply open new Twitter accounts after his old ones were suspended. Mr. Mackey used four different Twitter accounts from 2014 to 2018, the complaint said, always seeking to hide his true identity from the public. The goal of Mr. Mackeys campaign, according to prosecutors, was to influence people to vote in a legally invalid manner. In 2018, Mr. Mackey was revealed to be the operator of a Twitter account using the pseudonym Ricky Vaughn, which boosted former President Donald J. Trump while spreading anti-Semitic and white nationalist propaganda. Mr. Mackeys account had such a large following that it made the M.I.T. Media Labs list of the top 150 influencers in the 2016 election, ranking ahead of the Twitter accounts for NBC News, Drudge Report and CBS News. Twitter shut down the account in 2016, one month before the election, for violating the companys rules by participating in targeted abuse. At that time, the account had about 58,000 followers. Three days later, an associate of Mr. Mackeys opened a new account for him, prosecutors said, which was also quickly suspended. It was not clear how Mr. Mackey became connected to Mr. Gionet, or Baked Alaska, who was also a popular social media figure among white nationalists and far-right activists. A lawyer for Mr. Gionet declined to comment. Mr. Mackey is a Vermont native who graduated from Middlebury College. He worked for five years as an economist at a Brooklyn-based research firm, John Dunham & Associates, until his termination in the summer of 2016, a company representative said. Apple's iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini Apple is shifting production of its Mac, iPads, and iPhones to India and Vietnam, a move signaling accelerated diversification, despite hopes that US President Joe Biden will ease trade tensions with China. Sources told Nikkei Asia that Apple will start producing iPads in Vietnam by as early as mid-2021, and will begin producing its first 5G smartphones the iPhone 12 series in India, within this quarter. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report. Other productions that will shift base out of China include Apple earphones, computers, and smart speakers, sources added, stating that this is part of its ongoing diversification strategy. Apple did not respond to queries, the report said. Specifically, the production capacity of its voice-activated smart HomePod mini speakers will be expanded in Vietnam, where it has been produced since its launch in 2020. Local production of other audio devices and AirPods in the Southeast Asian country have already been increased. Besides this, part production of MacBook will also be shifted to Vietnam this year, another source told the publication, adding that production of the Mac mini has been shifted to Malaysia. A supply chain manager told Nikkei Asia that not only Apple, but many tech companies all want out-of-China production even for their core products something that was hard to imagine two years ago, but is not impossible now. Apple suppliers are also falling in line with the shift to Vietnam, for e.g. supplier Foxconn invested $270 million for a subsidiary there, while Luxshare Precision Industry (AirPods, HomePod mini) is also ramping production in the country, it added. This would be the tech company will produce a significant number of devices outside of China, the report noted. India is in fact the companys second-largest production base. The shift, which began in 2020, is likely to continue in 2021, as despite hopes that President Biden will ease trade tensions, he has said the tariff policy imposed by former President Donald Trump will not be immediately reversed. Kolkata, Jan 27 : West Bengal Panchayat Affairs Minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader Subrata Mukherjee is set to carry out an extensive survey in Nandigram in East Midnapore district from February 1. The decision to conduct a three-day booth-to-booth survey was taken by the ruling formation after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared her name as a candidate from Nandigram in the upcoming Assembly polls. Nandigram is a stronghold of ex-West Bengal Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last month at a mega rally in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah. According to sources, Mukherjee will meet individual voters in the high-profile constituency to understand the demand of the electorate. The fight became all the more important after the Trinamool supremo decided to fight the elections from Nandigram. In an open challenge to her once confidante and ex-minister Adhikari, Banerjee had announced on January 18 that she would contest the upcoming Assembly elections from Nandigram. The announcement came at a rally held in Nandigram - the Assembly constituency represented by Adhikari. "I will contest from Nandigram. It's lucky for me. I think I won't be able to give much time to Nandigram as I will have to campaign in all the 294 seats. You will have to ensure that thing and the rest I will take care later," Banerjee had told the gathering. Trinamool state President Subrata Bakshi has also announced Banerjee's name from the Nandigram constituency for the coming elections that is due in April-May this year. The Government assumption that international travel is low-risk does not stand up to scrutiny, Kildare North TD, Catherine Murphy has told the Dail, today (January 27) Deputy Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said there is broad public acceptance that enforceable quarantine measures are required to keep other variants of Covid-19 out of the country. But she told the Taoiseach that the Government seems to be operating on the working assumption that international travel is low-risk. She also said that figures showed that nearly half the people arriving in the country did not provide an address. Deputy Murphy said:High profile non-compliance in relation to international travel is undermining broader compliance. There is a high degree of fear. People are not looking to punish other people they are looking to be protected. That is why the focus is on international travel in relation to the other variants. There is a public understanding of those risks. The Leixlip based TD said:The reality is that the UK and South African variants did not arrive into this country on a south-easterly they came in on a flight or a boat. Other strains of the virus will arrive though these means too. Given that the UK variant is now the most dominant one in Ireland, where is the evidence that international travel is low-risk? Figures I recently received from the Minister for Health showed that 49% percent of passengers arriving into Ireland did not provide the authorities with an address, so where is the evidence of compliance? Deputy Murphy said theres an understandable desire by the public for the Government to keep the country as safe as possible. It is difficult to understand how changing quarantine requirements from advisory to mandatory can be enforced in homes. Concluding she said: The starting point for the Government strategy seems to be what cant be done, with a reliance on the default position of rolling lockdowns. WASHINGTON In what would the most ambitious U.S. effort ever to stave off the worst effects of climate change, President Joe Biden is aiming to cut oil, gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines through executive orders Wednesday. The orders awaiting his signature target federal subsidies for oil and other fossil fuels and halt new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters. Why Joe Biden's oil and gas moratorium is expected to have long-term effects on Louisiana's economy A wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal land and water that is expected Wednesday from President Joe Biden could have a They also intend to conserve 30 percent of the country's lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years, move to an all-electric federal vehicle fleet and elevate climate change to a national security priority. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030 as part of Bidens campaign pledge for a $2 trillion program to slow global warming. In a change from previous administrations of both parties, Biden is directing agencies to focus help and investment on the low-income and minority communities that live closest to polluting refineries and other hazards, and the oil- and coal-patch towns that face job losses as the U.S. moves to sharply increase its reliance on wind, solar and other other energy sources that do not emit climate-warming greenhouse gases. Biden has set a goal of zero carbon dioxide pollution in the power sector by 2035 and a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The ambitious plan is aimed at slowing human-caused global warming that is magnifying extreme weather events such as deadly wildfires in the West and drenching rains and hurricanes in the East. The actions make clear that "both significant short-term global emission reductions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century or before are required to avoid setting the world on a dangerous, potentially catastrophic, climate trajectory, the White House said in a statement before Biden signed the orders. The orders are aimed at revitalizing the U.S. energy sector, conserving our natural resources and leveraging them to help drive our nation toward a clean energy future,'' the White House said, while "creating well-paying jobs ... and delivering justice for communities who have been subjected to environmental harm.'' +3 Joe Biden to pause oil drilling on public lands as part of plan to address climate, sources say WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands, as his administration President Donald Trump, who ridiculed the science of climate change, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris global climate accord, opened more public lands to coal, gas and oil production and weakened regulation on fossil fuel emissions. Experts say these emissions are heating the Earth's climate dangerously and worsening floods, droughts and other natural disasters. Georgia Tech climate scientist Kim Cobb called the executive orders an excellent start for the week-old Biden administration. If this Day 7 momentum is representative of this administrations 4-year term, there is every reason to believe that we might achieve carbon neutrality sooner than 2050," even as key roadblocks lie ahead, Cobb said. Biden and his supporters say the investment in cleaner energy national will net millions of jobs. But that probably will take years to happen, and the orders will face intense opposition from oil and gas and power plant industries, as well as from many Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas drillers in Western states, said the executive order is intended to delay drilling on federal lands to the point where it is no longer viable. Her group pledged a legal challenge. The environmental left is leading the agenda at the White House when it comes to energy and environment issues, she said. She noted that the freeze would be felt most acutely in states such as Wyoming, North Dakota, Texas and Louisiana all won by Trump. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up A 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters was announced last week. Biden is seeking to double energy production from offshore wind after the Trump administration slowed permit review of some giant offshore wind turbine projects. Significantly, he is directing agencies to eliminate spending that acts as subsidies for fossil fuel industries. The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. The administrations review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere,'' said Kieran Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has pushed for the drilling pause. Oil industry groups slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. Construction on long disputed Keystone XL halted as Biden decides to revoke permit TORONTO (AP) Construction on the long disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline halted Wednesday as incoming U.S. President Joe Biden decided to rev "This is just the start. It will get worse,'' said Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. "Meanwhile, the laws of physics, chemistry and supply and demand remain in effect. Oil and natural gas prices are going up, and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs.'' A 60-day suspension order at the Interior Department did not limit existing oil and gas operations under valid leases, meaning activity would not come to a sudden halt on the millions of acres of lands in the West and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where much drilling is concentrated. The freeze also is unlikely to affect existing leases. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trumps final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. It would exempt tribal lands, mainly in the West, that are used for energy production. The Interior Department will continue to consult with tribes on both renewable and conventional energy resources, "in conformance with the U.S. governments trust responsibilities,'' the White House said. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Extracting and burning those fuels generates the equivalent of almost 550 million tons (500 million metric tons) of greenhouse gases annually, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a 2018 study. Under Trump, officials approved almost 1,400 permits on federal lands, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico, over a three-month period that included the election, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data. Those permits, which remain valid, will allow companies to continue drilling for years, potentially undercutting Bidens climate agenda. Biden will direct all U.S. agencies to use science and evidence-based decision-making in federal rule-making and announce a U.S.-hosted climate leaders summit on Earth Day, April 22. By MATTHEW DALY and ELLEN KNICKMEYER, Associated Press WOOD RIVER The Madison County Health Department on Tuesday reported that it had provided 9,965 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during Jan. 18-25. The next step, officials said, is the innoculation of more than 50,000 Madison County residents during the Phase 1B of the state program. Starting next week, the health department will launch an Online Appointment Scheduler for eligible people to receive the vaccine. The department will also launch a phone number for people who do not have access to a computer or do not use a computer. It will take several weeks, if not months, to vaccinate the people in Phase 1B, county health officials said in a released statement. Continue to wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. People eligible for vaccinations in Phase 1B include those 65 and older and frontline essential works, including law enforcement, food workers, postal workers, grocery store workers, public transportation workers, manufacturing workers and people in education. The department also announced that Madison County now has recorded 25,080 COVID-19 confirmed and probable cases, including 110 reported Tuesday. The county recorded 1,239 tests Tuesday, for a total to date of 229,139. Late Tuesday, the county health department reported five new COVID-19 related deaths a woman in her 80s and four men in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s bringing the total to 428. As of Tuesday there were 51 COVID-19 patients in Madison County hospitals, four on ventilators. The three-day positivity rate in the county was 11.65%. The seven-day rate was 11.01% and the 10-day rate was 11.02%. On Wednesday, the Illinois Department of Public Health reported 81 additional COVID-19 deaths, including four in Madison County: a man in his 60s, a man in his 70s, a woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s. More Information COVID-19 cases by county Madison - 25,080 (428 deaths) Jersey - 2,317 (44 deaths) Calhoun - 462 (4 deaths) Greene - 1,228 (42 deaths) Macoupin - 4,222 (99 deaths) Montgomery - 3,198 (55 deaths) St. Clair - 23,296 (419 deaths) Clinton - 5,247 (79 deaths) Bond - 1,795 (20 deaths) Monroe - 3,733 (71 deaths) Randolph - 3,826 (72 deaths) Washington - 1,511 (20 deaths) Source: IDPH & Madison, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin and Calhoun county health departments See More Collapse There are sometimes discrepancies in the number of cases and deaths reported at the state and local levels, in part because of the volume of cases, and also as each local department forwards the information and it is verified. Local health officials have said the cases eventually reconcile as the reporting catches up. The IDPH on Wednesday reported 3,751 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Illinois. To date, the IDPH has reported 1,112,181 cases, including 18,964. As of Tuesday night, 3,931 people in Illinois were reported to be in the hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 591 were intensive care unit patients and 300 were on ventilators. The preliminary seven-day statewide positivity for cases as a percent of total tests Jan. 20-26 was 4.5%. The preliminary seven-day statewide test positivity for the same period was 5.6%. Additional cases also were reported Thursday by the IDPH in Jersey, Greene, Macoupin, Calhoun, Montgomery, St. Clair, Clinton, Bond, Monroe, Randolph and Washington counties. Additional deaths were reported in Montgomery and St. Clair counties. On Wednesday, the IDPH reported 1,253,300 doses of vaccine had been delivered to providers in Illinois. About 537,050 doses have been allocated to the federal governments Pharmacy Partnership Program for long-term care facilities. This brings the total Illinois doses to 1,790,350. The IDPH on Wednesday reported a total of 773,623 vaccines administered, including 117,983 for long-term care facilities. The seven-day rolling average of vaccines administered daily is 33,698 doses. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday toured a vaccine site in Lake County, saying he was encouraged by President Joe Bidens efforts to escalate vaccine production nationwide. The Biden administration announced an increase in weekly allocations to states starting next week, from about 8.6 million doses total to a minimum of 10 million doses over the next three weeks, according to USA Today. Biden also secured a deal with drug companies Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the summer. Still, Pritzker said there is no guarantee every Illinois resident will be vaccinated by the summer. A 16 percent increase (in vaccine dose delivery) isnt enough, but its a lot better than we were getting from the previous administration and its an indicator that this administration really is listening to the governors and understanding that there arent enough vaccine doses for people who need them and want them right now, Pritzker said. The New York Times compiled data that shows what percentage of state populations have been vaccinatedAs of Wednesday, Illinois ranked 44th at 4.7 percent of people having received the first dose of the vaccine. The data also shows that Illinois has only used 48 percent of the doses of the vaccine it has received. On Wednesday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported staffed bed hospital capacity was at 82% and the intensive care units were at 82% of their total staffed bed capacity. The data were the combined figures from the four major health systems BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Lukes Hospital that are part of the task force. For the latest information about COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit www.madisonchd.org or Facebook @madisonchd. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us or Facebook @madisoncountyil for more vaccination news and daily updates. Local and statewide information also is available at www.dph.illinois.gov. Click the coronavirus banner. For health-related questions about COVID-19, people also can call the IDPH hotline at 1-800-889-3931 or email dph.sick@illinois.gov. PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HeadSpin , the world's first digital experience AI platform, today announced the launch of HeadSpin Compass , a new self-serve test automation and performance monitoring product that allows mobile development, QA, and reliability teams to test, measure, monitor, and analyze digital experiences. HeadSpin Compass assures optimal digital experiences on real devices around the world without requiring code changes. The first of its kind on the market, HeadSpin Compass delivers complete visibility into digital experiences through in-depth performance data and continuous monitoring and analysis of custom KPIs such as time to interact, loading time, low page content, blank or frozen screens, and more. The product is unique in the market for its ability to deliver machine learning-based insights and recommendations and its rich app, device, and network performance data for root cause analysis. HeadSpin has helped customers to achieve impressive results, including 90% reduction in production issues, 30% faster development cycles, 60% faster in-app download times and has allowed developers to spend 68% fewer hours on quality assurance for new releases. "Organizations are seeing an influx of users on their digital platforms and require an effective pre-launch performance measurement tool to proactively identify and triage experience issues," said HeadSpin CEO Rajeev Butani. "Only with deep insights from real devices operating in multiple locations around the world can the significantly increased quality of experience users today expect be met. HeadSpin Compass was purposefully built to make it easier for developers to launch mobile products quickly, with the high degree of customizable insights necessary to achieve optimal performance goals with the highest level of precision to deliver best in class user experience." Whether an organization is at its early stages, or developing or scaling exponentially, digital user experiences are a priority for every stakeholder, especially as more users continue to connect remotely. HeadSpin Compass ensures mobile product teams are equipped to address the growing needs and demands of users with unique and differentiated capabilities: End-to-end testing and performance monitoring on an ever-expanding pool of real iOS and Android devices, starting with 87 devices in 17 major cities across the globe In-depth performance and Quality of Experience (QoE) analysis that automatically surfaces issues and points to underlying root causes across all layers of the stack Customizable dashboards to provide more insight into the data that matters most to developer and reliability teams "HeadSpin Compass provides a great platform to test applications and monitor performance on the basis of different user metrics, as well as the capability to capture logs and debug the tests during execution," said Sumeet Panjabi, Senior QA Automation Engineer, and City Hero for The Test Tribe , India's Largest Software Testing Community. HeadSpin Compass offers enterprise-grade capabilities with granular insights and highly customizable KPIs. Features include: Manual and automated mobile testing Real, dedicated, local iOS and Android devices on popular OS versions Global devices in Australia , India , Korea, Japan , France , Germany , South Africa , UK, Brazil and the US , , Korea, , , , , UK, and the US Remote control workbench for device access Actionable and in-depth performance data and insights throughout the digital experience lifecycle (from planning and development to trouble-ticketing and operations) Continuous monitoring of KPIs and performance metrics Support for native Appium, Selenium, and all automation frameworks Parallel testing across devices and locations Team and user management collaboration Flexible integrations to REST APIs, webhooks, and business intelligence (BI) platform Secure, scalable APIs To learn more or start a free trial, visit https://www.headspin.io/platform/compass/ . About HeadSpin HeadSpin is the world's first Digital Experience AI Platform combining cloud-hosted and on-prem global device infrastructure, test automation, and ML-driven performance and quality of experience analytics for mobile, web, audio, and video. HeadSpin empowers engineering, QA, operations, and product teams to assure optimal digital experiences throughout the development lifecycle. Learn more at www.HeadSpin.io . Media Contact Gaurav Mathur [email protected] +44 7920 579251 SOURCE Headspin Related Links https://www.headspin.io/ Axis Bank, the fourth largest private sector lender by market capitalisation, has reported a significant 36.4 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in standalone profit for the quarter ended December 2020 with elevated provisions (up 33 percent YoY). The profit for the quarter stood at Rs 1,116.6 crore against Rs 1,757 crore in the corresponding period. "Reported profits after tax for the quarter are adversely impacted to the extent of around Rs 1,050 crore on account of prudent expenses and provisioning charges during the quarter," the bank said in its BSE filing. Provisions and contingencies increased considerably to Rs 4,604.28 crore in Q3FY21, rising 32.7 percent compared to corresponding period and half a percent over previous quarter. "Specific loan loss provisions for Q3FY21 were Rs 1,053 crore, compared to Rs 2,962 crore in Q3 last year," said Axis Bank which has made provisions on 90+ DPD (day past due) accounts not classified as NPA pursuant to the Supreme Court judgement, at rates that would have applied to these accounts per extant provisioning rules for NPA in the banks, amounting to Rs 3,899 crore during the quarter. The bank further said it held cumulative provisions (standard + additional other than NPA) of Rs 11,856 crore at the end of Q3FY21. "These cumulative provisions translated to a standard asset coverage of 2.08 percent as on December 2020." Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, grew by 14.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,372.76 crore in Q3FY21, with net loan growth at 6 percent YoY. NII in Q3FY20 was at Rs 6,452.98 crore. Deposits in Q3FY21 increased 11 percent to Rs 6.54 lakh crore compared to corresponding period. On the asset quality front, gross non-performing assets (as a percentage of gross advances) declined 74 bps sequentially to 3.44 percent in Q3FY21, while the net NPA dropped 24 bps QoQ to 0.74 percent in same period. "The gross NPA ratio as per said IRAC norms (Income Recognition and Asset Classification) as on December 2020 would have been 4.55 percent and net NPA ratio would have been 1.19 percent. This reflects decline of 45 bps and 90 bps, respectively on a YoY basis and an increase of 27 bps and 16 bps on NPA and NPA, respectively on a sequential basis," Axis Bank said. The bank further said gross slippages during the quarter per IRAC norms were Rs 6,736 crore, compared to Rs 1,572 crore during Q2FY21 and Rs 6,214 crore in Q3FY20. Slippages from the loan book per IRAC norms were at Rs 6,499 crore and that from investment exposures stood at Rs 236 crore. As on December 2020, the bank's provision coverage, as a proportion of gross NPAs stood at 79 percent, improving from 77 percent as on September 2020. Non-interest income (other income) at Rs 3,776.04 crore declined third of a percent compared to corresponding period due to only 5 percent growth in fee income (which contributed 77 percent to total non-interest income) and 29 percent decline YoY in trading income. Pre-provision operating profit grew by 6.1 percent year-on-year to Rs 6,095.51 crore in Q3FY21. "Core operating profit for the quarter grew 10 percent YoY to Rs 5,754 crore," the bank said. Last week, the Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of 19.002 percent stake in Max Life Insurance Company by Axis Bank and its subsidiaries (Axis Capital and Axis Securities), after revised agreements signed by all entities in October last year. Find All Earnings Related News Here The stock fell 4 percent during the day ahead of quarterly earnings. Shares rallied 46 percent in October-December period last year, but fell 18 percent in full year 2020. (This is a developing story. Check back for updates) Deepti Mohanty, Founder and CEO of Vaasara, a booking app to book salons and spas online in Dubai, has been recognized as one of the 10 most innovative leaders of UAE in 2020 by the APAC Entrepreneur. With over 17 years of global experience, Mohanty has launched businesses in US, UK, India and Middle East. She is an Engineer with MBA from University of Cambridge, UK. There are over 10,000 salons, spas and beauty clinics in the UAE, and sometimes the sheer number of treatments on offer can feel rather overwhelming. Vaasara brought the traditional paper-and-pen beauty service establishments to a digital platform. It simplified the booking process by listing service providers and showing their service catalogue, reviews, pictures, user comments and more. This concept was revolutionary because it greatly simplified the way customers interact with service providers, bringing unprecedented convenience, ease and simplicity to the customer experience of search, book and payment processes. Vaasara started with just 30 salons and has now partnered with over 400 salons, spas and clinics in less than a year. With virtually no money spent on marketing, Vaasara has grown its user base with 60% bookings made by repeat customers. During the pandemic, several initiatives were done by the company to stay relevant as a brand in the new normal and provide a similar platform to its merchant partners. One of the most successful campaigns was #MySalonIsSafe, which allowed the merchants to declare themselves safe against a checklist of government safety practices. Virtual events launched on social media to promote its merchant partners also reached over 250,000 people in UAE. In line with the latest payment trends, Vaasara has also partnered with Spotii to launch Book Now, Pay Later on the app, where a user can book a service and pay in four interest-free instalments. With pandemic resulting a boom in plastic surgery, Vaasara has now turned its focus towards it. Im very excited about the future of Vaasara. 2021 will be the year of growth and acceleration for us, Mohanty said, hinting at a bright future. TradeArabia News Service Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Panaji, Jan 27 : Engineers from Goa's Water Resources Department are in touch with their Maharashtran counterparts to mend a breach in a canal of the Tillari dam located in Kolhapur district, which has affected the water supply, Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues told the Goa Assembly on Wednesday. Calling the breach of the canal at Bhedshi village in Maharashtra, which occurred late on Tuesday "a very serious issue", Neri said that alternative sources of water are being tapped by the Goa government to provide unhindered water for drinking and agriculture supply. "It is a very serious issue as far as drinking water and supply for agriculture is concerned. We have sent our team of engineers to consult with engineers from Maharashtra," Rodrigues said in response to a zero hour mention moved by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Dayanand Sopte. "Luckily, we have alternative sources like other canals. Water from Amthane dam has been diverted. We can augment water from other sources to not disturb agricultural and drinking water supply in Goa," the Minister said. Though located in South Maharashtra, some of the canals of the Tillari dam flow into North Goa district to irrigate the region's agricultural areas and supplement drinking water needs. The first five Queensland cities to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have been named. Health workers in Brisbane, the Gold and Sunshine coasts as well as the north Queensland cities of Cairns and Townsville will be vaccinated first. Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young said those cities had been chosen as workers there were more likely to be infected by returning travellers. Hospital workers, quarantine and border staff and those working and living in aged care and disability accommodation will receive the Pfizer vaccine within the next few weeks. A supply teacher with an 'infectious laugh' died from coronavirus after saying she felt tired - but didn't show any typical symptoms of the virus. Shamim Mir, 59, tested positive for Covid-19 alongside her husband Ehtisham shortly before Christmas without suffering from a persistent cough or high temperature. Instead, the teacher - who had been shielding throughout the pandemic due to her diabetes and high blood pressure - complained of tiredness. The grandmother, from Birmingham, became breathless on New Year's Eve and was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where she was placed on a ventilator. She suffered multi-organ failure and died on January 13 with her family by her side. Shamim Mir, 59, tested positive for Covid-19 alongside her husband Ehtisham (seen together with their grandaughter Zunairah) shortly before Christmas without suffering from a persistent cough or high temperature Her daughter Dr Naheeda Farooq has now paid tribute to her mother as a 'very caring woman' who will be remembered 'for her smile and her infectious laugh.' She said: 'My mother was a supply teacher and worked at many secondary schools across the Birmingham area. 'She had been shielding through the pandemic as she suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. My dad went to work. 'They both tested positive for Covid just before Christmas. Thankfully my dad recovered but my mom didn't. 'She didn't show any classic signs of coronavirus like a cough or high temperature or loss of taste. She was feeling very tired and had bouts of diarrhoea. 'On New Year's Eve she became very unwell and was struggling to breathe. My dad called for an ambulance and she was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.' Dr Farooq said she spoke to her mother briefly on FaceTime before she was placed on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit. Her daughter Dr Naheeda Farooq has now paid tribute to her mother as a 'very caring woman' who will be remembered 'for her smile and her infectious laugh.' Pictured: Ms Mir with Dr Farooq and Zunairah 'Her condition deteriorated and she suffered multi-organ failure,' she said. 'Doctors told us she wasn't going to make it so we visited her on January 13 where we offered prayers for her and held her hand as she passed away.' She added that Ms Mir was a 'very special lady' who had a love for children and a desire for them to do well in life through good education. Dr Farooq said: 'Those that met my mother remember her for her smile and her infectious laugh. 'She was a very caring woman. She loved shopping but not really for herself. She would indulge everyone else. She doted on her granddaughter, nieces and nephews. 'She saw education as being incredibly important and pushed myself to be the best I could be in life. She wanted the same for the her pupils at the many schools she taught at. 'She was a very special lady and she will be so greatly missed.' Dr Farooq said she spoke to her mother briefly on FaceTime before she was placed on a ventilator in the Intensive Care Unit. She died on January 13 Dr Farooq's best friend, Dr Hajra Ashraf, also lost her father, Mohammed Ashraf, to Covid on the same day. The friends have set up a GoFundMe fundraising page in memory of their parents with the aim of raising funds to build a new school in rural Pakistan. Dr Farooq said her mother would have been delighted by the fundraiser because education was so important to her. The page reads: 'We are Naheeda and Hajra, two friends who have sadly lost our parents, Shamim Mir aged 59 from Birmingham and Mohammed Ashraf aged 87 from London to Covid-19. 'As daughters we held their hands as they tragically took their last breaths on the same day Wednesday the 13th of January 2021. We take solace in that they have both died as martyrs during this plague. 'We thank you all for your prayers during this difficult time but now we ask for your help. We want to focus on their legacy, not just through their children or the work they did on Earth. 'We are raising money to build a school in rural Pakistan inshAllah as a form of Sadaqah Jariah. If we do not reach our goal we will aim to cover the rest ourselves. If we exceed our goal we will donate this towards the maintenance of existing schools.' Ms Mir leaves behind her husband Ehtisham, daughter Naheeda, and one-year-old granddaughter Zunairah. The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitations (CDCR) number of COVID-19 related staff deaths list reported Chuckawalla Valley State Prison (CVSP) suffered its first fatality among its ranks on Jan. 19. Rada proposed to allow Ukrainians to have dual citizenship bill Ukrainian parliamentarians propose to amend the Ukrainian legislation, which will allow citizens to have dual citizenship. Corresponding bill No. 4640 "On amendments to some laws of Ukraine regarding the legal provision of foreign citizenship (allegiance) to citizens of Ukraine" is registered in the Verkhovna Rada, the website of the parliament reports. The authors of the bill propose to amend the Law of Ukraine "On Citizenship", which provide citizens of Ukraine with the right to obtain citizenship (nationality) of a foreign state without losing the citizenship of Ukraine. The proposed amendments also allow foreigners to obtain Ukrainian citizenship without renouncing the citizenship of their country. Sunrise host David 'Kochie' Koch is a tall man. And on Wednesday, his co-host Sam Armytage, 44, shocked listeners of The Kyle and Jackie O Show when she revealed the real height of her male breakfast show counterpart. The TV star told Kyle Sandilands, Jackie 'O" Henderson that Kochie is actually 6ft 4. Gentle giant: Sunrise star Sam Armytage shocked when she revealed her co-host David Koch's REAL height during The Kyle and Jackie O Show on Wednesday 'I do like Kochie, he's a tall man. No muckaround,' Kyle said, remarking on his towering stature. Sam replied: 'Yeah, he's about 6, 4 (around 1.9m) I think.' But Kyle appeared surprised to learn his true height was close to two metres, remarking: 'Yeah, he's taller than I thought.' Towering: The TV star told Kyle Sandilands, Jackie 'O" Henderson that Kochie is actually 6ft 4 In the past Sam, who stands at a more modest 1.75cm, has revealed she often uses a booster to ensure the pair have similar head height on TV. Elsewhere, the Channel Seven star spoke about her wedding to Bowral businessman, Richard Lavender, which made headlines in December last year. Sam said that while she was still under contract at Seven, she hadn't ruled out giving up her TV career for a quiet life in the Southern Highlands. She told the hosts she was 'very happy' in her job but could 'easily' see herself embracing country life 'down the track'. Sam and Richard tied the knot in an elegant ceremony on New Year's Eve. Tree change: Elsewhere in the interview, Sam said that while she was still under contract at Seven, she hadn't ruled out giving up her TV career for a quiet life in the Southern Highlands The happy couple wed at millionaire horse breeder Richard's $2 million estate in Berrima. The pair reportedly married at his home around midday, and then moved to a luncheon at the Centennial Vineyards Restaurant in Bowral. Sam opted for simple elegance in a custom cocktail frock from Australian designer Carla Zampatti. The dress retails on the designer's website for $629. PhosAgro sponsors and participates in Rally da Safra in Brazil. As part of the event, which will be held from January 24 to June 5, 26 crews of agronomists, agricultural market specialists and fertilizer experts will drive various routes around the country, visiting key soybean and corn production plants along their way. The Rally da Safra ("Harvest Rally"), which has been held annually since 2004, will feature a series of interviews with experts, agricultural producers and sponsors. The events will be covered online and in the media. PhosAgro representatives will take part in both the rally and online broadcasts. Along the route, PhosAgro teams will also promote the Company's product line, modern crop management systems and eco-labeling. As part of the event, agricultural specialists will meet with around 60 local farmers. "Latin America is one of the key regions of our Company's presence. The main consumer in the region is Brazil, which ranks 4th in the world in terms of fertilizer use after China, India and the United States. Every year, we supply more than 1 million tonnes of green fertilizers to the Brazilian market. In 2021, the Company plans to ship around 1.3 million tonnes of phosphate fertilizers to Brazil. Our Brazilian office in Sao Paulo has been operating for more than five years and has all the necessary knowledge to support our Brazilian clients in using the Company's green fertilizers and developing nutrition programmes," said Sergey Pronin, Deputy General Director for Sales and Marketing of PhosAgro. About the company PhosAgro (www.phosagro.ru) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and higher. PhosAgro's environmentally friendly fertilizers stand out for their high efficiency, and they do not lead to the contamination of soils with heavy metals. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, a top-three producer of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, more than 50 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 102 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005790/en/ Contacts: Ivan Kuzevanov IKuzevanov@phosagro.ru +7 968 915-75-70 Members of the Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio (C), rally in support of President Trump to protest against the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, in Washington, on Nov. 14, 2020. (Hannah McKay/Reuters) Proud Boys Leader Was Prolific Informer for Law Enforcement WASHINGTONEnrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys group, has a past as an informer for federal and local law enforcement, repeatedly working undercover for investigators after he was arrested in 2012, according to a former prosecutor and a transcript of a 2014 federal court proceeding obtained by Reuters. In the Miami hearing, a federal prosecutor, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and Tarrios own lawyer described his undercover work and said he had helped authorities prosecute more than a dozen people in various cases involving drugs, gambling, and human smuggling. Tarrio, in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, denied working undercover or cooperating in cases against others. I dont know any of this, he said when asked about the transcript. I dont recall any of this. Law-enforcement officials and the court transcript contradict Tarrios denial. In a statement to Reuters, the former federal prosecutor in Tarrios case, Vanessa Singh Johannes, confirmed that he cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes. Tarrio, 36, is a high-profile figure who organizes and leads the Proud Boys group. Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio talks with a law enforcement officer in Portland, Ore., on Sept. 26, 2020. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters) Washington police arrested Tarrio in early January when he arrived in the city two days before the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. He was charged with possessing two high-capacity rifle magazines and burning a Black Lives Matter banner during a December demonstration by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The D.C. Superior Court ordered him to leave the city pending a court date in June. Though Tarrio did not take part in the storming of the Capitol, at least five Proud Boys members have been charged. The FBI previously said Tarrios earlier arrest was an effort to preempt the events of Jan. 6. The transcript from 2014 shines a new light on Tarrios past connections to law enforcement. During the hearing, the prosecutor and Tarrios defense attorney asked a judge to reduce the prison sentence of Tarrio and two co-defendants. They had pleaded guilty in a fraud case related to the re-labeling and sale of stolen diabetes test kits. The prosecutor said Tarrios information had led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges in two separate cases, and had helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring. Protesters gather on the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021. (Courtesy of Mark Simon) Tarrios then-lawyer Jeffrey Feiler said in court that his client had worked undercover in numerous investigations, one involving the sale of anabolic steroids, another regarding wholesale prescription narcotics and a third targeting human smuggling. He said Tarrio helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses, and was a prolific cooperator. In the smuggling case, Tarrio, at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country, the lawyer said in court. In an interview, Feiler said he did not recall details about the case but added, The information I provided to the court was based on information provided to me by law enforcement and the prosecutor. An FBI agent at the hearing called Tarrio a key component in local police investigations involving marijuana, cocaine, and MDMA (ecstasy). The Miami FBI office declined to comment. There is no evidence Tarrio has cooperated with authorities since then. In interviews with Reuters, however, he said that before rallies in various cities, he would let police departments know of the Proud Boys plans. He said he stopped this coordination after Dec. 12 because the D.C. police had cracked down on the group. In this still image from video, a group of Proud Boys pose for pictures at a memorial for Aaron Danielson in Vancouver, Wash., on Sept. 5, 2020. (The Epoch Times) Tarrio on Tuesday acknowledged that his fraud sentence was reduced, from 30 months to 16 months, but insisted that leniency was provided only because he and his co-defendants helped investigators clear up questions about his own case. He said he never helped investigate others. That comment contrasts with statements made in court by the prosecutor, his lawyer, and the FBI. The judge in the case, Joan A. Lenard, said Tarrio provided substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other persons involved in criminal conduct. As Trump supporters challenged the Republicans election loss, Tarrio stood out for his swagger as he led crowds of Proud Boys in a series of confrontations and street brawls in Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon, and elsewhere. The Proud Boys, founded in 2016, began as a group protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity. It grew into a group with distinctive colors of yellow and black that embraced street fighting. In September, their profile soared when Democrat nominee Joe Biden mentioned the group during a debate with Trump, who told them to stand back and stand by. Tarrio, based in Miami, became the national chairman of the group in 2018. By Aram Roston Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results When Paul O'Sullivan spontaneously searched his own name on Facebook, a seemingly endless scroll of Paul O'Sullivan profiles appeared. Out of curiosity - and perhaps a bit of boredom - O'Sullivan, 33, sent friend requests to a handful of them. "I wondered what my name twins were up to out in the world," said O'Sullivan, a music instructor who was born in Baltimore and lives in Eldersburg, Md. Some of them accepted the random request, and O'Sullivan soon discovered that a few had more in common than just the name. "Their posts started showing up on my Facebook timeline," O'Sullivan said. "One Paul O'Sullivan posted a picture of his Fender jazz bass, another had a profile picture of him singing live, and another had a bucket list of accomplishments that completely piqued my curiosity." He decided to individually contact the three strangers with matching names, all of whom responded. Although they were admittedly skeptical at first, a bond was quickly forged. Beyond their shared names, a common affinity for music drew them together. O'Sullivan got an idea: "I thought, 'we should start a band.' It was the natural next step." First, O'Sullivan introduced the other Paul O'Sullivans to each other: Paul O'Sullivan, 57, of Manchester, England, is a former college lecturer who now works in public health; Paul O'Sullivan, 52, of Rotterdam, Netherlands, is a grief counselor and teacher; and Paul O'Sullivan, 57, of Weatherly, Pa., is an antiques dealer and former publicist. To avoid confusion, the Paul O'Sullivans started using their distinct geographic locations when referring to one another. Paul O'Sullivan from Baltimore became Baltimore Paul, and so on. Baltimore Paul eventually pitched his idea for a cross-continental musical collaboration to his name twins, who immediately got on board. Of course, it didn't take long to decide on a name: The Paul O'Sullivan Band. "In the beginning, I thought this guy was crazy, but good crazy," said Rotterdam Paul, during a Zoom interview with all four band members. "But we just dived in and it's been a roller-coaster ride, especially the last year." The four Paul O'Sullivans originally connected and started making music together virtually in 2016, but the band only took off recently. Although they informally rehearsed together and became close friends over the years, they were each busy in their own lives and couldn't dedicate much time to the band. Then the pandemic hit, and with their newfound free time, the group spent the past several months recording an album titled "Internet Famous: A Retrospective," composed of six cover songs and one original, released Dec. 30. "We've been social distancing since 2016," said Baltimore Paul. "We perfected the system of remote collaboration before it was even relevant." For the quartet of Paul O'Sullivans, band practice became a welcome distraction from the pandemic. "So many doors had closed because of covid, and yet, Baltimore Paul had already opened this door for us, so it was so easy to walk through," said Pennsylvania Paul. "From that, we sort of developed our ethos, which is: 'If it makes you smile, lean into it; if it makes you dance, embrace it; and if it does both, it's the Paul O'Sullivan Band." Rotterdam Paul agreed: "Every day I would wake up to messages from them. It felt like a light at the end of the tunnel." On top of their differing geographic locations, "We come from different generations," said Baltimore Paul. "But with us, it never mattered. Music really does bring people together." "It's all very exciting for me, being a gentleman of a certain age," said Manchester Paul, who is 57. "When [Baltimore] Paul added me, it was just part of the wonder of the internet." Meeting the other Pauls and making music with them, he said, has been a thrill. Their first single, "Namesake," is about a long-distance relationship, much like their own. The opening line of the song is, "We've grown so fond from across the pond." Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul are on vocals and guitar, while Manchester Paul plays bass, and Pennsylvania Paul is on percussion. The group convenes regularly via Zoom and other platforms from their respective homes to write, organize and catch up. Because of the time lag on video calls, they are unable to record music simultaneously. Instead, they separately record their parts, in an assembly line of sorts, until the final track is produced. Despite being unable to rehearse and record together like traditional bands do, "what we can do is create that bond and that understanding that lends itself to the ability to create music," said Pennsylvania Paul. While recording his part, "I close my eyes and think we're in the studio playing together. Just trying to imagine that we are together is a good feeling," said Rotterdam Paul. Their complementary musical capabilities and character traits work well together, the Pauls said. "I'm so happy to be with these guys. Everybody has a different personality, and we all bring something different to the table," said Pennsylvania Paul. "The band is an amalgam of all of our skills, visions and joy." Given that the album was recorded remotely from four locations, "I'm so surprised by how cohesive it turned out," said Baltimore Paul. "It's kind of funny how easily it came together, when you trust in those serendipitous situations." The Pauls described their genre as "adult pop" and acoustic but said they are enthusiastic about dipping into new styles of music. "We're open to everything," said Rotterdam Paul. "We love to try out new things together." The four band mates have yet to meet in person, aside from Baltimore Paul and Pennsylvania Paul, who met for the first time in September. Baltimore Paul quarantined before driving three hours to Weatherly to surprise Pennsylvania Paul at his house. "I was super nervous in the car outside of his house, but there was a strange calmness when we actually met," said Baltimore Paul. "It felt like we had known each other our whole lives." The Pauls also discovered that along with their shared name and love of music, they have a similar fashion sense. Naturally, Baltimore Paul and Pennsylvania Paul were wearing similar outfits when they met - a flannel shirt and jeans. Once the pandemic subsides, "having everyone together in the studio is the ultimate goal," said Baltimore Paul, adding that they have written 24 additional original songs together, which they plan to release in the future. "My idea is to do a four-city tour, where we do a concert in each person's hometown." But the band is about more than making music, the Pauls agreed. They said they're bonded as brothers for life. "There is something very difficult to put your finger on about the friendship that you develop with people that you share the same name with," Manchester Paul explained. "I never thought it was a thing, but indeed, it is a very nice thing." The White House had no comment on Bidens expected order, but the two people familiar with the plan said the new enrollment period would not go into effect immediately. Instead, the White House wants to provide time for the Department of Health and Human Services to mount a marketing campaign, and for insurers to get ready for an influx of new customers. SugarCRM Inc., the innovator of time-aware CX, today announced the launch of SugarPredict, the first data-fueled AI for CRM. SugarPredict delivers new levels of prediction accuracy without the time, cost, and technical expertise typically required for companies to take advantage of AI. Fifty-two percent of sales leaders say their CRM is costing them lost revenue, according to new research from SugarCRM that examines the lack of customer visibility that plagues most companies. The quality and consistency of the data entered by CRM users can create challenges for basic AI systems. SugarPredict takes a different approach by enriching customer data with additional attributes that results in more comprehensive and consistent AI models. SugarPredict provides accurate predictions, even with limited first-party data, while diligently guarding the privacy and security of company and customer information. "AI can solve a number of sales and marketing barriers today, putting it at the heart of CRM," said Paul Greenberg, president of the 56 Group and author of CRM at the Speed of Light. "Sales teams that lean into AI-powered CRM can take advantage of the lead insights and opportunity models that give them a significant competitive advantage." As the first of many SugarPredict-powered capabilities in Sugar Sell, the technology is being used to take the guesswork out of lead prioritization, lead Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) alignment, and opportunity-to-close-won scoring. SugarPredict analyzes historical account, deal, and company data to accurately predict which leads are most likely to become customers. Lead scoring is based on similarity to historical conversions (converted leads or closed-won opportunities), while ideal customer profile matching identifies leads that are similar to a company's past and current customer bases. "SugarPredict helps companies replace a fragmented, out-of-date, and incomplete picture with a sharply focused understanding of both their customers and business," said Craig Charlton, CEO of SugarCRM. "We've made significant product investments, over the last year, to democratize AI to drive business performance and enable predictability for companies of all sizes." "Like many companies in the manufacturing business Bishop-Wisecarver is always looking for ways to work smarter and faster than the competition," said Niegel Leoncio, CRM Manager for Bishop-Wisecarver. "We are excited about the launch of SugarPredict, which places the power of AI into the hands of sales and service teams so they can drive better results and a better customer experience." SugarPredict leverages Sugar's time-aware CX platform which provides a full historical record of all change events related to customers and customer-facing processes. SugarPredict for sales force automation, marketing automation, and customer service applications is based on technology from last summer's acquisition of Node.io. SugarPredict is free for Sugar Sell customers and will roll out to Sugar Market and Sugar Serve customers later this year. Learn more about SugarPredict here > About SugarCRM SugarCRM's time-aware sales, marketing and service software helps companies deliver a high-definition customer experience. For mid-market and enterprise companies that want a CX-driven platform, Sugar gives teams the time-aware customer data they need to achieve a clear view of the customer and reach new levels of business performance and predictability, and increase customer lifetime value. More than 4,500 companies in 120 countries rely on SugarCRM. Based in Silicon Valley, SugarCRM is backed by Accel-KKR. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005163/en/ Contacts: Caroline Hacker caroline.hacker@sugarcrm.com Bulgaria began vaccinating the elderly on Wednesday against COVID-19. Uliana Dunova, a 69-year-old resident of a nursing home in central Sofia, became the first elderly person to be vaccinated in the country. "I believe in medicine. I believe that vaccination is our only way and chance for us to prevent this virus," she said shortly after receiving the jab. Bulgaria began rolling out the vaccine on December 27 but the first doses went to medical workers. The Balkan nation of 7 million people has reported 215,416 virus cases and 8,916 deaths. (Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com) Its been in your social feed, on your televisions, and in the newspapers a dozen or more times today alone: the term The Big Lie, used by an elected official, pundit, or columnist to describe any challenge to the official narrative about the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. (Natural News) (Article by Noelle Garnier republished from TheNationalPulse.com) For example: President Joe Biden has accused President Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Sen. Josh Hawley of a Big Lie ; ; Rep. Mazie Hirono went on Anderson Cooper to accuse the Republican senators of a Big Lie ; ; Dominion Voting Systems has alleged a Big Lie in their lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani; in their lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani; Jake Tapper has used the term repeatedly on Twitter and on air to describe allegations of fraud in the 2020 election. Bloomberg explained the analogy in September: Adolf Hitler and Goebbels, his minister of propaganda, espoused a technique known as the Big Lie, which involved repeating a colossal falsehood until the public came to believe it was true. Historians Timothy Snyder, Fiona Hill, and Ruth Ben-Ghiat have affirmed this usage of the term. Snyder whimsically explained to NPR how a big lie works: The big lie fills in this space which used to be taken up by a lot of little truths, by hundreds and thousands and millions of little truths, Snyder said. Weve let that slip away. And then the big lie comes in and fills in the gap. But thats not what Big Lie means, nor where it came from. If You Circulate A Fake Quote Long Enough Many attribute the concept of the Big Lie to Joseph Goebbels, who is popularly believed to have said: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. But did Goebbels actually say that? We can find only one refereed scholarly article that cites the quotation, and with no reference. A [LexisNexis] Academic search provides three published articles employing the fabrication, two of which are from BusinessWorld, in the Philippines, and one from The Washington Times, wrote Quentin Schultze and Randall Bytwerk in a 2012 paper published by the Institute of General Semantics. None of the three dozen books citing it on Google Books has a publisher with a reputation for editorial diligence. Schultze and Bytwerk discovered the earliest usage of the quote from a 2002 article raising questions about the commercial plane flown into the Pentagon. By 2006, Google searches returned 300,000+ results for the quoteand still no primary attribution. The quotation proved handy on both the left and the right, first to critique the Bush administrations Iraq policy, then to accuse the Obama administration of employing Nazi-like propaganda tactics. The authors explain the usefulness of the apparently fictitious quote: Since Goebbels is a reviled figure for all but a few Neo-Nazis, and since the political right and left squabble about whether Nazism (National Socialism) was of the right or left in its essence, both can use his alleged statement. It can be employed not merely for argument or elegance, but to make an ad hominem attack that will appeal to a particular vernacular community: If my opponents are acting in a way consistent with Joseph Goebbelss advice, they are so evil as to need little refutation. But the biggest problem with the fake Goebbels quote isnt attribution. Big Lie belongs to Adolf Hitlerand it means something completely different. The Anti-Semitic Big Lie Narrative Is From Mein Kampf. In the tenth chapter of Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote: But it remained for the Jews, with their unqualified capacity for falsehood, and their fighting comrades, the Marxists, to impute responsibility for the downfall precisely to the man who alone had shown a superhuman will and energy in his effort to prevent the catastrophe which he had foreseen and to save the nation from that hour of complete overthrow and shame. By placing responsibility for the loss of the world war on the shoulders of Ludendorff they took away the weapon of moral right from the only adversary dangerous enough to be likely to succeed in bringing the betrayers of the Fatherland to Justice. All this was inspired by the principlewhich is quite true within itselfthat in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. In the text, Hitler charges the Jews with destabilizing society by promulgating a big liethe narrative that provided a sinister rationale for the detainment and mass murder of the Jewish people. In the Hitler/Goebbels Big Lie analogy flowing freely from the mouths of Biden, Tapper, and others, the accuser would be analogous to Hitler, and the person being accused of lying would be analogous to the Jews. In other words, the Hitlerian strategy is to accuse ones enemies of using a Big Lie to gain and consolidate control. To accuse your opponent of a Big Lie is to borrow a murderous, anti-Semitic slander directly from Mein Kampfand to align oneself with Hitler in the analogy. The Big Lie analogy utterly fails as an indictment of fascist behavior. The Washington Post even noted the error when Republican member of Congress inverted the analogy in 2019but not when Biden used the Goebbels canard in 2020. This month, Biden repeated the mistaken analogy in reference to Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. Will Biden, Tapper, Hirono, and others relent from using the term when presented with the facts? If the past is any indicator, probably not. Survivors of the Holocaust, nonpartisan and across the political spectrum, have denounced the use of Holocaust analogies in current eventsbut the left has continually invoked Hitler, the Holocaust, and concentration camps nonetheless. They are unable or unwilling to stop. They arent even embarrassed. When NPR misstated the meaning of Big Lie in an interview published January 15, Fiona Hill brushed it away: So I dont actually think that we should get caught up in the origins of where this term the Big Lie comes from. No wonder. Read more at: TheNationalPulse.com Local acts will unite this weekend for a variety-style show to raise money for childrens causes. Act Out Theatre Group LLC of Dunmore and NEPA Strong Small Business and Community Support will hold The Not-So-Old-Fashioned Telethon on Sunday, Jan. 31, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the events Facebook page. The 12-hour event will feature around 20 acts from around the region ranging from vocalists to dancers to flute players, said Dan Pittman, Act Outs owner and artistic director. He also hopes to line up a comedian and start off the day with a yoga lesson. Throughout the day, the organizations the event will benefit will have a chance to speak to the audience about their work and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected them. They include the Day Nursery Association, Tri-Star Academy, Friends Forever Day Care, Wee Care Day Care, Ballroom ONE Dance Company, Scranton Fringe Festival, C & G Tutoring, the Childrens Advocacy Center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Rossetti Renaissance Group and Act Out. Every business that we are raising money for either works with children or has programs for children or teens, Pittman said. Each January, Act Out holds a cabaret for a cause to help local people, but that couldnt happen this year because of the pandemic. The troupe still wanted to find a way to give back through a virtual program, and Pittman realized a telethon might work. Act Out exposes children to theater through various workshops and productions, so doing something to help kids was paramount. We work with kids from the area, and it was important to kind of give back to something that was so close to us because its a group that ... when you think about the shutdown, you dont think of childrens organizations as suffering, Pittman said. But were probably suffering as much as any other business. NEPA Strong founder Kristen Miller-Hahn had worked with Pittman through some of her groups previous endeavors to help local people and businesses during the pandemic, and they wanted to come up with a way to shine a light on Act Out and support the community. I think its important to support children-based organizations at this time, especially because theyve definitely been hit hard by the effects of COVID. ... They had to either really pare it back or stop their services altogether, Miller-Hahn said. For children, its so important to have these program for growth, for socialization, for health. Some acts will perform live at Act Outs theater, while others will entertain from other locations. The public can tune into it all on Facebook and donate to the fundraiser via PayPal through actout theatre1@gmail.com or by mailing checks to Act Out Theatre Group, 150 E. Grove St., Suite 7, Dunmore, PA 18510. Im excited that its kind of the community coming together to raise money for the kids and kids organizations, Pittman said. And its great to see how much people care. An empty stretch of Interstate 5 through Gorman on Wednesday as a series of winter storms rolls through California. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) A winter storm barreling toward Southern California threatens heavy rainfall that could trigger mudslides and debris flows in vulnerable areas. In anticipation of the rainfall, the National Weather Service issued a flash-flood watch in the areas burned in the Bobcat, Lake and Ranch2 wildfires last year. Without vegetation to hold it in place, the soil is weak and at heightened risk for debris flows and mudslides, experts warn. The Grapevine area of the 5 Freeway reopened in both directions about noon Wednesday as the storm drenched the Central Coast and residents of fire-scarred areas braced for mudslides. Motorists navigating the high-elevation pass are being escorted by the California Highway Patrol. The freeway had been closed for several hours because of snow. The Los Angeles area remained dry Wednesday morning, but a few showers could arrive late in the day, with heavy rain expected through Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. From 1.5 to 3.5 inches of rain are expected on the coast and in the valleys, with 2 to 5 inches in the foothills. Mountain areas above 6,000 feet could see 1 to 3 feet of snow. There is a "good possibility of moderate debris flows" in areas burned by the Bobcat fire, said Joe Sirard, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Oxnard, who also warned of flash floods from heavy downpours. Urban and street flooding is also likely as the rain picks up. "With enough high-intensity rainfall, there could be a flash flooding even away from burn areas," Sirard said. In San Luis Obispo, 1.5 to 2 inches of rain had fallen by early Wednesday morning. "Copious amounts of rain" are expected in the foothills, the weather service said, and a flash flood watch is in effect until Thursday evening. "Significant" mud and debris flows could affect Highway 101 and the burn scar left by the Avila Beach fire last summer, forecasters said. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, some residents have evacuated, while others bought supplies and hunkered down amid warnings that the storm could trigger massive debris flows, road closures and prolonged power outages in areas scorched by the CZU August Lightning Complex fire. Story continues Santa Barbara County is expected to see steady rain, totaling 3 to 6 inches. Meteorologists project wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph in all areas and more than 65 mph in northern mountain areas. Snow levels are expected to drop from 6,000 to 4,500 feet by Thursday night. The atmospheric river that was traveling south is stalled in coastal California, threatening mudslides and debris flow in areas previously burned by wildfires. But the forecast for Southern California is largely unchanged, said Lisa Phillips, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. "The storm is briefly moving up the coast but it's still expected to push through Southern California," Phillips said. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. We are thrilled to partner with Anomali to offer our customers a best-in-class TIP offering that is tightly embedded in the Siemplify SOAR Platform. Dennis Shaya, GM and head of alliances, Siemplify Siemplify, the leading independent provider of security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR), and Anomali, the leader in intelligence-driven cybersecurity solutions, today announced a partnership that delivers an integrated best-of-breed SOAR and threat intelligence platform (TIP) solution, making intelligence-driven security operations simple and accessible to organizations of all sizes. SOAR and TIP solutions are foundational technologies for every modern security operations team looking to combat alert fatigue, embed context into security investigations, and effectively contain and respond to threats. The partnership between Siemplify and Anomali delivers a unified best-of-breed SOAR and TIP integration that enables rapid time-to-value with minimal effort. As part of the partnership, Siemplify is launching ThreatFuse, an add-on module to the Siemplify SOAR platform, powered by Anomali, which ingrains threat intelligence across the entire detection and response lifecycle. From enrichment with real-time threat indicators, through threat hunting and intelligence sharing, security analysts can validate, investigate and respond to threats with unprecedented speed and precision. ThreatFuse is generally available from Siemplify as of today. Siemplifys ThreatFuse offering evolved from a long-standing partnership between the two companies via the Anomali ThreatStream marketplace, as well as customer-driven integrations to power Siemplify SOAR playbooks with high-fidelity threat intelligence. Until today, organizations looking for a unified SOAR and TIP solution were forced to compromise on one or both of these critical security operations capabilities, said Dennis Shaya, general manager and head of alliances at Siemplify. We are thrilled to partner with Anomali to offer our customers a best-in-class TIP offering that is tightly embedded in the Siemplify SOAR platform. Supporting Siemplify in its introduction of ThreatFuse was a natural evolution of our existing partnership, said Dan Maier, CMO of Anomali. ThreatFuse offers a streamlined experience, allowing customers seeking robust TIP-SOAR integration to benefit from simplified implementation and management. The unified SOAR/TIP solution accelerates time-to-value by delivering several use cases out-of-the-box to better perform: Event Triage: Aggregated threat intelligence supports event triage and decision-making by determining if an indicator is suspicious and at what severity level. Deep intelligence context is added to events, providing detailed information about associated threat actors and any known campaigns when a malicious threat is discovered. Intelligence-Driven Investigation: Contextual intelligence drives intelligence-based investigations that use associated indicators from an enriched entity to find other relevant indicators of attack. Proactive Defense: Newly discovered indicators can be used to trigger playbooks that defend networks through automatic detection and response. Filters and thresholds can be applied to limit the types of threats or entities that trigger automated response. Intelligence Sharing: False positives in an environment can be shared to make sure the data is not used in the future. Trusted Circles enable intelligence sharing with the security community when new threat indicators are discovered. Siemplify and Anomali have planned a joint webinar Feb. 4 to provide more information about this partnership. Reserve your spot to learn how you can combine SOAR and TIP to drive intelligence-driven security operations. About Siemplify Siemplify, the leading independent security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) provider, is redefining security operations for enterprises and MSSPs worldwide. The Siemplify platform is an intuitive workbench that enables security teams to manage their operations from end to end, respond to cyber threats with speed and precision and get smarter with every analyst interaction. Founded in 2015 by Israeli Intelligence experts, with extensive experience running and training security operations centers worldwide, Siemplify has raised $58 million in funding to date and is headquartered in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv. Visit us at siemplify.co and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Anomali Anomali is the leader in intelligence-driven cybersecurity. More than 1,500 public and private sector organizations rely on Anomali to see and detect threats more quickly, reduce the risk of security breaches, and improve security operations productivity. Anomali solutions serve customers around the world in nearly every major industry vertical, including many of the Global 2000. As an early threat intelligence innovator, Anomali was founded in 2013 and is backed by leading venture firms including GV, Paladin Capital Group, In-Q-Tel, Institutional Venture Partners, and General Catalyst. Learn more at http://www.anomali.com. This is an opinion column. The scariest thing about Mo Brooks isnt that hes a congressman. No, the scary thing about Brooks is how casually he ignores inconvenient facts and how willfully he cites evidence thats been shot down in courts already because this man used to be a prosecutor. On Saturday Brooks was the main speaker at a rally in Priceville, where he repeated the falsehoods that have become his boilerplate. He told the crowd that the 2020 election had been stolen. He attacked the fake news media. He used the word socialist a lot. There are plenty of folks in his party who say the same sort of things, including Rep. Barry Moore, who served as Brooks warm-up act. But what set Brooks apart wasnt his rhetoric, but his evidence. His word. Definitely, not mine. I want you to know, as the leader of the fight on this issue, Ive done my homework, Brooks said. Ive done my research. My profession is as a litigator in a courtroom, as a prosecutor, as a defense attorney or [in] commercial disputes, so I have a little bit of an idea as to what evidence is and how to conduct an investigation. Brooks then went on to cite much of what he calls evidence. There are lots of examples I could give you, but Im going to limit it just a little bit to two, he said before citing numerous examples from three different states. The first was an allegation that more than 200,000 votes were counted in Pennsylvania than there were people who voted. This is a claim that has circulated since the days immediately after the November election, when tallies in two different Pennsylvania election databases didnt match. Brooks ignores the reason why: When Republicans in Pennsylvania began sharing those numbers as proof of fraud, three counties there hadnt finished uploading their data into one of the databases, as has been documented by the Associated Press, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Politifact and Snopes, among others. Brooks then claimed that there had been 130,000 illegal votes in Arizona. As evidence he cited a witness in a Senate hearing. Brooks didnt tell the crowd that the witness was Jesse Binnall, a lawyer for the Trump campaign and that the evidence had been rejected by the Nevada courts for not being credible. Did you catch that? It confused me, too, but as it turns out, Binnal was testifying about voter fraud in Nevada, not Arizona. Brooks, who brags about doing his homework, had the wrong state, but as he began to rattle through the categories of alleged fraud Saturday, he referred to illegal votes coming from non-residents of Nevada, so maybe he got mixed up and just moved on. Regardless, the evidence Brooks cited has been rejected by the Nevada courts, including the state Supreme Court which said Binnall did not prove under any standard of proof there had been election fraud and what he had provided to the court was of no value. In his speech, Brooks brushed aside all this business of courts and judges and evidence, saying the courts had no standing to consider such things which is weird since, in December, Brooks signed his name to an amicus brief in Texas v. Pennsylvania. I guess the courts didnt have standing except for when they did. Brooks should know something about evidence. But if he does, he doesnt acknowledge evidence that supports any position but his own. He doesnt seem to care, and that should be terrifying. Long before he was a representative, Brooks was a district attorney in Madison County, an assistant district attorney in Tuscaloosa County and an assistant Alabama attorney general. Brooks was a prosecutor. This is the expertise he cites his credentials as an expert on evidence and investigations. But what happens when we turn that equation around? If these are his standards now, what were his standards then? How many people did Brooks prosecute? How many juries did he stand before to give what should have been the states best determination of the truth? Did Brooks do then in court what hes doing now? On Saturday, Brooks spoke forcefully about liberty and freedom, but Im gut-wrenched by what might now be an unanswerable question: Did he use these same standards when it was someone elses liberty? Someone elses freedom? The scariest thing about Brooks isnt the office he has now, but the offices he held. Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group. You can follow his work on his Facebook page, The War on Dumb. And on Twitter. And on Instagram. More columns by Kyle Whitmire Want healing, Kay Ivey? Repeal the monuments law. Alabamas Three Stooges. And Shemp. Alabama owes Richard Shelby a big thank you. Doug Jones, too. Mo Brooks knows hes lying. Just ask Mo Brooks. Mo Brooks didnt shout fire. He started it. Why is this taking so long? Failure and a big, big number The Biggest Phony Must I care if someone doesnt want the coronavirus vaccine? Alabama prisons stonewalled a data request. Heres what that data showed. Think we can live with COVID? Meet me at the Cracker Barrel, Kay Ivey. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Cargo Inspection Market Research Report by Industry (Agriculture, Metals and Mining, and Oil, Gas, & Petrochemicals) - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact of COVID-19" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Global Cargo Inspection Market is expected to grow from USD 3,427.02 Million in 2020 to USD 4,236.60 Million by the end of 2025. This research report categorizes the Cargo Inspection to forecast the revenues and analyze the trends in each of the following sub-markets: Based on Industry, the Cargo Inspection Market is examined across Agriculture, Metals and Mining, and Oil, Gas, & Petrochemicals. Based on Geography, the Cargo Inspection Market is examined across Americas, Asia-Pacific , and Europe , Middle East & Africa . The Americas region surveyed across Argentina , Brazil , Canada , Mexico , and United States . The Asia-Pacific region surveyed across Australia , China , India , Indonesia , Japan , Malaysia , Philippines , South Korea , and Thailand . The Europe , Middle East & Africa region surveyed across France , Germany , Italy , Netherlands , Qatar , Russia , Saudi Arabia , South Africa , Spain , United Arab Emirates , and United Kingdom . The report deeply explores the recent significant developments by the leading vendors and innovation profiles in the Global Cargo Inspection Market including Aim Control Group, Alex Stewart International, Alfred H Knight Group., ALS Limited, Bureau Veritas, Camin Cargo Control., Cotecna, CWM Survey & Inspection, Intertek Group, Peterson and Control Union, SGS Group, and Swiss Approval International. COVID-19 is an incomparable global public health emergency that has affected almost every industry, so for and, the long-term effects projected to impact the industry growth during the forecast period. The ongoing research amplifies the research framework to ensure the inclusion of underlaying COVID-19 issues and potential paths forward. The report is delivering insights on COVID-19 considering the changes in consumer behavior and demand, purchasing patterns, re-routing of the supply chain, dynamics of current market forces, and the significant interventions of governments. The updated study provides insights, analysis, estimations, and forecast, considering the COVID-19 impact on the market. The report provides insights on the following pointers: 1. Market Penetration: Provides comprehensive information on the market offered by the key players 2. Market Development: Provides in-depth information about lucrative emerging markets and analyzes the markets 3. Market Diversification: Provides detailed information about new product launches, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments 4. Competitive Assessment & Intelligence: Provides an exhaustive assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of the leading players 5. Product Development & Innovation: Provides intelligent insights on future technologies, R&D activities, and new product developments The report answers questions such as: 1. What is the market size and forecast of the Global Cargo Inspection Market? 2. What are the inhibiting factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global Cargo Inspection Market during the forecast period? 3. Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global Cargo Inspection Market? 4. What is the competitive strategic window for opportunities in the Global Cargo Inspection Market? 5. What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global Cargo Inspection Market? 6. What are the modes and strategic moves considered suitable for entering the Global Cargo Inspection Market? Key Topics Covered: 1. Preface 1.1. Objectives of the Study 1.2. Market Segmentation & Coverage 1.3. Years Considered for the Study 1.4. Currency & Pricing 1.5. Language 1.6. Limitations 1.7. Stakeholders 2. Research Methodology 2.1. Research Process 2.1.1. Define: Research Objective 2.1.2. Determine: Research Design 2.1.3. Prepare: Research Instrument 2.1.4. Collect: Data Source 2.1.5. Analyze: Data Interpretation 2.1.6. Formulate: Data Verification 2.1.7. Publish: Research Report 2.1.8. Repeat: Report Update 2.2. Research Execution 2.2.1. Initiation: Research Process 2.2.2. Planning: Develop Research Plan 2.2.3. Execution: Conduct Research 2.2.4. Verification: Finding & Analysis 2.2.5. Publication: Research Report 2.3. Research Outcome 3. Executive Summary 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Market Outlook 3.3. Industry Outlook 3.4. Geography Outlook 3.5. Competitor Outlook 4. Market Overview 4.1. Introduction 4.2. Cumulative Impact of COVID-19 4.3. Geographic Growth Opportunities 5. Market Insights 5.1. Market Dynamics 5.1.1. Drivers 5.1.2. Restraints 5.1.3. Opportunities 5.1.4. Challenges 5.2. Porters Five Forces Analysis 5.2.1. Threat of New Entrants 5.2.2. Threat of Substitutes 5.2.3. Bargaining Power of Customers 5.2.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5.2.5. Industry Rivalry 6. Global Cargo Inspection Market, By Industry 6.1. Introduction 6.2. Agriculture 6.3. Metals and Mining 6.4. Oil, Gas, & Petrochemicals 7. Americas Cargo Inspection Market 7.1. Introduction 7.2. Argentina 7.3. Brazil 7.4. Canada 7.5. Mexico 7.6. United States 8. Asia-Pacific Cargo Inspection Market 8.1. Introduction 8.2. Australia 8.3. China 8.4. India 8.5. Indonesia 8.6. Japan 8.7. Malaysia 8.8. Philippines 8.9. South Korea 8.10. Thailand 9. Europe, Middle East & Africa Cargo Inspection Market 9.1. Introduction 9.2. France 9.3. Germany 9.4. Italy 9.5. Netherlands 9.6. Qatar 9.7. Russia 9.8. Saudi Arabia 9.9. South Africa 9.10. Spain 9.11. United Arab Emirates 9.12. United Kingdom 10. Competitive Landscape 10.1. FPNV Positioning Matrix 10.1.1. Quadrants 10.1.2. Business Strategy 10.1.3. Product Satisfaction 10.2. Market Ranking Analysis 10.3. Market Share Analysis 10.4. Competitive Scenario 10.4.1. Merger & Acquisition 10.4.2. Agreement, Collaboration, & Partnership 10.4.3. New Product Launch & Enhancement 10.4.4. Investment & Funding 10.4.5. Award, Recognition, & Expansion 11. Company Usability Profiles 11.1. Aim Control Group 11.2. Alex Stewart International 11.3. Alfred H Knight Group. 11.4. ALS Limited 11.5. Bureau Veritas 11.6. Camin Cargo Control. 11.7. Cotecna 11.8. CWM Survey & Inspection 11.9. Intertek Group 11.10. Peterson and Control Union 11.11. SGS Group 11.12. Swiss Approval International 12. Appendix For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/elg6rl Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com With medicinal cannabis now legalized in many parts of the world, there is growing interest in its use to alleviate symptoms of many illnesses including Parkinson's disease (PD). According to results of a survey of PD patients in Germany in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, over 8% of patients with PD reported using cannabis products and more than half of those users (54%) reported a beneficial clinical effect. Cannabis products containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound of cannabis) can be prescribed in Germany when previous therapies are unsuccessful or not tolerated, and where cannabis can be expected with not a very unlikely chance to relieve disabling symptoms. CBD (pure cannabidiol, derived directly from the hemp plant, a cousin of the marijuana plant) is available without a prescription from pharmacies and on the internet. Medical cannabis was legally approved in Germany in 2017 when approval was given for therapy-resistant symptoms in severely affected patients independent of diagnosis and without clinical evidence-based data. PD patients fulfilling these criteria are entitled to be prescribed medical cannabis, but there are few data about which type of cannabinoid and which route of administration might be promising for which PD patient and which symptoms. We also lack information about the extent to which the PD community is informed about medicinal cannabis and whether they have tried cannabis and, if so, with what result." Dr med. Carsten Buhmann, Study Lead Investigator and Professor, Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Investigators aimed to assess patient perceptions of medicinal cannabis as well as evaluate the experiences of patients already using cannabis products. They performed a nationwide, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey among members of the German Parkinson Association (Deutsche Parkinson Vereinigung e.V.), which is the largest consortium of PD patients in German-speaking countries with nearly 21,000 members. Questionnaires were sent out in April 2019 with the association's membership journal and were also distributed in the investigators' clinic. Over 1,300 questionnaires were analyzed; results showed that interest in the PD community in medical cannabis was high, but knowledge about different types of products was limited. Fifty-one percent of respondents were aware of the legality of medicinal cannabis, and 28% were aware of the various routes of administration (inhaling versus oral administration), but only 9% were aware of the difference between THC and CBD. More than 8% of patients were already using cannabinoids and more than half of these users (54%) reported that it had a beneficial clinical effect. The overall tolerability was good. Over 40% of users reported that it helped manage pain and muscle cramps, and more than 20% of users reported a reduction of stiffness (akinesia), freezing, tremor, depression, anxiety, and restless legs. Patients reported that inhaled cannabis products containing THC were more efficient in treating stiffness than oral products containing CBD but were slightly less well tolerated. Patients using cannabis tended to be younger, living in large cities, and more aware of the legal and clinical aspects of medicinal cannabis. Sixty-five percent of non-users were interested in using medicinal cannabis, but lack of knowledge and fear of side effects were reported as main reasons for not trying it. "Our data confirm that PD patients have a high interest in treatment with medicinal cannabis but lacked knowledge about how to take it and especially the differences between the two main cannabinoids, THC and CBD," noted Prof. Dr. med. Buhmann. "Physicians should consider these aspects when advising their patients about treatment with medicinal cannabis. The data reported here may help physicians decide which patients could benefit, which symptoms could be addressed, and which type of cannabinoid and route of administration might be suitable." "Cannabis intake might be related to a placebo effect because of high patient expectations and conditioning, but even that can be considered as a therapeutic effect. It has to be stressed, though, that our findings are based on subjective patient reports and that clinically appropriate studies are urgently needed," he concluded. Bastiaan R. Bloem, MD, PhD, Director, Radboudumc Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and Co-Editor-in Chief of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, added: "These findings are interesting in that they confirm a widespread interest among patients in the use of cannabis as a potential treatment for people living with PD. It is important to emphasize that more research is needed before cannabis can be prescribed as a treatment, and that guidelines currently recommend against the use of cannabis, even as self-medication, because the efficacy is not well established, and because there are safety concerns (adverse effects include among others sedation and hallucinations). As such, the present paper mainly serves to emphasize the need for carefully controlled clinical trials to further establish both the efficacy and safety of cannabis treatment." TORONTO - Two Canadian investment leaders endorsed a transition to clean energy at a virtual Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday as more investors worldwide push for concrete sustainability commitments. In this file photo dated Monday, Dec. 16, 2019, Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England speaks at a Bank of England Financial Stability Report Press Conference, in London. THE CAADIAN PRESS/AP-Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth TORONTO - Two Canadian investment leaders endorsed a transition to clean energy at a virtual Davos World Economic Forum on Wednesday as more investors worldwide push for concrete sustainability commitments. Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said that politicians can help markets finance the transition to zero-emission economies by setting credible forward commitments. Canadas carbon pricing plan is an example of a forward commitment, Carney said, since it would hike the federal tax to $170 a tonne by 2030 from $30currently. "I think we're reaching the tipping point. The question is execution. How is that political will channelled?" said Carney, who was speaking in his capacity as United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. He pointed to recent COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements as an example of the power of putting political will behind contracts. Carney, who is also vice-chairman at Brookfield Asset Management, said that financial and economic markets will adjust to future goals, such as upcoming bans of internal combustion engines in Europe. Carney pointed to his research with U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, which suggested that markets will "smooth" out the carbon price hikes. "That's what markets do best. And by the time you get to the point where the price is high, the economy has adjusted," said Carney. In a separate session, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan chief executive Jo Taylor said the pension plan tries to push its portfolio companies toward sustainability, rather than immediately divesting in carbon-intensive companies. The pension plan said last week it would commit to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. "Through that engagement, rather than divestment, I think we can particularly push these companies to do a better job and actually provide some additional help and services in and around the world where they may not be immediately available," said Taylor. Carney and Taylor's comments at Davos came as 61 global business leaders said at the forum they would begin using a standardized set of environmental, social and governance metrics and disclosures. Global investment firm BlackRock Inc. also said this week it would start giving "heightened scrutiny" to investments that posed a climate-change risk, calling for more company disclosures not only on climate change but also social goals such as equity, diversity and inclusion. In his letter to CEOs, BlackRock chief executive Laurence Fink said that between January and November 2020 there was a 96 per cent year-over-year increase in sustainable asset investments in mutual funds and exchange traded funds. Carney said that as more governments sign on to net-zero pledges, it is "cascading down" to large pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. "We don't often invest on our own, so what we need to do is also persuade other investors," said Taylor. "Some of the investors we work with have a much more short-term view of what they're trying to achieve." At a separate event at the Canadian Club of Toronto on Wednesday, business leaders made a similar case for businesses to boost diversity within their companies and support clean energy. "The pain points today are revolving around climate change, and we see what's happening. It's real. Sheets of ice are melting, the ocean water levels are rising, investors are paying more attention this," said CIBC chief executive Victor Dodig. "If we want to make sure that capital comes to Canada, we need to make sure that companies, the private sector publicly traded companies and private companies are focused on that. Because capital won't come here otherwise." Dodig said that Canadian companies have among the strongest technology offerings worldwide for renewable energy, pointing to companies working in uranium and agriculture. But Rola Dagher, global channel chief at Dell Technologies, said business leaders must also do more in general to ease the anxieties that technology will be used the wrong way and cause job losses. Richard Manley, head of sustainable investing at CPP Investments, said that while the energy industry has been "in a permanent state of innovation for a century," it has yet to reach its full potential in confronting carbon emissions. "We clearly are investing in technologies that will shape the greening of energy," said Manley. "But at the same time, I think we're very keen to support companies that are identifying the challenges of the transition, and a commitment to decarbonize and transition their businesses, to provide them the capital they require." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2021. Two Filipino journalists were falsely labelled by the countrys military as being members of the Philippines terrorist group the New Peoples Army along with other prominent graduates of the University of the Philippines on January 21. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) in condemning these unsubstantiated and highly dangerous claims. The Facebook posts named Agence France Presse bureau chief for Singapore and Malaysia, Roberto Bobby Coloma, and business journalist Roel Landingin, along with 25 other graduates of the university as being New Peoples Army members. The posts, which have since been removed, were published on the Facebook page of the official military information outlet, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Information Exchange. The Armed Forces of the Philippines has since apologised for releasing the list. In a statement posted to Facebook, the AFP wrote, we sincerely apologise for those who were inadvertently affected by inconsistencies regarding the List of Students who joined the NPA (Died or Captured) personnel who are responsible will be held to account. Red tagging, by which individuals are publicly smeared or falsely labelled as being Communists or terrorists, is an established and frequently-used method used to undermine and endanger media organisations and journalists perceived as being critical of the Philippines Duterte government. The IFJ has documented multiple incidents of journalist red tagging over the past year. In October 2020, The Manila Times published an editorial cartoon highlighting the practice. In May 2020, photographs of journalist Rowena Weng Carranza-Paraan were maliciously twisted in a red-tagging incident. The recently signed anti-terror law allows for the arrest of those suspected of involvement in terror activities without a warrant, thus exposing the 27 individuals named without vetting by the AFP to possible imprisonment or public retaliation. NUJM said: The very real danger is how those who wield the armed might of the state can so easily and brazenly engage in such obvious and deadly falsehoods without any thought to the consequences. We, the community of independent Filipino journalists, denounce this dangerous slander against Bobby Coloma and Roel Landingin and all those so falsely accused by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil-Military Operations.We shall not let this pass. You will be held to account. The IFJ said: This incident demonstrates the continuing baseless accusations and vilification of media workers in the Philippines which poses a real and present risk to journalists. The IFJ condemns the alarming dissemination of misinformation from the AFP and calls for greater measures to safeguard the rights of journalists in the Philippines. Apeldoorn (Netherlands), Jan 27 (AP) The 27-nation EU is coming under criticism for the slow rollout of its vaccination campaign. The bloc, a collection of many of the richest countries in the world, is not faring well in comparison to countries like Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. While Israel has given at least one shot of a two-dose vaccine to over 40% of its population and that figure in Britain is 10%, the EU total stands at just over 2%. Onerous regulations and paperwork in some countries and poor planning in others have contributed to the delay, as did a more deliberate authorization process for the shots. Some drugmakers say they won't be able to meet their initial vaccine doses because of problems in expanding production capacity. Health authorities in Spain say they are running short of COVID-19 vaccines due to delays in deliveries by pharmaceutical companies. Northeast Catalonia, home to Barcelona, says 10,000 people who had received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine won't be able to get their required second dose administered as planned 21 days later. Regional authorities for the territory surrounding the capital of Madrid also say they were halting the administration of the first shot of the Pfizer vaccine to ensure that those awaiting a second shot could get it as scheduled. Spain has administered 95% of the 1.3 million vaccines it has received as part of the EU plan, according to its health ministry. Only 123,000 people have received the full vaccine. Spain along with the rest of the European Union has suffered delays since Pfizer announced two weeks ago a temporary reduction in deliveries so it could upscale its plant in Puurs, Belgium. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) The exquisite preservation of a new, partial skull of Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus, a species of duck-billed dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period, finally revealed the structure of its bizarre ornamental crest after decades of disagreement. Parasaurolophus is a genus of herbivorous ornithopod dinosaurs that is most strikingly characterized by a tubular crest. Three currently recognized species, Parasaurolophus walkeri, P. tubicen, and P. cyrtocristatus, lived in what is now North America, about 76.5-73 million years ago (Cretaceous period). Unlike Parasaurolophus walkeri and P. tubicen, which have long slightly curving crests, P. cyrtocristatus is unique in having a shorter crest that curves sharply over the back end of the skull roof. Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus was previously known from a single, partial specimen collected in New Mexico in 1923 by legendary fossil hunter Charles H. Sternberg. The new skull was discovered in 2017 in the Fossil Forest Member of the Fruitland Formation in northwestern New Mexico. The preservation of this new skull is spectacular, finally revealing in detail the bones that make up the crest of this amazing dinosaur known by nearly every dinosaur-obsessed kid, said co-author Dr. Joe Sertich, curator of dinosaurs at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. This just reinforces the importance of protecting our public lands for scientific discoveries. My jaw dropped when I first saw the fossil. Ive been waiting for nearly 20 years to see a specimen of this quality, said lead author Dr. Terry Gates, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University. This specimen is truly remarkable in its preservation, said co-author Dr. David Evans, the Temerty chair in vertebrate paleontology and vice president of natural history at the Royal Ontario Museum. It has answered long-standing questions about how the crest is constructed and about the validity of this particular species. For me, this fossil is very exciting. About 75 million years ago, when Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus lived in the region, North America was divided into two landmasses by a broad seaway. Laramidia, the ribbon of land to the west, extended from todays Alaska to central Mexico, hosting multiple episodes of mountain building in early stages of the construction of todays Rocky Mountains. These mountain-building events helped preserve diverse ecosystems of dinosaurs along their eastern flanks, some of the best-preserved and most continuous anywhere on Earth. Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus shared lush, subtropical floodplains with other, crestless duck-billed dinosaurs, a diverse array of horned dinosaurs, and early tyrannosaurs alongside many emerging, modern groups of alligators, turtles and plants. The skull of Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus is still incompletely known, so more complete material will likely reveal new features that further differentiate this species and aid in determining the pace of ornamental crest evolution, the paleontologists said. The findings were published in the journal PeerJ. _____ T.A. Gates et al. 2021. Description and rediagnosis of the crested hadrosaurid (Ornithopoda) dinosaur Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus on the basis of new cranial remains. PeerJ 9: e10669; doi: 10.7717/peerj.10669 Organizers of a 1,000-person New Year's Eve party that was going to be held on the Yorktown aircraft carrier at Patriots Point are suing the state-owned museum's board for not allowing it to take place because of COVID-19 concerns. The event, called the Yorktown Countdown, was called off the afternoon of Dec. 30 the day before it was supposed to take place through a unanimous vote by the Patriots Point Development Authority. In its resolution, the board said that, "because of safety concerns," it had agreed to "postpone" the private party "to a future date." Robert Patterson, owner of the Mount Pleasant-based businesses putting on the event, Special Ops Events and Top Shelf Catering, said that since this was a holiday-specific gathering, their decision was effectively a cancellation. Patterson said he is unable to refund ticketholders unless he can recoup money already spent on the event. In a Facebook post Dec. 30, he estimated that figure at about $200,000. The lawsuit, which was filed Friday in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas, stated that tents, portable toilets and other event equipment were starting to be loaded onto the Yorktown two days before the event. Patriots Point's special events manager asked for the last installment of the rent the morning of Dec. 30, and that payment was made, according to the complaint. Media outlets were given notice of an emergency meeting of the museum's board around 12:30 p.m. that day. The agenda had one item: discussion about the private New Year's Eve party. The board met remotely at 1 p.m. that afternoon. Patterson said he was on the Yorktown at the time of the meeting, working on setup for the event which was "mostly finished." Cranes were rented to move equipment onto the carrier, and checks were written to local vendors, he said. The lawsuit alleges that the postponement didn't come in time to "mitigate their damages in a meaningful way" since "irreversible actions" had taken place to prepare to stage the event the following evening. Sign up for our new business newsletter We're starting a weekly newsletter about the business stories that are shaping Charleston and South Carolina. Get ahead with us - it's free. Email Sign Up! This past New Year's would have been the ninth time Patterson hosted the annual party on the Yorktown. All events in the state with more than 250 attendees must get permission from the S.C. Department of Commerce under current COVID restrictions. A request for the Yorktown Countdown got OK'd by the state for up to 1,000 guests, and, according to the lawsuit, Patterson's company provided the museum with a "COVID-19 action plan" in mid-December. Tickets were sold out in advance, the lawsuit states. Patriots Point spokesman Chris Hauff declined to comment on the complaint and Patterson's claims. Earlier this month, during a regularly-scheduled meeting of Patriots Point's board, members voted to ban events at the museum with more than 250 attendees "for the safety of patrons." The new rule is effective through Dec. 31 of this year. The Yorktown Countdown wasn't the only New Year's function to be called off at the last minute in South Carolina. A couple of businesses in Myrtle Beach opted to cancel soirees planned at their venues days before the holiday, and Greenville's Reedy River Grand Ball, which would have attracted some 700 guests, was canceled the week of New Year's, too. Other celebrations were moved to a virtual format before the holiday, like Columbia's "Famously Hot New Year" or the "Flip-Flop Drop" at Folly Beach. Joe Biden is set to announce on Wednesday a radical proposal for tackling climate change, which will emphasize the fact that marginalized communities and ethnic minorities frequently bear the brunt of global warming. Biden, who rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement on the first day of his presidency, will direct agencies across the federal government to invest in minority communities hardest-hit by pollution, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. Two sources told the paper that the president will sign an executive order establishing a White House interagency council on environmental justice. Joe Biden will announce a series of environmental policies on Wednesday, it has been claimed A horizontal drilling rig and a pump jack sit on federal land in Lea County, New Mexico, in September. Biden is expected to announce there will be no more leases granted to drill Biden is focusing attention on how the poorest communities are often hardest hit by environmental issues from industry, landfill or climate change Biden campaigned on a promise to prioritize the natural environment as president An airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The U.S. government held its first-ever oil and gas lease sale January 6 for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Biden will halt them He will create an office of health and climate equity at the Health and Human Services Department, and form a separate environmental justice office at the Justice Department. Biden and his team believe that it is time to right the historic wrongs of having marginalized communities forced to accept debris that wealthier communities fight against: power plants, landfills, trash incinerators, shipping ports, uranium mines and factories. Biden on Wednesday will also announce a block on any new federal oil and gas leasing. He will pledge to protect 30 per cent of the nation's public lands and waters by the end of the decade, and direct federal agencies to consider the impact on climate change when looking at a range of issues, including procurement, regulations and legal settlements. 'Our urgent reduction of emissions is compelled by public conscience and by common sense,' said John Kerry, the former secretary of state who is now Biden's climate envoy. Speaking at a UN forum this week, he said: 'President Biden knows that we have to mobilize in unprecedented ways to meet a challenge that is fast accelerating, and he knows we have limited time to get it under control.' John Kerry told the UN: 'He knows we have limited time to get it under control' Kerry also set the stage for Wednesday's expected announcement, saying: 'Every agency is now a part of our climate team.' Biden's move to emphasize how climate change affects different communities in different ways was praised by academics in the field. Cathleen Kelly, a fellow who focuses on energy and environment at the Center for American Progress, told the paper Biden was making 'a historic commitment.' 'The executive order will help to lay out a clear path to implementing President Biden's climate and justice commitments,' Kelly said. 'It will get the gears turning in each agency across the federal government. With Biden in the White House and the current leaders we have in Congress, this year represents an unprecedented opportunity to have executive and legislative action.' The Keystone pipeline in North Dakota, seen in February 2017, has long been contentious Robert Bullard, a professor at Texas Southern University, said Wednesday's moves sent a strong signal. 'When you have the most powerful legal department in the country saying that environmental justice is a basic right, I think that is a signal being sent across the country to say that this is real at the highest level,' he said. The new administration is working to bring skeptical Americans on side. Gina McCarthy, climate coordinator, this week assured local officials from across the country that the administration would work to convince average Americans they will benefit from a transition to clean energy. 'People have been in pain long enough. We are not going to ask for sacrifice,' she said. 'And if we fail to win the heart of middle America, we will lose.' Port Arthur, Texas is the end of the line for oil that would travel through the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline The oil and gas industry already begun attacking Biden's plans, including his decisions - made on his first day in office - to rescind the controversial Keystone pipeline. 'The first few days are giving us an indication of what the next four years could look like, and that's elicited some real concern, within the industry and broadly, outside the industry,' said Frank Macchiarola, senior vice president of policy, economics and regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute. 'We're going to communicate how impactful such a policy would be, to both the administration and on Capitol Hill.' The top three House Republicans, joined by 17 others, sent a letter to Biden on Tuesday warning him against suspending federal oil and gas auctions. Taking such a step 'would be as extreme as it is radical, and it would only further divide the country. It would put Americans with good-paying jobs in the energy industry out of work. And, it would seem to conflict directly with federal law.' Amaravati, Jan 27 : Government employee associations in Andhra Pradesh have been assured by the state government of safety in the forthcoming panchayat elections. The state government promised it will make sure there are no hiccups. Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das spoke to the employee unions and told them about the model code of conduct and their duties. As it is not an easy task to carry out elections and vaccination at the same time, he informed the employees that the state government had written to the central government for guidance. Das also told the employees that he will discuss with State Election Commissioner Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar about the concerns raised by the employees. Meanwhile, representative of the employees union Venkatrami Reddy said they requested the government to provide all facilities for protection during election duty. "We requested the government to grant compensation of Rs 50 lakh to those employees who succumb to coronavirus during election duty," said Reddy. They also requested the government not to deploy women employees over 50 years of age for election duty, including those employees suffering from health problems. The employees' representatives said they will extend all support for the elections. Chandrasekhar Reddy, another representative, said they requested Das to vaccinate employees and then deploy them on election duty, which he said will discuss with the SEC. Bopparaju Venkateshwarlu, revenue employees representative, said he requested the chief secretary to ensure that employees receive PPE kits which the SEC promised them. New Delhi: Global icon Priyanka Chopra's memoir 'Unfinished' will be out in February this year and the buzz around it is palpable. Especially, when you know that PeeCee has penned important yet unknown facets of her professional and personal life. While speaking to Marie Claire in their spring 2021 issue, Priyanka Chopra opened up on many things and recalled being called 'dusky' in the showbiz world. In her memoir, she has talked about regretting to have promoted skin-whitening cream brands in her career. "Skin lightening was so normalized in South Asia; its such a large industry that everyone was doing it. In fact, doing it is still a check when you are a female actor, but its awful, she told Marie Claire. And it was awful for me, for a little girl who used to put talcum-powder cream on my face because I believed that dark skin was not pretty," added she. PeeCee added that she is hoping that at least today, people don't feel the need to fit into a set beauty standard. Im an anomaly, and everyone else is in their own way, she said. On the work front, Priyanka Chopra was last seen in 'The White Tiger' directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film stars Adarsh Gourav along with Rajkummar Rao. It is an adaptation Aravind Adiga's 2008 novel of the same name. The film premiered on Netflix this month. 3K Shares Share I recently read a story that struck close to home for me, and I suspect for nearly all of you in your medical careers at one time or another. It was a story of a surgeon called in urgently to the ED for a seriously injured young boy. The surgeon arrived as soon as he could, only to be confronted by an irate father for being late and accusing the surgeon of being uncaring, self-centered, and money-driven. It was an ugly scene. The surgeon remained calm, apologized, and told the father he would do all he could to help his son. Even this did not appease the father, and he continued to verbally harangue the surgeon. After the surgery, the surgeon spoke to the father, explained that all went well and full recovery was expected. He then promptly left. The man told the OR nurse he couldnt believe how callous and cold the surgeon was, first for being late and second for being so brusque with his departure after the surgery. The nurse then told him the rest of the story. The surgeon was late because his son was killed in an accident a few days before. He was actually at his sons funeral when he was called back to the emergency department. She told the father, He left his own sons funeral so he could take care of your son. Needless to say, the man did not say another thing. Most of us have been in situations. I can think of times, maybe not as tragic as this, but still difficult times, when I was running behind only to be confronted by an angry patient or family member for being so thoughtless and uncaring as to waste their time. If they only knew The reason I was late seeing you, even though you were the first patient of the day, was because I had just left the ICU where a patient I had cared for through the years had died. I spent over 45 minutes with a grieving family. I have been in the hospital on-call for over 24 hours, working all night, rounding since six in the morning only to have the son of a newly admitted, unassigned patient come in from out-of-town irate that no one had called him. By the way, this son had not seen his mother in several years. The patient I saw before you was sobbing when I walked into the exam room to see her for what should have been a routine 15-minute appointment. She had just found out her husband of 20 years was having an affair and wanted a divorce. She was devastated. It took longer than 15 minutes to see her. I had minutes earlier told a patient of 20 years and his family that he has Alzheimers. How do you do that in 15 minutes? The previous patient was a nurse I had worked for many years. She was in to review test results. The test showed metastatic cancer throughout her liver. She was 46 with a husband and three children at home. My own mother in Alabama is dying. Her doctor isnt communicating with my father, brothers, and sister; they turn to me for answers. I am personally burned out, and its all I can do to see one more patient. Its all I can do to make it through each day. It is all I could do to remain in the room because I simply didnt care anymore. You have your own if they only knew stories, I am sure. Medicine is hard, and it is getting harder. Patients and families are more demanding with increasingly unrealistic expectations. They want you to treat them as if they are the most important person to you. They expect you always to be smiling, happy, and engaging. You try to do that but sometimes, despite your best efforts, you simply cant because if they only knew Youre not alone in this hard work that is medicine. There are people who care about you. I am one of them. I do know. Thank you for persevering even when you feel you can no longer continue. You are valued. You are appreciated. You are making a difference every day in the lives of others. Andy Lamb is an internal medicine physician. He can be reached at Bugle Notes. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Five High Court challenges have been initiated over the Government's decision not to reopen schools for special needs pupils. The test judicial review actions are against the Minister for Education, Ireland and the Attorney General's decision earlier this month not to reopen the schools. They were mentioned before Mr Justice Charles Meenan on Wednesday. The applicants seek various orders injunction compelling the Minister and the State to reopen the schools to those with intellectual disabilities. The judge adjourned proceedings to Monday after he directed that the applications leave to bring the challenges be made in the presence of lawyers for the State side. Each of the actions have been brought on behalf of five school-going children, who are suing through their parents. They cannot be identified for legal reasons. The case arises after the Minister said on January 19 last that the schools would not re-open during the current covid-19 restrictions due to a lack of cooperation from key staff trade unions. The say that prior to the announcement, the respondents believed that it was appropriate that the schools should have re-opened as planned on January 21 last. The parents fear for their children's mental and physical well-being and say that the schools should be reopened by the government. They also claim that the National Public Health Emergency Team as well as the government deem schools safe to re-open. They say the respondents have failed in their duties towards the children, who have various conditions including Autism Spectrum Disorder. The court heard that some of the children involved have severely regressed in basic skills due to the school closures and the lack of supports they would normally get as part of their education. In their separate actions they seek an order compelling the Minister and the State to provide the children with an adequate and appropriate education, on the basis of their obligation under the 1988 Education Act, and Article 42 of the Constitution. They also seek a declaration that the respondents have failed in their duty to provide for an adequate education for the children under the 1998 Act and Article 42. They also seek injunctions aimed at compelling the State to provide the children with appropriate and adequate education. Jon-Paul Doran, CEO & Founder of JPD Capital is joined by Adam Dignan, Founder and CEO Verdex Group to explain their latest collaboration - Ibero Botanica. Doran explains to Proactive's Katie Pilbeam, Verdex 'encapsulates all of the traits that we were looking for' in regards to their partnership Ibero Botanica, a Spanish facility distributing premium CBD hemp and EU-GMP medicinal cannabis produce. Dignam has extensive experience in this domain and is keen to utilise and expand upon his presence in this expanding market with this new joint venture. The partners present their investment case for a fundraising, with grand ambitions for a substantial slice of the market as they journey towards IPO. Highlights TikTok will downsize in India following government ban. There are no plans to shut down company as of now. TikTok was banned last year by government. It's been over six months since TikTok was initially banned in the country but the platform was hopeful for a return. However, the doors were shut earlier this week when the government decided to extend the ban on the platform along with several other Chinese apps. This has left Bytedance TikTok's parent company with no other option but to downsize its India team and several employees would now be staring at job losses. In a statement shared with India Today Tech, a TikTok spokesperson said that the platform will continue to comply with the local laws and even tried its best to ensure that all concerns around the app are addressed. However, no clear direction was given on when and if the app can make a comeback. "We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have. It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated," the TikTok spokesperson said. However, the platform has emphasized that it has no plans of shutting down and will continue to operate the way it was doing before. The recent development only draws curtains on TikTok once the most popular short video sharing platform in India. The company is hopeful of relaunching the app in future. "It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India," the statement added. The apps were banned under section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Over the last six months, the government banned another 208 Chinese apps. All these bans came in the wake of tension between India and China at the border. The ban was imposed citing national security. (@FahadShabbir) Iran is ready to immediately resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal once the other signatories do so, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday TEHRAN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) Iran is ready to immediately resume compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal once the other signatories do so, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday. "We have always said: Go back to your commitments, and we will return to all of ours in an hour," Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting, broadcast by Iranian television. Former US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the multilateral accord in 2018, reinstating sanctions on Tehran as part of a maximum pressure campaign. His successor, Joe Biden, has expressed a readiness to rejoin the deal should Iran return to full compliance. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has rejected any revisions to the original deal, insisting that Washington remove sanctions first. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Looking for a new job can be challenging, frustrating and a real cause of stress and anxiety. You may be in a role that you are unhappy in, made redundant or in between positions, but either way there are key steps you can follow to ensure the best possible outcome in securing a new opportunity. Above all, be clear about your career goals and take ownership of them. 1. CV Firstly, update your CV and get feedback on it. Do the usual checks such as double checking for spelling mistakes, lay out your content in a logical order with the most recent job experience at the top and ensure sentences are well-constructed to make it easy to understand. The format of your CV is important and omit details which could cause bias such as your age or photograph. Ideally keep it to two or three pages and tailor it for each application by emphasising how you meet the criteria. You want your CV to stand out. A CV that is too short or too long risks being overlooked due to lack of detail or expecting the company to wade through page after page looking for your relevant experience. 2. LinkedIn Profile Your LinkedIn profile is an online extension of your CV and is a great tool to get you noticed by company hiring managers and recruitment consultants. Spend time on it, complete the skills section, ensure your dates of employment tally with your CV, and think about what content you are posting on your profile, ensuring it is professional. 3. Relevance and personalisation Apply for jobs relevant to your experience. When this is not possible ensure you personalise your CV to show how your skills from previous roles can be adapted to this new role. For every role, ensure you write a personalised cover letter to show why you would be right for the role. This is your opportunity to show how you are the perfect person for this role. 4. Research Research your sector to learn about each potential company or organisation that could be of interest to you. When applying, intertwine key messages from the employer's brand into your cover letter on why you would be a good match for that role in their company. Mentioning key events or products in the company can show you have a real interest, and you are not just sending another generic CV to another company. You can also register for job alerts on job board aggregators such as Indeed who will send you vacancies which match your criteria daily. Do not just rely on online applications - work your network and build relationships with recruiters who specialise in your field along with internal hiring managers. 5. Be creative You are unlikely to be the only applicant for a role, so make yourself stand out for the right reasons, be authentic and show your genuine interest in the opportunity. Once you have reached the interview stage make sure you know who is going to be interviewing you and research them on LinkedIn. Try and find someone who you know who works there for an 'information interview' with them in advance. If possible, send a follow-up email to each of the interview panel thanking them for the opportunity. In conclusion, be resilient and know that during a job search rejections are inevitable. Don't take it personally and remember everyone has been rejected at some point in their career. If you are not currently employed, your search for a job becomes your job, so structure your day as if you were at work in terms of when you start, stop, take breaks etc. When your day is finished, turn off your computer. Ian Weatherup is managing director at Corvus, a Belfast-based recruitment consultancy who specialise in critical recruitment solutions. For further information on Corvus visit www.corvus.jobs/ Follow Corvus on Facebook and LinkedIn, Twitter @Corvus_jobs A team from the United States is carrying out an experiment on ID06-HXM virtually, where they study magnesium alloys, used in the automobile industry, during heat treatment. It is early in the morning. Ashley Bucsek, Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, in the US, is only just waking up but opens her laptop straight away from her bed: her experiment on magnesium alloys is in full swing at beamline ID06-HXM at the ESRF. Zoom has proven to be an exceptionally useful tool for the population in general, but for researchers doing an experiment, it is a must. On ID06-HXM they have a constant Zoom meeting running since the beginning of the experiment. We can comment on how the experiment is developing live and all of us can see the screen of the control computer as the action takes place, says Bucsek. It also helps the fact that I was a visiting scientist a couple of years ago so I know all the team on the beamline it makes communication very easy. This time, Bucsek and her team are studying high-strength, lightweight magnesium alloys, which have substantial potential for reducing the weight of automobiles and other transportation systems, and, as a consequence, improve fuel economy and reduce emissions. However, compared to other structural metals, the development of commercial magnesium alloys and the understanding of these alloys physical metallurgy are less mature. If we want to enable the widespread use of these alloys in industry, we need to improve their strength, fatigue resistance and formability, explains Bucsek. The crystallographic texture of magnesium alloys is very strong, with all the atomic arrangements pointing in a similar direction. This makes them strong in one direction but brittle in other directions. Heat treatments are used to make this texture less strong, which in turn makes the material properties the same in all directions and more machinable in general. This occurs due to a recrystallization process, where new crystals grow and the old crystals disappear. A screenshot of the Zoom session among the team while the experiment was taking place. Credits: A. Bucsek Bucsek has gone (virtually) to ID06-HXM to apply heat treatments to some samples to discover what processes take place at the crystal level and what promotes changes in the structure. With the ID06-HXM team, they have used the technique of dark field X-ray microscopy, where they can see what is happening inside the material in situ, with a spatial resolution of 100 nanometres or better. The new EBS has made the experiment much smoother: Changes were immediately apparent: the brilliance is so strong that we dont need to worry about the size of our sample, nor the time for collection, or the dynamic range of the detector, because we have more photons. This has been obvious from the very first image that we have seen, says Bucsek. Despite the peculiar circumstances, Bucsek asserts that the experiment has followed a classic pattern: I dont think this experiment in particular would be different if we were there. It is a classic story arc of things are going well, things are going better, then things are starting to go bad, then worse, and then you are in a hole and you cant dig yourself out of it. When everything seems lost, you have a last-minute success. Heartbreak and triumph: same feelings, even remotely, concludes Bucsek. Bucsek with the ID06 team during her stay at the ESRF in 2018. Text and video by Montserrat Capellas Espuny Donald Trump's impeachment defense lawyer, South Carolina Air National Guard Colonel Karl S. "Butch" Bowers, Jr., said he dedicated his life to defending public figures after he felt his father was wrongfully jailed for defrauding the government The lawyer who will defend Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial next month said Wednesday he didn't hesitate to take up the case because he dedicated his life to defending public figures he felt were wronged after his father was jailed for defrauding the government. 'It's who I am. It's what I do. It's all about the rule of law in the Constitution,' Karl 'Butch' Bowers Jr. told the Washington Post of taking up the former president's impeachment case. Bowers was recommended to Trump by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally in Congress, after lawyers at more high-profile firms refused to take the case. The South Carolina Air National Guard colonel said, 'I'm not worried what other people think.' 'This goes back to my dad,' Bowers continued. 'I'm not looking to get anybody to say good things about me. What I'm looking for is to help the people I'm retained to represent. And that's what I care about.' The 55-year-old attorney, who runs a one-lawyer firm in Columbia, South Carolina, will serve as Trump's lead attorney in the Senate trial, which will begin February 9. Bowers told the Post that he believes his father, Karl Bowers Sr. who may have considered a gubernatorial or congressional run in the 1980's was targeted and the conviction was politically motivated. 'My dad had a huge impact on my life,' Bowers said. He added that upon reflection on 'some of the wrongs' he felt happened to his father, he decided: 'If I could help other people avoid that kind of stuff, then maybe that can be my contribution to society.' Bowers Sr. served as head of the Federal Highway Administration during Jimmy Carter's presidency and upon returning to South Carolina was charged with criminal conspiracy and embezzlement involving the sale of homes that were repossessed by the government. The elder Bowers was convicted in 1980, exhausted his appeals in 1983 and reported to prison. He died in 2012 at the age of 70. 'I'm not worried what other people think,' Bowers said of taking the case. 'This goes back to my dad. I'm not looking to get anybody to say good things about me. What I'm looking for is to help the people I'm retained to represent. And that's what I care about' Karl Bowers Sr. served as head of the Federal Highway Administration during Jimmy Carter's presidency. He was charged with criminal conspiracy and embezzlement involving the sale of homes repossessed by the government. He was convicted in 1980, exhausted his appeals in 1983 and reported to prison. He died in 2012 at the age of 70 On Tuesday, the full upper chamber swore in as senators prepares to hear the impeachment case for and against Trump's conviction next month Bowers would not say if Trump will make an appearance at the impeachment trial where senators will decide if he 'incited an insurrection' by riling up supporters before they stormed the Capitol on January 6 Bowers also hired attorney Debbie Barbier to craft his defense for former president Trump Bowers, a Tulane Law School educated lawyers, would not discuss his legal strategy and did not say if Trump could make an appearance at the trial let along if he would call any witnesses. 'You'll see our case when we present it, and I think the facts and the law will speak for themselves,' he told the Post in his first interview since being selected to lead Trump's legal team. The House impeachment managers deliver the article of impeachment for 'incitement of insurrection' to the newly 50-50 split Senate on Monday. It is still unclear if Trump will be convicted in the Senate as Democrats need 17 Republicans to cross the line. Of the 50 GOP senators, 45 have already signaled Trump's acquittal. With the House vote earlier this month to impeach Trump following the Capitol riot on January 6, which they claim he bears responsibility for, the former president is the only in U.S. history to be impeached twice. If convicted, Trump will lose his post-presidency benefits, like a pension and Secret Service detail. He will also be banned from running for president again, which some reports indicate he plans to do in 2024. Bowers Jr. dedicated his life to defending public and political figures in honor of what happened to his father. Bowers represented then-South Carolina Senator Mark Sanford (left) as he faced threats of impeachment in 2009 which were ultimately dropped Bowers is pictured left in 2012 representing then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (right) in a case alleging campaign finance violations In 2009 Bowers represented then-Governor Mark Sanford. The Republican South Carolina official faced threats of impeachment after his affair with an Argentine woman was revealed and questions emerged involving his use of state travel funds. The impeachment effort was ultimately dropped. Later in 2012, Bowers represented then-Governor Nikki Haley, who went on five years later to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under Trump's administration. At the time, Haley was facing a State Ethics Commission inquiry into allegations she violated campaign finance laws. Following negotiations by Bowers on Haley's behalf, the commission only fined her $3,500. A political consultant in the Palmetto State, Tim Pearson, told the Post: 'He [Bowers] is the first call that every Republican campaign makes for a legal team. It doesn't surprise me he is willing to do the work. He is a lawyer's lawyer in the sense that I think he believes that everybody deserves representation.' The office of Tunisias president received a letter containing suspicious powder and is investigating the matter, a source there told Reuters on Wednesday. President Kais Saied did not open the letter and is in good health, the source said. Some local websites reported that the lethal toxin ricin had been found in the envelope, and that it had been addressed to the presidency in the Carthage Palace. The source in the office declined to comment on the reports. Factional tensions have been growing within Tunisia's leadership amid protests against widespread unemployment and social inequality. Saied, a political independent who won election in 2019, told a gathering of national security officials this week that there were conspiracies afoot aimed at thwarting his work at home and abroad. He did not elaborate. Parliament on Tuesday approved a cabinet reshuffle that deepened conflict between the prime minister and president. Short link: China in Focus (Jan. 26): Imported Samples Test Positive: Suspicions Rise in China In an undercover video, two doctors from Wuhan shed light on the Chinese Regimes virus coverup. The United States signals plans for a continued tough stance on China as an advisor to Biden talks about using strategic patience in approaching the issue. A young man in China dies a slow death after living in severe poverty just weeks after Chinese authorities declared the country poverty-free. And Chinas trade war with Australia appears to be backfiring. Australian exports to China reportedly soared in December. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more first-hand news from China. For more news and videos, please visit our website and Twitter. Help India! TCN News The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding Indias pluralist and tolerant ethos, has congratulated all Indians and people of Indian descent on the occasion of Indias 72nd Republic Day. Support TwoCircles In a statement, IAMC said that it is organizing the Republic Day Video Contest (www.iamc.com/republicday) and online celebration to mark the occasion will be held on Sunday, January 31. The celebrations have been punctured by the relentless attacks of forces seeking to subvert Indias secular moorings with a narrow, bigoted worldview that divides people on the basis of religion and caste. For millions of Indians, Republic Day is sadly an occasion to lament how far the country has deviated from the Constitution and its founding principles. As we celebrate the great milestone of India adopting a Constitution that should be the pride of every Indian, the occasion is a grim reminder of how much the country is reeling under the onslaught of those whose mission is to undermine this very Constitution, said Mr. Ahsan Khan, President of IAMC. We would like to express our solidarity with Farmers Protest and the struggle for equity and justice that it represents, added Mr. Khan. Thousands of farmers, who have gathered outside New Delhi, in order to protest the governments anti-farmer and anti-people policies, represent the plight of millions, for whom the reckless jingoism, authoritarianism and crony capitalism of Hindutva has brought only misery and a constriction of their freedoms. Four soldiers were injured in a grenade attack by militants in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, a spokesman said. The injured soldiers were provided first aid locally and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital here for treatment, the spokesman said. "Four soldiers sustained splinter injuries when terrorists lobbed a grenade on a road opening party of the Army at Shamsipora in Anantnag district," he added. Candidates can download the e-Call Letter and City Intimation Slip by visiting the respective regional websites and entering their login credentials The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) has released the admit card for the phase 3 non-technical popular category (NTPC) recruitment exam earlier today. Candidates can download the e-Call Letter and City Intimation Slip by visiting the respective regional websites and entering their login credentials. The NTPC exams are scheduled to be conducted from 31 January to 12 February. According to The Indian Express, around 28 lakh candidates are expected to appear in the written exams. As the test is being conducted at centres in the offline mode, the recruitment exam will see strict COVID-19 protocols being followed. The report added that all candidates will have to wear masks and carry one extra for safekeeping. Guidelines are in place for the exam centres as well where all the candidates will be allowed to enter only after being checked for the temperature at entry using thermo guns. Those who end up having temperatures more than the prescribed limit will not be allowed inside the exam venue. Follow these steps to download the admit card: Step 1: Visit the website of your respective regional. For example, if it is in Guwahati, go to http://www.rrbguwahati.gov.in/ and for Kolkata, visit http://www.rrbkolkata.gov.in Step 2: Click on the link marked New on the homepage which has been titled: Download e-call letter and city intimation/ free travel authority card Step 3: You will be redirected to a new page Step 4: Fill in your registration number and date of birth/ password in the given space Step 5: Once details have been entered, press Login Step 6: Your admit card will appear on the screen Step 7: Download and take a print out As per a report in The Times of India, an official notice stated that the admit cards will be given out in the online mode from four days before the start of the exam on 31 January. It also said that necessary information regarding the exam will be sent to the candidates on their registered email ID and phone number. Payvision supports Selina in ensuring all customers undergo a smooth and successful payment journey with all transactions Payvision's solution offers increased security for Selina's guests' personal data, by reducing card data exposure across channels from online to check-in Selina bolstered its payment strategy by unifying all its channels and achieved a quantifiable cost optimization AMSTERDAM and LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Payvision, the global fintech and omnichannel payments provider, and Selina, the global hospitality platform, announce their partnership in providing travelers with the ultimate user experience. Payvision supports Selina in ensuring all customers undergo a smooth and successful payment journey with all transactions. Conversational commerce is an important feature for Selina's co-live offering with the additional questions that arise from long stays. Payvision helps Selina power conversational commerce with its sales team through customized Virtual Terminals and payment links. With Selina's dedication to providing a unique travel experience and Payvision's commitment to guaranteeing a smooth transaction with every payment, the two companies are bound to ensure the best customer journey and experience. "PSD2 SCA has additional challenges in hospitality when accepting bookings from online travel agencies (OTAs) where an additional authentication reference is sent. As PSD2 SCA became mandatory, Selina has now a dynamic solution to meet the requirements of the mandate and optimize authorization rates," said Bradley Hossack, Technical Integration Manager at Payvision. Payvision is processing the direct ecomm platform on selina.com and will process the rooms sold through OTAs. A major challenge in hospitality is managing guests' card payment info securely, especially when multiple external channels are involved in an online and physical omnichannel experience. Payvision's solution offers increased security for Selina's guests' personal data, by reducing card data exposure across channels from online to check-in. "We bolstered our payment strategy by unifying all our channels and achieved a quantifiable cost optimization. Payvision's technical solution will grow at the same pace as Selina, together with the user experience that allows guests to pay however they want, wherever they want," declared John Santrizos, Director Treasury at Selina. Payvision also provides Selina's commercial team with a dashboard showing a clear view of each location's performance. With this service, Selina can turn data into business intelligence, helping make strategic commercial decisions. After a testing period, the partnership between Selina and Payvision became operational in October 2020 and it fills the gap between service and technology while also demonstrating responsiveness and street-smart mentality. The partnership with Payvision will help Selina have a stronger hold and further expand their business in Europe. About Payvision Payvision is driven by a passion for technology and simplifying payments. With one single, secure platform, we power transactions for businesses across the globe. We know our way around the latest techniques in artificial intelligence and omnichannel strategies. The dedication to our clients shows - this is where we truly make a difference. By enabling an intuitive and flawless customer experience on all channels, we bring a unique beat to payments. Founded in 2002, we're headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and since 2018 we are part of ING Group. This allows us to offer an unstoppable combo of both the fintech and banking worlds put together. This partnership means cutting-edge technology and a startup mindset backed by ING's expertise and global network. Learn more about how Payvision takes the hassle out of payments at payvision.com. Get in touch with our Communications team at press@payvision.com or +31 20 794 23 00. About Selina Selina is a global hospitality brand that blends beautifully-designed accommodation with coworking, recreation, wellness, and local experiences. Custom-built for today's nomadic traveler, Selina provides guests with a global infrastructure to seamlessly travel and work abroad. Founded in Latin America in 2015, each Selina property is designed in partnership with local artists, creators, and tastemakers, breathing new life into existing buildings in interesting locations around the world -- from urban cities to remote beaches and jungles. Selina currently operates +80 locations throughout Latin America, USA, and Europe. For further information on Selina visit www.selina.com or check out @selina on Instagram or Facebook. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. The US Air Force dispatched another pair of long-range, nuclear-capable B-52 bombers over the Middle East on Tuesday as the presidential administration of Joe Biden looks to approach negotiations with Iran. The sortie, which departed from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, is the sixth such round-trip flight since November and the first so far under the Biden administration. Coupled with the recent deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group, a guided-missile submarine and two naval cruisers to the Gulf region, the air missions are meant to dissuade Irans leaders from carrying out threats to retaliate against American officials for the US killing of Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad last January. The broader show of force, which has included participation from Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel, also appears aimed at building the leverage for the new US administration ahead of potential negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program. Commander of US forces in the Middle East Gen. Kenneth Frank McKenzie has emphasized that the display is an act of deterrence, and that the United States does not seek conflict with Iran. But at least one former Pentagon official has pushed back on the approach, arguing that the continuous deployment of heavy military assets such as the carrier USS Nimitz taxes Pentagon resources and offers no guarantee of security. McKenzie, like all the combatant commanders, has to fight to keep his resources, another former defense official with responsibility in the region told Al-Monitor last year. CENTCOM is signaling that the show of force is the best insurance policy it can provide to its personnel and partners in the region amid the most fraught American presidential transition in living memory. We do know that US policy is evolving with respect to Iran right now and the new administration will make some decisions here over the next while, a US military official told a Defense One reporter accompanying McKenzie on his visit to the Middle East this week. I do know if we can continue to deter Iranian aggression that itll give the policy-makers more decision space, the official said. The United States has accused Iran and its proxy forces of launching a number of attacks on its forces and partners in the region, including rocket barrages on sites used by international coalition troops in Iraq and a massive cruise missile strike on two Saudi Arabian oil production facilities in 2019. On Tuesday, two blasts were heard over Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh in what appeared to be a successful interception of a missile. Yesterday's incident came just three days after the Saudi military said it shot down a hostile target over the capital. Yemen's Houthi rebels have launched a number of missiles into Saudi Arabia in recent years in response to Riyadh's military intervention against them in Yemen's civil war. US officials have publicly presented evidence suggesting Iran has provided the Houthis with missile technology, but the rebels did not claim credit this week's incidents. The Donald Trump administration walked out of the multinational nuclear agreement with Iran in 2018 and deployed a "maximum pressure" campaign of economic sanctions hoping to force Iranian leaders to roll back their support for proxies in the region. Three years on, former officials have begun to question the success of that initiative. The Biden administration has signaled it wants to rejoin the nuclear deal, and Iran's government has responded positively. But President Hassan Rouhani has said talks over his country's ballistic missile program and regional influence remain off the table, at least for now. On Tuesday, Russia came out in support of Irans position that the United States must first relieve sanctions before Tehran returns to compliance with the agreement. Hours later, Frances president lined up behind the United States, saying Tehran must return to compliance and cease provocations before the original signatories reengage on the agreement. It remains unclear which side will budge first. IAF's Rafale fleet to have first woman pilot soon Three more Rafale jets arrive in India after flying non-stop from France Solitary Rafale squadron to be further bolstered next month 6 Rafale fighters to be flagged off by IAF chief from France Three more Rafale jets to land in India from France in non-stop flight India oi-Madhuri Adnal New Delhi, Jan 27: A third batch of three more Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday took off from France for a non-stop flight to India, in a further boost to the strike capability of the Indian Air Force. The Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) of the United Arab Emirates will provide mid-air refuelling to the three Rafale jets, according to the Indian Embassy in France. "Three more #Rafale jets take off from France for a non stop flight to India with mid air refueling by UAE MRTT; Adding more strength to India''s air power. Wishing our amazing pilots smooth flight&safe landing with superb fighter jets," it tweeted. The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. The second batch of three Rafale jets arrived in India on November 3. The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India''s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia. The new fleet of Rafale jets has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh. The Rafale jets are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA''s Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, Scalp cruise missile and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets. Republic Day: Watch the mighty Rafale do the 'Vertical Charlie The IAF is also procuring a new generation medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon system Hammer to integrate with the Rafale jets. Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a precision-guided missile developed by French defence major Safran. The missile was originally designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy. Meteor is the next generation of BVR air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA to combat common threats facing the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden. The first squadron of the Rafale jets is stationed at Ambala air base while the second one will be based at Hasimara base in West Bengal. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 21:02 [IST] New Teagasc Online Slurry Spreader Calibration Calculator A large number of farmers will be using Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment such as a dribble bar, or trailing shoe, for the first time this season in place of the traditional splash plate. When moving over to a new method of application it is important to ensure that you are applying the slurry evenly and at the right rate and of course at the correct time. To assist farmers and agricultural contractors, Teagasc has created an online calibration calculator which will work with all types of slurry tankers. A key factor that has to be considered is getting the application rate right. In a lot of cases the forward speed of the tractor will need to be increased considerably in order to maintain the same application rate as the splash plate. However getting the correct forward speed can be a bit of a guessing game. To make the task of calibration easier, Teagasc has created an online calibration calculator. The calculator is easy to use and will work on your mobile phone. You simply need to adjust a number of sliders on the calculator to input your spreading details and the calculator will give you the forward speed required. Francis Quigley, Teagasc Farm Machinery Specialist said: To use the calculator you will need to time how long it takes to empty the first load of slurry. Once you have this information then you can input other information such as the tank size, the working width and the desired application rate. Once you have set the sliders to match your spreading details then you can read off the forward speed needed. Simply set your forward speed to match and you are all good to go. View the the Teagasc Online Slurry Spreader Calibration Calculator here Getting the most Value from Slurry The key factor in getting the most value from your slurry is timing. It is important to try to use as much of the slurry as possible in spring rather than summer months, the benefits can be the equivalent of an extra six units of nitrogen per 1,000 gallons spread. The spreading method is also an important factor and can add three units of nitrogen per 1,000 gallons spread. This can be achieved by using a trailing shoe or dribble bar in place of the splash plate. Moving to a LESS system will involve learning a new skill. When spreading slurry with a trailing shoe, or dribble bar, there is quite a bit extra to be considered and operators will need to give themselves the time to become familiar with their new machine and all of the extra controls. Francis Quigley, Teagasc Farm Machinery Specialist said: Working width can be more difficult to judge particularly in heavier covers of grass, and a lot more care is needed at headlands and at obstacles like poles or water troughs in the field to ensure that you dont hit anything. Some machines have a break back function on the arm which will be a bit more forgiving for operators who may have a lapse in concentration. Parma Michael Lasky Ohio Parma Parma Fire Department FIREHOUSE Software Parma Fire Department Parma (TNS) TheFire Departments transition to an all-digital operation became official late last year with Fire Chieftouting a more than $10,000 annual savings for the city.Its been on our radar for five years, Lasky said. We made the jump because the city backed us 100 percent by switching over to iPads. Previously, everything that we did time sheets, medical runs, fire runs, billing information, run reports was done on paper. Now its done by the computer.Each vehicle has an iPad. Each station has been upgraded computer-wise and with WiFi. So when theyre doing a run, everything is on the computer. Then as soon as they get back to the station, they send it off. We also file all of our state ofpaperwork now online.A perfect example of theFire Departments antiquated system involved purchase orders, where previously requests sent to the city took upwards of a week to be approved. Now that process has been reduced to hours.For nearly a quarter of a century, thewas spending $6,500 annually to use an antiquated fire reporting system, which didnt include inspections.Now with the web-based Emergency Reporting the cost is $5,000 a year, which is not only good for a $1,500 savings. Thats also the estimated savings from eliminating the fire departments inspector form printing costs.While the initial transition included expected bugs, the fire chief the operation is now smooth with the technology-upgrade cost tied to the elimination of a fire department position.Another area where thehas entered the 21st century involves its ongoing training and communication needs. Using $2,500 in donations, Lasky recently purchased five 65-inch monitors for each fire station.Each monitor has a camera, so were holding classes with all five stations at the same time, Lasky said. Its kind of like a Zoom meeting but its more secure.So instead of having guys get in vehicles and driving to the training center, were keeping everybody at their station. Were saving on fuel, wear and tear of their vehicles and time.TheFire Departments conversion to virtual meetings should be completed in the new couple of weeks.Were enhancing the efficiency of the fire department by going with technology to provide better service to our residents, Lasky said. By keeping us in our district for training, were not delaying our response to a resident in a time of need. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The government of Ukraine at a meeting on Wednesday approved a resolution developed by the Ministry of Infrastructure on proposals for the application and amendments to personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions). The resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers provides for the imposition of sanctions against 13 Russian airlines with a total ban on flights over Ukraine for a period of three years. "Despite the fact that since March 28, 2014 and until now, a ban on the use of the airspace of Ukraine has been permanently established over the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, some air carriers violate this procedure. With today's decision, we propose to accept proposals on the application of new sanctions with a total ban on flights over Ukraine to 13 air carriers of the Russian Federation, violating the procedure for using the airspace of Ukraine, flying within the prohibited zone over the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and Sevastopol, and submit them to the NSDC," Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladyslav Krykliy said. The Cabinet of Ministers considers it expedient to apply three-year sanctions providing for the total freeze of the transit of resources, flights and transportation across the territory of Ukraine to JSC Vologda Aviation Enterprise (the settlement of Dorozhny), JSC Krasavia (Krasnoyarsk), JSC Komiaviatrans (Syktyvkar), JSC Azimuth Airlines (Rostov-on-Don), JSC Iraero Airlines (Irkutsk), Aviaservice LLC (the village of Stolbische, Tatarstan), Tulpar Air LLC (the settlement of Aeroport, Tatarstan), Aerolimousine LLC (Dubrovki village), 223rd Flight Unit of the Russian Ministry of Defense (Shchelkovo), Pobeda Airlines LLC (Moscow), Aviation Technologies Investments Service LLC (Khimki), State ATM Corporation of the Russian Federation (Moscow), as well as Simargl Air LLC (Nalchik). The Cabinet of Ministers also proposes to additionally apply sanctions that provide for the total freeze of the transit of resources, flights and transportation accross the territory of Ukraine to Cham Wings Airlines (Damascus), previously included in the sanctions lists of Ukraine (blocking assets, limiting trade operations and preventing the withdrawal of capital from the territory of Ukraine). A small cross adorned with purple and white flowers overlooks the spot where Dock B once stretched across the water that flows around Jackson County Park. That dock is gone now. It was consumed one year ago today in one of the worst maritime disasters in Alabamas history. The cross is the parks only tangible reminder of the fire that killed eight people, destroyed 35 boats, caused more than half a million dollars in property damage, dumped thousands of gallons of fuel and oil into Dry Creek, and changed the fabric of Scottsboro, a small city thats home to about 14,000 people along U.S. 72 in northeast Alabama. During a recent visit to the park, one of just a handful of times hes returned since the fire, Gene Necklaus, the citys fire chief and a native of Scottsboro, stood beneath an overcast sky as a cold breeze wafted through towering pine trees. The conditions were reminiscent of that chilly Monday morning nearly a year earlier when Necklaus and other emergency workers searched for victims. He scanned the slow-moving water. As he recalled the tragedy, he turned his back, diverting his gaze from the spot where eight people died, where survivors were rescued from the freezing water. Its certainly the worst loss weve ever experienced, Necklaus said. Its been such a weird year. We didnt fully get to process the loss because one thing or another was changing the world. A fathers grief Joe Miles clings to his memories of Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. He spent the day with his wife, Annette, and their five children. Just a few months earlier, Annettes mother had died, so the family went to church with her father. They ate hotdogs for lunch and enjoyed ice cream for dessert at Dairy Queen. They returned home to Jackson County Park, located about a mile off U.S. 72. They drove along the winding path, past cabins and campsites and a playground until they reached the marina, located on the bank of Dry Creek on the western shore of Lake Guntersville. That night, they spent time at home together. It was a really good day, Miles recalled in a recent interview with AL.com. I never would have thought I would lose my family when I went to bed that night. Miles awoke after midnight when he heard someone slap the outside of his boat. He leapt out of bed and sprinted to the upper deck. Hed left his glasses behind, but he could see that another boat on Dock B, the Dixie Delight, was on fire. The owner of the Dixie Delight houseboat tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire. The flames spread to neighboring boats and swirled around the wood-framed dock. Miles and some of his neighbors jumped into the freezing water and tried to push away the blazing boats. But it was too late. I knew I was going to die, Miles said. I was either going to be crushed, burned or drowned. But I was OK with that if I could save them. When I came back up, I heard them screaming and crying. I still hear the screams every day. His wife, Grace Annette Watson Miles, 40, and the children Christopher Zane Long, 19, Bryli Anniston Long, 16, Trayden Dominic Miles, 10, Kesston Damien Miles, 9, and Dezli Nicole Miles, 7 were killed. They were among 17 people trapped by the fire. They died in the cabin of a boat along with 38-year-old Amanda Garrard Foster, a mother of four from Mississippi who tried to help lead the children to safety. Miles fondly recalled holidays the family spent together on the boat, floating on the lake. The kids opened Christmas presents and watched fireworks on the Fourth of July. They loved it, Miles said of the kids experience living on the boat. They would play on kayaks or go fishing or go swimming. I always thought it was a better lifestyle and I didnt have to worry about them getting out in public and getting in trouble. They would stay in the water constantly. We were just a real close family. We loved it. That night changed me Yancy Roper, a 54-year-old man, drowned after jumping from a burning boat into the freezing water. His brother, TJ Jones, said Roper was trying to save others when he perished. Jones released a statement to AL.com ahead of the one-year anniversary of his brothers death. When I think of Yancy I think of the scripture in John 15:13 that says, Greater love has no one than this: to lay down ones life for ones friends. Jones said he is thankful for everyone who prayed or donated to help him rebuild his life during the past year. He said despite the tragedy and the later difficulties of the pandemic, he is counting his blessings. That night changed me not just with physical possessions but with my everyday life as to how I live, Jones said in the statement. I lost my home and all my belongings that night but I lost more than that. I lost my best friend and brother Yancy and seven friends as well. I still have very hard days where I feel like Im still on the dock in the middle of the fire but with Gods help I will make it through those hard days. The statement concludes: Tell the ones you love you love them because you may not get another chance. Its their home A few miles away from the park, Kathy Judge was lying in bed at her home near the police and fire departments in downtown Scottsboro when she heard sirens shortly before 1 a.m. on Jan. 27, 2020. I dont sleep well at night, so I immediately woke up, she said in a recent interview with AL.com. With such an uproar, I followed the sound. It was so loud, all you had to do was follow the sound. When she got to the park, she saw chaos. Dock B was engulfed in flames. Some residents were missing. Police, firefighters and emergency workers were everywhere. I remember the firemen and the ambulance people saying that the worst thing that they remember is the screams of the people on fire, Judge said. Just knowing that there was five kids, it was hard. Some of those men aint never gonna be the same because they hear it over and over again. A lot of them cant talk about it without crying and these are big men. Its been such a weird year. We didnt fully get to process the loss because one thing or another was changing the world. Gene Necklaus, Scottsboro fire chief Judge moved to Alabama from Chicago more than three decades ago. A few months after the fire, she took a job at Lakeshore Watercraft Rental and Store. The small store and Beer Cave sits just across a grassy field from Dock A, which was untouched by the deadly fire. But the emotional wounds remain. People just want to forget, said Judge during a recent interview at the store. Tears streamed down her face as she spoke from behind the counter. Judge paused between sentences, sipping chocolate milk, to regain her composure. Current residents of the marina, many of whom have lived there for decades, declined to be interviewed for this story. Its not that people have forgotten, Judge said. People dont talk about it. Its their home, she added. And sort of like everything else, it was neglected and neglected and neglected. The investigation An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that limited fire safety practices at the marina, which is owned and operated by Jackson County, contributed to the severity of the fire and the loss of life. Investigators havent determined the source of the fire; though, according to an NTSB report, the blaze originated near the electrical panel aboard the Dixie Delight. Dock B wasnt subject to state marina fire codes, the report said, because it was built before those standards were adopted. But investigators wrote that marinas nonetheless should have safety measures to protect boaters. The Jackson County Park Marina did not observe several existing safety best practices and guidelines created for and used by the marina industry, said the report released in September. The NTSB said annual electrical inspections, employee fire training, biannual fire drills, and the development of a pre-fire plan with the fire department can better prepare marina staff and boat owners for a vessel or dock fire. Our hearts go out to the families of those lost in an early-morning boat dock fire in Scottsboro. Read the full story... Posted by al.com on Monday, January 27, 2020 The close proximity of vessels in marinas can cause fires to spread quickly, preventing evacuation. Marina owners should assess their own operations, consult relevant fire safety guidance, and review fire plans in concert with local fire departments, the report advised. County officials anticipate lawsuits because of the fire. Neither Jason Venable, the interim chairman of the Jackson County Commission, nor Carl Barnes, the park director, responded to requests for comment. Some changes have been implemented at the park since the tragedy, though county officials havent commented publicly on extent of the upgrades. Judge said boats are now routinely checked to ensure compliance with fire codes. Necklaus, the city fire chief, said his department consults with park officials about safety practices. Were resilient, said Judge. We bounce back. This time theyre going to try to do better, and I guess thats all you can ask for. Community rallies together Jim McCamy was elected mayor of Scottsboro last year. He took office in November, when the city was still reeling from the boat dock fire and facing the rising pandemic. McCamy and his son both owned boats that were destroyed in the dock fire. The mayor said when he got a new boat, he stored the vessel at nearby Goose Pond Marina rather than at the county park. He said Goose Pond was a safer option with a floating metal dock and additional safety features. Asked about his first visit to the park after the fire, the mayor hung his head and cried. He said he couldnt talk about the experience. Its hit everybody pretty hard, he said. I guess Im kind of like everybody else, its something Ill never forget. I still struggle with it. And all I lost was a boat. I didnt lose what the others did, nowhere near what they lost. He said residents rallied together to support one another. The very best of the community steps up in tragedy, McCamy said. The mayor told the story of one man who was left homeless by the fire and taken in by another boater who lived on a different dock. Online crowdfunding accounts raised thousands of dollars to help survivors bury loved ones and rebuild their lives. The owner of KCs Bar-B-Q, a restaurant located feet away from the site of the deadly fire, opened his building to emergency workers and investigators in the days after the fire, providing a warm place to work and rest. He also cooked meals for first responders. Lakeshore Watercraft opened its store to members of the press who needed a warm place to dry off and wash up from the drizzling rain the morning after the fire. Necklaus said city leaders have supported first responders in the aftermath purchasing new equipment and funding additional training. Its something that we will never forget, Necklaus said. Life after the tragedy Since the tragedy, Miles said he gave up a heating and air conditioning business that he owned and operated with his brother. Miles was burned in the fire, and like several other survivors, he was taken to a hospital for treatment. I dont have the same life anymore, he said. We all miss them as much or more now as we did the day after the fire. Reality set in, he added. It seems like its more real now than it was then. We just try to take it one day at a time. I was definitely blessed with kids and a wife that I loved. Miles and other survivors of the fire thanked the community for prayers and support during the past year. The very best of the community steps up in tragedy. Jim McCamy, mayor of Scottsboro Miles said he got a new job with a heat and air company but cant work full-time because of the trauma he experienced. Before the fire, he said, he worked hard to provide for his family. Joe Miles said he married Annette about 14 years before her death. She had two children Zane and Bryli from a previous relationship. Miles, who also had two children from a previous relationship, said he was smitten with Annette and with the kids. We hit it off, he said. We could be together constantly and still enjoy being with each other. We was perfect together. We both liked to cook, bake, anything, as long as we was together. Theres no way somebody else could fill her shoes. Joe and Annette had three more children. Annette and five children were trapped on the boat that night. Zane, 19, was a creative kid who made up jingles for businesses. Bryli was 16 and a budding artist. At 10 years old, Trayden was an engineer in the making whod been repairing electronics since he was 5 years old. Kesston, 9, was a comedian who wasnt afraid of anything. Seven-year-old Dezli, the youngest, was a daddys girl, Miles said. My life, as far as Im concerned, it pretty much ended down there on that water, Miles said. Ive got some mighty good family and friends, and theyve been so supportive. But it just isnt the same life no more. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly referred to the Scottsboro fire as the deadliest maritime disaster in Alabamas history. China-based short video service TikTok that enjoyed nearly 120 million users in India before the ban amid plans to invest $1 billion, on Wednesday announced to scale down its 2,000-strong workforce in the country. The decision came against the backdrop of TikTok being among the 59 Chinese apps that the government has decided to permanently ban. The app was first banned temporarily along with other apps in last June. "It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2,000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement. The company, however, did not disclose either the percentage or number of employers it has laid off or is going to inform them about the decision in days to come. "We have worked steadfastly to comply with the government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have." Despite the India ban and an ongoing legal battle in the US, Chinese short-video making app TikTok became the highest grossing app globally in 2020 with $540 million in profit. At 850 million, TikTok was also the most downloaded app in 2020, followed by WhatsApp at 600 million and Facebook at 540 million downloads worldwide, according to the data by app analytics firm Apptopia. The Indian government banned nearly 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat and UC Browser and Xiaomi's Mi Community over national security concerns as India-China bilateral relations remain strained after the death of 20 Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash with Chinese PLA troops in eastern Ladakh in June. By November, the government had banned over 250 Chinese apps. Other Chinese apps in the banned list were Club Factory, SHAREit, Likee, Mi Video Call (Xiaomi), Weibo, Baidu, BIGO LIVE and more. "It is disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated," the TikTok spokesperson said. Homegrown short-video making apps led by Josh captured more than 40 per cent market share of their Chinese rival since the Indian government banned it. Sensing a great opportunity, Indian content players launched apps like Josh, MX TakaTak, Roposo, Chingari, Moj Mitron, Trell and others to fill the huge void left by TikTok, according to Bengaluru-based market consulting firm RedSeer. According to RedSeer, the short-form content penetration currently is around 45 per cent of around 600 million Internet users in India. The number of Internet users in India set to grow to 970 million from current 600 million in next five years. Short-form market is also estimated to grow by 4 times on total time spent and reach to 400-450 billion minutes a month from the current 110 billion minutes. LONDON - After Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government had truly done "everything we could" to save the 100,000 lives taken by the coronavirus so far in Britain, a broad swath of scientists, public health experts, opposition politicians and ordinary citizens heaped scorn on the prideful assertion. Johnson rightly boasted in Parliament on Wednesday that Britain is a world leader at rolling out vaccines - and is the envy of Europe and America, having giving a first vaccine dose to more than 10% of its adult population. The prime minister, too, likes to pose for photographs that show him on the front lines of science and care - but not at funerals. Earlier this week, 10 Downing Street tweeted pictures of Johnson at a vaccination center, Johnson giving a patient two thumbs up, Johnson staring at a vial of vaccine. He also passed before the cameras carrying a cooler of vaccine doses. He seems to want to appear central to the effort. But Johnson's critics stress that Britain on many days also posts the highest per capita death toll in the world. "The question on everyone's lips this morning is why?" said Labour Party opposition leader Keir Starmer, in remarks directed at Johnson in the House of Commons. On Tuesday evening from 10 Downing Street, Johnson said, "I'm deeply sorry for every life that has been lost, and, of course, as prime minister, I take full responsibility for everything the government has done. What I can tell you is that we truly did everything we could and continue to do everything that we can." Skeptics fired back at Johnson on Wednesday, ticking off long lists of alleged mistakes and broken promises, a policy of "dithering and delays," as a leader of the Scottish National Party Ian Blackford put it. While Johnson gave his government high marks for vaccines, many saw repeated failure and a year-long pattern of bold promises followed by calamities. Jonathan Ashworth, the opposition Labour Party's point person on health, said, "I'm sorry to say I simply can't in my heart accept Boris Johnson did everything he could." Chris Ham, the former chief executive of the King's Fund, an independent think tank, wrote in the British Medical Journal that the U.K.'s response to the pandemic compared "poorly" with other countries. Ham listed an "litany of errors," including delays in ordering a lockdown in March - a move some scientists say may have cost 20,000 lives - as well delays in further lockdowns in September and January. He added that "a misplaced belief in English exceptionalism" contributed to its failure to learn from other countries. "These deaths were far from inevitable," said Devi Sridhar, the chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh. In the Guardian, Sridhar was scathing: "While the number of U.K. deaths has entered the hundreds of thousands, New Zealand has recorded only 25 deaths from covid-19 so far. Taiwan has recorded seven, Australia 909, Finland 655, Norway 550 and Singapore 29." Michael Head, a senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton, told science journalists, "Public compliance with the guidance has mostly been good, so this is predominantly a failure of governance." Head said, "Any inquiry into the U.K. government handling of the covid-19 pandemic will find there is a lot to scrutinize." In his remarks to Parliament on Wednesday, Johnson flicked away calls for formal inquiries into the high death toll. There would be time to study the decisions taken, the prime minister said, but not in the middle of the pandemic when "37,000 people are struggling with covid in our hospitals." Johnson's critics said this is the exact right time to learn from mistakes, as the country faces a surge driven by a highly contagious variant of the virus that preliminary studies suggest may be more lethal. Many scientists mentioned the same failures: - Delayed decision-making when calling for lockdowns, warning that doing so too late means locking down for longer and losing more lives. - The decision to stop community testing in early March, so the hospitals had no idea what was about to hit them. - A very expensive but failed rollout of test, trace and isolate programs. - A bungled app that was supposed to tell Brits if they had been exposed the virus - Keeping borders open and not enforcing orders that international visitors from virus hotspots self-isolate upon arrival. - The inability to provide enough personal protective equipment to front line medical workers, which not only put the medicos at risk but allowed hospital infections to soar. Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said of Johnson's comments that the government did everything it could, "I'm not even sure that the prime minister believes it to be honest." Hunter said the U.K. hasn't "had the worst pandemic, but not the best by a long way." He noted that Britain was slow to impose restrictions and too quick to ease them, that it encouraged people back into restaurants over the summer with an "Eat Out to Help Out" promotion, and that it had a breakdown of its test, track and isolate system. He added that one of the significant drivers of the high death rate "goes to how we manage our elderly care in this country, which is pretty much farmed out." Hunter noted that people who work in nursing homes aren't paid well and often have more than one job to help make ends meet. Indeed, one of Britain's greatest failures was its inability to protect residents in nursing homes, where a third of the deaths occurred. In the early days of the epidemic, British hospitals were emptying their beds of older patients and sending them back to care homes. Many weren't tested. Michael Marmot, a professor of epidemiology at University College London, told the BBC that Britain entered the pandemic "in a bad state," with a slowdown in the improvement of life expectancy, a spike in health inequalities and the health of poor people outside of London getting worse. Marmot said the U.K.'s high death rate from the virus was linked "to where we were before the pandemic crashed upon us." Jim Naismith, Director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute at the University of Oxford, said the government was right to be proud of an impressive vaccine rollout, alongside other wins by British science, including rapid detection of new variants. But he cautioned that two large spikes in deaths "is not simply bad luck." Critics of the government response point out that the second surge in deaths occurred in the past few months. "Over 100,000 deaths reflects a failure that we must learn from," Naismith told science reporters. "We owe to the families left behind that when the vaccine has brought the virus under control, to identify where we have succeeded, where we have failed and what needs to change." CALGARY - The president of a union representing employees at some of the largest meat-packing plants in the country says there needs to be a discussion about making the COVID-19 vaccine more readily available to essential workers. The Cargill beef plant in High River, Alta., is shown on April 23, 2020. The president of the union representing employees at Alberta's major meat-packing plants says there needs to be a discussion about making the COVID-19 vaccine more readily available to essential workers. Thomas Hesse of UFCW 401 says he realizes there's a severe shortage of the vaccine right now, but once that is remedied workers at plants in High River, Alta. and Brooks, Alta., shouldn't have to wait too long. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh CALGARY - The president of a union representing employees at some of the largest meat-packing plants in the country says there needs to be a discussion about making the COVID-19 vaccine more readily available to essential workers. Thomas Hesse of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 says he realizes there's a shortage of the vaccine right now. But once that is remedied, he says, workers at large operations such as the Cargill meat-packing plant in High River, Alta., and the JBS Canada plant in Brooks, Alta., shouldn't have to wait too long. "In the coming months at some point someone's going to make a decision about who gets the vaccination. Will there be a priority? Will there be any prioritization of any so-called essential workers?" he asked in an interview with The Canadian Press. The two plants, which together normally process about 70 per cent of Canada's beef supply, were hot spots for COVID-19 outbreaks last spring. Cargill's plant, south of Calgary, shut down for two weeks in April because of an outbreak that initially affected 350 of its 2,200 workers. Eventually nearly half the workers contracted the novel coronavirus and two employees died. COVID-19 forced JBS to reduce its production to a single shift a day for a month, which added to a backlog of cattle at feedlots. The plants brought in safety measures that included temperature testing, physical distancing, and cleaning and sanitizing before they returned to normal operations. Packing-plant employees are still at risk, Hesse said. "In a Cargill or a JBS or other manufacturing facility in Alberta, there'll be a couple of thousand workers in a big box still working in relative proximity," he said. "These are essential workers. They're at higher risk. This is clearly an occupational disease. Many of them want to have access to a safe vaccine." Hesse said the union plans to hold a town-hall meeting Sunday to hear members views and what to do if getting a vaccination becomes a condition of employment. An official with Cargill said the company is working with health authorities and medical experts to make sure its employees have access to vaccines when they become available without jeopardizing the priority being given to health-care workers "We will prioritize our front-line workers whenever we can, as they continue to work tirelessly to keep our food system going strong," said Daniel Sullivan in an email. "Because we know vaccines don't work without vaccinations, we also will join local health authorities in promoting the importance of vaccination among our employees." JBS USA said it will offer all its employees a $100 bonus, including those in Brooks, if they get vaccinated in the future. "Our goal is to remove any barriers to vaccination and incentivize our team members to protect themselves, their families and their co-workers," said CEO Andre Nogueira. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2021 Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter You cant poke into any issue in Congress without stumbling over sacks full of corporate campaign donations. The recent eruption of pro-Trump mob violence inside the U.S. Capitol exposed boodles of that special interest cash to public view. Much to the embarrassment of major Wall Street banks, Silicon Valley tech giants, and CEOs of brand-name corporations, hundreds of thousands of their political dollars were traced to the mayhem in our Capitol. Specifically, their money was going into the coffers of 147 Republican lawmakers who backed the fraudulent Trumpster attempt to overthrow last falls presidential election. Acknowledging the damage these revelations did to their public image, the corporate interests responded forcefully. How? They issued press releases condemning violence. Wow thatll make things better. OK, in fairness, quite a few firms added a bit of bite to their bark by suggesting that maybe they wouldnt be so cavalier about tossing out political contributions in the future. Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Goldman Sachs announced they would pause donations to all candidates. Blue Cross Blue Shield, Marriott and Dow said they were suspending donations to the 147 Congress critters who voted to reject the peoples choice. Delta, Fed Ex and Walmart declared they were monitoring the situation. Notice the profusion of wiggle words in these professions of corporate principle. The executives are really not biting the system, but merely gumming it for a while. Then, once public attention has drifted, the corporate-congressional complex will be back to business as usual. After all, while they deplore Trumps racism, sexism, xenophobia, and overall immorality, they gleefully took it all to the bank, rationalizing, legitimizing and profiting from his presidency. Its not armed rioters from outside the system who are the main threat to our democracy, but the insiders who keep manipulating the system to take more money and power at our expense. Columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker. He is distributed by OtherWords.org. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Linda Ann Campbell worked at Encompass Health for 28 years. Campbell, 60, of Liverpool, died Jan. 19 at home after battling liver disease for more than 20 years. She was a member of Millerstown United Methodist Church. Surviving are her children, Amanda Leister (Josh Lemaster) of Liverpool, Brent Leister (Jen Leister) of Liverpool and Caitlin Leister (Bill Orris) of Ickesburg; her mother, Marian of Ohio; Two sisters, Debbie Young and Michelle Campbell; two brothers, Charles and Jeffery Campbell; six grandchildren, Maddie, Waren, Gracen, Andrew, Payton and Jesse; and a great-granddaughter, Haisley. From her guest book: Linda was a coworker of mine, and I knew it would be a good day whenever I saw her at work, we would always be able to share much needed laughter! She was a caring, kind individual and expressed those traits to all who knew her. Linda, you will be missed, and will always be in my heart. -- Ali Welling I worked with Linda 12 years in the hospital at Encompass Health. She was always kind and generous and always had a warm hello in the morning. -- Jen I worked with Linda. I knew how much her family, especially grandchildren meant to her. She was a kind soul. It breaks my heart that she passed. I know how much she fought and wanted to live. Linda - may your spirit live forever in heaven and may you never suffer again. Rest easy my friend and I miss you. Thank you for the laughs at work. They were well needed! -- S. Victoria Fertig Linda was one of my friends that I was always happy to see at work. I enjoyed talking to her. She was a very caring friend, and I will truly miss her. -- Ruth Ann Keiser To read more obituaries, click here. When Nicole Teague was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012, it was the beginning of a saga that would test a marital relationship, bend the parameters of a friendship and ultimately be retold on the silver screen with Academy Award talent in front of and behind the camera. The film, Our Friend, is not only an examination of how we deal with impending death, but how the bonds of friendship can transcend the arduous drama of a terminal illness. When longtime New Orleanian Dane Faucheux moved to Fairhope, Alabama, in December 2013 to be with his dear friends Nicole and her husband, Matt Teague (a journalist who briefly worked at The Times-Picayune), Nicoles cancer had already metastasized to her stomach. Faucheux intended to help prop up Matt emotionally for a couple of months and serve as a support system and caretaker for the couples two young girls. But he stayed until Nicole passed away, a year later. That final year of her life, through the chemotherapy and her terrible physical deterioration, was recounted by Matt Teague in a National Magazine Award-winning 2015 article for Esquire magazine. Screenwriter Brad Ingelsby read the article and found the story so compelling that he wondered if it had legs as a feature film. When youre touched by something emotionally, you push for it, recounted Ingelsby, who had previously written screenplays for Out of the Furnace with Christian Bale, American Woman with Sienna Miller, and The Way Back with Ben Affleck. Theres something potent about people who will stay until the very end. Im always interested in character journeys, where people have to deal with obstacles and trauma in their lives, and this story had it all. Ingelsby brought the article to longtime friend and collaborator Michael Pruss ("Earthquake Bird" and "American Woman"), executive vice president at director Ridley Scotts company, Scott Free Productions. After convincing Teague that the project could work, they pushed forward with a script that fleshed out the real-life characters' back stories. Brads script created an epic-ness, yet with a sense of intimacy, said Pruss, a producer of the film. Ive always felt that the projects Ive been most proud of are those which both enlighten and entertain. People will recognize elements of their own lives in this story. With Gabriela Cowperthwaite ("Blackfish," "Megan Leavey") already on board as director, Jason Segel ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall," "The End of the Tour") stepping up to portray Dane, and Dakota Johnson taking on the role of Nicole, getting funding from Black Bear Pictures was the last hurdle. Casey Affleck, an Academy Award-winner for "Manchester by the Sea," was cast as Matt Teague, a man who could be career-obsessed at the expense of his family, who was prone to fainting spells in a crisis, and who was trying to cope with a world falling down around him. Affleck, a master in character studies, has a proclivity for improvising within a script, an inclination that can trip up both directors and other actors. But, not here, said Affleck. "The other actors were eager to jump in with their own improvisations. The bar scene where Nicole, Matt and Dane were back in college in New Orleans was largely improvised between Jason (Segel) and me. According to screenwriter Ingelsby, whose written words were sometimes supplanted by ad-libs, "You have to take your hat off to actors who understand the material so well that they can elevate a scene to something you may have never done on your own." For Matt Teague, who had already lived through the whole ordeal, being on set with his now-teenage daughters watching his life unfold again was a bit surreal. When you condense your life into an hour and a half, sometimes you have to accentuate your worst qualities, Teague said from his home in Fairhope. Im sure, looking back, I was overly ambitious, often leaving Nicole alone with the kids (before she became ill) while I was hunting down stories overseas. It even forces you to think about what role you may have played in her brief extramarital affair. Im hoping people will see this film and move past their doubts about themselves, realizing they dont have to be perfect. The film is gritty, to be sure, although it doesnt go into many of the physical insults Nicole endured in the waning weeks of her life, as detailed in the Esquire article. We didnt want people throwing up in their popcorn, Matt Teague said. The endearing parts of this film are not about death. They are the humorous moments between Matts two young daughters, Evie and Molly, and Dane. They never miss an opportunity to bring levity to an impossible situation, trading barbs that will leave viewers smiling, quite unexpectedly. Nothing screams "endearing" more than Dane shaving his own hair into a Mohawk in solidarity with Nicole, who has shorn hers after it starts to fall out from chemotherapy. As for Dakota Johnson, who faced the difficult task of portraying Nicole, it may be her finest work yet, the director said. Although most people know her from the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' trilogy, I had seen her in 'Suspiria,' and knew she had the acting chops to pull off this difficult role, said director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, speaking from the North Carolina set of her new sci-fi thriller. It required showing the strength needed to deal with her children through all of this, and ultimately, her own vulnerability. The film, shot in a non-linear style, will boomerang viewers from present to past and back again as it peels back the layers of these people and defines what their friendship is all about. It's a testament to very special relationships, and the memory will linger long after the credits roll. Our Friend is in theaters nationwide and on-demand on various platforms. Leslie Carde can be reached at lesliecardejournalist@gmail.com Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced the state will reopen its border to Greater Sydney on Monday, February 1. The decision to reopen Queenslands border came down to the wire and was finalised in an early morning phone call between Ms Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young on Thursday. Queenslands border will open to all of NSW from Monday. The decision means travellers from Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains regions no longer need to quarantine upon arrival in Queensland. Up until Wednesday night, NSW contact tracers were still racing to link six mystery infections before Queenslands border restrictions were reviewed. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:58:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa addresses the nation after winning the Portuguese Presidential Election in Lisbon, Portugal, on Jan. 24, 2021. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory message to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on his re-election as president of Portugal. In the message, Xi said China-Portugal relations have stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year. The traditional friendship between the two countries has shown new vitality, Xi said, adding that anti-pandemic and public health cooperation has made new strides while practical cooperation has continued to make new progress. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Portugal relations, and stands ready to work with Rebelo de Sousa to push for new achievements in bilateral ties in a bid to benefit the two countries and peoples. On 25 January 2021, the World Customs Organization held a global conference to reinforce its Programme Global Shield (PGS), an unprecedented international effort to monitor licit movement of chemicals and counter the illicit diversion of chemical precursors and detonators used by terrorists and other criminal organizations to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). More than 205 representatives of WCO Members, partner organizations (DTRA, EU, EUROPOL, INTERPOL, UN) as well as WCO donors attended the one-day event, conducted virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the establishment of Programme Global Shield we are able to counter the continuous threat, IEDs and the illicit trafficking of dual-use precursor chemicals pose to citizens and governments, said WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya. He added that this Programme needs to remain a priority on the WCO agenda and for its Members as Customs is the only frontline agency capable and responsible to monitor cross-border movements of all goods, and consequently has to play a prominent role in detecting this threat in cooperation with other agencies and international organizations, taking adequate measures. During the past few years, the world has become witness to increasing incidents involving the use of IEDs and other homemade explosive devices manufactured from precursor chemicals such as ammonium nitrate, Acetone or Urea. IEDs are inexpensive and easily manufactured, concealed, and detonated to intimidate, inflict casualties, and destabilize governments. Thus, they are the most prevalent form of explosives used by terrorists around the world. In addition to the terrorist threat posed by trade in explosive precursor chemicals, the explosion of multiple tons of degraded ammonium nitrate in a Customs warehouse in Beirut, Lebanon, in August 2020, highlighted the safety threat posed by the often poorly regulated supply chain for explosive precursor chemicals, along with lax governmental control. WCO`s Programme Global Shield at its core is a Programme to control, secure and monitor the supply chain for these goods. Spearheaded by the WCO, the programme is implemented in partnership with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and builds capacity while fostering police-customs cooperation and organizing regional operations. Launched in November 2010 and funded by the US as a global project, the achievements and importance of Programme Global Shield led the WCO to endorse it as a long-term endeavour. In the meantime, the United Nations also recognized Programme Global Shield and encouraged all countries to participate in and support it. In the course of the conference, the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and INTERPOL gave an overview on current IED and terrorist threat at global level. The WCO provided an overview on current PGS deliverables, past regional PGS Projects in West-, Central and East Africa as well as in South East Asia and Pacific region. Heads of Customs and other Member representatives from Bangladesh, Kenya and Mali made presentations and commended the WCOs support provided through their regional PGS projects and funded by Japan. Lebanon customs gave an insight on the ammonium nitrate explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4th 2020 and highlighted the importance for customs to be sensitized on safety and security regulations for all kinds of precursor chemicals. Discussions also focused on Members needs and how WCO could support best to secure the global supply chain. The participants identified, among others, PGS trainings, detection material, enhanced information exchange and better use of the secure communication platform as priorities. There was a general consensus for the Programme Global Shield to be maintained and enhanced at global level. As a way forward, the WCO Secretariat introduced a Note on dangerous goods as well as an ambitious PGS project proposal (PGS GLOBAL) to reinforce PGS, including among other global operational exercise, the establishment of a permanent and comprehensive analysis, specialized detection- as well as enhanced safety and security trainings. The WCO called upon its Members to support the project proposal and assist in looking for potential funding. The Conference participants appreciated the conduct of this first global PGS conference and the information provided by the Secretariat and the Stakeholders. They expressed their willingness to share respective information and to contribute to a closer cooperation among agencies and stakeholders. Hontiveros to Malacanang: Express concern about China's Coast Guard Law, denounce recent harassment in Pag-asa Island "Kaka-anunsyo palang ng bagong Coast Guard Law, napaka wala sa lugar agad nilang mang-harass ng mga Pilipino sa sarili nating teritoryo. Malacanang should denounce China's bullying immediately." This statement from Senator Risa Hontiveros as she took the side of Filipino fisherfolks in Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island who were recently harassed by a Chinese coast guard ship. "Pagkatapos magpasa ng Tsina ng Coast Guard Law, mga fisherfolks na natin mismo ang humihingi na tuligsain ito ng administrasyon. Tumindig tayo laban sa Tsina. Kampihan naman natin ang ating mga mangingisda," Hontiveros said. "This is the arrogance of a country that still considers itself the Middle Kingdom and an empire. This is an unacceptable encounter," she added. The senator earlier cautioned about China's new law, urging the Department of Defense (DND) to immediately create a strategy for if and when the Chinese Coast Guard uses force in our contested waters. "The law will be passed in February. The next thing we know, Chinese coast guards might not only block, but also shoot at our own boats. Dapat may plano na tayo kasi, huwag naman sana, posibleng mangyari ito," she said. Hontiveros then called on countries in the ASEAN to reach a consensus and to take multilateral action to stop China's incessant adventurism. The senator explained that the Chinese game plan is to isolate and divide the countries around it so it can deal with them individually through bilateral talks, maximizing its relative advantage in resources and power against any one of its neighbors. "China should stop its bullying tactics. ASEAN member-states should band together and show China that we will not be bullied into deference. Sama-sama, hinding-hindi tayo mapapaluhod," Hontiveros concluded. The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia stopped when the two countries agreed to a deal brokered by Russia on November 10. The deal ended more than six weeks of deadly clashes that killed thousands on both sides but raised new concerns over the future of Nagorno-Karabakh and the geopolitics of the region as a whole, the Tehran Times reported. "Although the November deal was welcomed by regional countries as a positive development toward peace and security, it sparked confusion and concerns in some countries in the region that need to be addressed as soon as possible," the article said. The deal established a new route connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh. The November 10 statement contained an article that spoke of "new transport links" between Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which caused serious controversy - and in some cases concern as the fighting took place far from Nakhchivan. The last article of the ceasefire agreement reads vaguely: All economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions. The Border Guard Service of the Russian Federal Security Service shall be responsible for overseeing the transport connections. As agreed by the Parties, new transport links shall be built to connect the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the western regions of Azerbaijan. "This article was apparently left out of public discussion intentionally given the sensitivity of the issue. The deal speaks of new transport links between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan but it does not say where and when these links will be established. Will they be constructed near Irans border with Armenia? If yes, how will they affect border movements between Iran and Armenia?" the author added. The public put pressure on Iranian officials to give a clear answer to these questions. They tried to allay fears about this by stating that the Iranian government will protect the country's national interests. But they did not - or perhaps could not - provide any details about the Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan route. During his visit to Baku, Iranian FM Mohammad Javad Zarif met with several high-ranking Azerbaijani officials, including Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Zarif discussed with Bayramov issues related to the East-West and North-South corridors, the Iranian and Azeri FMs said in a statement."The Iranian foreign minister finally described the establishment of calm in the region as a great opportunity for mutual cooperation in the transit industry and bringing into operation the East-West and the North-South corridors," the Iranian statement said. The Azerbaijani MFA confirmed that the two ministers discussed the issue of corridors, implying that the Nakhchivan-Azerbaijan corridor was also discussed. "During the meeting, the ministers discussed the current situation in the region, the implementation of the trilateral statements of November 10, 2020 and January 11, 2021. It was noted that new opportunities for cooperation have been opened up in the region, including the prospects for the development of North-South and South-West transport and transit corridors," Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday. [January 26, 2021] Environmental Groups Make Last Minute Attempt to Correct Major Error in a Defective Lawsuit Regarding the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement Following the filing of a Motion to Dismiss by Tejon Ranch Co. based on the fact that the environmental groups who are party to the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement (RWA) previously filed a lawsuit containing several fatal defects, those plaintiffs, Audubon California, Endangered Habitats League, Natural Resources Defense Council, Planning and Conservation League, and Sierra Club (Resource Groups)-at the last minute--have attempted to correct the errors in the defective complaint by adding the Tejon Ranch Conservancy to the complaint as a named plaintiff. This eleventh-hour effort to correct such a sloppy and glaring error relates to only one of the numerous defects in the complaint that Tejon Ranch Co. has raised in its motion to dismiss. They attempted to salvage their misguided accusations only when a hearing by the court on their defective approach was imminent. This suit is an improper attempt by the Resource Groups (and presumably the Conservancy)-who are all in material and incurable breach under the RWA-to pressure Tejon into abandoning its right to escrow payments under the RWA as a consequence of that breach and, further, is an attempt to evade the consequences of Plaintiffs' years of mismanagement of the Conservancy, and the squandering of over $11,000,000 in payments contributed by Tejon to date. The Complaint continues to be materially defective and should be rightfully dismissed. Background Tejon Ranch Company has an ethic of stewardship and a legacy of protecting ranch lands spanning more than 175 years. In 2008, it voluntarily entered into the Tejon Ranch Conservation and LandUse Agreement with major environmental organizations to ensure this legacy would continue on a massive scale-90% of the ranch, 240,000 acres of open space permanently conserved for future generations. To ensure the conservation easements on these lands would be managed, the Tejon Ranch Conservancy was created. Since 2008, Tejon Ranch has contributed $11 million to the Conservancy as called for in the RWA, fulfilling our obligation year after year. In short, all Tejon's obligations to date in the RWA have been performed; and Tejon intends to continue to perform its obligations under the RWA. But it also must ensure the Plaintiffs perform their obligations. Unfortunately, the Conservancy (which has a governing board of 12 which is controlled by Board Chairman Joel Reynolds and other appointees of the Resource Groups) has largely squandered this original funding, and has failed to take appropriate steps for self-preservation (including failing to establish adequate reserves or to undertake any effort to ensure long term funding for the Conservancy's obligations). Not only has the Conservancy been derelict in its fundamental charge to become self-sustaining, but several of its Board members, in particular the Resource Groups' representatives, have utterly ignored the primary (if not singular) benefit Tejon receives in the RWA: Their obligation to not oppose or hinder the development of the ten percent (10%) of the Ranch reserved for development. More specifically, Plaintiffs breached the RWA by, among other things, creating, organizing, orchestrating, leading and participating in the publication of a regional biological conservation strategy that included a portion of the Ranch within the strategy's study area and which is presently being used against Tejon by the Center for Biological Diversity (and the California Native Plant Society) to challenge the very development projects the RWA was intended to permit. Inclusion of a portion of the Ranch in this strategy document occurred despite express assurance by the designated representative of the Resource Groups (who is also a Conservancy board member and representative of the Planning and Conservation League) that the Ranch would not be included. Therefore, as permitted by the RWA, Tejon has reluctantly, but properly after the Resource Groups' refusal to cure this breach, deposited the October 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021 advance payments into a third-party escrow account where the funds will be held until Plaintiffs meet their non-opposition obligations under the RWA. In accordance with the terms of the RWA, until such time as breaches by Plaintiffs are remedied, if at all possible, Tejon intends to deposit into escrow the remaining advance payments to the Conservancy as we are entitled to do under the RWA. After all, in the words of Conservancy Board Chairman Joel Reynolds, "a deal is a deal." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210126006147/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021 Pandemic Going Out of ControlProblem Is Ideology Jan. 26 , 2021 (EIRNS)Unless we shift course, we are heading into the catastrophe of the pandemic going out of control, amidst famine, economic breakdown, and potential war. The world has passed the count of 100 million cases of COVID-19, with over 2 million deadstatistics which are vastly understated. The problem isnt this particular, nasty virus, or others lurking in wait, its the ideology preventing us from actingthose who are blind to it, and those who tolerate it. There are various expressions. For example, the markets ideology holds that patent rights, private profiteering, and competition must prevail, even unto death. Therefore, well over 95% of the vaccines so far are going to relatively well-off nations, and less than 5% to most of the rest of the world. This could be avertedwith government involvement in licensing waivers, or fees, or other arrangements, for which there are precedents. But without collaborative action, the situation is hopeless. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairman of the African Union, warned of this yesterday, in his address to the World Economic Forum, at its Davos Agenda five-day conference. He said that no nation is safe, if all nations arent safe. The worst expression of ideology comes from the backers of the Davos Agenda platform of meetings and propaganda, established over 50 years ago to promote the interests of the British Empire. Over the past many months they have promoted the evil Great Reset for the economy, post-COVID-19, of building low-tech power, food, water, and other systems, and taking down efforts to build high-tech advancements in these areas, in the name of preventing climate change. Their current concepts promote so-called green policies toward a net zero CO2 emissions future, which if carried through, will result in mass depopulation. Todays sessions featured a swarm of big-name financial bums, such as Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, and top officials from JP Morgan, the Banque de France central bank, Standard Chartered, the IMF, and others. Their focus was the need to impose universal metrics on lending to economic activity, based on ESGenvironment, social, and governance criteria, which they will set, in ways to downgrade the physical economy, inflate their own financial power, and loot the means to life for populations. BlackRock decrees that, in the name of saving the planet, financiers must now order governments regarding what they can and cannot do. In the new Biden Administration, there are two former top BlackRock officials in high officeBrian Deese, Director of the National Economic Council; and Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. Allow these networks and this thinking to continue, and we guarantee death by pandemic, starvation, or war. A step away from the brink was made today in the phone call between President Joe Biden, who initiated the call, and President Vladimir Putin. They concurred on extending the New START Treaty for mutual arms limitations. Otherwise, according to the U.S. readout, Biden chided Putin on contrived geopolitical charges, such as violating Ukraine, and mistreating Alexey Navalny. Another expression of sanity in international relations came from German Chancellor Angela Merkel today, in her address to the WEF Davos Agenda. She made headlines by siding with President Xi Jinpings calls for a new multilateral system, in implicit opposition to President Bidens efforts to form a global anti-China bloc. Xi gave a keynote at the Jan. 25 Davos Agenda opening. Merkel said, The Chinese President spoke yesterday, and he and I agree on that. We see a need for multilateralism.... I would very much wish to avoid the building of blocs. I dont think it would do justice to many societies if we were to say this is the United States and over there is China, and we are grouping around either the one or the other. This is not my understanding of how things ought to be.... The Schiller Institute is taking aim directly at the green killer Great Reset ideology in a forthcoming reveal-all report by an international team. This goes in tandem with the economic report from May 2020, The LaRouche Plan To Reopen the U.S. Economy: The World Needs 1.5 Billion New, Productive Jobs. Helga Zepp-LaRouche, speaking with collaborators today, described these reports and related initiatives as part of putting upfront international collaboration to build a world health system, which is the lever we need to force a paradigm shift to change history for the common good. By Chrisana M. Panzica January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - - Since 2015, the U.S.-backed Saudi-led bombing and blockade of Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people and devastated the country, creating what the United Nations calls the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. Half the countrys people are on the brink of famine, the country has the worlds worst cholera outbreak in recorded history, and now Yemen has one of the very worst COVID death rates in the world: It kills 1 in 4 people who test positive. People and organizations across the world are uniting to call for an end to this genocidal war on January 25 in an international day of action. President Joe Biden, who was part of the Obama administration which started U.S. support for the war, has vaguely promised to end U.S. support for the war. However, Bidens promise should be viewed with extreme skepticism. Weapons manufacturers like Raytheon have a vested interest in continuing the war and wield an immense amount of power in Washington. It is unlikely the U.S. government will end the war without a fight its on us to push it to do so. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter Starting under Obama and continuing under Trump, the U.S. has been heavily involved in the war on Yemen, primarily through weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners. These weapons are by and large used to intentionally target and kill Yemenis. This bloodthirsty logic has been a driving force behind the war for almost six years. Raytheon Technologies, the second-largest arms manufacturer in the world, is one major provider of these weapons. It stands out from the rest of its competitors because of its close ties with Saudi Arabia, having been the first weapons manufacturer to build a permanent operation there in the 1960s, hiring members of the Saudi royal family as consultants, and opening a branch of the company in Riyadh in 2017. After the war began in March 2015, Raytheons stock price went from about $108 to more than $180 in 2019, reflecting billions of dollars in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia. Despite the countless threads connecting Raytheon to Saudi Arabia and its financial interest in continuing the war in Yemen, the company portrays itself as a neutral force which simply carries out the foreign policy of the U.S. government and therefore is not responsible for the destruction wrought by its weapons. When Vice President of Business Development and CEO of Raytheon Company International John D. Harris II was asked by CNBC in a February 2019 interview about the use of Raytheon bombs in Yemen, his response was: We are an element of U.S. policy our role is not to make policy, our role is to comply with it. By characterizing itself as an obedient, law-abiding company, Raytheon not only attempts to weasel out of its culpability, but also obfuscates the horrific tragedy playing out in Yemen and other countries where its bombs fall. The reality is the harrowing situation in Yemen can be directly traced back to Raytheon and other weapons manufacturers influence on U.S. foreign policy. This is not due to a lack of government checks and balances or oversight; rather, it is the result of a calculated policy of the U.S. government to ensure its dominant geopolitical position in the world, which includes maximizing the profit interests of these companies at the expense of Yemeni lives. The U.S. is also involved in Yemen to limit Iranian influence in the region and protect its access to seaborne oil trade that passes through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. Raytheons claims of neutrality fall flat when one takes a closer look at its influence on U.S. policy, including both explicit lobbying of government officials and its unified interests with members of the U.S. political elite. The revolving door between private companies and government positions has supported Raytheons goals in fact, Raytheon has managed to insert itself as a permanent fixture at the highest levels of government. Obama and Trump both had former Raytheon lobbyists serve in senior roles in the Defense Department (William Lynn and Mark Esper, respectively), and Biden is continuing the tradition, choosing Gen. Lloyd Austin, who sits on the Raytheon board, for defense secretary and breezed through his confirmation hearing without issue on January 19. Exporting Death While the situation in Yemen continued to dramatically deteriorate during the Trump administration, Trump shares the blame with his predecessor. Obama played a key role in starting the war, giving Saudi Arabia a green light for its initial attack. He also worked to expand U.S. arms sales abroad, including to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In 2013, Obama oversaw a big increase in U.S. arms sales to foreign governments that has enabled Saudi Arabias current assault on Yemen. As a result, U.S. arms exports went from $6.9 billion in 2009 to $8.7 billion in 2012, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes database, a 25 percent increase. Of that, U.S. arms exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 4,489 percent between 2008-12 and 2013-17. Despite his grandiose campaign rhetoric about change and progress, Obama enabled and deepened the same corruption he had previously denounced. Three days into his presidency, Obama waived a rule prohibiting lobbyists from working in the government on issues they had lobbied on for two years. He then nominated William Lynn, a Raytheon lobbyist and head of the companys division for government operations and strategy, as his deputy secretary of defense. United States of Raytheon In 2015, when the war in Yemen began, Obama agreed to back Saudi Arabias invasion of Yemen by qualifying weapons sales as defensive support. Obama was well aware that weapons sold to Saudi Arabia would not be used for defense but would instead be used to attack Yemen; however, he considered it a necessary evil to placate Saudi Arabia in the wake of the nuclear deal struck with Saudi Arabias adversary, Iran. Since then, U.S. support for the war has been indispensable to Saudi Arabias ability to slaughter Yemenis. Saudi Arabia has very little ability to produce weapons on its own, so it is reliant on foreign companies for its military capabilities and maintenance. U.S. weapons sales are therefore essential for Saudi Arabias siege of Yemen. In addition to weapons sales, U.S. support for the war initially included refueling Saudi bombers twice a day. As of January 2021, the U.S. still provides logistical support and intelligence. In October 2016, news broke of Saudi Arabia striking a funeral procession in Sanaa, killing at least 140 people and injuring 500. In a largely symbolic move, the Obama administration blocked the delivery of Raytheon bomb parts that were sold but not yet shipped, citing concerns regarding Saudi Arabias poor targeting. Raytheons then-chief executive officer, Thomas Kennedy, personally called and lobbied Tony Blinken, the deputy secretary of state, and also reached out to Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice to express his discontent with Obamas move. While the shipment of those specific weapons was momentarily stopped, Obama continued aircraft refueling and increased intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia. After the election of Trump, Raytheon continued to exert influence on U.S. policy. The companys first order of business was arranging several meetings between Thomas Kennedy and Trump, including during Trumps visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017. Soon after, Trump approved the shipment of the weapons that Obama blocked. It certainly did not hurt that Raytheon had allies already embedded throughout the Washington bureaucracy. For example, the companys former chief lobbyist, Mark Esper, became secretary of the Army and eventually secretary of defense from July 2019 to November 2020. During his confirmation, Esper refused to recuse himself from decisions affecting Raytheon. In addition, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Charles Faulkner had previously lobbied on defense procurement issues on behalf of Raytheon. He was eventually removed from his post for his integral role in fast-tracking $8 billion in Raytheon arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Raytheon (like other defense contractors) also employs other tactics to influence U.S. policy. One method included hiring former State Department officials to lobby their former colleagues in the department to approve the sales Obama had blocked. These officials are not required to register as lobbyists. In its quest to guarantee Trumps approval of the weapons sales that Obama had halted, Raytheon also solicited support from lobbyist David J. Urban, who was in the same class at West Point with Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They maintain strong ties and affectionately refer to themselves as the West Point Mafia. Raytheon and other defense contractors also hire lobbying firms on a retainer basis to monitor legislation and step in if necessary. The two largest defense-industry lobbying firms are American Defense International (ADI) and McKeon Group. McKeon Group represents not only a large percentage of the arms industry, but also the government of Saudi Arabia. McKeon Group was founded by Buck McKeon, a former House representative from Californias 25th congressional district who served on the Armed Services Committee from 1991 until 2014. His largest campaign donors and current clients are Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, two of the largest defense contractors in the world. Simultaneously, McKeon Group lobbies on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia, working to kill bills that would impact U.S. arms sales. Both companies, ADI and McKeon Group, have been integral to setting U.S. policy regarding Yemen. In November 2018, two weeks before a vote was to be held regarding the bill that would end U.S. involvement in Yemen, the McKeon Group contacted Sen. Jim Inhofe, chair of the Armed Services Committee, on behalf of Saudi Arabia. Inhofe then voted in favor of continuing U.S. support of Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and the very next day the McKeon Group donated $1,000 to the senator. Foreign Agents Registration Act records show that the company made several phone calls and sent multiple emails to a host of other members of the Senate and House regarding the bill. These lobbying companies work tirelessly to safeguard their clients interests no matter who is in office. Whats more, the countless lobbyists and officers from these companies in unelected government positions give the weapons industry a direct hand in governing and creating policy. Raytheons claims that it does not set policy but merely complies with it is immediately discredited upon examination of this web of influence within and upon the government. Because of growing public outrage at the atrocities being committed in Yemen, Raytheon and all weapons manufacturers have had to find ways to continue to rationalize their bloodstained fortunes. Given that arms manufacturers are intertwined with the U.S. government, we should remain skeptical of Bidens promise to end the war in Yemen. As demonstrated by the Obama and Trump administrations, the role of U.S. presidents is to pursue a foreign policy that in large part protects and upholds the interests of the U.S. elite, including U.S. arms manufacturers. To perform this duty, Trump and Obama appointed top Raytheon executives while members of Congress carefully heeded their guidance, delivered by ADI and the McKeon Group. Biden is no exception to this trend, evidenced by his nomination of Lloyd Austin. The U.S. government is a government of, by and for corporations. The leaders of multinational corporations move continuously from industry to government and back again. The corporatocracy is often characterized by the proverbial revolving door, but in some instances, there is no door distinctions melt away, and corporations and government become one. Corporations like Raytheon do not, as they claim, follow U.S. foreign policy: they make it. Thus, the question at hand is not about forcing government officials to divest from any stake they have in companies they previously worked for. Nominally cutting off ties does not indicate a divergence in interest. The U.S. government, by design, works to serve the interests of the billionaires, not the majority of people who live paycheck to paycheck, and definitely not to bring freedom to the millions who face their bombs and boots. In order to bring an end to the genocidal war in Yemen, we must reckon with and fiercely oppose this reality. As people living in the U.S., we have a responsibility to stand up against what the U.S. government and corporations do abroad in our name. The global day of action against the war in Yemen on January 25 is just one part of this. Hundreds of antiwar, Yemeni and humanitarian organizations from across the world are coming together to call for an end to the genocidal war in Yemen days after Bidens inauguration and the day before Saudi Arabias Davos in the Desert forum, where the Saudi Crown Prince will promote foreign investment in Saudi Arabia. Protests are planned across the country and the world, and an online event is being held for those who cant attend an in-person protest. Join us for an important step in building up a broad and powerful antiwar movement in the U.S. to put an end to all U.S.-led and supported wars. YouTube Shorts are a new feature on the video-sharing site meant to compete with TikTok YouTube Shortsthe video-sharing website's quick clips meant to compete with TikTokare racking up 3.5 billion views a day during beta testing in India, the platform's head said Tuesday. Susan Wojcikci explained the feature in a note laying out her 2021 priorities. "So far, videos in our new Shorts player - which helps people around the world watch short videos on YouTube - are receiving an impressive 3.5 billion daily views!" she said. "We're looking forward to expanding Shorts to more markets this year." YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, unveiled Shorts in mid-September, describing the videos as "a new way to express yourself in 15 seconds or less." The feature, directly integrated into the existing YouTube interface, is currently only available in India as part of development work. The new format is seen as a way for Google to compete with Gen Z-favorite TikTok, which currently has 700 million users worldwide. Former president Donald Trump had threatened to ban TikTokowned by Chinese group ByteDancefrom the United States when he accused the company, without formal proof, of spying on behalf of Beijing. Facebook-owned Instagram responded to TikTok's popularity with their own short video format called Reels last August. And in November, Snapchat launched Spotlight, a public feed of content produced by users. Explore further YouTube tests TikTok rival in India 2021 AFP DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Satellite Connectivity Market - A Global and Regional Analysis: Focus on Satellite Connectivity Solutions, End Users, Components, Application, and Operational Orbit - Analysis and Forecast, 2020-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The satellite connectivity industry analysis projects the market to have significant growth of CAGR of 13.09% based on the values during the forecast period from 2020 to 2027. The North America region is expected to dominate the market by 2027 with a share of 43.21%. The North America region includes the U.S. and Canada, but the U.S. is expected to acquire a major share in 2027 due to the increase in the investment of companies in the country. The satellite connectivity market has gained huge importance in the past few years. This is due to the rising demand for commercial satellite communications. Several space agencies and research organizations and industry players are engaged in establishing global satellite communications. Scope of the Global Satellite Connectivity Market The satellite connectivity market research provides the market information for segmentation such as the range of application of satellite communications based on its end-users and range of usable frequencies. The market is also divided depending upon the components and their operational orbits. The market analysis examines the satellite connectivity market outlook in terms of the trends, driving forces, opportunities, technological advancements, and competitive benchmarking, among others. The report further takes into consideration the market and business dynamics, along with the detailed product contribution of the key players operating in the market. Global Satellite Connectivity Market Segmentation The report constitutes an extensive study of the satellite connectivity industry. The report largely focuses on providing market information for satellite communication covering various segments, components, frequencies, and regions. The frequency range included VHF, UHF, SHF, and EHF. The orbits were classified into low Earth orbit, middle Earth orbit, and geostationary orbit. The market is further segmented into three end use, namely government/civil, defense, and commercial. The satellite connectivity market is segregated by region under four major regions, namely North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest-of-the-World. Data for each of these regions (by country) is provided. Key Companies in the Global Satellite Connectivity Industry The key players in the global satellite connectivity market include Thales Group, Indra Group, Echostar, Viasat, General Dynamics, Inmarsat, Cobham PLC, L3Harris Technologies, Honeywell, Israel Aerospace Industries, Norsat, Aselasan, SitaOnAir, Collins Aerospace (UTC), Singtel, Telemar Group, Marlink, Leonardo S.p.A, SpaceX, Kongsberg and government space agencies such as the European Space Agency (France), and Indian Space Research Organisation (India). Key Questions Answered in this Report: What are the major drivers, challenges, and opportunities for the satellite connectivity market during the forecast period 2020 -2027? How is COVID -19 affecting the growth of the global satellite connectivity market? What are the recent trends in the satellite connectivity market and shift in demand within the orbit segment? Who are the key players in the satellite connectivity market, and what is their competitive benchmarking? What is the expected revenue generated by the global satellite connectivity market during the forecast period 2020 -2027? What are the strategies adopted by the key players in the market to increase its market presence in the industry? Which application of the satellite connectivity and end-user is expected to dominate the market in 2027? What are the competitive strengths of the key players in the satellite connectivity market? What would be the aggravated revenue generated by the satellite connectivity market segmented by region ( North America , Europe , Asia-Pacific , and Rest-of-the-World) by 2027? Key Topics Covered: 1 Markets 1.1 Industry Outlook 1.1.1 Impact of Futuristic Technologies on Satellite Connectivity Market 1.1.1.1 Introduction of Multicarrier Modulation (MCM) to Increase Operational Efficiency of Satellite Connectivity 1.1.1.2 Emergence of 5G Technology 1.1.1.3 Adoption of Laser Communication to Increase Data Transfer Rates 1.1.2 Regulatory Landscape 1.2 Patent Analysis 1.3 Impact of COVID-19 on Satellite Connectivity Market 1.3.1 COVID-19 Effect on Manufacturing Sector 1.3.2 COVID-19 Effect on Investment 1.4 Supply Chain Analysis 1.5 Business Dynamics 1.5.1 Business Drivers 1.5.1.1 Rising Dependency of Uninterrupted Satellite Connectivity Systems 1.5.1.2 Adoption of New Technologies like IoT and AI in Satellite Connectivity Market 1.5.1.3 Rising Use of Re-Usable Launch Systems and CubeSats To Reduce Satellite Launch Cost 1.5.2 Business Challenges 1.5.2.1 Short-Term Challenges 1.5.2.1.1 Slow Data Transfer Speed, Posing Market Challenges 1.5.2.2 Long-Term Challenges 1.5.2.2.1 Rising Obsolete Satellites to Pose Threat in Space 1.5.2.2.2 Decreasing Operational Space Slots in Low Earth Orbits Due to Mega Constellations 1.5.3 Opportunities 1.5.3.1 Connectivity Requirements in Rural Areas and Developing Countries 1.5.3.2 Increasing Demand for High Speed Secure Uninterrupted and Private Communication Network 1.5.3.3 Increasing Satellite Applications 1.6 Key Market Insights and Development 1.6.1 Key Strategies and Developments 1.6.1.1 Product Development and Innovation 1.6.1.2 Long Term Collaborations, Mergers, Acquisition, Investments 1.6.1.3 Other Development 2 Application 2.1 Global Satellite Connectivity Market (by End User) 2.1.1 Government/Civil 2.1.2 Defense 2.1.3 Commercial 2.2 Global Satellite Connectivity Market (by Application) 2.2.1 Earth Observation 2.2.2 Communication 2.2.3 Navigation/Surveillance 2.2.4 Technology Development 3 Products 3.1 Global Satellite Connectivity Market (by Frequency) 3.1.1 VHF 3.1.2 UHF 3.1.3 SHF 3.1.4 EHF 3.2 Global Satellite Connectivity Market (by Component) 3.2.1 Transponder 3.2.2 Receiver 3.2.3 Encoder/Decoder 3.2.4 Amplifier 3.2.5 RF Repeater 3.2.6 Antenna 3.2.7 Others 3.3 Global Satellite Connectivity Market (by Orbit) 3.3.1 LEO 3.3.2 MEO 3.3.3 GEO 4 Region 4.1 North America 4.2 Europe 4.3 Asia-Pacific 4.4 Rest-of-the-World 5 Markets - Competitive Benchmarking & Company Profiles 5.1 Competitive Benchmarking 5.2 ASELSAN A.S. 5.2.1 Company Overview 5.2.1.1 Role of ASELSAN A.S. in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.2.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.2.2 Corporate Strategies 5.2.2.1 Partnership and Collaboration 5.2.3 Strength and Weakness of ASELSAN A.S. 5.2.4 R&D Analysis 5.3 Cobham Limited 5.3.1 Company Overview 5.3.1.1 Role of Cobham Limited in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.3.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.3.2 Business Strategies 5.3.2.1 New Product Launch 5.3.3 Strength and Weakness of Cobham Limited 5.3.4 R&D Analysis 5.4 Echostar Corporation 5.4.1 Company Overview 5.4.1.1 Role of Echostar Corporation in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.4.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.4.2 Business Strategies 5.4.2.1 Satellite Developments 5.4.3 Strength and Weakness of Echostar Corporation 5.4.4 R&D Analysis 5.5 Honeywell International Inc. 5.5.1 Company Overview 5.5.1.1 Role of Honeywell International Inc. in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.5.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.5.2 Corporate Strategies 5.5.2.1 Partnership 5.5.3 Strength and Weakness of Honeywell 5.5.4 R&D Analysis 5.6 General Dynamics 5.6.1 Company Overview 5.6.1.1 Role of General Dynamics in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.6.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.6.2 Corporate Strategies 5.6.2.1 Partnership 5.6.2.2 New Product Launch 5.6.3 Strength and Weakness of General Dynamics 5.6.4 R&D Analysis 5.7 Indra Sistemas, S.A. 5.7.1 Company Overview 5.7.1.1 Role of Indra Sistemas, S.A.in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.7.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.7.2 Business Strategies 5.7.2.1 Long Term Contract 5.7.3 Strength and Weakness of Indra Sistemas, S.A. 5.7.4 R&D Analysis 5.8 Inmarsat Global Limited 5.8.1 Company Overview 5.8.1.1 Role of Inmarsat Global Limited in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.8.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.8.2 Business Strategies 5.8.2.1 Business Collaboration 5.8.3 Strength and Weakness of Inmarsat 5.8.4 R&D Analysis 5.9 Israel Aerospace Industries 5.9.1 Company Overview 5.9.1.1 Role of IAI in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.9.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.9.2 Business Strategies 5.9.2.1 Product Developments 5.9.3 Strength and Weakness of IAI 5.9.4 R&D Analysis 5.10 L3Harris Technologies, Inc. 5.10.1 Company Overview 5.10.1.1 Role of L3Harris Technologies in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.10.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.10.2 Business Strategies 5.10.2.1 Product Developments 5.10.3 Strength and Weakness of L3Harris technologies, Inc. 5.10.4 R&D Analysis 5.11 Myriota 5.11.1 Company Overview 5.11.1.1 Role of Myriota in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.11.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.11.2 Business Strategies 5.11.2.1 Partnership 5.11.3 Strength and Weakness of Myriota 5.12 Norsat International Inc. 5.12.1 Company Overview 5.12.1.1 Role of Norsat International Inc.in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.12.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.12.2 Business Strategies 5.12.2.1 New Product Launch 5.12.3 Strength and Weakness of Norsat International Inc. 5.13 Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) 5.13.1 Company Overview 5.13.1.1 Role of SpaceX in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.13.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.13.2 Business Strategies 5.13.2.1 Product Innovation 5.13.3 Strength and Weakness of SpaceX 5.14 Thales Group 5.14.1 Company Overview 5.14.1.1 Role of Thales Group in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.14.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.14.2 Business Strategies 5.14.2.1 Product Developments 5.14.3 Strength and Weakness of Thales Group 5.14.4 R&D Analysis 5.15 Viasat, Inc. 5.15.1 Company Overview 5.15.1.1 Role of Viasat, Inc.in Satellite Connectivity Market 5.15.1.2 Product Portfolio 5.15.2 Business Strategies 5.15.2.1 Product Developments 5.15.3 Strength and Weakness of Viasat, Inc. 5.15.4 R&D Analysis 6 Research Methodology For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y3dgty Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism alert on Wednesday - its first in about a year - warning that the country faces a heightened threat of violent domestic extremists who are angry with the outcome of the presidential election. In a national terrorism advisory, the department said: "Information suggests that some ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence." The advisory comes after the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, who had repeated false claims of widespread voter fraud in the November election. It also follows the inauguration of Joe Biden as president last week amid heightened security in a locked-down U.S. capital. The warning from DHS said there was no information on a specific credible plot but the heightened threat across the United States was likely to persist for weeks. Apart from the 2020 election outcome, the advisory also said so-called domestic violent extremists were motivated by issues including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, police use of force and "long-standing racial and ethnic tensionincluding opposition to immigration" as drivers of potential domestic attacks. Video Transcript - The US Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism alert on Wednesday, its first in about a year, warning that the country faces a heightened threat of violent domestic extremists who are angry with the outcome of the presidential election. In a national terrorism advisory, the Department said, quote, "Information suggests that some ideologically motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence." The advisory comes after the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 by supporters of then President Donald Trump, who had repeated false claims of widespread voter fraud in the November election. It also follows the inauguration of Joe Biden as president last week amid heightened security in a locked down US Capitol. The warning from DHS said there was no information on a specific credible plot, but the heightened threat across the United States was likely to persist for weeks. Apart from the 2020 election outcome, the advisory also said so-called domestic violent extremists were motivated by issues including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, police use of force, and quote, "long-standing racial and ethnic tensions including opposition to immigration" as drivers of potential domestic attacks. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The founder of a British-Sikh humanitarian charity has described its nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize as humbling. Ravi Singh, CEO and founder of Khalsa Aid, based in Maidenhead in Berkshire, said the news was very strange, adding: We never ever thought that we would be nominated, so for us its like we won already. Its a very, very uplifting experience, more so for our volunteers because Ive always said that what we are is because of our volunteers, Mr Singh, 51, told the PA news agency. Its a great acknowledgment of their dedication and compassion for the last 21 years. For over 20 years @Khalsa_Aid has been helping people in desperate situations around the world. In my capacity as a federal Member of Parliament and with the support of @PrabSarkaria and @patrickbrownont, I am nominating Khalsa Aid for a Nobel Peace Prize. pic.twitter.com/J2yApsWfhd Tim S. Uppal (@TimUppal) January 17, 2021 The organisation, founded in 1999, has provided aid across the globe, recently hitting headlines for providing hundreds of meals for lorry drivers stranded in Kent as a result of a French travel ban in December. Canadian MP Tim Uppal put forward the organisation in recognition of its work providing food and aid in disaster areas and civil conflict zones around the world. Mr Singh told PA the charity was based on the Sikh principles of recognising the whole human race as one. Every Sikh temple has langar, which is a community kitchen. It was started by our first teacher, Guru Nanak, about 600 years ago. Anybody can come and eat, youll sit on the floor, it doesnt matter if youre a king or a labourer, you eat the same food. Its all about respect, equality and dignity for all human beings. The organisation has been providing meals to hospitals in the UK throughout the pandemic, as well as delivering aid, food and reusable sanitary products to refugees and people in need across the world. We were providing thousands of meals to about 10 hospitals in and around London, every day 50 to 100 hot meals, Mr Singh told PA. Now, as this other lockdown is quite serious, we started with about four hospitals again, providing hot meals every day. Khalsa Aid is looking to set up food kitchens and work with large food banks in the coming months, with Mr Singh saying that the organisation would like to help supply meals to school children from its food kitchen. Honestly I do dedicate it to the volunteers who are there day and night everything we do is driven by our amazing volunteers, Mr Singh told PA of the Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Our biggest achievement is not aid and everything we deliver, its the fact that theres a whole generation of Sikhs around the world, if you ask them do you know Khalsa Aid, they will say yes. The whole generation has grown up tolerant, more humane, understanding, accepting. In the world which is challenging, with so much hatred, so much intolerance, so much fascism, Im proud to say that we have raised a generation who are very, very tolerant, who are understanding, who are successful but humble. Were very honoured that we can have the British public supporting us as well. Flash Israel said on Tuesday that an Israeli ministerial delegation arrived quietly in Sudan's capital Khartoum, marking the first official Israeli visit to the Arab country in North Africa. The delegation included Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen, who headed the delegation, and head of Israel's National Security Council Meir Ben-Shabbat and other security officials, the intelligence ministry said in a statement. Cohen met with Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, head of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, and Sudanese Defense Minister Yassin Ibrahim and other government and military officials, according to the ministry statement. The officials discussed regional security stability and economic development, local Israeli media reported. The visit came after Sudan and Israel announced in late 2020 an agreement to normalize their relations. Sudan was the third Arab country, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to establish diplomatic relations with Israel as part of the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords. Viruses are always changing or taking new forms. And the coronavirus is no exception to the many COVID-19 variants that are being identified. Several COVID-19 variants stand out from the crowd, including the UK, South Africa, and Brazil variants. According to The Washington Post, these COVID-19 variants were found to be more transmissible, raising worry that the current vaccines may not be as effective against it. Euro News noted that viruses do make some changes and copy themselves in mutations. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a variant as a virus with one or several new mutations. Even though people are worried about these mutations' implications, experts assured that the coronavirus is still considered more stable than others since it has been slower to change. Changes in viruses aren't unusual, and experts just have to continue learning about them. But that doesn't mean the general public isn't allowed to learn some things about them as well. Here are some things you should know about COVID-19 variants: Will Vaccines Still Work Against COVID-19 Variants? Since news of the new COVID-19 variants surfaced, the efficacy of vaccines against them has been questioned by many people. Fortunately, so far, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which were the ones approved in the U.S., appear to remain effective against the known variants, said an article from USA Today. Read also: Biden To Add South Africa To Travel Ban List To Combat New COVID-19 Variant The Washington Post reported that there is no strong evidence suggesting that vaccines won't work against the original "G" variant and those in Brazil and the UK. However, there are some variants that appear to be more resistant, specifically the South Africa and Denmark variants of the virus. Moderna is developing a booster dose that will better combat the South African variant and other variants that may emerge in the future. Do COVID-19 Variants Pose Significant Dangers? As much as experts want to know if variants will cause more severe infection, the real answers remain unknown. So far, several variants of the virus, like the UK, South African, and Brazil variants, appear to be more contagious, but they are not necessarily deadlier. Despite the lower risks, these variants may kill a lot of people because if more people get infected, there will also be more people who have a possibility of dying. People also have to consider how overwhelmed hospitals are with COVID-19 patients. More patients would mean health workers may have a hard time providing high-quality care for their patients who come in with different complications. What Makes Each COVID-19 Variant Different? Generally, researchers call something a "strain" when it has deviated substantially from the existing version. But so far, the changes in SARS-CoV-2 aren't as dramatic enough to call them a "strain." Prior research shows that the Brazil variant has a dozen alterations in the virus' spike protein. And this information led them to believe this variant is more transmissible.Early evidence also shows that antibodies may not recognize this variant. Related story: You May Have COVID-19 if Your Food Tastes Like This The UK variant appears to be more transmissible than the common strain as well. It is also very similar to the South African variant that has no evidence that it is deadlier. However, Former FDA Director Scott Gottlieb noted that it might be more resistant to antibody therapies. As for the Denmark variant, which has been mostly spreading in Northern California, whether it is more transmissible or more dangerous remains unknown. The Iraqi parliament is debating the 2021 state budget, while voting is anticipated before the end of January 2021. The state budget is projected at $113.2 billion, with an estimated deficit of $50.3 billion to be covered via borrowing, additional taxes and a currency devaluation by 18.5%. On Oct. 14, 2020, the government approved an economic reform plan called the White Paper, which involves a shift in the countrys economic approach from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. It also consists of lowering the number of civil servants, supporting the private sector, reducing corruption and opting for good governance. Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar stated Jan. 14 that oil prices are forecast to range between $42 and $44 per barrel in the 2021 budget, out of fear that "COVID-19 causes market fluctuation. He added, Iraq currently sells oil at a price higher than $50 per barrel. The additional dollars will go to the treasury. The budget involves ending the double payment of salaries, identifying ghost civil servants who cost the state nearly $9 billion per year, providing support for economic projects such as the Faw Port and Baghdad Railway projects, reforming the gas sector and activating the Iraqi-Chinese economic deal. Attached to the budget proposal was a letter Finance Minister Ali Allawi addressed to Parliament, which stated that the 2021 budget addresses long-standing problems while preserving economic stability, providing basic services and supporting investments. Allawi said the budget involves a progressive income tax rate of up to 30% on public sector employees earning higher than 500,000 dinars ($345). This is while a 40% tax rate on income is to be paid by the prime ministers, the presidents of the republic, parliament speakers and the judiciary, with a 10% rate on retirees pensions. Allawi noted that taxable income and pension generate $2.8 billion in total revenue. Yet $3.6 billion will be allocated to social welfare programs designed to reduce poverty and vulnerability, which would ease the impact of the recession on these segments. He explained that public debt is reported at nearly $68.9 billion at present and is expected to hit $99.3 billion by the end of the year, including an internal debt of $70.3 billion. Public spending on the energy sector is the largest, with $22.7 billion in the budget for 2021, followed by $21.6 billion in social services spending, $15.8 billion on provincial management, $15.1 billion for the reimbursement of domestic and foreign debt, and $8.2 billion allocated to the education sector. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Iraqi parliament's Finance Committee member Mohamad Darraji said "the budget for this year involves higher expenditures, something that parliament should reduce in order to save the country from an economic breakdown or from going bankrupt. Darraji said there are more than 70 trillion dinars in the budget deficit. He noted that the state needs to shift to a market economy and support the private sector so as to reform the economy. Demonstrations being held in the central and southern parts of the country are raising demands for the provision of services, employment opportunities, ending corruption in the state departments and reforming the economy, starting with the 2021 budget. This is as members of parliament for the Basra and Dhi Qar provinces refused to vote for the budget law unless allocations for the provinces are increased. Intisar al-Jubouri, a member of parliament for Ninevah province, told Al-Monitor that while Ninevah has been almost fully destroyed, the financial allocations continue to be very poor. She called for more justice in this regard and higher financial allocations, as more than 30% of citizens live below the poverty line. Under the budget, Baghdad and Erbil whose economic relations have intensified since 2014 agreed on allocating $9.58 billion to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in exchange for Erbil delivering 54.3% of its exports to the Federal Oil Ministry, 50% of the revenue from border crossings and fees, and settling their mutual debt. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesperson Jotiar Adil indicated that the KRG will abide by the agreement with the central government. Oil and other revenues will be handed over [to the central government.] The budget law is one of the most debated bills in Iraq, given the political struggles it involves. Parliament is expected to pass the bill into law in late January or early February. A veteran Laredo firefighter has died due to complications of COVID-19, marking the Laredo Fire Departments first loss since the pandemic began, according to first responders. It is with great sadness that the Laredo Fire Department confirms the passing of a fellow firefighter. Laredo Fire Capt. Erik Segura, 45, has unfortunately succumbed due to complications after contracting COVID-19, the department said in a statement. Segura had been hospitalized and receiving treatment in San Antonio Methodist Hospital. During this public health emergency. He was assigned to the EMS Division-Fire Station No. 5. Fire officials said Segura was a key member of the COVID-19 response team. He was highly respected, dedicated, and served the community proudly. The department said in a statement that they are shocked and devastated by this loss since it is LFDs first since the pandemic began. On behalf of the men and women of the Laredo Fire Department, I extend my deepest condolences to the Segura family. He will be greatly missed by his fellow brothers and sisters. I ask that we keep him in our thoughts and prayers, that we honor him for all the contributions he made attempting to stop the spread of this virus, Fire Chief Guillermo Heard said in a statement. Former Fire Chief Steve E. Landin, who recently retired from the department, recalled Segura as a great public servant who looked out for the safety of others. Capt. Erik Segura was an excellent public servant. He dedicated a big portion of his life serving the citizens of Laredo. He served on the front lines during this pandemic. He always looked out for the safety and well-being of his fellow firefighters, said Landin, who is the emergency management coordinator for Webb County. I offer my love, thoughts and prayers to his family and the entire fire department. I ask God to bless and protect them and all medical professionals serving the COVID patients around the world. May he rest in peace. Laredo Firefighters Local 872 released a statement saying they mourn the loss of Segura, a man who gave his life in service to the community. We remember him as a father, a son, sibling, friend, and neighbor. He truly loved his work, and his kindness and generosity were widely known. Like so many firefighters, he never talked about his heroic actions. Today, we remember him and salute him as the hero that he was. We extend our deepest condolences to the Segura family as we hold them close to our hearts, the association said. Laredo Police Chief Claudio Trevino Jr. expressed his condolences on behalf of the men and women of the Laredo Police Department. We send our sincerest condolences to the family of Laredo Fire Capt. Erik Segura who passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow first responders at The Laredo Fire Department and Fire Chief Guillermo Heard. We mourn Fire Capt. Segura's passing alongside you. May Laredo Fire Capt. Erik Segura rest in peace. Webb County Martin Cuellar also expressed his condolences. Our most sincere condolences to the Laredo Metro Fire Department on the passing of Capt. Erik Segura. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and our first responders community. May he rest in peace, Cuellar stated. U.S. Border Patrol added, The Laredo Sector joins the City and residents of Laredo in mourning the passing of Laredo Fire Department Capt. Erik Segura. Capt. Segura served the City of Laredo for 25 years before losing his battle against COVID-19. Thank you for your service and dedication, Capt. Segura. has raised concerns about British proposals to invite Australia, India and South Korea to a meeting of Group of Seven foreign ministers and have them sign up to a joint charter with the forum, according to a diplomatic cable seen by Bloomberg. Prime Minister Yoshihide Sugas government pushed back strongly, the note says, arguing that the aim of the summit should be to rebuild the G-7 after a difficult year, and not institutionalize a relationship with the invited guests. The forums European members - France, Italy and Germany - hold similar views, and some of its diplomats have expressed concerns that the U.K. is attempting to reshape the G-7 by the back door, by establishing a coalition of 10 leading democracies to counter China and other authoritarian states. European diplomats have previously told Bloomberg that doing so would mean the group risks becoming an anti-China front and that anti-China rhetoric could foment a Cold War-style standoff with Beijing, which the diplomats said the G-7 must avoid after it batted away Donald Trumps attempts to do the same. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting this years G-7, has invited South Korea, India and Australia to attend the leaders summit in Cornwall in June. While it is standard practice for a Group of Seven host to invite guest countries, their involvement through the process is typically limited, but according to a person familiar with Johnsons plans, the guests participation this year will be deeper than usual. Open Societies Charter It was during a virtual meeting of the groups political directors on Jan. 22, that the U.K. told the other six members it was planning to ask the three countries to attend parts of a foreign and development ministers meeting, and have the G-7 sign an Open Societies Charter with them. pushed back despite reassurances that Britain doesnt want to expand or dilute the G-7, according to the cable. U.K. Foreign Minister Dominic Raab is hoping to hold the meeting in person May 3-6 in Wales. The idea of expanding the G-7 was floated by Trump last year. In addition to Australia, South Korea and India, he proposed re-inviting Russia, which was ejected after the annexation of Crimea. President Joe Biden hasnt indicated where he stands on the issue but has said he wants to convene a summit of democracies. And prominent voices in both the U.K. and the U.S. have continued to call for the group to open its doors to new members. For though, South Koreas participation is awkward given renewed tensions stemming from its 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula, and it doesnt want to see membership or a privileged status extended to Australia and India, in particular, either -- European G-7 diplomats said Japans objections are in part likely because it wants to be the only Asian country in the forum. Our country will respect the judgment of the host country, Japans prime minister told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday. While we respect that, our stance is that its extremely important to maintain the framework of the G-7. During the same panel, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said he discussed the matter with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, adding it is important for G-7 to work together now. The Japanese Foreign Ministry emailed similar comments in response to Bloombergs questions. The U.K. government declined to comment. Following last weeks virtual meeting of G-7 political directors, a British diplomat wrote to colleagues saying the U.K. would need to find a way of managing Japans concerns while still delivering the wider goal of building a broader partnership of open societies. Repair and Reinvigorate The U.Ks other plans have been mostly welcomed by the rest of the group as an opportunity to repair and reinvigorate the G-7, and multilateralism more generally, after what the cable describes as a dysfunctional 2020. Under the U.S. presidency, the group failed to offer a collective response to the coronavirus pandemic, was embroiled in transatlantic spats over China and managed to produce only two joint statements. Officials from the six participating governments were told that the Foreign and Development track of the G-7 will center on three themes: open societies focusing on shared values and human rights; sustainable recovery, covering girls education, food security, climate action and vaccines; and renewing partnerships with like minded countries, as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and engagement with Africa. On security, the U.K. set out six potential areas of focus: China, Russia and its neighborhood, Iran, the eastern Mediterranean, the Horn of Africa and the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. delegate welcomed the agenda and emphasized the Biden administrations commitment to tackling climate change and multilateralism. A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked President Joe Biden's executive order to have a deportation freeze of certain undocumented immigrants for a 100-day period. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued a temporary restraining order blocking the deportation freeze policy nationwide. Tipton set the policy back for 14 days after Texas General Ken Paxton challenged it in court. According to Texas Tribune, Paxton alleged the moratorium was unconstitutional and violated an agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and Texas This block on the deportation freeze was an immediate setback for Biden's ambitious immigration agenda, said an article from The Epoch Times. Related story: Biden Faces Criticism After Halting Border Wall Constructiona Biden proposed far-reaching changes like legalizing about 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America. He also issued an order halting all construction on the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Texas AG Hails Victory Against Deportation Freeze When Trump was in office, Democrats and immigration activists filed countless lawsuits that aimed to stop immigration provisions like the border wall. After Paxton's victory and the hundreds of judge appointments Trump made during his term in office, more Republicans are expected to do the same, The Epoch Times added. VICTORY. Texas is the FIRST state in the nation to bring a lawsuit against the Biden Admin. AND WE WON. Within 6 days of Bidens inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze. *This* was a seditious left-wing insurrection. And my team and I stopped it. Attorney General Ken Paxton (@KenPaxtonTX) January 26, 2021 "Within 6 days of Biden's inauguration, Texas has HALTED his illegal deportation freeze," Paxton said in a tweet. He called the president's move "a seditious left-wing insurrection" which his team stopped. He also hailed his team's victorious lawsuit, noting that Texas was the first state to bring a lawsuit against Biden's administration and won. When filing the suit, Paxton argued that opening up America to undocumented immigrants could lead to financial harm because of costs associated with health care and education, Texas Tribune noted. The court agreed to this argument. "The Court finds that the foregoing establishes a substantial risk of imminent and irreparable harm to Texas," Tipton wrote. Tiptop also found that Texas would likely succeed on its claim that when the current administration issued the moratorium, it "arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its previous policy without sufficient explanation." Biden Administration to Appeal Texas Judge's Ruling The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling on the deportation freeze while both parties submit briefs on the matter, said a report from Reuters. After Biden was inaugurated into office on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a memo that ordered a freeze on many deportations. According to the memo, it was so the department can better deal with "operational challenges" at the U.S.-Mexico border during the pandemic. Read also: Biden Talks to Mexico President About Reversing Immigration Policies Acting DHS Secretary David Pekoske said the deportation freeze would allow the department to "ensure that its resources are dedicated to responding to the most pressing challenges that the United States faces." A spokesperson for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Reuters that there are about 1.2 million immigrants in the U.S. who were served final orders of deportation. As of January 16, there have been around 6,000 detainees on ICE holding centers that have final deportation orders, but the number significantly dropped during the pandemic. AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- FCA US LLC (FCA US) today announces that it has reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan to resolve its investigation into past misconduct of certain former FCA US employees involving the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center (NTC). The agreement, which is subject to U.S. federal court approval, includes a guilty plea to a single count of conspiracy to violate the Labor Management Relations Act and the payment of a $30 million fine. FCA US has also agreed to implement an independent compliance monitor for three years with respect to the dissolution of the NTC and internal controls as they relate to the trusts being implemented to replace the NTC. Today's agreement completes the U.S. Attorney's Office's investigation into FCA US's involvement in the misconduct involving the NTC. For more information, please visit the Stellantis media site at https://media.stellantisnorthamerica.com. SOURCE FCA US LLC Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Bank of America (BoA) foreign exchange analysts has examined the latest data on capital flows for major currencies. The data indicates that Pound Sterling buying has strengthened over the past few weeks and there is scope for further buying, although the rate of real-money buying is liable to slow. There is also strong support for the Japanese yen, but funds have been selling the New Zealand dollar The Pound Sterling has made significant headway this week with the Pound-to-Dollar rate posting 32-month highs while the Euro-to-Pound rate is close to 8-month lows. According to BoA, demand for the Pound Sterling has continued to strengthen. Our proprietary flows show both hedge funds and real money buying even more as GBP is rallying this year. Real money buying from institutions and fund managers has strengthened strongly since the middle of December with the strongest rate of inflows since late September 2019. This suggests that the EU/UK trade deal has been significant in boosting demand for the UK currency. BoA expresses some concerns over this positioning as it suggests that there is little scope for further buying at this pace even if overall sentiment holds firm. The bank is less concerned over positioning by hedge funds with the net positioning only just turning positive. Hedge fund positioning has only now turned positive and is far from the peak two years ago. CFTC data also indicated that the net long position in the Pound amounted to 13,700 contracts in the latest week from highs over 35,000 in early March 2020 and over 47,000 in April 2018. Despite some warning signs, the data suggests there is room for further near-term Pound buying. Bank of America has also noted strong demand for the Japanese yen. Although we are also seeing some hedge fund JPY selling, the demand from real money has been much stronger. We also note that real money has been buying JPY from a short position, which points to upside potential. In contrast, both real money and hedge funds have been selling the New Zealand dollar with the New Zealand-to-Dollar rate held below 33-month highs at 0.7300 posted in early January. BoA comments, Positioning is not stretched, suggesting room for NZD downside. IT has been well established that the countrys most effective mobilisation system is the election machinery based on political affiliation. With this in mind, the current crisis in the country regarding the frightening spread of the coronavirus calls for a different kind of intervention. It is past time for the declaration of a political truce. We call on the countrys two major political machines, PNM and UNC, and all other existing political parties and groups, to come together in the national interest. Apple speeds up output shift of iPhone and iPad to Vietnam According to the sources of Nikkei Asia Review, Apple will begin producing iPads in Vietnam as soon as the middle of this year. The tech giant is also stepping up iPhone production in India, its second-largest production base for the iconic device with plans to start producing the latest iPhone 12 series there as soon as this quarter. Apple is also ramping up production capacity for smart speakers, earphones, and computers in Southeast Asia as part of its ongoing diversification strategy, the sources added. In Vietnam, Apple is mobilising suppliers to expand the production of the latest HomePod mini, the affordable version of its voice-activated smart speaker lineup. The device has been produced in Vietnam since it was introduced last year. The Cupertino-based tech giant has already increased the local production of its audio-related products, including its various AirPods lineups, sources said. Apple is also set to move part of its MacBook production to Vietnam this year while most of its computer production will remain in China. Last week a unit of Foxconn known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, a key supplier of Apple, was granted an investment license to develop a $270 million factory to produce laptops and tablets. Located in the northern province of Bac Ninh, the factory will be developed by Fukang Technology with an annual output of 8 million units. It is not clear what brands of laptops and tablets Foxconn will produce in Bac Ninh. However, the group is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple, a person with knowledge of the plan told Reuters in November, as the firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of China-US trade tensions. Another supplier Luxshare Precision Industry is stepping up its capacity in northern Vietnam for the HomePod mini to solve supply constraints for the popular device. "Apple and many other tech companies all want out-of-China production capacities, and that has not slowed even though the US has a new president," one supply chain manager told Nikkei. "And they are studying not only peripheral products. Apple, for example, aims to build capacity in new locations -- mostly Southeast Asian nations for multiple core products, such as iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, AirPods, and others. It was hard to imagine that two years ago, but now, nothing is impossible to shift." On Jan. 26, hundreds of protesters in New Delhi were seen chasing the cops with sticks and rods which left several police personnel injured. (IANS photo) [January 27, 2021] Pacific Life Foundation Announces $7.25 Million Giving Program for 2021 The Pacific Life Foundation has announced plans to grant $7.25 million in charitable funding in 2021. Supporting communities where Pacific Life employees live and work, including Orange (News - Alert) County, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Lynchburg, Virginia, the grants will focus on the areas of arts and culture; civic, community and economic development; environment; education; and health and human services. In January 2021, the Pacific Life Foundation distributed more than $2.3 million to 209 organizations, including $1.75 million to Southern California nonprofits. For a full list of grant recipients, please visit: https://www.pacificlife.com/home/corporate-responsibility.html. Of particular note in Southern California, the Pacific Life Foundation donated $100,000 to Camino Health Center in support of its 6,000 square foot facility expansion in San Clemente, California. The expansion will allow Camino Health Center to add an additional medical team, behavioral health specialist and dental chair to its services. The Pacific Life Foundation also gave $100,000 to the Orange County Museum of Art toward its new museum at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts and $50,000 to Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange Country's Smile Mobile to provide restorative dental services to children. Highlights of the 2021 giving program include: 3Ts of Education Annually, the Pacific Life Foundation awards grants to K-12 schools where there are concentrations of childrenor grandchildren of Pacific Life employees. The 3Ts of Education program supports the following areas: teacher training, textbooks or technology. In 2021, 149 K-12 schools nationwide have been granted $514,000 in funding, including $395,000 going to 103 Southern California schools. Since the program's inception in 1998, more than $9.4 million in 3Ts of Education grants have been distributed. Community Engagement Programs The Pacific Life Foundation not only provides funding to nonprofit organizations, but also supports these organizations through volunteer efforts with the Pacific Life Good Guys program. In 2021, Pacific Life and its employees will continue to support its annual United Way campaign, during which the Pacific Life Foundation matches every dollar donated by employees. Additionally, the Pacific Life Foundation will continue to match all employee donations to nonprofits and universities. During 2020, the Pacific Life Good Guys and their families participated in virtual projects designed to give back to the community safely from home. These virtual projects supported and celebrated more than 7,500 first responders, healthcare and frontline workers with gratitude cards and paracord bracelets; provided hundreds of children and seniors with holiday gifts through Pacific Life's annual Operation Santa Claus program; and gave vital pre-packaged hygiene kits to 25,000 families in homeless shelters. Additionally, in response to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Pacific Life Foundation gave more than $1.75 million in 2020 to support of COVID-19 relief efforts. Donations were made to organizations focused on providing emergency financial relief for low-income families, food security and distribution, and to nonprofits caring for the families of first responders and essential workers. About Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation For more than 150 years, Pacific Life has helped millions of individuals and families with their financial needs through a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients and has been named one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.PacificLife.com. The Pacific Life Foundation (the Foundation) was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed more than $123 million to community and national nonprofit organizations. Grants are made to organizations that address a broad spectrum of social needs. Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of June 2020 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2020 FORTUNE 500 list. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005098/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. High notes Rotary Club of the Abingtons members Diane Calabro and Gail Cicerini, co-chairs of the kettle drive, presented $11,000 to the Salvation Army. Maj. Bob Schmig attended the weekly meeting on Thursday to receive the donation. The amount was collected between Black Friday and Christmas. Super students Gerard Greskovic, of South Abington Twp., earned an Award of Excellence at Western Governors University College of Business. The award is given to students who perform at a superior level in their coursework. Local students were among 152 Central Penn College students awarded $135,000 in scholarships by the Central Penn College Education Foundation during the fall semester. They include Madison Lucey of Milford, and Matthew McLaughlin of Factoryville, who were both awarded Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation Endowed Scholarships. We are committed to making a difference in the lives of our students, said Sandy Box, director of the education foundation. These scholarships can be true game-changers. For many of our students, these awards can mean the difference between staying and finishing their degree or leaving due to financial concerns. During the 2019-2020 academic year, the foundation awarded $243,000 to 288 Central Penn students. Grant received The Visiting Nurse Association Hospice & Home Health received a $5,000 grant from the Robert H. Spitz Foundation, administered by the Scranton Area Community Foundation. The funds will support Operation VNA Mental Health Outreach to educate and train staff and community members through both virtual and in-person workshops, according to the VNA. Our mental health is a vital part of our overall health and well-being, it will promote or detour our productivity and effectiveness in everyday life through our individual emotions, thoughts and behaviors, said Hope Wormuth, community relations specialist. We must continue to improve, increase awareness, and prioritize our own mental health as caregivers as well as each patient served. Wormuth said the grant will have a great impact on the overall health promotion and educational initiatives to the counties where the VNA provides care moving forward during these uncertain times. VNA Hospice & Home Health will offer certified trainers in mental health first aid in a series of workshops. A custom veteran-focused resource guide has also been designed for case managers and support service network distribution. Visiting Nurse Association of Lackawanna County & Surrounding Communities is a nonprofit organization founded in 1895 that provides skilled nursing, physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as ostomy and advanced wound care, hospice and palliative care, medical social services, bereavement counseling, support groups and various community health and wellness educational outreach. AMSTERDAM, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Amsterdam-based fintech Factris has recently closed a funding round with the private debt fund Dexteritas for 5MM EUR. This funding will enable Factris to support more factoring companies, acquire loan portfolios, and free up trapped investment capital, propelling them forward to become one of the biggest working-capital providers to SMEs in the EU. This debt funding supplements the recent 50MM EUR senior debt facility provided by NNIP. What attracted Dexteritas to Factris is their high liquidity and secure financing, which Factris has been pioneering via their advancements in risk-assessment technology. Instead of relying on humans to slowly and incompletely understand the risk involved, Factris has automated the process to quickly and accurately assess the risk of a financial case, thus allowing them to fund more SMEs while also preventing financial loss. Dexteritas, recognising growth opportunities with Factris' unique, tech-driven approach to financing, quickly embraced the opportunity to finance the fintech company. This new funding partner will enable Factris to further grow in volume, allowing them to offer their financing to even more businesses. Factris' CEO Brian Reaves sees this as a major step towards helping struggling SMEs, who have been hit especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comments Reaves, "Factris has always been focused on helping SMEs. As the pandemic drags on, so does its detrimental effects on small businesses. But thanks to the funding from Dexteritas, we can help finance even more SMEs in these challenging times." About Factris and Dexteritas Factris is a fintech company on a mission to provide quick, low-cost working capital to European SMEs through financial technology with personalised guidance. Factris was named the 2020 SME Working Capital Provider of the Year by the Prestige Awards. Dexteritas is a private debt fund that offers flexible alternative financing to Dutch companies. With a focus on medium-sized companies, Dexteritas offers tailor-made solutions for growth financing. SOURCE Factris Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns has demanded the tertiary education union stop backing a left-wing academic who was sacked for superimposing a swastika onto the Israeli flag. Dr Tim Anderson was dismissed by the University of Sydney in 2019 after misconduct findings by the university over his use of Nazi symbolism in lecture materials and social media to highlight what he believes to be Israels inhumane occupation of the West Bank. Labor MP Josh Burns. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The lecture slide that is the subject of the controversy related to a 2014 war in which thousands of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. The economics and politics author has appealed against the universitys decision and has been legally supported by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU). The union, which is facing criticism from politicians and a prominent Jewish association, insists it is backing Dr Anderson to uphold academic freedom but that does not mean it agrees with the veteran activists views. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Members of President Joe Biden's new Coronavirus Response Team say they will examine 'every possible option' to boost vaccine production including potentially requiring pharmaceutical companies to manufacture vaccines developed by rival companies. 'This is a national emergency 400,000 people have died,' said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator at a briefing Wednesday. 'Everything is on the table across the whole supply chain. From the dead [space] syringes to other pharmaceutical companies. Anything we can do to increase the vaccine supply in the timing of the delivery is on the table and we will execute accordingly,' he said. 'Everything is on the table across the whole supply chain,' said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator at a briefing Wednesday. He did not rule out using the Defense Production Act to require companies to make vaccine developed by rival firms Andy Slavitt, the former head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services who is a senior COVID advisor on the team, said when asked the group is actively exploring using the Defense Production Act to require pharmaceutical companies that have the right facilities to manufacture vaccines that have already been demonstrated to work. 'To the very specific question of whether or not a factory can be retrofitted to mass produce another vaccine, that's something under active exploration,' he said. 'As you can imagine, it's not as simple as walking in and flipping a switch.' 'These are delicate processes, very sterile processes and have to be done in a way that actually completely works. But we will not be afraid to explore every option to get more vaccines to the public as quickly as possible,' he said. Slavitt provided new language, but no real certainty, on when precisely an additional 200 million vaccine doses ordered by the Biden administration will be available. 'As for the timing of the Moderna and Pfizer contracts, I think it is no secret that it is our goal to accelerate that as much as possible. To the extent that we run into those physical limitations, we have to make sure that the vaccines that are produced are done the right way so that we can sign off and get them to the states and get them to the public. So right now, that looks like some time over the summer,' Slavitt said. 'To the very specific question of whether or not a factory can be retrofitted to mass produce another vaccine, that's something under active exploration,' said coronavirus advisor Andy Slavitt Dr. Anthony Fauci participated in the briefing, as the new Biden team seeks to boost vaccine production in the next 100 days Dr. Marina Del Rios, from University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, the first person to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago, gets her second and final dose of the vaccination at Norwegian American Hospital on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Jan. 5, 2021 That matches a timeline mentioned by President Biden Tuesday. Slavitt wouldn't reveal names of any new companies that might be brought in. 'We do not believe that in an emergency crisis situation that we're in, that it is responsible to just pick one path and pin our hopes on that. Obviously there are other vaccine manufacturers that are submitting emergency use authorization applications. There are other manufacturers that are not pursuing their own vaccine,' he said. The team also said said states require more certainty about how much vaccine they are getting, and made a commitment to deliver 10 million doses to the states for each of the next three weeks. That comes on top of 47 million doses already delivered an amount that is not yet meeting massive demand, with the need to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans to reach herd immunity. The backdrop for the moves is a rush to get more vaccine produced, even amid a nationwide push to boost distribution amid shortages across the country. Johnson & Johnson will likely publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced Tuesday. Its vaccine is cheaper and easier to store and transport which, along with the fact that it requires just one dose, could help speed the painstakingly slow US vaccine rollout. The 100 million doses Johnson & Johnson has pledged to the US would increase the US supply by about 25 percent. Vaccinations began five weeks ago, but just 6.2 percent of the US population have gotten their first doses of either Pfizer's or Moderna's two-dose vaccines. It comes as the US death toll rises to 425,257, including 3,990 on Tuesday. More than 25 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Encouragingly, cases, deaths and hospitalizations were all down last week compared to previous weeks, but remain high. Dozens of precious doses of the two vaccines have been wasted because no one could be found to take them before the spoiled, or due to careless errors like freezers getting unplugged. Johnson & Johnson's simpler single-dose shot could be a massive help to solve some of these issues. It has a contract with the US for at least one million doses, and has pledged to distribute a billion doses globally this year. And Dr Anthony Fauci said that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is being tested in both South Africa and Brazil, which feature highly infectious 'super-covid' variants that scientists fear could evade vaccines and become dominant. But even if its results are positive, the FDA is not expected to clear the vaccine for emergency use until March, raising questions over why there must be an agonizing month-long delay. Meanwhile, President Biden has raised the stakes of his COVID-19 vaccination goal, announcing Monday that he think the US could give more than 1.5 million vaccinations a day, up from one million. Currently, the US is vaccinating 1.27 million people a day on average. Supply could be the biggest hurdle to reaching and maintaining Biden's goal of vaccinating 1.5 million people a day. Collectively, Moderna and Pfizer have promised to supply 200 million doses by the end of March. Pfizer thinks that it can offer an extra 20 million doses by then, and the US is in talks with Moderna and Pfizer to purchase yet another 200 million doses (100 million from each), to be available this summer. But there is no stockpile. The federal government is holding enough back supply to cover two to three days worth of doses in case of manufacturing disruptions. Otherwise, it is counting on the manufacturers to maintain a constant flow of new doses to the state, said Slavitt. He said the government is 'confident' in these manufacturers, but even he admitted that there will likely be disruptions to production, and the government is planning only slim cushion amid a rollout that has thus far been chaotic and left many states on the verge of running out of doses. Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night J&J's shot only needs to be stored in a refrigerator not freezers, and the one-dose regimen could speed up the process of inoculating Americans WHAT'S THE HOLD UP? STATES ARE RUNNING OUT OF DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINE BUT US REGULATORS SPEND WEEKS REVIEWING DATA The US has distributed nearly 24.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states and territories, according to data tracking from Bloomberg. So far, only about 55 percent of that supply has been used, and only 1.1 percent of the American population has gotten their second doses of the vaccines. Leading the pack are Alaska and and West Virginia, which have vaccinated 11.3 and 9.4 percent of their populations, respectively. Alaska got a boost to its shipments because a high proportion of its doses were allotted through the Indian Health Service. The service has a smaller number of tribal territories to account for, and its distribution process has moved more quickly and smoothly. Alaska is also the only state in the nation is getting vaccine doses on a monthly - rather than weekly - basis, a decision made by state officials. They say that this has helped make the flow of vaccines more predictable and consistent, according to Anchorage Daily News. West Virginia has also gone its own way. It was the only state to opt out of the federal program using CVS and Walgreens to administer vaccine doses to nursing home residents. Officials there say leveraging the relationships of local pharmacists with the residents has helped to smooth the process of vaccinating older residents. Rhode Island, on the other hand, is lagging furthest behind. Just 5.7 percent of its population has been vaccinated, which is particularly worrisome as the state is in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases. States including North Carolina and New York are at risk of running out of COVID-19 vaccine doses to distribute. Amid questions over whether or not the US had a stockpile of vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna said they had plenty of doses available to distribute to states once they were allocated by the federal government. But J&J's one-dose vaccine would certainly ease some of this confusion, which arose from questions over whether half the stock of vaccines had been held back to ensure that second doses were available to anyone who got a first shot. Yet there are no signs the FDA has plans to expedite the process any more than it did for the authorization of Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines. Americans will be familiar with this pattern of delays. Pfizer reported the results of its vaccine trial on November 18. It was clear by then that the shot was over 94 percent effective - leaps and bounds better than the 50 percent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set as the efficacy benchmark. HOW DOES THE J&J VACCINE WORK? Johnson and Johnson's vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The team have modified the adenovirus so it can enter cells but cant replicate inside them or cause illness. Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). After the J&J vaccine is injected into a persons arm, the adenoviruses enter human cells and travel to their nuclei, the chamber where the cells DNA is stored. The vaccine are programed to carry the genetic code of the coronavirus's 'spike protein', which Sars-CoV-2 uses to invade the body. Iit uses this genetic code to trick the body into mounting an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if the real virus infects the body. Advertisement But the FDA did not meet to discuss approving the first vaccine in the US until December 10 - and then took another day to authorize it. The UK had already started vaccinating residents on December 8 - three days before the US even met to consider approving the exact same vaccine. The FDA did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Former President Trump was so frustrated by the protracted process to approve the first US vaccine that he called the FDA a 'slow turtle.' Dr Anthony Fauci gave a back-handed defense of the FDA's slow pace, slamming UK regulators by saying they 'just took the data from the Pfizer company and instead of scrutinizing it really, really carefully they said, "OK, lets approve it. That's it."' He later walked back the statement. The US regulatory process is notoriously slow and despite vaccines being developed in record time, the FDA emergency approval process has not sped up in parallel. For emergency use authorization, dozens of FDA scientists as well as independent advisors review safety and efficacy data ahead of meeting to discuss it. The advisory group also takes public comment from non-scientists into consideration, do their own statistical analysis of company data, host an all-day meeting, and then vote. After the vote, the FDA itself has to sign off on emergency approval. There are a lot of steps, but little explanation as to why some of them could not be cut shorter, simplified or expedited. JOHNSON & JOHNSON'S VACCINE IS LIKELY AT LEAST 70% EFFECTIVE AND THE ONE-SHOT REGIMEN COULD SPEED THE ROLLOUT Johnson & Johnson got a later start than Moderna and Pfizer, and was held up again when an unexplained illness in a trial participant forced it to pause the trial. The illness was eventually ruled unrelated to the vaccine, and trials are now on the cusp of completion. The company has a contract to provide the US with at least 100 million doses and has pledged to distribute a billion doses globally this year. Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. Early data on the one-dose vaccine suggests that it is more than 70 percent effective. If that holds true in the larger study findings, the single dose shot will be at least as effective as the vaccine made by Oxford and AstraZeneca. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunization plans. Researchers are now combing through their latest data and could, if it shows the vaccine is effective, file it for approval from UK, US and EU regulators in the coming weeks. The chief financial officer of the company, Joseph Wolk, told CNN: 'We're looking by early next week. 'The scientific team is going through the final stages of a very robust 45,000-individual study that covered three continents, eight countries. 'Some of those countries include South Africa and Brazil so as we hear about new strains that presents an opportunity where maybe we'll gain some insights on some of these new strains once the sequencing is done. 'We're looking at no later than early next week.' Mr Wolk said the company would then seek emergency use authorization in the same way that other countries including Pfizer, also based in the US, have done, but wouldn't be drawn on when people might start to receive the jabs. Johnson and Johnson has previously said it is ready to ship doses from its factories in Europe as soon as it gets the seal of approval. The US firm launched a massive separate trial of the jab in November to see if it was even better and lasts longer when administered in two doses. It aims to test the two-shot regiment in more than 30,000 people worldwide. Historic trial: The impeachment managers leave the Senate floor after delivering the article of impeachment on Monday in Washington. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference in the U.S. Capitol. Photo: Reuters The US Senate voted 55-45 last night to block a Republican effort to upend plans for former President Donald Trumps impeachment trial on a charge that he incited the deadly January 6 assault on the US Capitol. In an early test of the Senates impeachment drive, five Republicans joined Democrats to reject a motion by Republican Senator Rand Paul that would have required the chamber to vote on whether the trial violates the US Constitution. Mr Paul and other Republicans contend that the proceedings are unconstitutional because Mr Trump left office last Wednesday and the trial will be overseen by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy instead of US Chief Justice John Roberts. This proceeding, which would try a private citizen and not a president, vice president or civil officer, violates the Constitution, Mr Paul told his fellow senators after they had been sworn in as jurors for the trial set to begin on February 9. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer dismissed Mr Pauls argument as flat-out wrong and a constitutional get-out-of-jail-free card for presidents guilty of misconduct. Most of the Senates 50 Republican lawmakers voted against a motion by Mr Schumer to kill Mr Pauls proposal. Read More Mr Paul had predicted that support for his move would show the Senate incapable of convicting Mr Trump, which would require 67 votes. But some Republicans described yesterdays vote and the question of Mr Trumps guilt as separate matters. There is a debate among scholars over whether the Senate can hold a trial for Mr Trump now he has left office. Many experts have said late impeachment is constitutional, arguing that presidents who engage in misconduct late in their terms should not be immune from the very process set out in the Constitution for holding them accountable. The Constitution makes clear that impeachment proceedings can result in disqualification from holding office in the future, so there is still an active issue for the Senate to resolve, those scholars have said. At least 17 Republicans would need to join all 50 Democrats in the evenly divided Senate for Mr Trump to be convicted, a two-thirds threshold that appears unlikely to be reached. Mr Trump remains a powerful force among Republicans and his supporters have vowed to mount election challenges to lawmakers in the party who support conviction. Meanwhile, Russia and the United States have exchanged documents to extend the New Start nuclear treaty, their last remaining arms control pact, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin readout of a phone call between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they voiced satisfaction with the move. Legislators in the Kremlin-controlled parliament said it would complete the necessary moves to extend the pact this week. Last week, Mr Biden proposed a five-year extension of New Start, which is set to expire on February 5, and the Kremlin quickly welcomed the offer. The treaty, signed in 2010 by then US president Barack Obama and then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, limits each country to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and bombers, and envisages sweeping on-site inspections to verify compliance. Russia has long proposed prolonging the pact without any conditions or changes, but the Trump administration waited until last year to start talks and made the extension contingent on a set of demands. Also yesterday, the Biden administration moved to ban new oil and gas drilling on land owned by the US government as he unveils wide-ranging climate change plans. President Biden indicated his administration would move quickly to reverse Donald Trumps policies on energy and the environment. The indefinite moratorium, expected to be announced today, expands a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits that the new administration introduced last week. It also followed Mr Bidens decision to end the Keystone XL pipeline project, which was criticised by Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister. The latest move was welcomed by environmentalists but attacked by the oil and gas industries. Loading With 40,000 Australians still wanting to return home, Ms Neville said it might be possible for Victoria to increase its cap if the ADF provided more support. I would say it would certainly take the pressure off Victoria Police if the ADF played some more of those roles, but were working on the basis they said no previously so were working on the basis we need to provide that support. Ms Neville said Victorias strict hotel quarantine standards hampered the governments ability to scale up the program to NSWs standards. Were using significant police resources at the moment, were using 800, that will go up to well over 1000 once we expand the program, she said. A federal Defence spokesman said in a statement that Victoria had initiated preliminary discussions over increasing ADF numbers at additional quarantine hotels in the coming weeks but a formal request had not been received. About 200 troops are currently working across 12 Victorian quarantine hotels. However, the spokesman intimated that the ADF would not be able to supplement police officers because the military did not have law enforcement powers in Victoria. Defence support [currently] includes assisting authorities process international arrivals prior to their commencement of quarantine, and screening and temperature checking hotel staff as they enter and exit these facilities, the spokesman said. Opposition Leader Michael OBrien welcomed the increase but said it was unacceptable Victorias cap would remain at 2100 a week. Victoria has been relying on other states to do the heavy lifting when it comes to hotel quarantine. There are a lot of Victorian citizens who wouldnt be home today if it wasnt for the fact that NSW was willing to take them when Daniel Andrews wasnt, he said. Its time for Victoria to start pulling its weight. And that means the Premier needs to have confidence in his own hotel quarantine arrangements. On Thursday, Mr Andrews flagged that he would announce on Friday a much greater freedom of movement between Victoria and NSW, including the vast majority of orange zones in NSW being reclassified as green zones. The proposed changes to travel restrictions come as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the reopening of her state to all of NSW from Monday. Weve had discussions with the Chief Health Officer during the week and are confident tomorrow there will be changes to settings, Mr Andrews said. Mask rules will remain, Premier Daniel Andrews said. Credit:Scott McNaughton However, Mr Andrews said mask rules would remain because they provide an extra layer of protection, extra layer of insurance against a super-spreader event. Thats why we test everybody [working in hotels]. We havent seen that happen yet, but many would say its not a matter of if its a matter of when. Thats why that tight control and being very, very focused on the highest of standards ... thats the system that were running. And we wont be changing that. Victoria officially recorded three new coronavirus cases in hotel quarantine on Thursday, after more than 14,494 tests were processed across the state in the 24 hours to midnight. There are now a total of 27 active cases, all in hotel quarantine. The last active case of locally acquired COVID-19, acquired during the Black Rock outbreak, has dropped off health authorities list of current infections on Wednesday. Wednesdays two new cases in hotel quarantine were not linked to the Australian Open. COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said one Australian Open case was reclassified due to evidence of a previous infection, meaning there has been a total of eight positive cases related to the Open cohort. The reclassified case, a man in his 40s who is a non-player, has had no impact on close contacts from the three flights which had positive cases. Meanwhile, the first group of players and support staff who travelled to Victoria from overseas for the Open are set to be released from hotel quarantine on Thursday evening. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video Mr Andrews said they would be treated no different to anyone else going through the hotel quarantine system and would be released in the same way. Some will go to stay at private homes, others to private hotels, he said. He also said some hotels would convert from hotel quarantine premises to Australian Open tennis hotels. Loading Of course we thank everybody, regardless of what they do for a living, he said. Being in quarantine is not easy but its critically important to keep Victoria safe. The run of zero locally-acquired coronavirus cases in Victoria comes as Australias vaccine rollout plan is under a cloud after the European Union slapped export controls on COVID-19 vaccines produced within their territory. The controls, which effectively mean vaccine producers must ask for permission before shipping vials outside the region, will at the very least slow the distribution process for countries outside Europe. A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt did not answer specific questions about what the European decision means for Australias vaccine rollout. Australia has ordered 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is being manufactured in Belgium. The first shipment of at least 80,000 doses is due by the end of February. The country is also expecting 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to be imported into Australia from Europe as local manufacturing of that vaccine ramps up. On Monday, that number was revised down from the previously expected 3.8 million due to global supply issues. Mr Hunt remains confident Pfizer will still deliver the first lot of 80,000 vaccines at the end of February, a spokesman said. Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID A new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests that T cells try to fight SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a broad range of sites on the virusbeyond the key sites on the virus's spike protein. By attacking the virus from many angles, the body has the tools to potentially recognize different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The new research, published January 27, 2021 in Cell Report Medicine, is the most detailed analysis so far of which proteins on SARS-CoV-2 stimulate the strongest responses from the immune system's "helper" CD4+ T cells and "killer" CD8+ T cells. "We are now armed with the knowledge of which parts of the virus are recognized by the immune system," says LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci., who co-led the new study with LJI Instructor Alba Grifoni, Ph.D. Sette and Grifoni have led research into immune responses to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Their previous studies, co-led by members of the LJI Coronavirus Task Force, shows that people can have a wide range of responses to the virussome people have strong immune responses and do well. Others have disjointed immune responses and are more likely to end up in the hospital. As COVID-19 vaccines reach more people, LJI scientists are keeping an eye on how different people build immunity to SARS-CoV-2. They are also studying how T cells could combat different variants of SARS-CoV-2. This work takes advantage of the lab's expertise in predicting and studying T cell responses to viruses such as dengue and Zika. "This is even more important with COVID-19 because it is a global pandemic, so we need to account for immune responses in different populations," says Grifoni. The immune system is very flexible. By re-scrambling genetic material, it can make T cells that respond to a huge range of targets, or epitopes, on a pathogen. Some T cell responses will be stronger against some epitopes than others. Researchers call the targets that prompt a strong immune cells response "immunodominant." For the new study, the researchers examined T cells from 100 people who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. They then took a close look at the genetic sequence of the virus to separate the potential epitopes from the epitopes that these T cells would actually recognize. Their analysis revealed that not all parts of the virus induce the same strong immune response in everyone. In fact, T cells can recognize dozens of epitopes on SARS-CoV-2, and these immunodominant sites also change from person to person. On average, each study participant had the ability to recognize about 17 CD8+ T cells epitopes and 19 CD4+ T cell epitopes. This broad immune system response serves a few purposes. The new study shows that while the immune system often mounts a strong response against a particular site on the virus's "spike" protein called the receptor binding domain, this region is actually not as good at inducing a strong response from CD4+ helper T cells. Without a strong CD4+ T cell response, however, people may be slow to mount the kind of neutralizing immune response that quickly wipes out the virus. Luckily, the broad immune response comes in handy, and most people have immune cells that can recognize sites other than the receptor binding domain. Among the many epitopes they uncovered, the researchers identified several additional epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Grifoni says this is good news. By targeting many vulnerable sites on the spike protein, the immune system would still be able to fight infection, even if some sites on the virus change due to mutations. "The immune response is broad enough to compensate for that," Grifoni says. Since the announcement of the fast-spreading UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 (called SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01), the researchers have compared the mutated sites on that virus to the epitopes they found. Sette notes that the mutations described in the UK variant for the spike protein affect only 8% of the epitopes recognized by CD4+ T cells in this study, while 92% of the responses is conserved. Sette emphasized that the new study is the results of months of long hours and international collaboration between labs at LJI; the University of California, San Diego; and researcher's at Australia's Murdoch University. "This was a tremendous amount of work, and we were able to do it really fast because of our collaborations," he says. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak More information: Cell Report Medicine, DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm/2021/100202 Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Firefighters Union Sounds Alarm on Staffing Issues By Easton Sanders PADUCAH - The Paducah Professional Firefighters Union is speaking out about the urgent need for more firefighters.According to Union President Nathan Torian, the National Fire Protection Association recommends that the Paducah Fire Department have at least 69 firefighters. They currently have 58, and Torian says this is a problem."There's just so many things that we're tasked to do that we can't do like we're supposed to, or safely, due to the fact that we don't have enough people to cover everything," Torian said. "We have two apparatuses that are currently sitting unmanned. They've been unmanned for several years now due to the cuts that they started making in 2005. We've just never recovered."He said the situation is dangerous for the firefighters and the community, and he hopes the Paducah Board of Commissioners is taking the issue seriously."We're talking about a long term goal here. This can't happen overnight. The cost is too much, and we know that, but I'm begging for a plan to get us back to where we need to be," he said. "I'm wanting this commission to take it serious and stop putting us off like other commissions have in the past."Torian says he hopes to be able to bring the issue forward at a future city commission meeting. Until then, he has been reaching out to each commissioner and Mayor George Bray individually.In May, the board approved an order to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help hire three additional firefighters.Torian said the application was rejected because of the way it was written. He hopes to re-apply for the grant when it becomes available again, while also utilizing grant writing assistance available to the Fire Department through the International Association of Fire Fighters."We've got to do a better job at our grant writing," Torian said. "We've got to use those tools. Those tools are free to the city, and we have got to utilize all the tools in the shed to get the stuff that we need to have done here."Torian says they need the public's support. He encourages everyone to research the situation, generate conversation, and reach out to commissioners about the issue."It's going to be better for everyone in the long run. That's the whole thing, making the city the best it can be, and everybody's got to be involved to do that," he said. LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the disruption that COVID-19 has brought to homes and schools, Western Youth Services (WYS) announced the RESET Toolbox, a collection of resources and trainings to build resilience in children and teens. WYS collaborated with several organizations, most notably Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) to pool their knowledge base, relationships and resources into one online mental health toolbox. Visit the RESET Toolbox Meet the RESET Partners Everything in the RESET Toolbox is available at no-cost for residents of Orange County thanks to funding provided by the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA), Behavioral Health Services, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The RESET Toolbox was made for students K-12, caregivers, community members and teachers to address the negative effects of COVID-19 so that participants can build resilience and be emotionally equipped to succeed during and after the pandemic. Physical distancing and economic hardship have exponentially increased the mental health needs of children and teens in Orange County. Social isolation, toxic stress and racism are contributors to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and can lead to negative long-term health consequences. However, ACEs can be mitigated with early intervention. The RESET Toolbox is full of resources to minimize anxiety and build resilience in children and teens. "For almost 50 years, the focus at WYS is to help build resilience and change the trajectory of young lives. It's never been more important to provide children and families with the tools they need for emotional wellness and the ability to RESET," said CEO of WYS Dr. Lorry Leigh Belhumeur. "We always design our programs to meet the needs and circumstances of the communities we serve, so when we started to see the impact of COVID-19, we decided to build this digital bridge to support students, families and those who support them." The RESET Toolbox is a collaboration. The RESET partners, CHOC, OCDE, Child Guidance Center, Center for Online Learning, ReSolutionaries, The Tech Wizard, Tilly's Life Center and Western Youth Services, all contributed resilience-building trainings and resources. Highlights include: technology training for caregivers, Connectopedia: [YOUth] Networking Through the Network for middle school students, and social-emotional online training for teachers and middle/high school students. Plus, much more. These expert-made resources will help parents, educators, school/district administrators, and collaborative agencies learn how to help kids and teens cope with the social isolation and anxiety escalated by COVID-19. The RESET Toolbox is of no-cost to all residents of Orange County, California and available at resettoolbox.com. Media Contact: Donna Cravotta 914-663-5266 [email protected] SOURCE Western Youth Services Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 04:30:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Students are seen arriving at the school in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Jan. 26, 2021. Kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school will open as planned on Tuesday in nine of Slovenia's 12 regions, the prime minister's office confirmed to local media on Monday. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua) LJUBLJANA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Kindergartens and the first three grades of primary school reopened on Tuesday in nine of Slovenia's 12 regions with better epidemiological situation. Minister of Education, Science and Sport Simona Kustec said at a press conference that 53,306 children returned to schools on Tuesday and 74,630 to kindergartens, noting this is "the first sign of going back to normal." According to the minister, 366 primary schools and 327 kindergartens had been reopened in the nine regions, with 12,822 employees returning to schools in person and 12,844 to kindergartens. Kustec said schools and kindergartens had prepared well for the reopening, while calling for caution and observance of all restrictions. The latest development comes after almost three months of distance learning, despite the recent confirmation in Slovenia of the new variant of coronavirus first identified in the UK. On Monday, mass testing of teachers and other staff was organized nationwide, with a "very high" turnout and the number of positive persons "positively low," according to the minister. On Tuesday, Slovenia registered 1,652 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally to 159,812. Twenty-seven new deaths took the country's toll to 3,406, according to official figures. As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in many European countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines. Meanwhile, 236 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Jan. 26. Enditem A special syringe is needed to get six doses of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine, but there is a shortage of them The US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which is manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Germany's BioNTech, now considers each vial contains six doses compared to five previously. The difficulty in obtaining that sixth dose in practice means many countries are at loggerheads with Pfizer and facing a drop in supply. How many doses ? Until recently, each vial of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was considered to officially contain five doses. After being thawed, the contents of each vial are diluted with 1.8 ml of saline solution, creating a total of 2.25 ml of injectable solution. With each dose 0.3 ml, in theory there are just over seven doses. But theory and practice are different. Medical personnel are unable to measure so precisely the doses to get seven doses they can inject into people. But the found they couldwith the right equipmentreliably get six doses out of the vials. Both EU and US regulators now consider that the vials contain six doses and have authorised the use of the sixth dose. However the European Medicines Agency noted that this sixth dose depends on the availability of specific syringes. Doses not vials Pfizer has revised higher its production target for this year from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion. While part of that reflects plans to further increase output, it also reflects the effect of the label change on vials. Pfizer said its contracts specify the delivery of a certain number of vaccine doses and not vials. This means customers are now receiving fewer vials than they did before regulators approved the change. 'Niche' syringes But in order to obtain that sixth dose medical a special syringe is required with a low "dead space". The dead space is the amount of the product left in the syringe when the plunger is completely pushed down. To get the sixth dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine syringes with very low dead spaces are needed, but medical device manufacturer Becton Dickinson (BD) says there is a supply crunch for them. "Low dead space syringes are niche products and there has... traditionally been minimal market demand based on health care provider needs," a company spokesman said. Manufacturing capacity of these syringes is limited and it will take time to boost production. Many vaccination centres in France have not received low dead space syringes and are finding it difficult to obtain a sixth dose with regular syringes. If Pfizer delivers fewer vials "we'll vaccinate fewer people than planned" initially, warned Du Cote de la Science, a group of French doctors and researchers who have sought to influence the public debate in France about the pandemic. Governments on their guard Pfizer's decision sparked an outcry in Belgium. Retirement homes hoping to step up their vaccination campaign thanks to using the sixth dose in vials are now receiving fewer vials than initially promised, one director told AFP. Sweden's health authority has demanded an explanation from Pfizer, but has so far not frozen its payments. France's health ministry has launched an effort to acquire the necessary syringes and developed training materials to help medical personnel learn the method to obtain the sixth dose. The European Commission says it has already launched a joint supply initiative that should allow member states to buy the necessary syringes. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 AFP The has arrested co-promoter in a fresh linked to an alleged Rs 4,300 crore fraud at the PMC Bank in Maharashtra, official sources said on Wednesday. Kapoor, 63, was already in judicial custody after he was arrested by the central probe agency in March last year in connection with alleged financial irregularities and purported kick backs paid to him and his family members in lieu of certain loans provided by the to a number of high-profile borrowers. In the latest case, sources said, Kapoor was placed under arrest in jail as per provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). He was later produced before a special PMLA court that sent him to ED custody till January 30 in the second filed against him, they said. The latest case pertains to the alleged loan fraud in the PMC Bank where the ED raided the premises of the Viva Group promoted by Maharashtra MLA and Bahujan Vikas Agadhi (BVA) party chief Hitendra Thakur in the Vasai-Virar areas of Palghar district and Mumbai last week. The central agency filed a criminal case of money laundering in October, 2019 to probe alleged loan fraud in the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank, against Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), its promoters Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, his son Sarang Wadhawan, the bank's former chairman Waryam Singh and ex-managing director Joy Thomas. It took cognisance of a Mumbai Police economic offences wing FIR that charged them with causing "wrongful loss, prima facie to the tune of Rs 4,355 crore to PMC Bank and corresponding gains to themselves". The ED is probing the role of the Viva Group, Kapoor and the Wadhawans for allegedly "siphoning off" a Rs 200 crore loan sanctioned by the to a company called Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd. "This loan was siphoned by theWadhawans by showing it for fictitious purpose," it had said in a statement issued last week. "It was found that Wadhawans illegally and fraudulently transferred two commercial properties of Mack Star in Kaledonia building, Andheri East (Mumbai) valued at Rs 34.36 crore to Viva Holding, a company of Viva Group," the ED had claimed. For the transfer of these properties, it had said, two separate sale agreements were prepared on June 26, 2017 and the sale value for both the commercial properties was shown as Rs 34.36 crore. "In the sale agreements, the purchase amount was shown to be paid by 37 cheques by Viva Holding to Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd. Investigation has revealed that these cheques were never encashed in the account of Mack Star and Viva Holding never made payments for the purchase of the said property to Mack Star," the ED alleged. It said the Wadhawans had "illegally transferred" these properties to Viva Group in violation of the article of association of Mack Star. "Viva Holding never showed these properties in its balance sheets," it had said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. An Ocean County man who worked at Walmart for 14 years has filed suit against the chain, claiming he was fired last summer after complaining managers werent wearing masks or gloves in violation of state orders meant to stop the spread of coronavirus. John R. Stewart, 69, worked as an assistant sales manager in the Egg Harbor Township store until he was fired on Aug. 11, 2020, according to a suit filed Thursday in Superior Court of New Jersey. Stewart was hired in 2006 and says he was never disciplined until last year when he started complaining about his managers ignoring Gov. Phil Murphys executive order mandating masks in retail stores. Walmart always stayed open as an essential business, but its employees failed or otherwise refused to follow the states guidelines on many occasions, which were vital to protecting the public health, the lawsuit states. Stewart was horrified by the flagrant disregard and the resistance of his stores management (in not) following the states safety orders and not properly protecting its employees and the public, states the suit. As a conscientious employee, (Stewart) repeatedly blew the whistle to management regarding this issue, the suit states. He was terminated in retaliation for his complaints. Stewart believes his age was a determinative factor in Walmarts decision to terminate his employment, the suit states. As an older employee, he had very legitimate concerns regarding his managers lack of leadership regarding the COVID-19 safeguards, the suit states. The lawsuit accuses Walmart of violating New Jerseys conscientious employee protection act, the states discrimination laws and wrongful termination on the basis of age. He is seeking a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages. A spokesman for Walmart on Wednesday released the following statement: Weve put preventative measures in place in response to COVID-19 to help protect the health and safety of our customers and associates. We deny Mr. Stewarts allegations and will respond with the court as appropriate once we are served. The allegations against Walmart are similar to those contained in a lawsuit filed last summer in Bergen County. Ejonte A. Gilyard, 27, of Passaic, claims she was fired in retaliation for complaining the store was not practicing adequate social distancing guidelines. In a statement to NJ Advance Media at the time, a Walmart spokesman said the company takes allegations like this seriously and (does) not tolerate retaliation. We are looking into this and will respond with the court as appropriate. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Carl Pei, co-founder, OnePlus. (Source: Twitter) After parting ways with OnePlus last year, Carl Pei, the co-founder of the popular smartphone brand, has announced his new venture. He calls the brand Nothing, explaining that the concept behind the unusual name was that the company aims to create products that blend in with our lives invisibly. Nothings mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future, he said in a press release. We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use. When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing. The new project will be headquartered in London and has received initial seed investment from the likes of iPod inventor Tony Fadell; one of Twitchs founders Kevin Lin; Reddits head honcho Steve Huffman; and popular YouTuber Casey Neistat. Nothing will release its first products in the first half of this year. Speaking with The Verge, Pei declined to mention what the products would be, but confirmed they will spread across multiple categories with the big aim to build up a new ecosystem of hardware. Right now... the team is being built, so we want to focus on simpler categories, Pei told The Verge, but as our team gains capabilities and skills we want to start moving up. The ultimate vision of having everything connected in a seamless way, that can only happen when you have multiple categories of products that are connected. Pei also confirmed that Nothing plans to make money by selling hardware first and that software will be something for the future. He told the publication that good hardware and software is a sound business decision, but admitted that they had not, spent too much time thinking about the software portion of it. We rethought everything and came up with #Nothing. pic.twitter.com/VSz905Kgug Nothing (@nothingtech) January 27, 2021 Pei also stressed that Nothing is an independently owned company with its own R&D department and besides using contract manufacturers for components, it will not re-label products between brands. The main goal for all Nothings products was to disappear into the background. I kind of envision a grass field with people having a picnic and theres no screen, theres no laptop screen, theres no phone screen, theres no smartwatch screen, theres no billboard screen, Pei told the publication. Thats kind of the end state. Four juvenile girls have been arrested for reportedly stabbing a 15-year-old girl to death during a livestream at a Walmart branch in Louisiana on Sunday. Reports said that the fight may have started at a movie theater. The suspects were between ages 12 to 14. Meanwhile, the victim was reported to have died at a hospital shortly after being stabbed with a knife stolen from the store, according to a Crime Online report. Law enforcement officials said that there is a lot of evidence from social media as the deadly fight was reportedly livestreamed. Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Tony Mancuso said that their whole case unfolded before them through live Facebook and Instagram. "We have videos of everything that took place, and it's very disturbing, it truly is," Mancuso was quoted on a report. Footage of the stabbing was posted on Facebook and Instagram love. The video showed one girl aimed with what appeared to be a knife as the victim approached and lunged at her. Authorities later released a surveillance image of that girl, who was known to be one of the 13-year-olds, as they tried to track her down after the stabbing. "We just stabbed that b***h in her heart. We don't give a f**k," one of the girls was heard saying on the video, according to a Daily Mail report. Authorities have not yet confirmed who was driving the car as police initially named the 13-year-old wanted over the stabbing in a Facebook post when they were trying to track her down. Meanwhile, the other three girls' identity were not made public. The victim was not also named by the police. Police said on girl was arrested on a second-degree murder charge and three on charges accusing them as principals to second-degree murder. CPSO spokesperson Kayla Vincent said that the 13-years-old suspect remains in custody. Mancuso said that it really is heartbreaking that they have to come in and pick up the pieces as so many families are damaged. He added that this is not something they can police their way out of, saying that this do not feel like this is a police matter. Mancuso said that this is a parenting issue. Related story: Rep. Tony Cardenas Introduces Resolution Eliminating Juvenile Life Sentences Juvenile Arrests Juvenile arrest rate for murder was steady through 2018, while the rates for robbery and aggravated assault plummeted in the same year, according to a Juvenile Justice Statistics released in June 2020. In addition, juvenile arrest rates have also declined for property crimes in recent rates. Arrests for larceny-theft, burglary, and arson were at their lowest point since at least 2018. Meanwhile, the violent crime arrest rate for older juveniles, which were ages 15 to 16, was lower than the rates for young adults. However, the number of juvenile murder victims increase by 16 percent through 2017 and reached a six percent decline in the past year. With this, the number of juvenile murder victims in 2018 was nine percent above the 2013 low point and 55 percent below the 1993 peak. Related story: 12-Year-Old Denies Charge in Leila Fowler Murder Case, Brother Pleads Innocent Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Zhengzhou University have developed a powerful therapeutic platform that uses a modified virus for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. By using the virus in combination with other drugs, the treatment significantly extended survival in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. Viruses that can selectively infect and destroy cancer cells, known as oncolytic viruses, are a promising new class of therapeutics for cancer. Through various mechanisms, oncolytic viruses kill cancer cells and elicit strong anti-tumour immune responses. However, current oncolytic virotherapy is unable to produce a long-term cure in patients, and the treatment has to be delivered directly into the tumour - a route that is not feasible for deeply embedded tumours, or tumours that have spread around the body. The study, published today in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, describes a novel platform for the treatment of pancreatic cancer using an oncolytic Vaccinia virus that was modified to improve its safety, ability to spread within and between tumours and capacity to activate potent anti-tumour immune responses. The research was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Nature Sciences Foundation of China and National Key R&D Program of China. A re-engineered virus system The study built upon previous work by the team (Ferguson et al, 2019; Ahmed et al, 2020), which developed a modified Vaccinia virus through the deletion of two viral genes. By combining treatment with the modified virus and a clinically available drug (PI3K inhibitor) that prevented the destruction of the virus particles by the body's immune cells, the team created an effective treatment platform that was systemic (i.e. could travel through the body), specifically targeted pancreatic tumours and activated the immune system against the tumours in preclinical models. In this new study, to improve the efficacy of the treatment platform, the team re-engineered the virus by modifying its genetic code to contain an additional, altered copy of a protein that is crucial to the ability of the virus to spread within and between tumours. The team also armed the virus with a protein called IL-21, which improved the virus' ability to trigger an immune response against cancer. Professor Yaohe Wang, from Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, who led the study, said: "This platform provides a powerful therapeutic to target multiple aspects of pancreatic cancer simultaneously through a convenient administration approach (intravenous injection), significantly improving the prospects of disease eradication and prevention of recurrence in pancreatic cancer patients. This platform is also suitable for the treatment of other human tumour types." Following administration of the novel oncolytic Vaccinia virus (named VVL-21) in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer, the virus successfully remodelled the suppressive tumour microenvironment to trigger potent anti-tumour immune responses. Importantly, treatment with VVL-21 also sensitised tumours to treatment with a type of immunotherapy known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor. The combination of the three therapeutics - VVL-21, PI3K inhibitor and the immune checkpoint inhibitor - created a powerful systemic therapeutic platform that significantly extended survival in a number of different, complex preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. The deadliest of the common cancers Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common cancer in the UK; however, it has the lowest survival rate of all the common cancers, with less than 7% of patients surviving their cancer for five years or more. Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed in the late stages of its development when the cancer is advanced or has spread to other parts of the body, making treatment difficult. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone are relatively unsuccessful in treating pancreatic cancer and while surgery to remove the tumour offers the best chance of survival, more than 80% of patients ultimately die of the disease due to local recurrence and/or distant metastasis. While immunotherapeutics such as immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) have emerged as a promising new therapeutic approach, pancreatic cancer, in particular, is unresponsive to ICI monotherapy. The new virus developed in this study demonstrated a promising synergistic anti-tumour effect in combination with ICI immunotherapy. Following additional funding from the MRC, the team are now hoping to conduct the necessary steps required to take the viral treatment system forward into phase I clinical trials to determine its potential within the clinic. The current prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer has not improved for many decades and so we urgently require new treatments that can improve long-term survival. Our platform provides an exciting new mechanism of attacking the tumour in these patients and we are grateful that we have received further funding from the MRC to support this project through pre-clinical toxicity testing and virus manufacture in the hope that we can take this platform forward into phase I clinical trials within the next 3 years." Dr Louisa Chard Dunmall, Study Joint First Author and Senior Postdoctoral Researcher, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London Former Anglo Irish Bank executive Tom Browne claims if information had been disclosed in late 2007 about the Quinn group's holding in the bank he would not have taken out significant loans over which Anglo's successor is suing him. Mr Browne is being sued by the special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which took over Anglo, for debts, including more than 12m on an investment property in Bishopsgate, Victoria, London, which it is claimed he owes. Mr Browne is counter-claiming and alleges, among other things, that the non-disclosure of the Quinn involvement was fraudulent misrepresentation through silence. He says he is entitled to rescission of the loans and they are invalid by reason of that misrepresentation. At the Commercial Court on Wednesday, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore began hearing Mr Browne's counter-claim against IBRC. IBRC denies his counter-claim and has been seeking judgment against him since 2010 but the case has had to be deferred because of criminal trials involving a number of other former Anglo executives. In opening the counter-claim, John Rogers SC, for Mr Browne, said his client was at one point a contender for Anglo chief executive but says he decided to leave when passed over in favour of later jailed CEO David Drumm. He had effectively left the bank in September 2007 although it was agreed with Mr Drumm and chairman Sean Fitzpatrick, who has also since been tried and acquitted in a criminal trial over Anglo, that no announcement would be made until December, counsel said. Between September and December 2007, senior Anglo executives knew of the unlawful loans of some 650m made to the Quinn Group including for the purpose of funding what was Quinn's more than 25pc de facto holding in Anglo through an investment arrangement known as Contracts for Difference (CfDs), Mr Browne says. Turmoil in the stock market, culminating in the eventual collapse of Anglo's shares and its subsequent nationalisation had led to Anglo seeking to get Quinn boss Sean Quinn to reduce the group's holding in the bank which under regulation could be no higher than 25 per cent. Mr Browne says that even though Anglo had always sought security from Quinns for the groups aggressive worldwide property acquisition between 2001 and 2007, it did not seek it when it provided loans to fund the Quinn CfD arrangement which required the group to make payments every time the Anglo share price fell. Mr Browne says it was subsequent to September 2007 that he entered into loan arrangements for various investments using his shares in Anglo as security and which he had no reason to believe were in imminent danger of collapse, something which subsequently happened. In lending money to him, Anglo noted he had a net worth at the time of some 60m. The primary acts of wrongdoing on Anglo's side, in relation to the Quinn group and in relation to Anglo's funding of unsecured loans by another 10 investors, known as the Maple 10, to help shore up the share price, pre-dated when Mr Browne exercised his options, amounting to almost one million shares, and relied on them as security on loans. If that information had been made public at the time, they would have rendered Anglo shares worthless, he says. Had he been aware of these matters, he would not have engaged in any further borrowings with Anglo or any other institution. Mr Browne says the information in relation to the Quinns was known by Mr Fitzpatrick and Mr Drumm who held meetings at that time with Sean Quinn over his shareholding, but that was not known to stockholders such as he was at that time, and no longer part of Anglo. He says he made sound decisions to borrow for investment based on his share options, and their value. In 2010, after Anglo was nationalised, he was served with a demand for repayment of the Bishopsgate loan. Even though this borrowing was being served, he says it was called in by reason of a "cross default mechanism" which entitled the bank to move in relation to his loans. Failure to repay gave rise to the proceedings in 2010 seeking judgment against him. The case continues. The government on Wednesday appointed Swaminathan Janakiraman and Ashwini Kumar Tewari as managing directors (DMDs) of State Bank of India (SBI) for the next three years. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the department of financial services' (DFS) proposals to appoint Janakiraman and Tewari as the deputy managing directors, a government statement said on Wednesday. Their appointment was approved by the bank's Board Bureau in October 2020. Both of them are currently working with SBI. While Janakiraman is working as the deputy managing director (finance), Tewari is serving as SBI Card MD and CEO. Tewari replaced Hardayal Prasad as the MD and CEO from August 1, 2020. He joined the bank in 1993 and holds a BE degree in electrical and electronics from BITS Ranchi. Notably, SBI chairman, who holds top position in the state-owned bank, is assisted by four MDs. The ACC had also appointed Ashwani Bhatia as SBI MD in August last year. He succeeded PK Gupta who superannuated on March 31. Bhatia was also a longstanding employee of the State Bank group, holding various positions across various arms of the organisation during his 34-year-long stint with the bank. Also read: Ashwani Bhatia appointed as SBI Managing Director Also read: SBI Cards CEO resigns, Ashwini Tiwari to take charge in August Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print. Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 01:39:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A worker assists a woman in entering The Royal London Hospital in London, Britain, on Jan. 26, 2021. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain has surpassed 100,000 after another 1,631 have been confirmed, according to official figures released Tuesday. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 100,162, the data showed. (Xinhua/Han Yan) LONDON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of people who died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test in Britain has surpassed 100,000 after another 1,631 have been confirmed, according to official figures released Tuesday. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 100,162, the data showed. Britain is the first European nation and the fifth country in the world to pass the grim landmark of 100,000 deaths, following the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico. Another 20,089 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,689,746, according to official figures. Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, described it as a "sobering moment in the pandemic". "These are not just numbers. Each death is a person who was someone's family member and friend," she said. "This virus has sadly taken millions of lives across the world, but we have learnt a lot about this coronavirus over the past year," she said. "The best way to slow the spread is to follow the rules and right now that means staying at home." In response, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday at a virtual press conference that "I'm sorry to have to tell you that today the number of deaths recorded from COVID in the UK has surpassed 100,000." "It's hard to compute the sorrow contained in that grim statistic: The years of life lost, the family gatherings not attended and for so many relatives the missed chance to even say goodbye," he said. The prime minister said that he offered "the deepest condolence" to those who have lost their loved ones. For his part, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government's measure for the coronavirus death toll having passed the grim landmark is "heart-breaking" and warned there is still "a tough period ahead". "My thoughts are with each and every person who has lost a loved one -- behind these heart-breaking figures are friends, families and neighbours," he said in a statement. "I know how hard the last year has been, but I also know how strong the British public's determination is and how much we have all pulled together to get through this," the statement said. Meanwhile, opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer said that the British government's measure of the coronavirus-related death toll passing 100,000 is a "national tragedy". In a statement, Starmer said, "This is a national tragedy and a terrible reminder of all that we have lost as a country." "We must never become numb to these numbers or treat them as just statistics. Eery death is a loved one, a friend, a neighbour, a partner or a colleague," he said. "It is an empty chair at the dinner table." Britons may have to forgo foreign holidays until 2022 as ministers prepare to impose tough new travel restrictions, a minister said on Tuesday. Professor David Spiegelhalter, a statistician at University of Cambridge, said the British government's dashboard only counted people who died within 28 days of a positive test. "The more accurate ONS (the British Office for National Statistics) data show that over 100,000 people in the UK had already died with COVID on their death certificate by Jan. 7, nearly three weeks ago," he said. "This rose to 108,000 by Jan. 15, and the total now will be nearly 120,000." England is currently under the third national lockdown since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. Similar restriction measures are also in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines. Enditem Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, holds up a "Stop the Steal" mask while speaking with fellow first-term Republican members of Congress on the steps of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 4, 2021. SAUL LOEB/Getty Images GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is under renewed scrutiny for spreading a host of conspiracy theories. Greene has spread multiple baseless theories about mass shootings, prompting backlash from victims. CNN reported this week that the freshman congresswoman endorsed executing Democratic leaders. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a newly-elected far-right Georgia Republican, is under renewed scrutiny for spreading a host of conspiracy theories, including baseless claims about deadly mass shootings. On Wednesday, a 2017 video of Greene spreading yet another of these false theories began making the rounds on social media. Just days after a lone gunman shot and killed 58 people at a Las Vegas music festival in October 2017, Greene suggested the Vegas shooting was orchestrated by gun control activists in an effort to promote gun regulations. "Hey, friends. I've got a question for you. How do you get avid gun owners and people that support the Second Amendment to give up their guns and go along with anti-gun legislation?" Greene said in the video, apparently filmed in a car. "Are they trying to terrorize our mindset and change our minds on the Second Amendment?" She added of the gunman, "I don't believe Stephen Paddock was a lone wolf. I don't believe that he pulled this off all by himself, and I know most of you don't, either." In a Facebook post a few months later, Greene accused the FBI of lying to the American public about the shooting, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in 2019. Greene has since somewhat distanced herself from that particular conspiracy theory, telling AJC in a statement that she was "satisfied with the results of the investigation, and that they did not show a second shooter, accomplice, or even a motive." But the congresswoman, who's made her opposition to gun laws central to her politics, has promoted a slew of false claims about mass shootings in the US. Last week, the progressive media watchdog group Media Matters revealed that Greene "liked" a Facebook post calling the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school a "false flag planned shooting" and that a school security guard was paid to let the gunman carry out the attack. Story continues Fred Guttenberg, the father of a student killed in the Parkland shooting, on Wednesday shared a video of Greene aggressively questioning then-student David Hogg about his advocacy for gun laws just weeks after he survived the deadly shooting at his school. Greene called Hogg, then a teenager, a "coward" as she followed him around Capitol Hill, and on social media described him as "#littleHitler" and a "bought and paid little pawn." This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. A spokesman for Greene didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. CNN reported this week that the freshman congresswoman endorsed executing Democratic leaders and FBI agents in multiple Facebook posts in 2018 and 2019. In response to CNN's reporting, Greene accused the outlet of attacking her for political reasons and suggested that her staffers may have the Facebook posts. Replying to a follower who asking if "we get to hang" former President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Greene wrote in 2018, "Stage is being set. Players are being put in place. We must be patient. This must be done perfectly or liberal judges would let them off." Clinton tweeted on Wednesday that Greene "should be on a watch list. Not in Congress." A spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Axios on Tuesday that the GOP leader would have "a conversation" with the congresswoman about her "disturbing" Facebook posts. Greene's apparent endorsement of violence -- and repeated demand that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi be tried for treason and given the death penalty -- has drawn new attention in the aftermath of the pro-Trump Capitol siege. In anticipation of the protest of the certification of the election on January 6, Greene called the day Republicans' "1776 moment." Even after the deadly insurrection, Greene insisted that Trump would serve a second term as president. Read the original article on Business Insider Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A new machine learning algorithm based on mammograms can estimate the risk of breast cancer in women more accurately than current risk models, according to a study from Adam Yala and colleagues. The algorithm, which was tested with datasets from three large hospitals located worldwide, could help clinicians design guidelines for breast cancer screening that meet the need for early detection while reducing false-positives, test costs, and other issues associated with overscreening. Mammograms are the most common method to screen for breast cancer, as more than 39 million procedures are performed in the U.S. annually. However, their widespread adoption has not gone without controversy. Critics charge that aggressive screening results in untenable medical costs, higher anxiety in patients, and a substantial rate of false positives. On the other hand, supporters of frequent testing argue it is necessary to detect tumors as early as possible, and the disagreement has led to inconsistent guidelines for when screening should start and how frequent it should be. Yala et al. theorized that improving the accuracy of the risk models that inform guidelines could lead to better recommendations. They designed and trained a new model named Mirai, which integrates data from mammograms to produce consistent breast cancer risk assessments at multiple time points, such as within 1 year or 5 years. When independently tested with data from 106,615 patients from three hospitals, located in the U.S., Sweden, and Taiwan, Mirai identified 41.5% of patients who would develop cancer within 5 years. In contrast, current approaches such as the Tyrer-Cuzick and Hybrid Deep Learning models only identified 22.9% and 36.1% of patients, respectively. Mirai was also effective across various races and ethnicities, supporting its potential to inform screening guidelines for large and diverse populations. ### Logan, WV (25601) Today Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Rain, heavy at times early, diminishing to a few showers by morning. Thunder possible. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. The states epidemiologist has warned Connecticut school administrators of the potential threat of a COVID variant that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects to be the dominant strain here by March. During a weekly call with school superintendents, state Epidemiologist Dr. Matt Cartter gave an update on the variants, Department of Public Health spokeswoman Maura Fitzgerald said. He included in his comments actions that other countries have taken as a result of the transmission of the variant, and shared that these were among the responses that might be entertained in the U.S. if the U.K. or other variant were to become the predominant strain, Fitzgerald said. The U.K. has closed schools to most students in response to soaring infection rates. Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated Wednesday schools might reopen in early March, the Associated Press reported. In his comments during the call, Cartter also noted the CDC expects the variant to become the predominant virus in the U.S. by March, Fitzgerald said. He did not advise that people in Connecticut prepare for a shutdown here or make any assertions about what impact there may or may not be here in Connecticut. In a letter sent to faculty and families Wednesday, Ridgefield Superintendent Susie Da Silva said state health officials warned of the new variant during the call. "The Connecticut Department of Public Health has informed school districts to be prepared for the possibility of full remote learning in March due to the potential of a more infectious variant of the virus becoming prevalent in Connecticut, Da Silva wrote to the Ridgefield school community. Patrice McCarthy, deputy director and general counsel for Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, was among those who was on the call and said she interpreted the message to mean schools could go remote on a regional basis rather than statewide like what happened last sping. I think superintendents, board members everyone recognizes that they need continue to be flexible based on medical and scientific advice, McCarthy said. As important as it is to keep students in school, were not going to do that if its unhealthy. As confirmed cases of a COVID-19 mutation increase in Connecticut, health experts say the basic precautions of wearing a mask and social distancing are the best defense against the highly contagious strain. Until we get the entire population vaccinated, we have to stay safe, said Dr. Zane Saul, Bridgeport Hospitals chief of infectious disease. We anticipate these strains are going to show up, and we need to keep up best practices everywhere. Connecticut health officials reported on Wednesday there were 2,440 new COVID infections found in 55,474 new tests for a one-day positivity rate of 4.4 percent. There were also 52 fewer hospitalizations, dropping the statewide total to 1,016. But dozens of new deaths were also reported, with 42 more fatalities attributed to the virus, bringing the states death toll to 6,976. Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that there had been four more cases of the highly contagious United Kingdom variant detected in Connecticut, bringing the states total to at least eight. The announcement came a few days after Johnson held a press conference where his chief scientific adviser said the variant is not only more contagious than the original, but potentially more deadly. During that event, Sir Patrick Vallance, the scientific officer, said the previous COVID death rate among people in their 60s was 10 deaths for every 1,000 people who tested positive. But, he said, there has been evidence the death rate among that age group has increased to 13 to 14 deaths for every 1,000 since the new variant has been discovered. However, Vallance cautioned, it remains unknown if the new variant is causing the increased death rate. He said the evidence is not yet strong. Even if the virus doesnt prove to be more deadly, its still between 30 and 70 percent more contagious and thats reason for concern, experts said. Its very likely that the U.K. strain is going to end up being the dominant strain in the United States, based on how infectious it is, said Dr. Fred Browne, vice president of medical affairs and an infectious disease physician at Griffin Hospital. Keith Grant, senior system director of infection prevention at Hartford Healthcare, agreed that the U.K. variant is a serious threat to worsen the pandemic. There also appears to be more COVID variants that are rapidly spreading, including those centered in California and South Africa. We do expect to see these variances across the globe, Grant said. I do think were going to keep seeing these mutations overall. The California variant has been a particular concern, as it might have contributed to a recent surge in cases across the southern region of that state. According to research released earlier this month by Cedars-Sinai, the variant has been found in more than one-third of COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles. The researcher were unable to confirm whether this new strain is deadlier than other forms of COVID. There also have been variants detected elsewhere, including South Africa and Brazil. Grant said the major concern about the variants is that they are more contagious than the original COVID-19. If there is a variant that turns out to be vaccine resistant or deadlier than the original, that would heighten the concern even more, he said. The best course of action for now is to remain vigilant, he said. They just make sure theyre doing the same things they had been doing where protection is concerned, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:07:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JAKARTA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Mount Merapi spewed hot clouds 36 times streaming down up to 3,000 meters from the crater on Wednesday from about midnight to 2 p.m. local time, said the Geological Disaster Technology Research and Development Center. The center's head Hanik Humaira said the hot clouds were heading southwest towards the upper reaches of the Krasak and Boyong rivers. "Mount Merapi has entered an effusive eruption phase since Jan. 4, 2020, or we call it the Merapi Type, an eruption with the growth of a lava dome accompanied by lava avalanches and hot clouds," Humaira said. As a result, volcanic ash rains with a thin intensity flushed several villages in Boyolali district and Boyolali city, Central Java province. Humaira called on residents not to be in the disaster-prone area III, which is within a radius of 5 km from the summit. Humaira also asked residents to wear glasses and masks, so that the volcanic ash would not be inhaled, besides covering their water reservoirs. Enditem The Top Employers Institute has published a list of the global top employers to work for in 2021. Businesses on this list include a number of companies in South Africa, many of which operate in the telecommunications, IT, and electronics industries. The Top Employers Institute noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the industries it assesses over the past year. In addition to the adverse impacts on global health systems and economies, businesses faced the significant hurdle of supporting their people in adapting to new ways of work, said Top Employers Institute CEO David Plink. In our research, we were glad to see that Top Employers put their employees first from the outset of the global health crisis. They responded and adapted quickly to the ever-changing situation. Despite the challenge of COVID-19, Plink said that companies were held to the same high standards that awarded them their position on the list of top global employers. Top ICT employers in South Africa The top employers list is based on the people practices of participating companies through the independently audited and fact-based HR survey, which covers six domains and 20 subtopics across the entire HR spectrum. The companies are evaluated across a number of key areas, including learning and development, performance management, leadership development, career and succession management, compensation and benefits, and company culture. Below are the top employers in South Africa for 2021 in the IT, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Company Industry Cell C Telecommunications CSIR Various IT fields Dark Fibre Africa Telecommunications Dimension Data IT and Telecommunications HCL Technologies IT Huawei Engineering, IT and Telecommunications Jasco Electronics Electronics and IT Microsoft South Africa IT Orange Business Services IT and Telecommunications Samsung Electronics South Africa Electronics SAP South Africa IT SAS Institute IT Tata Consultancy Services IT Vodacom Telecommunications Strong growth for IT jobs in South Africa While COVID-19 has had a significant effect on the South African job market, demand continues to grow for IT and technology-related skills. The latest CareerJunction Index (CJI) report revealed that data analysts and data warehousing are the two fastest-growing fields in South Africa with a strong demand for these skills. The CJI report is based on data gathered from the CareerJunction website and monitors the labour market in South Africa by examining supply and demand trends. The most hiring activity took place in the IT sector last year, with the business, management, and finance sectors also performing well. CareerJunction MD Paul Byrne said there has been an upsurge in some jobs during lockdown, including business analysts, data analysts, and data warehousing. He said there are many roles within IT which have been growing year-on-year, which is a very positive sign for the local economy. Byrne said these demand trends are not surprising considering where the economy has been going over the last year. He added that a different skillset is required to perform well in the new remote working environment, which will drive requirements from companies in future. Fields which are expected to continue showing growth in the future include IT, business management, sales, finance, and manufacturing. Now read: New ecommerce stats reveal how the lockdown changed online shopping in South Africa Tractor Rally turns violent, mars Republic Day spirit The tractor rally led by farmer unions on the outskirts of Delhi went berserk today with participants breaking police barricades and entering the Red Fort, in a sign of defiance of authority, despite agreeing to the 36 conditions set by Delhi Police for allowing the farmers to take out their tractor rally. The tractor rally turned violent as protesters broke barricades, clashed with Delhi Police, held the streets to ransom and hoisted their flag atop the Red Fort by deviating from the designated route Police removed protesters from Red Fort. Police used tear gas at Delhi's Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi to bring the groups under control. Clashes were also reported at ITO, Akshardham as well. Violence continued at ITO in central Delhi, tractors being driven by protestors deliberately try to run over police personnel. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the Bharatiya Kisan Union said that anti-social elements infiltrated farmers peaceful movement and dissociated themselves from the violence. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh and the Aam Aadmi Party condemned the violence. Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh took to Twitter to express shock over the violence in Delhi. "Shocking scenes in Delhi. The violence by some elements is unacceptable. It'll negate goodwill generated by peacefully protesting farmers. Kisan leaders have disassociated themselves & suspended #TractorRally. I urge all genuine farmers to vacate Delhi & return to borders," he posted. "We condemn the violence that was seen in Delhi. It is regrettable that the Centre allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent. The movement has been peaceful for the last two months. Farmer leaders have said those who indulged in violence were 'external elements'," the Aam Aadmi Party said. The MHA suspended internet services in several areas of Delhi to avoid rumour mongering on the social network and home minister Amit Shah is taking stock of the situation that marred the spirit of the Republic Day. The tractor rally was scheduled to start after the celebrations of Republic Day in the Delhi. But protestors at Singhu Border broke the barricades in the morning, demanding to start the protest early before the agreed time. Special Commissioner of Police (CP), Intelligence in Delhi Police, Dependra Pathak had, on Sunday, said, "The tractor rally will enter Delhi from Tikri, Singhu, and Ghazipur borders and return to its originating points. From Singhu, it will pass through Kanjhawala, Bawana, Auchandi border, KMP Expressway, and then return to Singhu." But, protestors claiming to be farmers at both Singhu and Tikri border broke the barricades and entered the national capital with their march. They also took the route that was not suggested by the Delhi Police. Farmers taking out the rally uniformly started leaving space for emergency services as instructed by delhi Police. The tractors were also decorated with national flag as the march began from Singhu border and stopped at the Kharoda Toll Plaza. The protestors who were sitting at the Kharoda Toll Plaza Aichandi Border demanded to enter Red Fort in national capital. "Wahh Guru ji ki khalsa wah guruji ki fateh. We are requesting the police to enter the national capital to Red Fort. we will sit here till they allow us and repeal the Act," said the protestors. Security personnel tried to convince the farmers that they have been given permission to hold their tractor parade in Delhi after the Republic Day parade at the Rajpath concludes. But the protestors remained adamant, broke barricades to march towards the Red Fort, forcing the police to take coercive action. A member of the Sankyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 unions, leading the protest against the three central farm laws at several border points of Delhi, said those who broke the barricades belonged to the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee. Releasing a statement on the violence spiralling on the Delhi streets, The Samyukta Kisan Morcha said in a release that anti-social elements infiltrated farmers peaceful movement. "We thank farmers for the unprecedented participation in today's Farmers Republic Day Parade. We also condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that have taken place today and dissociate ourselves from those indulging in such acts. Despite all our efforts, some organisations and individuals have violated the route and indulged in condemnable acts. Anti-social elements had infiltrated the otherwise peaceful movement. We have always held that peace is our biggest strength, and that any violation would hurt the movement, the statement read. The Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee had on Monday announced that they would hold their march on Delhi's busy Outer Ring Road on Republic Day. The protesting unions has also announced a foot march to Parliament on 1 February, when the annual Budget is presented, to press for their demands including a repeal of the three new agriculture laws. Communal hatred is being used in Andhra to divert peoples attention away from the unprecedented welfare schemes of the YSRC government With the Jagan Mohan Reddy governments focus fixed on development and the states welfare, there is no political space for the Opposition. (DC file photo) Miscreants associated with Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh are vandalising and desecrating temples to destabilise the democratically-elected YSRC government led by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as they feel religious sentiments can be exploited to create a communal flareup. Bizarrely, some of them, after instigating/condoning such attacks for political gain, accuse the YSRC of being responsible. Why would any government or ruling party attack temples or idols? How would it benefit to hurt the sentiments of a majority of people? With the Jagan Mohan Reddy governments focus fixed on development and the states welfare, there is no political space for the Opposition. The CM has likened such attacks on religious sites as political guerrilla warfare. The Opposition must understand that in the minds and hearts of Andhras people, the CM doesnt belong to a particular religion but is a leader of all sections. India is a religious society. Religion plays a key role in the lives of most Indians. It is an indispensable and foundational part of our society. Faith underlies our ceremonies, festivals, even harvest celebrations. The Constitution explicitly recognises this, and provides for a country based on secularism, with tolerance and respect for all religions. Andhra Pradesh has seen a spate of temple desecrations of late. These cowardly attacks need to be tackled firmly by the State, creating a strong deterrent. While the law will take its course and the CM has given assurances, it is important to gauge the action, attitude and role of the Opposition. While the state government has stuck to its constitutional obligation and is rolling out welfare schemes without discrimination, the Opposition led by former CM N. Chandrababu Naidu is politicising these unfortunate events to incite communal feelings. Mr Naidus desperate actions shows he realises the massive erosion of his political capital and support. He has resorted to such dirty communal politics as his development/welfare activities as CM dont compare with what young Jagan Mohan Reddy has achieved in less than two years. The Oppositions role is to criticise and correct the government in areas that positively affect people. The Oppositions criticism should force a government to take more steps towards effective governance. But the TDP-led Opposition in Andhra arent playing this role and are instead damaging the states social fabric by stoking religious sentiments. Mr Naidus actions are a great disservice to the nation at large and setting a wrong precedent to other regional parties to turn communal as their last option to remain politically relevant. The Supreme Court, way back in 1994, warned of the perils of inciting religious feelings in the landmark nine-judge bench ruling in S.R. Bommai versus Union of India, where it said: In a secular democracy like ours, mingling of religion with politics is unconstitutional. Its implication was clear -- communal politics are a flagrant breach of our Constitution and of the secular democratic ethos. It is imperative that religion and caste arent brought into politics by any party, association or individual. Communal hatred is being used in Andhra to divert peoples attention away from the unprecedented welfare schemes of the YSRC government. Recently, the CM flagged off the distribution of 30 lakh housing sites, an initiative to help every citizen fulfil their dream of owning a site and house. The Opposition couldnt digest such progress. This had led the Opposition parties to resort to communal politics to play spoilsport. Note the factual irony of the Opposition protests on the issue. Data on attacks on temples in AP shows that in 2020, 228 cases of attacks on temples were registered, compared to 305 cases in 2019, 267 (2018), 318 (2017), 332 (2016) and 290 cases in 2015. The attacks on temples under the YSR Congress government has actually reduced. It also shows clearly that the issue had more potential to be communalised when Mr Naidu was in power. As the principal Opposition party then, we could have done the same thing, but didnt. Ever since Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power in May 2019, communal politics have been used to target his government, despite his repeated assertion that humanity is his faith. Mr Naidu is playing religious politics with an ulterior motive of undermining the YSRCP government and polarising votes on religious lines. During the TDP government, Mr Naidu demolished many temples on Vijayawadas Krishna riverfront, razing them to the ground with bulldozers in the name of Pushkarams. He vandalised the famous thousand-pillar mandapam in Tirumala, even sold the lands of Sadhavarti, performed tantric rituals in the Kanaka Durga temple. A pink diamond went missing during his rule, which was later sold for `500 crores in a Sothbeys auction in Geneva. Andhra Pradesh DGP D. Gautam Sawang has issued an alert across the state, asking all police officials to increase vigilance at temple sites. CCTV surveillance at all places of worship are being ramped up to monitor all movement at shrines. Over 2,600 temples across Andhra have been mapped for installation of CCTV cameras. Finally, its pertinent to note most attacks have taken place in temples run by TDP leaders. For instance, the temple with the Ramatheertham idol was headed by former TDP MP Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who has now been removed from his post by the state government. Despite the Oppositions communal politics, the state governments conscience is clear. We will strive for development, irrespective of caste, creed, race, religion or gender, keeping in mind the principles enshrined in our secular Constitution and strive to make Andhra Pradesh Indias number one state. HCM City and 13 cities and provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta will step up efforts to foster tourism cooperation in the next five years, local authorities have said. Visitors at Tram Chim National Park in Dong Thap Province. VNA/VNS Photo Chuong Dai The tourism cooperation programme between HCM City and the Mekong Delta signed last year outlined collaboration in five areas: State management in tourism, development of new products, marketing and promotion activities, training of human resources, and investment in tourism. The cooperation had resulted in the forming of a regional tourism brand for HCM City and the Mekong Delta, said Phan Thi Thang, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City Peoples Committee. Marketing and communications activities were needed to promote the regional tourism brand and new inter-regional travel products, Thang said at a meeting held in Dong Thap Province last week. As international travel had been disrupted due to the pandemic, she said it was vital to boost domestic travel to make up for some of the shortfall in tourism revenue. Domestic travel, which accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the total number of visitors to HCM City in 2019, remains the main source market of Mekong Delta tourism. The tourism industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, with a sharp plummet in tourist arrivals and tourism revenue. The number of tourist arrivals to HCM City dropped by 66.6 per cent to more than 17 million, including 1.3 million international tourists, a year-on-year decline of 84.8 per cent. Tourism revenue in HCM City was estimated at VND84.5 trillion (US$3.65 billion) last year, a year-on-year decrease of 39.6 per cent. The Mekong Delta saw a 38 per cent decrease in the number of visitors and a 48 per cent fall in tourism revenue last year. Small- and medium-sized enterprises, which account for 98 per cent of businesses in the tourism industry, have been dramatically affected by the pandemic, with many of them temporarily shutting down or shifting to other businesses. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, deputy head of the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, said the initiative to form tourism cooperation and linkages between HCM City and 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta would create opportunities for enterprises in the tourism industry to develop. The initiative would also help realise the tourism potential of each locality and boost investment in tourism, she said. Under the agreement, three new inter-regional travel products and 50 stimulus travel tours with discounted prices have been launched from HCM City to localities in the Mekong Delta. VNS HCM City, Mekong Delta stimulating tourism A programme to boost tourism in HCM City and the Mekong Delta kicked off in Can Tho city on July 3. WASHINGTON - The District and other local governments in the Washington region tweaked their plans Wednesday to vaccinate seniors, people with high-risk conditions, teachers and other essential workers as residents scramble to find scarce doses of the vaccine. In response to complaints from frustrated seniors and D.C. lawmakers, the city announced technical changes to its online process for scheduling vaccine appointments. Six members of the D.C. Council this week asked that the city replace a first-come, first-serve system with a waiting list for seniors. Residents must log on to a website or call a hotline at 9 a.m. Thursday or Friday to claim one of the day's available vaccine appointments, which are often snapped up within well under an hour. The health department said it won't overhaul its system, but the agency announced Wednesday that it has altered it in ways meant to make it easier to use. The changes will remove fully booked sites from a menu of options, allow printing of appointment confirmation for those without email addresses, and streamline the process to prevent people from wasting time navigating the site and inadvertently losing appointments. City officials said they upgraded the infrastructure to handle more volume and increased the number of call takers for booking by phone from 50 to 200. The greater Washington region has reported a total of 870,977 known cases of covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 7,331 new coronavirus infections Wednesday. And 14,119 people have died of the virus. In Richmond, Va., Democratic Mayor Levar Stoney said Wednesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus after the onset of mild symptoms Monday. He is working from home, and people he came into contact with are quarantining and taking necessary precautions, according to his office. The mayor of Virginia's capital city said more than 12,000 Richmonders have been infected by the coronavirus, which continues to ravage the nation as more people are vaccinated each day and pharmacies work to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff. "As my personal experience should tell you, while there is reason to be hopeful due to the distribution of the vaccine, this pandemic is still far from over and must be taken seriously," Stoney said. At least 912,000 first doses of the vaccine have been administered in the District, Maryland and Virginia. As of Wednesday, Maryland had administered 363,282 first doses while distributing 852,625 total doses of the vaccine. In Virginia as of Tuesday, 497,581 first doses had been administered of the 1.1 million the state has distributed. As of Saturday, the District had administered 51,421 of the 68,750 doses it received. CVS and Walgreens, which have federal contracts to vaccinate residents and staff at nursing homes, are nearly finished giving first doses at clinics in residential facilities. However, advocates are pushing health officials in Maryland to come up with a vaccination plan for seniors in independent-living facilities, who were not included in the federal vaccination program. "Independent living has fallen through the cracks," said Joseph DeMattos, president of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland. But those in independent living face many of the same challenges in getting appointments, said Brenda Rice, vice president of operations at Charles E. Smith Life Communities in Rockville, including lack of tech savvy and transportation. Some were able to get vaccinated in Prince George's County, she said, but that is no longer an option, as county officials announced this week they are canceling appointments for those who do not live or work in Prince George's. Elsewhere in Maryland, Anne Arundel County is lifting restrictions on restaurants, stores and churches, allowing them to operate at 50% capacity. Movie theaters, which had been closed, will open at 25%. The new policies take effect Friday. - - - The Washington Post's Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York are urging Britons to join in a daily 'prayer for the nation' following the 'terrible milestone' of more than 100,000 Covid-19 deaths. In an open letter to the country, the Most Rev Justin Welby and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell invited people to 'reflect on the enormity of this pandemic'. Mr Welby and Mr Cottrell called on people, regardless of whether they have faith or not, to join in a daily prayer at 6pm every day from February 1. They wrote: 'One hundred thousand isn't just an abstract figure. Each number is a person: someone we loved and someone who loved us. 'We also believe that each of these people was known to God and cherished by God.' The archbishops' message comes as the Government's figure for coronavirus deaths passed 100,000 although separate data published by statistics agencies puts the toll at 115,000. In an open letter to the country, the Most Rev Justin Welby (pictured) and the Most Rev Stephen Cottrell invited people to 'reflect on the enormity of this pandemic' The Church of England published the prayer for those who mourn on Twitter Their letter acknowledges the fear that people may be feeling and that poorer communities, minority ethnic communities and those with disabilities have been 'disproportionately' affected by the pandemic and 'cry out for the healing of these inequalities'. Urging people to follow government guidelines and advice, the archbishops added: 'We show our commitment, care and love for one another by ensuring we do everything we can to stop the virus spreading.' Their letter continued: 'None of this is easy. Very many of us are experiencing isolation, loneliness, anxiety and despondency like never before. Many people have lost their livelihoods. Our economy struggles. 'Also, the necessary restrictions we live with have also prevented us from being alongside loved ones as they died, or even at their graveside. All grief profoundly affects us, but this pandemic grief is so hard. 'Therefore, we need to support each other. We do this by following the guidelines. But we also do it by reaching out to each other with care and kindness. 'One thing we can all do is pray. We hope it is some consolation to know that the church prays for the life of our nation every day. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York urged people to pause and reflect 'Whether you're someone of faith, or not, we invite you to call on God in prayer. Starting on February 1 we invite you to set aside time every evening to pray, particularly at 6pm each day. 'More than ever, this is a time when we need to love each other. Prayer is an expression of love.' The archbishops described NHS and social care staff as 'a blessing and lifeline for our nation'. 'We are grateful for the service given in local communities by clergy, other frontline workers and so many good neighbours,' they wrote. 'We are grateful for the hope of the vaccine. It is a testimony to the God-given wisdom and gifts of scientists and researchers. We urge everyone to take the vaccine as soon as it is offered to you.' The archbishops emphasised their 'Christian hope', concluding: 'Death doesn't have the last word. In God's Kingdom every tear will be wiped away.' Resources to help the call to prayer for the nation will be made available at: www.churchofengland.org/resources/call-prayer-nation. Witness recalls Eritrean troop brutality in Tigray conflict: 'They would kill you for crying' Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Survivors of the ongoing Tigray conflict in Northern Ethiopia are now speaking out about the horrors of what they and their communities experienced after hundreds of citizens were reportedly killed and millions of others are in dire need of assistance. Witnesses who spoke with The Associated Press have detailed killings, looting and other abuses committed by Eritrean soldiers in Tigray, a predominantly-Christian northernmost region of the East African country. Known as the Tigray War, the armed conflict has been ongoing since last November between the Tigray Regional Government (led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front) and forces supportive of the Ethiopian government which include military forces from Eritrea. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that there have been a series of fatal assaults committed against citizens in the area. They would kill you for trying, or even crying, a woman named Zenebu, a 48-year-old healthcare worker who lives in Colorado but was trapped in Tigray for weeks while visiting her mother, told AP. The witness said that some Eritrean soldiers went from door-to-door, killing Tigrayan men and boys as young as 7 years old. Zenebu detailed how she looked on as she saw Eritrean soldiers loot the belongings from residents' homes. She said their pockets were filled with stolen jewelry and recalled some troops trying on looted clothing. They were focused on trying to take everything of value, she added, saying that they even stole diapers. She detailed that trucks were loaded with boxes of looted items that were to be delivered to places in Eritrea. Estimates suggest that thousands of Eritrean soldiers have fought in the Tigray War on the side of the Ethiopian government. However, the Ethiopian government has denied the involvement of Eritrean soldiers in the conflict. Zenebu said she first remembered seeing Eritrean soldiers in Tigray around mid-December. She fled with others into nearby mountains as fighting approached. But she returned less than two weeks later to check on her mother. She told the AP that she stumbled over bodies when she returned and later realized that she knew about 70 of those who had been killed. I couldnt tell the difference between human and animal bodies, she said. She added that one body was that of a 12-year-old boy who had been recruited by soldiers to run errands but was later killed. I saw his body, Zenebu said. They just, like, threw him away. Another witness who escaped from the Tigray region and fled to the U.S. this month told the AP that Eritrean soldiers were everywhere. He confirmed accounts about their killings and looting. Same blood, same language, he was quoted as saying of the troops close ties with Tigrayans. I dont know why they killed. Zenebus account comes after an unconfirmed report from earlier this month indicated that as many as 750 people were killed in an attack on an Orthodox Church in Aksum that some believe contained the Ark of the Covenant as described in the book of Exodus. The Belgium-based nonprofit European External Programme with Africa reported on the alleged massacre in astatement. But the news we get from those who have been able to visit the area is terrible. Lynch says that while her organization has not been able to verify the details of the reported church massacre, the organization has received confirmation of a series of killings and attacks on innocent people in many parts of the region and also in the Aksum area. The population is terrified, she said. Lynch noted that Aid to Church in Need had received additional information indicating there might have been another massacre with more than a hundred victims in the church of Maryam Dengelat in December. Lynch said that nobody knows how many people have been killed in the Tigray conflict but stressed that among the deceased are priests and church leaders. Shops, schools, churches and convents have been robbed and destroyed, she said. Thousands of people have fled their homes. Many have crossed the border into Sudan, but others have sought refuge in remote areas, in the mountains, without water or access to food. According to the Joshua Project, about 96% of the Tigray region's population adheres to some form of Christianity. But sources told Lynch that the violence is motivated by politics, not religion. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said earlier this month that the international body has received reports of civilians killed and injured in Tigray. The U.N. estimates that as many as 2.3 million people in the region need life-saving assistance. Humanitarian assistance continues to be constrained by the lack of full, and safe, unhindered access to Tigray, caused by both insecurity and bureaucratic delays, Dujarric said. The U.N. and its humanitarian partners in Ethiopia urgently call on all parties to allow the immediate safe passage of humanitarian personnel and their supplies to the Tigray Region to be able to reach all people who desperately need assistance. Eritrean soldiers have also been accused of targeting Eritrean refugees taking shelter in Ethiopia. One doctor who is among the refugees in Tigray told the AP that he, too, heard reports of Eritrean forces killing young men. One woman survivor who left Tigray to go to the U.S. questioned why the Eritrean military troops are in the region. Theres no [military] camp in Aksum, just monasteries, she was quoted as saying. Why are they there? The U.S. government has called for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopia. In December, a State Department spokesperson called Eritrean involvement in the conflict a grave development. Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda and delivers a special address via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 25, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) No global problem can be solved by any one country alone, and there must be global action, global response and global cooperation, Chinese President Xi Jinping said. GENEVA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's new Davos speech was pivotal to boosting multilateral cooperation, leaders of international organizations, business executives and economists have said, stressing China's role as a growth engine in supporting global economic recovery. Addressing the World Economic Forum (WEF) Virtual Event of the Davos Agenda on Monday, Xi called on the world to abandon ideological prejudice and jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. "Difference in itself is no cause for alarm. What does ring the alarm is arrogance, prejudice and hatred," Xi said. No global problem can be solved by any one country alone, and there must be global action, global response and global cooperation, Xi stressed. This photo shows a screen displaying World Economic Forum (WEF) Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab delivering a welcome address. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng) "The speech of President Xi Jinping was historic. Four years after he made a famous speech in Davos, in 2017, where he emphasized the need for the world to embrace multilateralism, he came back to this proposal and notion of multilateralism at a very crucial time in the history of humankind," said WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab. "After four years of confrontation, we have now the opportunity to reset the pace of global cooperation and to enter into an age of cooperation," Schwab said in a video message sent to Xinhua. International Labor Organization Director-General Guy Ryder said he is pleased that the emphasis of Xi's speech was on international cooperation. Aerial photo taken on Jan. 14, 2021 shows the container terminal of Qinzhou Port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming) "We need much more international cooperation so that everybody can apply the necessary policies. Multilateralism, international cooperation in vaccine policy but also in employment and financial policy needs to be on top of the policy agenda as we start this new year," he told Xinhua in an interview. Adriano Lucatelli, co-founder and managing director of Zurich-based Descartes Finance, said he expects China to continue to push for multilateralism to find global solutions for a post-COVID world. "I wish China to take a leading role in fostering global cooperation as President Xi already explained at his 2017 speech at the WEF in Davos," Lucatelli said. In his speech, Xi also called for jointly promoting strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth of the world economy. Xi's remarks have demonstrated "China's firm determination to continue facilitating opening up and economic globalization," Qualcomm China Chairman Frank Meng told Xinhua in a written interview. Rudolf Minsch, chief economist at Swiss national business federation Economiesuisse, said while the COVID-19 crisis has led to more protectionism in many countries, "China has an important role in convincing other countries to abandon trade barriers, setting a good example." "The me-first-strategy is dangerous for the future of global trade and would hurt all countries in the long run," he stressed. Tourists enjoy their time in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, on Oct. 5, 2020, the fifth day of National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan) "China will act as a growth locomotive for the world economy," Minsch said, adding that the Chinese economy "will support the recovery in other markets" in 2021. China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 2.3 percent year on year in 2020, data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics showed last week, making it likely the only major economy to grow last year. Francois Savary, chief investment officer at the Geneva-based investment management and consulting company Prime Partners, said that China's contribution to the global recovery will be significant, especially in the first half of this year. "The prospects are good and 2021 should be marked by strong growth in China. However, there should be a normalization in the growth rate overtime, converging towards 5.5 percent in a two to three year framework," he said. "Economically, China is going from strength to strength. With its growing influence comes greater international responsibility, an important step in this direction could be helping vaccination efforts in developing countries to help bolster their social and economic recoveries," said Patrick Odier, chairman of the board of directors at Bank Lombard Odier. An elderly woman receives a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in Brasilia, Brazil, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua) Xi said on Monday in a telephone conversation with Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit that China will continue supporting developing countries in their fights against COVID-19 and contribute to making vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to all. China has joined the COVAX initiative led by the World Health Organization aimed at ensuring equitable global access to vaccines. "The pandemic is far from over," Xi said in his latest speech to Davos, adding that "there is no doubt that humanity will prevail over the virus and emerge even stronger from this disaster." "China will continue to share its experience with other countries, do its best to assist countries and regions that are less prepared for the pandemic, and work for greater accessibility and affordability of COVID vaccines in developing countries," Xi said. [ Editor: SRQ ] Beijing: A state-run Chinese daily said that any attempt by India to become US ally to counter China will not be in its interests and could even lead to catastrophic results. It comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trumps maiden meeting. Washington and New Delhi share anxieties about Chinas rise. In recent years, to ratchet up geopolitical pressure on China, the US has cozied up to India, an article in the Global Times said. Underlining that India is not a US ally like Japan or Australia, it said, To assume a role as an outpost country in the US strategy to contain China is not in line with Indias interests. It could even lead to catastrophic results. ALSO READ: Ajit Doval saves PM Modi from possible embarrassment at White House The daily said if India regresses from its non-alignment stance and becomes a pawn for the US in countering China, it will be caught up in a strategic dilemma and new geopolitical frictions will be triggered in South Asia. With an eye on China and the disputes in the South China Sea, Modi and Trump after their meeting in the White House called for freedom of navigation and resolving of territorial and maritime disputes peacefully in accordance with international law. A joint statement on the meeting said as responsible stewards in the Indo-Pacific region, Trump and Modi agreed that a close partnership between the United States and India is central to peace and stability in the region. The Chinese daily in the article said both former Soviet Union and the US under Kennedy presidency tried to pit India against China but the results were not satisfactory. From the end of the 1950s to the beginning of the 1960s, both the Soviet Union and the US wanted to play the India card to check China. Then the Kennedy government supported Indias Forward Policy. But the result wasnt what was expected. India isnt able to balance China, which has been proved by history, it said. Asserting that India should avoid being roped into a geopolitical trap, the daily said despite New Delhis anxieties over Beijings rise, maintaining a stable relationship with China is of more importance to its security and development. ALSO READ | Modi Trump meet: Terrorism, Afghanistan, trade, social media and friendship 5 highlights of their joint statement For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Cant hurt sentiments, your freedom of speech not absolute: SC to web-series Tandav makers India oi-Oneindia Staff By Anuj Cariappa New Delhi, Jan 27: The Supreme Court has rejected a plea filed by the makers of the web series Tandav seeking protection against arrest. While issuing notices on clubbing of the FIRs, the court asked actor Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub to approach the high courts for quashing of FIRs or seeking bail. The SC observed that prima facie it is not in favour of staying the FIRs against the actors and makers of Tandav. The court only observed that the makers should go to the high courts and seek quashing of the FIRs. The Bench said, 'your freedom of speech is not absolute. You cannot play the role of the character that hurts the sentiments of a community, the Bench also said. A batch of petitions had sought quashing of criminal complaints lodged in various states against Ali Abbas Zafar, the Director of web series ''Tandav'', and others for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. Besides Zafar, Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit, producer Himanshu Mehra, the show''s writer Gaurav Solanki and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub have filed three separate petitions against the registration of FIRs in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. A bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and M R Shah would heard the petitions today. Earlier, the Bombay High Court had granted a transit pre-arrest bail to Zafar, Purohit, Mehra and Solanki against whom a case was registered in Lucknow for allegedly hurting religious sentiments through the web series. The four have been booked in Lucknow under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race and so on), 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 501 (1)(B) (public mischief with intent to cause fear or alarm) of the IPC and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. At least three FIRs have been lodged against the makers and artistes of "Tandav" in Uttar Pradesh - at Lucknow, Greater Noida and Shahjahanpur - for the alleged inappropriate depiction of UP Police personnel, deities, and adverse portrayal of a character playing the role of prime minister in the show. Similar FIRs have been lodged against people associated with the making and airing of the web series in states like MP, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The pleas have made various state governments and police officers as parties. "Tandav", a nine-episode political thriller starring Bollywood A-listers Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, started streaming recently. Although Yang Yang likes traveling, the Beijinger has decided to stay at home for the upcoming Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 12. The bank employee has preordered takeaway from one of China's best-known roast duck chain restaurants Quanjude for his family banquet on Spring Festival's eve. "It's the family atmosphere that matters for the celebration," said Yang, 34. Compared with last Lunar New Year, when their family trip to the resort province of Hainan was shortened by the epidemic, Yang feels more at ease. "After a year's efforts in containing the spread of the virus, we have become used to life with prevention and control measures," he said. Chinese people are embracing their most important festival this year with a variety of planned celebrations, despite the recent local resurgence of coronavirus in some areas. The Chinese mainland on Monday reported 82 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 69 locally transmitted and 13 arriving from outside the mainland, the National Health Commission said Tuesday. Drug spending per capita in Vietnam continues to travel in an upward trajectory After a successful year in the Vietnamese market, British-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca Vietnam (AZ) is mulling over a new strategy in the country, focused on innovation, expansion, and partnerships underpinned by sustainability and people development. In this year when COVID-19 remains part of the picture, we will work hard to continue to deliver vital medicines to patients and ensure that no-one is left behind when the health system is facing great burdens, Nitin Kapoor, AZs chairman cum general director, told VIR. Other multinational corporations (MNCs) like GSK, Pfizer, Novartis, and others are also making similar moves in the context that the world is still grappling with COVID-19 and the risks associated with the pandemic are continuing to increase around the world. A representative of Pfizer explained, Pfizer hopes to engage with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Vietnamese government to bring Pfizer/BioNTechs COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam. In addition, Pfizer remains committed to our purpose of delivering breakthroughs that change patients lives; and is committed to partnering with the MoH and key stakeholders to ensure the sustainable, timely, and affordable introduction of innovative medicines to patients who need them. Pfizer Vietnam will invest in resources and infrastructure. We will also be collaborating with industry stakeholders to develop Vietnams pharmaceutical industry as an innovative life science hub in Southeast Asia with the 2030 plan and vision to 2035, he noted. Investing in people Elsewhere, GSK is continuing the establishment of a sustainable and accountable business in Vietnam in 2021, by setting the goal to bring more diverse antibiotics and respiratory medicines together with a life-course vaccine portfolio that meets the local disease pattern and supports healthcare professionals to treat patients. Our consecutive efforts are helping to improve healthcare professional education and training activities, contributing efforts to tackle serious healthcare issues, collaborating for disease awareness, and committing to community partnerships for broadening access to basic healthcare. We will invest more in our people to ensure we have the best resources in place to serve Vietnamese patients, said Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi, head of Regulatory, Communication, and Government Affairs at GSK Vietnam. The MNCs made the plans in the wake of growing burdens on diseases, especially non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Vietnam. Such diseases now account for 73 per cent of all deaths and 60 per cent of the disease burden, and NCDs are expected to cause three-quarters of the disease burden in low- and middle-income countries by 2030. In this context, Vietnams drug spending per capita continues to grow, rising 10.6 per cent on-year to about $53.50 in 2018, and is forecast to rise further in the near future, according to the MoH. Imports are currently around 55 per cent of the countrys total pharmaceuticals demand. Moreover, MNCs are expected to benefit more from the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which open the Vietnamese market in fields that businesses have been seeking particular solutions to for years, including direct pharmaceuticals imports. Better delivery MNCs made some advances in Vietnamese operations in 2020 despite COVID-19. While this past year has been a real test to the whole world, AZs innovative and patient-centric spirit has helped it not only rise to the unique challenges posed by the pandemic but also maintain remarkable growth. We became one of the first pharmaceutical MNCs to successfully sign a landmark local distribution partnership, allowing us to better deliver our life-changing medicines to millions of Vietnamese patients, said Kapoor of AZ. The company has also accelerated its digital transformation, reaching over 80,000 healthcare professionals virtually even during lockdowns and supporting major hospitals in their telehealth and digital healthcare education programmes. Promoting sustainability is also one of AZs top priorities both globally and in Vietnam. Besides existing and expanding programmes like the Healthy Lung Programme and Young Health Programme, which aim to reduce NCDs in local communities, this year it also launched multiple new projects such as Green Energy for Health, in which AZ will donate solar energy systems to local health facilities. For GSK, it has been driving focus into ensuring employee safety as well as maintaining its medicine and vaccine accessible and available for those in need. The companys highlights in 2020 were its strategic priorities delivery that helped it become one of the top-performing innovative and trusted science-led companies. Meanwhile, Pfizer has supported charitable contributions under the Pharma Group and is also working with key stakeholders on numerous healthcare initiatives including an open dialogue regarding the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 candidate vaccine. (All amounts in US$ unless otherwise specified) Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") (TSX:CS) announces an updated Technical Report for its Cozamin Mine in Zacatecas, Mexico and extends mine life to 2031. Mineral Reserves increased by 39% to 14.1 million tonnes grading 1.77% copper and 44.4 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources increased by 10% to 29.7 million tonnes grading 1.52% copper and 44 g/t silver. The new reserve mine plan is projected to produce 512 million pounds of copper and 16.0 million ounces of silver over the next 10 years. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005944/en/ Figure 1. 10+ Year Mine Life, Higher Mining Rates at 1.77% Copper. The 2021 LOMP shows a longer mine life with higher average production and grades similar to the 2020 mine plan. (Graphic: Business Wire) HIGHLIGHTS Updated life of mine plan ("LOMP") released. Average annual copper production of 51.2 million pounds of copper and 1.6 million ounces of silver production over 10 years at average C1 costs, including the 50% silver stream, of $1.02 per payable pound of copper. From 2021 to 2027, average annual production is 58.8 million pounds of copper and 1.7 million ounces of silver. Average projected C1 costs over this period are $0.96 per payable pound of copper. Average annual copper production of 51.2 million pounds of copper and 1.6 million ounces of silver production over 10 years at average C1 costs, including the 50% silver stream, of $1.02 per payable pound of copper. From 2021 to 2027, average annual production is 58.8 million pounds of copper and 1.7 million ounces of silver. Average projected C1 costs over this period are $0.96 per payable pound of copper. Ramp-up to 3,780 tonnes per day ("tpd"), or 1.38 million tonnes per annum ("tpa"), by the end of Q1 2021 is on track. A new section of ramp to open the one-way traffic circuit to debottleneck the mine was completed in early December 2020, ahead of schedule. A new section of ramp to open the one-way traffic circuit to debottleneck the mine was completed in early December 2020, ahead of schedule. Estimated Reserves increased by 39% to 14.1 million tonnes, relative to April 30, 2020; contained copper and silver increased by 37% and 49%, respectively. Approximately half of this increase is due to recovery of high-grade pillars using paste backfill. to 14.1 million tonnes, relative to April 30, 2020; contained copper and silver increased by 37% and 49%, respectively. Approximately half of this increase is due to recovery of high-grade pillars using paste backfill. Tailings management transformation activities are progressing on schedule , including feasibility level design and studies in support of permitting a filtered (dry stack) tailings storage facility. This conversion from a slurry tailings impoundment aligns with industry leading socio-environmental best practice for tailings management. , including feasibility level design and studies in support of permitting a filtered (dry stack) tailings storage facility. This conversion from a slurry tailings impoundment aligns with industry leading socio-environmental best practice for tailings management. A pre-feasibility study ("PFS") for an underground paste backfill system was completed in December 2020. The study indicates a paste backfill system will allow ore extraction containing over 100 million pounds of copper and 3.1 million ounces of silver between 2023 and 2031, that would have otherwise been left as unmined pillars. The PFS design has a capital cost estimate ranging from $41 million to $45 million and an increase in operating costs of approximately $7.50 per tonne of ore mined. Capstone management has approved the paste backfill project and work has commenced on procurement of long lead items. The study indicates a paste backfill system will allow ore extraction containing over 100 million pounds of copper and 3.1 million ounces of silver between 2023 and 2031, that would have otherwise been left as unmined pillars. The PFS design has a capital cost estimate ranging from $41 million to $45 million and an increase in operating costs of approximately $7.50 per tonne of ore mined. Capstone management has approved the paste backfill project and work has commenced on procurement of long lead items. Initiating "Impact23" Growth Project: exploration excellence, innovative mining techniques and enhanced pillar recovery are areas identified to have growth potential for Cozamin. By 2023, the goal is to further extend mine life, increase environmental and safety standards, and improve operational efficiencies at Cozamin, utilizing mineral resources already discovered in addition to testing new targets. Brad Mercer, Capstone's SVP and Chief Operating Officer said, "The LOMP announced today maximizes extraction of the orebody's high grade core by deferring stoping in this area until the paste backfill plant is in operation in 2023. Projected production averages nearly 60 million pounds of copper per year for seven years at first quartile costs. The Impact23 Growth Project that we are kickstarting today is aiming to demonstrate in a 2023 technical report how Cozamin can sustain these levels of performance well into the 2030s." Darren Pylot, Capstone's President and CEO said, "After 14 years in operation, the best years of Cozamin are ahead. The mine is world-class with sustainable low costs and leading safety and environmental performance entrenched throughout the organization. The growth initiatives are supported by an entrepreneurial fabric at Capstone, as we embrace innovation and technology to create high impact value for our shareholders." MINERAL RESERVE ESTIMATE Table 1 presents Cozamin's Mineral Reserve estimate for all zones as of October 31, 2020, including the Mala Noche Footwall Zone ("MNFWZ") and the Mala Noche Vein ("MNV"). Table 1 Mineral Reserve Estimate as of October 31, 2020 Category Tonnes (kt) Copper Silver (g/t) Zinc Lead Copper Metal (kt) Silver Metal (koz) Zinc Metal (kt) Lead Metal (kt) Proven Probable 14,127 1.77 44.4 0.54 0.21 250 20,179 77 29 Proven Probable 14,127 1.77 44.4 0.54 0.21 250 20,179 77 29 Compared to April 30, 2020 +39% -1% +7% +53% +314% +37% +49% +112% +474% NOTES: Tucker Jensen, P.Eng., Superintendent Mine Operations at Capstone Mining Corp., is the Qualified Person for this Cozamin Mineral Reserve update. Disclosure of the Cozamin Mineral Reserves as of October 31, 2020 was completed using fully diluted mineable stope shapes generated by the Maptek Vulcan Mine Stope Optimizer software and estimated using the 2020 MNFWZ resource block model created by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., FGC and the 2017 MNV resource block model created by J. Vincent, P.Geo., formerly of Capstone Mining Corp. Mineral Reserves are reported at or above a US$48.04/t net smelter return ("NSR") cut-off in conventionally backfilled zones for 2020-2022, a US$51.12/t NSR cut-off in conventionally backfilled zones for 2023+, a US$56.51/t NSR cut-off in paste backfilled zones of Vein 10, and a US$56.12/t NSR cut-off in paste backfilled zones of Vein 20 using three formulae based on zone mineralization. Copper-silver dominant zones use the NSR formula: (Cu*50.476 Ag*0.406)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). MNFWZ zinc-silver zones use the NSR formula: (Ag*0.259 Zn*15.081 Pb*15.418)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). MNV zinc-silver dominant zones use the NSR formula: (Ag*0.203 Zn*13.163 Pb*13.233)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). Metal price assumptions (in US$) of Cu $2.75/lb, Ag $17.00/oz, Pb $0.90/lb, Zn $1.00/lb and metal recoveries of 96% Cu, 84% Ag, 0% Pb and 0% Zn in copper-silver dominant zones, 0% Cu, 60% Ag, 92% Pb and 86% Zn in MNFWZ zinc-silver dominant zones, and 0% Cu, 53% Ag, 79% Pb and 75% Zn in MNV zinc-silver dominant zones. Mineral reserve calculations consider mining by long-hole stoping and mineral processing by flotation. Tonnage and grade estimates include dilution and mining losses. The NSR royalty rate applied varies between 1% and 3% depending on the mining concession, and royalties are treated as costs in mineral reserve estimation. An exchange rate of MX$20 per US$1 is assumed. All metals are reported as contained. Figures may not sum exactly due to rounding. LIFE OF MINE PLAN AS OF OCTOBER 31, 2020 Cozamin's LOMP has been updated based on the Mineral Reserves presented in Table 1. Compared to previous mine plans since 2018, the 2021 LOMP as shown in Figure 1 shows a longer mine life of 10 years with higher average production and a grade at 1.77%, similar to the 1.79% grade in the 2020 mine plan. This LOMP includes throughput rates of approximately 1.38 million tonnes per annum from 2021 through 2029, followed by declining rates through 2031, before potential additions from Impact23. See Table 2 for a detailed year-by-year mine plan. In its highest grade years, projected copper and silver production from 2021 through 2027 average 58.8 million pounds and 1.70 million ounces, respectively, representing increases of 61% and 53%, respectively, relative to estimated 2020 production as presented in the Cozamin Technical Report dated October 23, 2020. Figure 1 10+ Year Mine Life, Higher Mining Rates at 1.77% Copper Table 2 Updated Life of Mine Plan 2021 to 2031 LOMP 2021 to 20311 2020E2 2021E 2022E 2023E 2024E 2025E 2026E 2027E 2028E 2029E 2030E 2031E Cu Production (M lbs) 36.5 51.2 56.5 65.2 65.9 57.8 57.4 57.3 42.2 35.2 23.3 4.1 Ag Production (M troy ozs) 1.125 1.52 1.65 1.76 1.84 1.72 1.75 1.67 1.48 1.38 1.20 0.34 Pb Production (M lbs) 0.9 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.6 6.1 5.6 4.2 6.7 10.9 9.8 5.9 Zn Production (M lbs) 11.8 0.71 0.0 0.0 1.1 9.8 7.7 6.6 12.0 16.7 20.1 8.4 Tonnes milled (M tonnes) 1.07 1.36 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.23 0.31 Cu Grade 1.62 1.79 1.94 2.22 2.25 1.99 1.97 1.97 1.46 1.26 0.97 0.68 Cu Recovery 95.6 95.6 96.0 96.2 96.2 95.5 95.7 95.7 94.6 91.5 88.9 87.3 Ag Grade (g/t) 41.4 41.8 43.8 45.8 48.1 46.2 46.8 44.6 41.3 40.7 43.5 51.6 Ag Recovery 79.1 83.8 85.0 86.3 86.3 83.8 84.4 84.6 80.4 76.5 69.9 67.0 Mining Cost ($/t milled) 26.40 22.90 24.70 29.01 28.25 28.42 28.11 27.26 28.15 27.23 26.30 22.90 Milling Cost ($/t milled) 9.82 10.14 9.24 11.73 11.73 11.73 11.73 11.73 11.73 12.66 12.64 12.64 G&A Cost ($/t milled) 7.10 6.54 6.84 6.86 6.86 6.88 6.88 6.88 6.86 6.87 7.63 6.54 C1 Cost3 ($/lb payable Cu) 0.96 0.96 0.95 1.03 0.96 0.88 0.95 0.98 1.20 1.27 1.50 0.57 Sustaining CAPEX (M$) 21.9 24.5 22.3 17.1 15.9 18.2 9.9 9.3 9.5 1.7 1.4 0.3 Expansion CAPEX (M$) 13.0 32.1 1.0 NOTES: 1. Cozamin's LOMP has been updated based on the Mineral Reserves as of October 31, 2020. Operating and capital costs assume an exchange rate of MXN$20 per USD$1. 2. 2020E figures are for 12 months and are a combination of actual results and estimates, as reported in the October 23, 2020 Technical Report, and may not accurately represent actual 2020 figures. 3. C1 Costs assume by-product pricing of Ag $25.00/oz from 2021 to 2025 and $22.00/oz thereafter, Pb $0.90/lb and Zn $1.10/lb from 2021 to 2025 and $1.00/lb thereafter. C1 Costs are net of by-products and includes the 50% silver stream, which provides 10% of silver price to Capstone for 50% of silver produced, and is an alternative performance measure. Please see "Alternative Performance Measures" at the end of this release. UNDERGROUND PASTE BACKFILL As part of the technical study described in the Technical Report, Cozamin recently completed a PFS to assess the use of underground paste backfill to decrease the number of pillars needed for geotechnical stability, thereby increasing the mineral extraction ratio. The Mineral Reserve estimate presented in Table 1 includes recovery of approximately 2.2 million tonnes grading 2.09% copper and 44.3 g/t silver that would have been left as unmined pillars without the use of paste backfill. The proposed paste backfill system includes a tailings filter plant, a paste mixing plant, twin boreholes to deliver paste underground and an underground distribution system ("UDS"). The filter plant, paste plant and conveyor to transport filtered tailings to the tailings storage facility ("TSF"), in relation to the mill and other nearby surface infrastructure, are shown in Figure 2. The system is expected to be commissioned starting in Q4 2022, with ramp-up completed in Q1 2023. PFS design of these facilities was completed by Paterson Cooke in December 2020, and a Feasibility Study ("FS") is underway with completion expected in April 2021. Mine planning was completed by Cozamin, with design support provided by a geotechnical consultant, and paste backfill operational guidance provided by AMC Consultants. Preparation of documents to support permit applications for the paste backfill system is underway. Based on the PFS, capital cost for the tailings filtration and paste backfill system is estimated to range from $40.8 million to $45.0 million, depending on the filtration technology selected, including 25% contingency. The tailings filter plant is required for the conversion to filtered tailings storage, but a portion of the combined capital cost estimate, approximately $17 million, is required for paste production, transport and deposition underground. Average operating costs for tailings filtration and the production, transport and deposition of paste are estimated at approximately $7.50 per tonne of ore mined, partially offset by lower mine development costs. Figure 2 Future Location of Tailings Filtration and Paste Plant TAILINGS MANAGEMENT Cozamin intends to convert from the current slurry tailings facility that has been safely operated for over 15 years to a filtered (dry stack) tailings facility. Feasibility-level design of the filtered tailings facility is expected to be completed in Q1 2021, and preparations are being made to submit the required permit applications. It is expected that this conversion to filtered tailings will significantly decrease the mine's socio-environmental, geotechnical and water supply risks, while decreasing water consumption and make-up water costs. The planned paste backfill system will use tailings for paste production, greatly decreasing the volume of tailings requiring an above ground storage impoundment. OPPORTUNITIES IMPACT23 GROWTH PROJECT Capstone is advancing several initiatives with potential to further extend mine life, increase environmental and safety standards, and improve operational efficiencies at Cozamin. The following opportunities are not included in this updated LOMP and do not impact the Mineral Reserve estimate as of October 31, 2020. Capstone's goal with this project is to target a positive NAV impact, to be underpinned by an updated technical report in 2023, through exploration on drill targets open on each end of the deposit, selective mining techniques to decrease dilution and lower mining costs, and enhanced pillar recovery to leverage the benefits of the planned paste backfill plant. Exploration Excellence Remains Top Priority Exploration expansion potential at the MNFWZ remains open in both the West and the East. The 2021 exploration budget of $5 million for 40,000 meters of surface drilling will primarily target expansion drilling in the newly recognized West target area, see Figures 3 and 4. Additional infill drilling to upgrade resources in the down-dip southeast area of Vein 20, and initial testing of new brownfield targets on adjacent vein systems, many with historical production, all within the Cozamin claim block will also be completed. The MNFWZ West target is an extension of Vein 20 recently identified by an extensive review of historical drilling data and confirmed by initial drill testing of the concept in 2020. The West target is supported by a reinterpretation of the geology in this area and has easy access from both the MNV and MNFWZ infrastructure. Development capacity in 2021 is limited to driving one non-production drift and therefore the East exploration drift has been delayed to 2022. Development of the new West exploration crosscuts will commence in Q1 2021, in tandem with the surface drilling program, with an estimated cost of $1.8 million additional to the drilling program. Once completed, future drilling will shift to underground starting in 2022. Figure 3 MNFWZ 2021 Drilling Program Figure 4 MNFWZ West Drilling Targets A detailed Company exploration update including Cozamin and other greenfield targets is scheduled for release in March 2021. Innovative Mining Techniques for Resource to Reserve Conversion A study will be initiated in 2021 to assess alternative mining techniques with the objective of lowering costs and dilution to convert resources to reserves from the Indicated Resource shown in Table 3. The current mining methods are Longitudinal Longhole Open Stoping and AVOCA and possible alternatives that will be studied include Cut-and-Fill, Drift-and-Fill and Longhole Open Stoping with ore sorting technology. Table 3 Mineral Resources Exclusive of Mineral Reserves and Pillars as of October 31, 2020, Potential Resource to Reserve Conversion Targeted MNFWZ Indicated (I) Tonnes (kt) Copper Silver (g/t) Zinc Lead Copper Metal (kt) Silver Metal (koz) Zinc Metal (kt) Lead Metal (kt) Copper-Silver Zones 9,472 1.56 35 0.51 0.05 148 10,796 48 4 Zinc-Lead-Silver Zones 4,138 0.38 28 2.22 0.98 16 3,786 92 41 NOTES: Please refer to Table 4 for full details of the Mineral Resource estimate. Enhanced Pillar Recovery A study aimed at enhancing pillar recoveries will commence shortly with short-term and long-term opportunities identified. With the paste backfill plant expected in operation by 2023, pillars in the MNFWZ and throughout historic mining areas at Cozamin are an opportunity for recovery. The following are the main studies within the Enhanced Pillar Recovery Project: Cemented Rockfill (CRF). Cozamin is assessing the opportunity to rapidly implement a CRF system to allow the safe and economic recovery of additional pillars. This includes areas mined prior to the planned start of paste backfilling in Q1 2023, and/or where it is not economic to deliver paste. Preliminary results indicate that CRF could be implemented with low capital cost well in advance of Q1 2023, and additional study is underway. Cozamin is assessing the opportunity to rapidly implement a CRF system to allow the safe and economic recovery of additional pillars. This includes areas mined prior to the planned start of paste backfilling in Q1 2023, and/or where it is not economic to deliver paste. Preliminary results indicate that CRF could be implemented with low capital cost well in advance of Q1 2023, and additional study is underway. Used Filtration Equipment. The updated LOMP assumes the start of paste backfilling in Q1 2023 in part because of long lead times for the procurement of tailings filters. Cozamin is assessing a package of used tailings filters that could potentially allow more rapid filter plant construction and paste backfilling starting significantly earlier than Q1 2023. The updated LOMP assumes the start of paste backfilling in Q1 2023 in part because of long lead times for the procurement of tailings filters. Cozamin is assessing a package of used tailings filters that could potentially allow more rapid filter plant construction and paste backfilling starting significantly earlier than Q1 2023. Paste Backfill System Optimization. The paste backfill PFS makes a number of conservative estimates for equipment and materials costs, geotechnical stability and other factors. The FS currently underway includes additional laboratory testing and more detailed system design. It is expected that this FS may identify opportunities for capital and operating cost savings, and for increased pillar recovery through optimization of the mine plan. The paste backfill PFS makes a number of conservative estimates for equipment and materials costs, geotechnical stability and other factors. The FS currently underway includes additional laboratory testing and more detailed system design. It is expected that this FS may identify opportunities for capital and operating cost savings, and for increased pillar recovery through optimization of the mine plan. Historic Pillar Recovery. Cozamin has left unmined pillars needed for geotechnical stability throughout its mine life, and will continue to do so until paste backfill is available. Typically, conventional backfilled areas have been designed to leave approximately 26% of the total mineralization behind in pillars. Cozamin intends to assess the potential to return to previously mined areas to safely use paste backfill to economically recover pillars left prior to the start of paste backfilling. Stope Dilution Stope dilution in the deeper areas of the northwest end of the MNFWZ have been high compared to other longhole open stope mines, driven by narrow veins and local geotechnical conditions. As mining progresses away from this area, an initiative is underway to reduce dilution site-wide through improved engineering, planning, long-hole drill control and optimized explosives design guided by a team of consultants and site experts. Truckless Headings An initiative is underway to redesign the upper areas of Cozamin Reserves to ore pass use, increasing safety and efficiency, while increasing air quality, thereby decreasing ventilation requirements in these areas. MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE Table 4 presents the Mineral Resource estimate for all zones as of October 31, 2020. Mineral Resource estimates do not account for mining loss and dilution. Estimated Measured and Indicated Resources have increased by 10% relative to April 30, 2020, with 29.7 million tonnes grading 1.52% copper, 44 g/t silver, 1.10% zinc and 0.32% lead. This change is the result of step-out drilling and infill drilling at MNFWZ that upgraded 1.5 million tonnes of Inferred Resource to Indicated classification, and updated net smelter return ("NSR") formulae adopted for the cut-off applied, that includes predicted long-term metals prices in line with current industry norms, updated recovery curves, royalties and other operational considerations for MNFWZ and MNV. Table 4 Mineral Resource Estimate as of October 31, 2020 at a US$50/t NSR Cut-Off Classification Tonnes (kt) Copper Silver (g/t) Zinc Lead Copper Metal (kt) Silver Metal (koz) Zinc Metal (kt) Lead Metal (kt) Measured (M) 407 1.24 53 1.23 0.40 5 698 5 2 Indicated (I) 29,265 1.53 43 1.10 0.32 446 40,799 322 94 Total M I 29,672 1.52 44 1.10 0.32 451 41,497 327 95 Inferred 13,869 0.54 39 2.23 0.74 75 17,383 309 103 NOTES: Mineral Resources are classified according to CIM (2014) definitions, estimated following CIM (2019) guidelines and have an effective date of October 31, 2020. Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Independent Qualified Person for the estimates is Mr. Garth D. Kirkham, P.Geo., FGC., of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. Mineral Resources are reported using four formulae for NSR based on mineralization. Copper-silver dominant zones use the NSR formula: (Cu*60.779 Ag*0.485)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). Copper-zinc zones use the NSR formula: (Cu*58.430 Ag*0.416 Zn*15.368 Pb*7.837)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). MNFWZ zinc-silver dominant zones use the NSR formula: (Ag*0.304 Zn*18.323 Pb*17.339)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). MNV zinc-silver dominant zones use the NSR formula: (Ag*0.256 Zn*16.401 Pb*14.977)*(1-NSRRoyalty%). Metal price assumptions (in US$) used to calculate the NSR for all deposits are: Cu $3.25/lb, Ag $20.00/oz, Zn $1.20/lb and Pb $1.00/lb. Recoveries used in the four NSR formulae are based on mineralization. Copper-silver dominant zones use the following recoveries: 96% Cu and 85% Ag. Copper-zinc zones use the following recoveries: 92% Cu, 79% Ag, 72% Zn and 42% Pb. MNFWZ zinc-silver dominant zones use the following recoveries: 60% Ag, 86% Zn and 92% Pb. MNV zinc-silver dominant zones use the following recoveries: 55% Ag, 77% Zn and 80% Pb. The NSR formulae include confidential current smelter contract terms, transportation costs and royalty agreements from 1 to 3%, as applicable. An exchange rate of MX$20 per US$1 is assumed. Totals may not sum exactly due to rounding. The NSR cut-off of US$50/tonne is based on historical mining and milling costs plus general and administrative costs. The Mineral Resource Estimate encompasses both the MNFWZ and the MNV. Drilling campaigns from 2018 have focused on the MNFWZ and no drilling has been performed on the MNV since 2017. The Mineral Resource considers underground mining by longhole stoping and mineral processing by flotation. No dilution is incorporated in the Mineral Resource. All metals are reported as contained. Mineral Resource estimates do not account for mining loss and dilution. These Mineral Resource estimates include Inferred Mineral Resources considered too speculative geologically to apply economic considerations for categorization as Mineral Reserves. However, it is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Resources. NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 A National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") Technical Report will be prepared to summarize the Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve estimates by the Qualified Persons and will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release. Readers are cautioned that the conclusions, projections and estimates set out in this news release are subject to important qualifications, assumptions and exclusions, all of which will be detailed in the 2021 Technical Report. To fully understand the summary information set out above, the 2021 Technical Report that will be filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com should be read in its entirety. QUALIFIED PERSONS The following Qualified Persons, as defined by NI 43-101, are independent from Capstone (except as noted below) and have reviewed and approved the content of this news release that is based on content from their respective portions of the 2021 Technical Report: Gregg Bush, P.Eng. (Non-independent) Leslie Correia, Pr.Eng., Paterson Cooke Canada Inc. Jenna Hardy, P.Geo., FGC, Nimbus Management Ltd. Tucker Jensen, P.Eng., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent) Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., FGC, Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. Chris Martin, CEng MIMMM, Blue Coast Metallurgy Ltd. Vivienne McLennan, P.Geo., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent) Josh Moncrieff, P.Geo., Capstone Mining Corp. (Non-independent) Humberto Preciado, PhD, P.E., Wood Environment Infrastructure Solutions, Inc. MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE METHODOLOGY The Mineral Resource estimate reported herein was prepared by Garth Kirkham of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. of Burnaby, BC, Canada, an Independent Qualified Person under Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101. The Mineral Resources presented herein have been estimated in conformity with generally accepted CIM best practice guidelines and are reported in accordance with NI 43-101. The estimate was completed using MineSightTM software using a three-dimensional block model (12 metre by 5 metre by 10 metre block size with 4 metre by 0.5 metre by 2 metre sub-blocks). The MNFWZ model is comprised of eight interpreted three-dimensional wireframes which were the primary estimation domains and hard boundaries were used to constrain the interpolation of grades into the block model. Interpolation parameters have been derived based on geostatistical analysis conducted on 1 metre composited drill holes. Block grades have been estimated using Ordinary Kriging (OK) methodology and the mineral resources have been classified based on proximity to sample data and the continuity of mineralization in accordance with the categories in CIM Definition Standards (May 10, 2014) along with CIM Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice Guidelines (November 29, 2019). The MNFWZ resource has been estimated using a total of 1,128 diamond drill holes with 4,371 sample composites. ABOUT CAPSTONE MINING CORP. Capstone Mining Corp. is a Canadian base metals mining company, focused on copper. Our two producing mines are the Pinto Valley copper mine located in Arizona, US and the Cozamin copper-silver mine in Zacatecas State, Mexico. In addition, Capstone owns 70% of Santo Domingo, a large scale, fully-permitted, copper-iron-gold project in Region III, Chile, in partnership with Korea Resources Corporation, as well as a portfolio of exploration properties. Capstone's strategy is to focus on the optimization of operations and assets in politically stable, mining-friendly regions, centred in the Americas. We are committed to the responsible development of our assets and the environments in which we operate. Our headquarters are in Vancouver, Canada and we are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Further information is available at www.capstonemining.com. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION This news release, and the documents incorporated by reference herein, contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this document and Capstone Mining Corp. ("Capstone" or the "Company") does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required under applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect our expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the continuing success of mineral exploration, Capstone's ability to fund future exploration activities, the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves, the expected success of the underground paste backfill system study, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the timing and amount of estimated future production, costs of production and capital expenditures, the success of our mining operations, the estimations for potential quantities and grade of inferred resources and exploration targets, environmental risks, unanticipated reclamation expenses and title disputes. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "aiming", "approximately", "guidance", "scheduled", "target", "estimates", "forecasts", "extends", "convert", "potential", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would", "will", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, amongst others, risks related to inherent hazards associated with mining operations and closure of mining, projects, the inherent uncertainty of mineral exploration and estimations of exploration targets, potential delays in exploration due to COVID-19 or governmental action, increase to operating costs directly or indirectly related to due to COVID-19 including but not limited to supply chain issues, future prices of copper and other metals, compliance with financial covenants, surety bonding, our ability to raise capital or fund explorations, Capstone's ability to acquire properties for growth, counterparty risks associated with sales of our metals, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions, accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, operating in foreign jurisdictions with risk of changes to governmental regulation, compliance with governmental regulations, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, reliance on approvals, licences and permits from governmental authorities, impact of climatic conditions on our operations, title or royalty claims and rights to mineral tenure, increased taxes on mining activities, interruption of production due indirectly or directly to criminal activity land reclamation and mine closure obligations, uncertainties and risks related to the potential development of the Cozamin project, increased operating and capital costs, challenges to title to our mineral properties, maintaining ongoing social license to operate, dependence on key management personnel, potential conflicts of interest involving our directors and officers, corruption and bribery, limitations inherent in our insurance coverage, labour relations, increasing energy prices, competition in the mining industry, risks associated with joint venture partners, our ability to integrate new acquisitions into our operations, cybersecurity threats, legal proceedings, and other risks of the mining industry as well as those factors detailed from time to time in the Company's interim and annual financial statements and MD&A of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause our results, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that our forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as our actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES Alternative performance measures are furnished to provide additional information. These non-GAAP performance measures are included in this News Release because these statistics are key performance measures that management uses to monitor performance, to assess how the Company is performing, and to plan and assess the overall effectiveness and efficiency of mining operations. These performance measures do not have a standard meaning within International Financial Reporting Standings ("IFRS") and, therefore, amounts presented may not be comparable to similar data presented by other mining companies. These performance measures should not be considered in isolation as a substitute for measures of performance in accordance with IFRS. C1 Cash Costs Per Payable Pound of Copper Produced C1 cash costs per payable pound of copper produced is a key performance measure that management uses to monitor performance. Management uses this measure to assess how well the Company's producing mines are performing and to assess overall efficiency and effectiveness of the mining operations. NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANCE Unless otherwise indicated, Capstone has prepared the technical information in this news release ("Technical Information") based on information contained in the technical reports, news releases and MD&A's (collectively the "Disclosure Documents") available under Capstone Mining Corp.'s company profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Each Disclosure Document was prepared by, or under the supervision of, a qualified person (a "Qualified Person") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101"). Readers are encouraged to review the full text of the Disclosure Documents which qualifies the Technical Information. Readers are advised that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Disclosure Documents are each intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The Technical Information is subject to the assumptions and qualifications contained in the Disclosure Documents. The Technical Information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with definitions and best practices referenced in NI 43-101 and reviewed and approved by Brad Mercer, P. Geol., Capstone's Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person and the person who oversees exploration activities on the Cozamin Mine property. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005944/en/ Contacts: Jerrold Annett, VP, Strategy and Capital Markets 647-273-7351 jannett@capstonemining.com Virginia Morgan, Manager, IR and Communications 604-674-2268 vmorgan@capstonemining.com UPDATED guidelines have been issued by the relating to how funerals should be conducted within the Diocese of Limerick given the current Covid-19 restrictions. Public health officials have expressed concern about the number of cases of the disease which have been linked to funerals, removals and wakes. Despite strict limits on the number of people who are allowed to attend funerals, there have been several outbreaks in Limerick and across the Mid West over the past few weeks. Its understood some of the outbreaks have occurred within extended families despite a general compliance with the public health regulations. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn confirmed on Monday that funerals and other family gatherings remain a concern for the National Public Health Emergency Team. The Bishop of Limerick Brendan Leahy and other members of the Cashel Province are appealing to people to stay away from funerals or further lives will be put at risk. Outlining a five-point plan for funerals in freshly stated guidelines Bishop Leahy said that we have a proud culture of physically and emotionally standing by those experiencing grief but, save for immediate family members as prescribed by public guidelines, that cannot now happen. "We are at a very sensitive stage. The pandemic is wreaking a dreadful toll on society. We are seeing more people die from Covid now than we did at any stage over the last 12 months. Our hospitals are at breaking point and while the number of cases is finally dropping, the UK variant is widespread and much more virulent than what has gone before," he said. The bishop pointed out that the vast majority of weddings have been postponed which means the only Church services that are taking place are funerals - subject to very strict guidelines on who can attend. "This is simply because not alone can any gatherings lead to more infections, but a super-spreader event is now much more likely to happen than ever before. So, we really need to rein personal interaction now more than ever, he said. Thats why we are restating our own guidelines around funerals. We do so for the benefit of all concerned mourners, undertakers, neighbours and friends as well as priests and public authorities that we might have a common understanding of good practice around funerals aimed at keeping people safe from the virus," he added. We wish to express our thanks to priests and sacristans as well as the many volunteers in The five points in the freshly-stated guidelines are: After Leon Black announced this week that he would be stepping down as chief executive of Apollo Global Management amid revelations that he had paid $158 million to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, several art world figures called on the Museum of Modern Art to remove him as the chairman of its board of trustees. What does @MuseumModernArt board chair Leon Black have to do for MoMA to finally give him the boot? tweeted Nikki Columbus, a curator who in 2019 settled a claim of gender, pregnancy and caregiver discrimination against MoMA PS1. The museum has yet to make any statement about Mr. Black, and its director, Glenn D. Lowry, declined a request for comment. Members of its board and staff have not publicly voiced any disapproval of Mr. Black, whose personal fortune is estimated at more than $8 billion. And there have been signs that Mr. Black, who became chairman of the museums board in 2018, plans to stay on. In a brief email addressed to his Fellow Trustees at the museum that was sent on Monday, and which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Black wrote that he wanted to continue my transparent communication with our MoMA family and share with you the letter I sent to Apollos limited partners today. He signed off by saying that I look forward to seeing you at our February board meeting. Huntington, WV (25701) Today Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Thunder possible. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. New Delhi: Violence erupted at a farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day, after which the issue was swiftly roared in the country and abroad. Pakistan also reacted to the farmers ' tractor rally in India, which did not surprise anyone. Pakistan is always ready to comment against India. Pakistan's Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi said in a statement on Tuesday that the Government of India has failed to suppress the voice of the agitating farmers and now the entire country stands with the farmers. In addition, Pakistan's Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a tweet on Tuesday that the world should voice against India's oppressive government. The farmers have been protesting on different borders of Delhi in the last two months, but the representatives who led the farmers' agitation have separated themselves from the protestors involved in the violence that took place on the Day of Republic Day. Also, during the demonstration, a young man was seen unfurling a triangle-shaped yellow flag on the flag pillar at the Red Fort. The flag was hoisted where the flag is hoisted on the day of Independence Day. However, the agitators were later removed from the premises of the Red Fort. Also Read:- Sunny Leone wants to play cricket against England, shares video Railways to start all suburban services network from January 29 Republic Day 2021: Rishabh Pant spending time with Dhoni family, Sakshi shares photos DENVER, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Nina Ottosson by Petstages, an Outward Hound brand, was awarded Best Interactive Cat Toy in last year's Pet Business Industry Awards. "The Buggin' Out Puzzle & Play is designed with cats' natural instincts and movements in mind," said Pet Business' review. Pet Business is considered one of the most trusted trade media brands in the pet industry. Their Annual Industry Recognition Awards have celebrated innovation and ground-breaking design in pet since 2002. Originally unveiled at the 2020 Pet Expo, the Nina Ottosson by Petstages cat games have made a big impression on cat owners worldwide in less than one year since their release. As the first of their kind, Petstages cat games provide the necessary physical and mental stimulation cats crave. The Buggin' Out puzzle game, for example, offers 16 sliding pegs and swiveling leaves for cats to interact with. Beneath are 16 treats compartments eight on top and eight on bottom for feline discovery. The line of Nina Ottosson by Petstages cat games include the award-winning Buggin' Out Puzzle & Play game, as well as the Rainy Day Puzzle & Play and the Melon Madness Puzzle & Play. Each puzzle presents its own level of difficulty to exercise a cat's natural curiosity and foraging instincts. "We noticed on social media that many cats were using the dog games and the owners were tagging us," said Michael Parness, Outward Hound Chief Marketing Officer. Swedish dog trainer Nina Ottosson of Outward Hound designed the cat games after launching her dog games over 20 years ago and seeing the opportunity for cats, too. Nina's philosophy is that our pets "have four legs and one head, and all five need activity in different ways." Learn more about the award-winning cat puzzle on the Outward Hound blog. About OUTWARD HOUND Outward Hound is a Prospect Hill Growth Partners Portfolio Company that is an award-winning innovator, creator, manufacturer and distributor of the highest quality toys, games, gear and feeders for dogs and cats. Outward Hound is headquartered in Centennial, CO. For more, visit OutwardHound.com and follow @OutwardHound and @Petstages on Instagram. Contact: Michael Parness [email protected] 303-792-9600 SOURCE Outward Hound Related Links outwardhound.com A federal appellate court on Tuesday upheld the conviction of former U.S. Rep. Bob Bradys top political strategist, Ken Smukler, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2019 for repeated violations of campaign-finance law. In its ruling, a three judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit found that Smukler, 60, of Villanova, had coordinated what amounted to illegal campaign contributions to give clients, including Brady, an edge in two congressional races in 2012 and 2014. However, the circuit judges vacated his conviction on two of the seven counts of which he was found guilty, ruling that the trial judge had failed to properly instruct the jury on the level of proof required to show Smukler had known about the laws he was violating when he broke them. Those counts involved false statements the jury found Smukler caused two congressional candidates to make on campaign-finance filings to cover up the source of donations he helped to engineer. Their dismissal did not challenge the overall theory of the case prosecutors had presented at his trial or affect his 18-month sentence, which he finished serving last year. A political brawler who got his start serving as press secretary to Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr. in his 1987 reelection campaign, Smukler had cemented a reputation as one of the citys foremost political operatives before his conviction in 2019. He helped elect dozens of Democratic candidates to city, state, and federal office, and oversaw Bradys political messaging and strategy for more than a decade. Brady, the longtime chair of Philadelphias Democratic Party, narrowly avoided being charged himself in the case that landed Smukler in prison. It involved a $90,000 payoff he helped coordinate to persuade the congressmans 2012 primary challenger, former Municipal Court Judge Jimmie Moore, to withdraw from the race. Both Smukler and Brady maintained there was nothing illegal about the payment to Moore. But the jury found that the payment constituted an illegal campaign contribution. Smukler was also convicted in a separate scheme involving funds earmarked for a general election that he illegally spent while running former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Margolies 2014 primary campaign. Margolies lost to U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle in the Democratic primary. And jurors concluded that Smukler solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal donations to repay general election donors whose money had been misspent. He recruited straw donors, including Margolies herself, to hide the source of those funds. She later testified against Smukler at trial under a grant of immunity from prosecution. Having fully served his sentence, Smuklers attorney Peter Goldberger said in a statement on the Third Circuits ruling Tuesday, Mr. Smukler is ready to put this episode behind him and will have no further comment. A brand-new castle, described as being "inspired by the grandeur of European royalty," is headed for the auction block. The mansion on Moss Court in Granite Bay, CA, is scheduled for an online auction on March 15. For an idea of where the bidding might hover, the current list price on the place is $28 million. Located in an upscale suburb of Sacramento, Swan Lake Castle has six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and seven half-bathrooms on 15,400 square feet of living space. The nearly 5-acre property just north of Folsom Lake is filled with eye-catching details. Its like a Disney park, like a theme park, explains the listing agent, Vadim Eidemiller. It has three ponds, all kinds of fish, swanseverything. It has waterfalls with lights and music similar to Las Vegas. Theres also an intricate gazebo supported by eight classical-style statues, reached by a small footbridge. Exterior of Swan Lake Castle in Granite Bay, CA Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Fountains Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Gazebo Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Eidemiller says the castle took several years to build. It was built to commercial standards, but located in an area zoned residential. The current owners arent releasing a lot of information about the property. Many of the home's details aren't visible in the listing photos, and the owners would prefer to maintain the home's mystique. ___ Watch: Sacramento's Secret: Why This California Market Is No. 1 for 2021 ___ The sellers want to keep some features not exposed to the general public. They want to pre-screen people, because most likely, whoever is buying the property might be caring about their privacy, Eidemiller explains. Ceiling Vadim Eidemiller Windows Vadim Eidemiller Staircase Vadim Eidemiller Bathroom Vadim Eidemiller Bathtub Vadim Eidemiller Security door Vadim Eidemiller As a result, most folks can't see anything other than a few windows, ceilings, floors, a staircase, some bathroom fixtures, and a very secure door. Eidemiller claims that the castle is beautiful inside, built with true craftsmanship and wired with smart home features. Its difficult to describe, because everything so expensive and so high-end, he says. Its literally a castle. They took the design from some European castles. Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Construction on the castle began in 2012, putting to work a fleet of experts. [The owner] began his search for designers and craftsmen formerly schooled and trained in European architectures of the 17th and 18th centuries. His goal was to bring a piece of European royal luxury to Northern California, Eidemiller explains. [They] set about locating the craftsmen and artisans who could turn these plans into reality and who were up to the task of constructing the amenities, like the grand staircases, Gothic arches, domes, vaults, courtyards, and grand fireplaces, all built on a royal scale. The listing describes the master bedroom as having a balcony, walk-in closet, and wet bar. A basement features a theater, wine storage, and a workshop. There is also a garage with room for seven cars and open parking spaces for dozens more. Interior Vadim Eidemiller Interior Vadim Eidemiller Most of the construction was completed in the summer of 2020, and construction on the pool is finishing up now. Its not clear whether the interior is finished, but Eidemiller says the owners had a final permit signed off in 2019. Putting the castle on the auction block is a way to goose buyers into action, so that the owners can move on to other projects. Eidemiller tells us that the castle and the land are exceptional: "It truly is a home fit for European royalty. [The owner] built a home his royal forbears would be proud to live in. To see the finished creation is to fall in love with it." Interior Vadim Eidemiller Grounds Vadim Eidemiller Exterior Vadim Eidemiller The post Bidding Set To Take Flight on $28M Swan Lake Castle Near Sacramento appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Study suggests what makes prophesies, 'voice of God' unpredictable Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Before the 2020 presidential election, several evangelical self-styled prophets like Jeremiah Johnson predicted a win for former President Donald Trump after hearing what they thought was the voice of God. After the real estate moguls stunning defeat in November, Johnson apologized to believers for whom he might have caused to doubt the voice of God because of his failed prophesy while assuring them that God still speaks and is not a liar. I was wrong, I am deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness, he wrote. I specifically want to apologize to any believer in whom I have now caused potential doubt concerning the voice of God and His ability to speak to His people. As a human being, I missed what God was saying; however, rest assured, God Himself is NOT a liar and His written Word should always be the foundation and source of our lives as Christians. Researchers, in a new international study of religious traditions published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have now identified porosity and absorption as attributes that make individuals more likely to report spiritual encounters like hearing the voice of God, or other gods and spirits, suggesting why what some believe to be prophesies can be so unpredictable. Hearing the voice of God, feeling the presence of the dead, being possessed by a demonic spiritsuch events are among the most remarkable human sensory experiences. They change lives and in turn shape history, researchers wrote in the study, titled, Sensing the presence of gods and spirits across cultures and faiths. We argue that experiences of spiritual presence are facilitated by cultural models that represent the mind as porous, or permeable to the world, and by an immersive orientation toward inner life that allows a person to become absorbed in experiences. Porosity, according to lead researcher Stanford University anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann and her team, refers to ideas about how a person might receive thoughts, emotions, or knowledge directly from outside sources such as through divine inspiration, divination, telepathy, or clairvoyance. It also pertains to ideas about how thoughts and feelings might have a direct causal impact on the world such as through witchcraft, healing energy, or shamanic powers. Luhrmann and her team examined more than 2,000 participants from many different religious traditions in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China and Vanuatu through data from four separate studies. The term absorption in the study was used to refer to an individuals personal tendency to be engrossed in sensory or imagined events. People with a greater capacity for absorption tend to lose themselves in their sensory experiences and are capable of conjuring vivid imagined events. For example, they might get so caught up in music that they do not notice anything else, or they might feel that they experience the world the way they did as a child, the researchers explained. In the psychological literature, absorption is commonly considered to be a personality trait, although it may be sensitive to experience or training. Absorption, among U.S. adults, has been associated with an orientation toward fantasy and artistic pursuits, intense mystical experiences in response to psychedelics or placebo brain stimulation, and strong feelings of presence and transcendence when confronted with natural beauty, virtual reality, or music the researchers explained. Our work in an American charismatic Christian church found that congregants who reported more vivid experiences (e.g., that they experienced God in dialogue or heard Gods voice audibly) tended to score higher on measures of absorption, they said. These two attributes, researchers argued, played distinct roles in determining which people, in which cultural settings, were most likely to report vivid sensory experiences of what they took to be gods and spirits. And even among cultural groups, like charismatic evangelicals, for example, some people report experiencing such events while others do not because of the varying degrees of the attributes they share. Ethnographic work suggests that societies differ in the degree to which minds are represented as porous and that, within these societies, individuals differ in the degree to which they accept such models of mind, researchers wrote. Researchers found that participants in relatively more secular settings in the four studies combined, such as in the United States and urban China, reported fewer spiritual presence events, while participants in less secular settings like Ghana and Vanuatu, along with charismatic evangelical Christians in all countries reported more. Were now starting to think about ways that individuals could shift their mindsets and what ramifications that might have for their spiritual lives, postdoctoral fellow Kara Weisman, a co-first author on the paper said in a release from Stanford. Porosity is a social-cultural construct, and if you want to have a different cognitive model, you might join a community of people who have that. Absorption is more individual, so you might have individual practices, like meditation, that might create a shift, she added. Bennington, VT (05201) Today Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Periods of rain. Low 41F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. In context: Joy-Con drift has been a long-standing problem with the Nintendo Switch. While joystick drifting is not exclusive to Nintendo, it does seem to be more pronounced and frequent. The company has been aware of the defect for over three years but has done little to fix it aside from offering free repairs, which ultimately break down as well. On Wednesday, the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission against Nintendo. The France-based watchdog group claims it has received over 25,000 complaints regarding joystick drift in Nintendo's Joy-Con Controllers for the Switch. The BEUC claims that in 88 percent of reported cases, the defect manifested within two years of purchase, amounting to "premature obsolescence." "On behalf of consumer groups in affected countries, BEUC has submitted a complaint to the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities for premature obsolescence and misleading omissions of key consumer information (on the basis of the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive)," the BEUC said in a press release. Joy-Con drift has been a persistent problem since the Switch launched in March 2017. The first reports of faulty joysticks began showing up as early as November 2017. The defect is not isolated to the detachable Joy-Cons either. Drift in the Switch Lite joysticks and the Pro Controller also began emerging shortly after their release. Despite multiple on-going class-action lawsuits, Nintendo has been slow in addressing the problem. Apologies and free repairs do not solve the underlying issue, so the DEUC sent a letter to the EC urging it to open an investigation and press Nintendo to fix the defect. "Until then, the faulty game controllers should be repaired for free and consumers should be properly informed about the limited lifespan of this product," said the consumer group. The BEUC claims that Nintendo benefits from its negligence due to the "lock-in effect." Since third-party options are somewhat limited, consumers are locked into Nintendo's ecosystem, leaving them the choice of either buying another faulty product or waiting several weeks for a free repair. It is worth mentioning that contrary to the BEUC's claim, there are plenty of alternatives to Nintendo's controllers. For example, the Jalvde Wireless Joy Pad, which sells for $39, is a reliable replacement for those who like the detachable Joy-Cons, while the Esywen Wireless Controller is a decent Switch Pro Controller knock-off that retails for $23. image credit: Wachiwit Boynton Beach, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/27/2021 -- A leading Florida pediatric dentistry organization is encouraging all parents to return to pre-COVID dental schedules. A typical child should visit a dentist once every six months for an examination. Younger children should learn how to keep their smiles bright and free of decay. Older children/teenagers need routine cleanings, and some need consults for smile-straightening solutions like braces or Invisalign. Due to COVID-19, some parents have abandoned this schedule. Close to 80 percent of all dental practices closed their doors to all but emergency patients in March.* Most opened back up again, but some parents remain wary of regular visits. "We know parents are doing all they can to keep their children healthy," says Dr. Miller of Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics. "We want to encourage these parents to understand that visiting the dentist really is safe. And children absolutely need pediatric dentistry. It's not optional." During visits, dentists will conduct: - X-ray examinations. The photographs help dentists examine the health of your child's teeth as well as their growth and development. - Head and neck assessments. During the visit the dentist will exam the head and neck, to ensure everything is perfectly healthy. - Tooth and gum exam. Your child's dentist will look over all the teeth as well as the soft tissues (gums) in your child's mouth and develop plans to amend any issues. Routine cleanings are an important part of these regular visits. "Some parents think of baby teeth as disposable, and they don't worry about decay. Unfortunately, that's inaccurate," says Dr. Miller of Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics. "Cavities and infections in baby teeth can spread. Addressing the problem is critical. Even more important is learning how to prevent these problems all together." Children may also need early orthodontic help. Treating a child's jaw during the growth period could prevent some problems from forming. For example, widening the upper jaw could allow adult teeth to grow and thrive rather than crowding together. At Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, doctors can use a wide array of tools for these issues including the use of expanders, braces or Invisalign. Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics puts patient safety first. Masks and gloves are always used in patient care, and that's been true long before the pandemic hit. Treatment spaces are well ventilated to keep air moving and infectious particles away from small children. And every treatment space is thoroughly cleaned between patients. "We know that treatment is safe in our office, and we encourage parents to take action and make appointments now," Dr. Miller says. About Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics Miller Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics and Children's Dentistry of Coral Springs: Two offices are open to serve clients in Florida. Both are open Monday through Friday to see pediatric dentistry patients. Services include routine cleanings, restorative dentistry, special needs dentistry, and orthodontics. Both offices offer in person and virtual complimentary orthodontic consultations. Three dentists are available for appointments. * Source: The Journal of Healthcare Risk Management US steel scrap sellers have been locked in negotiations for sales to China this week amid a continued drop in global prices, industry sources told Fastmarkets. At least three major scrapyards in the US have been offering bulk shredded and plate & structural scrap (P&S) to China in the spot market this week, sources said. A US trading source told Fastmarkets that Chinese traders have been asking for offers for bulk cargoes from the US West Coast this week, in particular for shredded and bonus grade material. The developments mean that scrap trade flows from the US to China are resuming, following smaller bulk cargoes of P&S scrap sold from Japan to China in early January. Traders said a transaction involving shredded scrap in a deep-sea cargo from the US West Coast was heard sold at $430 per tonne cfr China on Tuesday January 26. But this could not be directly verified with parties involved in the deal at the time of publishing. Market sources in China said any such shipment would likely be at least 30,000 tonnes. "The transaction price is good for sellers but bad for buyers due to the current price downtrend," a buyer source in Southeast Asia said. Prices become more appealing for China The renewed interest in import cargoes by Chinese buyers, mostly heard to be major state-owned steel mills supporting the central government's push to use more ferrous scrap in steelmaking, follows price falls in international scrap markets. International scrap prices have become much more attractive for Chinese buyers in recent weeks with key buyers elsewhere in Asia cutting bid prices furiously. Fastmarkets' price assessment for steel scrap heavy scrap domestic, delivered mill China was 3,230-3,250 yuan ($499-502) per tonne on Friday January 22, widening upward by 10 yuan per tonne week on week. In contrast, the price assessment for steel scrap HMS 1&2 (80:20), cfr Vietnam, which is typically based on prices from the US and Australia, was $435-440 per tonne cfr on January 22, down by $38-40 per tonne week on week. Downtrend in Asian markets continues Sellers have been indicating to traders that they are willing to strike a deal at $430 per tonne cfr Vietnam on a HMS 1&2 (80:20) basis this week, down from $450 per tonne cfr last week. But buyers in South Korea were only willing to consider prices of $415 per tonne cfr for HMS 1&2 (80:20) by January 22, following a slump in Japanese prices last week. A buyer in South Korea was heard to have purchased 10,000 tonnes of H2 scrap in a tender at 36,480 ($352) per tonne fob Japan on Tuesday, which was more than 3,000 per tonne lower than the previous Korean bid for similar material. In Taiwan, a major steel mill has cut domestic scrap purchase prices by NT$1,000 ($35.70) per tonne this week, while major Japanese mini-mill Tokyo Steel slashed its prices twice this week after cutting prices three times earlier in January. "Given the tremendous increase in prices seen in December, it's likely that prices will fall further," a Taiwanese buyer source told Fastmarkets on Tuesday. Vietnamese buyers said they received offers as low as $400 per tonne cfr Vietnam for bulk Japanese H2 and at $420 per tonne cfr Vietnam for bulk Japanese HS from traders by Wednesday morning. This is a fall of $15-20 per tonne from Tuesday, when offers for H2 were heard at $415-420 per tonne cfr Vietnam. Market sources expect China's looming presence in the ferrous scrap market to continue supporting scrap demand, especially with imports in the region growing year on year in 2020. Jessica Zong in Shanghai contributed to this report. Explore the six macro-economic and steel-specific dynamics set to rebalance the Asia steel and scrap market in 2021. Please read our full report Asia Steel and Scrap: Six Key Forces in 2021 today. Gain critical information on the demand drivers shaping the iron ore sector, including Chinese steelmaking and production forecasts in 2021 and beyond. Click here to register for the two-day virtual event Global Iron Ore 2021, to access all the related reports, news, and information free on demand. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! ROCHESTER, Minn. Police made use of a Community Outreach Specialist for a mental health situation Tuesday. Around 2:30 pm, officers were sent to the 100 block of North Broadway on the report of an aggressive male subject who was off his medication. Rochester police requested the assistance of an Olmsted County Community Outreach Specialist. According to the police department, officers arrived to find the male subject in the kitchen of a nearby restaurant. The man reportedly emerged, behaving aggressively and trying to hide two knives behind his back. Police say they used a less lethal impact device to disarm the man and no one was injured in the incident. The Community Outreach Specialist then accompanied the subject as he was taken to St. Marys. Brexit has dealt a blow to Andrew Duff's business. His burgeoning sales of high end Scottish beef to Europe are on hold because his business is too small to navigate the post-Brexit customs border for now. The 32-year-old had been on the verge of expanding the family business, using his social media marketing skills to promote the rare beef that has been reared on farms across the Scottish lowlands and borders for centuries. Instead his Macduff business is now one of thousands across Britain that lack the financial firepower to throw at the myriad health checks, customs declarations and higher logistics costs that are required to export goods into the European Union. "With these customers it takes years to build the relationship and get them on board, and it can take seconds to lose," said Duff, whose clients include an award-winning butcher in Germany and a Michelin-starred restaurant in Belgium. "Luckily January is a quiet month. Come February, March, if the situation is still the same then it could be problematic," he told Reuters. Far from the dire warnings of clogged ports and tailbacks that preceded the departure, Brexit so far has seen factories and fishermen unable to complete paperwork and get the goods off their yard. Many still do not know which forms need completing. Different couriers give different answers. Expand Close Beef cattle feed indoors on a farm near Biggar, Scotland, Britain January 22, 2021. Picture taken January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Beef cattle feed indoors on a farm near Biggar, Scotland, Britain January 22, 2021. Picture taken January 22, 2021. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne The government has said it is helping businesses deal with the "teething problems". It has urged exporters to make sure their paperwork is in order and said it will give 23 million pounds ($31 million) to fishermen who have lost sales due to delivery delays. Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that Britain would be free to trade globally once it had cast off the shackles of the EU. But his pursuit of a relationship that enables Britain to set its own rules means those firms trading with Europe face a full customs border. Hardest-hit are the small companies that built up during Britain's 47-year membership of the world's biggest trading bloc to sell often low-priced product that was couriered at speed across the continent. Almost half of 2018's 76 billion pounds in exports to the EU from small and medium sized enterprises came from firms employing fewer than 9 people. BREXIT RED TAPE Where a huge meat or fish producer can fill one truck with one product and complete one set of customs paperwork, Duff sources top quality cattle from a selection of farms. His goods - bone-in pieces from Shorthorn and Luing breeds - are sent on a truck carrying products from other suppliers, a process known as groupage. Now a vet-approved health certificate is required for each firm's goods, meaning potentially up to 30 per truck. One fish exporter said he needed over 400 pages of export documentation for one EU-bound lorry. One error can block delivery. Duff's transport company have said they are struggling as it is to help big customers, so groupage must wait. He is also worried about prices, knowing that he cannot absorb all the costs of customs declarations, longer logistics times and the health certificates. Logistics bosses believe Brexit could force a shake-out in trade. Truck volumes between Britain and the EU were on average down 29% in the first 20 days of the year, according to data firm Sixfold. Logistics groups say some trucks are returning empty to Europe to avoid export paperwork. Prices are rising. One of those caught up in the bureaucracy is Sarah Braithwaite, who worked 16-hour days to build a horse feed firm that until Jan. 1 was selling into 20 European countries. This month her stock has failed to get to Europe or been rejected by customers over unexpected customs bills and taxes. Her Forage Plus has halted European orders - making up to 30% of her sales - and is refunding 40,000 pounds to customers. Braithwaite says her business is too small to build a presence in Europe to overcome the new barriers. "The trade that we've got now wouldn't support the cost of setting all that up," she said. Both she and Duff are hopeful that exports can resume once the new system has bedded in but nerves are frayed. In desperation Braithwaite called the UK government for help. The message she got back: ring the French embassy. Lawyers for Ryanair and its CEO, Michael OLeary, have blasted attempts by an Alabama pension fund to extend the scope of document discovery as far back as 20 years. They've accused the funds legal team of serving blunderbuss document requests in a case that has its roots in a pilot rostering debacle at the airline in 2017. The Alabama fund sued Ryanair and Mr OLeary in 2018, claiming they had made false and misleading statements to shareholders regarding employment issues at the airline. In late 2017, Ryanair dramatically said it would recognise trade unions. The pension fund alleged that increased costs as a result of unionisation at Ryanair, as well as lower profits, wiped out millions in shareholder value. The claims have been strenuously rejected by Ryanair and Mr OLeary. Read More Last summer, a New York court said many of the complaints made against the airline and its boss by the pension fund didnt have any actionable basis. This court has limited plaintiffs claims to a single, overarching theory of liability: that defendants allegedly downplayed the likelihood that Ryanair would recognise externally organised unions for the purposes of labour negotiations, while purportedly knowing that recognition was likely or imminent, noted Ryanairs and Mr OLearys lawyers in a fresh submission to the court as the pension fund seeks extensive document discovery. Notwithstanding the decision, plaintiffs later served blunderbuss document requests seeking discovery on many of the topics that were explicitly dismissed and for time periods that are not relevant to the remaining claim, their lawyers added. After December 15, 2017, no investor could have been misled by any statements that Ryanair would not recognise unions because Ryanair plainly announced on that date that it would do so, they have insisted. The lawyers said the pension fund for fire officers and police officers in the city of Birmingham, Alabama, has now insisted that it is entitled to documents stretching back as far as 1997, more than 20 years prior to the period in which plaintiffs have alleged fraud and well outside the time period likely to be even marginally relevant to plaintiffs claims. That extraordinarily broad request should be denied, the lawyers for Ryanair and Mr OLeary have urged the court, adding that the 20-year-old documentation sought would be considered ancient under Federal rules of evidence. Even if such dated documents could have some marginal relevance to defendants state of mind during the class period 20 years later, such an overbroad time period is fundamentally out of line with the needs of this case, as evidenced by numerous decisions limiting discovery to significantly shorter time periods, they added. The lawyers for the Alabama pension fund want access to all documents and communications regarding Michael OLearys public statements concerning the likelihood that Ryanair would recognise unions during his tenure at Ryanair. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Geneva, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :The United Nations appealed Wednesday for $100 million to help it boost support for refugees fleeing escalating conflicts and crises in Africa who embark on risky migration routes to Europe. The UN refugee agency voiced deep concern over swelling displacement from conflicts in Africa's Sahel region, as well as in the continent's east. This, it said, was driving more people to attempt deadly crossings of the Mediterranean Sea towards Europe, resulting in at least 1,064 deaths along the central and western crossing routes last year alone. "UNHCR is seeking just over $100 million to enhance refugee protection in African countries en route to the Mediterranean," the agency said in a statement. "Offering safe and viable alternatives to the perilous journeys marred by abuse and deaths is the critical priority."Violence across the Sahel region, which stretches from Senegal through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Sudan, has forced around 2.9 million people to flee their homes, according to UN figures. "With no prospects for peace and stability in the region, further displacement is highly likely," it warned, stressing that "many continue to attempt risky sea journeys to Europe." Jeff Bezos is asking his girlfriend's brother to pay his $1.7 million legal fees, after successfully defending a defamation lawsuit. Bezos, the world's richest person with a net worth of $193 billion according to Forbes, was sued by Michael Sanchez in February 2019. Sanchez, a Hollywood talent agent, 54, accused Bezos, 57, and his security consultant, Gavin de Becker, of damaging his reputation by telling journalists that he had leaked naked photos to The National Enquirer. In November Judge John P. Doyle of the Los Angeles County Superior Court dismissed the case, saying Sanchez's allegations were relying heavily on hearsay. Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are seen in January 2020. Their relationship was revealed by The National Enquirer in January 2019 Michael Sanchez, a Hollywood talent agent, was the source of the report, AMI said Bezos, in his court filings, said he never accused Sanchez of leaking the photos. On Friday the Amazon founder - who is in a back-and-forth rally with Elon Musk for the title of world's richest person - requested that Sanchez pay his legal fees. Under a Californian law known as the anti-SLAPP statute, a victorious defendant is entitled to have their legal costs reimbursed by the plaintiff. Bezos in his Friday filing said that Sanchez betrayed his sister, and him, by selling their private communications to the tabloid for $200,000. Bezos accused him of then doubling down by filing a lawsuit, intended to harass Bezos into a settlement 'by threatening discovery and public disclosure of private matters.' Sanchez's lawyer, Tom Warren, told Bloomberg - which first reported Friday's filing - that the billionaire's request was 'grotesque'. 'Mr Bezos's fee request is obscene, even grotesque, on many levels,' he said. In November, Warren said that Sanchez intended to appeal Judge Doyle's ruling. 'We respectfully disagree with the trial court's ruling and look forward to vindicating Mr Sanchez's claims on appeal,' he said at the time. It was unclear whether they still intended to appeal. Patrick Whitesell, Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos at a Hollywood party in December 2016 Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos at the Vanity Fair post-Oscars party in March 2018 The remarkable family rift began in January 2019, when the tabloid magazine revealed the affair between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, who were both still married at the time - although she was separated from her husband, Hollywood talent-agent executive Patrick Whitesell. On January 9 Bezos and his then-wife, MacKenzie, parents to four children, announced they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. The Enquirer's next print edition wasn't scheduled for publication for several days, and its editors, according to The Wall Street Journal, rushed the Bezos story online that night and into print with a headline: 'BEZOS' DIVORCE! THE CHEATING PHOTOS THAT ENDED HIS MARRIAGE.' The magazine printed text messages and photos of the pair out in public, but not the nude photos. Donald Trump, who has a long-running fury at Bezos for his newspaper, The Washington Post, and his business, tweeted on January 13: 'So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post.' Bezos asked de Becker to look into who leaked the text messages. The CEO of the paper's parent company AMI, David Pecker, was enraged by the investigation, and emailed Bezos - via de Becker's attorney - on February 5, 2019, threatening to publish ten nude and otherwise personal photos unless the investigation into the source of the images was called off. Bezos on February 7, 2019, called Pecker's bluff and published the email in full, saying he refused to be blackmailed. Sanchez vehemently insisted that he had not leaked the photos, telling The Washington Post on February 29, 2019 he had not passed the pictures to AMI. 'I never in a million years would be able to give Jeff's [naked] pix to AMI because I never had them,' he said. 'If AMI has them, they came from others. Period.' Sanchez has insisted he did not supply the ten naked and otherwise personal photos Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos have aggressively investigated The National Enquirer Sanchez did not deny that he had handed the couples' text messages to the magazine, however, and told The Post that he refused to 'dignify' with a response 'baseless smears' that he provided the texts. Sanchez claimed that federal investigators found he had no case to answer regarding the leaked images. 'Once the FBI and Amazon's own investigators cleared me of ever possessing the pictures used to blackmail Jeff, I thought I'd get a private apology, at a minimum,' he said. 'But Jeff and Lauren haven't looked back. 'I've been thrown under the bus. Sadly, it's likely the next time I see them will be in court.' Lauren and Michael Sanchez, raised in New Mexico, used to be close allies and friends AMI put out a public statement in March 2019 saying that it was Sanchez who tipped them off to the affair and 'provided all the materials' for the investigation. Sanchez admitted in his lawsuit that he 'helped' the story in an effort to control the narrative about his sister's relationship. In March 2020 Sanchez filed another suit, this one against AMI, accusing them too of defaming him. Sanchez argued that it was Saudi Arabians who hacked Bezos's phone and leaked the photos, in retaliation for The Washington Post's aggressive reporting on the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. AMI have dismissed the case as being ridiculous. 'The filing by Mr Sanchez is his latest attempt to ignore the truth and rewrite history,' they said in a statement. 'The fact, as we have maintained throughout, is that Mr Sanchez sold the National Enquirer the story about his sister's secret affair and was the sole source for its reporting. 'His frivolous lawsuit underscores what his true motivation is, his own greed.' San Francisco, Jan 27 : Amazon is among the companies disputing SpaceX's request to bring some of its Starlink satellites to altitudes lower than originally planned. This led SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to accuse Amazon of trying to "hamstring" Starlink Internet. "It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation," Musk said in a tweet on Tuesday. Amazon's Project Kuiper has the aim of delivering fast, affordable broadband through a constellation of over 3,000 low Earth orbit satellites. SpaceX's Starlink project has similar goals as it plans to deliver high-speed Internet through a network of about 12,000 satellites. While SpaceX has already put over 1,000 of its Starlink satellites in orbit and has even begun initial beta testing, Amazon is yet to launch any satellites. SpaceX is trying to persuade the US Federal Communications Commission officials that the company should be allowed to move some of its Starlink satellites to lower altitudes. Amazon has argued that allowing SpaceX to do so would "hamstring" competition among satellite systems. "The facts are simple. We designed the Kuiper System to avoid interference with Starlink, and now SpaceX wants to change the design of its system," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. "Those changes not only create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space, but they also increase radio interference for customers. "Despite what SpaceX posts on Twitter, it is SpaceX's proposed changes that would hamstring competition among satellite systems. It is clearly in SpaceX's interest to smother competition in the cradle if they can, but it is certainly not in the public's interest," the statement added. (Newser) The first private space station crew was introduced Tuesday: Three men who are each paying $55 million to fly on a SpaceX rocket. They'll be led by a former NASA astronaut now working for Axiom Space, the Houston company that arranged the trip for next January. "This is the first private flight to the International Space Station. Its never been done before," said Axiom's chief executive and president Mike Suffredini, a former space station program manager for NASA. While mission commander Michael Lopez-Alegria is well known in space circles, "the other three guys are just people who want to be able to go to space, and were providing that opportunity," Suffredini tells the AP. The first crew will spend eight days at the space station, and will take one or two days to get there aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule following liftoff from Cape Canaveral. story continues below Axiom's first customers include Larry Connor, a real estate and tech entrepreneur from Ohio, Canadian financier Mark Pathy, and Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, a close friend of Israel's first astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed in the space shuttle Columbia accident in 2003. "These guys are all very involved and doing it for kind of for the betterment of their communities and countries, and so we couldnt be happier with this makeup of the first crew because of their drive and their interest," Suffredini says. Each of these first paying customers intends to perform science research in orbit, he says, along with educational outreach. Each of the private astronauts had to pass medical tests and will get 15 weeks of training, according to Suffredini. (Read more space tourism stories.) New Delhi: The Bhartiya Kisan Union blamed the Delhi Police and the local administration for the violence during farmers' tractor rally at the national capital on Tuesday (January 26, 2021) because some of the earmarked spots were not barricaded. The BKU said the farmers were following the route that had been agreed for the tractor march, but at some places, the route was not earmarked with barricades which confused the farmers. They blamed the Delhi Police and local administration for the violence on Tuesday. Spokesperson of BKU Rakesh Tikait said that the people who hoisted the flag on Red Fort were affiliated with the BJP. Tikait alleged that it was consipiracy and even claimed that some of those protesters have photos with the PM while one identified person is Sunny Deol's representative. Tikait said the Centre, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh administrations failed to stop the violence and even said that other political parties tried to incite violence. He insisted that people from the farmer unions were not a part of the incident. In an official statement it said: "The BKU strongly condemns the unpleasant incidents (violence) fuelled by some undesirable elements. We also express regrets at what happened today." It however added that it holds the Delhi Police and the local administration responsible for the violence. In the wake of violence in the national capital following the farmers' tractor rally, the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has decided to deploy additional paramilitary troops in Delhi to restore peace and maintain law and order. On Tuesday, hundreds of protesting farmers barrelled through police barricades to enter Red Fort, ITO and other areas. They were wielding sticks and clubs and holding the tricolour and union flags they even clashed with police Meanwhile, additional paramilitary personnel will be deployed in Delhi to restore peace and maintain law and order. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava among others. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. Live TV Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in the Russian capital Jan. 26, where he is scheduled to sit down with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov to exchange views on a wide array of regional and international topics. Upon landing in Moscow, Zarif told reporters about special circumstances after the departure of former US president Donald Trump from the White House, a development which the Iranian foreign minister said requires Iran and Russia to coordinate their policies. After the US pullout from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has been relying significantly on Russia as its key ally among the remaining signatories. To this end, Zarif has been visiting Moscow more frequently than ever in the past two years in an effort to secure Russian support to salvage the accord. According to the Iranian foreign minister, Syria is also part of the agenda in his talks with Russian officials. Both the Islamic Republic and the Russian Federation have been present in Syria to shore up their ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Yet the two sides have also been in a covert rivalry over who calls the shots on the ground in the battle against armed groups in the Syria conflict. Zarifs visit came as part of a Caucasus tour, which took him to Azerbaijan in the first leg. Irans top diplomat is expected also to discuss with Russians the regional situation after the September Nagorno-Karabakh war which occurred right on Irans northwestern doorsteps. Boosting regional alliances has been persistently followed by Iran in the past three years as an approach to mitigate the economic losses and the political pressure imposed on it during the Trump presidency. In his Russia trip, Zarif will also be seeking to form a six-party cooperation union involving regional Iran and Caucasus nations. Apart from the regional and international developments, Zarifs visit to Russia coincided with speculations about alleged Russian efforts to manipulate the June presidential vote in Iran. Are the Russians deciding our president? tweeted senior Reformist figure Abdollah Ramezanzadeh. The question was sparked by another report, which revealed that the Russian ambassador in Tehran has been unusually holding at least nine meetings with Iranian lawmaker during only eight months following the inauguration of the new Iranian parliament. During the same period, the report adds, a top advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has sat down with the head of the Russian-Iran friendship group in Tehran seven times. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Heather Mewshaw in a video on the Hands of Liberty Facebook page ((Hands of Liberty - Facebook)) President Joe Bidens American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter reportedly manages a pro-Trump Facebook group that provides sign language accompaniments to right-wing videos. ASL interpreter Heather Mewshaw was introduced by press secretary Jen Psaki as todays interpreter, Heather on Monday, as the administration announced it would be adding a sign language interpreter to its daily press briefings. However, on Wednesday, Time magazine reported that Ms Mewshaw manages the Hands of Liberty Facebook page, which has featured ASL interpreters providing sign language accompaniments to videos featuring former President Donald Trump and his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. Ms Mewshaw, who was pictured in a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat in some of the pages videos, provided interpretation to clips featuring misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine, the Capitol riots and November 2020s presidential election. Read more: Follow live updates on the Biden administration One video Ms Mewshaw features in is titled: WHAT REALLY HAPPENED On January 6th? while another is called: Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President elect. In a video on 20 January titled Thank You President Trump From the Right Side ASL Team! which was posted just five days before she was introduced as an ASL interpreter for the Biden administration, Ms Mewshaw wore a MAGA hat and signed to Mr Trump dancing to YMCA, according to Time. The Facebook group was originally known as Right Side ASL before it was taken down by the social media platform in November. In a post announcing the end of the page, titled admin update, Ms Mewshaw was featured signing in ASL. According to Time, a comment on the post was addressed to Heather and was responded to by the pages administrator. The page later resurfaced as Hands of Liberty, but then appeared to be deleted from Facebook after Time contacted the page for comment on Ms Mewshaws involvement. Before the page was taken down, a disclaimer read: This isn't our original video. Hands of Liberty provides, upon request, ASL interpreting accommodations to the Deaf community for inaccessible online video content. This service is provided by volunteers. Story continues Although the page took requests from the public, Time reported that the videos volunteers chose to interpret, except for the most recent White House press conferences, featured Mr Trump or far-right speakers. A petition to have Ms Mewshaw removed from ASL Interpreting for the White House, has reached close to 1,1000 signatures at the time of writing. Ms Psaki announced on Monday that the president wants an ASL interpreter to become a regular part of the re-instituted news conferences. It will be the first time in history that a sign language interpreter has been added to the daily briefing. Governors in all 50 states already provide sign language interpretation for their public briefings. Speaking about the inclusion of an ASL interpreter on Monday, Ms Psaki said that President Biden is committed to building an America that is more inclusive, more just and more accessible for every American, including Americans with disabilities and their families. The Independent has contacted the White House and a representative of Ms Mewshaw for comment. Read More Biden is about to repeat one of Obamas biggest blunders Biden to have sign interpreter at every press briefing Bridgerton has captivated audiences everywhere thanks to its perfect combination of period drama and lighthearted comedy. Its Shonda Rhimes first show for Netflix as part of her multi-year deal with the streaming giant, and it has already become one of the companys biggest shows to date. The Bridgerton family on Netflixs Bridgerton | Liam Daniel/Netflix 2020 Bridgerton has a TV first One of the first things viewers notice about the world of Bridgerton is that it portrays 19th-century England as a racially diverse society, unlike what most people have come to know. Most notable is the fact that for the first time in on-screen history, Queen Charlotte is played by a Black woman. Longtime theatre actor Golda Rosheuvel captures everything about her regal character while injecting it with her own unique personality. The experience was emotional for Rosheuvel, who told Insider that seeing more actors of color in period dramas was long overdue. Its so empowering for an actress, she admitted, to have that background and that feeling that a person in the 1800s could have been fighting for her people and could have been fighting for representation. Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton | Liam Daniel/Netflix 2020 Golda Rosheuvel wasnt born in the UK Despite building a career over the past two decades in London, Rosheuvel wasnt born anywhere in the UK or anywhere in Europe, for that matter. She recently spoke about her early life in an interview with supermodel Naomi Campbell for her web show No Filter with Naomi. Rosheuvel was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1970. At the time, Guyana had only become independent from British colonial rule a few years prior. As a country, Guyana has a diverse population of people hailing from all over the world, including Black descendants of slaves, Indian descendants of indentured servants, and several Indigenous groups. Despite this, interracial marriages were frowned upon both in Guyana and around the world at the time, which is why Rosheuvels parents love story is so inspiring to her. I remember my parents being in love, Rosheuvel reminisced. My parents left me very, very grounded. Both me and my brother have good heads on our shoulders and good feet on the earth, and Im so proud to call them my mother and father. Rosheuvel went on to describe the hardship that they faced as a young couple and how it affected how she grew up to see the world and them. [I]n Guyana, thats the feeling that I always had with my parents: of being super, super proud of their journey, of their struggle, being a mixed-race couple back in the day. It wasnt easy for them. Golda Rosheuvel attends the press night after party for The American Clock at Baltic on February 13, 2019 in London, England | David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images RELATED: Bridgerton: Julie Andrews Said This About Her Character Lady Whistledown Golda Rosheuvels parents met in an endearing way In the 1960s, Rosheuvels father was a Church of England priest, and as a result, was musically talented across several instruments. That love of music is what brought her parents together. According to Guyanese publication Stabroek News, her father, Siegfried Rosheuvel, was in Barbados for a music event. It was there where met the niece of the Bishop of Barbados at the time, Judith Evans. They married in Guyana where her father was doing his missionary work and moved around several times before going to the UK when she was 5 years old. They had a love of so many things, Rosheuvel recalled. They met in Barbados singing in a choir together. And they stood next to each other, and my mom tells this story of how my dad started to sing, and that was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. So that kind of ignited the flame of love, I suppose, she smiled. While were still waiting on Netflixs Pacific Rim anime series, the streaming service has announced that its also working on anime versions of Tomb Raider and Skull Island. Netflix is working with Legendary Television on all of those upcoming shows, and it follows a slew of anime announcements, including a Cyberpunk 2077 series, and a Resident Evil CG show (if you can call that anime). Gotta keep the weeb contingent happy, right? Netflix says the Tomb Raider series will follow the events of Square Enixs recent reboot trilogy, which leaves the door wide open for stories following a young Lara Croft. Itll be executive produced by Tasha Huo, who also worked on The Witcher: Blood Origin and Red Sonja. The Skull Island series, naturally, is based on the recent Kong film. Itll follow a shipwrecked group who finds themselves stuck on an island filled with monsters and, you guessed it, one big ape. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Our government absolutely believes that with these new variants out there, now is the time to impose further restrictions to toughen up at the border, and thats what were going to do. JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. "Our government absolutely believes that with these new variants out there, now is the time to impose further restrictions to toughen up at the border, and thats what were going to do." Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in an interview with BNN Bloomberg "These measures are necessary to protect us from a more deadly version of the coronavirus that is not, as some would sadly hope, a short-term thing." Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Premier Brian Pallister announces that the Manitoba government is amending public health orders to put formal restrictions on interprovincial travel to protect Manitobans from COVID-19 and to help prevent importation of possible variants to COVID-19. Now anyone entering Manitoba from anywhere in Canada will be required to self-isolate for 14 days. This includes those entering from northern and Western Canada, and from west of Terrace Bay in Ontario, which under previous health orders did not require self-isolation. The threat of new COVID-19 variants that have been found in both the U.K. and South Africa have prompted both the Trudeau and Pallister federal and provincial governments to impose further restrictions for travellers coming into the country and into our province. Yet the phrase "better late than never" may not fit here, as we wont really know for a few weeks if these new measures will prove effective. In some parts of the country, its already too late. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Manitobans to cancel any travel plans they may have, as he hinted at new travel restrictions on the way that are necessary to keep the number of COVID-19 infections low. Though Canada has had a ban on non-essential travel into the country by anyone who isnt a citizen or permanent resident since March, the country until now has not easily stopped Canadians themselves from travelling in and out of the country. As CBC reported, most people who return from abroad must quarantine for two weeks, and they face financial penalties or jail if they dont. And as of Jan. 7, all those who enter the country must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before their arrival in Canada. But with the new variants, such as the one in the U.K. that studies have shown to be at least 30 per cent more deadly, the federal government is planning to put firmer travel measures in place. Though both Trudeau and his deputy, Chrystia Freeland, did not give precise details of what those restrictions will look like, Freeland did state that asking Canadians to cancel their travel plans would have an impact on the already beleaguered airline industry. "We recognize that these additional travel restrictions and the fact that the government is saying directly to Canadians do not travel now has implications for our conversation with airlines," Freeland said yesterday. That the federal government is in the planning stages for stronger travel measures came as welcome news to Premier Brian Pallister, who joined the Ontario government in calling upon the feds to implement stricter border controls. Earlier in the day, Ontario issued a statement asking for "mandatory testing of all incoming international passengers and a temporary ban on direct flights from countries where new variants are detected." Until this week, Manitoba residents who had travelled to provinces within Western Canada or to parts of northwestern Ontario (west of Terrace Bay) have been exempt from the self-isolation requirements when they returned to Manitoba if they had not travelled outside of Western Canada or northwestern Ontario and are not displaying any symptoms of COVID-19. In March, the Pallister government had initially demanded travellers coming into Manitoba from any location beyond our borders to self-isolate for two weeks. And ever since the province relaxed those travel restrictions last summer, there have been calls from wary Brandon and Westman residents for the province to bring back the previously stricter measures. As of Friday, these individuals will have their wish. Though there will be exemptions for people who travel for essential interprovincial work, for medical purposes and for those who live along the border of Manitoba here in Westman and regularly travel into Saskatchewan for essential purposes, the message from the premier was clear "travel is strongly discouraged." This is not the news that weary Manitobans wanted to hear. Even as restrictions lessened over the weekend for some businesses within our province, these new self-isolation measures are a harbinger of a likely fight to come. Part of the problem is that new variants of the coronavirus are already here in Canada. Just last week in Ontario, the U.K. variant was blamed for a large outbreak at Torontos Roberta Place long-term care home that infected dozens of workers as well as residents, and that as of yesterday had already claimed the lives of 45 people. For all we know, its already here in Manitoba. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning An influential American pastor revealed about the prevailing culture of "superficial Christianity" and the internet's exposure of the Christians whom he called as "phonies." Pastor John MacArthur said that some of the country's biggest churches made much money by supporting a culture of corrupt "superficial Christianity" but the internet is now making it more difficult for "phonies" to survive. He added that the combination of the current pandemic and ministry's technological shift has resulted to "sifting and shifting." The pastor declared this statement to the congregants of Grace Community Church in California during his return to the pulpit after a brief absence, The Christian Post reported. "We had for decades, people trying to create a cultural Christianity that would appeal to nonbelievers, that was accepting of immorality, accepting of homosexuality, accepting of racial hatred. There was a kind of superficial, shallow Christianity that watered down the Gospel, didn't talk about sin, tried to have a positive message. And it was very successful. And I get it because I fought that battle well for almost all the time I've been here." The pastor stated that it was tough for him to call on the church to repent because "superficial Christianity made a lot of money" and "elevated a lot of charlatans." "It was successful. The biggest churches in America are part of it. It was very hard to call people to faithfulness when you could be so corrupt and so successful in Christian religion. That was the battle. Now I think there's a sifting and a shifting." "First of all, phonies are going to have a hard time hiding with the internet. We're seeing one after another after another. Dead ones and alive ones. This dead apologist had a deviant sex life. This cool dude rock and roll pastor was immoral with multiple women for years and years," he further said. MacArthur implied about the late apologist Ravi Zacharias and former Hillsong pastor Carl Lentz who are both embroiled in sexual misconduct controversies. The pastor also stated that he has managed to keep his church open despite government-mandated restrictions, court actions and fines to close the church during the pandemic. He also called out major media companies and "ungodly bloggers" who tried to discredit the church. He contended for the church's legal right to continue holding worship services in spite of the fines they faced each Sunday which he said had only made the congregation thrived. "In the middle of the lawsuit, the Lord has grown our church. So this was a very small tiny local church until COVID. One thousand new members, baptisms. Did you hear the testimonies in baptism Sunday night? There's a new evangelical term. I love it. It's 'Grace refugees'. It's the people who had no other church to go to so they came here as church refugees," Macarthur stated further. He said that he will take everyone in, in his church. He also revealed that people all across the country have flown and driven just to worship with them every Sunday. The pastor concluded his statement by saying that some of the congregants came, not just because it was the only church open, but that it was a church that presents the Gospel and the Word of God. Aside from being a pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church, MacArthur is also a conference speaker, an author, Grace to You media ministry's featured teacher and the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University and Seminary, his church website says. Toyota South Africa has launched the all-new Toyota Agya to capture a bigger share of the country's small car market. Credits: Appealing to those drivers who want an affordable vehicle offering as standard the features not normally found in a smaller car, the Agya specifically targets a younger audience buying their first car.Because the Toyota Agya has a lot more to offer than people expect of an entry level car, the FCB Joburg team of Executive Creative Director Tian van den Heever, Creative Director Julie Thorogood, Art Director Leesha Harington and Copywriter Matthew Shafto opted to position it as a big deal for a small car.Seeing as the Toyota Agya has a number of features not typically associated with a small car, we decided not to speak about it like a small car. Instead, we introduced the Agya in the same way that people are typically introduced to luxury, high-end vehicles... but with a bit of a twist, said van den Heever.In line with well specced luxury cars, which are always featured gliding through winding mountain passes with ease, our commercial opens in a very similar way to draw in the viewer and make them believe that they are watching a commercial for a new luxury sports car.Grand music and a voice-over detailing the features of this new car are interrupted midway when we reveal the car is actually a compact hatch. And then the driver starts conversing directly with the voice-over explaining that all those features are in fact available in the new Toyota Agya.You can view the TVC here:The campaign comprises above-the-line, digital and social, out-of-home, print and below-the-line (print collateral in dealerships).We kicked off with a social media teaser campaign to get people guessing what Toyota would be launching in the next few weeks, explained van den Heever.The posts featured extreme close-ups of the sleek design of the body work coupled with some of the feature highlights. This really served to point the target audience in the wrong direction and ensure the reveal of the Toyota Agya and its tremendous features really grabbed their attention, he said.Client: Toyota South AfricaBrand: Toyota AgyaGlenn Crompton - Toyota South Africa Vice President: MarketingLettie Labuschagne - Toyota South Africa General Manager: MarketingTasneem Lorgat - Toyota South Africa Senior Advertising ManagerBrand manager: Toyota South Africa Advertising ManagerCreative agency: FCB JoburgGroup Chief Executive: Brett MorrisExecutive Creative Director: Tian van den HeeverCreative Director: Julie ThorogoodBusiness Unit Director: Struan de Bellelay-BourquinCopywriter: Matthew ShaftoArt director: Leesha HaringtonCommunication Strategic planner: Lara ChatzkelowitzDigital Strategic planner: Langelihle SitholeProject Manager: Shiraz MckenzieAccount Lead: Sibusiso ZondoTV Producer: Nakita Bolus Khachatrian, who served as finance minister in former President Serzh Sarkisians administration, and his nephew went on trial in August one year after being arrested on corruption charges denied by them. Law-enforcement authorities brought separate corruption charges against his two sons earlier in 2020. The latter went into hiding in May and remain on the run. One of the sons, Gurgen Khachatrian, is the chairman of Ucom, a leading Armenian telecommunication operator controlled by the ex-ministers extended family. In an April 2020 statement, Gurgen claimed that high-ranking officials have threatened to arrest him if the family refuses to sell its 77 percent stake in Ucom at a knockdown price. Pashinians press secretary, Mane Gevorgian, responded by describing Gagik Khachatrian as a corrupt former official who had made a huge fortune while serving as finance minister from 2014-2016 and holding senior positions in the Armenian tax and customs services in the preceding decades. According to the Armenian governments information, Gagik Khachatrian and his sons headed a corrupt mafia system that had long operated in Armenia, as a result of which they accumulated illegal wealth worth several hundred million dollars, Gevorgian wrote on Facebook. The prime ministers position is that this loot must be returned to the state in full. Gevorgian said relevant authorities will allow the Khachatrians to sell their Ucom stake only if they agree to transfer all proceeds from such a deal to the government. The Khachatrian family condemned Gevorgians post as slanderous and demanded an apology in a subsequent defamation suit. The Yerevan court of first instance ruled on Tuesday that the prime ministers spokeswoman violated the Khachatrians honor and dignity and must state on her Facebook page that Pashinian apologizes to them. It also ordered Pashinians office to pay 508,000 drams (about $1,000) in damages to cover the plaintiffs legal expenses. Gevorgian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service on Wednesday that the office will appeal against the ruling. Khachatrian was dogged by corruption allegations throughout his tenure, with some Armenian media outlets and opposition figures accusing him of using his position to become one of the countrys richest men. They pointed to his familys extensive business interests, which include not only Ucom but also a shopping mall, a car dealership and a luxury watch store in Yerevan. Khachatrian repeatedly denied ownership of these and other businesses, saying that they belong to his two sons and other relatives. To the Editor: Re Rallying Against Trial, G.O.P. Senators Signal a 2nd Trump Acquittal (front page, Jan. 27): The vote by Republican senators against holding an impeachment trial doesnt necessarily mean they plan to vote to acquit Donald Trump. What it shows is that most of them dont want to have to go on the record either way. Clearly too cowardly to vote to convict despite overwhelming evidence of Mr. Trumps guilt, the average G.O.P. senator also doesnt want to stain his or her personal legacy forever by voting to acquit. After all, the senators have to explain themselves to children and grandchildren. What to do? Ideally they vote to prevent the trial from happening, an attempt by Rand Paul that has now failed. Next best thing? Expect a number of G.O.P. senators to call in sick on the day of the vote. A conviction by two-thirds of senators present and voting requires only a handful of G.O.P. senators. Steven Bavaria Boca Raton, Fla. To the Editor: Re G.O.P. Wavers on Punishing Trump as Impeachment Article Goes to Senate (news article, Jan. 26): It is not surprising to learn that the main factor for most Republican senators in determining their vote on the impeachment charge against the former president is not whether he is guilty as charged, but rather the effect of their vote on their own political futures. But it is still shocking to behold the breathtaking level of cynicism in the remark by Senator Lindsey Graham, who said, with a chuckle, that it depends on what state youre in and what phase in your career you are. Then-U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a press conference on the sidelines of an international security summit in Manama, Bahrain, on Oct. 31, 2015. (Hasan Jamali/AP Photo) Blinken Makes First Calls as Secretary of State Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the first calls of his tenure on Jan. 26, speaking with his counterparts in Canada, South Korea, Mexico, and Japan, according to the Department of State. The U.S. Senate confirmed Blinken earlier the same day. He made the first call to Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau. According to a readout of the call, Blinken looks forward to working closely with Foreign Minister Garneau to revitalize our economies and strengthen the broader North American partnership and to address shared challenges, including COVID-19 and climate change, among many others. Secretary Blinken highlighted the importance of continued trilateral U.S.-ROK-Japan cooperation, underscored the continued need for the denuclearization of North Korea, and stressed President [Joe] Bidens commitment to strengthening U.S. alliances, the readout states. In the call with Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, the pair discussed cooperation around the CCP virus pandemic. Blinken also emphasized our shared interest in security and economic integration, as well as our focus on an orderly and humane approach to migration. In his calls with the Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Blinken emphasized the importance of the alliances for preserving peace, security, and prosperity for a free and open Indo-Pacific region and across the world. He also stressed the importance of the trilateral U.S.JapanSouth Korea alliance. Blinken, a longtime aide to Biden, was approved by a vote of 7822 in the upper chamber. His predecessor is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. His confirmation was welcomed by most Democrats and some Republicans, as well as the U.S. Foreign Service political association. Leadership of the Department of State, our nations oldest cabinet agency, represents a great responsibility, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) said in a statement after he was confirmed. As we have done for his predecessors, AFSA extends our congratulations and welcome to Secretary Blinken. We wish the secretary and his team the best of luck in the years ahead. AFSA and its members pledge to work alongside them to strengthen the career Foreign Service and protect and enhance the institution that is American diplomacy. Blinken, during his confirmation hearing in the upper chamber last week, told senators he would reengage with Congress on key foreign policy initiatives. Regarding the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which Pompeo has described as the greatest threat to the United States, Blinken said former President Donald Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China. I disagree very much with the way that he went about it in a number of areas, but the basic principle was the right one, and I think thats actually helpful to our foreign policy, Blinken said. He didnt elaborate on what steps he would take to counter the CCP. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. NEW YORK and LONDON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- MRM, a leading marketing agency that is part of McCann Worldgroup, and Founders Factory, the influential startup studio and accelerator today announced a new partnership. More than ever, agencies need to be at the forefront of innovation and technology driving innovation for their clients, to ensure they keep up with ever changing consumer behaviours and expectations and to future proof their businesses. Within this shifting landscape, startups are out there, building the technologies and business models that will shape future industries. Access to them is paramount. The aim of our partnership is to give MRM access to Founders Factory's network of start-ups, cementing MRM as the leader in helping businesses grow meaningful relationships with people through creativity, data and technology. This includes access to the best global startups across digital, martech, data and commerce, workshops tackling how best to scope and deploy partnerships between startups and corporates, and connections to fellow digital thinkers, entrepreneurs and innovation executives. Jayna Kothary, Global Chief Technology Officer, MRM, said: "We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Founders Factory. MRM has always been a leader in innovation, offering our clients creative strategies and solutions fueled by technology, demonstrated by the success of LAB13 by MRM who successfully incubate and launch new products and services. Our collaboration with Founders Factory will allow us to take our offer to clients to the next level, bringing the most innovative startups to our clients. We see immediate opportunities to bring our CPG, Consumer Health and Auto clients together with some of the brilliant Founders Factory portfolio, who are shaping the future of marketing, data and commerce." Alice Sandelson, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Founders Factory, added: "Founders Factory was built on the belief of the power of collaboration between startups and corporates; to bring innovation to corporates, and to help founders scale their businesses. We are excited to work with the brilliant team at MRM, to immerse them into our entrepreneurial network, and to expose their clients to new technologies, channels and business models, whilst driving new growth opportunities for our founders." About MRM: MRM is a leading marketing agency. Through a strong foundation in strategy, data science, technology and creativity, MRM helps transform businesses by helping brands grow meaningful relationships with people. The agency was named a "Best Workplaces for Innovators" by Fast Company, B2B Agency of the Year from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), a four-years-and-counting run as Gartner "Leader" in Global Marketing Agencies Magic Quadrant from 2017-2020, Ad Age's 2018 B-to-B Agency of the Year, and, for the first time, WARC's global Effective 100 ranking placed five MRM agencies in its top 40 effective digital agencies listing for 2020. MRM is part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG) and a top agency in the McCann Worldgroup network, with 35-plus offices across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.mrm.com . About Founders Factory: Founders Factory powers founders to go further, faster. As the world's leading startup studio and accelerator program, the Founders Factory team validates ideas, builds founding teams, finds first customers, and invests directly in startups across multiple sectors and geographies. Started by Brent Hoberman, Henry Lane Fox, and George Northcott, Founders Factory has received investment from leading corporates across hubs in New York, London, and Johannesburg: Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (New York); Marks & Spencer, L'Oreal, easyJet, Guardian Media Group, Aviva, Holtzbrinck, CSC and Reckitt Benckiser (London); and Standard Bank and Netcare (Johannesburg). Founders Factory has built over 40 ventures from scratch, and invested in almost 200 startups to date, securing over 200 commercial pilots for its startups with 36% of those pilots resulting in enterprise contracts and direct investments. SOURCE MRM Dubai, Jan 27 : The International Federation of the Indo-Israel Chambers of Commerce (IFIICC) is planning to boost India's strong historical ties with the UAE and Israel as it expects knowledge sharing, strategic partnerships and cultural bonds will help establish business relationships among the three countries. The IFIICC was launched in Dubai last month on the back of the Abraham Accords, the recent peace agreement between the UAE and Israel, Gulf News reported. It aims to promote innovation, commerce, investment and goodwill between the diasporas of India and Israel around the world. The UAE, which is home to an estimated three million Indian expatriates, is a great place to begin with, says Merzi Sodawaterwala, Chairman of IFIICC. "Given the fact that India and the emirates have had centuries of trade, while India and Israel have had a 28-year history, this gives India a very strong basis to leverage a trilateral relationship," he says. "The UAE's business-friendly regulatory framework, the enterprising Indian diaspora and Israel's innovative start-up culture can jump-start a model of business creation that can benefit the world." Areas of collaboration among the three countries include scientific research, IT, agritech and food security, healthcare, medtech and sustainability. Kenneth D'Costa, Managing Director at Barakat, a key player in the UAE's $40 billion (Dh147 billion) F&B market, believes there is a significant trade opportunity in the areas of food and agriculture. "The key business sectors identified by us are alternative dairy and proteins, organic fruits and vegetables and food waste management," he says. "We are in discussion with about 8-10 growers and food companies from different regions of Israel." Sodawaterwala wants to leverage the heft and influence of the Indian diaspora to scale innovative Israeli businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs. India has the largest diaspora in the world with 32 million non-resident Indians (NRIs) and people of Indian origin (PIOs), according to the country's Ministry of External Affairs. "Israeli founders have historically lacked the opportunity for market exits. Through this platform, Indian businesses can help commercialise Israeli technologies and grow them to the stage of a unicorn," Sodawaterwala says. Israel was placed sixth on the Bloomberg Innovation Index in 2020. Edly Dollar, Founder of the Israeli impact fund Copia Agro & Food, is now looking for joint ventures with Indian entrepreneurs that monetise scientific innovations from research institutes both in Israel and India. "Such technological breakthroughs may be developed at labs in our two countries and applied globally, after field tests in pertinent locations. This is a reality in which joint ventures with the UAE can be constructed," he said. "I foresee an enormous potential herein, for the benefit of humanity." President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands and waters, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change - but it will also lead to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs. Two people with knowledge of Bidens plans outlined the proposed moratorium, which will be announced Wednesday. They asked not to be identified because the plan has not been made been public; some details remain in flux. The move follows a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for U.S. lands and waters announced last week and follows Bidens campaign pledge to halt new drilling on federally controlled land and water as part of his plan to address climate change. The Biden administration is expected to announce a temporary suspension of new oil and gas leasing on U.S. federal lands and waters on Wednesday The moratorium is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of oil and gas drilling on the environment and climate. Environmental groups hailed the expected moratorium as the kind of urgent action needed to slow climate change. 'The fossil fuel industry has inflicted tremendous damage on the planet. The administrations review, if done correctly, will show that filthy fracking and drilling must end for good, everywhere,' said Kieran Suckling, executive director at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that has pushed for the drilling pause. Oil industry groups, however, slammed the move, saying Biden had already eliminated thousands of oil and gas jobs by killing the Keystone XL oil pipeline on his first day in office. President Joe Biden will make the announcement as part of a second batch of executive orders aimed at combating climate change 'This is just the start. It will get worse,' said Brook Simmons, president of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma. 'Meanwhile, the laws of physics, chemistry and supply and demand remain in effect. Oil and natural gas prices are going up, and so will home heating bills, consumer prices and fuel costs.' 'In the first couple of days of the new administration, they are taking actions that will harm the economy and cost Americans their jobs,' said Frank Macchiarola, a senior vice president of policy for the American Petroleum Institute. 'We're concerned, and everyone in the country should be concerned.' A 2017 report produced by the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade and lobbying association, suggests nearly 2.8 million jobs are directly linked to fossil fuels with a further 5.3 million in sectors sustained by the spending of oil and gas companies. The policy is an abrupt about-face from his predecessor Donald Trump who sought to maximize the country's oil, gas and coal output. Pictured is an Anadarko Petroleum Corp. oil drilling platform 'Hickory' in the Gulf of Mexico Some states are also more highly dependent on the oil and gas industry than others. In Texas, almost 2 million jobs - or around 14% of the total - are in some way related to the oil and gas industries, while in Oklahoma, more than 16.6% of all jobs are related. (In Georgia and New Jersey, for example, the industry counted for only around just under 3% of all jobs.) Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, which represents oil and gas drillers in Western states, said the expected executive order is intended to delay drilling on federal lands to the point where it is no longer viable. Her group pledged to challenge the order in court. 'The environmental left is leading the agenda at the White House when it comes to energy and environment issues,'' she said, noting that the moratorium would be felt most acutely in Western states such as Utah, Wyoming and North Dakota. Biden lost all three states to former President Donald Trump. The drilling moratorium is among several climate-related actions Biden will announce Wednesday. He also is likely to direct officials to conserve 30% of the countrys lands and ocean waters in the next 10 years, initiate a series of regulatory actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and issue a memorandum that elevates climate change to a national security priority. Piping that was due to be used for Keystone XL - blocked by Barack Obama in 2015, approved by Donald Trump in 2017 and now blocked again by Biden- sits in a storage yard in Oklahoma He also is expected to direct all U.S. agencies to use science and evidence-based decision-making in federal rule-making and announce a U.S.-hosted climate leaders summit on Earth Day, April 22. The conservation plan would set aside millions of acres for recreation, wildlife and climate efforts by 2030, part of Bidens campaign pledge for a $2 trillion program to slow global warming. Under Trump, federal agencies prioritized energy development and eased environmental rules to speed up drilling permits as part of the Republicans goal to boost fossil fuel production. Trump consistently downplayed the dangers of climate change, which Biden, a Democrat, has made a top priority. On his first day in office last Wednesday, Biden signed a series of executive orders that underscored his different approach - rejoining the Paris Climate Accord, revoking approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada and telling agencies to immediately review dozens of Trump-era rules on science, the environment and public health. The Keystone XL was to be built by TC Energy and would have brought Canadian crude oil from the province of Alberta down through Nebraska and eventually meeting a pipeline that goes to the Gulf of Mexico. The leader of Alberta said the decision was an 'insult to Canada', and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he'd share concerns over pipeline job losses with Biden. Meanwhile, a 60-day suspension order at the Interior Department did not limit existing US oil and gas operations under valid leases, meaning activity would not come to a sudden halt on the millions of acres of lands in the West and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico where much drilling is concentrated. The moratorium also is unlikely to affect existing leases. Its effect could be further blunted by companies that stockpiled enough drilling permits in Trumps final months to allow them to keep pumping oil and gas for years. The pause in onshore drilling is limited to federal lands and does not affect drilling on private lands, which is largely regulated by states. Oil and gas extracted from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of annual U.S. production. Extracting and burning those fuels generates the equivalent of almost 550 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a 2018 study. Under Trump, Interior officials approved almost 1,400 permits on federal lands, primarily in Wyoming and New Mexico, over a three-month period that included the election, according to an analysis of government data. Those permits, which remain valid, will allow companies to continue drilling for years, potentially undercutting Bidens climate agenda. In this April 9, 2014, file photo, oil rigs stand in the Loco Hills field on U.S. Highway 82 in Eddy County near Artesia, N.M., one of the most active regions of the Permian Basin. President Joe Biden is set to announce a wide-ranging moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on U.S. lands, as his administration moves quickly to reverse Trump administration policies on energy and the environment and address climate change. The leasing moratorium could present a political dilemma for Biden in New Mexico, a Democratic-leaning state that has experienced a boom in oil production in recent years, much of it on federal land. Biden's choice to lead the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on public lands, is New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American to lead the agency that oversees relations with nearly 600 federally-recognized tribes. Haaland, whose confirmation hearing has been delayed until next month, already faces backlash from some Republicans who say expected cutbacks in oil production under Biden would hurt her home state. Tiernan Sittenfeld, a top official with the League of Conservation Voters, called that criticism off-base. 'The reality is we need to transition to 100% clean energy' in order to address climate change, she said Tuesday. 'The clean energy economy in New Mexico is thriving,'' Sittenfeld added, citing gains in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Rob Black, president of the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce, said the expected moratorium would be 'devastating' to his state, while failing to reduce carbon emissions in the Southwest. A leasing moratorium 'wont reduce demand for oil,' Black said, but would merely move production from federal lands to private lands in New Mexico and Texas, where an oil boom is occurring in the Permian Basin. Only 2% of land in Texas is federally controlled, compared with about one-third in New Mexico. The Biden administration has pledged to spend billions to assist in the transition away from fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal, and Biden has said creating thousands of clean-energy jobs is a top priority. A Polish butcher accused of the rape and murder of student Libby Squire was caught on CCTV masturbating in the street hours after the alleged attack, a court heard today. Pawel Relowicz, 26, spent more than three hours driving around Hull looking for women he could pleasure himself in front of before he met Ms Squire, Sheffield Crown Court heard. He said he masturbated in the street after having sex with Ms Squire but denied that he was sexually excited about what he had 'done' to her. Relowicz denies raping and murdering the philosophy student, whose body was found in the Humber Estuary around seven weeks after she disappeared on February 1, 2019. Pawel Relowicz, 26, spent more than three hours driving around Hull looking for women he could pleasure himself in front of before he met Libby Squire (pictured), Sheffield Crown Court heard Relowicz (pictured) denies raping and murdering the philosophy student, whose body was found in the Humber Estuary around seven weeks after she disappeared on February 1, 2019 A court earlier heard how Relowicz had 'uncontrollable sexual urges' and previous convictions for 'sexually motivated' crimes in which he 'prowled' around the student area of Hull. Prosecutor Richard Wright QC said that just hours after Relowicz came into contact with Ms Squire, he was back out on the street looking for women to masturbate in front of. The butcher, who worked at Karro Foods, in Malton, North Yorkshire, agreed with Mr Wright when he said that the 'whole purpose' of his journey around Hull on the evening of January 31 was to 'find an opportunity to offend'. Speaking through an interpreter, Polish-born Relowicz said he had the thought of masturbating 'stuck in his head'. The court heard that the defendant spent three hours and 20 minutes driving and walking around the streets of Hull before he met Ms Squire, who was drunk, distressed and hypothermic after being refused entry to a nightclub. The married father-of-two has told the jury that he offered her a lift home but stopped the car at Oak Road playing fields when he thought she was going to be sick. Relowicz claims she asked for a hug and they began kissing before having sex on the ground near his car. He said he drove away after she scratched his face when he refused to kiss her again and he last saw her shouting after his car. The married father-of-two has told the jury that he offered Ms Squire (pictured) a lift home but stopped the car at Oak Road playing fields when he thought she was going to be sick Mr Wright said: 'You were back out driving around looking for women that you could masturbate at. Three hours and 20 minutes of driving around wanting to do that earlier in the evening. 'You say you had consensual sex with Libby Squire. Should we understand that wasn't enough for you? Because you had to be back out again looking for other women to masturbate at.' Relowicz said: 'Yes, this is correct.' Mr Wright asked the defendant about masturbating in the street, which was caught on CCTV in the early hours of February 1, and said: 'Were you still sexually excited about what you had done to Libby Squire at Oak Road? 'Did the fact that you had raped her and killed her sexually excite you, Mr Relowicz?' He replied: 'This is not correct.' Mr Wright asked Relowicz why he did not pleasure himself in front of Ms Squire when he saw her and he answered: 'Because she was crying and she needed help.' The prosecution have said Relowicz (pictured) picked up Ms Squire, who was from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, while he was 'prowling around the student area' looking for an opportunity to commit a sexual offence against a vulnerable woman A court earlier heard how Relowicz had 'uncontrollable sexual urges' and previous convictions for 'sexually motivated' crimes in which he 'prowled' around the student area of Hull. Pictured: Ms Squire The barrister said: 'It was because, Mr Relowicz, this was the opportunity to go further, wasn't it? 'This was what you really wanted. A drunk and incapable girl just round the corner from your car. 'It wasn't going to be enough to masturbate at this girl, was it? You wanted to take this girl to a quiet place, didn't you?' Relowicz said: 'This is not true.' The court was today shown footage of Relowicz parking his Vauxhall Astra outside a takeaway shop at around 2.50am, just hours after Ms Squire vanished. A woman then approaches his car and as she gets level with it, he hurriedly drives off and parks up on a neighbouring road. Relowicz claimed it was a coincidence that he set off at that time. In CCTV footage from a nearby street, Relowicz is then seen getting out of his car before masturbating. The court heard that he left a used condom on the path after he had finished. Mr Wright told the court that after he had finished pleasuring himself in the street, Relowicz continued to drive around to look for women. CCTV footage shows Libby Squire on her way to the Welly Nightclub, which she was later turned away from The court was today shown footage of Relowicz (above) parking his Vauxhall Astra outside a takeaway shop at around 2.50am, just hours after Ms Squire vanished At 3.10am, he is seen on CCTV on foot at the corner of the street near his house. Relowicz claimed that he 'needed some fresh air' and felt 'emotionally broken' for cheating on his wife. He said he did not like lying to his wife. Mr Wright said: 'For the last two years, you have been committing sexual offences against women in Hull. 'Did you tell your wife the truth about where you had been when you had been burgling houses and masturbating at women in the street? 'Or when you had been sticking your head through people's windows watching them have sex? 'Or that you'd spent four hours that very night cruising the streets looking for easy sex, as you said yesterday?' Relowicz said: 'I never told her that.' The prosecution have said Relowicz picked up Ms Squire, who was from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, while he was 'prowling around the student area' looking for an opportunity to commit a sexual offence against a vulnerable woman. The court has heard that he drove her to Oak Road playing fields, where he raped and murdered her before putting her into the River Hull. The trial continues. Gov. Phil Murphy explained during his coronavirus briefing on Wednesday how people will be able to get their second dose of the COVID vaccine. How you get an appointment will depend on how you got your first one, Murphy said. For those who received their first vaccination dose through an appointment made through the states website, covid19.nj.gov/vaccine , the second dose appointment will be automatically scheduled and you will receive an email confirmation regarding this within the next several days, Murphy said. It will work differently for other sites, they said. If you booked directly with a vaccine site for your first dose, and did not book your second dose appointment at the time of your first shot, then you need to contact the site where you received that first shot to schedule your second, he said. And, finally, if by the end of the weekend, you are still not certain how you will get your second dose appointment, contact our Vaccination Call Center and our operators will assist you with scheduling one. That number is (855) 568-0545. Persichilli said the call center will be able to help people book second dose appointments as of Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. They will be available to assist you in making that second dose appointment, she said, noting she didnt have a timeline for when the call center can help with first dose appointments. If you booked your first appointment with the Gloucester mega-site and not with the states site, the Gloucester County site will reach out to you directly this week to schedule your second dose, Murphy said. The Gloucester site has already starting contacting people about their second dose appointments, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said. Asked why the state didnt start with a one-stop shopping system with a unified vaccine sign-up system throughout the state, Persichilli said: It was a big undertaking. We are still working out the bugs. Were building the airplane as were flying this, Murphy said, calling it a work in progress. Persichilli also addressed questions about timing of the second dose, saying while its recommended that people get their shots as close to 21 days for Pfizer or 28 days for Moderna, there is no known loss of effectiveness of the second dose as long as someone receives the second dose within 60 days. I was on a call with the experts from the White House and they talked about six weeks from the time of your first dose. Within that window, you should get your second dose, she said. Eddy Bresnitz, medical advisor to the New Jersey COVID-19 response team and chairman of the states COVID Professional Advisory Committee (PAC), added that if the second dose is longer than six weeks after the first shot, the CDC said people shouldnt start the vaccine all over again but should get the second dose anyway. In a perfect world its 21 and 28 days, Murphy said. But its not the end of the world if it slips. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage On Tuesday, Gloucester County said people who were vaccinated at its mega-site at Rowan College will now automatically get appointments for a second dose after people complained they were unable to book a time. These individuals should expect to receive an email that includes a QR code (matrix barcode) with the date and time of their next appointment, officials said, noting that people will get a text or phone call if the county doesnt have their email address on file. The State has advised that appointments will be consistent with the date on the back of the card and all appointments will be held at Gloucester Countys Mega Vaccination Site. Going forward, all people who receive their vaccine on or after Jan. 30 will automatically receive a second dose appointment from the state, the county said. Middlesex County said everyone who has received first doses of the coronavirus vaccine at Middlesex County sites on or after Jan. 21 will receive notification to schedule an appointment for a second dose, county officials said. But the county wasnt clear about how or where the second dose appointments would be set, whether it would be through the states site or whether people who visit Middlesex County sites in the future would be assigned a second dose date when their receive their first doses. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. NJ Advance Media Statehouse reporter Matt Arco contributed to this report. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com. ADVERTISEMENT The police in Ekiti State on Wednesday said there was no influx of herdsmen into forests in the state from Ondo State forest reserves as being reported in some sections of the media. The command said this in a statement signed in Ado-Ekiti by Sunday Abutu, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), on behalf of the state Commissioner of Police (CP), Tunde Mobayo. The statement said the police had neither sighted nor received any report of herders migrating or relocating into any part of the state or its forests. It, therefore, called on the residents to disregard the report as fake and fictitious. According to the statement, the story was just a mere imagination of the source. It cautioned journalists against fake and unverified publications capable of causing apprehension in the state, saying such would no longer be tolerated The statement also implored members of the public to always verify the source and authenticity of every piece of information they receive via social media. Maize farmers in Ekiti State on Thursday lamented the destruction of their crops in the states forest reserve by herdsmen. It is unclear if the herdsmen were from the state or neighbouring states. The police, while assuring the people of Ekiti of adequate protection of lives and property, urged them to remain calm and vigilant. It requested the people to report any strange and suspicious persons found in their environs to the nearest police station or call 0806-233-5577 for prompt action. (NAN) Leopards love cattle, goats more than forest prey: Here is why 9,261 cattle died in UP shelters in 2019, death due to natural causes CBI court issues arrest warrant against TMC leader Vinay Mishra in cattle smuggling case India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 27: A CBI court has issued an arrest warrant against TMC leader Vinay Mishra in a cattle smuggling case. The Central Bureau of Investigation had earlier issued a look out circular against the TMC leader. The CBI had also conducted raids in connection with the cross-border cattle smuggling and illegal coal mining cases in West Bengal. The CBI had in December 2020 carried out searches at least two premises in Kolkata in connection with the ongoing probe. On Sunday the CBI had questioned an ASI and a constable, who are posted at Malda. This agency is ascertaining the links of Mohammad Enamul Haque in the cattle smuggling case. CBI issues look out circular against TMC leader in cross border cow smuggling case Haque has been named as one of the key accused in the FIR that was filed by the CBI on September 21. A BSF commandant Satish Kumar currently posted in Raipur has also been named in the FIR. The FIR also mentions the names of Aranul S K, Mohammad Golam Mustafa. The CBI said that the cattle were smuggled from India to Bangladesh after pay illegal gratification to BSF personnel manning the International Border. 'No sexual assault if no skin to skin contact: SC stays order | Oneindia News The smugglers named in the case paid money to accused officials. Customs officials also used to take a bribe of 10 per cent of the auction price from successful bidders named in the case. Bhuvan Bhaskar, son of the BSF officer, was employed in Haque Industries Pvt Ltd, a company promoted by Haque. Bhuvan was paid Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 as salary per month between May 2017 and December 2017, which reflects his links with the cattle smuggling racket, the FIR filed by the CBI said. The CBI is also likely to question some IPS officers in connection with the case. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nabis Holdings Inc. (CSE: NAB) (OTC: NABIF) (FRA: A2PL) ("Nabis" or the "Company") today announced that it has completed its previously announced proposal (the "Proposal") under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada), pursuant to which the Company implemented a recapitalization of its previously outstanding CDN$35 million principal amount of 8.0% unsecured convertible debentures (the "Debentures") and all other prior debts of the Company (the "Recapitalization"). Upon implementation of the Proposal, (i) all existing equity claims in the Company were irrevocably and finally extinguished; and (ii) in full and final satisfaction of all claims of Nabis' creditors, which were irrevocably and finally extinguished, the Company issued an aggregate of 3,700,000 new common shares in the capital of the Company ("New Common Shares") and an aggregate principal amount of CDN$23 million new 5.3% senior unsecured notes due 2023 ("New Unsecured Notes") on the terms set out in the Proposal. The Debentures previously posted for trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE") under the ticker symbol "NAB.DB" and the Company's warrants previously posted for trading on the CSE under the ticker symbol "NAB.WT" were both cancelled pursuant to the Proposal and were delisted from the CSE as of close of markets today. The Company's previously outstanding common shares that were cancelled pursuant to the Proposal were delisted and concurrently the New Common Shares were listed under a new CUSIP on the CSE, each effective as of close of markets today. The New Unsecured Notes will begin trading on the CSE on January 27, 2021 under the ticker symbol "NAB. NT". In connection with the implementation of the Proposal, all of the prior directors of Nabis were deemed to have resigned, and have been replaced with each of Bruce Langstaff, Jennifer Law, Scott Kelly and Jared Carroll. Nicole Rusaw has agreed to remain as a consultant to the Company. Important Reminder Regarding Certification Deadline As an important reminder, the Company and the Consenting Debentureholders (as defined in the Proposal) have set March 1, 2021 as the deadline (the "Certification Deadline") for all holders of Debentures ("Debentureholders") and all other creditors to receive consideration under the Proposal (other than Convenience Creditors (as defined in the Proposal)) (collectively with the Debentureholders, the "Debtholders") to certify as to their eligibility to receive their pro rata share of New Common Shares and New Unsecured Notes. Debtholders who are not eligible to receive the New Common Shares and New Unsecured Notes or who fail to certify as to their eligibility to receive the New Common Shares and New Unsecured Notes by the Certification Deadline will receive the net cash proceeds, if any ("Net Cash Proceeds"), realized from the sale of their pro rata share of New Common Shares and New Unsecured Notes on the CSE or such other exchange on which the New Common Shares and New Unsecured Notes are listed and posted for trading, conducted by a selling agent (the "Selling Agent") to be appointed by the Company. Important instructions for Debtholders to receive securities pursuant to the Proposal are contained in the Companys news release dated January 21, 2021. About Nabis Holdings Inc. Nabis Holdings is a Canadian investment issuer that invests in assets across multiple industries, including real property and the U.S. and international cannabis sector. For more information, please visit https://www.nabisholdings.com/. Cautionary Statements This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The New Unsecured Notes and New Common Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to or for the account or benefit of U.S. persons, except in certain transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. "United States" and "U.S. person" are as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. Certain statements included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the anticipated date the New Unsecured Notes will begin trading on the CSE, the timing and impact of the Certification Deadline, the ability of the Selling Agent to sell the New Unsecured Notes and New Common Shares and the availability of Net Cash Proceeds, if any. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ, materially from the Companys expectations are disclosed in the Companys documents filed from time to time with the CSE, the British Columbia Securities Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and the Alberta Securities Commission. The Company has no obligation to update such forward-looking statements except as required by applicable law. The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither reviewed nor approved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For inquiries, please contact: Nicole Rusaw, Consultant info@nabisholdings.com President Joe Biden reaffirmed Wednesday the United States' commitment to defend Japan in his first phone call with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, striking a note of reassurance after the Trump era. During Donald Trump's administration, America's Asian allies often questioned whether Washington would uphold long-standing promises to defend them in the event of attack. Trump had publicly mulled withdrawing troops from Japan and South Korea, where more than 20,000 US military personnel are stationed to deter any North Korean military action. Biden and Suga both urged denuclearization of the whole Korean peninsula in the call -- their first since Biden took office last week. They discussed Washington's "unwavering commitment to the defense of Japan under Article 5 of our security treaty," the White House said, and Biden reaffirmed "his commitment to provide extended deterrence to Japan." The US backing "includes the Senkaku Islands" -- an area claimed both by Japan and China, which calls the islands the Diaoyus, the statement said. The leaders also "discussed regional security issues, including China and North Korea. They together affirmed the necessity of complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." Suga agreed to visit the United States as soon as possible, telling reporters in Japan after the call that the trip would be planned "while watching the coronavirus infection situation." 'Engage with world again' The Jiji Press agency said the two leaders did not discuss the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were postponed until this year and could again be threatened by the Covid-19 pandemic. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke Wednesday with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and stressed Biden's pledge to "engage with the world again," a State Department spokesman said. America's clear mention of the Senkakus, an uninhabited island chain which has been a potential flashpoint for decades, is likely to cause anger in Beijing. While Biden is making a clean break from many of Trump's policies, his team has pledged continuity on some diplomatic issues including taking a hard line on China. The new US leader sat for decades on the Senate foreign relations committee -- traveling around the world meeting foreign leaders -- before serving as vice president to Barack Obama, who promoted America as a "Pacific power." Trump during his time in power rattled Asian allies by picking trade fights with China, embracing North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and openly floating the possibility of withdrawing troops from the region. Suga spoke to Biden in November after the US election and gave a stark warning that the security situation was "increasingly severe" in the Asia-Pacific region. Short link: As the legislative session opens, Texas lawmakers are confronted with a challenge. On one hand, its harder than ever for the public school system to meet the needs of every child. Families are demanding more high-quality educational opportunities now. On the other hand, elected leaders must walk a fiscal tightrope when they propose solutions. Tax revenues are down. The budget is tight. Fortunately, one solution is more obvious than ever: Data from the Texas Education Agency show that public charter schools highly adaptable, tuition-free public schools that are immensely popular with families actually cost taxpayers less than their traditional ISD counterparts. On average, public charter schools in Texas receive about $700 less per student than district schools. Its quite simple: Public charter schools receive no revenue from local property taxes, which accounts for more than half of traditional school district budgets. In fact, public charter schools receive less total taxpayer funding despite educating more traditionally disadvantaged students, including 10 percent more low-income students and 9 percent more English learners. Serious long-term questions about equity are raised by this funding gap, which was partially addressed by last sessions overhaul of public school finance that made funding more fair and more directly tied to student need. Required Reading: Get San Antonio education news sent directly to your inbox But for now, legislators should continue to recognize and build on public charter school success as a way to make students futures brighter without breaking the bank. This will be more difficult if a minority of state lawmakers continue their fact-free crusade against public charter schools. A few members of the Texas House have begun arguing that charter schools cost the state more than traditional schools. This is a rhetorical sleight-of-hand based on ignoring all the revenue that comes to schools from local sources. They also deliberately mislead by suggesting that public charter schools do the same thing as districts. Yet one target of their ire, a recently approved public charter school in Austin called Learn4Life, will serve students who have already dropped or are at risk of doing so. Districts let these students and the tens of thousands of other students who have left failing campuses to come to a charter school fall through the cracks. Sadly, its more common for students to get left behind by the public schools available to them. Even at traditional district campuses with an A or B on the states report cards for schools, state data show that white students outperform Black students by an average of 34 percentage points in science and 26 points in math and reading. At public charter schools, those gaps are half or even one-third as big. Other charters bring advanced coursework, dual-language programs, the classics and more to students who wouldnt otherwise have access to them. At charters, for example, 79 percent of Black students enroll in rigorous Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses, compared to 22 percent of their peers. The results are dramatic: Charter students are far more likely to graduate college twice as likely for English learners and students with disabilities than their noncharter peers. Theyre also significantly more likely to be taught by an educator of color and less likely to lose instructional time to out-of-school suspensions. Overall, when you look at the outcomes for low-income students and students of color at charter schools in Texas, who are the vast majority of our students, you will see that charter schools are significantly outperforming district schools. We dont do the same thing. We step in where districts have struggled. There is room and need for all of us in the public education landscape. Focusing on the battleground, not the common ground, is a distraction from the fact that its crucial that Texas families have the best possible public education, especially during trying times. Our elected leaders can make that happen by continuing to support the states thriving public charter schools. Starlee Coleman is the CEO of the Texas Public Charter Schools Association, which represents nearly 800 public charter schools enrolling 330,000 students. BISHKEK -- Former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Mukhammedkalyi Abylgaziev has been arrested on corruption charges. The State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on January 27 that Abylgaziev is also suspected of illegal enrichment. According to the UKMK, Abylgaziev allegedly helped the Kumtor Gold Company illegally obtain additional lands for geological works and mining while in office. Abylgaziev is also suspected of illegally obtaining unspecified amounts of cash while in office and investing that money into property in Bishkek and nearby districts. The 53-year-old Abylgaziev served as prime minister from 2018 to 2020. He left the post last June amid an abrupt rise of coronavirus cases in the Central Asian nation. Financial police said in October 2020 that Abylgaziev was ordered to remain in the country. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 EDWARDSVILLE A St. Louis man faces multiple felony burglary and related charges stemming from multiple thefts from two Granite City Walgreens stores, and a CVS store. Jerwane M. Alexander, 31, of St. Louis, was charged Jan. 27 with four counts of burglary, all Class 2 felonies; one count of attempted burglary, a Class 3 felony; and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Granite City Police Department. According to court documents, the incidents occurred between Dec. 31 and Jan. 3. On Dec. 31 Alexander allegedly entered the Walgreens stores at 2001 Madison Ave. twice to commit thefts. On Jan. 1 he allegedly went to the Walgreens at 3732 Nameoki Road. And on Jan. 3 he allegedly went to the Madison Avenue Walgreens. Those incidents resulted in burglary charges. On Jan. 5 he allegedly went to the CVS at 3319 Nameoki Road with the intent to commit theft, resulting in the attempted burglary charge. He also attempted to flee a Granite City police officer in a 2007 Mercury Milan at speeds more than 21 miles per hour above the posted limit. Bail was set at $75,000. Numerous theft and retail theft charges were filed in separate incidents by the Madison County States Attorneys Office, including: Tiffany M. Madison, 34, of St. Louis, was charged Jan. 27 with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Dec. 26 Madison attempted to take womens clothing and alcohol valued at less than $300 fro the Edwardsville Target, 2350 Troy Road. It was noted she had a prior conviction for retail theft. Bail was set at $15,000. Nicholas A. Fuse Jr., 20, of Troy, was charged Jan. 27 with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 26 Fuse stole baby formula valued at less than $300 from the Edwardsville Target, and had a prior conviction for retail theft. Bail was not noted. Cusandra Jones, 49, of Edwardsville, was charged Jan. 27 with theft over $500, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on May 15 Jones took more than $500 in cash from another person. Bail was set at $15,000. Trey G. Ammons, 20, of Alton, was charged Jan. 27 with theft over $500, a Class 3 felony. The case was presented by the Edwardsville Police Department. According to court documents, on Jan. 3 Ammons stole an Apple iPhone II valued at more than $500. Bail was set at $15,000. Aron M. Rodgers, 32, of Edwardsville, was charged Jan. 27 with retail theft over $300, a Class 3 felony; and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Glen Carbon Police Department. According to court documents, on June 23 Rodgers took clothing and bedding items valued at more than $300 from the Glen Carbon Walmart, 400 Junction Drive. He was also found to be in possession of less than 15 grams of fentanyl. Bail was set at $15,000. Scott H. Butler, 25, of East Alton, was charged Jan. 27 with theft under $500 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the East Alton Police Department. According to court documents, on July 11 Butler took an iPhone 8X valued at less than $500 from another person. It was noted he had a prior conviction for theft. Bail was set at $15,000. Emmanuel L. McPike, 34, of Jerseyville, was charged Jan. 27 with retail theft under $300 (second subsequent offense), a Class 4 felony. The case was presented by the Madison County Sheriffs Department. According to court documents, on Nov. 27 McPike took food items and condoms values at less than $300 from the Godfrey Walmart, 6660 Godfrey Road. It was noted he had a prior conviction for retail theft. Bail was set at $10,000. Three urban explorers were fined for breaking Covid rules after they got stuck on an abandoned fort in the Thames Estuary and had to be rescued after their boats floated away. The trio - one of whom had come all the way from Manchester - visited the WWII-era Red Sands Forts near Whitstable and ended up being stuck there overnight. After failing to flag down passing boats the men eventually accepted they would have to call the Coastguard and were rescued by the RNLI on Sunday morning. An RNLI captain points to the Red Sands Forts near Whitstable while approaching them on Sunday to rescue three men who had got stuck on them They were greeted onshore by a landing party of officers from Kent Police who fined them 200 each. The group decided to visit the Second World War structures - also known as the Maunsell Forts - after seeing them on a TV programme. After being slated by people on the RNLI's Facebook post, one of the men stepped forward to admit they were 'idiots' who should have never broken the rules. Ben Marklew offered his 'sincerest apologies' and said he and his two friends had made a large donation to the RNLI. He wrote: 'I'm one of the idiots that was involved in all of this at the weekend. I'm posting here for two reasons. 'Primarily to apologise and express our gratitude to all the people and organisations involved. Namely the RNLI, HM Coastguard, Port of London Authority and Kent marine police. 'Also to the Redsand Project who work to preserve the forts and don't need kn**heads like us interfering.' Mr Marklew, who claimed to be an 'adventurer' rather than an urban explorer, said he wanted to 'expel the myths' about what happened. The men appear to have climbed into the interior of the forts, where they spent the night before being rescued A Kent Police boat found the men's inflatables drifting in the sea - leading to local rumours about who had been inside 'We are not foreigners - one of us was from Manchester so that could be classed as foreign, I will let you pass your judgement!' he said. 'Our RHIBs (boats) have been recovered. We did spend the night there. We were not cold. In fact one of us slept in our pants inside a down sleeping bag. Red Sands Forts: Britain's line of defence against Nazi attack from sea and air The Red Sands Forts were built in the Thames Estuary at the height of the Second World War in 1943 and still tower above the waves just seven miles off the coast of Whitstable in Kent. The huge metal Maunsell gun towers, which were constructed to help gunners shoot down Nazi aircraft heading to the houses, factories and docks of London, have been abandoned since they were decommissioned in 1956. The forts, which are four miles off Whitstable, were named after their designer Guy Maunsell. The towers are large installations with seven steel platforms, five of which carried guns arranged in a semi-circle around a control centre and accommodation. Three sets of Maunsell Forts were built in the Estuary to the same design - the Nore forts off the coast of Sheerness, which have now been demolished, and the Red Sands and Shivering Sands forts, further out. These bastions were assembled after the main London Blitz and they jointly shot down 22 enemy aircraft, 30 V1 flying bombs, and also accounted for a U-boat - undoubtedly saving hundreds of lives. The seven towers of Red Sands were placed approximately six miles off Minster, Isle of Sheppey, over the period July 23 to September 3, 1943 and each fort became home to 265 men, from both the army and the navy. They have since been home to pirate radio stations and have also been used for filming, including Dr Who. For more information about Red Sands Forts and Project Redsands - a charity that looks after them click here. Advertisement 'We waited till the morning to alert the Coastguard as that's when we realised our vessels were adrift. 'We have made a 1,000 donation to the RNLI. We have also made a 2,000 donation to the Redsands Seafort Trust. 'We received a Covid fine each. Hindsight, a wonderful thing. If we could turn back time we wouldn't attempt this selfish mission. 'The idea was to spend the night on the forts and return the next day without ever a soul knowing. 'We will learn from this and would deter anybody from a copycat mission. 'The forts are dangerous and more importantly are being preserved by a dedicated bunch to enable others to pay homage safely to these incredible structures and the men that served on them.' Mr Marklew insisted he and his friends were 'experienced boaties'. He continued: 'We didn't break in but used drones and rope access as method of entry. We had GPS radios and SAT phones. 'We realise the boats were missing Sunday morning after the cleat had failed on the bow line and the aft line had chafed on the Fort when the direction of pull had changed. 'We spent a while trying to hail and call local vessels as to not impact on the RNLI. We were also aware of our duty to report the adrift vessels and as such the coastguard scrambled the RNLI.' The RNLI team from Sheerness in Kent launched their boat The George and Ivy Swanson to rescue the trio at 9am on Sunday. An RNLI spokesman said: 'Launching at 8.57am with a crew of six the ALB arrived on the scene at 9.28am and soon located the three young men who were then removed from the tower and taken onboard the lifeboat which then returned to the Lifeboat mooring in Sheerness docks. 'The lifeboat arrived back on station at 10.05am where they were met by members of the Sheppey Coastguard Rescue Team and Kent Police. 'The three young men said that they had become stranded on the Red Sand towers after their two RHIB craft had gone adrift on the tide.' Their boats were found drifting by a Kent Police boat. On Facebook, several users said Mr Marklew had been brave to hold his hands up and accept he and his pals had done wrong. One said: 'Fair play fella, you ballsed up but put your hands up.' But others still slated him. Ian Winson said: 'Two ribs adrift and not phoned through! So another search rescue for users could have been started on finding empty boats.' Mick Brett said: 'Make them pay for the cost of the rescue service.' The Red Sands Forts were built in the Thames Estuary at the height of the Second World War in 1943 and still tower above the waves just seven miles off the coast of Whitstable The forts, which are four miles off Whitstable, were named after Guy Maunsell who designed them for use as defence against Nazi raids by sea and air in the Second World War. The towers are large installations with seven steel platforms, five of which carried guns arranged in a semi-circle around a control centre and accommodation. They have been home to pirate radio stations and have also been used for filming, including Dr Who. The lifeboat team also joked that one of the men they rescued had left his car keys in his drifting boat, adding: 'The owners will be relieved, one left his car keys in his boat....!!! Will be able to drive back to Manchester now....!!!!!' Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell wants to dedicate a patrol team of uniformed officers to respond to shootings and work closely with an on-call investigative team to stem the citys significant increase in gun violence. Lovells two-part strategy also calls for more community oversight of the patrol team and its tactics. His plan would bring back many of the functions of the former Gun Violence Reduction Team, eliminated after the City Council in June defunded it over concerns about its disproportionate stops and searches of people of color. Mayor Ted Wheeler, who serves as police commissioner, hasnt embraced the plan publicly, though he has said hes open to all ideas. Asked this week if hes going to bring back the Gun Violence Reduction Team, Wheeler responded emphatically: GVRT is gone. It is dead. It is kaput. But then he added: What will replace it will have more prevention focus. It will have more community engagement focus and it will have support of the community, and there will be more reporting back to the community in terms of the data that well be providing. The Oregonian/OregonLive obtained a copy of Lovells plan, presented to Wheeler on Dec. 23 with estimates of $2.4 million in additional funding to support it through this fiscal year ending June 30 and $4.8 million for next fiscal year. Lovell has proposed convening a community group to develop parameters for the patrol team that are consistent with community expectations and eliminates disparate impacts on historically marginalized communities. Lovell would get monthly reports on all the teams investigative stops and searches. Wheeler said hes working with police, as well as county public health and probation officers, the county sheriffs office and district attorney, Gresham police, state and federal prosecutors to come up with regional strategies focused on community collaboration and inclusion. The early conversations around this have been very promising, he said. It wont be easy to formulate specific strategies. It will take some time. There will be additional resources required. The mayor and the citys four other commissioners at a council work session last week all listed public safety and reduced gun violence among their top priorities. Police supervisors, as well as other local, county and federal law enforcement officials, privately have voiced frustration with the lack of direction from City Hall. Shootings in the city by month, from January 2019 through December 2020. Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, who pushed for the disbanding of the Gun Violence Reduction Team, is opposed to any recreation of the team. Shes committed to finding other innovative ways to address the violence including greater funding for mentorship programs and support services, according to a memo shared by her policy director with fellow commissioners last week. Hardesty contends the specialized gun violence unit didnt reduce shootings and that its dissolution hasnt been a factor in the increase in gun violence. She pointed to the doubling of shootings during June 2020, when there were 62 and the team was still in place, compared to 31 in the same month in 2019. She also has noted increases in shootings in three of the first four months of 2020 over the same months in 2019. There were 51 in January 2020, compared to 33 the same month in 2019; 38 in February 2020, up from 31 in 2019; and 48 in April 2020, up from 26 in 2019. The team was disbanded by July 1. Starting that month, shootings rose to record levels: 103 in July, 122 in August and 119 in September before dropping to 88, 98 and 99 during the last three months of the year. Portland recorded 55 homicides last year, the most in 26 years. Forty-one of the people died in shootings. About half of those killed were people of color. Hardesty has favored additional funding for the citys Office of Violence Prevention to provide more outreach services to people or families at risk and has floated an approach similar to one in Richmond, Virginia, called Operation Peacemaker. That program provides individual mentors to those believed to be responsible for most of the citys gun crimes, with 24-hour case management, behavioral therapy and internship and substance abuse treatment opportunities. State Sen. Lew Frederick, D-Portland, said at a recent Portland community meeting that the gun violence crisis needs immediate attention. On a recent night, two cars drove by his Irvington neighborhood street firing about 20 shots each, and his wife ended up picking up casings off their street, he said. We need to have people understand that we are all tired of this, Frederick said. This is not something that is a video game that people are dealing with. We have people being hurt. We have families being destroyed, devastated by things like this. The focus must be on removing guns while also dealing with housing, education, health care and jobs, he said. Since the Gun Violence Reduction Team was eliminated, the Police Bureau added six officers and a sergeant to the detective assault unit, yet those officers dont respond to the scenes of shootings. They instead investigate after the fact, which creates a delay in tracking down leads, police said. Under the chiefs latest proposal, those six officers and sergeant could be the investigators on call -- going out to shooting scenes when someone is wounded to initiate immediate investigations, help process evidence at the scene, talk to witnesses and follow leads. Lovell suggested creating a separate patrol team of at least six uniformed officers ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week to shootings, act on criminal intelligence, identify suspects and work to develop relationships with residents to encourage information sharing and connect at-risk youths to services. With a more focused patrol team, people will be less likely to carry guns due to the risk of being caught and prosecuted, he wrote in his plan. Added investigative capacity is likely to improve the speed of investigations, support prosecutions in shooting cases and offer some relief to our currently over-taxed investigative resources, Lovell wrote. The chief also called for people identified at greatest risk of causing or falling victim to violence to be referred to the citys Office of Violence Prevention for wrap-around support services and interventions. Monthly shooting review meetings should continue between police, county probation officers and state and federal prosecutors, Lovell added. We will remain engaged with the community and are very interested in continued input from the community about the kind of police response they expect and want, said Portland police Lt. Greg Pashley, a Police Bureau spokesman. Neither the chief nor the mayor have publicly discussed the plan. The mayor is set to meet with local, county and federal law enforcement officials on Wednesday for further talks. Its unclear what steps will follow. So far this year, there have been 78 shootings in the city. Twenty-two people have been shot and wounded, and five people have been killed from gunfire, according to police. -- Maxine Bernstein Email mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian To read this article and more, including our archive of drinks industry news, analysis & comment pieces from the last 20 years, try just-drinks for 30 days for just 1* First Name Last Name Job Title Email Take a trial *plus VAT if applicable Already a member? Log in here JOLIET, IL Three years ago, Buona Beef had grand plans to build a new restaurant on Joliet's West Jefferson Street at the site of the demolished Sunset Plaza, but those plans have not materialized. Several officials familiar with the project have told Joliet Patch the Buona Beef project is highly unlikely to happen anymore. The Buona Beef development received approval in the summer of 2018, one of the few bright spots during former City Manager David Hales' brief stay in Joliet. Buona Beef was planned to go at 2210 West Jefferson Street, and it went before the Joliet City Council for approval of a drive thru window. "The restaurant will be constructed on a redeveloped site," Hales notified the Council three years ago. "At this time, only the Buona Beef Restaurant is being developed on the west side of the property." The Buona Beef Chicago-area restaurant franchise had visions of rapid expansion a few years back. A 2019 news release announcing the opening of a Buona Beef in Glen Ellyn proclaimed that this marked the 25th Buona Beef location. These days, the Buona Beef website lists a total of 25 locations, the same as it had two years ago. Aside from the celebration of a new Buona Beef in Skokie last summer, Buona Beef hasn't made much of the news. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here to see it. Berwyn-based Buona Beef did make news last year amid the coronavirus crisis for receiving $2 million to $5 million in PPP loans, according to a news article from ProPublica. On Tuesday, city of Joliet economic development Derek Conley was not ready to close the books on the Buona Beef development, but he also had no assurances Buona Beef was ready to forge ahead with construction anytime this spring or summer. "That was never a sure thing," Conley said, referring to Buona Beef. Nowadays, a large for sale sign is erected on the empty lot that once housed the Sunset Plaza, in hopes of landing someone other than Buona Beef to build here. "It was purchased by a developer that works with Buona Beef," Conley told Patch. "They still have some obstacles they have to overcome before the site is developable. It's a tough site to develop." Story continues Conley believes the coronavirus pandemic played a factor in Buona Beef's decision not to move forward in 2020 with construction in Joliet. "With COVID, it really stalled the project," Conley said. In 2021, the Jefferson Street land owner will have to decide whether to move forward with the project approved by the city in 2018 "or sell it to another developer," Conley said. Conley said that Buona Beef has not had any discussions with city officials about other properties or empty lots throughout Joliet. "We have not discussed a second location with them right now," Conley said Tuesday. While Buona Beef sat on the sidelines and didn't break ground for its new restaurant in Joliet, other notable competitors emerged and got their foot in the door first. In November 2018, Beef Shack opened its drive-thru at the old Taco Bell restaurant on West Jefferson Street near Stryker Avenue. While Buona Beef remained passive, Beef Shack emerged, opening a restaurant at the old Taco Bell on Jefferson Street. Image via Google Maps And this past Sunday, Joliet Patch broke the news that suburban Chicago restaurant owner Joe Haberkorn will open his first-ever Pop's Italian Beef this spring or by early summer at the vacant Boston Market on West Jefferson Street. Haberkorn told Joliet Patch he will officially take ownership of the old Boston Market before March arrives. Sources have suggested to Joliet Patch that Buona Beef may have faced a tough battle if its owners tried to build a new restaurant in Joliet. Buona Beef has been known in the past for using non-union laborers on their restaurant projects while Joliet is known as a pro-union community. In 2017, Patch reported that two of the partners with Buona Beef were charged with battery in connection with an altercation on the sidewalk of the company's flagship location in Berwyn. Video recorded by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 appeared to show Joseph Buonavolanto striking the hand of one of the protesters criticizing Buona's use of a low-wage construction worker. In another video, a man identified as his uncle, Jim Buonavolanto, sprayed the union members with a hose. "Unbelievable. If you work hard maybe you had a shot at being (expletive) successful in life instead of being a (expletive) thief," said Joseph Buonavolanto, whose grandfather founded the restaurant chain. In the video, Joseph Buonavolanto describes Buona as a "billion-dollar company" while Jim sprays the union members with a hose because of a need to "clean the sidewalk." This article originally appeared on the Joliet Patch Sen. John Cornyn is defending his fellow Texan senator Ted Cruz against an ethics investigation of Cruz that Democratic senators requested. Seven Democratic senators asked the chamber's ethics panel to determine whether Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley failed to put loyalty to the highest moral principles and to country above loyalty to persons, party, or government department when they objected to certifying Arizona's electoral votes for President Joe Biden, the Houston Chronicle's Benjamin Wermund reports. TEXAS IN POLITICS: Sen. Ted Cruz reintroduces amendment imposing term limits on congressional members Cruz and Hawley's objections have been accused of encouraging a mob of former President Donald Trump's supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, which resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer. Cornyn called the ethics complaint the politics of personal destruction in an interview with Fox News, the Dallas Morning News' Elizabeth Thompson reports. I dont think Senator Hawley or Senator Cruz should be penalized in any way for making an argument," Cornyn said. "Maybe it didnt carry the day, but I think they have every right to make the argument." Cruz and Hawley voted to object to certifying Arizona and Pennsylvania's election results on Jan. 6, hours after a mob breached the Capitol and delayed the certification process. Both senators have faced widespread calls to resign. The complaint filed against Cruz and Hawley alleges that their objections gave credibility to Trump's baseless claims of election fraud. By proceeding with their objections to the electors after the violent attack, Senators Cruz and Hawley lent legitimacy to the mobs cause and made future violence more likely, the senators wrote in the ethics complaint filed Thursday. The Senate has the exclusive power to determine whether these actions violated its ethics rules, to investigate further conduct of which we may not be aware that may have violated these rules, and to consider appropriate discipline. Cornyn said on Fox News that Democrats had previously objected to election results. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., objected to Ohio's Electoral College vote for former President George W. Bush in 2005, prompting an easily defeated vote in Congress. In 2017, then-Vice President Biden dismissed half a dozen House Democrats who raised objections to Trump's election without a senator's support, telling one, It is over, and earning cheers from Republicans. There were others that had previously done it, Cornyn said. Its within their right to make those objections. But its also their responsibility to accept the outcome once its been decided, and thats what we should all do, and move on. Cornyn also said in an interview with Austin's NBC affiliate KXAN that he would not call on Cruz to resign and does not believe Cruz holds any responsibility for the Capitol riot. Cruz has said he will not resign. No, I dont, Cornyn said when asked if he thinks Cruz bears any responsibility for the attack, KXAN's Josh Engel reports. Free speech gives people the right to be wrong. It gives them a right to express their strongly held views. Runners: Get your summer program off on the right foot The arrival of a strengthened cold spell brought the lowest temperature in northern Vietnam to five degrees Celsius in upland areas, while also slightly dissipating the heat in southern provinces. A cold front is heading southbound and will have an effect on multiple locales, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. From Thursday morning, this cold front will affect weather in northern upland provinces before influencing south-central provinces and the flatland areas of the north later that day. Intensified cold weather will hit these locales, with the lowest temperatures in the north maintaining around 12 to 15 degrees Celsius, but dropping to as low as five degrees Celsius in high-altitude locations. Meanwhile, weather in southern provinces will be cooled down, varying at an enjoyable 30 to 33 degrees Celsius in the daytime and slipping to 22 degrees Celsius or below at night. Regarding the emergence of fog in Ho Chi Minh City over the past few days, Le Dinh Quyet, deputy head of forecasting at the Southern Region Hydro-Meteorological Center, claimed this to be a completely normal weather phenomenon. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! BOSTON -- For the first time, scientists have identified the individual neurons critical to human social reasoning, a cognitive process that requires us to acknowledge and predict others' hidden beliefs and thoughts. A team of neuroscientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a rare look at how individual neurons represent the beliefs of others by recording neuron activity in patients undergoing neurosurgery to alleviate symptoms of motor disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Their findings are published in Nature. The researchers were studying a very complex social cognitive process called "theory of mind." "When we interact, we must be able to form predictions about another person's unstated intentions and thoughts," says MGH neurosurgeon and the paper's senior author Ziv Williams, MD. "This ability requires us to paint a mental picture of someone's beliefs, which involves acknowledging that those beliefs may be different from our own and assessing whether they are true or false." A simple example of theory of mind: A friend appears to be sad on her birthday. I may infer she is sad because she didn't get a present or she is upset at growing older. This social reasoning process develops during early childhood and is fundamental to successful social behavior. Individuals with autism, schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorder, and traumatic brain injuries are believed to have a deficit of theory-of-mind ability. Previous research on the cognitive processes that underlie theory of mind has involved functional MRI studies, where scientists watch which parts of the brain are active as volunteers perform cognitive tasks. But the imaging studies capture the activity of many thousands of neurons. In contrast, Williams and his colleagues recorded the computations of individual neurons - a standard preparatory step for neurosurgery, but put to a new purpose: to provide a detailed picture of how neurons encode social information. "Individual neurons, even within a small area of the brain, are doing very different things, not all of which are involved in social reasoning," says Williams. "Without delving into the computations of single cells, it's very hard to build an understanding of the complex cognitive processes underlying human social behavior and how they go awry in mental disorders." For the study, 15 patients agreed to perform brief behavioral tasks before undergoing neurosurgery for placement of deep brain stimulation for motor disorders. Micro-electrodes inserted in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex recorded the behavior of individual neurons as patients listened to short narratives and answered questions about them. For example, participants were presented with this scenario to evaluate how they considered another's beliefs of reality: "You and Tom see a jar on the table. After Tom leaves, you move the jar to a cabinet. Where does Tom believe the jar to be?" The participants had to make inferences about another's beliefs after hearing each story. The experiment did not change the planned surgical approach or alter clinical care. "Our study provides evidence to support theory of mind by individual neurons," says neuroscientist and the paper's first author Mohsen Jamali, MD, PhD. "Until now, it wasn't clear whether or how neurons were able to perform these social cognitive computations." The investigators found that some neurons are specialized and will only respond when assessing another's belief to be false, for example. Other neurons encode information to distinguish your beliefs from another's. Still other neurons create a representation of a specific item, such as a cup or food item, mentioned in the story. Some neurons may multitask and aren't dedicated solely to social reasoning. "Each neuron is encoding different bits of information," says Jamali. "By combining the computations of all the neurons, you get a very detailed representation of the contents of another's beliefs and an accurate prediction of whether they are true or false." Now that scientists understand the basic cellular mechanism that underlies human theory of mind, they have an operational framework by which to begin investigating disorders in which social behavior is affected, adds Williams. "Understanding social reasoning is also important to many different fields, such as child development, economics and sociology, and could help in the development of more effective treatments for conditions such as autism spectrum disorder," he says. ### Funding for this study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and Harvard University's Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative. Jamali is an instructor in Neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Williams is associate professor in Neurosurgery at HMS and faculty at the Harvard Medical School Program in Neuroscience. Benjamin Grannan, MD, is a neurosurgery resident at MGH. Evelina Fedorenko, PhD, is an associate professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Rebecca Saxe, PhD, is professor of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. Raymundo Baez-Mendoza, PhD, is an instructor in Neurosurgery at HMS. About the Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The Mass General Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with annual research operations of more than $1 billion and comprises more than 9,500 researchers working across more than 30 institutes, centers and departments. In August 2020, Mass General was named #6 in the U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals." Months before retiring last year, the longtime disciplinarian at Jesuit High School made grossly inappropriate and sexualized comments to a Spanish teacher so often that she felt forced to quit her job, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court this week. In the complaint, Delmy Banegas alleges that Lawrence Abshire known to most in the Jesuit community as Top subjected her to severe and daily harassment throughout her lone year working at the Catholic prep school in Mid-City. She also claims that she reported Abshire, who spent 28 years at Jesuit, to school leaders, but was told that the school had no formal policy concerning sexual harassment. The school issued a statement Tuesday defending its handling of Banegas complaint, saying it was both immediate and thorough. But Banegas' attorney, Jay Ellwanger, said his client felt compelled to leave her job for "fear of continuing harrassment, badgering and humiliation." Anytime you have an accusation of sexual harassment by a person in power ...(institutions) need to be much more careful about policing that kind of activity, he said. That didn't happen here. Jesuit declined to say whether Banegas' complaints led to Abshire's departure from the school in July, which was announced just a month earlier with little fanfare. But officials said "all appropriate procedures were followed" and that the school "fully adhered" to internal policies concerning "professional lifestyle standards." Abshire couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday. Abshire arrived at Jesuit in 1991, after spending the previous 23 years with the U.S. Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of master sergeant. He instructed Jesuits Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps until 2000, spent a year running the MCJROTC program at Franklinton High School, and returned to Jesuit in the fall of 2001 to become its disciplinarian. He was known for his blaring voice and drill sergeants demeanor, which he used to keep generations of students in line until his retirement last year. Abshire took an interest in Banegas almost immediately after she started working at Jesuit in fall of 2019, according to the suit. He told her early in the school year, I bet when youre naked, you like what you see, the suit says. Banegas alleges that Abshire later groped her buttocks, remarking that she wouldnt be bored if she went to his office alone. She also claims he told her, I bet you like that pepperoni, especially that Italian sausage, which the lawsuit said she interpreted as euphemisms for a man's penis. She also claims Abshire told her he was disappointed to learn she was leaving town for Mardi Gras because his wife was out of town and he had no one to play with. The suit says Banegas would walk away from Abshire, shake her head in disgust and make it clear that she did not enjoy his constant harassment. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up She alleged Abshire once said it isnt harassment if you enjoy it and later told her he used his computer access to find out where she was supposed to be working on campus so he could find her. Banegas began suffering panic attacks as well as severe mental and emotional distress before reporting Abshire to an assistant principal, the suit says. Banegas said that official who is not named told her the school lacked a formal policy for reporting sexual harassment but that she would investigate the matter. Banegas said she wasn't told about the outcome of that investigation or what actions the school took as a result. A handbook that Jesuit provides to employees lays out a detailed reporting procedure for any grievances that arise among staff members, which involves the school's human resource officer and if needed its president. The lawsuit claims Banegas could no longer bear working at Jesuit so she resigned from the faculty. As legally required, before suing, Banegas filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and was issued a "right to sue" letter. The EEOC is an independent federal agency created in 1967 to enforce civil rights legislation banning employment discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion and disability. An individual has 300 days from the date of the alleged offense to file a charge. Once a complaint is made, the agency may choose to investigate it, dismiss it or attempt to mediate between the complainant and the former employer. If the agency investigates but decides not to pursue the matter, which is often the case, the complainant receives a letter that triggers a 90-day deadline to file suit. Jesuit High School taps interim president, John Brown, to be permanent leader Jesuit High School of New Orleans has selected the Rev. John Brown, who has been serving on an interim basis for the last nine months, to be t Ellwanger on Tuesday provided The Times-Picayune | New Orleans Advocate with an audio recording of an exchange between Abshire and Banegas in which Abshire says he walked into work right behind her that morning and the view was very nice. In the recording, she tries to brush it off and tells him about how early she woke up that day. Ellwanger said victims of sexual harassment ... in the workplace, especially at the hands of someone in a position of power, often have to keep up a cheery demeanor. But Ellwanger said it was telling that Banegas, on the recording, quickly changed the subject from her appearance. Banegas suit demands an unspecified amount of damages from Jesuit for allegedly being exposed to a sexually hostile work environment and gender-based discrimination, among other grounds. Additional demands include mandatory training on employment discrimination and sexual harassment for Jesuit employees. Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh has assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to check information in an article dated December 29, 2020 on VietNamNet that reported illegal mining activities at Suoi Thau iron mine in Ha Giang province. Suoi Thau iron mine: Photo: Ha Giang newspaper In 2018, the authorities of Ha Giang province decided to close the mine because the mine explorer - An Khang Steel Joint Stock Company - did not complete related legal procedures and the mining license had expired. However, mining activities at the site were still observed by VietNamNet reporters in December 2020. In document No.552 dated January 22, 2021, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to inspect the case, and deal with it in accordance with the provisions of the law on minerals and report the results to the Prime Minister. Chairman of Ha Giang province Nguyen Van Son (5th from the right) inspects the scene on January 9. Photo: Ha Giang newspaper Previously, on January 9, 2021, Ha Giang Provinces Chairman Nguyen Van Son and officials of the local Departments of Natural Resources and Environment, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development made a field trip to the mining sites of An Khang Steel Joint Stock Company in Bac Me district. Besides the Suoi Thau iron mine, An Khang Steel JSC was licenced to explore several mines in Ha Giang. Mr. Son asked relevant agencies to strictly inspect and manage to ensure that mining activities of An Khang Steel JSC do not violate the regulations of the licensed projects. Ha Giang authorities asked An Khang to seriously complete related documents and procedures in accordance with the order and the provisions of law and to ensure that mining activities do not affect the lives of local people. Ha Giang Chairman also asked An Khang to shut down mines with expired mining licenses. Thai Binh Miners lobby for right to export coal without limitation, MOIT demurs Coal miners want the government to open the door for them to export high-quality coal, saying that Vietnam does not use this type of coal or uses very little of it. WARSAW, Poland A Jewish prayer for the souls of people murdered in the Holocaust echoed Wednesday over where the Warsaw ghetto stood during World War II as a world paused by the coronavirus pandemic observed the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Most International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations were being held online this year due to the virus, including the annual ceremony at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site is closed to visitors because of the pandemic. In one of the few live events, mourners gathered in Poland's capital to pay their respects at a memorial in the former Warsaw ghetto, the largest of all the ghettos where European Jews were held in cruel and deadly conditions before being sent to die in mass extermination camps. From the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke of the need to remember the genocide carried out in World War II, saying it was a sign of humanity and a condition for a peaceful future. Francis also warned that distorted ideologies could lead to a repeat of mass murder on a horrific scale. Remembering the Holocaust, he said, also means to be aware that these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that claim to save a people and end up destroying a people and humanity. Among those commemorating from home Wednesday will be Polish-born Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman, who arrived at the camp when she was 5 years old and was 6 when she found herself among thousands of survivors liberated by Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945. Friedman, who is now 82, attended last year's event at Auschwitz and had hoped to take her her eight grandchildren there this year to help them better understand her experiences. But the pandemic prevented that. From her home in Highland Park, New Jersey, she recorded a message of warning about the rise of hatred which will be part of a virtual observance organized by the World Jewish Congress. Across Europe, the victims were remembered and honored in various ways. In Austria and Slovakia, hundreds of survivors were offered their first doses of a vaccine against the coronavirus in a gesture both symbolic and truly lifesaving given the threat of the virus to older adults. In Israel, some 900 Holocaust survivors died from COVID-19 out of the 5,300 who were infected last year. Israel, which counts 197,000 Holocaust survivors, officially marks its Holocaust remembrance day in the spring. But events were also being held by remembrance and survivors groups across the country, mostly virtually or without members of the public in attendance. Meanwhile, Luxembourg signed a deal Wednesday agreeing to pay reparations and to restitute dormant bank accounts, insurance policies and looted art to Holocaust survivors. Politicians and regular people alike were joining a World Jewish Congress campaign which involved people posting photos of themselves and #WeRemember. Those will be shown later Wednesday on a screen at Auschwitz next to the gate and a cattle car, the way victims were transported there. The online nature of this year's commemorations is a sharp contrast to events marking the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation last year, when some 200 survivors and dozens of European leaders and royalty gathered at the site of the former camp. It was one of the last large international gatherings before the pandemic forced the cancellation of most large gatherings. READ MORE: At 91, she returned to Auschwitz with her family, one last time More than 1.1 million people were murdered by the German Nazis and their henchmen at Auschwitz, the most notorious in a network of killing sites set up across occupied Europe. The vast majority of those killed at Auschwitz were Jews, but others, including Poles, Roma, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war, were also murdered. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Germans and their collaborators. In 2005, the United Nations designated Jan. 27 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. While commemorations have moved online for the first time, one constant is the drive of survivors to tell their stories as words of caution. Rose Schindler, a 91-year-old survivor of Auschwitz who was originally from Czechoslovakia but now lives in San Diego, California, has been speaking to school groups about her experience for 50 years. Her story, and that of her late husband, Max, also a survivor, is also told in a book, Two Who Survived: Keeping Hope Alive While Surviving the Holocaust. After Schindler was transported to Auschwitz in 1944, she was selected more than once for immediate death in the gas chambers. She survived by escaping each time and joining work details. The horrors she experienced the mass murder of her parents and four of her seven siblings, the hunger, being shaven, lice infestations are difficult to convey, but she keeps speaking to groups, over past months only by Zoom. We have to tell our stories so it doesn't happen again, Schindler said in a Zoom call from her home this week. It is unbelievable what we went through, and the whole world was silent as this was going on." Friedman says she believes it is her role to sound the alarm about rising anti-Semitism and other hatred in the world, otherwise another tragedy may happen. That hatred, she said, was on clear view when a mob inspired by former President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some insurrectionists wore clothes with anti-Semitic messages like Camp Auschwitz. It was utterly shocking and I couldnt believe it. And I dont know what part of America feels like that. I hope its a very small and isolated group and not a pervasive feeling, Friedman said Monday. In her recorded message that will be broadcast Wednesday, Friedman said she compares the virus of hatred in the world to COVID-19. She said the world today is witnessing a virus of anti-Semitism, of racism, and if you dont stop the virus, its going to kill humanity. AP writer Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report. The Pontifical Foundation, Aid to the Church in Need, is warning that hundreds of people are being killed in the conflicts in Ethiopias Tigray region and that shops, schools, churches and convents are being looted and destroyed. By Vatican News staff reporter Isolation and lack of communication may be screening ongoing atrocities in Ethiopias Tigray region. According to Regina Lynch, project manager for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), those who have been able to visit the area are reporting the possible murder of 750 people in an assault on the Orthodox Church of St Mary of Zion in Aksum last November. Lynch says it has not been possible to verify the exact details of what would be a real massacre because travel in the region is not currently possible and communications are very restricted. Terrified population However, she added, ACN has received confirmation of a series of killings and attacks on innocent people in many parts of Tigray, including in the Aksum area, and she said the population is terrified. The Tigray region, whose capital is Mekele, is the most northern region of Ethiopia and borders Eritrea and Sudan. About 95 per cent of the population are Christians belonging to the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Church and belong to the Tigray ethnic group. The battle for control of Tigray is in its third month. Fighting for power against each other are the Tigray People's Liberation Front and forces led by the Ethiopian military. Sources say hundreds of people are being killed while shops, schools, churches, convents and homes are being looted and destroyed. Fleeing for their lives About two million have been displaced, with some 60,000 fleeing to Sudan, but others are reportedly seeking refuge in remote areas in the mountains, without water or access to food. Although the conflict has led to the deaths of hundreds of Christians, analysts say the violence is not motivated by religion but by politics. Lynch concludes with an appeal for comfort for the ordinary citizens of Tigray who are paying with their lives, isolated from the world in a situation of anguish, threatened by violence and terror. All but five Senate Republicans voted in favour of an effort to dismiss Donald Trumps second impeachment trial, making clear a conviction of the former US president for incitement of insurrection after the deadly Capitol siege is unlikely. While the Republicans did not succeed in ending the trial before it began, the test vote made clear that Mr Trump still has enormous sway over his party as he becomes the first former president to be tried for impeachment. Many Republicans have criticised Mr Trumps role in the January 6 attack before which he told his supporters to fight like hell to overturn his defeat but most of them have rushed to defend him in the trial. I think this was indicative of where a lot of peoples heads are, said South Dakota Senator John Thune, the number two Republican in the Senate, after the vote. Expand Close Senator Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate, swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial (Senate Television via AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Senator Patrick Leahy, the president pro tempore of the Senate, swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial (Senate Television via AP) Late on Tuesday, the presiding officer at the trial, Senator Patrick Leahy, was taken to hospital for observation after not feeling well at his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement. The 80-year-old Democrat senator was examined by the Capitols attending physician, who recommended he be taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution, he said. Mr Leahy presided over the trials first procedural vote, a 55-45 tally that saw the Senate set aside an objection from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul that would have declared the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional and dismissed the trial. The vote means the trial on Mr Trumps impeachment will begin as scheduled in the week of February 8. The House of Representatives impeached him on January 13, just a week after the deadly insurrection in which five people died. What seemed for some Democrats like an open-and-shut case that played out for the world on live television is running into a Republican Party that feels very different. Not only do senators say they have legal concerns, but they are wary of crossing the former president and his legions of followers. It is unclear if any Republicans would vote to convict Mr Trump on the actual charge of incitement after voting in favour of Mr Pauls effort to declare it unconstitutional. Expand Close Clerk of the House Cheryl Johnson along with acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Tim Blodgett lead the Democratic House impeachment managers to deliver to the Senate the article of impeachment (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Clerk of the House Cheryl Johnson along with acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Tim Blodgett lead the Democratic House impeachment managers to deliver to the Senate the article of impeachment (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via AP, Pool) Ohio Senator Rob Portman said after the vote that he had not yet made up his mind, and that constitutionality is a totally different issue than the charge itself. But many others indicated that they believe the final vote will be similar. The vote shows that theyve got a long ways to go to prove it, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said of the House Democrats charge. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said he thinks the vote was a floor not a ceiling. Oklahoma Senator James Lankford said he thinks that most Republicans will not see daylight between the constitutionality and the article of incitement. Youre asking me to vote in a trial that by itself on its own is not constitutionally allowed? he asked. Conviction would require the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate far from the five Republicans who voted with Democrats on Tuesday to allow the trial to proceed. They were Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania all recent critics of the former president and his effort to overturn President Joe Bidens win. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Mr Trump provoked the riots and indicated he is open to conviction, voted with Mr Paul to move towards dismissing the trial. Indian Oil Corp bought a liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo for delivery over late February to early March and is seeking another cargo for delivery in March, three industry sources said on Wednesday. It bought the cargo for delivery over Feb. 20 to March 5 at $8.70 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) from Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company, two of the sources said. Ras Laffan was set up in 1993 in Qatar to produce LNG and related products from its two production trains, with a combined capacity of 6.86 million tonnes of LNG per annum and 44,000 barrels per day of condensate, according to the company website. IOC is also seeking a cargo for delivery on March 10 to Dahej through a tender which closes on Wednesday, the third source said. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, addressed, on Wednesday, a congratulatory letter to his US counterpart, Antony Blinken, on the occasion of the US Secretary of State officially taking office, after confirmation by the US Congress, context in which the head of the Romanian diplomacy also spoke about the consolidation of security in the Black Sea region, informs a press release sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) to AGERPRES. Minister Aurescu underlined Romania's decision to continue deepening the Strategic Partnership with the USA, a fundamental component of Romania's foreign and security policy. He also pointed out that the celebration, in 2021, of the tenth anniversary of the Joint Statement on the Implementation of the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century Between Romania and the United States of America and the entry into force of the Agreement on the location of the United States ballistic missile defense system in Romania, represents "an additional opportunity to intensify and deepen bilateral dialogue, based on shared values and achievements to date, including as part of a joint effort to strengthen transatlantic strategic resilience and cooperation in managing key global challenges." The head of Romanian diplomacy assured that Romania remains a reliable ally and close friend of the USA and expressed his conviction that, during the term of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Romania and the USA will continue to closely coordinate and ensure the security and prosperity of their citizens, they will promote regional stability, including in the Black Sea area. The head of Romanian diplomacy voiced his confidence that the field of Defense and Security will continue to remain at the highest level of excellence, being one of the most important components of the Strategic Partnership. At the same time, Minister Bogdan Aurescu called for a consolidated US military presence in Romania, which is essential in developing a credible and sustainable deterrence in the Black Sea region, an area of strategic importance for transatlantic security. He also stressed that Romania pursues as a priority the sustained development of economic cooperation with the USA, an increased strategic economic commitment of the USA in the region and in our country and will have a high geopolitical impact. At the same time, the Romanian Minister assured that, as a friendly and allied state, Romania is committed, alongside the USA, to promoting the democratic resilience and transatlantic values that the two states share. On this occasion, Bogdan Aurescu addressed the US Secretary of State's invitation to visit Romania, highlighting at the same time the priority given by Romania to organising, in the next period, of a new session of the Romania-US Strategic Dialogue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs further states. Here's the link to sign up for new Covid vax wait list The Henderson County Department of Public Health has launched a COVID-19 vaccine waitlist for adults 65 and older and all health care workers. Individuals can sign up for the waitlist here. This waitlist will be the new method used to make appointments for the Health Departments vaccination clinics. The Health Department will no longer require that individuals contact the Call Center directly to make an appointment. Henderson County is committed to providing vaccinations as quickly as possible based on supply while following the priority groups set by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. Vaccine supply remains very limited, however. The waitlist will only accept those in Group 1 (health care workers, long-term care staff/residents) and Group 2 (adults 65 and older) at this time. The amount of vaccine received each week varies greatly and appointments will be made as more vaccine becomes available. The waitlist will be organized on a first come, first served basis. The first to sign up will be the first called. Those who enter their email address will receive a confirmation with their number in line. Calls will come from COVID CC with the phone number 828-585-4700. The Call Center will make two attempts to call individuals when its their turn. If a person cannot be reached, staff will continue working through the waitlist to make appointments. Those who were unable to be reached will be called the next time appointments are available. Demand is incredibly high while supplies are low. Those on the waitlist may not be contacted immediately. Please do not sign up for the waitlist more than once or call the Health Department for a status update. Everyone on the waitlist will be contacted by the Call Center when its their turn. The waitlist is for first dose vaccinations only. Everyone who wants a vaccine will need to register separately. Those who already received their first dose do not need to call or go through the waitlist to schedule their second dose appointment. This week the Health Department received enough vaccine from the state to make 396 first dose appointments. Today the Call Center will begin contacting those on the list to make appointments for this Friday. At this time the Call Center will not be open to incoming calls as the Health Department evaluates the new process and time required to call individuals on the waitlist. It is encouraged that friends and loved ones assist those who dont frequently use or have access to the internet to get signed up. For a list of other vaccine providers in North Carolina please visit the NCDHHS locator tool at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/findyourspot. Those in future groups can use the Find My Vaccine Group tool at https://findmygroup.nc.gov/ to find out when they will be eligible. An emergency worker in Florida was arrested this week in connection with the theft of coronavirus vaccine doses, just 12 days after he had been recognized as a countys paramedic of the year, the authorities said on Tuesday. The paramedic, Joshua Colon, 31, had been responsible for administering doses of the vaccine to firefighters in Polk County, the countys sheriff, Grady Judd, said during a news conference. But earlier this month, Mr. Colon could not account for three of the doses of the Moderna vaccine, which the authorities said he initially claimed had been discarded. When he was pressed about the missing doses by a battalion chief, Mr. Colon falsified vaccine screening and consent forms with two false names and the name of a retired firefighter, Sheriff Judd said. The missing doses were illegally removed from a refrigerator by one of Mr. Colons supervisors, a fire captain, who told Mr. Colon to leave for his break, the sheriff said. The fire captain, Anthony Damiano, turned himself in to the authorities on Wednesday, according to an affidavit, which stated that Mr. Damiano had previously asked Mr. Colon if he could help him obtain the vaccine for his mother. MILWAUKEE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE: MTG), today announced the promotion of Gary J. Johnson to Vice President Data Science, and Jennifer A. Westphal to Vice President Chief Information Security Officer. Mr. Johnson joined MGIC in 2006, serving as a Risk Analyst until 2011. After some time at IBM (Seterus Inc.) in Portland, Ore., and at Two Harbors Investment Corporation in Minneapolis, Minn., both as a Quantitative Analyst, Mr. Johnson returned to MGIC in 2016 in the role of Risk Financial Engineer. Since then, he has taken on roles of increasing responsibility in the Risk and Finance Departments, currently serving as Senior Director, MiLo Labs, where he oversees data science and analytics delivery. Mr. Johnson holds a Bachelor's of Science degree in Business Administration from North Dakota State University. "Over the past year and more, Gary has played a key role in laying the groundwork for MGIC to compete as a best-in-class data-driven company," said Nathan Colson, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. "I am excited to work with him in his new role and congratulate him on his promotion." Since 2012, Ms. Westphal has served MGIC in various roles within Information Security, beginning as Information Security Analyst Sr., through her current role as Director, Assistant Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to her time at MGIC, Ms. Westphal built a career in data security and technical support through roles of increasing responsibility at Roundys, Inc. in Milwaukee. "Jennifer's promotion confirms the impactful contributions she has made at MGIC," said Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, Robert Candelmo. "We trust Jennifer to help us carry forward the innovations and strategies we have put in place to transform our customers' experience. I congratulate her on this well-earned promotion." About MGIC (NYSE:MTG) About MGIC Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation "MGIC" (www.mgic.com), the principal subsidiary of MGIC Investment Corporation, serves lenders throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and other locations helping families achieve homeownership sooner by making affordable low-down-payment mortgages a reality through the use of private mortgage insurance. From time to time MGIC Investment Corporation releases important information via postings on its corporate website, and via postings on MGIC's website for information related to underwriting and pricing and intends to continue to do so in the future. Such postings include corrections of previous disclosures and may be made without any other disclosure. Investors and other interested parties are encouraged to enroll to receive automatic email alerts and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds regarding new postings. Enrollment information for MGIC Investment Corporation alerts can be found at https://mtg.mgic.com/shareholder-services/email-alerts. For information about our underwriting and rates, see https://www.mgic.com/underwriting. SOURCE MGIC Investment Corporation Related Links https://www.mgic.com President Donald Trump departs the White House en route to Florida after signing the Tax Cut and Reform Bill in the Oval Office in Washington, on Dec. 22, 2017. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times) Trumps YouTube Channel to Remain Suspended, Company Says YouTube this week confirmed former President Donald Trumps channel will remain suspended. Trumps channel was suspended Jan. 12 from uploading new content for at least a week, according to the Google-owned platform, claiming it could be used to incite violence following the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, the Donald J. Trump channel will remain suspended, YouTube told news outlets Tuesday. Our teams are staying vigilant and closely monitoring for any new developments. Its not clear how long the channel will remain suspended. Trumps YouTube channel has about 2.7 million subscribers. The last video uploaded by Trump to the platform came on Jan. 12 when the former president thanked law enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. Comments appeared to be turned off for all of Trumps videos. Trumps accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and other platforms were suspended following the Jan. 6 incident. Some civil liberties groups and conservatives said the move by Big Tech firms to take down the former presidents accounts is a slippery slope to more censorship. Our ban is indefinite. Weve said at least through the transition, but we have no plans to lift it, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced this month. Separately, Trump attorney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was suspended from YouTubes partner program, Google said. The partner program gives content creators greater access to the video platforms resources and enables revenue sharing from ads that are served on their content. The move removes the channels ability to monetize and restricts access to features like partner support, YouTube said to Reuters. Reuters contributed to this report. Former White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow talks to media outside the White House in Washington on Sept. 26, 2019. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) Larry Kudlow Joins Fox Business Network Fox News Media announced on Tuesday that Larry Kudlow, one of former President Donald Trumps top economic advisers, will join Fox Business Network (FBN) as a contributor and host of his own weekday program. Larrys vast experience in policymaking coupled with his intuitive on-air presence will add depth and insight to our business analysis programming, said Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News Media, in a statement. Kudlow served as a senior contributor for CNBC from 2001, hosting a number of programs. His signature show, The Kudlow Report, started in 2009. He retired from the show in 2014. Fox News Media was among the first news organizations in the country to understand the critical importance of the relationship between Washington and Wall Street, Kudlow said in the statement. Ive long admired their insightful coverage and am excited to join many of my former colleagues now at FBN, creating a show that speaks to the real issues truly impacting Americans. Kudlow will start on Feb. 8, providing expert financial analysis across all Fox News Media platforms. Details of his own weekday program on Fox Business Network will be announced later. Kudlow was named director of the National Economic Council in 2018. He helped create and implement some of Trumps economic, tax, and trade initiatives. Kudlow is a firm believer in tax cuts. His beliefs were reflected in some of his books, such as Tide: Why Tax Cuts Are the Key to Prosperity and Freedom, and JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity. Kudlow once served in the Reagan administration and later served as executive in some Wall Street investment banks, before he worked for CNBC. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Delhi Police on Wednesday detained around 200 protesters on charges of rioting, damaging public property and attacking police personnel during the Republic Day violence. Police said they are making arrests after conducting proper verification and that 22 FIRs have been registered so far. The Delhi Police has also registered an FIR mentioning the names of nine farm leaders, including Yogendra Yadav. TOI As many as 300 cops have sustained injuries, claims Delhi Police. However, initial reports claimed around 85 cops had gotten injured. An official said multiple videos and CCTV footage are being scanned to identify farmers involved and that strict action will be taken against the culprits. Petition filed in SC A day after the national capital witnessed violent scenes as farmers participating in a tractor rally clashed with the police, broke barricades and stormed the Red Fort, and the police responded with tear gas shells and lathi charge, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking setting up of a commission, headed by a retired apex court judge, to inquire the violence. AP The plea has also sought a direction to the concerned authority to lodge First Information Report (FIR) under relevant penal provisions against the individuals or organisations responsible for the violence and causing dishonour of the National Flag on January 26. Security has been tightened in several places across the national capital especially at the Red Fort and farmer protest sites, with the deployment of additional paramilitary forces following the violence. ANI R-Day rally spiralled into chaos After two months of peaceful protests on Delhis borders and 11 rounds of negotiations with the Central government, the Republic Day tractor parade spiralled into chaos. One protester died allegedly when his tractor overturned while ramming a road barrier at ITO. But the protesters claim he was shot and that is when he lost control of the vehicle. Additionally, scores were injured, as police used gas shells, lathis and mobs resorted to violence while forcing their way in, around the time the Republic Day parade was underway on Rajpath. The parade, however, remained unaffected by the turn of events elsewhere. farmers-rally As night fell, the Red Fort was secured, the flags removed and protesters made to vacate the premises. As authorities planned a crackdown, there was some dialling down of temperature. Ramirez joins Hyundai with 30 years of global automotive experience Hyundai Motor has named "seasoned auto executive" Ken Ramirez president and CEO of both Hyundai Motor Brazil and Hyundai Motor Central and South America as the company continues to strengthen its regional management team. Ramirez joins Hyundai with 30 years of global automotive experience and reports to global COO and head of the Americas region, Jose Munoz. His appointment is effective immediately and he will initially be based in the US. "Ken's deep international experience across Europe, the US, Japan, Mexico and Latin America makes him the perfect manager to expand our business in the important Central and South American markets," said Munoz. "He has an impressive track record in bringing out the best in his teams and delivering profitable and sustainable growth. As Hyundai embarks on its transition to a global mobility solutions provider, Ken will be an integral part of our regional management team." Ramirez moves to Hyundai from PSA Group where he was senior vice president, sales and marketing for Europe, overseeing the flagship brand Peugeot. Prior to PSA Group, Ramirez had a lengthy career at the Renault-Nissan Alliance, most recently as SVP, sales and marketing for Nissan Europe. He joined the Alliance in 2002 and held various roles, including managing director of Nissan Latin America and the Caribbean. At Renault, he was managing director of Renault UK before being appointed SVP of Europe and a member of the management committee. Ashish Vazirani is executive director and CEO of the National Military Family Association. As an organization that has stood behind military families for more than 50 years, the National Military Family Association, or NMFA, knows that the challenges they face aren't getting any easier. The issues military families experience have been exacerbated by 20 years of continuous war and now the pandemic. And there's no escape: Families across the services -- active-duty and reserve components, all branches, ranks and grades -- need the Biden administration's support so they can continue to support their service members. Military families know that "together we're stronger," the NMFA's motto. Now is a time to be joined in a cause that everyone supports: a strong and resilient America. Military families need the new administration to help in four critical areas. First, no military family should go hungry. But they are. We've always known some families struggle, but it's no longer some families -- it's many. There are three immediate solutions the White House can take: Use executive action to reduce the barrier to military families accessing needed help through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, by excluding Basic Allowance for Housing in determining income eligibility. Screen for food insecurity within Defense Health Agency and Department of Defense child care facility enrollments. Work with Congress to pass the Military Family Basic Needs Allowance in the administration's first 100 days. Military families cannot keep waiting for help to ensure that they can put food on the table. Washington must act now, before another military family is added to the count of Americans who are food insecure. Second, military families need access to mental and behavioral health resources. A 2020 report by the DoD Inspector General revealed that the military health system routinely fails to meet access-to-care standards for mental and behavioral health care. We can't let this slide, especially as stress associated with the pandemic has increased the demand for mental and behavioral health care. We've heard from families in crisis who couldn't get the mental health care they needed in these extraordinary times -- when the stress they're facing is also extraordinary, and all while the DoD assures military families that their mental health needs will always be met. While the long-term solution is complicated, there are two urgent actions that the Biden administration must take: Immediately freeze the planned military health system restructuring and medical billet cuts until these urgent needs are met. Ensure families have continued access to telehealth. Third, military families need access to affordable, quality child care. While our nation is experiencing a child care crisis, military families -- dealing with deployments, long training exercises away from home, Guard and Reserve activations, and irregular and overnight hours -- feel the problem acutely. Military families are counting on Washington to ensure that the services: Adequately fund child care fee assistance programs. Partner with the community outside the gates to increase accessibility when on-installation wait lists are too long. Incentivize child care workers by offering competitive pay, tuition assistance, and debt forgiveness programs. At the NMFA, we're committed to continuing to work with the Pentagon on this issue. Our military members cannot do their jobs when their children are not cared for. While piecemeal solutions are not the answer, there is an immediate solution to affordability (one that the DoD has acknowledged but overlooked for more than a decade): It must make Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts available to active-duty service members, the only federal employees who don't have access to them. The Pentagon could do this tomorrow because it doesn't require an executive order or legislation; it only requires the DoD's civilian leadership to put military families first. Military families are counting on the White House to lead with them in mind, serving and supporting them to make our country stronger. The NMFA is encouraged to know that the new administration has sent a clear message that military families matter. It has already brought back the military-focused Joining Forces initiative and hired proven military community leaders -- military spouses Rory Brosius at Joining Forces and Patricia Barron, the new deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy -- who will focus on the critical issues facing military families. Finally, we have one broad recommendation that is not pandemic-related but is still important: The DoD should review policies and programs for supporting military families so that they reflect the family unit as defined by the service member, including life partners, common-law marriages and blended families, to ensure that the department recognizes the wide diversity of today's military families and addresses the special circumstances of military life. Accordingly, we strongly urge the Biden administration to act quickly on Section 581 of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which requires the DoD to implement Recommendation Four of the July 2019 report of the National Academies of Science Committee on the Well-Being of Military Families, titled ''Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society." These are not detailed policy asks. We have those, too: We will ask for help ensuring that Tricare provides the health care military families need; that military spouses have the support of the White House in initiatives that ensure career portability and success, access to educational resources, improvements in the Exceptional Family Member Program; and countless more -- but our military families are in crisis. We need to know our families are fed, have access to mental health resources, and that our children are cared for. Mr. President and Dr. Biden, we call on you and your team to take swift action to make it clear that Joining Forces is truly back -- but with a greater emphasis on solutions that military families need now. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Such is the skill of these criminals in imitating real investment firms, even the most experienced investor could be at risk, said Action Fraud Older people are more vulnerable, and men seem to have lost more than women The number of investors that have been lured into putting money in clone firms that appear to be genuine investment outfits is on the up, according to new research. Investment fraud victims lost an average of 45,000 after being tricked into investing in fake investment firms, said Action Fraud, the UKs national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime. More than 78mln was lost in investment frauds across the whole of 2020, the research found. This included a 29% rise in clone firm investment scams in April compared to March, when the UK first went into lockdown, with Action Fraud suggesting the ongoing financial impact of coronavirus may make people more susceptible to these types of clone scams. Hard to spot scams Such is the skill of these criminals, even the most experienced investor could be at risk, the organisation said, with 77% of investors surveyed admitting they would not know what to look for to identify a clone investment firm. Superintendent Sanjay Andersen, from the City of London Polices National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, said: This new trend of 'clone firms' is particularly worrying as it makes it harder for people to spot a scam. He said there had been a spike in reports in the summer, after the first national lockdown was lifted, while the Financial Conduct Authority said it received 3,767 reports of clone scams to its consumer helpline. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau recommends people take time to do their research, visiting www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart and seeking independent impartial advice from an expert. If you think youve already invested into a fraudulent scheme, report it to Action Fraud, he said. Online platform Interactive Investor said it recent retirement survey of over 12,000 adults, revealed 13% of respondents have fallen victim to financial scams, with older investors more at risk, with 18% in the 72-77 age category and 20% of those aged over 77 having been defrauded. Women are less likely to have experienced a financial scam than men, the survey found, at 9% versus 15%, while over a third of men admitted to having been the victim of investment fraud compared to just over a fifth of women. In addition, while 42% of women and 43% of men said they got their money back, 17% of women said it had put them off attempting to put their financial affairs in order, for fear of being scammed again, compared to 9% among men. Financial scams tend to be indiscriminate in their targeting, and while we all have to be on our guard, the risks seem to increase with age, said Myron Jobson at Interactive Investor. Men might be more susceptible to investment fraud because, on average at least, they tend to invest more. Whatever the reason, it is important to take care with your money and look out for the warning signs. Call for tighter online laws PIMFA, the body that represents the wealth management and financial advice companies, said frauds are likely to continue unless there are changes made to hold online platforms to account. Website cloning of legitimate financial services firms and other forms of online fraud are becoming more prevalent, and are something we have been warning about for some time, said Liz Field, chief executive of PIMFA. She said: It is a cause of deep frustration to our members and the Regulator that they can do little more themselves to combat these criminals and prevent harm from being perpetuated, than report such frauds to internet service providers (ISPs), domain name registration services and online platforms. She said one way such frauds could be prevented would be for the government to include economic harm within its upcoming online safety bill, which might require online platforms, ISPs and registrars to take swifter action against fraudsters, or take preventative action to stop fraudsters reaching their victims in the first place. How to spot a clone firm Fraudsters use literature and websites that mirror those of legitimate firms and encourage investors to check the Firm Reference Number (FRN) on the FCA Register to sound as convincing as possible. If youre considering an investment, Mark Steward of the FCA, said not only should you visit the FCA register to make sure the firm youre dealing with is authorised, but also use the contact details on the FCA register, not the details the firm provided, as well as checking for subtle differences. And if youre still unsure, call our consumer helpline for further information. When it comes to clones, I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to double check every detail. Action Fraud also recommended rejecting all unsolicited investment offers, whether made online, on social media or over the phone. Be wary even if you initiated contact. Jobson said tell-tale scam signs included cold calling relating to pensions, as this has been banned since 2019. No reputable pensions firm would call you out of the blue to suggest you transfer your retirement nest egg to a better deal. When in doubt, simply hang up, he said. Also beware of things that signal illegitimacy. If the firm doesnt allow you to call back, it is most likely because it is a fraudulent enterprise. Also beware of firms that only list mobile phone numbers or a PO box address on their website. Fraudsters may try to tempt you in by offering free pension reviews. Dont fall for it. It could be a trick to get you to share personal information. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is, he added. There is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to your finances. If you come across a proposition that promises ridiculous returns and downplays risk, it probably is too good to be true. Before you commit to any offers, make sure you do extensive independent research on the company and make sure you check all the information yourself dont just take their word for it. There are no shortcuts when it comes to financial management, but help is available. The governments free and impartial pension wise service is a good first port of call, offering guidance on options for those with a defined contribution pension. Case study Janet, a finance officer from Chester who spoke to Action Fraud, lost 40,000 to a clone investment firm. Talking about her experience, she said: Im quite savvy minded when it comes to money being a finance officer I thought I was a confident investor and thought I knew how to spot the warning signs of a scam. After searching the internet for high-return bonds, I received a call the next day about investing in student accommodation. I found legitimate details of the company online - everything seemed genuine, so I invested. A few months later, after a couple more investments, I started to get a bit worried - I still hadnt received confirmation of the latest investment. I tried to call the contacts I had been speaking to, but the numbers were invalid. It was clear I had been scammed. I had lost 40,000. I really thought Id be able to spot a scam, but now I know they can be far more sophisticated than I had ever imagined. Snapdocs, the leading digital mortgage platform company, today shared details of Waterstone Mortgages move to a digital mortgage process. One of the nations largest mortgage lenders with approximately 650 employees and ability to lend in 48 states, and a Snapdocs customer since late 2019, the firm moved 70 percent of its closings to hybrid in just three months. Using Snapdocs to manage all eClosings, Waterstone Mortgage has also relied on the company to handle its highest volume of mortgages to date in 2020 a more than 40 percent year-over-year increase. While many lenders continue to just talk about moving to digital, were making tremendous strides in making it the default at Waterstone Mortgage. We believe in taking a very deliberate, structured approach to ensure optimal client service and experience along the way, and the feedback thus far has been overwhelmingly positive, said Tom Knapp, CIO of Waterstone Mortgage. Working with Snapdocs as our technology partner, were already seeing an improved borrower experience and operational efficiencies, and even starting to see a reduction in cost of doing business. A firm already synonymous with innovation and exceptional service, Waterstone Mortgage kicked off a strategic 18-month initiative in early 2020 to move all closings to be fully digital experiences. The first step has been moving to hybrid as the default option, enabling borrowers to preview closing documents and eSign eligible documents prior to closing appointments to ensure a smooth process and significantly less time spent at the closing table. First standardizing internal processes and workflows across regions in January, Waterstone Mortgage then rolled out Snapdocs digital closing platform companywide in February.When a global pandemic broke out two months later, all employees transitioned to remote work environments. But instead of slowing down and tinkering operations to fit a distributed workforce, as did many of their competitors, Waterstone Mortgage scaled its operations seamlessly and was able to serve more clients in a consistent, streamlined manner. Were already seeing Snapdocs and our hybrid as default offering become a competitive advantage. Its still a nice surprise for some once they've chosen Waterstone Mortgage as their partner, but borrowers now seek us out because of it, said Tom Knapp, CIO of Waterstone Mortgage. In these unprecedented times, it enables us to be nimble and adapt to changing customer needs to make their dreams of homeownership come true no matter the circumstances. In fact, because of Snapdocs, weve been able to close deals when clients were quarantining due to COVID-19. Without it, we may have had those deals fall through. With all loan originators using Snapdocs, Waterstone Mortgage has moved from doing zero hybrid eClosings in 2019 to having them make up more than 70 percent of its business in 2020. On average, hybrid eClosings are already proving to be 60 percent faster than wet closings, with the majority of clients reviewing documents online within Snapdocs ahead of their appointment, resulting in a 80 percent reduction in errors. The move to hybrid as default has also enabled Waterstone Mortgage to close more loans in 2020 with the same number of closers, doing 40 percent more in 2020 compared to 2019, a company record. Companies like Waterstone Mortgage that had strategies in place prior to COVID-19 are now leading the pack and seeing it pay off in the form of more inbounds, faster closings and streamlined operations. As the industry at large reconciles its old ways in adopting digital workflows, were seeing early adopters like Waterstone Mortgage show glimpses of the future, said Aaron King, founder and CEO of Snapdocs. Were thrilled to be a partner in their digital mortgage journey and to showcase the critical role technology plays in streamlining home-buying today and in the future. Since rolling out hybrid and seeing such an overwhelming response, Waterstone Mortgage has also started to incorporate eNote and full Remote Online Notary (RON) eClosings, where customers conduct the entire closing appointment virtually, beginning with eSigning documents then completing the appointment with the notary via webcam. In November, the company announced its first full eClosing in its history, a major accomplishment in its initiative to move to digital. The company has also made big strides with its eNote acceptance among its investors, making a 25-50 percent jump in eNote certifications every month and also seeing an enthusiastic response from title companies and local municipalities alike. About Snapdocs Snapdocs is simplifying the mortgage closing process. As the provider of the industry's leading mortgage platform, Snapdocs provides 130,000+ real estate professionals with a pragmatic, proven path to adopt digital closings and create a single, scalable process online for every transaction. The company powered more than 13% of all U.S. residential mortgages in the last 12 months and is backed by prominent investors including YC Continuity, Sequoia Capital, F-Prime Capital and Founders Fund. To learn more, please visit snapdocs.com. About Waterstone Mortgage Corporation Waterstone Mortgage Corporation is an innovative, strong, and secure mortgage lending company that has maintained a reputation for exceptional service and competitive mortgage financing. Founded in 2000, the company lends in 48 states. In 2019, Waterstone Mortgage set a company record of nearly $3 billion in annual loan origination volume. The company has been named to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinels Top Workplaces list; the Milwaukee Business Journals Best Places to Work list; National Mortgage Professional Magazines Top 100 Mortgage Employers; Mortgage Executive Magazines Top 100 Mortgage Companies in America; MReports Top 25 Companies to Work For; and Scotsman Guides Top Mortgage Lenders. Waterstone Mortgage was ranked as the #2 company in Mortgage Executive Magazines Top 50 Mortgage Companies to Work For in 2018 and is a three-time Ellie Mae Hall of Fame Award winner. Headquartered in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, Waterstone Mortgage is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WaterStone Bank SSB, which, in turn, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Waterstone Financial, Inc. To learn more about Waterstone Mortgage, visit http://www.WaterstoneMortgage.com. The postcode area in which Health Minister Robin Swann lives recorded 40 Covid-19 deaths in just one month, it can be revealed. According to figures released by Northern Ireland's Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), there were 30 Covid-19 related deaths in BT42 between March 19 and December 4 last year. By January 8, there were 70 Covid-19 related deaths in BT42, which includes the rural villages of Cullybackey, Galgorm, Broughshane and Kells - where Mr Swann lives. The postcode had the highest Covid-19 death toll in Northern Ireland between December 4 last year and January 8 this year. Meanwhile, according to the Department of Health's latest statistics, Mid & East Antrim, which covers BT42, has the fourth highest Covid-19 death toll. The virus has been linked to 163 deaths there since the beginning of the pandemic. Belfast has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths, with 340 residents losing their lives since last March, followed by 208 deaths in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon and 178 deaths in Antrim and Newtownabbey councils. The figures have come to light on one of the bleakest days in the pandemic so far, with the Prime Minister apologising as the UK surpassed 100,000 Covid-19 related deaths. Speaking at a briefing yesterday afternoon, Boris Johnston was asked what had gone so wrong with the UK's pandemic response given the fact the Government originally hoped to contain deaths to 20,000. He said: "On this day I should really repeat that I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the Government has done. What I can tell you is we truly did everything that we could and we continue to do everything that we can to minimise loss of life and minimise suffering in what has been a very, very difficult stage and a very, very difficult crisis for our country and we will continue to do that." According to the latest Department of Health figures for Northern Ireland, there were 16 deaths reported yesterday, while a further 550 cases have been confirmed. Pressure on the health service remained high, with 771 Covid-19 inpatients and three hospitals operating over capacity. Of the 771 inpatients, 68 were receiving critical care. Read More Mid & East Antrim DUP councillor William McCaughey, who is also a resident of Kells, last night described the recent spike in deaths in BT42 as "alarming". He said: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to any family that has lost a loved one. Whether it is one death, 40 deaths or 400 deaths, it is too high. "As a council, we do our best to encourage people to stick by the regulations and adhere to public health guidance to try and curb the spread of the virus and reduce the devastating impact on families." The council hit the headlines last September when it became one of the areas where a mini lockdown was imposed in response to a spike in cases. The additional measures, which included restrictions on travel and socialising, appeared to have an impact on the number of positive cases. However, at the start of December, the number of positive cases in the area began to rise again. According to Department of Health figures, the seven-day rate for positive cases per 100,000 of the population between November 24 and 30 last year was 199.9, with 277 people in the council area testing positive for the virus. This made it one of the worst affected areas in Northern Ireland at the time. Statistics released by NISRA have highlighted a number of other areas that have fared badly in the last few weeks of 2020. They show 32 deaths were recorded in the postcodes covering Newtownabbey between December 4 last year and January 8 this year. Londonderry was also badly affected - 34 deaths were reported in BT47 and BT48 over the month-long period. BT80, which takes in Cookstown, recorded 20 deaths between December 4 last year and January 8 this year. Mid Ulster has also reported high Covid-19 positive cases throughout the pandemic. The Western worlds largest oil explorers are sailing into earnings season on the tailwind of strong commodity prices after a 2020 they would rather forget. With crude prices and refining margins buoyed by the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and the prospect of an economic rebound, investors will be watching for signs in Big Oils fourth-quarter earnings that higher crude prices will translate into much-needed increased cash flows this year. Some optimism is already priced in. Exxon Mobil and BP, both of which last year weathered their worst stock-price slumps in decades, are up more than 10 percent in 2021. Still, the supermajors are largely out of favor: The combined market value of Exxon, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Total and BP is now less than that of Tesla Inc. SIGNS FROM OFS: Oil field services giants turn the corner in pandemic recovery The challenge for executives during conference calls with analysts and investors will be to strike the right balance between paying back debt, funding shareholder payouts and financing growth plans and energy-transition strategies. Here are five things to watch for when they post fourth-quarter earnings: Cash Generation Investors will be watching for signs that strengthening prices are bolstering cash reserves. Morgan Stanley analysts believe cash flow is the single top indicator of stock performance for the supermajors as investors have largely given up on rewarding companies for boosting output, expanding underground reserves or timely project construction. The metric has become increasingly important as companies took on more debt. Capital Allocation All the supermajors aggressively cut spending in 2020 and investors will be wary of any moves to flex this years outlays higher in response to increasing prices, particularly in U.S. shale fields. Chevron Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth will likely face questions around his appetite for further takeovers, given the companys relatively strong balance sheet and recent $5 billion purchase of Noble Energy. Meanwhile, Exxon executives will once again be asked about their ability to maintain the third-largest dividend in the S&P 500 Index. For BP and Shell, it will all be about shareholder returns. Both companies slashed dividends last year, drawing the ire of investors counting on generous payouts. Shell sought to woo some of them back during the third quarter with a modest dividend increase and the promise of further hikes as well as share buybacks as debt is reduced. The European majors have all promised - to differing levels - to ramp up investments into cleaner energy over the next decades. But oil and natural gas are still their bread and butter, meaning that they will have to juggle money flowing into fossil fuels while also diverting capital into less-profitable renewables and shareholder payouts. Writedowns Exxons fourth-quarter results will be marred by its biggest-ever writedown, which the company has warned may be as large as $20 billion. For its part, Shell warned in December of another multibillion-dollar impairment that will bring the tally for the year to more than $22 billion. Shell expects more charges to come this year related to its global restructuring. The firm will cut as many as 9,000 jobs over two years, and has already announced 1,600 workforce reductions in its home countries of the Netherlands and U.K. Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl said in October that severance costs tied to the revamp would likely amount to $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Demand Outlook With their giant networks of refineries, terminals and filling stations, the oil majors have a unique insight into global demand patterns, the key signal for oil markets as the world copes with Covid-19. Executives comments on anticipated customer behavior will be closely scrutinized with a view to whether the recent price rally will be fleeting or the beginning of another commodity supercycle. Of particular interest will be the outlook for liquefied natural gas in Asia, which saw a stunning price spike in recent weeks due to weather-driven demand for heating fuel. Though many long-term LNG contracts are benchmarked to the price of oil, the spot market is still an important indicator of demand. Restructuring The crisis of 2020 was so severe that the majors quickly resorted to huge layoffs to reduce costs, and now investors will want to see what kind of savings have been reaped. Exxon has already indicated it will beat its target of reducing operating expenses by 15%, and 14,000 job cuts also ought to lead to longer-term gains. In Europe, Shell isnt the only firm to slim down operations. BP said in June that it would reduce its 70,000-strong workforce by 10,000 to help ease $8 billion in annual people costs. BP CEO Bernard Looney has stressed that for the company to transition into cleaner energy it needs to be more nimble, and that has meant dismantling the traditional upstream and downstream divisions, and stripping away entire layers of management. Multi-disciplinary researchers at The University of Manchester have helped develop a powerful physics-based tool to map the pace of language development and human innovation over thousands of years - even stretching into pre-history before records were kept. Tobias Galla, a professor in theoretical physics, and Dr Ricardo Bermudez-Otero, a specialist in historical linguistics, from The University of Manchester, have come together as part of an international team to share their diverse expertise to develop the new model, revealed in a paper entitled 'Geospatial distributions reflect temperatures of linguistic feature' authored by Henri Kauhanen, Deepthi Gopal, Tobias Galla and Ricardo Bermudez-Otero, and published by the journal Science Advances. Professor Galla has applied statistical physics - usually used to map atoms or nanoparticles - to help build a mathematically-based model that responds to the evolutionary dynamics of language. Essentially, the forces that drive language change can operate across thousands of years and leave a measurable "geospatial signature", determining how languages of different types are distributed over the surface of the Earth. Dr Bermudez-Otero explained: "In our model each language has a collection of properties or features and some of those features are what we describe as 'hot' or 'cold'. "So, if a language puts the object before the verb, then it is relatively likely to get stuck with that order for a long period of time - so that's a 'cold' feature. In contrast, markers like the English article 'the' come and go a lot faster: they may be here in one historical period, and be gone in the next. In that sense, definite articles are 'hot' features. "The striking thing is that languages with 'cold' properties tend to form big clumps, whereas languages with 'hot' properties tend to be more scattered geographically." This method therefore works like a thermometer, enabling researchers to retrospectively tell whether one linguistic property is more prone to change in historical time than another. This modelling could also provide a similar benchmark for the pace of change in other social behaviours or practices over time and space. "For example, suppose that you have a map showing the spatial distribution of some variable cultural practice for which you don't have any historical records - this could be be anything, like different rules on marriage or on the inheritance of possessions," added Dr Bermudez-Otero. "Our method could, in principle, be used to ascertain whether one practice changes in the course of historical time faster than another, ie whether people are more innovative in one area than in another, just by looking at how the present-day variation is distributed in space." The source data for the linguistic modelling comes from present-day languages and the team relied on The World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS). This records information of 2,676 contemporary languages. Professor Galla explained: "We were interested in emergent phenomena, such as how large-scale effects, for example patterns in the distribution of language features arise from relatively simple interactions. This is a common theme in complex systems research. "I was able to help with my expertise in the mathematical tools we used to analyse the language model and in simulation techniques. I also contributed to setting up the model in the first place, and by asking questions that a linguist would perhaps not ask in the same way." ### NOTE:- Henri Kauhanen(1), Deepthi Gopal (2), Tobias Galla(3) (4) and Ricardo Bermudez-Otero (5); Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) ("Getchell" or the "Company") a leading Nevada focused Gold and Copper exploration company is pleased to announce partial results from the recent six-hole 1,995 metre drill program at the Company's flagship Fondaway Canyon Gold Project in Nevada ("Fondaway" or "Project"). Key Highlights Assay results have been returned for the first 3 holes from the 2020 drill program at Fondaway; Holes FCG20-02 and 03 were drilled in the Central Area to test the down-dip extension of the Colorado Zone mineralization; Multiple gold zones were intersected in hole FCG20-02 including a new high-grade gold zone above the targeted depth for the Colorado Zone mineralization, and closer to surface; 6.2 g/t Au over 21.9m including 9.6 g/t Au over 12.0m , and including 20.4 g/t Au over 3.2m was intersected by FCG20-02 in this newly identified mineralized structural zone; including , and including was intersected by FCG20-02 in this newly identified mineralized structural zone; In addition, both holes FCG20-02 and 03 intersected broad intervals of mineralization, with higher than anticipated gold grades, down-dip from the Colorado Zone; 1.9 g/t Au over 43.5m including 4.2 g/t Au over 14.9m was intersected in FCG20-02; including was intersected in FCG20-02; 4.3 g/t Au over 21.1m including 8.7 g/t Au over 9.4m, and a lower interval grading 2.0 g/t Au over 49.0m was intersected in FCG20-03, an approximate 120 metre step-out from FCG20-02; including and a lower interval grading was intersected in FCG20-03, an approximate 120 metre step-out from FCG20-02; Hole FCG20-01 drilled 2.3km to the west at the Pediment Target Area was lost within a fault zone prior to reaching the target depth. The last series of samples at the bottom of the hole showed an increase in gold values potentially indicative of the approaching targeted gold zone; and, Assays are still pending for holes FCG20-04, 05, and 06 drilled in the Central Area. "We are thrilled that our initial drill holes testing the gold mineralization down-dip from the Colorado Pit both intersected wide mineralized structures and extended the known gold mineralization towards the southwest," said Mike Sieb, President, Getchell Gold Corp. "We also encountered a very prominent and high-grade interval not accounted for in our geologic model, that highlights the extensive mineralizing system at Fondaway, and we look forward to shortly receiving the outstanding 2020 drill program assay results." Assay results have been received for the first three diamond drill holes (FCG20-01, 02, and 03) of the six-hole drill program completed at Fondaway Canyon in late 2020. Central Area Drill Results Drill holes FCG20-02 and 03 were both collared from the historic Colorado Pit (Figure 1) and successfully extended the known gold mineralization towards the southwest (Figure 2 and 3). Table 1 presents a summary of the notable gold intervals from holes FCG20-02 and FCG20-03. Figure 1: Fondaway Canyon Central Area Plan Map showing 2020 drill hole locations To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/72947_23f4fe3804c65b1b_001full.jpg Hole FCG20-02, drilled to the southwest along a plane connecting the Colorado Pit to Pack Rat zone, encountered a wide mineralized structural zone between a drill depth of 150 and 300 metres. The mineralization was encountered where predicted by the geological model and down-dip from the Colorado Zone. Within the breadth of the mineralization encountered, two gold zones are highlighted. 1.9 g/t Au over 43.5 metres including 4.2 g/t Au over 14.9 metres; and, 1.1 g/t Au over 12.3 metres. Hole FCG20-03, drilled to the south as a step out from FCG20-02, encountered the mineralized structural zone between 150 and 290 metres downhole, approximately 120 metres ESE of the FCG20-02 main structural zone intercepts. The primary gold intercepts are highlighted: 4.3 g/t Au over 21.1 metres including 8.7 g/t Au over 9.4m and including 14.6 g/t Au over 3.4m; and, 2.0 g/t Au over 49.0m (188.3 to 237.3m). The broad Colorado structural zone that hosts the gold mineralization encountered in FCG20-02 and FCG20-03 has a true thickness of approximately 100 metres, dips shallowly to the SW and is comprised of strongly sheared, brecciated and bleached sedimentary rocks. Hole FCG20-02 intersected a significant new structural zone of high-grade gold mineralization higher up in the hole than expected. Of 17 consecutive samples extending 21.9 metres down hole, only one sample assayed less than 1 g/t Au with the highest sample grading 25.5 g/t Au (1.7m sample). The mineralized interval graded 6.2 g/t Au over 21.9 metres including 9.6 g/t Au over 12.0 metres and including 20.4 g/t Au over 3.2 metres. Figure 2: Fondaway Canyon Colorado to Pack Rat (NE-SW) long section To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/72947_23f4fe3804c65b1b_002full.jpg Table 1: Fondaway Canyon 2020 Drill Interval Highlights - Gold Grade To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/72947_23f4fe3804c65b1b_003full.jpg Figure 3: Colorado Pit Area Plan Map showing 2020 drilling with sample gold grades To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/72947_23f4fe3804c65b1b_004full.jpg The Colorado structural zone was targeted further down-dip by holes FCG20-05 and FCG20-06 and assays for these holes are pending. Half Moon Area Drill Hole Drill hole FCG20-04 was collared north of where the Half Moon Vein is exposed on surface and drilled to the southwest. FCG20-04 was designed to (i) pierce the Half Moon vein to characterize the mineralization; and (ii) extend the gold mineralization intersected in hole FC17-04 down-dip to the southwest (Figure 1). Assay results are pending for hole FCG20-04. Pediment Target Area The Pediment Target is the westernmost known gold mineralized occurrence along the 3.5 km long E-W trending Fondaway Canyon gold mineralization corridor. The area is completely blanketed by a broad alluvium cover which is typical of the range and basin geomorphology for the area. Two vertical drill holes completed in 2002, 02FC-10 and 02FC-11, were collared 185 metres apart and designed to test potential gold mineralization beneath the sediment cover on trend with the Fondaway Canyon E-W gold corridor. Both holes successfully intersected thick lower grade gold intersections with hole 02FC-10 intersecting 27.4 m grading 0.82 g/t Au and 02FC-11 intersecting 36.6 m grading 0.52 g/t Au. One hole, FCG20-01, was drilled on the pediment targeting the midway point between the two gold bearing intervals intersected by holes 02FC-10 and 02FC-11 to characterize and model the mineralization geometry. FCG20-01 was lost within a fault zone prior to reaching the target depth. The last series of samples at the bottom of the hole showed an increase in gold values potentially indicative of the approaching targeted gold zone. Additional drilling in 2021 is planned for this prospective target and the drilling methodology and orientation will be adjusted to address the structural setting. Table 2: Fondaway Canyon 2020 Drill Locations and Orientation (UTM metres - NAD83 Z11N) To view an enhanced version of Table 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3941/72947_getchelltable2enhanced.jpg Scott Frostad, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person (as defined in NI 43-101) who reviewed and approved the content and scientific and technical information in the news release. The 2020 drill core was cut at Bureau Veritas Laboratories' ("BVL") facilities in Sparks, Nevada, with the samples analyzed for gold and multi-element analysis in BVL's Sparks, Nevada and Vancouver, BC laboratories respectively. Gold values were produced by fire assay with an Atomic Adsorption finish on a 30-gram sample (BV code FA430) with over limits re-analyzed using method FA530 (30g Fire Assay with gravimetric finish). The multi-element analysis was performed by ICP-MS following aqua regia digestion on a 30g sample (BV code AQ250). Quality control measures in the field included the systematic insertion of standards and blanks. The 2002 drill samples from the two reverse circulation drill holes referred to in this news release were split with a Jones splitter when dry and a rotary splitter when wet. Quality control samples from the field (i.e. field duplicate samples) were not submitted for analysis and the sample sizes and security measures were not documented. The samples were analyzed for total gold by American Assay Laboratories of Sparks, Nevada Assays using the fire/A.A. finish method on a 30-gram sample. The QAQC protocol employed by the laboratory was conducting duplicate analyses of core pulps, approximately 1 per 11 samples. The laboratory did not insert blanks and standards, a current NI 43-101 standard. A qualified person from Getchell has verified that the 2002 drill program results disclosed used procedures that are non-NI 43-101 compliant, however, the results have been accurately transcribed from the original source and are considered suitable for reference at the current stage of exploration. About Getchell Gold Corp. The Company is a Nevada focused gold and copper exploration company trading on the (CSE: GTCH) and (OTCQB: GGLDF). Getchell Gold is primarily directing its efforts on its most advanced stage asset, Fondaway Canyon, a past gold producer with a significant in-the-ground historic resource estimate. Complementing Getchell's asset portfolio is Dixie Comstock, a past gold producer with a historic resource and two earlier stage exploration projects, Star and Hot Springs Peak. Getchell has the option to acquire 100% of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, Churchill County, Nevada. The Company reiterates that its near-term strategy to advance its assets is not impacted by the COVID-19 Corona virus. The Company continues to monitor the situation and is in compliance with all government guidelines. For further information please visit the Company's website at www.getchellgold.com or contact the Company at info@getchellgold.com. Mr. William Wagener, Chairman & CEO Getchell Gold Corp. +1 303 517 8764 info@getchellgold.com The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or dissemination in the United States. Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the private placement and the completion thereof and the use of proceeds. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including: the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, use of proceeds from the financing, capital expenditures and other costs, and financing and additional capital requirements. Although management of Getchell have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72947 Mizzou medical student and Ladue high grad Daniel Sheinbein gave a 61-year-old stranger the best holiday gift imaginable. On Dec. 30, 26-year-old Sheinbein spent more than six hours at a Cincinnati blood center donating stem cells to help the stranger who is battling Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. One of the most important values in Judaism is to save another life, if you have the opportunity, said Sheinbein, who celebrated his bar mitzvah at erstwhile Shaare Zedek and whose family now belongs to Congregation Bnai Amoona. To give of ourselves and possibly heal or save others is part of our duty as a Jewish member of society. Sheinbein explained that in 2016 he attended a fundraiser in New York for an organization called Gift of Life, a public bone marrow and blood stem cell registry headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla. Gift of Life facilitates transplants for children and adults suffering from life-threatening illnesses, including leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers and genetic diseases. The organization was begun in 1991 by a Jewish man named Jay Feinberg, who at age 22, was told he would need a bone marrow transplant to survive his leukemia, but he had no matching donor in the registry. Family and friends, none of whom matched, arranged for massive screenings around the country and in Israel where potential donors could be tested. After four years and 60,000 people, a young woman finally matched for Feinberg and he received a successful transplant. At the New York fundraiser, Sheinbein agreed to have the inside of his cheek swabbed and his name added to the registry. He didnt think much about it until August when he received a call saying he was a match for a 61-year-old man. ADVERTISEMENT The call caught me by surprise, said Sheinbein, who is in his third year of medical school and plans to specialize in psychiatry. I wasnt expecting the call to come during a pandemic. Sheinbein was first asked to do a confirmatory match cheek swab and then preliminary blood work a few weeks before donation to make sure he was cleared to donate from a health standpoint. He was also informed that he could travel to either Boca Raton or New York for the stem cells donation. All expenses related to the procedure, including air travel, accommodations and meals, would be incurred by Gift of Life. In early December, three weeks before Sheinbein was slated to fly to Florida, he became concerned about the steady increase in the number of COVID cases and deaths. As much as he wanted to donate, he preferred not to board a plane to do so. There was a lot going on in my brain. On the one hand, this is my most critical year of medical school, when your grades and clinical practicums matter the most because next year Ill be applying for my residency, he said. I didnt want to risk getting sick or injuring myself so that I would have to miss time or possibly be delayed by another year. On the other hand, we often forget during COVID that there are still people with cancer and other chronic illnesses, and they need the same level of care as before COVID. We cant overlook those patients who need critical care despite the pandemic. After calling Gift of Life and explaining his concerns about air travel, Sheinbein learned he could donate at a blood center in Cincinnati, which is roughly a five-hour drive each way from St. Louis. For five days leading up to the donation, Sheinbein was injected with Neupogen, which helps to stimulate stem cell production. His father, who is a physician, gave Sheinbein the injections. I had pain in my bones, especially my legs and hips because those are areas where a lot of stem cells are replicated, he explained. But the actual process wasnt too bad. You get used to it. Through a procedure called apheresis, Sheinbeins blood was removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming stem cells. The remaining blood then was returned to him through his other arm. Sheinbein hopes that one day he can contact his recipient. The only information Gift of Life is authorized to release is the patients diagnosis, age and sex. If both donor and recipient consent, then personal information can be exchanged after one year in most, but not all, cases. Im really glad it all worked out, said Sheinbein, who noted that young men are the strongest donors. According to Gift of Life, over 85 percent of transplants are from donors between the ages of 18 and 35. Since 2004, the organization has partnered with Taglit Birthright Israel, which offers young adult Jews a free, 10-day educational trip to Israel, the chance to join the registry by being swabbed during the trip. Sheinbein said both of his siblings were swabbed during their Birthright trips. Sure it would have been nice to go to Florida and spend time in a nice hotel at the beach, he added. But Im hopeful I was able to help save a life, even without the perks. For more information about Gift of Life, go to giftoflife.org. NORFOLK - From the end of the 107th Nebraska Legislative Session to Ewing's celebration, here are some of the stories we covered for the week ending Saturday May 29, 2021. The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which officially opened in Hanoi on January 26, has received many messages of congratulations from around the globe. The 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which officially opens in Hanoi on January 26, receives many messages of congratulations from around the globe (Photo: VNA) They came from political parties and international organisations and friends, who all expressed their friendship and cooperative feelings toward the Party, State and people of Vietnam, demonstrating their deep interest in the Congress. As of January 22, the Congress had received 215 congratulatory messages from 105 parties, four regional and international organisations, 76 friendship organisations, 15 diplomatic corps and 15 individuals from 79 countries. The well-wishers included the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, the Communist Party of China, the Cambodian People's Party, the Communist Party of Cuba and the Workers' Party of Korea of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Twenty-five messages were from Asian and Oceanian countries, while 33 came from European nations, 31 from Americans, and 11 from the Middle East and Africa. Meanwhile, 76 messages were from political, friendship and mass organisations, diplomatic missions in Vietnam, and leaders and former leaders of many countries. They serve as a source of great encouragement for Vietnams Doi moi (Renewal) process initiated and led by the Party, and vivid proof of the deepening friendship between the CPV and political parties, organisations and friends worldwide. Congratulations from Chinas Party Central Committee for 13th National Party Congress The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has sent a message of congratulations to the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), which officially opened in Hanoi on January 26. The CPC Central Committee also extended its whole-hearted greetings to all Vietnamese Party members and people. It said that since the 12th National Congress of the CPV, the CPV Central Committee headed by Secretary General Nguyen Phu Trong has paid attention to intensifying Party building, leading Vietnamese people to many achievements in accelerating socialism building and reform. Given the impact of COVID-19, the CPV Central Committee has brought into full play its undaunted leadership to effectively combat the pandemic, maintain economic growth, and improve peoples living standards, demonstrating the superiority of socialism, the CPC Central Committee noted. We really feel very happy about this, it continued. The CPC Central Committee said the 13th National Congress of the CPV is an important congress as it is associated with the development in all spheres of the Vietnamese Party and State, and is a major event in the political life of the Vietnamese Party and people. The congress is of significance as it will put forth development targets for the nation, as well as implementation plans to the centennial anniversary of the CPV and the centennial founding anniversary of Vietnam, opening up a new path to build Vietnam into a modernised socialist country. The Chinese Party and Government attach importance to developing relations between the two Parties and nations, and stand ready to work together with the Vietnamese side to inherit and promote the time-honoured friendship that has been founded and cultivated by generations of leaders of the two countries under the motto friendly neighbourliness, comprehensive co-operation, long-term stability, and looking forward to the future, and in a spirit of good neighbours, good friends, good comrades, and good partners. The two sides will also materialise important common perceptions reached by leaders of the two Parties and countries, and work to foster the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, bringing more and greater interests to both nations and their peoples and actively contributing to peace, stability and prosperous development in the region, the message read./. Lao Party extends congratulations to 13th National Party Congress The Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee has sent a congratulatory message to the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which officially kicked off on January 26. It extended sentiments of brotherhood and its warmest greetings to the congress as well as all the CPV members and the Vietnamese people. The Lao party spoke highly of the glorious success and great and comprehensive achievements of historical significance the Vietnamese people gained during the past struggle for national liberation as well as the current national construction and defence under the proper and creative leadership of the CPV, especially after the CPV launched and led the Doi Moi (Renewal) cause 35 years ago and during the implementation of the resolution from the 12th National Congress of the CPV, contributing to maintaining political stability, social safety and order, and high economic growth in Vietnam. The role and prestige of Vietnam have improved in the regional and global arena, the message said, noting that recently, the Party and State of Vietnam successfully secured socio-economic development despite the impact of COVID-19 and severe natural disasters, which was hailed by the international community. The achievements once again affirm the effective, proper, and creative leadership of the CPV while manifesting the determination and efforts of the Party and State and the rising up of the Vietnamese people with strength from national unity towards the goal of a strong nation, happy people, democracy, equality, and civilisation, the message read. It underscored that these achievements are encouragement for the Party, State, and people of Laos in their cause of national defence, construction, and development. This national congress of the CPV is a significant event for the Party, State, and people of Vietnam, a milestone marking the strong growth of the revolution of Vietnam in the new period in the direction of solidarity, democracy, discipline, creativeness, and development through the continuation of the strengthening of construction and purification of the Party and the whole political system to make it stronger, it said. The congress also promotes the desire and the great national unity bloc in combination with the power of the era, while speeding up the cause of renovation as well as the fast and sustainable development of the country and the firm safeguarding of the Fatherland, securing a peaceful and stable environment, thus striving to turn Vietnam into a socialist-oriented developed country by the middle of the 21st century, it added. The message read: As a Party sharing the same roots and ideology, we affirm that however the regional and the world situation develops, we will continue to join hands with the Party, State, and people of Vietnam to protect, maintain, reinforce, and develop the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive partnership between Laos and Vietnam, which was initiated by President Ho Chi Minh, President Kaysone Phomvihane, and President Suphanouvong, and nurtured over the decades with the sacrifice of generations of revolutionary leaders and soldiers as well as peoples from both nations, and has become a priceless treasure for the development of the two nations as well as a decisive factor in the success, fruitfulness, and efficiency of the revolution in each country, positively contributing to peace, stability, friendship, cooperation and development in the region and the world. On this great occasion, once again, we sincerely thank and express our deep gratitude towards the Party, State, and people of Vietnam for their valuable, whole-hearted, effective, and timely support to the Party, State, and people of Laos during our past struggle for national independence as well as our national defence and construction today. We wish the 13th National Congress of the CPV great success. We would like to extend our warmest greetings to the CPV on the 91st founding anniversary of the Party. May the great friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and people of Laos and Vietnam remain evergreen and stable for generations. Lao ambassador hails leadership of Communist Party of Vietnam browser not support iframe. Lao Ambassador to Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang said the Communist Party of Vietnams sound and clear-sighted leadership has driven the national revolutionary cause as well as helped the Southeast Asian country gain an increasing position on the international area. In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agencys reporter, the Lao diplomat laid stress on the Communist Party of Vietnams introduction of the renewal policy in 1986. He held it played a crucial part in the countrys stable politics, impressive economic growth, and improved living conditions of people. Vietnam is one of the 10 countries in the world posting the highest economic growth, with an annual average GDP growth rate of 5.9 percent in the past five years. He said Vietnam has seen breakthrough progress in external affairs and international integration, helping improve the nations prestige in the region and the world. The Lao diplomat expressed his strong belief the 13th National Party Congress will have rosy impacts on the countrys socio-economy in the coming time. He said Vietnam will realise its development goals of becoming an upper middle-income nation by 2030, and a high-income nation by 2045./ Congratulations from Cambodian Peoples Party to 13th National Party Congress The Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) Central Committee has extended its congratulations to the ongoing 13th National Party of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV). The CPP spoke highly of the Vietnamese Party, Government, and people for the great achievements they have recorded across different spheres in recent times under the sound leadership of the CPV, headed by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Notably, the successful implementation of the resolution adopted at the 12th National Party Congress has seen Vietnam develop comprehensively, improved peoples living standards, and continuously raised the countrys position and prestige in the international arena. We are delighted at the development and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, Governments and peoples, which has been consolidated and enhanced intensively and extensively in the spirit of good neighbourliness, traditional friendship, comprehensive co-operation, and long-lasting stability, the message read. The CPP wished the 13th National Party Congress every success, and hoped that the solidarity, traditional friendship, and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, Governments, and peoples will prosper further. Cuba wishes 13th National Party Congress great success The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)s Central Committee conveyed its warmest greetings to Vietnam on January 26, saying it wishes the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) great success. We have complete confidence that the documents and resolutions adopted by the congress will help further consolidate the building of socialism in Vietnam, the PCC Central Committee said in its congratulatory message. Imbued with the teachings of President Fidel Castro, the PCC Central Committee recognises and highly values the CPVs sound and wise leadership, with wisdom and persistence, in leading the heroic Vietnamese people to withstand the greatest of hardship and challenges and move forward on the path to victory. The two countries will this year celebrate the 55th anniversary of the historic meeting between General Raul Castro Ruz and President Ho Chi Minh, it said, adding that the friendly meeting strengthened the special bond between the two Parties and States and this has been passed down through the generations. It also extended its sincere thanks to the CPV for its consistent support for Cuba, particularly in the countrys struggle against embargoes, and for its commitment to further deepen the exemplary brotherhood and cooperation between the two Parties and States. DPRK extends greetings to Vietnams 13th National Party Congress The Central Committee of the Workers Party of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) (KWP) on January 26 warmly congratulated the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and, through the congress, extended its greetings to all CPV members. In a congratulatory message, the KWP Central Committee said it believes the 13th National Congress marks an important milestone in the drive to strengthen the CPV and develop a prosperous socialist Vietnam. It also wished the congress great success with remarkable outcomes. VNA/VOV/VNS American Express Declares Dividends on Series B and Series C Preferred Stock American Express (News - Alert) Company (NYSE: AXP) has declared the following dividends on the Company's Series B and C Preferred Shares: A quarterly dividend on the Company's 5.200% Fixed Rate / Floating Rate Noncumulative Preferred Shares, Series B, of $9,325.22 per share (which is equivalent to $9.32522 per related Depositary Share). The dividend is payable on February 16, 2021, to shareholders of record on February 5, 2021. A quarterly dividend on the Company's 4.900% Fixed Rate / Floating Rate Noncumulative Preferred Shares, Series C, of $8,753.75 per share (which is equivalent to $8.75375 per related Depositary Share). The dividend is payable on March 15, 2021, to shareholders of record on March 1, 2021. ABOUT AMERICAN EXPRESS American Express is a globally integrated payments company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, instagram.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress, and youtube.com/americanexpress. Key links to products, services and corporate responsibility information: charge and credit cards, business credit cards, travel services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, Accertify, InAuth, corporate card, business travel, and corporate responsibility. Location: Global View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005828/en/ Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. A day after violence in the farmers' tractor march, the Shiromani Akali Dal on Wednesday said it will not tolerate any attempt of attack on the democratic institutions or the Constitution of India by those who wish to subvert this just struggle of the country's farmers. While reiterating its support to farmers' demand for repealing the three farm laws, the SAD in a statement issued by its leader and Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral said,"We appeal to the protesters to remain peaceful, non-violent and disciplined. We will strongly raise the voice of our farmers in the upcoming Parliament Session." The statement from SAD, an erstwhile ally of the ruling BJP and a constituent of the NDA government, came a day after tens of thousands of farmers broke barriers to storm the national capital on Tuesday, during their tractor parade to highlight their demands. Unprecedented scenes of anarchy highlighted the farmers' tractor rally on the occasion of Republic day as they and police got into scuffles. A group of farmers' hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, a privilege reserved for India's tricolour. The SAD has been opposing the three farm laws and its MP and then minister in the Narendra Modi government had resigned from the government during the passage of bills from Lok Sabha. Later, the party also ended its decades old alliance with BJP and moved out of the ruling NDA. I love Wonder Woman. In fact every year, between the ages of 3 and 7, I dressed up as Wonder Woman for Halloween. My little brown face covered by a plastic mask that looked just like Lynda Carter as the beloved 1970s version of the DC Comics Amazonian. So as the Biden-Harris campaign gained momentum and I started seeing varied images of then-Sen. Kamala Harris as Wonder Woman on mugs, T-shirts, and posters, I was excited. The more I learned about Harris, the more I realized how phenomenal she is. Comparing Harris to Wonder Woman was a natural inclination. But there was something about it that didnt sit quite right. Why do we need to make Harris superhuman? Why does it always seem that women especially Black women are separated from our identity as a real woman when we accomplish the seemingly impossible? I posed this question to Bucks County-based pop artist, Perry Milou. Milou, known for his cool, contemporary, and colorful portraits of familiar faces like Sylvester Stallone, Frank Sinatra, Carson Wentz, Kobe Bryant, and Pope Francis, turned Harris into Wonder Woman on a mug that is becoming quite the popular 2021 inaugural trinket. And its clearly hitting the zeitgeist. Since the Wonder Kamala mug made its debut in November, Milou has sold more than 5,000 of them on PerryMilou.com and Amazon. (He just ordered another 5,000 from his manufacturer last week.) The mug has made it to Inside Edition, and on Inauguration Day it appeared prominently on the desks of local newscasters. Its even inspired knockoffs: Copycats are afoot, complete with a counterfeit of Milous signature. (His attorneys are filing cease-and-desist orders.) Milous depiction of Wonder Woman Harris features the vice president in the lady superheros iconic golden tiara and matching cuffs. Her right hand is placed over her heart as if shes pledging allegiance. But instead of baring cleavage, Wonder Kamala goes about her legislative business in a crisp, gray blazer. I wanted to paint her as an American hero, Milou told me. This isnt the first time Milou has depicted Democratic politicians: He has painted Joe Biden several times, even presenting one painting to the then-vice president to thank him for his eight years of service in the White House. On the day Biden announced Harris would be his running mate, Milou pulled out his iPhone and snapped hundreds of photos of Harris accepting the nomination on his television. Milou was excited and hopeful that Harris was going to help Biden save America. To me, this image exudes strength, it exudes kindness. Shes saving mankind, Milou said. I believe him when he says his work celebrates Harris. So why am I concerned with the image? There are two reasons. Being a working woman is exhausting. The world wants women to be glamorous but chastises us if we are too focused on our looks. Were told to smile and be polite. Remember how Harris had to remind then-Vice President Mike Pence to stop interrupting her. She did it firmly, yet with a smile, and was still admonished for her tone. We can go into bitch mode if we want, but there is a price to pay for it. READ MORE: When you are interrupted, how to be heard Although it may seem like Harris has superhuman powers like how she deflects insults as though armed with a magical metal cuff, or how she pried the truth out of witnesses at Senate hearings sans magic lasso she doesnt. Shes one of us. She didnt get where she is because of superpowers. She got there through hard work. In this way shes no different from President Joe Biden, who always, always gets the regular-guy treatment. Think Uncle Joe. In fact Milous Biden mug features the president smiling at us, simply drinking a cup of joe. Harris may not literally be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and thats not why shes powerful. What she has done is normalize the idea that women of mixed ancestry can win the support of the people in a fair election. Now she has a shot at this momentous job. It may not be long before this Harris quote becomes a bona fide truism: While I may be the first woman in this office, I wont be the last. The other reason why this image bothers me: Im at the point where I want no, I need America to stop giving Black women these savior roles that we didnt ask for. The job of the vice president is to work with the president to do whats best for the country, not single-handedly save it. Yet every time we shoehorn Harris into a Wonder Woman costume whether its Carters version or that of Gal Gadot we are asking her to stand alone against the forces of evil. This has been the lot of Black women in America for centuries, from Harriet Tubman to Rosa Parks to Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Or look at Stacey Abrams, who mobilized voters and fought voter suppression in Georgia. Almost immediately, Abrams was otherized given the superhuman mantle as if being an ordinary Black woman who can do extraordinary things just wasnt enough. Black women dont do the impossible for kicks and tricks, said Vashti Dubois, executive director of The Colored Girls Museum, the Germantown-based culture center that celebrates the ordinary, extraordinary colored girl. We do the things that we do because our lives our very human lives depend on it. The truth of the matter is the Black woman as superhero can easily become self-defeating. You see it in the trope of the strong Black woman: the expectation that Black women be resilient, to our own mental and physical detriment. Strong Black women shortchange ourselves. We dont practice self-care because we dont believe we deserve it. By casting us as superhuman, there is this expectation that this is just what we do, Dubois said. I can relate to the excitement that has inspired artists to depict Harris as Wonder Woman. On the surface, its supposed to be empowering. But, at its core, it keeps alive stereotypes that actually prevent us from shattering the glass ceiling we were so desperate for Harris to smash. Harris doesnt need a costume. She needs our respect. She doesnt need to be exalted, she needs grace. She doesnt need admiration, she needs protection. If we give her this, her full humanity, she will have all she needs to fight for truth and justice. On 26 January 2021, at the invitation of the Regional Vice-Chair for the Americas and the Caribbean, WCO Secretary General, Dr. Kunio Mikuriya, addressed a message of congratulations to the regional Customs Community on the occasion of the International Customs Day. Dr. Mikuriya explained the WCO theme for 2021 Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal and Resilience for a sustainable supply chain, and congratulated the Customs administrations in the region for their diligent and collaborative joint work to strengthen the global supply chain. He highlighted the use of technology in this process and the importance of putting people at the centre of the transformative process, as Customs moves towards reconstruction in a post-pandemic era. The WCO Vice-Chair for the Americas and the Caribbean Region and Director General of Guatemala Customs, Mr. Werner Ovalle Ramirez, thanked the Secretariat and the regions Customs administrations for their cooperation and efforts in facing the current challenges. A minute of silence was observed in memory of all the Customs officers who have lost their lives while protecting the borders. The meeting also saw the interventions of the WCO Deputy Secretary General, all Directors of Customs present, as well as the participation of regional representatives of the WCO Private Sector Consultative Group (PSCG). Kenya and Nigeria cautiously optimistic in their marketing endeavours Covid-19 has turned the world upside down for almost every industry. The marketing industry is no exception. Globally, close to half of marketers have reduced their marketing activities for the meantime, aiming to increase them to full capacity again in the future. From a Sub-Saharan perspective, we see Kenya and Nigeria following this trend, while the South African shows more polarization: On the one hand some marketers have reduced their activities altogether while some on the other hand have actually increased them during the evolution of the pandemic.Naturally Covid-19 has impacted on most marketing budgets around the world. Of the sub-Saharan countries, Kenya appears to be hardest hit with two-thirds of its marketers claiming to be working on a significantly reduced budget.It comes as no surprise that marketers world-wide are choosing to focus their spend on digital publications, social media and websites, with South Africa being firmly in-line with this spend choice. Kenya and Nigeria are focussing even more heavily on these online platforms, than the global average, reinforcing the huge reliance on these mediums that we saw in our previous consumer report. Of these three, social media is unanimously agreed to yield the best returns, especially strongly driven by Kenya and Nigeria. All digital channels are felt to yield the best results at a global and sub-Saharan level.South African and Nigerian marketers, while embracing of digital media, do feel that it is attracting a predominantly younger audience. Nigerians do have cautions around this channel, expressing more strongly than the global average, that Reports/Borderless Access-COVID-19 - Consumer Expectations from Brands - RSA.pdf?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=Sub-Saharan-marketers-dance-to-a-digital-tune traditional media still has a relevant place in the industry landscape. Kenyans on the other hand are more gung-ho about digital, with a high proportion believing that it is the only channel on which to focus ones efforts.While all countries surveyed (including all sub-Saharan countries) agree that lockdown has increased the worlds reliance on digital means, few believe that lockdown has actually eradicated traditional media. This speaks to the findings we have seen before, regarding the reliance and trust that consumers have in traditional, especially broadcast media.More so than the rest of the world, we see Sub-Saharan marketers welcoming the advent of new marketing channels, most notably augmented reality, Smart-TV/ OTT marketing and programmatic advertising. At a global level digital marketing and social media stand head-and-shoulders above the other channels as the future of the industry.As the pandemic continues to shift the marketing landscape, this much is clear: That brands who can adapt and keep up with the rapidly pivoting world, will continue to thrive, by retaining a communication with their consumers via both new can dynamic channels, whilst not forgetting about the tried and trusted channels too. Borderless Access is available to help you to conduct online digital research seamlessly and quickly, to help you to keep your business informed, and ahead of the market. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Adverty AB (publ) today announces a new deal with global media and technology company Verizon Media, a division of Verizon Communications Inc., which houses a trusted media ecosystem of premium brands and industry-leading technology platforms. The integration of Adverty's platform will enable Verizon Media's wide range of advertisers and audiences to access Adverty's seamless ad inventory at scale. Adverty will connect to Verizon Media's Sell-Side Platform (SSP), enabling its unique and unobtrusive ad offering to reach wider audiences within gameplay, to maximise brand exposure and publisher monetisation. As the leading in-game platform for advertisers, agencies and content creators, Adverty's announcement means that Verizon Media's clients and partners can access effective in-game advertising at scale, while Adverty itself will benefit from the growing numbers of global marketers looking to advertise within games through Verizon Media Ad Platforms: a unified Demand Side Platform (DSP) that allows advertisers to plan, buy and measure campaigns in premium content environments across every digital screen from mobile, to video, to Connected TV (CTV), to Digital Out of Home (DOOH) and Over the Top (OTT) through leading games consoles and in-game advertising. "We have been seeing strong demand for advertising opportunities within the gaming vertical. Still in its infancy, in-game advertising is set to see tremendous growth in the coming years and this development is a very important milestone in Adverty's industry establishment", says Niklas Bakos, CEO and founder at Adverty. He adds: "Verizon Media also has its own Demand-Side Platform (DSP), making this a particularly exciting partnership and integration. There is increasing recognition that our In-Play and In-Menu formats are the ultimate in non-intrusive brand advertising within the burgeoning gaming industry." "Our mission is to help people stay informed and entertained, enabling them to communicate and transact, while creating new ways for advertisers and media partners to connect", says Kri Carlet, VP International Sales at Verizon Media. "From XR experiences to advertising and content technology, Verizon Media is an incubator of innovation and is revolutionising the next generation of content creation and engagement. We're looking forward to bringing Adverty's quality, premium ad opportunities within gaming as a media channel for our customers. It's a huge opportunity for brands to meet their audiences in a highly engaging and growing environment." For further information, please contact: Anders Rossel, CFO Phone: +46 70 867 00 20 E-mail: [email protected] This information is information that Adverty AB (publ) is obliged to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was provided, through the contact of the above contact person, for publication on the 27th of January 2021. Corpura Fondkommission AB, phone +46 (0)722 52 34 51, act as certified advisor/mentor for the company at NGM Nordic SME. About Adverty Adverty, the leading in-game platform, delivers seamless advertising to connect brands and people through its revolutionary display advertising technology built for games. The platform offers true in-game ad inventory at scale and allows content creators to monetise the complete experience with unobtrusive, easy-to-integrate, immersive ads. Founded in 2016, Adverty has offices in Stockholm, London, New York and Lviv and works with advertisers, agencies and developers to unlock audiences and gaming revenue streams. More information at www.adverty.com. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/adverty-ab/r/adverty-and-verizon-media-announce-new-deal-to-enable-a-huge-range-of-brands-and-audiences-to-access,c3274521 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Adverty AB Thought leaders, including former University of Miami president and congresswoman Donna Shalala, discussed priorities for the new Congress and the role of a moderate Senate coalition to facilitate legislative action, in a webinar hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Political Science. Panelists Shalala and Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institute, joined moderator Gregory Koger, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science, in a webinar on Jan. 22 to share their insights on an expected course of action for the 117th Congress, Republican responses to those initiatives, and the contrasts in governing styles between the incoming and outgoing administrations. With Democrats in the White House and controlling Congress, albeit it with the slimmest of margins in the Senate, Shalala said that new President Joseph Biden is eager to advance a wide range of legislative action such as immigration, foreign aid, the Affordable Care Act, and HR1, a composite bill that reforms campaign financing, ethics, and voting rights and requires vice presidents and presidents to disclose their tax returns. The pandemic will preclude that, however, at least in the short term. It will be COVID, COVID, COVID, and we have to be resigned to that until we get enough vaccinations and contact tracing, Shalala said. Theyll want to get the economy going again, so theyll start with the big $1.9 trillion packagethe economic dimension of the stimulusthat the president wants. Next, the former congresswoman suggested the new administration would move to advance a massive green infrastructure billfor traditional infrastructure improvements together with projects to address climate changebut must first seek to generate bipartisan support. To that end, both Shalala and Reynolds highlighted the potential of the Common Sense Coalition, an informal group of relatively moderate senators spearheaded by Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia. The coalition worked together to end the government shutdown in 2018 and may be more influential in its new iteration. The goal is to have an ongoing set of senators from both parties who are willing to talk to each other and see where there might be areas of agreement, Reynolds said. Yet, for them to be consequential they have to be willing to use some of their own muscleto hold out on certain issues to influence their party leadership. Koger suggested the coalition could have substantial impact. Maybe this coalition will be able to come up with compromises and everybody will vote for them and the Senate will be the way it used to be back in the 80s and 90s, he said. There was partisanship, but at the end of the day they would come across the aisle to do what it takes to move the country forward. Reynolds and Koger, who have both written books exploring the impact of the filibuster, discussed the potential use of that mechanism to stymie action in the new Congress together with other proceduresbudget reconciliation and the congressional reviewthat facilitate legislative action within parameters. Reynolds marked several contrasts between the new and outgoing administrations in terms of the dynamic between the White House and Congress. Bidens own long tenure in the Senate and the extensive experience of his leadership team suggests that the new administration is intimately familiar with how Congress works, she said. Under the Trump administration, regulation that ultimately got struck down in court often did not go through the regulatory steps that the Administrative Procedures Act requires, Reynolds said. As we think of big-picture consequences, some of Bidens regulatory efforts will be challenged but will be less likely to be struck down because the process wasnt followed as required. Maria Amezquita of the College and Arts and Sciences fielded a range of questions from the webinar audience. In answering a question about foreign aid to help developing countries with health, education, and economic opportunities, Shalala expressed her optimism. Im very hopeful about foreign aid because first there is bipartisan support for it in both the House and Senate; and second, because now Democrats are handling aid in the Senate and there will be an active U.S. Agency for International Development director and an active Secretary of State, she said. In past years we were able to give aid to Colombia to handle large numbers of Venezuelans crossing over their border and into Peru especially, Shalala added. And President Biden wants to slow down the migrations by investing in that triad of countries. The College of Arts and Sciences plans several other webinars in the coming months that include The Future of the Republican Party in February and President Bidens First 100 Days in late April. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. A 35-year-old man has been hospitalised with serious injuries following an assault in Dublin city centre last night. The victim was injured during an altercation near the GPO on OConnell Street at around 6pm. Its understood he suffered head injuries and was rushed to Beaumont Hospital. His condition has been described as critical but stable. A short time later a man, aged in his 30s, was arrested in relation to the assault. He is currently being questioned at Store Street garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. The suspect can be held for a period of up to 24 hours before is either charged or released from custody pending a file to the DPP. A Garda spokesman said that investigations into the incident are ongoing. Protesters clash with police at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Julio Cortez/AP Photo) DHS Issues Heightened Threat Alert After Transition, Warns of Potential Violence The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday said the United States is seeing a heightened threat environment following the presidential inauguration as it warned of potential violence in the coming weeks. Acting DHS Secretary Pete Gaynor said in a terrorism advisory bulletin that information suggests some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence. Throughout the last year, domestic violent extremists targeted people engaging in non-violent protests, according to the bulletin. The extremists were motivated by issues such as anger over police use of force, COVID-19 restrictions, and the 2020 election results. Racial and ethnic tension has also driven attacks, including the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities, Gaynor said. Protesters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, interrupting a joint session of Congress. In the resulting mayhem, a U.S. Capitol Police officer shot a woman dead and a different officer was mortally wounded. Hundreds have been charged in the breach, and prosecutors are preparing sedition charges. Officials dont know of any specific, credible plots at this time. But they noted that violent riots have taken place recently. The far-left, anarcho-communist network Antifa has rioted against President Joe Biden in the Pacific Northwest. A demonstrator adds fuel to a burning barricade in an intersection in downtown Tacoma, Wash., on Jan. 24, 2021. (David Ryder/Getty Images) We remain concerned that individuals frustrated with the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances and ideological causes fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors to incite or commit violence, DHS said. The department urged people to report suspicious activity to local law enforcement or the FBI and to avoid large crowds, including protests. The bulletin came after Biden asked Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, to work with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security on an assessment of domestic violent extremism. We want fact-based analysis upon which we can shape policy. This is really [the] first step in the process and we will rely on our appropriate law enforcement and intelligence officials to provide that analysis, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week. DHS officials said in the agencys first-ever Homeland Threat Assessment in October 2020 that the primary terrorist threat in the United States stems from violent extremists, including domestic violent extremists, or people operating primarily within the United States without direction or inspiration from foreign terrorist groups or other foreign powers. Then-acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf said in the reports introduction that he is particularly concerned about white supremacist violent extremists who have been exceptionally lethal in their abhorrent targeted attacks in recent years. I am proud of our work to prevent terrorizing tactics by domestic terrorists and violent extremists who seek to force ideological change in the United States through violence, death, and destruction, he added. * Username This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely! There has been the greatest-ever rise in inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic and the world is paying the price for the failure of governments to address this issue, rights group Oxfam International's Executive Director Gabriela Bucher said on Wednesday. Speaking at a session on 'Delivering Social Justice in the Recovery' during the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda Summit, she said equality has to be at the heart of social justice. "Equality is a fresh and moral and serious framework, and crucial for fighting climate breakdown We are paying for the failure of governments to address inequality. We've seen the greatest rise in inequality since records began," she said. "Tinkering at the edges won't do we need to abolish inequality," Bucher added. The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic have sparked new commitments from leaders across the world to redress systemic inequalities and demonstrate their stakeholder responsibility to social justice. Many of them have announced significant investments in climate justice as well as new task forces on racial equity and corporate sustainability. Speaking at the same session, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the differences in health outcomes and the impact of COVID-19 on black and white men in London are signs that we need to work together to tackle inequality. Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chairman and president of Tiffany & Co Foundation, said we are living in an era of employee activism, so businesses must listen. "True multi-stakeholder initiatives are about co-creation, more than just giving people a seat at the table. Businesses are speaking out, but they are backing this up with action. It cannot be greenwashing or performative allyship, we are looking for authenticity," she added. Bucher, whose organisation releases a report on global inequality every year just before the annual Davos summit, said equality is a framework that can reshape the way we run the economies for the 21st century. "It will drive us to goals economies around the world agree to and it is crucial for fighting the climate break down," she said. It could take more than a decade for billions of people to recover from the economic hit of the pandemic, while at the very top, just 10 billionaires have seen their wealth skyrocket since March 2020. "That could have paid to vaccinate the world and prevent anyone from being pushed into poverty by the pandemic," she said. Bucher further said Oxfam's study has shown that nearly 22,000 black and Hispanic people in the US would have been alive today if the COVID-19 mortality rates were the same as that for white people. Khan said the pandemic has exposed the destruction of inequalities. "What I mean by that, if you are a black male in London, you are four-times more likely to have lost your life than if you are a white male Londoner. If you are a mother, you are 50 per cent more likely to have lost her job than a father," he said. Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation, said the audience at Davos are the world's greatest capitalists and he is a capitalist too because he believes in the system. But if capitalism is to be sustained, we must put a nail in the ideology that propels inequality. The challenge of white supremacy and patriarchy is real in our systems, he said. "There was a BC world: Before Coronavirus. Many of the structures and understandings in a PC world must be dismantled. Inequality must be recognised in the boardrooms. We must ask ourselves how we move beyond statements of 'Black Lives Matter' to the boardroom and how companies can sustain diversity as a value if their boards are entirely white," he added. Khan said the ripples of the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd in the US have been felt around the world. On the situation in the UK in terms of Brexit and the COVID-19 crisis, he said, "The timing of Brexit couldn't have been worse. We need multilateralism." Walker said as the world becomes increasingly urbanised, the 21st century is going to be about cities and mayors, and they have been keen in standing up for citizens on certain issues. "The best antidote to populism in recent times has been the election of Joe Biden (as US President)," he added. Bucher also said we need to be more conscious of our interconnectedness. "Vaccines are a critical inequality. Rich countries are making the greatest efforts, but one in nine people in developing countries are going to miss out. It is a self-defeating recipe for inequality," she said. She called for urgent action to ensure people get care irrespective of the colour of their skin or the cash in their pockets. Pritzker said he liked what he saw at the facility. He marveled at the ability of people to drive into the building through a garage door, and out through a second door. Pfister said when the number of vaccinations increase, there will be two exits for drivers in opposite directions. "When we began farming this way 30 years ago, we weren't intentionally trying to have an impact on climate change," says founder Blake Alexandre. "We were focused on the health of the soil and manage our pasture by having our animals graze our land. When you increase organic matter in soil, you also capture carbon. We soon came to realize that healthy soil not only has positive effects on our pasture, our cows and their milk, but it has a profound effect on our planet as well. Over the years, we've become increasingly proud of producing food that's not only good for your body but good for the earth." The Savory Institute's Land to Market Program tracks outcomes in soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem function through the Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) protocol, which collects scientific data over time to prove regenerative outcomes. "We strongly believe that regeneration must be measured. By using empirical data, the Alexandres show foresight and initiative in managing land with an ecological approach," says David Rizzo, COO, Land to Market. "This is a major step forward for dairy, and we are excited to see these verified products in the marketplace that meet the consumers desire to know their purchase is supporting the shift to regenerative agriculture." The Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) program is based on strict standards for soil health and land management in addition to animal welfare and farmworker fairness. Alexandre Family Farm was one of only 21 farms selected globally to be a part of the ROC Pilot Program, and joins leading brands Patagonia, Dr. Bronner's and Nature's Path in attaining certification. "Dairies face unique challenges to earning a certification as rigorous as ROC. The Alexandres' achievement of this high-bar seal is a true testament to their commitment to ecological, humane and ethical practices across the board," says Elizabeth Whitlow, Executive Director of the ROA. "We are so proud to welcome them into the ROC family!" Regenerative Organic A2/A2 Milk Becomes Available Nationwide On February 1st, 2021 Milk is an efficient superfood and a great source of energy, vitamins, electrolytes and protein. Milk protein is made up of whey and casein. Traditionally, the beta casein in cow's milk was the same as the primary protein in human milk called A2/A2. This protein is easily digestible and is similar to breast milk, sheep and goat milk. However, over time, a genetic mutation resulted in the introduction of the A1 protein --which is difficult for humans to digest and linked to stomach upset and inflammation. In fact, many people who believe they are lactose intolerant are actually A1 intolerant. After Blake and Stephanie Alexandre learned about this genetic mutation, they started to carefully crossbreed their cows to remove the A1 protein from their gene pool. After two decades, they now have the only regenerative dairy herd of 100% A2/A2 cows in the U.S. Starting February 1st, Alexandre Family Farm milk will become the first 100% A2/A2 regenerative organic milk to be distributed nationwide. Alexandre cartons (59 oz) will be available at Whole Foods and other retailers throughout the country. About Alexandre Family Farm As fourth generation dairy farmers with over 40 years of experience, Blake and Stephanie Alexandre founded Alexandre Family Farm in Crescent City, California in 1988, and began bottling under their brand in 2017. Along with their five grown children and spouses, they operate the only certified regenerative organic and 100% A2 dairy and mobile coop egg ranch in the United States. Their products include 59 oz. eco-carton milks, distributed nationwide, and eggs, bottled milks and yogurts available west of the Rockies. Contact: Sharon Egan [email protected] 208.309.3069 SOURCE Alexandre Family Farm Related Links https://www.alexandrefamilyfarm.com COBB COUNTY, Georgia The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has hit Cobb County School District near Atlanta hard, with three teachers dying of the virus in the past month. One of the teachers was kindergarten art instructor Patrick Key, 53, who died on Christmas Day after spending weeks in a hospital, KHOU Channel 11 reports. Key was a strong advocate for wearing masks and in his obituary requested the people purchase and wear masks to protect others and yourself in honor of him, according to USA Today. Last week, a school district employee requested a moment of silence at a board meeting for the teachers and asked that people put on masks to honor Keys request. Two board members and Superintendent Chris Ragsdale refused to put their masks on during the moment of silence, the Washington Post reports. It was a decision that did not go unnoticed during the meeting and has brought criticism of the board members and Ragsdale. Id like the record to reflect that some of you did not wear a mask, the final request of a Cobb teacher who died, said Jennifer Susko, a schools employee who requested the moment of silence, according to USA Today. Your actions in these two minutes have spoken louder than words. We see where your priorities are. Please know that many of us reject your false gratitude for staff since we seem disposable to many of you. Ragsdale and the two board members who didnt wear masks, David Chastain and David Banks, have not commented on the incident, USA Today reports. Keys widow, Priscella Key, who also is a teacher in the district, tells USA Today the actions by the board members and superintendent would have broken his heart. When several board members refused to put on a mask for a few seconds just to honor his memory, we were stunned. It was very disappointing, painful, and insulting, Priscella Key tells USA Today. Patrick deserved better. The two other Cobb County teachers that passed away from COVID that very day deserved better. Dana Johnson, an elementary school teacher, and Cynthia Lindsey, a paraprofessional at an elementary school, died from the virus after Key, the Post reports. Teachers tell KHOU they are fed up with the school board and how its policy on the coronavirus. Their attitudes about it kind of run the gamut, teacher Chantae Pittman tells KHOU. But at the base core level of it, its just a matter of theres no communication and theres no transparency. The Post reports the district does require all employees, students and visitors to wear masks in school buildings where social distancing is not possible. A spokesman for the district said Ragsdale and the two board members who didnt wear masks were physically distant during the meeting. The Cobb County Board and Districts hearts go out to the Johnson, Key, and Lindsey families. Cynthia, Dana, and Patrick were incredibly valuable members of our Team, a statement from the district says. The outpouring of support for their families show how much they were loved and how they positively impacted every student, teacher, and parent who they interacted with. By Yew Lun Tian and Fathin Ungku BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Wednesday it was seeking details about 25 of its nationals who were among 61 crew on two supertankers seized by Indonesia on suspicion of illegally transferring oil. Indonesia said on Sunday it had seized the vessels after they were detected making the transfer from Iranian-flagged MT Horse to Panamanian-flagged MT Freya, causing an oil spill. The Indonesian authorities said the seizure was not related to U.S. sanctions, which Washington imposed in a bid to shut off Iran's oil exports in a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme. The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company, and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co, were detected off Indonesia's Kalimantan island. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said 25 of the crew members were Chinese, without saying whether the crew were all on one vessel or split between both. "Our embassy has expressed concern to Indonesia," Zhao said. "We urged them to verify the situation about the Chinese seamen as soon as possible and inform us formally." He said China called on Indonesia to conduct an investigation "fairly and in accordance with the law". Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, told Reuters there had been "initial communication" with China and Iran, and said further discussion would depend on results from the investigation. Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday the seizure of its tanker was over a technical issue and that it had asked Indonesia to provide more details. Iran has been accused of seeking to conceal the destination of its oil sales by disabling tracking systems on its tankers. The Indonesian authorities said the ships concealed their identity by not showing national flags, turning off automatic identification systems and failing to respond to a radio call. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires ships to use transponders for safety and transparency. Crews can turn off devices if there is a danger of piracy or similar hazards. "We welcome the Indonesian Coast Guard efforts to counter illicit maritime activity," a U.S. embassy spokesman in Jakarta told Reuters, saying Washington supported efforts to ensure IMO standards for safety and environmental compliance were upheld. (Reporting by Fathin Ungku in Singapore, Yew Lun Tian in Beijing and Agustinus Beo Da Costa in Jakarta; Editing by Florence Tan and Edmund Blair) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire expressed hopes the country could achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 next year or in 2023. Herd immunity means most of the population is immune to an infectious disease. "Kung sakaling dadating ang buong doses [Once we receive all the doses] for this number of the population, hopefully, we can achieve that (herd immunity) in one to two years," Vergeire told a briefing on Wednesday. The government earlier said it targets to vaccinate at least 60 to 65% of the population in a bid to attain herd immunity. The country's population is estimated at over 108 million. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. previously said the target date for the country's COVID-19 vaccine rollout is on Feb. 20. However, if Emergency Use Authorization on the vaccines that will be used is not issued by the Food and Drug Administration on the date, "we can move it to last week of Feb. or March." For now, Vergeire said they are focusing on bringing down the number of people dying due to the coronavirus. "Ang priority po natin ngayon ay mabawasan ang pagkakaospital, mabawasan iyong mga taong nagkakaroon ng severe disease, mabawasan po iyong mga taong nagkakasakit o nagpapakita ng mga sintomas," she said. [Translation: Our priority is to lessen the number of COVID-19 patients, of people who contract severe disease, and those who experience coronavirus symptoms.] "By doing that we can eventually lessen po itong [the] burden [of] sa atin nitong mortalities at saka mga [and] hospitalizations," she added. Galvez earlier said normalcy in the lives of Filipinos may be possible by 2023, or three years after the pandemic struck. He added this is only possible through cooperation among the national government, local government units, the public, and other stakeholders. Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning Do you hear that? It's the sound of the glass ceiling shattering all across Broadway. For once, the words and actions of young BIPOC women aren't being cast off as inconsequential because industry leaders and audience members are beginning to understand that young people can affect real change. Twenty-four-year-old orchestrator and musical director Macy Schmidt leads the charge with the Broadway Sinfonietta, the all female-identifying orchestral collective, composed mainly of BIPOC musicians, that she founded last October with the support of Jana Shea, Daryl Roth, Mary E. Furse, and SheNYCArts. This Egyptian-American changemaker is making a career out of instilling validation and sparking aspiration in people who haven't had opportunities to envision themselves in a Broadway orchestra pit. According to the Internet Broadway Database, out of approximately 190 orchestrators on Broadway in the last two decades, only 3.7 percent have been women, and none have been BIPOC women. BIPOC men made up 5.8 percent and the other 90.5 percent were white men. Schmidt has worked on musicals like Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and She Persisted, The Musical at the Atlantic Theater Company and recently earned praise from the New York Times for her "classic Disney Act I finale in the brassy manner of Alan Menken" for Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical. Continually being the person helping change the conversation could become tiresome. But she isn't tired this is what she's wanted all along. Schmidt told TheaterMania about how she's using this time to ensure this "moment" for BIPOC musicians has no end, how she's cautiously optimistic for change when Broadway reopens, and her relationship to music. Macy Schmidt ( Em Char) This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity. You've said on social media that Disney's Wishes fireworks display piqued your interest in orchestrations. When did you start to explore this interest and eventually pursue it professionally? I didn't grow up taking piano lessons from age 5, like so many of my colleagues did. I taught myself to play piano halfway through high school and became very obsessive about practicing it and becoming a good sight reader. I only am now, as an adult, fully understanding how influential this show has been. It all started after my freshman year of college. I didn't know what I was meant to do in New York or Broadway, but I would get an internship in New York and figure it out. That was a hard summer because most internships aren't paid, so I worked multiple side jobs to be here that summer. I was working an internship at Feinstein's/54 Below and I met different music directors every week and some orchestrators who generously took me under their wing. Something that upsets me about the educational system in America, specifically in the arts, is that you aren't told how many options you have until you leave. When I was in high school, it never occurred to me to be a music director. I attended a school where adults did all the jobs except for being an actor. When I asked to shadow the music director, they declined. I went to college and started music directing, and I had no idea there were jobs like orchestrator, copyist, and arranger. I worked on a show about women who changed the world [She Persisted, The Musical], and one of the prominent quotes in it is Sally Ride, saying, "You can't be what you can't see." Seeing people doing this job [orchestrating] was very enlightening because I learned about a job that no one told me about in school. This is why I tell college students that there are more jobs than they think there are. I've been blessed to have mentors. When I've asked many legendary orchestrators how they got their start, they say someone mentored them for decades and brought them into the fold. This was doing a piecemeal combination of different people willing to look over a score and discipline to study the craft independently. What's your relationship to music? I often hear people talk about visualizing it. Does it take on a physical life for you? This is what I love the most about music, and it's what I think separates me from people who live to perform. I love being in Finale on my computer and manipulating the sheet music and its relationship to the sound. Many musicians are performers or improvisers, but the actual page isn't part of their art. Being on their instrument is what makes them feel alive. For me, the relationship between the sound and the page is the coolest thing in the world! Why do you think there aren't more female orchestrators on Broadway? It's harder to mentor someone when you don't see yourself in them and haven't had the same life experiences. It's a less natural reach for a mentor and for the relationship to grow. We're entering a moment where people are like, "Maybe I should mentor somebody who doesn't look like me or shares my life experiences." There's a difference in expectations for how boldness pays off as a woman. That has contributed to why there aren't more women in many sectors on Broadway, but particularly in orchestration, because there's no stepping stone. Before the pandemic, I was a music assistant on Broadway; I'd orchestrate but not on a Broadway level. There's this moment where you have to step away and be like, "I'm stepping into orchestrator territory, hire me as this, and I'm confident to compete in this field." It requires so much belief in yourself to do that and it's also completely terrifying. What makes a song comforting? I find comfort in music from the '90s Disney era because it takes me back to the place of sincerely believing you can do anything with your life before the intensity of being an adult responsible for yourself seeps in. Music from the Danny Troob Disney era moves me even if I'm not consciously thinking about analyzing the work. I think it's one of those jobs that if you do right, it won't stand out and be noticed, but will move people. People are moved because it's affecting them at a subconscious level. "You're Gonna Hear From Me" is a very appropriate song choice for the Broadway Sinfonietta's debut. Where do you see its place in and responsibility to New York theater? The messages I've received from female students of color in the US and around the world saying they burst into tears when they saw someone like them in an orchestra make me so happy! Our mission is to challenge the imagination of those who are hiring and inspiring those who want to see themselves working in those positions. Where do you see theater? What's the biggest thing that needs to be worked on, and how do you see the progress so far? We need to work on taking more risks, and I simultaneously understand that comes with many caveats. It's difficult to imagine myself in the position of a producer, managing that much money, where you've incubated the show for 10 years, and now it's finally getting to Broadway. You've got this budget to spend, and you get to choose between orchestrators, and then here's this crop of new artists who don't have that track record; I can empathize with why producers might go with what's tried and true. When we look at the shows in the past decade that have shaped theater culture, they've been the shows that were the underdogs that someone took a risk on that completely transformed culture. I hope that taking more risks will result in that payoff. Being more inclusive when we take risks elevates us all, and including more diverse narratives makes the work better. At the micro and macro levels ... revivals versus original musicals and hiring more inclusively. Taking risks to achieve the future that we're all saying we want to see needs to happen more. Otherwise, we're just posting about our ideal vision of Broadway and no one is going to take a risk to help get it there. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the international community to provide assistance for solving the humanitarian issues in Nagorno Karabakh, ARMENPRESS reports Putin said in his speech during World Economic Forum in Davos. He noted that the trilateral declaration signed between the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan is being consistently implemented. It was possible to stop bloodshed, its the most important thing, to reach a full ceasefire and start the process of stabilization. Now a task is set for the international community and, undoubtedly, for those countries that participated in the solution of the crisis, to provide assistance to the affected regions for the solution of the humanitarian issues related to the return of the refugees, reconstruction of ruined buildings, protection and restoration of historical, religious and cultural monuments'', Putin said. According to him, Moscow made active mediation efforts for stopping the armed confrontation in Nagorno Karabakh. "We sought to follow the agreements reached between the OSCE Minsk Group, in particular the Co-Chairs, Russia, the United States and France.'', Putin said. By Bahk Eun-ji As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, many events are being held virtually rather than offline. To keep up with the changing trends, Seoul Solution, a platform to share the city government's urban development policies and experiences, has undergone renovation to improve some of its function, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Seoul Solution was established to share the city's experience and know-how on urban development, offer information on various cities across the world, and encourage cooperation between the public and private sectors on urban development. According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, a new function that lets users experience virtual meetings through the website has been added. In addition, the design of the main page has also been improved by utilizing icons and the search function was enhanced by adding shortcuts. Users can see Seoul's relevant policies in major areas including transportation, water supply, urban railway, urban planning, environment and housing. Among them, 217 policies and case studies are available in English. Along with the pandemic, the website added a function through which visitors can have a webinar as well as a section where cities can share their policies. It also offers information about Korea's quarantine efforts which have been recognized globally. "We plan to update the website continuously and periodically by adding new content on the city government's coronavirus response," said an official of the city's global urban partnership division. The website also gives advice and tools to other rapidly growing cities for achieving urban development in a more sustainable way. It also introduced changing policies of Seoul according to its development stages that cities in developing countries can refer to in solving similar problems according to their own unique conditions. The website also provides information and services on overseas cities to help domestic companies seeking global expansion. Citizens can check information for projects related to urban infrastructure and pending issues of cities in other countries. "Through this upgrade, we expect that Seoul Solution will be expanded to a policy-sharing platform that allows interactive communication," the official said. Visit for more information. Added co-curator and New York University Grey Art Gallery Director Lynn Gumpert, The Grey Art Gallery takes great pride in partnering with the Barjeel Art Foundation. It is very appropriate that, as a university museum, the Grey broadens vistas and looks closely at art made over the four decades in question by individuals that come from so many different nations, with different belief systems and histories. We chose an exhibition title, Taking Shape, that recognizes and conveys to the public that our approach to abstraction in the Arab world is not staticeven with regard to the art of this defined time framebut is, rather, in formation. Taking Shape is organized by NYUs Grey Art Gallery and curated by Takesh and Gumpert. Major support is provided by the Barjeel Art Foundation. Additional generous support is provided by the Charina Endowment Fund; the Violet Jabara Charitable Trust; the Greys Directors Circle, Inter/National Council, and Friends; and the Abby Weed Grey Trust. At the McMullen Museum, the exhibition has been underwritten by Boston College with major funding from the Patrons of the McMullen Museum. The exhibition is accompanied by a 256-page catalogue co-published by Hirmer Publishers and the Grey Art Gallery, co-edited by Takesh and Gumpert. Taking Shape debuted in 2020 at the Grey Art Gallery. Following the McMullen Museum exhibition, it will travel to Cornell Universitys Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and Northwestern Universitys Block Museum in 2022. Barjeel Art Foundation is an independent, UAE-based initiative established to manage, preserve and exhibit an extensive collection of modern and contemporary Arab art. The foundations guiding principle is to contribute to the intellectual development of the art scene in the Arab region by building a prominent, publicly accessible art collection in the UAE. Admission is free, and virtual programming is planned for both the public and museum members. For more information, logistics, and to register for events, visit the McMullen Museum of Art website. Rosanne Pellegrini | University Communications | January 2021 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - SKRR Exploration Inc. (TSXV: SKRR) (FSE: B04Q) ("SKRR" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has received TSX Venture Exchange approval of the previously announced non-arm's length transaction to acquire a 100% interest in Edge Geological Consulting Inc.'s ("Edge") Manson Bay Property consisting of four (4) mineral claims comprising a total of 64.537 hectares. The Manson Bay Property is located in the Trans Hudson Corridor in east-central Saskatchewan, approximately 40km northwest of the historic mining center of Flin Flon, on the Manitoba border. SKRR previously acquired the Manson Bay South Property from Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. ("EPL") which consists of nine (9) mineral claims comprising a total of approximately 4,228 hectares and is contiguous to the Manson Bay Property (Figure 1). Sherman Dahl, CEO of SKRR states: "With the acquisition of the Manson Bay claims and the previous option of the Manson Bay South property from Eagle Plains, SKRR now holds an exceptional, contiguous land position that hosts a historic drill outlined high-grade gold zone including an intersection of 10.03m @ 15.39 g/t Au, and numerous high grade gold and base metal showings along the prolific Schott's Lake anticline. SKRR is eager to put its exploration expertise to work to advance this top-ranked property, located only 40km to the northwest of the historically significant Flin Flon mining camp". The Manson Bay and Manson Bay South Property Highlights (see Figure 1 below) The Manson Bay Property covers 64.537 ha and covers all of the known drill holes outlining the historic Manson Bay Gold Zone. Manson Bay Gold Zone (SMDI #2280): Preliminary drilling on the Manson Bay Gold Zone was conducted in 1985 by HudBay Minerals (3 holes) and followed up in 1987-88 by Mingold Resources with a 44-hole, 4,607m program. Mingold estimated a historic resource of 660,000 tons grading 0.1 oz / ton (3.4 g/t) Au* to a depth of 122m down-dip (66,000 ounces gold) with good potential for expansion of depth and strike extent. This historical estimate used a classification scheme other than those set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (" NI 43-101 ") . SKRR is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource estimate. Highlights from drilling include: Hole MBO-15 intersected 15.39 g/t Au over 10.03m (85.98m to 96.01m) including 23.13 g/t Au over 6.40m (86.56m - 92.96m), including 219.02 g/t Au over 0.61m (87.29m - 87.90m) intersected (85.98m to 96.01m) including Hole MBO-37 intersected 2.91 g/t Au over 12.44m (from 84.16m to 96.59m) including 16.11 g/t Au over 0.24m. The 4,228 ha Manson Bay South Property surrounds and is contiguous with the Manson Bay Property and contains significant historic mineral showings including: Nest Group Gold-Silver-Copper-Zinc showing (SMDI #0319) located ~3km south-east of the Manson Bay Gold Zone. Four zones of mineralization encountered; The Showing, and A, B and C Zones. Three trenches totaling 286.5m were completed on The Showing, with Trench 1 including a 6.7m interval returning 0.93 g/t Au, 37.6 g/t Ag, 1.38% Cu and 7.6% Zn. MAN Claim Copper-Gold showing (SMDI #0318) located ~2km south-east of the Manson Bay Gold Zone where surface mineralization in a 30.5m x 4.6m gossan zone returned 1.0% Cu over 0.6m. Cunningham Lake located 2km south of Manson Bay Gold Zone where Homestake Mineral Development Company obtained a grab sample (Sample ID #15854) on the west side of Cunningham Lake, which returned an assay value of 5,680 ppb Au. *SKRR considers these estimates to be historical in nature and cautions that a Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves in accordance with NI 43-101. SKRR is not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource estimate. The location of drill holes completed to produce these estimates have not been confirmed. These estimates do not comply with current definitions prescribed by NI 43-101 or the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM), and are disclosed only as indications of the presence of mineralization and are considered to be a guide for additional work. The historical models and data sets used to prepare these historical estimates are not available to management, nor are any more recent resource estimates or drill information on the Manson Bay Property. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6952/72964_64e85224046149d1_002full.jpg Manson Bay Gold Zone Details The mineral occurrence located on the Manson Bay Property referred to as the Manson Bay Gold Zone is documented in the Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index ("SMDI") as occurrence #2280. Staking and exploration on the Manson Bay and Manson Bay South properties dates back to 1953. Kay Lake Mines Ltd. acquired the property in 1955 and conducted an electromagnetic survey in 1955, and in 1956 followed up with a diamond drill program to test the anomalies along the northeast shore of Manson Bay. Hudson Bay Exploration optioned the property in 1983 and completed 3 drill holes. Drill holes MBO-1 and 2 intersected the mineralization described by this showing. Discovery drill hole MBO-1 encountered an 0.8 ft intersection that returned 0.04 oz./ton Au, 4.38 oz./ton Ag, 5.81% Cu and 0.60% Zn. Between 1987 and 1988, Mingold Resources Limited completed a further 43 drill holes (MBO-4 to MBO-46) to outline a gold-copper rich zone of mineralization. Mingold estimated reserves for this ore shoot of 660,000 tons grading 0.10 oz/ton (3.4 g/t) Au* to a depth of 400 feet (down dip) at the end of this drill program. Geologically, the area straddles the transition zone between the highly metamorphosed (upper amphibolite facies) Amisk Group interlayered volcanics and metasediments to the south and the Kisseynew gneiss belt derived wackes (garnetiferous quartz-feldspar-biotite-hornblende gneiss, quartz-feldspar- hornblende-garnet biotite gneiss, biotite migmatite, and sericitic quartz- feldspar-biotite schist) to the north and to the east. Pegmatite and calc-silicate gneiss are found in almost all drill holes. Structurally, the showing area occupies the core of the Schotts Lake anticline. The host rocks have a northeast strike and dip 20to 30SE. Lineations indicate a plunge of 21 to 40NE. The Manson Bay Gold Zone showing consists of a silicified horizon within a northeast-trending shear zone. Mineralization has been traced over a strike length of 2400 ft (731.5 m) within this silicified shear zone. The mineralized horizon is a quartz-rich gneiss that contains hornblende-feldspar-biotite and locally chlorite and tourmaline crystals. Minerals present include trace to 15% pyrite, trace to 20% pyrrhotite, up to 10% graphite, trace to 12% chalcopyrite, trace to 10% sphalerite, trace galena and associated gold mineralization. Delineation drilling, at 100 to 200 ft (30.5 to 61.0 m) centers, has outlined an area approximately 300 ft by 500 ft (91.4 m by 152.4 m) where an average 12 ft 3.65 m) width grades between 0.092 and 0.679 oz./ton Au (11 intersections). Other zones of less significant Cu-Au mineralization have been located along strike. The above results were summarized from the SMDI descriptions and assessment reports filed with the Saskatchewan government. SKRR cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work in the Manson Lake and Manson Lake South property area. Further work (including drilling) is required by SKRR in order to verify the historical work on the Manson Bay Property. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties. Terms of the Acquisition SKRR issued 750,000 common shares and paid $10,000 in cash to Edge in return for the acquisition of the Manson Bay Property which also includes a 2% net smelter return royalty in favour of Edge (subject to a buy down to 1% for Cdn$1,000,000). The common shares issued pursuant to the acquisition of the Manson Bay Property are subject to a four month hold period from the closing date in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The acquisition agreement with Edge is not an "Arm's Length Transaction" as such term is defined in the Exchange's Policy 1.1 and therefore constituted a "related party transaction" as such term is defined in Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). Ross McElroy is a director of SKRR and is also a director of Edge. In respect of the requirements of MI 61-101 and Exchange Policy 5.9, SKRR relied on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority approval required under MI 61-101. SKRR was exempt from the formal valuation requirement of MI 61-101 in reliance of sections 5.5(b) as no securities of the Company are listed on the specified markets outlined therein. Additionally, the Company was exempt from minority shareholder approval of MI 61-101 in reliance of section 5.7(1)(a) (fair market value not more than 25% of the Company's market capitalization). Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Ross McElroy P.Geo, a director of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in NI 43-101. Mr. McElroy verified the data disclosed (unless indicated otherwise) which includes a review of the analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions contained therein. About SKRR Exploration Inc.: SKRR is a Canadian-based precious metal explorer with properties in Saskatchewan - one of the world's highest ranked mining jurisdictions. The primary exploration focus is on the Trans-Hudson Corridor in Saskatchewan in search of world class precious metal deposits. The Trans-Hudson Orogen - although extremely well known in geological terms has been significantly under-explored in Saskatchewan. SKRR is committed to all stakeholders including shareholders, all its partners and the environment in which it operates. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Sherman Dahl President & CEO Tel: 250-558-8340 For further information contact: Rich Matthews, Investor Relations Integrous Communications rmatthews@integcom.us +1 6047577179 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner, that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, adverse weather conditions, equipment failures, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, decrease in the price of gold and other metals, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, failure to maintain community acceptance (including First Nations), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72964 Researchers and clinicians have long known that copper intrauterine devices (IUDs) work extremely well for emergency contraception. But few bothered to examine the possibility of using hormonal IUDs for the same purpose. Now, in a first-of-its-kind study, University of Utah Health scientists found that hormonal IUDs were comparable to copper IUDs for use as emergency contraceptives. The researchers say the finding supports adding hormonal IUDs to current emergency contraception options. They conclude that using hormonal IUDs could have dramatic effects on emergency contraception, including reducing menstrual bleeding and cramping associated with copper IUDs. The study appears in the Jan. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. "These findings support using hormonal IUDs as a safe and viable alternative for women seeking to prevent pregnancies up to five days after intercourse," says David Turok, M.D., M.P.H., lead author of the study and an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at U of U Health. "As an emergency contraceptive, it appears to be no worse than a copper IUD and is way better than the morning-after pill." He adds, "And, unlike emergency contraception pills, hormonal IUDs can continue to provide highly effective contraception for up to seven years." The risk of pregnancy after using morning-after pills is about 2%, Turok says. In comparison, the 0.1% risk of pregnancy with copper IUDs is far less. In this study, the risk with hormonal IUDs was 0.3% and statistically was not less effective than the copper IUD. All hormonal IUDs approved in the U.S. contain a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone called levonorgestrel (LNG). This study used the Liletta IUD; Mirena, another type of hormonal IUD, uses the same amount of LNG as Liletta. When people are offered both hormonal and copper IUDs, they more frequently choose the LNG IUD. However, unlike copper IUDs, little or no research had been conducted on the LNG IUD use as an emergency contraceptive device. As a result, few, if any, medical providers have used LNG IUDs for this purpose. To address this concern, the U of U Health researchers decided to test the effectiveness of LNG IUDs versus copper IUDs. Over a three-year period beginning in August 2016, they recruited more than 700 people, ages 18 to 35, who were seeking emergency contraception at six Utah Planned Parenthood clinics. All of the participants had unprotected intercourse at least once in the previous five days. In addition, they had regular menstrual cycles, knew the date of their last menstrual period, had a negative urine pregnancy test, wanted to prevent pregnancy for at least a year, and were interested in using an IUD. The participants were randomly assigned to receive either an LNG or copper IUD. One month later, none of the 321 participants who received a copper IUD were pregnant. Pregnancy occurred in only one of the 317 participants who received LNG IUDs. "While I assumed the hormonal IUD would work for emergency contraception, I was surprised to see it worked just as well as the copper IUD," says Lori Gawron, M.D., M.P.H., a study co-author and an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at U of U Health. "This finding is exciting because it will give people more options for both emergency and ongoing contraception and decrease barriers to same-day IUD placement when patients want one." Turok adds that this research supports providing IUDs to those who want one at any point in the menstrual cycle, regardless of recent unprotected intercourse, giving women more opportunity for intervention than current medical recommendations. The researchers obtained urine pregnancy tests from about 93% of the participants. They ruled out pregnancy in the remaining 7% based on survey information and clinical reports. Among other study limitations was that although participants were unaware which device they received in the first month of use, the nurse practitioners who placed them knew which device was implanted in each patient. That's because of distinct differences in the appearance of these IUDs. The last new method of emergency contraception was approved for use by the Food & Drug Administration nearly 15 years ago. According to the researchers, LNG IUDs may become an attractive choice because they are used widely and are already FDA-approved for use as birth control. "This is all about increasing access and options for people," Turok says. "It's about supporting their opportunity to live the life they want and have meaningful sexual relationships in ways that are not tied to pregnancy." ### In addition to Dr. Turok and Dr. Gawron, Alexandra Gero, Rebecca Simmons, Jennifer Kaiser, Gregory Stoddard, Corrine Sexsmith, and Jessica Sanders of University of Utah Health contributed to this study. Stock Market Symbols GIB.A (TSX) GIB (NYSE) cgi.com/newsroom MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB) announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized the renewal of its Normal Course Issuer Bid ("NCIB"), subject to approval by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX"). CGI's management and Board of Directors believe that the purchase for cancellation of the Company's Class A subordinate voting shares ("Class A Shares") is a proper use of funds, and the NCIB will provide the flexibility to purchase Class A Shares from time to time as the Company considers it advisable, as part of its efforts to increase shareholder value. At the close of business on January 22, 2021, there were 224,831,125 Class A Shares outstanding, of which approximately 85% were widely held (representing a public float of 191,848,311 Class A Shares for TSX purposes). Under the terms of the NCIB, subject to TSX approval, the Company may purchase for cancellation on the open market through the facilities of the TSX and the New York Stock Exchange and through alternative trading systems, as well as outside the facilities of the TSX pursuant to exemption orders issued by securities regulators, up to 19,184,831 Class A Shares, representing approximately 10% of the Company's public float as of the close of business on January 22, 2021. The average daily trading volume of the Class A Shares on the TSX for the six-month period ended December 31, 2020 was 487,935 (the "ADTV"). Consequently, and in accordance with the requirements of the TSX, the daily purchase limit under the NCIB on the TSX will be 121,983 Class A Shares, representing 25% of the ADTV. All Class A Shares will be purchased at their market price at the time of acquisition, except for purchases effected outside the facilities of the TSX pursuant to exemption orders issued by securities regulators which will be at a discount to the market price as provided in such exemption orders. All Class A Shares purchased under the NCIB will be cancelled. Repurchases of Class A Shares may commence on February 6, 2021 and will end on the earlier of February 5, 2022 or the date on which the Company has either acquired the maximum number of Class A Shares allowable under the NCIB or otherwise decided not to make any further purchases for cancellation under it. Under its current NCIB that commenced on February 6, 2020 and will end on February 5, 2021, the Company received the approval of the TSX to repurchase for cancellation up to 20,149,100 Class A Shares. As at January 22, 2021, CGI has purchased 16,364,064 Class A Shares by means of open market transactions, through the facilities of the TSX, other markets and through alternative trading systems, and by way of private agreements under issuer bid exemption orders issued by securities regulators, at a weighted average price of $97.13 per Class A Share, for a total consideration of $1,589,380,886. CGI has implemented an automatic share purchase plan with its designated broker in connection with the NCIB in order to allow, if deemed advisable by the Company, for share purchases for cancellation during self-imposed blackout periods. About CGI Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 76,000 consultants and other professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2020 reported revenue is C$12.16 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com. Forward-looking information and statements This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable United States safe harbours. All such forward-looking information and statements are made and disclosed in reliance upon the safe harbour provisions of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Forward-looking information and statements include all information and statements regarding CGI's intentions, plans, expectations, beliefs, objectives, future performance, and strategy, as well as any other information or statements that relate to future events or circumstances and which do not directly and exclusively relate to historical facts. Forward-looking information and statements often but not always use words such as "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend", "anticipate", "foresee", "plan", "predict", "project", "aim", "seek", "strive", "potential", "continue", "target", "may", "might", "could", "should", and similar expressions and variations thereof. These information and statements are based on our perception of historic trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other assumptions, both general and specific, that we believe are appropriate in the circumstances. Such information and statements are, however, by their very nature, subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, of which many are beyond the control of CGI, and which give rise to the possibility that actual results could differ materially from our expectations expressed in, or implied by, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not restricted to: risks related to the market such as the level of business activity of our clients, which is affected by economic and political conditions, external risks (such as pandemics) and our ability to negotiate new contracts; risks related to our industry such as competition and our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, to develop and expand our services, to penetrate new markets, and to protect our intellectual property rights; risks related to our business such as risks associated with our growth strategy, including the integration of new operations, financial and operational risks inherent in worldwide operations, foreign exchange risks, income tax laws, our ability to negotiate favourable contractual terms, to deliver our services and to collect receivables, and the reputational and financial risks attendant to cybersecurity breaches and other incidents; as well as other risks identified or incorporated by reference in this press release, in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and in other documents that we make public, including our filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators (on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (on EDGAR at www.sec.gov). For a discussion of risks in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see Pandemic Risks in section 10.1.1. of our annual and quarterly MD&A. Unless otherwise stated, the forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and CGI disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. While we believe that our assumptions on which these forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are based were reasonable as at the date of this press release, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking information or statements. Furthermore, readers are reminded that forward-looking information and statements are presented for the sole purpose of assisting investors and others in understanding our objectives, strategic priorities and business outlook as well as our anticipated operating environment. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Further information on the risks that could cause our actual results to differ significantly from our current expectations may be found in the section titled "Risk Environment" of CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A, which is incorporated by reference in this cautionary statement. We also caution readers that the above-mentioned risks and the risks disclosed in CGI's annual and quarterly MD&A and other documents and filings are not the only ones that could affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial could also have a material adverse effect on our financial position, financial performance, cash flows, business or reputation. SOURCE CGI Inc. Related Links www.cgi.com Spike Lees Vietnam War movie Da 5 Bloods was named the years best film by the US National Board of Review (Netflix/PA) Spike Lees Vietnam War movie Da 5 Bloods was named 2020s best film by the US National Board of Review (NBR). Lee won best director for the Netflix feature, which explores the lingering trauma caused by war. Other likely Oscar contenders Minari, News Of The World, Nomadland, Soul and Promising Young Woman were all named among the 10 best films of last year. British stars were also recognised by the New York-based NBR. Spike Lee's visionary feature Da 5 Bloods is honored as Best Film of 2020 by @NBRfilm! pic.twitter.com/j8uM8KuceR Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) January 26, 2021 Riz Ahmed was named best actor for his portrayal of a drummer losing his hearing in Sound Of Metal while Carey Mulligan won best actress for her role in Promising Young Woman. Best supporting actor went to Ahmeds co-star Paul Raci while Youn Yuh-jung was awarded the actress equivalent for her part in Minari. British director Paul Greengrass shared the best adapted screenplay prize with his News Of The World co-writer Luke Davies while original screenplay went to Lee Isaac Chung for Minari. The years breakthrough performance was judged to be Sidney Flanigan in Never Rarely Sometimes Always and the NBR said the best directorial debut was Channing Godfrey Peoples Miss Juneteenth. Disneys Soul was named best animated feature while Time won best documentary. The late Chadwick Boseman, who has won acclaim for his final film role in Ma Raineys Black Bottom, was honoured with the NBR Icon Award. Annie Schulhof, NBR president, said: We are also honoured to present the posthumous NBR Icon Award to Chadwick Boseman, an extraordinary talent who represented the best of what an actor could be no matter what the role. The NBR was founded in 1909 and is made up of film enthusiasts, industry professionals and academics. This years Hollywood awards season has been delayed by the pandemic and the Oscars is due to take place on April 25. Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal got married on January 24 and since then the internet has been buzzing with their wedding stories and the pictures released by him. Today Varun Dhawan took to his Twitter account and thanked all his fans for all the love and warmth he and his wife Natasha has been receiving in the past few days. He took to Twitter and said, The last few days me and Natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart. Now isnt that very sweet. Varun is loved by all and the love he got on social media for those dreamy wedding clicks and his fun-haldi pictures, he specially thanked his fans and well-wishers. The last few days me and natasha have received so much love and positivity from everyone so just wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart AAAAAA VarunDhawan (@Varun_dvn) January 27, 2021 In another post he shared a picture from his wedding where we see the newlyweds posing with the wedding-planners Shaadi Squad. He thanked them by saying thank you for making this happen. Now looks like Varun Dhawan is in mood to express gratitude and show love as hes surely on cloud nine after winning that one heart for lifetime. Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal returned to the city yesterday. Pictures on their arrival at Gateway of India went viral, where the newly-weds were seen holding hands and made sure to smile and wave out to the paparazzi. Varun Dhawan will be next seen in Jug Jugg Jeeyo and then a horror-comedy titled Bhediya. The WCO organized, with the sponsorship of the Customs Cooperation Fund of Eurocustoms, a Virtual National Workshop on Post-Clearance Audit (PCA) for the Republic of Moldova from 18 to 22 January 2021. The Workshop was also supported by the Regional Office for Capacity Building (ROCB) for the WCO Europe region. Two experts from the Customs Administrations of Denmark and Germany contributed to this activity as key resource persons. The Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova implemented PCA in 2012. Since then, the WCO's PCA guidelines and the EU guidelines have been used as support tools for Moldovan Customs officials and PCA has been implemented in line with them. Today, there is a need for an enhanced strategic approach to provide even more effective PCA planning and to ensure the development of a risk analytical approach based on an IT program. During the five-day virtual session, the 29 participants gained an understanding of the importance of PCA as part of the Customs Risk Management strategy and process, as well as identifying PCA as a means to measure and improve compliance in the WCO concept. Participants also learned about the risk analysis in the targeting approach actually implemented by the PCA unit of the home Administrations of the two resource persons. They also presented specific case studies of PCA conducted based on these two different approaches. The participants expressed their appreciation for the practical part of the Workshop, which will be useful in enhancing their risk analysis for the PCA strategy. It is expected that the newly acquired knowledge in this workshop will be utilized for the further development of PCA in the Republic of Moldova. Commentary A Military Coup in Myanmar Is Unlikely, But. Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (center) and other high ranking officers arrive for the third Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw in 2018. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy The Myanmar military made headlines again at a press conference on Tuesday when its spokesperson refused to rule out the possibility of a coup should the militarys claims of electoral fraud go unaddressed. Given its current powerful role in the executive branch of government, controlling the countrys three security-related ministriesnot to mention its continued involvement in the legislature, with its unelected representatives holding 25 percent of seats in the Parliamentand its history of establishing three military governments (the last ended as recently as 2011), it was impossible to ignore Major General Zaw Min Tuns comment that: The military will abide by existing laws including the Constitution. But that doesnt mean the military will take responsibility for the state or wont take responsibility for the state. Little wonder it sent shockwaves through the countrys diplomatic circles, and even made waves in China, Japan and India, all of which currently have military ties with Myanmar to one degree or another. These days, it should come as no surprise that no one wants to tarnish their reputation internationally by being associated with a military regime. Closer to home, when decoding the spokespersons comment and trying to determine the likelihood that Myanmar will face another coup, its important to take every possible factorincluding the provisions of the countrys Constitution and the possible implications of a coup for the military itselfinto consideration. How likely is a coup? The answer is: unlikely. Why? First of all, Myanmars Constitution doesnt give the armed forces the right to stage a coup of their own volition. Even though Article 40(c) of the Constitution grants sovereign power to the commander-in-chief during a state of emergency, lets not forget that it is the president only who can declare a state of emergency, after consulting and coordinating with the military-dominated National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) as dictated in Chapter 11 of the charter. For the time being, as the citizens of Myanmar busy themselves adapting to a new normal under the coronavirus guidelines, and with no source of instability strong enough to pose a threat to the countrys sovereignty in sight, any talk of a state of emergency now would be wishful thinking on the militarys part. Among members of the public, rushing out to register to get a COVID-19 jab is the only state of urgency anyone in the country is feeling right now. Secondly, no one in Myanmar seems to cherish the Constitution more than the men in uniform, because it was successfully drafted in 2008 by the military itself under the guidance of their then supremo Senior General Than Shwe. The charter grants them the privileges they cherish, such as a leadership role in national politics, while guaranteeing they can take part in the countrys legislative process without having to lift a finger and contest seats in general elections. Furthermore, the military is the official guardian of the Constitution. That status gives the military plenty of opportunities to intervene in the countrys affairs, ranging from thwarting efforts to amend undemocratic provisions of the charter to re-checking voters lists, on the grounds that it is preventing unconstitutional activities. Its important to note that a military coup could lead to the abolition of the existing Constitution. In Myanmars case, if that happened, the men in uniform would be the first to pay a price, as they would lose their constitutionally bestowed immunity and other privileges. On Tuesday, the military spokesperson said, The military will abide by existing laws including the Constitution. If the military is to continue to be seen as a law- and Constitution-abiding institution, theres no question that the existence of the charter is crucialmaking the possibility that the armed forces will stage a coup unlikely for now. However, as the saying Fools rush in where angels fear to tread goes, there is no guarantee that the military will not disregard the charter, making another coup possible. The military spokespersons refusal to rule out the possibility of a military takeover is a grim reminder. Such a fools-rush-in approach would run the risk of throwing Myanmar into social, economic and political disarray for years to come, and once again isolate the country internationally. For the military, it would be like signing its own death warrant, as it would lose the safe haven the Constitution has provided it since 2011. Lets hope winter is not coming for Myanmar. You may also like these stories: Biden Administration Should Tread Carefully on Myanmars Rights Issues: Observers Thailand: In the Eye of the Coming Storm The Inside Story of Thailand and Myanmars Troubled Dawei Mega-Project Four of Camdens older schools will close at the end of this year as part of the districts consolidation plan, educators announced Tuesday. Harry C. Sharp Elementary School, Cramer School, Wiggins School, and the Yorkship Family School will be shuttered at the end of the school year, school officials at the state-run district said. Three of the four buildings are over 100 years old and all four are in need of structural repair, they said. They are all 30% empty, which means that for every dollar spent in these schools, 30 cents goes to waste, according to a statement from the Camden City School District. Our students are entitled to the best facilities, education, and support, Camden School District Superintendent Katrina T. McCombs said in a statement. It is my mission as superintendent to place students in schools that give them the best opportunity to succeed. Many of our older buildings are deteriorating, while we have space available in our newer district facilities. With the plan and support we are outlining today, the Camden City School District is taking another step toward fulfilling our promise of Putting Students First, she said. The plan will also lead to staff layoffs, and as many as 150 jobs could be affected, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The teachers union has opposed the closures, which will impact about 1,200 of the districts more than 6,300 students, the report said. The announcement comes at the end of a six-month, long-term school planning process as the district said the underutilized buildings have led to an inefficient use of funds as enrollment in the district has declined by nearly 50% since 2013, officials said. Mayor Francisco Frank Moran released a statement in support of the closures, citing the school budgets deficit, a projected $40 million in fiscal year 2022. Closing buildings that are 30% empty and in a state of disrepair is the responsible course of action; our students deserve a better learning environment, the mayor said in a statement. Every student at a school that is closing will have a guaranteed seat at a new school in the district, officials said. District guaranteed seats are as follows: Sharp School: Students entering grades K to 5 will go to Veterans Memorial School and students entering grades 6 to 8 will go to Davis School. Cramer School: All students will go to Davis school. Wiggins School: Students entering grades K to 5 will go to Forest Hill School and those entering grades 6 to 8 will go to Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy. Yorkship School: Students entering grades K to 2 will go to Cream School, students entering grades 3 to 5 will go to HB Wilson School and those entering grades 6 to 8 will go to Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy. The district said its plan included consulting over 500 parents, educators, faith leaders, and elected officials as well as enrollment projections, 750 community surveys, 12 planning committee meetings and two community input forums. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. China's premier silver producer A profitable, underground mine specialist Aiming for healthy returns via organic growth and acquisition of good projects What Silvercorp Metals does: (NYSEAMERICAN:SVM) ( ) has been an underground mine operator in China since 2006 and has a track record of growing organically through its own cash flow. The Vancouver-headquartered company has also built up substantial reserves. A profitable company, it is focused on mining silver, lead and zinc. The group's flagship asset is the Ying project, which was acquired in March 2004 and which started commercial production on April 1, 2006. It lies 240 kilometers (km) southwest of Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province in central China and consists of six separate mines which feed two mills with 3,200 tonnes per day (tpd). Six smelters lie within 200 km. Elsewhere, the company has the GC mine in Guangdong province. Output started in 2014 and the projected mine life of 12 years, through to 2031, is based on proven and probable reserves, at an average annual production rate of about 300,000 tonnes. An updated report in 2019 for the GC asset showed a resource of 9.1 million tonnes in the measured and indicated categories, an increase of 42%, which contained around 24.5 million ounces of silver, 233 million pounds of lead and 564 million pounds of zinc. Between April 2006 and December 2019, Silvercorp produced a consolidated 69.7 million ounces of silver and 999.2 million pounds of lead and zinc. In terms of resources, its consolidated measured and indicated resources of contained metal is around 151 million ounces of silver, 736,000 tonnes of lead and 470,000 tonnes of zinc. Silvercorp also owns around 29% of Corp (CVE:NUAG), which has a market cap of about C$920 million, and hopes to grow this investment. Silvercorp also wants to bring its BYP gold mine in Hunan province, suspended since 2014, back into production, targeting 30,000 ounces of the yellow metal a year. An NI 43-101 resource for BYP has shown 421,000 ounces in the measured and indicated (M&I) and 110,000 in inferred. How is it doing: On May 21, 2021, Silvercorp Metals posted its results for the fiscal year to end-March 2021, which showed a 35% increase in net income compared to the year-earlier period, on revenue, which was 21% higher. The company, recorded net income attributable to shareholders of US$46.4 million in the fiscal year, compared to US$34.3 million in fiscal year 2020. Revenue came in at US$192.1 million versus US$158.8 million for the previous year after the company sold around 6.3 million ounces of silver, 4,700 ounces of gold, 67.1 million pounds of lead, and 27.9 million pounds of zinc. That was an increase of 1%, 42%, 3%, and 10%, respectively, compared to fiscal 2020. In the fourth and final quarter of fiscal 2021, net income was US$7 million, up 122% from the US$3.1 million recorded a year earlier, while revenue was up 89% in the quarter to US$35.7 million. In 4Q, the company mined 163,072 tonnes of ore and milled 180,674 tonnes of ore, up 53% and 76%, respectively, compared to the prior-year quarter. The group's all-in-sustaining-cost (AISC) per ounce of silver metric, net of by-product credits, for the full year came in at US$7.49, a bit higher than the US$6.86 figure seen the previous year, but in the fourth quarter, the figure was US$12.55 per ounce of silver, down from US$15.17 an ounce in the same period a year earlier. For fiscal 2021, cash flow from operations was US$85.9 million, up 11% or US$8.7 million, compared to US$77.2 million in the prior year. Silvercorp had reported its 4Q and fiscal 2021 production results on April 16, 2021, which came in bang in line with its guidance. For the three-month period ended March 31, 2021, the company nearly doubled its silver output and saw marked increases in its lead and zinc levels compared to the year-ago quarter. Total production of silver was around 1.2 million ounces compared to 696,000 in 4Q 2020, while lead output came in at 12.2 million points compared to 7.8 million and zinc increased from 3.3 million pounds to 4.7 million in the current quarter. All told, Silvercorp sold nearly 1.1 million silver ounces, 10.9 million pounds of lead and 4.6 million pounds of zinc in fiscal 4Q. The results meant that Silvercorp either met or exceeded its 2021 production guidance. Throughout its fiscal 2021, the company produced around 6.3 million ounces of silver and 68.4 million pounds of lead, meeting the production guidance of between 6.2 to 6.5 million ounces of silver and 66.1 to 68.5 million pounds of lead. The company beat its zinc guidance, producing 28 million pounds of zinc higher than the 24.5 to 26.7 million pounds it had targeted. Gold production from its Ying mining operation came in at 3,500 ounces. On a consolidated basis, Silvercorp sold about 6.3 million ounces of silver, 4,700 ounces of gold, 67.1 million pounds of lead, and 27.9 million pounds of zinc, up 0.9%, 42.8%, 2.7%, and 9.9%, respectively, over fiscal 2020. Silvercorp has been expanding in 2021. On April 29, the company said it had increased the mining potential at its flagship Ying project, revealing that it has been granted three new exploration permits. The metals producer said the new permits range over 48.8 square kilometers (sq km) and cover the depth extensions of three mining permits, namely SGX, HPG, and TLP-LME-LMW. Silvercorp started commercial production at Ying in 2006. The asset consists of six separate mines - the SGX, HZG, HPG, TLP, LME, and LMW properties - which feed two mills with 3,200 tonnes per day (tpd). In January this year, Silvercorp added to its portfolio in China by successfully bidding for the exploration rights at the Zhonghe silver project via an online auction, offering RMB 495 million, or around US$76 million. The project covers an area of nearly f5 sq km and lies around 75 km by road northeast from the firm's producing Ying project, which is also in Luoning County, Henan Province, and the company said it plans to begin a drilling campaign in the first quarter of 2021 that will be completed by 2022. And in February, the miner revealed that its subsidiary New Infini Silver Inc had acquired the La Yesca silver project in Nayarit State, Mexico. The project covers an area of around 47.7 sq km with previous exploration activities between 2014 and 2018. A silver-lead-zinc soil geochemical anomaly of more than 500 meters (m) in width and 7.5km long has been defined at the site. Looking at existing operations, on January 6, 2021, the group reported drill assay results from the HPG mine in Chinas Henan Province, which included a 1.58 metre (m) interval grading 17.08 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 301 g/t silver, and 18.66% lead in a new vein. Exploration drilling and tunneling are continuing at this mine and all the firm's others in the Ying mining district (six mines in all), the firm said. Inflection points: More resource upgrades and exploration success Start of work at newly-acquired projects Further possible expansion moves What the broker says: In a note on May 24, 2021, analysts at Roth Capital raised their target price for Silvercorp Metals to $9.00 from $8.75 and reiterated their 'Buy' rating on the stock following fiscal Q4 and full-year 2021results from the company. Roth's analysts noted that Silvercorp's revenue of $35.7 million in Q4 was slightly below their estimate of $36.2 million due to price realizations, however, Q4 EPS of $0.04 was in line with the analysts' estimate. They concluded: "Other than the slight revenue shortfall, results were uneventful, in our view." The Roth analysts estimate that Silvercorp will report production of 6.6 million ounces of silver, 27.4 million pounds of zinc, 67.6 million pounds of lead, and 2,800 ounces of gold in fiscal 2022. As a result, they estimate the company's fiscal 2022 free cash flow (FCF) to equity to be $50.9 million. The analysts noted that Silvercorp's fiscal 2022 and 2023 cash flow should benefit from a temporarily lower take rate. The Roth analysts also said that they anticipate Silvercorp should generate strong free cash flow in 2022 and beyond. Additionally, they believe the company remains undervalued compared to its peer group and that there is significant upside for the company's equity investments, which could provide external catalysts for the company. What the boss says: In January this year, the group's vice-president Lon Shaver spoke to Proactive's Steve Darling following news of the Zhonghe silver project acquisition. "We are very comfortable with what it's going to take to do the work, to move this project ahead, and hopefully bring it on as another production centre for the company," Shaver said. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com It is a rare day indeed when a single news photograph of a man in a suit appearing via video link at a government press conference can bring a nation up short. But the front pages of Wednesday's newspapers showing Boris Johnson in a state of manifest agony and contrition was genuinely shocking. He was doing something that no British Prime Minister has ever had to do before. He was taking responsibility for policies that contributed to the deaths of 100,000 people. Those who hate him and all he stands for will feel vindicated. Johnson, they are already saying, has been found out, a man palpably in over his head from the start. Here's the final evidence we need that he is the shallow charlatan who dithered as Covid waves crashed over the nation, landing us with the worst death toll in Europe. Crisis They will regard it as a fitting comeuppance for someone who famously dreamed as a child of growing up to be 'World King'. They will not take into account that very early into his premiership he was confronted with a crisis no prime minister has had to face, one that is almost beyond imagination in its human and economic devastation. Other people will have been shocked by the way he has aged in the 14 months since he led the Conservative Party to a landslide general election victory. His face is more lined today, and is his hair not whiter, and thinner? Stephen Robinson ponders whether Boris Johnson's (pictured) genuinely shocking display of manifest agony and contrition at a press conference on Tuesday might mark a turning point for the prime minister But it is the downbeat demeanour, the throwing himself at the public's mercy with a joke-free statement of apology, which in a way was the most shocking. It was the day the bluster had to stop. This was not a mea culpa couched in the fashionable equivocation of today. There was no infuriating 'I apologise for the perception that we were slow to act'; or the equally grating obfuscation that 'mistakes might have been made', with the implication they were actually made by subordinates. No, he took it on the chin. 'I am deeply sorry for every life lost,' he said. 'And of course, as Prime Minister, I take full responsibility for everything the Government has done.' It was clear that he meant it because he carried the weight of that responsibility so obviously on his hunched shoulders. Though it was a sobering, even disturbing spectacle, he struck the right tone. As the politician who is rarely lost for words conceded, he had 'exhausted the thesaurus of misery'. Better to be straightforward. I confess that if someone had told me a year ago that the Daily Mail would one day carry a picture of a stricken Boris Johnson with the headline 'I Am Deeply Sorry', I would have wagered that he had been caught in flagrante in the Cabinet Room with a Downing Street secretary. It is a rare day indeed when a single news photograph of a man in a suit appearing via video link at a government press conference can bring a nation up short. But the front pages of yesterday's newspapers showing Boris Johnson in a state of manifest agony and contrition was genuinely shocking The image also reminded me faintly of President Bill Clinton's defiant levelling with the American people 'I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms Lewinsky.' But while Boris Johnson's contrition was I believe genuine, Clinton's facial agony was of course wholly bogus, as it turned out he was lying through his teeth. This seemingly besieged Prime Minister is unrecognisable from the bubbly, puckish figure I got to know when we were colleagues on another newspaper. That Boris was a strident libertarian, an exponent of Merrie England, and of leaving people to their own devices. Ironically, given that Covid has dominated his life in the past 12 months and that he nearly died of it, he was then a man who did not really believe in illness. Sick days were for wimps; nanny-state health and safety measures were nonsense on stilts. He would have been truly horrified at the idea of having to announce as he did yesterday the incarceration of travellers arriving at British airports. Boris Johnson's life has been one long internal battle between his cleverness and originality of thought on the one hand, and his selfishness and intermittent idleness on the other. In his briefing on Tuesday, Johnson was doing something that no British Prime Minister has ever had to do before. He was taking responsibility for policies that contributed to the deaths of 100,000 people We saw the 'good Boris' in his triumphant election campaign, and in his courageous delivery of an (admittedly imperfect) Brexit trade deal against all the odds. We have seen the 'bad Boris' in recent months in his maddening inability to make a decision until everyone agrees it is too late. For a man once so intellectually self-confident, he too often has seemed to bend policy according to which expert or lobbyist he last spoke to. Disasters His occasional sloppiness in use of language, combined with a lack of preparation for press conferences on complex scientific matters, has been bewildering. Prime ministers over the centuries have had to account for disasters which have killed thousands of people. But crucially, these have been men in uniform, fighting abroad, and in times of a much more deferential media. Herbert Asquith was eventually ground down by the misconduct of the Great War and had to be replaced by David Lloyd George. Anthony Eden lost his health and his premiership because of the Suez debacle of 1956. But these political upheavals stemmed from military mistakes, thousands of miles away from home. It wasn't until the Blitz that civilians were killed in their thousands in British cities. The key difference is that then, as now, death was going on all around us. It is sobering to think that over 50 per cent more people have already died with Covid in this country compared to the 70,000 British civilians killed during six years of total war. Redemption Boris Johnson will know these figures, and their significance. He modelled his career so closely on Churchill's that he wrote his biography. Churchill's early political career had more than its share of setbacks, notably the Dardanelles disaster of 1915 which forced his removal from the Admiralty. 'I am the victim of political intrigue. I am finished!' Churchill wailed to a sympathetic newspaper proprietor in a rare moment of self-doubt. His ally, Sir George Riddell, tried to console him: 'Not finished at 40, with your remarkable powers.' Yet Churchill was so stung by the humiliation that he took himself off to the Western Front to lead an infantry battalion. It was to be another 25 years before events offered him the chance of full political redemption. Boris Johnson is also at a pivotal moment in his political life. Unlike Churchill, he is not seeking to blame others for his problems and our shocking Covid death toll. Johnson's political fate will now be determined by one factor, whether he can maintain the momentum of the vaccination programme. Pictured: The Daily Mail front page 27/01/21 His political fate will now be determined by one factor, whether he can maintain the momentum of the vaccination programme. It is not a fluke that we are greatly outpacing EU countries in giving vaccines. The Government made the right call in staying out of the EU centralised procurement regime, and by ordering vast quantities early. It now seems the obvious decision to have taken, but at the time it was brave and bold. If the Prime Minister takes full responsibility for the failures of the past 12 months, he must be given his share of credit for an obvious success. As an Oxford classicist, he will be familiar with the importance of catharsis. By speaking so bluntly of his regret and responsibility for such a shocking level of national suffering, he is purging himself, while girding for the battle ahead. The Prime Minister need not go to Churchillian extremes in seeking absolution by fighting in the trenches. His battle is closer to home and will be fought with needles, not bayonets. It would be foolish to write him off, as many have done in the past. Boris Johnson's public agony this week might yet prove to be the trigger for his fightback. Indeed, it could be the moment a new disciplined and purposeful variant of Boris Johnson emerges a man fitting and ready for the solemn times we face as our national recovery begins. Fr Sefer (Aho) Bilecen, an Assyrian clergyman, is on trial for feeding some members of the PKK. The next hearing is in April. He faces two to 15 years in prison if found guilty. He recently reiterated that he gave food out of Christian charity. He was released pending trial following a protest by local Christians. Istanbul (AsiaNews) The new hearing in the trial of Assyrian monk, Fr Sefer (Aho) Bilecen, was held today at the High Criminal Court in Mardin. As in the previous hearing in early November, proceedings were held in camera with no journalists allowed. Fr Sefer faces terrorism charges. Prosecutors accuse him of aiding a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey, by giving a piece of bread. The PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has been in prison since 1999. The court ordered another postponement with the next hearing scheduled for April. If convicted, the clergyman could get two to 15 years in jail for giving food to someone who asked for it at the door of his monastery. For his part, the monk recently reiterated his position, namely that he does not know the people who came to the monastery begging for food, and that he opens the door to them out of Christian charity. Fr Sefer (Aho) Bilecen is the custodian of the monastery of Mor Yakup (St James), which dates back about 1,500 years. Located in Nusaybin district (Mardin), south-eastern Turkey, on the border with Syria, the historic building has been in a state of neglect since the Armenian genocide of 1915, and it is thanks to Fr Sefers commitment that it was reopened in 2010. The monk was arrested on 9 January 2020 as a result of the testimony of an alleged (later repentant) PKK member. Four days later, he was released pending trial, thanks also to a grassroots movement by local Christians who petitioned the authorities to let him go. The confession of the PKK member remains the key factor in Assyrian priests indictment. A second witness, also in prison, said he did not know the religious and had heard from others that he gave food to the needy as an act of charity. The trial comes at a time of rising tensions between Turkey and Western countries and growing violations and abuses against Turkeys Christian minorities. Recently, an ancient Armenian church went on sale on the Internet, just the latest in a series of controversial episodes showing disrespect, if not contempt for the countrys Christian religious and cultural heritage. The list includes a barbecue held at the historic Sourp Asdvadzadzi Armenian church and the conversions of the ancient Christian basilicas of Hagia Sophia and Chora into mosques. The latter were turned into museums under the founder of modern Turkey Ataturk. Such actions have been controversial but they fit in the nationalism and Islam policy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a way to hide the countrys economic woes and help him stay in power. In both churches, Islamic authorities have covered with white curtains the images of Jesus, as well as frescoes and icons that show their Christian roots. China's paid-in foreign direct investment (FDI) bucked the trend in the past year despite the complicated international situation and severe impacts from COVID-19, registering increase in size, growth margin, and global share. In 2020, paid-in FDI reached a record 999.98 billion yuan ($154.32 billion), up 6.2% year-on-year. Over 100 foreign companies were established in China on average each day. German science and technology company Merck secured remarkable performance in China over the last year. It was among the first group of enterprises in Shanghai to resume production from COVID-19, released its latest investment plan in the performance materials sector at the China International Import Expo, and maintained steady growth in its three major businesses of life science, healthcare and performance materials. The year of 2020 was full of uncertainty for global economy, said Li Ye, vice president of Merck Holding (China) Ltd. However, the Chinese market still showed strong resilience, she added. "The quick control of the pandemic as well as the policies issued to help enterprises stabilized the confidence of foreign companies investing in China," she said. The international FDI experienced a huge plunge around the globe the last year except in China. The country's paid-in FDI kept positive monthly growth for 9 consecutive months since April, and recovered positive growth in July. According to a recent investigation by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), nearly 60 percent of foreign businesses in China saw improved or equal revenue and profits in 2020 from a year ago, and nearly 90 percent said they were optimistic or cautiously optimistic about their prospects in China. The growth of paid-in FDI was inseparable from China's efforts to coordinate epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, said Cao Hongying, executive vice president of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment. Taking forceful measures, China was the first country to control the pandemic and resume production, and the only major economy that achieved positive growth, which offered a firm foundation and guarantee for stabilizing foreign investment, Cao explained. Though the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading across the world, Samsung's projects in China are still proceeding in an orderly manner. This benefitted from the strong support and guarantee by the Chinese government, said Deuk-kyu Hwang, president and head of Samsung China. The company sent over 5,500 foreign engineers to China from overseas by 24 planes last year, so as to ensure the construction of its major projects in the country, he continued. The South Korean conglomerate invested $5.4 billion in China last year, 83 percent of which went to central and western regions. Ninety-eight percent of the investment was in high-tech industry, Hwang said. The implementation of foreign investment law and China's equal attitude toward domestic and foreign companies very much inspired the group and reinforced its confidence to develop in China, he added. Accelerating its pace of opening up, China is constantly upgrading its business environment. The country established three new pilot free trade zones, further shortened negative lists of foreign investment, and expanded the catalogue of industries where foreign investment is encouraged. Besides, China also inked the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and completed the negotiation on China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment. The MOFCOM also established a taskforce to serve 697 major foreign investment projects, helping them tackle over 3,000 challenges such as short supply of anti-pandemic materials, customs clearance, and work resumption of industrial chains. In addition, the taskforce also facilitated entrance for over 16,000 foreign employees. (Natural News) The CEO of United Airlines strongly considers making it mandatory for all of his 60,000 employees to get the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby made this announcement during an employee town hall meeting. The worst thing that I believe I will ever do in my career is the letters that I have written to the surviving family members of co-workers that we have lost to the coronavirus. And so, for me, because I have confidence in the safety of the vaccine and I recognize its controversial I think the right thing to do is for United Airlines, and for other companies, to require the vaccines and to make them mandatory, Kirby said. Several other large companies, including Uniteds rivals, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, have only gone so far as to strongly encourage their employees to get the coronavirus vaccine. Other companies are attempting to encourage vaccinations by offering incentives such as cash bonuses. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, vaccine mandates such as the one United is considering are legal as long as they accommodate objections based on medical conditions or religious beliefs. Experts have stated that United and other large corporations are holding off on mandating coronavirus vaccinations because of the possibility of legal, cultural and popular backlash. (Related: The push is on for businesses to ban anyone who hasnt had a COVID vaccine.) United Airlines vaccine mandate could cause a domino effect in the private sector United Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the country, and one of the largest companies by revenue. If it proceeds with its plan to mandate vaccines for its employees, it would be one of the first companies in the U.S. to do so and it might convince other corporations to follow. Kirby doesnt think United can get away with being the only company to make coronavirus vaccinations mandatory for all employees. We need some others, he said, during his town hall meeting. We need some others to show leadership, particularly in the healthcare industry. If others go along and are willing to start to mandate vaccines, you should probably expect United to be amongst the first wave of companies that do it. By the end of 2020, United has around 60,000 employees based in the U.S. After it received enough federal aid to cover worker salaries until the end of March, it recalled some 17,000 employees that were furloughed early in the fall. With the federal aid, along with the companys hope that widespread vaccine distribution restores passengers confidence in the airline industry, United believes that it can start making money again. The company has been trying to gain higher priority access to the vaccines. United President Brett Hart argued during a conference call with reporters and industry analysts on Thursday, Jan. 21, that the company needs the vaccines both for their safety and the safety of our customers. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents the flight attendants of United and other airlines, has a similar stance. Our focus is on access to the vaccine, a spokeswoman for the group said. We need a federal approach that prioritizes flight attendants as essential workers facilitating interstate commerce. Learn more about how corporations are attempting to push through coronavirus vaccine mandates by reading the latest articles at Vaccines.news. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk WSJ.com What it does Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:ECO) owns a 15% stake of the Orinduik licence offshore Guyana in the Atlantic Ocean, developed with French giant Total and Irish explorer Tullow Oil. A farm-out with Total saw its stake reduced from 40% in return for a cash payment of US$12.5mln. Away from Guyana, Eco owns four licences off the coast of Namibia including 57.5% of the Cooper Block In January 2021, the company launched a new renewable energy business. It owns a 70% stake in Eco Atlantic Renewables and has funded the new venture with a US$6mln loan the first US$1.1mln paid for the first acquisition, a ready-to-build 10.57 MW project in Greece. How is it doing? Previously, Eco and its partners made two discoveries in the Guyana licence though the oil was found to be heavier than expected. The next phase of exploration drilling is due to be decided over the coming months, with news expected in the latter part of the second quarter. A 2020 competent persons report upgraded the amount of oil at Orinduik by 29% to 5.14bn barrels (p50) or a net 771mln barrels to Eco for its stake. The report saw 22 prospects of which 11 are in the upper cretaceous horizon, where oil is expected to be lighter and more commercial than the heavy oil discoveries in the tertiary layer. Leads in the tertiary horizon are estimated to contain 1.2bn barrels while the cretaceous section contains an estimated 3.94bn barrels with two targets in this section (Amaila/Kumaka and Iatuk-D) each containing 725mln barrels. Over half of the 22 prospects have a 30% chance of success or greater, said the CPR. In 2021, further third-party drill activity nearby can continue to bolster Guyanas emerging offshore oil industry. Renewables opportunity Eco has set up a new company, Eco Atlantic Renewables, which will seek to source, acquire, and develop exclusive renewable solar energy projects. The new company is a joint venture with Nepcoe Capital Partners, a UK based renewables investment firm, which is providing exclusive access to a pipeline of opportunities with potential for up to 2 gigawatts of solar generation capacity. Most of the projects are located in Southern Europe's high solar hours' sunbelt. The ventures first acquisition is the Kozani project in Greece which is fully licensed, permitted and ready-to-build. The 10.57 megawatt project was acquired on Monday, with 1.1mln paid by Eco Atlantic Renewables. Eco Atlantic Renewables envisages further deals with the company targeting 100 MW worth of operating and grid-connected projects in its first year of operation, plus up to 800 MW of in-development assets. What management says "We are not a management team that likes to sit and wait for outcomes, said Gil Holzman, Eco chief executive in a statement. Following several months of extensive strategic work and identification of multiple projects by the management team and Board of Directors, this exciting opportunity has crystalised. Our decision to form this new majority held renewable energy company was partly driven by a lack of oil and gas acquisition opportunities that are as good and as prospective as the ones we already hold, Holzman added. Video What brokers say Stockbroker Peel Hunt sees the offshore explorer as a buy, in September 2020, pointing to substantial upside to the current price. Analyst Matt Cooper initiated Peel Hunts coverage of Eco with a 100p price target, compared to a prevailing market price of 22.7p per share. Cooper, in a note, described the companys upcoming exploration campaign as one of the most exciting slated for 2021. In November, a note from Align Research described the prevailing share price as a good buying opportunity whilst setting a 123.54p price target, compared to a market price of 24.35p. Previously SP Angel highlighted that Ecos success as a frontier explorer has not been reflected in its share price at all. The juniors two large discoveries at Orinduik will be followed by two further wells planned for next year while drilling offshore Namibia is also due to accelerate this year. SP Angel says the discoveries have been misunderstood by the market. The electronics industry is expecting finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman to either extend the benefits under the remission of duties and taxes on exported products (RoDTEP) scheme to the sector or announce a cut in goods and services tax in her Budget speech on 1 February. The government launched the RoDTEP scheme, replacing the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, which violated global trade norms. It offers refunds on embedded central, state and local duties or taxes to an exporter. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic RoDTEP is critical to address Indias deep disabilities vis-a-vis its competitors for boosting electronics manufacturing and making it Indias No. 1 export by 2025," said Pankaj Mohindroo, chairman, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). This needs to be an ongoing exercise to address the adverse impact on Indias competitiveness, of high taxes which remain unremitted. An early finalization of RoDTEP base rate and rates of priority products needs to be our immediate focus," he added. The ICEA recommended a RoDTEP of minimum 1.5% on electronics exports from India. Television manufacturers are also looking at a cut in GST rates for TVs. At present, 18% GST is charged for TVs up to 32 inches, and 28% for those above 32 inches. Industry insiders said single GST rates across television sets would bring costs down. Today, although TV is no longer a luxury, yet due to high raw material costs, coupled with the applicable GST of 28%, both the consumer and the industry take a huge hit," said Arjun Bajaj, director, Videotex International, a contract manufacturer for smart televisions. The electronics industry has also been facing rising cost pressures from the increase in transport prices. According to industry insiders, ocean freight prices have tripled over the past two quarters, while prices of raw materials such as copper and aluminium have also risen. Television panel prices have increased to what they were five years ago. The cost of transportation from China to India via ships has increased by three to four times, pushing up prices of components. Also, demand for some components such as integrated circuits and panels has outgrown the supply. Panasonic is expected to raise prices of TV sets by 6-7%, while LG may increase prices of TVs, refrigerators and washing machines by 7-8%. TV manufacturers are not the only ones asking for a relief in GST rates. Indian mobile handset manufacturers are also urging the government to reduce GST rates to 12% from the existing 18%. In March 2020, the GST Council had raised rates on mobile phones from 12% to 18%. The ICEA has also urged the government to extend the new production-linked incentive scheme to other sectors, including for laptops and tablets, printed circuit board assembly, wearables and display fabs. We expect the government to initiate some production-linked incentive scheme to reduce the import dependence on China and boost domestic manufacturing. With this, we expect the government to make sure that this initiative will be utilized by both large multinational corporations and small and medium enterprises," said Arnav Mutneja, founder, ZinQ Technologies, a gadgets and accessories maker. prasid.b@livemint.com Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. LANSING In an effort to secure additional financial relief for customers of Consumers Energy Co., Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and several ratepayer advocacy groups are asking the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) to reconsider its denial of support for expanding a program the utility company has which provides credits to low-income customers. Nessel and the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC), Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Sierra Club filed a motion on Jan. 15 for rehearing before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) regarding the utility companys recent rate case. On Dec. 17, 2020, the MPSC approved a $90.2 million rate increase for electric customers of Consumers Energy. In addition to opposing the amount of the companys originally proposed $244 million rate increase, the Attorney General, MEC, NRDC and Sierra Club also raised concerns about the unaffordability of Consumers Energys electric bills for its lowest-income customers. In 2020, Consumers Energys bills were on average the highest in the state at $106 per month. During the rate case, the Attorney General and advocacy groups argued for both short-term and longer-term programs and policies to provide more targeted, impactful and sustainable assistance for low-income customers, including an expansion in the Consumers Energys low-income assistance (LIA) credit program. In October 2020, the administrative law judge (ALJ) who presided over the case recommended the MPSC approve a $12.5 million increase for low-income payment assistance as it relates to the LIA credit, which would allow additional customers to receive the companys $30 per-month credit. Despite the lack of objections to the ALJs proposal to expand the LIA credit program, the MPSC did not approve that relief. Instead, the MPSC approved the companys original pre-pandemic $6.1 million proposal for bill assistance. The majority ($4.6 million) of that money goes to an $8 per month Residential Income Assistance credit that the ALJ found to be nearly meaningless. The joint petition for rehearing asks the MPSC to reconsider its decision to deny the expansion in the availability of the $30 per-month credit for low-income customers as recommended by the ALJ and unopposed by any other party in the case. There is valid concern regarding bill unaffordability, particularly now due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and low-income ratepayers who are already struggling to keep food on the table should not be forced to choose between feeding their families and paying their utility bills, Nessel said. I hope the relief requested in this joint petition brings additional resources for the people who need it, and I am grateful for the support of the MEC, NRDC, and Sierra Club in this fight for the betterment of all ratepayers. We continue to see more Michigan families struggling because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession, while at the same time gas and utility rates continue to increase, said Charlotte Jameson, program director legislative affairs, energy, and drinking water policy for the Michigan Environmental Council. Given that the Public Service Commission just approved an 8 percent increase in residential rates for Consumers customers, we would hope they would also increase assistance going to those who are struggling. We joined the petition for rehearing so low-income consumers can get the relief they desperately need on their monthly electric bills. At a time when Michiganders are facing record unemployment and lost wages, low-income customers need more assistance, said Derrell Slaughter, Michigan clean energy advocate for the Natural Resources Defense Council. The commission should reverse its decision to increase that assistance, while expanding the program and providing an additional $12.5 million in funding for those customers. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Consumers Energys electric bills were highly unaffordable for the 450,000 low-income customers it serves, said Sophie Stoepker, West Michigan clean energy organizer for Sierra Club. The action of the Michigan Public Service Commission to reject this assistance will likely have detrimental consequences without remediation. If adopted, the proposal would result in a minimal cost increase of less than a quarter per month for all residential ratepayers. However, the expanded ratepayer access to the $30 per-month credit will make electric bills more affordable for more low-income customers and lead to more timely and complete payments thus reducing collection activities by Consumer Energy. Reduced collection costs will ultimately benefit all electric customers. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The majority of San Francisco tech companies are cutting their office space and will keep at least part of their workforce remote beyond the coronavirus pandemic, a dire sign for the local economy, according to a survey of 83 companies released Wednesday. The survey was commissioned by SF.citi, a tech trade group, which warned that a breaking point of tech departures and higher taxes could cripple the citys economy. Remote work has already sent shock waves through the real estate market, with 63% of the surveyed tech companies reducing or planning to reduce their office space. San Franciscos vacancy rate spiked to 16.7% at the end of last year, the highest level since 2005, according to brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. What the data makes abundantly clear is that tech companies and their employees are reducing their footprint in San Francisco, their departure does not bode well for San Franciscos economic future, and the industry trend toward decentralization is only going to accelerate after the pandemic ends, said Jennifer Stojkovic, executive director of SF.citi, in a statement. The city is facing a $411 million budget deficit for the next fiscal year even after voters passed multiple tax increases last year. Downtown and South of Market, once teeming with tech workers, are desolate and filled with boarded-up storefronts. The trend of tech workers leaving the region may accelerate: 55% of surveyed tech companies plan to keep at least a quarter of workers permanently remote, while 36% anticipate half or more of their workforce to stay remote. The majority of companies, 59%, said San Francisco regulations, taxes and policies are factoring into their growth plans. Companies surveyed include both private startups and large public companies, Stojkovic said. SF.citi is calling for no more tax increases and more housing construction to keep living costs stable to help retain and attract tech companies, she added. A separate survey of 90 tech founders by venture capital firm Initialized also showed widespread appetite for more dispersed workforces, a loss for Silicon Valley that could boost the economy of cities outside the Bay Area. Everyone is a lot more comfortable with hiring remote now, and its very hard to put the genie back in the bottle there, said Kim-Mai Cutler, a partner at Initialized. Kim-Mai Cutler / Initialized Capital Kim-Mai Cutler / Initialized Capital Kim-Mai Cutler / Initialized Capital Kim-Mai Cutler / Initialized Capital Neither survey is scientific, since both draw on a limited and voluntary pool of respondents and are backed by organizations with a direct interest in the topic, but they provide a window into the mood in the startup community. Shaan Hathiramani, CEO of Flockjay, a San Francisco tech sales education company, said in the SF.citi report that 90% of its workforce will become fully remote, up from 10%. That will allow better hiring opportunities, an upside that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also highlighted in announcing a decision to let employees work remotely indefinitely. We will be able to hire a decentralized workforce with greater diversity of background, whether it be geography, gender, race, or capability, Zuckerberg said in a statement. When the pandemic began and companies started going remote, many fled the Bay Areas high prices for less expensive nearby destinations such as Sacramento, Stockton and Fresno. Others left California for states including Texas and Florida, which have no income taxes. Silicon Valley powerhouses Oracle and Hewlett Packard Enterprise both said they would move their headquarters to Texas, though they will retain large Bay Area offices. Interactive Vaccine Tracker: Latest developments Detailed information about the coronavirus vaccines as it becomes available. In the 2020 survey among companies in Initialized Capitals portfolio conducted before the pandemic, 41.6% of respondents said if they were to start a company today, it would be in the Bay Area. New York and Los Angeles were tied at 13.5% each, and Seattle at 10.1%. The 2021 surveys respondents knocked the Bay Area out of first place, but not to another city. Rather, 42.1% said their company would be distributed or remote, with the Bay Area in second place at 28.4%. Austin, Texas, and New York tied with 6.8% each, followed by 4.6% for cities outside the U.S. and 3.4% for Los Angeles. Miami, which has gained attention as a destination for fleeing Silicon Valley expats during the pandemic, received just 1.1%. Still, tech companies expect the Bay Area to remain an epicenter for the industry, and the biggest firms including Google and Facebook are advancing huge office projects. Facebook and Apple both reported record quarterly profits on Wednesday, another sign that the Bay Areas dominant tech firms have been among the pandemics biggest winners. Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, said last month that his newly public company is also committed. Airbnb is staying in California and Im staying in California. This is a special place, he wrote on Twitter. When I came to San Francisco, I was taken by the unique culture people believed almost anything was possible, and they were willing to believe in a 26-year-old and his two friends with a crazy idea to let strangers live together. In the SF.citi report, board chairman Ron Conway, who invested in Airbnb and other startups, also called for startups to stay. I have always believed in San Francisco, he said. Thats why Im calling on my fellow tech and business leaders to commit to staying in San Francisco and helping the city recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Kellie Hwang and Roland Li are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com, kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang @rolandlisf The Arab League said it will hold an emergency meeting on 8 February aimed at bolstering Arab solidarity amid developments in the region and supporting Palestinians' legitimate rights, state-owned MENA agency reported on Wednesday. Hossam Zaki, Arab League Assistant Secretary General, told MENA that the meeting comes upon a request by Egypt and Jordan. He said the meeting aims to develop a common Arab position towards developments in the region which require a stance that would achieve protection to Arab security and serve joint Arab interests. The emergency meeting will also discuss bolstering common Arab solidarity and reiterate principles related to the Palestinian cause. Earlier this month, Cairo hosted a quartet meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers of Germany, Jordan and France to discuss coordination and consultation to push the Middle East peace process forward. Cairo supports the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as the only way to reach a fair solution to the Palestinian crisis. Short link: BRUSSELS - The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca sparred Wednesday over a delay in coronavirus vaccine deliveries amid a deepening dispute that raises concerns about international competition for limited supplies of the shots needed to end the pandemic. FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 file photo, 82-year-old Brian Pinker receives the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Sam Foster at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England. The European Unions dispute with AstraZeneca has intensified with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker denying the EUs assertion that it had pulled out of talks on vaccine supplies. AstraZeneca said that it still planned to meet with EU officials in Brussels later in the day. The talks will be the third in as many days. AstraZeneca says the figures in its contract with the EU were targets that couldnt be met because of problems in rapidly expanding production capacity. (Steve Parsons/Pool Photo via AP, File) BRUSSELS - The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca sparred Wednesday over a delay in coronavirus vaccine deliveries amid a deepening dispute that raises concerns about international competition for limited supplies of the shots needed to end the pandemic. AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot addressed the dispute for the first time, rejecting the EUs assertion that the company was failing to honour its commitments. Soriot said vaccine delivery figures in AstraZenecas contract with the 27-nation bloc were targets, not firm commitments, and the company was unable to meet them because of problems in rapidly expanding production capacity. Our contract is not a contractual commitment, its a best effort, Soriot said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Basically, we said were going to try our best, but we cant guarantee were going to succeed. In fact, getting there, we are a little bit delayed. AstraZeneca said last week that it planned to cut initial deliveries in the EU to 31 million doses from 80 million due to reduced yields from its manufacturing plants in Europe. The EU claimed Wednesday that it will receive even less than that just one quarter of the doses that member states were supposed to get during January-March 2021. The EU says it expects the company to deliver the full amount on time, and on Monday threatened to put export controls on all vaccines made in its territory. Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for health and food safety, rejected Soriots explanation for the delays, saying that not being able to ensure manufacturing capacity is against the letter and spirit of our agreement. FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 25, 2021 file photo, Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, during a visit to Barnet FC's ground at the Hive, which is being used as a coronavirus vaccination centre, in London. The European Unions dispute with AstraZeneca has intensified with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker denying the EUs assertion that it had pulled out of talks on vaccine supplies. AstraZeneca said that it still planned to meet with EU officials in Brussels later in the day. The talks will be the third in as many days. AstraZeneca says the figures in its contract with the EU were targets that couldnt be met because of problems in rapidly expanding production capacity. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP, File) Kyriakides said AstraZeneca should provide vaccines from its UK facilities if it it is unable to meet commitments from factories in the EU. The comments are certain to create tension in the UK, which completed its exit from the bloc less than a month ago. I call on AstraZeneca to engage fully to rebuild trust, to provide complete information and to live up to its contractual, societal and moral obligations, Kyriakides said at a media briefing in Brussels. The EUs contract with AstraZeneca is confidential and cant be released without the agreement of both sides. The EU has asked AstraZeneca for permission to release the contract, Kyriakides said. After a third round of talks aimed at resolving the dispute on Wednesday evening, Kyriakides regretted the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule" and urged AstraZeneca to come up with a clear plan for a quick delivery of the doses reserved by the EU for the first quarter. In a message posted on Twitter, Kyriakides however noted a constructive tone" in the discussions with Soriot. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said after the meeting that the company has committed to even closer co-ordination to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring this vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic. The dispute comes as the EU, which has 450 million citizens and the economic clout of the worlds biggest trading bloc, lags far behind countries like Israel and Britain in delivering coronavirus vaccines to its people. The EU has signed deals for six different vaccines, but so far regulators have only authorized the use of two, one made by Pfizer and another by Moderna. The EUs drug regulator will consider the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday. European Commissioner in charge of Health Stella Kyriakides removes her face mask during an online press conference on AstraZeneca at European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021. (Olivier Hoslet/Pool Photo via AP) Robert Yates, director of the global health program at the Chatham House think-tank in London, said the EU-AstraZeneca dispute highlights the danger of vaccine nationalism as countries compete for limited supplies. For politicians, this is red hot. And, you know, unfortunately, what were seeing as well is that Brexit politics is playing into this,'' he said. This is this is really, really bad news not only bad news for the European countries involved,'' he said. I think whats much worse is that these squabbles between rich countries potentially deny vaccines to people in the rest of the world. AstraZeneca is setting up more than a dozen regional supply chains worldwide to meet regional demand for its vaccine. Overall, AstraZeneca plans to deliver up to 3 billion doses to countries around the world by the end of 2021. However, establishing each facility is a complicated process that involves training people and ensuring each batch of vaccine is safe and effective. Sometimes this goes smoothly, but in other cases there are problems, Soriot said. We train them on how to manufacture, he said. And then, you know, some people are new to this process ... They dont know how to make the vaccine and theyre not as efficient as others.? There are two basic steps in producing the vaccine. The first is a biological process that involves growing cells, which are injected with a virus, Soriot said. The second involves turning this drug substance into the final product, filling vials and testing each batch of vaccine. Soriot said AstraZeneca had to reduce deliveries to the EU because plants in Europe had lower than expected yields from the biological process used to produce the vaccine. This has also happened in other regions as AstraZeneca sought to rapidly expand production capacity to meet demands from countries battling the pandemic. Weve also had teething issues like this in the U.K. supply chain, Soriot said. But the U.K. contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal, so with the U.K. we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced. As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches. An official from the European Commission, the EUs executive, said the bloc has agreed to give 336 million euros ($407 million) to AstraZeneca to develop its vaccine and deliver doses. The official, who wasnt authorized to speak publicly, said the commission would be entitled to recover part of the money if the company fails to live up to the terms of this advance purchase agreement. We reject the logic of first come, first served, Kyriakides said. That may work at the neighbourhood butchers, but not in contracts and not in our advance purchase agreements. Theres no priority clause in the advanced purchase agreement. The shortfall in planned deliveries of the AstraZeneca vaccine is coming at the same time as a slowdown in the distribution of Pfizer-BioNTech shots as Pfizer upgrades production facilities at a plant in Belgium. There are a lot of emotions running in this process right now, and I can understand it: people want vaccine, Soriot said. I want the vaccine too, I want it today. But, at the end of the day, its a complicated process.? Danica Kirka reported from London. Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Jaipur: Eight people were killed and four others injured after their jeep was hit by a trailer truck from behind in Rajasthan's Tonk district, police said on Wednesday. The accident took place on National Highway-12 at 2.15 am. A jeep full of passengers was hit by a trailer truck from behind. Eight people died on the spot and four others sustained injuries in the collision, SHO of Tonk Sadar police station Dashrath Singh said. The injured persons were rushed to a nearby hospital, he said. The victims were residents of Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh and were returning home, police said. Live TV Shraddha and Rohan had worked together for a magazine shoot in 2019, following which they reportedly started dating. They have often been spotted together, despite having never confirmed or deny the rumours. (Image: Instagram) Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 19:03:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People visit the exhibition of intangible cultural heritages from east China's Jiangsu Province at the China Cultural Centre in Sydney, Australia, Jan. 27, 2021. An exhibition of intangible cultural heritages from east China's Jiangsu Province will bring Sydneysiders a cultural feast for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. The exhibition, inaugurated on Wednesday, featured seven highly representative intangible cultural heritage techniques of Jiangsu Province, including Taohuawu woodblock new year prints, Nanjing Yun brocade, Su embroidery and Jinling paper-cutting, which are all elite display of the province's traditional and beautiful handicrafts. Besides exhibits displayed in the China Cultural Centre located in downtown Sydney, a synchronised exhibition using virtual reality technology was also put online to facilitate Chinese culture lovers in other places of Australia. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei) SYDNEY, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition of intangible cultural heritages from east China's Jiangsu Province will bring Sydneysiders a cultural feast for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. The exhibition, inaugurated on Wednesday, featured seven highly representative intangible cultural heritage techniques of Jiangsu Province, including Taohuawu woodblock new year prints, Nanjing Yun brocade, Su embroidery and Jinling paper-cutting, which are all elite display of the province's traditional and beautiful handicrafts. Besides exhibits displayed in the China Cultural Centre located in downtown Sydney, a synchronised exhibition using virtual reality technology was also put online to facilitate Chinese culture lovers in other places of Australia. "Jiangsu Province locates in the prosperous Yangtze River delta, a beautiful and fertile land abound in fish and rice. The long historical tradition and intersection of different local cultures create the special cultural charm of the province," said Xiao Xiayong, director of the China Cultural Centre in Sydney. Jiangsu Province is the main theme and cooperative partner of the cultural centre for the whole year. Besides the intangible cultural heritages, some other events featuring the province's culture and tourism will also be staged in the centre through the year. Unveiling the exhibition two weeks ahead of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year, the centre also hopes it could enrich the cultural events in Sydney and convey the best wishes to local residents. "Lunar New Year is the most important festival of the Chinese people. The past year is very difficult due to the pandemic. We hope visitors to the exhibition could feel the happiness, peace and best wishes of the Lunar New Year from the exquisite handicrafts," Xiao said. The exhibition, co-sponsored by the cultural centre and the Jiangsu Province Department of Culture and Tourism, will last till late February. Enditem Stanley Milgram on Obedience to Authority Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted a study focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.The results of the study were made known in Milgram's(1974).So-called "teachers" (who were actually the unknowing subjects of the experiment) were recruited by Milgram in response to a newspaper ad offering $4.00 for one hour's work.(The purchasing power of $4.50 at that time amounted to some 14 loaves of bread or 22 beers).In preparing to conduct his Study of Obedience Experiments Milgram selected 40 male volunteers who had responded to this advert for persons willing to participate in a Study of Memory.The 40 who were chosen were selected to vary in age, educational attainment, and occupation to give an overall sample that was somewhat representative of the general population.Individual subjects thus recruited turned up to take part in a Psychology experiment investigating memory and learning at Linsly-Chittenden Hall, (pictured left), on Yale University's old campus. He introduced to a stern looking experimenter in a white coat and to a rather pleasant and friendly co-subject who was also presumably recruited via the same newspaper ad. The experimenter explained that one subject would be assigned the role of "teacher" and the other would be assigned the role of "learner."Two slips of paper marked "teacher" were handed to the subject and to the co-subject. The co-subject was actually an actor who, in posing as a subject to the experiment, subsequently claimed that his slip said "learner" such that the unknowing subject was inevitably led to believe that his role as "teacher" had been chosen randomly.Both learner and teacher were then given a sample 45-volt electric shock from an apparatus attached to a chair into which the "actor-learner" was to be strapped. The fictitious story given to the "teachers" was that the experiment was intended to explore the effects of punishment for incorrect responses on learning behavior.A succession of unknowing subjects in their roles as teacher were given simple memory tasks in the form of reading lists of two word pairs and asking the "learner" to read them back and were instructed to administer a shock by pressing a button each time the learner made a mistake. It was understood that the electric shocks were to be of increased by 15 volts in intensity for each mistake the "learner" made during the experiment.The shock generator that the "teacher" was told to operate had 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each switch was labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts. Each switch also had a rating, ranging from "slight shock" to "danger: severe shock". The final two switches being labelled "XXX".The text to the top left of Milgram's Shock Box reads:-SHOCK GENERATOR, TYPE ZLB.DYSON INSTRUMENT COMPANY,WALTHAM, MASS.The display indicated a shock output range of from 15 VOLTS - to - 450 VOLTS. The above image is rather blurred so the following tabular data may be more convenient for gaining an appreciation of the range of controls at the "Teacher's" disposal and as he or she acted under the implied authority of the experimenter. Shock levels indicated during the Milgram Obedience Experiments Shock Range Labelling Electric Shocks simulated Slight Shock15 30, 45, 60 volts Moderate Shock75 90. 105, 120 volts Strong Shock135 150, 165, 180 volts Very Strong Shock 195, 210, 225, 240 volts Note the change from black to red text as the console display moves from :- Very Strong Shock to Intense Shock and higher Intense Shock 255, 270, 285, 300 volts Extreme Intensity Shock 315, 330, 345, 360 volts Danger: Severe Shock 375, 390, 405, 420 volts and finally - XXX 435, 450 volts The experiment was conducted in a scenario where the "learner" was in another room but the "teacher" was made aware of the "actor-learner's" discomfort by poundings on the wall.No further shocks were actually delivered - the "teacher" was not aware that the "learner" in the study was actually an actor who was intended, by the requirements of the experiment, to use his talents to indicate increasing levels of discomfort as the "teacher" administered increasingly severe electric shocks in response to the mistakes made by the "learner".The experimenter was present in the same room as the "teacher" and whenever "teachers" asked whether increased shocks should be given he or she was verbally encouraged by the experimenter to continue.These encouragements were, in fact, pre-scripted by the research team and followed this pattern:-Prod 1: Please continuePlease go on.Prod 2: The experiment requires that you continue.Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue.Prod 4: You have no other choice, yougo on.These Prods were to be deployed successively by the researchers - a higher number Prod could only be used if a lower number one had proved unsuccessful.Each experimental session was terminated whenever Prod 4 failed to induce the "teacher" to continue administering electric shocks. In this scenarioof the "teachers" obeyed orders to punish the learner to the very end of the 450-volt scale! No subject stopped before reaching 300 volts!At times, the worried "teachers" questioned the experimenter, asking who was responsible for any harmful effects resulting from shocking the learner at such a high level. Upon receiving the answer that the experimenter assumed full responsibility, teachers seemed to accept the response and continue shocking, even though some were obviously extremely uncomfortable in doing so.In an article entitled "The Perils of Obedience" (1974) Stanley Milgram wrote:- "Before the experiments, I sought predictions about the outcome from various kinds of people -- psychiatrists, college sophomores, middle-class adults, graduate students and faculty in the behavioral sciences. With remarkable similarity, they predicted that virtually all the subjects would refuse to obey the experimenter. The psychiatrist, specifically, predicted that most subjects would not go beyond 150 volts, when the victim makes his first explicit demand to be freed. They expected that only 4 percent would reach 300 volts, and that only a pathological fringe of about one in a thousand would administer the highest shock on the board". The Obedience to Authority experiment was continued by Milgram over a number of other scenarios such as where the "learner" could indicate discomfort by way of voice feedback - at "150 volts", the "actor-learner" requested that the experiment end, and was consistently told by the experimenter that - "The experiment requires that you continue. Please go on." or similar words. In this scenarion the percentage of subjects who were prepared to administer the maximum 450 volts dropped slightly toWhere the experiment was conducted in a nondescript office building rather than within the walls of a prestigiously ornate hall on Yale's old campus the percentage of subjects who were prepared to administer the maximum voltage dropped toWhere the "teacher" had to physically place the "learner's" hand on a "shock plate" in order to give him shocks above 150 volts the percentage of subjects who were prepared to administer the maximum voltage dropped toand where the "experimenter" was at end of a phone line rather than being in the same room the percentage of subjects who were prepared to administer 450 volts dropped toand where the "teacher" could himself nominate the shock level the percentage of subjects who were prepared to continue to the end of the scale dropped toMilgram summed up his findings in relation to the main experiment in "The Perils of Obedience" (1974):- "The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous import, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation." Some doubt has been cast on the scientific validity of Milgram's published findings by a journalist named Gina Perry who reviewed the extensive archives relating to the experiment and interviewed some of the surviving participants.She found that whilst Milgram's originally published article mentioned some forty participants, of which some twenty-six proved to be obedient, some seven hundred naive participants were actually "tested" in various experimental scenarios with varying results as to their "obedience".Some of those being tested reported doubts about the credibility of the scenario they were involved in - voice feedback from "punished" learners seeming to come from a loudspeaker high on a wall rather than from a slightly open door to a room where they were given to understand the "learner" was.Others seemed to sense that they - as teachers - were under the close scrutiny of the experimenter rather than the learner.There were instances of the experimenter going beyond the stated four pre-scripted encouragement prompts to the point of being a degree of harassment or bullying in efforts to ensure obedience.It has also been pointed out that in the original Yale University scenario "teachers" could see themselves as being under the moral guidance of a scientifically qualified employee of a respected academic institution and to take decisive cues from the "experimenters" evident impassivity in the face of the "learners" protests.The Milgram Obedience Experiments scenario was given a high-profile repetition on a French documentary about the effects of reality TV as first aired on a french state TV channel in March 2010.Check out this web page:- Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2021) - Global Wellness Strategies Inc. (formerly Redfund Capital Corp.) (CSE: LOAN) (FSE: O3X4) (OTCQB: PNNRD) ("Global" or the "Company") announces it has signed a binding letter of intent ("BLOI") on January 22, 2021 with EntheoTech Bioscience Inc. ("ET") a wellness psilocybin leader based in Kelowna, British Columbia and will have the option to earn up to a 19.9% interest in ET. EntheoTech is a Canadian bioscience company focused on the research and development of products, and protocols to promote brain health, performance optimization, and global wellness, using psychoactive substances such as psilocybin, medicinal mushrooms, and other natural products. EntheoTech's initial focus will be the treatment of depression, anxiety and chronic pain using microdoses of natural psilocybin from proprietary genetics in a Health Canada approved clinical trail targeted for 2H 2021. EntheoTech will also be launching a direct-to-consumer line of functional mushroom products using unique formulations and manufacturing methods to increase bioavailability and efficacy. The BLOI signed between the Company and ET sets out the parameters for the proposed transactions and the due diligence period will last 60 days consummating with the signing of a definitive agreement detailing the exact terms of the deal. Global agrees to purchase 19.9% of the rights to the products and licenses from ET at a valuation to be determined during the due diligence period. The Company proposes to sign a promissory note with ET up to CDN $2,500,000 and to additionally raise capital in specific fundings to support the continued development of ET projects. Global shall also have a right of first refusal to provide financing to ET upon the same business terms as are being offered to ET. Should ET be offered any additional loans, financings, stock offerings, debt offerings or capital contributions by third parties ("Offer"), Global shall be given written notice thereof and shall have forty (40) business days to exercise its right of first refusal to lend or contribute such sums on the same terms and conditions as contained in the offer. About Global Wellness Strategies. Global Wellness Strategies is a prospect generator that provides high growth companies with financial, operational, and management assistance in the fast-growing market for wellness consumer products. The focus of the Company is on global wellness, hemp and CBD, healthcare-related target companies. For further information please visit out website: www.globalwellnessstrategies.com Or Contact Meris Kott CEO 604.484.0355 or email to info@globalwellnessstrategies.com Further information about the Company is available on www.SEDAR.com under the Company's profile. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively "forward-looking information") as those terms are used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and similar Canadian laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated", "anticipates" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the Company's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to the business of the Company, its financing and certain corporate changes. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Company is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72938 Farmers would not give up their stir until the central government withdrew the farm bills. DC Image Vijayawada: The Communist parties and their allies held a protest rally with tractors here demanding cancellation of the three new agriculture laws. Farmers drove tractors and raised slogans against the three new laws as they held the protest on the BRTS Road. CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna said a majority of people lived in villages and are dependent on agriculture but the BJP government needlessly brought forward three new agriculture laws that would benefit corporate companies and snatch away farmers livelihood. Farmers are role models to the country as is proven through their rally in Delhi on Republic Day. Ramakrishna claimed that the assets of the top hundred wealthy in India are beyond ones imagination, while the lifes struggle for the poor and the middle classes is worsening day-by-day, reflecting the growing economic disparities. The BJP governments anti-farmer policies would add to this, he said. Former MLC Jalli Wilson stressed on the need for continuing the fight against the new agriculture laws till their repeal. He hailed the farmers of AP coming forward to support the farmers protest in Delhi. All India Kisan Sabha vice president Ravula Venkaiah alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to weaken the farmers' movement in the name of phase-wise talks but the farmers did not fall in that trap. He termed the three agriculture laws as black laws. CPI Krishna district secretary Akkineni Vanaja, CPM senior leader Ch Babu Rao and others spoke. Kisan rallies were taken out with tractors at various places in East Godavari district in support of the farmers agitation in Delhi. Rythu Sangham leaders and farmers took out rallies with tractors at Rajamahendravaram, Kakinada and Peddapuram. In Kakinada, the tractor rally started at Chidiga bridge after garlanding the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar by the Ryhtu Sangham president Tirumalasetty Nageswara Rao The National Flag was unfurled by farmer D. Surya Prakasa Rao. Nageswara Rao said the farmers in New Delhi were staging a historical agitation. Prajanatya Mandali district president J. Srinivasa Rao said farmers would not give up their stir until the central government withdrew the farm bills. At the Balaji Cheruvu centre, the CITU district president Ch. Rajkumar, G. Babirani, CPIM district president KS Srinivas, Duvva Seshababji and others were present. At Rajamahendravaram, a Kisan rally was organised by farmers and left organisations. Zimbabwes prominent and foremost heart specialist physician Professor James Gita Hakim has died from Covid 19 related complications. He was a professor of medicine and past chair of the UZ Medical School. As reports of his death filtered yesterday, there was outpouring of grief as the medical fraternity paid tribute to Dr Hakim. Mr Samkange, veteran surgeon and director of the UZ Institute of Continuing Health Education (ICHE) described Dr Hakims death as a huge blow to the country. Today we lost Professor James Gita Hakim. Professor Hakim was an exceptional Physician. He was an exceptional medical doctor, fantastic diagnostician and easily caring for his patients deeply but never hesitating to ask if we could not do better. He was a committed teacher, never thinking that one could do too much for the students; a mentor whose commitment to the development of the trainees will take some passing. He was a natural researcher: unique in that he wanted every colleague to reach their full potential. He wrote so many papers, was respected and cherished in the region, the continent and the world over. He founded organisations and institutions that developed Medicine, our country and our continent. Though he had to leave his native Sudan at a young age, he never forgot it in his works AND he did a lot more for Zimbabwe than some of us. He will be remembered as a giant, so humble, so towering and yet so down to earth and shattering relevant. He has left a void thst will be so difficult to feel. Our heartfelt gratitude to his family for sharing him with us; we pray that they are comforted in this very arduous time. Said Dr Norman Matara: We have lost a great professor of medicine, a teacher, researcher, and above all a humble and good person. This is a huge loss for the nation. Go well professor, your contribution to science and medicine will forever be invaluable broken heart. Dr Hakim studied medicine at the University of Makerere in Uganda and specialised in internal medicine in Kenya, UK, Germany, Australia and South Africa. He was an active clinician with interest in HIV Aids preventative and therapeutic research including co- infections. Dr Hakim held a number of positions and portflios in various local, regional and international bodies. In 2019, he received the Ward Cates Spirit award in the US for his outstanding commitment and leadership to health, scientific eexcellence and generosity in mentorship and support. He was formerly head of the UZ College of Health Sciences and director of the UZ Clinical Research Centre. He trained a number of the countrys prominent medical experts. Zimbabwe has over the past few weeks lost a number of frontline healthcare workers to the raging Covid 19 pandemic. Herald COLUMBIA The state's largest health care system is extending its practice of satellite recovery units for COVID-19 patients who no longer require emergency care but are still too sick to be discharged. These latest units will open in Columbia and Sumter. Prisma Health first announced its partnership with South Carolina National Guard medics and personnel from the state Emergency Management Division two weeks ago to help staff a 15-bed unit at Laurens County Hospital. That unit has been expanded to 29 beds and became fully operational on Monday. Now, Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital in Sumter has a 12-bed unit, which could expand to 24 beds as necessary. And a 12-bed unit at Prisma Health Baptist Hospital in Columbia could open as soon as next week, with the ability to expand to 36 beds. These beds are available for any hospital in the state that needs to transfer patients and may also be a model for other major health care systems elsewhere in South Carolina, according to the S.C. Hospital Association. The move that started in the Upstate came as a surge in coronavirus cases was straining staff and resources of hospitals across the region. It's meant to help clear space in local hospitals' intensive care units for patients who need a higher level of care. While the first unit was in reaction to the uptick in hospitalizations, Dr. Karen Lommel, the Prisma Health physician leading the innovative Regional COVID-19 Recovery Units plan, said the choice to open more units is a preventative measure. This is not just about providing surge beds for COVID-19 patients. We also need to work together to ensure that all health care systems are able to continue providing all of the levels of care needed for our communities both emergency and preventive care without overwhelming their systems. While the vaccine is indeed the light at the end of the tunnel, people need to realize weve still got a lot of tunnel ahead of us, said Lommel. In addition to Prisma Health staff, approximately 125 nurses, respiratory therapists, clinicians and others including 20 National Guard medics will be deployed to the units. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, SCEMD has worked with each of the states hospitals to develop medical surge plans in case they are needed," said S.C. Emergency Management Division Director Kim Stenson. "Were now seeing those plans being put into action as more and more people need medical care." EMILY ST. LAWRENCE, Chariho girls lacrosse, senior: St. Lawrence tied a school record for goals in a game with nine in a win over Smithfield. St. Lawrence scored 17 goals for the week and has 32 for the season. CARLY CONSTANTINE, Stonington softball, sophomore: Constantine singled home Shea OConnor with the winning run to hand Waterford, the states No. 2 ranked team at the time, its first loss of the season. For the week, Constantine was 5 for 15. GREG GORMAN, Westerly baseball, junior: Gorman, a junior, hit a massive home run in a win against Barrington. The homer went over the fence in center field and landed in a nearby road. Gorman was 3 for 3 with four RBIs in the game. He is hitting .571 with 10 RBIs for the season. BRADIN ANDERSON, Wheeler baseball, freshman: Anderson, a freshman, pitched a complete-game shutout to beat Grasso Tech. Anderson struck out three to earn the first win of his varsity career. Vote View Results ATLANTA, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boys & Girls Club of the Missouri River, Boys & Girls Club of Lower Brule, Boys & Girls Club of Standing Rock and the Boys & Girls Club of Rosebud are having a bright start to 2021 thanks to a major private gift totaling $600,000 from The Larson Family Foundation. This transformational donation will provide critical support for over 4,300 Native kids and teens throughout the state of South Dakota. "A gift of this magnitude is an investment in the young people we serve. This much needed support will ensure that the Native Boys & Girls Clubs in South Dakota have the talent, training, capacity and resources they need to serve the youth and families that depend on them every day," said Jim Clark, president and CEO, Boys & Girls Clubs of America. "We are so grateful to Dale and the Larson Family Foundation for recognizing the urgent needs facing kids and teens through their support of Boys & Girls Clubs. This generous gift will serve more youth in South Dakota, more often and with more impact, while ensuring long-term sustainability of vital services to many communities." Through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, Boys & Girls Clubs has been doing whatever it takes to meet basic needs for the kids and teens they serve, including increasing food security, and continuing to provide youth with safe, supportive environments that increase their access to opportunities and experiences. Support from The Larson Family Foundation and employees at each of the Larson Manufacturing and distribution locations will help Boys & Girls Clubs to continue and expand this work in South Dakota, more specifically in Native communities. "South Dakota is very blessed by the generosity of the Larson family," said Glen Marshall, executive director, Boys & Girls Club of Rosebud. "With this gift, our Club will be able to move forward with strength and confidence as we seek to help our families heal from the impacts of the pandemic. In small communities like ours, a gift like this is a game changer, opening up brand new possibilities for our youth. The Larson family is a true encouragement and inspiration to all of us here on Rosebud." "Every year our Club struggles with funding for operating expenses for utilities, insurances, audits, supplies, repairs and maintenance," said Marcella Yellow Hammer, executive director, Boys & Girls Club of Standing Rock. "This year, 2021, with the generosity from the Larson Family Foundation donation to our Club, we will not have to struggle to find funds to pay bills." Dale Larson, president of the Larson Family Foundation and former CEO of Larson Manufacturing, hopes to inspire others to join his efforts by matching any donation made to these Native Clubs in South Dakota this year. With the public's support, these Clubs can continue to support kids and families and provide hope in our communities. Click here to learn more about Native Boys & Girls Clubs and to donate. About Boys & Girls Clubs of America For 160 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, more than 4,700 Clubs serve over 4.6 million young people through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. They provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs daily during critical non-school hours. Club programs promote academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 54 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more on Facebook and Twitter. SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America Related Links http://www.bgca.org The widow of the UKs first Covid victim has caught the virus almost a year to the day since her husband died from it, their daughter has revealed. Jean Attwood will spend the first anniversary of husband Peter Attwoods death isolating away from her family in a care home. The 86-year-old, who suffers from dementia, tested positive for coronavirus in hospital yesterday and was transferred back to the home where she has been living since her husband passed away. Mr Attwood, 84, a retired company secretary, from Chatham, Kent, went to hospital with a mystery cough and fever on January 7 last year. When he died three weeks later on January 30, heart failure and pneumonia was initially blamed. But a post mortem later showed Covid was a cause of death making him the UKs first recorded virus victim and the first outside China. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the couples daughter Jane Attwood, 46, said: My mum is not well at all. Since dad died her dementia has got worse and worse. Jean Attwood (left), the widow of the UKs first Covid victim Peter Attwood (right) has caught the virus almost a year to the day since her husband died from it, their daughter has revealed Peter, 86, a retired company secretary from Kent, died on January 30 with his death initially being blamed on heart failure and pneumonia. In August a postmortem found it was Covid The couple's daughter Jane (above holding a photo of her father) told MailOnline her mother will spend the first anniversary of his death isolating in a care home after she tested positive She went into hospital and yesterday she tested positive for the virus. Luckily she doesnt have any Covid symptoms. She is back in isolation at the home.' Jane said: 'Mum has really deteriorated since dad died and now she must deal with this all alone. Its her I feel most sorry for. They were married for more than 50 years.' Jane spoke hours after Boris Johnson confirmed Britains grim death toll had passed 100,000, the worst hit country in Europe since the pandemic began. To say that my dad was first out of 100,000 makes him sound like just a number. But he was so much more than a statistic,' she said. It is so upsetting that a year on the numbers are still growing. It blows your mind to think that 100,000 people have died, it just doesnt sink in. So many people have lost their lives, it is such a tragedy for everybody. Jane said she developed a Covid-like illness on December 15, 2019, six weeks before her fathers death and now believes she passed it onto him. Claiming that he and many more could still be alive if Beijing had not covered up the outbreak, she said: Maybe if we had known about it a lot earlier, many people could have been saved. There is a lot more transparency from the Chinese government now, but before it was obviously covered up. My dad probably wouldnt have been saved, but maybe countless of others, thousands upon thousands, would have done. Jane (above), 46, from Chatham, Kent, said that Jean, who suffers from dementia, has deteriorated since Peter died and moved into a home in October when she flooded her house That is really upsetting and we have to look back and see how this happened, to make sure this doesnt happen again. A year later, it is just very hard to get your head around really that somebody could die from a virus from China and that he had never, ever stepped foot out of the country. But the crazy thing is that we didnt know what it was. I feel that if the Chinese had opened up about the virus we could have known. There is still no explanation as to how he caught the virus. In the month he passed away China was still saying they had something like 34 deaths or something ridiculous like that. There were so many people around the world who obviously had it and they were just going to be put down as (suffering from) pneumonia. My dads lungs were in such a terrible state, and luckily tissues samples were taken as he was cremated and we would never have known anything about it and it would have been put down as heart failure or lung problems. The coroner wasnt happy with just putting it down as pneumonia and the tissue samples showed it as Covid a few months after. In August a post mortem confirmed that he had died from Covid, more than two months before officials discovered the virus was spreading in Britain. The most upsetting thing now is that if the real cause of dads death had been identified sooner that information could have been used to slow the death rate. But clearly there was a cover-up and information was held back.' Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 21:29:44|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Locusts remain a major threat to the Horn to Africa due to favorable weather conditions, Keith Cressman, a senior locust forecasting officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) said on Wednesday. Cressman observed while plenty of efforts have been done in the last year to fight the locusts, the current weather in the region favors the insects. "We have not seen a break in the weather pattern. We had a cyclone in December. Cyclones normally don't occur in the region during the period, but this is the second year in a row that this is happening and it is favoring the insects," he said in a statement issued in Nairobi. The occurrence of cyclones, he noted, means the failure of seasonal rains and the presence of strong winds that carry the locusts from one region to another. "We still have the challenge to manage the locusts to reduce their impact on food security but we are not worse off. For 2021, we need 80 million U.S. dollars to control the insects," said Cressman. In the Horn of Africa, the locusts have invaded Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia and have also spread to Pakistan and India in South West Asia. Enditem When President Joe Biden was sworn into office on the same Capitol steps recently overrun by insurrectionists, the message to the US was clear: Democracy had been tested and democracy had prevailed. National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman described the days significance: Weve seen a force, she said, that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated. Yet it would be a mistake to think the fight to preserve and revive a flawed democracy concluded on Inauguration Day. In fact, it has only begun. The Capitol siege was just the latest and most brazen instance of politicians leading efforts to delay democracy when it threatens their power by suppressing the votes of political opponents, giving corporate funding undue influence over the peoples representatives and structuring Congress so that favoured factions can hold on to outsize power. This trend is growing even more dangerous now the coronavirus pandemic has made voting even more difficult and toxic lies about election fraud have fuelled further voting restrictions. In the words of Democratic House Representative John Sarbanes: This moment might be our last opportunity to shore up American democracy and prevent it from sliding further into a state of chaos, dysfunction and billionaire-fuelled minority rule. Fortunately, the new Congress is already fighting to restore democracy. One of the first bills before the new Senate submitted as S1 to reflect its importance will be Senator Jeff Merkleys For the People Act. It is the Senate counterpart to the Houses For the People Act, a sweeping piece of legislation spearheaded by Mr Sarbanes and passed in 2019. Both versions would implement automatic voter registration, expand same-day voter registration and institute early voting nationwide. Read More Also awaiting a Senate vote is the legislation to restore parts of the Voting Rights Act the Supreme Court struck down in 2013. Together, these bills would do more to protect and expand the right to vote than any act passed since the Great Society in the 1960s . True small-d democracy, however, also requires that these votes actually matter that they determine the direction in which the country moves. This is an even tougher fight, but the For the People Act includes several provisions that form a solid start. Both the House and Senate versions combat extreme partisan gerrymandering by requiring redistricting to be led by independent commissions. They also fight dark money in politics by requiring all political organisations to disclose their donors. This would incentivise legislators to work on behalf of constituents not corporations, and promote the small-dollar campaign funding that gives more Americans a fair shot at winning elected office. In addition to passing this legislation, politicians will need to be committed to tackling structural obstacles that have delayed democracy for far too many, for far too long. A truly well-functioning democracy would welcome the District of Columbia as a state and offer a referendum on statehood for Puerto Rico to end the disgraceful practice of taxation without representation for millions of Americans. It would do away with the electoral college, so that every citizen gets an equal say in who becomes the president. And it would rethink or even get rid of the filibuster that has turned the Senate into what former senator Tom Udall called a graveyard for progress a place where senators cannot legislate on behalf of their constituents because they simply cannot legislate at all. Already, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is abusing the filibuster which requires at least 60 votes in favour by threatening to block a necessary bill that sets rules and committee assignments. If this continues, Democrats will have no choice but to end the filibuster for good. We cannot forget that on January 6, the same day a mob attempted to overturn the election, there were celebrations over the results in Georgias run-off elections. Ending the voter suppression that shaped Georgias politics for decades once seemed hopeless. But a fight to implement automatic voter registration in 2016 and a years-long campaign to get out the vote resulted, at long last, in a sea change in the states politics. A brother who fathered a disabled child with his own sister after he coerced her into an incestuous affair has been jailed for 32 months. The man, then 24, from Bury, Greater Manchester, had sex with his teenage sibling on repeated occasions - sometimes at a house he was sharing with his girlfriend. The sister, then 16, later gave birth to a daughter who was diagnosed with a physical disability which left her unable to walk. The baby was adopted by another relative and has since been told who her father is. In a statement to police the sister, now 40, said she went to her brother's home because she was being bullied at school. At Manchester Crown Court, the brother, now 47, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted incest. The brother, then 24, from Bury, Greater Manchester, had sex with his teenage sibling on repeated occasions - sometimes at a house he was sharing with his girlfriend (file photo) The sister told police: 'I didn't want this to happen but he was the closest person I could go to. He was my brother. I loved him. Now I'm isolated and I don't have any family. It sticks in your brain forever. This has ruined my life.' The court heard the illicit encounters between the siblings began in the 1990s following the death of their father. Just hours after the funeral the brother watched a pornographic movie at their family home in South Manchester then had sex with his sister saying: 'It's ok no one will know.' Prosecutor Mr Alaric Bassano said: 'The next morning, the complainant felt awkward but nothing was said between the two of them. Shortly after he moved out to his own home where he lived with his girlfriend but further acts of incest took place. 'One morning, she went to see him when she should have been at school. She remembers being in her green school uniform and the defendant's girlfriend was in bed. Sexual intercourse took place between them before the defendant's girlfriend walked down the stairs and they had to act as if nothing had happened. 'This sort of sexual activity took place regularly. She would skip school and go to the defendant's flat. Once or twice, if there were people at the defendant's flat, they would go upstairs and have sex on a mattress in the bedroom. She told police she was being bullied at school around this time and would go to his home. 'On one occasion she had acquired a bottle of tequila that she had taken from her mother after a row at home. She took it to the defendant's house and they drank it together. 'He then asked the complainant, "are you up for it". She didn't say yes and she didn't say no as she was "pretty much out of control" and she told the police she just lay on her back and let the room spin. 'Sometime after that that the complainant discovered that she was pregnant with the defendant's child. She knew that the baby was the defendant's but she had to lie to her mother. 'Eventually she told her mother but initially felt too guilty to go to the police because of the effect it would have on the family. The baby was adopted by the complainant's sister. At Manchester Crown Court (pictured above), the brother, now 47, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted incest and was jailed for 32 months (file photo) 'When the girl was aged five, the complainant told her mother the truth and the defendant accepts that he is the father. The girl requires a wheelchair and breathing apparatus almost 24 hours a day and has a shorter than normal life expectancy. 'She expresses her anger at discovering during this investigation that the defendant is her biological father. But the Crown cannot and does not suggest there is a causal connection between her health difficulties and her parentage.' The brother was arrested in October 2018 but denied wrongdoing in police interview. His lawyer, Benjamin Knight, said: 'He knows this is something which should not have happened and must never happen again. 'His father died when he was in 20s and he took that exceptionally badly. He has a low risk of reoffending or committing further sexual offences, and a low risk of serious harm and sexual harm.' Sentencing, Judge Hilary Manley told the defendant: 'What happened to your victim in childhood has ruined her life. What happened is stuck in her mind forever. 'You were in your 20s and and living with your girlfriend but engaged in sexual activity with your sister who was still a child. She was extremely vulnerable.' The brother was sentenced to 32 months in prison and will have to sign the Sex Offender Register for life. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Welcome To SpoilerTV We bring you a comprehensive and up to date spoiler service on all the major US TV shows and Movies. You can find specific show content by clicking the menu system at the top of the screen. We scour the Internet for spoilers as well as posting our own exclusive spoilers (Scripts, Casting Calls, Set Photos etc) as well as recaps and other fun articles and polls. We hope you enjoy your stay. Complex volcano 2552 m (8,373 ft)Guatemala, 14.38N / -90.6W(4 out of 5)1360, 1565, 1623(?), 1651, 1655, 1664, 1668, 1671, 1674, 1677(?), 1678, 1690, 1693, 1699, 1717(?), 1760(?), 1775, 1805, 1830(?), 1846, 1885, 1961, 1965, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 - May 1998 (intense period of summit activity), 1999-2003, 2004-2010, 2012, 2013, 2014Mildly explosive and effusive (Strombolian activity, lava fountaining, lava flows from the summit crater). Near continuously active the least during the past centuries.(15-day study trip and expedition to Guatemala's volcanoes)(8-day volcano tour to Pacaya and Fuego, Guatemala) If you havn't done it yet,to get one of the fastest volcano news online: Both the explosive and effusive activity at the summit vent increased significantly during the morning of 15 Nov 2020. ... It seems that aopened on the W-NW flank, as reported by the volcano observatory INSIMUVEH. A length of ais approx.... Effusive-explosive eruption of the volcano has been increasing during the past days confirmed by the INSIVUMEH volcano observatory. ... This 17-days adventurous expedition is one of our most exciting volcano tours! Visit Halmahera, North Sulawesi and the Sangihe Islands with some of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, including Dukono, Ibu, Lokon, Soputan and Karangetang. Visiting an erupting volcano is an unforgettable experience. If you're particularly looking to see "Red Hot Lava", these are among the best places to go to. The contrast between unspoiled rain-forest, coconut palm beaches, primitive culture and moon-like landscapes surrounding lava-spitting volcanoes could not be bigger: join us on an expedition to the two most active volcanoes of Vanuatu: Ambrym and Yasur. Ibu in Halmahera is one of the most active, but rarely visited volcanoes in Indonesia. A spectacular lava dome is growing inside the volcano's breached crater, with frequent explosions. Our world-wide map continuously detects shallow earthquakes near volcanoes. These could be early signs of unrest and often precede eruptions. Support us - Help us upgrade our services! Weather reports Tsunami alerts Design upgrades Faster responsiveness Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards Additional seismic data sources Improved content in English Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: Android | IOS to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online: We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently: By Ruth Anderah The High court judge Esther Nambayo has set March 22nd to start hearing a case filed by the president of National Unity Platform party Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu challenging security actions for raiding his party offices. This after Kyagulanyi sued the government and four security chiefs for allegedly raiding his party offices in October 2020. Kyangulanyi together with his party sued the Attorney General jointly with the Chief of Defense Forces General David Muhoozi, Inspector General of Police Martin Okoth Ochola, Military Police Commander Keith Katungi, and Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Moses Kafeero. Kyangulanyi wants the court to make a declaration that the actions of raiding his party offices by more than 1000 officers directly under the control of the said officers and damaging property amounts to an infringement on their freedom of consciousness, expression, movement, assembly, and association. He contends that on October 14th, 2020, the party headquarters located in Kamwokya were ambushed by a large number of joint security officers both plain-clothed and in uniform who blocked the entrance and looted a number of items. The evidence before Court indicates that some security officers carried plasma cutters and started cutting the gate before forcing their way inside the premises and looted documents such as those bearing Kyagulanyis nomination signatures, branding materials, berets, umbrellas, fliers, masks, CCTV cameras, and digital video recorders. "In today's dynamic world, companies of all sizes need the ability to rapidly adapt their business processes to fast-changing market conditions," said Luka Mucic, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. "I cannot overstress the importance for companies to be able to design, benchmark, improve and transform business processes across the enterprise to support new capabilities and business models. The combination of business process intelligence from SAP and Signavio creates a leading end-to-end business process transformation suite to help our customers achieve the requirements needed to gain a competitive edge. SAP and Signavio are a great cultural fit and share the same values, and we are excited about joining forces with them to deliver on our Intelligent Enterprise strategy." Business Process Intelligence is a key part of SAP's new offering, the RISE with SAP package. The offering helps companies perform a holistic business transformation that makes them resilient, agile and intelligent. It includes support for an accelerated move of core ERP processes to the cloud. Signavio's integrated cloud-native process management suite perfectly complements existing business process intelligence software from SAP. With the addition of Signavio, SAP can now provide a holistic suite of flexible process transformation solutions for customers to transform their business processes end to end. That includes business process design, benchmarking, gap analysis, improvement and process change management. The suite will also allow customers to monitor the long-run success of these process changes. "Signavio's capabilities in making business processes intelligent are highly complementary with our own," said Rouven Morato, General Manager, Business Process Intelligence, SAP. "While we are providing insights using our deep understanding of business processes running in our applications and based on that can provide unmatched benchmarking capabilities, Signavio's approach to transformation is process modelcentric. Signavio's process modeling and management functionalities, and its process governance and collaboration solution, are among the market leaders in the industry and are the missing component for providing our customers an end-to-end process transformation suite." The combination of SAP and Signavio will bring together standardized process KPIs, broad benchmarking data, process mining, user behavior mining and customer experience analysis to give customers a 360-degree view of every business process. It will also provide tools to fully understand and transform the processes. "By joining SAP, we tap into the broadest business application software portfolio in the market, running the processes of the world," said Dr. Gero Decker, Co-founder and CEO, Signavio. "Considering the positioning of SAP, its geographical coverage and financial muscle, SAP is the biggest and best platform to bring process intelligence to every organization. For us, it's a massive jump start and a major opportunity to help SAP become a key player in the business process management and intelligence space." SAP and Signavio agreed not to disclose the purchase price or other financial details of this transaction. Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews. About Signavio Over one million users in more than 2,000 organizations worldwide rely on Signavio's unique offering to make process part of their DNA. With its powerful mining, modelling and automation capabilities, Signavio's Business Transformation Suite is a cloud-based management platform that enables midsize and large organizations to understand, improve and transform all of their business processes faster than ever and at scale, providing new levels of business process speed and real-time intelligence. Its intelligent decision-making tools address digital transformation, operational excellence and customer centricity, placing them at the heart of the world's leading organizations. Headquartered in Berlin, with offices in the US, UK, France, Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, Singapore, Japan, India and Australia, Signavio has helped optimize over two million processes across the globe. The company is backed by Apax Digital, Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP) and Summit Partners. For more information, visit www.signavio.com. About SAP SAP's strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world's transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers' businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people's lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com . Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates. 2021 SAP SE. All rights reserved. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices. For customers interested in learning more about SAP products: Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24 United States only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727) Please consider our privacy policy. If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact [email protected] and write Unsubscribe in the subject line. SOURCE SAP SE Related Links www.sap.com Nawazuddin Siddiqui Is Busy Shooting In London At Night For Sangeen, Says 'The Show Must Go On' Nawazuddin Siddiqui had recently left for London, despite the fear of the new strain of COVID-19. The actor is shooting for a film called Sangeen, in which he would be playing the lead. Now, the actor has opened up about the film, and about the experience of shooting there. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@nawazuddin._siddiqui) Talking to Subash Jha, the actor opened up about the film and said, It is a thriller. I play the protagonist of the film. Beyond that I am not allowed to say anything. He also mentions that it is a completely positive character without any shade of grey. Speaking about the experience of working in London amidst the COVID scare, he added, Its tough. But you know what they say? The show must go on. Were working in a Covid bubble, and following all the guidelines. I am here in London for a month. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@nawazuddin._siddiqui) Sangeen would reunite Nawazuddin Siddiqui with his Sacred Games co-star Elnaaz Norouzi, who will play the female lead. It is being directed by Jaideep Chopra. Talking about the film earlier, he had said that it would be an 'unique film' and he will play a 'thought-provoking character'. He had also said that he is excited to team up with Elnaaz again. Credit: Shutterstock Domestic and family violence soars in the months and years following natural disasters. It usually involves physical and psychological violence perpetrated by men against women and children, but it can also include an escalation in sexual, financial and emotional abuse. Following the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday bushfires, more than half of women in one study reported experiencing domestic and family violence. Many had never experienced it before. Recent research found significant differences in reports of violence amongst women in high, medium and low bushfire affected regions in Victoria three years after the Black Saturday bushfires. There was an overrepresentation of women experiencing violence in high bushfire affected areas. And according to Australian frontline workers, while reports of violence might decrease during a disaster, it soon escalates. Australia is not alone. Overseas literature suggests demand for women's shelters goes up after disasters, police reports of violence increase, and violence remains elevated even years after disasters, with women experiencing significant psychological and physical abuse. Disasters and violence Disasters are becoming more frequent, with an average of about 200 million people affected globally each year. Natural disasters on their own are not the root cause of family violence. Many men feel society expects them to live up to characteristics commonly associated with masculinity. For many, their identity as "providers and protectors" is threatened when disaster makes this an impossible standard to meet. The frequency and severity of violence against women is exacerbated by tensions arising from natural disasters, including: Disasters hit vulnerable groups hardest, entrenching disadvantage Disasters can have disproportionate effects across socioeconomic groups. We have known for some time disasters of similar nature and magnitude have dramatically different consequences for people in different places. Families where income has fallen after a disaster are at higher risk of women experiencing violence. The 2016 Personal Safety Survey found both financial stress and unemployment were associated with women experiencing domestic and family violence. Worse, research shows disasters are more likely to occur in low socioeconomic areas. In Australia, about one quarter of women have experienced an incident of violence from an intimate partner. Violence prevention should be part of our emergency response As disasters are expected to increase, Australia should further consider how to incorporate domestic violence mitigation into our emergency responses. First responders need training in how to identify risks of violence and respond appropriately. In the face of displacement and trauma, it's important volunteers and workers do not excuse violence. Instead, they should provide care that promotes victims' safety, and respects their privacy and dignity. Access and referral to appropriate health and community services should be assured. We need permanent shelters that stay cool during heatwaves and offer protection from flooding. Public buildings need to be well set up for women and children experiencing disasters and, during COVID-19, allow for families to maintain a safe physical distance. Local community-based domestic and family violence services must ensure their organizations are disaster-ready and can operate when disaster strikes. Longer term investment to boost community resilience Australian governments must invest in domestic violence hotlines, refuges and women's centersespecially in low socioeconomic, disaster-prone areas. Programs supporting perpetrators of violence to change their behaviors also need investment. Australia currently relies on perpetrator intervention programs involving therapeutic groupwork as part of what's called an "integrated service system response" (where government, non-government services and other community organizations coordinate). But we also need new ways of working directly with men, informed by the experiences of women. Such approaches should seek to intervene early and involve women and children in their design. As a society we must seek to address the underlying causes of domestic and family violence, and move beyond outdated ideas about masculinity that hold men to an impossible standard and put women at risk. Many people don't actually know what domestic violence looks like. We need community education about coercive and controlling behaviors and about the fact that the risk of family violence spikes after disasters. Such training should be used to challenge social and cultural norms that condone violence, while also letting people know how to report violence, find services, and get to safety. We all have a role to play in addressing domestic and family violence. Our efforts grow only more important as we face more frequent and severe disasters in Australia. Explore further Exploring the reasons some women use force This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Nigeria has seized pangolin scales and tusks and bones from endangered species allegedly bound for export to Vietnam, a senior customs official said Wednesday. Pangolin scales are traditionally used in China for a range of ailments, including treating blood clots, although there is no scientific evidence they have medicinal value. Studies have also suggested the pangolin may have been the intermediate host that transmitted the coronavirus to humans when it first emerged at a wet market in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The Nigerian items concealed in a container as furniture materials were intercepted by customs operatives at Apapa port in Lagos on January 21, the area controller, Mohammed Abba-Kura told AFP. "Immediately the container was opened, logs were seen in front, and upon 100 percent physical examination of the container, elephant tusk and the pangolin scales were seen concealed by the logs," he said. "The items, falsely declared as furniture, comprised 162 sacks of pangolin scales... and 57 sacks of mixed endangered species of various sizes such as ivory/animal horns, lion bones and others," he said. The total haul weighed 8,800 kilogrammes (19,400 pounds), he said. Abba-Kura said the items were valued at 952 million naira ($2.5 million, 2.07 million euros) on the black market. He said the consignment was heading to Hai Phong, Vietnam before it was intercepted, adding that a suspect had been arrested over the shipment. Nigeria is major hub for traffickers sending the scales of African pangolins to Asia. Pangolins are believed to be the worlds most trafficked mammals accounting for as much as 20 percent of all illegal wildlife trade. Nigeria has made huge seizures of illegal animal parts in recent years in line with the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Google has announced its free rewards programme for the Google Play Store is now available in South Africa. First launched in Japan in September 2018, Google Play Points allows users to earn points for performing certain actions on the companys app store and apps downloaded from it. Users can earn points on games, apps, movies, in-game items, subscriptions, and more. You can also earn Play Points by downloading featured free apps and games. These points can then be used to redeem in-app items or as Google Play credit to be used for paid apps or subscriptions. Director of Africa Platform Partnerships for Android and Play, Mariam Abdulahi, said that the company launched the programme to show its appreciation for the more than 2 billion people in 190 countries who use Google Play. Over the past two years, millions of people have joined the programme in countries where its available. From this week, South Africans will be able to sign up too, Abdulahi stated. How it works Google Play Points features four reward levels Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Your level is determined by how many points you have collected, with higher levels increasing your earn rate and including perks like weekly prizes. Points on each level are earned for purchases across the Google Play Store and within apps according to the following calculations: Bronze 1 point per R17 spent 1 point per R17 spent Silver 1.1 points per R17 spent 1.1 points per R17 spent Gold 1.2 points per R17 spent 1.2 points per R17 spent Platinum 1.4 points per R17 spent To move from Bronze to Silver, a user would have to earn 150 points, thus spending R2,550. However, there are also weekly points events which can boost your earning rate on select games and movies. In addition, users will earn three times the Play Points on everything they buy in the first week after signing up. Users will require 100 points for a R17 Google Play Credit, 200 points for R34, 500 points for R85 and 1,000 points for R170. Alternatively, the points can be spent on coupons or bundles for games like Angry Birds 2, Candy Crush Saga, or Marvel Strike Force. To join Google Play Points, open the Google Play app, tap the hamburger menu in the top left and select Play Points. Now read: WhatsApp tries to remind users of its privacy through Status The Centre on Wednesday denounced the unprecedented violence at the farmers' tractor march on Republic Day , saying, "the more it is condemned, the less it is." "Action should be against all of those who instigated others. India won't tolerate the manner in which the Tricolour was insulted at the Red Fort," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, citing the incident where the protesting farmers who managed to get inside the Red Fort hoisted a Sikh religious flag. Javadekar also blamed the Congress party for instigating the farmers' agitation. "Congress cannot escape responsibility from violence in farmers' protest as it is in power in Punjab," Javadekar said. "Congress constantly tried to instigate farmers' agitation. When some farmer leaders had said on 26th that it's final match, then Punjab govt should have monitored the tractors leaving from the state and made preventive arrests of habitual criminals," the Union Minister added. "Those who have lost in polls are trying to vitiate the atmosphere in the country by any means," Javadekar said. Javadekar was addressing a press conference to address allegations made against the Centre by the Opposition regarding the Republic Day violence in Delhi. "Delhi Police showed exemplary restraint yesterday. They had arms but they didn't use them," he added. When asked about the talks between the government and the farmers' union, Javadekar said, "Government had 10 rounds of talks and even proposed holding off implementation of laws for 1-1.5 years. Even called for clause-by-clause discussion. This is an attempt to give farmers options." "Congress doesn't want this compromise to happen," the Union Minister alleged. With agency inputs Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Amid a sharp economic downturn in 2008, police departments around the United States experienced budget shortfalls that required them to enact cutbacks. A new study examined the effects on crime of budget shortfalls in two New Jersey citiesone of which laid off more than 10 percent of its police force while the other averted layoffs. The study found that the police layoffs were associated with significant increases in overall crime, violent crime, and property crime. The study, by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Rutgers University, appears in Justice Evaluation Journal, a publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. "Our study suggests that sudden and drastic reductions in the size of a police force via layoffs of police officers can generate significant increases in crime," explains Eric Piza, associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who led the study. "In Newark, this meant approximately 110 additional violent crimes and 100 additional property crimes per month." The study examined New Jersey's two largest police forces: the Newark Police Department, which released 13 percent of its police force on one day in 2010, and the Jersey City Police Department, which averted layoffs by reducing the amount of a previously requested raise and increasing the copay for medical prescriptions for officers. In addition, between 2012 to 2015, Newark's police department lost officers to attrition and did not hire new personnel, while Jersey City's department added more officers. Prior studies on the effect of decreases in the size of police forces on crime have considered incremental reductions, finding less of an impact on crime, while this study looked at a sudden cutback. Crime in both New Jersey cities had decreased prior to 2008. Researchers used monthly crime counts from 2006 to 2015 to measure the effects of Newark's layoffs on crime and compared them with crime in Jersey City. The authors found significant increases in overall crime, violent crime (murder, robbery, and aggravated assault), and property crime (burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft) in Newark, with overall and violent crime becoming progressively more pronounced each year. In contrast, in Jersey City, violent crime decreased steadily over the 10 years of the study, while property crime peaked in early 2009, but declined steadily afterwards. The termination of police officers requires the remaining officers to do more with less, the authors note. In addition, letting officers go may force police to discontinue evidence-based crime prevention practices, which may impact crime levels. The study's authors note several limitations of their work, including that the crime data they used, which is the primary source of such information in the United States, provides an incomplete picture of crime. Also, researchers did not interview police officers or Newark officials, which the authors suggest would have added context to their findings. Lastly, while pre-layoff crime trends in Newark were not significantly different than Jersey City, it is difficult to determine whether the cities would have maintained similar crime trends if layoffs didn't occur (which is a key assumption of evaluation research). "As police departments determine whether to phase out specialized units to meet budgetary constraints and to enact reforms that may reduce budgets and size of police forces, our findings can inform the national debate over the impact of such actions on crime," notes Vijay Chillar, a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University, who coauthored the study. Explore further Seizing military weapons does not increase violent crime nor risk police safety More information: Eric L. Piza et al, The Effect of Police Layoffs on Crime: A Natural Experiment Involving New Jersey's Two Largest Cities, Justice Evaluation Journal (2020). Eric L. Piza et al, The Effect of Police Layoffs on Crime: A Natural Experiment Involving New Jersey's Two Largest Cities,(2020). DOI: 10.1080/24751979.2020.1858697 Provided by Crime and Justice Research Alliance Press Release January 27, 2021 Transcript of Sen. Francis N. Tolentino's opening statement Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Laws Thank you Mr. Chairman. Thank you for allowing us to have an opening statement. I indeed prepared an opening statement and I'd like to thank the committee for allowing the public hearing of our resolution and the resolution filed by Sen. Lacson yesterday. This is my opening statement which I prepared. "We, the sovereign Filipino people" - the Preamble of the 1987 Constitution starts with these five words. As a vision for the succeeding provisions of the fundamental law of our land, this phrase "we, the sovereign Filipino people" does not only put forth the direction for our Constitution, it also affirms our identity as a citizenry. Historically, and we all know this, we have had six (6) Constitutions since the Proclamation of Independence on 12 June 1898. We continue to flourish as a nation with a strong tradition of constitutional government. The Malolos Constitution, the first Philippine Constitution, is, in fact, the first republican constitution in Asia.1 This morning, again, I'd like to reiterate my thanks, we convene as a committee to hear all the resolutions filed for Charter Change, albeit virtually and during a time of public health crisis, to exercise our constitutionally mandated power and discuss resolutions on possibly introducing amendments to our Constitution. The resulting document, if ever, after the conclusion of this exacting process, will determine how the powers of sovereignty will be exercised. Yet, in so doing, we have to be cognizant of the fact that the Constitution is not just a body of rules and maxims. Every principle, section, and article in the Constitution is animated by the sovereign will of the people. This principle is perfectly resonated in our Constitution's Declaration of Principles, "sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them."2 That sovereignty resides in the Filipino people is best exemplified in providing the people a system of initiatives and referenda in the Constitution,3 whereby they can share in some aspects of direct democracy. It is likewise the sovereign will of the people that Congress is given the authority to propose any amendment to or revision to the 1987 Constitution.4 The powers of government have been delegated to the Members of Congress by the people, who possess original sovereignty. The Congress is therefore the nexus between the Filipino people and their aspirations, and we will not, I hope we'll not fail them. We cannot fail the 109 Million Filipinos seeking economic progress. Naiiwan na po tayo, hindi lamang sa buong Asya kundi sa ASEAN, especially in this time of global health crisis. It is in this light that this representation, together with Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, seeks to introduce amendments that will ensure that our economy is free from external control yet responsive to the current needs of the people and adaptive to the global landscape. Time and again, the Framers have exemplified that the Constitution is not about the current administration, a specific group or class, or personal political agenda. It is about the 109 million Filipinos in whom sovereignty resides. It is about the Filipino people whose democratic values and ideals we should represent and take into account. In amending the Constitution, we have to be mindful of the inalienability of the Filipinos' sovereignty lest we fail to fulfill our sworn duty to the Filipino citizenry. It is a great responsibility indeed just to convene this committee hearing to tackle proposed changes, or even the mode, or even the voting that would bring systemic safeguards to the present Constitution. However, amending the Constitution is not a task that should be taken lightly. We all know that. It is one, if not the most, challenging and solemn duties of Congress. We will be crafting if ever not just a document containing the fundamental law, but a document that embodies the rule of law and represents the sovereign will of the Filipino people. When the 1987 Constitution provided that any amendment to or revision of the Constitution proposed by Congress or a constitutional convention "shall be valid only when ratified by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite," it is a recognition that it is the people who will ultimately decide the fate of our Constitution. And it is a humbling reminder to to all of us, in Congress, and even the resource persons which I respect all present here, that when we exercise our constitutional power to sit as an assembly, if ever that happens to propose amendments to or revisions of the Constitution, we only do so because the power has been delegated to us by the Filipino people. Allow me to quote, Mr. Chairman, several passages in the speech of James Wilson to the Pennsylvania Convention centuries ago in 1787. "The truth is, that, in our governments, the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power remains in the people. As our constitutions are superior to our legislatures; so the people are superior to our constitutions. Indeed the superiority, in this last instance, is much greater; for the people possess, over our constitutions, control in act, as well as in right. The consequence is, that the people may change the constitutions whenever and however they please. This is a right, of which no positive institution can ever deprive them." True power resides in the people, and the people are the fountain of all power. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, dear colleagues, for allowing me to make an opening statement. _________________________ 1 https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/constitutions/constitution-day/#:~:text=In%201899%2C%20the%20Malolos%20Constitution,lasted%20from%201899%20to%201901.&text=The%20Constitution%20was%20submitted%20to,certification%20on%20March%2025%2C%201935. 2 Section 1, Article II, 1987 Constitution. 3 Section 32, Article VI, 1987 Constitution. 4 Section 1, Article XVII, 1987 Constitution. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Passengers arriving in Heathrow from Brazil today revealed how they made a desperate scramble home through France to avoid having to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Travellers entering England from Brazil, where a new mutant strain of Covid is running rampant, will be forced to self isolate, possibly at the cost of up to 1,500, according to new plans revealed today. Today, Home Secretary Priti Patel declared that Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. The list includes South Africa, which is also enduring a new coronavirus strain, and Portugal, which has many connecting flights from Brazil. Georgina Masullo Brazil, 39, and her 16-year-old son Pedro arrived at Heathrow Terminal Two this morning from Sao Paulo via Paris. Ms Masullo, who is originally from Brazil but now lives in Hammersmith in West London, said she had been trying to fly back to the UK for the last three weeks having flown out in November. Georgina Masullo Brazil, 39, and her 16-year-old son Pedro arrived at Heathrow Terminal Two this morning from Sao Paulo via Paris Mohamed Elsharif, 34 and his 30-year-old wife Waad Ebrahim were returning home to Teeside from Heathrow having flown from Khartoum in Sudan Tom Oliver, 25, flew back from Dubai this afternoon into Heathrow Terminal Five after visiting his girlfriend She said: 'I've had three flights cancelled over the last 20-days, nobody is flying direct to London. 'I read about the British government's plans to force travellers coming back from Brazil to quarantine in a hotel for ten days and I didn't want that. 'My son and I decided to get the first available flight from France and so flew ten hours to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and got a flight to Heathrow from there. 'I'm so glad we've come back now and not in a few days time because the last thing we would've wanted to do after a ten hour flight is to be whisked to an airport hotel and have to spend the next ten days cooped up there in a small room. 'We'd flown to Sao Paulo in November to see family over Christmas. The virus is bad over there but so is the situation here and there are more restrictions in the UK. 'Our home is just 15-miles from Heathrow. We are going to self-isolate there in much better comfort than a hotel. Today, Home Secretary Priti Patel declared that Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days The list includes South Africa, which is also enduring a new coronavirus strain, and Portugal, which has many connecting flights from Brazil Suhas Vadvaraju, 29, who works as a manager for a software firm returned to London from Southern India this afternoon 'I've spent hundreds of pounds travelling, I don't want to spend hundreds more having to quarantine in some strange place.' Julia Santos, 27, landed at Heathrow this afternoon having also caught a connecting flight from Paris. She has spent the last five months in Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil and flew to the French capital overnight from Rio de Janeiro to head home to Finchley, North London. She said: 'There were a number of passengers on the Paris flight who had transferred from Brazil and other South American countries. We were all pulled aside at customs and asked for proof of residence as the UK isn't currently allowing visitors from those countries. 'It's of course to do with the Coronavirus but I think situation here is every bit as dire as it is in Brazil - perhaps more so as Britain has the highest death rate per capita in the world. 'As we passed through security and customs, they were telling us that we are among the last travellers from Brazil to avoid having to self isolate in a local hotel. 'I wouldn't want to do that, for one it's really expensive and not particularly very nice to spend ten days stuck in a hotel unable to come out of your room.' Pictured: people are seen arriving at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2 today Suhas Vadvaraju, 29, who works as a manager for a software firm returned to London from Southern India this afternoon. He flew into Heathrow Terminal 5 from Hyderabad, where he has spent more than five months visiting family. Suhas, who now lives in Kew but is originally from India, said: 'I can't spend longer than six months out of the country due to my UK visa and I was gone more than five but this news about a quarantine list prompted me to come back now. 'I'd been putting off flying back to England but I didn't know if India would be on a list of countries where returning travellers have to quarantine in a hotel so I decided to get the first available flight. 'It doesn't sound very pleasant to have to stay in a small room for ten days, I think it's a little unnecessary. 'The Covid situation is much worse in Britain than it is in India but this country is a resolute one and I think we'll get through it in the end.' Tom Oliver, 25, flew back from Dubai this afternoon into Heathrow Terminal Five. Tom, from Surrey, said: 'I'd been out in Dubai for three weeks as my girlfriend works for UNICEF in Afghanistan and we'd agreed to meet there. I hadn't seen her for about eight weeks before that trip. 'I'd only heard about these plans to quarantine travellers from certain countries yesterday and it filled me with dread. 'Apparently you have to fork out around 1500 for a ten day stay in a hotel near the airport. I'd struggle to be able to afford that. 'If I had to do it then I would - of course - but it's a big expense and would hit me financially very hard, having already paid out for three weeks in Dubai. 'I was asking people nervously today if these plans were already in place. Luckily they're not. 'Although the list of countries haven't been finalised, I'd be surprised if the United Arab Emirates were not on it as infection rates there have apparently been going through the roof.' Kelly Alkhouli, 23, was returning from Dubai where she'd been on a business trip and added: 'I'm glad I don't have to self isolate in a Heathrow hotel for 10-days, frankly it sounds ridiculous.' African countries, including South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia, are also likely to be included on the list where returning travellers have to quarantine in hotels. Mohamed Elsharif, 34 and his 30-year-old wife Waad Ebrahim were returning home to Teeside from Heathrow having flown from Khartoum in Sudan. They had caught a flight from the Sudanese capital to Istanbul in Turkey and flown to London from there. Mohamed works for the NHS as a psychiatric registrar in Middlesbrough but flew to Sudan due to a family emergency last week. He tested positive for Covid just after Christmas but is now free of the virus and tested twice weekly. Mohamed told MailOnline: 'I'm not sure how this quarantine plan is going to work and I don't know how effective it will be but it isn't my field of expertise. 'I'm not really I favour of it because it's hugely expensive, people don't always travel abroad for holidays, it can be work or, as in my case, to answer a family emergency. 'Travelling is pricey enough, let alone having to spend another 500 to 1500 on having to self isolate in an airport hotel. 'Would it not be more sensible to increase testing at UK airports on passengers arriving back? If people test negative, there is no problem. 'I know that the Government are trying to stop the spread of new mutant variations of the Covid virus and you'd have to hope whoever has drawn up this idea has been well briefed but I'm not so sure about it. It seems a bit excessive to be honest. 'I'm now going to self-isolate at home for five days and then I'm going to take a test and if I'm negative I can return to work.' Mohamed added: 'Some countries around Sudan, like Kenya and Ethiopia, are likely to be on this list of countries so we were to keen to come back now.' By Bahk Eun-ji An appellate court has upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a 42-year-old man, an undocumented immigrant from China, to two years and six months in jail as well as 3 million won ($2,710) in fines for helping other foreign nationals enter Korea illegally. The high court division of the Daejeon District Court also ordered him to forfeit 12.1 million won for violating acts on immigration and quarantine. According to the court, the man entered Korea on Sept. 4, 2007 but was deported on Nov. 23, 2013 after overstaying his visa. But he secretly entered Korea again, taking a rubber dinghy with two others on Sept. 24, 2019 through the West Sea from Weihai, Shandong Province, to a beach in Taean, South Chungcheong Province. While illegally working on farms, construction sites and factories, he had also been engaged in activities smuggling Chinese people into Korea since last year. Together with an accomplice in China, he recruited people wanting to enter Korea and took them here on the sea route he used. In April and May, several boats suspected of having been used for smuggling Chinese people into the country were found on beaches in Taean, and it was later found that those boats were used by the man and his accomplice. He was also charged with driving a truck registered under someone else's name without a driver's license, and brokering employment for illegal immigrants at cabbage farms. "His crimes seriously harmed the safety of border control and the management of foreign nationals in Korea," the court said in the ruling. Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Wednesday said should be made part of the state and urged the Centre to declare it a Union Territory until then, as he hit back at Maharashtra Chief Minister for raking up the border issue with a similar demand. "We condemn the Maharashtra CM's statement. The Mahajan report is final. We are confident that things will be in our favour in the Supreme Court too. The demand of the people of our region is that we have been part of Mumbai- (region), so we too have our right on Mumbai," Savadi told reporters. From now on, he said the people would start demanding that should be made part of as they too had a share in it. "Until it (Mumbai) is made part of Karnataka, I urge the central government to make it an union territory,"the DCM said in response to a question on repeated raking up of the border issue. "With us now demanding Mumbai, things may get fine," he said. Earlier in the day Thackeray had said that areas dominated by Marathi speaking people on the state's border with Karnataka should be declared as a Union Territory till the Supreme Court gives its final verdict on the issue. Ramesh Jarkiholi,Minister in-charge of Belagavi district, which borders Maharashtra, said Thackeray had raked up the border issue to divert public attention from the 'failures' of his government. "...Don't give much importance to what he says. has failed at all levels. So he is trying to rake up the emotive border issue and trying to divert public attention," he said. Minister for Women and Child Development Shashikala Jolle, who also hails from the Belagavi district, said Thackeray has no right to speak about Belagavi. "We are not sitting quiet here with our hands tied. We are people of Karnataka...the soil of Kannada has nurtured us...if the issue is raked up repeatedly, we will give a befitting reply," she said. The Minister pointed out that Belagavi is the land where Kittur Rani Chennamma had led an armed rebellion against the British for freedom. Thackeray had on January 17 too said his government is committed towards incorporating into the state the areas of Karnataka where Marathi-speaking people are in majority. Maharashtra claims certain areas, including Belagavi, Karwar and Nippani which are part of Karnataka, contending the majority of population in these areas is Marathi-speaking. On its part, as an assertion that Belagavi is an integral part of the state, Karnataka has built the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, modeled on the Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat in Bengaluru, where the legislature session is held once a year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We all watched the US elections and their policies and Biden won on his. The Alberta Premier knew all this. So when Joe Biden was sworn into office the first thing he did is keep his promise and cancel the Keystone XL pipeline. ut wait the Alberta Premier cried foul, the US President can not do this to me, I just spent $1.5 billion of Alberta tax money. I want Joe to change his mind, or give back the money I wasted, maybe even let's start a trade war. All investors knew this pipeline would never be built, but wasting that much taxpayers money, then demanding the federal government back him up, what would be next. How about deciding that his government take over all union pension funds to properly invest. J. Sabyan Former President Donald Trump will meet with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Thursday in Florida, after calling the California Republican a 'p***y' for placing some blame on the ex-president for the January 6 MAGA riot. Punchbown News first reported the get-together, noting that McCarthy had traveled to South Florida for donor meetings. The ex-president was angry at McCarthy for his speech on the floor before Trump was impeached for a second time by the House of Representatives on January 13. President Donald Trump was spotted Wednesday in Florida, taking a motorcade between his West Palm Beach golf club and his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago resort. He'll sit down with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Thursday in Florida Trump is seen from the window of his black SUV traveling from his West Palm Beach golf club back to Mar-a-Lago, located on Palm Beach House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will meet with former President Donald Trump Thursday in Florida, Punchbowl News first reported, after assigning some blame to the president for the January 6 insurrection McCarthy said that President Donald Trump is 'free from fault' for the violent siege of Capitol Hill on January 6 after the president appeared at a rally on the ellipse (pictured) and encouraged his supporters to march on the Capitol One week ago, Trump landed in West Palm Beach on Air Force One to start his post-presidency from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. McCarthy is in South Florida for donor meetings McCarthy voted against Trump's impeachment, but told lawmakers that the 'president is free from fault.' 'The president bears responsibility for Wednesdays attack on Congress by mob rioters,' McCarthy said. 'He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.' The California Republican also pushed back on a conspiracy theory brewing on the right - that 'Antifa' was actually responsible for the insurrection. 'There was absolutely no evidence of that. And conservatives should be the first to say so,' he said on the House floor. Politico reported that Trump was especially incensed that McCarthy wouldn't blame Antifa on the violent riot, which killed five in its immediate aftermath. Trump had appeared at a rally on the ellipse and encouraged his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers were meeting to certify the election result. Several days after the House impeachment, Politico reported that Trump and McCarthy had a friendly conversation and that their relationship remains 'cordial.' The New York Times was first to report that Trump had called McCarthy a 'p***y,' a word Trump had also used in a conversation with Vice President Mike Pence, as he tried to pressure Pence to overturn the election result when he presided over the January 6 Electoral College certification in Congress. Pence did no such thing and the election was eventually certified for Biden in the early hours of January 7, after Trump supporters had been cleared from the Capitol Building. McCarthy twice voted in favor of challenges to Electoral College votes - in Arizona and, later, Pennsylvania. McCarthy allies also argued that the House GOP leader should get credit for there only being 10 Republican defectors in the House impeachment vote. That number made Trump's second impeachment the most bipartisan in history, but the defectors only made up a tiny portion of the caucus. One of the defectors, however, was McCarthy's No. 3 in the House, Rep. Liz Cheney. CNN reported Wednesday that on a call McCarthy instructed his members, 'no more attacks to one another.' 'Cut that crap out,' the leader told lawmakers, adding that only Republicans can prevent Republicans from taking back the House majority. Democrats already have a razor-thin majority and traditionally the party in the White House loses seats during the president's first midterm. Trump is now awaiting his trial in the Senate, which is due to start in early February. On Monday, Trump formally opened his 'office of the former president' from Palm Beach County, the locale of his Mar-a-Lago resort, where he's been since before noon on President Joe Biden's inauguration day. Without access to his Twitter account, the ex-president has been relatively quiet, though his meeting with McCarthy indicates he plans to stay politically involved. Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel, however, told the Associated Press that the GOP would remain 'neutral' in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, even if the ex-president decides to run. 'The party has to stay neutral. Im not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024,' McDaniel told The Associated Press. She had been asked if she wanted to see Trump on the ballot again. 'Thats going to be up to those candidates going forward. What I really do want to see him do, though, is help us win back majorities in 2022,' McDaniel added. The United States says all soldiers from Eritrea should leave Ethiopia's embattled Tigray region ``immediately.'' A State Department spokesperson in an email to The Associated Press late Tuesday cited ``credible reports of looting, sexual violence, assaults in refugee camps and other human rights abuses.`` ``There is also evidence of Eritrean soldiers forcibly returning Eritrean refugees from Tigray to Eritrea,'' the spokesperson said. The statement reflects new pressure by the Biden administration on the government of Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous country with 114 million people and the anchor of the Horn of Africa, and other combatants as the deadly fighting in Tigray nears the three-month mark. The AP this week cited witnesses who fled the Tigray region as saying Eritrean soldiers were looting, going house-to-house killing young men and even acting as local authorities. The Eritreans have been fighting on the side of Ethiopian forces as they pursue the fugitive leaders of the Tigray region, though Ethiopia's government has denied their presence. The U.S. stance has shifted dramatically from the early days of the conflict when the Trump administration praised Eritrea for its ``restraint.'' The new U.S. statement calls for an independent and transparent investigation into alleged abuses. ``It remains unclear how many Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, or precisely where,'' it says. It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. has addressed its demand directly to Eritrean officials. Witnesses have estimated that the Eritrean soldiers number in the thousands. Eritrean officials have not responded to questions. The information minister for Eritrea, one of the world's most secretive countries, this week tweeted that ``the rabid defamation campaign against Eritrea is on the rise again.`` The U.S. also seeks an immediate stop to the fighting in Tigray and ``full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access'' to the region, which remains largely cut off from the outside world, with Ethiopian forces often accompanying aid. ``We are gravely concerned by credible reports that hundreds of thousands of people may starve to death if urgent humanitarian assistance is not mobilized immediately,'' the statement says. The U.S. adds that ``dialogue is essential between the government and Tigrayans.'' Ethiopia's government has rejected dialogue with the former Tigray leaders, seeing them as illegitimate, and has appointed an interim administration. The former Tigray leaders, in turn, objected to Ethiopia delaying a national election last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and considered Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's mandate over. Short link: DGAP-News: CPI PROPERTY GROUP / Key word(s): Bond CPI Property Group - 10-year Bond and Hybrid Offerings 27.01.2021 / 21:27 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. CPI PROPERTY GROUP (societe anonyme) 40, rue de la Vallee L-2661 Luxembourg R.C.S. Luxembourg: B 102 254 PRESS RELEASE CORPORATE NEWS Luxembourg, 27 January 2021 CPI Property Group - 10-year Bond and Hybrid Offerings CPI PROPERTY GROUP ("CPIPG" or the "Group"), the leading owner of income-generating real estate in the Czech Republic, Berlin, Warsaw and the CEE region, announces the successful offering of 10-year senior unsecured and hybrid bonds totaling 1 billion. On 27 January 2021, CPIPG issued 600 million of new 10-year senior unsecured bonds with a coupon of 1.5% and 400 million of new undated subordinated notes callable in 2028. Total investor demand for the offerings was nearly 3 billion. "Raising 1 billion through one bond transaction is a new milestone for CPIPG," said David Greenbaum, CFO. "We are grateful for the consistent support of our bond investors." The undated subordinated bonds carry a coupon of 3.75% and will be treated as equity for IFRS accounting purposes; the undated subordinated bonds will receive 50% equity credit from Moody's and Standard & Poor's. Proceeds from the offerings will be used for general corporate purposes and to repay more than 750 million of senior unsecured and undated subordinated bonds which are callable or mature in 2022, 2023, and 2024. CPIPG is proud of the Group's track record of early repayment and intends to remain proactive in managing our maturity profile. The combination of new offerings and debt repurchases has a positive effect on the Group's credit ratios and provides flexibility for growth as the world emerges from COVID. Following the transactions, only about 15% of the Group's total financing is due or callable within the next three years, and about 40% within the next five years. About the Offerings The new EUR 600,000,000 1.500 per cent. Senior Notes due 27 January 2031 (the "Senior Notes") are listed on the Main Market of the Irish Stock Exchange plc (trading as Euronext Dublin) and are accepted for clearance through Euroclear and Clearstream, Luxembourg. The Senior Notes, issued under the Company's EUR8,000,000,000 Medium-Term Note Programme, are rated Baa2 by Moody's and BBB by Standard & Poor's. The ISIN code for the Senior Notes is XS2290544068 and the Common Code is 2290544068. The new EUR 400,000,000 3.750 per cent. Fixed Rate Resettable Undated Subordinated Notes (the "Hybrids") are listed on the Main Market of the Irish Stock Exchange plc (trading Euronext Dublin) and are accepted for clearance through Euroclear and Clearstream, Luxembourg. The Hybrids, issued under the Company's EUR8,000,000,000 Medium Term Note Programme, are rated Ba1 by Moody's and BB+ by Standard & Poor's. The ISIN code for the Hybrids is XS2290533020 and the Common Code is 2290533020. The Base Prospectus (as supplemented) in relation to the Company's EMTN Programme and the final terms for the Senior Notes and the Hybrids are available at the website of the Company (www.cpipg.com). DISCLAIMER: THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM A PART OF ANY OFFER OR SOLICITATION TO PURCHASE OR SUBSCRIBE FOR SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION. THE SECURITIES TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES HAVE NOT BEEN AND WILL NOT BE REGISTERED UNDER THE US SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") AND MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO, OR FOR THE ACCOUNT OR BENEFIT OF, US PERSONS (AS SUCH TERM IS DEFINED IN REGULATION S UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT), EXCEPT PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR AN EXEMPTION FROM THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT. THERE WILL BE NO PUBLIC OFFER OF SECURITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR FORM PART OF AN OFFER OR INVITATION TO SELL OR ISSUE, OR ANY SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY OR SUBSCRIBE FOR, ANY SECURITIES, IN THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION NOR SHALL IT (OR ANY PART OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT) OR THE FACT OF ITS DISTRIBUTION FORM THE BASIS OF, OR BE RELIED UPON IN CONNECTION WITH, OR ACT AS ANY INDUCEMENT TO ENTER INTO, ANY CONTRACT OR COMMITMENT OR INVESTMENT DECISION WHATSOEVER. 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THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS NOT 2 BEING DISTRIBUTED TO, AND MUST NOT BE PASSED ON TO, THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE UNITED KINGDOM OR TO PERSONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM SAVE IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE SECTION 21(1) OF THE FSMA DOES NOT APPLY. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED ONLY AT PERSONS WHO (I) ARE OUTSIDE THE UNITED KINGDOM OR (II) HAVE PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE IN MATTERS RELATING TO INVESTMENTS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 19(5) OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (FINANCIAL PROMOTION) ORDER 2005 (THE "ORDER") OR (III) ARE PERSONS FALLING WITHIN ARTICLE 49(2)(A) TO (D) ("HIGH NET WORTH COMPANIES, UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS ETC") OF THE ORDER OR (IV) TO WHOM THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY OTHERWISE BE DIRECTED WITHOUT CONTRAVENTION OF SECTION 21 OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS ACT 2000 (ALL SUCH PERSONS TOGETHER BEING REFERRED TO AS "RELEVANT PERSONS"). THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MUST NOT BE ACTED ON OR RELIED ON BY PERSONS WHO ARE NOT RELEVANT PERSONS. ANY INVESTMENT OR INVESTMENT ACTIVITY TO WHICH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO RELEVANT PERSONS AND WILL BE ENGAGED IN ONLY WITH RELEVANT PERSONS. THIS COMMUNICATION IS NOT INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO AND MUST NOT BE PASSED ON TO ANY RETAIL CLIENT. IN MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS DIRECTED ONLY AT PERSONS WHO ARE "QUALIFIED INVESTORS" WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 2(1)(E) OF DIRECTIVE 2003/71/EC (THE "PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE") ("QUALIFIED INVESTORS"). THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE PURPOSES OF APPLICABLE MEASURES IMPLEMENTING THE PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE. A PROSPECTUS PREPARED PURSUANT TO THE PROSPECTUS DIRECTIVE WILL BE PUBLISHED, WHICH, WHEN PUBLISHED, CAN BE OBTAINED FROM THE TRUSTEE. A RATING IS NOT A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY, SELL OR HOLD SECURITIES AND MAY BE SUBJECT TO REVISION, SUSPENSION OR WITHDRAWAL AT ANY TIME BY THE ASSIGNING RATING ORGANISATION. 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We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Tooley Crater is approximately 7 km wide; it is located inside a permanently shadowed region of Shoemaker Crater close to the lunar south pole, making one of the colder areas of the Moon. The image is a mosaic of high resolution of images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera's (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera in a high gain mode that relies on the reflected light from nearby crater rims. Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University Like Einstein, Galileo, and Copernicus, former NASA program manager Craig Tooley now has a place on the Moon named in his honor. Tooley crater is a 7 km crater in a permanently shadowed region of Shoemaker crater near the lunar south pole. The new crater designation is official and can be used in journal articles and other publications. How do you feel about Craig having a crater named after him? "First of all, it is a great honor. It makes me very proud of my brother and warms my heart every night when I look up at the Moon and think about his crater and his achievements. I am in constant awe of the impact that Craig had at NASA and the lengths that everyone at NASA and in the space sciences community have gone to honor his memory." -Matt Tooley This act pays homage to the numerous accomplishments and indelible contributions Tooley made to NASA's exploration community during his 34 years of service. After Tooley's passing in September, 2017, members of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO team) wanted to memorialize Tooley by having a lunar crater named after him. They petitioned the International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, which approved their request to name a lunar crater after Tooley, the former LRO project manager from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. What would Craig think about having a crater named after him? "He didn't care much about the physical markers or awards, though he certainly got a lot of them. This is differentit's very meaningful, and he would have loved it. He probably would have said something about how none of the achievements would have been possible without the great teams he worked with, and that this was just the culmination of many different people's work. But also, he would have been so touched." -Terri Rutledge (Craig's widow) Tooley oversaw LRO's successful launch in 2009, and the mission continues to make groundbreaking discoveries of Earth's closest celestial neighbor. He transitioned into the same position for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, a quartet of spacecraft launched in 2015 to study our planet's magnetosphere and provide insight into the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection. Tooley came to Goddard in 1983 after receiving his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of Evansville in Indiana. He later earned a master's in the same field from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1990. He joined the Flight Projects Directorate in 1996. In doing so, he built a reputation as the go-to guy for some of NASA's highest-profile missions, leveraging years of technical experience to become the consummate project manager. Tooley became Deputy Project Manager for the Triana mission, laying the groundwork for the climate observation mission which would later be resurrected as DSCOVR. He helped develop procedures and train astronauts for the Hubble Space Telescope's fourth servicing mission in 2002. He then headed Hubble's Instrument Development Office, overseeing the development of instruments that were installed during the fifth and final servicing mission in 2009. In his most recent position as Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate Deputy Director, Tooley used the knowledge he acquired over the years to push Goddard's capabilities forward, championing new and emerging technologies such as advanced electronics systems, CubeSats, and SmallSats. Craig Tooley. Credits: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center "Craig grew up watching Apollo missions, reading science fiction, and launching model rockets. So, for Craig, working at NASA was like a dream come true. Even though he worked very hard, and when needed took things very seriously, working at NASA for him was always fun. He believed in NASA's mission, and liked being a part of it." -Matt Tooley His accomplishments as an engineer enabling science and exploration go well beyond LRO. He served as the mission manager and mechanical lead for five successful Spartan 201 heliophysics missions deployed during space shuttle missions flown on STS-56, STS-64, STS-69, STS-87, and STS-95. LRO, DSCOVR, and MMS are still in operation today. He was the recipient of numerous awards, most notably two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medalsamong the Agency's highest honorsfor his work on the LRO and MMS missions. Tooley's memory will be forever etched into space exploration with the naming of one of the MMS spacecrafts as "Craig." His most enduring legacy to Goddard, however, will be the many teams and individuals he impacted both personally and professionally, all embodying his spirit of discovery and innovation. Tooley exhibited an infectious optimism for spaceflight, and as a manager, he always advocated for inclusive leadership and open communication. His passion for and approach to NASA work produced many dedicated teams and successful missions throughout his career. What did working for NASA mean to him? "It was his life's passion, besides his familyhe loved his work and he inspired others to love it as well. He also fiercely loved mentoring younger folks, especially women and folks of color who haven't traditionally been represented in these kinds of careers. He would get so excited telling stories of how those he had mentored were successful. Even if space exploration wasn't someone's particular passion, he was a role model for loving your work. He also embodied lifelong learning: we would talk about how he had read up on some specific statistics or modeling approach to better understand the complexities one section of his team was currently facing. Even when he was sick and in between hospital visits, he set out to learn to program in Python and proudly showed us how he had made a simple Graphical User Interface to calculate orbital trajectories with his newfound skills." -Terri Rutledge What were some of Craig's hobbies? "He loved hiking, camping, and being outdoorsgrowing up, we heard stories of our parents' backpacking adventures, and the acquisition of a 1971 VW camper bus after we were born brought even more fun. He also inculcated a love for reading, particularly science fiction, in us, which was surely intertwined with his passion for space; we grew up reading Issac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and other classics." -Ursula & Maia Tooley (Craig's daughters) Tooley's legacy and crater will serve as "True North" for his wife Terri, their daughters Ursula and Maia, his NASA colleagues, and other members of his family and friends. Explore further Brains of the operationNASA team develops modular avionics systems for small missions New Delhi, Jan 27 : A total of 22 FIRs have been filed by the Delhi Police so far in connection with the violence witnessed during a farmers' tractor rally on the Republic Day, officials said on Wednesday. The FIRs were registered under Sections dealing with riots, damage to public property and assault on public servants with deadly weapons. The police have begun analysing video footage available to identify the violent protesters, who damaged public property and attacked Delhi Police personnel. In all, 86 policemen were injured in the violence as farmers marched inside Delhi with their tractors ahead of the scheduled time agreed upon with police authorities of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Farmers had rallied with about 6,000-7,000 tractors at Singhu border around 8.30 am on January 26. As per the earlier-decided plan, they were supposed to reach Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and then take a right turn. However, the protesters led by 'Nihangs' riding horses and armed with swords and other sharp-edged weapons charged at the police and broke through several layers of barricades set up between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar, the Delhi Police said. "At ITO, a large group of farmers, who had come from Gazipur and Singhu borders, attempted to move towards New Delhi district. When they were stopped by the policemen, a section of farmers became violent and broke through the barricades, damaged iron grills and road dividers and even tried to run over policemen deployed at barricades with their tractors," a senior police officer said. The farmers swarmed the Red Fort and waved farmer union flags from its ramparts. They even hoisted farmer union flags as well as a pennant with a Sikh religious symbol from a flagpole. The cat-and-mouse games between the police and protesting farmers continued until late Tuesday evening. Most of the incidents were reported from Mukarba Chowk, Gazipur, A-Point ITO, Seemapuri, Nangloi T-Point, Tikri Border and Red Fort. Nearly 300 artistes, including children, who were part of the official Republic Day parade in Delhi on Tuesday were rescued by police after they were stranded near the Red Fort due to violence and chaos in the area. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... BRUSSELS The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca sparred Wednesday over a delay in coronavirus vaccine deliveries amid a deepening dispute that raises concerns about international competition for limited supplies of the shots needed to end the pandemic. AstraZeneca Chief Executive Pascal Soriot addressed the dispute for the first time, rejecting the EUs assertion that the company was failing to honor its commitments. Soriot said vaccine delivery figures in AstraZenecas contract with the 27-nation bloc were targets, not firm commitments, and the company was unable to meet them because of problems in rapidly expanding production capacity. Our contract is not a contractual commitment, its a best effort, Soriot said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Basically, we said were going to try our best, but we cant guarantee were going to succeed. In fact, getting there, we are a little bit delayed. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ AstraZeneca said last week that it planned to cut initial deliveries in the EU to 31 million doses from 80 million due to reduced yields from its manufacturing plants in Europe. The EU claimed Wednesday that it will receive even less than that just one quarter of the doses that member states were supposed to get during January-March 2021. The EU says it expects the company to deliver the full amount on time, and on Monday threatened to put export controls on all vaccines made in its territory. Stella Kyriakides, the European Commissioner for health and food safety, rejected Soriots explanation for the delays, saying that not being able to ensure manufacturing capacity is against the letter and spirit of our agreement. Kyriakides said AstraZeneca should provide vaccines from its UK facilities if it it is unable to meet commitments from factories in the EU. The comments are certain to create tension in the UK, which completed its exit from the bloc less than a month ago. I call on AstraZeneca to engage fully to rebuild trust, to provide complete information and to live up to its contractual, societal and moral obligations, Kyriakides said at a media briefing in Brussels. The EUs contract with AstraZeneca is confidential and cant be released without the agreement of both sides. The EU has asked AstraZeneca for permission to release the contract, Kyriakides said. After a third round of talks aimed at resolving the dispute on Wednesday evening, Kyriakides regretted the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule and urged AstraZeneca to come up with a clear plan for a quick delivery of the doses reserved by the EU for the first quarter. In a message posted on Twitter, Kyriakides however noted a constructive tone in the discussions with Soriot. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said after the meeting that the company has committed to even closer coordination to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring this vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic. The dispute comes as the EU, which has 450 million citizens and the economic clout of the worlds biggest trading bloc, lags far behind countries like Israel and Britain in delivering coronavirus vaccines to its people. The EU has signed deals for six different vaccines, but so far regulators have only authorized the use of two, one made by Pfizer and another by Moderna. The EUs drug regulator will consider the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday. Robert Yates, director of the global health program at the Chatham House think tank in London, said the EU-AstraZeneca dispute highlights the danger of vaccine nationalism as countries compete for limited supplies. For politicians, this is red hot. And, you know, unfortunately, what were seeing as well is that Brexit politics is playing into this, he said. This is this is really, really bad news not only bad news for the European countries involved, he said. I think whats much worse is that these squabbles between rich countries potentially deny vaccines to people in the rest of the world. AstraZeneca is setting up more than a dozen regional supply chains worldwide to meet regional demand for its vaccine. Overall, AstraZeneca plans to deliver up to 3 billion doses to countries around the world by the end of 2021. However, establishing each facility is a complicated process that involves training people and ensuring each batch of vaccine is safe and effective. Sometimes this goes smoothly, but in other cases there are problems, Soriot said. We train them on how to manufacture, he said. And then, you know, some people are new to this process They dont know how to make the vaccine and theyre not as efficient as others. There are two basic steps in producing the vaccine. The first is a biological process that involves growing cells, which are injected with a virus, Soriot said. The second involves turning this drug substance into the final product, filling vials and testing each batch of vaccine. Soriot said AstraZeneca had to reduce deliveries to the EU because plants in Europe had lower than expected yields from the biological process used to produce the vaccine. This has also happened in other regions as AstraZeneca sought to rapidly expand production capacity to meet demands from countries battling the pandemic. Weve also had teething issues like this in the U.K. supply chain, Soriot said. But the U.K. contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal, so with the U.K. we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced. As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches. An official from the European Commission, the EUs executive, said the bloc has agreed to give 336 million euros ($407 million) to AstraZeneca to develop its vaccine and deliver doses. The official, who wasnt authorized to speak publicly, said the commission would be entitled to recover part of the money if the company fails to live up to the terms of this advance purchase agreement. We reject the logic of first come, first served, Kyriakides said. That may work at the neighborhood butchers, but not in contracts and not in our advance purchase agreements. Theres no priority clause in the advanced purchase agreement. The shortfall in planned deliveries of the AstraZeneca vaccine is coming at the same time as a slowdown in the distribution of Pfizer-BioNTech shots as Pfizer upgrades production facilities at a plant in Belgium. There are a lot of emotions running in this process right now, and I can understand it: people want vaccine, Soriot said. I want the vaccine too, I want it today. But, at the end of the day, its a complicated process. ___ Danica Kirka reported from London. ___ Follow all of APs pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Guest Column Thailand: In the Eye of the Coming Storm Students add the finishing touches to a painting on the walls of the US Embassy in Bangkok depicting the national flags of Thailand and the US, and the Statue of Liberty. The painting was created to mark the 180th anniversary of relations between the two countries. / Bangkok Post Last week, in his 229-word congratulatory message to US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha minced no words in stating that as the US first and oldest treaty partner in Asia, Thailand is very proud of its strategic ties with the United States, which have benefited both countries and their peoples as well as contributed to security, stability and prosperity in the region. He also had a poignant message for the new leader, writing that at this crucial point in time, countries all over the globe are facing divisiveness, conflicts and ruin amplified by the pandemic, which require them to turn towards each other and collaborate. He declared that Thailand is prepared to walk side by side with the US on this journey. However, today one oft-asked question is whether the US is ready to walk side by side with Thailand on this journey. For the past 203 years Thai-US ties have been quite unpredictable, especially in the post-Cold War era. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall three decades ago, Thai-US ties have gone steadily downhill. These days, in discussing the virtues of their century-old relations, repeating past collaborations and successes are essential ingredients to keep the mutual dialogue going. Without common enemies, the two countries have been trying to find fresh and valuable impetus to revitalize their alliance. Thailands national security strategy for the next 20 years (2018-2037) makes it succinctly clear that the kingdom does not have any enemy in its midst. With such a mindset, it would be hard to walk alongside the US, which has a clear objective to compete strategically and counter Chinas rapid rise in influence. Washington has been urging its allies and friends to help out. Under the Biden administration such calls are likely to intensify further. At the moment, there are two narratives among the Thai policymakers and strategists, juxtaposed against one another. The first frames Thailand as an insignificant regional player, which continues to be embroiled in domestic conflicts. The past decade has offered clear testimony to how useless Thailand has become in staying relevant in the rapidly changing geopolitical environment, judging from the US responses. The Trump administrations treatment of Thailand was an aberration at best. One caveat must be mentioned, though. With Bidens security and foreign affairs teams, many culled from the Obama administration, they might continue the echo-chamber views of Thailand and pursue similar approaches and policies as before. Again, without value added to the US global strategy, Thailand would be pushed down. From Washingtons vantage point, other non-allied countries in the region such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia have already moved up the security ladder and now occupy the top ranks among US strategic partners. Singapore has always had a preferred strategic partner status a virtual ally of sorts. These strategists often cite Vietnam as a successful country which has won Washingtons support due to its clear security posture. The lawmakers in the Beltway also give importance to Hanoi because it has stood up against China. That helps explain why during the Trump era, Vietnams status in the US global strategy was given a significant lift, challenging traditional allies like the Philippines and Thailand due to their perceived closed ties with China. These days whenever Thailands name is mentioned, it is synonymous with unending political turmoil, violations of human rights and dictatorial traits, which have dominated regional news headlines more than any other ASEAN member. Given Bidens support and advocacy of liberal norms and human rights, it serves as a lightning rod for him to sidestep this benign ally. Worse still, of late lese majeste cases have increased and have already become a big albatross tarnishing the kingdoms international standing. This undoubtedly is Thailands Achilles heel. Furthermore, the on and off protests by the Thai youth movement against the government urging extensive reforms in all key institutions have attracted support and sympathy from Western countries. In early December, nine leading US senators from the Democratic Party criticized Thailand and branded the country as having a repressive monarchy and government. As such, the argument goes, Thailand should strengthen ties with countries that do not impose their values or ways of thinking. Let Thai-US relations run their course. Within East Asia, relations with China, Japan and South Korea have grown closer than ever as they have no qualms about liberal values and norms. Interestingly, after the election in 2019, EU-Thai cooperation improved. So have relations with India and Russia. Australia and Thailand became strategic partners last November. The second narrative has a broader view of Thailands strategic imperatives, both as a key driving force of the Mekong sub-region, ASEAN and one of the five US allies in the Indo-Pacific region. Even with the Trump administrations departure, Thailand will continue to occupy the highest tier of the US security network in the region under the Biden administration. As the US-China rivalry has intensified, Bangkoks geostrategic value has also increased manifold. Indeed, the kingdom has ample opportunities to recalibrate the current international security landscape for its own interests. In fact, the person who knew best about the strategic value of Thai-US ties was former US ambassador Michael DeSombre. He highlighted them in succinct detail in a series of articles published in the Thai and English languages during his brief tenure from March 1, 2020 to January 20, 2021. In a nutshell, he reiterated unequivocally that the US is a better friend for Thailand. From now on, with renewed focus on rivalry between great powers, especially the US and China, over development in the Mekong sub-region, Thailands role is indispensable to manage and pull together regional resources and maneuverability. With increased awareness of a Mekong identity, the lower riparian countries are also working hand in hand more than ever before in forging their own code of conduct to deter any hegemonic trends from external powers. Obviously, sensitive issues related to royal and military institutions will continue to disrupt the Thai-US bilateral ties but without harming the overall security cooperation. After the coup in 2014, the Pentagon continued the annual Cobra Gold military exercises despite calls for a boycott without any disruption. As long as the Pentagon deems the regions largest military exercises, now in their 38th year, with Thailand as beneficial to its overall interoperability, Thailands strategic value will continue. Despite its shortcomings as far as domestic stability is concerned, Thailand is still considered to be a moderately free and open society, in comparison with neighboring countries. Bangkok-based foreign and local civil society organizations are very active in monitoring the governments performance, especially those related to all aspects of civil liberty. In his congratulatory letter, Gen. Prayut invited Biden to visit Thailand in the future. In 2022, after New Zealand, Thailand will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting. If the pandemic has eased by then and safe travel is guaranteed, Biden could join other Apec leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bangkok at the end of next year. Their divergent viewpoints aside, both narratives agree that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand will have to be more assertive and forceful as an ally and friend of the great powers. Bangkok should not shy away or sit on the fence on sensitive issues as it has in the past. Strategic ambiguities which have long been the norm should give way to strategic clarities, especially on rule-based issues. Otherwise, Thailand could easily be left on the sidelinesor worse still, it could become a pawn in the great powers competition. Kavi Chongkittavorn is a veteran journalist on regional affairs. This article first appeared in The Bangkok Post. You may also like these stories: Chinas Belt and Road Initiative Continues to Make Inroads in Myanmar Myanmar Still Lacks a Meaningful Definition of Political Prisoner Ghosts Look Over the Shoulders of Myanmar Peace Negotiators New Delhi, Jan 27 : Haryana's farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni has accused Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu of misleading farmers. Singh on Tuesday blamed Sidhu for the Red Fort incident. The BKU leader said in a video message, "What he (Sidhu) has done today is very condemnable. We had no programme to visit the Red Fort. He went there as a rebel and he people misled people. We did not know that Sidhu would go to the Red Fort." Chadhuni said that Sidhu has been building strongholds for a long time and speaks against the farmer leaders. Singh said that this is a farmers' movement and not a religious movement. He also condemned the violence during the Kisan Republic Parade. The farmers, who have been protesting against the three Central Agricultural Laws for two months, were allowed by the Delhi Police to take out the kisan tractor parade on Republic Day and routes were already set for it. However, by not following the prescribed routes, the protesters reached the Red Fort and created mayhem after attacking the police. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Good morning, Bay Area. Its Wednesday, Jan. 27, and EDD is in hot water for their handling of unemployment claims during the pandemic. Heres what you need to know to start your day. The storm that slammed into Bay Area overnight brought heavy rains and gusty winds, cut power for thousands and prompted evacuations in areas at high risk for mudslides. Rain will continue throughout the day and a flash flood watch is still in effect through Thursday for parts of the region. Read the latest on our weather live updates page. Were kind of maxed out: Bay Area mountain residents brace for possible landslides after a traumatizing year. Tahoe is about to get buried in snow, prompting ski resorts to prepare for more visitors. Coronavirus Updates Following strong criticisms about the secrecy in which Californias stay-at-home orders are decided, the state health department released previously hidden projections for ICU capacity throughout the state. State will move to age-based vaccine system after people over 65, education workers, food and agriculture workers and first responders are mostly vaccinated. More: Rumors are flying that California restaurant workers wont be prioritized for vaccines. Theyre false but communication is lacking. How Bidens new coronavirus executive orders compare to what California is already doing. State can expect to receive a 17% increase in vaccine supplies next week, the Biden administrations said on Tuesday, and will provide three weeks advance notice on how much vaccine can be expected to reach states, in a bid to ease the unpredictability that has confounded local health departments. Why is San Francisco allowing some out-of-town residents to get shots at its first mass vaccination site? City officials say that they have little choice over the matter. COVID-19 drug remdesivir has been a big win for Gilead and it got a boost from taxpayers. Around the Bay Courtesy of Emilio Cortez More than 400 and counting: A year after his death, this map tracks Kobe Bryant murals in the Bay Area and around the world. Answered only 1% of incoming calls as pandemic began: In a scathing report, Californias auditor said the state Employment Development Department flubbed handling the deluge of unemployment claims triggered by the pandemic. New names coming: After months of controversy, S.F. school board votes to rename 44 schools. Lessons learned from last time? Much at stake for California as U.S. Senate tries immigration reform again. Top Sushi: The latest update in critic Soleil Hos top Bay Area restaurants series where to get the best sushi. Reports of the citys demise have been greatly exaggerated Peter Breinig / The Chronicle 1967 San Francisco was over in 1906. But also in 1853, 1969 and lots of other times. With most of downtown still smoldering in 1906 from earthquake and fire, thousands of citizens bought one-way tickets to any city that wasnt San Francisco. But barely two months later, The Chronicle reported, they were coming back in droves. The City was, in fact, not over. It wasnt the first time nor the last that a total exodus from San Francisco, much like our current moment, was predicted. Peter Hartlaub takes a dive into The Chronicle archives to investigate the many times San Francisco was pronounced as good as dead. Bay Briefing is written by Taylor Kate Brown, Anna Buchmann and Kellie Hwang and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writers at taylor.brown@sfchronicle.com, anna.buchmann@sfchronicle.com, and kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com. Mike Reader of Elkhorn WI was a member of a now defunct investor group, Avant Group Inc. The 5-member group organized in 2016 and sought to assist a local entrepreneur, Tony Valenti of Lake Geneva, to build a coffee and bike shop. Although Avant Cycle & Cafe is still open, leadership struggles resulted in 4 of 5 investors to vote to dissolve the company in December of 2018. Six weeks China said on Wednesday that the Indian government's decision to keep a ban on 59 Chinese apps was a violation of the World Trade Organization's fair rules of business and would hurt Chinese firms. The ban dates from last year when political tension between the neighbours rose over their disputed border. This month the Indian government decided to keep the ban on TikTok and other apps. "We urge the Indian side to immediately correct its discriminatory measures and avoid causing further damage to bilateral cooperation," Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said in ... [January 27, 2021] Pomerleau announces the appointment of Philippe Adam as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW Telbec/ - Pomerleau is pleased to announce the appointment of Philippe Adam as Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, effective May 3, 2021. Mr. Adam will also lead the operations of Pomerleau Capital, the private capital and infrastructure investment arm of Pomerleau. "We are very excited to welcome Philippe to our team. He is an accomplished strategic financial executive with extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, in private placements as well as in business growth management. His leadershi, demonstrated ability to deliver results and proven adaptability make him a valuable ally in the continued implementation of our growth strategy," said Pierre Pomerleau, President and CEO of Pomerleau. Philippe Adam will join Pomerleau from Goodfood (TSX: FOOD), a leading online grocery company in Canada, where he has served as Chief Financial Officer since 2018. Previously, Mr. Adam held the position of Senior Vice-President at Champlain Financial Corporation, and from 2013 to 2016, was Chief Financial Officer at Garda Background Screening Solutions. Mr. Adam was also an investment banker at National Bank Financial and served as a director within its corporate finance group. A graduate from the Bachelor of Commerce program at Laval University, Mr. Adam subsequently earned a Graduate Diploma in Accounting from HEC Montreal. He is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) and holds the designation of Chartered Business Valuator (CBV), for which he was the Canadian gold medallist in 2009. About Pomerleau Pomerleau is one of Canada's leading construction companies and a pioneer in sustainable buildings. It specializes in the building, infrastructure, civil engineering and renewable energy sectors. The company also excels in virtual design and construction (VDC). Founded more than 50 years ago, the company employs up to 4,000 people at its nine regional offices and more than 150 worksites across the country. In 2020, Pomerleau was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers. For more details about Pomerleau, visit www.pomerleau.ca. SOURCE Pomerleau Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Republic Day celebrated at Indian embassy in Madagascar Anatavario, Jan 27 (UNI) Republic Day was celebrated at Indian embassy on January 26 in Madagascar where Indian Ambassador Abhay Kumar unfurled the national flag. Celebrations of the 72nd Republic Day of India were marked by unfurling of the Indian National Flag by Ambassador Abhay Kumar which was attended by the Indian community in Madagascar. Ambassador also hosted a reception on the occasion of the 72nd Republic Day of India, in which the Defence Minister of Madagascar was the Chief Guest. The newly elected President of the Senate of Madagascar as well as the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development and the Minister of Telecommunications also attended the reception besides the Ambassadors and the Head of International Organisations in Madagascar. Relatives of Wuhan's coronavirus victims today said Chinese authorities have deleted their social media group and are pressuring them to keep quiet while a World Health Organization team is in the city to investigate the pandemic's origins. Scores of relatives have banded together online in a shared quest for accountability from Wuhan officials who they blame for mishandling the outbreak that tore through the city one year ago. The effort has thus far been thwarted by official obstruction, monitoring of social media groups and intimidation, say next-of-kin. But pressure has escalated in recent days, apparently to muzzle any criticism and avoid embarrassment during the highly sensitive WHO investigation. A group on social media platform WeChat used by 80 to 100 family members over the past year was suddenly deleted without explanation about 10 days ago, said Zhang Hai, whose father died early in the pandemic of suspected Covid-19 (pictured) A group on social media platform WeChat used by 80 to 100 family members over the past year was suddenly deleted without explanation about 10 days ago, said Zhang Hai, a group member and a vocal critic of the outbreak's handling. 'This shows that (Chinese authorities) are very nervous. They are afraid that these families will get in touch with the WHO experts,' said Zhang, 51, whose father died early in the pandemic of suspected Covid-19. The WHO experts arrived in Wuhan on January 14 and are due to emerge from a 14-day quarantine on Thursday. A team of WHO experts arrived in Wuhan on January 14 and were greeted by Chinese health officials wearing hazmat suits at the city's airport While China enjoys its Covid recovery and trumpets its success, a growing body of evidence suggests it covered up the early spread of the disease - allowing it to balloon into a pandemic while robbing other nations of the ability to properly respond 'When the WHO arrived in Wuhan, (authorities) forcibly demolished (the group). As a result we have lost contact with many members,' Zhang added. Other next-of-kin confirmed the group's deletion. WeChat is operated by Chinese digital giant Tencent. Popular platforms routinely censor content deemed objectionable by the government. Relatives accuse the Wuhan and Hubei provincial governments of allowing Covid-19 to get out of control by trying to conceal the outbreak when it first emerged in the city in December 2019, then failing to alert the public and bungling the response. According to official Chinese figures, it killed nearly 3,900 in Wuhan, accounting for the vast majority of the 4,636 dead China has reported. Relatives accuse the Wuhan and Hubei provincial governments of allowing Covid-19 to get out of control by trying to conceal the outbreak when it first emerged in the city in December 2019, then failing to alert the public and bungling the response. Pictured: A health worker disinfects an area in Wuhan on January 24 Chinese scientists and officials have been eager to find 'evidence' the virus started overseas and have blamed a total of nine countries for being the true source - despite experts rubbishing those theories Many next-of-kin distrust those numbers, saying the scarcity of testing in the outbreak's chaotic early days meant many are likely to have died without being confirmed as having the disease. While China has broadly controlled the pandemic on its soil, it has frustrated independent attempts to trace its origins. Instead, it has sought to deflect blame for the horrific worldwide human and economic toll by suggesting, without proof, that it emerged elsewhere. A team of WHO virus experts were finally allowed into Wuhan a fortnight ago. Their highly watched probe into the virus origins is due to start on Thursday, under tight security, after a 14-day quarantine. As the rest of the world continues to grapple with lockdowns and soaring infections, young people in the city, once the epicentre of the novel coronavirus, are enjoying their hard-earned freedom a year on from the outbreak Another family member, a retiree who says her adult daughter died of the virus last January, said she was summoned last week by authorities and warned not to 'speak to media or be used by others'. Authorities came to her door on Tuesday 'and sang the same old tune and gave me 5,000 yuan ($775) in a 'condolence payment'', she added, requesting anonymity. The Communist Party government smothers anything that reflects its governance in a poor light, and the early days of the outbreak remain among the most sensitive topics in China today. Several Wuhan relatives have tried to file lawsuits seeking compensation and punishment of officials, but say courts have refused to accept them. HOW DOES CHINA AND THE US'S OFFICIAL TIMELINE COMPARE TO LATER SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE? THE OFFICIAL TIMELINE OF CORONAVIRUS SPREADING FROM CHINA December 31 2019: Total of 27 suspected cases The WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Around 27 suspected cases were reported in the month of December. January 9 2020: Total of 59 confirmed cases, one death A preliminary investigation identified the respiratory disease as a new type of coronavirus, Chinese state media reported. Officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the outbreak's first death on January 9, a 61-year-old man. January 13 2020: Woman in Thailand becomes first confirmed case outside China January 19 2020: U.S. confirms first case in Washington state A man in his 30s developed symptoms of the virus after returning from a trip to Wuhan. January 24 2020: Second US case of COVID-19 confirmed in California California became the second U.S. state to report a case of coronavirus in a traveler who returned to Illinois. January 26 2020: First case confirmed in California January 30 2020: CDC reports first case of person-to-person spread in the US. Officials confirmed a case of coronavirus in a person who had not traveled to Wuhan but shared a house with someone who had been diagnosed with the virus. February 4 2020: First coronavirus case in Wisconsin confirmed February 28 2020: Oregon confirms its first case of coronavirus March 2 2020: First case of coronavirus confirmed in Massachusetts March 1 2020: New York City reports the first case in the city and state A woman returning to New York from Iran is identified to be the state's first case of coronavirus. March 3 2020: Wisconsin and Rhode Island confirm their first cases Three people in Wisconsin become the states first coronavirus cases after they traveled to Europe. A Rhode Island traveler who returned from Italy in mid-February is confirmed to have coronavirus. March 8 2020: Connecticut reports its first presumptive case of coronavirus March 24 2020: First two cases of coronavirus in Michigan confirmed WHAT WE KNOW NOW ABOUT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS FROM CHINA November 17 2019: First probable case identified in China Unpublished government documents obtained by the South China Morning Post in March showed 266 people had contracted coronavirus by the end of 2019. The earliest of them was a 55-year-old woman, identified on November 17 - weeks before China first began to sound the alarm. November 17 2019 - February 1 2020: More than one million people flew from China to the U.S. before travel was shut down December 13-17 2019: Blood donors from California, Oregon and Washington had antibodies to coronavirus December 30 2019 - January 17 2020: Coronavirus antibodies detected in blood donated in Michigan, Massachusetts, Wisconsin or Iowa and Rhode Island or Connecticut January 2020: Genome sequencing of viral strains in New York City suggests that coronavirus was already in New York by January, and came mostly from Europe March 1: New York City reports its first case of coronavirus - but likely already had 11,000 Northeastern University modeling suggested that there were probably more than 10,000 infections in the city already. An analysis by the New York Times suggested that there were likely 28,000 additional cases in five major cities, which had collectively reported just 23 infections. November 30 2020: 'Wuhan Files' obtained by CNN reveal China hid thousands of cases for weeks The Chinese government was reporting about half as many cases a day as were on its confidential list. Experts described the delayed and underreported case counts intentional mistakes. However, even greater transparency would not likely have stopped coronavirus from becoming a global pandemic. December 1 2020: The one year anniversary of the first symptoms reported in Wuhan More than 63.6 million people, including 13.6 Americans, have been infected with coronavirus worldwide. Nearly 270,00 Americans are among the global death toll of 1,47,851. Advertisement The Wuhan government has repeatedly failed to reply to AFP queries regarding the families and their demands. Zhang called on the WHO experts to 'bravely' meet with next-of-kin, saying the investigators are likely to be misled or obstructed by Chinese authorities. He said the families' hard-earned knowledge of how the virus played out could aid the investigation, though he acknowledges such a meeting is highly unlikely. The virus is believed to have emerged from bats and to have initially spread from a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals were sold as food. But little else is known. Another theory, amplified by former US President Donald Trump, is that it leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan where researchers were studying coronaviruses. A militia member uses a digital thermometer to take a driver's temperature at a checkpoint at a highway toll gate in Wuhan on January 23 Pictured: Residents wearing masks past by a screen showing a trailer for the film 'Days and Nights in Wuhan' outside a mall in the city on January 22. After going into a 76-day lockdown a year ago on Saturday, Wuhan is virtually back to normal Glow-in-the-dark rabbit ears, pulsating beats, and a flexible attitude to masks are shown in pictures from clubs in Wuhan, which is back with a vengeance after a lockdown brought life to a standstill in the city of 11 million one year ago on Saturday. Pictured: In this picture taken on January 21, 2021, people visit a nightclub in Wuhan. Most are maskless China initially rejected demands for an international investigation after the Trump administration blamed Beijing for the virus, but bowed to global pressure in May for a probe into the origins. The arrival of the WHO mission has revived controversy over whether China allowed the virus to spread globally by reacting too slowly in the early days. From the beginning, WHO officials have been trying to get more cooperation from China, with limited success. As of Wednesday, China has reported a total of 89,272 confirmed infections. Its death toll rose by one to 4,636 following an additional fatality on Monday. Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty on Tuesday voted against proceeding in the Senate with an impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Senator Blackburn said, Today I voted to support Senator Rand Pauls objection to holding a partisan, unconstitutional trial against a former President. It is time for our country to move forward, instead of looking backwards and fighting the same battles with each other. Senator Hagerty said, Today I was sworn-in for the upcoming trial, but this solemn oath was administered by a Democrat Senator, rather than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, further supporting the view that this continued impeachment effort against a former President is an unconstitutional, political sideshow. Under Article 2, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, a presidential impeachment trial - the purpose of which is to determine whether the President should be removed from office - must involve The President, and Article 1, Section 3 provides that, When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. Yet, the President is not on trial, and the Chief Justice is not presiding, which speaks volumes about the constitutionality of this proceeding. "Its time to focus on controlling the pandemic, and getting the American people back to work, and our children safely back in school, which is why I voted to end this. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2021 / Gold Mountain Mining Corp. (TSXV:GMTN)(FRA:5XFA)("Gold Mountain" or the ("Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Ore Purchase Agreement ("OPA") with New Gold Inc. ("New Gold") for a three-year term. HIGHLIGHTS: Gold Mountain will deliver ore to New Gold's New Afton Mine located 130km from the Company's Elk Gold Project in Kamloops, British Columbia. Pursuant to the OPA, New Gold has agreed to pay Gold Mountain in a timely manner based on the tonnes and grade of the ore delivered to the mill independent of when it's processed. The OPA provides the Company with an efficient path towards initial production following the receipt of necessary permits. Kevin Smith, CEO of Gold Mountain, states "Signing the OPA with New Gold represents another key milestone and partnership for Gold Mountain. This agreement will help advance initial production at the Elk Gold Project by eliminating the time and capital required to build on-site infrastructure. We are confident in our ability to execute on our mine plan and deliver significant value for our shareholders." Ore Purchase Agreement Under the terms of the OPA, Gold Mountain will deliver 70,000 tonnes of ore per annum, approximately 200 tonnes per day, to the mill located at New Gold's New Afton Mine situated 130km from the Elk Gold Project, in Kamloops, British Columbia. The OPA has a term of three years, giving Gold Mountain sufficient time to scale its business accordingly. The ore will be sampled and weighed at the Elk Gold Project site to determine the contained ounces of gold and silver being delivered to the New Afton Mine. Following delivery of the ore, New Gold will pay Gold Mountain at the end of each calendar month based on the value of the gold and silver in the ore, net of the agreed metallurgical recovery and concentrate selling costs. New Gold then has 17 days to deliver payment for the ore. The terms of the OPA mitigate the variance and volatility of operational throughput for Gold Mountain and allows the Company to avoid any risk of recovery. Story continues By securing a world-class toll milling partner in New Gold, along with the previously announced mining contract executed with Nhwelmen-Lake LP, Gold Mountain has the operational partners in place to increase shareholder value. The terms of the OPA supports the economic analysis set forth in Elk Gold's 2020 PEA posted on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and available for download at https://gold-mountain.ca/operations/. The OPA is effective upon the first delivery of ore to the New Afton Mine. Prior to the first delivery of ore, the parties must settle on a sampling procedure for tracking the tonnes and grade delivered, Gold Mountain must receive the Permit (as defined below) and New Gold must obtain a permit amendment to allow for the processing to occur. Mining Permit Update Gold Mountain is pleased to provide an update on the progress of the Joint Permit Amendment Application that was submitted in May 2020 (the "Permit") and will allow for the extraction of 70,000 tonnes per annum of ore. The Permit was accepted through the application screening phase of the application review and Gold Mountain has responded to the first round of technical review questions that were provided by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources and Rural Development. Gold Mountain is anticipating a second (final) round of technical review questions from the regulators in the coming months prior to completing the Permit review process. COVID-19 Gold Mountain is committed to the health and safety of all employees, contractors, and local communities in which they operate. The Company has implemented additional controls and safety protocols in accordance with Canadian guidelines and government requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic. About New Gold Inc. New Gold is a Canadian-focused intermediate gold mining company with a portfolio of two core producing assets in Canada, the Rainy River and New Afton Mines. The Company holds an 8% gold stream on the Artemis Gold Blackwater project located in British Columbia and a 6% equity stake in Artemis. The Company also operates the Cerro San Pedro Mine in Mexico (in reclamation). New Gold's vision is to build a leading diversified intermediate gold company based in Canada that is committed to environment and social responsibility. For further information on New Gold, visit www.newgold.com. About Gold Mountain Gold Mountain is a BC-based gold and silver exploration and development company focusing on the expansion of the resource at the Elk Gold Project, a past producing mine located 57 km from Merritt in South Central British Columbia. www.gold-mountain.ca. For further information, please contact: Gold Mountain Mining Corp. Kevin Smith, Director and Chief Executive Officer Phone: 604-309-6340 www.Gold-Mountain.ca Email: KS@gold-mountain.ca Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Gold Mountain obtaining its mining permit, Gold Mountain hauling ore to New Afton, New Gold paying Gold Mountain in a timely manner, the ability of Gold Mountain to execute on its mine plan, the terms of the Permit, forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; the price of gold; New Gold's ability to obtain its custom milling permit, Gold Mountain's timely receipt of the Permit and the results of current exploration. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Gold Mountain disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. For a comprehensive overview of all risks that may impact the Company, please see the Filing Statement dated December 14, 2020 a copy of which is available on Gold Mountain's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. SOURCE: Gold Mountain Mining Corp View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/626079/Gold-Mountain-Mining-Corp-Signs-Ore-Purchase-Agreement-With-New-Gold-Inc Colorado Springs, CO (80903) Today Showers early, then clearing overnight. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Showers early, then clearing overnight. Low 51F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Chandler Riggs - who used to star on The Walking Dead - left fans concerned as he posted an unexplained photo of himself in a hospital bed. The 21-year-old actor took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to share the photo of himself laying in full patient garb including protective face mask as he gave the thumbs up toward the camera. Riggs - who played Carl Grimes on the popular AMC zombie drama series - offered no explanation for why he was there but did caption the image to his 1.5million followers: 'we back.' Scroll down for video Mystery: Chandler Riggs took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to share the photo of himself laying in full patient garb including protective face mask as he gave the thumbs up toward the camera Coooral: Riggs played Carl Grimes on the popular AMC zombie drama series Uh oh: Some of his fans were very concerned DailyMail.com has reached out to the actor's representatives for comment. Hours later his mother, Gina-Ann Riggs, took to Instagram to shed a little more light on the situation without giving a full explanation. She wrote: 'I had no idea he posted this picture. For all of you who are worried, he had to have minor surgery but is in recovery now. Im with him and hes doing well. Thank you for your kind words and well wishes.' 'I had no idea he posted this picture': Hours later his mother, Gina-Ann Riggs, took to Instagram to shed a little more light on the situation without giving a full explanation. Well wishers: Chandler's Twitter feed was full of confused and concerned fans He could be seen covered up in a silver warming blanket as several IV drops are seen in his right arm leaving many of his fans to wonder what had happened in the comments. One very concerned follower wrote: 'Chandler what's going on your scaring me like really scaring me please be ok.' Another said: 'OMG what happened chandler? Someone explains to me what happened I don't understand why is he in the hospital??' Good spirit: Some of his followers had a sense of humor about the post 'Congrats on the eye transplant': Obviously several referenced his work on The Walking Dead but perhaps the most humorous of all was one who joked about Carl's eye being shot off in season 6 One of his other fans found it amusing that he would post such an image without explanation as they wrote: 'How do you post something like this to 1.5m people and not explain..... Chandler is one of those damn trolls [two rolling over laughing while crying emojis]' Obviously several referenced his work on The Walking Dead but perhaps the most humorous of all was one who joked about Carl's eye being shot off in season 6. They posted photo of his character with his right eye missing along with the caption: 'Congrats on the eye transplant. They did an amazing job [hand clap emoji]' 'Can't stop, won't stop': Chandler did not reply to any of his concerned fans but he has kept himself occupied by participating in the stock market trend which has been all over Reddit and Twitter Chandler did not reply to any of his concerned fans but he has kept himself occupied by participating in the stock market trend which has been all over Reddit and Twitter. He posted: 'buying more GME from my hospital bed today. cant stop, wont stop, gamestop.' This was not the first time Chandler has landed himself in the hospital in recent years, and likely why he captioned his latest image 'we back,' as he was rushed to the hospital after being thrown off of a horse in November 2019. 'The call every mom hopes she never gets': This was not the first time Chandler has landed himself in the hospital in recent years, and likely why he captioned his latest image 'we back,' as he was rushed to the hospital after being thrown off of a horse in November 2019 Gina shared a picture of herself with her actor son in the hospital bed giving the same thumbs up toward the camera. She wrote in the caption at the time: 'The call every mom hopes she never gets... Thankfully, hes going to be ok and thankfully Im here with him! 'He was thrown off of his horse yesterday afternoon. Thank GOODNESS he was wearing a helmet.' Signature role: He was let from The Walking Dead in late 2017 when his character was controversially killed off midway through the eighth season (pictured) which happened to be a drastic departure from the comic book source material Chandler was cast as Carl on The Walking Dead at the age of 10 in 2010. He was let go in late 2017 when his character was controversially killed off midway through the eighth season which happened to be a drastic departure from the comic book source material. Riggs currently stars in a recurring role on ABC drama A Million Things. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. He was given information on whom to contact to schedule his second dose. He tried calling the number, but he became disconnected over and over. Additionally, the website was down. The next day, the website was still down, but he got through on the phone, only to be told the system crashed and there was nothing anyone could do. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. A collection of 5,000 artefacts that had been illegally smuggled out Egypt have safely arrived back to the country. The artefacts were in the possession of the Museum of the Bible in Washington. Supervisor General of the Repatriation Department Shaaban Abdel-Gawad said that diplomatic negotiations to recover the artefacts started in 2016 between Egypts Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the concerned authorities in the US, including Homeland Security and the State Department. The collection includes coffins, mummies, funerary masks, heads of stone statues, and papyri with hieroglyphic, Coptic and Arabic text. Abdel-Gawad said that the recovered objects, which had been stolen in illegal excavations, will be sent to the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan R. Cohen has expressed his happiness that these treasures have returned to their homeland. Short link: SEATTLE, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK IN RE: SAKS INC. SHAREHOLDER LITIGATION Index No. 652724/2013 IAS Part 53 Hon. Andrew Borrok, J.S.C. SUMMARY NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND INFORMATION REGARDING PROPOSED SETTLEMENT OF CLASS ACTION CLAIMS, SETTLEMENT HEARING, AND RIGHT TO OBJECT, OPT OUT, and APPEAR AT HEARING This notice is for all owners of Saks Inc. ("Saks") common stock between July 29, 2013 through November 4, 2013 (the date of the consummation of the acquisition of Saks by Hudson's Bay Company ("HBC")), together with their successors and assigns (the "Class"). PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED BY A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT PENDING IN THIS COURT. YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED, pursuant to CPLR 904 and 908 and an Order of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York (the "Court") of the pendency of the above-captioned consolidated shareholder class action (the "Action") that may affect your rights if you are a member of the Class. YOU ARE ALSO HEREBY NOTIFIED that Plaintiffs in the Action, on behalf of themselves and the other members of the Class, have reached a proposed settlement of the Action for $21,000,000 in cash (the "Settlement") on the terms and conditions set forth in a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, Compromise, and Release dated November 13, 2020 (the "Stipulation"), as described in more detail in the full printed Notice of Pendency of Class Action and Information Regarding Proposed Settlement of Class Action Claims, Settlement Hearing, and Right to Object, Opt Out, and Appear at Hearing (the "Notice"). PLEASE VISIT THE SETTLEMENT WEBSITE AT WWW.SAKSSECURITIESSETTLEMENT.COM FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TIME, PLACE AND MANNER OF THE SETTLEMENT HEARING WHICH YOU MAY ATTEND VIA INTERNET OR TELEPHONE. A settlement hearing will be held on April 26, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., via Microsoft Teams in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, 60 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007. At the Settlement Hearing, the Court will determine, among other things: (a) whether the Class should be certified; (b) whether the proposed Settlement on the terms and conditions provided in the Stipulation is fair, reasonable, and adequate to the Class, and should be approved; (c) whether the Action should be dismissed with prejudice and the releases specified and described in the Stipulation (and in the Notice) should be given effect; (d) whether the application by Plaintiffs' Counsel for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses should be approved; and (e) whether the applicable by Plaintiffs' Counsel for an incentive award to Plaintiffs should be approved. IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLASS, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE PENDING ACTION AND THE SETTLEMENT. If you have not yet received the Notice, you may obtain copies of it by contacting the Settlement Administrator at the address set forth below. Copies of the Notice and Claim Form can also be downloaded from the website maintained by the Settlement Administrator, www.SaksSecuritiesSettlement.com. If the Settlement is approved by the Court and the Effective Date occurs, the Net Settlement Fund will be distributed on a pro rata basis to "Authorized Claimants," which means Eligible Class Members who submit a Claim Form to the Settlement Administrator that is approved by the Court for payment from the Net Settlement Fund. Eligible Class Members means Class Members who held shares of Saks common stock at the closing of the acquisition of Saks by HBC and therefore received or were entitled to receive the merger consideration for their eligible shares. Eligible Class Members exclude all Excluded Persons (as defined in the Stipulation) and all Class Members who have delivered a timely and valid request for exclusion from the Settlement. Pursuant to the terms of the Stipulation, each Authorized Claimant will be eligible to receive a pro rata payment from the Net Settlement Fund equal to the product of (x) the number of Eligible Shares held by the Authorized Claimant and (y) the "Per-Share Recovery" for the Settlement, which will be determined by dividing the total amount of the Net Settlement Fund by the total number of Eligible Shares held by all Authorized Claimants, as determined by the Settlement Administrator in accordance with the Stipulation. To qualify for a distribution from the Settlement, you must be an Eligible Class Member and you must submit a timely and valid Claim Form. Claim Forms must be submitted no later than April 5, 2021. Eligible Class Members who do not submit a timely and valid Claim Form will not receive a distribution from the Settlement and will be bound in all respects by the Stipulation and the Judgment to be entered in the Action. Instructions on how to submit a Claim Form, and a summary of how the Net Settlement Fund will be distributed to Authorized Claimants, are set forth in the Notice. Any person or entity falling within the definition of the Class may exclude themselves from the Class by submitting to Plaintiffs' Counsel a request for exclusion so that it is received no later than April 5, 2021, in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. All persons who submit valid and timely Requests for Exclusion in the manner set forth in the Notice shall have no rights under the Stipulation, shall not share in the distribution of the Net Settlement Fund, and shall not be bound by the Stipulation or the Judgment entered in the Action. All Class Members who do not timely submit valid requests for exclusion shall be deemed to have waived their rights to be excluded from the Class, shall be barred from making such a request in the Action or any other proceeding, and shall be bound by the Settlement and the Stipulation in all respects. Any objections to the proposed Settlement and/or Plaintiffs' Counsel's application for an award of fees and expenses to Plaintiffs' Counsel or for an incentive award to Plaintiffs must be filed with the Clerk of Court and delivered to representatives of Plaintiffs' Counsel, Defendants' Counsel, and the Companies' Counsel so that they are received no later than April 5, 2021 in accordance with the instructions set forth in the Notice. All questions about this Summary Notice, the Notice and Claim Forms, and the proposed Settlement should be directed to the Settlement Administrator or Plaintiffs' Counsel. Visit www.SaksSecuritiesSettlement.com or call toll-free at 1-833-707-1446. Requests for the Notice or Claim Forms should be made to: Saks Securities Settlement c/o JND Legal Administration P.O. Box 91062 Seattle, WA, 98111 1-833-707-1446 [email protected] Inquiries other than requests for the Notice or Claim Forms should be made to the following representative of Plaintiffs' Counsel: Benjamin Y. Kaufman, Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016; (212) 545-4600; [email protected]. DO NOT CALL OR WRITE THE COURT REGARDING THIS NOTICE. BY ORDER OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF NEW YORK SOURCE JND Legal Administration Delhi police made a shocking revelation that over 300 Twitter handles were created from Pakistan from January 13 to 18 to disturb the farmers' tractor rally. According to sources, these Pakistani handles were created to create panic by giving false information. As Farmers Tractor Rally turned violent and protesters marched to the Red Fort, Delhi police made a shocking revelation that over 300 Twitter handles were created from Pakistan from January 13 to 18 to disturb the farmers tractor rally. According to sources, these Pakistani handles were created to create panic by giving false information and cause much more mayhem and chaos. Delhi police Cyber team has been closely keeping strict checks on social media to track miscreants who were trying to create panic. Farmers protest intensifies as groups of farmers were seen indulging in vandalism of public property and targeting police personnel deployed for Republic Day security. In the visuals coming in, the protestors can be seen raising yellow flags at the Red fort. Considering the chaos in the National Capital, the Ministry of Home Affairs has ordered to suspend Internet services in some parts of Delhi-NCR. Over 308 Twitter handles were generated from Pakistan prior to the tractor rally in the National Capital on the same day of Indias 72nd Republic Day to create confusion. The Delhi Police feared that Pakistan-based terror groups were aiming to create trouble and disrupt the farmers tractor rally. The tractor rally had been marred by violence and questions regarding funding have been raised throughout the start of the agitation as similar protests have occurred in major American and Canadian cities. It is feared many outside forces are using this opportunity to flag anti-India slogans and create their own vested agenda. #WATCH: Broken shards of glass, scattered pieces of paper and vandalised ticket counter seen at the Red Fort in Delhi. A group of protestors climbed to the ramparts of the fort and unfurled flags on January 26. pic.twitter.com/myCOU9QrJK ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2021 Also Read: iTV Network journalists attacked during farmer stir: NBF condemns attack Also Read: As violence marks farmers tractor rally; time to probe foreign funding angle & vested interests In the early hey-days of the Range Rover, following its introduction in the 1970s, it was the vehicle of choice for the British rangers. The... Yes, no matter what Yes, but it depends on variety No, for medical reasons, uncertainty No, principle Vote View Results Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. RED BLUFF, Calif. - A young Red Bluff resident battling Hodgkins Lymphoma received a quad he had wished for with the Make-A-Wish foundation. Delbert Bellus, 19-years-old, was experiencing cold-like symptoms in October 2019. When antibiotics failed, he went through a series of tests when a mass was discovered around his lungs. Bellus was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. During a parade last July put on by an Adopt-A-Wish sponsor, Nothern Counties Roofing Systems, Bellus received information that his wish for a quad was being granted soon. Bellus went through rounds of chemo and radiation before he completed his treatment in September before leaving for college in Wyoming. In December, when he returned home from college for the holidays, his quad arrived. Bellus plans to take the quad back to college with him where he will be able to ride it to school and use it for fun. He endured rounds of both chemo and radiation and completed his treatment in time to leave for college last September. There is no such issue at all, and the authorities of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) have refuted all the rumors about that. This is what Spokesperson of the President of Artsakh Vahram Poghosyan told 168.am in response to the news spread on social networks according to which Azerbaijani refugees might return to the settlements near Stepanakert. There is an impression that not only the Azerbaijani side, but also certain destructive forces are consistently trying to make the public panic. This absurd news might also be spread by Azerbaijans special services. In any case, the issue of disinformation is in the focus of the authorities, and the National Security Service is dealing with this matter, Poghosyan said. According to Poghosyan, the President has already given a clear response to this issue. Artsakh can never be a part of Azerbaijan. Artsakh will continue to build its independent state with the security guarantees of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. The return of Azerbaijani refugees to the territories under Artsakhs control is simply ruled out, and this issue hasnt been discussed with the authorities of Artsakh. We understand the consequences very well, and the authorities of Artsakh wont agree with this. I repeat that this issue isnt and cant be on the agenda, and those who are deliberately spreading disinformation are committing a criminal act, Poghosyan said. Addis Ababa, Jan 27 : Ethiopia has reported 437 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 134,569, health officials said on Wednesday. Officials added the death toll in the country reached 2,075 with four fresh fatlities, even as 549 more recoveries were registered on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation, is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in Africa, after South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. The Ethiopian government has been urging the public to implement precautionary measures so as to contain the Covid-19 spread. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Second US drug maker develops COVID-19 vaccine, said to be 94.5% effective Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A second company in the United States announced that it developed a vaccine for COVID-19, reporting that the possible treatment has a 94.5% efficacy. Moderna, Inc. released a statement Monday, saying that mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate, had undergone phase 3 of a study, with the vaccine having a 94.5% efficacy rate. Known as the COVE Study, the research involved over 30,000 participants and was conducted with the National Institutes of Health and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The primary endpoint of the Phase 3 COVE study is based on the analysis of COVID-19 cases confirmed and adjudicated starting two weeks following the second dose of vaccine, stated the company. This first interim analysis was based on 95 cases, of which 90 cases of COVID-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 5 cases observed in the mRNA-1273 group, resulting in a point estimate of vaccine efficacy of 94.5%." Moderna went on to note that an interim analysis of the research found that there were no significant safety concerns and that their vaccine was generally well tolerated. Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel called the findings a pivotal moment in the development of our COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Since early January, we have chased this virus with the intent to protect as many people around the world as possible, stated Bancel. This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease. Moderna has been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Trump administrations Operation Warp Speed program. The announcement comes as fewer U.S. adults say they would definitely or probably get a COVID-19 vaccine. According to a Pew Research Center survey in September, 51% said they would get a vaccine. In May, 72% said they would get it. Last week, Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech announced that it developed a vaccine found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in participants without evidence of prior infection. Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set of results from our Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial provides the initial evidence of our vaccines ability to prevent COVID-19, said Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla in a statement. We are reaching this critical milestone in our vaccine development program at a time when the world needs it most with infection rates setting new records, hospitals nearing over-capacity and economies struggling to reopen." The difference between the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine candidates is that the latter can be stored at a normal refrigerator temperature, making it easier to distribute, according to Reuters. Moderna plans to file the vaccine for emergency use authorization within the next few weeks, although if approved, it is not expected to be widely available by the end of the year, Reuters added. ANN ARBOR, MI An anonymous $5-million gift to the University of Michigans Ross School of Business will provide need-based scholarships for students who have blazed a trail or taken on challenges. The True Grit Scholarship Fund will award partial and full-ride scholarships to current and incoming full-time bachelors and masters degree students in business administration who have demonstrated notable determination to succeed in business and in life, according to a Tuesday, Jan. 26 university news release. The scholarship is being funded by a Ross School alumnus, who wishes to remain anonymous, the release states. Recipients could include students who are the first in their families to pursue a college degree and those who have overcome personal obstacles, served in the military or otherwise exhibited personal fortitude and resilience in staking their own path in the world, according to the release. Perseverance and resilience are two qualities that make exceptional students and future business leaders, said Ross School Dean Scott DeRue. Im incredibly excited to announce the new True Grit Scholarship Fund to support students who have overcome challenges to pursue their business education at Michigan Ross. Im also sincerely grateful to the Ross alumnus who has given this generous gift to support our students and transform peoples lives through education. Students will be selected to receive the scholarship beginning in the fall with no application required, the release states. READ MORE: It was bound to happen at some point: University of Michigan students react to COVID variant University of Michigan Law School alumnus gives $5M gift for deanship $15M research partnership renewed by University of Michigan, Toyota Research Institute Global Champagne volumes dropped by almost one-fifth last year as COVID-19 impacted the category's core markets, including France and the UK. Champagne shipments last year were hit by on-premise closures around the world Shipments in 2020 totalled 245m bottles, an 18% fall year-on-year, Champagne trade association Comite Champagne said today. The group blamed the coronavirus pandemic, which has closed restaurants and bars around the world and cancelled events. Champagne volumes in France declined by 20% in an already under-pressure market. In 2019, volumes in the country fell by 4% in 2019. Exports to key markets fared little better - UK and US volumes were both down 20%, while Japan plunged 28%. Australia, where bars and restaurants are back to near normal business, was a rare bright spot for exports: The country's Champagne volumes were up by 14% in 2020. Despite the global declines, the Comite Champagne was upbeat about the figures after previous forecasts estimated volumes for last year would be down by as much as 30%. Speaking to just-drinks today, a spokesperson for Comite Champagne's UK unit said strong supermarket sales and at-home consumption in the country helped avoid the more pessimistic outlook, and that numbers towards the end of the year point to a rebound in 2021. According to the spokesperson, more Champagne was consumed in the UK in December last year than in the same month in 2019. "In supermarket sales and independent retail, performance has been phenomenal in the last few months of the year," the spokesperson added. Sustainability decisions will shape the post-pandemic recovery - Sustainability Spotlight Fundraising, Subscription by Directors and Love Hemp Q1 Trading Update LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2021 / World High Life Plc ("World High Life" or the "Company") (AQSE:LIFE) (OTCQB:WRHLF) announces that it has raised 566,206 via the issue of 56,620,600 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares"; the "Subscription Shares") at a subscription price of 1.0p per share. The proceeds of the Subscription Shares will be used by the Company for general working capital purposes. Subscribers for the Subscription Shares also received 1 share purchase warrant for every 1 Ordinary Share subscribed for, amounting in aggregate to 56,620,600 warrants ("Warrants"). The Warrants may be exercised at any time until 2 years from the closing of this financing at an exercise price of 1.0p per Ordinary Share. Andrew Male and Robert Payment, Executive Directors of World High Life, subscribed for 4,000,000 and 350,000 Subscription Shares, respectively. Andrew Male is now interested in 4,709,625 Ordinary Shares, representing 1.6% of the Company's issued share capital, and Robert Payment is now interested in 1,307,778 Ordinary Shares, representing 0.5% of the Company's issued share capital. Application has been made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on the AQSE Growth Market and admission is expected to become effective on 2 February 2021. Following the issue of the Subscription Shares, the Company has 286,740,419 Ordinary Shares in issue, each share carrying the right to one vote. The figure of 286,740,419 should be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. In addition, the Directors are pleased to announce that Love Hemp Limited ("Love Hemp"), a wholly owned subsidiary of World High Life, achieved 1st quarter unaudited sales (1 July - 30 September 2020), of 793,500 ($1,070,000). These sales represent an increase of approximately 13% over the previous quarter. The increase in sales represent a strong increase during the COVID 19 pandemic across all platforms: Love Hemp, CBDOilsUk.com, LH Life and wholesale activities, including LH Botanicals," noted Tony Calamita, Love Hemp Founder and CEO. "Love Hemp has developed and strengthened a multi-platform brand strategy during the pandemic that we believe provides a launch pad for future growth". Q1 Highlights Revenue up 13% compared to previous 3 months Conversion rate up 12% compared to previous 3 months Over 14,000 units sold online Over 5,000 customer accounts created The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. About Love Hemp Love Hemp is one of the UK's leading CBD and Hemp product suppliers and has more than 40 product lines, comprising oils, sprays and vapes and a variety of edible and water-based CBD products. Love Hemp has established relationships with over 1,200 stores in the UK, including leading brands such as Ocado, Holland & Barrett and WH Smith. About World High Life World High Life was established by the founders of Supreme Cannabis (TSX: FIRE), and 1933 Industries (CSE: TGIF), both companies at the forefront of the legalized cannabis industry. LIFE was established to take advantage of the huge opportunities available in the UK and European legal cannabis space, which is set to be the largest in the world within five years. For further information please contact: Andrew Male Director World High Life PLC +44 (0) 7926 397 675 info@worldhighlife.uk AQSE Corporate Adviser Mark Anwyl/Allie Feuerlein Peterhouse Capital Limited +44 (0) 20 7469 0930 ma@peterhousecap.com af@peterhousecap.com For more information on World High Life please visit: www.worldhighlife.uk Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them 1. Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name: Andrew Male 2. Reason for the notification a) Position/status: Director b) Initial notification/Amendment: Initial notification 3. 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Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated a) Name: Robert Payment 2. Reason for the notification a) Position/status: Director b) Initial notification/Amendment: Initial notification 3. Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor a) Name: World High Life Plc b) LEI: 213800ERYVHIGFSPMM75 4. Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted a) Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument: Identification code: Ordinary shares of 0.01 GB00BK26FQ62 b) Nature of the transaction: Subscription of ordinary shares and grant of warrants c) Price(s) and volume(s): Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.01 350,000 Warrants: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.01 350,000 d) Aggregated information: Aggregated volume: Price: Ordinary Shares: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.01 350,000 Warrants: Price(s) Volume(s) 0.01 350,000 e) Date of the transaction: 2021-01-27 f) Place of the transaction: Off-market Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information. Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information We seek safe harbour. Some statements contained in this news release are "forward looking information" within the meaning of securities laws. Forward looking information include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the use of proceeds of the non-brokered private placement and payment of the debt settlements. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words and phrases (including negative or grammatical variations) or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotation thereof. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and involves risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. The forward-looking information contained in this press release constitutes management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. We do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event, except as required by law. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: World High Life PLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626328/World-High-Life-PLC-Announces-Fundraising-Subscription-by-Directors-Q1-Update moderna confirmed on Wednesday that it is in talks with the U.S. to supply an additional 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine. The federal government had already signed an agreement with the biotechnology company last year to purchase 200 million doses of the inoculation, and the new purchase would bring the total up to 300 million. This supply will be enough to immunize nearly half of the country's population with the two-shot regimen. If the deal goes through, Moderna would deliver the additional doses in summer 2021. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden said he is also hoping to buy 100 million more doses of the other vaccine approved for emergency use authorization in the U.S., made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, to ensure the nation has enough vaccines for the long term. Even more doses could be available if federal scientists approve a single-dose shot from Johnson & Johnson, which is expected to seek emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks. Moderna confirmed it it is talks with the Biden administration to supply an additional 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to be delivered in summer 2021. Pictured: Biden speaks about the coronavirus pandemic in the State Dining Room of the White House, Tuesday Biden says he hopes this will speed up the rollout after just 23.5 million Americans - seven percent of the population - has been vaccinated with about one million shots per day Earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if the administration had a ball park figure of how many doses in the U.S. have not yet been given out. Psaki said she did not know. 'We've been here for five days to evaluate the supply so that we can release the maximum amount while also ensuring that everyone can get the second dose on the FDA recommended schedule,' she replied. As of Wednesday, the U.S. has only vaccinated about 23.5 million Americans - seven percent of the population - and one percent has received both shots, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Bloomberg. The deals pledged by President Biden does not mean the rollout would speed up immediately, but it does mean the nation could see some sense of herd immunity by late summer and early fall. In addition to deals made with Pfizer and Moderna, the U.S. government has also signed agreements with two vaccines not approved yet, one made by Johnson & Johnson and the other by the University of Oxford. Johnson & Johnson has committed to deliver 100 million doses by June, which CFO Joe Wolk said on Tuesday the company is 'confident' it will be able to do, though the company's vaccine is yet to be approved by the FDA. In addition, the U.S. is expected to receive 300 million doses of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca, but not until fall 2021. The FDA has not yet approved this shot. It comes as Biden also announced on Tuesday that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks. Biden, calling the push a 'wartime effort,' acknowledged that states in recent weeks have been left guessing how much supply they will have from one week to the next. Shortages have been so severe that some vaccination sites around the U.S. had to cancel tens of thousands of appointments with people seeking their first shot. The news comes one days after Biden pledged to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office. So far, just 23.5 million Americans have received shots (above) Biden also promised to increase vaccine deliveries to states by 16% over the next three weeks. Currently, about 43 million doses have been administered (above) 'This is unacceptable,' Biden said. 'Lives are at stake.' He promised a roughly 16 percent boost in deliveries to states over the next three weeks. Governors and top health officials have been increasingly raising the alarm about inadequate supplies and the need for earlier and more reliable estimates of how much vaccine is on the way so that they can plan. Biden's team held its first virus-related call with the nation's governors on Tuesday and pledged to provide states with firm vaccine allocations three weeks ahead of delivery. Biden's announcement came a day after he grew more bullish about exceeding his vaccine pledge to deliver 100 million injections in his first 100 days in office, suggesting that a rate of 1.5 million doses per day could soon be achieved. The administration has also promised more openness and said it will hold news briefings three times a week, beginning Wednesday, about the outbreak that has killed more than 423,000 Americans. The weekly allocation cycle for first doses begins on Monday nights, when federal officials review data on vaccine availability from manufacturers to determine how much each state can have. Allocations are based on each jurisdiction's population of people 18 and older. States are notified on Tuesdays of their allocations through a computer network called Tiberius and other channels, after which they can specify where they want doses shipped. Deliveries start the following Monday. The U.S. currently ranks sixth in the world in the number of doses administered relative to the country's population (above) With the 200 million already purchased, this would bring the federal's governments confirmed order with Moderna to 300 million doses A similar but separate process for ordering second doses, which must be given three to four weeks after the first, begins each week on Sunday night. The U.S. ranks sixth in the world in the number of doses administered relative to the country's population, behind No. 1 Israel, United Arab Emirates, the Seychelles, Britain and Bahrain, according to data from Bloomberg. The reason more of the available shots in the U.S. haven't been dispensed isn't entirely clear. But many vaccination sites are apparently holding large quantities of vaccine in reserve to make sure people who have already gotten their first shot receive the required second one on schedule. Also, some state officials have complained of a lag between when they report their vaccination numbers to the government and when the figures are posted on the CDC website. Of all the things described in William of Rubruck's account of his travels through 13th-century Asia, perhaps none is so striking as the remarkably ornate fountain he encountered in the Mongol capital which complete with silver fruit and an angelic automaton flowed with various alcoholic drinks for the grandson of Genghis Khan and guests. Devon Field explores how this Silver Tree of Karakorum became a potent symbol, not only of the Mongol Empire's imperial might, but also its downfall. By the time Friar William of Rubruck arrived at the camp of Mongke Khan in the last days of 1253, he had pushed his body to its breaking point. The trip from Acre had taken him by way of Constantinople, across the Black Sea, and then on a punishing overland journey featuring extreme cold, a demon-haunted pass, and little enough food that his travel-companion, Bartolomeo of Cremona, had been close to tears, exclaiming It seems to me I shall never get anything to eat. And then there had been the Mongols themselves. Passing into their territory was like passing through one of the gates of hell, and leaving their presence comparable to escaping the midst of devils. Safe to say that the Mongols seemed quite alien to this Flemish friar. William grumbled at their (in his view) incurable greed, commented repeatedly on his distaste for the women's noses, and spoke of the foolishness of their religion. Though in many ways a clever traveller and, despite this xenophobia, an at times astute observer, he was in other ways a fish out of water, even going about at first in bare feet on the frozen winter ground. But not everything was so unfamiliar, so strange to him. There at the heart of the Mongol Empire, he found a surprisingly cosmopolitan scene comprised of Hungarians, Greeks, Armenians, Alans, Georgians, and more. In the capital of Karakorum, he found a Saracen quarter with its markets and a Cathayan one with its artisans; he found temples and mosques, and he found a church. He met a Christian from Damascus who represented the Ayyubid Sultan, a woman from Metz named Pacquette who had been captured while on business in Hungary, and the son of an Englishman named Basil. Most helpful to him during his stay was an artisan from Paris named Guillaume Boucher. This Parisian smith created several pieces which William saw an altarpiece, a kind of mobile oratory, an iron to make communion wafers, and, perhaps his most significant mark left at Mongkes capital, the Mongol khans wonderfully elaborate drinking fountain. Now the words drinking fountain might evoke high school hallways and awkwardly hunching over to bring your face to the faucet, but this was something else entirely. Crowned by a trumpet-wielding, angelic automaton, the main structure formed a magnificent silver tree, wrapped in silver serpents and complete with branches, leaves, and fruit. At its roots sat four lions of silver, each with a conduit through it, and all belching forth white milk of mares. Up in the branches, four pipes emerged to splash a different alcoholic beverage down to silver basins waiting below. There was grape wine, fermented mares milk, rice wine, and honey mead, all to be ready when the khan so desired. This so-called drinking fountain was, for all intents and purposes, a most convoluted and extravagant bar. Mongke Khan's fountain, as depicted in Pierre de Bergeron's Voyages faits principalement en Asie (1735) Sadly, this curious creation, completed while William was at the camp of the Mongol khan, has not survived for us to admire. We are left with only the friars words to go on and, subsequently, with many questions. Was it as imagined in the eighteenth-century edition of geographer and poet Pierre de Bergerons work? Most visual representations since have been based on Bergeron's, but did it really tower so high and appear so baroque? Was it even actually as William described? Have we correctly translated from his Gallicised Latin? Might his lions have been tigers or his serpents in fact dragons? How did it all work? A press a button, lean down, and sip affair it was not. Originally, bellows had been placed within the tree to pipe air through the angels trumpet whenever the khan called for a drink, but that hadnt worked out. There was a flaw in the fountain. The bellows simply hadnt been powerful enough, so in a slightly comedic twist, a man was placed in a space beneath the tree instead, a space which may or may not have been large enough not to be nightmarishly claustrophobic. When the call came, the man would blow, and the angel would raise the trumpet to its lips. The sound produced was loud enough to bring servants scurrying from the cavern outside the palace where drinks were stored. They would pour liquids into the trees roots that would quickly siphon up and pour out from above and into the basins. From there the drink would be collected by cup-bearers and delivered, in great style, to the khan and his guests. An audience with Mongke, from Ata-Malik Juvayni's Tarikh-i Jahangushay, 1438 It was all quite unnecessary and inefficient. Simply carrying skins of milk and other beverages directly into the palace would have been quicker, with no pipes or angels required, but then, as William noted, it would be "unseemly to bring in there skins of milk and other drinks", even common one might say. Basic function aside, the khans drinking fountain was a wonderfully grand, eye-catching piece. It had certainly caught the eye of William, who otherwise unfavourably compared the Mongol palace to the village of Saint-Denis. The fountains possible religious meaning is somewhat difficult to parse between French creator and Mongol client (and through the veil of Williams report), but there are possible readings. The serpents and fruit, with an angel hanging above them all, are suggestive of the Tree of Knowledge, its four liquids the four rivers of Eden. And, indeed, the designer of the fountain was a Christian who was at times called upon to play the role of priest in his community. Yet these and other elements do each yield to other interpretations, ones rooted in Chinese symbology, in Mongol Tengriism, or in Buddhism. What Guillaumes creation perhaps expressed most clearly was riches and imperial power. One of the laundry list of items that bothered William about the Mongols was their incredible arrogance in assuming that he must be there to beg for peace, but they had every reason to expect it. Their empire was, arguably, at its peak, and envoys, kings, and sultans from far afield did indeed often come to them to do just that. They brought gifts, and the Mongol rulers would, in turn, put their tokens of imperial might on display. An example of this was the costly chapel-tent made of fine scarlet cloth and featuring Christian imagery that King Louis IX had sent to the Mongols as part of a 1249 diplomatic mission. It and other items, including fragments of the cross, were intended as gifts, but they were reported to have been received as tribute, the chapel-tent an object to be displayed and to proclaim See? Even the Franks, as distant as they are, submit to us. The drinking fountain, pouring Persian grape wine and Chinese rice wine from the empire's conquered territories, would have transmitted a similar message. Conquest of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, an illustration from Rashid-ad-Din's Jami' al-tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), early 14th century Unlike the chapel-tent, the fountain had been created on-site. It had not been carried there from afar, but of course, its creator had. He had been captured by the Mongol armies that had pierced central Europe and then withdrawn in 1242, and he had neither been taken nor survived at the center of the Mongol world by chance. His captors recognized the value of skilled craftsmen and, in their conquests, would set them aside and collect them. Just as they had the tremendous wealth of an empire, so too did they collect our Parisian metalworker, Guillaume Boucher. Guillaume created something wonderful for them, an imposing testament to the reach of the Mongol Empire in the craft of a metalworker plucked from the other end of the Eurasian landmass. He, with the help of an unknown number of unknown assistants, created a towering spectacle for the khan and his guests that dispensed liquids as if by magic, a seemingly endless torrent of drinks for their enjoyment. They wouldnt sit down to enjoy it throughout the year. It was more of a seasonal delight. Friar William reported Mongkes court travelling in a circuit and only at times coming to the settled capital, to the palace, to the site of Guillaumes work where they would feast and drink. And Mongol royalty did not do such things daintily. In Williams narrative, the Mongols drinking habits form something of a low background hum against which events are set. He doesnt linger over the topic, but its always there. At each audience, he noted the bench with drinks and goblets to the side. His first audience with Mongke had been encumbered by his interpreters drunkenness. Making the rounds of the royalty meant drinking with all of them, often a great deal to drink. Sometimes, as the khan spoke, William would count the number of times he drank before he finished. It was not, to say the least, a dry society, and health issues among the Mongol leadership were predictably prevalent. Guyuk Khan, cousin to Mongke, feasting; an illustration from Ata-Malik Juvayni's Tarikh-i Jahangushay, 1438 Mongke's uncle, Ogedei Khan, had problems with alcoholism recognized even within his social milieu, and he died from them despite the efforts of those around him to slow his drinking. Of Ogedei's son Guyuk Khans death, it was sometimes said he had been killed or poisoned by a family member, but its often thought that he succumbed instead to his unhealthy lifestyle. A bit of a pattern was developing, and it was one that was going to haunt Genghis Khans dynasty for quite some time to come. It is striking then that the fountain, a symbol of wealth and empire, was also a symbol of something that so troubled that empire. Friar Williams time among the Mongols would ultimately prove a frustrating experience for him. The goals of his trip whether you take them to be diplomatic on the part of King Louis IX or, as William would frequently claim, those of a simple missionary were left largely unachieved. There was to be no Mongol military assistance coming Louis' way, and William himself admits to having baptized a grand total of six souls. His travelling companion, fearful that he could never survive the return journey, remained behind in Karakorum with Guillaume, at least temporarily, his host. Guillaume seems to fall off the map after Williams account of their time together. Artifacts have been found which may or may not have been his creations, but little else is known of him or his fate. Presumably, he ended his life there at the center of what was then the most powerful empire on earth. Likely, he lived long enough to see it cease to be the center, as Mongkes brother Kublai moved it in the direction of China and the vast empire broke up into khanates that were largely independent of one another and, increasingly, at war. For his part, Guillaume had succeeded in creating a grand symbol of a far-reaching empire and an impressive accessory to the khans courtly binging, an expression of wealth and power but also of the unhealthy habits that would continue to eat away at the Genghis dynasty. This article by Devon Field originally appeared in The Public Domain Review, and was reproduced here under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license All but five of the 50 Republicans in the US Senate backed Donald Trump in a critical impeachment vote on Tuesday, suggesting the former president is unlikely to be convicted for inciting the violent insurrection on Capitol Hill. Forty-five Republicans, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, voted in favour of the point of order put forward by Rand Paul, the GOP senator from Kentucky, which stated that an impeachment trial would be unconstitutional because Mr Trump is no longer president. Five Republican senators voted against Mr Pauls motion: Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Mitt Romney of Utah; Ben Sasse of Nebraska; and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Explaining her decision, Ms Collins said: I spent a great deal of time talking to constitutional scholars and other legal experts and concluded that the text of the constitution, the purpose of these provisions, and Senate precedent, all meant that the trial should go forward, especially since the House acted while the president was still in office. In a separate development on Tuesday evening, Patrick Leahy, the Democratic senator from Vermont who is set to preside over the trial, was taken to hospital after falling ill. A spokesperson for Mr Leahy, 80, said he had been admitted for evaluation out of an abundance of caution. He was later released from hospital after completing tests and sent home. The vote on Tuesday will not stop the trial from taking place next month because the majority of the Democratic-controlled Senate rejected the point of order. But the result was welcomed by Republicans who have objected to impeachment proceedings against the now-former president. Seventeen Republican senators would need to vote against Mr Trump to convict him. It is one of the few times in Washington where a loss is actually a victory, Mr Paul told reporters on Capitol Hill. Forty-five votes means the impeachment trial is dead on arrival. The vote also renewed scrutiny of Mr McConnell, who was demoted to minority leader when the Senate switched hands to the Democrats last week. The Senate is now split 50-50, with Kamala Harris, the vice-president, able to cast a tiebreaking vote. Mr McConnell this month left open the possibility that he would vote to convict Mr Trump and used his last day as majority leader to say that mobs of the presidents supporters were fed lies and provoked by the president ahead of the January 6 attack. Mr Trump this month became the first president in US history to be impeached twice, when the House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Democrats, voted to charge him with inciting an insurrection for his role in the January 6 siege that left at least five people dead, including a Capitol police officer. All of the House Democrats backed the motion, as did 10 Republicans. Senator Susan Collins voted against the Senate order motion but thought it was unlikely that Donald Trump would be convicted Reuters Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, last week said he had struck a deal with Mr McConnell for an impeachment trial to begin in the upper chamber of Congress on February 9. On Monday, House impeachment managers Democratic lawmakers who will act as prosecutors in the trial delivered the article of impeachment to the Senate, triggering the start of proceedings. The following day, all 100 senators were sworn in as jurors before Mr Paul tabled his point of order. Mr Trump stands to be the first former president tried in Senate impeachment proceedings, but several other federal officials have faced impeachment charges in the upper chamber of Congress after they left office. Ms Collins said Tuesdays vote made the former presidents conviction unlikely, given that two-thirds of the Senate would need to vote against him. I think it is pretty obvious from the vote today that is extraordinarily unlikely that the president will be convicted, Ms Collins said. Just do the math. Other Republicans were less certain. John Thune of South Dakota, who voted with Mr Paul, said: I dont think it binds anybody once the trial starts . . . I, like most, as a juror, am going to wait until the trial commences and hear the arguments on both sides. Mr Thune added that he thought Mr McConnell would take a similar approach. Democrats were likewise determined for the trial to proceed. The pessimists may view that vote as the high watermark. But it is all before the evidence has been submitted to the jury, and before any of our Republican colleagues have to justify their vote publicly, said Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic senator from Connecticut. I continue to believe that those videos and Trumps incendiary incitement will be very powerful. Financial Times New Delhi: The Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava on Wednesday (January 27, 2021) said that the farmer leaders were also involved in the tractor rally violence that took place in national capital on January 26. In a media briefing, the Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava said, "Farmer leaders were also involved in the violence that broke out during tractor rally." He stated that the farmer unions did not follow conditions set for the tractor rally that was supposed to be held between 12 pm and 5 pm. "Farmer leaders have betrayed, they did not follow conditions set for the tractor parade, said the Delhi Police Commissioner. He added, "Some farmer leaders like Satnam Singh Pannu and Darshan Pal gave inflammatory speeches, following which the protesters breached the barricades." Shrivastava also informed that the Delhi Police had held five rounds of meetings with the farmer leaders before the tractor rally. He said that they are identifying culprits through CCTV footage and face recognition system. "Cops dealt with the situation in a proper way that is why no one was killed due to police action during tractor rally violence," said Shrivastava. The Delhi Police chief said that those involved in the violence will not be spared and that the farmer leaders will also be questioned. "Police had many options, but remained calm," said Shrivastava and stated that 394 police personnel were injured, while 30 police vehicles were damaged in the violence. He added that 19 accused have been arrested and 50 people have been detained so far. Meanwhile, farmer leader Darshan Pal said that the tractor parade was hit by a government conspiracy, while, Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav regretted the Red Fort incident and accepted the moral responsibility. Darshan Pal also said that the plan for the march to Parliament on Budget day (February 1) stands cancelled, however, public meetings, hunger strike will be held across the country on January 30. He said that their agitation against the new farm laws will continue. Earlier in the day, Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (RKMS) and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) announced to end the protest in the light of violence during farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day. The RKMS' National Convener VM Singh said, "I can't carry forward protest with someone whose direction is different. I wish them best but VM Singh and Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan are withdrawing from the protest." (With inputs from PTI news agency) Live TV YouTube Chief Executive Officer Susan Wojcicki highlighted the video services economic contributions in the midst of regulatory scrutiny over its market power and handling of misinformation. The worlds largest video site, owned by Alphabet Inc.s Google, has paid more than $30 billion to content creators, artists and media companies in the last three years, Wojcicki wrote in a letter published on Tuesday. YouTubes ecosystem contributed about $16 billion to U.S. gross domestic product in 2019, supporting the equivalent of 345,000 full time jobs, she added, citing an Oxford Economics report. Were focused on delivering on our key priorities: growing the creator economy, living up to our responsibilities, helping people learn new skills, and building for the future of YouTube, Wojcicki wrote. Were also committed to working with governments around the world as we face increasingly complicated regulatory issues. The company is working to make sure policy makers understand how their decisions impact YouTubes creators, she added. Corporations facing rising regulatory pressure often highlight positive contributions, such as job creation and economic growth, that politicians may be overlooking. In June, consulting firm Analysis Group published research showing Apple Inc.s App Store facilitated sales of $519 billion in 2019. The study was supported by Apple. The following day, the European Union launched an antitrust investigation of the App Store. Google is the target of several antitrust cases in the U.S., while YouTube has faced mounting scrutiny for its role in spreading misinformation. A group of Democratic senators recently wrote a letter to YouTube and other internet companies asking them to do more to combat Covid-19 misinformation. Wojcicki said Tuesday the company has removed more than 500,000 videos making false claims about the coronavirus since February, and it continues to refresh its policies to keep up to date with the science. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Representation is important, said Janaki Soni, a student at DePaul University who grew up in Des Plaines. Sometimes people dont know what paths they can pursue until they see someone has done it before them. Sometimes its hard to be the first person to go in a different direction if its never been done before. By (Harris) being elected, a lot of people now see it is possible, that you can get to the level of success you are hoping to achieve. I think thats empowering for the South Asian community and people of color. A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against coronavirus outbreak, walks on the street in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Battling a COVID-19 resurgence driven by a more infectious variant, South Africa is preparing to roll out its first vaccines to frontline healthcare workers. A delivery of 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive imminently at Johannesburg's international airport and there are plans for jabs to be given to doctors and nurses starting next week. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has said South Africa intends to vaccinate 67% of its 60 million people in 2021, starting with the most vulnerable health workers. He is expected to speak about the arrival of the vaccines later Wednesday. The start of South Africa's vaccination drive, one of the first in Africa, comes as the country has the continent's highest numbers of confirmed cases and deaths. South Africa's 1.4 million cumulative cases, including 41,797 deaths, represent about 40% of the cases reported by all of Africa's 54 countries. The shipment of vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India is expected to arrive by air freight from Mumbai, India, according to local media. The first 1 million doses are to be followed by 500,000 doses in February. The initial vaccines will not cover all of South Africa's 1.25 million healthcare workers, so the first round will go to those with the highest risk in intensive care units, especially those performing intubations, health experts said. A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against coronavirus outbreak, walks on the street in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) South Africa's department of health has appointed the Biovac Institute, a pharmaceutical and vaccine firm based in Cape Town, to "import, store, and distribute the 1.5 million doses of Covishield vaccine procured by the government from the Serum Institute of India," the company said in a statement Wednesday. Covishield is the name for the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in India. South Africa's vaccination campaign comes as the country appears to have passed the peak of a resurgence of COVID-19 that in the past month saw confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths rise to nearly double the numbers in the country's initial surge in July last year. South Africa's 7-day rolling average of daily new cases has halved, dropping from 32 new cases per 100,000 people on Jan. 12 to 16 new cases per 100,000 people on Jan. 26, according to Johns Hopkins University. The country's deaths have also begun decreasing, with the 7-day rolling average of daily deaths declining from 0.92 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 12 to 0.85 deaths per 100,000 people on Jan. 26. Land is excavated to make way for more burial space in the Maitland cemetery in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The City of Cape Town is working closely with the Muslim Judicial Council to increase burial capacity as COVID-19 claims more lives in a second surge of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht) Workers prepare for a COVID-19 burial in the Maitland cemetery in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. The City of Cape Town is working closely with the Muslim Judicial Council to increase burial capacity as COVID-19 claims more lives in a second surge of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Nardus Engelbrecht) The variant identified in South Africa as 501Y.V2 was a major factor in the resurgence, as it is more transmissible, according to health experts. The variant quickly became dominant in the Eastern Cape province, accounting for more than 90% of the new cases there in December, and spread to the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces. The large numbers of people traveling to South Africa's coastal areas and attending family and social gatherings during the holiday season also contributed to the resurgence, according to experts. The first phase of South Africa's vaccination campaign is to be followed by the inoculation of 16 million people including the remaining healthcare workers, the elderly and those with comorbidities. A third phase is planned to vaccinate another 22.5 million in order to reach the goal of 40 million people. The vaccines for the nationwide campaign, the largest in the country's history, will be sourced through the international COVAX facility, the African Union which has purchased 270 million vaccine doses to be distributed across the continent, and South Africa's purchase of vaccines directly from manufacturers. Explore further Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Darnitsa pharmaceutical company is developing its pharmacovigilance system, its digitalization allowing the company to meet the modern requirements of foreign regulators, said Head of the Department for Regulatory Issues of Darnitsa Oleksandr Torhun. The modern system of pharmacovigilance will allow Darnitsa in the long term to successfully meet the demands of those regulators that require more extensive data for registration dossiers. In fact, we are proactive in this case. After all, the capabilities of the new system are much wider than the classic format of pharmacovigilance, the press service of the company quotes Torhun. According to him, pharmacovigilance in Ukraine is still slightly behind the regulators of the leading countries of the world, while the regulatory policy of Ukraine is based on the European legislation and is largely harmonized with it, which simplifies the entry of Ukrainian drugs into the EU markets. At the same time, Torhun noted that the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which assesses medicinal products for their compliance with the requirements set out in the European Pharmacopoeia is one of the regulators that impose increased requirements to the companies wishing to register their drugs. The USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Switzerland also apply similar practice. These states carefully monitor the collection and analysis of data on adverse drug reactions, therefore, a competent and comprehensive approach to the collection of such data is mandatory for any pharmaceutical manufacturer if one wants to sell drugs in these countries, Torhun said. He noted that in VigiBase which is the WHO global database of individual case safety reports, the signal detection process must rely on a combination of computerized data analysis methodology for the selection of combinations of medicinal product adverse reaction, with the subsequent clinical evaluation reports by members of the medical and scientific group. With the support of this global network, 140 member countries of the Program for International Drug Monitoring, including Ukraine, as well as 30 affiliated countries, submit their reports on suspected adverse drug reactions to the VigiBase database. The repository of the database of reports in 2019 consisted of more than 20 million reports. We don't have any difficulties with foreign regulators. This whole process is now more or less standardized in the world in order to ensure a full and efficient exchange of data between countries, he said. At the same time, Torhun stressed, the world is actively discussing new opportunities for collecting data for pharmacovigilance. There are various projects that may become a common norm in the world and in Ukraine in the near future. For example, the collection of data on adverse drug reactions via social networks, Facebook and Twitter, in particular. Such approaches will greatly simplify the collection of information and filing of applications, increasing the role of the patient in pharmacovigilance even more, he said. Torhun reminded that export is an important component of Darnitsa's strategy. In particular, the company currently has about 400 registration dossiers in the foreign markets; the drugs are available in the markets of 15 countries of the world. Three of the UK's biggest mobile network operators have unveiled plans to build more than 200 new mobile masts to improve 4G phone signal in rural areas. As part of the government's Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, announced last March, O2, Three and Vodafone will build and share the usage of 222 new masts across the UK. Most of the masts will be built in Scotland, where, in the northern reaches particularly, 4G mobile phone coverage is either very poor or non-existent. In total, 124 masts will be built in Scotland, 33 in Wales, 11 in Northern Ireland and 54 in England the three telcos will build 74 of the new sites each. The exact locations of the 222 masts aren't being disclosed until planning permission is approved, an SRN spokesperson told MailOnline. Construction of the masts will start this year and is set to finish by 2024, in line with the agreement reached with the government and industry regulator Ofcom. This programme will deliver the first stage of the government's much-touted SRN initiative, which will see 1 billion spent on increasing 4G mobile coverage to reach 95 per cent of the UK by the end of 2025. Telecom masts near Dundry, Somerset. All four nations of the United Kingdom are set to benefit from a major investment of 222 mobile masts This first phase to build the masts, announced today, is wholly funded by the three mobile operators involved, while the wider 1 billion SRN is funded by both the industry and government. This 1 billion is made up of just over 500 million from the mobile operators and 500 million from the government. SRN will provide new digital infrastructure to eliminate signal 'not-spots' hard-to-reach areas where there is currently no coverage from any operator. SRN, developed by the UKs four mobile network operators (O2, Three and Vodafone, as well as EE) with support from government, aims to make 4G mobile broadband available to 95 per cent of the UK. When the SRN is up-and-running, every mobile operator should be giving coverage to 90 per cent of the UK landmass (with a combined coverage of 95 per cent). 'I'm delighted to see major progress being made to banish "not-spots" of poor or patchy mobile coverage,' said Minister for Digital Infrastructure Matt Warman. 'This new infrastructure will unlock the potential of rural communities in all four nations and offer greater choice of fast and reliable 4G services.' Vodafone chief executive Nick Jeffery added: 'We know connectivity is vital and the only way to fill the holes in the UKs mobile coverage is to work together. 'Our unique collaboration with O2 and Three will deliver 222 new sites in parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that need better connectivity. 'Delivering the Shared Rural Network will make a huge difference to communities across the UK.' According to Ofcom, around 9 per cent of the UK's landmass does not have decent 4G outdoor mobile coverage from any operator, but SRN will expunge these 'not-spots'. Complete and partial 4G 'not spots' in the UK that have little or no coverage, according to industry regulator Ofcom. The masts will tackle these areas In England, the SRN will see 4G coverage rise from 81 per cent to 90 per cent, while in Wales it will rise to at least 80 per cent from 58 per cent, according to the mobile operators. In Scotland it will rise to at least 74 per cent from 42 per cent and in Northern Ireland to at least 85 per cent from 75 per cent. O2, Three and Vodafone will now engage with local stakeholders and 'other key parties' to ensure a timely and efficient roll-out that unlocks the benefits of 4G for rural communities. This will offer customers in very remote areas 'increased choice and fuller value from their contracts where they live, work or travel', the mobile operators said in a statement. The exact number and location of masts will be subject to finding suitable sites, obtaining power supply and backhaul and securing the necessary permissions through the planning system. Vodafone said: 'Delivering the Shared Rural Network will make a huge difference to communities across the UK' For too many people in the countryside, especially in places like northern Scotland, a bad phone signal is a daily frustration Three boss Robert Finnegan said: 'Mobile connectivity is absolutely critical for communities around the UK helping to support local economies and keeping people connected with their friends and family. 'The Shared Rural Network will have a transformative effect on coverage across the UK and it is great to be working with the rest of the industry to achieve this.' Mark Evans, CEO of O2, added: 'The Shared Rural Network is a new and more collaborative way of delivering greater investment in infrastructure to improve mobile digital connectivity - a high impact enabler of economic growth. 'I am delighted that O2 is working in partnership with other mobile operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network, which will support individuals, businesses and communities across rural Britain.' Last week, statements from almost every party in the Gulf welcomed the prospect of dialogue with Iran. Analysts in both the region and the West are not too optimistic about a speedy breakthrough, however. The flurry of rhetoric took place in the wake of the reconciliation between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours earlier this month, during the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Saudi Arabia. It also coincided with a new American administration taking office that is intent on overturning its predecessors policies. The day before US President Joe Bidens inauguration, the Qatari Foreign Minister Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani urged the Gulf countries to open a channel for dialogue with Iran in the hope of settling the long-standing struggle, offering to mediate the process. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, he said his government was hopeful that a summit between Iranian officials and GCC leaders could take place soon. We still believe this should happen, he added. Qatar has of course welcomed Joe Bidens widely anticipated recalibration of the US approach to Iran, hoping to capitalise on the reconciliation with GCC members Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain along with Egypt to reclaim its long-sought regional role. Speaking of the possibility that Washington would re-engage with Iran and rejoin the nuclear deal, Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said, we hope they can reach a solution [that] will help reconcile the GCC and Iran... At the end of the day, everything is interconnected. Qatar strengthened its ties with Iran since the four countries boycotted Doha in 2017, accusing it of supporting militant groups and interfering in its neighbours internal affairs. After the reconciliation Qatar stressed that its enhanced relations with Iran and Turkey will continue and grow. The Qatari offer to mediate a dialogue with Iran fell on deaf ears in the Gulf capitals. But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif welcomed Qatars call. He tweeted: As we have consistently emphasised, the solution to our challenges lies in collaboration to jointly form a strong region: peaceful, stable, prosperous & free from global or regional hegemony. In an unrelated comment, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud told Al Arabiya TV channel this week that his country stands ready for a rapprochement with Iran, adding that Tehran is the one that refuses to commit to de-escalating tensions. He said, our arms are outstretched for peace with Iran, but it does not commit itself to agreements, adding that Irans calls for dialogue are meant to divert attention from its own crises. The Iranians were quick to welcome what they interpreted as a Saudi change of tone. The Tehran Times quoted an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying, If Riyadh seriously puts policy reforms on its agenda and concludes that the solution to problems lies in regional cooperation, Iran will be the first country to welcome these reforms. He added: We have always stressed that regional countries should arrive at a common understanding regarding regional problems... The Saudis may have some concerns, and by the way we emphasise that we need to talk about these concerns. Yet mistrust between Iran and Saudi Arabia in particular and the UAE to some extent will not make it easy to start direct dialogue between GCC and Iran, which is keen to cut a deal with its Arab neighbours across the Gulf separate from any deal with America and the West. Though some reports have mentioned secret talks between Iran and the Biden administration even before the inauguration on 20 January sources are sceptical of any major development on that front. New US Secretary of State Antony Blinken downplayed the possibility of Washington rejoining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the Iran nuclear deal is called, which the Trump administration withdrew from in 2018. He told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee at an appointment confirmation hearing a day before the inauguration that the new administration would need to see what Iran actually did to resume complying with the pact. Blinken also noted that the concerns of Irans neighbours need to be considered and the Tehran missile programme should also be included in a wider deal. The Gulf countries might prefer to wait for the Biden administration to include them in a deal, rather than go into early direct dialogue with Iran. Nevertheless, the general atmosphere in the Gulf is softening on Iran even though the principal cause for concern remains the same. It was hardly far-fetched that a prominent Emirati figure and former speaker of the National Council should suggest that the UAE might play a role in opening a dialogue between Iran and Israel. In an opinion article published by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, the Emirati academic Ebtesam Al-Ketbi wrote, many Emirati officials have asserted that [the Abraham Accord] is not meant to provoke any hostility towards Iran, but rather promote stability, development and security. Any reasonable mind can see this as an opportunity, allowing the UAE to serve as a mediator facilitating a less hostile dialogue between Iran and Israel. That might fare no better than the Qatari initiative, but what it all means is that, once the Biden administration is done with the most pressing domestic issues, the environment will indeed be ripe for a deal with Iran. *A version of this article appears in print in the 28 January, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Short link: St Lukes Kimilili boys high school in Bungoma county has been closed indefinitely after students went on the rampage following the alleged assault of a student by a prefect. The schools head boy is said to have assaulted the Form Two student over marijuana possession, sparking a violent protest on Sunday night. It is alleged that the students went on strike after a head boy punished one of them who was found with bhang, however, we have launched investigations, said Bungoma North OCPD Stephen Mwoni. Angered by the punishment, students destroyed school property of unknown value including smashed windowpanes of laboratories, classes, teachers offices, and the office of the deputy principal. They also engaged anti-riot police in running battles from 9 pm to about 6 am. Students who spoke to the press claimed the prefect had confronted the student over suspicion of possessing marijuana. The head boy reportedly demanded that the student mentions other marijuana smokers while assaulting him with wires on his back, causing severe injuries. It is when the boy went back to his colleagues in the dormitory and showed then his injuries that the students became agitated. When we went to report to the deputy academic master, he said to hold the story and we solve it amicably, something that did not go well with us, a student who sought anonymity told the Nation. The learners also complained that police used excessive force to contain the demonstration. We are wondering why police had to teargas us and fire at us when we were only holding peaceful protests for one of our own who had been brutally beaten, said another student. We want Magoha to come and interveneOur teachers have given prefects too much powerthey even eat more food than other students and are listened to more than the rest of us, added another student. US investment bank Goldman Sachs on Wednesday lost its fight against an EU cartel fine handed down to its former Italian subsidiary and cable maker Prysmian after Europe's top court said it was liable for the actions of the unit. Prysmian was fined 104.6m by EU antitrust regulators in 2014 for taking part in a cartel with 10 other cable makers. Its penalty included a joint fine of 37.3m with Goldman Sachs, which had acquired the Italian company via one of its private equity funds in 2005 but has since sold its holding. The European Commission in its 2014 decision said Goldman Sachs, as the parent company, had decisive influence over Prysmian. A lower EU tribunal in 2018 backed its argument. The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) agreed with the reasoning and rejected Goldman Sachs' appeal. "The General Court did not err in law in finding that, in the present case, the Commission was entitled to rely on a presumption of actual exercise of decisive influence in order to establish the appellant's liability for the infringement at issue in relation to the pre-IPO period," CJEU judges said. The case is C-595/18 P The Goldman Sachs Group v Commission. Michael Stone (centre) being restrained by security staff Peter Lachanudis and Susan Porter, as he attempts to storm the Northern Ireland Assembly (PA) Loyalist killer Michael Stone has been released from Maghaberry Prison on parole, it has emerged. Last November Northern Irelands highest court ruled that Stone could apply for early release from prison. It said keeping the notorious paramilitary behind bars until at least 2024 would constitute an interference with the physical liberty of the prisoner and could only arise under clear authority of the law, and in its view this could not be implied. In 1988, Stone killed three people in a gun and grenade attack at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast. Stone was freed early from prison in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He was sent back six years later after attempting to attack Sinn Fein leaders Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Stormont. Stone was serving a 30-year jail term but launched an appeal against efforts to keep him in prison. The issue under consideration was whether he would stay in jail until at least 2024, or whether his minimum tariff expired in 2018, including the six years he was freed under licence. The court concluded that the period that the prisoner spent lawfully on licence ought to be included in the relevant part of his sentence. One of his victims was 20-year-old Thomas McErlean. His sister, Deborah McGuinness, had taken legal action in a bid to attempt her brothers killer from applying for early release. BBC News NI reports that families of his victims have been informed of the move. Parole Commissioners took the decision on Monday and Stone was freed from Maghaberry Prison on Tuesday. The former UDA man was also the gunman in another three murders. Milkman Patrick Brady was murdered in south Belfast in November 1984, 12 months before joiner Kevin McPolin was shot in the head in Lisburn, Co Antrim. In May 1987 Dermott Hackett, a bread server, was found dead in his van between Drumquin and Omagh. He had been shot up to 16 times with a submachine gun. Stones return to prison followed his infamous assault on Parliament Buildings in 2006, armed with explosives, knives and an axe, in an attempt to murder the Sinn Fein leaders. He denied it had been a bid to kill the politicians, instead claiming it was an act of performance art. In a statement, issued through Relatives For Justice, the family of Thomas McErlean said: We have been made aware that Michael Stone is to be released from custody shortly. As a family we have pursued legal action to try and ensure Stone remained imprisoned. It is unjust Michael Stone is able to move forward with his life when he took the lives of Thomas McErlean and many other people. "Our family are denied the chance to heal whilst he refuses to answer questions about which parts of the state armed and assisted him with so many murders. As a family we continue to love, miss and remember Thomas, and call for a proper investigation into his death that will reveal the truth about state collusion and loyalist paramilitaries. "The victims families need to be the focus rather than Michael Stone. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Google's high-profile battle against Australian government regulators has taken another turn, with the tech giant is reviving plans to launch its own news website there. Redx Pharma PLC - Macclesfield, England-based treatments for cancer and fibrotic disease - Reports pretax loss for the year ended September 30 was GBP9.2 million, widened from GBP6.3 million the previous year. Says revenue was GBP5.7 million, up 84% from GBP3.1 million in 2019, which was derived from the RXC006 out-licensing agreement with British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC, and the existing and new collaboration agreements with Irish biopharmaceutical firm Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC. Operating expenses increase to GBP14.2 million from GBP10.2 million. "Redx has overcome the common industry challenge of funding and has ended the period with a strong balance sheet and the backing of new specialist life science investors. Despite clinical development challenges that have affected us, as well as many other companies in our sector, as a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Redx has managed to progress its pipeline, further developing its lead programmes in oncology and fibrosis, and is on track to deliver on key milestones in 2021," says Non-Executive Chair Iain Ross. Current stock price: 67.20 pence, up 14% on Wednesday Year-to-date change: up 7.5% By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. An Australian tech tycoon could be extradited to the United States amid allegations of involvement in an alleged $65million mobile phone scam. Michael Pearse, a 52-year-old Australian national, and Yongchao Liu, a 33-year-old Chinese national, have already been taken to the US and both appeared in Manhattan federal court over the allegations. The defendants, along with up to six co-conspirators are accused of manufacturing an 'auto-subscription' service to dupe unsuspecting victims out of millions. Random mobile phone users were allegedly charged monthly fees for unsolicited messages about celebrity gossip and horoscopes - even if they deleted the texts - from 2011 to 2013. A third Australian resident, tech tycoon Eugeni 'Zhenya' Tsvetnenko, remains in a Perth prison and is facing extradition on fraud charges. A third Australian resident, Eugeni 'Zhenya' Tsvetnenko, (pictured with his wife Lydia on a trip to Bali) remains in a Perth prison and is facing extradition on fraud charges At the height of his wealth, Tsvetnenko (pictured, left) reportedly asked his wife (centre) to quit her job to travel the world with him, and she has since partied with the likes of Snoop Dogg (right) in the US The Russian internet tycoon has appeared on the BRW Rich List with an estimated fortune in excess of $100million. Tsvetnenko is accused of becoming involved in an alleged scheme in 2012. Prosecutors claim he had already been involved in suspicious subscription practices, and had started auto-subscribing hundreds of thousands of American consumers by April 2012. Court documents allege it was then that he began generating millions of dollars worth of revenue at a rapid pace. Police allege 'some of the proceeds were used to fund a lavish lifestyle of, among other things, multi-million dollar homes, expensive vacations and gambling'. Michael Pearse from Sydney has already been extradited to the US to face charges that could land him in prison for 20 years He reportedly arrived in Australia aged 12 with his parents, who are both biochemists, in 1992. They came with just two suitcases and $6,000 in cash to start their new life. Despite dropping out of university with just $200 to his name, he was hailed 'Australia's SMS king after starting his business. At the height of his wealth, he owned seven homes in Perth and another interstate, as well as holiday villas and five luxury cards. He even bought a record label, and spent $600,000 on his wedding to his wife Lydia - and hired Snoop Dogg to perform at his own 29th birthday party. His wife is not accused of any wrongdoing. Tsvetnenko is now fighting extradition from Australia. He denies the allegations against him. Meanwhile Pearse is expected to plead not guilty and his lawyers are in the process of preparing a bail application. Pearse and Liu were charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, and Pearse was also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. Tsvetnenko (pictured in his youth) dropped out of his university degree before becoming a multi-millionaire They face upwards of 20 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors said Pearse was the chief executive and Liu was a Java development engineer for a company called Bullroarer. According to court papers, Bullroarer was affiliated with Tatto Inc, a company that purchased large numbers of mobile phone numbers to target with messages. Victims were charged $9.99 a month even if they ignored or deleted the messages, and were often unaware anything was amiss until unintelligible items such as '96633IQ16CALL8668611606' began appearing on their phone bills, prosecutors said. The matter will return to US court next month. It is now mandatory for workers to wear face coverings in banks, credit unions and post offices. The new regulations come into force with immediate effect following a campaign from the Financial Services Union (FSU) to require the wearing of face masks in their workplaces. FSU general secretary John OConnell said: "The FSU launched a campaign several weeks ago seeking this change so I very much welcome it. "Our members were very concerned that they were being treated differently to any other retail staff. Concerns increased when the new variant of COVID-19 was identified and the virus became more transmissible. He added: "This is a sensible move which can help alleviate some of anxieties expressed by staff. We would urge all customers to abide by the new regulations and help keep themselves and workers safe." Mr OConnell added that the rationale for not including banks, credit unions and post offices in the initial regulations was security-related. Brian Hayes, CEO of the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, which represents the banks, welcomed the decision. He said: "BPFI and its member banks very much welcome the decision by Government to amend the regulation to make mask wearing mandatory in banks." "The safety of customers and staff has been a top priority since March and todays announcement is extremely helpful as we continue to provide essential services nationwide." Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu first made headlines in the early days of the farmers' protest, when the thousands of protesters had began their march to Delhi. Police were blocking the roads for the marching farmers at several places making it difficult for them to travel. At one such blockade, Sidhu was seen trying to reason with the cops. "Yeh inquilab hai sir. This is a revolution," he was heard saying in the video that went viral. Yeh inquilab hai sir. This is a revolution...#FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/hzztplunTm Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) November 27, 2020 A couple of months down the line, Sidhu is back in the headlines and this time too, in connection with the farmers' protests. Amid the unprecedented chaos at the national capital on Tuesday, which saw thousands of farmers storming the Red Fort, ITO and other places. AFP One of them particularly stood out, at the iconic Red Fort where farmers were seen climbing the flag pole and hoisting the 'Nishan Sahib' and a farmer flag. A section of the media had reported that the protesters had pulled down the national flag before hoisting their flags. As the visuals of the flags triggered outrage among a large section of the society, it emerged that Sidhu was there and he was 'instigating' the farmers. As the outrage grew, most farmers groups distanced themselves from Sidhu and accused him of sabotaging the protests for the BJP, citing his close links with actor-turned MP Sunny Deol. This is Deep Sidhu with Modi & Shah. He led the mob at Red Fort today & unfurled the Sikh religious flag there pic.twitter.com/dX9bQjAIim Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) January 26, 2021 Even the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) distanced itself from Sidhu and accused him of leading the farmers to the Red fort. The SKM said that Sidhu appeared on a stage on Monday night and gave a provocative speech promoting separatism to sabotage the farmers' protest. BKU Haryana leader Gurnam Singh Charuni criticised Deep Sidhu for misleading youth to Red Fort and described him as a dalal (agent) of the Union government. He made it clear that the farmers agitation was not religious and it would remain the same in the future. Under fire from various corners, Sidhu explained his side of the story in a Facebook live video. Claims not a planned move Sidhu claimed it was not a planned move and that they should not be given any communal colour or dubbed as fundamentalists or hardliners. To symbolically register our protest against the new farm legislation, we put up 'Nishan Sahib' and a farmer flag and also raised the slogan of Kisan Mazdoor Ekta, said Sidhu. AP The flag represents the country's unity in diversity, he said while pointing towards 'Nishan Sahib', the triangular saffron flag with the emblem of 'Khanda', a two-edged sword, Chakra, a disc, and two Kirpans that cross each other at the handles. He stated that the national flag was not removed from the flagpole at the Red Fort and that nobody raised a question over the country's unity and integrity. Last week, the NIA had summoned Sidhu to appear before it in connection with its probe into the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) case it had registered on December 15 last year. Regional Brazilian operator Sercomtel announced a voluntary layoff plan with the aim to reduce its 456 staff by 50%, as part of urgent plans to reduce massive debt and ensure the survival of the company. Local newspaper Folha de Londrina reported, newly appointed president and director of operations for parent company Bordeaux Fundo de Investimento, Marcio Tiago Arruda, said the company owes BRL20 million ($3.7 million) to regulator Anatel, BRL30 million to city hall and BRL150 million in taxes to the state. It hopes to save up to BRL25 million from staff cuts. Helio Costa, the board of directors president, told the newspaper the measure was vital to Sercomtels survival and laid off staff will be properly compensated. Arruda told Folha de Londrina the move was an initial step to recommence growth in the business and pledged there will be investments but the company needs to readjust its scale. Sercomtel was acquired by Bordeaux Fundo de Investimento for BRL130 million last year. The UK's advertising watchdog has banned the adverts of two unregulated lead generators after they were found to have mimicked legitimate debt charities and claimed to be endorsed by the Government. The websites 'writeoffmydebt' and 'stepdebtsupport' were criticised by the Advertising Standards Authority after a series of complaints by the Government-funded Money and Pensions Service, all of which were upheld. The ASA declared that the companies behind the websites and online adverts, Stockport-based Fidelitas Group and Burnley-based National Direct Service, had misled visitors to their sites through adverts on search engines by making them think they were dealing with authorised debt counsellors or government-endorsed services. The website and adverts of Fidelitas Group, which called itself 'Write Off My Debt' were found to be misleading by advertising regulators In fact, neither of the sites were authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and neither were found to have made it suitably clear that visitors' details would be passed onto third parties in exchange for commission. Indeed one of the companies, National Direct Service, was revealed by This is Money last year as having been blacklisted by the Financial Conduct Authority for offering unregulated services and mimicking the debt charity StepChange as long ago as May 2020. It traded under the name of 'Step Debt Support', while a Bing advert provided by the ASA had the strapline 'Step to Change Free Government Debt Support Step into Change'. Its website was still live when we investigated the issue of 'lead generators', which pass vulnerable Britons details onto debt solution providers in exchange for commission, impersonating debt advice charities like National Debtline and StepChange last September, but has finally been taken down. Its adverts were initially reported by one registered insolvency practitioner last April, but were spotted and reported by MAPS last July, along with those of Fidelitas, the ASA said. The company refused to respond to the ASA's enquiries and previously could not be reached for comment last June when This is Money reported it had been blacklisted by the FCA. The website from Fidelitas Group, 'writeoffmydebt', is 'under maintenance'. According to screenshots provided by the ASA, the website claimed those 5,000 or more in debt could 'write off unaffordable debts and save thousands with a government legislated debt relief scheme'. Spot the difference: Above, the website of the real StepChange Debt Charity. Below, the website of 'Step Debt Support' which had its adverts banned by the ASA after mimicking the charity since last May The website and five Google adverts included as evidence in the ASA's decision were found to have misled consumers into thinking the company was connected to the Government and Citizens Advice and endorsed by the free Money Advice Service, part of the Money and Pensions Service. We contacted both companies for comment. The ASA's findings pile yet more pressure on Google, which an investigation by This is Money last September found had earned thousands of pounds from such impersonators. It was accused of ignoring complaints and taking more than a week to take down adverts which directly infringed trademarks of the likes of StepChange. The search engine has been contacted for comment. A faker's dozen: The 13 unauthorised debt advice firms on a regulatory blacklist Business name Date blacklisted www.stepwithchanges.co.uk 28 July Step Change Contact Number 8 July National-Debt-Helpline 12 June National Debtlines 12 June Step Debt Free 2 June Step Clear From Debts 28 May Step Changing 28 May Step Debt Line 15 May Step Debt Support/National Direct Service 15 May Step Clear to Change 15 May Stepoutofdebt.org.uk 15 May Dbt Solutions 30 April Debt Struggles 9 April Source: Financial Conduct Authority Caroline Siarkiewicz, chief executive of the Money and Pensions Service, called the practices of the two companies 'concerning'. She said: 'Many implied a misleading association with genuine debt advice charities, leading some customers to take up services unknowingly from a commercial organisation when they had been searching for free advice. 'Other claims made by some firms had the potential to get people to ask for a debt solution that may not be suitable for their circumstances and in some cases require them to pay unnecessary fees.' Adverts from the companies were found to have misleadingly implied they were endorsed by the Government or even connected to legitimate debt charities like StepChange She said the ASA's decision came at 'a crucial time', with the Money Advice Service expecting a call every four minutes in January. MAPS was handed an extra 37.8million by the Treasury last June to fund debt advice in England ahead of an expected surge in demand for debt advice due to the coronavirus pandemic. Neither company which had its adverts banned were authorised to provide debt counselling services or do 'anything more than pass on leads' to providers of Individual Voluntary Arrangements. These debt solutions hit an all-time high in 2019, accounting for 77,982 of 122,181 individual insolvencies. Both companies which had their adverts banned referred visitors to providers of Individual Voluntary Arrangements in return for commission - regardless of whether this debt solution was the right one This is Money has previously reported concerns on multiple occasions about how these debt solutions, which can only be approved by authorised insolvency practitioners, have been marketed as a 'life hack', with adverts roping in vulnerable people by claiming to write off all of their debts. In reality IVAs, which accounted for 63.8 per cent of all insolvencies in 2019, up from just 37.5 per cent in 2010, can see those in debt have to use their pension payments or savings to pay their creditors or remortgage their home, while it can also wreck their credit score. The ASA warned some of the adverts could see those in need of debt advice 'end up going down the IVA route without considering other options that might be more appropriate for them.' Nonetheless, adverts about how people can write off 'up to 90 per cent of debt' continue to be plastered all over social media and Google, with This is Money finding that 13 bogus and unregulated debt advice websites had been blacklisted by the FCA between April and September, 11 of which impersonated StepChange Debt Charity or National Debtline. In response to the ASA's rulings, StepChange called the decisions the tip of the iceberg and said it had already reported eight cases of trademark infringement to the likes of Bing and Google in the first three weeks of 2021. Richard Lane, director of external affairs at the charity, said: 'It's clear that there's a need for better protection to prevent people being hoodwinked into thinking they are dealing with a debt advice charity, when in fact they are simply being lured to provide their personal details to lead generators working on behalf of commercial IVA factories. 'The ASA has confirmed what we already knew: there is a lot of misleading advertising out there, including from outfits impersonating legitimate debt advice organisations. 'Along with the FCA's warnings about clone firms impersonating debt advice charities like us, this confirmation is helpful, but it cannot be the end of the story. 'What matters now is that there is more decisive action taken by regulators to tighten up the oversight of how firms who provide IVAs acquire their customers, so that people get better advice about all their possible options for dealing with debt before making a premature decision, especially one that may be based on unethical practices or false pretences.' Trump Impeachment Lawyer Speaks Out: Not Worried What Other People Think The lawyer who is slated to defend former President Donald Trump during his impeachment trial next month explained his reasoning. Its who I am. Its what I do. Its all about the rule of law in the Constitution, Karl Butch Bowers of South Carolina told the Washington Post. Im not worried what other people think, he told the paper, adding he hasnt been following the media coverage about the trial. On Tuesday, 45 GOP senators voted to say that the impeachment trial against Trump is unconstitutional because the former president is out of office. To convict a president, the Senate requires 67 votes, meaning that 17 Republicans would have to peel away from their party to join the Democrats. Bowers did not elaborate on his defense of Trump, who was impeached in the House for allegedly inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6. Youll see our case when we present it, he told the Post, and I think the facts and the law will speak for themselves. In the interview, Bowers said he would have enough time to prepare a defensecoming about two weeks before the trial is scheduled to begin. Just like in any other endeavor, sometimes you get a ton of time as a lawyer, sometimes you get a short period of time, and you just adjust as needed, he said. It comes as another lawyer was reportedly added to Trumps impeachment defense team. The American College of Trial Lawyerss chairman, Wallace Lightsey, wrote that former federal prosecutor and defense attorney, Deborah Barbier, was hired to join Bowers. Regardless of ones personal view of Mr. Trump, it says a great deal about Debbies skill and reputation as a trial lawyer that she was chosen for this task, Lightsey wrote in an email, according to The Associated Press. We know you will acquit yourself well (even though some of us may be hoping that your client is not). Trumps second impeachment trial is slated to start the week of Feb. 8. For his part, Trump said that his speech on Jan. 6 to supporters violated no laws. Meanwhile, he called on supporters not to engage in violent acts and later condemned the rioters who breached the U.S. Capitol, causing members of both the House and Senate to fleehalting the electoral certification. Because only five GOP senators joined Democrats in a procedural vote to pursue the impeachment trial on Tuesday, it appears highly unlikely Trump will be convicted. A number of Republicans said its unconstitutional to impeach a president once hes left office, although many have condemned Trump for his speech on Jan. 6. Meanwhile, any GOP lawmaker who votes to convict Trump is sure to face intense political blowback from their conservative base as Trump remains the most popular figure among Republicans. After a clash between the farmers and the police at the ITO intersection where hundreds of protesters were seen chasing police personnel with sticks and ramming their tractors into the buses, they headed towards the Red Fort at around 1 pm. New Delhi: The farmers' movement that had been peaceful for the last two months turned violent on Republic Day on Tuesday after scores of protesters deviated from the designated route for the proposed tractor rally. Hundreds of farmers on their tractors with flags raising 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan' slogans reached central Delhi from different parts of the national capital and ultimately made their way to the Red Fort after breaching all the barricades on the way. The farmers swarmed the Red Fort at around 1:45 pm and waved flags from the ramparts of the 17th century monument. They even hoisted the Nishan Sahib flag on a flagpole inside the Red Fort, while some Nihangs were seen waving their swords from the dome of the historic monument. Later the police were seen removing the flag while trying to disperse the protesters from Red Fort, resorting to lathi-charge which resulted in clashes between the two sides. There was complete mayhem at the site as the agitators refused to budge and continued to raise slogans in support of the farmers' cause, often indulging in clashes with the police, which seemed to be outnumbered by the protesters. At around 3:30 pm, hundreds of protesters were seen chasing the cops with sticks and rods which left several police personnel injured. The protesters were also seen pelting stones at the police personnel besides destroying public property. The protest went out of control for some time but later heavy deployment of the CRPF brought the situation under control to some extent. The protesters finally started to vacate the spot at around 5:15 pm, after laying siege at the iconic monument for over two hours. Soon after the unexpected scenes at the Red Fort, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of farmers' unions protesting against the three Central farm laws, issued a statement, distancing itself from the 'violent elements'. The farmers' union said, "We condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that have taken place today and dissociate ourselves from those indulging in such acts." The farmers were supposed to remain in the areas adjoining the Delhi borders and not venture towards central Delhi, but they violated all the agreements and guidelines given to them. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Dublins Lord Mayor, Hazel Chu has revealed that abusive social media posts about her young daughter have also contained sexual as well as racist content. Ms Chu said she was completely disgusted that one post had made a sexual reference about her three-year-old daughter, Alex, in addition to material which incited hatred against her family. Speaking at a meeting of Dublin City Council Joint Policing committee on Tuesday, the Lord Mayor remarked: It made me feel really quite ashamed of what we have become as a society. Ms Chu, a Green Party councillor, said people needed to fight against such individuals as she admitted being worried about the safety of her family, particularly her daughter. Her comments were made as the committee passed a motion proposed by Sinn Fein councillor, Daithi Doolan, condemning the ongoing racism and intimidation of Ms Chu including a recent confrontation with the Lord Mayor outside the Mansion House by a group of far-right protesters. Read More Ms Chu said she was lucky to have a platform to express her views but recognised the need to fight various racist groups in both online and offline settings. There is a very vocal minority that keeps on trying to stoke good, middle-of-the-road people who have genuine fears at the moment, Ms Chu said. These people are driving a narrative and driving dog whistle politics and its working, she added. Ms Chu thanked the committee for the cross-party support for the motion as well as gardai for their assistance during the recent incident outside the Mansion House. Condemning the racist abuse directed at Ms Chu, Fine Gael councillor, Ray McAdam, said there was also an onus on all elected representatives to treat political opponents with decency. Mr McAdam said he hoped what had happened the Lord Mayor would serve as a wake-up call for everyone in public life. Sinn Fein councillor, Larry OToole, praised Ms Chu for being very brave and very constructive in challenging her abusers when she could easily have chosen to ignore such abuse. Green Party councillor, Janet Horner, said anti-racism was a massive issue for Dublin city and one that needed to be central to how policing was done with new communities in the capital. Describing the Lord Mayor as a trailblazer, Ms Horner expressed hope that anyone who came behind Ms Chu would not have to experience the same lack of support and protection. Independent councillor, Mannix Flynn called on the council to initiate a public campaign to tackle the problem of racism and hate speech. Environmental groups are revving up opposition to the first company to take advantage of Western Australia lifting its fracking ban, despite traditional owners supporting the venture. Bennett Resources, owned by Texan company Black Mountain, wants its Valhalla gas prospect in the Kimberley to eventually supply the export market, or the energy-hungry east coast market, potentially via the $5 billion east-west pipeline long-mooted yet still unsupported by governments. Environs Kimberley says it has organised more than 3000 public submissions opposing the project in the 7-day comments period that closed on Wednesday. Credit:Environs Kimberley WA lifted its fracking ban in 2018 following an inquiry, promising an industry code of practice and legislation to allow traditional owners and landowner veto rights, but neither is complete. Bennett Resources was the first to lodge a fracking proposal thereafter, last July lodging a six-well application for Noonkanbah cattle station, south-east of Derby and Broome, and 16 kilometres from the Fitzroy River. Operations Specialist - Ammunition and Weapon Management, Mogadishu, Somalia Organization: United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Country: Somalia City: Mogadishu, Somalia Office: UNOPS Mogadishu Closing date: Saturday, 13 February 2021 Peace and Security Cluster The UNOPS Peace and Security Cluster (PSC) is a principal service provider in the field of mine action with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), UNDP, UNICEF, Governments of mine-affected countries and other mine action partners. It is led by the Director, who has overall authority and accountability for the performance PSC on behalf of its clients. The Director is responsible for administering and providing oversight of the day-to-day management of the Project Field offices, both according to the client requirements and in line with UNOPS rules and regulations. UNMAS United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) is a division of the Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions (OROLSI) in the Department: of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO). UNMAS is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (RES/68/72) to ensure an effective, proactive and coordinated response to the problem posed by a wide range of explosive hazards. Legislative mandates also recognize UNMAS technical expertise in responding to threats posed by unsecured and unsafe conventional weapons and ammunition stockpiles. As an office within DPKO, UNMAS supports peacekeeping and special political missions in accordance with Security Council mandates. UNMAS as a component of the United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) provides explosive hazard management capacities, including mitigation, to AMISOM as part of a logistical support package. Non-lethal tactical advice and analysis is delivered by UNMAS technical advisors located in each AMISOM Sector Headquarters and at AMISOM Force Headquarters, who support AMISOM planning and operations. UNMAS support includes both enabling ("operate in spite of IEDs") and response ("defeat the device"). As a component of the UN Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) UNMAS also supports the Federal Government of Somalia, including the Somali Police Force, Somali Explosive Management Authority and National Security Advisor. *CANDIDATES WITH NO UN OR UNOPS EXPERIENCE ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY *Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to applyUnder the general supervision of the Head of Policy & Analysis Unit, and direct supervision of the Weapons, Ammunition & Explosives Management (WAM) Advisor, the Operations Specialist - Ammunition and Weapon Management will provide support to AMISOM, the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and Federal Member State (FMS) levels, as appropriate. S/he will be responsible for the following functions: Provide technical support to AMISOM, FGS and FMS with Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) in order to reduce the risk of diversion and Unplanned Explosions at Munition Sites (UEMS). Provide technical support to AMISOM and FGS with the development of procedures to improve and standardize the processing of captured weapons and ammunition. The procedures will be developed in conjunction with the appropriate weapons and ammunition storage, marking and recording keeping requirements. Provide technical support and advice to AMISOM, FGS and FMS in the establishment of procedures and capacities for the safe disposal of weapons and ammunition. The disposal of illicit, surplus, and obsolete weapons and ammunition constitutes an important element of a comprehensive WAM programme. Support technical assessments of Somalias weapons and ammunition management capability to inform recommendations for improvement at the FGS and FMS levels. Assessments are fundamental to inform targeted and evidence-based control measures and will enable the FGS to optimize available resources and seek tailored support. Provide technical advice to improve measures and interventions to curb the illicit flows of weapons and ammunition into and within Somalia and mitigate their adverse impact on security and stability. Support the FGS with strengthening the centralized system for the importation, registration and distribution of weapons and ammunition at the FGS and FMS levels, including the establishment of transfer controls to ensure effective and harmonized practices at the state level while strengthening overall federal control. Provide technical advice to the FGS with improvements in efficiency of weapons marking and record-keeping programs at the federal level and incrementally extend similar capacity to the state level, including improvements to strengthen record-keeping systems across all forces and along the supply chain. Provide technical advice to strengthen national systems and capacities to control and manage weapons and ammunition throughout their lifecycle in order to meet the operational needs of the security sector and prevent loss and diversion, as well as misuse. Ensure all advice and support is provided in alignment with relevant international standards. Identify continuous improvements and lessons learned; Implement any other tasks requested by the Head of Policy & Analysis Unit and/or WAM Advisor. Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organization. (for levels IICA-2, IICA-3, LICA Specialist- 10, LICA Specialist-11, NOC, NOD, P3, P4 and above) Treats all individuals with respect; responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational and ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity and inclusion. Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates and supports the development of others. For people managers only: Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles. Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role). Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes our impact on our beneficiaries. Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences and modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements. Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving. Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground. Education: Advanced University Degree (Masters Degree or equivalent) with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; OR First Level University Degree (Bachelors Degree or equivalent with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience; OR Tags continuous improvement conventional weapons development projects federal government financial management human resources mine action peace and security peacebuilding peacekeeping operations procurement project management rule of law supply chain Military or Police Experience at the Senior NCO (Non-commissioned Officer) or Officer level (or equivalent) with a minimum of 11 years of relevant experience is required. Work Experience: Relevant experience is defined as experience in International Relations, Peace and Conflict and/or Security Studies, Ammunition and Weapons Management, Project Management or related field. Within relevant experience, two years of experience in Ammunition and Weapons Management or Operations is required. Experience in report writing is required. Certifications: Certification in Ammunition Technical Officer Qualification (or equivalent) is required. Language Fluency in English (speaking, writing and reading) is required. Contract type: ICA Contract level: I-ICA 2Contract duration: Open-ended, subject to organizational requirements, availability of funds and satisfactory performance.For more details about the ICA contractual modality, please follow this link:https://www.unops.org/english/Opportunities/job-opportunities/what-we-offer/Pages/Individual-Contractor-Agreements.aspx Please note that the closing date is midnight Copenhagen time Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. Only those candidates that are short-listed for interviews will be notified. Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. UNOPS seeks to reasonably accommodate candidates with special needs, upon request. Work life harmonization - UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. We have a progressive policy on work-life harmonization and offer several flexible working options. This policy applies to UNOPS personnel on all contract types For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post For retainer contracts, you must complete a few Mandatory Courses (around 4 hours) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans and procedures of the UN Security Management System and that of UNOPS. It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential recruits/interns. Recruitment/internship in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks. UNOPS is an operational arm of the United Nations, supporting the successful implementation of its partners peacebuilding, humanitarian and development projects around the world. Our mission is to help people build better lives and countries achieve sustainable development. UNOPS areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management and human resources. Working with us UNOPS offers short- and long-term work opportunities in diverse and challenging environments across the globe. We are looking for creative, results-focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines. Diversity With over 4,000 UNOPS personnel and approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of UNOPS partners spread across 80 countries, our workforce represents a wide range of nationalities and cultures. We promote a balanced, diverse workforce a strength that helps us better understand and address our partners needs, and continually strive to improve our gender balance through initiatives and policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates. Work life harmonization UNOPS values its people and recognizes the importance of balancing professional and personal demands. DALLAS and OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tailwater Capital LLC ("Tailwater" or the "Firm"), a private equity firm based in Dallas, today announced that it has signed definitive agreements to acquire Tall Oak Midstream II ("Tall Oak II") and Tall Oak Midstream III ("Tall Oak III") from EnCap Flatrock Midstream. Financial terms were not disclosed. Tall Oak III Transaction Through this transaction, Tailwater will acquire a leading midstream service provider in the Arkoma Basin. As part of the transaction, the Tall Oak team led by Ryan Lewellyn, Carlos Evans, Max Myers and Lindel Larison will operate Tailwater's existing portfolio company, Connect Midstream, a full-suite midstream service provider in the same geographic region, creating the potential for immediate and uniquely significant operating synergies. Tall Oak III's assets consist of more than 120 miles of low-pressure and high-pressure pipelines in the Arkoma Basin, as well as the recently developed and fully operational Panther Creek Plant, a 200 MMscf/d RSV technology processing plant that currently moves processed gas to MarkWest's Arkoma Connector. With operations across three counties in the Arkoma STACK basin's rich gas window, Connect Midstream has delivered a wide range of unmatched, innovative solutions to customers since its formation in partnership with Tailwater in 2017. Since that time, the company has grown its footprint substantially, secured a number of dedications from leading players in the region and completed construction and commenced processing operations at its Stanberry Plant, a 200 MMscf/d processing facility in Coal County, Oklahoma. Following the close of the transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory and closing conditions, Tall Oak will manage an enhanced footprint with materially improved processing and compression capacities and an expanded pipeline network that will greatly benefit the larger and more diverse customer base it will serve, all of which will better position the company to compete with larger midstream players in the region. Tall Oak II Transaction In a separate transaction, Tailwater will also acquire a majority of assets of Tall Oak II, a full-suite midstream provider serving customers in the Mid-Continent. Founded in 2015, Tall Oak II was established to pursue greenfield and acquisition opportunities in oil and gas plays across North America and currently consists of over 750 miles of low and high-pressure gathering lines across eight Oklahoma counties in the STACK Extension. Tall Oak II assets in Custer County, Oklahoma were not included in the transaction with Tailwater. EnCap Flatrock Midstream will retain ownership of these assets in a new entity, the Oklahoma STACK Gathering System ("OSGS") which will be managed by the Tall Oak management team. OSGS assets consist of high-pressure wellhead gathering lines to gather from both rich and dry gas wells in the area and a dehydration facility. "These transactions are the next logical step in both Tailwater and Connect Midstream's long-term Arkoma STACK consolidation and growth strategy and will significantly expand our footprint and processing capacity in the liquids-rich Arkoma Basin," said Jason Downie, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Tailwater Capital. "Ryan, Carlos, Max and Lindel and the rest of the Tall Oak management team are best-in-class operators with an unparalleled network of resources and a long track record of significant value creation. We look forward to working together to grow the Tall Oak businesses organically and through acquisitions, and providing customers with the most effective and versatile set of capabilities in their regions of operation." "We are pleased to have reached these agreements with Connect Midstream and Tailwater Capital to position the Tall Oak companies for increased market leadership and sustainable, long-term success," said Ryan Lewellyn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tall Oak. "These transactions will provide our business with tremendously improved system capacity infrastructure and an increasingly diverse customer base, positioning us to compete with larger peers in the region and to capitalize on a number of exciting opportunities alongside our new partners at Tailwater." "It has been a privilege to partner with the Tailwater team over the past few years. One of our driving principles has been centered on nimble, strategic decision making and this transaction is no exception," said Brandon Webster, President and Chief Executive Officer of Connect Midstream. "We are proud of the system we have built at Connect Midstream and believe the Tall Oak team is perfectly situated to drive its continued growth." Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. served as exclusive financial advisor to Tailwater Capital and Connect Midstream and Thompson & Knight LLP served as legal counsel to Tailwater Capital and Connect Midstream in connection with negotiation and documentation of the transactions. Winston & Strawn LLP provided legal counsel to Tall Oak Midstream. Shearman & Sterling LLP represented EnCap Flatrock Midstream. About Tailwater Capital, LLC Dallas-based Tailwater Capital is a growth-oriented energy private equity firm with a well-established track record of working constructively with proven management teams to deliver value-added solutions. Tailwater currently manages more than $3.7 billion in committed capital and the team has executed more than 100 energy transactions in the upstream and midstream sectors representing over $20 billion in transaction value. For more information, please visit www.tailwatercapital.com. About Tall Oak Midstream, LLC Based in Oklahoma City, the Tall Oak companies are dedicated to bringing a fresh perspective to serving oil and gas producers with a full suite of midstream services. Core capabilities include natural gas gathering, compression, treating and processing; crude oil gathering and transportation; condensate and water handling; and product marketing solutions. Tall Oak was founded in 2014 by Ryan Lewellyn, Carlos Evans, Max Myers and Lindel Larison who brought diverse and complementary background across the midstream and upstream sectors. Please visit www.talloakmidstream.com for more information. Media Contacts For Tailwater Capital: Jonathan Keehner / Julie Hamilton Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher 212-355-4449 For Tall Oak Midstream: Anthony Triana [email protected] 405-818-0791 SOURCE Tailwater Capital LLC Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. DOJ halts controversial zero tolerance immigration policy Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The U.S. Department of Justice has rescinded a zero tolerance prosecution policy for illegal immigrants caught entering the country through the southern border, a practice that led to the separation of thousands of families. Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson sent a memo to federal prosecutors Tuesday, explaining that the zero tolerance policy would be replaced with an approach that focuses on individual cases. Consistent with this longstanding principle of making individualized assessments in criminal cases, I am rescinding effective immediately the policy directive, stated the Wilkinson memo, as reported by the Associated Press. While policies may change, our mission always remains the same: to seek justice under the law. The memo went on to note that decisions about bringing criminal charges should involve not only a determination that a federal offense has been committed and that the admissible evidence will probably be sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction, but should also take into account other individualized factors. These factors included personal circumstances and criminal history, the seriousness of the offense, and the probable sentence or other consequences that would result from a conviction. In 2018, the Trump administration garnered outrage across the political spectrum for enforcing a family separation policy for immigrants seeking asylum and those who illegally entered the country. The policy traced its origins to the Bush administration, with former Obama administration Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson explaining that under President Barack Obama, some children were detained alone. Without a doubt the images, and the reality, from 2014, just like 2018, are not pretty, said Johnsonin an interview with Fox News Chris Wallace in 2018. We expanded it, I freely admit it was controversial, we believed it was necessary at the time, I still believe it is necessary to remain a certain capability for families. In June 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions garnered controversy when he defended the policy, stating that under the law, we are supposed to prosecute these crimes. If you cross the Southwest border unlawfully, then the Department of Homeland Security will arrest you and the Department of Justice will prosecute you, said Sessions at the time. That is what the law calls for and that is what we are going to do. Having children does not give you immunity from arrest and prosecution. It certainly doesnt give immunity to American citizens. In response to the nationwide outcry, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2018 suspending the practice of family separation, though not completely abolishing it. In 2019, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., headed a majority staff report for the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, stating that the Trump administration was forced to revert to the policy of catching and releasing families who enter illegally without being able to verify whether an actual family bond exists. Without that verification, there is a real risk that human traffickers will exploit the current system, the report reads. At this point, as AP reports, the Biden administrations ending of the zero tolerance policy will essentially affect mostly single men who have entered the country illegally. A report from the Justice Departments Office of Inspector General released this month found that the Justice Department was the driving force in urging the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively prosecute adults who arrive with children. The report found that the DOJ nor the attorney general's office effectively coordinated with agencies in charge at the border or the court system prior to implementing "the new practice of referring family unit adults for criminal prosecution as part of the zero tolerance policy." "We further found that the OAGs expectations for how the family separation process would work significantly underestimated its complexities and demonstrated a deficient understanding of the legal requirements related to the care and custody of separated children," the report adds. "We concluded that the Departments single-minded focus on increasing immigration prosecutions came at the expense of careful and appropriate consideration of the impact of family unit prosecutions and child separations." On Tuesday, a judge temporarily dealt a small blow to President Joe Bidens immigration agenda by blocking the administrations 100-day pause on deportations in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Federal Judge Drew Tipton of the Southern District of Texas issued a temporary restraining order on the pause slated to last two weeks, reported CNN. Tipton, a Trump appointee, ruled that Texas presented evidence that such a policy would cause the state to incur added costs because of the presence of illegal immigrants. The state argued that not removing immigrants deemed deportable will only encourage more illegal immigration. "The Court's decision to stop the Biden Administration from casting aside congressionally enacted immigration laws is a much-needed remedy for DHS's unlawful action, Paxton said in a statement. A near-complete suspension of deportations would only serve to endanger Texans and undermine federal law." A New York Police Department officer was shot in the back late Tuesday as he patrolled the Bronx as part of an anti-gun violence unit. The 31-year-old officer, whose name hasn't been released, was in plain clothes and was shot in the lower back as he chased after an armed suspect who was known to the department, the New York Times reported. The shooting, which occurred around 10.30pm in the Soundview section of the Bronx, marks the third shooting of a New York police officer in the last three months. Police investigated into the early morning hours of Wednesday, looking for evidence after an 31-year-old NYPD officer was shot while pursuing a suspect Fellow officers transported the shot officer to a nearby hospital in the Bronx. A large group of them investigated at the scene into the early Wednesday hours Riot police scoured the area near the Bruckner Expressway in the hours after the shooting and retrieved a handgun from under the car Police Chief Dermot F. Shea said at an early Wednesday news conference at Jacobi Hospital that the officer was expected to survive. He was wearing a bullet-proof vest, but was shot below it and is in 'significant pain', Shea said. The officer, a member of the Gun Violence Suppression Division, identified the gunman while driving on Lafayette Avenue toward White Plains Road and attempted to stop him along with three other officers in his division. Shea said: 'Within minutes, within seconds, they were in a gunfight. 'In the course of seconds, what we know is that our officer, we believe fired one round. We believe the perpetrator fired four rounds.' The 24-year-old suspect from Tuesday's shooting is in custody, police sources said, and a handgun was later recovered from under a car. He wasn't named, but police said he had an arrest record in New York and in New Jersey. The shooting took place on the intersection between Lafayette Avenue and White Plains Road in the Soundview section of the Bronx Riot police scoured the area near the Bruckner Expressway in the hours after the shooting. The wounded officer is a six-year veteran of the force and devotes his time to getting guns off the streets. Many of his relatives have also served in the police department and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who visited the hospital, commended his 'extraordinary bravery'. 'He's someone who goes out and puts his life on the line to protect other people in the most powerful way, by depriving criminals of their firearms,' de Blasio said. 'Anyone who wants an example of how hard the N.Y.P.D. works, how committed our officers are, you see it this evening in the Bronx'. He was in a stable condition early Wednesday. Shea said: 'I can tell you that he is in a lot of pain, but thankfully we expect him to make a full recovery.' Officers showed up in force to investigate the shooting of their fellow NYPD officer, an incident that marked the third shooting of an NYPD officer in as many months The shooting is the third of NYPD officers in just three months. In November, two officers were injured in Queens during a shooting in which the gunman was killed. On Christmas Eve, another officer in Brooklyn was shot when responding to a call about domestic violence, and he survived thanks to his bulletproof vest. Shootings in New York doubled in 2020 on the previous year despite the deadly pandemic which has forced people to stay at home off the streets. There were 1,531 incidents registered last year, with murders also rising by 44 per cent to 462. Police officials believe a surging firearms black market combined with a rise in street feuds caused by the pandemic and economic woes are behind the increased crime levels. Bengaluru: A day after a Bengaluru techie lost his arm in a crocodile attack in a waterbody, the IIT Bombay alumnus on Monday underwent a surgery at Hosmat Hospital in the city. Startup entrepreneur Mudit Dandwate, a resident of Indiranagar, was shifted from the ICU to a private ward after the operation. According to doctors, 26-year-old Mudit, who runs a healthcare startup, is yet to overcome the shock. Mudit and his friend alongwith two dogs had gone for trekking in the forests around Thattekere Lake. When they came near the lake, the dogs ran towards the waterbody. Mudit too followed them and entered the waters as he did not notice a board warning about crocodiles. He was suddenly attacked by a crocodile who bit is left forearm. Mudit somehow managed to ward off the crocodile and was rushed to the hospital. A case of trespassing under section 24 of the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963 has been booked against Mudit as the Thattekere Lake in Ramanagar district is located inside a protected forest. The forest department now wants to get a statement from Mudits friend. Mudit cannot give statement as he is still undergoing treatment. Forest officials said Mudit should have paid heed to the warnings, while some think he might have not been able to read the board as they were written in Kannada. However, some said that the board also had a pictorial depiction of the danger. "He survived only because the crocodile grabbed his hand. Usually, crocodiles drown you and then grab you. Had it grabbed his hip, abdomen, chest or even thighs, chances of survival would have been bleak. Mudit is the first crocodile attack survivor I have seen in my career. He is still in trauma and will take time to recover," said Dr Thomas Chandy, director and chief of orthopedics, Hosmat Hospital. The government should control humans from entering such lakes," he said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Alec Baldwin broke his social media silence on Tuesday to share a tribute to the late great Paul Newman on what would've been his 96th birthday. 'You see this guy? This guy was a prince. Literally. He was Hollywood royalty and damn the cliche,' the 62-year-old Oscar nominee - who boasts 3M Instagram/Twitter followers - wrote. 'He was a leading man in so many films it was crazy. Always sexy, always smart, always smooth, always soulful...He married an amazing woman. An amazing actress. They were, are, the greatest of partners. 'He was Hollywood royalty': Alec Baldwin (L) broke his social media silence on Tuesday to share a tribute to the late great Paul Newman (R) on what would've been his 96th birthday The 62-year-old Oscar nominee wrote: 'He was a leading man in so many films it was crazy. Always sexy, always smart, always smooth, always soulful...He built a machine [Newman's Own] that printed money and gave all of it, hundreds of millions, to help others' 'He built a machine [Newman's Own] that printed money and gave all of it, hundreds of millions, to help others. But, let's face it. He's The David. The celluloid David. Happy birthday, PL.' Alec singled out the three-time Oscar winner's 'greatest' work as lawyer Frank Galvin in Sidney Lumet's 1982 drama The Verdict, which he said everyone should see 'before you die.' Paul is also famed for his work in classics like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Sting. Newman - who also drove race cars - finished his career in blockbusters like The Color of Money, Road to Perdition, and Pixar's Cars. 'Before you die, see THE VERDICT!' Alec singled out the three-time Oscar winner's 'greatest' work as lawyer Frank Galvin in Sidney Lumet's 1982 drama The Verdict 'This guy was a prince': Paul is famed for his work in classics like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (pictured in 1958), The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Sting RIP: Newman and his second wife Joanne Woodward (R) went on to have three children and remained married until his death, at age 83, from lung cancer in 2008 The Emmy winner was a married father-of-three when he met his second wife Joanne Woodward in 1953 in Broadway's Picnic and they wed in 1958 after co-starring in The Long, Hot Summer. Paul and the 90-year-old Oscar winner went on to have three children and remained married until his death, at age 83, from lung cancer in 2008. Aside from promoting his weekly podcast Here's The Thing, Baldwin hasn't used Twitter since January 18 because of his second wife Hillary 'Hilaria' Thomas' Spanish scandal. The New York native and the 37-year-old culture vulture are laying low in their 18th-century farmhouse in East Hampton with their five children and two nannies. 'Not much of a party. Goodbye for now': Aside from promoting his weekly podcast Here's The Thing, Baldwin hasn't used Twitter since January 18 because of his second wife Hillary 'Hilaria' Thomas' Spanish scandal Offline: The New York native and the 37-year-old culture vulture are laying low in their 18th-century farmhouse in East Hampton with their five children and two nannies 'Yes, I am a white girl. I am a white girl': Hillary has yet to apologize or admit any fault over the public's perception that she was born and raised in Majorca after a Twitter thread from Leni Briscoe went viral Hillary has yet to apologize or admit any fault over the public's perception that she was born and raised in Majorca after a Twitter thread from Leni Briscoe went viral. The disgraced influencer has since clarified she was born and raised in Boston's posh Beacon Hill district to parents (who moved to Spain in 2011) with deep roots in the United States. Hillary even went as far as to blame her agency CAA and Hola! magazine for mistakenly referring to her as Spanish in a December 30 interview with the New York Times. Hitting US/UK theaters on March 26! Alec will next reprise his role as voice hedge fund CEO Theodore Templeton (R) in The Boss Baby: Family Business But as far back as 2011, the Mom Brain podcaster perpetuated her fictional heritage by tweeting that she was a 'Spanish yoga teacher.' As recent as October, Alec told Aaron and Rohit's Hopeless Show 'my wife is from Spain' and he said the same on Late Show with David Letterman in 2013. Baldwin will next reprise his role as voice hedge fund CEO Theodore Templeton in The Boss Baby: Family Business, which hits US/UK theaters on March 26. Vietnam has been taking a number of rigorous measures to control the Covid-19 pandemic, but vaccination is the ultimate solution and the country needs big preparations to handle that. Thu Anh Nguyen Vietnam aims to vaccinate its entire population, gradually covering by subject priority and vaccine supply capacity aligned with World Health Organization recommendations. Its priority population numbers 15 million. Of more than 60 Covid-19 vaccine candidates being trialed, those of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca Oxford have been authorized for use in many countries. Pfizer-BioNTech, Russias Sputnik V and Chinas Sinovac are also on the list for exploration and discussion for import to Vietnam. There is an expectation that Vietnam would be able to make its own Covd-19 vaccine eventually. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires storage at -70 degrees Celsius in an ultra-cold chain for up to six months and at 2-8 degrees Celsius for up to five days. Once a box is opened, all doses need to be used within 30 days or discarded. The AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine requires less extensive logistic arrangements. It can be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius for six months though it needs to be protected from light. Once a vial is opened, it should be used within six hours or discarded. Transportation of vaccines will require a cold chain with refrigerated vehicles, cold storage at the delivery site, thermometers, temperature warning systems, and power generators. Vietnam lacks a cold chain that allows storage at -70 degrees Celsius. Thus, while the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine can be transported to Vietnam using the manufacturers standard packing method, it is not possible for Vietnam to store it and distribute to its 63 provinces. However, the existing cold chains in provinces and districts mostly allow storage at 2-8 degrees Celsius, and at -20 degrees Celsius in some places. This will be enough to transport, store and deliver the AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine. Nevertheless, infrastructure needs to be upgraded in many remote and isolated communes. Vials of Nanocovax, a Vietnamese Covid-19 vaccine candidate, at a laborartory in HCMC, December 8, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. As for vaccinating people, lining up groups of eligible vaccine recipients, ensuring the correct interval between the two doses, and management of adverse events pose enormous challenges not just for Vietnam, but also for developed countries. The U.S. will take almost a year to vaccinate 80 percent of its population at the current pace. By the end of 2020 it had vaccinated 14 percent of its target, or 20 million people. Israel is expected to vaccinate its entire population in less than 51 days. To achieve this, Israel placed orders early and paid a higher price to secure sufficient volumes of vaccines. Besides, it carefully planned vaccine operation logistics, sufficiently and safely dividing the large consignments into smaller batches to send out to remote locations, developing an orderly queue of people coming for vaccination and vaccinating people not in priority groups at the end of the day to not waste vials about to expire. Israel has carried out a large communication campaign. It has a strong digitized healthcare system in which everyone is registered. The digital information system allows the vaccine program to track recipients and take appropriate action. Assuming Vietnam has the capacity to carry out the vaccination at the same pace as Israel (daily average of 126,000 people), it would take four months to vaccinate 15 million priority recipients, and almost two years to cover 80 percent of the population. Though the National Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) has been in place for many years, challenges remain. Firstly, there is not yet experience of population-wide vaccination efforts, and it is likely there are not sufficient health workers to vaccinate the entire population, particularly since a correct interval is required between the two doses. Secondly, the EPIs high staff turnover means there are many new workers without adequate training. Lastly, the adverse events following immunization (AEFI) currently focuses only on children and pregnant women, and so there is a need to strengthen the AEFI regime to cope with a vaccine rollout of this scale and novelty. With regard to the cost, the government can cover only 60-70 percent of the EPI, and so the country will possibly need to mobilize funds, develop standard procedures and build capacity, which could be difficult in the short time available. Obviously, there are significant challenges that Vietnam faces to ensuring an equitable, safe and efficient delivery system. The first resource that has become available is the vaccine readiness assessment tool, which includes an excel template for health ministries to complete, with support from local WHO and UNICEF offices if needed. Covax is developing materials for guidance, training and advocacy. Other upcoming resources include guidance and tools to plan for Covid-19 vaccine acceptance and demand, manage supply, logistics and distribution and monitor vaccination. A concrete and transparent plan is urgently needed at this stage to ensure an equitable, safe and efficient delivery system for the precious vaccines. * Dr Thu Anh Nguyen works in the faculty of medicine and health, University of Sydney, Australia. The opinions expressed are her own. Most of the world is struggling to secure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations. India has the opposite problem: Plenty of shots, but a shortage of people willing to take them. As India rolls out one of the worlds biggest inoculation programs, some health-care and other frontline workers are hesitating because of safety concerns over a vaccine that has yet to complete phase III trials. As of Monday, only about 56% of people eligible to get the shot have stepped forward in a nation with the worlds second-worst Covid-19 outbreak. Also Read | How India has become an unequal republic A nurse administers a shot of the Covishield vaccine, developed by Oxford-Astrazeneca Plc. and manufactured by Serum Institute of India Ltd., at a vaccine center in the Bandra Kurla Complex hospital in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. India launched one of the worlds largest coronavirus vaccination drives on Saturday, setting in motion a complex deployment plan aimed at stemming the wide spread of infections across a nation of more than 1.3 billion people. Unless the inoculation rate significantly increases, India will fall far short of its target of inoculating 300 million people -- or about a quarter of the population -- by July. That will setback global efforts to contain the virus and snuff out optimism that a recovery is taking root in an economy set for its biggest annual contraction in records going back to 1952. At least 40% of doctors here are unsure and want to wait," said Vinod Kumar, a resident doctor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences of Patna, in the eastern state of Bihar. Carrying out a vaccine trial on us when India is short of doctors, health-care workers doesnt make sense." While vaccine hesitancy has surfaced in places like Japan and Brazil, and Chinas candidates have also faced questions over data, the scale of the problem in India is by far the biggest. The major difficulties facing places like the U.S. and Europe are mostly due to scarce supplies rather than vaccine acceptance, and some countries are turning to New Delhi for help: India says it can produce 500 million shots per month for export, and countries such as the U.K., Belgium and Saudi Arabia have sought to buy them. Indias domestic vaccine program administers one of two shots: the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India Ltd., or the Covaxin shot developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd., a private company based in Hyderabad. Indias approval of the Bharat Biotech shot, which was developed with government-backed research groups, was met with widespread criticism from scientists because of the lack of complete data. Many in our institute arent comfortable with Covaxin because we dont know how effective it is," said Adarsh Pratap Singh, a member of the Resident Doctors Association at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. To build trust among people the government must come out with the data, evidence of the trials, and encourage free and fair discussions." Both the company and the government have defended the shot. Krishna Ella, Bharat Biotechs chairman, said earlier this month that the company carried out 200% honest clinical trials" and had a track record of producing 16 safe and effective vaccines. Indian scientists want to bash on other Indian scientists," he said while dismissing criticisms in a virtual press briefing on Jan. 4. A spokesperson for Bharat Biotech didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. The government, meanwhile, has urged health-care workers to get vaccinated. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has sent tweets imploring #CoronaWarriors" to take the shot, while dispelling rumors that the vaccine could cause infertility. A federal health ministry spokesperson wasnt immediately available to comment. Harsh Vardhan, India's health minister, displays a vial of Bharat Biotech Ltd. Covaxin at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India, on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021. India launched one of the worlds largest coronavirus vaccination drives on Saturday, setting in motion a complex deployment plan aimed at stemming the wide spread of infections across a nation of more than 1.3 billion people. Vaccine hesitancy among health workers should end -- I am pleading on behalf of the government, that please adopt it, because no one knows how this pandemic will take shape in the future," said V. K. Paul, a member of the planning body Niti Aayog, noting that hes taken the Covaxin shot without any adverse effects. These two vaccines are safe," he said. We have a system to track it and if there is an unusual signal, it will be responded to the way it should be." Initial apprehension and doubt at the start of any vaccine rollout is normal, said Preeti Sudan, former secretary at the federal ministry of health and family welfare. India was successful in its polio immunization program, she noted, after launching a massive campaign involving children, mothers and opinion leaders to help dispel vaccine fears. Low vaccination rates As of Monday, India distributed about 2 million shots nationwide. In Madhya Pradesh, the largest state in central India, about 75% of enrolled people turned up for vaccination on Jan. 21, while two days later in Bihar the rate was much lower at 51.6%. On Jan. 19, about 55% of those eligible were vaccinated in Rajasthan and 54% in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, according to state government data. While the hesitation relates to both vaccines, people are most wary about Bharat Biotechs Covaxin. In Tamil Nadu, for example, only 23.5% of those allocated Covaxin received the shots on Jan. 19, compared with 56% for the Serum Institutes Covishield, the data show. Nirmalya Mohapatra, a doctor at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi, plans to wait and watch" for more clarity before getting vaccinated with Bharat Biotechs shot. If given a choice now, he would opt for Covishield, as its efficacy data was reviewed by leading medical journals. Covaxin could turn out to be a better vaccine in the future," said Mohapatra, who is also vice president of the resident doctors association at the hospital. But for now there is some apprehension because of the lack of a complete trial." Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Tens of thousands of people in the Portland region already eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine may wait weeks -- if not months -- to be inoculated against the coronavirus, public health officials said Tuesday, with one describing the failure as a very dark, low day for the region. The acknowledgement came a day before vaccinations begin en masse for educators at the Oregon Convention Center, underscoring widespread and deepening access problems among the limited number of groups authorized to be inoculated. Although Oregon began offering vaccines to many doctors, nurses and other frontline workers in December, health care workers who arent affiliated with one of the five major healthcare giants in the Portland region have had difficulties scheduling vaccinations. Now, those workers already in line for a vaccine will likely get jumped by educators who qualified Monday under a push by Gov. Kate Brown to reopen classrooms to in-person learning. The metro region expects 15,000 vaccines to be injected into peoples arms this week and 12,000 of those are earmarked for educators, leaving just 3,000 doses for those in Phase 1A who were supposed to be inoculated before teachers, officials said. The number of skipped-over health care workers including professionals in private practice or those who aide people with intellectual and development disabilities, among others set to receive vaccines in the short-term is very limited. This is an incredibly frustrating situation, Jessica Guernsey, Multnomah Countys public health director, said at the outset of an hour-long news conference Tuesday. Im sorry for any distress that this has caused. Public health officials said the primary challenge is too many Oregonians are now seeking inoculations amid a limited supply of vaccine. Its the same warning Oregons hospital trade group issued last week, saying Browns plan to make teachers and seniors eligible would set unreasonable expectations and lead to confusion. That confusion is coming into sharper focus now, particularly as some central Oregon and coastal counties unexpectedly moved forward vaccinating seniors weeks ahead of schedule despite metro-area challenges vaccinating health care workers. State officials initially identified 400,000 to 500,000 workers in Phase 1A who would be eligible for the vaccine. But Oregon has reported only about 325,473 doses administered so far out of 589,200 received. And now, an additional 152,000 or so teachers, day care and pre-school workers are eligible for shots. Health officials said on Tuesday they arent likely to use all doses on hand to address the shortfall, since those doses are set aside as second shots for those awaiting their final doses. The delay for thousands of potentially vulnerable workers in the states most populous region is the latest stumble in the unprecedented vaccine rollout. Despite Oregons relative success containing COVID-19, the governor has come under fire for bucking science and ignoring federal guidance in choosing to prioritize teachers over elderly Oregonians most likely to be hospitalized or die from infections Tuesdays news conference came exactly one hour after employees at the states largest school district Portland Public could start making appointments at the newly setup mass immunization clinic at the Oregon Convention Center. But in many ways, it was weeks in the making. To address vaccine-access problems for workers not tied to hospitals, Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Columbia counties on Jan. 12 invited healthcare workers to answer a survey with the intent of arranging vaccine appointments. More than 60,000 people responded. Only about 11,000 people were able to schedule appointments, officials said, and its not clear how many of them have been vaccinated. KGW-TV on Monday first reported the problems, which included tens of thousands of people interested and eligible to receive a vaccine effectively sitting in limbo. Acknowledging broad challenges, the regional health leaders announced Tuesday they were shutting down the survey and are redirecting those thousands of healthcare workers and other Phase 1A members to the new state one-stop shop for scheduling appointments. But the new scheduling system has challenges of its own. For example, it maxes out at 1,000 people at a time, meaning people trying to land an appointment may have to try back several times, Multnomah County officials said in a statement. Once appointments are full for the week, they will have to try again the next week. Public health officials cautioned that just because someone is now classified as eligible for the vaccine doesnt mean they will get an appointment or receive a shot in short-order especially with teachers now eligible and seniors gaining access in phases, with those 80 and up starting Feb. 8. Dr. Christina Baumann, Washington Countys public health director, said leaders are trying to be transparent. We know that folks have been given the message that they are eligible either now or in the next several weeks but that does not mean that we are going to have vaccines on hand, she said. Baumann cited the extremely challenging situation of having to plan multiple weeks out but not knowing how much vaccine will be available as a key stumbling block. Projections by the Oregon Health Authority show the state should receive about 100,000 first and second doses a week through February. Meanwhile, the crisis in the Portland region comes as several counties are already weeks ahead of Browns own vaccination guidance for seniors. On Monday, Deschutes County health officials announced they would start vaccinating people 75 and older. That invitation is also open to residents in Crook and Jefferson counties. Last week, Lincoln County announced that it had additional vaccine now on the way and could schedule people 75 and older as well. Public health leaders in the metro region are discussing the inconsistencies with state leaders, including the possibility of reallocating doses to Portland. In response to a question regarding that possibility, officials at the Oregon Health Authority said the Portland region has received nearly 48% of all vaccine shipped to the state, enough to cover nearly 10% of its total population. Statewide, nearly three-quarters of the 400,000 people eligible in phase 1A will have received at least the first dose in the next few days, spokesman Jonathan Modie said in an email. But we know there are many hard-to-reach populations left, and we will work with the three counties to provide additional vaccine. There has just not been enough federal supply that Oregon has received to vaccinate all Phase 1a populations across the state, he said. Additional doses should go to those essential workers serving our most impacted immigrant, refugee, traditional health workers in communities of color and Medicaid and Medicare providers and home health workers, state and county officials said. Metro leaders such as Guernsey said the Portland area is not the same as the rest of the state and may need vaccines earmarked for other counties. In effect, she suggested, allocations may need to shift to match the population and complexity. Dr. Jennifer Vines, tri-county public health officer, said adding teachers into the mix of eligible Oregonians is, honestly, aggravating the situation of not yet inoculating everyone in phase 1A. Today is a very dark, low day for us, she added. Vines said her biggest hope is that more vaccine doses will start rolling in soon. President Biden and his health team have made vaccine distribution the administrations top priority. Until Oregon, and the nation, see vaccine distribution ramp up, the problems could be compounding for the rest of the population. We dont have answers, Vines said of the issue facing the healthcare workers in phase 1A in particular. But were working really hard, nights and weekends to figure it out. Andrew Theen; atheen@oregonian.com; 503-294-4026; @andrewtheen Press Release January 26, 2021 DELA ROSA: I AM NOT ANTI-UP, I AM ANTI-CPP-NPA-NDF Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa has expressed high respect for the country's premier state university following his lone abstention on the adoption of the proposed resolution welcoming the dialogue between the defense department and the University of the Philippines. In explaining his decision to abstain on the adoption of Proposed Senate Resolution No. 616 which welcomes the Department of National Defense's (DND) decision to have a dialogue with the officials of the University of the Philippines (UP) and urging both parties to revisit the agreement, Dela Rosa made it clear that he is not, in any way, against the state university, its students and officials. "For the record, I am not anti-UP, I am anti-CPP-NPA-NDF. I respect UP as breeding ground for the best and brightest minds that this country has produced," Dela Rosa clarified. The Mindanaoan senator and former top cop also emphasized his decades-long fight against the ideologies of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA) and the National Democratic Front (NDF). "My decision for not supporting the proposed resolution should not be interpreted that I am against UP. My vote and this manifestation are a testament of my lifelong battle against the ideologies of CPP-NPA," Dela Rosa noted. "I cannot think of any benefits for our country for their existence. Many police officers and military personnel have been killed in the hands of this communist-terrorist group," he added. Meanwhile, Dela Rosa urged UP to always be open to ideas coming not just from the leftists, but those coming from the government as well. "I have known UP as a fertile ground that cultivates free thinking. It encourages ideas coming from the left, right or center. It welcomes wide range of discourses that redound to the welfare of the youth. I am quite puzzled now why they are resisting ideologies from the right and center of the political spectrum," Dela Rosa noted. For over 30 years, Dela Rosa said, the communist rebels have taken advantage of its 1989 agreement with the DND by recruiting young and promising minds to be their combatants against the government. "It is a sad reality that the CPP-NPA took undue advantage of the 1989 Agreement between UP and DND. With this protective mantle, this leftist group randomly recruited young and brilliant students from this premier University to be members of their organization, and served as its juvenile frontliners in fighting the government." Dela Rosa said. Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, has led several public hearings in 2019 on the alleged recruitment of minors by leftist groups where parents and communist rebel returnees testified that the CPP-NPA-NDF recruited minors for their armed struggle to topple the government. In its report, the committee underscored the need for police visibility around and within the UP campus premises. Dela Rosa also emphasized that the presence of the military and police inside UP will not curtail academic freedom. To the contrary, it will serve as protection against the deceit of the communists. "Ang presensya ng pulis o militar, kung kailangan, sa loob ng kampus ay hindi para kitilin ang academic freedom sa Pamantasan ng Pilipinas... Ngunit kailangan din bantayan na hindi mapasok ng mga taong may makakaliwang pilosopiya ang naturang paaralan para di na makapag hikayat pa ng kabataan na maliligaw ng landas tungo sa komunismo," Dela Rosa said. McConnell Ready To Negotiate Senate Power Sharing Agreement, but Warns of Consequences if Filibuster Is Not Honored Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has circumvented the Senate majority leader to obtain guarantees from two Democrat senators that they will vote with Republicans to keep the legislative filibuster threshold. But he warned of a scorched earth Senate if the rule is not kept. With no commitment from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to keep the filibuster rule, McConnell took the word of two Democrats who have said they will honor the 60-vote filibuster rule, but warned his colleagues what could happen if the pledge is not honored. Rather than relying on the Democratic leader, I took the discussion directly to his members. Basic arithmetic now ensures that there are not enough votes to break the rule, McConnell said, according to his spokesman David Popp. Our colleague informed me directly that under no circumstances would she reverse course, another spokesman cited McConnell as saying. The filibuster requires 60 votes to end debate in the Senate on a bill and vote, and not just a simple majority of 51 votes. It gives a voice to the minority party. McConnell said he has always honored the legislative filibuster, which is different than the filibuster he bypassed for confirming justices, which he dismissed during the Supreme Court nominee confirmation process. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) both confirmed to news outlets that they would not vote in favor of eliminating the filibuster. If I havent said it very plain, maybe Sen. McConnell hasnt understood, I want to basically say it for you. That I will not vote in this Congress, thats two years, right? I will not vote to change the filibuster, Manchin said in an interview on Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for Sinema told The Washington Post that the Arizona senator is against eliminating the filibuster, and she is not open to changing her mind about eliminating the filibuster. McConnell said in his floor speech on Tuesday that he is now ready to move forward with the power-sharing agreement with the majority leader. This victory will let us move forward with a 50/50 power-sharing agreement, containing all the elements of the 2001 model because it will sit on the very same foundation, he said. McConnell warned his colleagues about what could happen if the legislative filibuster is not honored. If this majority went scorched earth [simple majority], this body would grind to a halt, McConnell warned. If the Democratic majority were to attack the filibuster, they would guarantee themselves immediate chaos, especially in this 50/50 Senate, he added. When it comes to lawmaking the Framers vision and our history are abundantly clear. The Senate exists to require deliberation and cooperation, McConnell said. McConnell reminded his colleagues that the Senates process requires consent and agreement to take up business in the upper chamber. The Constitution requires the Senate to have a quorum to do any business right now and the vice president does not count. The majority cannot even produce a quorum on their own, and one could be demanded by any senator at almost any time, our committees need a quorum to function as well, said McConnell. A quorum is the number of senators that must be present for the Senate to do business. The Constitution requires a majority of 51 senators to have a quorum and start any business in the Senate. Technically it takes collegiality and consent for the majority to keep acting as the majority at any time they do not physically have a majority, McConnell said. But theres no doubt. None. Thats what wed see if Democrats tear up this pivotal rule, it would become immediately and painfully clear to the Democratic majority that they had indeed just broken the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Dec. 8, 2020. (Win McNamee/Getty Images) Meanwhile, Schumers office criticized McConnells demands. Were glad Sen. McConnell threw in the towel and gave up on his ridiculous demand, said Justin Goodman, a spokesman for the Democratic leader. We look forward to organizing the Senate under Democratic control and start getting big, bold things done for the American people. The minority leader said if the filibuster was done away with it would make laws brittle and reversible and the laws would change with each majority party. So instead of building stable consensus. Wed be chaotically swapping party platforms, swinging wildly between opposite visions. That would guarantee that half of the country is miserable and resentful at any given time. We would have inherited resilient institutions but left behind a chaotic mess. Schumers office did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times request for comment about the filibuster and power-sharing agreement. McConnell said that the filibuster is a crucial rule that was put in place by the Framers of the Constitution for times just as these, when the country is deeply divided. Were in a politically charged period. But when factional fever runs hot and slender majorities are most tempted to ram through radicalism, these are the times for which the guardrails exist in the first place, he said. Singapore -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/27/2021 -- The fear of uncertainty due to the virus outbreak dictated the economic climate in 2020. As we approach the end of January 2021, we can see that businesses are remaining cautiously optimistic, as many remain unsure about the rate of market recovery. Companies in industries that are driven by growth, like banking and financial services are likely to remain robust in Singapore, with some even looking to expand. The growth in these industries is, for the moment, largely driven by the increasing use of digital technology by both businesses and consumers. As organisations continue to strengthen their capabilities to capitalise on the growing digital economy, the talent demand for 2021 should increase. Here are three key highlights to look out for in the 2021 job market; the pandemics impact on Singapore's labour market and businesses. The popularity and competition for financial and banking services careers, and lastly, the anticipated job mobility and candidate expectations across key financial industries. One of the main areas to focus on is asset management. As more Hong Kong, London, and U.S. hedge funds plan to establish firms and hire staff in Singapore, the opportunities for top fund managers, quant researchers and developers to live and work in Singapore have risen tremendously. Founded in 2004, Selby Jennings is a leading sector specialist in the recruitment industry, with particular focus in financial and banking services. Put simply, combined with the best industry knowledge and a wealth of experience when it comes to recruitment in Asia, Selby Jennings are the first and best choice for placing top-class talent throughout Singapore. With a growing network of one million mid-to-senior practitioners covering over 60 nations and boasting a team of over 750 professionals who are all experts in their fields, you can rest assured Selby Jennings will find the best fit when it comes to placing and securing top talent. Located in 12 worldwide offices, Selby Jennings are committed to providing their consultants with ongoing training which covers their state-of-the-art recruiting technologies, ensuring they deliver the best possible hiring solutions no matter how challenging the economic climate. The organisation partners with a plethora of diverse business types, from dynamic start-ups to corporate giants, and as part of the Phaidon International Group they are proud to be the predominant recruiter of choice for over 70 world-leading companies. All Selby Jennings consultants are delighted to present each of their clients with tailored individual recruiting options as they realise that the search for talent is different for every company and individual. Selby Jennings have made it their mission to embody a recruitment beyond borders ideology ensuring that the best possible candidates are recruited for positions in which they can excel. Careers currently available throughout Singapore include: APAC Data Protection Privacy Officer, Investment Management, Compliance Officer - Investment Management (Buy-Side), Analyst/Senior Analyst, Information Security AVP, Banking, System Engineer, FinTech Firm and Senior FPGA Developer, to name just a few. Get in touch with a Selby Jennings consultant today to start a fulfilling career without limits. "Like many sectors, 2020 marked a defining moment for recruitment. Challenged by uncertainty, but unwavering in our commitment to our clients, we enter 2021 with a sense of duty to clients and candidates", commented Luis Rolim, Global Marketing Director at Selby Jennings. He went onto say, "as we reflect on the challenges of virtually securing and retaining talent, we're inspired by a team who have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and continue to help all our clients secure top talent on a global scale." To find out more information about financial services recruiting firms visit https://www.selbyjennings.sg For any media enquiries please contact Gary Elliott at Iconic Digital 020 7100 0726. For all other enquiries please contact Selby Jennings: +65 3165 1400. For more information about Selby Jennings SG services, please go to https://www.selbyjennings.sg. About Selby Jennings Selby Jennings creates a range of recruitment solutions that are designed to support the growth of organisations across the financial services sector. Transforming the way that hiring is handled is a tool that any business can use to build in resilience and potential even in challenging times. [January 27, 2021] New Research Delves Inside the Mind of Reviewers to Reveal the Psychology Behind Consumer Advocacy CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- User-generated content ratings and reviews, and consumer submitted video, imagery and Q&A content have been shown to be highly effective in maximizing conversions and sales, but how do brands go about cultivating consumer advocacy for competitive advantage? To find out, PowerReviews conducted a survey of over 10,000 consumers to uncover the psychology and motivations behind product reviewers across four generations Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Zers. The survey insights provide crucial insights into what motivates consumers to provide ratings and reviews and who are the most inclined to do so. Key findings include: The highs and lows. A positive experience earns a product rating and review from more than 9/10 consumers surveyed, and a negative experience will motivate more than three quarters of consumers to share their experience. First impressions must delight from Day One. Reviewers say overall product experience must be great right from the very first use. An overwhelming majority of consumers (76%) and 83% of Gen Zers leave a review within the first week of receiving an item. One-third of consumers say theyd post a review after only using a product one time. Younger reviewers are more prolific. Some 56% of Gen Zers submit reviews more than once per month, compared to 47% of Boomers. Free samples and fraternity. Free samples are a critical motivating factor for 86% of respondents, while incentives (reward points, discounts, etc.) are important for 76%. However, reviewers also have a benevolent side; 67% said helping and guiding others was a key motivation, and helping a brand improve a product was cited by 65%. Younger respondents 77% of Gen Zers polled were significantly more motivated to provide reviews for the purpose of helping others than older respondents. The lure of exclusivity and the sense of duty. Some 85% of respondents said receiving a product before its available to the general public incentivized them to post a product rating and review. Coincidentally, 86% said they would be more likely to submit a rating and review for a product with low review volumes. This may indicate reviewers feel a sense of duty to provide feedback for the betterment of the consumer collective. Motivations to respond to queries. Of those surveyed, 77% said a desire to help and guide others was the biggest motivator to provide answers to questions posed by other customers online. While having a positive product experience, and having a disappointing product experience, were the motivations behind 73% and 60% of those polled, respectively. Rich media value propositions. Free samples and incentives had the greatest influence on posting of images and videos as part of reviews. Younger consumers are more titillated by this prospect -- perhaps unsurprising, given the popularity of visually oriented social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok among this demographic. Some 80% of thrifty Millennials cited free samples as a winning incentive to drive them to post a video with their review. While 40% of Gen Zers said they were motivated by the chance their image might be subsequently shared on a brands website. Consumer Advocacy Strategies and Best Practices With an understanding of reviewer motivations, brands can devise winning strategies to win over their advocacy and generate more user engagement and ratings and reviews, said Andrew Smith, vice president of Marketing for PowerReviews. Smith recommends the following best practices: Adapt user generated content collection strategies according to age demographics. Different generations have slightly different preferences and motivations to provide user generated content. Consider tailoring outreach strategies and approaches for greater alignment and improved results. Send out free samples as a review generation mechanism. This is clearly the most effective method to generate ratings and reviews for a particular product quickly. Encourage consumers to provide imagery and video in their reviews. Incorporate user generated content throughout marketing initiatives. This creates more buyer confidence, generating more conversions and sales, and influencing customers to submit more ratings and reviews. Target younger demographics to provide video and imagery with contest-style invitations focused on including their content in corporate brand marketing. Leverage user generated content as a valuable customer feedback source to improve your business. Above and beyond its obvious conversion power, brands should also leverage the analytics value of this content. Its a highly valuable form of customer feedback that can drive improvements in products, customer experience, and overall marketing and messaging efforts. View the full survey results on the PowerReviews website at https://www.powerreviews.com/insights/why-do-consumers-provide-product-ratings-reviews. Research Methodology The PowerReviews survey draws on responses from 10,486 active shoppers across the United States who have opted in to offers and discounts from retailers. The online survey took place in October 2020. Throughout the survey, we defined Boomers as born in the years 1946 to 1964 (aged 56-74 on Dec 31, 2020), Gen X as born in the years 1965 to 1980 (aged 40-55 on Dec 31, 2020), Millennials as born between 1981-1996 (aged 23-38 on Dec 31, 2020) and Gen Zers born in or after 1997 (ages 22 and younger on Dec 31, 2020). ABOUT POWERREVIEWS PowerReviews ( PowerReviews.com ) helps leading retailers and brands generate customer product ratings and reviews in larger volumes to significantly increase sales and then analyze and benchmark all this data to improve product quality and customer experience, while also delivering store experience feedback to help them optimize their retail network. PowerReviews is headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA. Media Contact Erin Lutz Lutz Public Relations (for PowerReviews) erin@lutzpr.com 949-293-1055 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Environmental groups are revving up opposition to the first company to take advantage of Western Australia lifting its fracking ban, despite traditional owners supporting the venture. Bennett Resources, owned by Texan company Black Mountain, wants its Valhalla gas prospect in the Kimberley to eventually supply the export market, or the energy-hungry east coast market, potentially via the $5 billion east-west pipeline long-mooted yet still unsupported by governments. Environs Kimberley says it has organised more than 3000 public submissions opposing the project in the 7-day comments period that closed on Wednesday. Credit:Environs Kimberley WA lifted its fracking ban in 2018 following an inquiry, promising an industry code of practice and legislation to allow traditional owners and landowner veto rights, but neither is complete. Bennett Resources was the first to lodge a fracking proposal thereafter, last July lodging a six-well application for Noonkanbah cattle station, south-east of Derby and Broome, and 16 kilometres from the Fitzroy River. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. [January 27, 2021] Schwab Declares Common Stock Dividend and Declares Preferred Stock Dividends The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwab Corporation at its meeting today declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.18 per common share. The dividend is payable February 26, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on February 12, 2021. In addition, the Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly dividend on the outstanding Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series C, in the amount of $15.00 per share or $0.375 per depositary share, each representing 1/40th interest in a share of Series C Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 12, 2021. The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwab Corporation has also declared a regular quarterly dividend on the outstanding Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series D, in the amount of $14.88 per share or $0.372 per depositary share, each representing 1/40th interest in a share of Series D Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 12, 2021. The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwab Corporation has also declared a regular semi-annual dividend on the outstanding Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series E, in the amount of $2,312.50 per share or $23.125 per depositary share, each representing 1/100th interest in a share of Series E Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 12, 2021. The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwa Corporation has also declared a regular quarterly dividend on the outstanding Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series G, in the amount of $1,343.75 per share or $13.438 per depositary share, each representing 1/100th interest in a share of Series G Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 12, 2021. The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwab Corporation has also declared a regular quarterly dividend on the outstanding Fixed Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series H, in the amount of $888.89 per share which covers the period from December 11, 2020 to February 28, 2021. The dividend equals $8.889 per depositary share, each representing 1/100th interest in a share of Series H Preferred Stock. The dividend is payable March 1, 2021 to stockholders of record at the close of business on February 12, 2021. About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services, with 29.6 million active brokerage accounts, 2.1 million corporate retirement plan participants, 1.5 million banking accounts, and approximately $6.69 trillion in client assets. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company provides a full range of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services to individual investors and independent investment advisors. Its broker-dealer subsidiaries, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., TD Ameritrade, Inc., and TD Ameritrade Clearing, Inc., (members SIPC, www.sipc.org), and their affiliates offer a complete range of investment services and products including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plan and equity compensation plan services; referrals to independent, fee-based investment advisors; and custodial, operational and trading support for independent, fee-based investment advisors through Schwab Advisor Services. Its primary banking subsidiary, Charles Schwab Bank, SSB (member FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender), provides banking and lending services and products. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005999/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hotel quarantine is no ones idea of fun, but the Northern Territorys Howard Springs quarantine facility recently provided a joyous life-enhancing visit for actor Rachel Griffiths. The actor and producer lived in a donga (local vernacular for a container house) last November at the disused workers camp 25 kilometres from central Darwin while en route from Melbourne to Queensland for a personal trip. Quarantine at Howard Springs for Rachel Griffiths (right) and Rita Arrigo. Credit:@ritaarrigo/Instagram An early highlight included residents staging a spontaneous 45-minute water aerobics class after receiving negative COVID tests, with everyone singing in quarantine to Abbas Dancing Queen. The performance went global after another facility inmate, Rita Arrigo, industry digital strategist at Microsoft Australia, entered the performance in a global Microsoft virtual team-building talent quest and came second. A descendant of immigrants from Jamaica, Ms. Rice called herself the living embodiment of the American dream and noted that investing in equity is good for economic growth and creates jobs for all Americans. One of the orders signed on Tuesday calls on the Justice Department not to renew contracts with private prisons, reverting to a policy first adopted in the Obama administration, when Mr. Biden was vice president, and which Mr. Trump reversed. The order does not end all government contracts with private prisons administration officials confirmed it would not apply to other agencies, like Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which contracts with private companies to detain thousands of undocumented immigrants. There is broad consensus that our current system of mass incarceration imposes significant costs and hardships on our society and communities and does not make us safer, the order reads. To decrease incarceration levels, we must reduce profit-based incentives to incarcerate by phasing out the federal governments reliance on privately operated criminal detention facilities. The housing order directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to more strenuously enforce the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which targets discrimination in home buying. That includes asking the department to review actions under Mr. Trump that sought to weaken some of that enforcement. Last year, as part of Mr. Trumps attempted appeals to white suburban voters, the department rolled back an Obama-era program meant to fight racial segregation in housing, known as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing. This represents a clear change of direction that gets us back on track to fulfill the Fair Housing Act, said Julian Castro, who served as secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama. Its sending a very strong signal that its a new day when it comes to fair housing and that HUD is going to be aggressive again. In some ways this is the easy part, but its a strong first step. Mr. Castro said that the housing department was still far behind in terms of the number of personnel it needed to enforce the Fair Housing Act and that nonprofit groups across the country working on fair housing issues should receive federal funding and other resources. But given that the action came on Day 6 of the new administration, he said, it served as a clear repudiation of Trumps fear-mongering about low-income housing invading white suburbs. Polish cops have dealt another blow to an international criminal network that has been trafficking drugs throughout Europe. The Polish Police Central Bureau of Investigation (Policja) arrested seven suspects allegedly linked to a criminal group that is suspected of operating in several EU countries. More than 100 police officers carried out raids and arrested individuals who are suspected of taking part in the transport and transfer of large quantities of drugs. They are also said to have recruited truck drivers for smuggling drugs. It is thought that this criminal group has trafficked tonnes of drugs since 2016 and controlled the wholesale supply chain from the production to large shipments across several EU countries, and the marketing of drugs. Europol says the truck drivers recruited to transport drugs carried out their illegal activities under the cover of transport legally set-up companies. These latest arrests follow a two-year-long investigation that was initiated in 2019 to dismantle the criminal network. Supporting the investigation since its very beginning as a high-priority case, Europol helped set up the international cooperation, Europol said in a statement. Europol actively coordinated and supported the investigation as well as the action days. As a result of the effective cooperation between Polish authorities, Spains Civil Guard (Guardia Civil), Europol and Eurojust, 100 suspects have been arrested to date. The investigation has also led to the seizure of around 1.5 tonnes of marijuana, 91 kg of hashish, 43 kg of cocaine, 8 units of weapons, and 27 cannabis plantations. The plantations included over 20 000 plants in various stages of growth and could enable the production of nearly 2 tonnes of drugs. Mailed two envelopes Nov 26, one to Saskatchewan and one to NYC. One to NYC arrived by Dec 10, one to Saskatchewan arrived Dec 23. Mailed a card January 5 to hospital in Victoria. Returned as patient had checked out Jan 22. Arrived back at our house in Kelowna Jan 25. Also, received Mothers Day card two weeks after and it was mailed one week before. Linda Ward Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor San Francisco: The United States should not agree to ban the use or development of autonomous weapons powered by artificial intelligence (AI) software, a US government-appointed panel said in a draft report for the Congress. The panel, led by former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, concluded two days of public discussion about how the worlds biggest military power should consider AI for national security and technological advancement. Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO. Credit:Bloomberg Its vice chairman, Robert Work, a former deputy secretary of defence, said autonomous weapons were expected to make fewer mistakes than humans do in battle, leading to reduced casualties or skirmishes caused by target misidentification. It is a moral imperative to at least pursue this hypothesis, he said. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The U.S. has struck a rare blow against an international ransomware gang, charging one alleged member of a hacker ring that has shut down health care facilities, colleges and utilities companies. The Justice Department also helped seize computers related to a custom ransomware known as NetWalker, it announced Wednesday. Ransomware is a type of malicious software that is used to infect computer systems, which are then held for ransom, usually in payments of cryptocurrencies. For several years, the hackers that operated NetWalker broke into victims' networks and encrypted their files, demanding payment in bitcoin and sometimes posting their private files on their blog if they didn't quickly pay up. In recent months Netwalker was used to extort victims from Lorien Health Systems, a Maryland assisted-living facility for seniors; Crozer-Keystone Health System, a chain of four hospitals in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey; and the University of California, San Francisco. Allan Liska, a ransomware analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, said NetWalker's frequent attacks made it one of the bigger ransomware gangs operating in recent history, but not the worst. "Simply in terms of number of victims posted to extortion sites, they were fourth," he said in a text message. The charges also indicate how much of an uphill battle the U.S. faces in combating ransomware hackers, who have steadily attacked Americans, companies and institutions in recent years. Hackers can work together from all around the world and often take pains to hide their tracks. Cryptocurrencies can be difficult to track when laundered through third-party companies. And some countries that house ransomware operators, like Russia, don't extradite their citizens. The Department of Justice only announced charges against one person, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, a Canadian national, currently held by Canadian authorities, though it said he was part of conspiracies to commit both computer and wire fraud. The announcement said it also only seized less than half a million dollars in cryptocurrency from Vachon-Desjardins, while also noting that he is alleged to have stolen more than $27.6 million. Story continues In a joint effort, Bulgarian law enforcement seized computers affiliated with NetWalker. A dark web blog that previously posted the files of Netwalker victims who refused to pay the ransom now displays a graphic that says it was seized by government agencies. While the seizure is unlikely to immediately stop everyone involved with that ransomware gang, it's possible that it can be used to find a way to restore the computers of Netwalker victims, said Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity company Emsisoft. "The seizing of the site is definitely a win for the good guys and even more of a win if the FBI were able to obtain the decryption keys," he said in a text message. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Following the violent clashes between the police and the farmers in Delhi on Republic Day, the Delhi Police have filed 22 cases. The police also said that over 300 policemen were injured during the clashes that were the culmination of two months of protests against the newly introduced farm laws. The Delhi Police also said that eight buses and 17 private vehicles were vandalised during the violence. The violence on Republic Day took place mostly in ITO, Red Fort, Mukarba Chowk, Ghazipur, Seemapuri, Nangloi and Tikri border. The tractor rally by the farmers started showing signs of violence when protesters breached barricades at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders to proceed towards New Delhi. The police said that the Samyukt Kisan Morcha had conducted several rounds of meetings with the Delhi Police where they had given undertakings that the tractor rally would be a peaceful one. Nevertheless, violence started as early as 8 am, way before the designated time from the agreed routes. As many as 6,000-7,000 tractors assembled at the Singhu border around 8:30 am and farmers said that they wanted to go to Central Delhi, as per the police. The police statement said that despite persuasion by the Delhi Police, farmers led by Nihangs on horses and equipped with swords, kripans and fursas charged at the police and broke several layers of barricades between Mukarba Chowk and Transport Nagar. A large number of farmers who came from Ghazipur and Singhu borders attempted to move towards New Delhi district from ITO, the police said. Once they were stopped by the police, violence broke out. The police said that the farmers became violent and broke barricades and damaged grilles and dividers as well as tried to run over policemen. The statement said that the situation was controlled after the reinforcements arrived. The farmers moved towards Red Fort where they climbed the ramparts and hoisted a religious flag on a mast. Eventually the police managed to clear the fort. The farmers' group eventually called off the tractor rally. The police said that they were registering cases of violation of lawful directions, rioting, damage to public property and assault on public servants. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha said that anti-social elements infiltrated their peaceful movement. "Despite all our efforts, some organisations and individuals have violated the route and indulged in condemnable acts. Anti-social elements had infiltrated the otherwise peaceful movement. We have always held that peace is our biggest strength, and that any violation would hurt the movement. The long struggle for more than 6 months now, and more than 60 days of protest at Delhi borders also seemed to have led to this situation. We dissociate ourselves from all such elements that have violated our discipline," it said in a statement. Also read: Farmers reach Red Fort; violence breaks out in Ghazipur border, Noida Mor, Mukarba Chowk Also read: In pics: Farmers' tractor parade on Republic Day 2021 turns violent Tom Hallberg covers a little bit of everything, from skiing to long-form feature stories. A Teton Valley, Idaho, transplant by way of Portland and Bend, Oregon, he spends his time outside work writing fiction, splitboarding and climbing. Emerald Waiari Tai (left), 27, and her newborn son Tanatui Samuels (right) were found dead at their home in West Auckland on March 18 last year three days after she gave birth A young mother who died alongside her newborn baby three days after giving birth self-discharged from hospital despite staff suspecting she had an infection, a report has found. Mother-of-seven Emerald Waiari Tai, 27, and her newborn son Tanatui Samuels were discovered dead at their home in West Auckland, New Zealand, on March 18 last year. Ms Tai's partner, also named Tanatui Samuels, discovered the pair unresponsive in bed and called emergency services, who pronounced the mother and son dead. Ms Tai died from sepsis after contracting an infection after giving birth although it was unclear how she got the infection, the New Zealand Herald reported. Her newborn son also had sepsis but it is understood Ms Tai may have fell onto her child after she died with 'unsafe sleeping' contributing to his death. The coroner is still investigating the deaths of the mother and son but the Auckland District Health Board carried out their own investigation into patient care. The report has not been made public by the ADHB but the family provided a copy to the New Zealand Herald. The report revealed staff suspected Ms Tai had an infection and described the early symptoms of sepsis after taking a swab from the mother. Ms Tai (right) and her partner Tanatui Samuels (left) at a restaurant. Mr Samuels wrote a heartbreaking update following his wife's death, saying how much he missed her Ms Tai and one of her six surviving children, who are being looked after by Mr Samuels. Ms Tai's mother said Mr Samuels was deeply grieving while looking after the kids But her case was not escalated as the condition can be 'often masked by the normal physiology of pregnancy' and 'challenging to recognise', the report said. Ms Tai later signed a 'discharge at own risk' form, leaving the hospital less than 24 hours after giving birth. However, staff did not record her correct home address and the community midwife did not receive a complete handover, the report said. A midwife went to the address Ms Tai had provided at a previous medical appointment and left a standard 'sorry I missed you form' at the incorrect location. The midwife 'had no reason for concern' about the 'unsuccessful visit' because they had not been provided with information about the early discharge. The report has 10 recommendations that the ADHB has either already implemented or will aim to by June. The recommendations include establishing better sharing of information between social agencies and providing resources to mothers after giving birth, helping them to identify 'signs of sepsis after discharge'. ADHB director of women's health Dr Rob Sherwin acknowledged the 'tragic loss' of the mother and son and offered 'heartfelt condolences' to the family. The Auckland District Health Board carried out an investigation into Ms Tai's (pictured) patient care with a report by the coroner yet to be finalised 'What we can say is that the individual review into Emerald's care highlighted some areas where our systems were not set up to enable equitable health outcomes for all of our women, and for that we are deeply sorry,' Dr Sherwin told the Herald. Ms Tai's partner Tanatui Samuels wrote a heartbreaking tribute online following her death, saying how much he missed his wife. 'Me and the kids love you and miss you too much,' Mr Samuels wrote. 'Our love to you is painful cause your presence is not around anymore and nothing will ever be the same because I have lost the most beautiful woman in the world. 'I'm trying my hardest to look after the babies... I miss you my love.' Ms Tai is survived by her partner and six other children - aged 12, nine, eight, three, two and one. Her mother Susan Fa'amoe said 'Tana has lost his soulmate' and 'I have lost my daughter and my grandson who I never got to meet'. The Delhi Commissioner also informed the press that as many as 394 police personnel were injured during the clashes while 30 police vehicles were damaged, adding that the police showed extreme restraint in handling the situation Blaming the leaders of the farmers' movement for Tuesday's violence, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava on Wednesday claimed they have video evidence that they instigated their followers to breach the pre-approved conditions for protest. In a press conference, Shrivastava countered claims made by several unions and the farmers' umbrella body Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), that only anti-social elements breached the set protocol. "Farmer leaders were instigating farmers and they were the ones who were refusing to move on the predetermined routes. They were part of the violent protests. We have videos which are showing how leaders were instigating farmers. From Ghazipur, many from Rakesh Tikait's team broke barriers and marched forward," Shrivastava said as per India Today. "Butta Singh along with his team indulged in violence at Nangloi junction (near Tikri border). Farmers with Rakesh Tikait indulged in violence at Ghazipur and reached Red Fort," he was quoted as saying by NDTV. He alleged that farmer leaders Satnam Singh Pannu and Darshan Pal gave inflammatory speeches, after which protesters broke barricades. He said that clear conditions were laid out to avoid this kind of a situation on the Republic Day, when the Delhi Police usually has to maintain a strict vigil due to the high security nature of the traditional celebrations. "As per the agreement, we wanted the rally to conclude peacefully. The violence occurred because terms and conditions were not followed," Shrivastava said. He added that since the Republic Day parade was scheduled, the Delhi Police gave approval for protest based on certain terms and conditions being met. "But on 25 January, we came to know that they are not going to follow the guidelines. Hardliners had taken controls of the situation and they started their march at 7.30 am from Singhu Border. We have the video footage of those who indulged in the violence and we are analysing them. They are being identified with the help of the facial recognition system. They will be arrested and legal action will be taken against them," Shrivastava said, adding that the march was supposed to start at 12 pm. "Farmer leaders betrayed the Delhi police. While 50 have been detained in connection with the violence, 19 have been arrested. What the Delhi Police did was because of the intelligence they had," India Today quoted the police chief as saying. The Delhi Commissioner also stated that as many as 394 police personnel were injured during the clashes while 30 police vehicles were damaged. He added that the police showed extreme restraint in handling the situation, due to which not a single life was lost. He said that more than 25 criminal cases have been registered and that more names will be revealed upon further investigation of video footage. So far, as many as 37 farmer leaders including Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal and Gurnam Singh Chaduni, have been named in the FIRs, as per PTI. The case has been registered under various sections of IPC including 147, 148 (related to rioting), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy). Shrivastava's comments came hours after SKM alleged that a dirty conspiracy was being hatched against farmers to malign their movement and push them on the backfoot. In a statement, the Morcha said: "The Union government has been severely shaken by this peasant agitation. Therefore, a dirty conspiracy was hatched with Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee and others." It alleged that these outfits had set up their own separate protest site after 15 days of the beginning of this farmers' agitation. " They were not part of the organisations which jointly undertook the struggle," the statement claimed. With inputs from PTI Jung Pak, a former Central Intelligence Agency official and North Korea expert, said Tuesday she has been named new deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. The announcement came hours after Antony Blinken took office as the top U.S. diplomat. "I am excited to announce that I've joined @StateDept as Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian Pacific Affairs," Pak wrote on her Twitter account, also congratulating Blinken on his appointment. "What an honor to be able to serve the American people again in this new capacity and work with the dream team @USAsiaPacific," she added. Pak had served as a deputy national intelligence officer at the National Intelligence Council before joining the CIA in 2016 as a portfolio manager at the spy agency's East Asia and Pacific Mission Center. She has been working as a senior fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank after leaving the CIA in 2017. The Korean-American is one of the better known North Korea experts in the United States. As new deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, her job will likely include dealing with North Korea. Meanwhile, the department's East Asian and Pacific bureau is currently led by another American of Korean descent, Sung Kim, who was named acting assistant secretary as of last Wednesday, the day Joe Biden took office as president. It was not clear whether Kim was temporarily filling the post vacated by David Stilwell, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump. The State Department said it had no additional administrative announcements to make when asked to confirm if Kim has been formally nominated to the post. Kim previously served as U.S. ambassador to Indonesia. (Yonhap) Our growth in 2020 was strong, with a sixfold increase in gift orders successfully given and received, notes Monika Kochhar, CEO at SmartGift. Gift-based ecommerce and data platform SmartGift today reported more than 600 percent overall growth in 2020. As digital technologies became the connective tissue of every interaction, transaction and experience through the pandemic, retailers and consumers alike reached for new ways to celebrate special occasions while social distancing. Our growth in 2020 was strong, with a sixfold increase in gift orders successfully given and received, notes Monika Kochhar, CEO at SmartGift. With end-to-end transaction time dropping to an average of only 21 minutescompared with three to six months for gift cardsweve seen dozens of new retailers sign on to the platform in time for Valentines Day. SmartGift experienced a 667 percent increase in gift orders for Mothers Day 2020, the first national holiday after stay-at-home orders were imposed. End-of-year holiday gift purchases followed a similar trajectory, with six-times more gift purchases than the year beforeup 506 percent. The platform further allowed retailers to extend the post-shipping cut-off shopping window to consumers by five days, right up to the day of the occasion. For some platform brands, SmartGift transaction volume accounted for 10 percent of total online revenue on the day of the occasion. SmartGifts data shows that birthday gifts sent via its platform were up 347 percent in 2020, while Valentines Day 2020 gifting, which fell just before the pandemic, still saw an increase of 314 percent over the previous year. The SmartGift platform also expanded and diversified its user and recipient demographic data, marking that more than 15 percent of users were over 65 years old, while 55 to 65-year-olds accounted for another 15 percent and 45 to 54-year-olds 17 percent. Growth among younger users also continued to be strong, with the 25 to 34-year-old age bracket representing 25 of users and 35 to 44 year-olds 19 percent. Top brands that have added the technology to their sites include Aveda, Bobbi Brown, Eagle Creek, Hanna Andersson, JanSport, MAC Cosmetics, Origins, Smartwool, Timberland, and Too Faced. Along with dozens of other brands, they also made a positive sustainability impact by offering SmartGifts technology to their consumers. Nearly one in four gift recipients changed the size, color or fragrance, or swapped the gift altogether before it was shipped to their home, significantly reducing packaging waste, delivery contact, and carbon footprint. SmartGifts technology is now also available to Pandora Jewelry European consumers in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and the company has announced 2021 expansion plans into Southeast Asia and Australia. Adds CEO Kochhar: SmartGift also helped businesses to engage with their employees, partners and clients by sending thousands of holiday gifts, using only the recipients email addresses, in partnership with 1-800-Flowers.com. We will continue to grow and invest in corporate incentive giving, offering our unique sending and receiving platform, luxury and aspirational brands marketplace, direct connectivity into retail shopping carts, and gift genome interaction, choice and preference data. Watch SmartGifts latest highlights in 60 seconds. About SmartGift: SmartGift is the fastest growing, gift-based ecommerce and data platform today and is a service that helps shoppers give the perfect gift, every time. Its award-winning, patented Send with SmartGift platform is used to make every gift perfect. Leveraging AI and real-time gifting data, SmartGift helps retailers and brands become more people-centric in their marketing and personalization experiences. On the consumer side, shoppers can select and gift an item from our collection of relationships, gift guide content, and networks of partnered brands on the SmartGift store. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a new raft of executive actions to combat climate change, including pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land and cutting fossil fuel subsidies, as he pursues green policies he billed as a boon for job creation. The orders map out the direction for the Democratic president's climate change and environmental agenda and reverse the policies of his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, who sought to maximize US oil, gas and coal output by removing regulations and easing environmental reviews. "In my view, we've already ... ADVERTISEMENT Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State on Wednesday reacted to the appointment of new service chiefs, hoping they will hit the ground running. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Isa Gusau, the governor commended the former service chiefs for their work, adding that Borno State cannot ignore their immense contributions to the restoration of peace in the North-east. Mr Zulum had also welcomed the new service chiefs and assured them of his administrations readiness to work with them. The outgoing service chiefs have been with us in the last six years, and during these eventful and challenging years, they immensely contributed to ongoing peacebuilding efforts through the fight against Boko Haram, the governor said. Our rebuilding and resettlement efforts are only possible because of the combined efforts of Lieutenant-General Buratai as (ex)Chief of Army Staff, Air Marshal Sadique as Chief of Air Staff, of course with so much contribution from other service chiefs, intelligence bodies, police, paramilitary and volunteers. We cant ignore these huge contributions, but then, as we all know, everything has an appointed time, we thank all the outgoing service chiefs for their contributions and we wish them the best in future endeavours. As for the incoming, especially, Gen Leo Irabor who is Chief of Defence Staff and General Attahiru, the COAS, both of them have worked here in Borno as theatre commanders of operation Lafiya Dole, they know all the issues and I am sure they will hit the ground running. The Borno State Government will accord them the same maximum support we gave their predecessors, and we will continue to play our roles in supporting the military with logistics as we have been regularly doing. On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari announced a change of guard at the top of the military command, following the resignation of the service chiefs. President Buhari immediately appointed Lucky Irabor, an army major-general, as the new Chief of Defence Staff. President Buhari made the surprise announcement after years of defending his refusal to change the service chiefs he appointed in 2015 and who had long passed the public service retirement age. Borno is one of the states that have been hit by insecurity and insurgency in the past few years. State Attorney General Mike Hunter is seeking more than $1.8 million from a company he says owes that state after failing to deliver four orders of personal protective equipment (PPE) ordered by the Oklahoma Department of Health. In a petition filed in district court, the state alleges Casey Bradford, who is co-manager and an owner of PPE Supplies LLC, misrepresented facts to the state that if he were paid up front for half the cost of one purchase order, he could expedite the shipment of protective masks for delivery to the state within two weeks. Officials with the Department of Health made the 50 percent deposit of $2.125 million for 1.2 million masks. Attorney General Hunter said his office has exhausted other remedies for reimbursement from Bradford. PPE Supplies LLC was formed on March 23, the same day the first purchase order was made by the Department of Health. Toward the end of March, Bradford said the shipment was delayed, but half of the 1 million masks purchased should be in Oklahoma City in a few days, the AGs office said in a media release. In April, and after the state had still not received its order, Bradford told officials he was going to China to supervise the shipment of masks because the issue was with the shipment process. The state later discovered Bradford and his companys assurance of having an on-hand supply of masks in China to fill the orders was false. After the Department of Health cancelled all four orders, officials asked for the $2.125 million deposit back. Bradford has only refunded a partial payment of $300,000. To date, no other refunds have been made to the state. Source: Oklahoma AGs Office Topics Oklahoma WASHINGTON President Joe Biden began shifting the United States from fossil fuels through a series of executive orders Wednesday, carrying through on a campaign promise to fight climate change while protecting the economies of states such as Texas that have delivered the nations energy supply for more than a century. In doing so, he is putting to the test a notion championed by Democrats and climate advocates that hundreds of thousands of jobs in U.S. oil fields and coal mines can be replaced by new industries building electric cars, installing solar panels and developing technologies needed to transform the global economy to clean energy. Biden on Wednesday ordered a one-year moratorium on new leasing for fossil fuel extraction from federal lands and waters including the Gulf of Mexico while directing federal agencies to buy American-made zero-emissions vehicles and stop purchasing electricity generated from coal, oil and natural gas. He also ordered federal agencies to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as consistent with applicable law. Its unclear which subsidies would be affected since many of the industrys tax breaks were approved by Congress and would require legislation to repeal them. In the short term, those moves are likely to only shift energy use around the margins. But in the long run, they signal a larger shift that threatens to disrupt businesses and lives in places such as Houston the so-called energy capital of the world. Testifying before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Wednesday, Jennifer Granholm, the former Michigan governor who is Bidens pick to lead the Department of Energy, pledged the new administration would leave no American energy workers behind in shifting the economy to clean energy. She described a SWAT team inside the federal government focused on communities that have powered America. The presidents plan on building back better would create more jobs in clean energy than the jobs that might be sacrificed, she said. The moratorium on public lands, I know, for those states that have those jobs in abundance, is something were going to have to work on. The executive order regarding federal lands and waters drew immediate backlash from Republicans and the oil and gas industry. They argued that the moratorium would not only result in massive job losses, but also force the United States to import more oil from abroad, going against decades of U.S. policy seeking energy independence from the Middle East. On HoustonChronicle.com: After long fight to thwart climate rules, oil industry seeks inroads with Biden More than 20 percent of the nations oil production comes from federal lands and waters. For now, the order is unlikely to have much effect on production, as it still allows the Department of Interior to issue permits for drilling and mining and companies have been buying up leases at a heightened pace in expectation of a ban. But as leases expire over the next few years, production will decline and tens of thousands of jobs will be lost in the Gulf of Mexico alone, said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. You cant replace jobs along the Gulf Coast with jobs in Nevada and Massachusetts installing solar panels, he said. (Offshore drilling) is a very niche market, with people working in jobs like roustabouts and tool pushers. They trained and live on the Gulf Coast, in some cases with families working for generations in this business. In Texas, which has little federal land, the consequences are likely to be less severe than other oil and gas states, such as New Mexico and Wyoming. Still, the states oil and gas companies many of which drill in the New Mexico portion of the Permian Basin were irate at the prospect of having drilling opportunities restrained. Families lives in Texas have been dramatically improved by oil and gas, said Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association. We understand society has concerns about the climate, but our energy choices do not have to be an either/or. Even some members of Bidens own party are pushing back, with a group of four Texas Democrats including Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, of Houston and Rep. Henry Cuellar, of Laredo, calling on Biden to rescind the federal leasing order and work with them to develop a thoughtful policy that addresses climate change, protects American jobs and moves us forward. For Biden, who has pledged to listen to scientists regardless of political consequence, reducing the nations emissions to net zero by mid-century is not a choice, but rather a necessity to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. A longtime champion of American workers often to the criticism of climate advocates who argued he was not committed to the cause Biden has won endorsements from unions such as the AFL-CIO on promises to protect American workers through the energy transition. In my view, weve already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. We cant wait any longer, Biden said at the White House Wednesday. Were talking about national security, about America leading the world in a clean energy future. Its a future of enormous hope and opportunity. In Houston, as in many cities in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Wyoming, the economy has long centered around oil and gas. But even before Bidens victory in November, efforts were underway in Houston to begin a transition towards clean energy. Later this year, the Massachusetts firm Greentown Labs is set to open its second clean energy incubator in Houston, with backing from oil majors Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell and the power company NRG Energy. Rice University has launched a climate accelerator out of its new ION building in downtown Houston, with financial backers including Exxon Mobil, BP and the Houston oil field services company Halliburton. The concept is to transfer the expertise of the oil and gas and power industries and apply it to developing and managing new forms of energy, from low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen to offshore wind farms. The energy industry is always changing. Its been happening since we went from wood to coal and coal to oil, said Michael Webber, a professor at the University of Texas. Who knows how to do hydrogen? The oil and gas industry. Who knows how to do offshore wind? The oil and gas industry has critical skills that are going to be needed as the energy sector transition. But with companies around the globe vying for a piece of a clean energy sector anticipated to be worth more than $20 trillion a year by 2040, competition will be fierce. So far, China has dominated the clean energy industry, manufacturing most of the worlds solar panels and moving briskly to do the same with electric vehicles and batteries. While some Texas companies and workers might transition to a new clean energy industry, many likely will not, said Peter Rodriguez, an economist and dean of Rice Universitys Jones Graduate School of Business. Over the long run its possible you can have more or as many jobs involved with clean energy and environmental mitigation as you do oil and gas. But usually those transitions arent clean or easy, he said. If you think about what happened to North Carolina and its textile mills when (the United States) opened up global trade you saw a lot of displacement. A lot of people didnt move over from the textile mills. The more immediate question facing the Biden administration as it seeks to cut greenhouse gas emissions is its authority to do so. On HoustonChronicle.com: Biden suspends federal oil and gas leasing for 60 days Within hours of the executive orders announcement, the trade group Western Energy Alliance filed a lawsuit in a Wyoming federal court claiming Biden does not have the authority to put a moratorium on federal leasing. While that is a matter of dispute, even some environmental attorneys agree that federal law does not allow a president to permanently ban leasing, as Biden has signaled he plans to do once his government has completed its review of fossil fuel production on federal lands. In that case, Biden would need to convince Congress to change the law, which, with the Republicans holding 50 seats in the Senate, seems nearly impossible. Even were Democrats to do away with the rule requiring 60 votes on such legislation, several of their members in the Senate represent states with large fossil fuel industries, including Sen. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia where coal and natural gas dominate. Manchin will soon become chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, giving him power over what legislation moves to the Senate floor for a vote. With COVID-19 keeping many Americans out of work, those politicians could be hard pressed to do anything that would further deplete jobs in their states. Now is not the time to jeopardize American jobs, or the critical tax and royalty revenues that federal leases generate for local, state, and federal government that need funds now, the Texas Democratic Congress members said in their letter to Biden Wednesday. james.osborne@chron.com twitter.com/@osborneja [This unedited press release is made available courtesy of Gamasutra and its partnership with notable game PR-related resource Games Press.] http://www.nuuvem.com January, 2021 - Nuuvem, the largest digital games store in Latin America, has the honor of announcing a partnership with Nintendo. As of today, Nuuvem will offer in its catalogue more than 50 games for both the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS, including Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions and Nintendo Digital Gift Cards, all priced in Brazilian Reais. Nintendo fans will now have access to the digital version of their favorite game by paying via credit card, in up to 10 installments, or via Express Bank Slip, which is processed starting one hour after the payment, all in Reais. Nuuvem is also offering an exclusive discount coupon of R$ 30 off in this release, for purchases over R$ 200 on Nintendo products, using the Express Bank Slip payment method. In addition, every purchase includes Drops, Nuuvems cashback program, that gives back in credits a percentage of what was paid in each order. They can be used unlimitedly to receive discounts when buying any game of the store - and even to redeem games for free. The partnership with Nintendo marks our entry into yet another platform. Throughout the year, we shall make more Nintendo titles available, in addition to other products and platforms. The prospect is to double the amount of customers this year with these new products, says Thiago Diniz, COO and Co-founder of Nuuvem. The news are part of Nuuvems expansion strategy, since the company was created 9 years ago in Brazil to sell PC games. Currently, Nuuvem distributes games to more than 100 countries and has 1.6 million registered customers. We came from Brazil to the world. We operate today in 117 countries with a significant presence in Latin America, besides the USA and Canada. We speak three languages and sell in 8 different currencies, with more than 35 payment methods, Fernando Campos, CEO and Co-founder of Nuuvem, comments. Nintendo Switch Arrive Officially in Brazil in November 2020 Nintendo confirmed the official distribution of the Nintendo Switch system in the Brazilian market on September 18th, 2020. Nintendo Switch is a unique home video game system that has sold more than 61 million units around the world since its release in March 2017. Nintendo hopes people in Brazil will enjoy the full home-console experience anytime, anywhere. Nintendo Switch not only connects to a TV at home, but it also instantly transforms into tabletop mode for sharing the fun, and on-the-go handheld mode to take the system anywhere. About Nuuvem Nuuvem is the largest digital games store in Latin America, created by gamers and for gamers. Always thinking about the user experience, the store has currently 1.6 million gamers registered. Founded in 2011, the company was one of the first to draw the global markets attention to Brazil and other American countries, establishing direct partnerships with the largest game producers in the market, such as Warner, Ubisoft, Capcom, Rockstar, Take 2 and others. Working with the objective of always offering more affordable prices, Nuuvem has today a catalogue of thousands of titles, which include new releases and pre-orders. Find out more visiting www.nuuvem.com . More info to press Fernanda Domingues and Cesar Martins +55 11 9 9963-4966 www.fdcomunicacao.com.br Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. A man impersonating a Garda attempted to get into a house in Laois on Tuesday evening January 26. Portlaoise Gardai have launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred at Kennels Cross area of Portarlington at about 5.30pm. A description of the man puts him at 5ft 8 tall, well dressed. They say he "called to a house and attempted to gain admittance by purporting to be a member of An Garda Siochana". The public is being asked to contact the Gardai, if they drove through the location, were out walking there, have CCTV or dashcam footage, or if they saw anything suspicious in the area. It is a crime to impersonate a member of An Garda Siochana, and a person found guilty and on conviction on indictment, is liable to a fine of up to 50,000 or a five year prison term or both. 7th Pay Commission latest news: Big relief on LTC announced for CG employees India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, Jan 27: In a major relief for Central Government employees, the Narendra Modi government has decided to give one time reimbursement under the 7th Pay Commission linked LTC allowance. This is to make for the heavy cancellation charges for air/train tickets meant for their Leave Travel Concession due to the COVID-19 lockdown. "During the months of March - May, 2020, a Nation-wide Lockdown was implemented across the country in view of the prevailing Covid-19 epidemic. During this period, all domestic flights within India were cancelled but certain airlines have charged the cancellation charges against the pre-booked air tickets. In such a situation, many Government employees who had booked LTC tickets in advance for that period are facing financial difficulties in view of the high cancellation amount charged by the airlines. In this regard, requests are being received in this Department for grant of one-time relaxation for reimbursement of the cancellation charges.," the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said an Office Memorandum. 7th Pay Commission: Check latest job offer by UPSC It has been observed that many airlines have not refunded the ticket amount for the air tickets booked in advance for the LTC journey scheduled during the lockdown period. This is causing hardship to the Government employees as the LTC advance along with the penal interest is required to be returned if the journey is not undertaken. The OM said that the matter has been considered in consultation with the Department of Expenditure and the following decisions are conveyed: 1] Ministries/Departments are delegated the power to reimburse the cancellation/ reschedule charges of air/train tickets, as a one-time relaxation, to such Government servants who had booked advance air/train tickets for the purpose of LTC journey during the Lockdown period from 24th March, 2020 to 31st May, 2020 but were not able to perform the journey due to cancellation/rescheduling of flights/trains during that period. Such government servants seeking (Satish Kumar) Under Secretary to the Government of India reimbursement of cancellation! reschedule charges shall be required to produce the receipt of cancellation/reschedule charges incurred by them. 2] In cases where the airlines have kept the refund amount in 'Credit Shell', Ministries /Departments may extend the period of repayment of LTC advance taken by the Government servant for LTC journey scheduled during the lockdown period(March-May, 2020), till 28.02.202 1 or till such time the amount in 'Credit Shell' is utilised by the Government servant to perform LTC journey, whichever is earlier. Also, penal interest may not be charged on LTC advance amount taken by the Government servant on LTC journey scheduled during the lockdown period. 3] In cases where the Government servants have drawn LTC advance as well as leave encashment so as to perform the LTC journey, but could not perform journey during the lockdown period and now intend to opt for Special Cash Package Scheme in lieu of LTC in accordance with Department of Expenditure's OM No. 12(2)/2020-E.II(A) dated 12.10.2020, they are also allowed to avail the facility of the Scheme. The LTC advance and leave encashment which have remained unsettled due to non-performance of the journey, may be adjusted as per the provisions of the Special Cash Package Scheme. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 9:48 [IST] Photo taken on Jan. 14, 2021 shows light decorations for the upcoming Spring Festival in Qujiang New Area in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. The Spring Festival falls on Feb. 12 this year. [Xinhua/Shao Rui] A report released by leading human resource service provider 51job.com show that 66.7 percent of the working people will choose to spend the upcoming Spring Festival in places they work to minimize people's movement and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, Chinanews.com reported. Of the respondents, 16.8 percent said they want to return home or are still thinking about returning home, and 37.2 percent, mostly of whom are people working in the internet, service and manufacturing industries, said they want to stay on duty. 25.6 percent of the respondents said their employers will give higher salaries to people who are willing to stay on duty during the holidays. To retain employees, some companies will release consumption coupons, provide house rental subsidies, or give their employees a paid leave to visit their families and relatives after the holidays. The 2021 Spring Festival travel season, which will begin on Jan. 28, is a period that lasts around 40 days. Official data indicates that train bookings for the Spring Festival travel peak declined by 60 percent, with the total number of passengers only reaching 296 million. Over 20 cities and provinces across China are encouraging workers to stay where they currently live and work instead of returning to their hometowns for the Spring Festival, including Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, and Hebei, Henan and Guangdong provinces. (Source: People's Daily Online) Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Belfast Magistrates' Court heard paramedics found the victim inside a corner shop in the Carrick Hill area on Sunday night. (Niall Carson/PA) A man suffered severe facial burns after boiling water was allegedly poured over him in north Belfast, a court heard today. He was also stamped on during an attack which led to him being put in a medically-induced coma, it was claimed. Details emerged as 41-year-old Kevin Murray, of Stanhope Street in the city, was charged with his attempted murder. Belfast Magistrates' Court heard paramedics found the victim, aged in his twenties, inside a corner shop in the Carrick Hill area on Sunday night. Crown lawyer Stephanie Boyd said: "He was bleeding on the floor, and the skin on his forehead, throat, neck and lips was red and flaking off." The man's hands were blistered and burned, he was soaking wet, and a pair of socks were tied around his neck. "At that time he said he had been stamped on by several males and had boiling water thrown over him," the prosecutor disclosed. He was taken to hospital, placed in a medically-induced coma and underwent surgery. "He may require further skin grafts; he's suffered severe burns to his face, shoulders, neck and left hand," Mrs Boyd added. District Judge Fiona Bagnall was told the victim used a note to indicate Murray's alleged involvement in the attack. "That's all he's been able to do, he cannot speak," an investigating detective said. It was claimed that police found evidence of blood and an attempted "clear-up" in the kitchen of Murray's home, close to where the injured party was discovered. Two other people have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. During interviews one of them alleged that Murray stated he "saw red" and "lost it", the court heard. Opposing bail, the detective said: "This appears to be a relatively unprovoked attack, possibly caused by mental health issues." Defence solicitor Joe McVeigh confirmed Murray made a no-comment interview and denies a charge said to be based on circumstantial evidence. "He has mental health problems and they have been managed well," the lawyer added. But citing the prosecution case, Mrs Bagnall said the alleged attack involved a "catastrophic slip" in those arrangements. Refusing bail, the judge held there was a potential danger to the public and risk of interference with witnesses. "As things stand it's being presented to me as a random attack on an individual," she said. Murray was remanded in custody to appear again by video-link in four weeks time. Meanwhile a 22-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder over the same attack. He is due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on Thursday. The mother of a woman who killed herself after losing 36,000 gambling has told MPs of her heartbreak. Kay Wadsworth said 32-year-old Kimberley started betting in 2015 following the death of her father and problems with her marriage. The business developer ran up huge losses and blew in a fortnight the 36,000 her mother gave her to pay her debts. The cash came from selling the family home in Leeds. Mrs Wadsworth said: 'The day she died she said 'It's too late for me Mum'. It was devastating. 'She was groomed and they got right under her skin. I want to stop this from happening to other families. It's devastating, tragic and it shouldn't be happening. Business developer Kimberley, 32, started betting in 2015 following the death of her father and problems with her marriage 'I'm worried that Covid is exacerbating the issue every hour and minute we're in lockdown, because women are going online. 'They can see pretty pinks and purples on adverts about how they can gamble.' Mrs Wadsworth said that Kimberley, who died in 2018, was a beautiful and highly intelligent young woman who had been educated at boarding school and attended the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Kent. She added: 'She just became so wrapped up in gambling, her whole demeanour and personality totally changed I called her my Miss Jekyll and Miss Hyde. 'She was heavily groomed they wanted her at the casino tables to attract the men. She was a VIP, she was always invited I didn't know all this when she was alive. It's just very tragic, and very sad, and I can't bring her back.' The parliamentary committee on gambling also heard evidence on Monday from the NHS's top gambling expert, who said she was dealing with increasing numbers of women. 'I am surrounded by female problem gamblers who are suicidal,' said Henrietta Bowden-Jones of the National Problem Gambling Clinic. 'It is now the norm, not the exception. What is going on? 'They are women, mothers and wives who are suicidal. These women are desperate. The last two severe assessments I did were very upsetting, with two very suicidal young women. Mother Kay Wadsworth (pictured with her daughter Kimberley) said her daughter was 'so wrapped up in gambling, her whole demeanour and personality totally changed' 'These are not the cases we were seeing ten or 15 years ago. It's not just about the women, it's the environment, it's a predatory environment, the adverts are predatory.' The psychologist said the pandemic had made matters worse by destroying household incomes. The popularity of bingo and online slots has exploded as more women take to gambling at home on computers or smartphones. The Government is reviewing gambling laws ahead of what is expected to be the biggest shake-up for 15 years. Four former gambling addicts, who lost 300,000 between them, also gave evidence. Nadine Ashworth said: 'There has been a massive increase in women problem gamblers. The perception is that problem gambling is mostly a male issue. There is also a feeling of shame that holds women back from talking about the issue.' Kelly Field from Merseyside, who lost 70,000 playing online slots and bingo, told MPs: 'If you watch daytime television, from morning time until evening, you're bombarded with gambling advertising.' The National Problem Gambling Clinic said a fifth of its patients were female, a number that is increasing, and most were in debt. The Betting and Gaming Council, which represents bookmakers, said: 'These cases predate the formation of the BGC as the new standards body representing the regulated industry. But one problem gambler is one too many, which is why our members are spending 100million on research, education and treatment.' For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or go to the website www.samaritans.org NEW DELHI: A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a judicial probe into the violence unleashed after the farmers tractor march in the national capital and dishonouring the national flag at the historic Red Fort. The PIL has been filed by an advocate, who has demanded a judicial probe into Tuesdays violence and chaos in the national capital. The petitioner has demanded the top court to constitute a three-member panel of retired judges to probe the case. The petitioner also urged the top court to direct the police to register FIR in connection with the Delhi violence case and arrest those responsible for the mayhem on the Republic Day. Amid all this, Delhi Police has registered 22 FIRs in connection with the violence which broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on Tuesday. "22 FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence during farmers' tractor rally yesterday," Delhi Police said. The Delhi Police had registered four FIRs in connection with the protesting farmers' tractor parade on Tuesday, of which, three were registered in the east district, while one in Shahdara district. The tractor rally by farmers saw violence at several places in Delhi as protestors clashed with police and broke barricades. Protesters breached the Red Fort premises and waved flags they were carrying from its ramparts. Violence erupted near the ITO area of the national capital as tractors driven by protestors tried to scare and even run over police personnel deployed in the area. Metro services were stopped at multiple stations and traffic on roads were also diverted. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met senior officials from the Home Ministry to take stock of the law and order situation in the national capital, following the violence. During the meeting, the decision to deploy additional paramilitary personnel was taken. The meeting was attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava among others. Shah is also understood to have directed the Delhi Police to identify and take action against those involved in the violence. Additional paramilitary troops will be brought in for deployment in sensitive places in Delhi, a senior Home Ministry official said. The exact number of additional troops was not known immediately, but officials suggested that it could be around 1,500 to 2,000 personnel (about 15 to 20 companies). Around 4,500 paramilitary personnel were already deployed for law and order duties ahead of Republic Day. Internet services were suspended in the capital at Delhi's border points - Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi and areas adjoining these protest hubs due to intensifying clashes. Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws - Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. Live TV The Government has today announced an end to badger culling - which Boris Johnson's fiancee Carrie Symonds has campaigned against for years. No new licences will be issued for badger culling after 2022 and all existing permits will not be extended beyond 2028 at the latest, Environment Secretary George Eustice told MPs. The 'contentious and divisive' cull, introduced in a bid to eradicate bovine TB, has cost around 60million and seen the deaths of approximately 140,000 badgers. The decision will be seen as a major victory for the Prime Minister's fiancee Ms Symonds, 32, an avowed opponent of the badger cull, and conservation groups. No new licences for badger culling will be issued from 2022 and all existing licences will not be able to be extended beyond 2028, Environment Secretary George Eustice said in a statement to MPs The decision will be seen as a major victory for Prime Minister's fiancee Carrie Symonds (pictured), an avowed opponent of the badger cull, and conservation groups It comes after Ms Symonds said she was 'delighted' when a badger cull in Derbyshire was called off following a 'direct intervention from the Prime Minister' in September 2019. The U-turn sparked a judicial review into how the Government came about the decision, with questions raised about the influence exerted on the PM by Ms Symonds. But in May, the High Court rejected farmers claims that Mr Johnson decided to ban the badger cull because of Ms Symonds as it refused an attempt to overturn the decision. Lawyers representing the National Farmers' Union (NFU) said the September 2019 ban was 'irrational' and the real reason for the decision was because Prime Minister Boris Johnson took a 'personal interest'. WHAT IS BOVINE TB? Bovine tuberculosis is a disease of cattle that can also infect badgers, deer, goats, pigs, dogs and cats. The disease is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium bovis. This is related to the microbe that causes tuberculosis in humans. Bovine tuberculosis is typically transmitted aerially through coughs and sneezes. It causes fever, coughing, weight loss, pain, diarrhoea and ultimately death. Badgers are the most significant wildlife reservoir for the bacterium. In the United Kingdom, most bovine tuberculosis outbreaks occur in the South West and the West Midlands. Advertisement They told Mrs Justice Andrews that lobbying by Badger Trust chief executive Dominic Dyer included meeting Mr Johnson's partner, Ms Symonds, in Downing Street. Mr Eustice disputed the claims, denying that the decision was irrational and said the challenge should be dismissed. Badgers had previously been culled in an attempt to stop them spreading bovine tuberculosis (TB) but the Government called a halt to the practice following campaigning by anti-animal cruelty activists and said it would vaccinate them instead. Mrs Justice Andrews, who analysed arguments at a High Court hearing over Skype last April, ruled in his favour. She dismissed the NFU challenge and concluded that the decision was not irrational. Ms Symonds, nicknamed the Duchess of Downing Street, was thrown into the limelight again in November, when she was accused of playing a central role in having Lee Cain's promotion to chief of staff blocked. His subsequent departure was the culmination of a bitter power struggle inside Mr Johnson's top team, with rival factions battling for supremacy. Mr Johnson's long-term adviser Dominic Cummings did not want the job himself, but had pushed for his ally - the Director of Communications - to be appointed. This allegedly prompted warnings from the PM's fiancee - herself a former Conservative Party head of media - that it would be 'a mistake' given how the campaign against the pandemic had gone so far. She is said to have complained that the No10 operation was being run in an 'uncollegiate' way and the PM was not getting 'good advice'. Today, Mr Eustice said the Government was clear that killing badgers 'infinitely... was not acceptable'. The Environment Secretary also revealed more than 27,000 cattle have been killed in a bid to stop the bacterial infection in the last year alone. 'This causes devastation and distress for hard-working farmers and rural communities and is damaging our reputation as world leaders in high standards of animal health and welfare,' he said. Pictured: Ms Symonds with the Prime Minister on Remembrance Sunday in London Boris Johnson's girlfriend Carrie Symonds stood outside Number 10 as her partner gave his first speech in Downing Street after the election victory in July 2019 'Our current policy enables four-year intensive cull licences in defined areas with scope for a further five years of supplementary culling.' The consultation sets out proposals for Natural England (NE) to stop issuing the current intensive cull licences for new areas post 2022 and enable new licences issued to be cut short if the Chief Veterinary Officer considers this acceptable. 'Furthermore, I am proposing to restrict any new supplementary cull licences to two years and cease re-issuing such licences in any areas in which supplementary culling has previously been licensed,' he added. Mr Eustice also today announced that an ongoing project to create a cattle vaccine against the disease is 'on track' for completion within the next five years. 'Our goal is to deliver on the significant investment we have made to date in developing a candidate diagnostic test to detect infected animals among vaccinated animals to enable use of the vaccine,' he said. 'Although a cattle bTB vaccine will not be the single solution to the problem of bTB, it will be a strong additional tool at our disposal.' It comes after Ms Symonds said she was 'delighted' when a badger cull in Derbyshire was called off following a 'direct intervention from the Prime Minister' (pictured) in September 2019 The decision will be seen as a major victory for the Prime Minister's fiancee Carrie Symonds, an avowed opponent of the badger cull, and conservation groups Mr Eustice said the cattle vaccine will allow for the badger cull to be halted while still reaching the government's goal of eradicating bovine tuberculosis by 2038. Dominic Dyer, Policy Advisor at Born Free and former CEO of Badger Trust, said: 'The badger cull policy has increasingly become political poison for the government. 'To date over 140,000 badgers are believed to have been shot under cull licences since 2013 at a public cost of over 60 million in areas of England stretching from Cornwall to Cumbria. 'A majority of these badgers have been killed by a controversial controlled shooting method which the government's own independent expert committee found can result in badgers taking over five minutes to die of blood loss and organ failure.' He continued: 'The government has dithered and delayed on finding on finding an exit strategy to badger culling... however the statement by Defra Secretary George Eustice today confirms that from 2022 onwards we should now see a significant reduction and phasing out of badger culling in favour of badger and cattle TB vaccination and cattle based disease control measures.' Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his active support for Seoul's initiative to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, calling the efforts in line with the common interests of both countries, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday. It said Xi delivered the comments during his phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday. During the talks, Moon said he hopes Seoul and Beijing can work together to open a trilateral summit between the two countries along with Japan. Xi replied by saying China will strengthen cooperation with South Korea to open the summit at the earliest date, according to Cheong Wa Dae. Seoul had planned to host the annual summit, held in turns in the three countries, last year, but was unable to do so apparently due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The two leaders also agreed that bilateral cooperation on coronavirus control turned out to be effective. Xi said he supports Moon's vision of creating a Northeast Asian cooperative body on public health. Xi also said he was aware of South Korea's plan to begin public coronavirus vaccination next month and expressed hope that Seoul's vaccination program could play a key role in the global fight against the pandemic. Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday after the phone talks that Xi expressed hope for an "early visit" to South Korea, as soon as conditions are created. Xi was quoted as saying that Beijing makes much of Seoul's role for a "political resolution" to the North Korea issue, while describing the Korean Peninsula situation as "stable in general." (Yonhap) .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... WASHINGTON The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin Wednesday warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment after President Joe Bidens election, suggesting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks. The department did not cite any specific plots, but pointed to a heightened threat environment across the United States that it believes will persist for weeks after Bidens Jan. 20 inauguration. It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular event or date, such as July 4. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ But this particular bulletin, issued through the departments National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterize acts motivated by political ideology, and suggests it regards violence like the kind that overwhelmed the Capitol as akin to terrorism. The bulletin is an indication that national security officials see a connective thread between different episodes of violence in the last year motivated by anti-government grievances, including over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results and police use of force. The document singles out crimes motivated by racial or ethnic hatred, such as the 2019 rampage targeting Hispanics in El Paso, Texas, as well as the threat posed by extremists motivated by foreign terror groups. A DHS statement that accompanied the bulletin noted the potential for violence from a broad range of ideologically-motivated actors. Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence, the bulletin said. The alert comes at a tense time following the riot at the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump seeking to overturn the presidential election. Authorities are concerned that extremists may attack other symbols of government or people whose political views they oppose. The domestic terrorism attack on our Capitol earlier this month shined a light on a threat that has been right in front of our faces for years, said Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. I am glad to see that DHS fully recognizes the threat posed by violent, right-wing extremists and is taking efforts to communicate that threat to the American people. The alert was issued by acting Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske. Bidens nominee for the Cabinet post, Alejandro Mayorkas, has not been confirmed by the Senate. Two former homeland security secretaries, Michael Chertoff and Janet Napolitano, called on the Senate to confirm Mayorkas so he can start working with the FBI and other agencies and deal with the threat posed by domestic extremists, among other issues. Chertoff, who served under President George W. Bush, said attacks by far-right, domestic extremists are not new but that deaths attributed to them in recent years in the U.S. have exceeded those linked to jihadists such as al-Qaida. We have to be candid and face what the real risk is, he said in a conference call with reporters. Federal authorities have charged more than 150 people in the Capitol siege, including some with links to right-wing extremist groups such as the Three Percenters and the Oath Keepers. The Justice Department announced charges Wednesday against 43-year Ian Rogers, a California man found with five pipe bombs during a search of his business this month who had a sticker associated with the Three Percenters on his vehicle. His lawyer told his hometown newspaper, The Napa Valley Register, that he is a very well-respected small business owner, father, and family man who does not belong to any violent organizations. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A physician with a terminal cancer diagnosis killed a pediatrician and then himself after taking hostages at a doctor's office in Austin, police said Wednesday. A SWAT team found the bodies of Dr. Katherine Lindley Dodson and Dr. Bharat Narumanchi late Tuesday after negotiators spent hours trying to speak to the people inside the office, police said. Narumanchi did not work at the clinic where he held five adult employees hostages for hours, Austin police Lt. Jeff Greenwalt said. Four were either let go or escaped, and no children were there at the time, he said. DEPUTY KILLED: Man charged with 3 felonies in shooting of Harris County sheriff's deputy Hostages who escaped the office told officers on the scene that Narumanchi had entered Tuesday carrying a pistol, a shotgun and two duffel bags, police said. Authorities have not yet said how Dodson and Narumanchi died. Narumanchi had applied for a volunteer position at the clinic a week ago and was declined, but otherwise had no known connection to Dodson or the clinic, Greenwalt said. HOUSTON AREA: Duo facing charges in The Woodlands burglary investigation Narumanchi had recently been given weeks to live after his cancer diagnosis and investigators believe that likely played a role in his actions, Greenwalt said. He asked anyone with information to contact police, and said Narumanchi's family was cooperating fully with investigators. The case as far as who did this is closed. We know who did it," Greenwalt said. "And we know that theres no longer a threat to the public. But we really, really want to answer the question of why. Dodson, 43, was beloved by patients and their families, several people told the Austin American-Statesman. You saw her at your worst when your kid was sick, and she just always had a smile on her face, said Karen Vladeck, whose two children were among Dodson's patients. She made you feel like you were the only parent there, even though there was a line of kids waiting. Similar to all viruses, the SARS-COV-2 has thousands of variants that have been identified and they are mutating fast and taking new forms. The only to arrest it from spreading fast is speedy vaccination at a large scale. The new variants in the UK, South Africa and Brazil are highly transmissible and have triggered panic as experts believe vaccines may be less effective against them. However, a quick and effective process of inoculation is the best bet for the world at this juncture of the pandemic. Health experts have cautioned that Indians need not panic over the mutations, but the country needs to stay vigilant. So far, 150 people in India have tested positive for the UK variant of coronavirus, according to the Union Health Ministry on Saturday. ALSO READ | There is Evidence That New Covid-19 Variant Carries Higher Risk of Death: UK PM Boris Johnson In an alarming incident the UK variant 501.Y.V1 was reported on January 8 when a care home worker in Canadas Ontario tested positive for the coronavirus. In the next two weeks, as many as 127 of the care homes 129 residents fell sick and 32 died. The UK variant of the virus is known to be at least 40% more infectious. The 501.Y.V1 came under the worlds scanner in December and only in a matter of little over a month, it has spread so fast that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects it to be the main coronavirus variant in America by March. Meanwhile, South Africa and Brazil are dealing with another variants the 501.Y.V2 and 501.Y.V3, respectively are also spreading fast. In South Africa, the mutation, also referred to as B1.351, was found in early October and announced in December, when the countrys health minister said the strain seemed to affect young people more than previous strains. It has contributed to a surge of infections and hospitalisations across South Africa. As the South African variant has escaped the antibodies in people who have recovered from Covid-19. Therefore, scientists are worried for vaccines might be less effective against it. The South African variant has been identified in more than two dozen countries, including Canada, Australia and Israel, but not in the United States. The 501.Y.V2 mutation is similar to that in the UK and appears to be more transmissible. However, there is no evidence that it is more fatal. In early January, top infectious-diseases expert Anthony S. Fauci said that the vaccines may have a diminished impact against this variant, but they probably will still be effective. Moderna has said its vaccine protects against the South Africa variant, with an important caveat: The vaccine-elicited antibodies were also less effective at neutralizing this mutation in a laboratory dish. Meanwhile, the Brazil variant has more than a dozen alterations, several of which are found on the viruss spike protein, which binds the virus to a cell, which is why researchers think the strain is probably more transmissible. There is also some early evidence that antibodies might not recognize the P.1 variant, which could lead to reinfection. What has changed? In mid-January, two separate studies by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London were presented to Britain's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG). They linked data from people who tested positive for the virus in the community -- rather than in hospital -- with death data and found a roughly 30 percent increase in the risk of death associated with the new strain. The groups used slightly different methods, but both matched people with the new variant to those with the older variants, taking into account other variables like age and location and controlling for hospitals being under pressure. Other studies by Exeter University and Public Health England also found higher deaths and both came up with even higher figures. Based on these analyses, NERVTAG said there was "a realistic possibility" that infection with the new variant is associated with an increased risk of death compared with previously circulating variants. The increase in transmissibility associated to the variant was already causing alarm, because the more people the virus infects the more people will suffer serious illness and the risk of death. "Unfortunately, it looks as if this virus might be both" more infectious and potentially more deadly, John Edmunds, a professor in LSHTM's Centre for the Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, told a press briefing Monday "So it's really a serious turn for the worse unfortunately," he said. How reliable are the findings? Researchers said there were still uncertainties in the data and said the picture would become clearer in the next few weeks. Edmunds said the findings were "statistically significant". But he said while the studies used information from those tested in the community, most people who die of Covid-19 go straight to hospital and are tested there. Researchers do not yet have that hospital information. NERVTAG said this lag in data could be why the studies did not find evidence of an increase in hospitalisations of people with the new variant, which seems at odds with the findings of increased severity of disease. It also said the mortality data used in the research only covers eight percent of the total deaths during the study period and said the results "may therefore not be representative of the total population". Why more deadly? Researchers think it could be the same set of mutations that has made it more infectious -- although all stress more study is needed. One mutation in particular increases the virus' ability to latch on more strongly to human cells and NERVTAG head Peter Horby, an emerging infectious disease professor at Oxford University, said evidence suggests this means it could make it easier to become infected. "If it's then able to spread between cells much quicker within the lungs, that may increase the rate of disease and the rate of inflammation, which may then progress quicker than your body can respond to, so it could explain both characteristics of the virus," he said. Bjorn Meyer, virologist at France's Institut Pasteur, told AFP that the issue could be viral load. "The virus might not have evolved to be more deadly as such, but it might have evolved to grow more or better, which could cause more damage in a patient overall," he said. Does this affect treatments? Horby, who also leads the Recovery trial -- which identified the steroid dexamethasone as effective for severely ill hospital patients -- said there was "no evidence" that treatments would work less well. Anti-inflammatories such as dexamethasone "should work equally as well because it's not related to the virus, it is related to the host response", he said. Horby said overall improvements in therapies and treatments -- including things like better strategies for hospital respiratory support -- have brought down case fatality rates since the first wave and could even "offset any difference with this new variant". As for the vaccines, a preliminary study this month from Britain and the Netherlands found the variant would not be able to evade the protective effect of current vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have also released early research suggesting their vaccines would still be effective against the strain. Don't viruses weaken as they spread? Scientists have sought to challenge the belief that the virus will become get less virulent as it evolves to become more infectious. The virus that causes Covid-19 is already "very good at its job of getting transmitted" said Emma Hocroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern. "So I don't think that we can make this assumption that it wants to be less severe. I don't want to downplay that it is severe for many people, but for the majority of people, it's not severe," she told AFP. She said the ability to transmit before it kills was "a really low bar", citing diseases like measles and HIV that have remained as dangerous. Graham Medley, a professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at the LSHTM, told the Monday press briefing that despite uncertainties in the new studies on the new variant in the UK, they should dispel the idea that it would become less virulent. Researchers think it could be the same set of mutations that has made it more infectious -- although all stress more study is needed. One mutation in particular increases the virus' ability to latch on more strongly to human cells and NERVTAG head Peter Horby, an emerging infectious disease professor at Oxford University, said evidence suggests this means it could make it easier to become infected. "If it's then able to spread between cells much quicker within the lungs, that may increase the rate of disease and the rate of inflammation, which may then progress quicker than your body can respond to, so it could explain both characteristics of the virus," he said. Bjorn Meyer, virologist at France's Institut Pasteur, told AFP that the issue could be viral load. "The virus might not have evolved to be more deadly as such, but it might have evolved to grow more or better, which could cause more damage in a patient overall," he said. Does this affect treatments? Horby, who also leads the Recovery trial -- which identified the steroid dexamethasone as effective for severely ill hospital patients -- said there was "no evidence" that treatments would work less well. Anti-inflammatories such as dexamethasone "should work equally as well because it's not related to the virus, it is related to the host response", he said. Horby said overall improvements in therapies and treatments -- including things like better strategies for hospital respiratory support -- have brought down case fatality rates since the first wave and could even "offset any difference with this new variant". As for the vaccines, a preliminary study this month from Britain and the Netherlands found the variant would not be able to evade the protective effect of current vaccines. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have also released early research suggesting their vaccines would still be effective against the strain. Don't viruses weaken as they spread? Scientists have sought to challenge the belief that the virus will become get less virulent as it evolves to become more infectious. The virus that causes Covid-19 is already "very good at its job of getting transmitted" said Emma Hocroft, an epidemiologist at the University of Bern. "So I don't think that we can make this assumption that it wants to be less severe. I don't want to downplay that it is severe for many people, but for the majority of people, it's not severe," she told AFP. She said the ability to transmit before it kills was "a really low bar", citing diseases like measles and HIV that have remained as dangerous. Graham Medley, a professor of Infectious Disease Modelling at the LSHTM, told the Monday press briefing that despite uncertainties in the new studies on the new variant in the UK, they should dispel the idea that it would become less virulent. K-drama fans all over the world are saddened by the sudden death of South Korean actress Song Yoo-jung. News broke on January 25 that the 26-year-old actress had died on January 23. Her agency, Sublime Artist, had confirmed the news. Song Yoo-jung made her acting debut with the 2013 sitcom Golden Rainbow. She played one of the teenage leads opposite Kim Yoo-jung and Jung Il-woo, delivered some truly emotional scenes during the drama. She gained viewers' attention for her performance in another series, Make a Wish (2014). In her short career, Song Yoo-jung managed to gain popularity with her K-drama roles and music video appearances. Her last TV appearance was in KBS School 2017, airing that same year. The drama was part of the well-loved School franchise, with this instalment starring Kim Se-jeong and Kim Jung-hyun. In 2018, Song starred in boy band iKON's music video for Goodbye Road. The melancholic melody and sad lyrics about a farewell hit harder in light of the tragic news, reported scmp.com. Song featured in a popular web series in 2019, Dear My Name. She played a high school student searching for her soulmate. The drama is based on the premise that (almost) everyone has a "tattoo" of their soul mate's name on their body, which sparkles when you meet the person in question. Most recently, in 2020, Song appeared in the music video for Nive's How Do I as the female lead. She also appeared in a bunch of commercials in her career. OSLO, Norway, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Reference is made to the previous stock exchange announcement made by Aker ASA ("Aker") on 19 January 2021 regarding the acquisition of Mainstream Renewable Power (the "Acquisition"), a private placement (the "Private Placement") and a listing on Euronext Growth Oslo (the "Listing", and together with the Private Placement, the "IPO") of Aker Horizons with a plan for a subsequent transfer of the listing to the Oslo Stock Exchange within 12 months. Aker Horizons AS ("Aker Horizons" or the "Company"), the newly established parent company of the Aker Horizons group, contemplates a private placement of new shares in the Company (the Private Placement) to raise gross proceeds of up to approximately NOK 4,150 million and (ii) a convertible bond issue of NOK 1,500 million (the "Convertible Bond Issue"). Aker will through its wholly-owned subsidiary Aker Capital AS ("Aker Capital") subscribe for a total amount of NOK 2,000 million in the Private Placement and the Convertible Bond Issue. The net proceeds from the Private Placement and the Convertible Bond Issue will be used to partially fund the Acquisition as well as for general corporate purposes. The Company has retained ABG Sundal Collier ASA ("ABGSC"), DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge and Pareto Securities AS as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners, and Carnegie AS and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) as Joint Bookrunners (the "Managers") to advise on and effect the Private Placement and the Convertible Bond Issue. The Private Placement Through the Private Placement, the Company intends to issue up to 118,571,428 new shares (the "Offer Shares") to raise gross proceeds of approximately NOK 4,150 million (the "Offering Size"). The offer price is fixed at NOK 35.00 per share (the "Offer Price"). In addition, the Managers may elect to over-allot up to additional 11,857,142 existing shares equivalent to up to approximately NOK 415 million (the "Additional Shares"), representing 10 percent of the Offering Size, in the Private Placement pursuant to an over-allotment option (the "Over-Allotment Option"). After completion of the Private Placement and subject to full exercise of the Over-Allotment Option and the Greenshoe Option (as defined below), the free-float of the Company is expected to be approximately 20 percent. The Private Placement is directed towards certain investors in each case subject to, and in compliance with, applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus or registration requirements. Further selling restrictions and transaction terms will apply. Aker will through its wholly-owned subsidiary Aker Capital subscribe for and be allocated shares for NOK 500 million. Aker Capital will furthermore enter into a customary lock-up agreement whereby all shares held by Aker Capital in the Company, including the Offer Shares allocated to Aker Capital, will be subject to lock-up for a period of 6 months from the first day of Listing. Additionally, the members of the Company's management and the board of directors concerned will enter into customary lock-up agreements whereby all shares held by them in the Company will be subject to lock-up for a period of 12 months from the first day of Listing. Through a limited wallcrossing process, Aker Horizons has received significant pre-commitments from leading domestic, Nordic and international institutional investors and has agreed to provide the following investors a total minimum allocation of NOK 2,100 million, representing approximately 50 percent of the Offering Size, with a minimum of NOK 400 million to each of DNB Asset Management, Folketrygdfondet (The Government Pension Fund Norway), Handelsbanken Fonder and Swedbank Robur, and NOK 500 million to Aker Capital. The bookbuilding period for the Private Placement will commence today, 27 January 2021 at 16:30 (CET) and will close on 28 January 2021 at 08:00 (CET). Aker Horizons reserves the right to close or extend the bookbuilding period at any time and for any reason at its sole discretion and without notice. The minimum order size and allocation in the Private Placement will be the NOK equivalent of EUR 100,000, provided that the Company may, at its sole discretion, offer and allocate an amount below EUR 100,000, pursuant to any applicable exemptions from the prospectus requirement being available. Allocation of Offer Shares will be determined following the expiry of the bookbuilding period by the Company's board of directors (the "Board") at their sole discretion. The Company may focus on allocation criteria such as (but not limited to) price, timeliness of the application, relative order size, sector knowledge, perceived investor quality and investment horizon. Settlement is expected to take place on or about 1 February 2021 on a delivery versus payment basis. The Completion of the Private Placement by delivery of the Offer Shares to the investors being allocated shares is conditional upon (i) all necessary corporate resolutions being validly made by the Company, including without limitation, the Company's board of directors resolving to consummate the Private Placement and allocate the Offer Shares and an extraordinary general meeting of the Company resolving to issue the New Shares, (ii) the registration of the share capital increase in the Company pertaining to the New Shares in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises having taken place, and (iii) the agreement for the Acquisition remaining in full force and effect at the time notice of the registration of the share capital increase pertaining to the New Shares is sent to the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. The Company and the Managers reserve the right, at any time and for any reason, to cancel, and/or modify the terms of, the Private Placement. Neither the Company nor the Managers will be liable for any losses incurred by applicants if the Private Placement is cancelled, irrespective of the reason for such cancellation. Aker Capital is expected to grant ABGSC, on behalf of the Managers (the "Stabilisation Manager"), an option to borrow a number of shares equivalent to the Additional Shares in order to enable the Managers to settle any over-allotments made in the Private Placement. Pursuant to the Over-Allotment Option, the Company is also expected to grant the Stabilisation Manager an option (the "Greenshoe Option") to subscribe and have issued, at the Offer Price, a number of new shares equal to the number of Additional Shares allocated in the Private Placement to cover short positions resulting from any over-allotments made in the Private Placement not covered through share purchases made as part of any stabilization activities. The Greenshoe Option is exercisable, in whole or in part, by the Stabilisation Manager within a 30-day period commencing at the time trading in the shares commences on Euronext Growth Oslo. The Company will receive the proceeds from any shares sold under the Over-Allotment Option if, and to the extent, that the Greenshoe Option is exercised. Net profits from stabilisation activities, if any, will be to the benefit of Aker Capital. In connection with the Private Placement, the Company will also offer certain of its employees to subscribe for new shares in the Company at the Offer Price, less a 25 percent discount due to lock-up restrictions. The offer is capped at the annual salary for each participant. The Company also intends to establish a dedicated share investment program for the senior management with a similar lock-up and pricing. The Listing The Company has applied for a listing on Euronext Growth Oslo and following completion of the Private Placement, the Company is expected to be admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo, a multilateral trading facility operated by the Oslo Stock Exchange. The first day of trading of the shares on Euronext Growth Oslo is expected to occur on or about 1 February 2021 under the ticker symbol "AKH". Subject to completion of the Private Placement, the Board has resolved that it will apply for listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange within 12 months after completion of the Private Placement and the Company has already started on the preparations. Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS acts as legal advisor to the Company in connection with the IPO and the Convertible Bond Issue. Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS assists the Managers in connection with the IPO and the Convertible Bond Issue. The Convertible Bond Issue The Company is offering convertible bonds (the "Convertible Bonds") of NOK 1,500 million in gross proceeds. Aker will subscribe for NOK 1,500 million in the Convertible Bond Issue and will be allocated a minimum of NOK 1,200 million. The Convertible Bonds will have a tenor of 5 years and will rank pari passu with other subordinated debt of the Company, but is subordinated to senior debt of the borrower in the event of a default under any of the Company's financial arrangements. The Convertible Bonds will carry a fixed interest of 1.50 per cent per annum which is paid in kind (i.e. additional bonds). The Convertible Bonds will be convertible into shares at a 25 percent premium to the Offer Price, subject to customary adjustment provisions. The bookbuilding period for the Convertible Bond Issue will run in parallel with and on corresponding terms to the bookbuilding period for the Private Placement. The minimum application and allocation amount in the Convertible Bond Issue will be NOK 2,000,000. The Convertible Bond Issue will be directed towards certain investors in each case subject to, and in compliance with, applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus or registration requirements. Further selling restrictions and transaction terms will apply. For further information, please contact: Atle Kigen, Head of Corporate Communications, Aker ASA Tel: +47 90784878 Email: atle.kigen@akerasa.com Christina Chappell Glenn, Head of Investor Relations, Aker ASA Tel: +47 90532774 Email: christina.glenn@akerasa.com Ivar Simensen, Communications, Aker Horizons Tel: +47 46402317 Email: ivar.simensen@akerhorizons.com Important Notice This announcement is not and does not form a part of any offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities. The distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions. Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "strategy", "intends", "estimate", "will", "may", "continue", "should" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although Aker believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice. Aker undertakes no obligation to review, update, confirm, or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this announcement. This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities of Aker. Neither the Company, ABG Sundal Collier ASA, DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge, Pareto Securities AS, Carnegie AS, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement. This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/aker-asa/r/aker-asa-aker-horizons---contemplated-private-placement-and-convertible-bond-issue,c3275035 Peshawar, Jan 27 : After an amendment was proposed in the Provincial Assembly of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), calling for permission by the relevant authorities to film the execution of a convicted sex offender preying on children and later make the video public to serve as a warning against such heinous acts, civil society has raised serious and strong concerns over the proposed amendment. Civil society has said that it was against the constitutional provisions and the top court's verdict. Raising questions on the proposed amendment to the KP Child Protection and Welfare (Amendment) Act 2010, members of the civil society challenged the legality of the amendment. The Child Rights Movement (CRM) in KP, while challenging the legality of the amendment approved by the provincial government, said "The government had decided to introduce amendments to increase deterrence against the menace of child abuse in the province. But it would be challenged if passed in its form due to violation of the constitution." Valrie Khan, a child rights activist, said the top court had described the public hanging of even the worst of criminals, a violation of human dignity. "Article 45 of the constitution empowers the President to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit a sentence passed by any court or tribunal, while clause (c) of Section 54A of the proposed Bill prohibits any such remission in punishment, which is ultra vires of the constitution," she said. "It has also been proposed in the Bill that the proceedings of the death penalty would be recorded and would be made available to the public. Top court had described public hanging for even the worst of criminals as a violation of the rights of human dignity enshrined in Article 14 of the constitution," she added. The CRM highlighted that if a criminal law or criminal procedure passed by the province was not in line with the law made by Parliament, it would be the Law of Parliament that would prevail. "The proposed Bill violated Article 45 by taking away the power of the President to remit the punishment and against Article 143 of the constitution by proposing a provincial criminal law, inconsistent with the federal criminal law on the subject," said Sana Ahmed, the CRM provincial coordinator. Civil society has also expressed concern that the provincial government and the department behind the proposed amendment ignored taking any inputs from civil society on the matter, as they were not made part of the consultative process. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts ("Blue Cross") is reminding members to be vigilant as scammers seek to take advantage of the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. "There is such a pent-up demand for the vaccine and the roll-out is going to be limited for a while because of manufacturing capability this provides an environment ripe for fraud," said Jennifer Stewart, senior director for fraud investigation and prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Stewart cautions that scammers have already created websites similar to Massachusetts' official vaccine appointment website in an attempt to collect health insurance and financial information. "What they've done is change one letter of the website name so that it looks almost identical to the legitimate state website," said Stewart. "This is a good reminder to not click on email links but instead visit www.mass.gov or your health care provider's website and navigate from there to be safe." Offers of early vaccine access Email phishing scams are also rampant, offering recipients the chance to "preregister" with a public health department to receive a vaccine. "Right now there is no preregistration in Massachusetts and any site offering that is a scam," Stewart said. "What they are looking to do is collect health insurance and financial information, which they then use for their schemes or to sell on the dark web." While health care providers may reach out when an individual is eligible to be vaccinated, they are not going to reach out unsolicited offering early access to the vaccine while making requests for payments or soliciting personal health insurance and financial information, Stewart stressed. "As the distribution starts ramping up, people are going to get solicited to pay to get ahead in the line. Consumers should know that's not possible," she said. "The federal government has bought the vaccine, insurers are paying for administration for their members, you can't pay to cut the line and get early access in Massachusetts. If that's what you're being told, that's a scam." Federal agencies also have warned of vaccine-related scams, including fake ads for vaccines on social media platforms. Consumers should always double check that sources of information are verified and legitimate and never share personal health or financial information with anyone other than known and trusted medical professionals, the agencies said. Avoiding potential fraud Stewart's best advice to consumers is to sit tight, wait, and make sure they get a legitimate vaccine. She also reminds Blue Cross members that their health insurance will cover the cost of vaccination with no out-of-pocket costs. Medicare will cover vaccine administration for Medicare Advantage and Medex members when administered by any clinician who accepts Medicare. Members with questions can call the Blue Cross COVID-19 helpline at 1-888-372-1970. Reporting suspected fraud The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office encourages anyone with questions or concerns to call their consumer hotline at 617-727-8400 or file a complaint online. If you believe you have been the victim of a COVID-19 fraud, you can report it to the FBI (ic3.gov, tips.fbi.gov, or 1-800-CALL-FBI) or HHS OIG (tips.hhs.gov or 1-800-HHS-TIPS). About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (www.bluecrossma.org) is a community-focused, tax-paying, not-for-profit health plan headquartered in Boston. We are committed to the relentless pursuit of quality, affordable health care with an unparalleled consumer experience. Consistent with our promise to always put our members first, we are rated among the nation's best health plans for member satisfaction and quality. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Related Links http://www.bluecrossma.com A businesswoman has been awarded $280,000 after the Federal Court found she was defamed by a sustained campaign of offensive mockery that amounted to bullying in a series of columns in The Australian Financial Review. Elaine Stead, the former managing director of venture capital at the now-defunct Blue Sky Alternative Investments, sued the newspaper and Rear Window columnist Joe Aston over two columns from 2019, one of which referred to her as a feminist cretin. Businesswoman Elaine Stead leaves the Federal Court last year. Credit:Dean Sewell Last year, Justice Michael Lee found the columns conveyed a total of four defamatory imputations, including that Dr Stead was a cretin and rashly destroyed the capital of business ventures with which she was associated. Dr Stead had also sued over a tweet by Aston in October 2019. However, Justice Lee previously ruled it did not convey the defamatory meaning alleged by Dr Steads lawyers. A new political party launched Monday from a San Antonio base. The "MAGA Patriot Party National Committee" filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission. The party listed an office building at La Cantera on the Northwest Side as its official address. A Florida man, James Davis, is listed as the custodian of records, treasurer, and designated agent for the new party. He filed the paperwork on behalf of a group of disaffected Trump supporters who intend to show the Republican Party it no longer represents them. EXPRESS-NEWS APP: Breaking news, Spurs scores, COVID updates and more at your fingertips "There's a lot of violent groups out there, a lot of different groups calling for militias and those kind of things," Davis said Tuesday. "I understand the anger but that's not our country. Our country gives us a political way to speak and that's what we decided we were going to harness." READ ALSO: 'We're not Al Capone': Owner of Bexar County gun range blamed for stray bullets speaks out Davis is a 57-year-old municipal worker and former Marine from Punta Gorda, north of Fort Myers. He started a Facebook group called The Patriots Shall Rise as a place for fellow Trump supporters to share their frustration with the presidential election. The group was eventually kicked off Facebook. Its members moved to other social networks, including MeWe and Gab. Now they're channeling their collective anger into the political process, with plans to run candidates in contests from the U.S. Senate to mayoral races. Davis himself plans to run against U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in 2024. They're targeting Republicans they feel "turned their backs" on Trump's base. "We're not much different to the Republican Party," Davis said. "Except we're going to hold true to the platform Trump ran on and what people supported." The party's platform supports Trump's "America First" policies and energy independence, Davis said. Its supporters began splitting from the Republican Party after the election because their representatives failed to investigate Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud. "MAGA Patriot Party" is one of several similarly-named parties founded in recent weeks. Trump reportedly floated the idea of starting a new "Patriot Party" as he feuded with Republican leaders in the wake of the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. He later decided against pursuing the breakaway party, according to the New York Times. On Monday, Trump's official campaign committee filed a notice with the FEC, repudiating one "Patriot Party" founded by a Georgia man that had claimed to be fundraising for the committee. "DJTFP is placing this disavowal notice on the public record out of concern for confusion among the public, which may be misled to believe that Patriot Party's activities have been authorized by Mr. Trump or DJTFP or that contributions to this unauthorized committee are being made to DJTFP when that is not true," the campaign committee wrote. The "MAGA Patriot Party" founded in San Antonio made the same claim in its FEC filing. A spokesperson for Trump distanced the former president from that group as well. We are not supportive of this effort, have nothing to do with it and only know about it through public reporting," said Jason Miller. The disavowal from Trump's campaign was a "disappointment," Davis said. His party had to name which PAC they were fundraising for when they filed the statement of organization. Trump's reelection was the only committee they wanted to raise money for. If the Trump campaign requests that "MAGA Patriot Party" drop its connection, Davis will do so. He plans to add five additional candidate PACs to an updated FEC filing on Thursday. But the party will not waver in its support for Trump. "We're going to support him regardless, whether we're fundraising for him, whether he's running for a party like ours, or he's running for the GOP. We're going to support him," Davis said. The "MAGA Patriot Party" registered in San Antonio because Davis has a business partner in the city. He declined to name the partner, citing people who have already shown up at his Florida home. Texans represent the largest chunk of the party's membership, Davis noted, pegging the total number at 9,400 people. The party soon plans to merge with another Patriot Party more than twice its size. It's too early to tell whether the new parties will have much of an effect, according to Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University. But their existence gives disaffected Republicans a place to go especially if Trump creates his own. "If Trump decided that he was going to start his own political vehicle, his own Patriot Party, that would divide the Republican Party and open the door to massive Democratic victories at the national level and in many states," Jillson said. American history provides several examples of consequential third parties. Theodore Roosevelt's "Bull Moose Party" split the Republican vote and allowed Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat, to win the 1912 presidential election. More recently, Ross Perot received millions of votes as an independent in 1992 and Reform Party candidate in 1996. A potential Trump party would force elected Republicans to bet on which wing of the Republican Party Trump's populism or the Mitch McConnell establishment is larger, better funded and more in touch with the base. The answer might be Trump's wing. But there's "no way in the world" he could ride to a presidential victory on a Patriot Party vehicle, Jillson said. The Bexar County Republican Party said it was unaware of the new party. One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021 New Delhi: Diversified industrial conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd is all set to raise Rs 25,000 crore through privately placed debentures as the Mukesh Ambani led firm aims to replace existing high-cost borrowings as well as build a large cash corpus for its aggressive expansion strategy in the telecom space. The Mukesh Ambani-led firm sought shareholders' approval to issue redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement. In a stock exchange notice, RIL said the company's annual general meeting will be held on July 21 to consider the fund raising. A shareholder resolution sought nod "to offer or invite subscriptions for secured / unsecured redeemable non- convertible debentures, in one or more series / tranches, of an aggregate nominal value up to Rs 25,000 crore on private placement." It sought to authorise the Board of Directors to "determine and consider proper and most beneficial to the company including, without limitation, as to when the said debentures are to be issued, the face value of debentures to be issued, the consideration for the issue, mode of payment, coupon rate, redemption period, utilisation of the issue proceeds and all matters connected." For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. "Six brands cancelled contracts with me some were already signed some were closing n said I called Farmer terrorists so they can't have me as an ambassador. Today I want to say each and every Indian who is supporting these riots is also a terrorist including anti national brands," Kangana Ranaut tweeted on Republic Day. Actress Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday said all Indians who were supporting the ongoing farmers protest are terrorists. "Sick and tired of riots and blood bath almost every month , Delhi, Bangalore and now again Delhi #RedFort," the actress wrote in a separate tweet. The actress also shared a video speaking in Hindi, where she said: "We have become a joke before the world today. We have no prestige left. We don't care if the Prime Minister of another nation is our guest, we can sit naked in front of them. If this goes on, there will be no progress in this country. Whoever supports this so-called farmers' protest should be jailed. They have reduced our nation, its government and Supreme Court into a joke." Kangana's comment comes after photographs of protesting farmers hoisting their flags at Red Fort on Republic Day went viral on social media. The protesting farmers who have gathered at various borders of Delhi-NCR, were peaceful for over 60 days, but they left behind a trail of vandalism, violence, holliganism in the wake of their tractor rallied into the Capital on Republic Day. As they hoisted their flags at Red Fort, they clashed with the police personnel in several parts of the national capital. Several other celebrities also reacted to the incident condemning it. "Undesirable turn of events. I have supported this peaceful protest from day one, however this violent turn is condemnable. And, on this sacred day, only the Tricolour should fly aloft the Red Fort," tweeted Gul Panag. "Who are they farmers? Look at the dates they choose to create chaos , as they know the whole world is watching us ,so their whole motive is to downgrade India and to defame the country ..!!" wrote Payal Ghosh. For more stories click here: Kollywood l Malayalam l Bollywood l Telugu Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 3 mesi fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The global Newsprint Paper Market report offers a comprehensive analysis of current trends and future opportunities. This report is responsible for quantitative estimation and foreseen future for upcoming years based on the recent companies strategic moves and historical data. Further, the market report is categorized into different segments, regions, and countries level. This report also provides competitor analysis with its market share and developments. The final report will cover the impact of COVID-19 on this industry. The global Newsprint Paper market report presents a complete research-based study of the industry including details such as company shares, forecast data, in-depth analysis and an outlook of the market on a worldwide platform. The report further highlights the market drivers, restraints and the top manufacturers at the global and regional levels. For a thorough understanding, the report also offers market segmentation and regional analysis for the forecast period from 2020 to 2025. Click here to get a Sample PDF Copy of the Newsprint Paper Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-31405 According to this study, over the next five years, the Newsprint Paper market will register an xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach $ xx million by 2025, from $ xx million in 2020. In particular, this report presents the global market share (sales and revenue) of key companies in the Newsprint Paper business, shared in Chapter 3. This Newsprint Paper market report also splits the market by regions: Americas (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil), APAC (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, India, Australia), Europe (Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Spain), Middle East & Africa (Egypt, South Africa, Israel, Turkey, GCC Countries). This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of the Newsprint Paper market by type, application, key manufacturers, key regions, and countries. The key manufacturers covered in this report: Breakdown data in Chapter 3. Norske Skog Guangzhou Paper Kruger Inc. Sappi Global Nippon Paper Stora Enso Resolute Forest Products Daio Paper Huatai Paper BO Paper Group Shree Rama Newsprint Limited (SRNL) Jinyang Paper Alberta Newsprint Others To inquire about report customization, feel free to reach out to our team of expert analysts @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/ask-questions-31405 This study considers the Newsprint Paper value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments: Segmentation by type: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.3; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.7. 40g/m2 45g/m2 48g/m2 51g/m2 Others Segmentation by application: breakdown data from 2015 to 2020, in Section 2.4; and forecast to 2025 in section 11.8. Newspapers Periodicals Tabloids Publicity Materials Other In addition, this report discusses the key drivers influencing market growth, opportunities, challenges, and the risks faced by key manufacturers and the market as a whole. It also analyzes key emerging trends and their impact on present and future development. Purchase the Complete Global Newsprint Paper Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-31405 Research Objectives To study and analyze the global Newsprint Paper consumption (value & volume) by key regions/countries, type and application, history data from 2015 to 2019, and forecast to 2025. To understand the structure of the Newsprint Paper market by identifying its various subsegments. Focuses on the key global Newsprint Paper manufacturers, to define, describe, and analyze the sales volume, value, market share, market competition landscape, SWOT analysis and development plans in the next few years. To analyze the Newsprint Paper with respect to individual growth trends, future prospects, and their contribution to the total market. To share detailed information about the key factors influencing the growth of the market (growth potential, opportunities, drivers, industry-specific challenges and risks). To project the consumption of Newsprint Paper submarkets, with respect to key regions (along with their respective key countries). To analyze competitive developments such as expansions, agreements, new product launches, and acquisitions in the market. To strategically profile the key players and comprehensively analyze their growth strategies. About Us: DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research report provider, enriching decision-makers, and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research reports, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains. Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed. For more details: DecisionDatabases.com E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.com Phone: +91 90 28 057900 Web: https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ Reference Source: https://www.topnewscorner.com/newsprint-paper-market-2020-analysis-by-latest-trends-growth-opportunities-with-potential-impact-of-covid-19/ Orianne Cevey is auctioning off her ex-husband Phil Collins' gold records and awards with an asking price of as little as $100. Cevey hopes to raise millions of dollars from the sale which includes gold discs featuring Collins drumming on Robert Plants 1982 album Pictures at Eleven and two gold records from the 1983 recording The Principle of Moments. Each of the albums has an estimated value of $100 to $1,000. Other items in the 298 lots include Ms Ceveys clothes, Chanel handbags, jewellery and Rolex watches and some of her 5,000 pairs of shoes. A 10.35-carat diamond is estimated at $600,000 to $800,000. The auction at Kodner, based in Florida, is scheduled to be held on February 3. Orianne Cevey is selling off her ex-husband Phil Collins' gold records and awards in an auction, with an asking price of as little as $100 Among the items up for auction on the Kodner website is a gold record of Robert Plant's 'The Principle of Moments' Also for sale is a 'Pictures at Eleven' record that was presented to Collins to commemorate the sale of over 50,000 units of the swan song album A representative said that Cevey was organizing her belongings as she prepares to move to a smaller property, and she is finding the process 'cathartic'. The gold record of Robert Plant's 'The Principle of Moments.' was presented to Collins because it was released by his label, Es Paranza and is valued between $100 to $1000. The product description on the website reads: 'Phil Collins Es Paranza Album Gold LP Award by WEA Music of Canada, Ltd. The product description on the website reads: 'Phil Collins Es Paranza Album Gold LP Award by WEA Music of Canada, Ltd.' An assortment of three Phil Collins awards including a Hospital Radio Basingstroke 1993 Music Award are up for sale for an estimated price of between $100 and $1000 Phil Collins and his ex Orianne are seen above at an event in Florida in 2016 'Presented to Phil Collins in recognition of attaining sales status of Canadian gold of the Es Paranza album 'The Principle of Moments August, 1983. Frame measures 20-1/4' x 16-1/4'.' Also for sale is a 'Pictures at Eleven' record that was presented to Collins to commemorate the sale of over 50,000 units of the swan song album. An assortment of three Phil Collins awards including a Hospital Radio Basingstroke 1993 Music Award are up for sale for an estimated price of between $100 and $1000. Orianne Cevey is selling off her ex-husband Phil Collins' gold records and awards in an auction, with an asking price of as little as $100 The pair married in 1999 and had sons Nicholas, 19, and Matthew, 15, before splitting seven years later and then shocking the world by getting back together in 2016 It comes after the couple had been in a legal battle over their Miami Beach mansion. Cevey and her new husband Thomas Bates, 31, packed their bags and vacated the home last week ahead of a court-mandated deadline to leave The auction states that 10 per cent of the proceeds from some items, including the Collins memorabilia, will be donated to the Never Give Up Foundation for help for children and adults with spinal cord injuries as a result of accidents or medical problems. The charity was founded by Mr Cevey and Collins, who suffers severe pain because of a spinal injury caused by drumming, A representative told Page Six that Cevey decided to sell the old items to de-clutter as she downsizes her property. 'She is moving to a smaller home and getting rid of some of her clothing and jewelry that she no longer wears I mean after all, she does have 5,000 pairs of shoes alone and only two feet she can't wear them all!' 'Orianne found organizing the move very cathartic and went very Marie Kondo and got rid of a number of items that no longer sparked joy for her.' The former couple have undergone a bitter public split since she married her boyfriend Thomas Bates, 31, last August after saying she was going away 'on business'. She initially reused to move out of the couple's Miami mansion before relenting under threat of legal action and Collins, 69, has now sold the estate. Jewelry designer Cevey, 46, had until January 21 to vacate the bayfront residence which has been the subject of a bitter months-long eviction battle. This comes after Collins tried for months to have her kicked off his property after she secretly married Bates, an aspiring musician 38 years his junior, and moved him in Collins, who has struggled with continued health concerns, had accused Cevey of squatting in the home and demanded the couple leave so he can sell the property. In battling court documents viewed by DailyMail.com, Cevey argued that Collins made an oral agreement in 2015 that she had a 50 per cent stake in the property. Collins launched his drastic legal action in November after calling it quits with Cevey for the second time. The pair first met when she worked as a translator on a European tour. They were married in 1999, in a ceremony attended by Sir Elton John and Eric Clapton, and divorced in 2008. The pair married in 1999 and had sons Nicholas, 19, and Matthew, 15, before splitting seven years later. Collins, who is worth an estimated 140 million according to The Sunday Times Rich List, moved to Miami in 2015 to be closer to his sons and resumed his relationship with Ms Cevel. Despite agreeing to a record $47m divorce settlement they surprised the world in 2016 when they announced they were back together and living in the Miami home, which Collins purchased through an LLC. Shares of moved higher by 15 per cent to Rs 285 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday after reporting a consolidated net profit of Rs 5.50 crore for the quarter ended December 2020 (Q3FY21) on the back of strong revenue growth. The company, a manufacturer of steering and suspension products and light metal casting components, had posted a loss of Rs 7.20 crore in Q3FY20. Total revenue during the quarter under review increased by 35.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 435.20 crore as against Rs 320.50 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin improved 336 basis points (bps) to 9 per cent for Q3FY21 as against 5.7 per cent in Q3FY20. The margin expansion due to the cost reduction initiatives and higher volume helped to mitigate unfavourable mix and material cost increase. The company said its US subsidiary experienced a 13 per cent drop in sales impacted by lower vehicle demand in the US due to Covid-19 and lower volumes from key customers. Despite operational improvements, the drop in volumes resulted in a higher loss, it said. The management said the company saw a strong recovery in the demand environment in Q3. This was well supported by the production ramp-up in the plants. Cost reduction initiatives continued to yield results. We are seeing volatility in customer schedules as they experience supply constraints on certain components. We continue the cost control measures to manage the commodity price increases, the management said. At 02:46 pm, was trading 14 per cent higher at Rs 284 on the BSE as compared to a 2 per cent decline in the The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 302 in February 2020. A combined 235,000 equity shares had changed hands on the counter on the NSE and BSE so far. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. A 35-year-old man employed as a school security guard in Delaware County has been charged with sex crimes involving an underage girl who attended schools where he worked, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer announced Tuesday. LToray Hill was arrested last week and charged with three counts of institutional sexual assault, indecent assault with a person less than 16 years old, and related offenses. Hill, who worked for the William Penn School District when the alleged crimes were committed, was released after posting 10 percent of his $75,000 bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 3. Hills lawyer, Derek Alan Steenson of Philadelphia, declined to comment on the case and said that Hill, who lives in Sharon Hill, no longer works for the district. (On Wednesday, Jan. 27, the district issued a statement saying Hill had been suspended with pay and was without access to [d]istrict resources, pending investigation of these allegations. The district said that it learned about the allegations on Tuesday, and that Hill had been an employee since September 2006. The district urged anyone with information regarding any such conduct to contact the Delaware County District Attorneys Office.) Investigators first spoke to the complainant at her mothers Darby Borough home in November. The girl, who was 19 in November, said she met Hill when she was 8 years old and in third grade at Walnut Street Elementary School. She saw Hill as a father figure, according to the affidavit of probable cause. Hill took a special interest in her over the years and on unspecified occasions called her his wife and his girl, and said youre all mine and no one else can have you, the affidavit says. Hill also allegedly promised to marry her. When the girl was 14 he tried to kiss her on the mouth and she rebuffed him, the affidavit says. When she turned 16, that summer she and her younger brother volunteered at a day care in Sharon Hill where Hill also worked as a summer camp counselor and teacher. His alleged advances got aggressive and she again rebuffed him, but on a bus trip returning from the Jersey Shore he molested her, the affidavit says. She told investigators that she was still 16 when she became involved in a dating situation with Hill that involved sexual intercourse and lasted more than a year. The sex acts occurred at several district properties, including Penn Wood Elementary School, according to the affidavit. The illegal encounters ended in November 2018 after Hill became too controlling and jealous, she told investigators. This case provides a classic example of the grooming behavior that often accompanies child sexual assault, Stollsteimer said in a statement. The perpetrator used his position of authority to exploit the vulnerabilities of a young child. Over the years, he manipulated and abused this victim psychologically as well as physically. We deeply appreciate her willingness to step forward and share her story. In doing so, we hope that she has protected other potential victims from the actions of this defendant, Stollsteimer said. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! London: Boris Johnson has announced that Britain will introduce Australian-style hotel quarantine without exemption for residents returning from 30 countries with major coronavirus outbreaks. The new policy was announced as the death toll climbed by 1725 to 101,887. Britain is trying to curb a mutated variant of COVID-19 that was detected before Christmas that is between 30 to 70 per cent more transmissible; infections have fallen steeply - by almost a third over the last week. The UKs vaccination program is on track to deliver jabs to those in the top four priority groups by mid-February with 7.1 million doses already administered. A plane passes over the Sofitel Hotel near Londons Heathrow. Credit:PA Unlike Australia, Britain has never closed its borders and had previously allowed travellers to quarantine at home for ten days, with officials performing few checks leading to widespread non-compliance. The Taoiseach has defended the Governments plan to reduce coronavirus cases after it introduced new restrictions on travel and extended the lockdown. Micheal Martin said he will do whatever it takes to keep numbers down, telling the Dail there will be no half measures to ensure a prolonged suppression of Covid-19. The Government on Tuesday announced that Irelands third lockdown is to be extended until March 5, and also introduced tighter travel restrictions. Government has decided to extend all of the current #Level5 restrictions until the 5th of March. For more information ai https://t.co/bcWUJ5BaHe pic.twitter.com/GO5Cv2OjoX MerrionStreet.ie #StaySafe #HoldFirm (@merrionstreet) January 26, 2021 The new measures include mandatory quarantine at a designated facility for people who arrive in Ireland without a negative PCR test taken in the past 72 hours. Travellers arriving without a negative test could also face a fine of 2,500 euro or a six-month prison sentence. Visa-free short-term travel from South Africa and South America is suspended until at least March 5. All passengers entering the country will be subject to mandatory quarantine, a change from the policy of voluntary self-isolation. It will be a prolonged suppression of the virus. But the key measure is human behaviour, human behaviour is what stops the spread of the virus Micheal Martin Mr Martin said: I want to make a very clear that there will be no half measures from me as Taoiseach, or from Government, in ensuring a prolonged suppression of this virus. We will do whatever it takes to keep the numbers down once we get the numbers down, and we are achieving that. He told the Dail that Ireland cannot allow daily cases to return to the levels of recent weeks. What we have now which we didnt have last year is the vaccination. The evidence base for the vaccines is they prevent mortality and they prevent illness, he added. I think that will give us choices towards mid-year when we will have significant numbers vaccinated. It will be a prolonged suppression of the virus. But the key measure is human behaviour, human behaviour is what stops the spread of the virus. Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government of introducing half measures, and criticised the Governments quarantine plans, saying all arrivals on the island should be forced to isolate for 14 days. What you announced not only goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense Mary Lou McDonald What we got is a Government that is clearly at sixes and sevens, with no idea of how to proceed beyond March 5, The Dublin Central TD said. A Government that yet again has failed to prepare, failed to consult and failed to plan. So instead of a real plan, you have presented half measures that simply dont go far enough. At your press conference, contradiction and confusion between ministers was rife and clarity and certainty was in very scarce supply. This absence of urgency, of leadership and plain common sense, quite frankly, has caused huge alarm for many people. The biggest mess from your announcement yesterday is undoubtedly your proposal on international travel, because what you announced not only goes against public health advice, it goes against common sense. Its not a system of mandatory quarantine. It is in fact one of voluntary self-isolation and you propose to send people back to homes and other accommodation with other people people who may be going out to work, people who will go into our shops and stores and therefore risk the spreading of this virus. That to me is absolutely crazy. Expand Close Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA) Health Minister Stephen Donnelly earlier said that September remains the aspiration to have every person in the country vaccinated, despite issues around supply. He said the vaccination programme is going well, but delays to the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine could hamper the Governments timeframe. September is absolutely still the aspiration. Yeah, absolutely. It has to be, he said. We cant promise because its a projection based partly on vaccinations that havent even been applied for authorisation, and on delivery schedules that still have to be fully agreed, he told RTEs Today With Claire Byrne. I think people in Ireland are asking a very reasonable question, were all being asked to stick with Level 5, its been a tough, tough year. I think people are reasonably saying, based on the information you have, based on your conversations with the pharmaceutical companies, based on what the scientists are telling you, are we likely to all be vaccinated in May? No. Is it likely that it will be this September? Yes. Expand Close Stephen Donnelly (Julien Behal Photography/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Stephen Donnelly (Julien Behal Photography/PA) However he appeared to row back on this, saying he cannot say it is likely everyone will be vaccinated by September. If the vaccines come through that we have advanced purchased and if they come in on schedule, then it is reasonable to think that by September every adult could be vaccinated, but with all of those very serious caveats, he added. Vaccinations for the over-70s are due to get under way in the next two weeks, he said. Wednesday brought another 54 deaths related to Covid-19 in Ireland. There were a further 1,335 confirmed cases, according to figures from the Department of Health. It brings the total number of Covid-related deaths in the country to 3,120. The number of people in intensive care units has increased by one to 217. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said: The current 14-day incidence remains more than double the peak incidence experienced during previous Level 5 measures in October, therefore now is not the time to drop your guard and start to interact with people outside your household. The risk of transmission in the community remains very high. We must continue to work towards reducing incidence of disease and preventing further hospitalisations and deaths. Mumbai, Jan 27 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested Yes Bank's former Chairman Rana Kapoor in an alleged money-laundering case pertaining to the probe in a HDIL group company, official sources said on Wednesday. Currently in jail in the DHFL case, Kapoor - who has been sent to ED custody till January 30 - had allegedly sanctioned a Rs 200 crore loan to Mack Star Marketing Pvt Ltd, a group company of the HDIL promoters Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan. The Wadhawans are charged with duping the Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank of around Rs 6,000 crore - a scam that erupted in September 2019, shaking banking and corporate circles. In the latest case, Kapoor allegedly conspired to sanction the Rs 200 crore loan to Mack Star that was diverted to HDIL which used it to repay its outstanding with Yes Bank. The ED claimed that the intention was to siphon off the loan amounts and give a lifeline to HDIL's group companies to settle their outstanding with Yes Bank to prevent them from become NPAs. This is the second time Kapoor has been arrested in less than 10 months. Days before the pandemic lockdown in last March, he was nabbed by ED for alleged kickbacks against sanctioning loans to companies of the DHFL and remains in jail till now. HDIL's Rakesh Wadhawan and Sarang Wadhawan, who are also prime accused in the PMC Bank scam, held a stake in Mack Star which is under the ED scanner for the Rs 200 crore loan given by Yes Bank for renovating its premises. In that case, with its tentacles spreading to the Viva Group of Palghar, the ED had arrested Mehul Thakur and another director Madan Chaturvedi, who are also in its custody till January 30. The Covid impact on the automotive industry of Saudi Arabia has seen decline in the foot fall across various showrooms of brands, which used to be the major mode of sales, pre-Covid. We see a shift towards e-commerce in the KSA automotive industry with higher online penetration levels across various segments, but not a major move from physical to online sales, said Ken Research in a report. Various new vehicle maintenance models are also witnessed with varying ownership periods amidst job loss and closing of many offices. Share mobility market also witnessed a decline as people move towards hygienic ways impacting different market segments. Corrective measures taken by various entities and government itself to sustain business and are providing incentive to move towards innovative business models in various industry segments. The technology trends and developments also witness a major shift towards radical ERP and CRM systems being utilised in the market, majorly by organised segment. Entities operating in the automotive industry of KSA ae able to understand the usage and optimisation capabilities of streamlined and efficient operating systems and continue to use different softwares and solutions in addition with customised modules to enhance their operations and customer relationship management efforts. The integration is majorly done via international and local technology partners who compete on integration, cost effeciency duration of the project and more factors, and provide either single software utilisation or in some cases, a mix of various vertical and standalone ERP solutions. The report titled KSA Automotive Industry Outlook to 2025 Focus on Technology Adoption and Trends for Dealers, Distributors, Spare Parts Suppliers, Fleet and Leasing Companies and Car service providers observed that the there is a vast opportunity to disrupt the traditional and conservatively operating automotive Industry in KSA. The report discusses the current technology adoption amongst the various segments of players like Importers, Distributors, Spare Part Dealers, Dealerships, Workshops, car Spas, Rental and Leasing Players amongst more. The report further analyse each segment in detail, providing a brief overview along with market size, segmentation, competition analysis, trends, developments and future analysis of various segments, focusing keenly on entity relationships and business models. These segments are then further analysed to gain a better understanding of the ERP and CRM modules required to pave the way for digitisation amidst the industry, across KSA. KSA AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY KSA Automotive is currently dominated by local retail and distributing partners, facilitating growth of international OEMs and other brands amidst a shortfall of domestic manufacturers with good quality products. The demand for automotive vehicles and spare parts is majorly fulfilled via imports from countries like USA, Japan, China, Korea, India and other Gulf countries. The ecosystem is made up of big trading organisations who harness their retail and distribution networks across KSA to compete in the market for Tier 1 and 2 cities, while majority of rural areas and tier 3 cities still rely on unorganised market for local demand. KSA communicates a lot with surrounding gulf countries in terms of imports and re-exports and is looking forward to develop domestic manufacturing and exporting capabilities for South Africa and other African and gulf nations with stronger tax and driving policies, development of industrial hubs, efficient bilateral relationships and allies, technological competence and its enhancement. AUTOMOTIVE IMPORT/DISTRIBUTORS AND DEALERSHIPS The import of vehicles in KSA consists of majorly of sedans and SUVs amidst sport and luxury cars, facilitated via international OEMs in collaboration with local partners. The space is majorly dominated by big trading corporations with strategic partnerships with OEMs, who act as sole distributors and traders of particular brands. Some of the biggest players include, Abdul Latif Jameel (Toyota), Mohammad Yusuf Naghi (Hyundai and BMW), Haji Hussien (Mazda) and few more. But the competition is witnessing a shift with Hyundai and Nissan taking on Toyota in various segments of market like passenger vehicles and sedans to grab a bigger market share. Current market trends regarding vehicle purchase and ownership are also changing affecting market segmentation of vehicles as more women enter the market with EVs and hatchbacks taking a more pivotal part of market in comparison to Sedans and SUVs. However, the focus in the future is set to shift towards utilising domestic capabilities, with KSA government pushing FDI inclusion amidst series of relaxations and support schemes. AUTOMOTIVE AFTERMARKET INDUSTRY Aftermarket industry is split between organised and unorganised sector with organised sector leading in terms of revenue generation capabilities and quality of services. Unorganised segment of the market majorly tries to cater in tier 3 and other rural areas as they can target a lower income group who are not fixated on the quality of service. Majorly the parts used are also refurbished and not completely genuine (First copies). Organised players on the other hand provide an array of exiting and better quality services. Players in organised sector comprises of Multibrand aftermarket workshops and spare parts retailers or genuine agency repairs (dealership led). They either provide complete auto care services or specialises in quick lube, crash repair and periodic maintenance services. Another segment of the market called the mobile service centres provides on road assistance catering car spa and maintenance services across KSA. RENTAL and LEASING INDUSTRY Rental and leasing industry in KSA is the most utilised industry with target segment of Expats and pilgrim/business tourism showing promising growth across the year. Certain new developments like women driving laws, employment emphasis on Saudi nationals and other investment schemes related to digitisation is further helping the market to grow across KSA. Current industry practices have witnessed a unilateral move of rental players into leasing opportunities and used car retail to sustain their business amidst the global pandemic. We also witness new market segmentation on the basis of end users, vehicle type and regions, along with a focus on various strategic partnerships amongst ride hailing companies and leasing/rental players to develop innovative business model as the markets focus shifts from ownership to user ship.-- Tradearabia News Service Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. A COURT challenge to the renewal of the Berlin D2 bars licence for flouting of coronavirus restrictions has been delayed again. Gardai initiated the proceedings after footage emerged in August of non-compliance with covid-19 social distancing rules. A video clip was shared on social media of patrons in the popular venue on Dame Lane in Dublin city-centre. A masked staff member danced on the bar as he poured shots into dancing customers mouths during the controversial bar brunch event. The event was advertised as A Very Boozy Baked Brunch With Your Buds, The footage went viral online. The bars manager, businessman Jay Bourke, described it as 20 seconds of madness when he commented to the media. The restaurateur told RTE's Morning Ireland: "That footage does not reflect what went on that day at all." However, gardai have formally objected to the bar retaining its licence in an application. In September, the case came to court but was adjourned until Oct. 28 for the hearing of the action. However, as a result of the reintroduced level-5 coronavirus restrictions that month civil matters in the district court in Dublin were adjourned generally. The licence objection has been given a new date and was expected to go ahead yesterday/today (wed) instead. However, the latest round of covid restrictions has again resulted in the district court civil matters being adjourned. A new date has yet to bet. The objection has been brought by Garda Inspector John Finucane from Pearse Street station. Earlier, barrister Dorothy Collins confirmed it was related to the Berlin D2 bar, operated by her client Trillium Leisure Ltd. The objection was, on the basis of non-compliance with covid regulations, the court was told. The court has already ordered direct disclosure of full statements in relation to the various alleged breaches of the regulations. Las Cuatro Milpas The Order: Shredded Pork Tacos Or any tacos, really. The key are those tortillas, made in-house and then fried right in front of you, topped with basic shredded lettuce and Cotija cheese. If red, chile-stained grease runs down your arm, you have done it right. 1857 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan; 619-234-4460 The Order: Filet Mignon Taco Puestos signature magic is a layer of crispy, melted, griddled cheese that covers the whole tortilla. This taco adds slices of mid-rare fillet, avocado, and a spicy pistachio-serrano salsa. 1026 Wall Street, La Jolla; 5010 Mission Center Road, Mission Valley The Order: Adobada Taco Originated in Tijuana in 1972 and imported to Chula Vista in 1998, their adobada is legend and should be obeyed. Chile-marinated pork is shaved from huge tromposvertical spits that slowly turn the meat, roasting and basting it so it cooks evenly and never dries out. 556 Broadway, Chula Vista; 689 H Street, Chula Vista; 3265 Palm Avenue, Imperial Beach The Barbacoa King of San Diego Why Francisco Perez gave up engineering to create his famous little taco shop, Aqui Es Texcoco The Order: Lamb Barbacoa Taco Pilots flying into Otay Mesas airport will radio to order pounds of this barbacoa, cooked in the style of Texcocoa famed barbecue town outside of Mexico City. The meat is rubbed with chiles, covered with maguey and avocado leaves, and slow-cooked for eight hours. 520 Broadway, Chula Vista The Order: Quesataco Extremo On weekends, their parking lot in Nestor becomes a congregation of locals waiting for the famed birria (long, slow-simmered beef). The Quesataco Extremo is a tortilla griddled with birria consomme and topped with melted cheese and the meat thats been crisped and browned on the griddle. 2265 Flower Avenue, Nestor The Order: Bone Marrow Taco This taco now has many imitators across Southern California and the USa street taco with a slow-roasted bone lording atop. Use the stick to spoon the marrow, and sip a side cup of chef-owner Priscilla Curiels birria consomme. 143 West San Ysidro Boulevard, San Ysidro Mariscos & Birria el Prieto The Order: Birria Taco My favorite birria from a citywide search last year. Put that tender, slow-stewed meat in a hot tortilla with the holy taco trinity (onion, cilantro, lime), plus some salsa and guacamole? A great reason to eat in the parking lot outside an auto mechanic. 3031 Main Street, Chula Vista; 619-495-524 The Order: Garlic Shrimp Taco TJ Oyster Bar started in a cubbyhole in a Bonita strip mall and now there are two (the others in a bigger strip mall next door). Their garlic shrimp is the little black dress of tacosa classic, with sauteed shrimp, crema, onions, cilantro, and lime. Also order those smoked tuna fries. 4246 Bonita Road, Bonita; 4410 Bonita Road, Bonita; 601 East Palomar Street, Chula Vista The Order: Baja-Style Fish Taco Chef Drew Bent gets calls from local fishermen as they pull into the harbor, and whatever theyve caught goes into this taco. Its sushi-grade fish in a fried fish taco, he saysbeer battered, Sinaloa style, and then topped with a chorizo-tomato vinaigrette, pickled jalapeno remoulade, pickled serranos, and opal basil. 1290 F Street, East Village The Order: Mushroom Taco Im allergic to mushrooms and its still my favorite, says chef Christine Rivera. The meatless special has sauteed mushrooms with spicy tomato sauce, crispy Jack cheese, salsa verde, queso fresco, and hoja santaall on their obsessively fresh, from-scratch blue corn tortilla. 2259 Avenida de la Playa, La Jolla The Order: Veracruz Mahi Taco One of the tacos that launched it all, with grilled mahi mahi under sauteed tomatoes, olives, capers, garlic, and chives in a white wine sauce, asadero cheese, and a lime aioli. Also try the chile relleno taco. Six locations The Order: Barrio Taco Its something traditional youd get from your grandmother on a Sunday, says owner Ernie Becerra. It starts with tender, slow-stewed beef guisado, tossed with sauteed bell peppers and potatoes, grilled nopales, and a touch of sour cream. 2196 Logan Avenue, Barrio Logan The Order: Al Pastor This is the one that made us take off, says owner Julian Hakimmarinated pork cooked on a rotisserie, topped with onions, pineapple, and a cilantro sauce. 621 Pearl Street, La Jolla; 3000 Upas Street, North Park; 645 B Street, Downtown SBI Investment, Sony Innovation Fund by IGV and existing investors back Token to unlock new value in open banking digital payments Leading open banking payments platform, Token, today announces $15m in Series B financing, welcoming investment from SBI Investment Co. Ltd. and Sony Innovation Fund by IGV as well as from existing investors Octopus Ventures, EQT Ventures and the venture arm of BNP Paribas, Opera Tech Ventures. The capital enables Token to continue driving the shift from traditional payment methods to account-to-account payments by providing the fastest and simplest path to adoption for large merchants, PSPs and banking-as-a-service platforms. Founded in 2016, Token quickly established the lead in UK open banking payments. Token was one of the first UK companies to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a payment initiation and account information service provider. In 2018, the company made history by becoming the first payment initiation service provider to conduct an end-to-end payment through a PSD2-compliant bank API. Today, Token continues to build out its stack of open payment and data services, which are already powering a range of corporate and consumer use-cases, lowering the cost of digital payments across Europe and delivering unrivalled breadth of API connectivity. Inaugural open payment use-cases include funding an account, paying-off a credit card, paying a utility bill and other one-off payments. Complimentary open data use-cases include accounting package integration, credit risk analysis and cash flow management, plus a host of additional use-cases which leverage value-added functionality, are already starting to emerge. "The market's appetite for open payments accelerated dramatically last year as more merchants and payment providers have tuned into the cost and efficiency gains that they offer," comments Todd Clyde, CEO, Token. "Token's payment volumes have more than doubled every month since March and our platform is now processing live transactions through PSD2 APIs from over 600 banks in 14 countries across Europe. This Series B investment reconfirms Token's leadership in the open payments space and will ensure our platform development continues at pace." Yoshitaka Kitao, Director Chairman of SBI Investment, comments: "The combination of Token's unrivalled bank connectivity and depth in payment services clearly marks the company out as a market leader. We believe it has continued to outperform the competition throughout the year and has a clear roadmap for development in 2021. We're very excited to be part of Token's mission to equip the key players in the payments market with open payments capabilities." Gen Tsuchikawa, CEO and Chief Investment Manager for Sony Innovation Fund (SIF) and Chief Investment Officer for Innovation Growth Ventures (IGV), said: "Through our Innovation Growth Fund we invest in companies that develop innovative and scalable technologies for the world's new and emerging ecosystems. Token offers a credible alternative to card and wallet payments while helping merchants, PSPs and banks offer streamlined UX's that deliver better payment experiences for customers. This investment adds to our growing FinTech portfolio that we've been steadily building, and we look forward to working with the Token team in 2021 and beyond." Token's customers include BNP Paribas, and HSBC which recently launched its fast and secure alternative to online payments, HSBC Open Payments. Other recent announcements include the European PSP Contis, the Banking-as-a-Service provider OpenPayd, the popular Italian messaging app UpCo, and personal finance management tool Money Dashboard. -ENDS- About Token Token is an open banking payments platform driving the shift from traditional payment methods to bank payments with best-in-class, Pan-European bank connectivity, data and compliance capabilities. With Token's complete toolkit, merchants, PSPs and banks create new capabilities and revenue streams through our broadest, Pan-European connectivity to over 3,000 banks. Token is both bank and developer-friendly, and multi-standard by design. Token Pay offers the simplest way to bypass traditional methods and accept faster, lower cost bank payments. Token Pay provides secure, unified access to banks in Europe to initiate real-time account-to-account payments straight from apps and websites. All from a single interface. Token has offices in London, San Francisco and Berlin. Token.io Limited is authorised as an AISP and PISP by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Token GmbH is in the final stages of coordination with the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) to receive its license in Germany. For further information, please consult: www.token.io or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About SBI Investment SBI Investment is one of Japan's leading venture capital firms, focusing on the creation and cultivation of key industries for the 21st century. SBI's investment portfolio has expanded to include core technologies such as 5G, IoT, big data and now open payments. About Sony Innovation Fund by IGV Sony Innovation Fund by Innovation Growth Ventures (IGV) is a venture capital fund established in 2019 by Sony Corporation, Daiwa Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. and external limited partners. As one of Sony Group's venture investment programs, IGV invests in mid to late-stage startup companies across Japan, the U.S., Europe, Israel and India. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005393/en/ Contacts: Press contact: Beckie Richardson beckie@iseepr.co.uk +44 7376 659 710 Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Scientists have for the first time ascertain how glaciers in Greenland's fjords are affected by heating coastal waters. This work was carried out by scientists at the University of California, Irvine, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For the past five years, scientists have been working with the help and support of the Oceans Melting Greenland Mission. The OMG Mission The OMG mission as it is shortly called is a mission by NASA which aims to understand the connection between the loss of ice in green land and the warming ocean. To do this, data has been collected from 2015 to date to analyze the situation. The green land ice sheet occupies almost 80% of Greenland. The ice in Greenland is three kilometers thick and is replaced by compressed snow from snow fall. Antarctica has the largest ice sheet in the world, and that of Greenland closely follows behind. For this research, aircraft and ships were used to monitor two hundred and twenty-six glaciers in the different parts of the largest islands on earth. From the survey, they discovered seventy-four glaciers in different valleys, which accounted for almost all the ice lost in Greenland from 1992 and 2017. ALSO READ - Antarctic Ice Caps Formed 33.6 Million Years Back: Researchers Say What is Affecting The Glaciers? The glaciers were being affected by a process known as 'undercutting'. This is a process where salty and warm water located below the canyon melts. As a result of this, the ice breaks fast. The researchers found that glaciers at the bottom of the gullies were hardly undercut. The total ice loss from this group of glaciers was only 15%. Micheal Wood, the post-doctorate researcher, and lead author mentioned that he was surprised by how lopsided the glaciers were. He noted that the largest glaciers are more sensitive to warming waters and they were the main cause of Greenland's ice loss. Micheal Wood has been a part of this research since he was a doctoral student at UCI. Deep fjords allow the penetration of warmer water than the depthless ones, this increases undercutting of Greenland's glaciers. The Sheet is Shrinking Broken ice is floating into the ocean, and the ice sheet hasn't been balanced since the 1990s. Glaciers extending into the sea are being returned to land, this is because the rate of melting and calving has been increased. Due to these factors, the sheet is shrinking. During the summer, the increase in temperature contributes to the multiplication of saltwater on the floor of the fjords. This heats the top of the glaciers and pools of meltwater are created. This liquid passes through the broken part of the ice, forming a body of water that flows back to the sea. At the sea, it circles back and combines with salty water at the bottom of the fjords. This study brings to light why the glaciers were badly affected by similar warming that occurred between 1998 and 2007. During that time the temperature of the ocean increased by almost 2%. The warming stopped at around 2008 to about 10 years later but by then the level of undercutting has already affected the glaciers grossly. The temperature is predicted to rise in the future but this discovery shows that the level of ice loss in the glacier is likely to be underestimated if undercutting is not accounted for. RELATED ARTICLE - Major Antarctic Ice Shelf May Disappear By 2020 For more news, updates about oceans and similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News! .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... Copyright 2021 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The city hit a home run when it comes to the distribution of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act funds intended for the citys neediest residents, one city official told reporters Monday. We kind of knocked it out of the park, Community Health and Safety Director Kyra Ochoa said. We did actually prevent people from being evicted. We did actually put food on peoples tables. The city received more than $17 million in September, the largest amount awarded to any small government in New Mexico that applied for CARES Act funding, after stating it would put money toward helping residents navigate a world in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Nearly $5 million went to housing, food and other financial assistance for Santa Fes struggling families, many of whom had lost work during the pandemic. Ochoa said $800,000 was spent on housing alone, with another almost $288,000 going to food. Almost half of all aid went to those living in the 87507 ZIP code, which encompasses some of Santa Fes most economically impoverished areas. A large percentage of recipients also identified as Hispanic and female. The city also helped distribute more than $3 million to 168 local businesses and nonprofit organizations, which received an average of $21,000 each. In one of its largest expenditures, the city used $2 million to purchase a motel, formerly the Santa Fe suites, that it used to house homeless individuals during the pandemic. Ochoa said the site is now open and currently home to 13 people. Santa Fes CARES Act application noted the toll the pandemic had on city finances, creating a budget deficit estimated at around $82 million. The largest allocation, around 42%, of CARES Act funds went to payroll for public safety employees, which include the citys police officers, firefighters and paramedics, with another $1 million covering paid sick leave for city employees due to COVID-19. Mayor Alan Webber, though, pointed out that the city is still in need of future financial assistance, especially with a more complete distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine still months away. We are far from out of the woods in terms of helping families, individuals and small businesses, he said. He said hes more optimistic about receiving aid now that President Joe Biden has taken office. Pakistan Maritime Security Agency rescues 16 fishermen from Karachi near Ormara January 27,2021 | Source: The News International The Pakistan Maritime Security Agency saved 16 fishermen who were stranded at the open sea on Tuesday. According to a PMSA spokesperson, a boat from Karachi was stranded after the failure of its engine near Ormara. A fast response boat, which was patrolling the sea, received a distress call from the worried fishermen. The patrolling boat spotted the stranded small vessel and saved all the 16 men. Maritime security personnel provided food and medical aid to the fishermen, and towed their boat to the Ormara harbour. Theme(s): Others. Gurugram, Jan 27 : In view of the violence witnessed in Delhi during a farmers' tractor parade on Republic day, Gurugram Police was on high alert on Wednesday. The district police said security arrangements have been increased and special instructions given to officials to keep a wary eye on suspicious elements. Gurugram Police chief KK Rao directed senior and subordinate police officials to ensure that law and order was not disrupted at any cost in the district. According to official sources, authorities have already suspended Internet services in Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal districts till 5 pm on Wednesday to prevent the spread of misinformation. Internet services in Gurugram were affected since Tuesday afternoon. Assistant Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police will continue to patrol their respective areas on rotational basis, police said. "Policemen have been deployed in uniform and plainclothes in all crowded areas, including Sadar Bazaar. The police strength has been increased around Metro and railway stations, bus stands, crowded places and the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) and areas bordering Delhi to ensure law and order," Rao said. Meanwhile, traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway near the NSG campus resumed on Tuesday night. Earlier, it was blocked by Gurugram police in view of the farmers' tractor rally scheduled from the Haryana-Rajasthan border via Masani barrage and Dharuhera in Rewari to Gurugram. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Shoes, a ball and a hat caught on a three layered barbed-wire fence at the Fylakio reception and identification centre near the Greek-Turkish border. UNHCR/Achilleas Zavallis Alarmed at the increasing frequency of expulsions and pushbacks of refugees and asylum-seekers at Europes land and sea borders, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is calling for states to investigate and halt these practices. UNHCR has received a continuous stream of reports of some European states restricting access to asylum, returning people after they have reached territory or territorial waters, and using violence against them at borders, said UNHCRs Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs. The pushbacks are carried out in a violent and apparently systematic way. Boats carrying refugees are being towed back. People are being rounded-up after they land and then pushed back to sea. Many have reported violence and abuse by state forces. People arriving by land are also being informally detained and forcibly returned to neighboring countries without any consideration of their international protection needs. The 1951 Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law require states to protect the right of people to seek asylum and protection from refoulement, even if they enter irregularly. Authorities cannot automatically deny entry to or return people without undertaking an individual assessment of those in need of protection. Respecting human lives and refugee rights is not a choice, its a legal and moral obligation. While countries have the legitimate right to manage their borders in accordance with international law, they must also respect human rights. Pushbacks are simply illegal. said Triggs. The right to seek asylum is a fundamental human right. The COVID-19 pandemic provides no exception; it is possible to protect against the pandemic and to ensure access to fair and speedy asylum processes. UNHCR has made its concerns clear to European states. The refugee agency calls for urgent inquiries into alleged violations and mistreatment based on credible testimonies that are corroborated by non-governmental organizations, media and open-source reporting. We advocate for national independent monitoring mechanisms to be set up to ensure access to asylum, to prevent rights violations at borders, and to ensure accountability. Independent monitoring is also proposed by the EU Pact and we urge EU Member States to support this, said Triggs. Numbers of arrivals to the EU continue to decrease each year. The numbers of those arriving by sea and land in 2020 (95,000) decreased by 23 per cent when compared with 2019 (123,700 individuals) and by 33 per cent when compared with 2018 (141,500). With so few arrivals to Europe, this should be a manageable situation. It is regrettable that the issue of asylum remains politicized and divisive despite such declining numbers. UNHCR recognizes that some states carry a disproportionate responsibility in hosting new arrivals. UNHCR calls on other European States and the EU to demonstrate solidarity by supporting them. UNHCR also calls on European countries to uphold their existing commitments to refugee protection by admitting asylum-seekers at their borders, rescuing them at sea and allowing disembarkation and registering and supporting new asylum seekers. UNHCR stands ready to assist states in meeting these international asylum obligations. For more information on this topic, please contact: Assay results from the 5 metre RC grid drilling on the western side of the Trudi Main project have returned high grade gold results. Five holes were drilled to test the mineralized zone discovered in 2019 on what was interpreted to be the offset position of the Trudi Vein 150 metres east of the main Trudi deposit. ( ) has discovered a new high-grade gold zone at the Mount Remarkable project in Western Australia, following the return of 6 metres at 5.25 g/t gold including 1 metre at 30.1 g/t from the 2020 reverse circulation drilling program. The program was undertaken at the western side of the main Trudi metre grid, with significant results having been returned from exploration drilling at Trudi Offset (150 metres east of the main Trudi zone) and at Jeniffer North. A total of 33 holes for 2,310 metres were drilled late last year with assays pending for 11 holes. Planned exploration Follow up RC drilling will be designed once all the results have been returned. Exploration drilling will focus on the main Trudi vein with a plan to commenced testing the known strike extent of the Trudi vein, to the west and to the east, with even spaced fence drilling (at this stage to a maximum depth of 100 metres). Due to the tight nature of mineralization halos around the high-grade zones it will be important to follow up on any significant gold indications with closer spaced drilling programs. Long projection looking north showing the new mineralised zone as well as 2020 holes as red dots Reconnaissance exploration Reconnaissance exploration is planned to start as early as possible this dry season (starts in May) across KRRs extensive tenement holdings in the region. This will allow follow up exploration and drilling of any new discoveries/targets as the year progresses. Fertile high-grade epithermal system Chairman Anthony Barton said: These new gold results confirm that we are dealing with a fertile high grade epithermal gold system. The geological nature of this style of deposit often shows repetition very high-grade zones staggered along a known mineralised fault zone. With our better understanding of the geology, King River Resources will now be planning on a more systematic RC drilling approach along strike in both the new west and east offset directions along the Trudi zone. Geology The Mt Remarkable tenements cover the prospective Whitewater volcanic rocks that extend 200 kilometres along a NE-SW strike south of the Speewah Dome. High grade gold mineralisation at the Mt Remarkable Project is hosted by the Whitewater rock unit, a Proterozoic stratigraphic horizon that is older than the Speewah Project rocks. This horizon extends from the Hunter Project (held by WA Mining Resources), where historic high-grade gold values of up to 50.65g/t have been returned from epithermal quartz veins, through to KRRs Mt Remarkable Project and continues to the South West hosting both the Tunganary and Middle Branch Bore gold prospects within anticlinal fold structures. Past exploration along this prospective trend and between these high-grade gold exploration projects has been sparse providing excellent opportunity for additional high-grade gold discoveries within the Whitewater unit. Axios The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes necessary to advance a bill creating a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, voting 54-35 as Republicans invoked the first legislative filibuster of the Biden presidency.Why it matters: Democrats argue the commission is urgently needed to investigate one of the darkest days in U.S. history. Republicans fear the commission could be weaponized to damage them politically ahead of the 2022 midterms. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.Zoom in: The six Republicans who voted in favor of the commission were Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (Utah), and Ben Sasse (Neb.).A spokesperson for Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said he missed the vote because he had a "family commitment," but would have voted in favor of advancing the legislation.Toomey was one of 11 senators who missed the vote, including Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Richard Shelby (R-Alal.), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).What they're saying: "I am sorry if an independent commission to study an attack on our democracy isn't a Republican ad-makers idea of a good time. This is too important," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor on Thursday.Schumer asked Republicans in a speech on Friday, moments before the vote: "What are you afraid of, the truth? Are you afraid that Donald Trumps Big Lie will be dispelled?""The Department of Justice is deep into a massive criminal investigation," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) countered. "I do not believe the additional, extraneous 'commission' that Democratic leaders want would uncover crucial new facts or promote healing. Frankly, I do not believe it is even designed to."Behind the scenes: Republicans have privately said that a 9/11-style commission would be a political mess for the GOP and could jeopardize Senate seats next year, Axios' Alayna Treene reports.Former President Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the GOP, has condemned the proposed commission as "partisan" and demanded investigations into left-wing political violence during racial-justice protests last year.Ahead of the vote, the mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick met privately with Republicans to urge them to vote for the bill. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who has sought to downplay the severity of the Capitol attack, said he "respectfully disagreed" with her on the "added value of the proposed commission."Catch up quick: 35 Republicans supported the bill passed in the House, which was negotiated between the top Democrat and Republican on the Homeland Security Committee.Murkowski, Romney and Collins were the only GOP senators to publicly say they would vote for the commission prior to Friday though Collins said she wanted to see changes to the House bill.Murkowski blasted McConnell on Friday for refusing to back the commission, accusing the leader of her party of putting "short-term political gain" over finding out the truth about the deadly insurrection.Cassidy said in a statement after voting in favor of advancing the bill: "The investigations will happen with or without Republicans. To ensure the investigations are fair, impartial, and focused on the facts, Republicans need to be involved."Moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) who publicly oppose eliminating the filibuster had pushed Senate Republicans to "find a path forward" on the commission so "our nation never has to endure an attack at the hands of our countrymen again." Manchin said on Thursday that he would not be willing to "destroy our government" by getting rid of the filibuster if Republicans blocked the commission, but added: "You have to have faith there's ten good people."What to watch: House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) previously told reporters that Democrats would likely pursue a select committee if the bill fell short in the Senate. Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free. Karnataka: Fishermen in Dakshina Kannada hit by poor supply of kerosene January 27,2021 | Source: Deccan Herald Dakshina Kannada District Gillnet Fishermen Association has urged the Central and state governments to release the quota of subsidised kerosene every month without any delay. The pending 300 litres of kerosene per permit should be released at the earliest. "The shortage of supply of subsidised kerosenes have been affecting the fishing activities carried out the kerosene only for nine months and that too irregularly. In the month of October, around 500 permit holders did not get the kerosene. While no kerosene was supplied in the month of December. Owing to the non-availability of kerosene, the fishing boats could not venture into fishing, thus affecting the livelihood of thousands of fishermen engaged in it," he said. Stating that the district has 1,322 traditional boats using kerosene for its outboard engines, Hassan said the outboard engines were designed for the use of kerosene. The use of gas in these engines does not function properly. A total of 30,000 to 50,000 fishermen are dependent on subsidised kerosene for carrying out fishing in the coastal districts. Association Working President Subhash Kanchan said, ''We have to wait in a long queue to collect subsidised kerosene at the bunk, at 2 am. We require 35 litres to 105 litres of kerosene for one trip of fishing boat per day. Though the government order states that 215 litres of subsidised kerosenes will be supplied to the fishermen per month, it has not been fulfilled so far. The non-availability of kerosene in the open market has put us in hardship. There are 4,514 permits for kerosene boats in Karnataka. The kerosene should be supplied by 10th of every month. There is a need to find a permanent solution to the problem of shortage of supply of subsidised kerosene every month. The demand in 2020 was 7020 KL kerosene. However, the state government has procured only 6775 KL kerosene from the Centre. He urged the fisheries department officials to create awareness on various facilities for the fishermen from the government. At least 400 litres of subsidised kerosene per month should be supplied for the fishermen, he demanded Netflix has shared that its mega-popular period drama Bridgerton is officially its most-watched original series. The streaming service originally projected that 63 million accounts would tune into the Shonda Rhimes-produced show over its first 28 days of being out in the world. Turns out, Netflix says that actually, 82 million member accounts have viewed the show in that time span (the company counts a "view" as someone watching at least two minutes of a series or film). Bridgerton has now surpassed the last record-breaking programme on Netflix, with The Witcher having amassed 76 million views in its first 28 days after release. According to The Hollywood Reporter, initial projections were off because the series' immense popularity had surpassed even Netflix's expectations. The all-time high for any Netflix original, per its reports, is for the action movie Extraction, which earned 99 million member account views within the first 28 days of release. During a visit to Tamron Hall's talk show on Monday (25 January), Bridgerton author Julia Quinn revealed that Shonda Rhimes became interested in adapting her books for TV after "stumbling upon them while on holiday. The way I understand it, Shonda ran out of books to read on vacation and somehow stumbled on one of mine, Quinn said. Its crazy to think that my life is forever changed because Shonda didn't bring enough reading material on vacation, but thats honestly what happened. In a December interview with Oprah Magazine, Quinn revealed that she wasn't even thinking about optioning the books for TV when she heard that Rhimes was interested. It was really out of nowhere, she said. I would talk to people later and theyd ask, How did you sell your books to Hollywood? I would say, I didnt. They just came to me. Nobody in Hollywood was adapting books like this, so it didnt even occur to me to try to sell them. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) - You don't have to change your number anymore even if you switch to another mobile service provider beginning Sept. 30. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said telco companies committed to fully implement by then the Republic Act No. 11202 or the Mobile Number Portability Act. NTC Deputy Director Engr. Edgardo Cabarios told in a Senate hearing Wednesday that the measure's commercial launch was supposed to be within the first three months of 2021. The coronavirus pandemic, however, delayed all their plans. Telco giants Smart, Globe, and new player DITO earlier agreed to implement the porting platform. The firms formed a consortium called Telecommunications Connectivity, which will conduct an interoperability testing by June. Under the act, you only have to send a so-called porting application if you want to switch to another provider. This means you can still retain your number for free. The measure also applies if you're switching from prepaid to postpaid and vice versa. Telcos also can't lock-in mobile devices to their own network. I know that I am not the only parent who has asked themselves if they are giving their child what they need during this pandemic. To not only A Napa County man was charged Tuesday with violations of federal weapons laws after investigators discovered a trove of pipe bombs and firearms at his home and business. Ian Benjamin Rogers, 44, was found in possession of five pipe bombs, 49 firearms, and two dozen ammunition boxes containing thousands of rounds, according to an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent Stephanie Minor. Investigators also found materials "that could be used to manufacture explosive devices" and a copy of "The Anarchist Cookbook." Minor's affidavit stated that she is assigned to the Domestic Terrorism Squad of the FBI's San Francisco Field Office. "Several of the firearms, including what appears to be a kit-built replica MG-42 belt-fed machine gun, appear to be capable of firing fully automatic," according to the allegations in the affidavit. Investigators recovered text messages from Rogers' phone that allegedly reflect his belief that "Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential election and [Rogers'] intent to attack Democrats and places associated with Democrats in an effort to ensure Trump remained in office." The affidavit alleged that Rogers displayed a decal on his website proclaiming his membership in a group referred to as "Three Percenters." Minor said the term is associated with "people who ascribe to extreme anti-government, pro-gun beliefs ... a reference to the belief that only three percent of American colonists fought against the British in the American Revolution." The affidavit contained a photo of a so-called "White Privilege Card" found by investigators that stated "Trumps Everything." The cardholder's name is shown to be "Scott Free." The affidavit quoted Jan. 10 text messages recovered from Rogers' phone in which he allegedly texted, "I hope 45 goes to war if he doesn't I will," "I want to blow up a democrat building bad," and "The democrats need to pay." Minor stated that based on her investigation and training, those texts and others evidenced "Rogers' belief that Trump ("45") actually won the presidential election and should 'go to war' to ensure he remained in power." She believes that the messages show "Rogers' intent to engage in acts of violence himself locally if there was not an organized 'war' to prevent Joe Biden from assuming the presidency." Citing texts that refer to a "sac office first target" and to "bird and face," the agent alleged that Rogers meant "their first target should be the offices of California Governor Gavin Newsom in Sacramento" and that the offices of Twitter ("bird") and Facebook ("face") would be next because they locked Trump's accounts to prevent him from sending messages on those platforms. The affidavit reports that a bomb technician associated with the Napa County Sheriff's Office examined the seized pipe bombs and preliminarily determined them to be "fully operational". Rogers was arrested Jan. 15 and according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco, he is being "held in state custody in lieu of a $5 million bail as he awaits a preliminary hearing." The weapons offenses carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, according to the federal complaint. Copyright 2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 In a sweeping move to drastically change the Camden School District, Superintendent Katrina McCombs on Tuesday announced a plan to close four schools, affecting about 1,200 students and leaving one neighborhood without a traditional public school. The highly anticipated announcement sent shock waves in the state-run district that was once the largest in South Jersey. McCombs cited as causes for the decision declining enrollment and a projected $40 million budget deficit for the next school year because the district is not getting as much money from the state as it had budgeted. This is a painful, painful process for our community, McCombs said in an interview. These closures will help us get to a place of better fiscal sustainability. McCombs said layoffs are likely, but it was not immediately known how many jobs would be cut. It would leave the citys Fairview neighborhood without a traditional public school. Camden currently has 19 schools that enroll 6,347 students. There will be layoffs that have to come, she said. A spokesperson said 150 positions could be eliminated or consolidated. McCombs said four schools would close at the end of the school year: Sharp Elementary, Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School, Cramer Elementary, and Yorkship Elementary in Fairview. Three of the schools are more than a century old and all need repairs, she said. Students who attend those schools would be guaranteed a spot in a traditional district school, McCombs said. Courtesy busing, typically provided for students who live two miles from their schools, also would be provided, she said. READ MORE: Camden may have to close some schools, Superintendent says Her plan would reconfigure grade levels and bring back middle schools. Students in Grades 6-8 would attend Davis School and Creative Arts High School, which would be converted into a middle school. Union leaders oppose the closings and have appealed to the state Department of Education to intervene. They blocked a move by McCombs in 2019 to close two schools. Closing schools is not the way out of a financial bind, said Camden Education Association president Keith Benson. I dont trust the financial scenario shes painting. McCombs defended the plan at a school board advisory virtual meeting Tuesday night and showed pictures of needed repairs. Board member Elton Custis opposed the closings. The nine-member board has no voting authority because of the state oversight; the decision rests with McCombs, subject to state approval. In an online chat, commenters largely expressed opposition to the closings. Some parents said they only learned about the closings when word began leaking Tuesday after McCombs met with school officials. Maria Funches said the district was more worried about trying to do away with public schools instead of making sure no child is left behind. Sue Cavallo Bowen wrote: Start putting students first! You are destroying our community during a pandemic. The closings included schools that were not included in two proposals presented by a planning committee. McCombs said she reviewed the recommendations and had to consider other factors. Under the latest plan, grade levels in schools would be reconfigured from the current K-through-8 and 9-to-12 model to K through 5; 6 to 8; and 9 to 12. McCombs said the change would reduce teacher vacancies and help the district better compete with charter and Renaissance schools. Camdens enrollment has dropped since a state takeover in 2013. The citys eight charter schools enroll 4,188 students, while 12 Renaissance schools have 5,449 students. Union leaders believe the district would drive more students from traditional public schools because some neighborhoods would be impacted. Traditional public schools are almost no longer a choice for parents, said Davida Coe-Brockington, president of the Camden City Principals and Administrators Association. Its an assault on traditional public education. READ MORE: Katrina McCombs appointed new Camden schools chief amid fiscal troubles In a statement, Mayor Frank Moran expressed support for the closing. He said taxpayers in the economically distressed city cannot help close a budget deficit. McCombs has said the state has advised the district it would not receive additional funding. Our students deserve a better learning environment, Moran said. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Taking cannabidiol, a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant, isn't an effective way to reduce your dependence on cocaine, researchers at the CHUM Research Centre find. In North America, close to 5.5 million people use cocaine regularly, and nearly one in five becomes addicted, developing cocaine use disorder, for which there is no clinical treatment. One solution has been touted, however: treatment with cannabidiol. Better known as CBD, it's a chemical in the cannabis sativa plant known for its protective effects on the brain and liver. But there is very little scientific evidence to support its use as a treatment for addiction. In fact, in a study published this month in the journal Addiction, a Canadian scientific team at the CHUM Research Centre (CRCHUM) shows that the therapeutic virtues of CBD are largely non-existent. As a way to help coke addicts kick the habit, CBD simply doesn't work, according to the scientists, led by Universite de Montreal psychiatry professor Didier Jutras-Aswad: it doesn't make addicts want cocaine less, nor does it reduce their risk of relapse into addiction. 78 addicts tested In a clinical trial, Jutras-Aswad and his team recruited 78 coke addicts, average age 46, most of them with severe cocaine use disorder, and randomly divided the participants into two groups: one receiving cannabidiol (800 mg per day), the other a placebo. Neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment was administered. Following 10 days in hospital to detox, the participants were sent home and for the next three months received weekly check-ups. "In our study, the use of CBD was not more effective than a placebo in treating cocaine use disorder," said Violaine Mongeau-Perusse, first author of the study and a Ph.D. student in the Jutras-Aswad's lab. "Although it is safe and produces only mild side effects, CBD reduces neither the craving to use cocaine nor the risk of a user's relapse after detoxification," she said. More studies needed Calling their results conclusive, the UdeM researchers hope their study will help orient medical guidelines on the therapeutic use of CBD, which has seen growing popularity in Canada and elsewhere in the world. There are over 19 million cocaine users globally, according to recent estimates. Other studies will be needed to continue to sort out the conditions under which CBD may be helpful or not, said Mongeau-Perusse, but for now the evidence is in: if you want to beat your coke habit, cannabis isn't a good choice. Explore further Novel anti-craving mechanism discovered to treat cocaine relapse More information: Violaine MongeauPerusse et al, Cannabidiol as a Treatment for Craving and Relapse in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder: a Randomized PlaceboControlled Trial, Addiction (2021). Journal information: Addiction Violaine MongeauPerusse et al, Cannabidiol as a Treatment for Craving and Relapse in Individuals with Cocaine Use Disorder: a Randomized PlaceboControlled Trial,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/add.15417 One evening this month as Ashley Klein got ready for bed and scrolled through Facebook, she came across a story about impeachment. She thought it was old news from 2019 that had somehow popped up, until she saw it was from earlier in the day. Then I Googled it and Im like: You have got to be kidding me. Really? This isnt happening, she said. The American people need so much and were going to spend millions on impeachment, again. For much of the American public and for the historical record, the second impeachment of former President Donald J. Trump represented a blistering censure from a coequal branch of government whose members lives had been imperiled days earlier by a mob of his supporters attacking the Capitol. But many of his defenders saw the second impeachment, a first for an American president, as something else: the culmination of years of unfair treatment by a Washington establishment that was always hostile to Mr. Trump and is now trying to end his political career once and for all. Republican senators voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday against trying him for incitement of insurrection, in a strong sign that the Senate did not have the votes to convict him; the impeachment trial and conviction vote is set to come in February. Pro-life group warns ERA being used as 'stealth missile' to insert abortion rights into Constitution Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment In its newly released report on The State of Abortion in the United States, a pro-life group has warned that Democrats and pro-abortion activists see the Equal Rights Amendment as a way to insert a right to abortion into the United States Constitution. Released Friday, the National Right to Life Committee's report contains an entire section warning that the pro-abortion movement hopes to use the Equal Rights Amendment as a "constitutional stealth missile" to "air-drop into the U.S. Constitution a provision that they believe, and pro-lifers fear, could be used to entrench and expand a constitutional 'right' to abortion." While the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment passed more than 40 years ago, pro-abortion activists are expected to insist that the amendment has already been ratified. The NRLC report features quotes from abortion advocacy groups indicating a desire to use the ERA as a method to invalidate all restrictions on abortion. According to a quote attributed to NARAL Pro-Choice America, "With its ratification, the ERA would reinforce the constitutional right to abortion by clarifying that the sexes have equal rights, which would require judges to strike down anti-abortion laws because they violate both the constitutional right to privacy and sexual equality." The Equal Rights Amendment, which both chambers of Congress approved in 1972, was packaged as a necessary measure to ensure women's equality under the law, but the push for the constitutional amendment faced considerable backlash from conservatives. "The ERA is a stealth missile with a legal warhead that could be used to attack any federal, state, or local law, that in any way limits abortion," warned Douglas D. Johnson, an NRLC senior policy adviser. "Pro-abortion advocates failed under the constitutional amendment process provided in Article V of the Constitution the ERA expired unratified over 40 years ago so now they are attempting to achieve their goal by brazenly political means, hoping to cow the courts into ignoring the flimsiness of their constitutional claims," he added. In accordance with Article V of the U.S. Constitution, Congress sent the proposed constitutional amendment to the states for ratification. Thirty-eight states had to ratify the ERA within seven years in order for it to take effect. By the 1979 ratification deadline, 35 states had ratified the ERA, leaving it three short of the three-fourths majority required to take effect. However, three additional states ratified the measure in the past three years, giving it the required number of states for ratification, albeit they were more than 40 years too late. Although 38 states have voted to ratify the ERA at some point, five of those states revoked their ratifications after the fact. According to the NRLC report, "the Biden-Harris administration is expected to assert that the ERA submitted to the states by Congress in 1972 with a seven-year ratification deadline has been ratified and is already part of the Constitution, or that Congress can make it so with a resolution passed by simple majority votes." NRLC's concerns come as Democrats, who almost unanimously sympathize with the pro-abortion movement, control both chambers of Congress and the presidency for the first time in a decade. "In an attempt to influence the courts, during 2021, the House of Representatives is likely to pass an unconstitutional resolution that, by simple majority vote, purports to remove the 1979 ratification deadline," the pro-life group warned. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives already passed such a measure last year, with the support of five Republicans, but it failed to become law because it was never brought up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. With Democrats in control of the Senate, a vote will likely take place in the upper chamber as well. The outcome of a Senate vote will likely depend on whether Democrats, who have a slim one-vote majority, are able to successfully abolish the legislative filibuster. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has spoken out against removing the filibuster, which requires most legislation to secure 60 votes to pass. Manchin's stated opposition to the filibuster has won him praise from the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, which has launched a campaign thanking him for "standing strong for life" and encouraging West Virginians to make sure that he "stands strong for their values." If the efforts to abolish the legislative filibuster are unsuccessful, all Democrats and 10 Republicans would have to support the resolution removing the ERA deadline in order for it to pass. Additionally, the report featured a quote from the Biden campaign's website, where he vowed to "proudly advocate for Congress to recognize that 3/4 of states have ratified the amendment and take action so our Constitution (includes ERA)." Anticipating that a vote to remove the ratification deadline for the ERA will take place, NRLC has written a letter to lawmakers explaining that "a vote in favor of the 'deadline repeal' measure will be accurately characterized as a vote intended to add language to the U.S. Constitution that both NARAL Pro-Choice America and National Right to Life say would likely be employed to invalidate laws protecting unborn children." NRLC has vowed to oppose any version of the ERA unless it includes an "abortion-neutralization" amendment clarifying that "Nothing in this article (the ERA) shall be construed to grant, secure, or deny any right relating to abortion or the funding thereof." The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a revered figure in the pro-abortion and feminist movements, acknowledged that the push to paint the 1970s effort to ratify the ERA as settled was not guided in sound legal principles: "There's too much controversy about latecomers Virginia, long after the deadline passed. Plus, a number of states have withdrawn their ratification. So, if you count a latecomer on the plus side, how can you disregard states that said, 'We've changed our minds?'" Rather than relitigating the 1970s effort to pass the ERA, Ginsburg suggested that ERA supporters "start over." Previous attempts to reintroduce the ERA and restart the ratification process have failed to gain traction in Congress. As the report explained, a lawsuit regarding the ERA is already before the federal judiciary. The attorneys general of Virginia, Illinois and Nevada, the three states that ratified the ERA decades after the deadline expired, are making the case that because Article V of the Constitution does not explicitly mention deadlines, the provision in the ERA requiring the amendment to be ratified within seven years violates the Constitution as do the recissions of ratifications that took place in five states. In addition to discussing the ERA's implications for the pro-life movement, the State of Abortion report included statistics taken from the Centers for Disease Control finding that the number of abortions rose slightly from 2017 to 2018 as well as information about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' records on the issue of abortion and a summary of state laws on abortion. The end of the document highlights the previous U.S. presidents' records on abortion policy and a list of relevant Supreme Court rulings on the issue. This story should be getting more coverage considering the threat of repeated random violence endangering the public. So far, here's the best summary of local crooks on the loose . . . Fox4: Police searching for suspects in multiple carjackings across KC metro Deets . . . On Dec. 29, the driver of a dark gray/black Dodge Challenger was carjacked near Oak Park Mall. Since then, police in multiple metro communities have investigated carjackings or attempted carjackings involving similar descriptions of the same suspect vehicle. Gladstone and Lees Summit police each report theyre working with other agencies involving carjackings committed by the driver and passenger of that stolen vehicle. Kansas City police were reported to also be involved. Each of those agencies became involved in the investigation Jan. 17 when drivers reported being approached by the passenger of a charcoal gray or black Dodge Challenger with a gun. Each of those victims was also driving the same make and model of vehicle. The crimes happened about an hour apart, nearly 40 miles from each other. Developing . . . Armenia National Security Service Reserve Officers' Union members meet with His Holiness Karekin II EU is ready to help Armenia and Azerbaijan with border delimitation and demarcation ARF-D member on Nikol Pashinyan: 103 years ago Armenia's founding fathers would have executed him for treason Iran President hails brotherly ties with Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan on years of his leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia Situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border is still tense, more on COVID-19 in Armenia, May 28 digest "Armenia" alliance of political parties paying tribute to founder of First Republic Aram Manukyan Yerevan.today: Armenia acting PM not greeted at ruling party's headquarters, citizens call him 'capitulator' Russia MOD reports on maintenance of ceasefire regime in Nagorno-Karabakh Armenia acting MOD meets with Russian counterpart in Moscow Armenia 2nd President: I see possibility of restoring borders of Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast We can provide our army with some key, modernized weapons, says Armenia ex-President Kocharyan Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: Captives issue is not one that any opposition force can resolve OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs release statement on detention of 6 Armenian servicemen by Azerbaijan Armenian acting Deputy PM: Discussion on issues possible only after withdrawal of Azeri troops from Armenia's territory Armenia acting PM on Syunik roads, Russian military posts: This is only place where there are working nuances Armenia acting PM: Process of return of POWs will intensify after upcoming elections Putin congratulates Aliyev on Republic Day Josep Borrell: A group of EU Ministers will visit Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan Armenia acting PM: We're not going to escalate situation for 30% of Sev Lake Armenia 3rd President visits Vanadzor, pays tribute to heroes of Battle of Gharakilisa (PHOTOS) Armenia ex-President Kocharyan lays flowers at Battle of Karakilisa memorial (PHOTOS) Armenia acting PM: Solution to captives issue is matter of time Shoygu to Harutyunyan: Russia, Armenia strengthen military cooperation Armenia acting premier: We are 100% honest toward our country Artsakh President pays tribute at Stepanakert memorial, Shushi Tank-Monument Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan on Meghri corridor plan: Not beneficial to us now to discuss it as "corridor" Acting PM: "Cement," "fittings" were stolen while constructing Armenia state "building" Two new cases of coronavirus reported in Artsakh Catholicos of All Armenians visits Sardarapat Memorial, again separate from state officials MOD dismisses Azerbaijan statement on Armenia army firing toward Nakhchivan Jerusalem Post: Israel prepares for a new war with Hamas France, UN World Food Programme partner to support displaced people in Armenia Armenia ex-President Kocharyan: Today we are not full-fledged negotiating party Norwegian prime minister opposes series of NATO reforms Armenia deputy FM briefs UN, Red Cross leaders on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Artsakh NATO Secretary-General: Afghans must take full responsibility for peace and stability in their country 104 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia acting premier: Our sovereignty, independence cannot be subject of discussion Karabakh state-finance minister announces resignation Artsakh MFA: Sardarapat victory has inspired all Armenians for over a century Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan: In contrast to kneeling, disgraceful authorities of the day, we have determination Armenia President: Today we stand on threshold of Sardarapat of morality, dignity Catholicos of All Armenians: Our people shall find strength to overcome this ordeal as well Armenia First Republic Day event is held under very modest conditions Newspaper: Armenia authorities claiming to be popular close off First Republic Day event to public Armenia ex-President Sargsyan: Now or never! Armenia President, then acting premier arrive at Sardarapat Memorial Newspaper: Armenia acting PM Pashinyan's new "cleverness?" France ambassador: I wish Armenia to be able to live its independence in peace, prosperity Bashar al-Assad wins Syria presidential election Reporters not allowed entering Sardarapat Memorial of Armenia US continues to face very serious problems in trade and economic relations with China Armenia 1st President: There is a risk of civil war Scenes of apprehension of Azerbaijani who attacked Armenian in Moscow disseminated on the Internet Germany, France, Netherlands urge tech giants to test start-up purchases Armenia 1st President: There has never been such rough dialogue between Armenian and Azeri leaders as there is now Armenia MOD: Azerbaijan military fired several shots at border area of Gegharkunik Province village California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development opening office in Yerevan US Department of State issues statement on detention of Armenian soldiers by Azerbaijani forces Armenia 1st President says Aliyev is certain that Pashinyan won't win elections and is trying to get all that he can UN calls for $ 95 million in aid to Palestinians Twitter is concerned about safety of its employees in India Artsakh hero: Impotent and perhaps also treacherous authorities of Armenia need to be removed from power immediately France MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to show maximum restraint Azerbaijani attacks Russia citizen of Armenian descent in Moscow Armenia acting MOD provides President with information about capture of Armenian servicemen Lithuania MFA urges Armenia and Azerbaijan to go to de-escalation of situation and pull out troops Russian Deputy FM, EU Special Representative discuss situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border Armenia acting FM resigns Acting Deputy FM: Armenia reserves itself the right to take necessary steps to protect its territorial integrity China speaks on dark history of US intelligence in connection with Biden's order Netanyahu slams hypocritical and deceitful moralizing statements of French FM Turkish authorities issues new arrest warrant for mafia after his scandalous revelations of Erdogan's entourage EU-Armenia Subcommittee on Justice, Freedom and Security holds 11th Meeting Armenia acting PM deletes statement on Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers "being intertwined" from Facebook post 6 Armenian soldiers captured: situation on Armenia-Azerbaijan border is tense, May 27 digest Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff deputy chief explains difficulties with settlement of border with Azerbaijan UN: Israeli forces may have committed war crimes during 11-day war with Hamas Nikol Pashinyan presents plan for resolving border situation Dollar gains value in Armenia Opposition party leader: Armenia Security Council to convene session with heads of parliamentary factions this evening His Holiness Karekin II receives newly appointed UK Ambassador to Armenia Greece and Turkey FMs to meet in Athens Armenia acting PM says he will present plan for peaceful solution to border situation very soon Armenia Parliament Speaker sends letters to counterparts of partnering legislatures Zarif: Iran welcomes willingness of leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to ease tension Armenia acting Deputy MOD on news about soldiers being ordered to not open fire ANCA calls on US Congress to block financing of Azerbaijani Armed Forces Armenia to allocate lands in Syunik Province to Russian border guards Armenia Armed Forces General Staff deputy chief: We can destroy all Azerbaijani soldiers who invaded territory Armenian advocates file lawsuit against Nikol Pashinyan Army general staff deputy chief: About 1,000 Azerbaijan soldiers are illegally in Armenia Army general staff: Armed forces can capture Azerbaijani soldiers who marched into Armenia Armenia legislature approves several amendments to laws Armenian opposition MP: Villages mentioned by ruling bloc's deputy are Armenia's buffer zone Armenia Gegharkunik Province villager to acting PM: Over 50% of our pastures are now under Azerbaijan control Armenia Kotayk Province has new governor Armenia parliament majority leader meets with US ambassador, discusses border situation NEWS.AM BREAKING: 6 Armenian soldiers are captured by Azerbaijan military in early morning GrabFood customers looking to add some variety to their daily meals, or who are catering to multiple tastebuds in a group, can now order food from several selected restaurants while paying only one delivery fee. This comes following the opening of Grabs first cloud kitchen dubbed GrabKitchen in Hartamas. Essentially, GrabKitchen operates like a co-working space for several participating restaurants, where they gather under one roof to cook. Customers will then be able to mix and match orders from these restaurants and pay only a single delivery fee, as opposed to multiple delivery fees previously charged for orders from restaurants at different locations. At present, Malaysias first GrabKitchen houses 11 brands, including Kenny Rogers Roasters, Salad Atelier, Tasty Chapathi, myBurgerLab, and Lim Fried Chicken. This mix-and-match method isnt exactly new to Grab, though. Prior to GrabKitchen, Grab had already been applying it to several other features and initiatives, such as Food Courts, Pasar, and e-Kitchen Bazar. The concept of GrabKitchen, too, had already been tried and tested throughout Southeast Asia, with 55 cloud kitchens in the region. The first GrabKitchen was introduced in Jakarta in 2018. Grab went on to explain that GrabKitchen is one of its continuous efforts to support participating businesses, allowing them to grow and expand more efficiently with lower capital costs. Not only is the GrabKitchen concept a unique and cost-efficient model for F&B operators, but they will also have ready access to our merchant support tools, strong delivery network, and wide customer base, said the managing director of Grab Malaysia, Sean Goh. Grab also reassured that its GrabKitchen will abide by all necessary health and safety protocols, such as requiring merchants and delivery partners to scan their MySejahtera app upon entering, having their temperatures checked, and always having their masks on. Additionally, the GrabKitchen is cleaned and sanitised daily. If youre ready to give GrabKitchen a try, look for the Mix & Match tile under GrabFood. You can also opt to pick up your orders yourself to fully waive the delivery fee. (Source: Grab) 5 1 vote Article Rating SHARE Editors Note: This story has been updated with comments from a state lawmaker. Dozens of staff have been suspended and a criminal investigation is underway at New Jerseys only womens prison after officers were accused of severely beating several women inmates earlier this month, according to state and union officials. Prisoners have told family members and advocates that at least three women at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility were hurt by officers Jan. 11, including one inmate who now has a broken eye socket and a transgender woman beaten so badly she cannot walk and is now in a wheelchair. The family members and advocates have shared letters and other first-hand accounts with NJ Advance Media. The corrections department is reviewing the alleged violence with the Hunterdon County Prosecutors office and the state attorney generals office, according to prison spokeswoman Liz Velez. The Department is fully aware of the allegations of use of force, and will not tolerate such behavior, Velez wrote in an email. If wrongdoing is found, the Department shall address it in an expeditious and appropriate manner. She added that the department may also run an internal investigation to take appropriate action to hold people accountable. Velez declined to comment further, but she did not dispute details in a summary of accounts from prisoners provided by NJ Advance Media, including that one woman was allegedly handcuffed before she was beaten, and that a Special Operations Group, which is similar to a SWAT team, was involved. About 30 officers, supervisors and other staff have since been put on administrative paid leave, according to William Sullivan, president of NJ PBA Local 105, the states largest corrections union. The womens prison was already under heightened scrutiny since the U.S. Department of Justice found that officers repeatedly sexually abused prisoners, and lawmakers have criticized the prison systems response. I am horrified by the allegations out of Edna Mahan and my heart breaks for the victims of this attack, Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez, D-Middlesex, said in a statement. The incident showed the department was still failing to protect women, she added. Lopez has previously called for all prison officers to wear body cameras and she helped pass legislation to strengthen the corrections ombudsman, an independent prison watchdog. She said the new allegations made her concerned that office was still not able to effectively police prisons. The ombudsman, Dan DiBenedetti, said the incident went beyond the day-to-day complaints his office normally reviews. This is a criminal investigation being conducted by law enforcements agencies, Dan DiBenedetti wrote in an email. This office provided all information received from inmates, families, and inmate advocate groups in order to aid in the investigation. A spokesman for the Hunterdon County Prosecutor directed questions to the state attorney generals office. An attorney general spokesman said their Office of Public Integrity and Accountability was looking into the accusations. One transgender woman was allegedly handcuffed in her cell, thrown to the floor and beaten by a group of officers and inmates, according to the womans mother, Trimeka Rollins. Three officers stomped on her head while four inmates hit her, Rollins said, based on messages she received from her daughter two days after the incident. The attack left the womans knee so damaged she is now in a wheelchair, according to a message to Rollins reviewed by NJ Advance Media. Im scared, Im scared to death for her, Rollins said. I dont sleep, I dont eat, Im on the phone, Im on the internet, Im trying to find her some help. She asked that her daughters name not be used to protect against retaliation. Her account is similar to descriptions from four other prisoners, including details in two letters obtained by NJ Advance Media. Both said at least three women were hurt, including one whose eye socket was fractured. Prisoner rights advocates have also received calls and letters during the last two weeks, and some have written lawmakers and state officials to raise the alarm. Each of you are guilty for not stopping the unconscionable conditions of confinement in this state which have gone on for decades with this being one of the most egregious, Bonnie Kerness, program director for the nonprofit American Friends Service Committees prison program, wrote in one message to Corrections Commissioner Marcus Hicks and a wide range of officials and lawmakers. The state attorney generals office asked anyone with information about the incident to call 1-844-OPIA-TIPS. Blake Nelson can be reached at bnelson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BCunninghamN. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. The first phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive kicked off in on Wednesday. According to the health officials, the has so far killed 2,017 people and infected 270,092 across the country. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli rolled out the programme while reading out the message of President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. A total of 430,000 frontline health workers, supporting staffers at health facilities, female community health volunteers, security personnel, sanitation workers, elderly people living in care homes and prisoners will be administered the vaccine shots in 65 districts across the country, said Nepal's Ministry of Health and Population. India has handed over one million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to under grant assistance in sync with its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Health Minister Hridesh Tripathi said that the first phase of immunisation camping will be completed within 10 days. However, the inoculation programme couldn't be rolled out in some distrcits which are yet to receive their consignment of the vaccines. Over 600 health workers have been trained to run the vaccination drive, while booths with the capacity to immunise 200 people have been set up at the immunisation centres. The number of people to be vaccinated is less than 1.5 per cent of the total population. Even after the first phase, around 70.5 per cent of the population will not be inoculated, the health ministry said. Public health experts feel that the rollout of the vaccination drive by prioritising the frontline workers in the first round is a positive step. As authorities concerned have already given up on all preventive measures, including testing, contact tracing, and strict enforcement of the safety measures, vaccination is only the way to curb the infection spread as well as possible fatalities, doctors said. Meanwhile, the government has said that it is committed to immunise 72 per cent of the total population. The vaccine cannot be administered to children under 14 years of age, who accounts 28 per cent of the population in the country. After the frontline workers, people above 55 years of age, people between 40 and 55 years of age and he remaining population will be administered the vaccine shots in the subsequent phases. --IANS str/sdr/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban remains on the agenda, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said following talks with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. "We both confirmed today that the meeting between our leaders - President Zelensky and Prime Minister Orban remains on the agenda, and we will work hard to make this meeting as productive as possible, and that this meeting will open a new page in bilateral relations based on the principle of mutual respect," Kuleba said at a press conference with Szijjarto in Kyiv on Wednesday. The chairman of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority board of directors is in sunny Arizona, at a time when the health system is in crisis and governments are pleading with the public to avoid international travel. The chairman of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority board of directors is in sunny Arizona, at a time when the health system is in crisis and governments are pleading with the public to avoid international travel. Reached by phone on Tuesday, Wayne McWhirter, a provincial government appointee, would not say how long he has been south of the border or why. The WRHA would only say that McWhirter left Winnipeg in January and has continued in his role with the board by working remotely. "He remains fully engaged in board activity, including attendance and leadership at all WRHA board meetings and board-related committee meetings. He also has regular, weekly contact with the WRHA CEO (Vickie Kaminski)," the organization said in a statement. WRHA board chair Wayne McWhirter is currently in Arizona. (WRHA website) The revelation of the board chair's travel came on the same day the Manitoba government announced it would amend public health orders to put formal restrictions on interprovincial travel to protect Manitobans from COVID-19 and to help stop the importation of possible virus variants from other jurisdictions. It also follows reports that a Progressive Conservative MLA travelled out of the province during the Christmas break and the province's chief bureaucrat worked from his Ottawa home for the final two weeks of 2020. At least one political staffer also travelled to Eastern Canada during the holidays. While the WRHA defended McWhirter in its statement, an individual with direct knowledge of the board's activities expressed outrage Tuesday over the chair's decision to travel south, calling it a serious lapse in judgment. "It was a complete surprise when it came out last week. My jaw dropped. Its fair to say I was appalled when I heard," the source told the Free Press. "It infuriated me beyond anything. Thats a major board involved in a major health crisis. To me, thats just breaking the rules. "The optics are horrendous. I dont think anyone should be pushing the limits and setting a bad example." Health Minister Heather Stefanson's office did not respond to a request for comment. NDP Leader Wab Kinew said nurses and other health workers are engaged in a heroic effort to care for patients during the pandemic, and it's insulting to them that someone who oversees the system they work in is shunning public health advice. "It seems like everybody in Manitoba got the memo not to travel except for Pallister's people: MLAs, staff, appointees to boards," he said. "This is a very, very important time in which people in leadership roles should be embodying, at the very least, what is being asked of others, if not more." McWhirter, a chartered professional accountant who held senior roles with MNP LLP (formerly Meyers Norris Penny), oversees a hospital system that has mandated nurses to work extra shifts and asked them to give up their Christmas vacation to keep the health system functioning. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union. Asked for comment Tuesday on the WRHA chair's travels, Manitoba Nurses Union president Darlene Jackson said it was disrespectful to nurses who have not had time to slow down and spend time with loved ones. Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said it is inappropriate for a senior health official to be out of the country during a time when the health system is under tremendous strain. "He's in a position of leadership. He should be leading by example and he should be following basic rules. Clearly he's not," Lamont said of McWhirter. A WRHA spokesman could not say Tuesday whether other members of the organization's board of directors had travelled outside the country recently. "Board members have no obligation to inform the WRHA of their whereabouts, and as such we have no knowledge of any current or planned travel plans for WRHA board members," the spokesman said. "No WRHA executives have travelled outside the province." he added. with files from Jason Bell larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, on Tuesday led a delegation of Members of Parliament (MPs) to pay their last respects to the late former President Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, whose mortal remains lay in state at the Accra International Conference Centre. The Leadership of the House and MPs, dressed in red and black, walked from Parliament to the Conference Centre to file past the body of former President Rawlings and to commiserate with the bereaved family. The MPs include Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, Minority Chief Whip, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, MP for Ellembelle, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuje, MP for Ablekuma South, and Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu. Earlier, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former President John Drama Mahama, and former John Agyekum Kufuor also paid their respects to the late President. Former President Rawlings passed away on Thursday, November 12, 2020 at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after a short illness. A special Requiem Mass was held on Sunday, January 24, at the Holy Spirit Cathedral for him, attended by very important dignitaries. The funeral service will take place at the Black Star Square in Accra on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Tech giants Google and Facebook have threatened to stop offering their services in Australia if a new code, that will force them to pay a fair share for the news content they currently use for free, goes ahead. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA) deplore the attempted blackmail by the companies and calls on the Australian government not to be influenced by threats. Google threatened on January 22, 2021 to block Australian users from accessing its search service unless the government changed proposed legislation to make the internet giant pay news outlets for their content. Credits: Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) code would require tech giants to pay news media for sharing their content. Under the proposal, digital companies like Google and Facebook would have three months to negotiate an agreement with the media. After that period, an independent body would impose a deal. In an unprecedented but not surprising move, Google announced on Friday 22 January that it will not continue operating in Australia if the government continues with its plans to make them pay a fair share to media for using their content. Google already started blocking some Australian news sites from search users as an "experiment" in a move to showcase its monopoly power. In September 2020, Facebook also threatened to ban users from sharing news on its platform if they were forced to pay for it. The legislation, which was introduced into the House of Representatives in December, comes amid a push by global governments to regulate the power of digital monopolies. Since it was released in July 2020, Google and Facebook have made endless efforts to avoid the precedent the code would set worldwide to force them to pay for news in search results. A critical code to save Australian journalism The crisis unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected Australian media and journalists, where hundreds of local and regional media have shut down because of a collapse in advertising revenues. According to the IFJs affiliate MEAA, the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the media economy, causing the suspension or permanent closure of more than 100 newspapers. This situation reveals how critical it is to find a solution for the survival of Australian journalism. While supporting steps to make the tech giants pay, the IFJ and MEAA have argued the new code must be oriented to help all media, including small local and regional media, and not just big media corporations. Marcus Strom, President of MEAA Media, said: For Facebook and Google to threaten to withdraw from the Australian market shows that they are more concerned with their monopoly profits protection racket than abiding by the democratic laws of sovereign nations. Civil society should determine how technology and information distribution operates, not the profit motives of global corporations. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: Google's and Facebook's attempted blackmail is deplorable and show how desperate they are to keep profiteering from journalists work all over the world. The Australian government must show determination to fix the imbalances between local media and tech giants and ignore these threats. Other governments must urgently to take steps to ensure the tech giants pay for content and are subject to fair taxation systems which can raise revenues to support independent journalism. [January 27, 2021] ZOLL Foundation Grants to Nearly 70 Recipients in Resuscitation and Critical Care Research Surpass $2.5 Million In the application round ended September 30, 2020, the ZOLL Foundation, established in 2014 to support young investigators through research grants in the fields of resuscitation and acute critical care, received 35 applications from across the United States, as well as Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The 15 selected applicants received grants totaling more than $464,000. Proposed research topics range from instant hemorrhage control, humanizing the intensive care unit, and treatment of brain injury after cardiac arrest, to use of machine algorithms to predict critical care outcomes, impaired organ repair after sepsis, and inhaled argon therapy after cardiac arrest. All titles are available at http://zollfoundation.org/projects.html. Ward Hamilton, President of the ZOLL Foundation, says, "With seven years now in operation, the ZOLL Foundation continues to gain recognition as an important fundin source in the resuscitation and acute critical care research worlds. We are unique in our support of young investigators, those who are in the early stages of their careers, who are often mentored by well-established leaders in their fields. We believe a grant to someone who is starting out in their research career can help to attract larger grants from other entities down the line." "We anticipate additional contributions this year and in the future from our two major sources of funding, Asahi Kasei and ZOLL Medical Corporation. Their generosity will add to our ability to make grants, as well as provide us with the ability to increase the grant size when an application justifies it," adds Hamilton. The application form for the upcoming March 31, 2021 deadline can be found at http://zollfoundation.org/apply.html. About the ZOLL Foundation The ZOLL Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that operates independently from ZOLL Medical Corporation. It provides grants that support research and educational methods designed to improve resuscitation practices, prevent patient deterioration associated with cardiac arrest, and enhance the care of acute patients to reduce mortality and morbidity. Its focus is on providing seed grants for new investigators starting on the path of resuscitation and acute critical care research. More information on the Foundation, grantees to date, and the grant application process can be found at www.zollfoundation.org. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005057/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The local bar has long been a third place to socialize. Not home, not work, its a place where everyone should be able to walk in as equals. But the crushing weight of the pandemic has taken its toll on neighborhood institutions across the Houston region, not only altering community hangouts, but driving their owners to extremes to hold on until the crisis passes. Bar owners have taken to driving trucks selling cocktails to-go, to opening outposts at farmers markets and tapping personal savings as they turn to an odd mix of new revenue streams as they scramble hold on. We are right now paying a disaster recovery loan with a disaster recovery loan, said Erik Bogle, co-owner of downtown bar Houston Watch Co., pointing to how hes paying for a loan they got to repair building damage from Hurricane Harvey with a COVID relief loan. He said he and his business partner have had to take on nearly as much debt as they did when they first opened the bar in 2015. On HoustonChronicle.com: Gov. Greg Abbott will reopen Texas bars. But in Houston, theyre already swinging. When the first shutdown hit, bar employment in the nine-county Houston metro area plummeted to 2,465 jobs in April from 7,761 in February, according to quarterly data provided by the Greater Houston Partnership, a nearly 70 percent decline. Employment at bars and restaurants in the Houston area is down by about 25,100 from 273,800 jobs in February. In all, Texas lost 14 percent of its restaurant and bar businesses between March and November, according to the Greater Houston Restaurant Association. Then coronavirus infections in Texas soared in the weeks after Christmas, triggering a third wave of shutdowns for bar owners across the state. And while the orders did not apply to restaurants or Harris County bars that didnt convert to restaurants, which have been closed since the second shutdown in June, the Greater Houston Restaurant Association still predicted that the number of area closures would rise to 30 percent in the coming months. My real concern is that we wont just see layoffs, but this may be the final blow that puts many bars out of business, said Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. Small bars have had a hard time distinguishing themselves from venues breaking the rules, said Melissa Stewart, executive director of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association, pointing to unsafe conditions at local nightclubs. She said its time the neighborhood bars in good standing see some government support. They need cash, she said. You told businesses that were doing nothing wrong that they cant do business. They need help for that. Enforcement of pandemic restrictions has been spotty. Loopholes, such as those allowing dance clubs to classify as restaurants, are many. For owners of small bars who prioritize safety, that shakes out to all pain and no gain. They watch, frustrated, as people pack into event venues. On HoustonChronicle.com: When is a bar not a bar? When it sells a can of soup Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Every time I see it, I know my bar is going to be affected, said Lindsay Rae Burleson, owner of Two Headed Dog in Midtown. Burleson relaunched Two Headed Dog as a restaurant and reopened in November after an eight-month shutdown that nearly buried her new establishment. She worked at a distillery while her bar was shut down and poured personal money into the business, scraping enough together to keep paying rent and repermit as a restaurant, set up at farmers markets, reconfigure her space and buy outdoor heaters and tents for her patio. All told, she said recent pivots cost her around $7,200. It was kind of the last hail Mary to keep us going, she said. Hanging on Her goal, and that of others in the same situation, is to buffer her losses through new revenue streams and hang on until the pandemic relents. Most operators who are doing it right none of us are making a profit or even breaking even, she said, noting shes kept her occupancy to about 25 percent and seats mostly on the patio because thats what she and her staff felt comfortable with. Taking the high road comes at a cost, and without support, she said. Her team gets tested every five days, theres a temperature check at the door and shes paying sick leave for any employee who needs to quarantine. To make ends meet, she continues to work part-time at the distillery, peddles mixers at farmers markets and even sells vintage glassware and cocktail ice from the bar. Well close the restaurant at 2 a.m., clean up by 3, sleep for a few hours and load up at 7 for farmers markets, she said. Were trying to do anything and everything to keep my employees employed. Texas Inc.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Alba Huerta, owner of Julep, reopened in October for service at her bar-turned-restaurant, but closed again in November as cases started rising again, opting instead to focus on the cocktail delivery truck she launched over the summer. One Armed Scissor owner Mike Molina and his business partner had been shopping around for a space to launch a second location when the pandemic hit. The funds set aside for that purpose instead went to stop the bars bleeding. They let go of their few employees, shut down the phones and the internet. Now, their lease is up and they are considering whether or not to renew. I paid rent for nine months on a building I did not use, Molina said. Developer Dan Zimmerman has several downtown bar tenants and is trying to be as flexible as his own fixed costs allow. He said it makes sense to work with bars struggling to pay rent because hes unlikely to find another bar looking to take over the place and it would be costly to change the concept. Throwing out the bar isnt necessarily the best business decision, either, he said, on top of the moral decision. But costs dont let up, for landlords or their tenants. In addition to rent, bar owners also face insurance costs, taxes and permitting fees. Michael Neff, owner of the long-closed Cottonmouth Club, balked at being asked how he was doing. The real question is: why? he said. His bar has been closed for most of the past 10 months and his staff is long gone. The bars future is precarious given a persisting pandemic that makes it dangerous to gather. And just how much debt to saddle himself with has become a torturous gamble. So why stick with it, then? Because Im stubborn. And hes thinking about the endgame. When this is over people are going to need that outlet, he said. Its not the alcohol, its the humans. amanda.drane@chron.com Twitter.com/amandadrane Meet flu fighters Jennifer Kraschnewski and Andrea Murray. Jennifer and Andrea facilitate the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program at the Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center. Their REACH programexternal icon actively engages members of the community to plan and carry out proven strategies that are culturally appropriate to prevent chronic diseases, promote healthy behaviors and address the root causes of racial and ethnic health disparities. The REACH program tailors practice- and evidence-based strategies locally related to the pillars of nutrition, physical activity and community clinical linkages to reflect the needs of the communities. Dr. Jennifer Kraschnewski is a primary health care provider who acts as the principal investigator for the REACH program. She serves as a bridge between the community and organizers to promote healthy behaviors, including flu vaccination. In this role, she ensures the program stays on track and can pivot when necessary, like during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Kraschnewski fights flu because as a primary care provider, she recognizes that prevention is key. Flu vaccination is an opportunity to prevent what can be a devastating illness one that, unfortunately, she has witnessed in her own patients. Dr. Kraschnewski believes public health is vital and loves to be part of the community efforts to help improve health equity throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Andrea Murray is the project manager and community engagement coordinator of the Pennsylvania State University Hershey Medical Center REACH program. Andrea tries to create collaborative partnerships that focus on improving health outcomes at a community level by building good project infrastructure and workflow with the help of community members, community health workers and the rest of the REACH team. Andrea fights flu to protect her family, her community and her co-workers. Public health is her passion, so fighting flu and ensuring that everybody has an equal opportunity to receive a flu vaccine is especially important to her. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov received a delegation headed by Minister of State attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, according to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. The parties exchanged views on issues related to the current situation in the region, the implementation of the trilateral statements on a ceasefire, and cessation of all hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region dated November 10, 2020, and January 11, 2021. Bayramov informed the French side about Azerbaijan's views on peacebuilding and new opportunities for cooperation in the region. The parties also discussed the issues of bilateral cooperation on the agenda. The Biden administration's move Tuesday to boost the supply of covid-19 vaccines in coming weeks amounts to opening the faucet a little wider: Even with the extra flow, demand for the shots will still swamp supply for months unless the U.S. can open another spigot. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would ship at least 10 million doses for the next three weeks, a 16% increase over the current level. That pace means tens of millions of Americans who are now eligible for the shot -- those 65 and older in many states -- will still have to wait. Biden also announced plans to increase the country's longer term supply of the vaccines. The administration said it is "working to" purchase 200 million more doses, 100 million each from Pfizer and Moderna, for delivery over the summer. That will bring the total U.S. supply of the two-dose vaccines to 600 million shots, enough to vaccinate 300 million Americans by summer's end, the administration said. The new purchases are being made under options from the federal government's existing contracts with the companies and will be paid for with funds Congress previously allocated, according to a person familiar with the situation. Yet even with the added supply, the number of Americans who are vaccinated in the months ahead may ultimately be determined by the number of doses provided by drugmakers. On Tuesday, Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview that the company will be able to supply the U.S. with 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of May, two months sooner than previously expected. That's because of a change in the vaccine's label that allows health-care providers to extract an additional dose from each vial. Still, the best chance for a dramatic increase in supply may come in the weeks ahead, as Johnson & Johnson prepares to ask U.S. regulators to clear its experimental Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. As he was announcing the supply increase, Biden played down expectations for vaccines to bring a swift end to the pandemic, urging Americans to wear masks and warning that the U.S. will reach 500,000 deaths next month. "The brutal truth is it's going to take months before we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated -- months," Biden said Tuesday at the White House. Biden, who has been in office for one week, is building on the vaccine rollout started by former President Donald Trump under the Operation Warp Speed program. The U.S. has administered the first dose of the two-shot vaccines to more than 20 million Americans. Even using the entire near-term supply of 10 million doses a week, it would take months to inoculate the more than 200 million Americans prioritized for the first phases. That includes all essential workers, people 65 and older, and adults with medical conditions. In December, before vaccinations started, Biden pledged to deliver 100 million shots in the first 100 days of his presidency. The U.S. surpassed that pace in the first days of his administration, essentially letting Biden start at his own finish line. The country has administered 23.5 million Covid vaccines and is vaccinating people at a rate of 1.25 million a day in the past week, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker. That's led some to call the initial goal too modest. Biden said Monday that he thinks the U.S. can reach 1.5 million vaccinations per day during this period. The White House walked back a prediction Biden made Monday that any American who wants a shot could get one in the spring. Instead, Anthony Fauci, a Biden adviser and the nation's top infectious disease doctor, said eligibility will open then but the process of vaccinations will stretch on for months. "Everybody won't be eligible this spring, as you all know, even as the CDC continues to provide updated guidance," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday. Biden has made curbing the pandemic his top priority and is pressing Congress for a $1.9 trillion aid package, which includes more funding for vaccination efforts. Republicans have so far been cool to the proposal, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday he will begin advancing a version that can pass with only Democratic votes next week if there isn't a breakthrough. J&J could report efficacy data from a late-stage trial of 45,000 participants before the end of the week. The drug giant's vaccine would be the first to offer its full protection with only one shot, simplifying mass vaccination efforts. According to J&J's top scientist, U.S. regulators could authorize it for emergency use in March. The still-experimental vaccine generated a long-lasting immune response in an early safety study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month. That provided a glimpse at how it may perform in the real world. J&J aims to have a total of seven manufacturing facilities, many of which are contract manufacturers, up and running by the end of the second quarter, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Wolk said in an interview Tuesday. Wider Eligibility On the demand side, many states have prioritized vaccination to those 65 and older, a move encouraged by both the Trump and Biden administrations. That decision, intended to keep vaccines from lingering unused, now means that there's not nearly enough for everyone who qualifies. A 16% increase in the existing supply is "not going to make much of a difference to us at all," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a news conference Tuesday, before Biden's announcement. The state went from administering 12,000 doses a day to 18,000 a day, he said. Shortages are occurring across the country. New York City last week canceled thousands of appointments because there weren't enough doses available. The new supply "will move the needle some," said Houston Health Department Director Stephen Williams. "The reality is that we will be in better position when one or two more vaccines get approved so we'd have more sources to access." Two brothers who grew up on the West Side have alleged they were abused by Pfleger beginning when they were preteens. They said they were susceptible to grooming because of their own fear of Chicago gang violence and the worry they couldnt protect themselves. Their mother insisted they go to church to keep them out of trouble. And Pfleger made the church a second home for them. The Belarusian justice system has failed to protect members of the country's opposition who suffered from state-sponsored violence, encouraging oppression against the participants of protests that emerged after the August 9 presidential election, a prominent rights group said on Wednesda MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2021) The Belarusian justice system has failed to protect members of the country's opposition who suffered from state-sponsored violence, encouraging oppression against the participants of protests that emerged after the August 9 presidential election, a prominent rights group said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report titled "Belarus: 'You Are Not Human Beings'" that covered the standoff between the Belarusian government and the opposition that did not recognize the results of the presidential election and organized nation-wide rallies in support of ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. "Human rights groups have collected evidence of the torture of hundreds of peaceful protesters and documented the deaths of at least four. We have repeatedly called for effective investigations to bring those responsible to justice, but there is little hope of that from a system that not only protects police with anonymity, but also encourages intimidation and further violence against victims and witnesses," HRW Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers said. The group called on the international community to take all necessary measures to tackle the issue of human rights violations in Belarus. "Governments, international and regional organizations should use all their leverage to pressure the Belarusian authorities to end this assault on human rights. We also urge the international community to take all available measures to deliver justice in Belarus," Struthers said. Belarus entered a prolonged political crisis after the August 9 presidential election, won by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko. The opposition did not recognize the results, claiming that Tikhanovskaya was the real winner. Western countries have refused to recognize Lukashenko's victory and slapped sanctions on dozens of Belarusian officials over alleged election fraud and crackdown on the opposition. SANDUSKY, Ohio, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- PAO Group, Inc. (USOTC: PAOG) today announced moving forward with its initiative to produce cannabis nutraceuticals. PAOG added that the nutraceuticals, in addition to other distribution channels, will be available through the North American Cannabis, Inc. (USOTC: USMJ) ecommerce site www.usjm.com. PAOG recently engaged with the Puerto Rico Consortium for Clinical Investigation (PRCCI) to assist PAOG with developing its proprietary Cannabidiol (CBD) extract into a nutraceutical product to provide care for those experiencing issues associated with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD). Last year, PAOG acquired RespRx from Kali-Extracts, Inc. (OTC Pink: KALY). RespRx is a cannabis treatment under development for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) derived from a patented cannabis extraction method - U.S. Patent No. 9,199,960 entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING HERBACEOUS PLANT MATERIALS INCLUDING THE CANNABIS PLANT." Earlier this week PRCCI advanced next step plans to PAOG to advance the nutraceutical developments. PAOG plans to work with Alkame Holdings, Inc. (USOTC: ALKM) in the packaging of its nutraceuticals. The business relationship with ALKM was established through PAOG's partnership with Puration, Inc. (USOTC: PURA). Last year PAOG acquired a cannabis cultivation business from PURA and subsequently entered into an ongoing partnership with the two companies working together on PURA's Farmersville brands project. PURA owns a five percent stake in ALKM. PURA also has long-term relationship with USMJ. The USMJ CEO, Steven Rash, is a PURA board member. Accordingly, the USMJ distribution opportunity for PAOG's nutraceutical products under development came about through the broader PAOG PURA partnership. Learn more about PAOG at www.paogroupinc.com. Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are subject to the safe harbor created by those rules. All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Technical complications, which may arise, could prevent the prompt implementation of any strategically significant plan(s) outlined above. The Company undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Us: Jim DiPrima +1 888-272-6472 [email protected] SOURCE PAO Group, Inc. Related Links http://www.paogroupinc.com Nearly one in ten passengers tested for Covid-19 after arriving from Brazil have been given positive test results, according to figures given the Cabinet. In a briefing for the Cabinet Committee on Covid-19 on Monday, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said more than 1,900 passengers from Brazil have been contacted and urged to seek a coronavirus test since January Only 604 of these travellers have so far sought tests with 52 testing positive for coronavirus. Mr Holohan told the meeting all passengers arriving from South Africa since 8 January have been sent messages and urged to get a test. So far, 147 of these passengers sought tests and 17 had tested positive as of Monday. Read More Between December 22 and January 14, there have been 2,191 passengers arriving in Ireland from Brazil, and 797 from South Africa. A further 247 arrived from other South American countries. In the same period, there have been 84,228 passengers arriving from European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries. There were also 6,303 arrivals from the UK and an additional 14,350 from other countries. To date, nine cases of the South African strain have been announced by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet). There have been no confirmed cases from Brazil as of yet. On Monday, the Chief Medical Officer said the NVRL tested 58 specimens for the variants from Brazil and South Africa. They identified ten potential variants of concern with eight epidemiologically linked to South Africa and two to Brazil. It is understood the two suspected cases of the Brazil variant were later dismissed as being linked to the strain first detected in the South American country. However, there are concerns that the two new variants of the virus are more infectious than the original Covid-19 strain. The Cabinet Committee meeting was told new variants are a very significant and increasing threat. The British variant, which is up to 70pc more transmissible than the original strain, is already responsible for two thirds of new cases in Ireland. The South African variant is also believed to be more infectious. Research is on-going on the Brazilian variant. Passengers arriving from Brazil and South Africa are required to arrive in Ireland with a negative PCR laboratory tests and are then being asked to self-isolate for 14 days. Short term and holidays visas for the two countries and all other South American countries have been suspended until March 5. The Government announced plans to introduce mandatory quarantine for passengers arriving from both Brazil and South Africa but has not produced a timeline for when it will be introduced. When it is introduced it is expected people arriving from these countries will be held in quarantine hotels at their own expense for up to 14 days. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has been tasked with developing a quarantine plan in conjunction with other ministers. Cabinet Ministers and Opposition TDs have raised serious concerns over the Governments quarantine plans insisting they do not go far enough to deter people from unnecessary foreign travel. Read More Illinois State Police are searching for this gray 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck with a B Truck license plate that reads 101 DN after a 64-year-old man was found dead early Tuesday morning in Hammond. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SAN DIEGO Bob Fisher, the worlds preeminent yachting journalist and one of the top Americas Cup historians who also was a champion sailor, has died. He was 85. Fisher died of cancer Monday at his home in Lymington, England, daughter Alice Davies confirmed in an email to The Associated Press. Davies said that shortly after INEOS Team UK clinched a spot in the Americas Cup challenger final on Saturday in New Zealand, Sir Ben Ainslie called Fishers wife, Dee, to say he was dedicating a thrilling victory over Italys Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team to Fisher. INEOS Team UK represents Englands best chance yet in its 170-year quest to win back the Americas Cup, which it lost to the schooner America in 1851 in a race around the Isle of Wight. Lymington is across the Solent from the Isle of Wight. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ In a statement, Ainslie, the most-decorated Olympic sailor in history who helped a U.S. team win the Americas Cup in 2013, called Fisher the doyen of yachting correspondents and a very good yachtsman in his own right. Wherever you went in the world Bob knew everyone and had so much experience across the board of yacht racing, a real character. I will miss his race debriefs. He was just a lovely guy and our thoughts are with his family. Sail on Bob your memory will live on. Bruno Trouble, a former Americas Cup skipper for France who has run the Americas Cup media center for nearly three decades, remembered Fisher fondly. Fish knew the Cup better than anyone and he is one of the real reasons WHY the Americas Cup was and still is so special, Trouble said in an email from Auckland. He knew all the good stories, all the great characters around the Cup and could write amazing words about them. We will miss him a lot and for long. Fishers obsession with the Americas Cup began in 1967. After winning the Little Americas Cup in C-Class catamarans with Peter Schneidau, his prize was an all-expenses paid trip to the Americas Cup in Newport, Rhode Island, where American defender Intrepid beat the Australian challenger Dame Pattie. He covered all the Americas Cup racing since, except the current racing in Auckland. Fisher wrote seven books about the Americas Cup, including what is considered the definitive history of the oldest trophy in international sports, the two-volume An Absorbing Interest The Americas Cup A History 1851-2003. The project, started in 1992 with the backing of that years Americas Cup winner, Bill Koch, took 15 years to research and write. His latest work, An Absorbing Interest Vol. III, covering the past two decades of Americas Cup racing, is due to be published in the fall. Fisher wrote 30 sailing books, including eight about the Whitbread/Volvo Round the World Race. He was the yachting correspondent for The Guardian newspaper in London and the Observer Sunday newspaper. He also was a columnist for several magazines, including Sail in the United States and Yachts & Yachting in the UK. Fisher was born and raised in the coastal town of Brightlingsea, Essex. Inspired by stories from the professional Brightlingsea fishermen who crewed the big yachts of their day, including Sir Thomas Sopwiths two British J Class Americas Cup challengers, Endeavour and Endeavour II in 1934 and 1937, he first made a name as a top crew, winning seven national and world titles in the Hornet and Fireball high-performance dinghy classes. He also won the International Yacht Racing Union trials to select a two-man trapeze catamaran with his Brightlingsea friend Reg White, which led to the Tornado being chosen as the first Olympic multihull class. Fisher was a founder of the Society of International Nautical Scribes (SINS), which traditionally meets on the first lay day of the Americas Cup match. Fisher is survived by his wife, Dee, daughters Alice and Carolyne, three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The family suggests donations may be made to the Sir Thomas Lipton Foundation. ___ Follow Bernie Wilson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniewilson Luke Reeves Secures Second Super MILLION$ Title and $408,406 January 27 2021 Matthew Pitt Luke Reeves has done it again. Reeves won the GGPoker Super MILLION$ on December 10 and scooped $381,241. he won again on January 26 and padded his bankroll with an additional $408,406 after an intense battle against some of the worlds best poker players. GGPoker Super MILLION$ Final Table Results Place Player Country Prize 1 Luke Reeves Ireland $408,406 2 David Yan New Zealand $314,924 3 Daniel Dvoress Canada $242,839 4 Mike Watson Canada $187,255 5 Ole Schemion Austria $144,393 6 Eelis Parssinen Finland $111,342 7 Melker Larsson Mexico $85,856 8 Jonathan Proudfoot United Kingdom $66,204 9 Connor Drinan Canada $51,050 Connor Drinan sat down at the final table with the shortest stack and was the first player out of the door. Drinan came unstuck during the 35,000/70,000/8,500a level where he shoved 10 big blinds with king-queen and ran into the ace-queen of Mike Watson in the big blind. A board void of drama sent Drinan to the rail. Jonathan Proudfoot was the next player to bust, doing so during the same level. The action folded to Reeves on the button and he min-raised with queen-eight. Proudfoot, in the small blind, three-bet to 560,000 with suited ace-six. Daniel Dvoress jammed all-in for 25 big blinds with ace-ten, folding out Reeves, but Proudfoot called. Proudfoot spiked an ace on the flop but Dvoress caught running diamonds to win the pot. Larsson Turns $100 Satellite into an $85,856 Score Seventh place went to Mekler Larsson who started the final table with the chip lead. Dvoress raised slightly more than twice the big blind to 220 from the cutoff, doing so with ace-ten. David Yan made it 567,000 to go from the button with ace-king, before Larsson four-bet jammed for 2,011,254 from the big blind with pocket queens, and only Yan called. An ace on the flop was enough to send the former chip leader to the showers. Larsson banked $85,856 for this finish, a great return for a $100 satellite investment last week! Finlands Eelis Parssinen didnt last too much longer and had to make do with the $111,342 sixth-place prize. He doubled through Dvoress with ace-four versus ace-queen but his stack dwindled afterwards. Parssinen came unstuck during the 70,000/140,000/17,500a level. He moved all-in for 537,552 with queen-seven of clubs and ran into the ace-king of hearts in the hand of Yan in the small blind. Parssinen was drawing dead by the turn and the Super MILLION$ was down to only five players. Schemion Busts In a Massive Pot Five became for following the demise of Ole Schemion in a monster-pot. Yan raised to 320,000 in the cutoff which prompted Schemion to raise all-in for 1,550,101 with pocket tens on the button. Watson four-bet all-in with eights, and Reeves woke up in the big blind with kings and called off his 2,426,482 stack. Reeves flopped top set before improving to a full house on the turn, busting Schemion and leaving Watson with a mere 4.3 big blinds. Watsons micro-stack went into the middle on the very next hand with ace-king and Dvoress called from the big blind with pocket deuces. Watson missed the board and the tournament was suddenly down to three players, with Dvoress in a commanding position. Flip & Go Tournaments "Incredibly Easy" says Daniel Negreanu Despite being chip leader with three players remaining, Dvoress was the next player to be eliminated. Blinds were now 125,000/250,000/30,000a and Reeves open-shoved from the small blind with queen-seven and Dvoress called all-in for 3,218,398 with ace-three. A seven on the flop sealed the deal for Reeves. That hand gave Reeves a better than two-to-one chip advantage over Yan. Yan couldnt close the gap and ultimately had to make do with second place. The final hand saw Yan raise to 550,000 with pocket fives, Reeves three-bet all-in with ace-ten, and Yan called off his last 4,701,536 chips. Reeves improved to a club flush by the turn to resign Yan to the $314,924 runner-up prize and to bank the $408,406 top prize, and a second Super MILLION$ title, for himself. 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Following the retirement of David Kenani Maraga as Chief Justice on Monday, January 11, 2021, the highly coveted seat has been linked to a host of possible successors such as Supreme Court Judges Smokin Wanjala, Njoki Ndungu, and Isaac Lenaola. Acting CJ Philomena Mwilu, Court of Appeal President William Ouko, and former Attorney General Githu Muigai have also been tipped to succeed Maraga. Among the frontrunners is Philip Murgor as well; the former Director of Public Prosecutions believes he is the best candidate for the powerful seat. In an interview with the Star, Murgor intimated that he would make a better Chief Justice than Maraga. He gave the former CJ a score of 65 percent saying he was reasonably good at maintaining the rule of law and constitutionalism. Murgor, however, pointed out some aspects where he believes Maraga failed. The former CJ often complained publicly about the Judiciary budget and sharply criticized President Uhuru Kenyatta for failing to appoint 41 judges. Maraga Lacked Diplomatic Skills According to Murgor, Maraga ought to have been more diplomatic in reaching out to the Executive. I think Maraga lacked diplomatic skills in his leadership. Addressing the press to castigate and impute improper motive on the part of the duty bearers in government cut the leverages that he may have had to get things done, he was quoted as saying. Murgor, 60, said should he succeed Maraga, he would adopt budget cuts. First, everybody and anybody knows that the country has been experiencing economic hardship for over two years now. As the CJ, I would start by appreciating this fact and inculcate it in my planning, Murgor said. Getting budgetary allocation requires negotiation and dialogue, not grandstanding. Compromise On 41 Judges On the issue of the 41 judges, Murgor said he would make a compromise rather than public agitation. He said instead of demanding that all the judges be sworn in, he would negotiate with the President to have those whose names are clear be appointed first. This is a compromise. You say, if I cant get the whole thing because of whatever reason, then lets start with the less contentious ones, he said. On the matter of the State ignoring various court orders, Murgor said most of the orders were still subject to litigation and appeals. The fact that you can sit here and do the interview, media operating freely and speech is not restricted, is enough testament of our democracy, he said. Corruption In The Judiciary The former DPP who served between 2003 and 2005 before he was unceremoniously sacked also spoke about corruption in the Judiciary. He said graft in the corridors of justice is perpetuated by advocates who have formed cartels that intimidate judges and extract the orders that they want. These lawyers are well-known, he said, without giving names. To deal with them, he said, he would focus on implementing policies that smoke out the corrupt and ensure that only judges of integrity serve. Regarding backlog and delays in dispensation of justice, Murgor told the Star that technology and implementation of the performance contract management mechanism introduced by Maraga would be part of his strategy. The Judiciary is one of the most efficient public institutions, thanks to the efforts by retired chief justices Maraga and [Willy] Mutunga, he said. Adding: Mutunga brought one of the most brilliant reforms. My work would be to follow them through and implement them to the letter. Additional Reporting by the Star CBC A German research team has put forward a potential solution to prevent the rare, serious blood clots caused by two leading COVID-19 vaccines, but other scientists warn it's too early to draw conclusions about the mechanism behind the potentially deadly condition. Even so, the researchers behind the new preprint study say they hope their theory could eventually help laboratories adapt the AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to increase safety and potentially boost global vaccination efforts. Though uncommon, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is much more severe than a typical blood clot because it can cause cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), where veins that drain blood from the brain are obstructed and can potentially cause fatal bleeding. The German researchers suggest the problem lies within the delivery system of these two similar vaccines, both of which use adenovirus vector technology to send genetic instructions into cells to produce the spike protein of the coronavirus. Carolyn Livingston, 64, gets her second dose of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine at a midtown Toronto pharmacy on May 26.(Evan Mitsui/CBC) The findings, which were published online on Wednesday and have not yet been peer reviewed, note this type of vaccine sends the DNA gene sequence of the spike protein directly into the nucleus of the cell, at which point certain parts of the spike protein DNA may become spliced, or broken apart. The study, based on the team's own lab work involving experiments with the commonly-used HeLa human cell line, suggests these "undesirable" breakdowns can cause mutations to occur within the spike protein DNA, which could make it tougher for those proteins to bond to the cell, allowing them to secrete into the body and potentially trigger "inflammatory reactions" that can result in the rare blood clots. The researchers suspect three steps are at play: The rogue spike proteins flowing through the bloodstream, combined with the newly built antibodies designed to attack them, plus the highly specific blood flow conditions in veins that drain from the brain, "may result in the rare but severe events after vaccination," the team wrote. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) now estimates the rate of VITT in Canadians who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine is between 1 in 83,000 and 1 in 55,000, with a fatality rate of between 20 and 50 per cent, but that is subject to change as more data emerges. PHAC said in a statement to CBC News Thursday there have been 27 confirmed cases of VITT to date in Canada out of two million doses administered, with five deaths among those cases. Problem 'absent' in mRNA vaccines The researchers say their study offers the "first molecular evidence" that adenovirus vector-based vaccines that encode the spike protein "exhibit a problem that is completely absent in mRNA-based vaccines," such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. "The adenoviral vaccines are delivering their complete DNA (including the gene for the antigen) to the nucleus, where transcription is taking place," Prof. Rolf Marschalek, a professor of pharmaceutical biology at Goethe University in Frankfurt and lead author of the study, said in an email to CBC News. "Transcription means to make RNA copies from the DNA." Marschalek says the RNA is then spliced into pieces that encode smaller protein variants when derived outside of the nucleus to the cytosol of the cell. He says his team has identified the "splice products" in experiments in "relevant amounts," so they are significant. Second doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are prepared at a midtown Toronto pharmacy on May 26. Most provinces have stopped giving people first doses of the vaccine.(Evan Mitsui/CBC) If proven to be accurate, the finding could potentially lead to reformulations of the AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in the future in order to prevent the rare blood clots. The researchers say they strongly suggest the adenovirus vector vaccines should be "re-optimized" to avoid "unintended splice reactions" and "increase the safety" of the shots. "When we know exactly where all these splice reactions occur, we can modify the gene appropriately to make it 'splice safe,'" Marschalek told CBC News. The researchers say the reason mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna don't have similar issues with splicing and blood clots is because the spike protein DNA they deliver isn't able to enter the cell's nucleus. Data 'thin,' more research needed, experts say But outside experts are urging caution due to a lack of concrete causal data. They say it's too early to draw firm conclusions on the theory. "The authors convincingly showed that there might be some differences in the way that the spike protein is processed when delivered through these viral-vectored vaccines, relative to mRNA vaccines, but they don't show directly or definitively that that difference is responsible for these thrombotic events," said Matthew Miller, an associate professor of infectious diseases and immunology at McMaster University in Hamilton. Prof. Alyson Kelvin, an assistant professor at Dalhousie University and virologist at the Canadian Center for Vaccinology and the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization in Saskatoon, was also cautious when assessing the finding. She says the data in support of it is "thin." "I am not seeing much mechanistic data showing a causal relationship between the splice variants and blood clots," she said in an email to CBC News. "I think it is an interesting observation that should be explored, but at this time, nothing to hang my hat on." WATCH | Canadian expert unpacks new German study on vaccines and blood clots: Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases specialist at St. Joseph's Health Centre in Hamilton, agreed more research is needed, and noted the theory doesn't explain a key characteristic of VITT: low levels of platelets, the small blood cell fragments that help form clots to stop bleeding. "It might be a red herring altogether or at least isn't the smoking gun," Chagla told CBC News. Both the researchers themselves and other outside experts stressed the findings don't answer multiple crucial questions about how this rare clotting condition is occurring, including why the clots appear to be happening in the channels that drain blood from the area in and around the brain, and why it impacts only certain people, but not most others. Shots were paused over clot concerns The study follows earlier research out of Norway in March, which identified the mechanism behind VITT, saying it was due to a "powerful immune response" following a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine. That finding had massive implications on the rollout of the vaccine in Canada and around the world, leading to the use of the shot being paused in parts of Europe. Canada's vaccine advisory committee recommended the AstraZeneca vaccine for Canadians over 65 on March 16, then advised immediately suspending the use of it in Canadians under 55 in late March following reports of VITT in Europe. The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently approved by Health Canada for Canadians 18 years of age and older, although most provinces have stopped giving first doses of the shot and are reserving future supply for second doses. WATCH | Questions surround what's next for AstraZeneca vaccine: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is recommended for all Canadians 30 years of age and older, but Canada's vaccination advisers also say to weigh the risk of VITT against COVID-19 levels in the community when deciding whether to hold out for another vaccine. Health Canada is holding off on distributing the first shipment of that vaccine after it became clear the doses that arrived last month were processed in the same U.S. plant that's been mired in quality-control problems. According to Miller, if the latest theory behind VITT is confirmed and these vaccines can eventually be adapted to prevent rare but potentially deadly blood clotting, it would be good news for Canada and the global community. "We're already living through and observing the massive global inequities in vaccine distribution that are a result of the limited supply and massive global demand," he said. "And so, ideally, we want as many vaccines as possible that are safe to be available to administer to the global population that needs them." Have a coronavirus question or news tip for CBC News? Email: Covid@cbc.ca Amid a sharp economic downturn in 2008, police departments around the United States experienced budget shortfalls that required them to enact cutbacks. A new study examined the effects on crime of budget shortfalls in two New Jersey cities--one of which laid off more than 10 percent of its police force while the other averted layoffs. The study found that the police layoffs were associated with significant increases in overall crime, violent crime, and property crime. The study, by researchers at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Rutgers University, appears in Justice Evaluation Journal, a publication of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. "Our study suggests that sudden and drastic reductions in the size of a police force via layoffs of police officers can generate significant increases in crime," explains Eric Piza, associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, who led the study. "In Newark, this meant approximately 110 additional violent crimes and 100 additional property crimes per month." The study examined New Jersey's two largest police forces: the Newark Police Department, which released 13 percent of its police force on one day in 2010, and the Jersey City Police Department, which averted layoffs by reducing the amount of a previously requested raise and increasing the copay for medical prescriptions for officers. In addition, between 2012 to 2015, Newark's police department lost officers to attrition and did not hire new personnel, while Jersey City's department added more officers. Prior studies on the effect of decreases in the size of police forces on crime have considered incremental reductions, finding less of an impact on crime, while this study looked at a sudden cutback. Crime in both New Jersey cities had decreased prior to 2008. Researchers used monthly crime counts from 2006 to 2015 to measure the effects of Newark's layoffs on crime and compared them with crime in Jersey City. The authors found significant increases in overall crime, violent crime (murder, robbery, and aggravated assault), and property crime (burglary, larceny theft, and motor vehicle theft) in Newark, with overall and violent crime becoming progressively more pronounced each year. In contrast, in Jersey City, violent crime decreased steadily over the 10 years of the study, while property crime peaked in early 2009, but declined steadily afterwards. The termination of police officers requires the remaining officers to do more with less, the authors note. In addition, letting officers go may force police to discontinue evidence-based crime prevention practices, which may impact crime levels. The study's authors note several limitations of their work, including that the crime data they used, which is the primary source of such information in the United States, provides an incomplete picture of crime. Also, researchers did not interview police officers or Newark officials, which the authors suggest would have added context to their findings. Lastly, while pre-layoff crime trends in Newark were not significantly different than Jersey City, it is difficult to determine whether the cities would have maintained similar crime trends if layoffs didn't occur (which is a key assumption of evaluation research). "As police departments determine whether to phase out specialized units to meet budgetary constraints and to enact reforms that may reduce budgets and size of police forces, our findings can inform the national debate over the impact of such actions on crime," notes Vijay Chillar, a Ph.D. student at Rutgers University, who coauthored the study. ### Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Analysis Biden Administration Should Tread Carefully on Myanmars Rights Issues: Observers Then US Vice President Joe Biden and Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meet in Washington in September 2016. / State Counselors Office US foreign policy under new President Joseph Biden will be centered on promoting democracy and human rights around the world, Antony Blinken, the administrations nominee for secretary of state, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Jan. 19. Unlike Republican President Donald Trump, the new Democratic administration is likely to make human rights its top priority in dealing with Myanmar. The UN Human Rights Commission said in September that ongoing and severe human rights violations continue to occur in armed conflict areas of Myanmar, including in the ethnic states of Kachin, Shan, Rakhine and Chin, despite the countrys ongoing democratic reform and peace-building processes. It urged Myanmar to take concrete steps toward accountability for rights violations and said the current governments initiatives to address the situation have been inadequate and fallen short of international standards. In particular, alleged human rights violations against Rohingya in northern Rakhine State are likely to be a focus of US engagement with Myanmar. Blinken has experience dealing with the human rights situation in Myanmar, having visited the country during the Obama administration, and has expressed a personal interest in the Rohingya cause. He told the committee he was committed to overseeing an inter-agency process to determine whether the alleged crimes against the Rohingya in Myanmar amount to genocide. He was referring to military operations against the Rohingya in response to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)s coordinated attacks on border police outposts in western Myanmars Rakhine State in August 2017. The security operation led more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee their homes, and many of the refugees are still sheltering in crowded camps in Bangladesh. Those who fled recalled arbitrary killings, rapes and arson attacks against their property by Myanmar security forces. UN investigators said the operations had genocidal intent, an accusation denied by both the Myanmar government and military. As a result of the crisis, Myanmar has faced heavy international condemnation since late 2017. In November 2019, Gambia, a mostly Muslim nation in West Africa, filed genocide charges against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). A case was opened the following month. We want the US to consider [the issue] by looking at the root causes, and to avoid any actions that could lead to a confrontation with the Myanmar public. In addition, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have launched an investigation into alleged crimes against Rohingya, including the crime of deportation, and a private lawsuit has been brought in a court in Argentina under the principle of universal jurisdiction, accusing Myanmar of committing genocide. U Aung Myo Min, a veteran human rights advocate and the executive director of Equality Myanmar, expected the US stand on democracy and human rights to be firm under Biden, but warned that sustained pressure from Washington over the Rohingya issue could prompt a backlash in the form of objections by the Myanmar public. He added that an added emphasis by the new US administration on progress on human rights in regard to the Rohingya could prompt hate speech [which] has already been seen [in Myanmar]. The instigators of such speech would likely exploit the Rohingya issue, citing US interference, he said. In April 2016, shortly after the NLD formed its first government, ultranationalists staged a rally in front of the US Embassy in Yangon to protest against the American missions use of the word Rohingya. Many people in Myanmar refer to the group as Bengali, implying that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The NLD government avoids both terms and refers to them as Muslim from northern Rakhine. U Aung Myo Min said the issue of Rohingya rights needed to be handled cautiously, citing the past reactions of ultranationalists. Our country has this specific condition that there is a risk of angry mobs and their supporters using hate speech to lay stepping-stones for political gains, he said. While many in Myanmar continue to see the Rohingya as interlopers from Bangladesh, citing the population boom in the neighboring country, the narrative has slowly begun to change in recent years, with more people acknowledging the humanitarian needs of the refugees, who were originally from northern Rakhine State, and calling for the repatriation of those who fled to Bangladesh in 2017. The official repatriation process, which began in January 2018, has been unsuccessful, as a majority of Rohingya have refused to come back, demanding protected return. Aside from the refugees unwillingness to participate, the process has been on hold since mid-2020, when new border restrictions were implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19. We dont think the US would determine anything without a proper investigation and examination in relation to the Bengali/Rohingya issue [in Rakhine State]. The root causes of the problem need to be thoroughly studied, said U Tun Aung Kyaw, an Upper House lawmaker-elect from the Arakan National Party. He said his party acknowledged the humanitarian needs of the Rohingya, but urged the international community to respect the laws of the country, pointing out that the government has repeatedly said Myanmar is ready to accept the return of displaced Rohingya provided they are scrutinized in accordance with existing laws. We want the US to consider [the issue] by looking at the root causes, and to avoid any actions that could lead to a confrontation with the Myanmar public, the MP-elect said. It would be worrisome if Myanmar were forced to deepen its dependence on China, because Chinawhich is only interested in businesswould not stand up for human rights as the US would. To help smooth bilateral relations, the US could apply short- and long-term policies to the issue, U Aung Myo Min said. In the short term, he urged the US to cooperate with the Myanmar government on repatriation and providing humanitarian assistance to the refugees without discrimination. The current government is working on those issues and the US could start with that pragmatic approach. And then, they could continue urging more policy reforms on sensitive issues like changing the Citizenship Law, he said. The government formed the Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE) in 2018 to investigate allegations of human rights violations and related issues following the ARSA attacks in 2017. It was tasked with seeking accountability and formulating recommendations on steps to be taken to ensure peace and stability in Rakhine. The ICOE published its recommendations in January 2020. Among its findings were that the militarys security operations against Rohingya insurgents had no genocidal intent, but that serious human rights violations including war crimes were committed by security forces, their associated thugs, ARSA members and Rohingya civilians themselves during the period of the militarys clearance operations between Aug. 25 and Sept. 5, 2017. In response to ICOEs recommendations, the military convened two courts martial against soldiers accused of mass killings of Rohingya insurgents in 2017. Observers have called on the Myanmar government and military to show greater transparency in the investigations and related proceedings. As the Biden administration will be pushing for accountability and the safe return of the Rohingya, the Myanmar government needs to act transparently, said Dr. Min Zaw Oo, the director of the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security. He said Myanmars investigation into the events in Rakhine State in 2017 needs to be transparent, adding that the government must punish the perpetrators of rights violations and repatriate the displaced Rohingya. Economist Dr. Zaw Oo echoed Dr. Min Zaw Oos remarks, saying, Our government needs to act carefully on the human rights issue, as the US will certainly take stronger actions on human rights issues, pointing to the fact that the new US leadership has already made comments about Myanmars human rights situation. The NLD government has been dealing with the Rohingya issue systematically and as best it can because it is one of the key problems to resolve as part of the democratic transition, said Daw Pyone Kaythi Naing, a Lower House lawmaker from the NLD who also leads the International Relations Taskforce of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development (UEHRD). The UEHRDa public-private partnership mechanism led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyiwas formed in October 2017 to work on development in northern Rakhine. The lawmaker urged that the new US administrations interaction should be supportive and avoid any further complication of the already complex and sensitive situation. She reiterated the governments position that the Rohingya issue is considered a complex and delicate one in Myanmar. Observers caution that if not dealt with carefully, the Rohingya issue could further damage relations between Washington and Naypyitaw and push Myanmar closer to China. Given the strategic importance of Myanmars location to its fast-growing neighbor, they say, the US should weigh any actions for their potential to push Myanmar further into Beijings orbit. It would be worrisome if Myanmar were forced to deepen its dependence on China, because Chinawhich is only interested in businesswould not stand up for human rights as the US would, U Aung Myo Min added. The US will engage with Myanmar under its Indo-Pacific strategy while continuing its support for democratic reforms in the country, added Dr. Min Zaw Oo. The strategy is the US priority framework for investing in multiple sectorsthe economy, human resources, strengthening democratic institutions, infrastructure and energyto promote peace, stability and prosperity in the region. Despite the concerns, Dr. Min Zaw Oo expressed optimism that the narrow issue of whether genocide was perpetrated against the Rohingya would not be allowed to hinder overall progress in US-Myanmar relations in the coming four years. You may also like these stories: Thailand: In the Eye of the Coming Storm The Inside Story of Thailand and Myanmars Troubled Dawei Mega-Project The US Voted for Change; When Will Myanmar Truly Be Able to Do the Same? The Nagol is Back! VTOs guide to this years Nagol, plus where to stay and play in south, central and north Pentecost. January 27, 2021 More Cyber Crimes, Attributed To Russia, Are Shown To Have Come From Elsewhere Earlier today police in Europe took down the Emotet bot-network: First discovered as a fairly run-of-the-mill banking trojan back in 2014, Emotet evolved over the years into one of the most professional and resilient cyber crime services in the world, and became a go-to solution for cyber criminals. Its infrastructure acted as a mechanism to gain access to target systems, which was done via an automated spam email process that delivered Emotet malware to its victims via malicious attachments, often shipping notices, invoices and, since last spring, Covid-19 information or offers. If opened, victims would be promoted to enable macros that allowed malicious code to run and instal Emotet. This done, Emotets operators then sold access on to other cyber criminal groups as a means to infiltrate their victims, steal data, and drop malware and ransomware. The operators of TrickBot and Ryuk were among the many users of Emotet. Up to a quarter of all recent run of the mill cyber-crime was done through the Emotet network. Closing it down is a great success. Wikipedia falsely claimed that Emotet was based in Russia: Emotet is a malware strain and a cybercrime operation based in Russia.[1] The malware, also known as Geodo and Mealybug, was first detected in 2014[2] and remains active, deemed one of the most prevalent threats of 2019.[3] bigger However the Hindu report linked as source to the Russia claim under [1] only says: The malware is said to be operated from Russia, and its operator is nicknamed Ivan by cyber security researchers. "Is said to be operated from Russia" is quite a weak formulation and should not be used as source for attribution claims. It is also definitely false. The operating center of Emotet was found in the Ukraine. Today the Ukrainian national police took control of it during a raid (video). The police found dozens of computers, some hundred hard drives, about 50 kilogram of gold bars (current price ~$60,000/kg) and large amounts of money in multiple currencies. bigger Since the 2016 publishing of internal emails of the DNC and the Clinton campaign attribution of computer intrusions to Russia has become a standard propaganda feature. But in no case was there shown evidence which proved that Russia was responsible for a hack. The recently discovered deep intrusion into U.S. companies and government networks used a manipulated version of the SolarWinds Orion network management software. The Washington borg immediately attributed the hack to Russia. Then President Trump attributed it to China. But none of those claims were backed up by facts or known evidence. The hack was extremely complex, well managed and resourced, and likely required insider knowledge. To this IT professional it 'felt' neither Russian nor Chinese. It is far more likely, as Whitney Webb finds, that Israel was behind it: The implanted code used to execute the hack was directly injected into the source code of SolarWinds Orion. Then, the modified and bugged version of the software was compiled, signed and delivered through the existing software patch release management system, per reports. This has led US investigators and observers to conclude that the perpetrators had direct access to SolarWinds code as they had a high degree of familiarity with the software. While the way the attackers gained access to Orions code base has yet to be determined, one possibility being pursued by investigators is that the attackers were working with employee(s) of a SolarWinds contractor or subsidiary. ... Though some contractors and subsidiaries of SolarWinds are now being investigated, one that has yet to be investigated, but should be, is Samanage. Samanage, acquired by SolarWinds in 2019, not only gained automatic access to Orion just as the malicious code was first inserted, but it has deep ties to Israeli intelligence and a web of venture-capital firms associated with numerous Israeli espionage scandals that have targeted the US government. ... Samanage offers what it describes as an IT Service Desk solution. It was acquired by SolarWinds so Samanages products could be added to SolarWinds IT Operations Management portfolio. Though US reporting and SolarWinds press releases state that Samanage is based in Cary, North Carolina, implying that it is an American company, Samanage is actually an Israeli firm. It was founded in 2007 by Doron Gordon, who previously worked for several years at MAMRAM, the Israeli militarys central computing unit. ... Several months after the acquisition was announced, in November 2019, Samanage, renamed SolarWinds Service Desk, became listed as a standard feature of SolarWinds Orion software, whereas the integration of Samanage and Orion had previously been optional since the acquisitions announcement in April of that year. This means that complete integration was likely made standard in either October or November. It has since been reported that the perpetrators of the recent hack gained access to the networks of US federal agencies and major corporations at around the same time. Samanages automatic integration into Orion was a major modification made to the now-compromised software during that period. The U.S. National Security Agency has ways and means to find out who was behind the SolarWinds hack. But if Israel is the real culprit no one will be allowed to say so publicly. Some high ranging U.-S. general or official will fly to Israel and read his counterpart the riot act. Israel will ignore it just as it has done every time when it was caught spying on the U.S. government. With more then half of Washington's politicians in its pockets it has no reason to fear any consequences. Posted by b on January 27, 2021 at 15:32 UTC | Permalink Comments next page next page The B-29 Doc tour planning team has announced the addition of the Arkansas Air & Military Museum at Drake Field in Fayetteville to the historic warbirds 2021 tour schedule. Doc, one of only two B-29 Superfortresses still flying, will arrive at the Arkansas Air & Military Museum Thursday, April 15, and will be on static display Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 18. B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides will be available Saturday and Sunday, April 17 and 18. We are thrilled to welcome B-29 Doc back to northwest Arkansas for a second time, said Laci Shuffield, Arkansas Air & Military Museum executive director. Having a B-29 on the ramp at Drake Field, in addition to the availability of our unique museum artifacts, will make for a one-of-a-kind springtime experience for aviation and warbird fans throughout the Fayetteville area. The museum will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the event, which includes access to the museum, as well as the aircraft ramp and cockpit tours, is $30 for a family, $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. All proceeds will benefit B-29 Doc as well as the Arkansas Air & Military Museum. Visiting the Arkansas Air & Military Museum and Drake Field with B-29 Doc is a unique experience and tour stop for us, said Josh Wells, B-29 Doc general manager and executive director. The museums hangar at Drake Field represents a remaining piece of World War II history that was home to a pilot training depot for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Bringing the B-29 to Drake Field helps to further tell the story of our nations heroes from the Greatest Generation, and those who are serving our nation to protect freedom today. BOOK YOUR SEAT ON B-29 DOC TODAY! A person suffered life-threatening injuries Tuesday night in a crash on Interstate 93 in Massachusetts that toppled a light pole and shut down a ramp on the highway, according to authorities. Massachusetts State Police troopers responded around 9:45 p.m. to the serious crash in the southbound lanes of I-93 near Exit 37A at the Reading-Woburn border, officials said. An investigation revealed that a 43-year-old South Boston woman had been driving a 2016 BMW X5 south down the highway in Woburn when it struck a 2018 Toyota RAV4 from behind. The car was also heading south, according to a statement from state police. The BMW hit the Toyota between the on- and off-ramps at the Interstate 95 interchange. After the collision, the Boston womans car went of the roadway, landed in a grass infield and struck a large concrete light pole foundation, toppling the structure, the statement said. The car then hit and went over a guardrail on the edge of the on-ramp. The BMW proceeded to go down a wooded embankment, according to the statement. Troopers from the state police barracks in Andover and Medford were the first ones to arrive at the scene. They pulled the woman from the BMW and began giving her CPR while waiting for fire department and EMS personnel to arrive, authorities said. She was ultimately taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with life-threatening injuries after initially being taken to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, according to state police. Following the impact, the Toyota rotated out of control but came to rest in the left travel lane of I-93. Its driver was not injured, officials said. The ramp from I-93 south to I-95 north was closed due to the collision. The light pole, which toppled in cloverleaf, blocked the exit ramp, authorities noted. The crash investigation is ongoing. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Full release here, and report here. Sixty-four?percent of people say climate change is a?global emergency according to results of the?Peoples'?Climate Vote,?the world's biggest ever survey of public opinion on climate change, published today. Results?will be?shared with governments in a pivotal year for?climate action, with?negotiations at the UN Climate Summit?in November?in Glasgow, UK.? The survey, organized by the United?Nations?Development?Programme?(UNDP) and the University of Oxford, engaged 1.22m people in 50 countries. It was distributed across mobile gaming networks in order to include hard-to-reach audiences, including 550,000 people under 18 - a key?constituency?on climate change. Respondents were asked if climate change was a global emergency and whether they supported eighteen key climate policies across six areas: economy, energy, transport, food & farms, nature and protecting people.?? The most popular climate policies were?conserving forests and land (54% public support), more solar, wind and renewable power (53%), adopting climate-friendly farming techniques (52%) and investing more in green businesses and jobs (50%).? Results showed support for broad climate policies beyond the current state of play. In eight of the ten survey countries with the highest emissions from the?power sector, majorities backed?more renewable energy. In four out of the five countries?with highest emissions from land-use change, there was majority support for?conserving forests and land. Nine out of ten of the countries with most urbanized populations backed?increased use of clean electric cars and buses, or bicycles. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said: "The results clearly illustrate that urgent climate action has broad support amongst people around the globe, across nationalities, age, gender and education level. But more than that, the poll reveals how people want their policymakers to tackle the crisis and signals ways in which countries can move forward with public support as we work together to tackle this enormous challenge." Younger people (aged 14-18) were?more likely to say climate change is an emergency than older people, with nearly 70% saying this. Other age groups?were not far behind,?with?65% of those 18-35 agreeing, 66% aged 36-59, and?58% over 60. Prof. Stephen Fisher, Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, said: "The Peoples' Climate Vote has delivered a treasure trove of data on public opinion that we've never seen before. Recognition of the climate emergency is much more widespread than previously thought and most people clearly want a strong and wide-raging policy response." PDF - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1426133/Peoples_Climate_Vote.pdf The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their Covid-19 losses within just nine months, while it could take more than a decade for the worlds poorest to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, a new report from Oxfam revealed today. Mirroring this global inequality trend, Irelands own nine billionaires saw their fortunes increase by 3.28 billion since March a tenth of which would pay for a Covid-19 vaccine for every person in the Republic of Ireland. Meanwhile, essential workers - such as our carers and supermarket and factory workers cared for our vulnerable and kept our food supplies running throughout the pandemic - quite often on minimum or low-paid wages. Oxfams The Inequality Virus report, published to coincide with the opening day of the World Economic Forums Davos Agenda, highlights how Covid-19 has the potential to increase economic inequality in almost every country at once, the first time this has happened since records began over a century ago. A new global survey commissioned by Oxfam of 295 economists from 79 countries, including Ireland, reveals that 87 percent of respondents, including Jeffrey Sachs, Jayati Ghosh and Gabriel Zucman, expect an increase or a major increase in income inequality in their country as a result of the pandemic. This thinking was shared by 85 percent of Irish economists who participated, with most estimating it would be the worst increase in inequality in Ireland since the financial crash of 2008. Rising inequality means it could take at least 14 times longer for the number of people living in poverty to return to pre-pandemic levels than it took for the fortunes of the top 1,000, mostly White male billionaires, to bounce back. Jim Clarken, Chief Executive of Oxfam Ireland, said: We stand to witness the greatest rise in inequality since records began, with the deep divide between the rich and poor proving as deadly as the virus itself. Around the world the impact of Covid-19 is magnifying and exacerbating existing inequalities as well as racial and gender divides. One of the most extreme and unjust indicators of inequality we are seeing around the world right now is between those who have access to life-saving vaccine and those who dont. Rigged economies are funnelling wealth to a rich elite who are riding out the pandemic in safety, while those on the frontline our shop assistants, healthcare workers, and factory workers are struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table, and often do not have benefits such as paid sick leave. The worlds ten richest men have seen their combined wealth increase by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began more than enough to pay for a Covid-19 vaccine for everyone and to ensure no one is pushed into poverty by the pandemic. At the same time, the pandemic has ushered in the worst job crisis in over 90 years with hundreds of millions of people now underemployed or out of work. In Ireland, the fallout of the pandemic on employment has disproportionately hit young adults as well as people in low-paid occupations, all of whom are more likely to be paying rent. Without significant government intervention, we are looking at a return to long-term unemployment, increasing risks of homelessness and economic insecurity for younger generations in Ireland. In addition, women and marginalised racial and ethnic groups are yet again bearing the brunt. They are more likely to be pushed into poverty, more likely to go hungry, and more likely to be excluded from healthcare. Long before Covid-19 disrupted our lives, in Ireland and across the world, women sustained our societies through their paid and unpaid care work. They continue to do so as we manage this public health crisis and as the social and economic consequences unfold. However, there is a lack of attention to gender equality in much of the economic decision making that has taken place since the onset of the pandemic. Oxfam said the road to recovery will be much longer for people who were already struggling pre-Covid. When the virus took hold, over half of workers in poor countries were living in poverty, and three-quarters of workers globally had no access to social protections like sick pay or unemployment benefits. Clarken concluded: Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice. Governments around the world must seize this opportunity to build more equal, more inclusive economies that end poverty and protect the planet. The fight against inequality must be at the heart of economic rescue and recovery efforts. Governments must ensure everyone has access to a Covid-19 vaccine and financial support if they lose their job. They must invest in public services and low carbon sectors to create millions of new jobs and ensure everyone has access to a decent education, health, and social care, and they must ensure the richest individuals and corporations contribute their fair share of tax to pay for it. These measures must not be band-aid solutions for desperate times but a new normal in economies that work for the benefit of all people, not just the privileged few. [January 27, 2021] RepRisk Provides ESG Risk Data to Yuanta Securities Investment Trust (Yuanta Funds) RepRisk, the leading ESG data science firm combining machine learning and human intelligence to identify and assess ESG risks, is pleased to provide ESG risk data to Yuanta Funds, a leading asset management firm in Taiwan providing a wide range of services that range from mutual funds to ETFs for a variety of investors with diverse financial plans. In keeping with their commitment to provide consistently accurate, up-to-date, and insightful research and investment tools, Yuanta Funds will integrate RepRisk data in its investment analysis across portfolio screening and monitoring processes. Additionally, RepRisk's daily-updated data will be used as a factor in generating Yuanta Funds' proprietary fund-level ESG risk ratings. "We are proud to be an integral tool in Yuanta Funds' mission to provide innovative investment solutions," said Alexandra Mihailescu Cichon, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at RepRisk. "ESG integration into investment strategy has seen explosive growth over the past few years. We're proud to contribute RepRisk's unrivaled coverage and daily-updated, actionable data that facilitates ESG integration across asset classes; from public equities to private markets, and from fixed income to infrastructure investments." The Yuanta Funds Investment Team expressed the following, "We are thrilled to leverage RepRisk's unrivaled ESG risk and business conduct dataset - generated by a unique combination of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and human intelligence - to inform our investment decisions and avoid investing in higher risk cmpanies. We will incorporate these metrics into our fundamental analysis and further assess how a company moves towards a sustainable development business model. Yuanta Funds' responsibility is not just maximizing the portfolio performance of its beneficiaries, but engaging with companies in which we invest on ESG issues, and better aligning our investment activities with both the broader and long-term interests of society." RepRisk offers daily-updated quantitative risk analytics, qualitative research, and proprietary metrics for more than 160,000 public and private companies, and from every sector and market across the globe. This data serves leading financial institutions and corporates in their due diligence and risk management processes across their operations, business relationships, and investments. About RepRisk Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Switzerland, RepRisk is a pioneer in ESG data science that leverages the combination of AI and machine learning with human intelligence to systematically analyze public information and identify material ESG risks. RepRisk's flagship product, the RepRisk ESG Risk Platform, is the world's largest and most comprehensive due diligence database on ESG and business conduct risks, with expertise in 20 languages and coverage of 160,000+ public and private companies and 40,000+ infrastructure projects. For more than a decade, the world's leading financial institutions and corporations have trusted RepRisk for due diligence and risk management across their operations, business relationships, and investments. About Yuanta Securities Investment Trust Established in 1992 and located in Taipei, Taiwan, Yuanta Funds is part of the Yuanta Financial Holdings group and is also the industry's largest ETF issuer based on a significant margin. Yuanta Funds owns the largest portion of the managed assets in Taiwan, and our products include both active and passive instruments, futures funds, domestic and international equity products, leveraged/inverse ETFs and so on. With the backing of Taiwan's largest and strongest research team, Yuanta Funds helps investors stay up-to-date with the latest ins-and-outs so as to react quickly enough in order to optimize on investment strategies. The AI-Investing Robo-Advisor developed by Yuanta Funds also provides multi-asset management suggestions and solutions in a short, medium and long-term range, so as to analyze the market objectively. Since Yuanta Funds is currently the leader in this industry and we have posted a record of outstanding performance in both domestic and international funds. This has been recognized with numerous awards for the excellence of our products, brand and professional talent. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005664/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] EBRD provides 18 million loan for fibre broadband rollout in Serbias countryside Bilateral donors to the WBIF support the project with 1.7 million grant Improved access to education and information to students and people in rural areas Rural areas in Serbia with around 90,000 households and 600 schools and public institutions will gain access to fast broadband thanks to a government digitalisation project supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and bilateral donors under the framework of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF). An 18 million EBRD loan and a 1.7 million WBIF grant will allow Serbia to finance the design and construction of fibre broadband infrastructure in rural regions of the country. The project is part of Serbias initiative to promote digitalisation as a driver of economic growth and to position the country as an IT development hub. Currently, only 69 per cent of rural Serbian households are connected to fixed broadband, compared with 85 per cent in urban areas (based on data from 2019). This gap significantly hampers access to economic opportunities for a large share of the population. Covid-19 lockdowns around the world have demonstrated that high-speed internet is crucial to work from home, continue education at all levels, access medical and financial services or simply maintain communication with the external world. Even before the coronavirus pandemic lack of broadband connections for rural schools had been identified as a growing problem for Serbia one-quarter of all pupils attend a rural school and in recent years rural enrolment growth has outpaced growth in all other school locales. Without adequate high-speed internet infrastructure, rural schools and their students risk being left behind their peers in urban areas. Zsuzsanna Hargitai, EBRD Regional Director, Western Balkans, said: Being born in a rural area was identified as one of the factors for inequality of opportunity in EBRD regions, including Serbia. Creating better links both physical and technological between urban and rural areas helps to ensure better quality of life in rural zones and prevent the Serbian countryside brain drain. Tatjana Matic, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, said: "The ultra-fast broadband access will reach about 90,000 households in rural areas and will enable a completely new perspective for the population, especially for children and youth in those areas. Providing a modern digital educational environment and affordable digital services will enhance local capacity and economic development, contribute to regional development and connectivity and towards alignment with European legal frameworks and our accelerated progress towards European integration." Nikolaus Lutterotti, Austrian Ambassador to Serbia, said: This digital infrastructure project is a crucial endeavor of the Serbian government that not only promises socio-economic gains in rural areas, but also facilitates a range of new opportunities in digital connectivity. The WBIF Bilateral Donors are therefore greatly pleased to support its implementation with a grant for technical assistance." Sem Fabrizi, Ambassador and Head of delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Serbia, added: Digital technologies are revolutionising the way we learn, work and live as individuals and as society. Esch person needs the right skills, knowledge and confidence to benefit from the full potential of digital technologies. Lack of these skills, on the contrary, has a negative effect on employability and life quality. This next generation broadband connectivity project will create the necessary preconditions for the social and economic development in the rural parts of Serbia without access to broadband network (so called white zones). Together with other members of Team Europe - the EU is proud to support the digital agenda of Serbia, particularly to give the new generations, the necessary education tools during the pandemic." The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) supports socio-economic development and EU accession across the Western Balkans through the provision of finance and technical assistance for strategic investments. It is a joint initiative of the European Union, financial institutions, bilateral donors and the governments of the Western Balkans. The largest individual cumulative pledges to date have been made by Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Italy, and United Kingdom. Austria is the current WBIF Co-Chair. To date, the WBIF has allocated 1.3 billion in grants for 20.8 billion estimated investments in well connected transport, energy and digital networks, renewable energy and energy efficiency, water supply and wastewater systems, flood protection, education, research and cultural establishments, healthcare and judicial facilities, which are crucial for sustainable development in the region. The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Serbia. The Bank has invested more than 6.5 billion across 277 projects in the country to date. The EBRD is focusing on support for private-sector development, the improvement of public infrastructure and on the overall transition towards a green economy. WBIF factsheet for Serbia Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. One North Alabama church did their part on Tuesday to help those affected by the tornado. The team from Decatur Church of Christ left for Fultondale early Tuesday afternoon. They don't know who they'll be helping or what exactly they'll be doing, but they're ready to lend a hand. It was the church's 26th service trip. Credit: Fultondale Fire Department Credit: Fultondale Fire Department "If you're stuck in the middle of a pandemic and you're on a stay-at-home ordinance or if you're having to mask up and now you don't even have a home to stay in, what are you going to do? So, we want to help with things like that," said Decatur Church of Christ Outreach Minister Cody Michael. Whether it's cutting up fallen trees, putting a new roof on a house, or simply giving someone a gallon of water, Michael and his team are ready to help out. Michael says he got a call in the middle of the night about the deadly tornado. He gathered his team, prepped the trucks and headed down Interstate 65. The outreach team brought chainsaws, wheelbarrows and rakes, but Michael says what's important to bring is helping hands. "We want to be there to help people physically. So, whether you're part of a bible study or not, we're there to help you," said Michael. The church's new youth Evangelist is just 21 years old. Will Harrub moved from Franklin, Tennessee for the job. Tuesday was his first trip with the organization. "My role is simply going to be just to serve in any way that I can. I'll be going out, like I said, it's something that we normally do. We clear trees, we tarp roofs, pretty much whatever needs to be done is something I'm willing to do. It's about serving people spiritually, setting up bible studies, but it's also about helping their physical needs as well. So, any way that I can be of help is what I'm going to do. When somebody's house gets taken down, when someone is looking for shelter, looking for food and water, it's something that they need a helping hand and as the hands and feet of Christ, that's what we need to offer, so I'm willing to go on as many as I need to," said Harrub. The group says they'll be back late Tuesday and are prepared to make the drive back down the next few days if they are needed. If you want to get involved or donate to the group, call 256-353-4256. Monetary and physical donations are both accepted. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 22:18:57|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Ghanaian soldiers escort the casket of former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings at the Independence Square in Accra, Ghana, on Jan. 27, 2021. The body of former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings was buried at the military cemetery here Wednesday after a burial service at Ghana's Independence Square. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua) ACCRA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The body of former Ghanaian President Jerry John Rawlings was buried at the military cemetery here Wednesday after a burial service at Ghana's Independence Square. In his tribute, Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo described the late former president as charismatic, energetic, and fearless. "It is for good reason that his well-known and often-cited ideals of probity and accountability, in which he invested a great deal of his political life, are enshrined in the fourth Republican constitution," said Akufo-Addo. He said these ideals, together with the "Freedom and Justice," which form the motto of Ghana, constitute the foundational principles of social order on which Ghana shall develop. He added that the monumental developments the country chalked "under the governance of Rawlings would linger in the hearts of many generations to come." "History, on balance, will be kind to him and will render a positive verdict on his contribution to the evolution of our nation and the entrenchment of its democratic institutions and culture," the president said in his tribute. Akufo-Addo reiterated his desire to name the University of Development Studies after the late Rawlings for his role in its establishment. The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the political party the late former president founded, eulogized his sterling leadership, "which culminated the long period of political stability in Ghana." "He hated the exploitation of ordinary people by people who are powerful and rich. His passion was for inclusiveness and the creation of structures to enable all persons to participate in governance. This led to the establishment of structures that allowed ordinary Ghanaians to participate in the administration of the country," said the NDC. Rawlings died in the Ghanaian capital last Nov. 12, aged 73, after a short illness. Enditem Review of controversial case against Russian hematologist set for February TASS, Sergey Savostyanov 15:46 27/01/2021 MOSCOW, January 27 (RAPSI) The Moscow City Court has set reconsideration of a controversial case against well-known hematologist Elena Misyurina over the death of a patient for February 11, the courts press service has told RAPSI. According to case papers, in 2013, Misyrina conducted a diagnostic procedure, bone marrow trephine biopsy, for a patient, who died soon afterwards. A court found the doctor guilty of violating safety regulations that led to the patients death and sentenced her to 2 years behind bars in January 2018. Misyrina denied wrongdoing and her defense insisted that the procedure was not related to the tragedy. Misyrinas case caught public attention with many medical professionals expressing support for the defendant and saying that the procedure could not cause the patients death. Thus, as the Russian Presidents Council for Human Rights stated, over 600 doctors asked the body to intervene in this case. Following that, Misyurina was released from detention under travel restrictions. In April 2018, the Moscow City Court overturned the sentence because of violations committed during the investigation and returned the case to prosecutors. In late 2020, the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction invalidated the Moscow City Courts ruling. Merrill Gay helped his elderly mother, sequestered alone at home, make an appointment last week to get a coronavirus vaccination. Meanwhile, the thousands of child care workers who are members of the coalition he leads, the Early Childhood Alliance, have been told they will have to wait more than a month for their turn to make an appointment. A person living by themselves isnt really high risk, said Gay. Its really easy to slip into the, Oh yeah, old folks are more likely to die from this, as opposed to looking at the data and [asking], Well, demographically, are they really?' Older people are much more likely to die from COVID-19, and Gov. Ned Lamont and his administration have prioritized elderly residents for the COVID-19 vaccine. But the 65 and older age group in Connecticut is 84 percent white, compared to 67 percent statewide. For some, thats raised the question of whether the states plans to extend the COVID-19 vaccine to people 65 to 74 next adequately considers the other populations hit hardest by the virus: Black and Latino residents. Gays mom is white. Meanwhile, child care, grocery, and public transit workers groups who are disproportionately Black and Latino have been told they will have to wait at least another month to make an appointment, while those 65 and older get their shots. Those with underlying health conditions who are more harshly impacted by COVID also have to wait their turn, unless they are at least 65 years old. Patience remains the keyword: with 1.3 million CT residents [aged 65-74] and a limited supply of vaccine from the federal government, it will take time to vaccinate everyone eligible in this phase, reads the Lamont administrations bi-weekly vaccine update from Jan. 21. Advocates say distributing the vaccine strictly by age misses populations that are also at high risk. It has to be seen through a racial lens. It has to be seen through an equity lens, said Georgia Goldburn, who runs Hope Child Development Center in New Haven, whose staff are disproportionately Black and Latino and dont have the option to sequester at home if they want a paycheck. For me, its a much more nuanced conversation than whether its just an older person getting it versus a younger person getting it, she said. Any data that you look at that is basically using the same infrastructure to bring about a certain type of resources to the community, its always going to show the same result, its always going to point to the structural inequity, to the racial inequity thats built into the system. So Im not surprised that whatever structure mechanism that they have designed to make the vaccine available, that it is breaking out that white people are disproportionately receiving those vaccines, because thats how the system was set up to function and to operate.\ Age is used by the Lamont administration to determine vaccine eligibility because age is proportional to COVID mortality. While the risk of dying from COVID-19 increases strongly with age across all racial groups, it does not do so at the same rate. White residents aged 65 to 85 have lower mortality rates compared to their Black and Hispanic counterparts, a CT Mirror analysis found. A white, 65-year-old state resident has a similar rate of mortality to a 55-year-old Black person and a 60-year-old Hispanic resident. Gregg Gonsalves, assistant professor of epidemiology at Yale University, said the disparities in COVID-19 mortality rates among white, Black and Latino residents is predictable since data have long shown disparate access to health care and shorter life expectancies for minority populations. Were starting from a baseline thats not equal to begin with, he said. Nevertheless, Saad Omer, professor of epidemiology at Yale University, recommended prioritizing groups based on age, in part because explicit considerations of race in eligibility criteria are open to legal challenges. Race is not the only determinant of health outcomes, he said. If the state prioritized people with underlying conditions sooner, that would naturally make more people of color eligible, said Jennifer Tolbert, Kaiser Family Foundations director of state health reform. Lamont told reporters last week that sticking primarily to an age-based rollout is the most expeditious approach. If everybodys a priority, then nobodys a priority, Lamont, a Democrat, said. Weve got that prioritized based on age since thats easiest to administer and the most direct - and please be patient. Health experts point out, however, that prioritizing efficiency may come at the expense of distributing it equitably. There are certainly equity issues when it comes to access to the vaccine, said Tolbert of Kaiser Family Foundation, adding that targeting older populations can help ensure the hospitals also dont get overwhelmed with COVID patients. When you begin to include that younger adult population with high risk medical conditions, thats where you are more likely to start picking up more people of color, because we know that people of color are generally more likely [at younger ages] of contracting a severe case of COVID-19. Wizdom Powell, director of the UConn Health Disparities Institute, agrees. You might just presume that if you solve the problem for the 65-to-74-year-old age group, that youre somehow addressing the disparity issue. But youre actually missing a critical component, she said. Who has gotten the shot? To date, vaccinations have been made available to those who are at least 75 years old, living in nursing homes or assisted living centers, or are frontline health care workers. Some public school teachers also mistakenly got vaccinated. Overall, 8 percent of Connecticut residents have received the first round of the vaccine as of Monday afternoon, according to federal data. It is difficult to evaluate the vaccine distribution so far through an equity lens, however, because data for the race and ethnicity of vaccine recipients hasnt been released yet in Connecticut. If were going to continue to work on dismantling systemic and structural racism, we do need to look at how were disseminating the vaccine and really keep an eye on who is actually getting the vaccine, said Rev. Robyn Anderson, a pastor at Blackwell AME Zion Church in Hartford and a member of the governors advisory panel for the vaccine rollout. Is there diversity in those who are receiving the vaccine? And if theres not, people should be paying attention to that. The governors office did not respond to requests to discuss what they know about Black and Latino residents getting the vaccine, a timeline for when they will release data they are required to collect on which groups are receiving the shot, or the equity issues that some are concerned about with the states vaccine rollout. A rundown by the Kaiser Family Foundation of the vaccination patterns in the 17 states that have publicly reported data has found that vaccination patterns by race and ethnicity appear to be at odds with who the virus has affected the most. Data to understand access to and uptake of the vaccine by race/ethnicity and other demographic factors will be central to efforts to ensure equity. These data are necessary to move past color blind policies that reinforce systematic racism and inform decision makers on how to develop culturally responsive interventions and direct resources to ensure equitable distribution and uptake of the vaccine, the national health care think tank reported on Jan. 17. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires states and its partners who are delivering the vaccine to collect such data, and a spokeswoman for the federal agency said she expects the demographic data to be available to the public in the coming weeks. The state has released a breakdown of the ages of those who have received the vaccine so far as it prepares to open the door for people 65 and older in the coming weeks. That data show 21 percent of those over 85 have been vaccinated so far. Vaccine rollout across the U.S. While the federal government has provided guidance on which groups to prioritize, it has left to state leaders across the country the task of determining who gets to the front of the line for a vaccination. Lamont, who is 67 and intends to get vaccinated when access is expanded to his age group, has somewhat followed the federal recommendations on whom to open up vaccination for next. The CDCs Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices most recent recommendations, issued in December, recommend that after inoculating nursing home residents and those 75 and older, access be opened to grocery store, day care and other front line workers and then those who are at least 65. Those recommendations point out that COVID has disproportionately impacted minorities in those jobs, and the large share of those over age 75 years old living with much younger family members. For example, while only 4 percent of white people over age 75 live with someone from another generation, 18 percent of Latinos do. In early January, the Department of Health and Human Services under former President Donald Trump issued new guidance to states recommending they open vaccine availability to all people ages 65 and older and to those under 65 with high-risk medical conditions. This was done in an effort to speed up the number of people getting vaccinated. President Joe Biden more recently is encouraging states to open access to those over 65 and older first. A rundown by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that as of last Tuesday, 10 states have already opened access for younger adults with high-risk medical conditions. The think tank also found that the timeline to receive a vaccine for many - particularly frontline workers - will likely be extended. While expanding who is eligible to receive the vaccine may help to accelerate the pace in some cases, the limited supply of vaccine means many who are now eligible will continue to wait in line for an extended period of time. Connecticut has received approximately 50,000 doses each week, and The New York Times reported last week that the national supply is only expected to grow slightly through March because of lack of manufacturing capacity. In Connecticut, there are indications that wait times can be long. Gay, whose mother is 86 years old and is excited to get the shot, scheduled her appointment for a month out, as that was the only time available that wasnt at 6 a.m. and a long drive. Actress and Connecticut resident Mia Farrow directed a complaint to Lamont over Twitter for the two hours it took to register for a vaccine for mid-March. She eventually landed an appointment for February, but the vaccination site is two hours away from her home. Process is an unnecessarily complex labyrinth, she tweeted. Gonsalves, the epidemiologist at Yale, said access issues are starting to show for minorities across the country. Vaccine rollouts are slow, but also the inequities that we worried about are starting to be apparent around the country, he said. Data from some places is showing that people at highest risk of mortality are not the ones getting the vaccine. Pushback The states approach has frustrated some health experts and clergy, as well as the day care and grocery workers waiting their turn. Its a bit of a challenge to me that we simultaneously want to address the hesitancy of getting the vaccine in the communities of color, and at the same time were de-prioritizing them in some real ways in our decision making, said Tekisha Dwan Everette, executive director of Health Equity Solutions and a member of the governors advisory panel for the vaccine rollout. Everette is troubled by the decision to put child care workers and grocery store employees behind everyone 65 and older. It is a real problem, she said. I think this is a mistake. Anderson, the pastor in Hartford, agrees. Every day during the pandemic, they have been risking their lives. They should have been in the first group as frontline workers, said Anderson, who also co-founded the Ministerial Health Fellowship, a coalition of religious leaders pushing for health equity in the state. If you know there is a disproportionate number of people of color [in these jobs], why arent they at the forefront of getting this vaccine? There was an uptick last fall in COVID-19 infections in child care centers, providers were told by state officials. It is unclear just how many infections and deaths can be traced to child care facilities, grocery stores and other non-medical frontline services. Goldburns day care in New Haven has had to close once during the pandemic after an infection by an employee an accomplishment, she says, since her facility has remained open during the entire pandemic. Some grocery store workers are disheartened that they will have to wait, said Ron Petronella, the president of the union that represents thousands of grocery store workers and school bus drivers in the state. I would love it if our members could get the vaccine at the top of the line, that would be great. I mean, they should. They deal with the public every day. Theyre in the people business, and when youre in the people business in a pandemic, and youre not supposed to be around people. Through no fault of our own, were being infected, said Petronella, of U.F.C.W., Local 371. A couple of his members have contracted COVID and died, and many more have been infected, he said. His workers are disproportionately Black and Latino. His mom, who is white, has an appointment to get the vaccine next week. I wish everybody could get it tomorrow. Thats where Im at. I want to get it, he said, adding he doesnt believe anything nefarious is going on. But, I think by doing it by age, youre going to get that disparity. And is it fair? Probably not, because minorities and people of color are dying at a higher rate than white people. Overcoming barriers To ensure communities of color are not left behind, advocates say the state needs to get people of color feeling comfortable getting vaccinated and prioritize outreach to these communities. Without doing that, we stand to face what happened in Washington, D.C., where we saw that when the vaccine was open and available, white people were edging out all the appointments, said Everette, of Health Equity Solutions. It was very difficult for those who are Black or Latino to get appointments. I dont want to make this a race issue, because its not race thats the problem. Its racism. Its the context within which people dont have access readily to the internet, or that older people are retired and staying home while youll find more older African Americans and Latinos still in the workforce. How are we addressing equity in the process to ensure everyone has a fair and equitable chance to get their vaccine? I dont know that we have the answer right at this moment. The solution should include more aggressive outreach in communities of color, Anderson said, ensuring people know when theyre eligible to receive a vaccine and how to sign up. One of the things I really feel is that, especially as it relates to people of color, you need to have people on the ground, Anderson said. I know theyre doing all these seminars and webinars, which is wonderful, but somebodys got to be there, to go door to door, or come to gatherings where there are people of color. In New Haven, outreach has been non-existent, said Goldburn, head of the Hope Child Development Center. Many of her staff members are interested in being vaccinated, but she doesnt believe she will be signing up. Still, she has been looking for reasons to be persuaded otherwise. Goldburn said she is hesitant because of the long history of structural racism that has left her with little confidence in the health care system. Truthfully, racism is built into the system. The people who historically have had access to the resources, whether its financial, economic [or] health resources, have always been white versus Black, she said. And so if we continue to use the same structure and mechanism to try to get to people, were always going to have the same results, unless there is an equity lens thats built in. We hear people talking at the national level, at the state level, at the local level, that there has to be intentional outreach. Im not necessarily experiencing it. And I am actively searching out for that information. Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 20:48:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Crowds of people held a protest on Wednesday against the Kurdish militia siege of government-controlled zones in Syria's northeastern province of Hasakah, state news agency SANA reported. The people protested against the siege imposed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish security force, Assayish, which led to preventing the entry of food and other necessities to government areas in Hasakah. The students have also been denied access to their schools as a result of the siege that has been in place for two weeks. Citing its reporter in Hasakah, SANA said that the SDF opened fire to disperse the protesters with no reports on injuries yet. The SDF controls large swathes of Hasakah while the Syrian government controls a few areas in Hasakah, including the airport of the city of Qamishli. Recently, tension started brewing between both sides as the Syrian government has slammed in a statement the SDF due to their policies and the support they get from the U.S.. Enditem Mayor London Breed appointed San Franciscos economic development chief, Joaquin Torres, as the next assessor-recorder Wednesday the latest City Hall shakeup in the wake of a public corruption scandal that has forced a shuffling of top officials. Torres, who is director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, will step in for Carmen Chu, whom Breed appointed as city administrator this month. Chu takes over from Naomi Kelly, the current city administrator, who plans to step down Feb. 1 after prosecutors charged her husband in a multipronged bribery scheme that was first made public last year. The assessor-recorder is responsible for identifying and assessing all taxable property in San Francisco. The office identifies billions of dollars in property taxes for the citys coffers every year. Chu, a former San Francisco supervisor, was appointed assessor-recorder in 2013 by then-Mayor Ed Lee and has been affirmed by voters three times since then. Since its an elected position, Torres will have to run in June 2022 to keep the seat. We know that there are so many vulnerable members and homeowners out there, Torres said in an interview with The Chronicle. And they need to know that there is an advocate for them to provide transparency, clarity and consistency in our approach. Torres has led the citys Office of Economic and Workforce Development since 2018. During his tenure, the departments budget has grown approximately 35%, from $67 million to almost $92 million, as services for businesses and workers have expanded. He also helped implement Breeds Opportunities for All initiative, a program that expands youth employment in the city. Torres is currently president of the San Francisco Housing Authority Commission; an executive board member of the organization SPUR; and chair of the equity, diversity and inclusion committee for the American Conservatory Theater. It was not immediately clear if he would maintain those positions in his new role. As a lifelong public servant, Torres said the public corruption scandal is hard to watch. The scandal first came to light last year, when the FBI arrested former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru and charged him with fraud in connection with an alleged attempt to bribe an airport commissioner. Kellys husband, former San Francisco Public Utilities Commission General Manager Harlan Kelly, was charged with accepting bribes from a contractor. Naomi Kelly has not been charged with any crimes, and her husband said he will fight the charges. Torres said the scandals are fuel to do better work, deeper work and more committed work on behalf of the people. And its a reminder that people need to see government, especially in these times, acting in their best interests, he added. Torres will step away from OEWD at an extremely precarious time, as San Franciscos small businesses struggle to stay open during the pandemic and the city grapples with high unemployment. Since March, the city has provided $24 million in grants and loans to 1,230 small businesses hurt during the public health crisis. Still, many have closed for good. Torres who made $282,536 in salary and benefits in 2019, according to Transparent California said hes confident the office will be left in good hands. Chu made $259,227 in salary and benefits in 2019. Torres said it was his assumption that he would be taking a pay cut, but he will be working out those details in the days ahead. He will officially step down in a few weeks, which he said will give the mayor time to find an adequate replacement. Its like a relay race. Ive run a very powerful stretch, Torres said. Now its time for someone else who has been waiting to take the baton. Trisha Thadani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TrishaThadani The violence that broke out during Republic Day is what the Supreme Court had feared, but did not stop the farmers from protesting. After seeing what happened and the number of FIR's filed, further decisions of the Supreme Court are awaited. The violence which was seen during the tractor rallies on Republic Day came as a hindrance for the unions who have been agitating against the three farm laws. The farmer unions are resolved about continuing their protests and not go back home while trying to isolate the protest and the violence which took place on Tuesday. The farmer unions are set on not abandoning their plans of marching to the Parliament on Budget Day, but this may not be taken well by the government. After two months of peaceful protests on Delhis borders and 11 rounds of negotiations with the Central government, the farmer unions will find themselves under tight scrutiny due to the chaos which prevailed in Delhi on Republic Day. Delhi witnessed violent scenes as farmers participating in a tractor rally clashed with the police, broke barricades and stormed the Red Fort, and the police responded with tear gases and lathi charge. As authorities planned a crackdown to the violence that took place, there were many who were injured from the farmers side as well as the police. As many as twenty FIRs have been registered so far in connection with violence, said the Delhi Police. There were concerns from the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the Supreme Court about the R-Day tractor parade, but they were assured that the rally would stay peaceful. Also read: iTV Network journalists threatened, assaulted during farmer stir: NBF condemns attack Samkyukta Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of protesting unions, has called a meeting later today, to discuss the violence that broke out during the farmers tractor parade in the national capital. Before the Morcha meeting, representatives of 32 Punjab unions will also meet at the Singhu border to discuss. Also read: Violence marks farmers tractor rally: Time to probe foreign funding & vested interests 1. Yes. The public must have assurances that ethical standards are met by everyone. 2. Yes. As long as an independent board hears the grievances, its a worthwhile idea. 3. No. The concept is too broad. It should be limited to the citys elected officials. 4. No. There are plenty of stipulations in place already. An ordinance is a waste of time. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say without seeing how it would be structured and applied. Vote View Results A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. BOGOTA, Colombia, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The second phase of the Los Llanos photovoltaic power plant project developed and managed by Trina Solar in Colombia has been connected to the grid and the start of its commercial operations officially declared. The President of Colombia, Ivan Duque Marquez, cut the ribbon at the delivery ceremony on Jan 22. He expressed his gratitude to Trina Solar for its important contribution to the smooth grid connection of the project and said it will enable thousands of Colombian families to have safe, reliable and permanent energy. Colombia has made great strides in renewable energy, he said, and by next year the installed capacity of solar and wind energy in the country will have increased more than seven-fold. Phases one, two and three of the Los Llanos project, with total installed capacity of 82 MWp, have been developed by Trina Solar's International System Business Unit (ISBU). Trina Solar (Colombia), a wholly owned subsidiary of Trina Solar, provided EPC management services for this project. The first phase of the 27MWp megawatt project was completed and delivered to the grid in October. The second phase, involving grid connection, installed capacity of 27MWp megawatts and will generate 51 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, equivalent to the consumption of 23,800 households. It will help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 19,450 tons a year. The President of Trina Solar International System Business, Mr. You Hongming, said that having President Duque cut the ribbon was a great honor for the company. "The President's recognition of Trina Solar's contribution to Colombia's renewable energy business encourages us greatly. Trina Solar International System Business has worked on cultivating its activities in Latin America over many years, has accumulated a fantastic pipeline and built up a strong and experienced project execution team. Our team completed the second phase of the Los Llanos project and achieved grid connection in just four months, this is a remarkable achievement given the difficult circumstances resulted from COVID-19." The head of the Latin American North Region of Trina Solar International System Business, Ruben Borja, said: "President Duque's attendance at the ceremony adds to our confidence in the Colombian solar market. Our team is now giving its all to complete the fourth and fifth stages of the Los Llanos project, which will have installed capacity of about 52 MWp." The overall project will install more than 200,000 high-reliability, high-power dual-glass modules, coupled with Vanguard Tracker Solutions. The perfect adaptation of Trina Solar's dual-glass modules and the tracker system can reduce the levelized cost of energy and provide customers with high reliability, high-power generation and higher returns. As the leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, Trina Solar provides customers worldwide with a package of integrated solar energy solutions including products, power plants development, design, procurement and EPC management services. About Trina Solar Founded in 1997, Trina Solar is the world leading PV and smart energy total solution provider. The company engages in PV products R&D, manufacture and sales; PV projects development, EPC, O&M; smart micro-grid and multi-energy complementary systems development and sales, as well as energy cloud-platform operation. In 2018, Trina Solar launched the Energy IoT brand, established the Trina Energy IoT Industrial Development Alliance together with leading enterprises and research institutes in China and around the world, and founded the New Energy IoT Industrial Innovation Center. With these actions, Trina Solar is committed to working with its partners to build the energy IoT ecosystem and develop an innovation platform to explore New Energy IoT, as it strives to be a leader in global intelligent energy. In June 2020, Trina Solar listed on the STAR Market of Shanghai Stock Exchange. For more information, please visit www.trinasolar.com. SOURCE Trina Solar Related Links http://www.trinasolar.com Chief Medical Officer Dr. Malcom Barratt-Johnson joined Steve Darling from Proactive to share details about the private company with a focus on the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy and research. Dr. Barratt-Johnson talks about the origins of and about their recent news the company has done a reverse takeover of ME Resource Corp. In an event akin to a science-fiction movie, an ancient animal who was found extremely well-preserved in a permafrost region has been thawed and unveiled. The animal in question is young, woolly rhino found in the Siberian permafrost last year. It has been defrosted after being frozen for over 40,000 years! The specimen has been named Abyisky for now. However, it isnt clear whether Abyisky is a male or a female rhino, but we do know it lived and died between 25,000 and 40,000 years ago. Scientists in Yakutsk did an unveiling of the specimen for Russian press on Tuesday. The animal is 8-foot long and must have been an adolescent at the time of demise. It looks to be healthy, according to the preliminary reports. Dr Valery Plotnikov said that the level of preservation in this specimen was very unique. So far, the outer layer of the rhinos physiology was only assumed based on ancient cave paintings like those in France. But this discovery shows that it really did have thick hazel-coloured hair on its body, a feature absent from modern rhinos. These cold weather dwelling rhinos had a fur coat to protect them, like the woolly mammoths of ancient age had thick coats, but not in present day relatives like the elephants. These winter rhinos once populated a large part of what is today known as Russia and extended in Europe as far as England. He also observed that the young rhino must have been very well-fed at the moment it died. However, official carbon-dating of the specimen has not been performed yet, thats why a rough estimate of a few thousand years is given as its life. Another specimen discovered at the same site in 2014 was carbon dated and revealed to be 35,000 years old. The preservation is so fine that they were able to detect fat under the skin (which has now turned into powder). At the same site, a horn from another rhino was discovered in August 2020 as a local resident accidently stumbled upon it. The scientists assess the poor teenaged rhino was chased into a body of water, probably by ancient predators, where it drowned and died. It might have been attacked as well. According to Siberian Times, death by drowning was a regular phenomenon in those icy times, known as Karginsky Interglacial Period. During this time, temperatures got comparatively warmer than the previous age. As the soil defrosted, it created many swamps where animals often got stuck in the cracks and drowned. This way, many well-preserved fossils have been discovered in such regions. Freeform/Art StreiberSince sibling duo Chloe x Halle decided to split their Instagram accounts last week, Chloe has been baring it all and her one million followers love it. On Wednesday, Chloe shared a seductive video of herself dancing to Jeremih's single, "F*** You All The Time" to celebrate her solo Instagram milestone. "a special performance for all of you," wrote Chloe in the caption. "THANK YOU for all your love and support. lets celebrate together in reaching 1Million followers." Chloe received tons of praise for her sexy performance in the post's comments from Kehlani, Justine Skye, Tamar Braxton and more. "My mouth is on the floor," wrote actress Stormy Reid. "I had to come back. Good God." Chloe's sister Halle has 626K Instagram followers as of Wednesday. Fans are not exactly sure why the girls decided to split accounts but they enjoy getting to know the girls separately. Chloe also shared a photo of herself in the studio with Atlanta rap crooner 6lack. The 22-year-old could be adding vocals to one of 6lack's new songs or working on her first solo single. But fans don't care either way. "IDK if this is a collaborator or a relationship but I'm here for both," wrote one fan in the comments," while another said, "Chloe Bailey is getting her bag." By Rachel George Copyright 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. A Liberal MP has been trolled by Australians stranded overseas after innocently asking her Instagram followers what they were doing for their summer weekend. Katie Allen, the member for Higgins in Melbourne, shared snaps of her sunset beach picnic on Saturday evening. She posed the question: 'What are you doing this summer weekend?' But her honest question and humble brag seemingly frustrated a handful of Australians still stuck overseas thanks to Covid-19. A Liberal MP has been trolled by Australians stranded overseas after innocently asking her Instagram followers what they were doing for their summer weekend Katie Allen, the member for Higgins in Melbourne, shared snaps of her sunset beach picnic on Saturday evening. She posed the question: 'What are you doing this summer weekend?' There are almost 40,000 Australians stranded overseas because of quarantine caps and limited seats on flights. 'I am staying stranded in Mexico where Covid is out of control as I am one of the 38,000 your government have left stranded. Thanks for asking,' one comment read. 'Stuck overseas. Bring us home. Lift the caps. Increase arrival numbers,' another said. A third wrote: 'Marking 13 months since seeing my family in Australia! Glad you are enjoying yourself though.' Another Instagram user said they were trying to work extra shifts so they can save $10,000 to pay for a repatriation flight ticket. 'Do spare a thought, won't you, while you enjoy your picnic, for all the Australians who are now left stranded in other countries?' An additional comment read, with the hashtag 'bring Aussies home'. Ms Higgin's question seemingly frustrated a handful of Australians still stuck overseas thanks to Covid-19 The Instagram post and its comments were shared in a Facebook group for Australians stranded overseas, where citizens write of their plight to get home. Following the last National Cabinet meeting on January 22, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the international passenger arrival cap would return to previous levels on February 15. The government halved international arrival caps in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia on January 8 to manage the flow of returning Australians potentially exposed to new coronavirus strains. 'Current international passenger caps in Victoria and South Australia and arrangements in the Northern Territory are considered manageable and will remain in place,' the national cabinet said in a statement at the time. Dr Allen said she encourages all Australians stuck overseas to contact their local member of Parliament directly through their electorate office to ensure they can be assisted. Pictured: A passenger wearing a face shield and face mask having recently arrived from Hong Kong walks to a hotel quarantine bus at Sydney International Airport on January 8 'I personally remained available 24/7 over the Christmas and holiday period to help constituents who needed my assistance in returning home,' she said in a statement to Daily Mail Australia. 'Over 448,000 Australians have returned to Australia since the government recommended that people reconsider the need to travel abroad in March 2020 - 72,000 Australians have returned since September 2020.' Dr Allen said further government-facilitated flights to support the return of Australians stuck overseas are planned in the coming weeks. 'DFAT has expanded its financial assistance program to make available further emergency funds for the most vulnerable Australian citizens overseas,' she said. 'This support is intended to assist Australians in financial distress due to Covid-19 to purchase return flights to Australia where this is possible, including where prices have increased, or to shelter in place while they await an available flight to Australia.' A Chinese woman who was on a working holiday visa in Australia when she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer could die if she tries to see her family again. Xuemin 'Mia' Chen had been living and working on an idyllic island in Queensland for two years when she suddenly started feeling sick in December - just before she planned to travel around Australia. The doctor on the island gave her a prescription but it didn't help - her cough continued to worsen until she was in so much pain three weeks later she could barely move. Baffled GPs sent the 30-year-old for tests in Brisbane when, on January 6, medical staff made the shocking discovery that the otherwise fit and healthy non-smoker was riddled with cancer. Pictured: Xuemin 'Mia' Chen before she was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer in Brisbane Pictured: Mia in hospital while being treated for stage 3 lung cancer. She can't fly home to China because she could die on the plane 'At first I couldn't accept it,' Ms Xuemin wrote in a heartfelt Facebook post. 'I couldn't stop crying what I wanted to do was going back to China to meet my family I was so afraid that I would die here soon cause the cancer already spread.' Upon hearing the cancer had spread to other organs, the waitress immediately tried to go home to her family in China but was told she might die on the plane. Lung cancer patients are sometimes unable to fly due to low oxygen levels and an increased risk of deep vein thrombosis - when blood clots form deep inside the body, slowing or stopping blood flow. Pictured: Mia in hospital while being treated for lung cancer. She has drained her saving paying for treatment Pictured: A scan of Mia's lungs showing the cancer. The disease spread quickly to her other organs Stuck and scared, Ms Xuemin said her world 'collapsed' around her. 'I didn't even know why I had the cancer, I never smoke at all. The doctor said I was just not lucky,' she wrote. Faced with no other option, the woman was admitted to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital and started radiation. Since her situation is so severe that, on Wednesday, doctors decided to give her radiotherapy free-of-charge. While the radiation is free for the moment, her friend Camila Flores told Daily Mail Australia that medication and time in hospital can costing Ms Xuemin up to $7,000 per month. 'She has savings but it's not enough, and her insurance company said they won't cover any of it,' the 28-year-old said. Pictured: Camila Flores (left) and Xuemin 'Mia' Chen (right) eating ice cream on a tropical island in Queensland Pictured: Ms Xuemin (pictured bottom right) with friends at Christmas in Queensland 'Mia is getting better with medicine, but the problem is now pressure on her spine ... She can't walk properly, and doctors aren't sure what to do because treatment is very expensive.' While Ms Flores said medical staff are working to find cheaper alternatives, they are unable to treat her spine because Ms Xuemin can't afford it. Her family in China also don't have the money to help, but Ms Xuemin is trying to apply for special exemptions to allow her parents to fly in to Australia. Sick with worry, Ms Flores set up a Go Fund Me page to help pay for treatment. 'She was really embarrassed to ask for help, especially because so many people have had a hard year with Covid, but she is very grateful for all the donations,' Ms Flores said. Pictured: Ms Xuemin (right) with flatmates while on a working holiday visa in Australia Mia grew confident that she could beat the illness. Left: A scan of her lungs. Right: skin discolouration due tot he illnes As Ms Xuemin started fighting the disease, she realised she could potentially recover. Ms Xuemin is pictured bottom right, with friends from the island 'All the money collected will pay for the hospital, medical tests, medicine, treatment and everything she could need during and after her stay in the hospital.' As Ms Xuemin started fighting the disease, she realised she could potentially recover. 'I feel lucky to have had a great and professional medical team, who have been giving me great tests and treatment, the doctors are very nice and giving me the confidence to get better,' she wrote on Facebook. 'I will be positive and strong,I'm not afraid anyone. I believe I can pull through.' Ms Xuemin thanked everyone who has helped raise more than $35,000 so far. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The visit of Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif to Armenia is a good occasion for developing the Armenian-Iranian relations, Experts on Iranian studies Aharon Vardanyan and Vardan Voskanyan said in an interview to Armenpress, commenting on the purpose of the Iranian FMs visit and the actions to be taken by the Armenian side. Commenting on the Iranian FMs visits to Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia, as well as Irans interest to the Nagorno Karabakh issue, Aharon Vardanyan said its natural because Iran is trying to understand how it is going to build its relations in the region in these new circumstances. The fact that Iran is currently showing such interest is very normal. Iran is trying to understand how it is going to build its relations in this new geopolitical environment, in this region and is making clarifications for itself. I think that during the visit there can also be proposals on economic and political directions. For instance, Iran can propose the renovation of the north-souths Syunik section or discuss the railway issue, try to understand the joint interests and the treats, he said. In his turn Vardan Voskanyan also stated that Iran is showing a great interest towards the ongoing actions around Nagorno Karabakh. It seems, the Iranian side is showing an interest to be a participant of the process. Currently, in fact, there are two formuts the Minsk Group, which, unfortunately, is passive at this stage, and should become more active, because it derives from the interests of Armenia and also the Russian side, and the second format is the Russian-Turkish one. Here there are problems as well, the Russian side is trying to limit the Turkish presence as much as possible, and Iran, of course, has a goal to change the Russian-Turkish format into a trilateral format and have its place. But to what extent it will succeed is difficult to say at this moment. Iranians, it seems, are also interested in having some participation to the peacekeeping processes, he said. According to expert Aharon Vardanyan, the relations between Armenia and Iran of the past three years have become passive, but he states that the visit of the Iranian FM is a good chance to discuss the projects of the bilateral agenda. We must be able to push forward our agenda. The situation in the Armenian-Iranian relations in the past three years is calm, and now both the previous projects can either be implemented or updated, but also new ones can be proposed. The Armenian-Iranian relations are so multi-layered that one visit is not enough for covering them. There is a lot to discuss. But this visit can be used for discussing the issue of the opening of Tabriz consulate, Vardanyan said. According to Vardan Voskanyan, Armenia should discuss with Iran the provision of a direct communication, taking into account the Armenian-Iranian border and the opportunities of the Syunik province. He said after the recent Artsakh War, Iran views South Caucasus as a key matter, and in the general context Armenia has become more vital for Armenia, which should be used. He stated that during Zarifs visit the issue of the Armenian prisoners of war who are in Azerbaijan must also be raised in order to achieve its solution. I think that all channels must be used for releasing our prisoners of war, so in this context works should be done also with the Iranian side so that we can use all our tools. It is also a humanitarian problem, Azerbaijan is using our civilians as hostages, this issue should be raised at different platforms in order to be solved, Vardan Voskanyan said. The Iranian Foreign Minister has started a regional visit. On January 25 he visited Azerbaijan and then Russia. Today he is visiting Armenia where a meeting with the leadership is scheduled. Interview by Norayr Shoghikyan Editing and Translating by AnetaHarutyunyan New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday (January 27, 2021) said that it has filed FIRs against people involved in the violence in the national capital during farmers' tractor rally on January 26. Delhi Police has also held over 200 people in this connection and has so far registered 22 FIRs. "Those detained will be arrested soon," the Delhi Police said. The FIR has been filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 395 (dacoity), 397 (robbery, or dacoity, with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt), and 120B (punishment of criminal conspiracy). The rioters have reportedly robbed many artefacts that were kept inside Red Fort. Meanwhile, ANI reported that Delhi Police has also filed an FIR against farmer leaders Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil and Joginder Singh Ugraha for breach of the NOC issued regarding farmers' tractor rally. "FIR also mentions the name of BKU spox Rakesh Tikait," ANI quoted Delhi Police as saying. Yogendra Yadav has also been reportedly booked. Notably, thousands of farmers breached barriers to storm Delhi on Tuesday during their tractor parade. Farmers also hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort. According to Delhi Police, over 300 policemen sustained injuries. This is to be noted that the permission to hold the rally was given on specific routes and after the Republic Day 2021 celebrations conclude at the Rajpath, but Delhi Police PRO Eish Singhal told PTI news agency that the protesters violated conditions fixed for the rally. "The farmers began tractor rally before the scheduled time, they also resorted to violence and vandalism," PTI quoted Singhal as saying. The violence also led the Centre to snap the internet services temporarily in some parts of Delhi. The government's order said that the suspension of services was necessary for maintaining public safety and averting a public emergency. Live TV (CNN) President Joe Biden on Monday reinstated the COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-US citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom and much of Europe. Biden also extended the restrictions to travelers who have recently been to South Africa. The step, which was first reported by Reuters, came just one week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in his final days in office lifting the restrictions on travelers from these countries effective January 26. "The entry into the United States, as immigrants or nonimmigrants, of noncitizens who were physically present within the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe), the Republic of Ireland, and the Federative Republic of Brazil during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States, is hereby suspended," the proclamation read in part. The proclamation is in effect for people who do not fall under a number of exceptions spelled out in the order. The Biden transition team had vowed the new administration would not lift the restrictions. "With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," then-incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter. "On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19." The decision to reinstate the travel restrictions and expand restrictions in the case of South Africa marks the latest effort by the Biden administration to break from Trump's discursive approach to the pandemic as cases continue to climb nationwide. Biden said on his first full day in office on Thursday his strategy would be "based on science, not politics" as he signed a slate of coronavirus-related executive actions, including ramping up vaccination supplies and requiring international travelers to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test prior to traveling to the US. Many of the countries that would have been impacted by Trump's order have their own recent requirements for American travelers looking to enter their borders. US travelers must have a negative COVID-19 test from within 72 hours prior to travel into the United Kingdom or Ireland, and in conjunction with proof of a completed Declaration of Traveler's Health to enter Brazil. American travelers generally cannot enter countries such as Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Sweden without meeting specific requirements. This story has been updated to include additional information. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden reinstates Covid-19-related travel restrictions lifted by Trump." As a 4-year-old, Brad Parks was so ravenous for "The Monster at the End of This Book" that his older brother - facing endless requests to read the story - finally recorded a version on an audio cassette. For Parks, now an accomplished author, the book was a formative introduction to suspense. "The fact is," he says, "I am 46 years old, I write thrillers for adults, and in some ways all I've ever tried to do is replicate 'The Monster at the End of This Book.' There is a monster at the end of all of my novels, and I want you to feel this unbearable compulsion to turn pages and find out what it is." Parks is far from the only one to get hooked on the story. The book, featuring Grover from "Sesame Street," was published by Little Golden Books in 1971, and 50 years later nearly 13 million copies of various editions have been sold. "But that Little Golden Book - that classic, the way it first came out - is the one that continues to just sell and sell and sell," says Mallory Loehr, a senior vice president at Random House who oversees its imprints for young readers. It's one of the top-10 selling Little Golden Books of all time. A decade-old interactive app version has been downloaded more than half a million times and is among the most popular book apps. Last fall, HBO Max released an animated special based on the book, giving sales another bump. All of that has made "The Monster at the End of This Book" an unlikely constant, at a rarefied height, though it still chases the iconic status of picture books such as "The Cat in the Hat," "Goodnight Moon" and "Where the Wild Things Are." And the book's long tail of influence is out of proportion with its 24 pages and its cardboard cover devoid of medallions. It's come to be regarded as an evolutionary step in children's metafiction, nudging further the creation of stories that "demystify bookmaking for children and invite them to sort of get their hands dirty," says children's book historian Leonard Marcus. On the title page, Grover is bored and already peeling the corner of the page to move on. But then, realizing what the title says, Grover panics: He's afraid of monsters, he says. He begins to unravel, pleading with the reader not to turn pages, and attempts to block the way with ropes, planks and bricks. At the end of the book - half-century-old spoiler alert - there is only himself, "lovable, furry old Grover," a blue monster feeling sheepish about being scared. The book was written by Jon Stone, one of the creators of "Sesame Street." Stone helped bring pioneering puppeteer Jim Henson and songwriter Joe Raposo to the show. He wrote the pilot episode, envisioned the rough-around-the-edges look of the early set and helped create core characters. For more than two decades, he guided the series, variably, as a writer, director and producer. He also helped write the pilot for what would become "The Muppet Show." "No matter how good your job is, mine is better," Stone told a Washington Post reporter in 1989. Likely in late 1970 or early '71, during "Sesame Street's" second season, Stone boarded a cross-country flight with a yellow legal pad and an anxious mind (he hated flying). By the time the wheels kissed the tarmac in California, his two daughters say, he'd written "The Monster at the End of This Book." Illustrator Michael Smollin, whose expressive style brought the book to life, was a former advertising executive who'd gone on to do illustrations for such publications as TV Guide, Time magazine and a number of Sesame Street books. Among the books, he and Stone made a sequel, "Another Monster at the End of This Book" (1996), and the clever Grover books "Hide and Seek" (1976) and "Resting Places" (1984). Stone died of complications of ALS in 1997 at 65. Smollin died in 2010 at 85. "I remember seeing [the manuscript] and saying, 'Oh my god, this is wonderful,'" says Christopher Cerf, a prolific "Sesame Street" songwriter who arrived in 1970 to create a division for developing books and other products that might help fund the show. Even at 39 cents apiece, he says, the book's fast success helped establish publishing as a promising revenue stream for "Sesame Street." And it set off a wave of inspiration. "This is a brilliant idea perfectly executed," says Mac Barnett, a bestselling children's book author who romps the wilds of metafiction in the books "Chloe and the Lion" and "How This Book Was Made." "Once you have that title and that ending, you're like: 'Alright, here we go!' And that's what it feels like to read it, too. It's just a rocket ship." The book is part of a long trajectory in children's literature - including such contemporary bestsellers as Mo Willems' "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus," Herve Tullet's "Press Here" and B.J. Novak's "The Book With No Pictures" - that explores the nature of fiction by playing with form and imbuing the story with self-awareness. "The Monster at the End of This Book" landed between two well-known mile markers in that line, says Marcus, the children's book historian: Crockett Johnson's 1955 book "Harold and the Purple Crayon," in which the character illustrates the story as he goes, and the 1992 book "The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales," a fever-dream sendup of classic stories that leaves no element of bookmaking unspoiled. (The first tale ends abruptly when the book's table of contents falls into it, squashing the characters.) Lane Smith, who created that book with Jon Scieszka, says that when he came across Stone's book in the early 1980s, after art school, "it just entered my bloodstream. ... It was just an epiphany that you could do this with a book." For many working in picture books, he says, "it gave us license to break the fourth wall." "The Monster at the End of This Book" helped popularize such ideas, even if scholars don't always give it credit. As a TV tie-in and a Little Golden Book, it didn't necessarily get the attention it deserves, according to Philip Nel, an English professor at Kansas State University who studies metafiction and postmodernism in children's literature. Those factors might keep a book from being "regarded as art with a capital A," he says, as opposed to books with original characters, thicker paper and dust jackets. But the low cost and grocery-aisle availability of the book, along with the instantly recognizable charm of TV's Grover, primed it for takeoff. Then, an expertly engineered story shot it into orbit. Not only is Grover addressing the child, but what he's asking them to do is also empowering and alluringly counterintuitive. "Generally, there's a set of assumptions: We start at the beginning, we go to the end," Nel says. "This one, right at the beginning, says, 'Please don't go to the end.' Right away it's saying: 'Are you sure you want to do that? ... Could we maybe not?'" The storytelling may seem unorthodox, but testing boundaries is a part of daily life for a preschooler. "I think that we can mistake metafiction as sort of a highbrow, beard-strokey thing, but actually it's just rough-and-tumble play with the rules of literature," says Barnett, the children's book author. "And kids are eager to engage in that kind of play. It's what they do all the time." What separates this book from "a lot of lifeless copies," he says, is that "around this really exciting intellectual framework, there's an emotional core. . . . Grover is afraid in this book. It's emotion that's driving us forward." Stone's book inspired people outside publishing, too, which surprised him, his daughters say. People mailed him sermons squeezed from the tiny volume, and at least one doctoral thesis. "Dad was amazed by how many people connected to the book [on] so many levels," says his younger daughter, Kate Lucas, a rancher in Wyoming. "I don't think there was a higher message for adults in there. ... I really think the interactive part was what he was getting at." "He was not somebody who loved delving deeply into the metacognition of a children's book," says her older sister, Polly Stone, a teacher and school librarian in Vermont. "He just wanted it to bring huge joy and learning to the kids." And it brought joy to him, too. "He loved it. He loved reading it to kids. He gave it to everybody," she says. "He was magical with children." - - - Freedman's writing has appeared in The Washington Post Magazine, the New York Times and the Associated Press, among other publications. The death has occurred of Cormac Enright Cloughadoolarty North, Fedamore, Limerick. Cormac, died (peacefully) at Milford Care Centre. Very deeply regretted by his loving wife Kathleen, sons Patrick, Gerard, Dermot and Brendan, grandchildren Gearoid, Caoimhe and Aoife, brothers Father Liam, Thomas, Seamus and Sean, sisters Margaret, Mary and Josephine, extended family and large circle of friends. Cormac's Funeral cortege will leave his residence on Thursday (January 28th) at 11.10am on route to St. John the Baptist Church, Fedamore, for a private Requiem Mass, for family only, at 11.30am. Funeral afterwards to Taylor's Cross Cemetery, Fedamore. In compliance with the current HSE guidelines, the funeral will be limited to 10 people. Please ensure social distancing and public health advice is adhered to. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the condolence section below or cards and letters of sympathy can be sent to Cross' Funeral Directors, Ballyneety, Co. Limerick. House strictly private Family flowers only. Donations, if desired, to Milford Care Centre. May He Rest in Peace ---------- The death has occurred of Christina (Chrissie) Kennedy (nee Power) Ballywinterrourke, Rathkeale, Limerick Peacefully in Milford Care Centre surrounded by her loving family. Predeceased by her husband Mark. Deeply regretted by her loving children James, Anne, John, PJ and Brendan, daughters-in-law Martina and Paula, sister-in-law Marie, grandchildren Mark, Siobhan, Elaine, Ellen, Orla, Sean, Ruth and Lucy, nephews, nieces, relatives, kind neighbours and many friends. Arriving at St.Mary's Church Rathkeale this Friday January 29th for 1130am Requiem Mass. Burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. (For those wishing to pay their respects to the family, the funeral cortege will be leaving her residence in Ballywinterrourke at 11am approx) In compliance with current Covid guidelines, Chrissie's Funeral Mass will be restricted to family only. Sympathies may be expressed by using the condolence link below or by post to O'Grady Funeral Directors, Ballingarry, Co. Limerick. Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time. May Her Gentle Soul Rest In Peace ---------- The death has occurred of Helena Deely (nee Ryan) Drumcondra, Dublin / Kilmallock, Limerick on 27th January 2020 (peacefully) at home. Helena (Eileen) beloved wife of the late Joseph and loving mother of Matt and Breda. Sadly missed by her loving family, daughter-in-law Catherine, grandchildren Seonaid, Caoilfhinn, Micheal, nephew Dominic, niece Maria, cousins Ellen and Mary, relatives and friends. A private family funeral will take place, due to Government advice regarding public gatherings. Those who would have liked to attend the funeral, but owing to current restrictions, cannot, may leave a personal message in the Condolences section below. For live-streaming on Saturday (30th January) at 10 oclock, please visit the following link: https://www.churchservices.tv/drumcondra ---------- The death has occurred of Frank GRACE Limerick, Gibraltar & UK. Passed away in University Hospital Limerick on Wednesday 27th January 2021 whilst staying with family for Christmas and New Year. Beloved husband of the late Maria Luisa (Gibraltar). Sadly missed by his sons Malcolm &, Jonathan, his daughter Charmaine, grandchildren Daniel, Shannon, Rhyanon, Erin, Lewis, & great-grandson Hudson. Son-in-law Kevin, by Elaine, David and David. His nieces, nephews and cousins & friends in Gibraltar, his nieces, nephews and sister-in-law in America. His relatives in Gibraltar, Limerick and America, and his many friends in Gibraltar, Limerick, Kilkishen, Taunton UK, New Zealand and Kilkee. Pre-deceased by his daughter-in-law Maria. Rest in Peace. Memorial Service, for family only, will take place in Shannon Crematorium on Saturday (30th January) at 2pm and will be live streamed. (Link to follow) Family flowers only; donations, if desired to charity of your choice. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the rip.ie condolences section (below), through the death notices section of our website: www.griffinfunerals.com or by post to Griffins Funeral Home. ----------- The death has occurred of Margaret (Peggy) LINNANE (nee Heffernan) Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick City, Limerick Formerly of Flood Street, Killalee, Limerick. Peggy died peacefully, in Athlunkard Nursing Home. Beloved wife of the late John. Sadly missed by her sisters Anne & Mary, step-children Anne, Vincent & Margie, sister-in-law Eileen, brothers-in-law Pat & Pat, nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Pre-deceased by her siblings Eamonn, Seamus, Kitty & Tom. Rest in Peace. Requiem Mass in St. Johns Cathedral on Friday (Jan. 29th) at 11am for family only and will be streamed live. (Click here to View Mass) Funeral afterwards to Mount St. Lawrence Cemetery. Messages of sympathy may be expressed through the rip.ie condolences section (below), through the death notices section of our website: www.griffinfunerals.com or by post to Griffins Funeral Home. ---------- To pay your respects and to leave a message of condolence, click here Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Banville Wine Merchants welcomed 2021 with a strong investment in personnel resources affirming its commitment to continued growth. On January 18th, the family-owned company established in 2004, announced several internal promotions as well as two new additions to the organization. In the wake of a challenging 2020, investments in infrastructure illustrate the company's plans to strengthen its roots in fine wine marketing and distribution. Lia Tolaini-Banville, owner of Banville, appointed Simone Luchetti President of Banville Wine Merchants. Luchetti, formerly Vice President of Finance & Operations, began working with the family in 2011 at Tolaini Winery in Tuscany. In 2013 Luchetti moved to New York to join Banville Wine Merchants and has been central in guiding the company on its steady, upward trajectory. Salvatore Napolitano, previously Director of Sales of New York and New Jersey has been appointed Vice President of Italian Portfolio. Going forward Napolitano will be focused on seeking out new supplier partners with the intent to expand Banville Wine Merchant's Italian footprint in the US. Gina DellaVedova has been named Vice President of National Sales and will have an active role in Marketing, Public Relations and Communication initiatives. DellaVedova's efforts will be in overseeing a team of eight regional managers and propelling growth in 43 states with the national distribution network. Mike Papaleo returns to Banville Wine Merchants as Vice President of Sales for New York and New Jersey. In 2010, Papaleo was a vital part of the creation of the Banville Wine Merchants' New York Wholesale Company. Papaleo's focus will be on expanding the wholesale operation in New York and New Jersey . Amanda Page has been named Vice President of MidAtlantic Sales. Page began as Sales Manager with Banville Wine Merchants in 2017 when the Washington DC Wholesale company was formed. Under her leadership the MidAtlantic has quickly become an important wholesale market for Banville Wine Merchants. Christy Vaughan, Marketing Manager at Banville Wine Merchants since 2005, has been appointed Director of Media. Vaughan's focus will be to broaden Banville Wine Merchants digital presence as an expert in digital media. Christina Comito joins Banville Wine Merchants as Public Relations and Brand Strategy Manager with the aim to build upon Banville Wine Merchants image and collaborate on innovative go-to-market strategies for producers in the portfolio. Lia Tolaini-Banville will continue to helm the ship as she maintains an active role in producer relations, strategic marketing and business development. "Although 2020 was a challenging year, we have our eye on the future and are planning for continued growth, now is the time to invest. I have always believed this business is about fine wine, but it is also about great people. I'm extremely proud of everyone on our team." Lia Tolaini Banville About Banville Wine Merchants Banville Wine Merchants is a National Importer of fine wine, artisanal beer and craft spirits with Wholesale companies in New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Virginia and Oregon. Founded in 2004 with deep roots in Italy, today Banville Wine Merchants represents meticulously selected wineries and distilleries from top producing regions around the world that share a common belief in integrity, quality, authenticity and family. For more information, visit www.banvillewine.com. Press Contact: Christina Comito -- Public Relations and Brand Strategy Banville Wine Merchants [email protected] SOURCE Banville Wine Merchants Related Links https://www.banvillewine.com Indian Neighbour, Himalayan Nation, Nepal launched its largest immunisation campaign on Wednesday, January 27 with its first coronavirus vaccinations for medical workers, after a gift of one million doses from India. A doctor at a teaching hospital in the Nepal capital, Kathmandu, became the first recipient of the Covid 19 vaccine and inoculated by masked and gowned staff. Dinesh Kafle, 50, the first recipient after his jab, said, We have a new weapon now and I hope we will be able to defeat the coronavirus soon". Tens of thousands of Nepals frontline health workers are in the queue to receive Indias AstraZeneca vaccine, caretaker Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said as the drive began. Oli added, We are in talks with India to procure more vaccines at a proper price". India said it would give millions of vaccine doses to its South Asian neighbours, warm welcomed move and drawing their praise in what could prove a pushback against Chinas activities in the region. Nepal's another neighbour China which has promised Nepal to deal with pandemic is still waiting for its vaccine, Sinopharm shots. The demand for vaccines in the countries, desperate to revive their tourism-dependent economies, has offered Prime Minister Narendra Modis government a way to claw back ground, diplomats felt. With a population of more than 30 million, Nepals tally of infections stands at 270,092, with 2,017 deaths. Covishield vaccine dosages to be dispatched to Nepal, Bangladesh today India to send vaccine doses to neighbouring countries amid epidemic crisis Nepal gives permission to use Indian Vaccine Covishield People living in parts of Noida and Delhi-NCR are facing internet connectivity issues today. Following the lawlessness that unfolded at the farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day, the Union Home Ministry suspended internet services at the Singhu border, Tikri border, Ghazipur border, Mukarba Chowk and Nangloi, which were the flashpoints of the tractor rally violence that took place yesterday. The MHA did not lay down the kind of internet services - mobile or home broadband - but users are finding it difficult to access internet across large parts of Delhi-NCR. The suspension of internet facilities in areas closer to farmers protest sites is likely to be extended if the situation remains tense. The government has invoked the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017 "in the interest of public safety and averting public emergency to suspend internet services in areas closer to farmers protest sites." Telecom networks like Airtel, Jio, Vi, and BSNL have informed their subscribers that internet services have been suspended till further notice. An SMS by a telecom operator read, "As per the government instructions, the internet services have been temporarily stopped in your area because of which you are not able to use these services. You will be able to use the internet services once we get directions from the government." A telecom analyst told BusinessToday.In, "The internet services are essential for mobilising crowds on a large scale. Today, we saw the situation went out of control after protests turned violent. Till the government is not comfortable with the law and order situation, the internet services are not coming back." Internet services were last suspended during the anti-CAA protests in Delhi in December 2019. Telecom operators had then suspended all services including voice and SMS for four hours- 09:00 am to 01:00 pm on December 19, 2019. Also read: WHO meet: World close to defeating Covid-19, says Harsh Vardhan Also read: Tractor rally violence: 300 policemen injured, 22 cases filed, says police In the last story, we began learning the very intriguing story of a young woman in Plainview, Evelyn Williams, who married a mysterious glider pilot named Gene in the late summer of 1942. Beverly Dagley Yeager said that her aunt, Peggy (nee Williams) Bain, might have some valuable information to provide about Beverlys mom, Evelyn, and a glider pilot named Gene who trained at Finney Field. Peggy Bain did indeed have some brief information about Gene who was married for one day to her older sister, Evelyn Williams, Beverlys mom. Bain said that their mom quickly had it annulled when she discovered that Gene was married to another woman. Peggy Williams Bain was 9 years old and Evelyn, her oldest sister, was 19 years old when all this happened. Bain recalled meeting Gene once at the family home and that he was wearing his glider pilot uniform when he came over. So, on June 27, 2019, with nothing more to go on than Evelyn Williams name and an unknown glider pilot named Gene, Peggy Williams Bain and this historical author began searching through the Hale County archives looking at marriage and annulment records. Eventually, Bain and this reporter found what they were looking for: an entry stating that Evelyn Reed had filed for divorce from Eugene Reed on March 17, 1943. Although no maiden name was listed for Evelyn Reed, it seemed highly likely that Evelyn and Eugene were the two persons sought in the search. An email was sent to Charles Day, national secretary of the National WWII Glider Pilots Association. Day resides in Michigan. He maintains a very large database of the U.S. glider pilots in the Second World War and has a very large cache of photographs from that period too. Day replied with a report on Eugene Reed, which provided more information about him. The report from Charles Day stated that Eugene Reed completed his advanced glider pilot training at Stuttgart, Arkansas on February 3, 1943. He graduated in class 43-3. Given this information about a glider pilot named Eugene Reed, it seemed very likely that he was the man who was married briefly to Evelyn Williams in 1942. Reed should have completed his dead stick primary glider pilot training at Breedloves Plainview Pre-glider School at Finney Field in four weeks, the usual time for pre-glider training. Since he was married to Evelyn on August 10, 1942, his training at Finney Field should have been concluded by late September. Clent Breedlove began operations at Finney Field on June 1, 1942. So, Eugene Reed was in one of the earlier classes of glider pilots training at the dead stick school there. Finney Field was the original Plainview Municipal Airport and was located six miles north of town. According to records discovered at the Hale County Courthouse, the City of Plainview and Hale County leased it to Breedlove Aerial Services for glider pilot training on May 18, 1942 at a cost of one dollar per year. The USAAF often gave student pilots a few weeks of rest between flight schools so that they could travel home to see family. Reed may have stayed in Plainview after he completed his training since Evelyns family lived there. Sometime later in the fall of 1942, Reed must have attended the second level of glider pilot training, known as basic training. For this, he would have traveled to a base such as Lamesa AAF, Big Spring AAF, or Fort Sumner AAF prior to his proceeding to Stuttgart AAF for advanced training. Basic glider training usually lasted three to four weeks. Days database reports typically do not contain any information about a glider pilots training at primary or basic glider schools, only the advanced school from which they graduated and earned their G-wings. The records found at the courthouse also revealed that Evelyn Williams and Eugene Reed were married on August 10, 1942 and separated on October 23. Evelyn then filed for divorce on March 17, 1943. This information starkly contradicted the story Mable Williams, Peggy Bains mom, told Peggy, which was that Evelyn was married to Eugene Reed for only one day. Even more surprising to Bain was the discovery that Eugene Reeds address was listed as 104 Ash in Plainview, since that was the Ollie and Mabel Williams family home where Peggy Williams Bain lived during the war years. We found that they [Eugene and Evelyn Reed] were even living in the house where we were at, 104 Ash, a startled Bain remarked. Now, I dont know where I was. I was living there, but I cant remember that [they were living there, too], she continued. Its possible that when Eugene Reed was filling out paperwork for the U.S. Army and for his divorce records, he wrote his mother-in-laws address as his last address even though he and Evelyn possibly lived somewhere else in Plainview after they married. Glider pilots training at Breedloves Pre-glider School lived at the Hilton Hotel in Plainview until December 15, 1942. On that date, all glider pilots were moved into five barracks at Finney Field. According to records from the Congressman George Mahon collection at Southwest Collections / Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University, Breedlove paid $25,000 to move those barracks to Finney Field. The barracks were from the former Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp outside Floydada. The cost that Breedlove paid also included the installation of water and sewage systems for the barracks. So, since the Hilton Hotel was a temporary address for Reed until he married Evelyn Williams, he simply might have used his mother-in-laws address as his permanent address in town after his marriage. Evelyn and Eugene Reed had no children during their brief union according to the divorce records. Plans are underway now to have a site marker from the Texas Historical Commission in Austin placed along highway 788 north of Plainview to mark Finney Field and commemorate Clent Breedloves Plainview Pre-Glider School. The HCHC needs to raise about $2,000 for a large-size marker from the THC in Austin. If you would like to contribute to the funds for this marker, please mail your check to Kim Horne at 401 Mesa Circle, Plainview, Texas, 79072. Please make your check payable to the Hale County Historical Commission. Your donation is tax deductible. More about the history of Clent Breedloves Plainview Pre-glider School at Finney Field will be revealed in the next article. Readers are asked to visit www.silentwingsmuseum.com for more details about the glider program of WWII. Anyone with information about the Plainview Pre-Glider School at Finney Field should contact John McCullough at (806)793-4448 or email john.w.mccullough@live.com. --- This is the 77th article about Clent Breedloves Plainview Pre-Glider School at Finney Field. (Note: In the last article, the caption under the photograph incorrectly stated that Peggy Williams Bain was Evelyns niece. Peggy Williams Bain is the younger sister of Evelyn Williams, who married Eugene Reed on August 10, 1942.) --- Related stories: Secret marriage between glider pilot, Plainview woman comes to light 78 years later Researchers have discovered a novel and druggable insulin inhibitory receptor, named inceptor. The latest study from Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, the Technical University of Munich and the German Center for Diabetes Research is a significant milestone for diabetes research as the scientific community celebrates 100 years of insulin and 50 years of insulin receptor discovery. The blocking of inceptor function leads to an increased sensitisation of the insulin signaling pathway in pancreatic beta cells. This might allow protection and regeneration of beta cells for diabetes remission. Diabetes mellitus is a complex disease characterized by the loss or dysfunction of insulin-producing beta cells in the islets of Langerhans, a specialist "micro-organ" in the pancreas that controls systemic blood sugar levels. Diabetes complications, such as chronic high blood sugar, systemic metabolic failure and, in the long-term, multi-organ damage, create enormous medical and social burdens and leads to premature death. Currently no pharmacological treatment can stop or reverse disease progression. Previous studies have demonstrated that intensive insulin therapy has the potential for improved blood sugar control and diabetes remission but also leads to unintended weight gain and even more severe side effects, such as an increased risk of deep drop in blood sugar causing unawareness. Heiko Lickert's* research focuses on the development of regenerative approaches to treat diabetes complementary and alternative to the classical immunological and metabolic therapies. "Insulin resistance in pancreatic beta cells causes diabetes. Therapies that sensitize those cells to insulin may protect patients with diabetes against beta cell loss and failure", says Lickert. With the discovery of the insulin inhibitory receptor, his research group has found a promising molecular target for beta cell protection and regeneration therapy that does not carry the unintended side effects of intensive insulin therapy. In experiments with mice, the researchers showed that the function of inceptor is to shield the insulin-producing beta cells from constitutive insulin pathway activation. Remarkably, inceptor is upregulated in diabetes and by blocking insulin signaling it might contribute to insulin resistance. What happens if the function of inceptor is inhibited genetically or pharmacologically? The group explored this question by knocking out inceptor in beta cells and by blocking its function using monoclonal antibodies. "The result was exactly what we were hoping for: Insulin signaling and the functional beta cell mass was increased. This makes inceptor a very promising target to treat the root cause of diabetes, the loss and dysfunction of beta cells," says Ansarullah, one of the first-authors of the study published in Nature and diabetes researcher at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. "Frederick Banting noted already in his Nobel Prize lecture for the discovery of the life-saving drug insulin a hundred years ago that 'Insulin is not a cure for diabetes, but a treatment of the symptoms'. This has not changed in the last century. Our goal for future research is to leverage on the discovery of inceptor and develop drugs for beta cell regeneration. This could be beneficial for patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes and ultimately lead to diabetes remission", states Lickert. "A hundred years ago, the discovery of insulin has transformed a deadly illness into a manageable disease. Our discovery of the insulin inhibitory receptor now is another important step to finally get rid of the disease," says Matthias Tschop, CEO at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen. "While the COVID-19 pandemic represents an immediate threat we will overcome, we must not forget that diabetes remains one of the biggest and fastest growing killers on our planet. With a series of recent breakthroughs, now including the discovery of inceptor, our Helmholtz Diabetes Center is doubling down on its mission that is a world without diabetes." ### *Heiko Lickert is Director of the Institute of Diabetes and Regeneration Research at Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Professor and Chair of Beta Cell Biology at the Technical University of Munich and member of the German Center for Diabetes Research. Original publication Ansarullah et al., 2021: Inceptor counteracts insulin signalling in -cells to control glycaemia. Nature, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03225-8 Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen is a research center with the mission to discover personalized medical solutions for the prevention and therapy of environmentally-induced diseases and promote a healthier society in a rapidly changing world. It investigates important common diseases which develop from the interaction of lifestyle, environmental factors and personal genetic background, focusing particularly on diabetes mellitus, allergies and chronic lung diseases. Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen is headquartered in Neuherberg in the north of Munich and has about 2,500 staff members. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organization in Germany with more than 40,000 employees at 19 research centers. A June 2018 San Francisco ballot initiative raising taxes on commercial rents to pay for young childrens care and education was legally approved by 51% of the citys voters, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday, rejecting business groups argument that it needed a two-thirds majority. Proposition C was designed to raise $146 million a year, mostly to fund child care and education for children younger than 6. In upholding the measure, the First District Court of Appeal relied on a ruling last June by another division of the same court upholding a November 2018 initiative, also titled Prop. C, that won 61% voter approval to fund programs for the homeless. Both measures were challenged under Prop. 218, a 1996 initiative that required two-thirds voter approval for any tax increase proposed by a local government for specific purposes. But the appeals court said measures placed on the ballot by signatures on initiative petitions were actions by the voters, not local governments, and could be approved by a simple majority vote. The initiative power is one of the most precious rights of our democratic process and must be interpreted broadly, Justice Mark Simons said in Wednesdays 3-0 ruling, quoting last years decision. He said Prop. 218s vote requirements applied only to measures passed by a city council, board of supervisors or school board and submitted to the voters. Opponents of the measure also noted that then-San Francisco Supervisor Norman Yee was deeply involved in Prop. C, turned in the petitions and signed the ballot arguments. But Simons said it was still a voter initiative and there was no evidence that Yee had controlled the process for qualifying and passing it. Laura Dougherty, lawyer for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said the ruling shows that a politician can now copy and paste their special tax proposal into a citizen initiative petition and sidestep the two-thirds vote requirement. She said the association would appeal to the state Supreme Court. The Jarvis Association and other business-supported groups also appealed the earlier ruling to the state Supreme Court, but the court denied review in September. That allowed San Francisco to fund homelessness programs with $250 million to $300 million a year in new taxes on gross receipts of corporations with annual revenue above $50 million. The June 2018 ballot measure was a 3.5% tax on business revenues from rentals of commercial space and a 1% tax on rentals of warehouse space, exempting businesses that receive up to $1 million a year in rental revenue. The ruling is another step toward ensuring that San Francisco families benefit from millions of dollars for child care and early childhood education that voters approved in June 2018, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said. Its needed now more than ever as we face an economic crisis on top of a pandemic. Prop. 218 was a follow-up to Prop. 13, the 1978 initiative sponsored by the late businessman and anti-tax activist Howard Jarvis that slashed property taxes and required two-thirds votes of both legislative houses for new state taxes. Both measures substantially reduced government revenue and raised the bar for future tax increases. The state Supreme Court has upheld those measures but gave a strict interpretation of Prop. 218 in a 2017 ruling. In deciding that a Southern California citys tax initiative was not covered by another provision of Prop. 218 that required special elections for local tax measures, the high court said neither the text nor the context of Prop. 218 supports the conclusion that the term local government was meant to encompass the electorate. Jonathan Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, has said his organization is prepared to sponsor another ballot measure to require two-thirds voter approval for any increase in local taxes for specific purposes. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko BISHKEK -- The trial of the former deputy chief of Kyrgyzstan's Customs Service, Raimbek Matraimov, who was placed on the U.S. Magnitsky sanctions list for his alleged involvement in the illegal funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars abroad, will start on February 3. The Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan said on January 27 that the case will be tried in the Bishkek Birinchi Mai district court. Matraimov was detained on corruption charges in October 2020 and placed under house arrest. Kyrgyz authorities said at the time that he had agreed to pay about 2 billion soms ($23.5 million) in preliminary damages to the state through an economic-amnesty bill that allows individuals who obtained financial assets through illegal means to avoid prosecution by turning the assets over to the State Treasury. If the court decides not to pursue jail time, it can assess full damages at trial. In June 2019, an investigation by RFE/RL, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Kloop implicated Matraimov in a corruption scheme involving the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars out of Kyrgyzstan by Chinese-born Uyghur businessman Aierken Saimaiti, who was assassinated in Istanbul in November 2019. In early December 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it had slapped sanctions on Matraimov for his role in a vast corruption and money-laundering scheme. The $700 million scheme involved a company controlled by Matraimov bribing officials to skirt around customs fees and regulations, as well as engaging in money laundering, allowing for maximum profits, the Treasury Department said. The sanctions fell under the Magnitsky Act, a piece of legislation passed by the United States in 2012 that penalizes individuals responsible for committing human rights violations or acts of significant corruption. Last week, a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan's state registration service, Damira Azimbaeva, confirmed to RFE/RL that both Matraimov and his wife, Uulkan Turgunova, had changed their surnames. Earlier reports said that Raimbek Matraimov had changed his last name into Ismailov, and his wife had changed her surname into Sulaimanova, which many considered as a move to evade the U.S.-imposed sanctions. There have been no official statements from the lawyers of Matraimov's family to explain the decision to change surnames. Todays Theme The key here is to read the theme clues carefully, paying special attention to the part after the ellipsis. All three of the theme clues take the form of Word or where this answer goes? So we have been given a hint to look beyond the theme entry in some direction to find out why that entry has been placed there. Mr. Knobler offers us three well-known phrases that start with a synonym for UNDER (in fact, one of the theme entries is UNDER THE WEATHER). In turn, each of these entries is BENEATH a word that is a synonym for the last word. For example, at 15A, the answer to Silence is the most perfect expression of ___ (line in a Shaw play) is SCORN. And right BELOW that is the theme entry, BENEATH CONTEMPT. Which it is; SCORN is a synonym for CONTEMPT. Similarly, at 36A, the answer to What to expect between June and September in India is MONSOON, and right BENEATH that, at 39A, is the theme entry UNDER THE WEATHER. I thought that this was a very cool find on Mr. Knoblers part. Grid placement themes can occasionally seem clunky if too many places or directions are used, but this one was consistent yet fun to discover, just perfect for a Wednesday. Constructor Notes The concept of using idiomatic expressions as clues to their locations in the grid didnt originate with me, but its fun and it hasnt been used in The Times for a while. 17-Across was the seed entry; it appears today for the first time since 1993, or the beginning of the Will Shortz era (and for the first time in the Times Crossword in more than 40 years). And 62-Across is making its New York Times Crossword debut. I played around with variations on this theme (over the moon, beside oneself, next to nothing, right of return, left to rot) and nongrid-spanners (Orion above BELOW THE BELT) before deciding that three grid-spanners sitting one row down from their inside-the-grid references would give me a tighter, more elegant theme Having 62 theme squares 34 of them stacked puts constraints on a grid. I hope that having to fill in four abbreviations (one of them four letters) doesnt leave you feeling 39-Across, with an 11-Down. I also hope you got a smile out of my clues for 61-Across and 41-Down. Thanks to Will, Sam Ezersky and the team for great editing, especially the clues to 25- and 47-Across. The Tipping Point Almost finished solving but need a bit more help? Weve got you covered. Warning: There be spoilers ahead, but subscribers can take a peek at the answer key. Trying to get back to the puzzle page? Right here. Your thoughts? WASHINGTON - A large percentage of nursing home workers in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have declined to take the coronavirus vaccine, officials say, presenting a major challenge in the region's plans to protect its most vulnerable residents. Nursing home workers were first offered the vaccine in late December and early January, along with residents of long-term care facilities and other health-care workers. Their wariness, providers and union representatives say, is fueled by online misinformation about the vaccine and historical mistrust of the medical system of which they are a part. In the meantime, other members of the public are scrambling for the limited supply of vaccine doses available to them, with many elderly adults and some essential workers unable to find appointments or having their time slots canceled in recent days. In an internal document obtained by The Washington Post, Maryland health officials said that as of Tuesday, about 58% of the doses allocated to nursing home staffs and residents had been administered - even though vaccination clinics have been conducted at every facility. Tredonna Kum, an administrative organizer for 1199 SEIU, which represents nursing home workers in Maryland and D.C., estimated that up to 80% of members chose not to be vaccinated during the first wave of clinics. "One of the surprises in the first three weeks was that in health care and in the nursing homes, there was about a 35 to 50% uptake. . . . We had expected closer to 80 or 90% uptake," Maryland's acting health secretary Dennis Schrader told state lawmakers this week. Veronica Sharpe, president of the District of Columbia Health Care Association, said the vaccination rate among nursing home staffs has been about 40% - less than half the rate of those who live in the facilities. Industry representatives in Virginia said they've seen similar trends, though state health officials declined to say what percentage of nursing home workers have been vaccinated. Representatives for CVS and Walgreens, which have partnerships with long-term care facilities in all three jurisdictions, also said vaccine uptake among employees has been less than expected. CVS spokesman T.J. Crawford said the company tells the state government when it needs fewer doses than initially anticipated. If the company has extra after staging a clinic for a particular nursing home, it reroutes those doses to other facilities. In North Carolina, the top public health official said in early January that most nursing home workers had declined the vaccine. In Ohio, more than 60% of nursing home workers opted out during the first wave of vaccination clinics, said Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican. Officials in Connecticut have reported similar numbers. Washington Post photo by Marvin Joseph David Grabowski, a Harvard University health policy professor, said the numbers should not surprise anyone familiar with long-term care facilities, where low wages and poor labor conditions - and earlier missteps fighting the coronavirus pandemic - have created a well of mistrust, especially among the Black and Latino workers who dominate the industry. "This is a forgotten workforce that hasn't been treated well for years," Grabowski said. "We've been slow with [personal protective equipment], we've been slow with hazard pay, and all of a sudden now, they want to go fast with vaccinations. . . . There's good reason they're so distrustful." Joseph DeMattos, president of the Health Facilities Association of Maryland, said federal government outreach to nursing home workers about the vaccine was "grossly underwhelming." Although the Maryland Department of Health has been "rightfully focused" on the logistics of vaccine rollout, he said, it "missed early opportunities to partner and communicate with diverse communities the imperative to take the vaccine when it was first offered." The Maryland Baptist Aged Home in West Baltimore was among the first nursing homes in the state to receive vaccines. When CVS conducted a clinic on Dec. 23, 11 of 41 employees agreed to be injected. "I was shocked, I mean, just shocked," said the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of the facility, which barred visitors and tightened infection-control precautions in late February and has reported no coronavirus cases among staffers or residents. DeWitt said he called dozens of the facility's workers and found that many had been influenced by online misinformation about the vaccine and mistrust of the medical establishment, fueled by historical abuses such as the Tuskegee syphilis study and the ongoing lack of access to medical care in Baltimore's communities of color. "These folks don't even have access to a doctor when they're sick. Then suddenly you say, 'Show up in a parking lot and get this mysterious vaccine.' It's hard for them to trust you," DeWitt said. "People of color have become very pessimistic about being guinea pigs." After that first clinic, DeWitt said, he "used everything in my arsenal" to get his staffers to change their minds. He invoked his trustworthiness as a pastor, narrated facts about the vaccine over the nursing home's public announcement system and reminded staffers that nothing had happened to him or the others who had been vaccinated. During the facility's second clinic in mid-January, 26 of the remaining 30 employees were willing to get their first shots. Among them was a registered nurse from Baltimore who spoke on the condition of anonymity for privacy reasons. She was initially worried about the vaccine, especially because she had heard about how quickly it had been created, she said. But after considering her job and the escalating infection rates in the region, she decided it was worse to stay exposed to the virus. "Based on all that they were saying, I assumed it's OK," she said in a phone interview. "I mean, in this world, nothing is sure." Many employees at Trio Healthcare's 11 nursing homes in Virginia, especially in rural parts of the state, initially bought into various myths about the vaccine, said Chief Clinical Officer Melissa Green. These included erroneous rumors about serious side effects, she said, and unproven conspiracy theories about government plans to put microchips in residents. It took an internal campaign that involved fact sheets and posters of employees getting the shots to persuade 80% of the staff to be vaccinated, Green said. When it comes to communicating with workers, it's not just the information that matters but how it is delivered, said Grabowski, the Harvard professor. "Webinars or FAQs" are not going to be as effective, he said, as a conversation with a trusted source. After geriatric-nursing assistant Davenia Kemp received her first dose of the vaccine on Dec. 23, in a celebratory news conference attended by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, she faced questions from other employees at Franklin Woods Center in Baltimore County about whether they should follow suit. "They had heard about bad side effects and bad experiences," said Kemp, 25, of Baltimore City. "I told them, 'I feel fine, I feel great.' " Sharpe, the D.C. industry representative, said the city's nursing homes have tried to discuss the vaccine with workers one-on-one, rather than in big staff meetings. Providers are looking to identify natural leaders among the staff - whether or not they are supervisors - and asking them to encourage their peers to take the vaccine. Some facilities are also offering incentives. One is entering vaccinated employees in a raffle with monetary prizes. At one D.C. nursing home that had its second clinic this week, the percentage of staffers getting vaccinated increased from 30% to 80%, Sharpe said. She did not name the facility. Keith Hare, president of the Virginia Health Care Association, said vaccine uptake is also improving among that state's nursing home staff in the second wave of clinics, many of which are occurring this week. He said wary employees are more likely to feel comfortable once they see that colleagues vaccinated weeks earlier are healthy. Some local providers, such as Lutheran Social Ministries of Maryland, are taking a stricter approach: requiring their employees to take the vaccine. After the first round of clinics at two facilities in Carroll and Howard counties, more than 50% of staffers had been vaccinated, and more are expected to sign up for the second round. "It's ultimately their choice," said Ken Connelly, vice president of operations. "But if they choose not to get the vaccine, we're going to amicably part ways. . . . The only way we get back to normal is getting everyone vaccinated." Such mandates have drawn opposition elsewhere. At a Wisconsin facility, some workers quit after being told that they had to be vaccinated, one employee told a local television station. In Pennsylvania, a health-care union is pushing back on a facility's decision to require the vaccine. It's critical for health-care providers to get inoculated because they can help foster confidence - or doubt - in the vaccine among members of the public, particularly in their own communities, said Lyda Vanegas, a spokesperson for Mary's Center, a network of clinics that serves primarily Latino residents in D.C. and Maryland. The center has vaccinated about 60% of its 700 staffers, Vanegas said, urging them to take pictures of themselves during the process as a way to "spread excitement." Rebecca Moralez-Fairbanks, administrator of Beth Sholom Village in Virginia Beach, said getting vaccinated was the only way to protect residents she interacts with, including her parents, who are in the facility's assisted-living center. She's done everything she can think of to encourage other employees to follow suit, including distributing information about what is in the vaccine and possible side effects. As of Tuesday, 75% of her employees had gotten vaccinated. "We are the ones bringing it in," she said. "So we need to be the ones stepping up and preventing illness." The day she received her first vaccine, she said, was the best she has had since the pandemic started. Resistance by Chicago teachers, parents and students to the reckless reopening of the nations third largest school district that has been building for months has reached a new peak in the weeks since Democratic city officials began a phased return to in-school instruction on January 4. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson have repeatedly threatened teachers for defying the back-to-school order and educators who have failed to return to school buildings have lost pay and been locked out of their school accounts, preventing them from teaching remotely from home. After weeks of giving district officials a free hand to carry out vindictive attacks against one section of teachers after another, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) finally held a vote Sunday to take collective action. Seventy-one percent of teachers voted on a resolution to work remotely until an agreement is reached with the city, and to strike if the district retaliates. Car caravan event flyer On January 15, Whitney Young High School teacher Stu Abram created a graphic promoting a car caravan protest organized by the CTU. His graphic pointed out that teachers were being herded back into deadly workplaces in phases and that collective action was needed to protect health and safety and defend from victimization those already ordered back, or all educators would suffer the consequences. The graphic read in part, Remember: First they came for our Clerks, then they came for Pre-K & Cluster, now theyre coming for Elementary and soon, High School Teacher friends, they will be coming for you. We stop that together right now. Abrams text was an allusion to the famous confessional speech by German theologian Martin Niemoller, who described how he found himself a prisoner in the Nazi camps after initially supporting the fascist party. First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outbecause I was not a Jew. Then they came for meand there was no one left to speak for me. Two days later, the Anti-Defamation League Midwest tweeted to demand an apology on its Twitter account claiming its officials were shocked to see the CTU and the education non-profit organization Illinois Raise Your Hand posting a flyer that appears to mirror Martin Niemollers First They Came confessional poem. The flyers offensive rewrite of the poem, which speaks to the horrors of the Holocaust, is dangerous. An apology is needed. Rather than defend the teachers use of the famous poem, which has been long been cited in labor, civil rights, anti-war and other social struggles as a clarion call for unity of the oppressed and against any complicity with oppressors, CTU political officer Martin Ritter issued a cowardly statement, saying the graphic was not official protest media and had not been posted on the CTUs social media accounts. CTU President Jesse Sharkey went even further. For the record, I dont think that CPS bringing faculty and staff back in waves, thereby making solidarity difficult, is the moral equivalent of the Holocaust. It isnt. Point taken, he wrote. Having been thrown under the bus by CTU leaders, Abram issued an apology even though many rank-and-file teachers felt he had done nothing wrong and protested the attack on him. I am the designer of the graphic, Abram wrote, which had the quote at the bottom making reference to the divisive tactics used to create the conditions for mass suffering and death in the Holocaust, but we certainly are nowhere near that level of horror yet, and I am saddened that I offended some as that was not my intent. [I]n no way was I trying to imply that returning to work during a pandemic was the same as being marched into gas chambers, but someone who himself has a Jewish mother and has heard so many stories of death during our pandemic, I am deeply, deeply hurt by the actions of this mayor and CPS leadership which will certainly cause many more deaths The ADL is always on the prowl for supposed trivializations of the Holocaust, but it remained quiet on the activities of prominent Jews, such as Stephen Miller and Jared Kushner, in the fascistic Trump administration, which whipped up right-wing supporters with xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism. Neither has the ADL criticized the Netanyahu government in Israel, which is allied with ultra-nationalist settler parties, known as the Jewish equivalents of the Ku Klux Klan, for their violent anti-Arab racism. Even more significant was Sharkeys decision to endorse the ADLs libel against a teacher whose message was equivalent to the basic labor principle, An injury to one is an injury to all. It is precisely this widely held principle among teachers that Sharkey, once a leader of the now-defunct International Socialist Organization (ISO) and the CTU, have made war against as they maneuver with the Lightfoot administration to reopen the schools. For months, the CTU blocked collective action by the citys 25,000 teachers and support staff to demand remote learning until infection rates are controlled and a vaccine is widely administered. Instead, the union has been working furiously to conclude a deal that will reopen schools, leaving teachers and staff to fend for themselves. Throughout the winter, the union has promoted the deadly fantasy of a safe reopening, as infection rates remain high, vaccination is not widely available and public health officials, including Biden adviser Dr. Michael Osterholm, are warning of a third wave of deaths. The current COVID-19 death toll in the United States of 435,000 is now more than the military deaths suffered by US forces in World War II. Biden stated fatalities will reach well over 600,000, declaring theres nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months. Instead of mitigating the disease, Biden and Democratic city leaders across the country, with the assistance of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), are redoubling their efforts to reopen schools. While feigning concern for the educational and emotional needs of young people, they are motivated by one factor: As Biden said Monday, opening the schools has the advantage of putting millions of people back to work. All those mothers and fathers that are home, taking care of their children rather than go to work, even when they can work. He added, So, this is about generating economic growthcorporate profits. Chicago teacher Stu Abrams allusion to the mass deaths resulting from some of the most horrific crimes of the 20th century and his warnings that teachers must not allow themselves to be divided in the face of the current danger are entirely legitimate. In fact, they have greater relevance since the danger of fascism has become a burning reality once again. There is a direct connection between ruling class pandemic policy and the rise in fascism and far-right violence. Trump and other political representatives of big business, including the DeVos family, mobilized far-right organizations and armed militias to storm state capitals in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and other states to demand an end to lockdowns and any other public health measures that undermined business activity. These efforts culminated in the January 6 coup attempt at the US Capitol aimed at installing a fascist government led by Donald Trump. Biden insists on unity with Trumps Republican co-conspirators while he pushes for the opening of schools in the midst of the pandemic. To oppose this gang-up, teachers in Chicago and around the country are taking the fight to defend themselves and their communities out of the hands of the CTU and other unions, who are allied with Biden and the Democrats. Last week, teachers formed the Chicago Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, which demands that schools be closed, that learning take place remotely, and that nonessential businesses be closed, with full compensation to workers and small businesses, until the pandemic is fully contained. Remote learning can be improved and carried out at a high level by providing every student and educator with state-of-the-art technology and smaller class sizes. Our aim is to prepare for a nationwide political general strike to put an end to the homicidal policies of the ruling class and oppose the growing threat of fascism. All those who wish to join this struggle can sign up today at wsws.org/edsafety. Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Islamabad, Jan 27 : Pakistan has received GI (geographical indicator) tag for its Basmati rice, which will help its case against India in the European Union (EU), where India has applied for declaring Basmati as its origin. "Pakistan received the geographical indicator tag for Basmati on 26 January 2021," confirmed an official government source. The GI tag will aid Pakistan's case against India at the EU as it has challenged the Indian claim by registering its own GI for Basmati and would be claiming the same protection of its Basmati in the EU as India. "Since Basmati rice fetches higher prices in the International markets, India had attempted to block Pakistan's trade in the EU by declaring that its Basmati was the geographically original one," said the government official. Pakistan's was quick to take notice of the matter as The Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP) prepared the book of specifications for Basmati, laying down the criteria of characteristics for Basmati, needed to be followed by any producer or operator in Pakistan. "Since REAP is a trade body, which has been involved in exporting Basmati to the world and it is representative of Pakistan's exporters of Basmati, it was best suited to offer insight into Basmati's trade, characteristics, regions and history," said the government official. The Pakistani government had designated the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) as registrant of Basmati, which moved the application for registration of Basmati with the Intellectual Property Organization (IPO). As per details, IPO, with the help of REAP, mapped the regions where Basmati is grown by taking recommendations from all provinces of Pakistan. Pakistan's fast paced acquiring of GI tag comes after India applied for the GI tag on Basmati in the EU, a move that many rice traders say, caught Pakistani authorities napping as deliberate delays in acquiring the GI tag were witnessed for years. Pakistan aims to block India's way for the GI tag at the EU as it fears loosing billions in rice exports if India gets the rights of Basmati trade. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Advertisement Johnson and Johnson will likely publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced Tuesday. Its vaccine is cheaper and easier to store and transport which, along with the fact that it requires just one dose, could help speed the painstakingly slow US vaccine rollout. The 100 million doses Johnson & Johnson has pledged to the US would increase the US supply by about 25 percent. President Biden's own COVID-19 response team admitted however that it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine can get one, and that 'we will run into unanticipated issues,' in the rollout, said Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Andy Slavitt. Vaccinations began five weeks ago, but just 6.2 percent of the US population have gotten their first doses of either Pfizer's or Moderna's two-dose vaccines. It comes as the US death toll rises to 425,257, including 3,990 on Tuesday. More than 25 million Americans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. Encouragingly, cases, deaths and hospitalizations were all down last week compared to previous weeks, but remains high with an average of 3,287 people dying a day. Dozens of precious doses of the two vaccines have been wasted because no one could be found to take them before the spoiled, or due to careless errors like freezers getting unplugged. Johnson & Johnson's simpler single-dose shot could be a massive help to solve some of these issues. It has a contract with the US for at least one million doses, and has pledged to distribute a billion doses globally this year. And Dr Anthony Fauci said that Johnson & Johnson's vaccine is being tested in both South Africa and Brazil, highly infectious 'super-covid' variants that scientists fear could evade vaccines have become dominant. He said during a Wednesday White House press briefing that the results from these trial sites But even if its results are positive, the FDA is not expected to clear the vaccine for emergency use until March, raising questions over why there must be an agonizing month-long delay. Meanwhile, Presiden Biden has raided the stakes of his COVID-19 vaccination goal, announcing Monday that he think the US could give more than 1.5 million vaccinations a day, up from one million. Currently, the US is vaccinating 1.27 million people a day on average. Supply could be the biggest hurdle to reaching and maintaining Biden's goal of vaccinating 1.5 million people a day. Collectively, Moderna and Pfizer have promised to supply 200 million doses by the end of March. Pfizer thinks that it can offer an extra 20 million doses by then, and the US is in talks with Moderna and Pfizer to purchase yet another 200 million doses (100 million from each), to be available this summer. But there is no stockpile. The federal government is holding enough back supply to cover two to three days worth of doses in case of manufacturing disruptions. Otherwise, it is counting on the manufacturers to maintain a constant flow of new doses to the state, Slavitt said. He said the government is 'confident' in these manufacturers, but even he admitted that there will likely be disruptions to production, and the government is planning only slim cushion amid a rollout that has thus far been chaotic and left many states on the verge of running out of doses. After President Biden raised his goal for daily US vaccinations to 1.5 million, the number of shots given fell to one million on Tuesday. The seven-day rolling average of daily vaccinations is 1.27 million (blue) More than 25 million Americans have had COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Just shy of 166,000 more cases were diagnosed on Tuesday alone More than 425,000 people in the US have died of COVID-19 in just a little over a year. Currently, an average of 3,287 people are dying of the virus a day (blue) Johnson and Johnson will publish results from phase three trials of its one-shot coronavirus vaccine next week, the company announced last night WHAT'S THE HOLD UP? STATES ARE RUNNING OUT OF DOSES OF COVID-19 VACCINE BUT US REGULATORS SPEND WEEKS REVIEWING DATA The US has distributed nearly 24.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to states and territories, according to data tracking from Bloomberg. So far, only about 55 percent of that supply has been used, and only 1.1 percent of the American population has gotten their second doses of the vaccines. Leading the pack are Alaska and and West Virginia, which have vaccinated 11.3 and 9.4 percent of their populations, respectively. Alaska got a boost to its shipments because a high proportion of its doses were allotted through the Indian Health Service. The service has a smaller number of tribal territories to account for, and its distribution process has moved more quickly and smoothly. Alaska is also the only state in the nation is getting vaccine doses on a monthly - rather than weekly - basis, a decision made by state officials. They say that this has helped make the flow of vaccines more predictable and consistent, according to Anchorage Daily News. West Virginia has also gone its own way. It was the only state to opt out of the federal program using CVS and Walgreens to administer vaccine doses to nursing home residents. Officials there say leveraging the relationships of local pharmacists with the residents has helped to smooth the process of vaccinating older residents. Rhode Island, on the other hand, is lagging furthest behind. Just 5.7 percent of its population has been vaccinated, which is particularly worrisome as the state is in the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases. States including North Carolina and New York are at risk of running out of COVID-19 vaccine doses to distribute. Amid questions over whether or not the US had a stockpile of vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna said they had plenty of doses available to distribute to states once they were allocated by the federal government. But J&J's one-dose vaccine would certainly ease some of this confusion, which arose from questions over whether half the stock of vaccines had been held back to ensure that second doses were available to anyone who got a first shot. Yet there are no signs the FDA has plans to expedite the process any more than it did for the authorization of Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines. Americans will be familiar with this pattern of delays. Pfizer reported the results of its vaccine trial on November 18. It was clear by then that the shot was over 94 percent effective - leaps and bounds better than the 50 percent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set as the efficacy benchmark. HOW DOES THE J&J VACCINE WORK? Johnson and Johnson's vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The team have modified the adenovirus so it can enter cells but cant replicate inside them or cause illness. Researchers have already used this technology to produce vaccines against a number of pathogens including flu, Zika and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). After the J&J vaccine is injected into a persons arm, the adenoviruses enter human cells and travel to their nuclei, the chamber where the cells DNA is stored. The vaccine are programed to carry the genetic code of the coronavirus's 'spike protein', which Sars-CoV-2 uses to invade the body. Iit uses this genetic code to trick the body into mounting an immune response, priming the immune system to attack coronavirus if the real virus infects the body. Advertisement But the FDA did not meet to discuss approving the first vaccine in the US until December 10 - and then took another day to authorize it. The UK had already started vaccinating residents on December 8 - three days before the US even met to consider approving the exact same vaccine. The FDA did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Former President Trump was so frustrated by the protracted process to approve the first US vaccine that he called the FDA a 'slow turtle.' Dr Anthony Fauci gave a back-handed defense of the FDA's slow pace, slamming UK regulators by saying they 'just took the data from the Pfizer company and instead of scrutinizing it really, really carefully they said, "OK, lets approve it. That's it."' He later walked back the statement. The US regulatory process is notoriously slow and despite vaccines being developed in record time, the FDA emergency approval process has not sped up in parallel. For emergency use authorization, dozens of FDA scientists as well as independent advisors review safety and efficacy data ahead of meeting to discuss it. The advisory group also takes public comment from non-scientists into consideration, do their own statistical analysis of company data, host an all-day meeting, and then vote. After the vote, the FDA itself has to sign off on emergency approval. There are a lot of steps, but little explanation as to why some of them could not be cut shorter, simplified or expedited. JOHNSON & JOHNSON'S VACCINE IS LIKELY AT LEAST 70% EFFECTIVE AND THE ONE-SHOT REGIMEN COULD SPEED THE ROLLOUT Johnson & Johnson got a later start than Moderna and Pfizer, and was held up again when an unexplained illness in a trial participant forced it to pause the trial. The illness was eventually ruled unrelated to the vaccine, and trials are now on the cusp of completion. The company has a contract to provide the US with at least 100 million doses and has pledged to distribute a billion doses globally this year. Developed by Janssen, the vaccine uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genetic material that tricks the human body into producing proteins known as antigens, normally found on the coronavirus's surface, helping the immune system develop an arsenal against infection. Like the Oxford jab, which also uses adenoviral vectors, it can be stored and transported in normal fridges. However the key difference is that the J&J jab is designed to be effective as a single dose, whereas Oxford and Pfizer's is given in two shots three or more weeks apart. Early data on the one-dose vaccine suggests that it is more than 70 percent effective. If that holds true in the larger study findings, the single dose shot will be at least as effective as the vaccine made by Oxford and AstraZeneca. If trials show it is effective at blocking Covid, it will become the first approved jab to work in a single injection and could rapidly speed up mass immunization plans. Researchers are now combing through their latest data and could, if it shows the vaccine is effective, file it for approval from UK, US and EU regulators in the coming weeks. The chief financial officer of the company, Joseph Wolk, told CNN: 'We're looking by early next week. 'The scientific team is going through the final stages of a very robust 45,000-individual study that covered three continents, eight countries. 'Some of those countries include South Africa and Brazil so as we hear about new strains that presents an opportunity where maybe we'll gain some insights on some of these new strains once the sequencing is done. 'We're looking at no later than early next week.' Mr Wolk said the company would then seek emergency use authorization in the same way that other countries including Pfizer, also based in the US, have done, but wouldn't be drawn on when people might start to receive the jabs. Johnson and Johnson has previously said it is ready to ship doses from its factories in Europe as soon as it gets the seal of approval. The US firm launched a massive separate trial of the jab in November to see if it was even better and lasts longer when administered in two doses. It aims to test the two-shot regiment in more than 30,000 people worldwide. W hen Kamala Harris took her oath to be sworn in as the first female vice president of the United States last Wednesday, it symbolised not just a victory for the visibility of women of colour in political office, but for those communities she represents. They now see themselves within the institutional structures of American domestic politics for the very first time. Yet for a pocket of highly media literate folks online, Vice President Harris appointment represented something else entirely. So striking were the parallels between Harris appearance at the inauguration ceremony and scenes from a largely forgettable episode of long-running animated sitcom The Simpsons from March 2000, that many commentators voiced their disbelief that Matt Groenings cartoon creation had somehow predicted Harris arrival as VP. The episode in question was Bart to the Future, where an adult Lisa Simpson becomes the first female US president. Gathering her staff in the Oval Office, President Simpson wears a purple blazer, high-collared rollneck and pearl necklace, an outfit that seemed to anticipate Harris own choice in jewellery and attire. Photo: The Canadian Press Advocates for the homeless hold a protest against the COVID-19 curfew Monday, January 11, 2021 in Montreal. The Quebec government says it will not challenge a temporary court order granted Tuesday that exempts the homeless from a provincewide curfew imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz The Quebec government said Wednesday it will not challenge a temporary court order granted Tuesday that exempts the homeless from a provincewide curfew imposed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Junior health minister Lionel Carmant said in a tweet that the government will modify its curfew decree to ensure those without shelter will not be subject to the measure. "We are aware of the ruling last night and do not intend to challenge it," he wrote. "Since the start of the curfew, our desire has been for people experiencing homelessness to be guided to the right resources and not to judicialize them." Community workers and politicians at all levels of government had called on Premier Francois Legault to exempt the homeless from the curfew after a man was found dead this month in a portable toilet not far from a Montreal homeless shelter he frequented. Legault had refused, saying police were showing discretion in dealing with the homeless and suggesting some people might pretend to be homeless in order to get around the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. But in response to a request filed Friday by a legal clinic representing the homeless, Quebec Superior Court Justice Chantal Masse ruled that although the curfew was in the public interest, its application imperilled the lives, safety and health of people experiencing homelessness. The judge noted that the Crown did not challenge evidence presented in court showing tickets which carry fines up to $6,000 had already been given to homeless people for allegedly breaking the curfew. The lawyers requesting the suspension had argued that applying the health order to people experiencing homelessness is "useless, arbitrary, disproportionate and cruel." "It causes serious and irreparable prejudices that are not justified in the context of a free and democratic society," read the request signed by law firm Trudel Johnston and Lesperance. The lead plaintiff, identified as S.A., is described in the court document as a 38-year-old man who has been diagnosed with alcoholism and schizophrenia. The filing says that S.A. received two $1,550 tickets for violating the curfew, which he cannot respect due to his homelessness and which he has no hope of paying. S.A had been asked to leave two shelters in the past two weeks because he had allegedly broken the rules, and he had been banned from three others allegedly because of his alcohol consumption, the filing says. It adds that the man feared catching COVID-19 in a shelter. The lawyers representing the homeless legal clinic said the problems faced by S.A. are similar to those faced by other homeless people, who they said are often vulnerable and suffer from mental illness or substance abuse issues. The lawyers noted that even when shelter beds are theoretically available, they are often reserved for certain categories of people, adding that few shelters will accept people who are intoxicated. People with alcohol dependencies are faced with the "cruel choice" of either risking getting kicked out of shelters for drinking, or going outside to consume alcohol and risking a ticket for violating curfew a situation that is "incompatible with the notion of human dignity," the filing said. The court document also cited an intervention worker who said the curfew was leading some homeless people to hide from police at night, putting their safety at risk and making it harder to help them. In the ruling, Masse said that while the curfew rules were undoubtedly adopted in the public interest given the COVID-19 pandemic, the "balance of inconveniences" favoured suspending the order for homeless people because of the serious questions raised regarding their health and safety. The judge suspended the rule until the matter can be debated on its merits in court; however, Carmant indicated Tuesday that the government would not fight the ruling and would instead exempt the homeless from the health order. Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante applauded the court decision, stating on Twitter that it will "facilitate the lives of people in situations of homelessness and the intervention workers in the field who support them." Sam Watts, CEO of homeless service centre Welcome Hall Mission, said the organization has always maintained that "a curfew doesn't really apply to somebody who doesn't have a home to go to." He said, however, that people shouldn't be encouraged to sleep on the street, adding that he hoped more resources will be directed toward helping people find permanent housing. "The solution to the challenge of homelessness in 2021 is not a whole series of emergency measures, nor is it allowing people to stay on the street," he said in a phone interview. "The solution is to provide people with permanent supportive housing." A medical staffer conducts COVID-19 test at a temporary testing center near Seoul Station, Wednesday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin Some COVID-19 survivors here are suffering from long-term health effects even after they test negative, as not all symptoms of the illness seem to disappear entirely for every patient, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The health authorities announced the interim results, Tuesday, of research on the aftereffects of the coronavirus carried out on 1,050 former patients. The National Medical Center (NMC) conducted medical examinations and surveys of 40 former patients who had been hospitalized there, while Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu conducted an online survey of 965 people in the area who were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus. The most common lingering effect of COVID-19 was fatigue, reported by 43 percent of the former patients, followed by shortness of breath during exercise (35 percent), and hair loss (23 percent), when multiple answers were allowed. Flash Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 million on Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. The global case count reached 100,032,461, with a total of 2,149,818 deaths worldwide, as of 2:22 p.m. local time (1922 GMT), the CSSE data showed. The United States reported the most cases and deaths around the world, which stood at 25,362,794 and 423,010, respectively. India recorded 10,676,838 cases, ranking second in the world. Brazil followed with 8,871,393 cases and the world's second largest death toll of 217,664. Countries with more than 2 million cases also include Russia, Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Germany and Colombia, while other countries with over 50,000 deaths include India, Mexico, Britain, Italy, France, Russia, Iran, Spain, Germany and Colombia, according to the CSSE tally. As the hardest-hit country in the world, the United States has been witnessing more and more hospitals and funeral homes reaching capacity or expecting to soon. Healthcare workers across the country, whose overwork has led to not only physical burn-out but also growing anxieties, frustrations and even mental health problems, expressed their concern over scarce resources such as masks, gloves and suits. Tarrant County in the U.S. state of Texas is using temporary coolers to hold bodies as COVID-19 deaths rise. In Los Angeles, church gyms are served as hospital units, and ambulance crews are told not to take COVID-19 patients with little chance of survival to hospitals. Many working class Americans have been reduced to poverty due to the lockdowns. Some who were employed months ago are wondering where their next meal will come from. Their kids are out of school and falling behind, as children cannot focus well in an online learning environment. The picture is not any better in some other parts of the world. Hospitals in Britain are under enormous pressure amid surging infections with someone admitted every 30 seconds. In Japan, as the medical system becomes increasingly overwhelmed, some hospitals have been forced to turn away patients. Funeral parlours in South Africa have to wait for three days before they collect bodies from hospital as they do not have enough capacity. For over a year, the pace of the COVID-19 pandemic has been quickening worldwide. While it took 25 days for the number of global infections to increase from 100,000 to 1 million, with an average of 36,000 new cases reported worldwide per day, it took 86 days for the number to reach 10 million from 1 million, with an average of some 104,651 daily new cases confirmed across the world. The window of time between 10 million and 100 million is 212 days, with an average of some 424,528 new cases registered worldwide per day. The number of global COVID-19 deaths has also risen to record levels in recent weeks. The world suffered from its deadliest day on Wednesday as over 17,500 people died of the disease. The ever-worsening situation can be ascribed in part to several variants of the virus that have been reported in different countries and regions recently. According to a weekly update published on Jan. 19 by the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 countries have reported either imported cases or community transmission of a more contagious COVID-19 variant first identified in Britain, whereas another variant earlier found in South Africa has been reported from 23 countries. To grapple with the new variants, many countries have suspended trains and flights, announced new quarantine measures and shut down borders. "COVID-19 surprised even some of the world's richest and most powerful nations. It caught them unprepared and revealed a collective failure to invest in emergency preparedness," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Jan. 18. The year of 2020 beheld many individuals, governments and media outlets refusing to follow science and reason in face of the once-in-a-century pandemic. Experts agreed that the only way out of the tunnel is for countries worldwide to take rigorous and science-based measures and work together as closely as they can. Apart from developing and approving safe and effective vaccines, researchers worldwide are also working on the scientific puzzle of virus source tracing, and have found growing evidence that COVID-19 silently circulated outside of China earlier than previously thought. On Jan. 14, a WHO expert team arrived in China to jointly work with Chinese scientists on the origin of COVID-19. The consequences of this pandemic remind the world of how important effective multilateralism is, said an interim report released on Jan. 18 by the WHO's Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response. Throughout last year, 184 countries and economies have joined COVAX, a global initiative backed by the WHO to ensure effective and equitable global access to COVID-19 vaccines. China has been joining hands with the rest of the international community to fight the virus by donating medical supplies, sharing anti-coronavirus experience and sending professional medical teams to epidemic-stricken countries. However, a few countries have declined to contribute to global anti-pandemic cooperation. The United States blocked the entry of many temporary foreign workers and applicants for green cards, and accelerated deportation of immigrant children amid the pandemic. Several developed countries were reported poaching from each other urgently-needed medical supplies. Besides, criticism about "vaccine nationalism" and the lack of fair distribution of doses is mounting. According to Tedros, "more than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries. Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country. Not 25 million, not 25,000, just 25." Unless the coronavirus vaccines are put into use globally, "it will not be a solution to the pandemic," Rafael Vilasanjuan, director of the Department of Analysis and Global Development of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, told Xinhua. "We now know that there is light at the end of the tunnel if we can get the vaccines out to as many people as possible," said Therese Hesketh, a professor of global health at the University College London and the director of the Center for Global Health at Zhejiang University. Facing the "grim and shocking" milestone of 100 million cases, "we just need to redouble our efforts," said Michael Ryan, executive director of the WHO's Health Emergencies Program. Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. In this image from video, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) makes a motion in the Senate that the impeachment trial against former President Trump is unconstitutional. (Senate Television) When it comes to Senate Republicans, the last refuge of scoundrels appears to be the Constitution, at least as it's interpreted by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Immediately after the Senate convened as a court of impeachment for the second trial of Donald Trump, Paul raised a point of order. He wanted to preempt the whole megillah on the grounds that the Constitution forbids the trial and conviction of officials who are already out of office before an impeachment trial begins. The motion was defeated, but 45 Republicans voted for Pauls interpretation. It should be obvious that constitutionalism's only role for this GOP gaggle is to provide cover very thin cover at that for their desire to avoid having to pass judgment on former President Trumps incitement of insurrection, as charged by the House of Representatives. Moreover, the Republicans' objection as they must have known was clever but mistaken. Pauls point of order tried to capitalize on the seeming oddity of trying the former president now that he is the former president. Impeachment is for removal, Paul said, ... and the accused here has already left office. But its not so odd. What the Constitution says is that impeachment isnt only about removal from office. Article 1, Section 3 describes the further purpose of impeachment, which is, to disqualify the official after conviction from ever holding federal office again. The latest Trump trial in the Senate is as compelling a use of the two-fold impeachment power as the Senate ever has encountered. It is appropriate for the system to express its condemnation of the former president's nefarious conduct of Jan. 6, but after four years in which he so often hijacked the Constitution and took it on a joy ride, it is even more crucial to prevent him from wreaking further damage. There is also a broader constitutional point that Paul and the 44 Republicans who joined him are missing. Our system of government sets up rules as to who gets to decide constitutional questions, and its an indication of the republics stability that we accept the outcome as authoritative. The normal decider is the courts, especially the Supreme Court. Story continues But the Constitution supplies a different decider for impeachment proceedings. The Supreme Court itself made that clear in the case of Nixon vs. United States. Walter Nixon was a federal judge who was sentenced to prison for perjury but declined to resign. The House impeached him, and the Senate opted to appoint a committee to take evidence and report back to the whole Senate, which convicted him. Nixon argued that the process was unconstitutional because it wasnt a trial, as Article 1, Section 3 specifies, unless the Senate jury heard all the evidence. The Supreme Court declined to decide the issue. Rather, it held that the language of the Constitution granted sole authority in the Senate to determine procedures for trying an impeached official, unreviewable by the courts. As to the question of an impeachment trial for a former official, the Senate has already spoken; there is an established precedent. In 1876, when President Grants secretary of War, William W. Belknap, resigned just before he was to be impeached for corruption, the House went ahead anyway and so did a Senate trial neither of which actions fit Paul's reasoning. (For more details, see University of Texas Law School professor Stephen Vladeck's recent essay on the precedent in the New York Times.) Some senators in Belknap's case, like Paul today, expressed doubt about the constitutionality of trying an official who was already removed. But the Senate as a body nonetheless concluded that it had the power that Paul wants to argue the Constitution precludes. Its true that in practice nothing can stop an individual senator from substituting their judgment for the authoritative one of the full chamber. But that is not constitutionalism; it is rather brute force politics of the sort Sen. Mitch McConnell and the Republicans have practiced for five years when they were in the majority. Tuesday's vote is a particularly outrageous maneuver, given that McConnell, while still majority leader, had closed the Senate until Jan. 19, preventing a second Trump impeachment trial from beginning while the former president was still in office. Trump has now been charged twice by the House with the most serious misbehavior of any president in history. In the first instance, all but one of the Senate Republicans sat on their hands: They announced their judgment before the trial while refusing efforts to augment the evidentiary record. Now they are apparently prepared to hide behind the Constitution improperly to again avoid addressing the merits of a strong case against Trump. If the Republican senators acquit the former president on spurious jurisdictional grounds, they will have neglected their highest duty. The country deserves a public judgment about whether Trump violated his oath of office on Jan. 6. The Constitution demands it as well. @HarryLitman This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. As protesters streamed through Philadelphia last summer and fall, Anne Berg was often there, wearing her bright green legal observer hat and taking detailed notes. Volunteering with the National Lawyers Guild, Berg routinely positioned herself without fear between lines of police and protesters as a neutral third party. But on the night of Oct. 27, at 52nd and Market Streets, Berg said she went from observer to target, when an officer lunged at her, grabbed her by the backpack, and began striking her in the legs with a baton. To Berg, the treatment was shocking. The [civil affairs] police all know me. They all know who we are, what we do, and why were there. I have no doubt that the officers the night after Walter Wallace Jr. was murdered knew who we were also, she said, but that was a situation where they clearly did not care. They were beating people indiscriminately. Berg is one of two legal observers the trained volunteers who take detailed notes and monitor public demonstrations for civil-rights violations who filed a lawsuit against the city and the Police Department last week over allegations of brutality during the October protests. The other, Catherine Heite, said in the lawsuit that police forced her to the ground causing her to strike her head, struck her with impact weapons, shields, feet, and other means. Heite said by email that she was standing on the sidewalk when police rushed and tackled her. I kept telling them I was a legal observer and asking why I was being arrested. The officer kept saying youre going to need a lawyer and calling me trash. When she put me in the van she said, Get in there with the rest of the trash. " Paul Messing, a civil-rights lawyer representing the two along with a third plaintiff who alleged similar treatment, called the incidents unconscionable. He added: They were wearing hats that say legal observer, or bright orange shirts that say legal observer. A spokesperson for Mayor Jim Kenney said neither the city nor the Police Department would comment because of the ongoing litigation. Aine Fox, a member of the collective Up Against the Law, said that in years past, relations with police had been amiable. But between May and October of last year, she said, every one of the groups 15 core legal observers was injured by police at protests. She said three suffered concussions. We were absolutely targeted, Fox said. We were collectively shot at, tear-gassed, point blank in our faces pepper-sprayed. Some of our folks had concussions from being hit with batons. READ MORE: Philadelphia Black Lives Matter activists say police brutalized them, while a white Capitol mob was met with grace At one point, she said, an officer blamed the problem on the groups black uniforms. They switched to luminous orange T-shirts. It didnt really seem to have any impact on whether we were tear-gassed, Fox said. The three plaintiffs, whose lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, join hundreds of litigants who say they showed up at protests against police brutality only to be subjected to it. Some were on I-676 last June when police took aim with rubber bullets and tear gas. Kenney later apologized, calling the incident completely unacceptable. Others were in the neighborhood of 52nd Street in West Philadelphia the day before when the area was flooded with tear gas. The city commissioned an after-action review that found insufficient preparation and inadequate use-of-force policies. Civil-rights advocates have also asked the United Nations to step in, through a letter of complaint alleging excessive force and racial discrimination. There has been less scrutiny of what took place on two nights in October, when citizens took to the streets with outrage over the killing of Wallace, who was suffering a mental-health crisis and was holding a knife when police shot him. Instead of tear gas, that night, many officers had their batons at the ready. An Inquirer report exposed one incident from those protests involving a child taken from his mothers car while police allegedly smashed the SUV and beat its adult passengers. READ MORE: Police beat her and took her son during West Philly unrest. A month later, theyre still petrified. Anlin Wang, who was also there to observe, said he was shocked to see police attacking Berg, a legal observer. Wang said he began filming, but an officer chased him and struck him, too, with a baton. At the same intersection, Duncan Gromko said he was assaulted when he saw police beating a young woman and asked them to stop. Then, Gromko said, police struck him three or four times with batons, before arresting him. He said he saw at least one person taken to the hospital with injuries. The crazy part about it was I felt like they just jumped in and started swinging their batons. I never heard disperse, he said. Mary Catherine Roper of the ACLU of Pennsylvania said legal observers are usually clearly identified, and taking part in First Amendment-protected activities. The issue is that there shouldnt be this level of violence toward anyone at these protests and when it does happen to be a legal observer then there are extra questions, Roper said. To the extent that police were targeting legal observers, that would be a really bad thing, particularly in an era where the Police Department is claiming it wants to be more transparent and open to criticism. Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler has said the horror attack on his girlfriend was a result of a 'manic episode' after he was arrested for allegedly strangling her until she passed out and saying 'wow, you're alive' when she regained consciousness. Wheeler, 27, was released from jail in the Seattle suburb of Kent on Tuesday on $400,000 bail following his arrest three days earlier on suspicion of felony assault-domestic violence. He issued a statement on Wednesday blaming the assault, which was sparked when he allegedly told his girlfriend to bow to him but she refused, on a 'manic episode'. Wheeler also apologized to his girlfriend and revealed he would no longer play in the NFL in order to get help. Wheeler was arrested after police responded to a 911 call from his girlfriend who alleged that she was being 'killed' by her boyfriend after a 'physical fight' and that she had locked herself in the bathroom. His girlfriend has not been named publicly. Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler, 27, was released from jail in the Seattle suburb of Kent on Tuesday on $400,000 bail following his arrest three days ago for domestic violence In his statement, Wheeler said: 'Events happened over the weekend that transpired from a manic episode. I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused to Alleah and her family. 'I apologize profusely for the turmoil that I have caused to my family, teammates, fans and those closest to me. The most important thing right now is that Alleah gets the care she needs and I get help. Both are happening. 'It is time for me to walk away from football and get the help I need to never again pose a threat to another. I cannot express my sorrow or remorse enough. I am truly ashamed.' His statement came after horror details of the assault emerged in a police report obtained by DailyMail.com. The attack unfolded after Wheeler told his girlfriend to bow to him but she refused, police say. He is accused of then grabbing his girlfriend and throwing her on the bed. Police said Wheeler allegedly strangled her until she lost consciousness. When she did regain consciousness, Wheeler was allegedly standing near the bed and said: 'Wow you're alive?' It is not clear how long she was unconscious. His girlfriend ran to the bathroom and locked herself inside as she called 911 and family members, the police report says. She told officers she was bleeding and had a broken arm. When officers arrived at the apartment, they reported hearing screaming coming from inside. After forcing their way into the apartment, officers said they found Wheeler in the bathroom with the woman. The police report says Wheeler had picked the lock of the bathroom before officers arrived and started apologizing. The offensive lineman was arrested after police responded to a 911 call from his girlfriend who alleged that she was being 'killed' by her boyfriend Officers reported that Wheeler was initially uncooperative before he was taken into custody. He allegedly shouted: 'Sorry' and 'I don't beat women'. Wheeler was on bipolar medication but had been taking it recently, according to the police report. His girlfriend told detectives that he had a 'manic episode' that came out of nowhere. She was rushed to hospital where she was treated for a dislocated arm and face wounds. Police said Wheeler is 6'7 and weighs 310 pounds. His girlfriend is 5'9 and weighs 145 pounds. Following his arrest, the Seattle Seahawks released a statement saying: 'We are aware of the situation and still gathering information.' They later issued an updated statement saying: 'Tthe Seahawks are saddened by the details emerging against Chad Wheeler and strongly condemn this act of domestic violence. Our thoughts and support are with the victim. 'Chad is a free agent and no longer with the team. We encourage Chad to get the help he needs.' Wheeler is due to face court on Wednesday afternoon. Wheeler played in five games with Seattle this season. He joined the team in 2019 and is scheduled to become a restricted free agent. He also has played for the New York Giants and started 19 of 27 games played over two seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was released in September of 2019. Wheeler also was involved in an incident in December 2015 while he was in college at Southern California. According to reports, he was punching walls and windows in an apartment and police had to shoot him with multiple rounds of bean bag to subdue him. He was not arrested in that incident but was taken to a local hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Man Accused of Raping Teens Appears in Court By Tim Brockwell PADUCAH - A man facing multiple counts of rape and other charges appeared in a McCracken County court this week.The McCracken County Circuit Court Clerk said Joshua Meyer appeared for a pretrial conference Monday. Judge Tim Kaltenbach continued the hearing until March 15 at 1 p.m.Meyer was arrested in 2018 after two teen girls from Tennessee told police he held them against their will and sexually assaulted them.Meyer is charged with four counts of rape, two counts of sodomy, two counts of unlawful transaction with a minor, and one count of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor. TOKYO, Jan 27, 2021 - (JCN Newswire) - In recent years, ESG investments have been gaining momentum in the capital market, as companies evaluate and decide on investments from ESG perspectives. The "FTSE4Good Index Series" and the "FTSE Blossom Japan Index" are among the most important criteria used by investors worldwide for corporate ESG activities. The "FTSE Blossom Japan Index" has been adopted as a passive ESG investment management benchmark selected by the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest public pension fund.Since its establishment, based on the corporate philosophy of "Contributing to society through the development of superior, original technology and products," Hitachi has demonstrated continued growth alongside the development of society. In the 2021 Mid-term Management Plan announced in May 2019, the company put forward goals for simultaneously increasing three types of value for society and the customers - Social value, Environmental value, and Economic value - as part of efforts to achieve a sustainable world. In this Mid-term Plan, milestones for achieving the long-term environmental goals laid out in "Hitachi Environmental Innovation 2050" are reflected in management strategies for business rollout. As a leader in environmental value in particular, Hitachi announced "Hitachi Carbon Neutrality 2030" to assist in building a decarbonized society, and is accelerating activities aimed at achieving carbon neutral in its own business site (factories and offices) by FY2030.Hitachi will strive to develop and provide new solutions that apply digital technologies to take on a variety of challenges, including ESG, for customers and society. By improving Quality of Life and increasing value for customers, Hitachi will contribute to building a sustainable society.About FTSEThe "FTSE4Good Index Series" and the "FTSE Blossom Japan Index" are semi-annually selected by FTSE Russell, a wholly owned subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group. These indexes are composed of stocks that meet a variety of criteria related to the environmental, society, and governance.About Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is focused on its Social Innovation Business that combines information technology (IT), operational technology (OT) and products. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2019 (ended March 31, 2020) totaled 8,767.2 billion yen ($80.4 billion), and it employed approximately 301,000 people worldwide. Hitachi drives digital innovation across five sectors - Mobility, Smart Life, Industry, Energy and IT - through Lumada, Hitachi's advanced digital solutions, services, and technologies for turning data into insights to drive digital innovation. Its purpose is to deliver solutions that increase social, environmental and economic value for its customers. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.Source: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2021 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. As of midnight, Tuesday January 26, the HPSC has been notified of 1,335 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 191,182* confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. Of those cases 61 were reported in Limerick. Limerick's 5 day moving average (to midnight 26Jan2021) is now 55, while its 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (13Jan2021 to 26Jan2021) is now 728.6 Of the cases notified today: 618 are men / 711 are women 54% are under 45 years of age The median age is 43 years old 437 in Dublin, 114 in Cork, 78 in Galway, 71 in Meath, 61 in Louth and the remaining 574 cases are spread across all other counties** As of 2pm today, 1,670 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 217 are in ICU. 81 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 54 additional deaths related to COVID-19. 50 deaths occurred in January. The median age of those who died is 85 years and the age range is 55-96 years. There has been a total of 3,120 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: The current 14 day incidence remains more than double the peak incidence experienced during previous Level 5 measures in October, therefore, now is not the time to drop your guard and start to interact with people outside your household. The risk of transmission in the community remains very high. We must continue to work towards reducing incidence of disease and preventing further hospitalisations and deaths. The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community. Hassan Diab holds a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa on February 7, 2020. A lawyer for Diab says a French appeal court's order that the Ottawa sociology professor stand trial for a decades-old synagogue bombing is the latest misstep in a long odyssey of injustice. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press) Order to Stand Trial in Paris Bombing Flies in Face of Evidence, Diabs Lawyer Says OTTAWAA lawyer for Hassan Diab says a French appeal courts order that the Ottawa sociology professor stand trial for a decades-old synagogue bombing is the latest misstep in a long odyssey of injustice. Donald Bayne told a news conference Wednesday the decision delivered in Paris flies in the face of the existing evidence, and he suggested French authorities are making Diab a scapegoat. A demonstrably innocent man and his family have been enduring this nightmare for 10 years now, Bayne said. Hes going to be dragged through a future of uncertainty while for political reasons this case marches on in France. Born in Lebanon, Diab became a Canadian citizen in 1993, working in Ottawa as a university teacher. The RCMP arrested him in November 2008 in response to a request by France. French authorities suspected Diab was involved in the 1980 bombing of a Paris synagogue that killed four people and injured dozens of others, an accusation he has always denied. Following drawn-out proceedings that went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, Diab was extradited to France where he spent three years behind bars, including time in solitary confinement. In January 2018, French judges dismissed the allegations against him and ordered his immediate release. It allowed Diab, now 67, to return to his wife and young children in Ottawa and await the appeal court decision. Bayne called the ruling handed down Wednesday a travesty of justice, saying the latest analysis of handwriting evidence in the case makes the argument for pursuing Diab even weaker. Early last year, Diab filed a lawsuit accusing the Canadian government of negligent investigation and malicious prosecution, saying federal officials violated his constitutional guarantees of freedom of movement, liberty and security of the person. The statement of claim contends the government withheld crucial fingerprint evidence prior to his extradition hearing, which Diab says affected the outcome of proceedings. An external review of Diabs extradition case for the Canadian government concluded that federal lawyers who worked on the file acted in a manner that was ethical and consistent with law and policy. Diab has rejected the report as a whitewash exercise. Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association are among the many groups that have called for a public inquiry into the Diab case and a review of Canadas extradition system. By Jim Bronskill On Thursday, from 12:00 - 1:00 (PST), UCI Professor Chris Schwarz returns for the third year to the Irvine Chamber Business Outlook event. Chris' presentations are great. This is free. Register here Wednesday: At 7:00 AM ET, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index. At 8:30 AM, Durable Goods Orders for December. The consensus is for a 0.9% increase in durable goods. At 2:00 PM, FOMC Meeting Announcement. No change to policy is expected at this meeting. At 2:30 PM, Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement. Types of obituaries The Missourian publishes two types of obituaries family obituaries and life stories. A family obituary is the version submitted by a funeral home or family. Please see the submission form for details on cost and deadlines. Family obituaries A life story is a closer look at a person's life and involves a reporter contacting family and friends. Life stories are based on newsworthiness and consent of the family. Life stories. One day soon, U.S. infantrymen could go into battle with Next Generation Squad Weapons equipped with a compact, mechanical stabilizer designed to drastically improve accuracy, especially when shooting from a standing, unsupported position. The aim control enhancer, or ACE, was once under consideration to be part of U.S. Special Operations Command's now-defunct "Iron Man" suit program. Now, the device is being evaluated as part of the NGSW effort. The ACE device mounts to the weapon's Picatinny rail system. The shooter grips the ACE with the non-firing hand, much like a rifle foregrip. Once activated with the push of a button, the device is designed to compensate vertically and horizontally for even slight movements from the shooter's body, keeping the muzzle on target. Read Next: Army Rolls Out Army Green Uniform Wear Guidelines, Renames Combat Patch Task and Purpose first reported that the Army is evaluating the ACE. Peter Rowland, a spokesman for the Army's Project Manager Soldier Lethality, confirmed that NGSW program officials are looking at the ACE and many other products and concepts that could possibly add to the NGSW's effectiveness. "The program is looking at anything and everything in a variety of different aspects, whether it's trigger or barrel technology, and this is just another one of those," Rowland told Military.com. The Army is in the final phase of evaluating 6.8mm NGSW rifle and auto rifle prototypes made by Textron Systems, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc., and Sig Sauer. The service hopes to select a winner and start replacing the 5.56mm M4A1 carbine and the M249 squad automatic weapon in infantry and other close-combat units in 2022. Matthew Angle, an electrical engineer, designed and built the ACE device while working on his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2014. Angle, who never served in the military but enjoys shooting, decided that "this should exist and built one," he told Military.com. One of the keys to effective marksmanship is a stable body position, which is difficult to achieve in an unsupported position. U.S. military trainers teach techniques such as breathing control to minimize muzzle wobble, but it can take years of practice to overcome. The ACE uses small gyroscopes and inertial sensors to monitor how the rifle is moving, making small adjustments horizontally and vertically to reduce muzzle movement, Angle said. "The idea is just to get rid of the shake you can't control and still let you aim the thing," he explained. "It does reduce your wobble pattern. ... In most people, we can take out somewhere between 60 and 80 percent their wobble pattern size." In 2016, Angle was showing off his device at a defense innovation summit in Austin, Texas, when the ACE caught the attention of a program official from Special Operations Command's Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) effort, he said. After demonstrating the ACE to TALOS program officials in Tampa, Florida, U.S. SOCOM awarded Angle a Small Business Innovation Research contract in 2017 to refine his device. But SOCOM canceled the TALOS effort in February 2019 after the program failed to produce a futuristic suit featuring full-body armor protection and enhanced physical performance capabilities. That same month, Angle began working with Army NGSW program officials to develop the ACE through a Florida-based company known as Majr Mechatronics LLC. The current version weighs just under nine ounces and will run for up to five hours on two CR 123 batteries, said Angle, who estimated that the ACE will cost in the $1,000 range for retail sale. "Reliability has been the focus with the Army effort," Angle said. "They do some pretty heinous things to these, especially in the drop tests. We are happy with how we are doing there." Rowland, who would not go into detail about the Army's evaluation of the ACE, said that the Army remains open to testing new innovations that could possibly make the NGSW more effective. "Even though we've got the three [NGSW] prototypes doing their own thing, if we should come along and find something that we can attach to this and make it even better once we make a final selection -- great," he said. -- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com. Related: 5 Army Weapons Soldiers Might Actually Get Their Hands on Soon Denton, TX (76205) Today Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. Houston Festival of Films from Iran 2021 01/27/21 Source: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's 28th annual Festival of Films from Iran features award-winning films, from social documentaries to dark comedies, plus conversations with two of Iran's most prominent filmmakers. Come celebrate with us online from January 22 to February 7. This online festival is co-curated by Tom Vick of the Freer and Sackler; Marian Luntz and Tracy Stephenson of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and independent film programmers Kristen Hoskins and Carter Long. Generous funding is provided by the ILEX Foundation. Did you know that the Festival of Films from Iran is the longest-running MFAH film festival? The festival makes its 28th consecutive appearance in 2021 with a curated online edition opening January 22 in three cities: Boston, Houston, and Washington, DC. This year, the MFAH collaborates with the Department of Time + Space in Boston and the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. As always, the lineup showcases exciting new movies by talented directors from Iran's renowned film industry. Award Winners The 2021 edition brings seven selections, including new work from award-winning filmmakers Shahram Mokri, who visited the MFAH in 2015, and Mohammad Rasoulof, who has faced prison sentences from the Iran government because of his films. Winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, Rasoulof's There Is No Evil focuses on the innumerable ways capital punishment affects four individuals. Awarded best screenplay at the Venice Film Festival, Mokri's Careless Crime examines a tragic act of protest within a time-shifting interpretation on the importance of cinema in Iranian culture. Register here for the free virtual conversation with Shahram Mokri on February 4 at 6 p.m. Family and Friends Past relationships are the center of two dramas. Mona Zandi Haghighi's African Violet examines the issues arising when an ex-wife and her new husband take in her elderly ex-husband to save him from a nursing home. Secrets emerge in Dance with Me when friends gather in the country to celebrate a birthday, and the host reveals surprising news. Music and Mystery Gracefully, the John Steven Kellett Freedom of Vision Award-winner from Houston's 2020 QFest, tenderly documents the life of an 80-year-old former drag artist banned from performing since 1979 after the Iranian Revolution. Bandar Band is a hopeful, music-infused road movie following three musicians across a flood-ravaged Iran on their way to a battle-of-the-bands contest in Tehran. The Slaughterhouse details an ex-convict's dilemma when his father asks for help covering up a crime. Festival of Films from Iran / WATCH HERE January 22-February 7. Your tickets ($10 per film, $55 for a pass) support the MFAH. Download the Schedule Washington: The US Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin, on Wednesday, local time, warning of the potential for lingering violence from people motivated by anti-government sentiment after President Joe Bidens election, suggesting the January 6 riot at the Capitol may embolden extremists and set the stage for additional attacks. The department did not cite a specific threat, but pointed to a heightened threat environment across the United States that it believes will persist for weeks after Bidens January 20 inauguration. The January 6, 2021 riot at Capitol Hill has increased urgency to tackle the domestic terror threat in the US. Credit:Parler via ProPublica It is not uncommon for the federal government to warn local law enforcement through bulletins about the prospect for violence tied to a particular date or event, such as July 4. But this particular bulletin, issued through the departments National Terrorism Advisory System, is notable because it effectively places the Biden administration into the politically charged debate over how to describe or characterise acts motivated by political ideology and suggests that it sees violence aimed at overturning the election as akin to terrorism. A coroner has slammed the care given to a mother whose week-old baby died following a catalogue of hospital blunders as 'nothing short of shocking'. Tiny Kaylan Coates suffered serious injuries including skull fractures during a forceps delivery and died from a hospital infection days later. Staff at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre ignored pregnant Hayley Coates' pleas for a Caesarean section and did not spot her baby's signs of distress, an inquest was told. Despite being a high-risk patient, she was allocated a newly qualified midwife - and maternity ward staff failed to monitor her properly despite having time to socialise and shop online, a legal representative for Ms Coates told the inquest. Now a coroner has ruled that the tragedy, which left the young mother 'broken and in shock', 'could and should have been avoided' and neglect contributed to her baby's death. Kaylan was born on March 23, 2018 at the QMC in the city. During the delivery, he suffered prolonged bradycardia, a slow heart rate, and associated hypoxia, a condition where the brain is starved of oxygen. A pathologist told Nottingham Coroner's Court when Kaylan was finally delivered his skull was fractured by the use of forceps, leading to a bleed on the brain, causing further hypoxia. At the end of a five-day hearing, Nottinghamshire Assistant Coroner Laurinda Bower returned a narrative verdict saying while an infection was the primary cause of death, neglect and 'serious, multiple failings in his care' had contributed to this. A coroner has slammed care given to a mother whose week-old baby Kaylan Coates died following a catalogue of hospital blunders as 'nothing short of shocking' The court was told that following a normal pregnancy Miss Coates, 28, from Broxtowe, Nottingham, went into the hospital on March 20, 2018 to be induced, but this progressed slowly. Two days later, she was noted as 'struggling' and the coroner found she requested a Caesarean section. Tragically doctors did nothing, an omission Ms Bower described as 'nothing short of shocking'. Ms Bower said: 'If Miss Coates' wishes had been properly explored, as they ought to have been, she would have maintained her wish for a Caesarean section delivery, and it would have been reasonable to have performed the same as a planned procedure that night before Kaylan's condition deteriorated. 'These failures led to a missed opportunity to have delivered Kaylan safely and would probably have avoided his death.' When Miss Coates, who was 24 at the time, was eventually taken into the labour suite Kaylan's position was incorrectly identified and when forceps were used, his heart rate dropped dangerously. After his birth he was in a 'poor condition' and scans showed Kaylan had suffered a fractured skull, associated bleeding and brain damage due to lack of oxygen. He was placed on a ventilator. As the night progressed both doctors and midwives did not treat changes in the baby's heart rate with the seriousness it demanded. Ms Bower found Kaylan's heart rate monitor reading was 'miscategorised on multiple occasions' and the alarm was not raised properly. She said this was 'a really serious failure to provide a distressed baby with the care that he obviously required'. 'It is accepted that this failure has more than minimally contributed to death, and therefore it is sufficient to underpin a finding of neglect,' Ms Bower said. After initially responding to treatment Kaylan caught a more serious infection, which was not picked up in time to be treated properly. Hayley Coates, then 24, cradles her infant son Kaylan in hospital He contracted a hospital-acquired pseudomonas infection as a result of cross-infection from another patient on the unit, which was probably transmitted by a member of staff or shared equipment. Due to his already weakened condition, the infection took its toll and he died on March 30, 2018. Ms Bower concluded that Kaylan died as a result of an overwhelming infection against a background of hypoxia and birth trauma, which occurred due to multiple failings in his care. After the hearing the family's solicitor Emily Rose spoke on behalf of Hayley, who is currently on maternity leave after the birth of her second child, Sienna, in March 2020. She said: 'When giving her conclusion, the coroner said that if a C-section would have been performed, it would have likely concluded with Kaylan's safe delivery, avoiding the traumatic brain injury he later suffered, which led to his death. 'The coroner recorded that this failure to properly and adequately explore Hayley's wishes through a caesarean section delivery was nothing short of shocking, and that this failure had a direct link to Kaylan's death.' Describing the moment her client saw her baby laying life less in an incubator she said it had left her 'broken'. 'For the first few months after Kaylan's death, Hayley didn't leave the house.,' she added. 'The death of her baby boy has affected her mental health and up until the conclusion was delivered by the coroner, Hayley had no idea how her first-born baby had died. 'While the inquest won't bring Kaylan back, it is hoped that his early, tragic and avoidable death will help prevent other parents from suffering the same devastating loss as Hayley and her family.' The finding of the inquest comes a month after maternity services at NUH were found to be 'inadequate' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which is responsible for inspecting healthcare settings. The unannounced inspection found that the service 'did not have enough maternity staff with the right qualifications, skills, training and experience to keep patients safe from avoidable harm, and to provide the right care and treatment'. Nottingham University Hospital Trust's medical director, Dr Keith Girling, said: 'We are deeply sorry that this tragic incident happened and would like to offer our sincerest condolences to Miss Coates and her family. 'Our teams had to make some challenging decisions and regretfully missed opportunities on the day that Kaylan was born in March 2018. Our learning from this will inform part of the improvements we are making to our maternity services.' Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said that 5,659 people tested Covid positive on Wednesday. She also said that 5,006 people recovered from the illness and were discharged from hospital. 51,130 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, a government release said as the test positivity rate is 11.07 per cent. With these positive cases on Wednesday, the total number of Covid patients in the state is now 72,234. The industrial and commercial capital of the state Ernakulam continues to have the maximum number of Covid positive cases at 879 while Kasargod has the least number of cases at 84. 20 people died on Wednesday taking the total number of Covid deaths in the state to 3,663 while 77 of the total Covid positive cases on Wednesday had come from outside the state. The frontline warriors against Covid - health workers - continue to be affected by the disease and on Wednesday, 43 of them contracted the disease. Across the state, 2,14,315 people are under observation on Wednesday. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. (CNN) Goldman Sachs cut chief executive David Solomon's annual compensation by $10 million, or 36%, following a penalty deduction that resulted from the bank's role in a corruption scandal involving a Malaysian investment fund, known as 1MDB. Solomon's compensation package was reduced to $17.5 million for 2020, down from the $27.5 million he received in 2019, according to a US Securities and Exchange filing on Tuesday. The $10 million payout comes after Goldman agreed to pay nearly $3 billion after pleading guilty to charges the bank conspired to violate US anti-bribery laws in a massive scandal with 1MDB. In October, the bank said that Solomon would face a pay cut, along with other top executives including its CFO Stephen Scherr and COO John Waldron in light of findings from the investigation that involved the US Department of Justice and other authorities. The scandal relates to bond sales that Goldman Sachs arranged and underwrote for 1MDB, from which the US Justice Department alleges $4.5 billion was stolen. The Justice Department accused Malaysian financier Jho Low, who had ties to the film "The Wolf of Wall Street," of masterminding a plot to channel the money from the fund to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's bank accounts. Scherr's pay was reduced to $15.5 million from $22.5 million in 2019. Waldron's pay was slashed to $18.5 million, down from $24.5 million in 2019. In total, the three executives' total compensation for 2020 was reduced by $24 million in response to the bribery scandal fallout. "While none of Messrs. Solomon, Waldron or Scherr was involved in or aware of the firm's participation in any illicit activity at the time the firm arranged the 1MDB bond transactions, the Board views the 1MDB matter as an institutional failure, inconsistent with the high expectations it has for the firm," the filing stated. CNN's Eoin McSweeney contributed to this report. This story was first published on CNN.co, "Goldman Sachs slashes CEO pay by $10 million over massive scandal." Shocking and unexpected are words that both describe your dramatic entry onto the political scene of Ghana and also your silent exit from this world. It would take a whole book to write a tribute to a man whose life was so eventful; a man who has had a profound impact on several generations of Ghanaians. All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. You strode onto Ghanas political stage like a colossus and played many parts. Your part in the political drama has left an enduring legacy for our nation. No man is perfect and as it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10). And yet, the sum of your role in Ghanas history will be remembered positively. Your role in bringing peace and stability to ECOWAS Subregion, especially the Liberian and Sierra Leone civil wars, is acknowledged and celebrated. Your leadership in what was the most difficult decade in Ghanas history led to important reforms that created the political stability and economic growth that we now consider absolutely normal. Your signature promulgating the 1992 Constitution gave birth the most enduring democratic Republic Ghana has experienced in its entire historical existence. Ghana has you to thank for this. The decentralised local government system based on the District Assembly concept is also a lasting legacy of your stewardship in Ghanas political space. Your contribution to the African success story in collaboration with other progressive African leaders culminated in ending apartheid in South culminated in ending apartheid and swearing-in of Nelson Mandela as its first black president. Your penchant for saying it as it is without regard for political sensibilities earned you the moniker Mr. Boom. A proud son of the Volta Region, you gave Ghana another chance and a new breath of life under the 4th Republic. On this lifelong quest to achieve truth, probity and accountability, you gave your soul, your thoughts, your heart and all your energy ceaselessly. Last year, during the celebration of the 31st December anniversary Winneba you were in high spirits. Little did any of us who were with you that day know that well celebrate the next anniversary of the revolution without you. As founder of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) your death leaves a vast vacuum that would be hard to fill. None can match your political astuteness, wit and charisma. For those of us the comrades youve left behind, it is time to close ranks and collectively work to guarantee the unity and survival of your party NDC as a vehicle that entrenches your memory and legacy for posterity. Boss you may be gone but your memory will continue to inspire countless generations of Ghanaians to challenge the status quo and use their non-conformism to spur societal progress. You were and remain the soldier of a lifelong and restless quest for freedom and justice. Flt Lt L. Rawlings, Chairman of the AFRC. Chairman of the PNDC, leader of the revolution, 1 President of the 4th Republic of Ghana, rest in eternal peace. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video It was a relatively innocuous job ad on LinkedIn, seeking an executive editor. It said things like our editorial mission is to be the go-to place for understanding technology, innovation, and change, as it impacts all of our lives and we are unapologetically pro-tech, pro-future, pro-change. Pretty anodyne stuff, typical of half a dozen tech publications. Except that this job isnt with a magazine or news websiteit was posted earlier this month by Andreessen Horowitz, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm known for its early investments in companies like Facebook, Airbnb, and Slack. As first reported by technology writer Eric Newcomer and tech insider publication The Information, the company is hiring an executive editor and an opinion editor as part of a push into the mediascape. Andreessen Horowitz already publishes op-ed style pieces on its website, with titles like Its Time to Heal: 16 Trends Driving the Future of Bio and Healthcare, and it has a well-regarded podcast hosted by Sonal Chokshi, a former Wired editor. But the new hires appear to be part of an aggressive expansion of the firms editorial efforts. The job ad says Andreessen plans to dramatically scale our editorial operation across coverage areas and mediums. In a blog post, Margit Wennmachers, the architect of the firms media strategy, said the company plans to create a stand-alone media entity and named the new executive editor: Maggie Leung, a former journalist who has worked for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN. Many companies, including a number of venture capital firms, produce their own editorial content, as a way of promoting the companies they have invested in, and also of marketing the insights of their founders so that others will come to them for financing. But Andreessen Horowitz has arguably done more of this than just about anyone else. Benedict Evans, one of the firms former analysts, has described it as a media company that monetizes through VC. And the strategy has intensified over the past few years, observers say, as the prevailing mood toward Silicon Valley and technology giants like Google and Facebook has changed from fairly uncritical boosterism to what some tech founders see as hypercritical attacks. According to a number of technology reporters, the firm has largely stopped cooperating with the media, even off the record. Im leery of any company that thinks regularly talking to journalists is beneath them, and so Ive been really disappointed by a16zs inward turn over the past couple years, said former Verge writer Casey Newton, using Andreessen Horowitzs alternate name. Meanwhile, Newcomer says Marc Andreessen has taken to dropping in on chats on the firms portfolio company, Clubhouse, an audio chat platform that is rumored to be looking for new investment at a $1 billion valuation. His comments about the press have raised eyebrows. How much of the firms silence is tactical? And how much simply reflects an anti-media ethos that has penetrated the firms leaders? Sign up for CJR 's daily email Theres been a growing sense of antipathy between Silicon Valley and the mainstream media for a while. For some, it started with coverage of Uber and its former chief executive Travis Kalanick, who gained infamy in media circles for surveilling reporters who were writing critical stories about him. For others, it was coverage of Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which many tech insiders felt was overblown, even as it helped lead to congressional hearings and ultimately to an antitrust lawsuit against the company. What widened this rift was the revelation that the lawsuit that drove Gawker Media into bankruptcy was bankrolled by leading Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel, as part of what turned out to be a decade-long vendetta against the company for publishing personal information about him. Journalists were shocked at what they saw as an end run around the First Amendment, while Thiels supporters in tech saw it as a prominent investor standing up for himself and using the systems built-in safeguards against a bad actor. Not long afterward, Thiel was reported to be planning the launch of a Fox Newsstyle conservative media outlet, and one source with knowledge of his current plans says he is hiring editorial staff for his own media venture. Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk, meanwhile, fired the companys PR department in October, and seems to run everything from his Twitter account. Its not surprising, then, that Andreessen Horowitzs job posting would make a point of mentioning that the firm is unapologetically pro-tech. The ad goes on to say that the company is looking to host a mix of fresh and expert voices, not just internal but externalto help argue what the future looks like, and/or share how to build that future. Some of this is clearly marketing for the firms partners, but some of it seems to be driven by Andreessens view that the media itself needs to be re-engineered, and that he is just the man to do it. Tad Friends profile of Andreessen in The New Yorker in 2015 paints the billionaire as someone who had a relatively poor and unfulfilling upbringing in the wilderness of Wisconsin (something Andreessen refuses to talk much about), who became convinced that technology had to reinvent not just music or movies or software, but virtually everythingeducation, politics, government, medicine. This would eventually become the theme of his influential op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in 2011, entitled Why Software Is Eating The World. That evidently includes the media, on which Andreessen has strong views. In a Twitter thread in 2014 (which has been archived on the firms website), Andreessen said he felt one of the things that has been holding traditional media back is the Chinese wall between the editorial side and the business side. Paying attention to the business doesnt equal warped coverage, he wrote. There are many businesses that balance incentives and conflicts all day long. He mentioned The Atlantic and Wired as success stories, as well as Business Insider and Talking Points Memo (both of which were funded in part by Andreessen). He also mentioned during a panel in 2013 with Thiel how it causes me a certain amount of pleasure today watching the New York Times Company try to cope with the consequences of the technology they laughed at. If the company publishes op-eds from the usual suspects in tech about how revolutionary their cryptocurrency-powered food replacements are, the impact it will have on the broader media landscape is probably minimal. But at a time when traditional media outlets are struggling to publish, someone like Andreessen could lure away talent quite easily by promising venture-style compensation. And that might have a long-term effect. As might the splitting of the media into distinct groups with distinct biases. Isnt there value in engaging with an independent press? Newcomer asks. Maybe Andreessen will address that on the companys next podcast. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Mathew Ingram is CJRs chief digital writer. Previously, he was a senior writer with Fortune magazine. He has written about the intersection between media and technology since the earliest days of the commercial internet. His writing has been published in the Washington Post and the Financial Times as well as by Reuters and Bloomberg. You are the owner of this article. You are the owner of this article. The president of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, has claimed this Wednesday that the region is not receiving enough doses to reach the vaccination goal of 70 per cent of the population by the summer. Moreno said, during a visit to a childrens hospital in Seville, We do not have enough vaccines and at this rate we will not even reach 14 per cent of the population before summer." For this reason, the Andalusian president has demanded more of an effort from the national government of Pedro Sanchez and said that, to meet the 70 per cent vaccinated target, between 350,000 and 400,000 weekly vaccines would be needed in Andalucia. Moreno said that the region has already used 99.9 per cent of the vaccines received and that 31 per cent of those immunised in Spain so far are Andalusians. The Andalusian president, described this period of the pandemic as "critical" with a third wave "much harsher and more difficult to control", with an "explosive" level of infections and with a "record" in hospitalisations and admissions to intensive care units. He also announced that both "public and private health resources will be at the service of all Andalusians". Finally, Moreno has also demanded that the central government lowers the sales tax on FFP2 face masks in a way that "encourages their general use among the population". ~ Says loss of benefits could be forever ~ Independent Member of Parliament Christophe Emmanuel on Tuesday said the government or St. Maarten, led by Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, has invited up civil servants and others to join the poverty line and brace for a state of suffering from which government has no exit plan other than to wait until the Dutch tell them they can give the people whats due to them. First she signed for colonialism, now she invites poverty, This government has done nothing to secure our people, the MP said. The MP cast government and in Particular PM Jacobs as careless, unprepared, and devoid of any sense of conscience and empathy as she took orders from the Netherlands without putting up a fight for St. Maarten. When looking at the minuscule savings that salary and benefit cuts would result for St. Maarten, Emmanuel said it is clear that the Prime Minister, her cabinet and the MPs that support her government, sold St. Maarten people down the river for pennies and years of supervision like children. How, the MP asked, do you call a law temporary and cannot say when the ending date is. We have had several things that were supposed to be temporary and ended up being permanent. You are affecting people lives with these cuts and cant tell them when the suffering will end and they can return to a lifestyle they are accustomed to? It is illegal!, he stressed. MP Emmanuel was critical of the Prime Minister after receiving what he termed empty and at time non-sensical answers during the Central Committee meeting on Tuesday on legislation to regulate benefits and salary cuts of officials of government-owned entities and subsidized foundations. He said the fact that the Prime Minister could not answer questions posed by MPs showed that they simply did little to no due diligence on the laws they are asking Parliament to approve. He chastised government for skipping several legal steps in its haste to ram these laws down peoples throats. The governments continued position that there is a time restraint and therefore certain advisory steps were bypassed and/or supporting documentation not provided is ludicrous at best. Government has to be able to present supporting documentation to their arguments that cuts had to be made and show how these proposed cuts equate to financial stability for government in the long term in order to justify the cuts. Why didnt government request these companies and entities for their support in providing this information post haste as they would surely understand the urgency in the matter should they want to continue receiving governments financial support. In any event, this documentation should already be in governments hands or on its way to government as this is one of the stipulations to receive the subsidy. The government did not negotiate anything with the Dutch. They went along with what was shoved in their face. How do you come to a meeting with answers like Im not too certain, I dont know. I will have to check. Question were based on what was in the laws or related. Here you are asking Parliament to approve laws and you know nothing? Nothing on the crucial question, Emmanuel asked. He explained that the PM could not even explain where and how the figure of 12.5% came. She couldnt say what it was based on, who recommended it, based on what study, nothing. It was something from the Dutch and she said ok, Ill take it. Then we hear that the CFT will be instructing entities such as the school boards how and where to make their cuts. Here we are, debating local ordinances, for the Dutch and the CFT to tell our entities where and how to cut. And then they say its not a take-over. So basically Parliament is being asked to pass laws based on nothing, based on Dutch opinions, not on what we know to be right and legal, Emmanuel said. Ive been telling the people of St. Maarten for months that this government sold them out and will cast them into poverty. And here we have it on full display, he added. MP Emmanuel said government should be damn shame of themselves for implementing cuts of people and cant tell the people when the end date of these measures is. He said it ads salt to the wound to tell the people to take cuts and put your best foot forward but ignore that is it simple human decency and the legal way to tell them for how long. Through one side of her mouth, the Prime Minister cried us a river and chastised the Dutch for offering insulting terms and harsh conditions, and the other side she praises her agreement with the Dutch as a new positive beginning with the Netherlands. Man stop it. You failed the people and with the upcoming taxes the CFT and the Dutch will impose on the people, you are going to put them on the poverty line, the MP said. SKM to observe May 26 as 'black day' to mark 6 months of protest against farm laws Those who created violence will have to pay for their deeds: Rakesh Tikait on Delhi violence India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, Jan 27: Leader of the Bharat Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait, on Wednesday said that those who created violence during the tractor rally and unfurled flags at the Red Fort have to pay for their deeds. Day after #TractorRally: 22 FIRs, 2 cops in ICU, 150 hurt | Oneindia News "Those who created violence and unfurled flags at Red Fort will have to pay for their deeds. For the last two months, a conspiracy is going on against a particular community. This is not a movement of Sikhs, but farmers," Tikait told reporters. Delhi traffic alert: Amid severe farmers' protest, several roads closed in Delhi; check details He said uneducated people were driving tractors and they didn't know the routes of Delhi. "Administration told them the way towards Delhi. They went to Delhi and returned home. Some of them unknowingly deflected towards Red Fort. Police guided them to return," Tikait added. Tikait said that those who broke barricading will never be a part of the movement. Farmer tractor rally: AAP condemns violence, says regrettable that Centre allowed situation to deteriorate "Deep Sidhu is not a Sikh, he is a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party. There is a picture of him with the Prime Minister. This is a movement of farmers and will remain so. Some people will have to leave this place immediately- those who broke barricading will never be a part of the movement," he said. Talking about the viral video where Tikait was seen appealing to his supporters to be armed with lathis, he said, "We said bring your own sticks. Please show me a flag without a stick, I will accept my mistake." For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 10:50 [IST] This item is available in full to subscribers. Attention subscribers We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription. If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site. If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here. Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing. U.S. National Guard troops patrol the vicinity of the U.S. Capitol hours before the Inauguration of President Joe Biden in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images) Sen. Tom Cotton: National Guard Should Be Removed From Washington Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) said National Guard members should be removed from Washington as thousands remain deployed near the Capitol as officials cited threats of potential violence. Despite cold weather and uncomfortable conditions, these soldiers did their duty, in the finest traditions of the Guard. Their presence, coupled with tough federal charges against the Capitol rioters, deterred any further violence; the presidential inauguration occurred without incident, Cotton wrote Wednesday for Fox News. With the inauguration complete and threats receding, now its time, yes, to send home the troops. Officials on Monday said that thousands of troops will remain in the District of Columbia until mid-March after former President Donald Trumps impeachment trial is finished. Trumps impeachment trial is slated to start around Feb. 8. Cotton said he wasnt aware of any specific or credible threats to the capital other than aspirational, uncoordinated bluster on the internetthat justifies this continued troop presence. The lesson of the Capitol riot is not that we should quarter a standing army at the Capitol just in case, but rather that our security measures should be calibrated to the actual threats, he wrote. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) participates in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Jan. 25, 2018. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) On Jan. 6, a group of protesters breached the Capitol during the Joint Session of Congress that was certifying the electoral votes. Congressional Democrats and a small group of Republicans blamed Trump for inciting the riot during a speech, although Trump himself said protesters should act peacefully and later condemned the violence. Cotton argued that Capitol security officials, the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser rejected backup before the riots despite threats of violence on social media websites. Bowser, he claimed, insisted that the small detachment of National Guard soldiers who deployed to assist with traffic control come unarmed, according to his op-ed piece. She also pandered to anti-police radicals by sending a letter to the acting Attorney General discouraging additional deployments of federal law enforcement. U.S. Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the head of the National Guard Bureau, stated that about 13,000 Guard members remain in Washington as of Jan. 25. As I speak, there are approximately 13,000 National Guard men and women in the District of Columbia primarily conducting security missions in support of our district and federal partners, he said during a Pentagon briefing before adding to reporters: As requested by the federal agencies we are supporting, we are drawing down to 7,000 soldiers and airmen by the end of this week. Specialty care access requires a lot of our patients in the Southland to have to travel out of their communities to get that care, said Green. Depending upon your insurance, if your pregnancy is found to be high risk, your access to see a specialist could sometimes take you a two-hour bus ride to the city. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2021 / Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. (TSXV:YAK)(OTC PINK:MNGGF) ("MGG") or ("the Company") a commercial real estate investment company participating in the Mongolian economy, announces that Mr. Harris Kupperman of Miami Beach, Florida reports that he has acquired (the "Acquisition") ownership and control of an additional aggregate 14,500 common shares (the "Shares") of Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. (TSXV: YAK) (the "Issuer"). Mr. Kupperman filed an early warning report on July 16, 2018 that reported that he held 5,970,000 common shares, representing approximately 17.9% of the Issuer's then issued and outstanding common shares, and held options exercisable to acquire an up to an additional 313,000 common shares (the "Options"). Prior to the Acquisition, Mr. Kupperman held an aggregate of 6,300,000 common shares, representing approximately 19.8% of the issued and outstanding common shares and all of his options had expired. Following the Acquisition, Mr. Kupperman has ownership and control of 6,314,500 common shares of the Issuer representing approximately 20.2% of the 31,281,499 issued and outstanding common shares of the Issuer. The Acquisition occurred through multiple purchases of common shares of the Issuer on the TSX Venture Exchange on January 26, 2021 for aggregate consideration in the amount of $5,220. This news release and the early warning report were filed due to Mr. Kupperman's current shareholding percentage of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Issuer representing an increase of 2% or more since his previously filed early warning report. This acquisition was made in reliance on the normal course purchase exemption in National Instrument 62-104. The purchase was at a price that did not exceed the market price for the Shares (determined in accordance with National Instrument 62-104) and the aggregate number of common shares acquired by Mr. Kupperman over the 12 months prior to January 26, 2021 inclusive of the Shares purchased on that date, represented less than 5% of the outstanding common shares of the Issuer at the beginning of that 12 month period. Mr. Kupperman may acquire up to 5% of the Issuers' issued and outstanding common shares over the next twelve months in reliance on the normal course purchase exemption in National Instrument 62-104. The Shares were acquired by Mr. Kupperman for investment purposes. A copy of the early warning report filed by Mr. Kupperman in connection with the Acquisition can be found under the Issuer's profile at www.sedar.com. For additional information, or for a copy of the early warning report, please contact: Mrs. Genevieve Walkden, Corporate Secretary (877) 644-1186 gwalkden@MongoliaGrowthGroup.com Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. is a publicly traded and leading property investment and development company in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. owns an extensive property portfolio in diversified segments of the property market, with an emphasis on institutional-grade commercial assets. Forward-looking Information and Statements This press release contains certain statements or disclosures relating to MGG that are based on the expectations of its management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to MGG which may constitute forward-looking statements or information ("forward-looking statements") under applicable securities laws. All such statements and disclosures, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results or developments that MGG anticipates or expects may, or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "forecast", "future", "may", "will", "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "potential", "enable", "plan", "continue", "contemplate", "pro-forma", or other comparable terminology. In particular, forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements concerning MGG's upcoming annual meeting of shareholders and the timing thereof, the approval of the Rights Plan, the operation of the Rights Plan in the event of certain circumstances, and the amendments to the General By-Law. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by MGG as of the date of such statements, are inherently subject to business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. The assumptions of MGG used for this news release may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks which could cause actual results to vary and in some instances to differ materially from those anticipated by MGG and described in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Although MGG believes that the material factors, expectations and assumptions expressed in such forward-looking statements are reasonable based on information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements and such statements are not guarantees of future performance. MGG's actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements and readers should no place undue importance or reliance on the forward looking-statements. Statements including forward looking statements are made as of the date they are given and, except as required by applicable securities laws, MGG disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. SOURCE: Mongolia Growth Group Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/626134/Kupperman-Files-Early-Warning-Report-in-Connection-with-Acquisition-of-Common-Shares Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has called for a major overhaul in the Coalition arrangement with the Liberals, again undermining his successor Michael McCormack ahead of a new parliamentary year. Mr Joyce, who said he does not want to return to the top job, said the junior Coalition party was being short-changed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison around the cabinet table. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The former deputy prime minister also fired a warning shot over climate change, saying the Nationals will not accept a 2050 net zero emissions target. We need a fairer deal from the marriage, Mr Joyce told Sky News Australia on Wednesday evening. STAMFORD Synchrony, the countrys largest private-label credit card provider, announced Tuesday it had agreed to acquire a firm specializing in consumer financing for audiology products, dental services and musical instruments. The merchant network and customer base of Burlingame, Calif.-based Allegro Credit will largely join CareCredit, Stamford-based Synchronys health-and-wellness financing platform. Throughout its history, Allegro Credit has built a reputation for service excellence and innovation, Beto Casellas, Synchronys CareCredit CEO, said in a statement. Its health care financing products help people live fuller, healthier and happier lives through payment plans that make it easier for our customers to get the care they want and need. Our businesses are very complementary, and this acquisition will enhance CareCredits scale of offerings and depth of expertise. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021. Financial terms were not disclosed. In response to an inquiry from Hearst Connecticut Media about how many Allegro employees would join Synchrony, a spokeswoman for Synchrony said, all Allegro Credit employees will be offered roles at Synchrony, but we are not disclosing (the) number of employees. For its primary product in the audiology market, Allegro Credit offers a number of loan options with flexible payment terms at the point of sale through a network of 3,200 merchants, according to company officials. It was essential to join a company that shares our cultural values, growth objectives, innovation mindset and commitment to our merchants and customers, David Parsons, CEO and president of Allegro Credit, said in a statement. We see an amazing opportunity to amplify our differentiated innovative offerings through Synchrony and CareCredits network, reach and scale. This deal will help us accelerate the ability to improve peoples lives through the healthcare treatments they need or capture our customers passions with music products. CareCredits purchase volume a measure of charges incurred on credit product accounts totaled about $2.8 billion in the third quarter of 2020, down about 3 percent year over year. It comprised about 8 percent of Synchronys total purchase volume during that period. Earlier this month, Synchrony announced that CEO Margaret Keane would step down from the position in April after seven years as chief executive. She will become the companys executive chairwoman and be succeeded as CEO by the companys president, Brian Doubles. Synchrony is headquartered at 777 Long Ridge Road, near the Merritt Parkway. It employs about 700 locally, ranking among the largest employers in the city. Its employees are still working remotely in response to the coronavirus crisis. Last October, the company announced a policy allowing its staff to work from home permanently. The company ranked No. 170 on last years Fortune 500 list. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott Earth's ice is melting faster in the previous years. Due to global warming, the planet's sea ice and glaciers experienced the most melting in over three decades ago. Apparently, new study shows that one of the biggest glaciers in Greenland called Sverdrup, is losing tons of ice per year, thanks to global warming causing glacier to be hotter each year in about 2 degrees celsius. World's melting, and it's causing frightening Global warming has been a huge debate in the world-- whether it's real or not. However, new studies on the world's planet, reveals that the Earth's ice is truly melting, way faster than we ever thought about. As reported via NASA and SciTechDaily, warming seas are now heating the glaciers below the Greenland region. One perfect example that experts have shown is the Greenland's Sverdrup Glacier. This glacier covers ice around the island that flow into deep fjords. But, since 1998 up to 2007, the glacier is not the same anymore. ALSO READ: Europe's Most Active Volcano Shows Eruptive Episodes as Earthquake Hits Mt. Etna Look how ice melts rapidly in Greenland An image acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows Sverdrup Glacier on September 21, 2020. It was observed that the position of the ice glacier changed since 2000. Worse, research shows that between 1998 and 2007, waters around Greenland warmed rapidly-almost 2 degrees Celsius per year-and the glacier started to thin, flow faster, and retreat. "Sverdrup Glacier's retreat and ice loss was 'triggered' by warm water," said Michael Wood, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "It is one of many deep glaciers that are now in an unstable configuration, and will likely continue to retreat for many years, no matter what the ocean does." The alarming state of 74 glaciers in deep fjords Of the 226 glaciers around the island, 74 from these-- located in deep fjords-- were accounted to nearly half of the total ice loss from Greenland between 1992 and 2017. "When the ocean speaks, the Greenland Ice Sheet listens," said OMG Principal Investigator Josh Willis, also of JPL. "This gang of 74 glaciers in deep fjords is really feeling the influence of the ocean; it's discoveries like these that will eventually help us predict how fast the ice will shrink. And that's a critical tool for both this generation and the next." If this warming continues, what happens next? RELATED ARTICLE: The World's Second-Largest Ice Sheet Is In Danger As Ocean's Temperature Increases kWh EV At the present moment, Nissan is pretty close to the edge of the cliff. About 12,500 jobs were lost not that long ago over a 99-percent earnings plunge, representing a tenth of the companys workforce. Sales figures arent looking well either, and theyre on a downward spiral because of two reasons.First and foremost, years of incentives have eroded profit margins. Secondly, the current lineup is very disappointing when compared to direct rivals. Take, for instance, the Leaf. Once the undisputed leader of EVs, the compact hatchback is obviously worse than similarly-sized competitors from legacy automakers. The Hyundai Kona and VW ID.3 come to mind.The soon-to-arrive Ariya marks a new chapter for the Yokohama-based company, which believes that electrification is the way out of this pinch. Our offering in electrified vehicles will continue to expand around the world, said head honcho Makoto Uchida. We will continue to drive innovation that enriches people's lives as we pursue sustainability for all.As the headline implies, Nissan intends to electrify all models in the lineup by the early 2030s in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. One way the Japanese automaker plans to electrify everything is battery development in the guise of lower costs perand solid-state technology.More energy-efficient powertrains are in the pipeline as well, along with a battery ecosystem that will support on-site power generation for buildings with renewable energy sources. Last but certainly not least, Nissan has promised manufacturing innovations in the name of higher productivity.Until further notice, the Leaf is the onlyoffered by the Japanese brand stateside. Available from $31,620 excluding freight, the front-driven hatchback is priced a little higher than the MINI Cooper SE and the driving range isnt on par with the slightly more expensive Hyundai Ioniq Electric. Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Rep. Lee Nak-yon, center, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during the party's Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly, Wednesday. During the meeting, he apologized to the victim of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's sexual harassment case as the National Human Rights Commission announced Park's actions toward the victim constituted sexual harassment. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is facing increased criticism after it criticized the Justice Party following the announcement that the chief of the minor opposition party was stepping down because he sexually harassed a female lawmaker from the same party. Criticism of the governing party comes as it adopted a lukewarm attitude in dealing with a past sexual harassment case involving its own member, the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, and put off apologizing to the victim. Kim Jong-cheol, who was the chief of the progressive Justice Party, resigned Monday, acknowledging that he had committed an act of obvious sexual harassment earlier this month by making bodily contact with the victim. Following the announcement, Rep. Choi In-ho, the chief spokesman of the DPK, issued a statement, saying, "We are shocked by the incident. The Justice Party should adopt zero tolerance in dealing with the case and take appropriate measures to prevent further damage to the victim." The statement has provoked angry responses from those both in and outside the ruling party due to its controversial handling of the case of the late mayor and his former secretary who accused him of sexual harassment. "I have to ask whether the DPK has the right to criticize Kim Jong-cheol and call on the Justice Party to prevent secondary damage to the victim," Rep. Lee Jong-bae, chief policymaker of the main opposition People Power Party, said during a party meeting, Tuesday. Lee went on to list recent cases involving DPK lawmakers, "Former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung, former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and the late Seoul Mayor Park, who all belonged to the DPK, committed sex offenses. But the DPK did not take any responsible actions and has not hesitated to damage the victims further." An is in jail after being found guilty of raping his secretary, while Oh resigned after he admitted to accusations that he sexually harassed a civil servant. Park, a former human rights lawyer and three-term Seoul mayor, was found dead on Mount Bugak in Seoul, July 10 last year, two days after the secretary went to police to file a sexual harassment complaint against him. Many have suggested he committed suicide out of mounting personal pressure following the complaint. At the time, the governing party refused to call the secretary the "victim" in an apparent attempt to protect Park. Instead, the party coined a new term, "a person who claims to have been harmed," which defamed the victim, according to her lawyers. In addition, Rep. Nam In-soon of the DPK is facing a police investigation over suspicions that she had leaked information about the victim's complaint against the mayor to the mayor's gender equality adviser. Park committed suicide a day after Rep. Nam called the adviser. The governing party is being criticized even by insiders. Rep. Kwon In-sook of the DPK said it was shameful that the party's chief spokesman issued such a statement. "The DPK has had the same problems and has no room to criticize another party," Kwon wrote on Facebook. "The party should not forget its mission to prevent sex offences committed by the powerful and put more effort into protecting victims." Meanwhile, DPK Chairman Lee Nak-yon apologized Wednesday as the state human rights watchdog said Park's actions toward his secretary constituted sexual harassment as they included sending "inappropriate" messages and photos to the victim late at night. The apology came two days after the National Human Rights Commission announced the results of its five-month-long investigation. "We accepted the results of the investigation by the commission and apologize to the victim and her family," Lee said during a party meeting. EU demands that AstraZeneca make up delays of its Covid-19 vaccine by supplying doses from its UK factories on Wednesday risked setting the bloc and Britain on a post-Brexit collision course. Both the European Union and former member Britain insisted the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company uphold contractual delivery promises to each of them -- even as the company said there was not enough to go around. "The 27 European Union member states are united that AstraZeneca needs to deliver on its commitments in our agreements," EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides told reporters in Brussels. In London, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he expected AstraZeneca to honour its commitment to deliver two million doses a week to the UK from its plant in north Wales, where a bomb scare paused production for a few hours on Wednesday. "All I can say is that we're very confident in our supplies, we're very confident in our contracts and we're going ahead on that basis," Johnson told a news conference. The row was triggered last Friday when AstraZeneca informed the EU that it could only supply a quarter of the vaccine doses it had promised for the first three months of this year. That infuriated the European Commission, which is planning this week to add the AstraZeneca vaccine to two others it has already authorised -- from BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna -- to help reach a goal of inoculating 70 percent of EU adults by the end of August. The anger became incandescent when AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot on Tuesday gave an interview saying his company was prioritising supplies to Britain, which signed its contract three months before the EU did, and was required only to make a "best effort" to supply the bloc. Kyriakides said this claim was "neither correct nor is it acceptable". "We reject the logic of first-come, first-served. That may work at the neighbourhood butcher's but not in contracts, and not in our advanced purchase agreements," she said. Story continues - 'Constructive' meeting - The tensions eased slightly after Soriot spoke with the EU's vaccines team on Wednesday night, with both sides saying the meeting had been "constructive". "We have committed to even closer coordination to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months as we continue our efforts to bring this vaccine to millions of Europeans at no profit during the pandemic," an AstraZeneca spokesman said. Kyriakides complained however of a "continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule", saying in a tweet: "The EU remains united and firm contractual obligations must be met." Earlier Wednesday she had noted that AstraZeneca had four operating vaccine plants in Europe -- two in Britain and two in the EU -- and the contract made no distinction between them in terms of the contractual volumes to be supplied. EU officials briefing journalists on condition of anonymity stressed the bloc had allocated 336 million euros ($406 million) to AstraZeneca to permit it to expand production. Explanations from the company for the delay had varied and the main one, talking about a "yield problem" in one of the EU-based plants, was unsatisfactory, the officials said. "We are not told what the real problem is," one of the officials said. As AstraZeneca's other plants -- notably in the UK -- were unaffected, "their story is slightly inconsistent". - EU-UK tensions - Should AstraZeneca start diverting vaccine supply from the two UK plants, that could jeopardise Johnson's commitment to have 15 million Britons vaccinated by mid-February. Already, thanks mainly to the AstraZeneca jab, Britain is one of the leading countries for the speed of its vaccination rollout -- doing so at five times the rate of EU member states collectively. A sudden slowdown in those doses would be dramatic, especially as Britain has suffered the highest death toll from Covid-19 of any European country and Johnson is counting on the vaccinations to stem deaths. Tensions between the EU and Britain remain high in the wake of Brexit, with British traders and consumers suffering as they cope with higher costs and bureaucracy outside of the European single market. burs-rmb-jit/kjl/har A Burleson man who posed for photographs inside the U.S. Capitol during the riot there three weeks ago was arrested on Tuesday, authorities said. Nicholas DeCarlo, 30, appears with another man in a photo that shows them in front of a door inside the Capitol, according to a FBI special agent's account that is attached to a criminal complaint. The phrase "murder the media" was etched on the door. Milestone car was a City sedan, one of two models Honda assembles in Vietnam Honda Vietnam said it had reached a cumulative automobile production milestone of 100,000 units. The 100,000th unit was a City sedan, a model Honda also builds in Thailand and assembles in India. Honda said the achievement was "a significant milestone for Honda's automobile operations in Vietnam". Honda Vietnam was established in 1996 as a motorcycle manufacturing and sales company and begun automobile production in 2006. The range is six models, of which two are locally produced, the City and CR-V, and four imported: Accord, Civic, HR-V and Brio. They are distributed through 42 dealers. With the number of new Covid-19 cases declining over the past two weeks, South African Liquor Brandowners Association (Salba) has urged the government to be transparent about the justification for the continued prohibition of formal alcohol sales in the country. Credit: Getty SAB suspends 550 temporary workers as production stagnates SAB has had to suspend 550 temporary contract workers across its South African operations, as it navigates the unintended consequences of the third alcohol ban... Craft brewers battling to survive blanket ban on alcohol According to a survey conducted by The Craft Brewers Association of South Africa, the vast majority of local craft brewers don't see themselves surviving the third alcohol ban... R13bn lost in excise tax revenue While small businesses in the alcohol industry have struggled to keep their doors open, larger companies have also had to cut staff numbers to shield themselves from the negative economic impacts of the third alcohol ban.Over the past week, Heineken reduced its staff by 7% and South African Breweries suspended the contracts of 550 workers, while Distell reduced its contract staff by 220. The industry has made a request for a deferment of excise liabilities to which the government has not yet formally responded.President Cyril Ramaphosa banned liquor sales on 28 December, stating concerns about the sharp rise in Covid-19 infections. He further extended the alcohol sales prohibition on 11 January, saying that the health system needed to preserve the maximum capacity to handle the surge in Covid-19 admissions. "Except for hospitals citation of social media post, no details were provided on the caseload versus the hospital capacity available," says Salba in a statement.Sibani Mngadi, chairperson of Salba, comments, Government justified the current alcohol ban based on the projected rise in new Covid-19 cases. With the current downward trend in the number of new cases and a recovery rate of 87,6%, government has to explain why the current alcohol continues with no end date in sight."Mngadi urges the government to be transparent to the SA public and the alcohol industry on the justification for alcohol sales continued prohibition. No government ministry is taking responsibility to explain to the public and the industry what justifies the continued ban, and what would be the basis and timeline for a review of this ban. This lack of transparency and accountability from Government is forcing major companies in the sector into further cost-cutting measures, which means more job losses."Alcohol excise tax contribution to the government has declined by more than 28% from R47bn in 2019/20 to R34bn in 2020/21. This R13n loss in alcohol tax revenue could have easily compensated for the investment needed in the procurement of vaccines and other measures needed to curb the impact of Covid-19 on our society, says Mngadi.He says the only beneficiaries of the current ban are illicit alcohol smugglers charging consumers exorbitant prices, robbing both the industry and the government of much-needed sales and tax revenue. RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, dedicated health care advocates from across North Carolina announced they have joined forces to create North Carolina for Better Medicaid (NCBM), a coalition of Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care champions. Current members, which include Mount Zion Baptist Church, Mountain Projects Community Action Agency, I-CARE, Economic Improvement Council, North Carolina Black Alliance, North Carolina Community Action Association and UnitedHealth Group, are working to ensure a successful transition to Managed Care and improve health care in the state. "Mount Zion Baptist Church of Greensboro is proud to join North Carolina for Better Medicaid and partner to ensure a successful transition to Managed Care for the benefit of improving social determinants of health in our local communities. With our state recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid Managed Care is more important than ever, given its focus on delivering high-quality health care that focuses on the whole person, improving their health and well-being long term," said Pastor Odell Cleveland, Chief Administrative Officer, Mount Zion Baptist Church. "We passed Medicaid Managed Care in 2015 to improve the health outcomes and well-being of our most vulnerable population in North Carolina. As we move forward on that promise this year, Medicaid transformation remains a top priority of mine, and I commend North Carolina for Better Medicaid's commitment to ensuring that our health care system provides improved health care delivery and improved accountability to the citizens of our state," said North Carolina Senator Joyce Krawiec (R). NCBM will use its collective voice to advocate for Managed Care as the best way to enhance access to health care, improve the health and quality of life of Medicaid beneficiaries, give the state a sustainable way to provide health care, and bring savings to the state budget. The coalition's efforts will demonstrate the benefits of transitioning from fee-for-service to Managed Care in North Carolina. As part of the coalition's advocacy efforts, NCBM will produce evidence-based research, serve as a trusted resource and work with key stakeholders and decision-makers to demonstrate the value of Managed Care. "We started this transformation to Managed Care to ensure North Carolinians get the quality, affordable health care they deserve. With the efforts of this coalition, diverse community partners will be able to highlight the value of Medicaid Managed Care to their respective missions," said North Carolina Senator Dan Blue (D). "The transition to Medicaid Managed Care is far too important, and we intend to take all necessary actions to secure North Carolina's health care future." NCBM understands that the well-being of the state's most vulnerable populations is at stake, thus membership is comprised of not only credible voices in health care but also underrepresented voices. North Carolina for Better Medicaid's growing membership encourages dedicated health care stakeholders to join in supporting this critical transformation impacting millions of North Carolinians. For more information on how to join NCBM, please visit northcarolinaforbettermedicaid.org or contact Rhaegan Jackson. You can find North Carolina for Better Medicaid on Twitter and LinkedIn. About North Carolina for Better Medicaid North Carolina for Better Medicaid is a multi-stakeholder, consensus-based group of organizations committed to building a better Medicaid system that improves access, quality, outcomes and affordability in North Carolina. Our members include patient advocates, community-based organizations, health care leaders, health plans and others who are champions of Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care. Learn more at www.northcarolinaforbettermedicaid.org. SOURCE North Carolina for Better Medicaid Related Links http://northcarolinaforbettermedicaid.org TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) A Mississippi man is charged in a shooting that injured an Alabama police officer. Authorities say 19-year-old Devonte Lavon Farmer is being held on attempted murder charges in the confrontation, which occurred at an apartment complex in Tuscaloosa on Monday. Tuscaloosa police say an officer was shot in his bulletproof vest while answering a call about an armed man. The vest saved the officer's life, but police say the officer still suffered bruised ribs. News outlets report a second officer was treated for a minor injury. Court records aren't available to show whether Farmer has an attorney. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Its the perennial question going back to Constantine in the fourth century of this era. How much power can Christians handle? Put another way, are we better off when we are the persecuted minority or the empowered majority? One of my friends, who lived in Israel for 16 years, was speaking with an Iranian Christian leader. He asked him, Would you like to go back to the days of the Shah, when Christians had full religious liberty? The Iranian friend replied, Absolutely not. The Church is thriving now under Islamic persecution and growing like never before. Were actually praying for more persecution. Yet in past centuries, the Church in parts of the Middle East and Northern Africa was almost entirely wiped out by fierce Islamic persecution. Historian John Phillip Jenkins wrote a whole book on the subject titled, The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia and How It Died. Certainly, for those Christians, persecution brought more death than growth. But perhaps were looking at this in too extreme forms. What about here in America? Does the Church do better with persecution (as limited as it may, comparatively speaking) or with prosperity? Do we pray more, witness more, and work harder for change when we have hostile administrations in power or friendly administrations in power? Do we look to God more when the government is against us and look to Him less when the government is for us? Going back to the days of Constantine, Gene Edward Veith wrote, The Edict of Milan in A.D. 313 legalized Christianity. Toleration of this new faith in Rome was not a gradual development. It happened suddenly, right after some of the most brutal persecutions of Christians. Soon, Roman officials were kissing the broken hands of Christian confessors whom they had tortured. Quickly, paganism faded as the official religion of the Roman Empire, only to be replaced by the Christian church. Christianity, once despised and persecuted, emerged from the catacombs in triumph. Whereupon its problems really began. The great Methodist leader John Wesley saw things in similar terms, stating in one of his sermons, Persecution never did, never could, give any lasting wound to genuine Christianity. But the greatest it ever received, the grand blow which was struck at the very root of that humble, gentle, patient love, which is the fulfilling of the Christian law, the whole essence of true religion, was struck in the fourth century by Constantine the Great, when he called himself a Christian, and poured in a flood of riches, honours, and power upon the Christians; more especially upon the Clergy. And it was largely downhill from there, according to Wesley. But Veith had more to say, explaining, With the legalization of the church, Christianity under Constantine began to exert a positive moral influence upon a Rome that had become decadent. Yes, women were terribly oppressed and misused under paganism, and it was Christianity that liberated them. . . . The bloody spectator sport of watching gladiators kill each other was halted. Provision was made to care for widows and orphans, the sick and the poor. Isnt this both positive and Christian, a cause for rejoicing rather than mourning? The real issue, in Veiths view, was this: But not only did the church begin to influence the culture; the culture began to influence the church. That has been the challenge ever since (really, as long as God has singled out a people for Himself on the earth): will the people of God change the culture or will the culture change the people of God? Wesley encountered a similar difficulty when preaching the gospel to drunkards and gamblers and others who were irresponsible with their money. When they were truly converted, they became hardworking and responsible, and they began to make more money. Then they became more worldly and less spiritual. As Wesley remarked towards the end of his life, I fear, wherever riches have increased, (exceeding few are the exceptions) the essence of religion, the mind that was in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore do I not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of true religion to continue long. On the other hand, financial provision can be a great blessing from God. We can help the poor and needy. We can support world missions. We can engage in all kinds of humanitarian efforts. We can provide for our own families. We can lend and give without having to borrow or beg. This is certainly positive. What, then, is the solution? Some Christian leaders have argued that, for all of Wesleys brilliance, he missed the simple answer here, namely, stewardship. If we could learn to be good stewards, we could be trusted with more money. Then, rather than money dominating our lives, it would simply be a tool in the service of others. Could it be the same thing when it comes to political power? On the one hand, it is a fatal mistake to put our trust in a political leader (or even a political system), as if our help or deliverance could come from that leader (or system), or as if the political realm could advance righteousness or change hearts. During the Trump administration, this is something some of us addressed time and again (see, for example, here and here.) On the other hand, we are instructed to pray for the salvation of our leaders (see 1 Timothy 2:1-4), meaning that having a godly leader is better than having an ungodly leader. And isnt it positive when the gospel spreads through a country, resulting in more genuine conversions and a higher percentage of the population following the Lord? How could that not be good? Yet it seems that whenever we do have a sympathetic president, we tend to rely on that person to do our job. We also give the larger society the impression that we are trying to take over and impose our values by legal fiat. Worse still, we often become better known for our association with that leader than for association with the Lord. What, then, should we do? First, pastors and leaders must continually emphasize the priority of the gospel, keeping our focus on being disciples and making disciples. That can never change, regardless of who controls the government. The Great Commission must always come first. Second, we must never cease praying for revival and awakening, never cease preaching repentance, never cease addressing the moral evils of the day. Surely change in these areas must come from the grass roots up. Third, we must be known as servants in our communities, as those who lead the way in doing good, as people who care. Let us be known for our love. Fourth, to the extent Christian leaders have open doors to minister to political leaders, they should try to influence them behind closed doors rather than on a stage for the world to see. Billy Graham had access to numerous presidents but was largely perceived as being non-partisan. When the world sees us as an appendage to a political party, we have compromised our testimony. Fifth, we should pray for political leaders who can model gospel principles in their conduct. They can be fearless, strong, uncompromising, and firm without being nasty and mean-spirited. They can be gracious and decent human beings without being wimps. This, too, can have a positive impact on the larger culture. In my personal opinion, we Christian conservatives did very poorly under the Trump administration, when we had so much favor, being better known as Trump supporters than as Jesus followers. Now, perhaps as a result of that, we have a hostile administration in power. Can we do better the next time around with a friendly administration in power? God help us if we do not. Join BioLargo, Phunware and Recruiter.com at the Proactive One2One Investor Forum on January 26 Proactives latest virtual event brings together companies on the cusp of growth from the environmental energy, mobile technology and job placement industries. Each has its own unique story and may be embracing different fields but what they have in common is enormous potential. Sign up to join Proactive's One2One virtual investor forum taking place on January 26 at 1 pm ET and hear executives from these three high-performing companies. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER BioLargo: The engineering company dedicated to sustainability in water, air and health BioLargo Inc ( ) is an environmental engineering company with a simple mission: To make life better when it comes to clean water, clear air and good health. The Westminster, California company operates four subsidiaries: Odor-No-More Inc, BioLargo Water Inc, BioLargo Engineering, Science & Technologies Inc (BLEST) and Clyra Medical Technologies Inc. Odor-No-Mores flagship product is CupriDyne Clean, which effectively eliminates odors rather than just masking them. BioLargo sees it as a boon for cannabis production sites, 15,000 of which can be found in California. To deliver clean water, the company developed the Advanced Oxidation System, an industrial water treatment technology that eliminates pathogens and contaminants with greater energy efficiency and at lower cost. Clyra Medical is developing a skin cell therapy to heal chronic wounds, but it has also managed to create a disinfectant spray that can completely deactivate the coronavirus on surfaces. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Phunware: Redefining the way Fortune 5000 brands engage with the public on mobile ( ) provides a fully integrated enterprise cloud platform for mobile that gives its clients the tools they need to engage, manage and monetize their mobile presence. The Austin-based companys Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) offerings are targeted at healthcare facilities, smart cities, corporate campuses, political entities and more. Clients can use Phunwares software to identify and target audience segments, provide wayfinding with location-based services and even reward users with the companys innovative cryptocurrency, PhunCoin. Since the coronavirus pandemic began, Phunware has been focused on delivering mobile solutions to healthcare workers and cities confronting the virus. The companys digital front door allows healthcare providers to better engage with patients by enabling a robust patient portal, direct messaging, patient and staff tracking, and virtual visits. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER Recruiter.com: Pairing employers with job seekers in innovative ways, even amid a pandemic Recruiter.com Group Inc ( ) is helping to streamline the hiring process for employers and job seekers alike. The companys diverse network of more than 27,000 recruiters helps organizations reduce recruiting costs and shorten recruiting cycles with access to on-demand recruiting supplemented with AI and video technology. Essentially, Recruiter.com aggregates smaller hiring firms and independent recruiters under a common platform and provides them with access to more clients and technology. Clients include big names like , Disney, Schlumberger and other major enterprises. The Houston-based company is rising to meet the challenge that the coronavirus pandemic has had on traditional hiring practices. As businesses have turned to platforms like Zoom and Skype to replace in-person meetings and live interviews, Recruiter.com has adapted by introducing video resumes to help connect candidates with hiring managers earlier in the process. Now, Recruiter.com has a chance to show you its own resume. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER About the event: Ours is an audience of astute high net worth investors, fund managers, private client brokers and analysts We look beyond the numbers and meet the people creating the value for shareholders The format: Each company has a presentation slot followed by Q & A, giving you the chance to discover the real story You can watch the event afterwards on our YouTube channel CLICK HERE TO REGISTER For their reputations as academically rigorous and established educational institutions, private schools are often seen as the best route for ones secondary education. To determine which private schools succeed at this mission, Stacker looks at the best private high school in every state using 2021 data from Niche. KALAMAZOO, MI Residents and activists involved in summer protests in Kalamazoo had more criticism for police Monday, during the second of two listening sessions hosted by a firm hired to complete an independent investigation of the police response to those events in 2020. Citizens spent the evening sharing their comments with investigators during the session held Monday, Jan. 25, via Zoom, and played live on the city of Kalamazoos Facebook page and YouTube channel. I watched as dozens of police officers antagonized and threatened young people, children, said Tandy Moore said, recounting the events of a protest held for George Floyd. Moore said she was near Bronson Park with first aid and supplies during a protest on June 1 and past midnight into the morning of June 2. The young people were peacefully asking the officers to say his name, Moore said, referring to Floyd, who died at the hands of police in Minneapolis. Police began teargassing people, Moore said, recounting the Kalamazoo protest. Children were running toward her yelling theyre shooting at us, Moore told investigators Monday. She said she did not know what kind of non-lethal rounds police were using at the time. City of Kalamazoo Public Information Officer Ryan Bridges said KDPS officers gave verbal warnings before using pepper balls, which are pneumatically operated paintball rounds with powder dispersal, while responding to civil unrest in the city. At the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety, our top priority is keeping every resident, visitor, and business in our community safe. During the civil unrest, KDPS responded to illegal behaviors, which caused officers to use several tools to aid in dispersing crowds when deemed necessary, Bridges said, responding to questions from the Kalamazoo Gazette on Jan. 26. Rubber bullets were not used, as they are not among the tools available to KDPS officers, Bridges said, clarifying based on questions about the rounds. Moore, a Kalamazoo Public Schools board member, said she was was speaking only for herself on Monday. She spoke about issues of trust between the community and police, the impact the summers events had and how they relate to the issue of police officers being present in schools. After months of debating the issue, the local school board voted in December to renew contracts with local police agencies to keep officers in the districts two high schools. Moore was the lone dissenting vote. Melissa Ray said she joined protests downtown on June 2, and got in her truck after people were dispersed by some type of gas. Ray said the actions she saw police take against protesters were unfortunate. She believes there was an effort to instill fear in people. I believe the events to have been performative in nature by governmental leadership, political leadership, and I allege the purpose for such behavior was for political gain and to appease privileged, unafflicted community members who wouldnt even dare to venture into the sides of town most harmed because of the intentionally afflicted inequality in this society, Ray said. The curfew the city issued on June 2 violated the citizens constitutional rights, she said. Ray and other callers criticized the city for the handling of former chief Karianne Thomass firing. The city managers office originally labeled the chiefs departure as a retirement, but MLive revealed months later Thomas was actually terminated from the position and paid severance pay as a result. Related: Commissioners learned police chief was fired months after the fact Ritsema walked away unscathed while Thomas, who reported to him, took all the heat, Ray said. It was shameful, she said. Ray criticized Ritsemas apology for not disclosing the chiefs firing. Two commissioners voted against a motion to accept the managers apology. At the commissions next meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to place an investigation of the chiefs departure on their next public meeting agenda. Another caller on Monday, Valerie Boggan, said instead of pointing fingers abut what police or citizens did wrong, we need to acknowledge systemic racism exists and is impacting people. I think we have a good police department, I think they want to work with the city, they want to create change, said Boggan, who said she is a lifelong resident of Kalamazoo. She has seen a pattern of willingness to improve, she said, and wants the city to look to enact change that is systemic. For example, the department should hire more people who live in the community, Boggan said. Troy Robertson said he supports the public safety department, though there is work to be done. Robertson said he was surprised with the police actions over the summer, sharing that all of his interactions with police have been positive. Others speaking Monday asked for accountability of actions taken by police in Kalamazoo. Caller Mike Barker asked for members of KDPS to publicly disavow the Proud Boys, and asked for an investigation into possible links to the far-right group. Majyck D talked about the school-to-prison pipeline, and noted that officers in the community are obligated to execute their job duties. She shared concerns about conditioning children to be around police. Caller Sarah Ruggles spoke about the events of Aug. 15, when violence broke out between the Proud Boys and counterprotesters in the streets of downtown Kalamazoo. Police faces criticism in the wake of the event, both for not being in the area where violence first erupted, and for seemingly one-sided arrests, as counterprotesters and others were arrested but no Proud Boys. Ruggles said it is a prime example of what is wrong with policing in Kalamazoo, calling the departments treatment of Proud Boys hand-holding. She said police basically ushered the group in and out of town. We might as well have issued them a formal invitation, Ruggles said. She and others compared the Kalamazoo situation with what happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and said it merits an investigation of KDPS officers who may have a history with far-right extremism associations or sentiments. She asked investigators to review comments made by citizens and city officials at pubic meetings following the 2020 events as part of the independent investigation. Another caller during Mondays meeting asked what prompted a show of force from police, specifically when deployed on protesters on June 2. Another caller on Monday talked about the problems with valuing property over people. Callers on Monday also spoke of the importance of addressing racial bias in policing. OIR Group was hired to investigate the police responses to the summer events. The investigators are experts in police policy practices experts, and have conducted numerous independent reviews of policing throughout the U.S., Michael Gennaco of OIR Group said. The group will issue a public, evidence-based report, he said, drawing from a wealth of evidentiary material that documents what happened during the event. Police reports, body camera footage and cell phone video footage will help investigators understand from an evidence based perspective what transpired, he said. Then OIR Group will also answer questions once the report is issued, sometime in the spring, Gennaco said. For now, the company is still in the information collecting phase, he said. They will identify witnesses for follow-up interviews during the process, Gennaco said. Investigators are also looking for issues and concerns about the activity. Investigators have already conducted one-on-one interviews as part of the process. We want to hear perspectives from all sides, Gennaco said. The goal, he said, is to provide answers. Read more: Citizens decry violence, police actions in emotional accounts of Kalamazoo summer protests 5 eyewitness reports from Kalamazoos summer protests that led to investigation of police Commissioner grateful to citizens who shared stories about police responses in Kalamazoo New public information officer working to improve communications for Kalamazoo Kalamazoo motel being transformed into apartments for those without homes Wife of former Kalamazoo pastor arraigned on human trafficking, child sexual assault charges Affle (India) rose 1.01% to Rs 3,783.90 after the company through its wholly-owned step down subsidiary entered into a definitive Business Transfer Agreement to acquire the Business Assets of Discover Tech. The company, through its wholly-owned step down subsidiary Affle MEA FZ-LLC (AMEA, a subsidiary of Affle International), has entered into a definitive business transfer agreement to acquire the business assets of Discover Tech, a company registered in Israel. The fixed consideration for business transfer is $1.15 million in cash and a maximum success fee of $3.37 million will be paid over a period of a maximum of four years. The company expects to complete the transaction in 90 days. As part of the deal, business assets including the technology platform, brand name, intellectual property rights, business relationships and technical information of Discover Tech Limited will be acquired by AMEA. On the objectives of the acquisition, the company said that the investment was strategic for Affle's consumer platform business. Discover Tech is an Out of Box Experience (OOBE) technology platform offering a major consumer touchpoint in the mobile device lifecycle for Dynamic app discovery and recommendation at initial boot or reset of the device during its lifetime through its platform integrations with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). The acquisition would fortify Affle's vernacular on-device consumer experiences and strengthens the ecosystem connect with advertisers, OEMs and MNOs across India, global emerging markets in general and Africa in particular. Separately, Affle (India) said that its wholly-owned Singaporean subsidiary, Affle International (AINT), had entered into a definitive share purchase agreement to sell its minority investment of 8% in OSLabs, Singapore Pte (Indus OS) to its Promoter Group company Affle Global Pte (AGPL Singapore) for a consideration of $2.86 million in cash. AINT has also secured an option to purchase the minority investment back from AGPL Singapore at a premium of 5% after one year or 10% after two years subject to any approvals that may be required. The announcement was made on Tuesday, 26 January 2021, when the stock markets were shut for Republic Day. Affle (India) is a global technology company with a proprietary consumer intelligence platform that delivers consumer engagements, acquisitions and transactions through relevant mobile advertising. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [January 27, 2021] Omaha, Nebraska Nonprofits and K-12 Schools to Receive $525,000 from Pacific Life Foundation The Pacific Life Foundation announced today it will provide $525,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations and K-12 schools in the greater Omaha, Nebraska area throughout 2021. Since 2005, Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation have donated more than $5.2 million to the Omaha community. Grants totaling $481,500 will be awarded to nonprofit organizations in the areas of arts and culture; civic, community and economic development; education; and health and human services. The 2021 Nebraska recipients include: American Red Cross of Omaha, Council Bluffs Metro Chapter Autism Action Partnership Community Alliance Completely KIDS Girls Inc. of Omaha Heart Ministry Center Hope Medical Outreach Coalition Iowa Jobs for America's Graduates Joslyn Art Museum Kids Can Community Center Latino Center of the Midlands Mercy Housing Midwest MICAH House NorthStar Foundation Omaha Children's Museum Omaha Conservatory of Music Omaha Home for Boys Omaha Performing Arts Omaha Public Library Foundation OneWorld Community Health Centers Open Door Mission Opera Omaha Project Harmony Child Advocacy Center Ronald McDonald House Charities in Omaha Special Olympics Nebraska Stephen Center Together United ay of the Midlands University of Nebraska Foundation, CodeCrush Volunteers Assisting Seniors Whispering Roots Women's Center for Advancement YMCA of Greater Omaha The Pacific Life Foundation 3Ts of Education program will award a total of $43,500 in grants to 15 local K-12 schools where concentrations of children and grandchildren of Pacific Life employees attend. The educational grants are designed to support needs in the areas of teacher training, textbooks or technology. The Pacific Life Foundation not only provides funding to organizations, but also supports these organizations through volunteer efforts with the Pacific Life Good Guys program. In 2021, Pacific Life and its employees will continue to support its annual United Way campaign, during which the Pacific Life Foundation matches every dollar donated by employees. Additionally, the Pacific Life Foundation will continue to match all employee donations to nonprofits and universities. Supporting communities where Pacific Life employees work and live, the Pacific Life Foundation plans to give a total of $7.25 million in charitable grants in 2021. About Pacific Life and the Pacific Life Foundation For more than 150 years, Pacific Life has helped millions of individuals and families with their financial needs through a wide range of life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds, and offers a variety of investment products and services to individuals, businesses, and pension plans. Pacific Life counts more than half of the 100 largest U.S. companies as its clients and has been named one of the 2020 World's Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute. For additional company information, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.PacificLife.com. The Pacific Life Foundation (the Foundation) was established in 1984. Together with Pacific Life, the Foundation has contributed more than $123 million to community and national nonprofit organizations. Grants are made to organizations that address a broad spectrum of social needs. Pacific Life refers to Pacific Life Insurance Company and its affiliates, including Pacific Life & Annuity Company. Client count as of June 2020 is compiled by Pacific Life using the 2020 FORTUNE 500 list. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210127005089/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Hong Kong: 1 virus case found in restricted area The Government announced that the exercise on the restriction-testing declaration for the restricted area in Yau Ma Tei finished at around 6am and one confirmed COVID-19 case was found among those tested. The Government exercised the power under the Prevention & Control of Disease (Compulsory Testing for Certain Persons) Regulation on January 26 to make a restriction-testing declaration effective from 7pm, requiring people within the specified restricted area at 9-27 Pitt Street and 3 Tung On Street in Yau Ma Tei to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing. They had to stay in their premises until all such people in the area were tested and the test results were mostly ascertained. Eight temporary specimen collection stations were set up in the restricted area for people to undergo rapid antigen tests and have their combined nasal and throat swab samples collected for COVID-19 testing. About 330 people were tested, of which one confirmed case was found. The patient and close contacts have been hospitalised or transferred to quarantine centres. The declaration was revoked after residents were informed of their test results. About 380 staff from the Home Affairs Department (HAD) and its Office of the Licensing Authority, Police, the Yau Tsim Mong and Sham Shui Po District Offices were mobilised to implement the declaration and notice, the Government said. It provided simple food for people subject to compulsory testing to facilitate their dinner arrangement. Masks and hand sanitisers were also provided. Since there are a number of ethnic minorities in the restricted area, the HAD arranged 18 working staff who can speak Nepali, Urdu or Hindi to assist ethnic minorities in undergoing testing in specimen collection stations and help explain the declaration's arrangement. It also produced leaflets in three ethnic minority languages for people in the restricted area and set up a dedicated hotline for ethnic minorities to make enquiries and seek assistance. Another hotline set up by the department handled around 26 enquiries. Meanwhile, the Government visited 306 households, of which around 93 did not answer the door. Such households include those in buildings in the restricted area which have not been evacuated and those with confirmed cases or undergoing quarantine, while some units are possibly vacant. It will take measures to follow up and trace households in the district which have not responded. The Government hopes this temporary inconvenience will completely cut the local transmission chains in the district and ease residents' worries and fear so that they will regain confidence in resuming social and business activities in the area. In addition to expressing gratitude to people subject to compulsory testing for their support, understanding and co-operation, the Government thanked all participating government staff and testing agencies for their hard work which enabled the smooth implementation of the declaration within 11 hours. People who had been in the restricted area for more than two hours in the past 14 days, even if they were not present in the area at the time when the declaration took effect, must comply with the compulsory testing notices and get tested as soon as possible, the Government stressed. This story has been published on: 2021-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. WEST SPRINGFIELD Despite criticisms they aired last week, town councilors appear to have reached a consensus to back Mayor William Reichelts executive order declaring racism an emergency and public health crisis. Several councilors again faulted the language of the proposed order at a study session Jan. 25, but said they didnt want to delay the start of a town-wide effort to gather information on racial disparities and promote equity. They also said they had started to think deeply about systematic racism after reading the studies and news reports that Reichelt researched before writing the order. I had some serious issues with this when I read it the first time, and when I read it the second time, but since then, Ive kind of changed my mind, said Councilor Nathan Bech. I think of racism as some jerk saying some horrible things to someone, but theres a whole lot more to racism. Thats what Im understanding in this whole process. In addition to declaring systematic, institutional and interpersonal racism to be a threat to public health, Reichelts proposal requires all town departments to work on fighting racism, and calls for the creation of a working group to discuss racism and its effects in West Springfield, and propose solutions. Council President Brian Griffin had entered the meeting with an alternative proposal, but said he would be happy to endorse the mayors language if his fellow councilors agreed. One of the differences between the two proposals was that Griffins document called on the town government to adopt specific data-collection and transparency practices to show where disparities exist. Councilor Michael Eger said he preferred Griffins approach, as well as his softer language in describing systemic racism. Theres a lot of good people who think theyre good people, who dont always realize they have a bias (in) what they know, Eger said. I think we need a little bit of that humanity in that document. But Griffin said because the order is meant to be a joint statement of the mayor, Town Council, School Committee and Board of Health, its not clear what would happen if the council tried to change the language. He and Councilor Anthony DiStefano said rather than quibble over language, they would prefer to have the proposed working group hold meetings and discussions sooner. I would just like to see us move in the direction of adopting the resolution as presented, and not continue to massage the thing to some perfect entity, said DiStefano. The important work is going to be what happens as a result of the resolution, and the committee or working group established to report back. The councilor who had the harshest criticism for Reichelts language last week, Daniel OBrien, argued this week that the town should make no statement on racism, but simply set up the working group and let it speak for itself. Were tying ourselves in knots trying to figure out how to see things from a different perspective, he said. Let them talk about whatever there is to talk about, and come up with something. Last week, OBrien had said he felt Reichelts description of the problem was inflammatory and labeled West Springfield as a racist town. Reichelt said he only meant to say that the United States as a whole struggles with systematic and institutional racism, and West Springfield, like all towns, must make an effort locally to fight it. In their discussion on Monday, councilors and the mayor frequently noted that they are a group of 10 white men. They said they want to appoint a diverse commission to share perspectives on racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination that they have not experienced personally. School Committee member Pat Garbacik said her work with the School Departments Equity Series, a model for the mayors proposed working group, has been a learning experience. Im a white woman, and Im always surprised to find out what I dont know, Garbacik said. You think you understand, and then something comes up, and you find out youre in left field. Reichelt said the towns Board of Health had endorsed the executive order, with its original wording, last week. The School Committee is scheduled to vote on it Thursday night. The Town Council will discuss the order further, and potentially vote on it, at its Feb. 1 meeting. Perhaps in this case, crime doesn't pay. That is, possibly not as well as the paranormal investigator and television personality Zak Bagans had hoped it would. He recently reduced the price of the LaBianca murder house in Los Angeles to $1,999,000, shaving a couple of hundred grand off the $2.2 million he listed it for in October 2020. Built in 1922, the home became infamous in 1969, when its owners, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, were killed there by Charles Manson and his followers. The couple was murdered the day after the Manson family murdered the pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four of her friends in Beverly Hills. Bagans bought the house in September 2019 for $1,889,000, just a couple of months after Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" hit the theaters. The cinematic fairy tale about L.A. in the late 1960s renewed interest in the Manson murders and other Los Angeles locations of the day. Front porch of former LaBianca home in Los Angeles realtor.com Front exterior realtor.com Bagans told TMZ that he purchased the property to use for film production, but changed his mind after feeling the vibe there. The host of "Paranormal Adventures" claims to possess a particular sensitivity to otherworldly beings. He also told TMZ that he decided to cancel his intended project out of respect for the LaBianca family. So now the two-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom Spanish Colonial-style house is back on the market and could turn out to be a great deal for a buyer who can ignore its grisly past. The location is hard to topthe home sits on a private and gated acre hilltop lot, with views of downtown Los Angeles, Griffith Park, Glendale, and the San Gabriel Mountains. The Griffith Park Observatory and its surrounding trails, and the shops and restaurants of the Silver Lake and Los Feliz neighborhoods are minutes away. The house itself is a charming period piece, with floor-to-ceiling windows, French doors, and Italian marble floors. The large windows afford clear views from almost every room. Living room https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Dining room https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Bedroom https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Breakfast nook https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Deck https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Outdoors, there are mature fruit trees, lush greenery, rolling lawns, Italianate fountains, and a pool. Backyard https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Fountain https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ The listing notes that there is "tremendous upside potential as the lot size is truly rare for the pristine location." That may translate into a tear-down. At this point, building a beautiful new home on the large lot could be an option for a buyer looking to leave the past behind. Kitchen https://www.tmz.com/2020/10/28/charles-manson-murder-house-for-sale-zak-bagans/ Bagans, 43, has been involved with the Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" and its spinoff "Ghost Adventures: Aftershocks," since 2004. In 2016, he opened "The Haunted Museum" in Las Vegas, with more than 30 rooms of paranormal paraphernalia. The post Ghost Hunter Zak Bagans Cuts Price on LaBianca Murder House in L.A. appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com. The travel restrictions announced by the Belgian Prime Minister come into force on Wednesday 27 January. From Wednesday 27 January until Monday 1 March, non-essential travel to and from Belgium is prohibited. Crossing the border will only be allowed for certain specific reasons deemed "essential". Commuters will have to fill in a travel certificate. It is available directly on the authorities' website. According to the government, "the travel ban will be checked for road, air, sea, and rail traffic". Among the reasons for cross-border travel are, of course, work. Cross-border commuters will therefore be able to travel normally, provided they have the necessary proof. They will also be able to use the same certificate for the purpose of business travel, with an insert for "regular travel". Residents of border areas will also be able to go shopping in a neighbouring country, as stated in the certificate. Students are allowed to cross the border as part of their educational obligations. For couples separated by the border, they will be able to meet "insofar as credible proof of a stable and lasting relationship can be provided". In addition, the exceptions also allow for travel due to "imperative family reasons". Except for regular travel, it is stated that "this document must be completed for each border crossing during the period from 27 January 2021 to 1 March 2021". Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 12:27:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SYDNEY, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Australian officials announced an easing of Sydney's COVID-19 restrictions on Wednesday, after squashing two clusters that emerged in the city before Christmas. As of Wednesday Sydney had recorded 10 straight days without a locally acquired case. New measures to be implemented from Friday included increasing limits on gatherings to 30 for private households and 50 people for outdoors, as well as no longer requiring face masks for retail shopping venues. Masks will remain compulsory for front-of-house hospitality staff and on public transport. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was confident that clusters in the north and inner west of the city which peaked around Christmas had been brought under control. "The community has been outstanding in containing this outbreak. The sacrifice and efforts of everyone is why we can ease restrictions today," Berejiklian said. "We must remain vigilant - it is critical we are getting tested with the mildest of symptoms, follow the health advice and continue to be COVID-Safe right across the state." A one person per 4 square metres still applied for hospitality venues, however authorities said if current trends continued that could change to a one person per 2 square metres in roughly two weeks time. NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant urged the public to continue attending free testing clinics if they showed any symptoms in order to prevent the virus from spreading again. "This is particularly important in areas where we've had recent cases, particularly western and southwest Sydney," Chant said. Enditem Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. ONTARIO -- Riley Hill, a developer and the mayor of Ontario, has sued the city he leads in an effort to overturn a nuisance finding that resulted in a $500 penalty. The lawsuit filed in Malheur County Circuit Court on Jan. 11 reads a bit like a political soap opera, with the mayor dealing with the city manager and police chief over his private holdings and then facing judgment by a city hearings officer who once ran against him. The suit comes a year after an Ontario city code enforcement officer reported debris and weeds on an Ontario lot owned by Hills company, Eldorado Investments Inc., the company now suing the city. The company asks in its suit that the citys decision to impose a fine be overturned and that the company get back its legal costs and other expenses. The court complaint suggests action against Hill was politically motivated, pushed by two former Ontario city councilors. In his political career, Mr. Hill has opposed wasteful spending by the city, the complaint said. In particular, he suggested limiting funding for ordinance officers, who are responsible for things like policing garage sales, stray animals, and parking. Hill didnt respond to requests for comment. The yearlong saga now moving into a courtroom focuses on property on Southeast 11th Avenue in Ontario, a private lot with a mobile home that Hills company said in its lawsuit had been occupied by a squatter. This squatter admittedly left a mess in the yard, the complaint said. According to court filings, Hill complained to police about the squatter, prompting a visit to the lot by Officer Dallas Brockett of the Ontario Police Department. At the property, Brockett observed multiple violations of Ontario city code, including debris, outside storage of personal property, odors, and storage of a motor vehicle. He issued a notice to Hills company on Jan. 23, giving the company until Feb. 6 to clear the violations. The notice said that tall grass had to be cut and weeds sprayed. Debris, junk, vehicle parts, human feces, garbage, personal items, furniture, trash, scrap and other items must be removed, the notice said. According to city records, Hill later testified that he had been unable to kick out the squatters who had made a mess of his property until going to court in June or July. Mr. Hill acknowledged that he was having conversations with the city manager and police chief between February and August as it related to the abatement, which explains as to why code enforcement was not more forcible in imposing penalties during this period of time, considering Mr. Hills connections with the city, according to the hearings officers later findings. It was only after seven months of non-compliance that code enforcement, in consultation with the police chief, that a minimal civil penalty was assessed. The lawsuit said two former city council members spurred the fines by agitating for police action against Mr. Hill but didnt identify the councilors. The lawsuit also said that the city enforcement officer had compiled a list of Hills properties and that the police chief unnamed in the complaint but who is Steven Romero told Mr. Brockett to issue a fine on one of Mr. Hills properties. Romero didnt respond Monday to a request for comment. On Aug. 19, Brocket issued Eldorado Investments a $600 fine $500 for the continued presence of weeds on the lot and $100 for an abandoned car. Eldorado appealed the fine, making its case to a city hearings officer, who acts in a quasi-judicial role in handling such administrative proceedings. The hearings officer assigned the case was Billy Carter, himself a former city code enforcement officer and a candidate for mayor in 2018 in the race won by Hill. Hill took office in January 2019. According to City Manager Adam Brown, Carter was the backup hearings officer, and was assigned to the case only after the first hearings officer, Mike Pratt, declined to be involved due to a business relationship with Hill. The hearing was held on Nov. 12 and Brockett presented photos of the property taken the day of the hearing that Carter later wrote showed that there were still noxious weeds and an abandoned vehicle on the property. Attorney Zach Olson, representing Hills company at the hearing, said that photos attached to the August citation do not show a nuisance. Instead they show that the mess from the January notice had been cleaned up. All the trash, debris and weeds shown in the January notice were removed. Olson wouldnt answer a question from the Enterprise about when the debris had been cleaned, and the lawsuit is unclear on that point. In the lawsuit, Hills company noted that the hearings officer had been a political opponent of Hills. During the hearing, Mr. Carter repeated his campaign slogan that it was time to make Ontario shine, the complaint said. In issuing his decision, Carter said Hills allegations that city properties also had nuisance issues wasnt relevant. He found Eldorado guilty of the violations and reset the fine to $500, leading to the recent lawsuit. Hills company said the citys effort was flawed in several ways. Eldorado took issue, for instance, with the fact that the original abatement notice was sent using certified rather than first-class mail, in a violation of city code. The complaint said that Hill got a verbal warning from City Manager Adam Brown that was not even timely and constituted vague second-hand oral notice...unsurprisingly not authorized in Ontarios Municipal Code. Brown declined to comment on these allegations, citing the ongoing suit. - Egypt News : : 21 2021 : | .. " " 2020 2021 . 76 78 76 75 . . . 23 . . City Editor Tom Roeder is the Gazette's City Editor. In Colorado Springs since 2003, Tom has covered the military at home and overseas and has cover statehouses in Denver and Olympia, Wash. His main job, though, is being dad to two great kids. New LJI research gives detailed look at vulnerable sites on the novel coronavirus--beyond the receptor binding domain LA JOLLA--A new study led by scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) suggests that T cells try to fight SARS-CoV-2 by targeting a broad range of sites on the virus--beyond the key sites on the virus's spike protein. By attacking the virus from many angles, the body has the tools to potentially recognize different SARS-CoV-2 variants. The new research, published January 27, 2021 in Cell Report Medicine, is the most detailed analysis so far of which proteins on SARS-CoV-2 stimulate the strongest responses from the immune system's "helper" CD4+ T cells and "killer" CD8+ T cells. "We are now armed with the knowledge of which parts of the virus are recognized by the immune system," says LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, Dr. Biol. Sci., who co-led the new study with LJI Instructor Alba Grifoni, Ph.D. Sette and Grifoni have led research into immune responses to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. Their previous studies, co-led by members of the LJI Coronavirus Task Force, shows that people can have a wide range of responses to the virus--some people have strong immune responses and do well. Others have disjointed immune responses and are more likely to end up in the hospital. As COVID-19 vaccines reach more people, LJI scientists are keeping an eye on how different people build immunity to SARS-CoV-2. They are also studying how T cells could combat different variants of SARS-CoV-2. This work takes advantage of the lab's expertise in predicting and studying T cell responses to viruses such as dengue and Zika. "This is even more important with COVID-19 because it is a global pandemic, so we need to account for immune responses in different populations," says Grifoni. The immune system is very flexible. By re-scrambling genetic material, it can make T cells that respond to a huge range of targets, or epitopes, on a pathogen. Some T cell responses will be stronger against some epitopes than others. Researchers call the targets that prompt a strong immune cells response "immunodominant." For the new study, the researchers examined T cells from 100 people who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. They then took a close look at the genetic sequence of the virus to separate the potential epitopes from the epitopes that these T cells would actually recognize. Their analysis revealed that not all parts of the virus induce the same strong immune response in everyone. In fact, T cells can recognize dozens of epitopes on SARS-CoV-2, and these immunodominant sites also change from person to person. On average, each study participant had the ability to recognize about 17 CD8+ T cells epitopes and 19 CD4+ T cell epitopes. This broad immune system response serves a few purposes. The new study shows that while the immune system often mounts a strong response against a particular site on the virus's "spike" protein called the receptor binding domain, this region is actually not as good at inducing a strong response from CD4+ helper T cells. Without a strong CD4+ T cell response, however, people may be slow to mount the kind of neutralizing immune response that quickly wipes out the virus. Luckily, the broad immune response comes in handy, and most people have immune cells that can recognize sites other than the receptor binding domain. Among the many epitopes they uncovered, the researchers identified several additional epitopes on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Grifoni says this is good news. By targeting many vulnerable sites on the spike protein, the immune system would still be able to fight infection, even if some sites on the virus change due to mutations. "The immune response is broad enough to compensate for that," Grifoni says. Since the announcement of the fast-spreading UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 (called SARS-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01), the researchers have compared the mutated sites on that virus to the epitopes they found. Sette notes that the mutations described in the UK variant for the spike protein affect only 8% of the epitopes recognized by CD4+ T cells in this study, while 92% of the responses is conserved. Sette emphasized that the new study is the results of months of long hours and international collaboration between labs at LJI; the University of California, San Diego; and researcher's at Australia's Murdoch University. "This was a tremendous amount of work, and we were able to do it really fast because of our collaborations," he says. ### The study, "Comprehensive analysis of T cell immunodominance and immunoprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in COVID-19 cases," was supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (AI42742 ,75N9301900065 and 75N93019C00001), the National Institutes of Health (U01 CA260541-01, AI135078, and AI036214); UCSD T32s (AI007036 and AI007384), the Jonathan and Mary Tu Foundation and the University of Genoa, Italy. Additional study authors include first author Alison Tarke, John Sidney, Conner Kidd, Jennifer M. Dan, Sydney I. Ramirez, Esther Dawen Yu, Jose Mateus, Ricardo da Silva Antunes, Erin Moore, Paul Rubiro, Nils Methot, Elizabeth Phillips, Simon Mallal, April Frazier, Stephen A. Rawlings, Jason A. Greenbaum, Bjoern Peters, Davey M. Smith, Shane Crotty and Daniela Weiskopf. DOI:10.1016/j.xcrm/2021/100202 About La Jolla Institute for Immunology The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is dedicated to understanding the intricacies and power of the immune system so that we may apply that knowledge to promote human health and prevent a wide range of diseases. Since its founding in 1988 as an independent, nonprofit research organization, the Institute has made numerous advances leading toward its goal: life without disease. Advertisement Fines for holidays with police checking your passport at the airport How can the Government stop Britons from going on holiday? Lockdown rules already ban people from international travel unless it is for work. Leaving home is only permitted for a small number of reasons. Under the lockdown laws introduced at the start of January and which will run until March 31, people in England are allowed only to leave the house for a very slim range of activities. But the rules, which are largely the same as for the second lockdown in November, also ban foreign leisure travel, just as they prohibit domestic leisure travel. What happens if I want to travel abroad? People wanting to leave the UK will have to fill out a form giving the reason for their trip. Anyone who turns up at ports and airports without a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home and may face a fine. Priti Patel said today: 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason, so we will introduce a new requirement so that people wishing to travel must first make a declaration as to why they need to travel. 'This reason for travel will be checked by carriers prior to departure.' Travel operators are also expected to face fines if they fail to inspect these forms. What will I have to prove if I went to travel? Work trips are allowed, so you will have to show some proof that your flight or sea crossing is vital for your employment. However, there are a range of other reasons for 'essential travel. These are the same at the reasons for leaving your house: medical care, to escape harm, compassionate visits - for example a funeral - and weddings. The list of travel exemptions will be urgently reviewed so that only the most important and exceptional reasons are included. Who is going to enforce these rules? It is not clear whether airlines and other travel operators will have the unilateral ability to decide whether someone has given a genuine reason for a trip on their forms, or it will end up being referred to police. There will also be an increased police presence at ports and airports, fining those in breach of the stay at home regulations. Why is this being highlighted now? The Home Secretary lashed out at social media influencers who have been posting images of themselves in sunny parts of the world like Dubai during the lockdown. Many have claimed they were travelling for work, but have attracted a backlash from people stuck at home after also enjoying the nightlife and beaches. Ms Patel also singled out people 'turning up with their skis' at London's St Pancras station to catch the Eurostar to European resorts, adding: 'That is clearly not acceptable.' Advertisement Priti Patel read the riot act to would-be travellers tonight warning that people on fake work jaunts and influencers heading for sunny destinations will be turned away from airports. The Home Secretary heralded a huge squeeze on 'non-essential' journeys as she revealed that even during lockdown individuals have been flouting the rules - including by turning up to go abroad carrying skis. In a statement to MPs, she said such people now face being sent home again, and will have to fill out a legal declaration saying that they are going for essential purposes. 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel,' she swiped. Lockdown rules already ban people from international travel unless it is for work. Leaving home is only permitted for a small number of reasons. However, it is not clear whether airlines and other travel operators will have the unilateral ability to decide whether someone has given a genuine reason for a trip, or whether it will end up being referred to police. Angry airline industry sources meanwhile said such legal declarations could pose 'challenges' for them, amid fears check-in staff will be told to take judgements on what constitutes a legitimate journey. The Home Office has yet to produce an example of the declaration form, and it is not known when the system will kick off. It is not thought any further law will be needed to implement the move. Ms Patel also declared that Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. MailOnline understands that hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms, where they will have to stay for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500 - although ministers hope the numbers will 'fall through the floor' as people avoid coming to the UK. It will only affect British travellers, as foreign citizens who have been in the countries are already banned from entering altogether. Ms Patel herself is believed to have been pushing for a much tougher regime alongside Matt Hancock and Michael Gove, but was overruled after resistance from Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Grant Shapps, and warnings it would 'kill' the aviation industry. The government is facing the prospect of a revolt from UK nations, with Nicola Sturgeon threatening to impose her own more brutal curbs in Scotland, and Wales saying they do not go far enough. Labour said ministers were 'behind the curve' in protecting the country's borders. But making the case for the government in a Commons statement, Ms Patel said: 'It is clear that there are still too many people coming in and out of our country each day. 'And today I am announcing further action to strengthen the health measures we already have at the border, but to reduce passenger flow so that only a small number of people for whom it is absolutely essential to travel are doing so and therefore reducing the risk to our world-leading vaccine programme.' Under the push to clamp down on travel, airlines are expected to be fined if they fail to enforce the rules properly after influencers were accused of 'taking the p***' by jetting out to Dubai, claiming their Instagram updates constituted work. 'Even at St Pancras people have been turning up with their skis,' Ms Patel said. 'We see plenty of influencers on social media showing off about which parts of the world they are in... 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason to travel.' Ms Patel pointed to the lockdown laws, saying 'people should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to leave'. 'We will introduce a new requirement so that people wishing to travel must first make a declaration as to why they need to travel,' she said. 'This reason for travel will be checked by carriers prior to departure and this approach effectively mirrors the checks on arrivals that are already in place with the passenger locator form.' The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain - but ignores a plea from Ms Patel and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to apply the diktat to all arrivals. Confusingly, Boris Johnson told the House earlier that 22 countries will be on the quarantine list - but in fact the current 'red list' of countries from where only British nationals can come to the UK is much wider than that. Ms Patel did not give a full roll call of the states included when she addressed MPs. She said the government does have estimates for how many people will need to quarantine in hotels, but refused to give them. Sources said the numbers of arrivals going into the accommodation is likely to be in the hundreds to start with, but should fall quickly. And although she suggested there is an 'immediate' crackdown the start date for the enforced quarantine is not clear. The dramatic announcement came as: The EU indicated it could move to restrict export of jabs and launched a bid to have British supplies diverted to Europe; Tensions between AstraZeneca and the EU over stocks of jabs have ramped up with a meeting being cancelled, after it emerged the bloc signed contracts three months later than the UK; Ministers are unveiling details of enforced 'quarantine hotels' for travellers from Covid hotspots, amid claims Priti Patel wanted a tougher border shutdown; Nicola Sturgeon has called for a 'comprehensive system of supervised quarantine' for travellers arriving in the UK and said that the government's plan 'does not go far enough'; Ms Sturgeon also questioned whether the PM's planned trip to Scotland this week is 'essential' as she said he has a 'duty to lead by example' and stick to the rules; Mr Johnson has condemned a Labour call for all teachers to be vaccinated over half-term and other key workers to be pushed up the priority list; Figures showed more than 30,000 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid put on their death certificate. Priti Patel today revealed Britons returning from more than 20 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days Hard graft: Yazmin Oukhellou told fans she was, '[In Dubai] for work purposes, for business', but added: 'Obviously we'll make the most of it while we're here as well.' Right, Laura Anderson was met with a furious backlash when she moaned about how hard it was to be an 'influencer' Chloe Ferry, who travelled out to Dubai at the end of last year - before lockdown measures were introduced, originally claimed she had hoped to stay for 'two months' Holidaymakers vow to get around new quarantine rules by driving from Portugal to Spain Britons holidaying in Portugal this winter have vowed to skip Boris Johnson's hotel quarantine diktat by travelling home to the UK via the EU, MailOnline can reveal today. Mr Johnson's plans to forcibly confine travellers from 22 'high risk' countries was branded 'another omnishambles' amid claims it can easily be bypassed by flying home via Spain or Ireland, or driving to Calais to cross the Channel. MailOnline has previously revealed that travellers from South Africa, where a mutant strain of Covid was found before Christmas, were flowing into the UK via Paris and Amsterdam after direct flights were scrapped. Portugal, visited by 2million Britons each year before the pandemic, is expected to be among the 22 'high risk' states on the list because of rocketing infection and death rates as well as its links to Covid-ravaged Brazil. But Britons, many of whom have second homes on the Algarve, are already planning to bypass the rules. There are currently no direct flights between the UK and Portugal. Ken Browne tweeted: 'If you want to escape highly expensive hotel quarantine, just cross from Portugal into Spain and travel from there. It's another omnishambles'. Paul Snape wrote: Won't everyone just go via a different country? U could drive from Portugal into Spain, get on a flight and get into the country without quarantine'. Tahir Habib said: 'I know friends planning to come from Portugal via France! You either quarantine everyone coming into the UK from all countries or no one. Plenty of alternative routes back'. One BBC listener told Radio 2 today they planned to travel back to the UK by flying to Dublin and then to Stansted to avoid paying 1,500 for ten days in a hotel. Advertisement At PMQs this afternoon, Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Government had 'failed' by being 'too slow' to bring it in and claiming that quarantining arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. Passengers arriving in Britain from any of the listed countries will have to isolate for 10 days in hotels near airports and pay around 1,500 for the privilege. Boris Johnson told the Commons: 'I want to make clear that under the stay at home regulations, it is illegal to leave home to travel abroad for leisure purposes and we will enforce this at ports and airports by asking people why they are leaving and instructing them to return home if they do not have a valid reason to travel. 'We have also banned all travel from 22 countries where there is a risk of known variants including South Africa, Portugal and South American nations. 'And in order to reduce the risk posed by UK nationals and residents returning home from these countries, I can announce that we will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in Government provided accommodation, such as hotels, for 10 days without exception. 'They will be met at the airport and transported directly into quarantine. The Department of Health and Social Care is working to establish these facilities as quickly as possible.' The 'test and release' scheme, which allows travellers to leave quarantine if they have a negative Covid test on the fifth day in isolation, cannot be used for countries on the 'red list', so is unaffected by the changes. Scores of influencers and millionaires have fled to Dubai to lounge in luxury hotels during lockdown. Laura Anderson, Molly-Mae Hague, Maura Higgins, Amber Davies, Georgia Harrison and Kady McDermott were among those to jet off before the third national lockdown. Expats working in Dubai and following the rules have accused them of 'taking the f***ing p***' by claiming they are in the city for work, and risking spreading the virus by partying and flouting social distancing. MailOnline has also been inundated with emails from people in Spain, the USA, Canada, Pakistan and South America worried that they may be caught up in the new quarantine scheme and admitting they may rush home to avoid it. Yesterday it was revealed private flights into a Dubai airport soared by 78 per cent at the end of last year compared to 2019, as travellers, including Love Island stars, rushed to escape lockdown and spend Christmas there. The quarantine plans split the cabinet with Ms Patel backing a total travel ban that would close Britain's borders. Nick Freeman, best known as a celebrity defence lawyer and nicknamed 'Mr Loophole', has urged stars, and others, not to break quarantine rules But Mr Shapps and Mr Raab have been arguing strongly for any decision on whether to widen the list to be delayed. Yesterday the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of the Covid operations committee which includes participants from the Home Office, the Department of Transport and the Foreign Office to put the seal on the decision. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. An agent, whose client had travelled to Dubai, told the Mirror earlier this month: 'We manage their social media accounts and I've seen a number of death threats in direct messages. 'It's been relentless. We warned them not to travel abroad while a lot of the nation is under severe restrictions as it's a terrible look, but they ignored it.' Meanwhile solicitor Nick Freeman, best known as a celebrity defence lawyer and nicknamed 'Mr Loophole', has urged stars, and others, not to break quarantine rules. He warned that stars leaving the UK on work grounds - without actually having paid work - could be caught out by the content they share online. Influencers can be paid to promote bars, restaurants and hotels to their followers, or sponsored by brands to promote their clothes in exotic locations. What countries are on the 'red list' for new quarantine hotel rules? Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe Advertisement Speaking about the new quarantine rules, the Manchester-based lawyer, who runs Freeman and Co. Solicitors, told MailOnline: 'My advice for those facing quarantine is a strict adherence to the law. But unquestionably there may be those who will attempt to circumnavigate the legislation. 'For example, it's not clear yet what exemptions from hotel quarantine may exist inevitably there will a list.' Mr Freeman said mental health grounds and certain physical ailments may be used as exemptions for quarantine hotels. He said: 'These need to be genuine reasons and supported by bona fide medical evidence. 'However, there could be "conditions` which fall into grey areas and it is these areas which may be ripe for exploitation.' But the solicitor warned Britons against attempting to get round the rules, adding: 'It's important to remember a loophole in law is a genuine legal technicality sourced in the statute. 'However, those returning who wish to avoid exemptions may well be in full contravention of the law - by using excuses which have no real foundation. I would robustly advise against doing this - it is illegal.' Travel chiefs warned quarantine hotels could 'decimate' the beleaguered sector. Airline bosses wrote to Mr Johnson warning firms could go bust and tens of thousands of jobs lost if summer holidays are cancelled for a second year. The letter was signed by easyJet chief Johan Lundgren, Virgin Atlantic CEO Shai Weiss, British Airways boss Sean Doyle, Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy and David Burling, CEO of markets and airlines for package holiday giant Tui. They called for an 'urgent roadmap for the reopening of air travel' as vaccines are rolled out and life begins returning to normal. They said Britain already has 'some of the toughest border restrictions on international arrivals anywhere in the world'. And they hit out at ministers for failing to share any 'compelling scientific evidence that introducing a policy potentially of blanket quarantine in hotels is necessary in addition to measures only recently introduced'. The letter follows a string of announcements on restrictions at borders, including passengers needing proof of a pre-flight negative Covid-19 test and the scrapping of the 'travel corridor' safe list of countries. The ban does not include British and Irish nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival. The airline chiefs pointed out that the aviation industry supports about 1.56million jobs and contributes 88.8billion to the economy, or about 4.5 per cent of UK GDP. They added: 'With each day the UK is isolated from the world, causing untold economic damage, both to the UK's essential aviation infrastructure its airlines, airports and ground handlers but also to those businesses that depend on the UK's connectivity within a global economy.' The industry is calling for a 'bespoke support package', saying measures up until now have been inadequate. They say business rates relief can currently amount to as little as 4 per cent for larger operators such as Heathrow. Separately, the World Travel and Tourism Council warned shutting down UK borders further could wipe out more than 548million from the UK economy every day. The travel industry is ending its worst January on record in terms of forward bookings. Who has gone where? The hard working 'influencers' on 'essential businesses' Scores of reality TV stars have been sharing photos from their sunny 'work' breaks, including; Kimberley Garner (she was in Barbados and is now in Miami) Lottie Moss (in Mexico) Love Island stars; Amber Davies Anton Danyluk Georgia Harrison (claiming she lives in Dubai now) Kaz Crossley Elle Brown Amber Gill Montana Brown (in Barbados) Kady McDermott who jetted to the Maldives before going to Dubai Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei Georgia Steel (was in Dubai and is now in The Maldives) The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE) stars; James Lock and Yazmin Oukhellou Ella Rae Wise Some have since returned to the UK, including; Francesca Allen Kady McDermott jetted to the Maldives before going to Dubai Vogue Williams and Spencer Matthews (they flew to St Barts. late last year) Sophie Piper (it was reported she'd jetted to the Maldives breaking the rules) Sam Faiers (she flew to The Maldives for her 30th earlier this month) Wes Nelson Ferne McCann Chloe Ferry Laura Anderson, recently returned to Glasgow Malin Andersson Amber Turner Tiffany and Lucy Watson (were in Barbados) Molly Mae and Tommy Fury visited early December and then squeezed in a trip to the Maldives before returning to the UK Maura Higgins and Christopher Taylor, now back in the UK Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy, who celebrated Christmas there Rochelle and Marvin Humes, who enjoyed a family winter vacation there in mid-December Advertisement Government sources told MailOnline the decisions on the quarantine plan went 'down to the wire'. They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money ... you can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller.' It came as Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said it was 'too early' to book a summer holiday abroad - but some anxious Britons took to social media to admit the warning came too late, with some having bought flights for as early as the half-term holidays in mid-February. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel company The PC Agency, said: 'This is destroying confidence among holidaymakers. 'People are not booking summer holidays because they don't believe there is an end game which will see these blanket measures removed. 'This is a sure-fire way of destroying Britain's aviation and travel industries. 'The Government needs to signal that they will withdraw the hotel quarantine rules by the end of March and return to a system of quarantining arrivals from high-risk areas only.' In a joint statement, the Airport Operators Association and Airlines UK insisted the country already has 'some of the highest levels of restrictions in the world' and that introducing tougher rules would be 'catastrophic'. ABTA has urged all its travel agent members to lobby MPs in a bid to convince Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to agree a multi-billion pound cash bailout for the industry. A small number of Britons say they are now stuck in Spain and the Canary Islands, where the usually bustling beaches and promenades were largely deserted, as experts fear Mr Johnson's quarantine plan could bankrupt Britain's already ailing tourism industry. And photographs from some of Europe's most popular resorts, including Benidorm, show its beaches are deserted with bar and restaurant owners telling MailOnline they will go bust if the Brits don't visit this year. Stuey Lee Lewis, 70, owner of the Geordie Bar Tat in Benidorm's Rincon area, said: 'Things are really bad. We had locals in but we can't survive on locals, we need the Brits. I know they're missing our home-cooked chips, a cold beer and our sun terrace'. Expat Terence Burgess, 74, told MailOnline: 'I was in Benidorm last week and there wasn't a soul about. It was very sad to see. I went to my favourite karaoke bar to sing and I was the only one in there'. The quarantine measures will lead to a slew of cancellations and people will not book summer breaks in yet another economic hammer blow to holiday firms and airlines, particularly if, as feared, the travel restrictions stretch into the peak season. Industry leaders have called for a better sector-specific bailout package from the Chancellor. But the Prime Minister last night said he wanted 'maximum possible protection against reinfection from abroad' to prevent new coronavirus variants jeopardising the vaccination programme. At a meeting of the Covid-O committee last night, Cabinet ministers considered making it compulsory for all travellers to quarantine at hotels, regardless of their nationality and where they come from. One government source told MailOnline beforehand that the decisions on the detail were 'going down to the wire'. 'The meeting will be where the decision is taken. It's not just rubber stamping.' Boris Johnson (pictured today) will impose Australian-style quarantine scheme, which is being introduced following concerns about new Covid variants. Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer says limiting it to arrivals from 22 countries 'doesn't go far enough'. James Lock and his girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou posed for a snap while lapping up the sunshine in Dubai last week Sheridan Mordew, 24, from Sunderland, arrived in Dubai on January 2, just a few days before the third national lockdown Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. Pictured: Geordie Shore's Sophie Kasaei in Dubai Angry expats tell MailOnline: British influencers in Dubai to dodge lockdown are 'taking the f***ing p***' Expats in Dubai have told MailOnline they are furious about the number of celebrity influencers coming to the city 'for work'. Dubai had been an ideal choice for many as visitors at the time weren't required to quarantine upon their return to the UK. Many stars have insisted their trips are for 'work' with the government asking UK residents to avoid unnecessary travel. One expat told MailOnline: 'They're taking the f***ing p***'. Lauren Morgan, who moved to the city with her husband in January 2020, said: 'All the 'influencers' coming out to Dubai for 'work' has made me so angry, using loop holes to holiday and potentially spreading the virus. Especially as they're all partying in ridiculous circumstances where social distancing isn't being observed and rules are not being followed by people from the UK (and I'm sure many others) who have not had to follow the same strict rules as we have in Dubai since March 2020 and is now a way of life to wear a mask and keep your distance and minimise socialising/large group gatherings'. Advertisement They also cautioned that some of those coming in might not be able to pay for their own hotel stay, and there might need to be means-tested support. 'There's a problem with Brits with not a lot of money... You can see it coming like a slow motion steamroller,' the source said. Passengers arriving into Heathrow Airport have faced chaos for days as they were forced to queue for hours to get through passport control. Pictures of crowds at passport control have become common, raising fears that the lack of social distancing could easily spread Covid. The Government has reportedly held talks with Marriott and Holiday Inn about using their hotels while Rob Paterson, chief executive of Best Western hotels group, said the hotel industry was ready to assist if the Government did opt for a policy of quarantining international arrivals. Government sources last night say ministers will look to widen the compulsory hotel quarantine requirement to cover more travellers. Officials warned it will be 'logistically challenging' to put the system in place and it could take as long as three weeks to get it up and running. Concerns have been raised that there are only 10,000 hotel rooms close to London's Heathrow airport. About 8,000 people are still arriving there every day, although this number would be expected to plummet once the new restrictions are introduced. The plan to require arrivals to go into isolation at airport hotels is modelled on Australia, where the cost of 14 days in quarantine is 1,692. It is estimated that travellers entering the UK could be charged about 1,500 for a ten-night stay. The travel industry has warned that the added cost would destroy holiday plans. Heathrow had warned that a blanket requirement for travellers to quarantine in hotels would effectively be 'the closure of our borders' and lead to 'huge ramifications for Britain and its aviation sector'. A spokesman for the airport said the industry was 'already on its knees', adding: 'The Chancellor must finally deliver on his promise of a comprehensive financial support package for UK aviation, made some ten months ago. Australia became one of the first countries to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine in March, while the practice is also observed in China, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Qatar and Thailand. Love Island star returns from UK..and is banned for driving after being caught at 101mph By Ryan Smith for MailOnline Love Island star Ellie Brown has been slapped with a six-month driving ban and fined 1,660, after she was clocked speeding at 101mph. The TV personality, 22, was caught breaking the 70mph speed limit as she drove a Mercedes-Benx GLC on Cudworth, Warwickshire section of the M42 on June 5, 2019. And as she addressed the bench in Coventry Magistrates Court on Monday, Ellie pleaded that a ban from the road would cause 'exceptional hardship', as her work as an influencer requires her to transport herself all over country. However, her plea was ultimately rejected, and she received six points on her license, bring her total to 12 and resulting in an automatic six-month ban. Speeding: The TV personality, 22, was caught breaking the 70mph speed limit as she drove a Mercedes-Benx GLC on Cudworth, Warwickshire section of the M42 on June 5, 2019 Ellie, who appeared on Love Island in 2018, had already plead guilty at an earlier hearing, and the case was adjourned to allow her time to present her case for a potential loss of income, as she works self-employed through an agency. It was revealed Ellie earns 2,000 a week after tax, and that a driving ban would not result in others losing their jobs, led to the decision to give her the points. Addressing the bench, she said, according to Metro: 'I have been self-employed for the past two-and-a-half years. I was on a TV show and when I came out I moved to Manchester to do modelling and different kinds of media. 'I do a lot of travelling to shoots and it could be anywhere from London, Scotland, Leeds or all over the UK. My fashion brand's factory is in Leicester and I have to go there carrying a lot of stock.' Ellie, who moved from Newcastle to Cheshire after her appearance on Love Island, added: 'I've learned my lesson and I haven't had any other offences. I've held my hands up and I'm really sorry.' Chairman of the bench Neil Gallagher, enquired if her ban would impact jobs at the factory in Leicester, to which she replied: 'The employer, I couldn't work with him because I can't travel to Leicester.' But after deliberation, the chairman told her: 'Exceptional circumstances is a very high hurdle and I'm afraid in the circumstances we find it does not apply in your case.' He added: 'You're on a good income at the moment. You have done well but I'm afraid we can't avoid the ban and you will have to make other arrangements to travel around the country.' At the time she was clocked speeding, Ellie said that she had been severely delayed during a five-and-a-half-hour drive south from Manchester. As well as receiving six points, Ellie was fined 1,660, ordered to pay court costs of 110 and a victim surcharge of 167. Advertisement What is a 'valid reason' to leave the UK, what forms do I need to fill in and what is happening with quarantine hotels? Vital Q&A on latest foreign travel rules By James Gant for MailOnline Lockdown-weary Britons are dreaming of being on an exotic beach or taking a city break on the Continent to escape the daily grim Covid news in the UK. But taking a trip away in the next few months is going to be tricky, with travellers needing to have a 'valid reason' to leave their homes. Only today Home Secretary Priti Patel warned those trying to leave country on fake work jaunts they will be turned back at airports. Meanwhile Boris Johnson said legitimate travellers returning from 'red list' countries will be sent to quarantine hotels for 10 days. The limited Australian-style quarantine scheme follows concerns about new Covid variants entering Britain. Confusingly, Boris Johnson told the House of Commons earlier 22 countries will be on the quarantine list. But the current 'red list' of countries from where only British nationals can come to the UK is much wider than that. Here, MailOnline answers some of the key questions on the latest foreign travel rules that would-be passengers need to know: A man is pictured pushing his luggage at Heathrow airport in west London on Wednesday For what reason can I travel to another country? You can only travel internationally when you have a legally permitted reason to leave home. People are also advised to consider the public health advice in the country they are visiting before they go. Anyone who does not have a valid reason for travel will be directed to return home and may face a fine as their reason for travel will be checked. The Home Office said there will be an increased police presence at ports and airports fining those in breach of the stay at home regulations. Priti Patel said: 'Going on holiday is not a valid reason, so we will introduce a new requirement so that people wishing to travel must first make a declaration as to why they need to travel. 'This reason for travel will be checked by carriers prior to departure.' Travel operators are also expected to face fines if they fail to inspect these forms. How can the Government stop Britons from going on holiday? Lockdown rules already ban people from international travel unless it is for work. Leaving home is only permitted for a small number of reasons. Under the lockdown laws introduced at the start of January and which will run until March 31, people in England are allowed only to leave the house for a very slim range of activities. But the rules, which are largely the same as for the second lockdown in November, also ban foreign leisure travel, just as they prohibit domestic leisure travel. These are the daily average of cases per million people in the countries on the UK quarantine list Who is going to enforce these rules? It is not clear whether airlines and other travel operators will have the unilateral ability to decide whether someone has given a genuine reason for a trip on their forms, or it will end up being referred to police. There will also be an increased police presence at ports and airports, fining those in breach of the stay at home regulations. Why is this being highlighted now? The Home Secretary lashed out at social media influencers who have been posting images of themselves in sunny parts of the world like Dubai during the lockdown. Many have claimed they were travelling for work, but have attracted a backlash from people stuck at home after also enjoying the nightlife and beaches. Ms Patel also singled out people 'turning up with their skis' at London's St Pancras station to catch the Eurostar to European resorts, adding: 'That is clearly not acceptable.' What does the hotel quarantine mean for arrivals in the UK? Priti Patel said Britons returning from around 30 'red list' Covid countries will be forced to quarantine in hotels for 10 days at their own expense. Hundreds of arrivals each day are expected to be escorted directly from airports to rooms. They will have to stay there for the duration of their isolation and pay a bill estimated at 1,500. It will only affect British travellers, as foreign citizens who have been in the countries are already banned from entering altogether. It has not kicked in yet. What places require a ten-day quarantine in a hotel after? Angola Argentina Bolivia Botswana Brazil Cape Verde Chile Colombia Democratic Republic of Congo Ecuador Eswatini French Guiana Guyana Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Panama Paraguay Peru Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) Seychelles South Africa Suriname Tanzania Uruguay Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe What will happen on arrival at the hotel? Travellers who face enforced quarantine will be taken by bus to a hotel where they will have to remain for ten days. Officials have begun talks with hotel groups about block-booking rooms that can be used for isolating. In Australia, people are required to stay in their room the entire time with security guards patrolling the corridors. Hotel staff are forbidden from cleaning the rooms during a person's stay. Can you upgrade your hotel? Travellers will not get a choice of hotel, meaning it does not matter if you paid for a more expensive trip away. In Australia, people do not know in advance where they will be staying and are warned there is no guarantee of access to a balcony or open window. What are you supposed to do all day? In Australia, exercise outside is not allowed so guests are encouraged to do stretches or yoga in their room. A guide given to travellers to help prepare for hotel isolation suggests planning different activities to break up the day. Examples given include getting in contact with different friends and family, learning a foreign language on a mobile phone app, trying out a new hobby such as knitting and calligraphy, and catching up on 'life admin'. The advice recommends planning 'rewards' to look forward to such as a phone call with a loved one or the delivery of a treat. People sharing rooms with partners and family members are encouraged to set ground rules for the stays such as scheduling a time each day when everyone does a 'quiet' activity to help avoid disagreements. Last summer an outbreak of coronavirus in Melbourne was blamed on security guards having sex with guests at one of the quarantine hotels. Mr Johnson is expected to sign off on plans this evening to divert travellers entering the UK from high-risk Covid countries into hotels to stop new mutant strains of coronavirus like the ones from Brazil and South Africa entering the UK. Who pays the hotel bill? The Government will arrange transport for travellers to their accommodation, but they will have to cover the cost of their hotel room, estimated to be about 1,500. The cost of 14 days in a quarantine hotel is 1,692 for an adult in Australia, 1,630 in New Zealand and 642 in Thailand. What if I am a Brit abroad now? UK residents currently abroad do not need to return home immediately. But you should check with your airline or travel operator on arrangements for returning. What should foreign nationals in the UK do to get home? Foreign nationals are subject to the 'Stay at Home' regulations. You should not travel abroad unless it is permitted. This means you must not go on holiday. If you are visiting the UK, you may return home. You should check whether there are any restrictions in place at your destination. What do I need on return to the UK? Passengers arriving in the UK need to provide evidence of a negative pre-departure Covid test. People arriving from abroad also have to self-isolate on arrival and they have to complete a passenger locator form, with fines for those who do not. What is a passenger locator form? Earlier this month the government announced passengers had to complete online passenger locator forms to tell officials where they are staying after arriving in the UK. It has to have the person's address on it where they will isolate for ten days or five days if they take another test which comes back negative. Coming back to the UK without a locator form will result in a 1,000 fine. What do I need for a passenger locator form? You will need: your passport details, Your travel details, including times and dates, the address where you will stay in the UK (if applicable), a booking reference number and the name of the test provider, if you're using Test to Release to find out if you can end self-isolation early. You can include multiple journeys in your form if you'll enter the UK more than once in a 48-hour period. Where can I get one? Passenger locator forms are available to download from gov.uk here. What happens then? After you complete the form you will receive a QR code via email. You can print this out or show it on your phone as proof of completion. What if you are travelling with other people? Each adult must complete their own form. You can include someone under 18 years old who is travelling with you on your form, if you are staying together at the same UK address. If you're entering Scotland, they must be under 16. When do you not need to fill one out? If you are travelling from Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man and were there for more than ten days. Passenger locator forms are available to download from the UK government website Do any jobs qualify for travel exemptions? Yes, if you do one of the following you may qualify for an exemption from one or more of the travel restrictions. Aerospace engineers Aircraft pilots and crew BBC broadcasting transmission network and services Border security duties UK officials and contractors Border security duties - non-UK officials and contractors Bus and coach drivers Channel Tunnel system workers Civil aviation inspectors Clinical trials or studies Crown servants or government contractors Data infrastructure maintenance Defence personnel, visiting forces and government contractors Diplomatic missions, international organisations and conferences Downstream oil facility workers Drivers of goods vehicles Electronic communications networks Elite sportsmen international Elite sportsmen domestic Medical examinations for elite sportsmen Environment Agency relating to flood and coastal erosion risk management Eurostar International workers Eurotunnel workers Government contractors the conduct of negotiations High-speed rail workers International prison escorts IT and telecoms workers Medical evacuation Medical treatment Urgent medical treatment Medicines human and veterinary Network Rail workers Nuclear personnel Nuclear emergency responder Offshore oil and gas workers OPCW and IAEA inspectors Postal workers Quality assurance inspectors for human and veterinary medicines Registered health or care professionals Regular work abroad Regular work in the UK, living abroad Representatives of a foreign country or territory or British overseas territories Seamen and masters and inspectors and surveyors of ships Seasonal agricultural workers Seasonal poultry workers Specialist technical workers - sub-sea telecommunications infrastructure Specialist technical workers - goods and services Specialist technical workers waste Specialist technical workers power infrastructure Specialist technical workers space infrastructure Transiting airside through the UK Transporting human cells or blood Water supplies and sewerage services workers For more information visit gov.uk What about the so-called vaccine passports? At least eight companies have been awarded government grants to develop vaccination passport schemes, it was reported earlier this week. The projects, worth a total of 450,000, could allow users to securely carry digital proof that they have received an approved Covid-19 vaccine. It is hoped such a scheme would help get people back to work and also allow for the reopening of international travel. The government on Sunday denied such a scheme was being considered, and cabinet minister Michael Gove said they were 'not the plan'. But ministers have contradicted each other on the issue, including Boris Johnson's vaccine tsar Nadhim Zahawi who said they were 'looking at the technology'. The scheme is being considered by many countries, including Cyprus and the Seychelles, who hope their use would open up society for people who have received a jab. EU officials have demanded vaccines made in the UK be exported to Europe to help plug shortfalls in its own jabs roll-out, which is among the slowest in the world Should I book a holiday abroad this spring? There are two factors to consider. The first is whether concern over new strains of coronavirus will lift enough to allow quarantine-free travel - and if you can afford to come back to ten days in isolation. The second is where can you go. It is not clear what destinations will be open to Britons, where the virus is still a major problem. What about in the summer? Ministers have warned in recent days that it is 'too early' to speculate around future holiday plans. But Health Secretary Matt Hancock has previously said: 'I think we're going to have a great British summer.' Whether he meant a great summer at home in the UK or abroad is unclear. A deserted Levante beach in Benidorm today as the Government urged Britons not to book summer holidays in yet another blow for struggling airlines and holiday companies What about ski season? Most resorts have already cancelled the ski season in February, with Inghams, Ski Total, Esprit Ski and Flexiski among those to halt bookings until after the 27th. Some are open with the hope government rules will change after the school half term. How about a staycation in Britain this summer? It is hoped restrictions will have given way enough by July for people to stay somewhere in the UK. A surge in bookings for resorts, hotels and self-catered accommodation is anticipated. Center Parcs, Haven and Butlins have all hiked their prices for Easter as they plan to reopen in March despite concerns that the national lockdown will still be in place. Are lorry drivers bringing trade facing the same measures? Hauliers are exempt from quarantine to keep trade flowing across the border. What do airlines say? Airline bosses have demanded that the Government provides an 'urgent road map for the reopening of air travel'. What do public health experts say? Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, said quarantine hotels are 'absolutely essential' and suggested the lack of quarantine measures earlier in the pandemic had been 'a major factor' in contributing to the current situation. When will this all end? The government says the list of travel exemptions will be urgently reviewed so only the most important and exceptional reasons are included. The law under which the holiday ban falls lasts until March 31, unless it is renewed. It is reviewed every two weeks. Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Zhengzhou University have developed a powerful therapeutic platform that uses a modified virus for the treatment of pancreatic cancer Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Zhengzhou University have developed a powerful therapeutic platform that uses a modified virus for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. By using the virus in combination with other drugs, the treatment significantly extended survival in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. Viruses that can selectively infect and destroy cancer cells, known as oncolytic viruses, are a promising new class of therapeutics for cancer. Through various mechanisms, oncolytic viruses kill cancer cells and elicit strong anti-tumour immune responses. However, current oncolytic virotherapy is unable to produce a long-term cure in patients, and the treatment has to be delivered directly into the tumour - a route that is not feasible for deeply embedded tumours, or tumours that have spread around the body. The study, published today in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, describes a novel platform for the treatment of pancreatic cancer using an oncolytic Vaccinia virus that was modified to improve its safety, ability to spread within and between tumours and capacity to activate potent anti-tumour immune responses. The research was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC), Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, Pancreatic Cancer UK, Nature Sciences Foundation of China and National Key R&D Program of China. A re-engineered virus system The study built upon previous work by the team (Ferguson et al, 2019; Ahmed et al, 2020), which developed a modified Vaccinia virus through the deletion of two viral genes. By combining treatment with the modified virus and a clinically available drug (PI3K inhibitor) that prevented the destruction of the virus particles by the body's immune cells, the team created an effective treatment platform that was systemic (i.e. could travel through the body), specifically targeted pancreatic tumours and activated the immune system against the tumours in preclinical models. In this new study, to improve the efficacy of the treatment platform, the team re-engineered the virus by modifying its genetic code to contain an additional, altered copy of a protein that is crucial to the ability of the virus to spread within and between tumours. The team also armed the virus with a protein called IL-21, which improved the virus' ability to trigger an immune response against the cancer. Professor Yaohe Wang, from Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, who led the study, said: "This platform provides a powerful therapeutic to target multiple aspects of pancreatic cancer simultaneously through a convenient administration approach (intravenous injection), significantly improving the prospects of disease eradication and prevention of recurrence in pancreatic cancer patients. This platform is also suitable for treatment of other human tumour types." Following administration of the novel oncolytic Vaccinia virus (named VVL-21) in preclinical models of pancreatic cancer, the virus successfully remodelled the suppressive tumour microenvironment to trigger potent anti-tumour immune responses. Importantly, treatment with VVL-21 also sensitised tumours to treatment with a type of immunotherapy known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor. The combination of the three therapeutics - VVL-21, PI3K inhibitor and the immune checkpoint inhibitor - created a powerful systemic therapeutic platform that significantly extended survival in a number of different, complex preclinical models of pancreatic cancer. The deadliest of the common cancers Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common cancer in the UK; however, it has the lowest survival rate of all the common cancers, with less than 7% of patients surviving their cancer for five years or more. Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed in the late stages of its development when the cancer is advanced or has spread to other parts of the body, making treatment difficult. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy alone are relatively unsuccessful in treating pancreatic cancer and while surgery to remove the tumour offers the best chance of survival, more than 80% of patients ultimately die of the disease due to local recurrence and/or distant metastasis. While immunotherapeutics such as immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) have emerged as a promising new therapeutic approach, pancreatic cancer in particular is unresponsive to ICI monotherapy. The new virus developed in this study demonstrated a promising synergistic anti-tumour effect in combination with ICI immunotherapy. Following additional funding from the MRC, the team are now hoping to conduct the necessary steps required to take the viral treatment system forward into phase I clinical trials to determine its potential within the clinic. Dr Louisa Chard Dunmall, senior postdoctoral researcher at Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London and joint first author of the study, said: "The current prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer has not improved for many decades and so we urgently require new treatments that can improve long-term survival. Our platform provides an exciting new mechanism of attacking the tumour in these patients and we are grateful that we have received further funding from the MRC to support this project through pre-clinical toxicity testing and virus manufacture in the hope that we can take this platform forward into phase I clinical trials within the next 3 years." ### Interview with Sayed Hassan Nasrallah January 26, 2021 " Information Clearing House " - Date: 17 January 2021 - Hassan Nasrallah: [] When (in February 2014) Israel hit us in Janta, on the Syrian-Lebanese border, they were hoping to change the rules of engagement, thinking that if they hit us in a border area, we wouldnt feel obliged to retaliate. We retaliated (hitting an Israeli patrol the following month) in the Shebaa farms (occupied Lebanese territory). When there was the (failed) Israeli drones attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut (in August 2019), I said that we would retaliate outside the Shebaa farms, which did not mean strictly speaking that we forbade ourselves to retaliate there, but it was a clear indication that from now on, no point on the border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine would be immune from our retaliation, and that we could strike anywhere. Previously, Israel was used to always expects our attacks in the Shebaa farms, while all the rest of the border, all the settlements were safe. But I wanted to send this clear message: when you attack us, no point on your (usurped) border will be safe. Israel has been vigilant ever since, and that is why there has been no attacks in Lebanon. Nobody asks why? All those who are eager to get rid of the weapons of the Resistance, can they explain to us why Israel used to attack Lebanon whenever they felt like it from 1948 to 2000, then suddenly stopped, except for the war of 2006? This is thanks to the deterrence equations imposed by the Resistance. Israel knows full well that a retaliation would be inevitable. This is one of the rules of engagement. So Israel is looking for another way (to attack us). What happened with the drones in the southern suburbs of Beirut was an Israeli attempt to carry out an attack without leaving any fingerprints. They were unmasked because the operation failed, but the goal was to strike without leaving any fingerprints. Because Israel knows very well that if it leaves its mark, it must certainly expect a response from the Resistance, and it knows well what that implies. Even when the tunnels (between Lebanon and occupied Palestine) were discovered, Israel sent to Lebanon through three different channels Egypt, Cyprus and UNIFIL, i.e. three channels a message saying that they just wanted to uncover the tunnels, and that they would do nothing more, so that we would stay calm and not fight back. Israel understands that Lebanon is a very sensitive front, and this (deterrence) equation is still valid. This is what protects Lebanon: it is the Resistance. No Advertising - No Government Grants - This Is Independent Media Get Our Free Newsletter When it comes to Syria, it must be remembered that at the beginning Israel did not strike anyone not us, not the Syrians, not the Iranians, or any of the other Resistance movements. Israel let the events unfold in Syria, and was only supporting the armed (terrorist) groups. Im not saying that the entire Syrian opposition was working with Israel, but there is no doubt that many armed groups linked and coordinated directly with Israel on logistics, security, intelligence, right up to supply and funding, etc. Israel hoped that the regime would collapse and the Syrian army would be dislocated, and that Iran, finding itself unable to do anything, would leave Syria, along with Hezbollah, because the situation would be irretrievably lost. This is what happened during the first few years. When did Israel start to intervene directly inside Syria? I always say that you have to look at situations from a large point of view, and not be satisfied with the Israeli point of view. You also have to see the other side. The Israeli intervention in Syria is a proof of the victory of Syria and of the victory of the Resistance Axis in Syria. For if Israel had still had any hope that the armed groups & takfiris it was supporting, funding and covering had any chance of winning the war in Syria, they would not have needed to enter the scene. Journalist: But hasnt that resulted in an imbalance of deterrence (in favor of Israel, as it strikes Syria with impunity)? Hassan Nasrallah: Im coming to it, Im explaining things step by step. When you read the latest statements by Israeli leaders, when asked why they intervened in Syria, they say it is because they realized that (the terrorist groups) would not win. Israel understood that we were going to win in Syria, that the Syrian army was recovering its health and strength, that the presence of Iran and Resistance factions in Syria was taking root. The takfiri groups that occupied the Syrian part of the Golan have been evacuated, and the Golan is a very sensitive subject for Israel It cant even bear anyone taking pictures there! This clearly indicates their weakness. The fact that Israel does not tolerate anyone taking photos of positions in the Golan, [not even the inhabitants of the occupied Golan], is a sign of weakness and not of strength. Seeing that Syria was triumphing and recovering, and that there was no longer any hope of victory for the armed groups, Israel resolved to strike positions here and there, to try to hinder the transfer of Syrias weapons in Lebanon everyone knows that our missiles do not fall from the sky, and that Syrias historic role has been to arm the Lebanese and Palestinian Resistance. Even in Israels recent operation, when they hit one of our cars on the Syrian-Lebanese border Journalist: And you retaliated (with an incursion into Israeli territory). Even though Israels apologies are pitiful and will in no way prevent a deadly response to the deaths of two Hezbollah fighters in an Israeli strike last August (see War of nerves: Israel begs Hezbollah to retaliate), it should be noted that the Zionist entity is doing everything it can to avoid touching Hezbollah members in Syria, going so far as warning them before they target a vehicle, as seen in this video from last April. Hassan Nasrallah: Im not saying we retaliated, and Im not saying we didnt hit back. Israel was quite capable of killing our fighters, this is not a mistake on its part. They fired a warning shot, or gave a warning, for the fighters to get out of the vehicle, and then they hit it. Why didnt they want to kill these young (fighters)? Because there is a clear equation: if Israel kills one of our fighters, whether in Lebanon or Syria, we will retaliate. This equation has been proven in practice (time and time again). This is why when, at the same time as the Israeli drone incident in the southern suburbs of Beirut, two of our fighters were killed (by Israel) in Syria, the Israelis evacuated the border for 7 kilometers, on the whole border. They stayed like that, standing on one leg and a half (ready to run for their lives), for 7 days, and if we hadnt hit that vehicle, they could have stayed like that for 14 days, a month or two whole months. Its part of the rules of engagement. So far, when Israel strikes (in Syria), it strives not to kill anyone at all, for it fears it will come to a point where the Syrian leadership, or the leaders of the Resistance, will no longer be able to withstand these strikes. Even in this battle, Israel does not have a free hand (and knows the situation can explode at any moment). Maybe someone will retort that Israel (often) strikes (Syria) and the Resistance Axis is not responding, and that we should impose a balance of deterrence in Syria. I will be very frank. This issue is continuously discussed and debated. The Syrian leadership is the one who has the last word, because the decision is theirs, even though the battle concerns us all, and we are all targeted. Sometimes there is the impression that Israels goal is escalation, and that they want to push the situation into open war against Syria. Syria is (caught) between two priorities: on the one hand, the battle inside is not over, the terrorist and takfiri groups are still present and are on the lookout for the slightest opportunity to gain strength; on the other hand, escalating into a war between Syria and Israel would run counter to the primary objective (of ending the terrorists). Syria still needs time. Let me explain this point well, because there are a lot of people criticizing us, saying that Israel is hitting Syria and Syria is doing nothing. I dont know how far the Syrian leadership can tolerate these strikes, and there is a threshold that, once crossed, would result in an (inevitable) retaliation (without fear of escalation), but so far they consider that Israel intervenes to protect armed groups and change the equations in their favor, and lead Syria to a regional war; and it is not in the interest of Syria, which is waging a global war on terrorism, to be drawn into a war against Israel, so what it takes is patiently enduring it. This is what we call strategic patience. But within the framework of this (policy of) patience and endurance, there are certain rules which remain valid and which are respected by Israel and by us, and in any case, Israel does not achieve any objective by its strikes: they did not interrupt the transfer (of missiles), and they recognize it themselves; they failed to expel the Iranians from Syria, and they never will, and the same goes for Hezbollah; and they have failed to weaken the Syrian army, which continues to strengthen. We can defeat the objectives of these Israeli attacks without going to a (devastating) regional war, which would not be in Syrias interest, at least not at this stage. Let us recall that in addition to having shot down an Israeli plane in February 2018, in May 2018, Syria retaliated by launching several volleys of missiles against Israel, which hastened to demand a truce: see Syria Imposes New Rules of Engagement on Israel The danger, and I always warn Israel about this, is that patience has limits. Endurance capacity has limits. The Syrian leadership, and the situation in Syria in general, can absorb some aggression and remedy it within the framework of this vision (of strategic patience), but perhaps Israel will make a mistake or blunder that will exhaust this patience. Israel (isnt acting rationally, it is) sheer adventurism. Israel has no interest in entering a regional war, and it is very vigilant in this regard. Journalist: But some analysts say Israel has opted for hit-and-run attacks even if it will lead to war. Hassan Nasrallah: Its more psychological warfare than an (accurate) description of reality. See Nasrallah: IDF has turned into a Hollywood Army, any War against Iran would mean the end of Israel & US Hegemony Journalist: Regarding your operation (a triple infiltration into Israeli territory following the destruction of Hezbollahs vehicle in Syria), Hezbollah did not announce that it had retaliated. But why did you retaliate when there had been no martyrs of the Resistance? Doesnt the equation say that you only retaliate if your fighters are hit? What was your target? Hassan Nasrallah: Hezbollah did issue issue a statement on this, so Ill refrain from commenting. [Hezbollahs policy is to claim the great majority of its operations, but to leave doubt for some; remember that Israel hardly ever claims its own operations, which is an admission of weakness.] [] *** Annual interview with Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah on December 27, 2020, by the Lebanese pan-Arab channel Al-Mayadeen. This interview lasted almost 4 hours. Source: https://video.moqawama.org/details.php?cid=1&linkid=2184 Translation: resistancenews.org Transcript: Hassan Nasrallah: [] Nobody has precise data, sure and reliable information according to which Trump or the Israeli enemy are about to launch some operation in the days which separate us from January 20, if the guy [Trump] ends up submitting to the election result [Laughter] and leaves the White House. But there are analyzes in this direction, especially with a personality of this caliber, affected by so much follies: arrogance, recklessness, effrontery Especially since this madman is now in a great anger: he is an angry madman. Everyone expects such an act (of madness) and such an eventuality, whether it is actors outside the United States like Iran, Lebanon or Palestine, or elsewhere: even inside the United States, top leaders from both Democratic and Republican parties are worried about what this angry and mad President might do in the next few days, (fearing the worst). So we cannot deny this possibility. But I consider that everything that has been said (on this subject) is only analysis, and is not based on clear and proven information. Even the reports about an an Israeli nuclear warship or submarine sent to the Persian Gulf, via the Suez Canal, are not true, (Israel would never dare to do such a thing). Are the US or Israel going to do something (stupid) or not? Is it a psychological warfare to deter possible armed actions against American troops & interests with the approach of the first anniversary of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis? All these hypotheses are possible. The Resistance Axis is very vigilant and watchful during this period (of transition between Trump & Biden), and must scrupulously take care not to be drawn into an escalation, in the slightest point of this Axis. We must not allow ourselves to be dragged to an unmeasured (large-scale) confrontation, to a (total) war whose timing would be the one chosen by our enemies. Of course, (open) war (against the United States and Israel) will (inevitably) happen one day or another, but we are talking about this current timing (we will choose the time and place of the Great War, not them). Journalist: But dont you think the threats are particularly pressing? Netyanyahu threatens, the Israeli Chief of Staff threatens Hassan Nasrallah: When the Israelis openly threaten and raise their voices publicly, know that these threats do not hide anything material. This is how I understand it: (the more Israel threatens, the less risk of war). We remain vigilant and ready for anything, 24 hours a day, on all battlefields, but this is our analysis: the enormous media hype is a clue that there is nothing serious to fear, it is only psychological warfare, they are only trying to dissuade members of the Resistance Axis from doing anything against them (this is a defensive posture). Journalist: What do you think of the visit of US Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Israel? In what framework did it happen? Hassan Nasrallah: Our analysis on this, and it is analysis and not information, is that it has to do with the months and years to come. The Trump administration is about to leave, and a new administration will take its place. It is said that Biden will have a different approach to the Palestinian question, to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab conflict: for example, maybe he will support the two-state solution, rejected by Trump & Netanyahu; they have a different take on the details of the Deal of the Century that Trump wanted to impose. With Iran, there is talk of a return of the Biden administration to the nuclear deal, which greatly worries the Israelis and others (Gulf countries), etc. Thus, the Israeli government is worried about the new US administration. Note that it is not the Secretary of State for Defense or the Secretary of State who came: these personalities will no longer be in their posts with the new administration. But as regards the Chiefs of Staff, as a rule, they do not change fundamentally when a new administration takes over, except in some (rare) cases. I think it was not Trump who sent Mark Milley, but the Biden administration, with a message to reassure Israel about what will happe next. [] See also Nasrallah explains why Qassem Soleimani is unique and how he defeated ISIS in Iraq & Nasrallahs outburst: If you dont want to respect Covid-19 health & safety measures, go away from people! New York, Jan 27 : Anthony Blinken has been confirmed as the Secretary of State to steer US diplomacy in a new direction of greater engagement with international organisations and recasting ties with allies. President Joe Biden's nominee received the Senate confirmation on Tuesday with 78 votes to 22, the dissenters being Republicans in the evenly divided body. At his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing last week, he laid out his agenda: "We'll engage the world not as it was, but as it is. A world of rising nationalism, receding democracy, growing rivalry with China, Russia, and other authoritarian states, mounting threats to a stable and open international system, and a technological revolution that is reshaping every aspect of our lives, especially in cyberspace." Despite the 22 Republican votes against him, Blinken generally received bipartisan support. Senator Jim Risch, the Republican leader on the Foreign Relations Committee, said that Blinken is "the right person for the job," agreeing with Senate Democratic Party Leader Chuck Schumer, who called him "the right person to reassure America's prerogatives on the global stage." Blinken drew flak from Republican, Rand Paul, who is often a gadfly, for his role in US fiasco in Libya when he was the deputy secretary of state in the administration of former President Barack Obama. "With Blinken and other military interventionists, we got more war," he said referring to the 2011 intervention by US and its allies against Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi that ended up leaving the country in chaos and US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three American officials dead. At the Foreign Relations Committee hearings, Blinken said that there would be continuity in US relations with India which grew under the previous administration of Donald Trump. He gave an indication the US would continue to support India in its confrontation with India. He said that the US would continue "to make sure we were working with India so that no country in the region including China could challenge its sovereignty and also working with it on concerns that we share about terrorism." Blinken ranked China as one of the top challenges that the Biden administration would have to confront. "There is no doubt that it poses the most significant challenge of any nation" to US interests and there are "rising adversarial aspects to the relationship", Blinken said during the confirmation hearings. He gave credit to the former for recognising the China challenge, even though he disagreed with how he went about it, saying "I also believe that President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China," he said. When he was the deputy secretary of state, Blinken has met with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar who was then the foreign secretary. He saw cooperation on climate change as an avenue for ties with India to grow under Biden, who has radically different priorities from Trump. Blinken referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's programmes for renewable energy, he said, "I think there's a very strong potential for our countries to work together in that area." Besides China, the Middle East is an area where Blinken will have to work on reversing Trump's policies. Trump had pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal worked out with European allies and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to end its nuclear programme with weapons aims. Re-engaging Iran will also require reassuring other countries in the region like Israel, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf nations. With Russia, Biden has promised strong retaliation for alleged election and political interference, the "Solar Winds" computer hack that intruded into ultra-sensitive US government computers, but he is also trying to extend the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that limits nuclear weapons and missiles. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter at @arulouis) Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor A trendy cafe has been slammed by locals for charging $16 for toast with butter. The Goodsline, a new venue in Sydney's inner-west, has been criticised on social media for the exorbitantly-priced menu item. 'Toast and your choice of condiment, served with Pepe Saya butter,' the menu read. Pepe Saya is a Victorian company that make artisan cultured butter using cream from jersey cows in Australia. One 200g hand-wrapped wheel costs $8.50. Pictured: The Goodsline cafe in Ultimo, in Syney's inner-west. The cafe was slammed online for its prices 'Toast and your choice of condiment, served with Pepe Saya butter,' the menu read (pictured) Member of a local Facebook group were outraged, pointing out that it would be $3 cheaper to get free-range eggs with toast. 'Surely you would order the eggs without eggs if you just want to toast Would be cheaper,' one user wrote. 'Sixteen dollars for toast! You could be 3+ loaves for that!' anther shared. According to the menu, a steak with six quail eggs and salad would only set customers back by an extra $9. Member of a local Facebook group were outraged, but one user said the manager told her the price is a misprint The situation had other users shaking their heads when they realised the toast was significantly cheaper online. 'I think its a misprint, its $9 on the ordering app,' one man said. Another customer took the situation onto her own hands and reportedly asked the manager in person if the price was accurate. 'The manager just told me that $16 is a misprint,' she wrote. While she wasn't sure what the actual price is, she said it was 'definitely much less'. The average price for plain toast in Sydney's inner suburbs is about $8. Daily Mail Australia has contacted The Goodsline for comment. For hundreds of years pilgrims have travelled to gaze in awe at the magnificent stained-glass windows in Canterbury Cathedral that depict the miracles of Thomas Becket. Unfortunately, it turns out that the windows made soon after his murder in 1170 have been in the wrong order for centuries. Experts discovered the blunder while preparing for a British Museum exhibition on Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was butchered by knights allied to his foe King Henry II. Experts discovered the blunder while preparing for a British Museum exhibition on Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was butchered by knights allied to his foe King Henry II. Pictured, the miracle window The windows stood next to Beckets shrine, which was destroyed in the 16th century on the orders of Henry VIII. Depictions of Becket in the glass were later vandalised and some of the windows smashed. Depictions of Becket (pictured) in the glass were later vandalised Experts analysing the glass under a microscope now believe the panels and scenes within the stained glass window were bunged together in the wrong order when they were restored in the 1660s. The pieces being reassembled in the correct order involve a description of a man known as Ralph the Leper being cured below an image of another, Eilward of Westoning, being castrated and blinded as punishment for theft. When Eilward drank Beckets blood after his death he is said to have regained his sight and organs. Experts could find no evidence of leprosy in that panel, but when they discovered sores painted on a man in the glass of another, Leonie Seliger, director of stained-glass conservation at the cathedral, said she scared colleagues by shouting: Yes! We have leprosy! Panels in the other six windows are also thought to be mixed up. The 6m-high window will be shown correctly assembled at the British Museum, where it is being loaned, for the first time at eye level and close-up. ADVERTISEMENT A Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has written to the ECOWAS court over the partial compliance of Cape Verde in the case of detained Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab. The diplomat, caught in a power tussle between the United States of America and Venezuela, was ordered by the Cape Verde appeal court on Friday to be placed on house arrest having spent seven months in detention since his arrest in June 2020. While the sudden decision of the appeal court has arguably added relevance to the ECOWAS courts ruling, the non-adherence to the other part leaves much to desire. It has yet to comply with the part of the ruling that ordered the suspension of all extradition proceedings against Mr Saab until its main hearing, slated for February 2. Mr Falana, in his letter addressed to the ECOWAS court Registrar on Tuesday, described the non-compliance as an extension of the stance of the Attorney General of Cape Verde, Luis Landim. Mr Landim, in a report published by PREMIUM TIMES, argued that the international court ruling is not binding on his country as the protocol that gave such jurisdiction in matters of human rights has not been ratified. The defence counsel, however, added that Mr Saabs release to house application was a move by the Cape Verde authority to prevent the Applicant from pressing for sanctions rather than obedience to international laws for people with immunity. We countered the misleading position of the Attorney General and filed a motion praying the Court to direct the Authority of Heads of State to impose sanctions for disobedience of the Court Order, Mr Falana said. To prevent the Applicant from pressing for sanctions, the Attorney General approached the of Cape Verde last Wednesday (January 20, 2021) to order that the Applicant be placed in a house arrest. The order which was granted on 21 January, 2021 was honoured yesterday, January, 25, 2021. Whilst we are grateful to the Honorable Court for its intervention, we would like to bring to its attention that Cape Verde, in direct defiance of the Ruling, has not stayed the extradition process and proceeded to authorise it on January 4, 2021. We are therefore praying the Court for further intervention in this matter and decide on the Main Application in light of this. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. The nine schools that make up Emory University head into the new semester with innovative initiatives, achievements to celebrate and a full slate of engaging virtual speakers and events. Here is a roundup of what's new and noteworthy, as listed by each school. Candler School of Theology Faculty: This year, Candler installed Marla Frederick as the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Religion and Culture and welcomed to the faculty Joel B. Kemp as assistant professor of Hebrew Bible, Roger Nam as professor of Hebrew Bible, Sarah Bogue as assistant professor in the practice of the history of Christianity and director of digital learning, and Kyle Lambelet as assistant professor in the practice of theology and ethics and director of formation communities. M. Shawn Copeland returns this spring for her final semester as the Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture, and will deliver a public lecture in April. Events: The Candler Foundry, Candlers new initiative in public theological education, is sponsoring several courses open to all, including explorations of prayer and spiritual practices involving art, confronting hurtful legacies in the rebuilding of conflicted societies, and antiracism with youth. The Foundry will also present the next installment of its popular TheoEd Talks series on Feb. 21 at 5 p.m. Speakers include Olu Brown, Chanequa Walker-Barnes, Doug Shipman and Neichelle Guidry. Candlers Black Church Studies program continues a yearlong commemoration of its 30th anniversary with a series of special events featuring guest lecturers and panelists engaging topics ranging from sacred music and the Black church to the Black church, religion, politics and social justice. On April 22 at 7 p.m., Candlers Aquinas Center of Theology will welcome internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar Phyllis Zagano for the annual Catherine of Siena Lecture. All events will be held online. Learn more at candler.emory.edu Emory College New mentorship programs: Emory College of Arts and Sciences has officially launched several mentorship programs this year to support and foster faculty success at all career stages, especially for the 140+ new faculty who have joined the College in the last four years. The programs seek to build relationships among peers and senior colleagues, improve inclusion and equity for the Colleges diversifying faculty, as well as provide mechanisms for regular guidance and feedback. Under the leadership of Executive Associate Dean Carla Freeman, and the generous engagement of many of Emory Colleges most senior faculty leaders who recognize that hiring a diverse faculty is only one step in the process of building a vibrant, inclusive campus culture, Freeman says, the mentorship programs include: For tenure-track faculty , mentorship clusters of pre-tenure faculty from across disciplines are matched with an experienced full professor from outside of their home department. These small groups of assistant professors learn from and support one another while benefiting from the guidance of a senior faculty member who offers professional guidance and support related to teaching and service. , mentorship clusters of pre-tenure faculty from across disciplines are matched with an experienced full professor from outside of their home department. These small groups of assistant professors learn from and support one another while benefiting from the guidance of a senior faculty member who offers professional guidance and support related to teaching and service. For BIPOC (Black, indigenous, people of color) assistant professors , a mentorship cluster intended to foster support and meaningful connection among faculty has been created. , a mentorship cluster intended to foster support and meaningful connection among faculty has been created. For lecture-track faculty (LTF), mentorship clusters of faculty who recently joined Emory are matched with two professors of pedagogy from different divisions and disciplines. A specific emphasis of this program includes navigating the LTF reappointment and promotion processes and sharing best pedagogical practices. In this period of remote pandemic life, fostering connections among faculty across departments and sharing tips on research, teaching and professional development under COVID and beyond has been rewarding for the mentees as well as the mentors, says Freeman. Mentorship clusters for associate professors interested in professional development, academic leadership and the path to promotion to full professor will be launched later this semester. Learn more at college.emory.edu Goizueta Business School Fighting racial inequality: Goizueta held a first-of-its-kind case competition on Jan. 21 that focused on the intersection of business and racial inequality. The student-led John R. Lewis Racial Justice Case Competition attracted more than 100 applications from 50+ universities in the U.S. Semi-finalist teams created innovative and actionable racial justice initiatives for an assigned corporate partner (HP, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce, Southern Company, Truist, Walmart). $70,000 in prizes were awarded (1st: USC Marshall, 2nd: Emory Goizueta Business School, Audience choice: Harvard Business School). Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center: The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation will hold an official launch event on Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m. The center will foster both entrepreneurship and innovation for the Goizueta community born of critical inquiry, developed to serve fundamental societal needs, executed according to sound business principles, and conceptualized in ways that open possibilities and spark imagination. Learn more about the centers programs and resources and hear from alumnus Bill Carr 94MBA, an entrepreneur and former Amazon VP for 15 years. Business & Society Institute: The Roberto C. Goizueta Business & Society Institute will hold an official launch event on March 4 at 7 p.m. The institute aims to transform business to build a more equitable and climate-smart world through cutting-edge research, innovative programming and principled leadership. Learn more about the institute and hear from Goizueta professor Wes Longhofer and Harvard professor Rebecca Henderson as they discuss the need to reimagine capitalism. Learn more at goizueta.emory.edu Laney Graduate School English Language Support Program: ELSP has developed a 14-week research article writing course covering the process of planning, drafting and creating a final paper for publication. The interdisciplinary course is designed to support the creation of a research article for publication. Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society inductees: LGS welcomes its spring 2021 Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society scholars. This group of preeminent scholars is committed to contributing to the development of their field(s) of study and the advancement of diversity, equity, access and inclusion in higher education and their communities at large. Putting the Humanities PhD to Work: A Conversation with Katina Rogers, PhD: The Jones Program in Ethics will host Katina Rogers, author of Putting the Humanities PhD to Work, featuring a conversation on March 19 at 10 a.m. facilitated by advanced graduate students about careers for humanists in and beyond the classroom. NIH Becoming a Resilient Scientist Program: The Laney Graduate School and the Office of Postdoctoral Education have partnered to offer a virtual pilot program through the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education on Becoming a Resilient Scientist. LGS Three-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT): The 3MT contest challenges Laney graduate students to present a concise, intriguing lecture on their theses to a non-specialist judging panel in three minutes. The competition is judged by a panel comprised of a diverse group of professionals (academic and non-academic) with a wide range of professional expertise. Learn more at www.graduateschool.emory.edu Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing New study and learning space: Emory Universitys School of Nursing will add 70,000 square feet of teaching space in downtown Decatur, Georgia. This building, the Emory Nursing Learning Center, will provide the school with a new Simulation and Skills Lab with mock hospital settings and state-of-the-art equipment. This center is anticipated to open in May of this year. The Nurses Station: Since the first episodes release in August 2020, the bi-weekly podcast and web series has seen great success. Each episode, the four hosts, Carolyn Clevenger, Alexis Dunn, Tim Cunningham and Roxana Chicas discuss life as a nurse, common misconceptions about the career and current events relating to nursing. Faculty honors: American Academy of Nursing inducts nine nurse leaders from Emory School of Nursing into the 2020 Class of New Fellows: Brenda Baker, PhD, RNC, CNS; Susan Brasher, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, FAAN; Carolyn Clevenger, DNP, RN, GNP-BC, AGPCNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA; Erin Ferranti, PhD, MPH, RN, CDCES, FAHA, FPCNA; Linda Grabbe, PhD, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC; Ursula Kelly, PhD, APRN, ANP-BC, PMHNP-BC, FAANP; Victoria Pak, PhD, RN, MTR, MS; Samuel Shartar, MSN, RN, CEN, GA-PCEM; and Weihua Zhang, PhD. New diversity initiatives: Over the summer, the School of Nursing created the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Heading this office is Dean Lisa Muirhead, the school's first-ever assistant dean for diversity, equity and inclusion. Benjamin Harris serves as the chief diversity officer alongside Muirhead. The two have been working to create an even stronger campus culture embracing and promoting diversity and inclusion. Learn more at nursing.emory.edu Oxford College Enrollment and admission: Oxford welcomes approximately 450 residential students, primarily first-years, to campus for spring semester. In terms of admission to enter in the fall of 2021, Oxford received more than 20,000 applications, topping last years total by more than 3,000 and the previous record set in 2019 by 2,000. Since 2005, the number of applications to Oxford has increased ten-fold. Hygge comes to campus: COVID precautions may restrict activities in close proximity, but Oxfords Campus Life staff has found ways to encourage community within safe practices by using the principles of hygge the Scandinavian way of creating a cozy, convivial and comfortable environment that evokes feelings of wellness and contentment. Around Oxfords campus there are outdoor spaces that feature comfortable chairs surrounding fire pits; picnic spaces with pillows, cushions and blankets; and lighting to extend participation into the evening. These spaces allow the community to come safely together outdoors and enjoy Oxfords beautiful campus. Humanities Hall restoration: A restoration of Humanities Hall, built in 1875, is underway. Completion of the project is expected in May, and the building will be open and ready for the start of fall semester 2021. The finished building will offer classrooms with latest academic technology, including a film-production classroom; an auditorium classroom designed for film viewing; and faculty offices. Learn more at oxford.emory.edu Rollins School of Public Health Research: Supported by over $100M in funding, Rollins researchers led efforts to understand maternal and infant mortality, climate change, cardiometabolic disease, cancer and the social determinants of health amongst other topics. Rollins ranked No. 4 in NIH funding for schools of public health in 2020. Rollins faculty, students and alumni have been actively involved with the COVID-19 response. Read a summary of COVID-19 projects currently underway. COVID-19 pandemic response: In partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health, Rollins researchers launched the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative. Through ECRC, Rollins faculty and students support the states efforts in key areas of its response. Rollins researchers were awarded a $6.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to launch COVIDVu, a national study that will use home tests to develop estimates of the current number of COVID-19 infections and persons with antibody response. Honors and achievements: A record number of Rollins students were accepted into the 2021 Presidential Management Fellows Program, the federal governments flagship leadership development program. Michael Kramer, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, and Melissa (Moose) Alperin, research assistant professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, are the recipients of the prestigious 2021 ASPPH Excellence Awards, which recognize public health leaders for their service and achievements. The groundbreaking of Rollins third building, the R. Randall Rollins building, happened in March and has a slated opening in summer of 2022. Engagement and service: Rollins students launched the Rollins Election Day Initiative, promoting civic engagement, voter registration, Election Day volunteerism and more. The Rollins Takes Action webinar series launched, hosting panel discussions with researchers, faculty and students addressing racism, health disparities, COVID-19 and more. Learn more at sph.emory.edu School of Law Kristin Johnson joins Emory Law faculty, expanding corporate law program: Emory University School of Law welcomed Kristin Johnson to the faculty beginning in January 2021. Johnson comes to Emory Law from Tulane University Law School where she was the McGlinchey Stafford Professor of Law, associate dean for faculty research, an affiliate of the Murphy Institute for Political Economy, and the Gordon Gamm Faculty Scholar. Johnson is nationally recognized as a leading scholar of financial markets regulation with research and teaching expertise in the areas of securities regulation, corporate governance, risk management, compliance and innovative financial technology, including digital financial products and markets. 2021 Randolph W. Thrower Symposium: Since 1995, Emory University School of Law and the Emory Law Journal have hosted the Randolph W. Thrower Symposium, part of an endowed lecture series sponsored by Thrower's family. This years lecture is Privacy in the Technology Age: Big Tech, Government and Civil Liberties and will be held via Zoom webinar Feb. 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The keynote speaker is Danielle Citron, Jefferson Scholars Foundation Schenck Distinguished Professor in Law, University of Virginia School of Law. The panels will cover Fourth Amendment and Tech, Data Privacy and Big Tech Antitrust. Register here. 2021 TI:GER Innovation Conference: Advancing Equity in Innovation: The conference, held via Zoom on Jan. 28 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., will explore issues concerning gender and racial gaps in the innovation system such as access to resources for entrepreneurs who are women and people of color and the underrepresentation of diverse inventors in the patent system. Organizers are motivated by the recent demands for social justice to discuss the inequalities in the tech and innovation ecosystem, as well as the need to examine the impact of these inequalities on the delivery of legal services. Featured speakers include: Joyce Ward USPTO, Holly Fechner Covington & Burling, Gwilym Roberts chairman, Kilburn Strode, Nakia Melecio Atlanta Technology Development Center, Kristen Sonday founder, Paladin, and Meera Deo director LSSSE. Register here. Learn more at law.emory.edu School of Medicine Re-imagining medical education: Planning is underway in the School of Medicine for a five-year comprehensive medical education strategic plan focused on transformative and innovative educational models for our MD program. In the meantime, we are already incorporating new technologies into our curriculum: Robert McKeon, associate professor in the Department of Cell Biology, is beginning to use virtual reality technology to teach anatomy, manipulating holographic images to lead students through dissections. We also maintain a focus on interprofessional education to ensure our students understand how to care for patients in a team, embracing a culture of mutual respect and knowledge of each others roles. Supported by the WHSC Synergy Grant, the Interprofessional Team Training (ITT) Working Group created the Remote Interprofessional Platform for Learning and Education (RIPPLE). This five-part remote learning course includes small group work, a panel discussion, role plays, case discussions and reflection pieces. New research building: Construction continues on Emorys largest research building, the Health Sciences Research Building (HSRB) II, set to open in spring 2022. HSRB-II will include core functions such as advanced imaging, flow cytometry, a biorepository and genomics, as well as an innovation zone including accelerator space for start-ups and entrepreneurial research. Serving our community: More than 100 School of Medicine students have volunteered to help administer vaccines through the Fulton County Health Department. Honors: Marilane Bond, EdD, MEd, MBA, was named vice chair of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education in 2021. Denise Jamieson, MD, MPH (gynecology and obstetrics) and Susan Margulies, PhD (biomedical engineering) were elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Learn more at med.emory.edu After about 40 years in service, Nigerias service chiefs officially resigned from service. Presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said on Tuesday that President Muhammadu Buhari accepted the immediate resignation and retirement from service of the Chief of Defence Staff, Gabriel Olonisakin, a general. Mr Olonisakin resigned and retired from service alongside Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff; Abubakar Sadique, Chief of Air Staff, and Ibok Ibas, Chief of Naval Staff. Their stay, which is said to be the longest in the history of the armed forces, was characterised by controversies over their retirement. Generally, the minimum age for enlisting into the Nigerian Armed Forces is put at 18 years old for voluntary service. A military personnel is also expected to retire at 60 years or after putting in 35 years of service, according to the Federal Civil Service Rule. But the Olonisakin-led service Chiefs spent between 36-40 years in service, far above their retirement age. They were appointed on July 13, 2015, after President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office. President Buhari first extended their services by two years in 2015, and later renewed it in 2017 without an end. But more than five years on, they were unable to implement any coherent strategy to defeat Boko Haram, which turned out to be one of the main reasons Nigerians called for their sack. Although the terrorists were largely limited to three North-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, they were still able to carry out attacks at will in those states. PREMIUM TIMES reported on many occasions how the Boko Haram sect and its breakaway faction, groups like the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorised the northern parts of the country for more than 10 years. Apart from the Boko Haram insurgency, in the last four years, there has been a surge in kidnapping and banditry across the country. More Than 35 Years In Service OLONISAKIN The retired Chief of Defense Staff who is the most senior service chief spent about 40 years in service. He was a member of the 25th regular combatant course. The 59-year-old general was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Nigerian army signal corps in 1981. Until his promotion to a general and subsequent appointment as chief of defence staff in 2015, Mr Olonisakin had spent 34 years in service. He was due for retirement in 2016. All his course mates were retired then. BURATAI The most talked about by Nigerians, Tukur Buratai was Born on November 24, 1960. He was enlisted into the Nigerian Army through the Nigerian Defence Academy on January 3, 1981, as a member of 29 Regular Combatant Course 29 (29 RC). ADVERTISEMENT Going by this, he ought to have retired on January 3, 2016, on completion of 35 years of service. SADIQUE The former Chief of Air Staff was in service for about 40 years. He joined the Nigerian Air Force as a member of cadet military training course (CMTC 5) in November 1979. He should have been retired after reaching 35 years in service in 2014. IBAS Born in 1960, the retired naval chief is a member of the NDAs 26 regular course and was commissioned sub-lieutenant of the navy in January 1983. The youngest of the other service chiefs, he has been in service for about 38 years. He should have been retired in 2018 after reaching 35 years in service. WASHINGTON The Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to pay New York $934 million to cover the projected statewide costs of administering the COVID-19 vaccine. On Tuesday, FEMA advanced half the funds, $467 million, to New York, recognizing the state has been hard-hit by the virus and is struggling financially. The money will pay for transportation, storage, medical staff, personal protective equipment and public awareness campaigns associated with vaccine distribution. The funding comes as the state is attempting to inoculate over 7 million people in the current phase. Supplies of vaccine doses remain limited, and that is prompting cancellations, confusion and frustration in some parts of the state. "Under the previous administration in Washington, FEMA indicated vaccine costs were not eligible for reimbursement," said Freeman Klopott, press officer in the New York State Division of Budget. "Now, they are saying costs will be eligible and they are advancing reimbursement. Since we are only in week seven of the vaccination program, and the state has received about 1/17 of the vaccines necessary to immunize New Yorkers, actual costs are unknown, however making vaccine costs FEMA eligible is welcome news. In the COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress in December, New York also received $135 million in direct funds to support vaccine distribution, along with an additional $135 million for New York City's distribution efforts. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has estimated that the total vaccination effort by the end could cost the state as much as $1 billion for public education campaigns, outreach and distribution, and he called for additional funding from the federal government. That estimate does not include vaccine distribution in New York City. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., has been pressing the administration of President Joseph R. Biden over the past few days to provide more help, a source close to the senator said. Schumer has a call scheduled with Jeff Zients, Biden's White House COVID-19 coordinator, to urge the administration to accelerate vaccine distribution to New York and other states. "Federal support of the states vaccine distribution system is critical to delivering vaccines to New Yorkers as quickly and safely as possible," Schumer said Wednesday. As state and local officials complain about vaccine shortages and other hurdles, Biden on Tuesday announced that the federal government will distribute 15 percent more vaccine to states over the next few weeks and has placed orders to obtain 200 million more doses this summer. The federal government has also promised to give governors more reliable multi-week forecasts of vaccine shipments to help them plan for deliveries. In the administration's first White House coronavirus task force briefing this week, officials stressed the importance of speeding up vaccination, as cases remain high across the nation and new highly infectious variants of the virus are spreading in the U.S. The administration is pressing Congress for more money to support vaccine distribution, COVID-19 testing and other emergency relief as part of its $1.9 trillion package. Democrats will attempt to pass the package by mid-March, preparing to push the legislation through a budget process called "reconciliation" to pass it without Republican votes if needed. While many Republicans believe much of Biden's $1.9 trillion bill is superfluous, more vaccine funding is an area with bipartisan support. Biden has also ordered FEMA to reimburse state and local governments for 100 percent of eligible emergency COVID-19 costs, up from 75 percent. That change will result in about $2 billion in additional reimbursements for New York, Schumer's office said. On Tuesday, FEMA obligated more than $1.2 billion for six states, two territories and the District of Columbia, with New York receiving the most funds. The agency is expected to dole out more funding to other states this week. At his annual budget address last week, Cuomo said there is a $15 billion gap between estimated revenue and spending, although others, including state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, peg the deficit as being far less and possibly half the sum cited by Cuomo. A vocal advocate for more federal aid to states, Cuomo has blamed the Trump administration for New York's budget woes. Unless the federal government under Biden restores that budget gap, Cuomo has threatened to sue the federal government for COVID-19's spread in New York, and the state's ensuing budget problems. With a limited supply of doses, the state is pushing to vaccinate over 7 million in the first two phases of the distribution, including health care workers and nursing home residents. More than 1.2 million New Yorkers have received their first dose of the vaccines, while 564,600 people have received their second doses, according to state data. .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... SANTA FE A proposal intended to strengthen the financial condition of the pension system for New Mexico educators passed its first committee 5-3 on Monday. The legislation, Senate Bill 42, would require schools and other employers covered by the Educational Retirement Board to pay more into the system, with increases phased in over the next four years. Its expected to cost about $34 million more each year, reaching an annual cost of $136 million when fully phased in, according to legislative analysts. Employers would increase their contribution rates by 1 percentage point in each of the next four years. Supporters described it as a necessary step to ensure the pension system doesnt run out of money eventually. This will go a long way toward the solvency of this fund, said Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, an Albuquerque Democrat and sponsor of the bill. The measure would head next to the Senate Finance Committee, potentially its last stop before reaching the full Senate. It passed the Senate Education Committee along party lines, with Democrats in favor. ADVERTISEMENTSkip ................................................................ Boeing 737 MAX planes are allowed to fly into and out of Irish airspace again after European regulators found they are safe to return to operations following two deadly crashes. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) made the announcement following a recent decision by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), which previously had safety concerns about the aircraft. On March 12, 2019, the IAA suspended Boeing 737 Max planes from entering Irish airspace, with the only exception being for the movement of certain ferry flights for the aircraft. Several other countries - including those in the EU and the US - also grounded the planes following two fatal crashes which claimed 346 lives. Among those who lost their life was married father-of-two Mick Ryan from Co Clare. The engineer with the UN World Food Programme was on an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft crashed minutes after take-off. Read More According to the EASA, the root cause of the accidents was traced to software known as the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, which is intended to make the plane easier to handle. However, the system was guided by only one angle of attack sensor, that kicked in repeatedly if that sensor malfunctioned, pushing the nose of the aircraft downward multiple times. In both accidents, pilots finally lost control of the aircraft, resulting in a crash. The European regulators issued an airworthiness directive for the plane today after mandating a package of software upgrades, electrical wiring rework, maintenance checks, operation-manual updates, and pilot training. Commenting on this news, IAA aviation regulator Diarmuid O Conghaile said: The publication of this directive sets out the requirements for the MAX to return to service and any 737 MAX aircraft now meeting these requirements will be approved to operate in Irish airspace. EASA has conducted a comprehensive review of the measures proposed by Boeing, he said. The IAA and other national European regulators have been involved in the EASA review process. We are satisfied that EASAs review has been comprehensive and ensures that the aircraft is safe to return to operations in Europe. EASA executive director Patrick Ky said today the aircraft can safely return to service after extensive analysis by the agency. This assessment was carried out in full independence of Boeing or the Federal Aviation Administration and without any economic or political pressure we asked difficult questions until we got answers and pushed for solutions which satisfied our exacting safety requirements, he said. We carried out our own flight tests and simulator sessions and did not rely on others to do this for us. Not sure to give credit to the weather or the worsening economy. It's entirely possible that broke-ass cowtown criminals simply can't afford the price of bullets. Still, there's no denying the latest numbers. This morning KCPD updated their daily homicide tracker to reveal 8 killings so far this year compared with 14 at this time last year. It doesn't seem like it but the 42.86% decline is a very real sign of progress. Of course skeptics might tell us that this is merely an anomaly given that there hasn't been any significant anti-crime plan shared with the public. Nevertheless, fewer people killed on local streets is a good thing. That doesn't mean that KC's historic violence problem is solved which should be obvious from this quick collection of metro crime links featuring allegations, police action and a vast array of property crime. Bad Shots Abound KCPD investigating shooting that left 1 seriously injured KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- The Kansas City Police Department is investigating a shooting that happened on Monday afternoon, injuring one person. The shooting happened outside at 1:20 p.m. in the 2000 block of Park Tower Drive, just east of E. 20th Street and Topping Avenue. Killing Across State Line KCKPD investigating weekend death KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas City, Kansas, police are investigating one man's death from over the weekend. According to police, they were called to the 1000 block of Orville avenue on Saturday around 7:45 a.m. for a welfare check. Officers found a man in his early 70s deceased in an apartment. Murder Suspect Charged After Auto Inferno KC man charged in 10th and Winner death, burning car Keith J. Hernandez, a 22-year-old white male, faces multiple felony counts in connection with the December 4, 2020, fatal shooting of 25-year-old Devonta Dunson in Kansas City, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced today. Hernandez faces Murder 2nd Degree, Armed Criminal Action, Knowingly Burning and Tampering with Physical Evidence. Justice For Lisa Man charged with murder, kidnapping in woman's death Travon M. Williams is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the Jan. 12 shooting death of Linda Gantt, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Police responded to reports of gunfire in the 3600 block of Olive. Police found Gantt with gunshot wounds in a vehicle near 45th and Prospect Avenue, and she was later pronounced dead. Double Mistake For The Dotte OPPD officers serve WyCo-issued warrant at wrong residence - twice A University of Missouri-Kansas City student feared for his life Tuesday night when he heard banging on the door of his Overland Park home. After calling 911, he learned that officers were at the house, attempting to serve a warrant - for the second time this month - for a previous tenant. Justice For Olivia Effort Cont'd Father charged in 3-year-old daughter's death pleads not guilty KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Howard Jansen, charged with killing his three-year-old daughter, Olivia Jansen, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning. Jansen waived his right to a preliminary hearing, which would not require the prosecution to present evidence to go forward. The hearing took place virtually in Wyandotte County court division 4 with District Court Judge Michael Russell presiding. Brazen Car Crook Recorded Thief steals man's truck right out of KC dealership's garage, causing thousands in damage KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Police Department is looking for a man who stole a truck right out of a dealership's service garage. The owner brought it in for an oil change, and the next thing he knew it was gone. Now, the dealership is stepping up security and trying to help. Family Mourns Killing 'This pain is unbearable': Family celebrates daughter's birthday 1 month after her murder INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - Oriana Starr would have been 23 years old on January 19. Instead, her family gathered outside her apartment in Independence on Tuesday to celebrate without her, just one month after she was found dead in the apartment. Police said she had been shot. Raytown Remembers Community mourns after well-known Raytown businesswoman, husband killed RAYTOWN, Mo. - Raytown police continue to investigate after two people were found dead inside a home on Jan. 13. The couple was identified as 69-year-old Kenneth McKenzie and his wife, 62-year-old Etta McKenzie. People throughout the community are mourning the loss of the well-known couple. Spying Future To Keep Peace City Surveillance Watch: Network Effect "People live out loud and outside, and I do have concerns that public gathering, public music - that the surveillance is going to lead to more policing of public space." Those are the words of Ursula Price, a racial justice and civil rights advocate in New Orleans who has opposed the city's expanding connected camera network. Developing . . . Ongoing step-out and resource definition drilling at the around 1.6 kilometres by 0.8 kilometres Gonneville Intrusion continues to expand the major Julimar discovery. s ( ) ( ) ongoing exploration activities at its 100%-owned Julimar Nickel-Copper-Platinum Group Element (PGE) Project, about 70 kilometres north-east of Perth, WA has defined four new high-grade zones. Ongoing step-out and resource definition drilling at the around 1.6 kilometres by 0.8 kilometres Gonneville Intrusion continues to expand the major Julimar discovery. Assay results pending for a further 45 completed drill holes. Chalice is fully-funded to continue its six-rig resource drill-out and comprehensive metallurgical test work program at Julimar with more than $130 million in cash. Benefit future project economics Chalice managing director Alex Dorsch said: Weve started the New Year with strong momentum on several fronts, with drilling at our major Julimar discovery continuing to expand the high-grade footprint of the deposit and initial on-ground activities underway to test the exciting new EM targets along strike to the north. Drilling within the Gonneville deposit continues to deliver outstanding results and once again, we are seeing a diverse range of mineralisation styles, reflecting the sulphide-rich nature of the Gonneville Intrusion. We have now defined four new high-grade zones (G8-G11), each returning significant wide and high-grade intersections, which is very promising. Given the shallow nature of these zones, we expect that they may benefit future project economics. Meanwhile, drilling into the eastern contact of the intrusion, targeting the G4 and G11 zones, has produced some interesting results, encountering discrete pods of high-grade mineralisation interpreted as being associated with potential lows in the basal contact of the intrusion, where sulphides have deposited within the magma flow. Initial activities in the Julimar State Forest commenced Initial activities in the Julimar State Forest have commenced, and we are eagerly anticipating first results from that work over the coming weeks. The initial activities will determine the potential for Julimar to be a multi-deposit, world-class mineral province if our previously identified airborne EM anomalies develop into additional discoveries beyond Gonneville. On track for mid-2021 mineral resource With six rigs drilling and more rigs joining shortly, we are on track to meet our mid-2021 guidance for a maiden mineral resource for Gonneville and continue to prioritise the growth of the high-grade mineralised zones with step-out drilling. We have also commenced initial resource and pit-shell modelling, which is guiding our drill pattern. Forward plan Chalice is continuing its approach of simultaneously exploring and evaluating the zones of high-grade mineralisation and the extensive PGE-Nickel-Copper+/- gold zones associated with disseminated sulphides within Gonneville Intrusion. Ongoing and planned activities at Julimar include: Resource definition drilling an about 160,000 metres RC/diamond drill program is underway. Drilling is initially being undertaken on a 40 metres x 40 metres spaced grid over the high-grade areas, which is expected to be sufficient to define mineral resources in the indicated category; Down-hole EM Geophysics DHEM continues to play a key role in identifying potential high-grade targets for follow-up drilling and will be completed on selected holes and in areas of wide-spaced drilling; Metallurgical test work Further sulphide flotation and oxide leach test work is underway on 200 kilogrammes of composite metallurgical samples, compiled from drill samples collected from various mineralisation styles within the intrusion; Geochemistry and Geochronology it has engaged the Geological Survey of WA (GSWA) and a specialist consultant to conduct initial geochemical analysis and metallogenesis studies to improve geological and mineralogical understanding of the discovery and enhance targeting capability as the company searches for similar discoveries across its large landholding in the West Yilgarn nickel-copper-PGE Province; Reconnaissance activities within the Julimar State Forest initial wide-spaced soil sampling and Moving Loop EM programs have commenced at the Hartog EM Anomaly. Reconnaissance activities will continue over the next 1-2 months. The results will help determine whether Julimar has the potential to host multiple nickel-copper-PGE mineralised systems. TikTok scaling down operations followed by the permanent ban notice issued by the government of India isn't helping the company. Amid all this news, speculations are rife about TikTok exiting from the country. However, sources have confirmed that the company plans to continue its operations in India. According to a source at ByteDance, "We are dedicated to maintaining a presence in India - albeit with a smaller team for now. This is an important market for us, and we remain committed to resolving this issue." The source further added that there have been no discussions for the closure of the business in India yet. Following the permanent app ban notice, only operations are being scaled down by letting go off a sizable number of employees. The company is retaining those in critical roles and is exploring all ways of a possible comeback. A joint email from Tiktok's global interim head Vanessa Pappas and vice president for global business solutions Blake Chandlee to employees communicating the decision of the downsizing staff is already being circulated. The email copy states that while the company initially hoped that this situation would be short lived, and would be resolved quickly, it wasn't the case. The company had cut expenses, while still paying benefits. However, it cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while the apps remain unoperational. "We have worked steadfastly to comply with the Government of India order issued on June 29, 2020. We continually strive to make our apps comply with local laws and regulations and do our best to address any concerns they have. It is therefore disappointing that in the ensuing seven months, despite our efforts we have not been given a clear direction on how and when our apps could be reinstated. It is deeply regretful that after supporting our 2000+ employees in India for more than half a year, we have no choice but to scale back the size of our workforce. We look forward to receiving the opportunity to relaunch TikTok and support the hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers in India," said a TikTok spokesperson. Safeguarding interest of Indian users, the Government of India had banned TikTok along with 58 other Chinese apps on June 29, 2020. This was followed by another two rounds of Chinese app bans, and now a permanent ban notice has been issued to 117 Chinese apps. The government had invoked its power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 stating that in view of the information available, the blocked Chinses apps were believed to engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order. However, it is also believed that as the border row intensified between India and China last year, the government soon moved to ban select Chinese apps. Also read: 1,000 ByteDance India employees sacked after co shutters businesses Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue. The new European data protection law requires us to inform you of the following before you use our website: We use cookies and other technologies to customize your experience, perform analytics and deliver personalized advertising on our sites, apps and newsletters and across the Internet based on your interests. By clicking I agree below, you consent to the use by us and our third-party partners of cookies and data gathered from your use of our platforms. See our Privacy Policy and Third Party Partners to learn more about the use of data and your rights. You also agree to our Terms of Service. Ryan Jarvi 517-599-2746 Attorney General January 21, 2021 LANSING Preliminary approval of the $641.25 million civil Flint water settlement was granted earlier today by Judge Judith Levy of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Courts approval order will become effective on Jan. 27, 2021. This preliminary approval formally establishes the process through which Flint residents can indicate their intention to file eligible settlement claims that will be processed and paid by the claims administrator. Judge Levy will still need to issue a final ruling on the settlement, depending on whether the settlement is fair, adequate and reasonable, after conducting a fairness hearing currently scheduled for July 12, 2021. It appears the public will be permitted an opportunity to offer input at the hearing, but the Court has discretion to control the extent of public input that will be permitted. With Judge Levys preliminary approval granted, this historic settlement is one step closer to providing Flint residents with the financial relief that they may have otherwise never received if the legal back-and-forth were to continue in the courts, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said. While final approval remains pending, the settlement can provide people with security that their claims will be heard and not tied up in legal proceedings for an indefinite period of time. Plaintiffs counsel and state attorneys, court-appointed mediators and a special master have all concurred that this agreement was made with the best interests of Flint in mind, and a federal judge has now determined that it meets the necessary preliminary legal requirements to proceed. As the court considers a final ruling in this settlement, we will continue to keep our focus on healing this embattled city. Flint residents will have 60 days to register to participate in the settlement program. Following the registration period, Flint residents who have registered will have 120 days to file the documents necessary to support their claims. Detailed information on the registration and the claims processes will shortly be available on the claims administrator website. Assuming the Court ultimately grants final approval of the settlement, and there are no challenges to that Court order, it is estimated that the claims and payment process may be substantially complete before the end of 2021. The timeline may change depending on the Courts schedule. Attorney General Nessel and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in August announced a $600 million preliminary agreement to settle the lawsuits filed against the State after the City of Flint switched is public water supply to the Flint River in 2014. Defendants that joined the settlement since August include the City of Flint, which is providing $20 million through its insurer, and McLaren Regional Medical Center and Rowe Professional Services Co., which are contributing $20 million and $1.25 million, respectively. More information on the settlement can be found online. Click here to view a copy of Judge Levys ruling of preliminary approval. ### Source: Xinhua| 2021-01-27 16:56:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia has begun a phase 3 clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Institute of Medical Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (IMBCAMS), the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. The initiative is a collaboration between the governments of Malaysia and China to generate scientific data in the development of the vaccine candidate to evaluate its safety and efficacy against COVID-19 infection, the ministry said in a statement. The trials will involve nine government hospitals across Malaysia and 3,000 volunteers for a period of 13 months. In his speech during the virtual launching ceremony, Malaysian Health Minister Adham Baba said Malaysia is very pleased to work with China, through IMBCAMS in contributing to the search for scientific evidence in the development of the inactivated vaccine. "With strong regulatory, certified researchers and experienced research sites, we are confident of producing quality scientific evidence to support the research vaccine," he said. "This cooperation will strengthen ties between China and Malaysia. I am very confident that we will have more opportunities to work together in the near future, bringing more positive results not only for both our countries, but also for the world," Adham said. For his part, Che Yanchun, head of the R&D Department, Chinese Institute of Medical Sciences Academy of Medical Sciences, said Malaysia has been chosen as the first country outside China to participate in this phase 3 clinical trial of the COVID-19 vaccine which would also take place in other countries. "I sincerely hope the phase 3 clinical trial in Malaysia will be a successful one, and it will fulfill the objectives of the clinical trial, and certainly Malaysia will also get the benefits from this trial," Che said. Enditem US earnings season swings into full flow this week with Apple, Microsoft and Facebook reporting, among many others. The week ahead In the UK, we expect to see further trading updates including FDM Group (Holdings) PLC (LON: FDM) on Friday and possibly one from (LON: KWS). FDM, which provides information technology (IT) consultancy services by assigning what it calls "mounties" to its customers, has underperformed the tech sector over the pandemic. In its third-quarter (Q3) trading update in October it indicated that while trading was comfortably in line with the board's expectations, utilisation rates were significantly lower than prior years; however, there had been an improvement in utilisation since the first half. The focus will be on how the latest prolonged lockdown will be having on the "mountie utilisation rate" and the groups outlook. Keywords Studios released a buoyant trading update in November with profitability well ahead of consensus while revenues were in line. This suggests that the consolidation strategy is working as margins are expanding with the increased scale. Since the November update, Keywords has announced a number of acquisitions and appointed a chief operating officer. Across the pond, the earnings season moves into full swing with big tech companies Apple, Microsoft and Facebook reporting, among many others. Microsoft reports Q2 earnings on Tuesday, Apple reports Q1 results on Wednesday while Facebook reports Q4 earnings on Wednesday. Big tech companies have enjoyed a tailwind from the pandemic due to the shift to home working and the market will be scrutinising for any weaknesses given their punchy earnings multiples while also trying to assess if they can continue the momentum when we come out of the pandemic. Apple trades on around 34x this years consensus earnings, while Microsoft trades on around 33x and Facebook on around 26x. Elsewhere, electric vehicle maker Tesla reports Q4 results on Wednesday, which should be fun since the stock trades at over 200x this years consensus earnings and the focus will be on determining if the growth in deliveries is enough to justify the ratings. Meanwhile, chipmaker AMD reports Q4 earnings on Tuesday. Much of the AMD focus will be on the integration of Xilinx which it acquired on October in an all-stock deal. Fellow chipmaker also reports Q4 results on Tuesday. Other US tech-related companies expected to report this week include: , F5 Networks, MicroStrategy, Automatic Data Processing, Commvault Systems, Cree, , ServiceNow, , , Western Digital, , Juniper Networks, , Netscout Systems, MACOM and Lam Research. SmartLinx CEO Marina Aslanyan demonstrates the SmartLinx Advanced Timeclock for Employees (SLATE). SLATE exemplifies our commitment to empowering clients with the workforce management capabilities they need to deliver high-quality care to residents and employees. - SmartLinx CEO Marina Aslanyan SmartLinx Solutions, a leader in workforce management solutions for post-acute care and senior living organizations, today launched SmartLinx Advanced Timeclock for Employees (SLATE) as part of its ongoing commitment to helping operators navigate todays workforce challenges. The state-of-the-art time clock limits the spread of infectious bacteria and prevents workers with fevers from entering the facility. With COVID-19 cases rising in many areas, senior care operators continue to pursue new measures to combat the spread, enforce official guidelines, and protect residents. SLATE combines the latest innovations in touchless technology with integrated time tracking and employee scheduling to help operators safeguard their facilities and enhance workforce operations. In addition to eliminating physical contact with a high-touch device, the new time clock automatically takes employee temperatures and blocks access to anyone with a fever. SLATE connects to the SmartLinx Go mobile to enable staff to quickly complete punch in and out requirements on their mobile device. Since employees can punch in and out several times faster than with standard clocks, SLATE helps reduce long lines during shift changes and makes it easier for employees to practice social distancing. At SmartLinx, were committed to helping residents and employees stay safe in these uncertain times and helping operators comply with evolving health and safety guidelines, said SmartLinx CEO Marina Aslanyan. SLATE exemplifies our commitment to empowering clients with the workforce management capabilities they need to deliver high-quality care to residents and employees. SLATE Streamlines Employee Access and Attendance Tracking Employees simply answer a few questions on the SmartLinx Go mobile app and present the corresponding QR code to SLATE, which instantly transmits employee ID and punch information to the SmartLinx workforce management system. In addition to displaying the employees punch status and history, SLATEs 10-inch screen lets staff identify and fix issues on the spot. The Wi-Fi-enabled timeclock supports all smartphones and can be placed anywhere an operator wants to track attendance and detect fevers from building entrances to nurses stations. SLATEs software-as-a-service, (SaaS), Clock on Cloud infrastructure also automatically updates facilities with new enhancements without requiring they contact support. About SmartLinx Founded in 2000, SmartLinx cares for those who care. Used in thousands of leading organizations, SmartLinxs workforce management solution suite helps skilled nursing and senior care providers manage people and processes by harnessing the power of real-time data. Its solution includes talent acquisition and onboarding, human resources, benefits, payroll, time & attendance, scheduling, compliance, and business analytics. New financing options with preferred commercial lender Ascentium Capital provide several flexible structures and low introductory payment options to help clients utilize the breadth of SmartLinxs capabilities and products. The company is headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. For more information, please visit http://www.smartlinxsolutions.com or call 877-501-1310. Including the new gift, the Crown family has contributed more than $100 million to programs, scholarships and research at U. of C. In 2013, the Crowns donated $10 million to the universitys Urban Education Institute, now based in the school of social work, and in 2015 gave funding to establish a professorship in molecular engineering. 72nd Indian Republic Day celebrations from around the world The 72nd Republic Day of India was celebrated in India and all over the world with a flag-hoisting ceremony on January 26 2021 with limited members joining in the actual celebrations and a large numbers of the Indian community watching it virtually, in view of the local public health guidelines due to COVID-19. The unfurling of the tricolor was followed by the singing of the National Anthem after which the address by the Honorable President of India on the eve of Republic Day was played. This was followed by a short cultural program involving local artists, rendition of patriotic songs and traditional dances or performances. Full text of the address of the President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, on the eve of the 72nd #RepublicDay. English: https://t.co/kerKThEGhu Hindi: https://t.co/DxHjpV6i9P pic.twitter.com/uk8Yq0fvlj President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) January 25, 2021 In Singapore besides FB Live of all the action at the Indian High Commission, there was a special 8-page supplement published in The Straits Times for the first time. In Washington Ambassador of India, H.E. Taranjit Singh Sandhu complimented the community for their work during the pandemic and their role in bringing India and the US closer. He said that the Indian Government "looks forward to working with the new Administration, led by President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. From outer space to nanotechnology, from the Indo-Pacific to climate change, from healthcare to education & IT, there is a recognition, that our partnership can benefit, not just our two nations, but the entire world." Greetings to all on 72nd Republic Day of India! pic.twitter.com/hX2GlbrRW6 Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) January 26, 2021 British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who was unable to make the trip to attend the Republic Day in India, conveyed his wishes in a warm message. There were celebrations (while observing restrictions prescribed by the UK Government due to pandemic) in several parts of the country. "I look forward to visiting India later this year, strengthening our friendship, and striving for the quantum leap in our relationship that Prime Minister @narendramodi and I have both pledged to achieve". - British Prime Minister @BorisJohnson's #RepublicDay message for India pic.twitter.com/HzN6SGcZu2 UK in India (@UKinIndia) January 26, 2021 Amazing ensemble of #Dance #Music & #Speeches reflecting strong patriotism! CG Dr Shashank Vikram read out Hon'ble President's message on the auspicious occasion of #RepublicDay. Special thanks to the artists & @WMLieutenancy for their greetings #HappyRepublicDay @HCI_London pic.twitter.com/wEKJfC8PCZ India in Birmingham (@CGI_Bghm) January 26, 2021 In Dubai it was a mesmerising visual of the Indian tricolor on the Burj Khalifa that greeted all on the occasion of 72nd Republic Day, echoing the ever growing relations between the UAE and India. Vijayi Vishwa Tiranga Pyara...Jhanda Ooncha Rahe Hamara..what a mesmerising feeling to see our Triicolor on #BurjKhalifa on the occasion of 72nd #republicday2021 echoing ever growing relations between UAE & India. @IndembAbuDhabi @emaardubai @DDNational @MEAIndia @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/30uwI4SicD India in Dubai (@cgidubai) January 26, 2021 The Indian Consulate building in Dubai too was illuminated in tricolour lights. The Indian embassy in Doha shared greetings from the Indian Community led by HE Dr. Deepak Mittal, the High Commissioner of India to Qatar. Greetings on the occasion of 72nd Republic Day of India #RepublicDay2021@MEAIndia pic.twitter.com/ndtcV0TAVP India in Qatar (@IndEmbDoha) January 25, 2021 The Indian Embassy in France shared the warm greetings from President Emmanuel Macron. "Your leadership is invaluable and India-France strategic partnership is important to help shape a world mirrored in our shared vision and ideals", tweeted Ambassador of India to France. ! President @EmmanuelMacron has a message for all Indians pic.twitter.com/hLAlDjzXx3 France Diplomacy (@francediplo_EN) January 26, 2021 HE Ambassador Jawed Ashraf who also addressed the Indian community in France. John Kerry discusses climate change, US-Bangladesh collaboration Dhaka, Jan 27 (UNI) US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry called the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday to discuss the global issue of climate change and the possible US-Bangladesh collaboration regarding it, officials said here on Wednesday. The Bangladesh foreign minister talked about the time tested US-Bangladesh relations and expressed the satisfaction of the Government of Bangladesh regarding the appointment of Mr Kerry as the Presidential Envoy. He recollected the vital contribution of Mr Kerry towards the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and welcomed the decision of the US to return to the same. For roughly two decades since Hugo Chavez won the Venezuelan presidency and commenced his socialist Bolivarian revolution, the country, which was once Latin Americas largest oil exporter, is now a destabilizing force in the region. That has only intensified in recent years under the leadership of Chavezs successor Nicolas Maduro with a near-bankrupt Caracas, under considerable pressure from a prolonged oil price slump, crumbling energy infrastructure, and strict U.S. sanctions. To reinforce his grip on power, obtain urgently needed capital, and rebuild Venezuelas shattered oil industry Maduro has courted closer ties with Russia, Cuba, and Iran. The growing involvement of those states in Venezuela, along with the Shiite Muslim political organization and the U.S. listed terror group Hezbollah establishing operations in Venezuela, is further undermining political stability in South America. While much of Maduros past posturing has typically been directed toward neighboring erstwhile U.S. ally Colombia, it is eastern neighbor oil-rich Guyana which is now feeling considerable pressure from Caracas. For decades, Caracas has been contesting the sovereignty of a large swathe of Guyana west of the Essequibo River, which makes up around 40% of the territory of the former British colony. That area is known to be rich in gold and other natural resources. Control of the contested region may ultimately determine who has authority over a large portion of Guyanas Atlantic maritime territory and the vast offshore petroleum resources discovered there. This includes part of the prolific deepwater offshore Stabroek Block, where ExxonMobil has identified more than eight billion barrels of recoverable oil resources and expects to be pumping over 750,000 barrels of crude oil daily by 2026. The dispute, which emerged from an 1899 arbitration award in Guyanas favor, arose in its modern form out of a 1966 agreement aimed at solving the conflict with the commission failing to fulfill its mandate which Caracas argues nullifies the original decision. Maduro sees the long-standing dispute as a means of rallying Venezuelas people behind his autocratic regime and distracting them from the near-collapse of what was once Latin Americas wealthiest country. Guyanas considerable offshore petroleum wealth is also a powerful incentive for an increasingly destitute and near-bankrupt Caracas. In roughly two decades, Maduro and his predecessor Chavez essentially annihilated Venezuelas once-mighty petroleum industry and destroyed what was Latin Americas wealthiest economy. Control of a portion of the Guyana-Suriname Basin, which is shaping up to be the hottest offshore drilling location in Latin America, could give Venezuelas devastated oil industry a solid lift. That could give Venezuelas shattered economy where shortages of everyday goods, including gasoline, and ever-shrinking gross domestic product have become the new normal. In 2020, the IMF estimated that the oil-rich countrys gross domestic product shrank 25% and will contract again by 10% during 2021. This indicates that the involvement of Russia, Cuba, and Iran has failed to provide any sustained economic recovery and is only prolonging the lifespan of Maduros feeble regime. Related: Egypt Looks To Resume LNG Exports As Prices Rise In the latest development, Maduros regime rejected an International Court of Justice (ICJ) December 2020 jurisdictional ruling regarding its ability to arbitrate on the disputed border and territory. Caracas failed to participate in the hearing that led to the ICJ ruling. The tribunal reiterated that while this was a disappointing development it does not affect the validity of its judgment and jurisdiction over the matter. It could take up to three and a half years for the ICJ to formally arbitrate on the matter, provide a ruling and validate the border between Venezuela and Guyana. Sensing the opportunities that the delays present, which are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Maduro earlier this month, issued a decree unilaterally claiming the territory comprised of the land and ocean floor west of the Essequibo Coast. Venezuelas President then went on to tweet that he intends to reconquer the Essequibo region. Guyanas government perceives the decree as a threat to the countrys sovereignty. The U.S., Canada, the Organization of American States (OAS), and regional group the Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, have rejected Maduros claims. Incursions into the disputed zone by Venezuelas military remains a constant risk. There have been past instances of Venezuelan naval vessels entering Guyanas waters and harassing vessels working in various petroleum blocks as well as soldiers crossing the disputed frontier. As a result of Maduros decree, Guyana bolstered its military presence in the disputed territory deploying soldiers to the border. Since the end of Guyanas political crisis late last year, the U.S. has been progressively ramping up its relationship with the government of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. There is also a history of joint training exercises between U.S. Southern Command and Guyanas military, which should hopefully deter Venezuelas military from further actions in the contested territory. However, the latest developments threaten Guyanas burgeoning oil boom, which is expected to give the former English colonys economy and government revenues a massive boost. The IMF predicted that Guyanas developing oil industry was responsible for the economy expanding by 26% during 2020, despite the impact of the pandemic, with another 8% GPD growth forecast for 2021. Maduros belligerent stance on the matter highlights the urgency with which President Biden must attend to the Venezuelan crisis and the considerable regional instability it is creating. That is further amplified by the failure of U.S. sanctions to curb Caracas power and trigger urgently required regime change, indicating that a different approach is needed. By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oiprice.com: Farmers, who met with a setback after their tractor rally turned violent at Red Fort on Republic Day, have expressed their determination to continue with the protests demanding repeal of the Centre's farm laws. The farmer unions have also said that they had no plans of delaying or abandoning their march to the Parliament on Budget day. However, the government will soon question the farmers over their protest march that turned ugly on Tuesday, January 26. Tens of thousands of protesters clashed with police in multiple places, leading to chaos in well known landmarks of Delhi and suburbs, amid waves of violence that ebbed and flowed through the day, leaving the farmers' two-month peaceful movement in tatters. Twenty-two FIRs have been registered in connection with the violence during the rally yesterday, said the Delhi Police on Wednesday morning. An FIR was also registered at the Indraprastha (IP) Police Station against unidentified protesters including the farmer who died after his tractor overturned after ramming into a barricade, said the police. ALSO READ | Farmers' Republic Day Tractor Parade: Tableaux to Depict Protest Against Agri Laws During a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava on Tuesday, Shah directed Delhi Police officials to take action against those involved in the violence. About 1,500 to 2,000 additional paramilitary personnel will also be brought in for deployment in sensitive places in the national capital, reported PTI. The home minister reviewed the situation after hundreds of protesting farmers on tractors barrelled through police barricades to enter central Delhi areas, including Red Fort and ITO. Farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at several Delhi border points, including Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur, since November 28, demanding a complete repeal of three farm laws and a legal guarantee on minimum support price for their crops. READ | Farmer Unions Call Off Tractor Parade After Violence at Red Fort; High Alert Issued in Punjab and Haryana As several rounds of talks with the government reached stalemate and failed to resolve the deadlock, farmers continued to protest against the Centre's three agri laws. Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had said that the next round of talks would only happen when the farmers were ready to talk on the governments proposal of staying the laws for 1.5 years. Union leaders do not appear ready to give up on their demand to repeal the laws and legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP). The unions will in any case want to wait to see how opposition parties take up the stir in the Budget session, which begins on Friday. A recent survey conducted by the News18 Network had found a majority of Indians support the implementation of the new laws and think the agitation by farmers should be called off. In the survey, conducted across 22 states with more than 2,400 respondents, a majority believed that the new farm reform laws would benefit crop growers, and data showed that support for the new legislations was strong in most agrarian states, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It may not be summer or even spring yet in Southern California, but Farrah Abraham is still making the most of her bikini wardrobe options. The former Teen Mom star was pictured on Tuesday at a beach in LA showing off her physique in bikini bottoms and a white T-shirt, despite the chilly temperatures which have been as low as nine degrees Celsius. Although the weather was a bit nippy, Farrah, 29, was all smiles as she gallivanted around the beach, holding a boogie board, though it was unclear if she was brave enough to fully dive into the icy ocean. Cold as ice: Farrah Abraham shows off her figure in a T-shirt and skimpy white bikini bottoms... as she frolics on a beach in LA despite the chilly temperatures on Tuesday Certainly never one to be shy of showing off, the reality star struck a series of poses while she played on the almost deserted beach, and dipped her toes in while clinging on to her board. Even in extremely cold weather, Farrah is not afraid of stripping off, like with her post-Thanksgiving vacation to Alaska last November. The freezing temperatures didn't stop the personality from taking a dip and showing off her outstanding figure. Stunning: The former Teen Mom star showed off her figure while on the beach Splash: Although the weather was a bit nippy, Farrah, 29, was all smiles as she gallivanted around the beach, holding a boogie board Farrah shared a playful video to Instagram on Friday of herself warming up in a hot spring while wearing a monokini that highlighted her prominent bust. She had on a two-tone monokini that showcased her cleavage and her taut midriff. The Interwind by Passion one-piece suit retails for $84 from Bikinis by Yas. The 5ft7in reality star splashed around in the water and danced for her viewers to the strains of Michael Buble's version of White Christmas. Steamy: Farrah Abraham, 29, stripped down to a striking monokini as she warmed up in a hot spring in a video posted to Instagram on Friday from her trip to Alaska Showstopper: Farrah had on a two-tone monokini that showcased her cleavage and her taut midriff Holiday spirit: The 5ft7in reality star splashed around in the water and danced for her viewers to the strains of Michael Buble's version of White Christmas 'Dreamin of a white Christmas! ,' she wrote in her caption, while also advertising the Anti-Drama face mask from Frank Body, which sells for $21.95 on the brand's website. She slathered the gray charcoal mask all over her face while relaxing in the spring. So, far, Farrah hasn't specified why she's vacationing in Alaska, but she first posted from the northernmost state on Thanksgiving day. She celebrated the holiday with a mostly wordless video of her trudging through the snow repeatedly near a creek while listing things she was thankful for, including, 'family,' 'friends' and 'business colleagues.' But the clip took a bizarre turn when wrote on screen that all those things were 'greater then [sic] corrupt manipulative false media & social networks.' She also complained about 'viewpoint discrimination' and 'political segregation.' Cosmetics: 'Dreamin of a white Christmas! ,' she wrote in her caption, while also advertising the Anti-Drama face mask from Frank Body, which sells for $21.95 on the brand's website Self-care: She slathered the gray charcoal mask all over her face while relaxing in the spring An earlier video from Friday revealed that Farrah and her daughter Sophia, 11, were visiting North Pole, Alaska, presumably to see Santa. The one-time Penthouse book critic suited up in a white hazmat-style outfit as she boarded a plane to Alaska and showed herself sanitizing her seats video screen. Later, she sounded awestruck as she emerged in the snowy village. Her daughter also got a chance to meet Santa at the tourist attraction, though she admitted earlier in the video that 'Santa isn't real.' Farrah revealed in the post that her trip was partly to advertise a service that sends children 'personalized' messages from Santa Claus at Christmas time. Taking a trip: An earlier video from Friday revealed that Farrah and her daughter Sophia, 11, were visiting North Pole, Alaska, presumably to see Santa Extreme measures: The one-time Penthouse book critic suited up in a white hazmat-style outfit as she boarded a plane to Alaska and showed herself sanitizing her seats video screen Business trip: Her daughter also got a chance to meet Santa at the tourist attraction, though she admitted earlier in the video that 'Santa isn't real.' Farrah is best known for her stints on 16 And Pregnant and its follow-ups Teen Mom and Teen Mom OG, which she appeared on through 2018. The series documented her mother's attempts to stop her from getting an abortion, as well as the shaming she received for being pregnant. Sophia's father Derek Underwood was also killed in a car crash while she starred on the reality series. But her stint on Teen Mom came to an end in 2017, when she was fired over complaints from other cast members about her adult film work. Prohibitory orders put in place in Agartala on Wednesday were extended by 48 hours as a group of terminated teachers continued their protests, West Tripura District Magistrate said on Wednesday evening. Section 144 was initially imposed for 24 hours starting 6am on Wednesday in the Agartala Municipal Corporation area. Trouble started in the morning after the police dismantled the makeshift tent, where the teachers had been holding the protest, and detained around 300 agitators. On Wednesday, more than 40 were reported injured in the lathicharge, water cannon and tear gas used by the police. Seven policemen were also injured after a clash with the protesters and three public vehicles were damaged, Indian Express reported. Water cannons and teargas were fired to disperse the teachers who are part of the Joint Movement Committee of 10323. They were protesting near the Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb's residence against their termination. Notwithstanding the restrictions, even as the police tried to stop them, the protesters set out on a march to the CM's residence. A scuffle ensued, following which the police lathicharged the agitators, burst tear gas shells and sprayed them with water. The demonstrators, in retaliation, ransacked vehicles of police and district officials. "We had information that the movement could turn into a violent protest and there were chances of breach of peace. The district magistrate had announced that prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed around the CM's residence. So the gathering was illegal," Additional Superintendent of Police Shasvat Kumar said. According to a member of the Joint Movement Committee (JMC) -- a forum created by the terminated teachers -- the Tripura police dismantled the tent without any warning, when the agitators were still asleep. "Many teachers were detained forcibly by the police and taken to Tripura State Rifles (TSR) camps near here. We are not criminals. Why did the government use force?" Kamal Deb, a leader of the forum, said here, adding that several protesters sustained injuries in the melee. Inspector General (law and order) Arindam Nath told reporters that police applied force "judiciously and with a human face". "Under no circumstances, we could have allowed the protest near the CM's residence," he added. Over 10,000 government school teachers were sacked last year, in accordance with a 2014 high court order, which said that their recruitment process was a faulty one. The Supreme Court later upheld the verdict. The teachers, demanding permanent jobs, have been sitting on a dharna for the last 52 days. (With PTI inputs)